News Roundup 10 March 2021
Mar 10, 2021 • 5 min Read
COVID-19 infections in Philippines hit 603,308 with 2,886 new cases | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health reported 2,886 additional COVID-19 cases Wednesday, bringing the total nationwide to 603,308.
– Active cases: 44,470 or 7.4% of the total
– Recoveries: 221 new recoveries, pushing total to 546,293
– Deaths: 17 new deaths, bringing total to 12,545
CHR disputes PNP’s claim of ‘nanlaban’ anew after bloody Calabarzon raids | PHILSTAR.COM – Police’s claim of “nanlaban” in operations resulting in deaths should be determined by courts and not merely asserted sans a trial of facts, the Commission on Human Rights said Wednesday as cops rehashed the narrative after the bloody Calabarzon raids. The Philippine National Police has yet again met criticism after it said that an armed encounter ensued when officers tried to serve search warrants over the weekend that saw nine activists killed, an incident widely condemned even by international groups including the United Nations’ human rights office. On Tuesday, the PNP called as “baseless and unfounded” allegations that those killed did not resist arrest, as well as that officers resorted to planting evidence. But in a statement, CHR Commissioner Gwendolyn Pimentel-Gana said records on injuries sustained by victims of the administration’s anti-drug war “reflect the brutality of [the] campaign and indicate that possible abuse of strength and intent to kill by the perpetrators.” “Several witnesses in the cases being investigated by CHR also claimed irregularities in police operations,” she said. “There were instances when police officers were said to have barged or kicked down the house doors while the victims were sleeping or resting inside. In the incidents studied, not one search or arrest warrant was presented.” Gana added that the agency has long sought for police documents on the said killings but access to it remained a “recurring obstacle” in their own investigations. In files they were able to obtain, she said police asserted that officers be spared from charges — “even recommended to be awarded, rewarded, or recognized despite the occurrence of deaths.” “Such findings from different cases being covered by CHR Regional Offices point to a more pressing conclusion,” Gana said, “that access to justice remains to be a challenge as truth remains elusive.”
Slain activist’s last words: ‘We’re human, too’ | INQUIRER.NET – A yellow plastic string, instead of the regular, police barricade tape, fenced off the two-storey home office of the Cavite chapter of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), where its local leader, Emmanuel “Manny” Asuncion, was killed in a police raid on Sunday. When village officials of Barangay Salitran, Dasmariñas City, padlocked its door on Tuesday, a grim reminder of the operation remained: A pile of red-smeared clothes earlier donated for Bayan’s relief missions but ended up being used by the police to wipe Asuncion’s blood off the floor. A 27-year-old activist, who was staying with Asuncion and his wife Liezel, recalled the morning when a team of about 30 officers came to supposedly search the place for a hand grenade. “It was around 5:30 a.m. when a loud knocking on the door woke me up. I went upstairs to tell Kuya Manny that there were policemen outside. When I went down to get my phone, the police were already inside,” said the activist, who requested not to be named in this report for security reasons. “They forced me down to the floor. I thought they were going to shoot me because they tried to cover my head with a red shirt but it kept falling off,” the activist said. The activist repeatedly asked the officers to show him a search warrant but they ignored him. After a few minutes, some of them led him out of the house and told him to stay put in the nearby street. Out they came with Liezel moments later. “(Liezel) kept telling them to bring Kuya Manny out as well because he’d agree (to go with them) anyway. Then I heard Kuya Manny shout: ‘We’re human, too,’ before shots rang out on the second floor. I can’t remember now, but there were many (shots),” the activist said. Asuncion was one of the nine activists shot dead, most of them in their own homes, in 24 raids simultaneously carried out by the Philippine National Police together with the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the provinces of Rizal, Cavite and Batangas on March 7.
Robredo disowns bogus ‘Leni Warriors club’ on social media | Manila Bulletin – Vice President Leni Robredo on Wednesday, March 10, said her office was not involved in the recruitment activities being conducted by a certain unscrupulous group online. Robredo, a constant victim of fake news, distanced herself from the so-called “Leni Warriors club” on social media. “Walang anumang koneksyon sa OVP ang tinatawag na ‘Leni Warriors club’ ng isang Facebook user, na diumano’y naghahanap ng mga mare-recruit at tatanggap ng maliit na halaga upang magpost ng pagsuporta kay VP Leni sa social media (The OVP has no connection with Leni Warriors club of a Facebook user, who recruits and pays a small amount of money to those who will support VP Leni on social media),” her office said in an advisory. In her official Facebook page, Robredo shared a screengrab of Vince Garcia’s post regarding the online scam. Garcia said they are in need of 100 people for the job with a salary of P500 per day. “All you have to do is to have a 50 FB accounts to support our VP through comments. You got your payment every week through G-cash,” his post read. “Sipagin natin mga tol, easy money to (Work hard friends, this is easy money). I am ready for Leni (heart emoticon).” “I am ready for Leni” is an online signature campaign launched by Robredo’s supporters, urging her to run for president in the May 2022 polls. The vice president asserted they have never solicited public support connected to any purported campaign for president.
