Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

A coastal protection project that combines Dutch water-management expertise with the indigenous knowledge of a coastal community in this city is drawing interest from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and European countries as a potential model for addressing tidal flooding, land subsidence, and other effects of climate change.

Nearly 100 delegates from Asean and European countries visited the Nature-based Solutions (NbS) coastal protection project in the island village of Pamarawan during a three-day cross-learning program held Sept. 28 to Sept. 30.

The program, themed ‘Beyond the Risk: Strategic Choices for Climate Change Resilient Countries in Asean,’ brought together delegates from the Netherlands, Cambodia, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, and Asean member states, including representatives of the Asean Secretariat. The Dutch ambassador to the Philippines also joined the visit, according to Malolos Mayor Christian Natividad.

The Pamarawan NbS project covers about 14 hectares of coastline and shoreline defenses along Manila Bay. It uses locally available and discarded materials, including oyster shells, bamboo and coconut shells, to help protect the community from tidal waters and storm surges.

Natividad said the project grew out of an initial North Manila Bay Flood Protection Strategy study conducted by Dutch water-management firm Royal HaskoningDHV, which was tapped by the city government to develop the project’s detailed engineering design.

The project is considered the Philippines’ first large-scale NbS initiative of its kind, according to the city government.

Pamarawan, an island barangay adjacent to Manila Bay, can only be reached by boat.

Cross-learning program

Natividad noted the cross-learning program was conceptualized by Asean and European leaders during the International Water Week in Singapore in August. The program aims to allow participating countries to study the Malolos project and explore how similar approaches could be adapted to their own coastal communities.

But while the project draws on international expertise, Natividad said much of its implementation relies on the indigenous knowledge and labor of Pamarawan residents.

‘It is our people in Pamarawan who build all these,’ Natividad told the Inquirer.

He said the project seeks to restore shorelines that had been damaged by tidal waters and strong storm surges.

‘There were sea walls and dikes that were constructed by the government, but these were wrecked,’ Natividad added, attributing the worsening flooding problem to what he described as corruption, substandard materials, and so-called ghost projects.

Unlike conventional ‘gray’ infrastructure such as concrete seawalls, dikes, and floodwalls, the project uses natural materials to work with the environment.

‘This is a green project. This is Malolos’ way of trying to solve its tidal and fluvial problems without the use of concrete and cement. We are building with nature, not against nature,’ Natividad shared.

The project’s breakwaters, made partly from discarded oyster shells and bamboo, are designed to reduce the force of waves and tidal surges from Manila Bay while trapping sediments and debris carried downstream.

Climate change

Natividad said flooding in the area has been aggravated by rising sea levels due to climate change and the continued sinking of land.

While concrete dikes and walls can cost billions of pesos, he said, mangroves and bamboo can continue to grow even as land subsidence and sea-level rise persist.

The trapped sediments are expected to gradually raise the elevation of the shoreline and create conditions favorable for mangrove growth.

The city government has allocated P70 million for the project, which began construction in 2024 and is targeted for completion this year.

Natividad said the project could serve as Malolos’ contribution to global efforts to address tidal flooding, land subsidence, and other environmental challenges associated with climate change.

‘Even international communities want to adopt our Nature-based Solution project. It was first recognized in the international scene. It has been known in Malolos, then later in other towns and cities in our province and now, at the national level,’ he noted.

Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary Vince Dizon cited the Malolos NbS project as one of the flood-mitigation initiatives that the agency is considering for other coastal communities during a meeting with Bulacan officials on Sept. 18.

Dizon also visited the Pamarawan project on Sept. 29.

Natividad said Malolos hopes to share its approach with other coastal communities across the country.

‘We are an archipelago. We will restore nature as part of the solution. Imagine if the entire country will be greened through this project. We have already restored the elevation of our shoreline and our coastal areas because of the mangroves,’ he stated.

I once killed Cesar Virata by accident. It was during the pandemic. Word spread he’d succumbed to COVID-19. I tweeted he’d passed. Mercifully, he actually recovered. By all accounts, until the end, he was lucid and died in harness just last week.

