SUCCESSFUL
Senate approves Gordon’s simplified land titling bill to help farmers
LIVER TRANSPLANT IN THE PHILIPPINES
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go lauded the successful liver transplant surgery of Baby Sophie Aguilo — an operation done in the Philippines which proves the capability of the country’s doctors and health facilities to handle such conditions. Baby Sophie, a biliary atresia
patient, and her parents first met Go and President Rodrigo Duterte on January 15 this year and requested their assistance for the child’s medical operation. On November 17, Baby Sophie’s diseased liver was removed, after which she received a graft taken from the liver of her mother who
was her donor. “Nakakatuwang malaman na malusog na si Baby Sophie ngayon. I hope to see her soon. Ingat po parati ngayong panahon na may hinaharap pa tayong krisis na dulot ng pandemya at iba pang kalamidad. Magdasal lang tayo at malalampasan din natin ito,” Go said.
The Senate passed on Tuesday Senator Richard J. Gordon’s bill that simplifies the procedure and requirements in granting land titles to help rural farmers secure land certificates easily. Senate Bill No. 1931 was certified as urgent by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on December 15 “to allow the continuous titling of public alienable and disposable agricultural lands beyond December 31, 2020 and ultimately preserve the security of tenure of land claimants and farmers.” “If no law is passed to extend or remove the period of application, no new agricultural free patent will be issued by DENR and poor rural farmers may not be able to title their lands. If we allow our farmers to have property rights by securing land titles, we are giving them an opportunity to improve their lives as they can use land as collateral in order to borrow more capital and further improve their lot,” said Gordon.
MUCH WORK NEEDS TO BE DONE TO FILL HUNGER GAPS: NOGRALES While some progress has been made to reduce the number of families that have experienced involuntary hunger in the fourth quarter of the year, Cabinet 1 PIA Bulletin Online 1 PIA Bulletin Online
Secretary Karlo Nograles said that “much work still has to be done to return to and improve on the country’s prepandemic hunger figures.” Nograles, head
of the government’s Zero Hunger Task Force, said that the government viewed the 14 percentage point-drop in total hunger between September 2020 and December
2020 as an indicator that government efforts to reopen the economy have helped provide
families with the income necessary to provide for their basic needs, such as food.
Face shield, face mask a must! shields together with face masks, earloop masks, indigenous, reusable or do-ityourself masks, or other protective equipment.
By Marie Angelie Villapando - PIA/DDCU
The government is requiring the use of a face shield together with a face mask in public places in view of the expected surge in COVID-19 cases during and after the holiday season, adopting the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) for additional protection, said Presidential Spokesperson and concurrent IATF spokesperson
Editorial Director Benjamin Felipe Editor-In-Chief Marie Angelie Villapando Associate Editor Jake Coballes Staff Writers IDPD
Secretary Harry Roque Jr. “Ngayon po kinakailangan isuot na pareho ang face shield at
ang face mask. At kinakailangan po full ang face shield kasama po ang face mask,” said. Secretary
Roque during a press briefing on December 15. All persons are mandated to wear full-coverage face
President Duterte said during a public address on December 16 and meeting with officials on government’s
COVID-19 response While the country celebrates Christmas and New Year, President Duterte said citizens
should still follow the minimum health standards such as social distancing, frequent handwashing,
Art Department CPSD headed by Bradley de Leon Layout Artist Gabriel Villanueva Production/ Aggregation DDCU with Team Leader Kate Shiene Agna
Obey health protocols during holidays -PRRD President Rodrigo Roa Duterte once again appealed to the public to obey health standards during holiday celebrations to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) while the government prepares the country’s healthcare system for the possible uptick in the number of infections. “Christmas time is about a few days from now. Sundin lang natin ‘yung culture. But remember the word ‘but’, but there are rules to be followed at this time of our national life,”
and wearing of masks to protect themselves and their families from the highly contagious coronavirus. PIA Bulletin Online 2
Pres. Duterte certifies Department of Overseas Filipino as urgent
Safe, family friendly holiday celebration
By Marites B. Paneda - PIA/IDPD
President Rodrigo Duterte has certified as urgent the newest version of a measure filed by Senator Christopher “Bong” Go providing for the creation of a Department of Overseas Filipinos (DOFil). “I’d like to hurry
up Congress in this. One of my proposals during the campaign period was the creation of Overseas Filipinos [department],” Duterte said during his recent Talk to the People address. Go thanked Duterte for
heeding the calls of overseas Filipinos and their families by certifying the measure as urgent and emphasized that the proposed department will ensure an efficient and more responsive government services to them.
Increased COVID-19 testing labs By Josephine L. Babaran - PIA/IDPD
A total of 192 licensed COVID-19 testing laboratories nationwide which tested more than 5.8 million Filipinos for the disease was reported by the Department of 3 PIA Bulletin Online
Photo courtesy of UPD-NIMBB
Health (DOH) on December 14. Health Secretary
Francisco Duque III said every region has a licensed RT-
With the recent study cited that children like adults are silent spreaders of COVID-19, the Department of Health recommended to parents, activities such as creating Christmas cards, singing of Christmas carols, storytelling, and playing pretend games with their kids and conduct of virtual celebrations with relatives to keep children engaged inside their houses for a safe and family-friendly holiday season. Kids are hard-wired in their brains to explore, touch objects, and even put items in their mouth, which opens the risk for the virus spread, according to a recent study published by the Journal of Pediatrics cited in The Harvard Gazette Should face-to-face gatherings need to push through, venue should be open areas with good ventilation, and social distancing observed even among immediate family members, Dr. Victoria Nolasco of the UP Developmental and Behavioral Pedriatics advised. PCR laboratory, with 147 real-time RTPCR laboratories and 45 GeneXpert laboratories across the nation. There are also 55 laboratories applying for accreditation. As of December 14, the DOH recorded a total of 6,236,830 cumulative
samples tested and 5,874,023 individuals tested. Meanwhile, the cumulative positivity rate is at 8.7% as of December 12. While the DOH noted an increase in laboratories, Duque reminded the public to continue being cautious as the threat of COVID-19 is still real.
