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I did it again.

I promised myself I wouldn’t take an ovulation test. But I couldn’t stop myself. I’m more in tune with my body now than I was six years ago.

And guess what? I got two lines. This is the only test I get two lines on.

But I can’t plant the seeds of hope yet, because I know I’ll eventually be heartbroken.

When my husband and I got married, I immediately stopped taking pills. When I was younger, I always wanted to be safe. I didn’t want to get pregnant. I wanted to graduate from college, get a job, and earn enough. Pregnancy wasn’t on my mind, but it was in my plan.

My dream age of getting pregnant and having kids was 22. But life got in the way. I was so busy with work. I was with a different person, and it wasn’t aligning with the life I wanted.

When I saw my husband again-we knew each other from college-I think we both knew that we were each other’s endgame. After our first date, we knew we were meant for each other. Six months later, we got engaged. Not long after, we got married.

Since day one of marriage, we’ve been trying. But now, six years in, we’re still trying, and my hope is slowly diminishing.

In 2019, I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). I started gaining weight, my hair didn’t seem as healthy as it used to be, my skin felt dry, and my emotions were all over the place. So I took the medications they prescribed: pills (again), glutathione, vitamin D, vitamin E, folic acid. I did everything my OB told me.

In 2024, what a miracle, my PCOS healed. One of my ovaries was producing mature eggs again. I was at my happiest. Hope sparked once again. But just a week after that amazing news, I felt a lump in my throat. My mind screamed at me. It said: ‘You have cancer.’ What a powerful force intuition is. Because as it turned out, it was.

When the doctor told me I had stage three thyroid cancer, I thought, Okay, this is it. No babies. Because the thyroid plays such a huge role in our hormones, especially in fertility.

When I had my surgery, I told God, ‘It’s okay. I know, you don’t give battles to just anyone. I know you give them to your strongest warriors. But please, pretty please, give me a win after this.’

I had two surgeries, one for my right thyroid, then another for the left. I was in the hospital for seven days each time. I underwent radioactive iodine therapy. That was an experience I never want to repeat. I was isolated in the hospital for three days. My throat felt like it was burning. My mouth was dry. My sense of taste? Gone in an instant. I know it’s different for everybody, but this was an experience I wouldn’t wish on my family and friends.

I’m on thyroid medication for the rest of my life. And that’s okay. I can take it. I believe God has a purpose. But every day I wonder . where are my two lines? I see my friends getting pregnant, having kids, celebrating first words, first smiles, first sneezes, first steps. And here I am wondering, is my time ever going to come?

A few months ago, I started feeling nauseous. My breasts were tender. My head always hurt. I thought I was pregnant. I was almost positive. Just imagine, six years of waiting.

We rushed to the mall to buy a pregnancy test. I rushed to the restroom and peed in it. Guess what, two lines!

I cried. With blurred vision, I ran to my husband and said, ‘Look! It’s positive!’ He was happy, but cautious. He didn’t want to plant hope just yet. He said we’d wait for the doctor’s final word. But I was floating, bursting with joy and possibility. I already had names for them, who I wanted to share the news with, where the christening would be, the people I’d invite.

When I got home, my intuition told me to go ahead and read the box again. And I did. It was an ovulation test.

I wasn’t pregnant. I was just ovulating. And it all came crashing down.

I told my husband I wasn’t sad, that it was just a funny experience. But two days later, I cried the whole day. I begged God to give me an answer. Where are my two lines?

Silence.

Then, a whisper entered my mind: ‘Not yet.’

I did my best to heal from that experience. I shoved the box into a drawer I told myself I’d never open. I promised myself that no matter the symptom, no matter the excitement, always read the box.

Fast forward to today, I opened that drawer again. I opened myself to the raw emotions I buried: hope and yearning.

Today, I got my two lines. Not from a pregnancy test, but from an ovulation test. I guess this means my body is healing.

