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No takers: Tulfo leads Blue Ribbon panel by default
UNEMPLOYMENT FELL TO 3.9% IN AUG. BUSINESS /B1
ALAN TO RESIGN IF EVERYONE ELSE DOES NEWS/ A3
By Ram Superable VOL. XXXIX • NO. 233 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2025 •
ICI: Hearings to remain Heading heading private, livestream headingno heading head
WITH no one stepping forward to take the job, Senator Erwin Tulfo has been designated as acting chairperson of the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, following the resignation of Senator Panfilo Lacson. Senate President Vicente Sotto III the decision was reached during a caucus of the majority senators yesterday. “The majority decided that we make the vice chairman the acting chairman – Senator Erwin Tulfo. So, I called him and he accepted the post,” he told reporters in an interview. He said there was no need for a plenary confirmation as Tulfo automatically assumes the role of vice chairperson in the absence of the committee head. Next page
Body seeks immigration lookout order vs. lawmakers, gov’t execs
By Maricel Cruz
T
HE Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) stood firm on its position that hearings would remain behind closed doors to avoid "trial by publicity" and undue political influence. This as Malacañang backed calls for the fact-finding body to be more transparent in its probe into alleged substandard and even “ghost” flood control projects, but said it will leave it up to the ICI on how to ensure this. "We're trying to prevent the commission from being weaponized by any individuals,” ICI executive director Brian Hosaka on Wednesday said. Hosaka said the commission is wary of unverified statements that may be made by resource persons that could confuse the public. “We don't even know if the statements there are true, or were probably said to confuse the commission and even the public. The public might be misled,” he added.
TIP OF THE ICEBERG. Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Romeo Lumagui Jr. leads the filing of multiple criminal cases against contractors Pacifico Discaya II and Cezarah Rowena Cruz Discaya over alleged tax liabilities of P7.1 billion. Lumagui said while the current deficiency is already in billions of pesos, the cases are ‘merely the tip of the iceberg’ and more cases are expected once the audit of Discaya-owned construction firms is complete. Norman Cruz
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BIR files P7.1-b tax evasion P10b ‘overpriced’ farm-to-market roads flagged cases vs. Discaya couple SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian on Wednesday alleged that as much as P10.3 billion was lost due to the overpricing of farm-to-market roads (FMR) in 2023 and 2024. According to the Senate Committee on Finance Chairperson, this includes the concreting of Barangay San
Roque FMR Phase 2 in Tacloban City, Leyte under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA). Bicol and Eastern Visayas, Gatchalian said, got the majority of FMR projects in 2023 and 2024. "This is not just extremely overpriced; extremely, extremely, ex-
tremely overpriced... This, for me, is an obvious sign of corruption already," Gatchalian said in a mix of English and Filipino during the Senate Subcommittee on Finance hearing on the proposed 2026 budget of the Department of Agriculture. Next page
By Pot Chavez and Thony Rose Lesaca THE Bureau of Internal Revenue on Wednesday filed multiple tax evasion cases before the Department of Justice against contractors Sarah and Curlee
Discaya and a corporate officer of St. Gerrard Construction, one of nine companies owned by the Discaya family. BIR Commissioner Romeo D. Lumagui Jr. personally filed the complaints, saying the Discayas and their firm face a total of P7,182,172,532.25 Next page in tax liabilities.
De Lima, Diokno push for probe into ‘haunted’ health facilities By Maricel V. Cruz HOUSE Deputy Minority Leader and Mamamayang Liberal (ML) Party-list Rep. Leila M. de Lima and Akbayan Party-list Rep. Jose Manuel “Chel”
Diokno have filed separate House resolutions seeking an investigation into alleged misuse and inefficiencies in the Department of Health’s Health Facilities Enhancement Program (HFEP). Next page
ENERGY EXPLORATION PUSH. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. leads the presentation of eight Petroleum Service
Contracts (PSCs) at Kalayaan Hall, Malacañan Palace on October 8, 2025. The contracts, evaluated under the Department of Energy's Philippine Conventional Energy Contracting Program (PCECP), cover exploration areas in the Sulu Sea, Cagayan, Cebu, Northwest Palawan, East Palawan, and Central Luzon. PPA Pool
Palace defends unprogrammed appropriations in nat’l budget MALACAÑANG on Wednesday said the government cannot fully scrap unprogrammed appropriations (UA), saying these funds are necessary for emergencies and unforeseen expenses. “That may not be possible. The government has many programs, and these funds can be used for emergency situations. But remember,
these funds are not spent indiscriminately,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro told reporters. She added that unprogrammed funds could not be released without proper documentation. “Even if these were unprogrammed appropriations, it could not be released Next page
PBBM okays 8 gas exploration service contracts By Vince Lopez and Alena Mae S. Flores PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday signed eight new petroleum Service Contracts (PSCs) covering exploration areas across the
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MOBILE KITCHEN. Personnel of the Department of Social Welfare
and Development serve hot meals to families displaced by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit Cebu and neighboring provinces last week. Up to 331 individuals were provided with nutritious breakfasts prepared by Angels in Red Vests using the DSWD Mobile Kitchen in two 'tent cities' in Daanbantayan, Cebu on Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2025.