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Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced a package of childcare benefits to support families as the city-state grapples with a record-low birth rate and rising concerns over the cost and pressures of raising children.

Each Singaporean child will receive almost S$70,000 ($55,150) in direct assistance through age 17, starting with a S$10,000 baby gift, Wong said during his National Day Rally Speech on Sunday. The government will also significantly increase paid childcare leave and aims to cut monthly fees for subsidized full-day childcare to S$150.

‘Today, families everywhere are under growing pressure,’ Wong said during the annual address, which is typically used to set out the government’s key policy priorities. ‘We want to make a fundamental shift in how we support families.’

Family support has become a top priority for Singapore, with its total fertility rate falling to a record low of 0.87 last year. That prompted the government to set up a workgroup to review marriage and parenthood measures, and plans to spend nearly S$7 billion on related initiatives this fiscal year.

Singapore is also on track to become a super-aged society this year, with a fifth of its population aged 65 and above.

Wong said in June that his government would rely less on incentives to encourage Singaporeans to have more children and focus instead on making family life easier, after years of measures including baby bonuses and expanded paternity leave.

Under the new childcare leave policy, every working parent will get eight days with one child up to 12 years old, 10 days with two children and 12 days with three or more children. For a working couple with three primary school children, they would receive 24 days of leave, up from just 4 days.

Wong also said he wouldn’t rule out expanding paid parental leave, which now totals up to seven and a half months, but would leave the current arrangements in place for now to give employers time to adjust to the recently introduced changes.

‘I have decided that the government will cover the cost of all statutory child related leave, up to the reimbursement limit,’ he said. ‘This will reduce, of course, the financial burden on employers.’

Singapore will give preferred access to couples for every child they have or are expecting when applying for their first subsidized public housing, a key avenue for homeownership for most citizens. ‘We want to help growing families secure a home sooner,’ Wong said.

The city state will raise from Monday the income ceiling for public Build-to-Order flats to S$16,000 from the current S$14,000, and for executive condominiums-a form of quasi-public housing-to S$18,000 from S$16,000. The government will also consider additional housing support for those with larger families, Wong said.

The 53-year-old premier has already moved to cushion citizens from external shocks, rolling out nearly S$2 billion of support after the Middle East conflict pushed up energy costs. Meanwhile, Singapore’s economy has been riding the AI boom, which has boosted related manufacturing and trade sectors. It recently raised its 2026 economic growth forecast to 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent.

Wong also said Sunday that the city-state would require stronger safety standards from social media platforms to protect children online. While he offered no specifics, he said the government would consider additional restrictions, including raising the minimum age for access above 13 years old to platforms whose safeguards remain inadequate.

Singapore has been considering stronger measures around social media for some time, following Australia’s world-first ban for children under 16, which took effect in December.

Today, the platforms ‘mostly rely on users to declare their own ages and we know this is not working well,’ Wong said. ‘They will have to put in place robust and reliable checks so that the minimum age is properly set and enforced.’

In addition, Singapore plans to merge several islands south of Jurong Island into a larger island for new industries, including advanced manufacturing, and power infrastructure, Wong said. The government is also studying undersea tunnels to connect Pulau Tekong to the mainland, he said.

Calling all PAW Patrol fans, families, and proud pet parents! This month, SM Megamall invites everyone to max out their mall experience with a lineup of activities that’s fun for the whole family.

Watch PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie at SM Cinemas

After their ship gets caught in a mysterious storm, the PAW Patrol pups crash land on an uncharted tropical island filled with dinosaurs. They meet Rex, a pup who has been stranded on the island for years and has become an expert in all things dino-related. When the PAW Patrol’s archrival, Mayor Humdinger, begins recklessly mining in hopes of exploiting the island for its natural resources, he inadvertently causes a huge, dormant volcano to erupt. The PAW Patrol pups are thrown into a series of high-stakes, dino-sized rescues bigger than anything they’ve done before, as they must stop Humdinger before everything on the island goes extinct. Witness the mission at SM Cinemas nationwide, starting August 26.

