Philippine News

March 12 ------ Stepping into his father’s hometown was more than a homecoming for Conrad Ricamora. It was also the fulfillment of a longtime dream, especially since he hadn’t felt like he belonged while growing up.   “It feels really healing. I felt like growing up in the United States, I grew up with a lot of white people around me. I felt like I didn’t belong all the time,” Ricamora told Inquirer Entertainment in an interview moments after the media launch for the Philippi

March 12 ------ South Korean fandom platform Weverse teased earlier today, March 11, that two P-Pop groups are set to join the "super app" on March 12. On their official social media accounts, they gave fans some hints on who these two Filipino groups could possibly be.   Weverse was developed by HYBE and designed for direct interaction between artists and fans. Several South Korean groups and artists have hopped on the platform, giving fans their much-needed updates on their

March 12 ------ Israel’s ambassador to the Philippines, Dana Kursh, has given assurances that her government would look after overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) should its conflict with Iran force them to return home. “If, God forbid, things escalate, and people want to be repatriated, they can do so at their outpost, and I can guarantee that the Israeli government will do it at the outpost,” Kursh said in an interview during a visit to the Inquirer office in Makati City.   Kur

March 12 ------ PUBLIC utility vehicle (PUV) drivers in Metro Manila will receive a P5,000 fuel subsidy from the government beginning Tuesday, March 17, the Palace announced on Wednesday as authorities moved to cushion the impact of a sharp rise in oil prices triggered by war in the Middle East. The subsidy will be implemented across the country shortly after that, officials said.   The announcement was made after Executive Secretary Ralph Recto met with Metro Manila mayors a

March 12 ------ Electricity consumers in the country should brace for the “full impact” of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East on power bills in the coming months, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) said.   “Sa susunod na buwan inaasahan natin ang full impact nung nakikita nating pagtataas sa singil sa presyo ng langis, coal, at natural gas na nakadepende ang malaking bahagi ng ating supply,” ERC chairperson Atty. Francis Saturnino Juan said in an interview on GMA Int

March 12 ------ On the second day of the mega price hike, some gasoline stations are facing another blow due to the limited diesel supply, as drivers of public vehicles complain of the higher price of fuel.   In Mariz Umali’s report in “24 Oras” on Wednesday, one gasoline station, for instance, did not have a supply of diesel for two days. While they fortunately received a supply today, the impact is already being felt both by the business and its employees. “We lost some cus

March 12 ------ Instead of normal traffic patterns, ship positions are appearing in unusual clusters across the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters.   These clusters form near-perfect circles of vessel icons on maritime tracking maps, with each icon representing a real ship. However, such formations do not reflect normal maritime movement and in some cases, vessels even appear to be located over land. The irregular patterns indicate widespread disruption to GPS signals, c

March 12 ------ On Wednesday, IEA members approved a record-setting coordinated release of 400 million barrels from global reserves, helping to keep an expected increase in Brent crude prices to just five percent. Brent closed at $92 per barrel, well under the $100 benchmark and far short of the $120-per-barrel levels it approached briefly on Monday.   The continued increase in pricing reflects market expectations that the Strait of Hormuz will remained closed, pending major

March 12 ------ Three vessels have been hit by unknown projectiles in the Strait of Hormuz, maritime security agencies and sources said on Wednesday, as one of the strikes led to a fire onboard a ship and forced most of its crew to evacuate it.   The Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was targeted and damaged approximately 11 nautical miles north of Oman, two maritime security sources said. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said later, referring to

March 12 ------ Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) reports that one of its ultra-large container vessels has suffered a significant container incident in the Northern Pacific as it was traveling toward the United States. The OOCL Sunflower, which has a capacity of 16,828 TEU, lost 57 containers overboard with additional damage on the vessel, but the full extent of the incident will not be known until a survey can be completed once the vessel reaches port.   One of the comp

