News Roundup 25 August 2020
Aug 25, 2020 • 3 min Read
Coronavirus infections in Philippines soar past 197,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The country now has more than 197,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as the Department of Health reported 2,965 additional infections Tuesday. This brought the country’s caseload to 197,164, of which 61,730 were considered active cases. The number of COVID-19 survivors increased by 368 to 132,396. But 34 more fatalities were reported, pushing the death toll to 3,038.
Recto to Duterte: Publish actual COVID-19 assistance delivered, not just funds spent | PHILSTAR.COM – After President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to publish the funds spent by the government in its COVID-19 response, a lawmaker urged him to divulge the actual assistance delivered to the public as well. “President Duterte should order government agencies to add the most important column in their monthly publication of funds spent, and that is for ‘goods and services delivered to the people,'” Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said. “There is one litmus test in budget spending, and that is [if] what are meant to be procured for the people have been received by them. This delivery receipt is the most important,” he added.
IS militants claim responsibility for Sulu blasts | INQUIRER.NET – Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the two powerful bomb explosions that killed 15 people and wounded 75 more – many of them civilians – on Jolo island in Sulu on Monday. Shortly after the blasts that were blamed on Abu Sayyaf in Jolo, Sulu, SITE Intelligence, a U.S.-based group that monitors online communications among Muslim militant groups, reported that the IS East Asia province had issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attacks. The SITE also cited IS supporters across the globe rejoicing over the casualties as a result of the bombings. Six civilians, seven soldiers, and a police officer were killed in the blasts that went off in a busy street of Jolo on Sunday, while 75 other people – including at least 48 civilians, 21 soldiers, and six police officers – were injured.
‘File charges, punish corrupt PhilHealth officials’, Drilon urges Duterte | Manila Bulletin – Senate minority leader Franklin Drilon said President Duterte should make good on his promise to mete out justice to corrupt officials of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), particularly those who took advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to filch public funds. “We expect charges to be filed against those who will be proven to have misused public funds allotted for the campaign against Covid-19,” Drilon said in a statement. “The President should make an example of PhilHealth: jail those who misused public funds through the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM) and other schemes,” Drilon added.
‘Arrest revgov proponents’ | The Manila Times – A lawyer advocacy group has asked the government to arrest the proponents and “self-styled revolutionaries” pushing for the establishment of a revolutionary government, saying it is a “brazen affront to the sovereign Filipino people.” In a statement, the Tagapagtanggol ng Watawat (Defenders of the Flag), a group of lawyers advocating to uphold the constitution and the rule of law, called on public leaders to do more to defend the republic against the “existential threat” of fringe groups pushing for a revolutionary government. The group said law enforcement agencies “must enforce the law” against those seeking to overthrow the Constitution.
