Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Netflix Korea is aiming for a Chuseok sweep with its latest tentpole series ‘Genie, Make a Wish,’ starring Hallyu heavyweights Bae Suzy and Kim Woo-bin and fueled by the storytelling chops of Kim Eun-sook, the hitmaker behind K-drama touchstones such as ‘Mr. Sunshine’ and ‘The Glory.’

‘Genie, Make a Wish’ centers on Genie (Kim Woo-bin), who awakens after a millennium-long slumber, and the emotionally detached Ga-young (Bae Suzy) as they navigate three wishes that could alter their destinies. Beyond the star power, the series has already stirred buzz for its distinct characters, including a devilish genie and a morally just psychopath.

Bae, discussing her role during Monday’s press conference in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, said Ga-young is a departure from the familiar portrayal of psychopathy in K-dramas.

‘I thought the script was incredibly fresh and new. It was so fun, and my character, who lacks emotions due to antisocial personality disorder, felt very compelling to me,’ she said. She elaborated on Ga-young’s unconventional morality: ‘Ga-young is a psychopath who lives a life shaped by rote learning and the warmth of her grandmother and the villagers. In other words, psychopaths are often portrayed as frightening or criminal, but Ga-young lives by her own rules and routines, which, in the end, makes her live in a more righteous way.’

Kim, reuniting with Bae nine years after KBS’s ‘Uncontrollably Fond,’ takes on the satanic Genie, a character determined to prove that humanity is God’s failed creation.

‘Genie is a character with many sides. He can be cheerful and strong, sometimes cruel and frightening, yet also trivial and, in his own way, even a bit endearing. He may look human, but he isn’t, so I put a lot of thought into making him feel strange, awkward, and off-beat in some way,’ Kim explained. Meanwhile, the production for ‘Genie, Make a Wish’ has been eventful, generating a lot of talk over a directorial handoff. Initially helmed by Lee Byung-hun – known for ‘Extreme Job,’ ‘Be Melodramatic,’ and ‘Squid Games’ – who completed filming but stepped down midway, the series was subsequently taken over by Ahn Gil-ho (‘The Glory,’ ‘Stranger’), marking his return after a 2023 school violence controversy.

Addressing the change, Kim said, ‘I understand that both directors did not attend the press conference out of consideration. I was happy working with Lee on ‘Twenty,’ so I wish we could have seen the project through together. It’s a bit disappointing. But I’m grateful that director Ahn came onboard and guided the project well, allowing us to finish happily.’

The 13-part series premiered on Friday, Oct. 3.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) urged more protests against corruption in a statement released on Monday, adding that it is planning rallies nationwide for October and November.

‘Bayan calls for sustained local and nationwide protests to ensure that all those who plundered the public coffers will face accountability,’ the statement read.

‘We call for more walkouts in universities, sit-down strikes, street protests, and noise barrage actions in communities to reflect the people’s clamor for fundamental social change,’ Bayan continued.

The group pointed out that the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) ‘lacks teeth, independence, and transparency as it conducts investigations in closed-door sessions,’ alluding to the ICI not publicizing its proceedings.

Bayan further concluded that the ICI’s move to keep its investigations private is proof that the commission was made ‘to prevent scrutiny into the ghost projects and other fraudulent expenses’ of the current administration.

It also claimed that the corruption probe in Congress is ‘compromised,’ and the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must take accountability for the flood-control controversies.

With this, the group revealed that it is preparing for protests nationwide in October and November, together with various groups and sectors.

‘It is only through the people’s collective action that we can exact accountability from corrupt officials,’ Bayan declared.

A series of anti-corruption protests ensued in September, brought on by the probe into the supposed flood-control project anomalies, which linked government officials as key players in the alleged misuse of public funds.

The largest protest against corruption was held on September 21 with tens of thousands of attendees who gathered in Luneta Park in Manila, and the People Power Monument along Epifanio de los Santos Avenue in Quezon City.

Moreover, universities and some schools organized academic walkouts to denounce the purported corruption in government.

The magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Cebu province on Sept. 30 has generated over 7,000 aftershocks, the state seismologist said Monday.

In its 8 a.m. update, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported a total of 7,027 aftershocks.

Of these, 1,375 were plotted while 31 were felt. The aftershocks ranged from magnitude 1 to 5.1.

Phivolcs initially recorded the earthquake at magnitude 6.7 before later upgrading it to 6.9. The quake occurred at 9:59 p.m. on Sept. 30, with its epicenter located 21 kilometers northeast of Bogo City, Cebu.

The agency also identified the fault that caused the earthquake. Its quick response team located the inland extension of the newly named Bogo Bay Fault in Sitio Looc, Barangay Nailon, Bogo City.

‘The team observed fault scraps, open cracks, and small pressure mounds within a 2-meter-wide deformation zone,’ Phivolcs said. /mcm

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday urged government agencies to prioritize education-related projects and initiatives, emphasizing that this is how Filipinos can truly experience the country’s progress.

Speaking at the Philippine Development Forum (PDF) 2025 in Mandaluyong City, the president highlighted the importance of placing quality education at the center of each agency’s agenda.

‘We have achieved significant milestones in improving our country’s education system, but of course, we recognize that we still have a long way to go,’ he said.

‘The goal is clear: a Philippines where every child-regardless of background or circumstance-has access to quality, future-proof education,’ he added.

Marcos urged the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Finance, and all relevant government agencies to ensure that the administration’s top priorities-particularly education-receive adequate funding and support.

‘To the DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) and the DepEd (Department of Education), speed up the planning and implementation process so we can meet our target of building and rehabilitating thousands of classrooms by 2028,’ he said. ‘And to the DEPDev, accelerate the review of PPP proposals for school buildings.’

‘No child should be forced to learn in makeshift spaces, and no teacher should be burdened by a system that does not support them,’ he added.

The PDF 2025 is a platform for dialogue between the government and its development partners.

With this year’s theme, ‘Bringing Together Progress for All: Services that Matter, Results that Last,’ the forum aims to promote collaboration on policy and financing priorities, guided by the outcomes of key high-level policy reviews in 2025.

The PDF also provides a venue to address urgent development challenges and explore emerging opportunities./mcm

The collapse of Piggatan Bridge in Alcala, Cagayan, on Monday afternoon was likely triggered by four heavily loaded trucks carrying rice and corn.

The bridge, a vital link to downstream towns, collapsed at around 5 p.m., leaving the trucks stranded at the site.

Witnesses Jay-ar Apao and Jovel Dellosa, who captured video footage of the incident, said the drivers and helpers sustained injuries.

Personnel from Task Force Lingkod Cagayan-Quick Response Team (TFLC-QRT) in Amulung were immediately dispatched to assist in rescue operations and guide motorists to alternate routes.

Warning signs have since been placed in the area to prevent further accidents.

Built in 1974, the 74.7-meter steel bridge was described as being in ‘good overall condition’ in a Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) inspection conducted in October 2024.

The incident marks the second bridge collapse in Cagayan Valley in recent months.

Earlier, the newly retrofitted Cabagan-Santa Maria Bridge in Isabela province also gave way, causing four vehicles to plunge and injuring six people.

A mass action against corruption for the month of October is currently being discussed, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) chair Teodoro ‘Teddy’ Casiño revealed on Monday afternoon.

‘There are suggestions that aside from the one on November 30, that this month [October] there should be a big centralized rally. So these are the things that are being discussed now. The various sectors are also preparing their own big actions, so we are encouraging that because of what we are seeing,’ Casiño said in an interview with the Inquirer.

The Bayan chair also urged local communities to hold their own mass actions, highlighting the importance of ‘public pressure’ to continue the ongoing clamor against corruption.

‘We are encouraging the various communities including schools and churches, the homeowners associations to organize their own [mass] actions. Let’s start with local actions, and then let’s make them bigger and bigger,’ Casiño pressed.

Furthermore, the Bayan chair also revealed that suggestions have been made to ‘delay paying of taxes’ or even the ‘non-paying of taxes,’ but these moves, Casiño admitted, are still being studied.

Bayan is among the many groups organizing and encouraging anti-corruption protests by various groups and sectors.

In an earlier statement, Bayan said that it is ‘only through the people’s collective action that we can exact accountability from corrupt officials.’

Church Leaders Council for National Transformation, the organizers of the September 21 ‘Trillion Peso March’ anti-corruption protest, announced that it will hold another rally on November 30 in commemoration of Bonifacio Day.

According to the religious group, 100 groups are expected to attend the November rally.

A series of Black Friday protests and academic walkouts have also commenced since the investigations into the supposed flood control anomalies began in September.

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.