TERM ENDS. Outgoing Tacloban Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin in this file photo. More than a month after losing his bid to become the city's chief executive, Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin bids farewell after serving as a local government official for two decades.(Photo from FB page of Jerry Yaokasin) TACLOBAN CITY - More than a month after failing in his bid to become the city's chief executive, Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin bids farewell after serving for two decades as a local government official. In a statement on Tuesday, he expressed gratitude for the "honor and privilege" of serving the city for the past 20 years two years as a village chief, nine years as a city councilor, and nine years as vice mayor. "I have stood for my principles, advanced my convictions with civility, pursued the public interest with courage, and above all, gave my all for the greater good of Tacloban. Being the vice mayor for the last nine years was more than an honor. It was more than an office
BREAKDOWN. Technical staff fixing a vote counting machine that malfunctioned at the Kapangian Central School in downtown Tacloban City. Only 22 of the 6,271 vote counting machines (VCMs) have malfunctioned in Eastern Visayas during the voting on Monday (May 9, 2022).(PNA photo by Roel Amazona) TACLOBAN CITY - Only 22 of the 6,271 vote counting machines (VCM) have malfunctioned in Eastern Visayas during the voting on Monday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said in its initial report. Of the 22 VCMs, six were deployed in Tacloban City; four in Ormoc City; two each in Jaro, Dagami, and Carigara; and one each in Sta. Fe, Kananga, Burauen, Bato, Barugo, and Albuera towns, all in Leyte province. "This is better since during the final testing and sealing, there were 31 VCMs and six SD cards that malfunctioned. Today, we did not encounter any problem with SD cards," said Comelec Eastern Visayas information officer Jenette Ruedas. All malfunctioned machines have been fixed immed
By Andreo Calonzo(Bloomberg) –After losing her son to Covid-19 last year, 79-year-old Tomasa Valdez was desperate to get vaccinated. But on the remote Philippine island of San Salvador, where she lives,.
Places like the Philippines are now struggling to get shots into the arms of their citizens, millions of whom live on distant archipelagos or far-flung mountain tops, under-served by roads, transport and basic infrastructure.
After losing her son to COVID-19 last year, 79-year-old Tomasa Valdez was desperate to get vaccinated, but on the remote Philippine island of San Salvador, where she lives, there were no shots to be had.
Getting to the mainland, where vaccines were available, meant a boat ride that was arduous at her age, and expensive given Valdez’s meager income from drying sea grass, which she sells for less than 100 pesos (US$1.95) per sack. Help only arrived last month, 10 months after the Philippines began its national COVID-19 vaccination program, and about a year after Western nations such as the US