Monday, April 26, 2021
Ward in Eva Macapagal Super Terminal converted into COVID-19 isolation facility
Vivienne Gulla, ABS-CBN News
One of the four quarantine wards inside the Eva Macapagal Super Terminal in Manila was converted into an isolation facility for mild and asymptomatic COVID patients to help decongest hospitals in Metro Manila.
The 55-bed isolation ward served as a quarantine facility for returning Filipino seafarers since last year, with the help of the Lopez Group of Companies.
The facility will receive COVID-positive patients that will be referred by the One COVID Referral Center. It will be manned by 21 health personnel, including 3 doctors and 6 nurses.
“Talagang gagabayan ang pasyente. Saan ba siya naaayon na facility? Depende sa kanyang karamdaman o clinical condition. Ayaw na natin na pupunta lahat sa ospital, kasi talagang punuan at nabibilaukan ang ospital,” Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said.
“Para po makatulong tayo doon sa mga pagkukulang ng bed facilities partikular sa step down care, kumbaga yung pagaling na. Para mas maaga mabakante ang pasilidad ng primary hospitals,” Philippine Ports Authority General Manager, Atty. Jay Santiago added.
The PPA said they are ready to expand the isolation facility’s capacity if necessary. The combined bed capacity of the isolation ward and the 3 quarantine wards is 211.
ICU beds in Metro Manila remain at critical level, with 86% utilization rate, according to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. But the combined utilization rate of all isolation, ward, and ICU beds in the region is at 65 percent.
Duque said the Philippine Red Cross will set up airconditioned tents at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute to augment its capacity by at least 20 beds. But the hospital’s Executive Director says their staff is inadequate to man these, as some health personnel get infected with COVID. For this year alone, the number of NKTI personnel that tested positive for COVID is at 255.
“Hindi man sila sabay-sabay, pero nitong Marso at Abril, eh naga-average kami ng 6 to 10 health workers na nagpo-positive,” Dr. Rose Marie Liquete said.
Situations like these are among the reasons why the Health Secretary favors extending the modified enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and provinces in the NCR Plus bubble by at least a week.
“Nakikita natin hindi pa lumuluwag ang ating health systems capacity, lalu na ang mga ICU critical care,” Duque said.
The IATF will meet with experts in epidemiology and data analytics Tuesday to discuss the task force’s recommendations for the country’s community quarantine classifications for May.
While the Philippines has breached the one million mark for COVID infections since last year, Duque said over 90% of this figure recovered.
“Ako kasi ang tinitingnan ko is the recoveries. Ang recoveries natin mataas. More than 900,000. Our active cases is about 77,000 more or less... Ano ba yung 1 million? That’s a number. What is important is how many people recovered? ‘Yun ang bantayan natin. Saka kung ilan ang active cases,” he said.
He also has a reminder to community pantry organizers.
“Siguraduhin na may coordination with the local government unit para ‘yung social distancing, masking, face shield, so lahat itong mga ito ay dapat disiplinadong tumutugon o tumatalima sa ating panuntunan,” Duque said.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/ward-in-eva-macapagal-super-terminal-converted-into-covid-19-isolation-facility
BFAR: West Philippine Sea an important fishing ground
The West Philippine Sea is an important fishing ground where thousands of Filipinos depend for their livelihood, an official of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said Monday, amid the presence of Chinese vessels in the area.
The West Philippine Sea yields some 24,300 metric tons of fishery capture that represents 7.36 percent of marine catch nationwide. Most of this goes to Metro Manila, said BFAR National Director Eduardo Gongon.
"Totoong malaki ang kahalagahan ng West Philippine Sea bilang isang lugar pangisdaan para sa libo-libo nating mangingisdang Pilipino. Dapat lamang na atin itong pagyamanin at bigyang-proteksyon sa anumang gawaing sumisira ng likas na yaman nito," he said in a press briefing.
"Ang anuman pong pagkasira nito ay makakaapekto sa ibang bahagi ng ating karagatan at maging sa karagatan ng ibang bansa dahil dapat nating tandaan, ang ating karagatan o katubigan ay magkaka-ugnay."
