News Roundup 04 August 2021
Aug 04, 2021 • 5 min Read
Philippines sees 7,342 new coronavirus infections | PHILSTAR.COM – Local health authorities on Wednesday reported 7,342 more COVID-19 infections, bringing the national caseload to 1,619,824.
- Active cases: 63,171 or 3.9% of the total
- Recoveries: 7,285, pushing total to 1,528,422
- Deaths: 90, bringing total to 28,231.
Last Metro Manila lockdown? Robredo makes suggestions to get there | PHILSTAR.COM – As Malacañang hopes that the upcoming lockdown in Metro Manila from August 6 to August 20 would be the last ever, Vice President Leni Robredo suggests that the government take some steps to achieve this goal. “Lahat ito puwede nang gawin, puwede nang trabahuhin, para maabot ‘yong pangarap na maging last lockdown na ito,” Robredo said in a statement on Wednesday. (All of these can be done now so we can achieve our dream of this being the last lockdown.) She said the government must ramp up coronavirus testing from the current 50,000 per day to at least 120,000 so that it can identify what areas that truly need attention. The vice president added that the government must administer 750,000 vaccine doses a day so the country can reach herd immunity faster. Department of Health data presented to the House health committee on Wednesday show that daily vaccinations have yet to breach the 700,000-mark and are only averaging at 529,911 doses daily. Robredo also called on the government to quickly give out aid to those who would be affected by the lockdown and give support to small businesses. While Malacañang has repeatedly stated that President Rodrigo Duterte’s marching orders is to hand out aid, it is still unclear where the government will source funds for this purpose. Robredo also urged the government to create a centralized database of all contact tracing apps. The Department of Information and Communications Technology told the House health panel that they have accomplished this. Robredo also said there is a need to be “hospital-ready,” especially in the face of an explosive surge in COVID-19 cases, which may lead to people dying without getting treatment. “Tulungan na ang mga ospital na mag-hire na ng mga medical personnel. ‘Yong access sa gamot at oxygen, tiyakin, at bantayan ang nagsasamantala sa presyo,” she said. (Let us help hospitals to hire medical personnel. Let us assure access to medicines and oxygen and let us be vigilant with price gougers.)
‘Pinatayan ka na, gusto pa magpasalamat ka,’ De Lima on Duterte’s drug war remark | INQUIRER.NET – Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Wednesday hit President Rodrigo Duterte for “falsely” claiming that the Filipino people benefitted from the alleged killings in his administration’s bloody drug war. “Pinatayan ka na, gusto pa magpasalamat ka. What a twisted mind!” De Lima, former justice chief, said in a statement. (They’ve killed our people and they want us to thank them.) What she finds “absurd, she said, is that Duterte thinks his war on drugs was beneficial to Filipinos “when it is the very reason for their pain, suffering and trauma.” De Lima noted that most of the victims of so-called extrajudicial killings in the country are from the poor families who do not have the capability to ask for legal assistance, or defend themselves before a proper court. “This reality should be more than enough to remind us to not allow Duterte to brainwash anyone into believing that his drug war is good for us and that we should tolerate all these violence, because we should not, and we should never,” she then said. “Kahit ano pang sabihin ni Duterte, hindi na kailanman maibabalik ang libo-libong buhay na pinaslang ng drug war—mga inosente, walang kamuwang-muwang na mga bata at walang kalaban-labang maralita,” she added. (No matter what Duterte says, he can no longer bring back the lives of thousands people killed by his drug war— the innocent children and defenseless poor) De Lima herself has been jailed over what she branded as trumped-up drug charges.
UP alumni group urges Robredo: Run for president in 2022 | Manila Bulletin – A prominent alumni association of the University of the Philippines (UP) has added its voice to the growing clamor for Vice President Leni Robredo to run for president in the 2022 polls. The SAMASA Alumni Association, Inc., which was formed 40 years ago by UP student leaders and activists to help topple the Marcos dictatorship, called on the vice president, herself an alumnus of the country’s premier state university, to become the opposition’s lone presidential candidate. In a statement posted on Facebook, the group said that her experience, compassion, and strong work ethic make her the only candidate who can get the country “out of this crisis.” SAMASA has “reaffirmed its commitment to rebuild an effective and efficient government with Robredo at the helm.” “Taglay ni Leni ang katangian na makatutulong sa ating bansa na makaahon mula sa malalim na problema na ating kinasadlakan sa ilalim ng administrasyong ito (Leni posses the traits to help the country rise from the deep problems that we are not facing under this administration),” SAMASA Director Nona Andaya-Castillo said. She added that Robredo has the “proven experience, resourcefulness, compassion and strong work ethic that will enable the country to get out of this crisis.” “Lalo lang mababaon ang bansa sa dusa kapag hinayaan nating magpatuloy ang ganitong uri ng pamamahala na tadtad ng pag-abuso, patayan at katiwalian (The Philippines will suffer more if we will continue with this kind of government that’s filled with abuses, killings, and corruption),” Andaya-Castillo stressed. The SAMASA official called on Filipinos to unite behind Robredo to ensure that the country will not suffer for another six years “under the same cabal or their poor copies.”
