DBM to take charge of COVID-19 test kit procurement
THE DEPARTMENT of Budget and Management (DBM) will be in charge of procuring coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) rapid test kits instead of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) due to transaction limitations, OCD Undersecretrary Ricardo B. Jalad said. “Ang administrator kasi ng civil defense ay limited lamang sa P50 million per transaction. Ito ay aabot ng billion (The civil defense administrator is limited to P50 million per transaction. This will cost billions),” he said over radio DZBB on Thursday. The government plans to purchase two million test kits. Mr. Jalad said the government is still considering where to procure the kits, including local producers and foreign sources. Meanwhile, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is finalizing the guidelines for the use of the test kits. In a briefing Thursday, IATF-EID Spokesperson Karlo Alexei B. Nograles said, “(T)he Department of Health in coordination with its technical advisory group is directed to finalize guidelines for the supplementary utilization of FDA (Food and Drug Administration)-approved rapid anti-body test kits.” He said they are eyeing its use as “clearance mechanism” for COVID-19 patients who have recovered. President Rodrigo R. Duterte announced earlier this week that the government will procure two million rapid test kits alongside the immediate purchase of 900,000 Polymerase Chain Reaction or PCR test kits, which detects the actual presence of the virus. — Gillian M. Cortez and Genshen L. Espedido
DSWD directs LGUs to immediately distribute cash aid, to conduct post-validation
THE DEPARTMENT of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has given local government units (LGUs) the green light to immediately distribute the emergency cash aid from the national government, with validation to be undertaken within two weeks after the delivery to target low-income households. In a statement on Thursday, DSWD said it has amended its guidelines requiring prior validation of beneficiaries to speed up the distribution of the fund intended to help poor families most affected by disruptions arising from the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. “Thus, local government units may proceed with the distribution of the cash aid within 24- hours upon receipt of the funds from the Department,” DSWD said. Meanwhile, Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Spokesperson Karlo Alexei B. Nograles reported on Thursday that as of April 15, a total of 1,228 LGUs have already received their allocation for the cash aid program. The total downloaded amount was P65 billion, which accounts for over 80% of the P80.9 billion program budget.
SOLICITATIONS
Meanwhile, the DSWD has also issued an advisory Thursday reminding individuals and organizations on the need to secure a permit from the agency to conduct solicitation activities. “It has come to our attention that amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, various persons and organizations are allegedly conducting unathorized public solicitation activities… The DSWD reiterates that all entities must apply for a solicitation permit with the nearest DSWD office,” it said, citing Presidential Decree No. 1564, the Solicitation Permit Law. The permit requires a processing fee that should be paid to the Bureau of Treasury. DSWD Undersecretary Camilo G. Gudmalin, in a live-streamed briefing on Thursday, said those already conducting donation drives should “secure the permit” to “make their solicitations legitimate.”–Gillian M. Cortez
DoLE closes cash aid window for formal sector employees
THE DEPARTMENT of Labor and Employment (DoLE) has stopped accepting applications for the cash assistance program for displaced workers, citing that the allocated fund will soon run out. “The labor department has been swamped with volumes of requests that the available fund for the program amounting to P1.6 billion is very close to being depleted,” DoLE said in a statement on Thursday. The application window was closed April 15. Under the coronavirus disease 2019 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP), employers can apply for cash subsidy that will be given to workers affected by the enhanced community quarantine measures. Each worker gets a one-time P5,000 assistance. DoLE said 236,412 workers from 10,663 establishments have so far availed of the program, and another 85,563 have been lined up. DoLE said they had difficulty processing 1.6 million CAMP applications received at its headquarters and regional offices. The agency assured that an alternative assistance program is currently being planned together with Congress in order to help more workers. DoLE is also preparing a recovery plan for employers and workers in post-quarantine period, which will end April 30. — Gillian M. Cortez
Former Health chiefs say COVID-19 battle is about ‘speed’
FORMER Health Secretary Manuel M. Dayrit said the government needs take up “speed, speed, speed” to “prevent, detect, isolate, and treat” the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). “We have to implement these fundamentals nationwide. You cannot just implement it in NCR (National Capital Region) or the urban areas because once the virus enters any jurisdiction, it has the capacity to expand exponentially,” he said during the teleconference meeting of the Defeat COVID-19 committee in the House of Representatives on Thursday. Mr. Dayrit, who headed the Department of Health from 2001 to 2005 within which the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak took place, recommended modernizing disease surveillance capacity, laboratory capacity, and the facilities for quarantine, primary care and critical care. “The system that we operate with now… that’s basically the system that I was using years ago. With some