COVID-19 Crisis: Toyota Philippines Donates Vios to Ospital ng Muntinlupa

In support of the local health workers handling the daily operations of the Ospital ng Muntinlupa (OsMun), Toyota Motor Philippines formally donated one unit of its popular car, the Vios. Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, OsMun director Dr. Edwin Dimatatac, and City Administrator Engr. Allan Cachuela personally received the service vehicle from TMP Chief Physician Dr. Laennec Baquiran, TMP execs Dr. Jojo Cruz and Allen Rufo on September 9.

The Toyota Vios donated to Ospital ng Muntinlupa. (source – Muntinlupa PIO)

In return, the City Government of Muntinlupa extended its gratitude to Toyota Motor Philippines for its valuable assistance to improve the local COVID-19 response efforts. The donated Toyota Vios will be used by OsMun as a service vehicle.

As of September 9, Muntinlupa City has 3,743 confirmed cases with 2,913 recoveries, 702 active cases, 128 reported deaths, 523 suspect cases, and 595 probable cases.

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Latest City Government of Muntinlupa details sourced from their official media release. Some parts were edited for this website.

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The 7th death anniversary of Antonio P. Antonio

It has been seven years since prominent BF Homes resident and business tycoon Antonio P. Antonio died as a result of a tragedy that happened at his family’s home. It all happened on September 11, 2013 when Antonio (referred to as Tonton by his friends and associates) was shot several times by his son Nelson after their private meeting at Villa Antonio and, after a desperate attempt to get him treated at Asian Hospital in Alabang, passed away at age 63. Antonio has been buried at Everest Hills Memorial Park in Tunasan, Muntinlupa City, where friends and family members pay their respect to him each whenever his death anniversary passes.

His son, the suspect Nelson, is still being tried in court in Parañaque City for the charge of parricide. The trial has yet to conclude.

His other children – Xialen, Vladimir and Lenin to name a few – have taken over the family business left behind.

Prominent in BF Homes and overseas

The late Antonio P. Antonio.

The late Antonio P. Antonio was well established with many community leaders and personalities in BF Homes subdivision (which itself is part of Parañaque, Muntinlupa and Las Piñas). Apart from being highly successful in the world of business, Antonio served as a director as well as president of the old federation United BF Homeowners Association, Inc. (UBFHAI).

Over in Japan, Antonio P. Antonio has his own OHAKA tombstone in a cemetery in Odawara. This is in relation to his being honored by his Japanese business associates who trusted and believe in him very much. He is the only GAIJIN or foreigner to have a tombstone in the mentioned cemetery and it is a high honor for the Japan to do to a friend.

Remembering the father

On behalf of the family, Xialen Antonio shared some insights about their father and how the family turned out over the past seven years.

“I can only say that life hasn’t been easy without our father, his demise simply put us in a chaotic life. Eventually, life paved the way on how we can deal with our loss. Our lifestyle has changed dramatically and it only made us humble before the LORD,” Xialen stated.

When asked what she missed the most from her father, she pointed to his presence, his sense of calm, and protection towards adversities. Xialen’s siblings simply adapted ways to build resilience especially in trying times. The tragedy, unsurprisingly, compelled them to adjust themselves and live on.

Justice pursued

As mentioned earlier, justice for the father is being pursued by Xialen and her family. The parricide trial of Nelson Antonio is continues to be held at Branch 257 of the Parañaque Regional Trial Court (RTC). The status of the trial is as follows…

“We are down to the cross examination of our last witness which will happen very soon. We can never be confident until we finish this trial and there are still obstacles in fighting for the Justice of APA. But then I have put our faith in our justice system, the local government, the police, the media and with the help of the community that put focus and attention to this case,” Xialen stated.

What led to the trial

When tragedy struck on September 11, 2013, Antonio P. Antonio was seen wounded and bleeding shortly after the shooting. His son Vladimir and their driver rushed him to the Asian Hospital in Alabang in an attempt to save his life. Before passing away, the former UBFHAI president told Vladimir that it was Nelson who shot him with a gun.

Back in BF Homes, suspect Nelson arrived at the Philippine National Police (PNP) sub-station along Elsie Gatches street, Parañaque City to surrender himself. Based on the written Investigation Report at the Las Piñas City PNP signed by three officers (SPO2 Edmund Alfonso, PO2 Christian C. Yanga and PO2 Mark Billy S. Carbonell), Nelson’s arrest from the Parañaque PNP sub-station was confirmed. This meant sending a Las Pinas police team to fetch the suspect at the Parañaque sub-station. What was noticeable, however, was that the report had no indication of the recovery of the firearm that was used in killing the father.

Because of the fact that the Antonio residence occupied the border of the cities of Paranaque and Las Pinas, there was confusion with regards to jurisdiction. In fact, police officers from both cities visited the site of incident. Suspect Nelson was turned over to the police of Las Piñas. A release order dated September 27, 2013 was issued by Las Pinas City Prosecutor Zelica Longcob due to the lack of jurisdiction.

After much struggle over the issue of jurisdiction, the case for parricide was tossed back to legal system in Parañaque, specifically at Branch Number 257 of the local Regional Trial Court. On February 27, 2014, Branch 257 Judge Roland G. How issued a Warrant of Arrest for Nelson who was charged with parricide (Criminal Case Number 14-0222). By the time the order was made, the suspect was already overseas. According to flight records, Nelson left December 28, 2013 for Singapore.

