News Roundup 09 June 2022
Jun 09, 2022 • 4 min Read
Filipinos to ‘feel more’ of food crisis impact by last quarter, says DA chief | INQUIRER.NET – The impact of a looming food crisis in the country will be felt the most by October to December, the Department of Agriculture (DA) warned Thursday. DA Secretary William Dar earlier said that there is a looming food crisis in the country due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine-Russia conflict which triggered the rise in oil prices. In a Laging Handa public briefing, Dar was asked if the food crisis is being felt now. “We will feel more of that [in the] the last quarter of the year, that’s when you can feel most of the impact,” he responded. Dar pointed out that increasing local food production is key to addressing the impending crisis. “Inaprubahan ng ating mahal na Pangulo ‘yung (Our President approved the) Plant, Plant, Plant Program Part 2… Itong (This) Plant, Plant, Plant Program Part 2 is – the major objective is to increase local food production for major commodities that we have in the country,” he said. As Russia and Ukraine’s war disrupted global supply chains, restaurants in the country lamented about struggling to source supply and meet consumers’ demand. Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, said increasing food and energy prices could kill millions of people, noting that food shortages are the next global health crisis.
Teachers’ group joins call for suspension of Philhealth premium increase | INQUIRER.NET – A progressive teacher’s group on Thursday joined the calls for the suspension of the four percent premium hike of Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth) as workers bear the brunt of the surging inflation amid pandemic and overseas unrest. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) secretary general Raymond Basilio said the premium hike should be reviewed “as it is already too much a burden to workers and teachers.” “If implemented, the premium hike will take away more of our take-home pay, instead of giving us additional resources for our needs and that of our families,” Basilio said in a statement, claiming that some of the teachers only have ₱5,000 take-home pay after all their debts. The state insurer said that aside from the four percent premium rate collection starting June, PhilHealth members would also have to pay a one percent additional premium for the months of January until May. Basilio said, the premium increase translates to a previous ₱381.58 to ₱508.78 Philhealth monthly contributions of entry-level teachers. The difference from January to May will also be collected by June, for ₱1,017.56 for Philhealth contributions alone, he added.Bottom of Form The increase in contributions is provided under the Universal Health Care law, which mandates that the premium rate shall increase by increments of zero point five percent every year starting from three percent in 2020 until it reaches five percent. The premium contribution hike from three percent to three point five percent was supposed to be implemented in January 2021 but was deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several lawmakers like JV Ejercito and House Assistant Minority Leader Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas have also called for the suspension of Philhealth’s premium rate hike.
What will vloggers do in Marcos Jr.’s Malacañang? Incoming PCOO still unsure | PHILSTAR.COM – Press secretary-designate Trixie Cruz-Angeles, a vlogger herself, said accreditation of bloggers is one of the priorities of her office, but people at the office she will take over are apparently still uncertain what role social media personalities will play at the Palace. Angeles, who will head the Presidential Communications Operations Office, said Thursday that their focus now is on reviewing the policy created by Duterte administration on bloggers and vloggers, admitting that they are unsure “if now is the right time to include them” alongside accredited journalists from news outlets. “We are reviewing if the current policy is correct. If [it would be] right to include them in press briefings, how often, what are the qualifications and so on,” Cruz-Angeles said on ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo partly in Filipino. Among the questions she said they are trying to answer is the “level of inclusion” that bloggers and vloggers will have and whether they will be “regular” like the Malacañang Press Corps — a group of journalists from outlets accredited to cover the president. Vloggers might also be limited to covering events, and the PCOO is studying whether they will create separate events for social media personalities. “We still have to see and right now we are listening to all feedback,” Cruz-Angeles said. Among the things being considered by the PCOO is to also include social media engagements as a basis for accreditation, but even this is still up in the air as Cruz-Angeles describes qualifications to get a pass to cover Malacañang are “secondary considerations.” She said, however, that she personally thinks there are “significant differences” between journalists and social media personalities that PCOO would have to consider, but also noted that distinguishing between these two groups must not result in a policy which favors one over the other.
