News Roundup 18 June 2020
Jun 18, 2020 • 3 min Read
COVID-19 case tally in Philippines hits 27,799 as recoveries exceed 7,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines saw its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases reach 27,799 Thursday with the addition of 562 infections, the Department of Health said. The agency also reported 270 additional recoveries, bringing the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 7,090. But nine more deaths related to the severe respiratory disease were logged, pushing the toll to 1,116.
Infirmities that rights expert flagged in Human Security Act also in anti-terrorism bill | PHILSTAR.COM – Potential constitutional infirmities that a rights lawyer flagged in the Human Security Act of 2007 are still found in the anti-terrorism bill, which is waiting for the president’s signature. The Palace said that President Rodrigo Duterte is “inclined” to sign the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 that he previously certified urgent and that seeks to repeal the HSA. The law, enacted in 2007 and now said to be the most lenient in the world, has “glaring questions of legality,” the legal expert said. In “The Human Security Act and the IHL Law of the Philippines: Of security and insecurity”, a chapter included in “Global Anti-Terrorism Law and Policy”, the lawyer examined the compatibility of the HSA with International Humanitarian Law. Cambridge University Press first published the book in 2005 and a second edition was released in 2012. Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, then-assistant professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law, was among its contributors. Roque was also legal counsel of petitioners who fought for the revocation of the law before the Supreme Court. The petition was dismissed as the tribunal held that “possibility of abuse…does not avail to take the present petitions out of the realm of the surreal and merely imagined.”
2 of jailed Piston 6 protesters test positive for COVID-19 | INQUIRER.NET – Two of the jeepney drivers belonging to the so-called Piston 6 who were jailed for several days after protesting in Caloocan City have tested positive for the coronavirus, transport group Piston announced on Thursday. According to the group, the two drivers are already isolated and did not attend any protest action last June 12, Independence Day. All six went through a real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) test, considered as the gold standard in COVID-19 testing. Piston did not mention where the drivers may have contracted the disease, but they noted that the state of the detention facility in Caloocan where the drivers were detained was unfit for physical distancing and hygiene protocols during the pandemic.
ACT urges DepEd to extend maximum assistance to sick teachers, staff | Manila Bulletin – A federation of teachers organizations on Thursday urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to “extend maximum assistance” to its sick employees by taking care of their treatment expenses and providing sick leave benefits to teachers and personnel amid the COVID-19 situation in the country. The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines made this call after verifying a report that said 11 teachers and staff from DepEd Region VII have “tested positive for COVID-19.” ACT said that it has confirmed the reports about two teachers and nine non-teaching DepEd personnel in Region VII who were found to be infected with the COVID-19.
Galvez: Leachon’s comments caused ‘misunderstanding’ among Covid task forces | The Manila Times – Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force on Covid-19 , admitted that the resignation of special adviser, Anthony Leachon, was prompted by his “preemptive releases of information” that “jeopardized” communication efforts and resulted in the “unwarranted misunderstanding” between his agency and the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) in handling the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. “He (Leachon) has been cautioned but remained deaf to collegial advise,” Galvez said. “Constructive criticism among colleagues is most welcome to assure improvement but this should have been done internally to maintain unity of effort.” Leachon announced his resignation on Wednesday days after he expressed his disappointment on social media at the Department of Health (DoH) as the lead agency in the fight against the virus which, Galvez said, did not sit well with Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd and Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.
