Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

The Senate has sought to modernize budget transparency and accountability through the use of ‘blockchain technology’ in a bid to make the national budget publicly available, ensure accessibility, easy to understand, and open for citizen engagement.

During Thursday’s hearing of the Committee on Science and Technology, Aquino said the proposed Senate Bill No. 1330 or the Philippine National Budget Blockchain Act will strengthen collaboration across the executive and legislative branches of the government, civil society organizations and other stakeholders who play a vital role in sustaining and deepening democracy.

‘By no means this is the only solution, but many of us here believe that this can be one of the major solutions to our problems. Putting the budget on the blockchain is a way to ensure that every peso of the people’s money is monitored,’ Aquino stressed.

‘The bill is a possible solution so that every Filipino knows how the country’s money is being spent. Blockchain was also made a priority because it is transparent, honest, and secure,’ he added.

According to Aquino’s proposed measure, blockchain technology provides a powerful tool for this transformation, and its design guarantees accountability.

‘Through blockchain, all budget transactions become transparent, immutable, auditable and accessible to citizens in real time,’ said Aquino.

While the national budget is one of the most important instruments of governance, Aquino said documents related to it have remained closed, highly technical and difficult to understand, making oversight almost impossible even for those who want to scrutinize them.

‘This ensures that every peso can be tracked by the public. No more ‘fly-by-night’ contractors. No more hidden projects unknown to local governments,’ he said, adding that prices of materials can be easily compared across contracts.

‘To put our national budget on the blockchain answers many concerns and issues with our current system, where there are insertions and ghost projects. The public can see how people’s money is spent,’ he said.

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Fifty years after the iconic ‘Thrilla in Manila’ bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at Araneta Coliseum, another heavyweight clash unfolded at the Big Dome-this time on the hardcourt.

Lyceum and Mapua, two title contenders in the NCAA Season 101 men’s basketball tournament, traded blows in an instant classic that mirrored the grit of that historic 1975 boxing match. But instead of 14 brutal rounds, the Cardinals and Pirates battled through 50 grueling minutes and two overtimes.

On Wednesday, it was Mapua-last season’s champion-that played the role of Ali, emerging victorious with a 90-89 win to open their title defense.

‘We expected this game to be tough because Lyceum came prepared. We’re the defending champs-everyone wants to beat us,’ said JC Recto, who led Mapua with 16 points and nine rebounds. ‘All we focused on in overtime was staying composed and ready.’

In a fitting twist, Philippine boxing legend Manny Pacquiao was in attendance to witness the league’s season opener-a nod to the boxing heritage of the venue.

Final blow

Recto delivered the killer punches when it mattered most. With Lyceum up 80-77 in the first overtime, the forward powered through contact for an and-one to tie the game with 34.6 seconds left.

He wasn’t done. In the second extra period, with Mapua trailing 87-84, Recto again muscled his way inside to knot the score at 87-all with 1:09 remaining.

‘I just let my instincts take over,’ he said. ‘Clint (Escamis) wasn’t there, but that didn’t mean we should focus on who was missing. I just did what the coaches asked.’

Escamis fouled out in regulation and finished with eight points.

The final blow came from rookie guard Cyrus Cuenco, who split his free throws with 12 seconds left-enough to give Mapua the edge it needed.

Cuenco finished with 14 points, while Earl Sapasap and Yam Concepcion added 16 and 13, respectively.

Despite a 23-point explosion from Renz Villegas and a 14-point, 12-rebound double-double from Michael Versoza, Lyceum fell short in its opener.

Holding firm A. Soriano Corp. (Anscor) has sold its 22-percent stake in casual dining chain operator The Bistro Group to the Cheng family for P1.91 billion.

In a regulatory filing on Thursday, Anscor said it had sold its shareholding in TBG Food Holdings Inc. to Inoza Business Holdings Inc., a newly established holding firm affiliated with Progeny Global Holdings Inc.

