The new guidelines issued for fully vaccinated travelers from “green” countries and territories can still be revised, Malacañang said on Thursday. This, after Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said he was not consulted when the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) decided to ease protocols for fully vaccinated individuals who can avail of “green lanes.” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, who also serves as IATF-EID spokesperson, said some members of the task force, including him and Duque, were unable to attend the meeting wherein the mandatory quarantine was lifted for fully vaccinated passengers from green states

The city government of Manila has provided assistance to the victims of the fire that left 196 families homeless in Baseco Compound in Tondo, Manila on Wednesday night. Manila Social Welfare Department (MSWD) director Ma. Asuncion Fugoso, in an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Thursday, said the families which are equivalent to 677 persons staying at the Baseco evacuation site are provided with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. She added that the MSWD also distributed face masks to the fire victims and that they are currently preparing the food boxes that will be distributed to the affected families. The

The Supreme Court (SC) has granted a plea filed by former Technology and Livelihood Resource Center (TLRC) deputy director general Dennis Cunanan to be allowed to travel to the United States while his appeal on the graft case against him remains pending. In a resolution promulgated on Sept. 29 uploaded on the SC website on Tuesday, the SC’s First Division allowed Cunanan to travel to the US from October 7 to November 5. Last July 14, the SC already granted Cunanan’s motion to travel from June 29 to July 20 but required him to submit anew his detailed flight and

The annual “Balikatan” exercises between the Philippines and United States will go full scale next year, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Jose Faustino Jr. said Thursday. “Yes, the relationship between our two Armed Forces especially now that for this MDB-SEB (Mutual Defense Board and Security Engagement Board) activity, we have lined up number of activities that will further strengthen the bilateral relationship between our two militaries and as mentioned, we will go full scale ‘Balikatan’ next year,” Faustino said in a virtual presser shortly after the 2021 MDB-SEB meeting in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. He also added

Police authorities in South Cotabato are pushing for the clearing of illegal drugs by next year of the 32 remaining drug-affected barangays in the province. Maj. Virlen Pampolina, operations section chief of the South Cotabato Police Provincial Office, said Thursday the drug-clearing operations are in the concerned villages in coordination with other law enforcement agencies and local stakeholders. He said a number of barangays have complied with the requirements of the drug-clearing program and submitted the necessary reports and documentation to the regional oversight committee. “Some of them are just waiting for the certification from the chairman of the committee,”

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) sees the issuance of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on expanding the provision of internet service through satellite services as further promoting financial inclusion and digital finance in the country. Issued under Department Circular No. 002, Series of 2021, by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on sept. 28, the IRR aims to promote the development of an inclusive and vibrant satellite industry by liberalizing access to satellite systems. Expanded access to satellite services is expected to accelerate the rollout of internet connectivity for the unserved, underserved, and geographically isolated and