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‘Idol Kids Philippines’ has officially named its first grand winner, with kiddie hopeful Alexa Mendoza clinching the title in the Final Showdown held Sunday, September 28.

Nine-year-old Alexa, who hails from Laguna, emerged as the grand winner after earning 98.88 percent of the combined public votes and judges’ scores, showcasing her artistry with the original piece ‘Maaabot Ko’ and her rendition of Eraserheads’ classic ‘Ang Huling El Bimbo.’ Alexa won an exclusive contract with StarPop and a cash prize of over P1 million.

Adding to the milestone are original songs from the Top 3 kiddie hopefuls, with Klied performing ‘Pakinggan Mo’ and Quinn offering ‘Dalangin,’ alongside Alexa’s winning piece. All tracks were produced by award-winning songwriter and producer Jonathan Manalo.

The in-studio lyric videos will be available on the ABS-CBN Star Music YouTube Channel, while the official EP will be released this Friday (October 3) on all streaming platforms worldwide.

The Final Showdown also featured performances from ‘It’s Showtime’ hosts Jhong Hilario and Vhong Navarro, who delivered high-energy numbers that lit up the stage.

Capping the season were the Kapamilya Idol judges, Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez-Alcasid, Power Diva Angeline Quinto, record-breaking singer-songwriter Juan Karlos, and Mr. Pure Energy Gary Valenciano, who have guided and witnessed the growth of the kiddie hopefuls throughout the competition.

Joining the celebration were the ‘Idol Kids Philippines Spotlight’ IdolKada online hosts, Kapamilya actress and Idol hopeful Shanaia Gomez and Jeremy G, who brought added energy and connection to fans online throughout the season.

Viewers can relive the journey and performances of the kiddie hopefuls on the official ‘Idol Philippines’ YouTube channel and on-demand via iWant.

Six activists arrested in 2018 during an alleged encounter between government troops and New People’s Army rebels in Mabinay Town in Negros Oriental have been freed by the court after being cleared of charges of illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

Judge Marie Rose Inocando of the Regional Trial Court Branch 42 ruled that the prosecutors failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt and that the police handled the evidence poorly.

The decision will no longer be challenged, and the commander of the 302nd Brigade said they will do better case handling next time.

‘We always abide by the rule of law and we respect the decision of the court in the case of the Mabinay 6. We take this as a sign that we should improve when it comes to legalities during combat operations,’ said Brigadier General Jason Jumawan in an interview with the Philippine News Agency.

We suppose we should be happy that they will handle cases better, but then again maybe we should also be wary.

Because that can mean that either they will take care not to accuse the wrong people anymore –or they will make sure to have enough evidence to make sure people are convicted, whether they are guilty or not.

Activists who go to educate farmers of their rights aren’t rebels. Rebels are those who take part in the armed struggle against the duly-elected government. Many people cannot make this distinction, especially those in the armed forces.

We cannot totally blame them for this. Their training to defend the country from threats both external and internal leaves little time for them to be taught the difference between those rebelling and those who are just pushing for positive change.

This isn’t limited to government troops. Remember the rampant red-tagging during the previous administration? Even those who were just doing their jobs like advocates for women’s rights, judges, lawyers, and even priests were lumped in with those who want to bring down the democracy.

We certainly hope Jumawan meant the former, that they will take care to no longer accuse the wrong people.

The writer Greg Brillantes died age 92 on a Friday, the last weekend of September, as a severe tropical storm was heading straight to the central islands of the archipelago. His second daughter Cecilia, perhaps named after the patron saint of music, was surely coming home after many years based

stateside. Chi, that was her nickname, was a student of mine at UP Manila 40 years ago, in English I with her block of rowdy occupational therapy majors. In class sometimes her father was mentioned, author of ‘Faith, Love, Time and Dr. Lazaro,’ a staple in any syllabus introducing college students to literature and other literary forms, a tale of the country doctor whose son teaches him a thing or two about faith.

