The week in photos: May 30 to June 5, 2026

MANILA, Philippines – On June 1, Senator Jinggoy Estrada was placed in police custody after the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan’s 5th Division ordered his arrest for plunder and graft cases linked to the flood control corruption scandal.

Estrada surrendered to agents of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, was brought to Camp Crame for booking procedures, and then headed to the Sandiganbayan for the return of warrant and commitment order before proceeding to the New Quezon City Jail in Payatas for his detention.

After Estrada left the Senate, Vice President Sara Duterte‘s legal team handed over to Senate Secretary and concurrent Impeachment Court Clerk of Court Jose Luis Montales the veep’s answer asking the court to junk the articles of impeachment against her, claiming “they suffer from fatal constitutional, procedural, and substantive defects.”

On June 3, after two days of boycott by the majority bloc, Senator Chiz Escudero joined the Senate minority to help constitute a quorum and pave the way for the convening of a plenary session. Senator Sherwin Gatchalian was elected as the new Senate president pro tempore and acting Senate president.

Alan Peter Cayetano claimed that the latest Senate leadership shake-up did not affect his grip on the Senate presidency, but the new majority led by Gatchalian cited the approved motion to declare all elected seats in the Senate vacant and cited jurisprudence to support the legitimacy of their actions.

Meanwhile, the Philippines, on June 4, Manila time, lost its bid for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UN SC) after rival Kyrgyzstan garnered 142, against 49 votes, after four rounds of secret balloting.

This is the first time that the Philippines lost a bid for the UN SC, and the first time Kyrgyzstan will sit on the council on a term that will begin on January 1, 2027, and end on December 31, 2028. 

Catch more stories in these photos from the week that was:

Buddhist monks take part in a circumambulation ritual at Borobudur Temple, the world’s largest Buddhist temple, ahead of Vesak Day, marking the birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha, in Magelang, Central Java Province, Indonesia, on May 30, 2026. PHOTO BY ANDRE HIDAYAT/REUTERS

A drone view shows a message by members of missing-person search groups at the Ahuehuete roundabout, unofficially renamed the ‘Glorieta de las y los Desaparecidos’ by activists, on Paseo de la Reforma Avenue, after a protest to raise awareness of disappearances ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in Mexico City, Mexico, on May 31, 2026. PHOTO BY QUETZALLI NICTE-HA/REUTERS

People gather on a beach as a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz is visible near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, on May 31, 2026. PHOTO BY AMIRHOSEIN KHORGOOI/WANA VIA REUTERS

An anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement protester is detained during a curfew outside Delaney Hall in Newark, New Jersey, on May 31, 2026. PHOTO BY RYAN MURPHY/REUTERS

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vietnamese President To Lam prepare for a bilateral meeting at Malacañang Palace on June 1, 2026. PHOTO BY ROLEX DELA PENA/POOL VIA REUTERS

A faulty interceptor missile launched by Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system disintegrates above southern Lebanon, shortly after being launched by Israel, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Lebanon border, on June 1, 2026. PHOTO BY AMIR COHEN/REUTERS

The full moon, known as the Blue Moon, rises over the Zhivopisny bridge in Moscow, Russia, on June 1, 2026. PHOTO BY MARINA LYSTSEVA/REUTERS

A demonstrator takes part in a protest against a US-backed Ebola quarantine plan on the establishment of a 50-bed facility at a Kenyan air force base that was intended to host Americans exposed to Ebola, in Nanyuki town, in Laikipia County, Kenya, on June 1, 2026. PHOTO BY JOHN MUCHUCHA/REUTERS

Vice President Sara Duterte’s legal team, led by Michael Poa, arrives at the Senate to submit the physical documents along with a USB drive containing electronic copies of Duterte’s formal answer to the articles of impeachment, on June 1, 2026. PHOTO FROM THE SENATE SOCIAL MEDIA UNIT

Jail officers surround Senator Jinggoy Estrada as he arrives at the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan in Quezon City for the arraignment of his graft case, on June 2, 2026. PHOTO BY JIRE CARREON/RAPPLER

Members of the Senate minority bloc hold a press conference calling on then Senate president Alan Peter Cayetano to resign after the majority bloc, on his bidding, did not attend the plenary session for a second consecutive day, on June 2, 2026. PHOTO BY ANGIE DE SILVA/RAPPLER

Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic Jeenbek Kulubayev reacts after securing a position against the Philippines following multiple rounds of voting during the elections of non-permanent members of the United Nations Security Council at UN headquarters in New York City, on June 3, 2026. PHOTO BY DAVID DEE DELGADO/REUTERS

New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet (44) and San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) battle for the ball during game one of the 2026 NBA Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on June 3, 2026. PHOTO BY ERIC GAY/IMAGN IMAGES VIA REUTERS

A demonstrator looks on as members of the women’s movement ‘Ni Una Menos’ (Not one (woman) less) protest amid public outrage following the femicide of 14-year-old Agostina Vega in Cordoba province, outside the National Congress, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 3, 2026. PHOTO BY CRISTINA SILLE/REUTERS

People gather near a banner with images of Iran’s late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, on the day of a ceremony for the 37th anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at Khomeini’s shrine in southern Tehran, Iran, on June 4, 2026. PHOTO BY MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA VIA REUTERS

Eighteen alleged former Marines said to have worked as security and bodyguards of former representative Zaldy Co take their oath before the Cayetano-bloc blue ribbon committee’s probe into the flood control anomalies at the Senate on June 4, 2026. PHOTO BY ANGIE DE SILVA/RAPPLER

A drone view shows worshippers preparing traditional colorful carpets using biodegradable materials during Corpus Christi celebrations around the Christ the Protector statue in Encantado, Brazil, on June 4, 2026. PHOTO BY DIEGO VARA/REUTERS

A view shows the Rotunda as visitors sit in front of a white fog of water vapor of the ‘Fog Sculpture,’ titled ‘Cloud #07156’, by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya during its presentation as part of the exhibition, ‘Clair-obscur,’ at the Bourse de Commerce in Paris, France, on June 5, 2026. PHOTO BY SARAH MEYSSONNIER/REUTERS

Pop star Madonna performs during a surprise concert in Times Square, in New York City, on June 4, 2026. PHOTO BY BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool is refilled with water after the Trump administration ordered a coat of blue paint to be applied to its surface, in Washington, DC on June 5, 2026. PHOTO BY EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS

– with reports from Reuters/Rappler.com