Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Two House of Representatives lawmakers on Wednesday called on Commissioner Mario Lipana of the Commission on Audit (COA) to resign, amid the discovery that his wife is a contractor doing business with the government and allegations that he received funds from flood control projects.

During the discussions on COA’s proposed 2026 budget at the plenary, Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima and ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio called on the current COA leadership to ask Lipana to tender his voluntary resignation.

Lipana was named by former Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) as among those who allegedly took cuts from allocations intended for infrastructure projects.

‘So how then do we reconcile the sacred mandate with the testimonies made during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing directly implicating a sitting COA commissioner – Mario Lipana – in the 25 percent commission scheme involving DPWH flood control projects?’ de Lima asked.

‘Of course, there is still the presumption of innocence, this remains to be allegations, but given the fact that he’s supposed to be a high official in the commission, supposed to be the independent fiscal watchdog of our country, and we cannot afford to have that particular issue surrounding a commissioner taint the Commission,’ she added.

According to de Lima, she had asked COA Chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba to talk to Lipana, who is on a medical leave from August 1 to October 31, to just resign.

If Lipana does not resign, de Lima said there will be no other choice but to initiate impeachment proceedings against him, as the official is supposedly dragging down COA’s reputation.

‘I have told Chairperson Cordoba, actually urged him to talk to him and convince him to tender his resignation given the conflict of interest situation borne out of the reports about the fact that his wife appears to be, or has been confirmed to be, a contractor,’ de Lima said.

‘And that’s why I was urging the Chairperson to talk to the Commissioner to, if he can tender his resignation or apply for early retirement, because his scheduled retirement would be in 2027. This is better than forcing us to initiate impeachment proceedings against him, because as an impeachable official, he can only be removed via impeachment proceedings,’ she added.

Tinio, on the other hand, stressed that Lipana violated provisions of the 1987 Constitution – specifically Article IX, Section 2 – states that no constitutional commission member should be directly or indirectly in contract with franchises or privileges granted by the government.

‘It is clear, again, under the constitution, no member of a constitutional commission shall during his tenure hold any other office or employment, neither shall he engage in the practice of any profession or in the active management or control of any business which in any way be affected by the functions of his office, nor shall he be financially interested directly or indirectly in any contract with, or in any franchise or privilege granted by the government,’ Tinio said.

‘So again, what I am saying is, there should be no direct or indirect financial interest for any commissioner of a constitutional commission, and this includes COA,’ he added.

According to Tinio, Lipana should consider the welfare of COA as an institution.

‘My point is that it is clear that there is a constitutional violation, we prohibit this, and yet Commissioner Lipana is still there. So once again, Mr. Speaker, we strongly call on the commissioner to consider the status of COA as an institution, because its credibility has been badly damaged as we have a commissioner whose wife is one of the flood control contractors,’ he said.

‘That’s why again, our call is that Commissioner Lipana should resign immediately so that we can regain and restore the credibility and reputation of COA,’ he added.

Medical leave

De Lima also asked the budget sponsor, Davao del Sur Rep. John Tracy Cagas, if Cordoba has discussed with Lipana her advice – that Cordoba talk with Lipana about the voluntary resignation.

In response, Cagas said that Cordoba has yet to discuss the issue with Lipana because the latter cannot speak due to his medical condition.

‘So has the Chairperson done that already? Talked to him about it, the possibility of tendering resignation or early retirement?’ de Lima asked.

‘Mr Speaker, the Chair has not conversed with the mentioned commissioner, Mario Lipana, for the reason that Commissioner Lipana cannot talk, the cause of which is stated in a medical certificate,’ Cagas replied.

‘He cannot talk. So is he in the hospital? He does not have someone to watch over him? Can’t we do it through a written communication or an exchange of communication with him?’ de Lima asked again.

De Lima said she does not want to sound insensitive as it seems that Lipana is facing a serious medical issue, but public interest should be upheld at all times.

The spotlight on flood control projects came after Marcos’ speech at his fourth State of the Nation Address, where he condemned government officials and firms who allegedly earned kickbacks at the expense of people suffering from heavy flooding even during mild rain showers.

Marcos said these officials and contractors should be ashamed of themselves.

Eventually, Marcos inspected different flood control projects that were labeled completed – which he later found out to be either substandard or completely non-existent.

Both the House and the Senate investigated the issue, but eventually, senators and House members were dragged into the discussions.

At the Senate blue ribbon committee hearings, several lawmakers were name-dropped by contractor-couple Pacifico ‘Curlee’ Discaya and Cezarah ‘Sarah’ Discaya for allegedly receiving kickbacks from the projects.

Then during the House tri-committee hearing, former Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Hernandez said that Senators Joel Villanueva and Jinggoy Estrada brought funds to Bulacan’s first district for anomalous flood control projects, where the two senators asked for a 30 percent cut from the project cost.

