Northern Luzon power plants’ upgrading on

By Freddie G, Lazaro

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur— A high ranking official of the Department of Energy announced the ongoing upgrading of power plants in Northern Luzon to improve their services in bringing sufficient power supply for trade and economic activities in their areas of coverage.

DOE Director for Northern Luzon Efren Balaoing said the upgrading of power plants in this region are being done while forging of contracts with private investors will be pursued by the national government to develop the power generation capabilities of existing wind and mini-hydro power projects.

He cited the Binga and Ambuklao dams in Benguet province, Magat dam in Ramon, Isabela and the Pantabangan dam in Nueva Ecija as among those subject to upgrading of its facilities to bring out more power to boost the efficient economic activities in the Northern Luzon areas.

Meanwhile, he said the energy department is also working on the possible contracts with private companies who are interested in harnessing the potentials of Northern Luzon on oil.

“We have many interested private companies who wanted to invest on this project,” he told.

He said the province of Cagayan in Region 2 has been included on the list of prospective targets for oil development project by private investors.

This project, he said, involves long-term development depending on the work program of private companies.

He added the oil development project in the country will be realized in consonant with the policy of President Benigno S. Aquino III’s public-private partnerships.

“If this oil development project in Northern Luzon will realize, this will help decrease the price on petroleum products in the country,” he said.

It is noted that the country nowadays is still dependent from the Middle East and other countries in terms of oil supplies in which this will require high expenses that pushes the prices of petroleum products become higher.

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Storekeeper presses fight against cancer

By Ramon Dacawi

BAGUIO CITY -- Samaritans may find the fight of Donna Mae Sagmayao against breast cancer an uplifting counterpoint to the recent spate of deaths among patients here and in Benguet.

Thanks to what she said are “people I know and people I don’t know”, the 31-year old storekeeper pulled through six rounds of chemotherapy she completed last May 16.
That paved the way for the second stage - 34 sessions of linear radiation treatment which she began last June 10 at the Villaflor Hospital in Dagupan City.

“We are going back to Baguio every Friday to check if I have enough money again for my following sessions, then move down to Dagupan on Monday,” she said in a report she wrote for her benefactors.

“We rented a small room there for us to stay,” she said, adding she had eight treatments as of June 24.

“Before undergoing radiation, I had to undergo a process called simulation and planning and this cost P13,750 plus others such as CBC ,” she said.

She admitted the financial distress and the pain, including physical suffering as she underwent chemotherapy, undermined her will to fight on, “as if I wanted to give up because it was so hard how I felt, physically, emotionally.

“I’m happy for you people that you are therefore me, specially to God above all. It’s really a miracle for me as I don’t have the means to undergo these medications.”

She recalled how, early last February, after her appeal for help was published, she received a cell phone text asking her to meet someone.

“She handed me an envelope, saying the donor didn’t want to be recognized. I thanked her. The envelope contained P14,000,” she said. “The following day, (someone) handed me P5,000 and a Bible through a courier. A cousin, Mrs. Gail Mariano, handed me P12,000.”A “Mr Fred” then called up, saying he would – and did = come to the hospital and paid her P12,000 bill during her third chemo session.

“People I know and people I don’t know came to give financially in small and big amounts,” she said, enabling her to go for her fourth, fifth and sixth sessions. One who declined to identify himself contributed P2,000.

“Another at NBI handed P6,000 (but) didn’t want to give his name. My cousins, relatives, neighbors, friends and acquaintances helped also. Our missionary pastor in my home church volunteered to help.”

She listed them: Missionary Church of Christ – P12,000; KARODA organization and drivers – P2,000; Claire Banig – P15,000; Mrs. Celina – P5,000; Jose Napi8loy – P500; Jun-Jun Napiloy – P1,000; Aunt Pilar Alfonso – P500; Mr. Sagucio – P2,000; Jenalyn Tagtagon – P3,000.

Others who would like to help complete Donna Mae’s radiation therapy may ring up her number – 09127501709.

The girl’s fighting spirit serves as an antidote to the gloom from the recent passing on of 13-year old cancer patient Mark Anthony Viray and dialysis patients Aelfric Paquitol, Veronica Lee-Casuga, Jennifer Dangla and Jerry Wayan.

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Roads and corruption

EDITORIAL

The past weeks in Baguio had been a nightmare for thousands of commuters and motorists who had to bear with the ongoing construction or “repair” of the Loakan and Bokawkan Roads in Baguio.

Their gripes included heavy traffic as a result of the diggings which they said were not necessary considering that the roads were actually in excellent shape before these were dug up to “rehabilitate” these.

According to Department of Public Works and Highways officials, the roads needed to be “rehabilitated” considering these were old and not par with engineering safety standards. DPWH officials also said the “repair” of these roads had been programmed and budgeted by their central office in Manila.

