Sanford 6 philippines

Typhoon Goni continues to bear down on The Philippines in one of the South China Sea’s busiest storm years. 220,000 people have now been evacuated as of today.The typhoon, packing “destructive winds’, is expected to reach the south-east of the Philippine’s main island of Luzon tomorrow morning with the eye of the storm passing over during Sunday afternoon. Forecasters are expecting wind speeds of over 200 kilometres per hour. Typhoon Goni is known locally as “Rolly”. A warning has been issued “moderate to high risk” of storm surges up to 3 metres high along the east coast over the next 2 days. On Wednesday this week Typhoon Molave smashed into Vietnam’s central coast, killing up to 35 people and flooding low-lying villages and then dropping heavy rain on southern Laos and Central Thailand. Molave killed 20 people as it passed over The Philippines. GRAPHIC: Typhoon Goni will reach Philippine’s island of Luzon tomorrow. Schools are being used as emergency shelters as well … [Read more...] about This year’s most powerful typhoon will hit Philippines tomorrow

MANILA: New coronavirus infections in the Philippines hit a record high on Friday (Mar 19), health officials said, as pandemic restrictions were tightened in the capital to combat the resurgence in cases. Museums, game arcades and driving schools have been ordered to shut, while church and restaurant capacity has been reduced to 30 per cent as authorities struggle to contain the fast-spreading virus. The temporary measures come as the number of daily new infections in the country hit 7,103 - the highest since the start of the crisis - taking its caseload to more than 648,000, with most of the active cases in the capital. Experts have warned the figure could reach 11,000 a day by the end of the month, while the COVID-19 task force has called for available vaccines to be deployed to virus hot spots. READ: Philippines detects first case of COVID-19 variant from Brazil, confirms local variant On Friday, the Philippines' drug regulator approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine … [Read more...] about Philippines logs record number of new COVID-19 infections

Three Indonesian fishermen kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants more than a year ago have been rescued in the southern Philippines, police said Friday. The men were among eight crew members aboard a vessel when it was boarded by the notorious kidnap-for-ransom militants, who have distant links to the Islamic State group, off Borneo in January 2020. They were held in Sulu province in the southern Philippines, the group's stronghold, and during the ordeal, three were freed and one died. On Thursday, three of the men and one of their captors were found on a beach in the nearby province of Tawi Tawi after their motorboat capsized in bad weather, police Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar said. Read also: Indonesian held hostage by Abu Sayyaf killed in gunfire in Philippines A fourth fisherman is missing while four militants travelling in a separate boat "were lost due to strong winds and big waves", Eleazar said. A search operation was underway as were efforts to identify the … [Read more...] about Three Indonesian hostages rescued in Philippines: Police

An Indonesian fisherman held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf group has died following a shootout between the Philippines security force and militants in the coastal town of Patikul in Sulu on Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry has confirmed. The fisherman, identified as LB, was among five Indonesian sailors abducted by the militant group in January and held captive in the southern Philippines. Indonesia Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said the gun battle between security personnel of Joint Task Force Sulu and the 45 th Battalion Infantry with the Abu Sayyaf group occurred at 8 a.m. local time. LB's body has been flown from Sulu to a funeral house in Zamboanga City aboard a Filipino military aircraft, she said. “On behalf of the government, I would like to express my deep condolences to the family of the victim,” Retno said in a press briefing on Wednesday. The ministry has told LB’s family and the Buton administration in Southeast Sulawesi of his death, she added. She asserted that … [Read more...] about Indonesian held hostage by Abu Sayyaf killed in gunfire in Philippines

New coronavirus infections in the Philippines hit a record high on Friday, health officials said, as pandemic restrictions were tightened in the capital to combat the resurgence in cases. The Philippines has seen a surge in new cases of Covid-19 Museums, game arcades and driving schools have been ordered to shut, while church and restaurant capacity has been reduced to 30 percent as authorities struggle to contain the fast-spreading virus. The temporary measures come as the number of daily new infections in the country hit 7,103 -- the highest since the start of the crisis -- taking its caseload to more than 648,000, with most of the active cases in the capital. Experts have warned the figure could reach 11,000 a day by the end of the month, while the Covid-19 task force has called for available vaccines to be deployed to virus hot spots. On Friday, the Philippines' drug regulator approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use -- the fourth jab to … [Read more...] about Philippines logs record new coronavirus infections

