Category: reproductive health

political chitchat

for the latest political tsismis i always make silip the tribune column of former senator ernie maceda a.k.a. mr. expose(y) who is also the spokesman of former president erap.   no thanks to ping lacson’s disclosures, erap’s reelection bid might be in trouble, and manong ernie must be wishing for the good old days before cory died when the erap camp was supremely confident of a win in 2010.   just the same i t don’t see him advising his boss to give it up.   manong ernie loves the political intramurals much too much.   he loves being in the thick of things.   besides it’s early days.

anyway here’s what manong ernie says about alfonso yuchengco’s statement in the inquirer re ping lacson’s allegation that yuchengco was forced to sell his shares in pldt to manny pangilinan when erap was president.

Yuchengco sick. Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco, 86, is in New York for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. He could not himself have issued the statement confirming Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s exposé that President Estrada coerced him to sell his 3 percent stake in PLDT to First Pacific headed by Manny Pangilinan.

It is alleged that Ambassador Albert del Rosario accompanied by 10 soldiers forced him to sign the Deed of Sale in August 1998. But the record shows that deal was actually consummated in November 1998 after several months of negotiations over the price. So, it is clear that when the sale was consummated in November 1998, there was no coercion consideringthat there were continuing negotiations and the original contract that Yuchengco alleged he was forced to sign was even amended to reflect a much higher price. If there was coercion, then Helen Yuchengco Dee would have had nothing to do with Manny Pangilinan or PLDT. But she accepted to be member of PLDT’s Board of Directors and PLDT continued to keep RCBC, the Yuchengco owned bank, as its major banker.

The question remains: Did Ambassador Del Rosario who allegedly forced the Yuchengco’s to sell, act upon President Erap’s order or was he acting for someone else? Del Rosario is a Manny Pangilinan man, not close at all to President Erap.

Stock market brokers call attention to the fact that one of Yuchengco’s daughters is very, very close to First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

Here comes former Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez saying that Erap could be charged with coercion. Secretary Gonzalez is again showing his partisan ignorance. The alleged coercion happened more than 10 years ago. Therefore, the crime has prescribed.

hmmm.    just because there were price negotiations and just because a yuchengco daughter is on the board of directors of pldt, hindi ibig sabihin na hindi napilitan ang mga yuchengco na magbenta.  it only tells methat the yuchengcos managed to negotiate some terms, sort of.

but what about the alzheimer thing?   perhaps it was the yuchengo kids who issued the statement in the name of their father?   and yet and yet and yet i just heard in the evening news that erap is charging al yuchengco and the inquirer with libel and asking 10-20 million php in damages.   no mention of the alzheimer thing, which, if true, would put into question the validity of the allegedly libelous statement di ba?

tungkol naman kina mar at korina and their future plans:

Mar and Korina say yes. At the birthday party of RC Constantino at the Architect’s Center, Sen. Serge Osmeña told us that Sen. Mar Roxas finally decided to accept Noynoy’s offer of the VP slot after fiancée Korina Sanchez withdrew her objections to Mar’s accepting the offer.

Sen. Serge Osmeña, who admitted he was running Chiz Escudero’s campaign for the last 12 months said he has decided to run for the Senate and implied he has left the Chiz Escudero campaign. He revealed he did commission the latest SWS survey conducted on Sept. 5 and 6. He conceded that after the euphoria has gone down, Noynoy’s ratings should go down. While he did not say so, it is clear that he will be running on the Liberal Party ticket. Serge ran for VP to Mayor Lim as LP official candidate in 1992. At the moment, he is a member of PDP-Laban. Serge admitted that with a 30-percent discount from ABS-CBN head Gabby Lopez, he will budget P100 million for his TV-radio ads

tungkol kay noli de castro and his future plans:

Noli de Castro’s ranking dropped to 7 percent in the latest SWS rating. Reports say ABS-CBN chairman Gabby Lopez has informed Noli he is supporting Noynoy and advised him to give up his plans to run for president or vice president and just return full-time to his TV hosting job.

at tungkol sa kung ano-ano at kung sino-sino:

Tidbits. At the Umagang Kay Ganda, ABS-CBN’s early morning talk show, the audience roundly applauded President Erap after his interview by Pinky Webb and ABS-CBN employees requested picture with Erap. The picture taking lasted for 30 minutes… Kim Atienza told us that he had not witnessed this happening to other guests… For the month of August, the top spenders on TV commercials are DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno — P87 million; Sen. Manny Villar — P84 million and Sen. Mar Roxas P64 million… Former Batanes Rep. Butch Abad is the de facto campaign manager of Noynoy. Active behind the scenes is uncle Peping Cojuangco. Will Sen. Tessie Aquino Oreta and Paul Aquino leave the GMA camp for Noynoy?… Lawyer Pancho Villaraza of the FIRM and his Sigma Ma Ro associates are supporting Manny Villar. Partner Nonong Cruz is with the Noynoy-Roxas camp.

masaya.  samantala umiinit na naman ang usaping reproductive health.   the bill is up for final debate and vote sa house of representatives, that is, as soon as the church stops objecting, so the speaker can muster a quorum, haha, what a house of wimps.

