July 20, 2009 Major News Stories

4 oil firms to cut pump prices

Pilipinas Shell, Petron Corp., Chevron, and Seaoil announced that they would roll back pump prices effective Monday.

At 12:01 a.m., Shell, Chevron, and Seaoil will cut gasoline prices by 25 centavos per liter and diesel and kerosene prices by 50 centavos per liter to "reflect the decline in international product prices," the firms said in separate announcements on Sunday.

Petron will also implement the same price adjustments at 6 a.m. Monday, said company spokesperson Virginia Ruivivar.

Drug companies submit price cuts

Multinational drug companies beat Malacañang's deadline on Saturday and submitted proposals to slash the prices of not only the 21 commonly prescribed drugs, but other drugs as well.  The list of drugs and price reductions, however, would still be validated between Saturday and Monday by the Department of Health. After this, an advisory council will go over these.

Flu 'outbreak' hits city's jail

ABOUT a third of more than 600 inmates of the Mandaue City Jail have suffered from flu-like symptoms since last week, and a health official warned the ailments could spread faster in such congested quarters.

BJMP opens jail facilities to public anew

The Jail Management and Penology-7 will launch its "Jail Bisita na Program" today as one of the highlights of its 18th anniversary this month.

CCMC's free blood tests to dengue, H1N1

FREE blood tests at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) will no longer be limited to those suspected of having dengue fever, but will now be given to any patient who has fever and those suspected to have A(H1N1), the hospital chief said.

Tomas to sue officials of DILG for 'misuse'

IF the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) officials force the Cebu City Government to accept patients who are not residents of the city, Mayor Tomas Osmeña will sue them for encouraging city officials to commit malversation of public funds.

Dengue deaths in WV double to 24

Health officials in the Western Visayas region have heightened their campaign against cases of dengue fever amid an increase in the number of peope falling ill and dying of the disease in 2009.

British Airways turning back H1N1 victims

British airlines have put in place measures to turn back passengers showing swine flu symptoms, the carrier said Sunday.

4,000 A(H1N1) flu cases in Japan

The number of swine flu cases in Japan topped 4,000, the health ministry said Sunday, marking a rise of roughly 1,000 cases in the past four days.

Prepaid cellphone loads get longer life

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 Simula po ngayong araw, pinalawig na ang bisa ng bawat prepaid load na ikakarga sa inyong cellphones! Itoy batay na rin sa kautusan ng National Telecommunications Commission.

De Castro orders hunt for 'recruiter'

Vice President Noli de Castro ordered a massive hunt for a recruiter who went into hiding after victimizing more than 700 applicants for what turned out to be nonexistent jobs in London.

5 kidnapped RP medics freed in Yemen

Five Filipino health workers who were abducted with 21 other hospital personnel in Saada, Yemen, on June 11 have been released, the Department of Foreign Affairs said yesterday.

Pinay escapes prostitution ring in Kuwait

A Filipina household service worker in Kuwait recently escaped a Bangladeshi prostitution ring who kidnapped her three months ago. 

New CARP law set for signing on Aug. 8

The reconciliation of House Bill 4077 and Senate Bill 2666 which both push for the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program brought to existence a modified program now they called CARP with reforms, or CARPeR.

Compostela mayor defends bro in raid

COMPOSTELA Mayor Ritchie Wagas defended his brother, former mayor Gilbert Wagas, against reports the latter prevented a police team from conducting anti-illegal gambling operations at the town's public market.

Wagas also voiced anew his disappointment over how the police were so "selective" in their anti-illegal campaign operations, when similar activities are held in other towns of the province.

Brgy. captain, tanods, face obstruction

The barangay captain of Bateria in Daanbantayan town and 16 of his tanods are facing possible charges for obstruction of justice after they allegedly intervened in the arrest of a person who was allegedly cutting off water pipes.

Believe It Or Not: No law yet naming Colon

Odd as it may seem but there is no law found in the archives of Cebu City about Colon Street.

