Garin loses bargaining chips with Janette's appointment in DOH

“I don’t wanna talk about things we’ve gone through. Though it’s hurting me, now it’s history. I’ve played all my cards. And that’s what you’ve done, too. Nothing more to say; no more ace to play.” ABBA in “The Winners Takes It All”

By Alex P. Vidal

NOW that Dr. Janette Loreto-Garin has been officially appointed by President Simeon Benigno “Nonoy” Aquino III as secretary of the Department of Health (DOH), father-in-law Oscar “Oca” Garin Sr. loses his political bargaining chips in the 2016 elections.

When Mr. Aquino delayed Loreto-Garin’s appointment (he was supposed to install her after the visit of Pope Francis in January), there were speculations that the president “has changed mind” as he is now notoriously known to do.

February came and still Loreto-Garin and her fans were anxiously waiting on tenterhooks; her fate wasn’t clear.

The scuttlebutt was the “dark forces” within the department prevailed upon the president to forego with Loreto-Garin’s appointment as DOH chief and retain her as undersecretary.

Lo and behold, Malacanang delivered the coup de grace on March 12 when everyone’s attention was somewhere else: Loreto-Garin is now officially the new full-fledged DOH secretary.

Good news for the Garin clan of Iloilo and the Loreto clan of Leyte.  

How about to the older Garin’s political plans in 2016?

Garin Sr., father of Loreto-Garin’s husband, Iloilo first district Rep. Oscar “Richard” Garin Jr., is reportedly planning to run for vice governor of Iloilo in 2016.

UNCLEAR

It is still unclear though, as of this writing, whether Governor Arthur “Art” Defensor Sr. is inclined to accommodate a fellow Liberal Party (LP) stalwart Garin Sr. as Defensor’s runningmate in 2016.

Garin Sr. could have used the delay or rejection of Loreto-Garin’s appointment in the DOH as a bargaining chip to compel Malacanang to consider him as Defensor’s runningmate in 2016, or he will make tampo or sunggod and bolt the party and embrace the opposition owing to the “double whammy” (if Loreto-Garin didn’t bag the DOH’s top portfolio and the nomination as Defensor’s runningmate).

Now that Loreto-Garin’s appointment is moot and academic, Garin Sr. has no more reason to make tampo or sunggod  to Malacanang or to the LP hierarchy.

A political debt of gratitude today could mean a death blow to any ambition for higher posts in the future.

If Garin Sr. can’t clinch LP’s vice gubernatorial slot in Iloilo, he has no more aces in his sleeves to pressure President Aquino and the LP bigwigs.

We have given your daughter-in-law the biggest pork. Leave to us the beans, Malacanang and the LP bosses can always tell Oca Garin straight in the eyes.

After all, beggars can’t be choosers.

-o0o-

THE claim of West Visayas State University (WVSU) professor, Ma. Rosario Victoria E. De Guzman, that some college students, mostly below legal age, are engaging in “survival sex” or prostitution to finish their studies, is not new.

Parents have heard this story in the 80’s and 90’s and even in the early years of the new millennium.

Each time the issue is tackled in the media, school authorities and social scientists have always blamed the economic dilemma that bedevils the students involved in selling their bodies for sex.

We agree to some extent. There really is a need to seriously address this gnawing problem with the active participation of the parents.

Economic realities force students to perform lewd acts in the internet and sexual services to patrons who take advantage of their plight.

Concerned authorities should trace the problem’s origin at home.

Financial problem may not be the only reason why some young students engage in prostitution.

Many members of the younger generation nowadays are hooked on a lot of vices and even illegal drugs.

ATTENTION

They need not only money but attention, as well. Attention from their parents, guardians and guidance counselors; attention from their friends, boyfriends and girlfriends.

In their confusion, some of these young students get the “quickest” and the “most practical” answers to their questions about their sexuality from non-experts or from those outside their homes and schools.   

