news The Sunday Times


Doctors warn officials of abortifacients in program


THE Philippine Medical Association (PMA), the umbrella organization of medical doctors in the country, over the weekend urged the Department of Health (DOH) to study the possibil- ity that certain “abortifacients” may be present in some inventories of the de- partment’s family planning program. PMA President Dr. Oscar Tinio stated in his letter to Health Secretary Enrique Ona that based on the prin- ciple, “life begins at fertilization.” Anything that prevents the ferti-


lized ovum to be implanted in the uterus may be considered as abor- tive and therefore, if prescribed, may violate our solemn oath as physi- cians to save and protect human life particularly the unborn.


This came after a consultative meeting was held recently between the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and the PMA wherein it was agreed upon that in- deed “life begins at fertilization.” Abortifacients may include any de-


vice, medicine, substance, practice, which may damage, injure, interfere or recklessly endanger or cause the expul- sion or death of the unborn child. “If life begins at fertilization, any- thing therefore that prevents the implantation of the living fertilized ovum in the uterus of the mother is abortive” Tinio said. According to Tinio, a fertilized


ovum results from the union of the sperm and egg, which both the CBCP and PMA believe at this stage possesses life. In order for this living ovum to survive it has to be implanted in the uterus where it will be nourished and given the chance to develop. Contraceptives like intrauterine devices and certain hormones affect the environment of the uterus, which ultimately will result in the failure of the living fertilized ovum to be implanted and survive. “The PMA is against abortion and so is the CBCP. We doctors took an oath to save and protect human life and that includes the unborn child. The PMA and the CBCP stands united on this,” Tinio pointed out. “The Philippine Medical Associa-


tion is volunteering to share our sci- entific and medical expertise to the Department of Health to shed more light on this issue in order for us to champion even more the sanctity of human life,” Tinio added in his amended letter to Health department. The CBCP and the PMA is set to meet again early January next year. SAMMY MARTIN


SUNDAY BY LLANESCA T. PANTI REPORTER


A 3


D e cember 12, 2010


HE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said over the week end that it would prioritize


processing allocations to scholarships and hospitalizations from the P70-million worth of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of each member of the House of Representatives.


“The DBM is giving priority to the processing if allocations for schol- arships and hospitalizations be- cause indigent students badly need


week, stated. This developed during the brief- ing for the congressional staff by the DBM on the utilization of the project menu and the requirements needed to process the list of projects chargeable against the PDAF sub- mitted by the legislators.


these funds for their education and many Filipinos are in need of medi- cal assistance,” the Committee Daily Bulletin, which was released this


In the same meeting, the Budget department also discussed the proc- ess in facilitating the issuance of the Special Allotment Release Order and the Notice of Cash Allocation, which are necessary for the imple- mentation of the projects. The congressional staff members


were also tasked by the DBM to closely and regularly coordinate with the implementing agencies to


JOURNALIST SHOOTS POLICEMAN A JOURNALIST shot and wounded a policeman, authorities said on Saturday, after


the reporter got into a row with a man he accused of urinating on the front gate of his house. Police officer Arthur Martinez intervened after he saw reporter Jasper Barcelon and the man arguing heatedly with Barcelon then turning on the policeman, shooting him three times, a police report said. AFP


Pro-poor projects priority in P70-M PDAF T


facilitate the implementation of their projects.


Deputy Minority Leader Rep. Danilo Suarez of Quezon earlier raised alarm over a syndicate using six fake guarantee letters under his name to get 37,000 medical help from Suarez’s PDAF. The 2011 PDAF menu—pre-


pared by the House Committee on Appropriations and the Budget de- partment—includes assistance for the Local Government Unit pro- grams concerning education (school equipment), health (as- sistance to indigents, additional ambulance, medical missions, in- surance), livelihood, social serv- ices, rural electrification, water


Trust fund set up for two Filipino victims of American sex abuser


WASHINGTON D.C.: US and Filipino of- ficials have set up a fund to com- pensate two girls who were sexually abused by a Florida man in what is believed to be the first such case, US prosecutors said Friday (Saturday in Manila).


The funds were established in the case of Donald Mathias, who sub- jected the young girls to repeated sexual abuse during visits to the Philippines in 2007, the US Depart- ment of Justice said.


