Republic Act No. 6713 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A CODE OF CONDUCT AND ETHICAL STANDARDS FOR PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND EMPLOYEES, TO UPHOLD THE TIME-HONORED PRINCIPLE OF PUBLIC OFFICE BEING A PUBLIC TRUST, GRANTING INCENTIVES AND REWARDS FOR EXEMPLARY SERVICE, ENUMERATING PROHIBITED ACTS AND TRANSACTIONS AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES Section 1. Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees." Section 2. Declaration of Policies. - It is the policy of the State to promote a high standard of ethics in public service. Public officials and employees shall at all times be accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence, and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public interest over personal interest. Section 3. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Act, the term: (a) "Go
Agence France-Presse|WASHINGTON - A 23-month-old toddler has died of swine flu in Texas, the first confirmed death in the United States as well as the first outside the disease epicenter in Mexico, officials said Wednesday. "We have confirmed the first death in this country in a 23-month-old child in Texas," said Richard Besser, the acting director the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said on CNN. "As a parent and a pediatrician my heart goes out to the family. As I've been saying for the past few days flu is a very serious infection, and each virus is unique so it is hard to know what we're going to be seeing," Besser added. "But given what we've seen in Mexico we have expected that we would see more severe infections and that we would see deaths." US health authorities on Tuesday said there were 65 confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu which is believed to have killed 159 people in Mexico. Most of the US cases have been relatively mild, with only