30+ min ago (872+ words) ON TOP. The NU Pep Squad completes a historic UAAP title romp. MANILA, Philippines " "Your UAAP Cheerdance Competition champion" the NU Pep Squad!" Since 2013, that phrase has been bellowed out not once, not twice, but nine different times. Yet, the status quo had not always been this way. When the UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe won its record-setting eighth CDC title in 2006, NU already had nine " no, not titles, nor podium finishes, but nine straight last-place crash-outs, eventually ballooning to a dubious, likely unbreakable record of 12 consecutive bottom-ranked efforts. By 2012 in UAAP Season 75, the UP Pep Squad had caught up to UST with a record eighth championship of its own, capping off a three-peat run from 2010. Lost in the rightfully royal revelry of a new cheerdance dynasty, however, was a curious little detail. There it was, little league laughingstock NU Pep,…...

2+ hour, 7+ min ago (281+ words) ANTI-GRAFT COURT. The Sandiganbayan in Quezon City, June 30, 2018. MANILA, Philippines " The Office of the Ombudsman has filed charges with the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan against a former Cebu City administrator and 10 other officials for malversation of public funds amounting to P239.73 million and one count of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. The officials, including former administrator Floro Casas Jr., were accused of approving inflated garbage disposal bills, leading to overpayments of more than P239.7 million. The city government allegedly paid P1,800 per ton, three times the contracted rate of P600 per ton. The cases, approved by former acting ombudsman Dante Vargas on October 6 following a recommendation from Graft Investigation and Prosecution Officer Carla Chaves-Gonzaga, were raffled to the Sandiganbayan's 6th and 1st divisions on Friday, November 28. Prosecutors asked the court to set bail at P90,000 each for all accused in the graft case, while recommending no…...

2+ hour, 14+ min ago (1112+ words) RESIGN. Filipinos shout and raise placards during an anti-corruption protest over widespread corruption allegations linked to government infrastructure projects, on Bonifacio Day in Manila on November 30, 2025. MANILA, Philippines " The call was clear in Luneta on Sunday, November 30: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte should resign. It was the dominant call of the giant posters and the speeches on stage, all of which almost did not happen because of a police blockade. Overnight before Sunday, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) announced that the protesters cannot mount a rally in Luneta without a permit. Rally organizers led by the progressive group Bayan insisted they have secured the clearance from the office of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, which later dribbled the jurisdiction to the MMDA and the National Parks Development Committee (NPDC). "Ano ang nangyari kagabi biglang may…...

4+ hour ago (717+ words) MOURNING. People paste sticky notes with well-wishes for those affected by the deadly fire at the Wang Fuk Court housing complex, in'Tai'Po, Hong Kong on November 30, 2025. Lam Yik/Reuters More than a thousand people turned out on Sunday, November 30, to pay tribute to the victims of Hong Kong's deadliest fire in more than 75 years, as Beijing warned it would use a national security law to crack down on any "anti-China" protest in the wake of the fire. The cause of the blaze, which killed 128 people and left 150 still missing at a high-rise apartment complex, remains under investigation, amid public anger and dismay over missed fire risk warnings and evidence of unsafe construction practices. Mourners waited in a queue stretching for more than a kilometre along the banks of a canal near the burnt-out Wang Fuk Court housing complex to lay…...

6+ hour, 8+ min ago (401+ words) POWER. Ateneo discus thrower Russel Ricaforte in action during the UAAP athletics competition. MANILA, Philippines " Earlier this year, Ateneo's Russel Ricaforte made headlines after the collegiate star broke a 34-year-old national discus throw record, tallying a 54.14 meter heave during the "Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association (PATAFA) weekly relays back in August." The record of 52.10 meters"was previously held by Fidel Repizo, dating back all the way to 1991 during the 16th Southeast Asian Games hosted by the Philippines. "During that moment, I knew I could break it. It was just a matter of whether I could execute it mentally," he shared. "After I did it, it was really fulfilling and an unbelievable feeling, like I was dreaming." In his final UAAP outing this November, Ricaforte only further cemented his legacy, recording a 52.62-meter discus throw to set a new UAAP record…...

