The surot issue, tanim-bala, brownouts (etc.) at NAIA. The unreasoned banning of e-vehicles on certain roads by MMDA. The imperious rules of LTFRB in PUV modernization program. The incredulous delays of plastic license cards by LTO. And some others. Oh, they are all zany and proving to be problems of and failures in leadership, more than anything else. Secretary Jaime Bautista is generally perceived to be a good and humble person. He looks fatherly and sincere when he speaks. However, by the look of things (frankly), he lacks the leadership quality that is needed/required to head the Departmen ..read more

MANILA, Philippines — Do you remember the viral video of the “pabebe girls” in 2015? They’re back. Iconic duo Michelle Alfonso and Janet Ricabo reunite once again to invite people to the Philippine Book Festival at the World Trade Center from April 25 to 28. The sassy duo supports middle-grade author Andrew Jalbuena Pasaporte’s book signing, which will take place on Sunday, April 28, at 4:30 p.m. Reenacting The Viral Video In a nod to their viral fame, the “Pabebe Girls” delighted fans by reenacting their iconic lines, reigniting excitement. Netizens have taken note of their transformation and ..read more

Some 8,390 Recovering Persons Who Used Drugs (RPWUDs) have been reintegrated into their families and communities since 2021 through the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Yakap Bayan Program (YBP), an agency official said on Thursday (April 25). “The YBP is a holistic intervention of the DSWD which adopts human-rights based approaches to assist RPWUDs, their families and communities toward recovery,” Asst. Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao, who is also agency spokesperson, said. The DSWD spokesperson said the program provided RPWUDs with af ..read more

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Pampanga Provincial Government inaugurate on Wednesday (April 24) the new location of the Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) office in San Fernando City. DSWD Undersecretary for International Affairs, Attached and Supervised Agencies (ASA) Emmeline Aglipay-Villar, DSWD Field Office-3 (Central Luzon) Regional Director Venus Rebuldela, Pampanga Provincial Governor Dennis Pineda and Vice Governor Lilia Pineda led the ribbon cutting and signing of agreement. The new SWAD Office – Pampanga is at the back of the Provincial Capitol in ..read more

TWO South Korean men wanted in their homeland for serious crimes were arrested by the Bureau of Immigration (BI). The two were identified as Choi Suang Hwan and Kang Seunghoon. They were nabbed in separate operations last April 24 in an operation conducted by the BI fugitive search unit (FSU) under its chief Rendel Ryan Sy in coordination with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). Choi, 53, was arrested in Brgy. Anunas, Clark Freeport Zone, Angeles City pursuant to a mission order issued by BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco. According to Sy, Choi has an outstanding warrant of a ..read more

TWO Filipino women bound for China with two Chinese men with whom they allegedly contracted fake marriage were intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 on April 23, 2024. In his report to Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Norman Tansingco, immigration protection and border enforcement section (I-PROBES) chief Bienvenido Castillo III said the two victims attempted to depart on board a Xiamen Air flight bound for China with their supposed Chinese husbands. Aged 36 and 24, the two women claimed to be China-bound to visit the families of their alleged husbands ..read more

MANILA, PHILIPPINES. The international community is behind the Philippine Government as it faces a serious drought induced by El Niño. The Climate Crisis Coordinator for the El Niño / La Niña Response, UN Assistant Secretary-General Reena Ghelani and the UN Resident and Humanitarian coordinator in the Philippines, Gustavo Gonzalez urged for increased support to the Government response. This call was made at the end of the visit of the Climate Crisis Coordinator for the El Niño / La Niña Response in the Philippines. The current El Niño episode, one of the strongest in history, is causing dry co ..read more

Neutrons, when plucked from the nucleus of atoms, become unstable and decay after some time. Physicists know that these unstable neutrons die after about 14 minutes, but they cannot pinpoint the exact seconds in which the neutrons last, even as today’s experiments are at their most precise. This problem, known as the neutron lifetime anomaly, arises because two different but equally rigorous experimental methods – the beam method and the bottle method – produce different results. A popular reason is that some undiscovered phenomenon might be at play. But Dr. Denny Lane Sombillo of the UP Dilim ..read more

The Philippines’ participation in Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) Singapore, known as Asia’s largest and longest-running dive expo, was a resounding success after a three-day business-to-consumer session, generating Php 197,219,062.09 in combined negotiated sales leads and actual bookings. This marked more than 300% increase from last year’s negotiated sales leads. In addition to this feat, the country was named the Sustainable Dive Destination of the Year in recognition of its unwavering commitment to environmental conservation and sustainable practices in dive tourism. Scuba diver and underwater photo ..read more

Quezon City. A facial cream that claims to cure an array of skin woes ironically contains mercury, a highly toxic chemical that can damage the skin and other organs of the human body. The toxics watchdog group EcoWaste Coalition revealed that it has detected 7,110 parts per million (ppm) of mercury on Faiza Beauty Cream that it bought from an online dealer for P349. The group used an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyzer to screen the product for mercury. The product was produced by Poonia Brothers (Pvt.) Ltd. and marked “quality control approved” and “with money back guarantee.” It was manufactur ..read more