Bts hoseok 2019

World Health Organization’s Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe attends Senate hearing on the outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus on Feb 4, 2020. INQUIRER.net file photo / CATHY MIRANDA MANILA, Philippines — Relaxing requirements for COVID-19 testing only in travel between two areas that both have a very low transmission of coronavirus may be possible, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday. WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe said this in an online media forum following an earlier pronouncement from DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III that the department is mulling to no longer require travelers to get tested for coronavirus before going to their travel destination. Densing said that instead of testing, the DILG plans to require clinical assessment for travelers at the terminals of origin and destination. But for Abeyasinghe, this plan on relaxing requirements for COVID-19 testing needs a careful assessment. “I think it needs to be carefully ... » Learn More about Relaxing COVID test requirements possible for areas with very low transmission — WHO

Sen. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara Jr. starts his defense of Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2057, An Act Expediting the Procurement and Administration of Vaccines for the Protection Against the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) during Wednesday’s hybrid plenary session, February 17, 2021. (Joseph Vidal/Senate PRIB) MANILA, Philippines — Some senators are wary about the proposed institutionalization of Covid-19 “vaccine passports,” saying this could discriminate and restrict the mobility of those who opt not to be inoculated. Establishing a “vaccine passport” program that would give “certain benefits” to those in possession of it could pressure others to get vaccinated, according to Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III. He raised such a point during Wednesday’s plenary deliberations on Senate Bill No. 2057. Aside from expediting the purchase and administration of Covid-19 vaccines in the country, the measure also seeks the issuance of vaccine passports to inoculated individuals. The ... » Learn More about Some senators wary of ‘vaccine passports’; say it can be ‘discriminatory’

KLANG: The lesson learnt in Pakatan Harapan's 22 months in power is that the coalition should be serious about its election pledges, says Lim Kit Siang (pic) . The DAP veteran said Pakatan's GE14 pledges were contained in its "Buku Harapan". "Early in the Pakatan government, it was prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who said that the manifesto was not a 'bible'. "As a result, even if 80 or 90% of the election pledges had been implemented in the five-year mandate, the damage had been done. "It was worse when the five-year mandate of the Pakatan government was cut short after 22 months, '' he said in a statement on Wednesday (April 21). According to Lim, he had met Dr Mahathir twice during his tenure as prime minister and discussed how important it was to reinstate public confidence as well as explain Pakatan's manifesto and policies. He added a manifesto review committee was set-up under former deputy defence minister Liew Chin Tong's chairmanship after the second ... » Learn More about Take election pledges seriously, says Kit Siang

PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan in Terengganu is in the early stages of seat negotiations and the component parties have yet to decide how to divide the 32 state and eight parliamentary seats there among themselves as they prepare for the 15th general election (GE15). Pakatan state leadership council secretary Zulkifli Ali said Pakatan component party leaders in Terengganu met on April 10 and agreed to settle any possible clashes between component parties before finalising the deal. “It’s still early in the negotiations and any information that has gone viral is wrong and confusing. “The issue of certain parties giving their support to other component parties in the ongoing seat negotiations should also not arise, ” he said in a statement Wednesday (April 21). He said any decision will be brought up at the next state Pakatan leadership council meeting. Zulkifli issued the statement in response to a viral message which hinted that state Pakatan leaders were grouped in opposing ... » Learn More about Pakatan Harapan still in early stages of seat negotiations in Terengganu, says Zulkifli

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): Domestic car sales skyrocketed in March as a luxury tax (PPnBM) cut for small cars came into effect, but overall sales remained below prepandemic levels, meeting observers’ expectations about the effect of key incentives on consumer spending. Nearly 85,000 cars were sold domestically in March, up 72.5 per cent from the previous month and up 10.5 per cent from March of last year, according to data from the Association of Indonesian Automotive Manufacturers (Gaikindo). Some consumers decided in March to buy a new car, while others made purchases they had delayed from February – when the incentive was announced – to take advantage of the savings. Despite the growth, only 187,021 cars were sold in the first quarter of 2021, compared to last year’s first-quarter sales of 236,890. “The government’s PPnBM relaxation helped increase car sales in March, ” Gaikindo chair Yohannes Nangoi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “Hopefully, car sales will ... » Learn More about Car sales surge 70 per cent in Indonesia after luxury tax cut

