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Hundreds of people forced to work in an online scam centre in the Philippines were rescued in a raid on Thursday that also saw eight suspects arrested, according to police. Acting on a tip from a Vietnamese man who alleged to have escaped the sprawling compound north of capital Manila, police said they unmasked an operation where suspected victims of human trafficking were forced into conducting various online scams. “The rescued workers told us (the […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – Two Philippine air force aviators were killed in a crash Wednesday, while rescuers were searching for another plane that went missing the previous day with six people on board, authorities said. During a training, the military’s SF260 Marchetti plane plummeted onto a rice paddy in Pilar town near Manila, killing the pilot and another aviator, Bataan province’s Police Chief Colonel Romell Velasco told AFP. “It’s a total wreck. The wings were separated,” […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – Like thousands of homeless people in the Philippine capital Manila, Maricel Abawag and her son used to sleep on flattened cardboard boxes laid out on footpaths. Then they got a pushcart. Pushcarts, known as karitons, are a common sight in the city of more than 13 million people. Often made from scraps of wood, the human-powered carts are used as shelter, storage and a source of income, such as collecting trash to […]
PUERTO PRINCESA, Philippines (AFP) – US Vice President Kamala Harris will travel Tuesday to a Philippine island near waters claimed by China to show support for the longtime US ally and counter Beijing’s growing influence in the region. Harris will be the highest-ranking US official ever to visit the western island of Palawan, the closest Philippine landmass to the Spratly archipelago in the hotly contested South China Sea. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire sea […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – Philippine police have rescued 29 Myanmar and Chinese nationals who were allegedly trafficked and forced to work as “online scammers” for a gaming company in the capital Manila, authorities said Friday. It comes amid a crackdown on so-called Philippine offshore gaming operators, or POGOs, following reports of kidnapping, prostitution and murder. POGOs employ mainly Chinese workers and target customers in China where gambling is illegal. Some have been linked to investment […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) – American lawyer Thomas Jones still remembers the scars of Philippine torture victims he interviewed for Amnesty International inside the country’s detention centers in 1975 during the rule of late president Ferdinand Marcos. But Marcos, who presided over widespread abuses and corruption during his 20 years in power, denied the lawyer’s visit to the Philippines ever happened. Decades later the dictator’s claim — debunked by AFP and others — has resurfaced on […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippines will re-open to fully vaccinated tourists from most countries on February 10 and lift quarantine requirements, officials said Friday, nearly two years after closing its borders to contain the coronavirus. Tourism operators across the archipelago nation famed for its beaches and dive spots have been devastated by a plunge in international visitors and restrictions on domestic travel. Their misery was worsened by a super typhoon that smashed into the […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — At least 11 people were killed after a small truck packed with partygoers, including children, overturned in the southern Philippines, police said Thursday. The vehicle was travelling to a beachside resort in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental on Mindanao island for a postponed holiday party on Wednesday when the driver lost control after the brakes apparently failed on a downhill section of road. Around 50 people were crammed into the truck, most […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The death toll from a storm that triggered landslides and flash floods across the Philippines has risen to at least 19, authorities said Thursday, linking the extreme rainfall to climate change. Severe Tropical Storm Kompasu dumped more than a month’s worth of rain in two days as it swept across the archipelago nation this week, national disaster agency spokesman Mark Timbal told AFP. Kompasu — named after the Japanese pronunciation of […]
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippine economy will take more than a decade to return to pre-pandemic growth, an official said Thursday, warning the next two generations of Filipinos would be paying for the cost of Covid-19. Lockdowns and other restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus have shattered the Southeast Asian nation’s economy, throwing millions out of work and leaving many poor families hungry. “Our long run total cost of Covid and […]
President Rodrigo Duterte holds his Talk to the People on Sept 10, 2021, aired the following day, Sept 11, where several Cabinet members discussed developments in their various departments including updates on Typhoon Kiko, COVID-19 response, education, among others. During his public address, he again answered accusations of some senators regarding the government’s COVID-19 response. He also hit Senators Franklin Drilon and Richard Gordon — Drilon for his alleged links to Janet Lim Napoles and […]
Growth in 2nd quarter fastest in more than three decades MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The Philippine economy grew in the second quarter at its fastest pace in more than three decades, but an official warned Tuesday of “speed bumps” as coronavirus restrictions were tightened to combat surging infections. Gross domestic product expanded 11.8 percent on-year, the statistics agency said, after five straight quarters of contraction. The increase — the best since the last three […]
