News Roundup 03 July 2022
Jul 03, 2022 • 3 min Read
Active COVID-19 cases breach 9,000 mark; Metro Manila has most new cases | INQUIRER.NET – Active COVID-19 cases nationwide have surpassed 9,000, data from the Department of Health (DOH) showed. Based on DOH’s latest figures, the country registered an additional 1,302 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, raising the number of active infections to 9,105. The country logged more than 1,000 new cases for three consecutive days since June 30. The overall case count stands at 3,706,951. Meanwhile, total COVID-19 recoveries and the death toll are at 3,637,268 and 60,578, respectively. According to independent analytics group OCTA Research fellow Guido David, most of the fresh COVID-19 infections, or 625 cases, were recorded in Metro Manila.
DSWD to start distribution of P500 cash aid on Monday | INQUIRER.NET – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Sunday announced that the distribution of the P500 financial aid or the first tranche of the Targeted Cash Transfer (TCT) Program will start on Monday, July 4. According to DSWD Sec. Erwin Tulfo, it may take only around five to six days to deposit the cash aid to the cash cards of beneficiaries. “Tumawag po sa akin nitong Sabado si (Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) para kumustahin kung kailan maibibigay ang ayuda ng mga tao, sabi ko, ‘sa Lunes ng umaga po sir,’” Tulfo said in a statement.) (President Marcos called me this Saturday to ask when the cash aid will be released. I said, ‘on Monday morning sir’.) Tulfo said the agency aims to give the cash assistance to 12.4 million beneficiaries. “Makakatulong ang halagang ito para sa ating mga kababayan na mahihirap lalo na’t patuloy pa ring tumataas ang presyo ng mga bilihin dahil na rin sa krisis na kinahaharap ng buong mundo,” the secretary said. (The assistance will help our poor countrymen especially as the prices of goods continue to rise due to the current global crises.) On Friday, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) released P6.2 billion in monthly assistance to Filipinos who belong to the “low-income families” category. The TCT program covers 4 million families from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps); 6 million non-4Ps who were former beneficiaries of the Unconditional Cash Transfer Program; and 2.4 families on the DSWD’s poverty data. Beneficiaries will receive a P500 monthly cash subsidy for six months to be distributed in three tranches—or P1,000 per tranche.
Registration for barangay, SK elections begins on Monday | PHILSTAR.COM – The Commission on Elections is calling on qualified voters to register ahead of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections scheduled in December. Voters registration will kick off on Monday and will run until July 23. Comelec offices will be open from Monday to Saturday, even on holidays, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Barangay and SK elections will be held on December 5 although there were proposals in the 18th Congress to postpone them and instead use the money for COVID-19 response. Village elections are often postponed, with the last polls held in 2018. That means barangay officials have been on a holdover capacity since then. “Dahil maikli lang ang panahon ng pagrehistro para makatupad ang Comelec sa mga batas at alintuntunin ng halalan, hinihiling namin na huwag ng hintayin ang mga huling araw ng pagpapatala para makaseguro ng pagrehistro,” the poll body said in a statement Sunday. (Since the Comelec had to keep the registration period short to comply with the law and its responsibilities for the upcoming polls, we are asking that they don’t wait until the last minute to register.) Absent a law postponing the barangay and SK elections, the Comelec is constrained to prepare for them.
