More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
The impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte is expected to start in July, according to Sen. Erwin Tulfo.
“There was already a schedule given yesterday (when) SP (Senate President Alan Peter) Cayetano called a caucus of all members. The impeachment trial will begin on July 6,” Tulfo said in a television interview on Thursday.
“Every Monday, we’ll have a session from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and then from 2 o’clock to sawa [continuously] on Mondays, that’s the impeachment trial. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, the same thing–starting at 3 o’clock in the afternoon until evening. And then Thursdays, we will have hearings, committee hearings,” he added.
Tulfo also said that many senators in the minority bloc do not agree to the proposal of Sen. Rodante Marcoleta to allow Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to participate in the impeachment trial virtually or through teleconferencing for now.
“Many of us, we in the minority, will not agree to that. He has to be physically present,” he said.
“That was allowed during the pandemic. The rules were allowed because … there were lockdowns. Now, everything is okay, so his presence is needed in the Senate,” Tulfo added.
Marcoleta earlier moved to amend the Senate rules to “allow a senator for justifiable reasons to attend and participate in the session through teleconference, video conference, or other reliable forms of remote or electronic means, using appropriate information and communications technology.”
His manifestation remains pending before the Senate committee on rules where it was referred.
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| https://www.sunstar.com.ph/amp/story/manila/cbcp-to-dioceses-hold-pandemic-like-bayanihan-activities |
AS THE Middle East conflict continues to rage, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) called on religious institutions on Thursday, May 21, 2026, to consider holding activities to manifest their solidarity with those in need, the poor, and vulnerable sectors.
In a pastoral statement, CBCP president Archbishop Gilbert Garcera said such "bayanihan" acts were already seen during the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic some years back.
"Show concrete expressions of Christian solidarity with the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of society, who suffer most from the economic hardships brought about by this global conflict, especially to families whose loved ones live or work in areas affected by conflict and instability," said Garcera.
"Let us strengthen parish-based feeding programs, community pantries, emergency relief efforts, and charitable initiatives for individuals and families burdened by inflation, economic uncertainty, and hardships, following the spirit of compassion and generosity witnessed during the pandemic," he added.
Similarly, the CBCP chief said all dioceses and parishes in the country are being asked to offer prayers for peace.
Garcera appealed to all religious and lay communities to pray for peace not only in the Middle East but also in other conflict-hit areas.
"Pray for peace, celebrate the Holy Mass and Eucharistic Adoration, pray the Holy Rosary, and gather in family and community prayer for the gift of peace in the Middle East, in Ukraine, across Africa, and in all parts of the world wounded by war, violence, division, injustice, and human suffering," said Garcera.
"In this time of crisis, we call upon all dioceses, parishes, religious communities, schools, and lay organizations to offer spiritual accompaniment, counseling, practical assistance, and spaces where fear and anxiety can encounter hope, solidarity, and prayer," he added.
The archbishop said such actions are necessary as Filipinos are also affected directly by the Middle East conflict through the overseas Filipino workers there.
"Although distant from our shores, the Middle East crisis is not remote from Filipino lives. Many of our brothers and sisters work in the region as overseas Filipino workers. Their safety, livelihoods, and futures now weigh heavily on their families at home," he said.
In the same way, Garcera said Filipinos at home are also indirectly affected via rising fuel costs, higher prices for goods, transportation burdens.
"Those who suffer first are the vulnerable: daily wage earners, farmers, fisherfolk, transport workers, the elderly, and families with little savings. Thus, what happens overseas affects the Filipino home, the Filipino table, and the Filipino heart," added Garcera.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/21/philippines-seeks-partial-cancellation-of-nearly-235-million-world-bank-4ps-loan-amid-lower-poverty-rate |
The Philippine government has asked the World Bank to restructure and partially cancel over $2.34 million in unused proceeds from a Duterte-era loan supporting the country’s flagship Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), even as the Washington-based multilateral lender cited the project’s “strong performance” and satisfactory implementation.
According to a World Bank restructuring paper disclosed last May 20, the Department of Finance (DOF) requested the cancellation of unwithdrawn funds from the $600-million Beneficiary FIRST Social Protection (BFIRST) Project after determining that the remaining balance—stemming from foreign exchange (forex) differentials—would no longer be needed.
The acronym “FIRST” stands for “fast, innovative, and responsive service transformation” of the originally targeted 4.4 million 4Ps household beneficiaries.
The World Bank noted that the BFIRST Project, approved in September 2020 and implemented since January 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic during the Duterte administration, was designed to cushion the impact of the health crisis on low-income households while modernizing the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) social protection systems.
The loan, which closes on June 30, 2026, following an earlier one-year extension, has been almost fully utilized, with $597.66 million or 99.61 percent already disbursed to date.
To recall, Manila Bulletin reported in 2024 that the World Bank, in November that year, extended the validity of this 4Ps loan beyond the original end-June 2025 deadline after the DOF, under then finance secretary Ralph G. Recto, requested more time to implement the poverty-alleviation project.
Unlike other World Bank restructuring exercises tied to delayed or troubled projects in the Philippines, the lender said the BFIRST Project “demonstrated strong performance in its implementation,” with most performance-based conditions and result indicators fully achieved.
The latest implementation report last March rated both the project’s progress toward achieving its development objective and its overall implementation as “satisfactory.”
