News Roundup 16 February 2022
Feb 16, 2022 • 4 min Read
Pacquiao: Duterte wrong for defending those involved in Pharmally deal | INQUIRER.NET – Presidential candidate Senator Manny Pacquiao on Wednesday said it is wrong for President Rodrigo Duterte to have prematurely defended those involved in the controversial multi-billion-peso pandemic supply deals with Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. even while Congress is still investigating the matter. The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, in a report, earlier accused Duterte of betraying the public trust in connection with his actions related to the Pharmally controversy. “Ang mali lang talaga ni President Duterte nag react agad sya na hindi pa tapos yung investigation, and then nalaman na totoo naman yung ginagawa ng mga tao,” Pacquiao said in a FOCAP forum. (What President Duterte did wrong there is that he reacted quickly when the investigation, and then there were many revelations on what the people did.) “Ang mga ebidensya na hinain sa kanila ay malakas. Siguro ‘yun ang mali ng ating Pangulo na dinepensahan niya ‘yung mga nagnanakaw,” he added. (The evidence against them is strong. Maybe that was what the President did wrong. It seemed he defended thieves.) In the Senate committee’s report, plunder, graft, and other criminal and administrative charges were recommended against Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, former government officials, and Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corporation executives. The report argued that it was Duterte who appointed the people who approved the anomalous transactions and “aggressively protected and defended them.” The President even “attempted to diminish the Senate and Commission on Audit.” “The most troubling question remains — why was the President so quick to defend those closest to him once their names were linked to the anomaly and then so eager to discredit the Senate investigation, prevent his appointees from cooperating, and absolve them of any liability?” the report read.
Moro groups back Robredo presidential bid: ‘Best partner for moral governance’ | INQUIRER.NET – Moro civic groups in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have thrown their support behind the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo. This was the consensus during a meeting Tuesday by Bangsamoro Supports Leni for Justice and Peace (BSLJP), a coming together of civil society and people’s organizations in the Bangsamoro region. “If elected President, Robredo can be the best partner of the leaders of the Bangsamoro region in their campaign for moral governance because she has been consistent in her anti-corruption drive,” said BSLJP spokesperson Abdulhadi Daguit. The leadership of the BARMM espouses moral governance, the core components of which include transparency, integrity, fairness, involvement, accountability, responsiveness, and the absence of corruption. “We believe that Leni can sustain the gains of the peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF),” said Daguit, who served as commissioner of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos during the time of President Benigno Aquino III. When she was a congresswoman, Robredo was among those who authored the Bangsamoro Basic Law, the charter of the Bangsamoro government that was drafted within the framework of the peace deal between the government and MILF.
Robredo meets PNP execs | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo met with top officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) last Monday. The PNP said Robredo, who is running for president in the May 9 elections, met with police brass led by PNP chief Gen. Dionardo Carlos for a security briefing and to discuss the police organization’s programs on peace and order. Robredo thanked the PNP for the assistance that the police organization extended to the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in carrying out its programs in many areas of the country. She also thanked the PNP for its commitment to improve and strengthen its service to the country. Robredo assured the PNP of her office’s readiness to provide any assistance to the organization in her remaining days as Vice President.
DOH reports 2k plus new COVID-19 cases | Manila Bulletin – The Department of Health reported 2,671 additional coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Wednesday, Feb. 16. Wednesday’s update brings the total number of cases to 3,644,597. Active cases have come down to 68,829. DOH said that 93.2 percent of it are mild and asymptomatic. DOH mentioned that of the 2,671 reported cases, 2,610 or 98 percent occurred within the recent 14 days from Feb. 3 to Feb. 16. The top regions with cases in the recent two weeks were the National Capital Region (NCR) at 622 or 24 percent, Region 4-A at 323 or 12 percent and and Region 3 at 287 or 11 percent. Meanwhile, DOH said that all labs were operational on February 14, 2022. However 6 labs were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS).
