President Rodrigo Duterte will decide whether he will approve of a possible two-week extension of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) “in due time”, Malacañang said Sunday.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo acknowledged the “emerging consensus” from medical experts, businessmen, government officials, and others that the extension is necessary since lifting it could be “premature.”
Citing these experts, he said the President recognizes that lifting the quarantine as scheduled on April 12 “might wipe out the gains we have so far achieved in containing the virus.”
“The President is all ears and eyes on this unfolding reality and expert opinions. He is evaluating the best option to take that will effectively ensure the success of our war against this wily and faceless global enemy. He will make his decision in due time," he said in a statement.
He also urged Filipinos to do their part in helping reduce the transmission of the highly-infectious disease.
“In the meantime, we call on our countrymen to be steadfast in our commitment to take care of each other in this imminent threat to our nation’s survival,” he said.
Panelo’s statement came after Peace Adviser and National Task Force (NTF) Covid-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the government is currently studying whether to extend the quarantine for another 15 to 20 days after its scheduled end on April 12.
Galvez, in an interview over DZBB, said it would be difficult to “rush into normalcy” only to revert to another lockdown if it turns out the infection rate continued to surge.
“(What) we’re seeing is that one of the big possibilities is we will have an extension of 15 days or maybe 20 days so that we can really sustain it. Because right now, it’s still rising, it hasn’t plateaued,” he said.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Galvez noted that the government has not yet seen any significant flattening of the curve and that the next two weeks will be critical for their observation.
He said the task force will not rush into making a decision and consider all factors on the situation at hand.
Currently, the task force is gathering self-assessment from local government units (LGUs) to consider their side in making a decision.
The task force is also considering the economic impact of the quarantine extension, he added.
He said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is expected to come out with its final recommendation to the President before April 14, the day mass-testing is expected to start.
Earlier, Galvez said the task force wanted to fast-track the accreditation of subnational laboratories to start the massive testing of persons under investigation (PUI) and persons under monitoring (PUM) for Covid-19.
There are currently four Covid-19 sub-testing areas in the country.
Luzon has been placed under ECQ from March 17 to April 12 to minimize the number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
As of Sunday, health authorities reported 152 new cases of Covid-19 infection, bringing the country's total to 3,246 and eight new deaths bringing the total to 152.
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1098886
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Plebiscite on law dividing Palawan into 3 suspended
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan, Philippines — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has suspended all preparations related to the plebiscite scheduled on May 11 to ratify the law dividing Palawan into three provinces.
The Comelec, in a memorandum promulgated on March 25 but was only released on Thursday, suspended all preparatory activities related to the Palawan plebiscite due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, which subsequently affected the calendar of activities earlier set by the poll body.
“The commission en banc, after due deliberation, has approved the suspension of all preparatory activities relative to the conduct of the plebiscite to ratify the division of the province of Palawan, upon the recommendation citing the expanded community quarantine declared by President Rodrigo Duterte,” said Consuelo Diola, acting Comelec secretary.
The Comelec has yet to set the new date for the plebiscite.
The current administration of the provincial government headed by Gov. Jose Alvarez, who was the main proponent for the division, has earlier allocated some P80 million for the Palawan plebiscite.
Winston Arzaga, provincial information officer, said that Capitol will honor the poll body’s decision, and immediately suspended its campaign in favor of the division.
Divine intervention
“The P80-million budget can no longer be reallocated because it was already deposited to [the] Comelec. Besides, they have probably used most of it in personnel training and printing of ballot,” Arzaga said.
One Palawan, a civic group movement that challenged before the Supreme Court the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 11259, the law that allowed Palawan to be broken up into three, expressed joy over the Comelec’s decision to suspend the plebiscite, saying it was a “divine intervention.”
RA 11259, signed by Mr. Duterte on April 5, 2019, divides Palawan into the provinces of Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur, with the last as the mother province.
The new provinces will be created upon the approval of majority through the plebiscite supposed to be conducted and supervised by the Comelec on May 11.
Cynthia Sumagaysay-Del Rosario, one of the convenors of the group that opposed RA 11259, slammed the provincial government for allegedly taking credit for the suspension, pointing out that they made the request first before a similar recommendation was enacted by the provincial board.
“I wrote a request March 18 for the plebiscite not to push through. The Comelec met en banc and decided to postpone the May 11 plebiscite in Palawan. There was suddenly a ‘special session’ at the provincial council to plan their request for postponement. That’s when the “nahuling” move comes in,” she said.
