HANOI — Vietnam and the European Union said on Thursday they elevated diplomatic relations, as both sides seek to expand international partnerships amid global disruptions.
The largely diplomatic move entails no binding commitments but carries political weight at a time when the EU and Vietnam are seeking to deepen international ties as they both face up to higher levies on their exports to the United States.
The upgrade is “a historical milestone underlining the great achievements that the two sides have made,” Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong said at the start of a meeting in Hanoi with European Council President Antonio Costa.
A free trade agreement between Vietnam and the 27-country EU entered into force in 2020.
Mr. Costa, who arrived in Hanoi after the EU struck a major trade deal with India on Tuesday, said the upgraded partnership “highlights the importance we attach to the region and to Vietnam’s growing role”.
“At a moment when the international rules-based order is under threat from multiple sides, we need to start to stand side by side as reliable and predictable partners,” Mr. Costa added.
The elevation of ties to Vietnam’s highest level, the same as the United States, China, and Russia, usually involves more frequent high-level meetings.
It is also expected to generate a stronger partnership, according to a joint statement adopted on Thursday, which says the two sides will explore and deepen cooperation in multiple sectors, including defense, critical minerals, semiconductors, transport and “trusted communications infrastructure”, confirming a Reuters report on Wednesday.
Mr. Costa acknowledged different views with Vietnam, a long-time Russian partner, over the war in Ukraine and human rights.
But he added that the two countries agree on their support of multilateralism and “the principles of independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty.” — Reuters
THE Chang’e 6 lunar probe and the Long March-5 Y8 carrier rocket combination sit atop the launch pad at the Wenchang Space Launch Site in Hainan province, China, May 3, 2024. — REUTERS
BEIJING — China’s main space contractor vowed to develop space tourism in the next five years, state media reported on Thursday, as Beijing revs up its commercial spaceflight and deep space exploration ambitions amid a technology race with the US.
State-owned China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) said it would “achieve the flight operation of suborbital space tourism and gradually develop orbital space tourism,” as well as “build a gigawatt-level space digital intelligence infrastructure”, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
China and the US are competing as they look to turn space exploration into a commercially viable business similar to civil aviation, as well as becoming the first to exploit the military and strategic advantages of space dominance. CASC has vowed to transform China into a “world-leading space power” by 2045.
Beijing’s key bottleneck so far is its failure to complete a reusable rocket test. US rival SpaceX’s Falcon 9 reusable rocket has allowed its subsidiary Starlink to achieve a near-monopoly on low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites and it is also used for orbital space tourism.
Reusability is crucial to lowering the costs of rocket launches and making it cheaper to send satellites into space. China achieved a record 93 space launches last year, according to official announcements, buoyed by its rapidly maturing commercial spaceflight startups.
However, China has repeatedly described SpaceX’s monopoly on LEO satellites as a national security risk and is launching its own satellite constellations, which it hopes will number in the tens of thousands within the next decades.
In late December, Chinese entities submitted filings with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) laying out plans to put about 200,000 satellites in orbit over the next 14 years. Two mega-constellations account for the vast majority, and the move would strategically reserve suborbital slots and frequencies for Beijing.
CASC’s plans were announced after China inaugurated its first School of Interstellar Navigation housed in the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Tuesday, aiming to foster the next generation of space talent in frontier fields including interstellar propulsion and deep space navigation.
The new institution signals China’s ambitions to strategically transition from near-Earth orbit operations to deep space exploration, and will support China’s planned lunar research station and efforts in detecting planets outside our solar system, according to a Xinhua report on the inauguration.
“The next 10 to 20 years will be a window for leapfrog development in China’s interstellar navigation field. Original innovation in basic research and technological breakthroughs will reshape the pattern of deep space exploration,” Xinhua wrote.
Thursday’s CCTV report said CASC would also focus on breakthroughs in key technologies such as small celestial resource exploration and intelligent independent mining and step up monitoring of space debris and the formulation of international space traffic management rules.
China’s Chang’e-6 lunar probe was the first spacecraft to bring back samples from the far side of the moon in 2024, and Beijing is actively setting international standards for spaceflight and space infrastructure to establish itself as a dominant space power.
