PHILIPPINE President Rodrigo R. Duterte remains fit and healthy for his age, the presidential palace said on Thursday, a day after the 76-year-old leader canceled his events this week event amid a fresh surge in coronavirus infections.
“We thank the Filipino people for voicing their concern and wishing the chief executive’s strength and good health during this time of COVID-19 pandemic as he continues to discharge his functions as head of the government,” his spokesman Herminio L. Roque, Jr. said in a statement.
Mr. Duterte’s regular address was canceled twice this week “in light of the rising number of active coronavirus cases.”
Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)
(MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
This was the plea aired by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in a letter to the chairman of the National Task Force against COVID-19 (NTF) and Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana.
In his letter last March 30, IBP President Domingo Egon Q. Cayosa requested Lorenzana that “lawyers be included in the priority population group A4 (frontline personnel in essential public and private sectors that are directly client facing and cannot dutifully meet minimum public health standards) of the Philippine National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for COVID-19 Vaccines.”
Cayosa said that courts and tribunals where lawyers and their clients frequent “have been proven spreaders of the COVID-19 virus.”
Philippines stands by EEZ rights but won’t use force vs Chinese vessels By LLANESCA T. PANTI, GMA News
Published April 5, 2021 5:19pm The Palace has stopped short of calling on Chinese vessels to leave Julian Felipe Reef which is within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) on Monday even if it has maintained that the said reef belongs to the Philippines. “We will not give up even a single inch of our national territory or our exclusive economic zone and we hope friendly relations will result to a peaceful resolution of this impasse,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in response to exchange of statements between the Chinese Embassy in Manila and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
Text Size:
A+
New Delhi: The Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) hit out at the Chinese Embassy in Manila Monday about the way it spoke of its Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. Lorenzana had earlier called on Chinese vessels anchored at the vicinity of Julian Felipe, also known as Whitsun Reef, to leave.
Whitsun Reef is part of the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), though China claims it is included under their ‘nine-dash line’. The nine-dash line, adopted from Chinese maps in the 1940s, represents Beijing’s claim over the South China Sea and all the land features contained within the line.
Duterte requests for removal of Chinese vessels at Julian Felipe Reef, says their presence alarms Filipinos — Lorenzana cnnphilippines.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from cnnphilippines.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.