Monday, August 10, 2026
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Marcoleta Joins Jinggoy and Revilla in QC Jail

Lily Reyes
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Marcoleta Joins Jinggoy and Revilla in QC Jail

EXACTLY NINE DAYS after being arrested, Senator Rodante Marcoleta joined two other senators facing serious graft charges, at the Quezon City Jail in Barangay Payatas, Quezon City.

In a statement, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) confirmed Marcoleta’s commitment to the male dormitory of Quezon City Jail Wednesday morning — the same day the Sandiganbayan Third Division issued a commitment order in connection with a plunder case filed against the senator.

Prior to the senator’s transfer, Philippine General Hospital Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi said Marcoleta’s condition has improved. The hospital official however recommended that Marcoleta, who was initially diagnosed with pneumonia, be in isolation for one week.

Meanwhile, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which supervises the BJMP, assured the public that there will be no special treatment for Marcoleta.

“The DILG assures the public that the BJMP will continue to uphold its mandate with professionalism, impartiality, and strict adherence to established rules and procedures. No person deprived of liberty under the Bureau’s custody shall be accorded special treatment,” it said. 

EXACTLY NINE DAYS after being arrested, Senator Rodante Marcoleta joined two other senators facing serious graft charges, at the Quezon City Jail in Payatas, Quezon City.

In a statement, the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) confirmed Marcoleta’s commitment to the male dormitory of Quezon City Jail Wednesday morning — the same day the Sandiganbayan Third Division issued a commitment order in connection with a plunder case filed against the senator.

Prior to the senator’s transfer, Philippine General Hospital Director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi said Marcoleta’s condition has improved. The hospital official however recommended that Marcoleta, who was initially diagnosed with pneumonia, be in isolation for one week.

Meanwhile, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), which supervises the BJMP, assured the public that there will be no special treatment for Marcoleta.

“The DILG assures the public that the BJMP will continue to uphold its mandate with professionalism, impartiality, and strict adherence to established rules and procedures. No person deprived of liberty under the Bureau’s custody shall be accorded special treatment,” it said. 

Cayetano Exiting Senate Soon?

LOUIE LEGARDA
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Cayetano Exiting Senate Soon?

FROM HOW IT looks, the Senate could possibly lose another member amid an investigation of a multi-billion fund mess which took place during the previous administration.

In an interview with newsmen, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Melvin Matibag hinted at forming a special task force to investigate alleged anomalies in the bidding and funding of projects related to the 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

Matibag particularly cited “new information and documents” involving the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC).

When asked how much was involved, the NBI chief replied — “huge amount of money.”

“If you recall, ‘yung bidding na ginawa dito tapos unliquidated so marami ‘yan na kailangang tingnan. That’s why I’m creating a task force composed of our Financial Investigation Unit at saka ang aming Special Action Unit to investigate the matter,” he told reporters.

Matibag previously claimed that billions of pesos were spent on the SEA Games Sports Complex. He also alleged that a private company received P10 billion through “congressional insertions.”

The NBI would also examine the P50-million 2019 SEA Games cauldron project even as Matibag hinted at coordinating with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commission on Audit (COA), and other agencies as part of the investigation.

When asked to provide details on the personalities who would be investigated, Matibag declined — “As we speak, wala pa naman tayong sasabihin na na-identify but there are already personalities na nakikita natin.”

He however mentioned the name of Senate minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano who served as chairman of the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC).

“I’m always respectful to everybody, especially to the members of the Senate. It so happened siguro na si Senator Cayetano ay involved dito, at tayo naman, ang record ng NBI, we’ll always go where the evidence leads us.” 

Senate Defers Action on Sara’s Tax Records

Ernesto Reyes
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Senate Defers Action on Sara’s Tax Records

THE SENATE, acting as impeachment court, will decide whether or not to subpoena Vice President Sara Duterte’s tax records on Monday, according to impeachment court presiding officer Francis Escudero.

In an interview with Senate reporters, Escudero said that the decision to defer action on Duterte’s tax records was an offshoot of a closed door caucus over the House prosecution panel’s request.

“For the information of the parties as well as the viewing public, in caucus, the senator-judges agreed to study the matter further, given that not everyone has completed reading the memoranda submitted by the parties,” Escudero said.

“They want more time to look into the complicated issues involved in these two motions for the issuance of subpoenas,” he added.

When the impeachment court reconvenes on Monday, Escudero said senator-judges will be given 10 minutes each to ask questions to both the prosecution and defense panels before they start deliberating on the motions.

The House Prosecutors maintained that the records are crucial in establishing alleged unexplained wealth which forms part of the Articles of Impeachment against the vice president.

The defense, however, opposed the request, arguing that the motions lacked factual and legal basis, infringed on the couple’s constitutional rights to privacy and due process, and amounted to a fishing expedition because the prosecution was still looking for evidence rather than presenting it.

DENR Shuts Down Dumpsite Inside Ancestral Domain

Lucio Papa
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DENR Shuts Down Dumpsite Inside Ancestral Domain

FOLLOWING an investigative documentary, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued a cease and desist order on the illegal dumpsite that was found well within the ancestral domain of an Aeta community in Subic, Zambales.

During a media forum in Manila, no less than DENR Secretary Juan Miguel Cuna announced the issuance of the closure order.

“So itong dumpsite na tinutukoy ninyo, mayroon kaming cease and desist order already. In fact, two days ago, huling inspection ng ating regional office, hindi na po tinatapunan ngayon,”  

Cuna did not say whether the agency would file charges against the local officials who transformed an area where a green landscape once stood.

The DENR chief however hinted at a Floridablanca-based landfill facility where local waste would be brought.

“I think they have an alternative site already in Floridablanca,” Cuna told reporters.

Interestingly, records showed that dumping operations at the Aeta ancestral domain were “suspended” as early as October 2025 and were ordered “closed” in March amid protest actions organized by local indigenous groups.

To date, the accumulated waste has yet to be fully cleared.

Meanwhile, the local government claimed that they were not aware that there was an indigenous community living near the open dumpsite.

Under Republic Act 9003 (National Solid Waste Management Act of 2001), open dumpsites are strictly prohibited.

5 of 10 Pinoy Workers Suffering From Stress

Rose de la Cruz
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5 of 10 Pinoy Workers Suffering From Stress

A GLOBAL RESEARCH from Gallup, the World Health Organization, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the National Academic Institutions came out with the State of Global Workplace 2026, which analyzed workplace conditions like low autonomy, emotional strain and burnout to identify roles with the lowest job satisfaction.

Unfortunately, the report said 50 percent of Filipino workers reported experiencing stress for much of the previous day, which is the highest in Southeast Asia and above the global average.

The top professions consistently associated with low job satisfaction and high burnout include:

● Elementary and Secondary School Teachers: Overworked, underpaid, and handling excessive administrative burdens.

● Nursing Assistants: Physically demanding and emotionally taxing roles in understaffed healthcare environments.

● Telemarketers / Call Center Agents: Monotonous, repetitive, and subject to high emotional strain.

● Food Service and Retail Workers: Long hours, unpredictable schedules, and frequent exposure to demanding customers.

● Journalists and Reporters: Stressed by constant deadlines and 24/7 information environments.

● Delivery, ride sharing and freelance platform workers

● Corporate middle managers

● Legal professionals, esp. paralegal and junior lawyers

● Retail workers

● Academic Researchers and University Staff

Global studies are backed by workers sharing their real feelings on the ground, Gallup explained.

In 2025, 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work. Global employee wellbeing improved for the first time in three years, increasing by one percentage point to 34%.

The percentage of employees who reported experiencing a lot of stress, anger and sadness the previous day remained above pre-pandemic levels.

Global perceptions of the job market improved in 2025 to 52% of employees who say it is a good time to find a job where they live. The data collected covered January to December 2025 and was published last April 2026.

Relevant data included gender, age, job level, work location and region for seven key workplace topics like employee engagement; employee life evaluation; daily emotions of stress, anger, sadness, loneliness and employee job climate.

