Coronavirus Lockdown: Airborne, Endemicity, and More!

More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government. 

Despite the government continuing to stoke fears about a possible resurgence of the virus and further lockdowns its appears that COVID-19 is becoming endemic.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171575

The Philippines is seeing some signs of Covid-19 endemicity despite the new threat posed by the recombinant variant Omicron XE, according to an infectious disease expert on Wednesday.

In a televised public briefing, Department of Health – Technical Advisory Group member Dr. Edsel Salvaña said endemicity is a gradual process a country goes through.

“(We can see the signs of endemicity here – the health system is not pressured, [admissions are] manageable, we have cure [for cases]) and we know how to prevent [cases] it with masks and vaccines. In a way, it’s becoming endemic,” Salvaña said.

Daily coronavirus cases remain low, a step forward toward endemicity, he added. However, the public has to remain vigilant in utilizing safeguards like the minimum health protocols to avoid possible surge in infections.

Health experts said endemic phase means that the pandemic will not end with the virus disappearing. Even as the virus continues to circulate, enough people will gain protection from vaccination and from natural infection, resulting in less transmission and less Covid-19-related hospitalization and death.

Even though there are signs of endemicity the government seems as if they are about to come down hard with requiring booster shots for everyone. One proposal they are considering to get rid of vaccines before they expire is going door to door.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171552

The National Task Force Against Covid-19 is currently "studying" the proposal to implement a house-to-house vaccination drive amid concerns over Covid-19 vaccine doses nearing expiration, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Acting presidential spokesperson and Communications Secretary Martin Andanar made this remark after President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said the government may embark on a “last minute” house-to-house Covid-19 vaccination program to ensure they are used before they expire.

These won't necessarily be booster shots but some may be. Either way DOH Secretary Duque wants to require booster cards.

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/08/22/duque-backs-proposal-to-require-booster-cards

Health Secretary Francisco Duque said Friday he supports a proposal to require proof of booster vaccination against COVID-19 for entry into establishments and public transportation.

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has recommended mobility restrictions for individuals who will fail to get their booster jabs within 30 to 60 days after they become eligible for the additional vaccine dose. 

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases will still have to deliberate on the matter next week, Duque said.

“I personally support this because of proven waning immunity over time against COVID after vaccination with the primary series. And booster has been proven to bring back adequate protection to those who received it,” he said.

An enabling law is needed for mandatory vaccination, Health spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire reiterated.

(Secretary Duque specifically stated that just to respond that the national government is doing everything so all can be reached by vaccines and we can ramp up inoculation.)

(An enabling law is needed for mandatory vaccination or booster, which comes from legislators and that's why Duque mentioned it.)

For labor group Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the proposed mobility restrictions on un-boosted individuals have the same effect as “mandatory” vaccination, which it said is illegal.

“The TUCP warns the government in forcing mandatory vaccination of booster shots. Mandatory vaccination is illegal under the law. And based on our recent experience, forcing workers to vaccinate and to have them boostered makes government not credible, not believable,” TUCP Spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

It would seem Duque wants to make booster shots mandatory which won't sit will with a lot of people. Say what you will about Duque and the rest of the government's heavy handed response to the pandemic with economic crippling lockdowns and continuing to keep students from school, the WHO says the Philippines' response has been great.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171800

The World Health Organization has commended the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In an online media forum, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said WHO Regional Director for Western Pacific, Dr. Takeshi Kasai, commended Health Secretary Francisco Duque III's "solid leadership" amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

"(The Covax also commended our immediate purchase of Covid-19 vaccines. The government and Department of Health do all these for the protection of all Filipinos)," she said, referring to the global initiative for supporting fair vaccine allocation.

WHO are they kidding? The Philippines' response to the pandemic was to immediately and unnecessarily lock down the entire nation. The effects of that lockdown are being felt and will continue to be felt years from now.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1580340/closer-look-at-ph-jobs-picture-shows-little-stable-employmen

To pave the way for real economic recovery, the government should shake off its complacency in resolving the jobs crisis and help Filipinos without work, small businesses and the production industry.

This was stressed by the Ibon Foundation on Thursday (April 7) as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released the results of the February 2022 Labor Force Survey, saying that the economy is still finding it hard to generate enough work.

The Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR)—the employed and people who are still actively seeking employment—was 63.8 percent or 48.61 million, higher than January’s 60.5 percent.

There was likewise a rise in employed individuals—from 43.02 million in January to 45.48 million in February. The 93.6 percent employment rate was higher than the 91.2 percent over the same period last year.

However, while the unemployment rate was still 6.4 percent in February, it translated to 3.13 million jobless Filipinos or 200,000 more compared to January’s 2.93 million.

The PSA said there was a decline in underemployment rate—from 14.9 percent in January to 14 percent in February. This translated to 6.38 million people who are already employed but still looking for longer hours of work.

While it was “not catastrophic,” Ibon Foundation said it’s “not a good sign” that the unemployment rate was 6.4 percent even though COVID-19 restrictions were already eased in February.

