Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Pia Wurtzbach graced the runway of the show of a French beauty brand at the Paris Fashion Week, joining the likes of Kendall Jenner, Eva Longoria, Helen Mirren and Simone Ashley, among others.

The Miss Universe 2015 titleholder looked radiant in a shiny red off-shoulder, high-slit gown while on the fashion stage, as seen in the video she shared on her Instagram page on Tuesday, Sept. 30.

‘Back on the Le Défilé runway with [L’Oreal] and it feels so empowering!’ she said.

Wurtzbach first graced the brand’s Paris runway in 2024 and became the first Filipina to do so.

‘To walk alongside women from all over the world and carry the [Philippines] with me? That’s the real honor,’ she said. ‘The theme ‘Liberty, Equality, Sisterhood’ says it best. When we walk together, we walk stronger.’

‘Always proud to remind every Filipina: we are seen, we are celebrated, and yes.we are ALWAYS worth it,’ she underscored.

Praises for the beauty queen filled the comments section, with fellow celebrities Megan Young, Gabbi Garcia, Isabelle Daza and Saab Magalona admiring Wurtzbach.

Prior to the Paris Fashion Week, Wurtzbach was also in attendance at some shows at the Milan Fashion Week, as per her earlier Instagram posts

Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte has asked why it seems the government is only enthusiastic in its flood control investigations when the matter involves his home city, reiterating the absence of ghost projects under their watch.

Duterte on Tuesday asked why the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police, the Office of the Ombudsman, and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) why they seem to lack funds for accommodation and transportation when probing other areas.

‘NBI, CIDG, Ombudsman, NEDA – why are you only enthusiastic when probing Davao? But when it involves different areas, you lack the transportation budget and accommodation expenses. If you are really anti-corruption, find ways. There are planes, you have the budget, you have the mandate – use it,’ Duterte said in Filipino in a statement.

‘In Davao City, you scrutinized every area – papers, projects, audit until the last nail. The result? There are no ghost and substandard projects. You just grew tired of grandstanding. But when it comes to other areas, you have selective amnesia. What’s that, are you allergic to powerful surnames?’ he asked in Filipino.

Duterte, son of long-time Davao mayor and former president Rodrigo Duterte, said that the investigations of flood control projects should not be used as ‘props’ for publicity.

‘If the government and the independent agencies are really serious in terms of clearing flood control projects, they should stop using the investigation as props for publicity,’ he said in Filipino.

‘Do not use Davao as props just to show that you are ‘brave.’ If you will stand against the improper use of funds, do it for all regions – including areas that are hard to address,’ he added.

This is not the first time that the Dutertes have criticized the administration’s flood control project. Last August, Duterte’s brother and acting Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte said in an interview with former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is turning calls for an investigation into a public relations stunt.

Instead of publicizing the investigations, Mayor Duterte said that the Chief Executive should file cases if he is serious.

In response, Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. urged acting Mayor Duterte to ask his brother – Rep. Duterte – as to where the flood control funds for the city went and how it was used.

Abante said Rep. Duterte should know how flood control funds were used, noting that the city still experiences flooding despite huge allocations in the past.

Hours after Abante made this statement, Rep. Duterte maintained that projects allocated to his district were ‘properly implemented and completed.’

In response to Abante’s challenge, Duterte said that he is directing the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) district and regional offices to release the records.

‘On Benny Abante’s challenge to Mayor Baste Duterte regarding the flood control projects in Davao City, let me be clear, all projects allocated to my district are properly implemented and completed. If he really wants to know the exact figures, I am directing DPWH District and Regional Offices to provide him with the official data and amounts,’ Rep. Duterte said.

Furthermore, the Davao lawmaker said that the lawmakers should not mind floods in Davao as they subside – unlike in other areas which allegedly seem like swimming pools.

This is not the first time that floods in Davao City were highlighted by lawmakers. In August 2024, House members from the 19th Congress called out the Dutertes’ sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, for her criticism of the current administration’s flood response.

