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How PSEi member stocks performed — March 27, 2020

Here’s a quick glance at how PSEi stocks fared on Friday, March 27, 2020.

How we should prepare for the coming explosion of COVID-positive patients

REUTERS

By Jose Xavier ‘Eckie’ Gonzales

WE ARE ALREADY in the middle of a stealth contagion. We just do not have enough testing capacity to show it.

South Korea, at its peak, was doing 10,000 tests a day. We did 11,000 tests last month, for just 2,000 individuals (with retests et. al.), and 800 were positive. Half our COVID-19 patients got their test results on the day they died or after.

The Medical City (TMC), along with other hospitals, will soon run COVID-19 tests to help the heroic and overworked staff at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM). This will result in a big jump in COVID-positives, as 10 labs will produce at least 1,200 results daily. And it is still not going to be enough.

US Coronavirus Health Czar Dr. Anthony Fauci warns that “this outbreak… putters along and you think you’re okay. Then it starts to go up a little and then bingo, it goes up in an exponential way.”

Let’s stop thinking we are okay. We’re not. We need to implement the five key action points below to combat COVID-19. If, instead of doing these steps now, we again say “pasensiya na” (please be forgiving) for one reason or another, we will all soon be “pasyente na” (already patients).

1. INCREASE THE NUMBER OF TEST KITS
We need more test kits. The UP-invented test kit is still in field testing, but foreign-made kits are automatically accepted at their “local” Food and Drug Administration (FDA) face value. However, the Department of Health (DoH) has started discarding some of the donated Chinese test kits as they were shown to be only 40% accurate.

Results of the local field test will be out April 1. But test kit design is not rocket science — the genetic footprint of the virus was decoded on Jan. 10, 2020, a week after the Wuhan lockdown, and released globally by Chinese scientists. In February, our scientists already had the testing solution (the one that is now being field tested).

Once approved, the local kit will be made in a facility with the highest levels of international biosafety, the only one of its kind here. The local kits are also open-source, meaning they can be run on all Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR machines) that are available here and now. But, in the meantime, we are all waiting for FDA approval.

2. INCREASE TESTING CAPACITY
Getting more test kits is not enough. We have to get more labs. The good news is that we actually have them. We have 1,436 hospitals divided into 476 public and 960 private. The most sophisticated, around 10%, are Level 3, which are medical centers and teaching hospitals. Following the model of South Korea, we should harness the laboratory power, with the right biosafety protection, of these estimated 140 hospitals.

Because South Korea trusted its scientists, early on, to find the reagent mix to get ahead of the testing curve, it can now screen up to 20,000 people per day. That is the number we should aim for.

An increase in testing means an increase in COVID-19 positives. Can our healthcare system handle an increase, including the tracing and quarantining of Persons Under Investigation (PUIs) and (Persons Under Monitoring) PUMs?

3. REPURPOSE FOR BED TRIAGE
There are now three nationally run hospitals in Metro Manila for COVID-19. Not enough. A distraught family reports that, because of the long lines, it took 11 hours for their father to be admitted to the Lung Center — only for their father to die alone a day later.

We need to triage beds by repurposing what exists. We need to create community hospitals for the mild to moderately symptomatic and use Level 3 hospitals for severe cases needing advanced breathing support. More capacity is available with our LGUs. For example, on March 20, TMC’s President, Dr. Gene Ramos, met with Mayor Vico Sotto of Pasig to discuss converting the 100-bed Pasig City Children’s Hospital for COVID-19.

Let’s use ULTRA in Pasig, Rizal Memorial in Manila, for PUMs. Gymnasiums. Churches that can also feed with community support. Hotels lent to the LGUs. Schools, like De La Salle University, that open their doors to the homeless. We all need space to recover in densely populated urban areas, to quarantine PUMs, PUIs, and the mildly symptomatic and their families living in close quarters. A surprising 75-80% of the patients in China were from families and workers that infected each other.

4. INCREASE THE POOL OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS (HCWS)
The biggest constraint to managing patients descending on already crowded hospitals is the HCW resource. A few days ago, both St. Luke’s Hospitals announced 592 HCWs under quarantine. The University of Santo Tomas hospital declared 530. On March 27, TMC reported 122.

COVID-19 ICU patients need one nurse each, while coverage for regular COVID-19 patients/PUIs is one nurse to two patients. ER coverage is a bit of a stretch at four patients, non-COVID-19 patients/PUIs at four. TMC can convert more rooms in its 520-bed hospital for COVID-19 use, but if there are not enough doctors and nurses, then both patient and HCW safety are compromised.

There are 500,000 registered nurses in the Philippines, but only 200,000 are active. We average 38,000 nursing graduates annually, with about half passing their boards. Around 18,000 migrate yearly. Those who stayed transferred to the growing BPO market for insurance claims processing and online healthcare support where pay is higher. As for doctors, there are 130,000 registered, but only 70,000 practicing.

The Philippine Regulatory Commission should relax its three-year relicensing (CME) provision for doctors and nurses so that those who left for the BPO industry, or OFWs who returned to retire here, can be pulled in to help. Maybe nursing graduate Board takers in the last five years can be given special passes to man the gyms and churches. Maybe we can stretch the definition of HCW to those LGU community workers manning the public spaces.

