NEWS BRIEFS

 Samahang Ilocano chief warns members: No hazing 

BAGUIO CITY—“Do not violate the anti-hazing law”, this was a stern warning from Samahang Ilokano Global Alumni Council (SIGAC) national chairperson Mark Anthony Baliton during his message recently.

 Addressing the delegates to the SIGAC National Executive Council meeting held here recently, he added, “the group will not tolerate violators of the law. If any members violate the anti-hazing law, we (the national council) will not help you.”

              Baliton issued the warning on the note that a law student from the University of Sto. Tomas recently died, a victim of hazing during their fraternity rights.

              The death of Horacio “Atio” Tomas Castillo III, at the hands of alleged members of the Aegis Juris law fraternity is now subject to a Senate inquiry regarding the incident and bring forth possible amendments to the country’s Anti-Hazing Law.

              According to Baliton, Brgy. Capt. Benjie Macadangdang, SIGAC- Baguio-Benguet Council chairman is currently designing new rules and regulations for “service” guidelines before being accepted to the fraternity.

 Baliton said, SIGAC, will no longer honor its age long practice initiation or hazing, instead, new recruits or neophytes will be obliged to do public service before becoming a full pledged member of the fraternity.—SIGAC press release

 

Father, son rule Baguio Scrabble

BAGUIO CITY -- Father and son Mohammad and Bobby Suma took the Baguio Day Scrabble Tournament by storm as they placed first and second recently at the Baguio Museum.

Father Mohammad was at his best as he topped the expert division with a 12-4 card and a spread of 427 for the sole place at the top.

Son Bobby, on the other hand, shared the second to fifth spots with three others but took the highest spot with an eye popping 1,101 spread, the best in the two day tournament backed by the city government of Baguio.

Ferdinand Lucas was at third place with spread of 597, while retired banker Robbie Onate was fourth with spread of 128 and closely followed by retired police colonel Tony Malonzo.

Anna Tabora, meanwhile, edged three others via a higher spread to win the novice/student division.  Tabora finished with eight wins along with Orlando Pocya, Jupiter Batong and Crichel Lao but she had a slight edge in spread.

Tabora had spread of 380, 11 up on Pocya and 62 more on Batong as the three took the top three spots.  Lao settled for fourth spot after spread of 291.

Three players had seven wins each but Gillian Rae Billeson took the fifth spot with spread of 169. Sheree Nolasco came in sixth with spread of 95 and Michael Angelo Subas was eighth with spread of 52.

Ric Malilin had the highest score of 516, Huub Luyk had the highest bingo of  118, while the latter’s wife, Becky, had the l;osing score of 414.  – Pigeon Lobien

No texting for Central Luzon cops on duty

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga – Central Luzon police officers are no longer allowed to send text messages while on duty, based on an order issued by the regional police director Chief Supt. Amador V. Corpuz.

Corpuz said the “no text policy” is effective immediately in the entire region.

Corpuz said a number of police officers are often preoccupied with sending text messages or fiddling with their mobile phones while on duty.

“The no text policy is my marching orders and the alibi that they are making report in texting is already an old alibi,” Corpuz said.

He said the public feels safer if there are police officers on duty who are alert and not preoccupied with texting.

“There will be greater challenges ahead and we need to build a stronger community; you are old enough to do what is right,” Corpuz told his men. -- Mar T. Supnad

 Wi-fi connections eyed for 2,300 buses

At least 2,300 provincial buses and their riders will benefit from the free, high-speed wi-fi connections and other services  that will be provided by communications giant PLDT Inc. to  members of the Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines (PBOAP).

The PLDT said over the weekend that the partnership, forged through its corporate business unit PLDT Enterprise, would involve providing PBOAP members with wi-fi connectivity, closed-circuit television monitoring and vehicle tracking through the SmartBus suite of services from the Smart Biz LTE bundle.

“Giving the commuting public easy and fast access to the internet through our Smart Biz LTE can take their mind away from the daily grind. It will also  enable them to perform  tasks online while in transit,” the PLDT said.

“Our partner bus operators said the Smart Bus suite gives them the assurance that their buses, personnel and the riding public are secured,” Jovy Hernandez, senior vice president and head of PLDT Enterprise, said. 

PLDT’s SmartBus product enables bus operators to comply with the government’s plan to modernize the country’s public transport system.

