General

Vatican City: A group of poor people will welcome the late Pope Francis’s body at St. Mary Major where he will be buried Saturday, the Vatican said Thursday. According to Philippines News Agency, the body will be taken from St. Peter’s, where he has been lying in state and viewed by tens of thousands, to the Marian Basilica at a walking pace on Saturday morning. Santa Maria Maggiore was beloved of Francis who always prayed to the Virgin there before and after foreign trips. “The poor have a privileged place in the heart of God. So also in the heart

Manila: University of Santo Tomas pulled off a 45-40 win over University of the East in the sabre final to secure the women’s title in the UAAP Season 87 fencing competition at Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Malate, Manila on Friday night. Heading into the deciding sabre event, both teams were tied with two gold medals each. UE earlier won the epee final, 45-41, but UST bounced back in the sabre to clinch the overall title. According to Philippines News Agency, ‘This doesn’t feel real honestly right now. Somehow I’m still processing it. Although I knew before the preparation, we can

Manila: Twenty-nine areas in the country will experience sweltering temperatures due to danger-level heat indices while the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) will continue to bring rains across Mindanao, the weather bureau said Saturday. According to Philippines News Agency, the heat index is what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity combines with air. A peak heat index of 45°C is forecast in Mu±oz, Nueva Ecija, as per the 5 a.m. bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). The following areas will also see danger-level heat indices: Laoag, Ilocos Norte with 42°C, Dagupan

Manila: Most banks have generally maintained their credit standards for businesses in the first quarter of 2025, as indicated by the results of the Q1 2025 Senior Bank Loan Officers’ Survey released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Friday. According to Philippines News Agency, the survey utilized a modal approach, analyzing the results based on the option with the highest number of responses. Approximately 81.8 percent of respondent banks kept their credit standards steady, a slight decrease from the 83.3 percent recorded in the previous quarter. The BSP reported, “Banks tightened their loan standards for enterprises due to

Quezon City: The Presidential Task Force on Media Security (PTFoMS) is on heightened alert in the wake of reported threats and violence against journalists amid the election season. ‘Ang (The) Presidential Task Force on Media Security ay (is) on alert these weeks, especially ahead of the midterm elections,’ PTFoMS executive director Undersecretary Jose Torres Jr. said in a weekly news forum in Quezon City on Saturday. According to Philippines News Agency, Torres cited the case of dzRH reporter Romeo Be±as who was threatened by La Paz, Abra Mayor Joseph Bernos through Facebook messenger and a video call on April 21.