Ang Caviteno Newsweekly January 01-07, 2018 Issue | Page 2

2
QC hosts PH-Israel Friendship Park
QUEZON
CITY--
Quezon
City continues to strengthen its
partnership with other countries
as Mayor Herbert Bautista leads
the ground-breaking ceremony of
the Philippine-Israel Friendship
Park at the Quezon Memorial
Circle that has been on December
2017, together with the officials
of the Embassy of Israel and
Quirino Foundation.

The
Philippine-Israel
Friendship Park will feature a
marker to honor the late President
Manuel Quezon’s effort to save
the lives of over 1,000 Jewish
refugees during World War II.

The
marker
also
commemorates the vote made
by the Philippines that favored
the partition of Palestine and the
Yearender...
Aquino’s
government
had
started the school-based dengue
immunization program on April
4, 2016.

The standard bearer
of Aquino’s political party the
Liberal Party was Mar Roxas
whose campaign slogan then was
“Ituloy ang Daang Matuwid”
(Continue the straight path).

Also
during
the
Senate hearing, former Health
Secretary Paulyn Ubial stated
her reasons why she opposed
the immunization program, for
one, she said, implementing the
immunization program during
election year could be taken as
hidden agenda.

But this was not the only
time that people’s health was used
for a political agenda.
Remember
2004
presidential election?

When Health Secretary
Francisco Duque was appointed as
the new DOH Secretary, replacing
Ubial who was rejected by the
Commission on Appointment,
the HEAD was among those who
opposed Duque’s appointment.
In a statement, community doctor
and HEAD secretary general
Joseph Carabeo said Duque
should answer all allegations
against him, which includes
the distribution of PhilHealth
cards also in time for the 2004
presidential election.

During
this
time,
Three...
of TECH4ED Center, or the
Technology
Empowerment
for Education, Employment,
Entrepreneurship and Economic
Development to help the
marginalized sector or members
of the community by giving them
the opportunity to prosper.

Tech4Ed aims to enable
education seekers to gain a high
school diploma through informal
education, create partnership with
industries and linkages to help job
seekers prepare for job hunting
and give access to employment
opportunities.

The third MOA which
is for the Office of the Provincial
Agriculturist Farmers Information
and Technology Services (OPA-
FITS) TECH4ED Center aims to
provide information on how to
help the agriculture industry and
other related fields to increase
farm productivity, enhance farm
technologies for product diversity
recreation of the state of Israel.
Israeli
Ambassador
to the Philippines Effie Ben
Matityau mentioned during the
ceremony the “Open Doors”
monument located at Rishon
Lezion Memorial Park in Israel
commemorating and honoring
Filipinos and President Quezon.

President Quezon is also
known as the “Asian Schindler”
for allowing Jewish refugees to
enter the Philippines during Nazi
dictator Adolf Hitler’s reign.

Oskar Schindler is a
German businessman who saved
hundreds of lives of Jews from
Hitler’s onslaught by providing
them jobs in his industrial factory.
(PAISO
QC/RJB/SDL/PIA-
NCR)
continued from page 8
Arroyo who replaced deposed
President Joseph Estrada in 2001
was running for another term as
president. Among her opponent
was the famous actor, the late
Fernando Poe, Jr.

There are allegations
of fraud and misuse of public
funds after Arroyo won the 2004
election that prompted a number
of plunder cases filed in courts
against the former president after
her term ended in June 2010.
One is the transfer of funds from
the Overseas Workers Welfare
and Administration (Owwa) to
the Philippine Health Insurance
Corporation (PhilHealth).

At least P530 million
($10 million) Owwa Medicare
Fund
was
transferred
to
PhilHealth. According to a
report by the Philippine Center
for Investigative Journalism
(PCIJ) Duque, who was then the
president of PhilHealth, proposed
the transfer of funds to Arroyo
as early as Nov. 2002. In this
memorandum, Duque reportedly
said, “the proposed transfer will
have a significant bearing on the
2004 elections.”

On Feb. 14, 2003, Arroyo
signed Executive Order No. 182
Transferring the Medicare Funds
and the Medical Functions of
the Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration to the Philippine
Health Insurance Corporation. On
Jan. 29, 2004, Executive Order
No. 276 was signed by Arroyo
directing PhilHealth to assist the
continued from page 1
and facilitate availability of
current market prices to local
farmers and growers.

During the MoA signing,
DICT was represented by its
Officer in Charge, Undersecretary
Eliseo Rio Jr. with Regional
Director Cheryl Ortega, Field
Operations Office -Cluster 2 of
DICT; Provincial Director Raul
Castañeda of the Department of
Science and Technology (DOST);
Engr. Nelson Q. Remulla , Board
of Director of the National ICT
Confederation of the Philippines
(NICP); Ms. Lolita Pereña,
Provincial Agriculturist; Mr. Jess
Barrera, Provincial Planning and
Development Coordinator; Ms.
Connie Villanueva, Provincial
Librarian; and Ms. Camille
Lauren Del Rosario, head of
the Provincial Information and
Communication
Technology
Office
(PICTO).
(GG/Ruel
Francisco,
PIA-Cavite/with
reports from PICAD)
BALITA

Enero 01-07, 2018
Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Effie Ben Matityau , QC Mayor Bautista and other local officials lead the ground breaking
ceremony of the Philippine-Israel Friendship Park at the QC Memorial Park in Quezon City. (Photo courtesy of QC PAISO)
application and enrollment of
the targeted five million heads of
indigent families nationwide.