March 12 ------ Oil prices fell further on Wednesday, as reports of the International Energy Agency proposing the largest release of oil reserves in its history due to potential supply disruptions from the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran dragged on sentiment. Brent futures traded down 88 cents, or 1 per cent, at $86.92 a barrel by 0451 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded 35 cents lower, or 0.4 per cent, at $83.1 a barrel.   U.S. crude prices leapt 5 per cent at the

NEW YORK, March 12 ------ The dollar strengthened against the euro and the yen as investors remain on edge over further escalation in the Middle East conflict that has driven up energy prices worldwide, as Iran struck tankers and energy storage facilities in fresh attacks.   The dollar has risen about 2 per cent against the euro since February-end on a flight to safe-havens - was 0.4 per cent higher against the euro on Wednesday. Those gains eased earlier in the week on brief

March 12 ------ President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that Ukrainian anti-drone experts have begun work on defending Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates from Iranian attacks.   Ukraine – which has now been under attack from Iranian-made Shahed drones and the Russian-made drones modeled on them for over four years – has responded by offering material assistance to the countries bearing the brunt of Iran’s response. “Three of our teams have gone – strong teams of

March 12 ------ Ukrainian forces struck a major Russian microelectronics factory in Bryansk with Storm Shadow cruise missile air-launched missiles, damaging a facility that produces critical components for Russia’s missile systems, Ukraine’s military said.   Ukraine’s General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed the strike on the Kremniy El Group plant, describing it as part of a broader campaign to reduce Russia’s military-industrial capacity. “Kremniy El is a crit

March 11 ------ According to AXSMarine, 1,061 merchant vessels remain west of the Strait of Hormuz with only seven vessels transiting the waterway from west to east over the weekend, highlighting the continued standstill in commercial traffic. The vessels that passed included five dry bulk carriers (one Handymax, three Supramax, and one Panamax) and two tankers, an oil/chemical tanker and a small asphalt or bitumen tanker. Both tankers are suspected to be associated with the

March 11 ------ The U.S. intelligence community believes that Iran has begun to set in motion a long-expected plan to mine the Strait of Hormuz, CBS reports. Minefields would effectively render the waterway off-limits for commercial shipping for days or weeks. According to CNN, Iran is laying an initial tranche of just a few dozen mines out of its vast inventory. About 90 percent of its minelayers are believed to have survived initial U.S.-Israeli strikes, officials told the

March 11 ------ The U.S. Navy has so far declined to provide Strait of Hormuz escorts for shipping, despite daily requests, multiple sources told Reuters on Tuesday. The reports contradict an earlier statement from Energy Secretary Chris Wright - since withdrawn - that a Navy vessel had escorted one tanker through the waterway. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims that no U.S. Navy warships have "dared" to come near the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning o

March 11 ------ The International Maritime Organization’s Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE) convenes for its twelfth session at IMO Headquarters in London from 9 to 13 March. The Sub-Committee on Ship Systems and Equipment (SSE) deals with a wide range of technical and operational matters related to systems and equipment on all types of ships, vessels, craft and mobile units covered by IMO instruments. This includes life-saving equipment, appliances and arrang

March 11 ------ THIRD time proved to be the charm for Farm Fresh as it rediscovered its rhythm in the 2026 PVL All-Filipino Conference, snapping a two-game skid with a 21-25, 25-22, 16-25, 25-18, 15-9 win over Choco Mucho at the Playtime Filoil Centre. Former Flying Titan Royse Tubino came through in the clutch in her first game against her old team, scoring four of her 14 points off the bench to help repel the squad she spent nearly two years with. The Foxies bounced back fr

MANILA, March 11 ------ The Philippine women's national football team has reached the quarterfinals of the AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026. The Filipinas' place in the knockout stage was confirmed thanks to Japan's 4-0 demolition of Vietnam in their final Group C match in Perth. Thanks to that result, the Filipinas finished as the second-best third-place team. They had finished Group A with one win and two losses, with a minus-2 goal-difference. Uzbekistan, the third-placer in Gro