Lawmakers, along with Villanueva and Estrada, separately denied these accusations.

But eventually, former Bulacan district engineer Henry Alcantara tagged Villanueva, former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co, former senator Bong Revilla, and Bernardo as allegedly involved in the kickbacks scheme for infrastructure projects.

Former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Roberto Bernardo has refused to provide any statement after attending the hearing of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on the flood control anomalies investigation.

Bernardo was exiting the ICI building in Taguig City at around 12:40 p.m. this Wednesday with his counsel, when the media tried to get his comment about the ICI hearing he had just attended. undersecretary In his testimony before the Senate blue ribbon committee last week, Bernardo alleged that Escudero, as well as former Senators Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. and Nancy Binay, received kickbacks from allocations for projects of the DPWH.

He also tagged Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co, who recently resigned as a member of the House of Representatives, on the anomaly.

The municipality of Medellin has been placed under a state of calamity on Wednesday, Oct. 1, following a magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Cebu province.

In their official announcement on Facebook, Medellin officials said that the Medellin Municipal Hall and its annex buildings sustained damage from the tremor.

Rescue teams are responding to multiple emergencies across the town.

An Emergency Operations Center has been activated at the Regional Evacuation Center near the Medellin Public Market to coordinate the response.

The tremor shook Cebu on Tuesday night, Sept. 30, damaging heritage churches and knocking out power. Its epicenter was located 21 kilometers east of Bogo City.

As the NCAA begins a journey to its second century, two goals have emerged for the country’s oldest varsity league: Go home and fly off to the world.

Season 101 opens Saturday with the NCAA hoping to build a grassroots base for potential Olympians, even as it treks back to the place where everything began.

League officials announced on Tuesday that the new season will introduce four Olympic sports that will be played in the second semester of this school year-weightlifting, boxing, gymnastics and golf. The sports will be played as demonstration events for now.

‘We want to farm out the focus into those sports,’ said Paul Supan, the Jose Rizal U athletic director who is the school’s representative to the NCAA management committee. ‘The past 100 years, the NCAA has been contributing to the national training pool; in basketball, swimming, track and field.

‘If one of our students can get into the national team, represent the country and bring glory to the country, then it’s mission accomplished for us,’ he added.

Supan said the four sports will go through the regular process before they can become part of the official calendar of events, including getting consistent representation from all member-schools for three years.

‘The important thing is to get it started, bring [schools and athletes] together and see how we can develop [national athletes],’ he said. ‘The NCAA is [focused on] grassroots and we want to ferry [athletes] to the elite level. Whatever we can start, we will start.’

‘We want to give a chance to student-athletes who want to represent the national team,’ said lawyer Lorenzo Lorenzo, the representative of Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC).

Meanwhile, Lorenzo, EAC’s vice president for administration, said the NCAA is slowly finding its way home to Rizal Memorial Coliseum, its former hotbed that was home to some of the fiercest collegiate rivalries in the past.

‘For now, the availability [of Rizal Memorial Coliseum] is still limited, but we are moving toward the direction of holding more games there,’ Lorenzo said.

Coming home

‘Bringing back games [to Rizal Memorial] will be nostalgic,’ Supan added. ‘Old-timers will be able to reminisce the games that were played here.’

Season 101 will kick off with the men’s basketball tournament at Smart Araneta Coliseum with host Mapua taking on Lyceum at 2 p.m. and San Beda battling St. Benilde after.

The four demonstration sports have had a lot of success in the international field, with weightlifting, gymnastics and boxing producing medals in the Summer Games.

Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, incidentally a product of NCAA school St. Benilde, won the country’s first Olympic gold medal when she ruled her division in the weightlifting competition of the Tokyo Olympics. Three years later, Carlos Yulo became the first double-gold winner of the Philippines when he ruled two events in the Paris Games.

San Remigio, Cebu, was placed under a state of calamity after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the province Tuesday evening.

In a Facebook advisory, the San Remigio local government said the quake caused ‘widespread damage and disruption to the lives of our constituents.’

Municipal Mayor Mariano Martinez said the local government aims to facilitate immediate response and relief efforts, including mobilizing resources, providing assistance to affected communities, and implementing measures to prevent further harm.

‘The Sangguniang Bayan will convene an emergency session as soon as possible to formalize this declaration through a resolution,’ he said.

‘In the meantime, the local government will work closely with national agencies and stakeholders to address the needs of our constituents,’ he added.

The mayor urged the public to ‘remain vigilant and cooperate with authorities in responding to this disaster.’

Based on the latest update from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the center of the magnitude 6.9 quake-initially reported as 6.7-was located 21 kilometers northeast of Bogo City, Cebu, at a depth of 5 kilometers.

Phivolcs said aftershocks are expected and property damage may occur.

The agency also issued an advisory for possible minor sea-level disturbances following Tuesday evening’s quake./mcm

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.