(The importance of the West Philippine Sea as a fishing ground for thousands of Filipino fishers is great. We should enrich and protect it from any activity that destroys its natural resources. Whatever destruction here will affect other parts of our sea, and even the seas of other countries because these are interconnected.)
The BFAR is studying the impact of some 240 Chinese ships that recently swarmed the West Philippine Sea. The bureau is also joining a drill in the area, he said.
Beijing refuses to recognize a 2016 ruling by a United Nations-backed court that invalidated its "historical" claims to about 90 percent of the South China Sea.
President Rodrigo Duterte last week said he would only deploy military ships should China go after oil and mineral resources in the waterway.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/04/26/21/bfar-west-philippine-sea-an-important-fishing-ground
Barangay kagawad patay sa police raid sa Camarines Sur
Nasawi ang isang kagawad matapos salakayin ng pulisya ang kaniyang bahay sa bayan ng Buhi, Camarines Sur, Linggo ng gabi.
Ayon sa pulisya, naghain sila ng search warrant laban sa kagawad na si Froilan Saez Oaferina III, 45, sa bahay niya sa Barangay Tambo dahil sa pagmamay-ari niya umano ng ilegal na baril.
Diin ng pulisya, gumanti sila matapos biglang nagpaputok umano ng baril ang suspek sa kanila habang nagtatago siya sa madilim na bahagi ng kaniyang bahay.
Pero ayon sa pamilya ni Oaferina, walang search warrant ang mga awtoridad ng sumugod ang mga ito.
Nakuha sa pinangyarihan ng insidente ang isang caliber .38 revolver na ginamit umano ng kagawad.
Dinala na sa punerarya ang bangkay ni Oaferina para isailalim sa autopsy.--May ulat ni Jonathan Magistrado
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/barangay-kagawad-patay-sa-police-raid-sa-camarines-sur
4 na umano'y biktima ng human trafficking, nasagip sa Pampanga
Nasagip ng police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Pampanga Field Unit at ng Floridablanca Municipal Police Station ang apat na biktima umano ng human trafficking sa magkakahiwalay na operasyon sa Pampanga nitong Linggo.
Nag-ugat ang operasyon sa impormasyong natanggap ng mga awtoridad sa malalaswa umanong show sa 2 bar sa Barangay Consuelo sa bayan ng Floridablanca.
Ayon kay Police Lt. Col. Rex Perocho, hepe ng CIDG-Pampanga, naaktuhan nila sa entrapment operation ang pag-aalok sa mga babae kapalit ng pera.
Nasagip ang 4 na babae sa nasabing operasyon habang huli ang 2 itinuturong mga may-ari at nagpapatakbo sa mga bar at isa pang kasama ng mga ito.
Ayon sa pulisya, ang mga inarestong suspek ay itinuturong lider at mga miyembro ng isang sindikato na sangkot sa human trafficking.
Mahaharap sa kasong paglabag sa Republic Act 9208 ang mga nahuling suspek habang nasa pangangalaga na sa Municipal Social Welfare and Development office ang mga nasagip na babae para sumailalim sa counseling.
- ulat ni Gracie Rutao
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/4-na-umanoy-biktima-ng-human-trafficking-nasagip-sa-pampanga
What Happens When Culture Clashes With Faith?
But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods of your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15
Never has a generation wanted more from its culture that only Jesus Christ could provide than our present one. Like what? The comforts of prosperity including a home and car, happiness, and money in the bank. When that is the driving force of a society, vast numbers of people buy into the God-will-deliver-the-goods mentality, expecting Him to be the great provider of our expectations. This also explains why there are so many broken homes in the Christian community, why vast numbers of people own Bibles but never read them, go to church periodically and consider it to be pretty good entertainment but are unaffected by what they experience. They face the same problems with their kids – drugs, sexual activity and its consequences – as those who make no pretense to having any relationship with God.
Can you expect culture to deliver all of what you want—and more important, what you need? Or are there some things which were bought at a cross 2000 years ago that the world can never deliver?
Let’s pause and define the playing field called culture. Should you consult a dictionary you will find a host of definitions from the practical to the technical. Included is this one: “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time…the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization…” and so forth. Defining culture is a bit like nailing Jell-o to the wall. Once you think you understand it, you are left with nothing but a bare nail in the wall and nothing to hang on it because it’s moved on.
