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The Philippines has maintained its Tier 1 status in the US State Department’s 2025 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) for the 10th consecutive year, according to the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking (IACAT).

A country is granted Tier 1 status if it fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking based on the US Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2002.

The report cited the Philippines’ efforts to prosecute and convict traffickers, enact new legislation to regulate fishing recruitment agencies and protect fishers and the ban on Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).

The Philippines is one of only 33 countries to have achieved and maintained the top ranking out of the 188 countries assessed globally.

The Department of Justice has reaffirmed its commitment to combat trafficking, which it said is not just a legal mandate but a shared moral obligation to protect the most vulnerable from abuse and exploitation.

‘There is no place for complacency in our justice system. This Tier 1 ranking is a beacon of light, an impetus for our sustained efforts,’ Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, who also chairs the IACAT, said.

‘This fight is not only for our fellow Filipino nationals whose vulnerabilities have been taken advantage of, abused and exploited, this fight is for all of humanity,’ he added.

However, despite the Tier 1 ranking, the report flagged some alleged lapses by the Philippine government.

‘Although the government meets the minimum standards, it did not identify the vast majority of potential trafficking victims among individuals exploited in online scam operations despite widespread reporting indicating these individuals faced conditions indicative of trafficking,’ it said.

It also noted that the government did not report any foreign victims. Furthermore, the report said the government did not adequately and consistently screen potential trafficking victims of online scam operations.

‘Due to insufficient screening for trafficking, especially among individuals exploited in online scam operations, authorities did not take effective measures to prevent the inappropriate penalization of potential victims solely for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of being trafficked,’ it said.

‘The government identified fewer victims, and some officials did not use trauma-informed practices in victim identification,’ it said.

‘Corruption and official complicity in trafficking remained significant concerns, inhibiting law enforcement action during the year,’ it added.

The report cited the case of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo, who is being prosecuted for violation of anti-trafficking law, particularly her alleged complicity in human trafficking through an online scam operation in her jurisdiction. Guo also faces money laundering charges.

The report said authorities arrested thousands of Filipino and foreign nationals involved in online scam operations under the guise of POGOs.

Authorities also initiated an administrative investigation of a mayor, vice mayor and seven municipal council members for alleged complicity in human trafficking within an online scam operation in Porac, Pampanga.

‘The mayor reportedly received an administrative sanction and the government did not report updates on any of the other cases,’ the report said.

Many decades ago, the Central Bank (before BSP) launched a campaign to ‘Respect the centavo.’ The centavo was a coin that people chose to ignore.

The coin was often simply thrown away. Some prefer the hard candies supermarket cashiers give. I remember paying a jeepney driver 10 one-centavo coins for my 10-centavo fare and the driver just threw the coins away.

As a kid just learning about money, I was confused by the driver’s reaction to my coins. Apparently, the Central Bank was also perplexed by this lack of respect. It is costing them more than one centavo to mint the coin.

So, they launched a campaign to urge the public to ‘respect the centavo.’ But they soon gave up and stopped circulating the one-centavo coin. It was beyond respect.

These days, we need a serious campaign to urge our officials to respect the peso. our tax peso. It really hurts deeply to learn that they are calling the hard-earned pesos we pay in taxes as basura.

In any case, those pesos won’t stay pesos for long. Those ill-gotten pesos are quickly exchanged for dollars. They don’t trust the peso to store value. Since they have private jets and high government positions, transporting oodles of cash to Hong Kong shouldn’t be a problem.

The lower-level crooks at the district engineer level also have no desire to keep those bundles of peso bills too long. They quickly gamble away hundreds of millions worth of our tax pesos at casinos. Or splurge on high-end cars from their friendly neighborhood smuggler.

Congressmen are the most disrespectful of our tax pesos. When they have private meetings, wines costing a thousand US dollars and up are said to flow freely.

Catered food must be costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of pesos every day.

The senators, on the other hand, are also quite disrespectful. They sought to tickle their bloated egos with a new building whose costs cannot be justified by a government already saddled with heavy borrowings.

From an initial cost of P8.9 billion, the cost has ballooned to P24 billion or about a billion per senator. But it couldn’t be completed at that cost.

Based on the latest report of the DPWH, the estimated building cost has reached P31.6 billion, excluding the payment for the parcel of land and furniture. This is equivalent to more than P240,000 per square meter.

GMA News noted that if based on the Construction Cost Handbook Philippines 2024 of Arcadis Philippines, the per-square-meter cost of a quality high-rise office could reach P183,000.

What happens if a Constitutional revision abolishes the Senate? Public sentiment today favors such an abolition. The Senate has been a heavy expense that contributes more to corruption than the national good.

