Weekend Balita (Los Angeles edition) November 14, 2020

LOS ANGELES EDITION

Covid-19 vaccine might be ready early next year — envoy Philippine Ambassador to Washington D.C. Jose Manuel Romualdez VOL. XXIX NO. 46

November 14-20, 2020

TOP STORIES Global News

Palace distances from support for Duterte-Duterte tandem in 2022 8  Davao archbishop to return as CBCP head 8  5 Black Hawk choppers for PAF arrive from Poland 8  UP says no entrance exam for next academic year due to COVID-19 8  De Lima questions why Aguirre was spared from pastillas scheme raps 9  Duterte approves National Vaccine Roadmap 9  ‘Ulysses’ floods affect 74K residents of Central Luzon 10  DOH eyes exemption of COVID-19 vaccines from law vs. advance payment 10  Año eyes Danao as next Metro Manila top cop 11  Robredo lawyer sees collusion between Marcos, Calida in poll protest 11 

4,000 homeless people off the streets due to Project Roomkey

By ABNER GALINO

TODD GLORIA, who has proclaimed himself as a Latino, Filipino and Native American, has won as mayor of one of the biggest cities in the state of California.

Sections BUSINESS. Drilon: Anti-insurgency fund would be enough to pay for COVID-19 vaccines 13  ENTERTAINMENT. What made Enchong Dee, Jasmine Curtis-Smith accept roles in risky ‘Alter Me’ 14  HEALTH & FAMILY. DOH urges public to temper expectations on Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine 18  FEATURE. Renewed faith: Tale of a Covid-19 survivor 16

By KHALIL ABDULLAH

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hile minority voting blocs combined to deliver the presidency to Biden, African American voters continue to be the Democratic Party’s most loyal voting constituency in presidential elections.

In an election eve poll of the African American vote designed and executed by the African American Research Collaborative under the guidance of CEO Henry Fernandez, Black voters -women at 92% and men at 86% -- signaled support for former Vice President Joe Biden.

President Trump’s perceived mishand ling of the coronavirus pandemic emerged as the leading motivating issue among African Americans to vote Democratic, according to Fernandez who spoke at a news briefing about the election eve results organized by America’s Voice. That was true for African American men and women in almost equal numbers.

The secondary motivation was their perception of Trump’s disrespect of their community and his enabling of an increase in overt racism in America. The third BLACK

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THE LEADING SOURCE OF NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR FELLOW FILIPINO-AMERICANS

oPeNLY gaY fIL-am WINS maYorSHIP of SaN DIego

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Black Voters Most Loyal Democratic Voting Bloc

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With the win, Gloria is going to be San Diego’s first mayor of color and openly gay individual.

In his official campaign page, Gloria recounted that he and his supporters started the campaign two years ago inspired by “hope and promise for San Diego’s future.”

“Although the world has changed Todd Gloria, Mayor-elect of the City of San Diego

OPENLY

Gordon : Plan, prepare for disasters

MANILA – Philippine Red Cross (PRC) chairman and chief executive officer, Senator Richard Gordon has urged everyone to plan and prepare for disasters.

“We have to act as people with foresight. If we don’t use our foresight, no government is big enough na kakayanin iyan (that will confront that),” Gordon said during the LagSenator Richard Gordon ing Handa public briefing on Thursday aired over state-run PTV4.

Gordon said mayors, barangays and people must get ready for disasters.

He said people should have been evacuated before a typhoon arrives.

“Iyong property mababawi iyan, pero iyong buhay hindi na mababawi --iyon ang unang-una (Properties may be regained but not the lives lost --that should be the priority),” he added, urging them to cooperate.

GORDON

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Palace: Duterte told corruption-tagged Immigration officers to swallow cash wads MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Rodrigo Duterte met with several Immigration officers accused of corruption and told them to swallow rolled wads of cash, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Duterte on Monday summoned to the Malacañang Palace around 40 Immigration personnel, who were all suspended or facing charges

due to the "pastillas" scam, said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

The scam allegedly allows the illegal entry of Chinese nationals or the departure of trafficked people at the airport. It is named after grease money rolled up in paper, resembling the local milk candy.

A "c a l m" D uter te i nPALACE

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ith homelessness expected to worsen as the pandemic continues, Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl are seeking to learn from Project Roomkey, which has taken more than 4,000 people off the streets and into shelter over a span of just four months – an unprecedented feat.

Acting on their motion, the Board of Supervisors approved a study to determine, among other things, whether Roomkey had a positive impact on the lives of particularly vulnerable homeless individuals – those aged 65 or older, or with pre-existing conditions — who received temporary stays in hotel and motel rooms to protect 4,000

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FilAm Community Welcomes New Consul ‘A patriot who will trade his life for the service of the Filipino people and for the glory of God’

By LYDIA V. SOLIS LOS ANGELES – Consul General Attaché is working at a Philippine Adelio Angelito S. Cruz introduced Consulate,” added ConGen Cruz. a new Consul at a reception on OcAnd the Philippine Consulate tober 25, organized by Dr. Joseli- General in Los Angeles is also the to and Lucy Babaran at the LAX first consulate to employ a Police Crowne Plaza Hotel.

Attaché as Consul.

“Rarely does one come across Following is a complete introa police officer duction by Conw ho s e l it a ny Gen Adel. of accomplishThe innate talments easily outent, brilliance shines the rest of of wit, creative the other officers versatility, imwithin the PNP pressive ingeorganization,” nuity, intellecstated ConGen t u a l pr ow e s s Adel when he and strength of presented Police character, and Colonel Roland moral fiber are Alonzo Vilela, but some of the Police Attaché, qualities that U.S. West Coast. personify ‘Ding’ Invocation Police Col. Roland Alonzo Vilela as he is fondwas delivered by ly called by his Zeny Sabocor. Emcee Noel Omega family, peers, and residents of got the ball rolling announcing Dr. Davao City. He exhibited, at an Joselito Babaran who introduced early age, the making of a leader Consul General Cruz, who in turn and an achiever as he was elected introduced the new Consul.

Federation President of the San“This is the first time a Police guniang Kabataan in Kidapawan FILAM

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ABNER GALINO, Fil-Am News Editor

Fil-Am

Community Visit www.Balita.com

Saturday-Friday | November 14 - 20, 2020

THOUSANDS of people gathered in various neighborhoods in of the City of Los Angeles and celebrated for hours after the U.S. presidential race was called for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Saturday.

Among the places were crowds gathered were in Pershing Square, in front of the L.A. City Hall, in Echo Park, at Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake district and in Hollywood Boulevard.

Some people carried Biden and Harris campaign signs as they marched through the streets.

Photos were taken at Sunset Boulevard in the Silver Lake district.

Photos by Abner Galino

LA County Supervisors Recommends Using Schools for COVID-19 Vaccination Sites

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he Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a motion by Supervisor Janice Hahn exploring whether local schools should be used for possible vaccination sites when a COVID-19 vaccine is available.

“Communities know and trust their local schools and they would be an ideal partner in this effort,” said Supervisor Hahn.

“This isn’t a new idea. I remember getting the polio vaccine on a sugar cube at my elementary school in Inglewood when I was a child.”

Supervisor Hahn recently met with LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner who stated a willingness to use LAUSD schools to vaccinate LA County residents.

“I am hopeful that a vaccine will be

approved and available soon, and when that happens it is going to be a huge undertaking for LA County,” continued Supervisor Hahn.

“People’s lives and livelihoods will depend on us getting it right and that means preparing now.”

The motion passed today directs the Department of Public Health to work with LA County school districts, city partners, and relevant community partners to explore the feasibility of partnering with schools for use as vaccination sites, and report back to the Board in 30 days.

The County Department of Public Health has released a report on Supervisor Hahn’s request that the department develop a COVID-19 vaccination plan.

BLaCK... from Page 1 largest driver of their pro-Democratic votes was concern about the economy overall, with wider variations among African American voters by age.

Overall, 84% of all Black voters, men and women, agreed that “President Trump ignored the early warning signs of the coronavirus and because of his mismanagement, millions of Americans became sick and more than 220,000 died.”

While the fact that African Americans have been disproportionately affected by the corona virus is now well documented, the poll revealed that the searing reality of personal loss and the magnitude of collective community and country loss were paramount in the minds of participants committed to voting in the 2020 election.

On the issue of racial animus, the chasm between African American voters’ perceptions of Trump versus Biden was similarly stark. Some 59% of Black respondents felt Trump did not care about their interests and 22% felt that he was hostile; only 8% felt that Trump truly cared about them. By contrast, 88% of respondents felt Biden cared about them.

Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP which was a sponsor of the poll, was asked how he interpreted the doubling, from 4% to 8%, of support for President Trump among African American women voters from the 2016 election and from 13% to 17% for African American men.

Johnson responded that the Black vote was not monolithic, nor should it be expected to be so. He said the 86 percent rate is a clear testament to Democratic Party loyalty and, importantly, the numbers and polling show that “White supremacy behavior will not be tolerated” by this constituency.

Like Johnson, Fernandez stressed

that Black men, at 86 percent, constitute a core constituency for Democrats, more so than even White women who, as exit polls are showing, voted for President Trump in larger numbers in 2020 than in the 2016 election. As one panelist bluntly put it, “White women are not a Democratic constituency group.”

Predictions that President Trump’s signing of criminal justice reform legislation, the First Step Act, would fuel a significant shift of Black male voters to the Republican Party was refuted by the poll, Fernandez noted.

The poll showed that African Americans, and the other ethnic groups surveyed as well, have great concerns about current criminal justice policies, community policing and their intersection with racism. These Americans support reform through multi-faceted approaches, including reducing mass incarceration, providing educational opportunities for the incarcerated, and more job training and better access to mental health services for their communities.

However, as Johnson pointed out, when speaking of African Americans, it is a myopic and misinformed view of history to focus on criminal justice as though “it was the sum total of our existence in this country.”

Beyond the three leading motivators, the poll also showed that African Americans, like the other groups surveyed, highly disapproved of President Trump’s anti-immigrant policies and initiatives, particularly the separation of children from parents.

At 81%, African Americans supported devising “a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who live and work here,” as well as devising a process to accommodate legal entry into the United States.

Community

Saturday-Friday | November 14 - 20, 2020

fILam... from Page 1 City, where he first saw the light on November 16, 1973.

A consistent honor student, Col. Vilela was a recipient of several scholarship grants in recognition of his academic, athletic and leadership achievements as Corps Commander in both CAT and ROTC in school.

After finishing his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1994, Cum Laude, from Notre Dame, his intention of establishing his expertise as an educator in the field of Mathematics was cut short when he entered the Philippine National Police Academy graduating with Honors, as a proud member of the “Kapanalig” Class of 1997. He toiled his younger years in the service at the hinterlands of CARAGA region fighting insurgents in Surigao Del Sur. He’s a holder of Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Agusan Institute of Technology; Bachelors of Law and a certified Jurist Doctor, all with Honors, which he started in Ateneo and graduated from the University of Mindanao, all in Davao City.

A well-rounded officer, he finished and topped all his mandatory courses in PNP, apart from completing specialized courses on logistics management, comptrollership, intelligence and security, intelligence analysis, crime investigation and crime investigation supervision, community oriented policing system, underwater search, rescue and recovery operations, international diplomacy, bomb technician, a certified airborne, and one of the very few underwater demolitionist.

The Police Attaché/Consul was a recipient of international grants and graduated with the Operational Survival Course in Louisiana, USA; Community Oriented Policing in Tokyo, Japan; Intelligence Operational Course in Canberra, Australia, and Police Management in Rome, Italy.

Col. Vilela also holds seven (7) eligibilities, among others: the Career Executive Service Eligibility, Police Executive Service Eligibility, Licensure Exam for Teachers, Career Service Professional, Career Civil Service Sub-Professional and Civil Service Police Officer, and the National Police Commission (Pambansang Komisyon ng Pulisya) Inspectors.

For three consecutive years (2017-2019), he was adjudged as Best Senior Police Commission Officer in three different assignments in Civil Security Group in 2017, at Camp Crame, Quezon City; Police Regional Office 2 in Tuguegarao, Cagayan in 2018; and Best Provincial Director in Police Regional Office 6 in Iloilo in 2018. A recipient of 72 various medals, citations and commendations for bravery, gallantry, operational,

LA Consul General Adelio Angelito S. Cruz administrative and educational awards, his incurable optimism, passion and unwavering commitment to work is truly exemplary and worthy of emulation and he has already completed all his major geographical assignments in the Philippine archipelago – that’s why he is here with us.

He’s the incumbent President of the

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PNPA Alumni Association and a member of Alpha Phi Omega fraternity.

“Wow!” exclaimed Annabelle Espinosa, representing the FilAm Tarlac Association – obviously impressed with the Colonel’s achievements!

But ConGen wasn’t done yet.

He mentioned that ‘Ding’ is a family man, blessed with four children: Angel, Lex, Lord Edward and Lady Mariam, and that he is happily married to Ms. Marilou Mendoza of Bulacan.

ConGen Cruz ended with “He’s a trail blazer, innovator and a well-journeyed officer and a gentleman where he always excelled, leaving an indelible mark of achievement not only for himself and his family, but also for the community and country.

He's a patriot who will trade his life for the service of the Filipino people and for the glory of God.” Col. Vilela came with his Ad-

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ministrative Assistant, Msgt.

Gregorio Pagaduan III. Among FilAm community leaders who joined the luncheon besides Annabelle Espinosa were Dr. Joselito and Lucy Babaran, United Specialist Healthcare Foundation; Dr. Manuel and Myrna Baculi, Philippine Disaster Relief Organization; Lourdes Kamatoy, Rotary International of San Fernando Valley; Noel and Maryann Omega, National Federation of Filipino American Associations; Carmelita Paule, Lubenian Incorporated; Serry and Zeny Sabocor, United Bicolandia Los Angeles, and author, representing Kalayaan Incorporated, Philippine Heritage Institute International and Philippine Women’s University.

“It was good to see a few friends ‘in person’ (following pandemic protocols),” said Zeny Sabocor, “after several months of merely virtual meetings.”

Temperatures are taken and CDC forms are filled up by guests following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to minimize COVID-19 risk. Photo shows (clockwise): Serry Sabocor, Myrna Baculi, Dr. Manuel Baculi, Lulu A. Kamatoy, Lucy Babaran, Zeny Sabocor, author, and Carmelita Paule.

Extended COVID-19 testing hours at Dodger’s Stadium

ayor Eric Garcetti recently announced extended testing hours at Dodger Stadium, keeping the site open from 8am until 8pm and increasing the City’s total testing capacity to 32,400 per day ahead of the holiday and flu seasons.

This step comes as the City crosses the sobering milestone of two million COVID-19 tests conducted by the City since the onset of the pandemic –– and as the country has experienced a steady and record-breaking rise in case numbers in recent weeks.

“Our City will keep ramping up our testing efforts, because we know that testing saves lives –– but we need all Angelenos to continue doing their part to defeat this virus by wearing masks, avoiding gatherings, and keeping their distance,” said Mayor Garcetti.

“COVID-19 is still here and still deadly, and with partners like the Dodgers, LAFD, CORE, and Curative, we will stay vigilant in the face of this pandemic and take every possible step to protect public health across Los Angeles.”

As COVID-19 cases increase locally and nationwide, the City is seeing a spike in demand for testing. Starting this week, Dodger Stadium, the largest testing site in the nation, will be able to test up to 13,000 people each day.

All other sites will expand hours of operation from 8am to 4pm –– two hours longer than before. Testing at City sites is free-of-charge, and results are provided in as few as 24 hours. For more information or to book an appointment, visit coronavirus.lacity.org/testing or call 311.

