LIVE UPDATES: Conflict in the Middle East (April 11, 2026)

The Department of Health (DOH) said that 10 different medicines are now under price monitoring amid concerns of inflating prices due to the effects of the Middle East conflict.

In a Kapihan session on Friday, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said among the medicines to be placed under monitoring were anti-hypertensive medicine, anti-diabetes medicine, anti-cholesterol medicine, and antibiotics, among others.

“Babantayan na namin weekly para makita natin walang nagsasamantala. (We will now monitor it weekly to make sure no one will be taking advantage.) Our problem is what happens to the price. If the companies abroad start charging for the transport,” Herbosa said.
 

The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) investment commitments approved declined in the first quarter of 2026 amid tepid investment activity brought by uncertainties due to the Middle East fuel crisis.

In a statement on Saturday, PEZA said it approved P45.525 billion worth of investment pledges across 78 new and expansion projects during the January to March period, down from P58.947 billion approved investments in the same period last year.

The investment promotion agency said the total value of approved investments reflected a “calibrated pace” arising from evolving global conditions.

“I’m still confident that we will be able to meet our targets for this year based on our current assessment. However, if the conflict in the Middle East continues, I certainly believe that there will be global adjustments in the investment decisions of global companies,” said PEZA director general Tereso Panga.

House Ways and Means Committee chair Marikina City Rep. Miro Quimbo is proposing a government-led loan financing program for petroleum retailers as part of efforts to ease the burden on Filipino consumers amid rising fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict.

Quimbo explained that such “replacement cost” mechanism implemented by fuel retailers in the country could disadvantage the consuming public especially when inventory bought at a lower price weeks ago is sold at a much higher prevailing market price.

JERUSALEM/BEIRUT - Israeli and Lebanese envoys are expected to meet in Washington on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump seeks to calm weeks of Israeli fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah that has threatened to derail a fragile US-Iran ceasefire.

Both sides are under pressure from Trump to end the fighting, a key demand by Iran in parallel talks due this weekend in Pakistan.

Who is fighting, and why?

Israel intensified its air attacks on Lebanon after Hezbollah fired missiles at Israel on March 2, three days into the US-Israeli war on Iran. It has since widened a ground invasion into Lebanon's south, ordering hundreds of thousands of Lebanese to flee villages it views as Hezbollah strongholds.

At least 1,888 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon, while at least two Israelis have been killed by Hezbollah rocket fire.

The current war followed a round of fighting in 2024 that saw the US broker a deal aimed at disarming Hezbollah. Since then, Lebanon's government has ordered the army to establish a state monopoly on those arms, an effort Israel says has failed.

Hezbollah rejects calls to disarm, viewing its missiles and other weapons as an element of national defense against Israeli attacks. Following the 2024 deal, Israel continued to carry out strikes on what it said were Hezbollah depots and fighters.

How did the talks come about?

A week into the current war, Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun expressed willingness to begin direct negotiations with Israel to halt the fighting, even saying he was ready to move forward with normalizing relations.

Israel rebuffed that offer, deeming it too late from a government that shares its goal of disarming Hezbollah but cannot act against the group without risking a civil war.

Israel's position changed after the US and Iran reached a deal on Tuesday to halt fighting. With Iran insisting that Israel cease fire on Lebanon ahead of talks in Pakistan, Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday to lighten up attacks on Hezbollah, a source familiar with the matter said.

Later on Thursday, Netanyahu announced Israel would begin negotiations with Lebanon.

Who will lead the talks?

Talks will be held in Washington on Tuesday between Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, Israeli and Lebanese officials said.

But the two sides have issued conflicting statements on what the talks would cover.

Lebanon's presidency said the two held a phone call on Friday and agreed to meet at the State Department to discuss announcing a ceasefire and setting a start date for bilateral talks under US mediation.

Israel's embassy in Washington said the talks would constitute the start of "formal peace negotiations," and that Israel had refused to discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

In the runup to the talks, Netanyahu tapped Ron Dermer, a former strategic affairs minister and close confidant, to lead any eventual negotiations with Lebanon. A source familiar with the matter said Dermer may take part in later talks but was not expected in Washington next week.

