A thumb history of Good Friday

CMN OFFICE, Manila, April 22, 2011-The gospels described the Good Friday as the commemoration of Jesus' Passion story of all Christians in the world where Jesus was betrayed, trialed, crucified, died and buried. The ritual marks the Last Supper on Maundy Thursday and precedes the celebration of Jesus' resurrection on Easter Sunday as part of the (Semana Santa) Holy Week where Catholics worldwide are now joining the traditional solemn processions representing the Passion of Christ.

Historian said that Jewish tradition dictated that Good Friday began at sundown on Maundy Thursday, adding that the Good Friday traditionally began with the betrayal of Jesus by his apostle Judas in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus was subsequently brought before the Sanhedrin council, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and King Herod of Galilee with the ultimate outcome ordering his condemnation to death by crucifixion.

The trial of Jesus and his crucifixion are described in varying detail by all four (4) canonical Gospels, the Jewish historian Josephus and the Roman writer Tacitus while the specific events and theological implications are widely disputed, the historicity of the occasion is widely accepted.

The church services this Good Friday revolves around the readings of the Gospel accounts of the Passion story. It includes the distribution of the Eucharist that was consecrated during the Mass on Maundy Thursday and special veneration of the cross by inviting individuals to approach the altar and kiss the wood of the crucifix in the Catholic liturgy for Good Friday.

Christians also marked the Good Friday by participating and/or watching processions meant to replicate the journey that Jesus took through the streets of Jerusalem while carrying his cross to the site of his crucifixion at Calvary. Every year, two of the largest and most famous of these occasions are Rome's Way of the Cross that leads to the Coliseum and is presided over by the Pope and the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem where a procession along the traditionally marked route of Jesus that is attended by thousands of pilgrims.

Key religious leaders will parade around the streets a few hour after 3 o’clock in the afternoon, where the Catholics believe that it is the time when Jesus died in the cross followed by decorated carriages and parish church officials, religious groups and devotees holding rosaries and candles.

The Good Friday is also a day of strict fasting. Catholics are instructed to abstain from eating meat as with all the Fridays of Lent. In Ash Wednesday, the fasting rules for Good Friday dictate that adherents should eat only one full meal with two smaller meals being permitted as long as no other food is consumed in the interim. The use of other meat-based products such as lard, chicken broth or dairy is not traditionally forbidden, although many individuals elect to make their Good Friday meals entirely vegetarian or vegan.

A special liturgy is read in the account of the Passion according to John’s Gospel celebrates by the churches, it is a series of prayers (prayers for special intentions) offered, and the faithful venerate the Cross by coming forward and kiss him. It includes prayers for the Acts of Reparation, the Veneration of the Cross, meditation on the Seven Last Words, praying the Way of the Cross, and the presentation of the “senakulo” or Passion plays. The Good Friday ends with the serving of Holy Communion.

The Good Friday is being observed as a national holyday in many countries with strong Christian traditions. (Jason de Asis)

The Lenten Season at a glance

CMN OFFICE, Manila, April 21, 2011-As Filipinos who have high values of religious traditions in celebrating the Holy Week, I encourage you to remember the brief history of it where most of us celebrate it in total solemnity.

Historian said that the Lenten season preceding Easter goes back to the time of the Apostles. It was a long, long time ago where the length of time varied. But according to the council of Nicea (325 A.D.) which was the first general Council of the Church, the lent is being observed for forty days.

It was said that we celebrate Easter on the first Sunday after the first full moon or the first vernal equinox (day and night sharing equal length). This was agreed upon by the church leaders of Nicea (325 A.D.); thus, this day can be either from March 22^nd till April 25^th.

Biblical history said that it observed the forty days fasts of Moses, Elijah and especially Our Lord in the desert. The observance of fast was very strict during the early days of the Church. It is said that one meal was allowed per day and, even in that meal, meat and fish were forbidden. By the fifteenth century, the one meal was taken at noon. Steadily an extra collation was allowed in the evening and that happened gradually.