Employees that are engaged globally totalled 20 percent and 16 percent are actively disengaged and 64 are not engaged. The historic high of employee engagement was reached in 2022 and 2023 at 23 percent while the historic low was in 2009 at 12 percent. By gender employee engagement was higher for females at 21 percent and 19 percent for male employees and by age (younger than 35) was at 19 percent and for 35 or over, engagement was at 21 percent.

Engagement by middle managers was at 22 percent while for individual contributors, 19 percent.

The report said that employees who are thriving globally constituted 34 percent, while 56 percent are struggling and 9 percent are suffering.

Forty percent of employees globally experienced stress a lot of the previous day, according to the State of the Global Workplace: 2026 report.

The report said 22 percent of male and female employees worldwide experience anger daily, the highest of which happened in 2020 at 24 percent.

Also males below 35 experienced daily anger by 23 percent and those .

Global employees who experience daily sadness a lot reached 23 percent and by gender female employees experienced daily sadness at 24 percent while male employees at 23 percent. By age those younger than 35 years old experienced daily sadness at 23 percent and those 35 years.

Still, the report showed that 52 percent of those interviewed employees think it’s a good time to find a job when thinking about the job situation in the city or area where they live. On which region has the most positive job climate perception, Southeast Asia ranked highest at 64 percent followed by Australia and New Zealand with 60 percent while the US and Canada came at Number 9 with 47 percent and Middle East and North Africa at 36 percent.

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Remembering Billy Balbastro

Boy Villasanta
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Remembering Billy Balbastro

It was the late entertainment journalist Billy R. Balbastro who echoed that every single movie reporter should have a “sense of history” before he or she calls himself or herself a writer.

Generally, Balbastro said, if not Philippine history, at least, film, including radio and television broadcast, theater or even social media and the concurrent multimedia history.

Billy, Filemon Balbastro, Jr. in real life, wanted movie reporters to, at least, have an idea, however widespread information, of what an ancient drama like or the pre-Hispanic theater to the Spanish, American, Japanese and contemporary colonial stage influences; the advent of film at the turn of the twentieth century; the emergence of radio and TV and the post-modern dawn of digital communications because these are basically, the areas they cover.

Or course, the personal history of movie, television, theater and multimedia stars which can be gathered from news, controversial, reportorial or plain, tidbits, feature stories or even blind items identifiable, vaguely or giveaway.   

For Gen Zs, millennials, Generation Alpha, Billy Balbastro might not ring a bell but for the Baby Boomers and Gen X, he was a popular movie columnist and an entertainment radio host in DZMM, the AM (Amplified Modulation) of ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation, years before his death in 2008.

Remember the showbiz group, the original Troika?

Billy shared the triumvirate hard-hitting pop culture journalism with Oskee Salazar and Alfie Lorenzo, initially from the sensational and colorful fanzine Jingle Extra Hot in the 70s to the grassroots tabloid Abante in the 80s where they ran showbiz columns.

I suddenly thought of Billy when the UP College of Law 2026 graduates staged a lightning rally in protest of the pervasive corruption in high and low places, mostly perpetrated by lawyers.

Because Billy was a graduate of the college in 1962 sharing commencement exercises with the late feisty human rights advocate and former chair of the Commission on Elections Haydee Yorac whom I likened to the principled and fiery lawmaker Leila de Lima.

Anyway, I could vouch for this because I was close to Balbastro when he stayed in three different places in Sampaloc, Manila where I always dropped by his successive houses in the district to personally chat with him when cellphones were not available yet or go with him in showbiz functions like movie premieres, interviews with stars and other creatives, movie set visits, parties, out-of-town gigs or bring him press releases or stories to be published in his columns etc.

The late prolific writer Gil E. Villasana, who I consider one of my mentors, would also tell stories about Billy since the former was a more senior reporter, writer and editor and navigated closer to the latter.

“Bar topnotcher si Billy noong 1962. Nasa Top 10 siya. Si Haydee Yorac, Top 8. Ang galing talaga ni Billy (He was in the Top Ten. Haydee Yorac also topped),” informed Kuya (a term of endearment to an older brother by affinity or by blood) Gil whenever a piece of conversation about Billy would crop up.

According to Villasana, Balbastro who was on Top 7 got 87.50% while Yorac, added Kuya Gil, scored 86.95%.      

Balbastro was a lawyer during his stint as an arts, culture and lifestyle feature and movie writer.

Although Billy hadn’t talked about a lightning rally of UP Law grads during his time, the protest action, according to many UP students and alumni is a long-standing tradition by the Iskolar ng Bayan (Scholars of the Nation) done before the commencement exercises proper.  

I wonder if Billy was still around if he would tackle in his writeups the passionate and emphatic scene-stealing tableau of the 2026 College of Law graduates which was praised by many academicians which I presume would include Atty. Tony La Viña. I even heard an off-cam spoken reaction in the reel posted on Facebook from a spectator probably seated onstage along with the guests who said that the students’ number was great. “Ang ganda ng ginawa nila (What they did was beautiful),” the natural sound or nat sot (natural sound on tape in the broadcast parlance) commented.

This was done before Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto had his speech as the special guest of honor on the occasion.

Billy wasn’t known as a social or political activist as a movie journalist.

But he had his own way of fighting for truth and justice, the very bedrock of his education.

I vividly remember his mantra in the face of conflicts over issues or which side of the fence one is made to choice from two opposing forces or if he is pinned down or quashed to be defenseless among the cases he was part of when everyone was for the popular and safe side: “I fight my own battle.”

Since Balbastro was an entertainment writer, he would stick to the rigors and styles of showbiz reporting—celebrity-laden column inches and mostly first-hand news about the latest in the beat and Billy had the knack for fresh materials taken from his exclusive sources although common information like coming from presscons and other showbiz convocations were indispensable.

Billy was writing from his heart and from his mind. Rarely did he speak sans contexts and foundations.   

In his opinion-making acumen, though, Balbastro alluded his arguments from his legal point-of-view as needed although the personal was more utilitarian like keeping family traditions or wisdom he got from his dad especially if he wanted to be didactic, like, “I was taught by my father like this and that or I wasn’t taught by my father to be like this or that.”

The lawyers from UP who came after him were either freedom fighters with moral compaction intact in or outside the courtrooms or instruments of oppression and corruption and the others in between.

It’s quite intriguing why Billy had to concentrate on showbiz writing instead of balancing it with legal practice, purportedly on his expertise but it would be more interesting if he was able to lend his lawyering in litigation.

That’s water under the bridge, though. Or simply, the ideals are buried with him.  

Who knows, he might have cases filed for special people in his life.

Most of his legal knowledge was spent at the Comelec and some provincial assignments from the agency.

Being an Ilonggo (from Oton, Iloilo), Billy was your soft-spoken person but when occasions called for him to be furious and defiant, he could shout on the top of his lungs but that rarely happened.

Even on his radio show “Showtime with Billy,” he was just cool and couldn’t even utter a dent of loudness or scandalous guffaws contrary to his feistiness in the print medium.

It’s because it was his nature.

And how are other UP grads in showbiz fare?

No Need To Lower Threshold To Convict Sara

Romer Butuyan
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No Need To Lower Threshold To Convict Sara

AN EXTREMELY confident House prosecution panel isn’t keen on the idea of raising the issue of the vote threshold to the Supreme Court to convict Vice President Sara Duterte.

However, the prosecutors won’t mind if other groups would go to the high tribunal to file a petition that would effectively lower the threshold required to oust and bar Duterte from holding any position in the government.

The 1987 Constitution states that a person being tried by the impeachment court cannot be convicted “without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the Members of the Senate,” which means that 16 out of 24 votes are needed.

However, there have been proposals to lower the threshold amid the possibility that three senators — Ronald Dela Rosa, Jinggoy Estrada and Rodante Marcoleta — won’t be able to participate in view of legal predicaments.

“Well at this time, our position on this has been consistent from the very start. We don’t engage in vote counting, at the end of the day, our priority here is to establish an airtight case, we will ensure that with our case, this will be backed by solid evidence,” private prosecutor Jay Tolosa was quoted by the Inquirer in its report.

