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MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2017
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Complainant bares plot to ensure Sereno walks L ORENZO Gadon, the lawyer who filed an impeachment complaint against Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, claims he received information that an “oligarch” plans to bribe senators with P200 million to ensure that the top magistrate is acquitted in an impeachment trial.
He was still trying to “verify” the information, he said Sunday. “Meron akong impormasyon na nakuha na vineverify ko pa ngayon na kaya pala malakas ang loob niya
kasi pinapangakuan siya ng isang oligarko na babayaran na lang daw niya yung mga Senador para lang iabswelto siya,” Gadon told dzBB radio. “Malalim na itong labanan na ito at ang dinig ko
babayaran daw nila ng P200 million ang bawat Senador na boboto ng pagabswelto kay Sereno, eh ‘yan ay kinukimpirma ko pa ngayon pero naniniwala ako na hindi papayag ang mga Senador sapagkat sila ay dignified na tao at isipin naman nila yung kapakanan ng bansa.” Gadon made his statement even as House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said he believed Sereno was in serious trouble after Associate Justice Teresita de Castro’s testimony that Sereno “misled” her for the ratification of an order and other issues.
Justice... It was also learned that the Health department was properly warned about the possible effects of the first dengue vaccine to those who have not contracted it yet, but it still approved the program. With the Health department program, the Philippines became the first Asian country to approve this vaccine for individuals aged 9 to 45 years old in December 2015. The program was approved in just about four months when such projects usually take up to two years to approve. The DoH also did not conduct tests to determine if those immunized already had a history of dengue, which means it has no record as to who would be affected by the risk posed by the vac-
cine. Earlier, the watchdog group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption urged the DoJ to investigate the case. Calling the immunization program “worse than any heinous crime,” the group called on the DoH to set up help desks to receive complaints from concerned parents and also vowed to help them seek compensation for the families whose children may have received potentially risky anti-dengue shots. The controversy on Dengvaxia broke after an advisory from French pharmaceutical company Sanofi Pasteur said new clinical analysis has found the vaccine is effective for people who have had dengue prior to immunization, but carried a risk of a “severe” case of dengue for people who have not.
“Dengvaxia provides persistent protective benefits against dengue fever in those who had prior infection. For those not previously infected by dengue virus, however, more cases of severe disease could occur following vaccination upon a subsequent dengue infection,” Sanofi Pasteur said in a statement last week. This development puts around 10 percent of the over 700,000 school children who received the shots at risk, prompting DoH Secretary Francisco Duque III to order the suspension of the vaccination program pending recommendation on further action from experts from the World Health Organization. Allaying fears of worried parents, Duque assured the public that the vaccine will in any case provide a 30-month protection period against dengue and assured the pub-
lic that the DoH is on top of the situation. The Palace on Sunday warned the public not to spread misinformation about the vaccine anomaly as this would only cause undue alarm. “On the Dengvaxia anomaly. We understand the concern of our people, especially the parents and the relatives of public elementary children residing in Regions III, IV-A, and NCR, where the dengue vaccination initiative was launched by the previous administration,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque. “However, we call on all citizens not to spread information that may cause undue alarm,” said Roque. “We assure the public that as per the Department of Health [DoH] there is currently no reported case of severe dengue infection to
the individuals who received one dose of dengue vaccine last year,” he added. “Our present health officials are serious in carrying out their mandate to always guard the health and physical well-being of our people, which includes intensifying surveillance and evaluation of our dengue vaccination program,” he said. “The Department of Health [DoH] is now working in close coordination with the Department of Education [DepEd] to monitor the thousands of students who have been administered with Dengvaxia,” said Roque. “We will leave no stone unturned in making those responsible for this shameless public health scam which puts hundreds of thousands of young lives at risk accountable,” said Roque. With Bill Casas
Yule...
Transport...
