More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
ABS-CBN has held its first Kapamilya Fair since the pandemic.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/2024/4/27/star-music-artists-grace-grand-kapamilya-summer-fair-mini-concert-2107 |
The crowd went for the performances of The Voice Philippines Season 2 champion Jason Dy, actor-singers Marlo Mortel and Gello Marquez, former Pinoy Big Brother housemate Madame Inutz, talent manager Wilbert Tolentino, music duo allen&elle, and young OPM artists like Fana, Bryan Chong, Cesca, Neeyong, and Dani Zam.
The mini-concert ended with the lighting of the Quezon Monument, including the lights of ABS-CBN tri-colors — red, green, and blue.
"Any chance I get to be part of this and help our Kapamilya, give them entertainment, and joy, and be able to share our music, super fulfilling for us," said Dy, who thrilled the crowd with his electrifying performances of his original titles 'Ulit-Ulit' and 'Magsabi ka Lang,' which he dropped in March.
"I'm here for our Kapamilyas. It has been so long. 'Good Karma' is about my personal experiences. I hope I get to share and relate to them through this song," said Mortel.
Other Kapamilya artists also graced the fair earlier like KD Estrada, BGYO, new P-pop group 1621BC, Keisha Paulo, and Vivoree.
Estrada promoted iWant TFC shows, saying: "It reaches globally and fellow OFWS who miss the Philippines. It is a way to connect people together."
"Fans always show their love and support, the least we can do is show that love back, acknowledge it, and show they are being appreciated," he added.
Throughout the day, guests enjoyed various services and wellness activities offered by the booths during the day. Some attendees also grabbed some pre-loved items donated by ABS-CBN News reporters.
QMC management said nearly 12,000 people flocked to the event.
This marks the first Kapamilya fair since the pandemic, with the last similar event held in 2019.
Even though Duterte had them shut down ABS-CBN refuses to stay down.
In LA a wellness center has been opened up for Fil-Ams.
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| https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/4/27/fil-am-nonprofit-opens-new-wellness-center-in-la-1939 |
With homelessness, and physical and mental health among the pressing issues in Historic Filipinotown, the community continues to find ways to address them.
One of the newest solutions is the Lucena on Court, a housing complex and community space built on what used to be an ice cream cone factory.
"To see what this has become over the decades, we’re getting housing," said Artnelson Concordia, a resident, "the wrap-around services that are directly connected to the need of our community, I’m tripping."
The project took about a year and a half to complete and is operated by Meta Housing and the Foundation for Affordable Housing.
The Filipino-led nonprofit, The Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA) has partnered with them in opening its HiFi Well-being Center inside the Lucena on Court.
"The project is an example of how private and public partnerships can work together to create lasting change," said Jonathan Russo of the Foundation for Affordable Housing.
SIPA, which marks its 51st year in 2024, viewed the opening of its new facility as a chance to reach out to more residents in the neighborhood.
It previously opened its main headquarters with a housing complex down the street and had partnered with several other affordable housing projects throughout the city.
"We are heavily grateful to work with SIPA, a nonprofit that’s heavily rooted in this community and that’s active in this community," said Ivana Wang of Meta Housing. "We value your partnership."
SIPA’s wellness center at Lucena on Court will be operating many of their physical and mental health programs along with food distributions, and even counseling services.
"It’s really important to have a place like this for residents of Historic Filipinotown," said SIPA executive director Kimmy Maniquis. "Coming out of the pandemic has been really challenging, the economic conditions currently really do impact the most vulnerable."
She added: "So, opening up 45 units of affordable housing is really important in (Historic) Filipinotown where the cost of living is going up tremendously."
So. coming out of the pandemic Fil-Ams need low cost housing because they are part of the "most vulnerable."
Speaking of Fil-Ams, Asian hate crimes are no longer prevalnet in NYC.
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| https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1223583 |
The incidence of pandemic-fueled hate crimes targeting Asian or Filipino immigrants has died down in the state of New York, the Philippine Consulate General reported.
Philippine Consul General in New York Senen Mangalile said “hate crimes” in general still exist but those targeting Asian immigrants are “not happening” anymore.
“I will say that there is no Asian hate crime prevalence in New York, just hate crimes and that’s driven by the mental health issue of the perpetrators,” he told visiting Filipino journalists at the Philippine Center in Manhattan over the weekend.
“During the pandemic there’s really parang (it seemed like) they’re pinpointing Asians but now it’s not happening but everybody has to be aware of their surroundings and take personal precautions as always,” he added.
The coronavirus pandemic, which brought the world to a halt in 2020 until it was declared out in 2023, fueled rhetorics blaming Asian immigrants for carrying the disease into the US.
Such misinfirmation spurred a rise in racially based attacks.
At its peak, a 2021 Stop Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Hate study said Filipinos ranked third among Asians who experienced hate incidents and crimes, trailing Chinese and Koreans.
Assaults in New York state formally classified as Asian hate crimes reached 31 in 2020 and rose to 140 in 2021, according to the 2023 US Commission on Civil Rights report.
Of the total, 131 happened in New York City.
Filipino caregiver Belinda Thomas, who has been living in Manhattan for 16 years, shared a similar observation.
“I agree with that because I never experienced that. I'm always here in Manhattan, and I never experienced Asian hate here in New York City,” she said in an interview on April 27.
