Friday, January 27, 2023
manilastandard.net
ADVERTISEMENT
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Others
    • Pets
    • Pop.Life
      • Newsmakers
      • Hangouts
      • A-Pop
      • Post Its
      • Performances
      • Malls & Bazaars
      • Hobbies & Collections
    • Technology
      • Gadgets
      • Computers
      • Business
      • Tech Plus
    • MS ON THE ROAD
      • Sedan
      • SUV
      • Truck
      • Bike
      • Accessories
      • Motoring Plus
      • Commuter’s Corner
    • Home & Design
      • Residential
      • Commercial
      • Construction
      • Interior
    • Spotlight
    • Gallery
      • Photos
      • Videos
    • Events
      • Seminars
      • Exhibits
      • Community
    • Biyahero
      • Travel Features
      • Travel Reels
      • Travel Logs
  • Advertise with Us
No Result
View All Result
manilastandard.net
No Result
View All Result
Home News Coronavirus 2019

DOH for extended calamity state if health emergency bill not OK’d

Willie CasasMaricel CruzbyWillie CasasandMaricel Cruz
November 16, 2022, 12:50 am
in Coronavirus 2019, News, Top Stories
Reading Time: 5 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Email

The Department of Health (DOH) will recommend extending the state of calamity for COVID-19 in the country for next year should Congress reject its proposed bill on a public health emergency.

DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire said they will urge the Office of the President to extend anew the state of calamity, which is set to expire on December 31.

“The option really is for us to extend the state of calamity or file another bill that only has a little content and is only specific to our requirements if the state of calamity will not be extended,” she said in a press briefing Tuesday.

The Department has urged lawmakers to pass the Public Health Emergency for Emerging and Reemerging Disease Bill and a measure that would establish the Philippine Center for Disease Prevention and Control.

“Part of those bills would be that even though there is no state of calamity declaration or public health emergency declaration, we can still continue on to implement our vaccination program,” Vergeire said.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We can still do expedited procurement. We can still do the other things we are doing right now for this pandemic.”

Meanwhile, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte on Tuesday backed the appeal of Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia-Frasco to local officials through the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to lift entry restrictions on travelers that they had enforced in their respective local government units (LGUs) since the pandemic broke in 2020.

“Keeping the restrictions on the entry of travelers or tourists up to now defeats the purpose of Executive Order (EO) No. 7, which President Marcos had issued to further relax anti-Covid health and travel protocols nationwide as part of accelerated government efforts to fully open the economy and rev up the once flourishing tourism sector into an engine of post-pandemic high growth,” Villafuerte said.

Villafuerte said EO 7 will be rendered useless if international travelers or tourists would finally be enticed anew to go to the Philippines, “only to end up being saddled, upon their arrival in the national capital or elsewhere, with troublesome entry requirements in the local places they want to visit.”

“How can Malacañang Palace and the DOT (Department of Tourism) convincingly tell the rest of the world that the Philippines is truly open for business and for tourists if the burdensome travel protocols that were put up as part of the anti-Covid lockdowns or mobility restrictions are still in place?” he said.

In March 2020, former President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation No. 922, which declared a state of public health emergency in the country due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In September, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., two months after he took office, extended the state of calamity throughout the country until the end of the year.

Since the pandemic began, the Philippines has tallied some four million coronavirus infections, of which some 64,000 led to deaths.

As of Nov. 14, the country has 19,821 active COVID-19 cases.

According to a report, Garcia-Frasco told members of the Filipino community during a recent dialogue in London that she was in talks with the DILG on withdrawing local travel restrictions that continue to be enforced by LGUs.

Frasco was quoted as saying: “We’re currently working with the DILG for the purpose of ensuring that any and all restrictions individually implemented by LGUs nationwide are lifted so that we have a national policy as far as the entry of tourists is concerned. The national policy being to welcome our friends and family back into the Philippines.”

Villafuerte, the president of the National Unity Party (NUP), said: “it is nice to know that we are starting to see a turnaround in our tourism business, with the number of arrivals hitting 1.9 million at the start of November, or higher than this year’s official target of 1.7 million and 2021’s total arrivals of 1.4 million.”

“But there is really no room for complacency here when one considers that our regional rivals, like Thailand, for instance, already had 7 million tourists as of October, and expects its visitor arrivals to reach a total of 10 million by end-December,” he said.

“We certainly have no way of catching up, much less overtake our ASEAN competitors for tourists when we continue to have barriers like cumbersome local-travel requirements that naturally turn off prospective visitors.”

He said the downward trend in infection rates should help convince LGU officials to heed the appeal of Garcia-Frasco for them to do away with whatever inbound travel rules remain in their respective localities.

Citing a report by the independent OCTA Research Group, Villafuerte said the Covid-19 positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) was down to 7.5 percent early this week from the week-ago 8.12 percent, or the lowest in the region since the 14.6 rate in July.

The positivity rate is the percentage of people found Covid-positive from among the total number of individuals tested for the coronavirus at a given time.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David was quoted in a report as saying: “I am confident that the downward trend will continue because our fellow Filipinos more or less know how to protect themselves from the virus, which allows us to keep our businesses and economy open.”

David reportedly projected the positivity rate in NCR to further fall by end-November to less than 5%, which is the standard set by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Villafuerte said the lifting of entry curbs for overseas and local travelers in all areas of the country would be the best way to carry out President Marcos’ view that the government should start treating Covid-19 not as an emergency but as something that has to be managed in the long term like flu and pneumonia.

Relaxed health protocols support the President’s belief, as stated in his Oct. 20 speech before the 48th Philippine Business Conference and Exposition (PBC&E), that for the country to open up businesses, we need to “get away from the emergency stance of the DOH … (and) make the Philippines more hospitable to travelers, both business and tourists.”

