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The Department of Energy (DOE) is finalizing a draft of amendments it wants Congress to change to the oil deregulation law and will submit the proposed changes to lawmakers ‘soon,’ an Energy department official said on Tuesday.

‘[We] have completed a draft amendment,’ Energy department Director Rino Abad told a congressional hearing. ‘It is being finalized today, and soon we will be submitting it to Congress for amendment.’

Efforts to revise the country’s oil deregulation law have gained traction after the conflict in the Middle East underscored the Philippines’ vulnerability to global supply shocks.

An import-dependent country, the Southeast Asian nation has faced record pump prices since the US-Israeli war with Iran erupted in late February.

Republic Act No. 8479, or the 1998 Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act, allowed oil companies to set pump prices based on market factors without government approval.

‘We’ve seen the improvements on all angles on the oil deregulation law,’ Abad said ‘But this will be presented in time with Congress.’

He said the Energy department is also looking at recommending changes to the Price Act, without providing any specifics.

‘Well, it’s a different law. But we’ll maybe take a look also at the Price Act,’ he said.

The Philippines will keep influencing fuel prices next month to ensure pump prices reflect international market moves and curb profiteering, Abad added, as the nation reels from soaring pump prices from the war in the Middle East.

‘Now, we cannot prevent the movement, but we can prevent overcharging,’ he said. ‘We have ensured that it should be consistent with the movement of the international price and biofuel price.’

Abad said authorities are waiting for May 1 to track global oil prices, when the world’s largest oil producer, Saudi Aramco, releases its contract pricing.

‘Rest assured… that the May 1 increase or decrease will be dictated on oil and LPG (liquified petroleum gas) companies,’ he said.

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin last week said the government now has the power to enforce fuel price adjustments, including limiting hikes or setting a minimum rollback after Mr. Marcos issued Executive Order No. 110 in March.

‘So that’s our new rule now,’ she said. ‘That’s because of the issuance of the executive order, which triggered the additional powers of government to prescribe the price during these times of emergency.’

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is hoping to obtain next year up to $500 million in funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or other multilateral banks, to develop the Philippine bamboo industry.

Agriculture Assistant Secretary Arnel de Mesa said on Monday that the agency was looking to avail of $300 million to $500 million from international financial institutions, citing the huge potential for engineered bamboo as an alternative material for construction.

‘The purpose of our bamboo project is to explore its potential … to maximize it for all possible usage,’ he said in an interview.

De Mesa, also the DA’s spokesperson, said that the ADB and other global financial banks have expressed their willingness to support the proposed project, which, if approved, would run for five years.

He cited a ‘big demand’ for engineered bamboo, alongside a strong potential to boost investments and farmers’ incomes.

‘It’s not bamboo as food per se, but the potential of bamboo, because they see that it can serve as a replacement in construction, especially engineered bamboo and for other purposes,’ de Mesa said on the sidelines of the Hand in Hand National Investment Forum in Pasig City.

De Mesa noted that the country imports engineered bamboo, adding that China was the world’s leading exporter of this material.

Engineered bamboo refers to a range of high-performance composite products created by cutting the round bamboo culms into smaller pieces. It is commonly used in flooring and furniture.

De Mesa also said that the country has significant bamboo production, particularly giant bamboo, which can be used for soil erosion and reforestation.

The DA expects to obtain the funding by 2027. To date, the agency is still in the conceptual preparation stage.

The agency estimated that the country has a potential area of 1.5 million hectares for bamboo cultivation.

The global bamboo market was valued at $72.10 billion in 2023. The industry is estimated to grow at a compounded rate of 7.9 percent between 2024 and 2031.

Aside from helping restore degraded land, improve soil health and water retention, the DA aims to support smallholder farmers through income diversification and carbon credit revenue generation.

But despite the huge potential, the DA has identified risks to bamboo planting: farmer disengagement due to delayed economic returns; limited technical expertise leading to poor yield and inefficient land use; price volatility and inconsistent demand for bamboo products; and regulatory and certification challenges.

You might suppose that a scandal involving stolen pesos to pave the archipelago in gold leaf would provoke a certain eagerness in the halls of power. You would be wrong. You would be the kind of sentimental fool who still believes a congressman’s promise is worth the damp paper it’s printed on.

In early April, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla announced that plunder charges would be filed against former Senate President Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. ‘There was a conspiracy,’ he said. Splendid. The wheels of justice, long rusted into immobility, gave a single creak.

