Philippines

METRO MANILA – The food and package delivery services of Grab Philippines (Grab) announced that starting Wednesday (September 16), they will be operating 24 hours in Metro Manila. In a statement released by Grab, they said that the extension of the operating hours of its GrabExpress services was to help ease the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in the businesses. …

METRO MANILA – The Philippines and Japan signed an agreement on Tuesday for a 50-billion yen (P23 billion), which the Palace can use to spend on post-disaster response efforts not only during natural calamities but also disease outbreaks. Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda met yesterday to formally finalize the Post Disaster Stand-by Loan Phase …

METRO MANILA – Around 5,000 medical frontliners in Cebu will obtain life insurance coverage worth ₱2 million each from San Miguel Corporation. The Ramon Ang-led conglomerate said that it will be retaining the promise of life insurance coverage to the healthcare frontliners of several hospitals in the province. In a statement released today, SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon …

METRO MANILA – In a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte and other Cabinet members, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that the proposal to reduced the distance between commuters in public utility vehicles (PUVs) ‘dangerous’ and should be thoroughly studied. Año said that face shields and face mask can only mitigate the spread of the virus but distance will still be …

METRO MANILA – Manny Pangilinan’s telecommunication giant Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) is competing for the Lopez-owned SkyCable and hoping to strike a deal after the Chinese Lunar calendar ghost month. The cable company’s value is estimated at P15 billion to P18 billion and the MVP group is making an aggresive offer to close the deal. The successful deal …

METRO MANILA – US Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton left the country on Monday, six years after convicted of killing Filipino transgender Jennifer Laude during a sexual encounter in Olongapo. Pemberton, who were confined inside the joint United States Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) facility at Camp Aguinaldo since 2014. He was finally allowed to leave the country yesterday. According …

METRO MANILA – Both The Philippines and China agrees at a bilateral meeting that the maritime dispute should be resolve peacefully to keep the stability in the South China Sea. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana met with his Chinese counterpart, Wei Fenghe on Friday to discuss key issues that is affecting the two countries. The two defense chiefs discussed the tensions …

METRO MANILA – The Vatican confirmed today that Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has been tested positive for Covid-19 upon his arrival in the Philippines. He was tested negative after taking the test in Rome last Sept. 7, Vatican News reported. Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said that he tested positive from the COVID-19 swab test that was conducted in …

METRO MANILA – The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Thursday, ordered the recall of ABS-CBN’s frequencies, sealing the end of its free broadcast business. NTC said in a seven-page order signed by Deputy Commissioners Edgardo Cabarios, Delilah Deles and Commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba, that the government is mandated to recall the frequencies when the network did not provide a Congressional franchise …

METRO MANILA – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. posted on his twitter account yesterday that there was no “exchange” in the absolute pardon given by the president to the convicted killer US Army personnel Joseph Scott Pemberton. There is no exchange. I clinched that purely on my charm with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. I insisted that it …