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No counter-pandemic plan in his last year as President

No counter-pandemic plan in his last year as President

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

logo of Inter-Agency Task Force

GOTCHA

written on July 30, 2021

 

Does he still not get it, or is he just diverting the issue, critics ask.

President Rody Duterte the other night growled at Filipinos not vaccinated for COVID-19 to stay home lest they spew the “vee-rus” all over. As if it’s their fault for still not being vaccinated since the government’s rollout last March. Duterte used to single out only anti-vaxxers. Now he fumes against all unvaccinated folk.

But the issue is why tens of millions are not yet immunized. It’s because injections are coming only in trickles. Too, if doses do arrive, the distribution, cold storage and administering are spotty. Duterte’s vaccine czar, retired general Carlito Galvez, has been regularly apologizing for the mess. Lawmakers, having rushed the funding last year, now are asking where the vaccines are. Local officials who prepared the logistics mutter among themselves about the same. Under emergency-use authorization, only the national government may procure the doses, even if paid for by private companies and local government units. The first deliveries came only in March, two-and-a-half months behind neighboring countries.

People do want to be inoculated. They need protection against infection, to safely go to work for food and other basics. That’s why, as shown on TV news last week, they even lined up at dawn in cold rain and stinky flood to get jabbed.

That scene didn’t escape the President’s attention. In fact, he mentioned it in his State of the Nation Address last Monday. Without naming names, he even blamed the local official, as if the latter had control over the heavy monsoon storm. In truth, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno had rushed over to the inundated gym to help remedy the situation. The floods partly were due to nature, like rising sea levels. Plus, national government folly, like failure to unclog sewers and dumping of artificial white sand on the city’s beachfront.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on the pandemic needs to report and explain the numbers to Duterte:

• Last Wednesday, July 28, five months since rollout, a mere 17.5 million doses had been administered. Only 6.31 million adults, or 5.8 percent of the population, had been fully vaccinated; 10.4 percent got the first of two jabs. Duterte’s SONA promise of tripling the pace will hang on more dose arrivals, prompt logistics and swift injecting. That’s to achieve only 50-percent population protection by Christmas, scaled down from the original 75-percent herd-immunity target.

• Vaccine hesitancy has been declining. In March, four in five adults said they would refuse injections. In June it dropped to three in five. Only one in five is known to be a staunch refusenik.

The IATF might learn from readings that the drop in vaccine hesitancy is global. And it’s not due to harsh treatment of skeptics. Banning the unvaccinated from restaurants, cinemas and churches violates civil rights in most countries. Conversely, vaccine accessibility boosts immunization rates.

The Economist analyzed in its latest issue the steep hesitancy declines in 20 countries. Three trends emerged. One, the deluge of deliveries of doses to locales speeded up long-awaited injecting. Two, that friends and neighbors suffered no adverse effects convinced the doubters to get jabs. Three, fear of death due to vicious variants overcame the fear of injection.

In his SONA, Duterte said he does not know what to do with the unexpected pandemic that marred his economic targets. He can only listen to advisers, he said, “so let’s just pray to God for salvation.”

“Is this the same God he frequently curses?” former health secretary Esperanza Cabral wondered why Duterte did not spell out any counter-pandemic policy for his last year in office.

Surveyed by Pulse Asia a month before the SONA, majority of respondents said they wanted the President to talk about jobs, economic recovery and controlling consumer price spikes. Those issues hinge on astute pandemic response, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto noted. Only then can there be a return to normal.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Rejoicing Hidilyn’s 3-minute feat, not Duterte’s 3-hour SONA

Rejoicing Hidilyn’s 3-minute feat, not Duterte’s 3-hour SONA

by | Apr 11, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of Hidilyn Diaz

GOTCHA

written on July 28, 2021

 

“Truly a lucky day for the Philippines,” a meme spread fast Monday, July 26: “First gold, last SONA.”

Hidilyn Diaz’s copping the Philippines’ first ever Olympic gold medal united Filipinos in rejoicing. The playing of Lupang Hinirang as the female weightlifter saluted the flag was a proud, tearful moment. It must have been personal vindication too for the struggling athlete. Two summers ago the presidential spokesman unfoundedly, maliciously red-tagged her as conspirator in smearing Rody Duterte.

