Good morning. It’s Friday, September 26.

PesoWeekly readers here’s to finishing the week strong. Big stories are brewing: from Typhoon Opong’s and billion-peso corruption probes to Starbucks’ $1B shake-up and Instagram’s 3B users. On our end, exciting news: PesoWeekly is growing. We’ll be adding more team members soon, which means you can expect sharper insights and new helpful sections in your newsletter. Smart, reliable stories delivered better than ever.

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Billions in Air Assets Targeted
Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co is at the center of a widening corruption storm. On Sept. 24–25, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze ₱4.7 billion worth of Co’s air assets — private jets and helicopters linked to Misibis Aviation. Authorities fear some of these assets may have already been moved overseas before the freeze order.

Alleged Kickbacks and Ghost Projects
Former DPWH officials testified that Co allegedly demanded a 25% cut from infrastructure projects and pushed sham flood control projects even outside his district. The House Ethics Committee has given him until Sept. 28 to return to the country and face inquiry, after his travel authority was revoked. Justice Secretary Boying Remulla confirmed reports that Co may have flown to Spain, but the NBI said it cannot act further without an arrest warrant.

Family Pressure and Public Backlash
In a surprising twist, Co’s son Ellis publicly urged his father to come home and face the allegations. With whistleblowers now under witness protection and outrage mounting, the scandal has become a major test of the administration’s anti-corruption drive.

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The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has inked a deal with Lazada Philippines to help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) grow their online reach. The partnership will onboard DOST-assisted businesses to Lazada’s platform, giving them access to logistics, payments, and marketing tools. MSMEs will also receive training on digital marketing, supply chain management, and customer engagement. With MSMEs making up 99% of PH businesses and 60% of jobs, DOST says this move could be a game-changer. Officials called it a patriotic partnership aimed at boosting local innovation and global competitiveness.

Government infrastructure spending plunged 25% in July to ₱93.3B, down from ₱124.9B a year earlier, the Budget Department reported. The sharp drop was linked to weak disbursements from the DPWH, which faces delays in procurement, incomplete billing documents, and new BIR tax clearance rules for contractors. Month-on-month, spending also sank 37% from June’s ₱123.8B. While DOTr disbursements rose, it wasn’t enough to offset DPWH’s slowdown. From January to July, infra spending hit ₱713.5B, 3.2% lower than last year. With a ₱1.51T full-year target (5.3% of GDP), the government has ground to cover.

Cebu Pacific hit turbulence this year when 13 Airbus planes were grounded over Pratt & Whitney engine issues, forcing the budget carrier to scale back growth. Still, the airline managed a smooth landing: profits hit ₱8.97B in the first half of 2025, boosted by higher passenger demand and engine-maker payouts. The carrier doubled down with a record $24B order for 152 Airbus jets, set for delivery from 2029, as it works toward an all-neo, fuel-efficient fleet. Risks remain fuel prices, financing costs, and supply chain snags but Cebu Pacific’s low-cost dominance keeps it flying high.

Security Bank has launched a ₱5-billion fixed-rate peso bond sale, its first in over a year, offering investors 6% per annum over a five-year tenor. The offer runs until Oct. 17, with trading set to begin Oct. 29 on the PDEx. Minimum buy-in: ₱500,000. Proceeds will boost the bank’s lending and funding base. The move comes just days after Security Bank was added to the FTSE Asia-Pacific Small Cap Index, a recognition that puts it on the radar of global investors. For buyers, the bonds promise stability; for the bank, it’s fresh fuel for growth.

The Philippines is renegotiating its 1977 double taxation agreement (DTA) with Singapore to match today’s economy and attract more foreign investors. Finance Secretary Ralph Recto said the goal is to cut transaction costs, boost trade, and support job creation while ensuring fairness for both sides. Talks wrapped up their first round earlier this month, with Singapore’s envoy calling the move a strong signal to the business community. Why it matters: Singapore remains one of the Philippines’ top investors, with FDIs growing 14% in the past five years and over 200,000 Filipinos working in the city-state.

The Science of Habit Over Choice
A new study from researchers in the UK and Australia suggests that nearly two-thirds of what we do every day is not really a conscious choice, it’s habit. By pinging participants six times a day for a week, the team found 65% of behaviors were sparked by routine, not deliberate thinking. Even more striking, 88% were executed habitually and 76% lined up with personal goals. Translation: much of life happens on autopilot.

Good Habits vs. Bad Habits
The findings show habits are not just mindless loops-they often work in our favor. Nearly half of all habitual actions also matched people’s intentions, meaning we tend to build routines that reinforce what we want, like brushing teeth or eating breakfast. The exception? Exercise. It was more likely to be triggered by habit but harder to sustain without effort, highlighting why gym routines are so fragile.

Why It Matters
This research reframes behavior change. It’s not about willpower alone, it’s about designing environments and routines that cue good actions and crowd out bad ones. For public health, that means interventions should focus less on motivation speeches and more on helping people build autopilots that serve their goals.

Restructuring Brew
Starbucks is closing roughly 500 North American stores and laying off 900 non-retail employees as part of a $1 billion restructuring. CEO Brian Niccol says the plan, dubbed “Back to Starbucks,” is meant to fix sagging sales after six straight quarters of declines.

The Cost of Change
About $150M will go toward severance, with the rest tied to closures. Starbucks still plans to end the year with nearly 18,300 North American locations, before resuming growth in 2026. Baristas in affected stores will be transferred where possible.

Why it matters
Starbucks is facing rising competition and more price-sensitive customers. The company hopes streamlining now will help it reclaim market dominance — but unions are pushing for negotiations, and investors are still waiting for proof this brew will pay off.

