Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30) — The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has lowered the COVID-19 risk level for travelling to the Philippines as the situation in the country has improved.
The Philippines is now among 14 countries classified by CDC under “Level 2: COVID-19 Moderate.” These countries have recorded 50-99 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over the past 28 days.
In an advisory, the CDC said only “unvaccinated travelers who are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19 should avoid nonessential travel” to Manila. Americans are still encouraged to get vaccinated or to update their COVID-19 vaccination before traveling.
The Philippines was classified under “Level 4: COVID-19 Very High” in February. It was lowered to Level 3 in early March.
Weekly data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed that 2,726 new cases were recorded in the week of March 21- 27. This means that the daily case average during the period was 389, about 24% lower than the previous week or from March 14 to 20.
The DOH projects infections to reach as low as 70 by end-April as long as Filipinos follow minimum health standards.
Fuel firms hike oil prices after major rollback
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 28) – After implementing a big-time rollback last week, oil firms announced on Monday they will be raising fuel rates.
Caltex, Cleanfuel, Flying V, Petro Gazz, Petron, Phoenix, PTT Philippines, Seaoil, and Total said in separate advisories that they will increase per-liter prices of gasoline by ₱3.40 and diesel by ₱8.65 beginning 6 a.m. on Tuesday, March 29.
“These resulted to the year-to-date adjustments to stand at a net increase of ₱14.90/liter for gasoline, ₱19.20/liter for diesel and ₱16.35/liter for kerosene,” said the Department of Energy in its latest oil monitor.
Second plate-making machine for motorcycles now operational — DOTr
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30) — The Department of Transportation (DOTr) expects to hasten the production of motorcycle plates as its recently acquired plate-making machine becomes operational.
"Hindi na 'ho manu-mano ang paggawa ng ating plaka. Sa tulong nitong IDE-Robot, mas mapapabilis pa natin ang distribusyon ng plaka para sa ating mga motorista," Secretary Art Tugade said in a statement on Wednesday.
[Translation: We no longer have to make our plates manually. With the help of this IDE-Robot, we can speed up the distribution of license plates to our motorists.]
It is the second plate-making machine purchased by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and is now deployed at its own facility in Quezon City.
The transportation agency said the machine can produce 450 motorcycle plates per hour or 3,600 motorcycle plates for every eight-hour shift.
"Malaking tulong ito para i-augment 'yung kasalukuyang capacity ng ating facility. And as we produce, we will continue to distribute so that we can provide plates for all registered vehicles," LTO chief Edgar Galvante said.
[Translation: This is a big help to augment the current capacity of our facility. And as we produce, we will continue to distribute so that we can provide plates for all registered vehicles.]
8 UN peacekeepers killed in Congo helicopter crash amid rebel fighting
(CNN) -- Eight United Nations peacekeepers died in a helicopter crash Tuesday in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) amid rebel fighting in the region, the UN peacekeeping mission confirmed.
The helicopter was on a reconnaissance mission when it went down over the province of North Kivu, where there have been clashes this week between Congolese military and the rebel group known as M23.
Six of the crew members were from Pakistan, and two were military staff from Russia and Serbia, the UN peacekeeping mission said in a statement. There were no survivors.
A search and rescue operation recovered the bodies and brought them to Goma, North Kivu's capital.
In a condolence message Tuesday, Pakistan's UN Ambassador Munir Akram confirmed the identities of the six Pakistanis killed.
"They made this ultimate sacrifice while serving in Democratic Republic of Congo as part of the UN contingent. My heart goes out to the families of the martyrs," Akram said.
In a news release, Congo's armed forces (FARDC) accused M23 of shooting down the helicopter. FARDC had previously accused Rwanda of supporting the rebel group, which the Rwandan army denied in a statement on Monday.
The UN mission did not identify the cause of the crash and said an investigation is underway.
This story was first published on CNN.com, "8 UN peacekeepers killed in Congo helicopter crash amid rebel fighting"
W Series seat a step closer to achieving F1 dream for Bianca Bustamante
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 30) – Bianca Bustamante relishes her historic milestone of being the first Filipino race car driver to be part of the prestigious W Series, the all-female support race of Formula One.
“This is the most amazing moment of my life," Bustamante said during the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum on Tuesday.
"For the first time in my life, I was driving an F3 (Formula Three) car and it was very fast,” she added.
The 17-year-old Bustamante is one of the country’s decorated karters before venturing into motor racing after she was invited last year by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile in their Girls on Track Program for young female drivers.
Earlier this week, the W Series announced that Bustamante will race under the W Series Academy Team for two seasons starting this May during the inaugural F1 Miami Grand Prix.
The W Series Academy Team program is designed to support the development of up and coming young female drivers.
“Being selected to drive for the Academy Team program is an additional privilege, as it reaffirms W Series’ confidence and faith in my racing abilities,” said Bustamante, who will race alongside young Japanese driver Juju Noda in the W Series Academy Team.
With all the accolades she has been receiving, Bustamante emphasized that her achievements will be a step closer to reach her ultimate goal of racing in F1.
“It’s like a dream to me," she said. "The W Series is here to help and hone drivers to get to Formula 1. The goal is Formula 1. So, this is an amazing chance.”
For her inaugural W Series, Bustamante said she will do her best to perform well and learn for her future races.
“It’s a fully loaded season for me," she shared. "I want to excel. I want to win. There’s so much to learn, and mentally I will always be aiming to be the best."
News Credits: CNN Philippines
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