Another viral meme deflated Duterte’s last State of the Nation Address, or SONA, that day. The acronym was cartooned to mean Speech Only, No Accomplishment.

Duterte expectedly enumerated “successes” to deflect international and domestic criticism of his bloody war on drugs. Streets supposedly are safer due to his 6,000 kill record. Exposure of nine police generals in narco-trade allegedly dented the syndicates. But on record he named only five generals in 2016, with no details or indictments for due process.

Figures from his own National Police appointees showed failure. Three million junkies snort three million grams – three tons – of shabu (meth) per week, they said in November 2019. Yet in the 156 weeks from July 2016 to June 2019, they interdicted only 4.4 tons of shabu – a mere one-and-a-half weeks’ consumption. Addiction persists because not medically addressed. International Criminal Court prosecutors decry the real kill record of 24,000 suspects as a crime against humanity. The P25-billion-a-week narco-trade thrives.

Duterte admitted as a flop his anti-corruption drive. He had exaggerated during the 2016 presidential campaign to wipe it out in three months. Three years later in his 2019 SONA he admitted it was impossible. But of course. Corruption can only be minimized by relentless prosecuting, empowering victims and moral regeneration. Besides, except perhaps for short-lived Ramon Magsaysay, all presidents had cronies and kin dipping sticky fingers in public coffers. Duterte has yet to disclose his latest Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, reminded Magdalo Rep. Manuel Cabochan after the SONA.

Duterte advised the next president to impose martial law and replace all public employees with youthful innocents. Ferdinand Marcos had tried that in 1972: padlocking Congress, emasculating the Judiciary and upturning the bureaucracy. By 1986 he and cronies had plundered $30 billion.

The seas are no safer than the streets. Tens of thousands of Luzon fishermen no longer venture to the West Philippine Sea due to harassment by Chinese coast guards and maritime militia. With wooden outriggers limited close to shore, their catch and income have dwindled.

Consumers suffer too, former Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio lamented recently. Hundreds of Chinese steel trawlers, each longer than two basketball courts, poach millions of tons of fish in the West Philippine Sea. The Philippines is forced to import galunggong (round scad) from China. The poor man’s fish that retailed at P117 a kilo in 2013 now costs P240, more expensive than chicken.

Duterte glossed over that Monday. He repeated his line at the UN General Assembly in September 2020. That is, the Philippine sea arbitral victory against China cannot be “diluted, diminished or abandoned.” Yet last May he called that triumph “a piece of trash paper,” which Beijing echoed on the ruling’s fifth anniversary on July 12. Duterte has ignored Carpio’s plea to rescind his 2017 verbal deal with China President and Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping for Chinese to fish in Philippine exclusive economic zone.

Duterte’s “Build, Build, Build” infrastructure project worked only in the WPS, yet another meme poked. There China continually concreted seven stolen Philippine reefs into island fortresses.

Duterte trumpeted a bigger spending program than the past four administrations. It has hardly been felt. Unemployment was 8.7 percent, or 4.14 million workers, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported in April. Underemployment has worsened beyond 50 percent.

Government borrowings have more than doubled from P5.2 trillion in May 2016 to P11 trillion by April 2021. Each of 110 million Filipinos is in hock for P100,000, Senator Panfilo Lacson noted. Economists JC Punongbayan and Sonny Africa asked where the money went. Half of Filipino families, 49 percent, said they were worse off than last year, according to a recent Social Weather Station survey. Half also rated themselves poor; and one in six, 16.8 percent, suffered hunger in the past month.

Where did the bulk of the P6-trillion new borrowings go? The Finance department recorded P660 billion for emergency cash aid. The Health department spent $1 billion, or P50 billion, for 89 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. Those are but a fraction – no more details in the three-hour SONA.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Ignoring Duterte tirade, Del Rosario reiterates call for patriotic president

Ignoring Duterte tirade, Del Rosario reiterates call for patriotic president

by | Apr 10, 2023 | Gotcha

Wikipedia photo of Ex-foreign secretary Albert del Rosario

GOTCHA

written on July 23, 2021

 

“For this coming election, our humble view is our people should vote for the candidate who is good for our country – not one who is good for China.” Ex-foreign secretary Albert del Rosario reiterated that point after President Rody Duterte blasted him on television Monday.