2019 me wouldn’t have gotten a positive ovulation test. 2024 me wouldn’t have either.

But 2025 me? She did. I did.

So, I could keep asking, where are my two lines?

But now, I’d rather say: I can’t wait to meet you, my two lines.

Davao Oriental Gov. Nelson Dayanghirang on Saturday ordered the temporary suspension of the operation of all tourism establishments along the province’s coasts following the potentially ‘doublet earthquakes’ on Friday.

‘. Tourism establishments located along the coastal zones are particularly vulnerable to aftershocks, ground instability, and potential secondary hazards such as landslides and tsunamis,’ read a portion of Executive Order No. 69 series of 2025.

Dayanghirang said all tourism facilities need to undergo a safety assessment to ensure their structures have not been adversely impacted by the violent shaking experienced in the province on Friday.

A safety clearance from the respective municipal engineering offices will be a precondition for resumption of operation, Dayanghirang added.

Sea travel in Davao Oriental is still suspended, per advisory from the Coast Guard.

The province was rocked by a magnitude 7.4 tremor on Friday morning, followed by a 6.8-magnitude quake some nine hours later. Both incidents occurred offshore, prompting state seismologists to raise tsunami warnings each time.

State seismologists said both quakes may be different occurrences, even as they happened in nearby locations

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wants to enforce strict rules on the disclosure of beneficial ownership, or those who own a controlling or substantial stake in a company. ?This would be part of efforts to prevent graft and corruption among Philippine corporations.

The corporate watchdog on Friday made public its proposed rules that requireå all companies registered with the SEC to disclose their beneficial owners. These refer to any natural person ultimately owning, controlling or exercising ‘ultimate effective control’ over a corporation or legal entity.

According to the SEC, establishing this regulatory framework would help prevent ‘misuse of corporate vehicles for illicit purposes, combat financial crimes and enhance transparency in public procurement processes.’

Required information

Under the proposed rules, all covered entities need to provide adequate, timely and accurate beneficial ownership information. These must be included in their general information sheet.

These include information for at least five years after the dissolution or termination of the entity, records of all changes in beneficial ownership for at least five years from the date of each change and supporting documentation.

Companies also need to provide access to these records upon the request of the SEC.

Newly registered entities need to disclose beneficial ownership information at the time of incorporation, the SEC said. It added that this is required prior to the issuance of a certificate of incorporation or license to do business.

Existing entities, on the other hand, need to disclose this in their next general information sheet once the rules are effective.

The SEC likewise said it would prohibit the issuance, sale or offering of bearer shares and bearer share warrants. These are stocks owned by someone who is in possession of a stock certificate. /rwd

Newly installed Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla on Friday said he would institute reforms so his office could stay true to its role as antigraft watchdog, giving early signals that he would reverse some of his predecessor’s controversial policies.

The reforms include making public the statements of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALNs) of public officials and subjecting them to lifestyle checks.

However, he mentioned certain conditions before the document is released, including a possible ‘information sharing’ agreement with members of the press who would need the SALN for producing investigative reports.

‘I want to open this office to the public. We are supposed to be the ‘sumbungan ng bayan, (public complaint center),” Remulla told reporters at a press conference.

The former justice secretary said the SALNs of former President Rodrigo Duterte, President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte would be among those that could be accessed beginning next week.

He also said he was ‘open’ to the possibility of making SALNs dating back to 2016 available for scrutiny.

‘This is public information that we’re looking for. We are talking about transparency here, so let’s go all the way,’ he said.

Memorandum

Remulla said he would issue a memorandum next week, possibly on Oct. 15, that would reverse restrictions placed by former Ombudsman Samuel Martires.

He, however, emphasized that there had to be ‘requesting parties’ for an official’s SALN and that there should be an ‘undertaking’ in making these requests.

‘They (SALNs) could be weaponized. There should be an undertaking when someone requests a SALN,’ he explained.

