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When Metro Manila floods, we often look up and blame the rain. But sometimes, we should look down.

On Aug. 17, 2026, Metro Manila received a warning written in millimeters: 201.7 millimeters of rain in just five hours. That single figure captured the growing intensity of rainfall confronting our communities. But rainfall alone does not explain why streets become rivers so quickly. The other part of the equation is what happens to the thousands of tons of waste we produce every day.

The Philippines generates an estimated 2.7 million tons of plastic waste every year, while Filipinos consume approximately 163 million sachets every day. That translates to nearly 60 billion sachets entering our economy annually. When these materials are not properly collected, segregated, recycled or recovered, many eventually find their way into drainage systems, esteros, rivers and pumping stations.

When the rain comes, the garbage moves with it. And that is where a waste problem becomes a flooding problem.

A drainage canal does not care whether the obstruction is a plastic bag, a sachet or a discarded bottle. A pump does not distinguish between household waste and other debris. Every piece of garbage occupying space in a waterway reduces the capacity of that system to move water.

This becomes particularly dangerous when extreme rainfall arrives within a compressed period. The Aug. 17 deluge delivered more than 200 millimeters of rain in approximately 300 minutes. When water enters the urban drainage network faster than that network can discharge it, even a system operating under normal conditions can become overwhelmed. Add clogged waterways and drainage systems, and an already difficult situation becomes even worse.

This is why the conversation about flooding must include waste management from the beginning, not as an environmental footnote after flood control projects have been designed, but as a central component of flood prevention itself.

Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, requires every barangay or cluster of barangays to have access to a materials recovery facility. Yet our waste management infrastructure remains uneven, leaving substantial quantities of recyclable and residual waste outside formal recovery systems.

Waste-to-energy is not a magic solution. It does not eliminate the need for segregation, recycling, composting, waste reduction or proper collection. Those must remain at the heart of responsible waste management. But for residual waste that cannot reasonably be reused or recycled, converting suitable waste into electricity can reduce dependence on landfills while giving value to something we currently pay to dispose of.

The Department of Energy has recognized this potential. Under its Green Energy Auction framework, the government has increased the target for waste-to-energy capacity to 400 megawatts.

The opportunity becomes clearer when we look at individual projects. In New Clark City, a planned P4-billion waste-to-energy facility is designed to process approximately 600 tons of waste every day and generate 12 megawatts of electricity.

Every ton diverted from a landfill is a ton that does not have to occupy increasingly scarce land. Every ton properly collected is one less potential obstruction in a drainage system. Every facility capable of safely processing appropriate residual waste creates another layer of protection between our garbage and our waterways.

This is where energy policy, environmental policy and water management policy meet.

Metro Manila’s waste problem is particularly urgent because the capital has limited space and enormous consumption. We cannot continue generating thousands of tons of waste and simply assume that landfills, collection trucks, waterways and local governments will absorb the consequences indefinitely.

The alternative is a genuinely circular approach: reduce the waste we produce, recover reusable materials, recycle what can return to the economy, convert suitable residual waste into energy and safely dispose of what remains. Waste-to-energy should complement, not replace, recycling and recovery.

There is also a strong economic argument for changing the way we think about garbage.

The United Nations Environment Program projects global municipal solid waste to increase from 2.1 billion tons in 2023 to 3.8 billion tons by 2050. Without urgent action, the annual global cost associated with waste, including its effects on health, pollution and climate, could reach $640.3 billion. At the same time, transitioning toward a circular economy could generate an estimated $108.5 billion in annual net economic gains by 2050.

For the Philippines, these numbers should serve as both a warning and an opportunity.

We should stop measuring waste management only by how much garbage we collect after it has already become a problem. We should measure how much we prevent, recover, recycle, convert and, most importantly, keep out of our waterways.

The same principle should apply to water management.

We should not only ask how many pumping stations we have, but how many are operating at full capacity when they are needed most. We should not simply count how many tons of garbage are collected from esteros and drainage systems, but how many tons never reach them in the first place.

This is the kind of governance that turns numbers into outcomes.

Because the next great flood may begin with a storm, but its severity can also be determined by what we did with our garbage before the rain arrived.

