By DELFIN DEL ROSARIO
Bulatlat.com

ALBERTA, Canada – Admiration for the life lived by slain activist Jory Porquia has crossed borders in Canada. Jose Reynaldo Porquia, or Jory, is described as a “tireless defender of the rights of the poor” in a petition launched May 9 in Edmonton City.

The online petition called for impartial and independent investigation, a stop to worsening impunity, harassments, surveillance and intimidation of activists, justice to all victims of extrajudicial killings, among others.

The petition has gathered over 500 signatures from supporters across Canada.

On April 30, Porquia was shot nine times in his rented house by suspected state agents. He was Bayan Muna Partylist coordinator in Iloilo City and was conducting community feeding and relief operations led by his group due to the Covid-19-related quarantine. Before the incident, Porquia was harassed by officers and intelligence operators of the Philippine National Police.

Jolly

Fellow activist Ma. Clarizza Singson remembers Jory as a high-spirited person who always wanted to finish tasks as soon as possible.

The two met in a gathering during the anniversary of the militant League of Filipino Students in 1996. Jory was Panay’s LFS chairperson at the time, said Singson. “He gave an inspirational speech and funny stories of his experiences in the 1980s,” she said.

Singson, who is current secretary general of Karapatan- Negros and a national council member of the rights group, is on a speaking tour in Canada discussing human rights situation in the Philippines.

“He is a jolly person, always on the go. He was full of energy and loves to mingle with everyone,” she said.

Singson said that since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power, her province, Negros has seen bloodbath with hundreds of cases of extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations.

“Jory was not spared from that. The failure of the counter-insurgency program to crush the revolutionary movement led to the shift to attacks against legal organizations since they are civilians and vulnerable,” she said.

Activists, human rights defenders and environmentalists have become convenient targets for state forces, she added.

Exemplary

In 1983, Maria Sol Prieto-Pajadura met Jory in a city-wide meeting of student leaders from colleges and universities in Iloilo City. Jory led a discussion about tuition increase, commercialization of education, and call for a national educational system.

Prieto-Pajadura, who lives in Toronto, Ontario, is chairperson of Migrante Canada.

“Jory was very dear to me. We were together in LFS and we were among the first student leaders to go out in the open in Iloilo after Marcos lifted Martial Law in 1982,” she said.

The two had a close comradeship even when both of them became migrant workers: Prieto-Pajadura as a domestic worker in Hong Kong, and Porquia as an OFW in China. “He always makes it a point to stop by Hong Kong to meet me before he goes home to Iloilo. He always sought support for the movement in Iloilo,” she said.

“He always finds opportunity to organize and garner support for the movement,” she added.

“Miga,” an Ilonggo term of endearment for a friend, was what Jory would call Pajadura. “Miga, ari di gali kamo ni Migo ti kitaay ta,” she said, quoting how Porquia would invite her for long talks whenever both of them were in the Philippines. “He had never-ending stories about his family and his experiences in the struggle,” Prieto-Pajadura said.

Porquia studied engineering at the University of San Agustin but decided to commit his life for the movement.  “Ever since he became aware of the society’s problems, he had dedicated his life in the service of the people, until his last breath,” she said.

Persecution

Human rights watchdog Karapatan blamed the intensifying counterinsurgency operations in the Philippines for the attacks on activists.

The group decried the continuing killings, arrests, and harassments of farmers and activists by alleged police and military forces amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Duterte regime’s rabid fixation on counterinsurgency and scapegoating of the communist insurgency in the middle of a crisis of its own doing reveal in full its warmongering priorities,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.

“Jory spent years of his life in the struggle for people’s rights since the dark days of the fascist Marcos dictatorship and his brutal murder under another fascist regime is a tremendous loss for all of us,” Palabay added.

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By DEE AYROSO

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Both influenza A (H1N1) and ASFV are not endemic to the Philippines. It has been established that the sources of these diseases came from imported meat or livestock.

By CLEMENTE BAUTISTA JR.

We have previously pointed out that the degradation of our ecosystems and its dwindling biodiversity are contributing factors in the increase of zoonotic diseases. These diseases which originate from animals, especially domesticated animals, are the source of the recent worst pandemics in our history.

Poultry and livestock production have been transformed from small-scale methods to industrial-scale operations. Global industrial agriculture has caused at least 27 percent of global forest loss between 2001 and 2015, generating huge amounts of carbon emissions contributing to the climate crisis, and producing hazardous wastes that indiscriminately contaminate nearby rivers.

