Argentina will explore ways to elevate its relationship with the Philippines, particularly on managing the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the Argentinian Embassy official in the Philippines said Tuesday night. Chargé d’affaires Mauricio Germán Muñoz said the South American country is keen to share their best experiences in handling the crisis and in turn learn from the Philippines in terms of deploying vaccines as an archipelago. Muñoz, together with officials from the Philippine government, welcomed the 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca donated by Argentina to Manila, which he describes as a reflection of Buenos Aires’ expression of solidarity.
Validation is still ongoing on the damage incurred by the agriculture sector due to Typhoon Odette which was initially assessed at PHP513.99 million as of Tuesday morning. The typhoon has affected 17, 270 farmers engaged in rice crops and high-value commercial crops (HVCC) as per the progress damage assessment report of the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office in Western Visayas (DA RFO 6). Except for Aklan, which reported damage in HVCC estimated at PHP2.26 million, the rest of the provinces in Western Visayas reported damage in rice crops in various growth stages. Capiz reported that 18,914 hectares of rice
Two of the country’s largest telecommunications providers on Tuesday said restoration efforts in areas heavily affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette are already “nearing completion”. In a service advisory, Globe Telecom Inc. (Globe) said service restoration has been completed in Eastern Samar, Agusan del Norte, and Surigao del Sur. “In the Visayas, certain areas remain challenged due to several damaged roads, bridges, and power lines. Globe’s network engineers on site are working to bring services back to normal,” Globe said. It said teams are already on the ground in Siargao, one of the hardest hit by “Odette”, and are
State lawyers have filed a motion asking the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) to reconsider its decision ordering the release of the accused in the April 1989 murder of American military adviser, Col. James Rowe, in Quezon City. In its 28-page decision dated November 8, Muntinlupa RTC Judge Gener Gito ordered the release of Juanito Itaas, who is deemed to have already served his sentence under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) rules. Itaas has served 32 years, 1 month and 12 days of the total 39 years and six months of his sentence. Under the GCTA, he would be
The provincial government of Antique is mulling the possibility of declaring a state of calamity once its two hardest-hit municipalities have submitted their reports. The provincial board is just waiting for the updates from the municipalities of Anini-y and Tobias Fornier, Vice Governor Edgar Denosta said in an interview Tuesday. “We still have a Quick Response Fund (QRF) that could be used in order to respond to the needs of the affected families,” he said. “The QRF is still available and could be used even if we are already toward the end of the year.” The province still has about
The prevailing and forecast bad weather in different parts of the country is not significantly affecting Bicol, but small vessels are still not allowed to venture out into the sea, the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (Apsemo) said Tuesday. Dr. Cedric Daep, Apsemo chief, said in an interview that the occasional rains being experienced in Albay were merely triggered by “localized thunderstorms”. “Because of this, Apsemo is not issuing any advisories except for gale warning that bans sailing by small fishing vessels due to big waves in the seaboards of the country,” he said. Last week, venturing out