It wasn’t until after the first EDSA revolution that I got to work closely with Greg B., as he had once written his name in my pocket directory (***9507), when he was editorial consultant for Midweek magazine for six years, and I was among the staff writers. Of course I’d read his work before, aside from the aforementioned faith, love and time, such as ‘The Distance to Andromeda,’ which made you never look at the night sky the same way again. Or ‘The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon in the Year 1957,’ which was an ode to adolescence in the province of Tarlac, although written in prose.

Greg B also edited The Manila Review, a martial law era literary journal that came out more or less quarterly, where I first read Erwin Castillo’s ‘The Watch of La Diane,’ as well as a sheaf of poems by the teenage poet Diana Gamalinda, who drowned in Vigan in 1978. The review was also where I saw mind-blowing illustrations by the likes of Red Mansueto.

In Midweek the hours were lax, meaning irregular, so long as the issue was put to bed on at least a weekly basis. Greg B was usually behind his desk in the afternoons, wrestling with copy of the writers and columnists, the blue pencil eventually rendering the poor edited copy like a Rorschach test, which made you pity the poor encoder who had to manually put in all the corrections and transpositions in the rewritten article.

He was hard of hearing and cupped his hand to his ear if he couldn’t hear what you were saying, and sometimes totally misheard you so that you had to raise your voice and repeat whatever you needed to say to him, ending with a few guffaws from both sides. Also you should have seen him when he was deep at work, sometimes shaking his head and muttering the ritual ‘tsk, tsk, tsk,’ looking at copy from a certain angle so light would fall on it the right way, before applying his editing pen as if he were doodling or doing a spot cartoon.

After hours there was time for some beer, sometimes in the old gutted building bedside the office on A. Roces avenue, Quezon City, or else a short drive or taxi ride away to Davao Inihaw on Timog, where the inihaw na panga and sisig were quite the treat after not such a hard day’s work.

It was at Midweek where we first developed a sort of journalist routine, learned the ropes of the trade, out of town coverage and tightrope deadlines, especially since the magazine’s editor in chief was Pete Lacaba, who taught us all the basics of days of disquiet, nights of rage.

Greg B drove an old model Mercedes-Benz that might have seen better days, the backseat filled with books he would occasionally give away to young writers, and near the dashboard a pile of cassettes that included ol’ blue eyes.

Before Midweek closed down with the exit of the first Aquino administration, Greg had gone on a central American sojourn following the death of his mom, which coincided with political upheavals in Nicaragua and other parts of the region, and the essays written at the time later formed the main section of a book of essays, traversing most of the continent by bus, train or foot and recording his adventures in drafts written in long hand.

After Midweek it was on to Graphic magazine where Pete already was, as well the National Artist Nick Joaquin, the Cabangon Chua publication along Pasong Tamo and dela Rosa that spawned its own counterculture. Greg also had a regular column in the Times Journal, the title of which I forget, but it was in the manner of Nick’s ‘Small beer.’

At the turn of the millennium I asked Greg to contribute an essay for a special supplement of The STAR, sort of like to beat the projected 2K bug, and he delivered in spades, recalling his fledgling years at the Ateneo along Padre Faura just after the Pacific War, as an FOB (fresh off the bus or Benz) provinciano

from Tarlac, and his corps commander at ROTC was a fellow named Max Soliven, who was described unflatteringly as strutting around with his sword, or words to that effect.

When I handed him his writer’s fee in the early months of year 2000 we met at Sionil Jose’s bookshop Solidaridad also on Faura, after much shouting and repeated phrases on phone to set the appointment, and he was as usual in his element among books, as calm as any browser. He invited me to lunch at anearby eatery, on the second floor of which he said there used to be a girl’s dorm, where he and his batchmates at the Ateneo visited on weekends, maybe with an impromptu serenade in mind.

In the 2010s I saw less of him, except for a Midweek reunion at Teacher’s Village in the house of one of the magazine’s staff writers Tezza Parel, where I brought a bottle of Capt. Morgan spiced rum which he was hard-put to part with, until I drove him and other staff home to Sta. Mesa Heights, the dog Juanito no longer around, but he wouldn’t let us leave without giving us a couple of books however yet unread somewhere in the apartment.

