News Roundup 27 June 2021

News and Updates

Jun 27, 20214 min Read

Philippines sees 6,096 more COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COMHealth authorities on Sunday logged 6,096 new coronavirus cases, pushing the country’s total to 1,397,992. Today’s development came ahead of government deciding on new quarantine classifications this week for July. The Department of Health said three laboratories did not submit testing results. 

  • Active cases: 52,570, or 3.8% of the total
  • Recoveries: 6,912, bringing the number to 1,321,050
  • Deaths: 128, or now 24,372 in total

Allowing civilian groups to carry arms risky, open to abuse — Robredo | PHILSTAR.COMVice President Leni Robredo on Sunday warned against the possibility of allowing civilian organizations to carry arms, saying it would be too risky and only increase chances of abuse.  The proposal came from President Rodrigo Duterte when he spoke at an event by the Philippine National Police on June 25. In her weekly radio show, Robredo reminded of the many instances in the past where the privilege of carrying arms was abused. “Bearing arms is a huge responsibility,” she said partially in Filipino over dzXL. “This also carries a big accountability..we have a lot of problems that could be resolved without the need for arms. We should learn from the past.” There had been a series of documented cases of shootings by cops alone since 2020. That has led to calls for reform within the police force, but Palace has continued to insist that those involved are only cases of “bad apples.” Robredo sought to draw a comparison between other countries and the Philippines. In the rest of the world, she said gun control measures are being tackled, while the discussion at home is on increasing the number of those who could carry arms. “Many of our problems have solutions that are not punitive,” the country’s No. 2 said. “This is not the kind of leadership and governance that we believe in.”

Restore decency in governance to honor P-Noy – Archbishop Villegas | INQUIRER.NETOne of the country’s most outspoken Catholic prelates on Saturday said the greatest tribute Filipinos could give former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who died in his sleep two days earlier, was to “never again” cast aside their dignity and to restore decency in national leadership. In his homily at the funeral Mass for Aquino, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said he hoped that the death of the son of the country’s democracy icons would “spark another fire within us to resurrect his example of decency and integrity.” “Eulogies have been written and spoken and shared, but the best eulogy tribute we can pay to our dear President Noy is to bring back, recover, preserve, safeguard, and never again to compromise our dignity as a people and the decency of our leaders as servants, not bosses,” Villegas said. “The flags at half-mast are not only for the dead president but for the dying decent governance,” he said. His remarks were not too subtle swipes at President Rodrigo Duterte, who often attacked the Catholic Church and the clergy for criticizing his profanity-laced rants, authoritarian tendencies, and his bloody war on drugs, which had killed thousands of alleged drug offenders. Duterte once called God “stupid.” He later said, “Sorry, God.”

Lacson on Duterte’s SONA: “Are we better off than when he stepped in?” | Manila BulletinIs the Philippines better off than when President Duterte stepped into power in 2016? Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said this is what he wants to find out when the Chief Executive delivers his final State of the Nation Address (SONA) this July. “After five years, where are we now, or what is the situation in the many aspects of his administration such as peace and order, fight against illegal drugs, corruption, economy, and foreign policy, particularly the West Philippine Sea?” Lacson asked during a media forum on Sunday. “We want to hear what happened in the last five years – and moving forward for the last year of his administration, what can still be done?” Lacson said. “What we need to hear from the President is what has been done in the last five years. Are we better off than when he stepped in as President on June 30, 2016?” he stressed. Aside from these questions, Lacson also said he hopes to hear from the President the status of the government’s vaccination program and its fight against corruption. He said it is critical that the President updates the public on the state of the government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. “This is important because many Filiponos still do not trust the vaccine. In the meantime, the government must continue its campaign to gain the people’s trust in vaccines, based on science,” he said. On the issue of criminality, Lacson said he agrees with Senate President Vicente Sotto III’s suggestion to put more emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation in its fight against illegal drugs.


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