News Roundup 25 May 2020
May 25, 2020 • 3 min Read
Private hospitals ask Duterte to fire Duque | PHILSTAR.COM – An umbrella group of private hospitals asked President Duterte on Monday for a “replacement” to embattled Health Secretary Francisco Duque III who is in hot water over his leadership of the government’s coronavirus response. “The PHAPi, an association of 744 member private hospitals, now respectfully requests for the replacement of Dr. Francisco T. Duque III as DOH secretary and chairman of PhilHealth and appoint someone who can deliver the goods better in addressing the health concerns of the country,” said Dr. Rustico Jimenez, president of the Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines Inc. (PHAPi) in a letter to Duterte. The letter, a copy of which was sent to reporters, comes after The STAR quoted anonymous sources on its report as saying the president has begun searching for a substitute to Duque, whose handling of the coronavirus pandemic came under heavy public scrutiny anew last week. This time, over his controversial statement that said the Philippines is already in the second wave of the disease.
2 Chinese in unlicensed Clark COVID-19 hospital walk free | INQUIRER.NET – Police have yet to file charges against two Chinese nationals accused of running a clandestine hospital at a posh residential village at the Clark Freeport north of this Pampanga capital and have been set free. The hospital, which was raided by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) on May 19, was supposedly put up to exclusively treat Chinese workers afflicted with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which originated from China. But formal complaints have been delayed pending the issuance of a certification from the FDA that will establish that medicines recovered from the raided Fontana Villa No. 628 and a warehouse were “untested by FDA and hence illegal,” Col. Amante Daro, CIDG chief in Central Luzon, said on Monday (May 25). The Chinese nationals, Hu Ling, who was described by CIDG as the supervisor, and Lee Seung Hyun, the supposed pharmacist of the facility, were “released on the same day of their arrest, with no charges or cases filed against them,” said Simon Wu, Fontana assistant general manager.
DOJ: Online child sexual exploitation cases tripled during ECQ | Manila Bulletin – The Department of Justice (DOJ) has seen an increase of about 264 percent in the number of cases of online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) in the country in the past three months, or since the start of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). Citing data from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), the DOJ’s Office of Cybercrime (OOC) on Monday (May 25)said that a total of 279,166 cases of internet-related sexual exploitation of children have been reported starting March 2020. According to the DOJ, most of the cases include possession, manufacture, and distribution of child pornography; online enticement of children for sexual acts; child sex trafficking; sex tourism involving children; extra-familial child sexual molestation; unsolicited obscene material sent to a child; and misleading words or digital images on the internet.
DFA to repatriate OFW who committed suicide in Lebanon | The Manila Times – Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday has directed the Philippine Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon to repatriate the body of a Filipina who committed suicide on Saturday. “Got a report: woman checked into our Beirut embassy shelter threw herself out of the window. We’re on it. Why I get homicidal when p********* here who have nothing to do with DFA get in the way of saving our people abroad.” Locsin blasted on Twitter. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that the victim jumped to her death on Saturday but died from her injuries on Sunday. “It is with deep sadness that the Filipina household service worker who was taken in by the Philippine Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, as ward at the POLO (Philippine Overseas Labor Office) shelter on May 22 and reportedly jumped from a room she was sharing with two other OFWs in the morning of May 23 has passed away today.” the DFA said in a statement.