Or else in New Manila at the house of fellow writer Ben Bautista, dinners with Pete and Krup Yuson washed down with single malt while in the lanai works of Bautista’s bosom buddy Chabet kept watch over us.

In Baguio of course I bought his collected short stories to shore up a weather beaten, dog-eared copy of The Apollo Centennial, still bedside, while Chi finally is home from Houston to join her two sisters and mom, the distance to Sta. Mesa Heights hardly measured by the words of a great writer who taught us much.

In business, numbers usually show up in boardrooms as balance sheets, profit margins and quarterly earnings. They tell us whether the organization is winning or losing, thriving or barely keeping the lights on. But numbers aren’t just dry statistics. They carry culture, symbolism and – if you’re superstitious – a fair bit of drama.

Numbers are never just numbers. If you step into an elevator anywhere in Japan, don’t be surprised if you can’t find the fourth or ninth floors. Developers replace ‘4’ with ‘3A’ and ‘9’ with ‘8A,’ because in Japanese, number four (shi) sounds like ‘death’ and nine (ku) means ‘suffering.’

In Metro Manila, I discovered a newly-refurbished hospital with the same superstitious practice. They have no fourth and ninth floor. Not even ‘3A’ or ‘8A’ floors.

Now, a Westerner might smirk: ‘Really? Skipping floors because of delusion?’ Look. Imagine being in a hospital bed and being wheeled into Room Suffering on the ninth Floor. That’s not superstition – that’s a horror movie. Smart businesses, including modern hospitals know perception is everything, and if avoiding certain digits keeps customers calm, then by all means, skip the fourth and ninth floors.

In truth, the Western world is also superstitious. They panic over number 13. Skyscrapers often jump from floor 12 to 14, airlines avoid row 13 and some hotels don’t have room 13 at all. Try convincing a nervous guest that sleeping in ‘Lucky 13’ is safe – you’ll need more than a soft pillow.

Bright side

Numbers don’t just mark superstition. They also define achievement. Malcolm Gladwell popularized the 10,000-hour rule as one key to becoming world-class at something – whether it’s violin, coding or running a business. It requires at least 10,000 hours of deliberate practice. That’s 20 hours a week for 10 years.

If you’ve been binge-watching Netflix that long, congratulations – you’re now a master of couch endurance. The rule reminds us of something powerful: numbers measure commitment. Ten thousand hours isn’t just math; it’s a story of grit, patience and effort stacking up over time.

Last week, I wrote about how to measure one’s mastery in Kaizen problem-solving. It’s similar to Japan’s tradition of folding 1,000 origami cranes. Legend has it that if you fold them, your wish will come true. Families often send bundles of colored origami pieces to hospitals, hoping for the recovery of a loved one.

Those cranes aren’t just paper – they’re hope, folded a thousand times. I’m telling my clients the same thing: complete 1,000 problem-solving projects, big or small, and you’re not just doing Kaizen. You’ll become an origami champion in continuous improvement.

That’s 10 hours per project. When multiplied to a successful 1,000 Kaizen projects, it becomes the equivalent of Gladwell’s ‘tipping point’ of 10,000 hours. See the contrast? Ten thousand hours represents discipline to master a craft. One thousand origami pieces represent faith in healing. Both are numbers, but each carries a different emotional meaning.

In business, numbers build credibility. Investors don’t buy stocks using ‘gut feelings.’ They want revenue, ratios and forecasts. In today’s digital world, companies often fall into ‘vanity metrics.’ Boasting about a million social media followers is an impressive tack – until you realize none of them ever buy anything.

It’s like bragging you have 5,000 Tinder connections but never went on a single date.

The human side of numbers

Despite their precision, numbers carry emotional weight. A worker doesn’t think of her salary as ‘P40,000/month.’ She thinks: ‘Rent, tuition, groceries and maybe pizza on a Friday night.’ Dynamic managers don’t see ’15 percent attrition.’ It sees skilled people walking out, knowledge leaking and morale dropping.