Tolosa maintained that the evidence against Duterte is more than enough to sway senator-judges to vote according to conscience.

“Regardless of what will be the final interpretation of the two-thirds threshold, we will get these numbers. So that is the priority of the prosecution from the start, and it remains to be our priority until now,” he added.

Prosecution adviser, former Surigao Rep. Robert Ace Barbers for his part hinted at several “schools of thought” in view of the situation of several senator-judges who may no longer be able to attend the trial.

He however made it clear that they prosecution is not entertaining such an idea.

Again, I’d like to emphasize that we’re not involved in political arithmetic or whatever calculations are involved. What the prosecution team is focused on is one, lay down the evidence; present the evidence in a manner relatable and understandable by the people; and third, show the importance of this accountability mechanism we are speaking of.”

Meanwhile, San Juan Rep. Ysabel Ma. Zamora said that the prosecution doesn’t have the luxury of time to file, much less attend SC hearings on such a petition.

“Well we said that of course, the presiding officer said that 16 is the threshold, so us as officers of the court, lawyers in an impeachment court, we will follow the 16,” she assured.

“Now if there are other people who will file petitions questioning the threshold, then we will just watch what will happen in that case before the Supreme Court,” Zamora added. “Yes, we will not file a case before the Supreme Court, we are very busy now with presenting our evidence.”

Tolosa previously said that the prosecution team’s goal is to build a case with overwhelming evidence that can convict Duterte regardless of how the threshold is interpreted.

Impeachment of VP Sara Duterte

Boni Macaranas
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Impeachment of VP Sara Duterte

THE IMPEACHMENT OF VP Sara Duterte is a fitting democratic procedure called for under the Ph Constitution and the Rule of Law. With the Impeachment Court composed of the senator-judges in good standing and physically present to listen to the evidence and arguments presented by the prosecution and defense teams, the people expect only a transparent and fair end-result: the conviction or acquittal of VP Sara Duterte of her alleged crimes against the people, as she has been holding the second highest public position in the government bureaucracy.

In this regard, the people serve in a special way as the eagle-eyed watchdog of the proceedings not only by those personally present at the Senate Hall, but also and more especially by the people nationwide watching the live-streamed court proceedings on TV. The people will give particular attention on how the senator-judges will be performing as they watch and listen to the evidences being presented by the prosecution team and how the defense team will offer their counter-arguments.

As can be expected, the people will give special attention to the presiding senator-judge, Chiz Escudero, to competently and fairly steer the presentations and discussions on the floor.

As live-streamed on TV, the people also expect that the senator-judges will act with the appropriate decorum, and not with how on certain session-days in the past, they blurted out stupid irrelevant remarks or comments, unbecoming of their stature as official representatives of the people. The senator-judges are expected on the Impeachment Court to be actively involved with relevant questions or comments on the floor, conscious of truly serving the best interests of the people, and working seriously for a fair end-result of the trial of VP Sara Duterte.

POLITICAL UNDERTONES

While the people are aware and expect the impeachment proceedings to be colored with political undertones, given that the senator-judges are affiliated with certain political groups or have been identified with particular political leanings, the people obviously expect that they will shed off their biased views, and will listen and act with an impartial and objective stance at the proceedings. In other words, the senator-judges will competently and transparently sift the presentations into what are considered garbage and not believable, and what are genuinely believable and valid for consideration in their decision-making.

As senator-judges, they are bound by the people basically to listen with undivided attention and act with dignity and integrity during the proceedings.

Moreover, the senator-judges are expected to be intelligent and responsible enough to have been fully watchful and conscious of the past months’ political and economic ongoings.

More specifically, they should have observed that the people in their thousands and millions have mobilized in the streets clamoring for the administration and government officials to end the corruption in many of the government agencies, the decades-long poverty, injustices against activists, and other varied problems impacting on the millions of Filipinos, and more pointedly, for “litisin na si VP Sara Duterte!”

SERVE THE PEOPLE

Indeed, the senator-judges are the in the limelight today in the eyes of the people, as they only expect that the final outcome of the trial of VP Sara Duterte will have been based on the truth and attainment of justice for the Filipino people.

While holding such a sacred duty and powerful responsibility as senator-judges, they cannot afford to be inattentive, or act stupidly or talk just to delay the process, or even disrupt the proceedings. In fact, they are obligated by their mandate under the Constitution, to serve the people, to be circumspect, to decide with integrity and truly serve the ends of JUSTICE!

Herbosa Out, Pujalte In as DOH Secretary

Angel F. Jose
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Herbosa Out, Pujalte In as DOH Secretary

AMID a long list of allegations, Health Secretary Ted Herbosa has submitted his courtesy resignation, ending months of calls for his termination over alleged corruption.

In a letter submitted to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Herbosa cited the need for him to take care of himself. Herbosa earlier went on leave to undergo a knee replacement surgery. Marcos Jr. has accepted Herbosa’s resignation.

“Today, I tendered my courtesy resignation as SOH (Secretary of Health) to PBBM. My operation has made me realize that I also need to take care of myself,” said Herbosa.

After the surgery over the weekend, Herbosa said that he will be on extensive rehabilitation for three to four months.

During the Palace press briefing, Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Undersecretary Claire Castro was asked whether the President’s supposed acceptance of resignation has anything to do with the long list of graft complaints filed against the former DOH Secretary.

In response, Castro said there was no mention of the graft complaints filed against Herbosa before the Office of the Ombudsman.

“Ang isinaalang-alang po ng Pangulo ay ang kanyang kalusugan,” she said.

Dr. Jose Pujalte Jr.

Immediately after Herbosa’s resignation, Marcos appointed Jose Pujalte Jr. as the new Health secretary.

Pujalte joined the DOH in 1991 and completed his orthopedic residency at the Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC) in 1994. Since 2014, he has served as Medical Center Chief II of the Philippine Orthopedic Center.

Pujalte graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and earned a Master’s Degree in Hospital Administration from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.

According to Castro, Pujalte also acquired a Career Executive Service Eligible (CESE) in 2008.

Flat Growth For Farming And Fisheries

Rose de la Cruz
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Flat Growth For Farming And Fisheries

THE University of Asia & the Pacific Center for Food and Agri business (UA&P-CFA) sees a “flat” growth for the crucial food base of the country—the agriculture, fisheries and the forestry cluster of 0.5% decline and 0.5% growth.”

This comes after a 3.1 percent expansion in 2025, the cluster’s strongest in five years, based on the data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), reported the Manila Times.

Growth was driven by poultry (9.1%), other agricultural activities and services (3.9%), crops (3.1%), and fisheries (0.5%), while livestock and forestry declined 2.0 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.

UA&P-CFA executive director Marie Annette Dacul said the 2025 growth was not a breakthrough, but largely a recovery from a 1.5% the year before, when the country was hit by both La Niña and El Niño.

Poultry should remain the strongest performer, growing 7.5-8.5%  after a 7.0% first-quarter expansion, supported by steady demand and efficient commercial production.

Livestock is projected to grow 4.0-5.0 percent, continuing a gradual recovery from African swine fever (ASF), though full recovery will take time.

Crop production is expected to decline 3.0-4.0 percent, following a 2.6 percent drop in the first quarter, pressured by high input costs and weather uncertainty, the Times added.

Fisheries output will contract to 3.0-4.0% after a 5.0 percent first-quarter decline, hurt by climate variability and high fuel costs tied to the US-Iran War in the Middle East.

UA&P-CFA flagged several risks facing the cluster: environmental threats such as El Niño, more frequent typhoons, and emerging water scarcity; economic pressures including high input costs and food inflation; pathological risks like pest infestations, ASF, and avian influenza; and systemic vulnerabilities tied to import dependency and exposure to geopolitical and energy shocks.

To address these concerns, it recommended focusing on six priority areas: climate-smart agriculture; digital agriculture; high-value agriculture; agribusiness processing; logistics modernization; and export development.

Dacul cited measures such as weather-resilient crop varieties, precision water management, and modernized cold chain and logistics systems to reduce post-harvest losses.

