Renalyn Ramirez

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has finally moved into the upper-middle-income bracket, but global investors are still ranking it behind several of its Southeast Asian neighbors. That gap showed up in Kearney's 2026 Foreign Direct Investment Confidence Index, where the Philippines slipped in the emerging-market rankings and trailed Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam.

MANILA, Philippines — United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio made a courtesy call on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang on Wednesday, July 22, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) ministerial meetings. Rubio is in the country for a five-day visit to attend the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conference, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

MANILA, Philippines — A majority of Filipinos, or 64%, expressed distrust toward China in July, according to the latest survey by private polling firm OCTA Research. Only 14% of respondents expressed trust toward China, while 21% remained undecided. The July distrust rating was 9 percentage points higher than the 55% recorded in March. OCTA said the increase reversed the declining pattern in distrust observed since 2024.