Respondents have 15 days to file their counter-affidavit against the raps filed by police.

There is no reason for opposition Sen. Leila de Lima to celebrate despite the junking of one of her three drug cases because she is still in jail, Malacañang said Thursday.

Of the total cases, 31,115 or 5.6% are active, latest figures showed. 

Galvez also announced that Duterte approved a memorandum order allowing LGUs to make advance payments of up to 50% to manufacturers of the badly-needed jabs.

"Only Chinese yes-men would believe that the coast guard law would not target any countries and is not an act of aggression," said Pamalakaya.

In a briefing, Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO country representative, pointed out that there is a “relatively high level” of community transmission, which is “complicated” by the presence of new coronavirus variants.

Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 is stuck in regulatory limbo in the Philippines as the country’s Food and Drug Administration reported it still lacks some crucial documents to speed up its approval for emergency use.

Lawyer Dino De Leon said they intend to appeal the dismissal of their petition for bail, stressing that the senator is not a flight risk.

Rather than target "perceived threats," the national police should go after fake vaccines which could jeopardize the inoculation program the national government hopes to roll out later this month, Sen. Nancy Binay said Thursday.

Though not binding in any way, the recommendations of the MMC have historically been mirrored by the coronavirus task force and later approved by President Rodrigo Duterte.