Tags: COVID-19Department of Healthhealth emergency
ADVERTISEMENT
Willie Casas

Willie Casas

Maricel Cruz

Maricel Cruz

Related Posts

Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

byAFP
January 27, 2023, 12:00 pm
0
8
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

The Philippine government said Friday it intended to appeal an International Criminal Court decision to reopen an inquiry into Manila's...

Read more

Israel strikes Gaza after militant rocket fire

byAFP
January 27, 2023, 10:00 am
0
8
Israel strikes Gaza after militant rocket fire

Israel launched air strikes on Gaza Friday in response to militant rocket fire from the Palestinian enclave, as tensions rise...

Read more

PH posts 7.6% growth in 2022

byJulito G. Radaand4 others
January 27, 2023, 2:00 am
0
8
Imported onions in, but price still high

Strong consumer spending fueled expansion, fastest pace in 46 years Economic growth beat expectations last year, expanding to its fastest...

Read more

SWS: 34% of adult Pinoys say life improved last year

byManila Standard
January 27, 2023, 1:50 am
0
8
BBM, Sara to resume stumping together; Bicol groups back UniTeam

A recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found that at least 34 percent of adult Filipinos believe that their quality...

Read more

President tells PCG to defend both coastlines, nationals

byVince Lopez
January 27, 2023, 1:40 am
0
8
Most APEC leaders condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has reminded the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to always be ready and aware while guarding the...

Read more

US defense chief plans visit to talk with DND head

byRey E. Requejo
January 27, 2023, 1:30 am
0
8
Imported onions in, but price still high

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been planning to visit the Philippines, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose...

Read more

Print Edition

View More

Recent Posts

  • Pag-IBIG finances over 18,000 socialized homes for low-wage earners in 2022
  • Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe
  • Knicks hold off Celtics in overtime, Pistons top Nets
  • Israel strikes Gaza after militant rocket fire
  • James, Antetokounmpo will captain NBA All-Star teams
  • Sneakers for Makati : AB4.0
  • PH posts 7.6% growth in 2022
  • SWS: 34% of adult Pinoys say life improved last year

Advertisement

Latest News

Sneakers for Makati : AB4.0

byManila Standard
January 27, 2023, 2:10 am
0
288
Sneakers for Makati : AB4.0

Read more

PH posts 7.6% growth in 2022

byJulito G. Radaand4 others
January 27, 2023, 2:00 am
0
8
Imported onions in, but price still high

Strong consumer spending fueled expansion, fastest pace in 46 years Economic growth beat expectations last year, expanding to its fastest...

Read more

SWS: 34% of adult Pinoys say life improved last year

byManila Standard
January 27, 2023, 1:50 am
0
8
BBM, Sara to resume stumping together; Bicol groups back UniTeam

A recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found that at least 34 percent of adult Filipinos believe that their quality...

Read more

President tells PCG to defend both coastlines, nationals

byVince Lopez
January 27, 2023, 1:40 am
0
8
Most APEC leaders condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has reminded the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to always be ready and aware while guarding the...

Read more

US defense chief plans visit to talk with DND head

byRey E. Requejo
January 27, 2023, 1:30 am
0
8
Imported onions in, but price still high

United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been planning to visit the Philippines, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose...

Read more

Advertisement

ADVERTISEMENT
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

ABOUT US

Manila Standard

Manila Standard website (manilastandard.net), launched in August 2002, extends the newspaper’s reach beyond its traditional readers and makes its brand of Philippine news and opinion available to a much wider and geographically diverse readership here and overseas.

Digital Edition

In tone and content, the online edition mirrors the editorial thrust of the newspaper. While hewing to the traditional precepts of fairness and objectivity, MS believes the news of the day need not be staid, overly long or dry. Stories are succinct, readable and written in a lively style that has become a hallmark of the newspaper.

Download – Today’s Paper

Search

No Result
View All Result

6th Floor Universal Re Bldg., 106 Paseo De Roxas cor. Perea Street, Legaspi Village, 1226 Makati City Philippines

Trunklines: 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

No Result
View All Result
  • About
  • News
    • Top Stories
    • National
    • World News
    • Pinoy Abroad
    • Features
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Columns
    • Soundbytes
  • LGUs
    • NCR
    • Luzon
    • Visayas
    • Mindanao
  • Business
    • Corporate
    • Economy & Trade
    • Stocks
    • Money
    • Agri & Mining
    • Power & Tech
    • IT & Telecom
  • Sports
    • Basketball
    • Volleyball
    • Fightsports
    • Active
    • Sports Plus
    • One Championship
    • Columns
  • Entertainment
    • TV & Movies
    • Celebrity Profiles
    • Music & Concerts
    • Digital Media
    • Columns
  • Lifestyle
    • Food
    • Culture & Media
    • Fashion
    • Health and Home
    • Leisure
    • Shopping
    • Columns
  • Pop.Life
    • Newsmakers
    • Hangouts
    • A-Pop
    • Post Its
    • Performances
    • Malls & Bazaars
    • Hobbies & Collections
  • Technology
    • Gadgets
    • Computers
    • Business
    • Tech Plus
  • MS ON THE ROAD
    • Sedan
    • SUV
    • Truck
    • Bike
    • Accessories
    • Motoring Plus
    • Commuter’s Corner
  • Home & Design
    • Residential
    • Commercial
    • Construction
    • Interior
  • Spotlight
  • Gallery
    • Photos
    • Videos
  • Events
    • Seminars
    • Exhibits
    • Community
  • Biyahero
    • Travel Features
    • Travel Reels
    • Travel Logs
  • Pets
  • Advertise with Us

© 2021 Manila Standard - Designed and Developed by Neitiviti Studios.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Install Manila Standard Web App

Install App