Rainy day ramblings

By Punch Liwanag

Published Jul 21, 2025 07:21 am

IV of Spades' official artwork for Aura

The month of July should be declared National Lugaw Month.

The National Capital Region, including Manila, Quezon City, and the outlying metro, along with a significant part of the rest of the country, is currently drenched. This is due to a combination of seasonal rains, Tropical depression ‘Crising’ from the Pacific, and the lingering ‘habagat.’ Waters have risen, some billboard structures are down, triggering car-maggedon levels of traffic. Everywhere, simply everything is just wet.

It’s depressing, not to mention cold.

Days like these, we want to be cooped up at home and stay dry. You can’t get out anyway, as the surrounding areas are flooded. So, what to do? Fire up Netflix, curl up with a good book, or visit your record collection and take out an album or three and give it a spin and some much-needed dusting. Tons to do and totally up to you!

But what goes well with all this activity? Why food of course! But not just any food, no we’re not talking about fast food deliveries (kawawa naman kasi sila Kuya aGrab driver). We’re talking about the underrated lugaw.

Matt Wilson (Facebook)

Lugaw or ‘arroz caldo’ (which means ‘rice soup’) is the perfect soul food to nourish the spirit on wet, forlorn days. Whatever your emotional disposition, a bowl of piping hot lugaw– generously garnished with fried garlic, scallions, and a touch of chili oil–can instantly uplift and satisfy those hunger pangs. Add a crispy lumpiang togue, destined to be drenched in vinegar, with diced onions alongside some fried Tokwa’t baboy (fried tofu and pork cubes), and you have quintessential rainy-day fare to keep your belly full and your heart warm.

So maybe ask nanay or aunty to teach you their recipe on how to cook lugaw. Then get your culinary game on and don’t skimp on the chicken, ginger, egg, and other ingredients. Or, if possible, get out of the house, just make that trip to the local lugaw joint because they’re all over the place! Indeed, when this kind of weather persists, you can look forward to having a wholesome time with this perennial Pinoy favorite dish that deserves proper recognition.   

Really? I see floods primarily as an engineering challenge. The courses of mighty rivers have been diverted with dams; why can’t we fix this flood problem? Perhaps we need more engineers than politicians. My heart goes out to everyone affected by floods year after year. Especially my buddy Kiko Pineda, who loves lugaw and his ever-growing collection of ’80s movies and new wave records, which he has to move to his upstairs space every time the waters rise in Meycauayan.

Listen to new music by the reunited IV of Spades with “Aura.” Unannounced, the band reunited and just released a new song, their first together since their nasty break-up. Here’s hoping that the band’s songwriting credits are in order this time around. Also check out new songs by rhodessa (“ano na?”), Lola Amour x KOKORO (“The Moment”), Ron David (“Di Mo Sigurado”), and “Tahan Na, Tahanan” by Matt Wilson. All this and more on the Pinoy Pop Playlist 2025 on Spotify.

Cebu Pacific Advisory Cancelled Flights Due to Heavy Rains and Flooding As of July 22, 2025; 10:00 AM

Due to the forecasted impact of heavy rains and flooding, Cebu Pacific has cancelled the following flights scheduled on July 22, 2025:

• DG 6118: Naga – Manila

• 5J 323/324: Manila – Legazpi – Manila

• 5J 391/392: Manila – Cagayan De Oro – Manila

• 5J 455/456: Manila – Iloilo – Manila

• 5J 487/488: Manila – Bacolod – Manila

• 5J 508/509: Manila – Tuguegarao – Manila

• 5J 565/566: Manila – Cebu – Manila

• 5J 659/660: Manila – Tacloban – Manila

• 5J 744/745: Manila – Hanoi – Manila

• 5J 747: Hanoi – Manila

• 5J 901/902: Manila – Caticlan – Manila

• 5J 993/994: Manila – General Santos – Manila

• 5J 971/970: Manila – Davao – Manila

Affected passengers have been informed via email and provided with the following options through the Manage Booking portal on the Cebu Pacific website https://www.cebupacificair.com/manage-booking:

1. Free Rebooking

Rebook without fare difference for travel up to thirty (30) days from original flight date. The fare difference will apply if the travel period is beyond thirty (30) days from the original flight date.

