Hontiveros to Investigate Incident that Led to Woman Giving Birth in Cab

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health vowed on Monday to investigate possible violations to the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law after a woman reportedly gave birth last week inside a taxicab in Quezon City after being refused by two hospitals.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the incident will be on the agenda at the second hearing of her bill that aims to strengthen Republic Act No. 8344, a law that prohibits hospitals from asking for deposits first before treating patients with emergency needs.

According to the initial field investigation conducted by Hontiveros' office, a certain Aira Arellano was turned away by a public hospital in Caloocan City last January 11 after its staff allegedly assessed that she went into labor prematurely. They said that they had no incubator for the baby.

Arellano proceeded to the next nearest hospital but eventually gave birth inside a taxicab. Rescuers and media on the scene then brought her to a private hospital in Fairview, Quezon City. However, the attending staff allegedly only cut the umbilical cord of the infant and said that Arellano could not afford their fees prompting them to transfer to the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC). The EAMC staff that admitted Arellano and her infant, however, said that she had a regular childbirth.

Hontiveros said that based on these accounts, it is worth investigating if the hospital in Fairview, Quezon City, violated the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law. The Senator also said that Arellano and her child were twice victimized.

"She was a victim of a private hospital that refused to admit her because she couldn't afford the deposit demanded of her, and a public hospital that lacked facilities. We cannot tolerate hospitals denying mothers and their children health services in their time of urgent need. Where will our people go if they can't get medical help from either public and private hospitals?" Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said that she will mobilize the resources of her committee to get to the bottom of this matter. She will also coordinate with the Department of Health (DoH) to get an inventory of the facilities at public hospitals and determine legislative and budgetary interventions that can improve health services.

"No life should be unnecessarily put at risk, no person should be denied adequate and quality medical care just because they are poor and our government-run hospitals cannot adequately respond to their emergency medical needs. We have heard this unfortunate story so many times already. It's time we put an end to it," Hontiveros added.

Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 216 otherwise known as "The Amendments to the Anti-Hospital Deposit Act" that seek heavier penalties on hospitals that continue to demand any deposit or other form of advance payment, as a prerequisite for admission or medical treatment of an emergency patient.

Phoenix Petroleum Taps Globe Business to Boost Employee Productivity

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Leading independent and fastest-growing oil company in the country Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. (PNX) has tapped Globe Business, the corporate information and communications technology arm of Globe Telecom, for the use of G Suite to maximize business efficiency.

Through the partnership with Globe Business, PNX was able to acquire G Suite licences that allow its employees to work better together via secure and reliable workplace tools for email, calendar, text and video chat, document creation, project websites, and online storage and sync.

“We are a growing company, making it necessary for us to acquire a simple yet powerful office tool that would enable easier communication and collaboration among our different departments. Through the help of Globe Business and G Suite, it is now easier to keep track of our progress and to keep up with numerous projects. I recommend it to anyone who wants to level up their productivity at work,” shared Alfred Reyes, PNX’s AVP for IT.

Since the establishment of its first station in Davao in 2005, PNX has expanded nationwide to build a wide network of retail stations and commercial and industrial clients. Its business covers the trading of refined petroleum products and lubricants to retail and commercial channels, operation of oil depots, storage and transport services. Its integrated logistic services include hauling and into-plane services of Jet-A1 fuels to airports and airlines and refuelling of aircraft in key cities.

Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group, Mike Frausing added: “Globe Business is all about using technology to maximize our clients’ operating efficiency which may translate to increased savings and profitability. Through G Suite, we are able to help PNX to increase productivity, reduce information technology cost by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain servers as well as keep their most important corporate data safe.”

Powered by Google Cloud, G Suite allows users to communicate faster and more conveniently with Gmail. It provides storage for up to 30GB of email per user, advanced spam filtering, lightning-fast message search, integrated text, voice and multi-person video chat.

G Suite users can also arrange meetings and organize schedules with Google Calendar, experience hassle-free file management with Google Drive which can be accessed anytime and anywhere from any device, conduct real-time collaboration with Google Docs and Google Sheets, and make beautiful presentations together with Google Slides.

At the same time, employees can create and share project website and intranet pages without any programming skills or technical support through Google Sites, connect to the right people, ideas, and information with Google+, and manage business critical information with Google Vault retention, archiving, and eDiscovery tool.

To know more about G Suite, contact your Globe Business Account Manager or visit business.globe.com.ph


PHOTO CAPTION: Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group Mike Frausing (left) and Phoenix Petroleum AVP for IT Alfred Reyes (right) display G Suite on their mobile devices.

Top Ten News Updates About the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant

Wazzup Pilipinas!

We've had a lot of proud moments recently, like when Pia Wurtzbach won the Miss Universe 2015 title! For more than six decades, the Miss Universe has empowered women to showcase their beauty, intellect and advocacy!

Now with the pageant being held in Manila, there is a lot of pressure to Maxine Medina for a back-to-back win. However, with the viral videos of her showing how she answered during her interviews, people are saying that her chances of winning may be a bit slim if she will answer in English at the Question and Answer portion of the coronation night. Should Maxine get a translator?

However, becoming Miss Universe is a destiny. Some of our girls gave the best answers but failed.

As the other candidates of the Miss Universe beauty pageant continue to come in to Manila, a big flurry of activities leading up to Miss Universe coronation night are continuously being held in Manila. Nothing like a beauty pageant that turns downtown Binondo in Manila into a fashion playground.

The candidates just came from Boracay, Oriental Mindoro and Vigan, Ilocos Sur a few days ago, and now back in Manila for the Governor's Ball but will continue in other places like Cebu, Baguio, Batangas, and Davao soon before they finally gather again for the coronation night on January 30.

One of the best parts of this whole beauty pageant experience is making friends from all around the world...or the "Universe." Or is it sincerely like that? Since they are all competing with each other, some are saying that the engagement is not as "pure" but more likely "fake" or "forced" just like their smiles everytime they face the cameras of photo and video-graphers. Winning the Miss Congeniality or "friendship" is a good enough award than bringing home nothing at all. Well, every candidate wants to make their country proud of them, but only one will be wearing the Miss Universe crown.

The Miss Universe 2016 ...or is it 2017?... coronation night will be held at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on January 30, 2017 at 8 am Philippines time.