DUTERTE ON 35th EDSA ANNIVERSARY URGES FILIPINOS TO 'SET ASIDE DIFFERENCES'
MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday urged Filipinos to "set aside our differences" as he marked the 35th anniversary of the peaceful EDSA Revolution.
The People Power revolution that overthrew the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was "inspired by the valor of those whose sacrifice made the liberties we enjoy today possible," Duterte said.
"As we contemplate the relevance of this occasion, let us proceed with renewed hope and optimism towards the realization of our shared aspirations for our nation. May this serve as a constant reminder for all of us to remain vigilant in safeguarding our democratic institutions, preserving our values, and upholding our rights as Filipinos," said the President.
"Guided by the spirit of EDSA, let us set aside our differences and work together in building a legacy that we can proudly leave behind for future generations of Filipinos," he added in a statement.
The peaceful 1986 uprising installed the late former President Corazon Aquino to the presidency.
The current administration has often lambasted the "dilawans" or "yellows", a color associated with the EDSA Revolution and Duterte's predecessor Benigno Aquino III, the only son of People Power icons Corazon Aquino and slain former Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.
Duterte has expressed admiration on several occasions for Marcos, whose burial at the Heroes' Cemetery he ordered.
The President has failed to attend the official commemorative ceremony of the EDSA Revolution at the People Power Monument in Quezon City for 4 years, from 2017 to 2020.
His spokesman Harry Roque said on Wednesday he was not sure if the President had planned activities for the People Power anniversary this year.
DUTERTE SAYS HE WANTS TO 'HEAR THE PEOPLE' REGARDING WHAT TO DO WITH VFA
MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte said on Wednesday he wanted to "hear the people" on what he should do with the Philippines' Visiting Forces Agreement with the US.
Duterte said he has "not yet decided on what to do, meaning to say to abrogate or renew" the VFA, which allows the presence of US military forces in the Philippines in a visiting capacity. Earlier this month, the President told Washington to "pay," without specifying what, if it wanted to keep the pact.
"I want to hear the people. I want the narratives to come up... hindi limitado dito sa (not limited to the) Congress. Ang ordinaryong mamamayan can have a say," Duterte said in a televised speech.
Through government complaint hotline 8888, the public can "enter your objections or any comment that you think would help the country."
US military aid to the Philippines amounts to "loose change" compared to other Asian countries, Duterte's spokesman Harry Roque earlier said.
VP ROBREDO URGES FILIPINOS TO UNITE VS PANDEMIC, 'CONSTANT THREAT' ON DEMOCRACY
MANILA - Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday urged Filipinos to unite against the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the "constant threat" on the country's democracy as the Philippines commemorated the 35th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution.
Robredo, who recently won the election protest filed against her by the son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, warned against "efforts to revise history for the personal agenda of a powerful few."
"The challenge now is this: We must find within ourselves that strength, that faith, that fire to continue the work that remains to be done. And in doing so, we must find a way to walk forward together," she said in a statement.
"Ito ang pinakamahalagang aral ng EDSA, at ito rin mismo ang kailangan natin para malagpasan ang mga hamon ng pandemya at ng kasalukuyang panahon: Na ang sagot sa mga suliranin natin, hindi iisa, kundi bawat isa."
The Filipino people are still in the "process of forging the nation we dreamt of, and fought for, on EDSA," Robredo said.
"Today, 35 years after, we renew our faith in this fundamental truth of EDSA: That our people, standing united, can never be defeated. We affirm this truth, even as we acknowledge that the promise of EDSA has not yet been completely fulfilled," she said.
"Today, we are reminded of what we can do, marching towards a shared horizon, bound not only by the crisis we face, but by our collective resolve to truly achieve the promise articulated 35 years ago—isang lipunang mas malaya, mas makatarungan, at mas makatao (a more free, just, and humane society)."
She added, "At dahil magkakasama tayo sa adhikaing ito, buo ang loob ko: Kayang-kaya nating abutin, kahit ang pinakamatatayog nating mga pangarap."