It stressed that this indicated that the economy’s ability to create enough work has not even recovered to how it was when the Philippines was not yet hit by the COVID-19.

Ibon Foundation said the government should not take the rise in employment at face value, stressing that the economy and people’s livelihoods are clearly not normalizing: “They remain in crisis and crisis measures are needed as ever.”

“The government needs to immediately distribute substantial cash and employment assistance to vulnerable Filipinos and provide subsidies to small businesses and production sectors,” it said.

“This will not only help poor households cope with the jobs crisis but will contribute to jumpstarting the economy towards recovery,” the think tank said.

The solution to this problem is not going to be easy but handing out cash to everyone will only increases inflation. Where will the money come from anyway? Not to mention the corruption from the Bayanihan cash much of which never even made it to the people. The fact is the lockdowns have permanently crippled the Philippines' economy and for many there is no going back.

There is a lot of fear mongering going on about another possible surge in cases. This has prompted authorities to remind everyone to follow health protocols which is basically blaming the public. But not only do face masks and vaccines not prevent infection it turns out that the virus is ariborne.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1581501/covid-is-airborne-and-why-it-took-who-2-years-to-admit-it

Earlier this year, President Rodrigo Duterte expressed bewilderment about how Omicron, a variant of the COVID-causing virus SARS Cov-2, was able to infect more people, including those who just stayed home.

“This Omicron has hit so many people who wear masks, who are vaccinated. Even those who just stay at home, they get infected,” Duterte said, speaking in a mix of English and Filipino, addressing his question to Health Secretary Francisco Duque in a taped meeting aired last Jan. 17.

“There are others—or there are many of them—who are vaccinated who still get infected. Is that airborne? There are so many people who are already wearing masks who still get infected,” Duterte went on.

Duque, who was asked to answer Duterte’s curious question, did not categorically answer whether the COVID virus is airborne.

However, he pointed to “token compliance” of minimum health standards, like improper wearing of face masks, as a possible reason for the spread of Omicron.

“Those who get infected are either wearing their mask wrongly or with their nose sticking out. That’s useless. That is what we call token compliance, but it’s the wrong way of doing things,” Duque said.

“It is the wrong way of complying with our minimum public health standards. For example, when it comes to avoiding contact, instead of [distancing] one meter, people talk close together,” he added.

Because the virus is airborne that means "that guidelines based on droplet transmission — such as standing six feet apart and wearing cloth masks — were inadequate infection prevention strategies." The virus can travel further than one meter and face masks can't stop you from inhaling it. That means the public is not to be blamed for the spread of the virus. Despite face masks being ineffective at stoping the spread of the virus and a source of pollution Duterte says they are here to stay until the end of his term.

It's both Holy Week and Ramadan but if you are thinking about going to church or the mosque think again, unless you are vaccinated that is.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1581749/only-vaccinated-persons-can-enter-places-of-worship-ano

Only individuals fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will be allowed to enter the places of worship, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said on Monday during the taped weekly “Talk to the People” briefing of President Rodrigo Duterte that aired Monday night.

That is clearly the rule of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) regardless of the COVID-19 alert level, Año said.

He made the reminder as Muslims were in the middle of marking Ramadan and Catholics the Holy Week.

“All of our religious groups follow [the rule],” he said.

The rule will also be implemented in mosques in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), he added.

According to Año, the Philippine National Police (PNP), which operates under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), has been directed to coordinate with BARMM officials for the implementation of the rule.

The BARMM has been an area of concern in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, as only 20 percent of the target population there has been vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the national vaccine manager.

That is a massive amount of overreach. How are they going to enforce this rule? Have cops at the entrance to every place of worship checking vaccine cards? It's an insane policy.

The number of lockdowns across the nation has decreased to four households.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1580818/no-ncr-area-on-lockdown-for-the-1st-time-since-2020

For the first time since March 2020, no area or even household in any of Metro Manila’s 16 cities and one municipality was considered on lockdown, the National Capital Region Police Office(NCRPO) confirmed on Saturday.

Even across the nation, only four households, with seven COVID-19 infected individuals, in the Cordillera Administrative Region remained on granular lockdown, as of April 8.

The Philippine National Police, however, reported that there were still 292 quarantine control points throughout the country, but none in Metro Manila nor Central Luzon.

It looks like I might have to change the title of this series.

Filipino Teachers Are Forced to Repair Classrooms at Their Own Expense as the DepEd Withholds Funds

For two years face-to-face classes have been suspended. Now that school is about to resume teachers are rushing to prepare. This includes taking out loans to fix their classrooms.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1578832/teachers-taking-out-loans-to-prepare-classrooms

After the rigors of distance learning, perennially underpaid public school teachers now have to use personal resources to retrofit classrooms in preparation for face-to-face classes.

Teachers Dignity Coalition chair Benjo Basas on Tuesday cited reports of teachers having to take out loans in order to buy paint, iron sheets and glass panes to get their classrooms ready.

