WASHINGTON DC, SACRAMENTO, FRANKFORT, KY - A broad coalition of states, consumer and patient groups, and health care providers from across the country recently launched Get Covered 2021, a new national initiative designed to help uninsured Americans enroll into health insurance and promote COVID-19 safe practices. Get Covered 2021 also announced tools and information available through a new website www.GetCovered2021.org, where Americans will be connected to their st...

Bay Area entrepreneurs, Connie Villeta with Wicked! PhotoBooth and Edylyn Lagapa with New York Life conducts their 2nd annual toy drive.  Last year, they were able to fill up 9 balikbayan boxes shipped to the Philippines and was sponsored by LBC.  This time around, they’re collaborating with “Toys for Tots” & “Project Pearls” the toy drive will be held at “The Shops at Tanforan” in San Bruno. “We realize the holiday season won’t be the same this year, but we’re here ...

By Macon Araneta  Opposition Sen. Leila De Lima joined former and present parliamentarians from the country and across Southeast Asia in urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to play a positive role in resolving the crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. In an open letter addressed to Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the current Chair of the ASEAN, 42 parliamentarians including De Lima, also called on the PM “to demonstrate the requi...

By Macon Araneta Government should adopt as its “New Year's resolution” the settlement of hazard pay and all outstanding payables to health care workers before the year ends, said Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto recently. “On or before Christmas, they should be paid. Or before the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Eve, our pandemic frontliners should all be fully paid,” Recto said.  Recto said health workers “to whom the nation owes so much don’t ...

By Macon Araneta Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela  Rosa is the fifth and latest senator tested positive for COVID-19. Dela Rosa sadly announced to the public last November 22 that his test yielded positive results.  While he has cough and cold, Dela Rosa said he is feeling fine. His eldest daughter also tested positive for the new coronavirus. However, she 's asymptomatic or does not have any symptom.  Two other members of his households-- his driver and ...

By Macon Araneta Finance Sec. Carlos Dominguez III thanked the government of Korea for its swift assistance to the Philippines in its COVID-19 response efforts, as well as for increased fund support to the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program and initiatives to reform the country’s tax system.  Dominguez also expressed his appreciation for South Korea’s plan to further expand its investments in the Philippines and step up the pace of the nego...

By Jun Nucum Experts are still making tentative steps towards an effective COVID-19 cure. But the good news is Stage four lung cancer is no longer a death sentence. Recently launched It’s Okay to Ask details other treatment options aside from chemotherapy. This was revealed in a virtual panel event moderated by New York Assistant Professor, hematology/oncology fellow Elaine Shum, MD, New York Assistant Clinical Professor Songchuan Guo, MD, PhD, certifie...

By Daniel Llanto In an official visit to Foreign Affairs Sec. Teodoro Locsin Jr., US National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien announced the delivery of missiles promised by outgoing President Donald Trump to the Philippines in April. Then O’Brien requested for a longer suspension of at least a year of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) for a “more acceptable security arrangement.” O'Brien is in Manila mainly for the hand-over of Washington's donation of defense mate...

By Daniel Llanto The Philippines has been included in the “list of shame” of UN Watch after the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Enrique Manalo, voted against a draft resolution at the UN General Assembly condemning Iran for alleged human rights abuses. A total of 32 countries voted against the resolution crafted by the UN Third Committee, which focuses on social, humanitarian, and cultural issues. Apart from the Philippines, the c...