News Roundup 02 July 2021
Jul 02, 2021 • 3 min Read
6,192 new infections push Philippines coronavirus caseload past 1.42M | PHILSTAR.COM – Local health authorities on Friday reported 6,192 more COVID-19 infections, bringing the national caseload to 1,424,518.
- Active cases: 55,482 or 3.9% of the total
- Recoveries: 2,212, pushing total to 1,344,063
- Deaths: 177, bringing total to 24,973
Cyberattacks on alternative media outlets traced back to military intelligence unit | PHILSTAR.COM – A Swedish digital forensics non-profit has traced back the recent cyberattacks on alternative media outlets AlterMidya and Bulatlat and rights group Karapatan to a military intelligence unit. A digital certificate showed that the machine that conducted a “vulnerability scan” on Bulatlat was linked to the email address acepcionecjr@army.mil.ph and the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, according to Qurium. This same machine was also using an IP address registered as the Department of Science and Technology, Qurium said. Qurium added that it found within the network of the DOST machine another setup with an identical firewall configuration, “strongly suggesting that the machine was set up and operated by the same organization.” DOST has denied involvement in the cyberattacks, saying that tracing back the attacks to an IP address linked to them does not mean they had a hand in these. It explained that they allow some of their IP addresses to be used by other government agencies, without saying what government agency used their IP address. AlterMidya and Bulatlat have said that DOST should investigate the use of its IP address.
Robredo lawyer: Marcos’ plea to reverse poll protest decision lacks merit | INQUIRER.NET – Vice President Leni Robredo has formally asked the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to dismiss former senator Bongbong Marcos’ motion for reconsideration regarding the poll protest decision, her lawyer said. In a 52-page comment, Robredo, through election lawyer Romulo Macalintal on Friday said Marcos’ motion for reconsideration that seeks to overturn the PET decision lacks merit because the arguments presented by the Marcos camp were already discussed in the decision. In February 2021, the Supreme Court (SC), sitting as the PET, dismissed the former senator’s poll protest which claimed that he was cheated during the 2016 vice presidential race in which Robredo won. “[…] Robredo, in her comment on the motion for reconsideration (MR) of Mr. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., of the resolution of the [PET] dismissing his election protest said that the MR must be denied for its utter lack of merit. The allegations are mere rehash or repetition of the same arguments already settled or decided by the PET in its said resolution,” Macalintal said. “Marcos should know that the prospect of defeat is a reality that all political candidates who stand for election must learn to accept,” he added.
NDRRMC advises public to be vigilant: Major Taal Volcano eruption ‘possible’ | Manila Bulletin – The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) on Friday night, July 2, urged the public to be vigilant as it said that a major eruption of Taal volcano “is possible” in the coming days which may affect 1.1 million people in Batangas who are living near the volcano. In a virtual press briefing, NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) has confirmed that a “more intensified” eruption is likely to happen based on the activities of Taal Volcano. “Ang sabi ng PHIVOLCS, posible ang mas intensified na pagputok ng Taal Volcano. Ito ay isang scenario na sinasabing phreatomagmatic (magma and steam) eruption. May isa pang klaseng eruption na binanggit pero sa ngayon, nasa risk assessment pa lang tayo (According to PHIVOLCS, a more intesified eruption of Taal Volcano is possible. This is one scenario called phreatoagmatic eruption. There is another form of eruption that they were saying but right now, we are still conducting risk assessment),” Jalad said. This was the same type of eruption that Taal exhibited last Thursday. “Posible na sa phreatomagmatic eruption magbubuga ng malalaking bato, posibleng magkatsunami sa Taal Lake (It is possible that in case of a phreatomagmatic eruption, [Taal Volcano] will emit big rocks which can possibly result to a tsunami in the Taal Lake),” he added.
