News Roundup 28 August 2020
Aug 28, 2020 • 3 min Read
Philippines adds 3,999 new COVID-19 cases; total now at 209,544 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines recorded 3,999 new coronavirus infections Friday, taking the country’s caseload to over 209,000. Of the figure, 71,745 were active cases or those still infected. Some 510 more people recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recoveries to 134,474. But the country’s death toll rose to 3,325 after 91 additional fatalities were reported.
US warship sails near disputed islands in tense South China Sea | PHILSTAR.COM – An American warship sailed near the disputed Paracel Islands in the South China Sea, the US Navy has said, challenging Beijing’s claims on the resource-rich waterway and prompting a warning from the Chinese military. The Thursday operation came a day after China fired ballistic missiles into the sea as part of ongoing live-fire exercises, inflaming already high tensions between Washington and Beijing. The US regularly conduct “freedom of navigation operations” in the area to challenge Chinese territorial claims. The US Navy’s Pacific Fleet said in a statement that the USS Mustin, a guided-missile destroyer, sailed Thursday “in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands to ensure critical shipping lanes in the area remain free and open”. The Chinese military on Friday accused the US ship of entering “China’s territorial waters” near the islands “without authorisation”.
US donates 100 ventilators to Philippines | INQUIRER.NET – The United States has donated 100 new ventilators to the Philippines amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The ventilators were turned over by US Ambassador Sung Kim to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea in Malacañang on Friday. Joining the Executive Secretary were Presidential Assistant on Foreign Affairs and Chief of Presidential Protocol Robert Borje and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.
‘Mafia of the South’ tagged in PhilHealth corruption | Manila Bulletin – An influential and powerful bloc of regional officials from Mindanao has been tagged as the real mafia behind the massive and well-organized corruption activities at the State-run Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth). This was confirmed Friday by a resigned PhilHealth official even as the House Committee on Public Accounts and on Good Government set next week its investigation into the various PhilHealth fund scams initiated by the alleged “Mafia of the South (MOTS).” Lawyer Rodolfo del Rosario, formerly PhilHealth chief legal officer who resigned Tuesday, noted that despite the filing of numerous charges against certain PhilHealth regional officials in Mindanao, no action was taken by the Ombudsman to discipline or suspend them. On the other hand, Del Rosario, together with several other PhilHealth officials, were ordered suspended by the Ombudsman for reasons that have not been revealed to the public. News about the suspension of Del Rosario and several other key officials of PhilHealth were “fed” to House reporters by a solon but only the dispositive portion of the Ombudsman ruling was sent to the media. Journalists covering the Office of the Ombudsman sought a copy of the decision but their requests were ignored. In a radio DZBB interview, Del Rosario admitted that their suspension was triggered by a case filed by a group of PhilHealth men from Mindanao whom they had previously charged before the anti-graft body.
Locsin wants contracts of Chinese firms in sea row terminated | The Manila Times – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin, Jr. has recommended the termination of contracts with Chinese firms found to be behind incursions in the South China Sea. “Yes, if I find any of those companies are doing business with us, then I would strongly recommend we terminate that relationship with them. If they were in any way involved in the reclamation, then it becomes consistent on our part to terminate any contract with them,” said Locsin in an interview on CNN Philippines. He said he would coordinate with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to verify if there were any approved or ongoing projects being carried out with Chinese partners covered by US sanctions. Washington has been taking an aggressive stance against China’s incursion in the South China Sea. Just this week, the US government sanctioned Beijing’s state-run firms, as well as restricted the issuance of visas on Chinese involved in reclamation and militarization activities in disputed waters.