We will also need to train these HCW assistants quickly. The National Institute of Health, UP Manila, is offering free Online Biosafety Training for Laboratorians handling COVID-19. We need to have a similar course for LGUs, community leaders, and volunteers. We can then mobilize more COVID-19 warriors quickly.

5. STOCKPILE PPES AND CRITICAL SUPPLIES
Our doctor mortality rate is at 20%. Spain, with 90 times our number of COVID-19 patients, has 14%. The lack of PPEs, coupled with the impending explosion of COVID-19 cases, shows the need to stockpile right now. We also need more ventilators so we do not have to face the situation in Spain and Italy where the lack of ventilators forced them to let the elderly die.

Look at the math. Italy had over 60,000 cases cycling through COVID-19 on March 28. If we emulated Italy, in one month, 20% (12,000) would need hospitalization. Of these, 4,000 need intensive care. For 24-hour intensive care, that’s two visits per shift per nurse, plus two from doctors. One full PPE (personal protective equipment) set — cap, goggles, face shield or N95 mask, disposable gown, booties — is P500, with 80% of the cost the mask and gown. PPE monthly cost for ICU cases alone is P480 million.

The private sector has already stepped up. Volunteers are making face shields while the garment industry is making laundry-washable head-to-toe bio-containment suits. New methods of sterilizing N95 masks to make it reusable are being deployed. All these can help bring per use PPE costs down by up to 90%.

The latest Philippine ventilator survey showed 1,572 for all regions, a quarter in NCR. We need at least 600 more mechanical ventilators to cover half the national ICU beds. That will cost around P1 billion — less if we can manufacture these locally.

We also need to prepare ICU tents to augment hospital capacity. Ideally, these tents should have negative pressure, and be equipped with ventilators to handle the patient load. Our estimates are that it will cost around P20 million for a 10-bed tent.

While stockpiling PPEs and medical equipment may seem expensive, running in the billions of pesos, we are foregoing an estimated P1 trillion of GDP production monthly because of COVID-19. There are trade-offs in time and money that we simply have to make right now.

 

Jose Xavier ‘Eckie’ Gonzales is the Chairman of The Medical City, the largest hospital and clinic network in the Philippines.

Urbi et Orbi

“When evening had come…” (Mk 4:35). Pope Francis stood alone on a canopied platform just outside the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica, fronting St. Peter’s Square. He peered into the enveloping dusk, perchance to see the usual throng of some 300,000 or more devotees waiting for the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessings on Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, or on the installation of a new Pope — like when he first blessed the flock as Pope in March 2013. But previous Urbi et Orbi blessings were given in the clarity of daylight.

That Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome (Urbi — for the city, “urban”) and Catholic leader for the world (Orbi — for the world, “orb” or “globe”) set the special Urbi et Orbi blessing in the darkened St. Peter’s Square was a metaphor for this troubled time of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic that has afflicted 621,592 people worldwide, killed 28,791 (as of March 28), and from which only 22% definitely recovered, for lack of a vaccine so far.

“For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm.” And Pope Francis talked about Jesus calming the storm, in the gospel of St. Mark (4:35-41).

“The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have been allowed to become dull and feeble at the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities,” Pope Francis said in his homily. “We have gone ahead at breakneck speed, feeling powerful and able to do anything. Greedy for profit, we let ourselves get caught up in things, and lured away by haste.” And now, in lockdowns of communities around the world, we are forced to slow down, and we have all the time to think inward.

“…seize this time of trial as a time of choosing. It is not the time of (the Lord’s) judgement, but of our judgement: a time to choose what matters and what passes away, a time to separate what is necessary from what is not,” Pope Francis exhorts. In the Christian theme of “Man fallen but redeemed,” faith in a Savior saves all from the storms of life: “Why are you afraid, have you no faith?” Jesus asks the disciples. But the allegory of the calming of the storm also calls up an apostrophe to free will: we are what we are, and we are where we have chosen to be.

And Pope Francis blessed the unseen multitudes watching from their quarantine in their homes, raising the gilded monstrance with the Body of Christ, in the Urbi et Orbi signum crucis. “The blessing grants a plenary indulgence to everyone who unites spiritually to this moment of prayer, including through media platforms in this special time, assuming one’s sincere intention of going to confession and receiving the Eucharist as soon as possible,” the Vatican statement on the Urbi et Orbi reminded. In the Catholic faith, contrition for sins and confession of these in the Sacrament of Reconciliation is followed by compliance with the penance given by the confessor-priest and voluntary retribution and rectification for the sins committed.

