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The University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu Fighting Maroons barged into the win column with a 73-69 upset of the University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters in the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) Season 25 basketball tournament on Tuesday, September 30, at the Cebu Coliseum.

Andrew Padilla shined the brightest with 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Brandon Sainz and Wenraye Sarol combined for 22 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists to help the Fighting Maroons of coach Rommel Rasmo snap a three-game jinx.

UP Cebu squandered a nine-point lead late in the third quarter as the Webmasters staged a spirited endgame fightback to seize a 65-60 edge at the last three-minute mark of the contest.

But the Fighting Maroons countered with a decisive 10-1 blitz to regain the upper hand, 70-66, in the final 64 seconds.

The Webmasters threatened one last time at 69-71 on a 3-pointer by Ricofer Sordilla as Sarol scored on a crucial layup with only five ticks left in the game clock to seal the deal for the Fighting Maroons.

Ray Charles Libatog bagged 20 points, six rebounds and one assist while Sordilla had 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal but their efforts went to waste as the Webmasters faltered for the first time after a rousing 2-0 start.

In high school division, Mart Justine Padilla fired 23 points with five rebounds, one assist and a spectacular six steals as the Cebu Eastern College (CEC) Blue Dragons nailed their first victory with a 67-56 scorching of the University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue (UCLM) Baby Webmasters.

Kenneth Robert Fuller delivered a double-double of 16 and 12 rebounds with four assists and three steals for the Dragons, who sprinted to a 14-point advantage, 35-21, midway in the second quarter.

UCLM pulled within just two points, 49-51, in the final five minutes but the Dragons closed the match with a searing 16-7 run to secure a double-digit triumph.

Dan Mitchell Ferraren scattered 22 points, seven rebounds and two assists but to no avail as UCLM tasted its first defeat.

Anti-narcotics agents have confiscated 1.56 kilos of shabu worth P10.64 million in three cities in Metro Manila.

In Quezon City, 500 grams of shabu valued at P3.4 million were seized by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in Barangay E. Rodriguez on Tuesday.

The contraband was recovered from a couple, the PDEA said.

Two more suspects were arrested by PDEA operatives in Sampaloc, Manila during a sting that yielded shabu with a street value of P3.4 million.

In Taguig, police seized P3.84 million worth of drugs from a 26-year-old construction worker in Barangay Pembo yesterday.

The Visayas grid was placed under yellow alert for eight hours yesterday after a magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck Cebu and triggered an unplanned shutdown of several power plants.

The alert notice, which was issued when power reserves are low, was raised from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m., according to the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

The NGCP said that power grids in Luzon and Mindanao remained normal.

In the Visayas, the earthquake knocked down 11 plants, adding to the strain caused by 16 other power facilities that have been out of service long before the incident occurred, along with three others that are operating at a reduced capacity.

As a result, 640.6 megawatts of capacity were unavailable to the Visayas grid as of 3 p.m. yesterday, the NGCP said.

Over 800,000 consumer connections across the region experienced blackouts following the earthquake’s impact on 24 power cooperatives, the National Electrification Administration said.

The Department of Energy, meanwhile, has mobilized the entire sector to ensure the immediate restoration of power across affected areas, prioritizing hospitals, water stations and other lifeline facilities.

Two executives have left the boardroom of courier giant LBC Express Holdings Inc. in another leadership shakeup for the company that is trying to sustain its return to profit.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, LBC said directors Miguel Camahort and Jason Rosenblatt have resigned effective yesterday.

Camahort served as president and CEO of LBC, until the courier announced in August that it was promoting chief finance officer Enrique Rey Jr. as its new head.

LBC appointed a new president and CEO to make way for Camahort’s retirement. Camahort left LBC at a time when it was just returning to profit on the success of its cost-cutting interventions.

Meanwhile, Rosenblatt is leaving his directorship in LBC to focus on other assignments abroad. LBC said it may be difficult for Rosenblatt to balance responsibilities if he stays in the company.

Currently, Rosenblatt serves as a partner and head of Southeast Asia private equity head for Ares Private Equity Group, which he joined in 2023 and is based in Los Angeles, California.

LBC is facing renewed optimism that it can stay in profit, as it is now led by Rey who has taken care of its financials since 2015 prior to his promotion.

Rey has served the LBC Group for close to two decades now, having been appointed as director of LBC Mundial Inc. from 2005 to 2008 and of LBC Systems Inc. from 2008 to 2010.

LBC posted a profit of P194.79 million in the first half, reversing its net loss of P251.66 million a year ago. Although LBC sustained a five-percent revenue decline to P6.98 billion, it managed to mitigate impact by slashing costs by four percent to P5.34 billion.

The company is undertaking cost-cutting efforts to nurse its finances back to health. This led the courier to reduce branches and personnel across the Philippines.

