Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

The Philippines recorded its narrowest trade deficit in six months in August, but the improvement masked new signs of weakness as higher American tariffs began to weigh on exports to the United States.

Filipino exports grew by 4.6 percent to $7.1 billion, the weakest pace of expansion in eight months, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported on Tuesday.

Notably, outbound shipments to the US–which imposed a 19 percent tariff on Filipino goods beginning Aug. 1–collapsed by 11.2 percent. But this was offset by higher demand from other trading partners like Hong Kong (+26.4 percent) and Japan (+4.7 percent).

Imports, meanwhile, contracted by 4.9 percent to $10.6 billion in August, snapping two straight months of growth. Purchases of raw materials dipped by 6.2 percent while energy imports fell by 34.2 percent.

Front-loading tapers

A closer look at the data suggested the slowdown in exports reflected a tapering of the pre-Aug. 1 rush to take advantage of lower tariffs.

Imports, meanwhile, pulled back, signaling a cooling in domestic demand that could leave the consumption-driven economy more vulnerable to external headwinds.

Even so, Filipinos still imported $3.54 billion more than they exported in August. That trade gap was 19.4 percent smaller than a year ago and marked the narrowest shortfall since February’s $2.97 billion.

For the first eight months of the year, the trade deficit reached $32.38 billion, 6 percent lower than the same period last year.

Normalization

John Paolo Rivera, a senior research fellow at the state-run Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said the latest data may reflect a normalization of trade flows after the Aug. 1 US tariff deadline had ended.

Rivera flagged ‘slower domestic activity and the tapering off of pre-tariff front-loading,’ adding that ‘downside risks remain from global uncertainties and tighter financial conditions.’

Miguel Chanco, an economist at London-based Pantheon Macroeconomics, said such a decline reflected ‘a deterioration in actual import demand, rather than an unfavorable turn in commodity prices.’

‘Real import demand in the Philippines has had a bleak third quarter so far,’ Chanco said.

Looking ahead, PIDS’s Rivera said, ‘A sustained trade recovery will depend on export diversification and improving logistics competitiveness.’ /dda

Enraged by reports of corruption in the country’s flood control and infrastructure projects, students, faculty, and the union of Brokenshire College here gathered at the school grounds on Tuesday to express their indignation and outrage.

‘As a Christian institution devoted to preparing the next generation of medical and health professionals, we condemn the outright theft of public resources that ought to fund life-saving health services,’ said United Church of Christ of the Philippines Bishop Hamuel Tequiz, president of Brokenshire College Inc., in a statement read by college chaplain Rev. Grace Alquiza-Bangisan.

‘Under the auspices of the (UCCP), Brokenshire College stands firmly rooted in the Christian faith and refuses to remain silent in the face of state corruption and the flagrant mockery of justice that haunts our nation,’ said Tequis, in a statement read during the rally at the school grounds. ‘Scripture unequivocally calls us to protect the vulnerable,’ he added, quoting Proverbs 31:8-9, ‘Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.’

The students and teachers were joined by the bishops of four major religious groups who convened the Panaw Mindanaaw, a faith-based alliance committed to justice, peace, and human dignity, and vowed to fight corruption.

‘Corruption is not only a violation of the law, it is also a serious transgression against life,’ said the statement signed by Panaw Mindanaw conveners Bishop Dente R. Palicte of the UCCP; Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) Bishop Romeo Tagud, president of the Mindanao-West Bishop Conference, United Methodist Bishop Israel Painit, and Fr. Raymund Ambray of the Roman Catholic Church.

Panaw Mindanaw said that resources for education, health, housing, sustainable livelihood, and other basic social services are siphoned into the pockets of unscrupulous leaders, deepening poverty, weakening democratic institutions, and fueling violence and injustice in the land.

‘Every centavo stolen is a betrayal of the people’s trust and a denial of God’s justice,’ said the Panaw Mindanaw statement distributed during the rally. ‘Corruption is a direct assault on the poor-the anawim-who are already most vulnerable to exploitation, neglect, and oppression. Leaders are called to servant leadership, not to self-enrichment at the expense of the people.’

Carrying huge streamers that read, ‘Never again to Tyranny!’ ‘We demand justice, accountability,’ ‘Ibagsak ang Burukrata Kapitalismo,’ students, teachers, and union members marched outside the gate of the university, where they prayed and lit candles with the bishops./coa

The Department of Energy (DOE) has imposed a 60-day price freeze on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and kerosene in Cebu following the 6.9-magnitude earthquake. In a statement, the agency said this was meant ‘to protect households from undue economic burden and guarantee the continued availability of essential fuel products.’

The DOE warned that retailers and distributors who fail to comply would face penalties.

