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The Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) said on Thursday that debris from a rocket launch from China possibly fell near Northern Luzon.

The Long March 6A rocket was launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Xinzhou, Shanxi Province at around 9 a.m. Philippine Standard Time (PhST).

In an advisory, the PhilSA projected the debris to have fallen around 83 nautical miles (NM) away from Dalupiri Island, Cagayan, 88 NM away from Babuyan Island, and 104 NM away from Burgos, Ilocos Norte.

PhilSA cautions the public against retrieving or coming in close contact with these materials that may contain remnants of toxic substances such as rocket fuel.

They are also advised to inform local authorities if suspected debris is sighted.

Unburned debris from rockets, such as the booster and fairing, are designed to be discarded as the rocket enters outer space.

Falling debris poses danger and potential risk to ships, aircraft, fishing boats, and other vessels that will pass through the drop zone, PhilSA said.

There is also a possibility for the debris to float around the area and wash toward nearby coasts.

‘Uncontrolled re-entry of large rocket upper stages pose growing hazards -not only to other spacecraft, but to civil aviation and to populations on the ground,’ PhilSA said.

It, thus, called on international partners to explore how the region can develop coordinated protocols and capabilities that protect both space assets and the people on the ground.

Kahleah Copper scored 27 points and the Phoenix Mercury overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the Golden State Valkyries 91-89 on Wednesday night in the return from the WNBA All-Star break for both teams.

Alyssa Thomas had 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, and DeWanna Bonner added 17 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for the Mercury (11-18). They have won three straight following a five-game losing streak.

The Valkyries (19-9), who lost 90-82 at home to Washington last time out, have lost back-to-back games and fell a half-game behind second-place Las Vegas.

Copper was called for her sixth foul with 1:45 to play, the Mercury challenged and, after replay review, the call was upheld. Nine seconds later Kayla Thornton hit a 3-pointer that tied it at 82, but Bonner answered with two free throws with 1:27 remaining to take the lead for good.

Cecilia Zandalasini fouled out with 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting for Golden State. Veronica Burton added 15 points and Kaila Charles had 10 points and a season-high 10 rebounds, her second career double-double and her first since 2021.

The low-pressure area (LPA) inside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) may persist to bring occasional rains over parts of Luzon, although it is forecast to dissipate within the next 24 hours, the state weather bureau said Thursday.

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) Leanne Loreto said during a 5 a.m. weather advisory that the LPA has weakened and is likely to bring gloomy skies and light rains over Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon.

‘At present, the rainfall associated with this low-pressure area has weakened. As you can see, the cloud cover is no longer as dense as it was yesterday. Within the next 24 hours, it may dissipate as it moves across the West Philippine Sea,’ Loreto said.

Loreto added that once the LPA, located over the coastal waters of Nasugbu, Batangas, dissipates, easterlies, or the warm winds coming from the Pacific Ocean, will be the dominant weather system affecting major parts of the country.

‘If this low pressure area dissipates, easterlies will prevail. So we will have a break in the rain, usually today, it will be cloudy. It will not be the same as yesterday when we had heavy rain,’ she said.

Meanwhile, the LPA outside the PAR is expected to not further develop into a tropical cyclone and is likely to dissipate within the next few days. It will continue to not affect parts of the country, Loreto said.

‘We do not foresee it developing into a tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours; instead, it is more likely to dissipate in the coming days. It will not affect any part of the country,’ she reported.

As of 3 a.m., the weather disturbance was located 1,615 kilometers east of Eastern Visayas, and is forecast to remain off the coastal waters, Loreto said.

‘Right now, it is almost stationary – or barely moving – and based on what we observe for the next few days, it will remain in the waters near the Philippine Sea and the western North Pacific area,’ she added

The rest of the country is expected to experience partly cloudy to cloudy skies with localized rain showers. Meanwhile, the easterlies is forecast to affect Northern Luzon, bringing cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms over Cagayan Valley, according to Pagasa.

‘Other parts of our country are only experiencing short-term rains due to localized thunderstorms. Here in Northern Luzon, easterlies are affecting them,’ she stated

Scotty Pippen Jr. relished his visit to Manila, meeting members of the Filipino basketball community, including PBA star Scottie Thompson, who was named after his father.

The Memphis Grizzlies guard met the Barangay Ginebra standout during an NBA-backed event on Thursday at SM Megamall.

‘Yeah, definitely cool. Cool dude. Super accomplished player,’ Pippen said.

‘Just hearing all the accolades he has is definitely surreal and crazy to see what he’s done here.’

