Author: TJ Gacura
TJ Gacura
TJ believes in the saying, "Make your passion your profession," which made him dip his toes into any writing profession. He tried blogging, tried feature writing; he even dabbled into SEO writing. His heart, however, points into news writing.
The surge of Covid-19 cases in the Philippines has continued its rise as the Department of Health (DOH) records 9,938 new cases on Friday, March 26. With the country seeing new-record cases this past 10 days, Filipinos were deeply concerned about the pandemic. On Twitter, several celebrities, personalities, and netizens expressed their worry as Covid cases continue to increase. Actor Richard Juan checked on Filipinos as another record-high was documented. https://twitter.com/richardjuan/status/1375362216170430465 Melissa Luz Lopez, a journalist of CNN News Philippines, was worried about the cases almost reaching 10,000. https://twitter.com/meltlopez/status/1375357133449916419 GMA’s reporter, Joseph Morong, is disturbed by the number of cases…
Earlier this Monday, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III has partially blamed the masses for the massive increase in Covid-19 cases in the Philippines. “Umiikot din po ako halos araw-araw, pumupunta ako sa mga palengke, na parang hindi na nasunod ‘yong naka-gano’n po Mr. President, tapos ang face shield naka-gano’n na lang eh, parang token lang ang compliance,” blamed Duque. Contrary to Duque’s statement, he, along with President Rodrigo Duterte and Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque was criticized by netizens as they were captured wearing their face masks improperly. Now, a DDS propagandist named Jam Magno also blamed the public for the…
Comedienne Marietta Subong, popularly known as Pokwang clapped back at a troll after sharing her thoughts on the most critical matter that the Philippines is currently dealing with—Covid-19. A Netizen called her out for becoming a ‘political analyst’ amid the pandemic. Pokwang defended herself by saying that she also has the right to air her opinions about the current matter since she is a Filipino and got affected by the pandemic. The recent failures of the Duterte administration in handling the pandemic made many celebrities more vocal about their thoughts. After celebrities voiced their opinions on how the government responded…
The supposed AstraZeneca vaccines for Bicol’s healthcare workers were returned to the Department of Health on Sunday, March 21, after they had been packed in containers with defective thermometers. AstraZeneca’s storing temperature should be 2 to 8 degrees Celsius. Noemi Bron, the DOH Bicol Public Affairs chief said that they returned the vaccines to the main office as the Bicol branch had no knowledge of whether AstraZeneca is still usable or not. “The thermometer was defective, so we didn’t know if the vaccines were still within the allowed temperature which is between 2 to 8 degrees Centigrade,” said the DOH…
The government has constantly blamed the public for its failure to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in the Philippines. With the recent surge of cases, Department of Health chief Francisco Duque III partly blamed the public for the improper use of face masks and face shields, which necessitates minimizing the spread of the coronavirus. During Monday’s briefing, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte asked Duque why the number of cases continues to inflate. Duque responded that the masses are only using face shields and face masks as signs of compliance with the health protocols. “Umiikot din po ako halos araw-araw, pumupunta ako sa…
With the vaccines limited and prioritizing health workers, there was information that some local government officials have cut the line in order to be inoculated by vaccines issued by COVAX. On Saturday, March 20, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has approved the request of the League of Cities (LCP) on Friday its request to be considered as “essential workers” who will be fourth in line to receive doses of the limited vaccines. “The move will reclassify 1,634 provincial governors and city and municipal mayors and 42,046 barangay captains all over the country to Category A4 or…
Kapamilya actor Enchong Dee shared his opinion regarding the viral video that surfaced over the Net. It showed men distributing calendars, and a woman’s voice (in the background) asked about their activity. Dee stressed that the recent video only proved that Sara Duterte has plans of becoming the next President. Even the pandemic cannot stop her ambition. The video figured after the rumors that Sara Duterte and her father, Pres. Rodrigo Duterte, will be running mates in the 2022 Presidential and Vice Presidential elections. The election is still far, yet some politicians are already gearing up for it. It seemed that the…
