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We hope that President Rodrigo Duterte will continue his war on counterfeit drugs. His policies may tackle the cultivation, distribution, and consequences of illicit drugs. For example, those fighting against counterfeit medicines complain that those prosecuted for this offense receive a  comparatively light sentence compared to the sentences given to criminals peddling narcotics. Yet, counterfeit drugs are very dangerous because they threaten national security by endangering the health of a vast majority of the people. Fraudulent operations, nevertheless, continue to operate and flourish in countries with weak drug regulatory bodies because of the dual accountability problem of poor funding and staffing and weak or corrupt customer services and policy agencies. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the counterfeit drugs business accounts for about 10% of the annual $300 billion global drug industry. This figure includes such pharmaceuticals  as fake birth control pills, cough syrup for children laced with a powerful opioid, and malarial pills composed of just potato and cornstarch. The WHO lists these as examples of poor quality, falsified medicines identified in recent years, all of which ignore the possible consequences for the public— health risks for and potential death of the users.  Furthermore, some drugs that are not classified as illegal or dangerous may become so if purchased from an online site that proves not to be legitimate or even a trusted pharmacy that unknowingly receives a shipment of untested and illegitimate drugs. Because this counterfeit trade is so lucrative, the growing supply has caused great damage around the world. Continue reading →

Political Islam made history again on Sunday evening by winning a landslide victory in the first round of Turkey’s June 24 presidential election. Despite the attempts aimed at deposing President Erdogan, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made history again on Sunday evening by his Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which has been in power since 2002. He received approximately 51.79% of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections and won the presidency again. President Erdogan made history by becoming Turkey’s first executive president and leading his party by an unprecedented number to rule for the next five year until the Republic‘s centennial in 2023. Erdogan has thus been elected as the first president of the new system. Having been in power for 16 years and with 13 elections and referenda wins, Erdogan overcame his closest rival. The President’s hard fought re-election campaign focused on two important factors that led President Erdogan to be reelected: one was national security and the other the religion factor. Erdogan steadily increases the hold of Islam on the nation, squelching other faiths as well as remnants of those supporting the founder of the Republic who held to a pillar of secularism. The Turkish public did not care much about the economy in spite of the Turkish currency being at an all time low. Many citizens apathy about the economy was because they believed that the economic and financial problems were instruments used by foreigners to weaken Turkey. Continue reading →

Social Entrepreneurship Technology and Business Institute (SETBI)  is co-hosting with the University of SouthEastern Philippines (USEP)the 1st International Conference on Inmates’ Transformative Education for Successful Re-entry on May 16-17, 2018 at the Social Hall of the USeP Obrero campus in Davao City.

Centered on the theme Hope for Restoration—Today’s Inmate is Tomorrow’s Neighbor, the conference will gather representatives from the five pillars of the Criminal Justice System, non-government organizations (NGOs), community leaders, academic leaders, criminal justice practitioners, and students. Researchers will also present their papers on the importance of education in the future development of the Criminal Justice System.

The event, which highlights the role of transformative education in reducing recidivism, will serve as an avenue for the researchers to share their experiences and findings of studies on prison-based education and other related topics such as drug addiction and rehabilitation.

In August 2017, USeP. SETBI, and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) launched the College Education Behind Bars (CEBB) program—considered the first of its kind in the country. This allows Davao City Jail inmates to earn a degree from USeP while serving their prison sentence. In October 2017, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with SETBI for the possible nationwide expansion of the CEBB program.

The founding academic director of John Jay’s Prison-to-College Pipeline program, New York who is also a professor, writer, and journalist is among the main speakers of the conference. Other speakers include the heads of the following institutions: BJMP 11; Davao City Treatment and Rehabilitation Center for Drug Dependents; Commission on Higher Education; Department of Justice; Davao City Prosecution Office; City Anti-Drug Abuse Council; Police Regional Office 11; Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 11; and Archdiocesan Social Action Center. An executive judge from the Regional Trial Court, a lawyer-faculty of CEBB, and a local media practitioner will also speak in the conference.