Beyond learning about Thompson’s accomplishments, Pippen was amused to find out the Gilas Pilipinas guard was named after his father.

‘I think it’s also super crazy that he was named after my dad and we’re both here years later. So I think it was super cool to meet someone like that,’ Pippen said.

Pippen also recalled his time at Vanderbilt, where he teamed up with former University of the Philippines center Quentin Millora-Brown.

‘Me and him played two years together. My third year, he was a redshirt, but really good dude. That’s my guy. I was always a hard worker. I was a smart player, so he’s still my guy,’ he said.

Before returning for an NBA season in which he is expected to take on a bigger role with the rebuilding Grizzlies, Pippen said he appreciated experiencing the Philippines’ passion for basketball.

‘I would say just seeing little kids playing outside on the street when I was driving in and just being around my hotel, just seeing how the fans all knew me and just seeing how they had basketball on all the TVs. So I’ve definitely been able to see how big basketball here is in the Philippines,’ he said.

All subpoenaed bank institutions and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) have formally complied and submitted documents related to Vice President Sara Duterte’s financial records to the Senate impeachment court on Thursday.

According to Senate Secretary and Impeachment Clerk of Court Renato Bantug’s message early Thursday, the banks were assigned ‘specific time slots within the day for a more orderly reception of the documents.’

The concerned banks were ordered to submit to the Clerk of Court the requested peso-denominated financial records of Duterte, her husband, lawyer Manases Carpio, and companies allegedly linked to the couple

The AMLC, meanwhile, was directed to submit its records to the impeachment court for private review before any turnover to the prosecution and defense teams.

Reporters saw several unmarked boxes being brought into the Senate premises early Thursday, but the people accompanying them declined to confirm whether the boxes contained documents from the subpoenaed banks.

One person wearing a PSBank I.D. lace was also seen entering the Senate but declined the media’s invitation for an interview. PSBank or Philippine Savings Bank is among the subpoenaed banks together with Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. (Metrobank), Bank of the Philippine Island (BPI), Security Bank Corp. (Security Bank), LandBank of the Philippines (Landbank), and BDO Unibank (BDO).

According to Bantug’s office, as of 12 noon., they have received compliance from BDO, PSBank, Metrobank, and Security Bank.

As of 4 p.m., BPI, LandBank, and the AMLC also submitted their documents, the Senate Impeachment Court confirmed.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) likewise complied with a separate subpoena for Duterte’s tax records after securing approval from the President.

In an ambush interview with Bantug, he said that some of these banks also requested an additional period of 10 days to fully comply with the documents requested in the subpoena.

‘They gave reasons but it’s not for me to decide but I accepted what they were ready to submit this morning,’ Bantug said.

The Office of the Clerk of Court will next conduct an inventory of the submitted records before releasing them to the parties.

In a statement, the impeachment court also said it will not disclose the amounts, specific contents, or other substantive details of the records while the inventory and submission process of the other historical documents that needed additional processing time remain ongoing.

The subpoena stemmed from the House prosecution’s bid to obtain financial records that it said would support its allegation of unexplained wealth against Duterte.

Impeachment court serves subpoenas for Sara Duterte’s financial recordsOver the objections of the defense, the impeachment court, in separate rulings issued on July 20, granted the prosecution’s requests for Duterte’s financial records, including those covering the years 2007 to 2021, when Duterte served as Davao City vice mayor and mayor.

The impeachment court emphasized, however, that the records’ admissibility as evidence remains subject to the court’s rules.

The court said the records predating Duterte’s position as vice president may be used to establish a financial baseline in determining whether assets accumulated during Duterte’s tenure in the country’s second highest post were disproportionate to her lawful income.

They may not, however, be used to introduce new impeachable offenses allegedly committed before she assumed an impeachable office.

The subpoena also excluded foreign-currency deposits and the financial records of JTC Group of Companies Philippines Inc. and Pikimong Pikimong Philippines Corp., with the court saying prosecutors failed to sufficiently establish the companies’ links to Duterte or Carpio

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has disbursed P27.29 billion in microloans to more than 463,000 active government employees since launching its Ginhawa lending program, as the state pension fund seeks to provide an alternative to informal lenders.

The Ginhawa Go Program released P27.29 billion to 463,608 borrowers from Oct. 24, 2024 through July 28, 2026, GSIS said in a statement. GSIS introduced the facility as Ginhawa Lite before rebranding it as Ginhawa Go in February 2026.

The program offers loans ranging from P1,000 to P50,000 at a 6 percent interest rate, with repayment terms of 30 days to 24 months depending on the loan size. Members file applications via the GSIS Touch mobile app, which credits approved loan proceeds directly to their accounts.

