Monday, May 3, 2021
Makati to manage mild Covid-19 cases at home
By Lade Jean Kabagani
The Makati city government has prioritized a program aimed at ensuring proper treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients with mild symptoms and asymptomatic cases at home, Makati Mayor Abby Binay shared Monday.
The initiative magnifies the urgent need for the city government to put up additional quarantine and isolation facilities that will address increasing Covid-19 patients being treated at the Ospital ng Makati (OsMak).
"Ganito rin ang kalagayan ng iba pang ospital sa ibang panig ng Metro Manila, private man o government hospital (This is also the state of various hospitals in other areas of Metro Manila, whether private or government hospitals)," Binay posted on social media.
"Bunsod nito, binigyang-prayoridad ng lungsod ang pagbuo ng (Because of this, the city has prioritized the) Makati Covid-19 Home Care Program sa ilalim ng paggabay ng (under the guidance of the) Department of Health," she added.
Under the home care program, Makati will isolate and treat mild cases at their own homes, provided a patient has a separate bedroom, bathroom, and toilet and should not have household members belonging to vulnerable groups, such as senior citizens, persons with comorbidities, individuals with a weak immune system, and those who are pregnant.
"Kailangan din ang mag-aalaga o caregiver sa bahay ay may malakas na resistensya o pangangatawan para hindi delikadong mahawahan (The caregiver at home must also have a strong immune system so that further virus transmission can be avoided)," she added.
Caretakers are required to wear masks and use gloves at all times and observe a one-meter or more physical distance from the infected ones.
"Bibigyan namin ang bawat pasyenteng sasailalim sa programa ng (We will provide each patient undergoing the program a) home care package," Binay said.
The city's program package includes a Covid-19 Home Care Handbook, monitoring sheets, maintenance medicines for other comorbidities, and medical kits (Vitamin C with Zinc, pulse oximeter, thermometer, oral disinfectant spray, mask, and hand sanitizer or alcohol).
The handbook contains all the guidelines and protocols for proper isolation at home and notes on Covid-19 symptoms and various emergency care needed.
Patients will also have two dedicated online consultations with medical doctors.
Binay said the Department of Health policies on isolating mild cases state quarantine until 10 days from the day the symptoms come out; doctors should make sure the patients are clinically recovered within three days; and that those who have been exposed to Covid-19 patients should isolate for 14 days, starting from the day of their exposure.
Patients should request clearance from a doctor or the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.
There is no need to undergo another reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test for clearance.
Makati residents, workers, and visitors are required to wear masks and other protective gear in public places.
QC hires 1.3K more contact tracers under DOLE program
By Marita Moaje
The Quezon City government will hire 1,347 contact tracers under the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) emergency employment program.
During the orientation given by the Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) at the Quezon Memorial Circle on Monday, Mayor Joy Belmonte recognized the importance of contact tracers in the fight against the dreaded coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
"Contact tracers ang pinakasusi para mapigilan na natin itong pagkalat pa ng virus sa ating mga komunidad. Balewala ang lockdown kung hindi mabilis at maagap ang pagkilos ng contact tracing army ng lungsod (are the keys to mitigating the spread of the virus in our community. The lockdowns we are doing will be of no value if our contact tracing army is not alert)," she said.
The contact tracers, hired through DOLE's Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers program, increased the city’s assets to 2,600.
The city government will provide their needs, such as protective gear, and other necessities in the performance of their duties.
Belmonte recalled improving their contact tracing capabilities when the Department of the Interior and Local Government also deployed 1,300 contact tracers last year.
“Contact tracers were able to identify up to 30 close contacts per Covid-19 positive,” she said.
Body cameras among major projects of retiring PNP chief Sinas
By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
Police officers equipped with body cameras will be one of the legacies of outgoing Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, Gen. Debold Sinas.
PNP Directorate for Logistics Director Maj. Gen. Angelito Casimiro confirmed on Monday that Sinas has signed the final acceptance document for the equipment.
The PNP chief is scheduled to step down on May 8 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56.
Casimiro said they are finishing the final protocols in the use of video in the presentation of evidence to the court.
“That is the challenge for now especially as there are privacy rules. We will be finalizing the memorandum circular on protocols of presentation," he said in an interview.
Casimiro said the body cameras have been distributed to major cities.
