Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

A minor earthquake with a magnitude of 2.5 hit Calatagan town in Batangas province on Monday morning.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported in its bulletin that the tectonic earthquake’s epicenter originated 8 kilometers southwest of the locality with a depth of 108 km.

The tremor occurred at 7:25 a.m.

A tectonic earthquake is produced by sudden movement along faults and plate boundaries.

The minor quake is not likely to cause damage, and aftershocks may not occur, Phivolcs said.

Calatagan is located 71 km from Batangas City and 131 km from Metro Manila.

Batangas is one of the most seismically active areas in the Philippines, primarily due to the Lubang Fault, located between Mindoro Island and Batangas./coa

The southwest monsoon, or ‘habagat,’ is expected to dissipate in the next few days or hours as it continues to weaken,according to the state weather bureau.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) on Monday afternoon said it is expecting the beginning of the northeast monsoon, or ‘amihan,’ season.

The ‘habagat’ brings warm, moist air with rain from the ocean, while the ‘amihan’ carries cool, and dry weather with slight rainfall.

Pagasa also reported Typhoon Halong is not less likely to enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).

Halong was tracked at 4 p.m. around 2,005 kilometers east-northeast of extreme Northern Luzon, moving west-northwest at 10 kilometers per hour (kph)

Halong has maximum sustained winds of 100 kph, and gusts of up to 125 kph, Pagasa said.

Pagasa is also monitoring a cloud cluster southeast of the country that may develop into a low-pressure area, which is likewise not likely to enter PAR.

Rain and thunderstorms due to the northeastern windflow and the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), however, is forecast in the Visayas, Mindanao, and the following areas in Luzon:

Quezon

Aurora

Cagayan Valley

Ilocos Norte

Apayao

Palawan

Meanwhile, rain showers due to localized thunderstorms are expected in Metro Manila.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has suspended the driver’s licenses of the owner and the assigned driver of a car in Makati City that went viral for using blinking reverse lights, an illegal car accessory in the Philippines.

According to a copy of the show-cause order released by the Department of Transportation on Monday, the licenses of the registered owner and the driver were suspended for 90 days while the case is under investigation.

The owner and driver were directed to appear before the LTO’s Intelligence and Investigation Division in Quezon City to submit a notarized explanation on why they should not be administratively charged for violating the Accessories of Motor Vehicles rule, or Section 34(d) of Republic Act 4136.

They were also instructed to bring the vehicle for inspection, which has already been placed under alarm status.

‘Failure to appear and submit the notarized comment/explanation as required shall be construed by this Office as a waiver of your right to be heard, and the case shall be decided based on the evidence at hand,’ the order reads./mcm

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