News Roundup 23 January 2022
Jan 23, 2022 • 6 min Read
PH logs 29,828 new cases of COVID-19 — DOH | INQUIRER.NET – An additional 29,828 new cases of COVID-19 and 36,763 recoveries were recorded by the Department of Health (DOH) on Sunday. This is the second highest number of recoveries recorded since the uptick in cases began, which is believed to be caused by the holiday season and the spread of the more transmissible Omicron variant of concern. With this, active cases slightly decreased to 273,580 from Saturday’s 280,619. Total confirmed cases, meanwhile, are now at 3,417,216 while total recoveries are at 3,090,164. Positivity rate, on the other hand, is at 41.8 percent out of the 69,014 tests conducted on Jan. 21. Based on the DOH’s report, 98 percent or 29,237 of the new infections were logged within the last 14 days. It showed Metro Manila as the top region that posted the highest number of new cases at 5,178 new cases (18 percent) in the recent two weeks, followed by Region 4-A with 4,227 (14 percent) and Region 3 with 2,787 (10 percent). Of the active cases, DOH said 98.2 percent currently suffer mild or asymptomatic cases; specifically, 260,399 individuals suffer mild cases, 8,371 are asymptomatic, 3,006 moderate, 1,496 severe, and 308 critical. The DOH said it also recorded the deaths of 67 coronavirus-hit people, increasing the total death count to 53,472.
Twitter suspends hundreds of accounts promoting Bongbong Marcos | INQUIRER.NET – Twitter has suspended hundreds of accounts reportedly linked to supporters of Philippine presidential frontrunner Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., which the social media giant said had violated its rules on manipulation and spam. Marcos is drawing support from a massive social media campaign seeking to get him elected in May, which critics say is attempting to rewrite the family’s history. Twitter said it had reviewed the accounts and hashtags identified in a recent article by news site Rappler. More than 300 accounts had been removed “for violating our platform manipulation and spam policy,” Twitter said in a statement sent to AFP Saturday. Most of them had been taken down before the Rappler article was published on Tuesday and an investigation was ongoing, it said. Filipinos are among the world’s heaviest users of social media and the country has become a key battleground for fake news. “With the Philippine elections taking place this May, we remain vigilant about identifying and eliminating suspected information campaigns targeting election conversations,” Twitter said.
Philippines ‘needs’ iron-fisted leader? Robredo says she’s ‘already shown courage’ | PHILSTAR.COM – Does Vice President Leni Robredo believe that Filipinos need a strong leader with an iron fist? If that phrase means being a courageous leader, she said, then she’s already shown time and again that she can be that leader. At the Jessica Soho Presidential Interviews aired over GMA News late Saturday evening, veteran journalist Jessica Soho asked the vice president for a reaction to the sentiment that a country like the Philippines needs an iron-fisted leader instead of a mother. “It depends how you define an iron fist. If you define it as a show of courage, then in my stages as a vice president, I’ve already shown this. This has nothing to do with gender, it’s in how you make decisions in many aspects in life,” Robredo replied. Over the coronavirus pandemic, political scientists have observed that populist leaders around the world like Duterte have been able to exploit the narrative that “during times of anxiety and disorder and crisis, there’s only one person who is able to bring back order, and that’s a strongman [or] populist leadership.” When President Rodrigo Duterte won the presidency by a landslide in 2016, it was largely due to his tough-talking, no-nonsense, and street-smart image. He has often courted controversy for his brash and outlandish statements, with his spokespersons urging the public not to take them literally. Robredo has been much the opposite. Asked about the phrase “Leni lugaw” (rice porridge) being attributed to her, Robredo said that the phrase was “more symbolic in the sense that that’s why it stuck to me.” “In 2016, when I was running, I also didn’t have the resources. Our volunteers, these are the fundraising activities. And the volunteers now in 2022, that’s also what they associated with me. So that’s their way to show solidarity. That is their way of showing people that we are with you in this battle.” Pro-administration figures and influencers have regularly hurled the phrase “Lugaw Queen” to belittle the vice president in reference to her campaign team’s effort to raise funds by selling rice porridge during the 2016 elections. Robredo — who has long been recognized as the de facto leader of the opposition — has long been critical of the Duterte administration’s projects and policies, from its war on drugs to its pandemic response. The vice president pointed to her brief stint as co-chair of Inter-Agency Council on Anti-Illegal Drugs and referred to her acceptance of President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to appoint her as “entering the lion’s den.” To recall, Robredo’s term only lasted a month: Duterte appointed her as a dare in response to her criticisms over his drug war, and then later pulled her out because he did not trust her as an opposition member. She said she has also gone through hostilities from both administration-allied government officials — many of whom are men — and peddlers of fake news.
IBP asks: ‘Why restrict movement of unvaxxed persons without law on mandatory vaccination?’ | Manila Bulletin – The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) took up the cudgels for the country’s unvaccinated persons against policies and local ordinances which restrict their movements “despite lack of law” on mandatory vaccination against COVID-19. Local government units in the National Capital Region (NCR) have started, even before the implementation of the “No Vaccination, No Ride” policy last Jan. 17, enacting ordinances that ban unvaccinated persons from taking public transportations. Justice Secretary Menardo I. Guevarra last Jan. 18 clarified that there is no absolute restriction on the movement of unvaccinated persons. “The unvaccinated are not absolutely prohibited from availing themselves of public transport, provided that they have passes to show that they are out to obtain essential goods and services, such as food and medicine; or that they have medical certifications showing that they could not be vaccinated for medical or health reasons,” Guevarra said. In defense of the unvaccinated, the IBP said in a statement: “The IBP understands that vaccination remains the primary scientific way out of this COVID-19 Pandemic. In fact, the IBP strongly supports the vaccination drive of the government. “What we cannot understand is why unvaccinated persons are treated in a manner that appears in violation of their Constitutional rights. “There is no law that requires individuals to undergo compulsory vaccination against COVID-19 (coronavirus disease). “Existing laws pertaining to pandemics or epidemics of communicable diseases and vaccination such as Republic Act No. 11332, RA 11469, RA 11494 and RA 11525 do not contain any provision that can be used as a legal basis to compel individuals to be vaccinated against COVID-19.”
