Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has taken custody of a suspected underwater drone recovered by local fishermen in the waters off Barangay Barangonan, Linapacan, Palawan, according to Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea.

Tarriela said the device-approximately 13 feet long-was discovered on Sunday by a group of fishermen from Sitio Tapic, Barangay New Colaylayan, Linapacan, during routine fishing operations.

Later that same evening, the fishermen handed over the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) to coast guard personnel. It has since been secured at PCG Station Linapacan for further verification, technical examination, and investigation, in coordination with relevant national security agencies.

The AUV is now undergoing detailed forensic analysis to determine its origin, operational history, and any potential security threats.

‘The sensor includes Chinese labeling and a serial number (CTD-20090334), along with visible corrosion from prolonged saltwater exposure. It is mounted on a rugged metal frame, typical of components in autonomous underwater vehicles commonly known as underwater drones,’ Tarriela added.

He noted that this incident is the latest in a string of similar recoveries in Philippine waters since July 2022./coa

Apart from naked greed and selfish political agendas, a faulty understanding of national budgeting principles may have led our legislators to feel little guilt or shame over their unprecedented self-serving national budget realignments. Massive amounts reallocated in the 2025 budget to spurious flood control projects came prominently from the defunding of nearly P300 billion in official development assistance (ODA) or foreign loan-funded projects and from relegating them to the unprogrammed budget. This part of the budget, which has ballooned after 2022, is, in effect, a ‘waiting list’ of expenditure items that can only push through if unexpected additional funds become available. By implication, these are lower-priority expenditures that the country can afford to set aside in favor of those in the main or programmed budget.

The problem is, ODA projects are nothing like that. They are by nature priority projects, having passed rigid scrutiny by the interagency Investment Coordination Committee and rigorous technical analysis by the Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (formerly National Economic and Development Authority). They form part of the Public Investment Program accompanying the Philippine Development Plan and are essential to the fulfillment of our PDP goals and targets. For our ODA partners, PIP projects are the ‘shopping list’ of priority projects from which they can choose what to fund with their soft loans (loans with lower interest rates and longer grace periods and repayment terms) to be truly responsive to our development goals. These are most certainly not low-priority projects we can set aside in favor of budget insertions by legislators, many of which have turned out to be ‘ghost’ projects that put fabulous sums in the pockets of conniving lawmakers, government officials, and contractors-as is now being exposed in full view.

Why the seeming lack of hesitation to shove aside ‘counterpart funding’ for ODA projects despite these having high priority? Most lawmakers don’t seem to understand what these ‘counterpart funds’ really are, a misunderstanding I’ve found to be common since my days in the government in the 1990s. The term ‘counterpart’ misleads many, including lawmakers, to think of it simply as the government’s equity share in the funding for ODA projects, and that the foreign lender’s ‘counterpart’ will still be there to spend even without the government’s share. But that is not the case.

‘Appropriations cover’ is the better term rather than ‘counterpart funds’ for the budget allocation needed to release ODA loan proceeds. Every peso of ODA loan proceeds needs to be appropriated in the budget to be spent. In the national fiscal accounts, ODA loan proceeds are treated as ‘deficit financing,’ not additional funds to the government’s budgetary resources from taxes, fees, and other revenues. That is, ODA project loans, which must be paid back, count as part of the total government borrowing to finance the deficit, or the gap between its revenues and expenditures, which now cumulatively totals P17 trillion. (On the other hand, foreign grants that need no repayment are automatically appropriated, hence need no budget line. Here, the term ‘counterpart’ is correctly used as it’s widely understood and is indeed the government’s equity shares to supplement the donor’s grant.)

This is why shifting some P300 billion of ODA ‘counterpart funds’ to the unprogrammed budget is such a serious matter. It means none of the shifted ODA project’s loan funds will get released at all, unless the government manages to raise more revenues than were projected for the year. It’s an outright breach of loan agreements signed with our foreign partners, who have been scratching their heads over our seemingly irrational repudiation of assistance they have so kindly offered us, as this is what defunding the ODA programs amounts to. And because these soft loans are dispensed through financial institutions, customary commitment fees apply, meaning, if we don’t spend the funds, we pay the lender a penalty for keeping the money idle.

