Blog | ELYSPLANET

The Philippines Just Landed Its First Two-Key Hotels — Here’s the Full 2026 Michelin List

by Ely Valendez

The Philippines just picked up its first-ever Two Michelin Key hotels. Here's the full 2026 list, what separates a Key from a Star, and which hotels are recommended but not (yet) ranked.

September 23, 2026

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Elsewhere

September 23, 2026

Mister International 2026: Türkiye, Spain, and Indonesia Lead the Field as John...

The Philippines has never defended a Mister International crown. On Saturday night in Bangkok, it gets its first real...

by Ely Valendez

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September 23, 2026

I’mPerfect: The MMFF Best Picture Most People Missed Is Now Netflix’s No....

The 2025 MMFF Best Picture, led by two actors with Down syndrome, is now Netflix Philippines' most-streamed movie, nine...

by Ely Valendez

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September 23, 2026

Tanghalang Pilipino’s ‘Sayaw ng mga Ilaw’ Turns a Children’s...

An award-winning children's book about a girl who loses her father becomes Tanghalang Pilipino's newest musical, built around the...

by Ely Valendez

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September 23, 2026

MMFF 2026 Has a Three-Year Box-Office Problem. Its Answer Is ₱299 a Ticket.

The Metro Manila Film Festival's gross has fallen every year since its 2023 record. This year's response, a ₱299...

by Ely Valendez

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The Philippines Just Landed Its First Two-Key Hotels — Here’s the Full 2026 Michelin List

Published by Ely Valendez

The Philippines just picked up its first-ever Two Michelin Key hotels. Here's the full 2026 list, what separates a Key from a Star, and which hotels are recommended but...

September 23, 2026

Comments 0

Elsewhere

The Pasig River Ferry Is Free. Almost Nobody’s on It.

Published by Ely Valendez

Manila has a free, working ferry down the Pasig — and most of the city still doesn't ride it, even as diesel prices keep climbing.

September 22, 2026

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Elsewhere

No One Is Coming to Save Us.

Published by Ely Valendez

A ₱2 trillion flood-control scandal, a record-low poverty rate, and the missing half of the plan every Filipino family was taught to skip.

September 21, 2026

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Finance

Three Days, Every Kind of Bad Weather: The Ford Everest’s Baguio Verdict

Published by Ely Valendez

Ford Philippines loaned us an Everest for three days in Baguio — traffic, steep Cordillera grades, and a sudden June downpour. Here's the honest verdict.

September 15, 2026

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Cars

Alex Eala Landed on the Front Page of the New York Times. Then She Sat Front Row at NYFW for Tory Burch.

Published by Ely Valendez

A New York Times front page, a CBS Mornings sit-down, and three NYFW front rows — Alex Eala's New York had nothing to do with tennis.

September 11, 2026

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Fashion

Drew Arellano Built a Wall Around His Kids’ Endorsement Money — and a Rental Villa on the Side

Published by Ely Valendez

Drew Arellano invests his kids' endorsements, insures his family, and runs a rental villa in Rizal. Inside the Arellano family's real money moves.

September 9, 2026

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Finance

Entertainment, Exclusive Interview

Tyrone Tan Doesn’t Want to Be the Next Chinito Heartthrob

If Tyrone Tan hadn’t spent 2025 becoming Mister Chinatown Philippines, he says he’d probably be somewhere doing math. “My language is numbers,” he tells ElysPlanet. “My mind works better...

Entertainment, Exclusive Interview

VR Relosa: Before the Vivamax King, There Was the Boy Who Slept at McDonald’s

VR Relosa slept under an MRT station at 17. A decade later, the "Vivamax King" is doing Cinemalaya, theater, and an indie shot years before any of it.

Exclusive Interview, Pageants

From Spain to Stories That Inspire, Jesus Guinto Built His Way to Mister Glam International

Jesus “Jessie” Guinto is heading into Mister Glam International this December with something he didn’t have the last time he stepped onto an international pageant stage: time. In 2023, he...

Exclusive Interview

Mister Globe Philippines 2026 Raymond Paris Cabuco Found His Voice in Pageantry

Raymond Paris Cabuco used to eat lunch alone. Now he's Mister Globe Philippines 2026 — and using his voice to spotlight Cordilleran heritage.

Exclusive Interview

Rey John Paul Sabado: The King Nobody Saw Coming

He finished Top 10 with no title in October. By January, he'd won a first-ever crown for the Philippines. Rey John Paul Sabado on the long way around.

Exclusive Interview

Jose Carlos Paras Won a Crown. Then Came Adulting.

He's the first Filipino Mister National Universe. He's also 22, a breadwinner, and just graduated — turns out a crown doesn't skip you past adulting.

Exclusive Interview

Kristzan Delos Santos Is Giving Pageantry One More Shot

Update, September 20: Kristzan was crowned Top Model of Universe – Asia 2026 in Istanbul — his first international title, after two straight runner-up finishes. The profile below was...

Exclusive Interview

Jacob Gomez Is Used to Almost Winning. Now the Philippines Needs Him To.

Update, September 20, 2026: Gomez finished second runner-up at Mister Fitness Supermodel World 2026 in Đà Lạt, Vietnam. Chinese Taipei’s Danilo Valeriano de Melo took the crown — full...

Exclusive Interview

Marck Marasigan: The Replacement Pick Who Became a King

Marck Marasigan had six days. That’s how much notice the Batangueño model and pageant titleholder got when the Philippines’ slot at Mister Celebrity International 2025 — an annual pageant...

Exclusive Interview

Oliver Eugen Kretz Made History in June. The Real Test Is What Comes After.

Two months after becoming the first Filipino to win Man of the World, Oliver Eugen Kretz talks to ELYSPLANET about what winning actually built — and whether it outlasts...

Theater

Tanghalang Pilipino’s ‘Sayaw ng mga Ilaw’ Turns a Children’s Book Into a Requiem for the Manila Film Center’s Buried Workers

An award-winning children's book about a girl who loses her father becomes Tanghalang Pilipino's newest musical, built around the Manila Film Center collapse — one of Martial Law's least-examined...

Theater

Repertory Philippines’ ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Has One Weekend Left, and Puck Is Stealing Every Minute of It

Repertory Philippines revives Shakespeare's most-produced comedy for the first time in years, pairing faithful text with pop-song sight gags — and the run at St. Scholastica's College closes this...

Theater

‘Bongga Ka, ‘Day!’ Silences Its Premature Critics

walked into "Bongga Ka, 'Day!" carrying every premature criticism I'd heard about it. I walked out with my heart still dancing to the title track.