President Duterte is against martial law

No martial law; Palace slams ‘misreporting’: "Malacañang clarified last night as it assailed what it described as an “inaccurate reporting” of his remarks.

Wire agencies previously quoted Duterte as saying he would impose martial law if the drug problem became “very virulent,” just a month after dismissing as “nonsense” any suggestion he might do so.

Duterte, speaking to members of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce late Saturday, said he has sworn to protect the country against all threats, including drugs, which he said has affected about  four  million people.

“If I wanted to, and it will deteriorate into something really very virulent, I will declare martial law. No one can stop me,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court and Congress. “My country transcends everything else, even the limitations.”

Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement that “the President has categorically said no to martial law.  He even made a pronouncement saying that martial law did not improve the lives of the Filipinos.”  

 “We therefore decry the latest misreporting that the President will declare martial law simply ‘if he wants to’ or that ‘no one can stop the President from declaring martial law.’ Such headlines sow panic and confusion to many.  We consider this kind of reportage as the height of journalistic irresponsibility,” he added.

Andanar said the President mentioned declaring martial law “only under the premise that the country has deteriorated into an utter state of rebellion and lawlessness.” 

 “As President, he recognizes the challenges and limitations set by our Constitution in declaring martial law but he would nonetheless act accordingly if it warrants the preservation of the nation,” he said.

In an interview last month, Duterte said he may declare martial only if there is an invasion from a foreign country. 

“Maybe an invasion from other country but rebellion and insurrection, wala yan (that’s nothing),” he told ABS-CBN News Channel.

“Just declare war against them. You don’t have to declare a war against the Republic of the Philippines,” he added.

Duterte has made a brutal war on drugs a central pillar of his administration since he took office in June.

Since July, more than 6,000 people have been killed in the anti-drug campaign, in both police operations and unexplained killings by suspected “vigilantes.” More than one million drug peddlers and users have been arrested or have surrendered to authorities.

Duterte said that if people wanted the killings to stop, then terrorists should drop their guns and those in the illegal drugs trade to give it up.

Almost seven months into his administration and Duterte continues to be saddled with criticisms on the rising number of extrajudicial killings.

“You want no killings? You want a city with no military men, no patrol cars whatever? You want funeral parlors to go bankrupt? It’s easy. Drop your guns if you are a terrorist; drop the shabu tonight and tomorrow it will be heaven,” the President said.

He has no plans of letting up in his fight against the illegal drug trade, pointing out that the industry has flourished over the years making the Philippines a “narco” state.

The Philippines endured a decade of martial law from the early 1970s and memories of campaigns to restore democracy and protect human rights are fresh in the minds of many people.

Last month, Duterte appeared to rule out any possibility he might declare martial law saying, “That’s nonsense. We had martial law before, what happened? Did it improve our lives now? Not at all.”

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman cautioned the President against declaring martial rule, citing the restrictive provisions of the Constitution that limits it.

“President Duterte’s threat to declare martial law is a menacing pendulum from outright denial to a veiled intention,” the opposition lawmaker said.

He reminded Duterte, who is a lawyer, that the Constitution requires that “the basis for the declaration of martial law is the existence of an invasion or rebellion, when public safety requires it.” – With Reuters, Jess Diaz, Edith Regalado"



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French, Phl senators discuss environmental, diplomatic cooperation

Included in the talks are cooperation and ties between the Philippines and France, especially the issue on climate change.

The meeting was led by Senate President Aquilino ‘Koko’ Pimentel III, together with Sen. Loren Legarda, head of the Philippine-France Parliamentary Friendship Association, Senate President Pro-Tempore Franklin Drilon, senators Cynthia Villar, Juan Miguel Zubiri, Joseph Victor ejercito and their French counterparts senators Gerard Miquel, Bernard Saugey, Claude Lenoir and Simon Sutour.

According to Sen. Pimentel, the meeting is important because after a 16-year hiatus or lack of inter-parliamentary cooperation and exchanges between the French Republic and the Senate of the Philippines, it is high time to promote the parliamentary diplomacy and the exchange of best practices of the two countries.