The US faces intense competition this decade from China in its effort to return astronauts to the moon, where no humans have gone since the final US Apollo mission in 1972. — Reuters
Colorized transmission electron micrograph of mature extracellular Nipah virus particles (blue) near the periphery of an infected VERO cell (purple). — NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES (NIAID)
LAHORE/HANOI — Authorities in Pakistan have ordered enhanced screening of people entering the country for signs of infections of the deadly Nipah virus after India confirmed two cases, adding to the number of Asian countries stepping up controls.
Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam have also tightened screening at airports.
The Nipah virus can cause fever and brain inflammation and has a high mortality rate. There is also no vaccine. But transmission from person to person is not easy and typically requires prolonged contact with an infected individual.
“It has become imperative to strengthen preventative and surveillance measures at Pakistan’s borders,” the Border Health Services department said in a statement.
“All travelers shall undergo thermal screening and clinical assessment at the Point of Entry,” which includes seaports, land borders and airports, the department added.
The agency said travelers would need to provide transit history for the preceding 21-day period to check whether they had been through “Nipah-affected or high-risk regions”.
There are no direct flights between Pakistan and India and travel between the two countries is extremely limited, particularly since their worst fighting in decades in May last year.
In Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital’s health department on Wednesday also ordered the screening of incoming passengers at Noi Bai airport, particularly those arriving from India and the eastern state of West Bengal, where the two health workers were confirmed to have the virus in late December.
Passengers will be checked with body temperature scanners to detect suspected cases. “This allows for timely isolation, epidemiological investigation,” the department said in a statement.
That follows measures by authorities in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s largest city, who said they had tightened health controls at international border crossings.
India’s health ministry said this week that authorities have identified and traced 196 contacts linked to the two cases with none showing symptoms and all testing negative for the virus.
Nipah is a rare viral infection that spreads largely from infected animals, mainly fruit bats, to humans. It can be asymptomatic but it is often very dangerous, with a case fatality rate of 40% to 75%, depending on the local healthcare system’s capacity for detection and management, according to the World Health Organization.
The virus was first identified just over 25 years ago during an outbreak among pig farmers in Malaysia and Singapore, although scientists believe it has circulated in flying foxes, or fruit bats, for thousands of years.
The WHO classifies Nipah as a priority pathogen. India regularly reports sporadic infections, particularly in the southern state of Kerala, regarded as one of the world’s highest-risk regions for Nipah.
As of December 2025, there have been 750 confirmed Nipah infections globally, with 415 deaths, according to the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, which is funding a vaccine trial to help stop Nipah. — Reuters
BRITAIN’S PRIME MINISTER
KEIR STARMER — POOL VIA REUTERS
BEIJING — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday that he wanted to build a “sophisticated relationship” with Beijing to boost growth and security, signaling a reset after years of strained ties.
On the most important day of his four-day visit to China, the first by a British prime minister in eight years, Mr. Starmer held an 80-minute summit with Mr. Xi at the Great Hall of the People before they lunched together. He will later meet Premier Li Qiang.
Mr. Starmer, whose center-left Labor Party government has struggled to deliver the growth it promised, has made improving relations with the world’s second-largest economy a priority, despite lingering misgivings about espionage and human rights.
“China is a vital player on the global stage, and it’s vital that we build a more sophisticated relationship where we can identify opportunities to collaborate, but of course, also allow a meaningful dialogue on areas where we disagree,” Mr. Starmer told Mr. Xi at the start of their meeting.
Mr. Xi said ties with Britain had gone through “twists and turns” that did not serve the interests of either country and that China stood ready to develop a long-term strategic partnership.
“We can deliver a result that can withstand the test of history,” the Chinese leader said, flanked by his top ministers.
Mr. Starmer is the latest Western leader to engage in a flurry of diplomacy with China, as nations hedge against unpredictability from the United States under President Donald Trump.
Mr. Trump’s on-off threats of trade tariffs and pledges to grab control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, have rankled long-standing allies like Britain.
Mr. Starmer’s visit immediately follows that of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who signed an economic deal with Beijing to tear down trade barriers, drawing Mr. Trump’s ire.
Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese studies at King’s College London, said he expected a number of deals between Britain and China would be announced to show how their relationship has improved. Mr. Starmer is being accompanied by more than 50 business leaders, another signal that he is seeking economic wins.
