US offers up to $5-Billion loan for nuclear development

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines may tap massive financial support from the United States (US), up to $5 billion, for its nuclear energy development, a local official said. 

In a media briefing on Monday, Department of Energy (DOE) undersecretary Giovanni Bacordo said the government has been exploring financing schemes to fund the deployment of nuclear facilities, as it hopes to activate its first kilowatt by 2032. 

In their recent visit to America, he said they had a meeting with the US International Development Finance Corp., where the latter hinted at the possibility of lending out up to $5 billion. 

“As I understood it, it is payable for over 25 years. This offer is for the private power corporations desiring to invest in nuclear energy for power generation,” he told reporters in a message. 

The US Trade and Development Agency earlier extended   $ 2.8 million in technical financial assistance to Manila Electric Co.. This Pangilinan-led power giant has been the frontrunner in building its nuke plans. 

Bacordo also said that the government has been working closely with the Asian Development Bank “to ensure that our project structures of the upper-grade credit enhancements are truly bankable.”

Industry leaders in the US indicated that micro-modular reactors could see early deployment around 2028, while small modular reactors are set for a target of about 2030, according to an energy executive.

“But let me be clear, these timelines require further validation alongside demonstration, licensing, and delivery progress. When it comes to regulation, early preparation is critical,” he said. 

Source: https://bnc.bilyonaryo.com/taiwan-offers-semiconductor-expertise-as-ph-targets-110-billion-exports/business/

Taiwan expressed its readiness Monday to help the Philippines achieve its $110-billion annual semiconductor and electronics export target by 2030 through closer cooperation in advanced manufacturing and technology.

Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) Representative Wallace Minn-Gan Chow highlighted Taipei’s potential role in strengthening the country’s electronics industry during the Taiwan Link Fair 2026 in Makati City.

“The Philippines aim to reach $110 billion in annual semiconductor and electronics export by 2030, and to advance further along the global value chain,” Chow said.

“Taiwan can be a valuable partner in this endeavor,” he added.

As reported by Remus Macasero on Bilyonaryo News Channel’s “Midday Report,” Chow emphasized Taiwan’s position in the global semiconductor industry amid persistent supply chain disruptions.

He said Taiwan supplies more than 90 percent of the world’s advanced chips and plays a major role in the production of artificial intelligence graphics processing units and servers.

Chow also cited Taipei’s growing investment presence in Manila.

As of December 2025, Taiwanese companies had invested more than P45 billion in the country, generating over 20,000 direct jobs.

Taiwan also emerged as the leading foreign source of investments approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority in the first nine months of 2026.

Meanwhile, bilateral trade between the Philippines and Taiwan exceeded $7 billion as of August 2026.

Beyond electronics and advanced manufacturing, Taiwan is also seeking to expand cooperation in agricultural technology.

Taiwan Association Inc. of the Philippines President Jia Hsieh said Taiwanese initiatives aim to help Filipino farmers increase their harvests through improved technology.

“We want to bring the best technology as well in agriculture,” Hsieh said.

She cited the International Cooperation and Development Fund, which provides agricultural assistance and technical expertise to local farmers.

The initiative includes access to plant specialists who help farmers improve crop production.

By Kevin Pilapil

For the longest time that I have known them, I have ignored their political leanings. They're chill and civil naman (surprisingly) kaya siguro we managed to keep in touch, but one day, I just thought of trying to dig deep into their thoughts. I have summarized it below, minus the juicy details, only the conclusions.

1. They are loyal to FPRRD. Their support for Sara and Duterte siblings is there, but mostly due to the belief that they are continuing Digong's "good" works, primarily in Davao.

2. They are really selective with their consumed content, and had actually stopped being updated to recent events. Their minds are almost locked in, so I guess there's no need for them to know more.

3. They think that the reason why Dutertes are not filing cases to Trillanes is because there is no benefit in pursuing a case against someone with no power and wealth.

4. They seem to not grasp how the complex the ICC works, and thus they really believe it is easy for the ICC to be bribed. This part of the conversation was frustrating honestly, not because they don't listen but because they can't grasp certain aspects.

5. They believe that Digong's "stupid God" comment is not to be used as a testament against his leadership, but they conceded that God's workings should not be questioned.

6. They aren't 100% convinced with Sara's capability as a possible president but lowkey thinks there is no better candidate.

To sum up, it is extremely exhausting, and I am convinced that like the Senate, most of the Filipinos are decided on which side they will vote for. I didn't push on other talking points such as the deception of Digong because there is no use trying to convince them or show them facts. If there is one definite weapon the DDS camp has, it's the old man's charm. I ended the discussion by saying that I can concede that FPRRD could have been a great president, but his progenies are nowhere near his capabilities.

