Philippines

METRO MANILA – President Duterte on Monday, threatened to stop the operation of Facebook here in the Philippines after the social media company took down several “advocacy” pages of the government that were set up by the military and police. Duterte said in a pre-recorded address last Monday that what would be the point of allowing the social media company …

METRO MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte announced that Metro Manila will stay under general community quarantine (GCQ) from Oct. 1 to Oct 31. According to Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, The president approved the recommendation of the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to place Metro Manila and other areas under GCQ. Other areas included on …

METRO MANILA – Malacañang said on Monday, that President Rodrigo Duterte is not keen on extending his term beyond 2022, while noting that amending the constitution is the only way that the national election in 2022 will be postponed. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the President is not interested and he will leave the decision to the Filipino people …

METRO MANILA – Public utility buses (PUB) with routes plying the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa) will implement a cashless payment starting Thursday (Oct. 1). The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said in a statement that they will enforce a strict “no Beep card, no ride” policy starting Thursday. DOTr said that the beep card cashless payment system will pave …

METRO MANILA – The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has assured the public that before the vaccine be made available, the government will make sure the public safety is the utmost priority and that caution will be strictly observed in the vaccine registration. The FDA is expecting a vaccine to be approved for use in the country by April 2021. …

METRO MANILA – The PBA is now officially back after the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases issued a provisional approval to go ahead and resume its season. The suspended Philippine Cup is set to resume on October 11 in Clark City, Pampanga. The league will send teams to the city in two batches in preparation for the season. …

MANILA – Metro Manila mayors may likely agree to extend the general community quarantine (GCQ) for another month even when the Covid-19 cases subsides. According to Parañaque City Mayor and Metro Manila Council (MMC) chairman Edwin Olivarez he believes that keeping the GCQ raised for another month would be benefitial to curb the spread of the virus. Olivarez said that …

METRO MANILA – ABS-CBN chairman emeritus Eugenio “Gabby” Lopez III has tendered his resignation and left the network and other Lopez-owned companies on Thursday, citing ‘personal reasons’. The announcement came just as the company held it’s first stockholders’ meeting since the house rejected it’s application for a franchise renewal. ABS-CBN made the announcement through the Philippine Stock Exchange, citing that …

METRO MANILA – International medical journal, The Lancet has listed the Philippines 66th out of 91 countries in terms of suppressing the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as of August. Lancet notes that one of the key part to blame is the President Rodrigo Duterte’s “medical populism” on the issue. The list was based on the new cases of Covid-19 per million …

METRO MANILA – Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle has recovered from the coronavirus disease COVID-19, the Pontificio Collegio Filippino announced on Wednesday. The recovery was announced almost 2 weeks after  the cardinal contracted the virus. He was assymptomatic and went on a self-quarantine. According to Fr. Gregory Gaston, PCF Rector, The Tagle’s brings great joy for the whole church. He …