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.sunstar.com.ph/amp/story/cebu/from-pandemic-hobby-to-intl-competitions |
ARNOLD John Lasdoce and Jimboy Esma Tabotabo took up aikido in the midst of the pandemic lockdown just to beat the boredom when people were restricted due to COVID-19.
What started as boredom-busting now became a serious sport and a major achievement for the 23-year-old Lasdoce and 25-year-old Tabotabo, who both hail from Moalboal town in Cebu.
Lasdoce bagged a gold medal in Jiyu-waza men’s 19-Above Ninindori category. Then he teamed up with Tabotabo for the Jiyu Waza double category, where they ended up in second place.
The duo placed second overall in the ranking of the Aikido International Competition Euro-Asian competition held in Moscow, Russia, from May 29 to June 1, 2026.
“I was not expecting to win the competition since our Sensei told us to just seize the opportunity with the goal of just participating in it. So when we won, and it was announced, I was happy and proud that we brought pride and honor to our nation,” Tabotabo said in Cebuano during an online interview with SunStar Cebu.
“After the awarding ceremony, the Philippine National Anthem was played, and the Philippine flag was shown on the two monitors. That was the exact moment we felt so proud of ourselves because our national anthem was being played in front of everyone and in front of different nations. The Philippines was truly recognized,” Lasdoce stated.
While they started Aikido for fun, the duo quickly realized that the sport gave them the chance to travel internationally. Promised by their sensei or coach, Micheal Mccavish, the founder of the Philippine Aikido Association. Their international trips and competitions will be all-expense-paid trips. This became their motivation to train hard, as it is also their dream to travel without any financial hassle.
“We just started training during the lockdown when we were high school students to fill our free time, then our sensei told us about the opportunity to travel internationally without worrying about the expenses,” the champions shared in Cebuano.
Tabotabo is an upcoming fourth-year student in the Bachelor of Secondary Education major in Mathematics at the CTU-Consolacion campus, and Lasdoce is an upcoming third-year student in the Bachelor of Industrial Technology major in Automotive at CTU-Moalboal.
Looking ahead, Lasdoce and Tabotabo plan to keep training hard for upcoming competitions. Encouraged by their sensei their biggest ultimate goal is to fly to Japan and earn their very first black belts.
It'a another pandemic success story. From hobby to full-time success.
The Philippines and the World Bank have officially signed an $18.85-million grant agreement funded by the Pandemic Fund to boost the nation’s surveillance, laboratory networks, and early-warning defense systems against emerging human and animal diseases.
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| mb.com.ph/2026/06/05/philippines-signs-world-bank-grant-for-pandemic-preparedness-as-farm-project-earns-satisfactory-rating |
The Philippines and the World Bank have signed an $18.85-million grant agreement to strengthen the country’s defenses against future pandemics, while the Washington-based multilateral lender also commended the satisfactory implementation of an ongoing agriculture modernization project.
Documents showed that Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Frederick D. Go signed last Thursday, June 4, the agreement for the Pandemic Fund-Resilient Philippines Project on behalf of the Philippine government. The agreement was earlier signed last May 14 by World Bank division director for the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei Zafer Mustafaoğlu, acting on behalf of the World Bank Group’s (WBG) International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Development Association (IDA) as implementing entities of the Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness, and Response Trust Fund, also known as the Pandemic Fund.
Unlike a loan, a grant does not need to be repaid.
The $18.85-million financing will come from the Pandemic Fund, which was established in 2022 to help countries strengthen their preparedness against future disease outbreaks.
The project will be jointly implemented by the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Agriculture (DA), as well as the DA’s Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI). The grant-funded project is scheduled to run until end-March 2028.
The project aims to improve the Philippines’ capacity to detect, report, as well as respond to existing and emerging pathogens with epidemic potential among humans, animals, as well as wildlife.
Under the human health component, the project will strengthen disease surveillance and early-warning systems, establish a digital One Health dashboard, upgrade surveillance data systems, improve laboratory networks, expand access to diagnostic testing, support genomic surveillance, as well as enhance the pandemic-response workforce through training and database development.
The animal health component, meanwhile, will improve disease monitoring and digital surveillance infrastructure, upgrade animal diagnostic laboratories, strengthen genomic surveillance capabilities, as well as enhance testing and outbreak-response systems.
The project also includes funding for management, monitoring, evaluation, stakeholder engagement, as well as public-awareness activities to support implementation by both the DOH and the DA.