In his days of political power (and after), I only knew him as a kind, quiet man who faithfully watched every Repertory performance of his wife, Joy. When I completed the audio production of ‘Twenty Speeches That Moved A Nation,’ he very kindly granted the use, gratis, of the theater of the Yuchengco Center for the launch. He was, as they say, a gentleman of the old school.

In the Götterdämmerung moment of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.-his last inaugural, besieged in the Palace-neither his ‘elected’ running mate, Arturo Tolentino, nor his Prime Minister, Virata, bothered to show up. Then again, his closest crony, Eduardo Cojuangco, was also absent; he had the best excuse: he was packing his bags, preparing to go into exile with his patron-pal. Tolentino, on the other hand, had privately taken his oath as ‘Vice President’ a day or two before. Typically, it was Virata who acted institutionally and pragmatically.

The day after Marcos fled, Doy Laurel recorded in his diary, ‘I met with Cesar Virata to agree on a smooth turnover of the Office of the Prime Minister. He agreed but asked for time to meet with Batasan MPs (KBL). My takeover was delayed because Virata said the Constitution requires that the Batasan must elect the PM. However, with sympathetic KBL MPs Yñiguez/Virata/JPE plus UNIDO stalwarts, I am assured of a clear majority.’

This is a startling, unexpectedly political glimpse into what we consider, to this day, to have been an essential characteristic of Virata: that he was never a politician, and always a technocrat. After all, he was the first to underscore this. Virata told Nicole CuUnjieng, ‘Marcos selected a very good Cabinet … His main instruction to us [was]: do your best in your own field, you let me know what you think is the best decision, and let me think about the political consequences of your decision, because we were not politicians.’

Teresa Tandem’s ‘The Rise and Fall of Virata’s Network: Technocracy and the Politics of Economic Decision Making in the Philippines’ (2018) summarizes Virata’s own view of his era: ‘In Virata’s own assessment, his network was weakened when Marcos’s health failed during an economic crisis in 1981 and after Benigno Aquino’s assassination in 1983. In those crises, Imelda Marcos’s network and Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Fabian Ver’s faction of the military network took power amidst the rise of an anti-dictatorship movement. The United States’ switch of support from Marcos to Corazon Aquino sealed the demise of Virata’s network.’

James Putzel of the London School of Economics never bought it: ‘In fact,’ he once wrote, ‘many of those portrayed as ‘technocrats’ were no more than representatives of the vested interests of the business community, and are better understood as a group within the oligarchy,’ and considered Virata the foremost example of this. But Lisandro Claudio in ‘The Profligate Colonial’ points to Virata and Gerardo Sicat as prepared to tackle entrenched orthodoxies: Virata, for example, pursued devaluation, which was anathema up to that time.

So where lies the truth? Whatever Virata’s origins and social standing, he was a man with feet firmly planted in academe who happened to have strong ideas that bucked the trend; but his ideas only had a fighting chance if given political backing, and to that end, he played the game-perhaps with more relish and finesse than his contemporaries noticed. Claudio quotes Teresa Tandem, who noted that they (Virata and Sicat) were ‘either oblivious to or simply ignored the political machinations of Marcos in perpetuating himself in power.’ Claudio adds a perceptive observation of his own: ‘Perhaps they were also seduced by the dictator’s power to remove policy roadblocks.’

The posthumous reputation of Virata rests on a counterfactual: what would the New Society and New Republic have been like if he hadn’t been there? Impossible to prove. Against the ‘what ifs’ must be ranged the what were’s: When Virata abolished the coconut levy, Marcos restored it; Imelda Marcos called him ‘Dr. No,’ after one of the Bond villains, because of his opposition to her pet ideas. His only power, then, was the reflected kind, and strictly limited by conjugal considerations when it came to Sir and Ma’am. Benito Legarda Jr. always pointed out the very high regard in which Virata was held abroad and that he was instrumental in saving the economy during escalating crises in 1981 and 1983, after Aquino’s assassination, ‘Crisis had turned into chaos, but if anybody could restore some semblance of order it was he.’

