The Philippines is facing a deepening cost-of-living crisis and a sharp economic slowdown driven by escalating tensions between the United States (US) and Iran, according to a report by BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions. While the government has introduced relief measures, a narrowing fiscal window...
A group of 322 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) safely returned to the country from Kuwait on Friday morning, May 15, as the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) intensified repatriation efforts amid continuing tensions in the Middle East. The OFWs...
A 15-year-old boy died after re-entering his home to retrieve belongings during a fire that swept through East Riverside Street in Barangay Paltok, Quezon City, on Thursday morning, May 14. The blaze escalated to fourth alarm and trapped him inside. The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said in...
The research arm of Frankfurt-based Deutsche Bank sees a “ super ” El Niño developing from this month until July, threatening to further accelerate the surge in Philippine consumer prices already aggravated by the Middle East war. Deutsche Bank Research hiked its inflation assumption for...
Following weaker-than-expected Philippine economic expansion in the first quarter of 2026, Singapore-based United Overseas Bank Ltd. (UOB) slashed its full-year growth forecast to 3.2 percent from a more optimistic five percent previously. Excluding the contraction during the peak of Covid-19...
Southeast Asian leaders reaffirmed their commitment to regional unity, energy and food security, and people-centered development as they adopted the Chair’s Statement of the 48th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Cebu under the Philippines’ chairship. The leaders said the...
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — “Peace—now.” This was the straightforward message of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders to parties involved in the escalating Middle East conflict, according to President Marcos. Speaking during a press conference on the sidelines of the 48th...
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu - As the conflict in the Middle East threaten supply chains, Philip Morris International (PMI) has warned that it could trigger a major surge in the illicit trade of cigarettes, which may cost Southeast Asia billions in tax revenue should governments fail to respond Rodney van...
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — Timor-Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão once again won over journalists covering the 48th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit here after handing out candies to members of the media while avoiding questions on the sidelines of the regional gathering....
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — President Marcos on Friday, May 8, formally opened the 48th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit here, calling on Southeast Asian leaders to respond with unity and resolve to the escalating crisis in the Middle East and its growing impact on the region....
The Philippine banking system remains largely insulated from the escalating geopolitical volatility in the Middle East, bolstered by record asset levels and capital buffers that have outpaced the nation’s broader economic growth, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). In its latest...
Samarkand, UZBEKISTAN — Amid comparisons by some local firms claiming that the ongoing oil crisis triggered by the conflict in the Middle East is hurting their business operations more severely than the Covid-19 pandemic, economists from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said the broader...
