More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
The pandemic is on the wane but La Union has opened its first face mask manufacturing facility.
A locally-made surgical face mask that speaks of safety and durability is ready to expand its market reach with the help of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Region 1.
DOST Region 1 Director Armando Q. Ganal said Thursday the agency takes pride in having assisted a local businessman from Agoo town in La Union province in realizing an innovative start-up project and become the first mass manufacturer of surgical face masks in Northern Luzon.
Produced by ModulHaus Incorporated owned by Richard S. Chan, the pioneering face mask production facility in Northern Luzon features a box of 500 individually wrapped face masks for every user’s protection from being infected with virus.
At present, some government agencies in the region have started using the locally-produced face mask. With a PHP5-million aid under the DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SETUP), Ganal shared his excitement on Thursday saying the power of science and technology is indeed changing the lives of the people.
The establishment of the face mask production facility is already the second phase of SETUP aid to ModulHaus Inc. since 2016 when it first acquired an automated panel saw machine for a precise and speedy cutting process of boards used in the production of modular products such as kitchen, wardrobe and pantry cabinets, restaurant and console tables, bathroom and vanity fixtures, and other architectural and interior office features.
With the prolonged pandemic, the company saw an opportunity to start another line of business which is the mass production of surgical face mask to address the shortage of surgical masks in the region and ensure its availability in the market at a lower cost.
It's kind of late to be making pandemic products but who knows if the government will clamp down. In Europe despite people being vaccinated they are experiencing another wave of infections.
Speaking of vaccinations, only .1% of those vaccinated experienced adverse effects.
There were only 76,837 reported adverse events following immunization, or 0.1% of the over 75 million COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the Philippines, the country’s drug regulator said Thursday.
A total of 75,600,808 doses have been administered as of November 21.
“The majority of [the suspected adverse events] are very mild,” Food and Drug Administration Eric Domingo said in a briefing.
Only 3,874 or 0.005% were reported as serious events.
Wow. Only .1% of those vaccinated reported serous events. But did you know, as of now, only 47,875 people or .04% of the population have actually died from the allegedly deadly COVID-19? It's funny that the news does not harp on that number.
Naga is enticing people with prizes in exchange for getting injected with the experimental mRNA vaccine of which the long term effects are not known.
The list of local governments in Cebu giving away cash prizes for individuals jabbed with COVID-19 vaccines continues to grow.
In order to beef up its COVID immunization coverage rate, the City of Naga here on Thursday, November 25, 2021, announced that they will be giving financial incentives for newly vaccinated individuals.
They will be raffling-off cash prizes in three rounds, with a grand draw slated this December in which winners have the chance to win up to P100,000 in cash.
Vaccination cards will serve as basis or entry in the raffle draw, portions of the city government’s advisory stated.
However, all employees of the city government will not be allowed to participate.
The first round of draw will be conducted from November 29 to December 1, coinciding the days of the National Vaccination Days.
Winners of this raffle draw will receive P10,000 for the 1st prize; P5,000 for the 2nd prize; and P3,000 for the 3rd prize. Consolation winners will also be granted with P1,000 each.
Another draw will also be conducted for those who were vaccinated between December 2 to December 30 in which 1st prize winner will be rewarded with P5,000; P3,000 for 2nd prize; and P2,000 for the 3rd prize.
Consolation winners can each get P500 of cash incentives.
For the grand draw, which will be held on December 31, residents in Naga City who got jabbed between February 2021 to December 2021 are eligible to participate.
1st prize winner can get P100,000, P50,000 for the 2nd prize; and P25,000 for the 3rd prize. Consolation winners will also get P3,000 each.
Good luck. Both with the raffle and with any future side effects from the experimental mRNA vaccine.
If you've seen the pictures of students back in school you surely noticed the large barriers erected around their desks. Some schools are getting rid of these barriers.
Some schools participating in the limited implementation of face-to-face classes would no longer use plastic barriers as these could do more harm than good.
The Department of Education said it has provided an advisory on the use of plastic barriers in classrooms, citing studies by experts that plastic barriers could impede air flow.
"One of the inputs from the DOH is there are also findings that putting up these barriers sometimes it impedes air circulation, and second it also increases surface area that may be contaminated, increases the surface area for disinfection," Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan said on ANC's Headstart.
"These have already been provided to the ground I think some of them have been dismantling this as part of precaution," he said on Friday.
The whole plastic barrier thing was stupid from the get-go and these tings are still in place in supermarkets and other business. They don't stop the spread of the virus. They just make transacting business burdensome.
Slowly but surely vaccination is becoming mandatory despite there being no law to that effect.
Iligan City Mayor Celso G. Regencia has required that all commuters taking public utility vehicles (PUVs) in the city should be vaccinated against Covid-19.
This is contained in Executive Order No. 291, series of 2021, to implement the Department of Health (DOH)- Center for Health Development directive setting a vaccination target towards herd immunity.
“The riding public, or all commuters taking the public utility vehicles such as, but not limited to jeepneys and buses, tricycle, habal-habal, among others, shall not be allowed to board the vehicle without vaccination card of at least one dose, or the presentation of a negative RT-PCR test,” Regencia said.