Gov’t eyeing Gamaleya, Sinovac vaccines for 2021 roll out Vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said he is working with the country’s vaccine experts to analyze the data of Russia’s Gamaleya and China’s Sinovac for a possible first quarter rollout in the Philippines. A “mini rollout” in the first quarter of next year is just fine, Galvez said, as the country could learn from the experiences of other countries that has conducted mass inoculations. Major vaccine
deliveries of around 10 to 15 million doses are expected by the end of the second quarter or at the start of the third quarter next year as
manufacturers cope with huge demand. Aside from Gamaleya and Sinovac, the Philippine government is
also negotiating with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson. It also has discussions with Moderna and Sinopharm. Once
contracts are sealed, the country could secure more than 60 million doses, which will be available in tranches next year, Galvez said.
Bong Go assures continuing service of Malasakit Centers for Filipino Senator Christopher “Bong” Go assured the continuing operations of Malasakit Centers all over the country as he attended the signing of the Joint Administrative Order (JAO) for the operational guidelines on the implementation of the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019 at the Premier Guest House inside Malacañan Compound on Tuesday, December 16.
The signing of the JAO guarantees the full implementation of the Malasakit Center program as mandated
by Republic Act No. 11463 or the “Malasakit Centers Act of 2019”. Malasakit Center is a One-Stop Shop
where indigent patients can efficiently access financial medical assistance from agencies such
as PhilHealth, Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. PIA Bulletin Online 4
DDB, NDA partners boost UCT grants for health of DARTCs patients typhoon affected
4Ps beneficiaries
Photo: Dangerous Drugs Board
By Adora Rodriguez - PIA/IDPD
By Adora Rodriguez - PIA/IDPD
Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB) Executive Director, Undersecretary Earl P. Saavedra turned over P2 million worth of funds to the National Dairy Authority (NDA) for the provision of milk and milk products to accredited governmentoperated Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Centers (DATRCs)
nationwide. The fund is an initial budget for the DDB project adopting the dietary manuals borne of a study conducted by the Department of Science and Technology – Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) which showed strong evidence that balanced diet and nutrition management is necessary to an effective treatment
and rehabilitation plan for Persons Who Use Drugs (PWUDs). Most affected by substance use is Vitamin B2 or Riboflavin which can be supplemented by taking in nutritiousrich food like milk and yoghurt. DDB will provide vouchers to DATRCs which they can bring to NDAidentified farmers and processors in exchange for milk products.
The Department of Social Welfare and Development will be releasing the Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) grants of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries in Luzon and Visayas this month badly affected by the recent typhoons. More than 2.5 million 4Ps beneficiaries in Regions I, II, III, IVA, IV-B, V, VI, VII, VIII Cordillera Administrative Region, National Capital Region are expected to receive their UCT grants through their Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) cash cards. UCT is a one-time cash subsidy provided to qualified poor households and individuals to help them cope with the adverse economic impact of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law.
PRC receives another green light for its molecular lab in Passi The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) passed again another proficiency test for its molecular laboratory to open soon in Passi, Iloilo. “This will be our 13th installment nationwide; we only await for the completion of 5 PIA Bulletin Online
requirements after passing the test last December 14, 2020, in compliance with the Department of Health,” PRC Chairman & CEO Sen. Richard Gordon said. The newly built molecular laboratory, which will service
the entire province of Iloilo and its nearby areas for faster testing, and is
equipped with two polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines and
one ribonucleic acid (RNA) extractor which can process up to 1,000 tests a day.
Personal remittances grow by 2.5% in October – BSP By Marites B. Paneda - PIA/IDPD
the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Germany, and Personal Kuwait declined, remittances from while those from Overseas Filipinos the United States (FOs) grew by (US), Singapore, 2.5 percent yearQatar, Oman, Hong on-year to US$ Kong and Taiwan 3.044 billion in increased. The US October 2020 from posted the highest the US$ 2.969 share of the total billion in October remittances at 40.2 2019. This growth percent, followed was attributed to by Singapore, the increase of Saudi Arabia, remittances from land-based and sea- Japan, the UK, based workers, the the UAE, Canada, Hong Kong, Qatar, Bangko Sentral ng and Taiwan. Pilipinas said. These combined By country remittances from source, cash these countries remittances from accounted for 78.7 Saudi Arabia, percent of the total Japan, the United cash remittances. Kingdom (UK),
Online Tax Clearance for Bidding Purposes Securing a Tax clearance for government bidding purposes has now become much easier for certain prospective bidders with the rollout of the Bureau’s of Internal Revenue’s “Electronic Tax Clearance for Bidding Purposes and Tax Compliance Verification Certificate (eTCBPTCVC)” on November 20, 2020. Said prospective bidders, as specified in Revenue Memorandum Circular (RMC) No. 121-2020 issued on November 17, 2020, are taxpayers-applicants (individuals, partnerships, corporations, cooperatives, associations, whether taxable or non-taxable, etc.) registered with Revenue Region Nos. 4-Pampanga,
7A-Quezon City, 7B- East NCR, and Large Taxpayers Service except Large Taxpayer District Office Cebu and Davao and, Non-Resident Foreign Corporation and Non-Resident Alien not engaged in trade or business. PIA Bulletin Online 6