It was an impression the Great Dictator, with his gift for playacting the philosopher-king, had no problem fostering. Beth Day Romulo recounts in her memoirs that ‘We were all sitting around the dinner table at Keekarock Lodge in Kenya, after an exhilarating day spent viewing the wild game when Finance Minister Cesar Virata commented pointedly to the President: ‘For every King there are vultures.’ He went on to summarize what the guide had said: that the great lions killed only for food, not greed, and thus retained respect. President Marcos listened carefully and later was heard repeating the statement: ‘For every King there are vultures.”

In the end, it was the vultures that were kept fat and happy, and returned home from exile to achieve restoration. The technocrats? Then as now, left to clean up the mess they themselves helped create.

The southwest monsoon, or habagat, season has officially ended, but the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) will continue to bring rain to parts of the country, the state weather bureau said Monday.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said changes in the prevailing weather pattern, including the strengthening of a high-pressure system over East Asia and the southward migration of the ITCZ, led to the weakening of habagat-related winds and rainfall.

Pagasa weather specialist Charmagne Varilla said the weather bureau was expecting a transition to easterlies, with rainfall decreasing particularly over western Luzon and Visayas.

Despite the end of the monsoon season, Pagasa, in its 24-hour public weather forecast, said the ITCZ would continue to affect Palawan and Mindanao through Tuesday afternoon.

‘Based on our latest satellite animation, the Intertropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ, is currently bringing moderate to, at times, heavy rains over Palawan and the entire Mindanao,’ Varilla said.

Visayas, Mindanao, and Palawan may have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms, with moderate to at times heavy rains that could trigger flash floods and landslides in affected areas.

Metro Manila and the rest of the country, meanwhile, may experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms.

Pagasa also warned that severe thunderstorms may trigger flash floods or landslides.

Varilla said the ITCZ would continue to bring rainy conditions over the Visayas until Wednesday, while Mindanao would continue to face a high chance of rain over the next three days.

Pagasa was also monitoring Typhoon Choi-Wan, which was outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) as of 3 p.m. Monday.

The typhoon was about 2,570 kilometers east-northeast of extreme northern Luzon, with maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 215 km/h. It was moving northward at 20 km/h.

Varilla said the typhoon was not expected to enter the PAR or directly affect any part of the country.

Catholic priest Fr. Warren Puno and 34 fellow environmentalists launched a week-long protest march from Atimonan, Quezon, to Manila on Monday to denounce environmental destruction and injustices faced by marginalized communities.

Dubbed ‘Lakbay Panaghoy II – Kalikasan, Kapayapaan, Katarungan’ (Journey of Lament II – Environment, Peace, Justice), the 154-kilometer protest hike started after the 5 a.m. Holy Mass at the Our Lady of the Angels Parish in Atimonan. The march will continue until after Oct. 12.

‘This is more than just a protest. It is a journey of faith, prayer, sacrifice, and conviction,’ Puno, 48, head of the Ministry of Ecology of the Diocese of Lucena, said in an online interview with the Inquirer on Sunday night.

Puno said the protest was staged ‘because many cries remain unheard – the cries of nature, which continues to be destroyed; of farmers fighting for their land; of fisher folk whose livelihoods are at risk; and of the poor, who are the first to suffer from the climate crisis.’

‘As a Church, we cannot remain silent in the face of such suffering. It is part of our prophetic mission to be the voice of the voiceless and amplify the voices of those who have long been ignored. We cannot preach love for God while neglecting His creation and our fellow human beings,’ he said.

Puno, convenor of Quezon for Environment (QUEEN), has been leading opposition to the proposed 1,200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Atimonan along the coast of Lamon Bay.

‘Our more than decade-long struggle against the proposed coal-fired power plant in Atimonan reminds us why a just transition to clean energy must be given serious attention,’ said Puno, parish priest of Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage Parish in Barangay Poon in Atimonan.

Atimonan One Energy (A1E), a wholly owned subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corp. (MGen), which is the power generation arm of Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), is the developer of the proposed Atimonan project.