TACKLING MIGRANT SMUGGLING GANGS Mr. Starmer has adopted a new policy of engagement with China after ties deteriorated for years under previous Conservative governments, when London curbed some Chinese investment over national security worries and expressed concern over a crackdown on political freedoms in Hong Kong.
“I made the promise 18 months ago, when we were elected into government, that I would make Britain face outwards again,” Mr. Starmer told Mr. Xi.
“Because, as we all know, events abroad affect everything that happens back in our home countries, to prices on the supermarket shelves to how secure we feel.”
Kemi Badenoch, the leader of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party, said on Wednesday she would not have gone to China because of the security risks the country poses.
British security services have said China routinely spies on the government. China has denied the claims.
In a sign of how the countries can work together, Downing Street said Mr. Starmer and Mr. Xi would announce that Britain and China would jointly tackle gangs involved in trafficking illegal migrants.
The deal will focus on reducing the use of Chinese-made engines for small boats that transport people across Europe to claim asylum.
British and Chinese officials will share intelligence to identify smugglers’ supply routes and work with Chinese manufacturers to prevent legitimate businesses from being exploited by organized crime, Downing Street said.
Mr. Starmer told reporters on the airplane to China that he would “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with Mr. Xi, when asked if he would bring up the case of Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media tycoon and British citizen who was convicted in December of national security crimes.
After arriving late Wednesday, Mr. Starmer dined at a restaurant in the capital known for its mushroom-laden dishes that also hosted former US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during her 2023 visit.
He practiced pronouncing the Chinese word for thank you – ‘xie xie’ – with restaurant staff as he posed for photographs, a video posted on Weibo showed. — Reuters
Evia, the premium arts district of Villar City, is alive with culture, dining, shopping, and vibrant community experiences.
There’s no doubt that Metro South is on the cusp of growth. What remains to be seen, however, is whether the region is prepared to manage that expected expansion effectively.
One answer to that challenge is already beginning to take shape in Villar City. Envisioned as the new center of gravity of Metro South, this 3,500-hectare megacity has been designed as a network of interconnected districts, proactively absorbing growth, easing pressure on surrounding areas, and laying the groundwork for the region’s next stage of development.
Improving connectivity
One of the most immediate challenges of Metro South’s growth is congestion. As population and commercial activity increase, older road networks struggle to keep pace, this slowing movement, raising logistics costs, and reducing overall productivity.
Villar City addresses this upstream. Its integrated road network, anchored by direct connections to Daang Hari Road and the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX), was put in place early. Major thoroughfares such as Villar Avenue, supported by secondary roads, provide alternative routes and new circulation patterns across the region.
The effect extends beyond the development itself. By offering additional access points and dispersing traffic, Villar City helps reduce strain on existing corridors, making movement across southern Metro Manila and Cavite more efficient as growth continues.
Creating new centers of economic gravity
Emporia is Villar City’s global trade and business district, designed to drive commerce, enterprise, and economic growth.
Metro South has long functioned as a residential extension of Metro Manila, with employment and commercial activity heavily concentrated elsewhere.
Villar City is now helping decentralize that dynamic growth.
Instead of a single central business district, the city is organized into multiple districts that are being developed simultaneously, each with its own distinct character and strengths.
Evia, for example, strengthens the area’s cultural and lifestyle economy, driving foot traffic, tourism, and service-sector activity. Emporia, with its focus on commerce and trade, provides conducive spaces for enterprises that also get to benefit from regional connectivity without the high costs of traditional urban cores.
University Town is a future-ready academic district in Villar City dedicated to shaping tomorrow’s leaders through learning and innovation.
University Town adds a longer term economic layer. Anchored by the University of the Philippines Dasmariñas Campus, it attracts students, researchers, and professionals, thus laying groundwork for innovation-led industries and a more skilled regional workforce.
NOMO, as a commercial garden district, meanwhile supports a growing preference for mixed-use, lower-density environments that appeal to both businesses and residents seeking balance between work and quality of life.
Touted as Villar City’s garden commercial district, NOMO is thoughtfully built for everyday life, connection, and convenience.