Duterte had made three unsubstantiated accusations. Supposedly Del Rosario is not a Filipino, does not look Filipino, so is thus a traitor. Duterte raged at Del Rosario’s earlier report of ranking Beijing officials bragging to have “influenced the 2016 Philippine election” that made him president. Quoted was a “most reliable international entity.” Duterte retorted that his 16 million voters could not have been bought.

Duterte in February 2017 admitted that three of his every five statements are nonsense, and only two correct. “E sa limang salita ko, dalawa lang ‘yong tama niyan, ‘yong tatlo puro kalokohan ‘yan,” he told the Customs bureau’s 115th anniversary. “And so I’m just fond of doing it. Gusto ko lang tumawa, well, at the expense of myself sometimes.” His spokesmen frequently complain of his being misquoted.

Two Duterte remarks about Chinese President and Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping were recalled by Del Rosario. On May 15, 2018, Duterte told soldiers that Xi had vowed to protect him from ouster. And before attending the Boao Forum that year he professed undying love for Xi. Odd that Duterte would depend on the aggressor of the West Philippine Sea for his securty of tenure, Del Rosario noted.

Millions believed Duterte when he hyperbolized during the 2016 presidential debates to jet-ski to the Spratlys, plant the Filipino flag and declare to China that “this is ours.” Since it was in response to poor fisherfolk’s question, Filipinos took it to mean he would assert the right to fish in Philippine waters that China illegally encroaches. But on becoming President two months, later he shelved The Hague’s outlawing of China’s sea incursions. In survey after survey thereafter, Filipinos have been seeking government counteraction, not subservience, to Beijing. Last May 10, 2021 Duterte declared that his “jet-ski promise” was “just a campaign joke” and those who believed him were “stupid”.

It was in that context that Del Rosario, at last week’s fifth anniversary of Manila’s arbitral victory, brought up the need to choose wisely the next president. Fuming, Duterte demanded to know where Del Rosario lives or hangs out, so he can go there and “pour your coffee on your face.” His tirade included belittling the late Senate president Aquilino Pimentel Jr., founder of the party that brought him to power and which he now chairs.

Del Rosario and former Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio had built up The Hague case. They have been asking Duterte to rescind his deal with Xi allowing Chinese to fish in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Also to retract his defeatist claim that China is in control of the West Philippine Sea, not just nine islets and reefs. Lastly, to muster international support to compel Beijing to abide by The Hague verdict and depart from the WPS.

On television last May 5 Duterte challenged Carpio to a public debate on the WPS issue; he backed out when Carpio accepted. Also on TV in 2003 then-Davao City mayor Duterte dared feisty radio commentator Waldy Carbonell to a gun duel at the plaza, but didn’t show up.

The Hwarangdo blackbelt Del Rosario is from the bloodline of Gregorio del Pilar, martyr-general during the Filipino-American War. Not one to stoop to the level of a spitting match with a street bully, the former top diplomat stuck to his vision of a patriotic president.

*      *      *

To star in the Tokyo Olympics that begin today are not only the athletics competitors but also the shoes they will be wearing. Controversy will swirl over new sporting footwear with distinctly chunky-looking heels. Biomechanics enables wearers to smash records. Marathoners supposedly can cut their time by one-and-a-half to five minutes. That’s huge in finishes where only seconds can matter.

Critics call it “technological doping”. Then again, if barefoot is allowed in sprints, then why not also new-tech running shoes for long distances? They debuted in 2016.

What exactly are these magic shoes? The Economist asked an expert to deconstruct them: “The shoes are made of a new type of foam that offers an unprecedented mix of resilience and squidginess. This returns around 80 percent of the energy from each strike of a runner’s foot. The carbon-fiber plate may help by stiffening the midsole, and possibly by altering a runner’s gait. By cushioning a runner’s bones, muscles and ligaments from repetitive impacts, the shoes may even help athletes train harder than they otherwise could.”