So for background and unfamiliar with my previous posts, former Army captain here separated from service back in 2023. My last assignment was from an intelligence unit of the AFP in Camp Aguinaldo. 

My post today is a follow up based on another post last night about the caption why Clarita Carlos was fired as NSA.

For context I am not a part of the National Security Council, but my unit frequently attends a committee under the NSC. The NSC is under the direct supervision of the National Security Adviser, si Lola Claring niyo (as what many insiders contemptuously call her).

So eto nga mga underlying issues niya:

- upon arrival sa NSC, initial comments niya daw mga personnel under the entire national security sector mga kulang daw knowledge and intelligence on research HAHAHA kaya magdala daw siya ng outsiders to teach them 

- secondly, mahilig daw mag suot ng sunglasses kahit nasa loob ng office, building, or mag meet ng mga senior officials

- third, she was a DDS first then loyalist second. Idol na idol si Tatay Duts. She would frequently say daw “if you bring me incomplete intelligence reports I will kill you”.  (Kill kill kill na naman na mantra) And like the ignorant academician that she is, lacks the institutional knowledge that not all intelligence is ever 100% accurate. There will always be gaps. Kaya mga assessments are based on current information, multiple verification from different sources, backed up by previous data, historical information, and educated suppositions. Hell, even the raid that killed Bin Laden, despite the technical and intelligence superiority of the CIA, only had like 80% probability, but the assessment was enough to convince President Obama to go through with the raid

- Next, she wanted the government, the defense and national security sector to pursue a more lenient and acquiescence towards China. Part of this was the Philippine’s releasing of the WPS claim as part of its maritime domain (courtesy of DDS lapdog Sassot who was then part of her technical team) and instead cooperate with China in the development in the WPS

- This pro China stance was enough to cause shockwaves within the national security sector, added by her incompetence in handling the NSC, that many senior officials began to back channel Malacanang to call for her removal

- The final nail in the coffin was when she nominated Rommel Banlaoi as her Deputy NSA. To those who are not familiar, Banlaoi is associated with Asia Century PH, a pro-China think tank in Manila who continues to oppose western influence and parrots the narrative of the Chinese Communist Party

- Further, Banlaoi is known in the national security sector as an intelligence peddler, who is known to bring whatever information in the defense and security sector to the Chinese Embassy. This started during the PNoy Administration, that even then Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had him blacklisted in the DND for being a Chinese information peddler

- The Banlaoi incident was the final nail to the coffin that ended her NSA stint in just a few months

- Also, Carlos is an outlier in the UP Dilliman faculty, greatly despised by her peers. To the point that when she was a facilitator of the SMNI presidential debate in 2022, she misrepresented herself as an active academic, which caused UPD to issue an official statement that she is retired and is no longer associated with UPD (embarrassing, right?)

- If you noticed, in 2023 there were already tensions and cracks within the Uniteam, but half of those tensions were ultimately the ideological difference in handling China, in which the BBM Administration wanted a more firm stance. Check the timeline, somewhere between October 2023 BBM pivoted back towards the US and away from China, against the recommendations of Clarita Carlos. What happened a few months later? Bigla na lang may mga MAISUG rallies mga DDS. 

- two of the DDS idiots who led MAISUG are Generals Orlando De Leon and Alex Poquiz, who were suspected also of receiving funding from China and is being investigated by the intelligence community

- Lastly, tangina mo Claring. You are a laughing stock in the national security sector. Your attention seeking addiction is now being fueled by DDS idiots who continue to validate your delusions

Absolutely appalled by the elitism in this subreddit. Once I heard people discuss that condo prices should still be expensive enough so they can keep the poor out of their condo buildings.

It's crazy how people justify this behavior. For the sake of my comfort, I'd rather not give people who are less fortunate any housing.

The reason? Kasi daw bastos. So poor = bastos? HAHA!

Then, I also saw someone say that poor people are poor and that they deserve it because of the politicians they vote for. I absolutely despise the fact that instead of looking at it as a socio-economic issue (ergo, less opportunities to be educated, a majority of their day will be allocated for just surviving and less about getting updated on the latest politics), we think about it as an IQ issue.

People loooove punching down in this subreddit: they complain about social welfare like 4Ps because "paano na middle class?" mind you, wasn't 4Ps recently recognized for being highly effective at uplifting people out of poverty: see this.

Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting behavior.