Lebanon had also picked Simon Karam, a former Lebanese ambassador to the US, to head Lebanon's delegation to broader talks. Lebanese officials said he would not be at next week's meeting either.

Where does Israel stand?

Netanyahu said on Thursday Israel would not halt attacks on Hezbollah.

He said that the talks would aim to achieve two goals: disarming Hezbollah and securing a peace agreement between Israel and Lebanon.

Netanyahu and other officials have not said whether they would be prepared to scale back ground operations or withdraw from positions in Lebanon, should talks advance. Israel has been bombing Lebanese villages as it seeks to create a "buffer zone" against Hezbollah past its northern border.

A senior Israeli official said Israel would scale down attacks ahead of the talks. A different senior Israeli official, with knowledge of discussions in Netanyahu's cabinet, said Israel would urge Lebanon to sack Hezbollah ministers in the country's government.

Where does Lebanon stand?

A senior Lebanese official said Lebanon's position was that a ceasefire was a condition for further talks to reach a broader deal with Israel.

Lebanon's agreement to hold talks reflects unprecedented levels of domestic opposition to Hezbollah's status as an armed group. In March, the government banned Hezbollah from military activities.

But with Hezbollah still wielding a powerful arsenal and backed by a significant ?portion of Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim community, disarming the group is a steep challenge for a fragile Lebanese state now facing one of its ?most precarious moments since the 1975-90 civil war.

Have the two held talks before?

Israel and Lebanon have no formal diplomatic relations and have technically been in a state of war since Israel's founding in 1948.

Israel has a long history of military incursions and invasions in Lebanon, including an 18-year occupation in the south from 1982-2000 that began as an operation against Palestinian groups.

More recently, Israel and Lebanon held US-brokered talks in 2022 that led to a bilateral agreement establishing a maritime boundary between the two countries.

In December 2025, the two sides held indirect talks with the US in Naqoura, in southern Lebanon, to try to solidify the deal that ended the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah fighting. —Reuters

ISLAMABAD - The US and Iran were to hold negotiations in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday seeking to end their six-week-old war, although Tehran threw the talks into doubt by saying they could not begin without commitments on Lebanon and sanctions.

The US delegation, led by Vice President JD Vance and including President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, was on its way to Islamabad after a refueling stop in Paris.

The Iranian delegation, led by ?parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, arrived on Friday.

Iran has 'no cards', Trump says

Qalibaf said on X that Washington had previously agreed to unblock Iranian assets and to a ceasefire in Lebanon, where Israeli attacks on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants have killed nearly 2,000 people since the start of the fighting in March. He said talks would not start until those pledges were fulfilled.

Israel and the US have said the Lebanon campaign is not part of the Iran-US ceasefire while Tehran insists it is.

Qalibaf said separately that Iran was ready to reach a deal if Washington offered what he described as a genuine agreement and granted Iran its rights, Iranian state media reported.

The White House did not immediately comment on the Iranian demands, but Trump posted on social media that the only reason the Iranians were alive was to negotiate a deal.

"The Iranians don't seem to realize they have no cards, other than a short term extortion of the World by using International Waterways. The only reason they are alive today is to negotiate!" he said.

Vance, speaking as he headed to Pakistan, said he expected a positive outcome but added: "If they're going to try to play us, then they're going to find the negotiating team is not that receptive."

Preliminary discussions have been separately held by Pakistani officials with advance teams from both sides, sources in Islamabad said.

Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency said these included 70 members from Tehran, including technical specialists in economic, security and political fields as well as media personnel and support staff. About 100 members of an advance US team were in the city, a Pakistani government source said.

"We're very positive," said another Pakistani source close to the discussions.

Asked if talks would end on Saturday, the source said: "Too early to say. They have instructions to close a deal or walk away. Hence not in a rush. These talks are not on the clock."

Islamabad was under an unprecedented lockdown ahead of the talks with thousands of paramilitary personnel and army troops on the streets.

