Philippines

MANILA, March 26 (Reuters) - A small but restive volcano south of the Philippine capital spewed a 1.5 km plume on Saturday, prompting authorities to raise an alert level and evacuate more than a thousand residents.

The alert for the Taal volcano, about 70 km (45 miles) south of central Manila, was increased to level 3 from level 2 on the 5-level scale, which the seismology and volcanology agency said meant "there is magmatic intrusion at the main crater that may further drive succeeding eruptions".

MANILA, March 25 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines is reaping fruits of its agricultural collaboration with China in increasing food supply and safeguarding food security in the country, Agriculture Secretary William Dar said on Friday.

Dar made the remarks at a ceremony marking the inauguration of new breeding laboratories at the Philippine-Sino Center for Agricultural Technology (PhilSCAT) in Munoz city in Nueva Ecija province, north of Manila.

MANILA, March 19 (Reuters) - The Philippines’ presidential candidates debating on Saturday agreed on at least one thing and that was the need to hold social media firms liable for the spread of disinformation as the country prepares for elections on May 9.

With the coronavirus pandemic disrupting traditional campaigning, candidates and supporters are increasingly turning to social media to reach voters, prompting concerns about online hate speech and disinformation.

MANILA, Mar 16 (NNN-PNA) – The COVID-19 pandemic pushed 4.7 million people in Southeast Asia into extreme poverty in 2021, as 9.3 million jobs disappeared, compared with a baseline no-COVID scenario, said an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report, released today.

According to the Manila-based bank, the region is beginning to recover from the two-year pandemic, forecast to pick up to 5.1 percent this year, as almost 60 percent of its population become fully vaccinated, enabling many economies to reopen.

MANILA, Mar 15 (NNN-PNA) – The tandem of presidential aspirant, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and vice-presidential candidate, Sara Duterte-Carpio, maintained a commanding lead in the latest election survey released yesterday.

A national survey by Pulse Asia, conducted from Feb 18 to 23, showed that 60 percent of the surveyed 2,400 Filipinos aged 18 and above said, they would vote for Marcos for president, while 53 percent said they would choose Carpio for vice president.

MANILA, Mar 14 (NNN-PNA) – The Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), granted the emergency use for China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for children, Health Secretary, Francisco Duque, said today.

Duque said, the government would soon administer the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, or the inactivated CoronaVac vaccine, to children aged six and above. “We are just looking at the operational details to implement this. But it will not take long,” Duque added.

MANILA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines has decided to pursue "practical and localized" projects of climate action, blaming the U.S. and other industrialized nations for failing to keep their promises of climate financing made years ago, its Department of Finance said on Thursday.

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Traffic jams and outdoor crowds are back in the Philippine capital and 38 other cities and provinces Tuesday after officials allowed businesses and public transport, including shopping malls, movie houses and restaurants, to operate at full capacity as COVID-19 cases continued to drop with more vaccinations, officials said.

MANILA, Feb 18 (NNN-PNA) – Authorities said, three Philippine Air Force soldiers died, after their car crashed into concrete barriers and burst into flames, early this morning, while travelling along a major highway in Metro Manila.

The Air Force said, four soldiers were in the car when the accident happened, shortly before 3:00 a.m. local time (1900 GMT). “The accident involved four Philippine Air Force personnel. Three were confirmed dead,” said a statement.

MANILA, Feb 9 (NNN-PNA) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB), said today, it has approved a 2-million-U.S.-dollar grant, to support the Philippines’ emergency response, to the devastation in central and southern provinces, caused by Typhoon Rai.

Typhoon Rai, the 15th and the strongest of last year, that made landfall in the country in Dec, killed more than 400 people.