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(BusinessWorld) State volcanologists on Friday said Taal Volcano’s next eruption could be stronger after it spewed steam and rocks hundreds of meters into the sky the day earlier, prompting thousands to flee.

Taal continues to emit smoke, which is caused by gas and water vapor moving up toward its crater, said Renato Solidum, chief of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.

“We hope there won’t be stronger eruptions but that’s the threat from Taal because it continues to emit gases,” he told a televised news briefing in Filipino.

Taal has been belching sulphur dioxide for days, creating a thick haze over Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.

The Department of Health (DoH) advised people to take precautionary measures against toxic gas emissions from Taal Volcano’s eruption.

In an advisory issued late Thursday, the agency said short-term exposure to sulfur dioxide, a colorless toxic gas emitted by the volcano, could harm the respiratory system and make breathing difficult.

“People with asthma, particularly children are sensitive to these effects,” DoH said. “Prolonged exposure or high concentrations of this gas can cause inflammation and irritation of the respiratory system.”

Other symptoms of exposure to sulfur dioxide include skin and eye irritation, mucus secretion, coughing and asthma. It may also aggravate bronchitis and increase the risk of respiratory tract infection… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — Senator Manny Pacquiao on Saturday called out more government agencies allegedly engaged in anomalous transactions, this time putting the spotlight on the Department of Social Welfare and Development over what he claimed are missing pandemic funds worth ₱10.4 billion.

In a media briefing, Pacquiao questioned the DSWD’s deal with e-wallet application Starpay in the distribution of the Social Amelioration Program (SAP). The boxer-turned-senator claimed that out of the 1.8 million SAP beneficiaries, only 500,000 were able to download the app.

“Ang tanong ko po, anong nangyari sa 1.3 million katao na hindi naka-download ng Starpay app? Ngunit sa record po, nakatanggap na po sila ng ayuda?” Pacquiao told reporters.

“Iyan po ang gusto kong itanong sa DSWD, ang nawawala pong salapi ay ₱10.4 billion po, nasaan po napunta ang limpak limpak na ayuda?” he added.

[Translation: My question is, what happened to the 1.3 million people who were not able to download the Starpay app? But on record, they were able to receive the aid? That’s what I want to ask the DSWD. The missing ₱10.4 billion…where did the money go?]

The DSWD said it is “willing to face any investigating body” to present necessary evidence and answer the allegations raised by Pacquiao.

Expiring medicines?
Pacquiao again flagged the Department of Health, this time for the supposed purchase of near-expiry medicines.

.. Read More

(GoodNewsPilipinas) Filipino swimmers Luke Michael Gebbie and Remedy Alexis Rule have both sealed their places in the Tokyo Olympics, bringing the Philippine national delegation to a total of 19 representatives to the prestigious quadrennial meet.

The national tankers officially qualified for the Summer Games in Japan under the universality rule, as confirmed by the International Swimming Federation (FINA) on July 1, 2021.

Gebbie and Rule earned the universality spots after emerging the highest-ranked male and female athlete among Filipinos in the Olympic qualifying events for swimming.

Filipino-Aussie Gebbie, who accumulated 828 FINA points​, will be competing in the men’s 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events.

Filipino-American Rule will see action in the women’s 200-meter freestyle and butterfly races after she tallied 830 FINA points.

Southeast Asian Games medalists Gebbie and Rule will compete in the Summer Olympic Games scheduled in Tokyo, Japan from July 24 to August 1, 2021.

Swimmers Luke Michael Gebbie and Remedy Alexis Rule join 17 Filipino athletes who have qualified for the Tokyo Olympics including pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo, boxers Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam, Irish Magno and Eumir Felix Marcial, skateboarder Margielyn Didal, taekwondo jin Kurt Barbosa, rower Cris Nievarez, weightlifters Hidilyn Diaz and Elreen Ando, shooter Jayson Valdez, Judo champion Kiyomi Watanabe, golfer Juvic Pagunsan, sprinter Kristina Knott, and golfers Yuka Saso and Bianca Pagdanganan… Read More

(The Manila Times) President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said the public can consider him as a candidate for vice president in the 2022 elections. However, in the same breath, the President said he will run only if there is space for him. He will beg off if House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez decides to run for the vice presidency, he said. Duterte recounted that he promised to back Romualdez if he runs for vice president in 2022.

President Rodrigo Duterte is still waiting for Sen. Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao to submit his list of corrupt government agencies. Duterte had challenged the senator to name the graft-tainted state agencies after Pacquiao accused the Duterte administration of being more corrupt than its predecessor. The President’s spokesman, Harry Roque Jr., said on Thursday he hopes the senator could provide the list before he leaves the country to train for his coming boxing match with Errol Spence.

Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Wednesday said it should be the Filipino people who should judge the legacy of President Rodrigo Duterte after he delivers his final State of the Nation Address or SONA on July 26. Go, a long-time aide of the President, shared some of the policies and accomplishments of the Duterte administration that improved the country’s efforts toward providing a more comfortable life for all Filipinos… Read More

(SunStar) MORE than 1,000 individuals have evacuated due to the increase unrest of Taal Volcano, the National Disaster Risk and Management Council (NDRRMC) said on Friday, July 2, 2021.

