IBALIK ANG TIWALA

  Sotto: Congress has given all the resources to Malacanang as country is now in critical risk classification Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III on Monday, January 11 said all the resources available have been given by Congress to the Executive Department, particularly the Department of Health (DOH), to contain COVID-19 infections. ‘’It’s an issue of competence that they have to resolve,’’ Sotto said after the DOH stated that the Philippines is now in a critical risk classification. The country’s reported 33,169 cases of COVID-19 last January 10. In a related development, opposition Senator Francis ‘’Kiko’’ N. Pangilinan revealed today that his latest RT-PCR test result is negative. ‘’Sharon, the kids & househelp also negative! My Dr. sister says my prior result was a false positive as none of us have symptoms. We need FREE testing for ALL who need it so we are ALL better prepared to manage Covid. Thank u for ur prayers!,’’ Panglinan said in his Twitter account. There are at...

  Reported hacking: Comelec system breach The National Privacy Commission ordered the Commission on Elections and Manila Bulletin Tech Editor Art Samaniego Jr. to attend a January 25 Presidential aspirants are raising concern over the reported breach of the Commission on Elections' servers. In a statement, Sen. Manny Pacquiao urges Congress to exercise its oversight powers over the incident under Republic Act 8436 or the Automated Election Law. In a press statement carried by News5 , NPC says its Complaints and Investigation Division has launched an investigation in response to a Manila Bulletin article on the alleged breach. "The Comelec must address the serious allegations made in the Manila Bulletin news report and determine whether personal data were indeed compromised," it also says. Sen. Ping Lacson, another presidential aspirant, says his campaign's cybersecurity team is conducting its own investigation into the reported hacking incident. He also awaits those b...

  Lacson seeks to regularize, professionalize public transport workers MANILA, Philippines — Presidential aspirant Senator Panfilo Lacson will push for the regularization of public service drivers and conductors as he recalled how his father worked as a jeepney driver to earn a living for his family. “‘Yan ang bumuhay sa amin [at] nagpaaral sa aming magkakapatid [That’s the job that provided for us and helped send me and my siblings through school],” Lacson said in an interview on radio DZXL over the weekend. Lacson stressed that regularizing public transport workers would ensure that they have regular salaries, provide more opportunities to their families and protect the commuting public in case of accidents. “Kasi ‘pag na-regularize, madaling ma-identify. Kasi again pagka-contractual, ‘di ba, nauso noong araw 10 ang lisensya ng driver? ‘Pag nahuli o kaya naaksidente tinatapon na lang ‘yung ano at mayroon na naman siyang [ibang] lisensya na gagamitin,” the senator said. (Because i...

  Lacson camp’s cybersecurity team probes hacking of Comelec servers MANILA, Philippines — An in-house cybersecurity team from the camp of Senator Panfilo Lacson is conducting its own investigation on the alleged hacking of the servers of the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Lacson, who is seeking the presidency, said this on Tuesday as he stressed the need for Comelec to be “open to letting experts and related stakeholders help strengthen the security system – including our cybersecurity experts and those of other aspirants.” “While only the [Comelec] and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) can officially confirm or deny if such hacking indeed occurred, our in-house Comelec-accredited cyber-security team is currently conducting its own investigation given their limited accessibility, after I asked them to exert whatever effort to get initial information,” the senator said in a statement. “Finding out who was/were responsible is already material inf...

  Akbayan wants Comelec to hold Marcos in contempt: ‘He lied through his teeth’ ' Kaya magpa-interview sa radio, pero hindi kaya dumalo sa hearing ng kanyang kaso?' asks petitioner and party-list group Akbayan MANILA, Philippines – Akbayan, one of the petitioners seeking the disqualification of presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., wants the poll body to hold him in contempt for “lying” about his absence during the recent hearing on cases seeking to stop his candidacy.  The party-list group made the call on Monday, January 10, three days after Marcos skipped the Commission on Elections (Comelec) hearing on Friday, January 7, due to a “painfully congested throat” the day prior. Yet the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos granted two radio interviews on Thursday, January 6. “He lied through his teeth. He deserves to be held in contempt….  Kaya magpa-interview sa radio, pero hindi kaya dumalo sa hearing ng kanyang kaso  (He can grant radio intervi...

  On the DoTr's 'No Vaccination, No Ride' Policy January 12, 2022 -  First, it begs the question - are there enough vaccine doses available even for the willing? If not, it’s unfair. Indiscriminately punishing even the willing but have no choice due to government shortcomings in providing for their protection should first be taken into consideration before taking a drastic action of possibly denying those people their means of livelihood to feed their families. It is a different matter altogether if vaccines are available to all. By all means, we have the right to be insulated from a higher risk of infection. At least both sides have an option. *****