LBC projects revenue to pick up in the second semester, particularly during the holiday season, when remittance and shipping activities traditionally reach their highest.

Recently, LBC has received a show cause letter from the Securities and Exchange Commission to explain the delay in its submission of its sustainability report for 2022, which the courier said it is now addressing.

Senate finance chair Sherwin Gatchalian flagged the involvement of flood control contractors Curlee and Sarah Discaya in the anomalous construction of hospital facilities during the Department of Health (DOH)’s budget deliberation yesterday.

Gatchalian lamented the wasted public funds in uncompleted or idle hospital facilities, citing a 2024 Commission on Audit (COA) report about 123 DOH contracts worth P11.5 billion not completed on time due to poor coordination, approval delays and changes in site locations, among others.

He said the average P100-million budget for the graft-tainted flood control projects could have been used for the construction of a new building for the children’s hospital.

‘This is P11.5 billion that we cannot use and got stuck, because of poor planning, lack of coordination and poor execution. We really need to spend our budget wisely,’ Gatchalian said.

Health Secretary Ted Herbosa mentioned the DOH’s ‘flood control version’ of the scandal, with 400 of their 600 health centers under its health facilities enhancement program left idle because of lack of health care personnel and delayed construction due to contractors’ lapses.

COA supervising auditor for DOH Ameer Gamama said Discaya’s firm St. Gerrard Construction was involved in a P133-million Zamboanga sanitarium project that was left idle despite being 98 percent complete and a P22.45-million DOH satellite project in Zamboanga del Norte that was completed but instead used as a classroom by the Mindanao State University.

Herbosa also lamented lawmakers’ practice of ‘budget insertions’ in the national outlay for DOH projects not part of its health facility development plan, resulting in poor planning and faulty or delayed construction.

Farm-to-market roads

The Department of Agriculture (DA) yesterday said its audit of farm-to-market roads has uncovered P115 million in ‘ghost’ projects from P75 million initially reported, adding to the roster of questionable government infrastructure flagged so far.

‘It’s not that big but it’s still alarming because why are there ghost projects,’ Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. told reporters on the sidelines of the opening day of the 47th meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry (AMAF) at the Conrad Hotel in Pasay City.

He said his agency is coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and that he plans to personally visit the sites.

The agriculture official said the previous day that the contractors behind the P115 million in ‘ghost’ projects were not among the 15 firms earlier identified by President Marcos.

The DA launched the audit earlier this year after the Senate began looking into alleged irregularities in flood control projects, prompting the agency to scrutinize its own road programs.

The country still lacks about 62,000 kilometers of farm-to-market roads, according to the agriculture official, stressing the need to safeguard funds so these can be used for actual construction and improvements rather than lost to anomalies.

Investigate EDCA

Apart from anomalies in flood control projects, militant fishers’ group Pambansang Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said the government should also investigate DPWH’s budget allocation for a military site covered by the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

Pamalakaya chairman Fernando Hicap said the DPWH’s Tatag ng Imprastraktura Para sa Kapayapaan at Seguridad appropriated P3 billion for various support of national security, including the expansion of an airstrip in the island town of Balabac in Palawan.

For Hicap, it is unacceptable that public funds are being used for an EDCA site that he said has no benefit for Filipinos and also puts the country’s security at risk.

Aside from the expansion of the Balabac airstrip, Hicap said the DPWH also provided funds to build a hangar at the Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu and the construction of hangars and various military infrastructure at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.

Instead of military bases, Hicap said government funds should be used to build infrastructure that will directly benefit people.

Removal of ethics

The Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines (CEAP) warned that corruption in the government would worsen amid the Department of Education (DepEd)’s proposal to remove the Ethics subject from the General Education (GE) curriculum of higher education institutions as the country is rocked by flood control scandal.

CEAP executive director Narcy Ador Dionisio said that ethics form the conscience of students.

‘Ethics is not optional. It is essential to look at what’s happening to our country today,’ Dionisio said.

‘Ethics forms the conscience of our students and without it, we risk producing graduates who may be competent but lack integrity. Academic knowledge without ethical grounding will never serve the common good,’ he added.

‘We’re talking about good people initially when they graduate from a Catholic school or other schools and eventually, they turn into thieves and this is the same reason why CEAP is firmly opposing the removal of Ethics in the general education curriculum,’ he noted. -Alden Monzon, Emmanuel Tupas, Bella Cariaso

Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle sees the problem of corruption in the Philippines as part of a larger global trend of poor governance, warning that Filipinos risk insulting themselves and the country’s overseas workers by repeating the phrase ‘only in the Philippines’ when scandals erupt.

Delivering the keynote address at the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) national convention on Wednesday, October 1, the former Manila archbishop spoke bluntly about how corruption is often framed as if it is a problem unique to the Philippines.

