Weather disturbance “Jolina” weakened into a severe tropical storm, now packing maximum sustained winds of 100 kilometers per hour near the center, and gustiness of up to 125 kph, the weather bureau said Tuesday afternoon. “Jolina” was last tracked 60 km west-northwest of Masbate City, Masbate, or 90 km east of Romblon, Romblon. It is moving west-northwestward at 15 kph. Damaging gale-force winds may be experienced in areas under tropical cyclone wind signal (TCWS) No. 2 that include central and southern portions of Quezon (Tagkawayan, Guinayangan, Lopez, Buenavista, San Narciso, San Andres, San Francisco, Mulanay, Catanauan, General Luna, Macalelon, Calauag,

Metro Manila will remain under the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until Sept. 15, Malacañang announced on Tuesday. This developed after members of the Inter-Agency Task Force of the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), in its meeting held Tuesday afternoon, decided to defer the pilot implementation of the general community quarantine (GCQ) “with Alert Levels System” in Metro Manila. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the quarantine classification in Metro Manila would only be downgraded to GCQ once the country’s metropolis is ready for the pilot implementation of granular lockdowns. “Metro Manila’s current risk classification as modified enhanced community quarantine shall

Members of an indigenous peoples (IP) community in a remote village in Talaingod, Davao del Norte finished the Step 2 registration for the Philippine Identification System during a recent three-day mobile sign-up. The Revitalized Pulis sa Barangay (R-PSB) provided security and assistance to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) personnel who facilitated the biometrics process in Sitio Lumabag, Barangay Palma Gil on August 26 to 28. The R-PSB, in a Facebook post, shared that around 80 IP children signed up on the third day of registration. Step 2 involves verification of demographic information and recording of fingerprint and iris scans and

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon said Tuesday the rate of increase of reissued seven-year Treasury bonds (T-bond) is in line with rates in the secondary market. The average rate of the debt paper increased to 3.789 percent from 3.674 percent previously. The BTr offered the securities for PHP35 billion, and the auction committee made a full award. Total tenders reached PHP77.091 billion. De Leon said they opened the tap facility window to offer the same debt paper during the day for PHP5 billion. “(There was) good volume at rates within secondary range despite (the) 4.9 percent inflation print,” she told

The troops of the Army’s 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division (ID) paid their final respects to their assistant division commander Brig. Gen. Bagnus Gaerlan Jr., who succumbed to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). The troops accorded full military honors upon arrival of the urn containing the ashes of Gaerlan’s remains at Camp Major Cesar Sang-an in Barangay Pulacan, Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur on Tuesday. The remains of Gaerlan were cremated early Tuesday at a crematorium in Tangub City, Misamis Occidental, in compliance with the government’s guidelines in handling the remains of a Covid-19 fatality. Capt. Mary Jephte Mañebog, 1ID information officer, said

The Manila Cathedral will hold in-person Masses at a limited capacity in celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Wednesday In a Facebook post on Tuesday, the cathedral said the faithful can join private prayers and eucharistic celebrations at 10 percent seating capacity. “In celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Manila Cathedral will open its doors to the faithful for private prayers from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Holy Mass at 7:30 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. will also accommodate the faithful at limited capacity,” the post