KAKAMMPI News

Reed Abelson, The New York Times “Our shields are worn. Our resolve is being tested.” So say the most immediate, frontline health care workers in a new ad campaign as the coronavirus pandemic rages across the United States, breaking records nearly every day for deaths — and cases — in state after state. The campaign, in print and video, by about 100 of the nation’s largest and best-known hospital groups begins on Thursday, and aims to counter public resistance to mask-wearing. The message beseeches Americans to protect everyone, including those on the forefront of the battleground in so many states where incoming patients are waiting for beds in overwhelmed hospitals with staff members fatigued from the unrelenting march of death during the pandemic. In addition, the American Hospital Association joined with the American Nurses Association and the American Medical Association, which represents many of the nation’s doctors, urging the public to be careful in celebrating the upcomin...

Benedict Carey, The New York Times The World Health Organization on Thursday recommended against using the antiviral remdesivir, a drug that had generated intense interest as a treatment for COVID-19. An expert panel “concluded that remdesivir has no meaningful effect on mortality or on other important outcomes for patients, such as the need for mechanical ventilation or time to clinical improvement,” the WHO announced. The panel published its review in the journal The BMJ. The report did not rule out the use of the drug altogether as a COVID-19 treatment but said evidence was lacking to recommend its use. Gilead Sciences, manufacturer of remdesivir, whose trade name is Veklury, said in a statement that its drug “is recognized as a standard of care for the treatment of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in guidelines from numerous credible national organizations, including the US National Institutes of Health and Infectious Diseases Society of America, Japan, UK, and Germany.” It ...

Published November 20, 2020 10:48am By LUCKY MAE F. QUILAO A 31-year-old former talent resourcing manager at the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn in Doha, Qatar has sold her pre-loved clothes to raise funds for the victims of Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco) in the Philippines. Ulysses left 73 people dead, and displaced at least 727,738 families or 3,052,049 individuals from Regions I, II, III, V, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, NCR, and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). It caused over P2.7 billion damage to agriculture, and more than P5 billion to infrastructure. "I am aware there have been several typhoons recently but this one caught my attention more," said Joan Rachel Posadas-Anunciacion in an interview via Messenger on November 17. "So I have sold many of my pre-loved clothes to the Filipino community here in Qatar and, in just a day, earned 1,000QAR (P10,000)!" the owner of MySouqki, said. Posadas-Anunciacion has clarified: “This is nothing like gimmick. My first...

Shay Cullen 20 November 2020 Human trafficking and child sexual abuse is still alive and thriving in the Philippines. Online sexual abuse of children is everywhere, it seems, and more has to be done by the telecommunication corporations to stop it. That’s why this heinous crime against small children to satisfy the sexual lust of foreign pedophiles is so abhorrent. Shame on all who allow it to happen with impunity. The Philippines has become the hub for such crimes. The National Bureau of Investigations (NBI) in Olongapo and from Manila has rescued 18 women and children and arrested three human traffickers recently. In Angeles City this week, two children were rescued and two pimps, both minors, were arrested and turned over to the social workers of Angeles City. A US national, Nicholas Pyant, was arrested by the Philippine National Police in a room with children and should be charged with sexual assault and rape of young children. Pyrant was under surveillance for weeks and is al...

Charissa Isidro The Daily Beast Sat, 14 November 2020, 12:57 pm GMT+8 “A lot of our friends did not make it,” Tita Myrna told me over the phone. “A lot of nurses, their spouses.” This wasn’t the kind of chisme-filled phone call I normally might expect from an auntie. From her tight-knit community in New Jersey, Tita Myrna could count eight to 10 Filipinos off the top of her head, community members and friends, who had died due to the coronavirus. My Tita Myrna is Myrna Bautista, an emergency-room nurse at both the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and the Trinitas Regional Medical Center, who has worked as a nurse in the tri-state area since the 1980s. Her husband is my mother’s cousin, Tito Tony, who used to work in nursing homes before retiring. Their daughter, Andrea, is a physical therapist who also works in a hospital in Newark. On April 4, Tita Myrna tested positive for the coronavirus. “It’s scary,” she described to me. “Before I got sick, I witnessed those people—we ...

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina is expecting 10 million doses of Russia's main experimental COVID-19 vaccine between December and January, the government said on Monday, as infections continue to climb in the South American country. The vaccine, known as Sputnik V, is given in two doses and could begin arriving as early as next month, the government said in a news release. The price of the Russian vaccine would be "more or less average" compared with others, President Alberto Fernandez said in the release. "We had a proposal from the Russian foreign ministry and the Russian (Direct Investment) Fund to see if Argentina was interested in having doses of the vaccine in the month of December and of course we said yes," Fernandez said.The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is backing the development and roll-out of the Sputnik V vaccine. Fernandez said talks with RDIF had been going on "for quite some time." Officials including Argentina's deputy health m...

