Here are today’s headlines – the latest news in the Philippines and around the world:
A Rappler investigation finds, Justice Undersecretary Jose ‘Jojo’ Cadiz Jr., a trusted aide of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is closely linked to a construction firm that has won more than P200 million worth of infrastructure projects in Ilocos Norte in just the last two years.
The Independent Commission for Infrastructure recommends criminal and administrative complaints against former senator Bong Revilla, Maynard Ngu, and eight others.
Advocacy groups warn, corruption may hinder the Philippines from achieving its increased targets in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
ABS-CBN confirms rumors that TV5 plans to terminate their content supply agreement, due to financial problems.
California-based doctor Salvador Plasencia is sentenced to two and a half years in prison for illegally supplying Friends star Matthew Perry with ketamine. —Rappler.com


Legal experts are concerned that transforming ESMA into the “European SEC” may hinder the licensing of crypto and fintech in the region. The European Commission’s proposal to expand the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) is raising concerns about the centralization of the bloc’s licensing regime, despite signaling deeper institutional ambitions for its capital markets structure.On Thursday, the Commission published a package proposing to “direct supervisory competences” for key pieces of market infrastructure, including crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), trading venues and central counterparties to ESMA, Cointelegraph reported.Concerningly, the ESMA’s jurisdiction would extend to both the supervision and licensing of all European crypto and financial technology (fintech) firms, potentially leading to slower licensing regimes and hindering startup development, according to Faustine Fleuret, head of public affairs at decentralized lending protocol Morpho.Read more
