No more safe spaces for journalists in Gaza

By Fr. Shay Cullen

A hospital is supposed to be one of the safest places to go to amid armed conflict, like the war Israel is waging against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. However, there is strong evidence that Israeli forces are deliberately killing civilians, including women, children and journalists, in and around hospitals.

On Aug. 25, Israeli forces twice attacked Nasser Hospital in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis, killing at least 20 people. They include five Palestinian journalists, including an Al Jazeera reporter, who were sheltering in and reporting from the hospital. The attack triggered widespread condemnation, with Al Jazeera saying Israel was systematically “assassinating journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth.” The five killed are now among the over 240 journalists slain in Gaza since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023.

Israel called the deadly attack a “tragic mishap,” and they would investigate. Israeli officials say they take all “feasible” precautions to avoid civilian casualties, and accuse Hamas of using civilians as human shields. This is not just about the brutal murder of those reporters, but part of the ongoing crimes against humanity that Israel has been accused of committing.

Besides relentless bombings, shooting starving civilians as they try to get much-needed food supplies is another weapon of war used by Israel. As of last Tuesday, the number of dead from the famine in Gaza rose to over 300, of which 117 were children; the toll should have risen as of this writing. This famine is manmade, United Nations officials have said. Now, the Israeli military has launched a new offensive against Gaza City in the territory’s north, forcing thousands to flee south and evacuate the Ad Daraj and Ash Sheikh Radwan areas.

Since Israel’s new military incursion into Gaza City, as many as 36,200 Palestinians were forced again to flee to save themselves and their children. The delivery of food and aid into Gaza has been mostly blocked, causing acute shortages not only of food but also of medicines. Blood supply is lacking, and the number of wounded is increasing, and hospitals need more than 350 units of it every day. But there are fewer blood donors, as the UN-declared famine is increasingly weakening Gaza’s 2.2 million Palestinian population.

The UN reported that only six out of its 12 missions were allowed into Gaza as of last week. Thousands of aid trucks are being blocked by Israel from entering Gaza. The UN is demanding an immediate ceasefire and “full, unhindered humanitarian access.” The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that the consequences of “ongoing hostilities, displacement and aid obstruction are even more devastating.”

‘Reasonable figure’

Also last week, a report in the Guardian newspaper said that as many as 62,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023. A classified Israeli military intelligence database showed that as many as five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza were civilians, and more than half were women and children. These numbers have been considered “a reasonable figure” by a United Kingdom government source, the Guardian said. As many as 150,000 have suffered injuries, said Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders. Almost 60 percent of lower-limb wounds were related to explosive weapons, often with open injuries to bone, muscle, or skin, the MSF added.

“Most immediate fatalities occur at the scene of impact and thus are not captured. Under-reporting of both injuries and deaths could be prevalent in our data in vulnerable populations who are often not able to move away from sites of impact, such as infants, children, people with disabilities, and older adults,” the report said.

Compare this with Hamas’ war-sparking attacks on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which left 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, and more than 240 others taken hostage by the Palestinian militants and brought to Gaza.

Israeli forces continue to strike Khan Younis and Rafah, where the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) estimates that 1.2 million people are now living in makeshift shelters and over 100 UNRWA schools have been directly or indirectly hit, with some severely damaged. Many have been used as shelters for displaced families since the war began, reports say.

The UNRWA recently posted on social media: “No place is safe in #GazaStrip. This is a war on children. On their childhood and their future. Ceasefire now.”

The war will continue, as Israel’s right-wing government plans to continue destroying most of Gaza’s infrastructure to make it uninhabitable and has ignored UN calls for an immediate ceasefire.

In October 2023, the UN General Assembly called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Gaza with 120 votes in favor. In December 2023, 153 countries voted to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. In December 2024, it demanded, with 158 votes in favor, an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire. These have been ignored by Israel and last week, the US vetoed a demand for a Gaza truce in the UN Security Council.

There is no interest by Israel to agree to a ceasefire despite the fact there are still hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and a growing movement in the country clamoring for the war’s end and the captives’ release.

