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Police are pursuing leads in the killing of a 31-year-old woman and her two children, whose bodies were found in an abandoned vehicle in San Rafael, Bulacan on Thursday.

Probers said they received information that could possibly help them identify the person or people responsible for the death of the victims, whose bodies bore gunshot wounds.

Central Luzon police director Brig. Gen. Jess Mendez however, refused to provide details, citing ongoing police operations.

Mendez on Friday led a case conference with members of a special investigation task group he formed to handle the case.

The fatalities were found at the back seat of a Toyota Avanza parked in a vacant lot in Barangay Talacsan.

The woman, identified only as Margie, and her children, aged four and nine, were last seen returning home to Baliwag after visiting relatives in Angat on Wednesday.

Relatives said they called Margie on her phone after she and the children failed to arrive home.

‘No one answered, the phone just kept on ringing,’ Mendez said.

He said probers have asked the Anti-Cybercrime Group to examine Margie’s phone.

One of the low-pressure areas, formerly Neneng, monitored outside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) has redeveloped into a tropical depression yesterday, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration reported.

According to the 3 p.m. forecast of PAGASA, the redeveloped tropical depression, with the current international name Gaenari, was located 660 kilometers north-northeast of Itbayat, Batanes.

It is packing winds of 55 kms per hour and gustiness of 70 kph. State meteorologists said Gaenari is moving slowly in the northwestward direction.

Another tropical depression outside PAR was located 1,055 kms east of Eastern Visayas, with winds of 45 kph and gusts of 55 kph.

Meanwhile, Typhoon Saudel was located 2,555 kms east of northern Luzon, moving northwestward at 15 kph outside PAR. It was packing winds of 150 kph and gustiness of 185 kph.

Daniel James Villamil, PAGASA weather specialist, said Saudel and the tropical depression have a binary interaction or Fujiwhara effect.

‘Saudel will pull the center of the tropical depression, which could possibly intensify as a tropical storm in the coming days. However, it will eventually dissipate as it gets absorbed by the stronger circulation of Typhoon Saudel,’ Villamil said.

State meteorologists said the southwest monsoon will continue to bring cloudiness and rainfall in Northern and Central Luzon.

Portions of Western Visayas will also experience rainfall due to the resurgence of a strong southwest monsoon.

Lower transaction costs and easier access to financial services remain crucial to bringing more Filipinos into the formal financial system, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

The central bank stressed that higher account ownership and digital payment use alone do not necessarily translate into meaningful financial inclusion.

In a statement, the BSP said affordability remains a major hurdle for Filipinos who have yet to adopt digital payments, citing surveys showing that cost is among the key reasons for non-use.

‘True digital financial inclusion means ensuring that financial services are accessible, affordable, understandable and useful for all Filipinos,’ the BSP said.

It added that studies have shown lower transaction fees can encourage greater use of digital payments, which the BSP considers an important gateway to other formal financial services.

As the most widely used financial service among Filipinos, digital payments can serve as an entry point to savings, credit, investments and insurance, according to the central bank.

However, the BSP stressed that lowering costs alone would not be enough to deepen financial inclusion.

‘Account opening requirements, maintaining balances, connectivity, access points, financial and digital literacy, consumer trust, safety and ease of use can all affect whether Filipinos are able and willing to participate in the formal financial system,’ it said.

To address these constraints, the central bank continues to promote basic deposit accounts, which require an opening amount of no more than P100 and carry no maintaining balance or dormancy charges.

The BSP has also pushed the expansion of interoperable digital payments, allowing users of different banks and financial service providers to transact more easily.

Beyond access, the central bank said financial and digital literacy would remain important in encouraging Filipinos to use formal financial services safely and confidently. Its initiatives include the BSP E-Learning Academy and other financial education programs alongside strengthened consumer protection measures.

The BSP also said greater competition among banks, e-wallets, financial technology firms and other providers could help give consumers more choices while improving service quality and affordability.

Still, the central bank said the ultimate measure of inclusion should be whether financial services improve households’ ability to manage their finances and withstand economic shocks.

‘Access and usage are not ends in themselves. The broader goal is financial health,’ the BSP said.

