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Kanlaon Volcano emitted a 250-meter grayish plume on Friday, state seismologists said.

In a tweet, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) released timelapse footage showing the ash emission at Kanlaon’s summit crater.

Phivolcs said the emission lasted seven minutes, beginning at 6:30 a.m. and ending at 6:37 a.m.

‘This event generated grayish plumes that rose up to 250 meters above the crater before drifting northwest, as recorded by the Kanlaon Volcano Observatory-Canlaon City IP Camera,’ Phivolcs said.

The agency added that Kanlaon Volcano remains under Alert Level 2, meaning entry into its four-kilometer permanent danger zone is prohibited.

Under this alert level, sudden steam-driven or phreatic eruptions, as well as precursory magmatic activity, are possible.

Kanlaon Volcano, an active stratovolcano on Negros Island, is one of the most active volcanoes in the Philippines.

Residents of Palawan are advised to be vigilant against localized flooding in urbanized and near river areas as the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) is forecast to bring heavy rainfall to the province.

In an advisory issued at 11 a.m., the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Administration (Pagasa) said Palawan may expect at least 50 to 100 millimeters of rain from October 31 to November 1 due to the ITCZ.

‘Forecast rainfall may be higher in mountainous and elevated areas. Moreover, impacts in some areas may be worsened by significant antecedent rainfall,’ the weather bureau added.

According to Pagasa, localized flooding is possible mainly in urban, low-lying, or riverine areas. Landslides are also possible in highly susceptible locations.

The ITCZ is a global band near the equator where trade winds from both hemispheres converge. It is a weather disturbance that serves as a breeding ground for low-pressure areas and also triggers rain.

Apart from Palawan, Pagasa earlier said that Metro Manila, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, Negros Island Region, Zamboanga Peninsula, BARMM, Soccsksargen, Davao Region, and Lanao del Norte are also affected by the ITCZ.

The board of AB Capital and Investment Corp. welcomed a familiar name from the insurance world: Alexander Narciso, former president of Sun Life of Canada (Philippines) Inc.

Narciso brings with him decades of leadership in life insurance and financial services, having had full operational, financial and regulatory responsibility for Sun Life’s Philippine insurance business.

Under his watch, the firm posted P55.79 billion in total premiums and P10 billion in new business annual premium equivalent in 2023, earning it the top spot among Philippine insurers for 13 years running.

Narciso is credited with having reshaped Sun Life’s salesforce into a streamlined, high-performance team of around 21,000 advisors by the time of his retirement in 2023. During this period, the company earned the Trusted Brand Platinum Award in Life Insurance for 14 consecutive years. It also repeatedly produced the most ‘Million Dollar Round Table’ qualifiers nationwide.

Beyond business metrics, Narciso channels his energy into social causes. He serves as an independent trustee for both the Jesuit Volunteers Philippines Foundation and the World Surgical Foundation.

He holds a philosophy degree from Ateneo de Manila University and a master’s degree in industrial economics from the Center for Research and Communication. He is also a Fellow (with distinction) of the Life Management Institute.

More than 60 young parishioners in a village here paraded as saints days before Halloween to honor the holy and remind their peers that All Saints’ Day is a celebration of faith – not fright.

The event, held on Oct. 26 in Barangay Bambang, was organized by the youth ministry of the San Isidro Labrador Parish Church under the theme ‘Kabataan Para sa Kabanalan, Sama-samang Naglalakbay Kasama ang mga Banal.’

Joshua Roque, parish youth coordinator, said 63 children and teens joined the ‘Parade of Saints’ to highlight the virtues and good works of holy men and women.

‘It is our duty to remind the youth that All Saints’ Day is a celebration of holiness, not horror,’ Roque told the Inquirer.

‘This is also our way of encouraging young people to live out the values exemplified by the saints in their daily lives,’ he added.

Parents also took part in the event. Among them was 35-year-old Ejhay Bautista, who dressed his eight-month-old daughter, Aevia, in a saint-inspired costume.

‘I want her to grow up close to God, so I’m letting her join faith-based activities like this even at a young age,’ Bautista said.

Participants who stood out for their costumes and creativity included John Manuel Carreon as Saint John Paul, Vince Harold Magpayo as Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, and Calista Miel Meneses as Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

Roque said the parade is part of the parish’s continuing efforts to strengthen the faith and spiritual connection of Gen Z parishioners through engaging and meaningful activities

The national government’s total debt stock decreased for the second month in a row, easing to P17.455 trillion at the end of September, according to the Bureau of the Treasury.

The national debt stock was P13 billion less than the P17.468 trillion recorded at the end of August.

This developed as Fitch Ratings warned that headwinds from American tariffs were already affecting the fiscal consolidation efforts of several governments in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Philippines.

‘The continued decrease reflects the government’s sound fiscal discipline, strategic borrowing strategy, and proactive liability management, supported by steady market conditions and robust domestic investor confidence,’ the Treasury said on Thursday.

Based on Treasury data, the country’s obligations peaked at P17.564 trillion last July, as did domestic debt at P12.108 trillion.

Local lenders

At end-September, financing from local lenders was pegged at P11.97 trillion or 0.9 percent less than a month earlier.

The Treasury said that total repayments exceeded new issuances, which offset the impact of an upward revaluation from the peso depreciation against the retail dollar bonds.

On the other hand, funds from foreign lenders reached a new peak at P5.482 trillion, or 0.05 percent higher than the level in August.

The Treasury said this was mainly due to the weaker peso.

Domestic debt accounted for 68.6 percent of total debt stock.

This is ‘consistent with the government’s policy of reducing foreign exchange risk while deepening domestic capital market development.’