Gwen visits Lahug, Luz with deeds of sale

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia will be in two Cebu City barangays to distribute the deed of absolute sale to 233 beneficiaries of the controversial Provincial Ordinance 93-1.

58th civil case filed vs Sulpicio

The wife of a municipal hall employee in San Fernando town has filed a civil charge against Sulpicio Lines Inc. before the Regional Trial Court in connection with the sinking of the M/V Princess of the Stars off Romblon Province last June 21 at the height of Typhoon Frank.

PNP: Bank blasts in north Metro not related

There is not enough evidence to conclude that the explosions that rocked three banks in Valenzuela and Caloocan cities last week were connected to each other or to similar previous incidents in Metro Manila, an official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

Police don't have much in Cotabato blast

Police are relying on a lone sketch by a National Bureau of Investigation artist in hunting down an unnamed bomber linked to the July 5 deadly blast here that killed six people and wounded 53 others.

FilAm activist to return to RP Monday

The Filipino American activist, Melissa Roxas, who has accused the military of abducting her a couple of months ago is set to arrive in the Philippines on Monday evening to pursue her case here, the Commission on Human Rights said Sunday.

Italy welcomes Vagni home

International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker Eugenio Vagni, who was released by Abu Sayyaf last week after almost six months in captivity, was given a warm welcome by his countrymen upon his arrival here.

Military: Abu Sayyaf crushed by year-end

The military vowed on Sunday to crush the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf by the end of 2009, saying that infighting could help bring the group down.

Talks won't affect NPA pursuit

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's standing order to crush the communist insurgency by 2010 will not run counter to the scheduled resumption of formal peace negotiations with the communist political arm, the National Democratic Front, next month, her peace adviser said.

Senate to fast-track budget passage

Anticipating the early campaigning of many senators for the 2010 elections, the Senate would fast-track its scrutiny and approval of the proposed 2011 national budget, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Sunday.

4 Senators skipping Arroyo's last Sona

Not wanting to waste their time or simply trying to dodge attempts of their counterparts in the House of Representatives to pursue Charter change, at least four senators said they were skipping President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's last State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 27.  They are Kiko Pangilinan, Mar Roxas, Ping Lacson and Nene Pimentel.  And with a week to go before the Sona, Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said Speaker Prospero Nograles assured him that congressmen would not pull a fast one on senators by convening the constituent assembly after Arroyo's annual report to the nation.

'No constituent assembly during Sona'

Leaders of the House of Representatives assured the public they would not pull a fast one during their joint session with the Senate on July 27 and call for a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution, after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's State of the Nation Address (Sona).

'Zero Remittance Day' vs Con-Ass

Filipino migrant workers and their dependents on Saturday warned to push through with their planned "Zero Remittance Day" if a Constituent Assembly is convened by Congress.

Media to get copies of poll returns in 2010

For the first time in Philippine election history, media groups will be getting official copies of election returns (ERs) hot off the precinct voting and counting machines in next year's election.

P2.8-B advance to bidders slammed

The Commission on Elections has to pay P2.875 billion to Smartmatic-Total Information Management up front, even before the consortium gets to deliver even one counting machine, according to a citizens' group opposed to the P7.2-billion poll automation contract.

Panlilio's foe insists on recount

Former Pampanga board member Lilia Pineda said on Sunday she was pursuing her electoral protest against Governor Eddie Panlilio on her own and would not pull strings to rush the recount of votes cast in 2007.

Manila masses for Aquino's recovery

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim launched on Sunday a week-long series of mass celebrations to pray for the "speedy and ultimate" recovery of former President Corazon Aquino from colon cancer.

Jakarta suicide bombers of JI

Suicide bombers who targeted two Jakarta hotels last week were members of Al-Qaeda-linked regional terror outfit Jemaah Islamiyah, Indonesian police said Sunday.