The construction projects are worth millions of pesos taken from taxpayers’ money. It is high time such project proposals should be subjected by the DPWH to public scrutiny before these are bid out. Neutral or outside experts should be allowed to check the veracity of these projects before these are implemented.

This would ensure that taxpayers’ money is used judiciously. If the roads indeed needed honest to goodness rehabilitation then, it should be implemented. But if the intent of these government officials is to rehabilitate these so they can get kickbacks or commissions, then these have to be stopped.

The money of the people which they pay in the form of taxes should be used to make their lives better, not to enrich the pockets of corrupt government officials.

Investigating anomalous cases

There is sense in the proposal of Senate minority leader Alan Peter Cayetano for the government to set up an organized system of investigating issues concerning the past administrations in light of the unraveling Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office scam investigations.

The senator had expressed his disappointment with the slow pace of investigation and the unorganized manner in which the investigations are being conducted.

He said that since there is no Truth Commission, there is nothing to stop the President from creating either a super fact-finding body or a number of fact-finding committees in different departments to gather evidence.

Cayetano said even if a new Ombudsman is appointed, he would still need to have evidence based on facts which will have to come from different agencies and departments.

He also noted that investigations into the PCSO scam and all of the unresolved anomalies of the Arroyo administration need to put closure into these to truly emphasize the difference between the Aquino administration and the past administration.

“The Arroyo administration style of resolving cases was to just to let the issue die over time then later say that the issue is considered closed. But until you know who did the crime, what the crime is and what the perpetrators got, you cannot say that a case is solved,” he explained.

According to Cayetano, it is important for the Aquino administration to show that the Philippine government is capable of putting closure into big graft cases by completely solving the case, not only by closing these.

In this light, the Senate minority leader also called on the administration to conduct a parallel investigation in support of the Senate probe that may take the lead in investigating the alleged PCSO scam.

He said this parallel investigation can be done by the PCSO itself or the bodies outside or apart from the agency itself. As Cayetano said, there can be a more organized way of solving these anomalous cases starting with the PCSO scam.

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Jueteng jai-alai

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

Let us see if jueteng operations would cease in northern Luzon or other parts of the country now that the government is purportedly set to crack down on jai-alai betting operations being run by Charlie “Atong” Ang’s Meridien Vista Gaming Corp. outside the Cagayan Freeport.

You see, jueteng bet collectors, locally called kubradors, like those in Baguio and Benguet collect wagers on the pretext that what they are collecting is not jueteng bet money but jai alai.
***
Atong Ang and a certain Luding have been touted as those behind the proliferation of the illegal numbers game in these areas and their alleged protectors are also enjoying the spoils considering that draws are now held four times a day.

Police reason they can’t arrest these kubradors because they are collecting bet money for jail alai. If that is their reason for not doing their jobs, then they should heed the circular issued Wednesday by the Department of Justice and Department of the Interior and Local Government instructing law enforcers, local government units and public prosecutors to “immediately eliminate illegal jai-alai off-fronton betting operations all over the country.”
***
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said jai-alai operations outside the jurisdiction of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) is prohibited by Republic Act 954, a 1953 law which she said, has not been repealed by any later law.

She said this means the license of MVGC from CEZA, which includes the provision “as may be allowed by law,” does not give it the authority to put up gaming stations outside the freeport.

“We have received verified information about jai-alai operations of Meridien in other provinces outside Cagayan. They should be arrested and charged,” she said.

Meridien’s permit only covers operations in Cagayan, but it has supposedly extended its operations to Pangasinan, Baguio, Benguet Isabela, Oriental Mindoro and some areas in Metro Manila.

De Lima said certain officials of Pangasinan also reported to the DOJ that MVGC’s operations serve as front for jueteng.
***
The MVGC contested the position of the DOJ but whether Meridien’s position holds water, it is a fact that there is jueteng in Baguio, Benguet and other parts of northern Luzon as evidenced by betting of number combinations from 1 to 37.

It is high time the Philippine National Police crack the whip and discipline erring police officers and men under its “one-strike policy.” The policy states that any police chief where jueteng could be found in his area of jurisdiction should be immediately relieved from his command.
***
Despite proliferation of this illegal numbers game, we have never heard of a police chief in this Banana Republic relieved by the Camp Crame PNP lords for allowing jueteng operations under his turf. So to this administration’s leadership, particularly to P-Noy: How sincere are you in curbing this menace? Naibbung sa metten ti Pinoy.

Anyway, we would like to cite the leadership of the Abra PNP under provincial police director Senior Supt. Amando S. Lagiwid for his anti-jueteng drive. Latest to be arrested in the province was a beautician in the capital town of Abra. She was nabbed for collecting jueteng bets July 5 at about 12:30 p.m.
***
The beautician was identified Fatima M. Bondame, 39, of Albay, Bicol and resident of Capitulacion St., Calaba, Bangued. Joint operatives of the Provincial Public Safety Company, Abra Police Provincial Office and Provincial Investigation Branch led by Chief Insp. Salvador A. Claro arrested Bondame. Confiscated from her were jueteng paraphernalia and P274 in bet money.

