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Remittances climb in May, fueling household spending and domestic growth 

Money sent home by overseas Filipinos continued its upward trajectory in May, providing a steady lifeline to millions of households and giving a welcome boost to the broader economy.

News Dispatch

Agriculture

Palay outlook brightens as corn forecast softens

The Philippines is on track for a stronger second-quarter rice harvest but faces a slight decline in corn production, reflecting the diverging fortunes of the country's two staple crops as farmers contend with shifting weather conditions and varying field productivity.

Satellite data modernizing DA operations in agri, fisheries sector

The Department of Agriculture is working closely with the Philippine Space Agency to expand the use of space technology and satellite data across the country’s farming and fisheries sectors, aiming to boost productivity, build better resilience to climate change, and deliver faster support to producers.

NFA opens P355.4M post-harvest facility in Iloilo

The National Food Authority (NFA) has launched a modern P355.4 million post-harvest facility in Dumangas, Iloilo, to cut grain losses, raise rice buffer stocks, and strengthen national food securit

DA lifts FMD-related meat import ban on Hungary

The Department of Agriculture has lifted a temporary ban on imports of foot and mouth disease-susceptible animals and their products from Hungary, following approval through Department Circular No. 34 signed on July 8.

Corporate

Foodpanda expands financing, digital support for MSMEs

Foodpanda Philippines is deepening its push to help Filipino micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) grow, rolling out financing, digital marketing, and business development programs designed to help entrepreneurs overcome funding constraints and compete more effectively in the digital economy.

Jollibee Group Foundation wins top social sustainability honor at 2026 Philippine Leadership Awards

Jollibee Group Foundation has been named the Best Social Sustainability Initiative recipient at The Philippines’ Leadership Awards 2026. The award was presented during a ceremony held on June 26 at Dusit Thani Manila.

Global Dominion posts record 2025 results, targets wider MSME support

Global Dominion Financing, Inc. (GDFI) rounded 2025 with record performance, reporting total assets of P18.6 billion, up 32 percent from 2024, and net income rising 10 percent to P882 million. Total revenue reached P5.12 billion, while net customer loans hit P16.24 billion and total equity more than tripled to P4.27 billion. The firm lent P11.82 billion to 28,985 borrowers nationwide, with business and personal loans seeing strong growth. Under new president and CEO Samuel Cariño, who took office in June 2026, GDFI will expand its digital tools including its award-winning MyLoans App and AI systems, alongside its 196 branches across the country, to better serve underserved Filipino entrepreneurs and small businesses.

LWUA releases ₱32 billion in loans to boost nationwide water security

The Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) has released a cumulative total of ₱31.741 billion in loans as of April 2026, marking a significant push to expand and improve clean water access across the Philippines.

Banking & Insurance

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Corporate Bulletins

Jollibee Group Foundation wins top social sustainability honor at 2026 Philippine Leadership Awards

Jollibee Group Foundation has been named the Best Social Sustainability Initiative recipient at The Philippines’ Leadership Awards 2026. The award was presented during a ceremony held on June 26 at Dusit Thani Manila.

Security Bank Group wins 9 sustainable infrastructure finance awards 

Security Bank Corporation and its investment banking arm Security Bank Capital secured nine honors at The Asset Triple A Sustainable Infrastructure Finance Awards 2026. The awards recognize their work funding key Philippine projects across clean energy, water, and transport. The group took top prizes including Asia-Pacific Deal of the Year and Project Finance Deal of the Year for the historic PHP150 billion Terra Solar loan, which backs what is set to be the world’s largest integrated solar and battery facility. They also earned awards for hydro power schemes, Southeast Asia’s first water sector green equity IPO for Maynilad, and a major bond issuance for Metro Pacific Tollways. Officials said the wins reflect their commitment to building critical infrastructure and advancing the country’s renewable energy shift.