PH’s bronze in Archery won with blurred vision

SAN FERNANDO CITY – She has blurred vision, constantly wears glasses in school or at home and can hardly read without them.

She is 19-year-old Mary Queen Ybañez who took home the bronze medal in Archery at the recent the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Interviewed by this writer in Barangay Madayegdeg, this city, last Monday, Ybañez said she got into the sport at an early age when her vision was perfect.

Struck by astigmatism (blurred vision) in her teens, she had to wear corrective glasses.

Still, she continued training herself to hit the target 70 meters out even if international competitions meant having to do it without the aid of her spectacles.

“Matagal ko na kasi ito ginagawa sa paglalaro ng archery at nag-start ako 11 years old malinaw pa ang mga paningin ko,” she said.

On competition day, Ybañez recalls how she had to trust her pulse. As to her vision, she said: “Binabase ko na lang po sa kulay ’yung target, kahit malabo sa paningin ko (I had to base the target on the colors, since my vision is blurred).”

Ybañez together with her recurve team, Kareel Hongitan from Baguio City and Nichole Tagle from Dumaguete City, gave the Philippines its 4th bronze in Archery at the SEA Games.

Her vision might have been blurred, but something remains crystal clear in Ybañez’s memory: “It was a great feeling to plant the Philippine flag on the podium. I never expected to win on my first-ever SEA Games,” she said.--  Erwin G. Beleo

Kalinga 4Ps get rice aid

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – More than11, 000 Pantawid Pamilya program beneficiaries in the province started receiving rice subsidy from the program.

Under the Duterte Administration, Pantawid beneficiaries are extended additional P600 monthly rice aid.

Lorna Lumiwan, 4Ps Provincial Link, disclosed the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development released the rice assistance for January because the period was covered under the “suspension of evaluation on compliance” due to super typhoon ‘Lawin’.       

But starting February until end of the year, release of rice aid will be back as compliance-based, Lumiwan said.

Under the 4Ps program, indigent beneficiaries receive monthly cash benefits provided they comply with conditions set on health, education and attendance to family development sessions.

Pantawid families are required to have regular health monitoring at rural health units, qualified children should be in school and undergo regular family development sessions.  -- PIA Kalinga

Central Luzon OFWs to be hired as teachers

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The Dept. of Education in Central Luzon announced that it will be hiring 43 returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to teach in different schools in the region.

Michelle Catap-Lacson, DepEd3 Project Development Officer II said the 43 returning OFWs will be given permanent teaching positions in public schools near their residences in the provinces of Aurora, Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.

“They will be automatically given permanent teacher items, and be assigned to schools with shortages,” she said, adding that 25 teachers will be assigned in the elementary level while 18 will be assigned in the Junior High School level.

She added that the Schools Division Offices have been instructed to conduct thorough interview and demonstration teaching and address noted gaps through the conduct of teacher trainings and other apt interventions.

The hiring of OFW-teachers is under the “Sa ‘Pinas Ikaw ang Mam at Sir” (SPIMS) Program of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in partnership with DepEd, which was launched in 2014 to assist OFWs who are passers of the Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) working abroad as professional teachers or household service workers to be employed as teachers when they return to the country.

-- Franco G. Regala

Tabuk City ups drive against minor drivers

TABUK CITY, Kalinga --  The City Public Order and Safety Office has intensified its campaign against  minor drivers amid reports of high violations.

POSO Dionisio P. Falgui III reported their office had recorded 1,911 traffic violators in the city from January-June, mostly minor drivers and driving without license.

This explains why road accident is the top cause in cases of physical injuries in the city police report, Falgui said.

In line with the campaign, mobile check points along the city’s main thoroughfares has  been intensified. Because of strict traffic regulation enforcement, the POSO had collected P574,350 in penalty fees for the period.

But Falgui said collection of penalty fees is just secondary to their mandate of assuring public order and safety.   

We impose penalty because we want drivers to follow proper traffic rules to avoid accidents, he said.   

He appealed to parents to cooperate with the authorities by preventing their minor-children from just going on fun-driving  without the assistance of licensed drivers.  -- PIA Kalinga  

Ban on sale of tickets mulled in Baguio

BAGUIO CITY – The local legislature has passed on first reading a proposed “anti-scalping ordinance” in the Summer Capital.

