SB19 performs ASEAN 2026 Song

SB19 Lend Their Voice To The Official ASEAN 2026 Song

Named Philippine tourism ambassadors in July, the group continues its role in representing the country through music.

Andrea Manuel
Billboard Philippines 
07 October 2026

SB19 continue to extend their influence beyond the stage, lending their voices to “Together In Motion,” the official song for the Philippines’ ASEAN 2026 chairship.

Released by the Department of Tourism, the song features Josh, Pablo, Stell, Ken, and Justin delivering a message of unity through its central hook

, “Together, one heart, one dream, one ocean.” Composed by Anya Lagman and arranged by Jimmy Antiporda and Louie Ocampo, the anthem echoes the Philippines’ ASEAN 2026 theme, “Navigating Our Future, Together.”

As this year’s ASEAN chair, the Philippines will host the 49th ASEAN Summit on November 16 to 18, 2026.

The music video shows SB19 recording and performing the song alongside scenes of the country’s destinations and culture. The project follows the boy group’s appointment as Philippine tourism ambassadors in July, adding to their growing role beyond their work as recording artists.

“Together In Motion” comes amid a year of increased visibility for SB19 in spaces outside the music industry. On September 28, 2026, the Philippine Senate recognized the boy group for their historic Lollapalooza 2026 performance and contributions to the country’s creative industry.

Together with their label, 1Z Entertainment, SB19 have also worked with Senator Bam Aquino on Senate Bill No. 2517 or the proposed Philippine Agency for the Creative Economy (PACE) Act. The measure aims to strengthen support for creatives, including assistance with visas, travel, logistics, and international participation.

In related news, SB19 took home three awards at the 2026 Filipino Music Awards: People’s Choice – Artist, People’s Choice – Song for “VISA” as well as Concert of the Year for Wakas at Simula: The Trilogy Concert Finale.

Philippines marks eight-year winning streak as Asia’s Leading Dive Destination with six WTA Asia wins

Philippines marks eight-year winning streak as Asia’s Leading Dive Destination with six WTA Asia wins

Great Travel Magazine
GTContentSteam
07 October 2026

The Philippines marked its eight consecutive year as Asia’s Leading Dive Destination at the World Travel Awards (WTA) Asia, Oceania & Indian Ocean Gala Ceremony 2026, held at CROSSROADS Maldives on Sunday (Sept. 27).

The country likewise secured five other major wins, including Asia’s Leading Beach Destination 2026 for the ninth time and Asia’s Leading Island Destination 2026 for the third consecutive year.

Boracay retained its title as Asia’s Leading Luxury Island Destination 2026 for the third straight year, while the Department of Tourism (DOT) was named Asia’s Leading Tourist Board 2026 for the fourth time.

The City of San Fernando, Pampanga earned the title of Asia’s Leading Cultural City Destination 2026, marking the Philippines’ first win in the said category. The recognition highlights the city’s rich heritage, traditions, crafts, culinary offerings, and festivals, including the Giant Lantern Festival.

“With the momentum from these recognitions, we want to further establish diving as one of the Philippines’ key tourism products in 2027. This means improving access and logistics to our dive destinations and strengthening promotions that showcase the exceptional marine and natural assets we have across the country. At the same time, we will continue working to enhance safety and security for both local and international travelers, while investing in the training and education of our tourism frontliners in our dive and beach destinations. Our goal is to make diving and other water-based activities safer, more accessible, and easier for travelers to experience, supported by more efficient services and better-connected destinations,” Tourism Secretary Dita Angara-Mathay said.

Philippine tourism industry players also brought home nine Asia-level awards, led by the country’s flag carrier Philippine Airlines, named Asia’s Leading Cultural Airline. Savoy Hotel Manila was recognized as Asia’s Leading Airport Hotel, while Amanpulo and Discovery Primea were named Asia’s Leading Private Island Resort and Asia’s Leading Business Hotel, respectively. Other Philippine winners were Admiral Hotel Manila – MGallery, Asia’s Leading Design Hotel; Ascott Bonifacio Global City Manila, Asia’s Leading Serviced Apartments; City of Dreams Manila, Asia’s Leading Casino Resort; Fili Hotel Bridgetowne, Asia’s Leading New Luxury Hotel Development Project; and Okada Manila, Asia’s Leading Entertainment Resort.

Established in 1993, the World Travel Awards recognizes excellence across the global travel, tourism, and hospitality industries through regional and global awards. Regional winners advance to the WTA Grand Final, where they compete with winners from other regional heats for the World categories.

Manila won silver award at Seoul Smart City Prize 2026

Manila bags silver Smart City award

Philstar Global 
07 October 2026

MANILA, Philippines — The city of Manila won the silver award in the tech-innova city category at the Seoul Smart City Prize 2026.

Recognized for its integrated geographic information systems (GIS), Manila tied with Buenos Aires in Argentina for the prize.

Madrid won gold, while Cuenca in Ecuador, Granada in Spain and Konya in Turkey garnered bronze.