Anyhow, if the government cannot stop jueteng, it is a slap on the face of P-Noy and a dent on his credibility and sincerity in reforming the government of corruption. You see, then Philippine National Police chief and now Sen. Panfilo Lacson stopped jueteng during his time.

He proved he could discipline the PNP. Can PNP Director General Raul Bacalzo do the same, or is he just playing moro-moro like other top officials of this blighted republic?

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Lawlessness in Davao City

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

Once known as the “Murder Capital” of the Philippines, Davao City once again topped the headlines when Mayor Sara Duterte – surrounded by armed police bodyguards -- beat a sheriff while hundreds of horrified people watched.

Duterte was caught on video camera punching sheriff Abe Andres – an officer of the court – several times while he was serving a court demolition order to destroy the shanties of approximately 250 informal settlers – or squatters – in the Agdao district in the city.

The video footage played on TV news showed Duterte gesturing to Andres with her hand for him to come closer. Unsuspecting, Andres came closer and, in lightning speed, Duterte punched him on the head at least four times with her right fist. Andres cowered and ran away. Duterte’s police bodyguards ran after him and dragged him back to Duterte. While two of her police bodyguards held Andres’ arms, Andres with a swollen left eye grimaced in pain – and fear -- as Duterte grabbed his collar with her left hand and poised to strike him with her clenched right fist… click! That image was captured on camera for the whole world to see. The photo says it all: arrogance of power.

In an attempt to justify her beating of Andres, Duterte said that Andres ignored her “order” to wait for two hours before serving the writ of demolition. Andres did not heed her “order” – she’s not his boss -- and tried to proceed with serving the court’s writ of demolition. That’s when Duterte lost her temper – wham! And all hell broke loose.

Duterte claimed that she was only trying to avert violence and bloodshed that would have happened if the demolition order were not stopped. Indeed, the video of the scuffle between the riot police and the squatters showed that emotions ran high.

For several days after the incident, Andres was out of public sight. And when he failed to attend a meeting with the Supreme Court administrator in Manila, it led people to speculate that he went into hiding. The following day he appeared in public and denied that he was in hiding. However, he said that he was not going to file charges against Duterte.

In hindsight, couldn’t this sad episode been avoided if city and court officials were in communication during the time the demolition case was being heard before Judge Emmanuel Carpio, who happens to be related to Duterte’s husband, Maneses Carpio?

And don’t tell me that Duterte was not aware of the plight of 250 squatters within the city boundary. If she were not aware of her constituents’ problems, then she was remiss of her mayoral duties. And to resort to violence to deal with constituents’ problems is typical of the mindset of local government executives who see themselves above the law. Worst, they think they are the law!

It did not come as a surprise that many local executives came out in support of Duterte, most notably Mayor Alfredo Lim of Manila who had earned the moniker “Dirty Harry” during his first mayoral stint in the 1990s. Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson – known for his “tough on crime” style when he was head of the Philippine National Police -- also justified Sara’s action.

In reaction to the punching incident, Sara’s father, vice mayor Rodrigo Duterte who is now acting mayor since Sara took a five-day leave of absence, expressed his all-out support for his daughter, and congratulating her for a “good job” in punching Andres.

Last July 4, on his first day as acting mayor, the elder Duterte was caught flashing his middle finger on TV as he cursed the media critics of his daughter. He said that if he were the mayor at the time of the incident, he would have punched Andres and kicked him as well. And, in a demonstration of arrogance -- and raw power -- he addressed Andres directly: “It would have been good for you if that was all you received from me [Expletive].” Makes one wonder what else he would have done more than just punch and kick Andres? That brings to the fore the kind of “law and order” that existed in Davao City when he was the mayor.

Rodrigo Duterte, who was mayor from 2001 until he was termed out in 2010, gained notoriety when a vigilante group known as the “Davao Death Squad” was believed to have been responsible for the murder of more than 1,000 citizens including children and young teens. Although he was never proven to be associated with the death squad – which was often referred to as “Duterte Death Squad” -- he had made public statements that seem to encourage or condone those killings.

In February 2009, according to the Human Rights Watch, Duterte told reporters: “If you are doing an illegal activity in my city, if you are a criminal or part of a syndicate that preys on the innocent people of the city, for as long as I am the mayor, you are a legitimate target of assassination.”

The report, “You Can Die Any Time: Death Squad Killings in Mindanao,” details the “involvement of police and local government officials in targeted killings of alleged drug dealers and petty criminals, street children, and others, and describes the lack of any effort by the authorities to investigate the killings and bring those responsible to justice.”

The report further said, “The longtime mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte, has made numerous statements attempting to justify the killing of suspected criminals, believing that such killings have a deterrent effect on crime and have made the city a safer place. But according to statistics provided by the Philippines National Police, the number of annual crime incidents has increased some 219 percent in the last decade, while the city's population rose only by 29 percent. An increasing number of death squad killings appear to have made crime rates worse in Davao.”

