More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
The COVID-19 situation in the Philippines already seems "contained" although is "capable of springing surprises," outgoing Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Wednesday.
"So far, given our measures, our interventions, mukhang contained na siya [it seems contained]. And the data will support that claim," Duque said during Kapihan sa Manila Bay, when asked about President Rodrigo Duterte's claim that his administration was able to contain the virus in a short period of time.
Still, Duque warned that it is still not yet the time to be complacent.
"At the same time, we are realistic to accept the fact that this virus is notorious for mutations," he said. "It is capable of springing surprises at every turn."
"And so we have to be realistic, we have to temper our expectations. What is more important is the realization that the virus is here to stay," he added.
"The virus is here to stay." So are face masks. However, in Cebu Province the governor signed an executive order limiting the use of face masks.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176417 |
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Friday said the executive order she issued making the wearing of face masks optional in open-space and well-ventilated areas is to ease the burden of her pandemic-fatigued constituents.
In a press conference, Garcia explained that there is nothing in Executive Order No. 16 that totally scraps the wearing of face masks, adding that it is still required in close and air-conditioned spaces but optional in well-ventilated and open spaces.
The order, she said, is rationalizing the situation amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
“We are not saying do not use face masks. It’s your choice. Those that would wish to breathe in pure oxygen, the more beneficial sea air, then please, let's not bring the wearing of face masks to ridiculous levels,” she said.
However, Garcia advised the members of the provincial police not to apprehend anyone who is found not wearing a face mask, pointing out her policy not to effect arrest but to give a face mask, instead, to violators for humanitarian reasons.
Both the DILG and the DOH said this order is null and void because it contradicts nationwide orders. The PNP said they will continue to enforce the face mask rule while local cops said they will enforce the governor's executive order becasue it is now law.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/06/11/22/cebu-police-garcias-order-easing-face-mask-use-remains-the-law |
Cebu's police leadership on Friday said Governor Gwendolyn Garcia's executive order easing the province's outdoor mask rule "remains the law."
Garcia's Executive Order No. 16 made optional the use of face masks in outdoor and well-ventilated spaces.
It said that face masks are only required in indoor and air-conditioned spaces and for those with symptoms of COVID-19 when leaving the house.
"The PNP is mandated to enforce the law. Hence, Cebu PPO will support whatever is legal and supported by existing laws. E0 16 of Cebu signed by Hon Governor Gwendolyn F. Garcia remains the law as far as Cebu province is concerned and we recognize that unless it is later on invalidated by proper authority,” Police Col. Engelbert Soriano said in his statement released on the Cebu Provincial Police Office's Facebook page.
"In all other situations, mask is still required. It actually encourages people to wear it in closed and crowded places and when with symptoms. In the latter case, the PNP will come in for appropriate enforcement," he added.
Garcia said she is standing by her order despite the Department of the Interior Local Government (DILG) opposing her directive and the Department of Health (DOH) insisting that outdoor mask-wearing should stay.
“I am only normalizing what people are doing these days, they are taking off the masks (outside)… Please, let us not bring the [use] of the mask to ridiculous levels,” said Garcia.
She claimed that breathing in the fresh air in open spaces such as near the sea or mountains is beneficial to the body.
Did you know China is vital in the fight against COVID-19?
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176423 |
The Philippines' continued partnership with China will help the country succeed in the fight against the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, President-elect Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said Friday.
During the formal ceremony for the second batch of laureates of the Award for Promoting Philippines-China Understanding (APPCU) at Dusit Thani Manila in Makati City, Marcos acknowledged China as the Philippines' "strongest" partner and a "good friend".
Marcos emphasized the need to maintain the Philippines' good relations with its allies to ensure the country's solid recovery from pandemic shock.
"Certainly in the Philippines, we can only do it with our partners and our strongest partner has always been, in that regard, our close neighbor and our good friend, the People's Republic of China," Marcos said in his speech.
Marcos said it is impossible for a country to "make its own way" to beat Covid-19.
Let's forget about the millions in aid including vaccines that the USA continues to send.
Experts are expecting to see a spike in cases in Quezon City in two weeks and Manila just might be placed under Alert Level 2 very soon.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1609952/metro-manila-may-be-under-alert-level-2-due-to-sustained-uptick-in-covid-19-cases |
The Department of Health on Monday raised the possibility of escalating the COVID alert system to Level 2 amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR), Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said on Monday.
"The possibility would always be there when the cases continue to increase but what the public needs to understand is that we are learning to live with the virus. We know that this virus will not leave. It will stay with us."
"So, these mild and asymptomatic infections should be acceptable to the population. What’s important is we are not seeing a rise in severe and critical cases and there is no problem with our hospitals. By observing if there is an increase in admissions, we are not seeing that."Of the 17 local government units in NCR, 13 have a positive two-week growth rate of COVID-19 cases.
