Re: NCR llockdown
 

https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03...ovid-19-crisis

Re: NCR llockdown
 

I have full confidence that the authorities take note and comply. I will check it out later this afternoon.

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I saw this article backing up your theory in the BBC.

https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-...where-52040256

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https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/31/...luzon-lockdown

So it seems that up to now PHLPost branches stopped serving the public because employees were not exempted. But if their vehicles are being used for the delivery of relief goods then pensioner Brits will probably need to use commercial couriers to send in their proof of life certificates over the next few weeks.

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Well that is provided you have access to a courier office. If not suggest a phone call to Newcastle.

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I have been advised by Robinsons Service Quality Manager that LBC offices are open in their malls.

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LBC a good option. Saw a second (roadside) branch open today in Paranaque..

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I have just completed a Skype call with DWP International, Newcastle. I spoke to a very helpful lady who completed my Proof of Life during a five minute conversation.
If you are interested I suggest you make a call precisely at 16.30 Phils time as the UK office opens then.

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Good work!.. I have to contact them to find out if one has been sent to my old address.

Regards ​​​​​​⠀‹

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Hi Raffin would you mind posting a pic of your HQP that says that capable seniors can be named on the pass. Its a big confusion here in Davao.

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Do you have their Skype address, or was it to their landline?

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Unfortunately big confusion everywhere, the palace sent out an executive order where the first item was that local LGUs will have their own version of this, so hardly an EO then. Even our province one for Capiz states that there will be no alcohol on sale, our barangay one does not confirm this, I bought a case of beer this morning and the policeman standing next to me bought two bottles of spirits. I got a quarantine pass and my wife can use it in an emergency but the Capiz EO states that she can use it when I am not. I think you need to get down to the Barangay Hall and ask them for a copy of their regs. Quoting regs from other ares will not work.

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https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/british...59a8581ce0.jpg
Paranaque City advisory on HQP given out by Barangay with pass.

Well, it might help to show this as it is probably the same rule across Metro Manila,which had the first lockdown imposed.

Special treatment for Seniors here can have its bad side.... with sometimes an assumption of incapability!

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There seems to be a distinct lack of discussion and interest on this forum about the potential disaster awaiting Filipinos and foreign Nationals residing there..

Is it because everyone is sure God is going to protect them,or are people hoping that everyone is going to obey this lockdown indefinitely?

What could happen if it gets into densely populated areas like Tondo,for example?

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Wel,l what are your thoughts?
I'm sure that the level of declared COVD-19 cases are well below reality as there are, at the time of writing, insufficient testing kits.
We are entering the final quarter of the lockdown. I for one will not be surprised if there is an extension of the lockdown for another month.
So far the vast majority are complying to the recommended precautions, an extension may result in tensions starting to surface.

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A good assessment of the current situation. I would just add that that in some densely populated areas the lockdown has created conditions for increased virus spread. Tensions after a likely lockdown extension can be reduced by some relaxations eg allowing some local transport to operate, re-opening some small shops and the smaller markets so people do not have to line up for hours at supermarkets for meat, fish, fruit and vegetables..

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Quite agree.

Tensions are now building as we have recently seen and the recent 24hr curfew in some parts of Manila has not helped. In fact the opposite is true. The recent hardline speech by the President was in my view inappropriate. It should have been recognised that the unrest was due to lack of supplies of food was not being distributed quickly enough to those in need. A more sympathetic approach would be more appropriate and assurances given that supplies would be in future distributed quicker and more efficiently.

The people suffering the most are the poor, squatter areas and dare I say businesss owners who can only watch their businesses flounder before there eyes. I think public transport should be allowed to run....Ok at say half capacity to comply with distancing rules and if necessary fares increased to compensate. Then people will have an opportunity to get to work. This will allow more shops and businesses to open. People here can only get to the market or in town every second day. I dont see the point in that. Alcohol has been banned from sale adding to the misery also. Schools should be allowed to open under the model used by Singapore. The slums, squatter areas in Manila are going to be flash points. But not just there...they are all over the Philippines.

