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Coronavirus: European nations tighten restrictions ahead of Christmas

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Coronavirus: European nations tighten restrictions ahead of Christmas
A number of European countries have tightened coronavirus restrictions ahead of Christmas following a surge of infections in recent weeks.

The Netherlands has entered a five-week lockdown, with non-essential shops, theatres and gyms all closing.

Germany will enter a hard lockdown from Wednesday after the number of infections there hit record levels.

Meanwhile, Europe’s medicines regulator is set to meet sooner than planned to consider approving a vaccine.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will now meet on 21 December to discuss whether the German-developed Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine should be rolled out around the bloc. That vaccine has already been approved by regulators in the UK and the US.

The body was initially scheduled to meet on 29 December, but it brought forward that date following pressure from member states and a rise in cases.

In recent weeks, governments around the continent have been wrestling with difficult questions about whether to ease restrictions in time for the holiday period.

But the recent wave of infections in some nations has prompted governments to halt plans to loosen the rules.

What measures are countries taking?

The five-week lockdown in the Netherlands is the strictest set of measures announced in the country since the pandemic began.

Non-essential shops, cinemas, hairdressers and gyms have all closed and schools will follow suit on Wednesday. People have also been told to refrain from booking non-essential travel abroad until mid-March.

But restrictions will be eased slightly for three days over Christmas, when Dutch households are allowed three instead of two guests.

Elsewhere, schools and non-essential shops will also close in Germany from Wednesday. Restaurants, bars and leisure centres have already been shut there since November.

The new German lockdown will run from 16 December to 10 January, but there will be a slight easing over Christmas when one household will be able to host a maximum of four close family members.

France has lifted its national lockdown, but the government said the infection rate had not lowered sufficiently for a further easing.

This means theatres and cinemas will remain shut as will bars and restaurants. A nationwide curfew will also be imposed from 20:00 to 06:00. The curfew will be lifted on Christmas Eve but not on New Year’s Eve.

Meanwhile, Italy’s daily death toll is still close to 500 and the government is considering a further tightening of measures over Christmas.

The exact details are unclear, but a new lockdown could come into place between Christmas night and New Year. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte described the potential lockdown as a “new squeeze”.

Spain has also seen a rebound in infections, and top health official Fernando Simón has warned of a “delicate” situation ahead of Christmas.

The Spanish government has approved a set of rules for the period between 23 December and 6 January.

Travel between regions will be allowed, providing people are visiting friends and family, and social gatherings will be limited to 10 people.

And what about the vaccine?

The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, welcomed the decision to bring forward the EMA meeting on whether to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

“Every day counts,” she wrote on Twitter. “[It is] likely that the first Europeans will be vaccinated before the end of 2020.”

German Health Minister Jens Spahn echoed Ms von der Leyen’s view.

“The goal is to get approval before Christmas,” he told a press conference in Berlin. “We want to start vaccinating in Germany before the end of the year.”

In a statement, the EMA said it would only approve the vaccine “once the data on the quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine are sufficiently robust and complete”.

It added that it would meet as planned on 12 January to make a decision on the separate Moderna vaccine.

The Moderna vaccine requires temperatures of around -20C for shipping – similar to a regular freezer. The Pfizer jab, meanwhile, requires temperatures closer to -75C which makes transport more difficult. (BBC News Online)

NDFP claims Duterte admin will red tag progressive individuals, groups abroad

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NDFP claims Duterte admin will red tag progressive individuals, groups abroad

By ANNA FELICIA BAJO, GMA News Online, Dec. 14, 2020

The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) has claimed that the Duterte administration, through the National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), will “export its terror activities” in other nations, particularly in North America and Europe.

In a press statement dated December 12, the NDFP International Information Office said the present administration is supposedly planning to establish NTF-ELCAC cells in North America and Europe “to undertake surveillance and red-tagging of progressive compatriot organizations, foreign solidarity friends and entities, anti-Duterte individuals and personalities, especially open leaders of the NDFP and its peace panel.” 

