Fund for federalism returned to boost Covid-19 funding: Andanar

Fund for federalism returned to boost Covid-19 funding: Andanar By Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos

”Any downloaded roadshow funds from the past year have either already been spent or have been returned to the country’s treasury to financially assist the programs and actions against Covid-19,” Andanar said in a statement. Andanar made the remarks as he refuted the claim of Senator Nancy Binay that the PCOO and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) are focused on the signature campaign for Charter Change (Cha-cha). Andanar said that while the government is open to constructive criticisms, it needs to correct Binay’s “inaccurate” statement. “We would like to clarify with the Senator the facts of the matter at hand. It is inaccurate to state that the government is spending on and conducting federalism roadshows amid the Covid-19 crisis in the country and that the PCOO and DILG have failed to come up with and implement a communication plan for the Covid-19 crisis. We strongly state that this is not the case,” he said. Binay, in a statement on Monday, urged PCOO and DILG to drop its signature campaign for Cha-cha and instead focus on an aggressive informative drive on Covid-19. She added that PCOO and DILG should redirect their federalism roadshow budgets and prioritize public health interests to prevent a possible surge of Covid-19 infections.

MANILA – The remaining funds earmarked for roadshows promoting the government’s proposed federalism have been returned to the Bureau of Treasury to augment the budget for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) response, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Martin Andanar said on Tuesday.

Andanar said that no part of the 2020 budget or any fund has been used for any roadshow intended to promote the proposed federalism.

He also clarified that the online signature campaign was not managed by the DILG nor the PCOO.

He said it was instead supervised by the two agencies’ partners, the civil society organizations, that are voluntarily conducting the online initiative.

“The said initiative is also not pushing for charter change but focuses on core which is about amendments and not revisions,” Andanar said.

Efforts refocused

Andanar assured Binay that the government has minimized its engagements on promoting the proposed federalism since the start of 2020.

He said the current administration is now focused on helping the government in its fight against Covid-19 by raising public awareness.

“We have refocused all our efforts towards mitigating the dire effects brought about by the pandemic. Therefore, no active engagements are in place as we continue to undertake front-line responsibilities to our citizens. We would also like to assure the Senator that the PCOO’s efforts towards fulfilling its mandate of engaging the public in matters of governance and consensus, especially in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, has never wavered nor strayed,” he said.

Andanar also emphasized that the PCOO has been actively engaging the public by producing numerous virtual materials about the government’s initiatives and response to the Covid-19 pandemic since January this year.

He said his office is holding public briefings, creating social media content, managing Laging Handa’s Covid-19 one-stop website, and conducting virtual pressers hooked up to other private media networks for more amplification.

“With that in mind, one cannot say that the PCOO has not been able to carry out its obligations of keeping the public informed of government programs and policies,” Andanar said.

There were reports that the DILG supposedly ordered its regional offices to continue gathering up to two million signatures over the next two months to back amendments to the 1987 Constitution.

Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año merely branded the reports as “fake news”.

President Rodrigo Duterte, during his fourth State of the Nation Address in July 2019, did not mention his proposed shift to federalism but said talks on Chacha are “better left in conferences that are not allowed to be open to the public”. (PNA) May 16-22, 2020 | 45

Medialdea says PH not on 2nd wave of Covid-19

MANILA – Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Wednesday said the Philippines is not on the second wave of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.

By Azer Parrocha Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea (File photo)

“Wala pa tayo sa second wave. Eh dinadasal natin. Malakas ho siguro tayo magdasal (We’re not on the second wave yet. We’re praying. Perhaps we pray hard),” Medialdea said in a media interview on the sidelines of the launch of the Balik Probinsiya program.

Medialdea distanced Malacañang from the earlier statement of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, saying the country has yet to experience a second wave.

‘yan ng Presidente ‘yan or ano. Kailan ba lumabas yung second wave (You know, that is not the President’s pronouncement. When did the second wave start)? That we will have to see,” he said.

Medialdea, meanwhile, said Filipinos should not think that a second wave could take place in the country after quarantine protocols have been eased.

or anticipate it),” he said.,

Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, who was present in the same event, admitted that a second wave would take a toll on the country’s Covid-19 response efforts.

“Mahirapan tayo pag nasa second wave (We will have a hard time if we go through a second wave),” he said.

Physician Tony Leachon, adviser to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Covid-19, also disagreed with Duque.

“When you say second wave, it means you have flattened the first one. We’re still on the first wave,” he said.

In a hybrid Senate hearing on Wednesday, Duque told senators that “actually” the Philippines is currently on the second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak. happened sometime in January noong nagkaroon tayo ng three Chinese nationals from Wuhan (The first wave happened sometime in January when we had three Chinese nationals from Wuhan),” he said, referring to the first batch of infections detected in the country.

He, however, did not clarify when the second wave began. Last Saturday (May 16), Metro Manila and other parts of the country at risk of Covid-19 infections transitioned to a less stringent modified enhanced community quarantine with more industries allowed to open.

Only the cities of Cebu and Mandaue remain under enhanced community quarantine while the rest of the country are under general community quarantine.

