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Setting aside our sea rights just for ineffective Sinovac

Setting aside our sea rights just for ineffective Sinovac

by | Jan 27, 2021 | Gotcha

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Setting aside our sea rights just for ineffective Sinovac

West Philippine Sea sold for Sinovac

            Only Malacañang may procure any COVID-19 serum. Filipinos are locked in to Sinovac. A deal has been sealed for 25 million doses of the Chinese vaccine. First 50,000 delivery is next month. No other inoculant is arriving till July so don’t be picky, says Palace spokesman Harry Roque. Yet doubts remain on safety and efficacy. Pricing is hazy. And indications are to stomach China’s sea incursions just to get the supplies.

            “Our differences in the West Philippine Sea should be set aside because this is a global pandemic, and our problem is a global menace.” So declared “vaccine czar” Sec. Carlito Galvez at the Senate last Friday. “The global interest is to save humanity,” the former Armed Forces chief said.

            Sen. Risa Hontiveros was shocked. She had asked Galvez what effect the preference for a Chinese vaccine has on Philippine strategic interests. Beijing foreign minister Wang Yi had zipped through Southeast Asia the other week in “vaccine diplomacy”. Donation of 500,000 vials was announced to Manila. There was a quid pro quo after all, Hontiveros noted.

            Galvez quickly backpedalled. “We would like to make a clarification,” he said. “We will not compromise on our state.”

            It wasn’t very reassuring. Galvez has contradicted himself several times under oath, senators said. He described the Sinovac deal as government-to-government. Yet he negotiated with the company’s international relations rep Helen Yang in Hong Kong. He stated that Sinovac has committed to deliver starting February. But when reminded that it has yet no emergency use authority, he said Malacañang can still back out.

Beijing may use its vaccine donations to advance its regional agenda, particularly on sensitive issues such as its claims in the South China Sea

Ardhitya Eduard Yeremia & Klaus Heinrich Raditio

Yusof Ishak Institute Singapore

West Philippine Sea sold for Sinovac

            Senator Panfilo Lacson questioned the five-month headway granted to Sinovac. Galvez denied any favoritism. Yet Foreign Sec. Teddy Locsin said “someone dropped the ball on Pfizer in July.” The US State Department had arranged for 10 million doses of the vaccine with 95 percent efficacy. The DOH dilly-dallied on processing the papers; the US firm diverted the stocks to Singapore. Roque meanwhile told reporters Sinovac was a done deal.

            Beijing is deftly transactional. In 2016 it promised Manila $40 billion in infrastructure loans and aid. President Rody Duterte shelved the Philippines’ international arbitral victory against China’s reef grabbing. Beijing fulfilled only less than a tenth of that. Now it is dangling free vaccines for Malacañang’s continued acquiescence.

            Chinese vaccine diplomacy “is not unconditional,” analysts wrote this month for Singapore’s Yusof Ishak Institute. “Beijing may use its vaccine donations to advance its regional agenda, particularly on sensitive issues such as its claims in the South China Sea,” Ardhitya Eduard Yeremia and Klaus Heinrich Raditio said.   

            Philippine Ambassador Chito Sta. Romana saw an imaging opportunity for Beijing. “It’s part of their campaign to improve China’s standing in the world, and to win the hearts and minds of people.”

            Minister Wang’s vaccine promotional tour included South Asia. It was to show supposed benevolence to neighbor-states that China has antagonized. Premier Li Keqiang similarly promised priority vaccine access to countries along the Mekong River suffering from drought worsened by Chinese dams upstream.

            A senior fellow at Washington think-tank Council on Foreign Relations earlier studied Beijing’s moves. “President Xi Jinping’s offer of a Chinese vaccine worldwide as a ‘public good’ also allows Beijing to paint itself as a leader in global health,” said Huang Yanzhong.