The charges will be filed in May. Why not April? Why not last year? Because that is not how the game is played. The press conference is the sacrament. The actual filing is an afterthought.

And while the Ombudsman speaks, the pit listens. Have we forgotten Zaldy Co, the former Ako Bicol party list representative, who slipped out like a fish through a torn net? Have we forgotten Charlie ‘Atong’ Ang, who vanished amid a fog of talk about arrest warrants? Now that Remulla has kindly announced his intentions a full month in advance, one might ask: what steps have been taken to prevent Escudero and Romualdez from following them to some pleasant villa in a nonextradition country?

But let us not be too harsh. The prosecutors are drowning. The Independent Commission for Infrastructure dumped 197 mega boxes of documents onto its doorstep. That is not an investigation; it is a moving company’s nightmare.

And what tools has Congress given them? The Ombudsman’s 2026 budget is P6.39 billion, a sum that sounds large until you recall the stolen amount runs to tens of billions. The Sandiganbayan operates on a shoestring. The Commission on Audit (COA) asked for P16.21 billion; the Senate subpanel gave them P15.07 billion. A cut. After a trillion-peso scandal. You cannot invent this satire; you can only report it.

And what of Congress itself? That noble body, whose members have been mentioned in investigations with the frequency of names in a police blotter, has done precisely nothing. Not one law to strengthen the COA. Not one law to fund the Ombudsman. Not one law to reform the budget process that made this whole stinking mess possible.

The independent anticorruption commission begged Congress to create a permanent body. Congress nodded solemnly and returned to approving the 2026 budget, which left the ‘pork system’ entirely intact. The same system. The same invitation to theft.

You see, dear reader, the men and women in Congress are not stupid. They know that if you truly wanted to end corruption, you would fund the investigators and strip the budget of discretionary slush funds. But that would be like asking a thief to lock the door. And so, they do nothing. They issue statements. They ‘respect the process.’ And the flood control money keeps flowing, if not to the same contractors, then to their cousins, their donors, their future campaign contributors.

The Anti-Money Laundering Council has frozen P27.8 billion in assets and filed civil forfeiture cases. That is real money. That is progress. But it is the progress of a man who has stopped the bleeding from a severed artery by applying a single Band-Aid. The cases will take years. The plunder charges, once filed, will face endless motions. By the time a verdict is reached, the accused will be old, dead, or living comfortably in a country with no extradition treaty.

A famous American novelist once wrote that the average American is a prude and a hypocrite. He might have said the same of the average Filipino politician, substituting only the nationality. We hold press conferences. We announce charges. And then we go home, secure in the knowledge that nothing fundamental will change.

Do not hold your breath, gentle reader. The wheels of justice turn slowly here. And the men who could oil them are the very same men who profit from the rust.

The National Wage Coalition, composed of the country’s major labor groups, will be holding a protest on Labor Day (May 1) this coming Friday.

The demonstrators intend to renew calls for a P200 daily minimum wage hike, the expansion of income tax exemptions, and the arrest of corrupt government officials.

In a press conference on Tuesday, coalition member Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) announced that labor groups will hold a rally at Mendiola in Manila.

TUCP legislative officer Carlos Miguel Oñate said protesters will condemn the ‘inaction’ of government when it comes to the needs of workers.

He noted that the House committee on labor and employment and the Senate committee on labor, employment and human resources development have yet to tackle the proposed P200 daily minimum wage increase since it was submitted by the TUCP party list in June last year.

Oñate also called for the passage of House Bill No. 8860 or the Patas na Ambag sa Tax para sa Angat-Sahod or Patas bill, which seeks to expand income tax exemptions to include employees earning a monthly income of P50,000 and below.

The proposed measure also aims to introduce a ‘solidarity wealth tax’ on Filipino billionaires, and a windfall profits tax on corporations with large profits, particularly those firms in the oil and electricity industries.

‘This is not just the fight of our 5 million minimum wage earners because our wider middle-class is also suffering,’ Oñate said.

‘Our middle-income earners are being squeezed dry by taxes and other deductions while, usually, government assistance is lacking or given late,’ he lamented.

The labor groups will also be calling for the arrest of government officials involved in corruption.

‘Addressing corruption is part of and cannot be separated from the package of solutions to the current crisis,’ said Luke Espiritu, spokesperson for Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino.

He noted that one of the reasons for the high fuel costs is the taxes being imposed by the government.

