News Roundup 22 August 2020
Aug 22, 2020 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 cases in Philippines breach 187,000 as death toll nears 3,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines’ total caseload of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is now 187,249 after the Department of Health logged 4,933 new infections on Saturday. Of these, there are 69,362 total active cases or patients who are still infected with the coronavirus. The death toll has reached 2,966 after 26 more mortalities were reported by the Health department. Meanwhile, the local COVID-19 recovery count stands at 114,921 with the announcement of 436 additional survivors.
UN office seeks effective measures to protect rights workers in Philippines | PHILSTAR.COM – The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday called on the Philippine government to ensure accountability for the recent killings of two human rights defenders in the country. Elderly peasant activist Randall Echanis was stabbed to death in his Quezon City home on August 10 while rights worker Zara Alvarez was shot dead a week later in Bacolod City. “The UN Human Rights Office stresses the need for independent, thorough and transparent investigations into the killings and for those responsible to be held to account. Effective measures must be taken to protect other at-risk human rights defenders and to halt and condemn incitement to hatred against them,” UN OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell said in a statement. The office called on the government to ensure that relevant agencies cooperate with the Commission on Human Rights in its investigations. Throssell noted that both Echanis and Alvarez were repeatedly “red-tagged” — the labeling of activists as rebels or enemies of the state — in relation to their work. The two were previously included in the Department of Justice’s list of over 600 people it intended to legally designate as terrorists in 2018. “While the list was later truncated, many who were removed from the list, including Alvarez, continued to report harassment and threats, as highlighted in the High Commissioner’s human rights report on the Philippines published in June this year. Alvarez’s photo also appeared in a publicly displayed poster purporting to depict terrorists that is cited in the High Commissioner’s report,” Throssell said.
House eyed funds for toilets – Drilon | INQUIRER.NET – The ratification of the reconciled version of the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, also known as Bayanihan 2, took longer than expected after the House of Representatives insisted on building public toilets and other infrastructure instead of giving direct aid to affected tourism sector workers, according to Sen. Franklin Drilon. “A lengthy discussion ensued because the congressmen wanted to allot the [P10 billion] fund in building toilets and roads while we in the Senate defended the position of the (Department of Tourism) that it should be used for soft loans,” Drilon said in a radio interview. He said the House panel to the bicameral conference committee had wanted to place the P10 billion budget under the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (Tieza) despite the pleas of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines for direct assistance to workers and enterprises. “We did not agree to use the entire P10 billion for the construction of toilets in tourist areas because we believe that this will not help tourism enterprises and the workers in the tourism industry who lost their jobs,” he said.
Robredo commends ‘rich wellspring’ of Filipino generosity amid the pandemic | Manila Bulletin – Vice President Leni Robredo on Saturday, August 22, commended various groups and individuals who continue to help their fellowmen as the country continues to grapple with COVID-19. Robredo, in her personal Facebook page, gave credit to the efforts of two groups who donated lap tables or lap desks and reusable face masks. These will be distributed to the beneficiaries under programs run by the Office of the Vice President (OVP). “The wellspring of Filipino generosity is truly rich during this pandemic,” Robredo said as she thanked two groups for their recent donations. On August 21, she shared that “we received two batches of donations from inspiring groups who have been doing their own donation drives.”
‘Igme’ intensifies slightly as it hovers over Batanes–Pagasa | The Manila Times – A low pressure area (LPA) in the country intensified into a tropical storm late Friday and was named “Igme”, the state-run weather bureau said. It slightly intensified on Saturday but is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) either later tonight or early Sunday morning, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said. At the same time, the weather agency is monitoring another low pressure area (LPA) that was spotted 295 kilometers east of Davao City. It was less likely to develop into a tropical depression in the next 48 hours but would bring light to moderate with at times heavy rains over Mindanao, Pagasa said.
