It wasn't just relief goods that Leo Diola and his friend Laurence Nodera brought to frontliners of two hospitals in Sto. Tomas and Tanuan in Batangas.
Dressed in Spider-Man suits, the two men also brought joy to their recipients, who were pleasantly surprised at their, erm, chosen OOTDs.
The YouScoopers gave out 25 kilos sack of rice and face mask holders for the frontliners from St. Cabrini Hospital in Sto. Tomas and the CP Reyes Hospital in Tanauan, Batangas.
Even before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threat, Leo has already been participating in outreach programs in children's hospitals wearing the same Spider-Man costume to give joy and donations to the kids.
On April 25th Spiderman showed up at a contrition site to hand out vegetables.
Photos tweeted by DZBB's Isa Avendaño-Umali showed yet another Pinoy dressed up as Spider-Man, distributing vegetables to construction workers stranded in Pasig City.
The friendly neighborhood hero showed that the back of his car was filled to the brim with bags of vegetables, and he even cheered up kids with his efforts.
The Black Panther showed up on April 7th but not to hand out food.
Not all superheroes wear capes—some are dressed in a Black Panther costume risking his life to get your milk cravings satisfied!
A food delivery biker was spotted clad in a Black Panther costume, which he wore as an alternative PPE as he continues working amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) threat.
YouScooper Aristotle was surprised when he saw his fellow food delivery biker lining up at a milk tea shop dressed in the superhero costume.
Very fitting for a big black cat to be delivering milk tea. Nurses have been given PPE designed after the Power Rangers uniforms but the White Ranger actually went shopping for groceries.
"It's sort of my way of thanking our true superheroes, our frontliners who daily sacrifice to provide for their daily necessities," said Carlo Angelo Garces, the man behind the costume.
Essential personnel like healthcare workers, grocery store employees, garbage collectors, and many others risk exposure to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) just to keep the world going.
Carlo said he wanted to tip his hat off to them, but he also wanted "to lighten the mood" by cosplaying during one of his supply runs.
He added that he also felt the extra protection with his whole body covered by the costume.
"You feel like you have PPE because aside from the face mask I was wearing inside, I still like the fact that I'm wearing Power Rangers, I'm still wearing a helmet," he said
Go, Go, shopping Rangers!
From a galaxy far, far away representatives of the Empire showed up to warn people to practice social distancing and stay inside their homes.
Three times a week, members of a local youth group don their homemade Star Wars outfits to do their rounds of Panghulo in the capital Manila to remind people to stay in their homes to help halt the contagion’s spread.
On one patrol, AFP saw Darth Vader striding into a silent courtyard followed by the white-armoured stormtroopers holding blaster rifles and scanning for anyone breaking the lockdown order that has confined the city’s 12 million people to their homes since mid-March.
Another mission saw them being rowed through the flooded streets on the lookout for those sneaking outside, dodging the electricity lines that sagged overhead.
Lord Vader finds your lack of social distancing disturbing. Seriously though how are these people allowed to break the quarantine and roam about? Just because of the costumes?
As the lockdown continues in full and in part across the nation crazy things continue to happen.
With street vendors forbidden from hawking their wares and people forbidden to drink and hang out outside their homes the balut industry is taking a hit.
In Pateros City, around 300 balut or fertilized duck eggs have hatched into ducklings in what could be a reminder of how long the enhanced community quarantine has been in effect.
Known for its balut and salted eggs, the city is feeling the impact of the lockdown that started on March 17, which has halted almost all economic activities as a way of containing the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Deo Reyes, who is in the balut business had to give away the ducklings and his stocks of around 15,000 eggs because of slow sales, according to Bam Alegre's Tuesday report on 24 Oras.
"Hundred percent. Wala talagang pinakinabangan the last two months. Lumaking sisiw, eh. Papunta na siya doon and then imbis na masayang, pinamigay namin sa mga taga-Pateros," Reyes said.
He said some of the eggs were given to health workers and other frontliners.
With a population of 70,000, the municipality of Pateros did not receive a large budget which can be used to give aid to balut makers as most had gone to relief goods for residents.
With no one to eat the duck embryos they have hatched into full ducklings. But what will healthcare workers do with the ducks? Where will they raise them?
Many small businesses like balut sellers might never come back due to new strict DOH protocols.
The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) on Wednesday said small and micro businesses may just close their operations altogether than comply with the strict health protocols against the COVID-19.
