News Roundup 04 February 2021
Feb 04, 2021 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 cases in Philippines reach 531,699 as deaths near 11,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country climbed to 531,699 Thursday, with 1,590 new infections recorded. The number of people who are still undergoing treatment or quarantine stands at 32,775 or 6.2% of the total. Nearly 95% of these are active cases. Fifty-five more patients died from the respiratory illness, raising the fatality count to 10,997. The Department of Health also reported 249 new recovered patients. To date, 487,927 people in the Philippines have survived COVID-19.
Liberal Party considering Robredo as 2022 presidential bet | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo is among the personalities being considered by the Liberal Party to become its standard bearer in the 2022 elections, party president Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan said Thursday. “[She is] a high official of the party and is also the highest elected official of the party. So she is also being considered,” Pangilinan said partly in Filipino in a media briefing. Robredo is Liberal Party chair. But Pangilinan was quick to echo Robredo, who told ABS-CBN Teleradyo in November 2020 that she has no plans to run for the presidency. “She, herself, has said that she has no decision yet. A lot of things can happen,” Pangilinan said partly in Filipino. It may appear that the Liberal Party leadership is keeping its hands off the 2022 elections for now, but party internal vice president Rep. Teddy Baguilat met Monday a “core group” of Robredo supporters in Quezon to push her to run for president. “We need a new captain with better ideas and a person who can unite us,” Baguilat said on Twitter, punctuating it with the hashtag #Leni2022. An online petition urging Robredo to run for president is also making the rounds, with it garnering over 20,000 signatures as of writing.
Media orgs, groups blast Parlade for threat vs INQUIRER.net reporter | INQUIRER.NET – Several media organizations and other groups have denounced Southern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. for his comments against INQUIRER.net reporter Tetch Torres-Tupas over her story on Aetas who filed a petition before the Supreme Court (SC). The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP) said in a Facebook post on Thursday that Parlade’s remarks about Torres-Tupas’ story on the Aetas’ claim of torture under the hands of the military — that she may be sued for aiding terrorists — attests to the dangers of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 Torres-Tupas’ story, entitled “Tortured Aetas seek SC help against anti-terror law,” was a story on the Aetas’ petition that the Anti-Terrorism Act be declared unconstitutional, which was filed as SC heard oral arguments of those against the said law. “Torres-Tupas was simply writing about the fact that the petition was filed and recounting the allegations made in that petition,” NUJP said in its statement. “The government has repeatedly issued reassurances that the law will not be used to stifle dissent or to clamp down on the press. But actions and statements by people like Parlade, who will be tasked with implementing the Anti-Terrorism Law, speak louder than those press statements,” it added. The members of the Justice and Court Reporters Association (JUCRA), which Torres-Tupas is a member, also released their own statement condemning Parlade’s tirades. According to the group, Parlade should apologize to the journalist, especially as she was only doing her work. JUCRA also asked whether the rest of the members should await a similar threat from Parlade, especially since the story was written and published by most, if not all, of their members.
Recto seeks inquiry into operations of vehicle inspection centers | Manila Bulletin – Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto has joined calls for the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to suspend the operation of all Private Motor Vehicle Inspection Centers (PMVICs). Recto filed Senate Resolution No. 638 proposing an inquiry into the PMVIC operation as he called on the two agencies to suspend the operation of PMVICs “until a comprehensive public consultation is conducted.” Recto pointed out that the DOTr and the LTO, issued Memorandum Circular 2020-2240 last December 29, 2020 directing the immediate implementation of the PMVIC even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, without even conducting an exhaustive public consultation as well as a public information campaign.
Photo Source: By Tomas Tam, Attribution, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8832333
