News Roundup 10 July 2022
Jul 10, 2022 • 4 min Read
Sri Lanka president to step down, parliamentary speaker says, amid storm of protests | INQUIRER.NET | Reuters – Sri Lanka’s President Gotabaya Rajapaksa plans to step down, the country’s parliamentary speaker said on Saturday, bowing to intense pressure after a violent day of protests in which demonstrators stormed the president’s official residence and set fire to the prime minister’s home in Colombo. The announcement, following the dramatic escalation in months of largely peaceful anti-government protests over a dire economic crisis on the Indian Ocean island of 22 million people, triggered an eruption of celebratory fireworks in the city. There was no immediate word from the president himself. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena said in a video statement that Rajapaksa had informed him that he would step down from his post on Wednesday. “The decision to step down on 13 July was taken to ensure a peaceful handover of power,” Abeywardena said. “I therefore request the public to respect the law and maintain peace,” he said. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe also said he was willing to resign to make way for an all-party government, his office said in a statement on Saturday evening. It was not yet clear if this would quell popular anger. Details of how a transition of power would take place were also not yet known, although the speaker earlier outlined proposals from a meeting of political parties on Saturday that would include parliament picking an acting president within a week. Throughout the day, soldiers and police were unable to hold back a crowd of chanting protesters demanding Rajapaksa’s resignation and blaming him for the country’s worst economic crisis in seven decades. Police fired shots in the air but were unable to stop the crowd from surrounding the presidential residence, a witness said. Neither Rajapaksa nor Wickremesinghe were in their residences when the buildings were attacked.
Mark Magsayo loses WBC featherweight belt to Mexico’s Rey Vargas | INQUIRER.NET – Mark Magsayo lost his WBC featherweight title to Rey Vargas by split decision on Sunday (Manila time) at Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Magsayo scored a knockdown in the ninth round, decking Vargas with a right hand but just couldn’t get the job done as the unbeaten Mexican showed great resolve. Two judges scored it 115-112, 115-112 for Vargas while the other had Magsayo winning, 114-113. Vargas (36-0, 22KOs) became a two-division champion. He was a former champion at super bantamweight before moving up to 126 pounds. The 27-year-old Magsayo, who suffered his first loss after starting his pro career with a 24-0 record with 16 knockouts, had a hard time dealing with the much taller Vargas. Vargas used an effective jab that disrupted Magsayo’s timing. Magsayo’s defeat left the Philippines without a current boxing champion.
Quezon City trike drivers, operators get fuel subsidy | PHILSTAR.COM – Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte last week led the distribution of P1,000 fuel subsidy for tricycle operators and drivers in the city. Some 1,700 members of a tricycle drivers and operators association (TODA) from the city’s fourth district have received their fuel subsidy fleet cards from the local government. Belmonte said the assistance, which is different from those provided by the national government, aims to lessen the burden caused by continuing oil price hikes. The city government earlier approved an ordinance providing for a fuel subsidy program for over 25,000 TODA members in Quezon City. Qualified drivers and operators shall receive a fuel subsidy of P1,000 in the form of a fuel voucher, which will be distributed by the Quezon City Task Force for Transport and Traffic Management through the Tricycle Regulatory Division (TRD). TODA members from other districts were advised to monitor updates from the TRD regarding the distribution schedule in their areas.
World Bank wants gov’t to fast-track rollout of national ID | PHILSTAR.COM – The government is urged to expedite the rollout of the Philippine Identification System (PhilSys) as its use is seen to improve the government’s delivery of social assistance. Yoonyoung Cho, senior economist at the Social Protection and Jobs Global Practice at the World Bank, said that the PhilSys holds the key to many of the institutions’ recommendations for the better implementation of government’s social assistance programs. “I am aware that many people are waiting for the Phil-ID card but in fact, more than the card itself, the PhilSys number that contains key information is most important. The Philippine Statistics Authority should be expediting the use of mobile ID or QR codes without the physical card,” she said during a webinar organized by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies. When the PhilSys is adopted by social assistance programs and processes, Cho said it can help clean up and establish the database for better targeting of beneficiaries in times of crisis. Cho said countries with a national ID registry and digital mechanisms were able to quickly deliver assistance during the pandemic. In the Philippines, she said there was no immediate mechanism to identify and verify vulnerable households when the pandemic hit the country as the national ID or PhilSys was not operational yet.
