Press Release
POE: BALANCE REOPENING OF ECONOMY, SAVING LIVES
Saving lives and moderating economic damage require a balancing act amid the ongoing pandemic, Sen. Grace Poe said. A strong vaccination program should accompany the reopening of businesses, Poe stressed.
Pending the arrival of the vaccine, the senator stressed that concerned government agencies should be laying the groundwork for a smooth implementation of the inoculation program. This includes ensuring the preparedness of hospitals and other designated vaccination sites, training of personnel and vetting of master list of sectors and individuals who will be prioritized to get the doses.
Poe also earlier filed Senate Bill No. 1994 or the Vaccine Passport Act that seeks to issue free vaccine passports to individuals who have gotten the shots, including students, local workers and overseas Filipino workers.
(photo from Pixabay)
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, chairperson of the Senate panel, made the commitment on Thursday, Feb. 18, saying she will see to it that the resolutions filed by Senators Nancy Binay, Leila de Lima, Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, which all seek an investigation into these alarming teen pregnancies, are heard at the Senate immediately.
“The dramatic rise in teen pregnancies is a health emergency and a social injustice in and of itself. I support the Commission of Population (POPCOM) in their call for the government to declare this a social emergency,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“It is also of great consequence that the teen pregnancy prevention bill, I authored be discussed again at the Senate. I am willing to accept amendments to the bill so we can finally move forward,” she said.
Published February 18, 2021, 6:15 PM
Business organizations lauded the enactment of Financial Institutions Strategic Transfer (FIST) Act into law as timely stating the new law would further aid in the recovery of the Philippine economy, which has been battered by long lockdowns and quarantines due to the pandemic.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP), and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) issued separate statements of support to the signing of the FIST Act by President Duterte and its passage by Congress.
BAP said the passage and signing of the FIST Act into law is timely and will further strengthen the role of the financial industry in the economic recovery of the country.
The Philippines’ tally of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases rose to 555,163 on Thursday after the Department of Health (DOH) reported 1,744 new infections as six laboratories failed to submit data on time.