The administration of then-president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ignored the “targeted killings” in Davao City. Not only did she ignore those extrajudicial killings, she appointed Duterte in 2003 as her consultant on “peace and order,” which seemingly indicated that she approved Duterte’s modus operandi of operating outside the law in fighting criminal elements. Where do you draw the line?

Sara Duterte may have been be noble in her desire to alleviate the situation of the “informal settlers,” but was she right in resorting to violence to stop the court-ordered demolition? Do two wrongs make a right or three wrongs?

In a civilized society, which I presume we are, the rule of law should – nay, must! – prevail at all times. No one is above the law and every government official is mandated to enforce the law. But when public officials break the law and take the law into their own hands, then lawlessness would break out.

It happened many times before in other parts of the world. Indeed, it wasn’t too long ago in Somalia where lawlessness and poverty led to anarchy out of which warlords reign. Are we getting there? (PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

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The original askals

BENCHWARMER
Ramon Dacawi

The Azkals, now a byword in Philippine sports, are two decades or even light years shy of the grit and sacrifice of the original “Askals”. Correctly spelled with an “s”, not a fancy “z”, the term is an abbreviation for “asong kalye”, the Pilipino term for “street dog”.

The original Askals are not even called that, partly because the team’s on the distaff side. “Pusakal”, short for “pusang kalye” (alley cat), would have been more fitting, observed fellow newsman Domcie Cimatu who, like my brother Joe, played football in college.

They were and still are the Baguio Cinderellas. It’s partly for the fact that, during their prime, Baguio was then more fluent in English than in Tagalog. It’s a sobriquet well-earned by a team that, more often than not, had to scrounge for funds just to reach the playing venue.

Almost always, the girls would come home the champion, often in the middle of the night, unnoticed and ignored by a community that, like the rest of this country of midgets, had fallen heads-over-heels for basketball. If it were another country, each victory over the 20 years or so of their glorious campaign would have been reason for singing on rooftops and dancing on our streets.

With the sudden interest in the beautiful game of soccer football, I go back to an item I wrote on the Cinderellas this month last year: While this country continues to feast on the games of the NBA, the unending PBA conferences, the NCAA, the PBL Liga and whatever there is in basketball, a so-tiny segment within our fractured sports culture is trying to be abreast with the latest in football.

Among the few oddballs are the Cinderellas, Baguio’s women’s squad whose collective and individual names hardly ring a bell despite their close to two decades domination of the on-and-off national and invitational leagues of the world’s most popular sport.

Over twenty of the Cinderellas’ trophies are rusting in my cubicle. They’re mementoes only to Peewee Agustin, Randall Dampac, Gabby Soriano, Petronio Dacoron, Dan David, Tino Tizon and a few others who used to drive them to playing venues if and when the fuel would warrant, then bring them home tired and triumphant.

The girls had missed out on some tournaments– not so much for the trophies but the joy and art of playing. Those were times they failed to find sponsored transport or collect and sell enough empty bottles and old newspapers for food and registration fees.

Billeting had never been an issue. They slept in classrooms or were taken in to the houses of friends or rivals for the regular tournaments. They would travel midnight straight to the playing venues for the blitz, seven-a-side one-day tournaments, lugging water jugs and a few kilos of “adobo” (which doesn’t easily spoil) for breakfast, picnic lunch and supper then sleep the long drive back home – almost always with the championship trophy.

Blame this passion for soccer on Manny Javellana, a football fanatic and no-nonsense Brent School coach. In 1986, he knocked on schools and assembled high school and college girls that he trained into a most formidable team. Two years later, they began making a mark in national tournaments. Knowing they were ready for competition, he bade them goodbye and returned home to Bacolod.

In summer 1991, the girls pooled their stipends and hired a jeepney for the YKL-Fuji National Cup played on week-ends in Quezon City. With the driver as their only fan, the girls just kept on winning with the barest of resources outside the field.

“At lemon time, we’d quench our thirst with tap water while the other teams were popping bottles of Lipovitan,” recalled skipper Monique Jacinto, standing at four feet and 11 inches with fellow striker Annaliza Umoc.

In-between classes, the girls would raise the round-trip jeepney fare in time for the next week-end games. One night before summer’s end, they quietly arrived home with their first-ever championship trophy, with Umoc establishing a record of 13 goals in a single tournament. The feat would have triggered community celebration were it in basketball or were they representing a city of any other country.

The Cinderellas then convinced then city prosecutor Erdolfo Balajadia to spearhead preparations for the 1992 First Baguio National Women’s Cup. They downed tough Polytechnic University, 1-0, in the final, then repeated on the same team, 4-2, with a nerve-wracking shoot-out the following year in the First National Ladies Cup at the Burnham Park.