Interviewed on Dobol B sa News TV, ECOP chair Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said these businesses, which makes the 90% of enterprises in the country, do not have enough resources to continue their operations unlike large businesses.
“Yung mga medium saka large company, walang problema ‘yan, pero 'yung small at micro natin, malaking problema 'yan. Sa dami ng ihahanda mo, baka ayaw na lang magbukas ng mga yan,” he said.
According to ECOP, 90% of businesses in the country are micro and small enterprises, 8% are medium, and the remaining 2% are large.
Could the Philippines really see 90% of the economy vanish? Is the Philippines on the verge of an economic apocalypse?
Duterte has set aside more reward money. This time it's P20 million for any Pinoy who can develop a respirator.
President Duterte is offering a P20-million reward to any Filipino who develops respirators for patients infected with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), Malacañang announced yesterday.
The respirators should “outlast the lives of the patients,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said.
Duterte made the offer amid the global shortage of respirators and ventilators due to the high demand in treating patients severely infected with COVID-19, according to Roque.
Perhaps he means a ventilator? It should be an easy reward to claim since respirators were invented long ago. Ventilators too!
Deaths continue to mount from COVID-19. What to do with the bodies until they can be cremated?
The Quezon City (QC) government has created a “mobile morgue” to temporarily house bodies that are awaiting cremation.
According to a 24 Oras report by Saleema Refran on Tuesday, the Baesa Crematorium has cremated 140 bodies since March 24, including 13 which were confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.
Since COVID-19 hit QC, the local government noted that at least 10 families go to their one-stop-shop to process death certificates every day.
As deaths continue to mount due to the pandemic, QC has converted a 40-foot-tall refrigerated container van into a mobile morgue that can house 40 to 45 bodies.
The lockdown has not been kind at all tricycle and jeepney drivers. With a total ban on public transportation some of them have lost everything and have ended up living in their tricycles and jeepnies.
A tricycle driver and his family have resorted to living inside a tricycle after he lost his only source of income amid the enhanced community quarantine.
According to Bernadette Reyes' report for "24 Oras," the family could no longer afford to pay rent and opted to endure living in the cramped space. They eat inside the tricycle and cook on the streets.
Joel, the driver, collects cardboards wherever he could find them and sells it to junk shops just to feed his family every day.
Some netizens put up a Facebook group called "SuperTsuper" to facilitate donations for PUV drivers
In the jeep that a driver and his family live in after they couldn't pay rent and lost their home since all passenger car travel was stopped. They rely on passing motorists to cross the food daily. In this jeep they sleep and eat while on the side of the road they cook and do laundry.
That is really just awful. While there is a Facebook group to raise donations for these people who knows if they will get that money when the government is having a hard time distributing the SAP funds.
Could you take in an old homeless man? One family did. Turns out they were already homeless and living in a cart!
A homeless family took in a tired and hungry elderly man they met amid the enhanced community quarantine.
According to Bernadette Reyes' report for "24 Oras," Genesis Cunanan lives in a cart with his wife and child.
When the lockdown was imposed, they came across Lolo Gerry, who was already weak and starving.
"The man had his belongings, and then of course we were sorry because we were heavy, we rode," Genesis said.
"Blessing it, eh, share your blessings is not there so that's what I'm doing," he added.
This man living in a cart with his family is talking about sharing your blessings! Doesn't that make you feel like an unappreciative jerk?
Part of the new normal will be that the elderly and the young, those 20 and under and those 60 and over) will not be able to leave their houses even under a general quarantine. But there is something else that will be part of that new normal.
ECOP president Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said government’s rule of not allowing senior citizens or those aged 60 and above, as well as the young or 20 years old and below, to leave their homes during GCQ may lead to people losing their jobs.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said shopping malls that will reopen in areas under relaxed quarantine are required to set their air-conditioning units at higher thermostat to prevent crowding. “The general rule is unlike in the past when we go to the malls for recreation and leisure, they (mall owners) will keep the temperature rather warm at 26 (degrees Celsius) so that people will not be loitering in the malls,” Roque told ABS-CBN News Channel. ?Restrictions in areas with low to moderate risks will be downgraded from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to GCQ by May 1.
Warmer malls! The malls will be kept at a warm 26 C of 78 F to keep people from loitering.
Imagine you live way out in the middle of nowhere. You are going about your business when you hear a whirring sound growing louder and louder. It's a helicopter! Is it blasting Fortunate Son or Flight of the Valkyries as it drops face masks and leaflets all over the countryside and your remote village?