Catch the First Stop of PAW Patrol: To The Rescue

The fun spills outside the theaters and into the Mega Fashion Hall as SM Megamall hosts the first stop of the PAW Patrol: To The Rescue, running from August 22 to September 2, 2026. Kids and families can enjoy the PAW Patrol Meet and Greet* with the pups, pop-up stores with merch, The Lookout Tower for photo ops, and the Adventure Bay Rescue area with free games that are playable by simply downloading the SM Malls Online app.

*Meet and Greet schedule:

August 22 (4:00 PM, 6:00 PM)

August 23, 28, 30 (2:00 PM, 4:00 PM, 6:00 PM)

August 29 (6:00 PM) After wrapping up at SM Megamall, the tour will continue to SM City Novaliches (September 5 to 16) and SM North EDSA (November 2 to 8).

Whether it’s a movie date or an afternoon of free games, there’s always a reason to head to My SM – because when it comes to family bonding, SM Megamall is your most loved supermall. Follow @smmegamall for the latest updates on upcoming pup-filled events.

St. Luke’s Medical Center- Global City and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) have strengthened their commitment to expanding access to quality healthcare through the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), witnessed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

The partnership brings together two shared priorities: strengthening healthcare access for Filipinos and ensuring that patients continue to receive quality medical care.

Through the MOA, St. Luke’s and PhilHealth will work together to help eligible PhilHealth members maximize their healthcare benefits and make access to medical services more seamless. For St. Luke’s, the partnership builds on its commitment to provide patients with world-class medical care supported by highly trained specialists, advanced technology, comprehensive clinical services, and patient-centered care.

Patients covered by PhilHealth will continue to receive assistance from St. Luke’s dedicated teams in navigating their benefits, completing requirements, and processing the necessary documentation.

‘Healthcare access is not only about making services available. It is about making sure that patients can receive the right care, at the right time, and at the standard they deserve,’ said Dr. Dennis P. Serrano, President and CEO of St. Luke’s Medical Center.

The MOA reflects the importance of collaboration between government and private healthcare institutions in advancing the country’s healthcare system. Through the partnership, St. Luke’s- Global City and PhilHealth seek to strengthen mechanisms that enable more Filipinos to access appropriate medical services while maximizing the benefits available to them.

The partnership was formally sealed through the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between St. Luke’s Medical Center – Global City, represented by President and CEO Dr. Dennis P. Serrano, and PhilHealth, led by President and CEO Dr. Beverly C. Ho. The ceremony, witnessed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., underscores the national priority of expanding healthcare access through PhilHealth coverage and building strong public-private partnerships that place patients at the center of healthcare delivery.

For St. Luke’s, this event represents another step toward making world-class healthcare more accessible to more Filipinos.

Same world-class care. Greater access.

St. Luke’s Medical Center remains committed to working with PhilHealth and the government in advancing a more accessible, responsive, and inclusive healthcare system-while upholding the standards of excellence that patients have come to trust.

Senator Mark A. Villar is calling for the swift passage of Senate Bill No. 1870, or the proposed ‘Travel Tax Abolition Act,’ which seeks to remove the decades-old travel tax imposed on Filipinos leaving the country.

‘Hindi dapat maging dagdag na pasanin ang pag-alis ng bansa, lalo na para sa mga Pilipinong bumibiyahe upang magtrabaho, mag-aral, magpagamot, magnegosyo, o makasama ang kanilang pamilya. Panahon nang alisin ang travel tax at ibalik sa ating mga kababayan ang perang maaari nilang magamit sa mas mahalagang pangangailangan,’ Villar said.

Introduced in 1977 under Presidential Decree No. 1183, the travel tax was imposed at a time when overseas travel was widely viewed as a privilege. Villar said this ‘archaic’ policy no longer reflects present realities, as Filipino travelers currently pay a full travel tax of ?1,620 for economy-class passage and ?2,700 for first-class passage. A family of four traveling in economy class must therefore spend an additional ?6,480 before leaving the country. ‘Malaking bagay na sa isang pamilya ang ?6,480. Maaari itong ilaan sa pagkain, pamasahe, tirahan, gamot, o iba pang gastusin sa biyahe. Sa gitna ng patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng mga bilihin, nararapat lamang na alisin natin ang mga singil na hindi na angkop sa kasalukuyang panahon,’ Villar added.

