News Roundup 31 July 2021
Jul 31, 2021 • 5 min Read
Philippines logs over 8,000 coronavirus infections for 2nd day in a row | PHILSTAR.COM – Local health authorities on Saturday reported 8,147 more COVID-19 infections, bringing the national caseload to 1,588,965. The Department of Health said two laboratories failed to submit testing results on time.
- Active cases: 60,887 or 3.8% of the total
- Recoveries: 9,117, pushing total to 1,500,189
- Deaths: 167, bringing total to 27,889
Partido Reporma eyes coalition with 1Sambayan | PHILSTAR.COM – The Partido Reporma, now led by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, is open to an alliance with opposition group 1Sambayan. Party president and former House speaker Pantaleon Alvarez bared they are pursuing a unified alliance to support a common slate against the candidates to be fielded by the administration.?He revealed this following their meeting with Vice President Leni Robredo, who is among those being eyed as standard bearer of 1Sambayan. “Possible,” the Davao del Norte congressman said on One News’ “The Chiefs” last Thursday night when asked about a possible alliance between the two groups. “That’s what we’re working on now – to hopefully have a unified alliance with others who will run for president. Our door is open for alliances with other parties,” he stressed. “We hope that the candidate we support will stand firm for our country, not for US or for China,” Alvarez pointed out. Alvarez further revealed that their party is likewise open to welcoming Sen. Manny Pacquiao, who is currently embroiled in a leadership dispute in the ruling PDP-Laban. “Why not? You know people love him (Pacquiao),” the lawmaker said when asked about this possibility. Alvarez clarified that Partido Reporma should not be classified as opposition. “We don’t want to consider ourselves opposition because that will just be divisive… Our group is pro-Filipino,” he pointed out. “We believe in the tandem of Sen. Lacson and Sen. (Vicente) Sotto, that they can deliver the right solutions to the problems facing our country. We’re convinced that they have the capability to lead our nation. So far, the people are receiving them well. We’ve been receiving a lot of support,” Alvarez said. Alvarez said that while their party, founded by former defense secretary Renato de Villa, has just been revived, it continues to grow as new members have been recruited since January. He said they already have a complete senatorial slate for the 2022 polls.
DOH: Experts fear NCR COVID-19 case increase by September despite lockdown | INQUIRER.NET – Despite stricter quarantine protocols, active COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila are expected to increase to 18,000 to 20,000 by September, based on the projection of independent experts, the Department of Health (DOH) said Saturday. Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said this was the projection of experts or “modelers” who analyzed the current data on COVID-19 infection in the metropolis. As of July 30, Metro Manila has 12,108 active cases, according to the DOH’s COVID-19 tracker. She said this was the scenario projected by experts if Metro Manila is placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions for one week and enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) for three weeks. There is also one scenario where there were four weeks of “hard lockdown,” she added. “Dito sa mga scenario nakakita ng increase in the number of cases from 18,000 to 30,0000 number of cases. ‘Yan ay naka-ECQ na tayo,” she said in a televised public briefing. She later issued a clarification that the jump to 18,000 to 30,000 active cases are expected by September even with restrictions implemented in August. “Ang sinasabi lang natin, these lockdowns will help us prepare the system, but it is not going to control the spread,” she said. “Kailangan pa rin natin iprepara ang sistema, gawin natin ‘yung mga dapat nating gawin para ma-prevent ang further spread ng Delta variant na ito,” she added. (We need to prepare the system, do whatever is necessary to prevent the spread of the Delta variant.) She, however, noted that these figures are initial projections of the health department and experts.
Urban poor groups to launch pro-Leni coalition | Manila Bulletin – Organizations in the urban poor and social housing sector are set to launch “LENI Urban Poor” (LENI UP) coalition of federations and movements of community associations in support of Vice President Leni Robredo’s bid for the presidency. In a statement, the group, comprised of more than 500 member-families of community associations from resettlement sites of the National Housing Authority (NHA), will formally launch the coalition on Monday, August 2. In its manifesto, LENI UP wrote that of the political leaders, Robredo had the clearest understanding of the problems of the common people. “She is most determined in responding to them. Hence, we directly and explicitly declare that Leni should run for President and be President of the country,” it said. Alice Murphy, an organizing leader of LENI UP, said the group supports the Vice President’s efforts to build broad opposition unity. “Only Leni has a clear understanding of the political situation, which is based on reality, not on illusions,” she said. “We agree with Leni that more than anything, it is important to build a united opposition with only one presidential candidate. Like Leni, we believe this is the only way for democratic forces to succeed,” she added. The group said signatures to the manifesto from 1,000 community leaders were still being gathered as of Saturday, July 31. Aside from various federations and movements of more than 500 urban poor community associations, non-government organizations concerned with social housing also form part of the LENI UP coalition.
