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Emano backs Cynthia Villar VOL. 2, No. 274
Cagayan de Oro City
Wednesday
By RUEL V. PELONE Managing editor
CAGAYAN de Oro Mayor Vicente Emano and at least 76 of the city’s barangay chairpersons––and four barangay councilors––officially endorsed the candidacy of senatorial candidate Cynthia Villar of Team PNoy-NP coalition yesterday.
In endorsing the candidacy of Mrs. Villar, Emano urged the barangay officials, who gathered in one of the hotels in the city, to support the wife of Senator Manny Villar. Mr. Villar, said Emano, was a good family friend. “Maghangyo pud ko nga atong tabangan kay dili naman makahigayon og adto matag barangay si Mrs. Villar,” the mayor told the 76 barangay chairpersons and other barangay. For his part, Liga ng mga Barangay President Jun Acenas told Mindanao Daily
CAGAYAN de Oro Mayor Vicente Emano raises the right hand of senatorial candidate Cynthia Villar during her short visit to Cagayan de Oro City yesterday where she was also endorsed by at least 76 barangay chairpersons and four barangay councilors.
Acenas, who is also run- the senatoriables being enthat 76 of the 80 barangay chairpersons have pledged ning as councilor for the dorsed by the Liga ng mga full support to the candidacy city second district, said Barangay. See BACKS/p.10 Mrs. Villar is just one of of Mrs. Villar.
April 10, 2013
P10.00
Special feature
No hope for the urban poor? By JANESS ANN J. ELLAO of the Bulatlat.com
AFTER the fire that razed their homes in Tondo, Manila, all NengPalconit, 41, could think of was to find a safe place for their family. She applied right away for the relocation site being offered, which she realized later on, was the biggest and the worst decision she ever made. “We lost our jobs when we moved to the relocation site after the fire burned down our homes. Shortly after that, we, again, lost whatever was left to us in a flood during the monsoon rain last year,” Palconit told Bulatlat.com. Palconit never joined protest actions before. But when officials of the National Housing Authority told them to go back to their flooded homes after the monsoon rains in August 2012, the residents refused. They held several protest actions, which included a rally in front of the NHA’s office in Quezon City. This made her realize the importance of collective action when pushing and fighting for one’s rights. The residents won and they were allowed to stay in the homes they occupied. These are located relatively in front of the village, which were not affected by the flood. Palconit also sees their victory as beneficial to other urban poor communities about to be demolished
because the NHA would have to build new houses. So on March 23, she and other residents from Kasiglahan Village, the relocation site in Rodriguez, Rizal where they were transferred, joined a bigger protest — the people’s calvary. They marched from one government office to another, demanding for the scrapping of anti-poor policies that are, Palconit said, legalizing the violation of their basic rights and needs. For Palconit and other urban poor families, relying solely on laws and policies, which the government claims would benefit them, means waiting in vain. See poor/p.10
Banning home births to worsen, not improve maternal death rate: health groups By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL of Bulatlat.com
First of a series THE statistics is glaring. Two hundred and twenty one mothers die in every 100,000 live births, according to the 2011 data of the National Statistics Office. It has increased from 162 in 2009. Purportedly to address the problem of maternal deaths, the Department of Health (DOH) implemented a policy discouraging home births assisted by traditional birth attendants (TBAS) or hilots.
The Department of Health passed Administrative Order 2008-0029 known as “Implementing Health Reforms towards Rapid Reduction in Maternal and Neonatal Mortality,” called the “No Home Birthing Policy,” during the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. This policy was also intended to enable the Philippines to achieve its commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The MDGs include See GROUPS/p.7
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