The Philippine Army dropped leaflets on coronavirus disease and facemasks in remote villages of the Agusan and Surigao provinces this week.
Major Francisco Garello, civil-military operations officer of the 402nd Infantry Brigade said they used a Philippine Air Force Huey helicopter and two MG-520 gunships to drop 10,000 leaflets and 200 facemasks on Wednesday and Thursday.
“This was part of our COVID-19 information awareness campaign to remote communities unreachable by vehicles,” Garello said.
He said the airdrop concentrated on the remote villages of the towns of Kitcharao, Jabonga and Tubay in Agusan del Norte, and the towns of Alegria and Gigaquit in Surigao del Norte.
He said they reached out to residents of these remote villages to urge them to observe the guidelines of the Department of Health on the virus.
How many of those 10,000 leaflets and 200 masks are littering the countryside?
Do you know what to do with your disposable face mask once it is finished being used?
The Solid Waste Management Association of the Philippines (SWAPP) asked the public on Wednesday to separate used masks in a yellow garbage bag to allow waste collectors to know that a medical waste is included in the household waste.
“I hope that households do not include (used) face masks in the municipal waste picked up by our garbage collectors,” SWAPP president Grace Sapuay said in an interview on DZBB.
Medical wastes, such as face masks and gloves, are being dumped with the household garbage, while garbage collectors unknowingly pick up the medical waste that further poses the risk of infection.
“We specifically call on all households who have members identified as persons under investigation or persons under monitoring (of COVID-19) to take extra precaution in handling their special wastes by initially disinfecting it with chlorine based solution prior to collection to prevent any further spread of the COVID-19 virus in the community,” the EMB said.
Practicing proper waste segregation is in accordance with the Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act 2000.
“Proper handling of household healthcare wastes, such as used face masks and gloves that are considered as special wastes will help stop the spread of COVID-19,” the EMB said.
How is the public supposed to separate medical waste (face masks) from their normal garbage when they don't segregate garbage now and too many practice open burning? RA 9003 is a joke and is hardly enforced or put into practice.
Some folks have not gotten their SAP money yet. One man will never get it.
Residents of Dumanjug, a southern town in Cebu, are being reminded to bring with them umbrellas or have someone accompany them when they run errands to avoid heatstroke this summer season.
This, after a 59-year-old man who was supposed to receive his social amelioration program (SAP) assistance, was unable to claim them after he died of heatstroke while walking home for lunch in Barangay Lawaan, Dumanjug, Cebu on May 1, 2020.
Police Major Ardioleto Cabagnot, chief of Dumanjug Police, said that the victim, Lolito Ferrer, from the same place, was found dead on a farm field about 300 meters away from Barangay Lawaan Hall at past 1 p.m. today.
Responding medical personnel Dr. Josefina Malana, declared Ferrer dead due to heatstroke.
It was found out that Ferrer might have been dead for hours before his body was found.
Cabagnot said that prior to the incident, Ferrer was lining up to get his SAP, but he decided to go home to eat lunch when his name was not yet called then.
Just how far did he have to walk to get home?
Truly COVID-19 is the great equalizer. All around the world rich and famous celebrities are hunkered down in their mansions just like us! Some of them even got the virus just like us! They also get bored and post quarantine selfies on Instagram just like us! They also have to go shopping for groceries and then disinfect when they return home just like us!
Alden is the household’s designated “runner”: He’s the one who goes out grocery shopping and takes care of utilities. As such, it’s crucial, he said, to take extra precaution, especially since he’s living with his grandparents. “I can’t risk their health and welfare,” he said. “I can’t let them get sick.”
“Upon returning home from the grocery, our Ate Virgie (house help) would be waiting for me in the garage, where I change clothes. I disinfect my exposed body parts, especially my arms, before entering the house through the backdoor,” he related. “Then, I go straight to my room and take a bath.”
One of the realizations Alden has had during this pandemic is that the virus has been an equalizer of sorts. “Regardless of who you are or what you have, when it comes to life and death… It has been an eye-opener for everyone. There’s a lot at stake. We have to be selfless,” he said. “What’s happening right now is something we can’t fully understand, and feels unfair, sometimes. But maybe there’s a reason for everything,” added Alden, who has been using his free time to “reestablish connections” with family and friends.
Wow! He's just like us!
