The need for anti- COVID-19 vaccines is so great that the national government can not hope to meet it all by itself. President Duterte has thus approved a tripartite agreement among the national government, local government units, and private pharmaceutical firms for the acquisition of the millions...
At the start of the year 2020, the Philippine population stood at 109.4 million, according to the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom). Today, a year later, the national population should be about 110.8 million – an increase of 1.4 million in the normal course of events, Popcom...
It is unfortunate that the new year of 2021 is beginning with a vaccine controversy when our efforts should be concentrated on fighting the COVID-19 which continues to infect and kill people in our country. That case of a COVID-19 vaccine being used by the Presidential Security Guards...
Today, January 6, the United States Congress convenes to count the Electoral College votes sent by each of the 50 American states. The presidential election was held two months ago – last November 3 – and the electors chosen in by the voters of each state met last December 14 in the state...
The emergence in the United Kingdom (UK) of a variant of the COVID-19 virus has raised new fears around the world, but the German firm BioNTech which developed the Pfizer vaccine said it has “scientific confidence” its drug will also work on the variant. The proteins in the variant...
The coronavirus COVID-19 dominated developments around the world in 2020. It looks like it will continue to do so in 2021. Just when mass vaccinations began, first in the United Kingdom (UK), followed by the United States, a new strain of the coronavirus has emerged in the UK and scientists are...
The country’s COVID-19 vaccination program seems to have gone on a bad start with the report that some Cabinet officials and members of the Presidential Security Guard (PSG) had themselves vaccinated against the coronavirus, now raging in a pandemic, with some donated vaccine. The PSG chief,...
We end this year on a note of uncertainty with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic which remains uncontained worldwide one year since it emerged as a new and unidentified illness in Wuhan, China. It remains a major threat to many nations around the world, notably the United States and now the United...
It was President Emilio Aguinaldo of the First Philippine Republic who, on December 20, 1898, issued a decree designating December 30 of every year as a day of national mourning in honor of Jose Rizal and others who had died in the Philippine Revolution against Spain. That First Republic,...
In a year of so many problems brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, one report stands out as a bright beacon of hope to the country – the Philippines is ending 2020 with an all-time record of palay production . The Philippine Statistical Authority (PSA) said the country’s palay production by...
In response to an appeal from House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) has extended its no-disconnection policy for non-payment of bills until January 31 next year. “The extended grace period will provide a much-needed reprieve to those reeling from the...
Finally, it is Christmas Day. We have always associated this holiday with merriment and joy, with many-colored lights on trees and lanterns, with feasting and gift-giving. We must never forget, as church officials remind us, that Christmas is the day Christ was born, the Christ who was to one day...
