Covering the week’s most noteworthy news stories in the Philippines for the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
THE Philippines is now allowing foreigners with valid long-term visas to enter the country, but tourists are still barred from entering. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF)’s revised Resolution 98 allows foreign nationals who have visas issued as of March 20, 2020 to enter the country, Malacañang announced on…
IT is the “right timing” for the United States to pay the Philippines to maintain the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between them, Malacañang said Thursday, February 18. “Tama po ang timing nang sinabi ni Presidente na they have to pay up now. Kasi nga po, nauna na iyong kaniyang desisyon na nais na niyang tumiwalag…
PHILIPPINE Senator Leila de Lima has been acquitted in one of three drug charges she is currently facing. Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 Judge Leizel Aquiatan on Wednesday, February 17, granted De Lima’s demurrer to evidence in Case Number 17-166. A demurrer is a motion to dismiss a case due to insufficient evidence presented…
BEING the chief executive of the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte knows which qualities his successor should have to lead the country, Malacañang said Wednesday, February 17. “Dahil siya ay naging president, alam niya ‘yung mga kakayahan na kinakailangan para maging president (Since he’s the president, he knows what it takes to be the president),” said…
THE Philippine Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), has dismissed the entire election protest filed by former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. against Vice President Leni Robredo. “With regard to PET Case No. 005 (Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos, Jr., protestant vs Maria Leonor “Leni Daang Matuwid” G. Robredo, protestee), the 15 members…
CHINA was not targeting the Philippines when it passed a new law allowing its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels entering disputed territories, according to Philippine Ambassador to China Chito Sta. Romana. “The Chinese have reassured us through their spokesman, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman as well as the Chinese Embassy…that they are not targeting…
AFTER President Rodrigo Duterte demanded that the United States pay for the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Malacañang said that the Philippines should get “something like $16 billion or close to that amount” from the U.S. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque pointed out how little the U.S. has provided in terms of military assistance to the Philippines…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte is under fire after he demanded the United States to “pay” if it wants to keep the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) from being terminated. Addressing the troops at Clark Air Base in Pampanga on Friday, February 12, Duterte said: “I’d like to put on notice if there’s an American agent here….
THE Philippine Commission on Population and Development is urging President Rodrigo Duterte to declare teenage pregnancies a national social emergency. The commission’s board of directors has drafted an executive order for Duterte, according to PopCom Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III. Though the board has recognized teenage pregnancies as a national social emergency for years,…
AMID calls to extend the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said the United States would have to “pay” if the deal stays. “I would like to put on notice if there’s an American agent here that from now on, you want the Visiting Forces Agreement done? Well, you have to pay,” Duterte…
FILIPINOS are the most disapproving of their government’s COVID-19 response among Southeast Asians, according to a recent survey. A report from think-tank Singapore-based ASEAN Studies Centre — titled “The State of Southeast Asia: 2021” — found that 53.7% of Filipino respondents criticized the current administration’s pandemic response. Of the figure, 17.9% of Filipinos said they…
THE Philippines and the United States have reaffirmed their commitment to the defense alliance through the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). In an introductory phone call made on Wednesday, February 10, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and his counterpart U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III discussed a number…
AHEAD of the 2022 Philippine general election, overseas Filipino voters are urged to participate in a test run of four internet voting solutions by different election systems providers. The country’s Commission on Elections (Comelec) Office for Overseas Voting (OFOV) is calling on overseas voters who have active and complete voter registration records to take part…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte declared that he would not allow ABS-CBN to operate again even if Congress grants the network giant a new franchise. “Congress is planning to restore the franchise of the Lopezes. Wala akong problema doon kung i-restore ninyo (I don’t have a problem if Congress restores it),” he said Monday, February 8….
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…