Collectively, these districts help generate quality jobs as well as provide services and opportunities closer to where people live. It ensures ease of access and reduces commute dependency, all while strengthening Metro South’s internal economy.
Building the social and civic backbone early
Regional readiness is not only about roads and offices. It also depends on whether places can support community life at scale.
Villar City introduces civic, cultural, and recreational spaces early in its development cycle through parks, lifestyle destinations, event venues, and public gathering areas that allow communities to form before density peaks. These spaces encourage repeat visits, local spending, and long-term attachment to places.
The Villar City Golf Course is a championship course rising at the heart of the city, offering a premier leisure and sporting destination.
Planned features within Villar City include a golf course, convention and events spaces, pocket gardens, and large public parks. Among its most significant upcoming projects is The Stadium at Villar City, a 30,000-sq.m. facility designed to host sports training, competitions, and major community events.
The Stadium at Villar City is a world-class destination designed for sports, entertainment, and shared city moments.
Preparing for growth
By investing early in connectivity, diversifying economic districts, and establishing civic infrastructure ahead of demand, Villar City helps ensure that any upcoming expansion will not overwhelm the region’s capacity to function.
Indeed, Villar City stands as a model for how large-scale developments can create the right opportunities, absorb and stabilize expansion, and give Metro South that conducive space to grow in a more resilient and sustainable way.
About Villar City
Villar City is a 3,500-hectare master-planned megacity in Metro South, integrating communities, business districts, lifestyle centers, and green spaces into one connected urban destination. It is the flagship development of Villar Land, together with Globale and Lakefront.
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NVIDIA, Amazon, and Microsoft are in talks to invest up to $60 billion in OpenAI, The Information reported on Wednesday.
Nvidia, an existing investor whose chips power OpenAI’s AI models, is in talks to invest up to $30 billion, The Information said, citing a person with knowledge of the situation.
Microsoft, a longstanding backer, is in talks to invest less than $10 billion, the report said. It added that Amazon, which would be a new investor, is in discussions to invest significantly more than $10 billion, potentially even more than $20 billion.
OpenAI is close to receiving term sheets, or an investment commitment, from these firms, the report said.
Amazon and Microsoft declined to comment, while Nvidia and OpenAI did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment outside regular business hours.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
Amazon’s investment could depend on separate negotiations, including a possible expansion of OpenAI’s cloud server rental deal with Amazon and a commercial agreement for OpenAI to sell its products, such as enterprise ChatGPT subscriptions, to Amazon, The Information said.
This follows reports from earlier this week that said that SoftBank Group is in talks to invest as much as an additional $30 billion in OpenAI.
OpenAI is grappling with rising costs to train and run its AI models as competition from Alphabet’s Google heats up. — Reuters
HMO leader continues to expand the ripple of care to employees, members, partners
Leading HMO provider Intellicare reinforces its longstanding commitment to Leading the Ripple of Care, a philosophy rooted in gratitude, performance, and purposeful growth, as it marks 30 years in healthcare management and advances its vision to 2026.
Intellicare commemorated this milestone in a recent Thanksgiving event with the theme Pearls of Celebration at the SMX Convention Center Manila, bringing together employees and steadfast clients and long-time partners, including employee health care benefit administrators and intermediaries, to recognize the shared efforts that have shaped the organization over the years.
“As we gather to celebrate Intellicare’s 30th anniversary, I am filled with a quiet sense of reflection and an overwhelming sense of honor. ‘Leading the Ripples of Care,’ beautifully captures who we are at our core. Because at Intellicare, every act of service creates a ripple that reaches families, communities, and lives far beyond what we witness in a single moment,” said Intellicare Executive Vice-President Audrey Gallardo.
Featuring performances, announcements, and awards, the gathering reflected Intellicare’s three-decade culture of care, one that begins internally, extends to valued partners, providers, members, and eventually to the greater whole of the Philippine healthcare landscape.
“Intellicare’s vision is rooted in a dream embedded in our hearts 30 years ago, carried individually and collectively through challenges, and steadfastly sustained through every high water and storm. With care at our core, we aim to lead the ripple, to have it grow further and be felt deeper,” said Intellicare Chairman Mario Silos.