IN BOOST FOR COVID-19 BATTLE, PFIZER VACCINE FOUND 94% EFFECTIVE IN REAL WORLD
JERUSALEM - The first big real-world study of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to be independently reviewed shows the shot is highly effective at preventing COVID-19, in a potentially landmark moment for countries desperate to end lockdowns and reopen economies.
Up until now, most data on the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines has come under controlled conditions in clinical trials, leaving an element of uncertainty over how results would translate into the real world with its unpredictable variables.
The research in Israel - two months into one of the world's fastest rollouts, providing a rich source of data - showed two doses of the Pfizer shot cut symptomatic COVID-19 cases by 94% across all age groups, and severe illnesses by nearly as much.
ONLY 19 PERCENT OF ADULT FILIPINOS WILLING TO BE VACCINATED VS COVID-19: SURVEY
MANILA — Only 19% of adult Filipinos in a survey by OCTA Research said they are inclined to get COVID-19 vaccines while nearly half are not willing to get inoculated even if a safe and effective vaccine becomes available.
The Tugon ng Masa survey of 1,200 respondents found that 46% will opt out as the country awaits the arrival of the critical goods. Thirty-five percent or, roughly a third, are undecided if they will get immunized.
Intent to get vaccinated was lowest among those in Balance Luzon (14%). A quarter of Filipinos in Metro Manila (25%) and Mindanao (26%) and a fifth in Visayas (20%) said they will have themselves vaccinated.
among those in Balance Luzon (14%). A quarter of Filipinos in Metro Manila (25%) and Mindanao (26%) and a fifth in Visayas (20%) said they will have themselves vaccinated.
Inclination to get vaccinated among Class D (18%) is slightly lower than those of Class ABC and Class E, both at 23%.
A survey released by Pulse Asia in January had the same result: 47% are unwilling to be vaccinated.
The government faces the difficult task of conducting a COVID-19 vaccination campaign as it re-establishes trust in immunization two years after the Dengvaxia controversy. This was highly policitized despite the lack of conclusive evidence that the vaccine developed by French firm Sanofi Pasteur caused the deaths of children inoculated with it during the previous administration.
VACCINES FROM US TOP CHOICE OF FILIPINOS
The survey also found that vaccines developed by American drugmakers are the preferred choice of Filipinos at 41%, followed by those coming from the United Kingdom (25%) and India (17%).
The country is set to receive 117,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by US pharmaceutical firm Pfizer with reported efficacy rate of 70% through the COVAX facility. The shipment will benefit healthcare workers.
Officials have yet to strike a deal with Moderna, another American firm, whose COVID-19 jab is found to be 94.1% effective.
Meanwhile, only 13% of the respondents trust China-made vaccines.
ENVOY: UK WON’T ACCEPT ‘NURSE FOR VACCINE’ PROPOSAL
MANILA — The United Kingdom has no plans to link the Philippines’ procurement of COVID vaccines to the deployment of Filipino nurses and other health care workers (HCWs) to the UK.
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is proposing to deploy more nurses to the UK and Germany in exchange for their providing the Philippines with some 600,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
“We’ve got no plans to link vaccines with those conversations around the recruitment of nurses,” UK Ambassador Daniel Pruce told journalists at a virtual press briefing yesterday.
“You know, those two strands of conversation I think continue, but as I’ve said again, we have no plans to link those two issues,” Pruce said.
Pruce confirmed that the proposal was raised by Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III during their conversation a few weeks ago, but declined to give details.
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RETAILERS, HOTELS PUSH FOR SHIFT TO MGCQ SOON
gement Association of the Philippines (MAP)’s webinar yesterday, various groups reiterated their call to relax the quarantines and allow more people to have a source of livelihood.
“We want the economy, not only hotel and restaurant industry, to open up, but all types of businesses to open up because the more people have jobs, the more the economy opens, the more people would take tourism. You need money of course and resources to visit these destinations,” Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines (HRAP) president Eugene Yap said.
“Definitely, the only way forward is really for us to reopen our economy. We are least performing among our neighboring countries. This is a worldwide phenomenon, even big economies (are affected). But what we are seeing here is we are too restrictive with our lockdowns,” Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) president Rosemarie Ong said.
