More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
With COVID-19 social media especially has been vigilant against "fake news." But what to do when the president of the Philippines relates fake news to the nation?
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| https://www.bworldonline.com/duterte-accuses-european-union-of-holding-vaccines-hostage/ |
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday accused the European Union of holding up supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries and complained that less wealthy countries lacked the power to secure all they sought.
“This is a fight among the highest bidders, who can pay first,” Duterte said in a televised address.
“We are not rich,” he said, although he assured the public his government has the funds to procure vaccines.
Duterte said the issue was getting the supplies as big powers like the EU not only buy up doses in bulk but have threatened to restrict exports of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly AstraZeneca.
“AstraZeneca was held hostage by the European Union,” Duterte said.
The EU says that is not true.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/03/21/eu-philippines-exempted-from-vaccine-export-ban |
The Philippines will not be affected by the European Union’s export controls on COVID-19 vaccines, the European Union’s (EU) delegation to the country has said.
The development came after President Rodrigo Duterte criticized the unionduring his weekly address on Monday, alleging that they are holding up the global COVID-19 vaccine supply.
In a statement, the EU delegation to the Philippines said exports to 92 low and middle-income countries covered by the COVAX facility, including the Philippines, are exempted from the ban.
“No impact to the Philippines as well as to other poor countries as exports to these countries are exempted from the export ban,” the EU said in a statement.
The British-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca last week said that it would fall short of delivering promised vaccines to the EU, triggering a furious response from the bloc.
Even the EU cannot get enough of AstraZeneca's vaccine! It would seem this is an issue of supply and demand. Too much demand and not enough supply. That includes the Philippines. But Duterte does not care.
President Rodrigo Duterte will not apologize for accusing the European Union of holding up supplies of COVID-19 vaccines to other countries, which the regional bloc denied, Malacañang said on Thursday.
Duterte on Monday said big powers like the EU not only buy up doses in bulk but have also threatened to restrict exports of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly AstraZeneca. In response, the EU said its export controls on the vaccines would not hamper Philippine access.
Asked whether the President would apologize or retract his accusation, his spokesman Harry Roque said, "Wala po."
(None.)
(A clarification is really needed because it appears that vaccine nationalism is emerging and that is the issue that our President brought up.)
The Palace "appreciates" the clarification, he said.
(But if the President did not speak out, they will not issue that clarification.)
Even in the face of facts the Duterte administration is non-apologetic.
2022 will bring a new election and the COMLEC is already attempting to write the rules in the face of the pandemic.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1129632 |
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is looking to allow at least five voters inside precincts at a time for next year's elections in case the coronavirus pandemic persists.
In a television interview on Thursday, Comelec chairman Sheriff Abas said this aims to control the number of people inside voting centers, in compliance with health protocols.
“Our initial plan is at least five voters at one time will be allowed to vote and we are also planning to add some vote-counting machines. During the elections, there are many people inside schools. That is our biggest hurdle," he said.
Abas, however, said they are coming up with other ways to allow people to exercise their right to suffrage without sacrificing their safety amid the pandemic.
On the other hand, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said they are looking at mail voting and online voting as an alternative option.
He, however, said these measures will need approval from Congress.
“Mail voting is a solution that is being proposed. In fact, there’s legislation pending for it but also other means of voting are being considered for instance absentee voting partly for senior citizens and PWDs (persons with disabilities). All of these are proceedings on the legislative front,” he said in a separate television interview.
Imagine the Philippines doing mail voting when the mail system is atrocious! I cannot even fathom that. You would have to send in your vote in January to make sure your vote is counted by May!
With the pandemic comes new laws and regulations. Now drivers and passengers in private cars must wear facemarks.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1392457/its-final-passengers-still-required-to-wear-face-masks-even-if-theyre-from-same-house-2 |
It’s final. It is now required for both drivers and their passengers to wear face masks even inside private vehicles, and regardless if they are from the same household, the government said on Friday.
“When the driver is with passenger/s, it is mandatory for all individuals inside the vehicle to properly wear a face mask, regardless if they are from the same household,” the Department of Health (DOH) and Department of Transportation (DOTr) said in a joint statement.
The DOTr and DOH, meanwhile, said only a driver traveling alone may remove his or her face mask while inside the vehicle.
