Four political parties have formed an alliance for the “UniTeam” of presidential aspirant Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his running mate, Mayor Sara Z. Duterte, at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel in Pasay City on Thursday. The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Lakas-CMD (Christian Muslim Democrats), Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) signed the agreement on the alliance during the televised event. Signatories to the coalition were PFP president and South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo S. Tamayo Jr., Lakas-CMD president and House of Representatives Majority Leader Rep. Martin Romualdez, PMP president and former senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada, and
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has requested Google to include bike lane routes in the Philippines in the dashboard of its popular real-time navigation app Google Maps to help cyclists on their daily commutes. Transport Secretary Art Tugade said the DOTr is coordinating with Google regarding the project. “This will be a very good innovation for Google Maps considering that many Filipinos now are riding bikes as their main mode of transportation which brings significant health and environmental benefits especially amid the pandemic,” Tugade said in a news release on Thursday. He said the DOTr is waiting for Google’s approval
The Northern Samar provincial government has awarded the town of Mapanas for achieving Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) status. The town received PHP200,000 from the provincial government for accomplishing the elimination of open defecation, improved and safe sanitation practices in the town. “The program aims to push the sanitation agenda forward and to advocate that sanitation be an urgent priority of governments and to accelerate actions to improve sanitation for all,” the provincial government said in a statement on Thursday. Mapanas was declared as the first town in the province to achieve the status by the regional validation team after a
Current cases related to Republic Act (RA) 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children (VAWC) Act of 2004, here have reached more than 200 so far this year, the regional prosecutor said on Thursday. “For this year alone, even the year has not yet ended, we have a total of 225 cases related to violence against women, under Republic Act 9262, (and) that is only for Cagayan de Oro City,” Merlynn Uy said during the Talakayan sa Philippine Information Agency. The cases were spotlighted as the Regional Juvenile Justice Welfare Committee (RJJWC) 10 (Northern Mindanao) is observing a
A field commander of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) and five of his followers have surrendered in Maguindanao due to dismay and exhaustion, the military here reported Thursday. “They belong to the Kagui Karialan faction operating in North Cotabato and Maguindanao provinces,” Lt. Col. Edwin Alburo, commander of the Army’s 40th Infantry Battalion (40IB), said in a report to this camp. Alburo said the six BIFF gunmen voluntarily surrendered at the 40IB headquarters in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao on Wednesday afternoon through the joint effort of town officials and military field forces in the area. He did not identify
The Duterte administration has been consistent in safeguarding the country’s sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), National Security Adviser and National Task Force for the WPS chair Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said. The government is working to enhance stations in the area and doing its best to protect resources in the WPS, Esperon said. “We want to reassure our esteemed lawmakers that this administration led by the President (Rodrigo R. Duterte) is doing its best and as the chairman of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, I can say his involvement in protecting our sovereignty in the