In the recent legislation of Canon Law, all Fridays through the year and the time of Lent are penitential days and times throughout the universal Church (Canon 1250). Abstinence from eating meat or another food according to the prescriptions of the conference of bishops is to be observed on Fridays throughout the year unless they are solemnities; abstinence and fast are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and on the Friday of the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ (Canon 1251).

The law of abstinence forbids the use of meat, but not of eggs, the products of milk or condiments made of animal fat. The law of fasting allows only one full meal a day, but does not prohibit taking some food in the morning and evening according to the apostolic constitution of Pope Paul VI (1966).

The observance of fasting on all weekdays of Lent is strongly recommended by the Church, although it is not strictly obligatory where it applies to the Marian Catechists.

One statement that is new in the Code of Canon Law declares that pastors and parents are to see to it that minors who are not bound by the law of fast (eighteenth year completed) and abstinence (fourteenth year completed) are educated in an authentic sense of penance (Canon 1252). In an authentic sense of penance, the said provision applies to Marian Catechists who are in a position to educate young people.

The holy week commemorates the death by cruxification of Jesus Christ as only the devoutly Catholic vows for God. This will start on ash Wednesday that paternized the lunar calendar of Romans to be followed by palm Sunday, adding that the holy week called with Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Black Saturday and it will end on Easter Sunday. (Jason de Asis)

Legarda encouraged Filipinos Holy Week reflection dealing with nature

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 20, 2011-As we celebrate this year’s Earth Day, Senator Loren Legarda, who chairs the senate committee on climate change urged Filipinos to include in their Holy Week reflection the state of the environment and how they can improve the way they treat Mother Earth, saying that there is a need to rekindle our relationship with nature as stewards of God’s creation.

Legarda encouraged Filipinos to reflect on how we treat the benefits we receive from our natural resources, lamenting that formerly abundant and healthy environment that were blessed but now are in a sad and waning condition.

She said that we have destroyed the balance of our ecosystem to provide for our overly consumptive population at the expense of depleting the capital-the land, air, water that took billions of years to form and perfect, adding that we have polluted the air that we breathe and we are now in alarming levels that we have exposed ourselves to respiratory and pulmonary diseases.

“What have we done with the source of life in our waters,” she asked, saying that we did not only use it and used it up. We even dirtied it.

“What about our minerals that took 55 million years to form? We intend to extract these minerals in 30 to 50 years even if future generations of Filipinos will have nothing left,” she furthered.

Legarda said that Filipinos should not wait for another natural hazard or witness another environmental disaster of biblical proportion to understand the current sad state of the Philippine environment.

“It is time to reflect and work out in our own and simple yet big and determined steps to help resuscitate our ailing environment,” she said.

Legarda added that we have to strive to make a positive impact on our natural resources and let us turn away from extractive and consumptive way of living, may it be by saving on fuel, energy and water consumption, recycling, proper solid waste management, or growing trees.

The Holy Week is observed in the most unique way in the Philippines for decades and even centuries where the majority of the people celebrated it in total fervor and solemnity in remembering the passion and death of Jesus Christ.

Most of the Filipinos are Catholics so most of them are not eating pork/beef during the Lenten season while others acquire some other forms of penance or fasting across the nation. (Jason de Asis)

Senate manifested support on UN action road safety to lessen 1.3 million deaths from road accidents worldwide

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 19, 2011- Senator Bong Revilla Jr. who recently filed Senate Resolution 415, which affirmed support to the United Nations (UN) drive on the Decade Action for Road Safety in their worldwide and long decade campaign to curb the 1.3 million deaths from road accidents yearly was approved before the six-week adjournment of the session here to stop the alarming road accidents worldwide.

“The UN Decade of Action for Road Safety which started this year up to 2021 is an opportunity for countries to work together in addressing road traffic deaths and injuries around the world,” Revilla said, adding that the UN reported that there are 1.3 million people who died on the world's roads every year with around 50 million injured or disabled by accidents, plus every year, this costs countries up to 4 percent of their gross national product (GNP).