Israel’s plan is to occupy as much of the West Bank with settlers and to occupy Gaza as long as possible so as to make a two-state solution impossible. Its long-term plan is to expel all Palestinians and expand the country. Such goals are illegal in international law and more nations are planning to recognize Palestine as a state, one illegally occupied by Israel.

Davao City Council to probe Agdao cooperative conflict

 ALEJANDRE (FB)

By Ivy Tejano

Published Sep 2, 2025 11:04 pm

DAVAO CITY – The Davao City Council will hold a committee hearing to address the management dispute within the Agdao Multi-Purpose Cooperative here, which has put the savings of more than 58,000 members at risk.

Councilor Al Ryan Alejandre, chairman of the Committee on Cooperative Development and People's Participation, raised the concern in a privilege speech before the council's regular session on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Alejandre said one of the biggest cooperatives in Mindanao is in the midst of a management conflict.

He said that the hearing will tackle the conflict "in aid of legislation and oversight."

"This is not to interfere with the jurisdiction of the courts but to clarify the issues and protect the cooperative's members' welfare," he said, stressing the need for accountability and transparency in AMPC operations.

Alejandre said the move was prompted by a letter he received on Aug. 13 from Josephine Pasilang, who identified herself as the new AMPC chairperson elected during a Special Representative Assembly in 2024.

Pasilang alleged negligence and bad faith by the previous board of directors and general manager, accusing them of refusing to relinquish control of the cooperative.

A video last March depicting members forcibly entering the main branch of the cooperative in Obrero was widely circulated, an incident directly tied to the concerns raised in the letter.

Alejandre said he is not siding with any faction, noting that cases related to the leadership row are already pending in court. He said he is bringing this forward to serve the best interests of the people of Davao.

He stressed that the conflict is an internal issue affecting thousands of Davaoeños who entrusted their money to AMPC. "As councilors, we have to see to it that their hard-earned investments are not put to waste."

Alejandre added that the committee will formally hear both parties' concerns to protect members' investments and uphold confidence in the cooperative sector.

Facing the HIV crisis in the Philippines

 A story of advocacy, molecular detective work, and resilience

By Dr. Edsel Salvana

Published Sep 1, 2025 11:17 am

At A Glance

I started to see an increasing number of HIV patients with opportunistic infections. These were mostly young men in their 20s, and they were dying from AIDS-related illnesses.

Last week, I was asked to present our work on HIV at the Paul Galkin Global Health Grand Rounds at the William Alpert School of Medicine at Brown University. Brown University, located in Providence, Rhode Island, is one of the eight storied Ivy League universities, which includes Harvard, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, Columbia, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania, that are some of the most exclusive schools in the world. Getting invited to a named lecture at any reputable university is a prestigious honor. Getting invited to a named lecture at an Ivy League school is career-defining.

I was invited to give the talk because of the impact my work on HIV has had in the Philippines. The person who nominated me for the talk was Dr. Susan Cu-Uvin, a world-renowned HIV researcher and infectious diseases physician at Brown University. Dr. Cu-Uvin was originally from the Philippines, but she was recruited as a Brown faculty member after training at Brown as a fellow in the 1990s. She has had a long history of collaborative work with the University of the Philippines (UP). When I returned to the Philippines in 2008 after specialty and subspecialty training in the US, Dr. Cu-Uvin was already engaged in different training programs for UP Manila faculty, even as she did high-level cutting-edge work on HIV in women. Our work frequently intersected, and I have participated in some of the training grants she received, including the Brown International Advanced Research Institutes in 2012, where I came to Brown for a two-week intensive training program in HIV. This experience helped me design the research projects I eventually undertook. I ended up looking at the molecular epidemiology of HIV in the Philippines, which we eventually found played a major role in the increase in cases. The Paul J. Galkin Global Health Grand Rounds is an endowed lecture series that highlights collaborations between Brown faculty and their international collaborators, and Dr. Cu-Uvin thought the work we were doing was worthy of being presented.

This was my third time visiting Brown University. It is located in the city of Providence in Rhode Island. Rhode Island is the smallest state in the US, and was founded in 1636 as a haven for religious freedom. It has a long history of tolerance and was one of the 13 founding states. Famous Brown University alumni and professors include 11 Nobel Prize winners, as well as philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr. and actress Emma Watson. Aside from Brown University, another notable educational institution is the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), which is one of the top design schools in the world. Among their Filipino alumni is the late Carlos Celdran, who was a multidimensional artist and did innovative and thought-provoking tours of Manila.

