10 PRESIDENTIAL BETS INCLUDED IN 2022 ELECTION BALLOT: COMELEC

MANILA - Ten presidential candidates remain on the national ballot for the upcoming elections in May, the Commission on Elections said Tuesday.

The candidates include Vice President Leni Robredo and former Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Senators Manny Pacquiao and Panfilo Lacson, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno, labor leader Leody de Guzman, former presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, and former Security Adviser Norberto Gonzalez.

Also included are Faisal Mangondato and Jose Montemayor Jr.

"The people who are left on the ballot cannot be considered nuisance candidates number one because they're able to show they have legitimate intention to run for office," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told ANC's Headstart.

"Legitimate intent yo run should not be equated with popularity, should not be equated with premature campaign which is what everyone else is doing."

The vice presidential candidates include Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, Buhay party list Rep. Lito Atienza and Dr. Willie Ong.

Also included are Walden Bello, Rizalito David, Manny Lopez and Carlos Serapio.

HOUSE CANCELS SESSIONS AMID UPTICK IN COVID-19 CASES

MANILA -- The uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has caused the suspension of sessions in the House of Representatives until January 24, 2022.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco confirmed this after the House of Representatives adjourned its session on Monday afternoon.

The lower chamber was supposed to have sessions this week from Monday to Wednesday as it returns from a month-long Christmas and New Year break.

Velasco said that they have more than 70 House members and employees who have been stricken by the virus since the start of the year.

“We have decided to suspend the plenary sessions for the rest of the week because of the continuing surge in COVID-19 cases in almost every corner of the metropolis, and the House of Representatives is no exception," Velasco said.

Velasco clarified, however, that the House continues to fulfill its constitutional duties while taking restrictive yet necessary measures to create a safe environment for their members and employees.

HOUSE APPROVES HR DEFENDERS BILL

MANILA — The House of Representatives hit the ground running yesterday with the three-week resumption of sessions by approving on third and final reading several priority measures that included the Human Rights Defenders Protection Act.

House Bill 10576, authored by Rep. Edcel Lagman, received an overwhelming 200 votes from the plenary, which was approved in the past 17th Congress (July 2016 to June 2019).

“The enactment of the Human Rights Defenders Act will put an end to the prevailing impunity on the extrajudicial killings and extreme harassments of HRDs,” Lagman said.

A similar bill authored by detained Sen. Leila de Lima is pending in the Senate which could be approved by the upper chamber for the expeditious enactment of the pioneering legislation.

The Human Rights Defenders bill is based on the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the Model National Law on the Recognition and Protection of Human Rights Defenders drafted by the International Service for Human Rights.

Once signed into law, the bill will create a Human Rights Defenders Protection Committee chaired by a commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and would have six members who will be jointly nominated by civil society organizations.

HB 10576 defines an HRD as “any person who, individually or in association with others, acts or seeks to act to protect, promote or strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms and welfare of the people, at the local, national, regional and international levels.”

Also yesterday, the House plenary approved House Bill 10582 (Rural Financial Inclusion and Literacy Act) via a 204-0 vote, and HB 10568 that gives the elderly more discounts in their (water and power) utility bills.

The first bill seeks to uplift the lives of the marginalized sectors (small farmers, fisherfolk, informal workers) by addressing the gap in reaching financial inclusivity while the second will amend the Expanded Senior Citizens Act of 2020 (Republic Act 7432).

It also approved House Bill 10560 (200 affirmative votes), which expands the coverage of the Tertiary Education Subsidy (TES) program to allow more underprivileged and academically competent students to enroll in private higher education institutions (HEIs) and technical-vocational institutions, and benefit from the TES through the voucher system.

“The expansion of the Tertiary Education Subsidy’s coverage is a step in making education accessible for more young Filipinos,” said Rep. France Castro of party-list ACT Teachers.

ROBREDO ASKS COMELEC TO ALLOW COVID-19 PROGRAMS TO GO ON DURING CAMPAIGN

MANILA — Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday said she has asked the Commission on Elections to allow her office's initiatives against COVID-19 to continue during the campaign period for the 2022 elections.

Robredo, a presidential candidate, said these programs include the Bayanihan E-Konsulta, which offers online medical consultation, and the Swab Cab, a mobile COVID-19 testing facility.