For lack of airfare, the Cinderellas missed their 1994 title-retention bid. Host Davao won that one, the same team they would face in the final of the1995 Cup in Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

By then, eight of the Cinderellas were in the national team, and only four of them were allowed to play at a time in Laguna. With only nine or 10 in the field due to the rule, they breezed through the preliminaries and semis in Sta. Cruz. For the final showdown against Davao, however, they needed to complete the 11-member line-up.

From the crowd, the girls yanked in Roberta Sandejas, a lanky 16-year old who was training for the La Salle high school squad. She came to watch and suddenly found herself wearing the Baguio colors.

Newsman and men’s coach Peppot Ilagan, whose ward Jimmy Eslao eventually played in the Australian national league, rushed to Sta. Cruz to chart the game plan against Davao.

With the Davao side marking strikers Anna Umoc, Richelle Ranchez and Cheng Mendoza, regulation play on Friday the 13th ended in a 0-0 draw.. On the 13th minute of extension, a scramble before the goal mouth sent the ball flying towards Roberta, whom the Davao side ignored for her awkward beginner’s stance.

The comely high school senior just tipped it in for the golden goal – her first in her first tournament. The Davao belles dropped to their knees, some in tears. The Baguio side rushed to Roberta, lifting their instant heroine as she raised her fist in jubilation.

Roberta went on to join La Salle’s college team. The Baguio squad went on collecting more championship trophies with unbreakable regularity, mostly seven-aside and beach football titles for lack of regular, 11-a-side tournaments in a country of midgets in love with basketball. (to be continued; e-mail: mondaxbench@yahoo.com for comments).

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Concerts for a cause / CPLA, PCSO issues

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L. Fianza

As relatives and friends laid to rest the remains of artist-musician Manny Cawed on a scenic mountain niche in Maligcong, Bontoc last Tuesday; more requests for “concerts for a cause” are coming in.

Manny was hit by a fatal heart attack while performing on stage at the Amarillo Bar on June 28, in a “4a coz” concert for fire victims.

The irony, I later found out, was that Manny himself was a fire victim this year, and there he was, losing his life while doing his part in a concert for fire victims like him. Only God knows why things happen the way they happen.

The latest request for a “4a coz” gig came from Manong Tommy Chamos for his grandson Hector, a kagawad of Barangay Ambiong, La Trinidad who was shot while in pursuit of a magnanakaw in their neighborhood.

The bullet got stuck in Hector’s body so that he has to be operated on. He is now confined in a hospital somewhere.

Aside from the concert requested by former councilor Tommy which they are going to support, I was also informed that ABC municipal council representative Robert Namoro and Ambiong Punong Barangay Teddy Quintos have other plans for Hector.

Mayor Greg Abalos and the municipal council of La Trinidad said they are all out for whatever plans are made for Kagawad Hector.
***
Reporters of a TV station say more people are condemning the act of Davao Mayor Sara Duterte who punched Sherriff Abe Andres a number of times.

I say, naturally more people would come out to condemn the act because the TV stations continued to show the incident’s footage.

In the actual incident, Sherriff Andres was punched for around four times. That happened in less than a minute. But on television, he was “bugbog sarado” because the TV networks repeatedly showed the footage in their morning, afternoon, and evening news broadcasts.
***
The PCSO has allotted around P150M “intelligence” funds for their assets to curb jueteng through the operations of the government sponsored small town lottery. The funds according to Senators Lacson and Enrile were even bigger than the intelligence funds given to the armed forces and the national police who secure the safety of the whole country.

This brings forth doubt if there was any intelligence left in the brains of those who carried out the self-styled intelligence work. Why?

What happened was that instead of curbing or stopping jueteng, the operation of the illegal numbers game even became stronger. For example, in a certain barrio, there were only two or three sari-sari stores used as jueteng collection and betting stations. Now, almost all stores in that barrio collect jueteng bets.

More kubradores who doubled as STL workers were recruited. But the STL bet collectors were not collecting for STL but for jueteng. Now they can move freely because they wear STL IDs that give them a color of legitimacy.

They are everywhere. They collect jueteng bets anywhere in SM, Center Mall, in the market, even in city hall and around the municipal building in La Trinidad.

If PCSO was really out to stop jueteng, they could have easily read newspaper reports and police operation reports. More or less, such reports indicate who and how much money is involved and where is jueteng taking place.

If PCSO was out to stop jueteng, they could have easily hired through handlers many jobless istambays who can definitely pinpoint who the kubradoresare and where the stations are.

This also brings out the suspicion that the PCSO intelligence funds were used for things other than it was intended for. Some senators suspect, it was used during the elections.

Listening to the senate inquiry involving PCSO, the public gets the idea on how much money goes around in its operations all over the country. It is certainly a source of funds that can be shared “justifiably” by all.

