News Roundup 29 January 2021
Jan 29, 2021 • 4 min Read
Philippines logs 1,849 new cases as COVID-19 tally rises past 521,000 | PHILSTAR.COM – The Department of Health reported that 1,849 more people got infected with COVID-19, pushing the country’s caseload to 521,413 Friday. The latest figures showed that of the total cases, 35,048 or 6.7% are active. At least 475,765 individuals have recovered from COVID-19 in the Philippines after the DOH recorded 177 additional recoveries. Meanwhile, the death toll reached 10,600 with 48 more patients succumbing to the respiratory illness.
Callamard hopeful ICC will seek investigation into ‘drug war’ killings | PHILSTAR.COM – A United Nations expert on extrajudicial executions is pinning her hopes on the International Criminal Court, which is finalizing its decision on opening a formal investigation into the alleged crimes against humanity linked with the “war on drugs.” “I am placing now a lot of hope in the ICC,” Agnes Callamard, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary killings, said in a forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines Friday. “Hopefully, they will determine that the only option left as part of the ICC mandate is to undertake a formal investigation.” Callamard said the preliminary examination into the alleged extrajudicial killings in the government’s anti-drug crackdown should proceed to the next stage if the ICC prosecutor will act on the “basis of principles only rather than tactical consideration.” A preliminary examination determines if an alleged crime falls with The Hague-based tribunal’s jurisdiction and if a full-blown investigation is needed. In a report last December, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said there is “reasonable basis to believe” that crimes against humanity were committed in the government’s anti-narcotics campaign. Bensouda said her office’s decision on whether it would seek authorization to open a formal investigation will be out in the first half of this year.
SC rejects Calida plea; ATA oral arguments to push through on Feb. 2 | INQUIRER.NET – Oral arguments on petitions against the Anti-Terror Act (ATA) will push through on February 2, the Supreme Court (SC) has said, after it denied the bid of Solicitor General Jose Calida to have it canceled over Covid-19 fears. In its resolution dated January 19, the SC said it “resolved to proceed with the oral arguments on February 2, 2021 and defer action on the prayers for injunctive reliefs until after the termination thereof.” It also resolved to “deny the supplement to the urgent partial motion for reconsideration…filed by the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) praying that the Court…cancel the scheduled oral arguments and allow the parties to argue on the issues through the submission of memoranda.” A portion of OSG’s motion to the SC reads: “This Honorable Court is invited to go beyond the biological impact of Covid-19 on the affected Assistant Solicitors General, but on the psychological trauma which Covid-19 wrenches on the other solicitors preparing for the Oral Argument as well.” Before this, the high court also canceled the Jan. 19 oral arguments on the 37 petitions questioning the constitutionality of the ATA upon the request of Calida, who said his assistant solicitor-general and some staff who would attend the debate have tested positive for Covid-19. The Anti-Terror Act is considered the most highly contested issue since the Cybercrime Prevention Act, having 37 petitions that are pending before the Supreme Court.
Ensure food supply for hungry Filipinos, Recto urges gov’t | Manila Bulletin – If the GDP report card is bad, the GNP is worse, President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said on Friday, referring to the number of Gutom na Pilipino (hungry Filipinos). With the current situation, Recto said that the government should focus on ensuring food supply in the Philippines to address the decline in the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said on Friday. Recto, a former socioeconomic planning secretary, issued the call after the country recorded a 9.5 percent negative growth in its gross domestic product (GDP) for 2020, its worst economic performance since 1947. “First, focus on food. If the GDP report card is bad, the GNP – the number of Gutom na Pilipino – is worse,” he said. He further explained: “Mahalaga ang pagkain (Food is important), because Filipino families on the average spend 43 percent of their income on food. But the bottom 30 percent, or about 7.42 million families, allot almost 60 percent of their income on food.” “If the daily minimum wage won’t be enough to buy a pot of chicken tinola, then hunger becomes COVID’s deadliest side effect,” he pointed out.
