Dr. Minguita Padilla, a senatorial aspirant and health advocate, said Thursday that the government should not place under the lowest alert level areas hit by Typhoon Odette and areas where vaccination rates are lagging.

The government has eased the entry requirements for arriving foreign nationals as it continues to update its pandemic protocols to spur economic activity and reopen tourism.

The Bureau of Immigration is expecting a 30% increase in arrivals on Thursday, the first day of the country’s reopening of borders to foreign tourists after a nearly two years closure due to the pandemic.

Former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel "Manny" Piñol said Thursday that the goal of elections is not always about winning, after noting that he was not at the top of the surveys.

“The reason I suppose his numbers are gradually going down is precisely because people do not like candidates who do not face their competitors, their opponents,” Banayo said. 

A total of 393 Youtube channels of 2022 elections candidates have been verified just as the campaign season started this week, the Commission on Elections said Thursday.

Authorities are targeting to administer five million COVID-19 doses in the third “Bayanihan Bakunahan” push scheduled on Thursday and Friday.

"We won't turn away anyone who's willing to help us. We agreed on that. We just have one rule: the senator joining us has to publicly say that we are their candidates," Moreno said in Filipino. 

The Commission on Elections has started dispatch of equipment, peripherals, forms and supplies related to the 2022 national polls in May.

Sen. Manny Pacquiao is banking on the support of voters in the Visayas and Mindanao.