One stressed out NYC-based OFW has been using her spare time to destress by manufacturing face masks.
A Filipina based in the United States, as a form of stress relief, started making face masks which she then donates to those in need.
Based in New York, Chona Villacorta started making face masks with prints that she donates to her friends and family, as well as her colleagues.
"We have so many reasons how we can help during this pandemic and you know... we can also pray for other people," she said in a report on GMA's 24 Oras Weekend" on Sunday.
Villacorta currently makes 15 masks in an hour and could do as much as 60 during the weekends. She has given these out to her colleagues, including her boss' family.
That's nice but will that fabric really protect anyone from contracting COVID-19 or any other virus?
The nationwide lockdowns have been hard on everyone even the Aetas. Some volunteers have taken it upon them to provide them with what they need.
Tarlac province, along with the rest of Luzon, has been under strict quarantine since March 17, as the government tries to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Locking down the population will starve the virus of hosts, saving thousands if not millions of Filipino lives. But it’s a big-picture approach that can have dire consequences for those living in the margins.
Thus, community workers like Arby (who asked to be identified only by his nickname for security reasons) are worried that hundreds of quarantined Aeta families in Capas might starve first as their income sources vanish and food becomes scarce.
Arby said he tries to make deliveries to over 250 families in Santa Juliana and Bueno every other week. But with the supply of goods running dry in Cristo Rey, Arby is urging donors to ship powdered milk directly to his house instead of cash.
“There are so many families to feed,” he said. “We focus on the children. But sometimes even the elderly approach us asking for food to eat. How can I say no?”
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Aetas of Capas made money as tour guides or traveled to towns such as Cristo Rey to sell kamote, ginger and banana heart harvested in their own lands.
Among the estimated 10 to 20 million indigenous peoples (IPs) scattered across the Philippines, the Aetas cope with poverty, lack of economic opportunities and discrimination.
Their isolation means they have no easy access to basic social services. In many cases around the country, IPs receive less priority when it comes to local government aid, private donors have told the Inquirer.
Like most of the poor, they are bearing the brunt of the lockdown.
Unlike Capas, the Aetas in Zambales are more isolated. Ammay said she worked hard to earn their trust.
“It was different before we came here in 2015. If someone was very ill, they just wait for the person to die if their herbal medicines are not effective,” she said. “Today, I can coordinate with the local government and they now allow us to treat their sick.”
“Tourism gets them out of the hunger zone. But the land has to produce something,” Dionisio said in an interview.
Before the lockdown, money generated from tourism helped pay the Aetas to plant fruit trees such as sampaloc, guyabano and jackfruit. These will later create a sustainable source of income.
How did the Aetas, who are indigenous people, survive for hundreds of years but now cannot do without tourism bucks?
Patrolman Christian Dabuco, currently assigned to the City Mobile Force Company (CMFC) of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) and a member of the PRO-7 dance troupe says he and his fellow police-dancers have come up with ways to migrate their thoughts from the challenges posed by COVID-19 like dancing with his colleagues during their free time.
“Amoa nalang gyud isayaw amoang kaguol aning virus (We just dance our sadness caused by this virus),” said Dabuco.
Then last May 1, Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of PRO-7, asked the dancers to come up with a dance presentation with a twist.
And the twist is: the dance steps should help remind the public about the rules of ECQ and proper hygiene.
The performance must then be filmed and uploaded in social media since social gatherings are still prohibited.
Dabuco said that his fellow dance troupe members were ecstatic about the idea of encouraging the public about following the ECQ rules and practicing proper hygiene through their dance.
And so on the evening of May 3, after the video was edited, it was immediately uploaded online.
Who knew the PNP had a dance troupe? Like busy bees these cops are dancing out an important message about proper hygiene. You can watch it on Facebook here.
The liquor ban is still in effect and people are getting mighty thirsty.
The customized hazmat design I decided to create symbolizes us, Filipinos!
* Blue- for Peace, harmony, and unity. As we are now on each other’s back, helping one another to survive.
* Red- for WAR! War against these unseen enemy - COVID19, Many of us, have succumbed to death, due to this fight.
* Yellow- for Resiliency, and hope. Hoping for these crisis to end (God Willing!)
* White- for Purity. As each Filipino has the pure heart to offer there service and compassion towards their fellowmen and country, the Philippines
Blue, red, yellow, white...it never occurred to me until right this instant as I am typing this that the Philippine flag is only a few colors shy of the Power Rangers scheme. Thankfully for Power Rangers fans who are also nurses the gap has been filled.
