Duterte signs 2020 budget; 36 percent for healthcare, education, social welfare, housing
The proposed P4.1 trillion national budget for 2020 has been signed into law by President Duterte in a bid to sustain government programs on education, healthcare, and infrastructure development, among others.
Manila Bulletin, Philippine News Agency, Rappler

2020 budget militarist, pork-laden, cuts back social services —Makabayan Bloc
The Makabayan Bloc on Monday insisted that the P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020 that President Rodrigo Duterte just signed into law was "militarist, pork-laden, and full of cutbacks on basic social services."
GMA News

Lacson says 2020 budget may still have 'questionable items'
Senator Panfilo Lacson said there may still be questionable items in the 2020 national budget that President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law.
ABS-CBN News

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Duterte orders gov’t agencies to ‘prepare’ amid growing US-Iran tension
President Duterte ordered concerned government agencies to prepare for the possible effects of the growing tension between the United States and Iran on the Philippines as he led an emergency meeting in Malacañang Sunday afternoon.
Manila Bulletin

Duterte worried about US-Iran tension; Congress urged to allocate standby funds for evacuation of Filipinos
“We are in grave peril.” President Rodrigo Duterte admitted Monday that he is deeply worried and nervous about the growing tension between the United States and Iran, saying that millions of Filipinos will be affected if a war breaks out in the Middle East.
Manila Bulletin, Philippine News Agency, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Rappler

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Gov’t seeking ‘better solution’ to alleged onerous contracts with Metro Manila water concessionaires
The government is seeking a “better solution” to the alleged onerous contracts with two Metro Manila concessionaires, according to a Palace official.
Manila Bulletin

Panelo: Investors in PH must be ‘cautious,’ ensure contracts not against Filipinos’ interests
Investors should be more cautious in venturing into contracts amid government plans to rescind deals with allegedly onerous provisions, a Palace official said Monday
Manila Bulletin

Similar red flags
In waging war against the two major water concessionaires, President Duterte railed against what he said were onerous provisions in their contracts amounting to a surrender of the country’s sovereignty.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

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Palace says gov’t doing everything to help Filipinos affected by Australia bushfires
Malacañang assured that the government was undertaking measures to help the Filipinos affected by the devastating bushfires in Australia. Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the statement as Australia continued to battle wildfires on its east coast.
Manila Bulletin

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Duterte rides motorcycle again
President Rodrigo Duterte once again rode a motorcycle on Sunday evening, days after he skipped visits to earthquake victims in Davao del Sur due to health reasons.
GMA News

President Digong should be forgiving
PRESIDENT Digong may soon issue an executive order that would require all United States citizens who come to the country to obtain a visa. This will be in retaliation for the US plan to ban Filipino officials and individuals whom Washington perceives to be responsible for the continued detention of Sen. Leila de Lima.
The Manila Times

OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT

ELECTION RELATED

DISASTER

Christmas typhoon leaves PHP274-M infra damage in Iloilo
Iloilo was left with an estimated PHP274 million worth of losses in infrastructure from Typhoon "Ursula" (Phanfone) that lashed the province on Christmas day, the latest record of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRMC) shows.
Philippine News Agency

Power coop asks typhoon-hit consumers to be patient
Top officials of electric cooperatives in Eastern Visayas have asked power consumers to be patient and stop making harsh comments against linemen tasked to restore electricity damaged by Typhoon “Ursula” (Phanfone).
Philippine News Agency

MINDANAO

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS

JUDICIARY

SC thumbs down same-sex marriage case ‘with finality’
The Supreme Court (SC) has denied “with finality” a motion for reconsideration on its previous decision junking same sex marriage petition in the Philippines.
Philippine News Agency, Rappler, GMA News

LEGISLATIVE

Senate of the Philippines

Go pushes several disaster resiliency bills
Following a visit to fire victims in Sta. Ana, Manila on Sunday, neophyte Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said yesterday that he is pushing for the passage into laws of the bills that he filed last year, especially the ones that seek to address disaster resiliency issues in the country.
Manila Bulletin

Recto files bill seeking to make overtime pay tax-free
Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto is seeking anew to make the overtime pay of employees from the government and private sectors tax-free.
Manila Bulletin