Government troops, acting on community tip-offs, unearthed a cache of firearms and explosives believed to belong to remnants of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Barangay Cogon, Carigara, Leyte, on Sunday.

Soldiers from the 93rd Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, in coordination with the Philippine National Police’s Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO), discovered the hidden stockpile at Sitio Eraya, Zone 3.

According to Lt. Col. Celeste Frank Sayson, commander of the 93IB, the recovery was made possible through the ‘active vigilance’ of residents who relayed information to authorities.

The arms cache was traced to the dismantled Platoon 2, IC-LEVOX of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) under the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee.

Items recovered included an M16 rifle, a hand grenade, 118 live rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, three short magazines, an empty shell, two improvised blasting caps, subversive documents, a Lenovo tablet, five kilograms of rice, assorted clothing, medical supplies, and a backpack.

Brig. Gen. Noel Vestuir, commander of the 802nd Infantry Brigade, lauded the cooperation of Carigara residents in the government’s anti-insurgency campaign.

‘We commend the troops of the 93IB and the PNP for their swift action on the information provided by the community. The cooperation of the people is vital in putting an end to the crimes being perpetrated by the remaining NPA members in Carigara,’ Vestuir said in a statement.

He also renewed his call for the remaining NPA members in Leyte to lay down their arms and avail themselves of government programs designed to help former rebels reintegrate into society.

The latest discovery follows a clash in the same barangay in June 2025 that left three IC-LEVOX members dead, including Juanito Sellesa, alias ‘Tibor,’ a ranking member of the Eastern Visayas Regional Party Committee

Some senators are now reluctant or a bit ‘allergic’ to the term ‘insertion’ in the budget, which has become associated with questionable flood control projects.

Sen. JV Ejercito reiterated during Monday’s hearing of the subcommittee on finance that there was nothing improper with lawmakers proposing amendments after deliberating on the proposed budget of a government agency.

‘Maybe it’s just not being understood because of the issues. Now, some people have become afraid-whenever they hear ‘amendment’ or ‘insertion,’ they think it’s something bad. But not all amendments or insertions are bad, because if they improve, enhance, or supplement effective programs, then they are very important. And that’s part of our job-to make sure we function better,’ he said during the hearing.

‘We’ve become somewhat allergic to the word ‘insertion,” Ejercito later added, noting that it is through legislative interventions or amendments that legislators could help improve an agency’s programs.

Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda rued how the Senate ‘has been unfairly brutalized’ because of amendments in the budget, also referred to as ‘insertions.’

But she noted government agencies are the ones seeking additional funding whenever they present their budget proposal to Congress.

Take the case of the Department of Transportation (DOTr), which asked the Senate during Monday’s hearing to realign some items in its budget to other locally funded projects.

At the start of the hearing, Acting DOTr Secretary Giovanni Lopez appealed to senators to reconsider their budget, as the ‘bulk’ of the agency’s capital outlay for infrastructure is for railway projects.

Lopez then said that, as ‘part of a department initiative,’ the DOTr was requesting some ‘reallocation or realignment’ that it deems important and necessary to fund other locally funded projects.

‘I’m glad that Secretary Lopez mentioned that because in the past days, including today, the Senate has been unfairly brutalized regarding proposed amendments, which were called insertions,’ Legarda said.

However, she said, she has yet to see an agency that does not request additional allocations during budget season.

‘When the Senate adds (funding), we’re judged, and people will say we are already amending, which is our constitutional duty. But for those who perhaps do not understand or are unaware of the process, they call it an ‘insertion.’ So we’re caught in a bind,’ Legarda said. ‘That’s not an insertion-that is a carefully studied amendment by the Senate, and that is part of the Senate’s duty,’ she further said. /das/abc

Pageant fandom went abuzz with reports that global music icon Ricky Martin has followed recently-proclaimed Mister International Kirk Bondad on Instagram. But the winner from the Philippines revealed that it was him who followed the star just recently.