Reuters MOSCOW — Turkey is interested in producing Russia's first coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, at domestic facilities, Russia's health ministry said on Wednesday after a phone call between the countries' health ministers. Russia is already testing two vaccines against the virus and is on the cusp of registering a third. It is rolling out its Sputnik V vaccine for domestic use despite the fact that late-stage trials have not yet finished. "The head of the Turkish health ministry expressed interest in organizing production of the Sputnik V vaccine at Turkish pharmaceutical manufacturers' facilities, after toxicology studies have been carried out, as stipulated by local legislation," the health ministry said in a statement. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko assured his Turkish colleague of the readiness to organize such tests, the statement said. The Turkish health ministry declined to corroborate that claim, but Health Minister Fahrettin Koca co...

Reuters Posted at Nov 11 2020 05:44 PM | Updated as of Nov 11 2020 07:13 PM DUBAI (UPDATED) — Bahrain's Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al Khalifa, the world's longest serving prime minister and a staunch ally of neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United States, has died, the royal palace announced on Wednesday. Sheikh Khalifa, a dominant figure in the Gulf island's politics for much of his near half century in power, passed away on Wednesday morning at Mayo Clinic hospital in the United States, Bahrain's state news agency said. Khalifa, 84, the uncle of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, had served as prime minister since the Sunni Muslim-led island kingdom declared independence from Britain in 1971, almost half a century. The al-Khalifa family has ruled since 1783. His stern response to pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in 2011 -- and criticism of similar unrest across the Arab world -- underlined what for many was the defining characteristic of his career, namely a stalwart ...

Reuters Posted at Nov 11 2020 08:56 PM ATHENS/RIYADH — Four people were injured by a blast in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Wednesday, a Greek government official said, in what France described as a "cowardly attack" involving an explosive device at an event involving foreign embassies. "There was some sort of a blast at the non-Muslim cemetery in Jeddah. There are four slightly injured, among them one Greek," the Greek official told Reuters, declining to be named. France's Foreign Ministry said the attack had taken place at a ceremony marking the end of World War One and that several people had been wounded as a result of an explosive device. "The embassies that were involved in the commemoration ceremony condemn this cowardly attack, which is completely unjustified. They call on the Saudi authorities to shed as much light as they can on this attack, and to identify and hunt down the perpetrators," said the French Foreign Ministry. A source with k...

Agence France-Presse Posted at Nov 12 2020 03:32 AM Trump turns after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider as he attends a Veterans Day observance in the rain at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., November 11, 2020. Carlos Barria, Reuters US President Donald Trump made his first official post-election appearance Wednesday for what should have been a moment of national unity to mark Veterans Day, now marred by his refusal to acknowledge Joe Biden's win. On a rainy, gray day in Washington the president visited Arlington National Cemetery for a somber wreath-laying ceremony shortly before 11:30 am, four days after US media projected his Democratic rival would take the White House. Since then he has not addressed the nation other than via Twitter and a statement released to mark Veterans Day, and has not conceded to Biden, as is traditional once a winner is projected in a US vote. With Covid-19 cases shattering records across the country and ...

Manas Mishra and Dania Nadeem, Reuters Posted at Nov 12 2020 12:23 PM | Updated as of Nov 12 2020 12:46 PM FILE PHOTO: Vials and medical syringe are seen in front of Moderna logo in this illustration. Reuters BENGALURU/NEW JERSEY - Moderna Inc said on Wednesday it has enough data for a first interim analysis of the late-stage trial of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine, which should help determine the vaccine's efficacy. Moderna said the information is being prepared for submission to the trial's independent data safety monitoring board, which will look at the results and make a recommendation. It did not say when it plans to release the efficacy data. The company said in a news release that it has seen a significant increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among trial participants as infection rates have surged around the United States. Due to the spike in cases, the analysis will cover substantially more than 53 infections, which had been the targeted trigger point for t...

