Police Take Photo Ops with Marijuana User Suspect Mark Anthony Fernandez

Wazzup Pilipinas!

"Pag mahirap, patay agad dahil nanlaban.

Pag celebrity, photo ops at presscon!"

Actor Mark Anthony Fernandez, son of the late actor Rudy Fernandez and former actress Alma Moreno, was arrested Monday night, October 3, 2016, after around one kilo of marijuana was allegedly seized from him by the Angeles City police.

But the incident was not originally intended as a buy bust operation for illegal drugs against him. Chief Insp. Francisco Guevarra Jr. said Mark was flagged down at a checkpoint along Mc Arthur Hi-way in Brgy. Virgen Delos Remedios because his car had no front license plate. A car chase ensued between the actor and the authorities which led to the police firing at one of the Mustang’s front tires. The authorities said that they did not know the identity of the suspect until they caught the actor in San Fernando City.

The actor is currently detained at the Station 6 of the Angeles City police in Pampanga. There is no bail allowed for suspects caught with 500 grans and above marijuana.

However, there seems to be some conflicting statements coming from Mark. 

At first, it seems he confirmed the presence of the 1 kilo marijuana, but later he is saying that he only has a small amount and that the 1 kilo was planted in his car by the police.

Mark admitted to using marijuana but said it's for medical purposes only specifically to prevent cancer.

Mark faces violation of Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Also, some photos of Mark with some police women became viral over social media showing how they took photo ops with the actor. Many have criticized that it was highly unbecoming of the police to have done such acts as if being starstruck and giving special treatment to the actor.

The police also organized a press conference with the actor without any legal counsel representing the actor.

"There were posts shared about the inadmissibility of Mark Fernandez's admissions in reply to questions propounded by police officers during a press conference. These were done in violation of the Miranda doctrine (Art. III, Sec. 12, 1987 Constitution) which mandates that he should have been assisted by counsel. 

However, Mark Fernandez made the same admissions when he was asked by Media (which is not an agent of the state) about the incident involving him, a check point, a car chase with the police, and a kilogram's worth of marijuana found in his possession. 

Does the Miranda rights doctrine, as well as the exclusionary rule, cover confessions made to Media outlets? If not, are there legal safeguards (domestic law or international law) which protect suspects from making declarations against their interest brought about by the oftentimes mis/leading prodding by Media practitioners?"

Mark backtracked his earlier statement that he bought a kilo of it for P15,000.

"Nung hinuhuli po ako, nakita ko po, pinatong sa kotse ko [iyong marijuana]. Bibilhin ko pa lang, titingnan ko pa lang, pero hindi ko pa nabibili, or hindi pa ako desididong bilhin, pero nilagay po sa kotse ko [I have yet to buy the marijuana block when they arrested me. They just put it in my car]," he said.
The police has since denied Fernandez's claims.

"We stood with our spot report that there's no such thing that this marijuana was planted to him. First and foremost, we don't have any reason for him para i-plant itong marijuanasa kanya. Secondly, kung makikita mo kasi pinaigting talaga namin ang police operation namin. Again, it was a chance arrest," Pampanga Regional Police head, Chief Superintendent Aaron Aquino said.

Though there is still no official bill legalizing it yet, using marijuana for medicinal purposes is allowed. However, one must first secure a special permit from the FDA to avoid legal conflicts.

The bills filed in the Senate and House of Representatives to legalize cannabis are still in limbo, but groups or individuals who want to use marijuana for medicinal purposes may apply for a special permit from the FDA.

Marijuana use has been decriminalized in some countries like Colombia, Costa Rica, and Mexico, albeit the possession and sale still come with restrictions. Colombia, for example, sets the limit at 22 grams for personal use and 20 plants for cultivation.

Certain states in the US also recently approved the medical use of marijuana.

Wow! Weight Loss Has Never Been This Easy!

Wazzup Pilipinas!

They say that the key to a successful weight loss is a change of lifestyle. Many people can attest to that and when you change your lifestyle, eating habits change as well. You will transition from eating everything, to checking every bit of nutritional facts of the food you eat. Here are some facts you need to know. This is really easy when you put your mind and heart to it.

1. Make sure the calories you take are equal with the calories you use. By maintaining a 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day for women and exerting enough effort on a daily basis will help effectively in losing weight.