“In this storm, the façade of those stereotypes with which we camouflaged our egos, always worrying about our image, has fallen away, uncovering once more that (blessed) common belonging, of which we cannot be deprived: our belonging as brothers and sisters… (It means) finding the courage to embrace all the hardships of the present time, abandoning for a moment our eagerness for power and possessions in order to make room for the creativity that only the Spirit is capable of inspiring. It means finding the courage to create spaces where everyone can recognize that they are called, and to allow new forms of hospitality, fraternity and solidarity,”

Pope Francis suggests as recompense for the calamity we have brought unto ourselves. And in the tempest of this coronavirus pandemic, the whole world stood still, like when Jesus Christ calmed the storm. Space has been created where partisan politics had divided peoples and nations, and corrupted capitalism in its perverted extremes has justified the seven capital sins: pride, greed, lust, anger, envy, sloth, and gluttony as means to selfish ends. The lockdowns and quarantines of communities around the world has forced micro focus on the common welfare within families and communities in lieu of the macro objectives of countries obsessing to walk shoulder to shoulder with the big developed countries and the sprinting developing nations in the dizzying race of global trade and economics. The gap between the rich and the poor in countries rich or poor has been the proof of guilt for a world that has been unaware of, indifferent to, or has out rightly denied culpability of selfish greed of the haves versus the have-nots.

Because of the undiscriminating COVID-19 virus, the proud and mighty United States of America, the top economy in the world, has put aside its trade war with its bitter rival China, second largest, and probably the most influential economy in the world. Though China (not maliciously, for sure) brought the coronavirus to the world from first infestations in the livestock markets of Wuhan in Hubei province, China is now only number three most affected in the viral infection, with 81,439 cases, 3,300 deaths, and 75,448 recoveries. The US has topped the list for the past week, with 123,498 cases, 2,211 deaths, and 3,231 recoveries. Italy has squeezed in between the US and China with 92,472 cases, 10,023 deaths, and 12,384 recoveries. Spain, Germany, France, Iran, the UK, Switzerland, and the Netherlands complete the top 10 listing of the coronavirus infections as of yesterday, March 29, 2020.

For the first time since the World Wars that ended 75 years ago, global trade has not been foremost in the minds of countries around the world. Necessity has forced focus inward, where countries must “beggar thy neighbor” for the survival of their people before the vanities of power and money. With apparent “global distancing” now prevalent, will there be reverse globalization, or a revival of nationalization of economic activities, after COVID-19?

The US has set up a historic $2 trillion stimulus package for the COVID-19 emergency (the Obama rescue plan for the 2008 financial crisis was $800 million) which includes $500 billion in loans and assistance for big companies, with $17 billion specifically for Boeing Co.; $350 billion for small businesses; and direct payments to lower- and middle-income Americans of $1,200 for each adult, as well as $500 for each child. Together with Federal Reserve actions, the legislation amounted to a total $6 trillion stimulus, according to White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, or about 30% of annual GDP.

The rescue strategy for the Philippines centers on emergency powers given to President Rodrigo Duterte authorizing him to undertake extraordinary measures to contain COVID-19 and mobilize at least P200 billion to help over 24 million mostly-poor families in the country. The Department of Health (DoH) confirmed 1,075 cases as of March 28, with 68 deaths and 35 recoveries. The “enhanced community quarantine” in the whole of Luzon has been on since March 15, with noticeable good compliance by the worried Filipinos.

Christians and non-Christians alike have faith in an all-powerful and all-loving Spirit who will calm the storm and end our anxieties about this deadly COVID-19 virus.

“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?”

 

Amelia H. C. Ylagan is a Doctor of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines.

ahcylagan@yahoo.com

Target highly vulnerable households for support during the enhanced community quarantine

(This is a shortened and updated version of a policy brief that was first released on March 22 titled “Addressing the Needs of Highly Vulnerable Households in Luzon during the COVID-19 Lockdown.”)

The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon, although necessary to contain the spread of COVID-19, has resulted in the grave vulnerability to hunger and poverty of households reliant on non-regular forms of employment and with no savings and little or no access to social protection. Programs intending to alleviate the impact of the ECQ should target them first.

We propose here a methodology for identifying the “highly vulnerable households” and estimate the monthly cost required to support them during the quarantine. We also propose a way for government to operationalize this in the current crisis.

A highly vulnerable household is one that has no source of income during the lockdown period and no savings to tide it over. Operationally, we define a highly vulnerable household as one which belongs to the poorest 30% of all households, and which does not have even one member who has a “quality regular job.”

A quality regular job we define as any of the following: employment in government; permanent employment in a private establishment paid on a daily or monthly basis; an overseas job; or being an employer.

Not counted among quality regular jobs are self-employment among those in the poorest 30% of households, as well as employment in private establishments, where the employer changes on a daily or weekly basis, or where the pay is on a per-day, or per piece, or pakyaw, or commission basis.

In Metro Manila, typical examples of these occupations are car/van, taxi, and motorcycle drivers, building construction laborers, shop sellers, live-out helpers and cleaners, market and sidewalk stall and street ambulant vendors, carpenters, waiters and bartenders, among others. Outside Metro Manila, farm workers would also be included.

Using nationally-representative data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), we estimate the number of highly vulnerable households to total about 2.4 million for the whole of Luzon. These 2.4 million highly vulnerable households are estimated to have about 8.2 million members.

After converting PSA’s 2018 annual regional poverty lines to their monthly equivalents and adjusting for inflation, we get the estimated amount each individual in these households will need to address their monthly basic food and non-food needs during the quarantine. Our estimate is that for the entire Luzon about P17.7 billion per month is needed to address the most basic food and non-food needs of highly vulnerable households, of which P13.9 billion is for food needs alone. The total translates to about P7,500 per household.