The NDRRMC said 13 barangays in the towns of San Nicolas, Laurel, Agoncillo, Taal, Tanauan and Balete are affected.

A total of 345 families or 1,392 individuals were affected. Of the total, 317 families or 1,282 individuals are being housed in evacuation centers. The rest are staying with relatives.

Eleven facilities, including a covered court and public schools in the towns of Agoncillo, Balete, Laurel and Nasugbu, serve as evacuation centers.

The agency said the number of evacuees may increase to 3,523 families or 14,495 individuals.

This is the total number of people living in high-risk barangays in the towns of Agoncillo and Laurel in Batangas.

Calabarzon Police Regional Office Director Eliseo Cruz said he has ordered the Batangas Provincial Police Office to activate its Provincial Disaster Management Task Group and Special Task Groups on security, peace and order, emergency response and quick reaction teams.

These groups will assist the police in affected localities, ensure security and order in evacuation centers, and strictly enforce health protocols against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Cruz directed the Laguna and Cavite Provincial Police Offices to activate their disaster management control points to discourage non-residents, especially tourists, from going to Tagaytay and other affected areas… Read More

(CNN Philippines) — The country’s COVID-19 death toll moved close to 25,000 at 24,973 after 177 more patients lost their lives to the disease, the Department of Health said Friday.

The death toll is 1.75% of the nationwide tally, which rose to 1,424,518 with 6,192 new infections. Of the total, 3.9% or 55,482 are active or sick people – with at least 91.5% experiencing mild symptoms, 3.8% without symptoms, 2% with severe symptoms, 1.44% in moderate condition, and 1.4% in critical condition.

The number of survivors also climbed to 1,344,063 or 94.4% of the COVID-19 total after 2,212 more people recovered.

The DOH said it reclassified 114 recoveries – 12 into active cases and 102 into fatalities – after validation. It also deleted 11 duplicates, including one fatality and eight recoveries.

The total excludes data from four laboratories that failed to submit their reports on time, the DOH said. These laboratories contributed an average of 0.05% of samples tested and 0.25% of positive individuals in the last 14 days.

The daily positivity rate or percentage of individuals who tested positive slightly dropped from 11.9% on June 29 to 11.4% based on 51,536 tests on June 30. The rate will still get updated but it is far from the below 5% recommended by the World Health Organization. Experts said high rates may mean high transmission and there are more cases that have yet to be detected.

Independent research group OCTA said the daily average cases in Metro Manila rose slightly to 686 from June 25 to July – up 5% compared to the week before… Read More

(SunStar) THE Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday, July 1, 2021, reported over 100 deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) for the third straight day and more than 5,000 new infections as testing output improved.

In its case bulletin Thursday, the DOH recorded 5,795 new Covid-19 cases, 135 additional mortalities and 2,859 new recoveries.

The new infections brought the total case count in the country to 1,418,337. Seventeen duplicates, including 14 recoveries, were removed from the count.

The active cases climbed to 51,567, including 27 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries but were found to be active cases.

The additional mortalities included 93 cases that were also tagged previously as recoveries. These brought the Covid-19 death toll to 24,797. The case fatality rate remained at 1.75 percent.

July 01, 2021
THE Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday, July 1, 2021, reported over 100 deaths from coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) for the third straight day and more than 5,000 new infections as testing output improved.

In its case bulletin Thursday, the DOH recorded 5,795 new Covid-19 cases, 135 additional mortalities and 2,859 new recoveries.

The new infections brought the total case count in the country to 1,418,337. Seventeen duplicates, including 14 recoveries, were removed from the count.

The active cases climbed to 51,567, including 27 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries but were found to be active cases.

The additional mortalities included 93 cases that were also tagged previously as recoveries. These brought the Covid-19 death toll to 24,797. The case fatality rate remained at 1.75 percent.

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A total of 1,341,973 have now recovered, constituting 94.6 percent of the total case count.

Five laboratories were unable to submit their data on June 29, but overall testing output improved to 47,980, of which 11.9 percent yielded positive results. (SunStar Philippines)… Read More

(BusinessWorld) PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte would probably remain popular during his last year in office, which could boost his political capital and ensure the victory of his chosen presidential bet at next year’s elections, political analysts said.

The tough-talking leader, who is barred by law from running for reelection, would try to do his best before he steps down because this could benefit his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, whose supporters are urging her to run for President, they added.

“In the Philippines, good or bad deeds are transferable to kin,” political strategist Gerardo Eusebio said in a Viber message.

This could spell bad for the opposition, which up to now does not have a strong presidential candidate.

“The opposition does not have a popular or even common candidate,” said Jay Bautista, managing director at market research firm Kantar Media Philippines. “Pit that against the Duterte image and machinery, it will be a difficult road for the opposition.”

He cited Mr. Duterte’s “almost cult-like following” particularly among the masses, which means he has a solid base. These supporters “would not fault him directly for the problems and challenges facing the country,” he said in a Viber message on Wednesday.

“For this segment of the population, President Duterte is doing his best.”.. Read More