THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US Indo-Pacific Command signed an agreement yesterday which aims to strengthen the defense and security cooperation between the two countries.

THE National Privacy Commission (NPC) has tapped white hat hackers to help secure the government’s central database platform on information on all citizens and resident aliens.

VICE-PRESIDENT Maria Leonor G. Robredo on Friday visited tragedy-stricken Itogon, Benguet to provide livelihood assistance.

THE PHILIPPINES’ counterterrorism capabilities have improved amid attacks and threats from terrorist groups affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS), according to the US Department of State’s 2017 Country Reports on Terrorism .

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte on Thursday owned up to extra judicial killings (EJKs) in the country as he deplored complaints filed against his controversial war on drugs, accusing him of murder and crimes against humanity, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands.

AN OVERSEAS Filipino Worker (OFW) in Saudi Arabia was shot dead after allegedly stabbing to death his employer and several others last Wednesday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL Jose C. Calida, in a statement on Thursday, threatened to file a libel case against opposition Sen. Antonio F. Trillanes IV unless the senator apologizes for claiming that Mr. Calida “stole” his amnesty application form at the Armed Forces of the Philippines headquarters.

THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will shorten the waiting time for passport releases to 12 working days from the original 15 for regular processing and six working days from seven for express processing in Metro Manila, starting Oct. 1.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte has declared a state of calamity in Regions I, II, III, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) due to “widespread destruction, substantial damage and deaths” caused by Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut).

Members of the search, rescue and retrieval operations at the landslide site in Barangay Ucab, Itogon, Benguet, in this photo taken on Sept. 26, day 11 after the calamity, express their determination to locate all the victims.

FRONTLINERS of the Department of Tourism-Western Visayas (DoT-6) are undergoing training in Mandarin language as the region anticipates up to 300,000 Chinese visitors next year out of the 1.5 million expected nationwide.

A TOP official of the National Bureau of Investigation-Central Visayas (NBI)-7) has confirmed that they are going around the region to investigate possible rice hoarding.