Responding to INQUIRER Entertainment’s question about Martin, the German-Filipino model and content creator said the Puerto Rican superstar has been following him way before the fans took note.

‘I just started following him back. Actually I was at the airport and I realized I don’t follow him,’ Bondad said at his homecoming press conference at the Holiday Inn Express at the Newport Complex in Pasay City on Monday evening, Sept. 29.

‘I know he started following me a little bit over a year ago, and we chatted a little bit. So it’s only now that people happen to get notice of that. And honestly I’m very surprised about that,’ he said.

Internet sleuths uncovered Bondad’s social media credentials after he topped the 17th Mister International contest in Bangkok, Thailand, on Sept. 25, revealing Martin’s connection to the pageant king.

‘I checked him out, and he’s super into fitness, so who knows maybe one day we will hang out and workout, or something. It’s funny, definitely something that I did not expect to get viral after this competition,’ he shared.

INQUIRER Entertainment also asked Bondad about his chemistry with second runner-up Choi Seung Ho from Korea, something many pageant fans noticed, leading to many shipping them, branding them #KirkSeung.

‘Alphabetically speaking, we have been always near each other at the placing of rehearsals or whatever, because ‘P’ and ‘K’ are close to each other in alphabetical order. So it was just naturally inclined that we will spend more time together,’ Bondad explained.

He also shared that the Korean delegate was only one of the few delegates who frequented the gym like he did, so it came out naturally for the two of them to bond further during workouts.

Bondad’s Indonesian roommate Oliver Prasetyo also formed the 2025 Mister International ‘F4’ with the two of them plus Choi and Thailand’s Kanapol Treesongkiat. ‘At that time I didn’t know what it means. But it meant a lot, and it also got viral. So automatically we were also doing content. So we were just naturally, organically building chemistry more,’ he said.

The new king also said he is open to doing a BL (boys’ love) project with Choi, after the Korean actor responded positively to fans’ clamor for a collaboration between the two hunks.

But Bondad said he is also pushing for Choi to fly to the Philippines and work with him. ‘Because Bench is the official sponsor for Mister Korea International, so I want them to bring Seung Ho here and do some shooting with me, because I know there is a lot of demand, and we wanna please them,’ he said.

Bondad is the second delegate fielded by the Mister Pilipinas Worldwide organization to bring home an international title. Last year, Dom Corilla posted the Philippines’ first-ever Mister Global victory. /edv

Maynard Ngu, the billionaire behind Cherry Mobile now linked to the anomalous flood control projects, has resigned from his post as independent director at Altus Property Ventures Inc.

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Altus said its board of directors had accepted Ngu’s resignation effective Monday, Sept. 29.

The company noted Ngu had resigned ‘due to personal reasons.’

His departure comes just days after former Public Works Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo linked Ngu to the billion-peso flood control scandal.

According to Bernardo, he had allegedly funneled through Ngu P160 million of kickbacks supposedly meant for Sen. Francis Escudero.

Ngu, who is currently Malacañang’s special envoy to China for trade and investment, served as Altus’ independent director since 2019.

A Mandaluyong court has ordered the arrest of former police Col. Royina Garma and retired police officer Edilberto Leonardo on nonbailable charges of murder and frustrated murder in connection with the 2020 killing of former Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga.

The warrant of arrest issued by the Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court Branch 279 on Sept. 13 directed authorities to arrest Garma, Leonardo, as well as Jeremy Causapin, Santie Mendoza, and Nelson Mariano.

Barayuga, a former police brigadier general and a lawyer, was gunned down in broad daylight on July 30, 2020, by a motorcycle-riding gunman in Mandaluyong while on his way home. His driver survived the attack.

Alleged masterminds

Garma and Leonardo were tagged by Mendoza as the alleged masterminds behind the killing of Barayuga.

During House inquiries into extrajudicial killings and the bloody antinarcotics campaign of the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Mendoza, a member of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, testified that between October 2019 and July 2020, Leonardo-then chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Davao-contacted him several times about a ‘special operation’ targeting Barayuga, allegedly for his involvement in illegal drugs.