“That is the problem [of] our teachers. While they are sincere in volunteering, they are being taken advantage of,” Basas said in a phone interview.

He said teachers were not only providing free labor for the enhancement of their classrooms but also soliciting funds from private donors to buy the materials needed for face-to-face classes.

The Department of Education (DepEd) acknowledged the teachers’ added burden and advised them to coordinate with their respective school heads for possible reimbursement.

“We confirm that there are teachers who are doing beyond the regular work for beautifying, enhancing and putting more things in the classroom,” Annalyn Sevilla, DepEd undersecretary for finance, said in a Tuesday press briefing.

“We are thankful to our teachers [for] their creativity and resourcefulness, but we don’t want them to be abused as well,” Sevilla said.

Apart from the regular funds for maintenance and other operating expenses, the DepEd has provided an additional budget of close to P1 billion to support the expansion of in-person classes nationwide.

There are items that can be reimbursed, such as supplies, under the department’s budget and accounting rules and regulations, Sevilla said. Thus, teachers were told to approach their school heads to discuss the existing policies.

But Basas was skeptical. Responding to Sevilla’s statement that teachers could reach out to school heads to talk about reimbursement, he said: “Can they really reimburse [the teachers’ expenses]? Teachers are willing to spend, but they should not be given false hopes.”

This is absolutely shameful. Taking "out loans in order to buy paint, iron sheets and glass panes to get their classrooms ready?" Have the schools become so rundown in two years that they need to be completely refurbished? If the schools need new glass window panes or a new coat of paint shouldn't the Department of Education be paying professionals to do that? They have enough money for personal vehicles.

Why does the DepEd need their own fleet of vehicles? 

So, where are all the funds?

https://mb.com.ph/2022/03/14/wheres-the-budget-deped-urged-to-swiftly-mobilize-funds-for-in-person-classes/

With the gradual resumption of in-person learning in schools, a group urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to ensure that there will be enough funds for the progressive expansion of face-to-face classes.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, in a statement issued Monday, March 14, asked the DepEd where the budget for school reopening preparations is. This, after receiving reports, that teachers had to spend their own money to fulfill the requirements for the resumption of face-to-face classes. 

“Our teachers and school heads are toiling in schools even on weekends to clean the classrooms, repaint desks, install signages, and others at their own expense so that their schools will pass the validation process for inclusion in the implementation of limited face-to-face classes,” ACT Secretary General Raymond Basilio said. 

ACT alleged that in Tarlac, for instance, “teachers shell out money from their own pockets to prepare their classrooms for the expanded implementation of limited face-to-face classes.” 

Based on the accounts of teachers and school heads, Basilio said that the participating schools have not received any additional budget to fund the requirements set by the DepEd and the Department of Health (DOH) to qualify for the limited in-person learning. 

“However, it is not fair that they and their already too meager salaries are made to bear the burden of physically preparing the schools,” he added. 

Basilio alleged almost six months since the DepEd had announced that it is pursuing limited face-to-face classes, the “funds are still unavailable on the ground.” 

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers??  Who cares what they have to say right? They are a communist front don't ya know?

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/03/31/2171110/duterte-pinoys-dont-vote-kabag-candidates

In his public address last Monday, Duterte said the rebels have used the party-list system to infiltrate Congress and referred to them by the acronym KABAG (stomach pains in Filipino).

“You will see from their behavior and the way they espouse their advocacy for a party, their drift is really to the left,” Duterte said. “So you won’t forget, remember the KABAG: Kabataan-K, Anakpawis-A, Bayan Muna-B, (Alliance) of Concerned Teachers- A and Gabriela.”

He accused them of being legal fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), political arm of the communist rebels. In the House of Representatives, these party-list groups form the so-called Makabayan bloc.

“Do not vote for them,” the President said. “Let us put an end to that. Let us give everything to the barangays. We are wasting lives. We are wasting money.”

ACT should not expect their concerns to be addressed anytime soon. That's a win against the insurgency right? Wrong. It's a loss for the Philippines as teachers with low morale and low pay aren't going to be offering adequate instruction because their minds will be elsewhere. As it is less than 10 percent of Filipino children can read simple text or comprehend a simple story.

Insurgency: Work in Progress

NTF-ELCAC spokesman Lorraine Badoy claims her offices programs are working. The proof is in the number of NPA rebels who have surrendered.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171405

Close to 24,000 communist rebels who surrendered to the government are overwhelming proof of the success of the "whole-of-nation approach" being implemented under President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order No. 70 that created the National Task Force to End Local Communists Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), paving the way for genuine and lasting peace.

This was the statement released by the NTF-ELCAC through Spokesperson for Sectoral Concerns and Presidential Communications Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy during its weekly virtual press conference, in response to the baseless remarks made by jailed and reelectionist Senator Leila de Lima about the alleged failure of the task force.

