News Roundup 04 November 2021
Nov 04, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines records 1,766 more COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – Health authorities on Thursday reported 1,766 more coronavirus cases in the Philippines, pushing the total to 2,795,642. Today’s figures saw active cases down by 855 from the 38,014 on November 3. DOH said two laboratories did not submit testing results.
- Active cases: 37,159 or 1.3% of the total
- Deaths: 239, pushing the count to 43,825
- Recoveries: 2,591 bringing the number to 2,714,658
Robredo bares plans to ‘free’ Philippines from COVID-19 | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo, who is running for president in the 2022 elections, unveiled a comprehensive plan to “free” the country from the pandemic, which includes investments to the long-neglected public health system and major changes to the current COVID-19 response. “Narating natin ang plano sa pagkokonsulta sa mga eksperto, mga sektor, at higit sa lahat, sa harapang pagsaksi sa dinadaanan ng Pilipino,” Robredo said in a video posted on her social media accounts on Wednesday. (We arrived at these plans after consultations with experts and sectors, and above all, being direct witnesses to what Filipinos are facing.) Among Robredo’s plans to improve the country’s healthcare system is to double the government’s spending on it from P113 billion or just 0.6% of the country’s gross domestic product, as recommended by the Department of Health in its Philippine Health Facility Development Plan 2020-2040. Robredo also set a goal of increasing hospital beds nationwide to bring its number closer to that of Singapore’s and Vietnam’s, where there are 2.5 beds and 2.6 beds for every 1,000 people, respectively. Along with increasing hospital beds, Robredo also wants to hire more healthcare workers, procure more equipment and reorganize the shifts of doctors and nurses.
Gordon turns tables on Duterte, shows President’s ‘admission’ to corruption | INQUIRER.NET – Senator Richard Gordon on Thursday turned the tables on President Rordigo Duterte as the lawmaker cited the chief executive’s “admission” to alleged corruption in 2017. “Kagabi po, tumira na naman…Di ko na po sasagutin yan sapagkat yun ay patutsada lang po ng Pangulo yan, at hindi dapat sinasabi ng Pangulo yon,” Gordon said as he resumed the Senate blue ribbon committee probe into the government’s pandemic purchases last year. (Last night, he lambasted me again… I will not bother to answer that because that is just part of a barrage that the President should have not said.) “Ang isasagot ko para alam ng madla, napaka simple lang po, ito po ang sinabi ng Presidente doon sa [Philippine Chinese Charitable Association] on June 28, 2017: ‘I hate corruption. Hindi ako nagmamalinis. Marami rin akong nanakaw pero naubos na,’” the senator added. (What I will tell the public, so that people would know, is as simple as this — the President said this on June 28, 2017 at the Philippine Chinese Charitable Association: “I hate corruption. I am not making myself clean here. I have also stolen a lot but they are all gone now.”) Gordon said this was an “admission against self-interest.” “Yun lang ho ang sagot ko, Mr. President. Kayo na umamin na kayo ay nagnakaw sa gobyerno. Di po kami ang nagsabi niyan. Kayo ang nagsabi niyan,” he said. (That is my only answer, Mr. President. You yourself admitted of stealing from the government. We didn’t say that. You were the one who said it.)
Trillanes asks: ‘Will you hire someone who lied about finishing college?’ | Manila Bulletin – Without naming names, former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Thursday, November 4, posed a rhetorical question to voters: are they willing to hire someone who lied about being a college graduate? “Question: Kung meron kang negosyo at naghahanap ka ng manager, kukunin mo ba ang aplikante na nagsabi sa’yo na college graduate daw sya pero nalaman mo na hindi naman pala (If you have a business and you are looking for a manager, are you going to hire an application who said he is a college graduate but it turned out he isn’t?),” he posted on Facebook. “Ngayon, kundi mo nga sya kukunin na manager sa negosyo mo, bakit mo sya gagawing presidente (Now, if you are not going to hire him for your business, why are you going to make him a president)?,” Trillanes asked. The former senator and now professor did not drop names when he posed the question but former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. was recently embroiled in a controversy about his college degree.
