News Roundup 04 September 2020
Sep 04, 2020 • 3 min Read
Philippines logs 3,714 new COVID-19 cases; total at 232,072 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health reported 3,714 additional coronavirus cases Friday, bringing the total number of confirmed infections in the country to 232,072. This is higher than the 1,987 new cases reported Thursday—the lowest number of daily cases in over a month. The number of recoveries grew by 1,088 to 160,549. But coronavirus deaths rose to 3,737 with 49 new fatalities, most of which from the capital region.
Lacson: Duterte needs strong political will, not emergency powers, to clean up PhilHealth | PHILSTAR.COM – Another senator is dismissing a proposal to give President Rodrigo Duterte additional powers to clean up the embattled Philippine Health Insurance Corp. “More than ’emergency powers’ to reorganize PhilHealth, what the President needs is real, honest-to-goodness, strong political will first,” Sen. Panfilo Lacson said Friday. This comes after lawmakers at the House of Representatives, during a joint hearing on alleged anomalies and corruption within PhilHealth, proposed granting the chief executive emergency powers to reform the state-run agency. Senate Majority Leader Tito Sotto and Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Thursday thumbed down the proposal, both arguing that the president already has more than enough power to take action.
No foul play? Ex-Ozamiz City councilor Parojinog found dead in jail | INQUIRER.NET – Former Ozamiz City Councilor Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog was found dead inside the detention facility of the city’s police station Friday morning, Philippine National Police (PNP) said. “Parojinog was found dead at 6:00 a.m. today while alone inside the detention cell of Ozamis Police Station. No violence was noted,” PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said in a statement. Banac said the former councilor was supposed to attend a hearing at Ozamiz City Court this Friday. PNP chief Gen. Camilo Cascolan has ordered an investigation on Parojinog’s death , Banac said. Cascolan also ordered Police Regional Office 10 chief Brig. Gen. Rolando Anduyan to place the Ozamiz City police chief and all night duty personnel under restrictive custody for their availability for investigation. Banac said the security team of the PNP custodial center under Lt. Col. Jiger Noceda will also face an investigation.
Underground COVID-19 hospitals exclusive for Chinese patients probed by CIDG | Manila Bulletin – The Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) is looking into the reported continued operation of some underground hospitals that are exclusively catering to Chinese patients infected with COVID-19. Police Brig. Gen. Rhoderick Armamento, deputy director for administration of PNP-CIDG, said they received reports about the existence of illegal COVID treatment facilities in Central Luzon (Region 3), Metro Manila, and Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) or Region 4-A. “We are validating the reports that we have received and our intelligence build-up operations are on-going. We have reports not only in Region 3 but also in Metro Manila and Region 4-A,” Armamento said. Local consumer group Alliance for Consumer and Protection of Environment (ACAPE) Inc. had earlier urged the police to investigate the alleged underground hospitals.
38 Filipino sailors missing off Japan | The Manila Times – Thirty-eight Filipinos were among 43 seafarers who went missing when a cargo vessel sank off Japan during a typhoon on Tuesday night. One Filipino was rescued by Japan’s Coast Guard. Two Australians and two New Zealanders were also missing. The vessel, Gulf Livestock 1, was loaded with 5,867 cows and was sailing west off Amami Oshami island in southwestern Japan when it sent a distress call. The rescued Filipino was identified by the Philippine Consulate in Osaka as Chief Officer Edward Sareno. He said the ship’s engine failed before it was hit by a wave and capsized. The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo reported that rescue operations were ongoing. Four patrol vessels and three planes were searching for the seafarers. Gulf Livestock 1 departed Napier, New Zealand on August 14 bound for Port of Jingtang in Tangshan, China. The journey was expected to take 17 days
