MORE NEWS, BAGUIO CITY

Centennial ‘Indie’ film festival slated in Baguio
BAGUIO CITY -- As a prelude to centennial celebrations of this summer capital and in support to the city's promotional campaign as center for culture and the arts, plans are being laid for a digital film festival for independent filmmakers.

Art Tibaldo, a media specialist and television segment producer volunteered to spearhead said film fest in coordination with the programs committee of the Baguio Centennial Commission.

This "indie" film fest according to Tibaldo, may not be as grand as those that are yearly held in Metro Manila to promote the local movie industry but this event offers an opportunity to budding filmmakers, television producers, visual artists and communication students to be involved as a partner and promoter of the city.

Tibaldo who prepared the guidelines based on past "indie" film fests said that there will be three categories namely; Short Documentary Film, Feature Film and Music Video (MTV) of an originally composed music.

Except for the MTV that can run within the duration of a song, Tibaldo added said that the entries should not be less than eight minutes or exceed forty minutes total running time.

All entries according to Tibaldo should depict the Baguio centennial theme: "A Culture of Sharing and Caring" with highlights on either a Baguio resident(s) or its community.
Each entry must clearly show Baguio as the dominant site of filmography or the place where the story evolves.

Use of copyrighted materials and legacy files by others may be used in parts if a written consent by its creator is availed.

Entries will be screened by a panel of jurors according to Tibaldo and winners will be based on the jury's discretion taking into consideration some formula criterions like "best direction, best screen play, best cinematography, best story, best in documentary and best in music video."

According to the rules, participants should submit a finalized edition in a standard DVD with a screen resolution of 720x480 or higher and an AVI or MPEG-2 copy.

With the onset of digital technology, participants may now use high quality video in lieu of film and edit the same using home-based computers and still come out with good results.

Winning works will be featured on cable televisions and screened on a chosen venue where an award's night will follow to be graced by members of the Baguio Centennial Commission and city officials.

Each winner will receive handsome cash prizes and a specially made Kidlat Tahimik trophy.

Tibaldo who will be conducting a workshop on basic photography and video production" this summer can be reached at the Baguio Media Museum and Animation Studio (www.artibaldo.multiply.com) every Saturday for more details.

Rules and guidelines of the film fest can soon be availed at the Baguio Centennial Office at the Baguio Convention Center and posted at school bulletins. – Cordillera News Agency


DPWH completes P451.8 million GMA bridge projects in Cordillera
By Dexter See

BAGUIO CITY – The Cordillera Department of Public Works and Highways announced the completion of 42 President’s Bridge project in the region with an accumulated cost of P451.8 million which is aimed at improving accessibility in remote areas and spur increased economic activities of the people.

In a report submitted to Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Jr., Mariano Alquiza, DPWH regional director, said 25 of the bridge projects were funded from the United Kingdom President’s Bridge program, 13 bridges were financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and 2 were funded by the Austrian Bridge program.

According to Alquiza, the UK-funded bridge projects have a total length of 992.5 meters while the JICA-assisted bridges are 421 meters long and the Austrian-aided bridge projects are only 89.98 meters long.

The report cited the funding of the 25 bridges came from the UK President’s Bridge program, 13 from the JICA and 2 from the Austrian Bridge program.

The remote areas in the cordillera, particularly in the provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain province, were the primary recipients of the foreign-funded bridge projects because of the need to link remote communities to urban centers in a bid to perk up economic development in the countryside.

Mountain province got the most number of bridge projects with 13, Kalinga came in second with 11, Apayao got 10 bridges, Benguet and Abra had 3 bridge projects each while Ifugao got two.bridges.

The implementation of the president’s Bridge program started in 2004 when funds from the various foreign agencies started to come in with the DPWH as the primary implementing agency.

Alquiza noted the improved accessibility in the areas which were recipients of the various bridge projects, citing that thousands of residents could now freely travel from one place to another because of the presence of infrastructures beneficial to improving accessibility.

The national government under the stewardship of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has embarked on a sustained effort to bring infrastructure development in the countryside as one of its priorities to help uplift the living condition of people who are classified to be within the level of extreme poverty as well as help mitigate the effects of poverty and bring forth enough opportunities for investors to poor in their money in lucrative business opportunities in the countryside.


PSC owes Teachers Camp P7 million in unpaid rentals
By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – The Philippine Sports Commission owes the management of Teachers Camp an accumulated P7 million representing its accumulated rentals of its facilities based within the camp over the past six years.

Lovenia Gorospe, assistant superintendent of Teachers Camp bared this, adding officials of the Department of Education are currently negotiating with PSC representatives on how the latter will settle its increasing obligations to the camp.

PSC maintains the rubberized track oval, several cottages which serves as quarters for national pool trainees and its officials, and several facilities dedicated for sports development within the 23.7-hectare Teachers Camp property here.

