Author: WWC NEWSDESK

Philippines

Mas Mahal Na Ba ang Pagmamay-ari ng Sasakyan? Palace Still Reviewing Proposed MVUC Hike

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang has yet to make a final decision on a proposal that could significantly increase the fees paid by Filipino motorists, as the Department of Finance (DOF) pushes for an overhaul of the decades-old Motor Vehicle Users Charge (MVUC). Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the proposed MVUC increase remains under review and stressed that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has not yet taken a final position on the measure. The government, she said, must carefully wei

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Philippines

BARMM Polls at a Turning Point: Peace Adviser Issues Urgent Appeal to Candidates and Parties

COTABATO CITY, BARMM — With the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) preparing for its first regular parliamentary elections on September 14, Presidential Peace Adviser Mel Senen Sarmiento is urging candidates, political parties and other stakeholders to put peace, democratic participation and electoral integrity above political rivalry. Sarmiento, who heads the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU), has emphasized that the success of

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Business

Beer Was Declared as ‘Food’ and ‘Machinery’ in Singapore Tax Scheme — Then Customs Opened the Warehouse

SINGAPORE — Thousands of bottles of beer entered Singapore on paperwork that allegedly made them look like something entirely different. Food. Industrial machinery. Anything, investigators said, except the dutiable alcohol actually sitting inside the shipments. The scheme eventually led Singapore Customs to more than 35,000 bottles of duty-unpaid beer, a Singapore company used to store and distribute them, two men prosecuted in court—and a S$560,000 fine for the man authorities described as

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Entertainment

All Blacks Lose Savea and Two More Starters Before Baltimore — But One Match Can Still Deny South Africa the Series

JOHANNESBURG — The All Blacks were already facing a difficult assignment in Baltimore. Now they will have to attempt it without their captain — and two more men who started beside him in Johannesburg. New Zealand confirmed that Ardie Savea, Quinn Tupaea and Luke Jacobson will all miss the fourth and final Test against South Africa after suffering injuries during Saturday's bruising 29-24 loss at FNB Stadium. Savea dislocated his shoulder. Tupaea suffered damage to the medial collateral ligam

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Singapore

20-Year-Old SCDF NSF Dies Weeks After Becoming a Firefighter — But Police Still Haven’t Said What Happened in Marina Bay’s Training Yard

SINGAPORE — A 20-year-old Singapore Civil Defence Force full-time National Serviceman has died after he was found unconscious inside the training yard of Marina Bay Fire Station on Sunday morning, triggering a police investigation into what happened during one of his first weeks at an operational fire station. Lance Corporal Muhammad Nur Ilham Mohammed Iswadi was on duty when he was discovered unconscious at about 8.10 a.m. on Sept. 6, according to SCDF. Colleagues immediately began cardiopulm

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Politics

The Taliban Is Offering America Access to Afghanistan’s $1 Trillion Mineral Wealth — But the Biggest Risk May Be Who Controls It

KABUL — Five years after retaking Afghanistan as the United States ended its longest war, the Taliban is making Washington an extraordinary new proposition: Come back — not with soldiers, but with mining companies. Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has publicly welcomed American investment in Afghanistan's mining, infrastructure, agriculture and trade sectors, arguing that relations between Kabul and Washington should no longer be judged exclusively through the 20 years they spent fig

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Philippines

COA Flags P279 Million in Child Care Funds — But Can Agencies Explain Where the Money Went?

MANILA, Philippines — State auditors have flagged approximately P279 million in child care-related funds, raising fresh concerns over the monitoring, liquidation and accountability of government money intended to support early childhood care and development. The Commission on Audit's findings, reported by BusinessWorld on September 3, put renewed attention on how funds transferred to implementing agencies and local government units are tracked and eventually accounted for. The audit observation

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Philippines

Philippine Coast Guard Turns to Spain and Airbus for Its Next Fleet Upgrade — But No Purchase Has Been Announced Yet

MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard's modernization drive is opening another door in Europe. The PCG has explored possible cooperation with the Spanish government and Airbus Defence and Space as it seeks to strengthen the aircraft, ships and technology available for maritime surveillance, search and rescue and other Coast Guard missions, according to a Sept. 6 report by Manila Bulletin. The development comes as the Philippines rapidly expands one of the most consequential Coast Guard moderniza

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Philippines

‘Marcos’ Office Budget Is Being Slashed 64% to ₱10.15 Billion — But One ₱4.5-Billion Allocation Barely Changes”

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s office is preparing to operate next year with nearly two-thirds less money than it received in 2026. But there is a striking detail buried inside the dramatically smaller budget: the President’s confidential and intelligence funds are barely changing. The Office of the President is proposing a ₱10.156-billion budget for 2027, compared with approximately ₱28.029 billion under the 2026 General Appropriations Act. That translates to a reduct

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Philippines

Marcos Just Put 4Ps Students First for College Subsidies — But Free Tuition Was Never the Biggest Cost

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines already made tuition free for millions of students in public colleges. Now the government is confronting a harder problem: what happens when a student can enter college for free—but still cannot afford to stay there? President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed Republic Act No. 12325, a major expansion of the country's Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education framework that redirects government subsidies toward financially disadvantaged students and ext

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