Culture has been compared to the house that you live in or a river in which you must swim, constantly affected by the current that can sweep you and your family downstream where you don’t want to go. In relationship to your family, I think of it as a framed photograph. Your family is the subject of the picture and culture is the frame that surrounds you. Our English word culture does not appear in the Bible, yet it is the backdrop of every story you will read in this book.
In the 1960s the term “culture war” became prominent, highlighted by the publication of James Hunter’s book on the theme picturing the battle lines drawn over the issue of homosexuality, abortion, gun laws, and so forth. It was like the 50-yard line across which a giant tug of war took place. The struggle focused on what you embraced or denied.
Periodically the subject matter of the battles and the cast of characters changes, but the real culture wars have never ceased and the struggle goes clear back to the Garden of Eden. The family in the Garden were willing spectators, then participants, as they were confronted with choices and terrible, terrible consequences of choosing their way over God’s way.
Anyone who has ever really studied the Bible has to acknowledge that the cultural battle spans the entire history of civilization and will continue to be a backdrop of what happens until Christ returns and establishes His kingdom when righteousness rules and God’s will is the law that governs. Meanwhile, whenever you hear your child say, “Why should I be different?” you become a participant in the cultural battle. So how do you deal with the elements of culture that challenge your faith? Remember, culture is like swimming in a river, and when you find yourself floating unthinkingly along with the current, something is dreadfully wrong.
Resource reading: Genesis 3:1-19
https://www.guidelines.org/devotional/what-happens-when-culture-clashes-with-faith/
Travel ban sa mga galing India pinag-aaralan dahil sa bagong COVID-19 variant
Ikalimang sunod na araw nang nakapagtatala ang India ng pinakamaraming bilang ng kaso ng nagpopositibo sa COVID-19.
Nitong Lunes, nasa higit 350,000 ang inulat na nagpositibo sa bansa.
Maladelubyo na ang eksena sa ilang ospital sa India kung saan nakapila ang mga pasyente sa ospital dahil sa dami ng nagpopositibo.
Tumatanggi na rin ang mga ospital na tumanggap ng mga pasyente. Ang iba, sa sasakyan at ambulansiya na lang binibigyan ng oxygen habang naghihintay ng kama.
Kalamidad kung ilarawan ni Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ang sitwasyon sa bansa. Nanawagan rin siya sa mga kababayan na magpabakuna na.
Kasabay nito ay kumalat na rin sa India ang bagong B1617 variant na unang iniulat sa naturang bansa.
Pansamantalang isinara hanggang Mayo 3 ang embahada ng Pilipinas sa New Delhi dahil sa nararanasang surge sa bansa.
Ayon sa Department of Health, hindi pa nade-detect sa Pilipinas ang mas nakahahawang variant ng coronavirus mula India.
Hindi pa rin aniya magpapataw na travel ban ang Pilpinas sa mga biyahero mula India pero pinag-aaralan na ito.
"Pinag-aaralan ngayon ng [IATF] itong sinasabing Indian variant. Nagkaroon na rin tayo ng initial discussion with the Department of Foreign Affairs. They are just waiting for the recommendation of DOH together with our experts," ani DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire.
—Ulat ni Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/travel-ban-india-pinag-aaralan-bagong-covid-19-variant
Ex-Pres. Estrada leaves hospital after COVID-19 battle
(UPDATE2) - Former Philippine President Joseph "Erap" Estrada was discharged from the hospital Monday after a nearly 1-month bout with COVID-19.
Estrada, who turned 84 last April 19 while in confinement, was released shortly before 5 p.m., with his son, former Senator Jinggoy Estrada, wheeling him out.
In a shot video message minutes before leaving the hospital, Estrada conveyed his gratitude to those who prayed for his immediate recovery.
“Hindi ko po mabigkas ang aking nararamdaman... Nararapat kong ipaabot sa inyo ang aking taos-pusong pasasalamat sa inyong pagdasal sa aking kalagayan. Salamat. Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat,” the former president said.
"Our family is overjoyed to announce that our father will finally be discharged from the hospital today," the Estrada family said in a statement earlier in the day.
"We would like to express our gratitude to his doctors for their expertise and care."
