Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

Toll roads and cell towers, among many others, may soon be considered ‘REIT-able’ assets. These are properties that can be added to the portfolio of entities wishing to establish their own real estate investment trusts (REITs).

This, as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeks to amend the rules of the REIT Act of 2009. The SEC wants to liberalize access to the local capital market.

REITs are corporations that invest in income-generating real estate assets, like malls and office buildings and renewable energy power plants.

These are the most common asset portfolios of REITs in the Philippines. They include the Ayala group’s AREIT Inc., Citicore Energy REIT Corp., Filinvest REIT Corp. and the Gokongwei group’s RL Commercial REIT Inc.

According to SEC Chair Francis Lim, part of their proposed amendments to the REIT law is the addition of other allowable investments for REITs.

Currently, the law allows investments in real estate, real estate-related assets and investible funds, among others. However, it does not explicitly define which income-generating assets are qualified.

‘We will enumerate them in order to minimize issues,’ Lim told reporters in a recent interview.

Lim cited the Civil Code, which states that real estate assets are immovable properties. Going by this definition, he pointed out that cell towers may be characterized as REIT assets.

Toll roads may also be considered, especially since these are income-generating properties managed by companies, Lim said.

In expanding the definition of REIT assets, the official explained that more firms would be able to list and participate in the local capital market. This would enable access to other sources of funding.

The SEC earlier expressed interest in revisiting the law’s rules as part of its goal of attracting more investors in the Philippine corporate sector and making it ‘one of the best in Southeast Asia.’

SEC Commissioner McJill Bryant Fernandez earlier told the Inquirer the draft amendments will be released for public comment within ‘early October.’

Apart from expanding the definition of qualified assets, the SEC is also considering changes to the law’s provision on tax income deductibility.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) reported that crime rates nationwide fell by 13.82 percent over the past three months.

From July to September, the police recorded 8,988 incidents of focus crimes, down from 10,430 during the same period in 2024, PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) chief Brig. Gen. Matthew Baccay said in a briefing at Camp Crame on Monday.

Focus crimes include murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, and carjacking of motor vehicles and motorcycles.

Baccay also said crime rates have been declining over the past nine months, from 30,126 incidents recorded between Jan. 1 and Sept. 25, 2024, to 25,648 incidents during the same period in 2025.

Data from the DIDM showed that murder cases fell from 3,042 to 2,549; homicides from 932 to 794; physical injury cases from 4,112 to 3,404; rape cases from 7,191 to 5,540; robbery cases from 3,164 to 2,629; and theft cases from 9,886 to 9,009.

Additionally, motor vehicle carjacking cases dropped from 230 to 191, while motorcycle thefts fell from 1,569 to 1,532, according to the DIDM.

HPG

Later in the briefing, Col. Hansel Marantan, Highway Patrol Group (HPG) director, said the police’s traffic unit recorded 14,111 for not wearing helmets; 7,063 violations for not wearing seatbelts; 187 violations for driving cars without import commodity clearance (ICC) stickers; and 34,681 other traffic infractions from Sept. 1 to 30.

Marantan added that the HPG recovered 94 stolen motor vehicles and 37 stolen motorcycles; arrested 44 alleged carnappers; and confiscated 474 blinkers from motor vehicles during the same period.

He further touted that the HPG began coordinating with the Land Transportation Office for checkpoints to catch drivers under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs, with a pilot test last Thursday apprehending at least 20 drivers for minor traffic violations in Quezon City.

The HPG chief also said the police’s traffic unit will begin checking vehicles with white backgrounds and green alphanumeric characters to ensure they are certified hybrid or electric vehicles.

‘We will check the motor vehicles sporting green plates because they need to bring the certification from the Department of Energy to qualify for exemption from the number coding scheme,’ he added in Filipino.

Last Sunday, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority issued a statement announcing that it had approved the appeal of a motorist whose electric vehicle was wrongly flagged for violating the number coding scheme through the no-contact apprehension policy.

