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June 22-28, 2020
Malaysia all praises for Sulu ‘Governor lauded for helping stranded Malaysians’
M
ALAYSIA PRAISED Sulu Governor Sakur Tan, head of the provincial task force on Covid-19, for taking care of nearly four dozen Malaysian citizens stranded for over 2 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ambassador Nor- in Zamboanga City. Tan Tan and DOT Assistant man Muhamad person- was accompanied by Sulu Secretary for Mindanao ally thanked Tan in a re- Planning and Develop- and Palawan, Myra Paz cent meeting facilitated ment Coordinator Beltran Abubakar. by the Department of Chio, Sulu Provincial EnMuhamad personally Tourism (DOT) at the gineer Abdurasad Baih, conveyed the Marcian Garden Hotel Jolo town Mayor Kerkhar Continue on page 3
There may be no immunity against Covid-19, new Wuhan study suggests
The study looked at whether hospital workers exposed to infected patients during the early stage of the outbreak in Wuhan had developed antibodies. (Xinhua)
HUMANS MAY never develop immunity against Covid-19, according to new research on antibodies by Chinese and American scientists. Their conclusion was based on a study looking at whether hospital workers in Wuhan who were directly exposed to infected patients at the early stage of the outbreak had developed antibodies. The deadly new disease was first detected in the Chinese city late last year. At least a quarter of Continue on page 8
Young entrepreneurs go online amid pandemic WITH THE implementation of the community quarantine, most businesses have to suspend their operations, or their employees have to work remotely at home. The
restrictions also forced many to go digital in their everyday lives: from working, to paying bills and buying necessities. It is no wonder that web stores and online groceries are
thriving today. In May, Roots Collective, a community of young social entrepreneurs, launched their digital platform Continue on page 2
Malaysian Ambassador Norman Muhamad during a recent meeting with Sulu Governor Sakur Tan in Zamboanga City in this photo provided to the Mindanao Examiner by the Sulu Task Force Covid-19. Also in the photo are Sulu Planning and Development Coordinator Beltran Chio, Sulu Provincial Engineer Abdurasad Baih, Jolo town Mayor Kerkhar Tan and DOT Assistant Secretary for Mindanao and Palawan, Myra Paz Abubakar.
New insect-eating plant emerges in Mindanao SCIENTISTS HAVE discovered a new insect-eating pitcher plant, Nepenthes cabanae, in Mindanao region. Thriving in a small area within a known conflict zone, the pitcher plant has already been declared critically endangered. The new species is enchanting yet deadly for its prey: insects attracted to its nectar glands are unable to keep their footing on the slippery waxed Continue on page 2
Upper pitchers and leaf attachment of N. cabanae growing in a Manobo tribal area of Mount Malimumu, Mindanao, Philippines. (Image courtesy of N.E. Lagunday.)
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The Mindanao Examiner
June 22-28, 2020
New insect-eating plant emerges in Mindanao
N.E. Lagunday and his team pose for a picture with their dirt bikes while looking for plant specimens on Mount Malimumu, Mindanao, Philippines. (Image courtesy of N.E. Lagunday.) Continued from page 1 throat of the pitcher, sliding into the acidic enzyme stew waiting below, to be slowly digested. It is a beautiful plant, outwardly marbled with flecks of red on an acid-green background, the pitchers lined in a deep burgundy and hanging fatly in the shade of the montane forest understory like paper lanterns on living strings. The plant’s discovery, published in the Philippine Journal of Systematic Biology last year, brings the number of known pitcher species in the Pantaron mountain range, a biodiverse area in central Mindanao, to eight, as a group of local scientists struggle to catalog the biodiversity of this underexplored, politically unstable and conflict-prone region. Mindanao is the pitcher plant capital of the Philippines, with 34 different species identified so far. The newly identified species, N. cabanae, is named after Veneracion G. Cabana, a prolific Filipino scientist who supported scientific expeditions in unexplored areas of Mindanao. “Everything about this species is interesting,” lead researcher Noel Lagunday tells Mongabay. They are carnivorous “and thrive by attracting, trapping and digesting insects, and small animals,” Lagunday says, highlighting evolutionary adaptations not present in most plants. N. cabanae differs from its closest relatives structurally; its pitchers are not as cylindrical, and its leaves sprout straight from the main stem at irregular angles, with no petiole, or individual leaf stem. The ridges surrounding the mouth of its pitchers are shorter by half, and its leaves always have four veins from the central midrib instead of varying between three and four. The Pantaron moun-
