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PBBM assures Co repatriation to face corruption charges in PH VOL. XL • NO. 66 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P20 • TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2026
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. yesterday said former lawmaker Zaldy Co is in the custody of Czech authorities contrary to insinuations that his arrest is ‘fake news’. In a video message, Mr. Marcos said
he directed the Department of Justice and the Department of Foreign Affairs to coordinate with Czech authorities on Co’s repatriation to the country. He assured the public that Co Next page
Gov’t caps oil price hike, rollback 2nd consecutive rollback takes effect today, but global prices surge anew
By Alena Mae S. Flores and Katrina Manubay
IN TOUCH. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. checks modern jeepney passengers at the Araneta Center Bus Terminal in Cubao, Quezon City, where the government launched another Service Contracting Program (SCP) on April 20, 2026. Presidential Communications Office
T
HE government is setting a limit to price adjustments implemented by oil firms to prevent profiteering under the declared energy emergency, Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said yesterday.
IRAN insisted it has no plan to attend a new round of negotiations with the United States on Monday, as uncertainty grows over a push to stop the Middle East war from resuming. US President Donald Trump said he was sending negotiators to Pakistan for talks on ending the war that engulfed the region and rattled global markets, while repeating threats to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure if it did not make a deal. After initial talks ended without a deal in Islamabad earlier this month, both sides have traded accusations of ceasefire violations, including the US seizure of an Iranian cargo ship early Monday that Trump said was trying to evade a US blockade of the country’s ports. Iran says the US blockade and attack breached the two-week truce set to end overnight Tuesday and threatened to retaliate, while Trump says Tehran has breached the ceasefire in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which it
Piston wants P10 hike in jeepney fare NEWS / A3 “We are not capping the price, but we are capping the adjustments,” Garin said. “Under that issuance, the DOE is now prescribing the price increase limitation. We have a limit, a minimum rollback and a maximum price increase,” she said. Effective today (Tuesday), the government mandated a P24.94 per liter rollback for diesel, P3.41 per liter for gasoline and P2 per liter for kerosene – the second consecutive week of oil price cuts following a shaky ceasefire deal between the United States and Iran. Oil prices, however, surged Monday on a re-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East war after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz during the weekend, just a day after reopening it, citing the United States’ continued blockade of its ports. The blockade of Iranian ports has been a significant sticking point in negotiations between the two countries. Next page
Iran says no peace talks with US for now
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Sotto meets with majority senators to prep for impeachment trial By Ram Superable SENATE President Vicente Sotto III on Monday disclosed he met with multiple majority bloc senators while Congress was on break to discuss preparations for a possible impeachment trial against
Vice President Sara Duterte. “It’s best that we prepare for it as senator judges. I am undergoing a crash program on the rules of court to jibe with our own rules to be sure in case of any eventuality,” Sotto said. He clarified that the meeting was not
an official caucus and was limited to senators available at the time. Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito confirmed the meeting, saying Senate leaders must be ready for all possible scenarios related to the impeachment trial. The impeachment complaint against
Duterte continues to gain traction in the House, being spearheaded by the Committee on Justice. Sotto remains a likely presiding officer of the impeachment court, with Senate President Pro Tempore Panfilo Next page
20 SUSPECTED NPAS KILLED IN NEGROS OCCIDENTAL CLASHES NEWS / A2
VP Sara, key OVP officials may have to return a total of P448m By Maricel V. Cruz VICE President Sara Duterte and key officials of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) may be directed to return to the government a total of ₱448 million, based on a computation by the Commission on Audit (COA). disallowance covering ₱375 million in confidential funds. In a Notice of Disallowance (ND)
dated March 31, 2026, COA ordered Duterte and other OVP officials to personally return ₱375 million, representing three separate cash advances of ₱125 million each for confidential expenses incurred between February and September 2023. This comes on top of the earlier ₱73-million disallowance involving 2022 confidential funds, bringing Next page
BLOCKADE. Screengrab shows the Iranian-flagged cargo ship M/V Touska as seen from the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance. The destroyer intercepted the container ship in a location given as the north Arabian Sea. US Centcom
Marcos ratings post gains as Duterte slips
PH, US join Japan troops in annual Balikatan drills
By Katrina Manubay PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. posted gains in trust and performance ratings from late 2025 to early 2026, while Vice President Sara Duterte maintained high trust levels but saw declines in performance and rising ambivalence across several sectors, based on a survey by OCTA Research Group. Next page
HELI-BUCKET. A Philippine Air Force Sokol chopper drops a bucket of water to help contain and suppress the ongoing blaze at the Navotas Sanitary Landfill. PAF
THOUSANDS of American and Philippine troops, joined for the first time by a significant contingent of Japanese forces, began annual military exercises Monday set against the backdrop of the Middle East war. The war games will feature live-fire exercises in the north of the Philippines facing the Taiwan Strait, as well as a province off the disputed South China Sea, where Philippine and Chinese forces have engaged in repeated confrontations. In one drill, the Japanese military, which is contributing about 1,400 personnel, will use a Type 88 cruise missile to sink a World War II-era minesweeper off the coast of northern Luzon island. More than 17,000 soldiers, airmen and sailors are taking part in the 19-day Balikatan, or “Shoulder to Shoulder,” exercises—about Next page