Flu-like illness cases rising due to weather changes — expert

BY MANILA BULLETIN

Oct 19, 2023 12:20 PM

  

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Infectious disease expert Rontgene Solante said influenza-like illness (ILI) cases, characterized by cough, body aches, sore throat, and occasional fever, are prevalent in most regions of the Philippines due to changes in weather patterns.

Photo from Pixabay

"This is brought about by reasons na medyo malamig na, medyo maraming days na tag-ulan (that it is quite cold and there are quite a few rainy days). It’s also the same pattern of increase in the cases as we had last year," Solante, who is also the president of the Philippine College of Physicians, said in a televised interview on Wednesday, Oct. 18.

He pointed out that the country consistently experiences an increase in ILI cases from August to November, with elevated numbers continuing into early January. 

Photo from Pixabay

How flu spreads

"We have to remind everyone na just like Covid-19, madaling magkahawaan 'yan through droplets or aerosols. So ibig sabihin 'pag mayroong isa dyan o dalawang nagkakasakit, and then 'yung physical distance, hindi na natin na-observe ngayon, especially sa mga paaralan, sa mga public areas, mataas talaga ang risk ng infection or transmission (It easily spreads through droplets or aerosols. This means that when there are one or two sick individuals, and physical distancing measures are not being observed, especially in schools and public areas, the risk of infection or transmission is significantly high)," Solante explained.

He emphasized the importance of public education on wearing facemasks as a barrier to infection, particularly for vulnerable populations, as severe cases of ILI can occur.

"Kung sino man 'yung mga may sintomas, we highly advise na 'wag munang papasok, you have to rest, sa bahay lang muna (Whoever has symptoms, we highly advise not to go to work or school for now. You need to rest and stay at home)," he added. 

Solante said ILI symptoms typically disappear within three to four days, but staying at home is important to protect others and prevent the spread of the illness.

He also highlighted the growing challenge of distinguishing between Covid-19 and influenza due to their increasingly similar symptoms, with the new omicron variant of Covid complicating the diagnostic process.

“Nandito tayo sa ganitong klaseng stage ngayon na Covid cannot be differentiated from influenza; napakaimportante pa rin na we have to protect ourselves (We are at a stage now where Covid cannot be differentiated from influenza; it's still very important that we have to protect ourselves),” he pointed out.

Solante further explained that the public should be aware of the differences in complications between Covid-19 and influenza.

He noted that Covid-19 can cause long-term complications, also known as "long Covid," particularly in vulnerable populations.

Vaccination encouraged

Solante emphasized the importance of the influenza vaccine, particularly for children and the elderly, noting that the DOH has launched a community-wide awareness campaign to promote vaccination against this illness.

“Isa 'yan sa mga una nating advocacy ngayon na sana magpabakuna na ng influenza at this point in time para maiwasan ang pagkakahawaan (One of our primary advocacies right now is for people to get vaccinated against influenza at this point in time to prevent the spread of the disease)," he said. 

DOH on Wednesday said 151,375 cases of ILI have so far been recorded this year.

This is 45 percent higher compared to 104,613 ILI cases reported during the same period last year. (Zekinah Elize Espina)

A country that hardly knows its heroes

How much do our young—and even the older generations—know about the great sacrifices many Filipinos have made for love of the Philippines?

BY NICK J. LIZASO

Oct 18, 2023 02:01 PM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• How much do our young—and even the older generations—know about the great sacrifices many Filipinos have made for love of the Philippines?

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HEROES OF THE NATION From top clockwise: General Gregorio del Pilar , Josefa Escoda, Apolinario Mabini, Leon Kilat, Chief Justice José Abad Santos, Brigadier General Vicente Lim, General Antonio Luna,  and Diego Silang

“Unhappy is the land that needs a hero” is a famous line from the play Galileo written by Bertolt Brecht, a German playwright. This is not the case with us. Our nation has bred many heroes. The problem is we don’t know our heroes fully well. 