tain range cuts across the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur. It’s not legally protected and is under threat from illegal logging and land conversion for agriculture and settlement development, so Lagunday and his team are racing against time to identify new species before it’s too late. “They have always been there but some species just die without even being known or named,” Lagunday says. This is especially true in regions at risk from habitat destruction and where conflict makes access even more difficult. Mounting an expedition through an area that can turn into an active conflict zone in the blink of an eye can be complicated. “In doing research in these red flag areas, protocol and advance information is our lifeline,” Lagunday says. “What we standardly do is acquire prior informed consent from tribal leaders, entry protocol from the local Philippine Army force, Local Government Units, and sometimes the local police force.” Lagunday is a lumad, or indigenous person native to Mindanao, growing up aware of tribal animosity. But the mountain range is home to rebels and criminal groups as well as indigenous communities. A total of 46 environmental activists were killed in Mindanao in 2019 alone, according to local NGO Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment. Armed conflict between secessionist rebels and the military is also common across the region, which was only released from martial law in January this year. “There is a scenario the team would make it out alive but there is also a potential of not making it out to safety,” Lagunday says. “On top of
military and rebel clashes, a magahat [tribal war] can happen. When there is a magahat things could really go south.” But this didn’t stop the scientists. Lagunday and his team ventured onto Mount Malimumu, in the southern Bukidnon area of the Pantaron range, on dirt bikes to look for plant species several times in August and September 2015. They camped in hammocks under tarpaulin sheets, collecting samples they preserved in a 70% alcohol solution before depositing these specimens with the University of Central Mindanao’s herbarium for analysis. The group found N. Cabanae only on a small part of the mountain, leading them to estimate that the species may be confined to a range of less than 10 square kilometers (4 square miles). It has been classified as critically endangered under the criteria of the IUCN Red List for this reason as well as the threats it faces from habitat destruction. The individual plants sampled during Lagunday’s expedition were all found growing along ridge trails connecting several Manobo tribal villages. To acknowledge and show respect to the local Manobo tribespeople, Lagunday and his team took part in ritual ceremonies before heading into the forest to look for plants. “In most ritual ceremonies the baylan (shaman) kills the offering of three chickens and prays to the spirits in the forest requesting that my team be allowed access and protection in the area,” he says. Preserving the ecology of Mount Malimumu, named after the deity of the people who live on her slopes, is also crucial for the ethnolinguistic groups in the area, Lagunday says. “It is their culture, their way of life, their home, their source of food, medicine and their place of worship.” He says the identification of new species like N. cabanae is an important link in protecting this fragile world. “By putting efforts in Nepenthes or carnivorous pitcher plant conservation in situ we are conserving the entirety of the ecosystem,” he says. “The presence of threatened and endemic species of Nepenthes in the area calls for immediate conservation strategies by the local stakeholders to preserve and protect these plants,” the paper recommends. (Elizabeth Fitt – Mongabay)
Young entrepreneurs go online amid pandemic Continued from page 1 https://rootscollective.ph to market their products such as home care, food and drinks, zero waste goods, and spread the message of achieving an inclusive and sustainable growth through entrepreneurship. According to Allister Roy Chua, Roots Collective general manager for business development, their website has provided them a way to stay alive and thrive amidst the pandemic. “But more than being an e-commerce store, we set up the site na in a way na hindi siya webstore lang. We set the website up to eventually become a digital platform for our entrepreneurs,” he said. Roots Collective started in 2016 when a group of entrepreneurs came together to create a more structured and stable physical community for them. “We decided to have a proper dedicated workspace, selling space and storage space. And by night, it will be an events place,” Aloy said.
The group was first named as Roots Katipunan, since their office is in Katipunan in Quezon City. “We wanted to have a space - physical and psychological space - where social entrepreneurs and young local entrepreneurs come together to show the excellency of Filipino craftsmanship, sustainability, creativity, and for social enterprises, their social missions.” The Roots webstore sells products such as Tsaa Laya, which sourced their tea from farmers in Calauan, Laguna; Banana Chief’s from plantations in Zamboanga; and organic products like coconut sugar and quinoa from Green Tummy. Other products that are essential to promote hand hygiene are natural disinfectants from Happy Helpers as well as Chlorine Dioxide from Pro-Organics. The group is also open to collaboration with other local entrepreneurs who wish to have their products displayed on their website. “We are very much
open to having new merchants coming in. Just shoot us an email at therootscollectiveph@gmail. com. We’ll send you a memorandum of agreement with the details and you may send us a product list and the items so we can safely store them in our warehouse,” Aloy added. In October 2019, Roots Collective, with the support of the Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF) and the Forest Foundation Philippines (FFP) launched the Sibol (growth) Program Fund, a special grant facility that will facilitate collaborations among young social entrepreneurs and grassroots communities that PEF and FFP support. “The fund will focus on the collaboration between Roots Collective and our traditional partner communities in product development and design, marketing and distribution,” PEF Knowledge Management Officer Anna Brillante Vibar said. (With a report from the Mindanao Examiner.)
