Thursday, August 19, 2021

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/

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Dumper Rep. Bautista saddened by wedding controversy

Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:55 AM PDT

DRIVERS United for Mass Progress and Equal Rights (Dumper) Partylist Representative Claudine Diana Bautista said she is saddened over her wedding becoming a "political spectacle."

In a statement forwarded to the media on Thursday, August 19, Bautista had acknowledged "all of the sentiments asserted by everyone."

Her statement comes days after controversy sparked on social media with netizens criticizing her for holding a "lavish" wedding while the plight of her constituents remains unaddressed amid the pandemic. Based on news reports, several known personalities like Agot Isidro, Enchong Dee, Ogie Diaz, and Pokwang also criticized Bautista.

Bautista, daughter of Davao Occidental Governor Claude Bautista, drew flak from netizens after Dubai-based fashion designer Michael Cinco posted a photograph of the wedding gown on social media.

"I hear you, and I have internalized all of the grievances that were brought up in light of what was supposed to be a private and personal milestone. Although given the situation, I would also like to express my sadness over how my wedding day, something that I have separated from my work as a public official, has been made into a political spectacle," Bautista said.

The Davao Occidental-based representative explained that the wedding had been planned for a long time with her husband, Jose French "Tracker" Lim, a businessman.

Bautista said she and her husband were hurt "to see how things after our wedding turned out."

"This was supposed to be the culminating event of a decades-long love story," Bautista said.

She described Lim as a "kind and loving person" who merely wanted to give her the wedding of her dreams. She also admitted they were hurt by the negative comments online.

"This celebration of our love was a product of my husband's hard work," she added.

The Dumper solon said they intended it to be a private wedding to keep it "as intimate as possible."

"However, access was unintentionally given through the post of my wedding gown designer, Michael Cinco and he mistakenly posted about the private event," she said.

The congresswoman said Cinco already apologized for the "unwanted attention" his post caused.

Bautista, meanwhile, responded to those who have been questioning her integrity as a public servant.

"Working for a public office, I have always valued the integrity of my work. I have always preferred to act silently and let my actions speak for themselves. I know that I have been doing everything in my capacity to get our sector through this pandemic and I understand that there are still some issues and concerns that have yet to be fixed. I assure everyone that we have never taken our eyes off of these concerns," she said.

The representative said her partylist was able to help vaccinate 18,000 public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers. She also said they were able to provide assistance to thousands more through government assistance programs implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, and Department of Labor-Tupad.

To address the effects of the pandemic, she also distributed more than P1.1 million worth grocery packs, personal protective equipment (PPEs), free insurance policies, and relief assistance to affected PUV drivers and commuters.

She also donated P3 million to doctors and nurses from her personal funds "to ensure that their tireless sacrifice is recognized."

The solon said she will move on with the issue and focus on addressing the pandemic and serve her constituents better.

"I will no longer indulge in the statements by people of influence against me as I will leave it up to my legal team to address this," Bautista said.

"Kaysa magsiraan tayo, ilaan natin ang enerhiyang meron tayo bilang isang komunidad sa pag-ahon mula sa pandemyang ito," she also said.

(Instead of bashing each other, let us redirect our energy in overcoming this pandemic as a community.)

Meanwhile, actor Enchong Dee has apologized for his comments against the legislator.

"I have been reckless in the tweet I posted and I take full responsibility for my lapse in judgement," Dee said on Twitter.

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Tagum City had to quarantine Covid-19 patients at home during surge

Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:54 AM PDT

TAGUM City Mayor Allan Rellon said when the city experienced a surge in Covid-19 cases in previous months, several Covid-19 patients had to be quarantined at their homes due to a lack of beds at hospitals or quarantine facilities.

Rellon said in a radio interview on Thursday, August 19, the city had more than 1,000 active cases in June this year.