            Hong Kong brokerage firm Essence Securities saw profit potentials as well for China. If China can capture just 15 percent of the market in middle- and low-income countries, it would net around $2.8 billion in sales, the group said. “Everyone is clamoring for a vaccine and Beijing is in a good position to tap gold at the bottom of the pyramid.”

            The solid gold would be if Manila clams up on intensified maritime encroachment. A new Chinese law authorizes its Coast Guard to board and fire at vessels in its “jurisdictional waters”. That means the entire South China Sea which it illegally claims. Covered is the West Philippine Sea, the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of rich fishing grounds and oil-and-gas resources.

 

* * *

 

            “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.

West Philippine Sea sold for Sinovac

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The real threat to us is communist China

The real threat to us is communist China

by | Jan 22, 2021 | Gotcha

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The real threat to us is communist China

The real threat to us is communist China

            They say the University of the Philippines is a hotbed of radicalism. Let it be. Advocacy of drastic, massive change is part of studentship. Youths dream to transform fast and furious the world they will inherit, until reality of experience tempers the idealism. As the variant of Francois Guizot’s quip goes, “If at 16 you’re not a radical you have no heart; if at 60 you’re still a radical you have no head.”

            U.P. students have always been activists. A century ago they fought for women’s suffrage and against campus uniform — causes that had elders aghast. Today women not only vote; two have become President. And the campus fashions are the very coats and long dresses that U.P. militants defied before.

            Universities hone critical thinking. In academic freedom, students are exposed to various thoughts and theories. They are expected to analyze, debate, test-practice the ideas, then accept or reject. That’s how institutions of higher learning produce leaders of government, industry, science, arts and philosophy.

            Oh, but U.P. is a fertile recruitment ground for communist rebels, they add. So what? Communism is a declining ideology, but espousing it is no crime. One of General Fidel Ramos’ first acts as President was to have the Anti-Subversion Law repealed. Taking up arms against the state remained a serious crime. Leftists were encouraged to shift from armed to parliamentary struggle.

The NPA is a spent force, government reports. It is but a shadow of its 22,500 fighting strength in the 1980s.

The real threat to us is communist China

            Accusations later arose that leftist legislators are channeling pork barrels to the violent New People’s Army. If so, should not the solution be to have no congressional pork at all, especially those going into the pockets of political dynasts? Spend the people’s money for projects beneficial to them. Development is the solution. Social thinker-General Jose Almonte emphasized that truism as Ramos’ national security adviser. They had concluded that in the 1950s as young officers pondering why they were fighting an earlier set of communist rebels. The answer was not purely military.

            The NPA is a spent force, government reports. It is but a shadow of its 22,500 fighting strength in the 1980s. Marcos plunder and repression had bred misery and rebellion. Democratic restoration and the info-tech revolution rendered rebellion obsolete. The NPA holds a few far-flung barangays. Dealing with them can be transferred from the army to the police.

            The NPA is strapped by its own ideology. Mao Tse-tung preached peasant-based revolution by encircling cities from the countryside. That may have worked in China in the 1930s-1940s when landowning warlords lived in city comfort. Not in agrarian-reformed Philippines of the 2020s.

            Victory of Mao’s “protracted people’s war” unfolded in three stages. He progressed from strategic defensive to strategic stalemate to strategic offensive. The NPA has been in strategic defensive for 52 years. Commanders have retired. Occasional NPA raids on police stations and plantations are but tactical offensives, for arms replenishment and publicity.

            Strategic stalemate would entail parity in arms. But how can the NPA hope to match the Armed Forces’ tanks, armored personnel carriers, and combat choppers? It has no Ho Chi Minh Trail to mimic the Vietcong’s North-assisted buildup. Two NPA arms landings from Mao in 1972 and 1974 failed. Mao thence dumped the NPA. “Agaw-armas” won’t do to get hold of cannons and mortars.