Gorospe said PSC’s accumulated obligations to the management could go a long way in the implementation of rehabilitation works as well as putting up other training facilities within the premier training center in the country to cater to the growing convention needs of its clients in the coming years.

Dept Ed and PSC officials entered into an agreement prior to 2001 fixing the monthly rental of the latter for the use of its Teachers Camp training facilities in the amount of P50,000 monthly.

However, such rental was increased to P72, 000 per month until the agreement expired in 2004.

The Teachers Camp official said despite the lapse of the agreement, they are still effecting the collection of the monthly rental from the PSC but the same has never paid them a single centavo up to the present.

Ironically, she admitted Dept Ed, which supervises the operation of the camp, could not evict PSC from the premises because it is a co-government institution, thus, they are exhausting all possible diplomatic means to pressure the country’s sports body to give priority in settling its debt at the soonest possible time.

Teachers Camp was established by the American colonizers in 1908 in recognition of the Thomasites who brought education to the country.

Since it charges the cheapest fees for trainings and huge gatherings, the Teachers Camp facilities are the favorite convention areas of most government and non-government groups since it also has the ambiance of this mountain resort city due to the presence of century-old pine trees that maintain the cool and natural breeze.

Gorospe claimed the P32 million income of the camp last year could have been exceeded if PSC paid its increasing obligations on time to prevent future legal rifts between two government agencies.

Teachers Camp has a total of 72 buildings which cater to the simultaneous training demands of numerous wanting to hold special activities in the city to have a feel of the cool and romantic weather or the city’s natural air conditioning and pine-scented air.

The PSC’s training facilities in the city is the favorite training area for athletes from various sports disciplines preparing for national and international competitions.


Squatting, right-of-way problems hamper expansion of Baguio roads
BAGUIO CITY – The mushrooming of professional squatters and road-right-of-way problems is hampering the expansion of national and secondary arterials roads in this mountain resort city which is geared towards improving the worsening traffic situation.

This was disclosed by engineer Neri Bueno, district engineer of the Baguio City District Engineering Office, who added there will come a time that the national government will be spending more money to compensate intruders within the road-right-of-way compared to the money which will be used for the rehabilitation, expansion and improvement of roads in the city.

Based on an inventory, there are already at least 500 squatters which have encroached on the 60-meter road-right-of-way for numerous national and secondary arterial roads in the city and most of the intruders are located along Kennon road, Marcos highway and Naguilian road.

According to Bueno, the presence of squatters and encroachers within the road-right-of-way poses a serious threat to the safety of motorists and the public since they will be the sorry victims in cases of accidents.

Furthermore, she cited the population is increasing so as that of the number of vehicles because of the necessity for convenience, thus, it also counts that the government must expand the roads to the fullest within the metes and bounds of the road-right-of-way.

However, Bueno said the roads in the city could no longer be expanded because of the presence of numerous businesses and squatters which have built their structures even in the road-right-of-way thereby causing the roads to be narrow in certain areas.

Due to the lack of police power by the agency, the BCDEO already referred to the city government the enforcement of the demolition of illegal structures within the road-right-of-way of national and secondary arterial roads but it seems that the local government unit has not acted on such requests for reasons known only to the concerned city officials.

At the same time, the district engineer expressed her opposition to a proposal pending before the city council requesting Congress of the Philippines to exempt the Cordillera region from the implementation of the 60-meter road-right-of-way, saying that such exemption will result in worst case scenarios especially concerning the safety of motorists and convenience to the public.

Bueno revealed if the squatting problems and road-right-of-way encroachments will not be abated the soonest, time will come that the city will be likened to the case of Urdaneta City, Pangasinan where the government spent millions of pesos more in the payment of claims compared to the expansion and paving of the road, thus, it is still best to prevent the proliferation of squatters and encroachers along national roads so that expansion projects could easily be implemented without going through tedious legal processes in removing illegal structures. -- Dexter A. See


Hawker threatens to chop off POSD worker’s head
By Isagani S. Liporada

BAGUIO CITY – An illegal vendor threatened to chop off a Public Order and Safety Division worker here as they tried to clear easements at Burnham Park here of sellers.

POSD chief Gregorio Deligero said an illegal vendor ran after the POSD worker with a bolo.

Earlier on March 24, one Rendo Macoy Calomente, allegedly resisted confiscation of his goods, kicking a POSD man and threatening two others with a bolo.

“We always operate with police assistance but illegal vendors are getting bolder, hitting back despite presence of police.” Deligero said.

A police memorandum reportedly indicated POSD men were “disinterested” in filing a case against the lone perpetrator. “But we’redefinitely filing a case. That is no threat. That’s a promise,” Deligero said.

A top-level official who spoke on condition of anonymity observed, “The number of vendors would not have grown to this unmanageable and rowdy bunch had it not been for the ‘humanitarian reasons’ that legislators have been citing in ordinances just to please everybody. We need stiffer fines and penalties and more people willing to sacrifice their lives and limbs to implement what ordinance has been approved.”

