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Good Morning. Here are the stories for The Manila Times for Black Saturday, April 3, 2021.
READ: Daily Covid cases skyrocket to 15,310
The Department of Health (DoH) on Friday recorded its highest total of coronavirus disease cases in 2019 (Covid-19) in a single day, but attributed the sharp increase to the inclusion of delayed reports from testing centers. . Friday’s 15,310 cases brought the overall total to 771,497, the DoH reported. The count included the 3,709 cases that were supposed to be turned over on March 31. The delay was responsible for the low 6,128 cases that day, explained the Undersecretary of Health, María Rosario Vergeire. Vergeire blamed the delay on the problems in the department’s CovidKaya app. The positivity was 20.7 percent, or 7,275 of the 35,143 tests performed. Almost 99 percent of the active cases were mild, moderate, or asymptomatic. The rest were severe or critical. The recovery rate continued to fall to 78.3 percent, or 604,368 recoveries, while 13,320 deaths were recorded. Hospital capacity in the National Capital Region remained low. ICU beds were 78% full, isolation beds 71%, and ward beds 59%. Vaccinations in several cities in Metro Manila were suspended during Holy Week.
READ: Cash or in kind? LGUs can choose the form of help
Local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal can decide whether emergency assistance for locked-in residents will be cash or packaged relief items. The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) gave the LGU the discretion to decide the form of aid.
READ: US pledges to back PH in maritime dispute
The United States has assured the Philippines that the mutual defense treaty they signed in 1951 applies to growing concerns in the South China Sea, where China has been aggressively pursuing its disputed islet and reef claims. Last Thursday, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with Philippine National Security Advisor Hermogenes Esperon Jr. to discuss the concentration of Chinese vessels on the Julian Felipe (Whitsun) reef, which is within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines or EEZ. .
READ: Second Lent under pandemic ends today
Millions of Christians in Covid-19 quarantined areas will mark Black Saturday today, the second time the last day of Lent will be observed in the shadow of the pandemic. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the Standing Committee on Public Affairs of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Philippines (CBCP), said on Friday that due to the closure in Metro Manila and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal, all activities of the church would take place online.
LEE: Gesmundo appointed new president of the Supreme Court
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte appointed Deputy Justice Alexander Gesmundo as the new President of the Supreme Court. The presidential chief legal advisor, Salvador Panelo, said Gesmundo is the president’s choice. Panelo said that the president has already signed Gesmundo’s appointment document, but that the Palace has not yet released the document to the media at the time of its publication. Senior Associate Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe, appointed by former President Benigno Aquino 3rd, and Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando, who was appointed by Duterte in 2018, were the other candidates for the position. Gesmundo will be the successor of the former president of the Supreme Court Diosdado Peralta, who retired on March 27. Gesmundo is the fourth president of the Supreme Court appointed by Duterte. The president previously appointed Teresita Leonardo de Castro and Lucas Bersamin to the highest positions in the judiciary.
READ: DILG executive criticized for Robredo’s spiel
The camp of Vice President María Leonor “Leni” Robredo responded to the Undersecretary of the Interior and Local Government of Epimaco Densing 3rd, qualifying the second senior official of the country as “not essential”. Robredo’s spokesperson, attorney Ibarra Gutiérrez, said in her tweet Thursday that Densing “personifies the [administration’s] Covid Response “.
READ: Phivolcs renews Taal’s warning
WITH the Taal volcano showing persistent seismic activity and gas emissions in recent weeks, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Friday renewed its warning against approaching the volcano, as well as boating around the island. Renato Solidum, head of Phivolcs, said The Manila Times In a telephone conversation, some 269 volcanic earthquakes were recorded, including 219 earthquake episodes with durations of one to 37 minutes, 49 low-frequency earthquakes and one volcanic-tectonic earthquake in the last 24 hours. Solidum also noted that Taal’s sulfur dioxide emission has continued to rise, with some 1,670 tonnes of volcanic gas recently being measured.
LEE: The Department of Justice appoints new chief of operations of the port of BI
The Secretary of the Department of Justice (DoJ), Menardo Guevarra, appointed a new head for the Immigration Port Operations Division (BI-POD) amid new accusations of corruption against immigration airport officials. In an order, Guevarra appointed attorney Carlos Capulong as acting head of the POD, replacing former acting chief Grifton Medina, who was among immigration personnel previously relieved in connection with the controversial “pill scam” exposed by Senator Ana Theresia. Hontiveros during a committee hearing last time year.
BUSINESS: Producer price index drops in February
Topping the business, the Producer Price Index for the manufacturing sector continued to move down by -5.3 percent, the same rate recorded in January 2021, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said. In a report, PSA said in February last year, PPI decreased at an annual rate of -3.0 percent. The slowdown was attributed to declines in the indices of 17 industry groups led by manufacturers of coke and refined petroleum products, which fell 26.4 percent.
SPORTS: Pacquiao Joins Stop Asian Hate Campaign
The great FILIPINO boxer and Senator Manny Pacquiao joined the call to stop the hatred and violence towards Asian Americans in the United States. On Thursday, Pacquiao, whose team is reportedly negotiating with the camp of WBO welterweight champion Terrence Crawford for a June 2021 fight, took to social media to join the #StopAsianHate movement.
READ: Opinion and editorial
Yen Makabenta and Ramon Tulfo are today’s cover columnists. Makabenta discusses the issue of Christopher Columbus’s discovery of America, while Tulfo believes that whatever is endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte is a “kiss of death.”
Today’s editorial disapproves of a longer lockdown amid a spike in Covid-19 cases. Read a full version in the newspaper opinion section or listen to Voice of the Times.
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With Dafort Villaseran, this is the report by Aric John Sy Cua. Have a nice Easter weekend.
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