The NDFP warned that these individuals could possibly be the target of neutralization and assassination of the Duterte administration. The information came from progressive Filipino groups abroad, it added. 

“This horrible scheme calls to mind the brutal assassination of militant Filipino-American trade unionists and anti-Marcos activists Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes in Seattle in June 1981, upon orders of fascist dictator Marcos who was found liable by a federal jury for the murders,” the NDFP said. 

“General Hermogenes Esperon, vice-chair of the NTF-ELCAC, and who apparently is calling the shots in the NTF-ELCAC, was then part of top-level military officers, under diplomatic cover, sent by Marcos to the US, according to the US’ Defense Intelligence Agency, to ‘monitor and operate against’ his opposition there, among them Domingo and Viernes, who were subsequently assassinated,” it added. 

According to the NDFP, the NTF-ELCAC has conducted expensive junkets abroad, specifically in the US, Canada and in Europe,” to embellish the bloody image of the Duterte regime as a fascist regime and a reprehensible violator of international laws on human rights. 

Included in these alleged trips were Southern Luzon Command commander Lieutenant General Antonio Parlade Jr. and NTF-ELCAC spokesperson Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy, the group said. 

“What they got were measly audiences in Philippine-embassy funded forums that assembled only Duterte’s hardcore supporters,” the NDFP said. 

The NDFP noted that those who will be red tagged abroad are democratic and progressive organizations and groups of compatriots, including foreign religious organizations, reputable development agencies extending socio-economic projects to the poorest of the poor in the homefront, and even some officials of the United Nations. 

The NDFP noted that those who will be red tagged abroad are democratic and progressive organizations and groups of compatriots, including foreign religious organizations, reputable development agencies extending socio-economic projects to the poorest of the poor in the homefront, and even some officials of the United Nations. 

‘Nervous’

Asked for reaction, Esperon said, “Why will I dignify their fears, suspicions and illusions?” 

He just said the group seemed to be “nervous.” 

“Mukhang masyado na silang nerbiyoso. Palibhasa alam na ng lahat ang duplicitous nature nila ma-legal with underground organizations,” Esperon said. 

‘Red tagged everyone’

The NDFP further said NTF-ELCAC has “red-tagged, demonized and threatened” everyone from a cross-section of Philippine society in order to intimidate and instill fear among the public. 

“GRP President Duterte’s greatest nightmare is to be made accountable for his crimes against the Filipino people after his term expires in 2022,” the NDFP said, adding that Duterte’s instilling fear among the public is a move to ensure that the Duterte family and its cohorts will be off the hook for the crimes they allegedly committed. 

“With their barbaric transgressions of the people’s rights, Duterte and his fascist clique will have to eventually face justice for their war crimes, domestically and internationally, and spend their inevitable retirement either in jail or in hell,” the NDFP said. 

President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017 said he considers the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-NDFP a “terrorist group.”

In June this year, Duterte said communists were the biggest threat to the Philippines.

“The number one threat to the country, hindi Abu Sayyaf, hindi mga terorista of no value. Ito ‘yong high-value targets, itong mga komunista,” Duterte said in his nationally-televised address.

Last month, Duterte accused militant organizations of being participants in a grand conspiracy led by the CPP to oust the government.

He indicated that groups such as the Makabayan bloc in the House of Representatives, Bayan and Gabriela were not being red-tagged but were being named definitively as fronts for the CPP and the NDFP.

A government official on Friday slammed claims of red-tagging by left-leaning groups, saying these were used to discredit the anti-terror law.

Undersecretary Severo Catura of the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat said it was CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison who had identified some progressive groups as legal fronts of the CPP, a charge the exiled communist leader has denied.

Earlier this month, Malacañang asked left-leaning groups to stop denying their alleged ties to communist rebels and renounce the use of arms to destabilize government.

