MANILA, Philippines — The alleged kickbacks delivered to former Ako Bicol party list Rep. Zaldy Co from then Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Henry Alcantara came with “acknowledgment receipts,” a witness told the Sandiganbayan antigraft court on Thursday. Wirt Walter Rosales, who used to be Alcantara’s personal assistant, said the single biggest

MANILA, Philippines — A Senate bill seeks to exempt common areas within residential subdivisions and condominiums from real property taxes (RPT) to ease the financial burden on millions of middle-class homeowners. Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero filed Senate Bill No. 2569, which proposes an amendment to Section 234 of Republic Act No. 7160 or the Local

MANILA, Philippines — Senators on Thursday sought the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) recommendations on how to adjust the proposed P7.2-trillion 2027 national budget following the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down key provisions of previous spending laws. At the House of Representatives, a dispute erupted over whether the chamber should recall its approved version

Many fashion trends expire over time, but a graphic tee is not one of them

MANILA, Philippines — The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) will challenge the Supreme Court’s ruling invalidating specific provisions of the 2024 and 2025 national budgets and restricting the release of unprogrammed funds under the 2026 budget, questioning whether the high court committed “judicial overreach” by imposing safeguards that encroach on the budgetary powers of

A rare escalation this month exposed the increasingly lethal arsenals the two Koreas are building up across the world’s most heavily fortified border.

MANILA, Philippines — Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri challenged Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. to crack down on pork price manipulators, smugglers and excessive meat imports. He urged Tiu Laurel to demonstrate his strong leadership as thousands of backyard hog raisers struggle with falling farmgate prices while consumers continue paying considerably more

COTABATO CITY — Some 1,500 supporters of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) gathered at the city plaza here on Thursday to air their call for the elected Bangsamoro parties and district and sectoral representatives to unite in a “rainbow coalition” headed by the erstwhile revolutionary group’s leader, Ahod “Al Haj Murad” Ebrahim. The rally

MANILA, Philippines — Agricultural damage throughout the country due to the El Niño phenomenon has climbed to P8.57 billion, a 24.7-percent increase from the P6.87 billion recorded in September. According to the Oct. 21 bulletin of the Department of Agriculture (DA), the dry spell affected the livelihood of 288,058 farmers in different regions across the

BAGUIO CITY — A 1970s mulberry enterprise in Benguet province is getting a new lease on life, thanks to a government initiative to rebuild the country’s sericulture industry and ensure a local supply of silk. Science Secretary Renato Solidum said the old Benguet operation had been designated the north Luzon sericulture hub under the government’s

The stop-motion animated movie was wildly industrious, terribly quirky, and technically dazzling KEYW

Dozens were injured and more than 300 homes were toppled by the 7.0-magnitude quake, which sent residents fleeing into the cold night air, state media said.

Bea Millan-Windorski shone the spotlight on sea turtle conservation and community involvement in protecting the environment in her Miss Universe advocacy video.

'The law doesn't mean anything if it does not impact a life positively,' Supreme Court Associate Justice Benjamin Caguioa says in his Judicial and Bar Council interview

The queue outside Bar Leone isn’t just for its acclaimed cocktails. More than a few guests are making a pilgrimage for Leone’s signature smoked olives – cheekily called “the world’s best olives (maybe)” – and its mortadella sandwich, with layers of thinly sliced mortadella, creamy whipped ricotta and tangy pickled chillies sandwiched between crispy focaccia. Up the road at sister bar Montana, the pulled-pork sliders have their own following. Not long ago, bar food in Hong Kong usually meant a...

The annual Hong Kong Wine and Dine Festival later this month promises more booths and longer hours to help attract over 168,000 visitors. The South China Morning Post unpacks what is on offer so you can enjoy the event to the fullest. 1. What is the festival and when is it open? Organised by the Tourism Board under the theme “Taste the World’s Best,” the festival will be held from October 29 to November 1 at the Central Harbourfront, opening at 7.30pm on the first day and 1pm on the following...

