This city is one of the three local government units (LGUs) in Central Luzon that were recognized as among the country’s most improved in terms of environmental health services. The announcement was made through a digital conference hosted by the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday in time for the observance of World Environmental Health Day. The two other LGUs are Tarlac City and the municipality of Talavera in Nueva Ecija. The three were hailed as among this year’s Most Improved Local Government Unit in Environmental Health Services for giving priorities to environmental health that led to improvements in their

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is set to open 10 more temporary offsite passport services (TOPS) centers nationwide before the end of 2021, a ranking official said Friday. “We’re thinking of opening three in the National Capital Region — one in Manila, one in Novaliches and one in Fairview. What we want for the next few TOPS to be opened is that they are located outside NCR to give other applicants the chance to renew their passports nearby,” Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Senen Mangalile told reporters in a virtual presser. Apart from the three NCR sites, TOPS venues will

A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel on Thursday endorsed booster doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for Americans aged 65 and older and some adults with certain high-risk conditions. The panel voted 15-0 to recommend a booster dose for Americans age 65 and older and people in long-term care facilities. It also fully recommended giving a single booster dose to people between the ages of 50 and 64 with certain high-risk conditions, by a vote of 13-2. On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer boosters for people aged 65 and older or at

A former top-ranking leader of the New People’s Army (NPA) who was once deceived by the communist terrorist group (CTG) expressed full support on Friday to the government’s efforts for peace and good governance, as she advised the public against being recruited into the armed conflict. At a virtual press briefing dubbed “Reveal the Truth”, Ariane Jane Ramos, alias Marikit, former secretary of Guerrilla Front (GF) 55, Sub-Regional Committee 5 (SRC)-Southern Mindanao Regional Command (SMRC), urged parents to protect their children from getting recruited by left-leaning organizations. “Being one of the witnesses inside the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP)-NPA,

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday called on Filipinos to do their part to ensure that the May 9, 2022 national and local elections will be peaceful and violence-free. Duterte made the appeal ahead of the filing of Certificates of Candidacy on October 1 to 8. The President is hoping all local and national candidates in the May 9, 2022 polls will adhere to laws. “Ngayong eleksyon, gusto ko sa lahat ng buong Pilipinas na peaceful at (This coming elections, I want that it will be peaceful in the entire Philippines and) people can vote freely for their candidates,” Duterte said

The deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Macau is still suspended, the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) said on Friday. In a virtual briefing, Ma. Nena German, labor attache in Macau, said the host territory has yet to accept migrant workers including Filipino workers as its economy has yet to fully open due to the threat of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). She said Macau stopped accepting both foreign workers and tourists since March 2020. “Since March 2020, all commercial flights to Macau were canceled or suspended. Maybe that’s also the reason why the number of (Covid-19) cases hasn’t