On February 16, 2018, Nelson Antonio was arrested in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This was the result of a particular overseas Filipino worker (OFW) who saw an investigative report on television (aired December 2017) which exposed the suspect. The OFW recognized Nelson and contacted the Philippine police attache to arrest him. Eventually an international arrest warrant (the Interpol Red Notice) was issued by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) which alerted the police force in the UAE.

Escorted by law enforcers, Nelson Antonio arrived here in the Philippines on April 30, 2018.

Xialen’s message to the readers

“Our family would like to seek the support from our community to help us fight for Justice for APA. We want to be the living example of how we can attain TRUE JUSTICE during these unprecedented times. May we request everyone to pray for this and let this be a community standard of a wonderful collaboration among all sectors that are involved.”

An official portrait of the late Antonio P. Antonio.

For more updates, follow Justice for APA at https://www.facebook.com/JusticeforAPA

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COVID-19 Crisis: Muntinlupa reports COVID-19 response efforts in National Task Force Against COVID-19 Team visit

(From left to right) Muntinlupa Councilor Raul Corro, DOH Undersecretary and CZAR Treatment Leopoldo Vega, Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Deputy Chief Implementer Against COVID-19 Sec. Vince Dizon, and DILG Asec. Francisco Cruz. (source – Muntinlupa PIO)

Mayor Jaime Fresnedi presented local programs and best practices in Muntinlupa City towards curbing COVID-19 during the National Task Force Against COVID-19 Team visit and launching of the Barangay Disiplina Brigades in the city yesterday.

The Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) Team, headed by the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), organized a meeting with the City Government officials to discuss the strategies, intervention methods and good practices against COVID-19 at the Plaza Central in Barangay Poblacion.

Fresnedi reported local initiatives for testing, tracing, and treatment such as the construction of the city’s molecular laboratory, testing efforts, construction of additional isolation facilities, and contact tracing, among others.

He extended his thanks to “Big Brother” Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade for his assistance to Muntinlupa and expediting national government services in the city. Recently, Tugade was assigned to the city to monitor its health system performance, critical care capacity, and stringent compliance to surveillance, isolation, and treatment protocols.

For his part, Secretary Tugade lauded Muntinlupa’s existing processes, policies, facilities, and equipped personnel working towards the fight against COVID-19.

“After working with the City Government officials for two weeks, I can say that Muntinlupa is doing well in terms of its response efforts and there is only little work that we need to add,” Tugade said.

Also attending the meeting were Deputy Chief Implementer Against COVID-19 Sec. Vince Dizon, DOH Undersecretary and CZAR Treatment Leopoldo Vega, DILG Asec. Francisco Cruz, DILG exec Robin Lim, National Incident Command exec Dr. Ofelia Saniel, Muntinlupa City Health Officer Dra. Teresa Tuliao, Ospital ng Muntinlupa director Dr. Edwin Dimatatac, and City Councilor Raul Corro.

The NTF also donated face masks, personal protective equipment, and hygiene kits to the City Government.

While, Sec. Dizon committed to donate one RT-PCR machine to Muntinlupa’s Molecular Laboratory following its accreditation with DOH. The additional equipment is set to double the laboratory’s capacity from 200 tests to 400 tests per day. Last August, Sec. Tugade also donated one unit of ambulance to the local health office.

The NTF Team promoted the One Hospital and said that the City Government may refer patients to the facility. Sec. Tugade added that hotel establishments in Muntinlupa are being studied to be converted as isolation facilities following the mandatory self-isolation of residents in the city after undergoing COVID-19 swab tests.

Recently, Muntinlupa City Council approved an ordinance ordering the mandatory quarantine, or admission to city isolation facilities if requirements for home quarantine are not met as certified by the City Health Office (CHO), for anyone who have undergone COVID-19 swab testing.

The local council also signed an ordinance mandating the daily reporting by all hospitals, laboratory, and diagnostic clinics of all COVID-19 related cases to the City Health Office.

Further, the oath-taking of Barangay Disiplina Brigades (BDB) established by the DILG and DOH was also launched in the event in support of the joint national advocacy program called, ‘BIDA ang May Disiplina: Solusyon sa COVID-19’.

The BDB BIDA Ambassadors shall promote self-discipline to the communities in keeping their families safe, as well as in safeguarding the country from the virus.

As of September 3, Muntinlupa City has 3,465 confirmed cases with 2,634 recoveries, 709 active cases, 122 reported deaths, 486 suspect cases, and 690 probable cases, with a doubling rate of 14.63 days.

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Latest City Government of Muntinlupa details sourced from their official media release. Some parts were edited for this website.

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 distorted views and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments.

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) executives visit Muntinlupa City for 2020 Census

Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) executives visit Muntinlupa City for 2020 Census: Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) execs, led by PSA-NCR Chief Statistical Specialist Estrella Vargas, paid a courtesy visit to Mayor Jaime Fresnedi last September 3 to discuss the roll-out of the 2020 Census of Population and Housing (CPH) in Muntinlupa City. Vargas extended the agency’s gratitude to the local government for its assistance for this year’s census. Fresnedi said Muntinlupa City will continue to support programs being implemented by the National Government. Also attending the coordination meeting were Muntinlupa City Planning and Development Officer Alvin Veron EnP, CPDO Planning Officer Mildred Andaleon, PSA Statistical Specialists Minerva Carpio and Judirisa Baluran, PSA Census Area Supervisor Rosario Labuguen, and PSA Team Supervisor Noel Regala. (source – Muntinlupa PIO)

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Latest City Government of Muntinlupa details sourced from their official media release. Some parts were edited for this website.

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 distorted views and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments.