GCQ DAY 1: THOUSANDS STRANDED

MANILA — Thousands of commuters mostly workers returning to their jobs were

stranded yesterday in Metro Manila, as public transport remained limited

despite the easing of restrictions for the first time after more than two

months of Luzon-wide quarantine.

On the first day of Metro ManilaÂ’s transition to a less-restrictive general

community quarantine (GCQ), only rail lines and “bus augmentation” units,

taxis, transport network vehicle services, shuttle services, point-to-point

buses and bicycles were allowed to ferry commuters. Tricycles were also

allowed, subject to approval of concerned local government units.

Jeepneys and UV Express vehicles, the most visible modes of transport in

Metro Manila before the March 17 lockdown, will be allowed to ply their

routes only in the second phase of resumption of public transportation,

starting on June 22.

As the situation in the streets became more desperate, several government

agencies including the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Philippine Coast

Guard deployed trucks to pick up stranded commuters.

PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa said their Libreng Sakay program would continue

despite the limited number of police trucks.

“We are all now under GCQ. A certain portion of mass transportation is

allowed so we expect people to have available rides, but of course itÂ’s

still limited,” he said.

In a statement, the PNP said yesterdayÂ’s transition to GCQ was generally

peaceful.s

DUTERTE'S 10TH WEEKLY REPORT TO CONGRESS ON COVID-19 RESPONSE

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday released his 10th weekly report

to Congress on the government's COVID-19 pandemic response.

The report is a requirement under the "Bayanihan to Heal as One Act" that

granted Duterte additional powers, such as the authority to realign items

under the 2020 national budget, particularly government savings, to respond

to the pandemic.

The government has spent P14.1 billion to purchase additional personal

protective gear, testing kits, and medical equipment to boost the countryÂ’s

capacity to contain the coronavirus outbreak.

In his 10th weekly report to Congress, President Duterte said the Department

of Health (DOH) bought 6,062,019 personal protective equipment (PPE) sets

for P12.1 billion. An additional 65,330 PPE sets have also been purchased

using savings from its previous procurement.

So far, he said, a total of 1,458,000 PPE sets or 23.79 percent have been

delivered.

Duterte also said the government bought nine different types of PCR test

kits for P1.6 billion. The testing kits are expected to be delivered next

month.

Donations, other supplies

As of May 28, Duterte said 158 of the 225 local and foreign donations of

medical equipment and supplies have been delivered. The donations included

3,323,950 surgical masks, 101 ventilators, 307,940 N95 masks, and 222,779

PPEs/medical coveralls.

The health department has also distributed 14,460 Cepheid Xpert Xpress for

COVID-19 cartridges to 12 GeneXpert laboratories around the country.

From May 22 to 27, around 159,100 PPEs bought by the PS-DBM have been

distributed to various health facilities.

Duterte noted that the Food and Drug Administration recently issued interim

guidelines for the importation and manufacture of PPE, ventilators, and

respirators to ensure quality.

Health workers, COVID-19 hospitals

Of the 6,807 slots for the hiring of health workers, the President said the

DOH has hired 2,753 as of May 27. Around 1,173 will be assigned in Metro

Manila.

Under the DOH deployment program, 1,245 nurses have been temporarily

redeployed from primary care facilities to DOH and local government unit

hospitals handling COVID-19 cases. An additional 6,099 nurses were deployed

to their respective communities for contact tracing and specimen

collection/swabbing.

Capacity building

Duterte said the countryÂ’s health system continued to expand its capacity to

ensue quality, consistent, and accessible services.

As of May 28, he said there are 1,912 COVID-19 hospitals across the country.

The country has 13,627 dedicated beds for COVID-19 with an average of 35.33

percent occupancy rate.

The country has 3,816 temporary treatment and monitoring facilities for

COVID-19 cases with a bed capacity of 52,394.

At least 11 mega community quarantine facilities have been established in

Metro Manila and other urban centers. Around 129 evacuation centers have

been converted into health/quarantine centers.

Testing kits, testing centers

As of May 26, the President said a total of 315,363 tests have been

conducted on 289,732 persons. This was higher than the 56,191 tests

conducted from May 19.

The country has a total of 43 active testing laboratories. At least 81

laboratories are being evaluated for possible accreditation.

