LOCSIN MEETS WITH CHINESE COUNTERPART ON SEA ROW

MANILA — After a strong Philippine statement declaring the 2016 South China

Sea ruling as “non-negotiable,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.

and Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed to address

the dispute through “friendly” consultation.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday that Locsin met

virtually with his Chinese counterpart “at the latter’s request” and engaged

in open, cordial and fruitful discussions on Tuesday.

Locsin reiterated the importance of continued dialogue to propel

Philippines-China cooperation forward across various fronts, under the “new

normal” brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DFA said both sides reaffirmed that contentious maritime issues are not

the sum total of the Philippines-China bilateral relationship.

“With mutual respect, sincerity and adherence to sovereign equality, both

sides will continue to manage issues of concern and promote maritime

cooperation in friendly consultation. Both sides agree to strengthen

Philippines-China comprehensive strategic cooperation,” the DFA said in a

statement.

METRO MANILA STAYS UNDER GCQ; CEBU CITY DOWNGRADED TO MECQ

MANILA - The Philippine government on Wednesday extended the general

community quarantine in Metro Manila anew while downgraded the lockdown rule

in Cebu City to modified enhanced community quarantine.

The new community quarantine classifications will take effect on Thursday,

July 16, until July 31.

Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ)

• Cebu City

General Community Quarantine (GCQ)

• Metro Manila

- Calabarzon

•    Laguna

•    Cavite

•    Rizal

- Central Visayas

•    Lapu Lapu City

•    Mandaue City

•    Talisay City

•    Minglanilla

•    Consolacion

- Eastern Visayas

•    Ormoc City

•    Southern Leyte

- Zamboanga Peninsula

•    Zamboanga City

- Caraga

•    Butuan City

•    Agusan del Norte

- BARMM

•    Basilan

Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ)

- Cordillera Administrative Region

•    Benguet

•    Baguio City

- Ilocos Region

•    Ilocos Sur

•    Pangasinan

•    Ilocos Norte

•    La Union

•    Dagupan City

- Cagayan Valley

•    Cagayan

•    Isabela

•    Nueva Vizcaya

- Central Luzon

•    Bataan

•    Nueva Ecija

•    Pampanga

•    Bulacan

•    Tarlac

•    Zambales

•    Angeles City

- Calabarzon

•    Batangas

•    Quezon

•    Lucena City

- Mimaropa

•    Oriental Mindoro

•    Occidental Mindoro

•    Puerto Princesa City

- Bicol Region

•    Albay

•    Masbate

•    Camarines Norte

•    Camarines Sur

•    Catanduanes

•    Sorsogon

•    Naga City

- Western Visayas

•    Iloilo

•    Negros Occidental

•    Capiz

•    Antique

•    Aklan

•    Guimaras

•    Iloilo City

•    Bacolod City

- Central Visayas

•    Negros Oriental

•    Bohol

•    Cebu Province

- Eastern Visayas

•    Western Samar

•    Leyte

•    Biliran

•    Tacloban City

- Zamboanga Peninsula

•    Zamboanga del Sur

•    Zamboanga Sibugay

•    Zamboanga del Norte

- Northern Mindanao

•    Misamis Occidental

•    Bukidnon

•    Lanao del Norte

•    Cagayan de Oro City

•    Iligan City

- Davao Region

•    Davao Oriental

•    Davao del Norte

•    Davao del Sur

•    Davao de Oro

•    Davao City

- Soccsksargen

•    Sultan Kudarat

•    Cotabato

•    South Cotabato

•    General Santos City

- BARMM

•    Lanao del Sur

•    Maguindanao

As of July 15, the Philippines has confirmed 58,850 COVID-19 infections, of

which 36,260 are active cases. The tally also includes 1,614 deaths and

20,976 recoveries.

The Department of Health reported 1,392 additional cases of the coronavirus

disease, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the Philippines

to 58,850.

517 patients have recovered while 11 more died from the deadly virus.

LENI TO GOVERNMENT: LIMIT IMPORTS, SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESS

MANILA — Vice President Leni Robredo appealed yesterday to the government to

limit importation and support local businesses to save the economy from the

negative impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Robredo made the statement amid the continued importation of some medical

supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE), especially from

China, where the coronavirus originated.

“For me, this is the time to boost local (manufacturers). Let’s just import

very essential goods that we can’t find here,” the Vice President said in an

interview with dyRC Aksyon Radyo Cebu.

