ECQ or GCQ it really doesn’t matter

It seems that in May we might be getting an unexpected storm or typhoon named Vongfong (Ambo) which is considered a dangerous Cat 2 (175kph winds) typhoon! Those in Samar and Bicol should prepare. Landfall was expected yesterday. Hopefully, we will only get rains in Central Visayas today unless this typhoon shifts its course. But at least it’s cool weather to alleviate this summer heat!

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I heard this story not too long ago and even saw this photo sent by a friend of a girl who made an offer to have Pres. Rodrigo Duterte killed for P75 million. But I didn’t realize that this person was a resident of Cordova, Cebu. I learned that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 arrested a resident of Cordova town in Cebu, Ma. Catherine Ceron, 26, who allegedly made the offer in a post on Facebook. She denied doing that, saying her account was hacked.

First of all, the Regional Anti-Cyber Crime Unit-7 should verify whether or not it is true that her Facebook page was hacked. CIDG Deputy Chief, Police Major Ronald Tolosa described the post as malicious. Meanwhile, the CIDG said they will look into Ceron’s alibi, considering that the woman isn’t the first person arrested for posting a message of the same nature on social media.

Ceron’s arrest came a day after the National Bureau of Investigation arrested a public school teacher in Manila for offering P50 million to whoever can kill the president. He posted the supposed offer on Twitter. The teacher also denied making the post and said his account was also hacked. Also last Tuesday; a construction worker in Aklan was arrested for offering P100 million, also for the president’s death.

If indeed these three people from different places had their Facebook pages hacked, maybe the CIDG should do some research. Maybe the hacking was done by the New People’s Army in order to make these threats to the president. In the first place, from the looks of the persons involved, they don’t even have enough money to order the killing of the president. However if this was done as a joke, then charges must be filed against those jokers for the joke is really on them.

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The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) is set to place Cebu City under modified ECQ and the rest of Cebu Province, including Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City, under GCQ effective May 16 to 31. But it seems that Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City still want to be under the old Enhance Community Quarantine (ECQ). So I got a call from a friend who asked where are the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue at this point in time? Under GCQ or ECQ? I will wait for a response from the two mayors. Meanwhile, whether we are in GCQ or ECQ, there really isn’t much difference in our lives. Again, I would like to reiterate for our political leaders to focus on how to restart our economy stopped by the coronavirus. Our people need to get back to work and as I’ve always emphasized the death or fatality rate in Cebu City is very miniscule, it is the fatality rate which we have always had in Cebu City even before COVID-19.

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Incidentally, during the last meeting of the IATF, the Department of Agriculture (DA) presented the food supply outlook for 2020, with most commodities actually forecast to end at a surplus by yearend. Earlier in April, DA was assigned to chair the Task Group on Food Security created by the IATF. The projected supply by the end of December 2020 will be 94 days’ worth for rice, 234 days for corn, two days for fish, six days for vegetables, and 253 days for chicken.

Tristan Aboitiz, President and CEO of Pilmico Foods Corp. assured the public and its stakeholders that its operations remain normal. “As a leadership team, we have spent the last few weeks learning as much as we can about the disease, and assessing how it has impacted and will continue to impact our industry. It is critical that we understand how it affects our team members, customers, and communities, so we can make the necessary changes to different aspects of our operation.” Thanks to companies like Pilmico we can be assured of our food supply!