Not wearing face masks while driving with passengers could now be considered an instance of “reckless driving,” LTO Law Enforcement Service Acting Director Clarence Guinto said.
Not wearing a face mask when driving could be considered "reckless driving!" What a joke. Even Rep. Ruffy Biazon thinks so.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/775365/biazon-not-wearing-face-masks-inside-vehicles-is-reckless-driving/story/ |
Muntinlupa City Representative Rufino Biazon on Wednesday questioned why individuals who are not wearing face masks inside vehicles will be penalized with reckless driving.
At the House Committee on Transportation hearing, Biazon insisted that the penalty of reckless driving "does not contemplate whether your passenger is not wearing a face mask."
Biazon also cited Section 48 of Republic Act 4136, which states that:
Reckless Driving. – No person shall operate a motor vehicle on any highway recklessly or without reasonable caution considering the width, traffic, grades, crossing, curvatures, visibility and other conditions of the highway and the conditions of the atmosphere and weather, or so as to endanger the property or the safety or rights of any person or so as to cause excessive or unreasonable damage to the highway.
"How can somebody be penalized with a law that is not applicable to that?" Biazon said.
In response, Land Transportation Office chief Edgar Galvante explained that a driver is being reckless if he or she will allow passengers not wearing face masks to ride the vehicle.
It's a stupid policy and hopefully it will go the way of the motorcycle barrier.
Several LGUs have carried out vaccine simulations. Now Philippine Airline is carrying out vaccine transportation simulations.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/02/07/2075952/pal-conducts-vaccine-transport-simulations |
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) is doing simulation exercises in preparation for its transport of COVID-19 vaccines across continents and their delivery to different parts of the country.
In an interview on PTV-4 yesterday, PAL president and CEO Gilbert Santa Maria said their aircraft are properly equipped to carry the vaccines on long-haul flights and distribute them to different airports in the country.
“PAL has been actively participating in coordination meetings spearheaded by the National Task Force on Vaccine rollout. These meetings have given the PAL team the opportunity to discuss how the flag carrier plans to carry out the transport of vaccines from points of origin to Philippine airports and how it plans to carry out the distribution phase within the archipelago,” Santa Maria said.
“The aviation industry and the cold chain logistics industry are critical partners in fulfilling this so-called ‘mission of the century’,” he said.
He stressed that PAL is the only local airline that can bring the vaccines from Europe and the United States in large amounts.
“We can carry these (vaccines) from the continental location to whatever airport in the Philippines that is most suitable,” the PAL official said.
“We can fly from Spain to Cebu to carry Moderna vaccines direct to the Visayas. We can fly from Spain direct to Davao to bring the Moderna vaccines there. If it’s Astra Zenica sourced out of Belgium, we can do the same. That’s our capability. We are the only airline in the Philippines with the ultra-long-haul, wide-body aircraft,” he pointed out.
He added that PAL may even utilize its turboprop aircraft like the Dash8 to ferry vaccine cargo from Manila to secondary airports.
“We are the only company that has the Dash8 and why does that matter? Because they fly as fast as jets. We can take the cargo from Manila to a secondary airport or to an island-destination that has an airport or fly to an airport and from there, fly out using smaller aircraft,” he said.
“We’re ready to do that. We’re planning for it. The PAL team has been part of the cold chain logistics team organized by Secretary Galvez on the distribution of vaccines,” Santa Maria added.
PAL is the only airline that can bring vaccines from the US and Europe and they are they only one that has an airplane that can fly as fast as a jet. That should come in handy.
Vaccine Czar Galvez says only 50 to 70 million Filipinos can be inoculated by yearend.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/07/21/at-best-ph-can-inoculate-50-to-70-million-vs-covid-19-by-yearend-galvez |
The Philippines can inoculate 50 to 70 million of its citizens against COVID-19 by the end of the year if vaccine supplies arrive on time, an official leading the country's immunization drive said Sunday.
The country will get some 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines under the global alliance COVAX Facility in the first quarter, including 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine expected to arrive by the third week of February, said vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr.
Government aims to vaccinate some 70 to 80 million Filipino adults to achieve herd immunity, he said.
(Our best case scenario, if we have enough supply and our negotiations are successful, by December, we can inoculate 50 to 70 million. If we encounter a shortage, our worst case scenario is middle of 2022.)
