News Roundup 15 July 2021
Jul 15, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines logs 5,221 new COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – Health authorities on Thursday said 5,221 more individuals contracted the COVID-19, pushing the Philippines’ total to 1,490,665. Today’s numbers saw active cases up by 1,087 from 44,408 on July 14. The Department of Health said four laboratories did not submit testing results.
- Active cases: 45,495 or 3.1% of the total
- Recoveries: 4,147, bringing the number to 1,418,856
- Deaths: 82, or now 26,314 in total
Planned PDP-Laban assembly illegitimate even with Duterte there — party exec | PHILSTAR.COM – Regardless of President Rodrigo Duterte’s attendance, the upcoming PDP-Laban assembly this Saturday will not be recognized by national headquarters, the son of the ruling party’s founder said. Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said this Thursday, referring to a national assembly organized by Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, who was recently expelled from the party by Sen. Manny Pacquiao, PDP-Laban president. “[T]he authority to hold such a meeting has been questioned and is not recognized therefore they are holding an activity with no legal basis for holding it,” Pimentel told CNN Philippines’ “The Source.” “So, if they succeed in physically holding such an activity, from the point of view of national headquarters, [its] as if nothing happened.” Duterte plans on attending the assembly anyway, according to his spokesman. But Pimentel said even the attendance of the “the most popular person in the party” will do nothing to reverse the “violation and defects” of the assembly. “[W]hen it comes to the party, when you call for a meeting, you do not keep the party president blind to the details of the event,” Pimentel said partially in Filipino. The senator, who is the party’s executive vice-chairman, told the Kapihan Sa Manila Bay forum on Wednesday that the PDP-Laban president is the most critical party official under its constitution and that “he should know everything happening in the party.” “It is impossible for the [party] president to be blind, he should not be blind…that is the design for the constitution,” he said then.
Pimentel: Duterte in PDP-Laban assembly shows he’s following Cusi’s lead | INQUIRER.NET – The attendance of President Rodrigo Duterte in the “unauthorized” meeting and assembly organized by some members of the ruling PDP-Laban party would mean he is following the lead of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi. This was according to Senator Koko Pimentel, PDP-Laban’s executive vice-chairman, who renewed his calls for the party members not to attend the event on July 16 and 17. “That the President, President Duterte, now follows the lead of Secretary Cusi as far as the party is concerned. That would be the meaning of that,” Pimentel said in an interview with The Source when asked what message will be sent to party members should the President attend the assembly. Duterte is the chairman of the party. Pimentel said PDP-Laban is a party of ideology and rules and not a personality-based party. “Our chairman, who happens to be the president of the Philippines, is a very charismatic person and has a very huge following and very popular so those are facts about him,” Pimentel said. “But pagdating sa partido, when you can for an important meeting, you do not keep the party president (Senator Manny Pacquiao) blind of the details of the event… There are rules to follow so if the most popular person in the party will attend the meeting which we have not recognized, it does not change the fact that we still do not recognize that meeting,” he added.
‘Duterte’s pro-China policy must be reversed after ’22 polls’ — Del Rosario | Manila Bulletin – With the 2022 presidential election fast approaching, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Thursday called on the Filipino people to choose a leader who will offer good governance and political will and reverse President Duterte’s policy of “loving and embracing” China. “Therefore, we all need to take action and cause the reversal of this situation. We can do this concretely by participating in next year’s election and selecting a leader who will provide good governance and political will,” Del Rosario said in his remarks at the 1Sambayan town hall meeting. Del Rosario said the West Philippine Sea is an important national and international issue that requires the attention and help of the entire nation, which Filipinos must consider as “a primary concern” in next year’s political exercise. The WPS issue, he said, is about a fight for “what is ours,” about the Filipinos’ struggle for national dignity, and about effective leadership and good governance. Del Rosario, however, lamented that despite the victory of the Philippines in the Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague on July 12, 2016 against China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, the newly installed President Duterte opted to shelve the ruling in exchange for Beijing’s promised loans and projects. “This is unacceptable. President Duterte was ‘loving’ and embracing China over and above the interest of the country and its people. Instead of standing up for his own people, the President is tyrannically forcing us to be silent against China’s encroachment of our territory and maritime entitlements. He whom the people has put in power to be the guardian of our interest has willingly and unapologetically cast his lots on the very same country that is disrespecting our country and people,” Del Rosario said.
