News Roundup 08 August 2021
Aug 08, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines adds 9,671 more COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – Health authorities on Sunday reported 9,671 new coronavirus cases to push the country’s total to 1,658,916. This marks the fourth straight day of officials reporting over 8,000 additional infections. New deaths today were also the highest since April 9. DOH said all laboratories submitted screening results.
- Active cases: 77,516 or 4.7% of the total
- Recoveries: 8,079, bringing the number to 1,552,278
- Deaths: 287, or now 29,122 in total
Robredo on supposed Lacson unification proposal: I can’t run and then withdraw | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday said she rejected Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s “unification” plan in the 2022 elections because it involved all aspirants filing their candidacies and then withdrawing to support those with good survey numbers. The senator, who has said he will run for president next year, told ANC last week that he met with Robredo to propose his plan and said that the vice president “resisted” the idea. Robredo, who has yet to announce whether she will run for president, has said that there ought to be just one candidate fielded against the administration’s bet. In her weekly radio show, Robredo said Lacson’s proposal was to agree to withdraw their candidacies at a certain time and support whoever has a better showing in election surveys. “When candidates file their certificate of candidacy, they are presenting themselves to the public,” she said partly in Filipino over dZXL. “There are those who will put their hope in us so we can’t withdraw in the middle of the game.” The Commission on Elections has set the filing of COCs on October 8. Groups have been urging Robredo to run for president but has yet to announce her decision. Still, she has said she is open to that possibility and has met with possible contenders to seek common ground. “My reason for opposing was simple: if I file, I have to continue the fight,” Robredo added in Filipino. “I don’t want to lead on our supporters who believe I will be there until the end only to withdraw due to poor numbers.”
‘Reckless statements’ caused Manila, Las Piñas vaccination chaos — Robredo | INQUIRER.NET – “Reckless statements” triggered the chaos that gripped vaccination sites in several Metro Manila cities on the eve of the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), Vice President Leni Robredo said on Sunday. On Thursday, the vaccination sites of Manila and Las Pinas City were stormed by people who tried to get vaccinated against COVID-19. “Iyong nabasa ko kasi, statement ng iba’t ibang grupo, pati si Mayor Isko [Moreno] na kaya ‘yun nagka-ganoon kasi may mga reckless statements na nagbunsod,” Robredo said in over DZXL when asked on her reaction about the incidents. (I have read statements from different groups, including from Mayor Isko Moreno, that some reckless statements caused it.) “Halimbawa, baka ipakulong sila o bawal na silang lumabas ng bahay,” she added. “Kapag lumabas sila ng bahay at hindi sila bakunado, ipapa-escort sila pabalik ng bahay.” (For example, there were statements about people getting detained or will not be allowed outside of their homes if they are not vaccinated. That they will be escorted back to their homes.) Robredo did not mention names as to who gave the statements, but it was President Rodrigo Duterte who earlier said in his public address that those who refuse to be vaccinated against COVID-19 should not go outside, and if they are caught outside, they will be escorted back to their homes.
Robredo laments vaccine brand hesitancy | Manila Bulletin – Vice President Leni Robredo on Sunday, August 8, said that many residents in her home province of Camarines Sur have a preferred COVID-19 vaccine brand. During her weekly radio show, “BISErbisyong Leni,” the vice president noted that some senior citizens backed out from the line when they learned that there were no more single-shot Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccines available. Although she did not say which vaccine the supposed recipients refused, she compared the brand hesitancy in her province with those who received Sinovac doses from her Vaccine Express in Manila, as well as her own staff and the country’s medical frontliners. “Kung hindi namimili, mas marami sana ang mabakunahan. Pero kailangan harapin na mayroong ganun para maayos natin paano natin kukumbinsihin (If they are not being choosy, more will be vaccinated. But we need to face that is an issue so we can fix how we can convince them),” Robredo said. She was in Naga City for NagaVax Express last month while she oversaw IrigaVax Express from August 6 to 7. Both were follow-up sorties of her Vaccine Express initiative in Manila that aims to help the local government units (LGUs) boost their vaccination capacity.