However, there were “amazing” allotments that were done. Former PCSO chair Manoling Morato said PCSO ambulances are given to deserving communities. I just cannot understand how equally deserving is a province in the Ilocos Region that got 22 ambulances, compared to Benguet or Kalinga or Mt. Provinces.

The municipalities in these provinces are truly in need of ambulances, but have none, except for one or two vans that are dilapidated but still in running condition.

It is even harder to comprehend why PCSO gives in to the request by a priest for a four by four SUV as his birthday gift.

By the way, I thank Mayor Abalos, Admin. Charles Canuto, and ambulance van attendants Jonathan and Tony Dagupon of the La Trinidad fire station for quickly responding to my request for the use of an ambulance.

The ambulance was alright but I saw that it needed a lot of body repairs. I wish Mayor Greg and Admin Charles stumble on some money for the ambulance’s body repairs so it could last a few more years.
***
Many of us thought the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army as an organization died a natural death, except for a few scalawags who claim to be members and who have actively involved themselves in illegal activities as reported in the news.

But just as the quest for regional autonomy was being discussed, two factions of the CPLA again made known their presence. Why they do not seem to meet and settle their differences man-to-man is strange.

Sometimes, I suspect that they do not want to reconcile because they do not want autonomy. With one CPLA group opposing what the other faction is doing, people would conclude that they are only after their interests.

Last week, one CPLA faction signed an agreement with the government in Malacanang to end hostilities and start the disarmament process. The other faction opposed this, saying, if the agreement is signed, this would signal a new armed revolution.

Now, which faction should we believe in? Can the Regional Development Council, the lead agency that is pushing for autonomy come into the picture? -marchfianza777@yahoo.com

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Convergence in delivery of basic services”

BANTAY GOBYERNO
Ramon Ike Villareal Señeres

Perhaps unknown to most of our citizens, the penology function is split between the Bureau of Corrections (BUCOR) under the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) under the DILG. This issue is relevant to our discussion, because jail management is considered as a public safety function in the context of the DILG, along with police protection under the Philippine National Police (PNP) and fire protection under the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), all three agencies being under the DILG.

All told, the process of delivering safety services is now split between the DND, the DILG and the PCCA, without any clarity as to which of them should be the lead, and with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) seemingly out of the picture, even if environmental safety is one of our major national concerns. The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is also seemingly out of the picture, even if air safety, road safety and maritime safety are also our major concerns.

The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) is chaired by the DENR, thus making it appear at the outset that the DENR is the apparent lead agency in the process of delivering water services. That is not as simple as it seems however, because there are many other participants in the process. Included in the process are the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), the Department of Agriculture (DA) through the National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Department of Health (DOH). Just in case you are wondering how the DOH got into the picture, the LWUA is now under the DOH by virtue of Executive Order No. 738.

As I understand it, the NWRB is the lead agency in the Philippine water sector, but is seems unclear how it exercises its authority over the LWUA and the MWSS, considering the fact that the NWRB is under the DENR, the LWUA is under the DOH, and the MWSS does not seem to be under any department, apparently a Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) that is entirely on its own. It is clear enough however that the jurisdiction of the MWSS is the greater metropolitan area only, while the LWUA has jurisdiction over the rest of the country. As I understand it also, the NWRB appears to be on the production side, while the MWSS and the LWUA are on the distribution side.

It is worthwhile to note that the DPWH has taken the initiative to converge their plans and programs with that of the DA and the DOTC. It appears however that this move for convergence applies only to the flow of water for agricultural and flood control purposes, and not for the delivery of water to the consumer and industrial side. The move of DPWH is a good start, but it is really high time for the government to realize that water is one massive commodity that should be managed in its complete totality, ideally incorporating all the needs for irrigation, flood control, consumer consumption and industrial production.

Convergence is a goal that should not be left to the government to achieve. Given the size of the government bureaucracy and the complexity of the scopes and mandates of its departments, agencies and bureaus, there is objectively a need for the private sector to come in and help in its totality, jointly harnessing all of its components towards the common goal of nation building. In other literature, “national development” is a term that is synonymous to “nation building”. I used to prefer the former term, but I recently realized that “nation building” is a term that is better understood and is more generally accepted by most people.

In order for convergence to be measurable, there has to be a physical setting. The physical setting that I would recommend is the barangay level. In order for it to be measurable, there has to be set standards of measurement, and that is where the physical setting becomes relevant. In the final analysis, there has to be a database that will measure and track the progress of the delivery of services, namely education, employment, energy, entrepreneurship, food, justice, health, mobility, recreation, safety, shelter and water.

There are many ways of defining the components of the private sector. I believe however that the private sector should be also be defined in physical terms meaning the components that could actually participate in the physical delivery of basic services to the barangay level. Given this definition, I believe that the more identifiable components are the business chambers, the civic organizations and the corporate foundations.

In the public sector, the identifiable components are the line departments, the attached agencies and the local governments. In the language of the government, the line bureaus are considered as “organic” and not as “attached”. On the other hand, GOCCs are considered as attached, not unless these are directly under the Office of the President (OP). For purposes of this discussion, the independent commissions may be classified as among the attached agencies.

