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Explanations, not expletives will encourage vaccinations

Explanations, not expletives will encourage vaccinations

by | Sep 22, 2022 | Gotcha

PNA photo of health worker with Sinovac vaccine

GOTCHA

written on June 4, 2021

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

Vaccine efficacies are the result of laboratory studies. Makers hedge on their guarantees because the jabs are for mere emergency use.

But with millions of injections administered in scores of countries, scientists now have real world data. One is that vaccination lessens viral load.

Fourteen world experts prepared an “Initial Report of Decreased SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load After Inoculation with the BNT162b2 Vaccine.” The March 29, 2021 article in the Nature Medicine journal is frequently cited. Among the salient conclusions: “We found that the viral load was substantially reduced for infections occurring 12-27 days after the first dose of vaccine. These reduced viral loads hint at a potentially lower infectiousness, further contributing to vaccine effect on virus spread.” They referred to vaccinees of messenger or mRNA.

Two months later America’s Centers for Disease Control published similar findings. In its updated “Science Brief: COVID-19 Vaccines and Vaccination”, May 27, 2021, CDC stated:

• “People who are fully vaccinated with a currently authorized mRNA vaccine are protected against asymptomatic infection and, if infected, have a lower viral load than unvaccinated people.”

• “A growing body of evidence indicates that people fully vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) are less likely to have asymptomatic infection or to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others. Studies are underway to learn more about the benefits of Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine. However, the risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection in fully vaccinated people cannot be completely eliminated as long as there is continued community transmission of the virus.”

The local Departments of Health and of Science and Technology are to study actual results on Filipino vaccinees as well. Included are the “traditional” attenuated virus vaccines from China, Europe and America approved by the World Health Organization and the Food and Drug Administration.

But vaccine availability remains iffy. Afflicted with the “mañana habit”, officials were late in procuring, legalizing and preparing for arrival of the vaccines.

Hesitancy remains high. Seventy five percent of Metro Manilans and 60 percent nationwide are reluctant, surveys show.

Accessibility is poor. Officials fail to inform the prioritized persons – the elderly and those with comorbidities – where and when the jabs are to be administered. They rely merely on barangay hall bulletin boards and Facebook posts. Often people who want to be vaccinated learn about the event only by word of mouth, a malady reported on AM-radio. Only 15 percent of senior citizens have been inoculated, Duque said.

Oddly, only half of vaccinees of the first dose have returned for the second. While 97 percent of medical frontline workers in Metro Manila have been injected once, 57 percent have yet to be given the second dose, Duque added. It’s unlikely for doctors, nurses and hospital workers to not know that they need the two doses for full efficacy. Probably their second jabs have not been delivered or scheduled.

Pacquiao has a stake in PDP-Laban. It was faltering in 2013 when then-president, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, invited him to join as congressional candidate. In 2016 Pacquiao led its senatorial ticket. His celebrity not only won the crowds; his multibillion-peso prize earnings also bankrolled party-mates’ congressional and local campaigns. Supporting Duterte to victory in 2016 suddenly made PDP-Laban the ruling party. Pacquiao continues to fund administrative expenses.

Sara, on the other hand, is not a PDP-Laban member. In the 2019 mid-term election, her Davao regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago endorsed 15 candidates for the 12 senatorial slots, some of them PDP-Laban.

Pinning Pacquiao against the ropes can only provoke the fighter to punch back. Expectedly, he will rally his party supporters against his belittlers. Expulsions are likely as with other parties torn by infighting in the past. Munsayac hinted as much when he said officers who attended Monday’s National Council meeting should just leave the party.

PDP stands for Partido Demokratiko Pilipino; Laban for Lakas ng Bayan. Founded respectively by Aquilino Pimentel Jr. in 1982 and democracy icon Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in 1978, PDP and Laban were the main opposition to Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship. PDP-Laban coalesced with other parties for Cory Aquino’s victory against Marcos in the 1986 snap presidential election.

Pacquiao’s loyalists are reviewing party principles – democracy, human rights, national sovereignty – to dissociate from the Duterte faction’s authoritarian ways, bloody war on drugs and acquiescence to China.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

            “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

Party giving Duterte second term, dousing Pacquiao presidential bid

Party giving Duterte second term, dousing Pacquiao presidential bid

by | Sep 22, 2022 | Gotcha

PNA photos of President Duterte (left) and Senator Manny Pacquiao (right)

GOTCHA

written on June 2, 2021

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

The ruling PDP-Laban virtually is giving President Rody Duterte a forbidden second term. And it is dunking its foremost presidential aspirant Senator Manny Pacquiao.

