News Roundup 26 February 2022
Feb 26, 2022 • 4 min Read
‘Radical distortions’ of Edsa 1 alarm CBCP | INQUIRER.NET – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is alarmed over the “radical distortions” in the history of martial law and the Edsa People Power Revolution, as it warned that the “pandemic of lies” on social media is poisoning the Filipinos’ collective consciousness and destroying their moral foundations. Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the CBCP, said the Catholic Church would also take on a more “proactive” role in helping the faithful choose the country’s next leaders through collective discernment and consensus-building that is “guided by the Gospel, the Church’s social teachings and an objective understanding of what happened in history.” In a three-page pastoral letter signed by David and titled “The Truth Will Set You Free,” the CBCP stressed that it “favors none but the truth.” “We wish to warn you of the radical distortions in the history of martial law and the Edsa People Power Revolution … We are alarmed by this distortion of the truth of history and the attempt to delete or destroy our collective memory through the seeding of lies and false narratives. This is dangerous, for it poisons our collective consciousness and destroys the moral foundations of our institutions,” the pastoral letter released on Friday said. It described the Edsa People Power Revolution as “a fruit of love of neighbor and faith” that was the “triumph of the entire Filipino people,” not just one person, one party or one color. The letter pointed out that many bishops witnessed the injustice and cruelty of martial law that was toppled by the peaceful revolt, and that human rights abuses, corruption, grave debt and the economic slump during that time are “all well-documented” and are “all written in our history.” With the 2022 elections just a few months away, the CBCP said it was “appalled by the blatant and subtle distortion, manipulation, coverup, repression and abuse of the truth” through historical revisionism, disinformation and “troll farms, which sow the virus of lies.” “This virus paralyzes our capacity to recognize God, respect truth and goodness. Thus, we do not realize that there is a ‘pandemic of lies,’ especially in the social media. This is very serious,” the bishops said.
VP bets support charges over Pharmally deal but stress draft report yet to be discussed in plenary | PHILSTAR.COM – Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan have expressed support in filing charges against those involved in the controversial Pharmally deals for the supply of overpriced medical supplies. Sotto, however, stressed that the draft report containing the findings of the Blue Ribbon Committee on the Senate’s investigations on the issue still have to be discussed in the plenary. Both senators are vying for the vice presidency in this year’s elections. “If cases will be filed against the perpetuators, we need to respect the process of the criminal justice system. Our countrymen can be assured that we will not tamper with the process. Those who are at fault must answer for what they did,” Pangilinan said in Filipino during the CNN Philippines Vice Presidential Debates held Saturday. Pangilinan is one of the members of the Blue Ribbon Committee who signed the partial probe detailing the Senate’s investigations into the questionable deals between Pharmally Pharmaceutical Corp. Sotto, who echoed his fellow senator’s sentiments, said people found guilty in the anomalous deals should face charges.
Under 2K COVID-19 cases for 8 straight days | Manila Bulletin – The Department of Health (DOH) reported another below 2,000 new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases on Saturday, Feb. 26. Based on the DOH case bulletin, 1,223 cases were found on Saturday. For eight consecutive days, the Philippines has been registering less than 2,000 new cases daily. This was also the second lowest single-day COVID-19 tally this year. Active infections nationwide were at 53,934 or 1.5 percent of the country’s overall count of confirmed COVID-19 cases since last year–which stood at 3,660,020. Majority of the active cases or 48,842 are experiencing mild symptoms; 2,780 are in moderate condition; 1,417 are severe; 597 are asymptomatic; and 298 are in critical condition. The DOH also recorded 128 fatalities. The death count due to COVID-19 jumped to 56,351. Meanwhile, recoveries increased by 2,400. The total number of COVID-19 survivors in the Philippines was at 3,549,735.
