PALACE: DUTERTE MULLS MEETING WITH EX-PRESIDENTS OVER WEST PHILIPPINE SEA

MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte is mulling over consulting his predecessors on China's incursions in the West Philippine Sea instead of convening the National Security Council (NSC), Malacañang said on Thursday.

Former senator and military chief Rodolfo Biazon said earlier Thursday senators must urge Duterte to convene the NSC to clarify his administration's "confusing" stand on the sea row with China.

"Unang-una, wala pong confusing sa stand ni Presidente sa West Philippine Sea," said Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque.

He said Duterte's policy towards China is to temporarily set aside issues that cause disagreements and push through with commerce and investments, among others.

"Pero hinding-hindi tayo mamimigay ng teritoryo at paninindigan at pangangalagaan natin ang pangnasyunal na soberenya at ang ating mga sovereign rights," Roque said in a press briefing.

"Pangalawa, actually nabanggit po sa akin iyan ni Presidente, ang problema doon sa National Security Council, wala naman pong nari-resolve doon sa mga pagkakataon na naka-attend siya," he added.

The NSC is an advisory body where the President discusses national security and foreign policy matters with relevant advisers and Cabinet officials.

Instead of convening the NSC, Duterte is thinking about inviting past Presidents and some personalities to a meeting and "discuss the issue," Roque said.

"Iyong mga karanasan nga niya sa National Security Council eh walang resolusyon na nangyayari, so parang bakit pa eh puwede naman po iyan through informal consultations," said Roque.

There is no tentative date yet for the possible meeting, he said.

"The President is considering the idea of an alternative to convening the National Security Council. Pero iyon po, still in the process of consideration," Roque said.

CEASEFIRE BETWEEN ISRAEL, HAMAS COMES INTO FORCE

GAZA City — A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, came into force early Friday after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets.

Celebrations were heard on Gaza streets in the minutes after the truce began as cars honked their horns and some guns were fired in the air, AFP journalists said, while in the occupied West Bank, joyful crowds also took to the streets.

With no alerts sounding in Israel to warn of incoming Hamas rockets, the ceasefire appeared to be holding in the early hours of Friday.

The truce brokered by Egypt, that also included Gaza's second-most powerful armed group, Islamic Jihad, was agreed following mounting international pressure to stem the bloodshed which erupted on May 10.

US President Joe Biden welcomed the deal.

"I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress and I'm committed to working toward it," Biden said at the White House, hailing Egypt's role in brokering the agreement.

A statement from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the security cabinet had "unanimously accepted the recommendation of all of the security officials ... to accept the Egyptian initiative for a mutual ceasefire without pre-conditions".

Hamas and Islamic Jihad also confirmed the ceasefire in statements.

PRIVATE SECTOR JABS ARRIVING NEXT MONTH

MANILA — COVID-19 vaccines ordered by the private sector are expected to arrive next month, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said yesterday.

These include shipments of Moderna and AstraZeneca jabs, as well as 500,000 Sinovac shots purchased by the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) for economic frontliners.

“I think they will arrive by mid-June,” Dominguez said, adding that the government would ensure the vaccines would pass through Customs clearance smoothly.

“Goods will pass through unhampered in order to ensure temperature stability,” he added.

Through a tripartite agreement with the government and vaccine manufacturers, the private sector was able to purchase COVID-19 vaccines given emergency use authorization or EUA by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Government participation in private sector vaccine transactions is necessary because vaccine manufacturers require national governments to guarantee indemnification before finalizing any procurement deal. The national government will also shoulder the cost of any adverse effects of the shots through the P500-million COVID-19 National Vaccine Indemnity Fund.

Due to limited supply, vaccines cannot be sold commercially and must be distributed in accordance with the prioritization framework set by the government.

PANDEMIC SLASHES OFW DEPLOYMENT BY 75%

MANILA — The first year of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a 75-percent drop in the deployment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), an impact assessment report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) revealed yesterday.