Some managers forget this. They talk about ‘cutting five percent of staff’ as if they’re trimming fat from a budget. But behind every percentage point are human lives and livelihoods. Business leaders who understand this don’t just see numbers – they see stories.

So, what can managers take from all this numerical wisdom?

Respect cultural numbers. If skipping a floor builds trust, do it. Math purists may cringe, but most people are fine as long as the elevator is operational.

Pick the right metrics. Focus on numbers that matter. Customer retention and employee motivation rates beat any social media ‘likes.’

Tell stories with data. Don’t just say sales rose by 15 percent. Say, ‘sales rose by 15 percent – enough to fund merit pay increases.’ Numbers persuade when they mean something.

Balance head and heart. Some numbers measure profit, others measure patience, others measure prayer. Intelligent managers know how to balance all three.

Numbers run the world – on spreadsheets, in superstitions and in stories of struggle and hope. Number four means death in Japan, eight means prosperity in China, ten thousand hours mean mastery and one thousand folded papers mean hope for healing.

It’s not just math – it’s tradition with a calculator. Ignore the power of numbers, and you risk losing people’s trust. Respect them – and you’ll see that behind every digit lies not just data, but people, culture and countless possibilities. In the end, numbers don’t just count; they narrate.

In business, the story told by numbers is the one customers and employees believe in – because behind every figure is the figure of trust.

Rey Elbo is a quality and productivity improvement enthusiast. DM your story on Facebook, LinkedIn, or X or email elbonomics@gmail.com or via https://reyelbo.com. Anonymity is guaranteed even if you skipped your math and statistics classes in college.

For its 2025 edition, The Miss Globe organization shared the pageant’s new process of elimination.

The delegates will all appear in three different segments during the final show.

They will first appear wearing Albanian traditional outfits, with a modern twist, custom-made for the delegates by Lilo Fashion Design.

Next, they’ll reappear wearing custom-made swimwear, still by Lilo Fashion Design, during the Bikini Segment.

Finally, the girls will wear gowns of their choice, made by designers from all over the world.

The field will be narrowed down to a Top 21, with one spot allotted for the People’s Choice awardee – the winner of the online poll. In this round, all semifinalists will be wearing gowns designed by Louis Pangilinan.

The Top 21 will be further trimmed down to a Top 11. The eleven lucky ladies will be wearing another set of designs by Louis Pangilinan.

From the Top 11, only five delegates will advance to the final round, where the winner and her court will be formed. Outgoing queen Diana Moreno of Colombia will crown her successor.

The 2025 Miss Globe coronation night will be hosted by Miss Globe 2021 Maureen Montagne and Miss Earth 2023 Drita Ziri.

It can be recalled that Drita hosted the show when Maureen competed for the Philippines, before winning as Miss Earth the following year.

The final show will unfold on Oct 15 (Oct 16, Manila time) and will be beamed live to a global audience from Deliart Association’s channel on YouTube.

The Philippines will be represented by Annabelle Mae McDonnell, who represented Iligan at Binibining Pilipinas this year. Stay tuned!

As relief efforts for victims of Severe Tropical Storm Opong are ongoing, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has intensified its operations against fraudulent donation drives on social media.

Acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartateasz Jr. directed the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to monitor suspicious donation requests on social media platforms to ensure that relief operations are protected from exploitation.

Nartatez said the ACG should also check websites and e-wallet transactions to identify and apprehend scammers taking advantage of people who are donating to typhoon victims.

‘We advise the public to verify first before donating. Legitimate donation drives are usually organized by well-known charity groups,’ he said.

Nartatez reminded people to check official announcements, verified social media pages and official bank accounts. Personal accounts soliciting donations, especially if the details are vague or unverifiable, must be avoided, he said.

The PNP is rolling out an awareness campaign to help citizens distinguish between legitimate and fake donation drives.

