News Roundup 23 October 2021
Oct 23, 2021 • 3 min Read
Philippines logs 5,807 more coronavirus infections | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Saturday reported 5,807 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total number of coronavirus infections to 2,751,667.
- Active cases: 63,051 or 2.3% of the total
- Fatalities: 65, pushing the death toll to 41,585
- Recoveries: 9,578, totalling to 2,647,031
Colmenares not ruling out working with Robredo despite exclusion from slate | PHILSTAR.COM – Bayan Muna chairperson Neri Colmenares said Friday that he is not ruling out the possibility of working with Vice President Leni Robredo despite his exclusion from her senatorial lineup for the 2022 elections. “My non-inclusion in her slate does not preclude us from continuing engagement and cooperation with her campaign on urgent issues that concern our people,” Colmenares said in a statement shortly after Robredo announced her pick to complete her Senate slate. He said the most urgent of these issues is to prevent the family of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos from returning to Malacañang and a possible extension of President Rodrigo Duterte’s rule amid the pandemic which continues to batter the country. “Our differences notwithstanding, let us not lose sight of the bigger fight before us. It is my hope that we continue to work together to defeat the forces of tyranny and corruption,” Colmenares said. Colmenares was one of four or five nominees for Robredo’s 12th pick for the Senate, alongside Federation of Free Workers president Sonny Matula, who ended up being Robredo’s choice for the slot which she reserved for a representative of marginalized people.
Robredo, Pangilinan supporters hold simultaneous motorcades | INQUIRER.NET – Supporters of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan conducted nationwide simultaneous motorcades on Saturday to show support for the tandem in the 2022 elections. Around 10,000 vehicles across 50 cities nationwide participated in the motorcades, according to Team Leni Robredo (TLR), a group of volunteers that organized the activity. TLR Communications Head Ben Bernabe said that the initiative is the volunteers’ public declaration of frustration at leaders who are incompetent, corrupt, and insensitive to the needs of ordinary Filipinos, especially during the pandemic. “What started initially as a small motorcade in a small town turned into a national campaign – thanks to volunteers like us who passed on the idea to volunteers through word of mouth,” he said in a statement. Bernabe said supporters of Robredo and Pangilinan or the so-called “KakamPINKs” are convinced that Robredo is the right person to lead the country in the next six years. “Ang mahusay na lider, may track record ng accomplishments. Kahit di pa siya opisyal ng gobyerno, marami na siyang natulungan bilang abogado. ‘Yung Naga City, example ng kung ano ang pwedeng magawa with good governance,” he said. Bernabe also lamented the “poor decision making” and “mishandling” of government resources during the pandemic. “Nakikita rin natin ang forces ng historical distortion na gumagawa ng paraan para makabalik sa kapangyarihan,” he said. (We are also seeing that forces of historical distortion are making a way to return to power.) “Ang resulta nito ay gutom, kamatayan, sakit, kahirapan, at kawalan ng trabaho. Para hindi magpatuloy ang mga problemang ito, kailangan natin ng presidenteng panig sa katotohanan at kapakanan ng bayan,” he added. (The result is hunger, death, sickness, poverty, and lack of jobs. For these problems to stop, we need a president who sides with the truth and the welfare of the public.)
Diokno, Hontiveros make it in Senate ‘Magic 12’, survey shows | Manila Bulletin – Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno and reelectionist Senator Risa Hontiveros were among the opposition senatorial candidates who made it into the so-called “Magic 12” in the latest survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia Inc. The survey, which was conducted from Oct. 11 to 18, showed Hontiveros at 9th place with 34.67 percent preference rate, while Diokno landed on 12th with 27.20 percent. Some 1,500 adult Filipinos articipated in the survey during the period. The survey was originally scheduled in September but it was moved after the filing of the end of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COCs) on Oct. 8. This gave the respondents a clearer list of candidates to choose from in relation to the upcoming May 2022 polls.
