The US State Department has told Congress that it plans to sell to the Philippines a squadron of AH-64E “Apache” attack helicopters, hundreds of FIM-92 portable anti-aircraft “Stinger” and air-to-ground M-36 “”Hellfire” missiles, and an assortment of other weapons and military equipment worth over $2 billion (about P100 billion) (See Inquirer.net for story).
While for now beleaguered ABS-CBN has been muted by the Duterte administration—President Duterte himself had publicly vowed to “close it down”– the Philippines’ leading media network’s North America arm has continued operating (See Inquirer.net for story).
Filipinos say they are being scapegoated for the spread of the coronavirus because nearly 70 percent of the workers at the Cargill meat plant in High River, the site of Canada’s largest outbreak of COVID-19, are of Filipino descent (See Inquirer.net for story).
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has given his government a week to process some 24,000 repatriated Filipino workers stuck for weeks on cruise ships or in coronavirus quarantine, so they can finally go home (See Yahoo News for story).
JoKoy
JoKoy, one of today’s premier comedians, announced that his third Netflix special, “In His Elements,” starts streaming on June 12, which also marks the annual celebration of Philippine Independence Day (See Inquirer.net for story).
The 21 mostly Filipino crew members of the cargo ship Evolution, which has been detained off the tip of Charleston peninsula since late January 2020, want to be paid back wages from the proceeds of a proposed sale of the vessel (See Inquirer.net for story).
Midshipman First Class Mary Pauline Fornea
United States Naval Academy Midshipman First Class Mary Pauline Fornea, an original member of PMA Class 2019, received her diploma last May 9 at the USNA in Maryland, with two engineering bachelor's degrees with merit (graduation honors). The event will be streamed on May 22 (See Rappler.com for story).
Dr. Jasper Toralba
Dr. Jasper Tolarba, a Filipino Fulbright Scholar, has been named Director of Global Standards and Qualifications by CGFNS International, Inc., the world’s largest credentialing organization for foreign-educated nurses and health professionals (See Inquirer.net for story).
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