News Roundup 27 August 2020
Aug 27, 2020 • 3 min Read
3,249 new COVID-19 cases push Philippines’ total to 205,581 | PHILSTAR.COM – The number of coronavirus infections in the Philippines reached 205,581 Thursday after more than 3,000 cases were added to the tally. The Department of Health reported 3,249 new cases of COVID-19. The number of active cases or those still infected currently stood at 68,357. The DOH also logged 566 additional recovered patients, pushing the total number of COVID-19 survivors in the country to 133,990. But 97 more deaths from COVID-19 were reported. Over 3,234 people have so far died in the Philippines.
Inaction on call for revolutionary government dangerous, lawyers’ group says | PHILSTAR.COM – The government allowing talk of establishing of a revolutionary government and not taking action on it is dangerous and would erode the rule of law in the country, a group of lawyers warned. “There is danger in letting movements like this fester without immediate action,” the Philippine Bar Association said, especially when taken against a backdrop of a Philippines grappling with a pandemic and economic crisis, and a presidential term nearing its end. PBA said that the gathering “was just the latest in a series of openly defiant acts that target the duly-constituted government.” “While the true principals have yet to show their faces, their method is already clear—to sow subtle seeds meant to erode the Rule of Law and the Constitution,” the lawyers’ group said. The PBA noted that revolts do not happen overnight. “It summons its strength over time and creeps on the unwary. It capitalizes on overconfidence.” “The greatest sin we can commit right now is to dismiss or to ignore the true dangers these repeated calls for ‘revgov’ pose,” it added. PBA also warned that the Philippines’ current situation—a pandemic, economic crisis, and a presidency on its last two years—paints “an alluring combination for those who desire power above all.” “We should not allow glamour-seeking upstarts to undermine the Constitution and cast the country to another dark era of chaos,” it added.
Sayyaf sub-leader Sawadjaan plotted Jolo bombings, says military | INQUIRER.NET – Abu Sayyaf Group unit sub-leader and bombmaker Mudzrimar “Mundi” Sawadjaan plotted Monday’s twin suicide bombings in Sulu, the military said. “‘Yung mastermind, same pa rin sya, si Mundi Sawadjaan,” Western Mindanao Command chief Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr. said in an interview with DZMM on Thursday. Two widows of Islamic militants blew themselves up in the attacks that killed at least 15 people and injured 75 others in Jolo, the island province’s capital. Mundi was said to be a nephew of Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, the leader of the Islamic State’s faction within Abu Sayyaf. Hatib Sawadjaan was earlier identified by a US report as the “acting emir” of ISIS in the Philippines.
‘Cover-up or damage control?’, De Lima asks, regarding Gordon’s PhilHealth probe report | Manila Bulletin – Opposition Senator Leila de Lima has expressed belief that the Senate blue ribbon committee’s report on a 2019 probe on the alleged fraud and corruption in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) is nothing but a cover-up and an attempt at damage control in favor of President Duterte and his men in the agency. De Lima said Sen. Richard Gordon’s latest report smacks of a typical play by the current administration as it aims to divert the conversation from the current issues now plaguing PhilHealth to allegations of wrongdoing during the previous Aquino administration. “The executive summary released to the press does not appear to be an output of a Committee (that) conducted a legislative inquiry; it reads like a cover-up and damage control for Mr. Duterte and his men in PhilHealth,” De Lima said in a latest statement.
Abu Sayyaf leader nabbed in Zamboanga Sibugay | The Manila Times – A subleader of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was arrested in Mabuhay town, Zamboanga Sibugay, police reported on Thursday. PBGen. Jesus Cambay, Jr., Zamboanga regional director, identified the suspect as Jamiul Nassalon,41, who used several aliases such as “Ustad Amih,” “Abu Harris,” “Abu Janar,” “Abu Jamih.” Nassalon was arrested at Barangay Caliran at about 4 a.m. on Wednesday by combined elements of the Regional Intelligence Unit 9, PNP Intelligence Group; Regional Intelligence Division 9, among others.