Mom, buy me a pair of those.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Snorkelers video live corals, debunk reclamation planners

Snorkelers video live corals, debunk reclamation planners

by | Apr 10, 2023 | Gotcha

PNA photo of a diver swimming past a coral reef off the coast of Dumaguete City

GOTCHA

written on July 21, 2021

 

Circulating online is a video of live corals just off the coast of Dumaguete, heightening debates against a city reclamation plan. Shown are snorkelers wading a few meters from shore to an area to be landfilled into a 174-hectare artificial island. In shoulder-deep water, colorful tropical fish are seen feeding in the sea grass and vari-hued corals. Filmed last weekend, it debunks city officials’ claim that their project won’t be destructive. Concreting will smother the corals where fish spawn and grow. Gone will be poor folk’s source of free food and natural social security.

Eight eminent Dumaguete citizens lament that reclamation “will destroy, literally bury, the few remaining coral reef, sea grass and soft-sediment eco-systems that support small-scale fisheries.” More than 200 fish species will be affected. Local fishermen rely on 60 percent of these for livelihood and subsistence.

Dumaguete’s seafloor is steep, the eight scientists note. Reclamation will require “enormous amounts of material… likely to be sourced from land or dredged from deeper areas.” Damage to deeper marine eco-systems can decimate 84 percent of the fish species.

More than seven kilometers of landfill will mar Dumaguete’s 8.5-kilometer-long coastline. Four nearby marine protected areas (MPAs) will be choked and die, the eight warn. The eco-systems of the rest of Negros Island and Cebu across the Tañon Strait will be affected.

National Scientist Angel Alcala, one of the eight, originated the MPA concept in the 1970s. It has been replicated worldwide to benefit small fishermen. Alcala, a former secretary of environment and natural resources, initiated the protest. Seven signed with him: Drs. Betty McCann and Ben Malayang, present and past presidents of Silliman University in Dumaguete; Hilconida Calumpong, PhD, director, SU-Institute of Environmental & Marine Sciences (IEMS); Rene Abesamis, PhD, SU-Center for Research and Environmental Management; Dr. Enrique Oracion, dean, SU graduate school and director, Research and Development Center; Janet Estacion, PhD, assistant director, IEMS; and Robert Guinoo, PhD, SU Biology Department.

About 10,000 have signed an online petition against the reclamation. A number of them are from Dumaguete and Central Visayas.

Legal questions also bug the project. City Hall gave only 26 days instead of 60 for Swiss challenge to the original proposal, as required by the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, Atty. Golda Benjamin alleges. Reclamation will be by joint venture with a private proponent, which violates the city ordinance on such works, she adds.

There have been no submissions, much more approval, by the National Economic and Development Authority, Benjamin says. Proponent E.M. Cuerpo, Inc. has entered into a “secret subcontractor agreement” with a Guangdong firm, the lawyer reveals. The latter, Poly Changda Overseas Engineering Co., supposedly has no license to operate in the Philippines and is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

She also questions the capability of E.M. Cuerpo, a quadruple-A rated constructor with P1.4-billion net worth, to undertake the P23-billion project. The venture is 51 percent city-owned and 49 percent private.

City hall is to build a “Smart City” on the reclamation. Development includes 5G-ready connections, coastal wastewater treatment facility, shoreline, slope and water protection, esplanades, modern ferry boats, marina and open area for sports facility, hospitals, residences, condominiums, malls and other business hubs. To be completed in three years, the P23-billion investment will multiply in value.

City officials plan to relocate the corals. Alcala and colleagues find it infeasible. “Recreation of entire functional marine ecosystems simply does not exist. The vast majority of coral reef rehabilitation around the world has been unable to scale up” to the original hundreds to thousands of hectares, due to huge costs.

The technical, legal and due-diligence reviews have not been revealed, they say. “Absent this, the sociology, ecology and economics of the project are unclear.” There has been no free and prior informed public consent, they add. There must first be “full public disclosure and scrutiny.”

