HOT STORIES OF THE WEEK

Nakadepende na ang desisyon sa mga pribadong kumpanya kung muling magpapatupad ng Work From Home (WFH) arrangement sa kanilang mga manggagawa.

Ipinabatid ni Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Sec. Joey Concepcion na sa kanilang kumpanya tuwing Biyernes lamang ang work  from home set up ngunit mula Lunes hanggang Huwebes ay kailangan pumasok ng pisikal sa opisina.

Ani Concepcion, dahil sa patuloy na pagtaas ng presyo ng produktong petrolyo, kapansin pansin ang pagbaba ng mobility o pagbiyahe ng mga tao kaya ang iba ay mas pinipili na lamang ang work from home set up.

Samantala, aminado si Concepcion na kapag nagpatuloy ang walang tigil na oil price hike at iba pang pagtaas ng bilihin ay maaapektuhan ang ekonomiya ng bansa.

WITH no less than the Department of Health warning of a possible increase in severe and critical Covid19 cases by August due to the waning immunity of the primary vaccine series, incoming President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. on Friday called on the public to avail of the free booster shots being offered by the government.

Marcos highlighted the urgency of taking booster doses noting that the waning immunity stems from the effect of the highly transmissible Omicron variant on the primary vaccine series.

“With the Covid pandemic still ongoing, different variants may still emerge. And as we have seen, some variants are not as resistant to the first and second doses as others. Hence, there is a need to enhance our immunity by getting booster shots. Kailangan ng dagdag na proteksyon,” he said.

A study on more than one million people in Qatar showed that people who were infected with an earlier version of the coronavirus and received three doses of an mRNA vaccine appear to be best protected against symptomatic infection by the Omicron variant.

This, as Marcos stressed the need for continued compliance with the minimum public health standards to prevent another surge of cases that could impede the country’s economic recovery.

“We have already made economic headways and we should not allow them to be brought to naught. This is why I am urging everyone to take part in preventing another surge that could block our way to economic recovery,” he said.

“We have to wear face masks and comply with other health standards to ensure our safety and that of our loved ones,” Marcos added.

Earlier, the health department has warned of a possible increase in severe and critical Covid19 cases by August due to the waning immunity of the public.

It also warned that while hospitals are not overwhelmed at present, there could be an increase in hospitalization by August as there would be more severe and critical cases because of the waning immunity of the population.

The agency reported that the average number of new cases per day rose to 270 from 182 per day last week.

The OCTA Research group also projected the number of new Covid cases nationwide to hit 450 to 500, with 250 of those coming from the National Capital Region as it noted that the single-day positivity rate in NCR had increased to 4%.

OCTA added that the new COVID-19 infections have accelerated with a reproduction number of 1.59, a slight increase from 1.29 last week.

Reproduction rate refers to the number of people infected by one case. A reproduction number that is below 1 indicates that the transmission of the virus is slowing down.

On Thursday the DOH recorded 425 new COVID-19 infections, the highest daily number of new infections in over two months, since 690 new infections were logged on April 3.

The new cases bring the nationwide caseload to 3,694,529, while the country’s active case count also continues to increase, reaching 3,462 on Thursday from 3,211 on Wednesday.

INCOMING President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, Jr. discussed strengthening various areas of cooperation such as economy, trade, food security, defense, pharmaceuticals, education, culture, and energy, among others, as he met with more members of the diplomatic community on Friday.

This, as ambassadors from Poland, New Zealand, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Australia, met with him during separate courtesy calls.

Facing the media after their meeting, Australian ambassador Steven James Robinson said their discussion covered the long-standing relations between Philippines and Australia, which he said has gotten stronger, broader and deeper since its start during the 1800’s.

Robinsons added that they discussed the area of defense, particularly the cooperation between the Australian defense force and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the training that they conduct with the AFP and Australia’s strong support for the Philippine military.

Australia’s development assistance to the Philippines was also another issue taken up, especially its $80-million a year investment in the Philippines to provide assistance particularly for BARMM.

He added they also discussed the growing people to people links between their two countries and how to build on these linkages to promote strategic partnership between the two nations, as well as the developments in the West Philippine Sea.

“I reiterated our commitment to the Philippines in supporting the outcome of the arbitral award, and supporting the Philippines, as it goes forward dealing with difficult regional issues,” the envoy said.

“I think President-elect Marcos is going to take either a measured or balanced approach, in terms of how he approaches all of these issues to seek the best outcome,” he said.

For his part, Jaroslaw Szczepankiewicz, Chargé d’ Affaires of Poland, said they discussed possible expansion of cooperation, especially on food security and defense, adding that Poland is producing Black Hawks for the Philippine Air Force.