Thomas said she still feels safe living and working in the state despite reported incidents in the past.
Marivir Montebon, a Filipino journalist working in Queens, said she has not monitored hate-fueled crimes against a certain ethnicity lately.
“So far wala naman (there’s none) within the last maybe three months, so that’s good. But it doesn’t mean (there is totally none). We don’t know, wala lang na-report (It’s just that no one reported),” she said in a telephone interview.
These days, Montebon is more mindful as general hate-related crimes still occur here.
"I don’t take chances kasi hindi ka naman puwedeng maging kampante because New York is very busy and there are so many people na pakalat pakalat lang (you cannot be complacent because New York is very busy and there are different kinds of people out and about there)," she said.
Anyone really paying attention knows there was no uptick in "Asian hate crimes" due to the pandemic. The perpetrators were all either mentally ill, violent blacks, or both. The Philippine Consul General even makes the bizarre statement "here is no Asian hate crime prevalence in New York, just hate crimes and that’s driven by the mental health issue of the perpetrators" which only serves to prove the point. I wrote about this issue in an article in 2021.
Back in the Philippines, the Mimaropa region continues to exceed pre-pandemic performance.
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| https://pia.gov.ph/news/2024/04/29/mimaropa-economy-continues-to-surpass-pre-pandemic-level-performance |
The economy of the Mimaropa region was estimated at P411.4 billion in 2023 from P393 billion in 2022, and it also surpasses the pre-pandemic performance with a margin of P24.7 billion compared with the 2019 level, as reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) during a press conference at the Filipiniana Hotel and Convention Center on April 25.
PSA regional director Leni R. Rioflorido said that the industries with the fastest growth rates were accommodation and food services activities with 30.9 percent; other services with 16.0 percent and public administration and defense; compulsory social activities with 13.8 percent, which was also the fastest growth among the 17 regions in the country.
The region’s services grew by 8.8 percent in 2023 which is the third fastest growth among the regions in the country. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing in the region, which was recorded as the second fastest growth among the regions in the country, grew by 6.2 percent in 2023 from a 2.4 percent decline in 2022.
Meanwhile, the region’s total industry posted a 1.8 percent decline in 2023 due to reduction in mining and quarrying by 18.0 percent, and manufacturing by 4.9 percent. Yet, despite the decline, Mimaropa region had the third largest share of the total mining and quarrying in the country.
Among the major industries, services accounted for the biggest share of 49.8 percent, followed by industry with 31.9 percent share and agriculture, forestry and fishing with 18.2 percent shares.
NAIA is also on track to surpass pre-pandemic levels of travelers.
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| https://www.philstar.com/business/2024/05/01/2351595/naia-passenger-traffic-grows-12-percent-12-million-q1 |
Passenger volume at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is slowly building up, growing by 12 percent in the first quarter as airlines mounted more flights.
Based on data from NAIA operator Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the country’s main gateway improved its passenger volume to 12.15 million from January to March, from 10.86 million a year ago.
NAIA also grew its flight movement by nine percent to 70,737, buoyed by the booming demand for air travel globally.
MIAA said international passenger footprint ballooned by a fourth to 5.89 million while domestic passenger traffic rose by two percent to 6.26 million, sustaining its upward trend from 2023.
Similarly, MIAA said the international flight total of the airport went up by 21 percent to 28,478, signaling the recovering confidence of airlines to connect the Philippines abroad. Domestic flight volume also increased by two percent to 42,259.
NAIA is gaining pace in its push to recover to pre-pandemic levels as airlines are mounting new services and additional frequency from the airport.
NAIA tallied a record 279,953 flights in the first full year out of the pandemic in 2023. The flight total in 2023 surpassed the pre-pandemic high of 271,535 in 2019.
Apart from this, the airport welcomed 45.39 million passengers last year, up by 47 percent from 30.94 million in 2022. As such, the gateway is close to reaching its 2019 record of 47.69 million, and MIAA is confident that it can make full recovery in 2024.
That would also indicate the number of tourists is growing thus the DOT will also meet its goals.
The pandemic greatly interrupted schooling as students were forced to learn via long distance through zoom. One NGO has given a grant to Teach for the Philippines to help students "recover from learning loss exacerbated by the pandemic."
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| https://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/teach-for-the-philippines-receives-usd250000-grant-to-address-learning-loss |
TEACH for the Philippines announced a USD 250,000 grant from Visa Foundation to support its nationwide student and leadership development programs.
Visa Foundation will enable Teach for the Philippines (TFP) to help public school students and communities recover from learning loss exacerbated by the pandemic.
The grant will support student development programs that significantly improve the reading, numeracy, and life skills of early graders, and leadership development programs that deploy transformative teachers and changemakers in schools, as well as education governance agencies.
Through this partnership, TFP aims to improve learning and life outcomes for Filipino children and communities nationwide.
The grant is a part of the Visa Foundation Gives program, an ongoing initiative launched in 2022 dedicated to addressing local social issues in the communities where Visa employees live and work.
The initiative will also enable Visa employees to volunteer with Teach for the Philippines to further advance its mission and amplify their impact in the community.
If the DepEd cannot properly equip schools to assist in leaning then $250,000 is hardly going to fix the problems faced by Philippine students.