If the quarantine were expanded to the entire country, we estimate that there would be 5.2 million highly vulnerable households, needing P40.3 billion per month in total, of which P31 billion is for food.

Note that the monthly amount required to address the needs of the highly vulnerable will rise the longer the quarantine continues, as more households become highly vulnerable due to depleted savings or the loss of jobs from an economic downturn, or even a spike in the cost of goods that will raise the poverty line. To date, a projected decline in Philippine GDP growth is already foreshadowing a recession, which is likely to be aggravated by the pandemic-generated global recession.

The estimated amount needed is well-within the budget amount approved for the Bayanihan to Heal As One Act, which promises to provide “an emergency subsidy to around 18 million low income households.” Under the Act, low-income households are to be provided P5,000 to P8,000 per month for two months, depending on the prevailing regional minimum wage, but including what the households already receive from the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) and rice subsidy program. The Act also provides for the implementation of an expanded and enhanced 4Ps and an assistance program for households “with no income or savings to draw from, including households working in the informal economy and not currently recipients of (4Ps), of an amount adequate to restore capacity to purchase basic food and other essential items during the duration of the quarantine”.

It is not yet clear, however, how these would be implemented. The identified 18 million households already make up about three-fourths of all households in the country. We propose prioritization of highly vulnerable households as defined above, and for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to take the lead using its Listahanan database, which is the basis for identifying 4Ps beneficiaries. With information on 15.1 million households included, this database should suffice to identify highly vulnerable households as defined above or even using a refined definition.

As a first step, DSWD can identify who among the current 4Ps beneficiaries are also part of the highly vulnerable households and supplement their regular benefits with the amount needed to allow them to cross the poverty threshold. Doing so will reduce the possibility of “inclusion error,” or of identifying those not (or not yet) highly vulnerable as among the highly vulnerable, which can happen if there is too much leeway in identifying the beneficiaries.

For beneficiaries not yet among the 4Ps beneficiaries, the DSWD could consider drawing from the responses and experiences of governments in other countries, such as the monthly cash grants in Malaysia and Thailand (via e-payment platforms), and the voucher program in Seattle, USA, where grocery vouchers are allotted to families enrolled in the supported child care and food assistance programs, and are also affected by the COVID-19 closures.

Addressing the needs of the highly vulnerable should be prioritized; not only is it the humane thing to do, it may help stem social unrest that is sure to follow a prolonged period of hunger and distress.

(http://ateneo.edu/ls/soss/economics/downloads/wp-2020-01addressing-needs-highly-vulnerable-households-luzon-during-0)

 

Geoffrey Ducanes is with the Ateneo de Manila University, while Sarah Daway-Ducanes and Edita Tan are with the University of the Philippines School of Economics.

Luzon-wide transport ban hurts the poor, subverts public health

Kailangan ng taong pumunta sa palengke para bumili ng pagkain, sa botika para bumili ng gamot, at sa ospital para magpa-check-up o magpa-opera. Paano makararating sa ospital ang buntis para manganak at si lola para magpa-dialysis kung walang pampublikong transportasyon? (People need to go to the market to buy food, to the drugstore to buy medicine, to the hospital for a check-up or an operation. How can the pregnant women get to the hospital to give birth or the grandmother for her dialysis if there is no public transportation?)

In an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, the island of Luzon has been placed under “enhanced community quarantine,” which includes a total ban on public transport. This means that while essential trips — such as those related to healthcare and food — are allowed, there are no trains, buses, jeepneys, utility vehicles, and tricycles, except for those identified as shuttle services for frontliners and the occasional ordinary citizen.

While the health objectives of the quarantine are understandable, this blanket policy must be relaxed to allow limited public transport operations that can serve all essential trips of frontline workers and ordinary citizens (e.g., for food, healthcare, medicine).

First, a ban that allows only private cars, bicycles, or walking does not consider the reality of our city. A 2015 study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency found that only 12% of Metro Manila households have a car. Currently, there is no need for a study to see that Metro Manila is ill-equipped for cyclists and pedestrians.

Second, government-operated shuttles for frontline workers — while commendable efforts — are insufficient and do not provide direct access to their homes. Beyond trunkline services, many are left without proper first and last mile connections.

Third, the ban fails to consider citizens who cannot walk and who, additionally, may need access to regular healthcare services. While hospitals typically have ambulances to transport patients that need urgent attention, these vehicles are not enough to serve all citizens that require access to services such as pregnancy checkups, chemotherapy, or dialysis. Practically speaking, ambulances may also be too wide to pass through some neighborhoods.

Fourth, it should be noted that many other cities dealing with COVID-19 have kept public transport operational. In Singapore, public transport workers are considered as frontline staff, together with healthcare workers, civil servants, and cleaning staff. In Daegu, South Korea, the capacity of public transport was increased to avoid crowding and to allow people to observe social distancing measures. In Europe, while the European Commission has proposed the restriction of non-essential travel to the European Union for 30 days, the mobility sector was not brought to a halt — fast lanes were even designated to give priority to essential travel. In China, while mass transit was suspended in Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic, other major cities such as Shenzhen kept public transport operating at reduced capacity.