"We have deployed multi-layer security for this event, which is based on coordination, intelligence and constant monitoring for zero disruption and full control," Pakistan's junior interior minister, Talal Chaudhry, told Reuters.

Trump announced a two-week ceasefire in the war on Tuesday, which has halted US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran.

But it has not ended Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused the biggest-ever disruption to global energy supplies, or calmed the parallel war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Fighting continues in Lebanon

The Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, and his Lebanese counterpart, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, will hold talks in Washington on Tuesday, Israeli and Lebanese officials said, amid the conflicting accounts on what those talks would cover.

Lebanon's presidency said the two had held a phone call on Friday and agreed to discuss announcing a ceasefire and setting a start date for bilateral talks under US mediation. But Israel's embassy in Washington said the talks would constitute the start of "formal peace negotiations" and that Israel had refused to discuss a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

Israeli attacks continued across southern Lebanon on Friday. One strike on a government building in the city of Nabatieh killed 13 members of Lebanon's state security forces, President Joseph Aoun said in a statement.

Hezbollah said in a statement on its Telegram channel that it fired rocket salvos at northern Israeli towns in response.

Hours after the ceasefire was announced, Israel launched the biggest attack of the war, killing more than 350 people in surprise strikes on heavily populated areas, Lebanese authorities said.

Tehran's agenda at the talks also includes demands for major new concessions, including the end of sanctions that crippled its economy for years, and acknowledgment of its authority over the Strait of Hormuz, where it aims to collect transit fees and control access in what would amount to a huge shift in regional power.

Iran's ships were sailing through the strait unimpeded on Friday, while those of other countries remained hemmed inside.

Disruption to energy supplies has fed inflation and slowed the global economy, with an impact expected to last for months even if negotiators succeed in reopening the strait.

The hard line taken by Iran's leaders ahead of the negotiations followed a defiant message from its new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday.

Khamenei, yet to be seen in public since taking over from his father, who was killed on the war's first day, said Iran would demand compensation for all wartime damage.

"We will certainly not leave unpunished the criminal aggressors who attacked our country," he said.

Although Trump has declared victory and degraded Iran's military capabilities, the war has not achieved many of the aims he set out at the start: to deprive Iran of the ability to strike its neighbors, dismantle its nuclear program, and make it easier for its people to overthrow their government.

Iran still possesses missiles and drones capable of hitting its neighbors and a stockpile of more than 400 kg (900 pounds) of uranium enriched near the level needed to make a bomb. Its clerical rulers, who faced a popular uprising just months ago, withstood the onslaught with no sign of organized opposition. —Reuters

More than 265,000 tricycle drivers in Metro Manila, and over 212,000 outside the National Capital Region have already received their cash relief assistance (CRA) amid rising fuel prices, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Saturday.

"Sa Metro Manila, 'yung na-served po natin nasa more than 265,000 (drivers)... Next week, meron tayong special payout para sa mga drivers na hindi nakapag-claim at hindi napasama sa listahan," DSWD spokesperson Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB.

(In Metro Manila, we were able to serve more than 265,000 (drivers)... Next week, we will have a special payout for drivers who were not able to claim (their cash relief assistance) and were not included in the list.)

"'Yung mga tricycle drivers outside Metro Manila, 'yung mga major cities, ang na-served natin nitong nakaraang linggo ay nasa mahigit 212,000 na tricycle drivers," she added.

(For tricycle drivers outside Metro Manila, those in major cities, we served more than 212,000 tricycle drivers this past week.)

"At ngayong araw hanggang bukas, in some areas, magpapatuloy po 'yung kanilang distribution sa ibang tricycle drivers," Dumlao said.

(Today and tomorrow, in some areas, the distribution to other tricycle drivers will continue.)

The CRA amounting to P5,000 is from the DSWD's Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) fund. It is meant to assist public utility vehicle drivers cope with the series of oil price hikes as a result of the US-Israel war against Iran.

