News Roundup 08 December 2020
Dec 08, 2020 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 tally in Philippines rises to 442,785 with 1,400 new cases | PHILSTAR.COM – The total number of coronavirus infections in the Philippines reached 442,785 Tuesday after the Department of Health registered 1,400 new cases. Tuesday’s tally did not include data from nine testing laboratories that failed to submit their results on time. Recoveries reached 408,790 after 139 more people were given a clean bill of health. But fatalities due to the respiratory disease increased to 8,670, up by 98 from the previous count
‘Sino ang makikinabang?’: Hontiveros slams impeachment complaint vs Leonen | PHILSTAR.COM – Sen. Risa Hontiveros on Tuesday criticized the impeachment complaint launched against Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen by a controversial lawyer, calling it “unnecessary and counterproductive.” “This is a distraction that will only drag lawmakers and the public into a pointless political fiasco at a time when government’s efforts should be focused on helping Filipinos affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s battered economy,” Hontiveros said. “Kailangan din siguro natin tanungin: Sino ba ang lubos na makikinabang sa paggulong ng impeachment complaint na ito? (Maybe we also need to ask: Who will benefit the most from this impeachment complaint?) Surely, not the Filipino people,” she added. The complaint in question was filed by lawyer Larry Gadon at the House of Representatives on Monday morning and, according to a report from The STAR, was endorsed by Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba (Ilocos Norte), newphew to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Los Baños residents grief-stricken over murder of Mayor Perez | INQUIRER.NET – Los Banos residents go out of their homes and shops to show their sympathies and grief and pleas for justice for the murder of Mayor Cesar Perez. The mayor’s body was transferred Friday morning from his residence to the Municipal Hall. Perez was shot dead inside the Los Baños Municipal Hall last Thursday.
De Lima deplores ‘unabated killings, culture of violence’ | Manila Bulletin – Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has deplored the unabated spate of killings in the country that further highlight the worsening culture of violence and impunity in the country promoted by the Duterte regime. De Lima, on police detention on alleged illegal drugs-related charges, issued the statement following the recent killings of National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) peace consultants and couple Eugenia Magpantay and Agaton Topacio. “When will these lawless killings ever stop? Sa gitna ng krisis, mas pinalubha pa ng rehimeng ito ang mga karumal-dumal na pagpatay, na ang madalas biktima ay mga maralitang walang kalaban-laban, mga tagapagtanggol ng karapatang pantao, o di kaya naman ay kritiko ng baluktot na polisiya ng gobyerno,” she said. (The COVID-19 pandemic is worsened by questionable killings where most of those killed are the defenseless poor people, the defenders of people’s human rights and critics of the crooked policies of this administration.) Magpantay and Topacio were reportedly killed in an alleged gun battle with agents of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) last month. The couple’s families denounced the claim of the police that the elderly and sickly couple resisted arrest even as they urged the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to investigate what they called as “tokhang-style murder.”
Impeach raps filed vs Leonen: Complaint endorsed by Bongbong Marcos’ cousin | Malaya Business Insight – A lawmaker who is a cousin of former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. yesterday endorsed an impeachment complaint filed by a private citizen against Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Marvic Leonen less than a month after the defeated vice presidential candidate’s camp failed to force the magistrate to inhibit from the electoral protest case against Vice President Leni Robredo.Leonen is the ponente or justice-in-charge of the former senator’s election protest. Ilocos Norte Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba endorsed the 40-page complaint filed by Edwin Cordevilla, who was assisted by defeated senatorial candidate lawyer Larry Gadon in filing the complaint before the office of the House secretary general. Barba said Cordevilla, secretary general of the Filipino League of Advocates for Good Government (FLAGG), is his constituent in the province’s second district. He said Cordevilla approached him to ask for his endorsement and since he believed in it, he personally accompanied him in filing the complaint and endorsed it right away.
