More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1185343 |
This is the least we can do for them? Are they kidding? This is what they are SUPPOSED to do. This is not a charity. The DBM has even said they are looking for new sources of funding.The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Wednesday approved the release of around PHP11.5 billion for the distribution of One Covid-19 Allowance (OCA) or Health Emergency Allowance (HEA) claims to over 1.6 million qualified beneficiaries.
In a press statement, the DBM said the fund will go to the Department of Health (DOH), the agency in charge of giving the OCA or HEA to eligible public and private healthcare workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs.
"The Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) covers unfunded OCA/HEA claims of healthcare and non-healthcare workers for the period of January to June 2022," the agency said.
The DBM said the latest release of funds will cover the unfunded portion of some 2,613,331 approved OCA/HEA claims by the DOH, as of Sept. 5, 2022, with a total funding requirement of PHP18.7 billion.
The DBM noted that it released around PHP7.92 billion of the PHP18.7 billion on Feb. 14 this year to cover the payment of 995,671 OCA/HEA claims.
Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said the approval of disbursement of PHP11.5 billion for HCWs' Covid-19 benefits demonstrates the current administration's commitment to give them the necessary support and assistance.
“Our healthcare workers deserve all the support and assistance from their government. They’ve been risking their lives to save and protect our people amidst this still prevailing pandemic. This is the least we can do for them,” Pangandaman said.
The provision of OCA is in pursuant to DOH's Special Provision No. 14 under the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 General Appropriations Act, which stipulates that the amount of Covid-19 benefits shall vary according to risk exposure of the HCW and non-HCW in particular setting.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1185475 |
Could this have something to do with POGOs not paying taxes and now being outlawed?The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on Thursday promised to look for new funding sources for the disbursement of benefits and allowances of health workers involved in the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) response.
This was after Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman acknowledged the difficulty of approving the Department of Health's (DOH) future requests for additional funds for health care workers (HCWs) and non-HCWs' emergency allowances, considering that the government currently has a "small budget."
"We will try to allocate funding," Pangandaman said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel's Headstart, when asked if the government has enough funds to grant the DOH's possible requests to release additional budget for medical front-liners' benefits.
"As of now po, parang medyo negative na po tayo sa ating mga balanse (we somehow have a negative balance) but we will try. We will try to get from our unprogrammed appropriations. I think I will have to check with the DOF (Department of Finance) and our Treasury if there are additional revenues po from the national government," she added.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/10/07/2214981/marcos-1st-100-days-still-no-health-chief-eased-mask-rule |
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was able to assemble the “best and brightest” people to serve his administration and put up a “functional” government during his first 100 days in office. But over three months into his term and amid an ongoing pandemic, the Department of Health is still without a secretary.
Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, a career official and the face of the government’s COVID-19 response, was designated as the agency’s officer-in-charge.
Even without an appointed secretary, the DOH’s COVID-19 pandemic efforts and programs on disease prevention and control and health promotion continue.
That is pretty shameful and unjustifiable.
Not all Filipinos are hesitant to get vaccinated. Several municipalities have exceeded their vaccination goals.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1185667 |
The municipality of Loreto in Agusan del Sur has surpassed its vaccination goal against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) while six others have administered at least the first dose to all target residents.
Data obtained from the Provincial Health Office of Agusan del Sur (PHO-ADS) on Saturday indicated that 33,405 Loreto residents are already fully vaccinated as of October 1.
The accomplishment rate is translated to 109.43 percent of the town's target population of 30,525, or 70 percent of its estimated 45,297 residents.
The province has a total target of 503,202 for vaccination, or 70 percent of its 746,771 residents.
To date, 448,163 are already fully vaccinated, representing 89.06 percent of the target population.
Meanwhile, 1,648 are not vaccinated yet with even a single dose.
The six municipalities that have achieved over 100-percent rate for the first dose are Bunawan, 106.84 percent; Prosperidad, 107.42 percent; San Francisco, 105.09 percent; San Luis, 106.03 percent; Sibagat, 102.64 percent; and Talacogon, 100.71 percent.
Go Negsyo founder Joey Concepcion says the nation must be ready for bivalent vaccines.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1677666/bivalent-covid-19-vaccine-will-reassure-investors-boost-ph-economy-concepcion |
The Philippines must prepare for the bivalent COVID-19 vaccine, Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion as the Philippines tries to maintain economic activity amidst economic and political volatility around the world.
“Bivalent vaccines will help us we protect the vulnerable and those who are essential to keeping our economy going,” said Concepcion.
He reiterated that securing the vaccines early will be important if the country is to inspire confidence among investors that the country will not experience any more disruptions because of the virus.
Bivalent COVID-19 vaccines protect against both the original strain of the SARS-CoV2 virus and the Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.
Previous vaccines also offer protection against the Omicron variants, but not as much as the bivalent vaccines.
“The bivalent vaccines have a broader antibody production compared to current vaccines available. With a broader antibody, longer duration of protection is its advantage over current vaccines,” said infectious diseases expert and Vaccine Expert Panel member Dr. Rontgene Solante.
He added that if the bivalent vaccines are made available, it might encourage people – especially those who have not received booster doses – to get their shots.
Concepcion said that the Philippines needs to prepare early to secure its supply of the vaccines.