He said operators of PUVs shall be responsible in informing the drivers and conductors of the restrictions, who shall in turn ensure compliance among passengers during travel.
All the drivers, conductors, and general operators of PUVs as well as public vendors shall also be vaccinated.
“All individuals having any business, transacting, or making queries with any local government office or facility shall only be allowed to do so upon vaccination of at least one dose, or the presentation of a negative RT-PCR test,” the mayor said.
He also encouraged all private businesses to allow clients’ entry in their premises only upon presentation of vaccination card of at least one dose or of a negative RT-PCR test result.
This has been challenged in court and the city lawyer claimed the EO was just a memo and there was no vaccination requirement.
Caocao Badelles, however, as narrated by Zaragoza, told the court that “there is no mandatory provision” in the said EO as a “memo” on the said matter said only to “prioritize” those who have vaccine cards.
https://mindanaogoldstardaily.com/iligan-legal-officer-vax-cards-not-mandatory/
However that is clearly not the case if you read the EO which even has signs which should be posted telling people no vaccine card or negative RT-PCR test then no transaction.
See on the top where it reads: "Vaccination as a prerequisite to some privileges." In the City of Narvacan, Illocos Sur residents have been told to get vaccinated or face restrictions like not being able to leave your barangay.
League of Municipalities of the Philippines President and Narvacan, Ilocos Sur Mayor Luis "Chavit" Singson on Saturday warned his unvaccinated constituents that they would be restricted in or prevented from entering town if they do not get inoculated against COVID-19.
(For those who are hiding, we tell them they could no longer enter the town or they will be prohibited from leaving their barangays if they don't want to get vaccinated. These are our counter-responses to those who do not believe in vaccines.)
That is not only ridiculous but illegal as well but that will be for the courts to decide.
What's happening here is that people are being forced to choose between getting a free vaccine and paying out of their own pocket for regular RT-PCR testing. Who can afford that? No one which is why this is basically making the vaccine mandatory especially as a condition of employment.
Starting Dec. 1, the “no work, no pay” rule may be applied to unvaccinated employees who are required to work on-site but refuse to undergo mandatory regular testing for COVID-19, according to a labor official.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), through Resolutions No. 148 and No. 149 dated Nov. 12 and Nov. 18, respectively, has ordered all establishments and employers to require their employees who must report in person to be vaccinated.
By Dec. 1, the IATF said, all unvaccinated workers must undergo RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) testing at their own expense regularly or at least once every two weeks, to be able to work on-site. A rapid antigen test may be used when RT-PCR capacity is “insufficient or not immediately available.”
“Those who do not want to be vaccinated but have to report on-site can report, but they have to be tested at their own expense,” Labor Assistant Secretary Teresita Cucueco said in an online briefing on Monday.
According to her, the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) will no longer issue a labor advisory on the IATF policy.
Cucueco said the “no work, no pay” rule may be applied to on-site workers who refuse to be vaccinated and do not present a negative RT-PCR test.
“The worker may work from home if there is a work-from-home arrangement. But if there’s none and the worker is really needed on-site, the worker can work but should undergo testing. Now if they still refuse that, any remaining leaves may apply. If there are no more leaves, they would have to go to ‘no work, no pay,’” she added.
"No work, no pay" basically means you are fired. Oddly enough the DOLE says employers cannot fire unvaccinated employees. This order is being challenged various labor groups.
LOCAL labor groups and even business leaders cried foul over the proposed “no work, no pay” policy that the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) plans to implement for unvaccinated employees starting December 1, 2021.
A representative of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) claims that the policy is a form of punishment and discrimination for employees who have not gotten vaccinated against the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Alan Tanjusay, TUCP national spokesperson, said the national government should provide incentives to their employees in order to convince them to get vaccinated such as giving them paid leaves, financial bonuses, rice allowance, or simply providing shuttle services going to vaccination sites.
The Federation of Free Workers also questioned the legality of the policy since it contradicts Section 12 of RA 11525 which bars the use of vaccine cards as a requirement for educational, employment and other similar government purposes.
The labor groups also urged employers not to wait for any directive from the government in giving incentives since this is for the welfare of their workforce.
On the management side, an official of the Filipino Cebuano Business Club (FilCeb) said that although they are for the vaccination of employees, implementing a “no work, no pay” rule for unvaccinated workers is a “counterproductive” move.
FilCeb chairman Rey Calooy said human resource (HR) personnel for various firms should offer incentives to workers or proper counseling to persuade them to get vaccinated.
What good are vaccines anyway when they do not actually immunize anyone, their effective wanes, and new variants are proving to be resistant to the vaccines? The omicron variant is threatening to turn the whole world upside down again. Filipinos just might have to wear face shields again.
The government is eyeing the possible return of face shield use in the country amid the threat of the Omicron coronavirus variant.
During The Virtual Presser on Sunday, National Task Force Against COVID-19 chief implementer and vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez was asked about the possibility of reimplementing the face shield use policy amid the threat of the Omicron variant.