Mayor Felipe Remollo and Vice Mayor Karissa Tolentino-Maxino aver to have studied the project thoroughly. So have majority of councilors who gave Remollo authority to sign and award the deal. E.M. Cuerpo made the offer in 2019.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Duterte ‘inutile’ on WPS? Carpio proposes 5 actions

Duterte ‘inutile’ on WPS? Carpio proposes 5 actions

by | Apr 10, 2023 | Gotcha

 Photo of President Duterte (left) and Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio

GOTCHA

written on July 16, 2021

 

President Rody Duterte said in July 2020 he was “inutile” against China’s territory and resource grabbing in the West Philippine Sea. “I cannot do anything,” he conceded in his fifth annual State of the Nation Address. “Just cool off … [pursue] diplomatic endeavors.”

Yesterday retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio suggested five actions for the country. Poor fishers groan of dwindled catch as China coastguards occupying Philippine reefs menace them.

Following is Carpio’s proposal, “What Can Be Done after Five Years of Inaction by Duterte,” at 1Sambayan’s forum (edited for space):

“Five years ago in Dec. 2016 President Duterte announced he was setting aside the Arbitral Award. Here are five actions the Philippines can take.

“(1) Immediately withdraw the authorization by President Duterte for Chinese to fish in Philippine exclusive economic zone. The Constitution reserves the nation’s marine wealth in our EEZ for exclusive use and enjoyment of Filipino citizens. Only Filipinos can fish in Philippine EEZs.

“President Duterte has no authority to allow Chinese to fish in the WPS. China has the largest fishing fleet in the world. Chinese fishermen are scooping the fish in the WPS, leaving very little to Filipinos. We now have to import galunggong (round scad) from China, our own galunggong which Chinese fishermen get from the WPS. It is now twice as expensive as chicken. Filipino fishermen and consumers are suffering because of an unconstitutional policy of President Duterte favoring Chinese.

President Rody Duterte said in July 2020 he was “inutile” against China’s territory and resource grabbing in the West Philippine Sea. “I cannot do anything,” he conceded in his fifth annual State of the Nation Address. “Just cool off … [pursue] diplomatic endeavors.”

Yesterday retired Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio suggested five actions for the country. Poor fishers groan of dwindled catch as China coastguards occupying Philippine reefs menace them.

Following is Carpio’s proposal, “What Can Be Done after Five Years of Inaction by Duterte,” at 1Sambayan’s forum (edited for space):

“Five years ago in Dec. 2016 President Duterte announced he was setting aside the Arbitral Award. Here are five actions the Philippines can take.

“(1) Immediately withdraw the authorization by President Duterte for Chinese to fish in Philippine exclusive economic zone. The Constitution reserves the nation’s marine wealth in our EEZ for exclusive use and enjoyment of Filipino citizens. Only Filipinos can fish in Philippine EEZs.

“President Duterte has no authority to allow Chinese to fish in the WPS. China has the largest fishing fleet in the world. Chinese fishermen are scooping the fish in the WPS, leaving very little to Filipinos. We now have to import galunggong (round scad) from China, our own galunggong which Chinese fishermen get from the WPS. It is now twice as expensive as chicken. Filipino fishermen and consumers are suffering because of an unconstitutional policy of President Duterte favoring Chinese.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Expect China to meddle in Election 2022 — experts

Expect China to meddle in Election 2022 — experts

by | Apr 10, 2023 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

written on July 14, 2021 

 

Beijing will meddle in the 2022 presidential-congressional-local election. Illegalities can include campaign contributions and hacking. China aims to insert in Malacañang and Congress promoters of its interests in the West Philippine Sea and Taiwan.

One or more “Manchurian candidates” are possible, observers say. Enforcement of election laws is weak and President Rody Duterte’s administration acquiesces to Beijing, they add. Culled from Richard Condon’s 1959 novel, a Manchurian candidate is a disloyal politician who harms his country or party.

Funding is China’s main form of interference, geopolitics expert Renato de Castro, PhD, told Sapol-dwIZ Saturday. It has happened before. The professor on China affairs and Philippines-US security relations cited the national broadband network scandal involving state-owned China telecom ZTE Corp. in election year 2007.

