GLOBAL ALARM GROWS OVER CHINA'S COVID-19 SURGE

MANILA — The United States is the latest in a growing number of countries to impose restrictions on visitors from China after Beijing abruptly removed a major impediment to overseas travel despite surging COVID cases at home.

Hospitals across China have been overwhelmed by an explosion of COVID cases following Beijing's decision to lift strict rules that had largely kept the virus at bay but tanked its economy and sparked widespread protests.

On Monday, the country said it would bring an end to mandatory quarantine on arrival -- prompting many jubilant Chinese citizens to make plans to travel abroad.

In response, the United States and a number of other countries announced they would require negative COVID tests for all travelers from mainland China.

"The recent rapid increase in COVID-19 transmission in China increases the potential for new variants emerging," a senior US health official told reporters in a phone briefing.

Beijing has provided only limited data about circulating variants in China to global databases, the official said, and its testing and reporting on new cases has also diminished.

The US move came after Italy, Japan, India and Malaysia announced their own measures in a bid to protect against importing new COVID variants from China.

China still does not allow foreign visitors, however, with the issuance of visas for overseas tourists and students still suspended.

But the lifting of mandatory quarantines sparked a surge in interest in overseas travel by Chinese citizens, who have been largely confined to their country since Beijing pulled down the drawbridge in March 2020.

PHILIPPINE TASK FORCE TO DISCUSS POSSIBLE COVID CURBS FOR TRAVELERS FROM CHINA

MANILA — The country's pandemic task force will discuss possible entry restrictions for travelers from China, which is grappling with a surge of COVID-19 cases, a transportation official said Thursday.

"At the moment I am aware COVID testing is no longer required as we have implemented before," Department of Transportation Undersecretary Steven Pastor told ANC's "Rundown".

"But I think this will be thoroughly discussed through the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force) and of course, the DOTr will abide by the regulations that will be recommended by our health experts and even the IATF," he added.

Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista has recommended RT-PCR testing upon arrival for visitors from China.

"If we travel to Hong Kong, you need an RT-PCR [result], although there's no need to quarantine. But maybe, we should also adopt similar practices for passengers coming from areas where there is high COVID-19 cases," he said on Wednesday.

"Because COVID is still there and we need to protect our citizens here."

DEATH TOLL FROM CHRISTMAS FLOODS RISES TO 32

MANILA — The death toll from the Christmas Day floods that hit parts of Visayas and Mindanao has risen to 32, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said on Thursday.

The agency also said 24 individuals remained missing due to the Dec. 25 rains. Eleven others were injured.

Some 24,557 families were forced to flee their homes due to the rains caused by a shear line, an area where cold and warm air meet and form rain clouds.

The OCD estimated the cost of damage to agriculture at around P208.5 million.

Meanwhile, damage to infrastructure was pegged at around P51.5 million. Two roads and 4 bridges are not passable to all types of vehicles, while some 4,000 houses were also damaged, the agency said.

The OCD said about P49.2 million worth of assistance has been given to affected Filipinos.

The floods left at least one province and 3 towns under a state of calamity.

The weather turned bad over the weekend as the disaster-prone nation of 110 million people prepared for a long Christmas holiday.

CAN’T AFFORD ONIONS PER KILO? DA SAYS BUY PER PIECE

Consumers should not buy a kilogram or more of onions as its current price is now more than triple the suggested retail price (SRP), a Department of Agriculture (DA) official said Wednesday.

DA deputy spokesperson Rex Estoperez said that in select markets in Metro Manila, the price of large onions was already at P550/kg, while smaller ones were priced at P440/kg.

He said the SRP of onions was just P170/kg, while the farmgate prices were around P300/kg.

“It seems like a lot of people will be angry with me on this, but to be reasonable and practical, let’s not buy a kilo of onions. Let’s buy only what we can afford,” Estoperez said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview.

In a separate GMA News report, the price of red onions at the Las Piñas Public Market soared to P720 per kilo on Wednesday, 20 percent higher than the P600 per kilo on Tuesday.

The price increased because vendors had to pay their suppliers P680 per kilo on Wednesday, the report added. Vendors also had to pay for parking fees at the market and for shipping charges from their suppliers – even as onion prices could still rise in the next few days.

