Tag: International news

COVID-19 Crisis: Residents of locked community in Parañaque City complain about limited essentials

COVID-19 Crisis: Residents of locked community in Parañaque City complain about limited essentials

carlocarrasco

In recent times, due to a report that there were individuals living in Annex 35 (a community of about one thousand houses within Better Living Subdivision) had contracted COVID-19, the City Government of Parañaque had the said community locked-down supposedly for fourteen days to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

This past weekend, GMA Network reported that Annex 35 residents have been complaining about the effects of the granular lockdown.To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the GMA Network news report. Some parts in boldface…

Residents of a portion of the Better Living Subdivision in Parañaque City have been complaining after they were reportedly placed under a granular lockdown without prior notice, leaving them isolated for 10 days.

According to residents of Annex 35 of the subdivision, they were only made aware of the initial four-day granular lockdown at 8 p.m. on Tuesday. The lockdown was implemented four hours later, and was then extended to 10 days.

“8 p.m. halos sarado na ang establishments. ‘Di ba meron po tayong allowed na time for Metro Manila na open ang ganitong establishment, so ‘di lahat nakapuno ng enough food and water supply,” a resident of the area said in a report on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.

(At 8 p.m. almost all establishments were already closed. Don’t we have an allowed time for establishments in Metro Manila to open? Not all residents were able to store enough food and water.)

“Hindi lahat ay okay. Kasi meron kaming community page sa Facebook, ang daming hinaing like water supply, ‘yung food supply namin not enough for 10 days,” the resident added.

(Not all are okay. We have a community page on Facebook and there are a lot of appeals for water supply, our food supply was not enough for 10 days.)

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) released food packs, but the residents said this is not enough. The homeowners’ association could not intervene as the granular lockdown was implemented by the local government.

The resident said that there were food packs that were supposed to have been distributed among the residents, but these were spoiled due to the lack of manpower to deliver the goods.

“Sa sobrang dami ng houses dito, kulang sila to deliver ‘yung mga food na naka-ano sa gate namin. ‘Yung iba nasisira na ‘yung food kasi kulang ‘yung tao, isang patrol car lang ang umiikot,” the resident said.

(With the number of houses here, only a few people are distributing the food stored at the gate. Some get spoiled because of the lack of manpower, only one patrol car was making the rounds.)

The resident acknowledged that the lockdowns are for health reasons, but the local government should have given residents ample time to store goods for the lockdown.

“Alam ko po na kailangan mag-ingat, they are after doon sa aming health na hindi kumalat ‘yung virus. Pero po sana binigyan nilang konsiderasyon, binigyan nila yung mga tao at least one day na makapag-plan, one whole day. Hindi ‘yung 8 pm tapos 12 midnight sarado na,” the resident said.

(I know we need to be careful, they are preventing the virus from spreading, but they should have given consideration. They should have given residents at least one day to plan, one whole day. Not announce at 8 p.m. and then close the barriers at midnight.)

GMA News has reached out to the local government of Parañaque, but calls were left unanswered.

And now here is a related news video also from GMA Network. Watch it closely…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFRpq0e8MIg

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What is your reaction about this latest development in Parañaque City? Are you able to relate with the complaints raised by the people living in the locked Annex 35 community? Do you believe that the City Government of Parañaque and the local DSWD were lacking (if not unprepared) with regards to manpower and efforts to provide sufficient supplies to the Annex 35 residents? What do you think will help prevent food from getting spoiled? Do all of these somehow impact your personal beliefs about the power of the local government unit (LGU) over residential communities that already have their own community management?

If you are a resident of Annex 35 reading this, what else should the City Government and DSWD do to make your lives easier apart from supplying your essential needs? Are you searching for charitable organizations out there to provide you assistance?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673

Step-by-step MGCQ for the Philippines?

Step-by-step MGCQ for the Philippines?

carlocarrasco

By now, it has been made clear that the Philippines won’t shift to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) because President Rodrigo Duterte wants vaccination for COVID-19 to happen first. To put it short, health and personal safety are being prioritized although this means more waiting on the part of many people who are still unemployed and struggling without the needed income.

Yesterday, a new report published by Philippine News Agency (PNA) states that Duterte is taking a “step-by-step” approaching to the planned shift to MGCQ for the nation according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles.

Here is an excerpt from the report…

“For him (Duterte), it’s a step-by-step approach. Itong step muna before we go to the next step (We have to take this step first before we go to the next step), Nograles said in an online press briefing.

Nograles said it was “difficult” for Duterte to turn down the proposed shift to MGCQ.

However, Duterte wants to make sure that people’s health and safety would not be compromised, Nograles said.

“Again, the President and the government recognize the urgency of reopening the economy so we can resume the pre-pandemic upward trajectory and sustained growth of the economy. This, however, should be done side-by-side with measures that will ensure that we do not compromise efforts to contain Covid-19,” he said.

As seen above, the national leadership is aware of the need for economic recovery so that people suffering can be assisted by means economic opportunities. They are balancing economics with health as they are trying to find solutions and decide when to execute solutions. Shifting the whole nation to MGCQ can be done but with caution so that the risk of new infections won’t be too great.

Here is another excerpt…

The government was supposed to start its free vaccination program this month. However, there was a delay in the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines due to indemnification requirements.

Nograles said the IATF-EID would stick to the “month-to-month” assessment even if the government starts its mass immunization drive.

“If we go by the procedure, every end of the month, that is when we discuss ano ‘yung magiging recommendations namin kay Pangulo (what our recommendations to the President would be) for that succeeding month. So siguro (perhaps), in terms of timeline, perhaps that might be the same procedure that we follow,” he said.

The delayed arrival of the COVID-19 vaccines is indeed painful. Of course, people need to realize that while they can be helpful, the vaccines may not be the greatest solution to take during this pandemic. Even if a person gets vaccinated, caution must still be practiced when moving around in public.

More on the issue of shifting the entire nation to MGCQ status, I hope that the Metro Manila mayors as well as their advisers and experts would start researching how local governments and community leaders in other cities and provinces are doing under the declared MGCQ statuses in their respective areas. With Duterte’s refusal to move the nation into MGCQ, Metro Manila leaders have time to do such research.

Going back to Duterte and his cabinet, a new executive order (EO) is being prepared to institutionalize the 2021-2022 National Employment Recovery Strategy (NERS) with the goal of bringing back jobs in the labor market. Here’s an excerpt from the Philippine News Agency report…

In a virtual presser, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the NERS was discussed and approved during the 52nd Cabinet meeting presided over by President Rodrigo Duterte at the Malacañan Palace on Monday night.

“Another initiative that was discussed yesterday (Monday) was the 2021-2022 National Employment Recovery Strategy or NERS…An executive order (EO) is now being readied to institutionalize the NERS task force in order to oversee all of these efforts,” he said.

Nograles said the NERS is meant to help create a policy environment that encourages the generation of more employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

It is also expected to improve the employability and productivity of workers as it provides support to existing and emerging businesses.

“The strategic framework of the NERS is based on the following pillars — stimulating the economy and employment; supporting enterprises, jobs, and income; protecting workers in the workplace, and trusting social dialogue to encourage innovative solutions,” he said.

Watch out for more national developments here.

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For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673