Philippines

₱125 Million Was Withdrawn in Cash and Handed to Sara Duterte’s Security Chief—Now Prosecutors Say the Money Trail Is Coming Together

MANILA, Philippines — The mystery surrounding how millions of pesos in confidential funds moved through the Office of the Vice President is coming under sharper scrutiny after a former disbursing officer testified that Vice President Sara Duterte personally instructed her to turn over ₱125 million in cash to the official then heading her security detail. The testimony of former OVP Special Disbursing Officer Gina Acosta has become a critical part of the House prosecution's effort to establish w

August 19, 2026

Philippines

Pampanga Is Asking Malacañang for Help as Floodwaters Refuse to Leave—But Officials Say the Real Problem May Be Much Bigger

PAMPANGA, Philippines — After days of widespread flooding submerged communities, displaced thousands and inflicted hundreds of millions of pesos in agricultural losses, Pampanga's provincial government is appealing for national intervention—while raising a more difficult question: Can the province's recurring flood crisis still be solved by conventional flood-control projects alone? Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda has sought assistance from the national government as persistent flooding continue

August 19, 2026

Philippines

Bohol Spent ₱69 Million on a Home for Young Offenders—But What Happens Inside Is Very Different From a Jail

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol — Behind the gates of a ₱69-million facility in Cortes, Bohol, the province is attempting something far more difficult than simply keeping young offenders off the streets: giving them a realistic path back into society. The Bohol Youth Home (BYH) is designed for children in conflict with the law, or CICL, who need residential care while undergoing intervention, rehabilitation or court-supervised processes. But provincial officials stress an important distinction: this is

August 19, 2026

Philippines

A Newly Built Tarlac Dike Failed After Just Six Months—Now Officials Want Answers About What Happened Beneath It

TARLAC CITY, Philippines — A flood-control structure designed to shield communities along the Tarlac River has itself become an emergency after a portion of the dike in Barangay San Isidro collapsed amid powerful river currents and days of heavy monsoon rain. The failure has triggered emergency sandbagging, round-the-clock monitoring and calls for a permanent engineering solution—with local reporting putting renewed attention on the age and cost of the recently completed project. According to

August 19, 2026

Business

Leyte Farmers Used to Throw These Coconut Parts Away—Now DTI Says They Could Become Their Next Business

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — What farmers once threw away could become their next source of income. In Leyte's coconut-growing communities, discarded husks and shells are being reconsidered as raw materials for new products and businesses as the government pushes farmers beyond traditional coconut production and deeper into value-added processing. The Department of Trade and Industry's Leyte Provincial Office is working with coconut farmers, cooperatives and young people to transform coconut b

August 19, 2026

Philippines

La Union Has Helped 11,250 Habagat-Hit Families—But a P180-Million Problem Is Emerging Beneath the Recovery

LA UNION, Philippines — More than 11,000 families in La Union have received government assistance after weeks of relentless rain linked to tropical cyclones and the enhanced southwest monsoon, or habagat, battered communities, triggered flooding and landslides, and left authorities confronting a growing infrastructure bill. According to an August 17, 6 p.m. situational report from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) in the Ilocos Region, 11,250 families in La Un

August 19, 2026

Philippines

65 Iloilo City Barangays Went Underwater in Hours—But Engineers Say the Bigger Problem Is Beneath the Streets

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — A night of extraordinary rainfall turned streets into waterways across Iloilo City, flooding at least 65 barangays, displacing thousands of residents and exposing what city engineers acknowledge is a serious weakness in the city's drainage infrastructure. The flooding followed intense rainfall on the night of Monday, August 17, with local authorities reporting that approximately 160 to 165 millimeters of rain fell within just six hours. PAGASA Iloilo station chief En

August 19, 2026

Entertainment

Pope Bacay Paints Ordinary Windows and Doors—But Look Closer and They Reveal Something Much Bigger

MANILA, Philippines — A window is supposed to let you see outside. But put steel bars across it, and the same opening designed to provide a view can suddenly become a boundary. That contradiction sits at the heart of Filipino contemporary artist Pope Bacay’s “What We Hold Sacred,” an exhibition that transforms seemingly ordinary pieces of architecture into meditations on memory, home, security and confinement. Running from July 30 to August 29, 2026 at Artinformal in Makati, the exhibition ask

August 18, 2026

Business

This Katsudon Shop Started With a Simple Japanese Rice Bowl—Now It’s Quietly Expanding Across Metro Manila

MANILA, Philippines — In a Metro Manila dining scene crowded with ramen shops, sushi counters and sprawling Japanese restaurant chains, one homegrown concept has built its identity around something considerably simpler: a crispy cutlet, egg, sauce and rice. Katsudonya Saiko has emerged as one of the notable names in Manila’s Japanese comfort-food scene, betting heavily on the humble katsudon rather than trying to offer an encyclopedic Japanese menu. And that tightly focused strategy appears to

August 18, 2026

Entertainment

Jodi Sta. Maria Reunites With Her Mother After 27 Years—But One Secret Turns Their Family Reunion Upside Down

A family reunion. A dinner table. Decades of resentment waiting to erupt. Netflix’s Filipino family dramedy “Ganito, Ganyan, Ganoon” takes one of the most familiar situations in Filipino life—the complicated family gathering—and turns it into an emotionally charged confrontation about mothers, daughters, abandonment, forgiveness and the wounds people carry long after childhood. At the center of the story are Joanne “Jo,” played by Jodi Sta. Maria, and her estranged mother Paz, portrayed by Ago

August 18, 2026