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Robredo camp tells Duterte:
'Why be insecure if you have a 91 percent approval rating?' MANILA (Mabuhay) — The camp of Vice President Leni Robredo on Thursday dismissed allegations they were behind the hashtags critical of President Rodrigo Duterte in the wake of successive typhoons that hit the country. Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez said they don’t have the time and energy to engage in such social media campaign given the “more important concerns” they need to address. “Instead of talking about what needs to be done in order to rebuild the lives of all those affected by the typhoon, all those affected by flooding, here we are spending so much time talking about hashtags, talking about who said what, talking about all these things, and to be very clear, we are not interested in this,” he said. Gutierrez said hashtags such as #NasaanAngPangulo were organic amid public clamor for Duterte’s presence in typhoon-ravaged areas. Gutierrez also said the hashtag against Duterte was nothing compared to the campaigns of his supporters against the vice president. "Come on, the President complaining about the hashtag when for 4 years the Vice President has been continuously blasted by a never-ending barrage of fake news, of online abuse. Her daughters been subjected to rape threats. The baseless insinuations,
DUTERTE completely false of course, about her personal life have been made. And you know, she just shuts it off. It’s something that comes with the territory.” He also denounced Duterte’s camp for subjecting Robredo to a witch hunt, in a time where relief efforts should be the main focus of the government. “Why be insecure if you have 91 percent approval rating,” Gutierrez said, referring to a September 2020 Pulse Asia survey where majority of Filipinos approved Duterte’s performance despite the government's heavily-criticized COVID-19 pandemic response. He added, “If they really believed
NDRRMC says at least 10B damage in agri, infra due to Ulysses MANILA (Mabuhay) — The National Disaster Risk Reduction on Management Council (NDRRMC) on Thursday said damage to infrastructure brought by Typhoon Ulysses has increased to P6.1 billion. NDRRMC spokesman Peter Paul Galvez also said damage to agriculture already rose to around P4 billion after the typhoon pounded several provinces in Luzon last week. "We have reached now a damage assessment worth now P4 billion for agriculture and P6.1 billion in infrastructure damage assessment," Galvez said at a press briefing. He also said a total of 65,222 residences have been destroyed by Ulysses. "Most of the damaged houses are in Bulacan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija and Pampanga. Both 'yung totally and partially destroyed houses... Bulacan kasi as of today, the current count is 2,655 totally damaged houses," Galvez said. The NDRRMC official said the number of deaths has remained at 73 while those injured were 24. Nineteen people are still missing, six of which are from Region II, two from Calabarzon, eight from Region V, and three from Metro Manila. "We hope that these people are found as soon as possible, baka naman hindi lang sila nakapagsabi. We hope it's something like that," Galvez said. Galvez also said there are pledges from other countries to help typhoon victims. He did not elaborate. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said the Department of Foreign Affairs would still process foreign assistance before it would be turned over to the Office of Civil Defense. (MNS)
ROBREDO that they did everything right, in other words there's really no call for the public to criticize them, if he really believed he had a valid reason for not going and despite the fact that he was in the ASEAN, they did all they could to give correct, timely information to the people affected by the typhoons and the flooding, and to bring help in a timely manner to all these places where the flooding occurred, then I don't see what the big deal is.” Gutierrez slammed chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo “for creating this entire storyline,” which he said was based on a lie. “Let's call spade a spade. It was
false. It was a lie. It was completely untrue but he makes no apology for trying to link the vice president in this entire brouhaha,” he said. “Despite the fact that they have been caught red-handed in a lie, they refused to actually acknowledge and take responsibility for it. “If there is anybody who has to explain further here, it has to be Secretary Panelo and the other people feeding [wrong information] to the President.” Panelo has apologized to the vice president for claiming that she was free-riding on the government's relief effort for victims of Typhoon Ulysses. But Gutierrez rejected Panelo’s apology as “sorry not sorry.” Despite Duterte’s tirade against Robredo, Gutierrez said the Vice President was focused on doing the essential work and maintained she was not competing with anyone. “The Vice President is clearly more interested in doing the work that needs to be done. If somebody else wants to take credit for what she has done, fine. If somebody wants to say, ‘We did more,’ fine. It’s not an issue,” he said. “This is not a competition. It is not a contest. There are enough people who need help and anybody who can contribute to that effort is welcome to do so.” (MNS)
Philippines signs accord with ASEAN countries on addressing non-tariff measures amid COVID-19 MANILA (Mabuhay) — The Philippines, through the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), signed an accord with its fellow members in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the implementation of non-tariff measures to improve the flow of essential goods in the region amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement Thursday, the DTI said Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, together with the economic ministers of the ASEAN, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the implementation of Non-Tariff Measures (NTM) on Essential Goods under the Ha Noi Plan of Action on Strengthening ASEAN Economic Cooperation and Supply Chain Connectivity in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic at the sidelines of the 19th ASEAN Economic Community Council Meeting held on November 10, 2020. The initiative stemmed from a decision made by ASEAN Economic Ministers in August 2020 to put in place a more focused and targeted work program to address NTMs, particularly on essential goods. The MOU is part of ASEAN’s concrete initiatives in response to COVID-19 to ensure the smooth flow of essential goods associated with combating the pandemic, according to the DTI. It also seeks to facilitate timely information sharing among Member States on trade-related measures on these essential goods and supplies. The accord further calls on the ASEAN member-states (AMS) to refrain from introducing or maintaining trade restrictive measures on essential goods, except for instances wherein there is a public health emergency. Any measure that one AMS deems necessary to implement must be in conformity with AMS rights and obligations under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement and the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA). The provisions of the MOU only apply to the ASEAN List of Essential Goods, which currently cover 152 tariff lines of medicines, and medical supplies and equipment. “This action is a clear manifestation of ASEAN’s shared commitment in keeping markets open, en-
sure the unhampered flow of essential goods, and show economic resiliency amid COVID-19. We also see this as a positive development that will help the Philippine business community in trading with the region,” Lopez said. Lopez said the signing of the MOU is a significant step forward for ASEAN as some Member States implemented export bans and other stringent measures in the early months of the pandemic that resulted to supply shortages of medicines and medical supplies in the region. With the MOU in place, such actions are expected to be lessened, according to the Trade chief. Recognizing the importance of addressing NTMs across all sectors, the ASEAN will also be looking into the possible expansion of the ASEAN List of Essential Goods to include other essential items, such as food and agricultural products. The MOU forms part of the ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework (ACRF), which serves as the consolidated exit strategy of the region from the COVID-19 crisis. It articulates the ASEAN response through different stages of recovery. It focuses on key sectors and segments of society that are most affected by the pandemic, as well as sets broad strategies and identifies measures for recovery in line with sectoral and regional priorities. To implement the ACRF, an Implementation Plan was also developed by the ASEAN Secretariat, under the purview of the ASEAN Coordinating Committee Working Group – Public Health Emergency (ACCWG-PHE). (MNS)