It is a big challenge to converge the programs and projects of the private sector, but it is an even bigger challenge to converge the programs and projects of the public sector. The biggest challenge of all I think is to bring about the convergence of the public sector and the private sector together as one, moving towards one common direction of nation building at the barangay level.
To add to the dictum that content is king, I say that data is is the determinant. Without good data in the background, there could be no good content. Regardless of their own mandates, all the agencies of government have to produce content both for internal and external purposes. Generally known as “reports”, these are usually translated into final forms such as voice, text or video. The forms could change from one agency to another, but the bottom line is the same, they have to produce the reports, and without good data, they could not produce good reports. This to me is the first point of convergence, to converge the data first.

First things first, there is a need to collect the benchmark data at the barangay level first. The objective of this data gathering stage is find out the present status of the delivery of services at that level, for all the twelve services namely education, employment, energy, entrepreneurship, food, justice, health, mobility, recreation, safety, shelter and water. The method of doing this should be the same, to get the percentage of access to these services, among the households in the target barangay. It is important to note here that the that will be gathered is social in nature, meaning that it should be reflective of the entire household. In other words, it should not be personal in nature, meaning that it should not be based on the individual experiences of the respondents.

The key word of course is “access”, and the question is whether the household has access to each of the twelve services or not. To put it in another way, the question is whether each of these services are within their reach or not. It should be made clear at this point that the focus of the questioning should be on the aspect of “accessibility” or “availability” rather than “affordability” or “ability”. In other words, the intention of the data gathering is to find out whether the households in the target barangay could access each of the twelve services or not, regardless of whether they could afford it or not.

Since “affordability” or “ability” is a function of poverty, there should be follow up questions to find out why the respondents say that they do not have access to certain services. The data derived from these questions will not only give us a reading of how poverty affects accessibility, it will also give us a means to find out what goods and services we should possibly include in, or exclude from the imaginary “basket of goods”, a method that is now being used to measure the incidence of poverty at the household level.

The Corinthian Coffee Clutch (C3) is a weekly forum that I chair, held every Friday at the Elk’s Club inside the Corinthian Plaza Building in Paseo de Roxas, Makati City. In our own small ways, we are working for the convergence of the private sector towards the common goal of nation building. Come and join us.

The author is a broadcast journalist, syndicated columnist, political economist and computer technologist. He was formerly Director General of the National Computer Center and Chairman of the National Crime Information System.

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Budget cut stirs MPSPC rallies

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Claims of students on non-consultation and non-transparency over the collection of development fees, and allegations of unimplemented release of increased teachers’ honorarium has raised ruckus here at the Mountain Province State Polytechnique College with the eventual strained resignation of MPSPC president Nieves Dacyon first day of July.

A controversial P500 “development fee” imposed by the school by virtue of Common Board Resolution No.8, s. 2007 and MPSPC Board Resolution No. 032, s. 2007 has been collected since 2008. Issues of non-transparency on where the collected amount goes and non-consultation before the fees are imposed hound the collection of this fee.

During the highly tense two-week rally of students and staff of MPSPC the last two weeks of June, teachers also especially those on the ranks of Instructor 1-111 demanded implementation of the increase of their honoraria from P75.00 to P180.00 as approved by the governing board in 2003 in accordace to the second cycle of the National Budget Circular 461. Salary increases of faculty members are primarily sourced from the government-subsidized tuition fees of students.

Alleged mismanagement by the school head ignited the said issues.

Whatever management or mismanagement of the school, the consultation or non-consultation of students, and release or non- release of honorarium lingers, the hounding issue is that MPSPC is in a state of financial quandary just like all other state universities and colleges in other parts of the country.

There are around 111 SUCs all over the country, most of which are dependent on government support by almost 90 percent. The University of the Philippines and the Philippine Normal University are among the top five SUCs with the largest budget cuts as high as 24 percent.

MPSPC has a reduction of 15 percent in its 2010 subsidy of P17.9 to P15.2 million for 2011. President Noynoy Aquino announced last August 24 during his budget message to Congress that he was “gradually reducing the subsidy to SUCs to push them toward becoming self-sufficient and financially independent.” As such, the P21.7 billion subsidy for 2011 is clearly lower than the P22.4 subsidy for 2010.

SUCs’ operations are divided into capital outlay, maintenance and other operating expenditures, and personal services. The capital outlay provides infrastructure and school facilities. MOOE covers everyday operations and payment of utilities such as electricity and water, maintenance of facilities, wages of contractual employees and scholarships. Personal services which eats up the biggest slice covers the salary of faculty and staff.

The SUCs budget for MOOE is reduced to P1.1 billion or by 28.16 percent in the 2011 budget. There are 15 SUCs with budget cuts of more than 50 percent on their operating expenditures.