"We will be appealing for some funds so all police stations will be equipped," he added.
The PNP acquired 2,696 body-worn cameras and their associated systems from San Juan City-based EVI Distribution Inc.
Each major police station will be given 16 body cameras, eight of which will be used by patrolling operatives while the remaining eight will be reserved for other operations.
The cameras will be equipped with SIM (subscriber identity module) cards that will be used to feed videos to the PNP Command Center.
The body cameras are waterproof and can record video for up to eight hours.
The officers wearing them cannot interfere with its configuration and they cannot turn those off while on duty.
MRT-3 has new OIC general manager
By Raymond Carl Dela Cruz
Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade has appointed DOTr Assistant Secretary Eymard Eje as the new officer-in-charge general manager of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT-3).
Eje would be taking over the helm even while serving in his concurrent capacity as DOTr Assistant Secretary for Project Implementation – Mindanao Cluster.
He is replacing Rodolfo Garcia who passed away due to the coronavirus last February.
“We will remain faithful to the guidance of Secretary Tugade to provide comfortable public transport to all our commuters. We are dedicated to pursue only the highest of public service standards from the smallest to the biggest decisions and management tasks that we need to fulfill,” Eje said.
Before his appointment at his current position in the DOTr, Eje served as a presidential staff officer at the Office of the President – Presidential Management Staff.
In 2009, he became chief of staff of Court of Appeals Justice Agnes Reyes-Carpio; beginning his public service career in 1994 as a legislative staff assistant in Parañaque City.
Palace alarmed by slow implementation of free Wi-Fi project
By Azer Parrocha
Malacañang is alarmed by the “slow” implementation of the government’s PHP1.3-billion nationwide free Wi-Fi project.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said currently, only 10,000 sites out of the 120,000 sites across the country have achieved free internet access.
He said that it was “unacceptable” that only 10,000 sites have managed to acquire free Wi-Fi access since Republic Act (RA) 10929 or the “Free WiFi for All” program was signed in August 2017.
“Mula noon hanggang ngayon eh talagang medyo nakakabahala po iyong bagal nang pag-implement nitong libreng Wi-Fi ‘no (From then until now, the slow implementation of this free Wi-Fi is really a bit alarming),” he said in a Palace press briefing on Monday.
Roque said the national government is “unhappy” with the performance of the multinational contractor, Speedcast, which was hired by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to import telecom equipment for the free Wi-Fi project.
“Bilang isang pangunahing awtor nung batas, siyempre po hindi tayo happy. Kinakailangan ang pangako natin libreng Wi-Fi sa lahat, dapat magkaroon pa rin iyan ng katuparan sa administrasyon ni Presidente (As the primary author of the law, of course, we’re not happy. Our promise of free Wi-Fi for all should be accomplished in the administration of President) Duterte and we have one year to go,” he said.
He said President Rodrigo Duterte and the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) are considering to kick Speedcast out of the project, echoing the view of Speedcast’s local consignee, the semi-government Philippine Communication Satellite Corp. (Philcomsat) which exposed Speedcast’s technical smuggling and bribery deals discovered in July 2020.
“With this latest controversy, ang posisyon po talaga ng Presidente at ng DICT ay itigil na iyong involvement nitong current contractor, na foreign contractor na ito at ibalik na iyong mga pera na naibayad na sa kanila dahil pupuwede na pong ipagpatuloy iyan ng ating DICT (With this latest controversy, the position of the President and the DICT is to stop the involvement of the current foreign contractor and retrieve the money given to them because the DICT can take over the project),” he said.
Amid controversies, Roque said the DICT is now competent enough to roll out the project.
“Ngayon po eh may ganiyang kakayahan na mag-roll out ang DICT at sa katunayan po na sa taong 2020 alone eh nakapag-install po ang DICT nang 500 percent more Wi-Fi sites compared doon sa mga total na in-install nitong foreign contractor na ito from the year 2015 to 2019 (Now, DICT has such the ability to roll out and in fact, in the year 2020 alone, DICT was able to install 500 percent more Wi-Fi sites compared to the total installed by this foreign contractor from the year 2015 to 2019),” he said.
He also backed plans of Congress to probe the Wi-Fi project, noting that it has been suffering from delays and now marred by a series of reports of smuggling, bribery, and allegations of negligence and incompetence.