"Humingi kami ng exemption from Comelec na ‘yung mga COVID-related na mga ginagawa ng office, payagan kami to continue even after Feb. 8, lalo na kasi surge ngayon," she said, referring to the start of the campaign period.

"Sumulat na kami early this month... Sana ma-grant," Robredo told reporters in a chance interview.

NEARLY 7 MILLION MINORS FULLY IMMUNIZED VS CORONAVIRUS, SAYS GALVEZ

MANILA—Nearly 7 million children in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, its vaccine czar said on Monday, as the country continued to log an uptick in coronavirus infections.

According to National Task Force (NTF) against COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., 6.88 million — or 54 percent of minors aged 12 to 17 — have received their primary COVID-19 shots while 8.49 million (67%) have taken their first jab.

"Sa assessment po namin, kung magtuloy-tuloy po ang output natin, kaya po nating matapos ang pagbabakuna ng kabataang edad 12 hanggang 17 anyos by end of March at makapagsimula po ng boosters by April kapag pinayagan na po tayo ng mga expert," Galvez said during taped public briefing led by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Authorities will continue to pursue immunizing children aged 5 to 11, Galvez added, saying millions of COVID-19 vaccines formulated for the age bracket by drugmaker Pfizer-BioNTech are set to arrive in the coming months.

Coronavirus shots manufactured by China-based Sinovac for kids aged 3 to 17 are also set to be procured once it has been approved the Philippine Food and Drug Administration, the official said.

Based on Galvez's data, the Philippines has fully vaccinated at least 55 million people, including 48.2 million adults, as of writing.

More than 4.7 million have also received their booster shots, he said.

The Philippines earlier Monday logged 37,070 fresh COVID-19 cases, the 6th consecutive day it logged more than 30,000 new infections.

PHILIPPINES TAPS DRUGSTORES TO EXPAND COVID-19 VACCINATION

MANILA — The Philippines this week will begin tapping drugstores as COVID-19 vaccination sites, an official said, as coronavirus infections hovered at record highs.

Vince Dizon, Presidential Adviser for COVID-19 response, said infections among vaccination staff prompted authorities to seek the help of pharmacies, including Mercury Drug, Watson’s, Rose Pharmacy, South Star Drug, and Generica, as well as clinics like Qualimed and Healthway.

These establishments “responded immediately to the call of the national government,” he said.

Authorities on Thursday and Friday will launch vaccination efforts in 7 pharmacies in Metro Manila, Dizon said.

Following a weeklong pilot run, the program dubbed “Resbakuna sa mga Botika” would be expanded to other drugstores across the country, he said.

“This will greatly assist po our local government units and the DOH para po dagdag po itong mga personnel para magbabakuna,” Dizon said in a taped meeting with officials that aired on Tuesday.

“At the same time po, madi-decentralize pa po natin more iyong ating bakunahan. Instead of just being focused on the big vaccination sites… we will have smaller but more widely spread vaccination sites in the form of our botikas (drugstores),” he continued.

President Rodrigo Duterte, who presided over the meeting, replied, “Maganda ‘yan (that’s good), expedient.”

COMMUTERS MIGHT SOON SEE GOV'T BIKE SHARE SYSTEM, END-OF-TRIP BIKE FACILITIES

MANILA — Along with the expansion and improvement of the existing bike lane network, the EDSA thoroughfare and Cebu's South Road Properties might soon see a bike-share system and end-of-trip bicycle facilities, the Department of Transportation said Monday.

This came at the Move as One transport coalition's Biking Out of the Pandemic forum on Monday afternoon, where Eldon Joshua Dionisio, senior transportation development officer at the DOTr, presented the department's "tentative" plans for active transportation in 2022.

The DOTr said it was looking at constructing bike-sharing stations at public transport terminals, national government facilities, city and municipal halls, commercial establishments, and medical facilities.

Heading into 2022, the DOTr will have P2 billion for active transportation alone in the General Appropriation Act for 2022. The DOTr said that these funds would also be spent on upgrading Class 2 bike lanes — or simple lanes with pavement markings only — to Class 1 lanes with physical separators.

Among the national budget's key provisions for active transportation are the installation of end-of-trip bicycle facilities, the establishment of safe and accessible pedestrian walkways, and the allocation of "at least 50 percent of the road space" for public transport, pedestrians, and bicycles.

