More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Before the pandemic flights between Cebun and Bantayan Island were privately chartered. The pandemic put a stop to those flights but now they have been revived but this time the flights will be public and regular.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/582150/regular-flights-to-bantayan-to-launch-this-august |
Beginning this August, travelers will finally have the option to fly directly to Bantayan in northern Cebu.
The Cebu Provincial government recently announced that regular flights between the mainland and Bantayan Island via Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) will resume operations this August 28.
According to the Capitol, the direct flights will be operated by King Aces Travel and Tours Service Inc. (KATTSI), a travel and tours firm.
It can be recalled that before the Covid-19 pandemic, there were direct flights connecting mainland Cebu and Bantayan Island in the north. But these flights were mostly chartered ones.
In turn, the Capitol, Department of Transportation (DOTr), and the Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), the state body co-running MCIA, decided to upgrade the airport in Bantayan to accommodate passenger aircrafts like the ATR.
That is another win for the Department of Tourism and their campaign to revive the industry.
New hotels continue to be built which will drive the post-pandemic tourist boom.
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| https://philstar.com/nation/2024/07/08/2368526/new-hotels-boost-philippines-tourism-hoteliers-say |
Putting up new hotels will help boost the Philippines’ tourism and hospitality industries, which are “slowly recovering” from the restrictions due to the COVID pandemic, according to Philippine Hotel Owners Association (PHOA) president Arthur Lopez.
The group floated the idea as its goal in organizing the first Philippine Tourism and Hotel Investment Summit held at the New World Makati Hotel last June 21, Lopez said.
The PHOA is composed of 217 hotels across the Philippines.
The group has an inventory of an estimated 40,000 rooms and “continues to expand,” Lopez said, noting that the Philippines should have “80,000 rooms to compete with the regional hotels in Asia.”
He asserted that new hotel investments in the Philippines “will make us more competitive in the region.”
More new hotels would also enable “adjustments to changing preferences of consumers as we see a steady shift towards demand for sustainable tourism, wider use of smart technology and more personalized itineraries,” Lopez said.
New hotel projects would “allow us to offer more eco-friendly products and services that will increase energy savings and support industry-wide sustainable development,” according to Lopez.
PHOA executive director Benito Bengzon Jr. said the group will develop 50 to 55 hotel projects from 2024 to 2028, adding another 15,000 rooms to the inventory.
According to the Philippine Hotel Investment Survey 2024 Report by PHOA and Leechiu Property Consultants, Bohol’s Panglao Island “has garnered significant interest among hotel developers, with 41 percent of respondents exploring hotel development on the island.”
Following Bohol in preferred destinations for hotel investment were Metro Manila, Cebu City, Siargao, El Nido, Mactan in Cebu, Coron, Boracay and Davao, according to the survey.
This seems to be an old story that the news keeps recycling. In fact the building of more hotels was mentioned back in May.
President Marcos has ordered the remains COVID-19 health allowances to be released just in time for the State of the Union Address.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1958166/health-workers-group-questions-timing-of-release-of-covid-19-allowance |
MANILA, Philippines “Why is it only now if there was funding available all along?”
The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) raised this concern on Friday as it questioned the timing of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s directive to fully release the unpaid COVID-19 Health Emergency Allowance (HEA) for all health workers.
AHW National President Robert Mendoza pointed out that Marcos’ directive’s timing perfectly aligns with the upcoming State of the Nation Address (Sona), where the President will outline his accomplishments.
“The timing of the release of long overdue benefits is very timely to the upcoming Sona by the President. Is it because the administration just wants to showcase his accomplishments rather than addressing the urgent needs of health workers?” Mendoza said in a press statement.
Despite questioning the timing of Marcos’ directive, Mendoza said he is still hoping that all health workers in private and local government unit hospitals and health facilities will be “paid their much-deserved HEA.”
“[B]ecause during our dialogue with Budget and Management Secretary Pangandaman last April 11, 2024, [the] Department of Health has not yet complied with the final lists and mapping of paid and unpaid health workers of their Covid-19 allowances,” he said.
Still, Mendoza believes that releasing the HEA is a “significant victory” for health workers who served the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Mendoza, health workers will join the people’s Sona on July 22.
He said the event will be a platform for them to convey their demands to the Marcos administration.
The answer is because the entire political system is corrupt and politicians and bureaucrats only do things that make them appear to look good. Now Marcos will be able to list the distribution of COVID-19 health allowances as a major accomplishment.
The Manila Film Festival has returned after four years.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/2024/7/8/sinag-maynila-film-festival-returns-for-6th-edition-1253 |
After a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sinag Maynila Film Festival is set to return this September for its sixth edition.Founded in 2015, Sinag Maynila is a non-profit film festival born from the vision of Solar Entertainment president and current film festival CEO Wilson Tieng, and Cannes-winning director Brillante Mendoza.
In a statement, Tieng confirmed that Sinag Maynila would return this year in collaboration with Manila City's Department of Tourism, Culture and Arts Office (DTCAM). This year's festival slogan is "Local, International Cinema."
"All those who participated and won are now successful directors in teleserye. They are Zig Dulay, Lawrence Fajardo and Adolf Alix and many others. They have many projects and also big projects on TV and their films are sold abroad in film markets, that's why Sinag Manila is such a big deal," Tieng said.
In an interview, Mendoza said the essence of Sinag Maynila is to give a voice to Filipino filmmakers, establishing their identity at the national and international level.