Under Senate Bill No. 1870, government agencies and private entities will be prohibited from collecting travel tax once the measure takes effect. Passengers who have already paid the tax for flights scheduled on or after the law’s effectivity will also be entitled to an immediate refund.

The proposal likewise supports the objectives of the ASEAN Tourism Agreement, which seeks to facilitate travel and promote stronger connectivity among ASEAN member states.

Allaying concerns of possible disruptions to government programs, Senator Villar noted that the bill has safeguards for the continued funding through the annual General Appropriations Act for projects previously supported by travel tax collections.

At present, 50 percent of the collections goes to the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority for tourism development, 40 percent to the Commission on Higher Education for tourism-related educational programs, and 10 percent to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

‘Patuloy nating susuportahan ang turismo, edukasyon, at kultura, ngunit hindi kailangang manggaling ang pondo sa dagdag na singil sa mga Pilipinong bumibiyahe. Ang mga ito ay pambansang programa na dapat pondohan sa ilalim ng pambansang badyet,’ Villar stressed.

‘Simple ang layunin natin: bawasan ang gastos, paluwagin ang biyahe, at bigyan ng mas malaking kalayaan ang bawat Pilipinong maghanap ng oportunidad saan mang panig ng mundo,’ Villar concluded.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), recently trained Persons Deprived of Liberty (PDLs) at the Santa Rosa City Jail Male Dormitory in Laguna in developing market-ready products and preparing for sustainable livelihoods upon their release.

For individuals preparing to rejoin society, practical entrepreneurship skills offer a crucial pathway toward rebuilding their lives and achieving economic self-reliance. To support this transition, the agency conducted the ‘Capability-building for Sining Malaya’ seminar on August 6, 2026 at the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology facility.

The training focused on essential business concepts, including product promotion, branding, packaging, labeling and market development.

During the hands-on session, participants put their knowledge into practice by creating a brand identity for handcrafted bags made from recycled and repurposed materials. The participants named the line ‘The Dignity Bag,’ applying proper branding and presentation techniques to position the item for potential commercial buyers.

DTI guided the participants through the fundamentals of packaging and labeling. She emphasized how clear product information and professional presentation build consumer trust and boost market competitiveness, while also sharing practical marketing strategies tailored for micro-entrepreneurs.

Complementing the technical training, the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWPB) introduced the ISTIV Bayanihan Program. Rivera highlighted core values-industry, hard work (sipag), perseverance (tiyaga), integrity and value for work-as essential foundations for successful entrepreneurship and personal rehabilitation.

Through initiatives like Sining Malaya, DTI continues to empower PDLs with actionable business skills, equipping them to transform craftsmanship into viable income opportunities as they prepare for a fresh start in their communities.

A bank has foreclosed on a property. The purchaser wants possession. But another person is already living there and says the property is theirs. Who gets heard-and when?

For a Philippine lawyer, the answer does not sit in one provision. It runs through a statute enacted in 1924, later amendments, procedural rules and decades of Supreme Court rulings. The broad rule sounds simple: once the redemption period has expired and title has been consolidated, the foreclosure purchaser is ordinarily entitled to a writ of possession. The hard part is knowing when that rule gives way-especially when the person on the property claims a right independent of the debtor-mortgagor.

This is where fluent AI prose stops being impressive. The useful question is whether a system can find the controlling line of cases, separate the rule from its exceptions and let the lawyer check every step.

Intellegal was put to exactly that test. It was asked to identify the requirements for a writ of possession after an extrajudicial foreclosure under Act No. 3135, and to explain when a third party already in possession could resist it. The report pulled together statutes, procedural authorities, court issuances and 110 Supreme Court decisions issued between 1941 and 2023. More importantly, it organized them around the facts that change the legal answer.