Exposed in Gotcha, Malacañang’s $329-million NBN-ZTE contract contained a $200-million kickback. Subsequent congressional inquiries linked the Comelec chairman. Part of the kickback was $72 million for the administration’s senatorial ticket. Later inquiries by the US Congress and Australian parliament revealed similar ZTE sleaze to politicians in Mexico, Central Asia and Africa. Two high ZTE execs were sons of Chinese Communist Party hierarchs.

Ranking Beijing officials bragged to have shaped the outcome of the 2016 elections that put Duterte in office, former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario said Monday. Citing a “most reliable international entity,” he said “our Beijing post can easily validate that.” Del Rosario has been urging Duterte to rally international support to compel China to abide by the 2016 Hague ruling against its island-grabbing in the West Philippine Sea. Duterte and Malacañang lawyers have been denigrating that Philippine arbitral victory.

“Subsequent actions of the President lend more credence to this information,” del Rosario added. He exemplified the May 2018 statement of Duterte that Chinese President Xi Jinping has sworn to protect him from ouster. As well, Duterte “professing his undying love for President Xi” before attending the 2018 Boao Forum.

“It is disturbing to see our President – who should be looking after his own people – relying on a foreign leader for his security of tenure as president,” del Rosario noted. “Such foreign leader represents an aggressor that openly and illegally occupies land and waters belonging to the Filipino people.”

The Philippines is also strategic to Xi’s plan to retake Taiwan as a renegade Chinese province, de Castro said. Only a narrow channel separates the island-nation from northern Luzon. Beijing would want Filipino officials to allow an invasion of Taiwan, and prevent any US use of Philippine bases to stop it.

Manila and Washington have a Mutual Defense Treaty, an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement and a Visiting Forces Agreement. Those pacts facilitated US disaster aid to the Philippines after Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 and military support against the terrorist siege of Marawi in 2017. The US can seek use of Philippine bases to repel an invasion of Taiwan, similar to its recent accords with Seoul and Tokyo, de Castro said.

China’s political influencing is also done elsewhere, de Castro added. In 2019-2020 was bared the CCP’s contributions to New Zealand’s main Labor and National parties. For partners in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance – Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and United States – that explains New Zealand’s refusal of surveillance affecting China.

In 2017, an Australian member of parliament resigned after being linked along with partymates to bribes from the CCP. Conduits of the dirty money were Chinese firms. Chinese law obligates citizens and companies to participate in state espionage, including overseas, and to keep such operations secret.

US intelligence reported Chinese influencing in the 2018 midterm and 2020 presidential elections. Both involved subtle propaganda, including Philippine troll armies, unlike blatant Russian interference in the 2016 US polls.

The Philippine election in May next year can end up as a competition against Chinese interference, retired Navy Rear Adm. Rommel Jude Ong warned in 2020. “If we want to counter China’s sharp power, then we should prepare for the national elections in 2022,” said the former Navy second-in-command and intelligence head. “If we deny our share of responsibility as citizens in preserving our way of life, then we might face an electoral contest not among political parties but against China’s preferred candidates.”

Former foreign undersecretary Laura del Rosario has forecast the same. “There will be more than two Manchurian candidates, so whoever they field, we have to unite under one candidate.” She prescribed national strength, the only thing China respects as it despises weakness.

Vice President Leni Robredo, touted as an opposition “presidentiable,” has denounced constant online troll attacks. Facebook has been taking down by the dozens troll farms delving on Philippine politics but based in Xiamen, Guangzhou and Shanghai. “What is China doing with our domestic affairs?” Robredo remarked recently. “Is this to protect its own interest? Frightening, as it involves our sovereignty.”

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

Catch “Sapol” radio show, Saturdays, 8-10 a.m., dwIZ (882-AM)

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Get a free copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”. Simply subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Book orders also accepted there.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

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jariusbondoc.com will not lease, sell or distribute your personal information to any third parties, unless we have your permission. We might do so if the law forces us. Your personal information will be used when we need to send you promotional materials if you agree to this privacy policy.

