Good day. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Monday, April 12, 2021.

READ: Duterte eases NCR lockdown

President Rodrigo Duterte has placed Metro Manila and four nearby provinces, collectively known as NCR Plus, in a less restrictive modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until April 30. The National Capital Region (NCR), along with the provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna and Cavite had been in enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) since March 29 amid the continued rise in Covid-19 cases. Malacañang said last week the country cannot sustain a strict lockdown because the government has no more funds to provide cash assistance to low-income families. Palace Spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the city of Santiago in Quirino and Abra will also be in MECQ from April 12 until April 30. Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Davao City, Lanao del Sur and Quezon will be in general community quarantine (GCQ) while the rest of the country will be in the most lenient modified general community quarantine (MGCQ). Mayors in Metro Manila agreed to shorten curfew hours. Beginning April 12, the curfew hours will be from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. The easing of the lockdown in NCR Plus comes even as Octa Research reported that the deaths from Covid-19 have gone up.

READ: More Sinovac doses arrive

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MORE vaccine doses for Covid-19 will arrive soon, Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go said. On Sunday, 500,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac arrived on Sunday. An initial shipment of 20,000 doses of Sputnik V from Russia are expected next week, Go said. He said President Rodrigo Duterte is scheduled to discuss with Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to further strengthen cooperation between the two nations in the fight against Covid-19, including increasing vaccine supply. The new batch of CoronaVac is part of the 1.5 million doses that the government ordered from China this month, Go said.

READ: Bayanihan 3 ‘gains headway’

The House of Representatives “had some headway" in working for the passage of Bayanihan 3, according to Marikina City Rep. Stella Quimbo.

Several versions of the Covid-19 stimulus package were filed at the House, including one by Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and Quimbo.

There are six versions of Bayanihan 3, Quimbo said in a roundtable interview with The Manila Times last Friday. She said it was decided that the bills will "be heard jointly" by the committees where they were filed.

READ: FDA sets new guidelines for AstraZeneca vaccine

THE Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will set new guidelines for AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine this week. FDA Director General Eric Domingo said Sunday the agency is fast-tracking the revised guidelines for the AZD1222, following the suspension of the vaccine’s administration to persons age 60 and below after rare blood clots were reported among some of its recipients abroad.

READ: PH calls for restraint in maritime dispute

MANILA has urged all parties with overlapping claims in the South China Sea (SCS) to adhere to the rule of law and exercise self-restraint. The Spratly Islands in the SCS are claimed in whole by China and in part by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines. The Philippines, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), made the appeal during the virtual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) held on April 7. Acting Undersecretary for Bilateral Relations and Asean Affairs Elizabeth Buensuceso underscored Manila’s commitment to the Code of Conduct (CoC) in the South China Sea that is being negotiated between Asean member-states and China. The Philippines is the country coordinator for Asean-China Dialogue Relations.

BUSINESS: DoF: More jobless Pinoys in Feb

Topping business, the unemployment rate in the country rose to 8.8 percent in February, which translated to more jobless Filipinos, according to the latest economic bulletin released by the Department of Finance (DoF) on Sunday. Preliminary figures it provided showed that the February rate — higher than the 8.7 percent rate in January — was equivalent to 4.18 million out-of-work individuals, expanding from the 3.95 million in a month earlier. This means that 234,000 Filipinos lost their jobs in just a month.

SPORTS: Ancajas blasts Rodriguez to retain IBF super fly belt

Over to sports, Filipino fighter Jerwin Ancajas defeated Mexican Jonathan Rodriguez via unanimous decision to successfully defend his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super flyweight belt for the ninth time on Sunday (Philippine time) at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Despite a 16-month layoff, Ancajas displayed superb boxing prowess to get the scorecards 115-112, 116-111, and 117-110.

READ: Opinion and editorial

Rigoberto Tiglao and Fr. Ranhilio Aquino are today’s front page columnists. Tiglao continues to accuse military and government officials over the Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef, while Fr. Aquino believes justice is merciful.

Today’s editorial discusses the recent hospitalization of Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. Read the full version on the paper’s opinion section or listen to the Voice of the Times.

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With Dafort Villaseran, this is Aric John Sy Cua reporting. May you have a safe week ahead.