Then there is the BSP which under then governor Ben Diokno signed contracts to construct a new building at Clark. There is no reliable estimate for total project cost but Diokno is saying it will be less than P50 billion. Given past experiences with government projects, it will probably exceed that.

Does the BSP need a billion-dollar facility at Clark? And the Governor and Monetary Board members won’t even move there although they will likely be given offices there. As if they need two offices!

So, the Clark office will not contribute to decongesting Metro Manila as Diokno claimed. Is it a legacy monument to remind everyone he was once BSP governor?

Diokno said the new building would not be funded by the National Budget but by BSP reserves set aside from BSP’s net income from past years.

A former NEDA chief who was once a Monetary Board member was unimpressed. He said the project is still a wasteful and extravagant use of funds.

‘Better declare them as dividends to NG for building new classrooms and school feeding. It is a socially irresponsible project.’

The former official has a point. DepEd estimates a current backlog of 165,000 classrooms. But Sen. Bam Aquino thinks this number is understated given a good number of classrooms are dilapidated and unusable.

Is a new luxurious BSP building a national priority compared to these classrooms and yes, hospital buildings to provide badly needed health care to our people?

The money for the BSP building may not be coming from the national budget but it betrays the distorted sense of priorities our high officials have in the light of our third world country’s basic needs. Total lack of respect for the peso in government hands that should be spent properly.

Speaking of the BSP, it was shocking to learn that the scale of corruption and the sheer volume of cash involved in the DPWH ghost projects shocked monetary regulators.

That’s because the country’s most highly paid government employees are content being stuck in their plush offices rather than being curious enough to find out what is going on in the real world.

BSP officials were oblivious to the fact that the banks they are regulating are complicit in this mess. Worse, it is the LandBank that seems the guiltiest of rolling out the red carpet to facilitate the huge cash transfers behind ghost DPWH projects.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), which the BSP governor chairs, also only started acting after the mess hit the headlines. Natutulog sila sa pansitan!

The AMLC most likely acted too late in freezing over 700 accounts linked to the DPWH mess. Given the ease of transferring money to overseas banks, the legislators and contractors involved most probably moved their stash before the sleepy AMLC folks took notice.

All these shows lack of respect for the peso by our officials tasked with running our government. Elected, appointed, highly paid or not, they all seem to be the same. Sad for all of us paying our hard-earned pesos in taxes to sustain them.

Since his ouster as Senate president, Francis Escudero has largely kept to himself. Until last Monday, when he came out swinging – against resigned House speaker Martin Romualdez.

What got Senator Chiz in a fighting mood, it seems, was Romualdez being spared (so far) from recommendations for criminal indictments in connection with the mangling of the national budget and flood control corruption.

Romualdez has also not been mentioned among the lawmakers who are being probed by the Commission on Elections for receiving campaign contributions from contractors doing business with the government.

Pro-Duterte senators have complained that a witness presented at a Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing by Sen. Rodante Marcoleta (reportedly without the courtesy of a heads up to panel chair Panfilo Lacson) has not been taken seriously by probers.

The witness, ex-Marine bodyguard Orly Guteza, had tagged both Romualdez and Zaldy Co in alleged massive kickbacks delivered to their homes in cold cash. Guteza was reportedly introduced to Marcoleta by former Quezon City congressman Michael Defensor, a Cabinet member during the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, no fan of Romualdez.

Guteza must face state prosecutors or the National Bureau of Investigation to assess his testimony for possible criminal indictments against those he implicated. But he was a no-show at the NBI last week, and has made himself scarce.

Both Escudero and Romualdez are casualties of the flood control mess. Before their fall from their leadership posts in Congress, the two had already been pointing fingers at each other’s chambers in the scandal over the ‘most corrupt budget ever,’ the 2025 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Escudero, in his fighting speech last Monday, sounded petulant in the theme of his message: why single out senators? Why only me?

He’s not alone though in wondering aloud why Romualdez has not been questioned, at least in connection with the mangling of the national budget during the 19th Congress.

The House speaker at the time can’t pin the blame for this mainly on Co, the chairman of the committee on appropriations, who has been conveniently missing in action since the start of the 20th Congress.

Rubbing salt into Escudero’s wound must have been Lacson’s disclosure over the weekend that ‘almost all’ senators in the 19th Congress had budget insertions totaling over P100 billion in the 2025 GAA.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III had to undertake some damage control within the chamber, pointing out that such insertions are part of the normal budget process and are not all tainted with corruption.

