More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
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| https://entertainment.inquirer.net/539466/shaina-magdayao-reflects-on-rest-pause-she-needed-after-bout-with-covid-19 |
Despite spending over a week in isolation due to COVID-19, Shaina Magdayao said she’s grateful to have had the pause she “didn’t ask for but apparently needed.”
The actress, who appears to have contracted the virus in early January, reflected on the kind of peace attained through spending time with one’s self via her Instagram page on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
“Trust YOUR process. With isolation, everything you feel will sort itself out,” she said, quoting American author R.M Drake.
“Beautiful words I kept on reading and reminding my frustrated sick self during more than a week of isolation and testing positive,” she stated.
Magdayao also documented how she spent her days in “solitude” by reading books and exercising in an open area in her home.
“Nevertheless, thank you, COVID, for the rest (lots of TV time, too) and pause I did not ask for but apparently needed,” she concluded.
Other celebrities who recently contracted the virus were Jennylyn Mercado, Dennis Trillo and Lea Salonga, among others.
It's like it's 2020 all over again! The real story is that vaccines do not prevent infection.
"Stakeholders" cannot stop talking about tourism. Philippine tourism is alive again in case you missed it.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/02/03/2330558/philippines-tourism-alive-again |
With more Filipinos able to afford traveling around the country and even overseas, a travel executive declared that the Philippines’ tourism industry is alive again amid continuous easing of pandemic restrictions.
Travelers look for tourism offerings that cater to families and even bigger groups, including those in the corporate sector sponsored by their companies, Aileen Clemente, president of Rajah Travel Corp. said.
“They prefer guided tours. They are not as concerned about their security as before. But it’s more of they want a family-like tour which is more intimate, more experiential… they still prefer those with exclusivity,” she told The STAR.
Asked if the tourism industry is revived, Clemente replied, “Yes, the tourism industry is alive.”
Fitch Solutions’ research firm BMI projected that this year, the Philippines will “fully recover” its tourist arrival levels before the pandemic plagued the world and shut down travel in 2020.
“In 2024 we project the Philippines’ tourist arrivals will grow to 8.21 million,” BMI said in a statement on Jan. 31.
The Philippines welcomed over 8.26 million foreign tourists in 2019, according to the Department of Tourism.
The growth in tourist arrivals in the Philippines – perceived to be at 64 percent– would “primarily be driven by increasing arrivals from key source markets, such as South Korea, China, the US, Japan and Australia,” BMI noted.
This same story is published practically every week these days.
All those tourists are going to require air traffic controllers to guide them safely on and off the tarmac.
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| https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2024/02/04/2330803/wanted-300-air-traffic-controllers |
The Philippines is in need of nearly 300 air traffic controllers to handle the growing volume of flights to and from its airports.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said it is looking for at least 288 more personnel to man air traffic control towers, as the country is running short on manpower with the demand for air travel returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Transportation Undersecretary Roberto Lim said the Philippines is starting to feel the shortage of aviation staff, a problem that is also affecting airlines and airports across the globe. Currently, CAAP employs a total of 776 air traffic controllers.
Lim noted that hiring should be done right away, as it takes about a year for a new recruit to finish training and get the required certification.
In the coming Singapore Airshow from Feb. 20 to 25, the Philippine delegation, composed of government officials and private shareholders, will look for investors who may be interested in setting up aviation schools in the country.
“We would welcome investors from any part of the aviation industry to look at the Philippines, to invest in education, to invest in airports, to invest in logistics,” Lim said.
He said the shortage in air traffic controllers has to be addressed immediately, as the situation is putting greater pressure on current employees to work longer hours.
Eventually, this could become a problem for the government, especially as air traffic is expected to increase over time as carriers plan to scale up flight frequencies to meet the demand.
Were air traffic controllers let go during the pandemic? If so they could be brought back. Interesting that the Transportation Undersecretary is looking for foreign investors to fix this problem.