The World Bank described 4Ps as the “backbone of safety nets” serving poor and vulnerable households nationwide. As of March this year, 4Ps covered 2.86 million active household beneficiaries with 6.74 million eligible children across 82 provinces, 149 cities, 1,493 municipalities, and 41,582 barangays.
Of the total active 4Ps beneficiaries, 86 percent or 2.46 million were female grantees, while indigenous households accounted for 354,385 beneficiaries or 12 percent of total active 4Ps households.
The lender also pointed to the near-universal adoption of digital payment systems under 4Ps, with almost all beneficiaries now receiving transfers through transaction accounts.
Under the restructuring request, the DSWD likewise asked the World Bank to revise the BFIRST Project’s results framework to reflect the government’s decision to reduce the target number of 4Ps beneficiaries following the decline in poverty incidence across the country.
The latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) poverty data estimated 3.86 million poor families nationwide, prompting the DSWD to recalibrate the annual target coverage for 4Ps beneficiaries to 3.5 million households beginning this year from the previous target of 4.4 million households.
Between 2008 and 2025, the government said 4Ps helped 1.61 million households achieve self-sufficiency, excluding those that exited the program through natural attrition, according to the World Bank.
The restructuring paper noted that 4Ps exceeded its annual targets in both 2021 and 2022.
According to the World Bank, the BFIRST Project also financed several digital reforms within the DSWD, including the integration of the national ID system or PhilSys into 4Ps verification processes, development of an integrated grievance information system, expansion of digital payment mechanisms, as well as creation of a dynamic social registry with a unified database.
The World Bank likewise noted that BFIRST remained fully compliant with legal, environmental, and social safeguard requirements despite some procurement delays affecting a number of remaining contracts.
Once the restructuring is approved, the project is expected to fully disburse the remaining loan amount before its scheduled closing in mid-2026.
Broadway star Lea Salonga shared how South Korean boy group BTS helped her navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. In a recent podcast interview, the actress recalled how she got to know the K-Pop group back in 2020 when they released their hit song, "Dynamite."
Lea has been a proud member of ARMY as she continues to share BTS content on her social media accounts.
“2020. COVID, and everybody’s stuck at home. I don’t know, I was just going through quite a bit in my life. The isolation and even though my friends and I were making an effort to stay in touch with each other and watching my kid navigate that kind of isolation from friends. That’s a big ask of somebody that young and impressionable and vulnerable,” she recalled.
She shared how there was just “a lot” going on in her life at the point of the pandemic and in August of 2020, "Dynamite" just appeared out of nowhere for her–– marking the start of her being a fan of the seven-member Korean boy group.
“I’m watching YouTube, as most everybody does to try and get through the day, and I’m like what is this? What is this on my social media? I watched the video and the minute I saw V in that bottle green Gucci waistcoat and flared trousers, like pushing his hair back, I’m like–– and I’m done, this is it,” she expressed.
Lea recalled how she would go down the “rabbit hole” of videos, concerts, and all other BTS-related content during the pandemic. She credited BTS for helping her “pull out” from the things that she was going through at the time.
“It just pulled me out of this sad, not quite hopeless, but this sad state of affairs that my brain found itself in. I’m like, I’m gonna live here in a minute because I don’t know when this pandemic is gonna end, but I’m gonna open YouTube or open the internet every day, and I’m gonna watch what these guys are doing,” she added.
As an artist herself, the singer-actress expressed how much respect she has for BTS as she could see the sincerity in all of them.
“I have such great respect for them as songwriters, as performers, as musicians, just as artists, and discovering who writes so much of their material. Just how they relate to one another and how they are with their fans,” she said.
“I’m like there is something very genuine. K-Pop has this reputation of being so manufactured, but there is something sincere and real and it seems that these guys have such integrity,” she ended.
Lea admitted that she only follows BTS in K-Pop.
“They had me in a chokehold and I’m still here,” she ended.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/05/25/chinese-steel-giant-panhua-to-launch-1-billion-sarangani-facility-in-june |
China-based steel manufacturing giant Panhua Group Co. Ltd. will begin operations at its $1-billion facility in Sarangani province next month as part of its multi-billion investment commitment to the Philippines, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Trade Secretary Cristina Roque told reporters that the Chinese firm’s long-awaited integrated steel facility is now ready to begin commercial operations in June through the project’s first phase.
For phase one, Panhua Group will manufacture metal sheets at its facility, generating more than 4,000 direct jobs in the process.
The $1-billion manufacturing plant covers only a third of the company’s plan to invest as much as $3.5 billion in the Philippines’ steel industry.
“They’re very bullish in the Philippines,” Roque said.
Panhua Group first announced plans to invest in the country in 2018, but development lagged largely due to delays during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Roque said the company’s confidence in the country is so strong that Panhua Group, one of China’s largest thin steel producers, is also interested in exploring tea manufacturing in the Philippines.
This plan was conveyed to Roque during her recent visit to Suzhou, China, where she also held meetings with other Chinese companies that have expressed interest in expanding in the Philippines.
Among these companies are NWOW Technology and Shanghai Launch, which are involved in the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs).
Roque said she also met with snack food maker Liwayway China, which sells products in the country under the Oishi brand, as the company plans to develop a coconut manufacturing plant that would produce goods for export to China and other markets.
The DTI chief added that she held talks with premium tea beverage brand Chagee, which already has an extensive presence in international markets, including the Philippines.
While there are no planned investment deals yet, Roque said these companies are serious about their expansion plans to meet growing demand for their products, positioning the Philippines as a key manufacturing hub.
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