Here’s another catch: Ninety-nine percent of “experts” in the sexual problems of women never had a menstrual period, a hot flash, or a baby—and never will, according to Dr. David Reuben, an expert in human sexuality.

“In fact they will never have any female sexual experiences at all—because they are men,” he added.

Just DOH it!

“Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputations... can never effect a reform.”   Susan B. Anthony

By Alex P. Vidal

IN December last year, acting Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin sobbed that she was hurt by the intense politicking and name-calling in the department.

She never mentioned who called someone “bobo” (idiot) and “gaga” (dumb), but the former Iloilo first district solon gave people who saw her TV interview the bird’s eye view on what was going on in the DOH since she assumed as acting secretary, when resigned Secretary Enrique Ona went on leave in November.

She was apparently at loggerheads with some DOH bigwigs loyal to Ona.

At the time of name-calling and apparent rudeness displayed by the male species and spoiled brats in the department, there was no hint that Ona could not anymore get back his post.

Unknown to most outsiders, Loreto-Garin, the most junior undersecretary in the DOH, was being bullied by rapscallions who felt uneasy working under a woman acting secretary, and who feared sweeping reforms once Ona’s vacation would be extended. 

Alas, Ona’s resignation was accepted by President Benigno Aquino III before Christmas 2014.

The atmosphere in the DOH completely changed when the president announced he would appoint Loreto-Garin as regular secretary after the Papal Visit this month.

IN-COMING

Loreto-Garin’s incoming appointment as regular DOH chief would be a slapped on the faces of those who had earlier predicted she would be relegated back to her old post as undersecretary.

It turned out Loreto-Garin has the trust and confidence of President Aquino and was the president’s apple as Ona’s replacement even before Ona resigned.

In between Loreto-Garin’s anguish from the verbal snipes uncorked by “insecure” DOH underlings and the president’s announcement of her appointment as regular DOH chief was the furor involving hitherto Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag, who had been reportedly “demoted”.

Tayag, known as the dancing doctor, and Ona are among the health officials being investigated for the alleged anomalous DOH purchase of anti-pneumonia vaccines for children.

The probe is being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) as ordered by President Aquino.

Tayag was allegedly the one who ordered the procurement of the PCV-10 instead of the cost-effective PCV-13 for the DOH’s Expanded Vaccination Program.

Although Loreto-Garin did not reveal who were her supposed tormentors, the grapevine said one of them was Tayag.

CONFIRM

This was never confirmed by both Loreto-Garin and Tayag but many insiders claimed that both DOH bigwigs “don’t see each other eyeball to eyeball” whatever that means.

“Tayag’s loyalty is still with Ona and Loreto-Garin’s appointment must have sent shivers down his spine and the spines of Tayag’s cohorts,” sources said.

The lady DOH official, wife of Iloilo first district Rep. Oscar “Richard” Garin, Jr., has promised to initiate reforms once she takes over the helm of the DOH as a regular secretary.

She said there were clamors from several officials to fix the DOH organizational structure.

In changing Tayag’s designation, Loreto-Garin clarified that “it was not a demotion because his actual position is really director IV.”

“Sometimes it creates confusion since there are some assistant secretaries who are assistant secretaries by career,” Loreto-Garin said. “We did this with consultation.”

“Doc Tayag was even one of those (directors) who volunteered to me to remove (the title) ASec because he said he was not really an ASec,” Loreto-Garin explained.

It was part of the DOH streamlining, she further said.

Whatever reforms she has in mind for the DOH, Loreto-Garin must do it without fear and favor.

She has the full support of the president and not even the most loquacious and arrogant male underlings can pose as obstacles in her quest to improve the department long bedeviled by anomalies and structural defects.

Just DOH it, Madame Secretary!

‘It also hurts to be called gaga at bobo’

“An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.” Philip Stanhope

By Alex P. Vidal

IF a man occupies the highest position in any organization, he is hailed and praised to high heavens especially by those who have the propensity to ask favors in return for the praises.