The lecture started with a sumptuous Filipino dinner. Dr. Cu-Uvin spoke first, tracing her journey from the Philippines to Brown and showing the many collaborations that she enabled and fostered during her tenure. I was then asked to speak about my HIV work.

My talk was entitled “HIV Crisis in the Philippines: A Story of Advocacy, Molecular Detective Work, and Resilience.” In the early 2000s, there was not much HIV in the Philippines. It was described as “low and slow,” and it was a mystery why this was the case when our other sexually transmitted infection rates were similar to those of different countries around the region. While I was doing my infectious diseases fellowship at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, I was trained to treat HIV, but I did not think it was important since we (my wife and I) planned to return home after we completed our training. I instead decided to focus on tropical medicine, which I thought was more relevant to our country. Unfortunately, when we returned home and joined the Philippine General Hospital, I started to see an increasing number of HIV patients with opportunistic infections. These were mostly young men in their 20s, and they were dying from AIDS-related illnesses like cryptococcus meningitis, pneumocystis pneumonia, and disseminated tuberculosis. I immediately changed my focus from tropical medicine to HIV, and we started a media campaign to increase awareness.

We were able to raise money to purchase a CD4 machine for our HIV clinic, and we ramped up publicity on the surge of cases. In the meantime, I was wracking my brains as to what had changed such that cases would suddenly start rising just like that. When I was at Brown in 2011, I heard a lecture from Dr. Rami Kantor on how some HIV subtypes behaved differently from the usual HIV subtype B that is seen in developed countries. This caught my attention, and I found there was very limited data on HIV subtypes in the Philippines. Using our own laboratory funds and later on with grants from the Department of Science and Technology, we showed that the rise in cases was being fueled by a more aggressive and transmissible HIV subtype CRF01_AE that is more commonly seen in Thailand. Our work showed that the predominant Philippine subtype had changed from subtype B to CRF01_AE at the time the cases were rising, and this significantly drove transmission. We also did seminal work on HIV drug resistance, which influenced government policy in procuring more effective antiretroviral agents for Filipinos living with HIV.

Finally, we developed a portable HIV drug resistance test that is half the cost of conventional HIV drug resistance testing with much fewer technological requirements. This won the Innovation of the Year award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America Foundation in 2023 during IDWeek in Boston, US, and the test is slated for clinical validation in 2026 with funding from the Philippine Government. This test has the potential to transform the treatment of HIV globally and will better inform treatment decisions, as well as being useful in surveillance for emerging resistance. I ended the lecture by going back to one of my patients who is still alive today because of life-saving antiretroviral treatment. I emphasized the fact that at the end of the day, our successes and failures shouldn’t just translate to academic achievements and published papers but should have a real impact on the lives of our patients.

PHLPost suspends all mail to US

 By Manila Bulletin Newsroom

Published Sep 2, 2025 05:02 pm

The Philippine Postal Corp. (PHLPost) has temporarily suspended all mail and parcel services from the Philippines to the United States (US), effective Aug. 28, 2025.

The state-run postal company announced the suspension in an advisory, citing the US decision to halt its de minimis exemption for duty-free imports and implement new customs requirements.

PHLPost said the measure is intended to prevent potential service delays and inconvenience for customers.

The suspension covers all postal items to the US accepted as of Aug. 22, 2025. For customers with items already lodged, PHLPost stated they may request a retrieval and refund by submitting the necessary documents.

The corporation did not provide a timeline for when services would resume, noting that updates will be issued as they become available.

 

As the world fails on plastics, the Philippines must act

 

By Manila Bulletin

Published Aug 31, 2025 12:05 am

The world had a chance last week to take a major step toward solving the plastic pollution crisis—but failed. At the United Nations-led negotiations in Geneva for a global plastics treaty, nearly 200 countries could not agree on one of the most essential measures: a cap on plastic production.

