Senator Franklin Drilon
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
Luzon, which is the most populated among the country’s three main islands, has none while Visayas has one- Ma. Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon. The seventh post as commissioner is not still filled up.
There is an ‘’uneven representation,’’ Drilon lamented. Three of the five are residents of Davao, the home province of President Duterte while the two others are in other parts of Mindanao.
One of them is Comelec Chairman Sheriff M. Abas. Aside from Guanzon, the other Comelec commissioners are Socorro B. Inting, Marlon S. Casquejo, Antonio T. Kho Jr. and Aimee P. Ferolino-Ampoloquio.
Published March 10, 2021, 5:43 PM
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Cirilito E. Sobejana on Wednesday said controversial Lt. General Antonio Parlade Jr. may stay as spokesman of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) despite calls for him to quit his civilian post at NTF-ELCAC.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito E. Sobejana
(6th Infantry Division – Kampilan Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
Sobejana said he supports statements that AFP is part of that Task Force and there is no way the AFP would overrule such statements.
He, however, conceded that the NTF ELCAC has a civilian component.
The chairman of NTF-ELCAC is the President who is the Commander in Chief.
The nation owes a great debt of gratitude to the Osmena family for being there, every step of the way, from the conception of our nationhood to its full realization.
Thus Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III eulogized former Senator John Henry ‘Sonny’’ R. Osmena who died last month at the age of 86. Osmena’s urn was placed on a flower-bedecked table at Senate session hall this morning. Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon and former Senator Nikki Coseteng also delivered their eulogies.
Former Senate President Manuel ‘’Manny’’ Villar was present during the rites.
A copy of Senate resolution expressing its sorrow and condolence over the demise of Senator Osmena was presented to the Osmena family, led by the late senator’s son, John John.
Press Release
Drilon: Blanket immunity for vaccine makers is against the law and public policy
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said the government cannot grant absolute and blanket immunity to vaccine manufacturers, saying it is against the law and contrary to public policy.
Drilon backed Vaccine Czar Sec. Carlito Galvez who earlier said that the government cannot agree to a full immunity for vaccine manufacturers. Galvez revealed late Wednesday that there are vaccine makers which demand full immunity but said the government cannot do so out of concerns over malpractices and willful misconduct. Under the COVID-19 Vaccination Program Act Congress passed last February 22, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers are immune from suits for claims arising out of the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, but not for willful misconduct or gross negligence, Drilon said.
‘’Has it comes to this?’’
Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon asked this question as he hit the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for its offer to the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany of deployment of more Filipino nurses in the two European nations with the highest number of cases and