If a woman is on top, she is cursed, insulted, ridiculed and underestimated.

To add insult, she is called names.

It’s a male-dominated-world mentality all over again.

The grapevine in the Department of Health (DOH) says acting Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin can’t automatically occupy the post vacated by resigned Secretary Enrique “Ike” Ona.

President Noynoy Aquino is expected to announce the new DOH secretary in January 2015, sources said.

Undersecretary Loreto-Garin, 42, former Iloilo first district House representative, will continue to sit in acting capacity.

Surrounded by high-ranking career employees and subalterns whose loyalty is with Ona and the previous male secretaries, Loreto-Garin initially felt a little bit uneasy especially when President Aquino accepted Ona’s resignation before Christmas Day.

She had revealed earlier that “politics is very dirty” within the department.

“It’s a sad thing. Sa isang taon ko doon, I tried hard to bridge (the gap) with Secretary Ona,” she said in an interview with ABS-CBN’s “The Bottomline with Boy Abunda."

“I am still trying to absorb the punches and praises. When I was told I would be officer in charge, I thought ‘okay, it would be for a month’… And then one by one issue came out, a lot of problems, a lot of misinformation… There were friendships being challenged,” she said.

“If I’m doing public service, why do I have to experience these punches in my life? Sanay ako sa pulitika, a clean debate. But I was not used to character assassination. Nasasaktan ka rin na tinatawag kang gaga, bobo.”

She did not reveal who made those scurrilous statements.

STOP

The former solon had stopped consulting Ona, who was on leave for more than a month due to health reasons.

Ona’s supposed role in the allegedly questionable procurement of vaccines under his leadership worth P800-million is still being investigated by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

It was revealed later on that Ona’s policies and actions did not sit well with Mr. Aquino.

The atmosphere in the DOH is reportedly “patriarchal by nature”, and many senior male underlings find it “uncomfortable” working under “a political appointee with lesser experience.”

Since Dr. Carmencita Reodica, DOH secretary from March 1996  until June 1998, Loreto-Garin is the third female physician to occupy the DOH’s top post but only in acting capacity.

Dr. Esperanza I. Cabral briefly held the DOH portfolio from January until June 2010.

Both Reodica and Cabral came from the private sector did not hold political or elective positions before their DOH stint, while Garin served for three terms as congresswoman.

Reodica had 32 years of experience as a public health worker and government administrator before becoming a DOH boss

Cabral, a renowned cardiologist and top-ranked physician, was a professor at the UP College of Medicine and Pharmacology, scientist and a graduate of Medicine at the University of the Philippines and had served as director of the Philippine Heart Center as well as chief of Cardiology at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center before becoming a DOH chief.

BOARD MEMBER

Loreto-Garin started a Iloilo provincial board member and sat as the regional chair of the National Movement for Young Legislators and member of the National Board of the Provincial Board Members League of the Philippines.

She had been elected as the first Filipino board member of the nine-man executive board of the Parliamentary Network on the World Bank (PNoWB) when she became a member of the House of Representatives in 2004.

She had served as House deputy majority leader and figured in the curbing of fraud in the Philhealth, amendment of the Physician’s Act, and the Cheaper Medicines Bill.

Loreto-Garin was among those who advocated the pushed for the passage of the Reproductive Health Care Bill, Improved Midwifery Bill and the Magna Carta for Women.

She may not be the best DOH secretary (acting or permanent), but we beg to disagree with her detractors that she is gaga and bobo.

  

Better to have Ebola virus than to be caught stealing

“Dignity is not negotiable. Dignity is the honor of the family.” Vartan Gregorian

By Alex P. Vidal

SOME people may avoid us if we are infected with Ebola virus, but will sympathize with us nonetheless for humanitarian reasons.

If we are thieves, people will not only avoid us but will also denounce us, stab us in the back and question our culture.

Between having an Ebola disease and being a thief, we prefer the former.

Much better, of course, if we don’t have any contagious disease and with zero criminal record.

