News Roundup 08 November 2021
Nov 08, 2021 • 4 min Read
DOH lists 2,087 new COVID-19 cases, 8 labs without data | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines on Monday logged 2,087 new coronavirus cases, pushing its total caseload to 2,805,294. Authorities said 1.1% of the overall count of infections remain as active cases. They added that eight laboratories did not submit testing output. “Based on data in the last 14 days, the eight non-reporting labs contribute, on average, 0.8% of samples tested and 1.2% of positive individuals,” DOH continued.
- Active cases: 32,077 or 1.1% of the total
- Deaths: 91, pushing the count to 44,521
- Recoveries: 3,510 bringing the number to 2,728,696
Senators reject ‘no vaccine, no 4Ps subsidy’ proposal | PHILSTAR.COM – At least five senators have criticized the Department of Interior and Local Government’s suggestion to withhold subsidies from beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) if they are not vaccinated against COVID-19. The implementation of the policy was recommended by Interior Secretary Eduardo Año to the Department of Social Welfare and Development after he received reports from local chief executives that numerous 4Ps beneficiaries continue to shun COVID-19 vaccines, DILG spokesman Jonathan Malaya earlier said. Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra weighed in on Monday to clarify that the government cannot actually suspend or terminate government subsidies over the vaccination status of beneficiaries because they have already qualified for the subsidy under the 4Ps Act. The Palace said it supports the DILG’s proposal but also said the 4Ps Act would have to be amended to make vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory for beneficiaries. Sen. Joel Villanueva said any proposal to write such a provision into the DSWD’s budget for 2022 would be “dead on arrival in the Senate.” Villanueva, who is chair of the Senate labor committee and who is seeking a second term at the Senate, also scored the plan as one that would penalize those who are both unemployed and unvaccinated. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon in a statement released Sunday blasted DILG’s proposal as “absolutely unacceptable, inhuman and callous,” and accused DILG of being “detached from reality and unaware of the real plight of the poor.” Drilon, who is among the authors of the law that institutionalized the subsidies, said that it is “contrary to the 4Ps law to withhold benefits or expel members who are not vaccinated.” “It pains me to see a government that has shown nothing but a total callous disregard for the vulnerable sector of our society,” he said.
Robredo says she knows where to source COVID response fund if elected president | INQUIRER.NET – Vice President Leni Robredo has assured the public that funding her COVID-19 response program, if she is elected president, is possible despite perceptions that her proposals are too ambitious. Robredo stressed in her press briefing on Monday that there is nothing wrong about being ambitious, especially with the grim past due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, she also maintained that they have identified possible sources of funding should she succeed in her presidential bid. Based on her estimates, they have already pointed to around P500 billion of the administration’s current funding which may be diverted to a COVID-19 response program. “Kailangan maging ambitious kasi ang laki ng problema natin ngayon. Mayroon na kaming kwenta. Iyong kwenta namin, tinitingnan namin kung saan mahuhugot iyong mga pondo, kasi it is not as if kailangan […] nating mag-infuse ng panibagong pera,” Robredo told reporters in her office. (We have to be ambitious because we have a big problem today. We have computed the funding. According to our calculations, we are looking at where we can source the funds, because it is not as if we need to infuse new money.) “Kasi maraming mga departments ang puwede nating i-reorient ang kanilang budget para ang focus, COVID response. Iyong kwenta namin ngayon na nahanap na namin sa budget somewhere in the area na mga 500 billion pesos,” she added. (We have a lot of departments where we can reorient their budgets so that the focus is on the COVID-19 response. Our computations today show that we were able to find a budget somewhere in the area of P500 billion.)
Will Duterte break dreaded ‘Siargao curse’ that saw 2 ex-presidents end up in jail? | Manila Bulletin – If a late mayor is to be believed, President Duterte may soon find himself locked up after his presidency. Former mayor Jaime Rusillon, the late executive of one of Siargao Island’s towns General Luna, prominently observed that both former Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ended up in jail after personally visiting the world famous island. “Both of them came to visit here during their incumbency as president and both of them eventually ended up in jail. Noyoy Aquino was spared because he came here when he was a senator. He did not come here during his presidency. There’s a curse here,” was what Rusillon once said.
