The labour minister said the spread of the coronavirus was slowing down in the country and conditions were improving, so the government could afford to let its health-care workers leave.

Typhoon Vamco passed north of Manila between Bulacan and Pampanga provinces overnight Wednesday and early Thursday, toppling power poles and trees and damaging homes.

Officials had said previously that nearly 200,000 people had been evacuated, some of them forcibly, from vulnerable coastal and low-lying areas.

At least nine people were killed in the hard-hit province of Albay, including a father and son.

One of the most powerful typhoons in the world this year, Goni has evoked memories of Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, which left more than 7,300 people dead and missing.

Typhoon Goni, moving westward at 20 kph from the Pacific Ocean, will bring intense rains over the capital and 14 provinces nearby on Saturday evening, and threats of floods and landslides.

The rooster cut his artery with its ankle blade in a freak accident in the Philippines.

Nearly 6,000 killings of drug suspects have been reported by police but rights watchdogs suspect the death toll is far larger.

On Monday, Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte granted an "absolute and unconditional pardon'' to Lance Cpl. Joseph Scott Pemberton in a move that caught many by surprise.

With the Philippines' economy in tatters, even those who've lost their jobs in Canada are often still sending money abroad.