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DECEMBER 4-10, 2020
T h e F i l i p i n o –A m e r i c a n C o m m u n i t y N e w s pa p e r
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DATELINE
FROM THE AJPRESS NEWS TEAM ACROSS AMERICA
Fil-Am coach Mike Magpayo intent on opening doors for other AAPI coaches BACK in July, Filipino American coach Mike Magpayo made history by becoming the first U.S. NCAA Division 1 head coach of Asian descent. He was named head coach of University of California (UC) Riverside, which is a feat in and of itself. “People of Asian descent make up a disproportionately small number of professional athletes in the majority of professional leagues, as well as in the NCAA,” Sports Illustrated wrote in its feature on Magpayo published Wednesday,
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Newsom announces new regional stay-at-home order by Joseph
Peralta AJPress
CALIFORNIA Governor Gavin Newsom announced a new coronavirus order on Thursday, December 3 which is intended to address the surging COVID-19 cases in the state. The new order divides California into five regions and will be triggered when a region’s inten-
sive care unit (ICU) capacity drops below 15%. Under the new sweeping order, the state will be put into five distinct regions – Northern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. All counties within a region are expected to abide by the stayat-home order when that region falls into the order’s parameters. The Northern California region includes Del Norte,
Photo courtesy of UC Riverside
CAPIZ HANDICRAFT. Numerous decorative Christmas lanterns made of capiz are on display outside a handicraft store under the bridge in Quiapo, Manila on Thursday, December 3. Several businesses have been allowed to reopen to slowly recover from the adverse economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. PNA photo by Jess M. Escaros Jr.
Duterte allows emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines by Ritchel
Mendiola AJPress
THE Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been granted the authority to allow emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments. President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday, December 1, signed Executive Order No. 121 allowing FDA Director General Eric Domingo to issue Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for vaccines or treatments deemed safe and effective against the novel coronavirus. The order shortens the process of approving vaccines from the regular six months to 21 days. “It is a priority of the State to ensure that
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FORMER Filipino citizens or “balikbayans” will be allowed to enter the Philippines visa-free starting December 7, Malacañang said on Friday, November 27. Their spouses and children, regardless of age, are permitted entry into the country without a visa requirement as well. According to Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution No. 85, they are allowed to enter the country provided that they have a quarantine facility booked and a swab test scheduled at any Philippine airport. “They, too, must be subject to the maximum capacity of inbound passengers at the port and date of entry,” the resolution read. Filipino citizens’ foreign spouses and children are likewise permitted entrance to the country. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the Philippine Bureau of Immigration has
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Pacquiao takes over as president PH eyes ambitious of Duterte’s PDP-Laban growth return after record collapse by Neil
President Rodrigo Duterte presides over a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members prior to his talk to the people at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse in Malacañang Park, Manila on Monday, November 30. Malacañang photo by Toto Lozano
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Balikbayans, family allowed to enter PH starting Dec. 7
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Mike Magpayo
Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Mendocino, Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama and Trinity counties. The SF Bay Area region includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties. The Southern California region’s counties are Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa
Arwin Mercado Inquirer.net
MANILA — As the 2022 elections draw nearer, Sen. Manny Pacquiao was sworn in as the new president of PDP-Laban, the political party of President Rodrigo Duterte. The oathtaking ceremony took place Wednesday night, December 2, with House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco also taking his oath as the party’s new executive president. Boxer-turned-senator Pacquiao replaced Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who will now serve as the party’s executive vice chairman.
“Senator Koko Pimentel has passed on the practical day-to-day leadership of the Party to one with new, ‘modern’ ideas and one who has the time, energy, and boldness to prepare the Party for the 2022 national and local elections,” Ron Munsayac, PDP-Laban executive director, said in a Viber message. “Senator Koko Pimentel is now Executive Vice Chairman of the Party and will work very closely with our Chairman President Duterte, National President Sen. Manny Pacquiao, and Executive Vice Presidential Speaker Lord Velasco,” he added. Pacquiao’s name is among those being
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DOT eyes subsidizing half of testing costs for tourists by Christia
Marie Inquirer.net
Ramos
MANILA — The Department of Tourism (DOT) is eyeing to subsidize half of the cost of travelers’ COVID-19 tests, which are mandated before entry to a local tourist destination. Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat on Tuesday, December 1 said the DOT will be tying up with the Philippine
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Philippine Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat Inquirer.net photo
by Ian
Nicolas Cigaral Philstar.com
MANILA — The Philippine economy would slump deeper than initially thought this year, an expected projection that already prompted the Duterte administration to look to next year and mount a convincing bounce-back for Southeast Asia’s worst economic performer. Gross domestic product (GDP) would likely shrink between 8.5-9.5% year-on-year in 2020, worse than the 4.4%6.6% contraction seen last July, the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC), the interagency panel of economic managers, said. The gloomier outlook followed what officials said were a “prolonged” lockdown of the archipelago that disrupted business and sapped consumer confidence, leaving the economy without its typical driver of household spending that accounts for 70% of annual economic output. Exports would
dive 16% this year, while imports would implode a bigger 20% from 18% considered previously. For the first 3 quarters, GDP lost 9% year-on-year. Already, the Duterte government is trying to move forward by sticking to its 6.5%-7.5% growth assumption for next year, and an upwardly revised 8-10% target for the entire 2022, by the end of which President Rodrigo Duterte would have already left office. “As the economy gradually moves towards full reopening, we expect significantly better economic outcomes next year,” DBCC said. Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua told reporters a “more relaxed form of quarantine” next year, and a full coronavirus vaccine rollout by 2022 would help hit the ambitious targets. Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III agreed. “The productive capacity of the Philippines has not been
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