The suspension of mass transit in Luzon has led to grave consequences for our fellow Filipinos. Expectant mothers are left with no means to go to the hospital. Cancer and dialysis patients are forced to walk for hours to access essential treatments. Healthcare workers with no access to shuttle services or alternative transport modes are compelled to walk home after their 24-hour shifts. Ordinary citizens have limited access to basic needs such as food and healthcare.

With the onset of the dry season, walking several kilometers under the heat of the sun becomes more difficult, especially for patients, persons with disability, the elderly, and other vulnerable groups, and this may negatively impact their immune system against COVID-19 and other illnesses. For the less able, these barriers make access to basic needs extremely difficult, if not downright Impossible.

In order to provide essential mobility for all while observing necessary health protocols to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) must allow local government units to:

1. Identify skeletal public transport routes necessary to serve essential trips for frontliners, healthcare workers, and even ordinary citizens within their locality, provided that safety measures are strictly observed. These public transport services may include buses and jeepneys, and should serve main transit corridors.

2. Permit tricycle operations at limited capacity, provided that safety measures are strictly observed. Tricycles can provide a point-to-point transport option for the 88% who do not have cars to take necessary trips, similar to how car owners are able to access necessities while practicing social distancing.

In his Memorandum dated March 16, Executive Secretary Medialdea noted that establishments providing basic necessities related to food, medicine, banking, energy, water, telecommunications, and media, shall remain operational, along with the skeletal workforce of export-oriented companies.

Based on the July 2019 Labor Force Survey, the National Capital Region has an estimated 5.4 million labor force. On a high-level analysis, it is estimated that 11.8% of this work in the services mentioned above. This equates to around 637,200 people who need transport options to enable them to continue working for the establishments. If we are to serve 50% of this daily demand (~320,000 daily trips), and assuming that each trip of a bus and a tricycle will be limited to 20 passengers and one passenger each, respectively, then a high-level analysis shows that we need to provide:

1. 1,000 buses doing 10 trips per day = 200,000 person-trips; and,

2. 6,000 tricycles doing 20 trips per day = 120,000 person-trips.

These must be deployed in various critical routes identified by the LGUs and the IATF-EID to sufficiently serve the necessary work.

Moreover, normal citizens that need to access food and healthcare must be provided public transport services so that their families can remain healthy. According to the PSA 2016 Household Population Survey, Metro Manila has an estimated 3.1 million households. Assuming that these households each take one necessary trip per week, then it is estimated that around 440,000 trips need to be done per day. To serve 50% of this demand (~220,000 daily trips) and assuming the same passenger capacities as above, government is recommended to provide an additional:

1. 500 buses doing 10 trips per day = 100,000 person-trips; and,

2. 6,000 tricycles doing 20 trips per day = 120,000 person-trips

Safety measures must of course be observed for all transport operations. This should include, but not be limited to: providing protective equipment to drivers; restricting passengers per trip to half of the vehicle capacity for PUVs (e.g., 20 people for buses), and to one passenger for tricycles; installing physical barriers between the driver and passenger/s; limiting human contact when giving cash payments; observing social distancing even while queueing; providing regular disinfection services to all operational vehicles; and regulating the number and service hours of PUVs and tricycles on the road.

Public transport is a public health issue. By making necessary or unavoidable trips inconvenient and unsafe for frontline workers and ordinary citizens, we are exposing our people to unnecessary risks during an already difficult time. We need to provide our people with clean, efficient, and safe public transport for essential, unavoidable trips. Without these safe options, we are putting our people at risk of getting unnecessarily tired, going hungry, and ultimately being more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19.

 

Sarah Arrojado, Regina Mora, and Jedd Ugay are members of AltMobility PH, a group of urban transport experts advocating for sensible and humane transport policies. AltMobility PH is a partner of Action for Economic Reforms.

Keeping your distance

By Tony Samson

MAYBE what’s uncomfortable about quarantines and lockdowns of borders of whole cities and countries, aside from the obvious impeding of the freedom of movement, is that there seems to be no difference between authoritarian regimes and democracies in addressing the contagion risk. Even the scenes of empty streets and masked stragglers come from the same horror movie. What the government decrees is automatically imposed and followed, yes, for the good of the community. Maybe the democracies moved a little bit more slowly fearing resistance from the governed. But they followed the early movers anyway.

True, the democracies are openly accosted by both traditional and social media. Freedom of speech still distinguishes the type of government in place. So opinions are given free rein. But even these normally vociferous bystanders (including critics in chat groups) questioning political motives and the clumsy delivery of messages and services are hushed into silence by their peers — let’s just trust our leaders and cooperate. Any questioning of controls on what is allowed or forbidden is dismissed as dysfunctional behavior apt to spread the contagion even faster, referring to the virus. Can we just flatten the curve?

Staying home, not always necessarily working from it, gives rise to “cabin fever,” associated with isolation in confined quarters in the wilderness causing restlessness and unusual sleep patterns. Ironically, the same phrase for cruise ships caught at sea has a literal meaning. The imposed quarantine and its disruption of routine opens up new preoccupations especially the latest contagion count. Idleness somehow drives us to find out what is happening out there, and when the prison gates of home might open.

