Covering the week’s most noteworthy news stories throughout the Philippines for the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
THE Philippines and the United States will meet this month to iron out differences over the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) amid renewed regional concerns over China’s assertive maritime agenda, Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said. “I am narrowing down the issues and soon we will meet…and iron out whatever differences we have,” the…
THE opposition Liberal Party (LP) is considering Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo as its presidential candidate for the 2022 national elections. “Siya ay mataas na opisyal ng partido at pinakamataas na elected official ng partido (Robredo is the highest official of the party and the highest-ranked elected official in the party) so she is also…
STARTING February 16, foreigners with certain visas can enter the Philippines, according to new guidelines released by the country’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). Foreign nationals who have visas issued as of March 20, 2020, as well as those who have valid and existing visas at the time of…
THE Philippine economy is in “bad shape” and “sinking deeper and deeper” due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte admitted this week. “Ang ekonomiya natin, mga kababayan ko, is masama talaga. Biro mo naman ilang tao ang walang trabaho, the economy of the Philippines is really in bad shape (The economy, my countrymen,…
There is no doubt that the government’s infrastructure program today is unprecedented in the country’s post EDSA history. The projects that have been accomplished including those are underway will surely shape how our country will fare in the years to come. Now that the franchise to the Bulacan international airport has been granted to San…
THE Philippines ranked 55th out of 167 countries in a global democracy index report released by London-based think tank The Economist Intelligence Unit on Wednesday, February 3. Previously, the country ranked 54th in 2019, 53rd in 2018, and 51st in 2017. In the Democracy Index 2020, the Philippines recorded an average score of 6.56, after…
FLAG carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is expected to lay off 2,300 jobs in mid-March as the airline weathers the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on travel demand. The cuts represent about 30% of its workforce, including both voluntary separations and involuntary retrenchment, the company announced on Tuesday, February 2. “This has been an extremely difficult and…
RAPPLER co-founder and chief executive officer Maria Ressa has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2021 by Norwegian labor leader and parliamentary representative Jonas Gahr Støre. “Filipino Maria Ressa heads Rappler, a website for investigative and investigative journalism. Prior to founding Rappler in 2012, she worked for CNN in Asia, where she specifically…
THE Philippines will receive at least 5.6 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca through the World Health Organization-led COVAX facility within the first quarter of 2021. The country will be provided with 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and 5,500,800 to 9,290,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, according to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez…
FOR the sixth consecutive year, the Philippines is hailed as the global leader in time spent using social media according to a new report. Filipinos spend an average of 4 hours and 15 minutes each day on social media, according to the latest Digital 2021 report released on Tuesday, January 27 by Hootsuite and We…
Foreign visitors drop to 84% in 2020 due to travel restrictions PHILIPPINE tourism stakeholders believe that this year is crucial in rebuilding the country’s tourism industry battered by the global pandemic that hit in 2020. “I believe 2021 is a major transition year for all of us,” Tourism Promotions Board Chief Operating Officer Anthonette Velasco…
THE Philippines’ temporary ban on foreign travelers coming from countries where the new, more infectious COVID-19 variant has been detected will be lifted in February. The Philippines will not be extending its travel restrictions imposed on 36 countries with cases of B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 (UK variant), Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed on Friday, January 29. “The…
THE Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted an emergency use authorization (EAU) for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine. “After a thorough review of the current available data by our medical and regulatory experts, the FDA is granting an emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine of AstraZeneca,” FDA Director General Eric Domingo said Thursday, January…
PHILIPPINE Rep. Christopher de Venecia (4th District, Pangasinan) has filed a resolution congratulating Camille Calimlim Touton for her appointment as Deputy Commissioner of the United States Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. Touton’s appointment is historic as she became the first Filipino-American to serve in the agency’s leadership role. According to the resolution, Touton’s parents,…
China’s claims in South China Sea rejected THE United States has reaffirmed its commitment to defend the Philippines against any armed attacks in the Pacific amid a new Chinese law allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels entering disputed territories. During a phone call with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., U.S….