A Vietnamese court has sentenced four siblings and nearly 40 others in a massive online gambling and crypto case worth $3.8 billion. The siblings were jailed for 8–13 years, while other defendants received up to 10 years. Authorities say the ring laundered illicit profits through real estate and luxury cars, while users gambled via illegal crypto-based platforms. At its peak, the network had 20,000 users and 25 million accounts. Police are still hunting an Indian suspect believed to be the mastermind. A separate money laundering probe is underway, underscoring Vietnam’s widening crackdown on illegal crypto schemes.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to unveil digital ID cards dubbed the “BritCard”  as soon as Friday, pitching it as a tool to curb illegal immigration and rogue landlords. The IDs, stored in a smartphone app, would verify someone’s right to work, rent, or access services. No. 10 argues the national mood has shifted since Tony Blair’s ID card plan was scrapped two decades ago, but critics warn of civil liberties risks. France has long pushed Britain to adopt such IDs, saying their absence attracts illegal migration. If launched, BritCard could be a political flashpoint.

Ex-Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima wants the Philippines to ditch ₱500 and ₱1,000 bills, arguing that limiting the biggest note to ₱200 would make graft harder to pull off. His proposal came after Senate testimony alleged ₱1 billion in cash was delivered to a lawmaker’s penthouse in 20 suitcases. Purisima quipped that if ₱200 were the top bill, the same stash would need 100 suitcases and a warehouse. The Bangko Sentral is already capping cash withdrawals at ₱500,000 per day as it probes suspicious accounts tied to flood-control projects — a scandal now under intense scrutiny.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has ordered the creation of a palay floor price to shield farmers from traders who slash prices during harvest. The Department of Agriculture will draft an executive order with Sen. Francis Pangilinan’s office to set the minimum buying price. Marcos also pushed for the full rollout of the Sagip Saka Act, which lets government units buy produce directly from farmers, and tied it to his Benteng Bigas program that targets rice at ₱20 per kilo. Other moves on the table: revising the NFA charter, tweaking the Agricultural Tariffication Law, and forming a new congressional body on food security..

Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival is pushing to shift senior citizens’ cash aid from quarterly to monthly payouts, arguing it would cut costs and make distribution smoother. Each qualified senior currently gets ₱3,000 every three months, but the proposal would spread this to ₱1,000 at month’s end. The change requires City Council approval, and updates to the beneficiary list are also under review after delays over accuracy concerns. Around 92,000 seniors are eligible for the aid. Archival also plans to revive the Long Life Medical Assistance Program, which provides maintenance medicine for elderly residents.

Dismissed DPWH engineer Brice Hernandez accused of pocketing millions from anomalous flood control projects is being told by his lawyer Raymund Fortun to surrender his ill-gotten wealth, including a Lamborghini, a Ferrari, and piles of cash. Fortun said Hernandez must show “remorse” by returning everything he gained illegally. One SUV has already been handed over to the Independent Commission on Infrastructure, though the Lamborghini’s keys are reportedly missing. Hernandez is expected to yield more assets soon. Fortun stressed that restitution is the only way his client can show good faith as investigations widen.

In Finland, a mosquito may have cracked a car theft case. Police found the insect inside an abandoned vehicle and noticed it had just fed. They sent it to the lab, where the blood matched a man already in their system. The suspect claims he only hitched a ride with the real thief. Still, the find is unusual inspectors admit they weren’t exactly trained to collect bugs at crime scenes. Whether prosecutors decide the mosquito’s evidence is strong enough for charges is still up in the air. But one thing’s clear: crime doesn’t pay, and neither do mosquito bites.

A new Novo Nordisk-funded study says patients on a 7.2 mg weekly dose of semaglutide (vs. the already-approved 2.4 mg) lost more weight and inches off their waistlines over 72 weeks. Participants on 7.2 mg shed 13.2% of body weight on average, compared with 10.4% on 2.4 mg and just 3.9% on placebo. Waistlines shrank by 12.3 cm on 7.2 mg. But the higher dose came with a catch: more side effects, including gastrointestinal issues and higher rates of dose reduction. And while Novo touts the added benefits, skeptics say tripling the dose should also triple the scrutiny.

Microplastics aren’t just clogging oceans and our bodies, they might be cutting into the planet’s food supply. A new analysis of 157 studies found microplastics can reduce photosynthesis rates by up to 18%, weakening crops, algae, and even seafood production.The researchers estimate global food losses could hit as high as 360 million metric tons of crops and 24 million tons of seafood each year if microplastic pollution continues The study admits some uncertainty, but the warning is loud: plastics aren’t only a waste problem, they’re threatening the very process that powers life on Earth.

Microsoft has cut off cloud and AI services to Israel’s Unit 8200 — the intelligence division accused of storing Palestinians’ phone calls. The move follows an internal review sparked by a Guardian report and mounting pressure from Microsoft employees protesting the military’s use of company tech. President Brad Smith confirmed evidence that Unit 8200 had used Azure storage in Europe, along with AI tools, and said subscriptions have now been disabled. The timing is striking: the UN recently accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. Reports suggest Unit 8200 may now turn to Amazon Web Services instead.

Instagram just joined the 3-billion club. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the milestone Wednesday, putting the app alongside Facebook and WhatsApp both of which already crossed the same mark this year. It’s a big leap from October 2022, when Instagram was at 2 billion users. Not bad for a platform Meta scooped up in 2012 for $1 billion. Meta no longer shares detailed user counts every quarter, but its family of apps collectively drew 3.48 billion daily active people in July. For Zuckerberg, that’s not just scale — it’s dominance across nearly half the planet.