“A lot of countries have already placed their orders, and here in the Philippines, there is no FDA approval yet for these vaccines,” he said.
He explained that pharmaceutical companies who have bivalent vaccines will likely choose to be indemnified by the government.
“This will need an Emergency Use Authorization, which is possible if the government extends the State of Public Health Emergency up to when the bivalent vaccines will be available to us,” he said.
The public health emergency will have to be extended in order to procure the vaccines. Isn't that great? No oversight whatsoever!
The COVID-19 One Health Pass was implemented to make traveling easier but some Senators are now calling for its abolishment.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1185739 |
Senators Nancy Binay and Christopher Lawrence Go on Monday said they do not see the practicality of the One Health Pass (OHP) anymore amid mounting complaints from travelers over the inconvenience of the screening system.
For Binay, the OHP is becoming an inconvenience to many, especially overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
"(It's a big hassle to our OFWs and balikbayans because of additional screening even they are already quaratine-cleared and with complete vaccines and boosters). From the tourism lens, we might be turning away potential guests because of this added bureaucratic layer whose effectiveness isn't even guaranteed,” Binay said in a statement.
She also asked the Department of Tourism (DOT) and other government agencies to look into simplifying the processes like other countries as the tourism industry is starting to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Sometimes, it helps when we follow the) trends. Other countries, even our Asean neighbors, are already liberalizing and rationalizing their entry processes. If they come from cities that have a high vaccination rate, there is no reason why we must be stricter, especially against other countries that have better vaccination rates than us,” Binay said.
In a separate statement, Go said he agrees with the idea but emphasized that concerned agencies should still have control over the Covid-19 pandemic situation.
"(It is important that we will have) more tourists, investors (who will enter our country because we need this in our) economic recovery," Go, who chairs the Senate Committee on Health, told the media during his visit in San Juan City.
The OHP is required for all arriving international travelers in accordance with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Resolution 135.
It aims to prevent and minimize the entry of suspected or confirmed individuals with any emerging infectious diseases.
Another software used by Filipinos to travel abroad and show proof of vaccination has been offline since September 30th.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/10/12/22/vaxcertph-software-expired-on-sept-30-dict-chief |
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Wednesday said the software for the country's digital COVID-19 vaccination certificate VaxCertPH expired in September and that the agency was "fixing" budget issues to keep it running.
"The software that we are using, contracted with the provider, third party provider, technically expired last Sept. 30," Uy told Palace reporters when asked about reports that some people had difficulty getting updated versions of their digital vaccination proof.
The renewal of the software contract is an "unprogrammed expense" on the part of the DICT because the VaxCertPH was already supposed to be turned over to the Department of Health, Uy said.
However, he said the DOH only "recently" said its personnel were not yet ready to manage the system and asked the DICT to continue running it.
(We asked them, 'OK we will continue running it but we need to renew the contract because it expired on Sept. 30.' And we asked the DOH, 'Do you have the budget so we could continue with the contract. They said they did not, so it was passed back to the DICT.)
"We are in the process of renewing that, and medyo humagilap ho kami ng pondo. It's an unprogrammed expense that DICT has to assume in order to keep that running. We're still in that stage kaya medyo may kaunting challenge d'yan but we're fixing that."
(We scrambled a bit for funds... We're still in that stage so there is a bit of challenge there.)
The DICT developed VaxCertPH in coordination with the health department. VaxCertPH was also released as a mobile app.
Filipinos traveling abroad rely on VaxCertPH, which is accepted internationally as a proof of vaccination. They may also request an International Certificate of Vaccination or “yellow card” from the Philippine Bureau of Quarantine, which charges processing fees.
- It's really bad they let it expire seeing how important the app is for international travelers. How many workers will now be unable to go abroad?
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1185895 |
Senator Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday filed a measure aimed at protecting the rights and welfare of so-called quarantine heroes, now increasing in numbers and becoming regular fixtures in the service industry.
The senator has delivery riders and other freelancers in mind when she filed Senate Bill No. 1373 or the Protektadong Online Workers, Entrepreneurs, Riders at Raketera (POWERR) Act.
Describing them as quarantine heroes because they mushroomed during the lockdowns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Hontiveros said the measure will mandate the state to craft standards for regulations in relation to the services of delivery riders and online freelancers.
The proposed legislation requires that workers of online platforms be paid at least the legally mandated minimum wage, whether it be on an hourly or per-task basis.
“POWERR Act aims to empower the delivery riders and freelancers. The passing of this bill will give them social protection with the help of other government agencies,” Hontiveros said in a news release.
Workers must be enrolled in government social protection programs such as Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Social Security System, and Home Mutual Development Fund, among others, according to the bill.
Female workers shall also be provided with maternity benefits upon childbirth.
"Because work conditions in the gig economy are often unstable, workers in this sector are more affected by economic shocks and the lack of clear rules. They need a steady income that they can lean on in case of ailment, pregnancy or retirement,” she said.
Once the bill is passed, online platform workers can organize, collectively bargain, and negotiate with their employers.
It seems Hontiveros wants food delivery drivers to be able to avail of minimum wage and government programs as well as the right to unionize. But will Grad, Food Panda, and other delivery companies go along with that?
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