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Who’s gonna call the shots for PhilHealth? No, not Duque
By John Clifford Lintao THE embattled Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) should at least have a caretaker while its chief executive is “on leave.” However, its employees do not want Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to call shots for the graft-tainted agency. On Sunday, the state insurer’s employees appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to temporarily…
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AFP: No backing down on West Philippine Sea claim
By John Clifford Lintao THE military may not be joining other countries in conducting naval exercises in the South China Sea but that does not mean the Philippine government is abandoning territorial claims in the disputed waters, the new chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines said. In a television interview, AFP chief Lieutenant…
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Palace shrugs off latest SWS survey
By John Clifford Lintao CONTRARY to a social weather report that hints at danger on freedoms of the press and that of speech, a top Palace official simply shrugged it off and claimed President Rodrigo Duterte remains supportive of a democratic ambience. The statement, issued by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, came after a social poll…
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3 PNP generals top choices to replace retiring Gamboa
By John Clifford Lintao WITH just a few weeks left, the search for the next Philippine National Police chief is now down to three top generals, including Metro Manila’s top cop, who was dragged over the controversial “mañanita” birthday bash inside the regional camp last May. Aside from National Capital Regional Police Office chief Major…
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DND chief rejects plan to regulate social media
By John Clifford Lintao DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana seemed to know only too well where he stands insofar as the anti-terror law is concerned as he just turned down Armed Forces chief Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay’s proposal to regulate the social media. Lorenzana said there is no provision in the law that regulates social media.…
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2 PhilHealth officials won’t attend Senate hearing
By John Clifford Lintao TWO top health officials under fire cited their health condition as an excuse not to attend the continuation of Senate hearing on alleged irregularities. Instead they sent advance copies of their medical excuses. Senate has already received documents that tend to say that they won’t be available next week for the…
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DILG confident SAP distribution done next week
By John Clifford Lintao THE Department of Interior and Local Government, with all certainty, hinted at completing the digital distribution of the Social Amelioration Program’s second tranche in Metro Manila by next week. Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that as of August 7, 2020, the SAP’s second tranche (SPA 2) has so far been disbursed…
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Missing P15B paid to 711 hospitals – PhilHealth
By John Clifford Lintao A DESIGNATED mouthpiece takes the cudgel of speaking on behalf of the embattled Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) as she hinted at the plan of the state-owned health insurance to release the list of over 711 hospitals that received a cumulative P15 billion and disprove the claims of corruption. In a…
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DILG tells PNP: Arrest fake contact tracers
By Fernan Angeles POVERTY in the midst of an economic slump due to national health crisis would never be a valid reason to dupe hapless Filipinos, says the Department of Interior and Local Government in the wake of reports of a proliferated bogus modus operandi involving con artists claiming to be government-sanctioned contact tracers. In…
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FDA approves locally-made COVID-19 ventilators
By Fernan Angeles RESPONDING calls to seriously consider locally made products—from testing kits to PPEs — amid the fight against the global pandemic, the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) approved a locally manufactured life-saving ventilator for COVID-19 patients. In approving the UCL-Ventura Flow Generator, FDA expects a solution that does not only make sure that…