Hontiveros pushes for Magna Carta for workers in informal economy
Senator Risa Hontiveros is pushing for the passage of a bill that seeks to protect the dignity of workers in the informal economy sector by providing a Magna Carta for workers, enterprises, and organizations under this category.
Manila Bulletin

House of Representatives

Romualdez lauds signing of ‘pro-poor’ 2020 budget
House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez on Monday welcomed the signing into law of a ‘pro-poor’ national budget for 2020 that will carry President Rodrigo Duterte’s commitment of social payback to give Filipinos a comfortable life.
Philippine News Agency

House panel vows passage of bill to authorize use of 4Ps subsidy to purchase palay from farmers
The House Committee on Agriculture and Food vowed on Monday, January 6 to pursue the plenary passage of a bill seeking to authorize the use of the rice subsidy as provided for under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in the 2019 General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the purchase of palay (unhusked rice) from farmers.
Manila Bulletin

Solon wants lower education requirement for cop applicants
Magdalo Para sa Pilipino partylist Rep. Manuel Cabochan III wants to lower the educational requirement for police applicants to address the insufficient number of police force and level the playing field for underprivileged individuals.
Manila Bulletin

Salceda presses need for PH to be ready for virtual banking
Anticipating the rise in virtual banking system in the Philippines, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte-Salceda is batting for the passage of a bill that would provide for a basic regulatory framework for virtual banking.
Manila Bulletin

Bill to allow authorities to access info in prepaid SIM card
A written request from law enforcers is all it would take to extract information about a mobile prepaid subscriber whose phone may have been used to commit a crime, according to the proposed “SIM Card Registration Act” that’s pending approval at the House of Representatives.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Student loans from banks proposed in House
Poor college students may soon be able to take out a loan from private banks or government financial institutions to pay for their tuition and living expenses, under a bill filed by the chair of the House basic education committee.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Solon pushes anew for creation of Department of OFWs
Representative Eric Pineda on Monday pushed anew for the creation of a Department of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) following the killing of domestic worker Jeanelyn Villavende in Kuwait.
Manila Bulletin

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS (LGUs)

2 Camiguin mayors face raps for road-clearing non-compliance
Two town mayors of this province maintained they did not violate the road-clearing policy of the national government after they were included in the list of local officials charged by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for non-compliance.
Philippine News Agency

Sara urges gov’t workers to adopt ‘Davao way' in serving public
Mayor Sara Z. Duterte encouraged fellow public servants to practice the “Davao brand” of public service. “Our Davao brand of service should be the kind that we want to be served if we are part of the general public. Our brand of service should be friendly and accommodating, responsive, proactive, and fast and efficient,” Mayor Sara told the members of the Association of Regional Executives of National Agencies of Region 11 (ARENA-11) on Monday.
Philippine News Agency

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

BI sees better delivery of public services in 2020
The Bureau of.Immigration (BI) said on Monday it will further enhance the delivery of services to international travelers this year despite shortage in its manpower.
Manila Bulletin

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Avoid fraud on documents, write dates in full format – DOJ official
A legal expert advised the public to write dates in full format on important documents. In an interview with ABS CBN News Saturday, Department of Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said documents with abbreviated dates could be susceptible to tampering or alteration.
Manila Bulletin

DEFENSE AND SECURITY

Armed Forces of the Philippines

Follow 'highest standards' of excellence, AFP personnel urged
Newly appointed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff, Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr. urged AFP personnel to adhere to the highest standards of excellence in doing service to the country.
Philippine News Agency

Philippine National Police

Año says Duterte asked him to instill same kind of discipline, dedication of soldiers in PNP
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo M. Año confirmed that President Duterte had asked him to supervise the Philippine National Police (PNP) to instill the same kind of discipline and dedication exhibited by the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Manila Bulletin

Año admits public still doubtful of PNP
Even as a new year unfolds, the public still has qualms on the integrity of the Philippine National Police (PNP) after it was haunted in 2019 by the drug recycling controversy, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año admitted Monday.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

Police general told to eat just yogurt
A police general was asked to go on a yogurt diet as the Philippine National Police (PNP) vowed to strictly implement this year the policy on Body Mass Index (BMI) for all the cops nationwide.
Manila Bulletin