Estrada was admitted to the hospital late last month after testing positive for COVID-19. He was brought to the intensive care unit (ICU) due to bacterial infection in the lungs.
He tested negative for COVID-19 two weeks later.
The younger Estrada had earlier said he would impose strict rules on his father's visitors once the latter is out of the hospital, for their protection against the virus.
A former actor, Estrada became president from 1998 until 2001. He did not finish his 6-year term after a bloodless revolution in 2001 ousted him following accusations of corruption.
He was convicted of plunder on September 12, 2007 and sentenced to life imprisonment, but his successor, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pardoned him on October 25, 2007.
He was last in public service as Manila City mayor from 2013 until 2019.
On Monday, the Philippines' total COVID-19 cases breached the 1 million mark, of which, 74,623 are active infections. The country logged its first case of the disease on Jan. 30 last year in a Chinese woman who arrived from Wuhan City, China where COVID-19 is believed to have first emerged.
- with a report from Sherrie Ann Torres, ABS-CBN News
Son of slain red-tagged activist pleads Guevarra for justice
Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News
The son of an Iloilo-based activist who was killed in April last year has sought the help of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra and the DOJ-led task force on extrajudicial killings in a bid to seek justice for his slain father.
Lean Porquia, son of Bayan Muna Iloilo City coordinator Jory Porquia, personally submitted to the DOJ Monday his letter to Guevarra.
“I am writing to you an appeal and a cry for justice! My father, Jose Reynaldo ‘Jory’ Porquia was extrajudicially killed last April 30th, 2020. Amidst the pandemic and imposition of lockdown in Iloilo City, he was brutally killed with 14 gunshots and the assailants remain unknown,” he said.
Lean said the Philippine National Police has not approached them to investigate his father’s death since the killing took place.
The family has also approached the Commission on Human Rights and the National Bureau of Investigation, to no avail.
“Gusto sana namin na bigyang-pansin din ito ng Department of Justice considering na mag-isang taon, wala pa ring galaw kahit one inch yung kaso ni Tatay,” Lean told ABS-CBN News shortly after filing his letter.
(We want to bring this to the attention of the Department of Justice considering that it has been almost a year, my father’s case has not moved an inch.)
He invoked the jurisdiction of the DOJ-led Administrative Order 35 task force on extrajudicial killings, which Guevarra recently said will look into the killings of activists on Bloody Sunday as well as the death of labor activist Dandy Miguel.
“Such special powers are enjoyed by your office to expedite and compel state forces to answer allegations of extrajudicial killings. My father should be included in that order as a victim of this brutal and demonic act of murdering an innocent man,” he told Guevarra in his letter.
The younger Porquia said his father, a veteran activist and a survivor of the Martial law in the 80s, was subjected to red-baiting before he was killed.
Photos of his father and his father’s name were posted all over Iloilo City, accused of being a recruiter for the New People’s Army, he added.
“Days before his assassination, the local PNP has made pronouncements over the radio that he is being placed under surveillance. Just so you know, Mr. Secretary, he organized community kitchens in the different communities in Iloilo City, a response to the government’s call of ‘Bayanihan.’ But the PNP Iloilo City seems to be unhappy about this that they started looking for him,” he said in his letter.
“A week after this incident, he was killed at around 5 o’clock in the morning in his rented cottage in Arevalo, Iloilo City,” he added.
Bayan Muna Rep. and House deputy minority leader Carlos Zarate, who accompanied Porquia at the DOJ, said it’s unfortunate that the older Porquia’s act of kindness in launching community kitchens was treated differently by authorities.
“Unfortunately, ang tingin ng iba rito, yung mga anti-demokratikong pwersa sa lipunan natin, yung ginagawa niya terorismo. Which is very wrong. At yun ang tingin naming dahilan bakit siya pinaslang, yung kanyang paggawa ng kabutihan sa mamamayan sa Iloilo,” he said.
(Unfortunately, anti-democratic forces in society considered this as an act of terrorism. Which is every wrong. And that is what we think is the reason why he was killed — that act of kindness towards the citizens of Iloilo.)
Prior to his death, the older Porquia had served as consultant of the National Anti-Poverty Commission for Region VI in 2016 and was an environmentalist who organized the Madya-as Ecological Movement in the early 2000s.