Mendoza said he understood ‘special operation’ to mean an order to kill and claimed Leonardo told him the directive came from Garma.

He added that he felt coerced into joining the plot because Garma and Leonardo had the strong backing of Duterte and were his seniors at the Philippine National Police Academy.

Both Garma and Leonardo denied Mendoza’s allegations, insisting they had never met him prior to his testimony at the House hearing.

In October 2024, the National Bureau of Investigation ordered the revival of the cold case into Barayuga’s July 2020 ambush-slay.

Potential witness

Garma, who was appointed general manager of the PCSO by Duterte following her retirement from police service, had separately revealed in the House hearings that the Duterte administration implemented a ‘Davao template’ reward system for police officers tasked to carry out killings in its signature ‘war on drugs.’

She was also implicated in the killing of three convicted Chinese drug lords at the Davao prison in 2016, when she was still in the police force.

She applied for asylum in the United States, but the application was denied, and she was deported earlier this month from Los Angeles.

Shortly after her deportation, she traveled to Malaysia to meet with representatives of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as a potential witness in the crimes against humanity case against Duterte.

NBI chief Jaime Santiago told the Inquirer on Monday that Garma was still in Malaysia.

Department of Justice spokesperson Jose Dominic Clavano IV said the government could now move to have her passport canceled, since ‘local processes have to take precedence.’ For his part, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said he believed the arrest warrant against Garma would not affect her possible testimony before the ICC. -with a report from Inquirer Research INQ

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Sen. Mark Villar on Tuesday called for ‘well-thought-out, coordinated, and contextualized’ infrastructure projects that specifically respond to the needs of the Filipino people and the country.

During the hearing of the Senate committee on public works, which he chaired, Villar said the Philippines needs projects that promote connectivity, are people-centered, and are sustainable.

‘The past ‘Build, Build, Build’ program was an example of how impactful infrastructure projects are. It illustrates how high-impact projects promote overall development by stimulating economic growth, promoting tourism, and, most importantly, future-proofing our country,’ he said.

‘Ultimately, this Senate committee seeks to collaborate, complement, and cooperate with the national government agencies’ priority public works and legislative agenda,’ Villar added.

He urged the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to present its plans for people-centric, sustainable, and disaster-resilient infrastructure. ‘We sincerely want to have quality infrastructure that will truly last long and withstand natural disasters,’ he said.

Villar also asked the DPWH to provide the Senate panel with a concise but comprehensive and transparent briefing on the department’s current situation.

Likewise, he inquired about how the agency plans to respond to the people’s demands, ‘not just on basic infrastructure and flood control issues, but on the holistic infrastructure and public works agenda.’

Senate President Vicente ‘Tito’ Sotto III attended the first full meeting of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) for the 20th Congress held at Malacañan Palace, presided over by President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., together with House Speaker Faustino ‘Bodjie’ Dy III and other officials.

The meeting tackled the alignment of priority bills of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Executive branch, alongside the adoption of the Common Legislative Agenda presented by Secretary Arsenio Balicasan, PhD of the Department of Economy, Planning and Development (DEPDEV) and Head of the LEDAC Secretariat.

Discussions focused on improving healthcare and education, promoting inclusive agriculture and livelihood, strengthening the energy sector, and pursuing governance, digital, and financial reforms to spur economic growth and deliver efficient public service.

‘These priorities reflect our collective effort to ensure that policies are both responsive to the immediate needs of the people and consistent with our long-term development goals,’ Sotto said.

Other members of the Senate who were present included Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel F. Zubiri and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian.

The LEDAC serves as the highest consultative and advisory body to the President on socio-economic development, strengthening coordination between the Executive and Legislative branches of government.

The specific bill ni SP included in the Common Legislative Agenda is the Freedom of Information Bill.

This bill provides for full public disclosure of all government records involving public interest, and upholds the constitutional right of people to information on matters of public concern.