2.24 million Filipino migrants were flown back home during the pandemic. It turns out they should have stayed where they were.
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| https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2024/02/05/269757/flown-back-and-forgotten-filipino-migrants-face-tough-homecoming/ |
The Philippines is among the world’s top sources of migrant labor and Filipino workers overseas sent back an estimated $40 billion in remittances to their families last year, accounting for about 10% of gross domestic product (GDP).
The government covers emergency repatriation costs for workers caught up in wars, political crises or exploitation abroad.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, 2.24 million Filipinos were flown home free of charge, and dozens of Filipino women and their children have recently been repatriated temporarily from Gaza and Israel due to the war between Israel and Hamas.
But with the number of Filipinos who received overseas employment certificates at a record high of about 2.5 million in 2023, migrant rights advocates are sounding the alarm about the problems faced by many returnees on arriving home – from unemployment to homelessness.
“The latest government figures mean we are sending 6,800 Filipinos per day (abroad). More and more Filipinos can be at risk, especially in conflict areas, if we fail to properly monitor all of them,” said Arman Hernando, chairperson of migrant rights group Migrante Philippines.
“Are we deploying more Filipinos than we can protect?” he asked.
Some say more must be done to support them by the country’s Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), a government agency established two years ago to facilitate overseas employment and reintegration services for returning Filipinos.
Reintegration is “the weakest link” in the country’s migration policies, according to a 2023 study by a group of university researchers on economic migrants.
Filipinos repatriated from Syria and recent returnees from Gaza said the government had paid for their flights and provided an emergency cash assistance of between 10,000 and 50,000 Philippine pesos ($178-$889).
Some of them were encouraged to use the money to start a small business.
But after spending sometimes years abroad, many migrant workers lack the social network required to launch a successful enterprise, said Hernando.
Few migrant workers have a background in self-employment, according to a survey published by the U.N. migration agency in 2022. It showed finding a way to make a living was rated as the biggest challenge by more than 80% of Filipino returnees.
Despite the risks, some of the returnees from Syria travelled abroad for work again after losing hope of finding work at home – especially during the pandemic when unemployment rose to 10.3%, Alcala said.
Migrating to work overseas is always a gamble, said Hernando, but the lack of sufficient support at home pushes some to take the risk.
“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose,” he said. “(But) many of them leave again despite suffering abuses abroad because there’s no real reintegration here.”
What a travesty that there is no social safety net to reacclimatize these people back to life in the Philippines. And to think the DFA calls the OFW program the Philippines' soft power!
Jollibee has won an award for their 2022 Christmas advertising campaign which was designed to uplift the nation after two years of dreary economic lockdowns.
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| https://malaya.com.ph/news_living/jollibee-celebrates-prestigious-anvil-awards-victories/ |
Jollibee, the Philippines’ largest and most beloved fast-food chain, is thrilled to announce its triumphant wins at the prestigious Anvil Awards.
Presented annually by the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), the ANVIL is the symbol of Excellence in Public Relations. It is awarded to outstanding public relations programs, tools and now, practitioners after careful screening by select PR professionals and judging by a distinguished multi-sectoral jury.
The brand shined brightly with its accolades in several categories, including a Grand Anvil Nomination, underscoring its commitment to innovative and impactful campaigns.
Dorothy Dee Ching, Jollibee’s Head of Marketing, expressed her delight and gratitude for the wins, “These awards are a testament to our Marketing team’s creativity and commitment to excellence, and the collaborative efforts with our partner agencies Ripple8 and Stratworks, which produced these amazing campaigns. After a 3-year hiatus from joining industry awards, we’re glad and thankful to be recognized once again for bringing joy and meaningful experiences to our customers through these campaigns.”
Jollibee’s award-winning campaigns, such as “Sarap ng Pasko” and the Christmas Drive-Thru Experience, were centered around the joy of Filipino Christmas traditions and the spirit of giving.
