to help registered

MANILA -- A House leader on Thursday proposed amending the Philippine Nursing Act (Republic Act 9173) with the creation of categories for nurse practitioners and nursing assistants who can lighten the workloads of registered nurses in medical facilities.

House Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation chairperson Alexie Tutor said the amendatory bill can be certified as urgent if the Department of Health (DOH) and Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) deem the nursing personnel shortage to be in "urgent crisis mode."

Tutor said DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa's plan to provide temporary licenses to nursing graduates who failed the mandatory board exam, but nearly passed with ratings of 70 percent to 74 percent has no basis in either the Philippine Nursing Act or the PRC Modernization Act (Republic Act 8981).

"Republic Act 9173 and RA 8981 do not provide for any circumstance or situation wherein either the Nursing Board or the PRC is authorized or empowered to issue any temporary license to practice the nursing profession. We are aware of no precedents for the issuance of temporary professional practice licenses," she said.

Tutor, however, pointed out that RA 9173 has a provision under Section 15 allowing those examinees to retake the exam for those subjects where they got ratings lower than 60 percent.

"Special examinations can be scheduled for those. This is one way for the DOH and PRC to achieve what they would like to happen: have more passers of the nursing boards," she said. She also proposed that instead of hiring "near passers", the DOH should hire several unemployed passers of the nursing boards through filling up the vacancies for nurses of the DOH hospitals' plantilla items.

KABAYAN Party-list Rep. Ron

Salo, for his part, backed Herbosa's proposal to grant temporary licenses to nursing board takers who obtained scores between 70 percent to 74 percent, as he acknowledged the pressing need for additional nursing personnel in government hospitals.

Salo said this temporary measure will help address the current shortage while the government formulates a comprehensive long-term solution.

"This immediate action will provide us with additional manpower to support our healthcare system while we work on a sustainable solution for this matter," Salo said.

Salo, however, stressed that certain conditions must be adopted before granting temporary licenses to nonboard passers.

He recommended that the DOH prioritize board passers in its hiring and only consider granting temporary licenses to non-board passers once there is an actual insufficient number of qualified board passers available.

"It is crucial for the DOH to prioritize board passers in granting these temporary licenses. Only after ensuring that there are no qualified board passers available that they proceed to consider non-board passers," Salo said.

Salo further noted that temporary license holders should still be required to take and pass the board exams within a specified timeframe.

"This condition ensures that they meet the standards of the nursing profession and maintain the quality of healthcare services," he said.

By Emily ingco SAN DIEGO, CA -- Laban Pilipinas! Suporta galing sa mga

taga San Diego kailangan!

Arriving in San Diego with the heart and pride of the Philippines, the Philippines Men’s National Lacrosse Team are ready to represent and dominate in the World Lacrosse Men’s Championships.

With 11 of the original 23 players and skillful athletes from around the globe (including the US and Australia), the men are serving nothing but rebanse (revenge).

“As you can imagine, we got some high expectations for 2023,”

Ron Garcia (president of Philippines Lacrosse Association (PLA)) said.

During the monumental 2018 season, the men made their first appearance in the World Championship in Israel, triumphantly placing 10th out of 46 countries. Like 2018, the 2023 team gracefully qualified for the World Lacrosse Men’s Championships among three other teams. After recruiting national lacrosse athletes with extraordinary expertise to fill in the gaps of the team, the men leave their blood, sweat, and tears out on the field in preparation for game day.

“Everyone is sending their best to this championship and everyone’s competing,” Garcia said. “This is kind of a big deal and we want to showcase our best athletes within those parameters of skill and being Filipino.”

With young players beginning to make a name for themselves out on the field and older athletes having to retire from the sport, Garcia eagerly predicts a new future for the Philippines National team.

Although it was difficult to find a specific time to fly everyone out, the Philippines Lacrosse Association persevered in finding the availability to train and come together like Kapamilya. This is the PLA’s main goal —it's capability in bringing Filipinos together through a sport.

Under Japan’s mantra-- “Lacrosse makes friends” -- Garcia and the board members of PLA introduced their love for lacrosse to the Philippines in hopes of expanding the North American sport.

“In 2013, myself and Justin Manjares (director of International Affairs and board member of the Philippines Lacrosse Association) took a trip to the Philippines and introduced lacrosse to a few schools: one being an international school in Manila and Silliman University in Dumaguete,” Garcia said. “A lot of us continue to go back to the Philippines to help with the programs we started and so forth. It was one of the most amazing times in my life, as I saw the same attitudes, smiles, and faces like I do here.”