This failure sends a grim message. As the world produces over 400 million tons of plastic annually, with projections of a 70 percent increase by 2040, global inaction shifts the burden onto individual countries—especially those already overwhelmed by plastic waste. For the Philippines, which has long suffered from the dual threat of plastic pollution and flooding, this should be a wake-up call.

Now more than ever, local solutions must step up where international agreements have stumbled. One of those solutions could be the proposed Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Act, filed in 2023, which the Department of Energy (DOE) is pushing anew amid recent devastating floods across Metro Manila. Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the bill—which has already passed the House and is awaiting Senate approval—could be a turning point, providing a regulatory framework for converting solid waste into energy.

The Philippines is at a critical crossroads. The “sachet economy,” driven by poverty and convenience, has made single-use plastic packaging—especially for food, toiletries, and household products—a dominant part of everyday life. Unfortunately, these plastics, especially flexible packaging, are virtually non-recyclable. They clog waterways, cause massive urban flooding, and increase public health risks, including the recent spike in leptospirosis cases reported by the Department of Health.

Without international pressure to reduce plastic production at the source, countries like the Philippines are left to manage a growing mountain of waste with inadequate infrastructure and inconsistent local policies. This is where the WTE law could help—not as a cure-all, but as a part of a broader strategy to deal with non-recyclable waste and reduce the volume of garbage choking our drainage systems.

Critics of waste-to-energy systems point to potential air pollution and toxic emissions. These are valid concerns and must be addressed with stringent environmental regulations and transparency. Done right, WTE offers a dual purpose: reducing the waste that contributes to flooding and generating renewable energy in the process.

But this approach must not replace or excuse more sustainable strategies. Recycling, though limited in effectiveness—only six percent of plastic globally gets recycled, according to the OECD—still plays a role. Reuse systems and alternative packaging materials must also be pursued aggressively. But as the global plastics treaty negotiations revealed, relying on recycling and reuse alone won’t solve a crisis fueled by ever-increasing plastic production.

At Geneva, even a watered-down draft treaty failed to win consensus. It omitted essential provisions like chemical disclosure, reuse mandates, and production caps. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: "I deeply regret that, despite earnest efforts, negotiations to reach an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, concluded without achieving a consensus."

Guterres' statement comes following high-level talks that failed to reach an agreement on a global treaty to combat plastic pollution due to disagreements over prioritizing a phase-out of plastics or enhancing waste management systems.

In the absence of global action, national governments must lead with a long-term vision which includes the reduction of plastic production, investing in truly sustainable alternatives, supporting waste workers, and building resilient cities.

With the rainy season worsening, plastic waste surging, and many flood control infrastructure found as substandard, or ghost projects, the country should chart a clearer path toward environmental survival.

PAGASA: Moon to turn blood red for 1 hour 22 minutes during September 8 eclipse

 

A total lunar eclipse will cast a deep red glow over the Moon in the early hours of September 8, 2025, as seen from across the Philippines. The celestial event will reach maximum eclipse at 2:12 a.m. (PAGASA)

By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz

Published Sep 1, 2025 01:12 pm

A total lunar eclipse will be visible across the Philippines in the early hours of Sept. 8, with the Moon expected to glow a deep red for about one hour and 22 minutes, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said.

The event will begin late on Sept. 7 at 11:27 p.m., when the Moon enters Earth’s penumbral shadow. The partial eclipse phase starts at 12:27 a.m. on Sept. 8, gradually darkening the Moon.

Totality, which is the period when the Moon is fully covered by Earth’s umbra and appears blood red, will last from 1:30 a.m. to 2:53 a.m. It spans one hour, 22 minutes, and 54 seconds.

The maximum eclipse will occur at 2:12 a.m.

PAGASA said the astronomical event will conclude at 4:57 a.m. when the Moon completely exits Earth’s penumbral shadow.

PAGASA’s Astronomical Observation and Time Service Unit chief Mario Raymundo explained that the reddish tint is caused by sunlight passing through Earth’s atmosphere, which casts a red glow on the Moon’s surface during the eclipse.

“This total lunar eclipse will last approximately one hour and 22 minutes, which is quite long for this type of event,” Raymundo said in an interview.

He added that the longest total lunar eclipse visible from the Philippines lasted one hour and 40 minutes, recorded in 1953.