The Manila Innovation Integrated GIS and Data Hub can be used in disaster risk reduction, public safety, sustainable environment management and inclusive economic growth.

“This is proof that Manila belongs on the world stage. Years of hard work by our GIS team and our disaster risk reduction personnel brought us here. I could not be more proud of what they have built,” Mayor Isko Moreno said in a statement.

The award recognized how Manila used digital mapping, spatial analysis and real-time data monitoring to strengthen the city’s management of floods, fires and other emergencies across its six districts.

Ramon Jefferson Verano is officer-in-charge of the electronic data processing services under the Office of the Mayor and concurrent chief of the Manila Innovation and Integrated GIS and Data Hub.

The hub is under the special projects section of the Manila City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department led by director Arnel Eustacio Angeles.

“When we invest in technology like GIS, we are investing in the safety of every Manileño. Every peso we put into this system is a peso that goes toward making sure our people are protected when disasters strike,” Moreno said.

Four Filipino women executives have been named among Fortune’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Asia for 2026

Four Filipina CEOs make Fortune’s Asia power list

Nazylen Joy Mabanglo
The Manila Times
06 October 2026

MANILA, Philippines — Four Filipino women executives have been named among Fortune’s 100 Most Powerful Women in Asia for 2026, with Mynt President and CEO Martha Sazon ranking highest among the Philippine contingent at 35th.

Land Bank of the Philippines President and CEO Lynette Ortiz ranked 77th, followed by Megaworld President and CEO Lourdes T. Gutierrez-Alfonso at 87th and UnionBank President and CEO Ana Maria Aboitiz Delgado at 98th.

The four represent key sectors of the Philippine economy, including financial technology, government banking, real estate and commercial banking.

Sazon leads the company that runs GCash, the country’s largest fintech platform, which is preparing to list on the Philippine Stock Exchange on Oct. 20 through an initial public offering that is expected to raise about P61 billion.

The offering is on track to become the country’s largest IPO, with cornerstone commitments from global investors including BlackRock, T. Rowe Price and the International Finance Corp.

GCash has been used by about 90 million Filipinos, while its monthly active users stand at about 41.5 million, according to Fortune.

Ortiz, meanwhile, the 11th president and CEO of LandBank, was appointed to lead the state-run lender in 2023 after three decades in the banking industry. She previously became the first Filipino to serve as chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank Philippines.

Under Ortiz, LandBank posted a record P44 billion in net income in 2025, up 24 percent year-on-year, while declaring P32.6 billion in dividends to the national government in 2026.

Gutierrez-Alfonso ranked 87th, up from 92nd in the previous year. She has served as Megaworld president and CEO since June 2024 after joining the company in 1990, about six months after its establishment.

Megaworld posted a record P24 billion in net income in 2025 on P86 billion in revenue. However, growth has moderated, with the property developer cutting its 2026 project launches and capital expenditures. Its net income rose 5 percent in the first half of 2026.

Delgado, a fifth-generation member of the Aboitiz family, ranked 98th. She joined UnionBank in 2003 after working at Citibank and became the bank’s president and CEO in January 2025.

In March, Delgado became the first woman to lead the Bankers Association of the Philippines in the organization’s nearly 80-year history. She has also advocated the use of artificial intelligence in banking, comparing its potential impact with the emergence of internet banking.

UnionBank reported P9.9 billion in net income in 2025, down 17 percent from a year earlier, amid one-off charges. The bank generated P83.2 billion in revenue and served 18.6 million customers.

New frog species discovered in Southern Philippines

Scientists discover new frog, resurrect two species in Philippines after 106 years

The Star (Malaysia)
06 Oct 2026 

GENERAL SANTOS CITY: Filipino and foreign scientists have discovered a new frog species and “resurrected” two others in the southern and central Philippines, all of which were thought to have been the same species over the past 100 years.

Before the discoveries, they were referred to as cryptic species, meaning they look very similar but are genetically and behaviourally distinct.

Filipino wildlife biologist Kier Mitchel Pitogo, one of the authors of the study detailing the three new additions to the Philippine amphibian fauna, explained that these frogs play an important role in the environment, acting as bioindicators of forest habitat quality.

“These frogs are associated with primary forests… From what we’ve observed during our fieldwork, they are typically among the first wildlife to disappear when forests are lost or heavily disturbed. Because of this, they can serve as bioindicators of habitat quality, meaning their presence or absence can tell us something about changes in the forest,” he told the Inquirer on Sunday.

The three latest discoveries are the Platymantis habagatan (Mindanao variable forest frog), a new species from Mindanao Island, except the southern region; and two resurrected species, P. jagorii (Jagor’s variable forest frog) and P. laticeps (Broad-headed variable forest frog).

Habagatan is a Cebuano word for “south” or “southern”, referring to its distribution in the southern Philippines.

“It is the first description of a new ground-dwelling Platymantis from the Mindanao biogeographic region in 106 years,” said Pitogo, a doctoral student in ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas, USA.