Lawyers already have an AI shortlist. ChatGPT is a general-purpose assistant, and OpenAI cautions that it can produce incorrect or misleading information. Harvey is a global enterprise platform built for firm-wide legal and professional-services work. Intellegal makes a narrower, more local bet: Philippine law, researched against a dedicated legal corpus and presented with the underlying authorities left open for inspection. That difference matters. A fabricated citation is not just a software glitch; it gives opposing counsel an easy target, weakens the filing and puts pressure on the lawyer’s duties of competence, diligence and due care.

A legal AI earns trust one link at a time-from a sentence in the report to the case or statute that supports it.

Visual Digest: Shows a long decision as a timeline, a map of the arguments and a clear view of the parties, courts and claims.

Citation Map: Turns one decision into an explorable network of cases, statutes and doctrine, with every authority one click away.

Deep Synthesis: Breaks a difficult question into researchable issues, searches Philippine legal sources and returns a cited report.

The answer changes at two legal checkpoints

The first thing Intellegal got right was timing. If the redemption period is still running, Section 7 of Act No. 3135 requires a sworn ex parte application in the proper court and a bond equivalent to 12 months’ use of the property. Once the period has expired without redemption and ownership has been consolidated, the purchaser’s right is no longer provisional. The bond is generally unnecessary, and the court’s issuance of the writ becomes a ministerial duty upon proper application and proof of title.

Then comes the question that often decides the dispute: who is actually in possession, and under what right? A mortgagor, agent or successor whose claim comes from the mortgagor generally cannot stop the summary process simply by attacking the foreclosure. A genuine third party claiming an independent right adverse to the mortgagor stands differently. The court may need to receive evidence, and the purchaser may have to bring an ordinary action to recover possession.

During redemption: Verified ex parte application, proper venue and proceeding, plus a bond tied to 12 months’ use of the property.

After consolidation: Proof of foreclosure, lapse of the redemption period, consolidated ownership and title; no bond is ordinarily required.

Critical exception: A third party in actual possession must substantiate an independent right adverse to the debtor-mortgagor. Mere occupancy or a bare assertion is not enough.

The cases do not turn on the occupant’s objection alone. They turn on the source of the claimed right. Intellegal separated claims derived from the mortgagor from claims arising independently, and distinguished a bare attack on the mortgage from an adverse claim backed by evidence. That is the work a litigator needs: rule, exception, burden and remedy-not a polished version of ‘it depends.’

Three tools built around how Philippine lawyers actually research

The three views follow the rhythm of a serious research session: understand the decision in front of you, trace the authorities behind it, then step back and see what the larger body of law says.

01 · Visual Digest

See the structure of a long decision before committing an afternoon to it

Anyone who has opened a long Supreme Court decision knows the problem. The passage that matters may be buried beneath the Regional Trial Court record, the Court of Appeals proceedings, procedural detours and separate opinions.

Visual Digest pulls out the timeline, the argument structure, the legal concepts and the relationships among parties, courts and claims. It then lays them out as a set of structured visuals. The route from trial court to appellate court to Supreme Court becomes easy to scan, and each ground raised on review appears beside the court’s treatment of it.

Regional Trial Court

Facts and first ruling

Court of Appeals

Issues on review

Supreme Court

Final disposition

Ground raised: Court’s treatment and result

Legal concept: Relevant rule, exception and factual trigger

Party or entity: Role, relationship and procedural position

A paragraph can tell counsel what a case was about. Visual Digest shows how the decision is built. Before giving the case an afternoon, a lawyer can see whether it reaches the right issue, at the right procedural stage, on facts close enough to matter.

02 · Citation Map

Turn one authority into a navigable network of cases, statutes and doctrine

One precedent leads to another, then to a statute, then to a doctrine stated more precisely in an older case. Following that chain manually means opening document after document and trying not to lose the original question.

