Does anyone know if the torch can process a .php site ?

If it can view a normal html website then yes.

PHP is a server side scripting language and as such, NOTHING is done on the client side ( the phone )

PHP simply gets run on the webserver and outputs to the blackberry normal html.

PHP runs on a WEBSERVER and I don't believe there is a webserver that is designed to run on a Blackberry (any version), so that would mean the answer is no.

so depending on what exactly you mean by "process a .php site", the answer is one of the above ... lol... They may seem like opposite answers but they're both correct, depending on the meaning of the question.