12 Filipinas Die of Cervical Cancer Every Day

Celebrities, including the widow of an artist and a beauty titlist, were in Cebu Tuesday to advocate for cervical cancer vaccination as part of the celebration of the International Women's Day.

Every day, 12 Filipinas die of cervical cancer, the second leading cause of female mortality in the country.

Women representatives from the different barangays in Cebu City, who were mostly garbed in pink, trooped to Cebu city hall to join the celebration as they listened to Pia Magalona, the wife of the late artist Francis Magalona, and Bb. Pilipinas Universe Abbygale Arenas.

Francis Magalona died of leukemia or cancer of the blood, a form of cancer that does not have a vaccine or treatment.

Pia said at least cervical cancer has a vaccine unlike any other cancer.

Girls as young as 10 years old can be vaccinated.

"For young girls between 15 and 25 years old, long lasting protection is necessary because this is when they will be the most prone to the HPV (human papillomavirus) virus," a press release read.

HPV or human papillomavirus causes cervical cancer. There are about 100 types of HPV with 15 causing cervical cancer.

Arenas and Pia are going around the country advocating for vaccination.

Dr. Belinda Panares of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu City said the vaccine costs an average of P2,500 for every shot. Women need three shots to be cervical cancer-free for a lifetime.

Panares said the cost may scare women whose main concern is putting food on the table, but she said the cost of treatment for cancer would reach hundreds of thousands with radiation and chemotherapy.

Bohol Cellphone Video Scandal

Published by Bohol Sunday Post

Bohol Cellphone Video Scandal - For a man in his 50's who still considers himself in the league of machos, the urged of showing off that he can still make it put him in trouble when the sex act was caught on video. It was not known who actually filmed the sexual calisthenics but a cursory look would show that both parties in the consensual combat were aware that a camera was rolling to catch every movement of the forbidden game even if done in the privacy of their room. It became a prohibited act under the law when it was learned that the girl in the video is still a minor. According to some accounts, she was only 15 but there was no showing of any innocence on the part of the female specie. The way she calibrated her moves to please her mate indicated that the girl was no participant to an amateur contest.

Although the "bedroom mazurka" could be every male's test of vitality in this age of Viagra, it has become an ordeal for the male who is an inactive radio personality, now that the sex video is now part and parcel of cyberspace. The past week saw the top-rated radio program Cuentas Claras over Station DYTR bombarded with text messages regarding the sex scandal. But radio anchors notably Boy Guingguing chose not to highlight the predicament of a radio colleague saying that it can happen to anybody who wanted to push the limits of his machismo. Despite insistent clamour from listeners to name names, the program handlers chose to downplay the impact hoping that it will die down a natural death. It refuses to die down even if the anchors showed disinterest to pursue the sensational story to its salacious ending.

In the ensuing days that passed, the Sunday Post, a weekly newspaper in Bohol, learned it has become the main stuff of cellphones with video capability and internet connections after it was downloaded from "nobody where". There were several versions as to the origin of the video. One version revealed that it was downloaded from a laptop supposedly under repair. When the repairman saw the lewd picture of a naked man and a woman doing a sexual act, he lost no time to download it and voila! there went the glory of the world of two people in love. With the video circulation now beyond control as it will be shared to whoever is interested as a sort of remembrance, then the lesson to be learned is that never allow yourself to be filmed in the act of making love.

The good old advice is still do not make the public know what is supposed to be done in private. With the advances in technology, chances are one's inflated pretenses of being a dashing gigolo will only lead to shame and scandal if the urge of sexual souvenir will catch the better part of discretion. This was the lesson learned only too late by this aging macho man who found himself at the receiving end of an uncompromising love story resulting in a sex dalliance now becoming an overnight sensation in the internet. The circulation of the sex video has become so massive that any Tom, Dick and Harry has in his cell phone the lively acts of sexual callisthenics that will put any aspiring porn players in shame. Caught in "full battle regalia", meaning the male and female genitalia shown in full splendour, the video showed the male performer in all his macho glory while the female star's "bumpers" were in full attention and too inviting for comfort. On hindsight, it would be too late for the two characters in the video to make any damage control as they become too recognizable for reference. With the video now enjoying massive patronage, the only option apparently left for the unfortunate performers is to wait for the euphoria to die down and may be pray that next time around they should be more discreet by hiding off to some distant shores to do their thing and away from the prying eyes of curious seekers.