Citation Map puts the chain on screen. From any decision, a lawyer can see the cases it cites, the laws it applies and the principles it invokes. Case nodes are marked by disposition type, so different procedural outcomes remain visible as the research expands.

Cited cases with outcome labels

Statutes and rules linked to source text

Legal principles and doctrinal clusters

Every case node opens to the full decision. From there, the user can launch another Citation Map, compare two cases side by side or generate a new Visual Digest. The research can move outward without becoming a trail of disconnected tabs.

That traceability is practical, not decorative. A fabricated citation, a misstated holding or a missed procedural posture can damage both a pleading and a client’s position. Citation Map keeps the proposition, the authority and the wider line of jurisprudence connected.

03 · Deep Synthesis

Move from a complex legal request to a source-linked strategy report

Deep Synthesis is for questions too large for a single decision. Write the issue in plain English and the tool breaks it into focused sub-questions, searches Intellegal’s Philippine legal database and current web sources, drafts an IRAC-structured report, and checks its citations against the sources it actually retrieved.

Frame the issue: Turn one difficult request into focused research questions without losing the client’s actual problem.

Search the law: Retrieve statutes, rules, issuances, jurisprudence and relevant current materials.

Check the answer: Match citations to retrieved sources and flag the strength of the report’s support.

In the foreclosure test, Deep Synthesis separated the requirements during the redemption period from those after consolidation, isolated the third-party exception and reconciled the cases that appeared to pull in different directions. It also turned the law into an evidence plan. The purchaser’s side would need sale records, proof of notice and publication, title documents and evidence connecting the occupant to the mortgagor. The occupant’s side would need an independent chain of title, proof of possession, contracts, tax records, receipts or barangay certifications.

Statistics that guide the reading-not predict the result

Deep Synthesis also plots the retrieved cases over time and connects legal principles with dispositions. In this run, all 110 results were Supreme Court decisions: 22 were tagged as granted, four as partly granted, 75 as denied and nine as other or non-merits outcomes.

110: Supreme Court decisions in the retrieved case set

82 yrs: Coverage from the earliest to the latest retrieved decision, 1941-2023

3 tools: Visual Digest, Citation Map and Deep Synthesis in one connected research workflow

Those figures are not a win-rate forecast. A petition marked ‘denied’ does not necessarily reveal who ultimately prevailed in the underlying property dispute, and a retrieved set is not a statistical model of future cases. Its value is simpler: counsel can see the shape of the authorities, spot clusters and decide where close reading should begin.

Why this matters beyond foreclosure

Foreclosure is only the stress test. The same research burden appears across Philippine practice: statutes in one place, rules and circulars in another, and judicial decisions that refine one another over decades. The difficult work is not merely finding a document. It is identifying the controlling authority, seeing when a newer case narrows an older formulation and explaining the result without cutting it loose from its sources.

Intellegal connects that work across Case-Law Analytics, Law Explorer, Visual Digest, Citation Map and Deep Synthesis. For law firms, in-house teams, banks, developers and public-interest lawyers, the immediate gain is time: a difficult client question becomes a research path with the cases, statutes and evidence exposed for review.

Intellegal still cannot decide whether a witness is credible, authenticate a deed or know the missing fact that changes a case. Nor should it pretend to. Those judgments remain with counsel. What the platform can do is shorten the route from a messy question to the authorities that deserve a lawyer’s attention.

Fluent answers are now cheap. A research trail that survives inspection is harder to build-and far more useful. A century of foreclosure doctrine is a demanding test of that promise. Intellegal makes the test public, source by source.

Bring your next difficult Philippine-law question.

Intellegal will build the research path. You can open the authorities, challenge the analysis and decide whether the answer holds.

Londoners are facing historic levels of subsidence risk after five successive heat waves dried out the clay soil on which much of the city is built.

Insurance claims tied to subsidence-a phenomenon associated with bouts of hot, dry weather that shrink the soil and destabilize the foundations on which buildings stand-hit a record last quarter, according to data provided by the Association of British Insurers. On average, households claimed £20,000 ($27,200) for the risk, more than in any previous quarter and a 15 percent jump from the same period in 2025, the ABI said.

