News Roundup 01 July 2022
Jul 01, 2022 • 3 min Read
Robredo’s Angat Buhay launches with challenge to harness campaign energy into advocacy | PHILSTAR.COM – Former Vice President Leni Robredo launched Friday her Angat Buhay non-government organization with a challenge to volunteers to sustain the energy they showed during her presidential campaign and channel this to advocacy and aid work. “Our challenge now is how to harness our energy into something productive,” Robredo said in Filipino at the launch of Angat Buhay at her volunteer headquarters at Katipunan in Quezon City. Robredo, who ran for president in the May polls but lost to her archrival President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., said Angat Buhay will focus on four pillars, namely health, education, disaster relief and response, and community engagement. But she stressed that these would not be possible without the help of volunteers. “All these would only work if we would continue the flow of energy that we showed during the campaign,” Robredo said. Thousands flooded streets during Robredo’s rallies across the country during the campaign in a massive show of force for the then presidential candidate who was trailing behind Marcos Jr. in pre-election surveys. But despite the mammoth crowds at her rallies, the former vice president still ended up losing in the race to Malacañang by over 16 million votes. For Robredo, however, she and her supporters still emerged victorious. “We weren’t failures during the election. We were victorious because of the campaign, we were able to start the spirit of volunteerism,” she said. During the launch, Robredo, who is serving as the NGO’s chairperson, bared that they were not able to register Angat Buhay as a corporation as a different entity had registered with the same name years back. Instead, they registered with government regulators as Angat Pinas Inc., but will continue to use Angat Buhay as the name of their program. She also said that a museum featuring memorabilia and other materials from her presidential campaign called “Museo ng Pag-asa” will be opened within the month in a building that will also house Angat Buhay’s offices.
DOH: Positivity rates in Metro Manila, 3 other regions exceed WHO benchmark | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health said Friday that COVID-19 positivity rates in Metro Manila and three other regions surpassed the threshold set by the World Health Organization. Latest data from the DOH showed that the national positivity rate, or the percentage of infected people out of all tested, increased to 6% from 4.1% the previous week. In Metro Manila, the positivity rate climbed to 8.2% from 5.8%. Other regions with positivity rates exceeding 5% were Calabarzon (7%), Mimaropa (6.6%) and Western Visayas (6.4%). The WHO recommends that the proportion of COVID-19 tests coming back positive remains below 5% to ensure that the spread of the coronavirus is under control.
Bongbong Marcos appoints career diplomat Enrique Manalo as DFA secretary | INQUIRER.NET – Permanent Representative to the United Nations Enrique Manalo on Friday was appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. A career diplomat, Manalo took his oath before Marcos in Malacañang on Friday, replacing former Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. “Yes it is confirmed. But he asked for a few days to wind up affairs in his previous post,” Atty. Trixie Cruz-Angeles told INQUIRER.net in a text message when asked about the appointment.
NBI files murder raps vs police for death of Bilibid inmates | INQUIRER.NET – The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed murder charges against 22 police officers for the death of 8 inmates of the New Bilibid Prison (NBP). NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin confirmed in a text message that the 22 are from the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) assigned to the Bureau of Corrections at the time of the inmates’ death. The complaint was filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ).