Social distancing has become a common phrase. Even weeks before the strict quarantine, when Wuhan was just part of the international news, people have half-jokingly already dispensed with the air kiss and the handshake, preferring the fist bump or just locking eyes and raising eyebrows.

Has the admonition of keeping your distance resulted in distancing from one another? Social rules have been upended from a lack of physical contact and switching now to chats. It seems to be a social decree to stick to only one topic of conversation, the plague. Posts have to do with news on the latest head count of infections, deaths and cures. Related topics include affliction of friends and neighbors, possible cures, community hot spots, available delivery services and helpful tips (put the clothes you wore outside in a separate plastic bag for the wash). Any deviation from the topic of the month is punished by indifference — as I was saying.

Given the preeminence of the health hazard, even discussions of the impact on the economy from a prolonged shutdown especially for daily wage earners, retailers, and other unnecessary businesses like malls, restaurants, and hotels, is dismissed — are you willing to sacrifice your mother? The trivialization of everything else that used to matter is almost automatic.

Spirituality is on the rise. The call for prayers and generally storming heaven for help is invoked by even the most unlikely chat mates. Religion is becoming the refuge not just of sinners but those fearful of joining the saints tomorrow.

Heroism is extolled. The quiet work of front-liners in the hospitals has been hailed. Not all who “go to work so you can stay home” get the same accolades, like those in barong and face masks in the midst of many tables facing an elevated podium hoisting the same slogan. (Sorry, you need to wear scrubs too.) Working on the expansion of more draconian measures and the opening of the public purse for more than loose change are greeted with mixed reactions. It’s the relief of successfully stopping the blurring of the public and private sector that elicited applause.

Many look forward to the normalization of business and the return of social proximity. Then perhaps we can once again pursue other topics that Alice mentions like “shoes and ships, and sealing wax and cabbages and kings”.

It is from the trivial and irrelevant that we find solace against the world’s horrors. Social distancing is a temporary obligation. But even then, it has not broken human contact and the desire to reach out. The circle has just widened. And as for the other contagion of fellow feeling and sense of community, may it continue to spread… once we distance ourselves from this plague.

343 cases added; budget for volunteers vowed

THE DEPARTMENT of Health (DoH) reported 343 coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) infections on Sunday — a record daily increase — bringing the total to 1,418.

Three more patients — all Filipinos aged 70, 71 and 78 — died, raising the death toll to 71, DoH said in an e-mailed bulletin. The three had underlying conditions such as asthma, hypertension, heart and kidney diseases and diabetes.

Seven more patients aged 13 to 44 have recovered from the virus, bringing the total of those who have gotten well to 42, it said.

Meanwhile, congressmen are willing to allot a budget for wages of volunteer health workers equivalent to what their newly hired counterparts in the government receive, Party-list Rep. Eric G. Yap said on Sunday, as the country fights the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are willing to give them that,” Mr. Yap, who heads the House committee on appropriations, told the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC) in Filipino on Sunday.

He said Congress has empowered President Rodrigo R. Duterte to realign as much as P275 billion of the national budget so the government could better fight the pandemic.

“We can try to find more funds if needed,” Mr. Yap said. “That is what we want to suggest to the Executive so our frontliners will be paid well.”

The congressman said he would discuss with Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano how to increase the budget for volunteer health workers. Lawmakers would also meet with budget officials to discuss the appropriations, he added.

The Department of Health (DoH) earlier apologized for offering P500 in daily pay to volunteer doctors and nurses during their “month-long contribution,” a rate criticized by some sectors.

Volunteer doctors should be hired and paid at least P50,000 a month, which is the entry-level salary grade for government-hired physicians, while nurses should receive at least P22,000, according to Dr. Geneve Reyes, secretary-general of Health Action for Human Rights.

The government should also shoulder their pay during the 14-day quarantine after their tour of duty, she told ANC yesterday.

“They sacrifice their live for us,” Mr. Yap said, adding that it’s only fitting that they get paid enough.

As of Sunday, almost 700 “health care warriors” have signed up to be assigned at three government hospitals that will exclusively treat COVID-19 patients, DoH said in a statement, adding that the initial rate it had offered was “provisional.”

Mr. Yap also said minimum wage workers would receive a total subsidy of P8,000 per family.

Local government units will identify the families living on minimum wage while the Department of Social Welfare and Development will distribute the funds, he said.

Meanwhile, Albay Rep. Jose Maria Clemente S. Salceda urged the government to broaden the coverage of the emergency subsidy program.

Mr. Salceda, who heads the House ways and means committee, said village officials including secretaries, treasurers and village police officers should also become eligible for frontliner benefits.

“There are serious issues of duplication, because we are using multiple government lists with different members of the same family in each,” the congressman said in a letter to President Rodrigo R. Duterte.

