News Roundup 02 October 2020
Oct 02, 2020 • 4 min Read
Philippines logs 2,611 cases as COVID-19 tally rises past 316,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The country’s cumulative count of coronavirus cases climbed to 316,678 Friday after the Department of Health reported 2,611 new infections. The department also logged 416 recoveries, pushing the tally of COVID-19 survivors to 254,617. However, the country’s case count rose to 5,616 after 56 more patients succumbed to the severe respiratory disease. The Philippines entered the list of 20 countries with the most number of coronavirus infections, after surpassing Pakistan, which has 312,806 cases as of Thursday. The Philippines also has the most COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia despite enforcing one of the world’s longest lockdowns.
Guevarra confirms Perete’s resignation, asks for respect for privacy | PHILSTAR.COM – Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra asked the public to respect the privacy of his Undersecretary Markk Perete who quit his post in a sudden announcement on Thursday. Perete, DOJ’s undersecretary for immigration and spokesperson, announced that he is resigning from his post effective on Thursday. Perete told media covering the justice beat first before he could inform Guevarra of his decision. “As a presidential appointee, Perete tendered his resignation to the president today (October 1),” Guevarra told reporters on Thursday night. He added that Perete had explained to him why he is leaving his post at the DOJ before the latter submitted his resignation to President Rodrigo Duterte. “As these reasons were very personal, the least we could do for him is to respect his privacy and wish him well,” Guevarra also said.
33 of 136 NCR hospitals in danger of running out of beds for COVID-19 | INQUIRER.NET – Thirty-three out of 136 hospitals in the National Capital Region (NCR) were tagged as being in the “danger” level in terms of bed capacity solely for the treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients, figures from the Department of Health (DOH) showed. This number is lower by one hospital compared to the data recorded last Sept. 23, Wednesday. For the whole NCR, the total bed capacity was maintained at the “warning” level with 52.1 percent of the 6,626 COVID-19 beds now occupied.
‘Consult residents, study risk factors of Bataan nuclear power plant revival’ — Gatchalian | Manila Bulletin – Senator Sherwin Gatchalian on Friday welcomed President Duterte’s directive to the Department of Energy (DOE) to consult residents of the province of Bataan over proposals to revive the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). Gatchalian, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, said the President’s order only bolstered his belief that reviving the BNPP needs careful and serious study of the risks associated with managing nuclear power plants. “Hindi ito simpleng teknolohiya na magkukuha tayo ng talento na makakapag-operate nito kaagad. Isa sa pinaka punto dito yung pagka-delikado nitong power station o power plant na ito (This is not a simple technology where you just get an expert to operate this plant immediately. One of the points raised about it is the danger this power station or power plant poses to residents),” Gatchalian said in an interview over GMANewsTV. Gatchalian said the government has to consider crafting a contingency plan in case residents of Morong, Bataan, where the BNPP is situated, need to be evacuated in the event of a disastrous nuclear accident similar to what happened to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
Velasco slams Cayetano’s maneuverings | The Manila Times – Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco hit the delays in budget deliberations that he blamed on Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s political maneuverings and theatrics. “Instead of focusing on the work at hand, further political maneuverings and theatrics took the budget deliberations hostage,” Velasco said on Facebook on Wednesday night. He posted the statement after the House voted to reject Cayetano’s offer to resign as speaker, denying Velasco the chance to take over under the term-sharing agreement. “We lost an entire day, and even tomorrow where you have declared that no session will be conducted, which are crucial in meeting our timeline. These attacks and distractions serve no purpose other than to perpetuate what is a purely personal agenda threatening to delay the passage of the budget. This is the truth,” he said. Velasco reminded Cayetano that the agreement in the meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday was for Cayetano to step down as speaker on October 14.
