IATF to Marcos: No need to bring back mask mandate, other COVID-19 curbs

by Gaea Katreena CabiCo Philstar.com

MANILA — The Philippines does not need to bring back its mask mandate and other pandemic restrictions even as COVID-19 cases continue to increase, the InterAgency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases said in recommendations to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Marcos said Sunday, April 30 that the government might consider making the wearing of face masks mandatory again if recommended by health authorities.

“We already recommended to the Office of the President, based on agreements coming from IATF discussions, that we

Airlines asked to prepare as PH airspace shuts down for 6 hours

MANILA — The entire Philippine airspace will shut down for six hours on May 17, from 12 a.m. to 6 a.m., to make way for the replacement of the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system that failed on New Year’s Day and led to a massive disruption of operations at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), the country’s main gateway.

Bryan Co, senior assistant general manager of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), in a press briefing on u PAGE 3 don’t need to bring back the mandates,” Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, who recommends wearing masks even if they are not required, said in a briefing on Tuesday, May 2. What Filipinos need, according to Vergeire, is to increase their risk tolerance against COVID-19.

“We need to learn how to protect ourselves and our families,” the health official said.

“Let’s choose to wear masks when we go to high-risk areas, enclosed spaces with poor ventilation. Especially those who are unvaccinated, senior citizens, people with comorbidities, those who are immunocompromised and pregnant

“But between the Philippines and the United States, we have prevailed through all that like a true friendship. And the reason for that, I believe, is that we truly have come to an understanding as to how we believe certain values and what is important, and our role in the world and that has never really been u PAGE 2

Marcos hopes Filipinos in US come home ‘for good in much better PH’

by Daphne Galvez Inquirer.net

WASHINGTON, D.C.

by Daphne Galvez Inquirer.net

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was welcomed by United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin with full honors at the Pentagon on Wednesday, May 3. According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), the full honors accorded to Marcos at the Pentagon – where they subsequently held a bilateral meeting –

— President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday, May 1 expressed hope that overseas Filipinos residing in the U.S. would come home “for good and retire in a much better Philippines.”

He issued the remark during a meeting with the Filipino community here, saying he hopes to welcome them back to the Philippines “sooner or later.”

“Sooner or later, we will be able to welcome you back home to the Philippines, especially those who have reacquired their u PAGE 3

Filipino citizenship,” Marcos said in his speech.

“It’s my hope that some of you will come home for good and retire in a much better Philippines — a Philippines with better airports, Philippines with better roads, better airports, better internet, better governance. ‘Yun ang aking pinapangarap (That’s what I am dreaming of). And that’s why that is what my administration is working for,” he added.

The president also urged them to encourage their children and grandchildren to visit the Philippines to see the richness of Philippine culture and history.