PH Congress orders arrest of religious leader for snubbing hearings. Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) refused "to cooperate in a Senate probe on allegations of sex trafficking, rape and other abuses leveled against him by former followers." Quiboloy is a wanted man in the United States and is a friend of former president Duterte.
More Filipinos are migrating. Nearly 49,000 Filipinos hold Canadian study permits in 2023, an increase of around 50% from 2022, when around 24,000 Filipinos had permits to study in Canada. "This makes the Philippines the 3rd largest foreign student population in Canada in 2023, second to China (102,000) and India (427,000)."
Bryan Jefferson Dela Cruz was arrested in connection with the case of a couple whose bodies were found with stab wounds underneath their home in Tokyo.
"We Made a Beautiful Bouquet" and other movies in the Japanese Film Festival in the PH. Showing in Shangrila Mall, UP Film Center and other theaters starting Feb. 1.
Google PH says "SIM registration" was the most searched in news in the country. The top 3 most searched shows or series were K-drama "Duty After School," Filipino drama "Maria Clara at Ibarra," and another K-drama "Moving."
Don't expect the PH PISA scores to improve under an education secretary who wanted mandatory military training for students and who lobbied for multi-million-peso intelligence (aka corruption) funds for the education department.
The PH is still among the world's most dangerous places to be a journalist, especially radio journalists. The latest documents show that "261 journalists murdered in connection with their work, with no one held to account in 204."
After 1.5 years without an agriculture secretary, Marcos Junior finally appoints one. Francisco Laurel is president of 100-vessel-strong fishing company Frabelle Corporation and contributed PHP30 million to the election campaign of Marcos Junior.