‘Withdrawal of support’ a propaganda–DND, AFP
THE Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have denied any move by retired and active military officers to withdraw their support from President Duterte, calling it as an “irresponsible propaganda.” Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana and AFP Chief of Staff General Cirilito E. Sobejana separately issued statements on Sunday in response to information that members of the military and retired officers in the Duterte Cabinet are set to break free from the President, owing to his silence on the presence of Chinese ships in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) and West Philippine Sea (WPS). “We denounce the irresponsible propaganda being propagated in online posts alleging that a group of retired and active military officers are withdrawing their support for the President,” Lorenzana said in a statement.
Rene Acosta
DOLE fair to offer 7,000 job opportunities
AT least 7,000 job opportunities will be up for grabs during the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) online Labor Day job fair next month. Labor Assistant Secretary Dominique R. Tutay said the vacancies are from 168 employers. The number of vacancies could still increase in the coming week since DOLE is still consolidating the data from its regional offices, Tutay explained. Most of the vacancies are for service representatives, production operator, technical support expert, factory workers and sales representatives. The initiative is expected to help reduce the number of permanently displaced workers from January to March, which has now reached over 118,000. Based from the latest displacement report of DOLE, 107,895 were retrenched by their 3,882 establishments, while the remaining 10,315 lost their jobs due to permanent closure of the companies.
Samuel P. Medenilla
PRC, hospitals address rising covid cases
THE Philippine Red Cross (PRC) announced it helped set up nine field hospitals at the Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP). The PRC said these will address the increasing demand for beds in hospitals. The National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) announced it has a total of 960 additional beds dedicated to the treatment and recuperation of patients with mild and moderate Covid-19 symptoms. It also allocated three intensive care unit (ICU) beds for severe Covid-19 cases. A separate pavilion has been dedicated to the treatment of psychiatric in-patients who also need Covid-19 care. NCMH also collaborated with hotels in the vicinity to provide isolation and quarantine facilities for its health-care workers.
Claudeth Mocon-Ciriaco