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Camarines Norte and Cagayan, which Arevalo said were in retaliation with the killing of 14 communist rebels in Nasugbu, Batangas last week. He said this month, the AFP has neutralized 119 NPA rebels, 21 of whom were killed, and 29 of whom were arrested. The rest surrendered. The AFP will continue to welcome rebels who surrender, he said, and supports localized peace talks between local officials and NPA groups in their areas of jurisdiction. Arevalo said the NPA has about 2,000 members still, most of whom are in Eastern Mindanao. But he added that the communists have been actively recruiting, particularly in universities and colleges. In Binuangan town in Misamis Oriental, four police officers were wounded after NPA rebels attacked their station Sunday. Police Regional Office-10 spokesman Supt. Lemuel Gonda said the policemen suffered minor injuries following the explosion of an M203 Rifle grenade. The rebels were unable to get the firearms from the police station and retreated after the government side returned fire. PNA
president George San Mateo, speaking in Filipino. “This is something we do not hear from the Department of Transportation, which instead of addressing our needs threaten and harass us with cases and threats.” He said that after consulting with their members in Metro Manila and the provinces, they decided to give way to the public hearing that Poe will call on Dec. 7 to thresh out issues about the government’s public utility vehicle modernization program. Instead of a strike, jeepney drivers and operators will
conduct a transport caravan on Monday, Dec. 4, to Don Chino Roces Bridge near the Palace. He said they will march from Welcome Rotonda and march to the University of Santo Tomas where they will meet other groups such as Kilusang Mayo Uno and Bayan before heading to Mendiola. On Tuesday, San Mateo said they would conduct a protest movement either at the Department of Justice or at the Metropolitan Trial Court in Quezon City to condemn the supposed “crackdown” against jeepney drivers and operators. San Mateo said drivers and operators will also hold a
vigil at Mendiola to prepare for the Senate committee on public services hearing on Thursday. Poe welcomed the Piston decision. “Issues can be better discussed and resolved when sobriety and judiciousness are exercised, in pursuit of the highest public good,” she said. Poe said she called a hearing to discuss with all stakeholders issues confronting the transport sector, including the planned jeepney modernization program with the view of addressing their concerns. Poe, chairman of the committee on public services, said she has also invited
Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade to attend the Senate hearing. “We hope he will attend the hearing because it is important to hear his side,” said Poe. The Palace also welcomed the cancellation of the transport strike. “We remain optimistic that Piston will soon engage with the government, and support the implementation of the long-delayed PUV Modernization Program, which only aims to provide our commuters a safer, more reliable, convenient, environment-friendly, and dignified commuting experience,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.
the Oversight Committee on Barangay Drug-Clearing Program,” said PDEA Director General Aaron N. Aquino. The Oversight Committee, which is chaired by PDEA, is composed of provincial representatives of the Philippine National Police, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Health and local government units. “Before declaring that a barangay is free from illegal drug activities, the committee must convene and validate
the non-availability of drug supply in the area and the absence of drug transit activity, clandestine drug laboratory and chemical warehouse, marijuana cultivation site, drug den, drug pusher, and user,” the PDEA chief said. On the other hand, a barangay is said to be drugaffected when there is a reported presence of drug users, pushers, manufacturers, marijuana cultivators and other infrastructure related to the illegal narcotics. There are three basic parameters in determining barangay drug-affectation: slightly affected, moderately affected, and seriously affected. Aquino said from June
2016 to November 2017, 163 drug dens and nine clandestine shabu laboratories were dismantled while different illegal drugs were seized worth P18.92 billion. PDEA said authorities also arrested 118,287 individuals involved in illegal drugs from July 2016 to Nov. 27, 2017. Included in the total figure are 435 government workers—185 of them elected officials, 42 uniformed personnel, and 208 government employees. Some 79,193 anti-illegal drugs operations were conducted by by joint law enforcement agencies during the period.
