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://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/asia/community-pantries-return-philippines-amid-fuel-crisis-aiding-drivers-riders |
The fuel price crisis and hyperinflation of goods and services in the Philippines must feel like the Covid-19 pandemic all over again to oblige the reappearance of a grassroots aid phenomenon.
The community initiative that became a nationwide movement and helped feed the Philippines during the pandemic lockdown five years ago was restarted by its founder, Ana Patricia Non, on the same spot in Quezon City on Thursday, March 26.
As public transportation workers held another nationwide transport strike, Non resurrected her Community Pantry phenomenon offering free food items to drivers and motorcycle delivery riders.
“As gas prices continue to rise and transport strikes continue, we are doing our best to support drivers. Still, give according to ability, take according to need. You can leave goods or any support for drivers,” Non posted on her Facebook page.
A cart full of items such as rice, vegetables, eggs, canned food, and others await drivers and riders who may take what they need for free.
By Thursday afternoon, donations quickly replaced those already taken by drivers who ply their routes nearby.
Mang Jose, a tricycle driver who complains of earning even less as petrol prices breached P100 per litre this week, took two eggs for himself and his wife, as well as a portion of cooking oil.
Joanna, a young office worker, meanwhile delivered three egg crates as her contribution to the effort.
What was the original initiative?
Non started the original Maginhawa Street Community Pantry on April 14, 2021 with a small bamboo cart loaded with some vegetables and rice.
The initiative by the young artist was her response to the growing poverty caused by severe lockdowns during the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the help of social media, over 200 similar pantries were put up all over Metro Manila, growing to thousands across the Philippines in succeeding weeks.
It helped feed millions of poor Filipinos who suffered loss of livelihoods and limited government aid during the Rodrigo Duterte administration.
The phenomenon embodied the Filipino practice of “bayanihan,” the core value of helping others in need.
Awards, threats
Non’s phenomenal movement earned recognition from various local and international socio-civic organizations and award-giving bodies.
She received the Ambassador's Woman of Courage Award from the US Embassy in 2022, the 2022 AirAsia Stellar Award, and was a 2022 Ten Outstanding Women in Nation’s Service recipient.
Other honors include the 2021 Golden Wheel Award by Rotary International and the 2nd Dragon Star Award by the ABS-CBN media network for her charitable act and community leadership.
Ironically, for all her achievements, Non was accused by the Philippine military and some government officials of being a part of the underground Communist movement for putting into practice “radical, if not socialist ideals.”
The accusations, however, backfired against her accusers as millions of Filipinos denounced the threats and defended her and the community pantry initiative.
As of Thursday afternoon, crates full of food items have surrounded the cart at the original site while other pantries in other parts of Metro Manila, Baguio City and Mindoro Island have also been started.
Restaurants have also pledged to operate soup kitchens in jeepney and tricycle terminals in Metro Manila while the transport strikes continue.
Remember jeepney drivers who couldn't earn a living? They are back too! Now they have to sell everything just to eat.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2202438/jeepney-driver-halts-trips-over-fuel-hike-its-like-pandemic-again |
A jeepney driver has likened the current state of his livelihood to what it went through during the COVID-19 pandemic, as he has stopped plying his routes once again – this time due to the rising cost of fuel.
Reggie Manlapig, a 46-year-old jeepney driver from Calumpit, Bulacan, and a member of transport group Piston, shared this sentiment as he joined the rally led by the No to Oil Price Hike Coalition in Mendiola.
“During the pandemic, us drivers had to sell our household items so we could feed our families,” Manlapig said in Filipino during a speech.
“There is no difference now. We no longer earn anything, so what happens is we sell our properties,” Manlapig added in Filipino.
The No to Oil Price Hike Coalition began its two-day transport strike on Thursday to protest against the oil price surge and call on the government to abolish the Oil Deregulation Law and remove the excise tax and value-added tax on fuel products.
As the tension in the Middle East began almost a month ago, prices of diesel have shot up to almost P120 per liter in many areas in Metro Manila.
Since then, Manlapig shared that he could not earn much income for his family, a contrast to his earnings of P700 to P800 per day before.
“I’m not plying routes anymore. It’s like making a fool out of myself if I still do it,” Manlapid, speaking Filipino, told Inquirer in an interview.He also said that he is now supporting his family by selling their household items and taking on sideline construction jobs. He added that his older child, who has already graduated from college, is helping him with their everyday expenses.
He said that has a younger child who is set to graduate from Senior High School. With this, he expressed his worry over graduation fees.
He then said that he will go back to plying his routes once President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. heeds their calls.
Maybe they can get some food from the community pantry.
The Bayanihan Bill is back as well.
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| https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2204720/bayanihan-3-not-purely-ayuda-as-crisis-different-from-pandemic-quimbo |
The new version of the Bayanihan bill will differ from its two predecessors because the current fuel price crisis is unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, which required total lockdowns, Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo said on Tuesday.
During an online press briefing, Quimbo clarified that under House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III’s vision, Bayanihan 3 will also include reforms to streamline future crisis response, with direct financial aid accounting for only 15 percent of the entire package.
“Okay, so I want to create a clear dichotomy between what happened during the pandemic and today. So the pandemic was really worse as far as we are concerned, because the situation was so indeterminable; we don’t know if there will be medicines to address the issue, whether there will be vaccines, and how long the situation will last. So practically, the entire economy went to a halt,” Quimbo told reporters.
