Category: Philippines

Business

Western Union Is Coming to 1,400 JuanPay Outlets — But the Bigger Remittance Expansion May Be Just Beginning

MANILA, Philippines — Western Union is making another major push into Filipino communities, teaming up with JuanPay to bring international money transfers to around 1,400 locations nationwide in the initial phase — with the partnership eventually targeting JuanPay’s broader network of roughly 2,000 owned and franchise-operated outlets. The deal gives Filipinos another place to send and receive international remittances, particularly in provincial areas and communities with large numbers of fami

September 3, 2026

Business

Quezon City Waives Barangay Fees For New Nano-Enterprises

QUEZON CITY, Philippines — Starting a tiny business in Quezon City is about to become cheaper and potentially far less complicated after the city government removed barangay business clearance fees for newly registered nano-enterprises and moved to standardize business-related barangay charges across all 142 barangays. The change could particularly benefit neighborhood businesses such as sari-sari stores, small carinderias and other community-based livelihoods whose owners often operate with on

September 3, 2026

Philippines

OCD, NDRRMC Deepen Asia Foundation Pact — What Comes Next Could Reshape Disaster Response in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) are moving to deepen their partnership with The Asia Foundation as the Philippines tries to shift disaster policy beyond emergency response and toward stronger preparedness, resilient infrastructure and long-term risk reduction. The renewed cooperation comes at a critical moment for a country repeatedly exposed to typhoons, floods, earthquakes and other hazards — and

September 3, 2026

Business

Moro Ako Races to Supreme Court for TRO — Can It Stay Alive in the Sept. 14 BARMM Elections?

With the historic September 14 Bangsamoro parliamentary elections just days away, Moro Ako Party is taking its battle with the Commission on Elections to the Supreme Court—where emergency relief could determine whether votes cast for the party will ultimately count. MANILA, Philippines — The legal battle over Moro Ako Party’s participation in the September 14, 2026 Bangsamoro parliamentary elections has moved to the Supreme Court after the Commission on Elections cancelled the regional party’s

September 3, 2026

Entertainment

Hajie Alejandro, Lenie Aycardo Welcome Baby Mateo — But Team HaNie’s Journey to a Family of Four Goes Far Beyond the Delivery Room

MANILA, Philippines — From viral makeup transformations to marriage and now raising two young boys, content creators Hajie Alejandro and Lenie Aycardo have reached another major milestone after welcoming their second child, Mateo Alejandro. Hajie announced the arrival of their newest family member through social media, sharing photos from Lenie’s delivery and introducing Mateo to followers who have watched the couple’s relationship and family journey unfold online. The birth officially turns t

September 2, 2026

Philippines

Senate Allows Budget Hearings During Plenary Sessions as Sara Duterte Trial Squeezes ₱7.2-T Budget Calendar

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate is rewriting its usual work schedule to keep the proposed ₱7.2-trillion 2027 national budget moving, as Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment trial consumes a major portion of the chamber’s legislative calendar. Senators on Wednesday, September 2, approved an arrangement allowing the Senate Committee on Finance and its subcommittees to conduct budget hearings at the same time as regular plenary sessions — an unusual but targeted exception designed to recover

September 2, 2026

Philippines

WESTERN VISAYAS SURGES TO NO. 1: Region Posts PH’s Fastest 6.4% Growth—Then Poverty Drops to 5.2%

ILOILO CITY — Western Visayas is emerging as one of the Philippines’ strongest regional economic performers after posting the country’s fastest economic growth in 2025—while simultaneously recording a dramatic decline in poverty among families. The region’s economy expanded 6.4 percent in 2025, accelerating from 4.4 percent in 2024 and reaching ₱683.44 billion at constant 2018 prices, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). That made Western Visayas the fastest-growing among th

September 2, 2026

Philippines

Thick Haze Blankets Metro Cebu as Air Quality Turns “Acutely Unhealthy”; In-Person Classes Suspended

CEBU CITY, Philippines — A thick blanket of transboundary haze has covered Metro Cebu, prompting local governments to suspend face-to-face classes as air pollution reached potentially hazardous levels on Wednesday, September 2, 2026. The latest readings from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) Region 7 showed the Air Quality Index (AQI) climbing to 208 in the morning and 215 by the afternoon, placing the air quality in the “Acutely Unhe

September 2, 2026

Entertainment

Liza Soberano, Manny Jacinto Bring ‘Forgotten Island’ to Hollywood — But the Film’s Most Personal Detail Is the One Filipinos Will Feel

WEST HOLLYWOOD, California — Forgotten Island is moving closer to its theatrical debut, but DreamWorks Animation’s latest Hollywood screening made clear that the movie is being positioned as more than another colorful family adventure. For Filipino audiences, it could become one of the most culturally specific animated films ever released by a major Hollywood studio. Liza Soberano and Manny Jacinto joined writer-directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado at a special Forgotten Island screening

September 2, 2026

Entertainment

“Live Lighter” in the Philippines: Doctors Say Weight Management Is More Than a Number on the Scale

The conversation around weight management in the Philippines is shifting—from quick fixes and judgments about willpower toward long-term health, medical guidance and a more individualized approach. That was the central message of “Live Lighter,” a Tatler House Dialogues event held in partnership with Novo Nordisk, where three medical experts discussed obesity, healthy living and the growing complexity of weight-management advice. The discussion comes as obesity becomes an increasingly importan

September 2, 2026