The project has been in development for years, but construction of the proposed power plant has yet to begin.

Puno said communities in Quezon, which he described as the country’s ‘coal capital,’ have consistently opposed the Atimonan project.

Quezon is already home to coal-fired power facilities in Mauban and Pagbilao, in addition to the proposed Atimonan plant.

In November last year, Puno and fellow environmental advocates staged the first ‘Lakad Panaghoy,’ a three-day, 31-kilometer protest march from Mauban to Tayabas City.

‘We are not against development. We are fighting for development that does not destroy nature or sacrifice people’s lives and livelihoods,’ Puno said.

The initial group of marchers consists of 20 senior citizens and 14 others, mostly young people. Some will leave the march at designated points and be replaced by environmentalists and concerned citizens from municipalities along the route.

Puno said the group would engage communities along the route and bring their concerns to government agencies in Manila.

‘We are not walking because we have lost hope. We are walking because we believe there is still something we can do. We will engage in dialogue with affected communities along our route and bring their voices to Manila as we meet with government agencies,’ he said.

‘Every step is a prayer. Every kilometer is a sacrifice. And every community we pass through reminds us that what we are fighting for is not only for the present but also for generations to come,’ he added.

The first leg of the protest hike will cover 31.2 kilometers from Atimonan to neighboring Pagbilao. Each leg will start and end at a church where the marchers will rest and spend the night.

The ‘Lakbay Panaghoy’ will pass through Lucena City, Sariaya and Tiaong in Quezon; and San Pablo City, Calauan, Bay, Los Baños, Calamba City, Cabuyao, Biñan and San Pedro in Laguna before reaching Parañaque City in Metro Manila.

The march will end at the national offices of the Department of Agriculture, Department of Energy, Department of Agrarian Reform and Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon City, where the protesters plan to submit community protest letters and seek dialogue with government officials.

‘May this lament not only be heard but also become the beginning of meaningful action. For there can be no genuine peace without justice, and no just future if we continue to destroy our one and only home,’ Puno said.

The House of Representatives has adopted a resolution that seeks the Senate’s concurrence on extending session up to Oct. 12, so that the chamber can approve the proposed 2027 national budget on third and final reading.

During the session on Monday, Deputy Majority Leader and Oriental Mindoro Rep. Arnan Panaligan moved that House Resolution (HR) No. 1501 be considered, prompting Deputy Speaker Ferjenel Biron to direct the deputy secretary general to read the said measure.

HR No. 1501’s title read as a ‘resolution requesting the Honorable Senate of the Philippines for consent to extend the plenary session of the House of Representatives to October 12, 2026, for the purpose of considering the General Appropriations Bill for fiscal year 2027 on third and final reading.’

The resolution was then adopted via viva voce or voice voting.

House Concurrent Resolution No. 17 which laid down Congress’ schedule stated that the last session day will be on Oct. 9, as the legislative branch will adjourn from Oct. 10 to Nov. 8.

If the Senate allows it, this will not be the first time that the House extended its session to accommodate the passage of the annual budget.

In August 2025, when the House was tackling the then-proposed 2026 national budget, the chamber adopted a resolution that amends the original schedule of the 20th Congress’ first regular session, pushing the adjournment to Oct. 11, 2025.

Longer session days are necessary for the passage of a bill, since three days have to pass first before a bill approved on second reading is considered for third reading.

If the House approves the proposed P7.2 trillion budget for 2027, as contained in House Bill No. 10858 or the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) on Wednesday, the earliest working day they can tackle the measure for third reading is on Oct. 12.

Last Sept. 25, the House wrapped up its plenary-level debates on the government agencies’ proposed budget, effectively ending the period of sponsorship and debates.

This period is among the several steps that a bill would go through before it is considered for second reading approval. After this, there will be a period of amendments, where committee amendments and institutional amendments will be heard.

Part of the amendments that will be raised during the plenary sessions include the changes proposed by the Budget Amendments Review Sub-committee (BARSc) – a sub-panel of the House committee on appropriations tasked to thresh out amendments in the GAB.

