DOH: 2 new ‘Kraken’ COVID cases

By Willie Casas

THE Philippines has detected two new cases of Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, the so-called “Kraken” subvariant being the most transmissible form of COVID-19, raising its tally to three, the Department of Health (DOH) said Wednesday.

The country also detected its first case of Omicron subvariant XBF, which is linked to the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in Australia and Sweden.

Both subvariants are classified by the World Health Organization as subvariants under monitoring.

The XBF is a recombinant sublineage of BA.5.2.3 and CJ.1 (BA.2.75.3 sublineage), which was initially flagged for its increasing prevalence and had been associated with recent case increases in stable prices.

“The unpredictable weather conditions and the anticipated increase in demand of sugar due to easing of restrictions brought about by the pandemic, deems it necessary to authorize this second sugar import program for crop year 2022-2023,” the SO read.

The first tranche of 100,000 MT refined sugar is estimated to arrive soon “for consumers to immediately feel the effects of declining sugar prices.” already come out with the policy.”

The second tranche of another 100,000 MT is expected to arrive before April 1, and the final tranche of 240,000 MT is set to arrive after that date.

Azacona said the government may release the final tranche classified as “C” sugar during the offseason, and only upon assessment of the demand situation by the SRA and after the reclassification of the reserved volume to “B” sugar.

Imported sugar will be stored in SRA-accredited warehouses or direct to the consumers’ warehouse as indicated in the importer’s application.

But Unyon ng mga Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (UMA) chairperson Ariel Casilao said importation will hurt the local sugar industry.

“If we talk about the entry, the flooding of 440,000MT of sugar, we can be sure that our local sugar, our local production which is ongoing with our current milling season, will drop (in value),” he said in a TeleRadyo interview.

Casilao, a former lawmaker, said the sugar supply in the country is enough for domestic consumption.

“Those lacking (sugar) are who we call the bottlers, those making soft drinks or those corporations that need refined sugar,” he explained.

This problem, in turn, could have been solved had the government funded the modernization of sugar mills around the country, the UMA chief said.

“That comes from the backward machinery in our refineries here. We have machines in our milling and refineries that are 50 to 100 years old. But according to the SIDA or Sugar Industry Development Act, our local sugar industry should have received enough funding for its maintenance and development,” he noted.

Ledesma encouraged concerned members to avail of other renal replacement therapy (RRT) offers “to achieve better quality of life.”

RRT replaces the kidney’s normal blood filtering function due to failure, acute injury, and chronic disease of the organ.

It includes dialysis (hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis), hemofiltration, hemodiafiltration, and kidney transplantation.

“PhilHealth is providing P270,000 in financial support to patients who are on peritoneal dialysis or what we call PD-First,” Ledesma said.

“And for those who have organ donors, PhilHealth pays P600,000 for renal patients qualified under our Z benefits for kidney transplantation,” he added.

Meanwhile, the House Committee on Health has approved a bill that would authorize the President to suspend and adjust the scheduled increases in PhilHealth premiums during crisis periods.

The bill would amend Republic Act 11223 or the Universal Health Care Act and give the President this power during national emergencies or calamities or when the public interest so requires. Maricel V. Cruz and Willie Casas

Australia and Sweden, the DOH said. A recent wastewater analysis revealed that XBF accounted for about 55 percent of total cases detected in Victoria, Australia.

Preliminary studies also showed that many of Australia’s antiviral treatments against COVID-19 were no longer effective against multiple Omicron subvariants circulating in the country, including XBF.

“However, currently available evidence the South China Sea,” Hartman said in a Twitter post.

“Recent actions that disrupted the lawful operations of Philippine vessels off the coast of the Philippines are in violation of international law and contrary to the maintenance of regional peace and stability, and the rules-based international order,” he said.

Germany also expressed “serious concerns” about the laser incident, saying that all states should observe maritime order.

