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Social amelioration program, inadequate, slow

“More and more Filipino families will be pushed into deeper poverty under the COVID-19 lockdown if government does not speed up and significantly expand socioeconomic relief and response to reach all those needing assistance.”

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – It has been a month since Luzon was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), and life has been difficult for Reina Sibulo, 37, a mother of two from Muntinlupa City.

Sibulo’s income from her online business has been limited since the lockdown. What makes it even tougher for her is that her husband, who is working in the Middle East, has not been able to send money for almost two months now because of the lockdown.

Even as her in-laws help them in their food needs and they receive relief packs from the local government, it’s still a challenge to make ends meet.

“It’s difficult since I can’t do meet ups as often as before. Delivery of goods is being hampered in checkpoints. So we are really saving, such as stretching our lunch to dinner,” she said in an online interview with Bulatlat.

The emergency subsidy or the social amelioration package (SAP) of the government could somehow help Sibulo but the form which was given to her has no code bar and only a photocopy. According to guidelines issued by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), photocopied forms are not valid.

Under the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, at least P200 billion shall be allocated for subsidy of 18 million low-income households affected by the ECQ. They will receive an emergency subsidy amounting to P5,000 to P8,000 each for two months.

The DSWD said those eligible for aid are informal workers, subcontracted workers, public transportation drivers (pedicab, tricycle, PUVs, TNVS), house helpers, micro-entrepreneurs and producers, family enterprise owners, sub-minimum wage owners, farmers, employees affected by the no-work, no-pay policy, stranded workers, other household members belonging to the vulnerable sectors such as senior citizens, persons with disabilities, pregnant and lactating women, solo parents, distressed overseas Filipino workers, indigent indigenous peoples and homeless individuals.

Sibulo, whose livelihood has been affected because of the ECQ, should have been eligible but since she was not given a valid forms, she would not be getting the much-needed SAP.

Quota system

Contrary to House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s pronouncement, not everyone would receive aid. For every municipality, the DSWD only allotted a definite number of families, or what local officials referred to as the quota system.

In Muntinlupa, only 58,836 households will receive SAP, or just 59 percent of the total households in the city.

This explains why some families, even if affected by the quarantine did not receive social amelioration cards or forms.

Many local government units complained of the said quota system.

In Angono, Rizal, only 39 percent of the 30,000 households would receive subsidy from the DSWD.

Richard Gappi, Arts and Culture Officer of the municipality of Angono and editor of Angono Rizal News Online said, “May allotted na dami/bilang po per bayan, like sa Rizal. Tapos sabi nyo po dagdagan ang forms. Magpapaxerox? E coded ang forms at may serial number,” Gappi said in a Facebook post addressed to Cayetano. (There is an allotted number per municipality like Rizal. Then you said, increase the number of forms. To have it photocopied? But the forms are coded and have serial numbers.

He added that Cayetano’s declaration has only caused chaos, confusion and quarrel among the residents.

Conn Reazo, a barangay worker in Muntinlupa, described their distribution of forms as chaotic. Many are furious or frustrated upon learning they would not get SAP. Some are contractual workers hired by the agencies or BPO employees. Many are also asking why they are not being included when Cayetano said that everyone will receive the cash aid.

In one area, the distribution of forms was put on hold thrice because of chaos.

“As much as we want to give them forms so they can receive cash aids we cannot do that. We know how difficult their situation is but the forms are limited that is why we need to prioritize,” she told Bulatlat in an online interview.

Slow-paced assistance

Now into the fifth week of ECQ, many are still waiting for the cash aid.

Based on the President Duterte’s recent report to the Joint Oversight Committee on the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act, only 4,.37 million beneficiaries out of the 18 million targeted beneficiaries have received the cash aid.

“This means that, after nearly one month under lockdown, only around one-fourth of the target has been reached, and that the latest figure only slightly increased from last week’s total number of beneficiaries despite the clamor to expedite government efforts,” said Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago.

Independent think tank Ibon Foundation also noted that these number is way below the number of targeted beneficiaries.

Ibon noted that no additional beneficiaries were given emergency subsidies since the 3.7 million reported by the Duterte administration last week.

