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The Philippines saw a ‘policy surge’ supporting renewable energy expansion during the Middle East war, outpacing other Southeast Asian countries, according to a study.

Zero Carbon Analytics, an international climate and energy research organization, said the Philippines adopted 13 renewable energy policies between February and August of this year.

During the period, the group logged 37 clean energy policies across the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam. The figure even outpaced the 29 fossil fuel policies these markets passed.

The rules cover several measures to support clean power’s growth, including expanding solar infrastructure and electric vehicles to drive renewable power purchases.

‘Our latest research signals a gear shift in Southeast Asia’s energy transition. Since the outbreak of the war, policymakers have prioritized long-term clean energy strategies over fossil fuel initiatives, and they are translating these policies into real action.,’ Amy Kong, senior energy transition researcher at Zero Carbon Analytics, said in a statement.

‘The Philippines, leading with the most clean policies, imported more than double the solar technology from China in the first five months of the war compared to the same period last year,’ she added.

Among the local policies cited was the proposed Sariling Kuryente Act, which seeks to accelerate the adoption of rooftop solar systems and battery storage.

The Department of Energy (DOE) is likewise requiring power plant developers to equip their renewable assets with energy storage systems. A facility with energy storage systems lets producers store excess electricity and provide a steady supply, especially given the intermittent nature of solar and wind power.

At the height of the bombing attacks in the oil-producing region, the global market, including Filipinos, saw fuel prices skyrocket, affecting petroleum products and power costs.

The Philippines, which relies heavily on coal imports, has also been exploring additional foreign suppliers amid risks tied to Indonesia’s new trade rules.

The government hopes to scale up renewables’ share in the power mix to 35 percent by 2030 from the current 25 percent.

‘What is striking is that the energy crisis has not simply pushed governments toward short-term fossil fuel measures. It is also changing the rationale for the longer-term transition, with renewables and electrification being seen not just as a climate solution, but as a strategy for strengthening energy security,’ said Alnie Demoral, Energy Analyst at Ember.

Former Department of Public Works (DPWH) chief Manuel Bonoan will remain an accused before the Sandiganbayan Second Division after it affirmed its ruling to deny the prosecution’s bid to discharge him from his remaining graft case.

Bonoan’s graft case in this court division stemmed from his alleged conspiracy with Sen. Jinggoy Estrada to ensure the inclusion of flood control projects in Bulacan in the 2025 budget where the senator allegedly got a P213.7 million kickback.

On Aug. 10, prosecution filed a motion for reconsideration (MR) on the Second Division’s denial of their motion to amend the information to discharge Bonoan, which was denied by the court.

With the denial of their MR, the prosecution told the court during Tuesday’s pretrial proceedings that they are still awaiting approval from the Office of the Ombudsman as to their next steps.

Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Geraldine Faith Econg asked the prosecution: ‘What do you want us to do with regards Bonoan then?’

‘DSP, are you going to let him testify as a witness?’ Econg asked Deputy Special Prosecutor Manuel Soriano.

‘In the meantime … he is an accused,’ Soriano said of Bonoan.

The former DPWH chief appeared in the pretrial proceedings personally, while Estrada attended through teleconferencing.

Bonoan is out after posting P90,000 bail in this court.

He used to be a co-accused of Estrada in his plunder case in the Fifth Division over alleged kickbacks worth P573 million, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors filed before the Fifth Division motion to amend the information containing the formal charges in plunder case to remove Bonoan from it, as the Office of the Ombudsman accepted his offer to become a state witness.

Stephen Curry is committed to keeping some of the reliable, familiar faces around him on the Golden State Warriors for the stretch run of his career.

So, Curry took a pay cut to stay put. At 38, he wants to win now, and add another title to his list before he finishes – and finishes right where it all began as a doubted, undersized point guard – with the Warriors.

That’s the plan, to be sure.

‘Yes I was presented the max,’ Curry said Monday at media day, ‘yes there was everything on the table.’

