News Roundup 05 June 2023
Jun 05, 2023 • 5 min Read
After months of caretakers, Marcos names health and defense chiefs | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines (Updated 7:03 p.m.) — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has appointed lawyer and mining firm executive Gilberto Teodoro as defense secretary and Dr. Teodoro Herbosa as secretary of the Department of Health, the Presidential Communications Office said Monday.
In a statement, the Palace said the announcement was made after Marcos met with Teodoro and Defense Senior Undersecretary Carlito Galvez.
Marcos also had a separate meeting with Herbosa and Health officer-in-charge Ma. Rosario Vergeire in Malacañang.
Gibo Teodoro back at Defense
This appointment marks Teodoro’s return to the defense department, where he was chief during the Arroyo administration.
As defense secretary, Teodoro also sat as chair of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, the Palace said.
Teodoro, who ran for president in 2010, was also a congressman for Tarlac for three terms.
Teodoro, a Bar topnotcher, ran for senator under the UniTeam ticket of Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Former pandemic adviser is DOH chief
Herbosa meanwhile has served as special adviser to the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
Full Story at: After months of caretakers, Marcos names health and defense chiefs | Philstar.com
Green advocates, scientists urge Marcos to protect Masungi’s reforestation efforts | PHILSTAR.COM – MANILA, Philippines — Environmentalists, scientists and government officials appealed to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Monday to protect the ecologically important Masungi Geopark Project and its defenders.
In an open letter released on World Environment Day, 70 individuals urged Marcos to support the 2,700-hectare reforestation project in the Upper Marikina Watershed, a critical protected area in Rizal province.
“We condemn the attacks against Masungi’s environment defenders in the form of disinformation, political and legal harassment, and physical violence. These heroes deserve the nation’s gratitude, not oppression,” the letter read.
The signatories stressed the “invaluable” contributions of the Masungi Geopark Project in rescuing abused forestland, protecting the watershed from “syndicates” and quarry operators, and transforming ancient limestones into a globally-acclaimed conservation model at no cost to the government.
“Verily, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ moves to discredit, undermine or altogether scrap the Masungi Geopark Project [go] against our national agenda and international commitments,” they added.
Signatories of the letter include Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Rep. Ed Hagedorn (Palawan) and Philippine Center for Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development chair Neric Acosta.
Full Story at: Green advocates, scientists urge Marcos to protect Masungi’s reforestation efforts | Philstar.com
DNA test reveals ex-President Sergio Osmeña’s father | INQUIRER.NET – CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — A 150-year-old mystery surrounding the paternity of the late President Sergio Osmeña Sr. was finally answered.
The family and relatives of the country’s fourth President, who served from 1944 to 1946, have announced the results of a project aimed at identifying the father of “Cebu’s Grand Old Man.”
Dr. Todd Lucero Sales, a renowned forensic genealogist, said Osmeña’s father was not Don Pedro Lee Gotiaoco, a Cebu Chinese tycoon many presumed to have sired the son of 16-year-old Juana Osmeña, but Don Antonio Sanson, a merchant from another illustrious Cebuano family during the Spanish era.
It was Sales who conducted a Y-DNA test, a genetic examination that analyzes the Y chromosome to trace a man’s paternal ancestry.
“As we all know, his (Osmeña) paternity has always been shrouded in mystery and is a historical question that continues to linger. The results of the [Y]-DNA test are in and they are conclusive,” said Annabelle Osmeña Aboitiz, a granddaughter of the late President, who, along with another Osmeña descendant, Maria Lourdes Bernardo, initiated the paternity project.
The official announcement of the real identity of Osmeña’s father was held at Casino Español de Cebu last Friday.
Correcting history
According to Aboitiz, the Osmeña family wanted to share the results of the paternity project to correct history.
“This is a momentous occasion because this is one of the first times in Philippine history that a historical mystery has been solved using [Y]-DNA testing. More importantly, the revelation of Sergio Osmeña’s paternity will require a revision of how his biography is taught in schools or is written in history books, as most have identified the wrong person as his father,” she said.
Full Story at: DNA test reveals ex-President Sergio Osmeña’s father | Inquirer News
DSWD urged to link DA to food stamp program | INQUIRER.NET – MANILA, Philippines — Albay Rep. Joey Salceda proposed on Sunday that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) integrate its planned food stamp program with efforts by the Department of Agriculture (DA) to expand the market for local farm products.
“Food stamps, as envisioned and implemented in other countries, are really agricultural programs. They aim to bridge rural surpluses with food-poor urban communities. That way, we address both urban poverty and rural poverty,” Salceda, the chair of the House ways and means committee, said in a statement.
“Around 30 percent of farmers are poor. So, if you want to make this program sustainable, you link it with boosting farmer incomes,” Salceda added.
He noted that under the food stamp program, as originally implemented in the United States, a specific amount could be set aside for general food items and special stamps or vouchers for surplus produce.
“What the farmers can get for [their] surplus produce are food stamps for the general program. So, you help solve their food insecurity issues. You take out the [production] surplus, helping manage prices. And you provide free surplus food to those who need it. It’s a great synergy,” Salceda pointed out.
Full Story at: DSWD urged to link DA to food stamp program | Inquirer News
