PRRD withdraws plan to resume face-to-face classes

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos  

December 26, 2020

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday directed the Department of Education (DepEd) to cancel the planned resumption of face-to-face classes in areas deemed low risk for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in January 2021.

Duterte gave the latest directive after a new strain of Covid-19, which was allegedly more infectious, has been detected in the United Kingdom (UK) and has already been reported in other neighboring countries like Malaysia.

In his meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and infectious diseases experts, Duterte said he could not put the lives of learners at risk.

“I have allowed the face-to-face classes as pilot projects all over the country,” he said. “I’m calling back the order and I will not allow face-to-face classes of children until we are through with this. We have to, I said, we have to know the nature of the germ that we are confronting. Wala pa tayong alam (We know nothing yet). I cannot take the risk of allowing the children.”

Duterte admitted that it would be a “disaster,” should he allow the planned resumption of face-to-face classes to push through in January next year.

“That would be a disaster actually. So (we have to be) mindful of that: I am canceling the order I gave a few days ago – a few weeks ago – to Secretary (Leonor Magtolis) Briones of the Education Department to suspend everything, all activities of children, especially ‘yung (the) face-to-face classes,” he said.

On December 14, Duterte gave his nod to the proposed conduct of a dry run of face-to-face classes in select schools in areas that will be considered at low risk for Covid-19.

In a statement sent to Palace reporters, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Briones would heed Duterte’s fresh directive.

“On her part, DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones will implement the President’s instruction to recall limited face-to-face classes,” Roque said.

The DepEd was supposed to start the pilot implementation of face-to-face classes in areas categorized as low-risk areas under modified general community quarantine in January next year.

Before Duterte’s latest order, the DepEd planned to make the participation of learners in the pilot study to be voluntary with the requisite permit issued by the parents.

The proposed face-to-face classes will also not be held for the full week schedule and with reduced class size to observe proper physical distancing within the classroom. (PNA) 

 

Duterte to consider proposed Sulu-wide martial law: Palace

  August 26, 2020

By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos 

President Rodrigo Duterte. (Presidential photo)

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte would take into consideration the state forces’ recommendation to place the entire Sulu province under martial law following the recent deadly twin blasts that rocked its capital town Jolo, Malacañang said on Wednesday. 

This was after Army Chief, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejena, and Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Gen. Archie Gamboa, sought the implementation of a Sulu-wide martial law.

“The President will of course consider this recommendation,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source. “The recommendations have been made and the President listens to those on the ground.” 

Sobejana and Gamboa recommended the declaration of martial law in Sulu after the twin explosions in Jolo on Monday left at least 15 people, including seven soldiers and a police officer, dead and 77 others wounded.

According to reports, the first explosion happened along Serrantes Street in Walled City village in Jolo at about 11:53 a.m. on Monday, while the second occurred just 100 meters away at about 1:06 p.m.

The attacks were reportedly carried out by two Abu Sayyaf group suicide bombers.

Section 18, Article 7 of the 1987 Constitution states that a president can declare martial law and suspend the writ of habeas corpus for a period not exceeding 60 days, in case of invasion or rebellion.

It also provides that such proclamation of martial law or suspension of the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can either be revoked or extended for a period determined by Congress through joint voting. 

Roque said Duterte needs to be “very careful” in assessing the recommendation because there should be a “legal and factual” basis to declare martial rule in Sulu.

“Although the recommendation has been made, the President has to be very careful that it will pass the scrutiny of the legislative and the judicial branches of government,” he said.

The President, in his public address, which was delivered Monday night but aired on television on Tuesday morning, did not talk about the twin explosions in Jolo, Sulu.

Duterte may have failed to tackle the twin bombings in Jolo but he has already directed the top officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the PNP during a joint command conference to take appropriate actions, Roque said.

“The fact that he (Duterte) did not say anything, it’s probably because he has given the necessary orders to the top brass of the AFP and the PNP, and you don’t discuss what you intend to do as far as the situation on the ground is (concerned) publicly,” he said.