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“As we watch the number of new cases spike to record levels, adding testing capacity is imperative to help curb the devastation of COVID-19, especially in marginalized communities,” said CORE co-founder and CEO Ann Lee. “We applaud our proud partners at the City of L.A. and in Mayor Garcetti’s office for meeting the moment and expanding hours at our Dodger Stadium testing site to help protect the L.A. community as another wave of this deadly virus sweeps across the nation.”

To expand outreach and raise awareness across Los Angeles, the City will send a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) to all residents this week, urging anyone with symptoms or potential exposure to get tested.

NotifyLA will follow up with text messages about testing resources targeted to Angelenos in communities experiencing the highest increases in infections. Those who wish to receive NotifyLA text updates or learn about testing resources in your neighborhood should register at emergency.lacity.org/notifyla.

With flu season fast approaching, the City continues to offer free flu shots at mobile clinics across L.A. In partnership with the University of Southern California (USC) and Curative, three mobile vaccination teams are deployed twelve times a week, with a fourth team set to come online soon.

Since launching this effort in October, 2,200 people have received a free flu vaccination. More information about this initiative can be found at coronavirus. lacity.org/flushot.

Pilipino po tayo!

LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH U. REYES, P.C. ATTORNEY-AT-LAW

*Certified Family Law Specialist The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization - Certified Family Law Specialist - Certified Public Accountant (Inactive) -J.D Southwestern University Law School Los Angeles, CA - B.S Accounting California State University, San Bernardino, CA

CALL OR E-MAIL FOR AN APPOINTMENT 213-204-6366 or

kenneth@kenreyeslaw.com

FAMILY LAW - Divorce - Community Property Division - Child Custody and Spousal Support - Domestic Violence Restraining Order - Legal Separation and Nullity - Parentage - Prenuptial and Postnuptial Agreements

IMMIGRATION - Marriage Petitions - Relative Petitions - Removal of Condtional Green Card - Humanitarian Reinstatements - Child Status Protection Act Issues - Deportation Defense - Employment Based Petitions and PERM - H-1B Visas

ESTATES AND TRUST - Living Trust - Wills - Probate - Conservatorship CIVIL LITIGATION - Contract Disputes - Business Disputes - Corporate and Partnership Disputes

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Saturday-Friday | November 14 - 20, 2020

VOTERS OF COLOR RESTORED DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA’S 2020 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

By SUNITA SOHRABJI and PILAR MARRERO EMS Contributing Editors

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n a country that is polarized and hurt

by Covid-19 and a divisive leadership, a massive turnout of voters resulted in a close election where Democrat Joe Biden was pushed across the finish line by large majorities of voters of color.

On Saturday, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were the projected winners of the 2020 elections, relegating Donald Trump to a one term, even as he refused to concede, and his lawyers tried legal maneuvers to argue electoral fraud.

The Democratic presidential ticket reached that goal mainly because communities of color rejected the Trump Administration by large margins, explained experts who discussed the numbers, the history, and the motivations of electoral choices by communities of color in the United States in a briefing with ethnic media.

Election eve surveys and exit polling confirmed that the majority of white voters voted for President Donald Trump, but that Asian Americans, Latinx, and Black voters turned out in record numbers to oust the incumbent, and to propel the first woman of color into the White House.

According to the American Election Eve Poll by Latino Decisions, 56% of whites voted for Trump. A CNN exit poll found a similar number, 57% of whites voting for the President.

But voters of color were a different story. According to the LD poll, 70% of Latinos, 89% of Blacks, 68% of Asians and 60% of American Indians voted for Biden.

“I want to thank people of color and communities of color for saving our democracy,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America's Voice at the Nov.

6 briefing organized by Ethnic Media Services.

“Speaking as a white man, I come from a community that voted in the majority for Donald Trump. And if it were not for the African American, Latinx, and Asian American Pacific Islander Community, we would not be celebrating the victory that we're celebrating today,” said Sharry.

It was a very close election, a cliffhanger that lasted from Tuesday November 3rd until Saturday morning, November 7th, when the official numbers made it clear that Biden-Harris had clinched the 270 electoral college votes needed.

That polarization and the states in which the Biden advantage played out made it clear that lopsided democratic votes by people of color had an outsize role in the results.

Stephen Nuño-Perez, a senior analyst at Latino Decisions, whose firm conducted an election eve poll of ethnic voters in key battleground states, said that “it's extremely difficult to win an election when you have mobilized minorities and Latinos in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Albuquerque”.

Latinx voters were critical in flipping Arizona blue, said Nuno Perez of Latino Decisions, pointing to counties such as Maricopa, Pima, and Yuma, which all have significant Latino populations.

Latinx voters also made their presence known in Florida, handing Biden victories in Miami-Dade, Tampa Bay, Orlando, and Broward County. In Miami, Cuban Americans threw their support behind Trump.

Nuño warned about taking some outliers, like the Cuban vote in Miami-Dade and a couple of counties near the border in Texas where Trump did much better with Latinos, to project that into the larger narrative.

“Yes, Latinos are not a monolith, and yes, they are a monolith, they do respond to certain types of messaging and at the national level, seventy percent of Latinos voted for Biden. That’s a clear pattern”, he said.

Theodore Johnson, a senior fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice, said that a summer of protests for racial justice along with the disproportionate numbers from COVID-19 and record levels of unemployment in black communities, galvanized Black voter turnout in record numbers to remove Donald Trump from office.

“That explains why we're seeing Atlanta change Michigan, Philadelphia change Pennsylvania, Milwaukee change Wisconsin, and Detroit change Michigan,” he said. “That’s the enthusiasm and power of the Black vote.”

Overall Black voters were pragmatic, Johnson noted, pointing to South Carolina where they opted for Joe Biden over Kamala Harris or Corey Booker. “They picked the candidate they thought had the best chance of winning over white voters.”

Johnson attributed the small increase in Black males voting for Trump to those Black Republicans who had opted to vote for the first Black president in 2008 and 2012 and who were now returning to the Republican Party.

Asian Americans turned out in significant numbers for the 2020 election, said John Yang, president and executive director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. Some 300,000 were first-time voters.

Exit polls plus pre-election polls showed there was much more enthusiasm to vote, Yang noted. Between 65%-70% of AAPI voters supported Biden, with 30 percent voting for Trump, consistent with

voting patterns in 2012 and 2016.

While one-third of Asian Americans live in the 10 battleground states, and it would be easy to attribute the margin of victory in Nevada, Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania to the AAPI vote. But Yang said it was the common values that brought Black, Latinx, Native and Asian Americans together that provided the margin of victory for Biden in those states.

Yang recalled June 16, 2015, when Trump rode down an escalator at Trump Towers to announce his bid for the White House. “That was a defining moment for me and changed my career path. When he talked about illegal aliens being rapists and gangsters and criminals, he was talking about me because I was at one point an undocumented immigrant.”

Mark Trahant, editor of Indian Country Today, discussed the impact of the Native American vote, indicating that a large number of Native Americans ran for elected office and that next year’s Congress will have a caucus with three Republicans and three Democrats. “This will give a bipartisan spin on Native issues,” he said.

Native Americans were also elected to state Legislatures including Arizona and Kansas.

Sharry, of America´s voice, said that the massive vote by minorities was also a rejection of Trump´s flagstone issue: xenophobia and racism.

“An American public was forced by Donald Trump and his extremism to choose, and they chose to come down on the side of refugees and immigrants.

This is a statement of what a multiracial majority in America said through this election. They said ‘we want to be a welcoming country. We don't like Trump’s separation of families.”

4,000... from Page 1 them and the general public against the spread of COVID-19.

The study would also examine whether Roomkey resulted in net cost savings for government agencies that otherwise might have contended with added pressure on healthcare and criminal justice systems in the midst of a deadly pandemic.

“It is important that we learn the lessons of Project Roomkey and determine whether such large-scale intervention should be duplicated or even ramped up, especially since COVID-19’s economic impact is exacerbating both our homelessness and housing affordability crises,” Supervisor Ridley-Thomas said.

“The results of this study will create a foundation for long-term support of our homeless neighbors, particularly those who are seniors and/or have underlying health conditions.”

“Project Roomkey brought more than 4,000 of our most vulnerable homeless men and women indoors during the early months of the pandemic by marshaling unprecedented local, state and federal resources,” said Supervisor Kuehl.

“Today’s action will help us better understand the success of Project Roomkey and how to build on this remarkable effort to rapidly rehouse people experiencing homelessness.“ Supervisors Ridley-Thomas and Kuehl’s motion called for looking into the services that Roomkey clients received during their hotel stay, as well as 12 months before and 12 months afterwards, and then comparing their outcomes with those of homeless individuals who were eligible for Roomkey but did not or could not participate in it.

With Project Roomkey, Los Angeles County signed occupancy agreements with almost 40 hotels to provide safe “non-congregate” shelter to over 4,000 people since starting in April 2020.

The program focused on people experiencing homelessness who did not have symptoms but were at high risk of contracting COVID-19.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority then worked in tandem with community-based nonprofits to oversee operations and services at each hotel. County health departments provided clinical support while County staff volunteering as Disaster Service Workers provided non-clinical support.

In May 2020, the Board unanimously approved a motion authored

by Supervisors Keuhl and Ridley-Thomas to fund a Recovery Rehousing Plan to connect the Project Roomkey residents to long-term housing and stable services.

In other words, in addition to COVID-19 health protections, Roomkey is also providing a pathway to permanent housing to vulnerable residents during the pandemic.

Los Angeles County is also part of the effort to scale up the nonprofit organization PATH's Measure H-funded Lease-Up program, which will recruit more landlords and property managers to rapidly house Project Roomkey residents.

Saturday-Friday | November 14 - 20, 2020

T

he recent 2020 election surely, will mark itself as a historical one, triggered by four years of social and civil unrest including the murder of George Floyd, catapulted by the surge of COVID-19 pandemic deaths and ongoing cases throughout the country.

During the primary, both presidential candidates: Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were the frontrunners, along with billionaire Michael Bloomberg, but they all ended up endorsing the decent and respectable Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr. at the end.

First of all, Joe Biden's top asset is his wife Jill Tracy Jacobs Biden, (nee Jacobs, formerly Stevenson, born June 3, 1951). who had been Joe's second lady of the United States from 2009 through 2017, she’s an American educator who was born in Hammonton, New Jersey but grew up in willow Grove, Pennsylvania.

She married Joe in 1977, thus becoming the stepmother to Beau and Hunter, Joe's two sons from Joe's first marriage, whose mother and baby sister died in a car accident in 1972. Subsequently, Jill and her husband Joe have a daughter together, Ashley, who was born in 1981.

Now accomplished on her own, Ashley has a Bachelor's and Doctoral degrees from the University of Delaware, as well as Master's degree from the West Chester University and Villanova University, who has taught English and Reading in high schools for 13 years and also taught adolescents with emotional disabilities at a psychiatric hospital. Likewise, Jill Biden was an English and writing instructor at the Delaware Technical and Community College from 1993 through 2008 and is known to be "the first second lady to hold a paying job” while her husband served as vice president. She has been the founder of the Biden Breast Health Initiative, a non-profit organization, co-founder of the Book Buddies program, co-founder of the Biden Foundation which is currently active in Delaware's "Boots On The Ground," and is co-founder of "Joining Forces" organization along with Michelle Obama. She has been with Joe throughout his campaign trail to victory.

Then, there was the endorsement of

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Key elements/assets that helped strengthen President-elect Joe Biden's road to victory Stacy Abrams, who everyone thought would have run as a presidential candidate too, but didn't. She's a Yale school Law graduate and a black woman form Mississippi who thinks that the "deep South can become the new Democratic haven" which she ultimately did just that - due to her brilliant voter registration and turnout efforts in Georgia which used to be a RED state since 1992, to an apparent Democratic win for Biden, registering around 800,000 new voters US President-elect Joe Biden (2nd L) and Vice-President elect Kamala Harris (2nd R) stand onstage with their spouses Jill Biden (L) and Doug Emhoff (R) after their victory speeches in Wilmington, in that state.

The surge in young, un- Delaware, November 7, 2020. der 30 eligible voters, such and that is Joe Biden." as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Finally, there's the surprise streaming efforts as well as choice of Kamala Harris as Bidthe Black Lives Matter moveen's vice-presidential running ment's activism, plus singer mate after her criticisms on Cardi B's televised zoom conhim during the primary, Biden versation with Biden, must acknowledged her political pohave helped a lot, just a f ew tential and enthusiasm that will months before the election. bring diversity to his campaign, Then of course, there was being that she's the daughter Biden's former boss, Presiof Jamaican and Indian immident Barack Obama, whose grants, who in turn was able to energetic campaigns truly rally her black-owned alma mamattered. He helped boost ter, Howard University's Alpha US President-elect Joe Biden Vice-President elect Kamala Harris Biden's campaign both in PhilKappa Alpha sorority sisters adelphia and Atlanta, who helped her with a "fullconservative who urged Republicans to The FBI's investigation on the kidnap- cross party lines in support of Joe Bid- blown momentum in cash fundraisers." ping plot of Michigan governor Gretchen en for president. On a Twitter, she said: Undoubtedly, it is our hope that Joe Whitmer where they arrested 13 accused 'there's only one candidate in this race Biden will rise to HEAL and UNITE this suspects on October 8, 2020, were tied to who stands up for our values as nation nation as our NEXT PRESIDENT! a paramilitary militia group that called themselves the "Wolverine Watchmen," where six of the suspects were charged in federal court, while the other seven were charged with state crimes. These paramilitaty militia groups targeted Whitmer allegedly because Trump offered his support for the protests in Michigan when Whitmer ordered a total lockdown due to the surge of COVID-19 deaths in the state. That was when Trump tweeted "LIBERATE MICHIGAN,” and he derisively called Whitmer "that woman from Michigan.”

A few days before the election, Cindy McCain, the well-known widow of ,Senator John McCain, was the prominent

oPeNLY... from Page 1 dramatically, we are ending where we began — with the conviction that San Diego can be a city for everyone,” Gloria wrote.

Gloria thanked his supporters for their effortds that include “texting from home, dropping literature, putting a sign in your yard or joining our Get-Out-The-Vote operation outside under a tent.”

Gloria defeated Councilwoman Barbara Bry. Gloria is not a political neophyte. He was a member of the California State Assembly (representing the 78th District) and the second person of Filipino heritage ever elected to the assembly.

Gloria served two terms on the City Council and was the City’s Interim Mayor from August 2013 to March 2014.

Gloria graduated from the University of San Diego and an enrolled member of the Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. He lives in the neighborhood of Mission Hills.

Republicans flip Congressional seats in Southern California Democrat Harley Rouda has conceded to Republican Michelle Steel in their battle to win the U.S 48th Congressional District.

A second seat appears ready to go, with Republican challenger Young Kim leading incumbent Democrat Gil Cisneros for the battle for the U.S 39th Congressional District.

Other Fil-Ams who won in other electoral fronts Some Filipino American holding elective posts were successful in their re-election bids, among them were Rob Bonta, Juslyn Manalo and Glenn Sylvester.

Bonta was overwhelmingly reelected as California Assemblymember for District 18. He has posted about his electoral success on a Twitter post on November 4.

Cabaldon garnered 52.49% of total votes cast to defeat his opponent, Martha Guerrero for the mayorship of the city of West Sacramento.

Daly City Mayor Glenn Sylvester, who are among four Filipino Americans comprising the five-member city council in Daly City, was successful in his re-election bid.

Daly City Vice Mayor Juslyn Manalo also won her reelection bid.