After Jory Porquia’s killing, Zarate pointed out that other activists killed had also been previously red-tagged — from Kadamay leader Carlito Badion in May last year to human rights defender Zara Alvarez and peace consultant Randall Echanis in August.
The killings, he said, continued this year with the Blood Sunday simultaneous raids in Southern Luzon.
“Lahat ng redtagging ay hindi isang simpleng labelling. Dangerous ito dahil nakamamatay ang red-tagging,” he said, urging Guevarra to look into these cases.
(All forms of redtagging are not simply labelling. It is dangerous because it is deadly.)
“Talagang extrajudicial killings ang mga ito at ang tingin namin ang mga responsable dito ay mga ahente ng estado,” he said.
(These are really extrajudicial killings and we think those behind these are State agents.)
Lean said he, himself, has become the subject of red-tagging, with his photos and name circulated in Iloilo City, accused of being a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
But more than concern for his own safety, he pleaded Guevarra to act on his father’s case.
“I want justice for my father, Mr. Secretary, the same way that you would demand justice when your own father is killed,” he said.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/son-of-slain-red-tagged-activist-pleads-guevarra-for-justice
Mga kaso ng COVID-19 sa Pilipinas pumalo sa higit 1 milyon
Umabot ngayong Lunes sa lampas 1 milyon ang kabuuang bilang ng mga kumpirmadong kaso ng COVID-19 sa Pilipinas.
Ang Pilipinas ngayon ang ika-26 na bansa sa mundo na nakapagtala ng higit 1 milyong kaso habang ikalawa sa Southeast Asia.
Ito'y matapos maitala ng Department of Health (DOH) ang 8,929 dagdag na kaso para sa kabuuang 1,006,428.
Sa bilang na iyon, 74,623 ang active cases o nananatiling may sakit.
Umakyat naman sa 914,952 ang kabuuang bilang ng mga gumaling sa sakit matapos iulat ng DOH ang 11,333 bagong recoveries ngayong Lunes.
Nadagdagan din ng 70 ang bilang ng mga namatay para sa kabuang 16,853.
Samantala, iginiit naman ni Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque na hindi lang Pilipinas ang nakararanas ng surge o pagsipa ng mga kaso ng COVID-19 dahil sa mga bagong variant.
Naniniwala rin ang Palasyo na tama ang naging aksiyon ng pamahalaan sa pagharap sa pandemya at pagkontrol sa pagkalat ng sakit.
"Huwag ninyo pong titingnan lamang ang 1 million cases. Unang-una, halos 900,000 na po ang gumaling diyan so mga aktibong cases ay higit-kumulang 100,000," ani Roque.
"So I don't think it is a negative reflection. On the other hand, dahil nga po mayroon tayong world ranking, makikita po natin na we are managing still the new variants rather well," dagdag niya.
Bakit umabot sa 1 milyon?
Mga kakulangan sa health care system, hindi epektibong contact tracing, at maselang pagbabalanse sa kalusugan at ekonomiya ang mga nakikitang dahilan kung bakit umabot sa 1 milyon ang mga kaso ng COVID-19 sa Pilipinas.
Isa ang contact tracing sa pinakamahalagang hakbang kontra COVID-19 pero mismong mga doktor ay pinuna ang pagsasagawa nito.
Kadalasan umano'y hindi sapat ang impormasyon na kinukuha ng mga contact tracer para matukoy kung sino-sino pa ang may exposure sa isang positibo sa sakit.
"You want to really trace kung sino ang exposed, pero kung hindi mo kinukuha itong information na ito, what information are we getting? So it becomes futile, that kind of contact tracing," ani Philippine College of Physicians Vice President Dr. Maricar Limpin.
Target sana ay matunton ang 37 contacts ng isang COVID-19 patient pero ayon sa Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), hindi talaga kakayanin ang ganoon ngayong napakataas ng bilang ng mga nagkakasakit.
"'Yong 1:37 is a pre-surge target. Kumbaga peace time 'yon... 'pag nag-surge ka na, hindi na 'yan realistic," ani DILG Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya.
Sa ngayon, nasa 6 na close contact sa kada taong may COVID-19 ang natutunton ng mga contact tracer.