She also urged a shift toward high-value crops, greater investment in value-added processing, and targeting niche export markets for Philippine agricultural products.

“The challenge for the next decade is no longer just about producing more food; it’s about resilience,” Dacul said.

Lacson Flags VIP Treatment For Bonoan and Marcoleta

Rose de la Cruz
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Lacson Flags VIP Treatment For Bonoan and Marcoleta

SENATOR Panfilo Lacson smells something fishy over what looks more like a very special treatment accorded by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to “detained” suspects facing non-bailable plunder charges.

Lacson, who forms part of the senate majority, particularly cited the supposed “hospitalization” of former Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan and Senator Rodante Marcoleta at the Philippine National Police – General Hospital in Quezon City.

According to Lacson, it’s rather appalling to see Bonoan and Marcoleta who were both supposedly diagnosed with ailment, but have been allowed to receive visitors inside air-conditioned rooms.

Bonoan is one of principal suspects in the billion-peso flood control scandal during his tenure at DPWH while Marcoleta has been indicted for allegedly amassing P75 million in campaign donations.

Lacson said he will try to find out during the 2027 budget deliberations who pays for the confinement of non-PNP beneficiaries.

Citing his personal observation, the senator hinted at a recurring pattern in the hospitalization of prominent personalities facing arrest or contempt proceedings.

“Since time immemorial, when a prominent personality is cited in contempt or faces arrest, he/she suddenly gets sick and needs to be hospitalized,” Lacson was quoted as saying in a radio interview.

He said he intends to ask the PNP and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) during deliberations on their proposed 2027 budgets who shoulders the hospitalization costs of non-PNP dependents.

“The PNP hospital has its own budget funded by taxpayers. Those authorized to be confined there are PNP members or their dependents. But who shoulders the costs for the stay and medication of Bonoan and Marcoleta? As far as I know, neither of them (Bonoan or Marcoleta) is PNP dependent,” he said.

Lacson, who served as PNP chief from 1999 to 2001, said some police personnel and their dependents have repeatedly been refused admission because of supposedly limited hospital capacity.

He also cited what he described as a pattern in which prominent individuals develop medical conditions after arrest warrants are issued. And the  trending pattern also includes wheelchairs and neck braces, with the usual complaints being elevated blood pressures, perceived pneumonia and others.

Last July 8, Lacson posted on X: “WARNING: Don’t get sick. Medicine is expensive. Don’t get a ‘warrant.’ You might get sick.”

“When the arrest warrant comes out, so does the medical condition — you name it — pneumonia, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels. Some require neck braces; others have back pain. The diseases come out when the arrest warrant comes out,” he said.

Lacson recalled that former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile was confined at the PNP hospital while facing charges related to the pork barrel scandal in the 2010s, noting that the late legislator who served as defense secretary when the Philippine National Police was still part of the defense establishment as the Philippine Constabulary. 

Nomura Sees PH 2026 Inflation Drop to 5.1%

Rose de la Cruz
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Nomura Sees PH 2026 Inflation Drop to 5.1%

NOTING SLIGHT improvements in the country’s inflation rate because of easing global oil prices, Nomura Global Markets Research  trimmed the country’s  inflation for 2026 to 5.1 percent, from its earlier projection of 5.5 percent, although it warned of underlying price pressures to remain persistent. 

The Japanese investment bank left its economic growth forecast for the country unchanged at 4.6%, slightly above the 4.4% expansion recorded in 2025, reports said.

Nomura’s research analysts, Euben Paracuelles and Nabila Amani, released a report detailing their updated outlook on the local economy, said despite lower inflation forecast for 2026 it expects the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to raise its benchmark interest rate to 5.25% by year end as core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, continue to rise due to delayed, second-round effects.

The anticipated 4.6% 2026 GDP growth remains below the government’s official target with several factors weighing on economic activity, including the lingering effects from domestic corruption scandals, continued fiscal tightening, delayed investments, and the global economic impact of Middle East conflicts. 

Other financial institutions have differing forecasts for Philippine economic growth. For one the International Monetary Fund downgraded its 2026 growth projection to 3.9%; the Asian Development Bank scaled back its growth forecast to 3.8% and the Development Budget Coordination Committee adjusting the official target range to 3.5 to 4.5%.

“We expect GDP growth to remain weak through the first half of 2026, due to the lingering effects of the corruption scandal, continued fiscal tightening and as weak sentiment is still weighing on private investment spending,” Nomura said.

Nomura is a leading global financial services group founded in Japan in 1925. It operates a worldwide network spanning over 30 countries to provide investment management, wealth management, wholesale (global markets and investment banking), and banking services to individuals, institutions, and governments. 

Nomura earlier identified the Philippines as one of Asia’s biggest beneficiaries of the tentative peace agreement between the United States and Iran, estimating that every 10-percent decline in global oil prices could shave about 0.5 percentage point off Philippine inflation—the largest disinflationary impact in the region alongside India.

Still, Nomura cautioned that core inflation—which excludes volatile food and fuel prices—continues to face upward pressure.

“We lowered our CPI inflation forecasts due to our latest oil price assumptions. In terms of the trajectory, we believe headline inflation has already peaked, but core inflation has not, reflecting second-round effects,” Nomura said.

Philippine inflation eased for a second straight month to 6.4 percent in June from 6.8 percent in May, as lower global oil prices helped pull down domestic fuel costs.

Core inflation, however, accelerated to 4.4 percent in June from 4.1 percent a month earlier as businesses continued to pass on higher costs.

It marked the sixth straight month of increases and the highest reading since November 2023 or nearly three years.

Nomura’s 5.1-percent inflation forecast for 2026 remains well above the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) 3-percent target, the Inquirer said.

The investment bank also flagged El Niño as a key upside risk to inflation, warning that the Philippines is among the countries most vulnerable to weather-related disruptions.

“The Philippines and India are most exposed to an El Niño shock, followed by Indonesia and Thailand,” Nomura said.

“The Philippines is particularly vulnerable to higher rice prices: it is a net food importer (2% of GDP), and rice accounts for 8.9% of its CPI basket,” it added.

Further, Nomura said it still expects the BSP to raise its benchmark interest rate by another 50 basis points this year, bringing the policy rate to 5.25 percent.

“It will likely maintain a measured approach. We also continue to expect a very short hiking cycle that is likely to be reversed next year: we forecast 75bp of BSP cuts by H2 2027 to 4.50%,” Nomura said.

MTRCB Takes Jab Over Sigabo’s SPG Rating

Boy Villasanta
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MTRCB Takes Jab Over Sigabo’s SPG Rating

NOTWITHSTANDING the recently concluded compliance seminar for Coco Martin’s primetime series “Sigabo,” local television industry stakeholders reacted to the call of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) after receiving numerous complaints.

MTRCB chairperson Lala Sotto particularly hinted at what she claimed were more than 10 complaints filed before the agency against the romance action drama’s “persistent and excessive portrayal of violence since it began airing last June 22, 2026 on free TV channels ALLTV, A2Z and TV5.

The compliance seminar was administered by MTRCB Vice Chair Johnny Revilla and Board Members Ricardo “Jojo” Salomon, Eloisa Matias and Robert “Bobby” Andrews under its “Responsableng Paggabay” initiative.

In her opening remarks during the discussion, Sotto said they wish to help the television industry thrive and produce world-class contents that would appropriately be shown to younger viewers, with the guidance of their parents. 

“I just want to make it clear that the reason why we are having this compliance seminar today is because we want to help you, we want to help drive the production. We want you to understand where we are coming from and we want a better understanding also of the production,” she said.

“Magiging (We can be) very socially relevant, I’m sure, ‘yung mga scenes at ‘yung mga magiging (the scenes and the supposed) storyline. Which we understand and we fully support. But there are always limitations. Lahat ng bagay, may limitasyon (All things have limitations),” she added.

“Sigabo”–which also stars Julia Montes–is co-produced by ABS-CBN’s Dreamscape Entertainment and CCM Film Productions, Coco’s audio-visual production.