‘Financial services should enable Filipinos to manage their day-to-day finances, save for their needs, access appropriate credit and insurance, withstand financial shocks, and build a more secure financial future,’ it added.

As lead implementer of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion, the BSP coordinates with government agencies and the private sector to remove barriers to financial services and ensure that broader access translates into tangible improvements in Filipinos’ financial well-being.

Travelers passing through Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 are advised to expect brief power disruptions starting Monday night, August 24, due to scheduled preventive work on the terminal’s electrical infrastructure.

In a passenger advisory issued on Sunday, August 23, NAIA said power interruptions are expected at the following times:

August 24 – 11:30 p.m.

August 25 – 4 a.m. and 11:30 p.m.

August 26 – 4 a.m.

‘The work is part of regular preventive maintenance to keep NAIA’s electrical systems in good operating condition and reduce the risk of unexpected disruptions,’ NAIA’s statement read.

According to NAIA, backup power systems will automatically kick in during these intervals to ensure uninterrupted operation of critical airport functions.

However, non-essential services and certain terminal facilities may experience brief interruptions.

‘Airport teams will be on site to keep any impact on passengers and operations to a minimum,’ NAIA said.

Whoever coined the phrase ‘your hair is your crowning glory’ wasn’t kidding, especially for people who used to have thick and lush locks. It’s likely one of the reasons why there has been an increase in clinics and centers offering hair transplants for a fraction of their actual cost.

It’s also why Dr. Julieta Peralta Arambulo is determined to educate those looking to undergo treatment. As the country’s first diplomate of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery, and a fellow and member of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, she continues to keep herself updated on hair transplant developments at annual conventions.

‘As part of their own research, patients should find out and verify a doctor’s educational background and number of years of experience,’ Arambulo said.

She pointed out that many hair clinics now offer surgeries using terms like ‘non-invasive,’ ‘scarless’ and ‘pain-free.’ Sorry to say, but there will be pain.

In the hands of an experienced doctor, however, there are fewer chances of receiving a botched surgery.

‘We get a lot of those – patients with unnatural hairlines or oddly placed hair grafts, and they want us to remedy them.’ Arambulo, who established the Asian Hair Restoration Center 15 years ago, is the recognized authority in physician-led hair transplantation, delivering natural-looking results. She prides herself on building a reputation for internationally recognized surgical expertise, comprehensive diagnostics, and personalized patient care.

The doctor now works alongside her daughter Mariel Arambulo Cordero, herself a board-certified dermatologist and hair fellow of the Donovan Hair Academy. Arambulo is proud of her daughter who she said works faster than her and is very efficient. Together, they integrate expertise in hair restoration surgery, dermatology, trichology, regenerative medicine, and functional medicine to develop personalized treatment plans for every patient.

‘What some people don’t realize is that we depend on a team of nurses who have been trained to anticipate our needs when we’re performing hair transplants. This is, depending on the technique used, the operation can cost from P300,000 to P400,000.’

Their clinic located at 5th level of Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong is equipped with the machines needed to perform the surgeries. For many people experiencing permanent hair loss, hair transplantation remains the most effective and lasting solution.

‘Majority of our patients are still male, around 90%,’ Arambulo said. ‘All of them first undergo trichoscopy scalp analysis that serves as the baseline before proceeding any further.’

The service, which costs P6,500, consists of having one’s head and scalp photographed from different angles using a specialized camera that can take extreme closeups of the scalp. The images are then analyzed by either Arambulo or Cordero before they discuss with the patient what route of treatment or surgery to undertake.

‘Hair transplantation is the gold standard for restoring permanently lost hair – but only when performed on the right patient, at the right time, and for the right indications,’ Arambulo said in a statement. ‘Our responsibility is to ensure every patient receives the most appropriate treatment, not simply surgery.’

The die is cast and there’s no turning back. Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Eumir Marcial is signed to fight Omar Ulises Huerta at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California, on Sept. 19 and won’t make it on time for his first bout at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Sept. 23. ABAP president Marcus Manalo is resigned to losing Marcial for the Asian Games and said, ‘he should really focus on the pros if that’s his decision.’ However, the window is still open for Marcial to transition back to Olympic-style boxing in case he plans to qualify for the 2028 LA Games.

