By Beting Laygo Dolor, Contributing Editor Filipino consumers were mildly surprised last week when a company known as NOW Telecom claimed to be “the Philippines’ fourth telco.” Such a claim was laughed off by former Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) Undersec. Eliseo Rio, who said that was merely aimed at boosting the share prices of its mother company, which is listed in the Philippines Stock Exchange. Rio said he had never heard of any p...

By Beting Laygo Dolor, Contributing Editor The San Miguel Corporation’s (SMC) PHP736-billion (about US$14.72 billion) mega airport project in Bulacan aimed at alleviating the overburdened Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is facing an unexpected hurdle. This, after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) warned last week that the site showed some signs of geohazards. Philvolcs Director Dr. Renato Solidum said, “The multi-billion air...

By Macon Araneta Sen. Nancy Binay on September 28  said safety and health protocols should be the top priority as Boracay is set to open its doors to local tourists on October 1. "While we recognize that this is a step towards getting the Tourism sector and our economy back on track, we would like to remind the Department of Tourism and would-be travelers that health and safety should always be our first priority," Binay said. Binay cited how re...

By Macon Araneta  It would be wise for United States legislators to do their research first before they act on the new measure filed in the US  House of Representatives which seeks to stop American help to the Philippine military and police until reforms are made to address alleged human rights violations, said Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go. While he respects  the legislative processes of the US, being another sovereign country, Go cited the need for a thor...

By Corina Oliquino MANILA -- Presidential spokesman Harry Roque denounced reports President Rodrigo Duterte’s “medical populist” stance is the Philippine government’s way of suppressing COVID-19, insisting science and hard data are guiding the decisions of the government. “The President, together with the members of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), have met the challenges of COVID-19 head-on, with science and hard data guiding the Chief Executive’s decisions and acti...

By Corina Oliquino MANILA -- Detained Opposition Sen. Leila de Lima filed Senate Bill (SB) number 1842 which seeks to “define and criminalize extra-judicial killings (EJKs) and guarantee state obligations to effectively investigate and properly document EJKs.” "Four years since the promise to win the drug war in three to six months was made -- the promise remains unfulfilled but the killings still persist, the air is still pervaded by the stench of cold blood, and the s...

By Ben Lou Q: I received a summons for an unpaid debt that I have ignored for 2 years.  How do I go about this problem? A:  I have said before that when we leave problems unattended, theytend to get worst.  This is a good example.  Let me explain what has transpired in the last 2 years since you stopped paying this debt. After having stopped paying on the debt, they tried to reach out to you by phone, by mail, sometimes by registered mail.  Their efforts to reach you...

By Daniel Llanto The Maritime Safety Administration issued a pair of announcements to Filipino fishermen and seafarers that it was blocking off parts of South China Sea where China was holding military exercises apparently to challenge an earlier US warning for China to stop militarizing the disputed seas. These military drills followed a series of sorties earlier this month by Chinese warplanes into Taiwan’s airspace at the northern end of the South China Sea.  Beijing...

By Daniel Llanto After Facebook announced its take-down of some 200 accounts for supposedly engaging in fake news, President Duterte threatened to stop the operation of the social media giant in the Philippines arguing that the Facebook pages taken down were actually administered by the country’s police and military forces. “Facebook, listen to me,” Duterte ranted in a taped speech. “We allow you to operate here hoping you could help us also. Now, if the government cann...

By @eatingdivine Around this time last year, I was in NOLA enjoying all kinds of Southern food while I was pregnant with my first born. The favorite at the time was the different versions of Gumbo I had around town. I had pretty much everything that goes into a Gumbo except for andouille sausage but longganisa saved the day! I was a little worried about the sweetness of the pork longganisa but it actually blended well with the cajun spices and made it really tast...