In support of Badoy's pronouncement, Navy Capt. Ferdinand Buscato, Executive Director of Task Force Balik Loob, reported that among the 23,641 former members of various communist terrorist groups (CTGs) who surrendered to government authorities, 2,052 are considered “violent extremists.”

Most of the former communist rebels who surrendered, Buscato said, are now enjoying the fruits of their return to the fold of the law, as they have been reintegrated into society with NTF-ELCAC's assistance including livelihood for their families.

Now, if you have been following this blog you would know that number is totally bogus. Last year we were told that between July 2016 and May 2021 18,000 communists rebels had surrendered. Only 3,684 were regular NPA members. The rest were supporters of various kinds.

Now we are to believe that since May 2021 nearly 6,000 communist rebels have surrendered. That is an incredible number. How many were actual NPA fighters? And who are the 2,052 "violent extremists?" Are they NPA fighters? Will the be able to avail of the government's generous benefits program which includes cash, a house, and job training? It is important to know exactly who is surrendering and they never tell the public. Instead they lump everyone together. Remember in 2016 the public was told there were roughly 5,000 NPA fighters. Could it be that they are recruiting and losing members at record speed?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1170916

The League of Parents of the Philippines (LPP) has raised alarm on the call for “intensified recruitment” particularly among the youth by the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), during its 53rd founding anniversary on Tuesday.

LPP chairperson Remy Rosadio said there’s nothing to celebrate in “another attempt” to destruct Filipino lives, particularly the youth.

“It must not be a joyous celebration for Filipino people. This day only marks the atrocities of the communist terrorist groups for already 53 years. This day should only remind us that many of our children's lives had been sacrificed by the communists’ worthless ideologies,” Rosario said during an indignation rally in Mendiola, Manila City on Tuesday.

Members of the anti-communist groups LPP, Liga Independencia Pilipinas, and Yakap ng mga Magulang condemned the 53 years of atrocities perpetrated by the CPP-NPA-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) and its front organizations’ illegal recruitment of youth to join the armed struggle.

“Many parents still crying for the loss of their children who were deceptively recruited by the legal front of CPP-NPA-NDF headed by Joma Sison,” Rosadio said.

On its official website, the CPP-NPA said it will creatively enhance its guerilla tactics “in order to wage extensive and intensive guerrilla warfare on an ever-widening and deepening mass base.”

“As always, the key is to arouse the broad masses of the Filipino people in order for them to rise up in great numbers against the fascist tyranny. In the coming year or two, we must carry out some specific tasks to raise the fighting capacity of the NPA and the masses in order to steadily advance of the revolution,” the CPP's 20-page anniversary statement read.

The CPP said the NPA should muster its strength “militarily and politically.”

“The masses are the source of strength of the NPA. We must aim to strengthen the ties that bind the NPA and the masses. We must aim to mobilize the masses in their numbers,” it said. “There must be a clear plan to recruit thousands upon thousands of Red fighters from among the peasant masses, especially the youth.”

Who knows if the "broad masses of the Filipino people" will be aroused from their slumber to fight the...uh...government? It seems unlikely however there is one interesting thing from this official statement:

The Party and the NPA have successfully frustrated Duterte and his military generals in their repeated declarations of crushing the people’s armed resistance. This is not without losses, of course, due to some internal weaknesses and shortcomings, particularly in terms of adjusting to the changed military situation borne out of the enemy’s new arsenal of weapons and strategies which requires the NPA to adapt new guerrilla methods and tactics of fighting. The preservation and successes of the NPA in most guerrilla fronts, however, continue to prove the political superiority of the people’s war against the enemy’s war against the people.

https://cpp.ph/statements/raise-the-fighting-capability-of-the-npa-and-the-masses-persevere-and-advance-along-the-path-of-protracted-peoples-war/

The truth is that despite Duterte's pledge to end the insurgency before his term ends and all the top military brass taking up that charge the insurgency is not ending anytime soon. Duterte says it's a work in progress.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171161

Despite acknowledging the achievements in the government’s anti-insurgency efforts, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Thursday said the journey towards dismantling communist-terrorist groups in the country remains a "work in progress.”

Speaking during the joint meeting between the National Task Force and Regional Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-RTF-ELCAC) in Region 7 (Central Visayas) in Lapu-Lapu City, he commended the NTF- and RTF-ELCAC for collectively realizing the government’s “holistic and whole-of-the-nation approach” in resolving communist insurgency.

“Your serious efforts to deliver the basic services in conflict-affected areas truly helped in bringing the government closer to the Filipino people,” he said.

He, however, said the government initiative should not stop here.

“The completion of our commitments to achieving peace for the country remains critical in the remaining three months of this administration,” he added.

Duterte enjoined local chief executives in Central Visayas to synergize their local efforts with the NTF RTF-ELCAC in the fight against lawlessness and insurgency and to support the administration's key programs in achieving sustainable security.

“To the government's national and local partners in this endeavor, we assure you of the administration's unrelenting support in your respective initiatives in securing lasting peace,” he said.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged the consequences of continued armed encounters between the military and the communist rebels.

