Abbey M.

The pre-trial conference for the impeachment case of Vice President Sara Duterte is set to continue on Wednesday, with the marking of evidence related to the Articles of Impeachment still ongoing.

Senate Secretary and Clerk of Court Atty. Renato Bantug Jr. said many documents have yet to be marked, but the court is working to finish the process as soon as possible to stay on schedule.

Despite the tight timeline, Bantug Jr. maintained that July 6 remains the target date for the start of the impeachment trial proper.

"July 6 is still the date of the start of the trial proper of the impeachment case. While it may be difficult on the part of the court, on the part of the staff, at this point July 6 as the start of the trial proper is not yet an impossibility — tight, but not impossible," he said.

Bantug Jr. said the pre-trial conference must be completed this week so the court can issue a pre-trial order. Once released, each party will have three days to submit their comments.

"Supposing that we end tomorrow, what may happen is that we may not be able to release the pre-trial order by tomorrow. But as it is happening now, we obviously cannot even issue a pre-trial order until all documents are marked, until the pre-trial is concluded. Since the pre-trial order may come in by next week, how will that affect the July 6 start of the trial? If you are to base it on a simple count of calendar days, it's still possible," he explained.

The clerk of court acknowledged, however, that finishing the pre-marking of evidence on the same day was not feasible.

"That's almost certain that we cannot end the marking today. We'll try our best to have it done by tomorrow. But the pace today compared to the previous days was a bit faster because we added one more team for the marking," Bantug Jr. said.

On a separate matter, Bantug Jr. deferred to the Senate Impeachment Court the decision on a manifestation filed by the House prosecution panel requesting the opening of a sealed box containing the tax records of Vice President Duterte and her husband, Atty. Mans Carpio.

He emphasized that only the Impeachment Court has the authority to rule on whether the box may be opened and its contents marked during the pre-trial conference.

"The present status is that we have a box — a box that is sealed, its contents unknown. In today's manifestation, the prosecution is asking that we open it so that we can pre-mark its contents. The pre-trial conference cannot decide on that. As clerk of court, I cannot decide on that. It is a matter that only the impeachment court can decide on," he said.

Bantug Jr. clarified that even if the Impeachment Court does not act on it immediately, the box can still be opened and marked once the trial proper begins.

The clerk of court said he must first inform the senator-judges of the prosecution panel's manifestation before any decision can be made.

Meanwhile, the defense team of Vice President Duterte said it is prepared to formally respond to the prosecution's manifestations, including the request to open the sealed BIR box.

Defense team spokesperson Atty. Michael T. Poa said: "Natanggap lang namin kaninang umaga. Hindi pa namin nababasa ng talagang malaliman dahil as you know we were in the marking. But ang sabi ko lang is we will respond. We will formally respond to the manifestation."

(We only received it this morning. We have not yet read it thoroughly because as you know we were in the marking. But what I can say is we will respond. We will formally respond to the manifestation.)

Days after a deadly shooting inside a Tacloban City high school left three students dead and wounded more than a dozen others, a growing number of Filipino parents are reconsidering whether traditional schooling remains a safe option for their children, and turning to homeschooling as an alternative.

On June 22, two minor suspects aged 14 and 15 opened fire inside San Jose National High School in Tacloban City at around 9:20 in the morning while classes were ongoing, killing three students and wounding at least 13 others. 

The Department of Education (DepEd) classified the incident as a "high-alert situation" and condemned the act of violence. 

The attack has since reignited a national conversation about campus security and the viability of homeschooling as a safer educational option.

Bullying and Safety Already a Major Concern

School safety concerns in the Philippines predate the Tacloban shooting. Based on the 2022 Programme for International Student Assessment, nearly half of Filipino students aged 15 reported being bullied at least a few times a month — 43 % of girls and 53 % of boys figures more than double the OECD global averages. 

The Philippines has been internationally tagged as the "bullying capital of the world" based on PISA findings. 

The institutional response has drawn criticism. DepEd disclosed earlier this year that only 966 out of more than 45,000 schools in the country have a functioning Anti-Bullying Committee  approximately 2 %, a figure Senator Sherwin Gatchalian described as "shocking" and a violation of existing law. 

The suspects in the Tacloban shooting told police in initial questioning that they had been victims of bullying at school. However, Education Secretary Sonny Angara, who visited Tacloban and attended the wake of one of the slain students, said he was not convinced the motive was bullying alone, citing chat messages that suggested the attack was premeditated. 