Palace spokesperson Harry Roque made the appeal as he justified Duterte’s tirades against so-called “front organizations” of the CPP-NPA such as the Makabayan bloc and Bayan.

“Let’s be honest. Itigil na iyan na nagsisinungaling pa sila na red-tagging eh Red naman talaga sila sabi ni Presidente. Totoo naman po iyan eh. Ang hinihingi lang natin, you can be a Red without necessarily endorsing the use of arms,” Roque said at a press briefing.

The House Makabayan Bloc maintained that they are not communist rebels out to destabilize the government, and accused Duterte of resorting to diversionary tactic to mask his administration’s alleged inefficiencies. —KG, GMA News

Trade union and migrant rights advocate Manny Sarmiento passes away

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Trade union and migrant rights advocate Manny Sarmiento passes away

Manuel “Ka Manny” Sarmiento, chairperson of Migrante Austria passed away last December 11, 2020 in Vienna, Austria.

Sarmiento was President of a local union of Nestle from 1976 to 1986 and President of the National Federation of Unions in Food and Allied Industries (1987 to1994). He was a member of the National Executive Committee of the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) Labor Center from 1994 to 2002. He migrated to Austria in 2004, and became Migrante International’s liaison staff there. He assisted in founding Pinoys in Austrian Society for Integrity and Social Transformation (PINAS FIRST) in 2005.

Up until his death, Ka Manny worked with a company offering mailing and printing services while organizing, mobilizing and issuing statements of concern regarding the issues of migrants and refugees, recently within the framework of the April 28 Coalition, of which he was a founding member. He was a fervent advocate of democracy and human rights. #

Migrant Filipinos, peoples’ organizations and progressive groups in Europe unite to launch chapter of Bayan

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Migrant Filipinos, peoples’ organizations and progressive groups in Europe unite to launch chapter of Bayan

December 12, 2020 – Bayan-Europe (People’s Patriotic Alliance, Bayan) was launched today amidst the disturbing social situation in the Philippines, such as continuing human rights violations, red-tagging, vilification, systematic and violent attacks on progressive sectors, activists and people’s organizations by the Philippine military, the (National Task Force to End the Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) and by President Duterte himself.

The theme for its online launching: “Magkaisa! Labanan ang pasistang regimeng US/China-Duterte! Makibaka para sa pambansang kalayaan at demokrasya!” (Unite! Fight against the US-China-Duterte regimes! Struggle for national freedom and democracy!)

Bayan-Europe is composed of Migrante-Europe, Gabriela-Europe, Anakbayan-Europa and PCPR-Europe. Eighty participants from the member organizations of Bayan-Europe, and from other allied organizations in the Philippines, Hongkong, Australia, Canada, United States, Belgium, and other countries, joined the online launching.

The Europe chapter of Bayan provides a platform of solidarity among Filipino migrants in Europe, advancing the Filipino struggle both in the home country and in Europe.

Prof. Jose Ma. Sison, Chairperson Emeritus of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) in his keynote message said: “You must serve as the regional information and campaign center in Europe for responding to the calls of BAYAN-Philippines and initiating campaigns and activities according to your own conditions and circumstances. You must fight not only for the rights and demands of Filipinos in Europe but also for our people in the motherland. You must do what you can to help them overcome their suffering and to help them bring to a new and higher level the struggle to oust the Duterte regime and carry forward their national democratic struggle against the unjust ruling system…”

Bayan-Europe echoed the call to oust Rodrigo Duterte, whose regime has been characterized by the breakdown of the rule of law, the violent and failed “war on drugs” (the more than 30,000 killings), the corrupt-driven and failed government COVID-response, the billions of wasted foreign loans to address the pandemic, the Php 19-Billion anti-insurgency program of the NTF-ELCAC (that included the arrests and killings of activists), the PhilHealth corruption scandal, the incompetent and failed DepEd online education and module, and other issues affecting the Filipino people.

