Phil Govt Breast milk Bank Industry save Babies

[image from affordablecebu.com]

The Philippine government's state-run breast milk bank is intensifying collection efforts to boost breastfeeding among the poor and help women return to work immediately after giving birth if they want to do so.

Hundreds of women come to have their babies at the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital, the busiest maternity institution in Manila, the capital, where more than 12 million people live. Many women are barely able to afford even the minimal payment, and to help cover their costs some of them donate breast milk to the hospital's milk bank, which is used to feed babies whose mothers have lactation problems.

Esmeraldo Ilem, head of the hospital's family planning unit, said the milk is also sold at up to US$10 for four liters to other hospitals and individuals, with mothers as a first priority. "Even hospitals in far-flung areas or provinces come here to buy milk from us," Ilem told IRIN. "[For instance,] when a mother dies in a hospital [where there is no milk bank, the family] comes here to source the milk."

Nurses ask for donations to the hospital's breast milk bank, where it is pasteurized and refrigerated. Ilem said milk from the Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital also helps working mothers give their babies' breast milk after returning to work. The hospital started its bank in 2007, but since then at least two other facilities in the capital have opened milk banks.

A recent study by the government's Food and Nutrition Research Institute showed that exclusive breastfeeding - giving babies only breast milk for the first six months of life, which boosts their immunity to childhood diseases - has risen from 36 percent in 2008 to 47 percent in 2011 in the Philippines. Breastfeeding a baby within one hour of being born, which has also been proven to reduce infant deaths, increased from 32 percent in 2008 to 52 percent in 2011.

However, there are "disparities in exclusive breastfeeding rates" in different parts of the country and further effort is needed to increase breastfeeding so as to reduce infant mortality. "Human milk or breast milk is the best way to make babies healthy in the early stages of life," said Ilem. "Sadly... there are many mothers who need to go back to work or do not lactate very well, so this is where our milk comes in."

Milk codes

A 2009 law on breastfeeding protects a woman's right to breastfeed publicly, and requires private as well as public companies to allot time for breastfeeding. All public institutions have to provide lactation stations separate from bathrooms.

Since 1986, Executive Order 51, known locally as the "Milk Code", has prohibited the advertising of infant formula for infants under two years old.

But these gains are at risk, according to the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP), one of the country's largest labor associations, which has warned that the infant formula lobby may have persuaded lawmakers to promote legislation seeking to reverse the breastfeeding law.

"If this happens then we may end up with more unhealthy babies," warned TUCP spokesman Alan Tanjusay, who said his group is prepared to fight the proposed legislation. "This is where the importance of milk banks also comes in - they provide alternatives for sourcing human milk for all our babies."

IRINEWS 

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DFA revoked PPP accreditation for Travel Agencies

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) defended on its recent decision to remove the accreditation requirements for travel agencies offering passport services to the public.

The DFA denied the decision discriminates against travel agencies, saying it is part of a whole range of measures being undertaken to further improve the delivery of consular services.

"We would like to make it clear that the directive we issued in May as well as the latest guidelines allowing accredited travel agencies to transact with us only until the end of the year are not intended to drive travel agencies out of business," Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Administration Rafael E. Seguis said in a statement.

"In fact, the guidelines do not prevent travel agencies from assisting those who are willing and have the means to avail themselves of the services they offer. The guidelines are intended to allow ordinary passport applicants to enjoy the same special treatment travel agency clients enjoy but at no extra cost to them."

Seguis explained that travel agencies have long benefitted from special privileges that allowed them to accept, pre-process and, until the recent introduction of the electronic passport, even file applications on behalf of their clients.

These privileges, he said, include guaranteed same-day processing and dedicated express lanes for applicants who come to them for assistance.

While travel agency-assisted applicants shell out anywhere from ₱1,800 to ₱7,000 for these privileges, Seguis said the DFA only collects from them ₱1,200 for expedited processing -- the same amount paid by ordinary passport applicants for the same expedited processing --and the ₱500 accreditation annual fee collected from each of the 551 accredited travel agencies.

