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LATEST COMMENTARY

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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

7:23 AM5-minute read

ABOUT LINO CAYETANO AND THE CHANGE AT THE PCO

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced on October 11 that Lino Cayetano would replace Dave Gomez at the Presidential Communications Office. He said Gomez had been bypassed by the Commission on Appointments and that the change would be formalized when they returned from Singapore.

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6:10 PM4-minute read

ABOUT THE DISPUTE OVER CHANGING THE ORDER OF IMPEACHMENT WITNESSES

The argument at Thursday’s impeachment hearing was about which witness the prosecution could present next. It began with an absent lawyer and became a dispute over preparation and notice. Understanding the exchange helps explain why a courtroom can pause even when the parties, documents and another potential witness are already in the building.

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3:01 PM3-minute read

ABOUT MARK VILLAR’S MOVE TO THE SENATE MAJORITY

Senator Mark Villar has formally left the Senate minority and joined the majority. The October 8 move strengthens the bloc supporting the chamber’s leadership and gives Villar two significant positions. Its implications for Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial, however, require more than counting political allies.

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9:56 AM4-minute read

ABOUT THE MANAGER’S CHECKS AND THE QUESTIONS OVER SARA DUTERTE’S SALN

A bank balance can fall even when the value represented by the money has not disappeared. That distinction sits behind the prosecution’s questions about manager’s checks in Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial. To understand the October 7 testimony, we need to follow the instrument, the person entitled to its value and the declaration of assets for the relevant year.

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9:08 PM3-minute read

ABOUT WHAT COA’S REJECTION OF THE OVP APPEAL MEANS

COA has rejected the request to reconsider the ₱73.287-million disallowance involving the Office of the Vice President’s December 2022 confidential expenses. The October 5 resolution became public on October 7. Its significance is easier to understand when the amount, the audit finding and the available legal remedies are kept separate.

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7:47 AM3-minute read

ABOUT WHAT BANK SECRECY PROTECTS IN AN IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

The arguments over bank records in Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial involve several protections. The privacy of a peso deposit, the protection of a foreign-currency deposit, and the confidentiality of a report sent to the AMLC come from different rules. Understanding those differences helps explain what the court has allowed and what remains in dispute.

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8:43 AM8-minute read

ABOUT THE AMLC RECORDS IN SARA DUTERTE’S IMPEACHMENT TRIAL

₱4.4 billion is a figure that can dominate a conversation before anyone asks what it counts. AMLC Executive Director Ronel Buenaventura presented that approximate total in the Senate impeachment court on October 5, covering reported transactions involving Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Carpio. He also explained that a bank correction had reduced the earlier figure of ₱6.7 billion.

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6:44 PM5-minute read

ABOUT THE COINS.PH CASH-IN RESTRICTION AND WHAT USERS SHOULD CHECK

If you use Coins.ph to receive money or pay bills, a failed cash-in can disrupt plans for the day. Coins.ph has announced that some incoming peso services are temporarily unavailable following a BSP directive to improve its internal controls. Its advisory also identifies services that existing customers can still use.

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12:00 PM5-minute read

ABOUT THE PROPOSED RULES ON SECONDHAND PHONES

A secondhand phone can put a useful device within reach of someone who cannot afford a new one. The problem comes when the buyer has no clear information about where it came from, what condition it is in, or who will fix it if it fails.

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8:35 PM6-minute read

ABOUT THE SUPREME COURT’S DECISION ON THE IMPEACHMENT VOTE THRESHOLD

The Supreme Court dismissed three petitions on September 30 challenging how the Senate impeachment court would count the votes needed to convict Vice President Sara Duterte. The dismissal leaves the Senate’s September 23 ruling in place, but it needs to be read carefully. A case can be dismissed because it does not meet the requirements for the Court to hear it, without settling whether the challenged action is constitutional.

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6:12 AM6-minute read

ABOUT WHAT BASTE DUTERTE SHOULD HAVE CHECKED AS MAYOR

Davao City Mayor Sebastian “Baste” Duterte told the Senate impeachment court on September 29 that he had been unfamiliar with GenCorp Industries Inc. before it came up in the proceedings. He also said he did not know about Vice President Sara Duterte’s declared business interest in the company.

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10:45 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE OCTOBER WATER-RATE INCREASES

Metro Manila households served by Maynilad and Manila Water will see slightly higher water charges beginning October 1. The announced increases are small for many residential customers, but the figures vary by concessionaire and consumption level. That makes it easy to misunderstand a notice expressed only in centavos per cubic meter.

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7:21 AM6-minute read

ABOUT THE NOTE HANDED TO GIBO TEODORO IN SEOUL

Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. was answering questions at the Seoul Defense Dialogue on September 8 when a man handed him a note. He read it aloud, challenged its rejection of the 2016 South China Sea ruling and objected to being interrupted that way.

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9:55 AM8-minute read

ABOUT EL NIÑO AND PREPARING FOR LESS RAIN

It can be raining outside while PAGASA warns about El Niño. That can sound confusing when the immediate problem is a wet road or a flooded field. The two warnings describe different periods: the weather happening now and the rainfall conditions that may develop over the coming months.