Para naman kay Dr. Minguita Padilla ng Doctors for Truth and Public Welfare, mas malalim pa sa contact tracing ang dahilan kung bakit tila hindi na nakaahon ang Pilipinas sa problema sa COVID-19.
"Kulang ng unified, cohesive, inspiring leadership... ang nangyayari kasi madalas 'hindi ko kasalanan 'yan,'" ani Padilla.
Ayon naman kay Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, DOH pa rin ang nangunguna sa pagtugon sa pandemya.
"Sa National Task Force [Against COVID-19]... governance function pero talagang nakikita mo, Health pa rin talaga ang gumagawa ng scientific basis and evidence na ginagamit for polices and protocols and the health sector is very much involved," aniya.
Ayon pa kay Padilla, bagaman sinusubukang balansehin ang ekonomiya at kalusugan, kailangan pa ring manaig ang kapakanan ng publiko.
"Nag-MGCQ (modified general community quarantine) tayo at ang pagkilos ng lahat ng tao, inisip ng tao, 'Ay, okay na kasi MGCQ na tayo.' MGCQ, walang bakuna, so nandoon pa rin ang virus," ani Padilla.
"We just have to have a system," dagdag niya.
Batid naman ng DOH na hindi talaga perpekto ang tugon ng gobyerno.
"Lahat 'yan mayroong room for improvement. Nothing is perfect. Walang kaming perfect na sistema sa ngayon. Wala tayong perfect na response. Sa bawat pillar na mayroon tayo sa ngayon, mayroon tayong angking kakulangan at recognized 'yan ng ating gobyerno," ani Vergeire.
Kung may isang magandang programang naiduot ang biglang pagtaas ng COVID-19 cases, marahil ito ay ang One Hospital Command.
Kahit hirap ang ilang matawagan ang hotline, nakatulong ito para marespondehan ang mga pasyenteng wala nang mapuntahan.
Nakita rin nitong mga nakaraang araw ang pagbaba ng mga kasong naitatala kada araw bunsod ng ilang ipinatupad na hakbang gaya ng mas mahigpit na quarantine status.
Para sa mga doktor, sana'y matuto na ang bansa sa karanasan ng iba na naging maganda ang tugon sa pandemya, lalo't mas maraming Pilipino ang patuloy na nahihirapan.
"We've been in this battle for one year now yet we are seeing a situation that is worse than when it started. Starting nitong March, it's really depressing to see many people dying at wala kaming magawa," ani Limpin.
"Buong mundo itong pandemya. Pero may mga bansa sa Asya na mas maganda ang kalagayan nila dahil mas maaga silang nag-react," ani Padilla.
Tugon naman ni Vergeire, "Ang ating health system, even without the pandemic, hindi siya comparable with the health system of other countries... tuloy-tuloy naman nating sinusubukan na maging mas maayos."
Ayon kay Vergeire, hindi maaaring pamahalaan lang ang tutugon sa pandemya kundi lahat ng sektor ng lipunan.
Enero 30 ng nakaraang taon nang maitala sa bansa ang pinakaunang kaso ng COVID-19, sa isang babaeng galing Wuhan, China, ang lungsod na sinasabing pinagmulan ng virus.
— May ulat ni Raphael Bosano, ABS-CBN News
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/kaso-covid-19-pilipinas-pumalo-1-milyon
Palace says managing variants 'very well', as PH COVID-19 case tally nears 1 million
The Philippines is managing new, more infectious COVID-19 variants "well," Malacañang said on Monday, even as the country's total tally of coronavirus infections neared the 1 million mark.
While the Philippines has recorded a total of 997,523 COVID-19 cases, the public should look at the number of recoveries, said Palace spokesman Harry Roque. The country's fatality rate from the novel coronavirus remains lower than the global average, he added.
"Unag-una, hindi po natin hinayaan [dumami]. Talagang nagkaroon po ng mga variants na naging dahilan kung bakit lumobo [ang mga kaso]," Roque said in a press briefing.
(First of all, we did not let the cases increase. It's just that variants were the reason why cases ballooned.)
Of the Philippines' total coronavirus infections, 903,665 are no longer active, while 16,783 led to deaths, as of Sunday, according to data from the health department.
