December 27, 2025 - January 2, 2026 Volume 36 - No. 52 • 1 Section – 14 Pages
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DATELINE
USA
from the AJPress NEWS TEAM across America
States sue to block funding move that could shutter Consumer Financial Protection Bureau A coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia has filed suit seeking to block actions they say could force the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to suspend operations by cutting off its primary funding source. Filed in federal court in Oregon, the lawsuit names the bureau, its acting director, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as defendants. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the challenged funding posture unlawful and to prevent what they describe as an imminent disruption to the agency’s operations. Statutory funding mechanism becomes focal point of dispute At the center of the case is the interpretation of a Dodd-Frank Act provision governing how the CFPB is funded. The statute authorizes the bureau to draw quarterly funding from the Federal Reserve in an amount the CFPB director determines is “reasonably necessary” to carry
Flood-control spending probe becomes defining Philippine story of 2025 by AJPress MANILA — The Philippines’ defining story of 2025 was not a single election or diplomatic breakthrough but the sustained scrutiny of flood-control spending that followed repeated flooding and a growing body of official audit findings, legislative inquiries, and inter-agency investigations into pub-
lic works projects worth billions of pesos. What began as renewed concern over monsoon- and typhoon-driven inundation evolved into a broader examination of governance: how flood-control funds were planned, awarded, implemented, and audited, and whether institutions tasked with oversight could credibly account for outcomes on the ground.
Yearend 2025:
The foreign affairs front on sovereignty, scandals and the long arm of the law by Charie Abarca, Jason Sigales, John Eric Mendoza, Tetch Torres-Tupas Inquirer.net
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New York street named after José Rizal in honor of Filipino migrants An intersection in Woodside, an area in Queens with a large Filipino population, has been named Dr. José Rizal Way
WELCOMING 2026. Fireworks makers in Bocaue, Bulacan assure safety measures as they ramp up production at their warehouse Friday (Dec. 26, 2025). The Police Regional Office-Central Luzon has authorized community firecracker selling zones and fireworks display areas as part of intensified measures to prevent firecracker-related injuries. PNA photo by Joan Bondoc
NEW YORK — An intersection in Woodside, an area in the New York City borough of Queens with a large Filipino population, has been named Dr. José Rizal Way in honor of the Philippine national hero and Filipino migrants. Elected officials joined residents, members of the Knights of Rizal and other Filipino American organizations in New York last week at the ceremony co-naming the corner of 58th Street and Woodside Avenue in Woodside. The celebration was led by Philippine Consul General in New York Senen Mangalile, Assemblyman Steven Raga, City Councilwoman Julie Won and Rep. Grace
Scale of spending under the spotlight In his State of the Nation Address in July, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government had allocated roughly P545 billion for flood-control projects from mid-2022 through early 2025, citing submissions from the Department of Public Works and Highways. The disclosure, covering thousands u PAGE 2
Plunder, graft complaints filed vs Recto, ex-PhilHealth chief over P60-B fund transfer by AJPress
MANILA — A citizens’ group has filed plunder, graft, and related complaints with the Office of the Ombudsman against Executive Secretary Ralph Recto and former Philippine Health Insurance Corp. president and chief executive Emmanuel Ledesma Jr., seeking a criminal and administrative investigation into the transfer of P60 billion in PhilHealth funds to the National Treasury. The complainants, who publicly identified themselves as a private citizens’ coaliu PAGE 4 tion, allege that the remittance violated laws
MANILA— The arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte is among the surprise developments in the country that gained world attention in 2025. East Timor’s extradition of expelled Negros Oriental Rep. Arnie Teves, the collision of Chinese ships in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, the extradition appeal made by the United States government against Apollo Quiboloy, Harry Roque’s disappearance, resigned legislator Zaldy Co’s involvement in the flood control scandal and news reports, protested by the government, branding the Philippines as an ISIS hot spot also hogged 2025’s international headlines. The fall of ‘the Punisher’: Duterte’s arrest by the ICC In 2024, former President Rodrigo Duterte dared the International Criminal Court (ICC) to speed up its invesu PAGE 2
governing the use of PhilHealth resources and resulted in prejudice to the state health insurer. The filing asks the Ombudsman to determine whether the respondents bear liability for plunder, violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, technical malversation, and grave misconduct. The complaints stem from a 2024 remittance made by Philippine Health Insurance Corporation following the implementation of a Department of Finance circular and a special provision in the 2024 national budget authorizing the transfer of what the govFormer DPWH Undersecretary Catalina Cabral u PAGE 4
Inquirer.net file photo
Filipino American technology Infrastructure commission moves Former DPWH undersecretary Cabral death under review as authorities cite pioneer Dado Banatao dies at 79 to close flood-control probe by AJPress
Diosdado “Dado” Banatao
Diosdado “Dado” Banatao, a semiconductor engineer and entrepreneur whose behind-thescenes innovations helped lower the cost and expand the reach of personal computers, died December 25, 2025, surrounded by family and friends, according to a statement released by the Banatao family. He was 79, five months short of his 80th birthday. The family said he died from complications of a neurological disorder that developed later in life. Banatao was not a household name, but his work was embedu PAGE 4 File photo
Rossana Fajardo will step down on December 31 from the ICI, saying she has completed her role as the ad hoc panel wraps up its probe into alleged flood-control project irregularities by AJPress
MANILA — The government’s Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI), created to examine alleged irregularities in flood-control and other public-works projects, is moving toward the conclusion of its work after two of its three commissioners stepped down, according to official statements. Rossana Fajardo, one of the
commission’s remaining members, said on Friday, December 26, that she will resign effective December 31, 2025. In her statement, Fajardo said she had completed the responsibilities she accepted when she joined the panel and described her role as limited and time-bound. Her resignation follows the earlier departure of Rogelio Babes Singson, leaving the
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evidence consistent with a fatal fall by AJPress
TUBA, Benguet— Authorities say the death of former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Undersecretary Maria Catalina “Cathy” Cabral, whose body was found below Kennon Road in Benguet, remains under investigation, even as police and interior officials have publicly pointed to evidence they say is consistent with suicide and a fatal fall. Cabral, a veteran civil engineer who spent decades in government service, was reported missing on the evening of Dec. 18, 2025. She was later found unresponsive in a ravine near the Bued River area off Kennon Road in Tuba, Benguet, and was declared dead shortly after midnight on Dec. 19, according to law enforcement officials. Autopsy findings The Philippine National Police said medico-legal findings indicate Cabral died from blunt traumatic injuries consistent with a fall from height. Police cited extensive trauma and multiple fractures docuu PAGE 3