CTALK - Cito Beltran (The Philippine Star) - January 31, 2020 - 12:00am In spite of repeated incidents and threats of infectious diseases for humans as well as animals, the country's gatekeepers and health experts have been remiss in addressing the need to establish modern laboratories and facilities to identify viruses or confirm suspected cases. We have had our own share of threats concerning meningococcemia, SARS, Bird Flu, African Swine Fever (ASF) and now Novel Coronavirus.

Year in and year out we hear health and agriculture authorities talk about sending samples to the United Kingdom or Australia while the affected or concerned population sit and wait totally in the dark and in fear. As always the excuse for being incapable of doing the tests locally is that the equipment and facilities are too expensive.

How tragic! The government can justify buying business jets and have them modified into "multi-role" aircraft worth billions of pesos but we don't have the money to set up testing facilities in order to have scientific basis for medical or veterinary protocols in dealing with suspected outbreaks. The fact of the matter is that health and agriculture officials have not given importance to such a need.

No less than Congressman Ruffy Biazon of Muntinlupa pointed out that the RITM or Research Institute for Tropical Medicine which is the Philippine equivalent of the US CDC or Center for Disease Control has languished in terms of upgrade and funding, not to mention the fact that its present location which is next to the commercial hub of Alabang makes it a potential health threat. Given all the specimens stored in the facility as well as patients, the big concern is the risk that a major typhoon or earthquake could demolish the facility and release various types of bacteria and infectious diseases right in front of the South Luzon Expressway and Alabang Commercial Center.

To be fair to the DOH they are actually now "talking" about the need to set up a more modern facility, the Philippine Genome Center. Local scientists have been working on developing a confirmatory test for Novel Coronavirus and legislators like Congressman Biazon support putting up a new and better facility outside a densely populated area that qualifies as bio-hazard safe.

While President Duterte and his Congress are all talking about a P30-billion budget to build dedicated evacuation centers, can they also fast track funding for a new and modern RITM that meets global standards and response capability? In the mean time, while Secretary Francisco Duque is being careful not to single out Chinese nationals or offend the Chinese government regarding quarantine policies, a friend who recently moved to the Philippines from mainland China pointed out that China already has test kits available to determine the Novel Coronavirus and that the Philippines should reach out to Chinese authorities to get enough kits if only to confirm or dismiss if the 27 PUIs or Patients Under Investigation who are mostly from mainland China are infected by the NCov virus. If the kits are available, it certainly worth asking.

    If you regularly travel to the south via the South Luzon Expressway, you would do well to find all the available information that the Skyway Corp. has been sending out concerning rerouting schemes effective Feb.

16, 2020. The company will soon begin the southbound construction of pillars and foundation for the Skyway extension project and the management is making sure that drivers and commuters are informed. First of all, the construction will require the closure of the third most outer lane of SLEX Southbound from Sucat to Alabang.

It will also lead to the closure of the northbound lane of the West service road. Closure of the third lane also means that the exit/Off Ramp from Skyway to the ground level before Alabang will be closed.

Most vehicles will be rerouted to Filinvest both on the elevated skyway and partially on the ground level. Vehicles from the elevated Skyway heading further south will be redirected around Filinvest and back to the SLEX.

GM Manny Bonoan informed us on AGENDA (Cignal TV) that they are studying and considering cordoning off a pass through lane from Sucat all the way past Alabang for vehicles heading south on the ground level. The temporary steel ramp used to lead Type 1 vehicles to the Skyway northbound will only be available from 5 a.

m. to 9 a.

m. northbound and for the rest of the day will be used as an off-ramp for southbound vehicles getting off the Skyway.

All that will be subject to testing and trial runs up to next week and will be finalized with a massive information campaign. If you are a regular traveler on the SLEX, please sacrifice five minutes of your time to get an ETC or Electronic Toll Collection RFID because the Skyway Corp.

has simplified the process. The sticker is given for free ever since San Miguel Corp.

took over the SLEX/STAR Tollways. You no longer have to bring so many documents etc.

, just a copy of the CR and current registration receipt of your vehicle which you are suppose to have in your vehicles all the time. Your five-minute sacrifice will save you 5 to 10 minutes of delay every time you avoid the long ques at the CASH lanes.

With everybody using ETC RFIDs we will all help reduce the traffic volume we always complain about at the tollbooths. So don't complain if you are not willing to get the ETC tag.

 And as for loading cash on your card you can do it through your credit card or at designated areas. By the way your ETC card also gets you discounts from 10 to 15 percent in many participating stores and restaurants! That is certainly enough reason and value to get the ETC people!    E-mail: utalk2ctalk@gmail.

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