News Roundup 26 June 2020
Jun 26, 2020 • 3 min Read
1,006 new cases push Philippines’ coronavirus tally to 34,073 | PHILSTAR.COM – The country’s confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections jumped to 34,073 Friday after 1,006 cases were added to the national tally. The number of COVID-19 survivors in the Philippines also reached 9,182 after 274 more patients recovered from the severe respiratory disease. But there were 12 additional virus-related deaths. This pushed the fatality count to 1,224.
UN expert raises concerns over ‘broad, overreaching’ anti-terror bill | PHILSTAR.COM – A United Nations independent expert on terrorism expressed concerns over the controversial anti-terrorism bill in the Philippines, saying the proposed legislation will have “serious” implications on the work of civil societies and humanitarian actors. Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN special rapporteur on human rights while countering terrorism, said the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 goes “far beyond the ambit of international law and seeks to criminalize behavior and action which is in fact protected by international law.” “What we see now in this piece of particular legislation in the Philippines is the enactment of legislation whose definition of what constitute terrorism is broad, vague, lacks legal certainty and precision, creating challenges for individuals to understand precisely what kind of action will be designated as terrorism,” Ní Aoláin said in an online forum organized by Ecumenical Voice for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines Friday. “In these broad and overreaching pieces of legislation, there are serious concerns for human rights, specifically concerns for civil societies and civil society actors and also humanitarian actions and humanitarian actors,” she added.
‘Where’s our sense of history?’: Robredo says move to rename NAIA ‘ill-timed’ | INQUIRER.NET – Vice President Leni Robredo on Friday branded as “ill-timed” the move to rename the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in the midst of the country’s battle against the virulent COVID-19. Robredo also pointed out the very reason why the country’s main gateway to the world was named after former Senator Benigno Simeon “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and raised the question: “where is our sense of history?” “Ito, parang, nasa gitna tayo ng pandemya, ‘di ba? Nasa gitna tayo ng pandemya, ito pa talaga maiisip natin,” Robredo said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ “The Source.” (We’re in the middle of a pandemic, right? We’re in the middle of a pandemic and this is what we’re really paying attention to right now.) “Number one, it’s ill-timed. Number two, alam naman natin why (we all know why) it was named Ninoy Aquino International Airport. So iyong tanong (So the question is), where is our sense of history?” she added. On Thursday, presidential son and House Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, and ACT-CIS Rep. Eric Yap have filed House Bill No. 7031 that seeks to rename NAIA to “Paliparang Pandaigdig ng Pilipinas”
DOH: COVID-19 patients no longer infectious after 10 days | Manila Bulletin – The Department of Health (DOH) revealed on Friday that there are studies stating that coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients are no longer infectious after 10 days of getting sick. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said this is based on findings and evidence that came out about two weeks ago. With the findings, Vergeire said the DOH has already “shifted to symptoms-based approach in our new protocol for discharges and recoveries.” Earlier, the DOH released a new protocol, stating that a repeat test is no longer required before a COVID-19 patient could be discharged from medical facilities. The World Health Organization (WHO) also released a new criteria, stating that patients can be discharged “10 days after symptom onset, plus at least 3 additional days without symptoms.”
