Duterte threatens to fire Robredo if she reveals state secrets
President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to fire Vice President Leni Robredo as co-chair of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs (ICAD) if she reveals classified matters of the government that will endanger the security of the state.
GMA News

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Life has begun to take its toll on my health – Duterte
President Rodrigo Duterte admitted that he was not in the best of his health, and that his age his was catching up on him. "Lahat ng sakit, nandito na sa 'kin kasi matanda na ako... Kung sabihin mo, 'Okay ka ba presidente? Are you in the best of health?' Of course not. I am old, life has begun to take its toll on my health.
GMA News

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Palace: Push for Duterte emergency powers to hasten ‘Build’ projects ‘belated’
The push to grant President Rodrigo Duterte special powers to speed up the implementation of the “Build, Build, Build” program of his administration is already overdue and no longer among the priorities of the Chief Executive, Malacañang said Saturday.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Palace: Too early to judge Robredo as drug czar
Malacañang said it was still too early to tell if Vice President Leni Robredo was doing a good job as the drug czar, asking the public to just let her perform her job.
Manila Bulletin

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

ELECTION RELATED

DISASTER

Evacuation centers down to 25 as more families return home
The 34 evacuation centers here for earthquakes victims have now been reduced to 25 as more families return home, the City Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) said on Friday.
Philippine News Agency

Owner of severely damaged hotel in Kidapawan given ultimatum to demolish building
The mayor here has given the management of the severely damaged hotel as a result of the magnitude 6.5 earthquake here last month an ultimatum to start the demolition of their structure.
Mindanews

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MinDA to set up poultry, hog farms in quake-hit areas
The Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has partnered with Thailand's biggest agricultural and food company, the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), and a Mindanao agri-business company to establish community poultry and hog farms in areas affected by the recent earthquakes in Mindanao.
Philippine News Agency

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PH disaster resilience group partners with LGUs
The Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) is expanding its support for the country's disaster risk reduction plan, partnering with the local government units (LGUs) via a disaster resilience project launched on Wednesday.
Philippine News Agency

MINDANAO

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

JUDICIARY

LEGISLATIVE

Senate of the Philippines

Senators seek abolition of 23 inactive GOCCs
Senators have sought the abolition of 23 inactive government-owned or –controlled corporations (GOCCs) to save the national government from coughing up with billions of pesos for their subsidies.
Manila Bulletin

Recto calls for Senate inquiry into proliferation of ‘deepfakes’
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto is seeking a Senate inquiry into the proliferation of so-called “deepfakes” or fabricated video or audio materials online.
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin

Increase in teachers’ chalk allowance pushed
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian wants to institutionalize the increase of the annual teaching supplies allowance from P3,500 to 5,000.
Manila Bulletin

Senate to make sure all new laws signed by Duterte will get funding
As the plenary debate on the proposed P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget is scheduled to end next week, the Senate is making sure that the new laws signed by President Duterte will be funded.
Manila Bulletin, GMA News

House of Representatives

Solon wants gardening to be intergrated in secondary school curriculum
Camarines Norte Rep.  Marisol Panotes wants to integrate gardening in the secondary school curriculum in both public and private schools.
Cebu Daily News

House probe sought on proliferation of prostitution dens catering to Chinese POGO workers
A neophyte woman lawmaker is calling on the Lower Chamber to look into the “alarming” proliferation of prostitution dens catering exclusively to Philippine Gaming Offshore Operators (POGO) workers.
Manila Bulletin

BUDGET, FINANCE, and TAXATION

Chevron complies with government’s fuel marking program
Chevron Philippines Inc. (CPI), which sells fuel products through the Caltex brand, has complied with the government’s fuel marking program, the Bureau of Customs (BOC) said.
Manila Bulletin

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs)

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

BuCor personnel finish three-week reformation program
Some 180 personnel of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) graduated recently from the Personnel Reformation Program in a bid to enhance the productivity of the agency’s men.
Manila Bulletin

DEFENSE AND SECURITY

Armed Forces of the Philippines

Philippine National Police

[OPINION] Who will police the police?
Trust and confidence in the Philippine National Police (PNP) appear to have hit a new low when the recently concluded investigation of the Senate blue ribbon committee revealed that prohibited drugs recovered in a buy-bust operation in Pampanga were underreported and recycled by “ninja cops.”
Rappler

 PNP suspends permits to carry guns in some areas for SEA Games
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has suspended permits to carry firearms outside of residence (PTCFORs) of gun owners in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and La Union for a peaceful hosting of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

PNP officials to explain to House panel how P35-M bounty in Batocabe case was disbursed
Officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP), led by PNP Officer-in-Charge Police Lieutenant General Francisco “Archie” Gamboa, are expected to conduct a briefing on November 20, Wednesday, before the House Committee on Public Accounts on the disbursement of the P35-million bounty offered for capture of suspects in the murder of former AKO Bicol partylist Rep. Rodel Batocabe in December last year.
Manila Bulletin

ECONOMY AND INVESTMENTS

BUILD, BUILD, BUILD and PUBLIC WORKS

What has ‘Build, Build, Build’ achieved so far? 9845 km of roads, 2,709 bridges, 64 airport projects, 243 seaport projects
The Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program is composed of thousands of projects meant to connect, facilitate growth in 81 provinces, 18 regions around the country with an estimated cost of about P8 trillion. In the Department of Public Works and Highways alone, we are currently implementing at least 20,000 projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program.
Manila Bulletin