“The idea really is to dismantle. Of course, killing is part of the territory when fighting the communists. Huwag na kayo magtaka na may mamatay diyan (Don’t be surprised if somebody dies there),” he said.

Duterte said his wish for the next administration to continue providing support to the NTF-ELCAC.

“I hope even beyond my term as president our efforts to end local government armed conflict in our regions will never be in vain. The Filipino people deserve a peaceful and prosperous nation and that is what the government should provide. Let us all work hard together for this,” he added.

It seems that Duterte is not confident the insurgency will be crushed within the next 3 months. And he's right. It won't be. Remember, the insurgency is more than the NPA. According to the government it is the KABAG partylist groups too. It's hilarious because KABAG is the initials of the partylist groups but it also means something else.

A self-confessed socialist, President Duterte reiterated his beef against the “Makabayan bloc” and quoted Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) who first identified and christened the “Makabayan bloc” lawmakers with an acronym “KABAG.” The acronym “KABAG” stood for the first letters of the names of the five party list groups, namely: Kabataan; Anak-Pawis; Bayan Muna; Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT); and, Gabriela.

Obviously, this was to denigrate the name of the “Makabayan bloc” which in the English language means patriotic, or love for country.

Actually, “kabag” is a Tagalog word denoting someone has stomachache, or heartburn due to indigestion, or acidic stomach.

When babies suffer “kabag,” my late mother advised us just to make them burp or belch, or make them fart to get the unwanted air out their stomach.

https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2022/04/01/2171374/hot-air-kabag

Kabag doesn't mean merely stomachache. It means flatulence. Gas. Farts. So, the patriotic bloc is now the fart bloc. How mature. 

The fact is the government admits it is having a hard time fighting the communists. They claim the second highest official in the land, Vice President Leni Robredo, is in cahoots with the CPP-NPA. The NICA claims there are up to 400,000 communists who have infiltrated various ranks in the government. The partylists which have members in the House have all been linked to the CPP-NPA. No one can say a single word against the Duterte administration or make a single humanitarian gesture without being labelled a communist. Lorraine Badoy is George McCarthy on steroids except McCarthy was 100% correct as history has shown him to be. 

What more could I possibly post here? I collect all the headlines. NPA surrenderers, NPA fronts have been demolished, ASG members surrender, NPA on the way out. It's all the same thing every week. I want to end with a little bit of advice for Badoy. Shut up! If you have the goods and you know who is who then go after them. Don't warn them. Don't alert them. Go after them and get them. If the NTF-ELCAC wants to end the insurgency and they know exactly who is a part of that insurgency then they need to go get them. Use warrants that are bulletproof and not faulty and will be tossed out by the court. Don't use deadly force because you want the people on your side. But most of all...SHUT UP and stop accusing people left and right! Be quiet and do what needs to be done behind the scenes and end the insurgency.

But they are not going to do that. For one it's quite a hard task seeing as the Makabayn Bloc has affiliates overseas who are constantly raising money which is allegedly being funneled to the CPP. It's a difficult task. And after 53 years?  Perhaps the insurgency is now endemic. Perhaps the NTF-ELCAC doesn't want the insurgency to end. After all if the insurgency ended Lorraine Badoy would be out of a job.

The God Culture: You Do Not Live in a Third World Country

Ashamed American and Proud Filipino Timothy Jay Schwab of The God Culture has a profound message for his fellow kababayans. You do not live in a third world country.

10:53 Because He's gonna pour out His Spirit on all flesh. And we're gonna see prophecies and we're gonna see visions and dreams and we're gonna see people being moved and in this nation as the identity of the Philippines is restored we will see that more than in anywhere else on earth. Now, how do I know that? It all goes back to what I'm about to teach you. It all goes back to your identity. Who are you and what is this land?

You do not live in a third world country. I'm sorry, they can try to misdefine it all they want. They have more resources in this nation than practically any place on earth. In fact in all resources on earth the Philippines, the little Philippines, ranks number five in overall resources on all of the earth.    

https://www.facebook.com/sabbathbc.congregation/videos/460905962381641

So, let me get this straight. The Philippines is not a third world country because the nation has a lot of resources? And what are these resources? Untapped mineral reserves? There's gold in the earth and that makes the Philippines precious and its people special? The very notion is ridiculous.

First of all the term third world comes from the Cold War. It is not a derogatory term.

The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_World

So, Tim is dead wrong. The Philippines is indeed a third world nation in respect of that definition.

Second of all the term third world country has come to mean a developing nation.

A developing country is a sovereign state with a less developed industrial base and a low Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries.

Developing countries tend to have some characteristics in common often due to their histories or geographies. For example, with regards to health risks, they commonly have: low levels of access to safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene; energy poverty; high levels of pollution (e.g. air pollution, indoor air pollution, water pollution); high proportion of people with tropical and infectious diseases (neglected tropical diseases); a high number of road traffic accidents; and generally poor infrastructure. Often, there is also widespread poverty, high crime rates, low education levels, inadequate access to family planning services, many informal settlements, corruption at all government levels, and political instability. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developing_country

Could there be a better description of the Philippines than the foregoing paragraph? Going by this definition Timothy Jay Schwab is, as always, wrong. The Philippines is certainly a third world country. Would a first world country be celebrating the fact no one is crapping outside?

