News Roundup 22 September 2020
Sep 22, 2020 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 death toll in Philippines tops 5,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The coronavirus crisis in the Philippines has claimed more than 5,000 lives as the country’s caseload rose to over 291,000, the Department of Health reported Tuesday. The DOH registered 50 new deaths, pushing the toll to 5,049. The Philippines recorded the second highest number of COVID-19 deaths in Southeast Asia behind Indonesia with 9,677 deaths as of Monday. COVID-19 cases in the Philippines increased to 291,789 after 1,635 more people got infected—the lowest in about two weeks. The DOH also logged 450 additional recoveries, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 230,643. Active cases stood at 56,097 Tuesday.
Robredo: Waiting for vaccine, spraying pesticide won’t solve COVID-19 crisis | PHILSTAR.COM – Having hospitals to treat coronavirus patients and waiting for a vaccine are not enough to address the health crisis that has infected more than 290,000 people in the Philippines, Vice President Leni Robredo said. In a taped speech aired Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte lashed out at critics, including Robredo, for saying the government has not done enough to address the pandemic. “Now, you might be hearing of critics and ‘yung walang magawa, that we are not doing enough. Ano mang enough ang gusto ninyo? May hospital, may kama, at may punerarya,” Duterte said. (Now, you might be hearing of critics and those who do nothing that we are not doing enough. What ‘enough’ do you want? There are hospitals, beds and funeral parlors.) But for Robredo, the country will not be able to contain the crisis if the government will just wait for a coronavirus vaccine—which can take months or even years to be developed. “Hindi yata sapat na basta may ospital, kama at punerarya, ang kailangan na lang gawin ay maghintay ng vaccine,” the vice president wrote on her Facebook page after Duterte’s address. (It’s not enough to have hospitals, beds and funeral homes, and just wait for a vaccine.) She pointed out the need to suppress the pandemic through medical and non-medical interventions, overcome poverty, hunger, unemployment and mental distress caused by the crisis, restructure public and private finances, and rebuild the economy in an “inclusive, resilient and sustainable way.” “‘Yung number 1 one (suppressing pandemic), hindi ma-sosolusyunan sa pag-spray ng pesticide sa Manila galing eroplano,” Robredo said. (Suppressing pandemic cannot be solved by spraying pesticides all over Manila.)
House quarrel traced to unequal ‘pork slices’ | INQUIRER.NET –What’s the House lawmakers’ beef with the pork in the 2021 budget? The bone of contention in the P4.5-trillion budget proposal for next year is Malacañang’s “unequal distribution of pork slices” amounting to P397 billion in lump-sum funds parked in the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), lawmakers said on Monday. Gabriela Rep. Arlene Brosas said her colleagues were quarreling over the apportioning of the so-called pork, which was “now sliced unevenly among districts and regions,” resulting in disgruntlement among members of the majority coalition. Pork refers to discretionary and lump-sum items in the budget, usually inserted after enactment, a practice banned by the Supreme Court in 2013.
‘Consult health experts on COVID-19 response,’ Robredo spokesperson tells Roque | Manila Bulletin – Health experts and doctors have been giving suggestions that may solve the coronavirus crisis, Vice President Leni Robredo’s spokesman told Malacanang on Tuesday. This was the response of lawyer Barry Gutierrez after his counterpart Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque dared Robredo to come up with her own solutions without a vaccine. Gutierrez said he could not understand why there is nothing the government can do when health experts have suggested ways to address the COVID-19 problems.
Business group backs DFA stand on West PH Sea | The Manila Times – The Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI) backed Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s move to defend and speak up for the country’s territorial rights and integrity in the West Philippine (South China) Sea or WPS. “We also join with all support [the Department of Foreign Affairs’] declaration not to ever recognize names given to maritime features in the Kalayaan Island Group, as well as any claim that this area is under the jurisdiction of Sasha City, and not to give any business to companies involved in the taking over of the WPS for the benefit of another country,” said CCPI President Jose Luis Yulo Jr. and Executive Director Jose Fernando Alcantara in statement.
