News Roundup 28 July 2021
Jul 28, 2021 • 5 min Read
Philippines sees 4,478 more COVID-19 cases | PHILSTAR.COM – The Philippines on Wednesday reported 4,478 new coronavirus cases to bring its total count of infections to 1,566,667. Today’s numbers saw active cases down by 1,925 from July 27’s 56,477. The Department of Health said four laboratories failed to submit testing results. “The low number of cases reported today was due to the 9 p.m. extraction done the day prior, not the usual 1 p.m.,” DOH said. “Because of that, there were some cases reported yesterday that should have been included in the case counts today.”
- Active cases: 54,552 or 3.5% of the total
- Recoveries: 6,149, bringing the number to 1,484,714
- Deaths: 84, or now 27,401 in total
Robredo making moves to forge broad alliance for 2022 | PHILSTAR.COM – Vice President Leni Robredo is now moving to forge a broad alliance for the 2022 elections, with her having met at least three prospective candidates for next year’s polls. Robredo’s spokesperson, lawyer Barry Gutierrez, confirmed that Robredo met with Sens. Panfilo Lacson, Dick Gordon and Vicente “Tito” Sotto III last week as part of her “commitment to forge the broadest possible unity among groups and individuals seeking change in 2022.” Lacson and Sotto have announced that they will be running as president and vice president, respectively, in the May 2022 elections, and have positioned themselves as alternatives to the administration and the opposition. Earlier in the day, Lacson bared during a press briefing that he and Sotto met with Robredo along with former Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, but refused to disclose details of their meeting. Sen. Richard Gordon, who has also stated that he is open to running again for president, also told ABS-CBN News Channel’s Headstart that he was invited to speak with Robredo, but also refused to disclose what they discussed. Robredo, the de facto leader of the opposition, has been vocal about the need to unite against the administration’s candidate, stressing that the country cannot afford another six years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s brand of governance. She is among the potential presidential candidates of fledgling opposition coalition 1Sambayan, but has signalled that she is willing to give way to a candidate who is more likely to win, given her poor performance in surveys.
Palace changes tack, now welcomes Robredo’s input for COVID-19 response | INQUIRER.NET – Malacañang on Wednesday claimed that contributions, including policy recommendations for the COVID-19 response from the opposition, are “welcome” and “much appreciated.” Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque issued the claim a day after Vice President Leni Robredo delivered her “Ulat ng Bayan” where she enumerated her accomplishments during the past year. “We welcome the initiatives of the Vice President in the fight against COVID-19. which she enumerated in her Ulat sa Bayan and we are in no way diminishing her efforts in this trying time,” he said in a statement. “Any contribution, including policy recommendations from the political opposition, to ensure the successful fight against the pandemic, is much appreciated,” Roque added. Palace’s reception to Robredo’s recommendations is a study in contrast with Roque’s reaction to her Ulat sa Bayan in 2019, wherein Roque told Robredo and the opposition to open their eyes and ears to see the government’s efforts to fight the pandemic. At that time, Roque said he is no longer expecting the Vice President to say anything positive on how the Duterte administration is handling the pandemic.
Duterte ‘sold out’ to China PH sovereignty, territorial integrity — Del Rosario | Manila Bulletin – Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Wednesday asked the Filipino people not to “stand idly” as he accused President Duterte of stealing and selling out the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity to China. Del Rosario’s statement came two days after Duterte, in his State of the Nation (SONA) address on Monday, maintained that asserting the Arbitral ruling that the Philippines won in 2016 would lead to war with China. “The President, being the chief foreign policy-maker in the country, has sold out our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity to China. We cannot and must not stand idly by as President Duterte steals our nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity to give to China what rightfully belongs to the Filipino people,” he said. Despite the Philippine victory in the arbitration case that legally secured the country’s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, Del Rosario said the President has been enabling China to advance its unlawful interests by casually throwing away the historic ruling “setting it aside and labeling it as garbage”. The former Philippines’ top diplomat said the Filipino people saw a “glimmer of hope” in September last year when Duterte raised the South China Sea issue before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) “However, it was more lip service than anything as there was absolutely no follow-through in terms of the specific steps that need to be taken to enforce the Award,” he added. Del Rosario what the President should have done in making a follow-through of his UNGA speech is to “make use of all available instruments of the international body, including the filing of UNGA resolutions which would allow a general debate or the referral to a particular UN Committee for further discussion. He explained that placing the South China Sea issue under continued deliberation by the international community would be a good avenue in drawing global attention and support for the Award in the West Philippine Sea. The former DFA chief who once served as Philippine ambassador to the United States, the dire effects of Duterte’s actions, especially among ordinary folks like the fishermen. “Our fishermen, for example, are basically cut off from their livelihood as Chinese vessels drive them from our seas. Moreover, Chinese trawlers are wantonly getting the fish in the traditional fishing grounds of Filipinos—probably encouraged by President Duterte’s illegal verbal agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping which allows the Chinese to fish in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