Some of us prefer to die of Ebola or others diseases than to live with a tarnished name because of graft and corruption.

In death, there is dignity if our integrity is intact.

In life, we die a thousand times once our dignity has been besmirched by dishonesty and crimes against moral turpitude.

It's better to suffer instant death than to continue living and pretending as if everything is normal even after we were caught in flagrante delicto with our hands in the cookie jar.
Acting Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin should not begrudge critics who expressed “worries” when she and Armed Forces chief-of-staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang went to Caballo Island to visit quarantined Filipino peacekeepers, who arrived from Ebola-hit Nigeria early this month, without wearing protective masks as required by the World Health Organization (WHO).

ACCEPT

If we were Loreto-Garin, we would gamely accept the criticisms without showing any emotion, and prove those Doubting Thomases wrong.

How? Assure them that if she shows some signs of Ebola infection, she would resign immediately and isolate herself for medication before going to an exile in an island.

Loreto-Garin, 42, should also prove to all and sundry that she is not a corrupt public official; and it’s OK to die anytime as long as her name and the legacy of the Loretos of Leyte and the Garins of Iloilo are preserved and not tainted.  

Meanwhile, when she attended the senate budget deliberations on November 24, Loreto-Garin was not treated shabbily.

In fact, Senators Bongbong Marcos and Bambam Aquino kissed her and shook her hand.

It was Senator Tito Sotto III who first expressed alarm and even requested Loreto-Garin, Catapang and others who went with them in the island to undergo quarantine.

He was among the senators who refused to come near Loreto-Garin during the budget hearing.

REACTIONS

Loreto-Garin appeared panicky in her initial reactions when the unprotected visit tumult erupted last week: “I am not perfect. I might have lapses. But in critical situations like this, I will not do it without proper protocol on the proper guidance of the experts.”

She added: "People were asking, why not wait for the 21st day. If you wait for the 21st day, the decisions needed that time cannot be made."

The DOH has repeatedly announced that Ebola virus is not contagious unless an infected person showed symptoms.

The peacekeepers on Caballo Island have been cleared of the virus and are just undergoing quarantine as part of protocol.

The symptoms of Ebola include fever, muscle pain, headache and sore throat followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash and in some cases internal and external bleeding, reported the WHO.

Timing of my article about Loreto-Garin bad

“People talk about perfect timing, but I think everything is perfect in its moment; you just want to capture that.”  Eddie Huang

By Alex P. Vidal

THE timing of my article entitled, “Did Loreto-Garin inherit top post of graft-ridden DOH?” last November 12 where I mentioned that “acting Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin remains to be one of the only few DOH bigwigs with immaculate record”, was bad.

The word “immaculate” broke the back of the camel.

On the day the story was published in Western Visayas, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) reported on its front page that Loreto-Garin, 42, was also being investigated for her alleged involvement in the anomalous use of millions of pesos in funds of the defunct National Agri-Business Corp.(Nabcor).

“So far, Loreto-Garin has been doing a fine job as acting secretary for almost three weeks now. We hope she maintains this reputation now that her fellow DOH officials appear to be heading to the Hall of Shame,” I wrote in that article which also came out in my blog (http://alexpvidal.blogspot.com/2014/11/did-loreto-garin-inherit-top-post-of.html).

Her alleged involvement in the scam actually happened when she was still a member of the House of Representatives representing the first district of Iloilo, not during her stint as DOH undersecretary.

Loreto-Garin was implicated last March by former Nabcor officials Rhodora Mendoza and Victor Cacal as among the lawmakers who allegedly benefited from the Nabcor funds intended to be used for “technical studies” for rice harvest improvement but ended up in the politicians’ campaign kitties instead.

PORK

Loreto-Garin immediately denied receiving pork barrel funds and vowed to resign from the DOH should authorities prove her participation in the anomalous transaction.

She dismissed the allegations as “baseless and malicious.”