2. Travel Fund

Store the amount in a virtual CEB wallet and use this to either book a new flight or pay for add-ons (example: baggage allowance, seat selection, etc.)

3. Refund

Full refund of your ticket.

Passengers are advised that further delays and cancellations may occur in the coming days depending on the weather conditions. We are working closely with airport authorities and operational teams to mitigate the impact as much as possible.

CEB is also offering flexible options to passengers who wish to postpone their flights to and from Manila scheduled from July 22 to 25. Passengers may avail of a free rebooking and travel fund up to two (2) hours before their scheduled time of departure.

CEB strongly advises its passengers not to proceed to the airport unless they have confirmed bookings for flights which are currently still planned to operate. Please monitor the status of your flights via https://www.cebupacificair.com/flight-status or on the CEB mobile app and update your contact details via the Manage Booking portal https://www.cebupacificair.com/manage-booking to receive email and SMS notifications on flight reminders.

For other questions or concerns, passengers may send a message via Charlie the virtual assistant on the Cebu Pacific website, or through CEB’s official social media accounts.

We will provide updates, as necessary.

Fuel prices spike on Tuesday

 

By Gabriell Christel Galang

Published Jul 21, 2025 11:07 am

Motorists are about to brace for the inclement weather and higher prices at the gas pumps.

Effective Tuesday, July 22, gasoline prices will be raised by ₱0.40 per liter, diesel by ₱1.10 per liter, and kerosene by ₱0.70 per liter.

Shell, Seaoil, and PetroGazz are among the few oil companies that have announced these price adjustments.

Last week, analysts speculated that this week’s price movements are caused by the United States’ (US) tariff policies, direct sanctions on Russia, and supply disruption concerns following attacks in the Red Sea, which is a key global shipping route.

ING Economics reported that despite the European Union (EU) imposing another round of sanction package over Russia, it has yet to yield with the decline of oil price caps. According to ING, the “tough sanctions” would mean lowering the Russian crude oil price limit to $47.60 per barrel (bbl) by September.

However, Russia has doubted the impact of these limitations, as ING Economics stated that the country has built a shadow fleet of oil tankers to work their way around the sanctions.

“The EU has also sanctioned another 105 vessels, leaving a total of 444 vessels in Russia’s shadow fleet affected. The lack of reaction shows that the market is not convinced by the effectiveness of these sanctions,” ING said.

The price of fish and other seafood

 Apektado sa nasinating daut nga panahon ang presyo sa isda ug ubang seafood sa Bankerohan Public Market, Davao City.

Sa pagpanubay sa GMA Super Radyo Davao sa maong merkado publiko, nakasinati og pagmahal ang presyo sa pipila ka isda sama sa matambaka nga anaa na sa P260 ang kilo gikan sa P240, barilison sa P220/kilo gikan sa P160 hangtod P170, moro-moro sa P180/kilo gikan sa P170, bodboron sa P220/kilo, caraballas sa P220/kilo ug salmon sa P190/kilo.

Sumala pa ni Edward, usa sa mga fish vendor sa Bankerohan Public Market nga dunay pag-ubos sa supply sa isda tungod sa nasinating daut nga panahon sa milabay’ng semana ug wala pagpanagat sa mga mananagat.

The price of fish and other seafood in Bankerohan Public Market, Davao City is affected by the bad weather.

Following GMA Super Radyo Davao's public market, the prices of some fish such as matambaka which is now at P260 per kilo from P240, barilison at P220/kilo from P160 to P170, moro-moro at P180/kilo down from P170, bodboron at P220/ kilo, caraballas at P220/kilo and salmon at P190/kilo.

According to Edward, one of the fish vendors at the Bankerohan Public Market had a low supply of fish due to the severe weather last week and the fishermen were not biting.

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