“As a party to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), the PRC (People’s Republic of China) must comply with its obligations, including notably the 2016 SCS Arbitration Decision,” Hartman wrote, referring to the decision of the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague that said China had no basis for claiming most of the South China Sea, and which upheld Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the area.

Earlier, the governments of Australia and Japan called out China for its actions.

In separate tweets, Australian Ambassador to the Philippines Hae Kyong Yu PSM and Japanese Ambassador to Manila Koshikawa Kazuhiko raised concerns about China’s recent actions.

“Australia shares concerns about unsafe and intimidatory actions directed against the Philippines. We continue to call for peace, stability and respect for international law in the South China Sea, a vital international waterway,” Yu wrote.

“We express serious concerns about dangerous behavior against PH vessels. All states should respect maritime order based on international law, in particular UNCLOS, and recall that the 2016 Arbitral Award is final and legally binding. We firmly oppose any action that increases tensions,” Kazuhiko’s tweet read.

The growing international support for the Philippines came as the US re - loan financing to farmers, the PCO said.

The President also vowed to apply the best practices being done by Central Luzon farmers in other areas in the country.

Citing a study by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and local government units, the PCO said the hybrid system has given 41 percent better yield than inbred conventional seeds over the past two years.

“Hybrid farmers have reported harvesting around seven to 15 metric tons (MT) per hectare as compared to the average 3.6 MT/hectare for inbred seeds,” the PCO said.

Bon Liong said that if adopted nationwide on a two-cropping cycle per year, hybrid technology will give better income to farmers and achieve rice suf- for XBF does not suggest any differences in disease severity and/or clinical manifestations compared to the original omicron variant,” the DOH report read. minded China that its increasingly aggressive behavior could invoke the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty that tasks Washington to come to Manila’s defense in case of “armed attack on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft, including those of the Coast Guard in the South China Sea.”

“Currently, the subvariant is still reported under omicron by the WHO and will remain classified under Omicron until sufficient evidence arises showing that the virus characteristics are significantly different from Omicron,” it added.

The DOH said the XBF sample was collected in December 2022 and was sequenced on Jan. 28, 2023.

Out of 69 samples sequenced by health authorities February 7-9, 26 were classified as XBB (including 2 cases classified as XBB.1.5), 10 as BA.2.3.20, 3 as BA.5 (including one case classified as BQ.1), 2 as BA.2.75, 1 case as XBC, and 20 as other omicron sublineages.

The PCG reported that on Feb. 6, China’s Coast Guard pointed a “military grade” laser at some of the Filipino crew aboard BRP Malapascua while on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre near Ayungin Shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, in the Spratly Islands chain, known in China as the Nansha Islands.

Former national security adviser Clarita Carlos, meanwhile, said the Philippines seems to be the casualty in the proxy war between the United States and China.

“Why are they doing this? Is this part of their optical distractors? But are they escalating it? Are they waiting for America to respond to that?” Carlos said in a television interview.

She said if the two superpowers wanted to engage in a proxy war, they should not do it on Philippine territory.

In light of the latest provocation, she said, the Philippines should “shift gears to change China’s behavior.”

“My position is that you can’t keep on expecting a different result [by] doing the same thing. There’s a name for that. It’s called katangahan (stupidity),” she said.

“This is too much, they are becoming too abusive,” she added in Filipino. “What is China doing? It’s pushing us to the arms of Americans.”

Despite the growing international support for the Philippines, China insisted it was acting lawfully and said “the relevant waters are calm.”

The Chinese Coast Guard’s (CCG) use of laser resulted in the temporary blindness of PCG crew members. However, China defended its action as it accused the Philippines of intruding into its waters.

Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rod- ficiency for the country.

From January to November 2022, the National Rice Program served 1.06 million rice farmers and 3,528 farmer cooperatives through the provision of hybrid and inbred or certified seeds, production-related and post-harvest machinery, small-scale irrigation, as well as extension and training activities.