“We support any further investigation to be conducted by the legislative branch of government as part of their oversight functions,” he said.
Meeting the target
With current efforts underway, Roque expressed hope that the government could still meet its target of achieving 110,000 more Wi-Fi sites before the end of the Duterte administration in 2022.
“Titingnan naman po natin kung talagang mapapatupad natin ‘yan ‘no (We will see if we can really implement that) -- 10,000 sites installed; 120,000 so 110,000 sites left to go. Pero sa bilis naman po ng galaw ng DICT ngayon (But at the speed of DICT’s movement now), we have confidence that we can meet at least close to the target if not a 110,000 more sites,” he added.
He also emphasized the need to recognize internet access as a human right.
“Importante po ang Wi-Fi talaga na isang human rights na po iyan. Karapatang-pantao na po iyan, ang tawag po diyan ay (Wi-Fi is a human right. It’s called) right to connectivity,” he said.
Last month, the Bureau of Customs informed the DICT of its discovery of UNDP’s Speedcast undervaluing on the importation of telecom equipment.
BOC said Speedcast should be held liable for the misdeclaration of shipment values.
Manila receives share of Sputnik V jabs for pilot rollout
By Marita Moaje
The city government of Manila received on Monday its share of 3,000 doses of Sputnik V jabs from the national government.
The Russian-made vaccines were delivered straight to the city’s storage facility at the Sta. Ana Hospital.
Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna, and Manila Health Department acting chief Dr. Arnold Pangan received the delivery.
A total of 15,000 Sputnik V jabs arrived in the country on Saturday. Taguig, Makati, Parañaque, and Muntinlupa will also get 3,000 doses each for the pilot rollout.
“As per the Department of Health, the 3,000 doses are for the first doses. There will be another batch for the second doses. If clearance and guidance will be given today, we are ready to deploy,” Domagoso said.
Medical front-liners who have not received their Covid-19 vaccines yet will be prioritized for the Sputnik V jabs, which touts a 91.6 percent efficacy.
After two or three days, the city government will next offer the vaccine to individuals in the A2 (senior citizens) and the A3 (persons with comorbidities aged 18 to 59) priority lists.
Domagoso said the Sputnik V vaccines will be initially administered at the Sta. Ana Hospital and Ospital ng Maynila.
“Due diligence kailangan natin gawin. As you can see, metikoloso ‘yung handling, even the condition na kailangan para sa Gamaleya Sputnik (We need due diligence here. As you can see, Gamaleya Sputnik vaccines require meticulous handling),” he said.
Only a few medical front-liners in the city’s six district hospitals have not received their Covid-19 shots yet. They are doctors and nurses who prefer brands other than Sinovac and AstraZeneca vaccines that were first offered.
There are also healthcare workers who contracted Covid-19 and can’t receive vaccines yet.
Pangan will coordinate with directors of the six district hospitals to collate the names of personnel who want to receive the Sputnik V vaccine.
Manila’s storage facility at the Sta. Ana Hospital can handle several vaccine brands that require different storage temperatures.
Domagoso said that based on the public’s response, he can say that vaccine confidence has increased.
“Nung unang araw namin, naka-170 lang kami. Sumunod 300, sumunod 1,000, so nagkaron dati, totoo ‘yung takot pa muna. Pero ngayon baligtad na. Kinakapos na ‘yung bakuna sa demand ng tao na gustong magpabakuna. Kahapon may dumating kami na 4,200. In a matter of six hours, na-ubos (Initially, we only vaccinated about 170, then it became 300 then 1,000. So it’s true that before, people were afraid, but it has turned around. We are already running out of vaccines because of the number of people who wants to receive them. Yesterday, we received 4,200, and in a matter of six hours, they’re gone),” Domagoso said.
Umano’y tulak patay sa anti-drug operation sa Cavite
Anjo Bagaoisan, ABS-CBN News
Nauwi sa pagkamatay ng isang lalaki ang buy bust ng pulisya sa bayan ng General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite, Biyernes ng gabi.
Ayon sa ulat ng GMA Municipal Police Station, napatay umano ang target na si Jonathan Mulos, 36, nang mauwi sa engkwentro ang pagbili sa kaniya ng droga sa Pasong Saging, Poblacion 5.
Sabi ng mga pulis, nagpaputok ng baril si Mulos sa mga pulis na aaresto sa kaniya pagkatapos ng transaksyon kaya pinaputukan siya pabalik.