But the bigger cost our irresponsible lawmakers have brought upon our country is the chilling signal it has sent to the financial markets and investment community that our government is not to be trusted. The signs are already evident. The peso has been depreciating much faster than it should, even as the United States Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate easing should have moved it in the opposite direction (like our neighbors’ currencies have in fact done). While our peso declines in value, our neighbors’ currencies are moving the other way. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas won’t say it publicly, but they see the problem.

The insatiable greed in high places, now being exposed to all, is pulling the entire economy and country down. This time, we shouldn’t let them get away with it.

Oxford-Everything, everywhere, all at once. That’s how I felt shortly before heading out of the country again for yet another academic engagement. Barely a week after returning to the country following my visiting scholar stint in Canada, where I met senior policymakers, academics, and community members from across the country, I headed out to the United Kingdom to further hone my public policy analysis under a Jardine scholarship at the University of Oxford. Thanks to the generous (and highly competitive) scholarship and the impeccable academic environment at Oxford, I looked forward to finally carving out some time to fully focus on research, deep writing, and, overall, to embracing a measure of scholarly solitude.

Truth be told, my mind was tethered to developments back home, especially after an intense week that started with covering the historic ‘Trillion Peso March’ and, over the following days, holding long conversations with leading experts and citizens of the country. In fact, just before I flew out of the country, I hosted a quadrilateral episode for my ‘Deep Dive’ podcast with former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, a titan of our West Philippine Sea struggle; former Associate Justice Adolf Azcuna, a leading jurist who helped frame both the 1973 and 1987 Constitutions; and former Political Affairs Secretary Ronald Llamas, a rockstar pundit and a beating heart of social democracy in the Philippines. At the core of our discussions was a singular question: Are we peering into the abyss?

Just as I warned earlier this month (see ‘Fighting corruption: Brazil’s hard lessons,’ 9/16/25), comparative politics in developing democracies shows that anticorruption investigations tend to become polarizing, politicized, and ultimately destabilizing. This is especially the case if institutions are weak, clowns and crooks dominate elected offices, and the public is fed up with continuous cycles of corruption and misgovernance. As dramatic as it has been, the revamp in the government-starting from the change of leadership in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as the comprehensive purge of top leaders in the Department of Public Works and Highways-is far from sufficient. People are asking for blood, and heads have to roll. To begin with, the people’s outrage is palpable. From journalist Kara David to celebrities, such as Vice Ganda, prominent personalities are openly calling for the literal demise of corrupt officials or the reinstatement of the death penalty: ‘Sana mamatay sila!’ ‘Bring back the death penalty for corrupt officials. Jail even their families.’

Moreover, there seems to be no center of gravity, nor a clear road map. It’s far from certain where and how far President Marcos is willing to take his newly found anticorruption crusade when corruption is so endemic and could reach the highest echelons of power.

To put things into perspective, Sen. Panfilo Lacson has claimed that almost all senators, with the notable exception of principled progressives such as Sen. Risa Hontiveros, made shady insertions in the previous fiscal year. ‘It was humongous . I have never seen such amounts,’ the current chair of the Senate blue ribbon committee claimed, referring to at least P100 billion in de facto pork barrel funds.

Just like Brazil in the mid-2010s amid the ‘Operation Carwash’ corruption scandal, we might end up with the collapse of the entire political center. And this brings us to the third factor, namely the vultures circling and ready to destabilize and dismantle our democracy altogether.

The riots in Mendiola by unidentified elements are just the tip of the iceberg. ‘If only Sara Duterte were not the Vice President, you guys would have taken over,’ an administration ally shared in a closed-door meeting. He was referring to rumors of a possible coup. No less than Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Manny Mogato referred to an ‘attempt to unseat’ the President, with ‘a large Christian-denomination sect [meeting] with a top Army commander days before the protest’ to trigger an en masse defection in the barracks on the back of the massive anticorruption protest on Sept. 21. In fairness, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has vehemently rejected the rumors, which are yet to be substantiated.

What is clear, however, is that the next ‘Trillion Peso March’ may turn less peaceful if the chief perpetrators continue to enjoy impunity and the notorious Discayas are given de facto immunity under a witness protection program. Criminal liability is what people are demanding beyond the seeming theatrics of hearings and investigations.