Marcial is now training in Las Vegas under MP Promotions president Sean Gibbons’ care. ‘You can’t keep a good man down,’ said Gibbons. ‘Brother Eumir is focused. We have a goal and it’s the world title. It’s been our goal since 2021. Eumir is doing amazing, he’s got a Filipino coach (Rey Galido) who came with him. He’s got a great team with coach Joven (Jimenez) and coach Kay (Koroma). Sept. 19 is the absolute start and not stop, start, stop. We’re going all in for this one. I see 2027, some time in that year, he’s getting the opportunity to get the gold medal in the pros, to get a world title.’

Marcial hasn’t fought in the pros since scoring a majority 10-round decision over Eddy Colmenares for the WBC International middleweight crown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last October. Two months later, he bagged the 80kg gold at the SEA Games. ‘Sa ngayon, hindi ko na muna iniisip na maka-habol sa Asian Games,’ said Marcial. ‘Focus lang muna ako sa laban.’ Marcial described Huerta as tactical. Huerta, 30, has a record of 15-1-1, with 13 KOs. The 6-1 US-born fighter, nicknamed ‘La Bala’ or The Bullet, is coming off a 10-round loss on points to Vito Mielnicki in Atlantic City last April. The decision was lopsided as two judges scored it a shutout. In his previous fight, Huerta was held to a split six-round draw by Antonio Barajas a year before. He started his career on a 15-0 streak with three first round KOs.

Manalo said the better option is to tap another pro Weljon Mindoro to replace Marcial in the Asian Games. The possibility is now being discussed with Mindoro’s team. Mindoro, 26, is unbeaten as a pro with a 17-0-1 record, including 16 KOs. He’s slated to take on Mexico’s Carlos Ocampo in a 10-rounder in Los Angeles on Aug. 29. Mindoro drew a bye in the middleweight division at the SEA Games last year and lost his only fight to Vietnam’s Bui Phuoc Tung in the semis but went home with a bronze.

A total of 52 distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) have benefited from the P2.6-million financial assistance given by the Department of Migrant Workers.

In a statement, the DMW said the monetary aid, taken from the Aksyon Fund, was distributed to the OFWs on Friday in Makati.

‘This is part of the government’s unified package for livelihoods, industry, food and transport (UPLIFT) program. The financial assistance aims to give immediate support to qualified OFWs and their families,’ the DMW said.

The department urged other OFWs who figured in emergency and distressing situations to check if they are qualified to benefit from the Aksyon Fund.

According to the DMW, job fairs were also organized to offer more opportunities for OFWs who had a bad experience while working abroad.

Malacañang has ordered the establishment of a critical minerals industry for the country’s clean energy transition, digital transformation and advanced technologies.

Under Executive Order 122 signed on Aug. 21, President Marcos created a unified policy framework for the critical minerals industry and reorganized the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC).

Marcos stressed the need to ‘promote value-added processing and downstream industries, enhance investments and competitiveness, ensure responsible and sustainable mining practices and harmonize government policies and programs.’

The secretaries of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Department of Finance (DOF) were designated as co-chairpersons of the council.

Marcos tasked DENR, through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, to implement a national exploration and mineral reservation program to identify new critical mineral deposits for industry development.

‘The country has identified at least nine million hectares of highly prospective areas with potential to host various mineral resources that could position the Philippines as an important player in the critical minerals value chain,’ said Larry Heradez, director of DENR-MGB.

Heradez stressed that with the policy, the government would maximize the domestic value of the critical minerals by moving from raw ore exportation to building integrated processing and manufacturing ecosystems.

‘Worldwide, nations are competing to secure resilient supply chains for essential raw materials like nickel, copper and processing inputs for renewable energy infrastructure, electric vehicle batteries and defense applications,’ Heradez emphasized.

The Department of Trade and Industry will provide incentives for downstream refining, battery production and side-stream industries. It will also prioritize domestic processing plants to access mineral ores at fair market prices.