As of May 20, there are 13,221 confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection in the country, of which 842 are deaths and 2,932 are recoveries. (PNA)

Private sector to lead Covid-19 infection rate study By Kris Crismundo

MANILA – Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said the private sector will be leading a study to determine the level of infection rate of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Metro Manila and Laguna.

During the Laging Handa public briefing Wednesday, Concepcion said the zero prevalence test is part of the private sector-led Project ARK (antibody rapid test kits) initiative in coordination with National Policy Against Covid-19 deputy chief implementer Vivencio Dizon, Metro Manila mayors, and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). A prevalence test would determine the number of infected people in a particular population at a given time. “So every month, we will see if we are improving — if the level of infection is increasing or declining,” Concepcion said.

He said the study will be done for a period of four months. “The 16 cities of NCR (National Capital Region) plus Laguna will be taking this part of study (so) that we will measure the level of infection using rapid test kits. This is going to be supervised by PSRC (Philippine Survey and Research Center) research firm,” he added. Once the study becomes successful, Concepcion said they target to expand this by conducting zero prevalence tests in the entire Luzon and can be extended to critical parts of the country with more donors to support this initiative. He underscored the need to do more testing before Metro Manila’s transition from modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) to general community quarantine (GCQ). However, Concepcion said the current test capacity of the government using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is not enough so the rapid test kit can be used to determine the number of infected individuals. PCR tests are also more expensive which cost from PHP4,000 to PHP8,000, while rapid test kits only cost around PHP400, he added. (PNA) PRRD wants immediate purchase of Covid-19 vaccine once available

MANILA – As soon as a vaccine for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) is available, President Rodrigo Duterte said he would want the government to purchase doses right away.

By Azer Parrocha “(Pag) nakahanap na sila, kailangan may pera ako niyan kasi bili kaagad tayo (Once they have developed one, we need to have money because we would purchase it immediately),” Duterte said in a taped public address aired late Tuesday night. He said since many countries are on the verge of developing a vaccine, he was hopeful that one would be available by early 2021. “Malapit na sila sa vaccine (They’re close to developing a vaccine). I’m sure that they have made a lot of progress

Duterte expressed optimism over news that clinical trials for an experimental vaccine being developed by US biotech company Moderna, Inc. were showing promising early results.

“A pharmaceutical called Moderna… I don’t know what is the legal residence of this corporation, but mayroon na silang (but they have) tests showing positive results,” he said.

If the vaccine is successful by 2021, it would provide many Filipinos with immunity against the disease, the President said.

Get vaccinated

Meanwhile, Duterte reiterated that the public is still at risk of catching Covid-19 amid the relaxed quarantine protocols being implemented in different parts of the country.

“Hanggang hindi ka matusukan ng vaccine (Until you get injected with the vaccine), you are still in danger. And even if you are really vaccinated, you are still put at risk if you are not really careful. The corona(virus) will not disappear. It is here for all time,” he said.

Duterte also urged parents to get their children vaccinated for 25 debilitating or life-threatening diseases, such as tetanus and diphtheria.

President Rodrigo Duterte (Presidential photo) anak ninyo. Kindly, lahat kayong mga nanay, pati tatay, see to it that your children are vaccinated (There are those in the provinces who still do not want to get their kids immunized. To all mothers and fathers, kindly see to it that your children are vaccinated),” he said.

Earlier, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque assured that the national government is ready to implement an immunization plan should a Covid-19 vaccine roll out in the future.

He explained that a plan has been in place, not just for existing vaccines but also in anticipation of a vaccine to prevent Covid-19 infection.

Currently, there is no approved treatment or vaccine for Covid-19. However, there are ongoing clinical trials to investigate the safety and efficacy of new and existing drugs, such as anti-viral, anti-bacterial, and anti-malarial agents, in the treatment of patients. (PNA)

Marikina subjects returning employees to Covid-19 testing

By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan

MANILA – Marikina Mayor Marcy Teodoro on Friday ordered the conduct of mass testing for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) for all employees of private companies who are scheduled to return to work as Metro Manila transitions to a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) beginning Saturday.

RAPID TEST. Personnel from the Marikina City government conduct rapid testing for Covid-19 on workers of some private companies in the city on Friday (May 15, 2020). The government has allowed some industries to resume operations under the modified enhanced community and the general community quarantine beginning May 16. (Photo courtesy of Marikina PIO)

An initial, 1,000 private employees were subjected to Covid-19 testing using rapid test kits.

These workers are from shoe manufacturer C-Point, Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Corp. (PMFTC), Inc., and Armscor Global Defense, Inc. Test who underwent tests conducted by the city government. “Sinisigurado natin na ligtas ang mga manggagawa natin (mula) sa Covid-19 kaya nagkakaroon tayo ng ganitong testing bago mag-simula ang operations ng mga factory, mga industrial, manufacturing, at ang shoe industry natin (We want to make sure that our workers are safe from Covid-19 so we are doing this testing before the start of the operations of factories, industrial offices, manufacturing and

PRRD adviser pushes use of RTKs to test asymptomatic persons our shoe industry),” he added. Teodoro said the government and the private sector should work together to prepare for the “new normal” or MECQ, primarily taking into consideration the health of employees in their workplace. He added they are currently balancing the biosafety and economic aspect of the community. Teodoro also said they are still facing challenges as the MECQ, which meant the easing of quarantine protocols, does not bring back everything to normal. He said that the mass testing will be regularly conducted, adding that the LGU will also conduct regular random testing by sampling to ensure in the future that their places are still safe. “This is what we call surveillance testing,” Teodoro added. All employees that will test positive for Covid-19 will be immediately brought to a quarantine facility so that they can be isolated and given supportive treatment so that their health will not be affected. (PNA)

MANILA – Rapid test kits (RTKs) for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) will help the government to contain the spread of the virus as RTKs can also test asymptomatic persons, an adviser to President Rodrigo Duterte said.

