House OKs on 2nd reading bill creating Department of Disaster Resilience

The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved on second reading the bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), which was among President Rodrigo Duterte’s priority measures from his last State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Through voice voting, the lower chamber approved House Bill No. 5989 also known as the “Disaster Resilience Act.”

Under the bill, DDR will be the primary agency “responsible, accountable, and liable for leading, managing, and organizing national efforts to prevent and reduce disaster risks; prepare for and respond to disasters; and recover, rehabilitate and build forward better after the destruction.”

DDR shall likewise augment the capacity of local government units in collaboration with relevant national government agencies and other stakeholders to implement disaster risk reduction and management and climate change action plans, programs, projects, and activities.

The bill also provides that DDR will still have the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as its core organization to which the Climate Change Commission Office, the Health Emergency Management Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH), the Disaster Response Assistance, and the Disaster Response Management Bureau of the Department of Social Welfare and Development will be integrated.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, one of the lead authors of the measure, said that DDR will help the country deal with disasters and emergencies “not as unfortunate incidents whose impacts are beyond our control, but as risks that can be mitigated.”

“We can no longer deny the fact that climate change is real, that we are a volcanically and tectonically active country, and that we face several typhoons each year. Disasters are a fact of Philippine life,” Salceda said.

“But we can mitigate the human and socioeconomic costs of these disasters. DDR will help ensure that we have a full-time agency in charge of keeping us strong and ready for disasters,” the lawmaker added.

Once implemented the DDR would be an institutionalized agency coordinating the national response to disasters and emergencies, replacing the ad-hoc and primary secretariat-type work of the current National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDDRMC), said Salceda.

In his SONA in July, Duterte called on Congress to pass DDR to ensure the safety of Filipinos during disasters.

In the 17th Congress, the House passed on third and final reading a similar measure in October last year. However, the bill’s counterpart version failed to hurdle the Senate.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1335696/house-approves-on-2nd-reading-bill-creating-department-of-disaster-resilience

DILG Eastern Visayas to hire close to 1.5K contact tracers

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of the Interior and Local Government in Eastern Visayas (DILG-8) is eyeing to deploy at least 1,473 contact tracers to help different local government units (LGU) in the region.

In a statement on Tuesday, DILG Regional Director Karl Ceasar Rimando said these will ramp up contact tracing efforts in the region, especially in areas with the most number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.

"They will augment the existing contact tracing teams of LGUs who will provide the first point of contact of a Covid-19 case. They will be conducting interviews, profiling, and perform a public health risk assessment of patients and their identified close contacts," he added.

A bachelor's degree relevant to the job, preferably on allied medical courses and criminology, is among the minimum qualifications.

Rimando said prospective contact tracers must also be skilled in data gathering, research, and documentation; must be able to interview patients and close contacts to gather data on travel history and conduct health assessments; must possess the ability to advocate public health education messages; and must have the investigative capability.

Background training and eligibility are not required, he added.

Applicants must submit through dilg8personnel.rsp@gmail.com the required documents which include the application letter addressed to the regional director, personal data sheet, National Bureau of Investigation clearance, and drug test result.

Rimando said successful applicants will receive a gross monthly salary of PHP18,784.

The regional office disclosed that hiring of new contact tracers is implemented under the Bayanihan to Recover As one Act or Bayanihan 2 law.

Since the Covid-19 outbreak in the country, the region has logged a total of 3,826 cases, including 3,094 recoveries and 37 deaths, based on the monitoring report of the Department of Health.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1115467

36 of 80 Cebu City villages now Covid-free: Labella

CEBU CITY – Mayor Edgardo Labella on Tuesday announced that 36 of the 80 barangays in the city are now cleared of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

He said based on the data gathered by the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) as of Monday, the city has detected no single active case of Covid-19 in those 36 villages.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases (IATF) established EOC in Cebu City last June after President Rodrigo Duterte sent Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu here to oversee the Covid-19 response.

The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), however, showed a slight increase in active Covid-19 cases in the city from 335 a week ago to 356 based on it’s Monday case bulletin.

But the city detected only nine additional new cases against the 37 additional reported recoveries, which brought the total number of recoveries here to 8,732. The number is 89.5 percent of the 9,750 total infections since the onset of the pandemic.

Labella also announced last week that 49 of the 53 barangay isolation centers were shut already down since the number of patients has dropped significantly.

The mayor said while there is a reason to be jubilant because of this achievement, he urged the Cebuanos to be conscious of the presence of coronavirus in the community and to be mindful in observing minimum health standards such as wearing of face mask and physical distancing, among others.