BUDGET, FINANCE, and TAXATION

DOF projects all CTRP packages passed in H1
THE Department of Finance (DOF) has expressed optimism that all the remaining packages under the Comprehensive Tax Reform Program (CTRP) will be passed within the first half of 2020.
Business Mirror

ECONOMY AND INVESTMENTS

Inflation for poorest Filipinos slowed–PSA
THE poorest Filipinos continued to experience some reprieve from high-commodity prices as inflation for the bottom 30 percent slowed year-on-year in November 2019, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Business Mirror

Peso seen sliding despite growth push
THE local currency is expected to depreciate in 2020, a local economist said, largely due to the resumption of the country’s import demand for the year.
Business Mirror

BUILD, BUILD, BUILD and PUBLIC WORKS

Expect surge in flagship projects after signing of 2020 budget
Senator Sonny Angara on Monday said the signing of the PHP4.1-trillion General Appropriations Act of 2020 by President Rodrigo Duterte signals the start of the implementation of more flagship projects that are meant to improve the lives of the Filipino people.
Philippine News Agency

OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE

AUDIT, GRAFT, AND CORRUPTION

CA upholds Junjun Binay’s disqualification from public office
The Court of Appeals has affirmed an Office of the Ombudsman ruling disqualifying former Makati City Mayor Jejomar "JunJun" Erwin Binay, Jr. from holding public office over an administrative case involving a school building.
Philippine News Agency, Rappler

Sandiganbayan acquits ex-Cebu town mayor
Former Consolacion Mayor Avelino Gungob Sr. of Cebu has been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division of his graft charge involving a reportedly anomalous Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC) application due to the failure of the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
Manila Bulletin

COA orders LWUA officials to return P26-M received in 2009 for ‘miscellaneous expenses’
The Commission on Audit (COA) has ordered former and incumbent officials of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) to return to government some P25.26 million in extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses (EME) they received in 2009.
Manila Bulletin

FOREIGN RELATIONS  

West Philippine Sea

Water Wars: Stare Decisis in the South China Sea
On Dec. 12, 2019, Malaysia further delineated the limits of its extended continental shelf, directly challenging Chinese claims in the South China Sea. Malaysia submitted information to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf that expressed its rights to an extended continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.
Lawfare

LABOR

Security of OFWs in Middle East assured — Go
Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘’Bong’’ Go assured the nation on Monday that the government would take all steps possible to ensure the security of Filipinos in the country and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), especially in the Middle East.
Manila Bulletin

PH gov’t should include all OFWs in Middle East in contingency plans – Marcos
Senator Imee R. Marcos warned on Monday that the Philippine government might be caught flat-footed if it limits the scope of its contingency plans for evacuating overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to just Iran and Iraq as tension in the Middle East involving these countries and the United States continued to escalate.
Manila Bulletin

House leader prefers partial ban of OFWs to Kuwait
A ranking member of the House of Representatives supported on Monday the “partial” deployment ban of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to Kuwait that was earlier announced by local labor authorities.
Manila Bulletin

PH top diplomat in Baghdad asks companies in Iraq to list their Filipino employees, provide plans for evacuation
The top Filipino diplomat in Baghdad has requested the human resource offices of private companies that employ Filipino workers in Iraq to provide them with the list of their employees and their respective contingency plans in case of evacuation.
Manila Bulletin

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TRANSPORTATION

TWG alleges ‘Angkas’ 99-percent owned by Singaporean
The Technical Working Group (TWG) conducting a study on the feasibility of motorcycle taxi service fired back at Angkas, for allegedly being 99-percent foreign-owned.
Manila Bulletin

Court issues TRO on rider cap policy for motorcycle taxis
Amid issues on the extended motorcycle taxi pilot implementation, a local court granted on Monday a 72-hour temporary restraining order (TRO) on the rider cap per company policy imposed by the technical working group (TWG) overseeing the dry run.
Manila Bulletin, Philippine News Agency, Rappler

JoyRide insists no links to senator, ‘went through process’ for inclusion in test run
New ride-hailing firm Joyride said their efforts to be included in the extended pilot run of motorcycle taxi services were all “in accordance with the law.”
Manila Bulletin