We cannot control the clouds. But we can control our waste.

And if we can transform that waste into cleaner waterways, stronger flood defenses and even electricity, then we are no longer simply cleaning up after disasters. We are building resilience before they happen.

That is the opportunity before Metro Manila: less garbage in our drains, less waste in our landfills, more productive use of what remains and fewer communities under water when the rain comes.

The solution to flooding may not only be above us in the sky. Part of it is right beneath our feet.

Bilateral defense relations between the Philippines and Japan reached a new milestone yesterday with the entry into force of the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA).

The main agreement signed in January this year has matured into a deal that will further bolster the partnership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Japan Self Defense Force.

It establishes a framework such as the settlement procedures for the reciprocal provision of supplies and services between the two allied military forces.

Department of National Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong said the DND welcomes the Aug. 22 entry into force of the ACSA.

Andolong said the framework ‘further strengthens our operational cooperation through the efficient and coordinated provision of supplies and services between the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Self-Defense Forces of Japan, which will greatly impact our bilateral activities, including exercises and humanitarian assistance and disaster response.’

‘This agreement also demonstrates the practical application of our comprehensive strategic partnership with Japan, characterized by mutual trust and our aspiration for a free and open Indo-Pacific region,’ he said.

Last month, Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi held an Exchange of Diplomatic Notes for the entry into force of the ACSA during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.

Bilateral relations between the Philippines and Japan have seen significant developments recently, particularly on defense cooperation, following the signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement in 2024.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson vowed to scrutinize the P107.4-billion flood control allocation for the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the proposed P7.2-trillion national budget for next year.

Lacson said the recent flooding in and around Metro Manila is the latest wake-up call against corruption in flood control projects.

Lacson told radio dwIZ yesterday the monsoon-induced flooding renewed public furor over the practices of legislators, local officials and contractors in

allegedly skimming kickbacks from substandard or non-existent flood control works.

‘What happened recently was like divine intervention to remind Filipinos that it was the result of corruption,’ he said.

The government poured in P1.939 trillion in flood control funds from 2011 to 2025, and yet flooding persisted. Lacson blamed it on corruption.

He had cited testimonies of former DPWH officials Roberto Bernardo, Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez that 35 to 40 percent of public funds were pocketed in substandard or non-existent flood control projects.

Regarding the proposed P107.4-billion budget of the DPWH for its flood control management program, Lacson said he will ask for the government’s updated master plan and scrutinize it.

He said the government shelved the flood control master plan first drawn up by former DPWH secretary Rogelio Singson during the administration of the late Benigno Aquino III.

Lacson questioned the DPWH’s reasoning behind the P107.4-billion budget to repair existing flood control projects.

‘Do we need to spend another P107 billion to fix the defective flood control projects for slope protection and flood mitigation?’ he said.

The Philippines is still planning to return to the retail bond market this year, giving small investors another opportunity to buy government securities, the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) said.

‘Within the second half,’ National Treasurer Sharon Almanza told reporters on the potential retail Treasury bond (RTB) offering issuance, but did not specify the issuance date.

RTBs are relatively low-risk investment savings instruments guaranteed by the entire financial capacity of the Philippine government and offer quarterly interest payments.

Small investors can buy RTBs for a minimum of P5,000.

Finance Secretary Frederick Go said the government is closely monitoring market conditions and assessing the right time for a potential RTB offering, likely within the second half.

‘Any decision regarding any issuance will take into account prevailing market developments and the government’s financing requirements,’ he said in June.

Last year, the government raised a total of P507.16 billion from its five-year 31st RTB offering that carried a coupon rate of six percent amid ‘strong demand.’

It was the first time such securities were made available on e-wallet platform GCash through its GBonds feature.

Asked about the bond issuances being considered for next year, Almanza said these would likely follow the government’s ‘usual’ mix, depending on market conditions.

‘It depends on the market conditions. It may be in euro, yen or the usual dollar,’ she said.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said among the crucial considerations for the next planned issuance are lower borrowing costs that could be made possible by including government bonds in the JPMorgan Emerging Market Bond Index.

