Coverings april 2019

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to conduct reblocking and repairs on portions of Edsa this weekend. In a traffic advisory, the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) announced that the DPWH road reblocking would begin on Friday, April 23, until April 25. The reblocking will cover the following areas: 1. Edsa, from Dario Bridge to Landers, the first lane from the sidewalk, northbound 2. Agham Road, in front of the Office of the Ombudsman, the second lane from center island Travelers are advised to take North Avenue, Quezon Avenue, and Edsa as alternate routes. Motorists are advised to avoid those areas as the traffic build-up is expected. MMDA said all affected roads would be fully passable on Monday, April 26. abc ... » Learn More about Portions of Edsa to undergo repairs, reblocking from April 23 to April 25

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año is returning to work in the middle of April after a three-month leave of absence to fully recover from COVID-19, which he contracted twice last year. “Secretary Año is on his way to full recovery from the effects of COVID-19 and we thank the public for their prayers and messages of support,” Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson for the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), said on Tuesday. Bernardo Florece Jr., undersecretary for peace and order of the DILG, has been tapped as officer in charge of DILG since Año’s absence in January. Año tested positive for the virus on March 3 and Aug. 16 last year. —Jeannette I. Andrade For more news about the novel coronavirus click here. What you need to know about Coronavirus. The Inquirer Foundation supports our healthcare frontliners and is still accepting cash donations to be deposited at Banco de Oro (BDO) current account #007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this link . ... » Learn More about Año returning to work in mid-April

KLANG: The lesson learnt in Pakatan Harapan's 22 months in power is that the coalition should be serious about its election pledges, says Lim Kit Siang (pic) . The DAP veteran said Pakatan's GE14 pledges were contained in its "Buku Harapan". "Early in the Pakatan government, it was prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said that the manifesto was not a 'bible'. "As a result, even if 80 or 90% of the election pledges had been implemented in the five-year mandate, the damage had been done. "It was worse when the five-year mandate of the Pakatan government was cut short after 22 months, '' he said in a statement on Wednesday (April 21). According to Lim, he had met Dr Mahathir twice during his tenure as prime minister and discussed how important it was to reinstate public confidence as well as explain Pakatan's manifesto and policies. He added a manifesto review committee was set-up under former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong's chairmanship after the second ... » Learn More about Take election pledges seriously, says Kit Siang

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan in Terengganu is in the early stages of seat negotiations and the component parties have yet to decide how to divide the 32 state and eight parliamentary seats there among themselves as they prepare for the 15th general election (GE15). Pakatan state leadership council secretary Zulkifli Ali said Pakatan component party leaders in Terengganu met on April 10 and agreed to settle any possible clashes between component parties before finalising the deal. “It’s still early in the negotiations and any information that has gone viral is wrong and confusing. “The issue of certain parties giving their support to other component parties in the ongoing seat negotiations should also not arise, ” he said in a statement Wednesday (April 21). He said any decision will be brought up at the next state Pakatan leadership council meeting. Zulkifli issued the statement in response to a viral message which hinted that state Pakatan leaders were grouped in opposing ... » Learn More about Pakatan Harapan still in early stages of seat negotiations in Terengganu, says Zulkifli

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): Domestic car sales skyrocketed in March as a luxury tax (PPnBM) cut for small cars came into effect, but overall sales remained below prepandemic levels, meeting observers’ expectations about the effect of key incentives on consumer spending. Nearly 85,000 cars were sold domestically in March, up 72.5 per cent from the previous month and up 10.5 per cent from March of last year, according to data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo). Some consumers decided in March to buy a new car, while others made purchases they had delayed from February – when the incentive was announced – to take advantage of the savings. Despite the growth, only 187,021 cars were sold in the first quarter of 2021, compared to last year’s first-quarter sales of 236,890. “The government’s PPnBM relaxation helped increase car sales in March, ” Gaikindo chair Yohannes Nangoi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “Hopefully, car sales will ... » Learn More about Car sales surge 70 per cent in Indonesia after luxury tax cut

