News Roundup 21 February 2022
Feb 21, 2022 • 4 min Read
Ex-senators, gov’t officials endorse Robredo for president | PHILSTAR.COM – Former senior government officials and retired business executives on Monday endorsed the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo, saying she is the “most qualified and trustworthy” candidate. In a joint statement, 16 former government officials and business leaders appealed to Filipino voters to choose Robredo as the successor to President Rodrigo Duterte. According to them, Robredo has the political will to bring about hope and change. “We throw our unequivocal support for VP Leni who leads with her heart, as much as she leads with her mind,” the signatories said. “We deserve a president who is fearless, action-oriented, inclusive and decisive—leadership qualities that VP Leni has successfully demonstrated in the last six years despite the limited resources of her public office and undeserved open hostility from the present administration,” they added. The statement was signed by former Sens. Rodolfo “Pong” Biazon, Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Sergio Osmeña III and Wigberto “Bobby” Tañada. The signatories lauded Robredo for valuing transparency, community participation and engagement. “We want a president who respects our democratic processes and will uphold our country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” they also said. The ex-government officials and business executives quoted late Foreign Affairs Secretary Roberto “Bobby” Romulo as saying that “this is not the time to be silent fence-sitters.” “It is incumbent upon us to take action as we, as a nation, make a crucial decision that will impact greatly on our future and the next generation’s,” they said.
Uphold Doc Naty’s right to due process, DOH tells PNP | INQUIRER.NET – The Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday issued a statement urging “our authorities to uphold [the] rights” of health workers, amid the growing public concern over a physician whom the police picked up at her home in Metro Manila and detained some 820 kilometers away in Mindanao. On Friday morning, police raided the home of Dr. Maria Natividad Marian Castro in San Juan City and took her with them. A sister of Castro, known to her patients as Doc Naty, later said she found her the next day detained at the Bayugan City headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Agusan del Sur province. Castro was formerly based in Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte beginning in the 1990s. This was where she started her practice and also became involved in community work. Delfin Jr., an older brother of hers, said the arresting officers brought no warrant with them when they raided the Castros’ home. He also claimed that only two policemen were in uniform. The DOH said in its statement that “All our citizens, health workers included, enjoy the constitutional guarantees of due process and presumption of innocence until proven guilty.” “We trust our authorities to uphold these rights,” the DOH said, without mentioning Castro. A DOH media staff confirmed that the statement was referring to the doctor’s case.
BOC on heightened alert amid spate of attacks on its personnel | Manila Bulletin – The Bureau of Customs (BOC) declared a heightened security alert status following a series of killings victimizing its personnel. In an interview, BOC Associate Commissioner Philip Maronilla said the Customs Intelligence and Customs Police has already modified its security posting that includes additional restrictions inside the BOC Building in Manila, and in various airports and sea ports. “We have been hearing unconfirmed reports that a crime group has a hit list that includes our personnel,” Maronilla told the Manila Bulletin. For the past months, four BOC employees were killed in an ambush, the latest happened in Sta. Ana, Manila on Feb. 12. Gil Cua Manlapaz, 47, an information technology operator, had just entered his vehicle that was parked near his house at the corner of Pedro Gil and Pasig Line streets, when a motorcycle-riding gunman shot him on the head. Aside from Manlapaz, BOC senior appraiser Eudes Nerpio was killed in an ambush on Jan. 7. On the other hand, lawyer Melvin Tan and BOC assistant section chief Ryan Difuntorum survived two separate attacks last year. A grenade exploded outside the house of BOC Deputy Commissioner for Enforcement Group Teddy Raval also happened on Feb. 9. He survived the attack. A grenade was also lobbed at the Customs police office, but it did not explode.
PH logs 1,427 more COVID 19 cases; over 3,000 others recover | INQUIRER.NET – The Philippines on Monday logged 1,427 additional COVID-19 cases and 3,269 new recoveries. In the Department of Health’s (DOH) latest COVID-19 bulletin, the additional cases brought the country’s total case count to 3,653,526. The DOH recorded a 7.5 percent positivity rate among the 25,000 tests conducted. There are currently 58,657 active infections in the country. Of Monday’s 1,427 reported cases, 1,389 or 97 percent occurred within the past two weeks from Feb. 8 to Feb. 21.
