Multi sectoral group in Neg Occ pushes for RH bill passage

PIA Press Release
Friday, February 25, 2011

 by Lorenzo O. Lambatin Jr.


BACOLOD CITY,Negros Occ, Feb. 25 ( PIA)—A multi-sectoral group from this province has urged legislators to vote in favor of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill because it will support the welfare of the women and help in the eradication of poverty in the country.

Silay City Councilor Mari June Castro, speaking in behalf of the Development of Active women in Negros (DAWN) said that as an anti-violence against women advocate, she supports the bill because it will serve the causes of women especially their health.

Family Planning, which she said is just one of the components of the RH bill, will ensure that women have the right to choose between natural and modern method during a “Multi-Sectoral forum on the Responsible Parenthood –Reproductive Health Bill,” at the Carribean Waterpark and Resotel, this city.

Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates International ,Inc. represented by Melody Hope Uy called for the immediate passage of the law for the country to have a comprehensive reproductive health program.

Citing poverty, burgeoning population and high fertility rate among Filipino women, Bacolod City Councilor Em Ang expressed support to the bill. The councilor by profession is a registered nurse and has long been an advocate of Family Planning, Reproductive Health and Population Management.

Reacting on the criticism that RH bill advocates are promoting a culture of death, Population Commission Regional Director Vicente Molejona refuted the attack and explained that the existing hunger and poverty because of over-population do promote a culture of death.

Meanwhile, Philippine Non Government Organization Council , NGOC, Executive Director Eden Divinagracia called on RH bill supporters to let their legislators know of their sentiments towards the bill and make known their stand so that their leaders can well-represent their intentions in the chamber.(JCM/LOL-PIA6

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Surprised Lapating calls for investigation

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

ALLEGATIONS of cheating in the National and Regional Achievement Tests in Iloilo are both alarming and unfair to the teachers, according to the Division of Iloilo of the Department of Education (DepEd).

Schools Division Superintendent Raymundo Lapating said he was surprised by the exposé of Dr. Gracia D. Malazarte, head teacher of Lico-an Elementary School in Barotac Nuevo (see related story).

“I did not expect this. This matter should be investigated thoroughly because it is alarming and unfair at the same time for the teachers who worked hard to top the NAT,” Lapating said.

Lapating said it is impossible for teachers to cheat in the NAT and RAT because of the security measures employed by the regional and national DepEd offices in administering the examinations.

Lapating said there is no way for teachers to obtain the answer keys to the NAT since the questionnaires are checked in Metro Manila.

As regards the RAT, Lapating said they undergo the examinations as a matter of compliance and in preparation for the NAT.

“We are focused on the NAT results reason why work hard to top the exams by making weekend reviews,” he added.

Dr. Julio Villanueva, Barotac Nuevo schools supervisor, said the questionnaires are released on the eve of the examinations, thus it would be hard to see the questions and make cheats in advance.

“The examiners are teachers from other schools who are swapped from one district to another. The questionnaires are placed in sealed plastics which will only be opened during the administration of the tests. It’s hard to cheat in this case,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said he has no idea why Malazarte would expose the alleged cheating although he expressed readiness to cooperate in the investigation.

