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President Marcos said the government will pursue nuclear power as part of its energy strategy, but acknowledged safety risks after a journalist cited Japan's catastrophic nuclear failures. The president said a "whole of government approach" through the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee will ensure the project complies with "safety, security and safeguards" standards, though details remain under review.

The nuclear discussion followed Marcos's visit to Davao, where he announced 394 million pesos in aid across health, agriculture and education sectors—already reported earlier in this briefing. On nuclear specifically, a government official said the administration plans subsidies to prevent financial losses to citizens and will monitor power grid modernization costs, though the speaker did not detail what those safeguards would entail. The journalist noted online opposition from senators citing Japan's experience; the administration's response focused on study and compliance rather than addressing the specific cost-overrun concerns raised.

Speaking on RTVG, a journalist from The Manila Times asked President Marcos about nuclear energy proposals that have drawn online opposition from senators citing Japan's nuclear disasters and cost overruns.

A government official responded that the Department of Energy's Nuclear Energy Program Inter-Agency Committee is conducting a whole-of-government review, with any policy to undergo full disclosure. The official stressed that nuclear development must comply with international safety, security and safeguards standards, and warned that government subsidy would be needed to prevent financial losses to the project.

Day 9: NBI Director Ties Duterte Threat Claims to Special Task Force in Impeachment Trial

The Land Bank witness told the court she had no knowledge of confidential, intelligence or discretionary fund arrangements at DepEd, on questioning by a senator-judge Alan Cayetano on Senate Session.

When asked whether she was familiar with such funds, the witness answered "No sir." The senator then explored whether large cash withdrawals at DepEd might fall into a different category of "usual" transactions if they were routine for discretionary spending — drawing an analogy to how intelligence agency withdrawals might be habitual but not visible to bank staff tracking patterns.

A Land Bank witness, pressed by Senator Erwin Tulfo on the precise number of containers used to transport 125 million pesos in cash from the Office of the Vice President, confirmed the money was carried in four bags.

Tulfo had earlier challenged the witness's earlier vague estimate of "three to four" bags, pressing for precision in an impeachment trial. "Dapat precise po kayo," Tulfo said ["You need to be precise"].

The witness initially described the bags as "Jim Bags"—large, elongated containers roughly the size used at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for currency transport. Each bag holds approximately one million pesos in weight, according to testimony already published.

The Land Bank witness, Violeta Constantino, testified that Queenie Masangkay, identified as the cash department liaison for the Office of the Vice President, called her branch a day or two before each of the four 125-million-peso cheques were encashed to request the cash. Constantino said she then called Masangkay back once the funds became available at the branch. The testimony details the operational procedure for moving the disputed funds from Land Bank to the VP office.

The impeachment court opened proceedings this morning in the Senate chamber with a quorum of 14 senator-judges present, according to the clerk's roll call on Senate Session. The presiding officer, Sen. Chiz Escudero, declared the court formally in session and called Case No. 004-2026, the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte. Opening statements are about to begin.

Live coverage — House of Representatives — stream ended.

For patients in areas without the program, accessing zero-balance billing means traveling across provincial lines — a practical impossibility for many, Cayetano told the Senate.

"Sasa kaya ka ng Tricycle, Kalabao, Jipni para pumunta sa kabilang province para maghanap ng DOH Hospital," she said ["Will you ride a tricycle, a carabao, a jeepney to another province to find a DOH Hospital?"].

The remark came as Cayetano shifted focus from PhilHealth's 292-billion-peso budget shortfall to the uneven implementation of policies on the ground.

Cayetano told the Senate that under World Health Organization guidelines, citizens in a functioning universal health care system should pay no more than 15 to 25 percent of their out-of-pocket medical expenses. She presented this standard as a benchmark against which the Philippines' current health financing should be measured, noting the gap between government claims of progress and the actual reduction in Filipino families' medical debt.

Speaking on Senate Session, Senator Pia Cayetano stressed that the genuine test of universal health coverage is not the existence of a system, but its actual reach and financial protection.

"We must remember that the true measure of universal health care is when every Filipino can obtain timely and quality care without being pushed into debt," she said, citing the principle as the standard against which the country's health spending should be measured.

Sen. Cayetano told the Senate that President's emphasis on preventive care, expansion of health insurance programs and zero-balance billing are important steps aligned with SDG-3, but the real test of universal health care lies elsewhere. "We must remember that the true measure of Universal Health Care is when every Filipino can obtain timely and quality care without being pushed into debt," she said on Senate Session.

Speaking on Senate Session, Senator Pia Cayetano, chair of the Senate Committee on SDGs Innovation and Futures, told the chamber that two of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are losing ground with only four years left before the 2030 target. One is SDG-3 on Good Health and Wellbeing; the other was not identified in the broadcast. Cayetano said the Senate has been meeting with various agencies to assess the country's true standing on the SDGs.

Live coverage — Senate of the Philippines — stream ended.

Live coverage — Senate of the Philippines — stream ended.

Speaking on Senate Session, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano cited statistics showing 350 minors de edad arrested for vaping within a single year, and noted that one in every seven young Filipinos aged 15 to 30 are currently using vape. Cayetano added that vaping use among youth has risen sharply, with more teenagers now starting on vape than on cigarettes. The senator contrasted the Philippines with Thailand, where cannabis is permitted but vape is banned—calling out what he called the inconsistency in policy approach.

Live coverage — Senate of the Philippines — stream ended.

Speaking on Senate Session, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano argued that the way the Philippines handles major scandals matters more than the scandals themselves as a test of national reform. 'Pag may mga skandalon na tumatama sa isang bansa, may isa o dalawa na bukod tangi,' he said, adding that these become symbols of how a country resolves corruption. 'Sina natiling nakadapa ang bansa at hindi makatayo' [thereby the nation remains prostrate and cannot rise], he said, urging the chamber to pursue 'genuine reforms' and 'input the genuine reforms' to hold people accountable.

