More news about how the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is being handled by the public and the government.
Iloilo City is in a quandary whether to pay for expired COVID-vaccines.
The local government here sought the guidance of the Commission on Audit (COA) on whether or not it would pay for COVID-19 vaccines procured in 2021, more than half of which had expired.
Assistant City Legal Officer Quintin Magsico, on Monday, March 27, said they had not paid British drugmaker AstraZeneca for 600,000 doses of Vaxzevria (formerly AZD-1222) after 416,700 doses expired.
He said the city government’s stand was either to not pay the pharmaceutical company, or have the vaccines replaced through the Department of Health (DOH).
“As protector of government funds, [the city government’s] stand is not to pay them unless there is a replacement. We will only pay what we have used. We will pay the entire amount if we were assured replacements through the DOH,” Magsico told the Inquirer.
The unused vaccines include 269,300 doses, which expired in March 2022, and 147,400 which expired in April 2022. Only 183,300 were utilized.
According to Magsico, laws on sales bind the city government to pay the drugmaker.
“If you look at it from the legal aspect, you ought to pay what is delivered. When the AstraZeneca facility’s [vaccines] arrived [in Iloilo], they were already good as delivered, because that was the agreement,” the lawyer explained.
“The memorandum of agreement was drafted by [the DOH], [which is] a contract of adhesion. We didn’t have a choice at the time. When you are in a crisis, you have to conform or not to conform. We couldn’t [easily] say what we wanted [in the contract], because it was pro forma, and all LGUs used the same pro forma contract [with the DOH]. We had no choice, we had to conform,” he added.
Magsico said their actions ultimately hinged on COA chairperson Gamaliel Cordoba’s advice, having written to him but have not received any response as of Tuesday.
“Until we get that instruction or guidance from COA, or assured of a replacement of those expired vaccines, we will not pay [AstraZeneca],” he said.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas earlier expressed his intent to terminate their agreement with AstraZeneca, citing the expiry of the vaccines.
They also previously moved to distribute these to other local governments in Iloilo province and Guimaras to avoid the expiration.
City General Services Office chief Joren Sartorio, who had been in charge of the vaccine’s logistics, cited delays in delivery as one of the main factors of the underutilization of these doses.
“[AstraZeneca] was manufacturing from India and Thailand, which also suffered from the pandemic, so they may have prioritized requirements there, which caused a delay in deliveries here,” said Sartorio.
“It was also during that time that production of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines also increased. The COVAX facility was able to deliver to the national government those vaccines, and later on, [from] private donors. Who can refuse those vaccines for the populace? For us in logistics, we had to accept those,” he added.
“When the AstraZeneca vaccines arrived, there were already many vaccines available, and the people, we didn’t understand why they preferred other brands. That caused the low utilization rate.”
Funny how they subtly blame the people for the expiration of the vaccines because they preferred other brands. No doubt too many vaccines of various varieties were ordered. The fact that they refuse to pay for what they ordered just shows that from the ICC on down the Philippines does not want to be bound to its commitments.
Cebu City has brought back its vaccination bribery program.
Fully vaccinated residents in this city get another chance to win a brand new car, motorcycles, appliances, a condo unit, and other prizes.
Mayor Michael Rama on Tuesday, March 28, announced his plans to revive the “Pabakunana Ta (Let’s get vaccinated) Bonanza” program to encourage more people to get jabbed against COVID-19.
City residents, who have been fully vaccinated under the PabakunaTa program are automatically part of the raffle draw as their names are already in the database.
While the number of persons infected with COVID-19 in the city had died down, Rama said it was still important to have people vaccinated against the dreaded virus.
“With the economy returning, schools opening, and most students having face-to-face classes already, the city government is encouraging the students, teachers, and those who have not been vaccinated to get their shots,” the mayor explained.
The city government launched the Pabakunana Ta Bonanza on November 11, 2021.
During the raffle, many residents received a house and lot, a brand new car, motorcycles, P25,000 worth of gift cash, groceries, and flat-screen television, among others.
Rama hoped that another raffle draw would encourage the public to get the booster shot as added protection against COVID-19 and in preparation for moving further away from the pandemic.
He said vaccination against COVID-19 remains the direction of the city because it is only through a vaccinated population that the city could further ease restrictions.