Espiritu questioned why the government continues to collect ‘regressive’ taxes, such as the value-added tax and excise tax, when it has yet to recover the trillions of pesos that were lost from corruption, particularly in flood control anomalies.

Moreover, the coalition urged President Marcos to conduct a dialogue with workers and labor groups on the impact of the Middle East war, which will help him form policies and programs.

‘Ever since he became the president of the Philippines, talks with workers have been missing or lacking,’ said Sonny Matula, president of Federation of Free Workers and chair of Nagkaisa labor coalition.

Union Bank of the Philippines posted a net income of P3.8 billion in the first quarter, surging 167 percent on the back of strong core income.

The Aboitiz-led bank told the exchange on Monday that the result sustained the earnings momentum seen in the second half of 2025, even as market volatility linked to the Iran conflict triggered some trading losses.

Quarter on quarter, net income grew by 8.7 percent, putting the bank on track toward improved profitability driven by recurring income streams.

Net revenues reached P21.7 billion, up 11.8 percent year on year, supported by solid performance across core business segments.

UnionBank’s customer base expanded by 7.6 percent to 18.9 million, providing a broader platform for lending, cross-selling and upselling activities.

Net interest income climbed to P16.8 billion, driven by loan growth. Consumer lending, which accounted for 60 percent of the loan book, remained robust, particularly in unsecured products.

Unsecured consumer loans grew 19.2 percent to P153.1 billion, while institutional loans increased 11.5 percent to P223.7 billion, reflecting balanced expansion across segments.

Net interest margin widened by 34 basis points to 6.7 percent, supported by growth in current and savings accounts, which rose 7.8 percent.

Fee income remained stable. Fee income-to-assets ratio stood at 1.3 percent, more than twice the industry average, driven by higher digital transaction volumes and contributions from wealth management and bancassurance.

Credit costs declined by 17.9 percent to P4.5 billion and improved 19.1 percent quarter on quarter, signaling improving asset quality as loan portfolios continued to mature.

The bank said that asset quality strengthened further as legacy credit exposures had been addressed in 2025 and risk controls were enhanced across key subsidiaries.

‘Recent geopolitical developments introduced potential risks. In response, we took proactive measures to reinforce our portfolio and enhance credit risk management,’ Unionbank said.

Police seized more than P2.1 million worth of suspected shabu (crystal meth) from a female drug suspect during a buy-bust operation in this Quezon provincial capital on Monday, April 27.

Lt. Col. Ryan Hernandez, Lucena City police chief, said Tuesday that anti-drug operatives arrested the suspect, identified only as ‘Collen,’ 32, at 7:55 p.m. after she sold P500 worth of shabu to an undercover officer in Barangay Barra.

Authorities recovered six sealed plastic sachets and one knot-tied plastic bag containing suspected shabu weighing a total of 120.3 grams.

Based on the Dangerous Drugs Board’s standard valuation of P6,800 per gram, the seized drugs were initially estimated at P818,040. However, police said the street value could reach P2,154,120 based on prevailing prices.

Collen, a resident of the area, is classified as a high-value individual (HVI) on the police drug watch list. Authorities said she allegedly used an online selling business as a front for her illegal activities.

The Lucena City police are investigating the source of the drugs.

The suspect is now in custody and faces charges for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

As warmer and drier weather persists in many areas, Manila Water encourages customers to avail of the company’s scheduled septic tank desludging services this May as part of regular household sanitation and wastewater management.

Extended dry conditions may contribute to higher water use in homes, making regular septic tank maintenance important in preventing overflows, foul odors, and potential sanitation concerns. Through its desludging program, Manila Water helps ensure that septic tanks function properly while protecting communities and surrounding waterways from untreated wastewater.

The scheduled service supports Manila Water’s continuing efforts to promote public health and environmental protection across its concession areas. Regular desludging also helps customers avoid the inconvenience and higher costs associated with emergency septic tank services.

Customers are advised to coordinate with their barangays and ensure access to their septic tanks on their scheduled desludging date. Manila Water desludging teams will be deployed across selected areas this May, in coordination with local barangay officials.

