More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
After four years the STEM Expo has returned to UP Diliman.
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| https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/09/06/tmt-newswire/stem-expo-returns-to-up-diliman-after-4-year-hiatus-due-to-pandemic/1969443 |
STEM Expo 2024 is set to return, showcasing innovations by young scientists across the Philippines. Organized by the Philippine Society of Youth Science Clubs (PSYSC), this two-day event will be held on September 7 to 8, 2024, at UP Diliman, Quezon City. With the theme "Rebooting Filipino Innovation, Reinventing the Next Generation," the expo will focus on using science and technology to address national issues now and in the future.
The event will feature various activities aimed at promoting public understanding of science, technology, and the environment (Puste). Attendees can look forward to innovation project competitions, an investigatory projects fair, science journalism, and public lectures on science, technology, and design. More than 400 participants from public and private schools are expected.
Another event that could have returned sooner but for some reason did not.
Cebu City is reactivating its quarantine center for any real and suspected monkeypox cases.
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| https://qa.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-news/2024/09/07/2383495/quarantine-center-activated |
The Cebu City government has activated the Cebu City Quarantine Center (CCQC) at the North Reclamation Area as an isolation facility for suspected and confirmed Mpox cases, if any.
The CCQC had served as an isolation facility during the Covid-19 pandemic and served as a temporary and isolation home for health workers and other frontline responders.
After the pandemic, a portion of the facility was also utilized as shelter for abused women and children.
With the reported cases of Mpox (formerly known as monkeypox) in the country, the city government has decided to re-active CCQC as an isolation facility for this disease even if it is not needed yet.
Though no confirmed or suspected Mpox cases have been reported in Cebu City at present, acting Mayor Raymond Alvin N. Garcia, in a report by the Public Information Office, organized an interdepartmental task force at City Hall for it to come up with and implement measures, in the possibility that Mpox could reach Cebu.
Dr. Daisy Villa, City Health Department head, said that the task force will implement measures similar to what were initiated during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aside from the CCQC, she said the CHD also prepared all barangay health centers and their personnel for the possibility of them accepting Mpox cases within their level.
Villa also urged the public to continue to be vigilant.
She said that what were followed during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly hand washing, constant disinfection, and wearing of face masks, can help prevent the spread of Mpox.
This is the same isolation center used during the COVID-19 pandemic. The public is also being told to follow COVID-19 protocols to prevent the spread of monkeypox.
The DOT has recored 4 million visitors and P362 billion in revenue from foreign visitors so far this year.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1232828 |
The Philippines is halfway through its arrival target for the end of 2024 after recording 4.08 million international visitors as of Sept. 5.
Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco disclosed the latest number at the opening of the 35th Philippine Travel Mart (PTM) in SMX Convention Center on Friday.
The tourism chief said this figure, while still 3.61 million short of its target of 7.7 million by yearend, already reflects “sustained interest in the Philippines”.
In terms of receipts, Frasco said the sector has achieved full recovery of pre-pandemic figures, yielding PHP362 billion from January to August 2024, at least 111.17 percent higher than the PHP326 billion it recorded in the same period in 2019.
“This financial rebound underscores the growing appeal of the Philippines and the robust recovery of the tourism sector,” she said.
Frasco said the DOT would continue diversifying its portfolio to further attract international tourists to travel and discover the Philippines.
“We are pioneering new approaches such as experiential tourism and diversification of tourism products. We are moving beyond traditional tourism by inviting travelers to engage with the Philippines on a deeper level,” she said.
“We are offering unique and immersive experiences that connect visitors to the heart and soul of the Philippines,” she added.
This shows a full recovery of the tourist sector.
On the other hand AirAsia is halting flights to China because no one was is flying.
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| https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/money/companies/919824/airasia-philippines-to-halt-manila-china-flights-in-q4-2024/story/ |
AirAsia Philippines is set to halt its flights between Manila and China this year, as the carrier said it will focus more on other destinations following the low demand from the service.According to AirAsia chief executive officer Ricardo Isla, the sales of the carrier has yet to bounce back to levels seen prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019, moreso for its Manila and China flights.“Transparently, by fourth quarter, no more China flights for us. At the end of the day, we have to also make sure that we are building profitability,” he said.
Isla said China accounted for 30% of AirAsia Philippines’ passenger traffic in 2019, when it flew to about seven cities in the country. This declined to four in 2023, and has since gone down even further to two.
“For AirAsia Philippines, from 2023 to 2024, we have surpassed 2023 significantly. The improvements were significant. However, versus 2019, we are not there yet,” he said during the EJAP-SMC Aviation Forum in Makati City.
“As a matter of fact, the challenge is international. We are only approximately about 65% to 70% of international. For domestic, we’re almost hitting 2019 levels. The challenge to us is China,” he said.
Sought for more details, Isla said there would be no more departing and arriving flights to and from China and Manila by the fourth quarter, but passengers can still book connecting flights passing through Kuala Lumpur.
“We just have to concentrate on the other destinations. The demand’s not yet there, but we’re hoping. Tignan natin (Let’s see),” he said.
Only 2% of AirAsia's passengers are flying the China to Manila route. That is a steep decline.
Confidence among Filipino CEO's is the highest it has been since the pandemic.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1232974 |
Filipino business leaders are becoming more optimistic since the pandemic, according to the Philippine CEO Survey of PwC Philippines and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP)
At the press launch of the result of the survey in Makati City Monday, PwC deals and corporate finance partner Trissy Rogacion said 86 percent of the chief executive officer (CEO) respondents are confident about their industry’s prospects for the next 12 months.
“Even during the pandemic our CEOs are optimistic… But this year is the highest since the pandemic,” Rogacion said.
The survey also showed that 85 percent of CEOs are confident that their company will experience revenue growth in the next 12 months.
She clarified that large companies, representing the majority of the respondents, are more optimistic than the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as the former have a larger war chest than the latter.
Rogacion said CEOs are also expecting that the Philippine economy will continue to grow over the next 12 months driven by infrastructure development, domestic consumption, and foreign direct investments.
“The CEOs say that our government is doing a good job in pushing for infrastructure development, forging stronger relationships with other nations, and also managing inflation,” she added.
Despite this optimism, the CEO survey revealed that the current geopolitical uncertainties are keeping them awake at night.
PwC Philippine chairman and senior partner Roderick Danao said market and supply chain diversification is the key to mitigate the impacts of geopolitical uncertainties.
“All of these have to be backed up by long term risk management, plans for the company to adopt and proactively manage the impact of the geopolitical conflicts,” he said.
Meanwhile, nearly half or 46 percent of the CEO respondents said their businesses are no longer viable in 10 years if they will not adopt current technologies, especially generative artificial intelligence (GenAI).
“We are seeing that the gap between optimism and actual adoption may be because of the investments needed and also the upskilling initiatives that they need to conduct within their employees,” Rogacion said.
The survey was done from July 8 to Aug. 9, with 168 respondents —68 percent of which are large enterprises, 21 percent are medium enterprises, 7 percent are small, and 5 percent are micro.
But what about inflation? Of course they aren't worried about that because people will continue to consume.
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