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The Real Estate Market and Mortgage Interest rates moving forward Filing Bankruptcy To Eliminate Debt While Protecting Assets

Biden has signaled that he will push for changes to other Trumpera policies that affect the real estate industry. The president-elect vowed to reinstate the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, which Trump repealed in July — claiming it would keep low-income housing out of suburbs. The 2015 rule required local governments receiving federal housing financing to devise plans to address discriminatory housing practices in their communities. Additionally, Biden has pledged to spend $640 billion on affordable housing over the next decade.

The Biden presidency could also mean changes to 1031 exchanges: He has pitched making them available only to those making less than $400,000 a year. He has also pledged not to raise taxes on households earning less than that amount.

There’s a perception in the real estate industry that Biden is bad for real estate, and Trump is much better for real estate, we shall see

in the coming months or year. Developer MaryAnne Gilmartin said a Biden presidency would mean having someone in the White House who understands the importance of investing in cities, such as New York. At the same time, if Republicans retain control of the Senate, they will be able to block tax reforms and other progressive policies feared by the real estate industry, she said.

It is unclear to what extent the president-elect will drive the agenda in Washington. It is safe to assume, however, that a Biden presidency will not be as friendly to corporations or real estate billionaires as Trump’s has been.

When Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for president in August, he criticized the 2017 tax overhaul, calling it a “$1.3 trillion tax giveaway to the wealthiest 1 percent.”

“We don’t need a tax code that rewards wealth more than it rewards work. I’m not looking to punish anyone. Far from it,” he

One common misconception people have is that if they file bankruptcy, they will lose everything that they’ve worked hard for. For this reason, a lot of people continue to suffer needlessly in debt when the law provides a solution to their debt problems. Not good.

Don’t get me wrong. Bankruptcy is certainly not the answer to all debt problems. But after having represented more than 5,000 bankruptcy clients over the years, I have seen the benefits it provides to people who are no longer in a position to help themselves.

In bankruptcy, there are exemptions allowed by that can help you protect your assets.

For example, if you own a home that you live in, state homestead exemption laws allow you to protect anywhere from $300,000-$600,000 (*These homestead amounts, which are

MUCH HIGHER than allowed under current law are effective 1-1-21 as per CA Governor Newsom’s approval of a bill 2 months ago due to the pandemic). If the amount of your home equity falls within the allowable exemption amount, your house is not at risk in any way. Thus, even if you file for bankruptcy, you can keep your home as long as you are making your payments.

Most bankruptcy cases are considered “no asset cases”.

That means that the debtor literally has nothing of value, or the assets are considered protected under the exemption laws. So, don’t ever believe it when creditors or other people tell you that filing bankruptcy means that you automatically have to lose your home, vehicles or other assets. Your bankruptcy lawyer should be able to do a thorough review of everything CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

CONTINUED ON PAGE 7

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MODIFYING DOWN CHILD AND SPOUSAL SUPPORT OBLIGATION AFTER A DIVORCE diVORCed parties are sometimes ordered to pay child support and spousal support in the divorce judgment. The support orders are generally based on the parties’ financial situation and custody arrangements at the time of the settlement or trial. However, what if your income decreases after the divorce or what if your spouse’s income increases after the divorce due to a promotion or a better paying job? Do you have the right to modify your support obligation?

If your income has gone down substantially from the time that the child or spousal support determination, you may be able to file a modification of your support obligation. Losing a job or having less income constitutes a material change of circumstances that would allow the court to modify down your support obligations.

Child support in California is based on guideline formula. One of the factors that is considered in the guideline formula is your gross income. Usually the court would look at several months or even an average of the last 12 months income. If your average income has decreased, you may be able to modify your child support to a lower amount. Bear in mind that there are other factors that come in the equation such as the amount of actual timeshare you spend with your child and the income of the other parent. If the other parent’s income has gone down, this may adversely affect your child support obligation.

Spousal support may also be

modified unless you stipulated in a divorce judgment that it is non modifiable. However, spousal support are usually calculated differently than guideline. The court will look at other factors in deciding whether to modify this.

Those factors are listed in family code section 4320.

If you are unemployed, the other party may be expected to try to impute income on you. However in light of the recent cases in California, they would have to prove that you had the ability and the opportunity to obtain employment.

If your income has gone down or your spouse’s income has increased as a result of a new job, a promotion, or you got laid off or hours cut, it may be possible to modify both your child support and spousal support obligation.

Without modifying the order, the current order will continue to be in effect and the same amount will accrue regardless of whether your income declined or your spouse income increased. It is important to file a post judgment request for order to modify support as soon as your financial situation changes.

Please note that this article is not legal advice and is not intended as legal advice. The article is intended to provide only general, non-specific legal information. This article is not intended to cover all the issues related to the topic discussed.

The specific facts that apply to your matter may make the outcome different than would be anticipated by

MORTGAGE UPDATE From Page 6 said. “But it’s long past time the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in this country paid their fair share.”

Its still really too early to say what might transcribe from all these speculations, but what will certainly move the Real Estate Markets in my opinion would be your Lending Rates. Are good times over when you can buy a house with 20% down and qualify a rate of 2.5%? Lets see what 10 Year Bond did the first day we started calling Biden “President Elect”.

The treasury yield went up almost .15 basis points highest this year since the pandemic reaching close to 1%. This will bring the rates up above 2.75-2.875% on the 30 years and will be closely crossing the 1% barrier to go above it.

The main concern now is how Reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .

Fannie and Freddie are the backbone of the mortgage market with control over the terms at which roughly half of the country’s borrowers can get loans. The federal government took them over during the 2008 financial crisis, eventually injecting them with more than $187 billion in bailout money. In return, the government got warrants to acquire nearly 80% of the companies’ shares, as well as a new class of “senior” preferred

stock that now has a balance of about $222 billion.

All of your so called “Conventional Loans” are bought and sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and who you are paying your home mortgages’ to are just your “Servicers”. Fannie and Freddie has a huge influence in how our current rates are being marketed with the guidance of your 10 Year Treasuries.

While Biden hasn’t outlined a path for Fannie and Freddie, many policy analysts believe he’s likely to try to stop plans for release and instead use the companies to improve housing affordability. If he insists that Congress pass legislation to reform them, as President Barack Obama did, that could mean indefinite limbo for Fannie’s and Freddie’s shareholders.

My main concern of course still is the World Wide Pandemic that has not been contained, a new vaccine was announced that shook the market in a good way. Lets all Pray this is going to be the magic potion that will fight this terrible virus.

Thanks for your inquiries, please call Ken Go of 1st Innovative Finance Group for your Mortgage Needs. Call Ken at 562-508-7048 or write to kennethgo@verizon.net CABRE 01021223 NMLS 238636

you. This article does create any attorney client relationship between you and the Law Offices of Kenneth U. Reyes, APLC This article is not a solicitation.

Attorney Kenneth Ursua Reyes is a Certified Family Law Specialist.

He was President of the Philippine American Bar Association. He is a member of both the Family law section and Immigration law section of the Los Angeles County Bar Asso-

ciation. He is a graduate of Southwestern University Law School in Los Angeles and California State University, San Bernardino School of Business Administration. He has extensive CPA experience prior to law practice. LAW OFFICES OF KENNETH REYES, APLC. is located at 3699 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 747, Los Angeles, CA, 90010. Tel. (213) 388-1611 or e-mail kenneth@kenreyeslaw.com or visit our website at Kenreyeslaw.com

MINDING YOUR FINANCES From Page 6 you own and advise you what is exempt and what is not. For example, in almost 100% of the cases my office handles, clients lose nothing and keep everything.

Again, seek legal counsel to understand your legal rights so you can make an intelligent decision as to whether bankruptcy is advisable for your situation.

If you are filing for Chapter 13 to consolidate your debts, none of your assets are at risk of being taken. This is due to the fact that Chapter 13 is simply a repayment plan, not a case where assets are sold. In Chapter 13, you are committing your income to pay creditors the best you could over a 3-5 year period. Again, you are not forced to sell assets to pay your debts although it may be possible for you to sell assets voluntarily to pay off your plan earlier. I am trying to simplify here but the point is that in Chapter 13, you can keep everything you have, and you can pay creditors based only on what you can afford. This allows you to live within your means-

by making your debt payments more affordable.

If you are in debt and are considering filing bankruptcy but are not sure if this is right for you, I can help you make the right decision by explaining to you how the process works. Just call my office at 866-477-7772 and ask for a free initial consultation. As this year comes to a close, make it a goal to be the last year you will remain in debt. It’s not too late to start over. Rebuild your finances and your life. NOTE: Due to COVID-19 pandemic, I am offering free consultations

BY PHONE to anyone who needs help in dealing with their debt problems.

(None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty.

Ray Bulaon has successfully helped over 5,000 clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call RJB Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1-866-477-7772).

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Palace distances from support for Duterte-Duterte tandem in 2022 MANILA (Mabuhay) — Malacañang on Tuesday distanced itself from a Palace official’s support for a DuterteDuterte tandem in the 2022 national elections.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Palace respects Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo’s opinion that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte is the best person to take on the presidency while her father President Rodrigo Duterte would run for vice president in the 2022 polls.

“That’s the personal opinion of Secretary Panelo and we respect his opinion,” Roque said in a Palace press briefing.

In his televised talk show “Counterpoint” on Monday, Panelo said the next President should be able to continue the accomplishments made during the Duterte administration.

“Sa totoo lang (To be honest), there is no one in the political horizon whether in this administration nor in the position nor in the left na tao o dalawang tao na maaring mag-lead dito sa darating na 2022 sa pamamahala upang sundan yung mga apak ni

Presidente Duterte maliban kay Mayor Sara Duterte at saka ang kaniyang ama rin bilang bise president (who can lead in 2022 that can follow the steps of the President besides Mayor Sara Duterte and her father as Vice President),” he said.

Panelo acknowledged that the President himself has repeatedly expressed his desire to retire from politics after his six-year term but noted that destiny may have other plans.

“You know when the gods of destiny rule that you are anointed as the next president of the land, wala kang magagawa dahil (there’s nothing you can do because) there will be people’s clamor,” he added.

Last September, Panelo also expressed his desire for the older Duterte to run for vice president if his daughter would run for presidency.

He recalled that the same situation happened in Davao City when Duterte and his daughter would run for mayor and vice mayor.

Duterte served as the vice mayor of Davao City when his daughter was the mayor from 2010 to 2013.

He has repeatedly mentioned his

ROQUE intent on stepping down after his term since he is not aspiring to become “a politician forever.”

If given the choice, Duterte said he wanted to resign because he was frustrated by massive corruption within the government.

However, he vowed to spend the remaining two years of his term fighting corruption. (MNS)

5 Black Hawk choppers for PAF arrive from Poland M A NIL A (Mabuhay) — Five of t he 16 Polish-made Sikorsky S-70-i Black Hawk combat utility helicopter s ac qu i red for the Philippine Air Force have arrived in the Philippines, w it h a not her one expected to be delivered via sea next month.

"Yes, the five arrived in Clark (Air base in Angeles City, Pampanga) aboard an Antonov heavy transport plane (An-124). The sixth was loaded on a ship that will arrive on Dec. 2," Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a message to the Philippine News Agency late Monday.

The 16 helicopters, acquired from Polish company Polskie Zaklady Lotnicze Sp.z.o.o, were manufactured under license from Sikorsky USA and had a contract price of USD241,461,699 (around PHP11.6 billion).

The project was procured through a government-to-government transaction with Poland. The negotiations were completed in 2019.

The acquisition of the Polish-made S-70i Black Hawk c om b a t h e l icopters is part of Horizon 2 of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program (AFPMP).

The Antonov pla ne took of f f rom R zeszow-Jasionka Airport, Poland on Nov. 7 and arrived at

Clark Air Base on Monday.

"We will wait for the PAF to designate the commissioning date and unit whey will be assigned," he added.

Meanwhile, DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said the remaining 10 units of the Polish-made S-70i Black Hawks will be delivered early next year.

Andolong added that the S-70i will greatly boost the AFP's capability to conduct various operations, including combat missions, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response, and help in the government's efforts against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. (MNS)

UP says no entrance exam for next academic year due to COVID-19 MANILA (Mabuhay) — The University of the Philippines (UP) has decided it would not hold a college entrance examination for academic year 2021-2022, citing logistical problems posed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The University Councils (UC) of UP's 8 constituent schools "unanimously voted NOT to administer UPCAT in light of logistical issues in the paper-and-pencil testing of about 100,000 17-year old applicants," according to a report published Tuesday on UP's official website, citing an October 30 memorandum from the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Majority of the UC members did not deem it feasible to administer the UPCAT, which involves around 1,600 testing personnel deployed to 94 testing centers throughout the

country, according to UP. The UC members did not consider administering an online entrance exam as well since the length of the exam and variety of items required strong Internet connection, UP added.

According to the report, the UP Board of Regents, the highest governing body in the UP System, instructed the Office of Admissions (OAdms) to come up with a modified freshmen admissions system responsive to the pandemic by February 2021.

"This includes the use of big data analytics to arrive at a UP admission score model, which the OAdms, together with other concerned offices, is currently developing, as well as the determination by academic units of an additional layer of screening for particular programs, if deemed necessary,"

it added.

UP said the Office of Admissions moved the start of the application period to December 2020, noting that the exact date will be announced later.

The university advised applicants for Academic Year 2021 to 2022 to "watch for further announcements from the OAdms."

The admission test to the Philippines' premier state university is one of the country's most competitive college entrance exams, with just a small percentage of takers passing every year.

Several colleges and universities already waived entrance examinations this year due to the continued threat of COVID-19, and assessed applicants based on their high school grades instead. Other higher education institutions chose to hold online admissions tests. (MNS)

DAVAO ARCHBISHOP TO RETURN AS CBCP HEAD MANILA (Mabuhay) — Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles will return as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the last week of November.

In a circular released Wednesday, CBCP vice president Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said Valles has recovered well and ready to work again.

“I am happy to announce to you that the Archbishop of Davao and President of the CBCP, His Excellency Most Rev. Romulo G. Valles - who was temporarily incapacitated by a mild stroke in May 2020 - has recovered very well,” he said.

"He has expressed his gratitude for all the prayers and moral support that his brother bishops have extended to him during the past few months of his recuperation.”

David said upon the approval of his doctors, Valles has expressed readiness to report back to work.

“Please be informed, therefore that after getting a clean bill of health from his doctors, Archbishop Valles has signified his readiness to resume office as our CBCP President,” he said.

Valles is set to preside the CBCP Permanent Council meeting online before the end of the month.

“He will already preside at our next CBCP Permanent Council meeting by Zoom, which is scheduled on November 25, 2020. As Vice-President.

I assured him that I would stay by his side and continue to assist him in whatever way I can,” the Catholic prelate added.

He reminded that “All communications with the Office of the CBCP President may now be redirected to Archbishop Romulo Valles.”

David was appointed by Valles as acting president of the CBCP on July 17 after he suffered a mild stroke in May. “During those months of his absence, Archbishop Valles had appointed the undersigned. Bishop of Kalookan and current CBCP Vice-President, to temporarily assume the role of Acting President for the CBCP, as provided for by our statutes. The appointment ends as soon as Archbishop Valles is ready to resume his office as President,” David added. (MNS)

DAVAO ARCHBISHOP ROMULO VALLES

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De Lima questions why Aguirre was spared from pastillas scheme raps MANILA (Mabuhay) — Senator Leila De Lima on Monday questioned why former Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II was spared from the criminal complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against 86 immigration personnel allegedly involved in the pastillas scheme.

"The Pastillas Scheme ladder cannot go only as high as the former BI ports operations chief

from such probe, for some reason, or orders from higher-ups?" De Lima asked.