The country's ranking in terms of highest COVID-19 cases has improved to 26th, from the previous 20th, Roque said.
"I don't think it is a negative reflection," he said. "On the other hand, dahil nga po meron tayong world ranking, makikita natin na we are managing, still, the new variants rather well."
(Because we have world rankings, we can see that we are managing, still, the new variants rather well.)
The health department is set to announce later Monday additional confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Metro Manila and surrounding Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal are under the second strictest quarantine level until Friday, to curb the uptick in infections.
Since last year, the government has amassed a total of USD15.49 billion or approximately P755.32 billion for its COVID-19 response (using an exchange rate of USD1 = P48.75 per DBM).
The Philippines has been slower than some neighbors rolling out vaccines after supply shortages hobbled government efforts to secure millions of doses to inoculate 70 million of its 108 million people this year in a bid to achieve herd immunity.
Last year, the Philippines suffered its worst economic contraction on record last year, when it slumped 9.5 percent, the biggest decline in Southeast Asia.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/malacanang-action-philippines-1-million-covid-cases
DOH wants MECQ restrictions to stay to stop COVID-19 spread
The Department of Health said Monday it was favoring the extension of the modified enhanced community quarantine, the second strictest lockdown level in Metro Manila to arrest the spread of COVID-19.
“As a health agency, kami sa DOH nakikita namin yung importansya na maituloy pa natin yung mga ganitong restrictions para magkaroon pa ng pahinga o mas magkaroon ng decongestion ang ating health system,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said during a virtual briefing.
(As a health agency, we at the DOH see the importance to continue these restrictions to give a break or to decongest our health system.)
This, after Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the MECQ must be continued for a week or 2 to help ease the overwhelmed health system.
Vergeire explained that DOH’s experts gave three forecasts - if MECQ is extended until the end of May, if NCR shifts to a looser general community quarantine by May 16 or if GCQ is imposed on May 1.
Asked what exactly the forecasts were, Vergeire said she did not want to pre-empt their meeting, scheduled Monday, with the Data Analytics group of the Interagency Task Force on COVID-19.
“What I can tell you syempre alam naman natin kung bababa o magli-lift tayo ng restrictions alam natin na medyo tataas ang mga kaso. Alam natin pag tinuloy natin ang ganitong MECQ o ganitong restriction magsa-stabilize tayo,” she said.
(What I can tell you is that if we lift restrictions we know that cases will increase. And if we continue current restrictions under MECQ we will stabilize.)
Vergeire said this as she reported a slight decline in cases and health care utilization rate.
The health official said that from a 7-day moving average of COVID-19 cases at 10,800 last week, the number went down to 9,500 this week.
“This is not an artificial decline,” she said, explaining that the computation takes into consideration the dip in reported cases due to the non-operation of laboratories during weekends.
Vergeire said the health care utilization rate of hospitals in Metro Manila also slightly dropped as the Dr. Jose N. Rodriguez Memorial Medical Center converted some of its isolation beds into intensive care unit (ICU) beds.
However, she said Filipinos should not be complacent since Metro Manila’s cities are still seeing high average daily attack rates of about 19 to 55 COVID cases per 100,000 population daily.
She said hospitals are still facing challenges.
The Philippines is projected to reach 1 million total COVID cases by Monday.
Asked what should be done to prevent the country from reaching 2 million cases by the end of the year, Vergeire said it will have to be a whole-of-society approach since the COVID response cannot be done by the government alone.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/doh-recommends-mecq-may-2021-covid19-lockdown-update
P68-M halaga ng shabu nasabat sa Cavite
Tinatayang aabot sa 68 million pesos na halaga ng hinihinalang shabu ang nasabat sa isang buy-bust operation sa Moab Street, Town at Country Homes Subdivision, sa Dasmariñas City, Cavite nitong Martes.
Sa ikinasang joint operation ng mga otoridad, naaresto ang 35-anyos na si alyas Badong.
Nakumpiska sa kanya ang 10 kilo ng hinihinalang shabu na nagkakahalaga ng 68 million pesos, 3 digital weighing scale at mga ID.
