Senate Passes "Better and Stronger" Anti-Hospital Deposit Law

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Senate on Monday passed on third and final reading a law that strengthened the rights of emergency-case patients who are in life and death situations by preventing hospitals from asking for any form of advance payment as a prerequisite for admission or medical treatment.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros, sponsor and principal author of Senate Bill No. 1353, said the measure seeks to amend and strengthen Republic Act. No. 8344 otherwise known as the Anti-hospital Desposit Law by imposing stricter penalties such as 4 to 6 years of imprisonment to erring hospitals who demand any deposit or other form of advance payment, as a prerequisite for admission or medical treatment of an emergency patient.

Hontiveros’s bill also increases the fines for hospitals which refuse to administer basic emergency care from P100,000 to P1,000,000. It also gives authority to the Department of Health (DoH) to revoke the license of a health facility after three repeated violations committed pursuant to an established policy of the hospital or clinic or upon the instruction of its management.


“Sumbungan Board”

To investigate patient complaints and facilitate the filing of cases in court, the bill also proposes to establish a “Sumbungan Board” or a Health Facilities Oversight Board, which will be under the Department of Health (DOH).

In a short manifestation, Hontiveros expressed her gratitude to her colleagues in the Senate for helping her pass the bill. She particularly thanked Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senator Richard Gordon, co-authors of the said measure.

Protecting Your Organization from the WCry Ransomware

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Ransomware has become the fastest growing malware threat, targeting everyone from home users to healthcare systems to corporate networks. Tracking analysis shows that there has been an average of more than 4,000 ransomware attacks every day since January 1, 2016.

On May 12, FortiGuard Labs began tracking a new ransomware variant that spread rapidly throughout the day. It is a highly virulent strain of a self-replicating ransomware that has impacted such far-flung organizations as the Russian Interior Ministry, Chinese universities, Hungarian and Spanish telcos, and hospitals and clinics run by the British National Health Services. It is especially notable for its multi-language ransom demands that support more than two-dozen languages.

This ransomware is being referred to by a number of names, including WCry, WannaCry, WanaCrypt0r, WannaCrypt, or Wana Decrypt0r. It is spread through an alleged NSA exploit called ETERNALBLUE that was leaked online last month by the hacker group known as The Shadow Brokers. ETERNALBLUE exploits a vulnerability in the Microsoft Server Message Block 1.0 (SMBv1) protocol.

Affected Microsoft products include:

·         Windows Vista

·         Windows Server 2008

·         Windows 7

·         Windows Server 2008 R2

·         Windows 8.1

·         Windows Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012 R2

·         Windows RT 8.1

·         Windows 10

·         Windows Server 2016

·         Windows Server Core installation option

Marveling the Craftsmanship of Sisiman Bay Boat Makers of Mariveles, Bataan

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Sisiman Bay, located in Mariveles, Bataan, offers a closer view of the San Miguel Peak and the famous Sisiman Light house.

But aside from those captivating tourist eye-candies, you will also notice the many colorful boats floating on the waters itself. You'll be amazed of these creations that creates a picturesque post-card image for us to admire. Wait until sunset, and the diminishing light from the skies will further display wonderful hues of different colors. Nothing beats the sight of nature and man-made masterpieces harmoniously blending together in perfect unison.

Mariveles is about 165 kilometers from Manila (roughly 4 hours of travel time) and is located in a cove at the southern most tip of the Bataan peninsula, and obviously composed of fisher folks as seen from the many boats. These boats are mostly hand-made tediously by carpenters who could also be the fishermen themselves. At this particular part of the country, it is best that one is a a jack-of-all trades and knows how to multi-task using their multiple skills.

These boat makers are impressive since they spend several days building boats that would lasts years enough for the fishermen to get back the money they used to buy materials for the boats. I can imagine all that hard work and lengthy times toiled under the sun as they build boats that can handle the waters of Sisiman Bay - through rough or calm waters, and durable enough to carry a heavy load of men and catch for the day.

More photos of boats as they are built can be found below: