Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Abono party-list is now officially a member of the House of Representatives in the 20th Congress after Rep. Robert Raymond Estrella took his oath of office on Thursday, following a Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclamation.

During the plenary session on Thursday, Majority Leader Ferdinand Alexander Marcos moved to allow Estrella to take his oath before House Speaker Faustino ‘Bojie’ Dy III, pursuant to Comelec’s proclamation.

‘We are in receipt of the proclamation issued by the Commission on Elections declaring Abono party-list as winner under the party-list system in the national and local elections on the 12th of May 2025, and to entitle its nominee, Robert Raymond M. Estrella, to sit as its representative in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the Philippines,’ Marcos said.

‘Pursuant to the aforementioned proclamation, I move to allow Robert Raymond M. Estrella, representative of Abono party-list, to take oath in open session,’ he added.

Deputy Speaker Kristine Singson-Meehan, who was presiding over the session, approved the motion after no objections were heard.

Three party-list seats are open for distribution after the Comelec en banc upheld a decision canceling the registration of Duterte Youth party-list.

‘The clerk of this Commission just issued today a certificate of finality and entry of judgment on the decision of the en banc [regarding the cancellation of Duterte Youth’s registration],’ Comelec Chairperson George Garcia said on Tuesday in an online interview with reporters.

According to him, the poll body en banc will hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the effects of the issuance of the certificate, particularly which party list groups will benefit from the three House seats originally allotted to Duterte Youth.

Garcia said the Comelec came out with the certificate of finality after the Supreme Court did not issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) within 30 days after the en banc upheld the cancellation of the party list group’s registration on August 29.

Duterte Youth won three seats in the 2025 midterm elections, ranking second with 2.338 million votes. However, the group was disqualified by Comelec based on the following grounds:

Untruthful statements in its petition, particularly on the eligibility of its nominees

No bona fide intention to represent the sector for which the petition has been filed and thus, preventing a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate

It has advocated for violence or unlawful means to achieve its goal

It was established that it is an adjunct or an entity funded or assisted by the National Youth Commission

With one seat being given to Abono party-list, two more seats will be made available for other groups. According to Garcia, Comelec will proclaim on Thursday the three representatives who will replace the Duterte Youth.

Each year, the Philippines generates 14.6 million tons of municipal solid waste, based on data from the 2025 World Bank What a Waste Global Database.

With close to 15 million tons of municipal solid waste, the Philippines landed 27th out of 50 countries in the database, which covers almost all countries and 330 major cities.

RELATED STORY: Risks loom as worsening garbage mess pushes deep PH dive into waste-to-energy

Dr. Rogelio Alicor Panao, INQUIRER Metrics data scientist and associate professor at the University of the Philippines, said in his analysis that ‘this places the country ahead of wealthier economies such as Australia, Switzerland, and the Netherlands in terms of waste produced.’

He pointed out that in the Philippines, ‘the link between garbage and flooding is often underscored, with clogged waterways worsening inundations during heavy rains.’

This, especially since the Philippines is once again on the top of the World Risk Index, the yardstick for being highly exposed to extreme weather effects, like flooding.

The World Risk Report 2025, published last week, discussed the disaster risk for 193 countries worldwide, covering all member states of the United Nations and over 99 percent of the population.

As pointed out by Panao, ‘globally, the problem [of waste generation] is even more pronounced, with China on the lead at 398.08 million tons, followed by the United States (265.22 million) and India (189.75 million).

Large middle-income nations such as Brazil (79.06 million) and Indonesia (65.20 million) also add substantially to the world’s total, alongside industrialized countries like Germany (50.63 million) and Japan (42.72 million).

For Panao, ‘these figures reveal a universal challenge: growing volumes of waste are straining both rich and developing nations alike.’

RELATED STORY: Chaos, confusion cloud final stretch of global plastics treaty talks

However, in the case of the Philippines, ‘the crisis is compounded-solid waste remains a driver of flooding even as longstanding issues of corruption and inefficiency in flood control projects continue to hinder effective solutions.’

Last July, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. condemned corruption in the government’s multi-billion flood control projects, lamenting how these could have helped mitigate flooding, especially during the onslaught of typhoons and monsoon rains.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it will remain on full alert in Cebu even as search and rescue operations ended in the wake of the magnitude 6.9 earthquake in the province.

‘The search and retrieval operations were stopped last night because their search for the injured ended. All the missing individuals have been accounted for,’ PNP public information chief Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño said in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Thursday.

‘That’s why our concentration is now just relief and rehab operations. That’s why the PNP is still on full alert,’ he added.

This came after the Office of Civil Defense also stated that some rescue teams have been informed they may demobilize and continue assisting with relief operations.

The PNP also stated that it has yet to receive reports of violence and looting in the aftermath of the earthquake and that the Central Visayas police have increased their deployment from 1,356 officers to 2,250 officers to bolster relief and rehabilitation efforts.

At least 72 individuals were reported dead and 294 were reported injured, according to the latest National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) situational report on Thursday morning.

However, the NDRRMC noted that these casualties have yet to be validated.

The Iloilo City council on Wednesday unanimously passed a resolution urging the erection of a statue honoring the late Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago in one of the city’s major plazas.

The resolution, authored by Councilor Rex Sarabia and unanimously co-sponsored by all 11 members of the council, urges Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu to recognize the ‘Iron Lady of Asia’ and honor the distinction brought to the country by the late former senator, who was born and raised in the city’s La Paz district.

‘The late senator Miriam Santiago, fondly remembered as the ‘Iron Lady of Asia,’ a proud daughter of Iloilo City, born and raised in La Paz, whose brilliance, courage, and integrity brought honor and distinction not only to her hometown but to the entire country,’ the resolution stated.

Santiago, a three-term senator and two-time presidential aspirant, passed away on September 29, 2016, two years after being diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer.

It specifically mentions Defensor-Santiago’s experience as a trial court judge, immigration commissioner, senator, and judge of the International Criminal Court.

‘[Defensor-Santiago’s] unwavering dedication to good governance, rule of law education, and public accountability continues to inspire generations of Filipinos, particularly the youth, who affectionately remember her sharp wit, wisdom, and unparalleled intellect,’ the resolution stated.

‘As an Ilongga, her life and legacy are a source of pride and inspiration for Iloilo City, especially for the people of La Paz district, where she spent her formative years, where her values of academic excellence, public service, and moral courage were deeply rooted,’ it added.

During his sponsorship speech at the city’s regular session on Wednesday, Sarabia said that it was timely to honor the senator, given the recent corruption controversies on flood control projects.

‘I think we need to draw inspiration from our very own Ilongga to fight for what is right, to fight against corruption,’ Sarabia said.

Defensor-Santiago had her early start in Iloilo, graduating as valedictorian from La Paz Elementary School and Iloilo National High School, both in La Paz.

She graduated magna cum laude from the University of the Philippines in Iloilo (now UP Visayas) with a degree in political science and earned a law degree at the UP College of Law in Diliman, Quezon City.

A fire that broke out early Thursday and raged on for more than three hours, razed almost two dozen houses, rendering 23 families homeless in Barangay Tetuan, Zamboanga City.

Elmeir Apolinario, chief of the Zamboanga City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, said they counted at least 22 houses that were razed to the ground and one structure partially damaged after the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) declared the fire out at 3:21 a.m.

Apolinario said the city government had distributed immediate assistance and support to the fire-hit families temporarily housed at the Tetuan Central School Gymnasium.

At least four vehicles were also damaged.

The fire in Tetuan village occurred barely three days after the Sept. 29 fire earlier gutted several houses in the city’s Barangay Tumaga, rendering 26 families homeless.

BFP is still investigating the cause or causes of these fire incidents in the two villages in Zamboanga City

The Ayala group’s mobility solutions unit will soon let go of its Honda dealership business after more than three decades. The group cited the need to focus on key growth areas, including electric vehicles.