The Office of the Vice President, in partnership with the private sector,

has been supplying locally produced PPEs to medical workers in the country.

“We decided to locally produce PPE sets because we keep on importing from

China when we can produce them here,” she said.

Robredo also urged local companies to produce goods that are more in demand

to help revive their businesses.

“In Taiwan, for example, when the COVID-19 problem broke out in China and

thereÂ’s no local transmission (in Taiwan) yet, they opened factories that

would manufacture surgical masks. And now, Taiwan is supplying the rest of

the world,” she said.

“There are companies (in Taiwan) which shifted to surgical mask production,”

Robredo added.

The Vice President also urged the government to “forget about the economic

growth” and focus on ways to address the worsening poverty created by the

pandemic.

“Let’s forget the growth for the meantime. Let’s focus on the people who are

suffering. While economic growth will be really affected, letÂ’s not aim to

achieve our target for now. LetÂ’s minimize the number of people suffering

because they’re the ones really hit by this pandemic,” she said.

ABS-CBN TO LAY OFF WORKERS END OF AUGUST: STATEMENT

With the non-renewal of its congressional franchise, ABS-CBN is now forced

to cease the operations of some of its businesses and implement a

retrenchment program covering ABS-CBN and its subsidiaries effective end of

business day on 31 August 2020.

We are doing all we can to mitigate the pain that will be felt by those

affected, including paying out separation and retirement benefits and

providing job placement programs. The loss of their jobs comes at a time

when the uncertain and perilous impact of the COVID 19 pandemic further

makes our decision truly difficult, but inevitable.

As much as it hurts us to implement this retrenchment program, this is the

only way to ensure the continued employment of the rest of our Kapamilya.

For those who are affected, we pray for you and your families, that you may

have the strength and guidance to deal with the challenges ahead. For all

that you have done for ABS-CBN, maraming salamat po.

BONGBONG MARCOS REQUESTED CAMBRIDGE ANALYTICA TO REBRAND FAMILY IMAGE:

WHISTLEBLOWER

MANILA - Defeated vice presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos,

Jr. allegedly requested Cambridge Analytica to rebrand his family's image on

social media, a former employee of the now-defunct British political

consulting firm bared Wednesday.

The Marcos camp, however, denied the claim and said it is exploring legal

options including the possible filing of libel charges.

Brittany Kaiser, a former Cambridge Analytica business development

director-turned-whistleblower, said the company discussed Marcos Jr.'s

alleged attempt to revise history since its CEO saw it as a massive

financial opportunity.

"So we had a request straight from Bongbong Marcos to do a family

rebranding. This was brought in through internal staff in Cambridge

Analytica and was debated," she told Rappler in an interview.

"There were some people that didn't want to touch it and there were others,

like our CEO Alexander Nix, that saw it as a massive financial opportunity

and asked to write the proposal anyway," she added.

Kaiser said the Philippines had enough user information to conduct

microtargeting, which is to strategically transmit tailored political

message to a certain group of people.

"So, as you call it historical revisionism, that's exactly what it is, but

it's done in a data-driven and scientific way. So you undertake just enough

research to figure out what people believe about a certain family,

individual, politician and then you figure out what could convince them to

feel otherwise. And you run tests until you actually start to see people's

opinions and attitude changing," she said.

Kaiser, who exposed Cambridge Analytica's business practices in her book

"Targeted" and subject of the Netflix documentary "The Great Hack," said

that deliberately revising history was "extremely dangerous."

"In a particular instance where the history of a family and an individual is

important for the public to know, then this type of work is extremely

dangerous," she said.

Marcos spokesman Vic Rodriguez, meanwhile, said the Rappler story about

Marcos approaching Cambridge Analytica "is patently fake, false, and

misleading."

"Former Senator Marcos never reached out to them and, like most of us, was

only made aware of Cambridge Analytica's existence through reports of its

controversial activities in the media," Rodriguez said in a statement issued

early Thursday.

COVID-19 CURVE FLATTENED? DUQUE MEANT HEALTH SYSTEM 'PREPARED', SAYS AIDE

MANILA — Health Secretary Francisco Duque III meant to say that authorities

"were able to prepare our health system" for a potential spike in cases of

the novel coronavirus disease when he said that the country had flattened

the disease curve, an aide said Thursday.