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171111

The Department of Health (DOH) has recognized the town of Bobon, Northern Samar for achieving Zero Open Defecation (ZOD) status.

The DOH announced on Thursday that the town met the criteria based on validation by a team from the regional office, local government units, and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef).

“This is to encourage more municipalities in the region to vie for this very noble and effective strategy to promote environmental sanitation and a healthy Eastern Visayas,” said DOH regional information officer Jelyn Lopez Malibago in a Facebook post.

Bobon is the second town in Northern Samar to earn such status. Last year, Mapanas was declared the first town in the province to achieve the status by the regional validation team. 

Mapanas received PHP200,000 from the provincial government for accomplishing the elimination of open defecation, improved and safe sanitation practices in the town.

The Provincial Board earlier allowed the granting of incentives to towns in Northern Samar that achieved ZOD status as declared by the Department of Health (DOH).

Under the ZOD campaign, the DOH is pushing that each house should have a basic toilet facility by 2025 to achieve universal health care.

As of 2019, only 11 percent of villages nationwide (4,625 out of 42,045) are certified ZOD, where people have abandoned the practice of open defecation, according to DOH, and families have learned to use a toilet and wash their hands after use.

Only 11% of the villages in the Philippines have achieved zero outside defecation? What's wrong with these people? Don't they know the Philippines is full of resources and that their true identity is that they are the Lost Tribes of Israel? Why don't they act like it?

You know what's a more important resource than gold? Food! In the Philippines that means rice. Sadly the Philippines does not produce enough rice to feed the nation so they are, along with China, the world's number one importer of rice.

https://business.inquirer.net/290438/ph-still-worlds-biggest-rice-importer

The Philippines is expected to remain the world’s biggest rice importer this year even with a slowdown in importation due to excessive supply and improved local production.

In a report published this week, the United States Department of Agriculture-Foreign Agricultural Services projected the country’s rice imports to reach 2.5 million metric tons (MT) by year-end—lower by 13.8 percent from last year, but still the highest globally.

China, with a population of 1.4 billion, is expected to remain the second biggest rice importer in the world with 2.3 million MT of imported rice.

The Philippines became the world’s biggest rice importer last year with a record 2.9 million MT after the government removed importation limits.

Despite being an agricultural country and with the Department of Agriculture (DA) devoting a bulk of its budget to improve local production, the Philippines’ rice imports have nearly quadrupled in the last three years.

The rice problem continues to grow and there is no end in sight to importing the nation's staple food. I have written at length about the rice problems elsewhere. But why can't the rice farmers realize that the Philippines has lots of resources and that their true identity is that they are the Lost Tribes of Israel? Surely once the know that then domestic rice production will soar, right?

But let's go back to the untapped mineral resources that, according to Kuya Timothy Jay Schwab, make the Philippines not a third world country. Why do they remain untapped after thousands of years?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/business/article/2074698/whats-stopping-philippines-mining-its-riches

When mining investors talk of the Philippines, they often boast of its wealth of untapped mineral reserves. But as one political controversy after another rocks the industry, miners are beginning to worry that’s all they will ever be: untapped.

In one fell swoop, the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shut down more than half of all operating mines last month. According to Secretary Gina Lopez, its audit found “serious environmental violations” in 23 of the country’s 41 mines. The department also cancelled contracts for 75 mining projects still in their exploration stages. The projects are located in watersheds; Lopez said they never should have been approved to begin with.

The country has been marred by many mining disasters, from toxic leaks to mudslides, land-grabbing to smuggling. For many Filipinos, it’s refreshing to see a strong figure standing up against the miners.

The last few years have been difficult for the Philippine mining industry. In 2012, the government decided to overhaul the entire mining tax system, placing a moratorium on all new investment until a new tax law was passed. Five years on, there has been little progress and the moratorium still stands.

“Quite obviously, no foreign investor is going to risk putting money in the Philippines at this point,” Wallace said. “Mining companies are used to dealing with high-risk countries. But there is a limit to what they will take. And where the government can capriciously implement bans and closures… they’re not going to take that chance.”

Mining has a marginal contribution to the Philippine economy. It accounted for just 0.6 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) and 0.6 per cent of total employment in 2015. But the numbers can be read both ways. The country is getting little out of the mineral reserves it has at hand.

The answer is the government. The Philippines sits on a treasure trove of resources and government regulations are keeping them from being mined.

https://www.bworldonline.com/the-mining-industry-can-save-the-economy/

Our cache of minerals amounts to well over a trillion US dollars, according to the Chamber of Mines. Our estimated levels of metallic and non-metallic minerals was at 7 billion metric tons and 50 billion metric tons, respectively, as per the last comprehensive audit conducted in 1994.