Under the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund Program, the Land Bank of the Philippines and Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) granted P3.37 billion in zero-interest and non-collateral loans to 10,643 rice farmers and 197 borrower organizations and cooperatives. Rice varieties on the market are classified based on the size of grains and on where they are grown. There are also classifications based on traditional, modern, and hybrid varieties. Both traditional and modern varieties riguez on Wednesday urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to forge defense and security cooperation deals not only with Japan but with Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and South Korea as well.

Of the 26 XBB cases, one case was classified as a returning overseas Filipino and the rest were local cases from Regions 2, 3, 4A, 7, 10, 11, and NCR (including two cases classified as XBB.1.5), the DOH said.

All additional BA.2.3.20 cases were local cases from Regions 1, 2, 4A, 9, 11, CAR, and NCR. Meanwhile, out of 3 reported BA.5 cases, two cases were ROFs and 1 was a local case from Region 1 (including one case classified as BQ.1).

The two recently detected BA.2.75 cases were classified as ROFs while the XBC case was a local case from Region 11, the agency added.

The first patient with XBB.1.5 has already recovered after experiencing mild symptoms of the disease, the DOH said.

“We should negotiate and enter into visiting forces agreements (VFAs), like the one we have with the United States, in the face of heightened threats from China,” he said.

He said the continued employment by China of harassment tactics on Philippine Coast Guard and Navy personnel and Filipino fishermen “is unacceptable and detestable, and beyond the realm of civilized conduct.”

“How long our patriotic people, with their sense of national pride, could bear such harassment and bullying, I don’t know, but at some point, it has to stop. Enough is enough,” he said.

President Marcos announced his intention to forge a VFA with Japan during his five-day visit to Tokyo last week.

He said an agreement similar to the VFA with the US “is certainly under study.” Japan has expressed readiness to participate in joint military exercises and humanitarian missions in the Philippines.

Rodriguez dismissed Beijing’s assertion as “nonsense.”

“How can we intrude into our own territory? How about China heeding our incessant appeals for them to respect our territorial rights and interests and stop harassing and bullying our Coast Guard and Navy personnel and our fishermen?” he asked.

He also lauded the United States for denouncing the military-grade-laser incident and for reaffirming its obligations under the 1951 RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty.

In a statement on Tuesday (Manila time), US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said China’s “conduct was provocative and unsafe, resulting in the temporary blindness of the crew members of the BRP Malapascua and interfering with the Philippines’ lawful operations in and around Second Thomas Shoal.” are called “inbred,” because they are reproduced through self-pollination or inbreeding, and the products or the seeds are what farmers use for planting.

Meanwhile, hybrid seeds are made by crossing two genetically different parent seeds with superior qualities to increase yield or production. However, planting these seeds is more complicated because, aside from higher production costs, seeds cannot be reused for another planting season.

After a meeting with officials from the DA and the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), the President said if they can do all that they need to do, the country will be close to self-sufficiency in rice in two years.

“There’s a great deal of work to do but we already saw how to do it. So that’s what we will work on for now.” he added.

“Relevant agencies must establish a tighter screening process on foreign employers to avoid abuse and maltreatment of OFWs. These include requiring them to submit a police record and pass a neuro-psychiatric exam to ensure that they are mentally stable,” Tulfo said.

“There should also be a pre-engagement orientation for foreign employers before letting them hire OFWs. The orientation should brief them about the importance of respecting Philippine culture and tradition,” he added. Migrante International, an alliance of migrants’ organizations, also urged the government to take proactive measures to stop the continuing physical abuses, harassment, and other problems involving OFWs.

“Sending a fact-finding team to Kuwait to investigate only when a highprofile case of an OFW death occurs is part of the problem, and in fact demonstrates that Philippine government agencies and officials mandated to uphold and protect the rights of our OFWs have been passive in responding to cases of rights violations among our OFWs,” Migrante said in a statement.

The group cited 2022 yearend reports that showed a 51.4 percent increase in contract violations from the previous year, and an alarming 216 percent increase since the memorandum of understanding between the Governments of Kuwait and the Philippines was signed in 2017.

