Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

The Department of Health (DOH) has actually been investigating the 400 ‘idle’ health centers under the agency’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP), DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa claimed on Sunday.

‘Actually, the DOH has been investigating these anomalies way before media picked it up,’ Herbosa said, without specifying any of the findings of the supposed investigations.

During a congressional budget hearing earlier this year, Herbosa said the health centers under the HFEP could be considered the DOH version of the flood control projects of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The HFEP, launched in 2008, is the DOH’s banner program that aims to ensure that poor and marginalized communities have access to health-care services.

‘Several actions have been taken already, and we continue to do case buildup,’ Herbosa added, again without providing details.

Herbosa made the remarks to expound on the replies of Health Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Albert Domingo during an online interview.

When asked what actions have been taken in relation to the investigation, Domingo said, ‘They are actions meant for mandated investigative bodies and the formal courts of law.’ Findings still under wraps

‘The DOH will disclose them at the appropriate time and before the appropriate legal forum,’ Domingo told reporters in a Viber group chat.

But Herbosa also suggested that the DOH has been ‘looking for options to operationalize nonfunctioning completed health facilities.’

Akbayan Rep. Chel Diokno initially questioned why only 200 out of 600 health centers under the HFEP are functional despite being allocated over P170 billion in the past decade.

However, budget sponsor and Bataan Rep. Albert Garcia clarified that while the HFEP has no ‘ghost hospitals,’ the lack of personnel and health-care professionals to run the facilities made them nonfunctioning.

Garcia also said that the DOH entered into a memorandum of agreement with local governments in ‘good faith,’ as it expected them to provide personnel.

But further discussion of the health facilities was overtaken by other controversies confronting the DOH.

Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin, a former health secretary, particularly questioned Herbosa’s other programs, like the P1-billion proposed budget for the beautification of DOH offices, the P458-million research fund for the DOH, and its planned P7.5-million donation to the World Health Organization (WHO) over three years to other programs.

Garin took special notice of the DOH beautification projects and the WHO donation, saying the funds for these should instead be used for patient care and subsidies for the universal health-care program or to hire more doctors and nurses. ‘The President wants zero-balance billing, while hospitals are asking for bigger funds. But how did [this] pass through the Department of Budget and Management-that there is about P1 billion intended not for hospitals and rural hospitals, but for ‘beautifying’ DOH offices?’ Garin asked.

Recent developments at the Senate, as well as profit-taking, weighed down the local bourse on Monday.

By the closing bell, the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index (PSEi) had tumbled by 1.78 percent, or 108.54 points, to end at 6,000.32.

Likewise, the broader All Shares Index shed 1.14 percent, or 41.9 points, to close at 3,643.95.A total of 2.1 billion shares worth P12.12 billion changed hands, stock exchange data showed.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said ‘latest political noises, especially at the Senate,’ contributed to the market’s decline.

Over the weekend, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson said he had resigned as chair of the blue ribbon committee amid his colleagues’ ‘disappointment’ over the panel’s probe into anomalous flood control projects.

Inflation

While the bourse opened higher, it eventually settled in the red territory for the rest of the trading day.The index’s decline also came ahead of the release of the September inflation print, which analysts say may have accelerated due to recent storm damage and the rice import freeze.

Conglomerates saw the heaviest bleeding, with declines from SM Investments Corp. (down 1.74 percent to P732), Ayala Corp. (down 2.53 percent to P477.60) and GT Capital Holdings Inc. (down 2.44 percent to P579.50).

International Container Terminal Services Inc. was the most actively traded stock as it lost 0.78 percent to P508 per share. Others were BDO Unibank Inc., down 1.81 percent to P135.50; Ayala Land Inc., down 2.89 percent to P23.50; and Bank of the Philippine Islands, down 3.89 percent to P108.60 each.

Losers overpowered gainers, 139 to 64, while 58 companies closed flat, stock exchange data also showed./tad

For more than two decades, storms and floods have consistently battered the Philippines, making up nearly two-thirds of all recorded disasters from 2000 to 2024.

Data from the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) shows the country was struck by 201 storms and 109 floods over the 24-year period – far outnumbering earthquakes (25), volcanic activity (18), and epidemics (11).

‘These are not just numbers. They mean drowned neighborhoods, ruined crops, and billions in damages,’ said Dr. Rogelio Alicor Panao, INQUIRER Metrics data scientist and associate professor at the University of the Philippines, in his analysis of the EM-DAT data.