The US Department of Justice said this was likely the first case in which the United States provided


restitution trusts for the benefit of foreign victims of sex tourism. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said the girls were aged 11 and 12 at the time of the abuse. Mathias, 64, was sentenced in March to 20 years in prison for en- gaging in sex tourism in the Philip- pines and also ordered to pay $200,000 in damages to his victims. He pleaded guilty in December


2009 to four counts of traveling in foreign commerce and engaging in illicit sexual conduct.


During his trial, Mathias admit- ted he had contacted the girls’


Lawmaker pushes for more gay rights


HOMOPHOBIA has put the lesbian and gay rights in the Philip- pines in the backseat, a lawmaker said Saturday. Rep. Kaka Bag-ao of Akbayan party-list, the principal author of House Bill 515, or the Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and providing penal- ties, noted that such homophobia is stirred by the fact that the country has no standing policy on human rights abuses against lesbians, gays bisexual and transgenders (LGBT). “Here in the Philippines, you can fire a gay or lesbian em-


ployee simply because of their sexual orientation or gender iden- tity and get away with it. You can expel lesbian and gay students arbitrarily or impose arbitrary rules against them and you won’t face any charges. It’s wrong,” Bag-ao said. Without any enabling law, Bag-ao noted that the constitutional rights and freedoms of LGBTs can be easily violated and dis- crimination against LGBTs goes unpunished. “We are not saying that they should be given special rights, just basic fairness,” she pointed out. Having said so, Bag-ao underscored that President Benigno


Aquino 3rd could start changing this scheme by certifying the House Bill 515 as urgent. “By standing up for equal rights, PNoy would send a strong signal against hatred and homophobia. It would mean that the government embraces universal human rights for all Filipinos, and not a single Filipino is left behind,” Bag-ao said in closing. LLANESCA T. PANTI


Man wants to establish paternal right over US-born illegitimate son


Dear PAO, I have a son with my ex-girlfriend. He was born in the United States of America five years ago but he is now living here in the Philippines with his mother. His US birth certificate, how- ever, does not indicate my name as the father and was left blank because I was not present at the time of his birth, as per state rule. I have been supporting the child financially since birth up to present. He is now in high school and I just want to legiti- mize and protect my parental right over him. Though he has both US and Philippine pass- ports for being dual citizen, as far as I am aware of, no late reg- istration of his birth has been done yet with our local registry. If I apply for late registration, can I directly put my name as the father? Or, are there any other processes, which I need to do to document and legally establish my paternity to my son?


Sincerely, Junior


Dear Junior, With the advent of the Republic Act 9255, or the


“Revilla Law” (An Act Allowing Illegitimate Chil- dren to Use the Surname of Their Father, Amend- ing for the Purpose Article 176 of Executive Order 209, or “Family Code of the Philippines”) which was approved by the president on February 24, 2004, illegitimate children are now entitled to use the surname of their father as long as the filiation of the children to their father has been expressly recognized by the father through the record of birth appearing in the civil register, or when an admis- sion a public document or private handwritten in- strument is made by the father.


It can be inferred from your narration that you are not married to the mother of your son con- sidering that according to you, the name of the father was left blank in the birth certificate of your son. As such, your son is deemed to be your ille- gitimate child.


In order for him to use your surname, you are to execute an Affidavit of Admission of Paternity or an Affidavit of Acknowledgement wherein you are expressly recognizing him as your son. There is no need for you to apply for the late registra-


tion of your son since his birth is already regis- tered in the United States of America. What you have to do is to file the Affidavit of


Admission of Paternity or the Affidavit of Ac- knowledgement together with the Certificate of Live Birth or Report of Birth of your son issued by the United States of America and the Affidavit to Use Surname of the Father at the Local Civil Reg- istry Office of Manila. The Affida- vit of Admission of Paternity or the Affidavit of Acknowledgement shall be registered within 20 days from the date of its execution. (Rules 4, 5 and 6, Administrative Order 1, Series of 2004, Office of the Civil Registrar General, Na- tional Statistics Office, Manila) At this juncture, it bears stressing


