News Roundup 12 November 2021
Nov 12, 2021 • 4 min Read
DOH reports 1,894 more COVID-19 cases; slightly high positivity rate at 5.5% | INQUIRER.NET – The Department of Health (DOH) reported on Friday the coronavirus infection of an additional 1,894 individuals in the country as well as a slightly higher positivity rate of 5.5 percent from the previous 4.9 percent. The fresh infections boosted active cases to 29,105 as of November 12. Of the. current active cases, the DOH said 63 percent were mild, 5.7 percent were asymptomatic, 16.70 percent were moderate, 10.2 percent were severe, and 4.4 percent were critical. Also on Friday, the DOH reported that 1,421 more patients have survived the disease while 170 others died. To date, confirmed COVID-19 cases across the country is at 2,813,115, including 2,738,975 recovered patients and 45,035 deaths. According to the health agency, 39 percent of intensive care unit beds, 30 percent of isolation beds, 23 percent of ward beds, and 22 percent of ventilators for coronavirus-stricken persons were in use as of its latest COVID-19 data reporting. The DOH also disclosed a positivity rate of 5.5 percent among 43,591 individuals tested for the new coronavirus, after recording only a four percent positivity rate in the last two days. The 5.5 positivity rate is marginally higher than the 5 percent benchmark that the World Health Organization recommends.
Senate security teams to arrest ex-DBM exec Lao in Davao, Cebu | INQUIRER.NET – The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms will be sending teams to the known addresses of former Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management (PS-DBM) head Lloyd Christopher Lao in the cities of Davao and Cebu to arrest him after he was cited in contempt during the ongoing blue ribbon committee probe early this month. “Sergeant-at-Arms Gen. Rene Samonte said several teams will be deployed to Lao’s known addresses in the cities of Davao and Cebu to serve his warrant,” the Senate Public Relations and Information (PRIB) bureau said Friday. “He said OSAA (Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms) officers are expecting to apprehend Lao over the weekend or Friday at the earliest,” it added. On Nov. 4, Lao was slapped with a contempt citation for not attending the hearings of the blue ribbon committee in four instances.
Marcos says no to possible presidential term-sharing with Sara | PHILSTAR.COM – Presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has rejected a supposed term-sharing between him and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. Marcos told reporters that he is not open to the floated idea of splitting equally — which was done in the House leadership — the six-year presidential term with Duterte-Carpio, who has yet to announce her political plans in the 2022 polls. “That is not a good formula for stability. The reason why the six years is because we want some stability in the policies of the government and if we change government every three years which is effectively what the term sharing scheme is you’re saying will do, then urong sulong na naman tayo,” he said, adding that the Constitution has to be amended for this.
De Lima ‘disgusted’ over Inday Sara’s staff who was allowed to escape from a drug raid | Manila Bulletin – Opposition Senator Leila de Lima on Friday expressed her disgust over reports the staff of Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio was allowed to escape during an anti-drug operation conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in a beach resort in Davao de Oro recently. De Lima, a vocal critic of the Duterte administration, said the incident involving Jefry Tupas, then former communications officer of the Davao city mayor, reeks of double standard on the part of the government’s handling of illegal drug cases. “I read with disgust the news report that the city hall staff of Mayor Sara Duterte and her companions were allegedly allowed to escape during the anti-drug operation of PDEA in a beach resort in Davao de Oro last Nov. 6,” De Lima said in a statement. “Hindi pa natatapos ang (Senate probe sa) Pharmally corruption scandal na sangkot ang mga tao ni Duterte, tapos heto na naman at sangkot sa droga ang tao ng mga Duterte (The Senate has yet to finish its probe on the Pharmally corruption scandal which involves Duterte’s people and yet here again one of the people close to the Duterte’s is involved in drugs),” De Lima lamented. “In this incident we see again the true face of this drug war. It intently kills the poor, mostly targets small players, allows big-time drug lords to escape, and exempts from arrests people close to the Dutertes. And let me add—it locks up in jail and innocent person, that’s me!,” she added.