The loans also come with Loan Redemption Insurance, which settles any outstanding balance if a borrower dies, shielding beneficiaries from assuming the debt. GSIS said eligible members may apply through the mobile app or at any of its branches nationwide.

Brazilian beef exports to the Philippines may reach 80,000 to 96,000 metric tons this year, matching 2025 levels, the Brazilian Association of Meat Exporting Industries (Abiec) said.

At the sidelines of Wofex Manila, the group cited economic growth, stronger purchasing power and rising beef consumption among younger consumers. ‘The young people consume more beef,’ ABIEC Strategic Affairs Director Julio Ramos told reporters, adding that consumers have greater purchasing power.

Ramos also said Brazilian beef remains competitively priced against other major global suppliers. Beef exports to the Philippines surged to 96,200 metric tons in 2025 from 1,400 metric tons in 1997, he added.

Brazil shipped 35,878 metric tons to the Philippines in the first half, up 34.6 percent year-on-year. Export value climbed 38.9 percent to $162.4 million. Abiec said the Philippines ranks among Brazil’s top 10 beef export markets.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian Association of Animal Protein (ABPA) sees opportunities beyond Metro Manila.

‘There are still some opportunities for us to develop the market better and for the companies to be closer to importers,’ ABPA Markets Manager Gabriel Morelli Ribeiro said.

‘There are still some opportunities for us to reach different cities here as well, not only concentrated in Manila, of course, but there are other parts of the country as well that they are not reaching as often,’ he told reporters.

Ribeiro also said the Middle East conflict has not significantly disrupted shipments despite higher oil prices.

‘The costs are not increasing that much in that region, because the prices of oil, of course, went up. But they are not as high as it could be,’ he added. ‘It’s not prohibiting the transport.’

The group said pork and chicken exports to the Philippines rose about 30 percent and 15 percent this year.

Bureau of Animal Industry data showed meat imports rose 12.1 percent to 872.27 million kilograms in the first half. Brazil supplied 52.2 percent of the country’s total meat imports.

Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon on Wednesday ordered the immediate dredging of Talomo River and the elevation of a dike along its riverbanks to prevent the recurrence of a flood of the same scale as what happened here on Friday last week.

Dizon made the rounds in flood-affected communities on Wednesday to assess the extent of damage and impact of the massive flooding that submerged the villages of Los Amigos, Talomo Proper, Bangkal, and Matina as heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon battered the city, the bailiwick of the Duterte family.

During his visit here on Tuesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. instructed Dizon to stay behind and see what can be immediately done to address the recurrence of flooding in Davao.

Dizon arrived at Bangkal at past 8 a.m. on Wednesday and inspected the Taal Bailey Bridge. A day earlier, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) personnel worked overtime to clear the bridge of debris.

Massive debris, such as logs, blocked the waterway under the bridge, contributing to the swelling of the river, leading to flooding in Central Park Subdivision, NHA Bangkal, and Teachers Village.

Several homes near the Bailey Bridge were swept away by rampaging waters last July 24.

‘This is really infuriating because I was informed that this already happened in 2019. The last time that the river swelled was in 2019, although what happened last Friday was worse,’ Dizon said.

Unfinished project

Since that incident seven years ago, nothing was done to address the problem, he lamented.

Dizon also noted that the construction of elevated dikes on the banks of the river was not continued; hence, the protection it gave to the communities was haphazard. He cited that the floodwater was not as high in communities covered by elevated dikes.

Talomo and Bangkal experienced up to 2.43 meters (8 feet) of floodwaters, sending families to the roof of their houses while awaiting rescue.

‘I was really angry because the dike was already being raised by two meters, but the project was not finished. So I’m asking, ‘Why?’ They told me they don’t know. You see, the DPWH poured in billions of pesos in this city, and this project, based on my estimate, will not need much funding. This is not difficult to execute,’ Dizon told reporters in Filipino.

When the late Public Works Undersecretary Catalina Cabral appeared before an investigation of the House of Representatives last year, she confirmed that the agency had allocated some P51 billion for Davao City’s first district for three years. The district is represented in Congress by Rep. Paolo Duterte.

The Inquirer obtained documents of the allocations, which were contained in the General Appropriations Act in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Of the P51 billion, some P11.4 billion was lodged with the district engineering office. At least P3.3 billion of the allocation to the district engineering office was for flood control projects.

The elevated dikes, Dizon said, may have required only P100 million to complete.

Masterplan vs floods

He ordered the DPWH regional officials to plan for dredging along the Talomo River.