Authored by councilor Leandro Yangot, Jr., the measure is applicable to all local residents and individuals operating with or without ticket offices or official booths within the city’s territorial jurisdiction.

Scalping is the mass purchase and resell of tickets at more expensive prices while a scalper is one who sells airline, bus, theater, concert tickets and similar undertakings with or without profit outside the ticket office or official booth or place designated for the purpose.

The proposed ordinance makes it unlawful for any scalper to sell airline, bus, theater, concert tickets and similar undertakings with or without profit outside the ticket office or official booth or place designated for the purpose.

It also prohibits any person to finance, manage or operate scalping which is pernicious or inimical to public interest.

Violators of the measure’s provisions shall be meted a fine of not more than P5,000 or by imprisonment of not more than three months or both, upon the discretion of the Courts. – Gaby Keith

  Kalinga farmers learn ratooning technology

CITY OF TABUK, Kalinga --  The Provincial Agriculturist Office educates farmers on the ratooning technology to increase rice production.

Joe Casibang, Kalinga rice program coordinator, said ratooning could add at least 40 percent of the average yield per hectare to farmers.

Under the technology, farmers are taught to apply some interventions to palay plants left out during harvest and could still get additional yield. Farmers just apply additional two bags of urea per hectare compared to the usual 8-10 bags of fertilizer per hectare in the regular cropping.

Casibang said the ratooning period runs for about 60 days, which is actually the regular cropping interval, before the ratooned palay is ready for harvest.

The technology is applicable to both hybrid and inbred rice. Rice farmers get an average of 120 bags of palay per hectare.

A 50-hectare demo-farm is being used for the technology in this City, the province's major rice producing area.  -- PIA Kalinga  

DSWD sets 30,000 family food packs for rainy months

BAGUIO CITY – Dept. of Social Welfare and Development in the Cordillera Administrative Region has set family food packs for disaster augmentation this rainy season particularly for  landslide-prone areas in the region.

 DSWD-CAR regional director Janet Armas said 30,000 food packs have already been brought to provinces for distribution in case of disasters.

She said 6,200 food packs are in Mountain Province; 5,000 in Ifugao; 2,642 in Abra; 1,500 in Apayao; and 15,601 at their warehouse in Puguis, La Trinidad town in Benguet.

A food pack contains 6 kilograms of rice, half dozen 3-in-1 instant coffee, 8 canned goods, brown rice bar (energy bar) and infant dry-cereals.

Armas said the goods will augment food supplies in cases of disasters in Cordillera as landslides frequently occur due to the terrain.

DSWD-CAR, she said, spent about P13 million for the family packs. About P21 million was also spent for non-food items like blankets and tents.

Cordillera the past days has been experiencing strong rains and thunderstorms brought by the southwest monsoon. A number of roads were closed to vehicular traffic due to landslides. -- PNA

 PVET teaches farmers organic feed formulation

HUNGDUAN, Ifugao --The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVET) here recently conducted skills training on organic swine and poultry raising and feed formulation to 83 farmer- recipients of native pig raising project of the provincial government.

The training was to enable pig raisers gain more profit in their backyard livestock endeavor by formulating their own organic feeds using ingredients and materials that are abundant and indigenous in their places rather than relying on commercial feeds which are very expensive, said PVET training coordinator Ferdinand Dunuan.

By adopting organic farming  that  includes feed formulation to reduce feed cost,  they can produce not only animal meat products which are safe and fit for human consumption but also earn more profit because organically produced farm products nowadays are in great demand.

Dunuan   lectured to participants on animal husbandry, issues on bio-organic inputs and good agricultural practices.

Gilbert Caclini, also of PVET, demonstrated the preparation of the feeds using the indigenous materials with the hands on participation of the farmers  so that they can learn and experience on the spot organic feed formulation.

The ingredients and materials used during the actual preparation of  50 kilograms (kgs) of organic feed include 20 kilos rice bran, 5 corn grits, 5 corn bran, 3 chopped banana stalk, 3 chopped camote trunk and leaves, 3 ofipil leaves, 10 ofazola, a kilo of brown sugar, another kilo of indigenous micro-organism (for fermentation) and two liters of rice wash.

The farmers said were happy with what they learned and promised that they will immediately start preparing their own feed supply. -- Daniel B. Codamon