News Roundup 13 February 2022
Feb 13, 2022 • 4 min Read
‘Pink Sunday’: Robredo campaign rally draws thousands in vote-rich Quezon City | PHILSTAR.COM –Thousands clad in pink came out to support the election tandem of Vice President Leni Robredo and Sen. Francis Pangilinan on Sunday morning at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. According to the Quezon City Police District “more or less” 7,000 supporters showed up at the covered court inside the venue and outside at the Liwasang Aurora. But Robredo and her campaign team estimated that more than 20,000 people came out to see her. The volunteer organizers went as far as estimating 50,000 in attendance. “Overwhelmed by your love. Maraming, maraming salamat, QC! Tara na, ipanalo na natin ‘to (Many, many thanks, QC! Let’s go win this),” the Vice President tweeted in Filipino after the event. “These are the people who have decided that it is time for us to use our power to change the course of our government,” she said of her supporters during her speech. Quezon City, the biggest city in the capital region, is the most populous city in the country and is also its most vote-rich city with some 1.4 million registered voters. Robredo lost to her election rival Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Quezon City when she ran for her current post in 2016. President Rodrigo Duterte also won in the city that election. The Vice President was welcomed by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte at the city hall to start the event. Belmonte has, as of this writing, not made clear her endorsement for the 2022 polls. “Why should we be trusted? Because the government cannot solve all the problems of society, the needs can only be met if the government cooperates with the ordinary people. That is the kind of government we promise you,” Robredo said in Filipino. “We know that we have a lot of work to do, but the love you show, that’s what gives us strength for every day, to wake up early, work more than 18 hours,” she also said, implicitly referencing the “satirical” video of Sen. Imee Marcos about a certain “Len-len” who fainted after working 18 hours.
QC says ‘Pink Sunday’ crowd violated protocols; Robredo camp ‘takes responsibility’, apologizes | INQUIRER.NET – The Quezon City government said the 20,000 attendees of ‘Pink Caravan’ supporting the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo “violated” several restrictions, with the candidates’ camp taking responsibility and apologizing for the protocol lapse. The local government, in a statement on Sunday, said the event in support of Robredo and her running mate Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan “resulted in a spillover crowd that violated several restrictions that were mutually agreed upon.” “While crowd control is a highly complicated aspect of large gatherings, it is a test of discipline for the organizers and attendees to show that their chosen candidates observe the laws of the land,” the local government said. The Quezon City government also reminded coordinators to attend the local government’s pre-event coordination meetings, while strictly adhering to the agreements in the signed permits. “We hope that in the future, all coordinators will take this responsibility more seriously,” they added. Robredo’s camp, on the other hand, apologized for the incident in a statement.
Oil prices go up for 7th straight week | PHILSTAR.COM – Oil prices are set to increase for the seventh straight week as global prices continue to soar. “Diesel will increase by P1 to P1.10 per liter. Gasoline will increase by P1.10 to P1.20 per liter,” Unioil Philippines said in its forecast. Oil prices began the past trading week with a drop from seven-year highs as the United States and Iran resumed indirect talks that could revive an international nuclear agreement, Reuters reported. The uptrend in oil prices resumed as the market considered the possibility of an aggressive and unforecast Federal Reserve rate hike for a steeper rise in energy demand, as well as escalating fears of an invasion of Ukraine by Russia. So far, year-to-date adjustments stand at a total net increase of P6.75 per liter for gasoline, P9.15 per liter for diesel and P8.45 per liter for kerosene, data from the Department of Energy showed.
DOH reports 3K more COVID-19 infections; active cases down to 81K | Manila Bulletin – The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday, Feb. 13, announced 3,050 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases. The National Capital Region (NCR) registered the most number of new cases. It was followed by Western Visayas, and Calabarzon. The country’s cumulative tally of cases increased to 3,637,280. However, only 81,394 cases remain active. Of the active infections, 4,546 are asymptomatic, 71,994 are mild, 3,068 are moderate, 1,460 are severe, and 326 are in critical condition. The DOH said the number of survivors increased by 5,811 to 3,500,956 on Sunday. Meanwhile, no new fatalities were recorded due to technical problems in the DOH system.
