Government officials as well as the general public are divided over the “no vax, no ride” policy for commuters in public utility vehicles that the Duterte administration began to enforce this week. Under the new policy, unvaccinated persons are not allowed to use public transportation. The Department of Transportation (DOTr) said the move was necessary “to prevent a repeat of the public transport shut down, and safeguard those that are most at risk.” The unvaccinated w...

MANILA -- In a statement released on January 16, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) expressed optimism on the tie-up with the Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) for the management of the clinical services of the Philippines' first overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) hospital in San Fernando City, Pampanga. On Friday's signing of the memorandum of understanding (MOU), DOLE Sec. Silvestre Bello III said the expertise of the country's top medical institution will "a...

A total of 688 persons were rescued by the Bureau of Immigrations (BI) in 66 successful anti-human trafficking operations last year with 41 suspects arrested and cases filed in courts, contrary to the US State Department Trafficking in Persons report of a lack of vigorous investigations into human trafficking crimes in the Philippines. Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente disagreed with the US State Department report that, although the Philippines in 2021 maintained its ...

Some Cabinet members and economic managers under the administration of the late President “Noynoy” Aquino can play a key role to help the country get back on its feet, said Partido Reporma standard-bearer Senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on January 14. "The late President Aquino had his share of good, capable Cabinet members and economic managers from where a pool may be created to get the country back on its feet," said Lacson. Lacson noted that some of them have good tra...

  Philippine envoy to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said on January 13, the country received one of the largest military assistance from the US at almost $600 million from 2016 to 2022 in an ABS-CBN News Channel interview. “This is because, obviously, there is major concern on the influence that is coming out of the country, specifically of course China, which is now considered to be a competitor of the United States in our part of the world,” Romualdez said. Dat...

Starting February 16, all unvaccinated travelers whether Filipinos or foreigners would be barred entry to the Philippines, although Filipinos coming from countries with high-risk status for new and emerging Covid-19 strain will be allowed to fly in direct on commercial flights. In a resolution, the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said all travelers arriving in the Philippines are required to show proof of full vaccinati...

Top executives of SpaceX, a space exploration company owned by tech magnate and billionaire Elon Musk, have met with Senators Manny Pacquiao and Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, to discuss the use of low orbit satellites. Pacquiao, who is seeking the presidency under PROMDI in the 2022 elections, said this would provide cheap internet to the country. He said it is also likely to establish a spaceship launchpad in the Philippines. In the same meeting held via zoom last Jan...

By Beting Laygo Dolor, Contributing Editor Presidential candidate Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. won the first of three disqualification and/or cancellation of certificate of candidacy (COC) cases filed against him before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on January 17, with the decision on the other two case deferred to a later date due to staffers at the poll body testing positive for COVID-19. The Comelec’s second division voted in favor of Marcos Jr. after the ca...

On August 9, 2021, the USCIS announced that applicants filing for lawful permanent resident status are now able to apply for a Social Security number (SSN) or replacement card as part of the adjustment of status application process. A person who qualifies to be a permanent resident may be able to apply to obtain a green card without leaving the U.S. This procedure is called adjustment of status (AOS). When a person applies for adjustment of status, he also applies for a wo...

IN AN ATTEMPT to institute sweeping changes to rules regarding voting and campaign finance, the Democrats passed the House version 220-210 with no Republican support. But when it went to the Senate, it stalled –- like a car about to run out of gas – with two votes short of the minimum number of senators to pass the voting rights bill. If the 50 Democratic senators would vote for it, then a 50-50 split would result. But Vice President Kamala Harris who presided over the Senate...