“Of course, when one family gets more than what it has to, another family is getting less or none. It could potentially deprive the underserved, unlisted informal sector,” Mr. Salceda said. “And in the bigger picture, that compromises our quarantine efforts because they will look for livelihood,” Mr. Salceda added. — Genshen L. Espedido

China denies it donated defective COVID-19 kits

CHINA on Sunday denied donating defective COVID-19 test kits that the Department of Health (DoH) found to be only 40% accurate.

The kits it donated to the Philippines were at par with those provided by the World Health Organization, the Chinese Embassy said in a statement, citing DoH.

The defective test kits cited by DoH had not been tested by the Philippines’ Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and were different from those given by the Chinese government, it said.

The virus has sickened more than 1,418 people in the Philippines, killing at least 71. Before March, there were only three confirmed cases in the Philippines — all Chinese nationals — and health authorities have traced the recent increase to faster testing by local laboratories.

Worldwide, about 665,000 people have been infected, with almost 31,000 deaths.

China’s donation included 2,000 RT-PCR test kits — which use the so-called reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction technique — from BGI and 100,000 similar kits from Sansure Biotech, Inc. China has also committed to send medical experts to help the Philippines fight the novel coronavirus outbreak.

“The Chinese Embassy firmly rejects any irresponsible remarks and any attempts to undermine our cooperation in this regard,” it said.

In a social media post, the embassy also cited a message from Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque to Ambassador Huang Xilian attesting to the effectiveness of the donated kits.

“There is nothing wrong with the real time-polymerase chain reaction machine, which is used for generating positive or negative result as the case may be,” the agency quoted Mr. Duque as saying.

“Again, your test kits from BGI and Sansure Biotechnology are very good and up to the standards as those which were donated by WHO and approved by our RITM.”

Meanwhile, the Singapore government has donated 40,000 COVID-19 test kits and two ventilators, on top of the 3,000 test kits and PCR machine it gave the Philippines earlier. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Gov’t troops to fight back amid COVID-19 cease-fire

THE presidential palace on Sunday said government soldiers would fight back as it accused Maoist rebels of violating their unilateral cease-fire pledge amid a novel coronavirus outbreak.

On Saturday, communist rebels attacked government troops doing community work in connection with the outbreak in the village of Puray in Rodriguez, Rizal province, killing one soldier and hurting two others, presidential spokesman Salvador S. Panelo said in a statement. A communist rebel was also killed.

“This armed attack by the New People’s Army against our soldiers exposes the insincerity of the former in declaring a cease-fire as well as their blatant disregard of the welfare of the Filipino people they claim to fight for,” he said.

The United Nations earlier called for a global armistice in the wake of the global fight against the coronavirus disease 2019.

The botched attack against military personnel was part of the rebels’ attempt to project relevance and power on their 51st founding anniversary on March 29, state-run Philippine News Agency reported, citing a statement from the military.

“They were planning to celebrate their anniversary on March 29 with a bang,” Armed Forces chief of staff Felimon Santos, Jr. said in the statement. — Gillian M. Cortez

#COVID-19 Regional Updates (03/30/20)

LUZON

Police to be stricter in arresting curfew violators

THE PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) will be stricter in the arrest and detention of curfew violators during the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period in Luzon, with a holding period of up to 12 hours for those caught. Police Lieutenant General Guillermo L. Eleazar said the Joint Task Force Coronavirus Shield (JTF CV Shield) has been lenient in its initial implementation, with violators being allowed to go home instead of being detained. “Based on our assessment, the number of curfew violators will just continue to rise if we become lenient on them,” Mr. Eleazar, who heads the JTF CV Shield, said in a statement Sunday. He noted that based on local government unit reports, a total of 42,826 were apprehended from March 17 to March 27, with 12,094 from Metro Manila. President Rodrigo R. Duterte placed the entire Luzon under ECQ until April 13. “If the curfew violators will be released over a decision that the regular filing of the case will be done after the ECQ, curfew violators must be held for a maximum of 12 hours while being admonished so as to deter them from repeating the offense,” he said.- — Charmaine A. Tadalan

VISAYAS

250 negative results out of 272 tested for COVID-19 at VSMMC; 25 cases in Central Visayas

THE VICENTE Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City, the designated sub-national laboratory for COVID-19 testing in the Visayas, reported 250 negative results out of the 272 it conducted in its first four days of operations starting middle of last week. The Department of Health regional office (DoH-7), in a statement late Saturday, said Central Visayas had 25 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of March 28, with 18 in Cebu City. Two are in Lapu-Lapu City and another two, who have both died, were in Negros Oriental. There is one each in Bohol, who has already recovered, Mandaue City, and Cebu province. “One person can undergo more than one test if warranted,” DoH-7 Regional Director Jaime S. Bernadas said in the statement. “We again call on all our citizens to remain calm and follow existing measures currently set in place local authorities. We understand the disruption this has caused our lives but let us remember that measures will only work if we all strictly and conscientiously follow containment and preventive measures,” he said.

WESTERN/EASTERN VISYAS
In Western Visayas, there were 16 confirmed COVID-19 patients as of Saturday afternoon. These are in the following areas based on patient’s residence: Bacolod with 5; Iloilo province, 4; Iloilo City, 2; Aklan, 3; Capiz, 1; and Negros Occidental, 1. The Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City is being readied as a COVID-19 testing facility. In Eastern Visayas, the confirmed case remains at one with 379 patients under investigation.