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5:30 AM8-minute read

ABOUT THE NEW ARREST WARRANTS AGAINST ZALDY CO, MARTIN ROMUALDEZ AND TWO OTHERS

The Sandiganbayan has ordered the arrest of Zaldy Co, Martin Romualdez and two other accused in the plunder case filed on September 7. By Monday evening, authorities had served Romualdez's warrant and carried out booking procedures at Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan. His arrest is a confirmed development; it does not establish that his three co-accused are also in custody.

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3:15 PM8-minute read

ABOUT THE PLUNDER CASE AGAINST MARTIN ROMUALDEZ

The Office of the Ombudsman filed a plunder case against former House Speaker Martin Romualdez at the Sandiganbayan on September 7 over his alleged involvement in flood-control kickbacks. The accusations have now reached the court that will handle the criminal case. Romualdez denies wrongdoing and remains presumed innocent.

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1:18 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE NEW SWS POVERTY NUMBERS

Self-rated poverty and food poverty declined in June, but the figures also show how many Filipino families remain under pressure and why lower household budgets do not necessarily mean life became cheaper.

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2:02 PM11-minute read

ABOUT THE CHILDREN'S SOCIAL MEDIA SAFETY ACT

House Bill No. 9965 would bar children below 13 from having social media accounts, require parental consent for users aged 13 to 17, regulate platform algorithms, and impose fines reaching P50 million. It is still being deliberated in the House.

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12:02 PM7-minute read

ABOUT THE SEALED BIR BOX

Marcos authorized the BIR to comply with the Senate subpoena. That did not open the records to the public or prove the unexplained-wealth allegation.

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MCT READER PULSE · MCT-PULSE-2026-013

MCT READER SURVEY

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October 13, 2026 · 10:05 PM5-minute read

ABOUT THE RISE IN FAMILIES WHO SAY THEY ARE POOR

A poverty report can quickly turn into a political argument. One side points to progress. Another points to hardship. Before joining that argument, it helps to know what the numbers actually mean.

MCT Five Things cover showing rice, vegetables and coins beside the headline about families who say they are poor.

Here are five things to understand about the SWS report released tonight.

Reporting cutoff: October 13, 2026, 9:32 PM Philippine time.

1

IT ASKS FAMILIES HOW THEY SEE THEIR OWN SITUATION

SWS puts self-rated poverty at 55%, compared with 49% in June. That is a rise of six percentage points, not six percent.

The survey interviewed 1,500 adults face-to-face from September 21 to 27. Respondents assessed their family's situation. The national sampling margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.

WHAT TO WATCH

This is a survey estimate, not a headcount of every household. But asking people about their own circumstances is not a meaningless exercise either. It tells us something that a speech about economic progress cannot: how families describe the life they are living.

2

IT IS NOT THE SAME MEASURE AS OFFICIAL POVERTY

The Philippine Statistics Authority's income-based measure compares family income with the estimated cost of basic food and other basic needs. SWS asks for a family's own assessment.

Those questions are different. We should not paste the SWS percentage onto a PSA chart as though they were interchangeable. Nor should we compare different survey periods and claim they describe the same moment.

WHAT TO WATCH

A family can be above a statistical cutoff and still feel unable to cope. Think of a household facing rent, medicine and school expenses at the same time. That example explains why the two measures can differ; it is not proof that those expenses caused this survey's increase.

3

THE NATIONAL NUMBER HIDES DIFFERENT REGIONAL PICTURES

Self-rated poverty was highest in Mindanao at 64%, followed by the Visayas at 63%, Balance Luzon at 51%, and Metro Manila at 44%. Balance Luzon means Luzon outside Metro Manila.

But the highest rate and the biggest increase are not the same thing. Balance Luzon recorded the largest rise from June, at ten percentage points.

WHAT TO WATCH

That matters when officials talk about where help should go. A national average cannot show which town, neighborhood or household needs what. The next step should be a closer look, not an assumption that one answer will fit every place.

4

FOOD POVERTY NEEDS CAREFUL WORDING TOO

The share calling themselves food-poor rose from 36% to 44%. This question concerns the type of food families eat. It should not be rewritten as a claim that 44% went hungry.

The reported median monthly home budget that self-rated poor families said they needed to stop being poor was ₱15,000. That is a survey response, not a new government poverty line or advice that every family can live comfortably on that amount.

WHAT TO WATCH

The distinction matters. A number meant to describe people's answers should not become an excuse to tell them what their needs ought to be.

5

THE REPORT SHOWS A PROBLEM, NOT A COMPLETE EXPLANATION

The findings do not, by themselves, prove that one official, one policy or one price increase caused the change. Answering that takes other evidence about earnings, work, prices and household costs over the same period.

But that limit should not become a way to shrug off the result.

The questions for government are practical. Which families are being missed? What help reaches them? How long does it take? And what evidence will show whether that help made a difference?

Those are questions worth asking whether you support the administration or oppose it. Families' hardship should not count only when it helps someone's political argument.

WHAT TO WATCH

Look for official responses that name concrete steps, the people they aim to help and a way to check the results. Future surveys can show whether the change lasts. Income, employment and price data can help explain it.

BOTTOM LINE

We should be careful with the numbers without becoming indifferent to the people behind them. The point is not to win an argument over who gets to call a family poor. It is to understand why families are struggling and what would help them get through the month.

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