News Roundup 25 January 2021
Jan 25, 2021 • 4 min Read
COVID-19 cases in Philippines climb to nearly 515,000 with 1,581 new infections | PHILSTAR.COM – The country’s coronavirus disease caseload rose to 514,996 Monday after the Department of Health announced 1,581 additional infections. The number of people who are still undergoing quarantine or treatment stands at 29,282 or 5.7% of the country’s confirmed cases. The DOH also reported 13 additional recovered patients, pushing total recoveries to 475,422. Meanwhile, 50 more patients died from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 10,292.
CHR: Errors in government list of supposed communist rebels dangerous | PHILSTAR.COM – Errors that the military played down as “inconsistencies” are a serious matter as it puts personalities incorrectly tagged as communist rebels at risk, the Commission on Human Rights said. Lawyer Jacqueline de Guia, CHR spokesperson, noted the apology of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for publishing on Facebook an unverified list that wrongly tagged UP alumni as members of the New People’s Army. But De Guia stressed that the military’s gaffe is still concerning. “Similar lapses, if left unchecked, can put reputations and lives in serious danger,” she added. The CHR has long stressed the dangers of red-tagging, or the practice of labeling dissenters and activists as rebels, terrorists or enemies of the state, puts lives in danger. National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers president Edre Olalia also said the military’s latest gaffe proves the danger of red-tagging as it shows that not only “the usual suspects” are indiscriminately damaged, but it could be anybody. “With enormous resources and with all hands on deck, the government is still missing and messing the point on how to really address the armed conflict in our country,” Olalia added. The AFP Information Exchange over the weekend tagged lawyers, former government officials and journalists as UP students who died or were captured after joining the NPA. Some of those on the list, who are former student leaders, appeared on an online briefing on Saturday to deny the allegations, including the claim that they had been killed.
DND sees AFP gaffe in UP Red-tagging | INQUIRER.NET – Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana wants the military to apologize to a lawyer who was mistakenly included in a list of University of the Philippines (UP) graduates identified on its social media post as New People’s Army (NPA) rebels. The Armed Forces of the Philippines also claimed that the graduates were subsequently killed or captured in combat operations. The list posted on Facebook and Twitter was taken down by Sunday. It drew ridicule, as well as concern, however, over the implications of Red-tagging. A number of those named held a news conference on Saturday to denounce the list. “The Armed Forces of the Philippines will apologize,” Lorenzana said in response to lawyer Rafael Aquino’s call for an apology after his name appeared on the list. “What reason will they give? I do not know. It’s an unpardonable gaffe,” the defense chief said in a message to reporters on Sunday.
Let’s build credible defense posture — Del Rosario | Manila Bulletin – Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Monday urged the administration of President Duterte to build a credible defense posture and strengthen its alliances with other countries in the light of China’s newly passed law that allows its Coast Guard to shoot on foreign vessels operating in its “jurisdictional waters.” “In the face of this new Chinese aggression, we should prioritize what we have been saying before: build a credible defense posture for our country and strengthen our security alliance with freedom-loving nations like the United States, the countries comprising the European Union, Japan, Australia, and our ASEAN neighbors,” Del Rosario said in a statement. The former Philippines’ top diplomat maintained that the latest Chinese law is a sobering reminder to the world that “China remains adamant in pressing its illegal claims in the South China Sea, now with force and probably with violence.” This new decision in Beijing, he said, came in the wake of the assumption of US President Joseph Biden and the recent visit of Chinese State Counselor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Manila. “For Filipinos, this also reminds us that China’s plans to take over our waters and put our soldiers’ lives at risk will not go away despite the so-called friendly approach of the Duterte administration towards China,” Del Rosario said.
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