“With this visit, we can renew and deepen our inter-parliamentary cooperation with France once more, exchange best practices and pursue global advocacies such as climate, sustainable development, poverty alleviation and improvement of economic and trade relations,” said Sen. Pimentel

For his part, Sen. Miquel, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship group said, it is important to promote economic cooperation between the Philippines and France.

Aside from Philippine senators, the French senators will also meet with Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr., Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III and Cebu Mayor Tomas Osmeña during their four-day state visit. — Joyce Balancio | UNTV News & Rescue



The post French, Phl senators discuss environmental, diplomatic cooperation appeared first on UNTV News.

Duterte declares January as ‘National Bible Month’

President Rodrigo Duterte signed Proclamation Number 124 to declare the month of January as the National Bible Month while the last week of January is designated as the National Bible Week.

The proclamation signed by the President on January 5, 2017 declares that the state recognizes the religiosity of Filipinos and the influence of religion in society.

The government has also vowed to maintain its neutrality in dealing with members of the religious community in the country.

It also promised to continue supporting the strengthening of ethical and spiritual values of Filipinos as stated in the 1987 Constitution.

The proclamation also states that history is a witness to the positive impact of reading the Bible on society and how it inspires people to do good deeds. — Aga Caacbay | UNTV News and Rescue


https://sg.news.yahoo.com/duterte-declares-january-national-bible-023023746.html

SINGAPORE INVESTMENT TO PHL: Singaporeans are keen on investing in information technology, renewable energy and infrastructure in the Philippines, the city-state’s President Tony Tan Keng Yam told President Duterte

“Both our countries believe in trade and development to improve the lives of our peoples. Singapore companies are keen to invest in the Philippines – one of Asia’s fastest growing economies,” Tan said before proposing a toast with Duterte during a state banquet for the Philippine leader.

Tan also sees expansion of Singapore businesses beyond Metro Manila to other major urban centers such as Cebu and Duterte’s home province of Davao.

Tan cited Singapore companies such as SIA Engineering and Singtel as contributors to the development of quality infrastructure, urban planning and ICT services.

Singapore is the Philippines’ fourth largest trading partner and a top ASEAN investor.

“Both Singapore and the Philippines are doing more to enhance economic and business cooperation,” he said, noting that International Enterprise Singapore (IE Singapore) has assisted a number of Singapore companies from the renewable energy and consumerism sector to secure their first projects in the Philippines.

“I am pleased to note that IE Singapore is devoting more resources to step up its presence in the Philippines in 2017, to better serve the growing interest of Singapore companies in the Philippine market,” he added.

“The strong economic ties between the Philippines and Singapore are complemented by warm people-to-people relations. Singapore is a familiar place to many Filipinos,” Tan said.

President Duterte’s two-day state visit was capped yesterday with the naming of an orchid Dendrobium Rodrigo Roa Duterte in his honor at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Naming orchids to visiting heads of state and VIPs is a practice – and a show of courtesy – of the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Duterte also met with some 7,000 Filipinos at the Singapore Expo pavilions.

Each year, Tan said Singapore welcomes about 700,000 visitors from the Philippines who usually visit the Universal Studios and Gardens by the Bay, as well enjoy the city-state’s delectable cuisine.

“Many Singaporeans enjoy visiting the beautiful beaches in the Visayas and the majestic mountains of the Cordillera region,” he added.

The Singaporean leader also paid tribute to the Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, whose first port call on his way to Europe was Singapore.

Rizal also played a role in documenting some of Singapore’s history during his visits here in the 19th century.

“The links between Singapore and the Philippines go back a long way,” Tan said.

“Between 1882 and 1896, Dr. Jose Rizal visited Singapore four times, where he recorded detailed observations of the sights and sounds of pre-independence Singapore,” he noted.

Rizal’s notes and insights provided a valuable account of 19th century Singapore. A memorial to Dr. Rizal that now stands on the grounds of the Asian Civilizations Museum.

“Since those days, the exchanges between the Philippines and Singapore have blossomed, especially after diplomatic relations were established in 1969,” Tan said.

“Today, our two countries enjoy a robust friendship anchored in a shared vision of peace, harmony, and prosperity for our countries and the region,” he added.