‘I travel a lot. I visit refugee camps, forested areas, denuded places, polluted waterways. And I tell you, it is not only in the Philippines where we find this horrendous situation,” Tagle said.

“So please stop saying, only in the Philippines … I feel insulted,’ he added.

In saying this, Tagle drew from his experience as pro-prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, particularly the sector for evangelization of young Churches, where he oversees mission territories across Asia, Africa, Oceania and parts of Latin America.

He added: “I think of our overseas Filipino workers. When we only show, what they say, are the ‘ugliness’ of the country, what will their employers think?… But not all Filipinos are like that,” Tagle said before an audience of some 3,500 Catholic educators and students.

Tagle also suggested Filipinos examine international connections to problems within the country, noting that corruption operates on a global scale.

‘So maybe you could also look at what the connection of other countries and other businesses might be to what is happening in the Philippines,’ Tagle said in mixed English and Filipino. ‘Because fraud and corruption are global, maybe there are other hands meddling here with us.’

‘Maybe the ones we are shouting at are small fry,’ he said.

This year’s gathering of CEAP members – the country’s biggest network of Catholic schools – comes as parallel investigations are held in the Senate and in the Independent Commission on Infrastructure on irregularities in public works projects. In one of the Senate hearings, Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon raised the possibility that “trillions” of public funds may have already been misused, stolen or lost due to corruption in flood control projects alone.

Revelations of anomalies have pushed Catholic schools, church leaders, civil society groups, and progressive organizations to take to the streets to demand accountability, with the last massive protest held on September 21, though local rallies were also held in the days before that.

While CEAP’s national convention this year has an official theme related to synodality – a word the Catholic Church uses to refer to a process of collective discernment and dialogue – CEAP officials in their speeches have also zeroed in on the current corruption scandal, especially how Catholic school educators can prevent their graduates from becoming part of the problem.

Given the timing of their gathering, CEAP president Fr. Karel San Juan, SJ, yesterday said their convention this year is meant to send a “strong message” to Catholic school graduates that the values they learned in classrooms must be lived out in public life.

Bishop Charlie Inzon of Jolo, who chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ education commission, said in a speech on Wednesday that Catholic schools must not stop at protest actions when scandals break, but also invest in the long-term work of forming honest and conscientious Catholic school alumni.

They may have fallen short of their target but the promising young booters of the Lapu-Lapu City Heroes FC are still proud and happy of their first runner-up trophy in the 6 Under category of the 4th City of Naga Football Festival recently.

The Heroes scored a thrilling 2-1 win over Looc FC in between two draws with the host City of Naga. But they suffered a heart-breaking loss to Looc FC at the end of their campaign in the double round robin event to settle for the silver medal.

It s the third podium finish for the Heroes in a month after the Soccer Moms emerged as champions and their U10 players placed second in the VP Visayas Eagles Challenge Cup last August at the Dynamic Herb-Borromeo Sports Complex.

Under the guidance of coach Josh Austin, the U6 Heroes are bannered by Elijah Radleigh Aparece, Jasper Daniel Wu, Craig Adam Menguito, Trent Arthur Gala, Brandon Xander Menguito, Khalesse Malingin, Thirdy Dizon, Alexa Mae Tumulak, Eyana Rhaine Brillo, and David Lacar.

On the other hand, their U12 team coached by Lopito Tumulak Jr. and Jhon Dave Regner made it to the quarterfinal round.

The Heroes edged Minglanilla and STC with the same 1-0 scoreline and fought to a draw with the City of Danao and San Carlos School of Cebu.

However, their lone setback in the group stage against the host Nagahanons shut down their Final Four bid.

The Mercato de Mactan-backed U12 squad is composed of Mark Daniel Bacla-an, Devin Jasper Gildo, Mcjohnston Singh, Kyle Nakagawa, Asriel Josh Heredia, Zacc Roshan Lomadilla, Rua Hoshino, Toa Hoshino, Prince Emmanuel James Salazar, Spencer Sven Lomadilla, Ysabelle Sulib, Wil Jacob Rom, and Nicolo Eidann Cuizon.

As of yesterday afternoon, 69 deaths had been confirmed, with search and rescue teams still working frantically in the aftermath of the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Cebu on Tuesday night.

It was the end of a working day, and bedtime for many people when the quake hit, followed by aftershocks. Buildings, houses and other structures began collapsing, including heritage churches. Power and telecommunications lines conked out. Fissures formed on roads and bridges, making passage dangerous and disrupting supplies and rescue work.

Cebu is now under a state of calamity as seismologists warn of more aftershocks. The earthquake was felt in varying intensities across Cebu and neighboring provinces, with the epicenter located off Bogo City.

The magnitude of the quake was just a few points shy of the 7.2 or the so-called Big One that seismologists have warned could hit Metro Manila and neighboring provinces straddling the West and East Valley Faults.

