News Roundup 16 May 2021
May 16, 2021 • 4 min Read
DOH logs 5,790 new COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – Authorities on Sunday reported 5,790 new coronavirus cases, pushing the country’s total to 1,143,963. Today’s additional cases are still above 5,000. Government relaxed restrictions in ‘NCR Plus’ until the end of May despite the positivity rate in the quarantine bubble still above WHO standards for reopening. The Department of Health said too that six laboratories did not turn in testing results.
- Active cases: 54,904 or 4.8% of the total
- Recoveries: 7,541, bringing the number to 1,069,868
- Deaths: 140, or now 19,191 in total
Robredo ‘open to all options’ in 2022, but refutes rumors of preparations for gubernatorial bid | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday that she is open to running for any position, including the presidency, in 2022 but asserted that her focus was still on the coronavirus pandemic. This comes amid rumors that the country’s No. 2 would be settling for a gubernatorial position in Camarines Sur, as claimed by former senator Antonio Trillanes. Speaking in her weekly radio show, Robredo said that she was not set on any position yet ahead of the 2022 elections. “There are a lot of speculations, but my stand hasn’t changed. Since last year I’ve been saying I’m open to all my options. And those options are running for president, running for governor, running as a congressman or mayor. Or even not running at all, because that’s what my children want,” she said in mixed Filipino and English. To recall, former Sen. Antonio Trillanes announced in a Facebook post that he would run for president in the 2022 polls, claiming that this was because Robredo was preparing to run for Camarines Sur governor. The vice president’s spokesperson refuted this not long after. Trillanes later clarified that his earlier announcement was not meant to pressure Vice President Leni Robredo in any way. “Don’t make my statement for me if I don’t have a decision yet. I’ve been honest about this from the start. The truth is there’s no decision yet because we’re so busy with the pandemic,” the vice president also said.
Patients evacuated as fire hits PGH | INQUIRER.NET – A fire razed the third floor of the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) on Taft Avenue in Manila, which lasted for almost five hours Sunday, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) reported. BFP Senior Inspector Hector Agadulin reported that the fire, which started at the third floor, where the supply area of the operating room is located, reached the second alarm at 12:58 a.m. and was raised shortly after 1:00 a.m. to the third alarm. The fire was put under control at 2:46 a.m. and was extinguished at around 5:41 in the morning, Agadulin added. The PGH is the country’s biggest COVID-19 referral hospital. Several patients in PGH were evacuated and transferred to nearby district hospitals in Manila, according to its directors.
Robredo tells Duterte: COVID-19 pandemic not an ‘excuse’ on WPS issue | Manila Bulletin – Vice President Leni Robredo said on Sunday, May 16, President Duterte should not use the coronavirus pandemic as an “excuse” not to fight for the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea. Speaking on her weekly radio show, Robredo stressed the president must take a serious stand on the country’s dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea. In his last Thursday’s televised address to the nation, Duterte said the COVID-19 pandemic was more urgent than the WPS issue. A government task force on the West Philippine Sea reported what it said were “incursions” within and outside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of 287 maritime militia vessels from China last week. “Tama naman si pangulo na nasa gitna tayo ng pandemic pero hindi naman gustong sabihin na nasa gitna tayo ng pandemic excuse iyon para hindi natin ayusin iyong ang ating stand (The president is correct that we are in the middle of the pandemic but it doesn’t mean the pandemic would be an excuse not to fix our stand),” Robredo said. The vice president reiterated that the WPS issue should be taken seriously as the country’s sovereignty and ownership of the West Philippine Sea, a part of the South China Sea that China is claiming, are “at stake.” “Kasi kasarinlan natin iyon, pag-aari natin ang nakataya. Sana hindi daanin sa mga salitang either hindi nagseseryoso, nagbibiro, kung ano pa man na excuse iyong usapin sa West Philippine Sea (It is because our sovereignty, ownership are a stake. I hope it would not be done through words that are either not serious or a joke, whatever excuse on the West Philippine Sea issue),” she said. Robredo again pressed the need to continuously assert the Philippines’ arbitral tribunal victory against China’s massive claims in the West Philippine Sea in July 2016, a month after Duterte took office.
