News Roundup 24 January 2022
Jan 24, 2022 • 5 min Read
Philippines tallies 24,938 new COVID-19 infections | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Monday reported 24,938 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the country’s total number of infections to 3,442,056. Of the newly reported cases, 97% occurred from January 11 to 24. The regions with the highest number of additional infections during that period were Metro Manila (15%), Calabarzon (14%) and Central Visayas (11%). The country’s death toll rose by 47 to 53,519, while recoveries increased by 35,461 to 3,125,540. The number of active cases was down to 262,997, of which 95% had mild illness. According to the DOH, 40.6% of 59,896 samples on January 22 tested positive for COVID-19, way above the threshold set by the World Health Organization. Five testing laboratories did not submit data to the agency.
Petitioners asks Comelec to reverse dismissal of plea to cancel Marcos COC | PHILSTAR.COM – Petitioners urging the Commission on Elections to cancel presidential aspirant Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s Certificate of Candidacy on Monday appealed the dismissal of their petition. Civic leaders represented by lawyer Theodore Te filed their motion for partial reconsideration before the Comelec Second Division that dismissed their petition to deny due course or cancel Marcos’ COC. In their motion, however, the petitioners called on the Commission En Banc to reverse the Second Division’s resolution and grant their plea to cancel Marcos’s COC. “As a consequence of the above, also excluding the name of respondent Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. from the list of official candidates for President in the official ballot for the May 2022 elections,” the motion read. The petitioners also prayed for the mandatory inhibition of the members of the Comelec’s Second Division and asked the Commission En Banc to look into “circumstances behind the use of the intemperate and improper language by the Second Division.” Central to the petition is Marcos’ conviction for failure to file his Income Tax Returns from 1982 to 1985. The petitioners pointed out that Marcos declared under oath that he has never been found liable for any offense, which carries the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification to hold public office. This was when he ticked the NO box on the COC he filed. In dismissing their petition, the Comelec division held that the Court of Appeals was “correct for not imposing on herein Respondent the penalty of perpetual disqualification from holding any public office, voting, participating in any election.” “Since Respondent was not meted the accessory penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office, it cannot be rightfully said that he committed a false misrepresentation when he answered in the negative to the question in Item No. 22 of his COC. In like manner, when Respondent declared in Item No. 11 of his COC that he is eligible for the office for which he seeks to be elected to, he was essentially speaking the truth,” the Comelec resolution read. But the petitioners pointed out that “[t]he finality of respondent Marcos Jr.’s conviction is a fact, and the judgment of conviction and its consequences are immutable and can no longer be modified, let alone denied.” They argued that the conviction for violation of the National Internal Revenue Code “automatically brought about the consequences provided therein—that he was ‘perpetually dismissed from holding any public office, to vote and to participate in any election.’” “This is a consequence deemed written into the conviction of respondent Marcos Jr. by law as decided by the Court of Appeals, which the Comelec is mandated to enforce, not deny or dispute, split hairs or spin,” they added. The petitioners also insisted that the CA “did not have to” explicitly write the penalty of perpetual disqualification, citing Section 286 of the NIRC that the penalty is imposed in cases of conviction on crimes penalized by the NIRC. On whether Marcos was still a public officer on the filing of ITR on March 18, 1986 — when Presidential Decree 1994 which imposed perpetual disqualification as penalty — “whether upon his departure or upon the last day for the filing of his tax return,”’ they added. The petitioners also questioned part of the Comelec’s resolution that states that Marcos cannot be said to have deliberately misled which would render him ineligible “because he had no basis at all to answer in the affirmative.”
Amid criticisms, DZRH exec says Robredo agrees to attend Feb. 2 interview | INQUIRER.NET – Amid claims by her critics that she supposedly ducked the presidential aspirants’ interview hosted by radio station DZRH, Vice President Leni Robredo will be appearing in the forum on February 2 according to an official of the network. In a tweet on Monday, Manila Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) vice president and DZRH Nationwide station manager Cesar Chavez said that members of Robredo’s media team confirmed to them that the Vice President would be attending the interview at 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. of that day. “Confirmed! Haharap po si VP @lenirobredo sa ‘Bakit Ikaw’ presidential job interview ng DZRH at Manila Times sa Feb 2, 4-6:30pm, ayon sa pahayag ngayong umaga ni Paolo Espiritu ang kanyang MRO (media relations officer),” Chavez said. (Confirmed! VP Leni Robredo would appear in the ‘Bakit Ikaw’ presidential job interview of DZRH and the Manila Times on Feb 2, 4-6:30pm, according to a statement from his MRO.) “Salamat po VP Leni (Thank you, VP Leni),” he added. This came after Robredo, late Sunday night, expressed willingness to join the interview, noting that she was unable to confirm her attendance because the original schedule of the interview was moved, and the new schedule had conflicted with her earlier commitments. “Ang totoo: I was invited to an interview with DZRH, initially set earlier this month. Ipapasok na sana sa schedule ko, but we were later told it was moved. Yung bagong sched nila was already in conflict with ours, as I had other commitments lined up,” Robredo said in a tweet. (The truth is I was invited to an interview with DZRH, initially set earlier this month. We would have placed it in my schedule, but we were later told it was moved. Their new sched was already in conflict with ours, as I had other commitments lined up.) “Actually puwede ako next week. Kung willing sila to adjust, iset na natin. Handa naman ako lagi humarap,” she added. (Actually I can attend next week. If they are willing to adjust, we can set it. I am always ready for talks.)