Clinical trials, contact tracing

Of the 24 hospitals participating in the World Health Organization

Solidarity Trials, Duterte said 17 hospitals are recruiting patients to

participate in the research. Of the 184 participant-patients, 40 enrolled

patients have passed the eligibility criteria and enlisted in the WHOÂ’s

global randomization and enrollment center database.

To improve contact tracing efforts, Duterte said the DOH has turned over the

collection and reporting of contact tracing status to the Department of the

Interior and

The DOH will maintain dedicated technical staff to assist Centers for Health

Development in strengthening the contact tracing capacity of LGUs, Duterte

said.

The report also discussed the status of water and energy supply, saying "the

country's supply of power and fuels remains sufficient."

It noted the National Power Corporation "reports the continued operation,

maintenance, and adequacy of fuel inventory, manpower, transportation, and

security of power plants and transmission line systems nationwide."

Water levels in major dams nationwide also remain high, with La Mesa Dam

increasing to 76.31.

The President's report also said the Commission on Higher Education was

continuing to process and ensure the release of the Tertiary Education

Subsidy to higher education institutions, while the Department of Education

was working with the Land Bank of the Philippines to market a lending

program which aims to extend assistance to private schools, universities and

other learning institutions.

Online learning programs for educators and other education stakeholders are

also being done.

CALIDA, NTC CHIEF ATTEND HOUSE PROBE ON ABS-CBN FRANCHISE

MANILA — Solicitor General Jose Calida and National Telecommunications

Commissioner (NTC) commissioner Gamaliel Cordoba attended yesterdayÂ’s

hearing of the House of Representatives on the franchise application of

television giant ABS-CBN after they snubbed it on June 26 last year.

Both government officials thanked Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Reps.

Franz Alvarez (Palawan) and Jonathan Sy-Alvarado (Bulacan), chairmen of the

House committee on legislative franchises and good government, respectively.

Calida and Cordoba attended the hearing remotely or online through the Zoom

app.

The chief government defense counsel nevertheless reminded lawmakers that he

could not answer queries that would involve the merits of the petition now

pending in the Supreme Court, which has issued a gag order against him.

“I’m not at loggerheads with Congress. I only cautioned the NTC of its

possible encroachment with the House,” Calida explained, in view of the

chamber’s “exclusive” mandate to issue legislative franchises like that of

ABS-CBN.

By encroachment, the OSG chief meant the NTC cannot issue any provisional

franchise to the Lopez-owned network in the absence of any legislative

franchise that should emanate from the House. Thus, the cease and desist

order the NTC issued on May 5.

Cordoba made the same justification, saying “the spring cannot rise higher

than the source.”

“We cannot substitute the mandate of Congress, which will be a violation of

the doctrine of the separation of powers,” he said, as the NTC is under the

executive department.

Cordoba nonetheless apologized for failing to inform Congress of their

action issuing the CDO.

“We realized that the NTC should have made an advance notice. After all,

hindsight is always 20/20. I would like to reiterate our apologies. It is

never our intention to disrespect Congress. We hope this incident will not

be given any political color,” the NTC chief said.

Meantime, the House joint committee has extended its invitation – upon the

motion of Deputy Speaker Rodante Marcoleta – to former ABS-CBN chairman

Eugenio Lopez III to attend the next hearing tomorrow.

QUARANTINED MIGRANT WORKERS SENT HOME ON TIME FOR DUTERTE'S DEADLINE

MANILA — Meeting President Duterte’s deadline, the labor department

successfully brought home 25,022 overseas Filipino workers from government

quarantine sites where they had been stuck for coronavirus testing.

Of the migrant workers sent home, 10,161 were flew back to their provinces,

7,900 were transported by buses, while 385 were ferried to their hometowns,

the agency said in a statement on Monday. The balance of 6,566, meanwhile,

were fetched by their relatives.

Included in the tally were around 8,000 seafarers who were stranded in 26

cruise ships in Manila Bay. Another 200 remain on board pending the results

of their coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) tests.

CORONAVIRUS TALLY SPIKE PARTLY DUE TO VALIDATION OF CASES: DOH

MANILA — A government tally of coronavirus cases, one of the basis for

locking down the Philippines' 100 million people, recently went up partly

due to cases that were discovered during validation, the health department

said Tuesday.

Authorities recently compared the agency's list of cases with the list of

testing laboratories that shifted to an automated data system, said Health

Assistant Secretary and Spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire.

