13 MARCH 2019

Wednesday, 13 March 2019
Daily Tribune
PAGE THREE
President Duterte is wary the legalization of medical
marijuana could be used as an excuse for unlawful use.
QC voted most
gender responsive
As a pilot and a pioneer city of the
UN Women Safe Cities Metro Manila
Program, Quezon City continues to
address sexual harassment
By Elmer N. Manuel
Quezon City has been cited as among the most gender
responsive local government units (LGU) that implement
comprehensive gender and development (GaD) programs,
according to the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW).
The city was recognized for its enactment of GaD
ordinances that uphold human rights, gender equality and
women empowerment together with six other LGU in line
with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
(UN-SDG) program for gender equality.
The recognition falls squarely under Goal 5 of the
UN-SDG — of which the Daily Tribune is a media
partner — that aims to undertake reforms to give women
equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to
financial services, inheritance and natural resources in
accordance with national laws.
The PCW awarded Quezon City as a Gender and
Development Local Learning Hub in view of its GaD
programs, including the Quezon City Protection Center
for Victim-Survivors of Gender-Based Violence and
Abuse and City Social Hygiene Clinics.
The city was recognized for its
enactment of gender and development
ordinances.
With its initiative dubbed as the QC Pride
Council — a pioneer initiative of the local government
that “oversees the integration of all city programs
and projects for the LGBT community — it
has launched a comprehensive gender-fair
ordinance in the city.
And as a pilot and a pioneer city of
the UN Women Safe Cities Metro Manila
Program, Quezon City continues to address
sexual harassment by implementing anticat
calling and sexual harassment in
public spaces provisions on the amended
GaD ordinance.
Quezon City also launched a massive
information campaign on gender and
development policies which is promoted down
to the barangay level through GaD focal persons
in every office and it also works and coordinates
with the violence against women desks in police
stations in the city.
The City Social Hygiene Clinics, on the other
hand, was established to care for men who have
sex with men and transgender people that provide
free, safe, non-discriminatory and confidential
HIV testing along with free counseling services,
part of the city’s HIV response program which
has been recognized as a model for other
cities by the United Nations Program on
HIV/AIDS.
By Kathleen Mae Bulquerin
Senior officials of the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have vowed
to fight human trafficking during the ASEAN
Consultative Meeting held in Bohol.
A total of 78 senior officials from the 10 ASEAN
member countries have pledged “to work more
aggressively and decisively” in implementing the
Bohol Trafficking in Persons (TiP) Work Plan.
“Let us be the victim’s voices, saviors and
protectors. Together, let us send the message to
everyone that human trafficking has no place
in Southeast Asia,” Department of Interior and
Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said.
Año pointed out human trafficking remains
as one of the toughest transnational crimes yet
to be solved.
“It is a somber thought that as we speak,
victims of human trafficking are left at the
mercy of their captors and rendered completely
The Chief Executive firmly believes that legalizing the use of cannabis
for medical purposes would only be used as an excuse for the
proliferation of marijuana plantations
By Hananeel Bordey, Elmer N. Manuel
and Mario J. Mallari
Candidates of Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HnP) on
Tuesday urged the government to take preventive
measures to cushion the impact of El Niño.
Former Presidential Political Adviser Francis
Tolentino lauded the National Disaster Risk
Reduction Management Council (NRRMC) for
setting a meeting to plan the government’s action
in mitigating the effects of the phenomenon.
“NDRRMC should convene here, they should
brief the agencies involved and they should
have an early announcement of brownout and
water rationing,” the former Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA) chairman said.
Tolentino emphasized that
cloud seeding is not
enough to
lessen the impact on
agriculture
because the
government
lacks air assets while
r i c e
tariffication cannot meet
the food
demand as the implementing
rules
and regulations of the law are still in
process.
The senatorial bet reiterated
incapable to defend themselves,” he said.
Año added the government is in their utmost
effort to put an end to human trafficking and
assured ASEAN that they will continue the fight.
According to the 2018 index, there are
about 40.3 million victims of human trafficking
worldwide with one in 10 victims thought to be
within ASEAN member states.