            Urban insurrection was an alternative posed by NPA leader Felimon Lagman. That deviation from Mao’s city encirclement allegedly cost him his life in the hands of his comrades. Still, how can the NPA replicate Nicaraguan rebel Daniel Ortega’s snap capture of Managua? That would assume not only prepositioned partisans in the capital, a la Abu Sayyaf in Marawi in 2017. Capture of Malacañang as seat of power would also need capitulation of the Armed Forces. What the military leaders should be watching is not the U.P. but its own ranks.

            The real enemy is the Chinese Communist Party. It has been directing its People’s Liberation Army to aggress the West Philippine Sea. Seven Philippine reefs have been concreted into island-fortresses. From there the PLA-Navy and CCP-led China Coast Guard menace Filipino fishermen and oil-and-gas explorers.

            Filipinos’ sources of food and minerals are stolen. These lead to rising food prices and untapped means of energy and new medicines.

An “all-government campaign” must be directed not at campus radicals but the CCP.

            An eighth sea feature, Philippine territorial Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal is about to be reclaimed into an air and naval base. Thence the PLA will impose an air defense identification zone. Philippine air and sea craft passing through the WPS will have to seek PLA permission.

            Urgently needed is to equip the Philippine Navy and Air Force. An “all-government campaign” must be directed not at campus radicals but the CCP. Beijing’s communist rulers aim to become the world’s most dominant political, geopolitical, military, and economic force within this decade. They are doing so at the expense of Philippine sovereignty. Nine in ten Filipinos want action.

 

* * *

 

            “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.

The real threat to us is communist China

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These local officials restore public trust in vaccines

These local officials restore public trust in vaccines

by | Jan 20, 2021 | Gotcha

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These local officials restore public trust in vaccines

local officials restore public trust in vaccines

            Early this month a handful of local officials sealed crucial deals for COVID-19 vaccines. Mass immunization is the way out of the pandemic. But due to huge global demand, stocks were un-assured. At the time only AstraZeneca was willing to supply directly — at cost — to city halls.

            Urgency was key. The UK pharmaceutical firm was on a tight deadline. Going by the production cycle, it can deliver the first doses by July-September. To not miss the boat, Manila Mayor Isko Moreno signed the required confidential disclosure agreement on Jan. 5. Hours later Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte followed suit.

            The two were the most ready. Not only had they allotted funds, their city councils also had authorized them to negotiate the emergency contracts. Moreno has P250 million on hand for an initial 1.1 million vials for 550,000 residents, plus P1 billion standby. Belmonte has at least P1 billion for 1.6 million constituents aged 17-up.

            Speed alone sparked hope. The tragic hospitalizations and deaths would end; the economy would restart. Reportedly also first in line with AstraZeneca are Mayors Abigail Binay of Makati; Imelda Aguilar, Las Piñas; Carmencita Aguilar Abalos, Mandaluyong; Andrea Ynares, Antipolo; and Jerry Treñas, Iloilo City. As well, provincial Governors Arthur Defensor Jr. of Iloilo and Rodito Albano of Isabela.

            More mayors are known to have talked with inoculant makers Pfizer, Moderna, Novavax, and Janssen. Among them in Metro Manila are Oscar Malapitan of Caloocan; Rex Gatchalian, Valenzuela; Marcelino Teodoro, Marikina; Toby Tiangco, Navotas; and Edwin Olivarez, Parañaque. Metro Manila Development Authority general manager Jojo Garcia is said to have linked up the parties.

Manila’s Moreno continues to think out of the box. Uncomfortable with the six-month wait till the first AstraZeneca deliveries, he seeks help from foreign governments.

local officials restore public trust in vaccines

            In Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong has long prepared an inoculation plan. So have Governors Dennis Pineda of Pampanga and Aurelio Matias Umali of Nueva Ecija.