Lacson, who has been likened to a suicide bomber in his anti-corruption crusade, agreed with his former running mate Tito Sen. To further assuage those who were hit by his bato-bato sa langit statement, Lacson also clarified that the House budget insertions in the GAA were far greater, with more lawmakers involved.

And just to dispel accusations of singling out his fellow senators, Lacson announced yesterday that the Blue Ribbon committee would invite Romualdez and Co to its hearing on the flood control anomalies. Romualdez can decline; Co, now a civilian who is believed to be looking for a safe haven abroad from prosecution, can be subpoenaed if he fails to show up.

The Blue Ribbon chaired by Lacson will be one step ahead of the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), which has yet to summon Romualdez.

People wanted Congress to stop its probes on the budget and flood control anomalies once the ICI started its work, since lawmakers are seen to be deeply involved in the scandal.

But now that ICI proceedings have turned out to be top secret, defying the avowed push toward transparency, accountability and all that blather, people are back to relying on Lacson and the Blue Ribbon for peeling the layers of corruption for all to see.

Deals are struck and justice is influenced or bought behind closed doors. This is not just perception; it is often the reality in our looted country. This valid concern is what ICI chair Andres Reyes Jr. can’t get in the clamor to open its proceedings to the public. Reyes seems to think he’s still working as an associate justice in the Supreme Court. The ICI executive director, Brian Hosaka, is also a former spokesman for the SC.

Incidentally, there’s a scuttlebutt that the SC has decided to stand firm on its invalidation of the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, never mind if a critical argument used in the decision is based on fake news. It’s a self-serving decision that rewrites the rules and makes it nearly impossible to impeach the impeachable including SC members.

If this turns out to be true, it could intensify perceptions of institutional damage in the judiciary, which even a former head of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines has described as ‘part of the problem’ in endemic corruption.

The ICI was created because there were doubts about the impartiality of government prosecutors under the Department of Justice, which is part of the executive branch. But now with its secrecy, the ICI is looking like a redundant body, simply duplicating the work of state prosecutors.

Already there are speculations swirling that the body is merely out to throw several expendables under the bus while protecting untouchables, among them Romualdez.

As of yesterday, the Palace position was that it would not interfere in the ICI’s decision to conduct its proceedings behind closed doors. But at the rate the ICI is going, it might soon find itself facing mass protests for its lack of transparency.

The Discaya couple faced the ICI yesterday and, according to their lawyer, gave a ‘tell-all plus plus.’

‘Wala na kaming tinatago’ – they are not hiding anything anymore, lawyer Cornelio Samaniego III told reporters, but declined to give details. ‘Tell all na kami ng lahat (We’re telling everything).’

Only the ICI is doing the hiding this time.

Let’s just wait for the next Blue Ribbon hearing.

After months of renovation for next year’s Asean Summit, the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City has been reopened.

‘We recognize the PICC as a symbol of Filipino resilience and creativity. That is why, with the PICC’s golden anniversary in 2026 and, coincidentally, our hosting of the ASEAN Summit, we reaffirmed our commitment to preserving and modernizing the PICC for many generations yet to come,’ President Marcos said yesterday.

Closed for renovation in March, the PICC will showcase a newly curated art collection and key pieces from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), he noted.

Owned by the BSP, the PICC was opened to the public on Sept. 5, 1976, during the term of Marcos’ father and namesake.

Among the historic events held at the PICC were the Miss Universe pageant in 1994 and the 2017 Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit.

Health expert and nutritionist Dr. Hash Flores stressed that the public must be educated on the dangers of consuming imported frozen products, saying that it poses health risks.

Flores said a platform for food and safety must be put in place.

‘I think there are more inherent problems but the only solution at the moment would be to educate the public properly and that stems from a platform that consumers can trust,’ Flores said.

‘This will allow you to be more informed and empowered as a consumer,’ he added.

Flores warned that imported frozen and chemically treated chicken could lead to illnesses and hormonal imbalances.

He said that since such products are ‘not done in its natural form,’ women can get polycystic ovary syndrome and men can do a ‘flip switch’ because of ‘too much estrogen.’

He further encouraged the public to consider the health benefits of local, natural and organic chicken and to exercise caution when purchasing imported frozen poultry.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized nearly P35 billion worth of smuggled goods from January to August, underscoring the agency’s intensified border control operations and continuing efforts to curb illicit trade and protect government revenues.

Carrying out 653 seizure operations, the border patrol bureau said it has confiscated P34.73 billion worth of smuggled goods during the eight-month period.

The collection on seized items is only 41 percent of last year’s full year record of P85.16 billion.

