News Roundup 12 March 2021
Mar 12, 2021 • 5 min Read
Philippines logs 4,578 new COVID-19 cases, highest since mid-September | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines on Friday recorded 4,578 additional COVID-19 cases, the highest since mid-September, bringing the total number of infections to 611,618.
Active cases: 52,012 or 8.5% of the total
Recoveries: 272, pushing total to 546,912
Deaths: 87, bringing total to 12,694
SC: Calbayog court confirms receipt of PNP request on list of lawyers for ‘communist terrorist groups’ | PHILSTAR.COM – The regional trial court in Calbayog City, Samar has confirmed that it received a request from the police for list of lawyers representing what they tagged as “Communist Terrorist Group” personalities in court. Supreme Court spokesperson Brian Hosaka told reporters said the Calbayog Regional Trial Court confirmed the receipt of the request on Friday afternoon, “but no action has been made by them on the request.” A copy of a letter from Police Lt. Fernando Calabria Jr. addressed to the Office of the Clerk of Court, Hall of Justice in Calbayog City made rounds on social media on Friday. In the letter, Calabria, identified as chief of intelligence, asked the court for a “list of lawyers represent [sic] CTG personalities in court.” He noted that the request is in compliance “from higher PNP offices.” An attachment of the letter supposedly show a table to be filled out on “legal personality, affiliations, client (CTG) personality, mode of neutralization, case filed, status.” It is still unclear whether other courts nationwide received the same letter, or what the purpose of such directive from the PNP is. This comes at a time when public rights defenders have been subjected to violent attacks. The latest victim is NUPL member Angelo Karlo Guillen who was stabbed in the face and the back early in March. Guillen is one of the legal counsels in the petitions against the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 and has represented activists. He and other NUPL lawyers recently won in court in quashing a search warrant that led to the arrest of seven activists in Bacolod in 2019.
Herd immunity? Lacson says to wait ’til 2033 if gov’t won’t hasten vaccination pace | INQUIRER.NET – At the rate the government’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout is going, the Philippines would only be able to reach its 70-million vaccination target by 2033 to be able to attain herd immunity, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Friday. With 114,615 reported vaccinations since the government started its vaccination program, it could take 11 years and eight months to hit the targeted 70 million vaccine recipients in the country, according to Lacson. “I did the math. As of March 10, nasa 114,615 ang na-vaccinate. Kung hindi mag-accelerate yung pace ng vaccination at assuming na darating lahat yung supply na ine-expect for 70 million targeted population to achieve herd immunity then we’ll have a problem because aabutin tayo ng 2033 at the rate we’re doing it now,” the senator said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ The Source. (I did the math. As of March 10, we have vaccinated only 114,615. If we don’t accelerate the pace of our vaccination and assuming all of the supply expected for the 70 million targeted to achieve herd immunity will arrive then we’ll have a problem because we will hit that target by 2033 at the rate we’re doing it now.) “Pero kung maga-accelerate—and I hope the government will accelerate the vaccination rollout—then maybe we can advance yung timetable natin, yung timeline,” he added. (But if we accelerate—and I hope the government will accelerate the vaccination rollout—then maybe we can advance our timetable, our timeline.)
‘We’re back to square one’: Villanueva disappointed with reimposition of strict NCR curfew | Manila Bulletin – Senator Joel Villanueva admitted on Friday his frustration that strict curfew rules again have to be imposed over the National Capital Region (NCR) due to surge of COVID-19 infections. While he does not disagree with move of local chief executives, Villanueva said: “It is so disappointing to note that it’s been a year, we could hardly see ‘yong pagluks[o], jump, para iwanan o makipagsplit tayo sa COVID (our jump or split from COVID-19.” The chairman of the Senate labor committee said that even with the assurance that essential workers would be exempted from the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, “still that’s an additional burden.” “If I would say na ito ay hindi makakaabala, ‘di ba, na kahit ‘yong hihinto ka lang, kukunin mo yong ID mo, papakita mo, kung nagdududa yong nagtitingin ng ID mo (that this would not cause inconvenience, but the fact that you will stop at checkpoints, get your identification cards, show it, and authorities will even doubt you) — again, while we like that, it’s still a hassle,” he said in a online press briefing with reporters on March 12. “It’s just frustrating, I have to say that,” he lamented. Villanueva said that the government should strengthen the country’s health system, as he maintained that pandemic should mainly be considered as a “health crisis”. “‘Yan ‘yong panawagan natin (That has been our call) from the very, very first day,” he said. “Para ‘di tayo reactive lamang sa pagkalat; aaksyon lang tayo ‘pag kalat na ‘yong virus, ‘pag puno na hospital capacity natin (So that we will not just be reactive to the spread of the virus; that we will just take action when the virus has already spread, when our hospitals’ capacities are full). I think we need to be ahead of the curve,” he added.
Photo: Mt. Kanlaon, Negros Occidental, Philippines
Photo Source: By Studphil – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7966246
