News Roundup 07 October 2021
Oct 07, 2021 • 5 min Read
Philippines sees 10,019 more COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Thursday listed 10,019 new coronavirus cases to bring the country’s overall count to 2,632,881. Active cases today were up by 2,521 from the 112,807 on October 6. DOH said four laboratories did not submit screening results.
- Active cases: 115,328 or 4.4% of the total
- Recoveries: 7,425 bringing the number to 2,478,616
- Deaths: 109, or now 38,937 overall
‘President, not king’: Senators brush off Duterte threat to jail them over Pharmally probe | PHILSTAR.COM – A number of senators are undeterred by President Rodrigo Duterte’s threat to jail them over their inquiry into the government’s anomalous deals with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. “Now, if you are cited in contempt, if I find out, I will jail the senators,” Duterte told members of his Cabinet in Filipino in a taped meeting aired late Wednesday night. He also repeated his instruction to the police and military not to arrest resource persons ignoring Senate subpoenas. “Only a court of law can issue a warrant of arrest in accordance with the rule of law or under Rule 113 of the Rules of Court. Under Section 5, even a warrantless arrest or citizen’s arrest has clearly defined circumstances,” Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former police chief, said Thursday. “The president is a lawyer. He should know his law.” “When you threaten to harm any member of the Senate in our performance of our sworn duties, you attack and undermine the Senate as an institution mandated to check your excesses and abuses,” said Sen. Richard Gordon who has been leading the chamber’s inquiry as blue ribbon chairman. Sen. Risa Hontiveros chimed in, saying in a separate statement: “Last time I checked, we are in a democracy in which the executive and the legislature are co-equal branches of government.” “The Senate has no obligation to stop its investigations just because the president feels offended,” she added. “He is President Duterte, not King Duterte.” Duterte earlier this week formally barred executive department officials from attending the blue ribbon committee’s hearings on deficiencies in pandemic spending flagged by state auditors. As a result, the panel resumed its hearings Tuesday with no executives from the departments of health and budget present to field senators’ questions. The Philippine Bar Association on Tuesday warned that the directive “upsets our system of checks and balances and transgresses the doctrine of separation of powers among the three branches of government under our Constitution. “The Integrated Bar of the Philippines on Wednesday urged Duterte to reconsider the ban, saying: “It is only by granting our Congress free access to information that we can empower them to formulate policies that fully reflect the will of our people.”
‘Buong-buo ang loob ko’: Robredo to run for president in 2022 | INQUIRER.NET – After months of anticipation and with just a day left in the filing of certificates of candidacy, Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday finally announced that she is running for the presidency in the 2022 national elections. Robredo said during her speech at her office in the Quezon City Reception House that she is now ready to fight it out in the upcoming polls, even if she will face an uphill battle just to end the people’s sufferings. “Naniniwala ako ang pag-ibig nasusukat hindi lang sa pagtitiis, kundi sa kahandaang lumaban, kahit gaano kahirap, para matapos na ang pagtitiis. Ang nagmamahal, kailangangang ipaglaban ang minamahal,” Robredo said. (I firmly believe: Love is not measured by forbearance alone but by a readiness to do battle. Whoever loves must do battle for the beloved.) “Buong-buo ang loob ko ngayon. Kailangan nating palayain ang ating sarili mula sa kasalukuyang sitwasyon. Lalaban ako, lalaban tayo, inihahain ko ang aking sarili bilang kandidato sa pagka-pangulo sa halalan ng 2022,” she added. (Today, I stand with total resolve: We must break free from the current situation. I will fight. We will fight. I offer myself as a candidate for the presidency in the 2022 elections.) In measured tones, Robredo said the country would be at a disadvantage if people with personalities similar to the present kind of governance would win in the 2022 national elections. “Malinaw sa lahat ang hamon na kinakaharap natin, nakita na nating lahat ang pagsisinungaling at panggigipit na kayang gawin ng iba para maabot ang mga layunin nila. Nasa kanila ang pera, makinarya, isang buong istrukturang kayang magpalaganap ng anumang kwentong gusto nilang palabasin,” she further said. (The challenge before us is clear: We have all heard or witnessed how others use lies and harassment to get their way. Money, machinery, and an entire infrastructure allow them to spread whichever story they choose.)
‘Robredo for president’ fully supported by 1Sambayan; ‘The fight is on’ | Manila Bulletin – Opposition coalition 1Sambayan on Thursday, October 7, vowed full support for Vice President Leni Robredo who joined the 2022 presidential race even as this will be an “uphill battle” against the resources of the current administration. Robredo announced her decision to run as president at the Quezon City Reception House, where she holds office. She is set to file her Certificate of Candidacy (COC) at 3 p.m. today at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila in Pasay City. “We in 1Sambayan stand firm behind VP Leni in her presidential bid in the 2022 national elections. It is a light of hope that comes at a time of great uncertainty: a country on its knees due to a failed pandemic response, a struggling economy, and a backdrop of the loss of lives and livelihood for the Filipino people,” a statement from the coalition said. The group earlier endorsed Robredo’s run as president even though it also seeks to unite the opposition’s “pro-democracy forces.”