On Tuesday, shortly after his appointment as the new Ombudsman was announced by Malacañang, Remulla said he was also considering an arrangement with the media especially in cases where SALNs would be used for investigative reports.

‘What’s the reason for requesting the SALN? If it’s for investigative journalism, maybe the findings can be shared, exactly all the findings should be shared with the Office of the Ombudsman also, so (we’re) not left in a lurch, not left in a void . In releasing information, we (also) get information,” he said.

Remulla again floated the idea on Friday: ‘When you have that article and you discover facts . It’s about information sharing, after all. You want information, okay; but you give me information also.’

He also raised the possibility of redacting certain details from the copies of the SALNs cleared for release, to accord due privacy to the officials’ personal matters.

Restricted release

Remulla said he also intended to tap the public’s assistance in conducting lifestyle checks through ‘crowdsourcing of information.’

‘We will open a line for that,’ he said, adding the process would be fine-tuned and ‘old-timers’ in the government would be consulted before releasing the memo.

SALNs were available on request to any member of the public during the time of former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, subject to guidelines similar to what Remulla stated.

But access was restricted in September 2020 when Martires issued Memorandum Circular No. 1.

Under the memo, SALNs were only to be released if the request was made by the government official concerned, or his or her representative; if it was legally ordered by the court in relation to a pending case; and if it was made through the Office of the Ombudsman’s field investigation office for the purpose of a fact-finding probe.

‘In the absence of compliance with any of these provisions, we are not going to release the SALN, no matter how much criticism I will receive, even if I will be bashed, even if I will be removed from office,’ Martires said in defense of his memo, during a House budget hearing in September 2021.

Right to know

He cited Republic Act No. 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, which he said disallows even journalists from commenting on SALNs.

Martires was referring to the law’s Section 8(D), which states that it is prohibited to use the SALN for ‘any purpose contrary to morals or public policy’ and ‘any commercial purpose other than by news and communications media for dissemination to the general public.’

However, Section 8 of the same law states that ‘the public has the right to know’ the SALNs of public officials and employees, including their financial and business interests.

Section 8(C) (4) on the disclosure of SALN further states that ‘[a]ny statement filed under this Act shall be available to the public for a period of ten (10) years after receipt of the statement.’

Martires also pushed for tough penalties, including jail time of five years on anyone who would comment on SALNs of government officials and employees, claiming that these public documents were being weaponized to destroy people’s reputations.

He said he himself became a ‘victim’ of ‘unfair’ reporting on his SALN in 2018.

Hard-line stance

It was then reported that his wealth grew by P15.3 million in his first five months in office as Ombudsman. He did not reply to the Inquirer’s request at the time to explain the changes in his SALN. He later told reporters that the money largely came from his retirement and other benefits from the Supreme Court.

Martires drew heavy criticism for the restrictions but stood his ground, saying ‘yielding to public opinion is not part of my job description.’

The issue became controversial also because then President Duterte himself had not released his SALN to the public since 2018.

‘I really do not know what is the purpose of these people asking for the SALN of the President, specifically, and the Vice President. What is in those offices? Is it only the President and Vice President who’s capable of corruption? Isn’t corruption starting in the grassroots, from the ranks of the clerks?’ Martires said. -WITH A REPORT FROM INQUIRER RESEARCH

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has released a circular directing dioceses nationwide to observe a national period of prayer and repentance following a series of natural calamities.

In Circular No. 25-14, released on Saturday, October 11, CBCP president and Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio Cardinal David instructed churches to observe the National Call to Prayer and Public Repentance.

‘Let us reiterate our recently released National Call to Prayer and Public Repentance, asking our people to observe it every Sunday – and where possible, every day – until the Solemnity of Christ the King, with the tolling of bells,’ said David in the letter.

The CBCP encouraged Catholics to wear white every Sunday of October and November and to display white ribbons in homes, churches and public spaces.

According to the circular, the observance was first proposed by Digos, Davao del Sur Bishop Jimmy Afable. It symbolizes transparency, accountability, and good governance.

