page_title: 2016 in the Philippines
section_title: March
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 in the Philippines / Events / March
caption_attribution_description: English: Grace Poe-Llamanzares, chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, at a budget hearing of the Senate of the Philippines. The official description is as follows: “MTRCB BUDGET HEARING: Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chairperson Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares leads the presentation of the MTRCB's proposed budget for the year 2013 during a public hearing chaired by Sen. Edgardo Angara Tuesday, September 25, 2012. (PRIB Photo by Joseph Vidal)”
context_page_description: 2016 in the Philippines details events that occurred in the Philippines in 2016.
context_section_description: March 1 – Aid al-Qarni, an Islam preacher, and a diplomat from Saudi Arabian embassy was shot by a gunman after a lecture in the Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City.
  March 3 – The Office of the Ombudsman files charges against five former Representatives including former Muntinlupa congressman Ruffy Biazon, in connection with the PDAF scam.
  March 5
  The Ombudsman has ordered the dismissal of Valenzuela City Mayor Rex Gatchalian and 6 others over the deadly blaze that hit footwear factory Kentex Manufacturing Corporation, killing at least 72 people in May last year. On March 15, The Ombudsman also ordered the filing of graft charges against Gatchalian and seven other individuals in connection with this case.
  The Philippine government orders to impound a cargo ship from North Korea in the Subic port, in response to tighter sanctions by United Nations against North Korea due to its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. On March 24, the North Korean freighter M/V Jin Teng has left the country, after no contraband was found onboard and the ship was cleared by the United Nations.
  March 8 – Voted 9–6, the Supreme Court has affirms Grace Poe's natural-born status and declares she is qualified to run based on her 10-year residency.
  March 15
  The Supreme Court dismisses several petitions by several party-list groups to issue a TRO to stop the implementation of the K+12 education program of the Department of Education.
  The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has begun its inquiry into the alleged money laundering of $100 million that has dragged into this one of the country's leading financial institutions.
  March 16
  BIR employee Rhodora Alvarez, who blew the whistle on the alleged anomalous deal, filed a plunder complaint against Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin over a P1.2 billion helicopter deal in 2013.
  Disqualified Laguna Governor Emilio Ramon "ER" Ejercito and eight other individuals were charged with graft before the Sandiganbayan over an alleged anomalous insurance deal entered in 2008.
  March 18 – Former Camarines Norte Governor Roy Padilla Jr., is arrested over his failure to return a firearm issued to him in 1992.
  March 21 – The UNESCO has added Albay in the Philippines as one of the 20 additions to its network of protected biosphere nature reserves.
  March 22
  The Sandiganbayan Second Division has dismissed the graft case against Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) former president and general manager Winston Garcia on the alleged anomalous awarding of a multimillion-peso electronic membership card (e-Card) project in 2004.
  The Court of Appeals (CA) has junked dismissed Makati mayor Junjun Binay's contempt charges against former interior secretary Mar Roxas, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales, former justice Secretary Leila de Lima, and 5 others.
  March 23
  Diwata-1 was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Cygnus spacecraft on a supply mission. Cygnus itself will be launched using the Atlas V rocket. The satellite was deployed into orbit from the ISS on April 27. Diwata-1 is the country's first micro-satellite and the first satellite to be built and designed by Filipinos.
  The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (under the Memorandum Circular 94) that aimed at "achieving unified action" as part of efforts to find a resolution to the country's territorial dispute with China on the West Philippine Sea is created.
  March 25 – Customs at the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen destroyed 34.78 tons of "substandard bananas" imported from the Philippines due to excessive pesticide use.
  March 26 – A raging fire on the Philippines highest mountain, Mt. Apo, forced hundreds of people to flee from the peak by foot.
  March 27 – Anonymous Philippines has hacked the website of Commission on Elections to force them to place security features on Vote Counting Machine (VCM). Soon, the LulzSec Pilipinas leaked sensitive information of voters all over the Philippines from the COMELEC website, and the incident has been called the "biggest government data breach in history". On April 21, one of the hacke
caption: Senator and Presidential candidate Grace Poe-Llamanzares was filed with disqualification cases due to allegations of not meeting the requirements provided by the Constitution.
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