News On Blog

Malacañang announced yesterday that Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno had gone on “health leave” and that Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr. had been named officer in charge of the DILG. However, and aide of Secretary Puno said that he flew to the United States to attend the wedding of his daughter.

Puno had earlier declared that he would seek the endorsement of Lakas Kampi CMD administration party for his planned vice presidential bid in the May 2010 national elections.

DILG Assistant Secretary Brian Yamsuan said that Secretary Puno has left for the US as a very healthy man on June 27 to witness her daughter Tami’s wedding on July 4 in San Franciso California.

The family of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson planned a public viewing for his fans on Friday, as announced by CNN and the celebrity news website TMZ.com. Jackson’s body will make a final journey to Neverland Ranch on Thursday with a 30-car motorcade to escort his body. Fans are clamoring that his remains be buried at the ranch and that it be transformed as a shrine similar to that of Elvis Presley in Graceland.

Neverland has been in disarray since 2005 when charges were filed against Jackson for alleged child molestation. After his acquittal, Jackson has not returned to live in Neverland.

Former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino has been suffering from colon cancer since March 2008. She is presently confined in Makati Medical Center for a week and a half due to loss of appetite. Her spokesperson, Deedee Siytangco said that she refused to undergo another cycle of chemotherapy.

Prayers have been pouring in for the beloved Cory Aquino. Earlier yesterday, a healing mass was held for Cory and for others who are afflicted with the same sickness at the Greenbelt 5 chapel in Makati City. Among those present at the mass were former members of the Aquino Cabinet led by former Senate President Franklin Drilon and wife.

The Smartmatic, a Dutch based company, earlier won the public bidding conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the automation of the 2010 elections. The contract signing between the Comelec and Smartmatic  for the said project is supposed to be held tomorrow. However, due to some irreconcilable differences in some of the provisions of the contract between Smartmatic and its local counterpart, Total Information Management (TIM), the contract signing will have to be cancelled to another date.

As the laws of the Philippines provide, the Smartmatic needs to have a local counterpart to handle the transactions here in the Philippines who must own 60% ownership of the consortium.

After a few months of continuous increase in the prices of petroleum products, crude prices finally plunged as world crude prices were likewise down. Oil companies have already announced that they would be giving a price roll back of P1.25 per liter for gasoline and P1 per liter for diesel effective today. Kerosene prices will likewise be reduced by P.75 centavos.

The roll back on petroleum products is already expected as prices  of crude and finished products in the world market continues to go down last week. Today’s price reduction is higher than the Department of Energy’s earlier assumption that prices will be down by 60 centavos to P1 per liter.

No other than the “King of Pop”, Michael Jackson died on Thursday. He was brought and pronounced dead at a Los Angeles hospital. TMZ entertainment website said that Jackson suffered a cardiac arrest on Thursday afternoon at his Holmby Hills home and the paramedics were no longer able to revive him. “We’re told when paramedics arrived Jackson had no pulse and they never got a pulse back,” the site said.

Jackson, who was tagged the “King of Pop” for hits that included “Thriller” and “Billie Jean” will surely be missed by legions of fans around the world despite his bizzare lifestyle and the various sex scandals thrown on him.

Jackson was born on August 29, 1958, in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children.

The highest number of influenza A(H1N1) cases was recorded yesterday by the Department of Health (DOH) with 131 new confirmed cases, the total of which has now reached 604 in the country. Secretary Francisco Duque III of the DOH said that the increase in the number of confirmed cases can be attributed to the aggressive surveillance and contact tracing system that led tot he detection of these cases.

“All new cases are mild in nature. One hundred seventeen of these cases are Filipino while the rest are foreigners. The ages ranged from two years old to 67 years old,” said Sec. Duque.

The Department of Health (DOH) declared on Tuesday a low-level community outbreak in Metro Manila due to the continuing increase in the number of confirmed A(H1N1) cases all over the Metro.

As of Tuesday, 28 new cases were recorded which made a total of 473 cases in the Philippines, including one (1) death. As of today, 40 schools have already suspended their classes due to the influenza A(H1N1) threat. The DOH is now focusing on mitigation strategies.

Looking at it worldwide, there are already 52,160 confirmed cases recorded by the World Health Organization (WHO) which spreads to 94 countries or 51% of 182 countries. 231 deaths have so far been recorded.

A clarification was made by Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo with respect to the statement made by Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento saying that the President should resign if she intends to run for a congressional post in her home province of Pampanga.

Election lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, in corroboration to the statement of Chairman Melo, said that the restriction had been amended with the passage of 2001 of Republic Act 9006 otherwise known as the “Fair Election Act.”

President Arroyo can therefore go back to her original post and serve as the President of the Philippines till the end of her term or until noon of June 30, 2010 as provided for by the Constitution.

As of today, the total count of confirmed cases of influenza A(H1N1) infections have reached a swelling 392 since its spread a month ago. The first recorded and confirmed case in Davao City, Mindanao is a four-year old boy from one of the towns in Agusan in the Caraga Region who is now being properly treated in isolation at Davao Medical Center.

A nine-year old girl was also admitted in the same hospital who shows symptoms of possible influenza A(H1N1) infection. The result on the examination on the girl’s swab samples is yet to be revealed.