Covering the week’s most noteworthy news stories in the Philippines for the Filipino-American and Global Filipino community.
THE worst of the novel coronavirus crisis in the Philippines is over, Malacañang insisted on Wednesday, September 16. “Naintindihan po natin yung pessimism ng ating kababayan dahil napakahirap po talaga nitong pandemiya na dinulot nito. Pero ang masasabi ko lang po (I understand the pessimism of our citizens because the situation is really difficult now….
PHILIPPINE Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday, September 15, said his office will push to have a representative observing the court martial proceedings of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton. “We might have an observer present in the court martial. That’s not a bad idea… if they will allow us, because that…
United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Monday, September 14, raised concerns over the continued drug-related deaths in the Philippines amid the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking before the 45th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, Bachelet stressed the need to revoke policies and rhetoric that lead to human rights violations…
President Rodrigo Duterte is likely to extend the declaration of a state of calamity in the Philippines due to the ongoing pandemic, Malacañang said this week. According to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday, September 14, Duterte will likely renew or extend Proclamation 929 issued in March because of the lack of vaccine against COVID-19…
U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton has been deported from the Philippines, less than a week after being pardoned by President Rodrigo Duterte. The marine, who was convicted of killing transgender Filipina Jennifer Laude, flew out of Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Sunday, September 13, onboard an American military aircraft bound for the U.S….
TWO months after a Philippine House of Representatives panel rejected ABS-CBN’s application for a new 25-year franchise, the media giant received another blow as the National Telecommunications Commission recalled the frequencies assigned to the network. “Respondent has no valid franchise to continue operating television and radio broadcasting stations nationwide,” the NTC said in an eight-page…
The Philippine Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) on Friday, September 11, turned over U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for deportation. Pemberton will remain in the Joint U.S. Military Assistance Group detention facility in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City while the BI implements its 2015 deportation order. The turnover of…
THE number of killings caused by Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign worsened during the COVID-19 lockdown, New York-based Human Rights Watch said Wednesday, September 9. The international watchdog found that 155 people were killed by the police from April to July 2020, which is 50% higher than the 103 deaths from December 2019 to…
THE Phiippine Bureau of Corrections (BOC) on Thursday, September 10, approved U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton’s release order from detention. The order was signed by BuCor chief Gerald Bantag. After Pemberton is released, he will be transferred to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) for deportation. “Surrender can happen today if the BI is…
THE Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday, September 9, observed a rise in the number of overseas Filipinos who have recovered from the novel coronavirus as it recorded 49 new recoveries. “Figures today show another increase in the number of Filipinos abroad who have recovered from COVID-19, with 49 new recoveries in Asia…
CHIEF Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Wednesday, September 9, said the novel coronavirus pandemic should not stop the government from implementing its projects as he defended the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ (DENR) Manila Bay ‘white sand’ project. He reiterated that a budget has been specifically allotted for it, even before the global…
THE Bureau of Immigration on Wednesday, September 9, announced that U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton will be deported out of the country after his release from detention. “Merong existing deportation order against him (There is an existing deportation order against him),” said DOJ Undersecretary Markk Perete. “So he will be deported by the…
The content on Netflix and other video-on-demand (VOD) providers in the Philippines will not be censored, the country’s Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) said on Tuesday, September 8. “We were not censoring. I hope that you don’t see MTRCB as a censorship board… We’re asking the VOD providers (to) do self-regulation with…
THE Philippine Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) maintained that the dolomites used to beautify the stretch of Manila Bay’s shore are safe following claims of its potential health hazard. “It is not listed by the Mines Safety and Health Association, Occupational Safety and Health Association or even in the International Agency for Research…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, September 7, granted absolute pardon to U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton who was serving time in the country after killing transgender Filipina Jennifer Laude in 2014. Pemberton was convicted of homicide on December 1, 2015 for the murder of Laude. He was sentenced to six to 10…
With the coronavirus pandemic hitting the Philippines hard, Filipinos have started flocking to Facebook groups to trade their possessions for food, a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP) found. “Online bartering groups have provided a lifeline to…Filipinos hit hard by the country’s months-long virus restrictions that started in March and have sent the economy plunging into…
CONVICTED U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton on Friday, September 4, asked the Olongapo Regional Trial Court Branch 74 to dismiss the motion for reconsideration filed by the family of slain transgender woman Jennifer Laude to block his early release. Pemberton’s lawyer, Rowena Flores, filed a six-page opposition asking the court to deny the…
A MEASURE seeking to declare September 11 as a special non-working holiday in Ilocos Norte to commemorate the birth anniversary of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, has been approved on its 3rd and final reading by the House of Representatives. HB 7137, authored by Ilocos Norte 1st District Rep. Ria Fariñas, Ilocos Norte 2nd District…
THE early release of convicted U.S. Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton was put on hold on Thursday, September 3 following a motion for reconsideration filed by the victim’s family. The American serviceman was convicted of homicide on December 1, 2015, for killing transgender Jennifer Laude in 2014. He was sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment….