He said that the Philippines should be actively involved in this undertaking as a member state of the UN and a country with huge record of road accidents where the over-all objective of this global campaign is to halt the alarming rise of road accidents.

Revilla who is a staunched advocate of travel safety and main author of the Helmet Law, the legislative measure that obliged all motorcycle users, including the back riders, to wear standard quality helmets noted that 90 percent of road traffic deaths happened in the low and middle income countries as the primary cause of death of young people all over the world.

He explained that the poor are the most vulnerable victims because they are the ones who live alongside of the national roads and highways. “This epidemic is a killer of the poor,” he said, adding that the children of the poor walk to school and they are at risk of road accidents; thus, we are a country with high poverty rate and we must exert all efforts to address this problem.

Earlier, the United Nations General Assembly last March 2010 proclaimed that the next ten years will be observed as the Decade of Action for Road Safety which aim to provide a framework to countries and communities to increase action to save lives on the world's roads. It is also set that the official launch for the Decade is on May 11, 2011.

Revilla said that road accidents can be prevented and all roads must lead to safety. He furthered that there is a need to act now to save lives of the people. (Jason de Asis)

Senator Sotto bats for the establishment of penitentiary for drug offenders

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 18, 2011-Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III bats for the establishment of a penitentiary solely for the drug offenders in the country under the supervision of the office of the national penitentiary.

The Senator has filed resolution number 12 for the establishment of regional penitentiary for drug offenders where convicts and those accused for violation of Republic Act. No. 9165, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, shall be detained.

“There is an urgent and indispensable need to come up with measures to address the peculiarity of the rehabilitation and security requirement for drug offenders,” he said.

Sotto said that considering the fact that drug offenders comprise 70% of the inmates in the city jails and national penitentiaries, it cannot be discounted that illegal drugs trade continue to thrive even to those already behind bars.

He furthered that there is a need for the total overhauling in the jail system; thus, he reiterated over and over again for the overhaul and revamp in the jail system, saying that the only solution is to create a drug penitentiary for drug offenders.

“Someone should be accountable for this appalling situation that is sending a wrong signal that our justice system does not work,” he said, adding that drug offense is a special kind of crime and it requires a special rehabilitation program and security protocol for its offenders.

“There should be arrests, prosecutions and rehabilitations for the anti-illegal drug programs to become successful where the creation of the regional penitentiaries will be under the supervision of the Office of the National Penitentiary for Drug Offenders.

“This measure will surely help to eradicate drug problems,” he said. (Jason de Asis)

Legarda lamented on the IPs died in cholera outbreak; urged DOH to control the disease in Palawan

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 17, 2011-Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Committee on Cultural Communities lamented on the indigenous people who died due to cholera outbreak where the majority of the children were affected in Palawan; thus, the Senator urged the Department of Health (DOH) to act swiftly by intensifying effective disease surveillance, control and prevention measures as the death toll continues to rise.

“The DOH should act swiftly in pointing out the exact source of the disease,” Legarda said, adding that the Cholera disease is preventable and easy to treat. It did not have to lead to the morbidity of a significant number of people, saying that this is an indication of the lack of proper medical services and health education being provided to our indigenous communities.

A cholera outbreak was declared by DOH in the entire town of Bataraza, Palawan, when 17 out of its 22 barangays showed cases of diarrhea, a symptom of cholera, along with severe stomach pains and vomiting. The DOH monitored at least 430 cases of diarrhea in the province, a majority of the patients tested positive for vibrio cholera, a bacterium which causes cholera in humans.

As of April 13, a total of 19 people have been killed by the disease from March 1 to April 12, 2011 according to DOH, saying that following this number, at least 7 out of 10 were children under 5 years old.

 “These numbers are alarming. What is more painful is that the deaths could have been prevented if early detection, control and remedial measures were immediately done,” Legarda said.