It appears that former Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV has been vindicated again, as a government official has confirmed the food company owned by lawyer Manases Carpio, husband of Vice President Sara Duterte, got funds over P319 million from China.

At Duterte’s impeachment trial on Monday, counsel for the prosecution Mae Divinagracia asked Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura about the total amount of inward financial transactions involving Carpio’s CALE88 Foods Corp., or money that came from mainland China and Hong Kong to the said company.

In response, Buenaventura said it is P319,326,770.41 – an amount that is close to the figure provided by Trillanes during a press briefing last Friday.

‘Let’s go to Table 5 of your summary, based on your summary, Table 5, and the CTRs (covered transactions report) and STRs (suspicious transactions report) of CALE88, how much was the entire value of remittances from China that CALE88 received?’ Divinagracia asked.

‘The entire value, your Honor, the aggregate amount placed under aggregate Letter c, aggregate PHP with subtotal a, what was indicated in our tabular summary is P319,326,770.41, your Honor. Based on the records, our tabular summary records,’ Buenaventura said.

”The title of Table 5 your Honors is the CTRs pertaining to inward remittances to CALE88 Foods Corporation from (a) China and (b) other countries, (Item 5) your Honor,’ he added.

Aside from this the table also showed that there are a total of 143 CTRs and three STRs on CALE88; 141 of the 143 CTRs were financial transactions from China and two from Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, all three STRs involved transactions from China.

Buenaventura, during the hearing of the House of Representatives’ committee on justice on the two impeachment complaints against Duterte, explained that covered transactions referred to bank transactions over P500,000, which banks report to AMLC.

Suspicious transactions, meanwhile, refer to those whose amounts are not determined, but were reported by banks because there is something questionable in terms of how funds were sourced.

There are other CTRs recorded by AMLC outside of China, including 13 from Ukraine, six each from Russia and Kazakhstan, four from Lithuania, two each from Tajikistan and South Africa, and one each from the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

All in all, there are 178 CTRs and three STRs, representing a total amount of P368.8 million worth of transactions.

Regarding the suspicious transactions from China, Buenaventura said that these were flagged because ‘there is no underlying legal or trade obligation, purpose, or economic justification.’

Trillanes signified his desire to testify before the Senate Impeachment Court, but eventually withdrew to supposedly relieve the prosecution panel of pressure. Instead, the former senator presented his would have been testimony during a press conference in San Juan last Friday.

One of the items that Trillanes discussed was the alleged P319 million that went into CALE88 – despite having a paid-up capital of P125,000 from 2021 to 2025, having low electricity costs, and no rank-and-file employees.

Trillanes said that the P319 million was sent by Chinese firms in tranches, from 2023 to 2025.

Meanwhile, the Tapang at Malasakit Foundation, which Duterte listed herself as an incorporator in her 2022 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth, reportedly received a P150 million donation from the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines in 2019.

This is not the first time that numbers presented by Trillanes matched documents and reports from AMLC.

Last April 22, when the House committee on justice discussed the impeachment complaints against Duterte, Mamamayang Liberal party-list Rep. Leila de Lima randomly picked 18 financial transactions listed in Trillanes’ annexes and asked AMLC to check if this was part of their investigation.

The Romblon provincial government is studying the distribution of drought-tolerant crops to farmers as it prepares to cushion farmers from a ‘Super El Niño.’

The Provincial Agriculture Office would hold technical meetings in each municipality to discuss preparations and provide farmers with information on the possible effects of El Niño, according to the Philippine Information Agency in Mimaropa (Mindoro Occidental and Oriental, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan.)

Among the measures is the distribution of mung bean (monggo) and corn seeds from the Department of Agriculture (DA) for planting after farmers harvest their rice.

Provincial Agriculturist Relly Diokno said the crops require less water and could serve as alternative crops during periods of water shortage.

