Lockdown extended on Philippines’ largest island until April 30

President Rodrigo Duterte appealed to the business community on Monday night to extend financial support to impoverished Filipinos amid the health crisis. (AP Photo)
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Updated 07 April 2022
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Lockdown extended on Philippines’ largest island until April 30

  • In his message on Monday, Duterte asked for public patience and cooperation, especially from those who were severely impacted by the lockdown
  • Recognizing the impact of the crisis on the economy, Duterte reiterated his call to individuals and organizations to help the most vulnerable

MANILA: The Philippines on Tuesday extended a lockdown in Luzon until April 30 to limit the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the country’s largest island.

In an address to the nation late on Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte said he was “inclined to extend” the lockdown and appealed for cooperation as the government grapples with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), which came into effect on March 15, was set to end on April 12.  

However, on Tuesday morning, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, spokesperson for the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF MEID), said in a virtual press briefing that the president had accepted the IATF’s recommendation to extend the ECQ by another two weeks.

“That was [the IATF] recommendation to President Duterte, which he accepted and announced last night. After his announcement, we verified it again, and the answer was that the ECQ would be hereby extended until 11:59 pm of April 30,” Nograles said, adding that the extended lockdown “would give the government enough time to increase its public health response.”

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said he fully supported the move which he described as an “inevitable course of action in the effort of the national government to contain COVID-19.”

Año said the decision was based on the advice of health experts from the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

He added that to rush the easing of the ECQ in a time when the number of COVID-19 cases is fluctuating is a gamble that the government is not willing to take.

“We all want everything to go back to normal, yet we cannot risk further transmissions or a relapse. This extension is part of the effort of the national government to flatten the curve of COVID-19 transmissions in the country,” Año said.

As of Tuesday, the number of infections rose to 3,764 in the Philippines, with 104 new cases reported.

The latest DOH report also indicated 14 new deaths, bringing the total mortalities to 177, while 84 patients had recovered from the disease.

Año said that reports from both the government and the private sector show that an extension of two weeks would ensure that the pandemic is “contained and manageable by our health care system.”

Senate President Vicente Sotto III also said that the extension until April 30 “seems to be reasonable because the DOH has no clear projection yet of how things are evolving.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Sotto said, emphasizing the need for the government to improve the distribution of emergency subsidies to affected families.

Earlier, the task force had spelled out the parameters that would be considered — such as trends in the COVID-19 epidemiological curve, the capacity of the healthcare system, as well as social, economic, and security factors — before arriving at a decision.

In his message on Monday, Duterte asked for public patience and cooperation, especially from those who were severely impacted by the lockdown.

“Once again, I am asking the utmost cooperation of the public in these trying times,” Duterte said as he urged people to strictly observe home quarantine, wear face masks, and practice social distancing.

He also rallied for national unity and prayer as the country observes the Lenten Season during the pandemic.

“This being the Holy Week, I am calling on the nation to come together this Wednesday afternoon and pay tribute to the indomitable spirit of the Filipino and unite in one prayer to God to fight our common enemy,” Duterte said.

“God is the only one who can really solve the problem for us,” he said.

Recognizing the impact of the crisis on the economy, Duterte reiterated his call to individuals and organizations to help the most vulnerable, stressing the issue of limited government resources.

“Private companies must assist the government during the current health emergency,” Duterte said, adding that “continued uncertainty will impact on everyone.”

On Sunday, Malacañang confirmed that many members of the president’s cabinet had pledged to cut 75 percent of their monthly salaries from April to December this year toward the country’s anti-virus measures.

Others have volunteered for a salary deduction for the entire duration of the lockdown to help in the government’s efforts to halt the spread of the disease.

Malacañang spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the president is also donating his one month’s salary for the cause, while other officials with the rank of secretaries are giving portions of their respective wages to facilitate the initiative. More than 200 members of the House of Representatives, as well as the Senate, are doing the same.


First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv

Updated 4 sec ago
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First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv

The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv had passengers evacuated from Amsterdam

TEL AVIV: The first flight carrying Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam after violent clashes following a football match there landed on Friday at Ben Gurion International Airport, the Israel Airports Authority said.
“The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv now has passengers evacuated from Amsterdam,” Liza Dvir, spokeswoman for the airport authority told AFP.

