News Roundup 07 May 2021
May 07, 2021 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 deaths in Philippines top 18K as recoveries breach 1M | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines on Friday recorded 7,733 additional COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of infections to 1,087,885.
- Active cases: 66,626 or 6.1% of the total
- Recoveries: 4,227, pushing total to 1,003,160
- Deaths: 108, bringing total to 18,099
Lawmakers push for ABS-CBN’s return on air | PHILSTAR.COM – Proponents of ABS-CBN’s franchise renewal in Congress yesterday vowed continued support for the return of the network giant on air. Deputy Speaker and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza and members of the Makabayan bloc expressed hope that the network giant would return on air a year after losing its franchise. “I believe the ABS-CBN issue will once again rise up and it is certain that the network will open up and one day come back on air,” Atienza stressed in a statement. The House leader insisted that “one of the greatest injustices in Philippine governance and Philippine history is the closure of a responsible media network.” “The shutdown of ABS-CBN was clearly a mistrial and a total misdelivery of justice. But you can never put a good network down. The network was accused of allegedly violating laws, including the Constitution. But nothing was proven,” he declared. “After a lengthy 13 hearings of the franchise committee and after all resource persons presented their side, none of the accusations were proven, and yet their conclusion was still guilty,” Atienza lamented. Makabayan lawmakers agreed with Atienza and again accused the Duterte administration of being behind the network’s closure. “Duterte placed on the edge of a precipice 11,000 jobs in the middle of a raging pandemic and a worsening economy,” Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Ferdie Gaite alleged. “Duterte might have won that battle against press freedom a year ago, but the war is far from over. We continue to stand with ABS-CBN workers, we continue to stand for press freedom and democracy. We will not be tired of supporting the battle of ABS-CBN workers to return to their jobs. We will continue to fight for them in Congress,” Gaite assured.
No more face-off: Duterte backs out of debate with Carpio, assigns Roque instead | INQUIRER.NET – The much-anticipated face-off between President Rodrigo Duterte and retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio may not happen after the Chief Executive assigned his spokesperson to represent him in a debate over the issue on the Philippines’ legal victory over China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea. Duterte has designated Atty. Harry Roque to debate Carpio over whether the country may enforce the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in favor of the country amid recent incursions of China in contested waters, which critics claimed undermined the country’s sovereignty. The President further claimed that Carpio had had a hand in the withdrawal of the Philippine Navy forces in Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef) that resulted in the Chinese taking over the ridge off Palawan during the time of President Benigno Aquino. Duterte challenged Carpio to a debate over the West Philippine Sea, which the former magistrate accepted.
#DuterteDuwag trends on Twitter after PRRD backs out from debate with Carpio | Manila Bulletin – President Duterte became a trending topic on social media anew after withdrawing from his debate with Retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on the West Philippine Issue. The hashtag #DuterteDuwag (Duterte is a coward) trended on Twitter on Friday afternoon immediately after Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque announced that the Chief Executive will no longer engage in a debate with Carpio on issues related to the disputed waters. #DuterteDuwag got 27.8 thousand tweets as of 6 p.m. on May 7 while Carpio got 23.5 thousand tweets. Malacañang Events and Catering Services, a satirical Facebook page, was among the first to make fun of the President, calling him a “chicken” for backing out from the debate and assigning Roque to face Carpio in his stead. Duterte on Wednesday challenged Carpio to a debate on the West Philippine Sea, particularly on the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that favored the Philippines over China. Carpio immediately accepted the challenge of the President and said he will face Duterte at any convenient time for the latter. The Philippine Bar Association likewise offered to host the highly-anticipated debate between Duterte and Carpio. However, on Friday, Roque said over PTV-4 that the President will no longer engage in a debate with Carpio upon the advice of his Cabinet and Senators Vicente Sotto III and Aquilino Pimentel III.