            Thirty-nine local officials are now busy explaining the need to vaccinate. It’s a tough job. Purported child deaths in 2016-2017 due to a new dengue inoculant had dented public trust. Nursing mothers avoid even long proven infant doses against measles, cholera, mumps, and polio. Unhelpful is Malacañang’s hasty purchase only of China-made Sinovac even without Food and Drug Administration clearance, then telling people to take it or leave it. Social media also teems with “anti-vaxxers”.

            In Quezon City fortuitously, Belmonte notes little resistance to vaccination. Daily education webinars are held for the undecided. “Citizens’ queries are mostly about safety and efficacy ratings,” she says.

            Manila’s Moreno continues to think out of the box. Uncomfortable with the six-month wait till the first AstraZeneca deliveries, he seeks help from foreign governments. Boldly he gave three world leaders a roster of 5,252 medical frontlines in need of immediate protective jabs. Don’t let vials unused on your too frail countrymen or rejected by anti-vaxxers go to waste, he appealed; send them to us. He included the health workers’ mobiles, addresses, and hospitals for ambassadors to ascertain for themselves. From “vaccine czar” Sec. Carlito Galvez he also got commitment of Sinovac stocks for possible demand in Manila’s Chinatown.

            The day after ordering from AstraZeneca, Moreno procured ultra-low temperature freezers. US-made Pfizer and Moderna injections need storage of -80 to -70 degrees centigrade. Both will supply only to the national government which will then distribute to selected locales.

            City Hall showed off the nine regular standalone and 50 portable freezers at Santa Ana district hospital Monday. That boosted public knowledge even outside Manila of what preparations entail. Potential vaccine donors reportedly were impressed.

            Yesterday Manila simulated a vaccination day. Health workers screened queues of potential vaccinees who filled up prescribed forms. “The time-and-motion study will make us perfect the actual operation,” says Moreno’s chief of staff Cesar Chavez. Six district hospitals, 45 public clinics, and the largest of 103 school campuses will be the vaccination centers.

            Also yesterday in Quezon City, Belmonte met with officers of the Philippine Medical Association. Main topic was what vaccines to get other than AstraZeneca. Advice is for her to prioritize those approved in countries with stringent regulatory agencies.

            The 39 local officials share lessons in procurements and dry runs. Moreno and Belmonte are the most sought-after mentors.

 

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            “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. Orders also accepted there.

local officials restore public trust in vaccines

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‘No pickiness’, just accept Sinovac with 50% efficacy

‘No pickiness’, just accept Sinovac with 50% efficacy

by | Jan 15, 2021 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

‘No pickiness’, just accept Sinovac with 50% efficacy

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Sinovac has 50-percent efficacy versus COVID-19

            Sinovac has 50-percent efficacy versus COVID-19. Half a population vaccinated with it can become immune. That’s low. Other inoculants notched 70 to 95 percent efficacy.

            It boils down to this. Half a family injected with Sinovac may not be protected. After their shots they will think themselves safe to gather. One spreader is all it takes. Every other attendee can be infected and die. “Cara y cruz” or toss coin, as a tweet goes.

            Sinovac’s clinical trials in Brazil were misleading. Partial results on a small group of medical workers prematurely were released with 78-percent efficacy. Then came the complete outcome: 50.4 percent.

            Field results in Turkey hit 98-percent efficacy. But Sinovac has not published any data for peer review as required of vaccine developers.  Three million of 125.5 million Sinovac vials have arrived in Indonesia. Only the socially mobile and economically active, age 18-59, are to be jabbed two doses each. Clinical trials there involved only that age bracket; the elderly, sickly, pregnant, and youngsters were excluded. Claimed efficacy: 65 percent.

            Sinovac is one of three China makers of serums against the coronavirus from Wuhan. Like Sinopharm and CanSino, its tests are politicized for Beijing’s “vaccine diplomacy”. Communist rulers aim to live down the Wuhan origin of the global pandemic by trumpeting superiority in medicine technology. Blunting their ploy, however, is the trio’s notoriety in test opacity. Sinovac has a black mark of bribing regulators.

