News Roundup 24 April 2021
Apr 24, 2021 • 3 min Read
Philippines records 9,661 new COVID-19 cases, pushing total to 989,380 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines logged Saturday 9,661 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the total number of people who have been infected to 989,380.
- Active cases: 89,485 or 9% of the total
- Recoveries: 883,221, pushing total to 22,877
- Deaths: 145, bringing total to 16,674
De Lima brought to hospital over possible mild stroke | PHILSTAR.COM – Sen. Leila de Lima was brought to the hospital Saturday to undergo medical examination after her doctor flagged that she might have experienced a mild stroke. “The senator is stable; she needs to undergo MRI [magnetic resonance imaging] and other tests to ascertain her current state of health. She is very grateful for all the prayers,” De Lima’s camp said in a statement. Two Muntinlupa courts granted Friday detained opposition De Lima a three-day emergency furlough for further medical examinations. The Muntinlupa Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 256 and Muntinlupa RTC Branch 205 allowed De Lima to undergo further tests at the Manila Doctors Hospital beginning Saturday. All costs of her medical tests shall be shouldered by De Lima. De Lima asked for an indefinite medical confinement, but the courts only allowed her to stay for three days at the hospital. The Muntinlupa RTC Branch 256, however, gave De Lima’s lawyers the option to file another motion should the senator need to be confined at the hospital longer than three days.
Lacson: Parlade’s tirades could cost NTF-ELCAC its budget | INQUIRER.NET – Senator Panfilo Lacson warned the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) that its budget for 2022 could be in trouble due to the constant tirades of its spokesman Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. In an interview with DWIZ, Lacson still believes that the task force has done well in terms of developing areas cleared of the presence of the New People’s Army but Parlade’s statements are taking marring those gains. “The Armed Forces of the Philippines must remain apolitical. Otherwise, the constitutional balance among institutions is skewed and democratic governance is disturbed and even threatened. Lt. Gen. Parlade should just focus on ending insurgency and fighting terrorism. When he retires, he can debate all he wants on political issues,” said Lacson, a former Police chief. “Because of his commentaries, the NTF-ELCAC is dragged into controversies. Nauuna ang bibig niya sa kanyang ginagawa. Yan ang danger, kasi nakakagulo na (His mouth talks before does anything. That’s the danger because he’s already causing trouble.) Instead of helping, his loose lips threaten to drag the NTF-ELCAC into the mess.” As of writing time, the NTF-ELCAC has a P19 billion budget. Parlade has gotten into news headlines, albeit for the wrong reasons, after criticizing female actors who voiced their opposition to the government such as Angel Locsin and Liza Soberano. His most recent tirade was against Anna Patricia Non, the organizer of the Maginhawa Community Pantry, likening her to Satan.
Robredo’s Angat Buhay Village opens in CamSur | Manila Bulletin – Five months after Typhoon Ulysses swept homes in Lupi, Camarines Sur, Vice President Leni Robredo shared that some 120 homes at the Angat Buhay Village are now ready for occupancy in May. “So proud to share with you our Angat Buhay Villag in Lupi, Camarines Sur. 120 houses for the 120 families who lost their houses because of the landslides during Typhoon Ulysses,” the vice president said in a Facebook post on Saturday, April 24. “Hopefully, everything will be done by May. I cannot wait to see the excitement in their faces as they start their new lives in the houses they built as one community,” Robredo added. She recalled that after the landslides due to Typhoon Ulysses in November, their team found some 120 families camped in multipurpose halls and sitting along the sides of the streets with their belongings. “They could not even rebuild because the area where their houses were before is already uninhabitable.” That’s when the Office of the Vice President (OVP) decided to help them rebuild back because they have the money for the materials from their Typhoon Relief Operations Donation Drive.
