ASEAN News

Metro Manila – Former senator Jinggoy Estrada was arrested on Sunday and was brought to the San Juan police station for questioning over alleged violations of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). According to reports, Estrada was seen distributing relief goods in the city without quarantine pass or authorization to distribute relief goods. Estradahad no permit from the local government for …

Metro Manila – An online petition from several authorities and groups urging the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) to withdraw the memorandum of increase rates in the premium contribution of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) has received some 300,000 signatures. According to the memorandum, OFWs with income amounting between ₱10,000 and ₱20,000 will be required to pay 3 percent of their …

KUALA LUMPUR – On the first day of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) in an effort to ease restrictions and kickstart the country’s economy, Malaysians mostly refrained crowded areas and commuting using public rail transport system and buses. Restaurants, supermarkets remained empty while several major rail stations in the city centre did not experienced major morning rush-hour traffic. Cheras …

The education gap dividing the haves and the have nots threatens to become worse as schools go to online classes due to Covid-19. When the virus first hit Thailand, schools were quickly shut down. But as the Covid-19 situation has been under control to an extent, the Education Ministry’s Office of Basic Education Commission (Obec) decided to let individual schools decide whether …

Hanoi – The OST titled Còn Gì Để Mất or I’ll Give My Soul has unexpectedly entered the international Billboard charts. The OST is among the Top 21 of the Adult Contemporary Indicator Chart of the US reknowned music magazine. Singer Dang Mai Phuong has become the second Vietnamese singer to be named in the said billboard chart. Trung Vuong …

MANILA – The National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) is considering to delay the opening of Season 96 to November due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The collegiate competition that usually opens in July, NCAA Management Committee chairman Peter Cayco said that this year they have discussed the possibility of the season being delayed to as late as November or even December …

State-owned electricity firm PLN has announced its intention to supply Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) on 450-volt ampere (VA) contracts with six months of free electricity as part of the government’s latest expansion of social aid. According to PT PLN (Persero) president director Zulkifli Zaini, the company has started gathering data of around 500,000 pre-paid customers from small businesses …

SINGAPORE – Madam Yap Lay Hong, 102, Singapore’s oldest COVID-19 patient, has been discharged from Tan Tock Seng Hospital on May 1 (Friday). Madam Yap was 16 residents at an old age home who were tested positive for the virus. A cluster that led the government to ban visitors to all nursing and old age homes last April. On Friday, …

Metro Manila – Celebrity couple Coleen Garcia and Billy Crawford are going to be parents. The two made the announcement on Friday (May 1) via Instagram and that Coleen is already 5 months pregnant. Billy Crawford’s Instagram Post Coleen wrote, “It’s been over 5 months now. And just like that, we’re more than halfway through! We found out earlier this …

Vaccines and drugs against COVID-19 are currently being researched and developed. Scientists are also trying other alternatives that are more practical and brief by using the blood plasma of patients recovering from COVID-19 as a ‘medicine’. The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) for Jakarta region, expressed willingness to collect blood of recovered COVID-19 patients for trial of treatment using convalescent blood …