Now that the Justice Secretary himself admitted to police work lapses in drug cases, the Human Rights Watch International dared the Philippine government to lift its barriers and let international probers into the country to look at alleged human rights violations related to the extra-judicial killings in the bloody war on illegal drugs. “Our hope for accountability in the Philippine system is very, very low. That is why we are calling for an independent and impa...

Key administration officials met in Malacañang on the night of February 25 to discuss the team-up of President Duterte and his trusted aide Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go for the next 2022 elections, according to the Daily Tribune which quoted an unnamed senior Palace official for this story. Such preparations for the 2022 national elections, which of course set Go as standard bearer of the ruling PDP-Laban party and Duterte (who is barred by law to run for reelection...

Senators Risa Hontiveros and Richard Gordon on February 26 complimented Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle for his new appointment as one of two heads of Vatican “central bank” and expressed confidence that Tagle would straighten the office previously wracked by scandals from corrupt practices and financial malfeasance. Tagle has been in the Vatican since February 2020 when he formally assumed his post as head of Propaganda Fide. Two months later, May 2020, the pontiff elevated h...

MANILA -- President Rodrigo Duterte said at a February 28 press brief he was mulling easing pandemic restrictions in Metro Manila if the country secures at least two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to boost the “battered” economy. "Magkaroon lang tayo ng stock ng 2 million (doses), bitawan ko na. I will open the economy. Talagang hirap tayo," Duterte said as the Philippines received its first 600,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from Beijing-based drug maker Sinovac Biotech. ...

Manila – Filipino pharmaceutical firm Glovax Biotech released a statement saying it is in talks with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Bureau of Investments and the National Development Company (the investment arm of the DTI) for the construction of a next-generation COVID-19 vaccine production facility should the Philippine government purchase 40 million doses of EuCorVac-19 and the Pentavalent vaccines. EuCorVac-19 was developed in the United States by POP ...

The fortunes of the family of the late taipan Henry Sy took a sharp decline last year, a victim of the global coronavirus pandemic. Analysts say this was not surprising as the flagship of the SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) is its nationwide chain of malls, which is among the hardest hit businesses due to the lockdowns that followed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. SMIC experienced a double-digit decline in its earnings in 2020, with net income falling from PHP44.6 billio...

The output of local factories for the first two months of the year showed slight growth, potentially paving the way for continued expansion in the months to come. UK information provider IHS Markit released a report to local media on March 1, showing that Philippine purchasing managers’ index was stable at 52.5 from January to February. This indicated a “solid rate of expansion” for Philippine factories, according to IHS Markit, which surveyed 400 local ...

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon  expressed disappointment at  the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for its offer to the United Kingdom and Germany in deploying more Filipino nurses in the two European nations with the highest number of cases and deaths related to COVID-19 in exchange for vaccines.  “Are we this desperate?” asked Drilon, saying that policy is borne out of the growing hopelessness over the need for COVID-19 vaccines in the country. ...

Sen. Manuel “Lito” Lapid proposed to criminalize the act of depriving support to elderly, sickly and incapacitated parents.  Lapid's proposed Senate Bill 2061 reinforces the duty of children to take care of their elderly, sickly or otherwise and incapacitated parents.  The bill further states that children shall, within their means and capacity, maintain support for their father or mother, who by virtue of being over 60 years of age or suffering from a disease...