‘After mag-harvest ng palay, hindi na nila kailangang araruhin dahil iba na muna ang itatanim nila kasi hindi ito kailangan ng maraming tubig. At least pag dumating man ‘yung ‘Super El Niño,’ meron pa ring gulay kahit papaano (After harvesting rice, they won’t need to plow the land anymore because they will temporarily plant a different crop that does not require much water. At least, if ‘Super El Niño’ does come, there will still be some vegetables available),’ Diokno said.

The provincial agriculture office will also conduct information campaigns to guide farmers in preparing for possible drought conditions.

Farmers are being encouraged to prepare water storage facilities to ensure that they have a supply available once the effects of El Niño are felt.

Aside from the seeds provided by the DA, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) is also expected to allocate funds for measures addressing the potential impact of the climate phenomenon on farmers.

The preparations come amid the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration’s (Pagasa) outlook for hotter temperatures and below-normal rainfall in large parts of the country due to El Niño.

In a statement on Sept. 23, Pagasa said the effects of the phenomenon were expected to be most pronounced from October to December 2026, although the severity and extent of its impacts could vary by location.

Provincial officials said the technical meetings, seed distribution, water conservation measures and information campaign would be undertaken to help farmers adjust their agricultural activities should prolonged dry conditions develop.

Authorities rescued a 5-year-old girl and arrested her mother and the woman’s live-in partner for allegedly exploiting the child online for profit, the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7) said Monday.

NBI-7 agents arrested the 25-year-old woman and her partner during a raid at a house in Sitio Tambisan, Barangay Tisa, Cebu City on Sept. 30.

NBI-7, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Manila, the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) led the joint operation.

NBI-7 said the case began Sept. 18, when HSI Manila referred information about illicit material involving children that was allegedly being sold online.

After verifying the information, NBI-7 sought a cyber warrant against the woman.

Judge Jose Nathaniel Andal of Branch 24 of the Cebu City Regional Trial Court issued the warrant on Sept. 29.

In a statement, NBI-7 said its investigation uncovered the alleged commercial distribution of sexually explicit material involving minors, including the suspect’s own child.

The woman worked as an online seller, while her partner was an e-bike driver in the area, according to authorities.

NBI-7 also said the suspects had already been charged with violations of the Anti-Online Sexual Abuse or Exploitation of Children and Anti-Child Sexual Abuse or Exploitation Materials Act (Republic Act 11930), the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003, as amended (Republic Act 9208), and the Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act (Republic Act 7610).

The offenses are nonbailable.

The suspects are being held at the NBI-7 office, while the child was turned over to the DSWD in Central Visayas for protective custody.

National University made it to the Finals of the 2026 V-League Collegiate Challenge after not giving Colegio de San Juan de Letran a chance in their rubber match in the semifinals on Sunday, carving out a masterful 25-14, 25-23, 25-20 victory at FilOil Centre in San Juan City.

The Bulldogs made sure there would be no repeat of their heartbreaking 22-25, 25-23, 29-27, 13-25, 20-18 loss in Game 2, coming out with complete focus as NU returned to the championship round for the first time since its title run in 2022.

‘The players took it as a challenge,’ multititled coach Dante Alinsunurin said in Filipino, referring to the loss that necessitated this rubber match. ‘We needed adjustments [from Game 2] and were able to come up with them for this game.’

‘That was the key for us, and the players were really determined,’ Alinsunurin continued. ‘It was in their mindset that they will win this game.’

Rookie RK Medino led NU with 17 points, all coming from attacks, as he shouldered the scoring load in the absence of top stars Buds Buddin, Leo Ordiales and Peng Taguibolos, who had just wrapped up their campaign with Alas Pilipinas in the 20th Asian Games in Japan.

Jade Disquitado added 13 points and five excellent receptions, while Luke Macatangay chipped in 10 points. Choi Diao and Obed Mukaba also contributed seven and six points, respectively.

Greg Ancheta orchestrated NU’s offense with 22 excellent sets, while also scoring three points as the Bulldogs needed just 73 minutes to dispatch the hard-fighting Knights.