The complaints cited the supposed excessive depiction of violence, fistfights and physical aggression, violent torture scenes, and strong violent language on “Sigabo.” 

The MTRCB gave a rating of Strong Parental Guidance or Striktong Patnubay at Gabay (SPG) to “Sigabo.” 

Programs classified as SPG may contain more serious topics or themes that may not be advisable for children to watch, except under a parent or adult’s very vigilant guidance and presence. 

In determining its rating, the MTRCB considered the program’s purpose, genre, time slot, treatment and depiction of factors such as its theme, violence, drugs, language, sex, and horror. 

Some of the complaints submitted to the body called for an immediate review or re-evaluation of TV series containing violent content that are aired during primetime hours. 

For its part, CCM Film Productions welcomed the conduct of the compliance seminar as a responsive measure in addressing issues pertaining to “Sigabo.”

Malu Sevilla of CCM Film Productions said they were able to see and understand the intentions of the MTRCB, while they were also able to express the artistic intentions and direction of the producers.

Ihman Basas Esturco, one of the cast members of “Sigabo,” said he understood, lauded and respected the decision of MTRCB but called for a wider view of the scenario.

“Bilang isa sa mga artista ng ‘Sigabo,’ iginagalang ko ang mahalagang papel ng MTRCB sa pagtiyak na ang mga palabas ay naaayon sa ating mga pamantayan at may tamang gabay para sa mga manonood. Pero bilang bahagi rin ng entertainment industry, naniniwala akong kailangan din natin tingnan ang mas malaking larawan (As one of the actors of the show, I respect the important role played by the agency to see to it that television shows are screened according to its standards and proper guidance for the viewers. But as part of the industry, I believe that we should look at the bigger picture),” commented Ihman who plays Manny, an assistant to former police major general Ricardo Jacinto which is being portrayed by Edu Manzano in the action caper.  

According to Esturco, the show is a collective effort of the whole community of CCM Productions. “Ang ‘Sigabo’ ay hindi lamang tungkol sa mga intense o violent na eksena. Isa itong seryeng bunga ng napakalaking sakripisyo, dedikasyon, at malasakit ng buong (The show is not only about intense or violent scenes. It is a series as an end-product of an immense sacrifice, dedication and compassion of the whole) CCM Production,” he explained.

The actor emphasized the meticulous weaving of all elements of the production to come out with a quality audio-visual material. “Kapag napanood mo ito, makikita mong ang bawat eksena ay pinag-isipan—mula sa kwento, cinematography, production design, hanggang sa pagganap ng bawat artista. Sa tingin ko, panahon na para suportahan natin ang mga produksyong nagsisikap magtaas ng kalidad ng (If you watch it, you’d see that each scene is well-thought—from the narrative, until the portrayal of each actor. I think it’s high time that we support productions that level up their broadcast quality of) Philippine entertainment,” he added.           

“Kung gusto natin makilala ang mga Pilipinong kwento sa pandaigdigang entablado, kailangan din natin bigyan ng pagkakataon ang mga proyektong sumusubok umabot sa international standards. Marami sa ating mga karatig-bansa ang mabilis nang umuunlad sa paggawa ng pelikula at serye. Nakakatuwang makita ang kanilang tagumpay, pero nagsisilbi rin itong paalala na hindi tayo dapat makuntento. Noon, tayo ang isa sa mga hinahangaan sa rehiyon. Naniniwala akong kaya nating maibalik ang posisyong iyon kung sama-sama nating susuportahan ang mga de-kalidad na lokal na produksyon (If we aim that Filipino stories to be heard and seen on international stage, we should give chance to projects which try to come up with the world standards. Many of our neighboring countries are speedily progressing in making films and series. It’s inspiring to see their successes but they also serve as reminders that we shouldn’t be complacent. Before, we were the pride of the region. I believe we can bring back that pride if we collectively support quality local productions),” Esturco elucidated.

Ihman also called out disunity among Filipinos in support of the success of our fellowmen in any field of endeavor. “Sana rin ay maiwasan natin ang tinatawag na ‘crab mentality.’ Imbes na unahin ang paghila pababa, mas makabubuting tulungan natin umangat ang isa’t isa. Ang constructive criticism ay mahalaga, pero mahalaga rin ang pagbibigay ng pagkakataon sa mga proyektong may malinaw na layunin na iangat ang antas ng ating industriya (We should also drift away from ‘crab mentality.’ Instead of pulling each other down, we should help one another in pulling up. Constructive criticism is important but it is equally so if we give chances to projects which have clear objective to propel the standards of our industry),” he quipped.

As a regular player in the show, Esturco said he is witness to the professionalism and idealism of his fellow creatives at work. “Nakita ko mismo ang sipag at propesyonalismo ng buong production. Ipinagmamalaki kong naging bahagi ako ng isang proyektong may mataas na pangarap para sa Philippine entertainment. Sa huli, iisa lang ang hangarin ko: ang makitang patuloy na umunlad ang ating industriya, gumagawa ng mga kuwentong maipagmamalaki natin, at nakikipagsabayan sa pinakamahusay sa mundo—habang nananatiling responsable at may paggalang sa mga pamantayang itinatakda ng ating mga institusyon (I see the hard work, professionalism of the whole production. I am proud to be part of one project which has high hopes for Philippine entertainment. In the final analysis, I only have an aspiration: to see that our industry is continuously developing, making stories which make us proud and play competitively among the best in the world—while being responsible and respectful of the standards set by our institutions),” he stressed.

Meanwhile, movie director and entertainment writer Ronald Carballo brought out his takeaways on the issue. Excerpts from Carballo’s thoughts which appeared on his social media spaces:   

“I HOPE INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO THE WRONG REPORT OF SOME, THEY WILL APPRECIATE THAT ‘SIGABO’ INCREASED THE QUALITY OF AN ACTION-DRAMA TELESERYE IN THE PHILIPPINES, THAT EXCEEDS A BIG MOVIE FOR THE SOCIETY THAT IS THIRSTY TO WATCH A WORLD CLASS TO WATCH!

“MTRCB is not fair to Coco Martin’s ‘Sigabo’ Productions.

“Someone complained that the TV series is too violent.

“MTRCB has underestimated Coco Martin and the entire Production.

“The TV series still airs tho.

“If it’s true that someone reported to MTRCB regarding the violent content of ‘Sigabo,’ surely those who are jealous and enemies of a TV series that can’t get enough of ‘Sigabo.’

“Not even someone complained or reported, MTRCB will listen immediately.

“Very unfair!

“Dapat may masusing imbestigasyon yan. (There should be thorough investigation about it)”

Headwinds Stop Stock Index From Reaching 7,000 Points

Marcus Aquino
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Headwinds Stop Stock Index From Reaching 7,000 Points

The Philippine stock market’s journey to the 7,000-point territory in the first six months of the current year was disrupted by internal and external factors.

From the internal side, the flood control scandal still haunted investors, as this clearly affected the gross domestic product (GDP) in the last two quarters of 2025.

For the external factors, the PSEi got clobbered by the Middle East conflict that started on February 28.

From January to June, the highest close for the PSEi in 2026 was 6,625.46 points on February 26. On the other hand, the lowest closing level for the PSEi over the first six months of this year was 5,768.76, recorded on May 29.

Meanwhile, the PSEi opened the year at 6,135.06 on January 2, and closed at 6,037.17 points on June 30, for a loss of 1.6%.

Partylist System: Pro-Elite, Pro-Dynasty

Rose de la Cruz
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Partylist System: Pro-Elite, Pro-Dynasty

THE HUGELY ELITE-dominated and illusionary partylist system must be amended as it has drifted far from its democratic foundations owing to flaws in electoral design and the controversial Supreme Court ruling in the case Banat v Comelec.

Banat is the acronym of Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency.

Behind the call for amendments to the flawed partylist system is a group which calls itself the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) recently.

Felix P. Muga II, a CenPEG fellow and associate professor of Mathematics at Ateneo de Manila University, warned that judicial interventions and legislative weaknesses have undermined the original constitutional intent of giving marginalized sectors meaningful representation in Congress.

