President Rodrigo Duterte has extended the validity of the state of calamity for one more year, or until Sept. 12, 2022, due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Under Proclamation 1218 inked Friday, Duterte extended the status “unless earlier lifted or extended as circumstances may warrant.” Duterte decided to extend the period of state of calamity nationwide following the recommendation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. His decision also came amid the spike in Covid-19 cases and deaths, despite the government’s efforts to stop the further transmission of the dreaded disease. Proclamation 1218 stated that the
President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday vowed that his administration will continue to pursue initiatives that will provide Filipino students a more conducive learning environment. Duterte made the commitment as he witnessed the presentation of six laws on state universities and colleges (SUCs) in a ceremony held at Malacañang Palace’s Rizal Hall. In his speech, Duterte said the recent signing of Republic Acts (RA) 11574, 11575, 11584, 11585, 11586, and 11587 is part of the government’s commitment to strengthen higher education institutions (HEIs), as well as to improve access to tertiary education. “These include the conversion of the public higher education
The Bataan Maritime Police Station reported on Friday the retrieval of the body of the missing crew of a tugboat that sank in the waters of this town at the height of tropical storm Jolina Wednesday night. Executive Master Sergeant Marlon M. Barnachea said the body of Peter Bilocura, 41, of Sambuan, Cebu, was found around 6:30 a.m. Friday at the shoreline of Sitio Pitas, Barangay Ipag here where the tugboat and a barge were carried by strong waves. He said eight of the nine crewmembers of the tugboat and eight from the barge were rescued by combined elements of
After 12 personnel of the municipal government of Santo Tomas, Davao del Norte contracted the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), massive decontamination and sanitation of offices, buildings, and public spaces in the town were done on Friday. In a statement, Mart Sambalud, Santo Tomas municipal information officer, said Mayor Ernesto Evangelista has ordered the conduct of massive disinfection and sanitation of various offices as part of measures to prevent the spread of infection in the municipal hall. He said all infected employees are under strict isolation as contact tracing of persons exposed to them is ongoing. Sambalud added that effective September
Anti-narcotics agents collared Thursday afternoon a suspected big-time drug peddler in an operation here, seizing some PHP3.4 million worth of shabu. Director Gilbert Buenafe of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PDEA-BARMM) identified the suspect as Benjamin Roger, 21, of Barangay Pagatin, Datu Salibo, Maguindanao. His companion, identified only as Aya, has eluded arrest. During the entrapment at about 2 p.m., Buenafe said an undercover agent and the suspects agreed to a deal for a one-half kilo of shabu and chose to meet on Kalaw Street, Federville Subdivision, Barangay Rosary Heights 11. Buenafe
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday thanked the ruling party, the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP), for endorsing him as the party’s guest senatorial candidate for the 2022 national elections. “Well, unang-una, nagpapasalamat po ako sa PDP-Laban. Talagang nagagalak po ako na kinonsidera nila ako bilang isang guest candidate (First and foremost, I am thanking PDP-Laban. I am really grateful that they considered me as their guest candidate),” Roque, member of the People’s Reform Party, said in an online press briefing. This, after the PDP-Laban, during its national assembly in San Fernando, Pampanga on Wednesday, proclaimed Roque as one
