News Roundup 21 July 2022
Jul 21, 2022 • 4 min Read
Robredo revives Bayanihan e-Konsulta as COVID-19 cases rise | PHILSTAR.COM – Bayanihan e-Konsulta, a teleconsultation program initiated by former Vice President Leni Robredo in response to the pandemic during her term, is making a comeback through her Angat Buhay NGO. “Because of the rising COVID cases here, Bayanihan e-Konsulta will reopen!” Robredo announced in Filipino on her Facebook page. The response from people who want to volunteer had been overwhelming, with Robredo reporting on Twitter that 1,100 have signed up to join Bayanihan e-Konsulta’s revival. Robredo initially called for only 50 non-medical volunteers and 40 medical volunteers who will man the teleconsultation platform remotely from their homes and on their own devices. “The spirit of volunteerism is alive and well,” she said. She said, however, that more volunteers may be needed depending on the number of requests on Bayanihan e-Konsulta. Those who wish to be non-medical volunteers can sign up through bit.ly/ABekonsulta, while medical volunteers can sign up through bit.ly/ABekonsultadocs. Bayanihan e-Konsulta was first launched in April 2021 following a rise in COVID-19 cases that resulted in another lockdown in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces, which made medical access difficult. The teleconsultation service had to be paused during the campaign period as Robredo ran for president and her office sought permission from the Commission on Elections to continue their pandemic response programs. The poll body granted an exemption to the Office of the Vice President in March, which allowed it to resume Bayanihan e-Konsulta and other responses to COVID-19. A month before she stepped down from office, the OVP announced that Bayanihan e-Konsulta, which assisted thousands of patients, would be shut down to give way for the transition to the leadership of Vice President Sara Duterte.
DSWD’s ‘Makapili’-style reward system opposed | INQUIRER.NET – The plan of Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo to expose undeserving beneficiaries of the government’s cash aid program could just pit neighbor against neighbor, similar to the ways of the much-loathed “Makapili” spies during the Japanese occupation, one of his predecessors said on Wednesday. Tulfo on Tuesday said one way to “clean” the list of beneficiaries of the poverty reduction measure for the poorest of the poor Filipino families called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) was to offer a reward of P1,000 for every unqualified beneficiary pinpointed by anyone. A tipster can report as many ineligible aid recipients as he can to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) hotline or to its official Facebook page, but each one has to be verified by social workers before the reward is paid. That bounty system could well be a segment of his older brother and senator Raffy’s public service show on YouTube, “Raffy Tulfo in Action,” or his eldest brother Ramon’s former television show “Isumbong Mo Kay Tulfo” where people seek help from the tough-talking former Inquirer columnist. But two former social welfare secretaries, a senator, and an urban poor community leader don’t believe it’s a great plan as it would only sow division among neighbors. Such a plan “might” help but it would not be a good idea overall, according to Esperanza Cabral, who headed the DSWD from 2005 to 2009. “It will pit members of the community against each other much like what happened in WW (World War) II with the Makapili,” Cabral told the Inquirer on Wednesday. The Makapili, or the Makabayang Katipunan ng mga Pilipino, was a militant pro-Japanese movement. Its members received military training and worked as soldiers or spies for the Japanese. Judy Taguiwalo, a former activist who served a little more than a year as DSWD secretary during the Duterte administration, said Tulfo’s plan was “problematic” and would just intimidate impoverished families. “It comes across as striking fear. So, why does it have to be that way? It’s like having a basic assumption that the unqualified ones are going into hiding and that you have to smoke them out,” she said.
ADB slashes Asia growth forecast as fuel, food prices rise | INQUIRER.NET – The Asian Development Bank on Thursday slashed its 2022 growth forecast for developing Asia and warned economic conditions could worsen, as the war in Ukraine and supply chain disruptions drive up prices. While the impact of Covid-19 had eased, the region was now grappling with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, lockdowns in China and aggressive interest rate hikes, the Philippines-based bank said. To reflect the deterioration across developing Asia — which stretches from the Cook Islands in the Pacific to Kazakhstan in Central Asia — the bank cut its 2022 growth forecast to 4.6 percent. That compares with its previous prediction in April of 5.2 percent and the 6.9 percent growth chalked up last year. It also increased its inflation forecast for the region this year to 4.2 percent, from 3.7 percent, due to surging food and fuel prices. Risks to the outlook “remain elevated”, the bank warned. “A substantial slowdown in global growth could hurt exports, manufacturing activity and employment prospects, and cause turbulence in financial markets,” it said.
