Monday, August 30, 2021
Thursday, August 26, 2021
Sunday, August 22, 2021
Thursday, August 19, 2021
COVID-19 task force weighing just 2 options for Metro Manila: ECQ or MECQ
Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News
The COVID-19 task force is weighing just 2 options for Metro Manila's quarantine level starting this weekend, Malacañang said on Thursday, as authorities sought to stump a climb in coronavirus cases linked to the highly contagious Delta variant.
Home to some 13 million people, the capital region is under the strictest of 4 lockdown levels or enhanced community quarantine until Aug. 20. The inter-agency task force on Thursday will meet about the next lockdown level for Metro Manila, said Palace spokesman Harry Roque.
"Dalawang option lang naman po 'yan: mananatili ang ECQ, in which case ang tanong, meron bang pang-ayuda—o ibababa sa MECQ (modified ECQ)," said Roque, who also serves as spokesman for the task force.
(There are just 2 options: ECQ stays, in which case the question is will there be funds for cash aid—or will it be lowered to MECQ.)
President Rodrigo Duterte might deliver a national address on Friday to bare the new quarantine levels, "unless he will give authorization to have it announced earlier," Roque said in a press briefing.
Authorities aimed to keep new COVID-19 cases below 20,000 per day with Metro Manila's lockdown, he noted. The health department, he pointed out, confirmed some 11,000 infections on Wednesday.
"We seem to be on track po dahil hindi naman po sumipa beyond the projections," said Roque. "And if we continue with our planned course of action, it will always be below 20,000."
(We seem to be on track because cases did not spike beyond the projections.)
The official also noted that the utilization rate of intensive care units in Metro Manila has gone down to moderate risk.
"The figures are very encouraging as of today," he said.
https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/19/21/ecq-mecq-only-options-for-metro-manila-palace
Wednesday, August 18, 2021
CoA flags nonpayment of P333-M concession fees for rail project
By Russell Louis C. Ku
LIGHT Rail Manila Corp., which operates two of three rapid transit systems in Metro Manila, owes the government P332.9 million in concession fees, according to state auditors.
In a report released on Tuesday, the Commission on Audit (CoA) said the company had failed to pay the fees for the Light Rail 1 (LRT 1) Cavite extension project for five straight quarters through Oct. 2020.
State auditors said the concession payments for the project were supposed to be paid in two installments of P935.01 million by Oct. 2, 2014 and Sept. 12, 2015 — the signing and effective dates of the contract.
The rest of the concession payments worth P7.48 billion are to be paid quarterly starting Oct. 30, 2019.
The Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA) “should immediately demand the amount which is already due,” the commission said.
In an audit comment, the LRTA said it asked the Transportation department in October to send a notice of demand against Light Rail Manila Corp.
The company had been regularly paying concession fees to the government, spokesperson Jacqueline Gorospe said in a Viber message on Wednesday. “We offset our claims with the concession fees due, which is an allowed formula in our concession agreement,” she said.
The LRT 1 Cavite extension project is a P64.9-billion public-private partnership venture that the National Economic and Development Authority board approved in Nov. 2013. It seeks to extend the existing rail network by 11.7 kilometers by adding eight stations from Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite.
The 32-year concession contract was awarded to Light Rail Manila, a joint venture of Ayala Corp., Metro Pacific Light Rail Corp. and Macquarie Infrastructure Holdings (Philippines) Pte. Ltd.
https://www.bworldonline.com/coa-flags-nonpayment-of-p333-m-concession-fees-for-rail-project/
Gov't adviser suggests Metro Manila MECQ, localized lockdowns
A government adviser on Wednesday urged the country's pandemic response leaders to de-escalate the quarantine level of Metro Manila by a notch, coupled with localized lockdowns in areas with clustering of COVID-19 cases.
The capital region's 13 million people returned to the toughest of 4 lockdown levels, the enhanced community quarantine, on Aug. 6. Its current ECQ status will lapse on April 20.
The Philippines on Tuesday recorded around 10,000 new cases, down from some 14,000 new daily infections 2 days before, noted Dr. Ted Herbosa, special adviser to the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
"Mukhang may tulong ang ating ginawang ECQ... Sana tuloy-tuloy na ang pagbaba at baka madalian ang desisyon ng IATF (inter-agency task force on COVID-19) na luwagan ang ating quarantine," he said in a televised public briefing.