noli, loren, manny & the RH bill

congress reconvening today.   sana matuloy ang promised testimony of scam & escape artist jocjoc bolante sa senado.  lalo pa, lalo na, sana matuloy ang long-delayed showdown on the reproductive health bill sa konggreso.

kung magkasabay, which one kaya will ANC air: bolante or RH?   sana pareho, one on ANC, the other on channel 2.  and if, by chance or circumstance, isa lang ang puwede i-cover, then let it be RH, parang awa niyo na.   i want to see, we need to see, the world needs to see, which congressmen and congresswomen dare defy the wishes of 7 of 10 filipinos who want, need, deserve, a reproductive health law like the rest of the civilized world.

dr. quasi romualdez, once doh secretary, counts heads in his malaya column:

In the House of Representatives, 114 members have signed up as sponsors of HB 5043 which mandates a government-supported reproductive health program that includes making available to the poor all the possible legal methods of family planning.

Given these numbers, opponents of the measure will likely resort to dilatory tactics that substitute parliamentary tricks for rational discussion.

Working in favor of these tactics is the fact that there are a number of legislative issues that will be competing for congressional attention during the six weeks that remain before the Christmas break.

Among these are agrarian reform extension and the impeachment complaint filed recently. Proponents of HB 5043 are confident however that when it comes to a vote, the RH bill will finally pass.

If the House approves the measure, the situation in the Senate appears to be similar in the sense that the minority members who oppose RH legislation will use all sorts of parliamentary tricks.

By their past statements and recent actuations, advocates of the bill count 14 senators: Angara, Biazon, Pia Cayetano, Enrile, Escudero, Estrada, Gordon, Honasan, Lacson, Madrigal, Pangilinan, Revilla, Santiago, and Zubiri.

Senators Aquino, Arroyo, Alan Cayetano, Legarda, Roxas, and Trillanes are listed as undecided. It is noteworthy that of these six senators, two (Legarda and Roxas) are among those invariably included in surveys for presidentiables, indicating the possibility that Church power may be a consideration in some senators’ decision. The neutral position of Senator Arroyo is noteworthy only becausehe is the only one among the six identified with the administration.

Listed as opposed to reproductive health legislation are Senators Lapid, Pimentel, and Villar. Senator Lapid’s position is clear – he opposes the measure because he perceives Malacañang to be against it. Senator Pimentel’s opposition to any population management or family planning proposals has been consistent for many years – he has always supported the position of the Roman Catholic Church on this issue.

Senate President Villar’s position that is somewhat of a mystery.

As a presidentiable who seems to be sympathetic to the plight of the poor Filipino majority, Senator Villar, more than the other aspirants for higher office, might have been expected to support what is clearly pro-poor legislation. After all, the proposed law is designed to help those who cannot now afford them to use the family planning methods of their choice in order to fulfill their responsible parenthood obligations.

Here again, the factor of Church power in national politics may again be a decisive influence. There are unconfirmed reports that the Senate President has promised a Catholic bishop that he would block reproductive health proposals. Advocates hope that this is just a rumor and that Mr. Villar, just like his political rivals, will in the end decide on the basis the people’s interest rather than political expediency.”

how dismaying that loren legarda, no. 2 presidentiable in the latest SWS survey, is undecided.  and manny villar, no. 3, is unequivocally committedly anti-RH pala.  alam kaya ito ng 7 out of 10 pinoys who want an RH law?   iboto kaya nilang pangulo sa 2010 ang isang indecisive, ehe, undecided?   iboto kaya nilang pangulo sa 2010 ang isang anti-RH/anti-women?  eh si no.1 presidentiable noli de castro kaya — malamang whatever gloria wants, noli wants, ‘no?

suddenly i’m not sure the RH bill is coming to a vote soon.  maybe not until there’s a public outcry for an end to the debates and other delaying tactics.   i hope i’m wrong.

7 of 10 pinoys favor, but gma will veto, RH bill

on the philippine daily inquirer’s “second front page” is a report on the latest social weather stations’ survey re the reproductive health (RH) bill.

Majority of Filipinos across all areas and classes were in favor of the RH bill. Seventy-eight percent in Metro Manila, 72 % in Mindanao, 69 % in Balance Luzon, and 68 % in the Visayas supported the bill, as did 77 % in Class ABC, and 70 % each in both class D and class E.

While prior awareness of the RH bill is slightly higher among women (50 %) than men (42), support for it was equally high among both sexes (70 among men, 71 among women), regardless of marital status.”

ang punchline, sa right bottom corner of the second front page:

But GMA is set to veto measure

Saying her faith as a Roman Catholic influenced her policy decision, President Macapagal-Arroyo virtually indicated that she was set to veto the controversial reproductive health bill currently under consideration at the House of Representatives.

