The COVID-19 coronavirus is said to have been passed to humans from a wild animal. Since the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China last December, a number of animals have been suspected to be responsible for the COVID-19 virus. It is believed that the disease could have originated from horseshoe bats or snakes.

More than 27 million people in the Philippines - about a quarter of the population - will go back into lockdown Tuesday after overwhelmed health workers warned the country was losing the battle against the coronavirus.Since the beginning of June, when much of the country emerged from one of the world's longest stay-at-home orders, confirmed infections in the archipelago have increased fivefold, surging past 100,000.The new restrictions announced by President Rodrigo Duterte late Sunday a

In his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) on 27 July, President Rodrigo Duterte stated that, “Within ASEAN and beyond, the Philippines will continue to work with partners to address global perils and ramp up cooperation to secure for our peoples, greater peace, progress, and prosperity. The Filipino nation claims its rightful place in the community of sovereign states.

Southeast Asian countries reported record rises of new coronavirus cases on Saturday as the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that the effects of the pandemic would be felt for decades. Six months after the WHO declared a global emergency, the novel coronavirus has killed more than 680,000 people and infected more than 17.5 million, according to an AFP tally.As countries across Western Europe announced new lockdowns and reported historic economic slumps, the WHO said the pandemi

Even before the pandemic, Filipinos have long realised the importance of information communication technologies (ICTs) such as personal and networked computers, mobile telephones, the internet and emails, including social media platforms (i.e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked, etc.).

The Philippines was the deadliest country in Asia for land and environmental defenders again last year while slipping to second most dangerous in the world behind Colombia, a watchdog said Wednesday.A total of 43 defenders were killed in the archipelago - the vast majority on the fertile and resource-rich islands of Mindanao and Negros - compared with 30 in 2018, Global Witness said in a report.Nearly half of the killings recorded since President Rodrigo Duterte took power in 2016 have been l

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday drug offenders should be executed by lethal injection, in a fresh push for the death penalty as part of his anti-narcotics crackdown that has killed thousands. In a wide-ranging State of the Nation address, Duterte also admitted the government's response to the coronavirus epidemic had been "far from perfect" as the number of infections surged past 82,000, with nearly 2,000 deaths. Duterte had been expected to u

As the Philippines braces for the gradual reopening of its economy, the Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on 2 July, 2020 approved the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 Phase II Action Plan.

On 11 March, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 virus outbreak as a pandemic due to the exponential increase in the number of cases in more than 100 countries. Then on 16 March, President Duterte placed the entire Philippines under a “State of Calamity” amid the threats posed by COVID-19.

After 13 comprehensive and exhaustive congressional hearings – the controversial franchise application of ABS-CBN was finally concluded on 10 July.