Month: November 2025
Bangsamoro Rescues 20 Child Laborers, Provides Cash Aid and School Supplies
COTABATO CITY — Twenty rescued child laborers, once burdened by work in farms, markets, and garbage dumpsites, are now being given a chance to return to school after receiving cash aid and school supplies from the Bangsamoro government over the weekend. The children, each granted ₱15,000 in assistance plus educational provisions, are beneficiaries of the
DOJ rejects Roque’s asylum claim: Why non-refoulement doesn’t apply
Manila, Philippines – Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s attempt to frame his situation as one of political persecution — and therefore protected under international refugee law — has been quickly rejected by the Department of Justice (DOJ). But the pushback reveals more than a legal dispute: it reflects how the Philippine government is asserting its
Zamboanga sardine makers freeze prices amid rising costs, warn of possible supply impact
ZAMBOANGA CITY — Sardine manufacturers in Zamboanga, the country’s canned sardine capital, have agreed to freeze prices until the end of 2025, heeding a directive from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. meant to keep a staple food affordable for millions of Filipino households. Industrial Group of Zamboanga, Inc. (IGZI) president Leonardo Tan said the Department of
Opinion | Resist the Circus, Confront the Corruption
The latest public quarrels between the Marcoses and the Dutertes—complete with insults, reconciliations, and behind-the-scenes intrigue—have all the markings of a political soap opera. It is riveting, dramatic, and deliberately easy to follow. And that is precisely the point. In a country exhausted by crisis after crisis, the dynasties ruling over us know exactly how
Tropical Depression Verbena drenches Mindanao, 23 areas still under Signal No. 1
DIPOLOG CITY, Philippines — Tropical Depression Verbena swept into the Caraga region Monday, making landfall in Bayabas, Surigao del Sur, before crossing Agusan del Norte and triggering widespread rains across large parts of the country. PAGASA said that as of 5 pm, Verbena’s center was spotted near Jabonga, Agusan del Norte, moving westward with maximum
Africa’s Christians Under Siege: Is a Global Proxy War Fueling the Violence—or Something Far More Local?
Charred homes and abandoned churches mark the path of the Allied Democratic Forces in remote villages across the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a militia now linked to the Islamic State’s Central Africa Province. In northern Nigeria, grieving families bury loved ones after yet another night-time raid by Islamist fighters. In Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province,
BIR’s Audit Freeze Exposes Deeper Crisis: Can the Agency Clean Up Its Own Ranks?
MANILA, Philippines – When the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) abruptly suspended all field audit operations this week, it looked like a routine administrative pause. But behind the announcement lies a deeper, more troubling question: Can the country’s most powerful revenue-collecting agency clean up its own ranks after years of alleged abuse, intimidation, and weaponized
AI Is Eating Jobs — But It’s Also Creating New Ones
Artificial intelligence isn’t just a buzzword anymore — it’s a full-blown societal disruptor. Thanks to generative AI tools like ChatGPT, pretty much anyone with a smartphone can now talk to machines the way we used to talk to friends on Messenger. And with AI now fully mainstream, the list of jobs facing automation is getting
Myths and Promises: How the ‘Green Transition’ Risks Repackaging Old Mining Models in the Philippines
MANILA, Philippines – The global race to secure minerals for electric vehicles, batteries, and renewable energy is accelerating. And at the Philippine-Sweden Smart Mining Forum held on November 18 at the Baguio Country Club, Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla framed it as an opportunity the Philippines must not miss. If the world wants to decarbonize, Lotilla
‘Rise Above the Noise’: PMA Ritual Teaches Plebes the Meaning of Endurance Amid National Turmoil
MANILA — Every year, under the sharp mountain air of Fort del Pilar, a familiar scene plays out on the Philippine Military Academy’s Borromeo Field. Freshmen cadets—known as plebes—stand ramrod straight, their faces fixed with determination, as upperclassmen order them to lean back as far as their bodies will allow. They hold the pose, trembling,
Dominion and Stewardship: Rediscovering Creation Through the Eyes of Christ
Generations of Christians have wrestled with what the divine mandate in the Book of Genesis declares that humanity is given “dominion” over the Earth (Genesis 1:26). For some, the word has been misread as permission to subdue, exploit, or exhaust the natural world as a resource bank meant solely for human advancement. But buried within
‘The war on drugs will never end’: Why experts say it’s time for a new approach
MANILA, Philippines – Nearly a decade since the country launched its most aggressive anti-drug campaign, the flow of illegal narcotics in the Philippines remains largely unabated. Drug lords have been killed or jailed, thousands of street-level suspects have died in police operations, and yet methamphetamine and party drugs continue to find their way into communities