As of Nov. 27, 2017, the consolidated report showed that 3,967 drug suspects have died during operations while 86 were killed in action and 226 wounded from the law enforcement agency during the anti-illegal drugs operations. Aside from PDEA, agencies involved in the anti-illegal drugs operations are the Philippine National Police, Department of Interior and Local Government, National Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Customs. The joint law enforcement agencies rescued 589 minors during the anti-illegal drugs operations from July 2016 to Nov. 27, 2017. PNA
lished Nov. 20. “The problem is worsening at an alarming pace, with opioid-involved deaths doubling in the past 10 years and quadrupling in the past 16.” And as businesses struggle to find workers to fill open positions—with the US unemployment rate down to 4.1 percent—large numbers of potential workers are being excluded from consideration or are not able to work. “The opioid epidemic affects the US economy by disabling adult workers in their most economically productive years,” said Thomas Bollyky, an expert on health and economics at the Coun-
cil on Foreign Relations, an influential think-tank. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said last week the epidemic is contributing to declining labor-force participation among “prime-age workers,” especially men aged 25-54. And Jerome Powell, who will succeed Yellen in February, echoed that analysis. The labor force participation rate has been below 63 percent for more than three years, down from 67 percent in the 1990s and into 2000, according to government data. Some of that decline is due to the aging population, but the rate for adult men in
the workforce has fallen below 72 percent from 77 percent in 2000. Alan Krueger, economist at Princeton University, estimated that the increase in opioid prescriptions from 1999 to 2015 “could account for about 20 percent of the observed decline in men’s labor force participation during that same period, and 25 percent of the observed decline in women’s labor force participation.” He said the decline is most notable in areas where opiates are most prescribed. “Many factors are at work, but I think the driving force has been the US medical
system and pharmaceutical companies,” Krueger said. “With good intentions of relieving pain, too many doctors have been overprescribing opioid medications.” Bollyky agreed the crisis has its origins in over-prescription of the drugs, noting that in 20 years, prescriptions have soared by 300 percent. “In 2015, the amount of opioids prescribed was enough for every American to be medicated around the clock for three weeks.” But drug companies also played a role, with “aggressive and arguably deceptive marketing” on these painkillers, Bollyky said. AFP
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include prescription painkillers such as morphine, as well as heroin. Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers estimates that in 2015 the opioid crisis cost the US economy $504 billion, or 2.8 percent of gross domestic product, in increased health care costs and lost wages, far higher than previously estimated. More than 50,000 Americans died from a drug overdose in 2015, more than half of which were due to opiates, the CEA said in a report pub-
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He said Sereno could resort to diversionary tactic as a remedy to her troubled defense aggravated by her continued refusal to attend the impeachment proceedings by the House committee, led by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Reynaldo Umali. “Publicity style, [she could resort to such] to divert the real issue since she herself could not confront the real issues,” Alvarez said. Gadon refused to name the supposed oligarch. “Itong oligarkong ito ay palaging nananalo sa mga kaso kay Sereno,” Gadon said.
Despite his claim, Gadon said he believeD that senators could not be bought as they were “dignified” and “have their own minds.” Gadon accuses Sereno of violating the Constitution, corruption and betrayal of public trust filed by Gadon. The impeachment complaint against her has been determined sufficient in form and substance. The House justice panel is set to continue its hearing on Tuesday to determine if there is probable cause to pursue the impeachment complaint against Sereno. Rio N. Araja
US pulls out of UN compact on refugees UNITED NATIONS―The administration of President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from a United Nations pact to improve the handling of migrant and refugee situations, deeming it “inconsistent” with its policies, the US mission to the global body announced Saturday. “Today, the US Mission to the United Nations informed the UN secretary general that the United States is ending its participation in the Global Compact on Migration,” the Americans said in a statement. In September 2016, the 193 members of the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a non-binding political declaration, the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, pledging to uphold the rights of refugees, help them resettle and ensure they have access to education and jobs. “The New York Declaration contains numerous provisions that are inconsistent with US immigration and refugee policies and the Trump Administration’s immigration principles. As a result,
President Trump determined that the United States would end its participation in the Compact process that aims to reach international consensus at the UN in 2018,” the US statement said. US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the country would continue its “generosity” in supporting migrants and refugees around the world, but that “our decisions on immigration policies must always be made by Americans and Americans alone.” “We will decide how best to control our borders and who will be allowed to enter our country. The global approach in the New York Declaration is simply not compatible with US sovereignty.” Under Trump and his “America First” policies, the United States has withdrawn from several global commitments made under the administration of President Barack Obama, including the Paris climate deal. More recently, American pulled out of the Paris-based culture and education body, Unesco, accusing it of “antiIsrael bias.” AFP
PNP...