Robust industry performance
Intellicare demonstrated its dedication to reliable healthcare management following its robust third-quarter performance based on the Insurance Commission’s (IC) 2025 Third Quarter HMO Report. The company recorded a net income of PHP 715 million, the highest among HMOs in the said period. Together with its sister company, Avega Managed Care, Inc., Intellicare accounted for approximately 39% of the industry’s net income for the quarter.
While the company’s numbers have been positive, Intellicare emphasizes that its performance has been rooted in care and humanity.
“Healthcare only happens when people choose to care consistently, ethically, and courageously. We may measure our progress in numbers — lives served, clinics built, teams grown — but our true impact lives in moments: relief after uncertainty, recovery after illness, dignity restored, hope renewed,” said Intellicare President Jeremy Matti.
He ends it with a promise: “Intellicare will continue to lead with integrity, resilience, and heart.”
From L-R: Intellicare President Jeremy Matti, Executive Vice-President Audrey Gallardo, and Intellicare Group Chairman Mario Silos joined by Avega President Norman Amora
Expanding the Ripple of Care
Looking ahead, Intellicare seeks to deliver digital enhancements to the AGORA App as the primary gateway for member services, wider use of electronic RCS (eRCS Express) to simplify referrals and requests for consultations and procedures, as well as improvements to customer service lines through better feedback systems and tools.
The company is also expanding access through Intellicare Locale, a suite of HMO programs designed for budget-conscious MSMEs in regional growth centers.
In addition, Intellicare is deepening the integration of Economic, Environmental, Social, and Governance (EESG) pillars across its operations, from mindful sourcing and support for local suppliers to encouraging sustainable everyday practices among employees.
To know more about Intellicare, visit their website at intellicare.com.ph, or their social media accounts, @Intellicare on Facebook or @IntellicarePH on Instagram, and linkedin.com/company/intellicare-ph on LinkedIn.
About Intellicare
Intellicare (Asalus Corp.) is the Philippines’ preeminent Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) provider that leads and innovates a holistic approach to healthcare management.
Guided by values such as integrity, fairness, honesty, hard work, and enduring sense of humanity, Intellicare upholds every individual’s right to health by making quality healthcare efficient, accessible, affordable, and compassionate, empowering Filipinos to have better and healthier lives.
Intellicare is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of its members, providing reliable support and peace of mind during times of medical need.
Intellicare is part of Fullerton Health Group, a leading integrated healthcare provider in Asia-Pacific, offering end-to-end services from managed care to diagnostics, specialty care, and ancillary services.
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The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) unexpectedly slashed its policy rate by 25 basis points, as it warned the economic outlook has weakened amid a widening corruption scandal. — PHILIPPINE STAR/MIGUEL DE GUZMAN
MANILA (UPDATE) — Philippine economic growth slumped to its weakest in almost five years in the final quarter of 2025, with the full-year pace coming in well behind the government’s target in a sharp blow to this year’s outlook and raising the odds of further rate cuts.
The weak economic performance was in part caused by a corruption scandal tied to infrastructure projects that slowed public spending and undermined consumer and investor confidence.
Gross domestic product expanded 3.0% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the first quarter of 2021 and well below the 4.0% median forecast in a Reuters poll, bringing full-year growth to 4.4%. It was also significantly short of the government’s 5.5% to 6.5% target for the year.
Household consumption grew 3.8% in the fourth quarter year-on-year, and government spending rose 3.7%, both easing from 4.1% and 5.8% in the prior quarter. Gross capital formation contracted 10.9%, a sharper decline from 2.8% in the third quarter.
Department of Economy, Planning and Development Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said the depth of the slowdown came as a surprise, but stressed the government was committed to reversing the trend this year through a host of reforms aimed at rebuilding public confidence.
“We see 2026 as our rally point. We are accelerating efforts to restore public trust through improvements in governance and public services,” Mr. Balisacan told a press conference.
Growth is expected to regain momentum, with the government forecasting a 5.0% to 6.0% expansion in 2026 and further acceleration in 2027.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona said last week that a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter GDP would factor into the central bank’s decision at its February 19 policy meeting.
The central bank has cut its benchmark rate by a cumulative 200 basis points to a three-year low of 4.5% in the current cycle, which Remolona has said was nearing its end.
