by Info @Showbiz News | September 21, 2025
Photo: Kiko, Bam a Leila / Bulgar Media
Present din sina Sens. Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan at Bam Aquino kasama si ML Partylist Rep. Leila De Lima sa isinasagawang rally laban sa korupsiyon ngayong Linggo, Setyembre 21, sa EDSA Shrine.
ni Chit Luna @News | September 20, 2025
Photo File: World Health Organization (WHO)
Nanawagan ang isang kilalang global health expert ng bagong estratehiya para sa tobacco harm reduction sa Asia-Pacific, ang rehiyon na may pinakamataas na bilang ng naninigarilyo sa buong mundo.
Sa webinar ng Asia Forum on Nicotine (AFN) noong Agosto 17 na may temang “The WHO FCTC, 20 years on,” sinabi ni Professor Tikki Pang, senior global health consultant ng Center for Healthcare Policy and Reform Studies sa Jakarta at dating Director ng Research Policy sa WHO, na kailangan ang mas ligtas na alternatibo para mabawasan ang pagkamatay.
"The fact is that Asia-Pacific, specifically Asia, has the highest number of global tobacco users. The number is staggering. It is 781 million people. That represents 63 percent of the global total of people who use tobacco," ayon kay Nancy Loucas, executive coordinator ng Coalition of Asia-Pacific Tobacco Harm Reduction Advocates (CAPHRA).
Binatikos ni Loucas ang agenda ng darating na WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) conference sa Nobyembre, na umano’y mali ang pag-dismiss ng harm reduction bilang isinusulong lang ng industriya.
"Despite the fact that Article 1 of the convention implicitly includes harm reduction as a component of tobacco control, there is a failure to acknowledge and support the use of safer alternative tobacco products as an important strategy and tool to end smoking," sabi ni Pang.
"Despite the overwhelming evidence of the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these products, and the fact that 130 million people are actually using these safer alternatives, the WHO, FCTC and the COP have adopted a very strong anti-tobacco harm reduction stance, actually stating that these products are as harmful as combustible cigarettes and calling on its member states to ban them and actually giving awards to countries which have done so,” kanyang dagdag.
Bawat taon, humigit-kumulang 8 milyong tao ang namamatay dahil sa smoking-related diseases, karamihan mula sa low- at middle-income countries. "The Asia-Pacific region bears a very significant burden of these harmful effects of smoking," aniya.
Sa halip na maghintay ng pagbabago mula sa WHO, iminungkahi ni Pang na bumuo ang mga tagapagtaguyod ng harm reduction ng malayang plataporma na nakabatay sa ebidensya, katulad ng International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).
"In the years that I've become a supporter for tobacco harm reduction… I have been struck by the support the cause has received from many quarters," ani Pang.
"Reflecting on that, I sometimes wonder, we can't all be wrong. The second reflection comes from Alex Wodak in Australia, and I quote Alex, 'WHO's position on this issue is now as irrelevant as the position of governments in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the 1980s on the future of central command economies. WHO's position will collapse at some point, but I don't know when,” kanyang sabi.
by Info @News | September 18, 2025
Photo File: Vince Dizon - Senate of the Philippines
Sinabi ni Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Vince Dizon na hindi sang-ayon si Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. na ‘ganon-ganon’ na lang ang ghost projects at kailangan umanong bawiin ang pera mula sa mga sangkot na kontraktor dito.
“The President po completely agrees, hindi pupuwedeng ganon-ganon na lang ‘pag may ghost or substandard [projects], kailangan pong maibalik ang pera at marami po sa proyektong ito ang kailangan ayusin,” ayon kay Dizon.
Idinagdag din niya na hindi puwedeng ang gobyerno ulit ang maglalabas ng pera para sa mga proyektong dapat ayusin kundi dapat kunin ito sa mga warranties.
“Nag-initiate na rin po ang ating bagong team ng procedures para mabawi ang mga warranties — most of the warranties of the flood control, if not all, are five years Mr. Chairman under their contracts, puwedeng-pwede pa po natin habulin lalo na po ‘yung mga proyektong wala pang limang taon,” saad pa ni Dizon.