Residents of District 2, Quezon City line up in DSWD office in Quezon City to submit list of SAP beneficiaries of the government. (Photo courtesy of Pinoy Weekly)

The number of workers assisted by the DOLE is just 1.7 percent of 10.7 million workers.

The number of informal workers assisted, meanwhile, is only 2.3 percent of 5.2 million non-agricultural informal earners.

The number of assisted drivers is just nine percent of the targeted 435,000 drivers. The farmers who have received cash assistance is only 3.3 percent of the Ibon-estimated 9.7 million farmers, farm workers and fisherfolk needing assistance.

“The ambitious targets as well as snail-paced and measly socioeconomic response into the fifth week of lockdown only affirms government’s continued indifference and negligence, especially towards the poorest and most vulnerable,” Ibon said.

They added that “more and more Filipino families will be pushed into deeper poverty under the COVID-19 lockdown if government does not speed up and significantly expand socioeconomic relief and response to reach all those needing assistance.” (https://www.bulatlat.com)

The post Social amelioration program, inadequate, slow appeared first on Bulatlat.

Karapatan: Stop the delays, stop the excuses, release political prisoners now!

No more excuses and no more delays for the release of political prisoners, human rights group Karapatan strongly asserted, as the Supreme Court (SC) is set to deliberate today, April 17, on the petition seeking the temporary release of sick and elderly detainees to combat the spread of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic inside the country’s highly congested prisons.

read more

SOUNDBYTES: Atty. Krissy Conti on the release of political prisoners amid COVID-19

PANOORIN: Bakit kailangang palayain ang political prisoners sa panahon ng #COVID19?

The post SOUNDBYTES: Atty. Krissy Conti on the release of political prisoners amid COVID-19 appeared first on AlterMidya.

Philhealth’s COVID-19 package means more debt for middle-income, poor patients

This means that only those with mild pneumonia could be fully covered by PhilHealth. Those with moderate, severe and critical pneumonia will have to shell out payments from their own pockets, ranging from 35 percent to 88 percent for an eight-day confinement. For severe and critical pneumonia, Philhealth will only cover nine percent to 21 percent of the total cost for a 16-day hospitalization.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – With the new “package” for COVID-19 patients offered by the Philippine government’s health insurance system, groups have expressed concerns on its impact on poor communities and low-income families as the country continues to grapple with the spread of the pandemic.

In a statement, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro said families who barely have enough to buy food and even middle-income earning families cannot afford to shoulder the costs of hospitalization and treatment that COVID-19 entails as hospital bills can reportedly go as much as P3.8 million.

“With that cost, there would be people who would be more afraid of the cost for its testing and treatment of COVID-19 than being infected by the virus,” said Castro.

Per its Advisory No. 2020-022, PhilHealth said it will shoulder the full cost of treatment of all COVID-19 patients due to the “novelty and the wide range of severity of the disease,” for which they have no existing case rate or package. Medical expenses of both public and private health workers, meanwhile, will still be shouldered even after April 14.

Philhealth will offer the new case rates for COVID-19 patients who will be admitted to hospital care starting April 15, an official explained in a DZBB interview.

Last month, PhilHealth announced that it will release P30 billion to hospitals in its fight against the deadly virus. On Monday, the government health insurance system said it has released over P8 billion out of the P30 billion budget. But the per-case rate must be pursued to provide “some sustainability” to the anti-COVID-19 campaign as they do not know “how long this pandemic is going to last,” said its president Ricardo Morales.

Under this scheme, reimbursements are provided through predetermined fixed rates for specific diseases.

The packages for COVID-19 treatment, however, are a far cry to the reported costs of hospitalization.

News reports say that COVID-19 hospitalization can go from P93,000 for an eight-day confinement to as much as P3.8 million for a 16-day stay at the hospital.

This means that only those with mild pneumonia could be fully covered by Philhealth. Those with moderate, severe and critical pneumonia will have to shell out payments from their own pockets, ranging from 35 percent to 88 percent for an eight-day confinement. For severe and critical pneumonia, Philhealth will only cover nine percent to 21 percent of the total cost for a 16-day hospitalization.

