Remote Workmate compiles a quick rundown of several major Philippine stories every week. Here are some of the top headlines from the second week of December 2020.
Philippines eyes COVID-19 vaccination by March 2021 in ‘best case scenario’
Philippine Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the country may start vaccinating its citizens with the vaccine against COVID-19 around March or April next year.
“We’ve done some scenario analysis under the leadership of Secretary (Carlito Jr) Galvez and I think the best case scenario would be about the end of the first quarter of 2021 or about the start of second quarter of next year,” said Duque, when asked when the inoculation may begin.
Record hunger in Philippines as COVID-19 restrictions bite
According to a September survey by pollster Social Weather Stations, nearly one-third of families – or 7.6 million households – did not have enough food to eat at least once in the previous three months.
This hunger is caused by COVID-19 restrictions, which have crippled the economy and thrown many out of work.
Barangay Ginebra bags all-Filipino crown—and pays tribute to its absent fans
The Barangay Ginebra Kings won the Philippine Basketball Association’s all-Filipino tournament for 2020, defeating TNT Tropang Giga in five games at Angeles University Foundation.
The tournament was played in a “bubble” – a self-sustaining isolation zone – to protect the players from the COVID-19 pandemic.
PLDT, Globe prepare bigger war chest for 2021
Telecommunication giants PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. are readying bigger war chests for next year for continued network expansion amid increasing connectivity demand and expected competition from a new major player.
PLDT intends to spend “much more” than P70 billion in capital expenditures in 2021, while Globe is earmarking P70 billion.
Filipinos sceptical about COVID-19 vaccine after dengue probe
The Philippine government said it wants to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus and plans to vaccinate up to 60% of the population. But health officials say achieving this will be difficult because their budget for procuring vaccines is limited and many are wary of being vaccinated.
That’s partly because of controversy over a Dengue vaccine campaign in 2016, which harmed many schoolchildren.
