By Lydia C. Pendon
ILOILO CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) under the new President Noynoy Aquino administration is putting a premium on health insurance as a basic right of all Filipinos. This was revealed by DOH Reg. Dir. Ariel Valencia after confirming October 2, 2010 as a nationwide Philippine Health Insurance Day in giving emphasis on health insurance especially of indigent families. The government is allotting P500 million this year to pay for health insurance of poor families and in Western Visayas, 65,000 indigent families will avail of the benefits, Valencia said.
By Francis Allan L. Angelo
A MEMBER of the Espinosa clan is under observation after he accidentally shot himself in the head in a birthday party early Monday morning. John Paul “JP” Espinosa, adopted son of Punong Barangay Pascual “Sipil” Espinosa IV of San Juan, Molo, Iloilo City, is presently confined at the Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital.
By Tara Yap
THE number of dengue cases in Iloilo is now on a downtrend. “As of September 5, there are only 273 recorded dengue cases,” disclosed Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr. “Also, the good news is that there are no deaths.” Records from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) show that of the 12 district hospitals in the province, 105 dengue patients are confined in the district hospital in Guimbal town alone.
BUSINESS rivalry is believed to be the motive for the killing of a fruit merchant near the Archbishop’s Palace in Jaro, Iloilo City last August 28. Latest investigation by the Jaro PNP indicates that a rival merchant of Rex Lozada ordered his assassination. The mastermind reportedly owes Lozada an unspecified amount of money and was irked when the victim collected his debt days before the incident.
NEW YORK (AP)—Joe Girardi would still rather have Alex Rodriguez in his starting lineup. The Yankees had been riding a season-high eight-game winning streak while their star third baseman was on the disabled list with a nagging calf injury. They’d won 11 of their last 14 and pulled ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays by 2 1/2 games in the brutal AL East. A-Rod finally returned Sunday and what happened? Blue Jays 7, Yankees 3. “He came out of it fine,” Girardi said of Rodriguez, who went 2 for 5 and drove in a run while making several nice plays at third. “He hasn’t played in a while, but there were no issues.”
IF you’ve read this far, you’re probably among those who can get clean water with a flick of your kitchen tap. But 19 other Filipinos don’t have that privilege. Daily, they draw from polluted wells – and court disease, even death. Thus, the most fractured human right here is that of a child to celebrate his or her first birthday. Out of every 1,000 kids, 21 never make it to their first birthday. Many succumb to water-borne ailments. Two events half a world apart – one in Sweden and in the Philippines – jogged recall this week. In Stockholm, scientists, bankers and economists opened Sunday the 20th World Water Week conference. In Manila, UN Children's Fund underscored what many here fret about we’ll probably flub meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of lowered maternal and infant death rates by 2015.
THE 164-MW coal-fired power plant of Panay Energy Development Corporation (PEDC) in Lapaz, Iloilo City test fired its first boiler September 4. The said power plant, envisioned to be the new base load power source for Iloilo City, started construction in 2009 in anticipation of acute electricity shortage.
MANILA – Manny Pacquiao wants to continue making a mark in the boxing world by being a warrior in battle and a kindhearted person outside the ring. The 7-division world champion said this amid the latest controversy involving him and American Floyd Mayweather, Jr., who hurled racial slurs against the Filipino champion last week. The unbeaten American boxer has apologized for his comments. “Wala akong hinanakit sa kaniya... Hindi ako nagbigay ng komento sa mga message niya, sa mga pahayag niya. Sabi ko nga ayaw kong magbigay ng comment. Ayokong patulan ‘yung uneducated na pahayag ni Mayweather. Sarili niya ‘yun. Ganun ang style niya so hayaan na,” Pacquiao told media members at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Monday.
(First of 2 Parts)
THE proposed ordinance of Councilor Jeffrey Ganzon for a city public college has once again hit snag. Action on it was deferred again (for the nth time since 2007!) by the Iloilo City Sangguniang Panlungsod in their regular session last Sept. 1. In fact, it was returned to the Committee on Education for further deliberations. After almost three years of cruising through rough seas in the previous SP without getting nowhere, the only hope for Ganzon to get his measure through is this present SP. Why? Practically every candidate for city positions in the last May 10 elections promised to give “socialized”, if not entirely free, public college education to the children of the poor. A socialized (and ladderized) education, as proposed in Ganzon’s measure, offers free tuition to an enrollee coming from an indigent family. The rest will have to pay on a graduated scale corresponding to the income of the parents. Lesser income means lesser tuition fee.
THE taxi transport sector has forged an agreement with the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) in the conduct of security checkpoints for cabs. Perfecto Yap, president of the Association of Taxi Operators of Panay (ATOP), said the random checkpoints in the city will replace the log in-log out system they implemented on taxi units with out-of-town trips. Yap said the police will check and even frisk taxi drivers and their passengers to preempt robbers who prey on cabbies.
NEW YORK (AP)—Any time now, Andy Murray will break through and become Britain’s next Grand Slam champion. Or so the theory goes. The fourth-seeded Murray, expected by many to make a deep run at this year’s U.S. Open, instead made his second straight earlier-than-expected exit from Flushing Meadows—losing to No. 25 Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday in the third round. Wawrinka rallied from a break down late in the second set for a 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-3 upset—a loss certain to be picked apart by the tennis-loving fans back home. “I have no idea of whether I’ll win a Grand Slam or not,” Murray said. “I want to. But if I never win one, then what? If I give 100 percent, try my best, physically work as hard as I can, practice as much as I can, then that’s all I can do.”
