Today, June 30, the country marks Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day, a commemoration of compassion, mutual respect, and an extraordinary chapter in shared history. The law behind this annual event—Republic Act No. 9187, authored by the late senator Edgardo J. Angara—was inspired by a wartime episode that quietly transformed enmity into empathy: the Siege of Baler, a […]

The number of dollar millionaires in the Philippines has surged by 32% over the past decade, outstripping growth in several advanced economies and regional peers, even as a quiet but notable outflow of wealth begins to take shape. According to Henley & Partners’ Private Wealth Migration Report 2025, the Philippines is now home to 12,800 […]

Every year on June 25, millions around the world celebrate Global Beatles Day—a moment to honor not only the enduring music of The Beatles but also the ideals they stood for: peace, love, and cultural unity. The date commemorates the band’s iconic live performance of “All You Need Is Love” on the BBC’s Our World […]

The daughter of Filipino immigrants who docked in post-war Hong Kong with little more than a saxophone and resilience, Rowena Cortes grew up in a North Point apartment humming jazz standards and brushing up on Cantonese tones between French class and stage lights. Her father, Avelino Cortes, a jazz saxophonist and musical director at the […]

As the Philippines commemorates the 164th birth anniversary of Dr. José Rizal this June 19, attention once again turns to the many facets of the national hero’s life—patriot, writer, martyr. But for architect Emmanuel Miñana, Rizal’s essence is captured not just in his novels or letters, but in the flourishes of ink that bore his […]

Before the coffee brews and the roosters crow, a Filipino dad in Vancouver is already saying goodnight—not to the close of his own day, but to his daughter, half a world away, blinking up at him through a tablet screen. This is modern fatherhood: fewer hugs and high-fives, more buffering and bedtime calls. For a […]

As economic pressures mount across the developing world, the Philippines should shift its focus—placing jobs, not aid, at the heart of its fight against poverty. That opportunity lies in harnessing the country’s most abundant asset: its people. With nearly 1.2 billion young people in emerging economies reaching working age over the next decade—and only an […]

The email looks official. The caller sounds professional. The text message seems routine. But behind the slick formatting and the familiar tone, a digital predator is waiting. Across the globe, a new wave of cyber fraud is blending old-school scam tactics with sophisticated psychological tricks and tech mimicry. From phishing emails to fake reward texts […]

Asia Pacific’s real estate markets are holding firm despite global economic turbulence triggered by aggressive policy shifts from Washington. The region, including the Philippines, is proving resilient, as Cushman & Wakefield’s latest report outlines, buoyed by structural strengths, digital infrastructure growth, and strategic supply chain shifts. In a Manila briefing titled “The 2025 Triad: Trump’s […]

Philippine banks are betting big on hyper-personalization—using artificial intelligence (AI) and real-time data to create highly tailored content, services, and offers for individual customers. The goal: greater relevance, deeper engagement, and lasting loyalty. But as they push deeper into people’s digital lives, the line between convenience and intrusion is getting thinner. Hyper-personalization goes beyond traditional […]