Restrictions in the city are at a bare minimum as face masks are required only in medical facilities.
Get injected with an experimental drug and win a house or a car! What could go wrong?
Face masks and physical distancing will not be mandatory at this year's End of School Year Rites.
In the annual conduct of full in-person End-of-School-Year (EOSY) rites for School Year 2022-2023, the Department of Education (DepEd) said the "observance of physical distancing shall no longer be mandatory."
Wearing face masks as well as observing physical distancing will no longer be mandatory for those who will attend graduation and moving ceremonies this school year, the Department of Education (DepEd) announced.
“The DepEd moves to allow and encourage the full face-to-face conduct of the moving up and graduation ceremonies starting this school year 2022-2023,” the agency said in DepEd Order No. 009 series of 2023 or “An Order Updating the Multi-Year Implementing Guidelines on the Conduct of the K to 12 Basic Education Program End-of-School-Year Rites (EOSY)” signed by Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.
“Further, the observance of physical distancing and wearing of face mask is no longer mandatory,” DepEd said.
The latest issuance, DepEd said, aims to guide both public and private elementary and secondary schools nationwide in the annual conduct of EOSY rites.
Another signal of a return to normalcy.
Visa applications for the US are returning to normal.
United States (US) Embassy in Manila consul general Mark McGovern said that the visa processing for business or tourists travels is returning back to normal
The consul general of the United States (US) Embassy in the Philippines said that the visa application processing was “almost” back to normal levels after several months of backlogs created by the Covid-19 pandemic and other factors.
Mark McGovern, consul general of the US Embassy in Manila, posted on Twitter about the visa operations and wait times in the embassy.
“Thanks to the hard work of our kahanga-hangang consular team here at the US Embassy (Thanks to the hard work of our admirable consular team here at the US Embassy),” he said in a video message posted by US Embassy in Manila last weekend.
“We are happy to report that we have significantly reduced visa interview appointments wait times over the last several months,” he stated, adding that the visa processing “visa is rebounding is faster than we even had projected.”
McGovern reported that the embassy processed “more than twice as many non-immigrant visas in 2022 as in 2021.”
This meant that those applying for business or tourist travels, they could get their appointments “within the next few months.”
Processing for immigrant visas is also “now almost back to normal levels.”
“And for immigrant visas, we are now at pre-pandemic wait times for almost all categories. We are working hard to continue reducing wait times as quickly as possible,” the official said.
Noting that traveling to the US is important for Filipinos and also for the United States, McGovern underscored how “travel for family, business, and tourism strenghtens the vital people to people relationships that connect our two countries.”
“The good news is that our operations are on the way back to normal and it is wonderful to see the smiling faced and feel the energy of the more than 1,000 visa applicants we see everyday,” he said.
Filipinos have to be fully vaccinated to enter the USA so maybe the increase in visa applications will see an increase in vaccinations.
The first curse ship amid the pandemic has arrived at the Hundred Islands National Park.
The Hundred Islands National Park (HINP) has welcomed some 500 foreign guests and Filipino crew of the first luxury cruise ship to visit the park during the pandemic.
In a statement obtained by the Philippine News Agency on Monday, the City Tourism Office said the guests arrived at the national park from Singapore on Sunday onboard MV Star Breeze. From the Philippines, the ship will proceed to Hong Kong.
MV Star Breeze is the first to visit the park as travel restrictions were eased since the pandemic started in 2020.
The Quezon Island in the national park where the luxury cruise ship’s guests were received was closed to other visitors on Sunday.
They were greeted with cultural presentations and served with the delicacies of Pangasinan, including the famous longganisa of Alaminos City.
The guests went hopping with motorboats specifically at the Pilgrimage, Ramos, Quezon, Governor’s, Lopez, Mimpis and Marcos islands where they enjoyed the sceneries and water and eco-sports activities.
City tourism officer Miguel Sison, in a recent interview, said two more international cruise ships --MS Minerva and MS Seaborn Sojourn, are tentatively arriving on May 10 and June 8, respectively.
“We have been preparing for the return of these cruise ships to showcase the beauty of the Hundred Islands as well as the different activities and products of the whole province of Pangasinan,” he said.
The HINP recorded 389,006 tourist arrivals from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2022.
Of this number, Sison said 118,459 were local tourists or those from Pangasinan, 267,567 were domestic tourists or those from Philippine areas outside Pangasinan, and the rest were foreign tourists.