Among the three, the Jagor’s variable forest frog is the smallest, with proportionally smaller eyes and a relatively wider head. It is found across Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Dinagat, and Siargao.

Its close relative, the Mindanao variable forest frog, shares some of these characteristics but is proportionally larger overall and is widely distributed across Mindanao, except for the southern region.

The Broad-headed variable forest frog co-occurs with the Mindanao variable forest frog in northeastern Mindanao but can be readily distinguished by its much larger body size (about 38–41 mm compared with 30–35 mm), tuberculate body, and much narrower space between the eyes.

For a century, Pitogo noted these frogs were treated as a single species, Platymantis dorsalis.

He stressed that for conservation purposes, it becomes extremely important to get their names and identities right.

“Conservation decisions are ultimately made at the species level, so if we don’t recognise the species correctly, we may not even know which species is declining, where it occurs, or what habitat needs to be protected,” Pitogo explained.

It took four years and 230 frog specimens for the authors to officially add the three latest species to the country’s amphibian fauna.

Aside from Pitogo, the authors include Rew Hoskins, Faben Hana Tesfazion, Camila G. Meneses, Hayden W. Cannon, Christian E. Supsup, Syrus Cesar P. Decena, Marites B. Sanguila, and Rafe M. Brown.

They are affiliated with the University of Kansas, Visayas State University-Alangalang in Leyte, or Father Saturnino Urios University in Butuan City. Inqurier/ANN

Philippines to position itself as Asia's next clinical research hub

Philippines eyes role as Asia’s clinical research hub

Logan Kal-El M. Zapanta 
Inquirer.net
06 October 2026

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is seeking to position itself as Asia’s next clinical research hub, with a new center of excellence targeted to open in Manila within the year through a partnership with British Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

The planned Clinical Trial Centre of Excellence is being developed by AstraZeneca with De La Salle University (DLSU), the Department of Science and Technology and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza).

t will be established within the DLSU Knowledge, Innovation, Science and Technology Zone and serve as the first of three planned pillars of a broader health ecosystem, alongside a Cancer Command Centre and a Cardio-Renal-Metabolic Centre.

The Department of Trade and Industry said it would work with AstraZeneca and other government and academic partners to streamline regulatory approvals and explore a one-stop-shop model to support clinical research.

Currently, AstraZeneca supports more than 28 ongoing and planned clinical trials across over 150 sites nationwide, involving more than 1,000 Filipino patients enrolled since 2022.

AstraZeneca has invested more than P3 billion in Philippine clinical trials over the past six years, covering research in areas including oncology, respiratory and immunology, and cardiovascular, renal and metabolic diseases.

The company has also partnered with AC Health and its Healthway Medical Network to expand clinical trial capabilities to more hospitals, including facilities outside traditional research centers.

Trade Secretary Cristina Roque said expanding the industry could create higher-value employment for doctors, nurses, researchers and other health professionals while giving more patients access to clinical research.

“Just as we built the IT-BPM industry from call centers into a globally competitive knowledge-services sector, we see clinical research and health information management as the Philippines’ next growth industry,” Roque said.

Separately, AstraZeneca and Peza are developing a proposed Multi-Stakeholder Health Innovation Hub within the economic zone network following an agreement signed in August 2025.

Its flagship Oncology Innovation Center is envisioned to use artificial intelligence for early lung cancer detection while expanding patient-support systems and strengthening health-care workforce capabilities.

The initiatives were discussed during Roque’s visit to AstraZeneca’s Discovery Centre in Cambridge, United Kingdom. INQ

UP Manila enters Global Top 500 ranking

UP Manila enters Global Top 500 – U.S. News & World Report

Andrea Gregorio
Inquirer.net
05 October 2026

MANILA, Philippines —The University of the Philippines (UP) Manila emerged as the Philippines’ lone representative in the global Top 500 of the U.S. News & World Report’s 2026-2027 Best Global Universities rankings.

The country’s premier health sciences university rose 32 places from its previous ranking of No. 479 to No. 447 among 2,250 universities evaluated by U.S. News & World Report.

UP Manila said Monday that it “joined other universities that entered the roster of the best universities in the world, including Stanford University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, and Harvard University, among others.”

UP Manila ranked first in normalized citation impact and in the percentage of highly cited papers among the top 1 percent most-cited publications.

It also placed No. 112 among the best universities in Asia and No. 972 in global research reputation.

Despite posting a lower global score of 50.8 in the latest rankings compared with its 52.5 score in the 2024-2025 rankings, UP Manila improved its overall position.

The rankings assess universities based on 13 indicators covering academic research performance, as well as global and regional reputation.

These include publication output, citations, books, international collaborations, conferences, and research reputation.

U.S. News & World Report said the indicators were selected to allow comparisons of higher education institutions across countries.

The media company noted that while the rankings primarily measure academic research and reputation, universities included in the list are likely to have highly respected faculty members.

The methodology for the five regional rankings—covering Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, and Latin America—was also based on each institution’s standing in the overall Best Global Universities rankings, according to U.S. News & World Report. /mcm