News Roundup 22 February 2022
Feb 22, 2022 • 4 min Read
DOH reports only 1,019 new COVID-19 cases due to lower laboratory output | INQUIRER.NET – The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday reported just a little over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases. But it also explained that this was due to lower laboratory output on Sunday. According to the latest DOH bulletin, the 1,019 new cases, 2,988 recoveries, and 13 deaths brought the currently active cases of COVID-19 to 56,668. “Please note that lower reported numbers and positivity rate today are because these are Sunday laboratory outputs, which traditionally have the lowest outputs per week,” it noted. Of the active cases, 91.9 percent are either mild or asymptomatic. A total of 704 are asymptomatic, 51,395 are mild, 2,840 are moderate, 1,425 are severe, and 304 are critical. The country has so far confirmed 3,654,284 cases of COVID-19 since 2020. Of this, 3,541,840 are recoveries and 55,776 are fatalities. Meanwhile, the positivity rate was at 6.4 percent of the 18,177 individuals who got tested for coronavirus on Sunday, February 20.
Church remains non partisan but will never be neutral in social, moral issues — Caritas | INQUIRER.NET – The Catholic Church remains non-partisan but it “can and will never be neutral” in the face of social and moral issues, its social advocacy arm Caritas Philippines pointed out. Caritas national director and Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, in a statement published by Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines news agency on Monday, called this the Church’s moral obligation. “We will proclaim what is true, just, and right. That is our moral obligation,” Bagaforo said. “That is why we will speak and act in favor of human rights, the sacredness of life, ecology, and the truth, among others,” he added. Bagaforo issued the statement as a response to accusations that the clergy is meddling in politics. Many bishops have spoken against certain issues like the war on drugs and corruption allegations during the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, which prompted calls, particularly from the administration’s supporters, for the separation of church and state. Bagaforo said the Catholic Church maintains its stance as a non-partisan organization, urging all diocesan social action centers to remain the same. The bishop has also encouraged its laity and the faithful to choose its candidate based on what they call a LASER (lifestyle, action, supporters, election conduct, and reputation) Test. “It is our sacred duty to know our candidates well,” Bagaforo said. “Let our choices be a reflection of our life-earned values. Let us choose who among them will help us be better, not the one who only promises instant gratification,” the bishop added.
Ex-Sen. Osmeña withdraws support for Isko over stance on ICC prosecution of Duterte | PHILSTAR.COM – Former Sen. Serge Osmeña said he withdrew his support for presidential candidate and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso after he declared he disagrees with the International Criminal Court prosecuting President Rodrigo Duterte. The government has taken the position that the ICC, which the Philippines left in 2019, has no jurisdiction in the country and that domestic procedures for accountability for abuses exist and are functioning. “That is precisely why we need the United Nations to investigate those people in our country who are doing things that are not good for the people,” Osmeña told ANC’s “After the Fact.” Osmeña now backs Vice President Leni Robredo for president, whom he says is the “best qualified among all the candidates” for Malacañang.
Dr. Castro’s lawyers file petition for bail | Manila Bulletin – The lawyers of arrested and detained Dr. Natividad “Naty” Castro have filed a petition for bail before the regional trial court (RTC) of Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur where she is facing charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention. “My colleague who was there earlier accompanied by the CHR, Commission on Human Rights, filed a petition for bail,” lawyer Wilfred Asis, chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group (FLAG) in Caraga Region, said during an interview on One News Tuesday night, Feb. 21. “But at this time there is no such order yet (on the petition for bail),” as the court is set to conduct a hearing on the case on March 4, Asis said. He said Dr. Castro will seek moral damages against those who arrested her. “We will throw the books at them because this is something that has to be shown as illegal, and whatever they did was never justified under the rule of law,” he added. At the same time, he said the lawyers will also be filing a motion “to ask the court to have her physically and medically examined so that we do away with any assertion on the part of her captors that she is faking her illness.” “When physically and medically examined by a duly licensed physician, particularly coming from the Department of Health, … then we would know whether she is really sick or not,” he explained. He reminded that the law “also allows the hospitalization of persons who have been arrested.” Asis decried what he alleged as multiple violations committed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) when Dr. Castro was arrested at her home in San Juan City last Feb. 18 based on the arrest warrant issued by the Bayugan City RTC.