Kapamilya actress Janine Gutierez on Tuesday, March 23, aired out her frustration regarding the government’s utter carelessness to the people. On her Twitter account, Gutierez criticized the lack of concern of the Administration who only suggested to endure the effects of the surge of COVID cases. This was after President Rodrigo Duterte dismissed the call for the country’s economy to once again shut down to contain the spread of the virus. “So kung sarahan mo naman ‘yan lahat– medyo tagilid na ang ekonomiya (If you close it all– our economy is not good) and that is a problem. “It would…
What would people willing to do in the name of love? Can they afford to go against the world? Kristof Garcia can give everything just for the sake of love. In a virtual press conference of the iWantTFC’s Ampalaya Chronicles, the star revealed what he can do because of love. According to Garcia, whenever he falls in love, he does not hold back. He is willing to break all the rules just for the woman who owns his heart. “Para sakin kapag in-love ka talaga, walang rules, walang kahit na anong batas pa yan na makakapigil sa’yo. Kasi na in-love…
A very timely song was featured in ABS-CBN’s Himig 11th Edition, even being included in the Top Five. Mahirap Maging Mahirap was a song composed by Kenneth Reodica and was interpreted by Davey Langit featuring Kritiko. During the media conference for the event’s winners, Langit revealed the reason why he agreed to do the song. The singer felt that the song was a perfect interpretation of the sufferings that people are experiencing right now due to the pandemic. “The first time palang kasi na pinadinig sakin yung demo nito, I knew that it was something different. Kasi it was something…
The continuous surge of Covid-19 cases compelled senators to abolish the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) on Tuesday, March 23. However, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque dismissed the idea of terminating the IATF, explaining that the agency is not at fault for the number of positive cases. “Tanggapin natin o hindi, nag-mutate ang mga virus at hindi naman siguro kasalanan ng IATF na nag-mutate itong mga virus sa pamamaraan na mas nakakahawa sila,” explained Roque during the briefing. Despite the cases reaching 7k+ per day, Roque insisted that the government did not fail its Covid…
President Duterte has signed a law on February 26 to allow vaccine makers immunity. However, on Monday night of March 22, he seemed to have forgotten that he ratified the bill filed by Congress to indemnify vaccine makers. “The government cannot guarantee, much less give you an immune status that you are freed of any and all liability. It’s too much. I think we cannot even do that even if we wanted to, assuming liability for the stuff bought by the provinces – tell them it cannot be,” said Duterte to vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. during a meeting. Duterte explained that…
KZ Tandingan has already established herself in the music industry. But people rarely see the real her as an artist. This time, through the help of the song Marupok that she interpreted, the singer finally found the closest thing that would define her as an artist. Marupok not only won Best Song Award, but also won MYX Choice for Best Music Video. KZ, during the post-media conference for Finals’ night, revealed that the music video of the 11th Himig Edition best song was the closest definition of her being an artist. “Ito ata yung pinakamalapit talaga sa kung sino si…
On Saturday, March 20, the DOH recorded 7,999 positive new cases in the Philippines. It surpassed the 7,103 figures on Friday. The public is ‘extremely’ terrified. Those in the film industry expected to adhere more to the guidelines that the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) has released to conduct production shoots. However, not many production agencies do not abide by the rules created by the FDCP. On March 21, Sunday, notable production designer Nestor Abrogena took to twitter to announce that he did quit a movie production that he was supposedly working on. Abrogena has revealed that the…
Head of Department of Health (DO), Francisco Duque III, brought out his meter stick [again] amid this surge of COVID cases; in his efforts to remind the public to maintain ‘social distancing.’ The Philippines has again surpassed its highest recorded cases as DOH reported 7,999 on Saturday, March 20. Nevertheless, during the highest number of cases last Friday, March 19, which was 7,103, the head of DOH did an unbelievable feat—distributing face shields while reminding people to adhere to health standards. He brought out his meter stick in public again, as part of his agency’s initiative, Bida Bastonero/Bastonera. It aims…
The abrupt termination of ABS-CBN on free TV has greatly impacted information dissemination and source of entertainment in the Philippines. In terms of entertainment, now that the largest network is out of the picture, it’s up to the three remaining networks—A2Z, TV5, and GMA Network to compete in terms of prime time shows. To start the battle at 6:00 p.m., A2Z has Primetime Zinema, a variety of movies produced under Star Cinema. TV5, on the other hand, has their news and current affairs program Frontline Pilipinas. GMA Network starts with their Telebabad block at 6:30 p.m. with their news and…