By Luis V. Teodoro
The advent of a new year and the end of the old should be an occasion for assessing what has gone before as well as for looking into what could happen in the next. But the second task is more difficult than the first for being the opportunity for the usual cheer mongers to once more predict that despite its foundations in yesterday, tomorrow will inevitably be better for everyone.
The year 2020 has been unprecedented in the horrors it inflicted on this already prostrate country and its people. It practically began with a disaster the eruption of Taal Volcano on the 12
16 December, 2020On 30 November, trade unionists around the world joined a global day of action for the Philippines, holding protests in the streets and at Philippine embassies, calling on President Rodrigo Duterte to end the repression and killing of trade unionists. The Philippine government responded by arresting six trade unionists and a journalist on 10 December.
Trade unions around the world first took action on 10 December 2019, International Human Rights Day, to demand that the Philippine government end the red-tagging and extra-judicial killings of labour and human rights activists. But red-tagging - the blacklisting and harassment of individuals or groups seen as insufficiently loyal to the government – continues.
Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
MARITES A. SOTELO, 53, owns a small food store near a public school in Alicia, Isabela â scene of some of the worst Cagayan Valley floods after Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco) in November.
That means that on top of the pandemic, which deprived her of her clientele after the schools closed, Ms. Sotelo has had to deal with the economic damage done to her town by the typhoon, which caused the Cagayan River to overflow its banks â to the extent that she wishes for more government aid for small businesses.
Her plight, multiplied millions of times across the country, has helped create unprecedented demand for stimulus funds, with Congress enacting economic revival packages in the hundreds of billions of pesos. Meanwhile, economic managers have tried to persuade legislators to accept smaller amounts, citing limits to the resources available to the government.
Petition vs Leonen gains steam manilastandardtoday.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from manilastandardtoday.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
MANILA - The Philippines is seeing the start of a surge in coronavirus infections, with cases in about a dozen cities in the capital region rising, health officials warned on Thursday (Dec 17). There has been a continuous growth of cases in Metro Manila, signalling the start of a surge. It is not a question any more of if a surge will happen, but when and by how much, Health Undersecretary Rosario Vergeire told reporters.
She said people are increasingly gathering in thick crowds and flouting safety protocols to mark the Christmas holidays.
Data experts estimate that Covid-19 cases could spike, up to 4,000 a day, from a current average of less than 1,500, by end-January.