Monday, December 14, 2020

Senators to probe gov't vaccine plan. Inquirer Newsletter. December 15, 2020

BAGGING IT A sewing center run by a group of mothers in Towerville, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, also produces ecobags. JANE BAUTISTA

Regions

PUV phaseout slammed as ‘worse than COVID’

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Transport leaders in Central Luzon on Monday asked the Senate to stop the Dec. 31 deadline for operators and drivers to form cooperatives in preparation for the phaseout of public utility vehicles (PUVs). —STORY BY TONETTE OREJAS
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Lifestyle Wellness

Ingredients with health-giving benefits for your holiday spread

The ideal elements are crucial to ensure everyone’s well-being when we prepare meals for loved ones this Christmas season. Consider incorporating these ingredients in your holiday spread. Spices such as cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, garlic, chili and cayenne facilitate digestion, lower blood lipid and control blood sugar. —STORY BY Teddy S. Manansala

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Senators to probe gov't vaccine plan

By Melvin Gascon

The Senate will open on Monday an inquiry into the government’s vaccination plan amid concerns that it has no doable plan for inoculating Filipinos against COVID-19 as vaccines become available next year.

The senators agreed to convene as a committee of the whole after Sen. Francis Pangilinan expressed alarm during a privilege speech that the government had yet to lay out a vaccination program.

Pangilinan also pointed out the failure of state agencies to answer critical questions raised by the senators about a vaccination program for which Congress allotted P72.5 billion in the 2021 national budget.

In the dark

“The fact that the senators are pretty much in the dark as to the game plan does not bode well for transparency and accountability in the vaccine rollout,” he said.

Other countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, have already begun vaccinating their citizens against the severe respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

“We [can] only pin our fervent hope that Filipinos will have the same access to safe, effective and affordable doses needed to end the spread of the disease and the pandemic,” Pangilinan said.

The Senate immediately adopted the resolution Pangilinan filed for the inquiry.

With the Senate sitting as a committee of the whole, the matter will now be taken out of the jurisdiction of the committee on health headed by Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go.

Pangilinan said senators, since the government began discussing the acquisition of vaccines, had been asking such questions as how safe were the vaccines and how much funds would be needed to vaccinate 70 percent of the population.

He also asked whether there was need for Congress to pass a supplemental budget for the vaccine program, and what timetable the government would follow to complete the vaccination of 70 percent of all Filipinos, and how many would be inoculated in 2021 with a budget of P72.5 billion. —WITH REPORTS FROM LEILA B. SALAVERRIA, JEROME ANING AND JOVIC YEE INQ

Editorial

Standing up‍ for newsstands

Local newspapers in Baguio City have sounded the alarm on a plan by the city government to clear road obstructions, including newsstands that have been part of the city’s landscape for many decades. A statement issued by the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC) posted by the Baguio Midland Courier over the weekend said newspaper vendors would have to remove their newsstands in Baguio City’s central business district by Dec. 20.

Read full story: opinion.inquirer.net