He added that Poland also committed to help in the post-pandemic economic recovery using its expertise being the first digitalized administration in the European Union.

“We also discussed the increase of the people to people contacts in the context of first, overseas Filipino workers coming to Poland, second constant increase in numbers and opportunities for the development of cultural and scientific cooperation, and third in terms of the Polish scholarship to the Filipino students,” he said.

Meanwhile, F.M. Borhan Uddin, Ambassador of Bangladesh, said he and Marcos had a fruitful discussion in boosting cooperation in agriculture.

Uddin said they also discussed extending the cooperation between the Philippines and Bangladesh to pharmaceuticals and trade in the industries of ceramics, glass fiber, and garments.

Bangladesh is enjoying a boom in the pharmaceutical industry, exporting medicines to at least 140 countries around the globe, including the United States and European Union countries.

“So, we are hoping to enhance our cooperation in this sector also, and maybe there will be some investment from Bangladesh here in the Philippines in this sector,” the ambassador said.

To recall, Marcos earlier expressed his intention to boost the local manufacturing of generic medicines.

Peter Francis Tavita Kell, Ambassador of New Zealand for his part disclosed that they discussed beefing up existing areas of cooperation, particularly in strengthening peace, prosperity, and stability in the Asia Pacific region.

“Sinabi ko sa kanya na pinahahalagahan namin ang kasalukuyang ugnayan ng New Zealand at Pilipinas,” he said in the vernacular.

“We also discussed the contribution that the Filipino community makes to New Zealand, we discussed the opportunity for more travel between our two countries, tourism, education,” he continued.

For her part, Folakemi Ibidunni Akinleye, Ambassador of Nigeria, said she and BBM discussed areas of cooperation in agriculture, gas, natural gas, technology, and finance, among others.

“We discussed everything that these two countries can benefit from because the truth of the matter is that the whole world now needs collaboration, we’ve seen what has happened after the pandemic, and the Russia – Ukraine war has changed the dynamics, so we need more collaboration and that’s what we discussed,” she said.

With Nigeria being the No. 12 oil producer in the world and number 3 producer of natural gas, the ambassadress said they could help the Philippines by supplying oil and natural gas.

She added that with the Philippines having unexplored natural gas resources, they could engage in technology transfer to help the country tap its natural gas resources.

Akinleye also invited Marcos for a state visit to Nigeria soon.

Inatasan ng Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System – Regulatory Office (MWSS-RO) ang Maynilad na magbigay ng rebate sa ilang customers na kanilang sinerserbisyuhan.

Ito’y matapos magkamali ang Maynilad sa kompyutasyon ng bill na hindi alinsunod sa mga rate na kanilang inaprubahan.

Gumamit anila ang Maynilad ng Local Franchise Tax (LFT) ng local government units kung saan sila nagseserbisyo sa halip na ang approved rate ng MWSS Board of Trustees (BOT).

Dahil dito, ipinag-utos ng MWSS na bigyan ng rebate ang kanilang mga customers na mula sa mga lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Las Pinas, Malabon, Valenzuela at Quezon City.

Ang naturang rebate ay saklaw ng bill ng Maynilad customers mula nitong Marso hanggang ngayong buwan.

Nasa 60% hanggang 70% na ng mga PUV drivers sa isang terminal sa Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija ang tumigil na rin sa pamamasada bunsod ng mataas na presyo ng krudo.

Dahil dito, humaba ang pila ng mga pasahero sa Cabanatuan Central Transport Terminal.

Kabilang sa mga nagtigil-pasada ang mga jeepney at minibus driver na bumibyahe sa lalawigan at iba pang ruta, tulad ng Bataan, Pampanga at Aurora.

Nakipag-pulong naman ang management ng terminal sa mga leader ng iba’t ibang transport group upang resolbahin ang issue.

Umaapela si Nelson Santos, Manager ng North Central Luzon Terminal sa mga transport leader sa Nueva Ecija na huwag itigil ang pamamasada para maserbisyuhan ang mga mananakay.

Sa panig ng LTFRB, tiniyak ni Executive Director Kristina Cassion na handa ang kanilang regional offices sakaling magpatupad ng “transport holiday” ang mga tsuper.

Muling nanindigan ang DILG na mananatili ang implementasyon ng National Mask Mandate sa buong bansa, kabilang sa lalawigan ng Cebu.

Tugon ito ng kagawaran matapos tuluyang aprubahan ang ordinansa na nag-adopt sa direktiba ni Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia na gawing “optional” ang pagsusuot ng face mask sa outdoor settings.

Ayon kay DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing, III, nakasaad sa Provincial Board Resolution na binibigyan si Garcia ng pagkakataon upang mag-promulgate ng implementing rules and regulations kung saan idedetalye ang nasabing resolusyon.

