Education sector to lose over P11 trillion over next 40 years due to COVID-19: NEDA

Losses for the school year 2020 to 2021 are estimated to be at P230 billion and P10.8 trillion in the next 10 to 40 years or a total estimated cost of COVID-19 on education at P11.025 trillion over the next 40 years, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) data showed.  NEDA said the computation is based on at least one full year of school closure and a less effective online and module-based learning and its impact for over 40 years or the average working life of a person.

Duterte OK’s pilot test of in-person classes

Philippine President Rodrigo R. Duterte has approved a pilot test of limited in-person classes in areas with a low number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases. Education Secretary Leonor M. Briones said in a televised briefing that only 100 public schools and 20 private institutions will participate in the pilot test. Secretary Briones said the pilot test will be done in low-risk areas based on the Department of Health’s (DoH) criteria and which have passed the safety assessment of the Education department. The pilot test will be conducted with a combination of face-to-face classes in school and distance learning for two months. In-person classes will be conducted half-day every other week.

Senate ratifies bicam on retail trade

Senators approved the Bicameral Conference Committee report on the conflicting provisions of Senate Bill No. 1840 and House Bill No. 59, which amends the 20-year-old Retail Trade Liberalization Act. This is one of the three priority economic measures being pushed by the government and foreign business groups. The House of Representatives has yet to ratify the bicameral report as of Monday. Once approved, it will be sent to Malacañang for President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s signature.

Go slow on utility tag in PSA, senators told

In a joint statement, several foreign chambers welcomed the Senate’s bill amending the Public Services Act (PSA), which is still under deliberation. The business groups warned the Senate about tagging many sectors as a public utility because these will be subject to 40-percent foreign equity restrictions. The bill is expected to encourage investments that can generate jobs, support infrastructure and boost economic recovery of the country amid the pandemic.

It’s official: Delta is now dominant virus strain in PHL

The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday reported the detection of an additional 319 Delta (B.1.617.2) variant cases, 9 Beta (B.1.351) variant cases, 13 Alpha (B.1.1.7) variant cases, in the latest batch of whole genome sequencing conducted by the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center (UP-PGC). Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that of the latest (September 18) run comprising 374 samples, 85.3 percent were Delta; Beta, 2.4 percent, Alpha, 3.5 percent. Vergeire said this makes the Delta variant now the most common lineage (24.2 percent) among the 12,530 samples with lineage that were sequenced nationally.

House opens deliberations on ₧5-T budget for 2022

The House of Representatives starts today (September 21) the plenary deliberations on the P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022, with the target approval by end of the month. House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Eric Go Yap said he will now ask the Office of the President to issue an urgent certification to expedite the approval of the 2022 budget. With this certification, the Congress dispenses with the three-day rule for the passage of a measure.

House approves creatives industry development bill on third reading

Legislators unanimously approved a House bill on third reading which seeks to make the creative industry more competitive in Southeast Asia. Voting 175-0 with 0 abstentions, the chamber approved House Bill 10107, or the proposed Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, on third reading. The measure seeks to establish the Philippine Creative Industry Development Council under the Department of Trade and Industry that will be responsible for promoting the development of creative content and protecting creators from intellectual property rights encroachment.

Philippines ranks 8th in global COVID-19 cases

Based on the JHU Dashboard, the Philippines was in eighth place with 527,114 COVID-19 cases in the last 29 days and 2,366,749 total cases as of Sept. 19. The other Asian countries that made it to the top 20 of the COVID-19 table in the past 28 days are Malaysia at seventh with 542,737 cases; Thailand at 10th with 432,620; Japan at 11th with 390,827; Vietnam 13th with 340,316 and Indonesia at 17th with 221,481 cases.

PH in fourth, ‘most severe’ COVID-19 wave – Philippine College of Physicians

The Philippines is experiencing its fourth and “most severe” wave of COVID-19 infections without any sign of the virus spread slowing down, the president of the Philippine College of Physicians warned. The current positivity rate, or the number of infected among tested individuals, was just too high at nearly 30 percent, as opposed to only 5 percent to indicate a situation is under control. Dr. Maricar Limpin said Delta was the most virulent so far and highly transmissible, with some fully vaccinated healthcare workers still succumbing to the disease.

BSP lowers balance of payments projections

The Monetary Board has approved the revised BoP projections for 2021 and 2022. The BoP is now projected to yield a surplus of $4.1 billion or equivalent to 1.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), significantly lower than the previous forecast of a $7.1 billion surplus (1.8% of GDP).  The BoP gives a glimpse of the country’s transactions with the rest of the world at a given time. A deficit reflects more funds fleeing the country than what went in, while a surplus means more money entered the economy.  

DoTr seeks exemption from public works ban

The Department of Transportation (DoTr) is asking the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to exempt its infrastructure projects, including the long-awaited Mindanao railway, from the public works ban ahead of the election season. The Comelec said public works ban for the May national elections will run from March 25 to May 8, 2022. The public works ban covers disbursement and spending as well as construction activity. This is aimed at preventing politicians from using state resources for their election campaign. If the Comelec does grant an exemption for DoTr projects, the construction of the first phase of the Mindanao Railway project is expected to start in April 2022, project manager Clipton J. Solamo said.

Distressed airlines seek mobility for vaxxed

In a joint statement sent to the media by Philippine Airlines (PAL), aviation players PAL, Cebu Pacific, and AirAsia said they have met with Department of Health (DOH) Adviser Edsel Salvana with Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion to air their concerns about the industry. Collectively, they are asking for “increased mobility among the vaccinated within the transport sector.” Among these rules that they hope can be done away with are the multiple requirements for traveling, especially for domestic destinations, and expensive testing as most destinations require an RT-PCR test and the long quarantines for arriving passengers from international flights.

IT-BPM firms allowed to move duty-free equipment to support WFH staff

Information technology and business process management firms in special economic zones will be allowed to deploy equipment—previously prohibited from being removed from company premises due to their duty-free status —to support the bulk of their employees’ work from home schemes. Thus said the Fiscal Incentives Review Board (FIRB) which recently released guidelines allowing IT and BPM enterprises in economic zones to adopt a 90-percent work-from-home arrangement until March 31, 2022 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Digital shift to strengthen post-COVID PH recovery, says BSP chief

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will continue promoting the digitization of financial products and services in the Philippines as part of its broader effort to foster a resilient “post-COVID-19 economy”, the head of the agency said recently. Governor Benjamin Diokno said the central bank launched the Digital Payments Transformation Roadmap for 2020-2023 last year. Under this program, the BSP aims to strengthen customer preference for digital payments by converting 50 percent of total volume of retail payments into digital form, and expanding the number of the financially included to 70 percent of Filipino adults by giving them access to the formal financial system using payment or transaction accounts.

171 Metro Manila areas under granular lockdown

Citing figures from the Philippine National Police (PNP), Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said in a radio interview that 171 “small areas” within several barangays across Metro Manila are under granular lockdown. PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Ronaldo Olay said over 244 police personnel have been sent to 93 barangays under lockdown. The granular system enables local government units to declare lockdowns in limited public spaces and buildings like a house or a specific number thereof, housing compound or a street with high cases of COVID-19.