Category Archives: Health & Medicine

Health & Medicine, Technology, The Media

A CHALLENGE TO PHILIPPINES’ DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

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Every so often The Adobo Chronicles veers away from the satirical nature of our posts to bring to the attention of our readers and followers items that are serious and important, like ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. (To learn more about the disease, visit alsa.org)

By now the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has reached the Philippines and is starting to gain momentum. But alas, we just learned that the Philippines’ Department of Health does NOT have data on ALS in the country, or to what extent this horrible disease is affecting Filipinos and their loved ones.

So here is a different kind of challenge to DOH Secretary Dr. Enrique Ona:

Economy, Health & Medicine, Religion

CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THE PHILIPPINES TO START COLLECTING ‘SIN TAX’

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File photo: Philippine bishops with former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
File photo: Philippine bishops with former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Manila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – The influential Catholic Church in the Philippines can learn a thing or two from the country’s civilian government, especially around taxes.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is closely monitoring developments within the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) which recently announced that tax collection this year has increased because of the sin tax.

The sin tax is collected from sales of alcohol and tobacco. According to BIR Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, there has been a 29.7 percent increase in excise tax collections in just the first semester of the current fiscal year.  This growth was driven by a 44.44 percent increase in collections from tobacco products and 11.62 percent increase from alcohol.

In an emergency meeting convened last night by CBCP president Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the country’s top prelates strategized on how to deal with the declining church revenue from the Sunday collection baskets.

Citing the success of the BIR’s sin tax collections, Villegas proposed that the church institute something similar. He proposed that instead of asking people to pray Hail Marys or the rosary as part of their penance when going to confession, priests will ask repentants to contribute money to the church, much like a sin tax.  Priests will be given the authority to determine how much sin tax to impose, depending on whether the sins confessed are mortal or venial sins.

Special collection boxes will be installed beside confessional boxes in all churches in the country for this purpose.

The CBCP expects to increase its collections by 200 percent once this proposal is implemented. Villegas said CBCP will ask Pope Francis’ blessing for the sin tax when the head of the Roman Catholic Church visits the Philippines next January.

 

 

 

Health & Medicine, Law Enforcement, LGBT, Technology, The Media

ALS ASSOCIATION SUES THE HOT COP OF CASTRO FOR INFRINGEMENT (VIDEO)

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Chris Kohrs, the Hot Cop of CastroWashington, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – It was just a matter of time. The Hot Cop of Castro finally accepted the Ice Bucket Challenge and the ALS Association is not happy.  In fact, it is suing Chris Kohrs and the San Francisco Police Department for “infringement of an idea” and for “donation laundering.”

The Ice Bucket Challenge is the viral social media campaign aimed at raising funds for ALS, better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Thousands have accepted the challenge by dousing themselves with a bucket of ice and posting a video on social media. They then challenged others  to do the same within 24 hours or make a donation to the ALS Association (or both).

Kohrs had himself doused not once but five times with a bucket of ice at a fundraising event to benefit a memorial fund for the San Francisco Police Department.  The event was held at The Cafe bar in the Castro, the city’s gay district.

Upon learning of the fundraising event, the ALS Association filed a lawsuit for infringement and laundering, claiming that the hot cop stole its idea to raise funds for a different cause.

Attorneys for the SFPD responded that the ALS Association does not own the trademark for the Ice Bucket Challenge.  A quick check by The Adobo Chronicles confirmed that there is no such trademark or pending trademark application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The ALS Association is now considering an out-of-court settlement where the proceeds from the Castro event will be split 50-50 between the Association and SFPD.

All’s well that ends well!