Yet despite this clear pattern, Panao noted that the national debate remains stuck on expensive and controversial flood-control projects whose ‘benefits and transparency remain in doubt.’

Weather-driven disasters as the main threat

The findings suggest that climate-driven hazards – stronger storms, heavier rains, and erratic flooding – have overtaken earthquakes and volcanic eruptions as the country’s most pressing threats.

‘Concrete dikes and drainage alone cannot keep pace with a changing climate,’ the analysis stressed. ‘Perhaps it is time to move beyond politics and quick fixes. Building resilience is not just about concrete; it is about choices that keep people safe long after the floodwaters recede.’

Other disasters, such as fires (27), earthquakes (25), road accidents (20), volcanic activity (18), and wet mass movements (17), trail far behind the scale of destruction brought by typhoons and floods.

A call for smarter disaster response

The EM-DAT database, maintained by the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the University of Louvain, has tracked more than 27,000 disasters worldwide since 1900. Its latest figures on the Philippines reinforce long-standing warnings: the country’s disaster risk profile is overwhelmingly dominated by weather extremes.

The analysis points to a larger policy failure. Billions are poured yearly into flood infrastructure, yet communities remain vulnerable, and lives are disrupted.

The findings come amid heightened scrutiny of flood-control spending. The Commission on Audit (COA) has recently filed multiple fraud audit reports with the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), flagging several supposedly nonexistent flood control projects in Bulacan valued at over ?300 million.

Earlier reports also point to anomalies in Bulacan flood infrastructure, with COA submitting audits to the Office of the Ombudsman covering projects with questionable locations or duplications.

At the same time, storms have continued to disrupt daily life. In the first quarter of the last school year alone, students in storm-prone regions missed up to 44 percent of class days due to weather-related suspensions.

According to Panao, the findings highlight the need for disaster resilience strategies that go beyond physical infrastructure, emphasizing policy measures that ensure communities remain protected even after floodwaters recede.

A member of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) reportedly plans to resign and is ‘losing hope’ over the body’s limited authority, Caloocan 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice revealed, as he urged Congress to pass a law granting the commission contempt powers.

Erice bared this in his privilege speech during Monday’s plenary session, saying he had personally spoken to the ICI member.

‘I spoke to a member of the ICI, who is losing hope and will resign because of their lack of power, especially since our citizens will lose trust,’ the lawmaker said in Filipino.

‘He said that, without contempt powers, we might as well task the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] and the Ombudsman to do the investigation. Let’s request that this be certified as urgent and if necessary, a special session be called,’ he added.

Inquirer has already sought the side of the ICI regarding Erice’s claim, but it has yet to reply as of the posting time.

Earlier, House minority lawmakers also called on the President to certify as urgent House Bill No. 4453, also known as the proposed Independent Commission Against Infrastructure Corruption Act of 2025.

Under this bill, the ICI’s subpoena power extends to all branches of the government, including constitutionally created bodies, as well as private companies and individuals.

It also grants the commission full and unrestricted access to all government records.

The bill, among other provisions, grants the power to cite in contempt individuals who fail to comply with subpoenas issued by the ICI.

Additionally, the ICI under HB 4453 cannot be subject to a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction by any court, except the Supreme Court.

It was in 2021 when I first learned how to write.

My mama prepared a table in our small garden, one with Christmas lights and a tiny bahay kubo decoration. I would sit there with my old, heavy laptop-all its keys creating sounds similar to that of a typewriter whenever I am immersed in my campus journalistic work. It was still at the height of the pandemic, when classes were largely remote and press endeavors had to be done online. I would sleep at six in the evening, wake up at four just before sunrise, make myself a mug of instant coffee, and listen to Chopin or Mozart or maybe Beethoven-it was my ritual for writing. I was familiar with the scent of midnight and the sight of daylight’s first fall on the ground.

Four years have passed since then. I am in college today at Los Baños, and I rarely come home to Rizal. The very few times I visit, this house always changes. The table I used to have in our small garden is no longer here. My office is now on a newly constructed balcony, where I can easily see the vast azure. The old chessboard set my dad gave me on my 14th birthday, with all the letters and paintings from old lovers inside it, is no longer under my bed in my room. The mountain in Montalban looks a little bit taller, complementing the sunrise even better. My table is no longer the table that seemed like it could break at the slightest motion, and my laptop does not sound like an ancient typewriter anymore.