Half of those surveyed don’t want to be injected; only one in three is willing.

Sinovac has 50-percent efficacy versus COVID-19

            But don’t be picky, says Malacañang spokesman Harry Roque. Sinovac is the only inoculant arriving in the Philippines before June. It’s the only one government procurers supposedly signed up so far. Only after it was contracted did it apply for emergency use authority.

            Roque also speaks for the cabinet-level Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases. That includes the National Implementing Task Force of “vaccine czar” Sec. Carlito Galvez. The latter, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin, and Ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel Romualdez are rushing to bring in Western brands. All have better efficacies: Pfizer, 95 percent; Moderna, 94; AstraZeneca, 70. Roque seems to downplay their efforts.

            Limiting Filipinos to Sinovac does not help build trust in mass immunization. Half of those surveyed don’t want to be injected; only one in three is willing. That distrust will mean more infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Filipinos will stay in self-isolation. The economy will continue to stagnate.

            If you don’t get your Sinovac jab, somebody else will, Roque says. That dents the right to free and informed choice. He won’t entertain questions either. When Dr. Tony Leachon blogged about the odd preference for the vaccine with the lowest efficacy, that former president of the Philippine College of Physicians got an earful.

            A double dose of Sinovac costs P3,629.50. AstraZeneca’s jab, similarly made of inactivated virus, is five times cheaper at P610, according to studies of Sen. Sonny Angara. Pfizer’s, made of messenger RNA, is P2,379. Upcoming alternatives are Novavax, P366; Johnson & Johnson, P480; Gamaleya, P1,220; COVAX with World Health Organization, P854.

            Government has only P12.5 billion cash for mass inoculation; P70 billion more will be borrowed. Cost includes training, personal protective equipment, and supplies for 25,000 vaccinators. Wastage can reach 15 percent. Bulk of that money will go to Sinovac yet the Chinese firm is reportedly demanding price confidentiality in its supply deal.

            Ten million Filipinos can be vaccinated with Sinovac’s 20 million vials. Given 50-percent efficacy, only five million may become immune.

 

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            Say a prayer please for the eternal repose of the soul of Fr. Franz-Josef Eilers, PhD. The German missionary to Asia passed away Jan. 13 in Manila at age 89. He will be missed by Christians who write about or put spirituality in their writings.

            Fr. Eilers was the Catholic Church’s prime luminary on social communications in Asia. His books “Communicating in Community” and “Communicating in Ministry and Mission” are guides for bishops, priests and laymen. He was consultor of the Pontifical Council for Social Communication at the Vatican in 1973-1988 and 1996-2011.

Sinovac has 50-percent efficacy versus COVID-19

Fr. Eilers was the Catholic Church’s prime luminary on social communications in Asia.

            Born 1932 in Emsdetten, Germany and ordained in 1959, Fr. Eilers spent most of his priesthood in the Philippines. He professorship honed top homilists communications and missiology at the Society of Divine Word School of Theology, Tagaytay. He also taught at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila and the University of the Philippines in Los Baños. He was executive director of the Asian Research Center for Religion and Social Communication at St. John’s University. Bangkok, Thailand. Also former executive secretary for the Office of Social Communication of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, at Radio Veritas, Quezon City.

            Most of all, he was a friend and adviser.

 

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            “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. Orders also accepted there.

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Sinopharm vaccinees must look out for 73 side effects

Sinopharm vaccinees must look out for 73 side effects

by | Jan 13, 2021 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Sinopharm vaccinees must look out for 73 side effects

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

73 side effects of Sinopharm vaccines

  • Chinese vaccine’s user guide lists high blood pressure, vision loss
  • Shanghai expert posts list, then retracts comments in CCP organ
  • Phl FDA chief says complete list is needed for “free, informed choice”

            Cabinet men and presidential guards vaccinated with Sinopharm must watch out for 73 side effects. Among those listed in its user guide are hypertension, loss of vision and taste, delayed menstruation, and urinary incontinence.