But some analysts expect more rate cuts this year.
Capital Economics, for instance, is pencilling in additional reductions to borrowing costs in the coming quarters following the disappointing data.
“Authorities have pledged to restart infrastructure projects, which should help to reverse some of the recent weakness in activity. Even so, risks to the outlook remain firmly skewed to the downside,” Capital Economics said in a note. — Reuters
MOVE IT General Manager Wayne Jacinto (second from left) and Grab Philippines Head of Central Operations Clarize Morito (left) spearheaded the signing of the memorandum of agreement between the on-demand service platforms and COCOLIFE. With them are COCOLIFE Healthcare Division Head Atty. Alloysius Yebra (3rd from left), First Vice-President and Head of Sales and Marketing Department Christopher V. Tan (right).
Grab Philippines and motorcycle taxi platform MOVE IT have expanded their emergency insurance support with COCOLIFE, widening hospital assistance and financial protection for both rider-partners and passengers in a bid to make coverage more accessible and comprehensive for users of the on-demand mobility services.
Through the deepened partnership, rider-partners and passengers gain 24/7 access to a wider network of more than 700 COCOLIFE-accredited hospitals nationwide for emergency situations involving a Grab or MOVE IT ride.
The expanded hospital assistance with COCOLIFE strengthens Grab Philippines and MOVE IT’s protection ecosystem by addressing the most time-critical gap in on-trip incidents: emergency care and hospitalization support for both rider-partners and passengers.
It is designed to complement existing coverage across the platforms. Grab and MOVE IT’s group personal accident insurance, administered through AIG Philippines, continues to provide complimentary on-trip protection for fatal injuries, permanent disablement, and accident-related medical expenses for passengers and partners, while AXA-backed life and disability protection remains an incentive-based benefit for top-performing driver-, delivery-, and rider-partners.
“Safety and protection have to keep evolving with the realities our partners and passengers face every day,” said Ronald Roda, managing director of Grab Philippines. “This expanded support with COCOLIFE builds on our work to strengthen welfare protection in the gig economy. Grab and MOVE IT remain committed to the people who make every trip possible, and to the passengers who place their trust in us with every booking. We’ll keep investing in stronger safety nets so partners can keep earning with confidence, and passengers can ride with greater peace of mind.”
Under the expanded coverage, Grab and MOVE IT riders and passengers nationwide are entitled to hospital assistance for accidents that occur while a trip is active on the platform. The policy provides up to P50,000 per member per year to help cover essential accident-related healthcare costs, with benefits available for emergency room, inpatient, and outpatient services across COCOLIFE’s accredited hospital network nationwide — with additional assistance available subject to case assessment.
The claiming process was also streamlined so users can access care more quickly during emergencies. A rider or passenger may proceed directly to any COCOLIFE-accredited hospital, which then coordinates with COCOLIFE, Grab, and MOVE IT’s support teams for verification and approval. Once cleared, the user can immediately receive the necessary medical treatment, whether for ER care, admission, or outpatient services.
For on-the-ground assistance, the Grab and MOVE IT Emergency Response Unit works alongside the Incident Response Team to facilitate transfers and endorsements to accredited hospitals when needed, helping ensure prompt admission and treatment.
“Our partnership with COCOLIFE is a clear demonstration that our investment in safety goes far beyond the road — it is protection built on malasakit, from the moment our rider-partners are onboarded to the care we extend after every trip,” said Wayne Jacinto, general manager of MOVE IT. “We know the risks on our urban roads can carry real financial consequences, and we are committed to shielding both our partners and passengers from those shocks so users of our platforms keep moving forward with dignity and security.”
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EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark R. Yee at the launch of the commission’s final report in Senate.— ALMIRA S. MARTINEZ
Only 200,000 of the 24 million learners nationwide are being retained in their grade levels despite plummeting proficiency rates, according to the Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) on Tuesday.
“There are only about 200,000 students who get retained. This means that there are students who get retained, but a very slim proportion of the 24 million students that we have,” EDCOM 2 Executive Director Karol Mark R. Yee told BusinessWorld in an interview.
“We really need to understand better if this is a figure that we can trust? Is this a credible figure that is representative of all those who are really struggling?” he added.
