https://www.sunstar.com.ph/ |
- Don’t jump Covid-19 vaccine line, government appeals
- Active cases edge closer to 100,000 as new infections soar
- Local government execs considered frontliners, DILG says
- PNP strengthens coordination with local governments
- DND reinstates officials behind list red-tagging UP alumni
- Drug syndicate member arrested in Laguna
| Don’t jump Covid-19 vaccine line, government appeals Posted: 25 Mar 2021 02:44 AM PDT FOLLOWING reports of non-medical frontliners jumping the prioritization line and being vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Task Force Against Covid-19 (NTF) jointly reiterated the call to strictly follow the approved prioritization framework. "More vaccines will arrive, we are sure of that. We just have to wait for our turns to be vaccinated. As we wait, I call on my fellow officials in the government—my fellow public servants—to follow the prioritization framework set by the government. Every person who jumps the line takes away a vaccine for a frontliner," DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said during a meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte Wednesday evening, March 24, 2021. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) earlier Wednesday said it has directed five mayors to explain why they were vaccinated ahead of medical frontliners. Show cause orders will also be issued to several other mayors. During his recorded public address Wednesday evening, Duterte directed the DOH to look into the incidents, especially one involving a celebrity, and submit a report to the Office of the Ombudsman. The President warned again that failure to follow the prioritization framework puts additional vaccine donations at risk. "Alam mo, ordinarily it is just a very small, it's trivial actually under ordinary times. But in times like these, when we are only the donee sa mga donor at tinanggap natin 'yan with the conditions attached thereto, dapat sundin natin," he said. "Kasi sinabi na sa atin ng country representative ng WHO, if you do not follow the list of priority, you might lose the assistance of the WHO. It was made clear to us na ganoon ang pagkasabi," he added. In their joint statement, the DOH and NTF echoed Duterte's pronouncement that individuals verified to have jumped the line face the risk of legal sanctions. Both assured that the national government is exhausting all efforts to secure enough vaccines to vaccinate all 109 million Filipinos. "Do not worry. Our goal is still to ensure that everybody will be vaccinated. But while we do this, the government is prioritizing healthcare workers as they are the most exposed and the most at risk of getting Covid," NTF chief implementer and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. said. "We call on the public to follow our prioritization not just because it is set by WHO Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (Sage) or by the guidelines of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (Nitag), but more importantly because it is our moral obligation to allow our frontliners to be the first to receive the protection they need and deserve, especially amid this surge." he added. Under the approved prioritization framework, the 1.76 million healthcare workers in the country are given first priority in the Covid-19 vaccination program. Given the limited supplies, the DOH and NTF said all available doses should be given to the medical frontliners. As of March 24, the Philippines has received 1,525,600 doses, including one million doses of the Sinovac vaccine donated by China. The remaining 525,600 doses, which came from AstraZeneca, were donated through the Covax facility. Earlier, Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said actor Mark Anthony Fernandez received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The mayor said Fernandez deserves to get the vaccine because he has depression and hypertension. Persons with comorbidities are also on the priority list, but they come after the healthcare workers and senior citizens. The government is not done vaccinating all 1.76 million healthcare workers. Olivarez said people with comorbidities who showed up during their vaccination campaign were inoculated after the medical frontliners to avoid wastage of vaccines. He said 92 to 95 percent of the 3,800 medical frontliners in Parañaque City have been given their first dose. Those issued show cause orders by the DILG for allegedly getting inoculated ahead of medical frontliners are Tacloban City (Leyte) Mayor Alfred Romualdez, T'boli (South Cotabato) Mayor Dibu Tuan, Sto. Niño (South Cotabato) Mayor Sulpicio Villalobos, Legazpi City (Albay) Mayor Noel Rosal and Bataraza (Palawan) Mayor Abraham Ibba. Duterte said the following will also be asked to explain: Mayor Elanito Peña of Minglanilla, Cebu; Mayor Victoriano Torres of Alicia, Bohol; Mayor Virgilio Mendez of San Miguel, Bohol; and Mayor Arturo Piollo II of Lila, Bohol. As of March 23, 508,332 Filipinos, mostly healthcare workers, have received their first dose. