Philippine news digest - July 14, 2026

Day five of Vice President Sara Duterte's impeachment trial belonged to Zuleika Lopez, her chief of staff, who the Senate impeachment court had to subpoena to get her on the stand. Lopez testified on Article 4 of the impeachment complaint, the one accusing Duterte of plotting to have President Marcos, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, and House Speaker Martin Romualdez killed. She was in the room for the alleged threats and is considered one of the prosecution's most important witnesses for that reason (via Philstar).

Monday's session (day four) is still worth a footnote: NBI regional director Jeremy Lotoc told the court the bureau found no validated lead on the alleged hitman at the center of the case, but still assessed Duterte's threats as "serious" and "real," with no freedom-of-speech defense available for them (via Inquirer).

NBI Director Melvin Matibag's testimony got bumped to July 20 so he can make an official trip to Thailand.

The Mandaluyong hit-and-run case moved from the court of public opinion into an actual court: prosecutors formally charged the SUV driver with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, serious physical injury, and damage to property. The Land Cruiser that hit and killed a motorcycle passenger on July 10 still isn't registered to any lawmaker, despite carrying a House sticker, and the LTO has kept refusing efforts by the registered owner to get the case settled quietly (via Philstar).

Health got a new boss over the weekend: President Marcos named orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jose "Brix" Pujalte Jr., longtime chief of the Philippine Orthopedic Center, as DOH secretary after Teodoro Herbosa's resignation was accepted over health reasons (via GMA News).

Cebu City held its first West Philippine Sea Victory Day on Monday, marking ten years since the 2016 arbitral ruling against China's nine-dash line claim. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. was guest of honor and called it "a meaningful expression of patriotism." China didn't take it well: its consul general in Cebu, Zhang Zhen, called the city council's resolution "a blatant provocation" and warned it could hurt Cebu-China ties, "whether short-term or long-term, in one way or another" (via Philstar).

The PNP, for its part, said Tuesday it will keep backing government-led activities that raise awareness of the country's maritime rights.

Tropical Storm Josie (international name Haishen) entered PAR overnight and promptly weakened into a tropical depression. PAGASA says it's unlikely to directly affect the country's weather, though rough seas up to three meters are expected off Babuyan Islands, Pangasinan, and the Ilocos coast, enough to keep small boats docked (via Philstar).

The bigger story is the cleanup from last week's Inday and the habagat it enhanced. The death toll from the flooding and landslides has climbed to 20 with 16 still missing nationwide. In Davao Occidental, three people, a mother, her nine-year-old daughter, and her two-year-old grandson, were confirmed dead in Jose Abad Santos, with six more still unaccounted for. Antique separately reported 160 houses damaged by the heavy rains (via Manila Times).

Iloilo City is drying out: floodwaters have receded in eight of the 35 hit barangays, and the city government says its drainage upgrades kept the damage from being worse than feared.

A batch of Philippine banks, EastWest, BDO, Metrobank, BPI, LandBank, PNB, and Security Bank among them, are dropping InstaPay and PESONet transfer fees starting Thursday, July 16, after a new BSP circular said banks can no longer charge more for interbank transfers than the actual cost of routing them. It's a small thing, but if you regularly send money to a different bank, it's about to get cheaper (via GMA News).

Monday's session, the most recent full close available, was a letdown: the PSEi opened the week at 6,270.19, briefly poked above 6,300, then gave it all back in late-session selling to close at 6,265.72, down 0.33% or 20.98 points. Blame goes to the Middle East again: US and Iranian forces traded a third night of strikes over the weekend, Iran hit two tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, and Brent crude spiked over 9% in a single day, its biggest jump in six years (via BusinessWorld).

The peso weakened alongside it, trading near 61.50 to 61.67 to the dollar. Tuesday's own close wasn't out yet by our deadline; check the PSE's market report for the official print (via PSE).

Fuel got more expensive again Tuesday: diesel rose P2.62 to P4.62 a liter and kerosene P2.22 to P4.22, while gasoline moved anywhere from a P1 rollback to a P1 hike depending on the brand. The Department of Energy is pinning it on the same US-Iran flare-up rattling the markets (via Rappler).

Rice imports hit a record 2.75 million metric tons in the first half of the year, a 20% jump from last year, as the government keeps leaning on imports to hold the price line under Executive Order 118's P50-a-kilo cap on imported rice (via Philstar).

Regular-milled rice is still averaging around P50 a kilo at retail, well above last year's P42.

PBA Governors' Cup kept grinding through the week. NLEX ran away from Titan Ultra, winning every quarter behind DeQuan Jones' 23 points and 11 rebounds and Kevin Alas' 19 off the bench, building a lead of as many as 43 points. San Miguel, meanwhile, beat back a big game from import Damien Chongqui to get past their opponent, with the rest of that roster managing just 14 points combined outside their two big scorers (via PBA).

Gilas Pilipinas closes its FIBA World Cup qualifying window having already locked up a second-round spot, but the two road losses sting: a double-overtime heartbreaker to New Zealand (106-102) and a 43-point blowout in Australia (92-49) without an injured Justin Brownlee. Juan Gomez de Liaño and Kevin Quiambao each dropped 23 against the Kiwis, the one bright spot in an otherwise rough window. The team now moves into Group E against Iran, Jordan, and Syria, needing a top-three finish to keep its 2027 World Cup hopes alive (via Rappler).

Jericho Rosales fanboyed hard after Matt Damon told him "hopefully we work together" at the Mumbai premiere of "The Odyssey," Christopher Nolan's new film where Damon plays Odysseus opposite Anne Hathaway and Tom Holland. Rosales said he "died" when Damon said it and posted that he'd "support this man forever" (via Philstar).

Influencer Sachzna Laparan is still fielding questions about her breakup with Mark Pascual after revealing she'd repeatedly bailed him out of debt over the course of their three-year relationship, on top of the P50 million she's already said she won't try to collect (via PEP.ph).

Binibining Pilipinas 2026 crowns its winners on July 18 at the Araneta Coliseum, and the Metro Manila Film Festival's 52nd edition will, for the first time, hold official host activities outside Metro Manila, with Bacolod joining San Juan and Mandaluyong as hosts this year.

Alex Eala, fresh off a Wimbledon run that included a win over defending champion Iga Świątek, is getting almost as much attention for her outfits as her tennis: her ruffled socks and Nike mules from a recent event are making the rounds online (via Philstar Life).

She's next up at a Manila fan meet before heading into the US hard-court season.

LRT-2 riders now have two ways to tap and go: RCBC and Visa switched on contactless payments on the line, a week after Mastercard did the same, rounding out the tap-to-pay options across the line (via YugaTech).

Separately, NAIA Terminal 3 starts a month-long overnight construction project on Wednesday that will squeeze departure drop-off lanes from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. through mid-August, so budget extra time if you're doing a late-night airport run.

Apple also pushed out public betas for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS 27, and watchOS 27 for anyone who wants an early look before the fall release (via YugaTech).