Legarda stressed the importance of having health workers in every barangay in the country to ensure that even those in far-flung communities can avail of proper medical attention in their respective localities. “Health workers presence is needed in the barangay for their safety,” she said.

“There is a need for the government to address this concerned,” Legarda furthered, saying that she proposed measure filed in the Senate (Senate Bill 1384) that seeks to mandate the Department of Health to provide at least one health worker in every barangay.

The Senator concluded that our indigenous brothers and sisters who live in far-flung areas need to have access to medical services. They also need to be informed of proper sanitation practices and emergency response.

There is also a need to squeeze out concern over the consequences of climate change that affects the lives of the IP who are threatened by extreme weather events brought by climate change as they are more vulnerable to their livelihood, health, food security, cultural integrity and lands. (Jason de Asis)

Angara urges leading financial firms to help spur Phl economic growth

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 17, 2011-Senator Edgardo J. Angara urged the country’s leading financial firms to help enhance credit to ensure the Filipinos to have the means to fuel their prosperity, and provide an instrument to help in economic recovery, following his calls to increase the availability of credit to small and medium scale entrepreneurs in order to spur the country’s economic growth.

In his keynote speech in the 30^th National Credit Congress sponsored by the Credit Management Association of the Philippines, he explained that while the Philippines wasn’t hit as badly as other ASEAN countries in the worldwide economic crisis, local financial institutions still needed to restrict access to credit.

“In our country we saw the most visible effect of the global financial crisis was the tightening of credit, it became harder to obtain loans for both business and households. This held enormous consequences not only for sustaining the growth of enterprises and welfare of families, but also for helping to survive a profound economic shock,” Angara said.

He furthered that the people who need it most are the entrepreneurs, farmers and households in rural areas who have the most difficulty in acquiring credit, due to their lack of a good credit standing.

 “We have to advocate for inclusive finance to ensure that our rural folks also cash in on the benefits of progress if we push for inclusive growth.  The microfinance, micro-agri loans and micro-insurance are the emerging needs in our countryside which we must seek to provide if we want to achieve a healthy economy,” Angara added.

Earlier, the volume of microfinance activity has grown in the country and an increasing number of financial institutions have engaged in retail microfinance operations for the last few years.

This sector has been traditionally dominated by rural banks, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and finance cooperatives. In 2009 a number of commercial banks sought entrance into the retail microfinance market according to Asia Focus report reviews about the growth of the Philippines microfinance industry and discusses the implications of commercial banks entering this market. (Jason de Asis)

Mobile SP sessions, boosts to Nueva Ecijanos says vice gov. Padiernos

STA. ROSA, Nueva Ecija, April 17, 2011-To fast-track the delivery of basic services to Novo Ecijanos, Vice Gov. Jose Gay Padiernos has defended the move of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to transfer the venue of the weekly SP sessions to various municipalities and cities of the province from the seat of the Capitol in Palayan City.

“The mobile SP session is one way of giving the provincial board members a direct pulse of the needs and sentiments of a particular locality instead of just dealing with documents submitted to them during sessions at the SP session hall in Palayan,” Padiernos said.

“If the provincial government conducts fiesta caravans in various towns and cities where services are downloaded, we at the SP also feel that by conducting mobile sessions, we can readily identify the needs of the people and address them in their own homecourt,” he said.

He said deliberating on various requests for appropriations in SP sessions in Palayan does not exactly serve its purpose because “it’s hard to approve allocations for projects merely based on documents.”

Nevertheless, he said a skeletal force has been left at the SP office in Palayan to attend to the needs of visitors from other places.

Padiernos defended the move during a SP regular session at the session hall of the Sangguniang Bayan in this town, the hometown of Gov. Aurelio Matias-Umali and his wife, third district Rep. Czarina Umali, his brother Board Member Emmanuel Anthony Umali and cousin, Board Member Peter Marcus Matias. It was the fourth out-of-town session of the SP since it was held earlier in the towns of Cuyapo, Lupao and Penaranda.