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The Mindanao Examiner
June 22-28, 2020
Malaysia all praises for Sulu ‘Governor lauded for helping stranded Malaysians’
Continued from page 1 “gratefulness and appreciation of the Malaysian Government to the Provincial Government for tracing and taking care of their 43 stranded citizens in Sulu, stranded due to the lockdown imposed by local government units as measure to prevent the entry of the pandemic.” Kuala Lumpur previously applauded Tan for
assisting the stranded Malaysians after Nur Harun, the Consul General of Malaysia, wrote a letter to the governor and thanked him for quickly assisting their citizens, who entered Sulu on March 10. “In this regard and on behalf of the Government of Malaysia, I would like to extend our sincere appreciation for the assistance, concern and hospitality
that has been accorded to them by the Sulu Provincial Government during this trying time,” Harun said in his letter seen by the Zamboanga Post newspaper. “Please rest assured that the Consulate General of Malaysia in Davao City is currently working around the clock to have them repatriated to Malaysia soonest possible
with the close cooperation of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Regional Department of Tourism, Local government Units and other various parties in Malaysia and the Philippines,” Harun further said. Harun also thanked Jainab Abdulmajid, the spokeswoman and secretary of the Sulu Task Force Covid-19, for tracing the whereabouts of all the Malaysians and providing them their necessities. “Our special thanks also go to Madam Jainab Abdulmajid, the Spokesperson and Secretary of the Sulu Task Force Covid-19 that has spared no effort in tracing the whereabouts of these Malaysians. We look forward to continue working closely with the Sulu Provincial Government on this matter,” Harun said. Abdulmajid, upon the instructions from Tan, coordinated with the police and searched for the Malaysians and eventually located all of them. “Governor Tan provided cash assistance and rice to the families while the Municipal Social Service Department provided food and non-food items,” she said. Muhamad also met with Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco at the sideline of the repatriation of the Malaysians, including those stranded in Zamboanga City and nearby Basilan province. “The Embassy of Malaysia would like to record thanks to the Philippine Republic Government for finally giving the approval of this rescue operation.
Malaysian Ambassador Norman Muhamad during a recent meeting with Sulu Governor Sakur Tan
(Malaysia) did not forget the high appreciation to the Sulu Task Force (Covid) in taking care of Malaysians in Sulu; and the Philippine Marines and Philippine (National) Police on the safety and security that had been given throughout the operation.” “Our party is also touched by the help of
the Philippine Air Force for flying the Ambassador and officers of the Malaysian embassy in Manila to Zamboanga City so that all the affairs there can be managed by our side,” the Embassy said. It said a total of 154 Malaysians stranded in the Philippines had been flown out of the country. (Mindanao Examiner)
Sulu Task Force Covid-19 photo shows some of the stranded Malaysian nationals receiving relief assistance from the provincial government on order from Governor Sakur Tan.
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The Mindanao Examiner
June 22-28, 2020
Sulu Pictures in the News Sulu provincial government at work. This is where your taxes go. (Photos from the Office of the Provincial Governor, Task Force Covid-19, and Jolo Municipal Government)
June 22-28, 2020
The Mindanao Examiner
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Sulu Pictures in the News
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The Mindanao Examiner
June 22-28, 2020
Across : 1. Legendary stories 6. Uno 9. Pig’s pad 12. Box 13. Business VIP 14. Pitching stat 15. Church walkway 16. Burst of bad temper 18. California wine valley 19. Make lace 20. Epochs 21. Caveman’s era (2 wds.) 24. Concurrence 27. Time past 30. ___ Witherspoon of “Sweet Home Alabama” 31. Had 33. And so forth (abbr.) 34. Proposed as a candidate 38. Renovator 40. Pub drinks 42. Shade 43. Stood up 47. Childhood disease 49. Golfer ___ Woods 50. Bathroom rug 51. Tax org. 52. ___ eclipse 53. Lyric verse 54. Compass dir. 55. Printing machine
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Down : 1. Skim over 2. Opera solo 3. Struggle for breath 4. Books of maps 5. Behold 6. Gasoline classification 7. Tidy up 8. Chunk of eternity 9. Military rank 10. Faithful 11. Sweet potatoes 17. Children’s game 19. Actor ___ Hanks 22. Adolescents 23. Make amends 24. Common verb 25. Acquire
ZAMBOANGA PENINSULA BASILAN, SULU, TAWIͳTAWI ΈBARMMΉ
26. Make again 28. Goodness! 29. Strange 32. Soldier 35. Additional ones 36. Styling foam 37. Wrath 39. Highway curve 40. Military supplies 41. Show the way 44. Leer 45. Oceans 46. Miscalculates 48. Recline 49. Recipe unit (abbr.)