            Common “systemic adverse reactions” include headache, fever, muscle pain, difficulty breathing, and diarrhea. “Occasional effects”: anorexia and vomiting. “Very rare”: asthma, tonsillitis, eye pain, and earache. Usual are pain, swelling, and itchiness in the injected area.

            Details have been published in Chinese and English newspapers in Hong Kong and Taiwan. State-owned Sinopharm (China National Pharmaceutical Corp.) is one of three Chinese developers of jabs against COVID-19 that sprang from Wuhan.

            A Shanghai vaccine expert posted the Mandarin user manual on social media Weibo last week. Days later Dr. Tao Lina’s post was deleted for alleged violations. He retracted his opinions, but not the enumerated after-effects.

            The retraction was published by Global Times, the English edition of People’s Daily, official organ of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. By then Tao’s vaunted 4.5 million followers had read his post.

All COVID-19 vaccines so far took only six months to develop, when the process normally stretches at least two years

Dr. Eric Domingo

FDA - Director General

73 side effects of Sinopharm vaccines

            Though unregistered in the Philippines, Sinopharm’s inoculant has been used on unnamed high officials and the Presidential Security Group. PSG chief Maj. Gen. Jesus Durante would not confirm the brand. But he said they injected each other in Sep.-Oct. after reviewing available studies. Sinopharm at the time was still in late-stage clinical trials in China, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain. Tests in Peru were suspended in early Dec. when a volunteer suffered severe side effects.

            Health Secretary Francisco Duque advises vaccinees to report any adverse effects to doctors. The PSG committed to periodic checks. The Food and Drug Administration has yet to authorize any COVID-19 inoculant for emergency use. Sinopharm has not applied for such EUA in the Philippines.

            On Dec. 30 China’s National Medical Products Administration approved for general domestic use Sinopharm’s injectable BBIBP-CorV. Claimed efficacy of the inactivated-virus vaccine: 79.34 percent. Test results of new products need to be published for peer review, but Chinese pharmaceutical firms are criticized for spotty compliance.

            Makers must submit all test findings in applying for authorization, FDA director general Eric Domingo told The STAR. All known side effects must be documented and stated in product information inserts. That’s crucial for patients’ free and informed choice.

            Some makers list not only known but also potential side effects. Reports cite varying reasons, like hedging against damage suits. All COVID-19 vaccines so far took only six months to develop, when the process normally stretches at least two years, Dr. Domingo said.

            The CCP’s Global Times blamed the confusion over Sinopharm on Voice of America. VOA purportedly twisted Dr. Tao’s satirical comment on the 73 listed side effects to mean the opposite. Tao had said the lengthy and overly cautious user guide made it look like Sinopharm is the most unsafe vaccine in the world. To the CCP organ the former Shanghai disease prevention and control employee affirmed his trust in Chinese vaccines. He has been jabbed with Sinopharm and was to have his second shot eleven days later last Saturday. Sinopharm prescribes 28 days’ interval.

            “It is possible that some irresponsible temporary employee made this user guide, which could have been wrongly written,” Tao speculated. “The user guide was dated Dec. 30 and may not be the final version; Sinopharm may improve it later,” the organ added. No comment from Sinopharm itself. Global Times and People’s Daily have claimed that COVID-19 did not originate but was brought into China.

            Controversy swirled last month when President Rody Duterte said soldiers have been jabbed with Sinopharm. People asked why medical frontlines, the elderly, sickly, and pregnant were not prioritized. Interior Sec. Ed Año averred that at least one cabinet member was injected, plus the PSG. Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana said the jabs were smuggled for a good cause: protect the Commander-in-Chief.