"Nakakapagtaka nga naman na kung sa akin na wala ni gahiblang ebidensya kung hindi mga testimonya ng mga pusakal sa Bilibid ay pinakulong ni Duterte dahil protektor nga daw ako ng Bilibid drug trade, bakit itong si Aguirre ay tila yata ligtas na ligtas sa lantarang gawain ng BI Pastillas syndicate," the detained senator added.

De Lima further asked if the convicted drug lords in Bilibid who testified against her are more credible than Tulfo who was also an ally of the President.

"Bakit yata biglang tumaas ang standards ng DOJ sa mga testigo?" she said.

"The DOJ cannot just give Aguirre a free pass, and instead seriously probe and prosecute him, the way that they continued to prosecute me after Aguirre has passed DE LIMA AGUIRRE on to DOJ the fabricated casMarc Red Mariñas," De Lima said in a statement. es filed against me," she added.

During a recent Senate hearing, Mariñas was De Lima claimed that Aguirre may be an "untagged as the ringleader of the pastillas group touchable" because he knows a lot about Duterte's which is allegedly collecting bribes from Chinese alleged crimes: "Mga krimeng katulad ng hindi high-rollers and offshore gaming workers. pagtugis ng DOJ sa mga tunay na drug lords at Mariñas was appointed to the BI position by mga vigilanteng pulis na mga sangkot sa EJKs, Aguirre. at ang pagsampa ng mga pekeng kaso sa mga In the course of the same Senate investigation, kalaban ni Duterte na katulad ko."

Aguirre was linked by media practitioner RaSenator Risa Hontiveros, who leads the probe mon Tulfo to the pastillas scheme—an accusation on pastillas scheme, said Aguirre is still a "person shrugged off by the former DOJ chief as merely of interest" in the search for protector of alleged fueled by Tulfo's personal vendetta. pastillas masterminds.

"Didn’t the NBI also investigate former Justice Aguirre, in response, accused Hontiveros of Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, whom column- "witch-hunting" and going on a "fishing expediist Mon Tulfo openly tagged during the Senate tion" against him as he underscored that there hearings as the alleged protector of the BI Pas- is no evidence connecting him to the bribery tillas syndicate? Or was he purposely spared scheme. (MNS)

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Duterte approves National Vaccine Roadmap MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Palace confirmed on Monday, November 9, the approval of the National Task Force’s (NTF) Philippine National Vaccine Roadmap by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr, who discussed details of the vaccine roadmap in his press briefing, said that the roadmap is in preparation for the vaccine.

Meanwhile, while the whole world awaits for the vaccine, the Palace spokesperson has a reminder to the public. “Samantala po alalahanin po natin yung hinihingi ng ating Presidente: mask, hugas, iwas. Dahil ang gusto natin umabot tayo sa paglabas ng bakuna,” underscored Roque.

Referring to the approved national vaccine roadmap, the Palace official said that the most important consideration is safety followed by efficacy, sensitivity, and cost and complexities of the supply chain requirements. Other considerations include access for clinical trials and regions/local production and distribution, complexities on the ground preparation and implementation, and world supply and demand on vaccines.

The Philippine National Vaccine Roadmap has seven important stages as discussed by Sec. Roque, which will have corresponding government agencies as lead. Stage 1, which is also the most critical, is the scientific evaluation and selection that the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) are heading.

The access and acquisition, which will guarantee access to the vaccines, is being spearheaded by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Finance (DOF).

Procurement will be done by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PSDBM) and the DOF. Procurement,

shipment, and storage will also be handled by the PSDBM and the Task Group Resource Management and Logistics (TGRML) of the NTF. Distribution and deployment of the vaccine will be handled by the PSDBM and TGRML. Stage 6 is the implementation and nationwide vaccination will have the DOH as lead agency in cooperation with national government agencies, local government units, among others. The last stage is assessment, evaluation, and monitoring, which will be done by the DOH, DOST, and the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health.

The vaccine roadmap is expected to be implemented this year. According to the vaccine roadmap, the Philippines will have several options or decision points in terms of vaccine selection and access and options to obtaining the vaccine.

In vaccine selection, decision points will include safety and efficacy, single dose versus two doses, the varying temperature needed for the cold chain facility, and whether it will be single source or multi-source.

Meanwhile, access and options to obtaining the vaccine will consider our enrolment to the COVAX Facility with eight leading vaccine manufacturers, bilateral deals with the government and with vaccine companies, tripartite agreement between the government, private sector, and private company supported by another government, and multilateral modalities like pooled purchase.

Roque also mentioned the priorIn the same press briefing, Mr. Yerik Cosiquen, President and CEO of ORCA Cold Chain Solution, assured that their company, if needed, is prepared to provide cold chain storage for the anti-COVID-19 vaccines as they already have the facility and proven distribution process and experience in handling vaccines. (MNS)

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IN-HOME CAREGIVERS: ARE YOU PAID OVERTIME? IF you are employed as a 24hour caregiver, working aroundthe-clock to provide care and assista nce to a n ind iv idua l i nside t hei r home, you a re most likely entitled to overtime compensation. If you are paid a fixed daily rate, regardless of the actual hours you work or the quality and quantity of work you perform, you are not receiving overtime compensation and likely have a valuable claim for wage theft. This is true whether you are hired directly by the care recipient or paid through a home care agency.

In 2014 the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (“DWBR”) became law in California. The law was passed as part of a movement to enhance the rights of domestic workers, whom the California Legislature deemed to be some of the most invisible and vulnerable workers in the state. Now, under the DWBR, in-home caregivers are entitled to receive overtime wages for all hours worked in excess of 9 in a day or 45 in a week.

In California, most 24-hour caregivers must be paid a minimum of $378.00 per day to comply with the requirements of the DWBR. The first 9-hours of work should be paid at the legal minimum wage rate of $12.00 per hour, which equals $108.00. Then, for the remaining 15 hours, the law requires overtime payments at a rate of $18.00 per hour, which amounts to an additional $270.00 per day.

Unfortunately, in actual practice, most caregivers receive far less than the applicable minimum wage, often earning as little as $180 to $240 per day. A 24-hour caregiver who is earning less than $378.00 per day likely has a very valuable claim for wage theft.

For example, if you are a caregiver working 24-hours per day, 5 days per week for a salary of $1,100 per week (or $220 per day), your weekly unpaid overtime claim is calculated as follows: Your weekly salary of $1,100 is divided by 45 hours to calculate a regular rate of pay, equal to $24.44 per

hour. Your overtime rate is 1.5 times your regular rate of pay, which amounts to $36.66 per hour.

Your pre-determined salar y does not compensate you, at all, for the 15 daily overtime hours you work. So, each day, you accrue $550.00 of unpaid overtime wages.

Employers, who willfully fail to pay an employee the requisite overtime compensation, are also subject to liquidated damages, which could add an additional $180.00 per day to the wage theft claim. Plus, the law provides for

interest, attorneys fees, and penalties.

In the above example, the hypothetical caregiver is owed $2,750 in unpaid overtime wages per week. On a yearly basis, the overtime claim alone exceeds $140,000. We have helped many caregivers whose claims exceed $500,000 in damages with the addition of penalties, liquidated damages and interest, after working for several years.

Caregivers, who are victims of wage theft, may recover their unpaid wages going back 4 years from the date a lawsuit is filed in court. We have helped many caregivers file claims against their former employers. Even if you last worked several years ago, you still have time to pursue a claim.

The one exception is if the care recipient patient has passed away. In that instance, a claim against the care recipient’s estate must be filed within 1 year of their passing, or sooner if an estate has been opened.

If you are a caregiver and are hesitant to proceed with claims for wage theft against your current or former employer please visit our website at www.caregiverovertime.com/pa/concerns/ to review our article that addresses many of the common concerns we have heard from caregivers.

If you are a caregiver working 24-hour shifts without overtime compensation, we want to talk with you about your legal rights. We provide compassionate and confidential consultations. Please contact us at (818) 807-4168, for a free case evaluation.

This article is an attorney advertisement written by Daniel Chaleff, employment law attorney at Chaleff Rehwald Peterson in Woodland Hills. Our examples are of a general nature and are not a guarantee regarding the outcome of your individual matter. The law firm focuses on caregiver rights. Please call us at (818) 807-4168 for a free case evaluation. Or visit us at www.caregiverovertime.com/ to learn more about caregiver overtime law. We offer a 24-hour chat line on our website.

'Ulysses' floods affect 74K residents of Central Luzon

WRATH OF 'ULYSSES'. Various fruit-bearing trees and pieces of galvanized iron sheets are seen scattered on a property in Barangay San Nicolas, Gapan City after heavy rains and winds brought by Typhoon Ulysses pummelled Nueva Ecija on Thursday (Nov. 12, 2020). The howler caused flooding and displacement in Central Luzon, affecting thousands of residents. (PNA photo by Zorayda Tecson)

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA – Some 18,874 families or 73,945 individuals in several areas of Central Luzon were affected by floods caused by heavy to intense rains brought about by Typhoon Ulysses starting Wednesday night to Thursday afternoon.

Based on the latest report of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Regional Field Office 3, the affected residents came from the provinces of Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Zambales, and Aurora.

In Bulacan, some 17,070 families or 68,242 persons were affected by the floods that submerged low-lying areas in the province.

Some 113 displaced families or 359 individuals are in various evacuation centers.

In Aurora, there are some 1,235 families or 3,881 persons affected as continuous moderate to heavy rains inundated low-lying towns. A total of 1,067 families or 3,389 residents stayed in various evacuation centers in the province.

In Bataan, some 378 families or 1,233 persons were displaced as floods hit the coastal towns.

Meanwhile, a total of 180 families or 543 residents were transferred to various evacuation centers in Pampanga.

In Zambales, 11 families or 46 individuals were likewise displaced by the typhoon.

The DSWD-3 has stockpiled some PHP1.11 million worth of family food packs in its regional and satellite warehouses in the region for distribution to the affected families. (PNA)

DOH eyes exemption of COVID-19 vaccines from law vs. advance payment MANILA (Mabuhay) — To ensure quick access, the Department of Health (DOH) is eyeing to secure exemption of COVID-19 vaccines from a provision in the Procurement Law that bans advance payment, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Wednesday.

“We are bound by the Procurement Law on [prohibition on] advance payment, and we have sought the assistance of the Office of the President for a direction, for a special exemption on not giving advance payment until the orders are here under RA 9184,” Vergeire said at an online forum.

“Many of vaccine manufacturers and other partners we are negotiating with are requiring advance payment kaya ginagawan natin ng paraan na magkaroon ng exemption because of this pandemic,” she added.

President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said that his administration will be securing a $300-million loan for the procurement of COV ID-19 vaccines.

The most advanced of all vaccine candidates is the one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, which has been found 90% effective in prevent i ng COV ID-19 during Pha se 3 of t he clinical trials.

Storing the said vaccine, however, is another challenge since it needs to be kept at -70 degrees Celsius (-94F) or below, given that it is using a new technology identified as synthetic mRNA needed to activate the immune system against the virus.

In the Philippines, only China's Sinovac has been able to secure approval from the vaccine experts panel so far. Sinovac would still need approvals from the Ethics Board and the Food and Drug Administration before it can proceed with Phase 3 of its clinical trials in the country.

Other vaccine manufacturers which seek to sell COVID-19 vaccines to the Philippines would also need the approval of the vaccine experts panel, the Ethics Board and the FDA before they can sell their product here.

President Duterte earlier said that those in class ABC can buy their own COVID-19 vaccine since the government will only pay for the vaccines of the poor and other vulnerable sectors.

(MNS)

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Año eyes Danao as next Metro Manila top cop MANILA (Mabuhay) — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday said he is considering Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao, Jr. to be the next top cop of Metro Manila.

“Ang NCRPO (National Capital Region Police Office) ay idi-deliberate pa pero ang nire-recomend na papalit kay Gen. (Debold) Sinas ay si Brig. Gen. Vic Danao na manggagaling sa Region 4-A. Yes, matutuloy na yan (We have yet to deliberate on who is heading to NCRPO but it was recommended that the replacement of Gen. Debold Sinas is Brig. Gen. Vic Danao who comes from Region 4-A. Yes, that would push through),” Año said in a radio interview.

This came as President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Sinas as the new Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, replacing Gen. Camilo Cascolan.

Danao is currently the chief of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 4-A (Calabarzon) and served as a former director of the Manila Police District.

Meanwhile, Año also said the marching order of President Rodrigo Duterte to Sinas is to further intensify the crackdown on illegal drugs, criminality, insurgency, and terrorism.

“Yan ‘yung tagubilin ng ating Pangulo. Natapos ‘yung aming command conference ay natapos at 1 a.m. at dalawa ang pinagdiinan ng ating Pangulo.

Itong laban sa illegal na droga at laban sa CPP-NPANDF (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front of the Philippines). Pinagdiinan talaga ng Pangulo yan (That is the order from the President. Our command conference ended at 1 a.m. and the President insisted on two things: the fight against illegal drugs and the fight against the CPP-NPA-NDF. The President emphasized that) and I would expect General Sinas to serve no less),” he said.

Año said he also expects Sinas to set the standard in terms of performance, professionalism, and discipline among police officers.

"There must be no room for scalawags,” he added.

He, meanwhile, added the case against Sinas and several other officers of the NCRPO over his mañanita birthday celebration in May has no implication on his appointment.

“Wala naman siguro kasi separate naman yun. Ang kaso naman ay naisampa at ito ay under preliminary investigation so hindi pa ito umabot sa korte kaya hindi pa masasabi na ito ay isang pending case. Ito ay isang violation sa Bayanihan to Heal as One Act at saka violation ng ordinansa ng (I don't think so because it is a separate matter. The case has been filed and is now under preliminary investigation so it has yet to reach the court so we cannot really say it is a pending case.

This is a violation sa Bayanihan to Heal as One Act and a violation of an ordinance of) Taguig,” he said.

He added that the President has the absolute discretion and authority to choose the next PNP chief.

"Hindi niya kailangan mag-explain. Kapag sinabi niya (He doesn't need to explain. If he says), my trust and confidence are with this person, let's give that person a chance,” he added.

Sinas and 18 other police officers face criminal charges before the Taguig prosecutor’s office for violating City Ordinance No. 12 of Taguig City, which requires the wearing of masks in public, and Republic Act 11332, or the Mandatory Reporting of Notifiable Diseases and Health Events of Public

Ex-poll official backs pilot test of mail-in voting for seniors MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Philippines can run a pilot project on mail-in voting among senior citizens, a former poll official said Tuesday, amid concerns it can lead to massive cheating in the 2022 elections.

Former Commission on Elections commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said mail-in voting for senior citizens amid the COVID-19 pandemic was ideal and could be done in areas with low-level political conflict.

“It addresses the security concern of some legislators and some advocates but also pushes forward the concept of mail-in voting for senior citizens,” he said.

"Do it in a province you can monitor easily. Study what are the good and bad things that came out of it. Then do a bigger rollout in 2025,” he added.

Comelec had been conducting absentee voting but only for migrant workers, members of the media and law enforcers selecting candidates for national positions.

Larrazabal also expressed reservations that state-owned Philippine Postal Corp. (PhilPost) would be involved in such system, similar to the recent US general elections where the US Postal Service handled the mail-in balloting.

“Many of us have had bad experiences with the post office. I know a lot of good guys there but as a whole there have been a lot of concerns about how the postal service handles your mail in packages and if those concerns are already with your mail, how much more for the ballots?”

The former poll official believed that mail-in voting could be implemented in the country if sufficient safeguards were in place.

“I know a lot of Comelec field personnel. I’ve worked with many of them, almost all. I know they can do it, but you have to give them the right tools to make sure it’s done right,” he said.

“What does this mean? Do it early. Ask their opinion as to how to make sure to minimize fraud. You make sure that there are sufficient resources to implement that.”

