Tag: Philippines

  • Filipino Catholic nun chooses to stay behind in Gaza, defying mandatory evacuation

    A 63-year-old Filipino nun is making international headlines by defying the Philippine government’s evacuation attempts and choosing to stay in Gaza. Since the genocide began on October 7, the Philippine government has successfully evacuated 111 civilians from the region. However, the unnamed nun who is from the Missionaries of Charity, has chosen to remain as the last Filipino in Gaza.

    Most of the evacuees were forced to leave family residents behind.

    The Philippines Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo De Vega spoke to Arab News about the nun and how her defiance of the Filipino government makes her a symbol of “Filipino spirituality”:

    “She’s with the Missionaries of Charity… they will not leave. After all, they believe…that (what they are doing) is spiritual,” he said.

    “She will be the last Filipino left in Gaza, (and) is a symbol of Filipino spirituality and how we pray for solidarity with those suffering, and for world peace.”

    Dr Vega reported the nun is safe right now. The Philipine DEmbassy of Jordan has remained in touch with her, to whom she had simply asked to ‘pray for her’.

    Several other Filipino’s in Gaza have expressed uncertainty in leaving because of their attachment to the place, while others have refused because their Palestinian spouses would not be able to join them.

    “We are still trying to convince them to leave,” De Vega responded. “We hope we can evacuate them all.”

  • Saudi court orders media to publicly disclose identity of harasser doctor

    Saudi court orders media to publicly disclose identity of harasser doctor

    A Saudi court has sentenced a doctor to five years in prison after he was found guilty of harassing a nurse, ordering the media to publicise the case and expose the harasser.

    The doctor was reportedly a Syrian who sexually harassed a Filipino nurse.

    Hospital management sent the issue to Public Prosecution which led to an extensive investigation, proving the doctor guilty of misconduct.

    The arrest was made without any delay after solid proof against the doctor and legal proceedings were initiated right away.

    In criminal court, the doctor was initially ordered to to pay SR5,000 in fine and sentenced to one year in prison but then the Court of Appeal increased the sentence to five years.

    In addition to the prison sentence, the Saudi court also issued an order to publicly disclose the doctor’s name.

  • Ready to mingle but still single? Head over to Philippines to get extra pay

    Ready to mingle but still single? Head over to Philippines to get extra pay

    Tootay huay dil jaain kahan? Philippines. If you’re dateless on Valentine’s Day, then Philippines might is the place for you. There might be an advantage to finding out that you’re dumped before the biggest romantic holiday of the year, by drowning in cash.

    The lonely hearts residing in General Luna townhall in the Quezon Province will now recieve three times their normal wage if they are able to prove that they were single for the past three years.

    Eternal bachelor Mayor Matt Florido announced that he would be giving extra pay to all of his staff to show gratitude for all the extra work they put in and prove that “someone loves them”. This is the third time he is taking such an initiative.

    Speaking to AFP, Florido said that he could empathize with how singles felt about this day, since he has been single himself since his birth.
    “I know what they’re going through today, I feel for them.. On Valentine’s Day no one will give them chocolates, flowers … so we thought of giving them this kind of incentive so they can also feel someone cares for them, someone loves them.”

    Florido also added that the staff members who were already romantically attached did not object to their single colleagues getting more pay:

    “Maybe they understand what the single people are going through,” he said.

  • Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov win 2021 Nobel Peace Prize

    Journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov win 2021 Nobel Peace Prize

    The Nobel Peace Prize 2021 has been awarded to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression in the Philippines and Russia.

    “Free, independent, and fact-based journalism serve to protect against abuse of power, lies, and war propaganda,” Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said as she announced the prize in Oslo on Friday.

    “Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament, and a better world order to succeed in our time.”

    “Maria Ressa uses freedom of expression to expose abuse of power, use of violence, and growing authoritarianism in her native country, the Philippines,” said Andersen.

    ” Dmitry has four decades defended freedom of speech in Russia under increasingly challenging conditions,” announced Andersen.

    Ressa is the CEO of Rappler, a news outlet critical of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s regime, while Muratov heads the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta. Ressa becomes the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize this year.

    It is the 102nd time the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded. Previous winners include Malala Yousafzai, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Jr, Polish dissident Lech Walesa, United Nations World Food Programme, the Soviet Union’s last leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and four US presidents.

  • ‘Shoot them dead’: President Duterte warns against violating coronavirus lockdown

    ‘Shoot them dead’: President Duterte warns against violating coronavirus lockdown

    Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has warned he would order the country’s police and military to shoot dead anyone “who creates trouble” during a month-long lockdown of the island of Luzon enforced to halt the spread of the coronavirus, France 24 reported.

    “Let this be a warning to all. Follow the government at this time because it is critical that we have order,” he said in a late-night televised national address on Wednesday.

    “And do not harm the health workers, the doctors … because that is a serious crime. My orders to the police and the military, if anyone creates trouble, and their lives are in danger: shoot them dead.”

    “Do not intimidate the government. Do not challenge the government. You will lose,” he added in Filipino and English.

    Duterte’s warning came after residents of a slum in Manila’s Quezon City staged a protest along a highway near their shanty houses, claiming they had not received any food packs and other relief supplies since the lockdown began more than two weeks ago.

    Village security officers and police urged the residents to go back to their homes, but they refused, a police report said.

    Police broke up the protest and arrested 20 people, the report added.

    Health authorities in the Philippines have recorded 2,311 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus as of Wednesday. At least 96 people have died.