2 SUSPEK SA PAGPATAY SA ESTUDYANTE SA BATANGAS, NAARESTO NA

Naaresto na ang dalawang construction worker na mga suspek sa pagpatay sa 20-anyos na third year architecture student ng National University-Lipa.

Unang naaresto si alyas Lance na umamin na pinatay ang biktima matapos utusan ng kaniyang kaibigan at katrabaho na si alyas Kevin sa halagang P10,000.

Dalawang taon na umanong nanliligaw si alyas Kevin sa biktima at hindi sinasagot. | via Dennis Datu, ABS-CBN News

2 SUSPEK SA PAGPATAY SA ESTUDYANTE SA BATANGAS, NAARESTO NA

Naaresto na ang dalawang construction worker na mga suspek sa pagpatay sa 20-anyos na third year architecture student ng National University-Lipa.

Unang naaresto si alyas Lance na umamin na pinatay ang biktima matapos utusan ng kaniyang kaibigan at katrabaho na si alyas Kevin sa halagang P10,000.

Dalawang taon na umanong nanliligaw si alyas Kevin sa biktima at hindi sinasagot. | via Dennis Datu, ABS-CBN News

Thoughts :

It’s been frustrating for a duly licensed individual to reap the repercussions ng Ang 90% of the time if not 99% ay wala namang kinalaman Ang civilian or privately owned licensed firearm.

All draw backs and hits since magstart mga ganitong incidents puro additional requirements on FA licensing, vault requirement, seminars, and the most disturbing rule that authorities now wants to implement -checking your residence if your complying with safekeeping requirements without the need of a warrant. etc etc.

But as you can see, puro mga nasa LEAS ang may problema. Recently 2 ranking officers got robbed of their govt issued FAs because they decided to leave it in the car. And now, this.

Hindi Kaya Ang dapat paghigpitan ng mas malala ay the mga taong dapat eh alam Ang batas yet sila Ang pabaya?

Source : https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/video/unangbalita/773293/lasing-na-pulis-arestado-matapos-umanong-manutok-ng-baril-sa-isang-van/video/

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-countries-using-ai-tools-the-most/

Population helps explain the strong showing from India and Brazil, but several Southeast Asian markets also rank remarkably high. Indonesia places sixth with 3.7 billion visits, while the Philippines ranks 10th with 2.9 billion.

Both finish ahead of larger or wealthier economies such as Italy (2.6B), Spain (2.5B), and South Korea (2.3B).

The metric counts website visits, not users. One person can make many visits, and visits to different tools are counted separately. 

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/china/tsmc-seeks-factory-equipment-alternatives-thwart-chinas-rare-earths-grip-sources-2026-10-22/

TAIPEI/SINGAPORE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Taiwan's TSMC (2330.TW), opens new tab is exploring alternatives to rare-earth components in factory equipment, three people familiar ‌with the matter said, aiming to reduce the risk that Beijing's export controls could disrupt operations at plants that make the world's most advanced chips.

The move, reported for the first time, underscores how China's grip on rare earths has become a vulnerability for ​the global semiconductor industry after the country last year put certain rare-earth materials, magnets and related processing ​technology under export controls, requiring licences.

Rare-earth magnets are commonly used in motors that power ⁠moving parts in industrial equipment, including machinery found in highly automated factories such as those operated by TSMC. ​A shortage of such specialised parts could disrupt chip production for customers in smartphone, AI system, data centre and ​defence supply chains.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker, has surveyed suppliers on using rare-earth-free motors in factory-automation equipment, according to three industry executives briefed by the company on its plans. One of the people said the effort was driven by concerns about potential supply ​disruptions from China.

The discussions remain at an early stage and have not yet resulted in a broad rollout ​of rare-earth-free equipment, according to two of the people.

TSMC declined to comment.

WASHINGTON AND TAIPEI SEEK ALTERNATIVES

TSMC's efforts follow statements from the ‌United States ⁠and Taiwan that they would begin looking for ways to reduce their reliance on Chinese rare-earth and critical-mineral supply chains.

In June, Raymond F. Greene, the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Washington's de facto embassy in Taipei, said the United States is working with Taiwan and other partners to develop alternative sources of supply, expand processing ​capacity and build more resilient ​supply chains.

Taiwan's Economy Minister ⁠Kung Ming-hsin said in February that the government would give support to the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), a domestic research organisation, to develop rare-earth technologies, with plans to ​establish a pilot production line within three years that could meet an estimated 50% ​of the island's ⁠domestic demand.

US officials have shown particular interest in ITRI's work and have engaged the institute in talks about diversifying critical-mineral supply chains, according to a person at a US-based think tank familiar with the discussions. The US State Department ⁠did not ​immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a statement, ITRI said ​it was working with the Department of Industrial Technology at Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs to plan a rare-earth project. It did not provide ​further comment.

