Due to public pressure and clamor, DepEd moves school opening to October 5
“We have proven today that the people’s voices can and will triumph, and we shall continue to push the government to fulfill the requisites for a safe, accessible, and quality education,” ACT said in a statement.
Health workers decry loss of fellow front liner
“It is painful to think but it is clear to us that this is a major negligence of the hospital management and the DOH itself due to their anti-health workers protocols,” Donguines said.
Record number of COVID-19 ‘recoveries’ mere window dressing, expert says
“These recommendations are for individual patients who are assessed and cleared by physicians. Simply extrapolating this to massive data is problematic,” he said.
Beyond capacity and overwhelming incompetence
The Philippines has been in varying intensities of community quarantine for 124 days—a world record in terms of the longest lockdown response to COVID-19. But the fight against the virus is still far from over, and now it seems like the country is back to square one—overwhelmed hospitals, rising number of cases, and overall chaos. All those days in lockdown have been wasted because of the Duterte administration’s louche decisions and inaction on building up the healthcare system’s capacity for COVID-19 response.
The unbelievable indifference of the Duterte administration
The Duterte government insists that it is successfully responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. The reality is a little bit different – it hasn’t done enough, and is planning to do even less.
Manila Pride protester fights back and narrates ordeal inside police detention
2020 seems like the end of the world. It is marked with fear and paranoia, hostility and violence. The stakes are higher now since we’re experiencing a pandemic under the most incompetent and inutile government that only knows a militaristic response to every problem. This year’s Pride, 51 years after Stonewall, exemplifies that the LGBTQ+ community is still not free as seen in the violent arrest and detention of Pride 20.
On the BBB fix: Why do you build me up?
The government should release the revised infrastructure list immediately. As healthcare has become the priority, the government should add more social infrastructure like hospitals to help deal with congested health facilities. More socialized housing units could also help decongest urban settlements in the country and help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Gov’t should check SAP’s gross failure as COVID cases rise – IBON
The country does not seem to be winning the war against COVID-19, but the government has remained indifferent to the impact of the pandemic on the millions of poor families, said IBON.
Higher inflation for poorest Filipinos underscores urgent need for continued cash subsidies
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), headline inflation rose to 2.5% in June 2020 from 2.1% in May 2020. Behind this uptick are price increases in: transportation, particularly tricycle fares; alcoholic beverages and tobacco; housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels; and communication.
Hatid Probinsya and Balik Probinsya, more harm than good?
The national government’s program of sending people back to their hometown recently came under fire for spreading COVID-19 in the provinces. For example, Tanauan town and Baybay City in Leyte each recorded their first respective confirmed COVID-19 cases last May 28. Both confirmed cases were among the first and so far only batch of beneficiaries of the Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-asa Program (BP2). Meanwhile, in the war-torn city of Marawi, nine confirmed cases are beneficiaries of the Hatid Probinsya program.