BINI makes history at Coachella 2026

BINI makes history at Coachella 2026

Nikko Tuazon
PEP.com
11 April 2026

BINI reached a major milestone after becoming the first P-pop group to perform at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

On Saturday, April 11 (PHT), P-Pop girl group BINI--(L-R) Stacey, Maloi, Gwen, Colet, Jhoanna, Aiah, Mikha, and Sheena--made history as the first-ever P-Pop act to perform at the Coachella Music Festival 2026. PHOTO/S: Screengrab from Coachella / YouTube   

All eight members—Aiah, Colet, Maloi, Jhoanna, Stacey, Gwen, Sheena, and Mikha—graced the stage at the Mojave Tent on Friday, April 10, 2026 (Saturday, April 11, Philippine time). Their set ran for 45 minutes, giving international festivalgoers a firsthand look at P-pop.

Held annually at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, Coachella is one of the world’s largest music festivals, attracting about 250,000 attendees each weekend.

The Mojave Stage is a covered, mid-sized tent known for its strong acoustics and for showcasing emerging and critically acclaimed artists. Past performers include Ed Sheeran (2025), Lizzo (2019), Rosalía (2019), and Carly Rae Jepsen (2022).

BINI'S PERFORMANCE AT COACHELLA 2026

BINI entered the stage in coordinated golden outfits accented with salakot.

The group opened with “Shagidi,” instantly firing up the crowd with its infectious beat and tight, synchronized choreography.

BINI performing on stage at Coachella Music Festival 2026 in matching gold outfits. Photo/s: Screengrab from Coachella / YouTube

The performance smoothly transitioned into “Zero Pressure,” highlighted by a seamless costume change into coordinated all-blue outfits, before singing their next track, “Out of My Head.”

BINI performing on stage at Coachella Music Festival 2026 in coordinated blue outfits during their high-energy set. Photo/s: Screengrab from Coachella / YouTube

After introducing themselves, Jhoanna greeted the crowd, saying: “All the way from the Philippines!

"We are so hyped to be here and we hope you are all ready to party with us in the desert as we take you into our world.”

Aiah added: “We are so grateful to be here, to represent the Philippines on a global stage and to share our music with you all. That’s why, thank you, thank you so much, Coachella.”

The set then picked up momentum with “Karera,” followed by “Salamin Salamin,” which featured a fresh dance break, then segued into the ladies' pop and R&B track “Blink Twice.”

Bini continued with “Cherry on Top,” before the group closed out their performance with a mix of well-known hits and fan favorites, sustaining the audience’s excitement throughout.

After this, Mikha did a quick energy check and led everyone in an enthusiastic shout of “Eyyy!” with matching hand gesture.

The group then debuted its new song, “Blush," followed by “Bikini.”

The BINI ladies wrapped up their set on a high note with their biggest hit, “Pantropiko,” turning the desert into a full-on sing-along as fans danced and shouted along to the infectious track.

The BINI ladies keep the crowd energy high as they perform on stage at the Coachella Music Festival 2026. Photo/s: Screengrab from Coachella / YouTube

As the performance came to a close, Colet expressed the group’s gratitude, saying: “Maraming salamat, Coachella! We had a great time! We hope you had fun as much as we have."

CELEBRITIES AND NETIZENS REACT

After the performance, celebrities and netizens alike flooded social media with reactions to BINI’s historic Coachella debut, with the hashtag #BINI_CoachellaWk1 climbing to the number one spot on the trending topics list.

In the Philippines, related keywords also trended, including “Ms. Ica,” the nickname of the group’s stylist Ica Villanueva, alongside “Maloi,” “Filipinas,” “UY PHILIPPINES,” and “Mojave,” all reflecting the widespread buzz surrounding BINI’s Coachella stage performance.

Bianca Gonzalez was among those cheering the group on, watching the performance at home on TV with her daughters. In a tweet, she wrote, “GO BINI!!!!”

She later shared another post, saying, “PANTROPIKO sa Coachella was [fire] GO BINI!!! [Philippine flag emojis]," echoing the excitement felt by fans across social media.

