Today’s headlines: Rodante Marcoleta, Erwin Tulfo, DFA
Oct 21, 2026
MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court has struck down key provisions of the 2024, 2025 and 2026 national budgets for violating constitutional limits on government spending, ruling that Congress cannot increase the President’s total recommended appropriations while emphasizing that unprogrammed funds are not unconstitutional per se but must be subject to strict safeguards. In a
MANILA, Philippines — A college degree in biology, earned only two years ago at that, is not the kind of credential that usually comes to mind when filling a ranking position on the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP). A fashion pictorial with the Eiffel Tower in the background hardly makes for convincing optics
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is expanding access to selected first-line antituberculosis (TB) medicines through its Guaranteed and Accessible Medications for Outpatient Treatment (Gamot) program. The expanded benefit will take effect on Nov. 1, giving eligible patients additional access to prescribed TB medicines, according to PhilHealth Circular No. 2026-0018. “Eligible patients
MANILA, Philippines — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla claimed on Tuesday that arresting Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who has been ordered arrested by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for being a coperpetrator in former President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, could lead to 10,000 deaths. This is reason the government is negotiating for his surrender, Remulla
MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) failed to collect around P521.26 million worth of fees from the use of forest lands, foreshore and protected areas because of the lack of collection strategies and weak enforcement and monitoring. In its 2025 annual audit report, the
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte was a no-show at the budget hearing of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) at the Senate on Tuesday. OVP Chief of Staff Atty. Zuleika Lopez, along with other staff members, were in attendance instead to defend the office’s P785.2 million proposed budget for 2027 before the
CALASIAO, PANGASINAN, Philippines — “Bangus” (milkfish) producers are struggling to recover their production costs as expenses rise and farm-gate prices of the country’s national fish decline. The sharp drop in farm-gate prices from P200 to P125 per kilogram on Oct. 12 and Oct. 13 highlighted a growing challenge for the province’s bangus industry: higher production
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — This city is proposing a P4.143-billion budget for 2027, up 13 percent from this year’s allocation, as the mountain resort city seeks to sustain economic growth and advance its shift toward a circular economy and smart city governance. The proposed budget comes as long-delayed national government redevelopment projects in the city
BANGA, SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines — A 14-year-old student wounded in the Sept. 18 shooting at Banga National High School is slowly recovering at home but continues to struggle with impaired vision more than a month after a bullet struck her head. The student, identified only as “Gay,” lost sight in her left eye, while her
MANILA, Philippines — Education Secretary Sonny Angara is set to issue guidelines directing schools nationwide to prepare for the anticipated effects of El Niño in School Year 2026–2027, with measures to protect learners from extreme heat and water shortages and sustain learning and school-feeding services. The guidelines respond to the Department of Science and Technology–Philippine
MANILA, Philippines — House lead prosecutor, Batangas Rep. Gerville “Jinky” Luistro, on Tuesday questioned the Duterte family’s image of simple living amid reports of alleged mansions and expensive purchases linked to the family. “They tried to give an impression to us na sila ay simpleng pamilya lang na may simpleng buhay, but how can we
MANILA, Philippines — House prosecutor, Bicol Saro party-list Rep. Terry L. Ridon, on Tuesday questioned the more than P200,000 restaurant bill allegedly charged to the credit card of lawyer Manases “Mans” Carpio, saying the amount covering a single meal could already feed residents of three barangays. Carpio is the husband of Vice President Sara Duterte,