Binilhan siya noon ng 5 sachet ng shabu sa halagang P600.
Dineklara siyang dead on the spot ng rumespondeng municipal rescue team.
Binawi ng pulis bilang ebidensya mula sa suspek ang baril, mga sachet, at buy-bust money.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/03/21/umanoy-tulak-patay-sa-anti-drug-operation-sa-cavite
Lalaki tiklo sa umano’y panggagahasa ng 15 anyos na babae sa Bulacan
Jervis Manahan, ABS-CBN News
Ikinulong ng San Jose del Monte PNP ang 20 anyos na lalaking inaakusahang nanggahasa ng 1 babaeng menor de edad sa Barangay Minuyan Proper, lungsod ng San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
Kuwento ng tita ng 15 anyos na biktima, nahuli niya ang mga mensahe sa cellphone ng biktima kung saan tinatakot siya ng suspek.
Nagse-send umano ng mga malaswang video ang suspek sa biktima.
Magkapit-bahay lang ang suspek at ang biktima, kaya madali silang nagkikita.
Tinakot pa ng suspek ang bata na huwag magsusumbong sa kahit kanino.
Ayon pa sa tita, pinagsamantalahan talaga ng suspek ang kaniyang pamangkin.
Nitong Sabado, nahuli ang dalawa na magkasama sa isang talahiban at nakahubad ang lalaki.
Depensa ng suspek, kasintahan niya ang bata at inaaway lang siya ng ate ng biktima. Hindi naman umano niya sinaktan ang biktima.
Nakatakdang sampahan ng kasong statutory rape ang suspek.
Tulak umano ng droga patay sa buy bust sa Bulacan
Lyza Aquino, ABS-CBN News
Dead on the spot sa gilid ng kalsada ang isang lalaki matapos umanong mauwi sa engkwentro ang anti-drug operation ng pulisya sa Barangay Santo Cristo, bayan ng Pulilan, Bulacan.
Batay sa impormasyon mula sa PNP Regional Office 3, kilala sa alyas JR ang napatay na suspek, habang nakatakas naman sa gitna ng engkwentro ang kasamahan niyang lalaki sakay ng isang motorsiklo.
Inaalam pa ang pagkakakilanlan ng tumakas na lalaki.
Nagkasa ng joint operation ang Bulacan Provincial Police Office at Pulilan Municipal Police Station laban sa suspek noong Sabado.
Nakikipagtransaksyon ang police poseur-buyer para sa P1,000 halaga ng ilega na droga nang mangyari ang engkwentro.
Nakumpiska sa pinangyarihan ng engkwentro ang 29 na sachet ng hinihinalang shabu na nagkakahalaga ng P20,400 at mga basyo mula sa 9mm na baril.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/03/21/tulak-umano-ng-droga-patay-sa-buy-bust-sa-bulacan
Higit P1 milyon halaga na droga nasabat sa Metro Manila
Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News
Arestado ang 5 drug suspek sa magkakahiwalay na anti-illegal drugs operation sa Quezon City, Taguig at Manila.
Aabot sa higit P1 milyong ang halaga ng mga nasabat na droga.
Ayon sa NCRPO, nahuli ang isang babaeng drug suspek sa buy bust sa Barangay Central Bicutan, Taguig nitong Sabado.
Nasa 59 grams ng hinihinalang shabu ang nakumpiska sa kaniya at may dagdag pang 7.5 grams na hinihinalang marijuana. May kabuuang halaga na P402,000 ang mga ilegal na droga.
Sa Quezon City, nahuli naman ng QCPD Station 5 ang isang lalaki na si alyas Tadz sa buy bust sa Barangay Greater Fairview.
Nakuha sa suspek ang ilang sachet ng hinihinalang shabu na may bigat na 80 grams. Nagkakahalaga ang mga droga na P544,000.
Sa Maynila, 3 suspek ang inaresto ng MPD Station 5 sa kanto ng Taft at Ayala sa Ermita.
Nakuha sa kanila ang 4 na sachet ng hinihinalang droga na may street value na P173,000.
Nakakulong na ang 5 mga nahuling drug suspek at nahaharap sa kasong paglabag sa Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/03/21/higit-p1-milyon-halaga-na-droga-nasabat-sa-metro-manila