Earlier, a team of city legislators and executive officials visited Marikina, to observe “best practices” the city may adapt in tackling illegal vending.

Following this, 10-councilors proposing an ordinance consolidating all anti-easement encroachment measures.


Reds freely moving around in 80% of the country: CPP
BAGUIO CITY – The central committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines claimed a day before the insurgents celebrated their 40th anniversary last March 29 that the New People’s Army is moving freely in at least 80 percent of the country.

This contradicted the Armed Forces’ estimate that the NPA’s actual number was down to 1,500 and would be a spent force by 2010 with aggressive counter-insurgency operations all over the country.

The CCP also claimed to have built at least 120 to 130 guerrilla fronts covering 9,000 barangays in 800 municipalities in 70 provinces and “is now in a position” to increase their number.

Signaling a renewed call for attacks against government forces, the CPP said NPA guerrillas would increase ranks and seize weapons, specifically targeting mines, plantations, logging concessions and others that “are detrimental to the interest of the people.”

The NPA “is battle-tested and tempered like steel” in its 40 years of existence, the CPP said, adding, the government is “engaged in wishful thinking” by repeatedly announcing their intention to destroy them or reduce them “to inconsequentiability.”

“History has shown that the Marcos regime failed to destroy us,” the statement said. “Together with the CPP and NDF, the NPA has become stronger.”

“The conditions are exceedingly favorable for the NPA and the entire revolutionary movement to grow in strength as a fighting, propaganda, productive and cultural force, to seize the initiative and intensify the armed struggle and gather the widest possible popular support through the united front policy and tactics,” it added.

The government’s Oplan Bantay Laya 2 (OBL 2), according to the NPA, “has failed miserably in its objective in 2007, as OBL 1 had failed in 2001-2006, to concentrate the reactionary armed forces and regional mobile police units in 600 barangays in some 10 to 12 guerrilla fronts in six regions all at the same time in order to clear barangays of the NPA.”

The government’s OBL 2 was an offshoot of President Arroyo’s recent approval of the second phase of the military’s master plan to finish off communist insurgency and Islamic extremism.

AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Bantay Laya 2 aims to “defeat” the NPA by the end of Mrs. Arroyo’s term in 2010, “destroy” the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf at the “soonest,” and “contain” the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
Esperon said during the five-year implementation of Bantay Laya 1, the strength of the NPA was brought down to 7,100 from 12,000.

But the CPP said military and police forces could hardly occupy 300 barangays at any given time and have failed to destroy a single guerrilla front even in the face of such an ambitious counter-insurgency plan.

“The enemy simply does not have enough troops and resources to cover extensive areas of the country,” it said.

“The NPA can freely move around in at least 80 percent of Philippine territory.”
Last year, the CPP claimed the NPA was able to launch more than 500 major and minor tactical offensives.


P144 M slated for Burnham Park rehab
By Dexter A See

BAGUIO CITY – The national government has earmarked P144 million for the immediate rehabilitation of Burnham Park, the scenic park located in the heart of this mountain resort city.

The national government allotted the amount even if President Arroyo formally turned over the management of the park to the city government last Easter Sunday.
It was learned that the park’s rehabilitation, which is to start soon upon the orders of the President, is divided into four phases to prevent inconvenience to both tourists and residents.

The initial work which is intended to improve the rapidly deteriorating Burnham Park includes earth-moving activities at the famous children’s playground which were supposed to have been started in the early part of this year.

City officials said the earth-moving activities would cost some P4.6 million, while the playground’s facilities would cost P3.5 million.

After the completion of the rehabilitation of the children’s playground, the entrance to the park will be improved to make it more more convenient to visitors.
A large gazebo will be constructed at an area near the entrance.

The playground will have rubber matting, and cartoon characters will be placed along the route. All metal structures will be covered with rubber for the safety of the public.
The children’s biking area will be relocated to a space near its present site and the Baguio orchidarium.

This is intended to prevent the occurrence of accidents that may cause injury to children using the facilities of the playground.

A teen park, which costs approximately over P8 million, will also be built. It will include a skateboard ramp and other extreme sport facilities.

All these facilities are expected to attract more foreign and domestic tourists to visit the park.

Some P4 million has been set aside for the rehabilitation of the Melvin Jones grandstand to enable it to accommodate huge gatherings that, at present, are often held in the park.

The bulk of the fund, which is approximately R124 million, will be utilized for the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Baguio Athletic Bowl to a modern sports arena.
This would enable the city to host national and international sports competitions.

Baguio City had been vying to host the prestigious Palarong Pambansa over the past several decades, but the national organizing committee had always rejected its offer because it does not have complete sports facilities.

The R125 million, which is included in the P1.227-trillion national budget this year, will be sourced out from the city’s accumulated share in the taxes paid by locators in the city’s economic zone in the past several years.