Press Release
April 19, 2009

Press statement of Sen. Loren Legarda

ABU SAYYAF HOSTAGE

I am relieved by the statement of AFP Chief Alexander Yano that "all nonviolent mechanisms are being exhausted to ensure that this release of Vagni will happen in the soonest possible time." So long as the Italian Eugenio Vagni is still in the hands of his kidnappers, the authorities should give priority to his release for humanitarian reasons.

The release or recovery of Swiss hostage Andres Notter, as well as that of Jean Lacaba, shows that a "smart" policy of dealing with the kidnappers rather than a knee-jerk reaction of violence could work out well for the hostages. Jean, Andres and Eugenio, who work for the International Committee of the Red Cross, deserve all our gratitude and help for risking their lives to do humanitarian work for less fortunate Filipinos.

MANILA BAY POLLUTION

The claim by the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) that 80 percent of the waste that flows through the Pasig river comes from factories should be verified and acted upon by the government through the proper agencies, like the DENR and the MMDA.

It is not right that our government authorities should continually blame the poor for the pollution of the Pasig river, while disregarding the contribution of manufacturing and commercial activities to the pollution of the Pasig. We cannot blame the poor for not cooperating in cleaning the river, when we acquit the rich businesses from blame and reckoning.

The government should conduct an objective and comprehensive survey of the industrial and commercial establishments polluting the Pasig and then take effective action to stop their polluting activities.

ON POLL AUTOMATION

The claim that the poll automation system can be tampered with is no argument that we should not go into full automation of the 2010 elections. No man-made system can be said to be perfect or fool-proof. But the fact is that there are enough safeguards in the law and the regulations put in place by the Comelec that could prevent tampering.

If there are experts saying that the poll computer system can be hacked, there are also those who say that hacking or tampering can be prevented. We know that most advanced democratic countries now use computers in tracking electoral returns and that they have proved generally reliable, at least more reliable than the manual counting and canvassing that resulted in massive frauds in the past, as in the 2004 elections.

Let's give poll automation a try in the 2010 elections.

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