BOC Assistant Commissioner Vincent Maronilla explained that last year’s figures were largely driven by letters of authority, which have now been suspended, noting that many of the operations involved were conducted outside the bureau.

‘Now we look at the complaints, when that is back, we are not keen on catching up. I think whatever the figure is, what’s important for us is the industry feels we’re doing something and there’s a reduction of the effect of smuggling in their fields,’ Maronilla said.

Letters of authority are official BOC directives that empower customs officers to carry out specific enforcement actions, such as requesting proof of duty and tax payments on imported merchandise.

In July, BOC Commissioner Ariel Nepomuceno halted the execution of all previously approved letters of authority that had not yet been served.

Maronilla said they are reviewing and streamlining safety measures for the issuance of letters of authority to prevent potential abuse based on intelligence reports.

‘Especially in the intellectual property, most particularly agriculture and the tobacco and vape industry,’ he said, referring to stronger patrols in several industries.

According to the report, the top five highest-valued seized commodities were various goods worth P20.16 billion and wildlife and natural resources at P4.78 billion.

Also among the most confiscated smuggled goods were illegal drugs valued at P4.6 billion, cigarettes, tobacco, and vape products worth P2.1 billion, along with counterfeit items amounting to P1.4 billion, according to the BOC.

Still in the eight-month period, the BOC has revoked the accreditation of 40 erring importers and customs brokers as part of its crackdown on trade law violators.

American basketball pros Sam Vincent and Taj McWilliams-Franklin are visiting the Philippines to participate in a series of engagements that will showcase American excellence in basketball and empower young Filipino athletes and leaders as part of the US Department of State’s Sports Envoy Program.

The initiative strengthens people-to-people ties between Filipinos and Americans through their shared love for sports, while inspiring the next generation of leaders.

Vincent is an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics in 1986 while McWilliams-Franklin is a two-time WNBA champion with the Detroit Shock in 2008 and the Minnesota Lynx in 2011. Both players transitioned to coaching following their successful professional careers as players.

During their visit, Vincent and McWilliams-Franklin will lead basketball clinics and leadership seminars in Alaminos City in Pangasinan, organized in partnership with the local government.

The visiting US sports envoys bring their professional and collegiate coaching experiences to train young athletes in basketball fundamentals while fostering the values of leadership, dedication, and teamwork that will help participants succeed in their professional lives.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged Cebu citizens to remain alert as rescue and relief efforts continue following the killer quake.

A 6.9 quake last Tuesday night killed at least 26 people in the province, injuring dozens more and destroying vital infrastructure.

‘Hinihikayat ko ang lahat na manatiling alerto at makinig sa abiso ng inyong lokal na pamahalaan. Sama-sama nating itatawid ang ating mga kababayan at muling itatayo ang mga komunidad na naapektuhan,’ Marcos said.

(I urge all to remain alert and to listen to the local government. Together, we will get through this and uplift the affected communities.)

Marcos said the Department of Public Works and Highways has been tasked with inspecting road and bridge quality, while the Department of Energy is working to restore power to affected regions.

The Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development are also on the ground providing aid, Marcos said.

Both the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Philippine National Police are assisting in rescue and recovery efforts, the president said.

The death toll from the earthquake is still rising, with reports on the ground saying at least 50 have been reported dead.

The Philippines reaffirmed its commitment to work closely with World Trade Organization (WTO) members in ensuring the effective implementation of the agreement on fisheries subsidies.

The landmark agreement represents a historic step forward in curbing harmful subsidies that contribute to overfishing and the depletion of marine resources.

Recalling the deposit of its instrument of acceptance at the sidelines of the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Feb. 27, 2024, the Philippines recently joined fellow WTO members in celebrating the entry into force of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies.

As an archipelagic nation of more than 115 million people, with millions depending on fisheries for their food and livelihood, the Philippines attaches great importance to this milestone. The agreement strengthens global efforts to safeguard marine biodiversity, ensure food security and protect the livelihoods of fisherfolk, particularly those in small coastal communities.

To support implementation, the WTO has established a Fisheries Subsidies Fund to provide technical assistance and capacity-building support to developing members such as the Philippines. This includes Category 1 Grant Projects of up to $50,000 and Category 2 Grant Projects of up to $300,000. Through this mechanism, the Philippines will be better equipped to implement the agreement effectively, enhance sustainable coastal management, and deliver tangible benefits to rural fishing communities across the archipelago.

The Philippines said the effective implementation of the Agreement will strengthen the country’s capacity to manage its ocean resources sustainably, secure the future of coastal communities, and uphold its responsibility as steward of one of the world’s richest marine ecosystems.