Ask any young Filipino student to enumerate names in our pantheon of heroes, he will probably stop after Rizal, Bonifacio, and maybe Tandang Sora. If you’re lucky he will probably remember General Luna and Gregorio del Pilar because he was required to watch their respective biopics as a school assignment. So how can we expect our young generation to feel a sense of reverence for them?

Even if they can name names, do young Filipinos appreciate what makes them heroes? What exceptional deeds did they accomplish? What was so noble about the causes they died for? What is their relevance to us? 

This sad realization came to my mind when recently my good friend and National Artist Fides Cuyugan-Asensio sent me a Viber message relating how she was appalled to discover that the portraits of national martyrs, namely, former Chief Justice José Abad Santos,  Josefa Llanes Escoda, and Vicente Lim, have been replaced by the “face of an eagle with a punk hair-do”(sic) on the new 1,000 peso bills. She was, in her own words “very, very angry!”(sic). To her, this development is an act of “perverted consciousness... to erase the heroic sacrifices of our martyrs” and amounts to “historical bankruptcy” (sic).

 I could see where she was coming from. Reading her message, I nodded in agreement and told her so in response.

Indeed, we lack historical consciousness. We don’t have a deep sense of our past. 

Is it because we are a relatively young nation compared to China, Egypt, Japan, Iraq, or Iran? So young that we never had grand empires in our history to speak of? Is it because we don’t have Great Pyramids, a Great Wall, a Machu Picchu, or even an Angkor Wat or a BorobudurTemple or similar magnificent ancient structures to give us a reason to be proud.  

I remember that in our history subjects in high school and college, we had textbooks that we never bothered to read. Our teachers failed us by not being able to inspire us to be interested in history, much less our own Philippine history. 

My theory is that part of the reason is that our culture is not a reading culture. We are more visual than textual. We prefer pictures. Give the student a booklet in comics form about Diego Silang or Apolinario Mabini and he will most likely read it from cover to cover. 

The problem is compounded by the fact that the Millennials and Gen Z-ers are now immersed in what is called “digital space,” which is a dominantly visual world. The digital screen is where they live, play, and get their information. 

This is where the visual and performing arts must come in. We need artists who can make history come alive through the technique of storytelling in the various digital art forms, such as film, anime, and even video games. Let’s craft plays and musicals that will depict the lives of great Filipinos and significant turning points in our history.

It must be a whole-of-country project, involving all regions. Let’s tell our budget allocators to set aside funds for grants to have special classes in history writing and spur young writers to compose well researched biographies of our heroes or even engrossing historical fiction as long as they are factual. These can be later be adapted into popular TV drama series. Maybe we can hold a college festival of short plays on unknown regional heroes. For crying out loud, why not an exhibition of paintings portraying historical events and historic characters?

If we can persuade the Department of Education, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, and the National Historical Commission to join hands and contribute to a common fund to be solely used to produce professional digital videos—live action or anime format—of great historical events and persons and then put them on streaming and social media platforms, imagine what this will do to make our history come alive within the hearts and minds of the Filipino youth. 

For heroes, I recommend giving special focus on heroes from the Visayas and Mindanao who have been long overlooked. It’s time we bring them into the light.  Off hand, I can name Leon Kilat, the Visayan hero of the Philippine Revolution, and Apolinar Velez of Maguindanao who led Filipino natives to resist the invading American forces during the Phil-American War. 

There’s nothing like the performing arts and cinema to breathe life into characters and situations. Every time a high school student or an ordinary Filipino watches a digital video about the life of a hero, it inculcates a deep love of country, patriotism, justice, freedom, and all the other values dramatically depicted through the power of sight and sound.

In this way, perhaps, we will build a reservoir of respect and reverence so deep that we will avoid making thoughtless and ill-considered decisions to erase our heroes from our official money bills as well as public buildings or, God forbid, our textbooks. 

We have to preserve whatever little cultural legacy we possess right now. Let’s harness the arts to awaken a new generation of Jose Rizals, Andres Bonifacios, Josefa Escodas, and Sultan Kudarats! 

