The Philippines’ 2025 FIBA Asia Cup dream ended in Jeddah on Wednesday night, stopped cold by an Australian squad led by four former NBA names — Xavier Cooks, Jack White, Will Magnay, and Jack McVeigh — in an 84-60 quarterfinal loss. For a team longing to regain its Asian dominance, beating Australia may feel like […]

The ACTAI Asia Pacific Summit, held at Ayala-owned Pangulasian Island, gathered leading figures from venture capital, technology, conservation, and entrepreneurship to tackle global challenges through purpose-driven innovation. Directed by Maria Serafica, the event brought together innovators, thought leaders, conservationists, and business leaders focused on using cutting-edge technologies — including artificial intelligence — to drive social, […]

Converge Global Business, the corporate and large-enterprise arm of broadband and technology provider Converge ICT Solutions Inc., highlighted its technology-driven solutions at the 2025 Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) National Retail Conference & Expo (NRCE) at the SMX Convention Center. The event drew more than 700 retail and business leaders. Benjamin Azada, Converge executive vice president […]

The Philippines — long a supplier of raw mineral-rich soil — is finding itself in the crosshairs of a brewing U.S.-China struggle over the rare earths that power modern technology and weapons systems. The shift came into focus on July 10 in Kuala Lumpur, when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Philippine counterpart […]

On the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, the United Nations calls attention to cultures that have endured for millennia — and to the ways their wisdom can guide the planet’s future. This year, the focus is on artificial intelligence: how it could preserve endangered languages, map ancestral lands, and safeguard oral traditions, or, […]

For a brief moment this year, the Philippines had something rare in the cutthroat world of trade policy: an edge over its Southeast Asian neighbors. When U.S. President Donald Trump rolled out his first volley of tariffs in April, Manila’s exporters got off relatively lightly with a 17% levy—less than half of what Cambodia and […]

In urban Philippine households, the hum of YouTube notifications now competes with the evening news broadcast—signaling a sea change in how Filipinos consume information. Across Southeast Asia’s “social-media capital,” creators, not institutions, are becoming the most visible voices in news. Mainstream outlets still command influence, but the reach of influencers is accelerating. Filipinos spend nearly […]

With a population barely topping 28,000, Arxan would seem an unlikely player in regional politics. Yet this remote city in Inner Mongolia has reinvented itself from a timber hub into a cross-border showcase for China’s soft power — leveraging eco-tourism, wellness culture, and reforestation diplomacy to deepen ties with neighboring Mongolia. The transformation began when […]

Every August, the Philippines celebrates Buwan ng Wika, a month-long observance promoting the Filipino language and the linguistic heritage of the nation. Schools and institutions nationwide mount festivals and exhibitions honoring the power of language in shaping national identity. At the heart of the celebration is Filipino—a language based on Tagalog, designated the national language […]

This week marks 124 years since Manila quietly altered the course of its future. In late July 1901, it became the first chartered city in the Philippines under Philippine Commission Act No. 183. A week later, on August 7, the charter took effect—replacing the Spanish-era cabildo with an American-style municipal board and setting the capital […]