(It seems that the ECQ we implemented is helping. I hope the cases will keep going down and it might make it easier for the IATF to loosen our quarantine.)
Government has to balance public health with potential job losses and hunger, Herbosa said.
"Kung opinyon ko lang ang masusunod... bababa ako sa MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine) at paiigtingin ko ‘yong mga mayor, 'yung mga LGU, ‘yong localized lockdown, testing at saka tracing para hindi lahat napapahamak," he suggested.
(If my opinion is followed, I will go down to MECQ and direct mayors, local government units to ramp up localized lockdown, testing, and tracing so that not all areas will get in trouble.)
The IATF has yet to reach a consensus on the quarantine level, pending its assessment of data, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
With some 1.7 million coronavirus infections and 30,000 deaths, the Philippines is battling one of Asia's worst COVID-19 outbreaks, which the highly contagious Delta variant of the respiratory disease could worsen.
At least 12.7 million individuals are now fully vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. Government aims to immunize up to 70 million people before the year ends to safely reopen the economy.
Tuesday, August 17, 2021
PNR-Calamba to give NCR, South Luzon workers access to 300k jobs — study
The South Commuter Railway (SCR), also known as the PNR-Calamba project, will give workers access to more than 300,000 jobs across Southern Luzon and Metro Manila, an Asian Development Bank study found.
The study released Tuesday compared the number of jobs within an hour-long commute before and after the ADB-funded project’s completion. According to the Manila-based lender, the number of available jobs between Southern Luzon and the capital region was “highly unequal” at present.
“For example, commuters in Makati City in Metro Manila can access as many as 5.4 million jobs whereas those in the south can access as few as 31,000 jobs only. The discrepancy in job accessibility comes mainly from the high concentration of jobs in Metro Manila as well as the slow and unreliable commuting options between these regions,” the analysis said.
Once the railway is operational, it is projected to ease access to jobs by 15.3% in Southern Luzon and 8.5% in Metro Manila.
“For instance, a household in San Pedro City in Laguna will be able to access 3.4 million jobs via rail transport, compared with only 2.03 million jobs by road—a 67.5% increase in job opportunities,” the study noted.
Among Southeast Asian megacities, Metro Manila is the most congested city, an ADB research said in 2019.
The new ADB study elaborated that commuters from 48 out of the 64 cities that the railway passes through will discover more areas and job opportunities within a 1-hour window. ADB researchers reckoned that on average, households could access 300,000 jobs in that timespan alone.
At the same time, the study revealed that industrial workers who live in Southern Luzon could bat for higher-income jobs in Metro Manila as well once SCR is completed. Working in Metro Manila’s services industry, the ADB noted, nets monthly wages 29% higher than can be earned in South Luzon. The government plan, after all, interlinks the South commuter railway project with North Luzon provinces as well.
The SCR project is part of the longer 147-kilometer North-South Commuter Railway System which has 35 stations stretching from Calamba in Laguna to the Clark International Airport in Pampanga. Currently, the SCR is in the later stages of the government procurement process, and funding support for the project is already up for consideration by ADB’s Board of Directors in the fourth quarter of this year.
The SCR is designed to be 54.6 km in length with 19 stations between Blumentritt in the city of Manila in the north and Calamba in the south. Following the alignment of the existing PNR line, the SCR will pass through five cities in Laguna and five cities in Metro Manila. Each of these 10 cities will have one or more train stations.
The SCR will have a speed (likely average) of 80 km per hour, allowing riders from Calamba to get off at Blumentritt station within 1 hour — shorter than the usual 2- to 3-hour travel by bus.
Similarly, the findings support assertions that accessible public transport options could, in fact, ease the widening income gap in the Philippine capital, worsened by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Years before the pandemic, Metro Manila traffic has already deteriorated to levels unseen previously as commuter trains bogged down in a rush hour and private vehicles clogged public highways. When the pandemic hit in 2020, mass transport was restricted, forcing many workers to rely heavily on two-wheeled transport options like bicycles and motorcycles.