6+ hour, 53+ min ago (1281+ words) MANILA, Philippines " Pursed lips, a soft wince, and that familiar asim (sourness) that wakes up the palate. We all know the experience of suka (vinegar). As Filipinos, we love our vinegar: it's that sour kick that contrasts our richer, meatier dishes, and the brightness to our kinilaws and ensaladas. Not only is it the best partner to dried fish, but it is the savory-sour foundation of our adobo, and more. And this love isn't new. "Vinegar has been around since pre-colonial times," culinary consultant and chef Bettina Arguelles told audiences at November's Terra Madre Asia Pacific Festival, the Asia Pacific region's biggest sustainable gastronomy event, held in Bacolod for the first time. Because of our tropical climate, she said, our ancestors relied heavily on vinegar, salt, and other souring agents to season and preserve food while traveling or working the…...

12+ hour, 27+ min ago (770+ words) SYMBOL OF PEACE. Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David holds a cage with a dove, a symbol of peace, during the Trillion Peso March at the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City, November 30, 2025. MANILA, Philippines " "What's next?" The resignation call is one key difference between the two major protests in Metro Manila on Sunday, November 30, the 162nd anniversary of Filipino hero Andres Bonifacio's birth. It is also the reason why Metro Manila protesters did not converge at EDSA as they did last September 21, the first Trillion Peso March that drew hundreds of thousands of protesters." On Sunday, at the EDSA People Power Monument in Quezon City, protesters sought to hold both Marcos and Duterte, as well as their allies, accountable for systemic injustice. At Luneta in Manila, protesters called for the resignation of both Marcos and Duterte. "Why are we here at…...

12+ hour, 48+ min ago (249+ words) Calls to jail the corrupt are fast morphing into calls for a transitional government to be established to undertake wholesale reforms of government and politics. But is a transitional government legitimate? Is it consistent with the Constitution? Importantly, La Vi'a underlines that a transitional government is not a civilian-military junta which would subvert the Constitution. Rather, it still takes the Constitution as starting point; it departs from the strict letter of the constitution but does not throw it out entirely. So far so good, but how can this work in the real world? The acting president will have to be onboard plans for a transitional government. Otherwise, under the constitution, he will simply call for a snap election without undertaking any constitutional or legal changes. Additionally, the acting president will still need the support of Congress to enact constitutional and…...

13+ hour, 14+ min ago (668+ words) The flood control corruption scandal has gripped the entire nation " prompting a series of mass protests, calls for accountability, and collective anger among the Filipino people." It sparked an outrage like no other, and with good reason. When public officials deceive the very people they're supposed to serve, it would really only be a matter of time before it would catch up to them. Until then, the rage persists, and will naturally become a part of the mundane." Chants and symbols from demonstrations have turned into everyday sayings and icons that have made their way into music events, art markets, and even the clothes we wear." Just look at Identity Apparel, a clothing brand whose socks and t-shirts have turned into subtle calls for action." "POV: You can't [rally at] EDSA for fear of being deported, but you can show…...

13+ hour, 58+ min ago (695+ words) ANTI-BBM. Supporters of former president Rodrigo Duterte march along CM Recto Avenue in Manila to call for the resignation of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, on November 30, 2025. MANILA, Philippines " Just a few minutes" walk from the Mendiola Peace Arch, the message was unmistakable, whether from pro- or anti-Duterte groups: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. should resign. The plea for Marcos to step down is a major point of discord among various opposition groups rallying against corruption on Sunday, November 30, which was why separate protests were held in two major locations in the metropolis " one in Manila area, and another along the historic EDSA." In the Philippine capital, two major groups traversed Recto Avenue but on different time slots: leftist groups who urge both President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte to resign, and pro-Duterte supporters whose call for accountability spares the second…...