Ni Liza Soriano

KUNG talagang may kapabayaan, maaaring sampahan ng kaso ang Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Ito’y ayon kay Senator Francis Tolentino makaraang hayaan nito ang Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) na mag-facilitate o manguna sa field trials para sa bisa ng African Swine Fever (ASF) vaccine.

Lumalabas sa ginanap na pagdinig ng Senado na ang FDA lang ang nag-apruba ng protocol para sa clinical trial at ang BAI na ang nagmonitor sa ginawang testing ng bakuna.

Iginiit ni Tolentino na dapat ang FDA ang mangunguna sa clinical trial ng ASF vaccine lalo pa at  ang ahensiya rin ang siyang dapat na nagbibigay ng permit sa mga bakuna at gamot na pumapasok sa bansa.

Dahil dito, nagbabala ang senador na maaaring kasuhan ang FDA ng kapabayaan sa hindi pagtupad sa kanilang tungkulin.

Ipinaalala pa ni Tolentino na kahit may memorandum of agreement (MOA) sa ganitong mga testing ng bakuna ay ang FDA pa rin ang may tungkulin na magsagawa at magmonitor nito.

Hindi, aniya, kailanman maaaring i-delegate o ipasa ng FDA ang kanilang functions o tungkulin kahit pa sa BAI at tanging Kongreso lang ang may karapatang mag-delegate ng tungkulin.

(ai/mnm)

By Dang Samson Garcia

SENATOR Francis Tolentino reiterated the need to impose liabilities of schools amid the new hazing-related death of criminology student Ahldryn Lery Chua Bravante in Tau Gamma Fraternity initiation rites.

“I hope the same remedial measures can address the gap on liabilities of schools as secondary parents,” Tolentino said in reference to his filed Senate Bill nos. 2270 and 2271.

The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights chairman likewise underscored the proper implementation of Anti Hazing-Law requiring barangay to monitor fraternities’ initiation rites, especially by barangay officials.

“Sa law kasi, dapat ma-inform ang barangay kung mayroong hazing na gagawin. I’m sure ‘di nangyari ito doon sa Quezon City o kung saan. Dapat ipaalam sa mga tumatakbong barangay officials iyon. Bahagi ng kanilang mandato na i-monitor ang mga nangyayari sa kanilang nasasakupan,” the lawmaker said.

Tolentino also lamented the death of Bravante, which came just months after the victim’s older brother died of accident.

“Nakakalungkot ito kasi pangalawa na siya sa pamilya nila na namatay. Tuwing umuuwi ang nanay niya ay may namamatay,” Tolentino further stresssed.

By Dang Samson Garcia

IN recognition of their important role in the everyday lives of their citizens, Senator Francis Tolentino on Saturday tipped his hat off to local government units in their initiatives to improve education and health situations and undertake crisis management in their localities.

“If the world is flat, according to book author Thomas L. Friedman, for me, the world is local, everything is local,” Tolentino said.

In providing education to their constituents, the lawmaker was one of the local chief executives who initiated the establishment of the locally-funded colleges and universities when he founded the Tagaytay City College in 2002 when he was still city mayor. 

Tolentino said the number of local colleges and universities when he founded TCT was about 100, and has since grown to 134 at present.

Dr. Raymundo P. Arcega, president of the Association of Local Colleges and Universities, also shared the importance of locally-funded tertiary institutions that respond to the needs of the localities.

Arcega said local colleges and universities are now performing at par with state colleges and universities that the national government funds by topping licensure examinations.

The senator also recognized the initiative of Mayor Alfredo Coro of Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte, to make their community-based health program more responsive and efficient during health crises and calamities. 

The program has been the recipient of the 2023 Galing Pook Award, Seal of Health Governance.

Coro shared that owing to established community-based health program, they were able to mitigate the effects of Category 4 Typhoon Odette when it pummeled their town in December 2021 and efficiently handled the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

By Liza Soriano

IGINIIT ni Senador Francis Tolentino nitong Sabado ang posibilidad na magsagawa ng Senate special investigation sa “ramming incident” sa karagatan ng Agno, Pangasinan, na nagresulta sa pagkamatay ng tatlong mangingisdang Pilipino.

Sinabi ni Tolentino, chairperson ng Senate committee on justice and human rights, na ang isang special investigation ay makatutulong din sa pagtatatag ng ‘archipelagic sea lane’ ng bansa upang maiwasan ang mga katulad na insidente.

“Ang pakay dito ay ang pagbubuo ng archipelagic sea lanes. Ang ibig sabihin po nito ay iyong talagang daanan–dito dadaan yong mga barkong domestic, foreign at international vessels na malalaki, nang sa ganun alam ng ating mangingisda kung saan dadaan at makakaiwas sa isa’t isa,” ani Tolentino.

Idinagdag ng mambabatas na tinitimbang niya ang ideya kung sisimulan ang imbestigasyon habang naghihintay pa rin ng mga ulat mula sa mga kinauukulang awtoridad na kinakailangan ng mga international rules.

“So, habang hindi po nakakalap yon, ito po yong wine-weigh in ko kung sisimulan na ang imbestigasyon,” ayon sa mambabatas.

Tatlong mangingisdang Pilipino ang namatay matapos mabangga ng “unidentified commercial vessel” ang isang Filipino fishing boat na dumadaan sa karagatan ng Bajo de Masinloc o Panatag Shoal sa West Philippine Sea.

Hindi pinangalanan ng Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ang mga nasawi ngunit sinabing sila ay mga mangingisda na may edad 47, 38, at 62 mula sa Calapandayan, Subic, Zambales.

(ai/mnm)