Day: February 27, 2025

Manila: A party-list lawmaker has called for a joint motu proprio inquiry into allegations of ‘ghost beneficiaries’ in the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Senior High School (SHS) voucher program. Ako Bicol Party-list Representative Jil Bongalon is urging the House Committees on Basic Education and Culture, as well as Good Government and Public Accountability, to investigate reports that private schools have been listing non-existent students to exploit the government program since 2016. According to Philippines News Agency, preliminary findings indicate that these phantom beneficiaries have drained millions of pesos from the education budget, compromising the program’s original purpose of alleviating overcrowding

Manila: The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO), in collaboration with the Department of Health, the Philippine Retirement Authority, and Filipino-American advocacy groups, is advocating for the portability of US Medicare and Medicaid benefits to the Philippines. According to Philippines News Agency, CFO Secretary Dante Ang II discussed the potential benefits of the proposal during a media briefing, describing it as advantageous for both the Philippines and the United States. Ang emphasized that enabling Medicare portability would encourage more Filipino-American retirees to return and reside in the Philippines, thereby boosting the local economy. He highlighted the CFO’s desire to reverse the

Manila: The Supreme Court (SC) has ruled that a person does not need a documented history of mental illness to claim legal insanity as a defense. In a decision promulgated on October 9, 2024, the SC’s Third Division acquitted an accused due to insanity and ordered her confinement at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) for treatment. According to Philippines News Agency, court records showed that the accused was charged with homicide after her father found her naked, covered in blood, and chanting religious phrases over her best friend’s corpse. She claimed she attacked her best friend after seeing

Manila: Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada has advocated for a ban on the issuance of unsolicited pre-approved credit cards and proposed stricter penalties for violators. Estrada’s initiative comes in the form of Senate Bill No. 2952, known as the Pre-Approved Credit Card Prohibition Act, which he filed last month. According to Philippines News Agency, Estrada highlighted that despite the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) having prohibited the practice through Circulars Nos. 702 (2010) and 845 (2014), some financial institutions continue to issue pre-approved credit cards without consumer consent. This practice, he noted, exposes individuals to unwanted financial liabilities

Manila: What was once a dream of every Filipino being connected to fast and reliable Internet anywhere in the Philippines is now becoming a reality. On April 19, 2024, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. made the significant move of launching the first phase of the National Fiber Backbone (NFB). ‘This is an enormous breakthrough,’ President Marcos said, emphasizing how the project will help build a brighter and more inclusive future for the nation. According to Philippines News Agency, the first phase of the project stretches 1,245 kilometers from Laoag in Ilocos Norte to Quezon City, providing high-speed Internet to 14