“We will look at the possibility. ‘Yan nga inaano ni Secretary [Francisco] Duque. He is pro na maibalik ‘yung any protections na pwede natin gamitin,” Galvez said.
(Secretary Duque favors the return of protections that could be used)
(Some people from WHO believed that we got a good result amid the Delta variant surge compared to other countries because of the added
Which people from the WHO believe face shields had any positive effect in the Philippines?
While the world is reeling from the discovery of the Omicron variant one Filipino who claims to be the Owner of the Universe and the Appointed Son of God says it was sent because the USA filed human trafficking charges against him.
Kingdom of Jesus Christ founder Pastor Apollo Quiboloy on Sunday warned the public to stop "persecuting, prosecuting and maligning" him, or suffer more from the pandemic.
In an address to his followers livestreamed on his YouTube channel, Quiboloy said the Omicron COVID-19 variant is the result of how he is being treated.
"I told you, I'm telling you the truth, the day of the Lord is here. Do not ever ever play a joke or continue to pursue the prosecution of the appointed son because the father in heaven has already declared through the appointed son, no one can escape this," he declared.
"The way you treated the appointed son here, is the way this world is going to receive its judgment," he added.
"The Delta virus variant of COVID-19 is only an introduction. If you keep on hurting, persecuting, and harming the Appointed Son and the Kingdom, you will see much worse than the Omicron variant," his post said.
He said the pandemic will only stop if he is freed from his charges.
"You want this to stop? Stop persecuting, prosecuting, maligning and falsely accusing the appointed son," Quiboloy said.
"If you continue that, the world will suffer... The Delta virus variant of COVID-19 is only an introduction. If you keep on hurting, persecuting, and harming the appointed son and the kingdom, you will see much worse than the Omicron variant," he added.
Absolutely stupid. No more need be said.
Everything about the pandemic is stupid. There is no national law mandating vaccination but the DILG says LGUs can legally proclaim such a mandate.
Local government units (LGUs) have the authority to impose mandatory inoculation against Covid-19 and eliminate hesitancy and brand preference.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said local chief executives have autonomous power based on Section 16 of the Local Government Code.
That is, to issue executive orders and ordinances.
“So while we cannot really impose mandatory laws because we don’t have laws, national law, but at least through Section 16 of the Local Government Code, a local chief executive can issue executive order or ordinances that will protect his constituents. That is considered legal unless stopped by the court,” Año told President Rodrigo Duterte during the meeting with the National Task Force Against Covid-19 and medical experts in Malacañang on Monday night.
He then exhorted the public to get their Covid-19 jabs while the vaccines are free “and they can go to any vaccination site and that is for their own good’’.
“Pagka magkasakit po ‘yung tao ng Covid, hindi niyan pinipili mayaman o mahirap, pero two million po ‘yan kapag critical or severe. Iyan po ang billing niya (Covid chooses no one, rich or poor. Critical or severe treatment will cost you about PHP2 million),” Año stressed.
“Let them feel the pressure, the hardship, the difficulty, and then they will be willing to be vaccinated. Many of the hesitancy are actually based on fake news and reading materials that are not true.”
"Let them feel the pressure, the hardship, the difficulty, and then they will be willing to be vaccinated." No, then they would be doing it under constraint and against their will. With vaccines not actually protecting anyone from getting infected and with the new Omicron variant and other mutations vaccines are worthless. The death rate is not even high enough to warrant a mandate as it stands at .04% of the population! But nevertheless this is the plan the Duterte administration is eager to move forward with.
Earlier, Duterte had met with the National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) to discuss the emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
“I may agree with the task force if they decide to make it mandatory. It’s for public health. Now, if you refuse, don’t go out,” Duterte said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino, in his taped weekly briefing, “Talk to the People.”
Duterte said that some countries had already been made COVID-19 vaccination mandatory.
“But here the human rights [advocates] are making noise,” Duterte said.
He threatened to tap the police to “compel obedience” if the Omicron variant should turn out to be more dangerous than the present variants of COVID-19.
On the other hand, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said that, instead of making vaccination mandatory, the government should put some pressure on the unvaccinated.
“We won’t make it mandatory, but at least, we’ll make it harder for them to live while there’s a pandemic. It’s because of mutations — if we can’t achieve herd immunity,” Año said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino.
Even Sec. Lorenzana says the vaccine should be mandatory.
Vaccination against coronavirus should be made mandatory, the chairman of the National Task Force Against COVID-19 said Wednesday as the country wrapped up its 3-day inoculation drive.
Disincentives could encourage the public to get immunized, said NTF chairman and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
"Yes, it should be mandatory. Everyone should contribute to the health of the community. Those unvaccinated are vulnerable of getting the virus and getting seriously sick. They not only burden the state by their hospitalization but will also spread the virus around," he said.
"Mahirap kung walang batas (It's hard without a law). However, we can impose restrictions to unvaccinated people."
Lorenzana said unvaccinated individuals could be barred from public places "unless they have an RT-PCR [test] taken not more than 72 hours," while workers must undergo a confirmatory swab test "every week at their expense to be able to go to work."
"It's hard without a law." Seems that is not the case at all especially with LGUs being able to impose mandatory vaccination all on their own.