What homeschooling offers?

Homeschooling allows parents to remove their children from the peer environment where bullying and school violence occur. It also eliminates commute risks, unsupervised hallways, and the structural gaps that allow threats to go undetected in overcrowded classrooms.

Globally, 83 percent of homeschooling parents cite school environment concerns, including safety, drug exposure, and negative peer pressure, as their primary reason for choosing home education, making it the single biggest driver ahead of religious or academic motivations. -

Homeschooling gives parents direct oversight of their child's daily environment, something institutional schooling, by design, cannot offer.

Legal framework and available programs

Homeschooling in the Philippines is legally recognized and regulated by the Department of Education.

DepEd memoranda governing homeschooling date back to 1997, with revised guidelines issued as recently as 2021. The program is anchored in the 1987 Philippine Constitution, which affirms the natural right of parents to rear and educate their children. 

Under DepEd Order No. 1 s. 2022, both public and private schools may offer a Homeschooling Program as an Alternative Delivery Mode. 

Public schools must secure authorization from the Regional Office, while private schools are required to obtain a permit to offer the program. 

Parents enrolling their children under the program are not required to be licensed teachers but must follow a DepEd-aligned curriculum and coordinate with their school division office.

Violence in schools not isolated to Tacloban

The Tacloban incident is not isolated. This month alone, two separate stabbing incidents occurred in schools in Cavite province, one suspect was 18 years old, the other was 14. 

DepEd Metro Manila recorded approximately 2,500 bullying cases in School Year 2024 to 2025, a 10 percent increase from the previous year. Secretary Angara called the situation a national priority requiring a "whole-of-government, whole-of-society response." 

The Philippine National Police has vowed to file charges against the gun owners whose firearms were used in the Tacloban attack, stating that firearm ownership carries both responsibility and accountability. 

Classes at San Jose National High School remain suspended. DepEd has deployed psychosocial support services for affected students and personnel and has coordinated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development for additional interventions. 

DepEd reiterates commitment to school safety

In a statement following the shooting, DepEd said the safety, well-being, and mental health of learners remain among its highest and most uncompromisable priorities, adding that the agency is committed to ensuring schools remain secure and supportive environments for all students. 

For parents who have lost confidence in that assurance, homeschooling is no longer a fringe option. Under current DepEd guidelines, it is a recognized, structured, and legal alternative, one that more Filipino families are now actively pursuing.

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Japan has approved a fivefold increase in visa fees for foreign nationals, effective July 1, 2026, the first such hike in 48 years. For Filipino travelers, the announcement has raised immediate questions about whether a trip to one of the country's most popular destinations is still worth the cost.

The Japanese government formalized the decision at a cabinet meeting on June 19, 2026. Under the revised fee structure, single-entry visa fees will increase from 3,000 yen to 15,000 yen, while multiple-entry visa fees will rise from 6,000 yen to 30,000 yen. The new rates apply to all applications submitted on or after July 1. 

Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said the change reflects rising prices and does not expect it to have an immediate impact on inbound tourism.

What the increase means for Filipinos

The numbers look steep on paper. For Filipino applicants, a single-entry visa that previously cost the equivalent of around PHP 1,132 will now be charged at approximately PHP 5,661. A multiple-entry visa will rise from roughly PHP 2,264 to PHP 11,322. 

However, there is an important distinction for Philippine passport holders. Filipinos applying for a temporary visitor visa to Japan have traditionally not paid the visa fee directly, as the Japanese government has historically waived this charge for Filipino travelers. The handling fee for processing the application, however, still applies. 

The announcement comes weeks after Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Endo Kazuya said Tokyo is studying measures to make travel to Japan easier for Filipinos, including the possibility of visa-free entry. Endo had earlier said the Japanese Embassy in Manila has been making steady efforts to improve and streamline visa application processes. 

Why Japan raised the fees

The fee hike is part of Japan's broader plan to address the crisis of overtourism. It is the first increase in over 48 years, with the current fee structure dating back to 1978.

Japanese foreign ministry officials noted that the low visa fee had been taken advantage of multiple times and had led to false or incomplete applications. Officials said the higher fee was intended to discourage what they described as frivolous filings. 