Roque, however, said he was not privy to Duterte’s specific orders.

“The command conference was confidential in nature. I was not even allowed to sit through the meeting where he met with (the) top leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police,” he said.

Asked if Duterte would visit Jolo following the incident, Roque said it would be “very difficult” for the President, considering the situation in the province.

He, nevertheless, guaranteed that victims of the twin explosions would receive assistance from the government.

“Under the circumstance, let’s just say that it’s very difficult (for the President to visit Jolo) not only because of the pandemic but also because of the situation in the province,” Roque said. (PNA)

Zamboanga City records new Covid-19 case

By Teofilo Garcia, Jr. and Salvador Santiago  

May 23, 2020

ZAMBOANGA CITY – A barangay front-liner was tested positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), bringing to a total of 142 Covid-19 cases here.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar, chairperson of the local Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19, said Saturday the new additional case is a 34-year-old female and forms part of the 44 people from Barangay Zone I earlier subjected to a random rapid diagnostic test.

Salazar said the result of the latest geneexpert test by the ZCMC on the patient was released late Friday.

Salazar said the patient, a barangay worker, is asymptomatic and has been transferred to the government isolation facility in Barangay Cabatangan.

The mayor said that contact tracing is ongoing to determine who came into close contact with the female patient.

Meanwhile, the residents of Barangay Mercedes are apprehensive after they learned that the latest positive case is a resident of a resettlement site in their village.

Mercedes Barangay chairperson Arthur Alejandro said the patient is a health worker of Barangay Zone II although she is a resident of the village.

Barangay Zone II Barangay chairperson Nonito Aranas confirmed the patient is a worker at the health center in his village, which also caters to residents of Barangay Zone I.

Aranas said the health worker had even conducted immunization drive in Barangay Zone I after she had undergone a rapid test together with 43 other persons.

Alejandro said the resettlement area where she lives has been placed on lockdown to pave the way for the contact tracing.

Alejandro appealed to the neighbors of the patient to refrain from discriminating against her family.

“We should extend our help in this time of crisis,” he added. (PNA)

P16.4-B subsidies released to 2.1M small business workers

 May 17, 2020

MANILA – The first tranche of a two-month wage subsidy package has been credited to the accounts of more than 2.1 million qualified beneficiary-workers of the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program, jointly implemented by the Department of Finance (DOF), Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Social Security System (SSS).

The SBWS was designed to support qualified workers who were not able to receive their salaries for at least two weeks due to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and other containment measures imposed by the national and local governments since middle of March to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

A total of about PHP16.4 billion worth of subsidies were credited to the accounts of SBWS beneficiaries as of May 12, equivalent to PHP5,000 to PHP8,000 per qualified worker, depending on the minimum wage level in his or her region. 

SBWS subsidies are either credited to the beneficiaries' bank or PayMaya accounts or sent through cash remittance via MLhuillier financial services.

This SBWS initiative is one of the intervention programs that the Duterte administration has rolled out in support of low-income families, workers of small businesses, and other vulnerable sectors that are hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic's economic fallout. 

The SBWS interagency task force is chaired by the DOF, represented by Assistant Secretary Antonio Joselito Lambino II, and with SSS President-CEO Aurora Ignacio and BIR Deputy Commissioner Arnel Guballa as members.

Lambino said MLhuillier Kwarta Padala, through the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), is the partner-remittance center of the SSS in the disbursement of wage subsidies to unbanked beneficiaries. 

The task force decided to tap the DBP because of its experience in delivering subsidies via money remittance to beneficiaries of the Department of Agriculture’s Rice Farmers Financial Assistance (RFFA) program, many of whom do not have bank accounts.

Meanwhile, Ignacio said “almost 160,000 employers submitted applications for the program as the applications ended on May 8, 2020."

"The SSS is currently processing them, but so far, the applications for around 2.94 million employees have been approved according to program criteria. This represents around 86 percent of the program’s target of 3.4 million small business employees," she said.

