News Roundup 19 June 2022
Jun 19, 2022 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 cases rising but surge still preventable – DOH | INQUIRER.NET – The Department of Health (DOH) on Saturday warned of an increasing number of COVID-19 cases and that the country could see as many as 800 to 1,200 cases per day by the end of June, but there is still no indication of another surge. “So, we need to prevent that from happening because these projections are not cast in stone. These are just used for us to prepare,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said at the Laging Handa briefing. Vergeire said the Philippines had recorded a national daily average of 350 COVID-19 cases, a 50 percent to 60 percent increase from the previous week. She added that the daily cases in Metro Manila had gone up to 170 from the previous 102. “The number of cases continues to rise albeit relatively slowly, but we all need to be cautious,” Vergeire said. The independent pandemic monitor OCTA Research maintained its forecast of a “weak surge” in the coming days in Metro Manila as the seven-day average of daily COVID-19 infections in the National Capital Region (NCR) jumped by 71 and new cases accounted for about half of the national total. According to its latest data, the one-week growth rate of new cases rose to 176 on Friday from 103 the previous week, the highest recorded since February when the country was just recovering from the Omicron surge. There were 282 fresh cases on Friday, or 52 percent of the 539 total in the country that day. This translates to an average daily attack rate (Adar) of 1.24, or more than one COVID-19 case per 100,000 population, OCTA said. The reproduction number was 1.8 on June 1, or almost two individuals getting the virus from one infected person. “These numbers we are seeing have been in line with our projections: a weak surge and no escalation of alert levels because we expect our health-care system will be able to manage the relatively low number of hospitalizations,” OCTA said.
UN rapporteur calls for junking of Esperon perjury suit vs rights defenders | PHILSTAR.COM – A United Nations special rapporteur is calling on Philippine authorities to dismiss perjury charges filed against human rights defenders in the Philippines, raising concerns that the suits are “a form of retaliation for the human rights activities” of groupls like Karapatan. Karapatan Secretary-General Tinay Palabay, along with other members of Karapatan, Gabriela Secretary-General Joan May Salvador, and Sr. Emma Cupin of the Rural Missionaries of Philippines, are scheduled to go to court Monday to face a perjury charge filed by Hermogenes Esperon Jr., the country’s national security adviser. UN Special Rapporteur on Human Right Defenders Mary Lawlor called on Philippine authorities to stop attacking rights defenders in the country. “I urge the authorities in the Philippines to stop the targeting of Human Rights Defenders, and instead promote and protect their work,” she said in a statement dated June 18. The human rights defenders previously sought court protection from threats and harassment that they said were targeted at human rights defenders and development workers. The Court of Appeals dismissed the pleas, saying “there is no evidence of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, malicious prosecutions and defamations” and that court protection orders “cannot be issued on amorphous and uncertain grounds.” The petition named National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., but it was eventually dismissed over said lack of probable cause and insufficient evidence. Esperon, named a respondent in the petitions, filed the perjury charges two months after the CA junked them. He accused the group of misrepresenting Rural Missionaries of Philippines as a “registered non-stock, non-profit organization” in their plea.
Philippines still in money launder gray list | PHILSTAR.COM – Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has retained the Philippines in its “gray list,” citing the country’s need to further strengthen its action plan to address strategic deficiencies in efforts to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and “proliferation financing.” As part of the “gray list” along with 22 other countries, the Philippines is subject to increased monitoring by the global dirty money watchdog. The list was released during the recently concluded hybrid FATF plenary from June 14 to 17. The FATF said the Philippines should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies by demonstrating that effective risk-based supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) is occurring and demonstrating that supervisors are using anti-money laundering/ combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) controls to mitigate risks associated with casino junkets. The global dirty money watchdog also said the Philippines should enhance and streamline law enforcement agencies’ access to beneficial owners information and taking steps to ensure that beneficial owners information is accurate and up-to-date. It added that the country should also demonstrate greater use of financial intelligence as well as intensify money laundering investigations and prosecutions. There should also be more identification, investigation and prosecution of terrorist financing cases. According to FATF, the Philippines should continue to take appropriate measures with respect to the non-profit organization (NPO) sector without disrupting legitimate NPO activity. Furthermore, the country should also enhance the effectiveness of targeted financial sanctions framework for both terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
