The Office of the Ombudsman is intensifying its investigation into alleged irregularities in Philippine flood-control projects, moving to rely on the testimonies of eight self-described bagmen and former public works secretary Manuel Bonoan as it prepares a case against former House speaker Martin Romualdez. Assistant Ombudsman Mico Clavano said investigators found the accounts of eight out of 18 former bodyguards of ex-congressman Zaldy Co to be “consistent and categorical” in describing supposed cash deliveries linked to Romualdez and Co.

Clavano told reporters that the ombudsman’s team assessed both the narrative details and the demeanor of the witnesses in interviews, concluding that only eight of the 18 have testimonies potentially strong enough to be used in a case. He said the probe has been slowed by delays in the signing of affidavits, blaming the witnesses’ lawyer, Levito Baligod, for seeking extensions beyond an original June 20 target date. The affidavits are a key step in formalizing the bodyguards’ statements for use in any future court action.

Romualdez’s legal camp, however, has pushed back hard against the direction of the investigation. Spokesman Elaine Atienza said that despite multiple Senate and House inquiries and other official probes, no current or former Department of Public Works and Highways official has identified Romualdez as having any role in planning, procurement, implementation, inspection, payment or fund release for alleged ghost projects. Atienza argued that even Bonoan, who has been tapped as a state witness and was directly involved in department operations, had never previously implicated the former speaker, and she stressed that no single official, including the House leader, controls the national budget process, which is drafted by the executive branch through the Department of Budget and Management and implementing agencies.

Defense lawyers, including Atienza and Ade Fajardo, suggested that the move to place Bonoan under the Witness Protection Program may indicate a lack of concrete evidence tying Romualdez to any anomalous flood-control contracts, warning that their client risks becoming a political scapegoat. The high-profile probe has also prompted political ripples within the administration coalition: Navotas Representative Toby Tiangco publicly challenged the Marcos government to prove that its anti-corruption campaign is impartial and will “spare no one,” including allies and relatives accused of exploiting close ties to those in power. Tiangco said those behind what he called the “biggest corruption scandal in our country's history” should be held to account and that any public funds proven to have been stolen must be recovered, framing the case as a test of the administration’s resolve to pursue graft cases even when they reach into its own ranks.

Taipei is doubling down on efforts to cut consumption of single-use beverage cups, rolling out a city-backed discount that rewards customers for bringing their own containers to popular hand-shaken drink chains. From July 2 through Dec. 31, consumers who visit participating Taipei outlets of Milksha (迷客夏) and TEA TOP on Thursdays will receive a NT$10 discount per drink when they use a reusable cup, up from the standard NT$5 required by national rules.

The program, jointly launched by the Taipei Environmental Protection Department and the two chains, covers 46 Taipei stores and is capped at 50 discounted drinks per outlet each Thursday. The NT$10 reduction combines the existing NT$5 price difference that chains must offer under the "Restrictions on the Use of Disposable Beverage Cups" with an additional NT$5 subsidy from the city. The offer does not apply to prepaid or stored-value orders, and outlets in other municipalities continue to provide only the basic NT$5 discount.

Taipei officials say the initiative builds on a smaller 2023 pilot with five brands and 18 outlets that generated 4,385 instances of reusable-container use between Sept. 18 and Oct. 9. By expanding the scope and duration and partnering with high-traffic milk tea brands, the city estimates the latest round could spur about 50,000 drinks served in personal cups, cutting a similar number of disposable cups from the waste stream. Authorities argue that as more people adjust their daily purchasing habits, the cumulative impact on waste reduction, resource use and environmental pressure will become increasingly significant.

The city is also tying the push to its digital payments ecosystem. Consumers who register for the "Plastic Reduction EasyLife" (減塑EasyLife) campaign in the EasyCard Pay (悠遊付) app and link a mobile barcode can earn additional rewards when they buy drinks in reusable cups and opt for cloud invoices, on top of the price discount offered at the counter. Taipei officials frame the effort as a public–private partnership designed to make environmentally friendly behavior financially attractive, positioning the weekly rebate as both a way to trim beverage costs and a step toward a longer-term shift away from disposable cups in one of the world’s most beverage-focused urban markets.