"Katong 1,000 plus na positive, 800 plus na positive naa sa balay kay puno naman ang DRMC [Davao Regional Medical Center]. Ang among city isolation, puno na. Naa pa gyuy inn na among ka-partner puno na. Asa naman sila, sa balay na gyud," the mayor said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

(When we had over 1,000 positive [active] cases, more than 800 of them were under home quarantine because DRMC was already fully occupied. So were our city isolation and our partner inns. We had to quarantine them at home.)

He added even severe cases were forced to be under home quarantine. One patient even died at home while waiting to be transported to DRMC.

Despite under home quarantine, he said they are continuously monitoring them.

The city's active cases declined to around 300 cases when the city and the entire Davao del Norte shifted to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in July.

Tagum, currently under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restriction until August 31, is currently seeing an average of 200 to 300 active cases, he said.

"Naay effect tong amo gihimo na MECQ and GCQ with heightened restrictions (The MECQ and GCQ with heightened restrictions had an effect in lowering the active cases)," Rellon said.

With the recent detection of two Delta variant cases in the city, the mayor said they are intensifying their efforts to prevent the further spread of the virus.

"Medyo pugong mi ron. Ang among effort nga mugamay ang new cases, mudaghan ang mu-recover para ang atong hospital beds, ma-ICU [intensive care unit] or isolation room, naa kanunay reserved sa mga critical condition," he said.

(We are currently controlling the situation. We wanted our cases to decline and have more recoveries to decongest our hospital beds, ICU, or isolation rooms so that we will have reserved beds for patients under critical condition.)

The mayor said the recent Delta case, reported on Sunday, August 15, is a DRMC nurse with five close contacts, who are currently under observation.

Rellon said they are intensifying their enforcement of the health protocols within communities.

As of August 18, the city had a total of 4,584 confirmed cases, wherein 4,064 already recovered, 299 were active cases, and 221 succumbed to the disease.

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Over 300,000 Davao City residents fully vaccinated

Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:23 AM PDT

SIX months since Davao City rolled out its Covid-19 vaccination program, more than 300,000 Dabawenyos are already fully vaccinated, according to the August 17, 2021 data of the Davao City Vaccination Cluster.

According to the Vaccination Cluster, a total of 303,282 vaccinees were already administered with the Covid-19 vaccine.

Based on the breakdown, 43.370 are from the Priority Group A1 (health care workers), 80,125 are A2 (senior citizens), 111,646 are A3 (persons with comorbidities), 61,290 are A4 (essential workers), and 6,821 A5 (indigent population, including residents belonging to the indigenous peoples (IP) communities).

Total persons vaccinated is 15 percent of the targeted 1.2 million vaccinees to achieve herd immunity.

Meanwhile, a total of 465,391 doses were already administered for the first dose.

Out of the total, 52,730 were administerd to the A1 sector, 83,762 for A2, 138,392 for A3, 174,355 for A4, and 16,152 for A5.

The Davao City Government started inoculating the Covid-19 vaccines early March this year, nearly a year since the city recorded its first Covid-19 cases.

Among the vaccines that were allocated by the national government to the city are Sinovac, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson Janssen, Gamaleya Sputnik V, and Moderna.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio recently said in a radio interview that the City will now be expanding its targeted daily vaccination from 10,000 to 15,000 vaccinees in order to achieve herd immunity before the end of the year.

Aside from opening more vaccination hubs, the City recently tapped the City Council through its councilors to set up their own mobile vaccination team. The mayor said the councilors will be tapping the help of the barangays, especially in far-flung areas, in identifying A2 and A3 individuals who have not yet registered for the vaccination program.

Duterte-Carpio also reminded those who received their first dose to religiously get their second dose on the prescribed date.

The mayor revealed that one of the challenges that the city is facing right now in its vaccination drive is the missed second doses as some recipients failed to return for their second dose for various reasons.

"Ginapakusgan nato ang kampanya sa second dose sa mga tao. Ang bakuna two doses dili siya one. Ang full protection sa vaccination is dapat kinahanglan makuha ang second dose. Naka-reserve nana daan para sa inyuha so it is very important nga fully vaccinated," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on Monday, August 16.

