President Aquino launches nationwide
anti-measles, Polio mass vaccination campaign
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Monday led
the launch of the Ligtas sa Tigdas at Polio mass immunization campaign at the
San Lazaro Compound in Manila, encouraging the public to participate in the
program.
Some 11 million to 13 million people in the country
are at risk from measles, polio and rubella (German measles), he said, asking
the public to cooperate in eradicating the preventable diseases.
He said he is glad that the Department of Health
(DOH) is carrying out the initiative aimed at preventing outbreaks.
"Ito na nga ho ay mga pagbabakuna para
mailayo sa kapahamakang madudulot kung tatamaan ng polio o pati na ng measles,
lalo na ang kanyang mga komplikasyon," the President said in his speech.
"Ngayon, ang Department of Health po ay
talagang nakagayak na at binigyan ng sapat na pondo para maipaitupad ‘yung
hinahabol nga nating 95 percent na vaccination."
The DOH will try its best to reach remote
communities to carry out the vaccination program, he said, emphasizing the
importance of coordinating with local government units throughout the country
to ensure the program’s success.
He however called on parents to take it upon
themselves to have their children vaccinated.
"Pakiusap po sa lahat, itong ‘Ligtas sa
Tigdas’ na programa natin ay ating suportahan. Doon sa mga hindi pa nakakarinig
nitong programang ito, makidamay na po tayong ipaalala sa kanila ang obligasyon
natin sa kabataang ito," he said.
The nationwide vaccination campaign, which
targets 9- to 59-month old children, is a follow-up to the 2011 Measles Rubella
Supplemental Immunization.
It aims to eliminate the threat of measles and
rubella, protect communities against the poliovirus, and identify high-risk
communities for routine immunization through the ‘Reaching Every Purok’
strategy.
The government’s goal is to vaccinate 95 percent
of all children who are at risk of contracting these diseases.
Although there has been no reported case of
polio in the country based on government monitoring, the DOH is implementing
the anti-polio campaign in compliance with the World Health Organization’s
(WHO) International Health Regulation on polio as a public health emergency.
The campaign intends to maintain the county's
polio-free status.
The mass vaccination campaign started Monday
(September 1) and will run until September 30, according to health officials.
All health centers throughout the country will serve as vaccination posts. PND
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Government forms task force to boost Anti-Hazing
Law
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. has
signed a memorandum circular for the creation of an interagency task force in
order to step up government’s response to fraternity violence and strengthen
the implementation of the Anti-Hazing Law.
“President Aquino shares the concern of many
parents and educators over the violations of the Anti-Hazing Law,” Ochoa said.
“The task force seeks to address the need to
ensure that there is justice for hazing fatalities and their families. At the
same time, we have to look at whether the law can be improved so that its
objectives are met.”
Under Memorandum Circular No. 68 which Ochoa
signed on August 28, the Secretary of Justice will lead the task force and will
be given the full executive authority within the law to carry out the functions
of the interagency body.
The task force chair may also give direct
operational instructions to any member agencies, which include the Departments
of National Defense and the Interior and Local Government, the Commission on
Higher Education, the Philippine National Police, the National Youth Commission
and the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs.
One of the key functions of the interagency task
force is to review the Anti-Hazing Law or Republic Act No. 8049, which was put
in place in 1995, in order to prevent fraternity violence similar to the
back-to-back incidents involving students from two prominent universities last
July.
The interagency body is also tasked to formulate
policies and develop modes of coordinating and monitoring of the implementation
of programs, projects and guidelines to prevent hazing fatalities, according to
the memorandum circular which takes effect immediately.
The task force is ordered to submit a periodic
report to the Office of the President. PND
President Aquino hails 2014 Ramon Magsaysay
awardees
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Sunday hailed
the recipients of the 2014 Ramon Magsaysay Award during a ceremony at the
Cultural Center of the Philippines in Pasay City.
“This year’s roster (of awardees) … is composed
of individuals imbued with the missionary zeal to promote social justice, and
each one of them has taken a personal stand to contribute to the improvement of
the communities in which they live,” the President said during his speech.
He said each of them has confronted longstanding
problems and has found innovative ways to address them.
“In other words, they have not been content to
complain, but have been inspired to act, with solutions that are relevant and
replicable,” he noted.
“I am hopeful that more men and women will
follow the footsteps of Ramon Magsaysay and our awardees today, so that we may
work together and rise up to the challenge of our times, fulfill the collective
promise of our world, and bequeath future generations a global community that
is, without doubt, better than we found it,” he added.
The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation this year
recognized the efforts of Chinese journalist Hu Shuli; Indonesian
anthropologist Saur Marlina Manurung; National Museum of Afghanistan deputy
director Omara Khan Masoudi; Chinese environmental lawyer Wang Canfa; The
Citizen Foundation from Pakistan; and Filipino teacher Randy Halasan.
Chinese journalist Hu Shuli was recognized for
her “unrelenting commitment to truthful, relevant and unassailable journalism,
and her leadership in blazing the way for a more professional and independent-minded
media practices in China”. In 1988, Hu established and edited the business
magazine Caijing, which published investigative reports that led to the ousting
of high public officials, the prosecution of corporate leaders, and reforms in
China’s stock market. This earned her the reputation of being “the most
dangerous woman in China."