The government ordered strict environmental protection alongside social and cultural development safeguards to strengthen the industry’s capacity to manage environmental impacts effectively.

A ‘use it or lose it’ policy will be implemented for critical minerals mining tenements, immediately cancelling and reallocating freed-up mineral areas into declared reservations.

The DENR and MGB will create streamlined permit processing within six months. A fully digital virtual one-stop shop platform will also be implemented within a year.

A comprehensive industry work plan will be submitted by the MICC to President Marcos within 90 days, in which international sourcing standards, environmental safeguards and valuation frameworks shall be outlined.

Last week, the country recorded its second school shooting in just over a month, this time at Ateneo de Zamboanga High School. Still reeling from the tragic shooting in Tacloban a month ago, which left several students dead and injured, we are once again confronted with the devastating consequences of guns finding their way into a school.

A student reportedly armed with both long and short firearms entered the school and opened fire, killing a fellow student before taking his own life. Tragically, both the shooter and the victim were reportedly honor students with promising lives ahead of them.

Reports further said that the shooter gained access to a government-issued firearm that belonged to his father, who is a Customs police officer. He also had access to another licensed firearm belonging to his father. This bears disturbing similarities to the Tacloban shooting, where the perpetrators likewise obtained government-issued and licensed firearms.

The lesson is painfully obvious. Licensed firearms must be kept securely and responsibly, especially when children are present. Parents and guardians who fail to properly safeguard lethal weapons cannot simply wash their hands of the consequences. Had these firearms been properly secured, these children would not have had such easy access to weapons capable of taking lives.

But the problem does not end with negligent gun owners. While the Philippines is certainly not the United States, where guns can be bought with alarming ease, gun violence remains a serious peace-and-order and law-enforcement problem. The proliferation of loose firearms is particularly troubling.

DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla has said that 98 percent of gun crimes in the country involve loose firearms. He has pointed to the so-called ‘Robin Padilla Law,’ or Republic Act 8294, which he said reduced penalties for illegal firearm possession. Remulla argued that the lower penalties made illegal gun possession bailable and contributed to the proliferation of loose firearms.

The law has acquired the ‘Robin Padilla Law’ moniker not because he authored it, but because he was among its first beneficiaries, helping pave the way for his early release from prison following his conviction for illegal gun possession.

Instead of engaging Remulla’s argument, Robin was more interested in celebrating a law that carries his name. He expectedly missed the point. Again. He is proud of being associated with a measure that critics argue did little to make ordinary Filipinos safer while easing penalties for gun-related offenses, including the crime for which he himself was convicted.

This is the same Robin who, after the Tacloban school shooting, suggested sending 10-year-old children to jail with adult criminals, while weeks earlier aiding the escape of Sen. Bato dela Rosa, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and accused of mass murder.

And now, Robin wants to punish children yet again, this time by proposing a total social media ban for young people in response to the Zamboanga school shooting.

The hypocrisy is breathtaking. Robin wants kids behind bars, off social media, while celebrating reduced jail time for adult gun criminals and helping a fugitive from international justice evade accountability.

If anyone should be banned from social media, it is Robin and his dangerous simplisms and logical fallacies.

If only Robin maximized his free WiFi at the Senate, he would have easily learned that such a measure is not a magic wand. In Australia, where a social media ban for under-16s is in place, kids have found ways around it through new accounts, virtual private networks (VPNs) and platforms not covered by the restrictions.

There is a valid case for stronger social media regulation, especially against violent groups that target, groom and radicalize children online. But there is a world of difference between regulation and a blanket ban. The former can protect children; the latter risks creating a ‘forbidden-fruit effect,’ driving social media use underground and breeding resentment rather than responsibility.

But if we are serious about understanding school violence, we have to look beyond guns and social media, and confront the broader culture of violence and impunity that has been normalized in our politics.

For years, the Dutertes have treated the language of killing as political currency. Who could forget former president Rodrigo Duterte’s many kill threats, including his threat to chop off Cardinal Pablo Virgilio ‘Ambo’ David’s head for speaking out against extrajudicial killings? Or Vice President Sara Duterte’s public death threats against the President, her once-upon-a-time dynastic ally?