‘Another consideration would be the upcoming maturity of 10-year RTBs worth about P100 billion on September 20, 2027, to possibly time the next RTB issuance to capture some of the said maturing RTBs,’ he said.

Ricafort said there would also be a need to hedge the national government borrowings through RTBs amid the lack of progress on the deal between the United States and Iran after the 60-day interim deal lapsed on Aug. 17.

The Marcos administration plans to raise P2.73 trillion in gross borrowings this year, followed by P3.3 trillion in 2027, according to the latest Budget of Expenditures and Sources of Financing document.

Digital payments have moved from being a matter of convenience to becoming part of the Philippines’ critical economic infrastructure, raising the stakes for banks, fintech firms and regulators to keep transactions running, protect users from fraud and turn digital access into broader financial participation.

The shift is already forcing financial institutions to rethink the scale and resilience of their systems.

For HSBC Philippines president and CEO Sandeep Uppal, the biggest lesson from the past two years has been payments as businesses and consumers increasingly expect financial services to remain available around the clock.

‘From my perspective, the biggest resilience topic has been payments,’ Uppal said.

Unlike traditional banking, when a branch closure or delayed check clearing could simply be dealt with the following day, today’s digital economy runs continuously. E-commerce platforms, merchants and consumers increasingly depend on payments being processed in real time.

HSBC has maintained payment system availability of 99.99 percent, according to Uppal. The bank also expanded its InstaPay capacity sevenfold earlier this year to process as many as 125,000 transactions per hour.

‘If you multiply it, that means you created a capacity of a billion transactions for the year,’ he said, adding that the bank expects demand to eventually outgrow that capacity again.

The challenge, however, is no longer simply getting more people to transact digitally. During the 2026 EJAP Economic Forum, Maya Philippines corporate affairs head Kristoffer Rada said the country has already built much of the foundation needed for digital finance.

Rada cited the development of InstaPay, PesoNet, QR Ph, digital banks, electronic money, digital identity and the emerging open finance framework. That scale means digital finance can no longer be viewed as a niche financial inclusion channel.

‘Payments for us is only the beginning,’ Rada said. ‘The real opportunity is to translate this digital access into deeper financial participation – into deposits, into savings, into responsible credit, working capital for small businesses and ultimately greater financial resilience.’

He described digital finance as a ‘growth infrastructure,’ with the next phase requiring identity, data, payments, credit and fraud response systems to work together rather than develop in separate silos.

One area where this could matter most is credit.

Many Filipinos and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) remain difficult for lenders to assess because their financial information is fragmented across institutions, employers and government databases.

A worker, for example, may have several years of employment, regular government contributions, a registered business and a long history of digital transactions but still appear to lenders as a thin-file borrower because those records are not readily available in one place.

Rada said open finance could help address the problem by allowing customers, with their explicit consent, to share verified records across institutions.

One practical reform, he said, would be to allow individuals and MSMEs to use selected government records, such as employment history, contribution records and verified business information, to support credit applications.

‘Give the customers control of trusted data and allow them to use it to improve their financial opportunities,’ Rada said.

This could become increasingly important as the broader economy works through a period of weaker domestic demand.

HSBC chief Asia economist Frederic Neumann said household consumption growth and bank lending have both softened, describing the Philippines as being in a cyclical weak spot rather than facing deeper structural problems.

Neumann characterized the slowdown as a ‘temporary reset,’ arguing that the financial sector remains sound and that the economy retains its underlying competitiveness.

HSBC expects economic growth to rebound to almost five percent next year, although elevated inflation and external risks could continue to complicate the near-term outlook.

Against that backdrop, better access to responsible financing could support both household activity and small businesses without simply encouraging indiscriminate lending.

Rada said the country does not lack demand for credit. The bigger problem is making smaller borrowers commercially viable to serve.

Thin credit files, fragmented information and the cost of underwriting and servicing small loans continue to limit formal credit access.

He said the solution would require better data and risk-based underwriting alongside regulations that allow responsible pricing and sustainable business models.

‘Financial inclusion has to be sustainable,’ Rada said, stressing that competition and regulation should work together rather than be viewed as opposing forces.

Trust is the other side of the equation.

