News Roundup 07 June 2021
Jun 07, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines logs 6,539 new COVID-19 cases, total at 1.27 million | PHILSTAR.COM – Health authorities on Monday reported 6,539 fresh coronavirus cases, with the total count of infections reaching 1,276,004. Today’s development saw active cases down by 483 from June 6’s 59,337. The Department of Health said seven laboratories did not submit testing results.
- Active cases: 58,854 or 4.6% of the total
- Recoveries: 6,969, bringing the number to 1,195,181
- Deaths: 71, or now 21,969 in total
What is the TRIPS waiver and what does it have to do with the COVID-19 pandemic? | PHILSTAR.COM – Public health advocates have been calling on the Philippine government to help push for a global waiver on patent protections for COVID-19 technologies to provide poor countries easier access to vaccines and medical products to combat the pandemic. Supporters of the proposal said the government should support the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver on vaccines, medicines and diagnostic tools to prevent, contain or treat COVID-19 for the duration of the pandemic. The TRIPS Council of the World Trade Organization will reconvene on June 8 to 9 to discuss the revised proposal that was submitted by South Africa, India and 60 other countries. In October 2020, India and South Africa advanced a proposal to the WTO for a temporary waiver on some provisions of the TRIPS agreement. They said the waiver is meant to avoid barriers to the timely access to affordable vaccines and medicines, and to the scaling up of production of crucial medical products. The waiver will cover obligations on copyright and related rights, industrial designs, patents and protection of undisclosed information. The revised proposal specified the duration of the waiver to be in force for at least three years. “The TRIPS waiver is thus an attempt to put people over patents and improve vaccine equity on a global scale,” the Coalition for People’s Right to Health said in a statement issued on June 2. In May, the United States agreed to support the waiver after initial resistance to it. Other wealthy nations such as those from the European Union continue to oppose it.
Senate probe sought on gov’t ‘failure’ to bring down power costs | INQUIRER.NET – Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday called for a Senate investigation into the supposed “failure” of the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to bring down power costs in the country. Hontiveros called for the inquiry through Senate Resolution No. 746, which aims to determine the reason behind the “deficiencies and failures” of concerned agencies to ensure the affordability of electricity rates in the country, 20 years after the enactment of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA law). The senator sought for the probe after Luzon experienced rotational power interruptions due to thinning energy supply last week. “Sa taon-taon na lang na may banta at aktwal na nangyayaring rotational blackouts at patuloy na pagtaas ng electricity rates, tila napako na ang pangako ng EPIRA na makapagbigay ng murang kuryente at maayos na serbisyo para sa bawat Pilipino,“ Hontiveros said in a statement. (With yearly threats and actual rotational blackouts and continuing rise in electricity rates, it seems like the promise of EPIRA to provide cheap and decent service to every Filipino has not been fulfilled.) “Dapat malaman kung sino ang nagkulang at papanagutin kung sino ang nagpabaya. Hindi lang ito inconvenience sa household consumers kundi hadlang din sa muling pagbangon ng mga negosyo at sa distance education ng ating mga kabataan,” she added. (We should find out who was lacking and those who have been negligent should be made accountable. This is not only an inconvenience on household consumers but also a hindrance to the revival of businesses and to the distance learning of our children.)
CHR starts probe on Masbate landmine blast, bus torching in North Cotabato | Manila Bulletin – The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has started its own investigation on two “senseless terroristic” incidents — the Masbate landmine blast last June 6 and the burning of a passenger bus in Barangay Bialong, M’lang, North Cotabato last June 3. The Masbate landmine blast claimed the lives of two individuals — Keith Absolon, 21, a football varsity player of the Far Eastern University (FEU), and his cousin, Nolven Absalon, 40. Nolven’s son, 16 years old, sustained injuries due to the explosion. CHR Spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said that the anti-personnel landmine was reportedly detonated by alleged members of the New People’s Army. The victims were riding a bicycle when the blast occurred. De Guia said: “The CHR strongly condemns this act. The use of anti-personnel landmine is a violation of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Not only do they cause exceptionally severe injuries, suffering, and death, anti-personnel landmines also fail to distinguish between civilians and combatants, such as what happened in this case.” “We stress that even non-State actors, such as the NPA, are bound to respect IHL, alongside the government,” she stressed. She also said the CHR Region XII has already started looking into the torching of the passenger bus that claimed the lives of three passengers and injured six others.