Progeny, owned by the Cheng family, owns integrated poultry producer Bounty Fresh and limited-service food retailer like Chooks-to-Go and Uling Roasters. The transaction represents value realization by Anscor of its investment in TBG, Anscor said in its disclosure.

New principal

Anscor had acquired a minority stake in the casual dining group in 2024 while the Chengs gained majority control this year. ‘Anscor extends its best wishes to the Bistro and Inoza teams. We are confident they will continue delighting Filipino consumers with their quality dining experiences for many years to come, and we look forward to seeing their continued success,’ it added.

The Philippine Competition Commission approved Inoza’s plan to acquire a majority stake in TBG in August. This was after considering the impact of the deal on the nationwide supply of chicken meat, table eggs, pork and beef. TBG’s brands include Italianni’s, TGI Fridays and Texas Roadhouse. /dda

Wall Street stocks rose again Wednesday, shrugging off the partial US government shutdown as major indices finished at records amid hopes for more Federal Reserve interest rate cuts.

Both the Dow and SandP 500 closed at fresh records as investors focused on poor US employment data, which boosted expectations that the Fed could cut interest rates later this month.

US government operations began grinding to a halt at 12:01 am (0401 GMT) Wednesday after Republicans and Democrats failed to break a budget impasse in Congress. The closure will see non-essential operations halted, leaving hundreds of thousands of civil servants temporarily unpaid, and many social safety net benefit payments potentially disrupted.

But analysts note that shutdowns have not significantly weighed on markets due in part to the view that the negative impacts from closures can be reversed once the government reopens.

‘History reminds us that government shutdowns have typically been more headline-making than bottom-line impacting,’ said CFRA Research’s Sam Stovall.

Job cuts

Investors took note of a report from payroll firm ADP that showed the US private sector had shed 32,000 jobs last month. ‘The market’s getting a little bit excited that this is something where the Fed can continue cutting interest rates,’ said Tim Urbanowicz, chief investment strategist at Innovator Capital Management.

‘There’s this kind of middle ground where the data is not showing a lot of strength, but it’s not weak enough where people start getting concerned about recession.’

Analysts said the weaker job market cements expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates twice more this year, after lowering borrowing costs last month for the first time since December.

But investors are concerned the US government shutdown could prevent the release Friday of the key non-farm payrolls report – a crucial data point for the Fed on rate decisions.

Pharma play

European markets were lifted by pharmaceutical shares after Pfizer was granted reprieve from Trump’s tariffs by agreeing to lower drug prices in the United States. Shares in British pharma giant AstraZeneca rose more than eight percent and GSK was up over six percent in London.

Several US pharma names also rose, including Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb, while Lithium Americas Corp. surged 23.3 percent after announcing it would grant the US government an equity stake as part of the restructuring of a loan from the Department of Energy.

In Asia, Tokyo’s stock market sank, while Hong Kong and Shanghai were closed for holidays.

Key figures at around 2030 GMT

New York – Dow: UP 0.1 percent at 46,441.10 (close)

New York – SandP 500: UP 0.3 percent at 6,711.20 (close)

New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 22,755.16 (close)

London – FTSE 100: UP 1.0 percent at 9,446.43 (close)

Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 7,966.95 (close)

Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.0 percent at 24,113.62 (close)

Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 44,550.85 (close)

Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: Closed for a holiday

Shanghai – Composite: Closed for a holiday

Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1728 from $1.1734 on Tuesday

Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3476 from $1.3446

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 147.14 yen from 147.90 yen

Euro/pound: DOWN at 87.04 pence from 87.27 pence

West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.9 percent at $61.78 per barrel

A magnitude 5.0 earthquake struck a Northern Samar island town on Thursday evening, according to state seismologists.

The offshore earthquake occurred seven kilometers northeast of San Vicente municipality at 6:21 p.m., with a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).

Phivolcs said aftershocks are expected after this earthquake.

