2018 Events[ ]

January[ ]
 January 1 – Republic Act No. 10963, widely known as the Tax Reform for Acceleration and
Inclusion (TRAIN) Act, takes effect.[1]
 January 5 – Former Palawan Governor Joel Reyes is released from detention after the Court of
Appeals resolved in his favor a petition in connection with his murder case for the killing of
broadcaster Dr. Gerry Ortega in 2011.[2]
 January 22 – The Mayon Volcano’s alert status is raised to Alert Level 4 due to intensified
volcanic activities. The day before, the volcano shot 200 m (660 ft) to 500 m (1,600 ft) to the air
and generated ash plumes that reached 1.3 km (0.81 mi) above the summit.[3][4] The province
of Albay has declared a state of calamity days earlier on January 16, due to continuous volcanic
activity.[5]
 January 23 – The Supreme Court (SC) declares the funding for the ₱3.8-billion Motor Vehicle
License Plate Standardization Program (MVPSP), clearing the way for the release to motorists
of 700,000 license plates turned over by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to the Land
Transportation Office (LTO) as constitutional.[6]
 January 29 – The Office of the President (OP) orders a 90-day preventive suspension order
against Overall Deputy Ombudsman Melchor Arthur Carandang for alleged grave misconduct
and grave dishonesty for the unauthorized disclosures of the alleged bank transactions of
President Rodrigo Duterte and his family.[7]
 January 31:
 A total lunar eclipse coinciding with a super moon and blue moon phenomenon is witnessed
by many astronomers and skywatchers throughout the country.[8]
 Rafael Baylosis, a peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the
Philippines (NDFP), together with his companion, are arrested in Quezon City.[9]
February[ ]
 February 2 – President Rodrigo Duterte signs Republic Act No. 10969 or the Free Irrigation
Service Act, a law that waives irrigation fees for farmers who own 8 hectares of land or less.[10]
 February 6 – The Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the year-long extension of
martial law in Mindanao on December 2017.[11]
 February 7 – The Supreme Court orders a halt on court proceedings on graft and usurpation of
authority cases filed against former President Benigno Aquino III at the Sandiganbayan for his
alleged role in the 2015 bloody Mamasapano anti-terror raid that killed the 44 SAF Troopers.[12]
 February 12:
 The Philippine Government signs the administrative order to completely ban the deployment
of all workers to Kuwait.[13] Following the February 9 confirmation of the death of a Filipina
domestic worker in the gulf country allegedly due to abuse.[14]
 Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales orders the dismissal from service of
former Cebu governor and current 3rd District Representative Gwendolyn Garcia for grave
misconduct in connection with the purchase of a sprawling property for close to P100
million.[15]
 February 19 – The Senate committee on national defense and security begins its probe on the
P15.5 billion-Frigate Acquisition Project (FAP) of the Philippine Navy with Special Assistant to
the President Christopher “Bong” Go in attendance and several Cabinet members present to
support him.[16]
 February 26:
  The Senate orders the arrest of former Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
chairman Andres Bautista over his non-attendance of the probe into his alleged ill-gotten
wealth.[17]
 Former president Benigno Aquino III and former budget secretary Butch Abad are faced a
House investigation into their administration's deployment of Dengvaxia, a dengue vaccine,
that is now at the center of a health scare.[18]
 February 28 – The United States Department of State adds seven organizations, including
the local terror group Maute, to its list of foreign terrorists and terrorist organizations due to their
connection to the Islamic State (ISIS).[19]
March[ ]
 March 1 – President Rodrigo Duterte signs Republic Act No. 10973, that restored the power of
select officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to issue subpoenas on cases under
investigation.[20]
 March 8:
 Voted 38-2, the House Committee on Justice finds probable cause in the impeachment
complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.[21]
 The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicts 11 members of the Aegis Juris fraternity over the
fatal hazing of University of Santo Tomas (UST) law freshman student Horacio "Atio"
Castillo III in September last year.[22]
 March 9 – Former Vice President Jejomar Binay Sr. and his son, former Makati
City mayor Jejomar "Junjun" Binay Jr., have been charged at the Sandiganbayan over the
alleged anomalous procurement process in the construction of the Makati Science Building.[23]
 March 12:
 The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee orders the release of former Customs
commissioner Nicanor Faeldon after he promised to Senator Richard Gordon that he will no
longer engage in backtalking and will heed Senate summons.[24]
 The Department of Justice has cleared alleged drug lords Kerwin Espinosa, Peter Lim and
20 others of charges related to the narcotics trade due to lack of evidence.[25]
 March 14 – President Rodrigo Duterte announces that the Philippines is withdrawing from
the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is currently looking into whether it has jurisdiction to
probe allegations of state sanctioned killings in his war on drugs.[26]The Philippines issued a
formal notification of its withdrawal from the Roman Statute which was received by
the Secretary-General of the United Nations on March 17. The effective date of the withdrawal
shall be exactly one year from receipt of the notification.[27][28]

 March 17 — A Piper PA-23 passenger aircraft bound for Laoag International Airport in Ilocos
Norte, Philippines, crashes upon take off from Plaridel Airport in Bulacan, killing all five people
on board as well as five on the ground. [29]

