News Roundup 23 November 2020
Nov 23, 2020 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 tally in Philippines surpasses 420,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health confirmed 1,799 additional coronavirus infections Monday, pushing the country’s caseload to more than 420,000. This marked the 14th straight day that new cases were fewer than 2,000. To date, 420,614 people in the Philippines have had COVID-19. The Philippines has the second highest COVID-19 caseload in Southeast Asia and ranks 26th in the world in terms of confirmed infections. The number of recoveries rose to 386,604 after the DOH reported 135 new recoveries. The agency announced Sunday 10,957 additional COVID-19 survivors as part of its weekly “mass recovery” program. Fifty more deaths due to the respiratory disease were also logged, bringing the fatality count in the Philippines to 8,173.
Government response to typhoons, pandemic leaves students up in protest | PHILSTAR.COM – Ateneo de Manila students on Monday called for a nationwide academic break as part of its demands to hold government accountable for its response to the recent typhoons and the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the country, describing the situation as a result of the “criminal neglect of the State.” “We do not strike as a way to exempt ourselves from academic life, for it is precisely to fight to return its value,” the strike manifesto read. “We invite our fellow youth nationwide. Together, in our collective action, we strike for not just our education, but a country that we can be proud of.” Apart from an academic break, other demands include schools easing the workload for both students and faculty in the wake of the typhoons, as well as providing alternative learning resources for those far-flung areas without stable internet connection. And as for the pandemic response, the Ateneo students called for an end to “military-centric” solutions to a health crisis, such as putting medical experts instead of military officials in charge of dealing with the situation at home.
Duterte-Duterte for 2022? President looking forward to end term – Palace | INQUIRER.NET – President Rodrigo Duterte is already looking forward to ending his term and returning to his hometown Davao City in 2022. This was according to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque after Duterte’s chief legal counsel, Secretary Salvador Panelo, floated the idea of a “Duterte-Duterte” tandem in 2022, with the older Duterte as Vice President and his daughter, incumbent Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, as President. “Ang pagkakaalam ko po eh atat na atat na si Presidenteng matapos ang kanyang termino at gusto na niyang umuwi dito sa Davao,” Roque said in an online briefing on Monday. (From what I know, the President is already in a rush to end his term and he wants to return to Davao.) “’Yung Duterte-Duterte tandem po na sinasabi ni Sec. Panelo, ‘yan po ay kanyang personal na opinyon,” he added. (The Duterte-Duterte tandem is only Sec. Panelo’s personal opinion.)
DOLE suspends Skyway construction work after fatal incident | Manila Bulletin – The Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) on Monday issued an order suspending the work in the construction site of the Skyway project in Muntinlupa City. But the labor department said the order is already being revised to cover the entire stretch of the construction project. “The Regional Director Atty. Sarah Mirasol issued an order suspending the work in the construction site of the Skyway project in Muntinlupa,” Rolly Francia, DOLE Information and Publication Service Director, said in a forum. “She directed the contractor, EEI Corporation, (and others involved in) the skyway extension project to stop work being done,” he added. Francia said the work stoppage was issued to give way to the investigation to know if there are violations in the occupational safety and health standards, among others.
Number of hungry Pinoys higher by yearend – Nograles | Malaya Business Insight – The number of hungry Filipino families is expected to shoot up in December more than the 7.6 million families who experienced hunger in the third quarter of the year, Cabinet Secretary and Task Force Zero Hunger chairman Karlo Nograles said over the weekend. Nograles said the higher hunger rate is among the long-term impacts of the still rampant coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the series of typhoons that hit the country in October. Nograles, in an interview with radio DzRH, said: “Ang feeling ko po gawa nitong sunod-sunod na mga pandemya, sunod-sunod na typhoons natin, ay maaring pong lumalala pa ang sitwasyon dahil may COVID na nga, tapos meron pang Rolly, Ulysses, iyung sunod-sunod na typhoons natin (I feel that with the pandemic and the series of typhoons, the situation may worsen).” The Social Weather Station (SWS) survey conducted for the third quarter of 2020 indicated that 30.7 percent or an estimated 7.6 million Filipinos went hungry during the three months leading to September. The fourth quarter survey is expected to be released in December.
