Aquino leads Magsaysay Awards
President Benigno S. Aquino III vowed to live up to the ideals espoused by the late President Ramon Magsaysay, whom he described as “perhaps the most beloved president in the history of our nation.”
In his message at the 2010 Ramon Magsaysay Award presentation ceremonies on Tuesday night at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), the Chief Executive said President Magsaysay commanded the admiration, respect and affection of the Filipino people because of his simplicity, humility, commitment to integrity, and belief in the importance and dignity of human beings.
“It is a great honor to serve in the same office as the great man…It is my solemn duty to live up to his ideals that they remain vivid and relevant in the hearts of my countrymen…,” the President said.
He noted that President Magsaysay’s dream of a government with integrity, and one that reflects the will of the people, was a dream also shared by his father, the late Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr. and his late mother, former President Corazon Aquino, who herself was a recipient of the award touted as Asia’s Nobel Prize in 1998.
The President congratulated the seven awardees that included two Filipino science educators, three Chinese environmentalists, a Japanese advocate for nuclear disarmament, and a Bangladeshi advocate for the rights of disabled persons.
The recipients of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Award were Christopher Bernido and Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido of the Philippines; Huo Daishan, Pan Yue, and Fu Qiping of China; A.H.M. Noman Khan of Bangladesh; and Tadatoshi Akiba of Japan.
The Ramon Magsaysay Awards was founded in 1957 in honor of the late President Ramon Magsaysay Jr., who died in a plane crash in March that year. Since then, 267 individuals and 17 organizations have received the prestigious award.
The Chief Executive thanked the awardees "for being symbols of the highest ideals of human kind, and for shining your light in a world that is in constant need of good examples."
The Bernidos, who are physicists, run a progressive high school for underprivileged students in Jagna, Bohol. Through a system they call "dynamic learning," students at the school spend most of their time doing independent study rather than listening to lectures.
"Far from being barriers to education of the highest standards, poverty and scarcity allow us to systematically zero in on the core of the learning process," Carpio-Bernido said.
Akiba, a three-term mayor of Hiroshima, Japan, led a worldwide campaign for a nuclear weapons-free world. In 1999, he formed a coalition of city mayors from 144 countries to pressure national governments into nuclear disarmament by 2020.
Photojournalist Huo was honored for his efforts to raise awareness about the effects of pollution on China's third-largest river, the Huai. He vowed to use his prize money "for building more water purifying systems in the villages along the Huai River," saying this would ensure that the Magsaysay Award would directly impact on the lives of poor farmers in the area.
Khan created in 1996 the Center for Disability in Development, an organization that has since provided services and inclusion opportunities for people with disabilities in Bangladesh.
Chinese government officials Pan Yue and Fu Qiping were cited for their environmental protection causes.
Pan Yue is currently the vice-minister of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, while Fu Qiping is the leader of Tengtou Village in Zhejiang province, one of the smallest yet most environmentally progressive communities in China. (PCOO)
Aquino orders DOH to help dengue patients
President Benigno S. Aquino ordered the Department of Health (DOH) to support and assist all regional hospitals and health centers and intensify their efforts to attend to the needs of dengue--inflicted patients.
Health Secretary Enrique Ona, in a press briefing at Malacanang on Wednesday, said dengue express lanes were reactivated in all government hospitals.
The DOH has also networked with the regional and provincial blood centers where patients can access safe and clean blood for transfusion in severe cases.
Phil Health has also committed to assist poor patients.
At the same time, Ona explained that the dengue epidemic is still at a manageable level adding that there is no dengue outbreak in the whole country but only in seven identified regions.
These regions with most cases of dengue include Western Visayas, Calabarzon, Central Mindanao, Eastern Visayas, National Capital Region, Southern Mindanao and Northern Mindanao.
The number of dengue cases nationwide from January to August this year rose to 62,503 with 465 deaths recorded compared to 33,102 cases last year.
“We are on top of it,” Ona stressed.
According to Ona, the DOH has ramped up efforts in its public education and information campaign to schools and barangays as there is still no cure or vaccine for dengue.
He noted that efforts to fight dengue must focus on cost-effective preventions, especially on source reduction which is to destroy the dengue-carrying mosquitoes.
He emphasized that the most effective way to prevent and fight dengue is to practice the DOH’s 4-S strategy consisting of search and destroy, self-protective measures, seek early treatment and say no to indiscriminate fogging. (PCOO)
DOH bares strategy for dengue outbreak
As far as the Department of health is concerned the outbreak of dengue can only be countered with a strategy called D.E.N.G.U.E.
D.E.N.G.U.E., according to Health Secretary Enrique Ona, stands for Daily monitoring of patient’s status; Encourage intake of oral fluids like oresol, water, juices, etc; Note any dengue warning signs like persistent vomiting and bleeding; Give paracetamol for fever and NOT ASPIRIN which induces bleeding; Use mosquito nets; and Early consultation for any warning signs.
In a media briefing in Malacanang, Ona said that despite the alarming cases of dengue fever in several parts of the country, the DOH remains on top of the situation.
He said that the DOH has launched an information drive in the national down to the barangay level in line with President Benigno S. Aquino’s instructions.
Ona pointed out that cleanliness is still the main preventive weapon against the disease. He urged the public to keep their surroundings clean and do away with stagnant water in vases, tires, bottles and gutters that serves as the breeding ground of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, carrier of the disease.
The DOH also advised the public to be constantly aware of the feeding time of the dengue-carrying mosquitoes which is two hours after sunrise and two hours before sunset.
During home treatments, Ona said patients afflicted with dengue should use mosquito nets to prevent passing on the disease to other people.
Due to prevention awareness, Ona said deaths from dengue are now less than one percent compared to the two percent recorded in the past years.
For this year, Ona said there are 465 deaths from dengue based on the records of the DOH.
From January to August, Ona said there were 62,503 dengue cases reported most of these in the areas of Western and Eastern Visayas; Central, Southern and Northern Mindanao; CALABARZON (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) area; and Metro Manila particularly in Mandaluyong and Marikina.
At present, Ona said the Philippines, together with other members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to pool resources to conduct scientific research on how to effectively combat the dengue disease. (PCOO)