Ambassador Manuel A.J. Teehankee, Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the WTO, welcomed the entry into force of the Agreement.

‘The entry into force of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies marks a collective victory for global sustainability and for millions of fisherfolk whose lives and livelihoods depend on healthy oceans,’ Teehankee said.

As the WTO’s first sustainability-focused agreement, it demonstrates that trade rules can serve as powerful tools for environmental protection and development.

‘For the Philippines, this Agreement is not only about protecting our marine biodiversity, but also about ensuring food security and building resilient coastal communities,’ he added.

The Philippines also welcomed the establishment of the Fisheries Fund, which will help developing countries translate commitments into concrete action.

‘The Philippines stands ready to work with WTO members and partners to ensure that this Agreement delivers real and lasting benefits for our people and our planet,’ he said.

In recent weeks, Filipinos have been introduced to Gen Z Rep. Francisco “Kiko” Austria Barzaga of Dasmariñas, Cavite. Formerly part of the majority, he resigned from the ruling Partido Federal Party and established himself as an independent lawmaker. He’s been the subject of many talks and insinuations, from his unusual and eccentric personality to whispers about his mental health. But it does not change the fact that this rather unusual young representative is saying the right things, stuff that ordinary Filipinos want to hear; that the corruption in flood control projects leads to former speaker Martin Romualdez.

As speaker during the 2023, 2024, and 2025 budget deliberations, Romualdez should at least have been cognizant of these anomalies. As Barzaga puts it, either Romualdez is corrupt and part of the flood control mafia, or at the very least was inept and incompetent for allowing these billions of pesos to be stolen left and right. For many lawmakers, Kiko Bargaza has indeed been a thorn in their side and sycophants of the ruling party have filed ethics complaints against the neophyte congressman.

The family name Barzaga is of Spanish origin, derived from barza (‘bramble’) + -aga (‘place of/abundance of’), meaning ‘place with brambles.’ The name is a relatively uncommon surname and is found in the Catalogo Alfabetico de Apellidos. Because of their thorns, brambles are often associated with wildness, difficulty, or obstacles. A very apt description of Rep. Barzaga, indeed.

The Barzagas are a political dynasty in Dasmariñas, Cavite. The modern Barzaga clan’s began with Elpidio ‘Pidi’ Frani Barzaga Jr., who served as Dasmariñas mayor and as congressman for the old 2nd and the 4th Districts. However, the family’s story goes older than Pidi. In the early 1800s, Domingo was born in Imus, Cavite. Prior to the Claveria surname decree of 1849, his family had been using ‘Bautista’ as a family name. The modern Barzaga family simply adopted the surname in accordance with the Claveria decree. Domingo Bautista would later marry Eusebia de los Reyes, and by 1850 had become Domingo Barsaga Bautista, until his family would later use Barsaga (and much later the more Spanish-sounding Barzaga) exclusively. Domingo and Eusebia had several children, including Hermogenes Barzaga, who married Manuela Enano. One of their children was Francisco Barzaga, the namesake of the current Kiko Barzaga who served as municipal president of Dasmariñas, Cavite in 1900 and then from 1922 to 1924. His son, Elpidio Barzaga, was the father of Elpidio Barzaga Jr.

A Barzaga legacy is converting Dasmariñas from a municipality into a component city, who was sponsored by then-Rep. Elpidio F. Barzaga Jr. Pidi’s wife Jennifer ‘Jenny’ Austria Barzaga, was mayor (2007-2016; 2019-present) and congresswoman (2016-2019), the first city mayor after cityhood in 2009 and has repeatedly won reelection. Their son Francisco ‘Kiko’ A. Barzaga served as city councilor (2019-2025) and became representative of Cavite’s 4th District in 2025; his brother Elpidio ‘Third’ Barzaga III became vice mayor in 2025.

Centuries ago, the first of Kiko Barzaga’s ancestors settled in what is now modern-day Cavite, first in Imus and then in Dasmariñas. The city’s name itself holds many symbolisms. Dasmariñas refers to ‘of the marinas or coasts.’ In Castilian and Galician contexts, marina didn’t just mean ‘harbor’ –it referred broadly to fertile coastal plains and maritime regions, often wealthy and strategic and connoted a sense of being tied to exploration, conquest, and commerce. In Catholic Spain, the sea was a biblical and spiritual metaphor and represented the vastness of God’s creation and the trials of life’s journey.

Whatever the deal is with Rep. Kiko Barzaga, it cannot be denied that in genealogical terms, he symbolizes defiance, strength and, as his own last name suggests, being a (very welcome) thorn to the powers that be that continue to rule the Philippines like it is their playground.