The directive came out following the series of typhoons and earthquakes across the country, the latest of which was the 7.4 and 6.9 magnitude earthquakes in Davao Oriental that happened hours apart on Friday, October 10.

Five days after the collapse of the Piggatan Bridge in Alcala town in Cagayan, the Department of Public Works and Highways on Saturday, October 11, allowed truck owners to remove sacks of construction materials and other cargo from their vehicles still stuck at the bridge.

The items were retrieved by their owner but were supervised, monitored, and checked by DPWH workers and the police for documentation and inventory.

On Friday, October 10, 650 sacks of palay in another trailer truck owned by Enriquez Trucking and driven by Jonathan Relos, 41, were also retrieved for re-drying. The palay was to be sold to a wholesale rice trader in Cauayan City in Isabela at a price of P12.80 a kilo, which was higher than the prevailing P11 a kilo in Cagayan. The goods were transferred to another truck brought by the company.

‘The sacks of palay grains have been wet due to the past rains and, as expected, about half of these would turn into waste as these are rotting now. However, we can still salvage about half and will sell to recoup some losses,’ Relos said in Ilocano on Friday.

Relos said the incident caused him a major financial setback and he still does not know how to recoup his losses.

The DPWH in Cagayan has assured that it would prioritize the towing of the two trailer trucks and two other trucks from the collapsed bridge.

As this developed, construction workers have been working round-the-clock to build the detour bridge beside the collapsed Piggatan Bridge, hoping to finish it in a two-month period as promised by Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon.

DPWH-Cagayan Valley Regional Director Mathias Malenab earlier said they were constructing a sturdier detour bridge with a 40-ton capacity, higher than the collapsed bridge’s 18-ton capacity.

Dizon earlier promised that the detour bridge would be ‘an immediate solution’ to ease the economic burden in the town, which was saddled by the bridge collapse.

Authorities earlier surmised that Piggatan Bridge, which linked Alcala to other towns in Cagayan, collapsed on October 6 because the four trucks that were going through it, carrying large amounts of palay and construction materials, were allegedly overloaded

In an ‘expression of disappointment and disgust,’ retired Judge Meinrado Paredes returned the Golden Pillar of Law Award conferred to him by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) after learning that former President Rodrigo Duterte received the same recognition.

In a letter addressed to IBP national president Atty. Allan Panolong, Paredes said that while he recognized the honor of receiving the award, he decided to return the plaque as he ‘did not believe’ that Duterte upheld the ideals of justice, integrity and the rule of law.

‘This is not a protest but an expression of disappointment and disgust. I am doing this in solidarity with the victims and their relatives of human rights violations,’ Paredes said.

Paredes is among the many lawyers who criticized the IBP’s decision to give Duterte the award. An organization of human rights lawyers previously tagged the move as a mockery of the thousands of individuals who were killed in the drug war and lost a chance to defend their names in court.

The IBP Davao chapter, however, defended the award, maintaining that Duterte met the qualifications to be recognized, even reminding lawyers of their duty to ‘rise above biases and to uphold this fundamental precept of our justice system, that judgment must rest on evidence and final conviction, not mere perception.’

But in his letter, Paredes described the invocation of the presumption of innocence as the ‘favorite refuge of scoundrels,’ likening Duterte to corrupt lawmakers, Department of Public Works and Highways officials, contractors and plunderers.

The seasoned judge reminded the IBP that Duterte’s regime as president was ‘characterized by the rule of the gun, not of law,’ a time when extrajudicial killings and human rights violations ran rampant.

‘He has blood debts. There is no rule of law if human beings are killed without due process,’ Paredes said.

‘There is no justice and due process if drug suspects are killed like stray dogs in the streets. He is the principal accused of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC),’ he added.

Justice and integrity

Paredes then expressed hope that his colleagues would understand his decision and personal stance in returning the award.