“The partylist system was envisioned as a mechanism for empowering marginalized and underrepresented sectors. Instead, it has become vulnerable to elite capture, political dynasties and judicially-created distortions that have weakened democratic representation,” Muga said.

Citing recent studies, Muga argued that the Supreme Court essentially killed the two percent vote requirement for partylist groups. By analyzing the Banat ruling, Muga showed how organizations that failed to hit the minimum vote threshold under Republic Act 7941 were still able to win seats in Congress.

“The 2 percent threshold was intended to serve as a democratic qualifier – a minimum test of public support. By allowing non-qualifying groups to receive seats, the Court transformed a clear statutory gatekeeper into an optional rule,” he explained.

Muga pointed out that the decision produced unintended consequences that hastened the proliferation of party-list organizations and lowered barriers to entry for political interests that were never meant to benefit from the system. 

“The Banat ruling opened the gate that Congress deliberately established. Once that gate was weakened, the party-list system became increasingly susceptible to manipulation by well-funded political actors and entrenched elites,” he said.

Banat vs. Comelec

The case arose after the 2007 elections when the Commission on Elections (Comelec) applied the formula from Veterans Federation Party v Comelec, resulting in only a portion of the available partylist seats being filled. 

Banat challenged the Comelec formula, arguing that it unfairly limited representation.

Critics emphasized that the Banat ruling diluted the significance of the two percent threshold by allowing groups with very small vote shares to enter Congress. They argued that it encouraged the expansion of partylist organizations and fractured representation. 

Supporters, however, say the ruling expanded participation and better reflected the constitutional goal of the partylist system.

Muga challenged the Court’s justification that bypassing the threshold was necessary to avoid vacant seats. Utilizing a mathematical model he developed in 2005, Muga argued that the Largest Remainder Method (LRM) offers a superior alternative. 

He said that the method successfully allocates all congressional seats among legally qualifying parties without sacrificing proportional representation.

“The solution was never to abandon the threshold. The solution was to use a mathematically sound seat-allocation method that respects both proportional representation and democratic qualification standards,” he noted.

Muga further blamed the three-seat cap imposed under the partylist law as a major source of systemic dysfunction. “The three-seat cap distorts proportional representation and incentivizes political fragmentation. It encourages powerful interests to create multiple party-list organizations rather than compete fairly under a truly representative system,” he said.

Pro-Elite, Pro-Dynasty

Muga cited recent studies showing the proliferation of political dynasties and business-linked interests in the partylist bloc system has increasingly diverted from its constitutional purpose.

“What was intended as a vehicle for marginalized representation has, in many cases, become an additional avenue for elite political participation. Unless reforms are undertaken, the partylist system risks losing public legitimacy altogether,” he added.

To restore the integrity of the system, Muga proposed a comprehensive reform agenda to restore the integrity of the system. 

  • Restoring the 2 percent vote threshold as a strict qualification requirement, with the vote percentage rounded to six decimal places to ensure mathematical precision and eliminate ambiguity in borderline cases;
  • Institutionalizing into law the rounding up of a party’s computed seat allocation whenever the decimal remainder is sufficient to reach at least 20 percent, ensuring that no qualifying party is arbitrarily denied representation due to fractional truncation;
  • Repealing the Banat mechanism that allows sub-threshold groups to receive seats;
  • Adopting the Largest Remainder Method for seat allocation;
  • Removing the three-seat cap to achieve genuine proportional representation;
  • Strengthening safeguards against political dynasties and vested interests in party-list nominations; and
  • Clarifying constitutional and statutory rules governing party-list seat allocation.

For CenPEG, the partylist reform debate is beyond electoral mathematics. 

“The issue is fundamentally democratic,” Muga stressed. “The rules of representation determine whose voices are heard.”

Speaker Dy’s Bill

Last June 24, Speaker Faustino Dy III filed a partylist reform bill so that the system will reflect genuine representation of marginalized sectors in the House of Representatives, Inquirer reported.

The proposed New PartyList System Act (House Bill 9906), which Dy filed,  seeks to replace Republic Act 7941, introducing reforms to ensure that partylist groups will adhere to the constitutional vision of broadening democratic participation.

“Through the passing of years, it has become clear to us what the weaknesses of the party-list system are, which have caused it to stray from its original intent. Through this bill, we want to return the system to its true aim — to become a way for marginalized sectors to be heard and participate,” Dy said. 

The partylist system was created to open the doors of Congress to Filipinos and communities whose voices are not always heard in traditional politics,” he added.

The explanatory note of the bill noted that the party-list system has expanded participation in the legislative process over the past three decades, but questions have emerged regarding the authenticity of some organizations claiming to represent sectors, advocacies, or communities.

To address these concerns, the bill establishes three categories of party-list representation:

  • sectoral representation for marginalized and underrepresented sectors
  • advocacy representation for civic and public policy organizations
  • regional representation for geographic regions and ethno-linguistic communities

The other provisions in the bill include a call for genuine representation requirement and verification process by requiring party-list organizations to prove that they genuinely represent their sectors. It also:

  • Advocates that organizations must demonstrate a verifiable record of civic or policy work.
  • For the regional organizations to prove sustained presence within the regions or ethno-linguistic communities they seek to represent.
  • Requires partylist organizations to maintain continuing public service, advocacy, and constituency engagement, and to submit regular reports documenting their activities and outreach efforts.
  • Empowers the Comelec to evaluate an organization’s membership base, leadership participation, advocacy record, and organizational presence in the communities concerned.
  • Requires organizations claiming sectoral representation to show genuine affiliation with the sector they represent.

“It’s our goal to ensure that representatives truly originate from, participate in, and have a deep interaction with the communities or sectors that they represent,” Dy said.

The measure, he added, is part of a broader package of electoral and political reforms being advanced by the House “to strengthen democratic institutions, improve public trust in government, and expand opportunities for meaningful participation in governance.”

He stressed that ensuring that party-list organizations maintain genuine links with the communities they represent is essential to preserving public confidence in the system.

“When the interaction of party-list organizations with their sectors and communities becomes stronger, their representation will become more meaningful, and our democracy will be more stable,” he said.

The bill is a Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) priority measure.

Filipino Chef Served 5 US Presidents

Domingo P. Herras
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Filipino Chef Served 5 US Presidents

FROM THE VIBRANT, rain-slicked streets of Sampaloc, Manila, to the most powerful kitchen on Earth, the journey of homegrown talent is a masterclass in the extraordinary power of the Global Filipino. 

Every single day, millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and immigrants leave the comfort of home, packing their bags with nothing but raw talent, an unbreakable work ethic, and a quiet determination to uplift their families. 

These people enter unfamiliar lands, often starting from the bottom, yet they consistently rise to the top through an innate ability to blend hard work with genuine warmth. 

World Class Chef Cris 

Chef Cris did not just cook; she served as a culinary diplomat at the absolute apex of global politics. 

Her historic appointment as White House Executive Chef stands as a roaring testament to world leaders that the Filipino diaspora is not merely a labor force—they are world-class pioneers, barrier-breakers, and the very definition of global excellence.

Chef Cris is no other than Cristeta Pasia Comerford. Born and raised in the bustling district of Sampaloc, Manila, she made global culinary history inside the most prestigious kitchen in the United States. 

Over a legendary career spanning nearly three decades, Chef Cris shattered glass ceilings, earned the trust of five consecutive U.S. presidents, and controlled the most powerful dining table on Earth. From Manila to Washington, D.C.

State University Grad

Long before she managed state dinners for world leaders, Comerford was a student majoring in Food Technology at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. 

In 1985, at the age of 23, her life took a radical turn after she emigrated to the U.S. She began her American culinary journey in Chicago, Illinois, working her way through hotel kitchens near O’Hare International Airport. 

Later, she moved to Washington, D.C., sharpening her skills at premier local establishments. 

Her relentless discipline and exceptional mastery of global flavors caught the attention of the White House, leading to her recruitment as an assistant chef in 1995 during the administration of President Bill Clinton. Shattering the Culinary Glass Ceiling.

