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LATEST COMMENTARY

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FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

3-minute read

WHY WINNING DOES NOT END A VOTE-BUYING CASE

If a candidate has already won and been proclaimed, can a vote-buying case still cost them the position? The Supreme Court’s latest announcement on two Candijay, Bohol candidates shows why the election result does not settle everything.

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5-minute read

HOW THE NEXT CHIEF JUSTICE IS CHOSEN

The Judicial and Bar Council has finished interviewing candidates to succeed Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, who is due to retire on November 6. GMA News reported the completed interviews on October 27. The interviews are one stage of a process that gives the President a choice, but also sets limits on who can be chosen and how the appointment is made.

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4-minute read

ABOUT COMPENSATION FOR WORK-RELATED HEAT ILLNESS

If someone becomes ill while working in extreme heat, the problem can continue after the shift ends: medical bills, missed work and uncertainty about where to ask for help. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced guidelines on October 23 for heat-illness claims under the existing Employees' Compensation Program (ECP).

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5-minute read

ABOUT BATO DELA ROSA’S ₱50-MILLION BOUNTY

The DILG announced a ₱50-million bounty for Senator Bato dela Rosa’s capture on October 23. The announcement came after months of talk about a possible reward—and days after Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said authorities knew dela Rosa was in Mindanao and were negotiating for his turnover.

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Afternoon6-minute read

ABOUT THE OVP’S 2027 BUDGET AFTER A 16-MINUTE SENATE HEARING

The Office of the Vice President’s proposed budget moved through a Senate panel today in 16 minutes. Vice President Sara Duterte was absent; her chief of staff answered for the office. Yesterday’s MCT explainer looked at parliamentary courtesy. Today’s question is what that short hearing actually did to the spending plan, and what it left for the Senate to examine.

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Afternoon6-minute read

ABOUT THE EDSA BUSWAY’S 2027 BUDGET GAP

The Department of Transportation is again asking Congress to fund the EDSA Busway. Its original ₱1.756 billion request received zero in the administration’s proposed 2027 National Expenditure Program. A House budget panel later inserted ₱75 million. Those two statements describe different stages of the same budget process. Neither tells us yet what Congress will finally approve.

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Afternoon7-minute read

ABOUT DECLARING AN AMBASSADOR PERSONA NON GRATA

Several lawmakers want Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan sent home. The Chinese Embassy has challenged them to follow through. That exchange leaves an ordinary reader with a reasonable question: if our own officials say an ambassador should leave, why is he still here?

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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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July 30, 2026 · 11:38 AM6-minute read

ABOUT THE SYSTEM-LOSS CHARGE

If consumers stop paying for system loss, who will shoulder the cost instead?

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. drew one of the loudest reactions during his State of the Nation Address after calling for the removal of the system-loss charge from consumers’ electric bills.

Most people probably had the same reaction.

If electricity never reached my house, why am I paying for it?

It’s a fair question.

But once you ask it, another question quickly follows.

If consumers stop paying for system loss, who will?

The electricity that disappeared inside the power grid does not suddenly reappear because Congress removes one line from your electric bill. Someone still pays for that lost electricity. The debate is really about who should shoulder the cost.

Before Congress starts changing the law, here are five things worth knowing.

1

CONSUMERS PAY TODAY BECAUSE THE LAW ALLOWS IT

The system-loss charge was not created by Meralco.

It exists because Congress passed laws allowing distribution utilities and electric cooperatives to recover part of their system losses from consumers.

The policy began with Republic Act No. 7832 in 1994. When Congress later passed the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, or EPIRA, in 2001, the practice continued under the country’s restructured power industry.

Here’s how the system works.

Congress passed the law. The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) decides how much system loss utilities may charge consumers. Utilities can then include only the approved amount in customers’ electric bills.

The idea behind the policy was simple. No power distribution system delivers every unit of electricity it receives. Some electricity is always lost as it travels through wires, transformers, and other equipment.

Lawmakers, however, also placed limits on how much utilities could recover from consumers.

That raises the question Congress now has to answer.

Should consumers continue paying for even those unavoidable technical losses, or should utilities shoulder the entire cost themselves?

