HEADS UP: Here’s Your ECQ, MECQ, GCQ Guide for August 2021 (July 30)

Here’s a Heads Up from reportr on news that you need to know today, July 30.

QUARANTINE NEWS

• Malacanang has spared Metro Manila from a hard lockdown, keeping it under GCQ with heightened restrictions until Aug. 15. Here are the quarantines for August.
• Here’s your guide to ECQ, MECQ, GCQ with heightened restrictions, GCQ and MGCQ for August 2021
• Those in ECQ areas will receive P1,000 ayuda each, maximum of P4,000 per household, Malacanang said.
• The DOH confirmed 97 more cases of the highly contagious Delta variant, bringing the total to 216.

HIDILYN DIAZ

• Olympic gold medalist Hidilyn Diaz said she had forgiven Malacanang for adding her name to a “matrix” of alleged anti-government plotters some years back.
• Upon her arrival late Wednesday, Duterte congratulated Diaz and told her to “let bygones be bygones”.
• EXPLAINER: The “sorry, not sorry” to Diaz from Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo underscored the need to verify documents from news sources and underscored the gaslighting phenomenon.
• Diaz said she had nothing but respect for star U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, who withdrew from a team event to protect her mental health. 

NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• ABS-CBN President Carlo Katigbak told shareholders that ex-Kapamilya stars who left after the company’s franchise loss are welcome to return if they wish.
• What about KathNiel and LizQuen? Katigbak said ABS-CBN would give them the best roles it could offer.
• August will likely see up to three tropical storms, PAGASA said, as it warned of more habagat rains.
• Don’t fake vaccine cards. A bill has been filed in the Senate seeking stiffer penalties for forgery of medical documents during health emergencies.
• Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno said free legal aid for troops, as proposed by the President, should not cover those accused of extra-judicial killings.
• Sen. Richard Gordon was admitted to the hospital for further observation after contracting COVID-19.
• A police station commander in Quezon City was fired after he allowed his men to join SONA patrols last Monday without their COVID-19 test results. Scores of them later turned out positive.
• The UK is donating 415,000 AstraZeneca COVID vaccines to the Philippines, part of its broader push to help the rest of the world after securing enough for its own.
• Twitter like Lazada? The microblogging platform is experimenting with e-commerce.