Context Dispatch

National Bureau of Investigation Director Melvin Matibag told the Senate impeachment court that the agency has identified persons of interest in its investigation into Vice President Sara Duterte's statement that she had contracted a hitman to assassinate President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., First Lady Liza Marcos and former House Speaker Martin Romualdez. During cross-examination, the defense questioned Matibag's impartiality, citing his appointment by Marcos and his wife's role as a lawmaker who signed the impeachment complaint. Matibag also testified that an American law enforcer told him threats against the US president typically result in immediate arrest under American law.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has appointed economist and former Albay governor Joey Sarte Salceda as Secretary of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, bringing back to the Cabinet a veteran policymaker with deep experience in markets, fiscal policy and Congress. A former top analyst at global investment firms and six-term lawmaker, Salceda is expected to help advance the administration's priority measures ahead of the State of the Nation Address and national budget deliberations. He said his mandate is to transform the PLLO into a genuine policy office and accelerate the passage of the President's remaining legislative agenda.

The Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, on Monday ordered banks to produce the peso account records of Vice President Sara Duterte and her husband, Manases Reyes Carpio, from 2007 to 2021, as House prosecutors seek to use these documents to prove whether she amassed alleged ill-gotten wealth. The court also subpoenaed the financial records of 19 corporations and one partnership linked to the couple, along with relevant documents from the Anti-Money Laundering Council, all to be submitted by July 30. It likewise allowed the production of the couple's income tax returns for the same period to establish their financial baseline, a key issue in one of the Articles of Impeachment. The ruling, issued by presiding officer Senator Francis Escudero, appeared to stem from an earlier caucus. But no vote tally was disclosed, and it remained unclear whether the senator-judges formally voted on the subpoenas.

Two Filipino seafarers have been killed, 12 injured and one remains missing following separate drone attacks on commercial vessels in the northern Black Sea, prompting renewed calls for shipping companies to avoid the high-risk route. Department of Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said one Filipino died in a July 6 attack and another on July 19, with efforts underway to recover the missing seafarer and repatriate the victims. Since the attacks began, nine ships carrying Filipino crew have been hit. Four injured seafarers have returned home, while eight remain under medical and psychological care. The other 124 Filipino crew members are safe. (Marjohara Tucay)

Buying a house? Settling an estate? Transferring shares? All of it just got a little less confusing.