An earthquake more powerful than the Big One in fact hit Luzon including Metro Manila on July 16, 1990. Recorded at a magnitude 7.8, the Luzon earthquake killed over 1,600 people, with the casualties highest in Baguio City and Central Luzon particularly Nueva Ecija.

That quake heightened concerns about the Big One hitting the country’s most densely populated region. In March 2004, the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study was released by the Japan International Cooperation Agency in partnership with the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The study warned that up to 35,000 people could die from the Big One including from fires that would break out.

Japan, which has suffered from numerous killer earthquakes and tsunamis in the past centuries, has arguably the world’s most sophisticated earthquake response and mitigation system in place.

While the Philippines lacks the resources of Japan, the JICA study identifies the weaknesses in earthquake preparedness in Metro Manila and how these can be addressed.

Some of the recommendations have been undertaken. These include the introduction of new building safety standards and tightening of their implementation, inspection of public infrastructure and buildings for structural integrity and their reinforcement, and yes, those regular earthquake drills in schools and offices.

Yet seismologists and disaster response advocates have stressed that much more need to be done in terms of readiness for the Big One. The earthquake in Cebu should spur more action in enhancing preparedness.

Ornella Brianna, a rising star in Philippine theater, carries the legacy of her artist mom Tricia Canilao.

Tricia has performed in “Miss Saigon” as Kim, Gigi, and Ellen, and played roles in Hong Kong Disneyland.

She gave birth to Ornella in Hong Kong, and the latter’s life has always been surrounded by creativity, culture, and performance.

The eldest of three siblings, Ornella grew up watching her mother perform in various events in Hong Kong while taking musical and dance classes at her mother’s own studio.

“I really want to play Kim one day. ‘Miss Saigon’ is one of my favorite musicals, especially when I got the chance to watch it when it was here in the Philippines, so it’d be great to play Kim,” Ornella said.

When her family moved back to the Philippines from Hong Kong in 2016, Ornella took her very first theater workshop with Repertory Philippines, under the mentorship of Ayam Barredo.

Through Repertory Philippines she starred in her first leading role as Ariel in “The Little Mermaid,” and a year later appeared in “A Christmas Carol” with 9 Works Theatrical.

The teenager is in the middle of her latest production Repertory Philippines’s “Alice in Wonderland” which she feels is like a “coming back home” moment to the stage that shaped her.

Now, as a teenager, she makes her highly anticipated return to musical theater in ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ It’s a moment that feels like ‘coming back home’ to the stage that shaped her.

“I don’t really mind what roles I’m assigned, even if I have my preferences. I see every role as an opportunity to learn and grow,” Ornella said. “Being in the ensemble teaches teamwork and discipline, supporting roles allow me to develop character work, and lead roles challenge me to carry the story with confidence.”

She stated her belief in the saying “there are no small roles, only small actors,” pointing to theater being about collaboration and storytelling.

Ornella also shared advice that her mom Tricia gave her: to give 120% in everything.

“If I only give 100% and I fall short, I might end up at 80% or 90%. But if I push for 120%, then even on the days I don’t feel at my best, I’ll still be giving 100%,: Ornella explained.

Another thing she learned from Tricia was that talent isn’t the only what matters, so is being a good person because people will want to work with kind and respectful individuals.

Ornella expressed admiration for her mother as an artist and her ability to capture the room’s attention.

“I only had the chance to see her perform a handful of times since most of her shows were either before I was born or when I was too young to remember,” Ornella continued. “But the moments I did witness, and especially the times I was able to perform alongside her, showed me how kind, cooperative, and inspiring she is to work with.”

She also said Tricia was supportive of her and her siblings’ dreams, calling her the strongest and most caring person she knew.

“At the same time, she has never wanted me to simply become a ‘mini her,’ especially when it comes to performing. She always told me that she tries not to interfere with my voice or acting, so that I wouldn’t just copy her, but instead grow into my own kind of artist,” Ornella ended.

Shuvee Etrata marks another feat as the first female scout ambassador of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines.

The former ‘Pinoy Big Brother Celebrity Collab Edition’ housemate wrote ‘Laging Handa’ on her Instagram post where she is seen with the Boy Scout mascots.

Her talent agency, posted about Shuvee’s latest seal of approval on its official Instagram account, ‘The Nation’s Darling joins the scouting fam!’

She joins fellow Sparkle artist, David Licauco, who was named as the first-ever Scout Ambassador for the Boy Scouts of the Philippines last year.

The Boy Scouts of the Philippines is the national scouting organization of the Philippines in the World Organization of the Scout Movement.

The Scout movement was introduced to the Philippines in 1910 during the American occupation period. The Boy Scouts of the Philippines is said to be the second largest organization in the world with 3,344,799 members as of 2023.

October is Scouting Month in the Philippines, established by Presidential Proclamation No. 1326, s.1974, to honor the founding of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines in 1936.