News Roundup 18 July 2020
Jul 18, 2020 • 3 min Read
COVID-19 cases in Philippines breach 65,000 with 2,357 new infections | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Saturday logged 2,357 new cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), bringing the country’s total caseload to 65,304. The local COVID-19 recovery count has reached 22,067 as the Health department confirmed 321 additional survivors. Meanwhile, the death toll stands at 1,773 after 113 more patients succumbed to the coronavirus.
Senators to DOH: Use cheaper Filipino-made COVID-19 test kits instead of imported brands | PHILSTAR.COM – Opposition senators on Saturday said that in order to increase COVID-19 testing capacity in the country, the government needs to use lower-cost and locally-produced test kits developed by the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health instead of relying on imported brands. “The country is ramping up COVID-19 testing, but locally manufactured, world-class P1,320 PCR test kits are gathering dust in laboratories due to the inaction of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III,” minority senators Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros and Kiko Pangilinan said in a joint statement Saturday. The Filipino-made test kits funded by the Department of Science and Technology are cheaper compared to Chinese and Korean test kits which cost more than double, between P4,000 and P8,000. “The savings that could be generated from this kit are crucial in augmenting our COVID-19 response especially at a time when resources are scarce,” read the statement. The senators cited an interim report indicating that the UP-developed test kits rank among the world’s best and perform even better than some of the imported kits in terms of sensitivity, specificity and confidence interval.
Church leaders in Bacolod condemn non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise | INQUIRER.NET – The Catholic Church here has condemned the non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise, saying it was yet another display of the Duterte administration’s intolerance for views that put to question its policies and actions. In a statement, Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon said the denial of the giant network’s franchise application has silenced a major source of information for people and compromised the constitutionally guaranteed right to information on matters of public concern. “We have been through the dark and cruel days of tyranny. If we stand and speak up now, our children do not have to go through it,” he said. “The Diocese (of Bacolod) is convinced that our democracy is being imperiled. If left unchallenged, our country can retrogress to tyrannical rule,” the bishop added.
Proposals for constitutional amendments remain a ‘contentious issue’ — Senators | Manila Bulletin – Senate leaders maintained on Saturday, July 18, that proposals for constitutional amendments remain a “contentious issue.” The League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) had pushed reforms in the 1987 Constitution that will supposedly help them achieve the “economic and social progress in their communities that they and their constituents have dreamed of for a long time.” Together with the appeal, the group of municipal mayors sent the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) a resolution proposing to institutionalize the so-called “Mandanas ruling” of the Supreme Court and the lifting of constitutional restrictions on foreign investments in the country. Senate President Vicente Sotto III, however, said such proposal is still “up for discussion”. “Although (local government) officials have very valid points, constitutional change or amendments are very contentious issues,” he said. Senator Francis Pangilinan, chair of the Senate constitutional amendments and revision of codes committee, acknowledged the appeal. “Everyone is free to express his or her views on charter change I have no problem with that,” Pangilinan said in a separate text message.
Health dept endorses complaint vs Koko | The Manila Times – The Department of Health (DoH) has endorsed the complaint against Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd for allegedly breaching quarantine protocols when he accompanied his then-pregnant wife to an upscale hospital in Makati City in March. In a media forum on Friday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergiere told reporters that her department had endorsed the complaint to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) after the complainant, lawyer Rico Paolo Quicho, submitted it to the DoH.
