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4th Quarter of 2024: Bangag Jr. (65% trust) (64% performance) VP Sara (49% trust) (48% performance) Senate President (63% trust) (65% performance) Tambaloslos (58% trust) (59% performance) Source: PBBM retains majority support; VP ratings fall in Q4: OCTA | Philippine News Agency

A case for rape has been filed against a 13-year-old boy accused of raping a six-year-old girl in Bingawan town, Province of Iloilo. According to the Bingawan Police, the families of the suspect and the victim have already faced each other at the police station. The suspect is taken into the custody of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office, while the victim was turned over to her parents. The suspect raped allegedly the girl on January 7, 2025, outdoors, near the house of the victim. A suspected drug pusher grandfather r@p** his 2 minor step daughters aged 14 and 17 years old in Lapu-Lapu City. The suspect was first arrested by the police for selling îllégâl drugs. r

Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros called for the deferment of the Social Security System (SSS) contribution hike, warning that the increase would further strain workers' wages, which have already struggled to keep up with the rising prices of goods. Hontiveros filed Proposed Senate Resolution No. 1269, urging a Senate investigation into the SSS contribution hike and its potential impact on Filipino workers. "Habang pababa ng pababa ang halaga ng kinikita ng ating mga kababayan nitong mga nakaraang taon, pataas ng pataas naman ang investment earnings ng SSS. Saan naman nila dadalhin itong super tubo na 'to? Baka magulat na lang tayo at ilagay nila 'yan sa Maharlika Fund," Hontiveros said on Wednesday, January 15. She...

JERUSALEM — The United States said Thursday it was “confident” that a fragile Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal would take effect on time, even as Israel carried out new air strikes ahead of a cabinet vote on the accord. The truce, announced by mediators Qatar and the United States on Wednesday, would begin on Sunday and involve the exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners, after which the terms of a permanent end to the war would be finalized. However, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Hamas had “reneged on parts of the agreement… in an effort to extort last-minute concessions.” It also said Israel’s cabinet, which has yet to approve the agreement, “will not convene until the...

Former president Rodrigo Duterte Presidential. MANILA, Philippines — Former president Rodrigo Duterte does not remember authorizing the transfer of P47.6 billion to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) for the purchase of COVID-19 protective equipment, as claimed by former health secretary Francisco Duque III. Duterte, however, conceded: “Maybe what I said is, ‘go ahead.’ ” “I could not recall, for the life of me. Maybe what you are saying is true,” Duterte said during an interview with social media personalities in Davao City Tuesday night. But he stressed: “Considering the huge amount of (fund) transfer, I would have insisted as a lawyer to put it in a memo or something.” Duque on Monday told...

The plans follows Australia's decision to ban children under 16 from accessing social media, with fines for tech giants from Instagram and Facebook owner Meta to TikTok if they failed to prevent children accessing their platforms. "We discussed how to protect children in digital space," she said in a video uploaded on the YouTube channel of the president's office. "The president said to carry on with this plan. He is very supportive on how this kind of child protection will be done in our digital space," she said. Source: Indonesia plans minimum age for social media use

TikTok plans to shut U.S. operations of its social media app used by 170 million Americans on Sunday, when a federal ban is set to take effect, barring a last-minute reprieve, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The law signed in April mandates a ban on new TikTok downloads on Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab or Google (GOOGL.O), opens new tab app stores if Chinese parent ByteDance fails to divest the site. Users who have downloaded TikTok would theoretically still be able to use the app, except that the law also bars U.S. companies starting Sunday from providing services to enable the distribution, maintenance, or updating of it. Source...

MANILA: Japan and the Philippines vowed Wednesday to strengthen security cooperation to counter China’s actions in key sea trade routes, amid speculation incoming US President Donald Trump could scale back security commitments in Asia. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met with his Filipino counterpart Enrique Manalo and with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in Manila to affirm security commitments. Iwaya and Manalo discussed Beijing’s efforts to assert control over the South China Sea, a strategic trade route, as well as Beijing’s territorial and sovereign rights claims in the East China Sea that overlap with Japan’s. “In response to the developments in the South China Sea, we agreed to further strengthen...

