Neri's appointment as SSS chief endangers contributions of 30 million workers

Will the contributions of almost 30 million private sector employees as well as those in the self- employed sector be in rotten hands just because the newly-appointed chief of the Social Security System or SSS is a rotten egg?

Malacanang's promotion of former Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chair Romulo Neri to SSS has raised a lot of eyebrows especially those of the SSS workers and officials themselves who claims the SSS funds are not government funds but are contributiosn from workers and should not be included in Malacanang's political manuevers.

The Black and White Movement castigated prsident Gloria macapagal Arroyo for neri's appointment saying it was Malacanang's way of makign sure Neri kept quiet about graft
and corruption in the Palace. It can be recalled that Neri was involved in the ZTE expose where millions of commissions supposedly exchanged hands between the Chinese firm, Commission on Elections chief Benjamin Abalos and the First Gentleman.

Bayan Muna representative Teodoro Cawsino said Neri's appointment as chief will assure Malacanang that "she and her minions (can) plunder the pension funds of the private sector workers" and the SSS chief will just look the other way.

Dog Owners Bats For Pulling Out Of Rimadyl From Stores

NBC10.com reported that there is a great chance you may be giving your dog a deadly prescription medicine called Rimadyl. Dog owners may think they are keeping their pets alive by giving them one of the most popular prescription pain medications for canines only to find out sometimes too late that it can kill them.

Rimadyl is prescribed for dogs suffering from arthritis as well as other conditions causing them pain but it was discovered that your dog can have a negative reaction to the drug and the results can be deadly.

Janice Nollar has given her dog Jezebel Rimadyl only to find out that her dog refuses to eat, became lethargic and nearly died. Her veterinarian concluded that Jezebel’s liver stopped functioning as a result of Rimadyl.

Hundred of pet owners who had the same experience with Rimadyl filed a class suit against Pfizer, the drug’s manufacturer. But while Pfizer settled the case out of court it has refused to admit that their drug was the culprit. However, questions on the negative effects of Rimadyl have been floated around a year prior to the filing of the case in the 90s..

A total of 3,600 drug reactions involving dogs have been reported in 1998 and the Food and Drug Administration has confirmed that Rimadyl was cited as the cause for 39% of these cases. The FDA said that the dogs died in 13% of these cases.

There are different schools of thought regarding the prescription of Rimadyl to alleviate pain for dogs. Veterinarian Alan Schulman is among those who believe that giving Rimadyl to your dogs is worth the risk since its benefits outweighs the dangers provided the drug is given properly and the dog monitored regularly.

But for Nollar and hundreds of dog owners, Rimadyl should be pulled out from the stores.

Is GSIS inefficient?

GSIS chief Winston Garcia has been meddling in the recent Meralco overcharging fiasco but is he the right person to determine if Meralco is being managed properly when he could not even clean up his own ship?

The inefficiency of GSIS has been a common complaint among government offices here in Davao City. One concrete example is the refusal of GSIS to release the burial benefits of a deceased government official not for lack of the required papers but because the one in charge of that paperwork will be back on August.

The government worker died of cancer and his family needed that burial benefit to bury him decently. Sans that money, the deceased would have to wait till August to be buried in case the family is not able to borrow money to pay the memorial park. It is ironic that the burial expense could not be released by the GSIS just because of the absence of a single person who should not be indispensable considering that government service should not stop because an employee is absent or has taken a leave of absence.

Perhaps, Garcia of GSIS should save his sinking ship first before he meddles in the affair of other office. Or perhaps, he is also too busy minding the expensive GSIS paintings he acquired for millions to the detriment of the Filipino people?

PGMA demands full accounting of Sulpicio ferry accident

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has demanded a full report on the sinking of Sulpicio Line's MV Princess of the Stars which left at least 500 people dead and hundreds more missing.

"We have demanded the full accounting of the ferry accident. Ang Coast Guard humingi ng 15 days within which they will submit their findings," President Arroyo said during her visit to Digos, Davao del Sur early this morning.

Arroyo said the tragedy brought by typhoon Frank as well as the ferry accident "was constantly on our mind during our trip to the United States . Overseeing relief efforts was part of our daily agenda. We were in constant contact with our officials. We directed our operations practically on a minute by minute basis."