Renato Reyes, Jr., Bayan Secretary General said: “It is important that Bayan-Europe directly support the efforts of the Philippine mass movement to resist state terror, to resist the Duterte regime, to fight for genuine freedom, democracy and peace. We hope you would be able to tell the European people what is happening in the Philippines. You can speak for our people in Europe, tell them the real situation, hopefully galvanize greater support for the struggle for social and national liberation”

Bayan-Europe consolidates the voices and collective strength of patriotic organizations and migrant Filipinos in Europe. “The launching of Bayan-Europe is highly significant politically, and shows there is now sufficient basis, in terms of Europewide membership in sectoral and other organizations and in specific countries to establish a regional alliance grounded on a comprehensive national democratic analysis and program of action,” stressed Dr. Carol Araullo, Bayan Chairperson.

Leaders of Bayan from local and international chapters and representatives from the different international peoples’ organizations delivered solidarity messages during the launching, encouraging the newly-created regional chapter of Bayan to advance the patriotic struggle in the home country, and to mobilize the migrant Filipinos in Europe.

Ms. Coni Ledesma, representing the International Women’s Alliance (IWA) said: “as a regional chapter of Bayan Philippines, Bayan-Europe will be able to gather the different patriotic and progressive organizations in Europe to join forces under a common program, this important step will unite the Filipino diaspora in Europe to build their collective strength and be an important organization to fight for the rights and welfare of Filipinos abroad; it will also raise the political consciousness of Filipinos abroad on imperialism, feudalism , and bureaucrat capitalism in the home country (in the Philippines) as the main problems of the Filipino people; it will develop activists that will take up the campaigns of Bayan Philippines the issues of Filipinos in Europe and be part of the overall struggle for national democracy.”

Bayan-Europe sustains the campaign for international solidarity work in support of the social concern efforts in the Philippines as well as the call for the ouster of the despotic Rodrigo Duterte and the condemnation of the human rights violations committed by the despotic regime.

The launching program culminated with a message from Gary Martinez, Chairperson of Bayan-Europe. He said: “The establishment of Bayan-Europe is a testament of our unwavering commitment to counter the Duterte’s regime attacks against organizations and activists inside and outside the country. Bayan-Europe will play a big role to weaken the support of the International community for the Duterte leadership.

“Above all, it is a big challenge for Bayan-Europe to reach-out to the vast number of Filipinos here in Europe—to arouse, organize and mobilize our fellow Filipinos! We will oust the monster in the palace. Long live the People of Europe! Long live the people who resist!”, he concluded.#

Germany orders partial lockdown to curb ‘out of control’ virus

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Germany orders partial lockdown to curb ‘out of control’ virus

Dec 13, 2020 Agence France-Presse

Berlin, Germany

(UPDATED) Germany records another 20,200 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, reaching a total of 1.3 million cases

Germany will go into a partial lockdown from Wednesday, December 16, with non-essential shops and schools to close in a bid to halt an “exponential growth” in coronavirus infections.

The partial lockdown will apply until January 10, with companies also urged to allow employees to work from home or offer extended company holidays, under the new measures agreed by Chancellor Angela Merkel with regional leaders of Germany’s 16 states on Sunday, December 13.

“That would help to implement the principle ‘we’re staying at home,'” according to the policy paper agreed by Merkel and state premiers.

Germans are urged to limit their social contacts to another household, with a maximum of 5 people excluding children under 14 meeting at each time. 

From Christmas Eve to Boxing Day, the contacts would be eased to allow gatherings with another 4 people excluding children, but who should be limited to close relatives or partners.

Germany in November closed leisure and cultural facilities and banned indoor dining in restaurants. 

The measures had helped to halt rapid growth of infections after the autumn school holidays, but numbers had plateaued at a high rate.

Merkel had repeatedly pushed for tougher curbs to break the chain of contagion, but implementation of the rules is in the hands of individual states and some had been reluctant to impose more curbs.

The mood however tipped over in the last week after Germany recorded new daily death tolls reaching close to 600 and as the country’s disease control agency RKI reported that the infections trend has taken a worrying turn.

