Tag: Congress

Congress finishes nat’l canvass: final votes show Marcos with 31.6M votes, Sara with 32M votes

Proclamation of Marcos Jr as 17th PHL president, Sara Duterte as next VP of the country, set at 5 p.m. (Eagle News) — Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, announced the successful completion of the national canvass of votes for president and vice-president for the May 9, 2022 elections, paving the way for the proclamation of the winning candidates. The canvassing of the votes was terminated at around 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May […]

“This is the real count, let the healing begin” says NBOC as nat’l canvass of votes for president and VP start

Robredo counsel, Atty. Macalintal, interposes no objections; cites VP Leni’s statement of “need to accept the majority’s decision”   (Eagle News) – “This is the real count, the official canvassing body for the President and Vice-President of the Philippines.” With this, the Philippine Congress in joint session, convening as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), officially started the canvass of votes for president and vice-president in the May 9, 2022 elections. Zubiri, who chairs the […]

US Congress passes budget including $14 billion for Ukraine

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Congress passed a huge omnibus 2022 spending bill Thursday including almost $14 billion in humanitarian and military aid to war-torn Ukraine, as its invasion by Russia entered its third week. Lawmakers had been facing the latest in a series of shutdown showdowns, with government funding due to expire at midnight Friday into Saturday, meaning thousands of workers would have been sent home without pay. With the deadline fast […]

‘Denial and delay’: Big Oil rebuked in US Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – US climate scientists accused four of the world’s largest oil companies Tuesday of lying about the harms linked to their industry and trying to delay the switch to cleaner fuel. American multinationals ExxonMobil and Chevron, as well as Britain’s BP and Shell, are being investigated by the US Congress for their role in spreading misinformation about climate change. Michael Mann, an academic, told the House oversight committee the companies […]

US Congress to vote on averting government shutdown

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democrats introduced a short-term bill on Monday to fund the US government ahead of a potential shutdown next week, when federal agencies run out of previously allocated money. Shutdowns typically lead to hundreds of thousands of government workers being sent home, while parks, museums and other federal properties and services are closed. With funding running out on February 18, President Joe Biden’s Democrats and opposition Republicans had been unable […]

Biden’s vision for green US imperiled by Senate coal-state tycoon

by Frankie TAGGART Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – President Joe Biden has pledged to enact the toughest environmental policies in US history but his plans look dead on arrival thanks to one senator who has pocketed a fortune from fossil fuels. The $150 billion Clean Electricity Performance Program (CEPP) — a cornerstone of Biden’s sweeping domestic agenda — would reward utilities that switch to renewable energy and penalize those that do not. […]

Millions of Americans risk eviction as virus cases spike

Millions of Americans could find themselves homeless starting Sunday as a nationwide ban on evictions expires, against a backdrop of surging coronavirus cases and political fingerpointing. With billions in government funds meant to help renters still untapped, President Joe Biden this week urged Congress to extend the 11-month-old moratorium after a recent Supreme Court ruling meant the White House could not do so. But Republicans balked at Democratic efforts to extend the eviction ban through […]

Speaker Velasco says moves to renew ABS CBN franchise shelved until next Congress

Statement came after Pres. Duterte warned Congress he won’t allow ABS-CBN to resume operations   (Eagle News) — House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco said he is shelving “until the next Congress” moves to revive the franchise of media network ABS-CBN. Velasco said that the priority of Congress right now is to finish “the remaining priority measures” of the Duterte administration. His statement came a few days after President Rodrigo Duterte stated that he would not […]

Biden team lays out plans as inauguration, impeachment loom

  by Brian KNOWLTON Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, Unted States (AFP) — President-elect Joe Biden’s top advisors on Sunday outlined his plans to tackle the nation’s multiple crises while balancing the impeachment trial of Donald Trump, as an historic inauguration week opens in the United States. Washington was under the watch of thousands of National Guard troops and ringed with security barriers ahead of Biden’s swearing in Wednesday, in a nation still rattled by the […]

“Unprecedented:” How Trump supporters breached security and raged inside US Capitol

(Editor’s note)  These photos as taken by Agence France Presse, mostly by AFP photographer Saul Loeb, showed just how supporters of outgoing US President Donald Trump descended on the US capitol on January 6, 2021, breached security and “desecrated” the halls of US Congress, something that had never happened before. These scenes shocked the world, and rocked to the core America’s soul. Below is a story by Agence France Presse on how this day happened, […]

US Congress certifies Biden win over Trump

  by Shaun Tandon, Camille Camdessus and Michael Mathes Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Congress formally certified Joe Biden as the next US president on Thursday, dealing a hammer blow to Donald Trump whose supporters stormed the Capitol hours earlier, triggering unprecedented scenes of mayhem in the seat of American democracy. Lawmakers in the Senate and House of Representatives successfully beat back Republican efforts to deny Biden the electoral votes needed to […]