MALACAÑANG on Wednesday, September 2, admitted that there is wisdom behind Senator Panfilo Lacson’s bill authorizing “designated survivors,” should the top four leaders of the Philippine government perish in any occasion wherein they’re all present. “Well, you know, I think it’s based on a TV series ‘Designated Survivor.’ And while the series is based on fiction…
MULTI-AWARDED broadcast journalist Ted Failon on Monday, August 31, made his final appearance on ABS-CBN’s shows “TV Patrol” and “Failon Ngayon sa TeleRadyo.” The network on Sunday, Aug. 30, confirmed that the journalist was leaving after working there for 30 years. “The closure of ABS-CBN’s radio broadcast operations led to his painful decision and we…
PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, August 31, paid tribute to Filipino front-line workers fighting against the novel coronavirus pandemic as the country commemorated National Heroes’ Day. “Today, we honor not only the valor of our forebears who fought for our mother land’s freedom, but also the heroism of those who risked their lives, fighting…
METRO Manila will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) for the entire month of September, President Rodrigo Duterte announced Monday, August 31. The provinces of Bulacan and Batangas, as well as the cities of Tacloban and Bacolod, will also be under GCQ until Sept. 30. Iligan City will be under the stricter modified enhanced community…
PHILIPPINE Interior Secretary Eduardo Año announced on Tuesday, September 1, that Lt. Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan has been appointed as the new chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) by President Rodrigo Duterte. “Lt. Gen. Cascolan is the new Chief PNP, PRRD signed the paper of appointment,” he told the Philippine News Agency. “That’s the…
OVER 60 human rights groups are calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent international investigation into the extrajudicial killings and other rights violations in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte. In a letter addressed to the UN body on Thursday, August 27, 62 human rights and civil society groups expressed their…
PHILIPPINE Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. on Friday, August 28, said local contracts with any Chinese companies involved in island-building activities in the West Philippine Sea should be terminated following the United States’ move to blacklist firms that took part in the militarization activities in the disputed waters. “If I find that any of…
An urgent motion seeking the immediate release of U.S. Marine Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton has been filed before Judge Roline Ginez-Jabalde of the Olongapo City Regional Trial Court Branch 74. According to Lawyer Rowena Garcia-Flores, Pemberton should have been released from prison on July 31 after serving more than half of his 10-year sentence…
Palace considering live press briefing to dispel health rumors Malacañang on Thursday, August 27, said it is considering the possibility of holding a live press briefing with President Rodrigo Duterte to dismiss speculations over his health. “We’re talking about it,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said when asked if the president was willing to hold a…
THE Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Thursday, August 27, recorded no new fatalities due to COVID-19 among Filipinos abroad. As it stands, the death toll remained at 742 since Monday, August 24. Six new cases of COVID-19, on the other hand, were confirmed by the DFA, bringing the total number of infected overseas…
PHILIPPINE Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday, August 26, maintained that the Philippines will continue patrolling the Spratly Islands despite China’s call to stop ”illegal provocations” in the contested waters. “We’re gonna continue our patrol because it’s ours. That’s all there is to it,” Locsin said in an interview on ANC. “They (China)…
