News from home: Setting tourist targets, COVID-19 case projections

MANILA, Philippines — From the country’s increased tourist targets for 2023 to issues surrounding gratuity pay given to government employees, these are among our headlines from the past week we think you should know if you’re a Filipino based abroad.

Overseas Filipinos

• The Department of Tourism is setting a 4.8-million target for international arrivals in 2023 after international tourist visits this year stood at 2.464 million, exceeding the expected 1.7 million.
• A poll showed that Filipinos were split on whether their Christmas celebrations this year will be more prosperous. Only 6%, however, said this year’s holiday festivities will be “poorer” than last year’s. 
  Meanwhile, a separate poll showed Filipinos are expected to be happier this year as in-person holiday celebrations return.

Work and the economy

• Government workers expressed disappointment over the “one-time” rice assistance program approved by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as their call for a P10,000 gratuity pay were not initially addressed. Concerns over job security were also raised.
  On Christmas eve, Marcos Jr. granted a P5,000 Christmas gratuity pay for government workers, provided they have at least four months of "actual satisfactory performance" as of December 15. 
• A senator wants to make law school accessible to the public by making law education in state universities and colleges free. In exchange, those who graduate and pass the Bar exam will be required to practice in the government for at least two years.
• The National Economic and Development Authority wants the Maharlika Investment Fund, which House lawmakers approved quickly last week despite public protest, to finance the government’s development plan. 

Politics and the nation

• The country is projected to log at least 4,000 COVID-19 infections daily by mid-January amid the continued easing mobility restrictions in the country. Local governments are urged to boost their campaigns for booster shots. 
• The DOH is still encouraging nearly 600,000 or almost half of the country’s healthcare workers to get their second booster shots. Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, however, said evidence showed that the first booster shot would also protect an individual from severe and critical COVID-19 infection.
• The Philippines is backing the creation of a biodiversity fund at this year’s COP15 summit held in Montreal to help protect the planet’s biodiversity. 
• Seventeen-year-old Alex Eala has clinched a spot to the 2023 Australian Open. It will be Eala’s first women’s Grand Slam stint.
• The Philippines is verifying a report that detailed China’s construction activities over Spratly Islands. Analysts have urged Marcos Jr. to address the issue during his meeting with President Xi Jinping in China when he visits next month. Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has been ordered to increase their presence in the West Philippine Sea in light of the reports.