During the session, the SP approved the request of Mayor Otep Angeles, Vice Mayor Irene Bernardo and the municipal government for the allocation of funds for 40 housing units. Half of the units will be funded by Governor Umali and the other half by Congresswoman Umali.

Padiernos described the present SP as a working SP which deliberates on measures without any political color and appropriates funds for funding requests irregardless of political affiliations of the requesting party. He cited the case of Angeles who belongs to another party apart from the Lakas-dominated SP.

He said that with all due respect to the previous SPs, the current SP is on a work mode a hundred percent and there is no room for politics here. (Jason de Asis)

DPWH region 3 assured safe travel in the observance of Lenten season in Central Luzon

SAN FERNANDO CITY, Pampanga, April 16, 2011-Assistant  Secretary  for Operations  and  concurrent DPWH Region III OIC  Alfredo  Tolentino has ordered all his district engineers  to clear the main roads  of all kinds of obstructions like tree trunks, signages  and stalled vehicles here in Central Luzon as the Lenten season is coming saying that the influx of motorists and vacationists will increase and are expected to come to their respective hometown.   

In case of accidents, Tolentino instructed his district engineers to make available round the clock qualified mechanics on board heavy equipment and official vehicles to assist   the travelers.  

Tolentino said that the District Engineers are set to deploy and to put on stand-by for 24 hour basis, heavy equipment  in accident prone areas, particularly the Dalton Pass in Nueva  Ecija and other  steep roads in Aurora.

Starting this April 17 to April  25, the motorist  assistance teams composed of Land Transportation Office, Law enforcers, radio groups, NGO’s among others  will  be  assigned  in strategic    locations  in their provinces to ensure the safe travel of motorists.

He said that other civic action groups again activated the “Oplan Bantay Lakbay” to ensure the safety of motorists and vacationists. (Jason de Asis)

Food and fuel hike are threats to country’s development says Angara

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 16, 2011-Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Chair of the Congressional Commission on Science Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), urged the government to invest more in using science and technology (S&T) to help the country in dealing with the problems caused by continues uprising costs of fuel and food as well as disaster preparedness, saying that these are threats to the development of the Philippines which merits only little attention by the government.

Angara issued the statement in the light of the announcement from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) stating that the discussions of its upcoming annual meeting center on the rising costs of food and fuel.

He said that the ADB reported that high food and fuel prices are complicating economic and monetary policymaking and are being compounded by the region’s challenges. These other challenges include natural calamities like floods and earthquakes. 

The ADB also said that the ADB’s upcoming annual meeting of its board of governors in Hanoi, Vietnam, will assess these immediate and long-term hurdles with ministers and senior government officials, business leaders, fellow international financial institutions, and civil society representatives.

“These issues can be tackled by using S&T solutions, which COMSTE has been promoting,” Angara said, saying that the COMSTE has identified the development of electric vehicles and green transport as priority projects of the commission for 2011.

“Innovative Green transport systems like electric tricycles, hybrid jeepneys, buses and electric bicycles have the potential to lessen pollution caused by conventional transportation and the dependency on fossil fuels,” Angara said.

He added that one major target should be achieving food security where the COMSTE is working on plans to help develop improved farm to market logistics as well as creating more resilient agricultural systems that can withstand climate change.

Angara furthered that another COMSTE project is the Disaster Science Management Center (DSMC) which is ready to assist in preparing the nation for dealing with disasters like the devastating earthquake that recently hit Japan, now that it is in possession of the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study (MMEIRS), a report on the safety of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant and a Disaster and Complexity study.

The MMEIRS is a joint study that was undertaken by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) to create an earthquake scenario damage map of Metro Manila while the DSMC help us to prepare for earthquakes, typhoons and similar disasters that will continue to threaten the country.

