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This sordid PhilHealth mess

Published by Ellen on August 28, 2020

Former PhilHealth Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs Rodolfo Del Rosario Jr., Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, and former PhilHealth Chief Ricardo Morales.

The PhilHealth mess is still unfolding and it seems that we have not seen the worst of it.

Thursday, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III announced that President Duterte accepted the resignation of PhilHealth chief Ricardo Morales.

News reports also said PhilHealth Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs Rodolfo Del Rosario Jr. who was among those suspended for six months without pay, also resigned last Monday.

In announcing Duterte’s acceptance of Morales’ resignation, both Roque and Duque cited the PhilHealth chief’s ill health and nothing about the massive corruption in the agency that has been the subject of a Senate investigation.

Rumors about the President’s health that refuse to die

Published by Ellen on August 22, 2020

One week afterMalacañang denied rumors that President Duterte was airlifted to Singapore on Aug. 15, the item continues to circulate in social media’s private chats with more dubious details.

The persistence of the rumor reminds me of the talk that circulated in the 80’s during Martial Law about Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr.

Rumors had it Bongbong was killed by the mafia while he was in Europe and the family replaced him with a double. Incredible but many believed it. Up to this day, I still get that claim from someone who insists that he knows somebody whose sister’s officemate has a cousin who was a member of the Malacañang staff at that time.

People believe what they want to believe.

So, did the President categorically say he didn’t go to Singapore last Saturday?

Published by Ellen on August 18, 2020

About 4 p.m. Monday (Aug. 17), my friend, Marilyn Robles, was disturbed to hear DZRH’s Deo Macalma trying to verify reports that President Duterte was in Perpetual Hospital.

Marilyn goes to Perpetual Hospital in Las Pinas for her regular medical check up. She muttered to herself: “How did that happened? It started with him going to Singapore and now, he is in Perpetual?”

Marilyn’s confusion about Duterte in Perpetual Hospital was later cleared by Macalma reading a clarification by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque of his earlier disclosure that the President is in Davao in “perpetual isolation” while denying rumors that swirled in social media chat groups Saturday that the President was airlifted to Singapore.

Photo released by Sen. Bong Go Aug. 17, 2020 shows Pres. Duterte having a meal with his family in their Davao residence. Companion Honeylet Avanceña holds an Aug. 17, 2020 issue of the Manila Bulletin.

Did Putin really offer Duterte Russian Anti- COVID-19 vaccine for free?

Published by Ellen on August 13, 2020

President Duterte and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Polyana 1389 Hotel in Sochi on October 3, 2019

President Duterte prides himself of being a man true to his words.

Although VERA Files fact checks belie this, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and see to it that he makes good his promise made during his late-night briefing last Aug. 11 to be the first to be tested with the Russian vaccine.

He offered to be injected publicly of the anti-COVID-19 vaccine that Russia will be producing. In his press briefing he made it appear that Russia will be giving the vaccine to the Philippines for free.

Coalition of lawyers, journalists, human rights defenders calls Anti-terror Act ‘repugnant’

Published by Ellen on August 8, 2020

CenterLaw’s Gilbert Andres files petition vs ATL

The disclosure of the new Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Lt Gen Gilbert Gapay, about his plan to include the use of social media in the implementation of the Anti-Terror Act (ATA) is a grave warning on the danger of this law.

“Because this is the platform now being used by the terrorists to radicalize, to recruit, and even plan terrorist acts. That’s why we need to have to specific provisions of this in the IRR pertaining to regulating the use of social media,” Gapay was quoted in news reports as having said in a media briefing.

Gapay had to issue a clarification later that what he meant was to “put order on the social media platforms, not the users per se,” when his plan elicited statements of concern from officials, one of them was the author of the ATA himself, Senator Panfilo Lacson.

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.

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