URC earns top honors from leading Hong Kong retailers PARKnSHOP and 7-Eleven

Universal Robina Corporation has secured key recognitions from two of Hong Kong’s biggest retail chains, PARKnSHOP and 7-Eleven, marking a major step forward in the company’s international expansion and localization efforts.

Fewer child laborers, yet more children working

The Philippines made progress in reducing child labor in 2025, but the gains came with a troubling twist. More Filipino children entered the workforce even as the number trapped in hazardous or exploitative work remained stubbornly high.

Social Responsibility & Sustainability

AXA expands volunteer drive into lasting community partnerships

AXA Philippines is transforming employee volunteerism into a long-term community development strategy, mobilizing more than 2,000 employees nationwide during this year's AXA Week for Good (AWFG) while expanding livelihood, sustainability and education initiatives with nonprofit partners.

The only race where plastic bottles keep running

At most fun runs, the only thing getting recycled is the promise, "I'll start training next week." At the fifth Vermosa Green Run in Cavite, plastic bottles stole the spotlight by proving they deserved a second lap.

GCash expands digital giving as donations surge nationwide

GCash is widening its digital philanthropy platform after raising more than P8 million for earthquake relief efforts in Mindanao and adding 14 new non-government organizations (NGOs) to its in-app donation hub, GBayanihan.

Skills, not just steaks, on Pilmico’s cutting board

In business, the sharpest investment isn't always a new production line or gleaming machinery. Sometimes, it is handing someone a knife—after the proper training, of course.

Markets

Earnings season tests market amid rate concerns

Philippine shares are expected to trade cautiously in the coming weeks as the second-quarter earnings season begins, shifting investors' focus from recent market gains to whether corporate profits can withstand persistent inflation, the prospect of further monetary tightening, and rising geopolitical risks.

SAMA debut gives Filipino brands regional growth springboard

The launch of the Strategic Asia Marketing Alliance (SAMA) Philippines is opening a new gateway for Filipino brands seeking to expand across Southeast Asia, giving businesses access to a regional network of independent marketing agencies through a single local partner.

Peso holds ground while politics tests market confidence 

The peso appears to have found its footing, but investors know that calm currencies do not always guarantee calm markets.

Lazada deepens MSME drive via digital skills partnership

Lazada Philippines is stepping up its support for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), expanding partnerships with government agencies and relaunching its LazGrow Together program to help more Filipino entrepreneurs compete in the country's fast-growing digital economy.

Travel

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Energy

Alsons Power bullish on PH retail energy sector amid rule changes

Alsons Power Group sees strong growth ahead for its retail electricity supply business, following recent regulatory changes that open the market to more users.

ERC suspends grid delivery fee for energy storage during emergencies

The Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the temporary waiver of delivery service charges for energy storage systems during declared national energy emergencies.

First Gen confirms $5B non-binding offer for EDC from Indonesian firm

First Gen Corp. has disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that Indonesian company PT Barito Renewables Energy submitted an unsolicited, non-binding offer to acquire its geothermal subsidiary Energy Development Corp. for around $5 billion.

Updated national radiological plan boosts PH nuclear emergency readiness

The Department of Energy has completed revisions to the National Radiological Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, strengthening the country’s ability to respond to nuclear and radiological incidents.

Transport & Communications

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Property

Government raises P1B from Makati property sale 

The government has raised P1 billion from the sale of state-owned condominium units and parking slots in Makati, giving a fresh boost to its privatization program as it looks to unlock more value from idle assets and generate additional non-tax revenues.

SM Prime opens first China hotel in Xiamen

SM Prime Holdings Inc. has expanded its business in Xiamen, China, launching its first hotel in the country last month. The 325-room Voco Xiamen SM City connects directly to SM Xiamen, the group’s first property in China opened 25 years ago. Worth about 450 million yuan or P4 billion, it sits near a metro station and is close to Xiamen’s airport and railway station. SM Prime president Jeffrey C. Lim said the project turns the complex into a full lifestyle destination, taking advantage of China’s growing tourism market and new government support policies. Xiamen is also the hometown of SM group founder Henry Sy Sr.

