Robredo accused of 'competing' with gov't efforts against COVID-19
MANILA, Philippines (Update 2: 2:23 p.m.) — The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) is asking the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate Vice President Leni Robredo for actions that they say "compete with" or are "calculated to undermine" the national government's efforts amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) scare.
According to PACC Commissioner Manuelito Luna, the Office of the Vice President’s initiatives such as its free shuttle service, its dorm for health workers and its donation of personal protective equipment for health workers on the frontlines "compete" with the Departments of Health and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), along with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.
Created under the Office of the President by virtue of Executive Order No. 43, the commission is mandated to "directly assist the president in investigating and/or hearing administrative cases primarily involving graft and corruption against all presidential appointees."
It is not clear which initiatives Luna believes compete with the government agencies.
As part of its initiatives in fighting the pandemic, the Office of the Vice President opened four dormitories where frontliners were able to stay in for free.
Furthermore, Robredo's office also earlier rolled out shuttles for health workers who have had a hard time getting to and from their work places.
According to Robredo, her office's drive was also able to raise P40.3 million as of Tuesday, which she said was good for around 90,753 sets of PPEs and other supplies for some 6,050 frontline health workers.
As of 6PM today, we've reached the P40M mark!!! This was made possible by your continued generosity. Maraming, maraming salamat po:heart:
— Leni Robredo (@lenirobredo) March 31, 2020
We've sent PPE sets to Samar Island, and more will make their way to some parts of Visayas and Mindanao starting tomorrow:flag-ph: pic.twitter.com/xfOw9W1ap9
READ: Robredo calls for assistance, alternatives for vulnerable sectors amid quarantine
This comes a day after the NBI asked Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto for an explanation on his “alleged violation of Section 6(a) of the Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. (e.g. continuous tricycle operation).”
The health department on Wednesday distributed its first batch of procured PPEs to hospitals accross Luzon. Robredo also organized a donation drive for similar equipment, though the idea competition was never expressed nor established.
The National Action Plan slated to be implemented by the administration to manage the spread of the new pathogen is reportedly going to follow the structure of the NDRRMC, which is the foremost agency tasked with responding to calamities.
For their part, the DSWD is also in the middle of rolling out aid amounting to P5,000 to P8,000 for vulnerable sectors affected by COVID-19, whom the vice president would often call for more support to be given to in online public addresses.
The chief executive has not been shy about his disdain for the vice president. At the start of 2020, he was quoted as saying he would limit her access to information during her time as co-chair of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs because he did not trust her.
As of this writing, there are currently 2,311 confirmed patients of the new pathogen in the country as of Wednesday afternoon as the death toll rose to 96. Hundreds of new cases have been detected daily since last week owing to enhanced testing capabilities, according to the health department. — Franco Luna
If you believe you have come into possible contact with infected patients, you may be directed to the proper office of the Department of Health for advice through the following lines: (632) 8651-7800 local 1149/1150 or (632) 165-364.
You may also opt to call the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine at (02) 8807-2631/ 8807-2632/ 8807-2637.
Follow this page for updates on a mysterious pneumonia outbreak that has struck dozens of people in China.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says on Sunday that he had contracted COVID-19, testing positive at a key point in his flailing campaign for re-election.
Hipkins saYS on his official social media feed that he would need to isolate for up to five days -- less than two weeks before his country's general election.
The leader of the centre-left Labour Party said he started to experience cold symptoms on Saturday and had cancelled most of his weekend engagements. — AFP
The World Health Organization and US health authorities say Friday they are closely monitoring a new variant of COVID-19, although the potential impact of BA.2.86 is currently unknown.
The WHO classified the new variant as one under surveillance "due to the large number (more than 30) of spike gene mutations it carries", it wrote in a bulletin about the pandemic late Thursday.
So far, the variant has only been detected in Israel, Denmark and the United States. — AFP
The World Health Organization says on Friday that the number of new COVID-19 cases reported worldwide rose by 80% in the last month, days after designating a new "variant of interest".
The WHO declared in May that Covid is no longer a global health emergency, but has warned that the virus will continue to circulate and mutate, causing occasional spikes in infections, hospitalisations and deaths.
In its weekly update, the UN agency said that nations reported nearly 1.5 million new cases from July 10 to August 6, an 80% increase compared to the previous 28 days. — AFP
The head of US intelligence says that there was no evidence that the COVID-19 virus was created in the Chinese government's Wuhan research lab.
In a declassified report, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) says they had no information backing recent claims that three scientists at the lab were some of the very first infected with COVID-19 and may have created the virus themselves.
Drawing on intelligence collected by various member agencies of the US intelligence community (IC), the ODNI report says some scientists at the Wuhan lab had done genetic engineering of coronaviruses similar to COVID-19. — AFP
Boris Johnson deliberately misled MPs over Covid lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street when he was prime minister, a UK parliament committee ruled on Thursday.
The cross-party Privileges Committee said Johnson, 58, would have been suspended as an MP for 90 days for "repeated contempts (of parliament) and for seeking to undermine the parliamentary process".
But he avoided any formal sanction by his peers in the House of Commons by resigning as an MP last week.
In his resignation statement last Friday, Johnson pre-empted publication of the committee's conclusions, claiming a political stitch-up, even though the body has a majority from his own party.
He was unrepentant again on Thursday, accusing the committee of being "anti-democratic... to bring about what is intended to be the final knife-thrust in a protracted political assassination".
Calling it "beneath contempt", he said it was "for the people of this to decide who sits in parliament, not Harriet Harman", the veteran opposition Labour MP who chaired the seven-person committee. — AFP
- Latest
- Trending