Austin Ramzy, The New York Times Posted at Nov 12 2020 01:35 PM Protesters in Hong Kong, Aug. 25, 2019. Here’s a look at key moments in the long showdown between pro-democratic forces and the Beijing-backed authorities who have chipped away at Hong Kong’s special status as a bastion for free speech and independent courts. Lam Yik Fei/The New York Times HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s pro-democracy lawmakers said Wednesday that they would resign en masse to protest Beijing’s growing control over the local legislature, one of the last remaining centers of dissent in the Chinese city. The 15 resignations were set off by a decision earlier in the day out of Beijing that forced the removal of four opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong. The lawmakers’ departure comes amid Beijing’s intensifying efforts to silence Hong Kong’s political opposition and to curb a vast protest movement. Beijing vows to ‘prevent and curb’ external forces from meddling with HK, Macau affairs Here’s a look at key moments ...

Published November 11, 2020 5:15pm Filipinos in the US facing deportation may have a chance to stay for a longer period if President-elect Joe Biden will reverse the tough immigration policies of President Donald Trump, Manila’s Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez said Wednesday. Romualdez said there are around 350,000 Filipinos with pending deportation cases. “Posibleng puwedeng ma-extend iyong kanilang stay dito at it is also possible na itong mga changes that might occur during the presidency of President-elect Biden may change many of these things that will affect many of those that are already in that deportation cases,” he said at the Laging Handa briefing. “[T]he indications are the Biden presidency will change many of these things that will be beneficial for many of our Filipinos here in the United States.” Malacañang earlier expressed hope that a Biden presidency will help undocumented Filipino immigrants legalize their stay in the US. Romualdez also said the...

Published November 9, 2020 1:44pm By MICHAELA DEL CALLAR/ Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday said the Philippine Ambassador to Brazil who was caught on video physically assaulting her Filipino maid has been formally charged. The charge against Marichu Mauro, a career diplomat, was served on her on Monday at 8:25 a.m., Locsin said on Twitter. "I sent a memo to the President on it. The Hearing Panel’s report and charge will be passed upon and approved/disapproved by the Board of Foreign Service Administration; and finally by the Secretary. It shouldn’t take too long," Locsin said. He did not elaborate on the investigation panel's recommendation and on the specific charges filed against Mauro. The envoy was immediately recalled after incidents of physical abuse perpetrated by her against her household staff as shown in CCTV footage was aired by a Brazilian news outfit. Locsin earlier said the department's response to Mauro's actions "...

Published November 9, 2020 9:08am Updated November 9, 2020 2:45pm By JOVILAND RITA, GMA News The Philippines' ambassador to the United States (US) is expecting changes in the immigration policies under the administration of US President-elect Joe Biden, who defeated President Donald Trump in the recent US elections. Interviewed on Unang Balita on Monday, Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez noted that more immigrants were deported during the Obama administration that in the four years of Trump's leadership. “Sa tingin namin dito, posibleng magkaroon ng ibang patakaran itong polisiya ng Biden administration. Ganunpaman, lahat naman ng immigration policy ay dumadaan sa US Congress,” Romualdez said. “Tignan natin kung anong nangyari during the Obama administration, mas maraming na-deport kaysa sa past four years ng administration ni President Trump, so hindi natin alam kung ganun din policy na magiging aggressive ang deportation cases.” Malacañang, meanwhile, said it is hoping ...

Published November 8, 2020 5:49pm By LUCKY MAE F. QUILAO A 30-year-old domestic helper in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is asking for assistance for her father in Catanduanes, which was hit hardest by super Typhoon Rolly that made its first landfall on this island province of Bicol region. "Baka puwede ninyo akong matulungan na tulungan yung barangay ko sa Virac, Catanduanes. Nandoon kasi yung papa ko, si Apolinar Tria, at yung 35 sa mga kamag-anak ko na nawalan ng bahay," Baby Sairen Tria Quintal wrote in Messenger on November 7. "Sobrang pahirapan kasi maghatid ng tulong sa kanila. Gutom na mga kababaryo ko. Isang beses pa lang sila nabibigyan ng relief tapos tig-isang kilong bigas lang," the native of Dugui Too claimed. Catanduanes was placed under the highest warning -- Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 5 -- when Rolly made landfall on November 1, knocking down power lines and snapping off cellphone signala and internet connectivity. "Ipinadala sa...

Published November 10, 2020 11:11am By LLANESCA T. PANTI, GMA News Ombudsman Samuel Martires has ordered a six-month suspension without pay of three Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) officials over an alleged anomalous IT project. Ordered suspended were PhilHealth Senior Vice President Jovita Aragona, Acting Senior Manager of PhilHealth IT and Management department Calixto Gabuya, Jr. and Bids and Awards Committee Secretariat Elena Castismo of PhilHealth Regional Office-NCR. The PhilHealth officials are under probe over alleged grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service. Martires said the preventive suspension is in accordance with the Ombudsman law. Likewise, the six month suspension order without pay is immediately executory and will not be interrupted within the period prescribed notwithstanding any motion, appeal or petition that may be filed by respondents seeking relief the suspension order unless other...