An Iloilo-based nurse and designer says his improvised hazmat suits out of characters from '90s shows aim to help his fellow frontliners live out their childhood and spread positivity to others amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Adrian Pe, a nurse from The Medical City Iloilo, used his passion to come up with improvised personal protective equipment (PPE) inspired by cartoon characters of Teletubbies and Power Rangers.
Using fabric in red, green, yellow, purple, and other colors, Pe's fellow frontliners get to "live out their childhood" by channeling their favorite characters.
"I chose the Teletubbies because it gives frontliners not only the protection but the positive vibe, and Power Rangers to inspire workers to live out their childhood superheroes," Pe said.
With nurses around the world being hailed as heroes why not give them a chance to dress up as their favorite superhero Power Ranger? While the Power Rangers PPE suits have belts the Teletubbies suits are missing their unique identifying antennae shapes. Anyone wishing to buy Iloilo-based nurse Adrian Pe a beer for designing those PPE's will be sorely disappointed. Although on April 21st Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas rescinded the city's liquor ban. However the next day he reinstated it!
In view of the various incidents due to intoxicated persons, in view of the many other important activities undertaken by our security personnel and upon the advice coming from various sectors, I am reimposing the ban on the selling of alcoholic drinks effective immediately until further notice.
The PNP and PSTMO are hereby authorized to immediately make sure that this ban is effectively complied with.
This is for immediate compliance as soon as the executive order is issued.
The nationwide liquor ban is driving some people to desperation ending in death.
Two men died while another is in critical condition after drinking a homemade alcohol mix that included thinner in Tondo, Manila.
According to a 24 Oras report by Chino Gaston on Monday, Baseco residents Rene, Boboy, and Dandy made their own alcohol at home using coffee, vinegar, and soft drinks as a liquor ban prevailed in Manila City amid the Luzon-wide quarantine.
They had been drinking the mixture for several days until one of them brought a paint thinner on Sunday and suggested adding it into the drink.
Coffee, vinegar, and soda? That won't get you drunk but it will probably make you puke just like too many beers.
If the government does not like what you are posting about the coronavirus lockdown in the Philippines then watch out! You could be arrested.
Before the arrest, the mayor threatened Beltran in his official Facebook Page (@EdgarCLabella): “FAKE NEWS ni and this is a criminal act. Hulat lang Ms Beltran hapit na ka madapan sa PNP Cybercrime Unit. Magtingkagol gyud ka sa prisohan. (This is FAKE NEWS and this is a criminal act. Just wait Ms Beltran the PNP Cybercrime Unit is now about to arrest you. You will surely rot in prison.”
Time-stamped at 2:14 PM on April 18, 2020, Saturday, it referred to an April 17 post of Beltran, wherein she said, “9,000+ new cases (All from Zapatera) of COVID-19 in Cebu City in one day. We are now the epicenter in the whole Solar System.”
Known for her satirical posts, “#DearDigong… Sincerely, Maria,” Beltran’s post satirized reports from the City Health Officer which claims that the whole Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz, Cebu City was considered to be infected and thus massive swab testing was to be stopped.
Sitio Zapatera has a population of around 9,000.
A statement issued by her counsel before her arrest and posted in Beltran’s Facebook account reiterated that Beltran’s post is satirical, “designed to show wit instead of spreading chaos, anarchy, fear, or confusion,” as such does not fall on the category of the crime she is accused of, which is defined as “clearly geared to promote chaos, anarchy, fear, or confusion.”
Atty. Josalee Deinla, spokesperson of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said that the post of Beltran is not fake news or false information.
“It merely restates the city health office’s official declaration that Sitio Zapatera is ‘presumed contaminated,’” she clarified.
The DOH declared a neighborhood with 9,000 residents as being infected as a precautionary measure. Maria seizes on this to make a joke that there has been an increase in COVID-19 cases by 9,000 making the Philippines the epicenter of the virus. The Mayor cries fake news and Maria was arrested at 12:30 am! Why so early? Was she that much of a threat that she had to be taken in just after midnight?
US President Donald Trump gave Duterte a late night call to talk about the coronavirus.
“The call came in at 10:10 in the evening. It was initiated by the US government. It lasted for about 18 minutes. It was cordial and it was about bilateral collaboration on Covid-19 but beyond that I have no authority to divulge any further details,” he said.
