Top News

BSP cuts digital transaction fees, boosts access for micro-businesses

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has introduced new rules under Circular No. 1238, issued June 17, 2026, to make digital payments fairer, more transparent, and more affordable.

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Context Dispatch

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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.

Agriculture

Sugar industry welcomes closure of bioethanol import loophole

The United Sugar Producers’ Federation of the Philippines (Unifed) has welcomed new guidelines from the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) that closes a regulatory loophole affecting imports of sugar-based feedstocks for bioethanol production.

Corporate

Banking & Insurance

BSP tightens rules for digital financial marketplaces

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is rolling out stronger regulations to safeguard users of digital financial marketplaces, platforms that connect customers to various products and services offered by BSP-supervised financial institutions (BSFIs).
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Markets

Tanduay retains World’s Top Rum spot for 9th straight year

Tanduay, the Philippine rum brand owned by tycoon Lucio Tan, has kept its title as the world’s best-selling rum for nine consecutive years, according to Drinks International Magazine.

Travel

DOT maps tourism’s next chapter beyond Boracay

The Department of Tourism (DOT) is giving domestic travel a fresh playbook. Instead of simply telling Filipinos where to go, it is asking its regional offices to create reasons to visit—and reasons to return.
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Energy

Rockport Power expands access to government energy programs via utility partnerships

Local retail electricity supplier Rockport Power Inc. is leveraging three key government initiatives—the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA), Green Energy Option Program (GEOP), and Retail Aggregation Program (RAP)—to help customers lower their bills and choose their energy provider.

Transport & Communications

DOTr, Cebu launch first local-led transport subsidy program

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Provincial Government of Cebu have teamed up to introduce the Tabang Pangbyahe Program — the country’s first service contracting initiative led by a local government unit.
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Property

First-quarter property price expansion broad-based; market momentum recovers

Residential property prices posted broad-based quarterly growth in the first quarter of 2026, with both the National Capital Region (NCR) and Areas Outside NCR (AONCR) contributing to the overall increase.

Environment

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Technology

NTC to collect nearly P3.8 billion in unpaid fees from NOW Telecom after Supreme Court ruling

The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) will proceed with the collection of around ₱3.8 billion in outstanding Supervision and Regulation Fees (SRF) from NOW Telecom Inc., following a final and executory Supreme Court ruling.

Health & Science

Program launched to improve maternal and infant health in Batangas

Maternal and infant mortality remain key public health issues in the Philippines. According to data, the national maternal mortality rate stands at 84 per 100,000 live births, while Lipa City recorded the highest number of maternal and fetal deaths in the province in 2022.
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Opinion

The great fork heist and other national priorities

At long last, the public can sleep soundly. The National Capital Region Police Office has announced the arrest of a 43-year-old man accused of attempting to make off with 26 forks and seven silver spoons from a Manila hotel—the estimated value of the alleged loot is P12,658.14.

Reframing the South China Sea conversation 

For more than a decade, the South China Sea has been ASEAN's diplomatic traffic jam. Everyone knows there is a problem. Everyone agrees it matters. Yet the moment the conversation turns to China, the convoy grinds to a halt.

Ghosts of 1949 haunt today’s Senate

The Philippine Senate has a remarkable talent for proving that history never really leaves the chamber. It merely changes surnames.

Silent senators forfeit democracy’s mantle

The Senate has been regarded as the last bastion of democratic dissent—a chamber where statesmen stood their ground, challenged power, and refused to let their voices be drowned out by political pressure or executive overreach. It was where difficult questions were asked, unpopular truths were spoken, and silence was treated not as a virtue but as a surrender.