Launched for the 2022 holidays, Jollibee’s “Sarap ng Pasko” campaign aimed to rekindle the joy of a Filipino Christmas following two years of pandemic-subdued celebrations. The integrated marketing communications plan was kicked off by a holiday-themed video commercial featuring the megabrand’s all-time favorites Chickenjoy, Jolly Spaghetti, and Burger Steak and exciting new products.
A special feature of the campaign entailed transforming one store’s Drive-Thru into a magical spectacle via Christmas lights and décor, adding to the festive experience. Finally, a special delivery promo also allowed customers to share in the holiday gift-giving spirit by donating group meals to underprivileged families. The campaign performed well, helping Jollibee reach top of mind awareness and delivered growth sales targets to cap the year on a high note.
Good for them.
Another enterprise designed to help the Filipino community during the pandemic, farmers especially, is still assisting them.
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| https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3250810/how-philippine-social-enterprise-brought-help-and-hope-farmers-when-they-needed-it-most |
In 2020, Ace and Andie Estrada were walking through a public market in the Philippine city of Baguio when they saw farmers giving away vegetables in perfectly good condition. A torn piece of cardboard, turned into a makeshift sign, read: “Free tomatoes, bring your plastic bag.”
The pandemic was a dire time for many Filipino farmers, already struggling with the challenges of inflation and market disruption. Covid-19 restrictions meant fewer people visited Baguio, a mountainous town in Benguet province, including traders from Manila who would normally buy produce harvested from neighbouring towns to sell back in the capital.Without that demand, many farmers were forced to give their crops away or leave them rotting in their backyards.
They gathered the farmers’ produce and managed to sell three tons. Within a month, they rescued 20 tons of vegetables from distressed farmers in Benguet. What went unsold was donated to various community pantries around Metro Manila to help families affected by the pandemic.
The Estradas named their online community Rural Rising. They began conducting regular rescue buys from small-scale farmers at above-market gate prices and selling them to members of their online community at affordable rates, eliminating the middlemen that often caused retail prices to spike.
Ace Estrada told This Week in Asia that even after the pandemic faded, lowball pricing continued to be a problem for farmers. For example, middlemen would sometimes buy native shallots from farmers at 8 pesos (14 US cents) a kilogram and then sell them in Metro Manila for 60 to 120 pesos.
“We realised that we have the ability to help not only distressed farmers but also consumers who are paying 10 times more the farm gate prices for their produce because the prices were jacked up by many layers of middlemen,” Estrada said.
Pandemic or not Filipino farmers cannot seem to win. At least not on their own.
Daily COVID-19 cases have dropped by 26%.
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| https://mb.com.ph/2024/2/1/ph-logs-26-decrease-in-daily-covid-19-cases-doh |
The Department of Health (DOH) said on Thursday, Feb. 1, that 1,580 new Covid-19 infections were recorded from Jan. 23 to 29.
It noted that these cases showed a 26 percent decrease with an average daily count of 225 cases compared to the previous week from Jan. 16 to 22.
Based on the latest data, 30 of the newly reported cases have been classified as "severe” or “critical.”
Meanwhile, the DOH recorded 13 additional Covid-19-related deaths that occurred between Jan. 16 and Jan. 29.
It was also stated that as of Jan. 28, hospitals across the Philippines had admitted a total of 194 severe and critical Covid-19 patients for treatment.
Of the 1,166 ICU beds designated for Covid-19 patients, 181 of them, or 15.5 percent, are currently occupied.
DOH also noted that 1,458 out of 10,306 non-ICU Covid-19 beds, constituting 14.1 percent, are also in use.
Related to this, it reminded the public that practicing different layers of protection can limit transmission among vulnerable groups and in enclosed, overcrowded areas.
Frequent handwashing, using masks, social distancing, and providing adequate ventilation in closed settings altogether remain effective prevention measures.
But be sure to do all the stuff that doesn't actually prevent infection.
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