“How does government expect to stop the further spread of the virus if the people are more afraid of the medical cost for testing and treatment of COVID-19 than the virus itself?” said Castro, adding that without mass testing, proper quarantine, and medical support to the people, she said that affected families will be buried in huge debt and the government will not likely “succeed in defeating this virus.”

Case rates means higher out-of-pocket spending

Since 2011, when PhilHealth’s health financing shifted to “case rate,” health advocacy groups pointed out that the scheme resulted in increased out-of-pocket expenses for patients.

PhilHealth first introduced case rates that will aim to provide “optimal financial protection” through consistent and fixed rates of benefits through its Circular No. 21 series of 2011. Two years later, it came up with another circular that is aimed to eventually phase out the fee-for-service mechanism.

Read: Offer free health services, not PhilHealth coverage — health groups

According to the 2018 Philippine Health Systems Review published by the World Health Organization, PhilHealth reimburses 30 percent to 60 percent of the hospital cost, leaving 40 percent to 70 percent for patients to bear.

In 2018, the per capita health spending in the Philippines increased by 8.3 percent. This translates to a total of about P413 billion out-of-pocket expenses that Filipinos spent for health-related concerns or about P7,496 per person.

These out-of-pocket spending were mostly spent on pharmacies and private hospitals.

Still, amid a pandemic, the Philippine government, through Philhealth, has shifted its health financing to a per-case scheme. It has issued a list of case rate packages and a separate circular detailing case-based payment for COVID testing.

 

Not responsive to public health system

Santiago Dasmariñas Jr., secretary general of Courage, a nationwide union of government workers, said the public health system “remains at a pitiful level,” especially with PhilHealth providing limited funding now for COVID-19 patients when the mass testing is set to start this week.

At least 65 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases were brought to private hospitals, as of March 20, according to independent think-tank Ibon Foundation. This, Ibon said, shows how the government has passed on the “duty of caring for these patients” even as insurance claims are “too low for them.”

“The passing on of big private hospitals to government hospitals shows how profit-oriented the Philippine health care system is and how DOH [Department of Health] willingly bows down to the demands of these big private hospitals,” Ibon Foundation said in its earlier report. (https://www.bulatlat.com)

Infographics by Alyssa Mae Clarin

The post Philhealth’s COVID-19 package means more debt for middle-income, poor patients appeared first on AlterMidya.

Kin, supporters utilize social media in a bid to #FreePoliticalPrisonersPH

“As threats of the COVID-19 worsen day after day, congestion in prison facilities poses great risks to the health of prisoners, who, contrary to the government’s stand, are in no way safe from the dangers of the pandemic.”

By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Different groups and individuals took to social media their call to release prisoners to avert the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Philippine jails on Thursday, April 16. The Supreme Court is scheduled to discuss the petition filed for the temporary release of persons deprived of liberty today, April 17.

Rights groups have been pushing for the release of political prisoners especially those with medical condition and the elderly using the hashtags #SetThemFree and #FreePoliticalPrisonersPH.

“As threats of the COVID-19 worsen day after day, congestion in prison facilities poses great risks to the health of prisoners, who, contrary to the government’s stand, are in no way safe from the dangers of the pandemic,” Karapatan said in a statement.

According to the group, as of March 28, there are 609 political prisoners in different detention centers and penitentiary nationwide.

Xandra Liza Casambre Bisenio, daughter of political prisoner and peace consultant Rey Claro Casambre, dedicated a song entitled “Panata” for political prisoners and Filipinos enduring the challenges of the present condition.

“This is for every family wondering when promised help will really ever come as thinking where and how to source their needs for tomorrow becomes more and more difficult…” Bisenio said.

“I know that they are the ones in Tatay Rey ‘s mind right now (aside from my Nanay Patricia and their apos). Even after he was falsely accused of made-up crimes and thrown in prison to suffer all of its and Philippine courts’ deficiencies and inefficiencies, he would still tell us that our suffering is nothing compared to that of so many others especially the marginalized sectors…” she posted in her Facebook account.

Casambre has been in prison for a year for trumped-up charges. He is suffering from diabetes and is currently detained at Metro Manila District Jail 4, Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

Meanwhile, the Health Action for Human Rights (HAHR) said the Philippine government should heed the call of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bacehelet.