Policy responses

According to Fitch Ratings, policy responses to the weaker global demand and uncertainty will be key toward easing the impact of the headwinds on sovereign credit profiles.

‘Some governments are raising spending to support households to alleviate the high cost of living, even though inflation is largely subdued in APAC, often signaling weak domestic activity,’ the credit rating agency said.

‘We think that recent violent protests in some countries, such as Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines, could add to spending pressure,’ Fitch Ratings added.

More than 59,000 passengers passed through the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX) on Friday morning, October 31, a day before All Saints’ Day.

As of 8 a.m., PITX Senior Corporate Affairs Officer Kolyn Calbasa said the terminal recorded 59,243 passengers, including those arriving and departing from Metro Manila. Calbasa told the Inquirer that the terminal has sufficient trips to accommodate all passengers during this year’s Undas travel rush.

‘If there are ever challenges in supply, we have the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on site to issue special permits for additional buses,’ she said in Filipino.

From October 27 to 30, PITX recorded a total of 749,233 passengers-188,624 on October 27; 181,090 on October 28; 185,051 on October 29; and 194,468 on October 30. Daily traffic during this period was high compared to the usual 160,000 passengers on a regular day. Calbasa said most trips this Undas were bound for the Bicol Region, followed by Laguna-Batangas-Quezon, northern Luzon provinces, Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, and the Visayas-Mindanao regions.

Around 2.1 million passengers are expected to pass through PITX from October 27 to November 3, Calbasa added.

Zsa Zsa Padilla became the latest victim of false advertisements after her name was used to promote a supposed ‘miracle milk’ and online gaming.

Through her Instagram page on Friday, Oct. 31, the veteran singer-actress informed her followers that a social media account under the name ‘Zsa Zsa Daily Life’ has been using her and her partner Conrad Onglao’s names and photos for its products.

Padilla included in her post a screenshot of the page’s fake advertisement as well as the promo offers it disseminates through direct message.

‘Sinasabi pa nila na uminom daw kami ng ‘miracle milk’ at gumaling sa sakit kahit hindi naman totoo at wala kaming ganung karamdaman! Mayroon din silang mga AI videos na parang ako raw ay nagpo-promote ng online gaming. FAKE NEWS din ‘yan!’ she exclaimed.

(They are claiming that we drank a certain ‘miracle milk’ that healed us, when in fact we were not even sick. They even have AI-generated videos that show me promoting online gaming. That is also fake news!)

‘Hindi kami konektado sa mga produktong ‘yan. Hindi namin inendorso o ginamit ang mga ito, at lalo na, hindi kami nagpo-promote ng online gaming,’ she stressed.

(We are not endorsing nor are we using such a product. More importantly, we are not promoting online gaming.)

Padilla further reminded social media users to always verify content first before engaging or spreading it.

Onglao, for his part, said he will seek legal measures to address the matter.

Tourist police rescued a 10-year-old boy from a rip current at Sabang Beach here Thursday morning.

The incident occurred around 7:40 a.m. in front of Playa Azul when police spotted the child being swept away by a strong current.

A report from the Aurora Provincial Police Office on Friday said Master Sgt. Jeffrey delos Santos used a surfboard to reach the boy and his relatives, who had tried to rescue him but were unable to reach shore.

The team assisted them back to safety under the supervision of Police Maj. Ronaldo Valenzuela, chief of the Tourist Police Unit.

The boy, a resident of San Luis, Aurora, was assessed by authorities after the rescue.

The Aurora Tourist Police Unit reminded beachgoers to remain vigilant and adhere to safety advisories, especially during high-risk swimming conditions

PLDT was able to bounce back from a wake-up call pretty well and it is something that taught the High Speed Hitters a lesson as they gun to win a third straight PVL title.

‘We cannot be complacent, not even a bit,’ coach Rald Ricafort said in Filipino after his crew got back on the Reinforced Conference track over the weekend as the High Speed Hitters brace for a tough match against an Nxled squad at FilOil EcoOil Center.

A loss to sister team Cignal in straight sets more than a week back reignited the fire in the High Speed Hitters, as it snapped a 15-game winning streak that resulted in two championships. That’s something in the past now, as far as Ricafort is concerned.

He is even wondering why that was a big deal.

‘It was a distraction to us,’ he said. ‘Maybe it’s because it was used as a marketing tool. But that’s not our focus. What we want is to keep improving every game, every conference.’

Game time is 6:30 p.m., with PLDT shooting for a top-three spot in Pool A, even as Farm Fresh and Choco Mucho battle in the 4 p.m. contest, with a triple bill being touched off by the Cignal-Capital1 clash at 1:30 p.m.

For Cignal, that hard-fought win was the turning point in its campaign. The Super Spikers (2-2) now aim to extend their streak against the Solar Spikers.

Farm Fresh will be coming off its first loss, one dealt by the awakened High Speed Hitters in four sets. The Foxies are eager to rebound from that and snag a win to cement their hold on the No. 2 slot in Pool A.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology warned against a possible DDoS or distributed denial of service traffic flood on November 5.

In an advisory posted on X, the DICT stated that some websites may experience slowdowns due to the traffic surge.

‘This is not a data breach – no information will be stolen. The site is just overloaded!’ said the DICT statement in Filipino.

Instead, the DICT advised netizens to do the following:

Try accessing the website again at a later time

Use the official application or status page

Follow verified updates

Do not participate in illegal online attacks

A DDoS attack is a type of cyberattack where multiple computers or devices flood a website, server, or online service with an overwhelming amount of traffic.

The goal is to overload the target’s resources so that legitimate users can’t access a certain site or avail a service