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Tuesday, August 25, 2026 Vol. 21 No. 315
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BRACING FOR THE NEXT WAVE Fishermen repair and secure their boats as debris piles up along the breakwater in Navotas on Monday, August 24, 2026, as residents brace for the possible effects of Typhoon Saudel. Pagasa said Saudel, then still outside the Philippine Area of Responsibility
(PAR), was forecast to enter the PAR’s northeastern boundary this afternoon and would be named “Obet” once inside. The typhoon was already near Super Typhoon category, with further intensification not ruled out, said Pagasa. Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon or “Habagat” continues to affect parts of Luzon. For coastal communities, the threat extends beyond rough seas and flooding. The latest NDRRMC situation report put combined damage from Habagat and Tropical Cyclones Luis, Maymay and Neneng at P6.614 billion, including P4.888 billion in infrastructure damage and P1.726 billion in agricultural losses. The weather disturbances have affected 50,023 farmers and fisherfolk. NONOY LACZA
‘SOME PROVINCES MORE PRONE TO OIL SHOCKS’ T
By Andrea E. San Juan
HE latest inflation numbers revealed the vulnerability of a number of provinces to oil shocks, according to a deputy governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). While headline inflation has come down to 6.2 percent in July, Zeno Ronald R. Abenoja, the Deputy Governor for the Monetary and Economics Sector of the BSP, emphasized that there is “unfortunately” a wide distribution of inflation in the regions. In Manila, Abenoja said inflation was around 5.5 percent in the past few months. However, in Central Visayas, he said the average inflation over the last three months spiked to over 10 percent. Meanwhile, in the Mindanao region, the BSP deputy governor said inflation has been hovering around 8 to 9 percent in the past
few months. “So there’s a lot of heterogeneity that we are observing,” Abenoja said, adding the central bank’s observation that because transportation cost has increased “quite dramatically,” that has affected some prices for food supply. “And this is something that the national government is looking at very carefully, making sure that the supply for food items remains adequate moving forward,” added Abenoja. The BSP official explained that some regions are performing “not as well” as other regions because See “Oil shocks,” A2
UP SYSTEM GETS P1B FROM DBM TO BOOST ‘NOAH’ CAPABILITIES By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) authorized the release of P1 billion to the University of the Philippines (UP) System to boost the disaster prevention capabilities of Project Noah (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards). A statement issued by the DBM on Monday read that the funding, chargeable against UP’s built-in appropriation under the 2026 General Appropriations Act, will scale up Project Noah’s flood forecasting powered by artificial intelligence (AI), real-time hazard monitoring and early warning systems. Of the P1-billion allocation, P935 million is earmarked for research and development ser-
vices, while the remaining P65 million is allotted to general management, supervision and operational support. The DBM said the funding will bankroll the procurement and deployment of critical information and communications technology (ICT), digital and scientific equipment and the recruitment of highly specialized technical personnel. “This P1-billion investment in Project Noah is an investment in prevention. We are putting science, AI, and real-time hazard information to work so government can act earlier, communities can prepare better, and more Filipino lives and livelihoods can be protected,” Budget Secretary Kim Robert C. De Leon was quoted as saying.
Stablecoin pushed to cut cross-border fees By Reine Juvierre S. Alberto
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HE cost of sending money back home could be slashed by using stablecoin settlement rails, Finance Secretary Frederick D. Go said, as the government backs efforts to make cross-border payments cheaper for overseas Filipinos. In his presentation at the Philippine Economic Briefing in Davao on Monday, Go said stablecoin could reduce the friction cost of wiring money from anywhere in the world to the Philippines to almost a “minuscule” amount.
Stablecoins are digital currencies designed to keep a steady value by being pegged to a fiat currency such as the US dollar. These tokens have increasingly been used by fintech and remittance providers to lower the cost and shorten settlement time of cross-border transfers. “Once this materializes and is generally practiced, I think digital transaction fees will be lowered to almost zero,” the Finance chief said. Citing a study from the World Bank, Go said friction costs, or additional costs in transactions, of See “Stablecoin,” A2
See “‘Noah,’” A2
New Ecija dams, Bataan dike to stem CL floods By Samuel P. Medenilla
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RESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the government is eyeing the construction of new dams in Nueva Ecija and a dike in Bataan to help mitigate flooding in Central Luzon, which is being exacerbated by anomalous public works and climate change. After attending a situation
briefing on the effects of the enhanced Southwest Monsoon in Central Luzon in Pampanga on Monday, the chief executive announced government plans to build five new dams in Sabo River in Nueva Ecija to help control water flow from the Sierra Madre mountain range. “And that will help slow down the rate of water runoff and reduce siltation, while also allowing
us to store water for household, industrial, and agricultural irrigation use,” Marcos told reporters in Filipino in an interview after the briefing. He said they are also considering the construction of almost a hundred kilometer dike in Pilar, Bataan to help prevent coastal flooding in the province. “We are already studying the matter so that—at the very
least—we have a plan and can make a start on the extensive dike-road project designed to block the water coming from the sea, from Manila Bay,” Marcos said. As of press time, the Palace has yet to announce the estimated cost of both infrastructure projects. The chief executive made the See “Floods,” A2
MEGAWORLD HEAD IS REAL ESTATE PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR Megaworld president and CEO Lourdes T. Gutierrez-Alfonso is recognized as Real Estate Personality of the year at the PropertyGuru Philippines Property Awards for her contributions to the Philippine real estate industry and her leadership in sustaining Megaworld’s growth and expansion. Since joining Megaworld in its early years, Gutierrez-Alfonso has been part of the company’s growth—from the development of its pioneering Eastwood City township to a nationwide portfolio of 37 townships spanning Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Under her leadership, Megaworld has grown into one of the Philippines’s largest real estate companies, with businesses spanning residential development, offices, retail, and hospitality. Photo shows Gutierrez-Alfonso receiving the award from Richard Allan Aquino, Head of Brand and Marketing Services at PropertyGuru Group. MEGAWORLD
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 61.6010 n JAPAN 0.3878 n UK 84.0730 n HK 7.8571 n CHINA 9.1648 n SINGAPORE 48.5506 n AUSTRALIA 44.1248 n EU 71.9500 n KOREA 0.0445 n SAUDI ARABIA 16.4072 Source: BSP (August 24, 2026)