UY, Rica Marie G.

1H – MT
THEOLOGY – NEWS CLIPPINGS

SUICIDE
Retired cop commits suicide in Taguig
By: Gabriel Pabico Lalu - Reporter / @GabrielLaluINQ
INQUIRER.net / 03:19 PM September 17, 2018

A retired police officer has allegedly hanged himself in Sambana Purok, Lower Bicutan, Taguig City, the
Southern Police District (SPD) reported on Monday.

The SPD identified the victim as Senior Insp. Abelardo Belleza Sr., 62, married, and a resident of the said area.

Initial investigation revealed that Belleza’s daughter, who visited him on Sunday, discovered his lifeless body
hanging from a rope tied to a beam in the ceiling of his kitchen.

Police said Belleza was previously assigned to the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) Regional
Mobile Force Batallion (RMFB).

The case is still under investigation as of posting time. /ee

Source: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1033320/retired-cop-commits-suicide-in-taguig

ABORTION
‘Abortionist’ nabbed in Rizal
By: Maricar Cinco - Correspondent / @maricarcincoINQ
Inquirer Southern Luzon / 03:00 PM April 29, 2018

SAN PEDRO CITY – A man tagged by the authorities as an “abortionist” was arrested in Rodriguez, Rizal on
Sunday morning.

Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar, director of the Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon (CALABARZON) police,
said cops searched the home of Randy Picardal, alias Tata, in Sitio Hamuyuan, Barangay San Jose at around 6
a.m.

The warrant was issued by judge Lily Villareal Biton of the San Mateo regional trial court.
“(Police) recovered two sacks of used, bloodied adult diapers…and a seven-month old fetus (placed) in a
plastic bottle,” Eleazar said in a message.

He added that according to the neighbors, they see a lot of women, many of them students, in the house of
Picardal, who is known in the area as a faith healer.

During the search, the police also found a.38 caliber gun and a loaded improvised gun. /ee

Source: https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/986198/abortionist-nabbed-in-rizal
 HOMOSEXUALITY

Freedom, equality, and all the

colors of the rainbow at Metro
Manila Pride 2018
'This year, since we’re all gathered here together, there needs to be movement'

Amanda T. Lago
Published 10:30 PM, June 30, 2018
Updated 4:53 PM, July 01, 2018

PRIDE MARCH. The Metro Manila LGBT community came together to show solidarity and celebrate pride. Photo by Jire
Carreon/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – The LGBT community in Metro Manila ended their celebration of Pride Month with a
burst of color as they headed to the Marikina Sports Complex on June 30 for Pride March 2018 – just a few
days after the Supreme Court concluded oral arguments on same-sex marriage.

In a country where conservative Catholics are the majority, finding a safe space to express themselves isn’t
always easy for LGBT Filipinos. The Metro Manila Pride March, which has happened every year since 1994,
has since become that safe space, but more than that, a platform for members of the LGBT community to
thrive.

The event opened as early as 12 nn, with a Pride Fair featuring booths that sold everything from Pride
stickers, to LGBT literature, to sex toys, to accessories handmade by an LGBT youth group.

At the same time, a roving marriage booth allowed same-sex couples to declare their love and commitment
to one another.
A pre-march program in the early afternoon saw performances that took the audience through the whole
spectrum of emotions: from feeling kilig at listening to all-bear acapella group The Bearytones’ version of
“Akin Ka Nalang,” to feeling one with the crowd while singing along to Ja Quintana’s cover of “Come
Together,” to feeling empowered by Dee Dee Marie Holiday’s passionate lipsynch of “This is Me.”

Speeches from key guests followed, including Marikina Mayor Marcelino Teodoro, and a representative from
the Lagablab Network, whose speech fired up the crowd right in time for the Pride March itself.