Senate Committee on Electoral Reform chair Imee Marcos in October filed a bill seeking to allow elderly, pregnant, disabled and indigenous Filipinos to vote by mail.

However, Senate President Vicente Sotto III rejected the proposal, saying the scheme is prone to cheating.

Marikina City 2nd District Rep. Stella Quimbo also filed a si m i la r mea su re i n September in light of the C O V I D -19 pa ndem ic.

(MNS)

LARRAZABAL

BRIG. GEN. VICENTE DANAO, JR. Health Concern Act. Duterte earlier vouched for Sinas saying if he knew about the plan, he will immediately call it off.

Sinas, who hails from Butuan City, is an alumnus of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Hinirang Class of 1987.

Before his appointment as Metro Manila police chief in October 2019, he also served as director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO 7), deputy regional director for administration of the PRO 12 (Soccsksargen), and director of the PNP Crime Laboratory.

He will serve as the head of the police force until May 2021. (MNS)

ROBREDO LAWYER SEES COLLUSION BETWEEN MARCOS, CALIDA IN POLL PROTEST MANILA (Mabuhay) — A lawyer for Vice President Len i Robredo on Tuesday said he sees a "c o l l u s i o n" between former senator Ferdina nd "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. and Solicitor G ener a l Jose Calida in Marcos' election proROBREDO test before the Supreme Court.

Lawyer Emil Marañon said the vice president's legal team plans to question the "very abnormal" and "very suspicious" participation of the government's chief lawyer in what he said was supposed to be a private suit between Marcos and Robredo.

Marcos sought the inhibition of Associate Justice Marvic Leonen from proceedings in the four-year-old protest on Monday, alleging the justice has delayed the case and shown bias against the Marcos family.

The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed its own motion, raising similar arguments, hours later.

Marañon said it was "physically impossible" for the OSG to have prepared its own motion to inhibit and filed it on the same day that Marcos did.

"But 'yung punto natin po [is] the apparent collusion, as submitted by Mr. Marcos earlier on, is very apparent po sa action ng Solicitor General. He’s coming in as the Tribune of the People supposedly, but ang tanong namin po, bakit doon po siya kumakampi sa natalo, 'yung ni-reject ng taumbayan?" the lawyer said.

"Bakit hindi po doon sa nanalo kung totoong Tribune of the People po siya? Ang tanong namin po, baka tribune of Mr. Marcos po si Solicitor General Calida po," he added.

He said Marcos and Calida raised similar arguments and even submitted "similarly worded" sentences.

Marcos, on the other hand, has claimed he has not discussed his election protest with Calida, who campaigned for him in 2016.

"We have not been in any kind of communication with the SolGen's office. I’m sure that the SolGen is perfectly capable of acquiring a copy, so I’m sure he was able to read our motion before

MARCOS

he filed his own motion. Again, you will have to ask the SolGen how that came about," the former senator said.

Marañon, for h is pa r t, a lso raised that the OSG had "abandoned" its client, the Commission on Elections, to "favor" Marcos over the shading threshold issue

in the protest two years ago.

Taking the same stance as Marcos, the OSG in 2018 backed the 50-percent threshold in determining how the contested ballots will be counted. Robredo was pushing for a 25-percent threshold. The SC, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, eventually set aside the 50-percent threshold.

Marañon said these actions led them to question the OSG's impartiality.

"And actually his action of being actively participating in this case when supposedly a protest case is a private suit between the Vice President and Bongbong Marcos, there’s no government agency involved here, so bakit siya nakikisawsaw sa kaso ng Vice President natin po?" he said.

Marcos has been challenging Robredo's election win since 2016, alleging poll fraud. Robredo's term ends in 2022.

The former senator claimed that Leonen sitting as the justice-in-charge means the case will be delayed until it becomes moot.

Robredo's camp has countered that Marcos has lost twice -- first in the elections and again in the recount of ballots from three provinces, in which Robredo's lead widened by some 15,000 votes -- and argued the protest should already be dismissed.

They have also dared Marcos to stop acting like a "spoiled brat" -- a statement that the son of the late president Ferdinand Marcos said is a "personal insult" that he has grown used to.

"When you have grown tired of descending into the gutter with your personal insults, when you have run out of things to say, please answer my motion. You can call me any name you want, you can call me anything you want, but at the end of it, answer my motion," Marcos said. (MNS)

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DOJ official says deaths in recent Bilibid riots 'inexcusable' MANILA (Mabuhay) — A Department of Justice (DOJ) official on Wednesday described as "inexcusable" the deaths of 13 inmates in two recent incidents of gang violence inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

“Yes, 13 deaths are too many. Even one death is not excusable. No death is excusable,” DOJ Undersecretary Emmeline Aglipay-Villar said.

A recent riot between members of two rival gangs left four inmates dead and 62 others injured -- an incident that took place exactly a month after nine were killed in similar gang-related violence inside the national penitentiary.

Aglipay-Villar said DOJ Secretary Menardo Guevarra has already or-

dered the National Bureau of Investigation to look into the matter.

Initial reports from the Bureau of Corrections claim that the riots stemmed from the rivalry between two warring gangs, Sigue-Sigue Sputnik and Sigue Sigue Commando.

Aglipay-Villar said the leadership of BuCor, led by Director General Gerald Bantag and his deputy, Gabriel Chaclag, should explain “how this happened,” referring to the two riots.

“After the October 9 riot, BuCor conducted Oplan Galugad to try to get all improvised weapons that the PDLs (persons deprived of liberty) managed to make. However, it seems that was not effective with the guns fired this week,” she said.

Duterte to tackle COVID response, sea dispute at ASEAN meet — Palace MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Rodrigo Duterte will participate in an online summit of world leaders from November 12 to 15 to share his views on COVID-19 response, South China Sea issue, and other international developments, Malacañang said Wednesday.

Duterte will take part in the 37th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Summits to be hosted by Vietnam, the chairperson of the 10-nation regional bloc for this year.

Some members of his Cabinet, including Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rolando Bautista will join Duterte in the online summit.

“The President will exchange views with his counterparts on the region’s COVID-19 response and recovery efforts, future direction of ASEAN community building, and regional and international developments,” the Palace said through the Office of the Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs.

“He will advance Philippine positions on public health emergencies cooperation, regional economic integration,

migrant workers’ rights, climate change, disaster risk reduction management, counter-terrorism, and the South China Sea issue,” it added.

At the 36th ASEAN Summit in June, Duterte urged the region to strengthen its capacity to address future infectious diseases outbreaks through research and capacity-building on health technology development.

He also welcomed the establishment of the ASEAN Response Fund for COVID-19.

Likewise, the President said at the time that terrorism, transnational crimes, and natural calamities could undermine the security and development of ASEAN, one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic regions before the pandemic hit early this year.

Southeast Asian leaders will have a plenary session on Thursday to be followed

by ASEAN’s meetings with the region’s dialogue partners, including China, Japan, South Korea, and India, as well as the ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit.

Vietnam is also expected to transfer the ASEAN chairmanship to Brunei at the closing ceremony on November 15.

(MNS)

In the long term, Aglipay-Villar said there should be more custodial personnel to look after inmates at the NBP to prevent riots.

“Riots tend to easily escalate and deaths happen as we have seen because of congestion of the prison and the custodial personal to PDL ratio,” she said.

She said the facility's 29,500 PDLs greatly outnumber its custodial personnel.

“The ratio is one custodial personnel to 60 prisoners. The recommended number in the law is one is to 7. We really need to hire more custodial personnel,” Aglipay-Villar said.

(MNS)

More than 14M beneficiaries get SAP 2 aid MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday said it has breached the 14-million mark of its target beneficiaries for the second tranche of the social amelioration program (SAP 2).

For SAP 2, DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the agency provided aid to 14,117,957 beneficiaries.

“Over 14 million na ang nabigyan [ng SAP 2] (We have recorded over 14 million beneficiaries who received their aid already),” Dumlao said in an interview, adding the agency also kicked off the distribution of the emergency subsidy program under the Bayanihan 2.

DSWD Undersecretary for Special Concerns Camilo Gudmalin, in a virtual press briefer, appealed to the remaining qualified family-beneficiaries to coordinate with DSWD's field offices to facilitate the release of their long-overdue grants.

He added that payouts are still ongoing for other beneficiaries.

Due to the missing and/or incorrect personal information such as contact numbers, middle names, and birthdays filled out by some beneficiaries, their cash assistance was not delivered on time.

DSWD’s financial institution partners have requested complete and correct information to process their transactions, Gudmalin said.

“DSWD appeals to beneficiaries who are yet to receive their cash aid to check with your respective regional office so they can track the reasons why yours were delayed,” he said in the vernacular.

The 11 areas covered by SAP 2 are Region 3 (Central Luzon) except Aurora province, National Capital Region, Calabarzon, Benguet, Pangasinan, Iloilo, province of Cebu, Bacolod City, Davao City, the province of Albay and Zamboanga City.

The “Bayanihan to Heal As One” Act has given the national government powers to provide emergency subsidies to low-income families.

The Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 of 2020 states that the subsidy shall amount to a minimum of PHP5,000 to a maximum of PHP8,000 a month for two months to provide for basic food, medicine, and toiletries. (MNS)

PRRD grateful for sustained PH-Japan ties under Haneda’s stint MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Tuesday thanked outgoing Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda on his successful tour of duty, saying the Philippines and Japan enjoyed “sustained” high-level exchanges under his stint.

In a statement from the Office of the President (OP), Duterte conferred on Haneda the Order of Sikatuna, with the rank of Datu (Grand Cross), Gold Distinction.

He thanked Haneda’s valuable contributions in strengthening and deepening the strategic partnership and overall bilateral relations between the Philippines and Japan since he assumed the post in 2017.

“During Ambassador Haneda’s tenure, the Philippines and Japan enjoyed sustained high-level exchanges. President Duterte undertook four official visits to Japan since 2016, while former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo visited the Philippines twice in 2017,” the OP said.

Abe was the first head of state to visit the country after Duterte assumed office in 2016.

Under Haneda’s stint, the OP said Manila and Tokyo likewise enhanced their cooperation in infrastructure, education, transportation, maritime security, emergency assistance, and trade and investments.

“Japan remains a major partner of the administration’s ‘Build, Build, Build’ program and a key supporter of the Mindanao peace process, ongoing transition

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte confers the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of Datu on outgoing Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines Koji Haneda who paid a farewell call on the President at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse in Malacañang Park, Manila on November 10, 2020. (MNS photo) to the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and rehabilitation of Marawi City,” it added.

Duterte likewise conveyed his appreciation for Japan’s generous and consistent support in the Philippines’ fight against the prevailing pandemic through aid in emergency response and economic recovery efforts and the Philippines’ inclusion in the clinical trials of Avigan as a potential treatment for

the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Haneda reaffirmed the value of the Philippines-Japan strategic partnership while citing gains made in stronger cooperation, particularly in infrastructure, maritime domain awareness, countryside development, and the peace process in Mindanao.

He thanked Duterte for all the assistance as policy guidance supported through Cabinet secretaries and vowed

to always be a "true friend of the Philippines."

Haneda also recalled his many warm memories and the great strides achieved by the Philippines since he began his foreign service career, which started with his first foreign posting in Manila and ended likewise in the Philippines.

Last July, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Haneda exchanged diplomatic notes on the 50-billion Japanese yen (approximately PHP23.13 billion) loan assistance package extended by the Japanese government to support the Philippines’ Covid-19 emergency response, as well as related social protection, relief, and economic recovery stimulus measures.

The Covid-19 Crisis Response Emergency Support Loan is to be co-financed by the Asian Development Bank’s Covid-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support program, as well as other development partners.

Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Motegi Toshimitsu had personally affirmed his country’s commitment to extending this assistance to Locsin in their telephone discussion on May 22.

The package is consistent with Japan’s pledge to assist the Philippines and the larger Asean region in recovering from the impact of Covid-19, and building public health and economic resilience against future such emergencies.

Japan has been the Philippines’ top official development assistance partner for decades.

(MNS)

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Drilon: Anti-insurgency fund would be enough to pay for COVID-19 vaccines MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Department of Finance (DOF) has issued a circular extending to Dec. 19, 2020 the payment of all local taxes, fees, and charges imposed by local government units (LGUs) with deadlines falling on or after Sept. 14 this year in compliance with the provisions of Republic Act 11494, or the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act (Bayanihan 2).

Under Department Circular (DC) No. 003-2020 issued by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the counting of the period within which to pay local taxes, fees, and charges are also suspended until Dec. 19, 2020, including the period for the redemption of real properties sold or forfeited at public auction.

“In the event that an LGU had already extended the deadlines prior to the effectivity of RA 11494, such deadlines, if earlier than 19 December 2020, shall be deemed modified with the period set forth herein. Any further extension of deadlines beyond 19 December 2020 shall be authorized in accordance with the provision of RA 7160,” the circular states.

RA 7160 is the Local Government Code.

As a result of the mandatory extension of these payment limits, no interest, surcharge or any form of penalties shall be applied on any local tax, fee, or charge accruing on or due and demandable during the period covering such deadlines, the DC also states.

As for local tax delinquencies before the effectivity of Bayanihan 2 on Sept. 15, all payments shall be due and demandable upon the expiration of the Dec. 19 deadline.

All applicable interests, penalties, and surcharges will begin to run again, if due and demandable, after the lapse of the effectivity of Bayanihan 2 on Dec. 19, the DC said.

The DC was issued by Dominguez to provide guidelines on the uniform implementation by LGUs of Section 4 (tt) of the Bayanihan 2 Law, which provides for stretching the statutory deadlines and timelines for the filing and submission of any document, the payment of taxes, fees and other charges required by law, and the grant of any benefit.

This provision under Bayanihan 2 aims to ease the burden on individuals and enterprises affected by the severe disruption of economic activities resulting from the stringent community quarantines that the national and local governments have imposed to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Under DC 003-2020, the local treasurers were instructed to coordinate with LGU officials to actively inform taxpayers of these mandatory extensions and

Deadline for payments of local taxes, fees extended to Dec. 19

DRILON to reconfigure the electronic information systems used by local governments for the assessment and computation of such local taxes, fees, and charges covered by the Circular.

Local treasurers were also directed to defer activities related to administrative or judicial action for the enforcement and/or collection of local taxes, fees, or charges until the lapse of the effectivity of the Bayanihan 2 Law. They were likewise directed to enable the use of electronic or non face-to-face payment facilities so that taxpayers who will still opt to pay early may be continuously accommodated by the LGU to ensure physical distancing.

The LGU treasurers were ordered to work on the immediate adoption of these digital facilities.

DC 003-2020 directed LGU treasurers to advise their respective local chief executives on matters concerning the grant of further incentives and/or privileges to taxpayers and business establishments, particularly those extending assistance and providing essential services for Covid-19 response.

It directed the Bureau of Local Government Finance, meanwhile, to monitor the compliance of all local treasurers with these directives and to extend to them the technical assistance they need to implement this circular. (MNS)

SMC, LGUs to build bike lanes out of recycled plastic

MANILA (Mabuhay) — Almost a year after it first built and started testing the country’s first asphalt road made with post-consumer plastic waste, San Miguel Corporation (SMC) is eyeing the next phase of its plan to widen the application of the environment-friendly material by building bicycle lanes made of recycled plastics in partner cities and provinces.

SMC president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said the company is looking to work with technology partners and local governments willing to put up dedicated bike lanes to accommodate cyclists whose numbers have risen due to quarantine and transportation restrictions brought about by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) global pandemic starting with its home base in Mandaluyong.

