SUMMARY
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Former President Benigno Aquino III, who approved the commercial release of the dengue vaccine in 2016, appears at a Senate committee hearing, saying he did not receive advice on the possible risks of Dengvaxia. Medical experts say Aquino was apparently fed wrong information, thus his decision.
The hearing exposes the refusal of Aquino’s health secretary, Janette Garin, to consider the recommendation of the Formulary Executive Council – a panel of top Filipino experts that identifies which medicines and drugs the government may use and procure – against the mass use of Dengvaxia. Her successor, Duterte-time Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial reveals she was pressured by Iloilo 1st District Representative Oscar Garin Jr, husband of Janette, and House Deputy speaker and Cebu 3rd District Representative Gwendolyn Garcia to expand the dengue vaccination program.
Here are the major stories you shouldn’t miss this Friday.
Three generals advising President Rodrigo Duterte – National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and Interior Undersecretary Eduardo Año, who is now supervising the Philippine National Police – see no reason to expand martial law to include Luzon and the Visayas.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said a nationwide declaration of martial law is possible if the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, grows and becomes a bigger threat after the cancellation of peace talks.
Health experts said the root cause of the dengue vaccine problem is “bad science,” saying former president Benigno Aquino III could not be blamed if he was fed the wrong information.
Antonio Dans, an epidemiologist at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), said the warning that there could be negative effects on patients with no previous dengue flu was “initially ignored” and was only recognized later on.
The Federal Communications Commission, in a 3-to-2 vote, adopts a proposal by Republican appointed chairman Ajit Pai, who says his plan would scrap ‘heavy-handed’ rules adopted in 2015 which he argues discouraged investment and innovation
At least 6,700 Rohingya Muslims were killed in the first month of a Myanmar army crackdown on rebels in Rakhine state that began in late August, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Thursday, December 14.
The figure is the highest estimated death toll yet of violence that erupted on August 25 and triggered a massive refugee crisis, with more than 620,000 Rohingya fleeing Myanmar for Bangladesh over a three-month period.
The UN and US have described the military operation as “ethnic cleansing” of the Muslim minority, but have not released specific death tolls.
Marcelo Fernando Pinheiro Veiga, known as “Marcelo Piloto,” is accused of murder and supplying drugs and weapons to Rio de Janeiro’s biggest criminal gang, the Comando Vermelho, or Red Command.
A solar system with as many planets as our own has been discovered with the help of NASA’s Kepler space telescope and artificial intelligence, the US space agency said Thursday, December 14.
However, none of the planets are expected to be hospitable to life.
Walt Disney Co. on Thursday, December 14, agreed to buy key film and television operations of 21st Century Fox in a $52.4-billion stock deal that could reshape the media-entertainment world and step up a challenge to Netflix and emerging tech platforms.
The blockbuster transaction also vastly reduces the Fox media empire built by Rupert Murdoch, leaving the 86-year-old tycoon and his two sons with a more tightly focused group including the Fox broadcast network, Fox News Channel, and sports channels.
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