Like countless iskolar ng bayan who travelled from their distant provinces to Laguna for college, I entered the university with courage. There was this feeling of certainty that I could just lose and find myself-be homesick, be hurt, drink in Puesto at night, jog at Pili Drive in the morning, join mobilizations in front of Oblation or at Carabao Park. I felt this sensation, this pride that made me think I could mold my world into what I want it to be at the University of the Philippines. ‘Go on a journey,’ I would imagine Mozart telling me from the skies, for a writer whose inspirations still partly root from classical music.

What I failed to realize is that parts of me had already been lost long before university. The were years I lost in the haze when everything broke, dreams and friendships and love.

Long years inside the pandemic changed me. I learned to pretend I was more mature. My hair grew so much longer, and I became more conscious about my appearance. I fell in love, got broken, then fell in love again in April. I wrote poems and unfinished anthologies, then got broken again. I met the music of The Ridleys, I listened to ‘Aphrodite’ and ‘Germany and Rome.’ I believed in love.

I miss writing poetry. I miss drafting editorials on issues that made me look smart when published in our student paper. I miss exchanging emails that make my heart flutter. I miss walking around campus, waiting for a jeep near Katipunan, navigating the roads of Anonas and Molave-things in my past life that I, in retrospect, took for granted and eventually lost. Maybe this is just a testament of what someone once told me, ‘Tomorrow is not certain, and it’s a dreadful thought to wake up without today’s warmth.’ I miss the café I used to stay at, which had already closed three years ago.

There is this uncomfortable feeling of grief for the things and people that I loved. I would often ask myself, what about the essays and poems and prose I wrote for those who would no longer care to read them? What of the words left unsaid and the screams still echoing? I could have written more. Reminiscing now, I see how I was so young three years ago before the pandemic, and I was so disillusioned when suddenly times changed, and I was older-I had to act older. This feeling has recurred lately. I would initially tell myself, ‘This discomfort is temporary.’ Things have no permanence, and I cannot cling to stillness.

But maybe, parts of me still willingly let themselves get stuck in these recollections, despite the initial preconception, because they are reminders of a life I once lived.

I remember once reading an article that said, ‘Home need not be a place.’ Indeed, home, now, feels more metaphorical than physical. That little boy-who is familiar with the scent of midnight and the sight of daylight’s first break, who loves to write on the table his mama prepared for him-does not know this.

Perhaps this is why, since childhood, I have always been fond of constructing sentences that imply my hopes for events that are no longer likely to happen, that are just absurd and outright impossible.I want to visit and relive the past again.I want to guide that little boy today, to show him the reality of constant shifts and changes, of heartbreaks and years of broken things.

Philippine National Police chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. vowed to unmask the personalities behind the massive cache of ‘shabu’ (crystal meth) discovered in a private property in this town on Friday night.

Nartatez said the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) were already ‘on track’ in identifying and pursuing the suspects who would be charged and subject to arrest warrants.

‘For sure, we have enough pieces of evidence, and we will pursue them-especially since they left traces, whether electronic or through witnesses who can identify where they came from,’ he said in a press briefing here Saturday.

PDEA Director General Isagani Nerez, who was in the same press briefing, said authorities would not rest ‘until we are able to account for all the persons responsible for these major drug operations.’

The two-day antidrug operations in Pangasinan led to the confiscation of 1,020 kilograms of shabu, estimated to be worth P6.8 billion, which were packed in tea cartons with Chinese markings and even had QR codes.

The discovery of the large amount of shabu was triggered by the arrest on Thursday of two drug dealers in Bugallon town-a 40-year-old Chinese national known by the alias ‘Monkey’ and his driver, alias ‘Gardo,’ 54, a resident of Mampang, Zamboanga City-who yielded 125 kilos of meth.

On Friday night, authorities raided a private property in this coastal town where they found 895 kilos of shabu already loaded in two vehicles, apparently bound for Metro Manila.

Nerez said the total volume of seized shabu-1,020 kilos-would still be verified to determine the precise weight, as the initial figure included several layers of plastic packaging.

New shipment

He said investigators were confident the shabu recovered in Bugallon came from the same warehouse in Labrador, noting the identical Chinese character markings on the packs.