Gold deposits in the Philippines are among the largest in the world with reserves estimated at 101.6 million metric tons. Iron ore reserves are at 298 million metric tons. Among non-metallic minerals, limestone reserves are approximately 19.5 billion tons while marble reserves are at 14.5 billion tons. The Philippines leads the world in chromite resources too.

Despite our enormous mineral resources, the contribution of the mining industry to the economy remains minuscule. As of last year, the share of the mining output to GDP was a mere .06%. It contributed only 1.2% to national tax collection, and comprised only 6.3% of exports. In terms of jobs, it employed less than .04% of the workforce. In contrast, the mining sector in Indonesia accounts for 21% of exports and 7% of GDP.

The reason for the underwhelming performance is the moratorium imposed on new mining permits back in 2012 and the ban on open pit mining in 2017.

I am not going to sit here and type a long article listing everything that is wrong with the Philippines. From thousands of people dying every year due to diarrhea because they don't have access to clean water to fires razing the homes of hundreds of people because they are stacked on top of each other to government corruption I have written about it all on this blog. Documenting the facts about the Philippines no one wants to accept is what this blog is all about. 

If you come to this nation like Kuya Timothy Jay Schwab with blinders on your eyes or your head shoved into a place so that you cannot see what is happening then you're gonna have a bad time. You will be living in a world of lies and you will be, like Tim, telling those lies to others. Sure there's good things about this nation. Boracay is beautiful and there are a lot of untapped resources in the earth. But not everybody lives in Boracay. Many people live in shacks with corrugated tin roofs without proper access to clean running water or electricity. The untapped resources of this nation aren't helping them. Even if those resources were dug out of the earth they would not be helping those people. It's past time for Timothy Jay Schwab to stop lying to Filipinos about who they are and about the reality of this nation. 

"The unbearable whiteness of international law" is an Awful Opinion Column

On April 7, 2022 The Inquirer published one of the worst opinion pieces I have ever read. Unlike the columns of Rigoberto Tiglao which are smartly written while knowingly twisting the facts this article betrays a stunning lack of comprehension of its subject. In essence the writer, Raphael A. Pangalangan, thinks Poland is racist for taking in Ukraine refugees but not Afghan refugees.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/151860/the-unbearable-whiteness-of-international-law

Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine has uprooted the lives of over 10 million people—a quarter of the nation’s population.

The unabashed aggression has been met by an unprecedented humanitarian front. As of the end of March, 2,451,342 Ukrainian refugees had been welcomed into Poland alone—a stark contrast to its (non-)reception of Afghan asylum seekers just three months prior. Further west in Den Haag, just four days into the war, the International Criminal Court-Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) announced its intention to open an investigation into the situation in Ukraine. That decision was eventually overtaken by 41 state referrals allowing the OTP to bypass the need for judicial authorization and streamline the investigation process—a remarkable combination of prosecutorial nudging and political will unseen before.

Unfortunately, even in our decency, discrimination rears its ugly head. Indeed, while millions of Ukrainian refugees were welcomed across borders, non-Ukrainian refugees from India, Pakistan, Syria, and the Ivory Coast — that is, people of color — were denied entry.

Here we read Raphael's thesis which is completely unwarranted: Poland is racist for not taking in refugees of color. However, Poland shares a border with Ukraine therefore it is a no-brainer that Ukranians fleeing the war would seek refuge in Poland. In any storm one seeks refuge in the nearest shelter. With that principle in mind why would Poland accept refugees from Asia and Africa? Are there not countries bordering Pakistan, Syria, India, and the Ivory Coast which could take refugees? Of course there are. Turkey took in thousands of Syrian refugees but that was not good enough for those people who, like many so-called refugees, were really aiming to get into Europe, Canada, or the USA to avail of the massive benefits. In 2015 this resulted in the death of a young Syrian boy.

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/14/europe/alan-kurdi-syria-drowning-sentenced-intl/index.html

Three human traffickers have been sentenced in a Turkish court to 125 years each in prison over the tragic drowning in 2015 of Syrian toddler Alan Kurdi, who was pictured lying face down on a beach in a harrowing photo that became the symbol of the refugee crisis.

The men, who were the organizers of a trafficking ring, were captured by Turkish security forces this week in the southern province of Adana and sentenced on Friday, according to state news agency Andalou. 

The 3-year-old's body washed up on a beach in Bodrum, in southern Turkey, after a boat carrying refugees sank off the coast. An officer was pictured carrying the lifeless child away. 

The heartbreaking image of the boy on the beach went viral around the world, often with a Turkish hashtag meaning "flotsam of humanity." 

Twelve refugees drowned that day during a failed attempt to sail to the Greek island of Kos, including the toddler's 5-year-old brother, Galip, and their mother, Rehen. The boys' father, Abdullah, was the only survivor from their immediate family. He took their bodies back to Kobani in Syria for burial. 

The family had been trying to reach relatives in Vancouver, British Columbia.