Ayala Corp. on Thursday disclosed that ACMobility, through Iconic Dealership Inc., would turn over its Honda dealership operations to ‘new dealer principals’ by Jan. 1. ACMobility will continue operating Honda Cars Makati, Pasig, Shaw, Bacoor, Cebu, Mandaue, Iloilo, Negros and Cagayan de Oro until Dec. 31.

‘This transition reflects our ongoing effort to optimize our portfolio and focus on new growth areas,’ ACMobility CEO Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala said in a statement. Since 1990, ACMobility has sold over 220,000 Honda vehicles through its dealerships, the company said.

The announcement comes two weeks after ACMobility said it had agreed with Volkswagen AG to stop the distribution of the German band in the Philippines.

Aside from Volkswagen and Honda, ACMobility’s portfolio also includes BYD, Isuzu and Kia.

Philippine factory activity slipped in September, breaking from the broader regional trend and marking an uncommon stumble in the country’s postpandemic recovery after domestic demand had faltered.

A monthly survey of about 400 firms showed the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)-a key barometer of manufacturing health-fell to 49.9 from 50.8 in August, SandP Global said on Wednesday. Any reading below 50 indicates a decline in activity.

It was only the third time in more than four years that the index had slipped into contraction, a downturn SandP described as ‘highly unusual’ given the sector’s steady momentum since the pandemic.

The weakness contrasted sharply with the broader region, where the Asean PMI rose to 51.6-a 14-month high.

Only the Philippines and Malaysia, whose index eased to 49.8, recorded deteriorating conditions. First sales decline in 6 months

‘New orders and output decreased slightly, as firms mentioned a fall in client numbers and a modest drop in production from the suspension of rice imports,’ David Owen, a senior economist at SandP Global Market Intelligence, said in a commentary.

External demand offered some cushion. A month after the Aug. 1 expiration of US tariff deadlines, Filipino manufacturers continued to record growth in export orders.

Even so, companies surveyed reported their first decline in overall sales in six months. Producers responded by scaling back production, snapping three months of expansion and leading to ‘subdued’ hiring activity. Domestic market

The softness, SandP said, was concentrated in the domestic market-a sign of weakening household demand, long a mainstay of the Philippine economy. Poor weather and import restrictions on rice also weighed on output.

Shivaan Tandon, emerging markets economist at Capital Economics, said Asia’s economies more broadly are likely to face sluggish growth through the rest of this year and into 2026, as tighter fiscal policy and weaker exports, weighed down by higher US tariffs, offset resilient household spending.

‘And with inflation likely to remain low, we expect central banks in the region to cut interest rates further,’ he said. Still, manufacturers in the Philippines appeared guardedly optimistic.

Mingyu of K-pop boy group Seventeen appeared delighted by Filipino actor Michael Sager, sharing the latter’s dance cover of the South Korean star’s new song ‘5, 4, 3, (Pretty Woman).’

Sager showed off his moves in a white muscle tee and baggy denim pants while the track’s chorus played in the background, as seen in the video he shared on his Instagram page on Wednesday, Oct. 1.

‘Pretty,’ he captioned his video. Sager’s comments section was then filled with praises from his and Mingyu’s fans. Mingyu sang ‘5, 4, 3, (Pretty Woman)’ along with his Seventeen bandmate S.Coups. It also features American singer and rapper Lay Bankz.

Mingyu and S.Coups, who make up the subunit CxM, recently released their first mini-album ‘Hype Vibes.’ Aside from ‘5, 4, 3, (Pretty Woman),’ the album consists of five other songs, namely ‘Fiesta,’ ‘Worth it,’ ‘For you,’ ‘Young again’ and ‘Earth.’

Bracing for tighter supply due to pest infestation and weather disruptions, the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) has ruled that the country’s entire sugar production in the current crop year would be for domestic use.

In Sugar Order No. 1 for crop year 2025-2026, the SRA estimated that local sugar production would go down by 7.9 percent to 1.92 million metric tons (MT) from the output in the previous crop year.

Sugar crop year in the Philippines begins in September and ends in August of the following year.