NU dominated across all scoring categories, finishing with a 41-35 edge in attacks, a 12-7 advantage in blocks and a 3-2 lead in aces. The Bulldogs also capitalized on Letran’s 19 errors while limiting their own miscues to just 13.

The Finals will pit NU against fellow UAAP squad Far Eastern University, renewing a familiar rivalry between the two schools after they faced off in the last two UAAP Finals. Game 1 is set for Friday.

Meanwhile, Dave Lardizabal paced Letran with 16 points on 13 attacks and three blocks, while Jasper Afgao and Vince Himzon added 10 and nine points, respectively, in the defeat.

The Knights will take on another NCAA team in College of Saint Benilde in the battle for third place, also on Friday.

Seven years after becoming the second-highest grossing film ever, ‘Avengers: Endgame’ returned to the No. 1 spot at the box office in a victory lap for Marvel and an appetizer for the upcoming blockbuster ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’

The rerelease grossed $26 million over the weekend and another $60 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film, which grossed $2.8 billion in 2019, was put back into theaters with several new end-credits scenes and an introductory thank you to fans from Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans.

Among rereleases, only the 1997 release of ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ ($35.9 million) and the 2011 repeat of ‘The Lion King’ ($30.2 million) have opened higher than ‘Endgame’ in domestic cinemas.

Hollywood has increasingly turned to rereleases in recent years to take advantage of holes in the release schedule. But The Walt Disney Co. rerun, billed as ‘Endgame: Encore,’ came out on top on an especially crowded weekend in theaters.

Three well-reviewed new releases – A24’s ‘Primetime,’ with Robert Pattinson; Paramount Pictures’ ‘Heart of the Beast,’ with Brad Pitt; and Universal Pictures’ ‘Forgotten Island’ – all landed in theaters.

Second place, though, went to Zach Cregger’s reboot of ‘Resident Evil.’ The Sony Pictures release followed up its above-expectations debut with $23.3 million in its second weekend. In two weeks, the video-game adaptation has grossed $103.5 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters.

In a close race for third place, ‘Heart of the Beast’ came out just ahead of ‘Primetime’ with an estimated $20 million from 3,435 theaters. Directed by David Ayer, the film stars Pitt as a retired veteran who must trek through the Alaskan wilderness with his combat dog after a plane crash. It added $30.1 million in international theaters.

Pattinson drives ‘Primetime’ sales

But the opening for ‘Primetime’ was more impressive. ‘Heart of the Beast’ cost $82 million to produce, making its path to profitability challenging. ‘Primetime,’ starring Pattinson as ‘To Catch a Predator’ host Chris Hansen, was made with a modest budget of $15 million and it opened in 500 fewer theaters.

Yet ‘Primetime,’ buoyed by strong reviews and buzz out of the Venice Film Festival, debuted with $19.2 million. For Pattinson, who also starred this year in A24’s ‘The Drama’ and Universal’s ‘The Odyssey,’ the strong performance showed the actor’s drawing power with Gen Z audiences.

Some 69% of ticket buyers for ‘Primetime’ were under the age of 30. Gen Z has emerged as the most regular moviegoing demographic, fueling hits this year like ‘Obsession’ and ‘Backrooms.’ ‘Primetime’ is directed by 30-year-old documentarian Lance Oppenheim, who co-directed the much-anticipated Elizabeth Holmes documentary, ‘You Can See Everything,’ due out next month.

‘Forgotten Island,’ from DreamWorks Animation, had a hard time standing out. The film, which cost $80 million to make, opened in fifth place with a disappointing $12.8 million domestically. In 31 overseas markets, ‘Forgotten Island’ also didn’t make much of a dent, grossing $7.8 million internationally.

Universal will hope family audiences catch up to the movie that landed the weekend’s best CinemaScore (an ‘A’) and the best reviews (94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). ‘Forgotten Island,’ directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, is about two friends who get stranded in a mystical world.

The confluence of releases added up to a historically good September weekend in theaters. According to Rentrak, ticket sales were up 58.5% from the same weekend last year. The domestic box office has massed $7.8 billion thus far, putting it 19% ahead of last year.