 

II. COPYRIGHT NOTICE

All materials contained on this site are protected by the Republic of the Phlippines copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of jariusbondoc.com or in the case of third party materials, the owner of that content. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.

However, you may download material from jariusbondoc.com on the Web (one machine readable copy and one print copy per page) for your personal, noncommercial use only.

If you wish to use jariusbondoc.com content for commercial purposes, such as for content syndication etc., please contact us at jariusbondoconline@gmail.com.

Links to Websites other than those owned by jariusbondoc.com are offered as a service to readers. The editorial staff of jariusbondoc.com was not involved in their production and is not responsible for their content.

 

III. TERMS OF SERVICE

 

  1. GENERAL RULES AND DEFINITIONS

 

1.1 If you choose to use the jariusbondoc.com service (the “Service”), you will be agreeing to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement between you and jariusbondoc.com (“jariusbondoc.com “).

 

1.2 jariusbondoc.com may change, add or remove portions of this Agreement at any time, but if it does so, it will post such changes on the Service, or send them to you via e-mail. It is your responsibility to review this Agreement prior to each use of the Site and by continuing to use this Site, you agree to any changes.

 

1.3 If any of these rules or any future changes are unacceptable to you, you may cancel your membership by sending e-mail to jariusbondoconline.com (see section 10.1 regarding termination of service). Your continued use of the service now, or following the posting of notice of any changes in these operating rules, will indicate acceptance by you of such rules, changes, or modifications.

 

1.4 jariusbondoc.com may change, suspend or discontinue any aspect of the Service at any time, including the availability of any Service feature, database, or content. jariusbondoc.com may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Service without notice or liability.

 

  1. JARIUSBONDOC.COM CONTENT AND MEMBER SUBMISSIONS

 

2.1 The contents of the jariusbondoc.com are intended for your personal, noncommercial use. All materials published on jariusbondoc.com (including, but not limited to news articles, photographs, images, illustrations, audio clips and video clips, also known as the “Content”) are protected by copyright, and owned or controlled by jariusbondoc.com or the party credited as the provider of the Content. You shall abide by all additional copyright notices, information, or restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Service.

 

2.2 The Service and its Contents are protected by copyright pursuant to the Republic of the Philippines and international copyright laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as provided in Section 2.3 of this Agreement), create new works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the Content or the Service (including software) in whole or in part.

 

2.3 You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Service for personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained therein. Copying or storing of any Content for other than personal use is expressly prohibited without prior written permission from jariusbondoc.com or the copyright holder identified in the copyright notice contained in the Content.

 

  1. FORUMS, DISCUSSIONS AND USER GENERATED CONTENT

 

3.1 You shall not upload to, or distribute or otherwise publish on the message boards (the “Feedback Section”) any libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, abusive, or otherwise illegal material.

 

3.2 (a)Be courteous. You agree that you will not threaten or verbally abuse jariusbondoc.com columnists and other jariusbondoc.com community Members, use defamatory language, or deliberately disrupt discussions with repetitive messages, meaningless messages or “spam.”

 

3.2 (b) Use respectful language. Like any community, the Feedback Sections will flourish only when our Members feel welcome and safe. You agree not to use language that abuses or discriminates on the basis of race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual preference, age, region, disability, etc. Hate speech of any kind is grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.2 (c) Debate, but don’t attack. In a community full of opinions and preferences, people always disagree. jariusbondoc.com encourages active discussions and welcomes heated debate in our Feedback Sections. But personal attacks are a direct violation of this Agreement and are grounds for immediate and permanent suspension of access to all or part of the Service.

 

3.3 The Feedback Sections shall be used only in a noncommercial manner. You shall not, without the express approval of jariusbondoc.com, distribute or otherwise publish any material containing any solicitation of funds, advertising or solicitation for goods or services.

 

3.4 You are solely responsible for the content of your messages. However, while jariusbondoc.com does not and cannot review every message posted by you on the Forums and is not responsible for the content of these messages, jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to delete, move, or edit messages that it, in its sole discretion, deems abusive, defamatory, obscene, in violation of copyright or trademark laws, or otherwise unacceptable.