Dumlao said special payout schedules have been set for Metro Manila drivers who were not able to receive their CRAs during the regular payout, as follows:

•     tricycle drivers: April 14
•     jeepney drivers: April 15
•     TNVS drivers: April 16
•     motorcycle taxi drivers and service delivery riders: April 17 to 19

As for those outside Metro Manila, Dumlao said the DSWD is waiting for the list of tricycle drivers in municipalities outside NCR to be submitted.

"Inuna lang kasi natin 'yung mga cities sapagkat sila 'yung unang nakapagpadala ng listahan and sa mga major cities natin nakita 'yung pinakamalaking bilang ng mga tricycle drivers," Dumlao said.

(We prioritized those in the cities because they were the first ones to submit their lists, and it is in major cities where we could see the biggest number of tricycle drivers.)

"Once we have the list, we will immediately start with the payout but definitely ngayong buwan ng Abril (this month of April)," she added.

More budget?

Asked if the DSWD would need supplemental budget for the CRAs, Dumlao said the budget is currently sufficient.

"Batay sa total na nagastos ng DSWD sa pamamahagi ng cash relief assistance within National Capital Region and outside NCR, nasa mahigit P13.2 billion na ang na-disburse natin (as of April 8)," she said.

(Based on the total expense of DSWD in the distribution of cash relief assistance within National Capital Region and outside NCR, we already disbursed more than P13.2 billion [as of April 8].)

"And P30 billion of the more than P60 billion ang na-earmark natin eh para sa cash relief assistance. Sapat pa naman itong pondo natin para mabigyan 'yung ibang drivers in municipalities outside Metro Manila, and even if we do another tranche, sapat pa yung P30 billion," Dumlao added.

(And P30 billion of the more than P60 billion was earmarked for cash relief assistance. This is enough to give drivers in municipalities outside Metro Manila cash assistance, and even if we do another tranche, the P30 billion is still enough.)

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said last March that the department has set aside P30 billion for financial assistance to Filipinos affected by rising fuel prices, including tricycle and jeepney drivers.

“Ang entrada sa loob ng libro ng general appropriations, P60 billion ‘to. At ang instruction sa amin ng ating Pangulo is P30 billion ilaan mo kaagad kasi hindi natin alam kung kailan ‘to matatapos,” Gatchalian told GMA Network’s Unang Hirit in an interview.

(The entry in the general appropriations book is P60 billion, and the instruction to us by our President is to allocate P30 billion because we don’t know when the crisis will end.)

Should the situation in the Middle East continue, however, the DSWD will assess if additional budget is needed, Dumlao said.

"But kung halimbawa magpapatuloy pa ang sitwasyon natin, kinakailangang tingnan natin kung dapat bang magkaroon pa ng supplemental budget ang DSWD," she said.

(But if for example the situation continues, we need to study if the DSWD would need a supplemental budget.)

Dumlao reminded PUV drivers to bring their original driver's license and a photocopy of it to the payout venues.

Should there be a discrepancy in the spelling of a name or any other data, or should their names not be on the list, drivers may approach the help desk at the payout venues.

"Titiyakin talaga ng DSWD na lahat ng mga drivers ay maaabot at mabibigyan natin ng tulong kasi 'yun 'yung sinabi ng ating Pangulong Marcos Jr sa DSWD," Dumlao said.

(The DSWD will make sure that all drivers will be reached and will be given assistance because that is what President Marcos Jr. told DSWD.) —KG, GMA News

Kyline Alcantara is earning praise online after showing support for jeepney, tricycle, and motorcycle drivers amid rising fuel prices.

On Instagram, the Sparkle star shared photos and videos where she could be seen interacting with drivers lined up to refuel their vehicles.

Kyline was warmly greeted by motorists, many of whom thanked her during the encounter.

“Lumaki akong jeepney driver ang namulatan kong trabaho ni Papa Ben. Takbuhan siya ng mga nangangailangan sa barangay namin sa Bicol, kaya iniisip ko for the past few weeks, kung ano kaya ang mararamdaman niya kung makikita niya at mararanasan ang fuel crisis ngayon,” Kyline wrote in the caption.

