Category: People and Places

Already accessible since 13 November, a further opening step is now taking place: The Lainzer Tiergarten is now accessible through all gates. Normally everything is tight around this time of year to allow the animals a resting period. Corona makes everything different again. “From now on we are opening all gates of the Lainzer Tiergarten to the public, so that access for young and old from all parts of Vienna is as easy as possible. Thus also the powder stamp gate and the Laaber gate”, explains Vienna’s climate city councillor…

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After a three-week break and a good three weeks before Christmas, trading opens again on Monday. For the operators it will probably be a balancing act between prudence and turnover. Before the start of the tough lockdown, masses of people pushed their way through the shopping centers throughout Austria – despite all the appeals, people wanted to shop. Now, three weeks later and just before Christmas, these scenes are not to be repeated. The operators are opening under strict conditions – “and the executive authorities, together with the health authorities,…

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Philippine boxing world champion Manny Pacquiao has been appointed the new leader of the ruling party PDP-Laban by President Rodrigo Duterte. The 41-year-old, who became world champion in eight weight categories and thus set a record that is still unbeaten today, was sworn in yesterday evening (local time), the party announced today. Pacquiao took office about one and a half years before the next presidential election in the Southeast Asian country. Pacquiao is a popular hero in the Philippines. In addition to his boxing successes, he went into politics in…

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On Saturday, Pope Francis will raise 13 men including the archbishops of Washington, Kigali and Santiago de Chile, to the cardinal’s rank in St. Peter’s Basilica. For the first time, this will be celebrated at a distance, without hugging, with few guests and partly by video-connection. Two of the new purple bearers cannot travel to Rome due to a pandemic. Bishop Cornelius Sim in Brunei and the Philippine Archbishop Jose Advincula will digitally celebrate the Cardinal elevation, according to the Vatican. Wilton Gregory, the Archbishop of Washington, is the first…

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The Department of Tourism (DOT) welcomes the decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to allow balikbayan’s entry to the Philippines.     But their entry will still be subjected to the maximum capacity of inbound passengers at the port and date of their arrival.   Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said that allowing entry of balikbayans or former Filipino citizens into the country during the holiday season is a great cause for celebration for millions of families who long for the homecoming of their relatives abroad.     The IATF-EID Resolution No.…

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The list of risk areas including the corresponding official travel warning in connection with the Corona pandemic has been considerably extended. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) announced on Thursday (22 October) new regions that will be affected from Saturday (24 October). Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Poland and the entire United Kingdom of Great Britain (excluding overseas territories) as well as Northern Ireland, Ireland and Gibraltar are on the list. In Austria, the federal states of Salzburg, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Burgenland and Styria have now also been declared risk areas. In Italy,…

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by Hector Pascua Pictures: Mandy Salonga VIENNA, AUSTRIA –  Bicolanos and devotees  in Austria commemorated on September 19, 2020 the  annual celebration of their regional Patroness, Our Lady of Penafrancia. Leading the celebration are the Bikol Society in Austria and the Filipino Catholic Chaplaincy in Vienna. Nevertheless, the grand celebration of the almost two decade devotion to the Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Austria had been canceled  to prevent a possible surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases. It has been already a tradition among the Bikolanos here to  commence the…

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The Bikol Society in Austria has “introduced some changes” in the traditional celebration of the Feast of Our Lady of Penafrancia this month due to the threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic. “For those unable to attend, join us in prayer from 11 to 18 September 2020 at 18:00 and on 19 September 2020 at 11:00,” Marizel Rojas, President of the Bikol Society Austria encouraged the faithful to recite the traditional novena to Our Lady of Penafrancia. Due to the CoViD-19 pandemic restrictions, there will be no Fluvial Procession…

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VIENNA, Austria – The Batch 1975 of Filipino nurses came together to celebrate their 45th Anniversary as first class nurses in Austria. Some years ago, a number of these nurses  were recognized   by the Austrian Health Ministry for their  deserving and professional works in the Austrian Health Care sector. “These Filipino nurses possess professional training that is why they are very much loved by the Viennese people. I want to thank you for your excellent work in Vienna’s hospitals. Your presence has been an enriching experience for us,” once commented…

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