THE Quezon City General Hospital (QCGH) has reached its Covid-19 capacity, its director Dr. Josephine Sabando said on Sunday. Since March 9, the occupancy rate of the hospital’s Covid ward beds had exceeded 100%. In her report to Mayor Josefina “Joy”Belmonte, Sabando said QCGH recorded a 106% Covid bed occupancy on March 9; 137.5% on […]

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Wilkins Villanueva announced on Sunday that he contracted the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). In a Facebook post, Villanueva said he received his Covid-19 test result on Sunday morning. He had a swab test at the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center on Saturday in preparation for a Senate inquiry […]

THE day has come when basketball dreams are set to come true as the Season 46 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Rookie Draft unfolds today. The event, which will be held virtually, begins at 4 p.m. Fans can catch the proceedings on TV5, One Sports and PBA Rush as well as on PBA’s social media platforms. […]

WASHINGTON, D. C.: US President Joe Biden on Friday (Saturday in Manila) met virtually with leaders of Japan, India and Australia over Covid-19, climate change and other regional issues. The meeting focused primarily on pressing global crises including Covid-19 and the climate crisis, Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters at a White House […]

WASHINGTON, D. C.: President Joe Biden has directed his administration to order another 100 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, growing a likely US surplus of doses later this year while much of the rest of the world struggles with deep shortages. Even before Wednesday’s order, the US was to have enough […]

THE Philippines has logged 5,000 cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on Saturday, the highest tally since the country was placed under a second general community quarantine (GCQ) in August 2020. It is also the fourth highest number in terms of daily Covid infections since the government started keeping track in 2019. The country […]

LOS ANGELES: J-Rod has split. Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez called off their two-year engagement, according to multiple reports based on anonymous sources. The former slugger proposed to the actor a couple years ago after the celebrity couple started dating in early 2017. The New York Post’s Page Six was the first to report on […]

THE World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) jab after several countries suspended rollout over blood clot fears, while the hard-hit United States exceeded 100 million doses of vaccine administered to its people. The WHO, which said its vaccines advisory committee was examining […]

THE Department of Health (DoH) allayed public fears over the “Philippine variant” that was first detected in Central Visayas. In a statement, the DoH said that the P.3 variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)  was not considered “a variant of concern” that could potentially affect the country amid a reported surge in Metro Manila […]

PANDEMIC’S CHILD Pablo, 11, sits at the desk in his hospital room where he is being treated for severe eating disorders at the pediatric unit of the Robert Debre hospital, in Paris, France, on March 3, 2021. By the time his parents rushed him to the hospital, 11-year-old Pablo was barely eating and had stopped […]

The government surpassed its infrastructure and capital spending program for last year despite lower disbursements in December, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said on Friday. The department’s latest disbursement data showed that spending declined to P132.3 billion in the last month of 2020, down 25.6 percent from P177.9 billion a year earlier. It […]

The country’s trade deficit expanded to its largest level in a year in January as imports outpaced exports, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) reported on Friday. Data from the statistics agency showed that the value of inbound shipments fell by 14.9 percent year-on-year to $7.91 billion and outbound ones declined by 5.2 percent to $5.48 […]

Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Saturday, March 13, 2021. READ: Homegrown variant detected in CVisayas The variant that carries the two mutations of the Covid-19 virus protein in Central Visayas was found to be indigenous to the country. The so-called Philippine variant, or P.3, was detected in the more […]

THE National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday recommended the filing of charges against 11 people linked to the death of flight attendant Christine Dacera. Named respondents before the Department of Justice (DoJ) were Dacera’s known companions Mark Anthony Rosales, Rommel Galido, John Dela Serna, Gregorio Rafael De Guzman, Jezreel Rapinan, Alain Chen, Reymay Englis, […]

Trevor Noah on the Grammy Awards LOS ANGELES: Trevor Noah said traveling to host the Grammys in person was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. Noah said the ceremony will have a “music festival vibe” with parts of the show held outdoors. He expects an entertaining show with several performers including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, […]

A party-list lawmaker on Friday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to reverse the “demotion” of government nurses by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Anakalusugan Rep. Michael “Mike” Defensor, in a statement, said that the President’s intervention would be the “fastest way to rectify the injustice done to our nurses, who are at the forefront […]

THERE is no need to stop the distribution of the vaccines from AstraZeneca in the Philippines, the government said on Friday, amid reports of “clotting” experienced by recipients from several countries in Europe some of which allegedly resulted in deaths. Denmark suspended its AZD1222 vaccination for two weeks after a 60-year-old woman who was inoculated […]