Actually 10 in the evening Manila time is 10 in the morning Washington DC time. Surprisingly Trump did not tweet about his early morning call to Duterte but he did send more aid to the Philippines.
The United States has approved an additional P269 million (or $5.3 million) in health and humanitarian assistance for the Philippines' fight against COVID-19, after the chief executives of both countries engaged in a phone meeting to discuss coronavirus response.
The funding will also aid Filipino and international technical experts in risk communication, infection prevention and control efforts, hand washing and hygiene promotion, and community-level preparedness response, it added.
During their phone conversation, Trump expressed solidarity and offered additional assistance, as the Philippines continues to address the health and economic damages brought by the deadly virus. He also shared his condolences over the death of 11 Filipino soldiers recently killed in a clash with the Abu Sayyaf Group.
Trump and Duterte also talked about how they can strengthen their countries' economic, cultural, and security ties.
The two leaders agreed to continue working together as long-time allies to "defeat the [coronavirus] pandemic, save lives, and restore global economic strength."
The U.S. previously donated ₱203 million (or $4 million) and 1,300 cots for the country's medical frontliners and COVID-19 patients.
Over the past 20 years, it has already invested more than $4.5 billion to the Philippines, including $582 million for the local public health system.
The coronavirus lockdown is bring out the best in people. Many are learning new skills. Things they have never tired before. Like cooking for themselves!!
Aside from forcing people to stay indoors since mid-March, the pandemic has also forced me to really fend for myself.
Though I’ve lived on my own for over a decade now, I saw no need to learn how to cook. Just around the corner from my old apartment near Timog Avenue, Quezon City, was a carinderia selling delicious home-cooked meals like pinangat na bangus and pork binagoongan. I’d order a viand, some rice, and eat at home.
If I had a craving for something more substantial, I could always walk the two blocks to Tomas Morato Avenue, the original restaurant row.
Before I moved into my own condo four years ago, I told my interior designer that I saw no need to have a kitchen installed. Why waste space that could otherwise be devoted to storage? Breakfast was often either oatmeal, or fruit and coffee. I had a rice cooker and a microwave oven, and I thought that would be enough.
Just imagine being a grown adult and not knowing how to cook. How are people so helpless?
The coronavirus pandemic has put a strain on hospitals but never fear if your son needs to be circumcised. Does anyone need to be circumcised?
Not even an outbreak could stop the traditional “circumcision season” in a town in Cavite province.
But this time, health workers in Carmona have gone to the communities not only to perform the procedure on young boys but also to check them and their immediate family members for symptoms of the coronavirus.
Homer Aguinaldo, the municipal health officer, said up to 40 doctors and 40 nurses had been recruited for the program called “Manhood on Wheels.”
Under normal circumstances, the local government would offer the free surgery to hundreds of preteen boys, either at the community hospital or the municipal auditorium.
“We actually thought of canceling it this year,” Aguinaldo said. “But we realized that we don’t know how it will be next year. We could still be in the same situation—the ‘new normal,’ they say—so we might as well go ahead with it.”
“Besides, we don’t want our [health] programs hampered [by the pandemic] as much as possible,” he added.
Since the Luzon lockdown has made mass circumcisions impossible, the medical team has decided to go village to village, rolling out a “health bus” or a mobile operating room where a fully reclined dental chair serves as an operating table.
Manhood on Wheels has so far circumcised about 200 boys in Carmona over the past two weeks out of this year’s target of 600.
Parents can schedule an appointment by calling the local health office or registering online.
For this year’s service, the health workers are taking extra measures in view of the coronavirus contagion. In effect, the program is doubling as the local government’s way of closely monitoring the residents’ overall health condition amid the pandemic.
The program again comes with an educational campaign advising young boys and their parents against the unhygienic, so-called “pukpok” method performed by nonmedical professionals who use a razor or any sharp blade to remove the foreskin.
Since a newly circumsized boy usually takes seven to 10 days to heal, Aguinaldo said, “it gives (these youngsters) another reason to stay home” while the lockdown remains in effect.
As a tribute to her fellow COVID-19 frontliners as well as to the victims of the disease, a nurse in Negros Occidental created a beautiful painting using nothing but syringes.
According to Kimberly Joy Mallo Magbanua, she used about 15 syringes "and a lot of brand new needles with different gauges" to finish her painting in just two days. She calls it "Inang Bayan."
