Context Dispatch

Alex Eala’s bid for the biggest title of her career was put on hold after persistent rain repeatedly disrupted the Mubadala DC Open final against top seed Jessica Pegula. The championship match was delayed for hours before play started, only to be suspended again for the safety of players and spectators. Eala surged to a 4-3 lead in the opening set and created several chances to move within a game of the set before World No. 3 Pegula rallied to win three straight games for a 6-4 advantage. Eala claimed the second-set opener before trailing 2-1 when play stopped.

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas on Friday met with Philippine Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro in Metro Manila.

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.