More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
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| https://www.businesstraveller.com/insights/queen-of-matcha-jacque-deborja-medestomas/ |
For most of my career, I worked in digital publishing and production, far from anything related to F&B in the Philippines. Matcha was simply a personal interest. I drank it, learned about it and documented it during the quiet months of the pandemic.
When travel resumed, my trips to Japan would always include activities related to tea. Friends in Manila began calling me the “Matcha Queen”. Strangers asked for recommendations.
In 2023, I launched @jacqueandmatcha_ to separate my hobby from my personal account. The response was immediate. People started recognising me online and offline as the “matcha girl” – even though I had never set out to build a brand.
Around this time, I joined the Urasenke Tankokai Manila Association to study Chadō. Learning the Way of Tea sharpened how I talked about matcha and reframed how I approached content.With the global matcha boom creating a crowded and often inaccurate space, going intentional became essential; anything I shared needed to add clarity, context or cultural understanding.Last spring, while harvesting tea leaves in Japan, I understood that this was more than a passing interest. It was work that I wanted to pursue long term.Instagram became my primary platform – from matcha diaries to café finds, pottery and recipes. Consistency led to pop-ups and my first café takeovers.TikTok was less structured, yet the matcha content still resonated. I talked about matcha in a grounded, unpretentious manner, which made me more accessible to followers.People would tell me they had seen – and enjoyed – my photos and videos, which reinforced how digital platforms shape credibility today.By late-2024, collaborations with cafés arrived, followed by hotels and workshop organisers. Teaching pushed me to deepen my understanding of farming, milling and broader tea culture.Last year, at a two-day pop-up coffee event in Manila that featured a matcha section, my booth sold out within hours.Soon after, a major lifestyle platform featured me and coined me ‘the queen of everyone’s preferred green drink’. What began as a casual label became a recognised identity.The visibility opened doors to communities and brands I never expected to reach. It also created pressure, which I used as motivation to keep learning.If there is one principle this journey affirmed, it is this: personal branding begins with clarity. When you understand your values and your point of view, you can navigate noise with purpose. People may replicate what you do but never why you do it.Authenticity is the true differentiator – and sometimes it is the catalyst that transforms a personal pursuit into a professional platform.
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| https://www.philstar.com/nation/2026/06/23/2537086/coa-submits-new-docs-p41-billion-pharmally-case/amp/ |
The Sandiganbayan accepted yesterday new documentary evidence against former health secretary Francisco Duque III and former budget undersecretary Christopher Lloyd Lao.
The documents, tied to the P41.46-billion Pharmally pandemic fund transfer case, were submitted by Commission on Audit (COA) records officer Eljun Jumamil.
Defense lawyers countered the submission, arguing that they were unaware of the documents’ nature since prosecutors failed to present these during the pre-trial conference.
Associate Justice Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega, chairperson of the anti-graft court’s First Division, allowed the evidence, saying it remains subject to verification.
The court dispensed with Jumamil’s oral testimony after he stipulated that he had no hand in the actual COA investigation.
Duque and Lao posted bail of P90,000 each following their indictment in 2024.
They are accused of “gross inexcusable negligence” over the allegedly illegal transfer of billions of pesos from the Department of Health to the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management between March and December 2020.
It's been six years so it's reasonable to expect another ten years before its resolved.
Consumer confidence is an a post-pandemic low.
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| https://business.inquirer.net/597476/bsp-ph-consumer-confidence-slumps-to-postpandemic-low |
Filipino consumers turned the most downbeat since the pandemic in the second quarter as the conflict in the Middle East fueled concerns over higher food and fuel prices, while businesses grew less pessimistic on hopes of stronger profits and lower energy costs.
The confidence index for households fell to -42 percent, from -15.8 percent in the first quarter, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday. It was based on a survey of 5,503 households from April 6 to April 18.
A negative reading means the pessimists outnumbered the optimists. The latest figure was the weakest since the fourth quarter of 2020, when the index sank to -47.9 percent as the country was still grappling with the pandemic.
Respondents cited rising fuel and food costs linked to the nearly four-month-old conflict in the Middle East as their biggest concern. They also pointed to corruption in government and what they viewed as inadequate policies to cushion households from higher living costs.
Consumer prices rose 6.8 percent in May from a year earlier, slowing from April’s 7.2-percent pace but still above the central bank’s 2-percent to 4-percent target range for a third straight month.
The survey suggests households are already pulling back on spending. More respondents said they did not intend to buy big-ticket items, while fewer expected to save, likely because higher prices are forcing them to devote a larger share of their income to essential expenses.
The gloom is expected to persist. The confidence index for the next quarter fell to -16.3 percent from 1.8 percent previously, while the 12-month outlook weakened to 0.2 percent from 9.6 percent, leaving consumers barely optimistic about the year ahead.Businesses, however, struck a less gloomy tone. A separate BSP survey of 502 companies showed the business confidence index improved to -25.2 percent in May from -35.8 percent in April.
Firms also turned cautiously optimistic about the near term. The confidence index for the next three months rose to 0.6 percent from -7.5 percent, while the 12-month outlook strengthened to 27.8 percent from 19.5 percent, suggesting businesses expect operating conditions to improve over the coming year.
With the Middle East conflict winding down perhaps prices will stabilize and consumer confidence will once more grow.
Nurse John transformed his pandemic burn out in a million dollar comedy career.
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| https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/business-life/2026/06/26/2537975/filipino-canadian-nurse-john-makes-forbes-new-top-creators-list |
Fiipino-Canadian nurse and content creator John Dela Cruz, more popularly known as Nurse John, landed on Forbes magazine's "Top Creators of 2026" list.
Nurse John figured in the No. 28 spots, a good middle finish in between American content creators Marques Brownlee and Tana Mongeau.
Forbes noted that Nurse John scored a 12.97% average engagement from his over 19 million followers. His $7.2 million (PP441 million) earnings garnered him an Entrpreneurship Score of 3.
The magazine mentioned in a write-up how the creator "turned hospital burnout into a multimillion-dollar stand-up career," recalling Nurse John's frontline services during the pandemic and the TikTok videos he posted to cope with his industry's chaos.
The past couple of years saw Nurse John sell out a number of comedy shows — including his "Short Staffed Tour" visiting the Philippines earlier this year — as well as appearances in several comedy events like Netflix Is a Joke and Just for Laughs.
It should come as no surprise that topping Forbes' list is Jimmy Donaldson or MrBeast, the most-followed YouTuber to date.
MrBeast was followed by Dhar Mann and Steven Bartlett, with Markiplier and Rhett & Link rounding out the Top 5.
Other familiar names on the list include Druski, I Show Speed, Mark Rober, Khaby Lame, Ms. Rachel, Jacksepticeye, Steven He, and the D'Amelio sisters Charli and Dixie.
Put together the 50 listed creators have combined earnings worth more than a billion dollars.
It's another Filipino pandemic success story.