As we know, the filipinos are resilient people and strongly family oriented. An example. My LF is now living in her house with 11 other relatives one of which is new born. Her house is smaller than mine where I am living now with 7 or 8 people . Plus a dog. She has no electricity. They are making ends meet by going down to her fathers pond and collecting oysters and selling them. They make about 300 per day. She has not asked for money bless her (except when her grand child was born) and was worried about food. She did not seem aware that the brgy could help families such as hers. Told her to go to the Brgy hall and ask for help. Next day they got 5 kilos of rice. Which brings me to another point. The equitable distribution of food supplies. Not far from me we have a high end sub division. They are getting food supplies. Where I am we have none but at least they are being subsisted by my rental payments.

I believe this will go on for a further month or so at the very least. The flash points will be where I have previously stated and a more sympathetic approach should be taken combined with proper provision and access to essential food and supplies.

Take care all

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Twelve in a small house eh? Lucky that for most of us here cabin fever is all that we can catch at home! Certainly a lot of family clustering has been going on.

With little money coming into most poor households the main focus is on the forthcoming cash handout from the DSWD. I read somewhere It has already started in two areas of MM. Will be very difficult to do it comprehensively and fairly and anyway it won't be enough. Previously people were able to eat out cheaply, or even free at work. Now, unless they are lucky to be near a properly functioning large market, many have to buy at more expensive supermarkets and 7-11s. Free rice helps but they mostly need cash to pay for food and bills. Also pawn interest. Have seen long lines at them recently.

It seems that a 15 day lockdown extension is on the cards. But I think that at the end of that there still won't be the data to properly decide on a an end to it. So I think the government will be forced to announce a very staged return to work after that, putting even more financial strain on families.

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Thanks for your replies chaps.

What are my thoughts?...At the moment i am in the UK and isolating,due to health issues.I do have a daughter,whose life i am blocked out of,living in a small town/village in the Provinces.

I am hoping that areas like this are not hit as hard as the big cities.It pains me to say this,but the Filipinos are social animals,and i can see a lot of pain and misery for them down the line.I just cannot see them having the discipline to obey a prolonged lockdown.

Here in the UK,religious leaders of all denominations have gone strangely quiet.I just hope the Filipino people are not relying on God to bail them out of this terrible mess.

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Here we got our first food relief aid last Tuesday, it was 5kg rice and an apology that they had forgot to pack the tinned food and noodles, yesterday we got our second food aid, 5kg of rice a very small tine of sardines ( or sardine ) and an even smaller tin of corned beef. The people who can only afford bamboo houses not far away got nothing so the wife split the rice into several smaller bags, added a few bits from our cupboard and handed it out. I can only assume that the ones living in bamboo houses did not vote for the mayor last election.

Social distancing definitely does not work here, waiting outside a shop yesterday giving the regulated 1m to the guy in front, a quick blink and suddenly two women occupied the space. On the plus side is that I have not heard any songs being murdered on a karaoke machine for over two weeks.

I know this virus is a different beast but to put things in perspective, last year the Philippines had over 400,000 people infected with Dengue Fever and over 1,500 died and not much effort was put into preventing that, most likely because it is a problem of the poor and not the rich.

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Well you forget the great dengue Dengvaxia scandal....which contributed to the "hands up" attitude. Well they did supposedly develop a wonder drug without any foreign involvement, using indigenous knowledge, and indigenous herbs.

“It’s not a vaccine, it’s not herbal supplement. It is a (super) drug that has an activity against the virus,” Dr. Rita Grace Alvero...Banaba, Tawa-Tawa, Mangosteen, and Serpentina. Hot-Hot vs. Cool-Cool. Good for air.

One difference b/w the dengue outbreak and Covid-19. Dengue is mosquito borne and likely the spate of typhoons created conditions for an outbreak. One has a visual target and enemy...the mozzie. Social distancing is not a factor. One can interact will a dengue patient with little risk of infection as long as there are not Aedes mosquitos about. A person with dengue can handle food, goods, and move about a home kitchen with very low risk to fellow householders. No co-vector, everyone else is safe. If mozzies are about it doesn't matter if the person is in the house or down the street, though.