The IOM report, based on interviews with over 8,000 returned OFWs, said the 75 percent drop in deployment in 2020 was also the country’s lowest labor export output in over three decades.

The report, part of the IOM’s global response to COVID to better understand the challenges as well as the needs of migrant workers, also reflected Philippine government statistics that nearly 800,000 OFWs had returned to the country by the end of December 2020.

It showed that 67 percent of the assessed OFWs’ decision to return was due to COVID-19, while a significant 83 percent of OFWs were unemployed for an average of three months post-arrival.

It also reported that almost half of the OFWs interviewed had a 60 percent drop in their household income upon their return.

“The ongoing global COVID-19 crisis and border restrictions continue to have an adverse impact on human mobility with migrant workers,” said Kristin Dadey, IOM Philippines chief of mission.

The IOM noted how the pandemic disrupted global aviation and movement of people as countries suspended flights and curbed the entry of foreigners.

HOUSE PANEL OKS BILL BANNING CHILD MARRIAGE

MANILA — The House committee on women and gender equality has approved a proposed measure banning child marriage in the country.

In a virtual meeting on Wednesday, committee members decided to consolidate four bills seeking to declare child marriage as illegal.

The panel chaired by Bukidnon Rep. Maria Lourdes Acosta-Alba will come up with a substitute measure for House Bill 1486 authored by Deputy Speaker Bernadette Herrera and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, HB 3899 authored by Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas, HB 5670 by Malabon City Rep. Josephine Veronique Lacson-Noel and HB 7922 by Parañaque City Rep. Joy Myra Tambunting.

The substitute bill will specify the penalties to be imposed on violators.

The lawmakers stressed the need to pass the measure, citing a 2017 United Nations Children’s Fund study which showed that the Philippines ranked 12th among countries with the highest number of child brides at 726,000.

An estimated 15 percent of Filipino girls are married before the age of 18 while two percent are married before the age of 15, according to the UN report.

“As an ASEAN member state, we are committed to eliminating child, early and forced marriages by 2030 in line with target 5.3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. We ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, which sets a minimum age of 18 for marriage,” Acosta-Alba said.

CANINE CORONAVIRUS DETECTED IN MALAYSIAN PATIENTS: STUDY

WASHINGTON, United States - When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Professor Gregory Gray at Duke University's Global Health Institute tasked a graduate student at his lab with developing a pan-species coronavirus test in order to help prevent the next catastrophe.

The idea was to deploy the tool, once its accuracy was validated, to look back at test samples from human patients in order to search for signs of coronaviruses that might have begun to cross over from animals.

Gray and his colleague's findings, released Thursday in Clinical Infectious Diseases, showed a canine coronavirus was present in a group of mostly children patients admitted to hospital for pneumonia in Malaysia in 2017 and 2018.

The team suspect the dog virus caused their illness, as opposed to merely being present in the patients' airways -- but can't conclusively prove it.

Given the genetic makeup of the virus it's unlikely that it is currently circulating between humans.

"What we're advocating for... is more application of pan-species diagnostics to look for five different viral families we think are the most problematic in causing epidemics in humans," Gray told AFP.

Coronaviruses were understudied for many years, as they were mainly associated with common colds.

That changed after the SARS and MERS outbreaks of 2002 and 2012, which originated in civets and camels, respectively.

Most scientists believe the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid also has a zoonotic origin.

The fact that the team was able to detect canine virus in humans in what was essentially a small pilot study, together with recent similar findings from other research groups, could point to a much larger problem, he emphasized.

"We are missing the boat here," said Gray.

"If we set up surveillance of pig workers, poultry workers, cattle workers, we're going to be amazed at what their immune systems are being challenged with.

"That doesn't mean that they're going to be the match that lights the next pandemic, but they would be a good resource to study."