Alliance Global takes full control of Newport World Resorts

Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) has completed its acquisition of Genting Hong Kong Ltd.'s remaining stake in Newport World Resorts, ending a 17-year partnership that pioneered the Philippines' integrated resort industry and giving the conglomerate full control of one of its flagship gaming and tourism assets.

Government bets P140 million on bigger World Trade Center

The government is stepping up its push to capture a larger share of the lucrative meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market, injecting an additional P140 million into the expansion of the World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM) to strengthen the country's business tourism infrastructure.

Environment

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Technology

Marcos Jr. signs EO 119 modernizing gov’t data rules and set data reaidency framework 

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has signed Executive Order No. 119, updating the country’s outdated government data system and putting in place a formal data residency framework to better protect official information while drawing more investments to the digital economy. The new policy replaces Memorandum Circular No. 78, a 1964 guideline designed for paper records, with a modern system built to suit current digital tools including cloud computing and artificial intelligence.

Globe secures P10-B Land Bank loan for network investments and debt management 

Globe Telecom, Inc., the Ayala-led telecommunications firm, has obtained a P10-billion term loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines to fund its capital spending program, refinance existing obligations, and cover general corporate needs.

Proposed US reshoring bills pose little immediate threat, says IBPAP 

The Philippine information technology and business process management (IT-BPM) industry sees little immediate risk from two proposed US bills designed to bring outsourced jobs back to America, saying both measures have stalled in Congress and mirror earlier anti-offshoring proposals that never became law.

Lenovo slashes business AI setup to one week with new ready-to-use agents

Lenovo is tearing down the biggest roadblock to corporate artificial intelligence by enabling businesses to launch secure, fully functioning AI systems in as little as a single week.

Health & Science

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Opinion

Why Philippine impeachment isn’t really about crimes 

The biggest misunderstanding about impeachment in the Philippines is that it is simply a trial for crimes or felonies. It isn't. It is something rarer and, arguably, more powerful.

Cockfighting returns to New World, history refuses to stay caged

Cockfighting has always occupied a peculiar corner of the Filipino psyche. It is at once sport, spectacle, business, culture—and depending on whom you ask, either cherished heritage or a tradition overdue for reckoning.

Phoenix pumps more assets into the recovery tank

Every gas station has two values: the fuel it...

Upper-middle income, yet many Filipinos still feel left behind

The Philippines has earned an economic promotion. The World Bank now classifies it as an upper-middle-income economy, a milestone reached after years of growth and a steady post-pandemic recovery under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Sports & Entertainment

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Exclusive

Visayas roots, Singapore routes: Top Line redraws its map

Singapore is no longer just a distant dot on Top Line Business Development Corp.’s growth chart. It has become a very literal marker of how far the company has travelled in 12 years, from a Visayas-based real estate developer to an emerging energy player now thinking in global supply routes.

Sunlight Air chooses precision over size aloft

In an aviation industry often driven by scale and speed, Sunlight Air is taking a more measured route. The boutique carrier is building its business around efficiency, discipline, and destination depth, convinced that smarter operations can deliver both commercial returns and environmental gains.

PSAC urges stronger funding for Philippines startups 

The Private Sector Advisory Council is raising a clear warning. In a recent meeting with the Department of Trade and Industry, PSAC said the Philippine startup scene is slipping behind Southeast Asian peers, not for lack of ideas but for lack of capital that actually moves.

Tariffs rattle, AI thrives: Gruppo EMS builds ahead 

Amid escalating US-China trade tensions and renewed tariff uncertainty from Washington, EMS Group of Companies is expanding production, accelerating its push into artificial intelligence hardware, and positioning the Philippines as an increasingly strategic alternative manufacturing base for global electronics firms.