SC renders RH law ‘toothless’

After reading through the decision by the Supreme Court (SC) that declared the Reproductive Health (RH) Law as “Not unconstitutional” with 8 provisions that were struck down (which I presume that the SC means they are unconstitutional) one can safely say that the High Court Magistrates rendered what one would call a “Solomonic” decision.

Perhaps I shouldn’t be using the word “Solomonic” for this phrase simply because King Solomon would never render a decision that is against the will of God. But a staunch anti-RH warrior like me would have preferred a decision that declares this law unconstitutional because many of those provisions may still be contested in court for its unconstitutionality. But with the penal provisions struck down, this RH Law has become a “toothless” law. So if a company refuses to pay for the condoms for its employees, they cannot be brought to court for this refusal.

On the other hand, the pro-RH supporters in Malacañang are elated and raring to immediately implement the RH Law. Come now people…we were not born yesterday. We know for a fact that the Department of Health (DoH) is already implementing several provisions allowed by the RH Law even before it was approved. The RH Law was only needed for them to legalize what they were already doing illegally.

But in truth, Malacañang cannot and should not implement this until after the status quo order which prevented its implementation is lifted and that can only happen after the filing of a motion for reconsideration is given due course by the SC. In the meantime… we’ll just wait for the next President after the 2016 elections and if he is against this measure, it is easy enough to have the RH Law repealed. So this battle may have been won today, but the war to fight for the innocent and the unborn is far from over.

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After having a long weekend big bike trip to Zamboanga del Norte, I got back to Cebu just to catch a flight to Manila to join the Vis-Min media group who were already at the Fairmont Hotel to attend the Globe Telecom annual stockholder’s meeting last Tuesday. Since Globe Telecom entered the scene as one of the major service providers in the telecommunications industry, Globe’s former head of corporate communications Jones Campos started bringing in the media from Cebu, then later from the Visayas and Mindanao so that the local media could provide a feedback mechanism for Globe executives direct from the horse’s mouth. I saw that again last Tuesday afternoon after the stockholders meeting where the media had a presscon with Globe’s president Ernest Cu with Atty. Vicente Froilan Castelo.

At exactly 9 a.m., Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala (JAZA) announced the opening of the stockholders meeting and immediately noted that the year 2013 was another record-breaking revenue year driven in part by robust subscriber expansion.  JAZA reported that on costumer service revenues there was a 9% increase up from the year 2012 to the year 2013 from P82.742 billion to P90,500 billion.

Globe’s Mobile Revenues went up from P67,189 to P72,764 or up by 8% from the year 2012. On Globe’s postpaid revenues, it rose by 18% from P27,064 to P16,827 million with a total subscriber base of 38.48 million up by 16%. Core net income in the year 2012 was P10,264 billion increased in 2013 to P11,617 billion. These documents show that even if Globe Telecom is not the biggest network in the country… it is still highly profitable.

Globe Telecom president Ernest Cu proudly announced that it has partnered with Facebook saying, “In the age of social media connectivity and the dawn of mobile data, we commit to remain relevant through continued innovation and technology advancements. All because this is what we know our customers seek and demand.” Indeed innovation is the keyword especially in the telecom industry and Globe cannot afford to stagnate. This is why Globe Telecom is aggressively expanding its mobile data footprint for the year 2014.

As Cu pointed out “In addition to providing all of its base stations with state-of-the art equipment, Globe continues to optimize its modernized cell sites for maximum performance while aggressively building on its transport network. Globe’s fiber optic footprint in the country now includes undersea cable systems in strategic sites like Boracay and Coron. It is currently firing up more 3G and 4G stiles nationwide as well as LTE sites in key commercial districts and tourist destinations.”

President Ernest Cu pointed out that Globe’s biggest strength can be found in their 5,900 employees from all over the country, where their Employee Satisfaction Index is a high of 73.48%. These highly-motivated employee base pushes Globe Telecom to move forward to new heights. So congratulations to our friends in Globe for another banner year!

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