This temblor comes two days after the magnitude 6.9 earthquake which occurred in a nearby Bogo City in Cebu province.

At least 72 individuals reportedly died and 294 injured due to the temblor, which damaged several heritage churches, billions worth of roads and bridges, many residential houses and hundreds of classrooms, while causing widespread power outages in the province.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) announced that electricity services in Eastern Visayas have been fully restored following the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Bogo City, Cebu, on Tuesday night.

In its 10:00 p.m. advisory on Wednesday, NGCP said that the Leyte-Samar sub-grid was completely restored at 7:12 p.m., ensuring normal power supply in the region despite several transmission lines in other parts of the Visayas still being down.

The quake forced four power plants to shut down, leaving 348.2 megawatts of supply unavailable.

On the transmission side, the Tabango-Kananga 230kV Line 1 was restored at 9:18 p.m. Still, other major lines remain out of service, including the Daanbantayan-Tabango and Daanbantayan-Compostela 230kV Lines, as well as the Leyte-Luzon 350kV High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Line.

Earlier, NGCP placed the Visayas grid on yellow alert after reserves fell below the required level. This was lifted at 9 p.m. after available capacity reached 2,239 megawatts against a peak demand of 1,950 megawatts.

A yellow alert is issued when the operating margin is insufficient to meet the transmission grid’s contingency requirement.

NGCP assured the public that transmission services in the Visayas grid are now operating normally, and that restoration work on the remaining affected facilities continues.

The second-highest official of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), Parliament Speaker Pangalian Balindong, rejoined his Creator at about 1 a.m. Thursday at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Makati City due to an undisclosed illness, his family and regional officials announced.

Balindong was 85 years old.

Balindong, who has led the interim regional legislature since its creation in 2019, would also be buried on Thursday in Lanao del Sur.

BARMM interim Chief Minister Abdulraof Macacua said the regional government mourns the passing of Balindong, the second-highest leader of the Bangsamoro transition government.

‘He was more than a leader-he was a guiding light whose wisdom, humility, and dedication touched the lives of many. His legacy of service to the Bangsamoro will live on in our hearts,’ Macacua said in a statement.

Member of Parliament Naguib Sinarimbo described Balindong as ‘an important pillar of the Bangsamoro struggle who waged it both in and out of government.’

He said Balindong was a pioneering lawyer, together with fellow lawyer Zacaria Candao, in providing legal assistance to the Moro liberation movements.

The Meranaw lawmaker is the eldest son of Sultan Amer Macaorao Balindong, former mayor of the Municipality of Malabang, and Hajjatu Maimona Marohom Balindong.

He obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree in 1966 from Manuel L. Quezon University and passed the bar examinations the following year.

A delegate to the Philippine Constitutional Convention representing the lone district of Lanao del Sur in 1971, Balindong is also a member of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa).

He served as legal counsel of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in its peace talks with the government in Libya.

Balindong attended numerous international conventions and conferences on Muslim Filipinos in the Southern Philippines.

He was an assemblyman of the defunct autonomous region from 1993 to 1995 and was later elected as a member of the House of Representatives in the 10th Congress, representing Lanao del Sur’s second district, replacing Sultan Ali Dimaporo.

A new coalition of communities and environmental groups has vowed to block the construction of a ?26-billion waste-to-energy (WTE) incinerator project in Smokey Mountain, Tondo, warning that it will worsen pollution, displacement, and corruption.

On September 30, hundreds of residents, including waste pickers and urban poor families facing eviction, gathered for the Day of Action Against Incineration to launch the Manila Against Incinerator Alliance (MAIA).

The group is opposing a priority project of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno that aims to burn garbage to produce energy while also addressing clogged drainage and flooding.

Communities push back

MAIA members warned that the project, to be built in Barangay 128, Smokey Mountain, will harm residents instead of solving Manila’s long-standing waste and flooding problems.

