Friday, January 22, 2021
Senator wants PhilHealth coverage for Filipinos who develop side effects after COVID jab
A senator on Friday urged the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to provide full coverage for Filipinos who would develop side effects after COVID-19 vaccination, saying this would boost vaccine confidence in the country.
Sen. Joel Villanueva, during a Senate inquiry on the country’s vaccination program, said such preparations would add a safety net for vaccination acceptance in the country, which continues to be skeptical about vaccines, based on recent surveys.
“Kung libre ang bakuna, libre din dapat ang pagpapagamot ng anumang adverse side effect nito. Saklaw rin dapat ng universal health insurance ang pagpapabakuna, para wala na talagang dahilan hindi magpabakuna,” Villanueva said.
(If vaccines will be free, then the treatment for adverse side effects should also be free and covered by the universal health insurance. This will ensure that people will not have any reason to reject the vaccination.)
Health chief Francisco Duque III told the senator that PhilHealth would study the proposal.
Shouldering the treatment for any issues post-vaccination, he said, would “cover all the bases needed for [a] successful vaccination plan.”
“Ang inaaalala natin, kung may mga allergy, halimbawa, at respiratory distress ang manifestation nito, baka i-charge po ito doon sa existing case rates na may ceiling, at lalabas pa na may out-of-pocket expense ang nabakunahan,” he pointed out.
(What we are worried about is those people who will get allergies, respiratory distress, and they will be charged on the existing rates that has ceiling, and Filipinos will shell out money for this.)
“We need this ‘comfort guarantee’ from the government to encourage people to get vaccine jabs . . . Kung patuloy na may pag-aalinlangan ang ating mamamayan, sigurado pong marami ang hindi magpapaturok,” he added.
(If people are hesitant, nobody will avail of the vaccine shots.)
A Pulse Asia survey late last year showed that nearly half of Filipinos said they would not get themselves vaccinated against COVID-19.
Dr. Lulu Bravo, executive director of Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, said conducting a massive information campaign would be critical in building vaccine confidence in the country.
In late 2017, the government stopped its nationwide dengue vaccination program and pulled Dengvaxia off the market after drug maker Sanofi warned that the vaccine might cause severe symptoms if given to those who did not have prior exposure to the mosquito-borne disease.
Protecting For All You’re Worth
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. Ephesians 5:31
Have you ever stood on the banks of two great rivers and watched them merge? When two rivers come together, there is a great deal of turbulence before the waters flow smoothly. That's the way it often is when two become one and forge a new family.
In the second chapter of the book of Genesis, the story is recorded how God created man, but he was lonely so God took a rib from the side of Adam and created a companion for him. Then Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, for she was taken out of man. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh" (Genesis 2:23-24 NASB).
Did you notice that God didn't say, "You are one flesh..." but rather "you become one flesh"? That becoming is the interweaving of habits, cultures, backgrounds, customs and a whole lot more. When you marry, you bring a large gunnysack with you—it is your genes and chromosomes, your heredity, your background, and the ideas that you have grown up with regarding marriage and family living. Like threads woven into a tapestry, the interweaving of two lives is not always smooth and without problems.
A lot of women today are coming to marriage with a whole different mindset from that of their mothers a generation ago. Having grown up in a different world, some women today are dreadfully afraid of losing their own identity and independence. Subsequently, when husbands attempt to provide nurturing and care, they withdraw intent on remaining aloof and strong. At the same time more than a few men, having grown up without very positive role models apart from the ones they see on TV and in the movies, don't know how to treat a woman. Sometimes they tend to treat her as his dad treated his mother, which wasn't even good a generation ago. Everybody loses when this happens.
In merging two lives Guideline #1 is: Discover the biblical pattern and norm for a relationship. The counsel and advice of Scripture was given‑‑not to make us miserable or to strip either of us individuality or personality--but to help us understand how real fulfillment can take place. The blueprint still works, but make sure that you go to the original and discover for yourself the part God wants you to play in the drama of family living.
Guideline #2: Respect differences that may exist by virtue of your background and culture. Don't insist on winning every round, or spending every Christmas and Easter with your family, or suggesting that the habits or the way things were done in your mate's family are weird. Rather, develop your own traditions and special events. Celebrate your relationship as you incorporate the best from the past as well.
Guideline #3: Communicate the feelings of your heart without making light of your mate or how she or he really thinks! Part of effective communication is the ability to listen with understanding and ponder what you don't agree with or fully understand. Prayer is a powerful force in bringing two people to a deeper understanding of themselves and each other.
Guideline #4: Compromise because you care. Often thought of as surrender, compromise in marriage isn't surrender‑‑it is moving towards each other because you care. Someone once said that marriage is one big, "I do" with a lot of little "uh huhs." It is the ongoing realization that like the flow of a river, which changes with the bends and turns in its course, so life has its changes; it's white water rapids as well as quiet meadows; it's ups and downs, but when the waters flow quietly, they deepen and run more majestically.