The ASEAN region has the second highest
global prevalence rate with 6.6 victims of human
trafficking for every 1,000 population.
“With the leadership of a President who is famous
worldwide for his stand and passion to battle illegal
drugs, corruption, insurgency and criminality, the
ASEAN may rest assured that the Philippines will
not be deterred in this fight against TiP,” Año said
during the welcome dinner for the delegates.
“For every success that we achieve, one family
will be happier and
The meeting
was attended by
ASEAN Senior
Officials Meeting on
Transnational Crime
delegates from Brunei
Longer wait for medical marijuana law
By Kristina Maralit
Medical marijuana advocates will have
to wait longer for its legalization
as President Rodrigo Duterte
declared it is not going to
happen while he is still in office.
“Absolute yes, he doesn’t
like (legalizing it),” presidential
spokesman Salvador Panelo
confirmed at a press briefing.
He said that the Chief Executive firmly
believes that legalizing the use of cannabis
for medical purposes would only be used as
an excuse for the proliferation of marijuana
plantations and cause widespread addiction.
safer,” he added.
The province of
Quezon on Monday
vowed to go all-out for
former Special Assistant
to the President and
2019 senatorial candidate
Christopher Lawrence “Bong”
Go, as well as his fellow candidates
endorsed by the Hugpong ng
Pagbabago (HnP) regional party led by
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
Go said the people can count on
him to be their link to President
Rodrigo Duterte.
Go thanked the leaders of
the province and its residents
after seeing the overwhelming
display of support for him and
other candidates of the HnP
during their kickoff rally at
the Quezon Convention Center.
It could be recalled that last 10
February, the provincial governors of
Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and
Quezon or CALABARZON issued a
manifesto expressing their support
for Go’s senatorial bid and declaring
“He feels that you will be using that as an
excuse. (The problem) might just get bigger. That’s
why he said not during my time. In another time
maybe, he said,” Panelo said
“He doesn’t want to risk the spread of addiction
in this country,” he added.
The official said the only way the President
may have another change of heart is if there
would be “definitive findings” to prove the healing
benefits of medical marijuana.
The President, in the past, initially expressed
approval of the use of cannabis for medical
purposes.
Last week, however, he reneged on his previous
statement and vowed to block legislative efforts
to legalize medical marijuana.
that the only short-term solution for this is
to conserve water to maintain the water
level in dams.
“I also wanted to question the protocol of
releasing excess dam water during typhoons. The
engineers in Angat and La Mesa are the ones who
decide on that. It should have a protocol. Why are
they going to throw away the water?” he asked.
Throwing away excess water will only cause
flooding in prone areas, according to Tolentino.
He urged authorities to develop Wawa Dam in
Rizal to provide long-term solution for the natural
phenomenon.
In another development, newly appointed Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Benjamin
Diokno disclosed that he was “convinced” monetary
authorities have room to ease policy even as he
keeps close watch on the El Niño phenomenon in
the country.
In a television interview, the former Budget secretary
said he would monitor the scale of El Niño and its effect
on the economy, adding a water shortage in the capital
has been blamed in part on the drought.
Diokno also cited cooling inflation, expectations
of slower inflation and recent statements from
the Federal Reserve that it was slowing the pace
him an adopted son of the region.
Welcoming Go and the HnP
Darussalam, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,
Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand
and Vietnam and representatives from other
ASEAN sectoral
bodies.
candidates, House Minority Leader Danilo
Suarez rallied local leaders and the residents
of the province to support Go, including the
other candidates endorsed by the HnP.
Go said the people can count on him to be
their link to President Rodrigo Duterte, as he
vowed all-out support for the programs of the
Duterte administration.
Go said he believes in President Duterte’s
fight against illegal drugs, criminality and
corruption. He noted for example that people
now feel safer in the streets and in their homes.
He also said he wants to improve the delivery
of health services in the country, adding part
of this advocacy is the establishment of the
Malasakit Center.
