The Supreme Court of the Philippines on Friday signed a contract with Saint Louis University (SLU) in Baguio City to make it one of the testing sites in this year’s Bar Examinations. There are 15 other confirmed sites nationwide as the Bar resumes, using digital format, after the coronavirus pandemic canceled it last year. Examinees will be at the testing sites but will use laptops with computer software proctored both physically and virtually. Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, Bar Examinations chairperson; and Rev. Fr. Gilbert Sales, CICM, school president, led the signing at SLU. Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and SLU School

Government critics should spare the ongoing rehabilitation of Marawi City from their “vicious politics and vested interests”, Housing Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, the Task Force Bangon Marawi (TFBM) chief, said. Del Rosario called on politicians to stop spreading wrong information about rehabilitation efforts in the war-torn city. “To our critics, please spare Marawi City from your vested interests and vicious politics. If you mean well as alleged Maranaw leaders, be part of the solution and not of the problem by stopping the spread of unfounded and deceitful statements,” he said in a statement on Friday. Del Rosario said ongoing constructions

Critics are free to challenge President Rodrigo Duterte’s perceived vice-presidential plan but everything is premature as long as he has not yet filed his certificate of candidacy. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte has yet to make up his mind but it should be noted that the 1987 Constitution is not prohibiting him from joining the 2022 vice presidential race. “On some groups challenging the legality of President Duterte’s vice-presidential bid to the Supreme Court, they may rightfully do so as long as they have the legal standing,” Roque said in a statement. Roque said there is no legal impediment

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has condemned the latest attack by the New People’s Army against government troops in Eastern Samar and vowed to conduct an inquiry of its own. CHR Deputy Spokesperson Marc Louis Siapno, in a statement issued on Friday, said “no ideology can justify violations of human rights nor be used as a reason to excuse themselves from any accountability”. To recall, a member of the Philippine Army’s 52nd Infantry Battalion and two militiamen were killed while six others were injured after NPA members detonated three anti-personnel mines (APM) in Jipapad, Eastern Samar early Wednesday. The

Malacañang has declared July 15 a special non-working holiday in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in celebration of its 34th anniversary. Proclamation No. 1183 was signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on July 6. “It is but fitting and proper that the people of the CAR be given full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies,” the proclamation read. The Proclamation also directed that in celebrating the occasion, community quarantine, social distancing, and other public health measures must be observed. The Cordillera Administrative Region was created thru Executive Order 220 in 1987 by former President Corazon

Stronger measures for the preservation and protection of mangrove forests hurdled the committee level at the House of Representatives. In a virtual hearing Wednesday, the Committee on Natural Resources chaired by Cavite Representative Elpidio Barzaga approved the substitute bill to House Bills (HBs) 1686, 5442 and 4052, or the proposed National Mangrove Forests Protection and Preservation Act. The bill proposes the establishment of reservation areas exclusively for mangrove forests. It also provides for the creation of the National Council for the Preservation of Mangrove Forests that shall introduce and implement a comprehensive program for the preservation, reforestation, afforestation, and sustainable