Duterte urged: Denounce vigilante killings

House Speaker Prospero Nograles on Sunday called on Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte to denounce the extra-judicial killings reportedly prevalent in his jurisdiction.

Honduras rivals mull plan to settle crisis

Rival parties in the Honduran political crisis on Sunday were to debate a proposal that would return ousted leader Manuel Zelaya as head of an interim "reconciliation" government.

Pope celebrates mass with wrist in plaster

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated mass Saturday with his broken wrist in plaster but bemoaned an inability to clasp his hands together in prayer, his closest officials said.

SKorea ex-president Kim off respirator

Former president and Nobel laureate Kim Dae-Jung was taken off a respirator Sunday and able to breathe on his own as he continued to recover from pneumonia, his aide said.

Turkey imposes smoking ban

Turkey went smoke-free Sunday as the government introduced a ban in bars, cafes and restaurants -- despite business owners' protests -- in a bid to break the national addiction to nicotine.

Mosley to Pacquiao: Let's fight at 140

Just when it seemed that he has given up chasing Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosely has suddenly come out to challenge the Filipino again.

Promoter calls on Hatton to retire

Promoter Frank Warren on Sunday called on Ricky Hatton to retire rather than risk his long-term health by fighting Amir Khan.

Filipino 'mathletes' bag 27 medals

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Filipino numbers aces won 27 medals in the 10th World Youth Invitational Mathematics Intercities Competition held recently in Durban, South Africa.

Kris left shows temporarily to be with mom

 Pansamantalang nagpaalam at humingi ng pang-unawa si Kris Aquino sa publiko sa kanyang programang "The Buzz" kanina.

Daughter admits Cory Aquino is in pain

Former president Corazon Aquino, who is fighting Stage 4 colon cancer, is "in pain," her daughter, television host-actress Kris Aquino, admitted Sunday. 

Walter Cronkite: America's most trusted

"The most trusted man in America," Walter Cronkite was the pioneering television news anchor who, countless times in his legendary career, delivered the first draft of history to rapt US viewers.

"I had a pretty good seat at the parade," the former CBS Evening News presenter, who died Friday at the age of 92, said in a 1997 TV retrospective.

"I was lucky enough to have been born at the right time to see most of this remarkable century."

Cronkite presented the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, a period when television reigned supreme as the dominant media in the United States. During most of that period there were three TV networks in the country - CBS, NBC and ABC.

At the heyday of his six decades in journalism, Cronkite played a pivotal role in turning public opinion against the Vietnam War.

Having seen the war first-hand in 1968 after the Tet offensive, Cronkite returned to his New York studio to declare that it seemed "more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate."

Then president Lyndon Johnson told an aide, "That's it. If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost middle America." Shortly after, Johnson announced he would not run for re-election.

The esteem that Americans had for Cronkite, highlighted in opinion polls that found him more trusted than any politician, religious leader or sports hero, was cemented in the darkest days of November 1963.

In one of the most riveting moments in the history of broadcast news, Cronkite interrupted a soap opera to deliver the shocking bulletin that president John F. Kennedy had been shot.

About an hour later, in his shirtsleeves and struggling to keep his composure, Cronkite pulled off his thick glasses and announced to an appalled nation that Kennedy was dead.

It is said that every American knows where he or she was when the Kennedy news broke -- and the chances are they got it from Cronkite, who dominated the airwaves at a time when network news was undisputed king of the media.

"To me, he represents the best of the first (constitutional) amendment, the best of the freedom of the press," former president Bill Clinton said.

Born in 1916 in Missouri, Cronkite cut his journalistic teeth in the 1930s with the Scripps-Howard and United Press news services, honing the skills of a fast and accurate wire reporter.

In World War II, he formed part of the celebrated "Writing 69th" brigade of reporters, wading ashore on D-Day, flying in bombing missions over Germany and later covering the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals.

