A vendor resumes selling his goods at the city’s main market, Bankerohan Public Market, as the city goes under general quarantine. Vendors shake off concerns that COVID-19 has infected one vendor as they are more concerned of their family’s survival. (Kath M. Cortez/davaotoday.com)
KODAO ASKS: Kung walang mass testing, mapipigilan kaya ang COVID-19 sa Pilipinas?
Sa mahigit dalawang buwan na pagpapatupad ng lockdown sa buong bansa dahil sa Covid 19, wala pa ring malawakang testing upang malaman talaga kung gaano kalala ang paglawak ng sakit sa mamamayan. Maraming grupo ang nanawagan na ipatupad ang mass testing na anila’y siyang tunay lulutas sa nasabing pandemya.
The post KODAO ASKS: Kung walang mass testing, mapipigilan kaya ang COVID-19 sa Pilipinas? appeared first on Kodao Productions.
Promote Forests for Health
We the public deserve a ‘Green New Normal’ beyond the COVID-19 crisis. Promoting forests for health, from rainforestation to urban rewilding, is a crucial solution to the coronavirus emergency, recovery, and post-pandemic new normal that we urgently need.
The post Promote Forests for Health appeared first on Kodao Productions.
Duterte urged to invest in agriculture as part of ‘new normal’
“Regional inequalities in the country can be reduced by providing economic dynamism in rural areas, which have lagged behind the urban areas and growth centers in the previous decades, leading to serious regional disparities.”
By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – With recession “sure to set in” following the COVID-19 pandemic, an economics professor has urged the Philippine government to take the so-called “new normal” as an opportunity to invest in agriculture and increase its productivity.
Economics professor Joseph Anthony Lim of the Ateneo de Manila University presented his paper during a recent webinar hosted by CURE COVID, saying that the recession will “further hit workers and employers that are already reeling from the lockdown and social distancing policies.”
“Regional inequalities in the country can be reduced by providing economic dynamism in rural areas, which have lagged behind the urban areas and growth centers in the previous decades, leading to serious regional disparities,” said Lim in a paper furnished to Bulatlat.
Farmers are reeling the impacts of COVID-19 and the lockdown in place that kept them from cultivating the land they till. This was coupled with the recent havoc wreaked by Typhoon Ambo, which women farmers group Amihan described as a double whammy for food producers, who have yet to receive due government aid.
Read: Typhoon Ambo and lockdown, double whammy for ‘food security workers’
At its worst
Ibon Foundation said the agriculture sector has suffered “worst” under the Duterte administration. In 2019, the agriculture sector only grew by 0.8 percent.
Read: Gov’t data show ‘downward trajectory’ in PH economy – think tank
The Duterte administration, too, has long been considered as the “poorest distributor of land” under the already flawed agrarian reform program.
Instead of pushing for a nationalized agricultural production and collective farming, Rosario Guzman of Ibon Foundation lamented that the Department of Agriculture has been egging on urban gardening or “survival farms.”
In the same webinar, Guzman stressed that investing on the agricultural sector will have a “lasting impact in the country’s food self-sufficiency.” This, too, will serve as backbone of the country’s manufacturing sector, which like agriculture, has also been lagging behind for decades.
New normal is rehashed neoliberal policies
Guzman pointed out that the Philippine government’s plan for post-COVID-19 is but “rehashed neoliberal policies” that are being implemented for so long. It is focused on consumption stimulus, trade, e-commerce, and individual survival.
She urged the government to stop land-use conversions, and to support free land distribution and collective land cultivation.
Apart from social protection, Guzman pushed for the condonation of farmers’ debts.
Lim, for his part, said that apart from improving agricultural production, the government should also strengthen linkages and supply chains towards industrialization “to stir up rural industries.”
The post Duterte urged to invest in agriculture as part of ‘new normal’ appeared first on Bulatlat.
