News Roundup 10 August 2021
Aug 10, 2021 • 5 min Read
Philippines logs 8,560 new COVID-19 cases, 13 labs without data | PHILSTAR.COM – Health authorities on Tuesday logged 8,560 new coronavirus cases to bring the country’s total to 1,676,156. August 10 is the sixth straight day of officials reporting more than 8,000 infections. Today’s numbers saw active cases up by 536 from 78,480 on August 9. DOH said 13 laboratories did not submit testing results.
- Active cases: 79,016 or 4.7% of the total
- Recoveries: 7,964, bringing the number to 1,567,920
- Deaths: 92, or now 29,220 in total
Isko Moreno’s future party slams Duterte for ‘politicizing’ cash aid | PHILSTAR.COM – The future political party of Manila Mayor Isko Moreno hit President Rodrigo Duterte for “politicizing” the distribution of cash aid to residents after the chief executive threatened to withhold a certain city’s “power to distribute” financial assistance. “Huwag isangkalan ang serbisyo, kalinga, at ayuda na nararapat para sa ating mga kababayan. Tigilan ang pamumulitika at huwag gamitin ang pandemya upang isulong ang politikal at personal na interes para sa sariling pamilya,” Aksyon Demokratiko said Tuesday. (Don’t put the necessary service, care and aid for our countrymen on the line. Stop politicking and do not use the pandemic to pursue political and personal interests of their own family.) The party added, “Gumising na sana ang pangulo sa katotohanan na nasa gitna tayo ng pandemya at kailangan natin ang isang lider na tunay mamumuno at uunahin muna ang pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan.” (The president hopefully wakes up to the truth that we are in the middle of a pandemic and we need a leader who will truly lead and prioritize the needs of our countrymen.) Moreno was supposed to take his oath as a member of Aksyon Demokratiko this week, but decided to postpone it following the chaos at vaccination sites which was caused by false information that getting the jab is required to go out of their homes and to receive aid. Authorities are investigating the source of this rumor, but Duterte himself said in a televised address that people who would not get the shot would not be allowed to leave their residence, contrary to current policy.
Robredo: PH can no longer stand another six years of governance similar to Duterte’s | INQUIRER.NET – Vice President Leni Robredo said the country can no longer last another six years of the same governance as that of President Rodrigo Duterte, and this is having an effect on her decision to unite the opposition to support a single candidate for the 2022 elections. Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source, Robredo downplayed rumors as to why she has not yet released a decision on whether she would run for president in 2022, amid reports that she is trailing in the surveys and supposed talks with various sectors. “I know that the 2022 elections are very important elections, it would determine what we want for the country in the next six years, after the elections… And sa akin (for me) I’ve repeatedly said this, na I don’t think that the country can last another six years with this kind of government practically because we’re in the middle of the pandemic. And we saw how governance plays a very crucial role in crisis situations,” she said. Robredo claimed that the upcoming 2022 national elections is no longer about whether she wants to be the next president, as it has become more about finding a winning formula for the opposition. “‘Yong decision-making ko involves a lot of many factors, it’s not just the numbers kasi ‘yon ‘yong paniniwala ng iba, na what’s keeping me from deciding is just the numbers. Hindi ‘yon,” she said. (My decision involves a lot of many factors, it’s not just the numbers because that is what other people think, that what’s keeping me from deciding is just the numbers. It’s not that.) “‘Yong iba naman ang paniniwala parang personal convenience ko. Sabi ko, ‘I’m way past that’. So hindi na ‘yong tanong na gusto mo bang magpangulo o hindi, kasi para sa akin, mas sense of duty na siya eh,” she added. (Others meanwhile think it is borne out of my personal convenience. I said that ‘I’m way past that. So it’s no longer a question if you want to be president or not, because for me, it’s more of a sense of duty.)
Former PNP chief Lacson to Eleazar, Sermonia: ‘Don’t bastardize PNP’ | Manila Bulletin – Senator Panfilo M. Lacson on Tuesday, August 10 described as ‘’alarming’’ the admission by Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar that there are “data-gathering” activities in several barangays nationwide. Citing the latest information reaching him, Lacson – who headed the PNP from 1999 to 2001 – also said such activities are still ongoing, amid the PNP’s initial denial. “The Chief PNP’s admission that such data-gathering activities are going on (and still going on, as per latest information received) is alarming. Being their former chief, I cannot allow the PNP to engage in partisan politics and be ‘bastardized’, worse – using public funds,” Lacson said on his Twitter account. Earlier, Lacson cited reports indicating the PNP was involved in “census” activities using the funds of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC). The PNP denied authorizing such activities. Also, Lacson maintained that Police Maj. Gen. Rodel Sermonia, the director for the PNP’s Police Community Relations unit, has some explaining to do on the matter. In an interview on DZBB radio last Sunday, Lacson cited information reaching him indicating Sermonia was involved in the gathering of data including email addresses and phone numbers. On Tuesday, Lacson noted Sermonia had already been “lambasted” by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. for campaigning in the 2019 midterm elections using our embassies’ resources. “The same misguided PNP officer that SFA Locsin ‘lambasted’ for raising funds and campaigning in the 2019 midterm elections while using the resources of several of our country’s embassies around the globe. He has since been promoted to his present rank,” Lacson tweeted.