On top of this, industrial agriculture is also of particular concern because domesticated animals we produce for human consumption at large population sizes and densities have low immune responses to diseases.

Science has established that the pathogen movement within these large-scale agricultural industries, its release to the external environment, and exposure to farm workers and subsequently the wider public.

As the world population became heavily dependent on the food produced by the global meat industry, the risk of ‘zoonotic’ diseases increases alongside the consequent intensification of corporate livestock and poultry production.

Past virus outbreaks and pandemics coming from industrial agriculture are avian influenza virus subtypes such as A(H5N1), A(H7N9), and A(H9N2), and swine influenza virus subtypes A(H1N1), A(H1N2) and A(H3N2). Human infections are primarily acquired through direct contact with infected animals or contaminated environments such as markets and animal farms.

The influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, for instance, was detected in 2005 as an animal or human-animal influenza virus that has caused sporadic cases or small clusters of disease in people, but has not yet resulted then in human-to-human transmission.

In April 2009, the first human case of influenza A(H1N1) was identified in Mexico and the United States. This virus then spread rapidly to other countries. The Philippines identified its earliest case on May 22, 2009, and Baguio City reported its first A(H1N1) cases three days later. A total of 159 cases and eight fatalities was officially reported in the Cordillera Administrative Region by August 31, 2009. Worldwide, it resulted in the deaths of around 14,000 individuals in 2009.

A decade later, the ASF epidemic spread throughout the world, causing hemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs.

ASFV has traditionally been endemic to sub-Saharan Africa and Italy, but in 2007 it began to spread to other countries. In 2018, China reported the virus has infected their swine farms.

On September 9, 2019, the Philippines declared its first outbreak of the ASF. This affected the country which is the world’s 10th-largest pork consumer and seventh-biggest pork importer. The Department of Agriculture identified China-imported meat products as the source.

Though it did not infect humans, the ASF Pandemic caused massive economic loss to the global livestock industry. In the Philippines, the swine industry lost around US$20 million or P1 billion in just one month after the ASF epidemic was declared.

Both influenza A (H1N1) and ASFV are not endemic to the Philippines. It has been established that the sources of these diseases came from imported meat or livestock.

Through the years of trade liberalization there has been a rapid increase of imported poultry and livestock products since the late 1990s. In early 2019, we experienced an oversupply of meat products because of the surge in imported meat. During the Duterte administration, meat imports grew in double digits annually.

The Philippines is estimated to import 924,000 metric tons (MT) of meat by 2028, nearly double the average volume imported in 2016-2018 of 542,000 MT. The country’s meat imports are estimated to expand by 4.43 percent annually from 2019 to 2028.

The Philippines will become more vulnerable to the entry and emerging infectious diseases as the government liberalizes agricultural trade which freely open the importation of meat products.

Supporting our local farmers and domestic agricultural industry should therefore be an important foundation of a post-pandemic green new normal. By giving land to the tillers and not to foreign business, buying their local agricultural produce, and supporting their transition to agro-ecological practices, we are contributing not only to food security but also public health and ecological integrity.

Clemente Bautista Jr. is an animal scientist and currently the international networks coordinator of the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE), a grassroots-led national environmental campaign center established in 1997.

Kalibutan is a group blog of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment. For comments, email [email protected]. Kalikasan PNE is a convening organization of the Citizens’ Urgent Response to End COVID-19 (CURE COVID), a national people’s initiative of various communities and sectors in response to the pandemic crisis and its impacts on their health and livelihood.

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“I ride my bicycle every day to the hospital to get updates. I feel so sorry for our baby (whenever undergoing treatment),” JR Gonzales, who works as a freelance journalist and YouTube SEO specialist, said.

By REIN TARINAY
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — A family based in Mabalacat City, Pampanga has appealed for help for their one-month-old baby who is suffering from a rare medical condition.

The one-month old baby, Zenjatta Ishraq Zenjatta, or Ziggy to his family has a rare neonatal vocal cord paralysis.

Vocal cord paralysis among babies, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, put them at risk for aspiration and persistent feeding problems. They are closely monitored to determine the need for future medical or surgical intervention.

“We believe that our baby is a fighter. He has already recovered from pneumonia and sepsis. Our eyes are on him every single moment because we want to give him a chance at life,” JR Gonzales, father of Ziggy, whose real name stands for “weapon” in Malay and “light” or sunshine” in Arabic.

Ziggy, too, has been diagnosed with tethered cord syndrome, which medical journals described as a either foot or spinal abnormalities. Surgery and medications may be recommended depending on the severity of the patient’s condition.