Garin’s legislative district also cropped up as among the areas that benefited from the “fertilizer fund scam,” which involved the diversion of about P728 million to former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s campaign fund during the 2004 election period.

The timing of the report on Loreto-Garin’s alleged involvement in Nabcor funds anomaly was also suspect.

It rolled off the press two weeks after she was installed as acting DOH secretary when “sick” Secretary Enrique Ona went on leave last October 29.

The story was also played up in the national media several days after it was reported that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has been investigating since June the DOH's purchase of expensive vaccines in 2012 despite a recommendation to buy more cost-effective ones.

Known as the “DOH vaccine mess”, it implicated Ona and Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag.

The deal was reportedly “contrary to the recommendation of the National Center for Pharmaceutical Access and Management (NCPAM), the Formulary Executive Council (FEC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) which recommended PCV 13 which is said to be more cost-effective.”

INSIDERS

Did some DOH insiders orchestrate the release of the story about Loreto-Garin’s alleged involvement in the Nabcor funds anomaly to divert public attention on the mess Ona and Tayag were in?

Was it intended to derail Loreto-Garin’s possible appointment as full-fledged DOH secretary just in case Ona could not anymore regain his post?

Loreto-Garin herself smelled fish with the timing of the disclosure of the Nabcor funds mess investigation even as she denied allegations her appointment in the DOH was politically motivated.

“These past few days, there were insinuations that my designation as acting secretary is all about politics. I call on Secretary Ona and Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa to refute this. They know the truth. I admit, I was a politician but does that prevent me from serving our country? I am not perfect but I was able to do a lot of good things when I was a congresswoman,” she said.

Without the Nabcor funds ruckus, my November 12 article would have been prophetic: Loreto-Garin to remain as the only DOH bigwig untarnished by issue of graft and corruption.

Now that the hornet’s nest has been stirred, both Ona, Tayag and Loreto-Garin are on the same dilemma.

They are all now facing investigation for alleged anomalies.

Until their guilt has been established, it’s too premature to call them as members of the DOH’s "Hall of Shame."

Did Loreto-Garin inherit top post of graft-ridden DOH?

“Money and corruption are ruining the land. Crooked politicians betray the working man, pocketing the profits and treating us like sheep, and we're tired of hearing promises that we know they'll never keep.” Ray Davies

By Alex P. Vidal

IS the Department of Health (DOH) a goldmine?

Indeed nobody walks a saint in government service.

Some of the appointed officials we thought to be doyens of public service turn out to be crooks themselves and no better than some corrupt elected officials.

Both elected and appointed public officials have always been tempted and tainted by the glitters of gold in the public treasury.

With the alleged involvement of Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona and Assistant Secretary Eric Tayag in the so-called “DOH vaccines mess”, it’s doubtful if Ona, on leave since October 29, will be back in his post soon.

If he has delicadeza, Ona should quit.

Ditto for Tayag, who thinks people will just forget his misdemeanors if he dances like a bloated clown.

Acting Secretary Janette Loreto-Garin remains to be one of the only few DOH bigwigs with immaculate record.

So far, Loreto-Garin has been doing a fine job as acting secretary for almost three weeks now.

We hope she maintains this reputation now that her fellow DOH officials appear to be heading to the Hall of Shame.

INVESTIGATION

Unknown to most of us, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has been investigating since June the DOH's purchase of expensive vaccines in 2012 despite a recommendation to buy more cost-effective ones.

This was confirmed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima who disclosed on November 10 that the NBI has been conducting an investigation into the procurement by the DOH of Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine 10 (PCV 10).

This is reportedly “contrary to the recommendation of the National Center for Pharmaceutical Access and Management (NCPAM), the Formulary Executive Council (FEC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) which recommended PCV 13 which is said to be more cost-effective.”

The 2012 procurement for the vaccines was reportedly upon the "direction" of Tayag and "made possible by a certificate of exemption issued by Secretary Ona."

