Philippines

It is an excellent time to look back and take stock of the obstacles we have faced and the lessons we can take away from them as the year steadily creeps towards its end. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many of the greatest problems facing Filipinos this year. COVID-19 had political, social and economic implications as well not just a …

There is a bill aiming to require higher wages and improved benefits for media employees that was approved by the House Labour Committee. In view of this, the panel approved House Bill No. 2476, authored by Rep. Niña Taduran which aims to award a minimum wage of P40,000 a month to field reporters working in Metro Manila with at least …

The World Health Organization has been leading a huge scale clinical trials of candidates for coronavirus vaccines that will actually begin next year, January specifically in the Philippines. This was a tap from the Department of Science and Technology to make the nation aware of the progress they are seeking for the past months. Previously, the so-called solidarity trial for …

In the midst of pandemics, Filipino players continue to shine in the field of basketball. In the second window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, the youthful Gilas Pilipinas lineup was tried and checked in the glare of the international scene. The 15-man pool of collegiate and fresh-out-of-college stars, while lacking in expertise and adequate training, had little fear …

Unexpectedly at a mass meeting in Cebu that presidential spokesman Harry Roque attended, a police probe is ongoing, but penalties for quarantine violations are out of his hands. Police Gen. Debold Sinas, cleared during the Luzon-wide shutdown earlier this year by President Rodrigo Duterte over a birthday party, said regional police directors were ordered to probe the incident, along with …

The House of Representatives passed a bill prohibiting labor-only contracting in the private sector on Tuesday with a vote of 204 in favor, seven against and three abstentions, a move that some legislators said did not entirely prohibit the abusive process of contractualization in the country. In view of this, The House Bill No. 7036 aims to ban labor-only contracting …

The Department of Tourism is seeking to establish travel coupons that would subsidize the cost of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swab tests for visitors in an attempt to make travel more accessible. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said in a television interview with the ANC that the DOT aims to join up with the University of the Philippines-Philippine General …

The Interior and Local Government Department has requested an accelerated search for consultants from the National Democratic Front, Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, who were convicted last week in a decades-old abduction and serious illegal detention case. In the statement, the DILG also said that based on intelligence sources, the couple is still in the country. The Quezon City Provincial Trial …

As part of efforts to streamline the organizational structure of the Lopez Company by cutting the number of public holding entities, Lopez Holdings Inc. will exit the local stock exchange. Surprisingly, The Lopez Holdings told the local stock exchange that the firm will voluntarily delist until First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH), its power arm, completes the acquisition of up to …

Here’s something people can look forward to. A total of P3.3 billion in Christmas cash gifts to eligible pensioners will be issued by the state-run Government Service Insurance Scheme (GSIS). Rolando Macasaet, GSIS president and general manager, said in a statement released over the weekend that there are 330,496 old-age and disability pensioners who can hope to benefit from the …