“It has almost been a year since we started our plastic road initiative and so far, our pilot site has held up very well. It’s in our logistics facility -- used heavily every day by large vehicles with heavy loads. Very soon, I think we can graduate it for light public use, specifically, for bicycle lanes,” Ang said in a news release on Monday.

Ang said the company hopes to apply the technology more widely someday, particularly for public use on roads, but development is still considered to be in the early stages, considering the need for continuous testing to determine its long-term viability.

SMC, which itself recently launched a program to help provide bicycles for employees and extended workforce across its facilities, said that while bik-

ing to work has now become a more viable alternative mode of transportation for many Filipinos, there is a need to make road conditions safer for people on bicycles.

“Because of social distancing and restrictions on transportation, more of our countrymen are now biking to work. It promotes health and fitness, lessens pollution and provides a costfree way to get to one’s destination, and has also been embraced by many LGUS who have set special bike lanes on roads,” Ang said. “Our roads are not designed with cyclists in mind. What we hope to do is work with LGUs and technology partners to come up with solutions for people on bikes that are safe and cost-efficient.”

Since 2017, SMC has been known to initiate high-impact sustainability initiatives, including in helping address plastic waste. That year, it announced the discontinuation of its plastic bottled water business in favor of its sustainability goals.

In November 2019, the company, together with project partner Dow Philippines announced its first recycled plastics road initiative, built on a 1,500 square meter pilot test area at its logistics center in Gen. Trias, Cavite.

Some 900 kilos of plastic waste were used as a binder, together with bitumen, in producing the asphalt.

Recently, SMC also announced that it would be buying up plastic wastes from assemblers and LGUs to process and use as fuels at its cement facilities, in a bid to lessen dependence on fossil fuels. (MNS)

MANILA (Mabuhay) — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Tuesday said the Philippine government would not need to borrow $9 billion from the World Bank to buy COVID-19 vaccines if the country's anti-insurgency fund were realigned for the purpose.

In a message, the senator said that the fund would suffice to cover the initial immunization target of the executive branch. "[COVID-19 national task force chief Carlito] Galvez said government intends to buy an initial 50 million doses of vaccines for 25 million Filipinos. That means 2 doses per person. At US$5 [per] dose, or US$10 for 2 doses, that's US$250 million or P12.5 billion needed to immunize 25 million Filipinos," Drilon said.

"The anti-insurgency fund for 2021 is P19 billion. We do not have to borrow," he added.

The minority leader gave this opinion after Galvez, who was also appointed COVID-19 vaccine czar, said that the government is considering borrowing up to $9 billion (P435 billion) from the World Bank for the advance procurement of COVID-19 vaccines.

Drilon previously said he is amenable to retain the P19-billion proposed budget for the anti-insurgency task force, on the condition that it be used for projects that would be responsive to the actual needs of communities.

The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict fund should focus on COVID-19 and calamity response, as well as "ayuda" and construction of housing units, he added.

Senate Finance Committee chairperson Sonny Angara, meanwhile, said P18 billion was earmarked for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines under the 2021 budget—P10 billion of which will be lodged under unprogrammed appropriations.

He, nonetheless, acknowledged that the executive branch is in the best position to determine if a World Bank loan is needed for the Philippines to secure enough COVID-19 vaccines.

"Kung sa tingin na nila mayroon nang chance avaialable before 2021, why not? Kasi baka agawaan 'yan eh," Angara said in an online interview. "Kung may funding source naman sila for 2020... maaaring may savings naman sila that would answer for it, that's even better because it will free up funds in 2021 or it may extend the coverage of those who can avail of the vaccine." (MNS)

NEDA: 1/5 of NCR workers unable to go to work in September due to lack of public transpo MANILA (Mabuhay) — Over 20% of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) were unable to go to work in September due to the lack of public transportation during the month, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) reported Tuesday.

Data released by the NEDA showed that 58.2% of workers were allowed to resume work in September, but public transportation could only accommodate 35.5% due to social distancing rules and lower operating turnout, leaving 22.7% of workers in the metropolis unable to go to work. "[T]he public transportation was restricted. This prevented many Filipinos from leaving their homes and reporting for work even if their industries are allowed to operate," Acting NEDA Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said at a virtual briefing.

Metro Manila was under general community quarantine (GCQ) for the full month of September, as recommended by the Metro Manila Council made up of the 17 political units in the area.

Meanwhile, select modes of public transportation reopened on June 1, albeit on a limited basis capped at 30% under a two-phased approach.

T he D e pa r t ment of Transportation (DOTr), for its part, issued guidelines to increase public transport capacity with a combination of a faster turnaround, service contracting, and social distancing such as the "one seat apart" rule.

Prov i ncia l buses resumed operations on Sep-

tember 30, still in compliance with national health safety standards.

The country's main railways — the Metro Rail Transit Line 3 (MRT3), the Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT1), and the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT2), and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) — also increased their current maximum capacity to 30% in October, from the previous range of 13 to 18%.

"As the government pursues efforts to avoid virus surges while easing restrictions on businesses and transportation, the economic team is hopeful that Congress will do its part to help the economy bounce back faster by passing the pending recovery bills within the year," said Chua.

Among the pending recovery bills being pushed by NEDA are the 2021 General Appropriations Act (GAA), the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises (CREATE) Act, the Government Financial Institutions Unified Initiative to Distressed Enterprises for Economic Recovery (GUIDE) Act, and the Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act. (MNS)

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What made Enchong Dee, Jasmine Curtis-Smith accept roles in risky 'Alter Me' Speaking with the entertainment press, Curtis-Smith said they are fortunate that as their filmmaking was progressing, so was their relationship off-camera.

“How we feel about our friendship is so similar kasi we started not knowing each other working on this film and the friendship developed. When you’re able to take away a friendship from a project and maintain it, ibig sabihin totoo. Kasi sometimes we say it, ‘Uy catch up tayo ha or let’s hangout,’ but it never happens. It’s nice kasi may added value to your life more than just doing work,” she said.

Based on its two-minute trailer, the fi lm follows Aimee, an HR manager who seeks the mentorship of Uno, a coveted escort, to better connect with other people and her own emotions.

When asked what made them agree to do the project given that it used the “alter

world” as the backdrop for a love story, Dee said: “For the longest time, I’ve been looking for a role that is very sexy, risky, something that’s more in touch with his sexual self.

Hindi naman sa wala pero kapag parang may dumadating, parang it’s not something that I am looking for. Nung dumating si direk RC (delos Reyes), he got me at hello.”

“To be fair, nabasa din naman namin 'yung script before having a meeting. I am just happy because nakuha ko 'yung gusto kong kwento, 'yung character and sobrang bonus kasi the people that I’ve worked with are talented, very forward thinking, brave. I am very happy especially with my leading lady,” he added.

Curtis-Smith, for her part, said that when she reads scripts, she is always on the lookout for something that will stand by whatever statement the movie is boldly making.

Heart Evangelista glad to get along well with her mother-in-law MANILA (Mabuhay) — Heart Evangelista has been married to Sorsogon Governor Chiz Escudero for five years now and one of the things she is proud of is her relationship with her mother-in-law.

Evangelista said she and Escudero’s mom get along well because

“I felt na at this point, I need to be conscious about the scenes I can offer sa mga directors mo, producers. You can’t always restrict yourself.

I needed to cross that bridge din na, okay am I someone who will always be so conservative with my choices of films or roles?” she said.

“I think it was also one those things na this is the perfect fi lm to explore that and try that because it’s enough for what it needs in the story and at the same time for me as an actor, I am not scaring myself too much. It’s just enough of a scare to make me want to get that thrill and feel it. I like to do films that are, ‘Tama ba ito? Tama bang ginawa ko ito?’” she added.

Meanwhile, delos Reyes shared that during the development stage of the story, he and his screenwriter wanted to play with the idea of connections in telling a modern love story.

“The best way to play it is

she shows how much she appreciates and respects her.

“I understand na nakakainis siguro for others. But of course they're older. Of course you know, they want to feel that they're still in charge of everything...

"But that's why you just always have to make sure that you make them feel like you respect them, like, 'Oh, that's great, Tita!

That's so nice!'” she said.

"Parang, you know, you appreciate their say and then there's no competi-

JASMINE CURTIS-SMITH & ENCHONG DEE siyempre in the advent of technology, social media. Ngayon, it’s easy to create our own world in the internet.

With that, naging setting for these two characters ni Aimee and Uno to meet up. But what’s most important is how they meet up and try to connect with themselves in the real world. Kumbaga, the online alter world is a setting,” he said.

Has it always been the plan to release “Alter Me” on Netflix?

“Obviously we didn’t expect naman na pandemic. Like with any

HEART EVANGELISTA

other movies, hindi talaga naman namin intended na diretso straight to Netflix. Siyempre as a filmmaker and with my producers also, talaga namang iba pa rin kapag pinakita mo siya sa big screen. But we are very thankful that Netflix made it a Netflix film and will not only be shown here but across Asia,” delos Reyes said.

“Alter Me” is slated to premiere on November 15 on Netflix across Asia.

The movie is co-produced by Viva Films and Ten17P. (MNS)

tion. And what's a few days or a few hours or a few seconds of agreeing with your mother-inlaw? So, I guess that’s how it works for me," she added.

Evangelista, however, admitted that she was also intimidated by her mother-in-law at the beginning.

Nonetheless, the actress said this feeling was unfounded because the mother of her husband is really nice.

"My mother-in-law is nice, so I'm blessed to have that," she said. "She was like a teacher in UP, so she always has this authoritative image that can be

intimidating in the beginning.

But honestly, if you're just very true and sincere about who you are and you really show them respect, I think they'll appreciate you," she said.

When asked how she thinks she would be as nice a motherin-law in the future, Evangelista said in jest: "All of a sudden, you don't have a say... ‘di ba? That's painful ah. It's irritating! I think so. I would be a horrible mother-in-law, honestly."

"I just think about if I'm older, 'tapos may ganyan na darating na… Hay nako, ah. Huwag ako, ah." (MNS)

Isabel Rivas opens up about being adopted MANILA (Mabuhay) — Not a lot of people know about the life story of actress Isabel Rivas, which is certainly one for the books.

Rivas opened up about her childhood and how she ended up being adopted by her aunt when she was just two days old.

"Na ng ipina nga na k ako, ako 'yung pampalubag-loob dahil anak siya nang anak. Ayaw na siyang tulungan ng mga kapatid niya. Ang sabi ng kapatid niya, ‘Ito na lang ang tulong na gagawin ko sa 'yo. Kapag babae ‘yang nasa tiyan mo, ibigay mo sa akin, palalakihin ko.' So, walang choice ang biological mother ko,” she said.

Rivas said she is one of her mother’s four biological kids. One of them already passed away, while the other one in America.

Her other sibling is Dennis Roldan, who is the fa-

ther of Marco and Michele Gumabao.

Although her aunt legally adopted her, Rivas said she knew from the beginning who her biological mom was.

"All my life, alam ko na siya ang tunay na nanay ko dahil pumupunta siya at saka ang mga kapatid ko sa Zambales kapag holiday, Christmas season, summer vacation. Alam ko na kapatid ko sila, alam ko na mommy ko siya. 'Mommy' ang tawag ko sa kanya at 'Mama' ang tawag ko sa adoptive mother ko,” she said.

Despite being given away, Rivas said she was able to forgive her mother before she passed in 2009.

"I used to talk about my adoption like it’s the wound na nagpatibay sa akin. Pero bago siya namatay noong 2009, lumuhod siya sa akin, hum-

ingi siya ng tawad sa akin.

Hindi raw niya akalain na ganoon ang magiging epekto ng mga nangyari sa akin,” she said.

"There was a time na nagrebelde ako, teenager years ko. Pero nung mabuntis naman ako, hindi niya ako pinabayaan. Doon pa lang, na-restore na ang relationship namin, pero hindi fully," she added.

At the end of the day, Rivas said she is grateful for her adoptive family.

"My adoptive Chinese aunts were very Godly, relihiyoso. We lived a block away from the Cathedral church kaya I grew up praying for every step I made. I made so many mistakes but held on to sanity in spite of the chaos in our family. Our saving grace is that we prayed for our dreams, and God brought me here where I am," she said. (MNS)

ISABEL RIVAS

Entertainment

Saturday-Friday | November 14 - 20, 2020

Rosanna Roces admits losing faith in God in the past

Visit www.Balita.com

MANILA (Mabuhay) — Rosanna Roces revealed there was a point in her life where she lost her faith in God. Without specifying when this actually happened, Roces said during the press conference for “Anak ng Macho Dancer” that she glorified money instead during those dark times.

“Wala akong Diyos dati! Ang diyos ko, pera,” she said.

“Pero noong 'Natutulog Ba Ang Diyos' (TV series), that time, nagbalik-loob na rin ako sa Diyos, di ba? Pero naagaw din uli ako ng... nag-backslide agad ako. Nagtampisaw na naman ako sa kasalanan,” she added.

Nonetheless, Roces admitted that she has a renewed relationship with the Lord now mainly because of everything that’s happened due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Ngayong pandemic, medyo magkakaroon ka nang personal na ugnayan sa Diyos, sa ayaw at sa gusto mo,” she said.

Roces also mentioned that she intends to correct the wrongs she’s done in past while continuing to work in the entertainment industry.

“Naku marami sila [na sumakit ang ulo dahil sa akin dati], karamihan production. Ang dami kong inaway di ba? Kung may award nga ng pinakamaraming inaway sa showbiz ako 'yon,” she said in jest.

“Pero kasi ngayon, ang uso kasi ngayon pinakamagaang katrabaho 'yon ang kukunin. Hindi na uso 'yung pagalingan na din, eh, ang daming magaling, eh. Kung sino ang pinakamagaang katrabaho, 'yon ang kinukuha. Hindi ka na puwedeng magloka-lokahan ngayon. Award ka, wala kang project,” she said.

Having said this, Roces vowed to be professional and to give her all in “Anak ng Macho Dancer” which will be helmed by Joel Lamangan.

“Talagang doble ang effort ko ngayon. Kaya dito sa 'Anak ng Macho Dancer,' doble effort ako dito kasi nung huli akong gumawa sa kanya (Lamangan) pinasakit ko ang ulo nila. Ibig sabihin no’n kung 7 ang call time dapat 5:30 or 6 nasa set na ako at ready na. Ayos na ako.

Lahat, memorized ko na," she said.

(MNS)

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Jessy Mendiola says sorry for being 'masungit' in the past

A

ctress Jessy Mendiola has apologized for her bad temper at work when she was younger.

ROSANNA ROCES

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Mendiola opened up about the issue in a video she uploaded on her YouTube channel a week ago.

In her latest vlog, she read assumptions about her.

"Masungit daw ako? Minsan. Kapag dalaw ng buwan or kapag gutom, hangry ako. Noong medyo bagets-bagets pa ako, masungit talaga ako kasi hindi rin talaga ako masaya sa buhay ko. I think 'yon 'yong kumalat sa tabloid or kumalat sa production na masama ang ugali ko.

Aminin ko talaga, masungit ako noon," Mendiola said.

Mendiola then shared the reason why she used to be ill-tempered.

"Kapag hindi ka happy sa life mo, kapag hindi ka happy sa personal life mo or sa nangyayari sa iyo, parang nadadala mo 'yon sa trabaho or kung saan ka man mapunta. Kasi hindi masaya ang heart mo, hindi masaya ang isip mo, kaya ka nagiging masungit sa ibang tao. Pero may ibang tao, in my case, hindi ko alam na

JESSY MENDIOLA masungit pala ako noon, bugnutin ako, lagi akong galit, lagi akong masungit," she added.

Mendiola then said sorry to those who felt bad because of her attitude in the past.

"So mga nasungitan ko noon. I'm very, very sorry," the actress said.