  

Payouts for the first tranche of the SBWS subsidies began on April 30, one day ahead of the announced May 1 to 15 schedule of release. 

Payouts for the second tranche are scheduled for May 16 to 31. (PR)

Zambo Sur town buys, sells farm products amid Covid-19 crisis

By Leah Agonoy 

 April 2, 2020

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur -- The municipality of Labangan town has launched a mobile market to help the farmers sell their produce to earn a living amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) crisis.

Labangan Mayor Eduardo Relacion said Wednesday the municipal government buys the farmer’s produce and sells it at farm gate price in other areas of the town.

MOBILE MARKET. The municipal government of Labangan in Zamboanga del Sur has launched a mobile market to provide the farmers the outlet to sell their farm produce and for residents to buy vegetables, meat, and fish at cheaper prices amid the Covid-19 crisis. On Wednesday, the municipal government rolls out the mobile market in Barangay Upper Labangan. (PNA photo by Leah D. Agonoy)

Relacion said the mobile market provides an opportunity for the residents to buy vegetables as well as meat and fish at cheaper prices, aside from providing farmers an outlet to sell their farm produce amid the declaration of enhanced community quarantine.

Relacion said they went on a house-to-house sale Wednesday in Barangay Upper Labangan, which was placed under lockdown as a resident in the area was found positive for Covid-19 infection.

He said all businesses in Barangay Upper Labangan were closed while residents were strictly prohibited from leaving their homes. The lockdown is in effect until April 14.

“This (lockdown) is part of the preventive measures as we would be monitoring all the residents in the area regularly for the possible infection since one of the positive cases in the province came from their barangay (Labangan),” he said.

He said the municipal government and the barangay officials will work together in “assuring the welfare of its constituents most especially in their access to foods and medicines.”

He said the mobile market will operate daily until April 14.

Maj. Gen. Generoso Ponio, the Army’s 1st Infantry Division commander, has also placed Camp Major Cesar Sang-an on lockdown to protect the troops and all its staff members against possible infection from Covid-19.

“This is to ensure that everyone who comes in and out of the camp is not a potential carrier of Covid-19,” said Capt. Clint Antipala, 1st Infantry Division spokesperson.

Meanwhile, Labangan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Marvin Julius Pagaduan said they are conducting regular disinfection in the different barangays in coordination with the Bureau of Fire Protection. (PNA)

Zambo City starts distribution of food packs

FOOD DISTRIBUTION. A soldier assists the personnel of the City Social Welfare and Development Office as the Zamboanga City government starts the distribution of food packs to the poor residents on Tuesday (March 31, 2020). The distribution focuses on five of the city's 98 barangays. (PNA photo by Teofilo P. Garcia, Jr.)

By Teofilo Garcia, Jr

March 31, 2020

ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The city government started on Tuesday the distribution of food packs to the residents amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) health crisis.

City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) Chief Ma. Socorro Rojas said the local government is targeting to distribute food packs to some 150,000 poor families.

Each food pack contains three kilos of rice, three noodles, three canned sardines, and three canned beef loaf or corned beef.

Rojas said Tuesday's distribution was focused on five of this city’s 98 barangays. These are the barangays of Zone 1, Lumbangan, Lumayang, Sinunuc, and Tugbungan. It was supervised by the CSWDO staff and City Council members, in coordination with barangay officials.

City Councilor Elbert Atilano said they are going house-to-house to distribute the food packs to the identified beneficiaries.

“They don’t need to go out of their residence,” Atilano said.

City Information Officer Sheila Covarrubias earlier said the identification of beneficiaries was undertaken by the Tricycle Adjudication Board (TAB) and the City Administrator’s Office in collaboration with the Office of the Mayor.

Meanwhile, Rojas said that the next distribution of food packs will be undertaken by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the distribution of food assistance to help alleviate the plight of the residents amid the enhanced community quarantine brought about by the Covid-19 health crisis. (PNA)