Greater digital adoption has also expanded opportunities for scammers, while fraudulent funds can move rapidly across banks, e-wallets, telecommunications networks and online platforms.

Rada proposed the creation of a 24/7 national fraud response protocol linking financial institutions, law enforcement, prosecutors, telecommunications companies and government agencies.

Such a framework could help institutions preserve funds and evidence more quickly, while improving the authorities’ ability to disrupt organized scam and mule-account networks.

Another proposed reform is payroll account portability.

At present, employers often effectively determine an employee’s primary financial institution through their payroll arrangements. Rada said workers could instead be allowed to nominate an eligible account of their choice without requiring companies to replace their existing payroll systems.

The change could force banks and digital financial providers to compete more aggressively on service, value and customer experience.

For traditional banks, meanwhile, the rapid growth of digital transactions is making collaboration increasingly important.

Asked what area of collaboration HSBC would prioritize over the next six to 12 months, Uppal pointed to digitization.

‘It’s not one company which can achieve it. It’s all of us coming together that can achieve it,’ he said.

Uppal said faster end-to-end digitization could boost productivity and help businesses navigate some of the Philippines’ infrastructure costs.

The next stage of digital banking, therefore, may be less about how many Filipinos can make a digital payment and more about what happens after they do.

With the basic rails already in place, the harder task is ensuring that those systems remain available at scale, secure enough to maintain public trust and connected enough to give more households and businesses access to savings, financing and other formal financial services.

As Rada put it, the Philippines has already built much of the infrastructure for digital financial access.

The next challenge is making that access ‘economically meaningful.’

A 59-year-old motorcycle rider is now in critical condition after allegedly running a red light and colliding with another motorcycle at the intersection of P. Del Rosario and Junquera Street in Barangay San Antonio, Cebu City, around 8:58 P.M. last Friday, August 21.

The rider, identified as Segundo Butaya, 59, a resident of Catarman, Liloan, was driving a Honda Click when the collision occurred. He was brought to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) after being found unconscious.

Butaya’s passenger, Warren Tudlas, 18, a native of Ginatilan, sustained minor injuries in the crash.

Richard Gabrillo, 50, of Sitio Ipil, Barangay Basak San Nicolas, who was riding a Yamaha Mio that collided with Butaya’s motorcycle, also suffered minor injuries.

An investigation by the Traffic Enforcement Unit of the Cebu City Police Office, along with footage from the Cebu City Government’s Eagle Eye system, showed that Gabrillo had initially stopped at the intersection because the traffic light on Junquera Street, leading toward the downtown area, was red.

Gabrillo proceeded after the traffic signal turned green.

Butaya, however, allegedly continued through the intersection despite the red light while traveling at high speed along P. Del Rosario Street toward the South Bus Terminal. This resulted in the collision with Gabrillo’s motorcycle.

The impact toppled both motorcycles, throwing the riders onto the concrete pavement.

When medical personnel from the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office arrived at the scene, Butaya was already unconscious. He was immediately transported to CCMC for medical treatment

The National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) said it is currently operating at full bed capacity due to a surge in leptospirosis cases.

In a statement issued Sunday afternoon, August 23, the NKTI said the hospital is operating at full capacity due to the high volume of patients in its emergency room.

‘To prioritize patients requiring emergency care and admission, walk-in admissions will be subject to limitations until further notice, with priority given to patients requiring urgent and critical medical interventions,’ the NKTI’s statement read.

The hospital urged patients seeking elective or non-emergency care to consult their attending physicians and seek care at alternative health facilities with available beds to avoid lengthy delays.

“We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience and understanding,” the NKTI said.

The spike in cases comes in the wake of recent rains brought by the southwest monsoon and localized flooding.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported that leptospirosis cases had reached 3,440 as of August 8

In response, the DOH said it had positioned 3.1 million doxycycline capsules across its central office and 17 regional Centers for Health Development.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has ordered a public utility jeepney operator to explain an incident where its PUJ driver drove in counterflow along Baesa Road in Quezon City.

Netizens posted a video of the incident and called out the driver through a social media group.

LTFRB acting Chairman Greg Pua Jr. said the driver put other road users at risk.