The country has so far signed term sheets with 5 drugmakers amounting to some 108 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine, Galvez said. This is on top of the 44 million that the World Health Organization said it would give under the COVAX Facility, he added.
(More or less we have 152 million doses. If we divide it to two, we can vaccinate more than 75 million people.)
It's not just the lack of cold storage facilities that is putting the delivery of the vaccines at risk. There is also the NPA.
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| https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/2/8/Duterte-Reds-allow-safe-Covid-19-vaccine-transport-.html |
President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday appealed to the Communist Party of the Philippines to allow COVID-19 vaccines to be transported "freely and safely" in far-flung areas once they become available.
"The Communist Party of the Philippines must guarantee that the vaccines, in the course of their being transported to areas where there are no city health officers and medical persons, na wag ninyong galawin ang medisina (please leave the medicines alone)," he said during his weekly national address.
"Allow the vaccines to be transported freely and safely. I am asking you now to observe that rule, because that is for the Filipino people," Duterte added.
The President noted reports of communist rebels disrupting the transport of government aid in rural areas. He urged them to "kindly observe the rules of humanity."
The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Tuesday vowed to intensify its crackdown against persons engaged in producing fake reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results and medical certificates.
“As a law enforcement agency, we will comply with the instruction of the DILG (Department of the Interior and Local Government) officer-in-charge and Undersecretary Bernardo Florece Jr., to enforce the law, specifically those who violate RA (Republic Act) 11332 and other related laws," PNP spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Ildebrandi Usana, said in a message to the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Those responsible for this act would face fines ranging from PHP20,000 to PHP50,000 and up to six months imprisonment under Republic Act 11332 or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public Health Concern Act.
The police chief of Silay, Negros Occidental on Tuesday said he has no intention to degrade quarantine violators, who were allegedly made to parade like zombies in their streets.
“Wala akong intention na ipahiya sila. ‘Yung sa atin lang ma-maintain nila yung physical distancing para makaiwas sila ng Covid-19,” Silay police chief Major Rollie Pondevilla said over CNN Philippines, reacting to criticisms against their move to parade face mask policy violators in the streets.
(I have no intention to embarrass them. For us, we want them to maintain social distancing to prevent infection from the virus.)
(If I have malicious intentions then I could’ve crammed them in the overcrowded police station. I did not do that because I am looking at their safety.)
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the move of the Silay police was “unnecessary,” adding that it contributed to “people’s growing distrust of our police authority.”
If he had no intention of embarrassing those people then why did he parade them publicly down the street like zombies?
The pandemic has changed religion for the worse. Now the Catholic church is advising parishioners to burn their own palm leaves, or whatever is available, for Ash Wednesday.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2021/02/09/2076420/catholic-faithful-urged-burn-own-palms-ash-wednesday |
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Manila (RCAM) is allowing families to burn their own palms and daub ashes among themselves in observance of Ash Wednesday on Feb. 17.
In a circular disseminated to the clergy and religious, RCAM apostolic administrator Manila Bishop Broderick Pabillo said the Archdiocesan Liturgical Commission has prepared the family celebration of the burning of palms or leaves to ashes and the “Family Celebration of Ash Wednesday at Home” for dissemination to parishioners.
“For those who will not be able to go to church for the celebration of Ash Wednesday, we are providing the liturgical celebrations of burning of palms or any dried leaves to ashes and the liturgy of Ash Wednesday for families at home,” he added.
How is this going to be a valid liturgy without a priest to officiate?
The government says they hope to finish their COVID-19 vaccination program by 2023.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/10/21/philippines-sets-2023-target-to-finish-covid-19-vaccination-rollout |
The Philippines is aiming to complete its COVID-19 vaccination program by 2023, a health official said Wednesday, amid global competition of the highly sought-after coronavirus shots.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government had until 2023 to inoculate its targeted population in case vaccine deliveries would be delayed.
"That's why we indicated in our plan for this vaccine deployment program that it's going to be until 2023 so that we have that wide margin if in case the delivery will not be on time," she said in an interview on ANC.
"We are eyeing that we can be able to reduce this (number of COVID-19 cases) or have good outcomes based on these vaccines hopefully by 2022, earlier than the 2023 target date," she added.
The country is expected to launch its COVID-19 immunization next week as some 117,000 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech jabs may arrive on Feb. 13.
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