DOCTOR

If DOH is graft-ridden, Loreto-Garin, a doctor by profession and originally from Baybay, Leyte before she became Iloilo first district representative from 2004-2013, has a lot of adjustments to do.

For sure she is still being surrounded by some subalterns whose reputation reeks with suspicions of dishonesty owing to the culture that permeates the DOH.

Even if Ona and Tayag will be given the boot (which is doubtful given the snail pace of investigation on officials charged with graft and corruption in this country), there are still remnants of scoundrels in the department.

No one can underestimate the tentacles of corrupt officials in any government office nationwide.

Loreto-Garin, 42, trained in Obstetrics and Gynecology, can save the DOH from the abyss with her pristine record in public service that dates back when she became Iloilo provincial board member in 2001.

APPOINT

She was appointed by President Noynoy Aquino as undersecretary on women, children and family health last year.

Although the grapevine says her appointment was an offshoot of a political horse-trading among Liberal Party (LP) giants (Tupas and Garinc clans) in Iloilo, Loreto-Garin’s qualifications as a three-termer solon where she pressed for the Cheaper Medicines Act, the Reproductive Health Bill, Amendment to the Physicians Act, among other health measures, reportedly gave weight to her appointment in the DOH.

With her family’s vast wealth, Loreto-Garin does not need to steal.

She comes from a rich family in Leyte and her husband, Iloilo first district Rep. Richard Garin, is a multi-millionaire son of a billionaire semi-retired politician, Oscar Garin, Sr., the political kingpin of Iloilo’s first district that comprises the municipalities of Oton, Tigbauan, Guimbal, Miag-ao, Tubungan, Igbaras, and San Joaquin.

Ilonggos avail IPV as world battles Ebola

“At no time in history have we succeeded in making, in a timely fashion, a specific vaccine for more than 260 million people.” Laurie Garrett

By Alex P. Vidal

While the whole world is in mad scramble to avail doses of experimental Ebola vaccines, Ilonggos can now avail of the inactivated injectable polio vaccine (IPV).

Also known as the Salk vaccine, IPV contains inactivated strains of polioviruses 1-3.

Department of Health (DOH) officials assured IPV has no risk of vaccine-related polio.

The introduction of the use of IPV in Western Visayas came as drugmakers around the world plan to work together to speed up the development of an Ebola vaccine and hope to produce millions of doses for use in 2015.

IPV does not stimulate antibody in the gut, so less effective against wild poliovirus, Dr. Alain Bouckenooghe, Sanofi Pasteur associate vice president for clinical research and development and medical affairs told Iloilo reporters in a press conference at Bantayan Resort in Guimbal, Iloilo October 24.

IPV protects only the immunized person and there are no community benefits, he added.

“We are almost near (in our campaign to eliminate polio),” assured DOH Undersecretary Janette Garin, who spearheaded the celebration of World Polio Day in Guimbal, Iloilo.

The Sanofi Pasteur official explained that IPV is given as the diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis/polio vaccine (using a lower diphtheria dose, and without the haemophilus component, in this age group).

The primary course (for those not previously immunised) comprises three doses given one month apart.

BOOSTER

A booster dose is given three years after the primary course (the three-year interval can be reduced to one year if the primary course was delayed).

A second booster dose is given 10 years after the first booster (usually given during the teenage years).

The 10-year interval can be reduced to five years if previous doses were delayed.

The DOH and its private partners, Sanofi Pasteur and Rotary Club, jointly announced the introduction of the use of the IPV in Iloilo province.

Oscar De Venecia of the Rotary Club said they will help sustain the campaign to eradicate polio and the clubs’ 24,000 members nationwide are committed to assist the DOH.

The use of IPV will cover the entire Western Visayas and the National Capital Region this year.

The rest of the country will follow suit next year, De Venecia disclosed.

The DOH said the country became the first developing country in Eastern Asia to introduce IPV in routine immunization, following the universal recommendation issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) earlier in 2014.