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The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper is published weekly in Mindanao, Philippines. ZAMBOANGA CITY OFFICE: 3/F, JLC Building, Don Alfaro Street, Tetuan Phone & Fax: (062) 9555360 Mobile: (0995) 5202358 DAVAO CITY OFFICE: Door 2, 402 Nidea Street, Barrio Obrero Phone: (082) 2841859 Mobile: (0925) 7621914 URL: mindanaoexaminer.com E-mail: mindanaoexaminer@gmail.com
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The Mindanao Examiner
June 22-28, 2020
HEALTH
ni Dr. Willie T. Ong
Mga Sakit sa Mata sa Pag-edad
M
apapansin natin ang mga ito sa edad na 40 pataas. Ipa-check-up sa ophthalmologist o doktor sa mata kung makararanas ng mga ganitong sintomas: 1. Katarata o cataract 5. Age-related macular - Ang lente ng mga mata degeneration – Kung saan ay parang may ulap o puti ang macula ng mata ay husa gitna. Ang kulay ay ma- mihina. Ang sintomas nito dilim at mabilis masilaw, ay: (1) ang maliit na letra hirap sa gabi, madalas at malabo ang mata, (2) magpalit ng salamin sa ang kulay ay nababawasan, mata, kupas ang kulay na (3) hirap maka-aninag ng nakikita o doble ang naki- mukha, (4) nag-iiba at pakita. Gamutan: (1) tamang rang alon-alon ang nakigrado ng salamin, (2) mas kita, at (5) lumalayo ang maliwanag na bahay sa mga bagay. Kumonsulta labas, (3) sunglass, (4) hu- sa isang eksperto sa mata wag magmaneho sa gabi gaya ng Retina Specialist. (5) operasyon sa katarata. Kumain ng mga pagkaing 2. Presbyopia - Ang mayaman sa Vitamin A, C, lente ay hindi makafocus E, zinc, copper, para hindi kaya hindi mabasa ang lumala. malapitan na letra. Mag6. Glaucoma – Tumatapagawa ng salamin. as ang presyon sa mata. 3. Eye floaters o iyung Madalas ay wala itong bamay lumulutang na bagay bala kaya hindi agad napasa paningin – Kung pai- pansin. Ang sintomas ay: sa-isa lamang ang naki- (1) hirap ang paningin sa kita ay hindi naman de- gabi, (2) tunnel vision, (3) likado dahil ito ay dulot malabo, (4) may “halo” o ng pag-edad. Ngunit kung bilog sa liwanag, (5) namudumami ay kailangan ng mula ang mga mata, (6) magpatingin. masakit ang ulo o ang mga 4. Panunuyo ng mata mata, (7) pakiramdam na (dry eyes) - Sobrang pa- parang nasusuka at nahihigluluha at magaspang lo, at (8) cell damage sa opang pakiramdam na pa- tic nerve. Kumonsulta agad rang may puwing sa mata. sa Eye Specialist para hindi Patakan ng artificial eye mabulag. drops. 7. Drooping Eyelid
(Ptosis) - Humihina ang muscle sa talukap ng mata kaya minsan ang balat ay tumatakip sa mata. Ino-operahan ito kung nakatakip na sa mata. 8. Diabetic Retinopathy – Kapag hindi na-kontrol ang diabetes ay puwede masira ang mata at mabulag. Dapat nasa normal palagi ang iyong blood sugar. 9. Retinal Detachment – Sa pag-edad, ang mga ugat na nagdadala ng dugo, oxygen at nutrisyon sa likod ng mata ay lumalayo. Ang retina ay numinipis, nagkakaroon ng maliliit na butas at nalalagyan ng fluid kaya lumalayo ang retina sa ugat. Gayun din pag may diabetes. Ang sintomas ay may bagong floaters or light flashes, wavy, dark shadow sa paningin, parang nakasisid sa tubig. Kumonsulta agad sa doktor. Kumonsulta sa Eye doctor kung: biglang lumabo ang mata, may flashes ng liwanag, masakit ang mata, biglaang pagdoble ng nakikita, biglang pamumula o namaga ang talukap ng mata.