Hanoi (VNA) - The Philippines' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted emergency authorization for the use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, FDA Director-General Enrique Domingo said on March 19. Sputnik V vaccine , when used to prevent COVID-19 , outweigh the known and potential risks of the said vaccine as of date, Domingo said in an online media briefing. The same day, the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) reported 7,103 new COVID-19 infections, the highest daily jump since the disease emerged in the Southeast Asian country in January 2020, raising the total to 648,066. VNA … [Read more...] about Philippines approves Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use

Police Lt-Gen Guillermo Eleazar said an unknown number of New People's Army (NPA) rebels attacked a seven-man police squad while on patrol around 9:45pm on Friday in Labo town in Camarines Norte province, triggering a three-hour gunfight. Eleazar said he ordered a police team's deployment to secure a road project after a construction company reported that the rebels are extorting money. "The threat is that the rebels would burn all the equipment being used for the construction project if they would not pay," Eleazar said in a statement. Eleazar said police and military reinforcements backed by two multi-role gunship helicopters were deployed on Saturday to track down the rebels. The NPA rebels have been fighting with the government since 1969. They concentrate their attacks on rural areas and small-scale skirmishes with the military. The NPA estimated strength is at 3,000, a number significantly lower than its peak strength of around 25,000 in the 1980s. Earlier on the day, … [Read more...] about Five police officers killed, two wounded in ambush by rebels in Philippines

As the Philippines awaits a cure for Covid-19, telecommuting, once an unfamiliar work arrangement has now become a standard practice — with safety measures set in place by the government in many organizations in the country as is also the case globally. Remote working has thus become the new normal in the country, to be strengthened by a recent bill filed in Congress to further support the existing telecommuting law. Markus Nisula, managing director of KONE Philippines, discussed with The Manila Times the pros and cons of the bill that proposes mandatory work-from-home (WFH) arrangements to be offered to employees who fulfil specific criteria to be eligible for WFH deployment. Markus Nisula (MNisula): Let us look at the present situation this way. The pandemic has recalibrated everything: work, life and play. With the coronavirus crisis not abating anytime soon, telecommuting is still seen to be the norm across the country. Strict physical distancing measures in public … [Read more...] about Reshaping the Philippine workplace in the new normal

KOTA KINABALU: Abu Sayyaf sub-commander Apo Mike has reportedly been killed in the Southern Philippines. He is believed to be responsible for a spate of kidnappings in Sabah waters over the past years. Apo Mike Apo Mike - whose real name is Majan Sahidjuan - was said to have been killed by Philippine security forces at Barangay Kalupag Island at Languyan in Tawi-Tawi, close to Sabah, on Saturday (March 20) evening. His death comes two days after Sabah’s remaining kidnap victims - three Indonesian fishermen - were rescued by Philippine security forces on March 18. Philippine media said that prior to his death, Apo Mike was with his comrades and three Indonesian hostages who were snatched from Sabah in January last year when they got into trouble because of faulty boats. It is learnt that Apo Mike was marooned on the island after his boat capsized, while two of his comrades fled with the hostages in another vessel that had also sprung a leak. One of the escaping Abu Sayyaf … [Read more...] about Abu Sayyaf sub-commander Apo Mike slain in firefight with Philippine security forces

KOTA KINABALU: After more than a year as Abu Sayyaf captives, three Indonesian fishermen can finally go home following their rescue by Philippine police on Thursday (March 18). The three hostages - Arsad Dahlan, Arizal Kasta Miran and Andi Riswanto, snatched from a fishing vessel in waters off Tambisan, Lahad Datu, on Jan 15 last year - were found when Philippine authorities responded to a distress call at about 5.30pm. Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hazani Ghazali said on Friday (March 19) that according to their Philippine counterparts, the captives and a fourth man were found on a sinking boat. The boat was reported to have sprung a leak in the waters of Pasigan Laut, South Ubian, Tawi-Tawi. “The Philippine police received a report about the sinking boat, went to rescue the victims, and found that three of them were hostages,” he said when contacted. He said it was a stroke of luck for the victims and the authorities, as they managed to bring the hostages to safety without … [Read more...] about Three Abu Sayyaf hostages rescued by Philippine police