Electric vehicles are exempt from the number coding scheme through Republic Act No. 11697 or the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act. /mcm/abc

Police authorities here have identified one of the two gunmen who ambushed and killed a youth council chair and his brother over the weekend in the city’s commercial district.

‘The PNP has identified and is actively investigating a person of interest who may have a direct link to the crime,’ City Police Director Col. Jibin Bongcayao said in a statement Monday.

Bongcayao withheld the suspect’s name but confirmed that a follow-up investigation is underway, backed by CCTV footage from business establishments and city government street cameras.

The victims, Prince Mohaz Matanog (Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson of Barangay Poblacion 5) and his brother, Muamar Matanog, were on board a car traversing Sinsuat Avenue at about 10 a.m. Saturday, when two men on a motorbike opened fire. Both victims were declared dead on arrival at the hospital.

Bongcayao said one of the police personnel who first responded to the ambush was injured when the suspects traded shots with lawmen. One of the two gunmen was also hit in the back and is now the subject of a massive manhunt.

Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Matabalao has offered a PHP500,000 cash reward for any credible information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible

The police chief of Nebraska’s largest city acknowledged Friday that police nationwide are more likely to pull Black people out of their cars at gunpoint than other racial groups as Omaha grapples with growing outrage over champion boxer Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford being ordered out of his car at gunpoint only hours after the city held a downtown celebration in his honor.

‘Quite frankly, that is generally a true statement. The number of stops are disproportionate. That is nationwide,’ Police Chief Tobb Schmaderer said at a news conference to address an internal investigation into Crawford’s traffic stop.

The police confrontation with Crawford, who is Black, has reignited long-simmering tensions between Omaha’s Black community and its police force. Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, one of three Black state lawmakers in the Nebraska Legislature and a vocal critic of Omaha police and the state’s justice system, said he was disappointed – but not surprised – by the police stop.

‘I urge the people to keep speaking out and demanding real change boldly and unapologetically,’ McKinney said in a Facebook post earlier this week. ‘Our lives are at risk, and we have endured oppression for far too long.’

According to a U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics’ special report released in 2022, Black and Hispanic people were more likely than white people to experience the threat or use of force by police in 2020. Black people were also more likely to be shouted at by police than white people.

Police chief long an advocate for community policing

Schmaderer has long been an advocate of community policing that aims to build trust between officers and the public they patrol. He said Friday that he understands there is a lot of anger in the community over the treatment of Crawford – a favorite son of Omaha after making history by becoming the first male boxer to capture three unified division titles.

‘We understand the importance of this traffic stop to our community, and the implications and the impression it has given out,’ he said.

But he said a nearly completed internal investigation into the traffic stop shows the officers involved did not violate department policy.

According to their reports, the officers spotted a high-performance sedan without license plates pull out of a downtown parking garage around 1:30 a.m. Sunday and quickly accelerate to more than twice the 25 mph (40 kph) speed limit. The officers did not know Crawford was driving the car, Schmaderer said, before they pulled it over. Two officers approached it – one on the passenger side and another on the driver’s side.

Schmaderer said the initial interaction was cordial, which he assessed through body camera footage. Crawford, who was driving, told the officer at his window that the car was new and ‘had gotten away from him.’

At that point, a member of Crawford’s security team who was in the passenger seat told the officer at his window that he was carrying a legal handgun, Schmaderer said. Crawford, who was leaning over the car’s console, told that officer he also had a legal firearm, but the officer at the driver’s side window didn’t hear that exchange, Schmaderer said.

That is when the officer on the driver’s side spotted Crawford’s gun on the floorboard by his feet, pulled his service weapon and ordered Crawford and three other people out. Schmaderer said Crawford and the others were handcuffed for about 10 minutes. Police confirmed all occupants of the vehicle were legally permitted to carry firearms and let them go after about 30 minutes, ticketing Crawford on suspicion of reckless driving.

Crawford’s spokesperson said Friday that the boxer had no comment.

