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Duterte’s rant against health workers confirms he just can’t hack it

Published by Ellen on August 4, 2020

President Duterte was a pathetic figure last Sunday during his televised response to the appeal of health workers for a “time out” to assess the government’s strategy in dealing with the Covid-19 crisis which they said was “failing miserably.”

Past midnight,he sounded like a broken record as he again professed for more than an hour his love for China and the vaccine that he said President Xi Jinping promised the Philippines will be given priority to buy, his faith on the uniformed personnel, his trust on Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, and a few more topics that he has narrated ad nauseam in the past.

It was painful listening to him because it was clear he didn’t get what the health workers were saying in a clearly worded appeal read by Philippine Medical Association (PMA) president Dr. Jose Santiago during an online press conference headed by the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) on Saturday.

The public awaits Duterte’s response to health workers’ plea

Published by Ellen on August 2, 2020

The health workers’ appeal for a “time out” to assess the government’s response to the Covid-19 crisis was a stinging indictment of its failure to competently address the problem even with a severe four -month lockdown.

Words such as “waging a losing battle” and “failing miserably” contradict Malacañang’s claim of improvements in the fight to to stop the spread of COVID-19.

More than 24 hours had passed and there has been no response from President Duterte to the health workers’ “distress signal” which was an appeal for a return of Mega Manila to the more rigid Enhanced Community Quarantine for two weeks from Aug. 1 to 15 “to reline our pandemic control strategies.”

‘Inutil’

Published by Ellen on July 28, 2020

President Duterte said he is “inutil” when it comes to dealing with China.

“Inutil” in English is “inutile.”

The Latin root word is “utilis” which means useful. Putting “in” before “utilis” conveys rhe opposite which means “useless”, “unusable” according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.

When the President himself describes himself as “inutil,” who are we to disagree?

What’s next for those high-profile inmates who ‘died’ of Covid-19?

Published by Ellen on July 21, 2020

Doubts that were raised in reaction to news reports about the death of nine high-profile inmates of the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa due to Covid-19 reflect on the zero credibility of the agency that has been embroiled in a number of scandals, the most recent of which was the “freedom for sale” scheme.

News reports said among those who died and whose body was immediately cremated was Jaybee Sebastian, a government witness and also a co-respondent in the drug trafficking cases filed against Sen. Leila de Lima.

Others who were reported to have died due to Covid-19 were Benjamin Marcelo, leader of Chinese inmates at NBP; Zhang Zhu Li, Jimmy Kinsing Hung, Francis Go, Jimmy Yang, Eugene Chua, Ryan Ong and Amin Imam Buratong, convicted operator of the shabu tiangge in Pasig City in 2009.

Philippine media united in support of ABS-CBN

Published by Ellen on July 14, 2020

File photo of protest against the closure of ABS-CBN. Photo by Basilio V. Sepe of ABS-CBN News.

It is heartening to see members media in the country come together raising their voices (and their fists, I imagine) against the assault to press freedom and democracy by 70 members of the House of Representatives who voted to deny the broadcast giant ABS-CBN of a new franchise.

Setting aside competition, the journalists, through their news outfits and beat press corps, issued separate statements: The Malacañang Press Corps; The Defense Press Corps of the Philippines; The Senate Reporters Press Corps; The Economic Journalists’ Association of the Philippines;

The Justice and Court Reporters’ Association; The Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines; Rappler; The Philippine Daily Inquirer Reporters; The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines.

House panel’s votes on ABS-CBN do not reflect people’s sentiments

Published by Ellen on July 13, 2020

Sayang, that the Social Weather Stations released its survey on the sentiments of adult Filipinos on the ABS-CBN franchise the day after 70 members the House committee on legislative franchises voted to deny it. Only 11 showed clear thinking and voted against the despicable resolution.

The special SWS survey conducted on July 3-6 while the House panel was discussing the ABS-CBN franchise, used mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) among 1,555 adult Filipinos (18 years old and above) nationwide.

The result was 75 percent among the respondents want ABS-CBN’s franchise renewed; only 13 percent disagreed and only ten percent were undecided. That’s the complete opposite of what the members of Congress did last Friday, which leads us to ask whether those 70 ever consult the people they are supposed to represent.

Don’t shoot the messenger, renew ABS-CBN license

Published by Ellen on July 10, 2020

Cavite 7th District Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla said ABS-CBN “played up” his blunder during the July 1 hearing on the media giant’s bid for another 25-year franchise where TV cameras caught him writing a note while the Philippine National Anthem was being played.

“As usual, the ABS-CBN people are the ones playing it up now on social media,” he said.

Days later, also during the ABS-CBN franchise hearing, Remulla complained about the “cyber bullying” that he suffered that prompted him to lodge a complaint with the National Bureau of Investigation.

“I thought this wise because we are doing our job for this country, we are not doing this job for personal reason. This matter of scrutinizing a constitutional franchise, this franchise of ABS-CBN, is a constitutional duty. Ito ay aming tungkulin sa ilalim ng Saligang Batas na tingnan ang bagay na ito,” he said.

Ronnel Mas’ case: A preview of the possible horror of Anti-Terrorism law

Published by Ellen on June 26, 2020

The case of public school teacher Ronnel Mas should give us a preview of the horror that we would have to go through if and when the Anti-Terrorism bill, which is awaiting the signature of President Duterte, becomes a law.

The anguish that Mas suffered since he was arrested without a warrant last May 11 for his tweet that the National Bureau of Investigation considered “seditious” is immeasurable that you would not wish on your worst enemy.

Thankfully, Olongapo RTC Judge Richard Paradeza saw the illegality of the arrest and dismissed the inciting to sedition charge against Mas.

Media and public trust

Published by Ellen on June 18, 2020

In one of the forums where pressure on media was discussed, the respected Luis Teodoro of the Center Media Freedom and Responsibility said the best protection for media is the people’s trust

In principle, people’s trust on media should be a given because media’s role is public service – to give the public information , as truthfully as it can- that will empower them to make decisions in the daily life including on matters of national interest.

The reality, however, is not that simple. That’s why we have a situation where media becomes a target of attacks from the government as well as other powerful forces.

Duterte’s next ‘solution’: Will it make life for Filipinos worse or better?

Published by Ellen on June 14, 2020

Our lives have been drastically altered by the rigid measures the government has imposed to stop the spread of Covid-19 the last four months.

The new quarantine classifications that President Duterte is going to announce Monday, June 15 will further affect our lives. Will it make life worse or better?

The study done by a group of professors from the University of the Philippines on the situation in Metro Manila and Cebu related to Covid-19 released last June 8 would help us deal with whatever Duterte will decide.

The UP professors said based on the trends that they have observed since March 1 to June 8, 2020, they forecast that “the number of Covid-19 cases, assuming a continuation of current trends, is a total of 40,000 Covid-19 cases by June 30, and 1,850 total deaths due to Covid-19.”

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