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HEALTH

Gordon: DOH should monitor, prepare for ‘mystery disease’ from China
Senator Richard J. Gordon said on Monday the Department of Health should monitor and put in place preparations in case the “mystery” disease from Wuhan, China spreads.
Manila Bulletin, Philippine Daily Inquirer

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DOH extends synchronized polio vaccine drive in NCR, Mindanao until April
Additional rounds of the synchronized oral polio vaccine will be conducted in Metro Manila and all regions of Mindanao, extending the campaign until April 2020, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.
Manila Bulletin, Rappler

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE

Birth pains force farmers' kids out of school
The government’s economic team, as well as most experts, were one in saying that liberalizing rice imports is necessary to tame prices of the Filipino staple. Hiccups in the implementation of the rice tariffication law are simply “birth pains.”
Rappler

DA validating ‘ASF pork’ in Quezon City
THE Department of Agriculture (DA) on Monday said it will improve measures against African swine fever as it validates another reported discovery of ASF-tainted pork in another supermarket in Quezon City.
Business Mirror

EDUCATION

Teachers decry ‘meager’ pay hike, call on Duterte to veto provisions of salary scheme
Two groups of public school teachers on Monday decried the impending salary increase for teachers in the country, and vowed to hold the Duterte administration accountable for alleged “failure” to uphold the interests of the majority of the Filipino people.
Manila Bulletin

Solon reminds Duterte: Teachers are important, they deserve salary hike like cops, soldiers
A militant lawmaker has underscored the importance of teachers to the country, after President Rodrigo Duterte allegedly made an unsavory comparison between teachers and law enforcers like the police and military.
Manila Bulletin

Private schools plead with DepEd not to choke them with regulations
In order to achieve quality education, an association of private schools urged the government, particularly the Department of Education (DepEd), to “make us real partners” by instituting various changes both in operations and in the curriculum.
Manila Bulletin

PHL badly needs data analysts–PIDS
THE Philippine labor force still lacks employees with Data Science and Analytics (DSA) skills, according to a study released by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
Business Mirror

Department of Education’s blame game
Since the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) came out, where the Philippines fared worst among 79 countries in reading comprehension and second lowest in both mathematical and scientific literacy.
Philippine Daily Inquirer

ENERGY

Gatchalian asks DOE to be more transparent on gov’t plan for use of nuclear power in PH
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian has pressed the Department of Energy (DOE) to publicly release its report on the integrated work plan for nuclear power infrastructure in the country.
Manila Bulletin

[OPINION] Push for pro-poor, pro-environment energy policy
Mass unemployment. Landlessness. Escalating prices of goods and commodities. Severe lack of access to basic social services such as health, housing, education, and insurance coverage. These are some of the urgent problems that plague the Filipino people, and these same problems have remained largely unsolved for decades despite the succession of governments.
Rappler

With new fuel tax hike, global oil spikes may lead to higher prices
MOTORISTS should brace for fuel price increases in the coming weeks following rising tension in the Middle East that could draw to the edge of war the United States, Iraq and Iran.
Business Mirror

POVERTY

SOCIAL WELFARE AND DEVELOPMENT

DSWD awards exemplary employees
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) kicked off its 69th founding anniversary celebration on Monday, highlighting social integration as its major thrust in line with the Philippine Development Plan for 2017-2022.
Manila Bulletin

HOUSING

TOURISM

523K visited Pangasinan’s Hundred Islands in 2019
A total of 522,917 tourists visited the famous Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) here from January 1 to December 31 last year, resulting in PHP44.73 million in income for the city.
Philippine News Agency

Tboli’s famed Lake Holon shut down for rehab
The famed crater-lake Holon in Tboli town in South Cotabato, one of the province’s top ecotourism destinations, was shut down to tourists for over two months starting Monday, Jan. 6, for its annual rehabilitation.
Philippine News Agency

ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

Water crisis

INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGY  

Data privacy and cyber security in 2020
TWO thousand twenty looks promising on many levels; however, there could also be an inordinate rise of security breaches, attacks and incidents. What will make 2020 such a banner year is that hackers will start turning technology against us. Let’s look at very recent developments:
Business Mirror