For the month of May, portions of the following barangays will be visited by Manila Water’s desludging teams: Bagong Nayon, Sta. Cruz, and San Luis in Antipolo City; San Juan, Sta. Ana, San Andres, and San Isidro in Cainta, Rizal; Sta. Ana in Taytay, Rizal; Kalayaan in Angono, Rizal; Banaba in San Mateo, Rizal; the municipality of Baras in Rizal; Malanday, Concepcion Uno, Parang, and Nangka in Marikina City; Sacred Heart, St. Ignatius, and Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City; and selected accounts only in Addition Hills in Mandaluyong City and Ugong in Pasig City.

Manila Water reminds customers to stay informed through official barangay announcements and the company’s communication channels.

Scheduled desludging services are at no additional cost to customers. For further inquiries, customers may contact the Manila Water Customer Care Hotline at 1627 or reach out through Manila Water’s official social media pages.

Atlas Consolidated and Mining and Development Corp. reported a net income of P645 million in the first quarter of 2025. This reversed a net loss of P404 million a year ago, driven by higher metal prices.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, Atlas Mining said revenues rose by 11 percent to P4.51 billion.

Cash cost stood at P2.32 billion, up 25 percent. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization soared by 122 percent to P2.17 billion.

Atlas Mining attributed its improved first-quarter financial performance to its subsidiary, Carmen Copper Corp. (CCC). The latter is now in the final year of its three-year redevelopment program.The parent said the redevelopment program, which will end by the third quarter of this year, ‘has gradually exposed ore sources for mine and mill production according to plan.’

Atlas Mining produced 26,000 dry metric tons of copper concentrate, down 19 percent. Gold output plunged by 46 percent to 2,370 ounces.

The company made 5.22 shipments during the period, a 19-percent decrease.

Meanwhile, metal prices have significantly increased. Copper prices climbed by 34 percent to $5.77 per pound. Gold prices surged by 68 percent to $4,985 per ounce.

Amid persistent dating rumors, Daniel Padilla and Kaila Estrada are consistently marking milestones together as the pair celebrated the actor’s 31st birthday in an intimate gathering with family and close friends.

Photos and short clips circulated online on Monday, April 27, showing Padilla and Estrada together during the celebration, alongside members of the actor’s family. The two were seen in relaxed moments and interacting comfortably with guests.

Kaila was captured happily interacting with Padilla’s mom, Karla Estrada, as well as the actor’s sisters, Magui and Carmella Ford.

While Padilla and Kaila have yet to categorically confirm their relationship, the pair have been seen together on several occasions since late 2025.

Prior to this, Padilla also attended and delivered a song performance at Kaila’s recent 30th birthday party.

The pair recently made headlines after Kaila’s half-brother, Luigi Muhlach, casually referred to Padilla as his ‘bayaw’ (brother-in-law) in an earlier social media exchange.

Padilla also attended the recent family event of the Estradas and De Belens. The actor’s youngest sister, Leila Ford, earlier expressed her support for her brother and Kaila.

Kaila’s mother, Janice de Belen, and Padilla’s mother, Karla, likewise expressed their support for the rumored couple.

‘Nasa edad na kasi sila eh. Manggaling na lang sa kanila. Hindi naman na ako para manguna, diba? Hayaan na natin, kung anong nakikita natin, masaya naman tayo pare-pareho,’ said Karla at the time.

Padilla was previously in an 11-year relationship with actress Kathryn Bernardo, who is now rumored to be dating Lucena Mayor Mark Alcala.

After Padilla’s birthday celebration made the rounds online, Bernardo and Alcala were spotted together at a flea market enjoying butterfly squid.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. posted a first-quarter net income of P11.66 billion this year. This was largely flat from the year-ago P11.65 billion, as higher costs offset modest revenue growth.

In a disclosure on Tuesday, the Sy family-led property giant said its total revenues rose 2 percent to P33.3 billion.

This was attributed to higher rental income and other revenues that cushioned weaker real estate sales.

Rental income climbed 8 percent to P21.6 billion on improved mall and office occupancy. Other revenues grew 11 percent to P3.9 billion.

Real estate sales declined 16 percent to P7.8 billion due to slower revenue recognition and cancellations impacting booked results.

Costs and expenses increased 3 percent to P16.6 billion. This was mainly from higher depreciation and amortization charges and fixed overhead costs.

Malls remained the largest contributor, accounting for 61 percent of revenues at P20.4 billion, up 8 percent.

The residential segment contributed P8.3 billion, down 14 percent. Hotels and convention centers rose 8 percent to P2.2 billion.

Office revenues grew 10 percent to P2.5 billion on the back of improved occupancy across its portfolio.