A program of the Duterte
administration based on Go’s idea,
the Malasakit Center makes it easier
and faster for poor patients to avail
themselves of medical and financial
assistance from the government by bringing
together in one room all concerned agencies
such as the DoH, DSWD, PCSO and PhilHealth.
“We now have a Malasakit Center here in
Quezon. It was opened by Governor Suarez
recently,” Go said, adding he wants a law to
enable the establishment of Malasakit Centers
in more provinces and key urban centers of the
country in order to continue the program even
after Duterte’s term had ended. CRP
“Maybe some other time. Some other President,
maybe,” the Chief Executive said in his speech
at an event in Negros Occidental.
A proposed measure, House Bill 6517, also
called the Philippine Compassionate Medical
Cannabis Act, is pending before the House of
Representatives.
He doesn’t want to risk the spread of
addiction in this country.
It seeks to legalize the use of medical
marijuana for debilitating conditions such as
multiple sclerosis, cancer, HIV/AIDS, neurological
disorders and spinal cord injuries.
The proposed law prescribes rules for the proper
use of medical marijuana, including the designation
of a qualified medical cannabis physician, a
qualified medical cannabis patient who shall be
issued an identification card, a qualified medical
cannabis caregiver and a qualified medical cannabis
compassionate center.
Cushion El Niño
effects, gov’t urged
The only short-term solution for this
is to conserve water to maintain
the water level in dams
ASEAN vows fight vs human trafficking
For every success that we achieve,
one family will be happier and safer.
Former Cabinet official “Bong” Go talks
on his advocacies in one of his sorties.
Diokno said he would monitor the
scale of El Niño and its effect on the
economy.
Quezon supports Go, HnP
Unmindful of the human trafficking issues in the Asean region, this woman from Tayuman, Manila is secure
in the thought that she has her dog, man’s best friend, for company.
ROMAN PROSPERO
of its interest rate increases.
“If there’s a need” to ease policy, Diokno said
it could be a reduction in the reserve requirement
ratio for banks of about “one percentage point every
quarter for the next four quarters.” The current
ratio is “very high,” he said.
Meanwhile, reelectionist Sen. Sonny Angara
wanted to prioritize food-growing areas in the
country to assure low prices of rice and coconut.
He said the government should have a “proactive
stance” on the crisis suggesting an “anti-El Niño czar”
who will be in charge of giving a multi-agency response.
“A man-made disaster over a natural disaster
is a double whammy that will leave less food on
the table for families and less income for farmers.
There are threats to agriculture in multiple fronts.
Government should help farmers battle the many
crises they are facing,” Angara added.
The senator said there are Calamity Fund
or the National Disaster Risk Management and
Mitigation (NDRMM) Fund, National Irrigation
Administration (NIA) budget for agriculture agencies,
Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund under the
Rice Tariffication Law and Department of Social
Welfare and Development Fund that will provide
for the affected families.
Angara explained the P20-billion NDRMM fund
can provide for preparatory activities while the
P36 billion NIA fund can be allotted for
water-saving measures in government-managed
irrigation systems.
Nat’l ID
ready by
September
By Hananeel Bordey
The Philippine
Identification System
(PhilSys) will roll out
September this year,
the Philippines Statistics
Authority (PSA) revealed
during the House Oversight
Committee on Populkation
and Family Relations
yesterday.
The agency told Speaker
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that
they are ready to start the
first batch of registration and
issue the national ID before
September.
“I am happy that it’s all
systems go for the National ID
system based on the timeline
they have presented to us this
morning,” Arroyo said.
The former President
reiterated the importance
of the oversight function of
Congress to determine if
the measures passed were
properly implemented.
They are ready to
start the first batch of
registration and issue
the national ID before
September.
PSA Deputy National
Statistician Atty. Lourdines
de la Cruz said that in
accordance with Republic
Act 11055 or the Philippine
Identification System Act,
they will commence the
registration for the PhilSys
this September which they
eye to cater to about 6 million
individuals.
This will provide for
eligible Filipinos registrants
and resident aliens aged at
least five years old.
Indigents, people with
disabilities and government
workers will be prioritized in
the registration, according to
De la Cruz.