Roundup 17 November 2022 News
Nov 17, 2022 • 5 min Read
Bantag’s ‘pool’ project in Bilibid surprises DOJ | INQUIRER.NET – Officials of the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday said they were unaware of the excavation that was going on inside the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) reservation until it was exposed by the officer in charge (OIC) of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) last week. Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra, who was justice secretary under the Duterte administration, said he also had “absolutely no knowledge about this alleged excavation.” “The same being an operational matter, the BuCor probably did not find it necessary to inform, much less seek authorization from, the DOJ,” he added. BuCor is an agency under the DOJ. It has complete control and supervision over the sprawling reservation. Its headquarters and the NBP’s camps currently occupy 254.73 hectares. Other parcels of the NBP reservation comprising about 190 ha are being used for the Muntinlupa City government’s socialized housing, BuCor farms or occupied by informal settlers. In an interview with TV5 on Thursday last week, BuCor OIC Gregorio Catapang Jr. said he learned about the excavation last month shortly after taking over the post from Gerald Bantag, who was suspended in connection with the investigation of the murder of radio commentator Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa and the death of NBP inmate Cristito “Jun Villamor” Palaña. The excavation covered an area of around 4 hectares formerly covered with trees. The deepest part was about 30 meters, equivalent in height to a nine-story building. Bantag admitted to the same network a day after Catapang’s interview that he had directed the excavation six months earlier near the eastern part of his official residence inside the NBP reservation. He said he had intended to build the “deepest swimming pool at least in Metro Manila” which he planned to be used by many BuCor personnel who were scuba diving enthusiasts like him.
PH wasted 31.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, says Pia Cayetano | INQUIRER.NET – The Philippines wasted a total of 31.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses as of November, amounting to about P15.6 billion, said Senator Pia Cayetano. Citing data from the Department of Health (DOH), Cayetano laid out the figures during the Senate plenary session on the proposed 2023 national budget. She said the cost of wastage was only estimated based on the computation of P500 per vaccine dose.
Senator Risa Hontiveros pointed out, however, that the vaccine wastage reported by the DOH in August was 20.6 million doses worth around P10.33 billion. Cayetano then clarified that the vaccine wastage did not increase in a span of three months. “What happened was they did a complete inventory at saka nila natuklasan na sa kadulu-duluhan na warehouse, meron pa pa pala doon. What happened was, we now have a more accurate inventory, so hindi naman siguro tumaas. In fact, hindi talaga tumaas were probably higher in the beginning. And now we have a more accurate figure and we can ask DOH to continue to update us henceforth,” she explained. (What happened was that they did a complete inventory, and there, they discovered that there were wasted vaccines in the corner warehouses in the country. So what happened was, we now have a more accurate inventory, so it probably didn’t increase. In fact, it really didn’t increase, but it was probably higher in the beginning. And now we have a more accurate figure, and we can ask DOH to continue to update us henceforth.) The DOH also stated that the country currently has a vaccine wastage rate of 12%, which is higher than the 8.42 percent recorded in August. The World Health Organization (WHO) has set the threshold of vaccine wastage at 10 percent.
But according to Cayetano, this was only an initial ceiling set by the WHO. “From their experience, WHO found that the reality is that in low-income, middle-income, and even high-income countries, the wastage rates went up to 30 percent. So, there was then a statement made by WHO that up to 25 percent is acceptable. I don’t think it’s meant to be an excuse, but it’s just showing the trends and the realities,” she said. The causes of the vaccine expirations, Cayetano noted, were short life spans, natural disasters, temperature excursions, discoloration, and particulate matter, among others. But she mentioned that there are already 300,000 wasted Covaxx vaccines that have since been replaced.
Senate debate on farms and subdivisions highlights lack of land use policy | PHILSTAR.COM – Sen. Raffy Tulfo was in action on the Senate floor early Thursday morning as he debated land use policies with Sen. Cynthia Villar, whose family includes real estate development in its portfolio of businesses. Senators had been deliberating on the proposed budget for the Department of Agriculture when Tulfo asked what the department was doing to protect farmlands from being sold to developers who convert them into commercial and residential land. “That’s our business,” Villar said in response and in explanation. “I want to tell you that we don’t buy agricultural land in the provinces. Nobody would buy houses in agricultural land. We only buy in cities and capital towns,” she said, adding that buyers want the option to resell the property in case of emergencies. The senator added that conversion of farmland into developments like subdivisions is allowed and added “if [developers] buy your land, they buy it [at an expensive price] and you can reinvest the money and you can make more money than planting on those lands.” She said that farmers who sell their land to developers can buy agricultural land somewhere else and plant there instead. “Hindi po ganoon ang nangyayari (That is not what has been happening), ma’am, eh,” Tulfo said. He also said that developers can build subdivisions without reducing farmlands. The tense interpellation wandered into implementation of the Rice Tarrification Act, which Tulfo said has made farmers’ incomes shrink in the face of cheaper rice imports. Villar, author of the bill that liberalized rice importations and collected tariffs to fund development of the rice industry, said that the law would help farmers in the long run. “Hindi pa rin po tunay na nasasagot yung pong katanungan ko po na ano pong ginagawa ng DA na yung mga farmland ay nako-convert na po at nagiging residential area na po at commercial area?” Tulfo said as he stressed the need for a National Land Use Act that the Duterte and succeeding Marcos Jr. administrations have urged Congress to pass. (My question on what the DA is doing abour farmland that is being converted into residential or commercial areas)
