From Philstar.com

MACAU Nov 23, 2014 – Chris Algieri is a tough challenger who survived six knockdowns and remained on his feet after the 12th round to lose just by unanimous decision to defending WBO welterweight Manny Pacquiao at the at the Cotai Arena inside The Venetian Macao today.

MANILA, Philippines - Natural and man-made disasters jostled with the pork barrel scandal for the headlines in a year of destruction and despair but also resilience. Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) made landfall in Eastern Visayas on a Friday, Nov. 8, rendering more than 6,000 people dead and counting, according to latest official figures, with nearly 2,000 still missing and thousands more injured.

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara has joined the clamor for the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act.

In Senate Bill 1219, Angara reasserts the constitutional imperative that the government must operate with utmost transparency and accountability.

“With a clear policy on official information, we affirm our adherence to a basic libertarian tenet – the recognition of every Filipino’s primordial right to be informed of the workings of their government,” he said in the bill’s explanatory note.

Once passed into law, the FOI bill will allow citizens access to any record under the control of a government agency... (From Philstar.com)

MANILA, Philippines - Former Camarines Sur governor Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. is facing a P20-million graft case before the Sandiganbayan for alleged misuse of public funds three years ago.

The Office of the Ombudsman filed the criminal charges against Villafuerte and businessman Jeffrey Lo last week following an investigation into a complaint lodged by former provincial board member Carlo Batalla in July 2011.

Villafuerte was indicted for his alleged involvement in the questionable purchase of P20 million worth of fuel within a period of four months from January to April 2010 which was done supposedly without a public bidding...

MANILA, Philippines - First was irrigation chief Antonio Nangel. Then came immigration head Ricardo David. This time it’s the country’s top anti-graft prosecutor’s turn to be fired from the government service.

When President Aquino delivers his fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) this afternoon, he will not just outline what he intends to do in the second half of his six-year term. He is also expected to announce his decision to dismiss the special prosecutor.

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino gave clear instructions to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima that he wanted an exhaustive investigation on the alleged P10-billion pork barrel fund scam, a Palace official said yesterday.

“The instruction, I believe, given to Secretary De Lima is to ensure that it is exhaustively investigated,” presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.

De Lima supervises the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), which is under the Department of Justice (DOJ).

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday extended indefinitely the status quo ante order (SQAO) on the controversial Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RH) Act.

The SC public information office announced that the magistrates voted 8-7 in favor of the indefinite extension of the SQAO, which was supposed to expire Tuesday.

The next round of oral arguments was set on July 23.

MANILA, Philippines - Land Transportation Office (LTO) chief Assistant Secretary Virginia Torres yesterday issued a status quo order to continue conducting drug tests on applicants for driver’s licenses.

This despite the perceived repeal of the requirement by the newly signed Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Law.

This was Torres’ reaction to the statement of Sen. Vicente Sotto III that the new law has a provision that effectively scraps the drug test on driver’s license applicants under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

“I issued a status quo order because we have yet to implement the new law. We are not done crafting the IRR (implementing rules and regulations) yet. There are so many interpretations but the IRR will settle all these,” Torres said.