Do we honestly think children grow up in a vacuum? Can we seriously expect children to reject violence when the adults around them vote for, support, defend and worship extrajudicial killers?

Children learn from what society normalizes. When violence and cruelty are treated as strength and impunity as political power, we should not be surprised when the consequences eventually reach our schools.

If we are serious in addressing school violence, we need more than Robin Padilla shenanigans. We need stronger measures and stricter enforcement on firearm ownership, possession, storage and use; smarter social media regulation that protects children while cultivating responsibility rather than driving them underground and greater public subsidies for youth mental health care.

And, above all, we need to reject the culture of violence and impunity that has been normalized and worsened by the Dutertes. We cannot raise children to reject violence while the adults around them glorify it. We cannot demand responsibility from the youth while we reward impunity.

If we want safer schools, we must reject violent and incompetent leaders and build a society that makes safety, accountability, empathy and responsibility the norm, not violence and impunity.

Renato William Jones is revered as one of FIBA’s founding fathers and its first Secretary-General who served from 1932 to 1976. He was responsible for bringing basketball to the Olympic calendar in 1936 and elected to the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 1964 and FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. In his honor was created the Jones Cup, an annual international invitational tournament in Taiwan, in 1977. The Philippines has been a regular entry in the Jones Cup, winning the title with Northern Cement under coach Ron Jacobs in 1981, San Miguel Beer under Jacobs in 1985, Philippine Centennial team under coach Tim Cone in 1998, Smart Gilas under coach Chot Reyes in 2012, Mighty Sports under coach Bo Perasol in 2016, Mighty Sports under coach Charles Tiu in 2019 and Strong Group Athletics under Tiu in 2024 and 2025. Through the years, the Jones Cup attracted different US teams to participate, including an All-Star squad under coach Gene Keady, St. Mary’s University with Ali Peek, Vanderbilt University, University of Hawaii, Athletes In Action, national teams from various countries and clubs from around the world. It gained a reputation as a prestigious competition and players from all over looked forward to joining.

The traditional tournament format was a simple round-robin with the team posting the best record to win the championship. No playoffs were involved. But this year, something strange happened. Without notifying entries beforehand, organizers decided to seed Chinese-Taipei A into the semis regardless of its elimination record. Group A was made up of SGA, Wonju DB Promy of Korea, Japan and Chinese-Taipei A. Group B was composed of University of California at Irvine, Chinese-Taipei B, Jordan and Malaysia. As it turned out, Wonju and SGA finished with identical 5-1 records in the double-round elims but Korea took pole position with a higher quotient. Chinese-Taipei A had a 1-5 mark.

At the 1978 FIBA World Cup, host Philippines was seeded into the eight-team semis but didn’t play in the group stage. The Philippines ended up winless. In this year’s Jones Cup, Chinese-Taipei A played in the group stage, finished last but still went to the semis. Organizers later apologized to SGA for the injustice but this was a contrived conspiracy of unfair play. No apology can brush this misconduct away. It was a travesty. The top two finishers in Group B advanced to the semis but in Group A, only Wonju qualified to make way for Chinese-Taipei A at SGA’s expense.

SGA’s coach Tiu, seeking a three-peat, said if he had known about the rule change, his strategy would’ve been different. ‘If we knew, it would’ve changed everything,’ he said. Tiu called SGA’s only loss to Wonju an aberration. ‘We started flat plus we weren’t complete yet as (Ian) Miller wasn’t with us then,’ he added. ‘When we were down, we kept thinking quotient and when we knew the game was going to be lost, we decided to rest the guys as we were playing three games in a row and we figured we could be No. 2 in our group. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.’ Wonju beat SGA by 32 in their first encounter than SGA returned the favor and won by 26, falling short of a higher quotient by six points. SGA crushed Chinese-Taipei A by 43 but it was the host team, not SGA, that advanced to the semis. How cruel was that to SGA? Jones must have rolled in his grave. If this is the way organizers treat their entries, boycotting the Jones Cup is the right thing to do.