More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Health workers have been clamoring for their backpay for years. Now the DOH says the money will be fully paid by 2026.
It may take the Department of Health (DOH) three years, or until 2026, to pay in full its past-due obligations amounting to P62.9 billion to all eligible health-care workers who served during the COVID-19 pandemic, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on Tuesday told lawmakers.
Asked by Sen. Risa Hontiveros during his confirmation hearing in Congress about the projected timeline for the full release of the pending health emergency allowances (HEAs), Herbosa said it could take three years, “or shorter, hopefully.”
Last month, the DOH said the estimated arrears covered the period from July 1, 2021, to July 20 this year.
The allowances for eligible health workers are provided under Republic Act No. 11712, or the Public Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act, which was enacted on April 27, 2022.
Under the law, healthcare workers are entitled to HEAs for every month of service while the country is under a state of public health emergency. It sets an allowance of P3,000 for those deployed in low-risk areas, P6,000 for those in medium-risk areas and P9,000 for those in high-risk areas.
Since 2021, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said it has released a total of P64.17 billion to cover the payment of some 4.36 million COVID-19 allowances and compensation claims of eligible health workers.
Herbosa maintained that the DOH had consistently sought funding from the budget department for the unpaid HEAs.
“Is it possible that the timetable will be shortened? Because you said at the latest, within three years. At the earliest, what can the department do?” Hontiveros asked Herbosa, who was confirmed at the hearing as the country’s health chief.
Citing the DBM, Herbosa responded that the unprogrammed funds could be released by the DBM as long as the country’s tax collection improves.
“The [DBM] said that the collection rate was low in 2021 and 2022, and that’s the reason they can’t disburse all the funds,” Herbosa noted. “But if our growth rate is high, I think there will be money to actually release it earlier.”
According to Herbosa, the remaining arrears for COVID-19 benefits from 2021 to 2023 covered about two million remaining health-care workers who have yet to receive their mandated HEAs in full.
About eight million eligible healthcare workers had already claimed their allowances, he said.
That is two years of back pay! It will be a miracle if it is paid at all.
More tourists from Thailand are visiting the Philippines post-pandemic.
A Thai official said that more tourists will arrive in the Philippines, especially after the Department of Tourism’s “Love the Philippines” campaign.
“With the “LOVE the Philippines” campaign, we foresee that more Thai tourists, particularly those beach and diving lovers, will be traveling to the Philippines,” Thailand ambassador to the Philippines Tull Traisorat said.
Traisorat made the statement on the National Day of the Kingdom of Thailand on December 5, which also coincides with the birth anniversary of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the ninth king of Thailand, and the Thai Fathers’ Day.
The official also observed that the number of Filipino tourists and the number of Thai tourists visiting each other’s countries have been high in comparison to pre-pandemic years.
“The number of Filipino tourists travelling to “Amazing Thailand” has been consistently high while the number of Thai tourists coming to the Philippines has been doubled from the pre-COVID level,” Traisorat added.
But the number of Filipino tourists traveling to Thailand has remained steady.
The COVD-19 pandemic messed up everything. Here is another one of those things, programs for evaluation of effective governance.
The House of Representatives is committed to pursuing program and project monitoring and evaluation as an aspect of governance, and to helping achieve the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly in reducing poverty, House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said Thursday.
He made the assurance in a speech keynoting the 4th Asia-Pacific Evaluation Association (APEA) Conference Parliament Day in Congress.
“The House leadership is fully committed to the aspirations of the 4th APEA Conference to institutionalize evidence-based decision-making for national development and the SDGs,” Romualdez told the participants of the conference’s Parliament Day.
He pointed out that the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, under the leadership of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., for the first time includes the enactment of a National Evaluation Policy (NEP) as a priority.
“This policy is a testament to our commitment to improving governance quality and promoting efficiency in our bureaucratic processes,” he said.
He informed the conference that the House has proposed to include NEP as a “key legislative measure” to be prioritized by the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
“The enactment of this policy will strengthen our legal and institutional framework for conducting regular evaluations of government interventions, fostering a culture of evaluation in the public sector,” Romualdez said.
The strategy is in line with the country’s international commitments to the United Nations on strengthening national evaluation capacity, serving as a key strategy to achieve the SDGs, he added.
