Daily Monitor
Tuesday April 27 2021
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The President Samia Suluhu Hassan has pardoned 5,001 prisoners who were serving various sentences in different correction facilities across the country.
Of these prisoners, 1,516 have been released after a quarter of their sentence was reduced in lieu of a standard one-third reduction under the provisions of the Prisons Act chapter 58.
Other 3,485 inmates have had their sentences reduced by a quarter under section 49 (1) of the Prisons Act chapter 58.
According to a statement issued by the Director of Presidential Communications, Gerson Msigwa the 3,485 prisoners whose sentences have been reduced will continue to serve the remaining part of their sentences in prison.
Published April 22, 2021, 12:24 PM
Special envoy to Malaysia Wencelito Andanar, the father of Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, passed away on Thursday, April 22.
In a statement, Andanar said his father succumbed to liver cancer at 7:50 a.m. on April 22 at the Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center.
Brother and Papa Wency ‘69, When I meet you in the sun, I shall tell you much. (December 2,1947-April 22, 2021)…Posted by Martin Andanar on Wednesday, April 21, 2021
Andanar described his father as a “man of service” who dedicated his professional years as a public servant in different government agencies. Wencelito Andanar served as OIC Governor of Surigao del Norte from 1986 to 1988. Consequently, he served as the Chairman of the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) from 1982 to 1992.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar
(PCOO / FILE PHOTO)
Andanar made the statement after Twitter user Info Ops said there was a Viber group composed of almost 500 members discussing the supposed withdrawal of the military’s support for the Commander-in-Chief.
In a Facebook post, Andanar said there was no truth behind the rumors and branded it as a figment of the imagination of those who wanted the President out of Malacañang.
In a separate statement, the Palace official also said that the report being spread was false.
“This is FALSE,” Andanar said Sunday afternoon.
“I talked to [Defense] Secretary Delfin Lorenzana this morning and according to him, there is no truth to the claim that the military is withdrawing its support or no longer has confidence in the leadership of President Duterte,” he added.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar (PCOO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Andanar recognized that media workers continue to play a crucial role in delivering news and information during the pandemic.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has amended the list of A4 priority group for vaccination, and included frontline workers in private and government news media. The list also included overseas Filipino workers, vendors, transport workers, and frontline government personnel.
“The media should truly be included in the A4 priority group, along with other individuals who play a significant part in our seamless and uninterrupted societal activities. We have seen firsthand the importance of their work in delivering news and information to every household, especially when the pandemic started to unfold and interrupted traditional work arrangements,” Andanar said in a statement Friday, April 16.