This family was safe in Turkey but because Europe has essentially opened their borders they made a shot for Greece which ended in the death of this young boy. The photo of his corpse washed upon the shore became a symbol of the refugee crisis. It seems that Raphael is not aware that many of these refugees are trafficked by smugglers who charge large sums of money. This includes trafficking people across Africa to Italy via the Mediterranean Sea and up through South and Central America to the USA. For the most part these people are not fleeing war zones but are economic migrants looking for a better life. Funny that the better life is always in Europe, USA, Canada, or Australia and never the Philippines. No refugees are coming here. The Jews that the Philippines took in during World War II only came here as a last resort after being turned away by every other country.

But perhaps what is most appalling is how discrimination is not simply palpable but plain. News correspondents from around the globe were quick to express their alarm over witnessing a humanitarian crisis not in “Iraq or Afghanistan” but in a “relatively civilized, relatively European city,” involving “prosperous, middle-class people” that “look like any European family.” As if conflict has its place only in Asia. Ukraine’s deputy chief prosecutor himself put it more bluntly, and was “very emotional” to “see European people with blue eyes and blonde hair being killed.” As if color were a measure for cruelty. As if skin set the standard for suffering.

Why is it so wrong to express alarm that Europe is now at war again when by all measures there was stability for decades? The last large-scale conflict in Europe was World War II. Europe has been relatively peaceful especially since the collapse of the Berlin and the end of the Cold War. 

Pax Europaea (English: the European peace – after the historical Pax Romana), was the period of relative peace experienced by Europe in the period following World War II—often associated above all with the creation of the European Union (EU) and its predecessors. After the Cold War this peace was even more evident because of the fall in political tensions, with the major exception of the Yugoslav Wars, The Troubles in Northern Ireland and various tensions and wars involving or within Russia. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

However, due to the 2021-2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, this period is considered to have ended due to Russia declaring war on Ukraine, which could be the biggest European war since World War II

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Europaea

Meanwhile Africa, especially, has been a hot bed of seemingly endless violence. From the Rwandan Genocide to the many civil wars Africa has been soaked in blood throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. The Philippines has been fighting an insurgency since 1969 and the Middle East has been incessantly filled with conflict. 

What is wrong with a European expressing dismay at witnessing other Europeans being killed? Who wants to see members of their people group, their family as it were, getting slaughtered? Is it racist for American blacks to despair at seeing American blacks killing one another?

https://ktul.com/news/local/tulsans-rally-to-stop-black-on-black-crime-north-tulsa-homicide-lamar-norman-march-community-gun-violence

Co-organizer of the march, Richard Baxter, is tired of the violence, which is why he came up with the idea for the rally.

"When somebody Black is killed by somebody Black, it's not business as usual," he said. "We are the change. Enough is enough. No more gun violence in our community."

Is that racist?  According to Raphael it is.

Alas, in the field of international law, this is nothing new. In fact, structural racism is so deeply seated that, at times, it is easier to ignore it than address it. International law is historically whitewashed as Western creation through the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, ignoring a rich history of Babylonian peace treaties dating back deep into the BCE. Reference to “civilized nations” has been too easily explained away as a relic of history, yet remains enshrined in no less than the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The United Nations trumpets itself as “the world’s only truly universal global organization,” yet is straitjacketed by the veto of five.

What does ancient Babylon have to do with the emerging European order in the 17th century? Nothing at all. 

Scholars of international relations have identified the Peace of Westphalia as the origin of principles crucial to modern international relations, including the inviolability of borders and non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states. This system became known in the literature as Westphalian sovereignty.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Westphalia#Legacy

Did the ancient empire of Babylon respect "the inviolability of borders and non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states?" No. They were a conquering empire. Whatever treaties they may have made with surrounding nations has no bearing on the way international relations are conducted today. No one is consulting ancient Babylonian tablets to learn how to conduct international relations. In the 17th century Babylon was still buried in the sands of Iraq.

To sum up here this opinion column is completely ill-informed. Raphael A. Pangalangan boils everything down to racism without understanding the implications of actions such as indiscriminately taking in refugees especially those who are thousands of miles away like Syrians. He does not understand the global problem of human trafficking in which people pay big sums to get to white-ruled nations because said nations have an open door policy. He does not understand the implications of having huge refugee or immigrant communities which fundamentally change the nature of the nations they inhabit. See the UK, France, Germany, and Sweden especially as crimes have skyrocketed since Europe opened their borders.

How about the Philippines open its borders wide to thousands of Africans and Muslims and see what happens? What would the political, economic, and social consequences be? Perhaps Raphael A. Pangalangan can be charitable enough to house them. After all, he wouldn't want to appear racist.

It's strange to see an opinion column in a Philippine newspaper loaded with anti-white critical race theory balderdash. Perhaps Raphael is completely unaware of it but white people built the current post-World  War II order. I recommend he and everyone else read Tragedy and Hope by Caroll Quigley for further understanding of that order.