“Effective monitoring and evaluation are at the heart of good governance. They allow us to gauge the impact of our policies, learn from our successes and failures, and make informed decisions. In the Philippines, we are integrating monitoring and evaluation into our governance processes, ensuring that our interventions are not just well-intentioned but well-informed and effective,” he stressed.
On attaining the SDGs, Romualdez said the 2030 deadline is a challenge for parliamentarians to “act swiftly and strategically” despite the fiscal constraints shadowing many nations, including the Philippines.
He noted that the 2023 United Nations SDG Report paints a sobering picture of the global community grappling with poverty, hunger, and climate change.
He said the Covid-19 pandemic, in tandem with ongoing armed conflicts and climate crises, has not only stalled but in many cases reversed progress.
“As we witness learning losses, rising poverty, and growing inequality, it is a clarion call to reinvigorate our efforts,” he said.
Imagine that. The lockdowns stalled and reversed progress in evaluating government corruption! Who would have thought?
The pandemic screwed up education around the world including the Philippines. What will save the children? More money of course!
If the government were as serious in dealing with the current education crisis as it was in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of children would have been helped in improving their learning proficiencies, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said on Wednesday as he called for support in pouring financial resources into the education sector.
Speaking during the Department of Education’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) forum, the senator said there is a need for the government to bankroll the sector’s learning recovery efforts amid worsening literacy and numeracy rates among schoolchildren.
“We are facing an education crisis. When the pandemic hit, we poured funds so we could leave the situation as quickly as possible. If we don’t pour resources towards learning recovery, our rise from being inundated in this education crisis will be excruciatingly slow,” Gatchalian said in Filipino.
Aside from the dismal performance of the Philippines in the 2022 PISA, the assessment also highlighted the difference in investments poured by each country toward education.
There are schools with no or poor classrooms and they think funneling more money to the DepEd will solve the crisis. Hint: it won't!
There is a new documentary about how Fil-ams in Texas experienced the pandemic.
The COVID-19 lockdown era was, in some ways, defined by isolation but also by the power of community – particularly with the rise of racial justice protests after the 2020 police killing of George Floyd.
Austin-based filmmaker PJ Raval weaves in both themes as examines the most turbulent issues of the era through the self-documented stories of three young Filipinas in “Who We Become.”
Raval spoke with the Standard about why he made the film and what he hopes audiences will take away.
“Who We Become” is currently streaming on Netflix.
Texas Standard: I understand directing this film gave you some hope during a very trying time. Can you talk about that a bit?
PJ Raval: I think we’re living in such turbulent, unprecedented times. There’s a lot of division and a lot of divisiveness. And I think that certainly is reflected also at home for some people.
And I think in this film, we see three individuals equally passionate about what they believe in and what they think. I’ve been calling it a little bit of a coming-of-age documentary because we really do witness them kind of coming into their own. And they’re not afraid to share this with their families, even though they know that their families may hold different opinions and different perspectives.
So, in a lot of ways, I’m hoping that it will inspire people to do the same.
For a lot of people, I think 2020 seems so long ago in some ways. But the film’s release still resonates. What were you trying to communicate here?
Sadly, there has been a lot that’s changed and not changed, right? We’re coming up against an election soon. You know, there’s still the COVID, you know, the virus is still out there. And sadly, there will be a continuation of violence against communities of color despite the changing times.
And so these are things that even though the film is covering them starting in 2020, these things kind of remain. And I think by watching the film, I think what people will realize is what it takes to change these things truly are the community participating and binding together, right? And trying to figure out a way to have a sense of allyship and solidarity amongst each other and recognize that we’re all hopefully working towards the same good.
Sounds interesting. No doubt they experienced the pandemic differently than actual Filipinos.
More fear mongering as the OCTA says COVID positivity rate could ballon to 15%.
OCTA Research confirmed Wednesday an increase in COVID-19 infections in Metro Manila, with positivity rate at 10 percent compared to 7 percent the previous week.
OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said the positivity rate is similar to previous surges of COVID-19 infections "except Omicron when the surge was really high."
"Nakakapagtaka pero hindi naman siguro nakakagulat," he said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview, noting the increase in flu-like illnesses in the country.
He also pointed out that the increase in COVID-19 cases is despite the lack of COVID-19 testing centers. "'Yung COVID-19 cases natin most likely underreported...Most likely 10 times 'yung bilang," he said.
He also warned the positivity rate could go as high as 15 percent in the coming months. "Hindi pa ito todo, tataas pa ito...Huwag naman sana siya umabot ng 20 percent," he said.