 ENTERTAINMENT NEWSENTERTAINMENT

Sing your lungs out with your favorite local bands with an ice-cold drink in hand

BY MANILA BULLETIN ENTERTAINMENT

Oct 19, 2023 11:13 AM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• The Capitol City Lodge (CCL) is inviting everyone to this year's "Oktoberfest ng Capitol." Rocking on Oct. 21, 2023, 7 pm, at Decagon Silver City, Pasig.

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Beneficiaries of medical and dental missions

A concert for a cause that has been running annually for the past 18 years for the benefit of the Philippine National School for the Blind, Macaingalan Elementary School in Rizal, the Mangroves at Baler, and medical as well as dental missions.

The Capitol City Lodge (CCL) is inviting everyone to this year's "Oktoberfest ng Capitol." Rocking on Oct. 21, 2023, 7 pm, at Decagon Silver City, Pasig.

CCL is reminding you to get ready to feast on delicious food, raise your glasses with free-flowing beer, and sing your lungs out with your favorite local bands. 

Bring the whole barkada and enjoy the festivity as Urbandub, Razorback, Basti Artadi, Easy Sunday, and Otomatikz perform their hits throughout the night.

I mean, these bands, unli-beer, on top of helping the beneficiaries? What's a better way to spend your saturday than this?

For those interested, you can reach them through their social media account at Oktoberfest ng Capitol (with link) https://www.facebook.com/oktoberfestngcapitol?mibextid=ZbWKwL

Why is German so similar to English?

Olivier Rychner

Teacher and amateur photographer

For example, "here" is "hier" in German, "das ist" is" "that is" and "wolf" is wolf.

Because basically (and of course in my usual over-summarizing style), English is German that has spent 500 years evolving apart from the rest of German, on its island, then was subjugated by people who spoke French, or Norman French, then evolved again for about a millenium, which is awfully long but not that long for a language to keep traces of its closest cousin.

You mention some examples, there are more:

How old are you? is literally Wie alt bist du? Word for word.

Eight is acht. Daughter is Tochter. Night is Nacht. Day is Tag, and don’t laugh, because it is the same word. Iron is Eisen. Son is Sohn. House is Haus.

German is on the same branch of the great family tree of languages, English is just a bit further out.

Cayetano urges stronger cybersecurity measures amid rising digital threats

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday emphasized the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity measures in response to the growing digital threats faced by a number of government agencies.

 In a media interview, Cayetano, who chairs the Senate Science and Technology Committee, raised the alarm on "digital highway robbery" to emphasize the vulnerability of accessing data on the internet.

“Ang digital highway ang ating problema. Maraming may akala na noong pinasa natin ang SIM card registration, mababawasan na nang husto ang mga nanloloko. Pero as you have seen, the digital way of extorting money, scams, and schemes is only one way,” he said.

Discussing the perils of hacking and its potential consequences, Cayetano said: "Napakadelikado ng hacking for many reasons. One, it can destroy certain institutions and systems that we believe in.”

 He highlighted the recent hacking incident in Philhealth in which hackers threatened to disclose private and sensitive information to the public.

“Pinaka-concern ako sa Philihealth kasi masyadong sensitive ang data ng treatment mo at ano ang sakit mo. The more important the data in terms of sensitivity, dapat mas pinoprotektahan,” he said.

Cayetano highlighted the irony of the current situation, pointing out that one of the controversial issues revolves around the transparency of government confidential funds, while, at the same time, people's private data is no longer kept confidential.

“Napakalaking irony that the biggest issue now is people want to know [kung] saan ginagamit ang confidential funds. On the other hand, things that need to be confidential, like your health records, are now being hacked and exposed to the public,” he said.

concluding the interview, Cayetano emphasized the need for stronger cybersecurity measures, saying action must be taken as soon as possible.

If we don’t solve it, magkakaroon ng mas sinister [na mangyayari] because information is power,” he said. ###

KSMBPI sues AJ Raval, several other Vivamax stars

BY NEIL RAMOS

Oct 17, 2023 04:06 PM

  

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There seems to be no stopping the Kapisanan ng Social Media Broadcasters ng Pilipinas Inc. (KSMBPI).