Video of incident won’t be released, chief says

Schmaderer said he will not be sharing police video of the stop unless Crawford agrees to it.

‘We don’t have a fatality here. We don’t have an officer-involved shooting, and it’s generally not our protocol to release that footage under those circumstances,’ he said.

Crawford’s stop by police came after the city held a parade through downtown streets in Crawford’s honor, followed by a party to celebrate his 38th birthday at a live music venue near where the stop occurred.

The celebration came after Crawford earned the unified super middleweight championship with his unanimous decision victory over Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 13 in Las Vegas. Crawford is 42-0 with 31 knockouts.

Erling Haaland said the secret of his blistering start to the season is being able to relax with his baby son after the Manchester City star extended his hot streak in Sunday’s 1-0 win at Brentford.

Haaland struck with a typically predatory finish in the ninth minute and City survived a second half dip to climb into fifth place in the Premier League.

The Norway striker has netted in nine consecutive appearances for club and country – the longest scoring run of his career.

Haaland already has 12 goals in nine appearances in all competitions this season, plus six in two matches for Norway, with Tottenham the only team to stop him scoring in the current campaign.

The 25-year-old believes he is in the best shape, both mentally and physically, of his prolific three-year spell at City.

And he puts that down to the birth of his first child in December.

‘I have never felt better than I do now. It is about preparation, getting ready for the games. You can be physically ready but you need to be mentally ready,’ he said.

‘With a kid it makes me even better because I disconnect more than ever. I don’t think about football at all.

‘When you are young you think of this and that and maybe worry about things but when I get home I relax even more. I think I need to give a shout-out to my son.’

Haaland’s 18th goal for club and country this season leaves Anfield as the only ground he has yet to score at in the Premier League.

Pleased with the way he eluded Brentford’s central defenders to convert Josko Gvardiol’s long pass with a fierce finish, Haaland ranked the goal among his best in the City career.

‘This for me this goal is top. This was one of my better goals for me because of the whole thing,’ he said.

‘It was a tough game, and reminded me of Stoke City with Rory Delap 15 years ago. They are huge and do throw-ins from the middle so of course it is not easy but it is about preparing for what is going to come and analysing well and we did.’

Haaland has scored a remarkable 94 Premier League goals in just 104 appearances in the competition since arriving from Borussia Dortmund in 2022.

He thrived against Brentford despite the suffocating attention from their massed defence.

No wonder Barcelona president Joan Laporta is said to be determined to launch a bid for Haaland after reportedly making the striker his top transfer target.

Haaland, who signed a new nine-and-a-half year contract in January, is just focused on helping City chase Premier League leaders Arsenal, who sit three points clear of Pep Guardiola’s team.

A low block is not easy, five people around us at all times. It is why it is not easy and why it feels even better to win,’ Haaland said.

LA Tenorio was quick to deflect the full credit for emerging triumphant in his debut as Magnolia coach in the PBA Philippine Cup on Sunday, which came at the expense of his former team Barangay Ginebra.

Tenorio could only praise his players after the 80-73 victory for the way they were able to jump at the start with a 10-0 lead before foiling flashes of comeback by the Gin Kings before a big crowd at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

‘I guess they really want to get this first win for me so I appreciate my players and I hope this is the start of the journey for the Magnolia team,’ Tenorio said after also prevailing in his battle of wits with Ginebra counterpart and long-time mentor Tim Cone.

‘But it’s not about me. People only look at me but they have to see the bigger picture. I’m just here to guide them. At the end of the day, it’s them against the five Ginebra players on the court, not me against Coach Tim because we can only do so much.’

Magnolia got big contributions from Zavier Lucero, who picked up where he left off from making the Mythical Second Team and All-Defensive Team last season, with 17 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.

Jerom Lastimosa and Javi Gomez de Liano were also vital in the win that should give the Hotshots some confidence in their quest to end the long title drought with Tenorio calling the shots.

Tenorio, however, doesn’t want to get carried away too much.