(We are strengthening our campaign for the second dose. The vaccine requires two doses. To get full protection, you need to get two doses of the vaccine. The second dose vaccines are already reserved for those that have taken their first dose.)

Under the resolution released by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases, a person is considered fully vaccinated for Covid-19 if it has been more than or equal to two weeks after having received the second dose in a two-dose series, or more than or equal to two weeks after having received a single-dose vaccine.

Also, the vaccines administered to the individual should be included on the Emergency Use Authorization List or Compassionate Special Permit issued by the Philippine Food and Drug Administration; or Emergency Use Listing of the World Health Organization.

Experts said completing the required dose by the manufacturer will help reach the vaccine's maximum potential. Thus, the city mayor urged Dabawenyos who received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to make an appointment and get fully vaccinated.

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Davao City council-led mobile vaccination off to a good start

Posted: 19 Aug 2021 07:23 AM PDT

THE mobile vaccination led by the Sangguniang Panlungsod had already administered Covid-19 vaccines to 783 individuals.

Davao City Councilor Mary Joselle Villafuerte, committee chairperson on health, said in a radio interview on Wednesday, August 18, that the mobile vaccination had been conducted in Barangay Sirib, Calinan District on August 17, and in Barangay Los Amigos, Tugbok District on August 11.

Villafuerte said the second rollout covered 500 beneficiaries in Barangay Sirib. In the first rollout, the mobile vaccination benefitted 283 individuals in Barangay Los Amigos.

She said the City Council organized the mobile vaccination program following Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio's request to help the city government in its vaccination campaign by urging councilors to form their own vaccination teams.

She added that the mayor on Monday, August 16 also approved the project design of mobile vaccination as well as its budget.

"They (councilors) can now visit barangays and schedule the rollout because the Mayor will support us all the way," Villafuerte said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

She said the success of the first and second rollout of the mobile vaccination program is positive, and that other councilors are now preparing for vaccination rollouts in their Areas of Responsibility (AORs). She said some even went to the vaccination site on August 17 to observe.

Villafuerte said the mayor divided the 182 barangays for each councilor as its AOR. She was assigned 16 barangays -- 10 in Calinan District and six in Marilog District. She said she will be helping other third district councilors in their mobile vaccination.

She added that the medical team that helped the first two vaccination rollouts could be tapped by the other councilors as well.

Villafuerte is now requesting the help of barangays for coordination for the mobile vaccination primarily in the listing of people qualified for the vaccine.

Based on her experience, there was a delay in the rollout because the list of barangays included senior citizens who were already deceased or already vaccinated.

She encouraged the barangays to support this endeavor because their proper cooperation gives the vaccination teams an upper hand to make each vaccination activity a success.

Villafuerte said they are determined to help the city government to reach herd immunity.

"Gihatagan mi challenge ni mayor na gusto niya ramp up 20,000 doses administered daily. She wants us to meet goal by November para sa first dose, we are going to help her in this effort," Villafuerte said.

(We were challenged by the mayor, she wants to ramp up the vaccination up to 20,000 doses administered daily. She wants us to meet the goal by November for the first dose, we are going to help her with this effort.)

Duterte-Carpio also requested the councilors in identifying Priority Groups A2 (senior citizen) and A3 (persons with comorbidities) who have not yet been vaccinated.

The mayor said the mobile vaccination that the councilors will embark on is a "set-up and go" type wherein the councilors will identify a site in coordination with the barangay.

The City Government had recently organized mobile vaccination sites for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers, migrating workers, and senior citizens.

She urged Dabawenyos not to depend on the mobile vaccination initiative as the Safe Davao Quick Response (DQR) vaccination online scheduling system is already available.

"If we see there is a slot sa DQR scheduler nato sa atong fixed vaccination sites, mas maayo they immediately have themselves take that vaccination schedule para mabakunahan sila," Duterte-Carpio said.

(If there is an available slot in the DQR scheduler, it would be better if they could get that schedule and have themselves vaccinated.)

She also encouraged Dabawenyos to take advantage of the sectoral vaccination. (With reports from CIO)

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