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The Mindanao Examiner
June 22-28, 2020
There may be no immunity against Covid-19, new Wuhan study suggests Continued from page 1 the more than 23,000 samples tested could have been infected with the virus at some stage, according to the scientists. But only 4 per cent had developed antibodies as of April. “People are unlikely to produce long-lasting protective antibodies against this virus,” the researchers concluded in a non-peerreviewed paper posted recently on preprint website medRxiv.org. Many efforts to fight the pandemic are being done on the assumption that people who have had Covid-19 will produce antibodies that will protect them from reinfection. Those efforts include countries considering issuing “immune certificates”, the over 100 potential vaccines in development, and recovered patients being encouraged to give blood for experimental drugs and therapies. But the new research in Wuhan suggested not everyone infected was producing antibodies, or producing long-lasting ones. Antibodies are the molecules generated by the immune system to bind with the virus spike protein and stop it from infecting cells. Some, like immunoglobulin G, or IgG, can remain in the system for a long time – it has been found in severe acute respiratory (Sars) patients 12 years after they were infected. Led by Wang Xinhuan from Wuhan University’s Zhongnan Hospital and scientists from the University of Texas in Galveston, the study looked at samples
from health care workers and general hospital staff in the city. They found that 4 per cent of the health care workers and 4.6 per cent of general hospital staff had the IgG antibody. Earlier research found that 2.5 per cent of hospital employees in Wuhan had contracted Covid-19 during the outbreak, but it has been estimated that the real proportion of infections among this group could be as high as 25 per cent. Some people have mild or no symptoms when they have the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, and may not even know they have it. And with human-to-human transmission not confirmed until late January, many doctors and nurses in Wuhan were not wearing extra protective gear to treat patients. “They just got infected with Sars-CoV-2 and fought off the virus with their own immune systems,” according to Wang and his team, using the clinical name for the coronavirus. Patients with confirmed infections, where the symptoms were usually more obvious, tended to produce more antibodies, according to the researchers. An earlier study found all confirmed cases they looked at had developed the IgG antibody two weeks after the disease onset. Wang’s team also suggested that more than 10 per cent of the people in their study may have lost antibody protection within a month or so. “Our findings have important implica-
tions for herd immunity, antibody-based therapeutics, public health strategies, and vaccine development,” they said. Based on their research, they said antibody tests may not be enough to tell whether someone had been infected, and the presence of antibodies like IgG may not necessarily provide immunity later. “The idea of an immune certificate for recovered Covid-19 patients is invalid,” Wang wrote. Meanwhile, a separate study by a team at Tsinghua University in Beijing suggested that the more antibodies produced by Covid-19 patients, the worse the outcome – the patient with the strongest antibody response in their study died. They pointed to a phenomenon known as antibody-dependent enhancement, in which viruses “hitch a ride” on an antibody to infect cells they could not enter otherwise. Wang said that was “a big concern to be closely monitored”. But Wu Yingsong, director of antibody engineering research at the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, said the Wuhan study should be treated with caution. He noted that most antibody tests only checked for a couple of antibodies to save time and cost – and that could mean false results. “There are still a lot of fundamental things about the coronavirus we don’t understand,” he said. (Stephen Chen – SCMP)
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June 22-28, 2020
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June 22-28, 2020
Cebu City under ECQ
C
EBU CITY has been placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) following a spike in coronavirus cases. This was also managing the situation. They classification based on data that confirmed by Interior Secre- just opted to stay under GCQ reflects a high recovery rate and tary Eduardo Año, saying, only because they want to limit (the) low mortality rate. “I have, howCebu City and not the whole movement of people,” he said. ever, filed an appeal to return of Central Visayas region is Año said the move to revert the city to general community under ECQ. “Hindi ang entire Cebu City to ECQ is not a form quarantine (GCQ) based on sigCentral Visayas, ang Cebu City of punishment, but a chance to nificant data we have,” he said. lang ang ECQ,” he said. intensify response efforts to the Labella said, however, Central Visayas consists of coronavirus disease. He said that “pending resolution of the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, the national government de- that appeal, let us work togethNegros Oriental, and Siquijor. cided to place Cebu City to ECQ er to make sure that the ECQ Año said Bohol could al- due to the consistent case dou- regulations spelled out in my ready be placed under Mod- bling time of fewer than seven Executive Order (EO) No. 082 ified General Community days and a significant rise in are strictly followed”. Quarantine (MGCQ) but the critical care utilization against He also ordered the millocal government opted to critical care capacity. itary and police to strictly stay under General CommuDespite the spike in enforce the stringent quarnity Quarantine (GCQ) as a Covid-19 cases, Cebu City May- antine protocols in the city to precautionary measure. “As for or Edgardo Labella said he is de- curb the spread of Covid-19 other areas in Central Visayas, termined to stand for the rever- in 80 villages. they are doing well in terms of sion of the city into a lower risk Labella also required all
Sec. Eduardo Año and Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella. hospitals – private or public – to submit to him daily Covid-19 bed occupancy reports to determine the veracity of claims that medical centers have run out of accommodations due to the rising number of patients infected with the coronavirus.