"Nakakita po tayo ng mga duplicates. Nakakita po tayo ng mga kaso na hindi

pa po natin naitatala na and'yan pala sa data na iyan," she told DZMM.

"Tumaas po iyong mga numero dahil nagba-validate nang husto ngayon... With

this automation, with this validation, we will be able to have real-time

data soon," she added.

The tally now classifies cases as either "fresh" meaning test results were

released in the last 3 days, or "late" in which results were from more than

3 days ago, said Verfeire.

The Philippines has confirmed 18,638 cases of of the novel coronavirus, with

960 deaths. Of the 552 cases added to the tally on Monday, around 78 percent

or 433 are "late" while 119 are "fresh", said the health department.

After the nearly 80-lockdown of Metro Manila and other urban centers, the

fatality rate from the virus has gone down to 1.6 percent. The time it takes

for the cases to double also improved to 10 to 15 days, from 6 to 7 days,

said Vergeire.

Ninety-three percent of patients have mild or no symptoms and less than 1

percent need hospital care, said the official.

It is still "too early" for the health department to recommend further

relaxing or tightening the general community quarantine of Metro Manila,

which started Monday and would be in place for 2 weeks, she said.

DUTERTE NAMES TASK GROUP LABAN COVID-19 HEAD NEW COAST GUARD CHIEF

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed V.Adm.George Ursabia Jr. as

the new commandant of the Philippine Coast Guard.

DuterteÂ’s appointment letter for Ursabia is dated June 1, the same day that

Adm. Joel Garcia retired after 35 years of service.

Garcia said: “I know that Vice Admiral Ursabia will continue the significant

developments that as a leader at the helm, must geared upon for the greater

benefits of the Command.”

Prior to his new designation as PCG chief, Ursabia led the Coast GuardÂ’s

Marine Environmental Protection Command and Task Group Laban COVID-19.

Ursabia is a member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1987 and has

been in active service for 36 years, holding positions in the PCG and the

Philippine Navy.

STATE-OWNED IBC-13 EYED AS EDUCATIONAL PLATFORM

Government agencies are looking into using the state-owned Intercontinental

Broadcasting Corporation (IBC-13) as an educational platform amid the

coronavirus disease crisis.

In his latest report to Congress, President Rodrigo Duterte said the

Presidential Communications Operations Office and the Department of

Education are discussing the possible use of the state-owned network for

television-based education as one of the modalities for distance learning.

“The goal is to launch and air the DepEd curriculum-based TV programs by the

scheduled school opening in August 2020,” Duterte said.

THE REST

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PHILIPPINES EYES MORE BUS ROUTES TO FIX LOCKDOWN TRANSPORTATION WOES

MANILA - The transportation department will add more bus routes in the days

to come, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said Tuesday as the

region shifted to a looser lockdown.

Some 50 to 60 percent volume of vehicles occupied the metro's main

thoroughway on Monday, the first day of the general community quarantine,

according to Bong Nebrija, EDSA traffic chief of the Metro Manila

Development Authority.

Some 90 buses plied EDSA Monday to augment the metro's railway systems along

with permitted taxis, ride-hailing cars, point-to-point buses, and shuttle

services as part of the first of 2 phases of public transportation.

"I hope the public will understand this is not final yet. This is just the

beginning. In the days to come, the DOTr has a plan to phase in more

routes," he told ANC.

"We do not want to overwhelm the system in a way there will be more

commuters and less buses and there will be chaos in the road because

everybody is confused. WeÂ’re trying to phase in one by one so that commuters

will get used to it slowly but surely."

MGA BUS DADAGDAGAN MATAPOS ANG ABERYA SA UNANG ARAW NG GCQ

Sinabi ng Department of Transportation ngayong Martes na dadagdagan ang mga

pampublikong bus sa ilang ruta sa Metro Manila matapos magkaroon ng aberya

ang biyahe ng mga nagbalik-trabaho sa unang araw ng pinaluwag na coronavirus

lockdown.

Nitong Lunes, unang araw ng general community quarantine o GCQ ng rehiyon,

napilitang maglakad, mag-taxi o magsiksikan sa libreng sakay ang ilang

commuters na natagalan sa paghihintay ng bus sa ilang kalsada tulad ng

Commonwealth Avenue sa Quezon City.

