News Roundup 01 September 2020
Sep 01, 2020 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 cases climb past 224,000 as Metro Manila stays under GCQ | PHILSTAR.COM – Recorded cases of the new coronavirus in the Philippines reached 224,264 Tuesday as the government opted to place Metro Manila and other urban areas under general community quarantine until end-September. The Department of Health reported 3,483 additional coronavirus cases. The DOH also logged 464 more patients have recovered from the disease, bringing the tally of COVID-19 survivors to 158,012. The country’s death toll rose to 3,597 with 39 additional deaths.
CHR to investigate alleged military maltreatment of Aetas in Zambales | PHILSTAR.COM – The Commission on Human Rights said it would investigate allegations that some member of an Aeta community in Zambales were assaulted and forced to eat human waste by military personnel. In a statement Tuesday, the CHR expressed concern over the reported “cruel and degrading” treatment of some members of an Aeta community in San Marcelino town by the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Division. Group Umahon Para Sa Repormang Agraryo (Umahon) reported Monday some Aetas were physically assaulted and detained. An individual was also reportedly forced to eat human waste. This came after 659 families were evacuated due to alleged bombings of Aeta communities on August 21. Umahon claimed the militarization of the areas was meant to pave way for mining explorations of Dizon Copper-Silver Mines, Inc, which the communities oppose.
New PhilHealth chief Gierran admits no experience in public health services | INQUIRER.NET – Newly-installed PhilHealth chief Dante Gierran admitted on Tuesday that he has no knowledge nor experience in public health sector, even though it is one of the requirements as the head of the state insurer firm. Under Section 14 of the Universal Health Care Law, the president and CEO of PhilHealth must have “at least seven years of experience in the field of public health, management, finance and health economics or a combination of these expertise.” Gierran, a former director of the National Bureau of Investigation, said that while he has no experience in public health, he knows financial management, being a certified public accountant. He also admitted that he does not know the operations of PhilHealth.
Senate recommends filing of criminal charges against Duque, Morales, other Philhealth officials | Manila Bulletin – The Senate Committee of the Whole has recommended the filing of malversation and other criminal charges against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, resigned Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) president and chief executive officer Ricardo Morales, and other senior officials over the alleged irregularities and corruption within the state health insurance firm. Duque is chairman of Philhealth. After three, 10-hour long hearings, Senate President Vicente Sotto III reported the contents of the committee’s findings on the claims of “rampant” corruption and anomalous transactions in the government-run corporation. Sotto said the committee uncovered the agency’s “shoddy or shady” payments under its the Interim Reimbursement Mechanism (IRM), its allegedly overpriced information and communication technology (ICT) procurement plan, the supposed manipulation of the PhilHealth’s financial status, as well as irregularities in its legal sector.
‘Sulu sultanate owns Sabah’ | The Manila Times – Sulu Sultan Dr. Ibrahim Bahjin Shakirullah 2nd on Monday said he was not abandoning his claim to Sabah despite Malaysia’s recent rejection of the claim. Bahjin has written the United Nations office in Manila to respond to Malaysia’s note verbale to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. In the note, the Malaysian government firmly rejected Bahjin’s claim. “While it may sound right, as per Malaysia’s contention that the Philippines does not have the ascendancy to claim Sabah on behalf of the Sultanate of Sulu, it is an undeniable fact that Sabah still remains the territorial possession of the Sultanate of Sulu and the latter has all the rights to claim back her territorial possession,” the sultan said. The sultanate had “never surrendered our aspirations to claim our land, which is supposed to be returned back to us after a ‘perpetual’ lease of 100 years in accordance with international law, which we all respect,” he added. To this day, Malaysia continues to remit to the sultanate the lease payments yearly “in complete disregard of the fact that the lease has already expired and that the property has to be returned…to its rightful legal owner, the Sultanate of Sulu,” he continued. Bahjin stressed that the assertion that the occupants of Sabah had expressed their rights of self-determination and decided to be Malaysian citizens was immaterial. “They are just squatters in a territory not theirs. And in the event of recovery, they may have the option to relocate themselves in the vast Malaysian land or remain subjects of the Sultanate of Sulu,” the sultan said in his letter.
