Anti-corruption body to collaborate with agencies to develop tech vs red tape, graft
THE PRESIDENTIAL Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) on Wednesday said it will work with several government agencies to ensure seamless transactions and prevent corruption.
PACC Commissioner Greco B. Belgica, in a televised news briefing on Wednesday, said they will be working with the Budget department and the Development Academy of the Philippines to create a technology that would quell bureaucratic red tape.
He also said the PACC is already “drafting legislative proposals and recommendations to the Office of the President to really strengthen the fight against corruption.”
He cited limitations in existing anti-graft laws, but did not elaborate on the planned revisions.
Mr. Belgica said the Public Works department, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and Bureau of Customs are still the “most problematic” government agencies in terms of corruption.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte has been naming public officials supposedly involved in graft during his weekly televised address. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza
Doctor backs Ivermectin as treatment for COVID-19
A DOCTOR on Tuesday urged the government to approve an anti-parasitic drug as treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) even after national health agencies warned against its experimental use.
In a House hearing on Tuesday evening, Allan A. Landrito of the Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines said he has conducted his own trials on ivermectin drugs among his patients.
“For my success, (prevention) is 90% to 99%,” the doctor said, adding that he observed lesser hospital stay among his patients.
Mr. Landrito said he administered the drug to 8,000 patients, of whom only “50 to 100 had watery stools, 10 with cramping, and a few with rashes.”
In the same hearing, officials of the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration warned against the use of Ivermectin, which is unregistered for COVID-19 treatment.
Local Ivermectin is sold as topical cream for human use and pills for veterinary use. No oral ivermectin pill for humans is authorized by the FDA. — Gillian M. Cortez
