News Roundup 18 December 2023
Dec 18, 2023 • 4 min Read
2,725 new COVID-19 cases recorded as holiday season approaches | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health reported Monday a continued rise in COVID-19 cases as the holiday season neared, with 2,725 new infections logged in the past week.
The DOH said in a bulletin that new COVID-19 cases increased by about 50% in the week ending December 18, compared to the previous week.
An average of 389 infections were logged daily from December 12 to 18. Among these cases, 16 had severe or critical illnesses.
The health department also confirmed 16 deaths in the past week, with 13 occurring from December 5 to 18.
Despite the rise in cases, hospitalizations remained at a low risk, with only 2.9% of the 1,101 beds in intensive care units and 18.3% of the 10,045 non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Of those admitted, 8.8% or 211 individuals were in severe or critical conditions.
Health authorities have urged the public to adhere to minimum public health standards, including wearing face masks and frequent handwashing.
More than 78.4 million Filipinos have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations. However, only 23.8 million have gotten booster shots.
Story at: 2,725 new COVID-19 cases recorded as holiday season approaches | Philstar.com
Ex-party-list lawmaker files civil raps vs Badoy, Celiz over red-tagging | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN) chair and former Bayan representative Teddy Casiño on Monday filed before the Makati City Regional Trial Court (RTC) a civil suit against the two hosts of Sonshine Media Network International (SMNI), Lorraine Badoy and Jeffrey Celiz, due to their continued red-tagging.
Casiño is asking the court to order the two SMNI hosts, who were former members of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, to “desist from maligning and red-tagging.”
The former lawmaker said that the red-tagging caused him to suffer “mental anguish, sleepless nights, wounded feelings, and moral shock.”
“Even the most liberal view of free speech has never countenanced the publication of falsehoods, especially the persistent and unmitigated dissemination of patent lies. There is no constitutional value in false statements of fact,” Casiño said in his complaint.
“This legal action is long overdue. Since 2020, these two characters, aided and abetted by the NTF-ELCAC, have been falsely, maliciously, and repeatedly accusing me of being involved in terrorism, rebellion, and other crimes as a supposed high-ranking official of the CPP-NPA-NDFP,” Casiño said in a separate statement.
Full Story at: Ex-party-list lawmaker files civil raps vs Badoy, Celiz over red-tagging | Philstar.com
‘We don’t need’ charter change yet – Zubiri | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Any attempt to change the 1987 Constitution would be an exercise in futility since most of his colleagues are against it, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Sunday.
The government should just implement a law enacted last year to entice foreign investors instead of pushing for charter change supposedly to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution for the same purpose, he said in an interview with radio station dzBB.
“I believe we don’t need any amendment at this particular point in time,” Zubiri said in the program “Bantay Balita sa Kongreso.”
Asked about President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s stand favoring constitutional amendments, the Senate leader said: “I cannot promise to the president [that the Senate will back charter change].”
“Truth to tell, the pulse of the senators is that it’s not time for us to discuss cha-cha [charter change] because we have to prioritize enticing more foreign investments and improv[ing] the ease of doing business,” he said.
Full Story at: ‘We don’t need’ charter change yet – Zubiri | Inquirer News
Relatives seek inquiry into death of ex-PNP chief | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Relatives of the late Philippine National Police chief Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan suspect he was a victim of “foul play,” adding that his wife should be considered a “person of interest” in his supposedly questionable death, one of his sisters said on Sunday.
Maita Cascolan Andres told the Inquirer in an interview that the family began to suspect that Cascolan’s wife, Amelia, was plotting against their brother when she prevented them from visiting him after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in March.
Andres, who is a lawyer, said the family also found it “weird” when Amelia decided to take him out of confinement at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City and bring him home to San Juan after the former PNP chief suffered a stroke three months later.
At the time, Cascolan was being given morphine and fentanyl by Amelia’s cousin, a certain Dr. Ranier Tanalgo, who was supposedly the “family doctor,” Andres added.
Determined to give their brother proper medical attention, Andres said they went to the National Bureau of Investigation in July to file a complaint against her sister-in-law. They also filed a separate guardianship petition before a court in San Juan two weeks before the former PNP chief died on Nov. 25.
Full Story at: Relatives seek inquiry into death of ex-PNP chief | Inquirer News