Nartatez urged those who have been victimized to report to the ACG or to the nearest police stations.

Beware of fake donation drives – PNP

TUPAS

MANILA, Philippines – As relief efforts for victims of Severe Tropical Storm Opong are ongoing, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has intensified its operations against fraudulent donation drives on social media.

Acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartateasz Jr. directed the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) to monitor suspicious donation requests on social media platforms to ensure that relief operations are protected from exploitation.

Nartatez said the ACG should also check websites and e-wallet transactions to identify and apprehend scammers taking advantage of people who are donating to typhoon victims.

‘We advise the public to verify first before donating. Legitimate donation drives are usually organized by well-known charity groups,’ he said.

Nartatez reminded people to check official announcements, verified social media pages and official bank accounts. Personal accounts soliciting donations, especially if the details are vague or unverifiable, must be avoided, he said.

The PNP is rolling out an awareness campaign to help citizens distinguish between legitimate and fake donation drives.

Nartatez urged those who have been victimized to report to the ACG or to the nearest police stations.

After saying that ‘almost all’ 24 senators of the 19th Congress had insertions in the 2025 national budget amounting to over P100 billion, Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Lacson clarified yesterday that members of the House of Representatives had even bigger entries.

As senators began to push back against criticisms on insertions, Lacson clarified that he was not singling out the Senate when he flagged budget changes for public works – the biggest of which was P10 billion for one senator alone.

He noted that insertions are not necessarily unlawful, but expressed suspicion over the P5 billion to P9 billion supposedly received by each lawmaker.

Lacson, chairman of the Senate Blue Ribbon committee, said House insertions ‘were much bigger and the list of names is much longer’ and ran several pages in alphabetical order, compared to the 24 names in the Senate.

‘It’s like a roll call,’ Lacson told radio dzBB, referring to the list of over 300 lawmakers read by the House Secretary General to check for quorum during sessions.

He confirmed that the amendments involved infrastructure projects under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

When asked if the insertions automatically meant lawmakers had profited or conspired to benefit from the projects, he deferred judgment.

‘Let’s just listen to the testimony of (Henry) Alcantara, (Roberto) Bernardo and Brice (Hernandez). Let that be the basis, not me,’ Lacson said, referring to former DPWH officials who linked congressmen to flood control corruption.

During Blue Ribbon hearings, congressmen who were implicated included former speaker Martin Romualdez and former appropriations chair Rep. Zaldy Co.

Contractor couple Curlee and Sarah Discaya had also linked the pair and over a dozen more congressmen, former and current, as having involvement in kickbacks from flood control projects.

‘Introducing insertions is not illegal. It is our mandate as lawmakers to review the National Expenditure Program and introduce amendments. The problem is that many lawmakers abused this mandate,’ Lacson said.

‘I hope that in 2026, we will practice self-restraint. The people are angry so we must reform the way we pass the budget,’ he added.

As Lacson’s revelations on budget insertions continue to stir anger among taxpayers, senators pushed back against criticism, stressing that amendments are part of the legislative process and not inherently illegal or improper.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said amendments introduced during budget deliberations – whether institutional or individual – are ‘part of the regular budget process.’

He noted that it was ‘unfortunate’ that reports on ghost projects and failed flood control works had cast all amendments in a negative light.

‘Some of these amendments are for additional classrooms, farm-to-market roads and bridges that will benefit our people, especially those in the far-flung provinces. Some of which were never funded and were tagged ‘for later release’,’ Sotto said.

He added that the Senate will introduce changes in the 2026 budget to ensure ‘greater transparency, people’s participation and accountability.’

Sen. JV Ejercito echoed Sotto’s position, saying amendments are among the Senate’s duties after budget hearings.

‘Not all amendments are bad, especially those which help agencies and departments. Amendments are not tainted as long as there is no post enactment intervention,’ he added.

