2022 in the Philippines details notable events that occurred in the Philippines in 2022. The COVID-19 pandemic, which largely defined the preceding two years (2020 and 2021), continued into 2022.
Incumbents
President: Rodrigo Duterte (PDP–Laban) (until June 30) Bongbong Marcos (PFP) (from June 30) Vice President: Leni Robredo (Liberal) (until June 30) Sara Duterte (Lakas–CMD) (from June 30) Congress: Senate President: 18th Congress: Tito Sotto (NPC) (until June 1) 19th Congress: Migz Zubiri (Independent) (from July 25) House Speaker: 18th Congress: Lord Allan Velasco (PDP–Laban) (until June 1) 19th Congress: Martin Romualdez (Lakas-CMD) (from July 25) Chief Justice: Alexander Gesmundo
Ongoing events COVID-19 pandemic Pharmally scandal Philippine sugar crisis
Events
January January 1 – Republic Act No. 11467, which increases the excise tax on alcohol products, electronic cigarettes, and heated tobacco products, takes effect. January 6 – President Duterte signs Republic Act No. 11642, that seeks to simplify the process of adoption. January 7: Monsignors Lope Robredillo, Eutiquio "Euly" Belizar Jr., and Romeo Solidon of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Borongan in Eastern Samar, are appointed by Pope Francis as the "Chaplains to His Holiness".Citations:
Juanito Itaas, convicted in 1991 in connection to the murder of United States Army Col. James Rowe, and the country's "longest held political prisoner", is released from the New Bilibid Prison upon order by the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court allowing him to benefit from the Good Conduct Time Allowance.Citations:
January 11 – President Duterte signs Republic Act No. 11643, which grants survivorship benefits to the legitimate spouse and dependent children of deceased retired members of the National Prosecution Service. January 14 – President Duterte signs Republic Act Nos. 11644 and 11645, declaring Carcar, Cebu and San Vicente, Ilocos Sur as heritage zones. January 18–19 – The National Bureau of Investigation arrests five suspects in the Banco de Oro hacking in 2021, including two Nigerians, in separate operations in Pampanga and Metro Manila.
February February 4 The International Astronomical Union names an asteroid 7431 Jettaguilar in honor of Jose Francisco Aguilar, a medical doctor and amateur astronomer. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation places three members of Kingdom of Jesus Christ on its most wanted list, among them its founder Apollo Quiboloy, accused of sex trafficking.Citations on FBI wanted list:
February 18 – Dr. Natividad Castro, an advocate of Lumad communities in Mindanao, is arrested by the Philippine National Police (PNP) in San Juan City. On June 16, the Bayugan Regional Trial Court (RTC), having charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention case against her dismissed on March 25, orders her rearrest. February 23 – The government's Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), through a January 26 resolution, designates 16 organizations supposedly linked with communist groups as terrorists.
March March 2 – President Duterte signs Republic Act No. 11647, which will amend Foreign Investments Act of 1991 (RA No. 7042) and effectively eases several restrictions on foreign investment. March 4 – President Duterte signs RA No. 11648, raising the age of sexual consent and for determining statutory rape, from 12 to 16. March 11 – President Duterte signs RA No. 11650 requiring schools nationwide to provide free basic education and related services to learners with disabilities. March 21 – President Duterte signs RA No. 11659, amending the Public Service Act (Commonwealth Act No. 146) and allowing full foreign ownership in various, certain sectors. March 23 – The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration revises its definition of a super typhoon, as well as meanings of tropical cyclone wind signals. March 26 – Taal Volcano is placed on Alert Level 3 after its "main crater generated a short-lived phreatomagmatic burst," with plumes reaching as high as 1,500 meters. March 31 – The Philippine Air Force (PAF) introduces 1Lt. Jul Laiza Mae Camposano-Beran as the first female fighter pilot at the Basa Air Base in Floridablanca, Pampanga.
