News Roundup 20 June 2022
Jun 20, 2022 • 4 min Read
PH peso hits 54.065 per 1 US dollar | INQUIRER.NET – The Philippine peso on Monday breached the 54-per-dollar mark, closing at 54.065, based on the Bank Association of the Philippines’ (BAP) foreign exchange summary. This came just a few days after the Philippine peso closed at 53.75 against the US dollar, its weakest value since October 2018. With this, the local currency’s continued depreciation further confirms international banks and economic consultancies’ predictions, citing a widening trade deficit. In fact, the Philippine peso was only expected to weaken to 53.50:$1 by June. INQUIRER.net had already contacted the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for a comment but has yet to receive a response as of writing.
Doctors file complaint to suspend, revoke Badoy’s medical license | INQUIRER.NET – Another group of doctors on Monday filed a complaint with the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to suspend or even revoke Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy’s medical license for her red-tagging of doctors and fellow physicians. A total of 17 doctors lodged the complaint against Badoy at the PRC, explaining that her red-tagging remarks and acts are “deeply unprofessional” and warrant the suspension or revocation of her certificate of registration as a physician. “As a physician who works for the government, Respondent Badoy carries with her the responsibilities that attach to both. Her behavior of red-tagging and vilifying groups and individuals runs counter to the oaths that she took when she entered the medical profession and assumed the position of Communications Undersecretary,” said the doctors in a statement. “The main tenet of the medical profession is the Hippocratic Oath, which requires any physician to ‘do no harm.’ The way she has contributed to a culture of impunity, fear, and intimidation has done nothing but run counter to this most fundamental truth,” it added. This is the second time a group of physicians filed a complaint against Badoy, who serves as the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict spokesperson, to have her medical license removed. The Alliance of Health Workers (AHW) first asked the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to revoke her physician certificate for repeated red-tagging of the organization. AHW also likewise filed administrative complaints against Badoy at the Office of the Ombudsman for the same reason. Several progressive organizations had also lodged complaints against Badoy last March for linking vice president Leni Robredo to the CPP-NPA-NDF.
Comelec: Sara Duterte can’t assume post yet | PHILSTAR.COM – Although she has taken her oath, vice president-elect Sara Duterte cannot assume her post yet, according to the Commission on Elections. Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said the vice president-elect and all the winners in the May 9, 2022 elections shall start their term at noon of June 30. Duterte’s inauguration was held yesterday in Davao City, where she served as mayor before running for the vice presidency The Comelec earlier said that there is nothing illegal if Duterte will take her oath ahead of June 30. Any winning candidate, Comelec said, can take their oath in advance. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) on Sunday urged Duterte, the education secretary-designate, to fulfill the promise of her father, President Duterte, to sufficiently increase the salary of teachers. The ACT issued the statement in time with Duterte’s inauguration in Davao City, 11 days before she formally assumes office. “For one, she should push for significantly increasing teacher’s salaries to correct the distortion in the government salary scheme where teacher’s pay lag behind those of uniformed personnel and nurses,” ACT spokesperson Vladimer Quetua said. “This will relieve teachers of burdensome loans, improve their living conditions, lift their morale, and ultimately improve the quality of teaching and of education,” he added. The outgoing President promised to substantially increase the salary of teachers during his presidential campaign in 2016. But this remained unfulfilled, as the latest pay hikes received by public school teachers from 2016 to 2019 were provided under the Salary Standardization Law approved by the late former president Benigno Aquino III. Quetua also urged the incoming vice president to “meet the government’s unpaid obligations to teachers, citing the overtime pay for 77 excess workdays which they have rendered for school year 2020-2021. She was also urged to compel the Comelec to immediately pay the additional honorarium of poll workers who rendered extended election service in the May 2022 elections. “She can also support the demands of teachers as well as other sectors to suspend the PhilHealth premium increase,” added Quetua. Apart from addressing teachers’ salaries and welfare, ACT also urged Duterte to resolving the current learning crisis, which it said was partly due to the school closures implemented because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
