Archive - News

Seven months since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Southeast Asia and five months since lockdowns of various kinds and names became part of everyone’s lives, a good number of people are experiencing fatigue over figures, an overload of statistics, around the pandemic.

In his latest public address on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte again wrongly claimed that vaccines are made from the human body.

President Rodrigo Duterte understated his salary, for at least the fifth time on VERA Files Fact Check’s count, as he talked about the sacrifices he and members of his Cabinet have been doing for the country.

Sen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa misled fellow lawmakers and the public when he cherrypicked the findings of a 2017 Inquirer report to bolster his stance for the revival of capital punishment in the country.

There are unmistakable signs that Vietnam may have already reached the point of no return in its maritime dispute with China.

From assuring the public that the National Capital Region (NCR) and Region IV-A (CALABARZON), previously under Modified Enhance Community Quarantine (MECQ), “will not be gravely affected” by the opening of classes in August, Education Secretary Leonor Briones backtracked, saying she earlier recommended to the president the deferment of classes due to “challenges” in preparation brought about by “limitations of movement.”

The Lebanese government has yet to establish what exactly caused the explosion of at least 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrates stored in the Port of Beirut.

Four years into President Duterte's War on Drugs - and three years since the death of Caloocan teen Kian delos Santos - Mr. Duterte's first top cop, then-PNP Chief and now senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa, admits: the controversial, bloody war should have started with an "internal cleansing," targeting "scalawag" members of the police.

On July 3, 2020, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act (RA) 11479 or the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) of 2020. The measure he certified as urgent before Congress took effect on July 22. It is a long time coming, but the acts it fosters have long been part of an undercurrent of corrupt and repressive practices that drive state agents to go after their enemies with impunity. It is an achievement of those who have dreamt of a draconian internal security act even right after the 1986 Edsa Revolution.

Local Indigenous Peoples (IPs) gained support from a global organization in their fight for the nullification of the recently enacted anti-terror law.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s wish that, by December, the Philippines will be COVID 19-free with the help of Russia’s novel coronavirus vaccine may be delayed.

Facebook launched on Monday a fellowship to strengthen the fight againstmisinformation on health issues following interests from fact-checkers around the world “to focus on health misinformation.”

There's more to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) battlecry "flattening the curve" than meets the eye. The rates of success in a pandemic include technical terms such as mortality and case fatality, recovery, case doubling time, positivity, and critical care utilization. What do these mean and how is the Philippines faring in these numbers?

Shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in the Philippines, a volcano about 31 miles south of Manila erupted on a quiet Sunday afternoon in January 2020, after 47 years of fitful rest. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) immediately raised risk levels and informed the public of a moderate level of volcanic activity. When the volcano’s ash explosions became stronger, the organization warned “of imminent hazardous eruption.” The government immediately undertook forced evacuation of thousands of families from the volcano island and villages surrounding Taal lake, as it declared those ashfall-covered areas surrounding the volcano as no man’s land.

The recently enacted anti-terrorism law emasculates the independence of the judiciary; therefore it must be struck down.

It has been four months since the government mandated the wearing of face masks outside residences to lessen the transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), yet some officials still give wrong advice on how to use the protective cover.

A broad coalition of journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, digital activists, and law professors is asking the Supreme Court to declare as unconstitutional the recently enacted anti-terrorism law for various reasons, including certain violations of the Bill of Rights.

Contradicting his spokesman’s explanation, President Rodrigo Duterte said he was “not joking” when he wrongly claimed that gasoline can be used as an alternative to alcohol to disinfect one’s mask or hands.

During his fifth State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte changed his position again on opening in-person classes amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

The campaign to promote healthy food alternatives to reduce the risk of heart disease amid the coronavirus pandemic gathered steam with the filing of a House bill aimed at regulating trans- fat in food products in the Philippines.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s claim that martial law in Mindanao “ended without abuses” runs contrary to reports from different human rights watchdogs and advocacy groups.

On July 27, President Rodrigo Duterte delivered his penultimate State of the Nation Address (SONA), lasting approximately an hour and 40 minutes.

Issuing Philippine Depositary Receipts (PDRs) to foreigners does not equate to granting them actual ownership, contrary to a statement of ANAKALUSUGAN Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor on the denial of ABS-CBN’s franchise bid.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday vowed support for business in order to rev up the economy that has been ravaged by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, while threatening the country’s major telecommunications companies with expropriation if they do not improve their services by December.