Laura Hughes, head of general insurance at the ABI, says the upward trend is likely to continue. ‘We expect to see more subsidence cases because of the hot weather,’ she said in an interview.

Londoners have taken to social media to express their dismay. On Reddit, people offered personal accounts telling of ‘horrendous cracking’ in their homes, and ‘doors sticking’ due to subsidence. One said it was ‘genuinely scary’ to discover that their kitchen had moved as the foundations of the home shifted.

Another Reddit user described the response of a structural engineer they contacted for help. ‘Before I could finish explaining he laughed and said, ‘You and 20,000 other people in southeast London’,’ the person wrote.

‘It’s crazy, what’s happening now,’ said Otso Lahtinen, chief executive of Geobear, an engineering firm that’s regularly called in to repair damage caused by subsidence. ‘It’s the new norm, and it seems it will happen more often in the next 20-30 years.’

Data provided by Aviva Plc show that the areas of London that are most at risk are some of the UK capital’s most sought after, namely the boroughs of Westminster, as well as Kensington and Chelsea. While subsidence has been affecting homes in the British capital for decades, climate change is making it worse. London clay is especially sensitive to fluctuations in moisture, expanding when wet and contracting when dry.

The threat of subsidence in the UK is concentrated in and around London as well as in parts of the southeast. In the four years through 2025, insurance payouts for subsidence damage soared roughly 90 percent to reach a record £297 million, according to data provided by the ABI.

The most vulnerable properties are Victorian or Edwardian homes that were built directly onto the upper layers of London clay. By contrast, modern office buildings in the City of London and Canary Wharf have much deeper foundations and are therefore less exposed to such risks.

Subsidence is part of a long list of heat-related challenges to which the UK is now struggling to adapt. Over the past months, extreme heat has forced schools to close, led bus drivers to go on strike, and seen banks relax in-office work requirements to protect staff from unbearably hot commutes. Most of England has been gripped by drought and the country’s hospitals have shown signs of buckling under the strain.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan has warned that the city will need to turn to private investors to help fund the cost of dealing with the impact of rising temperatures. His office estimates that London now faces an annual bill as high as £36 billion into the 2050s in order to prepare the city for what climate change has in store.

‘The impact that climate change is having is undeniable,’ said Hughes of the ABI.

Subsidence can devalue a property by an average of 20 percent to 25 percent, according to the Federation of Master Builders. In some cases, homeowners prefer to cover the cost themselves rather than wade through complicated claims processes. The traditional engineering fix for subsidence damage, known as underpinning, can cost anywhere from £20,000 to more than £100,000.

The development represents a particular risk to insurers, with subsidence claims making up an ever larger chunk of the payouts they need to make to customers.

The phenomenon poses ‘a significant challenge for UK home insurers,’ says Cherry Chan, a partner at Deloitte. The consultancy has warned that UK home insurers risk losses in 2026 due in part to the trend.

Along with flash floods and wildfires, subsidence is becoming ‘an increasingly material climate-related risk,’ Chan said. It requires that insurers display ‘careful consideration in long-term exposure and risk management strategies.’

Extreme weather patterns in 2026 ‘will not only impact more new claims in this year, but could cause claims deteriorations for unsettled subsidence claims reported in the past,’ she added. That includes 2025, which was a so-called surge year for subsidence impacts.

Fresh estimates from the British Geological Survey indicate that under what is known as the RCP 4.5 emissions scenario-reflecting a trajectory that closely aligns with current climate policies-1.8 million properties, or about 5 percent of the UK total, are ‘highly likely or extremely likely’ to be susceptible to shrink-swell subsidence by 2070. Under a higher emissions scenario, the figure rises to 4.2 million, or 11 percent, of British properties. Areas most at risk are densely-populated parts of London, Kent and south-east of England.

The development has the potential to lead to ‘increased insurance premiums, depressed house prices and, in some cases, engineering works to stabilize land or property, replacement of utility pipeworks and unstable transport infrastructure,’ according to the BGS.

