VAT EXEMPTION TO BE IMPLEMENTED TO FILIPINO WORKERS

- Department of Health’s (DOH) recent announcement that 21 medicines have

been exempted from value-added tax (VAT) brings huge relief to patients and
their families who are burdened with the prohibitive cost of treatment.
- The medicines specified under Revenue Memorandum Circular No. 17-2024
are for the treatment of cancer, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease,
mental illness, and tuberculosis.
- Data from the WHO show that the top causes of death in the Philippines are
ischemic heart disease, also called coronary heart disease or coronary artery
disease; lower respiratory infections; stroke; kidney diseases; diabetes;
hypertensive heart disease; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; and
tuberculosis.
- Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said limited access to medicines that help
control these diseases contributes to the rise in cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes,
and hypertension deaths. The poor stop taking medicines because of the
prohibitive cost, he added.
- the government exempted 59 medicines from VAT including maintenance
drugs for diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, and mental illness. These
exemptions have been provided under Republic Act No. 11534, or the
Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act signed in 2021.
- Based on DOH data, there are about 1,071 private facilities compared to only
721 public hospitals.
- President Marcos signed RA 11959 mandating the DOH to create regional
specialty centers, a move that will make health care accessible to more
Filipinos.
- Vincen Gregory Yu, a research associate at the Ateneo de Manila University’s
development studies program, called the regular Filipino’s health-care journey
the 4Ps: “Pagtitiis,” which entails enduring the symptoms and instead of
seeking professional help, resorting to alternative medicine or self-medication;
“Pangungutang,” or borrowing money that could lead the desperate outside
of their network of family, friends, and co-workers to seek loans from money
lenders, pawnshops, and other schemes that charge high-interest rates;
“Pagmamakaawa,” or soliciting help from politicians, government agencies,
and nongovernment organizations; and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.
(PhilHealth,) the corruption-riddled national health insurance system whose
 coverage needs a review.

DRUG AS ACCUSATION

- we have former president Rodrigo Duterte lashing out at his successor, calling
him a “drug addict and a drug addict now as president,” and claiming that he
was on the drug watch list of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)
(a claim that was belied by the agency in a statement).
- “I think it’s the fentanyl,” President Marcos said in reply, likewise alluding to
past drug use that the former president himself had disclosed, back in 2016,
“Fentanyl is the strongest pain killer that you can buy,” Marcos continued,
adding: “After five, six years, it has to affect him, that’s why I think this is what
has happened”, Marcos added.
- During the 2022 elections, most of the candidates signified willingness to
undergo a drug test to rid themselves of this liability
- Duterte legitimized the use of “tokhang” to kill individuals, he successfully
used drugs to legitimize the political (and physical) destruction of political
enemies
- United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime has repeatedly affirmed in its World
Drug Reports, many people who use drugs do so without causing any
problems for themselves and for others, and the majority of those who do
need support (e.g., medical and mental health services, economic
opportunities)—not punishment.
 REDUCING NON-TEACHING TASK TO TEACHERS

- Department Order No. 002, S.2024 that removes certain administrative tasks
from teachers: personnel administration; custodianship of property or physical
facilities; general administrative support; financial, records, and program
management, including school-based feeding; and disaster risk reduction
- DO 002 is silent on whether they will provide additional funding to hire
nonteaching and support staff and instead has directed schools to bill these
against their “maintenance and other operating expenses.”
- The Teachers’ Dignity Coalition called on DepEd to hire not just administrative
staff but support personnel such as guidance counselors, nurses, utility
workers, and security staff
 REMOVAL OF VOUCHER PROGRAM
- Dec. 18 memorandum issued by the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd)
which directed all state and local universities and colleges (SUCs and LUCs) to
review their acceptance of new senior high school (SHS) enrollees
- Department of Education (DepEd) and CHEd agreement had allowed public
universities and colleges to offer senior high classes during the K-12 transition
period, to use the excess capacity of classrooms and teachers expected from
the drop in enrollment because of two more years added to high school. The
students’ fees were paid by DepEd through its voucher program. With the free
higher education law leading to “a tremendous increase in enrollment, SUCs
and LUCs
- Grade 12 students in public universities and colleges for school year 2023-
2024 are allowed to finish their studies, but all HEIs (Higher Education
Institutions) should stop offering the program beginning school year 2024-
2025.
- laboratory schools, or those offering education programs, will still be allowed
to accept SHS learners but with limited capacity.
- Affected by CHEd’s directive are 114 SUCs and 146 LUCs, and the 17,751
Grade 11 students enrolled in them.
- Alliance of Concerned Teachers last week expressed concern that congestion
in public high schools would worsen, given the unaddressed problem of
classroom shortage. It might also result in “overworked” public school
teachers who now have to handle bigger classes because of student
transferees, it added. And without the DepEd’s voucher program, aren’t
students at risk of losing access to free education because of financial
constraints? the group asked.
- Bohol Rep. Kristine Alexie Tutor pointed out, based on DepEd Order 20, it is
only the voucher program, and not the SHS itself, that is being discontinued.
“It is therefore now up to the SUCs and LUCs to decide whether or not they
can continue their SHS with … funding from other sources [or] out-of-pocket.”
CATCHING UP WITH THE REALITY

