News Roundup 03 February 2021
Feb 03, 2021 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 cases in Philippines rise to over 530,000 with 1,266 new infections | PHISTAR.COM – The country’s coronavirus caseload rose to 530,118 after Wednesday after 1,266 additional infections were added to the tally. The number of active cases stands at 31,455 or 5.9% of the nation’s confirmed cases, latest data from the Department of Health showed. The DOH also announced 130 additional recovered patients, pushing total recoveries to 487,721. Meanwhile, 68 more people died from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 10,942.
No time for Charter change amid COVID-19 pandemic, Metro Manila mayors say | PHILSTAR.COM – Amid the coronavirus pandemic, local chief executives would have no time to focus on the untimely charter change thrust in Congress as combatting the spread of the new pathogen is the bigger priority, two Metro Manila mayors opined Wednesday. Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay with Marichu Villanueva press briefing, Navotas City Mayor Toby Tiangco said that charter change was the farthest thing from his mind amid the global pandemic but stopped short of making known his stand. “Us on the local government level, we really don’t have the time to think about charter change right now…I will be very honest. Whatever time we have to talk to department heads and the barangays, that is spent on just two things: worrying about the rise of COVID-19 cases, and helping our people who have been affected by economic problems brought about by the pandemic,” he said in mixed Filipino and English. “We don’t have time to even read the materials that they will send to us. All I have to think about right now is COVID-19.” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte, who was also present at the briefing, said for her part that she saw “the sense in economic charter change especially in these times,” saying she personally felt that “a lot of provisions” in the country’s charter should be reviewed. “Other types of charter change get to be very suspicious especially when the term of the president is ending, right? If there is a genuine charter change, then this should have been brought up at the beginning of the term to appease the suspicions of the public. That’s why charter change is harder to hurdle, because of the timing,” the Quezon City chief executive said. “There’s an issue of suspicion and an issue of timing, and I think these things have to be taken into consideration.”
Marikina City’s vaccination facility can serve 10,000 persons a day – mayor | INQUIRER.NET – The Marikina City Mega Vaccination Facility is capable of accommodating 10,000 people daily, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said Wednesday. According to Teodoro, the amenity, located at the Marikina Sports Complex that is just across the city hall, will have 10 vaccination stations to enable faster administration of vaccines. “We will open the Marikina City Mega Vaccination Facility that can administer Covid-19 vaccine to around 10, 000 people per day,” he said during the visit of the Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic (CODE) team in the city to check the local government’s readiness for the mass vaccination program. “We can vaccinate 10, 000 people in a day because we have 10 vaccination stations at our mega vaccination facility here in the Marikina Sports Complex,” he added. Teodoro also said vaccines that mostly need low or below zero degree Celsius temperatures for maximum effectivity would not be spoiled because the cold chain facility is just 100 meters away from the sports complex. The mayor likewise detailed the process that the city would follow in its immunization drive. First, he said, patients will undergo screening to determine if they eligible recipients of the Covid-19 vaccine. Then, patients will undergo further health checkups to ensure they are healthy and have no co-morbidities that may endanger their condition if given the jabs.
Pasay court convicts blogger anew for posting libelous FB posts vs Drilon | Manila Bulletin – The Pasay City Regional Trial Court has convicted anew a social media blogger who has been ordered arrested for posting libelous articles against Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Facebook. This time, the Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 188, found Manuel Mejorada, guilty for four counts of online libel under the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 or Republic Act No. 10175. The court also issued a warrant of arrest against Mejorada, even though an outstanding arrest warrant has already been issued in 2020 after the Supreme Court affirmed with finality the court’s earlier decision that also found him guilty of four counts of libel and sentenced him to two to four years of imprisonment. In the 28-paged decision of Presiding Judge Wilhelmina Jorge-Wagan dated January 25, 2021, the court found that four out of five of Mejorada’s Facebook post against Drilon is libelous.
Photo Source: By Judgefloro – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49290514