…”I’m pro-life as far as population is concerned,” she said. “I’m pushing for birth spacing, not birth control.”

wow.  she’s going to defy public sentiment?  really?  so it doesn’t matter what happens, pass or fail, in the lower house, it’s doomed?  or is this her way of telling the lower house to get it out of the way na para maka-chacha na.

ano kaya ang ex-deal ni gma with the catholic church?  considering that a veto would lose her plentyof pogi points all around, it must be a mega-ex-deal.  hmmm.  perhaps the church will support, nay, campaign for, charter change?  support the milf and the moa-ad?  agree to u.s. bases in mindanao?  support mikey arroyo for speaker?  gilbert teodoro forpresident?  ano nga kaya.

o baka naman she’s just asking for a lot of prayers and indulgences to pay for her sins and buy her a ticket to heaven, as in the time of noli and fili.  back to the dark ages talaga.  what a drag.

manny villar vs. sex education?

thanks to whistlebloggers pete lacaba and john silva for calling attention to senate bill no. 2464 also known as the Anti-Obscenity and Pornography Act of 2008 now pending in the senate, which would violate the constitution’s tenets of freedom and democracy and bring back censorship big time.

so what’s up ba talaga with senate president manny villar, he with the very moist eye on malacanang palace, sponsoring and earnestly seeking the approval of such an all-encompassing anti-obscenity and -porn law that would criminalize and penalize the production, broadcast, and exhibition of all materials deemed “obscene” by state & church watchdogs, “obscene” referring to

“anything that is indecent or offensive or contrary to good customs or religious beliefs, principles or doctrines, or tends to corrupt or deprave the human mind, or is calculated to excite impure thoughts or arouse prurient interest, or violates the proprieties of language and human behavior, regardless of the motive of the producer, printer, publisher, writer, importer, seller, distributor or exhibitor such as, but not limited to:
(1) showing, depicting or describing sexual acts;
(2) showing, depicting or describing human sexual organs or the female breasts;
(3) showing, depicting or describing completely nude humanbodies;
(4) describing erotic reactions, feelings or experiences on sexual acts; or
(5) performing live sexual acts of whatever form.”

and pornography referring to

“objects or subjects of film, television shows, photography, illustrations, music, games, paintings, drawings,
illustrations, advertisements, writings, literature or narratives, contained in any format, whether audio or visual, still or moving pictures, in all forms of film, print, electronic, outdoor or broadcast mass media, or whatever future technologies to be developed, which are calculated to excite, stimulate or arouse impure thoughts and prurient interest, regardless of the motive of the author thereof.”

covers it all, di ba, as in COVERS ! tinatakpan, ikinukubli, isinesekreto, ang tungkol sa sex. at inaasahan i suppose na kung walang magpa-publish ng mga sexy tabloid at mga tipong fhm at playboy, at kung masisibak na ang mga tipong eat bulaga at wowowee, at kung maipagbabawal na ang sexy billboards and commercial ads, sexy paintings and sculptures and fashions and dvds, aba, wala na ring magkakasala, as in, wala nang makakaisip ng “impure thoughts,” mapipigil na ang panggigigil ng madlang people, maaawat na ang population explosion, magiging history na ang sexual violence against women and children, gayon din ang prostitution, homosexuality, and sexually transmitted diseases.

WTF ! there’s no way any congress can legislate away “impure thoughts” and i’m sure our representatives and senators know it.  besides, ika nga ni john silva:

The bill’s assault on basic Filipino liberties and rights will have serious cultural and economic implications. Arts and Culture deprived of creative expression will be sterile and not saleable.

Suspected books and the printed media will be banned and the publishing industry will teeter and collapse. The manufacturing sector involved in the selling of goods whose advertising pitch depends on exalting the human form will suffer financial loses.

The broadcasting media, the film and video industry and the internet industry, dependent on unfettered information will be curbed and subject to financial ruin.

Our tourism industry will suffer considerably. If our society loses its unique tourist branding as one of the freest and most liberal in Asia to be replaced with a monastic authoritarian state, then who in their right mind would come and visit a poor version of Saudi Arabia?

so, again, i ask, wazzup, wazzup, with presidentiable villar?

my suspicion is, correct me if i’m wrong, this anti-obscenity anti-porn bill ay sagot niya, o panabla niya, sa long overdue and controversial reproductive health bill. note the phrase “regardless of the motive of the producer, printer, publisher, writer, importer, seller, distributor or exhibitor…” — i bet it’s aimed at the reproductive health bill’s sex education provisions.

Reproductive health education in an age-appropriate manner shall be taught by adequately trained teachers from Grade 5 to 4th year high school. As proposed in the bill, core subjects include responsible parenthood, natural and modern family planning, proscription and hazards of abortion, reproductive health and sexual rights, abstinence before marriage, and responsible sexuality.”

sana i’m wrong, but i wouldn’t be surprised if the senate president’s strategy is, to pass FIRST the anti-obscenity anti-porn bill, thereby trumping the reproductive health bill’s sex education provisions (we’ll just have to settle for a watered-down rh law?), which is to accommodate the holy-men-in-skirts and their chorus lines of moralists so they’ll all support him in 2010.  how devious.  how obscene.  how presidential.  way to go, manny villar.