"ABS-CBN's wide reach to Filipinos, alongside with the undeniable advantages of broadcast media relative to mass communication, definitely calls for the immediate renewal of the network's franchise," Sotto said.

Only 50 persons were injured by firecracker use from Dec. 21, 2020 to Jan. 1, 2021 compared to the 340 in December 2019.This record is 89% lower than the five-year average from 2015 to 2019.

The country's health insurer should first do away with alleged corruption in its ranks before it pushes through with increasing its monthly contribution, Sen. Richard Gordon said Monday. 

The DOH said the lower number of reported cases on Monday was due to the "decrease in the number of patients seen in COVID-19 laboratories over the holidays."

“The victims were unarmed, unsuspecting and were not in a position to defend themselves when they were shot,” it read.

The government is anticipating a spike in COVID-19 cases in the Philippines after the holiday season when more people went out of their homes to shop and visit their relatives during Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Referring to the killings of the IP leaders, the Makabayan bloc said: “Their deaths add to the already long list of farmers extrajudicially killed under this administration."

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said only the national government can procure COVID-19 vaccines that will be given emergency use authorization (EUA) by the country’s Food and Drug Administration.

"So they made the decision, even if it was without authorization, to get vaccinated. In other words, because they were ready to die for him, they decided to get inoculated in order to lessen the chances of the president transmitting the virus. 

More testing is showing the Philippines is far from winning the battle against what advocates said is a “silent” epidemic long in our midst before COVID-19 preoccupied struggling public health systems.