The local government here announced Wednesday that online registration for non-Baguio residents is still required when entering the borders of this city even if they already have their vaccination card showing the two doses of the anti-coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccine. Atty. Althea Rossana Alberto, executive assistant IV at the city mayor’s office, during the “Ugnayan” press conference on Wednesday afternoon said, visitors have to get their vaccination QR (quick response) passport “at the HDF (hdf.baguio.gov.ph) for the APORs (authorized persons outside the residence), and the Visita (visita.baguio.gov.ph) for tourists.” Upon entering the border checkpoint, she said visitors will still

Two more swab sites are opened here to hasten the coronavirus testing and to improve the turnaround time of RT-PCR test results. Dr. Ashley Lopez, City Health Office acting head, said in a radio interview Tuesday the swabbing centers are located in Barangay Ilang-Tibungco and Shanghai Gym in Matina Aplaya and are expected to improve the city’s testing capacity by 1,000. It will open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays and will cater to at least 500 persons with first-generation (F1) contacts and those with influenza-like illnesses (ILIs) as target clients. “The city government partners with a

Russia regards the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) as a reliable and predictable ally in an unstable geopolitical situation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday at a special meeting of the Russian and Asean Foreign Ministers in Jakarta. “Amid unstable geopolitical situation in the world, exacerbation of both traditional and new challenges and threats, we see the Association as strategic, reliable, and predictable ally in international affairs. We are ready for an open dialogue on the entire spectrum of pressing problems of the global and regional agenda,” Lavrov said. Lavrov said it is important to coordinate the

Police authorities here have intensified their monitoring against the presence of loose firearms and even private armed groups (PAGs). Col. Gilberto Tuzon, city police director, said on Wednesday the move is part of their continuing preparations for next year’s national and local elections, and efforts to prevent the occurrence of more gun-related crimes. He directed the city’s eight police stations and their support units to monitor and identify individuals in local communities who own unlicensed or illegal firearms. “This is to prevent violence and ensure the peaceful conduct of the elections here in 2022,” Tuzon told reporters. In terms of

The construction of a PHP400-million water system that would serve 40 villages in Marawi City began Tuesday as initiated by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) government. BARMM officials, led by Minister Naguib Sinarimbo of the Ministry of the Interior and Local Government (MILG), led the project’s groundbreaking ceremony in Barangay Pugaan in Marawi. Sinarimbo said the Marawi Water Construction and Rehabilitation Project (MWCRP) is a joint venture of the BARMM and the provincial government of Lanao del Sur. “The project will serve 40 barangays, which is not covered by the Task Force Bangon Marawi Rehabilitation Project and

Keeping the country’s economic fundamentals intact will pave the way for the quick recovery of the economy from the impact of the pandemic, a Department of Finance (DOF) executive said. In an economic bulletin issued on Wednesday, Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran cited the USD614 million deficit in the country’s current account balance in the first quarter of 2021, a turn-around from the USD225 million surplus in the same period last year. He attributed this to the recovery of imports, which expanded by 2.2 percent year-on-year in the first three months this year, and the 0.6-percent drop in exports. Beltran also