Cayetano shifted focus to healthcare policy, citing Thailand's model as a benchmark. "More than 20 years ago, Thailand introduced a programme where patients paid 1000 baht and everything in the hospital was free. Now it's 30 baht and everything is still free," he told Senate Session. "Why can't we do that?" Cayetano said, pointing to what he views as a failure of the Duterte administration to adopt proven cost-control measures despite decades of data on their success.

Speaking on Senate Session, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano posed a challenge to the chamber: can a Philippine president commit to a timeline—whether 2041 or 2050—when Filipinos will no longer need to work abroad out of economic necessity?

"Wala bang pwede magsabing in 2050, yung tuto hain di bola... wala ng Pilipino na OFW na napilita mag-OFW dahil walang trabawong maganda sa Pilipinas," he said ["Can't we say by 2050 there will be no Filipino forced to become an OFW because there is no good work in the Philippines?"].

Cayetano stressed that Filipinos would always choose to emigrate for specialisation or preference—artists to Europe, doctors to London—but not out of poverty. He used a Singapore chef earning 70,000-110,000 pesos monthly as an example: earning only 55,000 in Manila, the chef faces pressure to leave not for luxury but to educate children and buy a home.

Speaking on Senate Session, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano drew a sharp distinction between the nation's minimum wage and a genuine living wage, defining the latter as income sufficient for housing, food for the family, education for children and medical care.

Cayetano cited comparative data: taxi drivers in the United States, Singapore and other developed economies can afford to buy homes or take vacations, while Philippine taxi drivers cannot. "Malayaw po tayo sa living wage," he said ["We are far from a living wage"].

The remarks came as part of Cayetano's broader address on poverty and worker hardship, in which he noted that agricultural workers face the lowest wages among all economic sectors, with poverty incidence at 27.4% among farmers and 20% among fisher folk.

Speaking on Senate Session, Cayetano distinguished between the nation's minimum wage and a true living wage—one that covers housing, food for a family, children's education and medical care. "We have a minimum wage, we do not have a living wage that the constitution envies," he said. Cayetano stressed that a living wage must allow for basics: "Sapat sa tirahan, sapat sa pagkain sa buong pamilya, sapat sa anak nag-ustong mag-aral, sapat sa panggaso sa medical. So a simple life." He added the Philippines remains far from this standard, citing America as a comparison where even struggles are cushioned by higher wages.

Cayetano told the chamber the Philippines has failed for four decades to modernise farming or restore public enthusiasm for agricultural work, despite efforts spanning multiple administrations. "In the last 40 years I'm not blaming only this administration. We haven't figured out how to really modernize, how to bring back the enthusiasm in agriculture, how to make it really a good business that people will go into farming," he said on Senate Session. He acknowledged the supply chain failures exposed by the pandemic and called for the nation to become self-sustaining in food production.

Speaking on Senate Session, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano told the chamber that the agricultural workforce has steadily declined to 26.99% as of 2020, while the sector's contribution to GDP fell to just 7.9% in 2025—its lowest point on record. Cayetano added that agricultural workers receive the lowest wages across all industries. "Maraming mayaman na pumapasok sa farming. Pero yung mahirap na farmers umaayaw sa farming" [Many wealthy people are entering farming. But poor farmers are refusing to farm], he said, pointing to capital constraints as a core barrier to sector revival.

Cayetano illustrated the cost of the stunting crisis by imagining the talent lost to malnutrition. 'Can you imagine one out of four Filipinos who could be the best pilot, the best accountant, the best lawyer who could be the best kutbe, someone who discovers the cure for cancer, who could be the next Hollywood star,' he said on Senate Session, arguing that stunting — which affects up to 25 percent of Filipino children — robs the nation of talent across fields. He stressed that once stunting occurs, 'hindi mo na maibabalik' — it cannot be reversed.

Speaking on Senate Session, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano told the chamber that stunting—malnutrition in early childhood—affects up to 25% or 1.4 million Filipinos, with impacts that cannot be reversed. Cayetano cited remarks by Singapore's president during a recent hospital foundation visit in which the leader called investment in the first 1000 days of a child's life the single highest return on investment a nation can achieve. "Kahit anong scholarship, kahit anong gold card ng health na ibigay mo sa bata na bansut na, ay hindi mo na maibabalik. Hindi mo na... ang stunting ay pwede maging irreversable," Cayetano said ["Even any scholarship, any health care you give a stunted child, you cannot bring back. You cannot... stunting can be irreversible"]. He argued the stunting crisis represents the nation's most urgent challenge to human capital development.

Cayetano told the Senate that the Philippines' greatest blessing is not its mineral wealth or forests, but the Filipino people themselves. "Napaka adaptable ng Pilipino," he said ["Filipinos are highly adaptable"], citing their success as overseas workers, nurses and professionals across the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. He contrasted this with the narrative that frames natural resources as the nation's primary advantage, arguing instead that Filipino resilience and capacity are what unlock the country's future.

Cayetano cautioned against setting aspirational targets that sound impressive but lack grounding in real capacity—"pambubola lang yun" [just empty talk]—yet equally rejected accepting mediocre performance when better is possible. "Wag na din natin maliitin ng ating mga sarili," he said in Filipino. "Wag natin sabihin okay na yung grade na 75 kung kaya natin ng 80. 80 kung kaya natin ng 85. Potential is very important." The remarks came as Cayetano laid out a framework for national goal-setting based on realistic but ambitious assessment of the country's capabilities.