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo with PR)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Active cases edge closer to 100,000 as new infections soar Posted: 25 Mar 2021 01:54 AM PDT NEW coronavirus infections soared to 8,773 in a day on Thursday, March 25, 2021, pushing the number of active cases closer to 100,000 and the cumulative case count nearer to 700,000. In its case bulletin at 4 p.m. Thursday, the Department of Health (DOH) listed 99,891 active cases in hospitals and isolation facilities, most of which are mild cases. The active cases constitute 14.4 percent of the cumulative case count of 693,048. With cases averaging 7,455 a day in the last seven days from March 19 to 25, the country's coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) caseload is likely to breach 700,000 on Friday, March 26. The daily positivity rate climbed to 16.1 percent out of 35,480 tested as of noon of March 24, indicating that one in six individuals tested is infected. During the meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday, March 24, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said the cases will likely continue to rise if the additional restrictions imposed in the National Capital Region (NCR) and provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal are not strictly enforced and followed. Duque also emphasized again the need to comply with the minimum public health standards such as proper wearing of face masks and face shields, physical distancing and hand sanitation. "Protektahan po natin ang ating mga sarili at mga mahal sa buhay sa pamamagitan ng pananatili po sa bahay, paggamit ng face mask, at palagiang paghuhugas ng kamay at paglilinis ng mga frequently touched surfaces, 'yon pong mga madalas hawakan na mga gamit," Duque said. "Ang digmaan pong ito ay talagang laban sa Covid-19 at 'yong tinatawag nating battlefield nasa katawan po ng bawat mamamayan," he added. The DOH case bulletin also listed 56 additional mortalities, raising the death toll to 13,095. Given the runaway numbers of new infections and relatively low number of deaths, the case fatality rate further declined to 1.89 percent. There were 574 additional recoveries, bringing the total to 580,062. Based on the DOH tracker, the highest 14-day running total of new cases as of March 24 were in Quezon City (7,729), Manila (5,723), Cavite (3,718) and Bulacan (3,566). Pasay City, which had the fifth highest running total in recent days, was overtaken by Rizal province which had 2,997 new cases in the last two weeks to March 24. Among the regions, NCR had the highest 14-day running total of 37,190, followed by Calabarzon with 10,424, Central Luzon with 5,878, Central Visayas with 4,182 and Cagayan Valley with 1,841. In the NCR (Metro Manila), there were 43 facilities with critical occupancy rates of more than 85 percent as of March 23, while 19 were at high risk, 7 at moderate risk and 83 in the safe zone. In Calabarzon, 47 facilities were considered critical, 23 high risk, 11 moderate risk and 111 in the safe zone. (Marites Villamor-Ilano / SunStar Philippines)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Local government execs considered frontliners, DILG says Posted: 25 Mar 2021 12:49 AM PDT GOVERNORS, mayors and barangay captains are considered frontliners under Priority Group A4 of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination program, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III said on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Densing emphasized this in a radio interview a day after announcing that show cause orders were sent to five mayors who were inoculated ahead of some healthcare workers. There are 1.76 million healthcare workers in the country. Less than 30 percent have received the first of two doses as of March 23, based on government records. Densing said he made the recommendation during the IATF meeting on March 18. The League of Cities of the Philippines announced the IATF approval on March 20. "Sila po ay considered nang A4. Noong Huwebes (March 18) po ako mismo ang nagrekomenda sa IATF (Inter Agency Task Force) through the Recovery Cluster sa IATF na i-angat sila from B3 to A4," Densing reiterated in a radio interview. Priority Group A4 consists of frontline personnel in essential sectors, including uniformed personnel. They come after the healthcare workers (A1), senior citizens (A2) and persons with comorbidities (A3) in the vaccine prioritization framework. This means that governors, mayors and barangay captains will get the vaccine ahead of the indigent population, which constitutes A5. Densing said A4 includes 1,715 governors and mayors, and 42,046 barangay captains. Government workers who are not frontliners are in Priority Group B2, which comes after B1 consisting of teachers and social workers. Other subgroups are: B3 - essential workers outside health, education, social welfare sectors including agriculture, food industry, transportation, tourism, manufacturing and construction, among others; B4 - socio-demographic groups such as persons deprived of liberty, persons with disability and those living in high density areas; B5 - overseas Filipino workers; and B6 - remaining workforce. After everyone on this priority list is inoculated, the rest of the Philippines' 109.58 million population will receive the vaccine. The government aims to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos within the year, requiring at least 140 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. From March 1 to March 23, 508,332 individuals were vaccinated. The country has received a total of 1,525,600 doses of Covid-19 vaccine, one million doses of which were donated by China. The 525,600 doses were donated through the Covax facility. (Third Anne Peralta-Malonzo / SunStar Philippines)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| PNP strengthens coordination with local governments Posted: 24 Mar 2021 10:00 PM PDT THE Philippine National Police (PNP) committed to strengthen cooperation and coordination with the local government units (LGU) during police operations in light of the death of Calbayog City Mayor Ronaldo Aquino during an alleged misencounter with the police. PNP officer-in-charge Guillermo Eleazar said on Thursday, March 25, 2021, that he emphasized the importance of partnership between the LGUs and police units during a dialogue with the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) on