News Roundup 11 January 2021
Jan 11, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines sees 2,052 new COVID-19 cases; total now at 489,736 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines recorded 2,052 additional infections Monday, taking the country’s total case count to 489,736. Monday’s figure was the highest since Dec. 18, 2020, when the country had 2,122 additional infections. The Department of Health earlier warned of a possible surge in COVID-19 infections after the holiday season. Of the total confirmed cases, 22,114 or 4.5% are active. The recovery tally rose to 458,206 after 10 more people got well. Meanwhile, the death toll reached 9,416 after 11 additional COVID-19-related deaths were logged.
Duterte’s former justice chief is new police commissioner | PHILSTAR.COM – Vitaliano Aguirre II, whose years as justice secretary under the Duterte administration were hounded by controversies, was named on Monday as an official of the national police commission. Malacañang announced earlier tonight what would be Aguirre’s return to government after stepping down from his post in 2018. The DOJ in his two years had faced criticism for its handling of several huge cases that culminated in Aguirre’s resignation even before the Duterte presidency reached the half of its term. These include the dismissal of drug-related charges against Cebu businessman Peter Lim, self-confessed drug trader Kerwin Espinosa and inmate Peter Co among others, as well as the alleged brains behind the multi-billion pork barrel scam Janet Lim-Napoles admitted to DOJ’s witness protection program. It was also under Aguirre’s years that Sen. Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, was jailed on drug charges. More than a thousand days behind bars, De Lima has recently moved for dismissal of the second in the three drug charges she is facing. Her imprisonment had earned widespread criticism from the international community, with the United States barring entry to those responsible for her jailing.
Zubiri cries unfair to Roque’s remarks Filipinos can’t choose vaccine brand | INQUIRER.NET – Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday did not appreciate presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s comments that Filipinos cannot choose which brand of the vaccine they will receive in the government’s vaccination program. “I don’t like the idea—with all due respect to Sec. Roque, who just came out in the news today—Sec. Roque said you can’t choose what vaccine to take. Sabi niya [He said], we cannot daw choose what vaccine to take. I think that’s not a fair assessment,” Zubiri said during a Senate inquiry into the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination plan. Earlier Monday, Roque said the public could not afford to be “picky” with the COVID-19 vaccines citing the large number of Filipinos who need to be vaccinated against the disease. But Zubiri said that Filipinos ought to be given the option between which vaccinations should be given to them. Quoting news reports regarding Indonesia’s vaccination plan, the senator noted that the said country would start vaccinating its younger population ahead of the elderly because the vaccine brand it would be using—China’s Sinovac—“does not have enough data yet on the vaccine’s efficacy on elderly people.” “So bakit natin pipilitin, for example, ang ating mga nanay at tatay, lolo at lola ng Sinovac na very clearly, Indonesia mismo ang nagsasabi ay mukhang malabo ito sa matatanda?” Zubiri asked. (So why do we force, for example, our parents, our grandparents to be inoculated with Sinovac’s vaccine when very clearly, Indonesia has said that its efficacy on the elderly is still not certain?)
Frontliners need to know about vaccination plan –Lacson | Manila Bulletin – Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on Monday said frontliners who have risked their lives amid the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic deserve to know the details of the government’s overall vaccination plan – ‘’if there is one.’’ “Do we have a clear vaccination plan? Based on our conversations with doctors and frontliners, it appears we don’t. But frontliners are waiting to know when they would be prioritized in the vaccination program,” he said as the Senate Committee of the Whole held its first public hearing today. “The frontliners deserve to know because they are the ones who go to the morgues, they are the ones who attend to COVID patients. They deserve to know if they would be prioritized in the vaccination program. There is no reason for the officials concerned to ask for an executive session on this because there is nothing confidential or classified about it. Wala namang kalaban dito; ang kalaban natin dito, sakit. Hindi naman yan sasagot,” he added. (We have no enemy here; our enemy is disease. It will not answer.) Lacson had stated that said he wanted to be clarified on government’s dropping the ball on at least two opportunities when it could have gotten vaccines from US-based Pfizer and China-based Sinopharm. In both cases, he noted the two firms ultimately did not allocate vaccines for the Philippines because the Health Secretary did not act promptly on them.