TRAVELERS entering the Philippines are now required to undergo a COVID-19 test five days after their arrival in the country. The new protocol adopted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) says travelers will take a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test on the fifth day, instead of immediately…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte this week revoked the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) decision to allow minors who are at least 10 years old to go outside. The chief executive on Monday, January 25, reversed the new rule amid the threat of the new, more contagious COVID-19 variant in…
SIXTEEN additional cases of the new, more infectious COVID-19 variant have been reported by the Philippine Department of Health (DOH). This brings the total number of B.1.1.7 SARS-CoV-2 (UK variant) cases in the country to 17, following the first confirmed case detected on January 13. “Following strengthened biosurveillance activities amid the detection of the first…
Malacañang has called on countries involved in the South China Sea issue to refrain from worsening tensions after China adopted a law allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels entering disputed territories and demolish foreign structures. “Sana po walang gagawin ang kahit na anong bansa dito sa usaping West Philippine Sea na magpapalala…
Filipinos who traverse EDSA are in awe with the improvement in traffic along the historic highway. Thanks to the opening of the Skyway Stage 3 recently which is a game-changing project that will have significant impact on the day-to-day lives of our fellow Filipinos living in Metro Manila. It is to the credit of the…
FOREIGNERS with valid visas are allowed to enter the Philippines again despite certain travel restrictions due to the ongoing pandemic, Malacañang announced on Friday, January 22. This move comes after the country’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) amended its earlier resolution that imposed a travel ban on countries where…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte has extended his greetings to United States President Joseph Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris following their inauguration, Malacañang said Thursday, January 21. “Our President, Rodrigo Roa Duterte sends his warmest greetings and the best wishes to the 46th President of the United States Joseph ‘Joe’ Biden and his Vice President…
THE Philippines is set to receive COVID-19 vaccines from the global COVAX facility within the first quarter of 2021, the country’s officials confirmed Wednesday, January 20. Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr and Health Secretary Francisco Duque II made the announcement that the Philippines will be among the countries included in the COVAX distribution of vaccines…
A BLACK market for unauthorized COVID-19 vaccines is ‘thriving’ in the Philippines, according to a recent report by the Washington Post. Only Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine has been granted an emergency use authorization (EUA) in the country, but the national government is still in talks with the American pharmaceutical firm to secure a deal. The country…
THE Philippine Food and Drug Administration may issue an advisory on the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine on the country’s elderly following reports of post-vaccination deaths among elderly patients in Norway. FDA Director General Eric Domingo on Tuesday, January 19, said the agency may exclude elderly people with critical illnesses from the list of individuals…
WITH 7,017 islands, the Philippines has been hailed as the world’s second most “Instagrammable” destination in 2021. Global travel website Big 7 Travel on Thursday, January 14, released its 50 Most Instagrammable Places in the World-2021 list in combination with Instagram marketing firm Twicsy, placing the Philippines in second place just behind Tokyo, Japan. Some…
THE Philippines has banned the entry of foreign travelers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Hungary to prevent the spread of the new, more contagious COVID-19 variant. The two countries joined the list of 32 countries with travel restrictions including the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea,…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte has advised his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, against running for the presidency in 2022, claiming that women are not fit for the top government post. In a speech during the inauguration of the Skyway Stage 3 project on Thursday, January 14, he said: “My daughter, inuudyok man nila. Sabi…
RAPPLER co-founder and chief executive officer Maria Ressa has been charged with cyber libel anew over an article about an alleged thesis-for-sale scheme by a professor of the De La Salle – College of St. Benilde. The article, titled “Thesis for sale: Benilde students say they paid P20,000 to pass,” was written by Rappler reporter…
THE new and more infectious variant of COVID-19 first reported in the United Kingdom has reached the Philippines. The Philippine Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) on Wednesday, January 13, confirmed the detection of the B.1.1.7. SARS-CoV-2 variant (UK variant) in the country after samples from a Filipino who arrived from…