From 1946 to 1948, he served as Moscow bureau chief for United Press before finally acceding to the appeals of another towering figure of broadcast journalism, Edward R. Murrow, and joining CBS News in 1950.

Cronkite took over the anchor's chair in 1962 and became an American icon with the nightly pay-off line: "And that's the way it is."

That signature farewell represented "the newsman's highest ideal," he wrote in a March 2006 blog for the Huffington Post, "to report the facts as he sees them, without regard for the consequences or controversy that may ensue."

Until his retirement in 1981, he was America's news reader of choice, combining gravitas with wit and the occasional venture into the heartfelt, as with his joyous on-air reaction to Neil Armstrong's 1969 moon landing.

In retirement, Cronkite indulged his passion for fast cars and sailing, and in 1996 published a best-selling autobiography called "A Reporter's Life."

For more than one conservative commentator, Cronkite's biting political criticisms marked him out as a "bleeding heart liberal."

In recent years he was especially critical of the war in Iraq, comparing it to the quagmire of Vietnam, and campaigned for action on global warming and for a new approach in the so-called "war on drugs."

But Cronkite was just as outspoken about the need, despite the media industry's constant cost-cutting, for quality journalism to root out the truth that politicians and special interests might prefer to keep veiled.

"It's not just the journalists' jobs at risk here," he said at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism in February 2007. "It's American democracy. It is freedom's future."

Cronkite's beloved wife of 64 years, Betsy, died in 2005. They had three children.

2 storms brewing, but less rains seen

The state weather bureau spotted two low pressure areas, but said these would not bring as much rain that storm "Isang" (international codename: Molave) dumped in the country last week.

Mayon activity baffles scientists

Mayon Volcano is not showing signs of increased or decreased activity, baffling scientists who have warned last week that an eruption was forthcoming.

AFP seeks truce with NPA due to Mayon

A senior Philippine Army officer in Bicol is calling on the New People's Army (NPA) to implement a stop to offensive actions against the government as it focuses on efforts to cordon off danger zones surrounding the restive Mayon Volcano.

Circumcision of Pinoys linked to low HIV

An official of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS on Saturday (Sunday in Manila) praised the Philippines for having one of the lowest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the Asia-Pacific, which she attributed to the country's practice of almost universal male circumcision.

"One of the major reasons for the Philippines' low HIV prevalence rate is the fact that it practices almost universal male circumcision. We know that male circumcision protects against HIV partially, about a 60 percent reduction for men and eventually that means Filipino women are less likely to encounter men who are HIV positive so they have lower rates of HIV," Dr. Catherine Hankins, chief scientific adviser to UNAIDS, she told abs-cbnNEWS.com. 

"The Philippines, in adopting male circumcision despite the fact that it is primarily a Roman Catholic country has meant a better control of the epidemic."

Data from the Department of Health National AIDS Registry shows that from January 1984 to December 2008, there were 3,589 HIV Ab seropositive cases reported in the Philippines. Of that number, 2,787 (78%) were asymptomatic and 802 (22%) were AIDS cases. Seventy percent (2,500) were males.

Hankins said male circumcision substantially reduces female-to-male transmission of HIV and is recommended by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization for HIV prevention in countries with high rates of heterosexual HIV transmission and low male circumcision prevalence.

She said various studies have shown the benefits of male circumcision including lower rates of urinary tract infections in male infants who are circumcised; lower risk of penile cancer and lower prevalence of some sexually transmitted infections such as human papillomavirus (HPV) and herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2). 

She said circumcised men do not suffer health problems associated with the foreskin such as phimosis (an inability to retract the foreskin) or paraphimosis (swelling of the retracted foreskin causing inability to return it to its normal position). She said circumcised men also find it easier to maintain penile hygiene. 

Two studies also suggest that female partners of circumcised men have a lower risk of cancer of the cervix, which is caused by persistent infection with high-risk oncogenic (cancer-inducing) types of human papillomavirus.