In its Final Report, the commission found that separate assessment tests showed “non-proficient” students grew from 30% in Grade 3 up to 74% in Grade 12.
“The steep decline is from Grade 3, Grade 6, Grade 10, and Grade 12,” Mr. Yee said.
“People may be progressing by grade level, they keep getting promoted without really having the knowledge or ensuring that the competencies are really there,” he added.
In terms of reading proficiency, 88% of students struggle to read according to their grade level at the beginning of the school year.
For junior high school students, 40% to 52% are at least two grade levels behind in reading, based on the Philippine Informal Reading Inventory (Phil-IRI) assessment.
“These evince the urgency of addressing mass promotion and the rolling out of well-designed interventions to address literacy gaps at the secondary level,” EDCOM 2 said in its report.
“Literacy is the gateway to learning numeracy, and other competencies across subjects,” it added.
‘Mass promotion culture’ A key issue underscored in EDCOM 2’s report is the country’s mass promotion culture and its correlation with other problems existing within the education system.
“For us, mass promotion is many things. There is no real policy of DepEd (Department of Education) to promote students automatically, but it is a confluence of multiple factors,” Mr. Yee said.
“It is really more about looking at the system as a whole and addressing all of these barriers that stop our teachers from being able to support their students well,” he added.
Teachers’ professional autonomy in deciding learners’ promotion is heavily influenced by the pressure from higher authorities in the school.
“We’ve also heard from many stories of teachers that they usually get castigated by principals or other colleagues,” Mr. Yee said. “If they fail any student they have to justify to the principal, to the division office, why a student had to fail.”
“It seems like they have to prove that they did everything and exhausted all supports available, when in fact no support or very little support was given to them themselves as teachers,” he added.
The DepEd’s policy on grade transmutation also amplifies the demand to pass all students despite not meeting the expected skills and knowledge.
In the Transmutation Table from DepEd Order No. 8 s. 2015, the initial grade of 60 to 61.59 is transmuted to 75, or about a 15-point increase.
“We have constantly been repeating and advocating that it is time to review that policy, maybe phase it out at the soonest possible time,” he said. “It is giving us a semblance of normality, or that everything is okay when in fact it is not.”
EDCOM 2 proposes reconfigurations of the Results-Based Performance Management System (RPMS) and Office Performance Commitment and Review Form (OPCRF) to ensure that no incentives are given related to learners’ promotion.
“The performance of the school is tied to completion rate, passing rates, zero dropout rates, and therefore, it is all connected,” Mr. Yee said.
“As long as we keep doing that, we are really unintentionally reinforcing mass promotion, which is why our position is we need to revise our targets,” he added.
In January, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers Philippines called for the review of RPMS following the death of a public school teacher during her scheduled classroom observation. — Almira Louise S. Martinez
Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro at the Extended Informal Consultation on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus meeting in Cebu City, Jan. 28, 2026.— ASEAN 2026 PH FB PAGE
CEBU, Philippines — Foreign ministers from Southeast Asia began a meeting on Thursday to tackle key issues in the region, including tensions in the South China Sea, an escalating civil war in Myanmar and a border conflict between Thailand and Cambodia.
The foreign ministers’ retreat of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations aims to set the bloc’s agenda for the year under the chairmanship of the Philippines.
Philippine Foreign Minister Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro told her ASEAN counterparts that the global security environment has become more “challenging” and “more complex and interconnected”.
She vowed that Manila would continue to uphold the international rules-based order, and maintain ASEAN’s adherence to the principles of restraint, dialogue and international law.
“Across our region, we continue to see tensions at sea, protracted internal conflicts and unresolved border and humanitarian concerns,” Ms. Lazaro said in her opening remarks.
“Our meeting today allows us to collectively take stock of ASEAN’s priorities and exchange views on regional and global developments that directly affect us,” she added.
The Philippines recently hosted a dialogue among opponents of Myanmar’s ruling junta in a bid to facilitate dialogue and humanitarian aid.
A 2021 coup in Myanmar triggered widespread protests that were brutally suppressed by the junta, unleashing a civil war involving a loose alliance of rebel groups.