Talisay City in Cebu province has been placed under modified ECQ until June 30 for the same reason. Año assured that the government is ready to assist residents who might be displaced from work due to ECQ.
Under ECQ rules, public transportation is suspended, non-essential establishments and businesses are closed, and non-essential travels are prohibited. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan and John Rey Saavedra)
THE JOINT Task Force Covid Shield (JTF CV Shield) released a flowchart to provide a simple explanation of all matters regarding travels amid the implementation of community quarantine rules. In coordination with the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, JTF CV Shield commander, Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, said the nationwide travel protocol flowchart will be posted in all police stations and city and municipal halls in order to guide the public on what to do if they want to travel. The flowchart simplifies the answers to all questions relating to travels within the country amid the implementation of the community quarantine. Eleazar said the flowchart answers frequently-asked questions on who are allowed to travel and the requirements needed when the travel involves cross-
ing the borders of Metro Manila and the provinces. “The nationwide travel protocol flowchart is a simple ‘Yes or ‘No’ guide which is applicable to all quarantine status existing in the area and applicable anywhere in the country. In doing this, we hope to address confusion, misunderstanding and disinformation among our kababayan and guide them properly for their smooth travels,” Eleazar said. The flowchart will also be posted on social media platforms in order to maximize audience reach. “We appeal to our Netizens to help us in our information dissemination using our nationwide travel protocol flowchart by sharing this to their social media accounts,” Eleazar said. Except for Cebu City which was reverted back to the Enhanced Community Quarantine
(ECQ) and Talisay City in Cebu province is under modified ECQ, the rest of the country is either under general community quarantine (GCQ) or modified GCQ. Based on existing rules, all travels within Metro Manila and within a province do not require a travel authority. Travels that cross the border of Metro Manila and provinces require a travel authority which is being issued by the local police stations. A travel authority can be secured if a traveler would submit a medical clearance certificate from city and municipal health offices of the local government units (LGUs) and other Department of Health-accredited hospitals and clinics; and, after coordination with the destination LGUs is done. (Christopher Lloyd Caliwan)
All systems go for resumption of Duterte projects Travel protocol flowchart released President Rodrigo Duterte (PCOO)
THE GOVERNMENT said it is ready for the resumption of all big-ticket projects under its “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure program amid the coronavirus pandemic. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said continuing the implementation of “Build, Build, Build” would help the country recover from the negative impact of the Covid-19 crisis. “Kasama po sa ating stratehiya kung paano tayo babangon sa trahedya
sa Covid-19 ang ‘Build, Build, Build’ at kasama na po diyan ‘yung mga flagship projects natin. All systems go para sa projects,” he said. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has allowed the resumption of all key infrastructure projects under the “Build, Build, Build” program despite the threat posed by Covid-19. Roque said the construction of infrastructure projects is
underway. “In-allow na po ng IATF yung konstruksyon muli ng priority projects natin at lahat po iyan ay ongoing na ngayon,” he said. The Department of Finance also signed loan agreements with the Japan International Cooperation Agency for two flagship infrastructure projects – the P57-billion loan to support the Cebu-Mactan Fourth Bridge and the Coastal Road Construction in the Visayas, and the P18.5-billion supplemental funding for the Davao City by-pass road project. The government has expressed optimism that “Build, Build, Build” would revitalize the Philippine economy as it is expected to create jobs in the country. About P1 trillion would be spent this year for the implementation of the program. (Ruth Abbey Gita-Carlos)
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