From the Readers

Thank you from Dr. Boyer

Hi Veronica,

I just read the August VIA Times and very much appreciated your “Good News and Bad News” section. Thank you, and it breaks my heart also to have to give up writing for you and the VIATimes audience. I value you as an editor and a friend. I will keep reading the issues and that will remind me to keep in touch.

Love,

Bob (Boyer)

Editor’s Note: Famed VT Columnist Prof, Robert Boyer, wrote for Via Times for about twenty years penning his popular “Philippines,” column, showcasing his love for the Philippines and the Filipino people. He had a brief teaching stint at the University of the Philippines Diliman before writing for Via Times. We, and your thousands of VT readers, will miss you and your wonderful column. Enjoy your retirement and your family always be blessed. __________

Open letter to Cinemark regarding the screening of Maid in Malacañang (sent to Via Times as Media Advisory)

To whom it may concern: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of martial law in the Philippines by the late Dictator Ferdinand Marcos Senior. Martial Law was an era of terror, oppression, and corrosion of democracy in the Philippines. In light of his son, Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos’s dubious rise to power through the use of his family’s ill gotten wealth, we at Malaya Movement of Baltimore would like to ensure that this theater is not consciously endorsing a revision of our the history of the Philippines and its people – especially the victims of Martial Law.

Maid in Malacañang is not simply a fictional art piece. It is a propaganda piece aimed at sanitizing the image and history of the Marcos family. It portrays the former first family as victims when in reality they have stolen hundreds of millions from the Filipino people and are responsible for thousands of deaths. In order to respect both living survivors and those who were murdered, tortured, and disappeared under the Marcos’s tyrannical reign, we would like to ensure that responsible steps will be taken to acknowledge the nature and purpose of this film by providing historically accurate information to counter any possible disinformation.

As concerned community members, we would like to make the following recommendations:

1. If you would allow us, we are more than happy to distribute materials that bring attention to the reality of what life and the country was under Martial Law;

2. We would also be willing to host a pre- or post-screening discussion to allow the audience to participate in a critical conversation about the historical events this film dramatizes.

We would greatly appreciate your support in this endeavor and our fight against disinformation.

We look forward to your positive response. Sincerely,

Malaya Movement Baltimore

Maryland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines

(MD-CHRP) Maryland for the Philippine Human Rights Act (MD4PHRA)

__________

Newest Threat to Medical Freedom—Monkeypox “Emergency”

The World Health Organization declaration of Monkeypox as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” (PHEIC), was made by one man, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has no medical training, over the objection of the majority of his own expert committee of medical and scientific advisors. Nine of the committee members thought a PHEIC should not be declared and six supported a declaration. “Nine and six is very, very close. Since the role of the committee is to advise, I decided to act as a tie-breaker,” Tedros said in a news conference called to announce the decision.” WHO confirms 98 percent of (Monkeypox) cases are among men who have sex with men—and primarily those who have multiple recent anonymous or new partners.

Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D.

(Arzona)

Past Director of AAPS