Pinayagan na ng Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board ang

ilang karagdagang bus operator na bumiyahe sa naturang ruta, Fairview, at

Quezon Avenue, gayundin patungong Pasay mula sa Dasmariñas, Imus at Bacoor

sa Cavite, ani DOTr Assistant Secretary Mark Richmund De Leon.

"Hinihintay na lang po natin iyong pagka-ready ng ating public transport

operators d'yan sa ruta na iyan and anytime puwede na po silang bumiyahe,"

sabi niya sa panayam ng DZMM.

"Ini-evaluate namin iyong sitwasyon sa lugar para magdagdag ng public

transportation kung talagang napakalaki ng ating public transportation

demand," dagdag niya.

'NAGKANIYA-KANIYA': COMMUTERS 'FORGOT' CORONAVIRUS RULES AT START OF LOOSER

LOCKDOWN - MMDA

MANILA — Some Filipinos who returned to work this week after the lockdown of

Metro Manila, one of the longest in the world, "forgot" coronavirus

protocols as they vied for limited public utility vehicles and crammed on

board free shuttle services, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority

said Tuesday.

ABS-CBN photos on Monday showed some commuters packed in trucks and police

patrol cars. Others walked to work or were forced to hail pricier taxis

after a long wait for buses.

"Ang mga tao parang nawala rin sa focus. Tandaan natin may COVID pa tayo.

Kumbaga, ang naging focus nila iyong pag-travel. Alam naman nila, tulad ng

sabi n DOTr, ang first priority natin iyong health and safety," said MMDA

General Manager Jojo Garcia.

"Noong nakita nila iyong mga libreng sakay, talagang ang daming pumupuna sa

social media, nag-aagawan na naman, nasa kalsada na naman sila, walang pila.

Nag-kaniya-kaniya na naman at nalimutan nila iyong priority ng COVID," he

added.

DOH CLEARS CASE BACKLOGS FROM 27 OUT OF 42 LABORATORIES

All backlog cases from 27 COVID-19 testing centers across the country have

been cleared, the Department of Health said as it continues the “aggressive”

validation of coronavirus disease cases.

In a statement Sunday, the DOH said it has reduced the backlog cases for

validation to zero of 27 operational laboratories that submitted complete

line lists and one testing center that transmitted a partial list.

There are currently 42 licensed COVID-19 testing centers nationwide.

REMOTE ENROLLMENT OFF TO GOOD START — DEPED

MANILA — Education Secretary Leonor Briones declared that remote enrollment

for school year 2020-2021 for public school children an effort to prevent

crowds from going to public schools was successful on its first day

yesterday.

Briones said the number of parents and learners that had contacted or

communicated with their class advisers via mobile communications, text and

voice calls, as well as social media messaging was high, indicating massive

support among parents and their learner-children.

“Congratulations to all,” Briones said in Filipino in an online press

conference.The number of parents and their children that coordinated through

phone, text and messaging apps, she said, showed the support for the remote

enrollment as well as for DepEdÂ’s efforts at reopening school by August.

“This shows that the central value – the most important value to us

Filipinos – is the value for education. We hold it highest in priority,”

Briones said in a mix of Filipino and English.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

PIA WURTZBACH ADMITS RELATIONSHIP WITH JEREMY JAUNCEY

MANILA — Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach and businessman Jeremy Jauncey

confirmed that they are dating.

In an exclusive interview with Tatler Philippines, the couple admitted that

they have been exclusively dating for months.

The two are also on the cover of the magazine for this June issue.

Pia admitted that she felt the spark when she first met Jeremy, CEO of

Beautiful Destinations, a multi-platform travel content brand acknowledged

by GQ magazine.

"There was definitely an immediate spark. We couldn't stop talking. I found

him to be such a warm person and I like that he was always smiling," Pia

said.

Pia and Jeremy also said that it took a while for them to date exclusively

because Pia had just come out of a relationship so Jeremy gave her time.

"She sets the parameters and I happily accepted. It was a chance to show

that I was serious about her and that I want to be a gentleman about it,

which was very important to me," shared the 34-year-old professional

traveler who was born in Venezuela and raised in Scotland.

"We wanted to make sure we set a good foundation for our relationship before

we came out in the open. I've made a mistake of sharing too much too soon

before, and I wanted to make sure I did it right this time," Pia added.

Pia's last relationship was with racer Marlon Stockinger. They had a

three-year relationship from 2016 to 2019.

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 50.32

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings

wisdom. - H. L. Mencken