Lawyer Rey Gealon, Labella’s spokesperson and city attorney, said in a virtual presser Monday that the city will continue to strictly enforce the health protocols, especially to establishments allowed to reopen under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

“The mayor is serious in implementing the minimum health protocols and keeps on reminding the Business Permit and Licensing Office to always inspect establishments and if they are not enforcing it, we will shut them down,” Gealon said in Cebuano.

He said 70 establishments were ordered closed or voluntarily ceased operations for violating the protocols. They were slapped with a penalty of suspension of work.

Of the 70, seven got a 14-day work suspension while the rest were allowed to reopen after three to five days of closure.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1115442

Sorsogon journalist shot dead

SORSOGON CITY – A local journalist here was shot dead on Monday evening by motorcycle-riding assailants.

Police identified the victim as Jobert Bercasio also known as Polpog, a resident of Bacon district, Sorsogon City.

Initial report showed Bercasio was on board his motorcycle and was en route to Seabreeze Subdivision in Barangay Cabid-An from the city proper when he was shot multiple times by two suspects at around 7:55 p.m.

City police chief Supt. Benito Dipad said the victim died on the spot though it could not yet be determined how many gunshot wounds he sustained as autopsy has yet to be performed.

Dipad said empty casings from M-16 rifle were recovered at the crime scene.

“Police investigators are now reviewing CCTV footages along the route taken by the victim for possible identification of the suspects,” Dipad added.

Bercasio, who was known for his hard-hitting commentaries, hosted a program through Facebook live.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1115429

Discover the 2 Golden Keys Of Tolerance

 You have heard that it was said, "Love your neighbor and hate your enemy."  But I tell you:  Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:43-45

If you want to know how tolerant you really are, do not look at your own mistakes but look at the mistakes of your worst enemy.  Do not measure your tolerance when you got a scratch on the new car because the parked one was way too far out from the curb.  Measure your tolerance when your wife roundly smashes the left front fender.

When it happened to you, it was an unfortunate accident, just one of those things.  But when it happens to someone else, it is the result of carelessness.  Tolerance does not involve your mistakes, only the mistakes of others.  Tolerance has little to do with what you think or do‑‑it deals with your reaction to what others do or think.  Webster says tolerance is to allow beliefs, practices, and attitudes that differ from your own.  Tolerance deals with individuality and individual tastes.

If we were all alike, we would have no need for tolerance.  But God made us unlike each other.  There is a scene in Leon Uris's book Exodus where Ari is falling in love with the American nurse, Kitty Fremont.  Ari's background is Jewish and he is giving his life to establish the state of Israel.  Ari turns to Kitty and says, "We are different, any way you look at it; our customs and backgrounds are different."

There are differences in backgrounds and cultures, and those differences are good.  They give identity and a sense of belonging to homes and families.  Some would like to eliminate those differences and make everyone the same‑‑like a string of paper dolls.  Tolerance involves accepting the differences in life that are the result of different backgrounds and ideas.

There are two golden keys to the door of tolerance.  One is acceptance, and the other is understanding.  Acceptance usually precedes understanding.  To accept the differences of thought in another person does not mean that you do not believe that your ideas are important, or that your way of life is not valid; it means that you are willing to allow someone else to have ideas or concepts that are different from your own.  The more you accept a person as a person whose outlook is different from yours, the more you will grow to understand him.

History tells us that men have never been tolerant of those who differ from them.  We are like the fellow who said, "There are two ways to look at this‑‑my way and the wrong way."

There are two sides, though, to the coin of tolerance.  In spite of what I have said, there is an end to this business of tolerance.  Be tolerant of individual differences in taste and thought, but in matters of honesty, integrity and principle there is little room for tolerance.  Is there room for tolerance when a sex‑maniac roams your neighborhood?  Is there room for tolerance when a dishonest employee is stealing his employer blind?  Is there room for tolerance when a man turns traitor to his government?  Immediately it becomes clear that tolerance involves individuality, not moral spinelessness.

By those standards Jesus was one of the world's most intolerant men.  He was intolerant of falsehood, corruption, hypocrisy, and dishonesty.  His heart went out to men and women who were weak in the flesh.  He freely offered forgiveness to those who would trust Him.  He was tolerant of the sinner but intolerant of his sin.  His forgiveness was followed by the words, "Go and sin no more."  Rethink your capacity for tolerance.  In essentials, unity; in non‑essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.

Resource reading: Psalm 1:1-6

https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/discover-the-2-golden-keys-of-tolerance/