He also has neonatal stridor, which makes breathing difficult. As such,  Ziggy needs to be on oxygen support 24/7. He is also prone to sudden infant death syndrome.

“I ride my bicycle every day to the hospital to get updates. I feel so sorry for our baby (whenever undergoing treatment),” Gonzales, who works as a freelance journalist and YouTube SEO specialist, said.

In an online interview with Bulatlat, Gonzales said doctors are looking at both aggressive and conservative treatments for the one-month-old baby. He said they are hoping for the latter as Ziggy’s body is still developing.

Despite hardships, their family remains strong.

“Seeing our baby’s determination to get through this, we owe it to him to remain strong no matter what comes our way,” Ziggy’s parents said in a Facebook post.

Call for support

The family calls for support and donation as Ziggy undergoes treatment and possible surgery.

Any amount, Gonzales said, will be of big help for Ziggy, especially for his upcoming surgery. He understands, however, that many are currently experiencing financial constraints now due to the impact of the lockdown on livelihoods.

The pandemic, too, has apparently increased the prices of nearly everything they need for Ziggy – including hospitals and laboratory fees and the lack of public transportation in the area.

Editor’s Note:

Please help make Ziggy breathe easier. Please consider donating to:

GCash:
JR L. GONZALES
0995-9148362

JR L. GONZALES
BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands)
9709-1000-65 (Swift Code: BOPIPHMM)

JR L. GONZALES
Landbank (LandBank of the Philippines)
1976 1409 89
(Swift Code: TLBPPHMM)

For money transfers like Palawan Express, ML Kwarta Padala, Cebuana Lhuillier:

JR L. GONZALES
Brgy. Dau, Mabalacat City, Pampanga 2010
0995-9148362

For donations from overseas:

GOGETFUNDING
https://gogetfunding.com/help-…/

PAYPAL
https://www.PayPal.com/SirJR
e-mail address: [email protected]

Please like and visit the page:
www.fb.com/BreatheEasyZiggy/

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To save lives, the lawmakers said the government must recognize the extreme importance and urgency of mass testing along with medical solutions such as contact tracing, isolation, and treatment.

By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO
Bulatlat.com

MANILA – Progressive lawmakers filed a bill seeking to mandate free mass testing for all suspected and probable COVID-19 cases to know the extent of transmission and infection rate in the country.

House Bill No. 6848 or the Free Mass Testing Act of 2020 was filed on May 27 by legislators belonging to the Makabayan bloc.

“The lack of initiative and intention from the executive to perform its constitutional mandate to protect and promote the right to health of the people prompts us to take an immediate action,” representatives of Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers Partylist, Gabriela Women’s Party and Kabataan Partylist said in the explanatory note.

The bill is pushing for testing of health workers, government employees, students, teachers and non-teaching personnel, returning overseas Filipino workers, tourists, and the vulnerable sectors.

Also included in the bill is the establishment and accreditation of public testing centers in every region, with results released not later than 48 hours. These facilities will be provided with trained and equipped health workers.

As of this writing, majority of testing centers are located in the National Capital Region. Scientists have earlier pointed out that instead of flattening the curve, the Philippines may have reached the ceiling of its testing capacity.

The bill proposes the use of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and anti-body testing.

To save lives, the lawmakers said the government must recognize the extreme importance and urgency of mass testing along with medical solutions such as contact tracing, isolation, and treatment. They added that the public health system should be provided with due supply and equipment to defeat the dreaded virus.

As it stands, the Philippines has been conducting an average of 7,866 tests daily for the past seven days as of May 26. This is a far cry from the earlier pronouncement of 30,000 daily tests by the end of May. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases announced earlier that it plans to test at least two percent of the population as part of its “enhanced targeted testing.”

Yesterday, May 28, the Philippines recorded more than 500 new confirmed cases, surpassing its 15,000-mark. The government’s own data, too, revealed 3,600 backlogs for test results.

The Philippine government refuses to use the term “mass testing,” saying that no country has tested all of its citizens.

Makabayan lawmakers pointed out the Duterte administration’s “wrong understanding of mass testing.” They lamented that after two months of community quarantine, the government still has no plan or intention to conduct mass testing.”

The main authors of the bill are Bayan Muna Rep. Ferdinand Gaite, Bayan Muna Rep. Eufemia Cullamat, ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro, Gabriela Women’s Party Rep. Arlene Brosas, and Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago. 

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