People visit the Maginhawa community pantry initiated by Ana Patricia Non on Thursday, April 15, 2021, at Teacher’s Village, Quezon City. Non says she set up the community pantry to help people who are badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. (INQUIRER file photo / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE) MANILA, Philippines — The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) on Wednesday denied linking community pantry organizers to leftist groups. In an interview on ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo, NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., said the task force has nothing to do with red-tagging community pantries and its organizers. “No, haka haka yan ng ibang grupo na malilikot ang mga utak (No, other groups made that up),” Parlade stressed. Parlade said the counter-insurgency task force is just “checking” the situation of community pantries to make sure that organizers do not have any other agenda. “I don’t want to use the word profiling kasi masyadong ... » Learn More about NTF-ELCAC denies linking community pantries to leftist groups

MANILA, Philippines — All the available COVID-19 vaccines in the country have been distributed to over 3,000 vaccination sites, government data showed on Wednesday. According to data from the National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 and the Department of Health, all of the 3,025,600 vaccine doses have been distributed to 3,263 vaccination areas as of April 20. Of this number, over 1.5 million doses have so far been administered, including 1.3 million doses given as the first dose. The data also showed that 209,456 individuals have so far completed their second dose of the jabs. Meanwhile, the seven-day average of vaccinated individuals per day is 43,835, according to NTF and DOH. The current deployment of vaccines is for healthcare workers, senior citizens, and persons with comorbidity—the first three priority sectors for vaccination. The vaccines that were administered were those from Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech and British-Swede drugmaker AstraZeneca. The ... » Learn More about All available COVID-19 vaccines in PH distributed to vaccination sites — NTF, DOH

INQUIRER.net stock image A killer on death row is seeking execution via firing squad instead of the state-proposed lethal injection, which would make him the first since 2010 in the United States to be put down using the rare method. Zane Michael Floyd and his lawyers are requesting to replace injection with gunshots for a “faster and less painful death,” as per BBC yesterday, April 20, citing court documents obtained by the Associated Press. Floyd fatally shot four people and badly injured five with a shotgun at a Las Vegas supermarket back in 1999. He pled guilty and was sentenced to death the next year. Floyd’s camp is also fighting a possible June execution date, that if pushed through, will also see him as the first man to be executed in the said state via the death penalty in the last 15 years. He is one of the 70 death row inmates in Nevada, which is one of the 27 states in the U.S. to retain the death penalty, according to the U.S. Death Penalty Information Center. ... » Learn More about Killer on death row seeks execution via firing squad

World Health Organization’s Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe attends Senate hearing on the outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus on Feb 4, 2020. INQUIRER.net file photo / CATHY MIRANDA MANILA, Philippines — Relaxing requirements for COVID-19 testing only in travel between two areas that both have a very low transmission of coronavirus may be possible, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday. WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said this in an online media forum following an earlier pronouncement from DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III that the department is mulling to no longer require travelers to get tested for coronavirus before going to their travel destination. Densing said that instead of testing, the DILG plans to require clinical assessment for travelers at the terminals of origin and destination. But for Abeyasinghe, this plan on relaxing requirements for COVID-19 testing needs a careful assessment. “I think it needs to be carefully ... » Learn More about Relaxing COVID test requirements possible for areas with very low transmission — WHO

In previous years, the Bangus Festival in Dagupan City featured the “Gilon-gilon ed Baley,” a street dance competition. The annual event has been shelved, for the second time, due to the pandemic. Photo by Willie Lomibao DAGUPAN CITY –– The celebration of the annual Bangus Festival here on April 30 has been canceled for the second time, but the day would be marked as a non-working holiday, officials said. Malacañang issued Proclamation 1133 on April 16 for the declaration of the holiday, signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea. Mayor Brian Lim said there would be no activities as the city is under modified general community quarantine that disallows mass gatherings. Lim has also issued an executive order prohibiting mass gatherings. It will be the second year that the city canceled the festivities. Last year, authorities stopped the preparations for the festival when the pandemic hit the country. But Lim said the day must still be a holiday as the festivity ... » Learn More about Dagupan City cancels Bangus Fest anew but residents to mark occasion as holiday