On Friday, the 38-year-old Curry received a two-year contract extension worth $116 million – $20 million less than the maximum he could have commanded.

‘It was a very, kind of, thoughtful journey, partnership of putting all the different scenarios out there. It was of interest of making sure I was here, figuring out what was in the best setup for me, for the team, for the now, for the flexibility the rest of my career,’ Curry said.

‘So trying to balance all of that is such a unique situation with all of the circumstances of where we’ve been the last four years, what’s currently on the table and where we’re trying to go to be competitive and give ourselves a chance.’

Curry is eager to get going at training camp. The Warriors were flying to Hawaii later Monday to hold their first practice session Tuesday. Their first preseason game is Sunday against the Clippers at the University of Hawaii campus in Honolulu. Veteran center Kristaps Porzingis is out indefinitely with a health issue.

While Golden State missed out on LeBron James in the free-agency sweepstakes, Curry is headed into his 18th NBA season determined to do what he can to make the Warriors a contender again in the talented Western Conference after last season’s latest miss.

That started with his flexibility on the contract.

‘We found a middle ground where he was incredibly generous in taking this deal, where he’s taking less money to help the team out because, as Steph goes, he’s as competitive as there is,’ general manager Mike Dunleavy said. ‘He wants to win. He’s put us in a position where it gives us a little bit more flexibility to do that. So I think the middle ground was signing him up to be able to almost ensure that he’ll finish his career here while also keeping some flexibility, keeping some optionality on it, and we’ve done that.’

Last season was derailed by the loss of Jimmy Butler to a season-ending right knee injury Jan. 19 against his former Heat team that required surgery. The Warriors lost Moses Moody, too, and both guards are expected back at some point. They have progressed to very light on-court workouts and will travel with the team to Hawaii.

Butler would love to see Curry play his entire career wearing No. 30 for Golden State.

‘It’s very hard to do, but it just shows how great he is, the great things that he’s done in this community, obviously for this organization, and just how beloved he is by the world, actually,’ Butler said. ‘I see it firsthand now being his teammate.’

With his teammates long admiring his humility just as much as his dazzling shot-making from way, way back, Curry has always been about winning and not his own lofty accolades and numbers. The two-time MVP and all-time 3-point leader has embraced playing alongside star teammates such as Butler, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

‘Because he’s extended this window for himself, he’s extended the window for the team, and we’re going to continue to build it because of him,’ Dunleavy said.

Curry has plenty to prove after a lingering right knee injury that kept him out of 27 straight games and more than two months down the stretch. Curry averaged 26.6 points, 4.7 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals while playing 30.9 minutes but was limited to only 43 games last season.

‘It’s great to get him re-signed,’ said coach Steve Kerr, who decided in May to return on a two-year deal. ‘We never doubted it for a minute.’

Neither did Curry himself.

‘This is home, this is what we’ve built, this is the community that I’ve played in front of my entire career and being able to finish the story the right way is a big part of, I think, what I control, thankfully, hopefully health-wise as well,’ he said. ‘I know the list, a short list of guys that have been able to do it, but reimagining what that looks like with the level that I feel like I can play at down the stretch of my career.

‘There’s a pride of representing the Bay, representing this franchise, that when I stepped foot here in ’09 and what we’ve all been able to accomplish, this isn’t just a ‘me’ thing, it’s a ‘we.’ I want to do right by that.’

Nikola Jokic reiterated his pledge to sign a long-term extension with the Denver Nuggets next summer. Only this time, he added a caveat.

‘If they want me,’ the three-time NBA MVP cracked Monday at media day.

The decision to hold off on a new deal makes financial sense, but it has created angst among the fan base. By waiting until next summer, Jokic can sign a five-year supermax contract that would be worth in the vicinity of $350 million. By waiting until next summer, though, there’s always that chance he could exit should the team struggle.

‘I’ve been more than open about it. Hopefully, they trust me,’ Jokic said in reference to the front office and staying put.

