NEWS AT A GLANCE
With or without dengue, many Filipino children are dying
A health
professionals group, Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), this week
warned the Filipino public to be alert on what the Department of Health (DoH)
is not saying. The warning was issued following an announcement by the DoH
that the season of dengue – which kills several children every year – is
over.
In a press statement,
HEAD said the health department ignores the fact that the Philippines’
infant mortality continues to rise. The infant mortality rate of 29
percent per 1,000 live births (or under-5 mortality rate of 40 per 1,000
live births), ranks among the highest in Southeast Asia. “An even greater
number of children die before they reach the age of five years,” HEAD
added. Only 59 percent of births are attended by health professionals, and
around 10 mothers die every day due to pregnancy and childbirth-related
causes.
Belying the
government claim that health is a top priority, the group asked Health
Secretary Francisco Duque III why he was only asking for a mere P10.575
billion budget for next year. Bulatlat
* * *
Progressive congressman wants U.S. warships probed,
seized
Bayan Muna Rep. Joel Virador this week
urged local officials of Zamboanga City, southern Philippines to probe and
seize a U.S. warship escorted by a gunboat reported to be anchored off the
province on Oct. 11.
Virador said that “no foreign vessel is
allowed to enter the Philippine coastal territory.” “Is this part of the
anti-terror campaign of the government? Or is this another covert
operation between the U.S. and the government which the Filipino people
are not aware of?” Virador asked.
Under the guise of
helping the Philippines fight “terrorism,” the BM congressman said that
“the U.S. is seizing every opportunity to re-enter the Philippines and
regain its military presence in the embattled island in order to
reconsolidate its strategic presence in the Pacific.” Bulatlat
* * *
Government ‘bounty system’
endangers peace talks
Reacting to a top
police official’s proposal to restore the reward system for the arrest or
killing of suspected leaders of the underground Left, the Communist Party
of the Philippines (CPP) said Oct. 14 that the government’s revival of its
"bounty system" only exposed government’s “complete disinterest in
pursuing peace negotiations.”
CPP spokesperson Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said that the bounty system
"will only make the resumption of formal peace talks more difficult." He
added that as in the past, “the funds for the ‘bounty system’ will only be
used to line the pockets of high ranking military and police officers.”
Police officials have ordered the arrest of leaders of the CPP, as well as
the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front after government
authorities unilaterally suspended the Joint Agreement on Security and
Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) signed by the both the Philippine government
and the NDF.
Rosal clarified that
the CPP-NPA and NDF are “genuinely interested in sitting down formally
with the government side and seriously going through the peace talks for
as long as the other side is also genuinely interested and also acts in
accordance with the agreements and not keep on casting aside previous
agreements and distorting facts.” Bulatlat
* * *
Political earthquake to rock presidential palace
Rep. Rafael Mariano of the Anakpawis
(toiling masses) party-list described Oct. 14 the “stern” warning by
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s allies against the “option” to declare
martial law as “tremors of a political earthquake that will rock
Malacanang.”
If the president declares martial law
or national emergency while Congress is not in session, Mariano cited
“three scenarios of resistance:” “Senate President Franklin Drilon and
House Speaker Jose de Venecia must immediately convene Congress; the
people must resist Macapagal-Arroyo’s dictatorial rule through the
intensification of street protests; and the Armed Forces must uphold the
Constitution and defy an illegal and unconstitutional order coming from an
illegitimate commander-in-chief.”
However, Mariano warned that “a
declaration of martial law will further widen the cracks within the
administration.” Bulatlat
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