He also reminisced about his time serving as a Regional Trial Court judge during the incumbency of Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, when he and Court of Appeals retired Justice Gabriel Ingles both declined a monthly allowance from the Cebu provincial government – a testament to their commitment to uphold the ideals of justice and integrity.

Duterte is currently in the custody of the ICC for crimes against humanity he allegedly committed during his administration’s bloody war on drugs.

Official government records show that Duterte’s campaign against illegal drugs, dubbed Oplan Tokhang, left at least 6,000 people dead, with human rights groups estimating the total deaths to be more than 30,000. /cb/dm

Carla Abellana opted not to confirm or deny the rumors of her supposed December wedding as she said she wants to keep her love life private.

Claims that the actress is set to marry her non-showbiz beau in December circulated on social media after showbiz insider Ogie Diaz talked about it in his YouTube vlog, citing unnamed sources.

The actress was asked about this during the Metro Manila Film Festival event on Friday, Oct. 10. Abellana attended the event as a cast member of one of the eight official MMFF 2025 entries.

‘Kung totoo man po iyon [kasal] o hindi (Whether the wedding rumors are true or not), of course that’s part of my private life. I would like to keep it private,’ she said, as reported by Bandera.

‘Sa dami naman po ng aking pinagdaanan na very publicized before, may choice naman po ako, kumbaga, kung ilalabas ko po ‘yun or hindi, if I want to keep it private,’ she added.

(I have gone through so much before, which was very publicized. But now, I have the choice to reveal it or keep it private.)

Abellana also noted that if she would share about her private life, the announcement would directly come from her and not from other people.

Then asked if she is already engaged, the actress said, ‘I invoke my right to self-incrimination. So I refuse to say yes, I refuse to say no.’

Abellana, who was previously married to actor Tom Rodriguez, confirmed last August that she has been dating but she did not immediately disclose the identity of the guy

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has lifted the ban on importing poultry from New Zealand after the latter was declared bird flu-free.

The DA announced the resumption of poultry imports such as poultry meat, day-old chicks, eggs and semen from New Zealand via Memorandum Order No. 62.

It issued the memo after New Zealand was declared free from highly pathogenic avian influenza. It is a highly contagious viral disease affecting both domestic and wild birds.

According to the DA memo, its evaluation indicated that the risk of contamination from importing such commodities is ‘negligible.’

The Philippines imported 1.06 billion kilograms of meat in the January to August period. This meant an increase of 16.5 percent from last year, according to data from the Bureau of Animal Industry.

New Zealand exported to the Philippines 8.57 million kg of meat during the period. These were primarily beef, equivalent to a market share of less than one percent. /rwd

Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Dave Gomez on Saturday agreed with the statement of Senator Sherwin ‘Win’ Gatchalian that PCO should not have engaged in projects with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Gomez was referring to Gatchalian’s earlier remark that an infrastructure project in Bukidnon worth P124 million, which was initiated in 2019 under the Duterte administration, fell outside the mandate of the PCO.

‘I completely agree with Sen. Gatchalian’s opinion. The previous administration should not have engaged in such a public works project that falls outside our core responsibility,’ Gomez said in a statement.

Earlier, Gatchalian, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, mentioned that based on the 2024 Commission on Audit (COA) report, the PCO contracted the DPWH in 2019 for the construction of the Government Communications Academy in Bukidnon (Phase II), amounting to P45.7 million.

The academy was reportedly intended to serve as a training center for the communication offices of Malacañang and its attached agencies.

Gatchalian added that the report of the COA from 2020 to 2023 noted a similar project worth P79 million.

The senator said P124 million was already spent on the project, and it is already 90 percent complete.

Gomez, meanwhile, affirmed in the statement on Saturday that the facility will be donated to the Northern Bukidnon State College instead after it is finished.

‘The building’s donation to the Northern Bukidnon State College is already being finalized,’ Gomez said.

‘Many students in our state college in Bukidnon will benefit from this,’ he added. /mr