improvements of course, but still not quite modernized. You don’t have surveillance facilities all the way down to the level of the provinces that can actually feed data on disease surveillance,” he said. “Given all of that we have accomplished, the critical question we have to ask ourselves honestly is, is our health system equal to the threat? Because no matter how many accomplishments we’ve made, if our system is not equal to the threat, then we’re still playing catch-up,” he added. Meanwhile, another former Health chief, Esperanza A. Icasa-Cabral, recommended four imperatives to reduce the toll of COVID-19 in the country: knowing the enemy, taking care of the ill, protecting the frontliners, and protecting the citizenry. “We need to practice all of these with speed… with scale and, very importantly, with transparency so people will be co-owners of all these strategies,” she said. — Genshen L. Espedido
US provides another $1.3-M in aid for PHL’s COVID-19 programs
THE UNITED States government has provided an additional $1.3 million (P66 million) to the Philippines for programs to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). “This US government support to the Philippine Department of Health for its COVID-19 response demonstrates our longstanding commitment to our Philippine friends, partners, and allies in times of need,” US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim said in a statement on Wednesday. The amount, which is on top of the $2.7 million initially provided by the US government in March, will allow the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to help the country improve its laboratory systems, intensify case-finding and surveillance, and prevent and control infections. Moreover, the assistance is also intended to help the Philippines expand its testing capacity and establish a more accurate COVID-19 information. The Department of Health has so far accredited 16 testing centers this week, increasing its capacity to test at least 3,000 samples per day. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
Lawyers call for JSCC meet to address jail congestion
A GROUP of lawyers has asked Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta to convene the Justice Sector Coordinating Council (JSCC) to address concerns on jail decongestion, especially with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. The Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG), in a letter to Mr. Peralta, said they are concerned with the overcrowding in jail facilities and this may result in “‘cruel, degrading, and inhumane treatment’” which violates the Constitution. “With all due respect, we believe that the solution may lie in coming up with an interim policy on jail decongestion that takes into account a nationwide profile of inmates, the nature of their cases, their personal health status, as well as special circumstances that may warrant either early release or humanitarian treatment,” the letter read. “(M)ay we respectfully request Your Honor to consider convening the JSCC to come up with a clear and coordinated plan and a strategic approach towards jail decongestion and humanitarian treatment during this pandemic,” it added. The council is composed of all attached offices of the judiciary, the Department of Justice, the Department of Interior and Local Government, and their attached agencies. FLAG also noted that the Justice Zones established in different cities may help assess the profile of detainees in their jurisdiction. For areas with none, the local Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Prosecutor’s Office, and Executive Judges “may work together toward this end.” The letter was signed by National Chair Jose Manuel I. Diokno and Regional Coordinator Theodore O. Te. More than 20 prisoners who are elderly, sick and pregnant have asked the Supreme Court for their release through bail on humanitarian grounds. Several groups have also asked the court for the release of those vulnerable to COVID-19, including the House of Representatives’ Makabayan bloc and the business sector-backed Judicial Reform Initiative. — Vann Marlo M. Villegas
Senate bill filed protecting health workers, COVID-19 patients from harassment
A BILL penalizing threats, harassments, or any form of discrimination against health care workers, frontliners and patients of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), among other notifiable diseases, has been filed in the Senate. Senate Bill No. 1436, the “Mandatory Protection of Health Workers, Frontliners and Patients Act,” seeks to eliminate discrimination against COVID-19 patients and those who are at the frontline of battling the disease. “Discrimination against health workers is a crime against public health,” Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel said in a statement on Thursday. She cited an incident in Sultan Kudarat, where a health worker on his way home was splashed with bleach on his face. Some health workers and patients have also reported being denied access to groceries, banks, and even their boarding houses. The bill proposes to impose a fine of P20,000-50,000 and jail time of up to six months. If enacted, the measure will also consider unfair treatment to frontliners and all forms of physical, emotional and psychological violence or threat against patients, suspected or confirmed of having contracted the disease. Meanwhile, Senator Juan Edgardo M. Angara, who just recently recovered form COVID-19, appealed to the government to lead efforts to reach the public for convalescent plasma donations. Mr. Angara said researchers have reported that convalescent plasma treatments have helped improve the condition of critical COVID-19 patients. “In the donation of plasma, dapat government-led ‘yan because the information is with government agencies,” he said in a separate statement. — Charmaine A. Tadalan