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): The government has temporarily cut the luxury tax (PPnBM) on new car purchases and the value-added tax (PPN) on new homes in a bid to boost consumer spending. Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said on Monday (March 1) that the tax cuts were expected to add between 0.9 and 1 percentage points to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth this year by reviving the automotive, real estate and construction sectors, all of which are labor-intensive industries. “These incentives, of course, cannot be separated from the people’s confidence in the vaccine and Covid-19 containment efforts as the keys to recovery, ” he said during a joint press conference with the finance, industry and public works and housing ministers. The country officially began its vaccination programme on Jan. 13 with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo taking the very first jab. The government plans to have vaccinated 1.5 million health workers by February, 38.5 ... » Learn More about Indonesia temporarily cuts taxes on new cars and homes

MANILA, Philippiines—Despite the pandemic-induced recession, life insurers’ sales grew by 5.9 percent to P247.7 billion in 2020, according to the Insurance Commission (IC) on Tuesday (April 20). In a statement, the regulator said the life insurance sector’s premium income in 2020 rose from P233.9 billion in 2019. “Of this increase, changes to variable life insurance premiums accounted for 7.7-percent growth, from P170.1 billion in 2019 to P183.24 billion in 2020, with single premiums and renewal premiums both growing by 19.7 percent and 13.6 percent,” said Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa. “Premiums earned by traditional life policies likewise grew 1.1 percent from P63.8 billion in 2019 to P64.5 billion in 2020, with renewal premiums increasing by 13.7 percent,” Funa added. Funa said despite the tougher times wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, “it has been observed by the financial sector leaders that generally the savings of the middle-class sector grew due to restraints in ... » Learn More about Life insurance sales grow in 2020 amid pandemic

MANILA, Philippines—Almost one million Filipinos got cash aid from the government in 2020 through a network of pawnshops that is bigger than the combined branches of all of the country’s universal, commercial, thrift and cooperative banks, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno cited the role of the pawnbroking industry in promoting financial inclusion among the most underprivileged citizens at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. According to Diokno, more than P6.8 billion in government cash aid for 935,505 beneficiaries was distributed through pawnshops as of end-December 2020, citing reports by banks and electronic money issuers (EMIs) to the BSP. “With presence in 82 percent of the country’s local government units, pawnshops serve as cash-out agents for banks and EMIs in distributing government financial assistance during the pandemic,” he said at an online press briefing on Wednesday (April 21). The pawnbroking industry has ... » Learn More about BSP: 1M Filipinos got P6.8B in gov’t cash aid through pawnshops in 2020

The Social Security System (SSS) has extended by one month or until April 30 the deadline for the remittance of members’ contributions for February in areas recently placed under the most stringent COVID-19 quarantine. In an April 16 circular, Aurora Ignacio, SSS president and chief executive, said the extended deadline would cover employers in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, which the government lumped together as “National Capital Region (NCR) Plus.” February contributions should have been remitted to the SSS on March 31. But NCR Plus was placed under enhanced community quarantine from March 29 to April 11 due to surging COVID-19 infections. As such, movement of people and nonessential goods had been restricted during the two-week lockdown. Ignacio also allowed employers that paid contributions in installments to deposit by April 30 their post-dated checks that were supposedly due in March. Since January, the state pension fund collected ... » Learn More about Deadline for SSS contribution remittance extended

SINGAPORE - Another 11 workers staying at Westlite Woodlands dormitory have tested positive for Covid-19, including 10 who have recovered from the virus, said the Ministry of Manpower on Wednesday (April 21). This comes after a 35-year-old Bangladeshi worker staying at the purpose-built dorm tested positive for the virus on Monday (April 19), despite receiving both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. The Straits Times understands that plans are now being made to move hundreds of workers to a quarantine facility. MOM told ST in a statement that its Assurance, Care, and Engagement (ACE) Group, as well as the Ministry of Health (MOH), took swift public health actions after the case was detected as part of rostered routine testing for migrant workers. The worker's close contacts at the dorm and his workplace were isolated and placed under quarantine. The worker's roommate, who was among those taken to a dedicated quarantine facility, was later found to be infected with the ... » Learn More about 11 more Covid-19 cases detected at Westlite Woodlands dorm; hundreds to be moved to quarantine facility