NTC ASKS TELCOS TO EXPLAIN SIM LISTING GLITCHES, REMEDIAL STEPS SET

The country’s telecommunications companies were ordered to submit incident reports on anomalies regarding their SIM card registration processes by Wednesday, the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said.

In a memorandum issued Tuesday, the NTC said the order was in response to “numerous incidents involving unsuccessful or incomplete SIM registration from the general public.”

It also noted several initial social media reports from users that complained of registration sites being down or inaccessible.

This was as the country’s three mobile operators said Wednesday nearly 2.5 million subscribers – out of a combined 173 million postpaid and prepaid clients nationwide — have completed their registration since it began on Dec. 27.

In a statement, Globe, with nearly 88 million subscribers, said it logged over 1.5 million SIM registrations as of 4 p.m. Wednesday, hours after its platform went back online after “fine-tuning and optimization for better customer experience.”

DITO Telecommunity Corp., which has 15 million subscribers, recorded 497,873 SIM registrations as of Dec. 28, as its chief administrative officer Adel Tamano described its list-up as “generally smooth.”

Smart, with 68 million subscribers, said it had a total of 388,522 SIM registrations across its postpaid and prepaid, Smart Bro, and TNT brands as of yesterday.

The NTC told the telcos to file reports on these incidents, including the platform involved, the number of subscribers affected, geographical areas, and actions taken to address these issues, “as well as actions to mitigate or eliminate future incidents.”

NTC Deputy Commissioner Jon Paulo Salvahan told ABS-CBN TeleRadyo they have since received initial reports.

The NTC will also set up a task force to closely monitor updates on SIM card registrations, especially in the nation’s hinterland areas.

EX-PONTIFF BENEDICT XVI ‘VERY ILL’

Vatican City — Pope Francis said Wednesday that former pontiff Benedict XVI, 95, whose health has steadily been deteriorating, is “very ill” and he is praying for him.

“I would like to ask all of you to pray a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict,” Francis said at the end of his general audience.

He called on people to “remember him, because he is very ill, asking the Lord to console and support him.”

The Vatican on Wednesday confirmed that the health of the ex-pontiff has worsened in the last few hours and he had been visited by Pope Francis.

“I can confirm that in the last few hours there has been a deterioration due to advancing age. The situation at the moment remains under control, monitored continually by doctors,” spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

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STATE HOSPITALS ON ‘CODE WHITE’ ALERT

With New Year’s Eve just a few days away, government hospitals across the country have raised the “code white alert” for possible firework-related injuries.

Code white alert means that emergency services are on standby 24/7 and doctors and nurses are on call for duty.

The East Avenue Medical Center has prepared medical equipment, medicines, and disinfectant for firecracker-related injury treatment at the emergency ward.

“As of yesterday, we’ve had no fireworks-related injury. Based on previous years, we’d have some cases by now,” said Dr. John Paul Ner, medical specialist 2 at East Avenue Medical Center.

Some seven more cases of fireworks-related injuries were logged in the Philippines, bringing the caseload 39 percent higher than last year, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

Based on the DOH’s recent fireworks-related injury surveillance report, the cumulative number of fireworks-related injuries from Dec. 21 to Dec. 28 now stood at 32.

TRANSPORT GROUP URGES DOTR: RETHINK PRIVATIZATION OF EDSA CAROUSEL

MANILA — A transport group urged the Department of Transportation to rethink its plan to privatize the EDSA bus carousel next year, saying that privatization of public utilities does not guarantee efficiency, and in order to maximize private profits, often results in fare hikes.

This comes after Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista confirmed the department would be heading in that direction for 2023 with the end goal of having the busway in Metro Manila's busiest thoroughfare conform to international bus standards.

"We encourage Bautista to think about it carefully," Mody Floranda, national president of Pinagkaisang Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operators Nationwide or Piston said in Filipino in a statement sent to reporters Thursday. "What is the guarantee of businessmen that they will serve the public interest if the public interest is affordable and effective service?"

To recall, the Management Association of the Philippines submitted its proposal to privatize the busway's operations and align the project with measurable performance metrics based on busway standards outlined by nonprofit Institute for Transportation and Development Policy.

Piston said that the current mass transport crisis in Metro Manila is a symptom of the government’s overwhelming reliance on the private sector. Major solutions and improvements in mass transport can only be done with responsible government ownership of public utilities.

