January 22 – Mayon Volcano's alert status is raised to Alert Level 4 due to intensified volcanic activities. The day before, the volcano shoots 200m (660ft) to 500m (1,600ft) to the air and generated ash plumes that reached 1.3km (0.81mi) above the summit.[3][4] The province of Albay declares a state of calamity days earlier on January 16 due to continuous volcanic activity.[5]
January 23 – The Supreme Court approves 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 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]
February 2 – President 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]
The Philippine Government signs an 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 incumbent 3rd District Representative Gwendolyn Garcia for grave misconduct in connection with the purchase of a sprawling property for close to P100million.[15]
The Senate orders the arrest of former Commission on Elections (COMELEC) chair Andres Bautista over his non-attendance of a probe into his alleged ill-gotten wealth.[17]
Former president Benigno Aquino III and former budget secretary Butch Abad face a House investigation into their administration's deployment of Dengvaxia, a dengue vaccine, that was then at the center of a health scare.[18]
March 1 – President Duterte signs Republic Act No. 10973, restoring the power of select officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to issue subpoenas on cases under investigation.[20]
The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee orders the release of former Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon after he promises to Senator Richard Gordon that he will no longer engage in backtalking and will heed Senate summons.[24]
The Department of Justice 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 Duterte announces that the Philippines is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was 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 effectivity date of the withdrawal shall be exactly one year from receipt of the notification.[27][28]
April 26 – Boracaycloses to tourists for six months and undergoes rehabilitation. The closure is officially announced on April 4.[32] Checkpoints staffed by police officers and soldiers are set up at piers in Boracay to turn away visitors from the island. Passes are given to residents of Boracay.[33]
May
May 11 – The Supreme Court votes 8–6 to grant a 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 30 – President 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. Duterte adds that his Cabinet and Congress may conduct a 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 29 – President Duterte signs Republic Act No. 11053 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, that bans hazing in all forms and imposes higher penalties for those convicted of hazing.[41]
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.[43]
July 4 – The AFP clashes with militants from the ISIL-affiliated Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), in Maguindanao after the latter attempt to occupy a town center. After 12 hours, the BIFF withdraws to the hills, leaving four militants dead, while two militants, a government soldier and a militiaman are wounded.[44]
August 31 – President Duterte signs Proclamation No. 572, voiding the amnesty of opposition Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for supposed failure to "fulfill all the necessary requirements."[53]
September
September 2 – A bomb blast in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat, kills two and injures 12. The attack is blamed on the BIFF.[54][55]
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, killing more than 40. The total death toll of the typhoon includes at least 81 people and at least 59 others are recorded missing.
December 14 – Four Hong Kong nationals are sentenced to life in prison by a Philippine court for possession of half a kilogram of illegal drugs. There are complaints and doubts about the fairness of the convictions as well as the proportionality between the alleged quantity of the drugs and the jail terms.[67]
December 31 – An improvised explosive device explodes outside the South Seas Mall in Cotabato City, killing two and injuring 11.[68]
February 23 – The Philippine Olympic Committee holds elections for the post of President and chairman after the 2016 elections results were declared null and void by the Pasig Regional Trial Court. The court requires Ricky Vargas and Cavite congressman Abraham Tolentino to be candidates for the post of President and chairman respectively.[76] Vargas and Tolentino eventually won over incumbents Peping Cojuangco and Ting Ledesma.[77]
July 2, Basketball – A bench-clearing brawl between the Australia and the Philippines men's national basketball teams take place during the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cupqualifier at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue. Four Australian players and nine Filipino players were suspended, Philippines head coach Chot Reyes and assistant coach Jong Uichico are sanctioned, while the Australian and Philippine national federations are fined by FIBA. The match is eventually abandoned in the third quarter with Australia winning by default due to lack of eligible Filipino players.[84]
November 13–December 6, Association football – The Philippines national team co-hosts the 2018 AFF Championship. The Philippines finished second in Group B, but lost to eventual champions Vietnam on 4–2 aggregate in the semi-finals.[89][90]
January 11 – The Securities and Exchange Commission revokes the certification of incorporation it issued to Rappler, Inc. after it found the issuance of the media firm of Philippine Depositary Receipts to Omidyar Network to be in violation of the Constitution's provisions on foreign ownership saying that Rappler "sold control" to foreigners.[91][92][93][94]
January 24 – Miss Philippines Katarina Rodriguez wins the 1st runner-up in the Miss Intercontinental 2017 pageant which was held in SUNRISE Garden Beach Resort in Hurghada, Egypt.[96]
February 26 – Miss Philippines Sophia Senoron was crowned as the first winner of the Miss Multinational 2018 pageant night, which was held in New Delhi, India.[98]
March 3 – The 3 letters of Andrés Bonifacio to Emilio Jacinto, that narrating the massive cheating in the Philippines' first election, known as the Tejeros Convention held on March 22, 1897, together with the paintings of Jose T. Joya, Fernando Zobel, Vicente Manansala and Fernando Amorsolo were sold in an auction which was held in León Gallery in Makati.[100]
March 18 – Catriona Gray, a Filipino-Australian model, was crowned as Miss Universe Philippines 2018 during the coronation night of the Binibining Pilipinas 2018 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
April 30 – The Department of Tourism receives their ₱60,000,000 ad placement given to government-owned People's Television Network for airing it on Ben Tulfo's program Kilos Pronto produced by Bitag Media Unilimted, Inc. (in which the blocktimer sells its production time to the network); the contract was not supported with proper documents such as the Memorandum of Agreement and Certificate of Performance contrary to Section 4 of Presidential Decree 1445 and COA Circular No. 2012-001. An investigation on the alleged advertisement anomaly is being conducted by Malacanang, Tourism secretary Wanda Tulfo Teo said that Ben along with his brother Erwin Tulfo will return its ₱60 million ad placement from DOT to prove there was no anomaly in the advertisement deal and there was no conflict on the deal because it was a government-to-government deal between the DOT and PTV. Teo was later resigned on May 8 because of the controversy.
INC members participate in the charity walk, "Worldwide Walk to Fight Poverty", in Manila.
May 6 – More than 1.5million members join the Iglesia ni Cristo's (INC) Worldwide Walk to Fight Poverty along Roxas Boulevard and in selected sites around the Philippines and abroad to successfully break the Guinness World Records for the largest human sentence, largest charity walk in a single venue and largest charity walk in multiple venues in 24 hours.[102]
September 16—Sharifa Akeel of Sultan Kudarat is a Muslim Maguindanaoan crowned as Mutya ng Pilipinas-Asia Pacific International 2018 during the coronation night held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Calyag, Keith (March 21, 2018). "Duterte's claim on Rome Statute ratification 'grossly incorrect'". Sun Star Manila. Retrieved March 21, 2018. The United Nations said Monday, March 19, that it received the official notification of the Philippines' decision but "the withdrawal shall take effect for the Philippines one year after the date of receipt, i.e., on March 17, 2019."