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Metro Manila, Philippines – The public trust rating of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. fell to a record-low of 34%, while Vice President Sara Duterte’s held at 57%, according to a survey conducted ahead of Marcos Jr.’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA).  In June 2026, Marcos Jr.’s “much trust” rating of 34% fell by one percentage point compared to the 35% recorded in March 2026, based on results of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey commissioned by the Stratbase Consultancy made public on Sunday, July 19.  This represents a record low for Marcos and a continued decline in his trust rating since it peaked at 64% in the July 2024 edition of the SWS survey.  Of the 1,200 respondents, 45% had “little trust” in Marcos Jr., while another 19% were undecided. In terms of overall net trust rating – taken by subtracting the much trust rating from the little…

Metro Manila, Philippines – After Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that Sen. Ping Lacson’s net worth doubled in 2025, the ex-police chief-turned-lawmaker defended his integrity, saying the Senate minority leader “crossed the line” by attacking his character. In a Facebook Live broadcast on Saturday, July 18, Cayetano hurled corruption accusations at Lacson, claiming that the latter’s net worth reported in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN) doubled in value in 2025. “As of this morning, I’m still counting informants and witnesses, directly or through intermediaries, willing to provide information and evidence to put him in his proper place — the Payatas, QC [Quezon City] jail,” Lacson countered in a social media post on Sunday, July 19. In an earlier post on Saturday, Lacson strongly denied Cayetano’s calculations. “Hindi nag-doble ang net worth sa SALN ko in 2025 compared to 2022 when I left the Senate. Actually, more than…

WASHINGTON/CAIRO – The United States launched new strikes against Iran, Central Command said, after it earlier announced that two U.S. military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was ​missing following an Iranian attack. Before the strikes on Saturday, Iran’s supreme leader said Washington would pay for “seeking to escalate the conflict.” Central Command said in a statement that the airstrikes began ‌at 6 p.m. ET (2200 GMT), at President Donald Trump’s direction. “The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night,” it said, without providing further details. Iran’s Mehr news agency said the U.S. carried out an attack near Sirik in southern Iran, adding that no casualties or damage to infrastructure have been reported. The U.S. and Iran have intensified attacks…

Metro Manila, Philippines – House lead prosecutor Gerville Luistro on Friday clarified that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), not the prosecution panel, would decide whether to seek presidential authorization to disclose Vice President Sara Duterte’s tax records if subpoenaed by the Impeachment Court.  “Actually, it is the discretion of the BIR… Prerogative iyan ng BIR, kung sila ba ay hihingi din ng authority sa presidente upang mailatag itong mga dokumento ng BIR,” Luistro told NewsWatch Plus on Friday, July 17.  [Translation: Actually, it is the BIR’s discretion. It is the agency’s prerogative whether it will seek the president’s authority before presenting the BIR documents.] The president’s authorization is widely viewed as a key step to allow the prosecution to present Duterte’s tax records as evidence in the impeachment trial.  The prosecution has asked the Impeachment Court to subpoena Duterte’s tax records, bank documents, and reports from the Anti-Money Laundering…

Metro Manila, Philippines –  Senator Robin Padilla and Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela exchanged sharp words Friday, July 17,  over China Daily’s controversial depiction of Filipinos as monkeys, with the senator accusing the Coast Guard official of fueling “wartime propaganda.” Padilla criticized Tarriela’s condemnation of the Chinese state-run outlet, saying the coast guard transparency initiative had escalated tensions. “Mr. Tarriela, it was you who drew first blood. This escalation into wartime propaganda was your genius creation,” Padilla said. Addressing China’s controversial content, the senator said Filipinos, Chinese, and Japanese are all viewed as “monkeys of different colors” by white supremacists. “As for the Chinese media, aren’t we all monkeys of different colors in the eyes of white colonizers and white supremacists?” he said. Padilla further said responding to the issue in the same manner would mean abandoning the country’s Asian and Austronesian heritage.…