Rappler Philippines

TOKYO, Japan – Oil prices climbed on Monday, April 6, on continuing fears of supply losses because of shipping disruptions in the key Middle East producing region from the US-Israeli war with Iran. Brent crude futures rose $1.71, or 1.6%, to $110.74 a barrel by 0057 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures gained $0.71, or 0.6%, to trade at $112.25 per barrel. On Thursday, April 2, the last trading day before the Good Friday holiday break, WTI settled up more than 11% and Brent soared

WASHINGTON, USA – The rescue had unfolded with near-perfect precision. Under cover of darkness, US commandos slipped deep into Iran, undetected, scaled a 7,000-foot ridge and pulled a stranded American weapons specialist to safety, moving him toward a secret rendezvous point before dawn on Sunday, April 5. Then everything stopped. Two MC-130 aircraft that had ferried some of the roughly 100 special operations forces into rugged terrain south of Tehran suffered a mechanical failure and coul

NEW YORK, USA – United States President Donald Trump and other US officials cast the rescue of an American airman in Iran as an “Easter miracle” on Sunday, April 5, framing the operation in religious terms that portrayed the war as a just cause and divinely blessed. In the past, administrations typically issued postcard-style Easter greetings, and critics said officials’ messages this time had blurred the line between faith and policy by invoking religion to justify the war and shape th

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Women 3×3 fell short of a historic title in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup following a one-sided 18-9 loss to defending champion Australia in the final at the OCBC Square in Singapore on Sunday, April 5. A slow start doomed the Philippines as Australia banked on its size advantage and outside shooting to rule the continental showdown for the fourth straight edition. Led by Amy Atwell, the Aussies raced to a 6-0 advantage and never looked back en route to captur

First of two parts Illnesses are part of childhood, but nothing could have prepared these mothers for the moment their kids, just toddlers at the time, were diagnosed with a disease that they will carry for a lifetime. In October 2017, Joanne Valencia noticed that her three-year-old daughter, Sophia, had been drinking too much water and sleeping all the time. Joanne thought Sophia was just building healthy habits as she started school. But in the following months, Joanne observed her da

Pope Leo urged global leaders in his Easter message on Sunday, April 5, to end the conflicts raging across the world and abandon any schemes for power, conquest or domination. The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, lamented in a special message to the thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square that people “are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent.” “Let those who have weapons lay them down!&#822

Before the bright lights and applause, Lennon “Flight” Albiso was ushering cars in a parking lot in Makati, withstanding the intense heat as vehicles moved in and out of the vicinity.  In that same vacant lot, there were hardened cement blocks and unused office and construction materials, and Albiso decided to build his own gym — the  blocks meant for pavement became weights for squats and deadlifts, steel pipes turned into makeshift barbells, and the asphalt, albeit slippery, became his

Pedro Taduran retained his crown and remained on course toward becoming a unified champion on Friday, April 3 (Saturday, April 4, Manila time). Packing power and attacking without letup, Taduran stopped Mexican challenger Gustavo Perez Alvarez in the seventh round of their International Boxing Federation minimumweight championship at Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California. Dominant from the third round, Taduran landed a left straight to the body that put Alvarez down for the fourth

The United States rescued an airman missing from one of two warplanes downed in Iran, two US officials said, as President Donald Trump and Israel stepped up pressure on Iran to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on energy facilities. The officials did not provide further details to Reuters late on Friday, April 3, about the airman. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The airman was the second member of a two-person crew of an F-15 jet that Ir

MANILA, Philippines – Not necessarily, but it certainly reduces the risks to the Philippines’ supply of fuel.  That’s what Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said late on Black Saturday, April 4.  In a statement on her Facebook page titled “A little more clarity on the Strait of Hormuz Safe Passage,” Garin said the assurance that Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Theresa Lazaro got from Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi last week, “is not a perfect solution” an