The partner-institutions, USeP represented by President Lourdes C. Generalao, and SETBI represented by Dr. Aland D. Mizell, President, and Atty. Susan Cariaga, Vice President, underscore that education is a right which must be afforded to all people and that it is a shared responsibility

The current trade war between China and the USA ensures that relations will continue to be difficult because China is about to overtake the world as the number one power. However, the United States does not want to admit that they will slide to second place. During Donald Trump’s election campaign before he became the US President, Trump criticized China by announcing, “We can’t continue to allow China to rape our country.” He also declared he would not let the United States be taken advantage of anymore and would always guarantee that America was first. According to President Trump’s view on US relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), it was not important. ASEAN, in fact, is very important to the United States for many reasons. Perhaps most importantly, ASEAN has successfully pursued good politics alongside good economics. The United States badly needs regional powers that can counterbalance China’s growing geopolitical power. With its motto of “One vision, one identity, one community,” ASEAN welds great power because collectively the ASEAN countries have an intergovernmental force. According to an ancient Asian proverb, “When elephants fight, the grass suffers.” Undoubtedly, the trade war between America and China will have victims. Most likely, ASEAN will be one of the victims. Continue reading →

There is no doubt President new team Pompeo-Bolton team will present the most significant challenge to Iran’s foreign policy in more than three decades. President Trump in selecting John Bolton as his new national security adviser and Mike Pompeo as his secretary of state, Trump two the most hawkish Republicans in his team. John Bolton is his third national security advisor. There is no doubt Trump’s new foreign policy team will certainly increase pressure on Tehran from all angles, including putting more pressure on regional countries and U.S. allies to distance themselves from Iran.  Fore example Turkey This will have a negative impact on the Iran-Ankara cooperation not only in economic and trade matters but also in other areas.   “ If anyone seeks to betray the nuclear deal, they should know that they cannot escape its “grave consequences”, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran warned on Tuesday in an open reference to U.S. President Donald Trump who has repeatedly threatened to destroy the international agreement.  Continue reading →

The air strikes in Syria by the UK, the US, and France have attracted the attention of a plethora of media again. The US, in spite of Trump’s claims that Washington is withdrawing from the region, has carried out a limited attack on Syria, but its consequences will certainly affect Trump and his allies in the near future. Quickly responding to Saturday’s triune missile strikes on Syrian chemical sites, Russia emboldened its relation to Iran and bolstered the Syrian military. Most likely Russia will resume talks with Syria and other countries over the sale of modern S-300 air defense systems to protect against future US-British-French strikes America, France, and Britain boasted that they had taught Bashar al-Assad a lesson. It is really hypocritical to boast about teaching lessons to Assad given that this was a one time, limited attack that hardly dented Assad’s capacity to kill his own people. These three countries seemingly do not care enough nor do they have the political will to save Syrians from Assad’s regime. It is almost a joke for us to believe that U.S, Britain, and France have given a message that they will not tolerate Assad’s chemical attacks and will strike back if such crimes against humanity are committed again. That is not the real problem in Syria. Continue reading →

LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 29: Former United States ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition spring leadership meeting at The Venetian Las Vegas on March 29, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Republican Jewish Coalition began its annual meeting wtih potential Republican presidential candidates in attendence, along with Republican super donor Sheldon Adelson. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump has shaken up his foreign policy team. He replaced Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and last week President Trump announced that he would remove National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster and put John Bolton in that position. This installment of John Bolton as the new National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump is a good choice but is a little too late. John Bolton, an ultra hawkish conservative who gained fame and prominence in the George W. Bush administration, is a believer in American power and a confrontational advocate of the Bush offense doctrine, the strategy that goes after American threats outside American territory. Bolton recognizes that global affairs lack strong leadership, signaled by the chaos and by the need for a new Security choice. Now, the Trump administration will benefit from a new security advisor who knows and understands China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia, and who contends that radicalism must be thwarted. It will not be easy or quick Continue reading →