Japan has seen record-breaking tourist arrivals in recent years. In 2025, international arrivals exceeded 42 million, driven by a weaker yen, the 2025 Osaka Expo, and strong global interest in Japanese culture. 

Is the trip still worth it?

Despite the higher visa costs, travel and tourism analysts say Japan remains a compelling destination for Filipino travelers, and the data backs this up.

Filipinos visited Japan in record numbers in 2025, with total arrivals reaching 885,100 — an 8.1 %  increase from the previous year, according to preliminary data from the Japan National Tourism Organization. In the first quarter of 2025 alone, 211,200 Filipinos visited, positioning the Philippines as Japan's eighth largest source market for inbound tourism. 

The visa fee, analysts point out, represents only a fraction of total trip expenses. Tourism stakeholders have indicated that the visa fee increase represents only a small portion of overall travel expenditure, which also includes airfare, accommodation, transport, and shopping. 

The favorable exchange rate continues to work in Filipino travelers' favor. The yen traded at around PHP 0.38 to PHP 0.39 in 2025, giving Filipino travelers favorable purchasing power, particularly for luxury goods, tech items, and premium Japanese products. 

As of mid-2026, one US dollar buys approximately 158 to 160 yen, compared to 110 to 115 yen before 2022, effectively making Japan roughly 25 to 30 percent cheaper for foreign currency holders than it was five years ago. 

eVisa now available for Filipino applicants

Alongside the fee increase, Japan has expanded its electronic visa system for eligible Filipino travelers. The eVisa is available for Philippine passport holders residing in the Philippines who are applying for short-term tourism visas through designated travel agencies. Approved travelers receive a digital visa issuance notice instead of a physical sticker. 

Not all visa categories qualify for eVisa processing, as business, work, and long-term visas may still require traditional application procedures. 

Still worth the visit?

The visa fee increase is real, and for budget travelers, it adds a notable line item to trip planning. But with the yen still weak, airline seat sales continuing, and Japan's tourism infrastructure expanding, short-stay visas issued to Philippine passport holders have increased more than sixfold over the past decade, from just over 73,000 in 2013 to nearly 491,000 in 2024, reflecting the sustained and growing appetite of Filipino travelers for Japan regardless of policy changes. 

For most Filipinos planning a Japan trip, the visa fee is one more expense to factor in — not a reason to cancel.

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The headlines have not been kind. 

It has been a heavy year to be Filipino.

A senator spent nearly six months in hiding. Not abroad. Not unreachable. Simply gone — vanishing from the upper chamber of the country's legislature while an International Criminal Court arrest warrant hung over his head for alleged crimes against humanity.

Senator Ronald dela Rosa had been absent from the Senate since November 11, 2025. On May 11, 2026, he suddenly reappeared, arriving at the Senate in a vehicle linked to Senator Alan Peter Cayetano to participate in a Senate leadership vote that ousted incumbent Senate President Tito Sotto and installed Cayetano in his place.

What followed was not governance. It was chaos.

NBI agents attempted to serve the ICC arrest warrant, and dela Rosa was seen on CCTV running from them through the Senate halls. 

He sought protective custody from allied senators. The Senate was placed on lockdown. Marines in bulletproof vests marched through the building. Gunshots were heard inside the GSIS building where the Senate meets. 

Dela Rosa ultimately slipped out under cover of the chaos. President Marcos made a late-night television statement asking the public to remain calm. Marcos himself said he watched what the Senate had become "with horror." 

A sitting senator elected by millions of Filipinos — fled an international arrest warrant inside the very institution that makes the country's laws. 

Is this bending the law? Many Filipinos are asking it. 

This was the Philippine Senate. In May 2026.

And that was only one week's worth of headlines.

The longer list

The House of Representatives voted 257 to 25 to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte on charges of plundering public funds and plotting to have President Marcos killed,  a rupture at the very top of government that has consumed national attention for months while ordinary concerns wait in line. 

Former Marines testified at a public press conference that suitcases stuffed with cash, allegedly kickbacks from anomalous flood control projects — were delivered to residences linked to top government officials. A retired Sandiganbayan justice said the flood control scandal was so massive it made the P10-billion pork barrel scam look like "chump change." 

A school shooting in Tacloban killed three children mid-morning on a school day. Government economists warned that inflation could reach as high as 8.6 % in a worst-case scenario driven by global oil disruptions. 

