CA confirms Herbosa, Laurel appointments
(UPDATE) THE Commission on Appointments (CA) on Tuesday approved the interim appointments of Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. as Agriculture secretary and Teodoro Herbosa as Health secretary.
Laurel said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has instructed him to weed out scalawags in the Department of Agriculture, go after the food smugglers and increase food production.
Likewise, Laurel said he would seek the help of national and international law enforcers in stopping food hoarders, price manipulators and smugglers.
«The instruction of President 'Bongbong' Marcos is clear: bolster food production and modernize agriculture — a crucial pillar in building a Bagong Pilipinas (new Philippines),» he said.
«We will get the help of biologists, data scientists and the academe in dealing with the Avian flu, African swine fever and red tide,» he added.
Meanwhile, Herbosa has recommended the optional wearing of face masks in enclosed places for people who are at high risk, such as the elderly and those who are prone to illnesses.
Herbosa said that since December is a season of respiratory illnesses, he advised those who are sick not to attend parties to prevent infecting others.
The Department of Health (DoH) chief informed lawmakers that there is no recorded outbreak in the Philippines so far of the so-called walking pneumonia.
Most children with this form of pneumonia will not feel sick enough to stay at home. Hence, the name «walking» pneumonia, it added.
The my.clevelandckinic.org said the main difference between walking pneumonia and «regular» pneumonia is that walking pneumonia is milder and it usually does not require bed rest or hospitalization.
«In the Philippines, we don't have [an] outbreak according to our epidemiology bureau,» Herbosa told the CA when asked about the illness.
Herbosa confirmed that there were cases recorded in China. «But now other countries in Europe have recorded an increase in respiratory illness in children.»
He said that pneumonia cases have increased because «it is the season of respiratory illness.»
«My advice is the same, [observe] what we learned during the Covid (coronavirus disease) [pandemic like] social distancing, wearing of face mask and cough
