Magwalkout sa SONA ng Pangulo, dapat gawin ng permanente
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"Dapat ang walk out nila permanente na."
Ito ang naging sagot ng bayaw ni Pangulong Gloria Arroyo sa banta ng walong militateng kongresista na
magwalkout sila sa araw ng State of The Nation Address ng Pangulo sa Hulyo 27.
Minungkahi pa ni 5th dist. Rep. Iggy Arroyo na mas mainam umano na ituloy na ng mga kongresista ang
kanilang walkout sa SONA ng pangulo papuntang bundok.
"Dapat ang walkout nila permanente na at tumuloy ba sila sa bundok." ani Arroyo.
Nirerespeto naman ni Buhay Partylist Rep. Irwin Tieng ang kapwa niya mambabatas na karapatan umano
nilang gawin ang pagwalkout.
Hindi na rin umano bago ang pagkilos na ito ng mga mga militanteng kongresista na halos taon-taon nilang
ginagawa.
"palagi naman nila ginagawa yun," dagdag pa niya, "Sana'y na kami sa kanila."
Naniniwala naman si Arroyo na nais lamang umanong i-hostage ng mga kapwa niya Kongresista ang
Pangulong Arroyo para masunod ang kanilang adhikain.
Binigyan diin pa ng kapatid ni First Gentleman Atty. Mike Arroyo na pang-iinsulto hindi lamang sa Executive
branch maging sa buong lehislatura na kanilang inaaniban ang kanilang gagawin.
"they are not graceful hosts. gusto nila e hostage ang presidente," pahayag pa ni Arroyo.
Hindi naman nabahala si House Speaker Prospero NOgrales sa banta nina Reps. Satur Ocampo, Neri
Colmenares, Liza Maza at Luzviminda Ilagan ng Gabriela, Rafael Mariano and Joel Maglunsod ng Anakpawis
at Raymond Palatino ng Kabataan sa walkout nila sa sona.
Bagkus nagpasalamat pa ito sa mga Kongresista at magagamit ang kanilang puwesto dahil sa dami ng
dadalo sa SONA ng Pangulo.
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Restore Death Penalty for Drug Traffickers
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Last night I was informed that the daughter of an anti-narcotics agent was kidnapped. The details were
sketchy, but the incident was said to be confirmed. Immediately, I connected the kidnapping to the work of the
agent, who does not fit the usual profile of a kidnap for ransom victim. The agent is an ordinary government
employee who does not have the riches of a businessman nor the resources of an executive. Today the
newspapers’ headline is that of the abduction of the agent’s daughter. But not only was the girl abducted, she
was drugged and raped. The agent’s active role in the campaign against the illegal drugs trade has made a
dent in the industry, and apparently, it has earned the ire of those engaged in the business.
This crime is so heinous, so sinister and diabolical that it takes a particularly evil mind to conceive and do it. It
is obviously a pre-meditated act, meant to hit back at the person who has been effective in foiling the
proliferation of the illegal drug trade. It was meant to hurt the agent, in that instead of merely killing the victim,
they let the child live through a harrowing experience and did things to her that only a sick mind will
consciously think of doing.
Expectedly, the government says that this means war. Perhaps a belated response, considering that the drug
menace has been hounding society for so long and that there was even a narcotics agent who was murdered
along with the rest of his family months back. Nevertheless, it should really be war, with the people and the
government on one side and the drug syndicates on the other.
So if it is war, what is the government prepared to do to fight the battles? In Colombia, it is literally a war, with
drug syndicates even staging assassinations not only of police and anti-narcotics operatives but also of
judges using high profile methods such as car bombings and elaborate daylight ambushes on busy streets.
With this attack on the family of a narcotics agent, it would appear that our local syndicates may be brazen
enough to imitate their counterparts in Colombia.
This is the reason why from the very beginning since I became a legislator I had always been for the
imposition of the death penalty on drug traffickers. Even when the death penalty was repealed, I had stated my
desire to retain the capital punishment on those who are convicted of drug trafficking.
To begin with, unlike other heinous crimes like murder, rape and other crimes which are usually rooted in
emotions of the perpetrator, drug trafficking is primarily rooted in the motive of profit. Profit which is at the
expense of other people’s lives that are ruined, maimed or killed. They know that their wares ruin lives, lead
people to commit crime and destroy the moral fabric of society.
The repeal of the death penalty is meant to give convicted criminals a chance to repent and be rehabilitated.
As a congressman in the District of Muntinlupa City where the national penitentiary is located, I have seen
convicted criminals lead changed lives after incarceration. Murderers, rapists, robbers and other types of
criminals have repented and even lead lives more pious than others who have been law abiding.
But there have been convicted drug traffickers who have not spurned their criminal ways even behind bars.
Having the financial resources, they are able to hire personal assistants, bodyguards and bribe prison
personnel in order to live comfortable lives inside the prison and even continue their trade from within. In
effect, they are secure while they proceed with business as usual.
All they need is a cellphone to communicate with their colleagues and crew outside the prison and life goes
on for them. They still rake in the profits while society bears the burden of the after-effects.
If the government says that the abduction and rape of the daughter of a narcotics agent is the start of the war,
then I suggest the government first look at what they will throw against the drug syndicates. The government
can mobilize all the law enforcement agents, and ensure that the prosecution is swift, decisive and
uncorrupted. But if we send the drug convicts to a life of security, comfort and with the ability to go on with
business, then the war will still be won by the syndicates.
Amend the law. Reimpose the death penalty to drug traffickers and implement it seriously.
statement of Rep. Ruffy Biazon
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Solons push probe on DoF’s order imposing tax on imported books
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Sex workers who may be found guilty of transmitting HIV-AIDS virus to their customers may be arrested and
charged in court.
Under House Bill 5870, authored principally by Rep. Narciso D. Santiago III (Party-list, ARC), sex workers or
any person who has tested positive for HIV-AIDS should seek government help to stop the transmission of the
dreaded disease.
House Bill 5870 or the Proposed Act Defining and Penalizing the Crimes of Reckless Endangerment of the
Public Health and Offering A False Statement Which Endangers the Public Health, declares a person guilty
of the offense when he or she has been tested positive for HIV-AIDS and then recklessly engages in
unprotected sex which results in its transmission to another person who was unaware of such condition.
"When persons infected by the virus engage in unprotected sex or sharing needless, without the consent of
their partners, they endanger public health and spoil the efforts of government to contain and prevent the
spread of HIV-AIDS,” Santiago said.
The proposed act punishes persons who mislead the Department of Health (DOH) by providing false
information that he or she could be an HIV-AIDS carrier.
Santiago said it is the policy of the government to protect the physical, moral and social well being of the
people.
“The State shall exert efforts to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS by penalizing certain reckless acts which
may cause the transmission of the diseases,” Santiago said.
Santiago said the HIV status of sex offenders must be determined in order to allow the victims of alleged sex
crimes, which endanger their health to obtain the most effective health care treatment.
The measure further requires that an HIV related test be given to any person or sex workers who were
arrested for such an offense.
The bill provides that women, who transmitted the HIV-AIDS to her children as a result of childbirth, are not
covered by the proposed act.
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