He also clarified that the latest seizure was not connected to the 1.4 tons of shabu confiscated in Zambales last June, which was suspected to be intended for delivery to Pangasinan.

‘This is a new shipment,’ Nerez said.

The private property in Labrador that served as a warehouse was reportedly purchased only two months ago. Mayor Noel Uson said he had no information yet about the previous or current owners.

Nerez said the property would be forfeited in favor of the government ‘to serve as a lesson to those who harbor drug syndicates.’

The raid was carried out under a search warrant issued by Judge Vincent Lamug of the Regional Trial Court Branch 70 in Burgos town.

Nerez credited Police Regional Office Ilocos Region director Brig. Gen. Dindo Reyes and Pangasinan Provincial Police director Col. Arbel Mercullo with securing the warrant.

He noted that Pangasinan has become a ‘favorite dumping ground’ for illegal drugs because of its proximity to international smuggling routes along the high seas.

Dumping ground

Zambales and a province in Mindanao are also considered key entry points, he said.

Last June, floating packs of shabu were recovered off the coastal towns of Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, and Ilocos Norte.

Nerez noted that the total volume of shabu seized during the Marcos administration has already surpassed that of all previous administrations combined. Nerez reiterated that the confiscated drugs would be destroyed immediately and expressed gratitude to the PNP, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and the Philippine Coast Guard for their close coordination in the government’s antidrug campaign. /cb

Executives at the Mindanao Development Forum (MDF) warned that the current ‘impasse’ in the normalization process could hinder Mindanao’s development, urging the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and government peace panels to hold talks to resolve the issue.

This was expressed by Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Secretary Leo Tereso Magno and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua in a press briefing during the two-day MDF on Wednesday.

European Union Ambassador to the Philippines Massimo Santoro, who outlined the EU’s assistance to Mindanao-including full support for normalization and the transition of former MILF combatants away from arms-said the process must continue until the desired results are achieved.

‘While the peace process is not under my office’s purview, normalization is a concern for MinDA because it affects the development we aim to achieve in Mindanao,’ Magno said.

‘I hope all concerned agencies, as proposed by the national government, will sit down again. There’s no alternative to a peaceful dialogue to address the issues in normalization,’ he added.

Macacua acknowledged that while challenges remain, these must be resolved as the peace implementation nears completion.

‘Although we have to admit there’s a problem, it must be addressed because we are now at the finish line of implementation,’ he said. ‘It’s only right that we talk. If we managed to do it before, why can’t we do it now?’

Jokingly, Macacua said that as the chief of staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, he still has to undergo decommissioning and is waiting for his turn.

He said both peace-implementing panels of the government and the MILF could discuss the issue in a ‘very cordial manner,’ expressing hope that, with the help of the Inter-Government Relations Body and the president, the matter will be addressed.

The normalization process reached an impasse when the MILF central committee suspended the decommissioning of its remaining 14,000 combatants, citing delays in the delivery of the promised socio-economic packages.

The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity refuted this claim.

Magno said the issue has two sides, and both must come to the table to talk things through

Bureau of Customs (BOC) Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno and Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Assistant Secretary Vigor Mendoza II should be invited by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) to discuss the alleged smuggling of cars owned by the Discaya couple.

This was the call of Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry Ridon on Monday, amid recent discovery that eight of the vehicles owned by contractor-couple Pacifico ‘Curlee’ and Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya were possibly smuggled.

The Discaya couple are among the key figures in the flood control projects controversy, as different companies linked to the two were found to be among the top contractors for flood control projects.

The ICI, Ridon said, should ascertain whether BOC and LTO should be held liable for allowing these vehicles to enter the country.

‘ICI should invite BOC and LTO heads to shed light on the Discaya vehicles,’ Ridon, chairperson of the House of Representatives’ infra-committee that tackled the contractors’ involvement in anomalous flood control projects.

‘Both BOC and LTO’s liability should be determined by the ICI as to how these vehicles were able to be imported, registered and used in the country,’ he added.

Last September 10, Nepomuceno stated that eight out of the 30 luxury cars under the agency’s custody were found to be missing import entry documents and payment certificates.

When asked if the cars may be considered smuggled for having no record of entry, Nepomuceno replied : ‘That is the assumption. There are no documents; that’s why that’s our assumption.’