The Department of Education’s (DepEd) “Catch-Up Fridays” directive

is a welcome initiative, one that may in fact be long overdue, but its
“abrupt” implementation has predictably earned it brickbats from
affected sectors.

The program was formally started on Jan. 12, just two days after the
DepEd issued a memo about it, thus catching teachers and school
heads by surprise, according to Alliance of Concerned Teachers
(ACT) chair Vladimer Quetua. The abbreviated lead time left
teachers “ill-equipped” to implement the program since they did not
even undergo proper orientation, he added.

DepEd’s memo states that half of all Fridays of January will be

dedicated to reading, while the other half will be devoted to peace,
values, and health education.

The learning program is DepEd’s response to the low ranking of

Filipino students in reading, mathematics, and science, as seen in
the results of the 2022 Programme for International Student
Assessment. The Philippines ranked 77th out of 81 countries globally
in the student assessment conducted by the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development for 15-year-old learners.

“We are seeing that the quality of education is not really good and
we are going to start with teaching the students how to read. There
are a lot of nonreaders and slow readers so we need to give them
one day where they will do nothing but practice and learn how to
read,” Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte
explained when she introduced the “Catch-up Fridays” concept in
November 2023 during the culmination of National Reading Month.
To improve the reading skills among Filipino students, the program
sets aside Fridays for exercises meant to advance reading
comprehension, among them such activities as “Drop Everything
and Read,” “Read-A-Thon,” fora, and sessions with resource
persons.
Meanwhile, the values education taught during the second half of
the day is expected to make students more mindful of their physical
and mental health, while the “peace education” they’re introduced
to will tackle such issues as school bullying.

But why burden such a laudable program with a rushed, haphazard

implementation? Among the problems identified were the lack of
preparation for teachers, the need for a diagnostic test to gauge the
reading level of learners and for measuring the program’s impact,
as well as the bad timing that posed on teachers’ and students’
schedules as the program was rolled out when exams were coming
up.
While DepEd has assured that teachers and school heads would be
given proper orientation and training within the month “on
strategies to implement [the program],” critics have pointed out the
on-ground realities that the agency must also deal with to fully
address the country’s learning poverty.
Among the most apparent is the heavy load of teachers, who are
often given administrative tasks on top of their teaching
assignments. How would “Catch-Up Fridays” impact their hours and
affect their focus on teaching? Do they even have a say on how they
can contribute to the learning program? Quetua asked.

Aside from the lack of reading skills, there are other problems
hobbling the students’ capacity to learn, the ACT chair said, adding
that the government should allocate sufficient funds to the
education sector to help solve the perennial classroom shortage, the
lack of teaching and learning materials, and the need for more
education support personnel.
With DepEd using a nongraded approach to the reading activities,
how will the learning program be assessed for effectivity, some
observers have asked. Who will evaluate the students’ “reflection
journal” to monitor their progress?, they also pointed out.
To be fair, the DepEd has acknowledged that teachers should
engage in collaborative sessions to share best practices in
implementing “Catch-up Fridays.” It added that schools are “highly
encouraged to forge and strengthen stakeholder engagement” to
gather support and sustain the program’s implementation. Still, the
memo could have been more specific on how this collaboration and
engagement can be put in place, with DepEd at the helm.

While sensible and doable, the learning program can definitely use
some fine-tuning, including further consultation with teachers and
school heads to iron out obvious kinks, and the necessary funding to
address the underlying causes behind the students’ tepid response
to learning activities. Are they too hungry to focus on the lessons,
too tired from walking long distances to school, or too distracted by
the work their parents expect them to do after class?

While there are no instant solutions to such longstanding learning problems that are
rooted in poverty, the DepEd’s “Catch-Up Fridays” is a good start that addresses the
specific need to improve reading skills to advance basic comprehension among
students. It can certainly use support from various sectors to make its impact.