"It's not a joke to release a movie in theaters, especially if your movies are independent producers and the story is unique," said Mendoza, highlighting the struggles of independent filmmakers.
"We are not alone, we are not here to compete with other film festivals in the Philippines if we don't [want] more venues for young filmmakers to participate in their films," Mendoza said.
The Sinag Manila will also hold a campus tour, a five-day festival proper, and an awards night at the Metropolitan Theater.
Participating full-length and short films, and documentaries in the Sinag Manila Film Festival will be screened in select cinemas from September 4 to 8.
It's another welcome return to normality.
During the pandemic people left Manila to return to the provinces and elsewhere. The exodus is still happening.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1958948/more-people-are-leaving-metro-manila-heres-why |
When COVID-19 landed in the Philippines, nationwide lockdowns prompted many people in the National Capital Region (NCR) to return to their provinces or places of origin outside the capital.
Years into the new normal, even with restrictions lifted, people continued to leave the NCR for other regions.
For decades before the COVID-19 pandemic, Filipinos from impoverished rural regions migrated to densely populated cities, particularly the capital, in search of better-paying jobs and housing for a brighter future.
Results from the 2018 National Migration Survey (2018 NMS)-which was conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI)-identified NCR as the top migration destination region.
The survey, which interviewed over 45,000 individual respondents 15 years old and over, found that NCR was also the most popular regional destination for first-time migrants.
In 2020, the government, led by then-President Rodrigo Duterte, launched the “Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa” program to decongest Metro Manila during the pandemic by encouraging people, including stranded workers, to return to their home provinces.
However, even without the program, many workers affected by the pandemic’s impact on NCR businesses had already moved back to their families outside the capital region.
Years later, new data show a continuous demand for housing in areas outside the NCR, with experts noting that these regions are thriving and keeping the property market active despite a slowdown in the capital.
According to Leechiu Property Consultants, a private real estate brokerage firm, the trend of migration to Calabarzon and other areas outside NCR has likely continued and grown following the pandemic.
“There is a widening gap between the number of loans granted in NCR and in areas outside NCR, which started during the pandemic,” the private realty firm said.
“In 2023, 66 percent of RRELs were granted for new housing units in areas outside NCR, [indicating] that demand is continuing to move outside Metro Manila,” it said.
Leechiu noted that the limited availability and high prices of vacant land in the capital have propelled the rise of infrastructure and residential projects outside of the capital.
Before the pandemic, people from various regions across the country moved to cities in the capital, seeking better job opportunities and higher wages.
What factors are now encouraging those who relocated outside NCR to stay and not return to the capital?
Aboitiz InfraCapital previously observed that a primary reason for Filipinos migrating from NCR to the countryside could be the increase in high-quality job opportunities in those areas.
“Coupled with lower living costs, the ready availability of high-paying jobs outside of Metro Manila and Ceby has already attracted thousands of urban migrants back to their hometowns,” said the infrastructure company.
“The influx of talented working-age individuals, investors, and entrepreneurs to the provinces [have], in turn, spurred local economic activity, further slowing down rural flight and attracting even more urban migrants to return,” it added.
High living costs and better employment opportunities are causing people to flee Manila. Isn't that the story for every big city?
The House investigation on the utilization of the funds of the Department of Health and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation during the pandemic continues. Now it has been revealed that COVID-19 test kits were purchased at disparate prices.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1959091/p500-disparity-in-covid-19-test-kits-leads-to-gap-in-bulk-orders-quimbo |
A P500 “disparity” in purchasing Covid-19 test kits can lead to a huge gap when the government orders in bulk, Marikina 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo said on Monday.
At the hearing of the House of Representatives appropriations panel on the utilization of the funds of the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, Quimbo said there were instances when test kits of the same brand and the same method were priced at P2,083 and P1,562.
“I observed that there were instances that the testing types were the same, the brand names were the same, but prices were different. And the price difference was as high as about P500. So for example, there was a price difference of P2,083 versus P1,562,” said Quimbo, the senior vice chairperson of the appropriations committee.
“Why did you order in different lots? Why did you not have these ordered at the same time to get favorable prices? Because of that, prices were different. And there’s a P500 disparity across certain lots and that’s big, especially if you make big orders,” she added.
Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa explained to Quimbo that the DOH submitted documents requested from them, particularly regarding the P47.6-billion Covid-19 funds transferred by the DOH to the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM).
Herbosa, who was not yet DOH chief when the pandemic struck in 2020, said he believes the different prices were caused by the items being purchased at different times.
Former Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the DOH chief during the Covid-19 pandemic who was present at the hearing, agreed with Herbosa.
“However, I can only surmise why the prices were different because I was special advisor of the task force then, and I knew that certain items changed their pricing over the times, so I think we to look at the date that some items are procured because they were changing the cost as the pandemic was ongoing,” Herbosa explained.
“I agree with the statement of Secretary Herbosa; it’s very important to look at the timelines of your Honor,” Duque added.
However, Quimbo pointed out that Duque has been unable to explain the price differences and their relation to the time frame.
“You keep repeating Secretary Duque that these were all done in the interest of time; you had to do these all expeditiously, we hastened procurement. All of a sudden now that we’re asking you to please explain the substantial price difference, you’re now using as a defense the lapse of time. So what is it? Is it expeditious or lapse of time?” she said.
DOH Secretary Duque says the explanation is the items were purchases at different times and the price changed. Representative Quimbo countered by noting Duque previously said the times were purchased expeditiously which contradicts his explanation that the times were bought at different times.
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