Faces of the News: April 25, 2025
Richard Nuttall
British airline industry executive Richard Nuttall is flying to the Philippines to take the helm of the country’s flag carrier at a time when the travel industry is considered ripe for further growth. On April 23, Philippine Airlines (PAL) officially announced the appointment of Nuttall as its new president effective May 29.
The Lucio Tan-led airline’s first foreign chief is bringing with him leadership experience from managing airlines across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. He was last CEO of SriLankan Airlines, where he steered the company toward operational profitability. Nuttall will replace Stanley Ng, who became president and chief operating officer of PAL in January 2022.
Ng will move to parent company PAL Holdings Inc. as vice president and member of the board of directors. Nuttall is inheriting an airline that has been rebuilding its route network and beefing up its aircraft fleet after the pandemic disruptions. He said he was looking forward to “[building] on that progress” and “[exploring] new avenues for growth.”—TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD
Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr.
President Marcos on Wednesday trumpeted on social media what he considered the fulfillment of his 2022 campaign promise to provide affordable rice for the Filipino consumer. It was the day Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. unveiled a government program to sell rice at just P20 per kilo, starting in the Visayas.
The ultimate goal is to implement it nationwide by 2028 after resolving logistical issues and other concerns. But what was intended as a strategic program to help low-income families cope with rising prices triggered another sour exchange between Malacañang and Vice President Sara Duterte.
“With all due respect to the Vice President, the Department of Agriculture family is deeply hurt by her suggestion that NFA rice to be sold is ‘hindi pang tao, pang hayop’ (for human consumption, not for animals),” said Tiu Laurel the day after the launch, reacting to a Duterte statement cynical of the program. To say that NFA rice was good only for animals was “an affront to the quality of rice our millions of hardworking farmers produce.” —JORDEENE B. LAGARE
Leni Robredo
Two years after leaving the national government, former Vice President Leni Robredo’s political influence still shows as evidenced by her headline-grabbing endorsement of certain candidates in the May 12 midterm elections. She has expectedly endorsed longtime allies Francis Pangilinan and Bam Aquino as her senatorial candidates, but what she did on April 23 surprised many of her “Kakampink” supporters.
Robredo is also backing Manny Pacquiao, her 2022 presidential rival, and Benhur Abalos, a former member of the Marcos Cabinet. Observers surmised that the latest two endorsements stemmed from their longstanding friendship with Robredo and support for her initiatives in Naga City.
But others wondered why she had to do it for two candidates running under the Marcos-backed Alyansa ticket—and with Pangilinan and Aquino still trailing in the pre-election surveys. For Pangilinan, Robredo’s decision “was her prerogative.” Another Robredo ally, Leila de Lima, urged supporters to just avoid sowing intrigue and stay focused on their objectives. —KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING
Pope Francis
Since his death on April 21, stories and anecdotes about Pope Francis have been pouring out, each adding fresh hues and depths to his legacy. It was revealed, for example, that he had been calling the Holy Family Parish in the Gaza Strip almost every day since Oct. 9, 2023, in the early stages of the Israel-Hamas war. For the parish that’s been turned into a makeshift home for the Christian minority, those calls became a source of “psychological, emotional and spiritual” support.
The Holy Father made the calls via WhatsApp even from his hospital bed. The poignant story somehow defined his 12- year papacy. Francis often said that he preferred a Church that goes out into the world even if “bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets.”
After his death on Easter Monday at the age of 88, the world continues to take stock of his life and work, specifically his advocacy for the migrants and the poor, his commitment to ecumenism, interreligious dialogue and reform, as well as his promotion of the role of women in the life of the church.
Francis Tolentino
Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino added fuel to widespread suspicions that China had been funding domestic social media “trolls” to sway public opinion on Beijing’s maritime dispute with Manila in the South China Sea. Besides that issue, another cropped up during a Senate hearing on April 24 where Tolentino alleged that China was behind “keyboard warriors” paid to influence the May 12 midterm elections.
The reelectionist senator said this could be the reason why he and other government officials critical of Beijing’s illegal activities in the country’s exclusive economic zone had been under attack from social media accounts that turned out to be bogus.
Presenting some documents, Tolentino accused the Chinese Embassy in Manila of engaging the services of a local public relations company, InfinitUs Marketing Solutions Inc., to run a “troll army” for an “operation against the Philippine government and the Filipino people.” The embassy on Friday not only denied but also condemned Tolentino’s ‘’heinous accusations,’’ saying some politicians were playing the ‘’China card’’ for votes. —MARLON RAMOS
