By Ducky Paredes
FINALLY, the Vice President is willing to a debate with a Senator hosted by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas. He has refused to face a Senate investigation that has all but shown the Vice President, like that storybook emperor, as naked.
Binay’s spokesman, Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla, says correcty that Binay may have more to lose than gain in the upcoming debate. Binay has even instructed Remulla to make sure that the deans of several Law Schools will be the judges. These deans will not count anyway since it is the general population that will be the final judges.
“I admit, the Vice President has more to lose because he will be stooping down to the level of Senator Trillanes. But the debate will push through,” Remulla said.
“In a debate where he (Trillanes) is stripped of parliamentary immunity, one can explain or elucidate fully without fear of being on the receiving end of rude comments,” Remulla added.
United Nationalist Alliance interim president Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, another Binay operative, says about the Senator: “How can you debate with someone who is a liar? That debate will go nowhere. But I am confident the Vice President will be able to prove to the public during the debate that he is in the right.”
Binay has refused to attend the Senate sub-committee hearing, since he claimed that he had already been prejudged by the senators.
“Why would I go there? That’s beyond in aid of legislation. This is really a demolition,” Binay said.
“And they’re saying, this investigation is to show that the Vice President is not qualified to be a president. So there’s politics there. That’s hypocrisy,” he added.
But while Binay’s camp aired their misgivings on the outcome of the debate, Trillanes said he was ready to take all the risks to “ferret out the truth.”
“If it’s the only way to know the truth on all these allegations, I’m willing to take chances. I’m willing to face all the consequences of what he will do, “ says Trillanes.
Told that the debate could just be a ‘trap’ as Binay dared him it should be outside the Senate, Trillanes replied, “I don’t care”.
“I believe that this can be the only opportunity when I can confront him with all these allegations. This is the only venue when I can ask him the questions I had wanted to ask,” he said.
House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, Jr., for instance, welcomed Binay’s decision to face his accusers, particularly Trillanes for a debate.
“That is most welcome. He needs to do that,” Belmonte said.
Iloilo Rep. Jerry Trenas, vice chair of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said it would be a good move for Binay to face his accusers “so that the issues can be answered by him in order to allow the public to make an intelligent decision.”
The one who will gain from this debate will be Trillanes. Nothing is expected of him. The Binay camp seems confident that the lawyer will make mincemeat of this “military person” Trillanes and they are already crowing about their expected victory.
But what if the Senator can draw even just a little blood, wouldn’t it look like Trillanes will have triumphed?
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Whenever there is anything about hypertension (high blood pressure) I am interested. I have had elevated blood pressure since my late twenties.
The prevalence of hypertension in the Philippines has significantly grown in recent years, and the need to address it should all the more be prioritized, especially with the lack of awareness, treatment, compliance, and blood pressure (BP) control rates among hypertensive patients in the country.
This health concern was confirmed by a recent report conducted by Dr. Jorge Sison and his colleagues from the Philippine Heart Association – Council on Hypertension (COH).
They revealed that 28% of adult Filipinos have hypertension, adding that the number is still increasing despite treatment advances and that majority of those being treated have poor BP control.
In fact, early this year, f Health Undersecretary Teodoro Herbosa warned the public that heart attack and stroke are still among the top leading causes of death in the country.
The DOH also revealed that more than 276 Filipinos die of heart disease on a daily basis and at least one Filipino suffers from stroke every nine minutes. Survivors have a 75% chance of becoming permanently disabled.
It is for this reason that Pfizer, Inc. (Philippines) recently spearheaded the discussion titled, “The
Pressure is on: The growing burden of hypertension and Olmesartan-based solutions,” where Dr.
Sison and German professor Roland Schmieder presented the latest guidelines on hypertension
management, with the aim of saving more lives.
“Heart diseases remain as the top leading cause of mortality in the country. We therefore see
the need to address this medical concern by providing the latest epidemiology of hypertension
through the discussion of the results of the Prevalence Survey titled, ‘PRESYON 3,’” said Dr.
Cris Dumo, infectious disease specialist and medical director of Pfizer.
“This study, conducted by the team of Dr. Sison, establishes the need for better control of hypertension through the dissemination of latest statistics on hypertension detection, treatment, and control rates in the country,” he added.
Meanwhile, Professor Schmieder talked about “Hypertension Management and Olmesartan- based Therapies,” and discussed the rationale for different drug classes of anti-hypertensive medications. Hypertension is just one of the many life-threatening diseases that Pfizer Philippines addresses. More than just manufacturing quality medicines against hypertension, Pfizer also raises public awareness on the disease through information dissemination.
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Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@gmail.com or you can send me a message through Twitter @diretsahan.
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