Philippine news digest - July 20, 2026

A week out from his fifth State of the Nation Address on July 27, President Marcos is walking in with the worst numbers of his term. A Social Weather Stations survey done for the Stratbase Group put his trust rating at a record-low 34 percent, down from 64 percent back in July 2024, with distrust climbing to 45 percent. Vice President Sara Duterte, meanwhile, held steady at 57 percent, so the gap between them keeps widening in her favor (via Philstar, via Inquirer, via Manila Bulletin).

The impeachment court handed the prosecution a big win this afternoon. Senator-judges voted to subpoena the bank, tax, and Anti-Money Laundering Council records of the Vice President and her husband Manases Carpio, the exact documents the House needs for its unexplained-wealth and SALN articles. Prosecutors pointed to a gap they want explained: roughly P80 million in declared wealth against P6.7 billion in AMLC-flagged transactions (via GMA News).

The same session closed out the fourth impeachment article. NBI Director Melvin Matibag took the stand as the prosecution's last witness on that count, testifying on the bureau's probe into Duterte's November 2024 remark that she had contracted someone to kill Marcos, the First Lady, and then-Speaker Martin Romualdez if she herself were harmed. His slot was moved up so he could catch a flight to a law-enforcement summit in Bangkok (via GMA News).

Some rare good news out of the Gulf. The DFA confirmed that four Philippine-flagged vessels, MV Lyng Trader, MV Western Doncaster, MV Vivian Trader, and MV Eva Fuji, carrying 81 Filipino crew between them, made it safely out of the Strait of Hormuz after transiting in the last week of June. Most of the crew have gone back to their duties; a few took the chance to fly home (via Philstar).

That is a small dent in a big problem, though. Around 3,000 Filipino seafarers are still stranded on roughly 400 ships in the Persian Gulf after Iran's Revolutionary Guard declared the Strait closed again, and evacuation runs have been suspended since the brief Iran-US ceasefire collapsed. The Philippines supplies about a quarter of the world's merchant crews, which is why every twist at this chokepoint lands hard here (via Philstar).

A quiet day on the hazard front. PAGASA has no tropical cyclone inside the forecast area, and the main weather driver is the southwest monsoon, or habagat, which keeps feeding scattered afternoon rains and thunderstorms over the western side of Luzon and the Visayas. Nothing at storm-signal scale as of this writing (via Rappler).

Mayon and Taal are both doing what they have done for weeks, Mayon still under Alert Level 3 and Taal at Alert Level 1, with no change today that would move either past what this digest has already covered.

The mid-year scorecard is not pretty. BusinessWorld's own read of the economy lays out three headwinds, the US-Iran war and its oil shock, stubborn inflation, and stalled public spending, against three tailwinds in remittances, a resilient services sector, and room for the BSP to move once prices cool. The upshot is a year tracking well below the government's original 5 to 6 percent growth target (via BusinessWorld).

The hard numbers back that up. UA&P estimates second-quarter GDP grew only about 2.6 percent, which would be a third straight quarter of slowing, dragged down by weak demand and a sharp contraction in public construction after last year's infrastructure corruption scandal froze projects (via BusinessWorld).

One structural weak spot worth flagging: economists note the Philippines pours just 0.44 percent of GDP into ICT infrastructure, well under the 1 percent-plus that regional neighbors spend, which is part of why the digital economy keeps punching below its weight (via BusinessWorld).

Trading resumed today after the weekend break, but the last confirmed finish is still Friday's, when the PSEi ended at 6,404.11 and the peso closed around P61.587 to the dollar, capping a three-week climb built mostly on bargain hunting (via BusinessWorld).

Expect the mood this week to be a tug-of-war between that momentum and the oil story. Analysts flagged the 6,400 line as the level to watch, with Brent above $80 a barrel and this week's fuel hike keeping a lid on sentiment, while incoming second-quarter corporate earnings are the next real catalyst either way. Today's close was not yet reported as this digest went out (via BusinessWorld).

The fuel hike everyone has been dreading now has firm numbers. Effective Tuesday, July 21, diesel goes up as much as P10.68 a liter, gasoline P3.65, and kerosene P11.77, all pinned on the reescalation between the US and Iran. To soften the blow, the DOE got oil firms to stagger the diesel and kerosene increases: Shell and Seaoil will spread theirs across Tuesday to Thursday rather than dumping it all at once (via GMA News).

And it may not stop at the pump. Manila Bulletin flags a possible double whammy, with power bills also threatening to climb as the same Middle East pressure pushes up generation costs, so households could feel this on two fronts at once (via Manila Bulletin).

Last season's Governors' Cup finalists both opened their campaigns over the weekend, and only one walked away happy. TNT survived a late Macau charge to win 106-103 behind 23 points each from Rey Nambatac and import Darius Days, while Barangay Ginebra's comeback fell just short against Phoenix, which held on 81-78 for a third straight win. Under the elimination format, Ginebra and TNT will not meet again until the playoffs, if at all (via GMA News).

Alex Eala flew out of the country today after a homecoming full of fan events, off to start her US Open build-up at the Mubadala DC Open in Washington from July 27. She will play both singles and doubles there, pairing up with American great Venus Williams in the doubles draw (via Philstar).

Yassi Pressman is engaged. The actress and Camarines Sur Governor Luigi Villafuerte announced it in an Instagram post on July 18, sharing a clip of the proposal in a savanna-like setting, and the well-wishes from showbiz friends have been rolling in since (via PEP.ph).

P-pop trio G22 pulled off a milestone of their own, selling out their debut solo concert, Eve of An Alpha, at the New Frontier Theater. Members AJ, Alfea, and Jaz finally headlined a full production, this one directed by John Prats (via GMA Entertainment).

If you eat out, July has been a good month for it. Tatler's dining radar leads with chef Francis Tariga's Tadhanà bringing her New York-honed contemporary Filipino tasting menu back to Manila, alongside a wave of new Japanese rooms in Makati including chef Yusuke Hino's omakase spot Hinoki (via Tatler Asia).

For something more everyday, Interaksyon rounded up the month's food launches, promos, and dining experiences worth trying, a handy list if you would rather chase a new milk tea or set menu than a fine-dining reservation (via Interaksyon).

Canon Philippines launched the EOS R6 V, a full-frame hybrid aimed squarely at video shooters and content creators, with 7K recording and active cooling, paired with a new RF20-50mm F4 L IS USM power-zoom lens (via NewsBytes.ph).

On the connectivity side, PLDT secured consent from the Tagbanua indigenous community and the NCIP to build new submarine cable routes into Palawan, adding much-needed redundancy for the island's network (via NewsBytes.ph). The DICT, meanwhile, switched on 100 more free public Wi-Fi sites across Cagayan Valley, pitched partly as a way to make QR-code cashless payments easier in the region (via NewsBytes.ph).

And on the jobs front, NCS Philippines, the roughly P1.87-billion tie-up between Singtel's tech-services arm and Globe's Yondu, said it is growing its local workforce to 1,200 as it scales up its IT operations here (via NewsBytes.ph).