During the Laging Handa public briefing Thursday, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said about 500,000 RTKs ordered by over 200 companies arrived in the country and will be used for the next two weeks to test their employees for free under the private sector-led Project ARK (antibody rapid test kits). “All these testing will be done today until the next two weeks,” Concepcion, who is also the founder of Go Negosyo, said. As the government allowed more By Kris Crismundo

businesses to open under a modified enhanced community quarantine status and general community quarantine status, companies are advised to test their employees especially those with illness or symptoms through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.

But under the Department of Health testing protocols, only those with Covid-19 symptoms can undergo PCR testing.

As the country still lacks equipment and facilities for PCR, Concepcion added RTKs will help the government to increase its level of Covid-19 testing, including those who are asymptomatic.

According to experts, PCR testing is the gold standard for Covid-19 testing as this is more accurate than RTKs.

However, PCR testing is more expensive costing between PHP4,000 to PHP8,000, than using RTKs that cost only PHP400.

PCR testing is also more complex as it needs bigger investments, such as accredited laboratories, machines, and training medical staff to handle the testing process.

In an online forum Wednesday, Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Luz Quimbo supported the use of RTKs for Covid-19 testing but added the need to also ramp up capacity for PCR testing.

Quimbo said even RTKs reportedly have a false negative result rate of 15 percent, more individuals can be tested

using RTKs and can help in determining asymptomatic individuals infected with Covid-19.

She added that with an estimated 40 percent incidence of asymptomatic individuals in the population in a country, doing an RTK mass testing with 15 percent false-negative result is better than the 40 percent with no mass testing at all.

Quimbo cited an incidence rate of asymptomatic Covid-19 infections in Iceland which is at 50 percent, 30 percent in China, 25 percent in South Korea, and up to 50 percent in the United States.

“But the question is which is higher: 40 percent or 15 percent? Clearly, 40 percent is higher, right? If you don’t do testing you’re stuck with 40 percent asymptomatic (population). If you do testing, the 15 percent falsenegative you are down to 15 percent (asymptomatic). Of course, 15 percent is still high but certainly lower than 40,” she added. (PNA)

Executive Editor

ABNER M. CAGA

EDITORIAL BOARD

Associate Editor FRYAN E. ABKILAN Managing Editor NORA CL MOLDE Copy Editor VENUS LIM GARCIA Layout Artists RONNIE E. MADANGUIT JOHN CHARLES B. MALAZARTE Contributors Agusan del Sur JENNIFER P. GAITANO Surigao del Norte/Dinagat Islands SUSIL D. RAGAS Surigao del Sur NIDA GRACE B. TRANQUILAN RECHEL D. BESONIA RUTH ABBEY GITA-CARLOS CHRISTOPHER LLOYD CALIWAN KRIS CRISMUNDO NOLI C. NUSOG VANESSA P. SANCHEZ LADE JEAN KABAGANI ALEXANDER LOPEZ AZER PARROCHA JOSE CIELITO REGANIT PREXX MARNIE KATE TROZO DAR-AGUSAN DEL SUR DA CARAGA-RAFIS DOH CARAGA PNA, DENR-13, PPA-PMO Business Managers ZARINA O. LASTRA MARIESH F. CELEDEÑA MAY AMOR O. ALABADO Photographer ROBESPIERRE C. TRADIO RUDOLF BONNIN E. SANICO Regional Office DOREEN MARIELLE N. ROSALES

Regional Office Jose Rosales Avenue, Butuan City piacaraga@gmail.com; pia_caraga@yahoo.com.ph (085) 341-5285; (085) 815-1991 Philippine Information Agency Caraga @PIACaraga

Information Centers

AGUSAN DEL NORTE

Jose Rosales Avenue, Butuan City (085) 815-1991 pia.northagusan@gmail.com PIA Agusan del Norte

AGUSAN DEL SUR

Provincial Government Center, Patin-ay, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur 0917-723-3455 pia.agusandelsur@yahoo.com.ph PIA Agusan del Sur

SURIGAO DEL NORTE/DINAGAT ISLANDS

Parrucho corner Magallanes St., Surigao City (086) 826-9450 piasurigao@gmail.com PIA Surigao del Norte; PIA Dinagat Islands

SURIGAO DEL SUR

Old DPWH Bldg., Telaje, Tandag City (086) 211-3353 piasurigaosur@gmail.com; sds_pia@yahoo.com.ph PIA Surigao del Sur