Top News

Supreme Court strikes down key national budget provisions

The Supreme Court has declared unconstitutional key provisions of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 national budgets, ruling that congressional increases beyond the President’s recommended appropriations violated constitutional limits and weakened safeguards over public spending.

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iPeople targets 200,000 students with global expansion push

iPeople, the listed Yuchengco-Ayala education joint venture, is pursuing an expansion strategy built around international partnerships, new campuses and facilities, sustainability-focused programs, and deeper artificial intelligence integration as it aims to nearly triple its student population to 200,000.

Agriculture

Palace delays corn import order amid harvest concerns

Malacañang has deferred signing an executive order on the minimum access volume (MAV) for corn imports, citing concerns that its implementation could undermine local farmers’ earnings during the ongoing harvest season.

Corporate

Maya named among Best Companies to Work for in Asia two years running

Maya has again earned a spot among the Best Companies to Work for in Asia at the 2026 HR Asia Awards, securing the prestigious recognition for the second year in a row. The leading Philippine digital financial services provider also retained its Tech Empowerment honor and added a new distinction, the People Transformation Award, bringing its total to three awards this year.

Banking & Insurance

BPI launches cross-border payment service, DMCI Homes first adopter

The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) has rolled out its overseas collection arrangement (OCA), a new cross-border payment solution that lets Philippine businesses receive payments directly from overseas customers, with DMCI Homes becoming the first property developer to use the service for its clients based in the United States.
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Markets

Landmark GCash debut ignites mass retail stock market participation

In a historic milestone for the Philippine financial sector, Mynt, the operating entity behind the country's leading fintech platform GCash, successfully staged the nation's largest initial public offering to date, raising 60.9 billion pesos. The maiden share sale marked a defining moment for domestic capital markets, demonstrating how digital ecosystems can democratize investing and activate a new generation of retail investors.

Travel

Hotel101 breaks into Africa with $102M Egypt deal

DoubleDragon Corp.’s Hotel101 Global Holdings Corp. is taking its Filipino hotel brand to Africa, signing a countrywide development agreement in Egypt anchored by a planned 750-room property in Cairo worth an estimated USD102.1 million.
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Energy

Power backup ready for El Niño

The Department of Energy has confirmed it is fully mobilized to safeguard power supply as the Philippines braces for a projected Super El Niño lasting through the first half of 2027, with the driest conditions forecast from November this year to April 2027.

Transport & Communications

DOTr mandates cashless payments, left-side door for EDSA Busway

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has issued two key directives for EDSA Busway operators: full cashless fare payment options by December this year, and compliance with left-side bus door standards within six months, with no further extensions granted.
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Property

Hotel101 breaks into Africa with $102M Egypt deal

DoubleDragon Corp.’s Hotel101 Global Holdings Corp. is taking its Filipino hotel brand to Africa, signing a countrywide development agreement in Egypt anchored by a planned 750-room property in Cairo worth an estimated USD102.1 million.

Environment

Manila Water boosts Cardona plant operations, steps up El Niño readiness for steady supply

Manila Water is ramping up operations at its Cardona Water Treatment Plant in Rizal to secure reliable water supply as the country braces for a strong El Niño that may last until the first half of 2027.
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Technology

New DICT chief bares revamp plan; affordable internet for Filipinos

Newly installed Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Robert Joseph M. de Claro is pushing for an organizational restructuring to boost the department’s performance and deliver more effective digital public services to Filipinos.

Health & Science

PhilCare, Mercury Drug partner to bring preventive care and maintenance medicines closer to Filipinos

In a major step toward making healthcare more accessible and convenient for Filipinos, leading health maintenance organization PhilCare has joined forces with retail pharmacy titan Mercury Drug Corporation. The strategic partnership brings vital medical services and essential maintenance drugs directly to PhilCare members using Mercury Drug’s extensive store network across the country.
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Opinion

SC reminds Congress that budgeting has bounds

Congress has been reminded that the national budget is not a wish list, a political buffet, or an ATM where lawmakers can increase the withdrawal limit simply because the money looks lonely.

When the game becomes a bet

There was a time when watching a basketball game largely meant arguing about the referee, questioning the coach’s substitutions, and insisting that the player who missed three free throws should have been benched in the second quarter. These remain perfectly respectable ways to ruin a Sunday afternoon. Of late, however, there is increasingly another reason to get worked up over a game: money.

Haay naku! The fine art of being charged for breathing near your bank account

Quite a lot of us have had the experience. We open our banking app to send P500 to a godson for his birthday, and the screen politely informs us that this act of generosity will cost us P25. Nakagulat. Five percent of our kindness, gone—not to our godson, not to charity, but to a fee whose only visible purpose is to exist. Haay naku.

Put down the pitchforks; let Alex play

Apparently, the moment Alex Eala cracked the WTA top 20, she also signed an imaginary contract to win every match.