After reading another assumption from a netizen saying she's "humble," Mendiola said: "I hope I come off humble sa ibang tao. Tulad nang sinabi ko kanina, masun-

git talaga ako noon, mataray talaga ako noon. Sana sa aura ko ngayon, sana how I treat my co-workers and other people outside of my circle sana nga I come off as a humble person."

She went on to note that her experiences in life changed her.

"I guess my experiences in life and 'yung mga lessons na natutunan ko ay naturuan na rin ako na maging humble.

Kasi ganoon talaga ang life. May mga bagay talaga na pagdadaanan mo para lang din bumalik ka kung saan ka nanggaling," she said.

"Minsan medyo napapalayo ang ating tingin kasi may personal tayong pinagdadaanan at nalalayo na tayo sa dapat talagang maging focus ng energy natin," Mendiola added.

Mendiola said aside from life's experiences, her boyfriend actor-television host Luis Manzano, taught her to be kinder.

"Yung nagturo sa akin na maging kinder towards other people ay si Luis. Mas lalo na 'yung pagiging generous. Si Luis, good example siya na hindi lang sarili niya ang pinagtatrabahuan niya, para rin sa ibang tao. He rarely, rarely shows 'yung pagtulong niya," she concluded. (MNS)

‘Kapamilya forever,’ Piolo Pascual tells Charo Santos MANILA (Mabuhay) — Piolo Pascual said he remains “Kapamilya forever,” amid his situation of starring in a show airing in the same time slot as his former ABS-CBN program.

Pascual, 43, has been with ABS-CBN’s talent agency Star Magic for 24 years. Under the Kapamilya network, Pascual steadily rose as a sought-after leading man and is now regarded as a film and TV superstar, if not yet a showbiz icon.

Pascual spoke candidly of his recent departure from “ASAP Natin ‘To,” which he had been a part of for over two decades, in an online interview with former ABS-CBN president Charo Santos-Concio.

Pascual was Santos-Concio’s guest in the latest episode of her Kumu talk show “Dear Charo” with Robert Labayen as her co-host.

Pa sc u a l r ega rd s Sa ntos-Concio as a close friend and mentor in showbiz. Labayen, meanwhile, is head of ABS-CBN’s creative communication management, which is behind the network’s popular station IDs such as “Bro, Ikaw ang Star ng Pasko” and “Family is Love.”

During their interview, Pas-

cual asked Labayen how the 2020 Christmas station ID coming along, with the executive responding that preparations were underway.

“So kailan tayo mag-i-SID ulit?” Pascual asked.

“Inuumpisahan na!” Labayan answered.

At that point, Santos-Concio quipped: “‘Yan ha, sabi ni PJ, kailan daw tayo mag-i-SID. Why not? Kapamilya forever.”

Pascual affirmed, “Kapamilya forever.”

As one of ABS-CBN’s prime stars, Pascual has been prominently seen in its annual holiday station IDs, aside from having a singing part in some of them, notably “Star ng Pasko.”

He was also a main figure in the 2011 “Lupang Hinirang” video of ABS-CBN, which Pascual mentioned in the interview.

When Santos-Concio said it was due for an update, given nearly a decade has already passed, Pascual said, in jest, “Huwag, Tita, 'pag pinalitan ‘yon, baka mawala ako!”

“Oo, huwag na,” Santos said, laughing. “Baka… Nangangapit-bahay ka lang.”

Pascual clarified, “Nagtatrabaho lang po.”

PIOLO PASCUAL “But, Tita, come on, that’s not something we talk about, but napakaliit ng industriya,” he said, referring to his current show being aired on TV5.

Pascual as well as other Kapamilya stars’ appearance in TV5 programs were the indirect result of ABS-CBN’s broadcast shutdown after

its franchise was denied by the Duterte administration in July. As ABS-CBN was forced to retrench thousands of its employees, some of them found work opportunities in other networks, including TV5, through a blocktime agreement with Brightlight Productions. (MNS)

Marian Rivera on being directed by husband Dingdong Dantes: ‘Strict ’yan!’

MANILA (Mabuhay) — Netizens have been swooning over the fact that Dingdong Dantes directed his wife Marian Rivera for an episode of her weekly drama anthology “Tadhana” in August.

As the show celebrates its third anniversary this month, the Kapuso Primetime Queen shared a fun fact: Her husband could actually be quite strict when sitting on a direc-

DINGDONG & MARIAN

tor’s chair.

“Strict ’yan!” Marian said. “[Dingdong would say] Ulitin mo, ulitin mo. Eh si direk nga, ‘ah, okay lang’ … siya talaga, ‘cut!

Ulitin natin.’ Gano’n.

‘From the top.’ Ha? From the top?” she added, smiling at the memory.

Dingdong temporarily stepped in as director for

“Tadhana” in August because Marian had to continue her hosting duties from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite the situation, Marian said she made sure to strictly follow Dingdong’s instructions, just as she would any director’s.

“First time ko kasing maexperience na madi-direct niya ako ng ganon, so syempre, sabi ko lang oh di tyical—

kung paano ako magtrabaho sa aking director, ganon ang gagawin ko,” she said. “ ’ Yu n n g a l a n g , s i y a [ D i n gd o n g ] l a n g ’y u n g makakakapagpapuyat sa akin kasi may cut-off ako. Sa kanya, walang cut off!” she joked.

“Tadhana” is a weekly drama anthology featuring the colorful, romantic, heroic, and inspiring stories of Filipinos all over the world. (MNS)

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Renewed faith: Tale of a Covid-19 survivor

DAVAO CITY – If there's one thing positive about surviving the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) other than being alive, it is the renewed faith in God and in our fellowmen.

This, according to Dean Ortiz, the spokesperson of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Region 11 (DPWH-11) who, until his positive test result for Covid-19 on Oct. 27, thought he was "very careful" enough not to contract the dreaded virus.

For one, Ortiz heads the DPWH-11 Covid-19 Coordinating Group, ensuring health protocols are practiced across the organization and its linkages.

He said nothing was more terrifying when a supposedly good Tuesday morning filled with positive energy was broken by a Viber message with an attached screenshot of a document with

Ortiz said he was "very careful," especially in his line of duty, and especially because he has a family to take care of.

Hours after his diagnosis, he was picked up at home by a van with a crew clad in full Covid-19 protective equipment, he said.

Leaving his house with a blank thought, Ortiz said he felt weird sitting at the back of an unlit van where he can only hear the occasional thud, the van's engine, and human voices of the faceless crew.

“No facial expressions to draw emotions from, as if emotions had a place in the uncertainty I was faced with. The sound of my own heartbeat was very reassuring and I found myself saying a prayer,” he said.

Filled with fear, he entered a patient care center that he described as a well-lit facility "but

COVID-19 FIGHTER. Dean Ortiz, the spokesperson of the Department of Public Works and Highways in Region 11 (DPWH-11), who survived the coronavirus disease 2019, poses with a front-liner inside one of Davao City’s patient care centers in this undated photo. Ortiz says the experience renewed his faith in God and in his fellowmen. (Photo from Dean Ortiz’s Facebook account)

his name on it, in a screaming red, all in capital letters: "POSITIVE".

“I guess what happened to me was leadership-by-example personified,” Ortiz said, adding that up until he spoke to the Philippine News Agency on Sunday, his exposure had not been traced to any person or group of individuals.

“I underwent an RT-PCR test along with some colleagues on October 27. It wasn't really required because I didn't have any symptoms, to begin with. It was more of an act of leadership mixed with a bit of smugness and confidence, as I always thought of myself as the last person on earth to catch the virus,” he recounted.

everything around was pitchblack." He said the scene was straight out of a post-apocalyptic movie—dark, cold, terrifying, surreal.

“I declared that this was where God wanted me to be, where I will get the help I need, recover, and do some introspection.

Whether I like it or not, I am no longer my old self. This experience has changed me already and I intend to come out of it bent in places, but definitely not broken,” Ortiz said.

Hope, resentment As soon as he told everyone the news, he said he received a string of calls, social media posts, and private messages that were encouraging and sympathetic.

gorDoN.. from Page 1 Gordon said those who live in the coastal areas should be automatically evacuated early, thus they should not wait for the government to bring them to dryer grounds.

Gordon also shared disaster preparedness undertaken by PRC. “We are always prepared volunteers. Marami tayong volunteers, s u m a m a k ayo pa r a makatulong kayo. (we have many volunteers, join us so you could help),” he said, adding it is equipped with the necessary logistics like trucks, amphibians, and

“Some told me to stay strong, to leave everything to God, and not lose hope. Others were not so kind, their words full of resentment, blame, just a tad short of "good riddance." I felt violated and weighed down by insults,” Ortiz shared.

In his line of work, however, Ortiz said he learned to be patient and tune out negative things.

“I’m used to being called a lot of things. Name it, I've heard it.

In from one ear, out from the other side. But in my delicate state, I couldn't help taking offense at the vitriol that was being thrown at me from all sides,” he admitted.

"People aren’t crazy enough to get the disease intentionally. I remember my boss saying: Who wants to get it in the first place? His wisdom lingered in

sun was up and he felt cheerful.

He checked his surroundings and saw the wide and airy open spaces perfect for jogging, good landscaping, and a perfect spot for plane-spotting.

He also tried to make friends with his co-patients, whom he described as “positive with Covid-19 but at the same time positive that they will all get through of it somehow.”

“We shared stories of what happened to each of us and how we got there. In the end, we shared one story – discrimination. The hardest part perhaps of being infected is the fact that too many people know too much about the disease yet choose to be uneducated, even ignorant, on how they treat people who have the dreaded disease,” Ortiz added.

Coming from different walks

Dabawenyo Dean Ortiz (extreme left) and his ‘co-positive’ friends who tested negative for coronavirus disease, shows the clearance proving that they are all virus-free. (Photo from Dean Ortiz’s Facebook page)

my mind through the whole ordeal, he added.

Coping up with newfound friends Despite being feeling helpless, Ortiz tried to call people whom he said he never thought that he would ask moral support from.

And to his surprise, he said he received no judgment from them.

“They reached out to me with genuine compassion and concern and offered to help in any way they could. I had their support and it felt like a huge load was taken off my shoulders.

When you're in distress and at your lowest, these small gestures make a world of difference,” he said.

He recalled that his first day in the facility was a thrill as the

of life, he said they all found friendships and saw themselves equal inside the patient care center.

“I know these guys won’t forget me for giving them a bottle of ice-cold Coke once in a while, a welcome treat given the circumstances. Good thing I have a good set of friends and relatives who never turned their back on me when I asked for help, as my family back home was under strict quarantine and were forbidden to get out,” he said.

Modern-day heroes Ortiz said the doctors, nurses, and their support staff were attentive to their patients as they can be seen coming around the facility three to four times daily to serve their meals, check their vital signs, and clean their

rooms.

“We may not see their covered faces, but their big hearts showed through and shone like sunlight. I wish I could do more than thank them profusely for their sacrifices, knowing that they too have families and loved one’s back home. Yet, they were there for us, egging us on to beat this disease and easing our suffering while they themselves suffer,” he added.

With that realization, he said he lost all reason to complain.

"It goes without saying that, during this pandemic and when this is all over, let’s honor their selfless contribution to our country," he said.

Along with his “co-positives”, he said they were blessed to have hot meals sent to their rooms every night, and the food served by the city government was not hospital food but that the meals were well-planned, flavorful, nutritious, and satisfying, making his confinement much more bearable.

Renewed faith On November 5, Ortiz was released from isolation after testing negative for the virus. He thanked everyone who helped him get through the toughest eight days of his life. Under the new protocols, Ortiz and his new-found friends inside the patient care center were required to spend 10 days in isolation, counting from the day they underwent the swab test.

“Looking back at the experience made me renew my faith in God for giving me another chance to savor the greatest gift I could ever ask for -- my wife and two kids, my 80-year-old mom, my sister, and our working student all testing negative for the virus. Not even the news of a Spice Girls reunion or a Coldplay concert in Davao City could ever match that. God indeed is the greatest,” Ortiz said.

He also said that his experience gave him a reason to believe that being (Covid-19) positive ends when positivity begins, and when one allows hope to prevail amidst all the negativity.

“Allowing other people's baggage to weigh you down would not help the process of healing from the disease and the stigma that comes with it. Revenge is tempting but a big waste of time. Karma is now digital, so they say,” Ortiz said. (PNA)

PaLaCe.. from Page 1 payloaders.

Gordon said the organization serves first the “most vulnerable, those who have really been affected, the poorest of the poor.”

He said the PRC is busy with rescue and relief operations in Marikina City, and in the towns of Rodriguez and San Mateo in Rizal province.

Gordon said its chapters in Central Luzon, Me t r o Ma n i l a , a nd Southern Luzon are also on alert for the possible overflow of Laguna de Bay when dams start to release water. (PNA)

structed an aide to give a "pastillas" containing cash of unknown amount to each Immigration officer in the meeting, said Roque.

"Matapos po mabigyan ng tigi-tigisang pastillas, ang sabi ng Presidente e kainin n'yo iyan dahil iyan po ay may pera," Roque told reporters.

(After giving a pastillas to each of them, Duterte told them to eat it because it contained cash.)

"Pero hindi naman po nagpilit ang Presidente kasi nga po na nandoon daw si Secretary of Justice Menardo Guevarra at ang sabi niya baka ako makasuhan," Duterte's spokesman added.

None of the officers opened the pastillas, he said.

Roque denied that the stint was

just for show.

"The President is sending a message: itigil ang (stop the) corruption," he said.

In 2016, Duterte won the presidency campaigning on a promise to fight corruption, crime and illegal drugs.

But his administration has been dogged by scandals and allegations of graft and cover-ups in state agencies ranging from prisons, the state insurer, airports and customs, to police and the drugs enforcement agency, few of which led to convictions or high-profile resignations.

Last month, Duterte issued a memorandum directing the justice department to look into anomalies at state agencies until the end

of his term in 2022. It gives the ministry the power to decide what allegations to investigate and to work with other agencies.

"This country continues to be plagued with corruption," Duterte said in a televised national address.

"Up to now, it is not weakening, it is getting stronger," he said, vowing to focus his remaining term on fighting corruption.

The Philippines fell 14 notches to 113th spot among 180 countries in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index last year.

Duterte is not eligible for re-election, but fulfi lling his campaign pledge on corruption could help the chances of his chosen successor in the 2022 elections. (MNS)

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H[SHULHQFHV RI P\ OLIH DQG WR ORYH *RG ZLWK IXOO FRQ¿GHQFH 6W 7KHUHVH P\ &DUPHOLWH 6LVWHU , ZLOO IXO¿OO \RXU SOHD µWR EH PDGH known everywhere’ and I will continue to lead others to Jesus through you. Amen THANK YOU - ABA

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PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

AV FO WA

Holy Spirit Thou who make me see everything and show me the way to reach my ideal, You who give me the divine gift to forgive PRAYERS PRAYERS and forget the wrong that is done to me and who are in all instances PRAYER TO SAINT JUDE P PRAYER TO THE HOLY SPIRIT Most Holy Apostle St. Jude Thaddeus, faithful servant and friend of St. Jesus, the name of the traitor want who delivered your beloved Master Holy Spirit Thou who make seelife everything showI, mein thethis ofmemy withandme. short dialogue, to thank You for OandGlorious inspire the into the hands of the enemies has caused you to be forgotten by way to reach my ideal, You who give me the divine gift to forgive You are so pow many, but the Church honors and invokes you universally as the and forget the wrong that is done to me and who are in all instances HYHU\WKLQJ DQG FRQ¿UP RQFH PRUH WKDW , QHYHU ZDQW WR EH VHSDUDWHG the Heart of G patron of hopeless cases and of things despaired of. Pray for me who am so needy; make use, I implore you of that particular Miracles... the of my life with me. I, in this short dialogue, want to thank You for privilege accorded to you to bring visible and speedy help where you t everything and confirm once more that I never to be separated from You nowant matter how great the material desires may be. I want beseech help is almost despaired. Come to my assistance in this great need out your promi from You no matter how great the material desires may be. I want that I may receive the consolations and succor of heaven in all my letting fall from to be with You and my loved in Your perpetual glory.my Amen. necessities, andperpetual sufferings particularly (here mention to ones be with You and loved onestribulations, in Your glory.

