PBBM: Cleanup of 23 ‘esteros’ to ease NCR flooding By Charles Dantes PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday launched the “Bayanihan sa Estero: Malinis na Estero, Pamayanang Protektado” program, a multi-agency and community-led initiative that aims to clean waterways and reduce flood risks across Metro Manila. The initiative targets the completion of clean-up activities on 23 identified esteros (canals) that have been prioritized for immediate intervention due to significant siltation, heavy accumulation of solid waste, poor flow conditions, and their susceptibility to recurrent flooding. Speaking at the Ilugin River (Buli Creek) in Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City, the President under underscored the urgent need to address clogged and
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VOL. XXXIX • NO. 168 • 2 SECTIONS 12 PAGES AUGUST 3, 2025
CLEANUP EFFORT. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leads the launching
of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s ‘Bayanihan sa Estero’ Program in Buli Creek, Ilugin River in Pinagbuhatan, Pasig on Saturday, August 2, 2025. PPA Pool www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com
‘Online lending debt trap worse than POGOs’ PAOCC chief logs 15,000 cases of harassed victims
By Itchie Cabayan
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HE ill-effects of online lending application (OLA) debt-traps are worse than that of POGO operations and even online gambling, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission executive director Gilbert Cruz said. Cruz said PAOCC is currently handling 15,000 cases of victims who were harassed by “keyboard warriors” of OLAs once they are unable to pay their debt, reminiscent of the classic “5-6” usurious lending practice. “If victims fail to pay them, they will be harassed using their personal accounts, which they surrendered to online lending operators. These accounts were used as leverage against the victims,” Cruz said during the MACHRA Balitaan forum earlier this week. “The operators will use your
pictures and contacts to call your co-workers, and because of this, we even recorded incidents of suicide,” he said. Since OLAs are easily accessible to Filipinos through their cell phones, borrowers are lured with the promise of quick and easy money but with interests ranging from 35 to 40 percent. “The lenders get the borrowers’ contact details, email, pay slips and social media accounts, among others and in the event of failure to pay on time, the borrowers are subjected to various har-
While POGO crimes targeted foreign nationals, in the case of online lending apps, it is Filipinos against Filipinos. —PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz assment schemes to shame them publicly by informing all their friends and workmates via text, email and social media, even using artificial intelligence that would depict the borrower in a lewd situation like sex videos,” Cruz said. He said PAOCC has recorded at least six deaths related to OLA, wherein the victims committed
suicide due to the relentless harassment and shaming they have been subjected to for their failure to pay on time the money they had borrowed. “While the crimes committed by alien POGO individuals were directed against their fellow nationals, in the case of LOA, it is Filipinos against Filipinos,” Cruz said. Earlier, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian warned the growing prevalence of OLAs is enabling a deeper financial crisis among Filipinos already trapped in online gambling, pushing many further into debt and despair. “They are addicted to online gambling and now exploited by online lending apps,” the senator said. Gatchalian earlier filed a resolution seeking a Senate investigation into the unchecked spread of OLAs and their alleged abusive Turn on A4
House asks Senate not to rush impeach trial vote By Maricel Cruz and Pot Chavez THE House of Representatives on Saturday urged the Senate to exercise prudence and respect the judicial process by refraining from voting on the
impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte until the Supreme Court’s decision becomes final and executory. The High Court earlier declared the Articles of Impeachment against the Vice President as unconstitutional
for violating the one-year ban on impeachment proceedings. House spokesperson lawyer Princess Abante issued the statement amid reports that the Senate may vote on the matter on Wednesday, August 6, 2025, without waiting for the House
to file its motion for reconsideration with the High Court. “We express deep concern over reports that the Senate may vote to act on the Supreme Court decision regarding the impeachment case Turn on A4
1M YOUTH ATTEND JUBILEE YEAR VIGIL WORLD / A4
SEALS’ SONGS LIKE NURSERY RHYMES WORLD / A4
Kaufman denies ‘internal’ rift in Rody’s team By Ratziel San Juan THE legal counsel of former president Rodrigo Duterte denied any reported claims of internal disagreements among his immediate family and his defense team. “There are absolutely no internal disagreements among the persons responsible for handling the former President’s defense... There are also absolutely no personal misunderstandings between those who are of importance to the former President,” lawyer Nicholas Kaufman said in a written interview with the Facebook page Alvin & Tourism. This as Kaufman described fugitive lawyer and Duterte’s former spokesman Harry Roque as an “irrelevancy,” expressing regret at spending time dealing with the latter’s “comical intrigues.” Roque earlier claimed Duterte’s Turn on A4
Almost half of Pinoy families rate themselves poor—SWS By Joel Zurbano
FUTURE ISKOS, ISKAS. Thousands of applicants troop to University of the Philippines Diliman Campus in Quezon City to take the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) on Saturday, August 2,2025. Manny Palmero
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ALMOST half or 49 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as “mahirap” or poor, according to the June survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS). The number is one point lower than the 50 percent recorded in the April survey of SWS. The latest survey, conducted from June 25-29, 2025, also revealed that 10 percent of Filipino families considered themselves “borderline” poor while 41 percent rated themselves as “not poor.” The survey translates to an estimat-
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ed 13.7 million self-rated poor families, compared to 14.1 million in the April 23-28, 2025 survey. Self-rated poverty was highest in Mindanao at 69 percent, followed by the Visayas at 60 percent, Balance Luzon at 38 percent, and Metro Manila at 36 percent. Compared to the April survey, selfrated poverty fell by 7 points from 67 percent in the Visayas and by 5 points from 43 percent in Balance Luzon. However, it rose by 8 points from 61 percent in Mindanao and by 3 points from 33 percent in Metro Manila. Turn on A4
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