Author: Philippines Report

  • PAL to layoffs 2,300 employees again

    PAL to layoffs 2,300 employees again

    Philippine Airlines (PAL) is shedding another 30% of its already decreased employees as Asia’s oldest commercial carrier struggles to get back on its feet a year since the pandemic started. “Approximately 2,300” employees of the Tan-led airline are either being let go or offered voluntary separation packages, PAL said in a statement on Tuesday. The…

  • ANDREW BROOKS, WHO DEVELOPED COVID-19 SALIVA TEST, DIES AT 51

    ANDREW BROOKS, WHO DEVELOPED COVID-19 SALIVA TEST, DIES AT 51

    Andrew Brooks, a research professor at Rutgers University who developed the first saliva test for the coronavirus, died on Jan. 23 in Manhattan. He was 51.The cause was a heart attack, his sister, Janet Green, said.In April 2020, when coronavirus tests were scarce and lines to get them were long, Dr. Brooks made worldwide news…

  • New quarantine guidelines issued for OFWs returning from countries with new COVID-19 strain

    New quarantine guidelines issued for OFWs returning from countries with new COVID-19 strain

    Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya confirmed Friday that new quarantine guidelines for returning overseas Filipino workers (OFW) coming from countries with the new COVID-19 strain are now imposed. In an interview, Malaya said that the OFWs will be subjected to free PCR test upon their arrival and another free PCR…

  • PACC chair Dante Jimenez dies due to aortic aneurysm

    PACC chair Dante Jimenez dies due to aortic aneurysm

     Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) chair Dante Jimenez has passed away due to an aortic aneurysm, his family confirmed. He was 68. Jimenez’s family said in a statement read by Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) president Arsenio “Boy” Evangelista over radio DZBB that the PACC chair died at 9:43 p.m. on Friday after he was…

  • Biden revives H-2B visa for working Pinoys

    Biden revives H-2B visa for working Pinoys

    Filipinos whose working visas have been withheld during the administration of Donald Trump can now heave a sigh of relief after newly inaugurated US President Joseph Biden revived a policy allowing foreigners to work in America. “This is definitely a positive signal from Washington. For two years under the previous US administration, the Philippines was removed…

  • Medico-legal report shows Dacera’s death ‘natural’

    Medico-legal report shows Dacera’s death ‘natural’

    The medico-legal report on the body of flight attendant Christine Dacera stated she died of natural causes, documents submitted to the prosecution showed. Preliminary investigation into the Philippine National Police’s rape with homicide complaint against the 11 known companions of Dacera in a New Year’s Eve party resumed on Wednesday, January 27. Police had submitted…

  • House a step away from passing bill to allow president to suspend SSS rate hike

    House a step away from passing bill to allow president to suspend SSS rate hike

    The bill seeking to authorize President Rodrigo Duterte to defer increases in contributions to the Social Security System is just a step away from clearing the House of Representatives. The House on Wednesday passed on second reading House Bill No. 8512 which seeks to grant the president the power to suspend scheduled increases in SSS…

  • Economy collapses slightly softer than thought in Q3

    Economy collapses slightly softer than thought in Q3

    The economy’s crash last quarter was slightly softer than originally estimated, state statisticians said on Wednesday. Gross domestic product (GDP), the sum of all products and services created in an economy, collapsed a revised 11.4% year-on-year in the 3 months ending September, a tad better than the 11.5% contraction reported last November. The latest figure…

  • ‘BATING FILIPINO’ BILL: Philippines lawmakers approve bill for Covid-safe gesture

    ‘BATING FILIPINO’ BILL: Philippines lawmakers approve bill for Covid-safe gesture

    The coronavirus pandemic has led to several creative measures introduced for a new-normal to avoid the deadly virus and in a first Philippines’ lawmakers have passed a bill in the House of Representatives to legislate a Covid-safe form of greeting.  According to the bill, to greet in this fashion, there has to be “gracefully laying…

  • Patient Dog Patiently Waits For Days Outside Hospital

    Patient Dog Patiently Waits For Days Outside Hospital

    Boncuk returned each day to hospital in Turkish city of Trabzon where her owner, Cemal Senturk, was being treated. The pet, Boncuk, which means bead, followed the ambulance that transported her owner, Cemal Senturk, to the hospital in the Black Sea city of Trabzon on 14 January. She then made daily visits to the facility,…