MINDANAO

SPMC advertises for 60 nurses, 40 house keeping aides; Davao Region COVID-19 cases up to 30

THE SOUTHERN Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City, one of the designated COVID-19 referral hospitals in the Davao Region, is hiring 60 licensed nurses and 40 administrative aides under the housekeeping division as it tends to patients alongside ensuring the welfare of its frontline health workers. As of Saturday evening, Davao Region had 30 people confirmed with the COVID-19, of which 20 are admitted at SPMC. Two others are at the Davao Regional Medical Center in Tagum City, while four have recovered and four have died. Based on latest data from the Department of Health regional office, there are over 70 persons under investigation (PUI) admitted in the hospitals and over 7,000 persons under monitoring (PUM). SPMC, which has suspended outpatient services since March 23, has already started carrying out tests as the satellite laboratory for “diagnosis and identification” of suspected COVID-19 patients in Mindanao. The SPMC and its Institute of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine have also launched a phone helpline service for its frontline workers, their families as well as patients.

PUI CENTER
Meanwhile, the Davao City government is preparing five quarantine centers for PUIs, or those exhibiting symptoms of the disease. Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said the PUI centers will help in managing SPMC’s capacity. “There are PUIs who insist on staying in hospitals. As a PUI, if you are not sure that you are positive of COVID-19 but you exhibit symptoms, you are better off in the centers than in the hospitals which have patients with positive cases,” Ms. Duterte-Carpio said Friday as she inspected the planned sites. Among those being readied are the drug rehabilitation center and nearby Bureau of Fire Protection office in Malagos, the Alternative Learning School beside People’s Park, La Vida Inn, and the Queensland Hotel. EMCOR Inc., a distributor of appliances and various other products, has also offered to convert container vans PUI facilities. — Carmelito Q. Francisco and Maya M. Padillo

Nationwide round-up

DTI recommends ‘seniors only’ shopping hour, other measures

THE DEPARTMENT of Trade and Industry (DTI) urged supermarkets and pharmacies to adopt measures that will further ease the shopping process as well as improve health protection for senior citizens amid the COVID-19 outbreak. In an advisory, DTI recommended allocating a “seniors only” shopping hour, exclusive entry to avoid the queue when entering establishments, and an express lane in addition to the existing senior citizens lane for those buying 25 items or less. Under Philippine law, senior citizens are those aged at least 60. Interior Secretary Eduardo M. Año last week said senior citizens who live alone should be given quarantine passes following reports that some local government units deny them the passes. — Jenina P. Ibañez

More PPEs needed by private hospitals

DESPITE NUMEROUS donations of personal protective equipment (PPEs) from both foreign and local entities, private hospitals have called for help for sourcing more supply amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. In a radio interview Sunday, Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines, Inc. (PHAPi) President Rustico A. Jimenez said private hospitals still need more PPEs since donations are primarily directed to public hospitals. “Meron nakakarating pero kulang at kulang pa rin kasi napakaraming pasyente (We have received some, but this is still very insufficient because there are so many patients),” he said. “Iniiwasan namin na merong namamatay kasi ang latest count ay 12 na ang namatay (We are avoiding deaths because the latest count is that 12 [doctors] have already passed away,” Mr. Jimenez said. — Gillian M. Cortez

370 Filipinos in Italy repatriated

THE DEPARTMENT of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has repatriated 370 Filipinos from three cruise ships docked in Italy, who all arrived on Saturday evening. “The group of repatriates is composed of 248 Filipinos from MV Costa Luminosa from Milan, and a combined number of 122 Filipinos from MV Grandiosa and MV Opera docked in Rome,” DFA said in a statement on Sunday. None of the repatriates were showing symptoms of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but they will still undergo a 14-day facility-based quarantine under the supervision of the Bureau of Quarantine. DFA also reported extending assistance in sending back home more than 700 foreign nationals who were affected by the government’s travel restrictions and flight cancellations by airlines. “More repatriation flights for foreign nationals in the pipeline,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido D. Dulay said in a separate post early Sunday. — Charmaine A. Tadalan

Labor federation reports ‘unjust practices’ by 160 companies amid COVID-19 outbreak

MORE THAN 300 reports of unjust labor practices by 160 companies were recorded by a labor federation through a survey conducted March 19–22 amid the community quarantine measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The Solidarity of Unions in the Philippines for Empowerment and Reforms (SUPER) said it “gathered 318 reports of unjust employer practices of 160 companies.” “These reports include companies that are allegedly using the crisis to justify illegal termination of its workers (11 companies), workers made to work under the “no work, no pay” scheme but without transport being provided; (81 companies), flexible work arrangements but with reduced pay (28 companies), suspension of work without pay (98 companies) coupled with refusal to apply for the financial assistance programs being offered by the Department of Labor and Employment (56 companies),” the federation said. The list of the companies has been sent to the Labor Department and local government units. SUPER is conducting another survey from March 27 to April 5. — Gillian M. Cortez

Nation at a Glance — (03/30/20)

News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.

Nation at a Glance — (03/30/20)

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