Geneve R. Reyes of HAHR said they have witnessed the situation of persons deprived of liberty in detention facilities which they described as “highly congested, unhygienic, unable to provide decent nutrition and lack the appropriate health facilities.”

“This situation exacerbates the already vulnerable status of the elderly, sick and pregnant detainees, and they will be the first to suffer if the virus begins its rampage in detention centers,” Reyes said in a statement adding that detainees also deserve same protection as the general public. (https://www.bulatlat.com)

The post Kin, supporters utilize social media in a bid to #FreePoliticalPrisonersPH appeared first on Bulatlat.

Emergency relief and COVID-19 response more important than debt payments

Emergency relief for millions of Filipino families during the
unprecedented COVID-19 crisis is more important than mindless debt servicing,
research group IBON said. The government should get its priorities straight,
said the group, and seriously consider at least a moratorium on the
government’s debt payments. This will help provide much-delayed relief and
financial assistance to the most vulnerable Filipinos affected by the
coronavirus lockdown.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez recently rejected the proposal
of economic affairs committee chair Senator Imee Marcos to seek a moratorium on
debt payments to enable additional funding for the country’s COVID-19 response
measures. Dominguez said the proposition has not been and will never be
considered despite the pandemic. Honoring its financial obligations, he said,
is the strongest pillar of the Philippines’ standing in the global community and
the reason behind investor confidence in the economy.

IBON executive director Sonny Africa said that the government’s
obsession with so-called creditworthiness is blinding it to how a moratorium
can help give much more, and much more quickly, to the poor amid the raging coronavirus
crisis and its burdensome impact.

“The Philippines is in the worst public health crisis in its
history,” Africa said. “The poor already suffer the worst economic crisis in
decades – aggravated by the Duterte administration’s slow response to contain
the pandemic, over-reliance on a harsh military lockdown, and stingy relief
efforts.”

Africa said that government should stop its wilful blindness to
what the people need, which is hindering the country’s ability to stop the spread
of COVID-19, build up the public health system, and give relief to millions of
Filipinos. At least part of the over Php1 trillion in funds for debt servicing in
2020 can be used for urgent COVID-19 response instead, he said.

The national government is paying Php1.03 trillion to service debt
in 2020 – Php451 billion for interest payments and Php582.1 billion for
principal amortization. Some Php285.8 billion of this goes to servicing foreign
debt.

The Duterte administration needs to drastically increase spending
to respond. It can begin by negotiating with foreign multilateral and bilateral
agencies to waive interest and principal payments or even to totally cancel
Philippine debt obligations in the face of the pandemic, said Africa.

“The government will be paying so-called development agencies and supposedly friendly governments at least US$5.2 billion in 2020,” Africa said. This consists of: US$686.6 million to the Asian Development Bank (ADB); US$433.8 million to the World Bank; US$406.9 million to Japan; US$21.4 million to China; and US$17.3 million to the United States.

Africa said that the government’s narrow-minded debt policy is the biggest stumbling block to a debt moratorium. “Creditors will always want to be repaid. The government’s job is to struggle for the best possible terms for the country and not to defend creditors’ claims,” he said. “The suffering of so many proves we are a country in need. The government should stop pretending that a policy of debt relief and debt restructuring is not an urgent option.”

CPP extends truce order despite complaints of GRP ceasefire violations

“The CPP ordered the units of the NPA (New People’s Army) and the people’s militias to continue to desist and cease from carrying out offensive military actions against the armed units and personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and other paramilitary and armed groups attached to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP),” its information office said in a statement.

The post CPP extends truce order despite complaints of GRP ceasefire violations appeared first on Kodao Productions.

Senators ask Duque to resign; netizens call on accountability of Duterte, generals running task force

Fifteen senators passed Senate Resolution 362 on April 16, asking for the resignation of Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III for his “failure of leadership, negligence, lack of foresight, and inefficiency” in the performance of his mandate in addressing the COVID-19 outbreak in the country. Senators said this resulted to “poor planning, delayed […]

The post Senators ask Duque to resign; netizens call on accountability of Duterte, generals running task force appeared first on Manila Today.