            Customs and NBI are investigating who illicitly supplied and dispensed the doses. Vials reportedly are black-marketed in Manila for as high as P12,000 apiece. Chinese-Filipino NGO leader Teresita Ang See revealed that about a hundred thousand Chinoys and Chinese workers in online gaming operations have been injected. Beijing has reported the injecting of 1.5 million Chinese volunteers.

            Senators are reviewing the government’s procurement and mass immunization plan. Duterte has barred the PSG from attending.

 

* * *

 

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government” is available as e-book and paperback. Purchase details when you subscribe to my newsletter HERE. Subscribers get a FREE copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity”.

73 side effects of Sinopharm vaccines

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Sacrificing not just for him but also for the motherland

Sacrificing not just for him but also for the motherland

by | Jan 8, 2021 | Gotcha

GOTCHA

Sacrificing not just for him but also for the motherland

Sacrificing the motherland to China

            Smuggling and unauthorized COVID-19 vaccinating was wrong. Still Rody Duterte and aides commend the presidential guards for it. In their view, the soldiers braved likely adverse effects to protect fully the highest official — a heroic sacrifice.

            The nobler sacrifice by our fighting men is for the motherland. Our seas are being invaded. As our people cry out, the aggression heightens.  Our troops must train and equip to defend our sovereignty.

            Everyone knows who the aggressor is. China is taking advantage of our distraction by the pandemic that spread from Wuhan. While we struggle with deadly infections and economic slump, Beijing tightens its hold on reefs stolen from us. That is the way of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Mao Tse-tung Thought draws from Sun Tzu: “When the enemy rests, attack; when the enemy retreats, pursue.”

            Last Christmas day China landed its biggest warplane on Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef. Satellite monitors were inconclusive on what the Y-20 transported. But the South China Morning Post quoted experts as saying the airlifter can carry armored vehicles and missile launchers.

            Clearly Beijing continues to militarize the West Philippine Sea, said international maritime lawyer Jay Batongbacal, PhD. In 2015 Chinese president and CCP secretary general Xi Jinping had vowed to not warmonger in the region. The following year the People’s Liberation Army landed fighters and troop transports on Kagitingan. Xi also chairs the CCP Central Military Commission, to which the PLA reports.

Philippine ships and aircraft passing through the WPS will be required to seek PLA permission.

Sacrificing the motherland to China

            Days after the Y-20 mission, the PLA Southern Theater Command began three simultaneous practices in Hainan waters 648 nm away.  The show of force ended last Monday. In a recent visit to the PLA unit, Xi told the generals to “polish their commanding.” Since 2018 the Command has been offering exchanges and exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Its “friendliness” is part of propaganda and united-front work of CCP commissars in the PLA.

            Kagitingan is outside China’s 200-nm exclusive economic zone. The Hague arbitral court outlawed in 2016 Beijing’s spurious “nine-dash line” claim over EEZs of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

            The reef is within the Philippines’ extended continental shelf. China grabbed it in 1988 along with five others in the Philippine EEZ: Zamora (Subi), Calderon (Cuarteron), McKennan (Hughes), Burgos (Gaven), and Mabini (Johnson South). Beijing concreted them into island-fortresses starting 2014. Panganiban (Mischief) Reef was taken and fortified in 1995. Missile pads and signal-jammers have been installed in Kagitingan, Zamora, and Panganiban reefs.

            Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal was occupied in 2012. Chinese gunboats machine-gun and water cannon Filipino boats that venture to our traditional fishing grounds. Chinese coastguards protect Hainanese maritime militia that poach fish, sea turtles, giant clams, and fan corals. Beijing has announced to soon build air and naval bases, and thereafter enforce an air defense identification zone. Philippine ships and aircraft passing through the WPS will be required to seek PLA permission.

            From the island-outposts, the PLA-Navy harasses sealifts to Filipino marines in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and civilians in Pagasa Island. Chinese buoys regularly are dropped off at Sabina Shoal near Palawan preparatory to takeover. Chinese exploration vessels are escorted to oil- and gas-rich Recto (Reed) Bank. In April a Chinese destroyer aimed weapons at a Philippine patrol near Malampaya gas field. Months before a Chinese armada trespassed and provocatively zigzagged in Sibutu Strait, Tawi-Tawi.

