Manila Standard - 2021 August 21 - Saturday

Page 1

Missed your copy of Manila Standard? Call or text our Circulation Hotline at 0917-8848655 or email: circulation@manilastandard.net

Cases hit new high: 17,231 Record spike precedes downshift to modified ECQ – DOH

By Willie Casas and Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE Philippines logged an all-time high of 17,231 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total number of infections to 1,807,800 a day before Metro Manila and Laguna shift to the less stringent Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine today (Saturday).

The previous high was 15,310 new cases on April 2. Health officials said 317 new fatalities on Friday brought the COVID-19 death toll to 31,198. It was the second highest

number of deaths in a day, after the 401 deaths recorded on April 9. The Department of Health (DOH) said 5,595 new recoveries brought total

VOL. XXXV • NO. 187 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2021 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Next page

Rody assures health workers of incentives PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte assured health workers on Friday the government will “do our best” to release their incentives and protect them as the country battles record-high COVID-19 cases, days after various medical groups said they are considering mass resignation due to the non-release of their benefits. “Be assured that we in government will do our best to protect and incentivize you Next page

WISE MOVE. Backdropped by a colorful mural, two senior citizens cleverly wait out the long line of ayuda seekers (inset), until their names are

called and be given the much-needed aid during cash distribution at a school along Harrison Street in Pasay City on Friday, Aug. 20, 2021. Danny Pata

NCR mayors keep 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew, allow outdoor exercises By Joel E. Zurbano, Darwin G Amojelar

THE curfew hours from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. will remain even as the National Capital Region (NCR) shifts to a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) today

(Saturday) that will last until Aug. 31. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Jr. said members of the Metro Manila Council, composed of the 17 mayors in the NCR, agreed to reimpose the curfew after Malacanang announced the new

quarantine status Thursday night. Meanwhile, an MMC resolution prohibiting people from exercising outside their homes lapsed Friday. Outdoor exercises will be allowed again, Abalos said. Abalos said the MMC accepted the wisdom of the Inter-Agency Task Force

for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IAFT) placing the NCR under an MECQ from Aug. 21-31. “With the MECQ classification in effect, granular lockdowns shall be intensified, with the LGUs identifying areas Next page

17,231

123,251

Auditors flag DOH anew for slow fund use

31,198

317

1,653,351

5,595

percent of its health emergency preparedness and response fund, 86.98 percent of its quick response fund, and 76.39 percent of its calamity fund. The low utilization of Ombudsman Samuel Martires said audit DOH’s calamity funds observations on any government agency can was traced to lapses in the still be elevated to COA’s Commission Proper. procurement activities, “The Office of the Ombudsman would prefer absence of face-to-face to work quietly and away from the limelight, training, travel restricparticularly when the reputation of people in tions and lack of takers. the government are concerned. After all, we still The unused funds of operate under the Constitutional presumption P306.73 million “are conof innocence,” he said. sidered very material,

By Rio N. Araja, Maricel V. Cruz, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo THE Commission on Audit has again flagged the Department of Health (DOH), this time for failure to use its disaster risk reduction and management funds amounting to P306.73 million in 2020. In a 2020 report, state auditors said the DOH was able to use only 84.71

Next page

LET IT FLOW. Clusters of water meters are a common sight in areas where informal settlers reside in Metro Manila. Regulators have told water concessionaires to defer service cuts. Lino Santos

CHINA FIRED FLARES AT PH SEA PATROLS IN JUNE—MILITARY NEWS / A2

Socmed creators seek dialog with BIR on tax plan THE Creator and Influencer Council of the Philippines (CICP), an organization of social media content creators that include bloggers and video bloggers, has said it is open to a dialog with the Bureau of Internal Revenue to tackle the tax agency’s issuance of a memorandum that reminded social media influencers

By Rio N. Araja

Next page

(As of 4 PM, AUGUST 20)

By Julito G. Rada

Water firms told: Suspend service cut AMID the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System on Friday directed west zone Maynilad Water Services Inc. and east zone Manila Water Co. Inc. to suspend disconnection of unpaid water bills until the end of August. Its Regulatory Office said service disconnection activities must be suspended “until such time that the MECQ has been

1,807,800

Next page

SPECIAL REPORT THUMBS UP. Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos Jr. (2nd from left), National Task Force against COVID-19 chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. (3rd from right), and other officials flash the thumbs-up sign during the arrival of the 500,080 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City on Friday (Aug. 20, 2021). The latest vaccine shipment was procured by the private sector. Jess M. Escaros Jr.

‘Teenage pregnancies on the rise’ By Willie Casas

TEENAGE pregnancies may increase by more than 20 percent during quarantine amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a Commission on Population and Development official said.

Executive Director Juan Perez, citing a study by the University of the Philippines Population Institute and the United Nations Population Fund, said pregnancies among teenagers aged between 15 and 19 might inNext page


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.