The storm's forecast track shows it will pass just off northeastern Taiwan, turn north toward the Chinese coast and eventually move into southern Japan

Australia said on Friday it had sanctioned two North Korean individuals and companies over the use of “fraudulent” IT workers and cybercrime to earn cash for the isolated nuclear-armed state. The two men are alleged to be key operators in Pyongyang’s cybercriminal activities overseas, estimated by analysts to bring in billions for the country’s weapons programme. “The North Korean entities and individuals sanctioned today facilitate North Korea’s use of fraudulent IT workers to raise revenue for...

PMA’s first female commandant brings a tough record to the academy, challenging assumptions that women in charge will make military training gentler. She looks ahead to a reunion with her classmates.

Severe haze in Hong Kong over the past two days has prompted a government warning of serious health risks, with experts urging the elderly and vulnerable to stay indoors until sunset. Air quality health risk levels at some of Hong Kong’s roadside monitoring stations rose on Wednesday and Thursday, with experts attributing the surge to elevated ozone levels caused by sunlight and high temperatures and warning that conditions were likely to persist over the next few days. On Wednesday afternoon,...

Former Bangsamoro parliament member Edrieza Hadji Nasser Rimbang on Friday denied involvement in the attempted smuggling of P3.5 billion worth of illegal drugs from Laos to the Philippines.

Gehlee Dangca has released her first solo single, “Closer.”

The son of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi said she sounded “fairly healthy” after speaking to the detained ex-democratic leader on Thursday for the first time in more than five years. Suu Kyi, 81, is under house arrest in the capital, Naypyidaw, according to Myanmar authorities, where she has been sequestered since being unseated in a 2021 military coup. “She was sounding fairly healthy,” Kim Aris, who lives in the UK, said after the telephone conversation. It was the first time he had spoken to his...

This year has opened a rare window of relative calm in global commerce. On October 8, the World Trade Organization doubled its forecast for global goods trade growth, from 1.9 to 3.9 per cent. The easing of US-China and Europe-China tensions has given open economies some breathing space. Hong Kong has seized the moment. Its exports rose 42.5 per cent year on year in the first eight months of 2026, with figures from August alone up 53 per cent, driven largely by AI-related equipment and...

Barbara Palvin stunned the world when she walked the Victoria's Secret runway just six weeks after giving birth to her daughter with husband Dylan Sprouse.

In author and computer engineer Liu Cixin’s science fiction hit The Three-Body Problem, three suns throw a doomed world into chaos. Chinese astronomers say they have found a real three-star system that is far better behaved. Using FAST, the world’s biggest single-dish radio telescope in southwestern China, the researchers found two dead stars and a “living” one locked in a steady cosmic dance about 7,000 light years from Earth. One of the dead stars is a pulsar that spins more than 300 times a...

The United Nations’ climate loss and damage fund moved to provide US$20 million in aid sought by flood-stricken Nepal – the first time it has set aside money for any country – in a key test of the body’s credibility. In an extraordinary meeting on Thursday, the fund’s board agreed to earmark the modest sum for the Himalayan country, which was hit in August by tsunami-like floods triggered by a climate-induced ice and rock avalanche that killed more than 1,400 people and left over 5,000...

Fresh Hong Kong graduates are increasingly feeling the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) as they enter the workforce, human resources experts have said, after a survey found the starting salaries for degree holders and sub-degree graduates had narrowed. The results of the latest annual survey by Baptist University found the disparity between the starting salaries of bachelor’s degree and sub-degree graduates narrowed by 17 per cent, or HK$500 (US$63.70), from HK$3,000 last year to HK$2,500...

The prosecution panel in the crimes against humanity charges against former President Rodrigo Duterte has asked the International Criminal Court to admit the recorded testimonies of three more witnesses.

LUCENA CITY, Quezon— The provincial government of Batangas is stepping up preparations to mitigate the potential effects of “super” El Niño on agriculture, livestock, public health and other sectors in the coming months. According to a report released Wednesday by the Batangas Public Information Office (PIO), representatives of the Provincial El Niño Technical Working Group