Those are the implications of the party’s prod for its chairman Duterte to run for vice president in 2022 and choose his successor.

The Constitution limits a president to a single six-year term. That’s to prevent an incumbent from using the vast powers and resources of his office to prolong his tenure.

But running for VP and personally anointing a successor can have the same effect. Duterte can select one who thinks like and idolizes him, to continue all his policies and programs even if flawed. Critics say the anointed can even shield him from criminal prosecution for abuses in office.

More than those, the clone president can resign and hand over the office to vice president Duterte. He will thus reign anew.

Philippine laws are notable more for loopholes than enforcement. Politics is personality-, not issue-based. Parties are mere campaign funds conduits, not guardians of ideology and platform.

PDP-Laban leaders who want Duterte as VP are also urging his daughter, Davao City mayor Sara “Inday” Duterte-Carpio, to be the presidential standard bearer. Duterte has expressed preference for longtime aide now Senator Christopher “Bong” Go.

Sara and Go are noncommittal for now. But “Run, Sara, Run” tarps and calendars proliferated early this year, including in the remotest barangay of Pagasa, Kalayaan Islands, Palawan, in the Spratlys. Same with wristwatches and running shoes marked “Bong Go.” The official filing of candidacies is not till October.

The PDP-Laban National Council meeting approved Monday a “Resolution to convince the party chairman, President Rodrigo Duterte, to run as vice president in the 2022 national elections and for President Rodrigo Duterte to choose his runningmate for president.”

That eased out Pacquiao, long touted as a “presidentiable,” from the party selection process. Their rules call for a convention for that purpose a month before the October filing. The meeting was premature, executive director Ron Munsayac said.

An eight-world boxing titleholder, Pacquiao is his own man. No Duterte clone, he lamented last week as wanting the President’s stand against China’s increasing incursions in the West Philippine Sea. That was a departure from his previous silence on Duterte’s frequent mocking of Christian tenets, most recently the Fall from Paradise. Pacquiao is an evangelical Christian.

As PDP-Laban acting president, Pacquiao told officers to ignore vice chairman (and energy secretary) Alfonso Cusi’s invitation to the meeting. Allegedly it broke party rules since only the chairman with the president can assemble the National Council.

But Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque retorted that Duterte himself had authorized Cusi to convene, organize and preside over the meeting. That left Pacquiao asking to see the President to sort out matters. Roque is not a PDP-Laban member, Munsayac said.

Pacquiao has a stake in PDP-Laban. It was faltering in 2013 when then-president, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, invited him to join as congressional candidate. In 2016 Pacquiao led its senatorial ticket. His celebrity not only won the crowds; his multibillion-peso prize earnings also bankrolled party-mates’ congressional and local campaigns. Supporting Duterte to victory in 2016 suddenly made PDP-Laban the ruling party. Pacquiao continues to fund administrative expenses.

Sara, on the other hand, is not a PDP-Laban member. In the 2019 mid-term election, her Davao regional party Hugpong ng Pagbabago endorsed 15 candidates for the 12 senatorial slots, some of them PDP-Laban.

Pinning Pacquiao against the ropes can only provoke the fighter to punch back. Expectedly, he will rally his party supporters against his belittlers. Expulsions are likely as with other parties torn by infighting in the past. Munsayac hinted as much when he said officers who attended Monday’s National Council meeting should just leave the party.

PDP stands for Partido Demokratiko Pilipino; Laban for Lakas ng Bayan. Founded respectively by Aquilino Pimentel Jr. in 1982 and democracy icon Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in 1978, PDP and Laban were the main opposition to Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship. PDP-Laban coalesced with other parties for Cory Aquino’s victory against Marcos in the 1986 snap presidential election.

Pacquiao’s loyalists are reviewing party principles – democracy, human rights, national sovereignty – to dissociate from the Duterte faction’s authoritarian ways, bloody war on drugs and acquiescence to China.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

            “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

Regain Scarborough as proven Phl territory

Regain Scarborough as proven Phl territory

by | Sep 22, 2022 | Gotcha

Wikipedia photo of Scarborough Shoal

GOTCHA

written on May 28, 2021

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

China stole Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in 2012. The Philippines must regain it by diplomatic and geopolitical means. The 2016 international arbitral victory was a good start. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague illegalized China’s occupation. Next steps are, with the help of allies, to make China abide by the ruling, and recompense the Philippines for environmental destruction and poaching.

