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DOH: Prepare for 2nd wave of flu

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday underscored the need to prepare for a second wave of the Influenza A(H1N1) pandemic even if the virus presently appears to be mild in nature. Dr. Lyndon Leesuy, program manager of the DOH for emerging and re-emerging diseases, said that historically, all pandemics have had second waves that were deadlier. “It may not happen but there is a possibility of mutation. The virus may become more virulent then,” he said in an intervi...

Automation in peril as poll partners break up

Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) has pulled out of its partnership with Smartmatic Corp., putting the P11.3-billion poll automation project next year in jeopardy. “Mr. Jose Antuñez (President of TIM) came to my office and told me they are withdrawing from the project citing their irreconcilable differences (with Smartmatic)," Elections Chairman Jose Melo told reporters, without mentioning the nature of the feud. But word has leaked that the breakup was caused by corporate issu...

World Bank: Governance in RP worsened since 1998

MANILA - The Philippines has regressed in key areas of governance over the past ten years, data from the World Bank showed. The multilateral lender's Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), a research project initiated in the late 1990s, revealed that the country's performance worsened last year compared to 1998 in five out of six dimensions of governance. These areas include voice and accountability (-0.20 from 0.39), political stability and absence of violence (-1.41 from -0.17), regulatory ...

Coaches agree Beermen have edge vs Kings

MANILA, Philippines – For its domineering performance in the classification round and against Burger King in the Final Four, the talent-laden San Miguel Beer has been picked as the prohibitive favorite over an injury-plagued Barangay Ginebra side in the Motolite PBA Fiesta Cup title playoff beginning tomorrow at the Araneta Coliseum. “San Miguel has been the team that has played well all conference and that is the kind of team that is a safe pick. I think it would be SMB in five games,” said A...

POC stands by SBP in FIBA row

MANILA, Philippines – POC spokesman Joey Romasanta said yesterday the country’s Olympic organization fully supports the SBP as the duly-recognized National Sports Association (NSA) for basketball and saw no reason to doubt its backing by FIBA. Romasanta said whether or not the SBP will accept the invitation to attend a FIBA special commission meeting in Geneva on July 20-22 is an internal matter and the POC has no involvement in the decision process. The meeting has been set to discuss comp...