News Roundup 16 July 2021
Jul 16, 2021 • 4 min Read
Active COVID-19 cases hit 48,480 after Philippines logs 5,676 new infections | PHILSTAR.COM – Local health authorities on Friday reported 5,676 more COVID-19 infections, bringing the national caseload to 1,496,328.
- Active cases: 48,480 or 3.2% of the total
- Recoveries: 2,670, pushing total to 1,421,372
- Deaths: 162, bringing total to 26,476
Pangilinan sues people behind 2 YouTube channels for cyber libel | PHILSTAR.COM – Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan filed Friday cyber libel complaints against people behind two YouTube channels that have claimed in several videos that he had been physically abusing his wife, actress and singer Sharon Cuneta, and that she had filed a complaint against him. Pangilinan said the videos posted by the YouTube channels Starlet and Latest Chika were all “false, have no factual basis and are intended to destroy or damage my reputation as a senator, public servant, and a husband to one of the most beloved celebrities in the Philippines.” “More importantly, the libelous videos are meant to destroy the family. The libelous videos are not only intended to damage my relationship with my wife but are also meant to destroy my relationship with our children,” Pangilinan said in his two complaints. The senator is asking the cybercrime division of the National Bureau of Investigation to track down the people behind Starlet and Latest Chika and to preserve and to search and seize related data. Pangilinan also filed cybercrime complaints against Google Philippines country manager Bernadette Nacario over her alleged inaction on the videos. Google owns and operates YouTube. He said that he has reported 82 videos for defamation, but Google has found 28 of them to be not defamatory, while 54 more are awaiting its decision. “There is obviously a gap somewhere. This needs to stop. Social media sites need to step up and be more responsive to reports and more especially to legal complaints. These are harmful to individuals and to families,” Pangilinan said.
PH media: Soft targets in war on critical reporting | INQUIRER.NET – ”Do not hesitate to attack me, criticize me, if I do wrong in my job. It is your duty to your country. As I have my duty to the people to serve you.” This was President Rodrigo Duterte’s remark in 2016, asking media to be critical of him if he does wrong as the republic’s highest official. But five years later, his remarks would ring hollow. Last July 2, the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) named Duterte as among 37 government leaders who have led relentless crackdowns against news media. Since his election in 2016, Duterte has waged a “total war” on media, which have been considered as “collateral victims of his brutal methods, which tolerate no criticism or even nuance coverage of his policies,” said RSF. The group said Duterte employed an “arsenal that includes spurious charges of defamation, tax evasion or violation of capital legislation; rescinding broadcast licenses; getting accomplices to buy up media outlets and bring their journalists into line and using an army of trolls to subject journalists to online harassment.” The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) said that in Duterte’s second year, he singled out three media organizations with threats against their owners, which he acted on: Philippine Daily Inquirer, ABS-CBN and Rappler. These media companies, PCIJ said in a report, had one thing in common: They “proactively investigated the rising number of deaths from the government’s war on drugs.”
IBP condemns killing of lady lawyer, husband | Manila Bulletin – The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Friday, July 16, condemned the “treacherous and cold blooded” killing of a lady lawyer and her husband in Davao City last July 14. Killed were lawyer Sitti Gilda Mahinay-Sapie and her husband, Muhaimen Mohammad Sapie, who, based on police reports, were gunned down outside their home at Solariega Subdivision in Barangay Talomo, Davao City. The reports stated that the couple had been hosting a radio program over 94.7 Power Radio Davao. The couple were rushed to the Southern Philippines Medical Center but were declared dead on arrival. “Amidst the apparent attacks on lawyers with impunity, we enjoin all Filipino lawyers to express their condemnation and indignation against the same by courageously upholding their sworn duty to provide justice for all,” the IBP said in a statement. It called on the government “to protect its citizens from such brazen killings and to ensure that lawyers can do their jobs without fear of reprisal, attacks, and harassment.” “The IBP extends its deepest condolences to the family, relatives and friends of Atty. Mahinay-Sapie and her husband whom they have suddenly left behind during this terrible time and will endeavor to provide the necessary aid and comfort to their family in their hour of need,” it said. The IBP assured that it is prepared “to assist and coordinate with Atty. Gilda Mahinay-Sapie’s family, investigators, and law enforcement officials in investigating, identifying, pursuing, arresting, and prosecuting the suspects.”
