News Roundup 23 December 2020
Dec 23, 2020 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 cases in Philippines rise to 464,004 with 1,196 new infections | PHILSTAR.COM – The total number of coronavirus infections in the Philippines reached 464,004 two days before Christmas after the Department of Health reported 1,196 new cases. Wednesday’s tally did not include the results from eight testing laboratories which failed to submit their reports on time. The number of COVID-19 survivors increased to 429,972 after 564 more patients recovered from the illness. The DOH also recorded 27 new fatalities due to the respiratory disease, raising the death toll to 9,048. Excluding recoveries and deaths, the number of active cases stands at 24,984 or 5.4% of the country’s confirmed cases.
Philippine Airlines suspends flights to and from London until February 2021 | PHILSTAR.COM – Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has decided to suspend flights to and from London until the end of February 2021, following the decision of the Philippine government to block flights from the United Kingdom due to fears of a new and more infectious strain of the coronavirus. “As we keep a close watch on this evolving situation, it is in the best interest of all to suspend flights on this route,” PAL said Wednesday in a statement. Prior to this decision, PAL was flying from Manila to London and back once a week. PAL said in a statement that passengers on these canceled flights may rebook on the next ones with no rebooking service fees. They may also refund their tickets at no added costs or convert their tickets into a travel voucher for future use.
‘Very possible’ for NCR to hit 4K daily COVID-19 cases after Christmas — OCTA | INQUIRER.NET – Recording 4,000 new COVID-19 cases in a day is “very possible” in Metro Manila if Filipinos won’t follow health protocols through the Christmas and New Year holidays, experts warned Wednesday. In a televised Laging Handa Public Briefing, Dr. Guido David of the OCTA Research Group said that a surge in COVID-19 cases is in its early stages in Metro Manila particularly in cities from the northern part of the region like Caloocan, Valenzuela, Malabon, and Quezon City. “Kasi kung tuluy-tuloy siyang tumaas pa, it’s very possible na ma-hit natin iyong 4,000 cases per day sa Metro Manila by sometime January or February kung patuloy-tuloy na tumaas kaya gusto nating iwasan iyon,” David said. (If the surge continues, it is very possible that we will hit 4,000 new cases per day in metro Manila by January or February.) The researchers noted that Metro Manila first hit 4,000 daily additional infections in August, which prompted the government to place the capital region under modified lockdown to avoid the collapse of the healthcare system’s capacity. As of Wednesday, there are 464,004 confirmed COVID-19 cases nationwide, including 429,972 recoveries and 9,048 deaths.
Sen, Binay bats for PLEB revival in wake of mother-and-son killing in Paniqui | Manila Bulletin – Senator Nancy Binay has called for the revival of the Peoples’ Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) in local government units to help address complaints against errant policemen. “Maganda siguro na buhayin itong PLEB, na each locality may PLEB na may civilian component, ‘yong type of court na pwedeng mag-address tayong mga civilian kung may problema tayo sa mga kapulisan (It might be a good idea to revive the PLEB, that each locality will have the PLEB, the type of court where civilians can address problems involving policemen),” Binay said in an interview with ABS-CBN Teleradyo on Tuesday. The PLEB, created in 1990 through Republic Act No. 6975, was granted the authority to hear and decide citizen’s complaints or cases against erring officers and members of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Gatchalian to TRB head: Resign now | The Manila Times – Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian called anew for the resignation of Abraham Sales as head of the Toll Regulatory Board (TRB) over issues hounding the implementation of the radio-frequency identification (RFID) cashless payment system. “Kung ako po ang tatanungin talaga hong ang TRB hindi ho gumagana. Kung sino man ang head niyan eh dapat na hong magbitiw at ibigay na lang ho ‘ yan sa isang marunong at alistong mamumuno (For me, the TRB is not functioning. The head of the agency must resign and hand his post to someone who knows the job),” the vice chairman of the Senate Public Services committee said on Tuesday. The senator noted that Sales was missing when the RFID problem came out. The TRB chief only showed himself during the Senate hearing where the committee scrutinized his job description as head of the agency tasked to monitor toll operators. “To my analysis, the TRB is not doing its job because they only inspect once in two years. Unfortunately, the result of the inspection was not submitted to the board, the one that makes the decision. The result was kept to themselves,” Gatchalian said.
