OPINIONS / COLUMNS  (October 6– October 12, 2008)

 

KAKAMPI MO ANG BATAS

Atty. Batas Mauricio

 

Tarlac Bishop: Catholics must show displeasure vs. HB 5043

 

SHOW DISPLEASURE VS. REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL, BISHOP URGES: Congressmen, senators and others who are pushing House Bill 5043, otherwise known as the Reproductive Health Bill, you’d better watch out: Tarlac Bishop Florentino Cinense is calling all the Catholic faithful nationwide to reject the bill, and for all Catholics to show their collective displeasure against the bill’s supporters come election time.

In an impassioned homily given during the October 5, 2008 Mass celebrating the feast of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in Ramos, Tarlac and broadcast live over Tarlac’s Radio Maria, Bishop Cinense said Catholics must now “wake up from their apathy” and strongly assert their right to fight anomalies in the country, which he said included House Bill 5043.

Cinense said the Philippines is not suffering hardships and difficulties because of the ever increasing number of Filipinos, but, he said, because of the unabated and continuing graft and corruption in Philippine society and the unequal distribution of wealth and resources which, he added, favors only the rich and the powerful.

***

WHY IS BFAD CHIEF STILL NOT FIRED? I said before that Director Leticia Gutierrez of the Bureau of Foods and Drugs (BFAD) should already resign or be fired, and I am going to say the same thing again, after Progressive Laboratories, an independent testing firm, found various food products other than milk being sold in the market tainted with melamine chemicals in dangerous levels.

The continued stay of Gutierrez as the chief of the government’s primary agency against destructive foods and drugs has become untenable, with daily disclosures coming out in the media that more and more contaminated food products have sneaked into Filipino homes and are now threatening everybody’s lives, under the very noses of BFAD officials and employees.

This could only mean that Gutierrez and her ilk at the BFAD have been totally and shamelessly remiss, and have become fully incompetent and ineffective, in safeguarding the health and wellbeing of our people, for one reason or another, so that there is no more justification for her staying in office one second longer.

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SALVATION IN THE MIDST OF SIN: One question that usually confronts believers who live side by side with sinners and others who no longer follow God’s commands, law and decrees, is this: will believers still be saved when destruction is rained down upon a people who have been committing sin?

The answer, found in Genesis 18:16 to 33 of the Holy Bible, is yes, believers will be spared when God finally destroys a people steeped in transgressions.

According to Genesis, Abraham repeatedly asked God whether the sin city of Sodom will be crushed if there were fifty, forty five, forty, thirty, twenty, ten, and even only five, righteous people remaining in the city.

God unhesitatingly said yes to Abraham each time, promising that Sodom will not be destroyed, if there will be righteous people living there, even if they number only five.

Truly, this is an inspiring Biblical truth, because it shows God’s faithfulness to those who chose to remain true to Him to the end, even if they remained alone while all others have sinned.

This assures salvation to the faithful, who will continue following God even in the midst of sin.

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WALANG SICK LEAVE O VACATION LEAVE SA LABOR CODE: TANONG: BATAS tama po b n hindi byaran ang sick leave & vacation leave khit n hindi ito pnggmit s mga empleyado? gnun po kc ang gngwa s opisina ng mister ko (639163722892).

SAGOT: Salamat po sa tanong na ito. Sa ilalim po ng Labor Code of the Philippines, wala pong obligasyon ang kompanya na magbigay ng sick leave o vacation leave sa kanyang mga manggagawa.

Ang tanging obligasyon ng kompanya ay ang pagbibigay ng tinatawag na service incentive leave, na limang araw bawat taon. Dahil dito, hindi pupuwedeng pilitin ang kompanya na magbigay ng sick leave o vacation leave kung sa umpisa pa lamang ng pagtatrabaho ng manggagawa ay hindi na ito nagbibigay ng ganung benepisyo.

Sa kabilang dako, kung dati ng nagbibigay ng sick leave at vacation leave ang kompanya, hindi nito pupuwedeng basta na lamang ititigil ang pagbibigay nito ng hindi pumapayag ang manggagawa.

Kung basta na lamang ititigil ng kompanya ang pagbibigay ng benepisyong ito ng walang pahintulot ang manggagawa, maaaring masampahan ang mga may-ari o opisyales ng kompanya ng kasong kriminal, batay sa paglabag ng Art. 116 at Art. 288 ng Labor Code of the Philippines, na nagtatakda ng pagkakabilanggo ng hindi bababa ng tatlong buwan at hindi naman tataas ng tatlong taon sa mga lumalabag nito.

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BATAS PARTY LIST: Interested parties can now become members of the BATAS Party List, or the Bagong Alyansang Tagapagtaguyod ng Adhikaing Sambayanan. Please send your names and complete addresses to us, through text, at 0919-609-64-89, or you can call (02) 433-75-49, (02) 433-75-53, or send an email to www.batasnews.com, or at  batasmauricio@yahoo.com, or you can write us at 18 D Mahiyain corner Mapagkawanggawa, Teachers Village, Diliman, Quezon City.

 

 

Ilocos Times copyright 2008

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