Wednesday, March 24. "The PNP has no policy of using violence or employing unnecessary force against any people, more so our fellow public servants," Eleazar said. Like the city mayors, we in the PNP are also determined to find out what really happened because we also lost three of our men in that incident," he added. Aquino, his police security aide Senior Staff Sergeant Rodio Sario and driver Dennis Abayan were killed in what the PNP tagged as a shootout with members of Integrity Monitoring Enforcement Group (IMEG) and Provincial Drug Enforcement Unit (PDEU). Captain Joselito Tabada, police chief of Gandara, Samar and acting chief of PDEU, and Staff Sergeant Romeo Cobococ Laoyon of PDEU were also killed along with a civilian who was hit by a stray bullet. An investigation is being conducted to determine whether it was an ambush, as claimed by the mayor's family, or a shootout, as claimed by the police. Eleazar assured the LCP of transparency and accountability in all police operations. Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a retired police general who attended the dialogue face-to-face, expressed gratitude and appreciation to the PNP for accommodating their request. He also manifested the LCP's full trust and confidence in the PNP. Other mayors attended the meeting virtually. Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia, LCP national president, had initiated the dialogue to primarily express condemnation over the death of Aquino and press the PNP to adopt measures aimed at preventing similar situations. (SunStar Philippines)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| DND reinstates officials behind list red-tagging UP alumni Posted: 24 Mar 2021 08:50 PM PDT DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Tuesday, March 24, 2021, ordered the reinstatement of two military officials who were implicated in the publication of an "erroneous" list of University of the Philippines (UP) students and alumni with alleged links to the communist rebels. In a statement, Lorenzana said he believed that the two officials were not directly involved in the publication of the unverified and unofficial list. The two officials are Major General Alex Luna, Armed Forces of the Philippines deputy chief of staff for intelligence, and Major General Benedict Arevalo, deputy chief of staff for civil military operations. "I am not completely clearing them of liability. In fact, they were punished under the principle of command responsibility. Their track records would show that they have always performed their duties conscientiously and competently," said Lorenzana. "Having said this, I have requested that the AFP reinstate Maj. Gen. Arevalo and Maj. Gen. Luna to their previous commands, but with the stern warning that similar incidents cannot and should not happen again in the future. Naniniwala ako sa second chances, lalo na kung nadamay lamang naman sila sa pagkukulang at pagkakamali ng iba. Bigyan natin sila ng panibagong pagkakataon na patunayan ang kanilang katapatan sa kanilang tungkulin," he added. The list, which was released by the Office of the Civil Military Operations, tagged at least 20 UP alumni and students as members of the New People's Army (NPA), armed unit of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). Among those on the list are Alexander Padilla, former Philhealth president and chief executive officer; Rafael Angelo Aquino, a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group; Marie Liza Dacanay, president of the Institute for Entrepreneurship in Asia; and playwright Liza Magtoto. All denied being members of the communist group and slammed the AFP for releasing an erroneous list that put their lives in danger given the administration's intensified campaign against insurgency. The list was posted on CMO's Facebook page in support of Lorenzana's order to terminate the UP-DND accord that prohibited police and military personnel from entering any UP campus without prior notice. The CMO apologized for posting a "wrong list." Lorenzana then ordered Luna's relief while Arevalo went on leave to pave the way for the investigation. (SunStar Philippines)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Drug syndicate member arrested in Laguna Posted: 24 Mar 2021 06:15 AM PDT ANTI-NARCOTICS operatives have arrested a drug suspect who yielded P13.6 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu). Edgarfeel Baloni Sakilan, 42, was arrested in an entrapment operation conducted by the PNP-Drug Enforcement Group in Saint Joseph Village, San Pedro, Laguna on Tuesday evening, March 23, 2021. He will be charged with violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. Lieutenant General Guillermo Eleazar, Philippine National Police (PNP) officer-in-charge, said Wednesday, March 24, that operatives seized around two kilograms of shabu valued at P13.6 million from the suspect. Eleazar said Sakilan is part of a drug syndicate composed of Filipino- Muslim and Chinese nationals who engage in illegal drug trading by dispatching vehicles loaded with illegal drugs. He said Sakilan serves as a drug courier in Central Luzon, National Capital Region, Calabarzon and Mindanao. "Their illegal drug transaction was discovered when one of the personnel of PNP-DEG Special Operating Unit 3 code named as aka Ed entered the drug syndicate through the confidential informant," Eleazar said. Eleazar added that members of the group reside in Donya Soledad and AFP Village, both in Taguig. Surveillance of the suspects showed that they use different vehicles whenever they have an illegal drug transaction. (SunStar Philippines)  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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