            All this is happening in the midst of ASEAN, China talks for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. Crucial in the CoC is status quo of forces. The pandemic has delayed the drafting. The CCP is using the lull to escalate PLA presence in the WPS and Vietnam’s Paracel archipelago. That way, status quo would cover Beijing’s new encroachments. The PLA continues to land bombers in the Paracels’ Woody Island.

            China’s sea aggression aims not only to steal small neighbors’ marine wealth. It is also a stage-off to retake Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province. The CCP’s target is between the 70th anniversary of its rise to power in 2019 and its centenary in 2021.

Chinese companies and citizens are obligated to support overseas and domestic espionage, and to keep such participation secret.

            PLA squadrons routinely trespass the waters off Batanes and Babuyan islands near Taiwan. Chinese companies are applying to lease Fuga island there, and Grande and Chiquita islands at the mouth of Subic Bay near Panatag. A foothold on Fuga will afford China access to Benham Rise, east of Luzon. Ostensibly to build an international airport, the state firm that reclaimed the seven Philippine reefs is striving to dislodge the Philippine Navy from Sangley Base at the entrance to Manila Bay. Another state firm, through its Filipino partner, has been allowed to put up cell sites inside AFP camps, exposing those to potential eavesdropping and cyber-sabotage.

            Chinese companies and citizens are obligated to support overseas and domestic espionage, and to keep such participation secret. Even Duterte, though friendly to Beijing, can be targeted. Presumably state firm Sinopharm sized up the strengths and weaknesses of the Presidential Security Group to which, Duterte indicated, it supplied the unregistered vaccines.

 

* * *

 

            “Gotcha: An Exposé on the Philippine Government”, is available as e-book and paperback. To order, simply click HERE.

            Plus, get a FREE copy of “Chapter 1: Beijing’s Bullying and Duplicity” when you subscribe to my newsletter.

Sacrificing the motherland to China

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However, we do have some terms and conditions which you can find below. By continuing to use or to read from this site, that means you understand and agree to comply with the terms and conditions.

I. PRIVACY POLICY

This privacy policy (“policy”) will help you understand how jariusbondoc.com uses and protects the data you provide to us when you visit and use https://jariusbondoc.com/ (“website”, “service”).

We reserve the right to change this policy at any given time. If you want to make sure that you are up to date with the latest changes, we advise you to frequently visit this page.

 

What User Data We Collect

When you visit the website, we may collect the following data:

  • Your IP address
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  • Other information such as interests and preferences
  • Data profile regarding your online behavior on our website

 

Why We Collect Your Data

We are collecting your data for several reasons:

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  • To improve our services and products
  • To send you promotional emails containing the information we think you will find interesting
  • To contact you to fill out surveys and participate in other types of market research
  • To customize our website according to your online behavior and personal preferences

 

Safeguarding and Securing the Data

jariusbondoc.com is committed to securing your data and keeping it confidential. jariusbondoc.com has done all in its power to prevent data theft, unauthorized access, and disclosure by implementing the latest technologies and software, which help us safeguard all the information we collect online.

 

Our Cookie Policy

Once you agree to allow our website to use cookies, you also agree to use the data it collects regarding your online behavior (analyze web traffic, web pages you spend the most time on, and websites you visit).

The data we collect by using cookies is used to customize our website to your needs. After we use the data for statistical analysis, the data is completely removed from our systems.

Please note that cookies don’t allow us to gain control of your computer in any way. They are strictly used to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not so that we can provide a better experience for you.

If you want to disable cookies, you can do it by accessing the settings of your internet browser.

 

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:

 

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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.

 

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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.

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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.

 

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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 “).

 

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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.

 

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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.

 

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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.