Geobear, which tackles subsidence by injecting resin under buildings, says it’s received more homeowner inquiries this summer than ever before. It says insurance clients have confirmed a similar trend, with one telling Geobear it had received 180 claims on a single day, which is significantly more than normal.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is allowing the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) to complete the Amlan-Dumaguete 138-kiloVolt (kV) transmission line project by March 2027.

‘NGCP’s prayer to reconsider the Commission’s directive requiring NGCP to complete the project on or before September 5, 2024, and to reconsider a new estimated time of completion on March 31, 2027 is granted,’ the ERC’s 20-page order stated.

NGCP was also ordered to pay permit fees amounting to P14,167,262.59.

As of February 2026, the said project has achieved a 64-percent progress rate.

‘In view of the foregoing circumstances and the issues raised by NGCP in its motion for partial reconsideration and supplemental motion, and taking into consideration the operational need to ensure adequate transmission support for the affected areas, the commission finds it reasonable to adopt March 31, 2027, as the revised target completion date of the Amlan-Dumaguete 138kV transmission line project,’ the ERC ruled.

The NGCP said it encountered several challenges in the implementation of the project, particularly delays executing the writ of possession, issues with the local government, and difficulties in obtaining the necessary permits and clearances.

The same ERC order stated that NGCP may carry out the Siaton-Bayawan 138-kV transmission line project ahead of the commission’s approval only after it has secured a certificate of energy project of national significance from the Department of Energy (DOE).

Moreover, the ERC ordered NGCP to submit a detailed quarterly progress report of the projects.

‘The NGCP shall implement all necessary measures to mitigate the operational impact of the project delay on the affected distribution utilities [DUs], particularly with respect to maintaining system reliability and addressing N-1 contingency concerns,’ the ERC said.

Last month, the NGCP said it is on track to complete 10 projects worth P30.88 billion this year. If successful, these additions will bring the company’s total completed projects for the year to 15, with a combined value of approximately P38 billion.

The projects that are up for completion in the second half of the year are the relocation of steel poles along Hermosa-Duhat 230-kv transmission line, Nabas-Caticlan-Boracay transmission line, Luzon voltage improvement project-3, New Antipolo 230-kV substation, North Luzon substation upgrading project 1, Tuguegarao-Lal-lo 230-kV transmission line, Amlan-Dumaguete 138-kV transmission line, Panay-Guimaras 138-kV interconnection, Mindanao substation expansion 4, and Nasipit substation bus-in project.

THE Office of the Ombudsman’s tougher evidentiary standard under its 2026 Revised Rules of Procedure is being tested in the case involving a former Speaker.

In a 25-page Supplemental Counter-Affidavit Ex Abundanti Ad Cautelam filed on Thursday, former Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez asked the agency to determine whether the evidence against him can meet the new threshold before filing a criminal case.

The filing said the evidentiary record has changed significantly, citing 32 sworn statements that include three recantations, 25 new affidavits denying knowledge or participation, the earlier sworn statement of Allan Colesio, a former aide of former Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co of Ako Bicol, and the recantation of Orly Guteza.

The statements, according to Romualdez, raise questions about the personal knowledge and credibility of witnesses who sought to connect him to alleged deliveries of cash-filled suitcases.

At the center of the filing is Section 3, Rule V of the 2026 Ombudsman Rules of Procedure, which requires prosecutors to determine whether the evidence establishes a prima facie case with reasonable certainty of conviction.

‘The evidentiary standard of prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction was deliberately designed to elevate, and not merely restate, the former standard of probable cause,’ the filing stated.

The supplemental counter-affidavit also cited the rule’s requirement that the entirety of the evidence presented by the parties be admissible, credible and capable of being preserved and presented to establish the elements of the offense and the identity of those responsible.

Romualdez argued that this requirement means the Ombudsman must address evidentiary weaknesses at the preliminary investigation stage.

‘Admissibility and credibility are thus not concerns reserved for the trial court; they are integral to this Honorable Office’s own determination of whether a case should be filed at all,’ the filing said.

