‘Earth Hour a reminder to conserve resources’MANILA, Philippines — With Earth Hour approaching, its organizer said the hour given to the planet is a stark reminder to conserve resources at all times. Let us, as citizens and citizens of this earth, do also our part to conserve what is necessary so that we have a sustainable planet,” she stressed. Last year’s Earth Hour conserved 161 megawatts of electricity – good enough to bring power to over 160,000 homes – based on data from the DOE. Earth Hour, now in its 20th year, returns to an in-person switch-off ceremony in Pasig, with sports official Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski serving as ambassador. Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia, in 2007.

DOE: No fuel price capThe DOE is investigating hundreds of complaints against gas stations as fuel prices rise. MANILA, Philippines — Even as staggering fuel costs continue to bedevil consumers, the Department of Energy (DOE) said it is not inclined to recommend a price cap on petroleum products, as doing so could disrupt industry operations. Through Executive Order 110, President Marcos has placed the Philippines under a state of national energy emergency, effective for one year. New supplies arrivingThe Philippines has begun receiving 142,000 barrels of fuel ordered by the Philippine National Oil Co., to serve as buffer stock. Garin said the DOE is spreading out the deliveries since the government doesn’t have its own fuel storage facilities.

P50 price cap on imported rice backedWorkers empty sacks of unhusked rice at the Ambatali warehouse in Ramon, Isabela yesterday. MANILA, Philippines — A 30-day price ceiling of P50 per kilo for imported rice has been endorsed to President Marcos by the National Price Coordinating Council (NPCC). Adopting the Department of Agriculture (DA)’s proposal, the NPCC said a price cap will “ensure affordable rice while maintaining market stability.”Setting a price ceiling for five-percent broken imported rice would prevent unreasonable price hikes and market abuse, the NPCC said. Food prices could rise as Middle East tensions affect logistics and input costs, Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said earlier. The proposed price cap is aligned with Executive Order 110, or the declaration of a national energy emergency.

Sabalenka, Rybakina renew rivalryMIAMI – World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina on Wednesday booked a blockbuster semifinal at the Miami Open in a rerun of their Melbourne Grand Slam decider. 2 Rybakina beat fifth-seeded American Jessica Pegula – runner-up to Sabalenka last year – 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Rybakina beat Sabalenka in a nail-biting Australian Open final in January – the world No. 1’s only defeat in 2026 – but the Belarusian avenged it with victory in the Indian Wells final this month.

In a Senate hearing on Thursday, March 26, the Department of Finance (DOF) expressed hesitation about proposals to remove the VAT. DOF Undersecretary Karlo Adriano said that exempting fuel products from VAT may have counterproductive results. He explained that VAT applies to both input and output, so removing VAT at the output level while retaining it at the input level may pass the costs down to consumers. For example, if fuel products are at P100 per liter now, the next increase could be reduced by P12. Executives from major petroleum companies agreed, favoring the removal of VAT on fuel products.

Britain's Foreign Office said the centres had targeted victims globally, using schemes ranging from fake investment pitches to fabricated romantic relationships. The government designated Legend Innovation, operator of a newly identified Cambodian compound known as "#8 Park", which it said was the country's largest scam site. It also sanctioned Xinbi, a Chinese-language crypto marketplace that provides tools and services used by fraud networks, including the sale of stolen personal data and satellite communication equipment. "We will not allow British people to become victims of these dreadful scams or tolerate the awful human rights abuses perpetrated in these scam centres," he said. The latest sanctions follow coordinated action with the United States last year against Cambodia's Prince Group, which ministers said then helped trigger regional raids and the closure of hundreds of scam operations.

Missing Chinese national found buried in MaguindanaoThe exhumed body of the Chinese national was immediately brought by officials of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region to a mortuary for extensive post-mortem examination. COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Policemen and barangay officials exhumed on Wednesday, March 25, from a shallow grave in Barangay Masigay in Datu Piang, Maguindanao del Sur a male Chinese national who was reported missing two days before. Datu Piang is one of the 24 barangays in Maguindanao del Sur, which is inside the core territory of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. He was last seen in Tacurong City, one of the four cities in Administrative Region 12, about 70 kilometers north of Barangay Masigay in Datu Piang. De Guzman and police officials in Maguindanao del Sur said it was villagers in Barangay Masigay who discovered where Hong was buried, both hands tied, with gunshot wounds in his body.