The painting is the second of a series on COVID-19. She says she's reworking the first, which features surgeons operating on the Philippine flag. When asked how many paintings she plans to paint for her series, Kimberly said it depends on the country's situation.
That is really interesting. She made a painting without a single brush stroke. It's very colorful and looks dynamic and alive. What a cool technique.
If you want to hand out relief goods to those locked in during the quarantine be sure you have permission from the government.
Both the Department of Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police stressed Sunday that penalties could be imposed on relief volunteers found without the necessary certification from the local government units they intend to help.
According to DILG Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, department spokesperson, relief volunteers will be subjected to the same rules and treatment as Unauthorized Persons Outside of Residence (UPOR) and charged with Article 151 of the Revised Penal Code, which prohibits resistance and disobedience to a person in authority or the agents of such person.
Malaya said that the DILG does not foresee any disputes between LGUs and volunteer groups arising from the new requirement.
"It's a measure to ensure that only authorized people are outside of residence. The PNP has reported to us that so many people are claiming in checkpoints that they're doing relief but the truth is they just want to go out and about. Our police sought guidance from [Interior] Secretary Eduardo Año and he gave that directive," Malaya said.
"If we don't put order to this situation we are undoing all our hard work for the past month. We need to be stricter in implementing the ECQ...because our very lives are at stake."
In a statement issued later Sunday, fishers federation Pamalakaya slammed the new requirement, calling it a violation of the people's right to food.
Former lawmaker and Pamalakaya chairperson Fernando Hicap also said that such a requirement would be vulnerable to politicking in a time when target beneficiaries grow critical of local officials.
"There are so many people asking for help even on social media because they were not given aid from the government's social amelioration program, and now, they'll restrict what should be the help that citizens give freely to those in need," Hicap said in a mix of English and Filipino.
The fishers leader also pointed out that such an order violated the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), which the Philippines is a signatory of.
"Never can you subject to complicated bureaucratic processes the people's right to food, especially when it is the intention of many to help. The people are showing each other "bayanihan", yet the government keeps obstructing this," he said.
People want to help out and make sure everyone has food but the government wants to stop the virus from spreading. It's a tricky situation.
One town has found a novel way to distribute food to the people. Give live hogs to every purok and let the neighborhood leaders slaughter and distribute the meat!
The city government here distributed over the weekend at least 1,000 live hogs to augment the food supplies of residents affected by the ongoing enhanced community quarantine.
“We directly turned over the animals to our purok leaders and we tasked them to facilitate the slaughter and distribution of the meat to households within their areas,” he told reporters.
The mayor said the hogs, which weighed around 200 kilos each, were purchased by the city government from local swine producers that were affected by the border closures in neighboring regions due to the heightened quarantine.
Aside from the live hogs, Rivera said they distributed starting last Friday assorted fish and live chickens to the non-pork eaters.
He said they opted for the perishable products due to the dwindling supplies in the markets of canned goods, which were included in the previous relief packs.
Fresh meat for the people straight from the government. Fresh animals anyway. The government was also kind enough to distribute chickens and fish to those who do not eat pork.
Two towns in Samar are having people trade plastic trash for food.
In Arteche, a third-class town in Eastern Samar, the local government unit has been implementing 3Ts or tirok (collect), timbang (weigh), tabang (help).
Residents are encouraged to collect and clean single-use plastics such as junk food packs, plastic bags, and empty sachets and keep it in a clean bag or sack.
Residents must clean the single-use plastic before they have it weighed by the designated collector -- a rolling store that roams around the town every Thursday.
The number of food packs depends on the volume of plastic waste collected. Each kilogram of clean and dry single-use plastic is worth PHP10.
In the second-class town of Paranas, Samar, Mayor Eunice Babalcon has been urging residents to collect plastic and turn them into eco-bricks.
An eco-brick is a Pet bottle packed solid with clean and dry used plastic made to a set density to create reusable building blocks and can be used to make modular units, furniture, and earthen gardens and structures.
The local government exchanges the eco-bricks with food packs.
Babalcon said it is part of their health crisis intervention and at the same time an effort of the town to continue its campaign to curb malnutrition.
A kilogram of eco-bricks is equivalent to the same weight of rice and assorted vegetables.
That's one way to promote recycling.
Cops are dancing. Firefighters are dancing. Everyone is dancing!
Police officers, firefighters and members of the public safety department in Calapan City dance to Rachel Platten's "Fight Song" in a moving tribute to frontliners.