The face of the franchise is coming off a season in which he averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists as he finished runner-up in the MVP voting to Oklahoma City star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Jokic began in Denver. He won the city its first NBA title in 2023. He has no designs on leaving town. His preference is to follow in similar footsteps as Stephen Curry, the two-time MVP who recently signed an extension to remain with the Golden State Warriors, the team that drafted him.

‘I was here when we basically were a so-so team and we won a championship, and we still have a capability and have opportunity to compete on a high level, and to win a championship,’ said the 31-year-old Jokic, who was taken in the second round in 2014. ‘For me, it’s legacy. You want to be legendary, and you want to be remembered, so I think that’s the way how you do it, in my way of thinking,’

Jokic still enjoys the grind as much as ever. Well, the games, anyway, and being with teammates such as Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun, who helped him deliver that NBA title three years ago.

‘Fighting with your friends against other teams,’ Jokic said, ‘is always a fun thing to do.’

What the front office has to say

The front office shares Jokic’s view that he will be around for the long haul.

‘We have no concerns,’ said Ben Tenzer, the executive vice president of basketball operations for Denver.

But what if the Nuggets get off to a rocky start?

‘We have no concerns there,’ Tenzer reiterated.

The Nuggets are chalking up being eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round last April to untimely injuries and a ‘bad 10 days, that cost us our season,’ coach David Adelman explained. They’re leaning more into the notion they won 54 games and were the No. 3 seed.

‘You’re going to have these years where you play really well and the ending is not storybook. It’s the exact opposite – it’s a horror story,’ said Adelman, whose squad has made the playoffs in eight straight seasons. ‘I believe we’re in the mix, like we’ve been throughout all these years.’

Healing Nuggets

On the injury front, Braun said an ankle that hampered him last season is healthy again.

‘I feel like I’ve grinded hard enough on it all summer and put myself in a good spot,’ the high-flying guard said. ‘I’m ready to go.’

Same with Gordon, who’s been dealing with soft-tissue ailments, including a tight calf during the playoffs.

‘I got into the league at 18 years old, and I could roll out of bed and play 48 minutes, and then go back to bed,’ the 31-year-old Gordon said. ‘Then wake up the next day like I didn’t play, ready for a back-to-back. I used to make fun of all the old guys for having to get to the gym an hour earlier, two hours early, and do all these warm ups and cool-down exercises, all these like funky tricks of the trade that they picked up throughout their time.

‘Now I have a bunch of tricks of the trade. I need to be here much earlier and stay much later, and I need to invest a lot more time warming up and a lot more time cooling down, so I can be available for these guys.’

New addition

The Nuggets saw promising small forward Peyton Watson end up in Cleveland as part of a five-team deal in late August. Denver did bring in 37-year-old veteran DeMar DeRozan, a six-time All-Star looking for his first championship in his 18th season.

He picked the Nuggets for a reason – Jokic and Co.

Davao City Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte on Tuesday took his oath as witness to the impeachment trial of his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte.

The House prosecution panel called for the presentation of Baste Duterte, particularly on the Davao City government’s transactions with GenCorp Industries Inc. – a company supposedly among the business interests of the vice president.

Previous witnesses claimed that 15 food service contracts worth P34,216,900 were awarded by the Davao City government to GenCorp sometime between June 2022 to June 2026.

In that timeframe, Baste and Sara Duterte had already been in government as Davao mayor and vice president, respectively.

The mayor previously denied knowing that his sister is an incorporator or involved with GenCorp, citing the company’s records that do not declare Sara Duterte as a stockholder.

But in the vice president’s statement of assets, liabilities, and net worth, she declared herself a stockholder of GenCorp from 2016 to 2025.

Mayor Duterte was supposed to testify on Monday, but he requested the impeachment court allow him more time to produce the documents asked of him via a subpoena.