Marcos Jr.: 2026 budget to be graft-free

Amid Lacson’s statements on budget insertions, Malacañang vowed that President Marcos would not allow the 2026 budget to be tainted with corruption.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro said issues like the one raised by Lacson prompted the investigation into the alleged anomalies surrounding flood control projects.

‘Perhaps what really happened in the 2025 budget is now being revealed,’ Castro said at a press briefing yesterday.

She said Marcos wants to ensure that the budget would go to programs that would benefit the public, noting that the President had already vowed to veto the 2026 budget if it is filled with anomalies.

‘So we can be sure, with all these things happening, the people can be assured that the 2026 budget would be above board and the President will not allow anomalous projects,’ she added.

Marcos has ordered a probe into alleged irregularities in the country’s flood control projects and has created an independent body that would run after officials and contractors who benefited from kickbacks.

He has also canceled the flood control projects for 2026 and reallocated their P255.5-billion funding to various social welfare, education, agriculture, agrarian reform and livelihood programs.

The Marcos administration is proposing a P6.793-trillion national budget for 2026, higher than this year’s P6.326-trillion outlay.

Students stage protests vs graft

At the same time, thousands of students from the Far Eastern University (FEU) and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) walked out of their classrooms and held a rally to denounce massive corruption in government.

At noon yesterday, around 1,000 FEU students reportedly gathered at the Nicanor Reyes Street to protest.

At 3 p.m., despite the rains, students from different colleges of UST also conducted a walk-out rally.

They went around their campus and expressed their outrage over the trillions of pesos worth of government funds lost in the DPWH flood control anomaly.

The students were heard chanting ‘Zaldy, Zaldy Magnanakaw, Magnanakaw si Zaldy’ (Zaldy the thief), ‘Mga Kurakot, Ikulong na Yan’ (Jail all thieves), while some students called for President Marcos nd the Dutertes to go to jail.

The Philippines’ external debt service burden slipped by 6.2 percent to $6.72 billion in the first half from $7.16 billion in the same period last year, according to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Of the total, interest payments dipped by 0.7 percent to $3.95 billion, while principal payments fell by 13.1 percent to $2.77 billion from $3.19 billion a year ago.

The debt service burden (DSB) remained within manageable levels relative to the country’s external receipts. It accounted for 21.1 percent of export shipments and 8.7 percent of exports of goods, services and primary income from January to June.

The DSB refers to the combined principal and interest payments made by the country to settle its foreign loans. These include amortizations on medium- to long-term borrowings as well as interest on short-term credit lines obtained from foreign creditors.

Michael Ricafort, chief economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said the lower debt service burden was due to the lower share of foreign borrowings to better manage foreign exchange risks.

Ricafort explained that most of the government’s external debt is long-term in nature, with the longest possible tenor.

‘Possible inclusion in J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Global Bond Index would help sentiment or demand for Philippine bonds, which could help lower the government’s borrowing costs,’ he said.

The country’s outstanding external debt climbed to a fresh record high of $148.87 billion as of end-June, but the BSP earlier said that foreign debt remains sustainable with key indicators showing manageable levels.

The latest figure was 1.5 percent higher than the previous quarter’s $146.74 billion, mainly due to the weakening of the dollar, which raised the dollar-equivalent of borrowings in other currencies by $1.49 billion.

The Philippines borrows externally to finance public infrastructure, social services and other development programs, as well as to diversify funding sources and take advantage of favorable terms from foreign lenders. Local banks and companies also tap offshore markets to fund expansion and investment needs.

The Philippines’ largest group of Catholic schools urged the government on Tuesday, September 30, to expand its nationwide private school scholarship program, warning that declining enrollment, rising operational costs and migration of teachers to better-paying schools are putting their survival at risk.

The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) – whose member schools number about 1,500 nationwide – said many private schools remain financially unstable due to shrinking student numbers. This is even after they weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, when private school enrollment plunged from 4.3 million before 2020 to just 1.4 million by 2022.

In both basic and higher education, CEAP President Fr. Karel San Juan, SJ said, private Catholic institutions are facing stiff competition from tuition-free government schools.