Rising to the Pinnacle

In 2005, Comerford’s career reached a historic milestone. 

First Lady Laura Bush promoted her to White House Executive Chef, making her the first woman and the first person of Asian descent to hold the prestigious position since its official establishment under John F. Kennedy. 

For nearly 20 years in that top role, she directed a highly sophisticated culinary staff and masterfully orchestrated over 50 formal state dinners. 

Her professional longevity remains an extraordinary feat in Washington, beautifully bridging the administrations of five historic U.S. leaders. She was the White House Executive Chef under Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

Secret Behind Success

What made Chef Cris unique was her ability to blend high-stakes political diplomacy with deep personal warmth. 

While she crafted elaborate five-course menus for foreign kings, queens, and prime ministers within strict 55-minute timelines, she also curated the private family meals of the presidents. 

She often noted that away from the rolling news cameras, the first families were “just regular people” who simply craved the comfort of a great, soul-satisfying meal. 

Throughout her tenure, she subtly celebrated her heritage by integrating tropical fruits and vibrant Asian spices into Western menus, introducing world leaders to the excellence of Filipino flavors. 

Upon her retirement in August 2024, First Lady Jill Biden publicly praised her, stating, “Through her barrier-breaking career, Chef Cris has led her team with warmth and creativity, and nourished our souls along the way.”

Cristeta’s Lasting Legacy

Cristeta Pasia Comerford’s extraordinary path from a humble neighborhood in Manila to the apex of the culinary world serves as a universal symbol of excellence, humility, and dedication. 

She quietly broke massive institutional barriers without ever seeking personal fame, letting her magnificent craft speak for itself. 

Today, she enjoys a peaceful retirement in South Florida, leaving behind a timeless blueprint that proves Filipino talent can achieve the highest levels of global recognition.

As Cristeta Pasia Comerford hangs up her white apron after nearly three decades of historic service, her legacy leaves behind an undeniable truth for both local and global leaders to absorb: never underestimate the brilliance of a Filipino immigrant. 

Global Excellence

To world leaders hosting the diaspora, the Filipino is a vital asset—bringing unmatched loyalty, creativity, and an unparalleled standard of excellence into every industry they touch. To leaders back home in the Philippines, her story is a profound reminder of the urgent duty to nurture, support, and honor the country’s greatest export—its people.

Chef Cris managed the tastes of five United States presidents, proving that with a level playing field, the Filipino can successfully command any room, any boardroom, or any kitchen on the planet. 

She did not just break the glass ceiling; she shattered it entirely, leaving behind a glowing blueprint of Global Filipino Excellence that will inspire generations of dreamers worldwide for decades to come.

Rewriting OFW Success Stories

Domingo P. Herras
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Rewriting OFW Success Stories

FOR DECADES, the global footprint of the Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) has been measured by economic statistics—remittance flows, inflation buffers, and the quiet sacrifices of leaving home. 

But true heroism is never defined by a bank transfer. It is measured by the lives transformed along the way. 

When an OFW rises to receive the Blas F. Ople Award Para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani, it represents the absolute zenith of the migrant journey. Named after the historic champion of Filipino labor, this is not just a trophy—it is the highest civilian validation of a global Filipino’s character, intellect, and selfless service.

For the millions of OFWs currently navigating the isolation of foreign lands, the struggles of shifting careers, and the heavy weight of homesickness, such an award serves as a blazing lighthouse. Hence, the ultimate destiny of the migrant worker is not merely to survive in a foreign economy, but to conquer the chosen profession and leave the world better. 

It is against this backdrop of supreme excellence that we find the extraordinary life and career of Dr. Eduardo Parra Malagapo, who holds a PHD in Engineering, and MBA, an MS in Management Engineering, and a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Over his extensive career, he has accumulated five Doctorate accoldates, three Masteral degrees and completed advanced executive programs at Harvard University and IESE Business School.

The traditional narrative of the OFWs is often framed around sacrifice—leaving home to endure grueling labor just to send money back. But Dr. Malagapo completely rewrote that script. 

He transformed the Middle East from a mere workplace into a vast classroom. He turned thousands of migrant workers from simple laborers into certified professionals. His lifelong dedication culminated in receiving the prestigious Blas F. Ople Award Para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani—the highest accolade any OFW can achieve. 

Dr. Malagapo proved that the ultimate power of a global Filipino lies not just in what they earn, but in what they teach.

Long before he was an internationally acclaimed educator, Dr. Malagapo was a young man driven by a profound belief in the value of education. 

Born and raised in the Philippines, his early life was shaped by standard Filipino values: hard work, resilience, and a deep love for family. He pursued higher education with zeal, recognizing early on that knowledge was the ultimate equalizer. Armed with degrees and a growing expertise in business administration and education, his career eventually led him away from Philippine shores and into the heart of the Middle East.

Upon arriving in the Gulf region, he did not just focus on climbing his own corporate and academic ladders. Instead, he looked around and saw a glaring gap. 

Thousands of his fellow Filipinos possessed immense talent and drive but lacked the formal credentials or technical training needed to secure higher-paying, managerial roles. They were trapped under glass ceilings. Dr. Malagapo realized his true mission was to break those ceilings for them.

Dr. Malagapo’s professional career is defined by his visionary approach to community empowerment. He pioneered the creation of extensive socio-civic systems and educational networks designed specifically for migrant workers. 

He collaborated with various universities, training centers, and Philippine professional organizations across the Middle East to bring accessible, affordable, and high-quality tertiary and post-graduate education directly to OFWs.

Under his leadership and guidance, countless domestic workers, construction laborers, and office clerks spent their only rest days inside classrooms. 

He institutionalized training programs in business, management, and leadership. This infrastructure allowed working professionals to earn diplomas, bachelor’s degrees, and master’s degrees while remaining fully employed. 

He effectively transformed the Middle East into a hub of Filipino academic excellence, empowering workers to transition into executives, entrepreneurs, and highly respected specialists.

His extraordinary contributions did not go unnoticed. The Philippine government bestowed upon him the Blas F. Ople Award Para sa Natatanging Bagong Bayani — an award exclusively for those who represent the absolute pinnacle of Filipino excellence, character, and service on the world stage.

Dr. Malagapo received this honor not just for his individual professional brilliance, but for lifting an entire community alongside his own success. He epitomized the true meaning of Bagong Bayani (Modern-Day Hero) by choosing to invest his intellect and energy back into his countrymen.

His story is a powerful reminder that heroes do not always wear capes—sometimes, they carry chalk, textbooks, and an unshakeable faith in human potential. 

By establishing a legacy of continuous learning across the Middle East, he gave his fellow OFWs something far more permanent than a monthly remittance: he gave them a future filled with dignity and limitless possibilities. His life stands as a brilliant blueprint for global Filipinos, proving that the highest achievement in one’s career is the honor of lifting others up to achieve their own dreams.

Ultimately, the story of Dr. Malagapo redraws the entire blueprint of what it means to be a global Filipino. By earning the Blas F. Ople Award, he has shown that the true wealth of an OFW is not measured by what they take home, but by the knowledge and dignity they leave behind. 

He turned a transient labor migration into a permanent empire of human empowerment. A message to every Filipino working under foreign skies—your current job is not your ceiling; it is your launching pad. 

Look beyond survival!

Prepare Now For Super El Niño — WMO

Tracy Cabrera
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Prepare Now For Super El Niño — WMO

FORECASTS issued by the United Nations (UN)’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) have strengthened warnings that climate scientists have been making for months: Prepare Now For Super El Niño.

American climate scientist Dr. Daniel Swain said a super El Niño generally refers to Niño-3.4 sea-surface temperature anomalies of about 2°C above normal, a scale of warming that reorganizes atmospheric circulation and amplifies weather extremes worldwide. 

Agencies and operational forecasting centers, though, do not use ‘super’ as an official category but the phrase is media and scientific shorthand and should be defined when used. 

Still, this planetwide reconfiguration explains why what happens in the Pacific matters so deeply for the Philippines and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

“All indicators are, at this point, that the next year is going to be a pretty wild year from a global climate perspective,” Dr. Swain, often described as the ‘Carl Sagan of Weather’, noted. 