“People cannot go out, and it really necessitated a massive aid program. So we have a different context now […] I do not want to go ahead, but if we’re talking about aid, this is really just one part of Bayanihan 3 for lack of a better term, so it cannot just be ayuda-centric. In fact, ayuda, as far as what the speaker wants, is not even 15 percent of the entire package that he wants,” he added.
According to Quimbo, the main purpose of the financial assistance is to support hard-hit industries without causing inflation in other basic commodities that depend on fuel for transportation.
“But definitely the purpose here is trying to address sectors that will practically might not survive — like transportation — and so that is where we will first give aid. Because that is the epicenter of the crisis, because if costs increase, they cannot make trips, and the price of goods will increase,” he explained.
“So we want to have intervention such that we are able to, kumbaga, I don’t want to sound too technical or heartless, but really the direction is to make sure that whatever aid we do is for the purpose of making sure that prices don’t spiral,” he added.
Quimbo said the super committee formed by the House leadership, consisting of 13 panels, will need to consult government offices like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to determine which beneficiaries should receive aid.
“So number one, who will receive the aid? We will have to consult with our economic managers first, as well as the DSWD. Second, we need to know what distribution system is available, and then third, how much money is available,” he said.“That will be the direction of the ayuda (aid) program, addressing the areas that would stop, or at least assuage the increase in the prices of goods and commodities,” he added.
Bayanihan bills were crafted and enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving former President Rodrigo Duterte the powers to “reprogram, reallocate, and realign” any appropriation in the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
The country then saw massive aid distribution programs as much of the labor sector was paralyzed due to quarantine and distancing protocols, leading to suspended projects from realignments.
However, in the current crisis, movement is not restricted by health concerns but by high fuel costs. Diesel prices recently reached around P140 per liter after a fourth consecutive week of increases, while gasoline now ranges from P95 to P105 per liter.
Quimbo earlier said the House super committee will likely form a new version of the Bayanihan bills used during the COVID-19 pandemic, but without resorting to loans.
While nothing has been finalized, Quimbo, chair of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said the direction points toward a third version of the Bayanihan bill. He noted, however, that funding is sufficient and loans are not being considered.
When asked whether this version of the Bayanihan bill would allow President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to realign items in the 2026 GAA, Quimbo said nothing is certain yet.
Quimbo also clarified that the third Bayanihan bill will address the tedious process of delivering financial assistance to the people.
According to the Marikina solon, not all problems during crises involve finding funding sources; issues also arise once funds are available, such as determining qualified beneficiaries and how assistance will be disbursed.
He noted that the country’s lack of a system for transferring aid from a department or government unit to beneficiaries should serve as a wake-up call.
Aside from the Bayanihan bill, the House has already approved a measure suspending the collection of excise taxes on fuel, which Marcos signed on March 25.
However, the earliest date that excise taxes could be suspended is on April 12, as the measure states that Marcos can only suspend excise taxes if the economic cluster and the energy secretary recommend it once the average Dubai crude oil price, based on the Mean of Platts Singapore, exceeds US$80 per barrel for one month.
What's next? A total shut down of the economy due to a lack of fuel?
Hospitals in the Philippines are rather disgusting. Apparently hospital workers did not notice this until the pandemic.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1271839 |
The Philippine Healthcare and Mercury Wastes Management (HCWM) Project is pushing for ‘toxics-free hospitals’ to create safer, more sustainable healthcare facilities.
During a roadshow at the Eastern Visayas Medical Center (EVMC) in this city on Thursday, HCWM introduced its “Nurse Susie” mascot to promote proper waste segregation and encourage healthcare workers, patients, and visitors to use reusable alternatives.
The campaign is part of the Toxics-Free Hospitals initiative, aimed at addressing the growing volume of hospital waste, particularly plastics, and improving healthcare waste management systems.
According to Thony Dizon, advocacy and campaign officer of BAN Toxics Philippines, the initiative was strengthened following challenges observed during the pandemic.
BAN Toxics Philippines is a non-government organization advocating for sound chemicals and waste management practices and environmental justice.
“We saw during the pandemic that hospitals—both public and private—were overwhelmed with piles of waste. This project is being implemented to ensure that we are better prepared for similar situations and that healthcare waste is properly managed,” Dizon said.
He also underscored the importance of proper waste handling and segregation inside healthcare facilities.
“There are two types of waste generated in hospitals—medical or infectious waste and solid waste. Infectious waste must be properly treated before disposal because it poses serious health risks, while solid waste should be segregated according to the law and supported by policies such as the ban on single-use plastics,” he said.
In EVMC, the initial audit report revealed that plastics account for 78 percent of the total waste composition — 54 percent from infectious waste, indicating widespread use of medical textiles, sanitary products, and other medical plastics in patient-care areas, and 24 percent from general or non-hazardous waste.
Data shows that even non-clinical areas are significant contributors to plastic waste in the region’s largest hospital. These include plastic foodware and other single-use plastics such as 'labo' bags and sachets.
Dizon said the initiative is expected to expand nationwide to ensure safer environments for patients and health workers.
“It has the potential to expand. We are already talking to other regional hospitals, not only in Luzon and the Visayas, but also in Mindanao because we have a lot of hospitals and healthcare facilities there that are big and also need this kind of project,” he said.
The “Nurse Susie” Roadshow at EVMC is now in its second phase and is part of the Toxics-Free Hospitals Campaign of the HCWM Project.
The roadshow began last week at the Quirino Memorial Medical Center and will continue at the Cagayan Valley Medical Center in April.
This shouldn't even be an issue! Hospitals should be the gold standard of cleanliness. But this is the Philippines after all.
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