WHAT TO WATCH

Should consumers continue paying for unavoidable technical losses, or should utilities shoulder the entire cost themselves?

2

WHAT IS SYSTEM LOSS?

Not every unit of electricity bought by a distribution utility reaches homes and businesses.

Some power is naturally lost as heat while moving through wires, transformers, substations, and other equipment. Engineers call these technical losses.

Other losses happen for reasons that are much harder to defend, including electricity theft, illegal connections, faulty meters, billing errors, poor maintenance, and aging equipment.

Here’s an easy example.

A utility buys 100 units of electricity from a supplier. By the time customers receive their bills, only 95 units appear on their meters. The utility still paid for all 100 units.

Under today’s rules, the ERC allows part of that difference, up to a certain limit, to be recovered from consumers.

If losses go beyond that limit, the excess is generally expected to be absorbed by the utility instead of being passed on to customers.

That’s an important difference.

One issue lawmakers may eventually have to settle is whether unavoidable technical losses should continue to be treated differently from losses caused by theft, weak maintenance, faulty equipment, or poor management.

WHAT TO WATCH

Whether lawmakers keep treating unavoidable technical losses differently from losses caused by theft, weak maintenance, faulty equipment, or poor management.

3

THE PRESIDENT HAS NOT REMOVED THE CHARGE YET

The President’s SONA did not abolish the system-loss charge.

It announced the direction he wants lawmakers to take.

That does not change the law overnight.

Both the House of Representatives and the Senate still have to debate and pass a bill before consumers see any change on their electric bills.

Several questions also remain unanswered.

Will every type of system loss disappear from the bill?

Will only certain charges be removed?

Will privately owned utilities and electric cooperatives follow the same rules?

Will the changes happen immediately or over several years?

Those answers are not in the SONA.

They will come from whatever bill Congress eventually approves.

WHAT TO WATCH

The actual bill approved by Congress and whether the changes apply equally to private utilities and electric cooperatives.

4

REMOVING THE CHARGE DOES NOT REMOVE THE COST

This is where the discussion becomes more difficult.

Even if the words “system loss” disappear from your monthly bill, electricity will still be lost somewhere in the distribution system.

Power will continue to be lost as it passes through equipment.

Electricity theft may still happen.

Old infrastructure will still need repairs and replacement.

Changing the label on the bill does not change those realities.

Meralco has long maintained that it does not earn from the system-loss charge because the money covers electricity that entered its distribution system but could no longer be billed to individual customers.

Whether people agree with that explanation or not, one practical question remains.

If consumers stop paying, who takes over the cost?

Utilities could absorb it themselves.

Government could help smaller electric cooperatives.

Congress could create another way of sharing the expense.

Or regulators could later allow utilities to recover some of the cost through a different charge.

That is why people should pay attention to more than just one line disappearing from the bill.

The important question is whether the cost actually disappears, or simply shows up somewhere else.

WHAT TO WATCH

Whether the cost truly disappears from consumers’ bills or returns through another charge.

5

THE BIGGER GOAL SHOULD BE REDUCING THE LOSSES

Lower electric bills would certainly help consumers.

But lower bills alone will not solve the actual problem if the same amount of electricity continues to be lost every year.

Old equipment still needs replacing.

Meters still need to be more accurate.

Electricity theft still needs stronger enforcement.

Power lines still need regular upgrades and maintenance.

If lawmakers want lasting reform, they should spend as much time reducing these losses as deciding who pays for them.

That could mean tighter limits, more inspections, stronger action against electricity theft, faster replacement of aging equipment, improved metering, and clear goals for reducing system loss over time.

Otherwise, the debate simply becomes about moving the bill from one pocket to another while the amount of electricity being lost barely changes.

WHAT TO WATCH

Whether the final law sets clear goals and deadlines for reducing system loss over time.

BOTTOM LINE

President Marcos raised a question many consumers have probably asked themselves. Why should people pay for electricity that never reached their homes? It is a reasonable question. But removing the system-loss charge is only the first part of the conversation. Congress still has to decide who should shoulder the cost instead, how smaller electric cooperatives can continue operating, and whether the new law will actually reduce system loss instead of merely transferring the expense somewhere else. When the final bill reaches Malacañang, those may be the questions that matter most.

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