Snippets

This is so mababaw because it's showbiz but between Dennis Trillo and Alfred Vargas, I prefer Dennis. For one, he isn't pa macho. And I don't think he ever had anything cosmetic/surgical done to his face. Alfred looks like he had a nose job done. He's also forever making porma. While Dennis always looks naturally groomed, Alfred has done weird things to his hair. This week in Unang Hirit, he looks like a Koreanovela or anime star. Di bagay, he's no spring chicken. But to his credit, I've seen Alfred at mass in the parish though he kept looking around. Checking if anyone had noticed him kaya? How mean of me.

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On a more serious vein, last night I was awake when Reporter's Notebook was shown. Rather unusual because I haven't been able to watch anything beyond the news at midnight for a long while. What caught my attention was the topic: lower prices for medicines. Years back I became aware that Senator Mar Roxas was espousing this but wasn't getting the support. So last night I was glad to see that Teddy Boy Locsin of the Lower House is endorsing it, revealing even how representatives of pharmaceutical companies in the gallery were egging him to check if there was a quorum when voting for the bill was being considered. He was livid and had them ejected.

I can't remember now who made the point about the same drugs being sold in India and Pakistan at a lot less, but not here. Later, when Leo Wassmer, head of the pharmaceuticals association was asked, he mumbled through respect for Intellectual Property Rights or some such. But as an advocate for lower drugs countered, drugs should save people rather than simply promote profit.

I think it's not that drug companies should operate like charities, but at least they should price reasonably enough to realize healthy profits and a healthy populace. Oh well, I do hope Mar Roxas and Teddy Boy Locsin succeed in their crusade. Oh yes, and Risa Hontiveros too. Hopefully that will bring the smile back to her face. it always saddens me when I see her, forever angry. She didn't use to be like that. I'm scared for her and her children. She's a widow with several kids. Her soldier-husband died post an asthma attack in Baguio. If she doesn't slow down, she might leave her kids before they're old enough to fend for themselves. True, she may be trying her best to make the country a better place to live in, but still...