His observation is a sober reminder that the signals scientists monitor are not merely academic projections but early warnings of real impacts on people’s lives and livelihoods.

Asked what causes an El Niño and what makes one ‘super’, the climate expert replied that at its core, El Niño is an ocean-atmosphere feedback where normally, east-to-west trade winds push warm surface water into the western Pacific. 

“When these winds weaken or reverse, sometimes in bursts known as westerly wind events, warm water moves eastward, generating downwelling Kelvin waves that deepen and warm the central and eastern tropical Pacific,” Swain expounded. 

“Currently, forecasters are closely monitoring subsurface heat content and wind bursts because they are the physical mechanisms that sustain and amplify El Niño. The amount of subsurface heat and the timing of these wind events help determine whether a warm pulse develops into a modest event or a very strong episode,” he continued. 

“In a  warming world, higher baseline ocean temperatures and increased ocean heat content are changing the background conditions, increasing the likelihood that strong warm phases will produce even greater impacts,” he added.

WMO’s latest State of the Global Climate confirmed that the climate system is already operating near record warmth, meaning that any El Niño now develops on top of an already hotter baseline. 

The implications for the Philippines and Southeast Asia are immediate and practical. El Niño reorganizes large-scale atmospheric circulation. The Walker circulation weakens, monsoon moisture may shift or arrive later than usual, and storm tracks change.

In all indications, a strong El Niño event will typically bring a delayed onset of the rainy season, prolonged dry spells, reduced river and reservoir inflows, and higher daytime temperatures on top of ongoing background warming.

Accordingly, this combination increases the likelihood of crop stress and failure, water shortages for households and agriculture, reduced hydropower generation and heightened wildfire risk. Heat stress will also pose direct threats to public health and labor productivity, especially among outdoor workers and communities with limited access to cooling or health care.

Climate Goals at Risk, CCC Doing Nothing?

Tracy Cabrera
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Climate Goals at Risk, CCC Doing Nothing?

“Saving our planet, lifting people out of poverty, advancing economic growth… these are one and the same fight. We must connect the dots between climate change, water scarcity, energy shortages, global health, food security and women’s empowerment. Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.” — Former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon

IT WAS IN 2009 when the Climate Change Commission was established as the lead policy-making body tasked to coordinate, monitor and evaluate government programs and ensure mainstreaming of climate change in national, local and sectoral development plans towards a climate-resilient and climate-smart Philippines.

However, 17 years have passed and despite the agency’s claims that it is performing to the best of its ability to fulfill its mandate, the Philippines is “unlikely on track” to deliver its 2030 climate targets due to the absence of Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS). 

This is according to ‘The Southeast Asia’s Green Economy Report 2026: The New Calculus’ published by Bain & Company and Standard Chartered.

LT-LEDS are voluntary frameworks used by Paris Agreement signatories to map out their transitions to net zero. These are critical to unlocking Development Finance Institution and institutional capital currently flowing to peers with clearer, more strategic, long-term plans.

Despite the strategies, though, our  country’s green capital expenditure (capex) in 2025 reached only 40 to 45 percent of the level required to meet 2030 decarbonization targets. Thus  the  shortfall puts the Philippines at risk of missing out on the climate and decarbonization funding that is flowing to other Southeast Asian markets with more defined roadmaps.

Based on the Bain report, estimates indicate that Southeast Asia’s green economy has grown to US$290 billion and is projected to reach $430 billion by 2030, expanding at 8 to 9 percent annually. Yet the Philippines “continues to lag, especially on the investment front.” 

By contrast, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia are moving faster on electric vehicle (EV) adoption and renewable energy (RE) deployment. Here, EV adoption has regretfully maintained a snail’s pace since 2010.

Another major bottleneck is the power grid where investment in transmission and distribution fell 3 percent from 2015 to 2025 even as energy demand grew to about 5 percent per year. For the Philippines, the Luzon interisland transmission and distribution backbone is identified as the key area for investment to integrate more RE and support rising demand from data centers and industry.

When it comes to policy, the Bain report highlights some positive signals for the Philippines. The country offers VAT zero rating for RE projects and reduced import tariffs for EVs. 

The report recommends the promotion of fleet electrification to build EV demand and attract assembly operations.

But despite the region’s potential, the report has identified its “conversion problem” or a growing gap between ambition and delivery. For example, more than 35 percent of announced green capex in the region’s power and EV value chains have not made it to deployment. 

Of approximately $540 billion in green capex announced across Southeast Asia’s power and EV value chains between now and 2030, only around $315 billion is on a credible path to deployment under current conditions. 

The gap occurred because unlike before, investment decisions are no longer driven by climate ambition alone; energy security, economic growth and the ability to deliver projects now carry equal weight. 

Bain & Company partner Dale Hardcastle says, “Capital is flowing where commercial demand, energy security and policy that delivers infrastructure come together—and stalling where any of the three is missing, even where targets remain ambitious.” 

Closing the power, grid and EV deployment gap across the region could unlock an additional $80 billion in green capital expenditure by 2030, a 25-percent uplift on the baseline. 

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FOR your comments or suggestions, complaints or requests, just send a message through my email at cipcab2006@yahoo.com or text me at cellphone numbers 09171656792 or 09171592256 during office hours from Monday to Friday. Thank you and Mabuhay! 

Meralco Imposing Bill Hike For The 6th Time This Year

Lucio Papa
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Meralco Imposing Bill Hike For The 6th Time This Year

THE ONSET of 2026 has truly been tumultuous for the Filipino power consumers, especially in the concession areas covered by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) which has been imposing rate hikes on a monthly basis since January this year.

This comes as Meralco announced a new round of electricity rate increase for households covering the month of July.

In a public advisory, the distribution utility giant said a P0.3428 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) hike would be added to the bill covering the current month, bringing the overall rate for a typical household to P14.8261per kWh from P14.4833 per kWh in June.

According to Meralco, the adjustment would mean an additional P69 in this month’s bill for a typical household consuming 200 kWh.

Compelling Factors

The rate hike, Meralco explained, could be attributed to the higher generation charge, which according to the firm went up by P0.1800 per kWh to P9.2504 from P9.0704 per kWh last month. Meralco’s basis — higher fuel prices. 

Charges from Power Supply Agreements (PSAs) also increased by P0.2678 to P8.8694 per kWh due to the impact of the persisting Middle East conflict in the global energy market.

Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (WESM), meanwhile, rose to P8.0337 per kWh as demand in Luzon reached a record high of 14,534 megawatts (MW) on May 28, 2026.

Tighter power supply conditions in the grid pushed spot market prices higher, resulting in more frequent imposition of the secondary price cap at 11.1% of the time, Meralco said.

Taxes also registered an increase of P0.0960 per kWh, as well as transmission and other charges which also went up by P0.0668 per kWh.

Monthly Increase

Since the onset of 2026, Meralco has imposed six rate increases — January, February, March, April, June and July.

The adjusted overall rates for a typical residential household per month are as follows:

  • January: Increased by P0.1637/kWh
  • February: Increased due to higher transmission charges
  • March: Increased by P0.6427/kWh (to P13.8161/kWh) due to higher transmission and generation charges
  • April: Increased by P0.5335/kWh (to P14.3496/kWh) due to peso depreciation and tight supply
  • May: Decreased slightly by P0.0151/kWh (to P14.3345/kWh) due to Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) mitigating measures
  • June: Increased by P0.1488 per kWh
  • July: Increased by P0.3428 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) bringing the rate for a typical household to P14.4833 per kWh

DEA-All Suspended

Meanwhile, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) extended the collection suspension of the P0.0371 per kWh Green Energy Auction Allowance (GEA-All) until August 2026.

The power distributor said pass-through charges for generation and transmission are paid by Meralco to the power suppliers and the grid operator, respectively, while taxes, universal charges, and Feed-in Tariff Allowance are all remitted to the government.

Meralco said its distribution charge has not moved since the P0.0360 per kWh reduction for a typical residential customer beginning August 2022. 

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