‘It is easy to put the blame on our litter as the source of flooding, but behind this narrative is the issue of persistent neglect of the need for comprehensive and transformative solutions to flooding and waste problems and the consistent rejection of hearing the pleas of marginalized communities,’ said Niña Fegi, coordinator of Panatang Luntian.

Urban poor organizations Samahan ng Magkakapitbahay sa Upper Smokey Mountain – KADAMAY, Samahan Para sa Maayos na Tahanan at Hanapbuhay (SMTH), and Samahan ng Nagkakaisa at Nagdadamayang Marala Organization (NANAMOR) led the protest against what they called forcible evictions tied to the project.

Incineration is ‘not renewable’

Former Bayan Muna lawmaker Ferdie Gaite, now president of the government employees’ group COURAGE, said that while WTE is being closed down in Europe, it is being pushed aggressively in the Philippines.

He stressed that municipal waste is not renewable energy, yet WTE incineration continues to be falsely categorized as biomass energy. Such projects, Gaite added, move forward because proponents disregard legal bans on incineration and avoid genuine consultation processes.

Labor leader Leody de Guzman criticized the project’s priorities, arguing that funds should have gone to housing for the urban poor in Smokey Mountain.

‘They are not only stealing money from us, but they are also stealing clean air away from us,’ he said, warning that Manila risked becoming a dumping ground for imported waste.

Funding under scrutiny

The $500-million project is partly financed by a $415.2-million loan from the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with a $84.8-million counterpart from the national budget.

According to the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), an international network focused on environmental justice, the World Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank continued to support the flood-control portion of the project despite earlier findings of corruption, land disputes, and inadequate assessments.

However, both institutions dropped the WTE component in 2024.

Still, GAIA noted that Malacañang pressed forward with the incinerator, tapping PhilECo, Kandenevia, and businessman Ramon Ang as potential investors.

Mayang Azurin, deputy director for campaigns of GAIA Asia Pacific, said the project ‘is moving so fast in a time with extraordinary exposés on corruption in infrastructure projects and breaches in environmental and climate thresholds.’

‘It is obvious that powerful elites of politicians, companies, and their international financial institutions, as their backers, can ignore everything to benefit from this WTE incineration project,’ Azurin added.

Ecowaste Coalition’s Kweyn Camillon Tagaduar, MAIA co-convenor, said corruption was diverting public funds from the people’s needs. ‘The people of Manila have greater force than the power of a few politicians and companies,’ she declared, as the crowd echoed her call to block the project.

MAIA urged the public to support its petition against the incinerator.

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has stepped up relief efforts to assist victims of the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu and nearby provinces Tuesday night.

Acting on the orders of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., PCSO General Manager Mel Robles directed branch offices and authorized agent corporations to deliver aid to affected communities.

Piona Trading and Supply Corp. and King Dragon Gaming and Amusement Corp. were among the first to respond, donating food and other essentials to the Cebu provincial government on Wednesday. Additional donations from other authorized agents were en route, PCSO said.

Charitimba food packs were included in the initial relief efforts. Evacuation supply kits – including mosquito nets, plastic mats, blankets, slippers, flashlights, pillows, towels and other necessities – were airlifted via a C-130 aircraft Wednesday afternoon to support survivors.

‘Our thoughts are with our kababayans in Cebu and the surrounding areas,’ Robles said. ‘PCSO is closely monitoring the situation and will extend further assistance to ensure the safety and well-being of those affected. We are working tirelessly to bring comfort during these challenging times.’

Robles added that the spirit of bayanihan was alive in their efforts and encouraged residents to remain resilient and united, ‘knowing that help is on the way.’

PCSO said it remains committed to a holistic response that goes beyond medical assistance, with comprehensive relief efforts for disaster-stricken communities.

According to the Office of Civil Defense, the earthquake resulted in more than 70 deaths and over 150 injuries.

Robles vowed the PCSO will continue to coordinate with authorities to support relief and rehabilitation efforts.