Flattening the curve "is really quite difficult to interpret and explain"

because this depends not just on whether or not COVID-19 cases are

increasing, but also on the health care capacity and the time it takes for

cases to double, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

"When we say that we have flattened the curve, we were able to prepare our

health system just in case there will be a surge or increase in the number

of cases in the country," she told ANC.

"When the Secretary said this, he was really meaning that we were able to

prepare our health system and it's quite evident right now that we have

increased our testing capacity. We have established a lot of quarantine

facilities already, we have upgraded our hospitals," she added.

Several hospitals over the past few days reported full occupancy of their

coronavirus wards. Some private hospitals committed to increase their

COVID-19 capacity, Vergeire said.

Duque said Wednesday that the Philippines "successfully flattened the curve

since April." Hours later, he said that what he meant was a lull in cases

during April following a Luzon-wide lockdown which began mid-March.

"Hindi naman talaga flatten. 'Yun ang ibig sabihin kong ilinaw. Lumiko,

hindi po flatten. Nagkamali ako doon at 'yun ang gusto kong linawin," he

told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

THE REST

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DOH URGES RANDOM RAPID TESTS FOR WORKERS EVERY 2 WEEKS

MANILA — The health department urges businesses to screen their workers

randomly for the novel coronavirus through rapid tests every 2 weeks, an

official said Thursday, as the country continued to restart the economy with

relaxed lockdowns.

Rapid tests detect the presence of antibodies, which only emerge between the

fifth and seventh day of illness, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario

Vergeire.

The test is not recommended for mass screening and should instead be used on

a random sample of workers, she told ANC.

"Para lang po makikita ninyo, mamo-monitor n'yo po iyong trend—kung

nagkakaroon talaga ng kaso within your company," she said.

The health department also does not recommend "indiscriminate" nasal swab

tests, which experts said were more accurate than rapid tests, Vergeire

said.

"Testing is a point-in-time event, meaning if you get tested today, tomorrow

if you go out for work, you'll get exposed and then maybe you'll get the

disease again... Kaya nga po ayaw natin ng indiscriminate ang testing. Let's

go for those high-risk individuals," said the official.

HEALTH, LOCAL GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL TO LOOK FOR COVID-19 PATIENTS

MANILA — Police won’t conduct house-to-house searches to find persons with

coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Malacañang and the police clarified

yesterday.

Instead, police would only play a supportive role to health and local

government personnel in the effort to locate COVID-19 patients, the

Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque likened staying in isolation facilities

to a paid vacation rather than imprisonment.

He said mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 patients would be asked to voluntarily

go to quarantine sites, which he said have “excellent” facilities.

Last Tuesday, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said authorities would go house

to house to look for persons with COVID-19 who are not in quarantine

facilities.

Various sectors have expressed alarm over the plan, saying it would violate

the constitutional right of persons to be secure in their homes.

Roque clarified that the patients would be transferred to quarantine centers

by health workers, not by policemen.

In an interview with ANC, he said, “You know, they will not go house to

house, they will have to be reported. They will have to be reported by the

persons themselves, their family or the barangay. There is a law, which is

RA (Republic Act) 11332, which says that they have to report communicable

diseases.”

“Now, we prefer that the asymptomatics and the mild cases voluntarily

surrender and confine themselves in isolation centers. We are enticing them

with the fact that these are air-conditioned centers, free lodging, free

meals three times a day and with free WiFi and with a graduation ceremony...

after the 14-day quarantine period,” he added.

Roque said the isolation facilities have doctors and nurses who would attend

to the needs of the patients.

The state can isolate people with communicable disease who refuse to undergo

quarantine, he added.

DOH RECOMMENDS FLU, PNEUMONIA SHOTS TO DODGE COVID-19 COMPLICATIONS

The health department recommends the use of flu and pneumonia vaccine to

prevent complications from the novel coronavirus disease, an official said

Thursday.

The agency has a program to vaccinate children and elderly against flu and

pneumonia, said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.

"It can help you para hindi na po nagkakaroon ng additional complication

iyon pong may mga COVID. We don't discourage it, we even recommend it," she

told ANC.

GOVERNMENT NEEDS 50,000 MORE CONTACT TRACERS

MANILA, Philippines — The government is still looking to hire an additional

50,000 contact tracers to help in the countryÂ’s fight against the

coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año

said yesterday.

The country currently has a total of 65,574 contact tracers nationwide,

according to Año, but the government needs more.

It has been pushing for additional contact tracers since last month, but

funding is still not available.