“Today is not the day to look back or to see what could have been, rather, today is the day to do what is necessary,” said Merkel, pointing to “very high numbers of deaths” and stressing the urgent need for action.

“The corona situation is out of control,” said Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder, welcoming the tougher restrictions which he pledged to implement in his state.

Last Christmas?

Germany has imposed far less stringent shutdown rules than other major European nations after coming through the first wave of the pandemic relatively unscathed.

But Europe’s biggest economy has been severely hit by a second wave with daily new infections more than three times that of the peak in the spring.

Germany recorded another 20,200 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, reaching a total of 1,320,716 cases, according to RKI data published Sunday.

Another 321 patients died from the disease from a day earlier, bringing the total death toll to 21,787.

“With increasing mobility and the therefore linked additional contacts in the pre-Christmas period, Germany is now in exponential growth of infections numbers,” said the policy paper agreed by regional leaders and Merkel.

While hospitals in some regions are warning that their intensive care units are reaching capacity, huge queues of shoppers were building downtown ahead of the festive period.

The chancellor had also voiced consternation at growing groups of people gathering for drinks at mulled wine stands set up by restaurants as a substitute of the popular Christmas market fare.

From Wednesday too, alcohol sales would be banned in public places, essentially outlawing such mulled wine stands.

In a hard-hitting speech before the Bundestag on Wednesday, Merkel had issued a stark warning to Germans ahead of the Christmas holiday season when families are expected to gather.

“If we have too many contacts before Christmas and it ends up being the last Christmas with the grandparents, then we’d really have failed,” she said.

Merkel’s government has repeatedly said that numbers need to be brought down to 50 per 100,000 people but the rate is currently 169.1 per 100,000.

Ahead of the talks, Germany’s hardest hit states have already ordered new measures.

Saxony state, where in some areas incidence rates have hit 500 per 100,000, will shutter shops and schools already from Monday.

A curfew will also kick in from 10 pm to 6 am. – Rappler.com

Watch: Broadcaster Atom Araullo on Climate Change

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Watch: Broadcaster Atom Araullo on Climate Change

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=418830702644817

https://fb.watch/2lKylYm2-h/

Researchers find links between pro-Marcos books, sites, online disinformation

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Researchers find links between pro-Marcos books, sites, online disinformation

(Philstar.com) – December 12, 2020

MANILA, Philippines — Pro-Marcos books, heritage sites and online disinformation are linked with one another, researchers from the University of the Philippines found according to a report by VERA Files.

Researchers Miguel Paolo Reyes and Joel Ariate Jr. found that books written in favor of the Marcoses were written by their aides and allies.

They said that most of the authors relied on the Marcoses themselves as sources, while others plagiarized.

Some of the books, they said, framed historian Renato Constantino to be a Marcos supporter, when his work shows otherwise. 

They also found that the books claimed that most victims of Marcos’ brutal martial rule were communists, and rejected any claim of graft and corruption committed by the Marcos family.

“All of these can be categorized as fundamental lies about the Marcoses: from false claims about Marcos’ brilliance and heroism to disinformation about the Marcoses’ wealth and the status of the cases filed against them,” Reyes said in the VERA Files report.

These books, in turn, became the basis of artifacts and photos in museums and sites that commemorate Marcos’ supposed greatness.

For example, the autobiography For Every Tear, A Victory written by Hartzell Spence was the basis of the exhibit at the Ferdinand E. Marcos Presidential Center in Batac, Ilocos Norte.

The narrative in the book The Young Marcos authored by Victor Niruda is closely mirrored by museum articles from Marcos’s birthplace in Sarrat, Ilocos Sur.

Several photos at the Malacañang of the North Museum in Paoay, Ilocos Norte also came from Marcos-era publications, the researchers found.

While there are a lot of pro-Marcos resources available, the researchers found that only 15% of online disinformation supportive of the Marcos family are traceable from these resources.