Panatag is Philippine territory. A day’s sail by banca from mainland Luzon, it is traditional Filipino fishing ground. Ancients called it in different periods Panacot, Galit, Lumbay and Bajo de Masinloc. The 1.5- to five-meter shallow waters teem with seafood. Enclosed horseshoe-shape by rocks and reefs, the 15,000 hectares is the size of one-fourth of Metro Manila.

Spanish maps from the 1700s label Panatag, as with other far-flung seamarks, as “Punto de Mandato” (Point of Command), or jurisdiction. Old Japanese and British navigational logs include it among the Philippine Islands 120 miles off. American colonial, Commonwealth and Republic records call it “island territory.”

China claims the shoal by pseudo-history. The legend that an ancient Chinese engineer observed it from a series of towers in the mainland is possible only if the earth was flat. Panatag is 750 miles beyond the horizon. No ancient record or map backs up Beijing’s “historical right.” From China’s own annals, its earliest navigators hitched rides on Malay trading ships. Sea masters in the archipelagos now known as Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, the brown race conquered Madagascar across the Indian Ocean two millenniums ago.

Philippine historical proofs are extant, extensively researched by international maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal, PhD:

The Murillo Velarde map of 1734 draws the shoal as part of Luzon. The 1748 shipwreck there of Britain’s HMS Scarborough, officially reported to Spanish authorities in Manila, led to its detailed cartography. The Malaspina Expedition of 1792 located the shoal 57 leagues from land. In 1800 Admiral Alava dispatched from Cavite the steamer Sta. Lucia, under Capitan Francisco Riquelme, to survey the shoal and thereafter regularly patrol it. The summary of Riquelme’s findings became a fixture of the Doroteo del Archipelago Filipino, the Spanish guide for mariners. The description of the shoal in the 1879 edition of the Doroteo jibes with an 1866 British survey by the sloop HMS Swallow.

Spain ceded the main Philippine islands to the United States via the 1898 Treaty of Paris, and Panatag and outlying islands via the 1900 Treaty of Washington. The US took over jurisdiction of the shoal, including vessels in distress. When Sweden’s SS Nippon was shipwrecked there in 1913, the rescuers and salvors came from Manila. The scientific study on the salt water’s effect on the copra cargo, and the insurance litigation, also were held in the capital. The Philippine Supreme Court affirmed the insurance ruling in 1916. The American colonial administration listed the shoal in the 1918 Census of Philippine Islands.

In 1937, Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon formally inquired about the status of the shoal, which he wanted the newly formed Coast Guard to patrol. The US Departments of State, War, Navy and Commerce, and Office of Geodetic Survey ascertained that no other country had contradictory territorial claim.

Throughout the 1960s-1980s the independent Philippines exercised authority over Panatag. Every time the Philippine and US Navies held exercises like bombing runs there, Manila issued Alerts to Mariners safely to steer clear. Passing ships recognized Manila’s power. When smugglers hid out in the shoal, the Philippine Constabulary drove them away.

Panatag is part of the definition of Philippine territory in the 1936, 1972 and 1987 Constitutions. It is specified in the 2009 Archipelagic Baselines Law (Republic Act 9522).

(The complete text of Batongbacal’s study, “Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal): Less-Known Facts vs. Published Fiction,” is posted in imoa.ph, website of the Institute for Maritime and Ocean Affairs.)

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

            “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

Navy did not give up Panatag to China, former chief clarifies

Navy did not give up Panatag to China, former chief clarifies

by | Sep 22, 2022 | Gotcha

PNA photo of PH Navy

GOTCHA

written on May 26, 2021

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

The Philippine Navy did not give up Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal to China in the 2012 standoff. Its warship was ordered out two days after the impasse began that April to resume an original mission in northern Luzon waters. And that was only on arrival of Philippine Coast Guard patrols to continue confronting the proliferating Chinese gunboats and poachers.

This was clarified by then-Navy Flag Officer in Command Adm. Alexander Pama. “We did not retreat, we did not withdraw; we were, in military parlance, relieved in place,” Pama told Sapol-dwIZ Saturday. “Never did the Navy back out of any challenge.”