Free trade pushed

Duterte, for his part, cited anew the need for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to speed up negotiations for a regional free trade agreement next year.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez relayed Duterte’s message here at a press briefing.

“We’ve had very good discussions with respect to really enhancing trade and investment cooperation, especially here in Singapore,” Lopez said.

– With Richmond Mercurio

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-bullish-investing-phl-tech-000000276.html

New Study: Autism Linked to Vitamin D Deficiency During Pregnancy

The study, which was published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, discovered that pregnant women who had low vitamin D levels when they were 20 weeks pregnant were more likely to have a child who displayed autistic traits by the age of 6. For the study, researchers analyzed approximately 4,200 blood samples from pregnant women and their children in the Netherlands.

Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones, and people often get it from being exposed to the sun. However, it’s also possible to get doses of the vitamin from some foods and vitamin supplements.

Autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are terms for a group of disorders of brain development, according to the autism awareness organization Autism Speaks. The disorders are characterized by “difficulties in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors.” ASD may be linked to “intellectual disability, difficulties in motor coordination and attention, and physical health issues such as sleep and gastrointestinal issues,” the organization says.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in 68 children has the disorder, and it’s 4.5 times more common in boys than girls.

Unfortunately, vitamin D deficiency is fairly common in pregnant women, women’s health expert Jennifer Wider, tells Yahoo Beauty. According to data from the American Pregnancy Association, between 40 and 60 percent of the entire U.S. population is vitamin D deficient, and those numbers include pregnant women.

While prenatal vitamins include vitamin D, Wider notes that average versions contain about 400 IU of the vitamin, which may not be enough. “After this study and others like it, doctors will likely recommend supplementation,” she says.

Other research has shown that vitamin D plays a role in the development of the brain and nervous system, Wider notes, adding that it “makes sense” that low vitamin D may be linked with neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. (In fact, previous research by John McGrath, MD, PhD, who led this study, found a link between low vitamin D levels in newborns and an increased risk of schizophrenia.)

Some foods, such as eggs, salmon, and sardines, contain vitamin D, New York-based dietitian and nutritionist Jessica Cording, tells Yahoo Beauty. “Mushrooms are one of the few plant sources, but they don’t provide a lot,” she adds. Most vitamin D is consumed through vitamin D-fortified foods, such as milk.

Wider expects that more doctors will start recommending vitamin D supplements to pregnant women as a result of these findings. However, if you’re pregnant and concerned about how your vitamin D level may impact your baby, talk to your doctor.

https://sg.style.yahoo.com/autism-linked-to-vitamin-d-deficiency-during-pregnancy-192403676.html

WHO | Update on Zika Virus. Read Article to Know How to Protect Yourself

Mosquitoes infect humans and people can infect each other through sexual transmission. Zika has been detected in blood, saliva, semen, spinal and other body fluids. Mother to child transmission in early pregnancy has also been reported. Aedes bites mostly during the day.

Symptoms:

Sympoms are usually mild and can include mild fever, skin rash, inflammation of the eyes (conjunctivitis), muscle and joint pain, malaise or headache. Symptoms normally last for 2 - 7 days. Zika infection during pregnancy causes microcephaly, babies born with small heads, and other fetal brain malformations. Zika is also a cause of Guillain-Barré Syndrome - a neurological condition that can lead to paralysis and death.

Protect your health:

The best form of prevention is protection against mosquito bites. Personal protection with repellents, clothing that covers exposed skin and use of nets when resting during the day; window screens and destruction of breeding sites are recommended. There is no specific treatment or vaccine currently available.

To reduce the risk of sexual transmission and potential pregnancy complications related to Zika virus infection people living in/travelling to/or returning from affected areas should practice safer sex, including wearing condoms.

Areas at risk: Outbreaks of Zika virus disease have been recorded in Africa, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific. Female Aedes aegypti, and Aedes albopictus are found in over 130 countries. There has been a steep rise in local Zika transmission in the Americas; since 2015, 62 countries and territories reported mosquito transmitted Zika virus. WHO announced a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 1 February 2016.