Actually, the merging of a great river is a pretty good picture of what happens when two really become one. Instead of losing, both are enriched and more fulfilled. Think about it.
Resource reading: Ephesians 5:22-31.
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/protecting-for-all-youre-worth/
Megawide-GMR hands over new Clark Airport terminal to gov't
Megawide and Indian partner GMR on Friday handed over to government the newly completed Clark International Airport terminal.
In a handover ceremony, Megawide-GMR turned over the new terminal to the Department of Transportation (DOTr), Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA), and private airport operator Luzon International Premier Airport Development Corp. (LIPAD).
The new terminal has an 8.2-million passenger capacity and will replace the old terminal, which the government will retire.
Defying the pandemic’s scourge on tourism
Everybody knows how badly hit the tourism industry has been by this pandemic.
Although countries all over the world, including ours, have been trying hard to push for domestic tourism, as the initial phase for the industry’s recovery, still there are countless quarantine-related restrictions for travelers to adhere to, prompting many, who just want to have a leisurely and easy time, to either postpone or cancel their planned holidays.
Any business-minded individual in the tourism industry would definitely be more cautious in his financial exposure at a time like this when alarming uncertainties abound and so many factors beyond one’s control come into play. One really has to have consummate positivity to continue trudging along the seemingly hazy path to success which this pandemic has laid out for all of us in the industry.
You wouldn’t think we would find in our midst, at this time, a strategic optimist who would bravely carry on with his noble ideals, marching undeterred by naysayers towards the pinnacle of success.
Well, lo and behold, I am glad to be able to cite two entities definitely deserving of praise, unequivocal support, and utmost respect.
The Radisson Hotel Group is one of the world’s largest hotel chains, with nine distinctive hotel brands and more than 1,400 hotels in operation and under development in 120 countries. The group’s portfolio includes Radisson Collection, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Radisson RED, Radisson Individuals, Park Plaza, Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inn and Suites by Radisson, and Radisson Hotels.
In spite of the challenges brought about by the pandemic, the hotel group decided to rise above all the negativity, the fear and the feeling of hopelessness by adding 84 new hotels across the Asia Pacific region last year. This courageous growth forms part of the group’s ambitious five-year strategy to triple its portfolio in the next few years, according to Katerina Giannouka, president - Asia Pacific. Such fearless expansion covers its key markets—China, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.
The group got even bigger in India with the signing of eight new hotels—in Mashobra Resort, Jabalpur, Prayagraj, Dehradun, Lonavala, Jaipur Malviya Nagar, Pondicherry Bay, and Katra.
In Vietnam, Radisson now has a resort in Phan Thiet and in Van Phong Bay.
In China, two new hotels were added in Nanjing—the Radisson Blu Hotel Nanjing South New Town and the Radisson Collection Resort Nanjing. It also partnered with Jin Jiang International and its subsidiaries, adding 72 new hotels and resorts to its roster of accommodations.
The Radisson Hotel Group will continue to banner its indomitable determination for growth this year and in the next few years.
Here at home, just like two peas in a pod, SM Prime Holdings, Inc., which owns all the Radisson hotels in the Philippines, is just as gung-ho as the Radisson Hotel Group. Its enthusiasm in being a major player in our country’s accommodations industry has not been diluted by this pandemic. SM Prime Holdings did not put any of its expansion plans on hold.
Managed by SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation, SM Prime Holdings’ hotels in the country include the Radisson Blu in Cebu City, Park Inn by Radisson Davao, Park Inn by Radisson Clark, Park Inn by Radisson Iloilo, and Park Inn by Radisson North Edsa.
Even with the pandemic hanging over our tourism industry’s head like the sword of Damocles, the SM group has scheduled to open very soon Park Inn by Radisson Bacolod.
SM Hotels and Conventions Corporation, led by its hardworking executive vice president Peggy Angeles, also manages the various SMX Convention Centers in the country—SMX Mall of Asia, SMX Aura, SMX Davao, SMX Bacolod, Mega Trade Hall at SM Megamall, Sky Hall in Cebu, and SMX Olongapo which is a joint venture with the local government unit, and which opened last year in spite of the pandemic.
Not at all discouraged by quarantine restrictions on person-to-person events, the SM group is set to open SMX Clark this summer. Now, that’s positivity to the max!
The Radisson Hotel Group and the tandem of SM Prime Holdings and SM Hotels and Conventions have shown us that difficulties and misfortunes don’t have to keep us from achieving our goals. They best exemplify what author Washington Irving said, “Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above them.”
YOUR WEEKEND CHUCKLE
LIFE INSURANCE: A contract that keeps you poor all your life, so that you can die rich.
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