Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez has endorsed tweaking of community quarantine protocols by allowing more mobility for fully vaccinated individuals. During President Rodrigo Duterte’s Talk to the People aired over the weekend, Lopez told Duterte that “it is about time to change our protocol” in terms of easing some restrictions for the vaccinated population. “We were discussing the need to have (a) different approach in terms of solving Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019); not just lockdowns,” he said in mixed English and Filipino. The DTI chief said under the new protocol, fully vaccinated individuals could be allowed

Since the pandemic began in March last year, the police have been on top of health and safety protocols, making sure that rules and border control measures are enforced to help curb the spread of Covid-19. These days, policemen can also be seen in vaccination centers and Commission on Elections registration sites to ensure that minimum health standards are followed. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar warned on Sunday that registration and vaccination activities can become super-spreader events if not properly guarded. “All our police personnel have been tasked to secure these malls and to ensure that minimum

Thousands of Americans on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, gathered Saturday at sites where four hijacked commercial planes crashed, leaving 2,977 dead and changed the course of world history. In lower Manhattan, New York, a solemn crowd gathered at the two, large sunken waterfall pools where the two, 110-story towers of the World Trade Center were felled by planes on Sept. 11, 2001. Among them were US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, along with former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and their wives. None spoke but listened as names of the 2,606 New

A total of 159 police officers have just recovered from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Sunday. PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the latest data from the PNP Health Service showed that the number of recoveries among its ranks has reached 34,303 or 92.5 percent of the 37,067 infections recorded since the start of the health crisis last year. The PNP Health Service, however, reported 176 new cases, raising the active cases tally to 2,655. Another police officer from Calabarzon is the PNP’s latest Covid-19 fatality, bringing its death toll to 109. Eleazar

Both died during an encounter between government troops and communist-terrorists in the hinterlands of Barangay Kapitan Ramon in Silay City, Negros Occidental on Aug. 20. They were laid to rest, also on the same day on Saturday, but under different circumstances. Pfc. Christopher Alada, 31, a trooper of the Philippine Army’s 79th Infantry Battalion (79IB) based in Sagay City, was interred at noon at the public cemetery in his hometown of Badiangan, Iloilo with full military honors and witnessed by his loved ones and fellow soldiers. On the other hand, New People’s Army (NPA) combatant Joery “Pabling” Dato-on Cocuba, 38,