She also acknowledged that while everyone is affected by the situation, the burden is not equal, pointing out that public utility drivers and transport workers are among the hardest hit.

“Kaya kung kaya natin na matulungan sila, sana magawa natin sa abot ng ating makakaya. Maliit na tulong man, pero kapalit nito ay ngiti na bubuo sa araw natin. Para ito sa kanila, para sa mga ka-tropa ni Papa Ben.”

Kyline ended her message by encouraging others to extend help in any small way they can.

“Kaya sa mga kaibigan ko, kasama sa trabaho, kababayan, ikaw—tulungan natin sila, kahit sa maliit na paraan na kaya natin. A little kindness goes a long way in a world that needs it most,” she said.

Therese Malvar commented, “Thank u for being such a blessing in times like these!”

“Love this!!!” Katrina Velarde said.

Earlier this week, Kyline already expressed her plans to help those who are affected by the fuel price hike. 

“It’s like an homage to my lolo na jeepney driver before sa Bicol. So siyempre gusto kong pumunta lang sa isang fuel station,” she said. 

Kyline is set to star in “Task Force, Firewall” alongside Kylie Padilla, Jak Roberto, and Miguel Tanfelix. —Carby Rose Basina/JCB, GMA News

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has requested the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for additional funds to expand and extend the service contracting program for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers and operators.

“Sa second phase [ng service contracting], nag-request na and DOTr ng P5 billion… Marami na ang masasama du'n,” Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Vigor Mendoza II said in an interview on Super Radyo dzBB on Saturday.

(In the second phase, the DOTr already requested for P5 billion... This will alllow many to be included in that phase.)

The first phase of service contracting program has an allocated initial budget of P1 billion — P800 million for road transport and P200 for maritime transport — which will begin on April 15 and will run for two weeks. 

Under the program, bus operators and drivers will be paid P100 per kilometer. For the EDSA Busway alone, it covers 50 operators, 500 bus units, and 300,000 passengers daily.

For jeepneys, modern units will be paid P40 per kilometer, while traditional units will be given P30 per kilometer.

There will be 823 routes that will be covered across the nation, 545 of which will be in Metro Manila and Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, as the DOTr said it focused on “filler routes” that connect to other modes of transport such as the railways.

Mendoza said the DOTr and LTFRB will release the guidelines on onboarding interested participants in the service contracting program today, Saturday, April 11, 2026.

“Online filing ito... Those who are interested and willing to join, mayroon tayong guidelines na lalabas... They have to file a document to indicate their willingness to join the service contracting program at 'yung willingness nila to comply du'n sa mga term and conditions ng programa,” he said.

(This is online filing... For those who are interested and willing to join, we will release guidelines... They have to file a document to indicate their willingness to join the service contracting program and their willingness to comply with the terms and conditions of the program.)

Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez earlier said President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. ordered the extension of the service contracting program until July, thus the request for an additional budget.

Marcos announced the PUV service contracting program on Thursday, as the country continues to feel the impact of the higher global prices due to the conflict in the Middle East.

The President said the service contracting program would be implemented during off-peak hours to ensure that commuters would have public transportation even outside the rush hours. —Ted Cordero/KG, GMA News

Energy Secretary Sharon Garin on Saturday announced the arrival of over 300,000 barrels of diesel ordered by the Philippine government to boost the country’s stockpile of fuel amid the ongoing Middle East crisis.

“Dumating na!” Garin said in a Facebook post.

(It has arrived.)

The Energy chief said the Philippine National Oil Company-Exploration Corp.’s (PNOC-EC) shipment from Malaysia totals 329,000 barrels, or over 52 million liters, of diesel.

Retail prices of petroleum products are expected to roll back for the first time since the Middle East conflict broke out late February.

Citing results of the April 6 to 10, 2026 Mean of Platts Singapore (MOPS) trading and foreign exchange averages, an oil industry source said the estimated reductions in pump prices are as follows:

    Diesel  —  P8.80 to P10.80 per liter

    Gasoline  —  unchanged to P1.50 per liter

Fuel retailers announce official price adjustments every Monday and implemented the following day.