According to the filing, no contractor has stated that money was paid to Romualdez, no Department of Public Works and Highways official has said he demanded or received a kickback, no identified project has been traced to a payment to him, and no financial record has traced alleged unlawful proceeds to his assets.

The filing further argued that the witness record now includes alleged delivery companions who deny taking part, former aides who deny knowledge of cash deliveries, and witnesses who have withdrawn or disowned earlier statements.

He asked the Ombudsman to identify what admissible, credible and preservable evidence remains after the recantations and direct denials and to dismiss the complaints if the remaining evidence fails to meet the standard under the 2026 rules.

Flexible workspace operator Common Ground is expanding its Philippine footprint through a strategic partnership with the billionaire Andrew Tan-led Megaworld Corp. and its real estate investment trust arm, MREIT Inc., as demand for more agile office solutions continues to reshape the workplace.

The partnership is anchored by the opening of Common Ground Digital Park McKinley Hill, the company’s biggest facility in the Philippines and its first location positioned as a ‘Digital Park.’

Located at the Intellectual Property Center in McKinley Hill, Taguig City, the facility offers nearly 2,000 square meters of flexible workspace designed to serve startups, small and medium enterprises, multinational companies and remote teams.

The launch formally marks the start of a long-term strategic partnership between The Flexi Group, the parent company of Common Ground, Megaworld and MREIT.

The alliance combines the real-estate capabilities of Megaworld and MREIT with Common Ground’s expertise in flexible workspace operations and community-building.

Under the arrangement, Megaworld provides Grade-A infrastructure through its integrated township developments, while Common Ground supplies the flexibility, community and operational support required by companies adopting more agile work models.

‘This partnership is a tremendous privilege and a strong validation of Common Ground’s track record in creating beautiful, premium, yet cost-efficient workspaces,’ Chris Edwards, CEO of The Flexi Group, said.

Edwards added that the company is honored by the confidence placed in its vision as it brings its office environments to Megaworld’s developments.

Expanding the flexible-office model

The partnership comes as businesses increasingly adopt hybrid and agile work arrangements, creating demand for office solutions that can adjust to changing workforce requirements.

Common Ground Digital Park McKinley Hill is equipped with hot desks, private offices and conferencing facilities. It has an expandable 16-person boardroom that can accommodate meetings and training sessions for up to 32 people, soundproof call booths for video meetings and an event space that can accommodate up to 80 people.

The facility is also designed to offer more than conventional office space.

Its location puts members within walking distance of Venice Grand Canal Mall, providing access to retail establishments, restaurants and cafés. It is also adjacent to the McKinley Hill transport hub, while nearby residential and leisure developments reinforce the township’s live-work-play environment.

For MREIT, the partnership provides another way of enhancing the use and appeal of its office assets by integrating flexible workspace into Megaworld’s established business ecosystems.

MREIT is the flagship REIT of Megaworld and manages a portfolio of office and commercial assets in key business hubs, including Eastwood City and McKinley Hill. Its properties are occupied by a diversified base of BPO companies and multinational firms.

Platform for expansion

The McKinley Hill facility could also serve as a model for Common Ground’s broader expansion in the country.

The company said its partnership with Megaworld will enable it to be present in business corridors where modern companies need flexible workspace, digital connectivity, community and other services to support their growth.

Common Ground currently has five locations across Greater Manila and is part of The Flexi Group, which operates more than 50 locations across Asia Pacific and Australia through several workspace brands.

The partnership consequently represents more than the opening of another coworking facility. It brings together a flexible-office operator and a major Philippine property platform in a model that could allow flexible workspaces to become a more integrated component of large-scale mixed-use developments.

For Megaworld and MREIT, the alliance adds a flexible-workspace offering to their established office portfolio. For Common Ground, it provides access to strategically located business districts and a platform for further expansion.

As companies continue to reassess their office requirements in the era of hybrid work, the partnership positions McKinley Hill as a test case for how flexible workspace can be integrated into the broader live-work-play ecosystem.