News Roundup 23 September 2020
Sep 23, 2020 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 infections in Philippines rise to 294,591 | PHILSTAR.COM – The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the Philippines increased to 294,591 Wednesday as the Department of Health reported 2,833 additional cases. The Philippines still has the most number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia despite enforcing one of the world’s longest and strictest coronavirus lockdowns. The department also registered 765 additional recoveries, taking the total number of people who got well to 231,373. But 44 more deaths related to COVID-19 were logged, raising the toll to 5,091.
Limiting access to SALNs ‘not a good thing’ for public’s confidence in gov’t — Diokno | PHILSTAR.COM – Lawyer Chel Diokno, the founding dean of De La Salle University’s College of Law, on Wednesday said that recent steps taken by the country’s anti-graft office were harmful to the public’s confidence in the government. Diokno was referring to new guidelines released by Ombudsman Samuel Maritres last week which limit access to the wealth declarations of public officials and the chief graft buster’s recent revelation to Congress that he had not been conducting lifestyle checks on government officials. “Without those lifestyle checks, without the access to [Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth], you’re actually putting blinders not only on the press but on the public and that’s not a good thing for confidence in our government,” Diokno told ANC’s “Matters of Fact.” “It’s a very simple and yet effective way of finding out if our government officials are really doing their job and not just making money from their position,” he added.
Facebook shuts down fake China-based accounts backing Duterte, Sara’s possible presidential bid | INQUIRER.NET – Social media giant Facebook has shut down several fake Facebook accounts and pages, the contents of which were supportive of President Rodrigo Duterte and the possible 2022 presidential bid of his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. The fake accounts were traced to individuals from China’s Fujian province, Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Facebook security policy, said on Tuesday night. According to Gleicher, the pages and accounts engaged in “coordinated inauthentic behavior” with their posting about global news and matters relating to the West Philippine Sea and operations of the United States Navy in three languages — Chinese, English, and Filipino. Other contents include criticism of critical media site Rappler and other issues relating to overseas Filipino workers, known to mostly supportive of Duterte.
It’s wrong to claim success when COVID-19 cases continue to rise – Alvarez | Manila Bulletin – Former speaker and incumbent Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez has denied he has already joined the political opposition as what was speculated when he criticized the way the government is addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Alvarez, who rarely appears in the House of Representatives, stressed that telling the truth about what ails the country is not synonymous with opposing the government. He had earlier advised his constituents to choose “someone with brains” as the country’s next president. “Let’s choose a President who can handle this COVID situation. One who has brains and not just one who shows courage. We need someone who has brains,” Alvarez said in mixed Bisaya and English over his radio program titled, “CPDA Aksyon Agad!” recently. Alvarez, a friend and staunch ally of President Duterte, has since clarified that he didn’t insinuate that the President didn’t have the smarts needed for his post.
Facebook shuts down fake accounts linked to PH police, military | The Manila Times – Social media giant Facebook shut down a network of fake accounts linked to the Philippine police and military for “coordinated inauthentic behavior”. Nathaniel Gleicher, head of Security Policy, said in a blog post 57 accounts, 31 pages, and 20 instagram accounts were removed from its platform for failing to comply with its rule against foreign or government interference. The Facebook representative said the malicious, fake accounts focused on the local users, with their activities—posting in Filipino and English—covering domestic politics, military activities against terrorism, pending anti-terrorism bill, criticism of communism, youth activists and opposition, the Communist Party of the Philippines and its military wing the New People’s Army, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines. “Although the people behind this activity attempted to conceal their identities, our investigation found links to Philippine military and Philippine police,” Gleicher said.
