Thank You Pia Wurtzbach For Protecting The Rights Of People With HIV/AIDS

As former executive director of the Filipino Task Force on AIDS of Northern California and HIV education director of the Life Foundation of Hawaii, I cannot be more pleased and impressed at the statement of Miss Universe #PiaWurtzbach criticizing the public shaming of one of the 11 men who were arrested in a drug bust operation at Bonifacio Global City. The man was reported to be HIV positive.

Pia was criticized for pointing out that it wasn’t necessary (and actually illegal) to name the HIV-positive person.

Sure, assuming that the man in question knew of his HIV status, it was wrong of him to engage in risky behavior of injection drug use and (unprotected?) sex.

But the law is the law. People with HIV, like anyone else with other health conditions, have the right of confidentiality regarding their medical conditions.

We need to separate morality and basic individual rights, including privacy.

The men involved in this unfortunate incident could have been informed PRIVATELY about the HIV status of the subject individual.

Thank you, #PiaWurtzbach for your advocacy on HIV/AIDS.

Bureaucracy Won’t Be Solved By Creating More Bureaucracy

The House of Representatives has approved House Bill 6579 creating a Commission to simplify procedures for securing business permits and licenses.

To be known as the Ease of Doing Business Commission (EODBC), the new body is tasked to oversee a national policy for streamlining business requirements throughout the country, ensuring transparency in business registrations and other public transactions.

National and local government agencies will be mandated to post a comprehensive checklist of requirements for every type of license, clearance or permit.

But wait, isn’t that already the inherent mandate of all taxpayer-funded institutions?

Delays in securing business permits and licenses are oftemtimes the result of too much bureaucracy in government agencies.  In effect, the new House bill creates one more level of bureaucracy by doing what the government agencies are supposed to be doing in the first place.

If some government agencies such as those issuing driver’s licenses or passports were able to streamline their in-house procedures to be more efficient and transparent, why can’t all the others?

Politikal Pinoy thinks that the EODBC is just a waste of taxpayer money.

Congress might as well pass another bill creating a Commission to check on the work of the EODBC.

We cannot solve bureaucracy by creating yet another level of bureaucracy.

Did ABS-CBN News Put Japanese National In Compromising Situation That Could Lead To Deportation?

In its eagerness to report on protests held in connection with this week’s ASEAN Summit in Manila, ABS-CBN News may have compromised the immigration status of a Japanese national whom the network photographed participating in a rally in Mendiola.

Foreign nationals are prohibited from participating in protests against the government.

Earlier, the Bureau of Immigration issued Operation Order No. SBM-2015-025 which enjoins foreign nationalst to observe the limitation on the exercise of their political rights during their stay in the country.

The same order states that they are prohibited from joining, supporting, contributing or involving themselves in whatever manner in any rally, assembly or gathering, whether for or against the government.

Featuring a foreigner on its headline story for the Mendiola protest may be an interesting angle, but ABS-CBN’s lack of knowledge of the law may have put the Japanese national in danger of deportation.

This is a clear case of journalism being practiced without the necessary research and expertise — a situation all too common among many of the so-called mainstream news media in the country.