News Roundup 23 October 2020
Oct 23, 2020 • 4 min Read
1,923 new COVID-19 cases push Philippines’ total tally to over 365,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country is now at 365,799 after the Department of Health reported Friday 1,923 new infections. This is the fourth consecutive day that the number of new cases hovered below 2,000. The health department also reported 132 new fatalities, bringing the death toll due to the new coronavirus to 6,915. The department also recorded 424 new recoveries, pushing the total number of those who have survived COVID-19 to 312,691. With the new cases, deaths and recoveries, the total number of active cases now is 46,193.
Red Cross won’t restart COVID-19 testing until PhilHealth debt paid | PHILSTAR.COM – President Rodrigo Duterte’s promise that the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) will pay up its nearly P1 billion debt to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) would not be enough for it to resume testing chargeable to the state health insurer. Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon, who is also PRC chairman , said in a media briefing on Friday that PhilHealth must first settle its more than P930 million debt with the humanitarian organization in full before they resume screening for the new coronavirus. “They should pay the whole amount. Because that’s difficult. We’ll be left in the air. They’ll pay in half, leaving a balance of half a billion pesos — what will happen? That amount is going to increase again,” Gordon said partly in Filipino. He said that the PRC would want to resume the testing, but it does not have enough funds to cover for the purchase of additional testing kits and the salaries of its workers.
Soberano not afraid of Parlade’s ‘unsolicited advice,’ says lawyer | INQUIRER.NET – Kapamilya actress Liza Soberano is not afraid of the statement of Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. about her participation in an online seminar hosted by left-leaning Gabriela Youth, and will continue to exercise her right to free speech “without fear or restraint from anyone,” her lawyer said Friday. “Liza is not afraid of this statement from Gen. Parlade. Though I must state that we take note of the general’s advice, unsolicited as it may sound,” Soberano’s legal counsel Atty. Juanito Lim Jr. said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel. “However, please know that Ms. Soberano will continue to exercise her constitutionally-protected right to free speech and expression without fear or restraint from anyone. I think I have to make that very clear right now,” Lim added.
Northrail spent P232 M for relocation without a single family relocated –COA | Manila Bulletin – Some P232.89 million in government funds spent for the relocation program for informal settlers displaced as a result of the Northrail Project went down the drain with no actual relocation undertaken despite the huge expenditure. Worse, the five parcels of land tapped as relocation site have been assessed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as “vulnerable to natural hazards, hence, not considered appropriate as residential area,” the Commission on Audit (COA) has reported. In the recently released Expanded Audit of the Northrail Project initially implemented by the North Luzon Railways Corporation (Northrail), COA also disclosed that out of the disbursements totaling P505.35 million for additional right-of-way acquisition, P423.46 million in expenditures were found to be irregular. “Northrail spent around P232.89 million for the relocation program in a joint undertaking with the Provincial Government of Bulacan (PGB) and Alto Projekt Asia Inc. (APAI) without actual relocation undertaken,” COA said. Auditors disclosed that at least 10,000 families living in the PNR property and the right-of-way in Bulacan were to be relocated to give way to the Northrail project.
LTO extends validity of expired licenses | The Manila Times – The Land Transportation Office (LTO) has extended until December 31 the validity of expired licenses, whose owners were previously restricted from going outside due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Malacañang announced on Thursday. In a virtual press briefing, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the LTO had resumed services for those aged 17 to 21 and 60 to 65 years old following the government’s easing of age restrictions. Speaking in Filipino, Roque said there would be no penalty in the application for renewal of driver’s and conductor’s licenses that have expired during the restriction period.
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