News Roundup 26 January 2021
Jan 26, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines sees 1,173 new COVID-19 cases as total hits 516,166 | PHILSTAR.COM – Coronavirus cases in the Philippines climbed past 516,000 Tuesday after the Department of Health recorded 1,173 additional infections. Of the 516,166 total confirmed cases, 30,357 or 5.9% are active. Recoveries rose to 475,423 after 18 additional patients recovered from the respiratory illness. Meanwhile, 94 more COVID-19-related deaths were registered, the highest in more than a week. This pushed the fatality count to 10,386.
Often harassed by Chinese in waters, fisherfolk seek gov’t action on new Beijing law | PHILSTAR.COM – Filipino fisherfolk have called on the Duterte administration to denounce a recent legislation passed by Beijing that would allow its coast guard to fire at foreign vessels, describing it as a “severe measure imposed by Chinese aggressors.” The country’s fishermen have often been the victims of reported harassment by the Chinese coast guard, including the sinking of a Filipino vessel in 2019, in the years-long maritime dispute between the Philippines and China. In a statement, the group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamalakaya ng Pilpinas said government should be quick to act on the development, warning that it is a serious threat to fishermen who could soon become targets by China. “It is virtually a declaration of war against countries that are legitimate claimants of the Chinese-claimed maritime territory,” said Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya national chairperson. “We fervently condemn China’s egregious display of aggression and military might.” Malacañang has commented on the newly passed legislation in Beijing, but it had stopped short of condemning the move from the nation which it had fostered close ties with in its more than four years.
UP-NCPAG chides AFP for ‘blatant attempt to misrepresent the UP community’ | INQUIRER.NET – The University of the Philippines-National College of Public Administration and Governance (UP-NCPAG) on Tuesday denounced the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for its “blatant attempt to misrepresent the UP community” when it published “information without proper verification.” UP-NCPAG specifically decried the AFP’s Civil Relations Service for “misappropriating UP’s logo” and “peddling opinion as fact” in its recent Facebook post quoting a view of a certain Professor Michael Castillo on the unilateral repeal of the 1989 UP-DND accord. “We deplore AFP’s blatant attempt to misrepresent the UP community by misappropriating UP’s logo, peddling opinion as fact, and generally releasing information without proper verification of its sources,” it said in a statement. “As the primary duty-bearer of our national security, we expect nothing less from the AFP to observe the strictest standards in upholding truth and integrity as it performs its duty,” it added.
Pangilinan files bill championing academic freedom | Manila Bulletin – Opposition Senator Francis ‘’Kiko’’ N. Pangilinan on Tuesday sought to conditionally bar police and military operations in all state universities and colleges. This after Pangilinan filed Senate Bill 2016, or Academic Freedom Act, banning all police and military operations in all state universities and colleges without coordination with school management. The measure seeks to strengthen and uphold the freedom of teachers and students to teach, study and pursue knowledge and research without unreasonable interference or restrictions in all state universities and colleges. Pangilinan, a former student leader, filed the bill after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana recently unilaterally abrogated the 1989 University of the Philippines-Department of National Defense (UP-DND) accord.
‘No need for stricter lockdown, for now’ | Malaya Business Insight – Despite the increasing number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in at least 12 regions outside Metro Manila, the Department of Health (DOH) yesterday said stricter community restrictions are not yet necessary. “We use as parameters our healthcare utilization rate and number of cases. When we look at these parameters, there are no signs yet of having the need for a lockdown,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a briefing. “We will continue to implement this until the time that the parameters will tell us that we should have another form of stricter restrictions,” she added. Last week, the DOH said that 12 of 17 regions in the country are seeing a big surge in COVID cases – Ilocos Region, Bicol Region, Soccsksargen, and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Caraga, and Cordillera Administrative Region. Vergeire added they believe the current system of having localized lockdowns is currently effective and eliminates the need for massive community restrictions. “Having granular lockdowns, localized lockdowns appear to be working. This results to less burden on our economy,” she said. Vergeire said it would be impractical to resort to stricter lockdowns whenever a surge in cases in certain areas is observed.