This, in turn, “saturates the audience with all sorts of information up to a point that the propaganda effort appears to be without an author.”

“They let their sanctioned book and disinformation mingle with often more crude falsities online which lets them keep and grow their loyal base,” Reyes said, as quoted by VERA Files.

Reyes said that aside from debunking falsehoods,it is important to discredit sources to help address this “affront to democracy.”

The two-decade rule of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos led to thousands being imprisoned, tortured, killed and disappeared.

This fact was recognized by a Hawaii court when it awarded 10,000 Filipino human rights victims $2 billion in damages — a ruling that was affirmed by the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in 1995 and the Supreme Court in 2003.

Republic Act No. 10368 or the Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act also recognizes that there “were victims of summary execution, torture, enforced or involuntary disappearance and other gross human rights violations” under the Marcos regime.

Under RA 10368, human rights violations include warrantless arrests carried out pursuant to Marcos’ declaration of martial law and his other similar issuances.

The law also established the Human Rights Victims Claims Board, which has listed 11,103 people who were victims of human rights violations under Marcos’ rule who would receive around P180,000 to P1.7 million in compensation. — Xave Gregorio

Palace official urged to talk to ‘drug war’ victims’ kin before dismissing rights concerns

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Palace official urged to talk to ‘drug war’ victims’ kin before dismissing rights concerns

Franco Luna (Philstar.com) – December 10, 2020

MANILA, Philippines — To claim that extrajudicial killings and abuses linked to the government’s “war on drugs” is just a narrative peddled by the political opposition ignores the experiences of the victims of these abuses, a Catholic priest critical of the killings said Thursday. 

Fr. Flavie Villanueva, SVD, in a message to reporters, invited presidential undersecretary Severo Catura to listen to the many stories of those who have lost loved ones in the “drug war” before dismissing them as a political ploy. 

To recall, Villanueva was earlier accused of sedition over his alleged participation in the “Bikoy” videos that the justice department said involved “malicious and scurrilous libels and fabricating [of] evidence.” He has denied involvement in the supposed conspiracy.

Villanueva was responding to the remarks of Catura, who serves as executive director of the Presidential Human Rights Committee, and who claimed on Monday, December 7, that concerns over documented human rights abuses by police officers were just a narrative pushed by the administration’s political opposition.

“The accusation of [Undersecretary] Catura that government’s critics are spreading fake news on killings is entirely baseless. The so-called critics are actually the caregiver, providing sincere efforts to defend and console victims of human rights violations to hundreds, if not thousands of widows and orphans, who have been left due to the systematic campaign to kill, kill, kill,” he said. 

He added that Catura’s claim was expected.

“The Philippine Human Rights Committee was created to protect the interest of the person who authored (the) killings. Would the head of the committee betray the person who employed him? There are many solid documentation on the systematic pattern of how policemen and their cohorts abused and imposed their authority in this culture of killing,” he added. 

The Presidential Human Rights Committee, a bureau of the Office of the President, is primarily an advisory body to the president in addressing human rights concerns.

The chief executive has not had the warmest relations with the Catholic Church throughout his term, and has clashed with church leaders over the controversial campaign against illegal narcotics as well as his remarks on Catholic beliefs.

On Monday, Undersecretary Catura also named the church-based Rural Missionaries of the Philippines as among the groups peddling what he said was a false narrative to make the government look bad. 

Despite the over 8,000 drug-linked deaths acknowledged by the national police’s own figures—a number rights organizations say may be closer to 30,000—the presidential human rights chief claimed that the Duterte administration’s infrastructure and education programs are enough proof that it respects the human rights of Filipinos. 

“I am inviting Catura to join me and listen to the stories of how the widows and orphans have lost their loved ones and how they are trying to cope and survive. I invite him to have an open mind and heart,” Villanueva said.

“The truth shall always stand. The Church shall demand accountability against those responsible for the senseless killings of both Life and the Truth. We will have our day in court, it may not be now, but it shall surely come.”

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