Manila Bulletin earlier reported that the World Bank approved the Pandemic Fund-Resilient Philippines Project last April 29 amid concerns that the country remains a global hotspot for emerging infectious and zoonotic diseases due to factors such as biodiversity loss, urbanization, wildlife trade, as well as recurring outbreaks including avian influenza and African swine fever (ASF).
The World Bank had noted that despite improvements in disease surveillance and emergency response systems, gaps remain in laboratory capacity, workforce readiness, diagnostics access, as well as the integration of surveillance systems needed to respond effectively to future health threats.
Meanwhile, the World Bank said in a separate June 4 implementation status and results report that the DA’s Philippine Rural Development Project Scale-up (PRDP-SU) continues to make satisfactory progress.
PRDP-SU aims to improve farmers’ and fisherfolk’s access to markets and increase incomes from selected agricultural and fisheries value chains through investments in infrastructure, enterprise development, as well as rural planning.
According to the World Bank, implementation momentum has strengthened following a recent midterm review, with continued progress in planning systems, infrastructure development, enterprise investments, and monitoring mechanisms.
The World Bank said implementation remains broadly on track despite challenges such as lengthy review and approval processes, procurement bottlenecks, varying capacities among local government units (LGUs) and farmer groups, as well as administrative delays.
The report noted that fund disbursements have accelerated, particularly for infrastructure investments, while project managers continue to focus on streamlining processes, strengthening coordination, and ensuring the timely completion of investments.
PRDP-SU is a $600-million investment project financing (IPF) approved by the World Bank back in 2023 and scheduled to run until end-June 2029.
To date, a total of $223.27 million, equivalent to 37.2 percent of the IPF, had already been disbursed.
By applying the hard-learned lessons of COVID-19, the funding will be used to build a more resilient defense network through the "Philippines Pandemic Preparedness and Response Trust Fund" or the "Pandemic Fund."
The graft trial of Duque and Lao over irregular purchases during the pandemic is about to begin.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2026/06/08/duque-lao-graft-trial-begins-over-alleged-irregular-transfer-of-41-b-doh-funds-for-covid-19-supplies |
The Sandiganbayan First Division on Monday, June 8, began the trial of former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Undersecretary Christopher Lao over graft charges stemming from the alleged irregular transfer of ₱41.46 billion in Department of Health (DOH) funds for the procurement of Covid-19 supplies and equipment.
The case involves the 2020 transfer of DOH funds to the Procurement Service of the DBM (PS-DBM) for the purchase of pandemic-related supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPEs) and Covid-19 test kits.
During the hearing, the prosecution informed the court that it would proceed with signing the pre-trial order (PTO), but with reservations due to unresolved issues.
The prosecution said it intended to file a second motion for reconsideration before signing the PTO, arguing that issues involving the delayed delivery and non-delivery of the procured items were excluded from the court's June 3 resolution despite being central to its case.
Sandiganbayan First Division Chairperson Associate Justice Maria Theresa Mendoza-Arcega allowed the prosecution to submit its motion in writing and said the defense may file its comment in response.
With the procedural matter addressed, the prosecution presented its witness, Assumption Ingrid Reyes, Director III of the Senate Legislative Records and Archives, who brought boxes of documents submitted by various government agencies to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Secretariat.
The prosecution said it has at least 60 witnesses lined up for the trial.
In May 2024, the Office of the Ombudsman found probable cause to charge Duque and Lao with graft over the alleged illegal transfer of ₱41.46 billion for the procurement of Covid-19 supplies and equipment in 2020.
The complaint stemmed from the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee's investigation into findings contained in the Commission on Audit's (COA) 2020 annual audit report.
Records showed that from March to December 2020, the DOH transferred a total of ₱41.46 billion to PS-DBM for the procurement of Covid-19-related supplies and equipment, including PPEs, RT-PCR test kits, automated nucleic acid extraction machines, mechanical ventilators, face shields, surgical masks, and cadaver bags.
However, COA noted that the fund transfers were made without the required memoranda of agreement and certificates of previous liquidation.
The Ombudsman also noted that the DOH paid PS-DBM a four-percent service fee amounting to ₱1.66 billion for the procurement of Covid-19 supplies despite having its own procurement organization capable of undertaking the purchases.
Finally! Justice is slow in the Philippines.
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