 

3.5 You acknowledge that any submissions you make to the Service (i.e., user-generated content including but not limited to: text, video, audio and photographs) (each, a “Submission”) may be edited, removed, modified, published, transmitted, and displayed by jariusbondoc.com and you waive any moral rights you may have in having the material altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you. You grant jariusbondoc.com a perpetual, nonexclusive, world-wide, royalty free, sub-licensable license to the Submissions, which includes without limitation the right for jariusbondoc.com or any third party it designates, to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, publicly display, publicly perform, create derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify and adapt (including without limitation the right to adapt to streaming, downloading, broadcast, mobile, digital, thumbnail, scanning or other technologies) in any form or media now known or hereinafter developed, any Submission posted by you on or to jariusbondoc.com or any other website owned by it, including any Submission posted on jariusbondoc.com through a third party.

 

3.6 By submitting an entry to jariusbondoc.com’s Readers’ Corner, you are consenting to its display on the site and for related online and offline promotional uses.

 

  1. ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE AND LINKS

 

4.1 jariusbondoc.com contains links to other related World Wide Web Internet sites, resources, and sponsors of jariusbondoc.com. Since jariusbondoc.com is not responsible for the availability of these outside resources, or their contents, you should direct any concerns regarding any external link to the site administrator or Webmaster of such site.

 

  1. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

 

5.1 You represent, warrant and covenant (a) that no materials of any kind submitted through your account will (i) violate, plagiarize, or infringe upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy or other personal or proprietary rights; or (ii) contain libelous or otherwise unlawful material; and (b) that you are at least thirteen years old. You hereby indemnify, defend and hold harmless jariusbondoc.com, and all officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, affiliates, licensors and licensees (collectively, the “Indemnified Parties”) from and against any and all liability and costs, including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred by the Indemnified Parties in connection with any claim arising out of any breach by you or any user of your account of this Agreement or the foregoing representations, warranties and covenants. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any such claim. jariusbondoc.com reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you.

 

5.2 jariusbondoc.com does not represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement, or other information displayed, uploaded, or distributed through the Service by any user, information provider or any other person or entity. You acknowledge that any reliance upon any such opinion, advice, statement, memorandum, or information shall be at your sole risk. THE SERVICE AND ALL DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE ARE DISTRIBUTED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

 

  1. COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN JARIUSBONDOC.COM AND MEMBERS

 

6.1 If you indicate on your registration form that you want to receive such information, jariusbondoc.com, its owners and assigns, will allow certain third party vendors to provide you with information about products and services.

 

6.2 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to send electronic mail to you for the purpose of informing you of changes or additions to the Service.

 

6.3 jariusbondoc.com reserves the right to disclose information about your usage and demographics, provided that it will not reveal your personal identity in connection with the disclosure of such information. Advertisers and/or Licensees on our Web site may collect and share information about you only if you indicate your acceptance. For more information please read the Privacy Policy of jariusbondoc.com.

 

6.4 jariusbondoc.com may contact you via e-mail regarding your participation in user surveys, asking for feedback on the Website and existing or prospective products and services. This information will be used to improve our Website and better understand our users, and any information we obtain in such surveys will not be shared with third parties, except in aggregate form.

 

  1. TERMINATION

 

 

7.1 jariusbondoc.com may, in its sole discretion, terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Service for any reason, including, without limitation, breach or assignment of this Agreement.

 

  1. MISCELLANEOUS

 

8.1 This Agreement has been made in and shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the Republic of the Philippines law. Any action to enforce this agreement shall be brought in the courts located in Manila, Philippines.

 

8.2 Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Terms of Service will serve to preempt the promises made in jariusbondoc.com Privacy Policy.

 

8.3 Correspondence should be sent to jariusbondoconline.com.

 

8.4 You agree to report any copyright violations of the Terms of Service to jariusbondoc.com as soon as you become aware of them. In the event you have a claim of copyright infringement with respect to material that is contained in the jariusbondoc.com service, please notify jariusbondoconline.com. This Terms of Service was last updated on November 7, 2020.