PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC CHIEF RESIGNS AMID CORONAVIRUS CRISIS Wei Yingluo | NEWS EDITOR MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine economic planning secretary has resigned partly due to “differences in development philosophy” with some Cabinet members as the country scrambles to deal with the pandemic that’s setting back the economy. President Rodrigo Duterte accepted the resignation of Ernesto Pernia and designated Finance Undersecretary Karl Kendrick Chua to temporarily replace him, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said Friday. Pernia, who was appointed by Duterte to head the National Economic Development Authority after the president took office in mid-2016, was in charge of plans for economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis. He has warned of social unrest if a massive lockdown in the main northern Luzon region, home to more than 50 million people, is extended indefinitely. Mr. Pernia, at his last cabinet attendance Ming Yu
Wei Yingluo | NEWS EDITOR GENEVA, Switzerland – The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Saturday, April 25, that there is no evidence that people who test positive for the new coronavirus are immunized and protected against reinfectionThe warning suggests that the issuance of “immune passports” may promote the continued spread of the pandemic.
“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from #COVID19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” WHO said in a statement. “As of 24 April 2020, no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans.” Some governments, wanting a gradual return to work and the resumption of economic activity, have put forward the idea of issuing documents attesting to the immunity of people on the basis of serological tests revealing the presence of antibodies in the blood. But the effectiveness of an immunization thanks to antibodies has still not been established and the available
scientific data do not justify the granting of an “immune passport” or a “certificate of absence of risk”, warns the WHO. At this point in the pandemic, there is not enough evidence about the effectiveness of antibody-mediated immunity to guarantee the accuracy of an “immunity passport” or “risk-free
certificate.” “People who assume that they are immune to a second infection because they have received a positive test result may ignore public health advice,” the WHO said. “The use of such certificates may therefore increase the risks of continued transmission.” WHO also believes that we“need additional validation to determine their accuracy and reliability”. In particular, the tests need to make it possible to distinguish the immune response to the novel coronavirus from the antibodies produced during an infection by another of the six known human coronaviruses, four of which are widespread, causing mild colds. “People infected with one or the other of these viruses are capable of producing antibodies which interact with antibodies produced in response to infection caused by SARS-CoV-2”, said WHO, empasising the importance of being able to identify them. 6706
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Bayan muna, bago ang sarili
Classes were among the first to be disrupted by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. As in the difficult balancing act between public health and economic health, stakeholders are struggling to balance the need between protecting people from a contagion and resuming formal education. The COVID-19 pandemic struck as public schools were entering the final weeks of the schoolyear. Graduation proceedings remain in limbo; authorities have yet to decide whether there will be a universal promotion of all students to the next level, or whether a remedial period for the missed lessons will be required before students can move up to the next grade. At this point, a regular school opening in June appears to be out of the question. With the country increasing capabilities in COVID testing, contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, however, stakeholders are tossing around the possibility of starting the next schoolyear in August. Health experts are likely to caution against any haste in reopening schools. While children are not considered at high risk for COVID infection, they are not immune to the disease: children as young as a few weeks old, toddlers and teenagers have succumbed to the coronavirus. As education stakeholders weigh their options, authorities can boost efforts to promote online learning. Amid the enhanced community quarantine, the Department of Education has launched on online platform called DepEd Commons, which allows distance learning through digital technology. DepEd Commons offers online review materials and open educational resources prepared by teachers who are experts in particular subjects. DepEd officials say most public school teachers and students have computers or cell phones that can facilitate online learning. The problem is that internet access in the country is only at about 48 percent. While acknowledging the limitations of the program, DepEd says: “In this extraordinary situation we find ourselves in, we must walk before we run.” Those who cannot avail themselves of the program can opt for paper-based homework to complete the requirements of the schoolyear. With scientists still trying to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and any possible cure still several months away from mass production, the consequences of reopening classes in the country’s crowded schools need careful consideration. Technology allows remote learning, and efforts must be ramped up to make this universally accessible. With the public health threat expected to persist for months, alternative learning modes must be promoted.
Hindi lingid sa kaalaman ng lahat ang kasalukuyang kakulangan ng mga kagamitang pang-medikal, na isa sa mga nagpapahirap sa sektor na medikal habang patuloy na kinakalaban ng buong mundo ang pandemyang COVID-19. Sa patuloy at kaliwa’t kanang panawagan ng mga donasyon na Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), mga gamit para sa pagpapanatili ng kalinisan, mga trash at cadaver bags, gamot, at mga face mask sa mga pagamutan ngayon, isa rin sa mga pinakakailangan ng mga frontliner ay ang test kits na makapagsasabi kung ang isang tao ay may sakit na COVID-19 o wala. Tunay na sa panahon ng pangangailangan lumalabas ang pagkamalikhain ng mga Pilipino, pati na rin ang espiritu ng bayanihan at pagbibigay-serbisyo sa kapwa. Nawa’y maging isang paalala ang kuwento ng mga frontliner at ng nasabing test kit sa lahat ng mga nag-aaral at nangangarap— na lagi’t lagi, bayan muna, bago ang sarili.
