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

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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

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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

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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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