News Roundup 07 November 2020
Nov 07, 2020 • 4 min Read
Philippines’ COVID-19 cases reach 393,961 with 2,157 new infections | PHILSTAR.COM – The total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines reached 393,961 with the health department reporting 2,157 new infections on Saturday. The health department also reported that 24 more died due to the COVID-19, pushing the death toll due to the highly infectious respiratory disease to 7,485. Meanwhile, 252 more recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total number of those who have survived the illness to 350,216. With the new cases, deaths and recoveries, the number of active COVID-19 cases is now at 36,260, representing 9.2% of all recorded cases.
Drug lord admits he never met De Lima or financed her senatorial campaign — lawyer | PHILSTAR.COM – A convicted drug lord confirmed under oath that he never met or gave money to Sen. Leila de Lima, contradicting a previous claim that he contributed to her 2016 senatorial campaign, her lawyer said Friday night. “Vicente Sy previously testified and said that he contributed [P500,000] to Senator De Lima’s campaign in 2012. But when we asked him earlier, he said that he never gave money to Senator De Lima and he also said that he did not know De Lima,” the senator’s legal counsel, Boni Tacardon said in Filipino. This occurred during a hearing at the Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court Branch 205 on Friday which was attended by De Lima via teleconference from her detention quarters at the PNP Custodial Center in Camp Crame, Quezon City, her office said. “Also presented as prosecution witness in Criminal Case No. 17-165 was Public Attorney Office’s (PAO) lawyer Atty. Rigel Salvador who admitted that he had no personal knowledge of De Lima’s alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP),” De Lima’s office said in a press release. According to Tarcadon, Salvador said he only notarized the testimony of a witness against De Lima Jaybee Sebastian, a convicted carnapper who the corrections bureau said died of coronavirus at the national penitentiary in July. The prosecution claimed that Sebastian wrote his sworn statement six days before his death.
Red Cross: We don’t deserve ‘mukhang pera’ tag from Duterte | INQUIRER.NET – President Duterte called the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) “mukhang pera” (money hungry) when the humanitarian group, which has been helping the administration respond to the pandemic, stopped testing for coronavirus and then resumed after the government partially paid what it owed. Sen. Richard Gordon, the PRC chair, on Friday said that he was not offended but that the Red Cross did not deserve the “not really presidential” remark. Gordon had insisted that PRC be paid at least partially before resuming operations as it didn’t have enough funds to replenish its supplies, including COVID-19 test kits. Since setting up its own laboratory in April, the Red Cross has been testing Filipinos returning from overseas, front-line and government workers and other individuals swabbed in state facilities, charging the service to Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth). It separately charges private individuals.
Vico blames Eusebio for Pasig’s P2-B expenditure in 2019 | Manila Bulletin – Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Saturday, Nov. 7, shifted the blame on political foe, former Mayor Bobby Eusebio, for the almost P2 billion expenditure on supplies and materials that the Commission on Audit decried as “excessive.” Sotto accused Eusebio of giving away “goods” purchased by the city government to his supporters before finally giving up the city hall. The former mayor could not be contacted for comment. In the 2019 annual audit report for Pasig City, COA did not identify who between Sotto or Eusebio was behind the overspending in 2019. Eusebio was mayor for the first half of the year and stepped down after losing the mayoralty race to Sotto last year.
Big job ahead for Covid vaccine cluster | The Manila Times – The National Task Force (NTF) against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) has formed a cluster that will oversee the purchase and distribution of the Covid vaccine. Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. announced Friday the cluster was formed following the appointment of Presidential peace adviser and NTF chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. as the country’s “vaccine czar.” As head of the cluster, Galvez will be in charge of issuing the Certificate of Product Registration of Covid-19 vaccines in the Philippines, along with the Food and Drug Administration. Some critics said Galvez, a military general, was not the man for the job and that someone with a medical background should have been appointed.