DOH presser talks of starting to flatten the curve, “delaying the third wave” as early as May 6
Arguing that there is no flattening the curve and no second wave? But DOH has talked of starting to flatten the curve and delaying a third wave since May 6. But as early as May 6, the Department of Health (DOH) said in its press briefing that the Philippines is beginning to flatten the curve. […]
The post DOH presser talks of starting to flatten the curve, “delaying the third wave” as early as May 6 appeared first on Manila Today.
Doctors explain ‘mass testing’ for Roque, public’s benefit
Doctors call out Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque for misinformation by interpreting the “mass testing” for COVID-19 as testing all Filipinos. They challenged him to engage the public with science on raising their understanding on this issue.
Radio station condemns threats and attacks from LGU
“We will not agree to the harassment by the LGU. It is our duty to report truthfully and give the people accurate information as is their right. We do not agree that press freedom is a violation to the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,” RNG said in its statement.
The post Radio station condemns threats and attacks from LGU appeared first on Kodao Productions.
Typhoon Ambo and lockdown, double whammy for ‘food security workers’
Amihan said that areas hit by Ambo were the same areas where social amelioration programs of the government have been slow. These are Eastern Visayas, Bicol and Southern Tagalog, where many poor peasant families rely on farming and agriculture for a living.
By AARON MACARAEG
Bulatlat.com
MANILA– Peasant groups called for immediate government assistance for typhoon Ambo-affected communities, saying that COVID-19 anxiety and lockdown have burdened them too much.
The National Federation of Rural Women Amihan said the typhoon hit poor peasant families who were barred from their farms and other means of livelihood because of the lockdown. The peasant women organization said that the need for social amelioration from government is much more needed now.
Typhoon Ambo, with international name Vongfong, made its landfall with winds of at least 115 mph in Samar last week.
Among the areas Ambo struck were parts of the Visayas island, and most of Southern and Central Luzon as well as parts of Metro Manila.
Amihan said that areas hit by Ambo were the same areas where social amelioration programs of the government have been slow. These are Eastern Visayas, Bicol and Southern Tagalog, where many poor peasant families rely on farming and agriculture for a living.
Samar, which is among the ten poorest provinces in the country, was first to be devastated. Around 30 percent to 40 percent of the population live below P312 to P392 ($6.16 to $7.74) per day. In Bicol region, rural population is more than three fourths of the more than 4.4 million population. The poorest 340,000 families in the region live below P300 ($5.92) per day.
Zen Soriano, Amihan National Chairperson, urged the government to include the hard hit areas both by the typhoon and GCQ in the assistance program. She said the farmers must also be assisted to pump-prime agricultural production.
“There should be no debate on whether poor peasants in the affected regions need assistance, when they actually need, in any normal situation sans pandemic and typhoons. We should also note they are usually victims of typhoons, and they are yet to recover from the damages brought about by past calamities,” Soriano said.
Soriano cited earlier natural and man-made calamities such as typhoon Usman in December 2018; El Niño (drought season) whole-year round of 2019; Typhoon Tisoy (Kammuri) in December 2019; the African swine flu (ASF) and bird flu livestock and poultry epidemic, and now, COVID-19 lockdown.
Amihan, in early days of social amelioration distribution, demanded P10,000 cash assistance and P15,000 production subsidy for peasant families affected by the lockdown.
Reds call for humanitarian aid for farmers
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) has also called on humanitarian organizations to provide socio-economic relief to Filipinos in rural areas.
“The damages are especially extensive over the eastern and northern provinces of Samar, where entire towns were inundated and left without access to clean water and supplies. The toiling masses are suffering the most as the typhoon damaged their farmlands, boats and other means of production,” the CPP said in a statement to the media.
The CPP vowed that its revolutionary forces will assist private agencies, and even government programs “to make sure that supplies and services are quickly delivered to those who require urgent assistance.”
The post Typhoon Ambo and lockdown, double whammy for ‘food security workers’ appeared first on Bulatlat.