that even if you are to recognize your son, he will not be considered as your legitimated child. He will remain to be your illegitimate son, unless you are going marry his mother. Furthermore, in the case of Joey B. Briones v Maricel P. Miguel (440 SCRA 455), the Supreme Court held that an illegitimate child is under the sole parental authority of the mother. In the ex- ercise of that authority, she is entitled to keep the child in her company. This is the rule regardless of whether the father admits paternity. (Mossesgeld v Court of Appeals, 300 SCRA 464, 468, December 23, 1998) The recognition of an illegitimate child by the father could be a ground for ordering the latter to give support to, but not custody of, the child. (David v Court of Appeals, 250 SCRA 82) Thus, your son who is an illegitimate child


would be under the sole parental authority of the mother although you may exercise your visitation rights over your son. We hope that we were able to enlighten you on the matter. Please take note, however, that all the information contained herein are based on our appreciation of the facts have given and on the assumptions we made. A different legal opinion may be given if other facts not included in your query will be discussed.


Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the


Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net or via text message (key in: Times dearpao <YOUR QUES- TIONS> and send to 2299).


mother and exchanged hundreds e- mails with her about having sex with the young girls.


Mathias paid the mother thou- sands of dollars from 2005 to Decem- ber 2008, court documents showed. He admitted he twice traveled to the Philippines in 2007 to have sex with them, and film the acts. The girls were also forced to sign a contract re- quiring them to be his “sex slaves.” But Filipino police detained Mathias in December 2008 when he sought, un- successfully this time, to engage in sexual conduct with the girls. “The trusts serve to ensure that res-


titution money obtained for the vic- tims of Mathias’s crimes is used for ap- propriate purposes and for the benefit of the victims,” according to a US De- partment of Justice statement. The Center for Special Needs


Trusts was designated as the trustee. The trusts will initially be funded with proceeds from the sale of prop- erty Mathias transferred to US offi- cials as part of his plea agreement, it added.


The United Nations says the Philip- pines is among developing countries that have become major centers for the global sex tourism industry where


women and children are exploited. At least 1 million children fall prey to commercial sexual exploi- tation worldwide each year, accord- ing to UNICEF, which cites 2006 statistics showing that about 44 percent of all Filipino children are living in poverty. The UN agency, which provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children and mothers in need, says the growing ease of travel has lured child-sex predators into developing countries like the Philippines and made children more vulnerable to the abuse. AFP


‘Acts of God’ coverage in insurance eyed


THE immediate passage of a measure implementing a compre- hensive insurance scheme that will cover the damage caused by natural disasters has been sought in the House of Representatives. Rep. Teodorico Haresco Jr. of Ang


Kasangga party-list was referring to his House Bill 2672, which states that no comprehensive motor vehicle insurance policy will be issued and delivered in the Philippines unless it contains in substance the provision that comprehensive motor vehicle insurance shall cover all fortuitous events, such as floods, landslides, typhoon, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other related


natural calamities. Haresco noted that the passage of the bill would show that we have learned from the aftermath of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng last year which not only claimed hundreds of lives but also de- stroyed billions worth of public infrastructures and private properties, including about P1- billion worth of insurance claims for motor vehicle damages. “Unfortunately, some insurance companies used the ‘Acts of God’ clause in the insurance policy to avoid payments to insured car owners, leaving comprehensive insurance plan holders helpless in amid the enormous losses. And this


happened despite the fact that their motor vehicles are covered by comprehensive insurance policy,” Haresco pointed out. “It’s clear that there is an urgent


need to amend the Insurance Code of the Philippines to ensure that natural disasters or fortuitous events are clearly enumerated in the coverage of comprehensive motor vehicle insurance,” he added. Haresco, however, conceded that inclusion of fortuitous events in the comprehensive motor vehicle insurance could be subject to additional fees as may be prescribed by the Insurance Commission. LLANESCA T. PANTI


supply (pipes, tanks), public works (roads and bridges), irriga- tion, peace and order, housing and forest management. House Speaker Feliciano Bel- monte Jr. has earlier said that the P70-million PDAF for each law- maker will be subject to certain restrictions, particularly banning them from using their PDAF to fund foundations and nongovern- ment organizations, including foundation or nongovernment or- ganization owned by lawmakers. Belmonte, who represents the


Fourth District of Quezon City, also noted that the local governments cannot convert the PDAF that they will receive to intelligence fund.


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