It is also coordinating with local government units to prevent overpricing and profiteering.

Tropical Depression (TD) Paolo is forecast to make landfall over Isabela or Northern Aurora on Friday, Oct. 3.

In its 11 a.m. tropical cyclone bulletin, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) reported the weather system’s position at 760 kilometers east of Virac, Catanduanes.

It was carrying maximum sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour (km/h) near the center and gusts of up to 55 km/h, moving westward at 25 km/h.

Paolo is expected to intensify over the Philippine Sea and may reach severe tropical storm or typhoon category by Friday. It is less likely to affect weather conditions in the next 24 hours, although heavy rains are expected to begin on Friday.

According to Pagasa, no wind signal is currently hoisted, but Signal No. 1 may be raised over the eastern portions of Northern and Central Luzon in the afternoon or evening. Signal No. 3 is likely to be raised upon its passage.

Meanwhile, Pagasa also reported that at least nine tropical cyclones are expected to enter or develop within the PAR in the remaining months of 2025, with another 12 also projected between October 2025 and March 2026.

The forecast was released during Pagasa’s 188th Climate Outlook Forum. The 189th forum is set on October 29, where updated projections and climate advisories will be discussed

After my recent lectures in Canberra and Sydney, some remarked in jest, that I would be at a loss because Jose Rizal did not visit Australia. Rizal is not the end-all of my research, and I find Filipiniana everywhere. At the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, dedicated to casualties from World War I to more recent wars where Australians acted as peacekeeping forces, I found, etched in stone in one of the cloisters, the name ‘Philippines.’ Aussies died in the Philippines in World War II. In a Salvation Army store in Sydney, in search of a lost Amorsolo, I found a 1950s doll in Filipiniana attire. A female figure in a floral terno made me presume that it originally came as a pair, but the man in the barong tagalog was missing.

Before I left Manila, I went over the online catalog of the National Library of Australia (NLA). I looked up the papers of the pioneering prehistorian of the Philippines, H. Otley Beyer, who gave generations of Filipinos the now-outdated ‘Waves of Migration Theory.’ Beyer dated the Banaue Rice Terraces at over 2,000 years old, later corrected by Dr. Stephen Acabado, whose research gives an approximate date of about four centuries, or within the early Spanish period. Even though outdated, Beyer remains of interest to me because of the mountain of research he collected. He left 195 volumes of typescripts (mostly term papers of his UP students), mainly ethnographies from various parts of the Philippines, which provide a window into life in the early 20th century, and the changes brought into Philippine society by the American occupation. I have read and written columns using these papers on the balut industry in Pateros and the shoe industry in Marikina.

Acquired by the Australian National University in 1972, the collection also contains maps, photographs, and various publications now rare. While the Beyer ethnographic series is available in microfilm from the National Library of the Philippines and the UP Main Library, there is no substitute for actually handling the original materials. This is a personal sacrifice on my part, not just for time and effort, but because I am allergic to book dust. Can you imagine a historian allergic to the very source of his livelihood?

On my first day in the library, I asked to consult the microfilm, but the librarian suggested it was better and faster for me to consult the original documents. The boxes I requested took longer than usual to be retrieved from storage, and when the librarians checked on the online database, they gasped, ‘This is a rather large collection.’ I told them a lot of the material had been lost during the war, and during the various times the collection was moved from one place to another. Part of Beyer’s collection of prehistoric stone implements and tektites was dispersed, and I saw some in antique stores in the 1980s. I had to return the next day to see the boxes.

While waiting for my Beyer material to be retrieved from storage, I searched the online catalog and looked up the papers of Alexander Dalrymple, who was in Manila during the British occupation from 1762 to 1764. From his letters, there was nothing on Manila or the Philippines, so I requested the auction catalog of Dalrymple’s ‘extensive and valuable library of books.’ These were sold piece by piece in London from May 29, 1809, in a sale that ran for almost a month. On the first day alone, manuscript dictionaries of Tagalog and Kapampangan were sold. Two copies of the printed 1732 edition of the Augustinian Diego de Bergaño’s ‘Bocabulario de Pampango en Romace’ were sold on the first and second days of the auction. On the fifth day, a ‘Vocabulario de la Lengua Bisaia’ from 1637 went on the block. The NLA had three copies of the auction catalog, and I made the mistake of asking for the copy with penciled notes that turned out to be incomplete.

