News Roundup 22 October 2021
Oct 22, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines sees 5,823 more COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Friday listed 5,823 new coronavirus cases, continuing the nearly two weeks since daily infections fell to four-digit numbers. This pushed the country’s overall count of cases to 2,745,889. Active cases were up by 1,003 from the 65,835 on October 21. DOH said two laboratories did not submit screening results.
- Active cases: 66,838 or 2.4% of the total
- Deaths: 283, pushing the count to 41,520
- Recoveries: 4,748 bringing the number to 2,637,531
Latest Robredo senatorial bet for 2022 is a former Marcos supporter | PHILSTAR.COM – Labor lawyer Sonny Matula backed the candidacy of former Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in 2016, but the shrinking of democratic space pushed him to switch and join Vice President Leni Robredo’s senatorial slate for the coming polls. For the coming polls, Matula has become one of the senatorial bets of the slate of Robredo, whom he believes represents the hope for the change the country needs. “Our democratic space is being constricted, trade union and human rights are under attack, the pandemic responses are inadequate and corroded by corruption. We need change and remedy the present situation,” he told Philstar.com in a message. Marcos lost to Robredo in the 2016 vice presidential polls. The two found themselves facing each other again in the presidential race for 2022. Robredo, de facto opposition leader, introduced Matula as the 12th senatorial candidate on her slate on Friday. In a video, she praised his track record as a labor lawyer who stood up to big corporations and defended the rights of Filipino workers. FFW is also now part of the Alliance of Labor Leaders for Leni (ALL4Leni).
‘Wala nang atrasan’: Pangilinan not backing out of VP race after ‘explosion’ of support | INQUIRER.NET – Encouraged by the “explosion” of support, Senator Francis Pangilinan on Friday said he will not back out from the vice presidential race in next year’s elections. “We discussed this with the Vice President (Leni Robredo). Wala nang atrasan ito [There’s no backing out],” Pangilinan said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel. Pangilinan said this when asked about his earlier pronouncement that he is willing to give way to a more winnable vice presidential running mate for Robredo. “As we have seen, bumabaha ang suporta, lumalakas ang ating loob, nakikita nating talagang all out din ang ating mga kababayan…hanggang sa dulo, tuloy tuloy na ito and in the end we will trust in God and our people,” he added. (As we’ve seen, we have been flooded with support, it’s making us braver, we see that Filipinos are also going all out…until the end, we will push through and in the end we will trust in God and our people.) Pangilinan said the “explosion” of support from volunteers backing his and Robredo’s bid was among the things that encouraged him to push through. “These motorcades, for example, in the coming days, this is purely spontaneous, wala kaming inorganisa dito, [we did not organize this]” the senator said. “So the explosion, yung bumabaha ang suporta, talagang yun ang naguudyok sa atin kaya tuloy tuloy na ito, wala nang atrasan,” he added. (The explosion, the support is really what’s pushing us, and we will not back out.)
Oxford PH society clarifies: BBM did not finish his degree | Manila Bulletin – The Oxford Philippine Society clarified on Friday, Oct. 22, that Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., did not finish his degree and “failed the preliminary examinations” in Oxford University. OPS, composed of Filipino students and alumni of Oxford University in England, also confirmed that Marcos has been awarded a Special Diploma in Social Studies in 1978. “A Special Diploma is not a degree, and neither is it comparable, superior nor equivalent to one. A Special Diploma is not a course of higher education leading to an undergraduate or first degree or even a master’s degree,” it statement read. The group said the purpose of their statement is to “set out facts concerning Bongbong Marcos’ claims about his tenure at Oxford University.” “We would like to emphasise that this statement is not a political statement. We are making this statement in aid of public discourse in a time where disinformation and fake news are prevalent. Such disinformation prevents Filipinos from exercising their democratic rights in a fair and meaningful way, and we believe every Filipino should have access to correct information as we prepare to vote in May 2022.” Oxford University earlier confirmed that Marcos only got a “special diploma in social studies,” which is different from a bachelor’s degree.
