As the leading agency in safeguarding press freedom, the Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) through its Executive Director, Undersecretary Joel M. Sy Egco, thanked President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for signing the much-awaited law declaring August 30 as the country’s “National Press Freedom Day”. “All our hard work and efforts have paid off. As a veteran journalist myself, I have worked together with our media friends such as the Katipunan ng mga Alagad ni Marcelo H. Del Pilar (KAMPI) for the enactment of a law that will promote press freedom and at the same time highlight our identity as

A young couple, former fighters of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) based in Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental, surrendered to the Bacolod City Police Office on Tuesday. They were identified as Adonis Ligid-Ligid, 26, and his common-law wife Danica Aro, 21, platoon leader and medic, respectively, of the Sentro de Grabidad Southern Front of the NPA’s Armando Sumayang Command. Col. Thomas Joseph Martir, police city director, welcomed the former rebels. “With your surrender, we hope to encourage the others to do the same so they would also enjoy a good life with their family with the support of

President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed dismay over the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) failure to include the police and military personnel in the list of individuals exempted from the existing gun ban. In his prerecorded Talk to the People delivered Monday night but aired Tuesday morning, Duterte said it was a “bad idea” to prohibit the members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) from carrying firearms during the ban that began January 9 and will end June 8. “Getting individually clearances from the Comelec is really a bad idea,” he said. Duterte made

The low pressure area (LPA) will continue to bring rains over Mindanao, the weather bureau said Tuesday. “The LPA is almost stationary and is still near Mindanao. It was last tracked 230 kilometers east southeast of General Santos City,” Aldczar Aurelio of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said. The LPA, embedded along the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) affecting Mindanao, will continue to bring scattered rain showers and thunderstorms over Caraga, Davao, and Soccsksargen regions. It has a slim chance of developing into a tropical cyclone. PAGASA forecasts flash floods or landslides during moderate to at times

Presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao will hasten the rehabilitation of Marawi City and fast-track the implementation of the compensation law for the affected residents who lost their properties due to the armed conflict if he is elected president. At the same time, Pacquiao will boost the economy by giving equal opportunities to micro, small, and medium enterprises in the countryside. “’Yung rehabilitasyon ng Marawi, antagal na niyan. Dapat bilisan na natin iyan. ‘Yun mga compensation para sa mga pamilya ng naapektuhan dapat mapamigay na natin at ‘yung rehabilitation pabilisin pa natin para makabalik na kayo sa dati niyong pamumuhay (The

The Department of Education (DepEd) in Western Visayas has enlisted 360,571 learners in the region during its early registration for the school year 2022-2023. DepEd Western Visayas information officer Hernani Escullar Jr., in an interview Tuesday said the number of learners was reflected in their database as of 4:30 p.m. of May 1 totaling 360,571 but yet to be subjected to validation for the possibility of wrong tagging or encoding. The early registrants consist of 68,473 for Kindergarten; 104, 400, Grade 1; 93,026, Grade 7; and 94,672 for Grade 11. “This will serve as basis for planning and preparations in