2. Get a healthy eating plan. A healthy eating plan will give you the nutrients you need without compromising your health yet it will help you balance the calorie intake which then will aid in losing weight.

3. Know the food that you should limit. Foods that are high in saturated and trans fat raise blood cholesterol levels which is bad for the health. Fatty cuts of meat, processed meat, poultry with skin, high fat dairy products, oily and fried food—aside from being bad for the health, it mainly causes you to gain weight. Sodas, sweets, and drinks that have added sugar will contribute in blood sugar increase and aside from gaining weight form these; it also might affect organs or even cause diabetes. 

Carbon Black and IBM Has New Technology for Critical Endpoint Vulnerabilities

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Carbon Black, the leader in next-generation endpoint security, today announced an expansion of its partnership with IBM Security. The companies have collaborated to deliver a unique technology, which empowers customers to patch, within seconds, the most pervasive and critical vulnerabilities affecting an enterprise’s security. IBM will also deliver Carbon Black directly to customers as part of the expanded relationship.

According to Gartner’s September 2016 Report, It's Time to Align Your Vulnerability Management Priorities With the Biggest Threats, “organizations are struggling to figure out the delta between ‘what can I fix’ and ‘what will make the biggest difference, with the pragmatic reality of the time and resources that I actually have,’” making vulnerability management one of the biggest problems plaguing the security industry. A lack of visibility into which endpoints are being actively exploited across the enterprise often leads to non-directed, broad-based patching of endpoints. This approach can leave endpoints vulnerable to the most pressing attack vectors.

IBM and Carbon Black have designed a new, integrated offering, which correlates Carbon Black’s endpoint activity data with public Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) databases to deliver a prioritized list of actively exploited vulnerabilities tailored to each organization. Designed to manage active attack remediation, the new collaboration takes the guesswork out of which endpoint vulnerabilities security professionals need to prioritize.

The combination of IBM Big Fix and Carbon Black empowers security professionals to, within seconds, identify and patch the endpoint exploits most threatening to their particular organizations. This process increases enterprise-wide visibility and speeds response time. The integration is further bolstered by IBM QRadar, which, together with BigFix, provides threat prioritization of vulnerabilities at the network level. The most pressing alerts can now be escalated for security professionals to immediately remediate, delivering the most comprehensive threat-based patching and remediation solution.

“From top to bottom, security is in our company’s DNA,” said Carbon Black CEO, Patrick Morley. “Our products were created by security experts who intimately know how difficult managing alerts can be. This new, ground-breaking offering from Carbon Black and IBM leapfrogs other management solutions on the market, which lack a proactive, continuous approach to capturing critical endpoint data.”

As customers seek to focus their security-tool portfolio, IBM will offer the integrated BigFix and Carbon Black solution to its customers, enabling security professionals to:

Find it: See precisely which endpoints are being actively exploited enterprise-wide and filter by a specific vulnerability.

Fix it: Understand which patches will have the biggest impact across the organization and then patch, within seconds, the most actively exploited vulnerabilities.

Secure it: Stop an attack dead in its tracks, and prevent future attacks of a similar nature.

With Carbon Black endpoint data funneled into IBM BigFix, security professionals can act quickly and decisively to patch devices enterprise-wide within seconds.

Together, IBM BigFix and Carbon Black create the only solution on the market that combines continuous and centrally recorded endpoint data with the ability to enforce policies on devices enterprise-wide to solve the pervasive patch-management problem security teams are facing.

“IBM BigFix delivers the industry's best ability to detect non-compliant and vulnerable endpoints,” said James Brennan, Director of Strategy and Offering Management, IBM Security. “Beyond detection, IBM BigFix also offers a complete vulnerability remediation solution as part of its patch compliance capabilities. The expanded partnership with Carbon Black leverages their leading ‘Patterns of Attack’ technology, which detects suspicious behaviors on the endpoint. We’re now bringing that data together, with a patch/compliance view, giving complete visibility into customers’ endpoints.”

In addition, IBM and Carbon Black have finalized new global agreements that will allow customers to purchase Carbon Black solutions directly from IBM, enabling IBM customers to quickly take advantage of the new integrated BigFix and Cb Response solution. Joint customers will experience a simple and streamlined way to adopt both products.