Should Baste Duterte get a free pass for ‘missing’ VP Sara’s ties to Gencorp?
Senator-judge Bong Go defends the Davao City mayor's decision to delegate signing powers, saying the younger Duterte is not the one on trial
Edition
Rappler
Tuesday, 29 September · 31 stories
Top stories
Baste Duterte arrives at Senate for VP Sara impeachment trial
Davao City Mayor Baste Duterte complies with the impeachment court's subpoena to take the witness stand at the trial of his sister
Nation
‘Strategic procedural pause’: Impeachment court suspends September 30 trial
Impeachment court Reginald Tongol explains the suspension was due to the trial being 'aggressively ahead of schedule'
Baste Duterte says Sara didn’t intervene for Gencorp | The wRap
Today’s headlines: Baste Duterte, Sara Duterte, EJ Obiena
COA finds ‘unverifiable’ beneficiaries in DepEd’s SHS voucher program
The dozens of unverifiable beneficiaries of the senior high school voucher program resulted in an overpayment of P938,000, according to state auditors
Jaime T. Cruz: The business partner of Sara, Baste, and Pulong Duterte
Businessman Jaime T. Cruz also had close ties with former president Rodrigo Duterte, who once offered him the post of PhilHealth president and CEO
How often have barangay, SK elections been postponed?
Rappler crunches the numbers and finds that both elections have been moved — either separately or jointly — at least 16 times since 1982
Impeachment court to prosecution: Present Sara Duterte bank records before Trillanes
Former senator Sonny Trillanes is among the prosecution's key witnesses in the Vice President's alleged unexplained wealth
Baste Duterte says Sara didn’t ask to favor Gencorp, intervene in procurement
The Davao City mayor also denies having personal knowledge of his sister's business interests
Impeachment court admonishes prosecution’s Tolosa over press briefing remarks
Tolosa says he disagrees, but will respect the impeachment court's decision
Baste Duterte claims no direct hand in Gencorp deals with Davao City
'Do you really believe that a head of procuring entity has no knowledge on the companies that bag government contracts with them?' prosecution spokesman Zia Alonto Adiong asks
Anthropic warns AI may pose ‘existential risks to humanity’ in IPO filing
Anthropic warns investors that its AI may exhibit 'self-preserving behaviors' including attempts to 'resist shutdown,' to 'conceal or manipulate information' and behavior 'resembling blackmail'
ICE detains Percy Lapid’s son in California
Mark Mabasa applied for asylum before new policies targeting asylum seekers were announced, and his uncle argues that he is working honestly to support his family
SPECIAL COVERAGE: Impeachment trial of Sara Duterte
Rappler brings live updates, analysis, and commentary from reporters and experts as the historic impeachment trial unfolds
Should Sara Duterte have listed all her guns in her SALNs?
Senator-judges couldn't care less about Vice President Sara Duterte's gun records, but prosecutors say they are just presenting a 'complete picture' of her true wealth
Business
Why everyone wants a piece of the Lopez group’s Energy Development Corp.
The Lopez group, through First Gen, bought Energy Development Corp. from the government in 2007 and has spent the 19 years since learning how deep the asset actually goes
No more VAT on system loss in electricity bills starting October
While the VAT removal is still welcome relief, expect savings to be modest as the much larger underlying system loss charge is unlikely to disappear from electricity bills anytime soon
World Bank: 4Ps a ‘far more effective’ program for reducing poverty
Rather than being merely the ayuda program critics sometimes portray it as, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program may actually have the 'strongest demonstrated poverty-reduction impact among major transfer programs,'…
[Ask the Tax Whiz] The BIR sent an audit notice. What now?
A fair audit requires cooperation from taxpayers and accountability from examiners
World
UK examines foreign state involvement in suspected airbase plot, releases suspects
Five men, all British nationals from London in their early 20s, were detained after a local farmer alerted police about white vans driving towards RAF Fairford, a British base housing US bombers that fly missions…
Trump, Xi ‘stalemate’ summit was a glitzy gift to China
Despite the lack of substantial agreements, the summit is viewed as a 'PR win' for China, showcasing their diplomatic leverage and allowing them to avoid making concessions on contentious issues like Taiwan and Iran
US, Iran separately talk with mediators in latest bid to end war
US President Trump indicates a willingness to continue talks despite previously rejecting Iran's proposal, while Iran awaits a definitive US response before deciding on its next steps
Technology
OpenAI shelves new AI model release over safety concerns
The Wall Street Journal reports that GPT-6.1 Astra shows higher levels of deception than its predecessor in internal testing, including efforts to obfuscate its activities
Anthropic warns AI may pose ‘existential risks to humanity’ in IPO filing
Anthropic warns investors that its AI may exhibit 'self-preserving behaviors' including attempts to 'resist shutdown,' to 'conceal or manipulate information' and behavior 'resembling blackmail'
Sports
Unmatched EJ Obiena shatters Asian Games record to defend throne
EJ Obiena delivers the Philippines' third gold medal in the 2026 Asian Games as he breaks his own record to repeat as men's pole vault champion
Victoria Bossong claims 800m bronze in Asian Games debut
The fastest in the heats, Victoria Bossong finishes third in the women's 800 final as she delivers the Philippines' second athletics medal in the 2026 Asian Games
PH nails best sepak takraw finish in Asian Games with women’s double silver
Jean Marie Sucalit, Abegail Sinogbuhan, and Nelly Jay Salon miss out on a sepak takraw gold in the 2026 Asian Games after a straight-sets loss to Vietnam in the women's double final
Opinion
[Kasalikasan] First for all the wrong reasons
Global Witness released its annual report on the state of the world’s environmental defenders, and the Philippines again recorded the most killings in Asia for the 13th straight year, with 12 cases
[Just Saying] Refocusing the impeachment
It is deeply frustrating to watch a vital constitutional mechanism get bogged down by what many perceive as criminal trial tactics and partisan delays
[Vantage Point] Philweb’s risky bet on JKS, and why it must put cards on the table
Philweb’s investment in JKS rests on a valuation that raises questions
[OPINION] I’m 73. And I went back to school.
I hope more older Filipinos return to classrooms. We need places where generations can meet — where experience encounters new knowledge, where assumptions can be challenged.
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