And beyond Philippine shores, armed conflicts now number around 130 worldwide — more than double the count from just 15 years ago.

The frustration is legitimate. The exhaustion is earned.

And yet.

This is not the first time

The Philippines has been here before — not in the exact same form, but in the same spirit. A country watching its leaders dodge accountability, fight each other for power, and treat public office as personal property while the people they govern bear the weight of it all.

It was true during the Marcos dictatorship. It was true during the Estrada impeachment. It was true during the pork barrel scandal of 2013, the pandemic, Ondoy, and Yolanda. Filipinos have lived through every version of this story.

They are still here. That is not nothing.

Accountability is moving — slowly, but moving

The corruption headlines are infuriating. But embedded within them is something worth noting: they are headlines at all.

Witnesses are being summoned. Documents are being unsealed. And yet, for many Filipinos watching from the outside, it all feels like motion without movement — noise without consequence.

Public outrage against systemic corruption has not dissipated, with new revelations about the extent of corruption involving the president, the vice president, and congressional leaders continuing to surface. Charges have been filed. Officials have been removed. But convictions are slow. Accountability remains uneven. And the same names keep appearing in the same scandals, facing the same hearings — but with the same denials. 

The fight for justice is ongoing. It is messy, it is exhausting, and there is no guarantee it ends the way it should. But it has not stopped. And as long as it has not stopped, there is still reason to watch and reason to push.

Hope is not naivety

Hoping for better days does not mean pretending the chaos did not happen. It does not mean dismissing the suitcases of cash, the missing senator, the war against drugs, the victim children, or the billions in public funds that never reached the people they were meant for.

It means refusing to let those facts be the final word.

The Filipino people have never waited for perfect conditions before rebuilding. After every typhoon, every scandal, every crisis that seemed unsurvivable, they cleared the debris and started again. Not because they were blind to how bad things had gotten. Because they were clear about what they were building toward.

The country is a mess right now. It has been a mess before. And it has always, slowly, imperfectly, and on its own terms, found a way back.

That is not a guarantee. But it is a reason to keep going.

And for a people who have always kept going, that is enough.

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Law enforcement agencies continue to search for Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa to serve the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it has yet to receive new arrest warrants against the alleged co-perpetrators of former President Rodrigo Duterte.

NBI Director Atty. Melvin Matibag said he strongly believes dela Rosa remains in the Philippines after escaping the Senate premises in the early morning of May 14.

According to the NBI, dela Rosa will have difficulty fleeing abroad as he risks being arrested in countries that are members of the ICC.

"Para sa akin, mas magiging mahirap sa kanya kung pupunta siya sa ibang bansa because there are a lot of member countries of ICC, there are about 122."

(For me, it will be harder for him if he goes to another country because there are a lot of member countries of the ICC, there are about 122.)

Matibag added that even in countries that are not ICC members, the fugitive senator could still be arrested.

"They have a commitment with the Interpol. And the ICC arrest warrant is also a subject of the Interpol. And since the warrant is made public, pwede na siyang ma-arresto anywhere."

(They have a commitment with the Interpol. And the ICC arrest warrant is also a subject of the Interpol. And since the warrant is made public, he can already be arrested anywhere.)

The NBI assured the public that manhunt operations are ongoing, with authorities receiving information daily that could help determine dela Rosa's whereabouts.

Matibag said the operation could move faster if someone could directly confirm a face-to-face sighting of the lawmaker so the arrest warrant can be formally served.

The NBI also clarified that it has not yet received any other arrest warrants from the ICC.

Recently, Congressman Paolo "Pulong" Duterte posted on social media claiming that arrest warrants had been issued against Senator Bong Go and two other police officials.

The NBI said it will serve any arrest warrant the moment it is received.

"Sa sinasabi noon, nung mga na mas nakakalam sa amin, this month or next month, so, sintayin na lang siguro natin. Again, my commitment is if there's a warrant of arrest which is valid and legal, we will enforce it. The NBI will enforce it."

(Based on what those who know more than us are saying, this month or next month, so we will just have to wait. Again, my commitment is if there's a warrant of arrest which is valid and legal, we will enforce it. The NBI will enforce it.)

In February, the ICC named dela Rosa, Senator Bong Go, and other individuals as alleged co-perpetrators of former President Duterte in the crimes against humanity case linked to the previous administration's war on drugs campaign.

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