ABS-CBN correspondent MJ Felipe also shared the excitement from Coachella in real time, posting photos from the venue on his X account showing a jam-packed Mojave Tent filled with fans eagerly awaiting BINI’s debut performance.

His caption: “LOOK: Mojave tent is PACKED!!! All waiting for BINI! Let’s go!!!!”

Bretman Rock also caught the girls's performance live, later sharing his excitement on Instagram Stories with a post that read, “Binichella duhhh.”

On BINI’s Instagram page, the comments section of the latest post was flooded with congratulatory messages.

Among those who dropped messages were Miss Universe Philippines 2024 Michelle Dee, hairstylist Antonio Papa, content creator Toni Sia, stylist Perry Tabora, and fashion designer Jot Losa, along with many others.

BINI is also scheduled to return to Coachella for a second performance on April 17, 2026 (April 18, Philippine time).

Two Philippine schools have placed for the first time in the global top 100 of QS' world university rankings by subject

PH breaks into QS global top 100 by subject, but still far behind SEA neighbors

Cristina Chi
Philstar Global
08 April 2026

MANILA, Philippines — Two Philippine schools have placed for the first time in the global top 100 of QS' world university rankings by subject, according to its latest edition, but the country still trails its Southeast Asian neighbors with higher-ranked academic programs.

Ateneo de Manila University entered the 51–100 band in Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies, climbing from 101–150 last year. The University of the Philippines debuted in the same band for Library & Information Management, a subject in which it had not previously been ranked. Neither university had placed in the top 100 in any discipline before.

The Commission on Higher Education called the two schools' placements a "historic breakthrough for the country."

Hospitality & Leisure Management also emerged as the Philippines' strongest subject, based on QS' rankings, with three schools — Adamson University, Lyceum of the Philippines University and UP — all placing in the global top 200.

The rankings, released late March by London-based higher education analysts Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), evaluate how specific academic programs — not universities — stack up globally. Unlike QS' overall university rankings, which rate institutions as a whole, the subject edition zeroes in on specific disciplines, from archaeology to veterinary science, across 55 fields.

Programs are scored on five indicators, weighted differently by discipline: how academics and employers worldwide rate the institution in that field, and how its research performs in terms of citation impact, productivity, and international collaboration. 

Research data is drawn from Elsevier's Scopus database; reputation scores come from global surveys of over 150,000 academics and 100,000 employers.

Rankings like QS have faced growing scrutiny, particularly from academics in developing countries who say the metrics favor well-funded Western institutions. Fidel Nemenzo, former UP Diliman chancellor, wrote in a BusinessWorld piece this month that the system rewards what is easily counted — citations, publication volume — while ignoring teaching quality and public service. 

QS' latest rankings by subject show a considerable gap between the Philippines and its regional peers. Malaysia fielded 356 ranked entries from 28 institutions, with 44 programs in the global top 100, 14 in the top 50, and one in the top 10. 

Indonesia had 189 entries from 26 universities and 15 were in the top 100. Thailand had 170 entries from 16 institutions and 18 top-100 programs. The Philippines had 47 programs from six schools — and two in the top 100.

Of the Philippines' 47 ranked programs, 14 climbed in rank, five dropped, 19 stayed stable and nine were new. Seven entries hit record-high ranks: UP in Library & Information Management, History (201–250), Arts & Humanities (257), and Life Sciences & Medicine (316); Ateneo in Theology; Adamson in Hospitality & Leisure Management (101–150); and De La Salle University in Philosophy (151–200).

Hospitality as the Philippines' best program

The Philippines' highest showing in any single discipline came in Hospitality & Leisure Management, where three schools placed in the global top 200, more than in any other subject.

Adamson University debuted at 101–150, the highest Philippine rank in the field. Lyceum of the Philippines University ranked 151–175, and UP debuted in the same band. Both Adamson and Lyceum were entirely new to the QS subject rankings this year.

No other program offering performed at this level. The next most represented programs — Business & Management Studies, Economics & Econometrics, English Language & Literature, and Politics & International Studies — each had three schools ranked, but none placed higher than the 151–200 band.

The University of the Philippines accounted for 22 of the country's 39 narrow subject entries — more than half — and all four broad faculty area entries.