‘Let this investigation serve as a strong message to the driver. The LTFRB would not tolerate this kind of behavior on the road,’ Pua said.

‘The public can be assured of our quick action on this matter,’ he added, as expressed gratitude for the netizens’ report.

Pua said the cooperation of the community is important in imposing road courtesy and discipline against erring drivers in the public transportation sector.

In its show-cause order, the LTFRB asked the PUJ operator to explain why its franchise should not be revoked or suspended over the road safety violation, failure to provide a safe and comfortable transportation to commuters and for employing a reckless driver.

The LTFRB also ordered the driver to appear for a hearing on Sept. 3.

Leading mental health organizations are calling on the Department of Education (DepEd) to defer its scheduled nationwide active shooter simulations.

In a joint statement issued on August 22, the Philippine Psychiatric Association (PPA) and the Philippine Society for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (PSCAP) expressed their opposition to DepEd’s memorandum mandating a ‘Nationwide Simultaneous School Safety Drill for Active Attack Incidents,’ saying that violence drills can inflict lasting psychological harm on children without evidence that they are effective in saving lives.

“Current evidence does not show that these simulations reduce casualties or prevent incidents, while multiple studies demonstrate that they can cause lasting psychological harm across age groups,’ the groups’ statement read.

Citing research by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine that found insufficient evidence that high-intensity simulations improve safety outcomes.

Furthermore, the groups pointed out to a study tracking 54 million social media posts across 114 schools, which recorded a 42% surge in stress and anxiety-related language and a 39% spike in depression-related language lasting at least 90 days after active shooter drills.

‘The American Academy of Pediatrics (2020) cautioned against involving children in high-intensity shooter simulations and emphasized that deception should never be used. Professional consensus from NASP, NASRO, and AACAP (2026) likewise recommends banning hyper-realistic simulations, requiring advance notice, and embedding school mental health professionals in planning.’

DepEd has ordered all public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide to conduct a simultaneous safety drill for active attack incidents on Tuesday, August 25.

Under a memorandum dated August 12, the DepEd said the drill will be held at 9 a.m. on Tuesday with schools instructed to follow their localized contingency plans for active attack incidents.

Recommendations

The medical associations recommended strengthening school safety through trauma-informed measures such as secured perimeters, controlled access points and advance notices developed in consultation with mental health professionals, rather than using conducting live active-shooter simulations.

They suggested adopting discussion-based tabletop exercises among staff and parents to walk through emergency scenarios without alarming students, while ensuring inclusive accommodations based on prior needs assessments.

To guide future policy, they also called for a joint task force comprising education and health agencies, as well as psychiatric organizations, to gather local data before implementing any nationwide mandates.

Four elite members of the Smart/MVPSF Philippine women’s team will be put to the test when they compete in the World Taekwondo Women’s Open Championships from August 28-30 in Taiyuan, China.

The Philippine Taekwondo Association, led by Grandmaster Sung-Chon Hong, firmly believes its battle-tested players can now go toe-to-toe against their world-class rivals after undergoing intensive training in Korea.

The members of the team, who are fully supported by the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee and MILO, are Tachiana Keiza Mangin, Clarence Sarza, Baby Jessica Canabaland Czarina Mae Danganan. They will be up against world-class rivals in an event that will gather 59 other countries, including Korea, China, Iran and Thailand.

After becoming the first Filipino world junior champion two years ago, Mangin, 18, made a triumphant debut at the 2025 Thailand Southeast Asian Games, and she is now regarded as the face of Philippine taekwondo.

Sarza is coming off a bronze medal finish at the 27th Asian Taekwondo Championships, while Canabal and Danganan also made their marks in their previous international stints – the latest of them was during the SEA Games last year.

Grandmaster Hong said the event is part of the association’s massive preparation for two important events – the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, next month and the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December.

The country is looking to win its first-ever gold medal in the Asian Games after winning 4 silver and 24 our bronze medals since the Korean martial arts was introduced during the Seoul edition in 1986.

The latest was a bronze achieved by Patrick King Perez in poomsae during the Hangzhou Asian Games three years ago.

Olympian Stephen Fernandez will head the delegation while former champions Paul Romero and Kirstie Elaine Alora have been designated as coaches