Because Covid-19 is human borne it disrupts social relationships, employment, and the person ill can directly effect caretakers.

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That is why I said it was a different beast. Dengue is not a mosquito disease all the mosquito does is transfer it from one human to another so social distancing of about 150m ( average flying distance of a mosquito ) is not that practical. But if someone in the office/shop/bar has dengue and there is a mosquito or two around the chances of someone else catching Dengue in there is quite high, hence the 400k+ cases. As for who catches it, in posh subdivisions there is less rubbish lying around that collects water and provides idea breeding grounds for mosquitoes than in places like Tondo, mosquitoes gravitate towards good breeding grounds and don't travel that far from them.

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Mossies used to love me but leave me along since using high dose (not odourless) garlic tablets...

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In about 1980 I was working in Egypt and one engineer used to use a mossie buzzer that supposedly kept them away from you. We did not believe him until the day he forgot it in the office and by the end of the day looked like someone had shot him with a shotgun. The buzzer sounds like a male mosquito and the only ones that bite you are pregnant females so they keep away.

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https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/06/...ity-quarantine

At last, a Mayor with a sensible policy on local transport. Let's see if she provides cover for others who may have been scared of repercussions to follow.

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Well she has the advantage of being in the Duterte family!

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A good thing to do. And at the next Presidential Election it will help to distance her from her father and his bloc in case the COVID-19 fight doesn't go well here.

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Will need to go to the main town 25km away some time in the next ten days or so to top up the beer tokens and buy a few essentials. So off to the barangay hall to find out what I need to do to get there & back. No problem, they will fix everything ( for no fee ), travel pass, quarantine pass, medical cert etc. all I need to do is go in and sign the papers. All well and good for me but how many infected people have managed to get the same paperwork the same way and are now traveling back and forth.

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https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/...063104068.html

Over 70 TB deaths a day here according to WHO Philippines....one of the worst rates in the world. And this COVID-19 outbreak will badly affect treatment.

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They don't do the word "pre-empt",hence they will not care or think much about it until it is at their door..Then when it is through their door,in their homes and ravaging them,they will keep telling themselves every day that tomorrow it will be gone.....and then,when it is finally gone,after it has killed tens of thousands of people,they will say that "God is Good" and Covid-19 happened for a reason.

They will always "Find A Way" to get through it all.

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The lockdown is a very blunt instrument and it's restricted or stranded even many people who want to travel for good reasons not falling under employment, business travel. We are a case in point with a property we really need to visit outside Manila. However, I can understand the advantage of not having too many exceptions to make life easier for those manning the busy checkpoints and not to encourage unnecessary social travel by others. But I think in many provincial locations, where knowledge of local people is greater, Barangay offices less busy, trips could be allowed at no risk to further virus spread after careful assessment of the circumstances.

I think it's especially important to allow some flexibility so as to maintain public support if, as seems likely, these lockdowns, in whatever form, are going to continue for many more weeks.

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Longest line I have seen so far at Palawan this morning. A 2-3 hour wait if you're not a Senior. About a week ago it was reported that only about 10% of government cash aid to poor families had been given out..

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Does it matter if your a senior citizen,i think its a disgrace infact its discrimination,what idiot made this rule up,ime not happy about it infact ime furious.

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"Does it matter if your a senior citizen,i think its a disgrace infact its discrimination,what idiot made this rule up,ime not happy about it infact ime furious."
Boo Hoo.
You must be very young as your spelling is atrocious

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Frank2
On an earlier post you thanked me for my help.
Take care and be careful.

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Sorry i apologise,thanks for your help in the past.

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In society here there's more respect for Seniors than in the UK and it starts at 60. So there are moire privileges and discounts. Helped by the fact that Seniors make up a much smaller percentage of the population. I often don't avail of these, but won't turn down avoiding the long waits one has to face here now.

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Older people are far more likely to die if they get this virus, limiting the amount of time they need to spend in queues makes perfect sense. It's also not too much to ask that younger people show some courtesy and compassion to seniors who are less able to stand for hours.

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https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/14/...-19-case-surge

Interesting modelling of the provincial outlook, the majority of them in North and Central Luzon.