 March 26 — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) announced the
release of the rest of the new peso coins and presented their new design.[30]
April[ ]
 April 2 – The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), begins the
manual recount of votes for the election protest of former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong”
Marcos, Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo. The recount to validate the results of the 2016
vice presidential election commenced with the counting of votes cast in Marcos' pilot provinces
of Camarines Sur, Iloilo, and Negros Oriental.[31]
 April 26 – Boracay closes to tourists for six months and will undergo rehabilitation. The closure
was officially announced on April 4.[32] Checkpoints manned by police officers and soldiers would
be set up at piers in Boracay to turn away visitors from the island. Passes would be given to
residents of Boracay.[33]
May[ ]
 May 11 – The Supreme Court of the Philippines votes 8–6 to grant the quo warranto petition by
the Solicitor General against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, removing her from office for
violating requirements on the Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth.[34]

 May 14 – The Barangay and Sangguiang Kabataan elections are held.[35][36]

 May 18 – The National Museum of Natural History is opened to the public.[37]
 May 30 — President Rodrigo Duterte declares his plan to make the entire island of Boracay
a land reform area, saying that he wants to prioritize Boracay's first inhabitants. President
Duterte added that his Cabinet and the Congress may conduct study on the possibility of putting
up “only a small area for tourism” in Boracay and the majority of the island for land reform.[38][39]
June[ ]
 June 10 — A priest, Richmond Nilo of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cabanatuan, is gunned
down by unknown assailant as he was preparing for evening mass at a small chapel
in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija.[40][41]
 June 23 – Diwata-2, the second microsatellite under the Philippine Scientific Earth Observation
Microsatellite program, is deployed to space.[42]
July[ ]
 July 2
 The controversial Tanauan, Batangas mayor Antonio Halili is assassinated by an unknown
sniper during an flag-raising ceremony, and becomes the 11th local government official to
be killed in the Philippine Drug War.[43]
 The Philippine Coast Guard detains cruise ship MV Forever Lucky in Bataan on suspicion of
involvement in human trafficking. The NBI rescues 139 alleged victims from the vessel and
charges Johnny Cabrera, the alleged lessor of the ship.[44]
 July 4 — Philippine soldiers clash with militants from the ISIL-affiliated Bangsamoro Islamic
Freedom Fighters (BIFF), in the southern province of Maguindanao. The fighting began when
BIFF militants attempted to occupy a town center, and lasted for 12 hours until the BIFF militants
withdrew to the hills. Four militants were killed, while two militants, a Philippine soldier and a
local militiaman were wounded. [45]
 July 7 — Alexander Lubigan, vice mayor of Trece Martires, is assassinated in an ambush.[46]
August[ ]
 August 10 – Maya-1, the first Filipino nanosatellite, is deployed from the International Space
Station.[47][48]
 August 16 – A passenger aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 operating as Xiamen Airlines Flight 8667,
crashes at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Metro Manila, skidding off the runway
while attempting to land on the airport. All 157 passengers and eight crew members evacuated
the aircraft safely. However, numerous flights at NAIA were delayed or were diverted due to the
incident.[49]
 August 25 – Teresita De Castro is as appointed by President Duterte as the Chief Justice of the
Supreme Court, following the ouster of the de facto Maria Lourdes Sereno via quo warranto,
 making her the first female Chief Justice in the history.[50] She later took her office on August
28.[51]
 August 28 – A bomb blast killed 3 and injured more than 30 others during the celebration of the
Hamungaya Festival in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.[52][53]
 August 31 – President Duterte signs the Proclamation No. 572, declaring the amnesty of
opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes void because he "supposedly did not fulfill all the necessary
requirements."[54]
September[ ]
 September 2 — A bomb blast in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat killed 2 and injured 12. The attack was
blamed on the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.[55][56]
 September 17
 President Duterte repeats his call to shut all mines in the country following deadly landslides,
hours after Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu orders all mining to
be stopped in the Cordillera region.
 Typhoon Mangkhut triggers a landslide in Itogon, Benguet, with more than 40 bodies found.
 Former Army general and politician Jovito Palparan is convicted for the kidnapping and
disappearance of students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño. He and two other
associates are sentenced to life imprisonment
 September 18 — The death toll of the Typhoon Mangkhut rises to 81. 59 others are still missing.
 September 20 – A landslide occurs in Naga, Cebu, killing at least 53 people.[57]
October[ ]
 October 20 – Nine sugarcane workers are fatally shot inside a hacienda in Sagay, Negros
Occidental.[58]
November[ ]
 November 9 – The Sandiganbayan convicts former First Lady Imelda Marcos of seven counts
of graft.[59]
 November 20–21 – Chinese President Xi Jinping holds a state visit in the country.[60][61]
December[ ]
 December 7 – The Sandiganbayan acquits former Senator Bong Revilla of plunder in connection
of Priority Development Assistance Fund scam.[62][63]
 December 11 – The Balangiga bells, which had been taken by the United States
Army from Balangiga, Eastern Samar in 1901 as war trophies during the Philippine–American
War, arrive at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay after 117 years of U.S. possession.[64]
 December 12 – The Senate and the House of Representatives approve President Duterte's
request for the martial law extension in Mindanao until 2019.[65]
 December 14 – Four Hongkongers are sentenced to life in prison by a Philippines court. The
court found them guilty on the possession of half a kilogram of illegal drugs. There are
complaints and doubts about the unfair convictions as well as the proportionality between the
alleged quantity of the drugs and the jail terms.[66]
 December 19 – A video of a student bullying his schoolmate which took place inside the campus
of Ateneo de Manila Juinor High School has been making rounds on social media.[67][68]
 December 31 - An improvised explosive device exploded outside the South Seas Mall
in Cotabato City, killing two and injuring 11.[69]
Health[ ]
 Late November–early December – At least 15 people die after reportedly drinking arrack (locally
known as lambanog) in Laguna and Quezon City.[70] The Food and Drug Administration found
the high levels of methanol in the samples of arrack.[71]