"None," Escudero told ABS-CBN News, when he was asked if the impeachment or any political agenda was discussed during the dinner. "Our respective spouses were also invited and most were there… It was socials," he said. He said the dinner was “chillax” and was originally intended to be held in December. Source: https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/2025/1/15/escudero-no-impeachment-talks-in-senators-chillax-palace-dinner-1102

A missing Pangasinan State University student was found dead on Baywalk in Barangay Poblacion here on Tuesday, September 24. Police identified the victim as Evalend Cervera Salting, a third year BS Business Administration student of the PSU-Lingayen. Salting was last seen near PSU-Lingayen walking towards a popular convenience store on Monday, September 23 and was reported missing since 7 p.m. that day. Police said John Karlo Salvador Ramos, 35, of Barangay Poblacion, this town, discovered the victim’s body while he and his family were walking in the area on Tuesday night. The PSU-Lingayen condemned the killing of Salting in its official Facebook page. "We are devastated to confirm the loss of one of our students, Evalend C...

Meta deleted nonbinary and trans themes for its Messenger app this week, around the same time that the company announced it would change its rules to allow users to declare that LGBTQ+ people are “mentally ill,” 404 Media has learned. Meta did not respond to a request for comment about why the company removed these themes, but the change comes right as Mark Zuckerberg’s company is publicly and loudly shifting rightward to more closely align itself with the views of the incoming Donald Trump administration. Source: Meta Deletes Trans and Nonbinary Messenger Themes

A motorcade was seen leaving the gates of his hillside residence where Yoon has been holed up for weeks behind barbed wire barriers and a small army of personal security. Earlier more than 3,000 police officers and anti-corruption investigators had gathered there before dawn, pushing through throngs of Yoon supporters and members of his ruling People Power Party protesting attempts to detain him. Source: South Korean investigators arrest impeached President Yoon

Even toy guns or replicas are covered by the gun ban imposed in connection with the May 2025 midterm polls, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec). “Airsofts, Air guns, imitation firearms replicas are included in the ban,” Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiango said yesterday. Source: Gun ban covers airsoft, gun replicas – Comelec

The House of Representatives would send the wrong signals if it delays the processing of impeachment complaints against Vice President Sara Duterte, former senator Leila de Lima said on Tuesday. De Lima, spokesperson for the first batch of complainants, said in a statement that delaying the impeachment complaints might be taken as tolerating incompetence and abuse of public funds. Source: De Lima: House delaying impeachment vs VP Sara sends wrong signals

After a weekend spent blocking the explosive growth of fires that destroyed thousands of homes and killed at least 24 people in the Los Angeles area, firefighters got a slight break with calmer weather but cast a wary eye on a forecast for yet more wind. The National Weather Service issued red flag warnings for severe fire conditions through Wednesday, with sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (80 kilometers per hour) and gusts in the mountains reaching 70 mph (113 kph). The most dangerous day will be Tuesday, fire behavior analyst Dennis Burns warned during a community meeting on Sunday night. Source: More winds feared as LA wildfire death toll hits 24

44 na libreng online courses, alok ng UP Open University

Yoon was given the scheduled pay rise, according to the civil servant salary table for 2025, even as he remains holed up in the presidential residence using his security detail to resist arrest. The document from the ministry of personnel management, seen by Agence France-Presse on Monday, indicates Yoon’s salary will rise to 262.6m won (£147,000) – a 3% raise compared with last year. Source: South Korea's impeached president gets a pay rise while still resisting arrest

The legal counsel of individuals behind the third impeachment complaint filed against Vice President Sara Duterte gave a rather savage reaction to the huge "peace rally" held in Manila on Monday, Jan. 13. "Filipinos are for peace, but we are NOT stupid," lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan wrote on X Monday night, the emphasis his. "Peace without justice is no peace. It’s appeasement to greed, corruption, and impunity," he further said. Source: 'We are not naive': Impeachment case lawyer reacts to Iglesia Ni Cristo 'peace rally'

In a surprising move, the lawmaker-son of President Marcos yesterday moved to declare the position of chairman of the committee on appropriations of the House of Representatives vacant, just as Congress resumed session after a month-long holiday break. There were speculations that Co had displeased the President, which could have been the reason why it was the younger Marcos who made the move to strip him of the post. No replacement for Co had been named, as of last night’s plenary deliberations. Source: Rep. Zaldy Co out as appropriations panel chairman

The rally of the 110-year-old, 2.8-million-strong Christian church, known for its bloc voting practice, was held at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila, Iloilo Freedom Grandstand in Iloilo City, Plaza Divisoria in Cagayan de Oro City, and Rizal Park in Davao City, among other places. The event was held against the backdrop of the feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte, who both received the INC’s endorsement in the 2022 elections. The church said it was “supporting” Marcos’ call against Duterte’s impeachment. Source: IN PHOTOS: Iglesia ni Cristo opposes Sara Duterte impeachment in nationwide rally

Sa gitna ng kaniyang panawagan para sa “electoral integrity” sa nalalapit na 2025 midterm elections, iginiit ni Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. na hindi “military kudeta” ang solusyon sa problema ng bansa.