“There is a high level of consciousness among our people already in terms of the safety protocols, health protocols that need to be done and we can continue doing all of that in an MGCQ, in a more relaxed level. But the other benefits of a more relaxed level will help in reviving and reopening the economy. I am supportive of moving to a more relaxed level of quarantine,” Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) chairperson Lito Tayag said
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said it would clarify if some rules enforced by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) would still be in effect amid differing opinions and even protests against some of them.
SOME HEALTH WORKERS YET TO RECEIVE HAZARD PAY, BENEFITS: GROUP
MANILA - Some Filipino health care workers have yet to receive their hazard pay and other benefits for battling COVID-19 in the frontlines, a group of nurses said Thursday.
The Department of Health had in December extended the deadline set for health workers applying for COVID-19 hazard pay. Some medical frontliners only received their benefits on January 29, said Maristela Abenojar, national president of Filipino Nurses United.
Some 16,467 health workers have yet to receive their benefits as of November, Abenojar said, citing data from the DOH during a Senate hearing.
"Out of 16,000 plus, ilan na ang aktuwal na nabigyan? Until today meron kaming natatanggap na reports mula sa iba't ibang ospital na nagsasabing wala pa 'yung kanilang active hazard duty pay despite the fact na na-submit na nila 'yung requirements, lalo na ito sa private," she told ANC's Headstart.
COPS VS PDEA: SHOOTOUT NEAR MALL LEAVES 2 DEAD
MANILA — Two policemen were killed in an encounter last night between members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) in front of the Ever Gotesco mall along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.
The gunfight erupted near a fastfood restaurant shortly before 6 p.m. and lasted for almost an hour, reports said. Bystanders scampered into different directions as gunshots rang out.
An initial police report said three police officers from the QCPD Special Operations Unit, identified as Lt. Ronnie Ereno and Corporals Lauro de Guzman and Calvin Eric Garado, and two PDEA agents were wounded in the incident.
Investigation showed the police were conducting a drug sting, unaware that the persons they were transacting with were PDEA agents.
During the confrontation, the PDEA agents reportedly opened fire and shot the policemen which triggered a shootout which lasted for almost an hour.
The policemen claimed the operation was properly coordinated with PDEA and had the necessary documents.
PNP chief Gen. Debold Sinas and PDEA director general Wilkins Villanueva arrived at the scene to supervise the investigation.
The PNP and PDEA formed a board of inquiry to probe the incident, a police official said.
PNP FAILED TO FOLLOW PROTOCOLS IN MANY DRUG OPERATIONS, GUEVARRA TELLS UN RIGHTS BODY
MANILA — Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday told members of the UN Human Rights Council that police failed to follow protocols in many anti-drug operations, according to initial findings of a review led by his department.
The assessment by President Rodrigo Duterte's justice chief was based on a review that the Department of Justice led into "drug war" deaths. He said earlier this month that the findings were "not so flattering" for the police.
At a high-level meeting of the UNHRC, Guevarra said initial findings showed that weapons allegedly recovered from those killed in the operations were not examined to check the police narrative that the "drug personalities" sought to resist arrest or that they fought back.
"No verification of its ownership was taken [and] no request for ballistic examination or paraffin test was pursued until its completion," he said.
"In more than half of the records reviewed, the law enforcement agents involved failed to follow standard protocols pertaining to coordination with other agencies and the processing of the crime scene."
Guevarra said the cases of "drug war" deaths that were reviewed were from Bulacan, Pampanga and Cavite provinces, as well as from parts of Metro Manila, which he said were the areas "with the highest number of incidents."
He also told the UNHRC that Philippine National Police leadership had already been informed of the findings, and administrative and criminal charges were already recommended against "scores of police officers" found to have violated protocols.
ENTERTAINMENT & LIFESTYLE
‘I WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING,’ JULIA BARRETTO SAYS OF 2019 CONTROVERSY
MANILA — Nearly two years since she was embroiled in a controversy involving her then-fellow Star Magic artists Gerald Anderson and Bea Alonzo, Julia Barretto has now learned to navigate “judgment” from the public eye.
Barretto, 23, opened up about being the target of criticisms and being “misjudged” in the latest vlog of her sister, Dani Barretto, where the latter interviewed the actress.