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Saturday-Friday | November 14 - 20, 2020

DOH urges public to temper expectations on Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine

MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Department of Health (DOH) has called on the public to temper expectations on a potential vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech being 90% effective against COVID-19, considering that the results are still in early stages.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made the appeal after President Rodrigo Duterte said that there is nothing to fear about COVID-19 because vaccines are ready while lamenting that these are expensive.

“Hindi naman kailangang matakot sa COVID-19. Ang kailangan natin maging laging vigilant, laging handa, laging cautious and aware, laging sumusunod sa minimum health standards (washing of hands, physical distancing, ban on mass gathering),” Vergeire said in an online briefing.

“Itong bakuna ng Pfizer ay napaka-encouraging po, but we should

temper our expectations and remain grounded on the reality na ginagawa pa lang ito,” Vergeire added.

The President earlier said that the government intends to borrow $300 million for the procurement of vaccines against COVID-19.

The Duterte administration only earmarked P2.5 billion for purchase of COVID-19 vaccines under its proposed 2021 national budget.

The Health department has earlier said the amount is not enough as 12.9 billion is needed to purchase vaccines enough to immunize at least 20 million of the 110 million Filipino population.

“Hindi na talaga nakakatakot ang COVID. But sa ngayon, magbili ka mahal. But as I have promised, gastos ng gobyerno itong bakuna para sa lahat ng Pilipino. Kaya umpisahan natin sa mga mahirap," Duterte said during his Tuesday night address. (MNS)

JTF COVID Shield backs proposed ban on Christmas caroling MANILA (Mabuhay) — Joint Task Force COVID Shield commander Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar on Sunday said he supports a proposal to ban caroling this Christmas season to prevent further transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Eleazar said he understands that caroling has always been part of the Filipino tradition, but the country is now facing different situation due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are facing a serious threat of coronavirus disease and we in the JTF COVID Shield believe that it is in the health interest of everybody if we could just stay home and enjoy the yuletide season with our family,” he said.

Eleazar said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has yet to decide on the proposal.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, who is also vice chairman of the National Task Force on Covid-19, also supports the caroling ban this year.

“Based on studies and statistics, the spread of Covid-19 is more likely to occur in mass singing like choir and caroling because singers have to remove their masks as they sing and viruses are released through aerosols,” Año said.

Año said he would recommend the ban on caroling nationwide.

In coordination with Philippine National Police chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan, Eleazar directed police commanders to coordinate with their respective local government unit (LGUs) with regard to caroling.

If the caroling ban is approved, Eleazar said parents should explain to their children why there is a need to skip the traditional caroling at least for this year.

He said children are considered as the most affected by the community quarantine rules since they could no longer do what they used to enjoy before the pandemic like going to school, playing with fellow kids and even going to the mall.

As of Saturday, the Philippines has 393,961 recorded Covid-19 cases with 350,216 recoveries and 7,485 deaths. (MNS)

IATF creates coronavirus vaccine cluster, scraps task group MANILA (Mabuhay) — The inter-agency task force leading the country's pandemic response has created a "cluster" that will lead the immunization drive against the novel coronavirus, Malacañang said Friday.

The IATF, which met Thursday, abolished the task group that it earlier created to import and distribute the future cornavirus vaccine, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

Instead, the group created a "Vaccine Cluster" under the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19. The cluster would be led by NTF Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito G. Galvez, Jr, whom President Rodrigo Duterte this week tapped as the country's "coronavirus vaccine czar", Roque said in a public briefing.

The vaccine cluster will have executive committee members and advisory groups, he said.

The IATF also gave Galvez the following duties, among others, Roque said in a statement.

-Coordinate across various agencies, actors, and technical working groups on behalf of the health department -Facilitate the early issuance of the Certificate of Product -Registration with the Food and Drugs Administration -Lead the timely conduct of Health Technology Assessment (HTA), as necessary -Negotiate vaccine price -Come up with consensus on prioritization of vaccine recipients -Determine deliver system and whether to tap private sector, develop protocol on accessing vaccines and registration with primary health care providers -Set up surveillance system to monitor vaccine effects The Philippines has Southeast Asia's second highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths after Indonesia. (MNS)

Duterte urges parents to get their kids vaccinated MANILA (Mabuhay) — President Rodrigo Duterte has encouraged parents to get their children vaccinated to prevent the spread of communicable diseases.

In a brief message aired in PTV-4, Duterte expressed support to the Department of Health (DOH) and its partners, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, as they hold the nationwide measles, rubella, and polio supplemental immunization activity.

He said that the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic should teach lessons about addressing such health issues.

“The most important lesson that we are learning from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is that the health risks posed by the spread of communicable diseases must be seriously addressed,” he said.

Duterte called on stakeholders to support the government’s immunization program for the benefit of the entire community.

“I, therefore, call on parents of children under five years old as well as the local government leaders and other community stakeholders to support the immunization activity. Together, let us safeguard the well-being of our children and ensure a healthier future for our nation,” he added.

Communicable diseases are illnesses caused by viruses or bacteria that people spread through contact with contaminated sources, bodily fluids, blood products, insect bites, or through air.

Vaccination is an important part of communicable disease control world-wide, according to the DOH. Last October, the DOH said it will conduct a nationwide immunization campaign to prevent a predicted measles outbreak next year.

An estimated 2.4 children under the age of 5 are also susceptible to measles, one of the world’s most contagious diseases. (MNS)

Saturday-Friday | November 14 - 20, 2020

Stopping Sinovac clinical trial must be studied first: DOH MANILA — Stopping the clinical trial of potential Sinovac coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine in the Philippines must be studied first, a health official said Wednesday.

Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire made this reaction following reports that the clinical trial of Sinovac vaccine in Brazil was halted after a volunteer recipient experienced an “adverse effect”.

“Kailangan pag-aaralan pa rin. Hindi porke it was claimed in some country na may adverse effect, immediately i-stop natin (We still need to study this. Not because it was claimed in some countries this has adverse effect, we will just stop),” she said.

Vergeire said the DOH experts have to evaluate first the reported “adverse effect” of the Sinovac vaccine.

“It has to be through that manufacturer also that they will inform us and we will have discussions with them and we will have our experts evaluate this if it is really valid and [the trial] has to be stopped first,” Vergeire said.

The local vaccine experts have already cleared the Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine.

The DOH earlier said the company needs to secure approval from Single Joint Research Ethics Board and the Food and Drug Administration before it can conduct clinical trial. (PNA)

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Covid-19 vaccine might be ready early next year — envoy MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Philippines may receive an initial supply of American-made vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) by early 2021 once talks are finalized and a contract has been signed, Philippine Ambassador to Washington D.C. Jose Manuel Romualdez said.

"Sa tingin ko by early next year, first quarter, magkakaroon na tayo ng (supply) by tranches 'yan (I think by early next year, 1st quarter, we'll be able to get the supply in tranches)...

The demand is very high at least for the first tranches of this supply but they're very confident na masu-supply nila ang lahat ng kailangan ng mga mag-o-order na ngayon (that they'll be able to supply the needs of those who would order now)," he said in a pre-recorded interview with Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.

Manila is in talks with various US pharmaceutical firms developing an effective vaccine against Covid-19, but the first company to approach the country was Pfizer, said Romualdez.

Pfizer's candidate vaccine is at least 90 percent effective as shown in the company's early data. With this, the envoy said the company is on track to get approval from US authorities ahead of other US manufacturers.

"Right now sila ang pinaka-nangunguna dito sa Amerika na ma-approve dahil 90 percent ang efficacy ng Pfizer (Right now the Pfizer is leading to get the first approval because its candidate vaccine is 90 percent effective)... It will be sold to many of their (US) allies, specifically in

the Philippines na 'di naman gaano kamahal (and it won't be too expensive), it would be around USD5 per shot siguro," he shared.

Aside from Pfizer, Moderna is also ready to supply the Philippines once its candidate vaccine is successfully tested.

President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier called out Western pharmaceutical firms who supposedly asked for "cash advance" for their candidate vaccines.

But Romualdez said the US-based firms Manila he is in contact with does not require any reservation fee, adding they only need the country to determine the number of doses it would purchase so as to secure the quantity once production starts.

"Actually wala silang hinihingi na downpayment o maski na ano. Ang kailangan lang siyempre 'yong kontrata na we're prepared to purchase, parang purchase order lang na pipirmahan natin that the government is prepared to purchase (Actually they're not asking for a downpayment. They need the contract that we're prepared to purchase, it's like a purchase order)," he clarified.

Meanwhile, Romualdez said the business sector in Manila intends to help fund the vaccines if the government needs assistance.

"Lumapit sa amin 'yong mga private sector na gustong tumulong sa Manila, 'yong business sector. They're prepared to fund

kung kailangan ng tulong ng gobyerno, sila ang mamumuhunan dahil siyempre kailangan din nila para sa kanilang mga empleyado (The private sector approached us and they wanted to help. They're prepared to fund if the government needs help, they will invest because they too need the vaccines for their employees)," he sa id.

(MNS)

ROMUALDEZ

Batanes regains COVID-free status, looks to open to tourists MANILA (Mabuhay) — The island province of Batanes has declared itself free of the coronavirus after two patients recovered from the viral disease.

After keeping the virus at bay for several months, Batanes reported its first COVID-19 case in September – a loca lly stranded individual who returned to the province earlier that month. Another returnee tested positive for the virus on October 1.

“Sa awa ng Diyos ay nakalabas na po sila. Okay na po, COVID-free na po kami,” Batanes Governor Marilou Cayco said in an online media briefing on Saturday.

All close contacts of the two patients tested negative for coronavirus infection, Cayco said. A total of 95 returning residents and overseas Filipinos are currently under quarantine but all are asymptomatic, the governor added.

With this development, the local government of Batanes is looking to reopen its doors to tourists soon.

Cayco said the local pandemic task force has agreed to reopen the province to tourists provided that they comply with minimum health standards, such as a 14-day quarantine.

But officials will have to assess the situation for tourists coming from areas such as Metro Manila - the epicenter of the virus - and other cities to determine which visitors will be allowed, she said.

"Sabi ko, mag-assess kami by December. Titingnan namin kung ano sitwasyon sa Manila at iba pang probinsiya para po 'pag bumuti na po ay puwede na rin ang unti-unting pagbubukas nito dahil dito marami po ang affected nitong pandemya na ito lalo nasa tourism industry po," Cayco said.

The tourism industry is among the most affected by the COVID-19 lockdowns, as the government sought to limit mobility and prevent the spread of the highly-contagious virus.

Prior to this, some tourist spots such as Boracay and Baguio City have reopened their doors to tourists provided that visitors follow quarantine procedures and submit documents as proof that they are fit to travel.

Much of the country, including Batanes, is under modified general community quarantine, considered as a transition phase to the “new normal” wherein strict measures would be lifted. (MNS)

DOH exec: Avigan clinical trial hit a snag over lack of qualified COVID-19 patients MANILA (Mabuhay) — The clinical trial of the Japanese anti-flu drug Avigan in the Philippines has hit a snag due to absence of qualified COVID-19 patients classified as mild cases, the Department of Health said Friday.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said only four of the 100 required COVID-19 classified as mild cases for the Avigan trial as of November 5.

“Tablet kasi ito, to be given orally at ginagawa natin ito in hospital settings. Para ito sa mild cases lang, pero alam naman natin na sa ngayon, wala na masyadong na-a-admit na mild cases sa ating mga ospital,” Vergeire said in an online briefing.

“At dahil patuloy rin ang pagbaba ng ating mga kaso, hindi na tayo masyado nakakakita ng pasyente na ganitong [mild case] sa ating mga ospital. Kaya nagkakaroon ng challenge ang ating clinical trial team for Avigan,” she added.

Under government protocol, mild cases of COVID-19 will be treated under temporary treatment and monitoring facilities supervised by the national and local governments also as not to overwhelm the hospitals and other health care facilities needed to treating severe and critical COVID-19 cases.

Given the situation, Vergeire said that protocols on conducting clinical trial for Avigan is already being revised but conceded that the final output could take time.

“Nagrere-strategize ng protocol ang clinical trial team para magkaroon ng expansion, para ma-expand ang recruitment ng pasyente, para dumami at makatapos tayo ng 100 so we can have analysis for Avigan,” Vergeire said.

“Nirerebisa nila ngayon, pero dadaan ulit iyon sa ethics review and all. While we are waiting for the revision of the protocol, we are using the existing protocol,” she added.

The Avigan trial in the country is supposed to start in July, but it was repeatedly postponed until it was able to start this month. (MNS)

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$2,899 Down Payment $0 Security Deposit $0 First Months Lease Payment

$2,899 Total Due Lease Signing (tax, title, license & doc fees extra)

$2,899 Total Due Lease Signing (tax, title, license & doc fees extra)

Model Code: LDF-34 — Only 2 left at this payment L3260828 & L3260039 Offer Expires 11/30/2020 FINANCE OFFER As low as 0% Limited term financing on ALL remaining 2020 Outback models in Stock

FINANCE OFFER As low as 0.9% Limited term financing on ALL 2021 Crosstreks in stock

2020 SUBARU

Legacy Limited CVT

249

Offer Expires 11/30/2020

Ascent TOURING– 7 Passenger CVT

2021 SUBARU

with Navigation and Power Moonroof

$

Model Code: MRF-31 — MH203778 & MH203672

with Navigation, Panorama Moonroof & Harmon Kardon Surround Sound Audio System

429

$

PLUS TAX PER MONTH LEASE/ 36 MONTHS @10k MILES PER YEAR

PLUS TAX PER MONTH LEASE/ 36 MONTHS @10k MILES PER YEAR

$2,899 Down Payment $0 Security Deposit $0 First Months Lease Payment

$2,899 Down Payment $0 Security Deposit $0 First Months Lease Payment

$2,899 Total Due Lease Signing (tax, title, license & doc fees extra)

$2,899 Total Due Lease Signing (tax, title, license & doc fees extra)

Model Code: LAF-34 — one at this offer L3034338 FINANCE OFFER Offer Expires 11/30/2020 As low as 0% limited term financing on ALL remaining 2020 Legacys in stock

Model Code: MCG-33 — one at this payment M3401908 FINANCE OFFER Offer Expires 11/30/2020 As low as 0.9% Limited term financing on ALL 2021 Ascents in stock

“Para sa bagong Subaru, tawagan niyo lang po kami!”

Driving People Happy

SUBARU OF GLENDALE 1308 S Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91204 www.SubaruofGlendale.net

855-230-1547 Andrew Marilla Christian Marilla Sales & Leasing Finance Manager

Enzo Patnongon Sale & Leasing Consultant

Subaru, Forester, Outback, Tribeca, Legacy, Impreza, WRX, STI, and SUBARU BOXER are registered trademarks. Purchase or lease any new (previously untitled) Subaru and receive a complimentary factory scheduled maintainance plan for 2 years or 24,000 miles (whichever comes first).

See Subaru Added Security Maintenance Plan for intervals, coverage and limitations. Customer must take delivery before 12-31-20 and reside within the promotional area. At participating dealers only. See dealer for program details and eligibility.