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New guidelines released by the Italian Bishops’ Conference on Friday brings the ordination of openly gay men to the Catholic priesthood closer. However, it also went on to say that any gay priests must never have ***, as has always been the case for heterosexual priests. Source: Openly gay men can now become priests, Vatican signals

Flight data and cockpit voice recorders from the South Korean passenger plane that crashed last month stopped recording four minutes before the disaster, the country's transport ministry has said. Investigators had hoped that data on the recorders would provide insights about the crucial moments before the tragedy. The ministry said it would analyse what caused the "black boxes" to stop recording. Source: South Korea air crash recorders missing final minutes

A five-year-old girl was found dead at a sugarcane plantation in Valencia City, Bukidnon on Saturday, January 11, 2025. The victim was believed to have been raped first before she was killed. Authorities said the victim was reported missing at the oval grounds evening on Friday and her family looked for her until she was found dead the next day. Police are investigating the incident. Girl, 5, found dead at plantation in Bukidnon

The kitchen is located at Nasdake Building in Pasay City. According to Punay, the expanded program will prioritize areas with high poverty incidence: the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Barmm); the provinces of Leyte and Samar; and the Bicol Region. Source: DSWD eyes expanding ‘Walang Gutom’ Kitchen to provinces in 2025

Frasco said the government projected 7.7 million foreign arrivals for 2024, but the Department of Tourism (DOT) only recorded 5.9 million. She acknowledged that there have been challenges in meeting the target. “Nobody could have anticipated that geopolitics would ultimately seep into arrivals from China considering that the electronic visas for the Chinese market were suspended and this is in stark contrast to the policies of our ASEAN neighbors,” Frasco said. Source: Philippines misses tourism targets as Chinese travelers decline

BREAKING NEWS: The International Fact-Checking Network has convened an emergency meeting of its members today following Facebook's decision to change its content inspection system. . Facebook will switch from paying the IFCN to running a more democratic "community notes" correction system like X dotcom. . IFCN members say this will be "the end of truth" in social media, and the return of "mob rule". . This writer disagrees. Community Notes may be only superficially democratic, but cannot be worse than the manipulated western mainstream media narratives presently foisted on the world by IFCN. . IFCN is partly funded by the CIA front called the National Endowment for Democracy, and by billionaire George Soros, notorious for using the...

Source: facebook.com/OfficeOfTheVicePresidentPH/posts/pfbid0XTxuMrG4rgxzcMh7WktAggvaPAMjX2ubQqGsKdtGpTS6JgveoqHSfVBzqt9wLJaRl

At least 126 people have been confirmed dead and 188 others injured in the Tuesday morning quake that struck rural, high-altitude Tingri County, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) north of Mount Everest, near China's border with Nepal. More than 3,600 houses have collapsed and over 30,000 residents have been relocated, the official Xinhua News Agency said, adding that the search for trapped victims is ongoing. The temperature in Tingri is currently -11 degrees Celsius (12.2 Fahrenheit), the China Meteorological Administration said. The county sits at an average altitude of 4,500 meters (14,800 feet) above sea level. Source: More rescue work as China quake toll hits 126

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Millions of devotees joined the annual procession of the Jesus Nazarene that lasted nearly 21 hours, six hours longer than last year. Authorities attributed the delay to the damaged ropes of the carriage caused by intense pulling of devotees near San Sebastian Church. Police officers helped carry the andas from then on and intervened multiple times to prevent people from climbing onto the carriage before it reached Plaza Miranda. The crowd caused heavy congestion along Quezon Boulevard, where emergency rescue teams assisted devotees struggling to breathe as they crossed road barriers. Despite these challenges, Police Brigadier General Ponce Peñones Jr., deputy director for operations of the National Capital Region Police Office, said...