Since there is no total deployment ban for OFWs to Kuwait, senators cited the need to monitor their work conditions.

The Department of Migrant Workers imposed a ban only for firsttimers to the Gulf state. Those who have been working in Kuwait and are renewing their contracts are not covered by the ban.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, the chairperson of the Senate labor committee, noted there should be a mechanism to regularly check on OFWs. Employers should be screened “to further assure our kababayans that they will not end up in the hands of exploitative and vicious individuals.”

“That’s why I want to recommend to the DMW to (totally) ban our OFWs from working in the state of Kuwait,” he added.

Before the earthquake struck, almost all the crucial humanitarian aid for the more than four million people living in rebel-controlled areas of northwest Syria was being delivered through just one crossing.

The trucks were loaded with essential humanitarian assistance, including shelter materials, mattresses, blankets and carpets, Paul Dillon, a spokesman for the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), told AFP.

Activists and local emergency teams have decried the UN’s slow response to the quake in rebel-held areas, contrasting it with the planeloads of humanitarian aid delivered to government-controlled airports.

The United States, which refuses ties with Syrian President Bashar alAssad, called on both the government and rebels to work to allow in aid.

“Everyone should put aside their agendas and affiliations in service of one pursuit and one pursuit only, and that’s addressing the humanitarian emergency – the humanitarian nightmare – that’s unfolding in parts of northwest Syria,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters in Washington.

The UN also launched an appeal for $397 million to cover three months of “life-saving relief” for victims in Syria and said it was close to a similar plan for Turkey. AFP degree in Philosophy, summa cum laude, from the University of Santo Tomas, where she was also Assistant Literary Editor of The Varsitarian. She also attended high school at the Holy Ghost College (later College of the Holy Spirit) and was Valedictorian at Legarda Elementary School, a few steps from her ancestral home in Sampaloc, Manila.

She began her writing career as a section editor for the Manila Times until its closure during Martial Law in 1972, and later worked as associate editor for Focus Magazine, editor of the Times Journal’s People Magazine and the Journal’s lifestyle editor. In 1980, she joined the staff of the National Media Production Center, and a year later became editorin-chief of Woman’s Home Companion, during which time she turned the magazine into the most widely circulated lifestyle magazine in the country.

She retired in 1995 and devoted her later years pursuing her first love— writing—and rapidly published a succession of books, including Looking Glass (essays, New Day Publishers, 1991); Permutations of Love (essays, Anvil Publishing, 1996); The Way of the Miracle (essays, Giraffe Books, 1998); Mysteries and Memories (essays, Giraffe Books, 2000); and Now and Lifetimes Ago (poetry, Giraffe Books, 2001). She also published Two Voices (poetry, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2012 ) with Gloria

G. Goloy. In addition, her poems were also included in the anthology Babaylan (Aunt Lute Books, San Francisco, 2000).

Mysteries and Memories was awarded Book of the Year by the Manila Writers Circle. In his introduction to the book, F. Sionil Jose noted “the felicity of language that only a poet can muster, the depth of perception and the illumination that clear thinking brings.”

Eugenia Duran-Apostol, in her introduction to Permutations of Love, said: “She rises above mere journalese and ends up enchanting you with singletopic literary musings, many of them poems-in-the-rough, almost-poems, not-quite-poems, unmetered poems. For by nature, Doris is a poet.” Her alma mater UST also honored her with the Ustetika Award in 2006 and Philets Owl Award in 2010.

Doris Trinidad’s work explored the interconnectedness of writing, personal history, and memory, placing great value on the significance of family, friendships, art and literature, spirituality, and even politics and personal loss. Throughout her life, she remained a relentless student of the great metaphysical mysteries and the quest for God and meaning, and of being and becoming.

She wrote: “I will just remind you of the treasures that might be lying in your own mind, buried for years by layers of more pressing, more recent experiences. Find a quiet corner and a restful moment to coax them out. They are part of what you are.”