The top diplomat of the Philippines issued a statement published on the Department of Foreign Affairs’ website on 19 September, 2021 saying that “The Philippines welcomes Australia’s decision to establish an enhanced trilateral security partnership with the US primarily and the UK.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday he will not run for vice president in 2022 and will retire from politics, potentially paving the way for his daughter to contest the country's highest office.Duterte, who polls show remains almost as popular as when he was swept to victory in 2016 on a promise to rid the country of drugs, is constitutionally barred from seeking a second term as leader."The overwhelming...
The Philippines' election season kicked off Friday with TV celebrities, political scions and at least one inmate expected to be among thousands of candidates vying for posts from president to town councillor.A week-long registration process launches a typically noisy and deadly seven months of campaigning for more than 18,000 positions – but the raging pandemic and economic misery caused by COVID lockdowns could dampen the party atmosphere.A successor to President Rodrigo Duterte, who is
The Philippine economy will take more than a decade to return to pre-pandemic growth, an official said Thursday, warning the next two generations of Filipinos would be paying for the cost of COVID-19.
The Philippines has approved COVID-19 jabs for children as young as 12, an aide to President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday, as the country battles surging infections fuelled by the hyper-contagious Delta variant.Duterte's government has been skewered over the glacial rollout of vaccines, with just over a quarter of the adult population fully vaccinated nearly seven months after the first doses were delivered.The daily case rate has soared, often exceeding 20,000, with hospitals struggling
Following his WBO welterweight victory in Las Vegas in November 2016, international boxing champion Manny Pacquiao paid President Rodrigo Duterte a visit at the Malacanang presidential palace in Manila.Greeting Pacquiao in front of a media scrum, Duterte raised the first-term senator’s left hand and declared, “This one’s for president”, seemingly anointing a possible successor, who was grinning from ear to ear as the cameras flashed.A month later, at the boxer’s 38th birthday celebrations, th
Philippine boxer-turned-politician Manny Pacquiao declared Sunday he will run for president in 2022, ending months of speculation about whether the legendary fighter would seek the country's top job."The time is now – we are ready to rise to the challenge of leadership," said Pacquiao, as he accepted the nomination of a rival faction in President Rodrigo Duterte's ruling party. The eight-division world champion and beloved national hero made the announcement weeks
Even though several times over the Chairman of the Commission on Audit (COA), Atty.
Exhausted nurses in the Philippines are struggling to care for patients as their colleagues contract COVID-19 or quit a profession that was dangerously understaffed even before the pandemic.The country is enduring a record rise in infections, fuelled by the Delta variant, with the health department reporting a nursing shortfall of more than 100,000 – forcing those left to work long hours for little pay on often precarious short-term contracts."They are tired and burned out," nursing
President Rodrigo Duterte will not cooperate with the International Criminal Court's (ICC) probe into the Philippines' drug war, his lawyer said Thursday, after its judges found the crackdown could be a crime against humanity.ICC judges authorised Wednesday a full-blown investigation into Duterte's anti-narcotics campaign, which rights groups estimate has killed tens of thousands of people, saying it resembled an illegitimate and systematic attack on civilians.Duterte "wil
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday authorised a full probe into Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte's "war on drugs", saying it resembled an illegitimate and systematic attack on civilians.Judges said there was a "reasonable basis" to believe that the crime against humanity of murder had been committed in the crackdown, which has left thousands of people dead.Duterte pulled Manila out of the Hague-based court in 2019 after it launched a preliminary
The Philippines will ease coronavirus restrictions in the capital Manila to spur economic activity, officials said Tuesday, despite record infection numbers and a warning from the World Health Organization (WHO) against the move.Restaurants, churches and beauty salons in the national capital region will open at lower capacities from Thursday to get tens of thousands more people back to work."We should strive for total health and this can only be realised by carefully balancing our COVID-