After filing criminal charges against sexy actress Angeli Khang for allegedly committing "cybercrime violations in relation to obscene publication," the group is moving on to other personalities, including Aljur Abrenica's girlfriend AJ Raval.

The KSMBPI is accusing the actress of violating Article 201 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 6 of R.A. 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012), basically the same charge they leveled against Angeli. 

The same goes for Angeli and AJ's fellow Vivamax stars Ayanna Misola and Azi Acosta.

KSMBPI legal counsel Atty. Mark Tolentino made public their move via Facebook.

AJ, Ayanna, Azi as with Angeli, are yet to issue a statement on the issue. 

Prior, KSMBPI filed a complaint of similar nature against Vice Ganda, Ion Perez, and vlogger Toni Fowler.

Germany, Japan are PH's top investors in 2023

BY BETHEENA UNITE

Oct 17, 2023 06:14 PM

  

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Germany and Japan are the top foreign investors in the Philippines from January to September this year, a Cabinet official said.

(Photo courtesy of PCO)

Trade Undersecretary  Ceferino Rodolfo said Germany has the biggest investment pledges with 80 percent of the P427-billion foreign investments in the first nine months of the year.

Japan was the second top investor during the same period, Rodolfo added. 

"I would say 80 percent of the P427 billion have come from Germany. Pero marami pa iyang nasa pipeline ha, marami tayo ngayong nasa pipeline (But there are more projects in the pipeline), particularly for renewable energy projects," the Trade official said.

He added that foreign investors are seeing the Philippines as a good investment hub because of the government’s policy-related reforms and the further removal of the foreign equity restriction on renewable energy.

He further said the Philippines used to not be the "darling of European Union countries due to "some reasons."

"Pero ngayon nakikita natin that when the President has said, ‘we are open for business’ at saka nakikita naman nila iyong mga policy reforms dito sa Pilipinas, pumapasok na sila (But now, when the President said: we are open for business and they are seeing the policy reforms in the Philippines),” Rodolfo said.

Filipino film wins top award at the Louth International Film Festival

Amon Banwa sa Lawud is Best International Feature Film

BY MANILA BULLETIN

Oct 16, 2023 11:25 PM

  

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AT A GLANCE

• It focuses on the efforts of the island people of Suyac in Negros in the Visayas region to resist foreign threats to their livelihood and their way of life, and shows the story of island communities who are facing annihilation because of power plays by foreign nations usurping territories beyond their legal boundaries.

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AWARD WINNING SHOT Anton Juan shooting a scene in the international film Amon Banwa sa Lawud
at the mangrove island of Suyac in Sagay City, Negros Occidental (Photo courtesy of the Sagay City PIO and Tourism Office)

Amon Banwa sa Lawud (Our Island of the Mangrove Moons), co-produced by the Erehwon Center for the Arts and the Kellogg Institute for International Studies of Notre Dame University in the US, was chosen as the Best International Feature Film at the 2023 Louth International Film Festival. 

 

The film was directed by Anton Juan, who also co-wrote the screenplay.   

It focuses on the efforts of the island people of Suyac in Negros in the Visayas region of the Philippines to resist foreign threats to their livelihood and their way of life, and shows the story of island communities who are facing annihilation because of power plays by foreign nations usurping territories beyond their legal boundaries.

 

The Louth International Film Festival was established in 2019, held every year on the east coast of Ireland, in the County of Louth, which is imbued with a long and rich history of arts, music, culture, and folklore. It was founded to support emerging filmmakers and celebrate creative, challenging, and evocative cinema from around the globe. The festival enjoys a diverse patronage with guests from the local community, film industry representatives, visiting filmmakers, students, and film enthusiasts from all walks of life.

 “Everyone is from somewhere, but we like to reach out to everywhere. Local film festivals do this. They bring the wide world to us all and add their own special local magic. Louth is a small county with a huge sense of magic, of history of story,” says Dundalk, Ireland native and Hollywood director John Moore of the fourth edition. “I wish them continued success with their world-class festival and continue to support them and cheer them to the rafters.”