The end-of-trip facilities, Dionisio said, would include bike racks, bike repair facilities, and bike sheds in select areas. These would also be built alongside bike counters following the procurement of bike counting technology including CCTV and other automatic bike counters.

"The bikes are initially station-based and route-limited. A user is required to park the bike to another station and is required to traverse using only the designated Bike Share Route," Dionisio's presentation said of the planned bike share system.

BIZ GROUPS URGE CONGRESS TO RATIFY TRANSPORT SAFETY BILL

MANILA — Foreign business groups are urging Congress to approve a bill that would create a body to probe transportation-related accidents and incidents.

In a statement yesterday, the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) – composed of the American, Australian-New Zealand, Canadian, European, Japanese and Korean chambers of commerce in the country, and the Philippine Association of Multinational Companies Regional Headquarters – said they are calling on the House of Representatives and the Senate to complete the ratification of the reconciled version of the bicameral conference committee of House Bill 9030 and Senate Bill 1077, which seek to create the Philippine Transportation Safety Board (PTSB).

Groups Safe Travel Alliance, International Air Transport Association and Air Carriers Association of the Philippines have also joined JFC’s call.

After the bill is ratified, it can be endorsed to President Duterte for approval into law.

The proposed measure seeks to establish a non-regulatory and independent agency attached to the Office of the President to be responsible for the conduct of investigation on transportation-related accidents.

In the creation of the PTSB, the aim is to improve transportation safety measures to help prevent accidents and mitigate dangers to human lives and property. The PTSB would also ensure transportation safety standards are implemented.

“Once enacted, the new PTSB can commence its programs to discourage and reduce major transportation accidents taking the lives of too many Filipinos,” American Chamber executive director Ebb Hinchliffe said.

PALACE WARNS PUBLIC VS SOLICITATION SCHEME

MANILA — Malacañang yesterday warned the public against a fraudulent scheme that uses the names of some government officials to collect money supposedly as part of a hiring procedure.

Acting presidential spokesman Karlo Nograles said unscrupulous individuals have been using his name and that of Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III to solicit P6,000 medical insurance as part of a recruitment procedure.

Nograles said those involved in the scam are unlawfully using the letterheads of the government’s pandemic task force and the labor department.

“The OPS (Office of the Presidential Spokesperson) wants to alert everyone about this illegal solicitation scheme and urges the public to report such fraudulent activity to 8888 Citizens’ Complaint Center,” Nograles said in a statement.

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COVID-19 CASES IN METRO MANILA ON STEADY DECLINE – OCTA

MANILA — The number of COVID-19 cases per day in Metro Manila appears to be steadily decreasing, with the growth rate at negative one percent, the OCTA Research Group announced yesterday.

OCTA fellow Guido David said the virus reproduction number in the National Capital Region (NCR) dropped to 2.67 from a peak of 6.16 over the past 11 days.

Citing data from the Department of Health, David said the NCR registered 15,959 new COVID-19 cases on Jan. 16, lower than the 18,422 cases recorded on Jan. 15.

“In the meantime, the daily growth rate of the seven-day moving average has decreased to -1 percent,” David noted.

He said the COVID-19 growth rate in Metro Manila was at 11, five, three and two percent in the past four days.

Guido said the downward trend in COVID-19 infections indicates that cases in the NCR have peaked.

“But the possibility still remains that visibility of the COVID situation in the NCR is clouded because of limitations in testing,” he said.

OCTA said there is a need to monitor the trends in COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila in the coming days to see if cases would decrease further.

UNIONBANK DEPLOYS 'BANK ON WHEELS' IN CEBU TO SERVE CONSUMERS HIT BY ODETTE

MANILA - UnionBank on Tuesday said it rolled out its bank on wheels (BOW) mobile banking facility in Cebu to provide basic financial services to residents affected by typhoon Odette.

The mobile banking facility is a 5G-capable kiosk in a van and is a mobile version of its digital banking branch, Union Bank said in a statement.

Cebu residents that are UnionBank cardholders were able to use the ATMs inside the kiosk to do balance inquiry, fund transfer and bills payments.

In addition, UnionBank customers ere able to do card-less withdrawals as well as deposit cash with the kiosks cash recycler machine (CRM), the bank said.

