News Roundup 25 October 2021
Oct 25, 2021 • 4 min Read
DOH lists 4,405 new COVID-19 cases, 5 labs without data | PHILSTAR.COM – Health authorities on Monday tallied 4,405 new coronavirus cases, pushing the country’s caseload to 2,761,307. The figures reported today brought active cases in the Philippines down by 3,194 from the 60,957 on October 24. DOH said five laboratories did not submit screening results.
- Active cases: 57,763 or 2.1% of the total
- Deaths: 149, pushing the count to 41,942
- Recoveries: 7,561 bringing the number to 2,661,602
Senators push bill to ban substitution when candidate withdraws | PHILSTAR.COM – At least five senators are pushing to prohibit the substitution of electoral aspirants who voluntarily withdraw their candidacies ahead of elections. Senate Bill No. 2349 was filed by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian on Monday. This late into the 18th Congress, it is unlikely to make progress in a legislature that also has to work on the proposed national budget for 2022. Historically, attendance has been a problem for Congress as many members tend to focus on their election campaigns. The bill seeks to amend Section 77 of the Omnibus Election Code which currently allows accredited political parties to substitute their candidates in cases of death, disqualification or withdrawal. Instead of allowing substitution due to withdrawal, the bill proposes allowing the replacement of candidates in cases of incapacity in addition to death or disqualification. The proposed measure is co-authored by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Sens. Nancy Binay, Grace Poe, and Joel Villanueva. Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is vying for the presidency next year, said last week that he was in favor of a similar proposal. Gatchalian, in a statement to reporters, said that the substitution of candidates who have voluntarily withdrawn has been abused over the years and goes against the intent of the law to uphold orderly and transparent elections. He also said the practice has made a “mockery” of candidacy filing. President Rodrigo Duterte was a last-minute candidate through substitution in the 2016 elections. He replaced Martin Diño as PDP-Laban’s candidate for president.
Makabayan to continue to cooperate with Robredo-Pangilinan campaign | INQUIRER.NET – The Makabayan bloc will continue to coordinate with the campaign of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan, even as it still considers the non-inclusion of Bayan Muna chair Neri Colmenares in the senatorial slate of the tandem as a “lost opportunity.” The Makabayan bloc made the remark after meeting with Robredo last week to discuss “the many points of unity in our platforms.” “Neri Colmenares’ non-inclusion in the senatorial slate of Vice President Leni Robredo was a lost opportunity in terms of strengthening the opposition against the looming Marcos Duterte alliance for 2022,” the bloc said in a statement. “Nevertheless, we thank VP Robredo for meeting with us last week to discuss the many points of unity in our platforms,” it added. The bloc said that while there are issues that require continuing discussions, they welcome Robredo’s positive response to the issues of sovereignty in the West PH Sea, peace talks, human rights, justice and accountability, as well as economic relief from the hardships due to the pandemic. “These points provide us with a basis to continue engaging with her in pursuit of pro-people and progressive reforms and policies,” the Makabayan bloc said. “Keenly aware of the most immediate threat today, Makabayan will continue to cooperate with the Robredo-Pangilinan campaign, with the common objective of preventing a Duterte extension or a Marcos restoration,” it added.
Monsod pushes for public vetting on appointment of poll officials | Manila Bulletin – A former chairman of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) believes there should be a public vetting when it comes to the appointment of poll officials. “There should be a public vetting of the appointment for new commissioners by February 2022, which can be a game changer on the conduct of elections,” Christian Monsod said during the online forum of the Management Association of the Philippines on Monday, Oct. 25. “There are four vacancies, there is one existing vacancy and three that will step down in February, that’s a lot. That’s a majority of set from the seven right so that’s why it’s very important,” he added. Comelec Chairman Sheriff Abas as well as Commissioners Rowena Guanzon and Antonio Kho are set to retire in February next year or months before the May 2022 polls. This means the seven-man Comelec en Banc will be left with only three commissioners as there is already one existing vacancy. For his part, Ateneo de Manila University – School of Government Dean Ronald Mendoza said having independent appointments is very important for the credibility of the polls. “We should be ready to signal very strongly that what we need are independent appointments. That could build stronger credibility, particularly for those positions, especially because of the challenges of this particular election,” he said. “If those appointments actually fall short and are, again, coming from a particular city in the south, this is not going to be healthy for our democracy and can increase risks in terms of the credibility of the outcome of the May elections,” added Mendoza.