Oh and it could go even as high as 20%!! What is 20% of the population? 22,000,000!!! Ridiculous. Right now there are way less infections than that. But of course they have to resort to the "underreported" which is pure speculation.
Quezon City is on red alert as COVID-19 cases rise. The Christmas season is being blamed. Also chilly weather is being blamed. Chilly weather in the Philippines!!
The Quezon City government yesterday urged citizens to practice precautionary measures amid the rising number of COVID cases.
In an advisory, the local government said it has raised the “red status alert” in its COVID-19 early warning system.
This was after it reported an average of 27 new cases per day from Dec. 4 to 7, up 57.9 percent the previous week.
The average positivity rate based on tests conducted is at 14.55 percent, while the average daily attack rate is at .85 per 100,000 people.
While the actual number of cases remains low, the city said the red status was raised due to the growth rate of more than 50 percent and the average positivity rate of more than five percent.
In June 2022, the QC Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (QCESU) devised an early warning system to monitor cases, analyze trends and recommend necessary measures to prevent an outbreak.
QCESU chief Dr. Rolando Cruz attributed the rise in cases to get-togethers and parties this Christmas season and the relaxed COVID restrictions such as wearing of masks.
“We have seen in the past years during the height of the pandemic that holiday seasons really attract more cases. Since the chilly weather can also affect the immunity of our people, we would like to remind our QCitizens to remain vigilant especially for COVID-like symptoms such as cough, colds and fever,” he said.
Mayor Joy Belmonte also urged residents to implement personal precautionary measures such as wearing of masks in public and staying indoors when experiencing symptoms.
“These are basic precautionary measures that we have been doing for the past years. It is important that we continue implementing this for our safety especially now that cases are rising,” she added.
As of Dec. 7, there are 186 active COVID-19 cases recorded in Quezon City.
186 cases as of December 7th and they are on Red alert! When will the madness end?
Probably not any time soon as COVID-19 cases are up 36% this week nationwide.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said it recorded 1,821 new COVID-19 infections from December 5 to 11, surpassing the number of cases reported in the preceding week.
The latest count of fresh infections, based on the newest weekly tally of DOH, would mean a daily average of 260 cases, which is 36 percent higher than the rate logged last week. November 28 to December 4 had a daily average of 191 cases, as 1,340 new infections were recorded during the period.
The DOH report indicated that 13 of the new coronavirus cases were tagged as critical or severe, as 228 critical or severe patients are currently admitted to hospitals.
COVID-19 deaths also increased by 13 more, according to the agency, with the total count reaching 66,779 since the coronavirus struck in 2020.
Thankfully the Philippine General Hospital has released COVID-19 safety guidelines.
The Philippine General Hospital’s (PGH) Hospital Infection Control Unit (HICU) released a comprehensive guide to address frequently asked questions (FAQs) related to managing Covid-19 cases during the holiday season.
PGH announced the “mandatory masking” protocols within the hospital premises in a Facebook post on Dec. 10, following a significant rise in Covid-19 cases during the previous week.
“The HICU will once again require all patients, relatives, staff, and trainees to wear at least a surgical mask at all times when inside any area of the hospital: both indoors and outdoors, inside offices, conference rooms, and clinical areas,” it said.
It emphasized the importance of “wearing masks” within the hospital and in external environments, particularly in situations with poor ventilation, crowded settings, or when individuals feel vulnerable, weak or remain unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.
It also recommended that individuals near (within one meter) someone who later tested positive for Covid-19 (confirmed via RT-PCR or Antigen test) should consistently wear a surgical mask whenever possible.
Highlighting a proactive approach to managing mild to moderate Covid-19 cases, PGH suggested that elderly patients or those with comorbidities may reduce the risk of progressing to severe disease by taking antiviral agents within the first five days of symptom onset.
Meanwhile, it noted that the oral antiviral drug currently available in the Philippines is Molnupiravir, and individuals are encouraged to consult with their doctors or PGH if this treatment is deemed appropriate for their condition.
It also clarified that individuals exposed to a confirmed Covid-19 case could still participate in homecoming activities and other Christmas parties, provided they remain asymptomatic.
Exposed individuals are advised to continue their usual activities but must wear at least a surgical mask during such events.
There is nothing new in this guidelines. It basically comes down to wearing masks once more.