“I feel I’ve learned to compartmentalize things: what matters and what doesn’t matter,” Barretto said, when asked how she deals with being misjudged.
“If we’re talking about judgment from people that have no significant role in my life, it really doesn’t bother me. Because, ‘What do you know in the first place?’” she explained.
She added: “If we’re talking about judgment from people in my life, I’m just glad I’ve become more picky with who I want to be in my life. Because now I know that the judgment are always constructive and are always out of concern, or to just help me become a better person or to guide me.”
In the biggest controversy to beset her career, Barretto was accused as the third party in the separation of Alonzo and Anderson in July 2019. Barretto also happened to be fresh out of a relationship then, having separated from her onscreen partner Joshua Garcia in June. At the time, Anderson and Barretto had just released their first co-starring film, the Japan-set “Between Maybes,” in May.
Barretto and Anderson denied, in separate interviews, being romantically involved.
Since then, rumors linking them have only persisted and appear to now have concrete basis, with sightings of Barretto and Anderson at the same location, aside from their separate but aligned pronouncements of being “happy” and “in love,” and hoping to have a family of their own in the near future.
Despite the 2019 controversy admittedly being a “exhausting and painful” chapter for Barretto, the actress “wouldn’t change anything” about what transpired.
Barretto was answering what she would tell her younger self, when she mentioned the topic.
“Even what I went through two years ago, I wouldn’t change a thing. It was such an eye-opener, and it revealed a lot of things to me that I need in my life,” she said.
Sharing her message to her teenage self, prior to the intrigues and scandals that would test her character, Barretto said: “I’ll just tell her to keep going, really. I really wouldn’t change a thing. I don’t mind going through it all again. Just keep going, it’s just that simple. Tunnel vision. Focus on the goal.”
SPORTS
NBA SCORES FEB 23
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Hawks 13-18 27 28 29 27 111
Cavaliers 11-21 28 30 26 28 112
SCORING LEADERS
T. Young ATL
28 PTS, 7 REB, 12 AST
C. Sexton CLE
29 PTS, 1 REB, 5 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Pistons 9-22 34 19 26 26 105
Magic 13-19 24 27 14 28 93
SCORING LEADERS
S. Lee DET
21 PTS, 3 REB, 4 AST
N. Vucevic ORL
20 PTS, 9 REB, 4 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Kings 12-19 28 38 30 22 118
Nets 21-12 42 30 26 29 127
SCORING LEADERS
D. Fox SAC
27 PTS, 1 REB, 8 AST
B. Brown BKN
29 PTS, 4 REB, 2 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Celtics 15-16 31 25 20 31 107
Mavericks 15-15 34 21 25 30 110
SCORING LEADERS
J. Brown BOS
29 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST
L. Doncic DAL
31 PTS, 10 REB, 8 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
76ers 21-11 37 18 24 30 109
Raptors 16-16 18 24 23 37 102
SCORING LEADERS
T. Harris PHI
23 PTS, 7 REB, 5 AST
N. Powell TOR
24 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Warriors 17-15 36 19 39 20 114
Knicks 15-17 31 28 26 21 106
SCORING LEADERS
S. Curry GS
37 PTS, 6 REB, 6 AST
J. Randle NY
25 PTS, 10 REB, 7 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Timberwolves 7-25 36 26 27 23 112
Bucks 19-13 38 41 34 26 139
SCORING LEADERS
M. Beasley MIN
26 PTS, 1 REB, 4 AST
G. Antetokounmpo MIL
37 PTS, 8 REB, 8 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Trail Blazers 18-13 25 32 21 28 106
Nuggets 17-14 34 23 21 33 111
SCORING LEADERS
D. Lillard POR
25 PTS, 7 REB, 13 AST
N. Jokic DEN
41 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST
FINAL
1 2 3 4 T
Wizards 11-18 20 35 39 22 116
Clippers 23-10 36 36 27 36 135
SCORING LEADERS
B. Beal WAS
28 PTS, 4 REB, 10 AST
K. Leonard LAC
32 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST
INDICATORS
FOREX $1 = P 48.60
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest. - Maya Angelou
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