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
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