the forbidden Journal
EDITORIAL BOARD The Official Publication of Forbidden City National High School Vol 1 Issue 1 January - April 2020
Editor in Chief: Qian Long Associate Editor: Xiao Xianchun Managing Editor: Fuca Fuheng Section Editors: Wei Yingluo Hailan Cha Xiao Quanzi Ming Yu
Hailan Cha | FEATURE EDITOR
It’s 7:00 a.m. and Cherry Octaviano’s workday is about to begin. There’s breakfast to be made—fruit, juice, sandwiches and eggs— and a round of cleaning to be done before she wakes everyone up. She dusts the study and sweeps the floors before gently getting the household out of bed. Around the same time, in an apartment elsewhere in the city, Jennifer Alumbro is preparing school lunches before dropping the kids off at the bus stop. On her return, she gives the kitchen a quick wipe down before cleaning the bathroom. This is what most mornings look like for Octaviano, 35, and Alumbro, 30, both Filipina domestic helpers in Hong Kong. But come Sunday, they turn their attention from spotless dishes and sparkling floors to batting practice and fielding strategies. It’s their weekly day off and they spend it doing something very few Filipinas do: playing cricket. Alumbro and Octaviano are members of the SCC Divas, a female team made up entirely of migrant domestic helpers from the Philippines. It’s certainly the first such cricket team in Hong Kong. Quite probably, it’s the only one of its kind in the world. It isn’t unusual that cricket is played in Hong Kong—the former British colony’s connection with the sport goes back to 1841. But it is interesting how the Divas have taken with such devotion to a sport that, until recently, was completely alien to them—and indeed to most people who did not grow up in one of the Commonwealth or former Commonwealth countries that are cricket’s heartlands, such as England, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Australia, South Africa, the West Indies, and New Zealand. Cricket has never caught on in the Philippines, despite first being played in Manila in 1914. Until about 15 years
ago, the game was only played socially, and haphazardly, by a smattering of expats from Commonwealth countries. Though there are now structured leagues supported by the Philippine Cricket Association in and around the capital Manila, the sport is still far from popular, especially with the Filipino population. Not so in Hong Kong, where the Divas are helping cricket spread among the city’s Filipino workers. The game is proving to be a welcome diversion for a hardworking community for whom life is often difficult. While most families in Hong Kong are law-abiding employers and often form warm relations with their helpers, emotional and sometimes physical abuse are occupational hazards. One of the most shocking instances was the 2013 case of a young Indonesian domestic worker, Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, who was starved and tortured by her employer for months. More common is the kind of pettiness that sees a helper’s pay docked for transgressions like using a heater. Working and living conditions can be challenging, too. Since local laws deem that helpers must live with employers, they have little or no privacy and are constantly on call, working long, tiring days. Given the premium on space in Hong Kong’s overcrowded and exorbitantly priced housing market, many are forced to sleep in substandard conditions when the day’s chores are finally done—making their beds in bathrooms, on balconies, or under racks of drying clothes in corridors. In these circumstances, cricket is more than just a sport for the helpers. It’s a ready-made family and cultivates a sense of pride. “People say we’re just cleaners and nannies,” Alumbro tells TIME. “We are doing our best to change that.
Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is in talks to buy English Premier League club Newcastle United for about STG340 million ($A651 million), a source familiar with the situation told Reuters, confirming a report in the Wall Street Journal. British billionaire Mike Ashley, who made his fortune from sportswear retailer Sports Direct (renamed Frasers Group last month) has owned Newcastle United since 2007. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund (under the control of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman) together with a group led by British financier Amanda Staveley, are in discussions to buy the Premier League club, but the talks were at a delicate stage and could fall apart, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. A spokesman for Newcastle United declined to comment on Saturday. Saudi’s Public Investment Fund was not immediately available for comment, nor were representatives for Ashley or Staveley.
Newcastle United has been up for sale for a number of years. Three years ago, Staveley’s firm PCP Capital Partners made an offer for it for a reported STG250 million ($A479m) but the talks broke down. In 2019, Newcastle United was rumoured to be on the brink of being bought by Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Khaled bin Zayed Al Nehayan, but that deal did not go ahead either. Ashley, who owns a controlling stake in the club, has not always been popular among fans, and thousands have been staying away from matches this season to protest at his ownership. Around a third of English soccer clubs are under foreign ownership. Premier League clubs Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United are all in American hands, while Manchester City is owned by the Abu Dhabi United Group. (Xiao Xianchun)