India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy

Updated 12 min 21 sec ago
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India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy

  • Modi revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh 
  • Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade this year, newly-elected lawmakers passed resolution this week seeking restoration

NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed his government’s contentious 2019 decision to revoke the partial autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, days after the territory’s newly elected lawmakers sought its restoration.
“Only the constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar will operate in Kashmir... No power in the world can restore Article 370 (partial autonomy) in Kashmir,” Modi said, referring to one of the founding fathers of the Indian constitution.
Modi was speaking at a state election rally in the western state of Maharashtra, where Ambedkar was from.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — a move that was opposed by many political groups in the Himalayan region.
Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade in September and October and the newly-elected lawmakers passed a resolution this week seeking the restoration.
Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling National Conference party had promised in its election manifesto that it would restore the partial autonomy, although the power to do so lies with Modi’s federal government.
Jammu and Kashmir’s new lawmakers can legislate on local issues like other Indian states, except matters regarding public order and policing. They will also need the approval of the federally-appointed administrator on all policy decisions that have financial implications.
Under the system of partial autonomy, Kashmir had its own constitution and the freedom to make laws on all issues except foreign affairs, defense and communications.
The troubled region, where separatist militants have fought security forces since 1989, is India’s only Muslim-majority territory.
It has been at the center of a territorial dispute with Pakistan since the neighbors gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by both India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the region.


Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

Updated 23 min 25 sec ago
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Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers

  • The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation
  • The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen

KYIV: Ukraine said on Friday it had received the bodies of 563 soldiers from Russian authorities, mainly troops that had died in combat in the eastern Donetsk region.
The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia invaded in 2022.
“The bodies of 563 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media.
The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen since the beginning of the war.
The statement said that 320 of the remains were returned from the Donetsk region and that 89 of the soldiers had been killed near Bakhmut, a town captured by Russia in May last year after a costly battle.
Another 154 of the bodies were returned from morgues inside Russia, the statement added.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine publicly disclose how many military personnel have been killed fighting.


Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison

Updated 32 min 59 sec ago
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Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison

  • The court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the two men to life in prison for mass murder “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred“
  • The incident triggered uproar in Ukraine

MOSCOW: A Russian court sentenced two soldiers to life in prison for the massacre of a family of nine people in their home in occupied Ukraine, state media reported on Friday.
Russian prosecutors said in October 2023, the two Russian soldiers, Anton Sopov and Stanislav Rau, entered the home of the Kapkanets family in the city of Volnovakha with guns equipped with silencers.
They then shot all nine family members who lived there, including two children aged five and nine.
The southern district military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the two men to life in prison for mass murder “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred,” the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement source.
The incident triggered uproar in Ukraine.
Kyiv alleged at the time that the Russian soldiers had murdered the family in their sleep after they refused to move out of their home to allow Russian soldiers to live there.
“The occupiers killed the Kapkanets family, who were celebrating a birthday and refused to give up their home,” Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said a day after the murder.
Russian forces seized the city of Volnovakha in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region at the start of their full-scale military offensive.
It was virtually destroyed by Russian artillery strikes.
Russian soldiers have been accused of multiple instances of killing civilians in Ukrainian towns and cities they have occupied since February 2022.
Moscow has always denied targeting civilians and tried to claim reports of atrocities at places like Bucha were fake, despite widespread evidence from multiple independent sources.
The arrest and sentencing in this case is a rare example of Russia admitting to a crime committed by its troops in Ukraine.
State media did not say what prosecutors determined the reason for the attack was.
TASS suggested it could have been a “domestic dispute,” while both the independent Radio Free Europe and Kommersant business outlets said it could have been linked to a dispute over obtaining vodka.
The trial was held in secret.
The independent Radio Free Europe outlet reported the Rau, 28, and Sopov, 21 were mercenaries for the Wagner paramilitary before joining Russia’s official army.
They had both received state awards a few months before the mass murder, it said.


Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats

Updated 08 November 2024
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Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats

  • Riyadh-based health worker Ahmed Alruwaili has 1.7 million followers on Facebook
  • He shot to social media fame thanking Filipino frontliners during COVID-19 pandemic

MANILA: Dressed in a white thobe, a traditional headdress, and a blue jersey of the Philippine national basketball team, Saudi influencer Ahmed Alruwaili appears in a viral video, distributing small gifts and snacks to Filipinos in Riyadh as a way to thank them for their hard work.

In another clip, he visits an elementary school for Filipino children, sharing jokes and laughter with them. In yet another, he hands out portable electric fans to Filipino expats braving the scorching heat of the Saudi capital.

These videos are just a few among the hundreds of Alruwaili posts, in which he uses his social media platform to celebrate over 1 million Filipino expats living and working in Saudi Arabia. Through his content, he highlights their resilience, traditions, and sense of humor, reaching 1.7 million Facebook followers.

It all began about six years ago when he joined a group of Filipino baristas playing street basketball in the mornings. Initially reluctant, they soon welcomed him into their circle. After each game, they would share their breakfasts with him before heading off to work.

“They used to bring pancit in the morning, at 5 a.m. Pancit and pan de sal, Alicafe,” Alruwaili recalled, referring to traditional Filipino noodles, bread rolls, and the popular instant coffee.

“I know it’s really weird, but that’s how it all started. It’s all with basketball. And till today, I still play with the same people. I did not change, I’m still visiting them. I’m the one now to bring them the food.”

Over time, he developed a basic understanding of Filipino culture and Tagalog — a language he had slowly become familiar with also through his work in a healthcare facility, where he had met many Filipino colleagues.

During basketball games, his friends would often record videos of him, which quickly garnered considerable attention and views. Encouraged by this, Alruwaili began sharing content regularly. While his posts were initially comedic, everything changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as he witnessed the dedication and sacrifice of Filipino nurses working on the frontlines of the healthcare crisis.

Feeling the need to express recognition and gratitude, Alruwaili shifted the focus of his content. This became a turning point — one that would shape the direction of his online presence and influence in the years to come.

“It was purely comedy until the COVID time,” he said. “Working in a healthcare facility, I see the hard-working OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) here in Saudi. So, I thought I’d use it to give appreciation. Once I did that … it became different. All the things happened after that. This is how we started.”

In a video posted in March 2020, Alruwaili is seen buying flowers and food and distributing them to Filipino nurses at various locations in Riyadh.

“The reason why I made this is just to remind you about all the hard work that the nurses are doing all over the world, especially the OFW nurses against this coronavirus,” he says in the clip.

“We all need to pray and appreciate all the nurses for their hard work. The nurses now are the true heroes.”

The video received 3.5 million views. Another video, in which Alruwaili brings pillows, blankets, and food to pandemic-stranded Filipino workers waiting for their flights, has now reached 6 million views — and continues to grow.

Known as The Saudipinoy after the name of his Facebook account — with the word “Pinoy” meaning “Filipino” in Tagalog — the Saudi influencer has already visited the Philippines eight times since he started vlogging.

One of his most popular clips — which has 8 million views — was filmed on Siargao Island. It shows him conducting a social experiment, pretending that his motorcycle has run out of gas. The video captures how Filipinos would immediately offer help to a stranger in need.

Despite his social media fame, Alruwaili’s life remains centered around his full-time job in healthcare. Working as a medical professional, he devotes just one day a week to creating content.

“One day, I am just asleep … then the other day I will do the vlog, then I will prepare to go back to work. So, my life is really busy, I am really working hard to keep up with the vlog,” he said.

“(But) I am extremely happy with the impact (of what) I am doing.”

His social media work is appreciated not only by Filipinos, many of whom recognize him on the streets of Riyadh and approach him to thank him and hug him, but also by fellow Saudis.

“I want Saudis to notice the hard work of OFWs, and I want OFWs to know that Saudi people are nice,” he said.

“I am proud to be Saudi and representing Saudis. And, thank God, even big people here in Saudi … they said: ‘Keep going, you are representing the Saudi people and we are proud of you.’”