The Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, chaired by Senator Richard J. Gordon, has started a public hearing on the series of killings in the country.
Senator Richard Gordon (Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Sen. Richard Gordon, in an interview with the ANC Headstart, said the procedure, developed in University of Illinois, Chicago has been recognized by the Department of Health (DOH) itself and the University of the Philippines Research Board for Ethics Review (UP-ERB).
Gordon said the PRC’s saliva COVID test is still utilizing the polymerase chain reaction or PCR.
Experts consider RT-PCR test as the gold standard test which is required in airports and tourist destinations nationwide.
“We’re still using the PCR test, which is the gold standard in testing. We are not doing away with it,” said Gordon, who is also PRC chairman.
The Senate has started debate on a bill that seeks to help de-clog the dockets of the second level courts or the Regional Trial Courts (RTCs) and to speed up the disposition of cases.
Senator Richard Gordon
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Gordon, author of Republic Act No. 11235, pointed out that the number of people being killed by riding-in-tandem assassins in the Philippines continues to rise. Hence, there is an urgent need for the implementation of the measure.
Implementation would help secure the motorcycle owners and riders from being victimized and used by criminals for illegal and brutal acts, he said.
Based on monitoring done by his office, Gordon said, there have been 147 victims of motorcycle-riding gunmen reported in the news from January 1 to December 31, 2020, while there have been eight victims from January 1 to 16 of the current year.
Sen. Richard J. Gordon has proposed to train more Filipinos to administer vaccines as the Philippines looks to start rolling out its coronavirus disease (COVID-19) immunization plan next month.