Center Kristaps Porzingis will be out indefinitely for the Golden State Warriors with a health issue, and general manager Mike Dunleavy offered no further details but wasn’t ready to call this a long-term concern.

Dunleavy was informed about Porzingis’ status on Sunday. The big man had already been working out at Chase Center recently.

‘He was in last week, doing well and everything. I don’t have a timeline on it,’ Dunleavy said at media day Monday. ‘Hopefully he will be back soon.’

Porzingis wasn’t set to travel with the team to Hawaii for training camp. In March when Porzingis missed time with a medical issue and illness, coach Steve Kerr referred to it as ‘mysterious.’

Kerr said Monday it was ‘surprising’ to hear about Porzingis.

‘We’re going to get going with camp and fully expect him to be with us at some point,’ Kerr said. ‘There’s not a whole lot to report at this time.’

Dunleavy didn’t want to rule out Porzingis returning for the season opener on the road against the Lakers on Oct. 21.

‘I think we feel comfortable with everything, disappointed that he won’t be out there tomorrow but it’s early so don’t want to overreact to anything,’ Dunleavy said. ‘Definitely disappointed that he won’t be out there with his teammates but we’ll get there.’

Porzingis reached an agreement on a two-year, $40 million contract in late June.

The 31-year-old Latvian joined Golden State at the February trade deadline from Atlanta in a swap that sent Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga to the Hawks.

Porzingis then missed significant time after coming to the Warriors. The 7-foot-2 veteran played only 32 games, averaging 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 blocks. He appeared in 15 games for Golden State with 11 starts.

Inquirer Interactive Inc. and Listd.ph are teaming up to launch a real estate platform for property agents, brokers, and developers.

Formalizing the strategic partnership, Inquirer Interactive President and CEO Paolo R. Prieto and Listd Technologies President Joseph Patrick Curran signed the agreement together with Inquirer Chief Operating Officer Imelda C. Alcantara (left) and Listd Chief Technology Officer Dan Ursoviciu (far right).

Through the partnership, Inquirer and Listd will develop and launch a co-branded real estate portal that combines Listd’s technology and nationwide property listings with Inquirer.net’s extensive audience and digital reach.

Marinduque residents, environmental advocates and members of the faith community gathered on Monday at the provincial capitol here to urge the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to release the ‘communication’ needed to finalize the $100-million Marcopper mine disaster settlement with Barrick Mining Corp.

In 2006, Barrick acquired the Canadian company that used to run Marcopper Mining Corporation, which polluted Marinduque waterways and potable water after a tailings storage leak unleashed toxic waste that required years of cleanup.

The March 1996 accident released about 1.6 million cubic meters of mine tailings into the Makulapnit-Boac River system.

‘DENR, release the communication now na!’ participants chanted during the prayer rally, urging Environment Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna to make public the agency’s official interactions and directives concerning Barrick’s remaining environmental obligations.

The rally was held as the Oct. 4 deadline for the settlement agreement approaches.

Bishop Edwin O. Panergo of the Diocese of Boac had earlier called on Catholics, other religious groups, civic organizations and communities to join the peaceful gathering, saying generations of Marinduque residents going back three decades continue to suffer the effects of the Marcopper mining disaster.

‘Let us unite in prayer for the environment and for the collective expression of our united stand,’ Panergo said in a pastoral letter issued ahead of the rally.

The communication is among the remaining conditions linked to the settlement, which provides for Barrick to pay the province $100 million over three years for claims and proceedings related to alleged environmental issues involving the Marcopper mine.

Barrick and the provincial government signed the settlement agreements on April 4, 2025, agreeing that the deal was not an official admission of liability.

The Court of Appeals approved the agreement on Oct. 3, 2025, but certain conditions, including DENR confirmations, remained outstanding, according to Barrick’s regulatory filing.

Barrick deposited $50 million in escrow in April, according to its filing. The release of the funds remains subject to the DENR’s release of its communication.