It is also the biggest developing country in the world to introduce IPV and is expected to be watched closely by many countries which have already announced their intention to introduce IPV, it added.

UNIVERSAL

The universal introduction of IPV, a vaccine that has been used in the majority of the developed world for years, is a necessary step toward achieving a polio-free world by 2018, said Garin.

In her video presentation inside the jampacked gymnasium, Garin explained the Filipinos have an emotional attachment to zero polio that stretches back to the start of mass polio epidemics in the world in the last 19^th century.

The first prime minister of the Philippines and a hero of the country’s anti-colonial struggles, Apolinario Mabini, was a polio survivor who lived with lifelong disabilities caused by the disease, she emphasized.

According to the DOH, the last polio case in the Philippines was recorded in 1993.

With the DOH’s sustained effort on the polio eradication initiative, in October 2000 the Western Visayas region of the WHO and all member countries have been certified polio-free.
For a region to be certified as polio-free, there should be no reported cases of indigenous polio three years preceding the certification.   

Did Rep. Gorriceta apply arm-twisting tactics on Sanitarium?

“Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace.” Nelson Mandela

By Alex P. Vidal

IT appears the feud between Iloilo second district Rep. Arcadio “Cadio” Gorriceta and officials of the Western Visayas Sanitarium (WVS) in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo developed only after one camp refused to follow the wishes of another camp over a WVS project implemented by the Department of Health (DOH).

Since a standoff is unacceptable, Gorriceta is now calling for the ouster of WVS chief, Dr. Annabelle de Guzman.

Gorriceta’s move, however, was viewed by some observers as an “arm-twisting tactic” only because he failed to get what he wanted.

As a member of the legislative branch, Gorriceta is supposed to enact laws, not to interfere in projects pushed by the executive branch.

By calling for De Guzman’s ouster only because she crossed his path, Gorriceta, a best friend of Senate President Franklin Drilon, is showing who's the boss; he could be guilty of influence peddling or “waslik poder.”

The Liberal Party congressman is flexing his political muscles.

TEACHERS

We were told since elementary days that the teachers are our second parents.

Therefore we should be kind to them; we should accord them the love and respect we give our parents.

We can forget the names of some of our relatives but not our teachers.

Gorriceta must have forgotten this fundamental ethos when he allegedly belittled the teachers by comparing them to officials of the WVS during the executive committee (EXECOM) of the WVS meeting in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo early this year.

The spat with the WVS officials occurred when Gorriceta reportedly pushed for his recommendation to change the orientation of the WVS’ P25-million hospital ward extension project when he barged inside the EXECOM meeting.

The Daily Guardian, which interviewed Gorriceta over Aksyon Radyo on Saturday, reported that the neophyte solon reminded the officials the extension project must take into consideration the P137-million Sta. Barbara-San Miguel access road project and the presence of an ongoing residential project.

When hospital officials did not accept the congressman’s suggestions, Gorriceta allegedly called them “close-minded and stubborn.”

The ward extension has been approved by the DOH central office and that WVS is just the implementer, asserted De Guzman.

INCIDENT

TGD reported October 13 that the EXECOM incident report also quoted Gorriceta as saying that the WVS officials are “like public school teachers who just follow all the whims and wishes of their superiors.”

“He further accused the EXECOM members of being afraid of ‘imperial Manila’,” the EXECOM resolution added.

Gorriceta admitted to TDG he may have said those words but explained the context of his statement saying, “I think I said that because they always refer everything to Manila.”

Gorriceta further told TDG he does not believe that his statement was insulting to the teachers as he observed that teachers are always hesitant to speak up on their needs before their superiors.

“They are always overwhelmed by their officials. That’s also the same impression I got from the WVS officials. They kept on saying that it’s with Manila already. What kind of justification is that? Just because Manila said that the rear part of the hospital ward will face the main road, you will just follow it?” said Gorriceta as quoted by TDG.

The congressman further told TDG the incident report is dubious and self-serving on the part of the hospital.

