Press statement of Senator Loren Legarda on Swine Flu

All government agencies concerned, such as the Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, the Department of Health and the Bureau of Immigration, should be on full alert to prevent the entry of the swine flu virus in our country. The possibility of a pandemic sweeping our country is not far-fetched considering our vulnerability in terms.

The outbreak of the swine flu virus in Mexico and the United States also point to the urgency of protecting and improving our environment to make it inhospitable to viruses affecting humans and animals. The Department of Agriculture should be congratulated for successfully limiting the effects of and containing the ebola reston virus that recently affected our own swine industry.

ROXAS: USE CHEAP MEDS LAW FOR SWINE FLU PREPARATIONS

Liberal President Senator Mar Roxas urged the government to use the full powers under the Quality and Affordable Medicines Law to allow local government units to prepare themselves to deal with the new strain of swine flu virus should its pandemic arrive in the Philippines.

This, as he filed Senate Resolution No. 1015 seeking a Senate inquiry into the pandemic potential of the new strain of swine flu virus which has caused deaths and infections to people in Mexico and the United States.

“The government must ensure that all the necessary cures to the disease are available, accessible and affordable,” said the author of the new law ensuring Affordable Medicines.

“Patuloy nating kulitin ang gobyerno para ipatupad nang husto ang bagong batas. Dapat makipagtulungan sila sa mga lokal na gobyerno at iba pang grupo at tulungan sila sa pag-aangkat ng murang gamot (We should continue to appeal to the government to fully implement the new law. They should cooperate with local governments and other groups and allow them to import affordable medicines),” he stressed.

In filing the resolution, the Visayan senator said that “supply and cost of medicines must be properly monitored by the government to ensure the protection of our people from the possible fatal effect of the new swine flu virus.”

Swine Flu is a highly contagious respiratory disease of pigs caused by type A influenza, which do not normally affect humans. But human infections with swine flu also occur and could spread through tiny particles in the air or by direct physical contact. Its symptoms in humans are similar to the symptoms of the common flu and include fever, cough, sore throat, sore muscles, vomiting and diarrhea. There is no vaccine against the new virus.

News reports have indicated a new strain of swine flu virus that has so far killed more than 80 people and sickened thousands of people in Mexico since April 13. It has also infected more than 10 people in the United States, two in France and one in Israel.

The Department of Health has announced that “there is still no case of the swine flu” in the country. But the World Health Organization has warned the new virus has a “pandemic potential” if it mutates into a form that is easily transmissible between humans and has labeled the current outbreak as “a public health emergency of international concern.”

LOREN SEEKS MEASURES TO PREVENT ENTRY OF SWINE FLU

Senator Loren Legarda, chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food and Committee on Health and Demography, urged the government to organize an inter-agency task force that would draft and strictly implement measures to prevent the entry of the swine flu virus in the country which is now affecting Mexico and the United States.

Loren was reacting to the statement of World Health Organization Director-General Margaret Chan who said that the outbreak in Mexico and the US constituted a “public health emergency of international concern”.

According to reports, a strain of the flu has killed as many as 81 people and sickened more than 1,000 across Mexico, while US authorities reported 20 laboratory confirmed human cases of swine influenza.

Swine flu is a highly contagious acute respiratory disease normally found in pigs. It spreads through tiny particles in the air or by direct contact. According to WHO, it tends to infect large numbers of a given pig population, killing between 1 and 4 percent of those affected. People usually become infected through contact with pigs, though some cases of limited human-to-human transmission have been reported.

Loren wants the Department of Agriculture (DA) to mobilize its regional and provincial offices to step up monitoring and surveillance of all hog farms to immediately detect any signs of the disease in the local hog industry, although there is no reported swine flu case in the country as of today.

The senator noted DA’s immediate intervention to impose a temporary ban on pork meat coming from Mexico and the US. Since the disease has already affected people in these two countries, she likewise wants the Bureau of Quarantine to be on red alert to monitor arriving airline passengers with symptoms of the swine flu, to prevent the possible entry into the country of potential carriers of the virus.

Loren also urged the DA to put up modern equipment that could help identify and cure diseases attacking hogs and other livestock and fowl.

“The country is one the best producers of hogs in Asia, however, we lack modern equipment that’s why we are being left behind,” Loren, who also chairs the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization, said.

“We have to establish fully-equipped state-of the-art animal disease diagnostic laboratories in major hog producing regions of the country to ensure the prompt and adequate diagnosis of current and emerging animal diseases,” she said.

Loren noted that when the Ebola Reston virus strain hit the country late last year, laboratory samples have to be sent to the US National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Plum Island, New York, in order to be fully identified.

Meanwhile, Loren will push for the immediate passage of a comprehensive bill on food safety that would ensure the highest quality of agriculture and fishery products for both domestic and international market.

The senator also seeks to rationalize the functions of concerned agencies such as the Bureau of Agriculture and Fishery Product Standards (BAFPS) and other regulatory agencies of DA.