For customers of other banks, they were able to make balance inquiry and withdraw cash.

“In the wake of Typhoon Odette’s devastation, many banking customers in Cebu and other affected areas were left with little to no access to basic banking services. Committed to address this urgent concern, we deployed BOW while we worked on restoring the bank’s ATM network in these areas,” said UnionBank’s SEVP, CTOO and CTO Henry Aguda.

DEPED EYES EXPANDING IN-PERSON CLASSES IN AREAS UNDER ALERT LEVELS 1, 2 BY FEBRUARY

MANILA—The Department of Education recommended the expansion of face-to-face classes in areas under COVID-19 Alert Levels 1 and 2 by February.

Education Sec. Leonor Briones, in her report to President Rodrigo Duterte, said the expansion will be progressive, which means only schools in areas considered low risk for COVID-19 infections will be allowed to resume face-to-face classes.

"Hindi 'yung lahat lahat, sabay sabay. Kung ang isang lugar ay Alert Level 1 and 2, selective, pwedeng mag-expand ng face-to-face," Briones said.

Briones said the expansion of in-person classes will start not earlier than the first week of February.

Parents' consent and the concurrence of local government units will be required, too, she added.

"February ang pag-eexpand, pero maingat pa rin, taking into consideration the advice of the Department of Health, the LGUs, and now the Department of Justice," Briones explained.

Briones said only vaccinated teaching and non-teaching personnel will participate in the face-to-face classes.

Participation by vaccinated students shall also be preferred.

Twenty-eight public schools in Metro Manila joined face-to-face classes in December but the pilot program was suspended earlier this month, as COVID-19 cases spiked in the region.

Limited face-to-face classes continued in other areas under COVID-19 Alert 2.

The DepEd has given schools and local education officials leeway to suspend classes for up to 2 weeks to cope with the ongoing spike in coronavirus infections.

DENR FORMS OFFICES TO FAST-TRACK MANILA BAY REHABILITATION

MANILA — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources has created offices to speed up the rehabilitation of Manila Bay and strengthen the enforcement of environmental laws, the DENR announced over the weekend.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu recently issued an administrative order for the creation of Metropolitan Environmental Offices (MEO).

Cimatu said the DENR field offices in Metro Manila would be transitioning to MEOs, which will be tasked to strictly implement Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

The MEOs will also oversee compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2008 writ of continuing mandamus for the Manila Bay rehabilitation.

“We have to strengthen our field offices to capacitate local government units (LGUs) and to accomplish our goals,” Cimatu said.

He said the MEOs would serve as the DENR’s “overseer in the different areas of Metro Manila on a micro-level.”

Under the DENR administrative order, each MEO will be supervised by an undersecretary, assistant secretary and director.

The functions of the MEOs include serving as frontline units for the enforcement of environmental laws, and intensifying coordination efforts with partner government agencies and non-government organizations in cleaning up rivers and other water bodies.

SPORTS

NBA SCORES JAN 16

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

Suns33-9          39        25        39        32        135

Pistons10-32     35        19        28        26        108

LITTLE CAESARS ARENA, DETROIT, MI

SCORING LEADERS

            D. Booker PHO

30 PTS 4 REB 4 AST

            C. Cunningham DET

21 PTS 1 REB 4 AST

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

Rockets13-32    29        26        30        33        118

Kings18-28       21        39        28        24        112

GOLDEN 1 CENTER, SACRAMENTO, CA

SCORING LEADERS

            K. Porter HOU

23 PTS 4 REB 7 AST

            B. Hield SAC

27 PTS 5 REB 2 AST

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

Warriors31-12   22        28        31        18        99

Timberwolves21-22       30        26        35        28        119

TARGET CENTER, MINNEAPOLIS, MN

SCORING LEADERS

J. Poole GS

20 PTS 4 REB 3 AST

K. Towns MIN

26 PTS 11 REB 1 AST

FINAL

1          2          3          4          T

Jazz29-14         37        31        23        34        125

Nuggets22-20   33        25        30        14        102

BALL ARENA, DENVER, CO

SCORING LEADERS

D. Mitchell UTA

31 PTS 5 REB 4 AST

N. Jokic DEN

25 PTS 15 REB 14 AST

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 51.25

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. - Anais Nin