“The government needs to be able to understand how to develop an advanced and real-time information dissemination strategy, so people can better prepare to handle such events,” Angara said. (Jason de Asis)

Legarda urged to fast-track implementation of total plastic ban

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 15, 2011-Even before her proposed measure is enacted into law, Senator Loren Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change urged the government to fast-track the implementation of total plastic bag ban, saying that the national government can set an example by prohibiting the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags in their respective offices, while local government units (LGUs) can start by creating their own laws and ordinances in their respective jurisdictions.

Legarda, who recently filed Senate Bill 2759 otherwise known as the Total Plastic Bag Ban Act that seeks to prohibit the use of non-biodegradable plastic bags by groceries, supermarkets, public markets, restaurants, fast food chains, department stores, retail stores and other similar establishments nationwide.

The Senator said that there is a need for all of them to be effective models as precedent, stressing that local and chief executives’ are servants of the citizenry where they should set an example and show to our countrymen that this plastic bag ban can effectively be done in all public schools, hospitals, and government offices so the whole country will easily follow suit. 

Legarda added that there is a need to ensure that this new lifestyle and way of thinking is implemented in all households in the barangay and municipal levels where she also urged the local government units to fast-track the passage of their own versions of the total plastic bag ban.

“The City Government of Muntinlupa is now implementing the total plastic bag ban in their city while the Municipality of San Francisco in Camotes Island, Cebu has recently implemented the “no free plastic” program to force citizens to use re-usable bags,” the Senator said.

“There are numerous alternatives to non-biodegradable plastic bags. We have our baskets, bayongs, eco-bags, paper bags, cloth bags or katsa, bags made of recycled tetrapacks, and many others. We just have to be innovative and ingenious in finding substitute packaging materials or containers,” she explained. (Jason de Asis)

Electric vehicles to lessen air pollution and to fight fuel costs says Angara

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 15, 2011-To step towards ending oil dependency and fighting pollution in the country, Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Chair of the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), lauded the Asian Development Bank (ADB)'s electric tricycle project (e-trike project) in line with the government’s National Electric Vehicle Strategy which aims to replace conventional modes of transport with more environmentally friendly options.

“COMSTE has identified the development of electric vehicles and green transport as priority projects of the commission for 2011,” Angara said, adding that the innovative Green transport systems such as electric tricycles, hybrid jeepneys, buses and electric bicycles have the potential to lessen pollution caused by conventional transportation and the dependency on fossil fuels.

“We import roughly 96% of our petroleum and the majority is consumed by the growing transport sectors where they account for the biggest share of the energy use, nearing to 40%,” Angara said, explaining that to lay out plans for developing the e-vehicle industry, including petitioning the ADB to source the design and manufacture of e-trikes to local suppliers and manufacturers, COMSTE is partnered with the Electric Vehicle Alliance of the Philippines (EVAP), which met with the Clean Air Initiative Asia (CAI-Asia) and various government agencies and industry players.

“E-trike owners will save approximately 200 pesos a day in fuel costs. Petroleum-fueled trikes cost use 5 liters of fuel a day, at a cost of PHP 230 ($5) vs. a daily cost of PHP 30 (66 cents) to recharge the lithium batteries,” he furthered.

Kunio Senga, director general of ADB's Southeast Asia Department said that once thousands of e-trikes begin to be manufactured, many new jobs could be created, saying that by working together, we can give Manila cleaner air, bluer skies, and a more livable environment.

“The Philippines is assuming a leading role in Asia in supporting green transportation alternatives, and if e-trikes are followed by new fleets of electric buses and jeepneys, the effect could be transformative,” he said.

Senga furthered that the new e-trikes utilize lithium ion batteries, instead of heavier and environmentally-unfriendly lead acid batteries used in earlier e-trike models. The weight of the lithium ion battery is approximately 40 kilos, compared against 140 kilos for lead acid batteries of equal capacity – the equivalent weight of two adult passengers.

