News Roundup 13 September 2021
Sep 13, 2021 • 4 min Read
DOH logs 20,745 new COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Monday reported 20,745 new coronavirus cases to push the country’s total to 2,248,071. Active cases were down by 1,658 from the 181,951 on September 12. DOH said five laboratories did not turn in screening results.
- Active cases: 180,293 or 8.0% of the total
- Recoveries: 22,290, bringing the number to 2,032,471
- Deaths: 163, or now 35,307 in total
Commission told: Harry Roque not fit to join international law body | PHILSTAR.COM – The Free Legal Assistance Group has raised opposition to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s nomination to be part of a United Nations expert panel that develops and codifies international law. FLAG chairman Chel Diokno and other officers of the group wrote to the International Law Commission in New York to register their opposition to Roque’s nomination to the body, saying the presidential spokesperson “does not possess the qualifications for a seat at the Commission.” The FLAG said that while Roque taught international law, “he is a political partisan who has actively demonstrated contempt for the rule of law and, with specific relevance to the Commission, has undermined the supremacy of human rights and international law.” Roque, who taught constitutional law and public international law for 15 years at the University of the Philippines – College of Law served as President Rodrigo Duterte’s spokesperson in October 2017 until 2018. He was reappointed to the post in April 2020 after attempting to run for public office in 2019, a bid that he later abandoned, citing his health. With his nomination, Roque stands to get elected by the UN General Assembly to the commission and become one of eight representatives from Asia-Pacific states to sit for five years in the panel beginning Jan. 1, 2023. The ILC was instrumental in the creation of the International Criminal Court as it helped draft the statute that created the tribunal that tries genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
PGH COVID-19 ward operating beyond capacity, 200 patients awaiting admission | INQUIRER.NET – The Philippine General Hospital (PGH) said on Monday that it is now operating beyond its capacity allotted for COVID-19 patients, with 200 more infected individuals awaiting admission into one of the country’s major referral facilities. “We have about 320 [COVID] beds allotted to PGH. We are beyond our capacity—310 patients in the hospital, about 40 patients in the emergency room waiting to get into the hospital so that’s pretty much 350 out of 320. We’re 30 patients above our threshold,” PGH spokesperson Dr. Jonas Del Rosario said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel. “And then there are about 200 patients waiting in the wings wanting to be admitted, waiting to be transferred to PGH,” he added. Del Rosario admitted that it is “impossible” to admit all of these patients on the waitlist since many of the COVID-19 patients currently admitted are severe to critical cases that “require longer days to be in the hospital.” On top of operating beyond its capacity, the PGH is also facing a staff shortage after some of the Department of Health volunteer doctors in their COVID wards opted not to renew their contracts. “Malaking tulong po kung makakuha kami ng mga doctor. Meron po kami ngayong hiring, we’re trying to get even private practitioners to help us just to augment our manpower,” Del Rosario said. (It will be of big help if we get more doctors. We are hiring right now, we’re even trying to get private practitioners to just help us augment our manpower.) “It’s so hard to open up more beds, more wards if you do not have the right doctors to take care of them. A lot of our patients are severely ill so they really demand specialists, not just general doctors,” he added.
Drilon asks: Who benefitted most in Pharmally deal? | PHILSTAR.COM – Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday raised the question on who could have benefited in the P8.86-billion contract awarded to Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. by the government through the Department of Budget and Management’s procurement services (DBM-PS). Drilon said it is clear Pharmally was given the advantage despite having only a paid-up capital of P625,000. “Kahit gaano pa baliktarin ito, maliwanag na binigyan ng advantage ang Pharmally dito sa usaping ito. (However you put it, it’s clear that Pharmally was given due advantage),” Drilon said in an interview on Teleradyo. “Mahalata naman na paikot-ikot ang sagot at kung minsan matagal sumagot. Mahahalata mo minsan nag sisinunggaling (You can tell by the way they are evasive in answering and at times it takes them time to answer. You can also tell they are sometimes lying),” he pointed out. Drilon said while there is no evidence yet that someone pocketed money from the deal, there is clearly a violation of the anti-graft law. The minority leader said it would be best if probers can take a look into the bank accounts of Pharmally executives and former budget undersecretary Christopher Lao.