The provincial board, in a special session held on March 27, authorized Alvarez to petition the Comelec for the postponement of the plebiscite.
(UPDATED) It will be moved to second Monday of December before Christmas 2020 after the quarantine.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1253973/plebiscite-on-law-dividing-palawan-into-3-suspended
The Comelec, in a memorandum promulgated on March 25 but was only released on Thursday, suspended all preparatory activities related to the Palawan plebiscite due to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, which subsequently affected the calendar of activities earlier set by the poll body.
“The commission en banc, after due deliberation, has approved the suspension of all preparatory activities relative to the conduct of the plebiscite to ratify the division of the province of Palawan, upon the recommendation citing the expanded community quarantine declared by President Rodrigo Duterte,” said Consuelo Diola, acting Comelec secretary.
The Comelec has yet to set the new date for the plebiscite.
The current administration of the provincial government headed by Gov. Jose Alvarez, who was the main proponent for the division, has earlier allocated some P80 million for the Palawan plebiscite.
Winston Arzaga, provincial information officer, said that Capitol will honor the poll body’s decision, and immediately suspended its campaign in favor of the division.
Divine intervention
“The P80-million budget can no longer be reallocated because it was already deposited to [the] Comelec. Besides, they have probably used most of it in personnel training and printing of ballot,” Arzaga said.
One Palawan, a civic group movement that challenged before the Supreme Court the constitutionality of Republic Act No. 11259, the law that allowed Palawan to be broken up into three, expressed joy over the Comelec’s decision to suspend the plebiscite, saying it was a “divine intervention.”
RA 11259, signed by Mr. Duterte on April 5, 2019, divides Palawan into the provinces of Palawan del Norte, Palawan Oriental and Palawan del Sur, with the last as the mother province.
The new provinces will be created upon the approval of majority through the plebiscite supposed to be conducted and supervised by the Comelec on May 11.
Cynthia Sumagaysay-Del Rosario, one of the convenors of the group that opposed RA 11259, slammed the provincial government for allegedly taking credit for the suspension, pointing out that they made the request first before a similar recommendation was enacted by the provincial board.
“I wrote a request March 18 for the plebiscite not to push through. The Comelec met en banc and decided to postpone the May 11 plebiscite in Palawan. There was suddenly a ‘special session’ at the provincial council to plan their request for postponement. That’s when the “nahuling” move comes in,” she said.
The provincial board, in a special session held on March 27, authorized Alvarez to petition the Comelec for the postponement of the plebiscite.
(UPDATED) It will be moved to second Monday of December before Christmas 2020 after the quarantine.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1253973/plebiscite-on-law-dividing-palawan-into-3-suspended
PSA puts on hold conduct of 2020 nationwide census
The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) is putting off the conduct of the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (CPH), originally scheduled in May, until the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is lifted.
As such, recruitment and hiring of census workers as well as the series of training and preparations for the conduct of the census has been temporarily suspended.
“This measure is being done to help protect the health and safety of the public, PSA employees, census workers including those from the Department of Education, and other partners and stakeholders,” the PSA said.
PSE said it would adjust its field operations for the 2020 census as guided by national and health authorities.
Since the start of the ECQ, the PSA has shuttered all of its frontline services nationwide to conform with the stringent social distancing measures implemented across the country.
Online application for civil registry documents such as birth, marriage, certificate of no marriage, and death certificates has also been suspended as of March 17 and will remain so until further notice.
It has also implemented flexible work arrangements for its central offices.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/04/05/2005478/psa-puts-hold-conduct-2020-nationwide-census
As such, recruitment and hiring of census workers as well as the series of training and preparations for the conduct of the census has been temporarily suspended.
“This measure is being done to help protect the health and safety of the public, PSA employees, census workers including those from the Department of Education, and other partners and stakeholders,” the PSA said.
PSE said it would adjust its field operations for the 2020 census as guided by national and health authorities.
Since the start of the ECQ, the PSA has shuttered all of its frontline services nationwide to conform with the stringent social distancing measures implemented across the country.
Online application for civil registry documents such as birth, marriage, certificate of no marriage, and death certificates has also been suspended as of March 17 and will remain so until further notice.
It has also implemented flexible work arrangements for its central offices.
https://www.philstar.com/business/2020/04/05/2005478/psa-puts-hold-conduct-2020-nationwide-census