News Roundup 27 September 2020
Sep 27, 2020 • 3 min Read
Philippines adds 19,630 recoveries as COVID-19 caseload hits 304,226 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health on Sunday reported the recovery of 19,630 patients as the national coronavirus caseload rose to over 304,000. The additional recoveries raised the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 252,510. Every Sunday, the DOH announces thousands of patients cleared of the virus that causes COVID-19 as part of its Oplan Recovery program, which tags mild and asymptomatic cases as recovered after a two-week quarantine and once symptoms have disappeared upon a doctor’s assessment. Of the new recoveries, 18,892 were time-based, while 738 were from routine reports. With 2,995 new infections, the country’s coronavirus caseload rose to 304,226. The country is still reporting thousands of cases every day despite implementing the world’s longest lockdown. Meanwhile, the fatality country increased to 5,344 after 60 more COVID-19-related deaths were recorded.
Robredo: Restricting access to SALNs sends wrong message on corruption | PHILSTAR.COM – Ombudsman Samuel Martires’ new policy to restrict public access to the Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net worth (SALNs) of government officials would only send a “wrong signal” on the government campaign against corruption, Vice President Leni Robredo said Sunday. Robredo said the directive goes against the constitutional principle that “public office is a public trust.” “Pag inalis mo ‘yung SALN, ano ang mensahe ‘yung binibigay mo? Anong mensahe ‘yung binibigay mo sa tao na ang korupsyon ay di priority ng pamahalaan?” Robredo said in her weekly radio show. (If you restrict access to SALN, what’s the message of that? That corruption is not a priority of the government?)
Proposed 2021 nat’l budget ‘unresponsive’ to pandemic needs — Drilon | INQUIRER.NET – It appears that the proposed 2021 national budget was not tailored to address the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Sunday. Drilon criticized the absence of funds for the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Social Amelioration Program (SAP) and the reduced budget of the Department of Health (DOH). “Alam mo, sa aking tingin yung ating 2021 proposed national budget ay ginawa na parang walang pandemic na hinaharap.Hindi ito tumutugon sa hinaharap nating pandemya. Hindi responsive,” Drilon said in an interview on dzBB. (I think our 2021 proposed national budget was made as if we’re not facing a pandemic. It does not address the pandemic, it is not responsive.)
7.6 M Filipino households experienced hunger — SWS | Manila Bulletin – More than 7 million Filipino households have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months, hitting a new record-high according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey. The survey, conducted from September 17 to 20 among 1,249 respondents, showed that families who experienced involuntary hunger or hunger due to lack of food to eat reached a new record-high of 30.7 percent, or an estimated 7.6 million households. SWS said that this surpassed the previous peak of 23.8 percent in March, 2012. It added that since May 2020, the hunger trend has been rising, upsetting a previous favorable trend when hunger steadily declined from 23.8 percent in March 2012 to 9.3 percent in December 2019. Hunger in September 2020 was up by 9.8 points from 20.9 percent in July 2020, by 14 points from 16.7 percent in May 2020, and by a total of 21.9 points from 8.8 percent in December 2019.
Fare hike ruled out for 12 provincial bus routes | The Manila Times – The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) said there would be no fare increase for the 12 modified provincial bus routes in Central Luzon that will service commuters starting September 30. The agency’s technical division chief Joel Bolano said that fares will remain the same despite the one-meter physical distancing inside public vehicles. “We will initially implement the same fare rates,” he said. Beginning Wednesday, provincial buses may ply 12 routes in Regions 3 and 4A. These are San Fernando, Pampanga – Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City, Batangas City, Batangas – Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITx), Lemery, Batangas – PITx, Lipa City, Batangas – PITx, Nasugbu, Batangas – PITx, Indang, Cavite – PITx, Mendez, Cavite – PITx, Tagaytay City, Cavite – PITx, Ternate, Cavite – PITx, Calamba City, Laguna – PITx, Siniloan, Laguna – PITx, and Sta. Cruz, Laguna – PITx.
