Wellness and rich
Were students of the golden days better-behaved than this generation? Our generation of the ’40s and ’0s high school classes are said to be respectful and proper in addressing their parents and the older folks, more focused on doing good. Most of today’s youths do things their way, are more materialistic, and happy go lucky. We hear a lot of people say, “Restore the Good Manners and Right Conduct subjects!”
Our prayers have been answered with the signing by President Duterte of RA 11476 or the GMRC and Values Education Act which mandates the teaching of values education in kindergarten, elementary and high school classes.
We have Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri to thank for his sponsoring the measure. The senator said, “I hope the Department of Education can work on the Implementing Internal Rules and Regulations (IRR) in time for the opening of classes come August. With many schools set on implementing distance learning, it’s going to be even more vital that we give our students formative guidance through GMRC and values education.”
The law institutionalizes a comprehensive GMRC and Values Education program in the K-12 curriculum of DepEd, replacing the current Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao curriculum.
GMRC will be integrated into daily activities in the kindergarten level, then taught as a separate subject from Grades 1 to 6. Grades 7 to 10 will carry a Values Education subject, into which GMRC shall be integrated. For Grades 11 and 12, Values Education shall be integrated in all subjects under the K-12 Basic Education curriculum.
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Here’s another good news. The Philippine Red Cross formally opened last Saturday a molecular laboratory that can process up to 14,000 samples in a day. The lab is located at the Red Cross’ former headquarters at Port Area, Manila. It is equipped with seven RNA extractor machines and 14 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines used in the gold standard in coronavirus testing.
Each automated machine can process up to 1,000 swab samples a day. These machines can also be used to detect other illnesses like tuberculosis, hepatitis and leukemia, as well as the Zika virus borne by mosquitoes and the human immunodeficiency virus. Results will be released 24 to 72 hours after testing. Sen. Richard Gordon, chair and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross, said the aim is to test 1.7 million people in the National Capital Region, or about 13 percent of Metro Manila’s total population of 12.9 million.
Gordon said the World Health Organization recommends that countries should test 13 percent of their population. This means the Philippines needs to test 14 million of its almost 110 million people.
The Department of Health has accredited 68 testing laboratories in the country, including the Red Cross’ Port Area laboratory.
Gordon said the Red Cross is opening more facilities in Laguna, Batangas, Cebu, Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro, apart from the laboratories already in operation in Clark and Subic.
The Red Cross Port Area laboratory which runs for 24 hours, is its third and the largest so far in the country.
Former DOH secretary Paulyn Ubial, who is in charge of PRC’s laboratories, said the total cost of processing a swab sample amounts to P3,500. This is much lower compared to testing at other laboratories, she said.
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One might see Cebu provincial governor Gwendolyn Garcia hunched over her desk, her head covered with a towel, blanket or a large piece of cloth. She will probably be inhaling steam from a small basin or bowl filled with boiled water infused with lemon, ginger or eucalyptus. This traditional healing method is called “tuob”.
Garcia said practicing tuob could be a remedy for asymptomatic patients or those with mild COVID-19 symptoms so they won’t have to go to hospitals in Cebu, which are filled beyond capacity.
Tuob’s healing steam would make a person sweat profusely for five to 10 minutes.
If the governor is doing this, she will be a great model for her constituents as tuob is a health regimen to boost one’s immune system to combat COVID-19 symptoms so they will not have to go to hospitals in Cebu which are filled beyond capacity.
Provincial Administrator Noli Vincent Valencia also “enjoined” employees and department heads to perform tuob twice a day at their work stations, between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Dr. Dale Pasco, a hydrotherapy advocate, is quoted as saying tuob would promote the multiplication of white blood cells which result in alleviating a patient’s condition.
Practicing tuob blocks the virus from progressing further into the body early on – when it is still in the nasal cavity, he said.
“Whenever the virus enters the nose or mouth, we still have four to five days to fight it. This is where steam inhalation plays a very important role in this phase. Let us not wait for it to reach the lungs,” Pasco said.
I wonder how DOH will react to Dr. Pasco’s statement.
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How are our best and brightest Filipinas doing abroad? More than well and good.
Melanie Perkins, a 32-year-old Filipino-Australian, is now Australia’s youngest ever billionaire with a net worth of $2.5 billion. She is now considered Australia’s third-richest woman. And this came about through Canva, a graphic design company she co-founded less than a decade ago.
According to the Australian Financial Review, Perkins is the richest entirely self-made billionaire in Australia. She achieved “unicorn” status in the tech world, meaning her company Canva is a billion dollar business.
Perkins and her co-founders, fiancé Cliff Obrecht and Cameron Adams, are reported to have recently secured $60 million in new funding from Australian venture capital fund Blackbird and Chinese firm Sequioa China. The new funding puts Canva’s market value at $6 billion (Aus$8.6 billions), almost double of what it was in October 2019.
The report says Canva is a popular free graphic design platform that’s garnered a loyal following due to its “freemium” model that lets users access a substantial library of free design templates.
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