Pagkasawi ng 8,500 batang Pilipino maiiwasan

MALDIVES (July 14, 2009) – Hindi kailangang masawi sa aksidente at pananakit ang may 8,500 batang Pilipino kada taon kung mabibigyan sila ng sapat na proteksyon ng pamayanan at pamahalaan, ani Senator Loren Legarda kahapon.

Ang pahayag ay ginawa ni Loren bilang suporta sa isang programa ng Department of Education na magbibigay-kaalaman sa mga estudyante sa elementarya at sekondaryang mga paaralan kung papaano mapapahalagahan ang kanilang sariling kaligtasan.

“This initiative by the DepEd is most welcome as our children must be well-informed on how they can protect themselves from injury as well as from exploitation,” sabi ni Loren, na nasa Maldives bilang head ng delegation ng United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR).

Sinabi ni Loren na sa tahanan, eskwelahan at lansangan man ay nalalagay sa panganib ang buhay ng maraming bata, batay na rin sa pag-aaral na isinagawa ng Safe Kids Philippines na sa 8,500 mga batang Pilipino na namamatay sa aksidente kada taon, 3,600 sa kanila ay sa mga kalsada sinasamang-palad.

“Children are most vulnerable to hazardous conditions that may be prevailing in some schools, whose construction may not meet safety standards or whose features like stairs and balcony railings may be contributory to preventable accidents,” anya.

Ayon sa SKP ay 20 milyong bata ang naglalakad patungo sa kanilan paaralan kada araw.

“They must also be protected against elements that take advantage of their innocence, and I am referring to drug pushers and other lawless elements, including sexual predators who had gone high-tech through the internet in luring in unsuspecting children,” anang mambabatas.

Ayon sa DepEd ay isasama ang special safety lessons sa Sibika at Kultura sa elementarya at sa Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika sa high schools.

I ask Comelec to act on biometrics issue

I urged today the Commission on Election (Comelec) to use the remaining time before the 2010 election to ensure that all registered voters would have their biometric data on file with the commission.

I issued the call in the face of a Comelec pronouncement that it does not have the biometric data of some 25 million voters.

I also call on the commission to make a clear and emphatic statement whether or not those without biometric date would be able to vote in the 2010 elections.

The Comelec must be clear about this issue because the confusion on biometrics being a requirement or not in 2010 may result to voters being prevented from voting due to incorrect information at the precinct level.

the commission should do everything possible to ensure that the 25 million voters lacking biometric information like digitally captured pictures, signatures and thumb prints are not disenfranchised.

The Comelec is partly responsible if many voters had not bothered to have their biometrics taken because of an earlier pronouncement by the commission that it was not mandatory under the Poll Automation Law.

But now that the budget for Poll Automation Law had been appropriated, the Comelec is now saying that voters must have their biometric data taken by the Comelec.

There is still time for all voters to have their biometrics taken, adding the Comelec only need to undertake a massive information campaign through newspapers, radio and television, asking voters to go to Comelec offices where their biometrics can be taken.