Marcos ‘deeply regrets’ death of two Filipinos...

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Filipino girls aged 10 to 19 gave birth in 2016.

The number slightly dipped in 2017 (196,478) and 2018 (183,000).Dr. Leila Joudane, UNFPA country representative, said 59 percent of registered adolescent births in the Philippines were fathered by a man older than 20 years old.

“Teenage pregnancy is not only a health and education problem, but an economic development issue,” she said.

“We need to promote men and boys’ engagement. It’s not just an issue of women, of adolescent girls only. It’s an issue of [the] entire society,” she added.

The data prompted Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri to plead with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla and Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. to arrest and prosecute adult men who enter into sexual relationships with minors, noting that Republic Act No. 11648, signed into law in March 2022, raised the age of sexual consent from 12 to 16.

“I urge the PNP and the DOJ (Department of Justice) to immediately prosecute these violations of the statutory rape age law. Rape is a heinous crime,” Zubiri told reporters. 

Türkiye,” Marcos said in a Twitter post. “The Philippine Embassy continues to work tirelessly to verify any and all information on Filipinos affected by the quake,” he added. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the two fatalities were among the three Filipinos earlier reported missing due to the quake.

The other Filipino, the DFA said,

“has fortunately been found alive.” There are 34 evacuees composed of Filipinos, their spouses, and children who are currently bound for Ankara, the capital of Turkey, the DFA also said. 

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Sragow, a Los Angeles-based political strategist. “People want strong, tough leadership and progress on this issue, but if Gavin Newsom is going to make headway in reducing homelessness, he’s going to have to have a pretty stiff spine.”

* * * Daniel Goodman slept on sidewalks, in a tent, or on a jail bunk throughout much of his 20s and early 30s. Now 35, he only in recent years committed to a regimen of psychiatric medication and counseling for schizophrenia, a condition he was diagnosed with at 24.

“I didn’t want to take medication for a lot of years; I absolutely refused,” he said, eager to discuss a change of heart that has enabled him to reclaim a life with his mom in a comfortable neighborhood in the Gold Country city of Folsom.

Tall, with a bright smile and rock-’n’-roll hair, Goodman said he was addicted to methamphetamines for a decade, self-medicating to calm the voice in his head he calls “the witch.” He panhandled, pushed shopping carts, and bellowed his agony in public fits of rage. It was a hungry, ragged existence during which he cycled from the streets to jail on charges of drunk and disorderly and then back to the streets.

His mom, Susan Goodman, in her form of tough love, eventually closed her home to him after his untreated illness devolved into threatening behavior, including stealing from her and a violent bout of vandalism during which he shattered every window in her house.

“I lived from second to second, and I didn’t have anything to eat or blankets, so I’d think, ‘What can I steal?’” Daniel said. “I put my mom through a lot.” Her heart broken, Susan would seek out her son on the streets, bringing supplies to his tent. In 2019, after a particularly cold spell, he begged her to let him come home. She responded with an ultimatum: He could move back home if he agreed to get clean and stay on his meds.

Susan, a lawyer, is among thousands of parents who support Newsom’s CARE Court initiative. For years, families who have watched in despair as children or siblings lost themselves to untreated mental illness have petitioned lawmakers to make it easier to mandate conservatorship and treatment, and CARE Court is a major stride in that direction.

Eight counties, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, and Riverside, have volunteered to launch the program this year. All 58 counties will be required to start programs by the end of 2024.

Newsom calls it a paradigm shift. Pushing the measure to passage meant standing against virulent opposition from civil and disability rights groups that argued people have the right to refuse treatment, and warned of a return to the horrors of forced confinement depicted in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

“There’s no compassion in stepping over people on the streets and sidewalks,” Newsom said as he signed the Community Assistance, Recovery & Empowerment, or CARE, Act into law last fall. “They need intervention — sometimes that’s tough.”

Some county leaders have also balked, saying Newsom is sentencing people to a system of care that doesn’t exist. They worry a crush of patient referrals will overwhelm county behavioral health systems. They say they need more money, more time, and funding streams guaranteed year after year.

“There isn’t enough treatment capacity. And we can write a prescription for housing, but the reality under CARE Court is we don’t have what it takes to fill that prescription,” said Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California.

“It’s a matter of having the level of funding and housing that is going to help that person be successful.”

Newsom’s response to the pushback has grown heated. He points out that local governments already get billions every year to provide mental health services and that recent state budgets have included funding to expand the system of care.

“I’m exhausted by that — $15.3 billion we’ve provided,” Newsom said at a January news conference, referencing homeless investments over the past two years. The state has provided “unprecedented support,” he said, pounding his fist on the podium. “I want to see unprecedented progress.”

Dr. Tom Insel, who formerly led the National Institute of Mental Health and has served as an adviser to Newsom, credits the governor for bold efforts to direct resources and attention to  PAGE A7

The Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) is seeking Bids for End-Door System Improvement. Bid documents may be downloaded at SCRRA's website at http:// www.metrolinktrains.com/ contracts. Bids are due on 3/16/23. The contract to be awarded will be funded in part by grants under the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transportation Administration and is subject to an DBE Participation Goal of 5.05%. For further information contact: Dorothea Cantero, Contract Administrator, at canterod@scrra.net.

2/11/23

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ASIAN JOURNAL (L.A.)