‘I feel great that we got the win, but we did not achieve anything. It’s just one win in the standings,’ he said.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue has extended deadlines for the filing of tax returns and payment of corresponding taxes, as well as the submission of other required documents for affected taxpayers in Cebu, which was hit by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake.

Taxpayers and BIR personnel under the jurisdiction of Revenue District Office No. 80 (Mandaue City, Cebu), No. 81 (Cebu City, North), No. 82 (Cebu City, South), No. 83 (Talisay City, Cebu), and No. 123 (Large Taxpayers Division – Cebu), including their authorized agent banks, will benefit from the extension of all deadlines falling within October 2025.

All tax obligations falling due within October 2025 may now be filed and paid on or before Oct. 31, 2025, as provided under Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 88-2025. The complete list of covered BIR forms and returns is enumerated in the circular.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) turned over abandoned and forfeited goods to the Office of Civil Defense to support relief operations for earthquake victims.

The donation, which came mostly from the Manila International Container Port, included 56 pieces of rapid emergency tents and 1,087 pieces of assorted tents to serve as temporary shelters, as well as 50 units of mobile power supply to provide electricity in affected areas.

The BOC also donated one bio-toilet unit to ensure proper sanitation for displaced residents.

The donated items were declared abandoned and subsequently forfeited in favor of the government./tad

When American investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed during the 2008 global financial crisis, seven Philippine banks-with combined exposure amounting to $386 million-had to bite the bullet.

Ayala-led Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) wasn’t one of them.

That BPI was the only major bank that emerged unscathed from the mortgage subprime crisis was largely due to banking luminary Xavier P. Loinaz.

As a member of the executive committee, he vetoed a proposal to buy any subprime instrument at a time it was the hot asset class on Wall Street.

‘I don’t care if it is triple A-rated. If we don’t understand it, we are not buying it,’ Loinaz said in a meeting that discussed the proposal. This is based on the recollection of Monetary Board member Romeo Bernardo, a former BPI director who had seen Loinaz at work for decades.

This is but one example of Loinaz’s ‘high level of diligence and risk management mindset,’ he said.’I have personally been educated on banking and good corporate governance, even before it became fashionable, by him in my two decades as a bank director-something I much value in my present job,’ Bernardo told the Inquirer.

The banking community is mourning the loss of Loinaz, who died on Oct. 4, about a week short of his 82nd birthday.

Known as ‘XP’ at work, Loinaz served as president and CEO of BPI from 1982 to 2004, one of the longest leadership tenures in Philippine banking.

BPI president and CEO Jose Teodoro Limcaoco said Loinaz’s leadership had defined an era of resilience and innovation for BPI, and guided the bank with discipline and foresight through some of the most challenging periods in Philippine history.

Loinaz helmed the bank through episodes of political turbulence and economic crises, including two people power revolutions, coup d’état attempts, the debt crisis in the 1980s and the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

After stepping down as CEO, he continued to guide the bank for another 16 years until 2020.

He retired due to health reasons and survived a previous bout with pancreatic cancer.

‘To us at BPI, Xavier Loinaz was not only a visionary leader but also a mentor and an inspiration. He taught us discipline, integrity, and the importance of serving with purpose. The innovations he introduced, and the people he guided, continue to carry his legacy forward,’ Limcaoco said.

‘We will always be grateful for his steady hand and his belief in the Filipino spirit. He leaves behind an institution made stronger by his leadership-and a family of bankers who will forever remember him with respect and gratitude,’ added Limcaoco.

As BPI chief, Loinaz took the big steps and embarked on a number of mergers and acquisitions (MandAs) to scale up BPI.

Four significant MandA deals were done during his term: Family Bank in 1985, CityTrust Banking Corp. in 1995, Far East Bank and Trust Co. in 2000 and DBS Philippines in 2002.

Limcaoco noted that the purchase of Family Bank from the Gotianun family became BPI’s gateway into consumer banking.

‘Tough but fair’

His successor as CEO, Aurelio Montinola III, was among Loinaz’s mentees.

