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(PhilStar) MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has suspended the implementation of its cash assistance program in the second district of Quezon City following reports of alleged irregularities in the distribution of benefits there.

In a press briefing yesterday, DOLE spokesman Rolly Francia said the suspension of the agency’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program is effective immediately.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III directed DOLE National Capital Region director Sara Buena Mirasol to look into the anomalies.

“We are calling on the complainants to coordinate with us or our regional office so that we can strengthen the case that we may file against those proven involved in the (irregular) implementation of this flagship program of DOLE,” he added.

Some residents of Barangay Holy Spirit have complained that they received only P2,000 instead of P7,518 that they should get from the government under the TUPAD program.

According to a coordinator of the program, she was instructed to accompany the beneficiaries to a remittance center and deduct P5,518 from their cash assistance… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila – Health experts in the country agree that the implementation of granular lockdowns in Metro Manila starting Sept. 8 would not be enough to significantly decrease COVID-19 cases in the region.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David said granular lockdowns must be complemented by other interventions, such as randomized mass testing, more aggressive contact tracing, and early detection and isolation efforts to effectively curb the spread of the virus.

David added that based from experience, granular lockdowns alone are not effective if the virus expanded its reach in an area.

“Our local governments will have a hard time in this setup because of their limited manpower. For example, there are 100 barangays in a city and 10 of them only have cases, it will be easier to implement a granular lockdown. But if there are 90 barangays with cases, the local government will have a hard time dealing with those because there will be persons assigned to man the locked down area and bring food there,” Guido told CNN Philippines’ Newsroom Weekend on Sunday.

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Benjamin Co said the granular lockdowns should not only last for two weeks, the timeframe imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force in implementing the localized quarantine classification.

“It takes one family of five or six people in the household at least three to four weeks to be fully recovered. If you have one whole street, one whole barangay that’s infected, it will take them two to three months to recover,” Co told CNN Philippines.

Co said local governments should utilize their isolation facilities, instead of granular lockdowns in barangays, to easily separate sick individuals… Read More

(GMA News) Malacañang said Thursday that the mandatory policy of wearing a face shield outdoors will stay on unless the World Health Organization (WHO) comes up with a different recommendation.

“Sa ngayon pa wala pero I understand that even the WHO will render an expert opinion on whether or not the use of face shields is justified (We are not changing the policy for now but we understand that the WHO will make render an opinion on whether the use of face shield is justified),” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said.

“So, hintayin po natin iyong opinion ng WHO (Let us wait for WHO’s recommendation),” Roque added.

Roque reminded the public that the mandatory use of face shield is still aimed at protecting the people and not to benefit businesses.

“Wala pong relasyon iyan. Ang pagsusuot po ng face shields, nakikita naman ninyo sa ating Press Briefings ay sang-ayon po sa mga opinyon ng eksperto (This does not involve corruption. The use of face shield is based on the recommendation of our experts),” Roque said. -MDM, GMA News.. Read More

(BusinessWorld) CORONAVIRUS infections in the Philippines crossed the two-million mark after the Health department reported 14,216 more cases on Wednesday.

The country’s death toll rose to 33,533 after 86 more patients died, while recoveries increased by 18,754 to 1.83 million, the Department of Health (DoH) said in a bulletin.

There were 140,949 active cases, 96.1% of which were mild, 1.1% did not show symptoms, 1.2% were severe, 1.03% were moderate and 0.6% were critical.

The agency said 118 duplicates had been removed from the tally, 91 of which were tagged as recoveries and one as a death, while 37 recoveries were reclassified as deaths. Five laboratories did not submit data on Aug. 30.

The country’s coronavirus situation was unlikely to improve if the government fails to improve its pandemic response, said health expert Antonio C. Leachon, who used to be a member of an inter-agency task force against the coronavirus.

The country may soon become the virus epicenter in Southeast Asia, he told the ABS-CBN News. “The healthcare system will soon collapse if we will not be able to control it.”

Coronavirus infections in the country may increase to 25,000 in the coming days, Mr. Leachon said on Tuesday, citing projections by health experts… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — Daily COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila may hit as high as 43,000 by the end of September, the Department of Health said Thursday.

“Based on a set of assumptions, daily cases in NCR for September 30 may range from 16,000 to 43,000,” the DOH said in a statement.

The parameters included mobility, healthcare capacities, and the public’s adherence to minimum health protocols, the department added.