government units to provide body cameras for their police officers. Dela Rosa, however, said the budget for the purchase of body cameras for the PNP was still pending in Congress. Procurement might start next year if the bill was passed. “Underlying diyan is you cannot enforce what you cannot provide, so right now hindi pa ako nakapagprovide sa kanila ng body cam dahil nga request natin for the procurement of body cameras is still pending in Congress,” Dela Rosa said in an ambush interview at the PNP Academy in Silang, Cavite, on Saturday. “Next year pa tayo makaka-procure, so kapag naprocure na natin then maybe that’s the time we can enforce the policy nung body cam nung operation, nung anti-drug operation, and we will do that,” he said. Last week, Pasig City police officers started to wear body cameras during operations, with Eastern Police District director Chief Superintendent Romulo Sapitula saying that would protect police officers against accusations of misdemeanor as they performed their duties. The Eastern Police District said 48 cameras were procured by the office of the mayor, with each of the 10 Police Community Precincts in Pasig City receiving three. The rest would go to the Special Reaction Unit and its operatives.
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by Android mobile device users. With the App, all human rights advisories and policies that the PNP crafted, including the contents of the “New Miranda Warning Pocket Card” with antitorture reminders, could be downloaded and stored in all android smart phones, Siervo said. Once installed in a mobile device, the App may be accessed anytime, even without internet connectivity, by the police, especially the field officers engaged in the intensified campaign against criminality, corruption and illegal drugs. Siervo said the App equips PNP personnel with the right information and materials with which to advise citizens or people placed under police custody of their rights under the law. Likewise, the community may also download and install the App for easy access to human rights advisories and know their fundamental rights and police operational procedures and rules of engagement. Republic Act 9201, otherwise known as the “National Human Rights Consciousness Week Act of 2002,” declares Dec. 4 to 10 as the country’s National Human Rights Consciousness Week. Meanwhile, Police Chief Ronald dela Rosa welcomed the initiative of some local
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Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu and Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles opposed the move of Senator Panfilo Lacson to slash the P50.7billion budget for the rightof-way provision under the Department of Public Works and Highways. “We stand pat on our version of the national budget next year because the budgetary cuts would definitely endanger the build, build, build plan of President Rodrigo Duterte designed to usher in a golden age of infrastructure for the country,” Abu said. He made his statement even as Senator Loren Legarda, head of the Senate committee on finance, said the 2018 General Appropriations Bill was a pro-people and needs-based budget. ‘‘In reviewing the 2018 national budget, we scrutinized every item to ensure that we are funding the needs of the people, that it
supports the infrastructure program of the government and also takes care of the human capital so that economic growth addresses the needs of the poorest sector,” Legarda said. “When we address the basic needs of the people, we also curb crime, violence and illegal drugs.” Nograles said the Senate version “contradicts the progress that the President’s build, build, build plan would bring to the country.” Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said Congress would not give up its version of the 2018 national budget and defend it in the bicameral conference committee despite the risk of having a reenacted budget in 2018. Abu raised concern that even projects to benefit Batangas, such as the ongoing clearing of the Batangas City-San Pascual-Bauan access road, would also be affected. “Such is an important project in my district and province. What will happen now?” he said.