WHO Updates on Mosquito-borne diseases

Mosquitoes are one of the deadliest animals in the world. Their ability to carry and spread disease to humans causes millions of deaths every year. In 2015 malaria alone caused 438 000 deaths. The worldwide incidence of dengue has risen 30-fold in the past 30 years, and more countries are reporting their first outbreaks of the disease. Zika, dengue, chikungunya, and yellow fever are all transmitted to humans by the Aedes aegypti mosquito. More than half of the world’s population live in areas where this mosquito species is present. Sustained mosquito control efforts are important to prevent outbreaks from these diseases. There are several different types of mosquitoes and some have the ability to carry many different diseases. Click below to see which diseases are transmitted by the Aedes, Culex, and Anopheles mosquitoes.

Key facts

Vector-borne diseases account for more than 17% of all infectious diseases, causing more than 1 million deaths annually.
More than 2.5 billion people in over 100 countries are at risk of contracting dengue alone.
Malaria causes more than 400 000 deaths every year globally, most of them children under 5 years of age.
Other diseases such as Chagas disease, leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide.
Many of these diseases are preventable through informed protective measures.
Main vectors and diseases they transmit

Vectors are living organisms that can transmit infectious diseases between humans or from animals to humans. Many of these vectors are bloodsucking insects, which ingest disease-producing microorganisms during a blood meal from an infected host (human or animal) and later inject it into a new host during their subsequent blood meal.

Mosquitoes are the best known disease vector. Others include ticks, flies, sandflies, fleas, triatomine bugs and some freshwater aquatic snails.

Mosquitoes
Aedes
Chikungunya
Dengue fever
Rift Valley fever
Yellow fever
Zika
Anopheles
Malaria
Culex
Japanese encephalitis
Lymphatic filariasis
West Nile fever
Sandflies
Leishmaniasis
Sandfly fever (phelebotomus fever)
Ticks
Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever
Lyme disease
Relapsing fever (borreliosis)
Rickettsial diseases (spotted fever and Q fever)
Tick-borne encephalitis
Tularaemia
Triatomine bugs
Chagas disease (American trypanosomiasis)
Tsetse flies
Sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis)
Fleas
Plague (transmitted by fleas from rats to humans)
Rickettsiosis
Black flies
Onchocerciasis (river blindness)
Aquatic snails
Schistosomiasis (bilharziasis)
Vector-borne diseases

Vector-borne diseases are illnesses caused by pathogens and parasites in human populations. Every year there are more than 1 billion cases and over 1 million deaths from vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, schistosomiasis, human African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and onchocerciasis, globally.

Vector-borne diseases account for over 17% of all infectious diseases.

Distribution of these diseases is determined by a complex dynamic of environmental and social factors.

Globalization of travel and trade, unplanned urbanization and environmental challenges such as climate change are having a significant impact on disease transmission in recent years. Some diseases, such as dengue, chikungunya and West Nile virus, are emerging in countries where they were previously unknown.

Changes in agricultural practices due to variation in temperature and rainfall can affect the transmission of vector-borne diseases. Climate information can be used to monitor and predict distribution and longer-term trends in malaria and other climate-sensitive diseases.

WHO response

WHO responds to vector-borne diseases by:

providing the best evidence for controlling vectors and protecting people against infection;
providing technical support and guidance to countries so that they can effectively manage cases and outbreaks;
supporting countries to improve their reporting systems and capture the true burden of the disease;
providing training on clinical management, diagnosis and vector control with some of its collaborating centres throughout the world; and
developing new tools to combat the vectors and deal with the disease, for example insecticide products and spraying technologies.
A crucial element in vector-borne diseases is behavioural change. WHO works with partners to provide education and improve awareness so that people know how to protect themselves and their communities from mosquitoes, ticks, bugs, flies and other vectors.

For many diseases such as Chagas disease, malaria, schistosomiasis and leishmaniasis, WHO has initiated control programmes using donated or subsidized medicines.

Access to water and sanitation is a very important factor in disease control and elimination. WHO works together with many different government sectors to control these diseases.

http://www.who.int/neglected_diseases/vector_ecology/mosquito-borne-diseases/en/?utm_source=WHO+List&utm_campaign=bb5ad4cdc7-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_14&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_823e9e35c1-bb5ad4cdc7-266698981