Still, Año said local government units (LGUs) should be continuing to hire

their own contact tracers under their own local budgets to fight the

pandemic.

DEPED: CLASSES TO START BY AUGUST 24

Education Secretary Leonor Briones says they have to start classes by August

24 at the latest "whatever form it is," because the school opening is set by

law.

She says blended learning, which could include online classes or lessons

delivered over radio or TV, will depend on the resources of the schools.

Late enrollees may still be accepted in public schools across the country

even after the start of classes on Aug. 24, the Department of Education

(DepEd) said yesterday.

Education Undersecretary Jesus Mateo said there is no need to extend

enrollment, citing the basic education enrollment policy that allows schools

to accept late enrollees provided that the student will be able to meet 80

percent of the prescribed number of school days.

This means that late enrollees may be accepted until the last week of

September.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

LOOKING FOR GOOD VIBES? 'IT'S SHOWTIME' IS STREAMING LIVE ON YOUTUBE,

FACEBOOK

MANILA — "Make people happy," goes the mission statement of "It's Showtime,"

which the ABS-CBN's noontime program aims to carry on despite the forced

shutdown of the broadcast network.

"It's Showtime" had been airing for 10 years on free television via ABS-CBN

Channel 2, initially as a morning talent show and later as a noontime

staple.

In May, ABS-CBN's free-TV and radio broadcast were forced off air, after the

network's franchise was left to expire despite long-pending bills in

Congress.

Last week, administration allies voted to outright deny the franchise

application, permanently shuttering ABS-CBN's primary platform, and risking

11,000 jobs.

ABS-CBN's other broadcast platforms, TVPlus and SKYdirect, were also forced

shut by the government.

Continuing its live episodes — under strict safety protocols amid the

coronavirus pandemic — "It's Showtime" remains accessible on its social

media pages.

"Madlang people" or fans of the program based in the Philippines can watch

the live streaming on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter, while those overseas

can tune in through TFC.tv.

"It's Showtime" can also be viewed via the iWant app or iWant.ph, Kapamilya

Channel and Jeepney TV on cable television, and TFC.

SPORTS

BLACKWATER EYES PBA EXIT, PUTS FRANCHISE UP FOR SALE FOR P150M

MANILA – “My heart is no longer here.”

With these strong words, Blackwater Elite team owner Dioceldo Sy on

Wednesday said heÂ’s putting his six-year-old PBA franchise up for sale.

It carries a price tag of Php150 million.

“I’m open to entertain interested parties as it’s hard for me to continue

supporting the PBA when my heart is no longer there,” he said.

Sy did not elaborate.

But the 62-year-old sportsman and sole proprietor of Ever Bilena Cosmetics,

Inc., the maker of Blackwater Cologne, is sending out the message that heÂ’s

letting go of his PBA franchise.

“I’m selling for Php150 million,” he said.

Blackwater joined the PBA in 2014 as one of three new teams, along with NLEX

and Kia Sorento. In five full seasons, it reached the playoffs five times

but never made it to the semis.

Overall, Blackwater won 49 of 173 games for a low batting average of .283 in

AsiaÂ’s oldest professional basketball league.

Sy said he paid a franchise fee of Php120 million in 2014 to fulfill his

dreams of owning a PBA franchise.

"All in, P120 million," he said of his PBA entry fee.

Through the years, the former star player for UNO High School in Manila said

he must have spent Php300 million running his PBA team for the last five or

six years.

The former PBL (Philippine Basketball League) chairman said he's had enough.

Sy, who as a youngster worked as messenger and clerk for his grandfather's

pomade business and eventually went on his own as a freelance trader, said

he has yet to inform the PBA board of his decision.

He looked forward to doing other things, including hooking up with global

boxing icon and now boxing promoter Gerry Penalosa.

"I'm planning to shift my focus to boxing," said, Sy, who's looking at

making the Pacquiao-Gennady Golovkin super fight in Macau.

"I'm making a pitch for that fight," he told The STAR Wednesday.

Sy said he will continue supporting the National University women's

basketball team in the UAAP and the Gilas women's team.

Blackwater was in the news Wednesday for its violation of the PBA guidelines

regarding the league's return to practice.

What's the issue?" said Sy.

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 49.48

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Each morning sees some task begin, Each evening sees it close;

Something attempted, something done, Has earned a night's repose. -

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (The Village Blacksmith)