Halaman

    Social Items

"Fire him."

President Rodrigo Duterte has publicly ordered the sacking of Manuelito Luna, the commissioner of his anti-graft commission for calling for a probe of Vice President Leni Robredo for "competing" with government for COVID-19 relief.

In a rambling address to the nation aired late Friday night, Duterte praised Robredo's moves to solicit aid to help frontliners battling the spread of the novel coronavirus.

"Tama yan maghingi ka ng tulong sa kapwa mo tao," Duterte said.

Duterte said it was not right for Luna to call for a probe on Robredo and announced his firing on the spot.

Duterte fires PACC commissioner who wanted Leni probe over COVID-19 aid

Actress Iza Calzado tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), her talent manager has confirmed in a statement.

In a public Facebook post by Noel Ferrer, he said that Iza received her results yesterday. He also announced that she was recovering well and being aggressively treated for pneumonia caused by the virus.

Here is the full statement:

“Dear Family and Friends.

Iza Calzado received her results yesterday that she tested positive for CoVid.

She is recovering well as she was aggressively treated for pneumonia and the virus. She can actually breath now without any oxygen assistance.

She will be tested again to see if she is already negative. Her husband Ben and others who interacted with her have not shown any symptoms.

She doesn’t know where she contracted the virus from, but it’s best for all of us to take seriously the advice of doctors and health authorities on proper hygiene, physical distancing, quarantine and social responsibility.

Thank you to the frontliners who continue to risk their lives to attend to our kababayans like Iza.

Let us continue to pray for the healing of Iza and our brothers and sisters who are most affected by this pandemic.

God bless us all! #PrayingForIza #LabanIza.”



Iza earlier revealed via an Instagram post Wednesday that she was confined at a hospital for pneumonia while waiting for her coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test results.

The 37-year-old star admitted that it’s been a challenging period for her, but her condition is nothing compared to the work of the medical frontliners who are caring for her.

Iza is the second Filipino celebrity to have contracted the virus after Christopher de Leon.

Iza Calzado tests positive for COVID-19

SEN. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd on Wednesday revealed that he tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Pimentel was the second senator who got infected by Covid-19, after Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri whose self-quarantine will end on March 26.

“I was informed late last night, March 24, 2020, that I have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. The swab was taken last Friday, March 20, 2020,” Pimentel said in a statement. “I have quarantined myself upon the doctor’s advice and consistent with the protocol. I feel I am, with God’s help, on the way to recovery,” he said.

But the Makati Medical Center (MMC) denounced Pimentel for accompanying his pregnant wife, Kathryna, to the hospital despite knowing that he is already considered a person under investigation.

In a statement, the MMC said Pimentel violated his home quarantine protocol when he brought his wife to the hospital for delivery via cesarean section.

MMC Director Saturnino Javier said Pimentel breached the hospital’s strict infection and containment protocols when he entered the premises of the hospital’s delivery room and “unduly exposed healthcare workers to possible infection.”

“As a result, a number of our nurses and doctors may need to be quarantined which will further deplete the dwindling workforce of the hospital,” he said.

“We denounce the irresponsible and reckless action of the senator. He added to the burden of a hospital trying to respond in its most competent and aggressive manner to cope with the daunting challenges of this Covid-19 outbreak,” Javier said.

“The involved healthcare workers have been duly identified, evaluated, and will be quarantined, if the risk of exposure warrants it,” Javier said.

Pimentel, however, denied allegations that he loitered around the MMC and entered the delivery room. He was at the MMC on Tuesday to accompany his wife, Kathryna, when he got a call from the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM), which confirmed that he contracted Covid-19.

His wife was scheduled to undergo a caesarian operation on Wednesday, but it was canceled.

“Yes [I accompanied her to the hospital] as she was [scheduled] to give birth this morning.

I received the call from RITM when I was already in the hospital last night hence I left immediately,” Pimentel said.

The senator also clarified that Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd “had nothing to do with our getting a room at the hospital.”

He said he had fever, cough and slight sore throat.

Pimentel’s wife defended her husband from bashers amid reports in social media that he
“lied” about his condition when he talked to the doctors.

“Sen. Koko never entered the delivery room of Makati Med. He went with me sa Makati Med yesterday to be admitted not knowing he was Covid positive yet. Then RITM called him around 9 p.m. that he was positive. But he was just in the room. As soon as he found out he was positive he left me and told my OB (obstetrician) about his situation,” Kathryna said.

The senator has asked for prayers, especially for his wife, “who is about to give birth in the next few days to our first baby girl, and with whom I cannot be at this very important point in our lives as parents.”

He expressed his profound gratitude to frontline medical workers who put their lives at risk on a daily basis to bring a halt to this pandemic. “They are the true heroes in this fight.”

Koko Pimentel tests positive, bashed

The “best gift ever” to Pasig City.

That was how Senator Panfilo Lacson called Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, noting the city’s efforts amid the war against the coronavirus pandemic.


On Twitter, news anchor Karen Davila shared her amazement while listening to Sotto during a radio interview.

“Listening now to Pasig Mayor [Vico Sotto] on DZMM! Ang galing mo!!” Davila wrote on Wednesday.

“Just started his mobile kitchen, allocated P100M for food packs for their 30 barangays! Inspiring! This is a time for our LGUs (local government units) to shine!” she added.



Lacson replied to Davila, saying: “Sayang he is only 29 years old, not 39. If there is any consolation, he is the best gift ever to Pasig City.”

The Pasig City government has placed several measures in response to the threat of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and the enhanced community quarantine imposed over Luzon due to the pandemic.

Sotto has allowed tricycle operations to service those exempted by the quarantine and free bus service for “essential personnel” such as health workers.