While the growth rate is positive, the number of cases is still insignificant in terms of crippling hospitals’ operations, Vergeire assured.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1610158/expert-retracts-not-yet-time-to-remove-emergency-label-on-covid-19-in-ph |
An infectious disease expert on Monday retracted his earlier statement, saying it is not yet the right time to lift the public state of emergency for COVID-19 in the country.Dr. Rontgene Solante on June 1 said it was high time to remove the “emergency” label on COVID-19 in the country due to the persistent low number of infections then.
However, two weeks after, he retracted this after the Philippines saw an uptick of COVID-19 cases, owing to the several Omicron subvariants.
“With the threat of these variants of concern, especially these 3 variants of concern (BA.4, BA.5, BA.2.12.1) which is globally rising in terms of prevalence, I think this is not the right time yet to lift the public state of emergency,” Solante said in a Laging Handa briefing.
This is especially if the continued implementation of the public state of emergency will give the Philippines “more leeway” in implementing mitigating measures.
“If the public state of emergency will give us more leeway to implement the mitigating recommendations and policy para lang hindi lalaki ‘yung mga kaso, hindi tataas ‘yung mga kaso (so that cases would not increase), then I would agree that we will still be in a state of public emergency,” he said.
And there it is. The public state of emergency gives the government more power. That's what it all boils down to, power. It is this power that renders all decisions by local governments null and void unless they are in line with national directives.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1176577 |
The President’s directives will prevail over all local government ordinances as far as the mandatory wearing of face mask is concerned.
Department of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is enabled by the President's orders.
“The IATF resolutions on the mandatory wearing of face masks, whether indoor or outdoor, are incorporated in and/or enabled by executive orders issued by the President," Guevarra told reporters in a text message.
Under the Constitution, Guevarra said the Chief Executive retains general supervision over local government units.
“As between an executive order issued by the President, as manifested in resolutions issued by the IATF composed of Cabinet secretaries who are the alter egos of the president, on one hand, and executive orders issued by local government units, on the other hand, the former shall prevail, as the President exercises general supervision over local governments pursuant to Section 4, Article X of the Philippine Constitution,” Guevarra added.
On June 8, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia issued Executive Order 16 making the wearing of face masks optional in well-ventilated areas and open spaces in an attempt to boost tourism but masks are still encouraged, especially in crowded outdoor areas.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año then stressed that the IATF-EID is the only body authorized to set health guidelines regarding the pandemic.
The Cebu Provincial government disagrees wholeheartedly.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1610949/cebu-board-reinforces-govs-defiance-of-mask-rule |
Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s controversial order last week making the wearing of face masks optional in open spaces has been adopted by the provincial board as an ordinance.
The board on Tuesday gave more teeth to Garcia’s Executive Order No. 16, despite an earlier opinion by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that a June 4 resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), which keeps the wearing of face masks mandatory, will prevail over Garcia’s order.
It took the board only about 30 minutes to approve the EO as an ordinance, as proposed by Board Member John Ismael Borgonia, in a special session Garcia called to tackle the order.
Borgonia made his proposal on Monday, but it was not taken up for lack of quorum.
The next day Garcia sent a letter to the board certifying the EO’s approval—“on… 1st, 2nd and 3rd readings”—as urgent.
With the majority of the assembly being Garcia allies, the EO was immediately approved as an ordinance that would take effect 15 days after publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
“We made this EO an ordinance so that it will become a law in Cebu province. This ordinance will also repeal all previous ordinances in… [the] province that require face masks outdoors,” said Borgonia, chair of the committee on laws.
Those who especially advocate for federalism should be paying attention because this is what federalism looks like, sovereign provinces uniting only for military protection and economic cohesion. Under federalism there would not be a tyrant reigning from Malacañang dictating the polices for the entire nation.
In case you're wondering how long the face mask mandate will last the DOH says until the end of 2022.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1611081/doh-recommends-wear-face-mask-until-end-of-2022 |
The Department of Health on Wednesday recommended the wearing of face masks until the end of the year.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said face masks protected people not only from COVID-19 but from other diseases as well.
“As part of the Department of Health and a medical doctor, I would say that I would still recommend until the end of the year,” she said on ANC’s Headstart when asked if the mask mandate will stay until the end of the year.“You know the mask did not only protect us against COVID-19. It also protected us from other respiratory infections, even with this monkeypox. This disease, we can be protected from monkeypox by just wearing the mask,” she continued.
Look at that. The mask protects against other infections not just COVID-19. That's their justification for the unjustifiable. I predict face masks will be mandated beyond the end of 2022.
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