Manila Standard - 2020 December 16 - Wednesday

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2020 BUDGET, BAYANIHAN 2 EXTENSION GIVE GOV’T EXTRA P156B FOR 2021 THE extension of the validity of ap- ernment agencies to maximize around propriations under the 2020 General P156 billion unspent funds next year, Appropriations Act and Bayanihan to Senator Sonny Angara said Tuesday. Recover as One Act would allow gov"There is approximately P156 billion

unspent under both the 2020 budget committee on finance, told GMA News validity of the 2020 national budget and Bayanihan, according to the DBM Online. and the Bayanihan to Recover as One (Department of Budget and ManageLater, the Senate approved on third Act (Bayanihan 2) until next year. ment)," Angara, chairman of the Senate and final reading bills to extend the Next page

Face shield must over mask Protective cover now mandatory not only in malls but all public places By Vito Barcelo and Willie Casas

T VOL. XXXIV • NO. 285 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

HE wearing of face shields in addition to face masks in places outside of residences is now mandatory, Malacanang announced Tuesday.

“Face shields used to be required only in malls and enclosed areas but now you need to wear both face shields and face masks,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in Filipino. The penalty for violating this guideline will be up to local governments, he added. Roque, also the spokesman for the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Manage-

ment of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said the requirement would stay as long as there is no vaccine against COVID-19 in the country. The additional safety protocol was imposed due to the expected surge in COVID-19 cases over the holidays, when people go out of their homes to do shopping or to meet friends and relNext page atives.

PRESCRIBED GEAR. In this file photo, a woman models a face shield and face mask combination for a local online store. This is now the prescribed gear for all Filipinos leaving their homes as the government hopes to prevent an outbreak of the coronavirus disease over the holidays, especially with shoppers looking for Christmas gifts and clogging streets like Ylaya in Manila's Divisoria district (inset). Norman Cruz

Palace pooh-poohs int'l court Duterte finds blended learning ’far from ideal’ findings against Rody's drug war By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM DEC. 15)

451,839 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

1,135 24,160 NEW

ACTIVE

8,812

56

418,867

173

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW

By Vito Barcelo, Rey E. Requejo, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE International Criminal Court (ICC) would only be wasting time and resources if it pursues an investigation on the alleged crimes against humanity in the Duterte administration’s war on drugs, Malacanang said Tuesday. Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the remark after the ICC said there is a “reasonable basis to believe” that crimes against humanity were committed in President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal drug war. “The ICC does not have jurisdiction over the Philippines after the country withdrew from the treaty that established Next page ICC,” Roque said.

CABINET GAB. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte presides over the 49th Cabinet Meeting at Malacañan Palace on Monday night, facing Education Secretary Leonor Briones (left). The President called a meeting to discuss pressing issues and hear updates from government agencies. Presidential Photo

MALACAÑANG said Tuesday President Rodrigo Duterte approved a test run of face-to-face classes next month despite the threat of COVID-19 because the current blended learning, which started in October after several postponement of school opening, "is far from ideal." The dry run, planned for January 11 to 23 next year, will be held in areas with low COVID-19 tallies, and should have the consent of students' parents and the local governments, said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque. He told reporters: "What is the primary consideration? We know that the ongoing blended learning is far from ideal.” Blended learning makes use of online classes, learning modules, and television and radio broadcast. Slow internet and distracting learning environments have plagued the set-up, apart from what some observers said were grammar lapses in the modules. Roque added: “Face-to-face is still ideal. Next page

Du30 tells PhilHealth to speed up hospital payment claims PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has urged Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to simplify the process of payment claims of hospitals to 60 days following reported delays. In a Palace press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Duterte made this directive during Monday night’s Cabinet meeting where Phil-

EARLY QUEUE. Motorists wait inside their cars as they queue for the one-day free installation of the AutoSweep RFID sticker at the San Juan City Hall before dawn Tuesday. The local government allocated 2,000 RFID stickers exclusively for San Juan residents. Norman Cruz

Senators push cash toll fee option By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATORS on Tuesday said there should still be cash payment options available for motorists using expressways, while they questioned why the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) was issuing the implementing rules on toll roads and not the Department of Transportation (DoTr).

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said Tuesday he favored hybrid transactions instead of a 100 percent cashless transaction when traversing expressways, adding there should always be an option for motorists for cash payment. “If the person who wants to use the tollway operation and has cash and does Next page

Limited seats only for ‘Simbang Gabi’ WITH the "Simbang Gabi" or dawn Masses ahead of Christmas starting today, the Manila Cathedral or the Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Tuesday said only a limited number of churchgoers can be accommodated for its scheduled Masses for the holiday season. “We can accommodate 240 inside the Manila Cathedral,” cathedral rector Fr. Reginald Malicdem said in a Viber message to reporters on Tuesday. Next page

Health CEO and President Dante Gierran was present. “When it comes to filing of claims, PhilHealth was given 60 days to process documents. Despite PhilHealth’s long explanation, the President ordered them to shorten, reconfigure, and simplify requirements for the settling of claims. This includes stretching the limit for late filing,” he said.

Roque said Duterte requested the processing of claims “to be simplified and just let the indigent patient sign so he will be able to go home after his treatment.” “What is ideal is to compress the process more and not bring more hardship to the sick and indigent Filipino patient and not have to worry about the process,” he said. Next page


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