The DOH, however, explained that these figures “are used to guide the government” to better prepare for the pandemic response, especially with the threat of the highly contagious Delta variant — now present in all regions in the country.

Coronavirus infections nationwide soared to 2,020,484 Thursday after the DOH reported 16,621 new cases.

Earlier this week, the department also said it is expecting COVID-19 cases to peak by “mid-September.”.. Read More

(Philippines Daily Inquirer) MANILA, Philippines — While “respecting” the decision of families of drug war victims to seek redress from the the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their grievances, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar on Tuesday said the country’s justice system still “works.”

“We respect the decision of the families of persons killed in anti-illegal drug operations in seeking an International Criminal Court investigation,” Eleazar said in a statement.

“But we can assure them that the Philippine justice system works. Proof of this is the conviction of the policemen for the killing of Kian delos Santos and several other court decisions which have caused the dismissal and imprisonment of other PNP personnel,” Eleazar added.

An ICC report showed that most of the victims who had filed representation before the court “overwhelmingly supported” an investigation into alleged “crimes against humanity” in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, with 94 percent of the 204 representations said they wanted the ICC prosecutor to pursue a full-blown investigation.

To recall, former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had asked the international body to formally investigate the killings being linked into the drug war, which Eleazar said is being addressed through several initiatives of the Philippine government.

“We already made several initiatives to prove that the PNP has no policy of allowing and tolerating all forms of human rights abuses in the conduct of our operations,” he noted… Read More

(GMA News) PDP-Laban president Alfonso Cusi has appealed to Senator Christopher “Bong” Go to reconsider his decision to decline the ruling party’s endorsement for him to seek the presidency in the coming 2022 elections.

In a letter addressed to Go on Monday, Cusi said that while the PDP-Laban National Executive Council understands Go’s position, they are determined to endorse him as PDP-Laban candidate for president in the 2022 national elections.

“We earnestly hope that you will reconsider,” Cusi said.

“We trust and believe in your leadership qualities- which, among others, are humility, sincerity, strong political will, honesty, good sense of justice, and innate goodness and goodwill towards your fellowmen, as exemplified by your Malasakit Centers,” he added.

“These traits that you share with President Rodrigo Duterte make you the logical successor to be our country’s next president,” Cusi said.

Cusi stressed that Go and President Rodrigo Duterte as his runningmate is the “best pair to lead the country forward.”

“Your track record of service, done quietly and without much fanfare, speak for itself,” Cusi said.

The Cusi faction of PDP-Laban had endorsed Duterte to be Go’s runningmate.

Duterte has accepted the endorsement, but according to Malacañang, this was under the perception that his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, will not run for president next year.

Malacañang also said Duterte will honor his promise to ditch his plan to seek the vice presidency in 2022 if ever House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez will run for the same post. Romualdez, however, has yet to express intention to run for vice president in 2022.

Not interested in presidency

Earlier, Go announced that he is declining the endorsement as he wants to devote his time and attention in helping the Filipinos recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said he is honored by the trust and confidence given to him by the ruling party, however, Go, who chairs the Senate health committee, insisted that he is not interested in the presidency.

“I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence of the members of the NEC (National Executive Commission) in my capability to run for the presidency this coming 2022 elections. For a simple man who hails from a city in the South, the endorsement alone by esteemed members and officers of the NEC is a great personal honor for me,” Go said.

“As much as I wish to respond to the clamor of many of our partymates, I most respectfully decline the said endorsement. As I have said many times before, I am not interested in the presidency,” he added… Read More

(businessWorld) SENATOR Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao, Sr. will independently run for President next year if he loses control of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), a party official said on Monday.

The boxing champion was unlikely to join another political party, Ronwald F. Munsayac, executive director of the PDP-Laban faction loyal to Mr. Pacquiao, told an online news briefing.

Rival parties are said to be willing to take the senator in, but he would only “accept their support, not join them,” he added.

The boxing champ did not immediately reply to a text message seeking comment.

But Jake Joson, a long-time special assistant and business partner of Mr. Pacquiao, said Mr. Munsayac should not tell him what to do. He added that the senator is considered by rival parties as a “big asset.”

“The filing of certificates of candidacy is still in October,” he said. “Many changes can still happen.”

The faction led by Mr. Pacquiao on Sunday ousted President Rodrigo Duterte as chairman, replacing him with Senator Aquilino L. Pimentel III. The President had supported the faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi… Read More