He said that the cost of lithium batteries is almost double that of lead acid batteries, their operational life is 15 times longer. (Jason de Asis)

Umali and Padiernos urged local executives in Nueva Ecija for drug test

GAPAN CITY, April 15, 2011-To dramatize the provincial government’s all-out drive against drug syndicates in Nueva Ecija, Gov. Aurelio Umali and Vice Gov. Jose Gay Padiernos urged the local chief executives in the province to help fight illegal drugs where they started subjecting themselves to a drug test even as they led thousands of Novo Ecijanos in a fun run in this city’s streets.

Umali accepted the call of Interior and Local Governments Secretary Jesse Robredo for the local officials to undergo drug tests if only to deliver the message that they clean of the drug menace and thus, have the moral ascendancy to lead the crusade against illegal drugs.

The governor said that he is in favor for the local executives to have the drug test a long time ago and his position has not changed, when asked by newsmen if he would echo Robredo’s call.

Umali, along with Padiernos and board members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, led an estimated 5,000 Novo Ecijanos in an early morning five-kilometer run at the town plaza here for the run-for-a-cause activity dubbed “Takbo laban sa Droga (Run against Drugs). Later, the governor, together with Mayor Christian Tinio and Vice Mayor Rodel Matias, launched the “fiesta caravan” of the Capitol wherein the provincial government provides various forms of services to local residents.          

“It is the second fun run activity spearheaded by the provincial government and the third anti-illegal drug mass action following a rally in Palayan City last February and in Cabanatuan,” Umali said.

Padiernos, head of the provincial government’s newly created task force against illegal drugs, said yesterday’s run is one of the biggest statements in the anti-drug campaign, saying that the provincial government is hell-bent on eradicating the drug menace and proof of this was the allocation of P3.5 million for the operation of the task force.

Padiernos agreed with Umali that local officials in the province should voluntarily submit themselves to drug tests if only to show to the public they are fit to join the crusade for good governance.

He said that even when he was still campaigning for vice governor, he had asked all his fellow candidates to take tests. “With all due respect to Secretary Robredo, I was ahead of him in sounding the call for elective officials to take the test,” he said.

Penaranda Mayor Ferdinand Abesamis, newly designated president of the provincial chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, said that the matter is not an issue with him.

“I have no problem with that. In fact, there was a proposal before that if you file your certificate of candidacy, you undergo the drug test. Whether elected or not, one must undergo the drug test,” he said.

Abesamis clarified, however, that drug testing must be voluntary. “Of course, you can’t coerce people to take the test,” he said. (Jason de Asis)

Angara calls for more secured airport and bus terminals’ security nationwide

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, April 14, 2011-Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology yesterday called for more secured security measures in airports and bus terminals nationwide as many Filipinos gear up for travel next week where a huge volume of tourists are expected to come this holy week.

Angara said that there is a need to double our effort to protect the safety of all these travelers whether foreign and local, saying that the holy week typically brings in a huge volume of tourists throughout the country; thus, a more comprehensive security measures in the country’s transport system are needed.

“Our airports are lagging behind our ASEAN neighbors in terms of facilities and security equipment. These issues must be addressed to cope with the increasing interest in travelling to and around the Philippines,” Angara said.

The Senator authored Senate Bill No. 2026 otherwise known as “An Act Providing for a Comprehensive Transportation Security Program, Creating for the Purpose the Philippine Transportation Security Administration (PTSA), Defining its Powers and Functions, and Appropriating Funds Therefore”, adding that the bill is also known as the Philippine Transportation Security Act of 2010 that seeks to beef up the safety and security of both employees and passengers in the different forms of transport.

He said that it would establish the PTSA under the Department of Transportation and Communications, a new law enforcement agency tasked to safeguard and protect all the modes of transportation in the Philippines.

To prevent security threats to human lives and property, a National Transportation Security Committee would also be created to liaise between the government and private transport providers.

“We must bolster safety and security in all means and modes of public transportation for the sake of the citizenry and tourists. I called for coordination and cooperation of the transport sector and law enforcement, public security and safety agencies and our countrymen,” Angara ended. (Jason de Asis)