A 57-year-old man died on Wednesday evening after reportedly coming into contact with decorative lights on a lamppost at Silvermine Bay Beach in Mui Wo, police said. ADVERTISEMENT SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENTPolice received a report around 8.30pm that the man was found lying unconscious on the ground at 11 Tung Wan Tau Road. Emergency personnel arrived and performed first aid before taking him to Mui Wo Clinic, where he was later pronounced dead. Initial investigations suggest the man, surnamed Chan, may have touched decorative lights on a lamppost at the scene before collapsing. The case is temporarily classified as "person collapsed – died after hospital admission."

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would visit China for a state visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping on May 14 and 15, rescheduling a closely watched trip that was delayed due to the ongoing Iran war. ADVERTISEMENT SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENTTrump added that he would host Xi for a reciprocal visit in Washington later this year. "I look very much forward to spending time with President Xi in what will be, I am sure, a Monumental Event." Trump's last trip to China, in 2017, was the most recent by a U.S. president. Trump's visit will be the leaders' first in-person talks since an October meeting in South Korea, where they agreed on a trade truce.

Japan said it had started to release another part of its strategic oil reserves Thursday as it looks to temper the impact on the resource-poor nation from the surge in prices caused by the Middle East war. Japan is the fifth-biggest importer of oil, with more than 90 percent of it from the Middle East. "The release (of national stockpile) started at 10:59 am (0159 GMT) to oil refiners," Kaname Morimoto, an official of the ministry of economy, trade and industry, told AFP. The move comes after Tokyo said this week it would release a month's worth of government stockpiles, as officials started releasing 15 days' worth of private-sector petroleum reserves. The head of the International Energy Agency said Wednesday that he was "ready" to approve the release of more oil reserves if needed.

The case involves a 20-year-old woman, a minor when the case began who is known in court by her first name Kaley. The jury found Google and Meta were negligent in the design of both apps and failed to warn about their dangers. The verdict is a "setback" for Meta and Google, said Gil Luria, a technology sector analyst at investment firm D.A. NetChoice, a trade association backed by tech companies such as Meta and Google, is seeking to invalidate age verification requirements in court. TRIAL ARGUMENTSAt trial, the plaintiff's lawyers sought to show Meta and Google intentionally targeted kids and made decisions that put profit over safety.

ACT bucks trimester systemStudents and school officials rehearse graduation rites at the Marikina High School on Tuesday. MANILA, Philippines — The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) rejected yesterday the Department of Education’s defense of the three-term school calendar, saying the claimed consultations do not reflect the actual experience of teachers on the ground. ACT chairperson Ruby Bernardo said many teachers were caught off guard by the announcement, contradicting DepEd’s assertion that the policy was the product of extensive consultations. “If there was truly broad consultation, why were so many teachers surprised by such a major policy shift? Bernardo acknowledged the urgency of addressing learning gaps but warned that rushed and misaligned reforms would only deepen existing problems.

Protest against NAIA deal, fee hike reaches Supreme Court againAirplanes are seen at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on Wednesday, March 18, 2026. MANILA, Philippines — A group has asked the Supreme Court to immediately halt the implementation of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) concession deal and related fee increases, citing rising economic pressures from global oil shocks. Fee hikes under challengeThe petition challenges the March 18, 2024 concession agreement and Manila International Airport Authority Revised Administrative Order No. "Those developments have substantially raised transportation and logistics costs, and further magnified the economic burden of high NAIA charges," the motion said. "The NAIA concession was established to make that possible.

A juror in the landmark social media addiction trial said Mark Zuckerberg's testimony hurt Meta's case, telling reporters after the verdict that the Facebook founder's answers on the stand were inconsistent and did not go over well with the panel. "He's the guru, so to speak, and he should have really, really known what he was going to say to us jurors before he even said anything." Another juror, Matthew, said the deliberations - which stretched almost two weeks - reflected the weight of the evidence rather than any division on the panel. "The issues that we were having was really just going through all the evidence," he said. "Moving forward, I probably am going to have some strong thoughts about social media, and probably stay off of it, as I have."

DA: Higher food prices possible“I don’t want to do this, but we could import what we need to ensure supply is sufficient. We could always cut tariffs to mitigate the impact of higher freight costs,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said. MANILA, Philippines — Food prices could rise as Middle East tensions affect logistics and input costs, particularly urea-based fertilizer, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday. We could always cut tariffs to mitigate the impact of higher freight costs,” Agriculture Secretary Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. said. Sustained increase in production costs could begin to affect rice prices by August, Tiu Laurel said.