Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced Tuesday that he has tested positive for Covid-19. “I’m experiencing mild symptoms and am following the experts’ advice by isolating until I’m healthy again. I’m fortunate to be vaccinated and boosted and have access to testing and great medical care,” Gates said on Twitter. He said the charitable Gates Foundation will continue working with its partners and do all it can “to ensure none of us have to deal with a pandemic again.” Gates turned his fortune from software firm Microsoft into a diversified fortune, including investments in zero-carbon
The Philippine Army (PA) said on Wednesday some 600 military personnel and dependents have benefitted from the second phase of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) booster drive at its headquarters in Fort Bonifacio. Booster shots were given at the Army General Hospital (AGH), PA spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said. Among the priorities are military dependents who are yet to receive their primary booster shot or dependents with comorbidities who are yet to receive their secondary booster shot. The first phase of the booster drive took place last May 6 and around 600 Army dependents were vaccinated. “AGH will also hold a
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has successfully contained the usual outbreak of violence in Mindanao during the May 9 elections. PNP directorate for operations, Maj. Gen. Valeriano De Leon, in an interview Wednesday, attributed this to early security preparations and real-time adjustments on the ground. De Leon, concurrent commander of the PNP national and local election task force, said the good working relationship with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) should also be credited since the poll body facilitated the movement of police personnel to areas with serious security concerns in Mindanao. “If you would compare the data of this year’s
The police in Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) has filed charges for violation of the Omnibus Election Code against seven persons who allegedly manhandled a poll official and two watchers in Datu Piang, Maguindanao. Brigadier Gen. Arthur Cabalona, BARMM police director, said Wednesday the seven suspects, whose identities were withheld for security reasons, are now locked up at the Datu Piang municipal police station. He said responding police officers immediately arrested the suspects who all barged inside one of the voting precincts in Datu Piang National High School in Barangay Buayan during Monday’s elections. “For still unclear reasons,
Government security forces manning a checkpoint in the Lanao del Norte town of Sultan Naga Dimaporo (SND) intercepted a pickup truck loaded with firearms and ammunition, police said Wednesday. Maj. Moamar Solog, SND police chief, said police and Army personnel saw inside the flagged down Toyota Hi-lux pickup what appeared as firearms wrapped in sacks. Solog said the vehicle bore the logo of the “Municipality of Midsalip,” indicating that it is owned by the local government unit of Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur. Upon checking, authorities discovered four M16 rifles, an M14 rifle, an improvised .50-caliber rifle, a rocket-propelled grenade launcher,
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) remains hopeful that the Senate will concur with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the Asean-led free trade deal with its five free trade partners, this month. This, as Congress is expected to resume its session on May 23. “At present, our focus is on the present Congress… We will try our best that the RCEP will finish the process when the Senate resumes this month,” DTI Assistant Secretary Allan Gepty said in a webinar of the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines (EJAP) Wednesday. After it was ratified by President Rodrigo Duterte