‘Xavier was my mentor and friend. He was a fearless, no-nonsense innovative leader who shaped BPI banking from 1979 to 2004. Tough but fair, feared by some but loved by all, intimidating but kind. We will all miss him,’ Montinola said in a text message to the Inquirer.

During his tenure, BPI became the first Philippine bank to introduce automated teller machines or ATMs in the early 1980s and later launched internet banking in 1999.

Aside from landmark banking MandAs, Loinaz’s acquisition of life and property and casualty insurance companies also marked the dawning of bancassurance in the Philippines, a pioneering step that integrated banking and insurance services for Filipino families.

Limcaoco recalled that Loinaz had led the purchase of Ayala Life, FGU Insurance Corp. and Universal Reinsurance.

‘He eventually merged UniRe with Malayan Reinsurance to form today’s Philippine National Reinsurance Corp.,’ he said.

In the bank’s official statement, BPI said Loinaz would be remembered ‘for his wisdom, integrity and commitment to excellence-values that remain a guiding presence for the institution long after his presidency.’

‘His vision was also not just for the bank, but for a stronger, more inclusive Philippines. XP’s legacy extends far beyond the walls of BPI. He touched the broader business community and the many lives of people he mentored, guided, and inspired along the way. To those who had the privilege of working with him, he was more than a leader-he was a model of excellence, humility and unwavering faith in the Filipino,’ the bank said. /cb

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has yet to record any crimes in Cebu province after the magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck last Sept. 30.

‘One commendable thing is that of our people are really peace-loving Filipinos, especially in Cebu. Zero recorded focus crime. That’s in Cebu,’ acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a press briefing in Camp Crame on Monday.

Focus crimes include murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, and carjacking.

‘The actual rehab [is now putting] northern Cebu, the entire Cebu into normalcy,’ the acting PNP chief further claimed.

The Office of Civil Defense previously said it had ended search and rescue operations in the province after all missing persons were accounted for.

However, the PNP remained on ‘full alert,’ focusing on relief and rehabilitation. More than 2,500 police officers from Central Visayas and surrounding regions have been deployed.

‘We supported them with the necessary administrative support like human resources, our logistics and just so that it will be continuous, we gave them subsistence allowances,’ Nartatez said.

In a phone interview with reporters in Camp Crame later on Monday, Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO 7) Director Brig. Gen. Red Maranan said they were now only deploying 1,500 officers as authorities turned to recovery efforts.

‘We’re now at the relief and rehabilitation phase. We’re helping deliver relief goods being brought to our areas,’ Maranan said in Filipino.

He further said police were helping to set up tent cities for affected individuals, opening police assistance desks at the evacuation sites to maintain peace and order.

At least 72 have died and 559 others were injured as of 6 a.m. on Monday, according to the latest National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) situation report.

Meanwhile, according to Maranan, at least 193 PRO-7 personnel said the earthquake damaged their homes while more than 30 of the region’s police stations also sustained damage./apl /abc

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has acknowledged the potential of blockchain technology in enhancing data transparency in the national budget and government projects.

In the first part of the fifth episode of the BBM Podcast aired on Monday, Marcos was asked whether blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI) are among the solutions to ensure that future budgets are free of these insertions and anomalies.

‘I haven’t seen any AI that is specifically geared towards that. Blockchain is something that could work,’ he responded.

‘However, what has happened has been that we have violated the rules. Those rules exist and simply we don’t. In the last decade, they stopped following the rules,’ he also said.

Blockchain technology is a decentralized and immutable digital ledger that records transactions in blocks, linked chronologically in a chain, creating a shared, tamper-proof database stored across multiple computers in a network.

During last week’s hearing of the Committee on Science and Technology, Sen. Bam Aquino pushed for the proposed Senate Bill No. 1330, also known as the Philippine National Budget Blockchain Act, stating that it will strengthen collaboration among the executive and legislative branches of the government, as well as with other groups.

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

‘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 added.