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(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — Daily COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila may hit as high as 43,000 by the end of September, the Department of Health said Thursday.

“Based on a set of assumptions, daily cases in NCR for September 30 may range from 16,000 to 43,000,” the DOH said in a statement.

The parameters included mobility, healthcare capacities, and the public’s adherence to minimum health protocols, the department added.

The DOH, however, explained that these figures “are used to guide the government” to better prepare for the pandemic response, especially with the threat of the highly contagious Delta variant — now present in all regions in the country.

Coronavirus infections nationwide soared to 2,020,484 Thursday after the DOH reported 16,621 new cases.

Earlier this week, the department also said it is expecting COVID-19 cases to peak by “mid-September.”.. Read More

(Philippines Daily Inquirer) MANILA, Philippines — While “respecting” the decision of families of drug war victims to seek redress from the the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their grievances, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Guillermo Eleazar on Tuesday said the country’s justice system still “works.”

“We respect the decision of the families of persons killed in anti-illegal drug operations in seeking an International Criminal Court investigation,” Eleazar said in a statement.

“But we can assure them that the Philippine justice system works. Proof of this is the conviction of the policemen for the killing of Kian delos Santos and several other court decisions which have caused the dismissal and imprisonment of other PNP personnel,” Eleazar added.

An ICC report showed that most of the victims who had filed representation before the court “overwhelmingly supported” an investigation into alleged “crimes against humanity” in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, with 94 percent of the 204 representations said they wanted the ICC prosecutor to pursue a full-blown investigation.

To recall, former ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had asked the international body to formally investigate the killings being linked into the drug war, which Eleazar said is being addressed through several initiatives of the Philippine government.

“We already made several initiatives to prove that the PNP has no policy of allowing and tolerating all forms of human rights abuses in the conduct of our operations,” he noted… Read More

(GMA News) PDP-Laban president Alfonso Cusi has appealed to Senator Christopher “Bong” Go to reconsider his decision to decline the ruling party’s endorsement for him to seek the presidency in the coming 2022 elections.

In a letter addressed to Go on Monday, Cusi said that while the PDP-Laban National Executive Council understands Go’s position, they are determined to endorse him as PDP-Laban candidate for president in the 2022 national elections.

“We earnestly hope that you will reconsider,” Cusi said.

“We trust and believe in your leadership qualities- which, among others, are humility, sincerity, strong political will, honesty, good sense of justice, and innate goodness and goodwill towards your fellowmen, as exemplified by your Malasakit Centers,” he added.

“These traits that you share with President Rodrigo Duterte make you the logical successor to be our country’s next president,” Cusi said.

Cusi stressed that Go and President Rodrigo Duterte as his runningmate is the “best pair to lead the country forward.”

“Your track record of service, done quietly and without much fanfare, speak for itself,” Cusi said.

The Cusi faction of PDP-Laban had endorsed Duterte to be Go’s runningmate.

Duterte has accepted the endorsement, but according to Malacañang, this was under the perception that his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, will not run for president next year.

Malacañang also said Duterte will honor his promise to ditch his plan to seek the vice presidency in 2022 if ever House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez will run for the same post. Romualdez, however, has yet to express intention to run for vice president in 2022.

Not interested in presidency

Earlier, Go announced that he is declining the endorsement as he wants to devote his time and attention in helping the Filipinos recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said he is honored by the trust and confidence given to him by the ruling party, however, Go, who chairs the Senate health committee, insisted that he is not interested in the presidency.

“I am deeply honored by the trust and confidence of the members of the NEC (National Executive Commission) in my capability to run for the presidency this coming 2022 elections. For a simple man who hails from a city in the South, the endorsement alone by esteemed members and officers of the NEC is a great personal honor for me,” Go said.

“As much as I wish to respond to the clamor of many of our partymates, I most respectfully decline the said endorsement. As I have said many times before, I am not interested in the presidency,” he added… Read More

(businessWorld) SENATOR Emmanuel “Manny” D. Pacquiao, Sr. will independently run for President next year if he loses control of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), a party official said on Monday.

The boxing champion was unlikely to join another political party, Ronwald F. Munsayac, executive director of the PDP-Laban faction loyal to Mr. Pacquiao, told an online news briefing.

Rival parties are said to be willing to take the senator in, but he would only “accept their support, not join them,” he added.

The boxing champ did not immediately reply to a text message seeking comment.

But Jake Joson, a long-time special assistant and business partner of Mr. Pacquiao, said Mr. Munsayac should not tell him what to do. He added that the senator is considered by rival parties as a “big asset.”