Manila is also aiming this year to finish a long-delayed code of conduct for the South China Sea, where tensions have escalated over the past three years.— Reuters
WASHINGTON/BEIJING — With the downfall of China’s top general, the United States has lost an important contact on Beijing’s top military body and now faces a People’s Liberation Army that increasingly lacks steady, experienced commanders, said former US officials and analysts.
China’s defense ministry said on Saturday that Zhang Youxia, second-in-command under President Xi Jinping as vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), is under investigation. It is the latest and highest-profile purge of the country’s top military leadership amid Mr. Xi’s crackdown on corruption in the armed forces.
For Washington, Mr. Zhang’s surprising demise removes a respected and well-known figure within China’s military at a time when successive US administrations have worked to build senior-level contacts to avoid mishaps between the world’s two most powerful militaries.
Several former senior US officials told Reuters that Mr. Zhang’s dismissal came as a shock.
Mr. Xi allowed Mr. Zhang to communicate with the US during the Biden administration after a 17-month-long period during which China had cut off nearly all military-to-military communications following a visit to Taiwan by then-Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
Such a senior-level connection – in China’s political system, Mr. Zhang outranks the defense minister – was seen as an important relationship and a channel that remained viable for further talks.
One of just a few leading officers with combat experience from China’s invasion of Vietnam in the late-1970s, Mr. Zhang was seen in the US as a competent adviser to Mr. Xi, who sits atop the Central Military Commission, now staffed by only one general, a career political commissar Zhang Shengmin.
“Who does Xi Jinping convene in a crisis if there’s only one person on his commission?” said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore who engaged with Mr. Zhang as a former US defense official.
Thompson said he believed Mr. Zhang was the one active-duty PLA officer who could give Mr. Xi objective advice about China’s military capabilities and shortcomings, as well as the human cost of conflict.
“There’s a risk that Xi Jinping is given bad advice by sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear,” he said. “That creates a risk of miscalculation.”
A senior US administration official said the White House had nothing to share regarding “reports of palace intrigue” in China, adding that the Trump administration is “building a military capable of denying aggression anywhere in the First Island Chain.”
The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment. The Chinese Embassy in Washington also did not respond.
NEED FOR INSIGHT AS THE PLA MODERNIZES US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has held talks multiple times with China’s Defense Minister Dong Jun – who does not sit on the CMC – since September, part of US efforts to improve communications with China over its military modernization, nuclear weapons build-up, and more aggressive posture toward US allies and actions in the Indo-Pacific.
But American officials have long prized contact with vice chairs of the CMC over the country’s Defense Ministry, which lacks command authority over China’s armed forces.
Among senior Chinese generals, Mr. Zhang was a known quantity to US officials, having joined a week-long military delegation to the US in May 2012 when he was a lower-level general.
David Stilwell, a former US Air Force General who served as the State Department’s top diplomat for East Asia in the first Trump administration, recalls that Mr. Zhang was the only Chinese officer who wanted to fly in one of the US military’s Osprey aircraft on that trip.
“He is very different from his fellow PLA brothers. He could have fit in very well in the US military,” Mr. Stilwell said, noting that he was keen to talk to US soldiers and try out US weapons, and struck the Americans as a professional rather than political soldier.
Still, Mr. Stilwell said senior-level engagement with CMC generals was typically perfunctory. Without Mr. Zhang to advise Mr. Xi, his main concern was that the PLA was more likely to believe a self-constructed narrative that they were ready for a “Taiwan adventure.”
“I think what you lose with Zhang Youxia gone is a voice of reason,” Mr. Stilwell said.
US interactions with senior CMC generals have been an infrequent feature of bilateral diplomacy over the past two decades.
Biden administration national security advisor Jake Sullivan was the last known senior US official to meet Mr. Zhang when the two held talks in August 2024 in Beijing.
Eric Hundman, a Chinese military expert at Washington-based security consultancy BluePath Labs, said military-to-military exchanges under Mr. Xi, even at the CMC level, tended to be scripted.
“The PLA knows its capabilities fairly well and is not interested in moving on Taiwan before they think they’re ready. My question mark has always been how much Xi Jinping listens to them on that point,” Mr. Hundman said.
“To the degree that he’s getting worse advice, that would worry me,” he said.— Reuters
