Philippine news digest - July 16, 2026

Sen. Rodante Marcoleta was committed to the Quezon City Jail's Payatas Road facility today after doctors at the Philippine General Hospital and the PNP General Hospital cleared him as fit to leave confinement. He'd been hospitalized since his July 6 arrest on a non-bailable plunder charge over roughly 75 million pesos he allegedly received in January 2025, while still a Sagip party-list representative, without declaring it in his assets. He hasn't entered a plea yet; the court still has to rule on his motions to recall the arrest warrant and post bail. His three co-accused in the case, former lawmaker Michael Defensor, Joseph Espiritu, and Aristotle Viray, pleaded not guilty this week (via Manila Times, via Philstar).

Duterte's impeachment trial didn't sit today. The court has been running Monday-to-Wednesday weeks, and day six on Wednesday was consumed by oral arguments over subpoenaing her bank, tax, and anti-money-laundering records, a fight already covered in yesterday's digest. Expect day seven to pick up Monday.

President Marcos wrapped a three-day working visit to Singapore, meeting Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to discuss expanding trade, AI cooperation, and investment. He also sat down separately with Ayala Group and Temasek Trust executives on healthcare access and with Singtel on digital infrastructure. Malacañang says the two countries will pursue new bilateral agreements, though specifics are still being worked out (via Philstar).

Back home, Malacañang shrugged off this week's Social Weather Stations poll (net satisfaction up to -7 from March's record -15), saying the president "remains focused on performing his mandate regardless of survey results" (via Philstar).

Separately, Marcos signed Executive Order 120 letting 4Ps beneficiaries keep receiving benefits past the program's old seven-year cap, as long as DSWD's welfare index still classifies them as vulnerable. The change is meant to cover households whose recovery got knocked back by the pandemic years.

Quiet day. PAGASA is calling for mostly fair weather with isolated rain or thunderstorms nationwide; only Batanes and the Babuyan Islands are getting any real southwest monsoon action. The cleanup from Tropical Storm Josie and last week's habagat flooding continues in the background, but there's nothing new to report on casualties or damage today.

The peso firmed 2.4 centavos to close at 61.686 against the dollar on Wednesday, helped along by softer-than-expected US inflation data that eased pressure on the Fed to stay hawkish (via BusinessWorld).

Malacañang is studying ways to cushion households from the fuel price run-up tied to the US-Iran standoff. Marcos has told agencies to assess the damage and figure out how to get relief to the sectors getting hit hardest (via BusinessWorld).

Also in the pipeline: a proposed Qualified Domestic Minimum Top-up Tax could water down the tax incentives multinationals currently get for operating here, part of the broader global minimum tax push (via BusinessWorld).

Wednesday was the good day this week. The PSEi climbed 0.74 percent, or roughly 46 points, to close at 6,302.50, its best finish in nearly three weeks, as bargain hunters moved back into blue chips after the recent Middle East-driven selloff. Financials led the rally, up 1.13 percent, followed by services, property, industrial, and holding firms. The broader All Shares index gained 0.55 percent to 3,398.45 (via PNA).

Thursday's own close wasn't out yet by our deadline.

Nothing new on the pump-price front this week. Tuesday's adjustment (diesel and kerosene up, gasoline mixed) already ran in yesterday's digest, and the next DOE review isn't due until Tuesday, July 21. See the Business section above for the government's talk of fuel relief measures if prices keep climbing.

PBA Governors' Cup action stayed tight on Wednesday. Converge outlasted Terrafirma 105-103 behind Justin Arana's 31 points, with import Justin Strings dropping 40 for Terrafirma in a losing effort. In the nightcap, Phoenix survived an all-Filipino scare from Meralco, 98-97, with Chris Javier's group leaning on Jason Johnson's 26 points and RJ Abarrientos steering the finish (via GMA News).

Gilas Pilipinas is in an uncomfortable spot heading into FIBA World Cup qualifying's second round. If the standings froze today, the team wouldn't make Qatar 2027: Gilas is tied for last in the group at 2-4, level with Syria. There are three qualifying windows left, and everything now hinges on hosting Jordan and Iran at the MOA Arena on August 28 and 30 (via Philstar).

Bea Alonzo is already back on set. Two days after her civil wedding to Puregold heir Vincent Co, the actress was filming her new GMA series "Whispers From Heaven" in Pampanga on Wednesday. The couple is postponing the honeymoon: when Boy Abunda asked Co about travel plans, he reportedly said, "Hindi, Tito, maraming trabaho" (no plans, uncle, there's a lot of work) (via PEP.ph).

Binibining Pilipinas 2026 crowns its winners this Saturday, July 18, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, with 35 candidates competing and former titleholders Catriona Gray, Mary Jean Lastimosa, and Miriam Quiambao hosting. This year's edition doubles as a fundraiser for Red Cross relief efforts following the Mindanao earthquake (via GMA News).

Alex Eala got the celebrity treatment at Malacañang this week, with President Marcos and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos hosting a dinner in her honor after her historic Wimbledon fourth-round run. Photos from the event show her mingling with the Aboitiz family, Mariana Zobel de Ayala, and Dina Arroyo Tantoco (via Bilyonaryo).

Rustan's brings back its annual FSP Day this Saturday, July 18, with an English picnic theme running across its stores for loyal cardholders (via Philstar Life).

Infinix's AI Glasses (the Audio XGA01 model) are now on sale in the Philippines through Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop for 8,999 pesos. They're pitched on real-time translation across 169 languages, plus up to 12 hours of music playback and 12 days of standby (via YugaTech).

Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi Note 17 and Note 17 Pro this week, both running flat 6.83-inch OLED panels on Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 and 6 Gen 5 chips respectively, with the Pro packing a 9,000mAh battery. The launch so far covers China only; there's no confirmed Philippine release date yet (via YugaTech).