DOH: 'BRAND AGNOSTIC' CAMPAIGN DOESN'T TAKE AWAY RIGHT TO INFORMATION

MANILA - The Department of Health on Friday said the "brand agnostic" inoculation policy would not take away the right to information of the vaccinee, allaying the public's concern of alleged lack of transparency of COVID-19 jabs.

"This does not take away the right to information of the vaccinee. Because at the vaccination site, they will be informed of what vaccine they will be given and they will also need to sign an informed consent," Health Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje told ANC.

"Our informed consent for vaccination is vaccine specific, stating what are the different side effects for the particular vaccine."

Metro Manila mayors implemented Friday a directive not to disclose the brand of COVID-19 vaccines to be used in a particular vaccination site.

“Ngayon po pina-iimplement namin ngayon, hindi po innaanounce na po yung vaccine sa particular vaccination center,” Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said in an interview on TeleRadyo.

The policy, which was implemented by Metro Manila mayors on Friday, was criticized as it may further lead to vaccine hesitancy.

Due to limited supply, Cabotaje said Filipinos cannot be choosy unless they have contraindications.

"We are addressing this through advocacy. We are telling everybody that any vaccine is effective. They are safe. They have passed the EUA (emergency use authorization), and we can't be choosy with our brands unless there are medical contraindications because we know that we can't get the supply of the vaccines that we want. There's scarcity in the global market," she said.

For her, the best vaccine is the one that is available.

"Anyway, when they are there, they can have the choice to be vaccinated or not. If they choose not to be vaccinated, then they go to the bottom of the line," she said.

IATF ALLOWS CHURCH GATHERINGS UP TO 30 PCT CAPACITY IN NCR PLUS

MANILA — The inter-agency task force leading the country's COVID-19 response has raised the cap on religious gatherings in Metro Manila and surrounding Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal provinces, until the end of May, a member of the body said on Friday.

The IATF previously set the cap for religious gatherings at 10 percent of a venue capacity in the NCR Plus area, which is under general community quarantine with "heightened restrictions" until May 31.

In a meeting on Thursday, the IATF allowed religious to fill up to 30 percent of a venue's capacity until the end of the month, said Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, a member of the task force.

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PNP CRAFTS RULES FOR COPS DEALING WITH PANTRIES

MANILA — The Philippine National Police has crafted protocols to be followed by PNP personnel when engaging with community pantry organizers.

PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar hopes the guidelines will prevent misunderstanding as organizers of community pantries feel they are being profiled and red-tagged by the government.

Eleazar reiterated that they did not authorize profiling of community pantry organizers, whom he said are selflessly offering help to those in need.

He lauded pantry organizers for fostering the bayanihan spirit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is no directive from the PNP national headquarters or my office to conduct profiling of community pantry organizers,”Eleazar said.

Under the guidelines set by the PNP Directorate for Community Relations, Eleazar said the presence of police officers at community pantries is limited to maintaining peace and order as well as ensuring that minimum public health safety standards are strictly

observed.

Eleazar commended Human Rights Affairs Office (HRAO) director Brig. Gen. Vincent Calanoga for apologizing to pantry organizers, who felt threatened or intimidated by the actions of some police officers.

SWS: 51% OF FILIPINOS CONFIDENT IN GOV'T EVALUATION OF COVID-19 JABS

MANILA — Only half of Filipinos expressed confidence in the government’s evaluation of coronavirus vaccines, a Social Weather Stations survey showed.

The poll, conducted from April 28 to May 2, found that 51% of the 1,200 respondents were confident in the country’s vaccine screening process. Thirty-one percent were uncertain, while 17% were not confident.

Confidence in the evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines was highest in Mindanao (58%), followed by Visayas (55%), Metro Manila (49%) and Balance Luzon (47%).

Of those who expressed trust in the government’s assessment of jabs, 58% said they were willing to get inoculated.

The survey also asked respondents if they were willing to be given a COVID-19 vaccine that has been approved by the FDA.

Thirty-two percent said they were inclined to get inoculated, 35% were uncertain and 33% were unwilling.

