News Roundup 09 December 2021
Joseph Guerrero in News and Updates
Dec 09, 2021 • 3 min Read
Trustworthy government needed to boost economy – Robredo | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo stressed the importance of a trustworthy, empowering and agile government to strengthen the country’s economy heavily affected by the pandemic. In a message during the Arangkada Forum organized by the Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines on Tuesday, Robredo said the character of the government that will implement policies should be factored in when considering candidates for next year’s elections. “It is not too difficult for anyone to come up with a laundry lists of steps. We should, however, consider first of all the character of the government that will be tasked to implement these steps,” she said. The Vice President outlined three imperatives that she said are necessary to ensure that the government will be able to implement measures to boost the Philippine economy. “First, government should be trustworthy. When rules are unevenly applied, when they are changed in the middle of the game to favor one interest over another, when government cannot be trusted to keep its word, then the economic environment becomes unpredictable,” she said. The second imperative, according to Robredo, is that the government should empower the people that it serves. “By this, I mean a government that seeks to engage businesses and come up with solutions rather than one that is overly fixated on restrictions and merely waits to pounce and penalize those who step an inch out of line,” she said. “It is a government that listens and actively builds a workable and dynamic consensus with stakeholders, understanding that national progress is a goal that is shared by all,” she added. Robredo said her third imperative, to have an agile government, will be achieved through modernization and by harnessing new technology.
Hontiveros, De Lima welcome SC’s decision on Anti-Terror Law | INQUIRER.NET – At least two opposition senators welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling that two portions of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) are constitutional, despite admitting they remain against other portions of the controversial law. In a statement on Thursday after the Supreme Court (SC) decision was released, Senator Risa Hontiveros said her stand on the ATA remains the same as when it was still deliberated on the Senate floor — as there are a lot of concerns about it. “While I acknowledge the Supreme Court’s power as the final arbiter of the law, my reasons for voting ‘no’ to the Anti Terror Law when it was being deliberated in the Senate remain,” Hontiveros said. “These reasons include the prolonged detention of suspects and the dubious definition of terrorism in the law, which can be used to punish acts of legitimate dissent,” she added. Senator Leila de Lima, who is currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame, said she welcomes the SC’s move to strike out a phrase in Section 4 (e), a qualifier regarding what activities are not considered terroristic acts. “As we wait for more information on the complete text of the SC decision on the Anti-Terror Law, we welcome initially, with much relief, the announcement that it has declared unconstitutional the proviso that would have otherwise made the exercise of free speech a terrorist act,” De Lima said in a handwritten note.
PH’s daily COVID-19 cases stay below 1,000 for 16 straight days | Manila Bulletin – The Philippines has recorded less than 1,000 daily new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases for 16 consecutive days already with 562 new cases detected on Thursday, Dec. 9. The new cases brought the total number of active infections nationwide to 12,169. Since the start of the pandemic last year, the Philippines has already recorded 2,835,996 cases. Of those who are still battling with the viral disease, 4,838 have mild symptoms, 851 were asymptomatic, 446 were critical, 2,177 percent were severe, and 3,857 percent were moderate. Also, 176 new fatalities were confirmed on Thursday. These brought the country’s COVID-19 deaths to 49,936. The latest case bulletin also showed 882 new recoveries, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 2,773,891.