He fumed upon knowing that the river had not been dredged in the past 10 years. ‘That means that every time water flowed down from the mountains, the water level in Talomo River kept rising. It becomes shallower,’ Dizon said.

He cited his interactions with residents who shared their experiences during the floods.

‘Can you imagine the trauma – that was 9 p.m. to midnight. You don’t know what to do; you don’t know how fast the floodwaters were rising,’ he said.

‘A grandmother told me that she almost sought refuge in her ceiling. Terrible. This is unacceptable. I mean … I’ve been with the DPWH for only 10 months, but when I hear these stories, I really get pissed and pushed to curse,’ he said.

Dizon said the DPWH would immediately look into a proposed masterplan to address flooding in the city that was formulated with the help of a study funded by the Japanese government. It was completed in 2023

He promised that government resources would be tapped to implement the masterplan

Lost in all the hype leading into the NGAP’s National Strokeplay Championship was Jet Hernandez, who won the event in 2024 when it was last held, technically making him the defending champion.

He played like one in the first round on Wednesday, turning the Pinatubo course of Pradera Verde upside down with a well-rounded game that led to a faultless, eagle-spiked seven-under-par 65 and a whopping seven-shot lead over 13-year-old Vito Sarines.

Everyone was then left to scamper for better position heading into the second 18 on Thursday, some of them could even be hoping that the University of Denver senior in the United States would let off a bit and let everyone back in the mix.

‘Absolutely nothing,’ the 21-year-old Hernandez said when the Inquirer asked how a seven-shot lead after the opening round would change his outlook for the rest of the week. ‘I will come out (on Thursday) with the same mindset and the same resilience. I haven’t won anything yet.’

The incoming psychology senior at UD drove the fourth green for an eagle that got him going, as he played his first nine at five-under after three birdies in a four-hole stretch from No. 6. He then showed the merciless mindset, when he birdied 12 and 17 to leave everyone in his wake.

‘I was just making every putt I looked at that was inside 10 feet,’ Hernandez said. ‘Sometimes there are days like this one, that’s why it’s important to stay focused.’

National pool members Rolando Bregente and Chris Remata struggled in the wet conditions with 75s, and it was Jet’s brother Emilio, who was another stroke behind Sarines after a 73 even as the ladies’ side of the event quickly developed into a battle of two young guns in Lisa Sarines and Tashanah Balangauan.

The 14-year-old Lisa Sarines birdied the fifth, her 14th hole for a 70 to create more separation from Balangauan, who fired a 73, and Precious Zaragosa, the internationally seasoned 15-year-old whose only birdie came on the ninth-her last hole-which led to a 78.

‘I didn’t expect to play as well as I did,’ Lisa Sarines, whose only bogey came on the 18th when she found the left fairway bunker off the tee, told the Inquirer in a separate interview. ‘It was just that my iron play worked so well.’

In what appeared to be a jab at Vice President Sara Duterte’s silence on the Pax Silica initiative, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro also declined to comment on Duterte’s refusal to address one of the country’s most controversial issues.

In an interview on July 28, Duterte was asked for her thoughts on Pax Silica, the US-backed development project in New Clark City, Tarlac. Duterte, appearing confused, responded, ‘I cannot comment on that.’

Speaking at a briefing on Thursday, Castro also declined to comment on Duterte’s unfamiliarity with the matter.

‘I have no comment,’ the Palace official said.

‘We already saw it in the video, so what else is there to explain? Let’s just leave it as it is,’ she explained when asked why she has no comment.

Changes in Pax Silica project provision

Meanwhile, Castro said there is still a possibility that some provisions of the project could be revised for the benefit of both investors and the public.

‘For those who have concerns about this, it would be best to discuss them with the relevant agencies regarding Pax Silica, so that any potential issues or concerns you may have can be properly addressed and resolved,’ she said in Filipino.

She also downplayed concerns raised by Capas Mayor Butch Rodriguez about the possible adverse environmental effects of Pax Silica and how the government will ensure that the Indigenous Peoples community in the town will not be affected.

Citing a statement from the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), Castro said the agency had conducted initial meetings with local government units and government agencies on New Clark City’s development plans, including the proposed Pax Silica initiative.

‘These consultations are ongoing, and we will continue to work closely with these stakeholders as the project progresses. At present, BCDA is undertaking ground assessment activities in the area,’ the BCDA said, as read by Castro.

‘These activities are being carried out to ensure that planning and decision-making are based on accurate assessments on the ground and are conducted in a responsible and orderly manner,’ it added.