Personal protection and prevention against COVID-19 were the top reasons of those who were willing to get vaccinated. Meanwhile, those who were uncertain and unwilling about inoculation mentioned the fear of side effects as the reason for their hesitancy.

The proportion of those who want to be vaccinated was highest in the capital region (41%), Mindanao (34%), Visayas (32%) and Balance Luzon (28%).

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews. It had sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

As of May 18, 786,528 Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, still far from the government’s target of inoculating 58 million to achieve herd immunity. Meanwhile, 2.5 million have received their first dose.

TAGUIG CONVERTS CINEMAS INTO VACCINATION SITES

MANILA — The Taguig City government has converted cinemas into vaccination sites in an effort to inoculate more people and boost its response against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two cinemas at the Venice Grand Canal Mall at McKinley Hill in Bonifacio Global City served as the city’s ninth vaccination hub, in partnership with MegaWorld Corp.

Two teams of health workers could vaccinate up to 400 people in these sites daily, the city government said in a statement.

Earlier, Taguig opened COVID-19 vaccination centers at Vista Mall and SM Aura Premier in BGC.

Mayor Lino Cayetano said they partnered with malls to provide spacious and comfortable areas for the vaccine recipients.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

GANIEL KRISHNAN, EMMANUELLE VERA MAKE CUT AS TOP 45 CANDIDATES OF MISS WORLD PH

TV reporter Ganiel Krishnan, actress-singer Emmanuelle Vera and former Miss Manila Kathleen Paton lead the candidates of Miss World Philippines 2021 chosen Thursday night by the pageant national director Arnold Vegafria and other selection committee members in Quezon City.

Krishnan is not new to the pageant scene as she previously won the Mutya ng Pilipinas Asia-Pacific International crown in 2016.

She also represented the Philippines at the Miss Asia-Pacific International in the same year and placed second runner-up.

The Filipino-Indian beauty queen also ventured in broadcasting after becoming a courtside reporter of the Far Eastern University, where she finished her college degree.

This paved the way for her entry in the news and current affairs division of the Kapamilya network, where she now works as a showbiz and lifestyle reporter.

On her Instagram account, Krishnan uploaded an introductory video as she confirmed her inclusion in the official list of the candidates.

"It’s official! Feeling all sorts of emotions as I embark on an exciting journey towards @msworldphil! Incredibly overwhelmed with the outpour of support, well wishes and messages," she said in the caption.

In the video, Krishnan shared her advocacies and charity works which includes founding "People I Met" campaign on her social media platforms.

A total of 45 candidates made the cut from a field of over 300 applicants, according to Vegafria.

Other ladies who made it include former Binibining Pilipinas candidates Dindi Pajares and Ruffa Nava.

Vegafria told ABS-CBN News he initially targeted to have only 40 candidates but was compelled to add five more delegates because of several ties in the selection panel’s votes.

“This is a good batch with many coming from the provinces and dominated by morena beauties,” he said.

Aside from the Miss World Philippines winner, seven other ladies will he chosen to represent the country at the Miss Supranational, Reina Hispano Americana, Miss Multinational, Miss Eco-International and other global pageants.

Vegafria said he will schedule the coronation on the last week of July 2021 at either Araneta Coliseum or Mall of Asia Arena, depending on quarantine protocols.

SPORTS

NBA SCORES MAY 19

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

10 Spurs0-1      19        30        16        31        96

9 Grizzlies1-0    38        18        16        28        100

SCORING LEADERS

D. DeRozan SA

20 PTS 3 REB 3 AST

D. Brooks MEM

24 PTS 7 REB 3 AST

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

8 Warriors0-1    28        27        24        21        100

7 Lakers1-0      22        20        35        26        103

SCORING LEADERS

S. Curry GS

37 PTS 7 REB 3 AST

A. Davis LAL

25 PTS 12 REB 2 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 47.94

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

It's frightful that people who are so ignorant should have so much influence.  - George Orwell

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