Published November 7, 2020 6:44pm By JAMIL SANTOS, GMA News The government had repatriated about 289,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with 100,000 more expected to return by December, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said on Saturday. "Nakapag-uwi na tayo ng mga 289,000 OFWs," Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said at a Super Radyo DZBB interview. Aside from the P5-billion aid allotted for them by the government, P3 billion was also provided to OFWs through the Abot Kamay ang Pagtulong (AKAP) program. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands more OFWs are expected to be repatriated. "Hanggang ngayong Disyembre siguro aabot pa ng 100,000," Bello said. — DVM, GMA News

Fr. Shay Cullen 23 October 2020 The handing down of a life sentence to American David Timothy Deakin, 53, by Pampanga-based Judge Irineo Pangilinan Jr. of the Regional Trial Court in Angeles City earlier this year is just an indication of the seriousness of the live-streaming and trafficking of children for child abuse. Deakin is just one of thousands of child abusers in the Philippines live-streaming child abuse shows over the internet. Most of them are Filipino abusers, parents and relatives, pimps and traffickers earning money sent by courier by foreign pedophiles. They use the video camera on a cell phone connected to the internet. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was able to intercept the live-streaming images sent out by Deakin and many more abusers sent through the Internet Service Providers like PLDT/Smart and Globe Telecoms. International law enforcement agencies and child protection non-government organizations are sending to Philippine law enforcement offi...

Saudi Arabia said Wednesday it will ease key restrictions on millions of foreign workers, under reforms to its labor policy that is blamed for widespread abuses and exploitation. Human rights groups have repeatedly called on the kingdom to abolish its "kafala" sponsorship system, branded by critics as a modern form of slavery that binds workers to their Saudi employers. The Saudi human resources and social development ministry said that from March 14, expatriates will no longer need their employers' authorization to change jobs, travel or leave Saudi Arabia, which is home to some 10 million foreigners. "This initiative will improve and increase the efficiency of the work environment," the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. The reforms, if fully implemented, could have a big impact on the Saudi labor market and the lives of blue-collar foreign workers who lack effective recourse against overcrowded housing and exploita...

Published November 3, 2020 12:41pm By MICHAELA DEL CALLAR/ The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday issued a security alert for Filipinos in Vienna, urging them to stay indoors after a shooting attack near a synagogue killed two civilians and injured 15 others. There are 321 Filipinos in Vienna, the DFA said. "The DFA, through the embassy, has gotten in touch with the members of the Filipino community and requested them to stay alert and calm, remain indoors, and follow the advice of the Vienna Police," the department said in a statement. Philippine diplomats in the capital, it added, are also closely monitoring the situation. The Austrian Ministry of Interior called the shooting "a repulsive terrorist attack." Later on, it reported that one of the gunmen were killed by security forces and at least one remain at large. The Vienna Police confirmed that several suspects with rifles began their attack in the center of Vienna. "As operations are ...

Published November 3, 2020 6:42am Updated November 4, 2020 11:08pm Cruise operator Royal Caribbean Group said on Monday it would stop all its cruises, excluding sailings from Singapore, through the end of the year, extending previous suspensions as coronavirus infections continue to increase globally. The company's announcement comes days after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a framework for a phased resumption of cruise ship operations, after a no-sail order issued in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic expired on Saturday. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd earlier in the day said it plans to extend the suspension of its cruises starting December through the end of the year. Royal Caribbean reported negative revenue for the first time last week, as well as a billion-dollar quarterly loss. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian Cruise had previously set up an expert panel to safely resume operations, as the cruise industry came to a virtual standstill ...

Published October 24, 2020 12:36pm By JAMIL SANTOS, GMA News More or less a hundred overseas Filipino workers want to be repatriated from China, after COVID-19 affected their jobs, Manila’s ambassador to Beijing Jose Santiago Sta. Romana said Saturday. Interviewed at the Laging Handa public briefing, Sta. Romana said OFWs seeking to be brought back in the country used to be in the hundreds, but most of them had already "gone home." "Ang natitira na lang ngayon, I think is less than a hundred or a little more," Sta. Romana said. "One repatriation flight will be able to suffice for now and we hope this will be it," he added. Sta. Romana said most of them were seafarers working on Chinese or foreign ships and were stranded at China's ports. "Nandu'n lang sila sa laot, they are off the ports of China kasi nag-iingat ang Tsina against imported cases at tsaka ang patakaran dito ay huwag pababain sa barko 'yung mga naghihintay na mga nag...