Press Release
March 24, 2009

Press statement of Senator Loren Legarda

On rise of drug-resistant TB

Tuberculosis is a curable disease yet it remains as the sixth leading cause of illness and the sixth leading cause of deaths among Filipinos, according to the Department of Health (DOH). In view of a World Health Organization (WHO) report that some 6,000 new cases of drug-resistant TB have been discovered in the Philippines in 2007, I urge the government in my capacity as chair of the Senate Health Committee to immediately review and update its TB control program.

The TB bacteria is highly communicable through air and touch, with the sputum of a TB carrier said to be capable of transmitting the disease within two years. Having drug-resistant TB strains circulating in our country complicates the problem as it will make more costly and difficult the treatment the disease.

The formation of drug-resistant TB strains is blamed on improper or discontinued TB treatments. To prevent this, government should endeavor supervised treatments of the afflicted to ensure that they complete the treatment regime.

On more bombings feared in Mindanao

The police and military in Mindanao must double their efforts to stop attempts to set off more bombs in the area, whoever may be behind the recent explosions that have already injured scores of people.

The conduct of bombings that do not differentiate between military targets and the civilian populace is a methodology used by terrorist groups. It should not be resorted to by rebels or insurgents who are fighting for causes they believe in.

Bombings may indeed attract international attention to the stalled peace process in Mindanao, but they will only merit condemnation from the community of nations. Government cannot be seen being browbeaten back into the negotiating table by those who resort to violence with nary a care even if civilians are killed or hurt in the process.

On RP lagging in enforcing laws

It's true that the Philippines has some of the best environmental laws that have been crafted, but that it leaves much to be desired when it comes to their implementation. I, for one, would like to see the government fully implement the Clean Air Act, the Solid Waste Management Act and the many laws which I either authored or sponsored for the environment, including those that protect watersheds and forest reserves.

But the half-hearted implementation of many of our laws also afflict most other areas of legislation, such as those covering social equity, justice and government procurement and other practices. Many of our laws already have the needed teeth. The problem is the lack of political will by those in government to prove that those teeth are meant to bite.

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