Chikungunya? Help!

“It is much more important to know what sort of a patient has a disease than what sort of a disease a patient has.” William Osler

By Alex P. Vidal

If indeed it is true that there was a suspected outbreak of Chikungunya disease in five Iloilo towns, then there is reason for us to press the panic button.

By all means, we need help! No more beating around the bush.

Help should come from the Department of Health (DOH) and the World Health Organization (WHO) which originally coined the viral disease (genus Alphavirus) transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes--including Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus.

The almost 300 suspected cases of chikungunya were all detected in the five Iloilo towns, according to Iloilo Provincial Health Office (PHO) assistant head, Dr. Ma. Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon, who monitored several patients in the towns of Guimbal, Oton, Carles, Tigbauan and Igbaras.

She said the patients manifested symptoms of chikungunya.

“Most of them were reported to have headache and joint pains which are the symptoms of chikungunya. It was followed by two days of fever and rashes,” Quiñon said as quoted by reporter Louine Hope Conserva.

FATAL

How deadly is chikungunya? Is it as fatal as the, Ebola, SARS and HIV?

The WHO explained that the name chikungunya originates from a verb in the Kimakonde language, meaning “to become contorted”. This refers to the “stooped” appearance of those suffering with joint pain.

Symptoms reportedly appear between four and seven days after the patient has been bitten by the infected mosquito and these include: High fever (40°C/ 104°F), joint pain (lower back, ankle, knees, wrists or phalanges), joint swelling, rash, headache, muscle pain, nausea, and fatigue.

Chikungunya is rarely fatal, confirmed the WHO. Symptoms are generally self-limiting and last for two to three days.

The virus remains in the human system for five to seven days and mosquitoes feeding on an infected person during this period can also become infected, according to the WHO.

Chikungunya shares some clinical signs with dengue and can be misdiagnosed in areas where dengue is common, it adds.

Chikungunya can reportedly be detected using serological tests. Recovery from an infection will confer life-long immunity.

Chikungunya has been identified in nearly 40 countries. Countries having documented, endemic, or epidemic chikungunya are:

Asia: Human chikungunya virus infection has been documented in Cambodia, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Réunion, Seychelles, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Africa: Chikungunya occurs in Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Europe and the Americas: Aside from minor incidence rates caused by imported cases from travelers, Italy is the only European country which has had an outbreak. The Americas have not had any major outbreaks so far.

IDENTIFIED

The WHO confirmed that chikungunya was first identified in Tanzania in the early 1952 and has caused periodic outbreaks in Asia and Africa since the 1960s.

Outbreaks are reportedly often separated by periods of more than 10 years. Between 2001 and 2011, a number of countries reported on chikungunya outbreaks.

2005-2006: More than 272 000 people were infected during an outbreak of Chikungunya in the Indian Ocean islands of Réunion and Mauritius where Ae. albopictus was the presumed vector.

2006: Outbreak in India, more than 1 500 000 cases of chikungunya were reported with Ae. aegypti implicated as the vector.

2007: Migration of infected people introduced the infection in a coastal village in Italy. This outbreak (197 cases) confirmed that mosquito-borne outbreaks by Ae. albopictus are plausible in Europe.

AREAS

The WHO said in areas where the vector of chikungunya is Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus, vector prevention and control can be combined with dengue control efforts.

Conserva quoted Quiñon as saying, “Most of them were reported to have headache and joint pains which are the symptoms of chikungunya. It was followed by two days of fever and rashes.”

Carles reportedly recorded 102 cases, Oton has 20 cases, Tigbauan with 43 and Ibaras with 118.

Conserva reported further that Quiñon has advised residents in affected areas to practice the 4S Kontra Dengue (Search and Destroy, Seek early consultation, Self-protective measures and Say no to indiscriminate fogging) to combat chikungunya or submit themselves to isolation if they believe they contracted German measles.

A collective effort is needed to fight the disease. Let’s always make it a top priority to clean our surroundings. After all, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.