Raymundo described the chances of clearly seeing this month’s eclipse as somewhat “suntok sa buwan” (a long shot), since it coincides with the southwest monsoon or “habagat” season, which often brings cloudy skies and rain.

Still, weather permitting, the total lunar eclipse will be visible across most parts of the country.

Unlike solar eclipses, total lunar eclipses are safe to watch without special equipment. While binoculars or a small telescope can enhance the view, they are not necessary.

The public is encouraged to find a dark area with a clear view of the sky to fully appreciate the celestial event.

Raymundo added that PAGASA will open its Astronomical Observatory in Quezon City to the public for eclipse viewing on the evening of Sept. 7.

The next total lunar eclipse visible from the Philippines is expected on March 3, 2026.

Ombudsman creates special panel of investigators to probe 'anomalous' flood control projects

The Office of the Ombudsman (OMB) has created a special panel of investigators to probe the reported anomalous flood control projects implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and local government units (LGUs). The panel will look into "anomalous flood control projects of the government, both local and national, and the alleged corrupt practices involved therein, including the misappropriation of public funds." Read more

Brushes with corruption

 

BY CIELITO F. HABITO

SEPTEMBER 2, 2025

Read Next

Grief without closure

I’m not ashamed to tell friends about the two times Meralco cut power to our house for lack of cash to pay for it, in the year after I left the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) in 1998, having completed eight years there. Our still young children then were traumatized by the darkness in our home even as the neighbors’ lights were on, and they still remember those incidents to this day. I had to swallow my pride and resort to borrowing money from a friend then to have our power restored.

That year was particularly hard as I left the government with no savings; the P200,000 I had in my bank account when I first joined Neda had been depleted. I had counted on my early retirement pension lump sum to tide us over until I had a regular income again, but a couple of nuisance cases that included my name—filed with (and later thrown out by) the Ombudsman—delayed its release by nearly a year. Knowing my situation then, a relative called me stupid (gago) to my face, chiding me for missing the chance to “make hay” while in the Cabinet. But such never entered my mind. On my very first day in office as Neda secretary on July 1, 1992, a long-lost friend showed up at my office unannounced, bearing a private message about a controversial telecoms project being closely evaluated by Neda at the time. He intimated that if we approve the project, “there’s something good in it for us.” He even had the temerity to ask me to endorse him to head the Philippine National Railways, which was dormant and not even operating then. Feeling insulted, I ushered him out of my office, and never heard from him again (that project failed to pass Neda’s scrutiny, by the way).

My next brush with corruption came when Neda, on instructions of then President Fidel Ramos, sought official endorsement from Congress for the newly crafted Medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 1993-1998. With my top officials in tow, I met with the rules committee of the House of Representatives, which lined up the agenda for plenary deliberations in the Lower House. It turned out to be a stomach-turning experience for me. As if their endorsement of the carefully crafted national development blueprint was a big personal favor, some lawmakers in the private meeting heavily hinted at a payoff for them to put the MTPDP on the House agenda. But one shed all pretenses and told us, tongue-in-cheek, that “if there’s a check coming, just make it out to my name to make it simple.” What we at Neda did instead was to inform them of pipeline projects lined up for their respective districts (which they could then claim some credit for). In cases where there were none, we helped the lawmakers identify worthy projects for their districts that we could then help include in the Medium-Term Public Investment Program that accompanied the MTPDP. But no payments.

Why are some very smart people so quiet?

Alva Reyna Soria Vital

Investigator and Writer (2008–present)

Why are some very smart people so quiet?

In general the most intelligent people tend to be more introspective. What I remember from these studies is that:

The most intelligent people tend to be less interested in common topics

They tend to enjoy silence and introspection more

By saying things that are not so common for other people, they tend to be isolated, so they soon get used to it and start entertaining themselves with something more interesting than talking to others.

The same study indicated that it is not possible to identify if they are naturally more quiet or introspective or if by presenting different thoughts, opinions and actions, they become the target of jokes, mockery and therefore gradually withdraw.

The study also indicated that it is not 100%, the truth is that I did not learn the percentages that were mentioned, but in general it was above 60% of those who have an IQ above average.