With the oil crunch, a raging war in the Middle East, and other triggers for teeth-gnashing and doom-scrolling, I need to ask: why are you young ones so fixated on the 90s? I understand this whole back-to-analog lifestyle thing. For traders in nostalgia, this flirtation with tito and tita stuff is driving sales of vinyl records, CDs and cassettes, film cameras, and digital point-and-shoots, any media or cultural artifact that whispers “touch me.” But the 90s

MANILA, Philippines – Pope Leo XIV is presiding over Easter Sunday Mass at Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican on April 5, capping off his first Holy Week as pontiff. The Mass celebrates the resurrection of Christ after a weeklong remembrance of his passion and death. Leo will also deliver the traditional Urbi et Orbi (“To the City and the World”) blessing from the central balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica following the Mass. Watch the Easter Sunday Mass and Urbi

Rappler’s People section runs an advice column by couple Jeremy Baer and clinical psychologist Dr. Margarita Holmes. Jeremy has a master’s degree in law from Oxford University. A banker of 37 years who worked in three continents, he has been training with Dr. Holmes for the last 10 years as co-lecturer and, occasionally, as co-therapist, especially with clients whose financial concerns intrude into their daily lives. Together, they have written two books: Love Triangles: Understanding

In my recent visit to two jails in the Philippines, I encountered two stories that reveal the quiet violence of delay. In both the Mandaluyong City Jail, managed by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and in the Bulacan Provincial Jail, directly under the supervision of the provincial government, the longest staying persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) have been detained for 15 years. One is accused of murder; the other, of rape. Fifteen years. The wardens in both facilities were pro

Second of two parts In part 1, I examined how the Philippines’ borrowing patterns created structural vulnerabilities in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But debt crises are not just economic events; they reshape public services. Debt crises are often discussed in terms of bond markets, deficits, or exchange rates. But sovereign debt is not an abstract macroeconomic concept. The last time the Philippines slipped into a full-blown fiscal crisis—from 1981 to 1985—the consequences appeared fast

MANILA, Philippines – On March 30, United States President Donald Trump warned that the US would obliterate Iran’s energy plants and oil wells if Tehran does not open the Strait of Hormuz. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt later said Trump wanted to reach a deal with Tehran before an April 6 deadline he set last week after extending an earlier deadline. Iran said it had received US peace proposals via intermediaries, following talks on March 29 between the foreign ministers o

MANILA, Philippines – The Catholic Church celebrates its most important liturgy as it remembers the resurrection of Christ during the Easter Vigil on Black Saturday, April 4. The Easter Vigil marks the victory of light over darkness as Christ conquers death. The liturgy includes the blessing of fire and water and, in many churches, also the baptism of adult converts to the Catholic faith. Cardinal Jose Advincula, archbishop of Manila, is presiding over the Easter Vigil at the Manila Cathed

MANILA, Philippines – There is more to basketball than winning for former La Salle Green Archers stalwart Mike Phillips. Sure, he has captured two championships, earned three Mythical Team selections, and bagged a Finals MVP award throughout his five-year run in the UAAP, but the sport is also an instrument for the Filipino-American big man to profess his faith.  “I kind of like to say I’m just a missionary playing basketball,” Phillips told Rappler. “My purpos

Two US warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, Iranian and US officials said on Friday, April 3, with two pilots rescued and a third still missing and being hunted by Tehran’s forces. The incidents show the risks still faced by US and Israeli aircraft over Iran, despite assertions from US President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that their forces had total control of the skies. The first plane, a two-seat US F-15E jet, was shot down by Iranian fire, officia

It shouldn’t be so hard to come to terms with the imperfections of democracy so long as these imperfections occur as a matter of course, unintended, unmanipulated, unmotivated by self-interest. Well, the opposite seems precisely the case with the intervention by the Supreme Court in a process intended by law to be  exclusively Congress business — impeachment. What particularly rankles is the bias and power-tripping that tend to underlie the intervention in the recurrent case of Vice Pres