Indonesian anthropologist Saur Marlina Manurung
was commended for her “ennobling passion to protect and improve the lives of
Indonesia’s forest people." Together with four other colleagues, Saur
Marlina established the Sokola Rimba or ‘Jungle School’. They customized their
teaching, focusing on life skills rather than academic knowledge, basic
literacy for children, and practical skills to cope with the changing forest environment.
She also broke cultural taboos that discourage girls from getting an education.
When the Taliban were destroying what they
considered “non-Muslim” heritage amid the civil strife in Afghanistan, Omara
Khan Massoudi and his colleagues moved artifacts from the National Museum of
Afghanistan to safer locations and hid them in secret vaults under Kabul’s
streets. When Taliban rule ended in 2002, he was able to retrieve the
collections, restore historical monuments and negotiate the return of cultural treasures
moved or smuggled to other countries. For this, he was honored for his
“courage, labor, and leadership in protecting Afghan cultural heritage."
Pakistan’s nonprofit organization, The Citizen
Foundation, endeavored to remove barriers of class and privilege by building
schools that offered affordable, quality education in poor districts. For this,
it was recognized for “the social vision and high-level professionalism of its
founders and those who run its schools in successfully pursuing their conviction
that quality education made available to all is the key to Pakistan’s brighter
future."
Lawyer Wang Canfa was commended for “his
discerning and forceful leadership in ensuring that the enlightened and
competent practice of environmental law in China protects the rights and lives
of victims of environmental abuse." Wang founded the Center for Legal
Assistance to Pollution Victims, which is composed of a pool of pro bono
volunteer lawyers who give free legal assistance to victims of pollution. He
and his team filed more than 550 cases, including class action suits involving
as many as 1,721 plaintiffs.
Randy Halasan, 31, a grade shool teacher in
Pegalongan, one of the remotest villages in the mountainous hinterland of Davao
City and home to the indigenous Matigsalug tribe, successfully lobbied for the
expansion of a two-room, two-teacher school into a nine-room, eight-teacher
school and the establishment of a high school for all tribe members. He is
currently establishing food-sufficient communities in far-flung regions of
Davao. For this, he was honored for “his purposeful dedication in nurturing his
Matigsalug students and their community to transform their lives through
quality education and sustainable livelihoods."
The Ramon Magsaysay Award was established in
1957 to honor individuals and organizations whose contributions have enhanced
selfless service to the peoples of Asia. It is Asia’s highest honor and is
considered as the region’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize. PND (ag)
President Aquino administers oath of office to
various government officials
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Monday
administered the oath of office to various government officials in a ceremony
held at the Rizal Hall of Malacañang Palace.
Inducted into office as undersecretary were
Emmanuel Bautista of the Office of the President; Jose Lius Alano of the Office
of the Executive Secretary; Prudencio Reyes, Jr. and Nora Terrado of the
Department of Trade and Industry; Donato Marcos of the Department of Energy;
and Jan Co Chua of the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO).
Sworn in as assistant secretary were Victor
Batac of the Office of the President; Jose Ernesto Gaviola of the Department of
Transportation and Communications; Virgilio Nadal, Jr. of the PCOO; Myrna Chau
and Maxine Tanya Hamada of the Department of Budget and Management.
Also inducted were officials of the National
Youth Commission: Chairman Gregorio Ramon Tingson; Commissioner Jose Rafael
Cruz; Commissioner-at-Large Jose Sixto Gonzales “Dingdong” Dantes III;
Commissioner representing Luzon Percival Cendaña; Commissioner representing
Visayas Jo Jan Paul Peñol; and Commissioner representing Mindanao Earl
Saavedra.
Other government officials who were sworn in
were Acting Administrator Alexander Pama of the Office of Civil Defense,
Department of National Defense; Commissioner Blas James Viterbo of the Security
and Exchange Commission, Department of Finance; Commissioner Jose Fabia of the
Commission on Audit; Jose Gabriel La Viña as member of the Board of Directors
of the Philippine International Trading Corporation; and Andres Ibarra as
member of the Board of Trustees of the Local Water Utilities Administration.
Also inducted were the Chairpersons for the
National Peace and Order Council for different regions in the country: Pasay
Mayor Antonino Calixto representing the National Capital Region; Dagupan Mayor
Belen Fernandez for Region I; Quirino Province Governor Junie Cua for Region
II; Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali for Region III; Palawan Governor Jose
Alvarez for Region IV-B; Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. for Region VI;
Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III for Region VII; Zamboanga del Norte Governor
Roberto Uy for Region IX; Catanduanes Governor Aracelli Wong for Region X;
South Cotobato Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes for Region XII; Calbayog City of
Western Samar Mayor Ronaldo Aquino for Region VIII; and Butuan City Mayor
Ferdinand Amante, Jr. for the CARAGA Region.
Sworn in as Chairpersons for the Regional Peace
and Order Council under the National Economic and Development Authority were
Bulacan Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado for Region III; Albay Governor Jose Ma.
Clemente “Joey” Salceda for Region V; Bohol Governor Edgardo Chatto for Region
VII; and Surigao del Norte Governor Sol Matugas for Region XIII (CARAGA). PND
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