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More than a year into the #COVID19 pandemic, the Philippines is waging war on two fronts — battling the deadly coronavirus and confronting vaccine hesitancy.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo claimed that a vaccine is “not needed” to control the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and that New Zealand and Vietnam did not impose lockdowns to curb the pandemic. Both claims are false.

Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo misleadingly implied that a person may prevent getting infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), by gargling with salt and water.

During the first six months of 2021, International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda is expected to decide whether to recommend launching an investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte's bloody war on drugs.

British lawyer Karim Khan is set to assume the post of retiring International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on June 16, 2021. Bensouda said a decision on whether to investigate the "crimes against humanity" that allegedly took place in the conduct of President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-drug campaign will be issued before she steps down.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and at least four Facebook (FB) pages claimed that the University of the Philippines - College of Engineering (UP CoE) is housing a branch of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Not true.

Several Facebook users circulated last weekend a supposed “announcement” about a “circuit-breaker lockdown” in Metro Manila for at least two weeks starting March 22 following a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections.

Bragging about the Philippines’ coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic response, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque erroneously cited the country’s global rankings of active COVID-19 cases and cases per million population.

In comparing the compliance of citizens in the Philippines with those of its neighboring countries on following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) health protocols, Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III erroneously claimed that Singapore is under martial law.

The Philippine News Agency (PNA), a state-run “web-based newswire service,” recently reported a wrong date for the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Herd immunity ー the indirect protection from an infectious disease among the population ー is the goal that most governments, including the Philippines, hope to achieve in one to two years’ time through vaccination against COVID-19.

As the 2022 national and local elections draw near, retired Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday described candidates that Filipino voters must reject for the country’s recovery and survival. ​