Faces of the News: March 2, 2025
Rommel Marbil
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Marbil was in hot water last week over the unauthorized use of the Edsa busway by a police convoy on the evening of Feb. 25. The convoy was carrying “senior officers” of the PNP rushing to Camp Crame in Quezon City for an “emergency meeting.”
Videos that circulated online showed that PNP personnel who were part of the convoy asked the Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation team who flagged them to allow them to pass through because the “PNP chief” needed to be at Camp Crame for an emergency.
Marbil didn’t confirm or deny if he was part of the convoy. Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla told a Palace briefing Remulla the day after the incident that the “emergency” was related to police operations on the Chinese student who was kidnapped by a Chinese syndicate. But Remulla said he did not give orders to violate traffic laws to be at the meeting on time.
Malacañang said on Feb. 27 that the exemptions for the use of the Edsa busway do not include PNP officials rushing to attend an emergency meeting.—NESTOR CORRALES
Frederic DyBuncio
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) president and CEO Frederic DyBuncio announced on Feb. 28 a multi-billion transaction that is not only historical for the conglomerate but for the entire Philippine corporate history.
The executive said the company was embarking on a P60-billion share buyback program for the first time in over 60 years of its operations. This is also the biggest transaction of its kind in the country so far.
DyBuncio said they were buying back up to 77 million stocks to beef up their share price, which the company believes to be undervalued. A buyback program boosts shareholder value by reducing the number of outstanding shares, thereby improving future earnings per share. DyBuncio said the conglomerate with interests in property, retail and banking was doing this to “create and return value to our shareholders.”
Along with this, the SMIC chief announced the company’s net income climbed by 7 percent to P82.6 billion last year due to strong performance of its core businesses. DyBuncio said their operations were supported by the “positive macroeconomic fundamentals and healthy consumer sentiment” in the past year.—TYRONE JASPER C. PIAD
Claire Castro
Lawyer and broadcast personality Claire Castro came out with guns blazing just moments after she was sworn in as undersecretary of the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) on Monday, Feb. 24, alongside new PCO Sec. Jay Ruiz.
On her first press briefing in Malacañang on that Monday morning, Castro, who assumed the role of “Palace press officer,” said the her new tack is to expound on the President’s statements, primarily on his inform the public about the government’s programs, and combat the spread of “fake news.”
“The President will speak for himself,” Castro said when asked if she is now the Chief Executive’s mouthpiece. She went on to fire off a scathing rebuke of the tirades hurled by former president Rodrigo Duterte that President Marcos, Jr. had ordered the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to sell the country’s gold reserves.
She said the former president is only fond of fomenting “intrigues without attempting to offer any proof.” She said the public should not be led into believing Duterte’s statements as truth, only to be called eventually as “stupid.”
In another briefing on Tuesday (Feb. 25), Castro vowed to hold daily press briefings or whenever necassary to as to counter supposed smear campaigns against the Marcos administration and ensure that the Filipino public would not be misled by “fake news.”—MELVIN GASCON
Captain America
Despite opening to mixed reviews, “Captain America: Brave New World,” has performed stronger than initially expected in the box-office, earning USD 297 million worldwide since its release last Feb. 14 in the United States, and Feb. 13 and 12 in other territories, according to figures from Box Office Mojo.
In the Philippines, where the film premiered last Feb. 14, it earned USD 1.67 million, or roughly Php 96.7 million “Brave New World,” the fourth installment of the “Captain America” film series, stars Anthony Mackie, the first black actor to play the superhero on the big screen.
While his casting was met with backlash and boycott threats— with some fans and far-right pundits insisting that he isn’t a worthy successor to Chris Evans — Mackie’s performance earned mostly good reviews from critics, proving that he’s capable of wielding the mantle and shield.
USA Today noted that Mackie showed “equal skill (to Evans) in crafting his own version of what Captain America “should mean.” According to its official synopsis, “Brave New World,” directed by Julius Onah, follows Sam Wilson, the new Captain America, in his quest to “discover the motive behind a nefarious global plan,” after finding himself “in the middle of an international incident.”—ALLAN POLICARPIO
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
“Putin is a liar … I don’t trust him,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told media at the recent Munich Security Conference, saying it was what he had said to US President Donald Trump. “I hope that you will pressure him,” Zelenskyy added, telling Trump.
In January, the Ukrainian leader warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin “wants to manipulate the desire of the President of the United States of America to achieve peace” in Ukraine. On Friday, at the Oval Office, Zelenskyy’s distrust clashed with Trump’s confidence in Putin, whom he said would “keep his word” if a deal is made to end the war in Ukraine.
In an ensuing shouting match, Zelenskyy pressed on, demanding security guarantees from future Russian attack, to which Trump retorted that US presence in Ukraine under a rare minerals deal would ensure that. But the Ukrainian president would not budge, leading to him being asked to leave the White House and the minerals deal left unsigned. —PRESS RELEASE