“Relief in place” is “an operation in which, by direction of higher authority, all or part of a unit is replaced in an area by the incoming unit. The responsibilities of the replaced elements for the mission and the assigned zone of operations are transferred to the incoming unit. The incoming unit continues the operation as ordered.” (thefreedictionary.com)

The clarification came in wake of repeated Duterte administration claims that its predecessor’s withdrawal of Navy ships let China occupy Panatag. Criticized for his appeasement policy on China, Rody Duterte has alleged that then-foreign secretary Albert del Rosario and Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio ordered a back off. Neither the foreign office nor the High Tribunal is part of the Armed Forces command chain.

“It was not the Navy that withdrew in June 2012,” Pama said, reacting to Duterte’s late night telecast the other Monday with former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. “The President was misinformed of the timeline. If we cannot get the data correct, our credibility is shot.”

To begin with, only one Navy vessel, BRP Gregorio del Pilar, was involved. It was en route on emergency to northeastern Luzon on info that a North Korean missile fired at Guam might hit Philippine mainland or boats in Benham Rise. On report that the missile splashed into sea April 8, BRP del Pilar was then diverted to Panatag, 123 miles off Zambales, Pama recounted. Navy reconnaissance planes had sighted eight to ten illegal Chinese fishing trawlers there.

BRP del Pilar entered the horseshoe-shaped shoal in the wee hours of April 10, Pama said. At daybreak an inspection team on rubber boat boarded one of the Chinese trawlers. Discovered were hundreds of live and dead sharks, giant sea turtles, giant clams and fan corals. The species were internationally listed as endangered, thus prohibited to catch or harvest. “We have photos,” Pama recalled. “It took four to six men to carry even just half of each decades-old clam.”

Midmorning three gunboats of the China Maritime Surveillance (CMS) and one from Fisheries Law Enforcement Control (FLEC) barged into the scene. Pama identified two of them: Zhongguo Haijian 75 and Zhongguo Haijian 84. “Agad nakipag-patintero sila sa boarding party,” he said, suspecting a set-up. Not only were the Chinese gunboats protecting the illegal fishers, they also were just lingering nearby. Panatag, a former Navy bombing range, is 750 miles from China, well outside its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.

The 1998 Fisheries Code (RA 8550, Section 124) deputizes the Navy, Coast Guard and PNP-Maritime Command as enforcers. In past interdictions they brought poachers to San Fernando, La Union, for prosecution and detention.

But Beijing turned the tables on Manila, propagandizing that the latter was bullying Chinese fishers by sending a warship. Thus, the decision from Malacañang to pull out BRP del Pilar. The order came after a meeting in Malacañang attended by Enrile and other Congress leaders, a military source said. It was relayed to the Armed Forces North Luzon Command and to the Naval Forces-North which had operational jurisdiction over Panatag.

By April 12 Coast Guard patrols BRP Pampanga and BRP Edsa arrived from different ports. A craft of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources joined in, then-BFAR director Atty. Asis Perez said last month also on Sapol-dwIZ. BRP del Pilar moored in Subic Bay, Zambales.

In the following weeks 15 additional CMS and FLEC gunboats escorted nearly 200 more Chinese poaching vessels to the traditional Filipino fishing ground. Each 80 meters long, the Chinese gunboats dwarfed the 45-meter Philippine patrol craft.

In the third week of June the approach of Super Typhoon Butchoy prompted talks to end the standoff at sea. The US brokered a simultaneous pullout from Panatag, del Rosario has recounted several times. The Philippine craft departed as agreed, but China deceitfully reneged. The Chinese gunboats even chained off the mouth of the shoal to prevent Filipinos from returning. Beijing could only have planned it from the start, Pama concluded.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

            “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

Against Duterte’s advice, Comelec grants Smartmatic P1.04 billion – so far

Against Duterte’s advice, Comelec grants Smartmatic P1.04 billion – so far

by | Sep 22, 2022 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

written on May 21, 2021

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

The Comelec has awarded P1.04 billion in new contracts to controversial Smartmatic Inc. for the 2022 elections. This is despite President Rody Duterte’s repeated advice to the poll body to replace the electronic systems provider due to fraud allegations.

On May 5, 2021, the Venezuelan Smartmatic was given the software deal for election management system, vote-counting machines and consolidation-canvassing system. Price: P402,725,549.70.