I hope to return another time to request the complete set because on the 27th day of the auction, ‘Unpublished Manuscripts’ were sold. One section of these was devoted to items ‘Brought from Manilla’ or rather part of the British pillage of Manila. From this list alone, I would want to see: ‘Various Letters,’ the ‘Bucabula Rio (sic) Visaya,’ a dictionary of Visaya; the ‘Iventarium Generale Libros Conventio Manilensis Philippinarum,’ or the inventory of San Agustin Church in Intramuros; the ‘Libro de Gouverno,’ or papers on the term of Hurtado (de Corcuera), governor general of the Philippines from 1635 to 1644; ‘Vocabulario Tagalo Español,’ a dictionary compiled by a certain ‘Hortez’ in 1726; ‘Papeles de Taagolos (sic)’ or Papers on Tagalogs in three volumes; and 20 bundles simply marked ‘Varios,’ or various papers. Finally, a bundle of various manuscripts that are described as, ‘from Manilla, very curious.’

These materials have been lying in plain sight, scattered in libraries throughout the world. Many have been located, digitized, and made available on the 1762 Archive website. Old materials that will provide new histories from younger historians.

The confirmed death toll in Cebu has risen to 19 following the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck late Tuesday night.

According to the Cebu Provincial Information Office, nine adults and four minors died in Bogo City. Based on an initial report from the Capitol, most of the victims were crushed when their homes collapsed. Bogo City was the epicenter of the quake.

In San Remigio, five deaths were confirmed, including a 10-year-old child.

Raymond Frasco of the San Remigio Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said three of the fatalities were personnel from the Philippine Coast Guard, while one was a member of the Bureau of Fire Protection.

They were reportedly trapped and crushed by concrete inside a gym where a basketball league between the two agencies was being held during the earthquake.

The local government has placed the entire San Remigio under a state of calamity due to damages caused by the quake.

Meanwhile, through his official Facebook account, Mayor Rex Gerona confirmed that a senior citizen in Tabuelan also died during the strong earthquake.

Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro said the Office of the President has reached out to ensure aid from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s office will be extended.

After an emergency meeting at the Capitol, the governor will proceed to Danao City, where an Emergency Operations Center will be established to respond to the quake’s impact in northern Cebu.

Dump trucks and boom trucks from her office will also be deployed to assist with clearing and rescue efforts./mcm

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned of moderate to heavy rain showers over Metro Manila and nearby provinces within the next two hours.

In a thunderstorm advisory, Pagasa said Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas and Nueva Ecija may also be affected.

Thunderstorms were already observed in Cabangan and San Felipe, Zambales, as well as in Tagkawayan, Quezon, and may persist while spreading to nearby areas.

In its earlier forecast, Pagasa said Tropical Depression Paolo, now inside the Philippine Area of Responsibility, is not yet affecting the country. The rain showers and thunderstorms are caused by the easterlies, or winds blowing from the east, which will soon signal the transition from the southwest monsoon (habagat) to the northeast monsoon (amihan).

But by Friday, Paolo is forecast to bring heavy rains and make its landfall over Isabela and Aurora. It is likely to develop into a severe tropical storm, according to the weather bureau.

I didn’t know how often I lay in my room, alone and cold, in the middle of the summer, ruminating about how isolated I was with no safe place to go. The fan blew hot air over me, circling the tiny space I had seemingly memorized. The window remained closed, blocking me from the overwhelming light that threatened to spill over the hollow lines, as if reaching to fill the cave inside of me. Despite the heat that should’ve engulfed me as the sun rose, as its silent presence then loomed over me, I could not feel the warmth, and I simply sat on my bed unmoving.

Mechanical, rational, and agonizing thoughts clawed at my chest-overwhelming me, until loneliness gave way to emptiness. I struggled to breathe, but I memorized how to calm myself down: inhale, exhale, repeat. When I managed to calm down, the desire to be normal slowly settled painfully, and with that, the unexplainable self-pity kicked in-it was hard to accept that these were the closest access I had to my feelings, to the real me, yet it was still as vague as an unnamed thing. Perhaps this was exactly one of the reasons why I wanted to learn more about the social sciences-the discipline for so long looked at me like a mystery waiting to be unraveled. And maybe not so much of a plot-twist it was when, somehow, I landed in the sociology program at PUP Sta. Mesa.

The word ‘anomie’ introduced itself to me in my freshman year. To Merton, anomie is the disjunction between goals and means due to structural inequality; to Durkheim, it is, at its simplest form, the breakdown of norms due to rapid social change and lack of moral regulation. The varying definitions spoke to me, that more than just a simple alienation-that word bearing the weight as if the excruciating grief of being different was my fault-I am the product of the construct of the world that I knew was quite wrong, I just didn’t have the knowledge to name it. So I held onto these six letters.

It was the closest word that could possibly explain the undesirable void that occasionally visits me without any warning. I wanted to chew it, recite it, and use it to reason out myself like a comfort, molding its form into something that I can grasp. With this knowledge, I could almost move on from everything that did me wrong in my past.