“The filing of certificates of candidacy is still in October,” he said. “Many changes can still happen.”

The faction led by Mr. Pacquiao on Sunday ousted President Rodrigo Duterte as chairman, replacing him with Senator Aquilino L. Pimentel III. The President had supported the faction led by Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon described the controversy involving overpriced COVID-19 medical supplies from a company without sufficient credentials as a “deliberate plan to plunder” public coffers, with a mysterious backer who is yet to be revealed.

Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source on Monday, Drilon lamented the involvement of former Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, who awarded an ₱8.68 billion deal to Pharmally Pharmaceuticals Corp. to procure personal protective equipment and testing kits that were later found to be overpriced.

“I was saying, this did not happen by accident,” Drilon said. “There was a deliberate plan to plunder the coffers to the tune of what we’re talking about. All the indications are there.”

“What we are looking for now is the missing link,” he added, “and the identification of who the backer is of Usec. Lao and Pharmally to be able to get into this kind of monumental graft we are talking about.”.. Read More

(The Manila Times) The number of Filipinos who continue to practice minimum health protocols to protect themselves from Covid-19 infection has dwindled, a survey conducted by Octa Research revealed.

The July 2021 Tugon ng Masa survey showed that majority of those polled -89 percent- said that they wear face masks.

Meanwhile, 85 percent said that they regularly wash their hands with water and soap or disinfect using alcohol.

Additionally, 70 percent said that they use face shields, and 64 percent said that they observe physical distancing.

“However, the percentage of adult Filipinos practicing either of these four measures decreased in the past month, with a face shield having the highest fall of 11 percent,” OCTA said in a statement.

This was followed by a decrease of 5, 3, and 2 percent in regular handwashing, observing physical distancing, and using face masks, respectively.

Moreover, 80 percent of Filipinos approve of the national government’s response to prevent the spread of Covid-19, with 30 percent reporting that they truly approve and 50 percent said that they somewhat approve.

OCTA conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents aged 18 years and above from July 12 to 18, 2021. The results of the survey have a ±3 margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level… Read More

(The Manila Times) THE Philippines sent two more cube satellites (CubeSats) – Maya-3 and Maya-4 – to the International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday.

The CubeSats left Earth aboard Space X Falcon 9 rocket in a Dragon C208 cargo as part of Space X Commercial Resupply Mission-23.

“In addition to approximately 1,000 kilograms of science experiments riding aboard the spacecraft, the crew can look forward to assortments of cheese, ice cream, and veggies,” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said on Facebook.

Dragon will arrive at the ISS on Monday.

The initial launch was set on Saturday but was postponed because of the bad weather in Florida, United States.

Maya-3 and Maya-4 were the first university-built satellites in the country. Each weighs 1.15 kilogram and measured 10 centimeters (cm) by 10 cm by 11.35 cm at stowed state with RGB camera and Near-Infrared (NIR) camera to capture images for general visual assessment of landmass and bodies of water… Read More

(CNN Philippines) Metro Manila — The country posted 18,528 new COVID-19 infections on Sunday, the second biggest one-day jump in cases.

The highest-ever was recorded just a day before, Aug. 28, when new cases surged to 19,441.

The total count is now at 1,954,023, of which 143,221 or 7.3% are active cases, the Department of Health reported.

Of the currently sick, 95.3% exhibit mild symptoms, 2% are asymptomatic, 1% are moderate cases, 1.1% are severe, and 0.6% are critical.

The DOH also announced 101 new fatalities, including 38 cases previously tagged as recoveries. This raised the death toll to 33,109.

Meanwhile, the number of survivors reached 1,777,693 after 17,922 more were confirmed.

The department said data from seven testing laboratories which failed to submit reports on time were not part of the count. These facilities contributed around 2.7% of all samples tested and 2.1% of positive cases over the past two weeks.

The DOH also deleted 205 duplicates, including 204 recoveries, after final validation.

The daily positivity rate continued to increase and stood at 27.9% based on the 66,225 tests reported on Aug. 27. This meant at least 1 in 4 people who had themselves tested the same day was found positive for the coronavirus.

According to U.S. nonprofit Covid Act Now, a positivity rate is at critical level if it is above 20%. This suggests testing efforts are inadequate and that there are likely more infected individuals who have gone undetected. The group also said an area has sufficient testing if its positivity rate is below 3%.

The DOH warned that new cases may continue to rise in the following days, as it stressed the importance of compliance with health protocols. A few hours before, it confirmed 711 new cases of four coronavirus variants, including over 500 of the highly contagious Delta variant… Read More