The issue resurfaced in August when Marinduque Gov. Melecio Go sought technical guidance from DENR as to whether the settlement would be sufficient to address the province’s rehabilitation and remediation requirements.

The Philippine Information Agency reported on Aug. 13 that the DENR was set to communicate with Barrick.

Go has also questioned aspects of the settlement process, including the need to account for the DENR’s separate environmental claims, directives and rehabilitation requirements involving the Marcopper mine and other parties.

Filipinos may now fly directly from Manila to Paris and vice versa starting Oct. 19 after a temporary seasonal suspension.

Air France will resume nonstop flights between Paris and Manila in October after a five-month pause, just in time for the peak holiday travel season.

On Tuesday, Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the country’s main gateway, announced that flights suspended from May to October will resume operating three times a week.

Air France will relaunch the service on Oct. 19 using an Airbus A350-900, which can accommodate more than 300 passengers.

‘The return of the service gives passengers a direct connection between Naia Terminal 3 and Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, making travel between the Philippines and France more convenient while providing another nonstop link to Europe ahead of the holiday season,’ Naia said.

Additionally, the A350-900 allows Air France to carry 324 passengers on its Paris-Manila flights: 266 in economy, 24 in premium economy and 34 in business class.

While, On Oct. 19 and 21, flights from Paris to Manila will arrive at 6:45 p.m. local time. Meanwhile, flights leaving NAIA will reach Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport at 5:50 a.m. local time.

On on hand, Oct. 24, travelers will follow an almost identical schedule, with the flight from Manila to Paris arriving at 5:35 a.m. local time.

From Oct. 27 to March 25, 2027, Air France will operate a schedule that sees flights from Paris arrive in Manila at 7:40 p.m. local time, while Manila-Paris flights will arrive at 6 a.m. local time.

At the same time, Air France announced the route suspension, which coincided with the northern summer season, in December 2025.

Meanwhile, Air France’s Paris-Manila route was the first direct air link between Europe and the Philippines to resume after the Covid-19 pandemic, which had severely disrupted international travel.

Why did a food catering company linked to Vice President Sara Duterte keep winning all 19 contracts in Davao City?

Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian repeatedly raised this question when Davao City Mayor Sebastian ‘Baste’ Duterte testified as a hostile witness in his sister’s impeachment trial on Tuesday, Sept. 29.

‘Didn’t you ask Attorney Domingo why GenCorp had so many contracts with the LGU, one after another, from 2022 through 2026?’ Gatchalian asked, referring to Assistant City Administrator Tristan Domingo.

Mayor Duterte earlier told the impeachment court that, as head of the procuring entity, he authorized Domingo to sign the contracts on his behalf.

In response to Gatchalian’s question, the mayor said he did not consider the number of contracts high, given that they were awarded over five years.

‘But didn’t you ask why it kept winning despite the number of caterers in the area?’ Gatchalian asked.

The mayor explained that when he discussed and clarified this with Domingo, he was told that GenCorp was not only the ‘most qualified,’ but also complied with all the requirements imposed by the city government.

‘Because normally, in an LGU like ours in Valenzuela, there are many caterers. When we open a bidding, a lot of them actually participate. So I want to know: did you ask him why GenCorp kept winning?’ the Senate chief went on.

‘I have already given you the answer,’ Mayor Duterte said.

The mayor was called to the witness stand in relation to allegations that the vice president had amassed unexplained wealth, failed to disclose all her assets in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth, and failed to divest herself of all her business interests.

Vice President Duterte listed GenCorp in her statement of assets, liabilities and net worth from 2024 to 2025.

Gatchalian pressed on, this time asking the mayor why GenCorp was always the lone bidder for Davao City contracts.

‘Not all the time,’ the mayor answered, saying that the firm was the sole bidder for only about four contracts.

Mayor Duterte, however, admitted that he did not personally check who participated in the bidding for other contracts.

‘I didn’t look into it anymore,’ he said, still responding to Gatchalian’s queries.