The SRA is anticipating ‘a possible decrease’ in sugar harvests due to the ongoing red-striped soft scale insects (RSSI) infestation and excessive rainfall in Negros. ‘I would agree with those estimates. We never imagined the damage caused by RSSI was that extensive. Hopefully, we can recover this coming crop year,’ United Sugar Producers Federation of the Philippines president Manuel Lamata said in a Viber message.

Local consumption

Given this situation, the SRA designated all sugar production this crop year for domestic consumption.

Every crop year, the SRA issues a sugar order to determine the allocation for locally produced sweetener.

In the past planting seasons, the SRA also earmarked all production for domestic consumption, as production was insufficient to meet demand. The country has relied on importation to plug any supply shortage.

The last time that the SRA set aside a portion of local sugar output was in crop year 2020-2021. At that time, 93 percent of the production was given to the domestic market, while the remaining 7 percent was reserved for the US market. Infestation

The SRA previously said the RSSI, first observed in plantations in Luzon in 2022, could reduce the sugar content of infested sugarcanes by as much as 50 percent.

It reported the first RSSI case in May, affecting some farms in Negros Occidental. Since then, the pest-which can cause yellowing leaves, stunted growth and shortened internodes-has spread to adjacent areas.

Last month, the SRA announced an intensified partnership with Hawaiian-Philippine Company to develop an organic and eco-friendly pest management solution to curb the infestation.

Institutions are not just offices that process cases; they are mirrors of the kind of society we live in. When institutions fail, they do more than break rules-they corrode public trust, the invisible glue that keeps a democracy intact. Among the many institutions in our country, the Ombudsman carries this burden in a profound way.

For years, Filipinos have expected the Ombudsman to be the chief prosecutor of corruption. Yet, when cases drag on for years or are seen as selective, disappointment follows. The challenge for the next Ombudsman is to go beyond this narrow view and reimagine the office as more than a courtroom adversary. The Ombudsman must also be a teacher of civic integrity, a guardian of public trust, and a voice for ordinary citizens.

The next Ombudsman cannot simply react to cases as they arrive; the office must also help rebuild the culture of integrity, so citizens once again believe that accountability is possible.

This requires bringing the Ombudsman closer to the people. Imagine an office that does not wait for complaints at its doors, but actively engages communities, teaches young people the value of honesty, and opens its processes to public scrutiny.

The fight against corruption is also a fight against inequality. The powerful often bend the rules in their favor, while ordinary citizens face expensive legal costs, delayed decisions, and complicated procedures. The next Ombudsman must make justice tangible for everyone whether they are a public school teacher, a farmer, a tricycle driver, or a market vendor. Equality before the law should be more than a constitutional phrase; it should be something people can feel in their daily lives.

Corruption is not destiny; it is a social arrangement that has been allowed to persist. If it were built, it could also be dismantled. Citizens, civil society, and public servants can create new habits of accountability, especially if the Ombudsman leads by example. Change begins with institutions that refuse to normalize corruption and instead cultivate integrity as the standard.

This does not mean abandoning prosecution, which is the Ombudsman’s core mandate. On the contrary, swift and fair handling of cases is crucial. But it must go hand in hand with prevention-through civic education, community participation, and reforms that close the loopholes where corruption festers. Only when punishment and prevention work together can we create lasting change.

The Ombudsman, in short, must be more than a watchdog. It must be an institution that inspires confidence, teaches integrity, and demonstrates fairness. When people trust that justice is accessible, they do not give up on democracy. They fight for it.

The next Ombudsman will face powerful resistance and entrenched interests. But institutions endure not because they are perfect, but because they embody a people’s aspirations. The task is not just to prosecute the corrupt but to restore hope. Filipinos must see that the law can protect the powerless, not just serve the powerful.

At stake is more than the credibility of one office. At stake is the very promise of equal citizenship. If the next Ombudsman can rise to this challenge, the office can remind us of a simple but profound truth: integrity is not just written in laws. It must be lived, taught, and passed on.