“In line with this, I urged the BAFPS to formulate and enforce standards of quality in processing, preservation, packaging, labeling, importation, exportation, distribution, and advertising of agricultural and fisheries products,” Loren said.

The BAFPS was established as mandated under the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) and was tasked to set and implement standards for fresh, primary-and-secondary-processed agricultural and fishery products.

Loren, likewise, called on the Department of Health to disseminate information on precautionary measures to avoid human case of the strain and work closely with world health authorities for the monitoring of the swine flu, even though there are no reported cases of the strain in the country.

HONEST GUARD. Trinidad Quintana shows the Certificate of Commendation he received from SM Baliwag Executives after he returned a black purse containing P2.5 million in checks to its owner. He is flanked by SM City Baliwag mall managers and staff. Photo courtesy of SM Baliwag

With this, SM City Baliwag commended the exemplary service of mall guard Trinidad Quintana.

“The honorable act he has shown through humility and ethical strength will always be an encouragement to everyone,” mall officials said. Quintana, of the Roger Jerson Cosme (RJC) Security Agency, was doing his rounds at the SM Baliwag’s Food Court area when he noticed a black purse on a bench, not far from where a couple was busy dining.

Worried that the couple might forget the purse, Quintana politely approached them and asked if the black purse belonged to them. Surprised, the couple said the purse may belong to someone else.

Quintana quickly took the lost item to the Security Office to report the incident. He and SM Baliwag’s Customer Relations Manager and other guards were shocked to see P2.4 million worth of cheques and P35,000 in cash inside the purse.

The owner of the purse, Matias Cruz, was on his way to do the bank when he noticed his purse missing. He immediately returned to the Food Court area and informed one of the guards about the lost item. Cruz was assisted to the security office and there, he verified that the black purse was his.

After checking that the contents of the bag were complete and properly documented, it was returned to Cruz. He took Quintana’s hand and thanked him for retrieving the bag..

Swine flu is found typically in an individual who have been in contact with pigs it can also transmitted by person-to-person transmission.

Symptoms of Swine Flu

• fever, disorientation
• Coughing
• Sneezing
• Fever
• Stiffness of the joints
• Vomiting
• Loss of consciousness ending in death.

if you have any of these symptoms stay home

Swine influenza is known to be caused by:

• influenza A subtypes H1N1, H1N2, H3N1, H3N2 and H2N3

The list of examination passers will be posted here immediately after the PRC has released the Criminologists board exam results. So stay tuned.

March 2008 Criminologist Board Exam Results and Top 10 Review

A total 927 out of 3,318 test-takers have passed the Criminologist Licensure Examination given by the Board of Criminology last March 2008.

Below are the top 10 test-takers of the March 2008  Criminologist Licensure Examination:

1. Marlon Lagadan Caltino — University of the Cordilleras (Baguio College Foundation) — 89.35%
2. Rhem Rick Navarro Corpuz — University of Baguio — 87.85%
3. Jesson George Rafael Domogen — University of the Cordilleras (Baguio College Foundation) — 87.70%
4. Gilbert de Jesus Castro — Philippine College of Criminology — 87.60%
5. Clodenel Solito Saguid — Philippine College of Criminology — 86.80%
6. Christopher Niño Larena Chow — Philippine College of Criminology — 86.40%
7. Ronald Clemente Abuan — University of the Cordilleras (Baguio College Foundation) — 86.20%
8. Denver Junior Santiago Agustin — University of the Cordilleras (Baguio College Foundation) — 85.85%
9. Faith Bomowey Bangcawayan — University of the Cordilleras (Baguio College Foundation) — 85.70%
10. Alemar Lorian Fajardo — Philippine College of Criminology — 85.65%

Who do you think will Top the April 2009 Criminologist Board Exam Results?

The West Virginia Bar Examination was held on February 24 & 25, 2009.

The official results of the West Virginia Bar Examination Results are typically released by mail approximately eight to ten weeks after the exam.

We will post the Complete list of West Virginia Bar Exam Passers at this site as soon as they are available online.

The Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) was held last April 5 2009 nationwide.

We will Post the Complete list of April 2009 LET Results and Passers when it is available online.

Just come back here for the list of new Professional Teachers who passed this April 2009 exam.

The recent  Licensure Examination for Teachers Result (LET Results) was released on October 2008. 17,816 elementary teachers out of 58,471 examinees and 18,801 secondary teachers out of 53,195examinees passed the exam.

Intravenous therapy or IV therapy is the giving of liquid substances directly into a vein. It can be intermittent or continuous; continuous administration is called an intravenous drip. The word intravenous simply means “within a vein”, but is most commonly used to refer to IV therapy

Schedule of Intravenous Therapy Training

April 21-28: Medical Center Imus, Imus Cavite

April 26-28: Bulacan Medical Center, Malolos Bulacan

April 28-30: Martinez Memorial Hospital, Caloocan City

April 28-30: Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Manila

April 28-30: St James Hospital

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