The city also has an available quarantine facility that was offered by the owner of the private property itself.

Sotto has also said that Pasig City government employees working at the frontlines will receive hazard pay and overtime pay.

Vico Sotto the ‘best gift ever’ to Pasig City — Lacson

Vice President Leni Robredo started her own efforts to help health workers amid the country's fight against the coronavirus disease officially known as COVID-19.

Robredo on Tuesday said she will provide free shuttle services to these workers and other frontliners beginning Wednesday. The service will travel five routes and will pick up workers at 6 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. at different points. It will also be available in the afternoon.



This comes after President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Luzon under "enhanced community quarantine" which halted work and mass transportation services to restrict movement on the country's main island which is home to large communities and industries.

This resulted in some health workers, who are exempted from work suspension, walking for as long as three hours to get to their workplace.

Interior chief Eduardo Año earlier said local government units can provide transportation for those who are allowed to go to work and for residents who need to buy their basic needs.

Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto also relaxed restriction on public transport by allowing tricycles in the city to operate to serve health workers and other exempted employees.



Robredo's team also delivered 7,350 personal protective equipment sets to nine hospitals in the cities of Manila and Quezon on Monday. There are 490 frontliners based in San Lazaro Hospital (50 frontliners), Philippine General Hospital (100), UP-National Institutes of Health (50) in Manila. In Quezon City are the Lung Center of the Philippines (100 frontliners), Philippine Heart Center (50), Quirino Memorial Medical Center (50), Philippine Orthopedic Center (30), Veterans Memorial Medical Center (30) and East Avenue Medical Center (30), she said.

The Vice President said her office raised ₱17.3 million for the sets as well as food and care packages for the health workers and their families.

On Monday, the Philippine General Hospital said some of its staff members were placed under observation for possible COVID-19 infection.

The state-owned hospital asked for donations of masks (both surgical and N95), 70 percent alcohol, face shields and surgical gowns for its employees. The University of the Philippines College of Medicine's Student Council made the same appeal to the public to help fellow students who are interns for the hospital.

Robredo donates gear to health workers, pledges free shuttle rides

NBA superstar Kevin Durant is among four Brooklyn Nets players to have tested positive for the coronavirus. The identities of the other three players are unknown.

Durant revealed the news to reporter Shams Charania of The Athletic.

“Everyone be careful, take care of yourself and quarantine,” Durant said Monday. “We’re going to get through this.”



The two-time NBA Finals MVP had experienced no symptoms before testing positive, reports Charania.

Durant and his Brooklyn Nets teammates were tested last week after returning from the Bay Area, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. The Brooklyn Nets’ Thursday night game against the Golden State Warriors was eventually canceled after the NBA suspended its season indefinitely amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Kevin Durant Among Four Brooklyn Nets Players to Test Positive for Coronavirus

The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday, March 17, confirmed 45 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 187.

The DOH also reported that another coronavirus patient recovered from the disease. He is patient with identification PH25, a 31-year-old male from Negros Oriental.

He was one of the repatriates from the MV Diamond Princess cruise ship that docked in Japan. He was confirmed to be infected with COVID-19 on March 9.

The total number of recoveries in the Philippines is now at 4.

2 new deaths

Later on Tuesday evening, the DOH reported two new COVID-19 deaths.

  • PH126, a 76-year-old Filipino male, died Tuesday afternoon after experiencing Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) and severe pneumonia. He was admitted to the Adventist Medical Center Manila on March 9. He was confirmed to be infected with the virus on March 15. He has type 2 diabetes and hypertensive cardiovascular disease.
  • PH129, a 67-year-old Filipino male, was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on March 15. He died on Tuesday at the Lung Center of the Philippines after experiencing ARDS secondary to COVID-19, as well as community-acquired pneumonia.

The total number of fatalities in the Philippines is now at 14.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of calamity in the Philippines as cases of COVID-19 in the country continue to rise.

The entire Luzon, meanwhile, is under lockdown from March 17 to April 12. – Rappler.com

PH coronavirus cases now at 187; recoveries now at 4

Former world champion and well-known boxing trainer Roger Mayweather, the uncle of Floyd Mayweather Jr., has died at the age of 58. TMZ Sports was first to report the news.

Mayweather was a two-weight world champion. He held the WBA and lineal super featherweight titles from 1983-84 and the WBC light welterweight title from 1987-89. He debuted in 1981 and won 59 of his 72 bouts.

Shortly after his uncle’s death was reported, Floyd Mayweather Jr. released a statement:

“My uncle was one of the most important people in my life inside and outside of the ring. Roger was a great champion and one of the best trainers in boxing. Unfortunately, his health was failing him for several years and now he can finally rest in peace. Roger meant the world to me, my father Floyd Sr., my uncle Jeff, everyone in and around the Mayweather Boxing Gym and the entire boxing world. It is a terrible loss for all of us.

We are thankful for all the love and well-wishes we have already received as word traveled about Roger's passing. It helps me to see that he was able to touch so many people through his life in boxing, because he gave so much to the sport, which was his first and longtime love."

In 1996, he began training Floyd Mayweather Jr. until his brother, fellow boxer Floyd Mayweather Sr., was released from prison and took over. Roger Mayweather fought his last professional bout in 1999 and returned as his nephew’s trainer in 2000, becoming a key part of the star’s training team.

"My uncle Roger Mayweather has lost a lot of memory from the sport of boxing," Floyd said in 2015. "He's only in his 50s, but it seems like he's an old man in his 80s."

Boxing community reacts to Roger Mayweather’s death
The 58-year-old former champion’s impact on the sport of boxing was widespread and as soon as TMZ broke the news of his death, condolences began to pour in over social media.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, dies at 58

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)