IN BRIEF

REP. Ray T. Reyes of Anakalusugan party-list group and chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Health is supporting the inclusion of psoriasis in the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) coverage.

“The world looks to follow the Philippines’ template on, and its progress in, ongoing legislative efforts toward the inclusion of psoriasis in free primary health care as interest from other countries gains ground,” Reyes said.

Reyes made the statement upon his return to the country after serving as a panelist in the recently concluded International Federation of Psoriasis Associations (IFPA) Forum held in Singapore.

Reyes also cited the Philippine legislative experience of introducing a Psoriasis Bill and its importance on the future of people afflicted with psoriasis, and how it contributed to strengthening primary care and health reform by way of its inclusion in covered afflictions under the UHC Law.

“Psoriasis is a lifelong autoimmune disease that has no cure yet and affects the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos nationwide. It is painful, chronic, and leaves them prone to worse medical conditions, including psoriatic arthritis, cardiometabolic syndrome, and depression,” the lawmaker said.Maricel V. Cruz

BOC agents intercept P22m worth of ‘kush’

THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) seized nearly P22 million worth of smuggled ‘Kush’ marijuana and cigarettes in separate operations in Clark, Pampanga, and Davao.

Customs examiners found 2,318 grams of the high-grade marijuana worth P3,824,700 inside pieces of furniture. The shipment came from Bangkok, Thailand and was declared as “furniture.”

20 adults and nine children—are at the Port of Sudan, from where they would take a plane going to either Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, or Doha, Qatar.

“We are having a hard time finding flights for them because, as you know, it’s Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi, especially in Jeddah, which is near Mecca),” the DFA official said.

“Almost all of our countrymen who want to leave and pass through Saudi are

Joy vows to stop fraudulent PWD claims

QUEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte on Thursday vowed to go after fraudulent persons with disability (PWD) claims to ensure that assistance and support reach those who genuinely need it. She said the Persons with Disability Affairs Office has implemented rigorous verification processes to identify and eliminate individuals falsely claiming to have a disability to be included in the list of registered PWDs.

“The improper use of PWD IDs to obtain discounts, by individuals who are not legitimate PWDs is completely unacceptable. To address this issue, we have implemented an automated registration system which makes the process more efficient and secure,” she added.

The new PWD ID registration system uses the online portal QC E-Services, where applicants must submit necessary documents as proof of their disability.

The automated process has eliminated the need for in-person transactions, removing opportunities for patronage or the involvement of fixers, the city mayor cited. Before the COVID-19-19 pandemic, the number of PWD identification holders in Quezon City stood at around 78,000.Rio N. Araja having a hard time because there are no available flights because there are many people now in Jeddah and Mecca,” he added. Hajj is a pilgrimage to Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims. If they can, adult Muslims must make the pilgrimage at least once in their lives.

Cortes said they meant to book one flight for all Filipinos who want to leave, but this would still depend on the avail- ability of flights.

According to him, there is also another “challenge” facing the Philippines in repatriating the remaining Filipinos in Sudan.

“There is also a slight challenge because we need to ask entry visas from Saudi or Qatar for our countrymen so they can pass through those countries where they will get flights to the Philippines,” he said.

High Court starts beefing up personnel for online, regional Bar exams in Sept.

THE Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday started recruiting lawyers and judiciary employees to serve as local personnel in the 2023 online and regionalized Bar examinations set on Sept. 17, 20, and 24 in 14 testing centers nationwide.

In a notice issued by Office of the Bar Confidant Officer-in-Charge Amor P. Entila, the applications will be accepted by the SC until July 20.

The local personnel for the Bar exams will serve as floor supervisors, head proctors, proctors, and runners

Qualifications for the posts are— lawyer in good standing outside of the judiciary, or an incumbent Judiciary employee, including those with permanent, coterminous, and casual status; fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and has received at least one booster dose at the time of application; not teaching in any law school or law review center; has a Landbank of the Philippines account in one’s own name; and has no relative within the fourth civil degree of consanguinity or affinity who will take the 2023 Bar exams in the same local testing center where the personnel will serve.

The SC said “to sufficiently equip all local personnel with the knowledge necessary to assist and aid the examinees in the upcoming Bar examinations, they will be required to attend online training sessions, which may be scheduled outside of official office hours.”

Lawyers and judiciary employees may apply online through https://bit.ly/ B2023LocalPersonnelNCR for the National Capital Region (NCR); https://.ly/ B2023LocalPersonnelLUZ for Luzon; https://.ly/B2023LocalPersonnelVIZ for the Visayas; and https://.ly/B2023LocalPersonnelMIN for Mindanao.

The SC also said that applicants may apply to serve only in the area where they are currently residing. Rey E. Requejo