In December 2020 it was granted the refurbishment of 97,345 VCMs. As well, the supply of 109,745 SD (secure digital) main cards, the same number of SD WORM (write once-read many) cards and 250,000 cleaning sheets. Price: P637,443,308.45.

The Comelec has yet to award multibillion-peso contracts to accessorize the VCMs for result transmission and to organize and manage Election Day call centers. Ongoing is a separate warehousing contract, about half-billion pesos a year.

Smartmatic has won all the main hardware, software and service deals for national and local balloting in 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019. Competitors’ complaints of bidding irregularities have been quashed. Information-technology experts’ findings of result tampering have been rejected.

Despite his 2016 presidential victory on Smartmatic systems and VCMs, Duterte prefers switching to other suppliers and modes. Smartmatic’s precinct count optical scanners had been criticized as “hocus-PCOS”. The Comelec and Smartmatic shifted from PCOS to the term vote counting machines, VCMs, to refer to the same 97,345 units. Smartmatic and partners have been accused of result rigging in US and other countries’ elections.

Comelec chairman Sheriff Abas signed the P402.7-million software contract. Commissioner Marlon Casquejo said they “did not choose Smartmatic; it joined the competitive bidding. Who won it was beyond our control.” The special bids and awards committee (SBAC) selected Smartmatic based on lowest calculated bid. Observers from the Government Procurement Policy Board were present.

Rival bidder Pivot International Inc.-Power Serve Inc. is contesting the earlier P637.4-million win of Smartmatic. Documents show that Pivot Group had bid P490 million – P170,741,660.47 lower than the Comelec ceiling price of P660,741,660.47. It is also P147,443,308.45 lower than Smartmatic’s winning bid of P637,443,308.45.

The Comelec SBAC disqualified Pivot on Dec. 11 on two grounds: failure to indicate a “zero” or “dash” in one annex item, and to specify the price of the cleaning sheets and SD cards. Smartmatic submitted a single calculated bid for all items, the SBAC said.

Pivot, three days later, sought reconsideration. It said the SBAC misinterpreted the rule requiring the zero or dash “as the price if the item is being offered for free.” The SBAC’s rule amendments in two bidding bulletins also no longer required separate pricing for the cleaning sheets and SD cards, it added. Reconsideration was denied.

On May 5, Pivot accused the SBAC members of grave misconduct, serious dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service. Administratively charged were Jeannie Flororita, Information Technology Department head; Allen Francis Abaya, SBAC chairman; John Rex Laudiangco, vice chairman; and members Jovencio Balinguit, Divina Blas Perez and Abigail Clare Carbero Llacuna. Mentioned too but not identified were members of the technical working group (TWG).

Pivot alleged that the officials conspired to commit irregularities during the bidding. Supposedly the TWG tampered its SD card to malfunction, leading to its disqualification.

Pivot also denied that its SD cards had only 15 gigabytes capacity, short of the required 16 GB. A small portion of the card’s capacity is taken up by built-in solutions like file allocation, block management, error management and other internal functions.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez told The STAR yesterday that the bidding called for “WORM-able” SD cards. Meaning, capable of being reformatted, which is what the TWG did. Pivot should have protested the bidding award, instead of filing an administrative complaint. The complaint has yet to be resolved.

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

            “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

Got a comment? Or just want to check out what people are saying about this article, then…

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Cabinet gagged on China; ex-generals assert sea rights

Cabinet gagged on China; ex-generals assert sea rights

by | Sep 22, 2022 | Gotcha

PNA photo of President Duterte

GOTCHA

written on May 19, 2021

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

• Only Roque, who misreported Julian Felipe Reef as outside Philippine jurisdiction, may continue to speak on maritime issues.

• Retired AFP and service chiefs rally for unity against China threat.

President Duterte banned his Cabinet on Monday from talking about sea disputes amid months of China’s escalating incursions. “This is my order now to the Cabinet, and to all and sundry talking for the government, to refrain from discussing the West Philippine Sea with anybody,” he said in a late night recorded telecast. “If we talk, we talk but just among us.” Only his spokesman Harry Roque may speak on the matter, the President added.

Since March the foreign and defense offices have been rebuking China’s increasing numbers of maritime militia vessels trespassing the WPS. First, 220 trawlers “swarmed” and “threatened” Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef. Reinforced by a dozen more, they then spread out to poach in other reefs in Pagkakaisa Bank and in Kalayaan Islands municipality of Palawan. Last week the National Task Force-WPS reported at least 330 still there, plus in Recto (Reed) Bank. The WPS, the part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone, is rich in fisheries, oil and gas.

