FRENCH LIVING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Plus possible d'acheter un caoutchouc sans ordonnance ! In Barangay Ayala Alabang in Muntinlupa City, people will need a prescription to buy a condom. The Sanggunian Barangay of Ayala Alabang released an ordinance that takes effect on February 24, 2011 that seeks, among others, to penalize the sale and purchase of "anti-conceptional substance or devices," like condoms and contraceptive pills, without a prescription. The ordinance requires health services performed within the territorial jurisdiction of Barangay Ayala Alabang to use only "safe, ethical, effective, legal and non-abortifacient medicines or drugs or machines, devices or methods of treatment that do not cause abortion intentionally or unintentionally." The ordinance requires pharmacies within the territorial jurisdiction of Barangay Ayala Alabang to ask for a prescription before selling contraceptives like condoms and hormone pills. Some contraceptive drugs, like the injectible Depo...

AU TOUR DE ...  LIGOT ! Senator Franklin Drilon on Thursday questioned former military comptroller Lt. Gen. Jacinto Ligot how his brother-in-law acquired P300 million in cash and assets from 1999 to 2004 despite being unemployed. Drilon, chairman of the Senate finance committee, asked Ligot how his brother-in-law Edgardo Yambao made so much money and bought expensive properties without having any declared mode of income. He explained that Yambao retired in 1999 and did not file an income tax return from then until 2004. During this time, he said millions were deposited to his bank account.   "He is a mysterious person here," Drilon said during the day's Senate blue ribbon committee hearing on the alleged corruption in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Drilon likewise questioned Ligot and his wife's sale of a 290-square kilometer unit in Essensa Forbes Condominium in Fort Bonifacio, Global City to Yambao in 2005. The property was supposedly sold a...

UNE CENTRALE ELECTRIQUE A CHARBON SUR DAVAO ? (in english) Tous ceux qui vivent à Davao-City ou dans les environs, savent qu’il y aura pénurie d’électricité au plus tard à l’horizon 2014. Il est donc grand temps de pendre une décision. Passer au nucléaire ? Cela prendrait trop de temps, il y a urgence. De l’hydroélectrique ? Souvenez-vous des problèmes posés lors de la sècheresse de 2010 ! El Niño revient régulièrement. Souhaitant qu’acteurs et spectateurs de ce projet arrivent rapidement à une solution satisfaisante pour les uns et les autres … ne faites pas trainer les choses, cela serait une fois de plus au détriment des populations et des industries locales déjà fortement affectées. Où en sommes-nous de ce projet de centrale à charbon sur Davao ? DAVAO CITY -- Aboitiz Power Inc., proponent of a $450 million coal-fired power plant in this city, has vouched for the safety of the project and vowed "not to do anything" to harm the environment. "Our compa...

Le Président Aquino prend les rennes ? President Aquino on Thursday ordered a logging moratorium on Philippine national and residual forests to protect and stop the destruction of watersheds and river systems. Aquino also created a task force to lead the government’s campaign against illegal logging. Aquino signed Executive Order (EO) 23 and made the announcement during the inauguration of the newly-constructed water treatment plant of Maynilad Water Services, Inc. in Putatan, Muntinlupa. The President said he is aware that his order will meet opposition from the wood industry but asserted that he would implement it as part of the duty of the State to protect the environment. “Obligasyon nating alagaan ang ating kalikasan. Obligasyon nating matiyak ang kaligtasan ng ating mamamayan mula sa La Niña o sa El Niño o sa anumang sakuna," he said in his speech. “Obligasyon nating unahin ang interes ng taumbayan bago ang laman ng bulsa ng mga naglalakihang kumpanya na nas...

LE MINISTERE DE LA SANTE SOMME DE NE PAS DISTRIBUER DE CONDOMS DURANT LA SAINT-VALENTIN. D A Catholic Church official on Monday warned the Department of Health (DOH) against distributing condoms to couples on Valentine’s Day, saying this may further increase the risk of Filipinos contracting Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). "We should (instead) impart the right message to the people particularly the youth which is faithfulness within the marriage or if they are not yet married, total abstention," said Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Commission on Family and Life, said in an article posted on the CBCP news site. He said giving out free condoms, like what the DOH did last year, would only send the wrong message especially to the youth that it is all right to engage in pre-marital sex as long as it is “safe and protected." “We have to insist on that because the ultimate solution to that (HIV...