Good day. Here are the stories of The Manila Times for Saturday, September 21, 2025.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Wilcon Depot, The Philippines’ leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer—your Trusted Building Partner.
READ: Massive anti-corruption protests kick off today
MORE than 30,000 people are expected to join the “Trillion Peso March” on Sunday, Sept. 21, amid growing outrage over widespread corruption in government-funded flood control projects. In a series of mass demonstrations organized by church groups, civil society organizations, labor unions and political coalitions, thousands of protesters will demand accountability and an end to widespread corruption. The main event, organizers said, would be held at the People Power Monument on EDSA, with different groups marching to converge there at 2 p.m.
READ: ‘No excuses: Co must explain 2025 budget insertions’
EMBATTLED Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Elizaldy Co should explain the insertions that he made in the 2025 budget when he returns to the Philippines, Navotas Rep. Toby Tiangco said Saturday. His statement came as Speaker Faustino Dy III ordered Co to return to the Philippines by revoking his travel authority to the United States, where he was supposed to be seeking medical treatment. It also followed a statement from the Palace Friday rebuking Vice President Sara Duterte for suggesting that they “kidnap” Co and bring him back to the country. Also on Saturday, the Senate allowed former Bulacan 1st District assistant engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez a strictly supervised 12-hour release from detention to retrieve documents he claims could support his explosive allegations linking lawmakers and other officials to anomalous flood control projects.
READ: P60B excess funds to be returned to PhilHealth
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Saturday announced that 60 billion pesos in excess funds that were transferred from the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to the national treasury would be returned to the state-run health insurer to expand its services. The President made the announcement during a visit to the Dr. Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, as part of his inspection of the Zero Balance Billing program, which eliminates out-of-pocket expenses for PhilHealth members receiving medical services in public hospitals. In his remarks, Marcos said the funds would be used to expand services and strengthen the state insurer’s operations.
READ: NDRRMC raises red alert as Nando approaches
THE National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has raised its alert status from “blue” to “red” to provide immediate emergency response as Nando intensified into a typhoon over the Philippine Sea. In an advisory released on Saturday, the NDRRMC said it issued Memorandum 245, categorizing the emergency condition under “red alert.” A red alert is the highest status of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Operations Center (NDRRMOC), activated to address an ongoing or imminent emergency. It ensures full staffing of response agencies and immediate interagency coordination. The red alert provides full response agency staffing at the NDRRMOC and allows immediate interagency coordination.
BUSINESS: There’s money in agri
YOUNG farmers like Edwin Gonzales Jr. do not agree with the perception that there is no money in agri. Gonzales is the owner of Coco Chill enterprise in Norala, South Cotabato. In his interview with the Philippine News Agency (PNA), he shared how the agricultural sector provides the youth with profitable and promising opportunities through the capacitating efforts of the Department of Agriculture (DA). Gonzales, who grew up in a family of farmers in the Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos) region and is currently taking up a degree in agriculture, embraced the sector at its core as he made a bold move to launch a business startup in 2023. Although coconut trees and their by-products are considered competitive products in the Philippines, Gonzales’ initial product lineups failed to secure recognition from other business pitches. A series of local training and product tweaks, however, resulted in the launch of their Coco Chill enterprise, a pasteurized coconut sap juice, which won in the DA’s Young Farmers’ Challenge (YFC) in 2024, granting him more than 500,000 pesos worth of financial support. Gonzales cited how crucial it is for poor families like them to be backed by the government.
SPORTS: Obiena to defend home court at World Challenge
FILIPINO pole vault ace Ernest John ‘EJ’ Obiena looks to defend home court at the Atletang Ayala World Pole Vault Challenge at the Ayala Triangle in Makati on Sunday. The competition kicks off at 2:30 p.m. This is the second time that Obiena is defending home turf since his 2019 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games conquest here in Manila. As for a standalone World Athletics-sanctioned pole vault event competing against some of the best in the world, this is the first home defense for Obiena. World’s best Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis of Sweden isn’t competing but world no. 7 Obiena still takes on a competitive field that includes no. 5 Ersu Sasma of Turkey, no. 6 Menno Vloon of the Netherlands, no. 12 Thibaut Collet of France, and no. 13 Ben Broeders of Belgium. World no. 14 Austin Miller of the US, no. 15 Piotr Lisek of Poland, world no. 16 Oleg Zernikel of Germany, and no. 23 Matt Ludwig of the United States complete the 9-man field. Obiena stressed the need for him to carry himself to a higher level in a rather bad 2025 season, which saw him miss the podium several times.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Marlen Ronquillo is today’s front page columnist, as he talks about the “brutal wages” of corruption.
Today’s editorial says someone needs to pay on the flood control anomalies in the country. Read the full version in the paper’s opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.
For more news and information, read The Manila Times on print, subscribe to its digital edition or log on to www.manilatimes.net. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp, and LinkedIn; and be part of our communities on Viber, Telegram, and Mastodon.