--------------------------------------

Relevant: https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/policy/articles/japan-nears-rare-earth-shortage-135934672.html

Japan could exhaust supplies of a rare earth metal essential to cars, jet engines and semiconductor production within months, prompting Tokyo to seek Washington's help in persuading China to loosen export restrictions, the Financial Times reports.

Tokyo has appealed to both the U.S. government and major American companies, according to people familiar with the discussions. U.S. defense manufacturers depend on Japanese components containing yttrium, giving Washington a direct stake in resolving the shortage.

The heat-resistant metal is used in protective coatings for engines and equipment used to manufacture chips.

Prices reflect the widening supply gap. Outside China, yttrium oxide costs $1,150 per kilogram, about 179 times its price two years ago, according to Argus assessments. Inside China, it costs just $9 per kilogram.

Relevant: https://rare-earth-mining.com/philippines-rare-earth/

The Philippines hosts three geologically distinct sources of rare earth mineralisation. The most strategically significant are its ion-adsorption clay (IAC) deposits, concentrated in Palawan — particularly the El Nido area — where published geochemical data records total rare earth element (TREE) grades of approximately 300 ppm. Critically, the HREE profile of El Nido IAC — including dysprosium (Dy), erbium (Er), yttrium (Y), and samarium (Sm) — is comparable to cut-off grades in exploited southern Chinese deposits, according to a 2022 peer-reviewed assessment published in the Journal of Geochemical Exploration.

I am not a fan of her and meron din talaga syang questionable friends pero with I agree with her statement, and especially seeing it first hand through the women in my family.

My father was not a good person at all, halos lahat ng bisyo meron sya except drugs pero malaki kinikita nya dahil seaman sya, despite that my mother never stopped working as a public school teacher.

When my mom finally decided na iwan yung tatay ko dahil sa pambabae, (Actually sya nagpalayas sa tatay ko since the house and the lot is under my mom's name and sya nga nagpatayo) it was hard on us financially kasi di na same as before kasi when still had my father’s income but my mother knew she could survive kasi never syang umasa lng sa pera ng father ko, even our house pera ng mom ko ginamit para mapatayo.

Kaya kahit medyo nahirapan kami and our lifestyle had to change a bit, my mom was still able to support us and we were still able to go to good schools, finish college and eventually become professionals dahil my mom was a hard worker, an empowered woman who had the means to be able to make a choice for herself and for her children.

I always keep in mind the strength that my mother showed during those times, bilang babae din ako I will never depend on a man para mabuhay ako.

Members Church of God International (MCGI) minister Licerio Espayos “Sonny” Catan remains the subject of a public summons issued by a Brazilian criminal court after authorities failed to locate him in connection with an ongoing criminal tax case.

On September 14, 2026, Judge André Milani of the Criminal Court of the Continental District in Florianópolis granted a request from the Santa Catarina Public Prosecutor’s Office to summon Catan through public notice, pursuant to Article 361 of Brazil’s Code of Criminal Procedure.

The judge cited the failure to locate Catan and the absence of an updated address in available databases. Two earlier attempts to serve judicial orders were returned unfulfilled on August 3 and September 9, 2026.

The public summons was issued on September 15, 2026. More than a month later, the available court records do not establish whether Catan has appeared, appointed counsel, or responded to the charges.

Catan is reported to be in the Philippines, although his current location has not been independently verified. His absence from Brazil does not, by itself, establish that he is evading prosecution, and the court has not formally declared him a fugitive.

The case, No. 5001597-13.2026.8.24.0082, was filed on March 25, 2026, and concerns alleged offenses against Brazil’s tax laws.

The proceedings come amid separate allegations involving MCGI-linked financial activities, including alleged irregularities in health insurance collections and cross-border movement of funds through the organization's Mission Thessalonica program across the Philippines, Singapore, North America, and South America.

These allegations concern possible money laundering, tax evasion, and undeclared cash transfers. Under Brazilian criminal procedure, a defendant summoned by public notice who fails to appear or appoint counsel may face suspension of proceedings and the applicable limitation period. Preventive detention may also be considered if the statutory requirements are met.

The September 14 order directs the case to be returned to the judge for further consideration if no defense response is submitted within the prescribed period.

Source: Tribunal de Justiça de Santa Catarina (TJSC), Criminal Case No. 5001597-13.2026.8.24.0082, Event 39, September 14, 2026.

Official Case Portal: https://eprocwebcon.tjsc.jus.br/consulta1g/