Yet as I once again drown in the darkness, the familiarity of the abyss pulling me in, it simply looks at me fall from above with indifference. I realized that I could simply not just discard and leave what made me different. I could almost visualize its face-the same face of people I knew who would repeatedly choose comfort over disturbance with or without a second thought.

For so long, interacting feels like performing, and if you ask me at the end of the day, relationships-a concept that values harmony-feel as if I am inside a bubble.

Yet inside those same fragile spaces I once occupied were a number of people who chose to be disturbed by me, reaching, like an attempt to touch, something akin to love. Those bubbles held an expectation that was meant to be shattered by my inability to be contained, and I couldn’t quite swallow the profound experience of feeling something as close to love and recognition that holds the power to define me incorrectly.

It is quite safer to mentally remain in the chamber of change, and what I made home of darkness that makes it easy to leave. Therefore, when they let me break through the bubble, when it got so uncomfortable already, they have proven that it was meant to be simply just a bubble, and to me, this feels like their noiseless abandonment of me, a slip of betrayal.

I go about my day pretending that I do not carry an invisible weight of accountability like a responsibility, but I occasionally spiral down with the same emptiness that perhaps may have only masked the piled up hatred over everything. I long to be normal, to dream so big that reality would not be able to discourage me. I want relationships and life to feel more than just a duty. I long to be the person who has no inkling of difference that takes me away from the light or makes people I want to love leave me like a pattern. I hope to be preconditioned in my system, so that no amount of unkind people who do me dirty can bring out the worst of me.

Tonight, greeting the ‘ber’ months, as I lay in the same old room of mine, I realized I did it again. I let relationships die like they were nothing. Except this time, the light was blinding white and the room was cold, and I did not mourn nor blame myself for being too much or too little. I swallowed the consequences, and little by little, I am learning to embrace, unapologetically, who I became as a result of anomie.

A 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck off Bogo City, Cebu, late Tuesday night was felt across Eastern Visayas, sending thousands of residents into the streets and causing structural damage in several provinces.

The quake, which occurred at 9:59 p.m., lasted several seconds and triggered panic among residents in Tacloban City and surrounding areas.

‘I thought I was just dreaming,’ recalled Sharon Gatmaitan, a Tacloban resident who was visibly shaken after the tremor.

In Naval, Biliran, power was cut after the Biliran Electric Cooperative shut down its substation as a precaution. The cooperative said electricity will be restored once facilities are declared safe and stable.

The quake also disrupted a basketball game at the Naval gym, where hundreds of spectators rushed outside in panic. Mayor Gretchen Espina confirmed that a portion of the gym’s ceiling was damaged. The local engineering office has been tasked with assessing the facility’s structural integrity.

In Leyte town, a landslide occurred in Sitio Tabengue, Barangay Wague, rendering the area impassable. The municipal disaster risk reduction and management office also reported cracks in a bridge in Barangay Consuegra, raising safety concerns.

In Ormoc City, Leyte, patients at Ormoc Doctors Hospital were evacuated as a precaution. Students attending a school program at the city’s superdome also rushed out when parts of the structure reportedly collapsed.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) reported that the earthquake caused the Leyte, Samar, and part of the Bohol grid to separate from the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid. NGCP confirmed damage at its Daanbantayan Substation in northern Cebu, near the epicenter, and said four 230-kilovolt transmission lines in the Visayas tripped.

‘Aerial and foot inspections, as well as restoration work, will be in full swing as soon as the situation allows, as there are still aftershocks in the area,’ NGCP said in a statement shortly after the quake.

Authorities are continuing to assess the extent of the damage while monitoring for possible aftershocks. /mcm

The entire province of Cebu has been placed under a state of calamity following the strong earthquake that struck the island late Tuesday night, which caused widespread destruction and a death toll now confirmed to be at 36.

The Cebu Provincial Information Office said that 36 fatalities have been recorded as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, of whom 27 were reported in Bogo City, the epicenter of the 6.9 magnitude quake that struck at 10 p.m. on Tuesday.

In an emergency online session early Wednesday presided over by Cebu Vice Governor Glenn Soco, the 17th Sangguniang Panlalawigan unanimously approved the state of calamity declaration to enable a faster and more efficient response to the growing needs on the ground.

‘This declaration is necessary to give our provincial government the ability to respond quickly and effectively. It allows us to mobilize resources, extend immediate assistance to affected families, and implement rehabilitation measures as we begin our recovery,’ Soco said in an official statement.

The Provincial Board members attended the session on Wednesday morning remotely, as many are stationed in their respective districts to monitor the situation and assist constituents