Rolando de la Cruz, a 67-year-old balut vendor, died the other day while waiting with hundreds who lined up to answer actress Angel Locsin’s birthday invitation to the community pantry she had set up in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City. As early as 3 a.m., a long queue had formed; stubs were...
After the historic Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force in November 2016 when 55 parties accounting for at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gases (GHG) had ratified it, notable progress has been made. According to the World Resources Institute, 189 countries have ratified or...
The tug-of-war between private hospitals and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) rages on. Amid a surging pandemic and calls from the Department of Health (DOH) for provision of more beds and facilities, hospital owners report that they are constrained to lay off health...
While few would dispute Secretary Carlos Dominguez’s latest assertion that sound macroeconomic management has enabled the country to weather the severe impact of the pandemic in 2020, there is widespread skepticism about the government’s ability to nurse the economy back to health in 2021. Amid...
On April 14, 2021, 26-year-old Ana Patricia Non, a furniture designer, took out a bamboo cart and installed two signs on a tree in front of a shuttered food park along Maginhawa street in Quezon City. The first sign read: Maginhawa Community Pantry. The second sign pleaded: “ Magbigay ayon sa...
At a Senate hearing last year, the Department of Education (DepEd) reported that enrollment from kindergarten to senior high school for school year 2020-2021 was estimated at 23 million or 83 percent of the 27.7 million enrolled previously. When Senator Nancy Binay asked DepEd Undersecretary...
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic moved back the commemoration of 500 years of Christianity by a year. Instead of a culmination, what was marked last Easter Sunday was the start of year-long activities. Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma pointed out that there are two important milestones: The first mass...
In a virtual economic briefing to mark the 75th anniversary of the post-war bilateral relations between the Philippines and the United States, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez delivered his message right off the bat: “This pandemic is a test of fiscal stamina and it was fortunate that when it...
Faced by continuing economic doldrums and a raging pandemic, President Duterte certified as urgent the immediate enactment of Senate Bill No. 2094 amending the Public Service Act, Senate Bill No. 1156 amending the Foreign Investments Act of 1991, and Senate Bill No. 1840 amending the Retail Trade...
Lost in the transition from Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) to MECQ in the NCR-Plus bubble were twin moves of the national government to address the effects of the African swine fever (ASF) that has greatly affected the supply of pork, a staple item in the Filipino family’s daily menu....
As businesses are literally squeezed from all fronts, downsizing is one alternative to ensure survival. In any downsizing, the number one casualty is people. During this pandemic, thousands if not millions of workers were laid off and still many are getting retrenched as companies continue to...
After two weeks of the strictest lockdown phase, the National Capital Region Plus bubble has been placed under the less restrictive Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ). Also placed under MECQ were Abra province and Santiago City in Isabela. More than a year after the entire Luzon was...