Aabangan anya nila ang IRR upang matiyak na alinsunod ang resolusyon sa national government health protocols.

Pero dahil sa Provincial Board Resolution, inihayag ng DILG official na “moot” o malabo pang maipatupad ang nasabing polisiya kung wala pang IRR.

Binigyang-diin ni Densing na hangga’t walang IRR ay manghuhuli pa rin ang mga pulis ng mga hindi nagsusuot ng facemask sa ilalim ng national policy.

Ipinagtanggol ni Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia ang dating hepe ng Provincial Police Office (PPO) na sinibak sa pwesto dahil sa pagsuporta sa direktibang gawing “optional” na lamang ang pagsusuot ng face masks.

Tinawag ni garcia na “public shaming” ang ginawa ni acting PNP Chief, Lt. Gen. Vicente Danao na pagsibak sa pwesto kay Col. Engelbert Soriano.

Dapat anyang respetuhin ng sinumang uniformed officer ang kapwa nito opisyal kung ginagampanan lamang ang tungkulin na sa tingin nila ay alinsunod naman sa batas.

Aminado ang gobernadora na mananahimik na lamang sana siya sa pagkaka-relieve kay Soriano dahil naiintindihan naman niya ang proseso sa PNP, pero nakatawag-pansin sa kanya ang panghihiya ni Danao.

Hunyo 12 nang sibakin sa pwesto si Soriano bilang Cebu Provincial Police Director o isang araw matapos magpahayag ng suporta sa executive order ni Garcia na gawing “optional” ang paggamit ng face masks.

Isusulong sa 19^th Congress ang suspensiyon ng Excise Tax sa petrolyo sa oras na sumampa na sa 80 dollars ang kada bariles ng krudo sa gitna ng nagbabadya na namang price increase sa susunod na Linggo.

Ayon kay House Ways and Means Committee Chair Joey Salceda, isusulong niya na otomatikong tanggalin ang Excise Tax sa oras na sumobra sa 80 dollars ang kada barrel ng Dubai crude.

Gayunman, lampas na sa 110 dollars ang preso ng kada bariles ng Dubai crude na pangunahing inaangkat ng Pilipinas.

Nilinaw naman ni Salceda na bagaman lagpas na sa 100 dollars, hindi ito dapat patawan ng Excise Tax dahil ito anya ang kanyang nakikitang countervailing o countercyclical mechanism upang hindi umasa sa DSWD, DBM at DOF.

Para naman kay IBON Foundation Executive Director Sonny Africa, dapat noon pa tinanggal ang Excise Tax sa langis na nagpapahirap sa transport sector at middle class.

Sinasamantala anya ng gobyerno ang pangangailangan sa produktong petrolyo upang palobohin ang kita sa panahon ng kagipitan.

Iginiit ni Africa na kung sinsero ang pamahalaan na tumulong ay sobrang laking bagay na makontrol nila ang presyo ng petrolyo.

Aabot sa 10 volcanic earthquakes ang naitala sa Bulusan Volcano sa nakalipas na 24 oras.

Ayon sa PHIVOLCS, nananatiling nakataas ang alert level 1 sa bulkan na nangangahulugang nasa low-level unrest ito, ngunit posible ang biglaang steam-driven o phreatic eruptions.

Nagbuga rin ang bulkan ng plumes na umabot sa 500 metro ang taas at naglabas ng 4,627 tonelada ng sulfur dioxide noong Hunyo 12.

Patuloy na pinapaalahanan ng ahensya ang publiko na bawal pa rin ang pagpasok sa  4-kilometer-radius permanent danger zone.

Tumaas ang bilang ng mga nais magpabakuna sa Metro Manila sa gitna ng pag-akyat ng aktibong kaso ng COVID-19.

Ayon kay Dr. Kaiser Aneron, COVID-19 vaccination team leader ng Mandaluyong City, mula 400 hanggang 500, sumirit sa 700 hanggang 800 ang mga nagpapabakuna sa lungsod bawat araw.

Ilan pa sa nakikitang dahilan ng pagdami ng nagpapaturok ng COVID-19 vaccine ay dahil sa kailangan ito sa trabaho at requirement din sa face-to-face classes at pagdaraos ng graduation.

Samantala sa Makati City, balak ng lungsod na maglaan pa ng dalawang vaccination sites, makaraang umakyat sa 700 hanggang 1,500 ang kanilang nababakunahan kada araw.

Sumirit din ang bilang ng mga nababakunahan sa Marikina City na umaabot sa mahigit 1,300.

Batay sa datos mula sa National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard hanggang nitong Hunyo 4, aabot na sa 150,902,492 COVID-19 vaccines ang na-administer sa buong bansa.