On October 1, Nepomuceno said that the BOC may auction 13 luxury cars owned by the Discaya couple if they fail to prove the legitimacy of the purchases.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner retired Sunday from the Shanghai Masters after suffering a leg injury in his third-round match against the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor.

The world number two began to experience issues in the fourth game of the third set, and tried to persevere before abandoning the match when trailing 6-7 (3/7), 7-5, 3-2.

After an evenly matched first set, the four-time Grand Slam winner showed his teeth in the tiebreak, hitting two aces to take an early lead.

In the second set the tension picked up, with the Dutchman surviving three break points in the second game.

But it was Griekspoor who broke in the 11th game with a backhand, pushing the match into post-midnight territory.

Sinner ended the fourth game of the third set crouched over in pain, limping around the court.

His condition did not improve in the fifth and he hit the ball into the net multiple times, providing an easy break for his opponent, before having to be helped to his chair at the end of the game and then calling it quits.

Philippines – When notorious Australian pedophile Peter Scully and his coaccused Carmie Ann Alvarez pleaded not guilty to harboring two minors, chaining and detaining them for sexual exploitation, their victims could not understand why.

‘The two minors were crying, asking: ‘Why did they say not guilty? It’s the two of them who did it,” recalled Cagayan de Oro City prosecutor Charisse Galarrita-Bitoon, who handled that case.

She remembered telling them: ‘Langa, as I have explained before, they will always say not guilty.’

‘But they cannot understand that. The children were hurt,’ Galarrita-Bitoon told journalists on Sept. 12 during a seminar on human trafficking organized by the US Embassy.

The case dates back to 2014, when Alvarez befriended the girls at a mall, bought them hot dogs, and persuaded them to go with her, promising to provide for their needs, before taking them to Scully’s house.

There, the girls were fed, bathed, and given biscuits and alcoholic drinks that left them drunk. They were then sexually abused, with one of them even ordered to dig a hole in the ground while both were still naked with chains around their necks.

Days later, when Scully and Alvarez left the house, the girls managed to escape by climbing over the fence.

More than a decade has passed since that harrowing experience. The two survivors are now in college, pursuing nursing and psychology, slowly rebuilding their lives. In 2024, the Supreme Court affirmed the conviction of Scully and Alvarez.

Scully’s case, Galarrita-Bitoon said, became the driving force behind the establishment of a justice zone in Cagayan de Oro City last year.

It also highlighted the grueling process of prosecuting trafficking cases involving children, where state lawyers deal with defense dilatory tactics and the retraumatization of child witnesses during trial, among other challenges.

Part of the struggle, she added, is securing cooperation from internet companies and financial institutions in providing information related to sex trafficking crimes-echoing similar concerns raised by Department of Justice (DOJ) officials and groups like the International Justice Mission (IJM).

The Philippines is one of the world’s largest known sources of online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC), where traffickers livestream the sexual abuse of minors in exchange for payments wired from abroad, often from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, and other European countries.

IJM’s Rebelander Basilan explained how OSAEC works: there are two perpetrators-locals who have access to children and offenders from abroad who would pay to ‘direct the kind of sexual abuse to be inflicted on the child.’

The abuse is livestreamed with payments sent via money transfer services.

‘We have a very well established money transfer system and that’s also being taken advantage of by these offenders to exchange money for the abuse of a child, a Filipino child,’ Basilan said. He also noted that online payments have minimal safeguards.

IJM’s 2022 study estimated that nearly half a million Filipino children were trafficked to produce new sexual exploitation material.

Basilan said it is ‘relatively very easy’ to livestream abuse, requiring only internet access and a device like a smartphone.

For 10 straight years, the Philippines has maintained its Tier 1 status in the US Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons Report, meaning the government meets the minimum standards to combat trafficking.

The latest report, released last week, noted that Philippine law enforcement had made numerous subpoenas and financial transaction requests under the amended antitrafficking law of 2022, which also imposed additional obligations on internet companies to provide information to authorities.

But DOJ spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano IV said the law is not being fully enforced. ‘The problem is, these are international companies, and there’s a lot of internal bureaucracy and red tape that allow them to continue their practices even with government pushback,’ he said. Justice Undersecretary Nicholas Ty said President Marcos has expressed openness to banning platforms that enable such crimes.

But Ty cautioned that his would need careful study. For now, he said, the government is focusing on requesting takedowns of explicit materials, increasing capacity awareness, and forging more partnerships in the international community.