Along with publicizing the sport in his hometown, Garcia enjoys uniting Filipino lacrosse athletes with similar backgrounds

LOS ANGELES, CA -- The summer months are here, signaling that it’s time to soak up the warm weather, enjoy time outside, and make the most of the longer days. The hotter months can also bring additional risk for outdoor activities, so follow these safety tips to prepare for a fun and healthy summer.

Use sun protection. Always take protective steps when enjoying time in the sun. Make use of the shade on a sunny day to keep cool and reduce the risk of sunburn. A widebrimmed hat can provide additional protection from damaging UV rays. Best of all is broad-spectrum sunscreen, which should be applied 20 minutes before going outdoors. Choose sunscreen with at least SPF 15, and reapply every 2 hours and after swimming, sweating, or toweling off.

Prepare for bugs. When planning a day outside, be sure to pack insect repellent. Warmer weather means more insects, which can be more than noisy nuisances. Insects like mosquitoes and ticks can also carry disease. If the day calls for spending time in tall grass or heavily wooded areas, wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants to prevent bites. Remember to check your clothing, body, and pets for ticks upon returning indoors. Stay active. Staying active is also important to good health, and summer is a great time to jumpstart an active lifestyle. Try to get at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week, whether that’s swimming, playing catch, or just going for a walk around the neighborhood. Many people break up the 150 minutes a week into 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

But do whatever works for your schedule and lifestyle. Physical activity doesn’t just help you stay in shape: moving more can also improve stress and anxiety and lead to better sleep.

Drink enough water. Staying on top of fluid intake is key to staying healthy and hydrated in the heat, and it can be easy to become dehydrated without noticing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends drinking at least 64 ounces of water a day.

Sports drinks can help replenish vital electrolytes after time in the hot sun but should be consumed in moderation due to their high sugar content.

Update your COVID protection.

Winter may be known as the cold and flu season, but COVID remains a threat year-round. If you are already vaccinated but don’t yet have an updated vaccine, consider getting one — especially if you are planning to travel, attend crowded events, or spend time with older adults. Updated COVID vaccines offer protection against two strains of the COVID virus. And if you’re 65 or older, or you are immunocompromised, you can get a second dose of an updated vaccine because you’re at high risk for COVID complications.

“With the official public health emergency ending, people may be tempted to dismiss COVID as something they don’t need to worry about when they make plans for the summer,” said Dr. Peter Chang, a cardiologist at Memorial Hermann in Houston, TX. “The truth is, COVID is still part of our lives, and staying up to date on vaccines will help keep COVID from disrupting the things you want to do.”

For more info and to find a free vaccine, visit www.vaccines.gov.

By FRANCINE m AIgu E

There are male politicians across the nation, who are caught in scandals involving inappropriate behavior towards women, some in the workplace, some out. These multiple stories have stirred society with what many have the audacity to call "a trend." Lack of professionalism, lack of respect, lack of good ol' chivalry...a trend?

The range of claims made by women against these male politicians is wide. Local stories tell of unsolicited advances. National stories tell of consensual acts gone wrong.

Young women wooed by middleaged men through cyber chat spaces and explicit text messages. Female powerhouses, who have garnered titles, such as Navy Admiral and University Dean, who have authored policies to protect other women, whose horrific experiences caused them to fall silent. These claims are hard to hear and, for many, even harder to discuss.

I applaud our community for making an effort to engage in healthy conversations, even debates, about these issues; however, these conversations continue to be polluted by notions that the women in these situations had to have enjoyed the attention given to them and that's why they waited so long to release their stories.

Is it possible that these women felt complimented on some level by men in highly powerful leadership positions taking an interest in them?

Yes, especially the women who actively sought and engaged in explicit communication with these men. We would be hard-pressed to find a woman, or man for that matter, who does not like to be called attractive. Does this excuse manipulation, sexual harassment, and invasion of personal space, especially in the workplace? No.

Women have worked a long time to be taken seriously in the workplace, to be seen and valued as equals. There are still women around the world, who have yet to taste a morsel of female empowerment in their home, let alone a workplace.

Here in the US, women are digging deep to find their voice to speak out against men, whose sexual urges blinded their ability to see these women as professional equals, who instead saw these women as inferiors on which they could prey.

Some still cry, "But these men are good politicians!" But are they good men? Are they good enough that you would trust them to share an office space with your mother, your daughter, or your friend? If we can't