April April 8: President Duterte signs Republic Act No. 11691, creating the Office of the Judiciary Marshalls to protect members and personnel of the judiciary. President Duterte signs five laws declaring five separate areas nationwide, including Mount Pulag, Mount Arayat, and Tirad Pass, as protected landscapes. April 10–12 – Tropical Storm Megi (Agaton) hits Eastern Visayas and Dinagat Islands, later weakens;Citations:
devastating the Visayas, parts of Mindanao, and Bicol Region; 344 are reported either dead or missing, mostly from landslides in Baybay and Abuyog in Leyte. Damages are estimated at almost 5 billion pesos. April 10 – Republic Act No. 11683 lapses into law which seeks to ease conversion of towns into cities but is signed by President Duterte on April 11. The new cityhood law amends Section 450 of Republic Act No. 7160 also known as the Local Government Code of 1991, where a municipality will be exempted from the land and population requirements if it generates at least 100 million pesos for two consecutive years. April 12 – The Supreme Court announces the result of the country's first ever digitized and decentralized bar examinations. The 2020/2021 Bar Examinations, dubbed as the "Biggest Bar Ever", have a 72.28% passing rate. April 13: President Duterte signs Republic Act No. 11708, creating the Metropolitan Davao Development Authority. President Duterte signs Republic Act No. 11709, granting a three-year fixed term for the chief of staff and other key officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. April 26 – The Supreme Court rejects with finality all motions for reconsideration of its December 7, 2021 decision challenging the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479) to declare it as unconstitutional, citing lack of substantial issues and arguments raised by petitioners. April 27: The Supreme Court, through a decision upholding the 2011 ruling by the Pasig Regional Trial Court, declares that the Bonifacio Global City complex, along with several surrounding barangays of Makati, is owned by Taguig. The country's longest bridge connecting Cebu City and Cordova, Cebu, part of the Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway project, is inaugurated.Citations on CCLEx:
May May 3 – President Duterte approves the recommendation of the Department of the Interior and Local Government to stop e-sabong or online cockfighting operations. On December 28, Pres. Marcos signs Executive Order No. 9, ordering its continuation. May 6: President Duterte signs Republic Act (RA) No. 11767 deeming foundlings as natural-born Filipino citizens. The Commission on Human Rights releases its report on the world's first National Inquiry on Climate Change, where climate change is declared as a human rights issue. May 9 – National and local elections are held, as mandated by RA No. 7166. Former Senator Bongbong Marcos and Davao City mayor Sara Duterte are elected president and vice president, respectively; twelve senators led by Robin Padilla, and 55 party-lists with ACT-CIS Partylist winning the most seats, are elected to Congress.National candidates leading in unofficial counts:———For the proclamation of elected national candidates:——— May 12 – The national government orders the adoption digital payments for its disbursements and collections through Executive Order No. 170. This is due to being seen as cashless transaction booms in the last two years in Southeast Asia. May 18 – Bro. Armin Luistro FSC, the former education secretary, is named the 28th successor of Saint John Baptist de La Salle, making him the first Filipino to become the Superior General of the De La Salle Brothers worldwide. May 21 – Pope Francis approves the promulgation of a decree granting the title of Venerable to the Servant of God Archbishop Teofilo Camomot from Cebu. May 26 – Glenn Banaguas, founder of the Environmental and Climate Change Research Institute (ECCRI) receives the United Nations' Sasakawa Award for his initiatives in disaster risk reduction. May 27 – The Supreme Court upholds the 2016 Sandiganbayan verdict convicting NBN-ZTE deal whistleblower Jun Lozada of graft charges. Lozada surrenders to authorities on June 2. May 31 – The Court of Appeals upholds the 2018 conviction of retired general Jovito Palparan and two other Army officers in connection to the 2006 abduction and disappearance of two University of the Philippines students.
June June 2: Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation officials Mohit Dargani and Linconn Ong, held since 2021 in connection with the company's controversy, are released from the Pasay City Jail after six months in detention. Pope Francis names former Manila Archbishop Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as one of the new members of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of Sacraments. June 4 – Republic Act No. 11861, amending the Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000 (RA No. 8972) and granting more benefits to single parents, lapses into law. June 6: The Quezon City Metropolitan Trial Court acquits 21 residents of Brgy. San Roque arrested during the lockdown in 2020 for protesting out of hunger. The Ombudsman charges 42 dismissed Immigration personnel, including mastermind Marc Mariñas, and a private individual with graft before the Sandiganbayan over the "pastillas" bribery and extortion scheme; dismisses charges against 40 other personnel. They are among 50 individuals, excluding the whistleblower in the case, charged by September. Four other employees have been found administratively liable in March; while one of the respondents would be convicted. June 7 – The Sandiganbayan convicts two former officials of the Local Water Utilities Administration, including Surigao del Sur representative Prospero Pichay Jr., of graft for the mismanagement of agency funds in 2009. June 8 – The National Telecommunications Commission, upon prior request by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., orders the country's Internet service providers to block access to more than twenty websites allegedly linked to communist groups. Among these is alternative news site Bulatlat which, in August, is ordered by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court to be temporarily unblocked; the decision would be affirmed on October 10. June 9 – More than 80 individuals, who took part in an activity related to a land dispute in Hacienda Tinang, Concepcion, Tarlac, are arrested. They would be released on June 13; charges against them would be dismissed by a municipal trial court. June 14 – The Sandiganbayan stops the graft and malversation trial against former Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) chairperson Zenaida Ducut due to her dementia diagnosis. June 15: The Philippines is elected to be the member of the United Nations body that facilitates the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Anti-Terrorism Council, through publicized May 25 resolutions, declares six suspected communist leaders including Luis Jalandoni, former chief negotiator of the National Democratic Front, as well as five commanders of Islamic militant groups, as terrorists.Citations:
June 19 – Sara Duterte is inaugurated as the 15th Vice President of the Philippines. June 21 – The government scraps a much touted bus rapid transit (BRT) line in Metro Manila amid slow progress, lack of willpower as well as the effect of the pandemic. June 22 – USS Samuel B. Roberts, a US Navy destroyer sunk during World War II is found nearly 7,000 meters below sea level off the Philippine coast, making it the deepest shipwreck ever located in the world. June 23: President Duterte signs Executive Order No. 174, creating new position titles for school teachers.