More Pinoys have left Libya – DFA chief

BY SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief, Panay News
MANILA – Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Acting Secretary Albert Del Rosario is now in Jerba, the Tunisian city closest to the Libyan border, and has reported that an increasing numbers of Filipinos have already exited Libya.
Del Rosario, Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Esteban Conejos and a small team originally planned to proceed to Tripoli but decided to proceed to Tunisia due to the de facto “no fly advisory” that is being considered for Libya by the international community.
According to Del Rosario, an additional 131 Filipinos have crossed the Libyan-Tunisian border at Ras al-Jedir late Saturday.
A DFA team received them at the border and made arrangements for their flight home.
Meanwhile, Philippine Embassy in Athens Charge d'Affaires Constancio Vingno reported that five Filipinos arrived safely in the Greek island of Crete late on Saturday.
Philippine Honorary Consul Alexandros Fasoulakis and the Filipino community in Crete are providing assistance to the five Filipinos.
Vingno is en route to the Greek port city of Pereos to receive some 144 Filipinos working for the Dutch construction company Bam who are due to arrive there.
He is likewise finalizing arrangements with Greek shipping companies for ferries to pick up Filipinos in Benghazi.
Meanwhile, 15 Filipinos who were flown to Madrid by their employers were expected to arrive in Manila yesterday afternoon.
The Philippine Embassy in Madrid, in close coordination with the Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in Madrid, welcomed them Saturday afternoon and provided them shelter and food during their short stay there.
The DFA also announced that its has dispatched its second batch of augmentation teams to assist Filipinos exiting Libya and on their way to the Philippines.
Four teams composed of five persons each are being deployed to the border crossing stations in Tunisia, Egypt, Malta and Crete, the DFA said.
These personnel come from the DFA headquarters in Pasay City and selected Philippine embassies in the Middle East. Most of them are Arabic speakers or had previous stints in Libya or nearby countries.
The teams will welcome and assist Filipinos who are crossing the Libyan border to Egypt or Tunisia, as well as those arriving by boat in Malta or Crete, and arrange their onward flights to the Philippines.
The DFA has likewise mobilized its other embassies and consulates in that region where the Filipinos will be passing through.
The teams started departing for their posts Saturday night. They had a briefing Saturday morning from Special Assistant at the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs lawyer Enrico Fos on their respective assignments.
In view of the escalating violence and widespread insecurity in Libya, the DFA is on a full relocation and repatriation mode.
In Manila, the DFA Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs (DFA-OUMWA) continues to attend to families of Filipinos in Libya, briefing them about the government's measures being undertaken and in place.
On Saturday, 97 Filipinos from the OEA Grand Projects arrived in Manila from Paris after being repatriated by their employer.
They arrived in five batches, with a group of 16 and 20, Saturday morning aboard a Cathay Pacific flight and a Gulf Air flight respectively.
A third batch of 12 arrived at noon the same day aboard a Singapore Air flight./PN

Tunisian PM Mohammed Ghannouchi resigns over protests

Tunisian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi has announced on state TV that he is resigning - a key demand of demonstrators.

He was speaking at a news conference in Tunis, after making a lengthy speech defending his record in government.
Mr Ghannouchi is seen as being too close to former President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who was toppled in an uprising last month.
Mr Ghannouchi, 69, had served under Mr Ben Ali since 1989.
"After having taken more than one week of thinking, I became convinced, and my family shared my conviction, and decided to resign. It is not fleeing my responsibilities; I have been shouldering my responsibilities since 14 January [when Mr Ben Ali fled]," he said.
"I am not ready to be the person who takes decisions that would end up causing casualties," he added.
"This resignation will serve Tunisia, and the revolution and the future of Tunisia," he added.

At the scene

Paul Moss BBC News, Tunis

---

It is exactly what the protesters had been demanding. Mohammed Ghannouchi, had served under the country's old dictatorship, and as far as they were concerned, until he went, their revolution was unfinished.
The question now is whether this resignation will be enough to quell the violence. As the news has spread, people have been taking to the streets, chanting and singing of victory.

Within hours a replacement was named for Mr Ghannouchi - Beji Caid-Essebsi, 84, who served as foreign minister in the government of the late President Habib Bourguiba.

Earlier in the day, police in Tunis fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse the latest demonstration calling for a new government and a new constitution on a third day of violence.

Huge protests

 

On Friday and Saturday, anti-government protesters held huge rallies calling for Mr Ghannouchi's resignation.
At least three people were killed in clashes between hundreds of demonstrators and security forces in Tunis on Saturday.
Tunisia's government had insisted it was introducing reforms as fast as it could, and that it was planning to hold elections by July.