The group also said that what the public needs is more government support and subsidy on social services, pointing to the Libreng Sakay program which it said could be expanded across different modes of mass public transit.

KADIWA STALLS OPEN IN CENTRAL LUZON

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The Department of Agriculture (DA) has started to roll out “Kadiwa ng Pasko” stalls in Central Luzon to provide consumers with affordable Christmas food items and agricultural products.

The DA, through the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Division (AMAD), on Dec. 19 opened a stall at the provincial capitol compound here, where locally manufactured products and fresh farm produce are on sale until Dec. 29.

In Bulacan, the Kadiwa ng Pasko was launched in Barangay Mulawin, San Jose del Monte on Wednesday.

The Kadiwa ng Pasko, a flagship project of the government, also aims to help farmers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) sell their produce and goods directly to consumers, according to Carmencita Nogoy, senior agriculturist and chief of DA-AMAD-Central Luzon.

The initiative is in partnership with the departments of trade and industry, interior and local government, and social welfare and development as well as the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and National Food Authority.

10 SEAFARERS RESCUED OFF SABAH, TAWI-TAWI

ZAMBOANGA CITY —  Eight Malaysian seafarers and two Filipinos were rescued after their boats capsized in the waters off Sabah, Malaysia and Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao, respectively, on Saturday night. Another Malaysian seafarer was reported missing.

The Naval Forces Western Mindanao said a foreign vessel marked M/V Falcon Triumph was sailing through the waters off Tawi-Tawi when its crewmembers spotted a life raft with four men on board.

The Triumph rescued the victims, which included two Filipinos and two Malaysians.

The navy said another vessel, M/T High Adventure, was sailing along the borders of Malaysia and the Philippines when its crewmembers spotted six men on top of a listing vessel.

The Triumph and the Adventure contacted the Philippine Navy’s Littoral Monitoring Station in Bongao.

Navy and Marine personnel responded and picked up the seafarers, according to Brig. Gen. Romeo Racadio, chief of the Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi and 2nd Marine Brigade.

Racadio said the Malaysians were crewmembers of the cargo vessel M/V Belait Surita.

He said the Surita, which had nine crewmembers when it left Sandakan for Talabtab in Malaysia, developed engine trouble.

One of Surita’s pipes reportedly exploded, causing it to list.

Authorities have yet to locate the missing crewmember.

The Malaysians and the Filipinos were brought to Bongao, where they received medical attention, clothes and food, Racadio said.

LOW PRESSURE AREA, AMIHAN TO BRING MORE RAINS AHEAD OF NEW YEAR

MANILA — A low pressure area (LPA) and the northeast monsoon or amihan will continue stirring rains over vast swaths of the Philippines on Thursday, the state weather bureau said.

The LPA was spotted 100 kilometers southeast of Guiuan, Eastern Samar at 3 a.m. It is no longer expected to develop into a tropical depression ahead of the New Year, said PAGASA.

"Wala na tayong aasahan na bagyo pa hanggang sa matapos ang 2022," PAGASA weather forecaster Benison Estareja said in a livestream.

However, the LPA will cross Visayas and Mindanao on Thursday and has started bringing rains over southern Luzon, Estareja said.

The northeast monsoon, meanwhile, is affecting the rest of Luzon and will weaken once the LPA starts crossing Visayas and the northern portion of Sulu, he said.

On Thursday, rains will likely hit southern Luzon, including Mimaropa, Calabarzon and Bicol Region due to the LPA. Residents in these areas should be on the lookout for possible landslides and floods, said Estareja.

He said the amihan would bring light to moderate rains and cold weather over the eastern portion of northern and Central Luzon, Cagayan Valley, the Cordilleras, and Aurora province.

Metro Manila, the rest of Central Luzon and Ilocos will experience cloudy skies with light rains due to the northeast monsoon.

Meanwhile, the LPA will bring high chances of rain in Eastern Visayas, especially the Samar provinces and Biliran. Western Visayas could expect cloudy skies with scattered rains and thunderstorms, Estareja said.

Floods and landslides are also possible in these areas, he added.

Mindanao will also experience sunny weather with possible localized thunderstorms.

ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE

MMFF REVIEW: WITH EXCELLENT ENSEMBLE, 'FAMILY MATTERS' WILL CONNECT WITH ALL VIEWERS

In "Family Matters," Francisco and Eleonor Florencio (Noel Trinidad and Liza Lorena) have been married for 55 years now.

Their eldest child is Kiko (Nonie Buencamino), an engineer married to baker Odette (Agot Isidro). Their second child is Fortune (Mylene Dizon), who owns a dog spa with her husband Nelson (James Blanco). The third is Ellen (Nikki Valdez), a spinster who stays at home to take care of her parents. Youngest is "menopause baby" Enrico (JC Santos), separated from Glenda (Ina Feleo), now living in with Irene (Anna Luna).

One day, Francisco had a health scare but was soon discharged. Ellen left to take a vacation in the US to meet up with a man she met online. The other three siblings decided to take their parents into their respective homes to watch over them in Ellen's absence.

However, during this time, despite all of the efforts taken by the children to make them comfortable, various things happened that made Francisco and Eleonor feel like that they were losing control of their independence, as well as becoming a burden for their kids.

This film was a breath of fresh air in this year dominated by films with dark and adult themes. As the title clearly states, this film dealt with various matters that happen in any family. It will connect with all its viewers and make them reflect about their own families and the problems they may be facing.

This generally wholesome film is Rated G, which makes it one of the very rare films released lately which did not include any mention of adult topics tackled in indie releases.

The cast gathered for this film was an excellent ensemble who related emotionally to each other like real family. Trinidad gave the performance of his career here as the cantankerous Francisco. Lorena played his ever-supportive wife Eleonor, but with her own strength of character.

Buencamino again proved his dramatic skills as the arrogant and stressed out Kiko, who had some of the heaviest scenes. Dizon, Valdez, and Santos also had their own memorable scenes.

This was an old-fashioned family melodrama as expected, but done quite well, written with sensitivity to include problems experienced in all generations within a family from a senior father's point of view.

The grandparents here may be infirm, ill-tempered or uncooperative, but were both still of sound mind, ultimately proactive about what they wanted. It admittedly ran a tad long (2 hrs 14 min), with cliches here and there, and an ending viewed through rose-colored glasses, but should be entertaining viewing for the holidays nonetheless. 8/10.

SPORTS

PBA FINALS GAME 2

BAY AREA DEF. GINEBRA, 99-82

PBA guest team Bay Area Dragons defeated the crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra, 99-82 to even the series at 1-1 in Game 2 of their best-of-7 finals in the 2022-23 PBA Commissioner's Cup on Wednesday, December 28 in front of 16,044 crowd at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

Andrew Nicholson led the Dragons with a double-double of 30 points (11/21fg, 3/6 3pts, 5/6ft) along with game-high 15 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks in 46 minutes of play. Songwei Zhu with a solid game of 24 points (8/15fg, 3/6 3pts, 6/7ft), to go with 5 rebounds, 6 assists and a steal. Hayden Blankley scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and game-high 5 blocks while Kobey Lam finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 1 assist.

Justin Brownlee paced the Gin Kings with game-high 32 points (12/28fg, 7/14 3pts, 1/3ft), 11 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal while Jamie Malonzo added 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and a block.

Bay Area shot 35/70 (50%) from the field, including 11-of-30 shooting from beyond the arc (GIN - 33/86 fg, 13/36 3pts), and Bay Area went 18-of-21 from the free throw line (GIN - 3/5ft). Gin Kings had 17 turnovers while the Dragons had 16. BAY recorded more blocks, 7-2, had more assists 23-20.

Finals Game 3 in on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena at 5:45pm. Buy PBA Game Tickets

The Scores:

BAY AREA 99 - Nicholson 30, Zhu 25, Blankley 17, Lam 11, Ju 9, Yang 5, Reid 2, Song 0, Liu 0.

GINEBRA 82 – Brownlee 32, Malonzo 10, Thompson 9, Tenorio 8, Standhardinger 8, Pinto 5, J Aguilar 5, R Aguilar 5, Pringle 2, Gray 0, Pessumal 0, Mariano 0.

Quarters: 22-16, 52-35, 68-60, 99-82

INDICATORS

FOREX $1 = P 56.20

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

To love what you do and feel that it matters, how could anything be more fun? - Katharine Graham