"Unfortunately, unlike travel agency clients who can breeze through the application process, ordinary applicants have to come to our offices as early as midnight and wait in line for hours before they could be served," the DFA official said.

"We strongly felt there was a need to correct this situation as it is inconsistent with the steps that we have been taking to improve the delivery of our consular services, such as the transfer of our offices to better facilities inside shopping malls, that we hope would finally eliminate the long lines that have been associated with the passport application process," he added.

In addition to the transfer of passport offices to shopping malls, Seguis said the other measures being undertaken by the DFA include: the acceptance of passport applications in these mall-based offices from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays to Saturdays; releasing of passports half-days during Sundays; and the activation before the end of the year of a dedicated call center for applicants to schedule their appointments at their preferred location and schedule.

John Doe Passport Holder

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) did not mention about the John Doe Passport Holder rumor as spread in the online forums that foreign nationals could easily obtain a Philippine Passports by bribing Travel Agencies or directly to the DFA officials but this move of the DFA is the most appropriate way to correct the previous mistakes not just the consistency of service to all Filipinos, Saving the Passport processing cost but also of the illegal monkey business by the private agencies dealing with Philippines Passports.

3 years past, a Romanian National commented that he managed to obtain Philippine passport without any requirements and without any proof that he is a Philippine national by bribing an agency with a direct access to the DFA.

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Japan-Asean Anti-terrorism meet in Cebu; Military Clash with Abu Sayyaf al Qaeda linked kills 11 in Basilan

A platoon of the Philippine Marines marches in this file Photo.  —File Photo by Reuters

Philippine forces clashed with Muslim extremists on a southern island Thursday (July 26, 2012), leaving seven soldiers and four militants dead, the military said.

Elite rangers battled members of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group on the troubled southern island of Basilan, with three soldiers and two insurgents also wounded in the clash.

“Firefight is ongoing as of this report,” the military statement said.

It was the latest in a series of deadly clashes in the heavily-forested island of Basilan, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.

The group was founded in the 1990s with seed money from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Cebu meet tackles Japan-Asean cooperation to fight terrorism

A $4.1 billion fund is being proposed for anti-terrorism cooperation between Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

“There should be mutual cooperation in the area of combating terrorism.” said Tomatsu Shinotsuka of the Japanese Foreign Ministry during the 7th Asean-Japan counter-terrorism dialogue at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel yesterday.

The dialogue will give the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Japan, a major economic player in the region a chance to discuss the substantive progress, achievement and implementation of useful projects in fighting counter-terrorism.

“Terrorism is a common threat not only in Asia but also to the world as a whole.” said Shinotsuka.

“There should be speed of cooperation and mutual trust. We will take up various aspects of cooperation between Japan and the Asean,” Shinotsuka added.

Undersectary Nabil Tan said the anti-terrorism cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Japan will be boosted by the $4.1 billion Japan-Asean Integration Fund (JAIF).

Tan said the counter-terrorism dialogue is a global undertaking aimed at fostering closer collaboration and exchange of information among the ten ASEAN member states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa, Jr. who also chairs the Philippine Anti-Terrorism Council, said border security is necessary to ensure safety in the country. Ochoa said this is on top of the country’s anti-terrorism policy.

“Effective law enforcement, strong institutional mechanisms and addressing social problems like poverty and education form the core of the country’s three-point agenda to fight counter-terrorism,” Ochoa said.

For the institutional mechanisms, Ochoa said the amendments of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and the Human Security Act is important for it to prevent and suppress terrorist financing and to put in check terrorism activities in the country.

Abu Sayyaf in Southern Philippines, and Qaeda link groups Jemaah Islamiyah of Indonesia operating in Malaysia and Southern Thailand remains a threat in the troubled area of the ASEAN region.

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