A report by Newsbreak
in 2004 also said that Duque,
“wanted beneficiaries to receive
their membership cards within
two months, specifically setting
the deadline for April 6, a day
after Arroyo’s 57th birthday.”
Duque was reportedly a close ally
of Arroyo and long time family
friend and neighbor in La Vista, a
posh village in Quezon City.

The
expansion
of
beneficiaries was also not studied.
The report said, “Documents
from PhilHealth and the budget
department suggest that the
expansion of the program was
undertaken without its feasibility
being studied.” Funds for the
implementa tion of the program
were also put into question as it
was not enough to cover all the
targeted beneficiaries.

The PhilHealth cards
that were distributed for free
by Arroyo during the campaign
period had her picture in it
cradling a child. It is however,
only valid for a year.

The
PCIJ
report
also said that former Social
Welfare
Secretary
Dinky
Soliman confessed to the
Citizens’ Congress for Truth and
Accountability (CCTA) that the
government made the distribution
of the PhilHealth cards to areas
where support for Arroyo was
weak. She said during the conduct
of the CCTA in 2005 that she
went to Pangasinan, Poe’s home
province to distribute PhilHealth
cards. Soliman was the secretary
of the Department of Social
Welfare and Development before
she resigned from the post in
2005.

This was eventually
denied by Duque and Arroyo.
Meanwhile, after ‘winning the
2004 presidential election, Arroyo
appointed Duque as Secretary of
the Department of Health.

‘Motivated by political
ambition’

Robert
Mendoza,
Alliance of Health Workers
chairperson said all of these were
motivated by political ambitions.

“Before, Duque, as
PhilHealth president did it for
Arroyo. It also goes the same
with Aquino to get votes for
Liberal Party candidates,” he told
Bulatlat.

Political patronage is
rampant especially during election
season to get votes or political
favors, Mendoza added. The
committee hearings in the House
of Representatives and the Senate
have shown how politics got in
the way of the implementation of
the Dengvaxia mass vaccination.
For one, Mendoza said, Ubial
had admitted how she, during
her stint as Health Secretary, was
pressured in the budget hearings
to buy more Dengvaxia vaccine
for its implementation for 2018.

Medical experts also
decried the hasty implementation
of the mass vaccination and
how officials of the Aquino
administration
disregarded
recommendations.

A report by Reuters
also said that experts’ advice
was disregarded by then Health
Secretary Janette Garin. The
Formulary Executive Council
(FEC) – a panel of top Filipino
experts that identifies which
medicines and drugs the
government may use and procure
– expressed caution over the
introduction of Dengvaxia in
the country. After approving the
purchase of the vaccine from
Sanofi to introduce Dengvaxia, it
recommended that the vaccine be
used “through small-scale pilot
tests and phased implementation
rather than across three regions in
the country at the same time.”
The FEC also recommended that
the vaccine should be used “only
after a detailed ‘baseline’ study
of the prevalence and strains of
dengue in the targeted area” and
should be “be bought in small
batches so the price could be
negotiated down.”
Accountability

Before 2017 ended,
Gabriela Women’s Party, Gabriela
National Alliance and 70 mothers
representing their children has
filed charges against Aquino,
Garin, former Budget Secretary
Florencio Abad and former
executive secretary Paquito
Ochoa as well as key executives
of Sanofi on Dec. 22.

In a statement, the
complainants
said
Aquino
“cannot feign ignorance and claim
that he ordered the purchase of
the vaccines to save the children
from the dreaded disease.”

“The fact remains that
whether he (Aquino) acted in
conspiracy with Sanofi officials
or miserably failed to exercise
sound judgment or discretion,
the lives of more than 800,000
children are now at risk because
of his acts and billions of pesos
from the government coffers have
been disbursed illegally under his
incumbency,” the complaint read.
The complainants filed a case of
violations of Republic Act 3019 or
Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices
Act and procurement laws when
the government proceeded with
the immunization program via
anomalous procedures.

The Section 3 (e) of the
law states that public officials
are prohibited from “Causing
any undue injury to any party,
including the Government, or
giving any private party any
unwarranted benefits, advantage
or preference in the discharge
of his official administrative
or judicial functions through
manifest
partiality,
evident
bad faith or gross inexcusable
negligence.”

Section 3 (g) meanwhile,
prohibits public officials from
“Entering, on behalf of the
Government, into any contract
or transaction manifestly and
grossly disadvantageous to the
same, whether or not the public
officer profited or will profit
thereby.”

They also noted that
the Department of Budget and
Management had issued the
Special
Allotment
Release
Order for the procurement of
Dengvaxia vaccines on Dec.
29, 2015 even before the FEC’s
recommendations on Feb. 1,
2016.

“At the very least, the
public respondents are guilty of
gross inexcusable negligence
when they inexcusably failed
to duly review and assess the
efficacy of the vaccine and to
do what was obviously expected
of them as public officials,” the
complaint read.

They also filed a writ
of continuing mandamus to the
Supreme Court to address the
dangers posed by the Dengvaxia
vaccine.

“Instead of seeking
monetary award for damages,
given the possible long-term
effects of the vaccine, petitioner-
children and their mothers pray
for the rendition of free and
long-term medical services and
treatment from the government,”
the petition read.

The petitioners argue
that the Dengvaxia issue is “of
transcendental importance.” They
added that the high court should
compel key government agencies
to “provide free medical services
and treatment for those who may
suffer from severe dengue or any
of the determined side effects of
the Dengvaxia vaccine.”
GWP Rep. Arlene Brosas said
the present administration is
duty-bound to ensure the right
to health and right to life of all
those affected by the Dengvaxia
vaccine. “This is the very least
that it can do to allay the fears of
children and their mothers.”