Reliable power needed for ‘Build, Build, Build’ agenda
Despite assurances from the Department of Energy of ample electricity supply, businessmen are worried over an impending power crisis. Last month, the Luzon grid experienced yellow alerts for two consecutive days, bringing the number of yellow alert days this year to 45. That’s more than the total of 39 yellow days since the start of President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration, from mid-2016 to 2018.
Manila Standard

OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

AUDIT, GRAFT, AND CORRUPTION

Padaca found guilty of graft: ‘I’m no thief’
The Sandiganbayan has found former Isabela governor and Ramon Magsaysay awardee Grace Padaca guilty of graft and malversation in connection with a 2006 case, where she was accused of awarding P25 million in agricultural funds to a nongovernmental organization (NGO) without public bidding and of violating procurement regulations.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Pangilinan comes to Padaca’s defense after her graft conviction
Opposition Senator Francis N. Pangilinan on Saturday said he is saddened by the decision of the Sandibayanbayan finding former Isabela Governor Grace Padaca guilty of graft and malversation of public funds.
Manila Bulletin

Ex-Western Samar mayor convicted of graft
The Sandiganbayan Third Division has convicted former Hinabangan Mayor Alejandro Abarratigue of Western Samar and two others of their graft charge involving the irregular purchase of a parcel of land in 2008.
Manila Bulletin

FOREIGN RELATIONS  

DFA: No need to evacuate Filipinos in Hong Kong at this time
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it does not see the need to evacuate Filipinos in Hong Kong “at this time” amid protests there. The foreign affairs department debunked false reports circulating on social media and said that Filipinos in Hong Kong remain safe and are “largely unaffected” by the protests.
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin

West Philippine Sea

LABOR

TRANSPORTATION

Transport coop makes pitch for 'affordable, safe' rehabilitated jeepney
Transport groups opposed to the administration's proposed public utility vehicle (PUV) modernization program have suggested jeepney rehabilitation as a viable option not only for drivers and operators, but commuters as well.
Rappler

Recto: Higher MVUC should guarantee better, safer roads
 Higher Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MVUC) should guarantee better and safer roads, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said Saturday. Recto called for the government’s disclosure of where the funds are spent amid proposals to double the road users’ tax.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

HEALTH

PhilHealth’s review of policy, system under close House scrutiny
The House Committee on Health is closely keeping an eye on the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s (PhilHealth) efforts to review its policy and system, even as it expressed readiness to conduct a probe on its alleged failure to reimburse some P2.5 billion incurred by accredited private hospitals for attending to the medical needs of their members.
Manila Bulletin

PAO set to file 5 more Dengvaxia raps Monday
The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) is expected to file before the Department of Justice (DOJ) this Monday (Nov. 18) five more complaints concerning the deaths of school children who received shots of the still experimental anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia.
Manila Bulletin

DOH clarifies first vaping-related illness in PHL still only probable case
The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday clarified that the first confirmed lung injury in the country related to vaping or the use of electronic cigarettes is still regarded as a probable case.
GMA News

Duque orders more tests on alleged vape patient
The Department of Health (DOH) said that they are still conducting further tests to fully validate if the first reported case of ‘electronic cigarette or vape-associated lung injury’ (EVALI) in the country is really due to the use of electronic cigarettes.
Manila Bulletin

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

Making both conventional and organic agriculture work in PH
Despite the arguments against the soundness of the prohibition of use of chemical fertilizers, synthetic pesticides and GMOs, organic agriculture had been growing spectacularly during the last 18 years. 
Manila Bulletin

EDUCATION

Briones says vaping included in DepEd’s absolute ban on smoking in all schools
Education Secretary Leonor Briones reiterated the “absolute ban” on all forms of smoking in all schools and its offices of the Department of Education (DepEd) following the confirmation of the first reported local case of “electronic-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury” (EVALI).
Manila Bulletin

DepEd chief acknowledges need to update drug prevention education
While drug prevention education is already included in the basic education curriculum, Education Secretary Leonor Briones acknowledged that “new methods” have to be introduced to make it more effective and relevant with the times.
Manila Bulletin

ENERGY

DavNor electric power conflict resolved
After seven years of dispute, the two factions at the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco) have put an end to their bickering, Davao del Norte Governor Edwin Jubahib said on Friday.
Philippine News Agency

POVERTY

36 percent of Filipinos say their lives improved in Q3 2019
Thirty-six percent of Filipinos said their quality of life improved in the third quarter of 2019, recent results of Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed Saturday.
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Bulletin

SOCIAL WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT

HOUSING

TOURISM

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Zambo City bans single-use plastics on Sta. Cruz Islands
The city government is set to ban the entry and usage of single-use plastics on the Great and Little Sta. Cruz islands as a strategy of solid waste management program within the protected area.
Philippine News Agency

In major green thrust, SMC to shift to biodegradable plastic packaging
the country’s largest conglomerate—is set to become the first Filipino company to utilize fully certified biodegradable plastic packaging.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Greening our cities
As hubs of employment, trade and innovation, cities are the engines of our economic growth, accounting for over 80 percent of global GDP. By mid-century, more than 6 billion people—almost 70 percent of the world’s population—will live in urban areas, up from about 4 billion today.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Water crisis

INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY

DEVELOPMENT SECTOR