THE Philippines has secured a total of $900 million (about P43.65 billion) worth of financing from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), which will be used to procure coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccines. In a statement on Friday, World Bank announced that its executive directors approved the $500 million in funding to support […]

THE country’s trade gap in January widened in one year as the value of imports remained higher than exports, Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data showed on Friday. According to the statistics agency, inbound and outbound shipments plunged by 14.9 percent year-on-year to $7.91 billion and by 5.2 percent to $5.48 billion respectively. This resulted in […]

Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Friday, March 12, 2021. READ: Covid kills 3,000 nurses At least 3,000 nurses have been killed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the global nurses’ federation said on Thursday as it warned of a looming exodus of health workers traumatized by the pandemic. Exactly […]

In an unprecedented move, DITO Telecommunity Corporation, the country’s third major player in the telecommunications industry heralded its entry into the market by announcing that it is providing free call and text as well as broadband services to 3,000 frontliners in 10 areas in Visayas and Mindanao, with the help of local government units as […]

WHEN consumers use Mastercard, they are assured of an optimized digital payment process through Mastercard Identity Check™. This could activate an authentication process by a merchant before authorization. As these are up and running, convenient and secure transactions are enabled. The entire process is enhanced with multiple overlays of security. Two of the many benefits […]

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) foreign-exchange (forex) operations and income from its investments abroad propelled the country’s gross international reserves (GIR) to a two-month high of $109.08 billion as of the end of last month. Preliminary central bank data showed on Thursday that the amount was 0.37 percent and 23.69 percent bigger than figures […]

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said his former longe-time aide and now Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” really wants to become president. In a speech during the groundbreaking ceremonies of the new Port Operations Building in the Port of Dumaguete in Negros Oriental, Duterte said that Go had asked him to make the announcement. “Ug kani […]

A Cebu City Regional Trial Court (RTC) granted a petition for the release from detention of a female Lumad student who was one of 21 others arrested at the University of San Carlos-Talamban campus in Cebu on February 15. Judge Leah Geraldez, presiding judge of Regional Trial Court Branch 20, issued the order on Thursday […]

PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Debold Sinas on Thursday tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), his spokesman announced. Police Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, PNP spokesman, in a message to reporters, said, however, that Sinas was “okay” and that there was “no cause for worry” as he asked for “prayers for the chief”.

DESPITE the government’s vaccine rollout, Malacañang appealed to the public to remain vigilant and follow health protocols, especially in the face of a “worrisome” surge in cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the country. Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles made the appeal as the number of infections reached 3,000 per day over the […]

NEW YORK: Closed schools, surging poverty, forced marriages and depression — after a year of the pandemic, indicators measuring child and adolescent development have all regressed, a setback that heralds lasting stigma for an entire generation, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) warned on Thursday. “The number of children who are hungry, isolated, […]

PARIS: Some 12 million women may have lost access to contraception due to pandemic health disruptions, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency said on Thursday, warning that the poorest and most vulnerable were the hardest hit. The United Nations Population Fund, formerly the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), based on 115 […]



Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Thursday, March 11, 2021. READ: Palace: No need for lockdown THERE is no need for the country to be placed under lockdown even if Covid-19 cases are rising, Malacañang said on Wednesday. Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said there was no reason to close […]

The police have taken their responsibility of implementing physical distancing by another notch by banning public displays of affection. Kissing, hugging and holding hands in public will not be allowed, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Debold Sinas. Couples, members of a family or close friends were enjoined to keep their distance to help […]

The government will study the possibility of holding 24-hour vaccination once a substantial volume of Covid-19 vaccines arrive in the country, a ranking official of the National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF) said on Wednesday. “Pag-aaralan po natin ‘yan ‘no. Syempre kailangan naman po i-manage din natin ‘yung sitwasyon nung mga vaccinators natin (We will […]

There is no need for the country to be placed under lockdown even if Covid-19 cases are rising, Malacañang said on Wednesday. Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said there was no reason to close businesses again. He added that hospital capacity remained adequate. “Ang babantayan po talaga natin, iyong kapasidad natin na magbigay ng medikal […]

PARIS: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) sharply raised its 2021 global growth forecast on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila) as the deployment of coronavirus vaccines and a huge US stimulus program greatly improved economic prospects. The Paris-based OECD says it now expects global gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 5.6 percent this […]