“One lung is private, one lung is public, and we need both lungs to survive,” San Juan said at a press conference.

“Because of the difficult economic situation, of course, our students will gravitate towards free tuition in public schools. So that’s a loss of enrollment to us, and as we know, the private schools are just dependent on tuition fees,” he added.

Call for ‘complementarity’

Enrollment in private schools dropped from 4.3 million before the pandemic to just 1.4 million by 2022, according to CEAP data shared during the press conference. This forced the closure of hundreds of schools, especially small diocesan schools in rural areas, and led to retrenchments of faculty and staff.

“The pandemic is an example of how the private school sector is so dependent on tuition fee alone,” San Juan said.

Many private schools are still in the red, according to CEAP. “If you ask the school heads here, our enrollments, especially in basic education, have been going down. We’ve been analyzing this decrease,” the CEAP president said.

The 1,500-member association wants the government to share public funds more equitably with private schools through expanded vouchers and subsidies – formally the Department of Education’s Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE).

The GASTPE currently provides vouchers and subsidies to high school students to allow them to pursue studies in higher education. This assistance is disbursed directly to schools and ranges from P9,000 to P13,000 per student.

CEAP and other voices in the private education sector have been seeking GASTPE’s expansion to include elementary students – the other half of the whole K to 12 system.

“The government should give importance to both public and private. [It already] does that, but our advocacy, there should be more,” San Juan said.

The CEAP president said they have been informed by lawmakers, including Sen. Bam Aquino, chairperson of the Senate basic education panel, of their openness to making elementary students eligible for GASTPE subsidies.

Amid the current uproar over anomalous public works projects, San Juan said there is also an opportunity to push for an increase in the subsidy amounts given.

“Because now, the amount ranges from P9,000 to P13,000. And that is not adequate to fully support the cost of education,” the CEAP president said.

“They’re open to it. Especially now, with this controversy of flood control budget, which the government will shut down,” San Juan said. “Our congressmen, who are very supportive of all this, are pushing for the transfer of funds to education.”

Beyond expanding GASTPE, however, Br. Edmundo Fernandez, CEAP treasurer and president of De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, believes the government should also improve the efficiency of the program itself.

“Issues within these subsidy programs place a heavy burden on the resources of Catholic schools, private schools, especially the mission schools,” Fernandez said. “CEAP recommends increased funding, more timely disbursements, and simplified processes.”

He noted that Catholic and private schools aren’t just institutions like DE La Salle University and Ateneo de Manila University. “There are hundreds of schools in the provinces, in the hinterlands that need a lot of support.”

Private school autonomy on suspensions, tuition

Br. Kenneth Martinez, CEAP corporate secretary and president of University of St. La Salle Bacolod, said private schools are being constrained by tuition caps pegged to regional inflation rates.

“In truth, it does not reflect the real cost of running private schools,” Martinez said, citing mandated salary increases, rising operational costs, and schools’ investments in evolving technology and facilities.

“Private higher education institutions must be allowed to determine reasonable tuition rates based on actual school needs and consultation with stakeholders,” he said. “If tuition is capped only by inflation, schools will be forced to cut corners, or worse, shut down.”

Catholic schools also want more discretion on weather-related class suspensions. San Juan said blanket provincial suspensions by local government units don’t account for varying conditions across different areas.

“Can private schools and school heads be given more autonomy to decide whether in my area, my barangay, my province, my town, my city, dito hindi masyadong umuulan, itutuloy ko ang klase?” he said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government is open to changes and plans to meet with CEAP soon to discuss the matter, San Juan said.

The Betwagan tribe of Sadanga, Mountain Province and the Butbut tribe of Tinglayan, Kalinga have agreed to a truce, a step meant to end two decades of conflict over land and water in their shared boundary area.

The long-standing dispute has cost lives and posed dangers to businesses and school children of both tribes.

In the agreement signed by tribal leaders and witnessed by police and military officers over the weekend, the tribes promised to avoid fighting, issuing threats and other acts meant to intimidate the other side.