Source: https://www.google.com.ph/amp/s/amp.rappler.com/life-and-style/arts-and-culture/206168-
metro-manila-pride-march-2018-rise-up-together
 MEDICAL PROFESSION
Niels Högel: German ex-nurse admits killing 100
patients
30 October 2018
An ex-nurse in Germany has admitted at the start of his trial that he murdered 100 patients, making him one of
the world's most prolific serial killers.
Detectives say Niels Högel administered fatal doses of medication to the people in his care - causing cardiac arrest - at
two hospitals in northern Germany.
His motive, prosecutors say, was to impress colleagues by trying to revive the very patients he had attacked.
Högel, 41, is already serving a life term for six deaths while in his care.
He is now said to have killed 36 patients in Oldenburg and 64 in nearby Delmenhorst between 1999 and 2005.
When asked by the judge in the Oldenburg court if the charges against him were true, the 41-year-old confessed to
"more or less" all of them.
The current trial, which started with a minute's silence for the victims, is expected to last until May. It follows years of
toxicology tests on 130 sets of exhumed remains.

Questions remain for victims' families

By Jenny Hill, BBC News, Berlin

Dozens of relatives of those who died at the hands of Niels Högel were in court to hear his
confession.

Many of them are demanding to know how he was able to kill - with apparent impunity - so many
people in the confines of two hospitals.

Death rates rose significantly during Högel's time.

Disturbing details have emerged: it's been widely reported that Högel was allowed to continue
working for two days after he was caught "red handed" having administered drugs to a patient, during
which time he killed another patient.

Many relatives believe health authorities chose to turn a blind eye.

An investigation is under way to determine whether their actions facilitated the murderous ambitions
of post-war Germany's most prolific serial killer.

Investigators say he may have killed even more but potential victims have been cremated.

Christian Marbach, a spokesperson for relatives, said it was a scandal the ex-nurse had been allowed
to kill with impunity for years without officials intervening.

"We fought for four years for this trial and expect Högel is sentenced for another 100 murders," said
Mr Marbach, whose grandfather was killed by Högel.

"I hope he will be found guilty on each count so that the loved ones can finally find some closure,"
said Petra Klein, who runs a victims' support group.

Relatives of his alleged victims were expected to pack the court but journalists in the room noted
many empty seats in reserved rows.
Högel was first caught in 2005 injecting unprescribed medication into a patient in Delmenhorst. In
2008 he was jailed for seven years for attempted murder.
In 2014-15, a second trial found him guilty of two murders and two attempted murders and he
was given the maximum sentence.
He said he was "honestly sorry" and hoped families would find peace. He said the decisions to carry
out his crimes had been "relatively spontaneous".
However, during the trial he confessed to a psychiatrist that he had killed up to 30 people.

Investigators then widened the investigation, exhuming 130 former patients and looking for evidence
of medication that could have triggered cardiac arrest. They also pored over records in the hospitals
he worked at.

Records at the Oldenburg hospital showed rates of deaths and resuscitations had more than doubled
when Högel was on shift, German media reported.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46027355

STEM CELL
4 Philippine hospitals can perform stem cell procedures
Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) - January 28, 2016 - 9:00am

MANILA, Philippines – Only four hospitals in the Philippines are accredited to perform stem cell procedures, the
Department of Health said yesterday.

These are The Medical City – Institute of Personalized Medicine, Asian Stem Cell Institute, Makati Medical Center –
Cellular Therapeutics Center, and Lung Center of the Philippines – Molecular Diagnostics and Cellular Therapeutics
Laboratory.

The four health facilities have met the requirements that the DOH set in 2013 in providing stem cell treatments,
Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau Director Nicolas Lutero III said in an advisory.

He said stem cell treatments allowed to be performed in the Philippines are hematopoietic stem cell transplantation;
corneal resurfacing with limbal stem cells, and skin regeneration with epidermal stem cells.

“Please inform the DOH of any person/s or institution/s administering stem cells without accreditation or using stem
cells for other indications not yet approved by the FDA,” he said.

Source: https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/01/28/1547448/4-philippine-hospitals-can-perform-stem-
cell-procedures