After telling the intruders to leave to defuse tensions, Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana was badmouthed by the Chinese embassy. Diplomatic protests are filed every day until they depart, according to Foreign Sec. Teodoro Locsin Jr.

Last week Roque misstated that Julian Felipe is outside the Philippine EEZ. Supposedly critics are fussing over it to assail Duterte’s appeasement policy towards Beijing. The National Task Force corrected him: Julian Felipe, 175 miles from Palawan, not only is within the EEZ; it is also within the 12-mile territorial waters of McKennan (Hughes) and Rurok (Sin Cowe) Isles of Kalayaan. Locsin reminded Roque that statements on international relations are the “exclusive remit” of the foreign office.

Also on Monday the Advocates for National Interest (ANI) called on Filipinos to “unite in assertion of our rights in the WPS.” Consisting of retired generals who took on other government and private positions, ANI said “China’s creeping aggression must be stopped (but) war is not the only option.”

ANI consists of, among others, Amb. Ramon Farolan, former defense chief Renato de Villa, former senator Rodolfo Biazon, former congressmen Plaridel Abaya and Ashley Acedillo, Commo. Plaridel Garcia, Col. Niceto Festin, former SSS administrator Renato Valencia, Police Gen. Recaredo Sarmiento, Col. Guillermo Cunanan, Col. Mariano Santiago, Maj. Gen. Melchor Rosales, Col. Alejandro Flores, Brig. Gen. Eliseo Rio Jr., Vice Adm. Emilio Marayag Jr., Gen. Alexander Yano, Gen. Eduardo Oban, Gen. Emmanuel Bautista and Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan (chairman).

Excerpts: “As our nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day, let us remember how we Filipinos, more than a century ago, stood up to challenge a much stronger power in order to be freed from subjugation and bullying. Having realized the vital necessity of being united as a people, we zealously guarded and preserved our freedom and independence.

“Today we face a real threat to our nation’s security. China’s transgression of Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights in the WPS, in violation of international law, jeopardizes our future. The vast resources of the WPS present a promise of deliverance for our people. But China is taking that away from us.

“The ANI strongly advocates a rules-based international order and the peaceful resolution of conflicts. We thank the international community for their unambiguous support for this principle.

“Notwithstanding our peaceful overtures, China employs coercion and intimidation to expand and maintain its unlawful presence in the WPS as seen in Julian Felipe Reef, Ayungin Shoal, Panganiban Reef and Bajo de Masinloc. China’s creeping aggression must be stopped.

“Employing ‘gray-zone’ tactics that are short of an armed attack, China uses strong-arm diplomacy, political intervention, legal warfare, informational, financial and economic coercive tools to secure its interests. It seeks to undermine our will to resist and to divide us from our traditional allies and friends.

“Now is the time to unite once again as a people. We must set aside any partisan political agenda and parochial interests. This conflict with China should serve to unify rather than divide us. The protection and defense of our sovereignty and territory is a national obligation.

“Our people should know that an information war is going on that uses psychological, propaganda and media tools to make us believe that their unlawful actions in the WPS are justified – the China narrative. Let us take the side of the Filipino people.

“War is not the only option left in order to defend our sovereignty and sovereign rights. We are not alone. There is a range of diplomatic, legal, informational tools or soft power that can be deftly used. We have allies, partners and friends willing to share the burden to keep a secure, stable and free-flowing trade through the South China Sea.”

Sinovac safety efficacy and price still need clarifying

* * *

            “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

Got a comment? Or just want to check out what people are saying about this article, then…

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Links to Other Websites

Our website contains links that lead to other websites. If you click on these links jariusbondoc.com is not held responsible for your data and privacy protection. Visiting those websites is not governed by this privacy policy agreement. Make sure to read the privacy policy documentation of the website you go to from our website.

 

Restricting the Collection of your Personal Data

At some point, you might wish to restrict the use and collection of your personal data. You can achieve this by doing the following:

 

  • When you are filling the forms on the website, make sure to check if there is a box which you can leave unchecked, if you don’t want to disclose your personal information.
  • If you have already agreed to share your information with us, feel free to contact us via email and we will be more than happy to change this for you.

 

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.