News Roundup 12 October 2020
Oct 12, 2020 • 3 min Read
Philippines sees 3,564 new COVID-19 cases; total now over 342,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The country’s coronavirus caseload rose to over 342,000 Monday, with 3,564 more confirmed infections added to the tally. With a total of 342,816 COVID-19 cases, the Philippines now ranks 18th globally in terms of coronavirus infections, surpassing Saudi Arabia’s 339,267 total cases as of Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University coronavirus dashboard. The department also announced 150 additional recovered patients. The day before, the country saw 17,057 additional recoveries due to the DOH’s Oplan Recovery program. The total number of COVID-19 survivors in the country now stands at 293,152. However, 11 more patients succumbed to the disease, raising the death toll to 6,332.
WHO hopes Philippines can provide more participants for COVID-19 vaccine trial | PHILSTAR.COM – The World Health Organization is hoping that the Philippines will increase the number of its participants for a multinational clinical trial of candidate vaccines against coronavirus disease. The Philippines is currently looking at between 2,000 and 3,000 volunteer participants for the WHO vaccine solidarity trial, WHO country representative Rabindra Abeyasinghe said in a Laging Handa briefing Monday. “WHO was hoping there will be up to 4,000 participants from the Philippines,” Abeyasinghe said. “We are hoping that number [of participants] could be increased because the larger the number of people in the trial, the sooner we could get evidence of efficacy, safety,” he added. Vaccine recipients under the solidarity trial will be people aged 18 to 60 years old. Excluded from the trials are those with comorbidities and pregnant women.
Velasco installed as new Speaker in session outside House | INQUIRER.NET – A total of 186 congressmen, or majority of 299 members of the House of Representatives, have elected Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco as the new Speaker in a session described by allies of Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano “illegal.” The election happened in a session held Monday at the Celebrity Sports Complex in Quezon City despite questions from Cayetano’s camp regarding the legality of the process. It was Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza, who has been vocal amid the speakership row, who moved to declare the Speaker’s post vacant, the first step to essentially unseat Cayetano. After his motion was seconded, a nominal voting on the motion resulted in 186 lawmakers voting on the affirmative thus making the Speaker’s post vacant. This was immediately followed by a number of lawmakers nominating Velasco for the post. This includes Reps. Doy Leachon, Jack Duavit, Kristine Singson-Meehan, and Kiko Benitez, among others.
VP Leni: Use Christmas money to help poor | Manila Bulletin – Instead of holding Christmas parties amid a pandemic, Vice President Leni Robredo offers an unsolicited advice to government offices and private companies: Save your money. Robredo said the Christmas money to be spent for gifts can be used to fund assistance for those affected by the health crisis, especially the poor. “Wala muna kasi sayang lang sa gastos. Saka wala muna iyong— Huwag na muna sigurong magregaluhan (Maybe we could not spend for those because it’s a waste of money. And we could also not exchange gifts),” she said over dzXL. “Parang instead na magregaluhan, papunta na lang doon sa… ang regaluhan na lang iyong mga kailangan talagang regaluhan na mga mahihirap (Instead of exchanging gifts, let us just give these gifts to the poor who really need it),” Robredo added.
Diesel, kerosene prices to go up | The Manila Times – Oil companies will increase the prices of diesel and kerosene by 45 centavos per liter and 55 centavos per liter, respectively, on Tuesday. The cost of gasoline will be reduced by 10 centavos per liter. So far, Cleanfuel, Flying V, Metro Oil, Petro Gazz, Pilipinas Shell, Seaoil, and Total announced the impending price adjustments.