Batay sa report ng PNP, si alyas Badong ay miyembro umano ng isang drug syndicate na sangkot sa mga transaksyon na may kaugnayan sa iligal na droga sa Region 3, NCR at Mindanao.
Nahaharap si alyas Badong sa kasong palabag sa Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/04/27/21/p68-m-halaga-ng-shabu-nasabat-sa-cavite
Buwaya nakita malapit sa beach sa Balabac, Palawan
BALABAC, Palawan - Namataan ang tinatayang nasa higit isang dipa na buwaya sa isla ng Bancalaan, Balabac, Palawan, pasado alas kuwatro ng hapon, Abril 24.
Ayon sa post ni Willie Olorga sa Facebook, nagulat at natakot umano siya nang makita ang buwaya dahil ito ang unang beses na mayroong napadpad na buwaya sa kanilang lugar.
"Baka naligaw lang po 'yun gawa ng masamang panahon," ayon kay Olorga.
Nagpa-ikot-ikot pa umano ang buwaya sa dagat hanggang sa magdilim na at nawala lamang umano ito kinabukasan na ng umaga.
Madalas din umanong naliligo sa naturang dagat ang mga residente lalo na ang mga bata kaya't pinaalalahanan na lamang muna ito ng mga nakatatanda.
"Dobleng ingat po at balaan ang mga naliligo lalo na po 'yung mga bata at hangga't maaari 'wag saktan [ang makikitang buwaya].” ayon kay Olorga.
- Ulat ni Rex Ruta, ABS-CBN News
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/26/21/buwaya-nakita-malapit-sa-beach-sa-balabac-palawan
Pinsala noon, biyaya ngayon: Quarry industry mula sa Pinatubo
(UPDATE) Nakapagtala noong Marso ang provincial government ng Pampanga ng P82 milyon koleksiyon sa quarrying industry, ang pinakamataas na halaga ng koleksiyon sa loob nang halos 2 taon.
Ang quarry collection ang local income ng lalawigan mula sa buhangin at graba ng Mt. Pinatubo.
Ang kabuuang kita ng Pampanga sa quarry industry hanggang Marso 2021 ay tumaas sa P1.1 bilyon sa loob nang 20 buwang administrasyon ni Pampanga Governor Dennis Pineda, ayon sa provincial administrator na si Charlie Chua.
Sa bawat truck, nakakakolekta ang kapitolyo ng P150 sand tax, P250 administrative fee, P30 weighing scale fee, bayarin para sa sand at gravel permit, at motor vehicle at heavy equipment accreditation kasama na ang fines and penalties.
Ang 30 porsiyento umanong nakukuha ng kapitolyo sa sand tax ay inilalaan sa kaban ng lalawigan para sa mga programa laban sa COVID-19 at pagpapatupad ng regular na mga programa sa kalusugan, edukasyon, agrikultura, pangkabuhayan, kapaligiran, at imprastruktura.
Nakakakuha naman ng 40 porsiyento ang mga barangay at 30 porsiyento ang mga munisipyo o lungsod na nakakasakop sa mga ito alinsunod sa Local Government Code ng 1991.
Ayon naman kay Romeo Dungca, opisyal ng isang grupo ng mga quarry operator at hauler, tumaas ang demand ng buhangin dahil sa government projects maging ng pribadong sektor na sinasamantala ang dry season.
Sa huling 3 araw ng Marso, umabot sa P6 bilyon ang halaga ng buhanging naibiyahe.
Ayon kay Governor Pineda, malaking tulong din ang pagsunod ng quarry operator at hauler sa mga regulasyon.
"I could not thank them enough for their partnership and cooperation in really turning Mount Pinatubo’s sand a top-earner for the province, their taxes and fees go to good use," ani Pineda.
Taong 1991 nang pumutok ang Pinatubo, na naging dahilan na pagragasa ng lahar sa maraming lugar sa lalawigan.
Delubyo kung ituring ng maraming Kapampangan ang pagsabog ng bulkan pero makalipas ang halos 3 dekada, itinuturing na itong biyaya dahil sa naibigay ng quarry industry sa probinsiya.
— Ulat ni Gracie Rutao
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/25/21/pinsala-noon-biyaya-ngayon-quarry-industry-mula-sa-pinatubo