News Roundup 22 November 2021
Nov 22, 2021 • 4 min Read
NBI arrests vlogger Mejorada on libel conviction | PHILSTAR.COM – The National Bureau of Investigation’s Special Operations Group on Monday morning arrested Manuel “Boy” Mejorada, a former Iloilo provincial administrator and libel convict, his partner said. NBI spokesperson Ferdinand Lavin confirmed the arrest Monday evening in a text message to Philstar.com but declined to release details just yet. Mejorada, in hiding following the issuance of a warrant of arrest last year, would be turned over to the NBI detention center on Monday afternoon, his partner Ruby also said in a post on the former provincial official’s Facebook page.
Lawyers’ group asks ICC to continue probe into Philippines ‘drug war’ | PHILSTAR.COM – The Free Legal Assistance Group, among the lawyers’ groups that assist victims of the “war on drugs” in court, urged the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor to lift its suspension on the investigation into the Philippines. FLAG, through its chairman Chel Diokno, wrote to the ICC Prosecutor Karim Ahmad Khan and asked his office to proceed with the investigation. “FLAG understands that your decision to suspend the investigation is largely in response to the deferral letter dated 10 November 2021 where the Philippine Ambassador to the Netherlands cited, among others, the Department of Justice ‘thorough investigations’ into 52 killings which occurred between 2016 and 2020,” they said. The ICC last weekend said it would suspend investigative activities for the time being “while it assesses the scope and effect of the deferral request” filed by Manila. President Rodrigo Duterte’s government largely relies on the principle of complementarity in its defense in the ICC investigation. In the Philippine government’s letter to the ICC, they noted that the country has the “first responsibility and right to prosecute international crimes.” But the lawyers’ group pointed out that the cited investigation merely relied on documents provided by the Philippine National Police and only covered a small fraction of killings under the bloody “war on drugs” by the Duterte administration. “The DOJ ‘investigation’ adverted to in the Philippines’ deferral letter covers only a fraction of the killings or attempted killings which occurred within the scope of the ICC investigation,” FLAG said. They also noted that only 36 cases reviewed by the DOJ occurred between July 1, 2016 and March 16, 2019, and this number only accounts for 0.12% to 0.3% of the 12,000 to 30,000 persons killed during the said period, which is covered by the ICC investigation. The DOJ review also did not cover killings in Davao between Nov. 1, 2011 and June 30, 2016, which the ICC said it will look into. While the DOJ also looked into 300 cases for its initial report, the lawyers’ group stressed that parameters, scope and results of the assessment have been withheld from the public.
Supply boats to sail anew to Ayungin – DND | INQUIRER.NET – The government will send another supply mission to the disputed Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal this week after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana was assured by China that it would not harass vessels bound for the Philippine-held sand ridge in the Kalayaan Islands in the West Philippine Sea. Lorenzana told reporters on Sunday that Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian had told him “the Chinese will not interfere” when the Philippines deploys boats to bring supplies to the Filipino forces occupying the shoal. The defense secretary said in a text message that he has been speaking with Huang every day since the Nov. 16 incident wherein one of three Chinese coast guard vessels used a water cannon on two wooden-hulled Philippine boats on a supply mission to Ayungin Shoal. An outrigger of one boat was destroyed during the incident, forcing them to abort their mission and turn back to Palawan. Lorenzana confirmed that he has instructed the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western command (Wescom) to proceed with the aborted supply mission to Ayungin. He said there would be no Philippine Coast Guard or Navy vessel to accompany the mission.
DOH logs 984 new COVID-19 cases | Manila Bulletin – The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, Nov. 22, reported 984 new cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The additional new cases brought the total number of cases to 2,826,853. The case bulletin of the DOH also showed 2,229 new recoveries and 218 new deaths. Total recoveries rose to 2,759,767 while total deaths climbed to 47,288. The Health department said 447 duplicates were removed from the total case count as 434 of these were recoveries and four were deaths. “In addition, 94 cases were found to have tested negative and have been removed from the total case count. These 94 are recoveries,” said the DOH. “Moreover, 169 cases that were previously tagged as recoveries were reclassified as deaths after final validation,” added the department. The DOH said two labs were not operational on Nov. 20, 2021 while three labs were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System (CDRS).
