MANILA — A Malacañang official on Monday expressed understanding over the non-appearance of several Chinese personalities in their scheduled functions in the Philippines. Two Chinese recipients of the Ramon Magsaysay awards, Pan Yue and Fu Qiping, informed the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) of their non-attendance to the event that honors humanitarian works of outstanding [...]

MANILA — Malacañang on Monday ordered security of all government websites strengthened, following the hacking of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and Bulacan government websites Sunday. Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said: “We will make sure that all our websites are secured.” Read rest of story

MANILA — A teachers’ group welcomed the proposed P207.4 billion allocation of the government for education but noted the budget is not enough to alleviate the worsening sector. The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC) also supported the proposal to hire 10,000 new teachers next year, through the P1.6 billion appropriation, as reported by Representative Eduardo Gullas [...]

MANILA — One of the victims in last week’s bloody hostage-taking incident confirmed that slain Police Senior Inspector Rolando Mendoza directly fired at the victims, police said Monday. In a text message to Sun.Star, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Agrimero Cruz Jr. quoted survivor Chan Kwok Chu Joe saying that Mendoza used an assault rifle [...]