Arroyo justified the trip to the United States of almost all top government officials during (and despite the typhoon tragedy) by saying that it affirmed the strong ties between ther two nations as well as clarified certain issues between the two countries.

She listed among her accomplishments her meeting with US President Bush and other US officials which allowed the Philippine delegation to press for "economic aid, foor security and stronger military cooperation.

Arroyo was snubbed by Democrat Presidential candidate barrack Obama (who set and reset their meetings and finally spoke to the president only by phone. However, she personally met with Republican Presidential candidate John McCain.

Pacquiao WINS by KNOCKOUT: now the Lighweight CHAMP

Manny Pacquiao's quest to get the four championship titles has succeeded after he knocked out David Diaz in the 9th round. Pacquiao is now officially the holder of four major boxing titles making him the only Asian who has joined three others who were able to achieve this record including Mayweather.

In the middle of his glory, Pacquiao however proved he was just another fan when he asked for a picture taking with Kevin Garnett of Boston Celtics. David Diaz said he will rest for several months and decide which move to take next in his boxing career,

Davao Medical Center refuses admission to cancer, TB patient

If you don’t have money and you have cancer and tuberculosis don’t go to the Davao Medical Center because the hospital will just throw you out anyway. This seems to be the message imparted by DMC when they refused admission to a patient suffering from Prostate Cancer stage 4 and Tuberculosis.

“Sinabi sa min ng doctor sa Emergency Room na di nila tatanggapin ang pasyente namin kasi wala raw silang facilities para sa kanya at di nila kayang maalagaan ang pasyente dun,” Rizaldy Ancheta, the patient’s brother said. He said the doctor further added that “sa private niyo na lang dalhin yan kahit ilang buwan sya dun pwede.”

The patient, Arnold Ancheta, 64 years old and an employee of the Mindanao Economic Development Council for several years already was brought by the 911 ambulance to DMC. However, barely an hour after the ambulance brought him to this facility, the nurses started removing his dextrose since they are refusing him admission. He was not even brought home by the ambulance but was left to fend for himself, his relatives and his co-employees who were there in the hospital.

Ancheta, who is the sole bread winner of his family, was hoping to get support from the government since he has no more savings left after being in and out of the hospital for years. He was not able to work regularly and normally for months so he had no salary to even buy his prescription thus he was taking basic medications like Biogesic for pain.

“Kaya nga dinala naming sya sa DMC kasi walang pera para ipasok sya sa private---ngayon pati Philhealth benefits hindi nya makuha kasi ayaw siya i-admit ng DMC,” his brother said.

Ancheta has been staying at home for the past months despite his serious condition because they did not have money to bring him to the hospital. However, he requested his family to bring him to DMC since he could not longer bear the pain caused by cancer.

After DMC refused him admission, he had no choice but to return to his rented house, desolate and discouraged that a government employee like him who has rendered years of service to the government could not even be admitted in a government hospital.

Efforts to call DMC administration officer Ric Jostol have been made five times but no one was answering his phone

Ces Drilon, cameraman released by Abu Sayyaf

The release early this morning of ABS CBN reporter Ces Drilon and her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion as well as Professor Octavio Dimampo was a relief not only to their families but to the Philippine media practitioners as well. Angelo Valderama was released ahead of them several days ago.

Indanan Mayor Alavarez Isnaji's son Jun said nothing was given to the kidnappers except the promise of livelihood projects for their families and the community. The kidnappers earlier asked for a P15 million ransom and even indicated a deadline yesterday morning.

This was not the first time that a member of the 4th Estate was kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf bandits but this was nevertheless a case in point to show the world why the government could not stifle a small bandits group hiding in a small area like Zamboanga. A lot of people are wondering why the Abu Sayyaf still exists even after the kidnapping and the death of some foreigners who were kidnapped in Patikul, Sulu several years ago. Even the US military was not able to do anything about the Abu Sayyaf despite rumors that they would be hunting down the bandits group. Funny because they were able to get the suspected target of a bombing incident in Davao City right under the nose of Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

This incident has one again highlighted how dangerous the job of journalists are. Most journalist, especially those in the provinces (including Davao City) do not have insurance coverage and I wonder if the same earnestness to have the kidnap victims released would be shown had it been a member of the provincial media who was kidnapped and not the high profile media personalities like Drilon etal.