"The number of tourists increased since the restrictions were eased in 2022," he added.
Slowly tourism returns to normal
The daily average number of COVID cases is up.
The country’s daily average of new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases went up by 33 percent from March 27 to April 2, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Monday.
The agency posted 246 daily infections from 185 recorded between March 20 to 26.
The DOH also reported 1,298 new cases and 60 verified deaths in the recent week.
To date, the country has logged over 4.08 million coronavirus cases and more than 66,332 fatalities.
During the same week, the tally of severe and critical infections went up to 347 from the previous 307.
Only 13.7 percent or 271 out of the 1,984 intensive care unit (ICU) beds are in use, while 16.5 percent or 2,626 of 15,936 non-ICU beds were utilized.
But the DOH says this is not significant because hospital admissions are not increasing.
There is an increase in the number of new Covid-19 cases in the Philippines but the rise in infections is “insignificant” the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday, April 4.
DOH Officer-in-Charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the country’s average number of daily cases is at 268 as of April. 3.
“This is a 29 percent increase from last week,” said Vergeire in a media forum.
Despite the increase in cases, Vergeire assured the public that there is nothing to worry about at this point in time.
“We are seeing an increase in cases in the different areas of the country. But up until now, it remains to be insignificant,” she said.
The country’s healthcare utilization is currently at a low-risk category with only 16 percent utilization, said Vergeire.
“We can see that the hospitalization is still manageable,” she said.
“The increase in cases only becomes significant if we see that alongside the rise in the number of cases, hospital admissions are also increasing,” she added.
So, who cares then?
Carigara in Leyte province suspended their annual animal fighting during the pandemic and now the fights have been suspended for good.
Good news for animal lovers. There will be no carabao or horse fights on Black Saturday in the town of Carigara in Leyte province this year.
Canceled in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the highly anticipated Turogpo Festival would not push through because of a law prohibiting animal cruelty.
“Of course, we are sad because Turogpo Festival is part of Carigara’s tradition, especially during Black Saturday. But we cannot do anything about it because there is a law protecting our animals like carabaos,” Councilor Joenlee Larraga said in a phone interview over the weekend. “We have to respect the law.”
Carigara Mayor Eduardo Ong Jr. said that a Mass and short program would be held instead. “Our municipality will be celebrating this year’s Turogpo in a simpler way that will be just as meaningful,” he added.
The local government cited Republic Act No. 10631, otherwise known as the Animal Welfare Act of 1998, in its decision to call off the festival. Under the law, any person who subjects any animal to cruelty, maltreatment or neglect shall, upon conviction by final judgment, be punished by imprisonment and/ or a fine based on the court’s discretion.
While RA 10631 was amended only in 2013, the regulatory division of the Department of Agriculture in Eastern Visayas received some reports and concerns about the Turogpo Festival, prompting the local government to cancel the event.
Larraga said that they tried to get the support of the Department of Tourism and even the Leyte provincial government to promote the festival as a tourist attraction. But their request was turned down because of the law against animal cruelty.
Pitting animals against one another is no way to celebrate Holy Week. Kissing images is the more Catholic way to celebrate but in Cebu that is still discouraged.
With the resumption of in-person church activities here in time for the Holy Week, Catholics were reminded on Tuesday that kissing images is still prohibited as part of health protocols against the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
Archbishop Jose Palma said while touching sacred icons in churches has been allowed even before the Lenten season, they discourage the churchgoers from kissing the crucifix and other religious images this Holy Week, citing advisories from the Department of Health (DOH) on the continuing presence of Covid-19.
Part of the churches’ protocols, the Archdiocese of Cebu said, is the mandatory wearing of face masks, especially for those who would go to church in spite of illness.
At the historical Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, the Augustinian friars strictly implement the precautionary measures imposed by the archdiocesan officials.
“Although here in the Basilica, we allow touching of the relics and images of saints and even opened the chapel for the Sr. Sto. Niño so that people can come near the sacred image, we don’t allow kissing,” the Basilica’s spokesperson, Fr. John Ion Miranda, said.
Thousands of faithful are expected to flock to over 170 parishes, mission stations, non-parochial, and national shrines in Cebu.
It's not like kissing images is a biblical practice in the first place.
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