For MPSPC, budget allocation for personal services of the College from the national Government has not increased in recent years.

Back to consultation, it is sad to note that the means by which the issue of non-consultation is disposed is the call for the resignation of the school head. That the president was made to resign under a state of violence with the destruction of school property must be that there is no room for students, the staff and the president to talk among themselves? Is the president that unreachable and unavailable that she does not provide room for consultation?

While students claim there was no consultation, Dacyon claims there was.
Whatever may be the case, students and faculty from other state colleges and universities of the country petition president Noynoy Aquino against budget cut in SUCs in his 2011 budget in the General Appropriations Act since late last year towards the early months of the year.

The budget cut will significantly and ultimately mean privatization of SUCs. Tuition will be raised coupled with the imposition of other fees to answer for personnel and operating costs. The country will be in a state where education which is ideally and legally mandated, as the Constitution of the Philippines says that education is for all, is not anymore, thus making education affordable to only those who can pay.

It means the deprivation of lower income families not having the means to send their children to school, not see a son or daughter earn a college degree. This reduced budget for SUCs demands to be protested now and in the next years to come.

For MPSPC, the budget cut along with the lingering increase of tuition and student fees and unimplemented teachers’ honorarium will remain even with the resignation of Dacyon and whoever will head MPSPC, until and unless a strong national protest shall reach the ears of the Senate and the President of the Philippines, or until and unless the SUC will find other ways to generate income aside from raising student fees while not sacrificing its main mandate to provide education.

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I’m pro-gay

G-SPAT
Grace Bandoy

There’s nothing wrong with these people. They’re not abnormal, weird, crazy or freaky. Like us, who have our own ways of thinking and living, ganun din sila, walang pinag kaiba sa atin.

They’re not bad people as long as they’re not committing crimes or hurting other people or becoming nuisances in our society. It’s just that they choose to be in relationships with those who have the same gender as theirs.

It’s about time we open our minds to this reality. Gay people will always be here and they’re becoming as many as there are men and women on earth. Baka 30% na ng population are gays hindi lang natin alam di ba.

They should have equal rights as we heterosexuals have. Well, yung legalization ng marriage in this Catholic country of ours is medyo malayo pang mangyari siguro (because we are a Catholic country nga) but if they want to marry themselves in other ways aside from the Catholic way, well…

What is wrong with that? And they have the right to marry themselves wherever they choose! Kahit saang sulok ng mundo nila ikasal ang mga sarili nila puwede rin!

Gay marriages conducted in Baguio will even give a boost to our tourism industry, wala bang nakaisip nun? All the gay couples not only from around the country but from around the world will all come here to marry! Imagine the money it will bring to our city tutal mukhang pera naman ang mga opisyal natin dito di ba?

We will be the Gay Marriage Capital in the world – that’s not so bad di ba?!

It’s time we open our minds to all the possibilities out there, to everything that can happen in this world…wala na pong mga hindi puwedeng mangyari ngayon. Lahat ng mga naiisip ng taong bagay puwede ng mangyari, whether we like it or not.

Being gay is, I think, something that’s physiological. Hindi po sila nagkukunwari na ganyan sila. Most of them were born gay. I truly believe that God created gay people also, hindi naimpluwensiyahan ng society or ng kanilang environment, marami pong pinanganak na bakla or tomboy na.

I also believe millions of people out there are bisexual, many are even married. Sila po yung mga hindi nagladlad and followed the traditional way of living which is living as a man or a woman (but deep inside them eh they also desire yung ka – gender nila). And there’s totally nothing wrong with them, in fact, I wouldn’t mind going out with a bisexual guy.

Ako nga may mga girl crushes but I would prefer having a boyfriend and all my crushes now are mga boys lang, so what do you call me? Abnormal ba ako?

Being gay is really not appalling. Although I freaked out and threw up when I watched Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger sodomizing each other or whatever it was they did in that tent sa Brokeback Mountain (but only because it was they’re both super guwapo Hollywood actors na mga crush ko, coz yung sex scenes ni Coco Martin and Alan Paule sa Masahista is ok lang naman sa akin), gay men – cross dressers or not – are also human and they need to be respected and should be as free as the “normal” men are.

Girl to girl action (lalo na kissing) is I think sexy, and mas lalo pag parehong sexy and pretty yung mga girls hehehe. I suggest you all watch the movie “Jennifer’s Body” of Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried or the Asian super cool movie “So Close”.

Gay relationships and gay men and women are part of our society already. They are our friends and relatives, certainly all of us know someone who is gay. Let’s give them the freedom we enjoy, they’re citizens of this nation anyway and they’re human as we are…Peace!

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PRO-COR finalist for best regional police office

CAMP DANGWA, Benguet – The Police Regional Office-Cordillera was chosen by the Philippine National Police general headquarters as among the top three finalists for the search for the country’s Best Police Regional Office.

The giving of award will be at Camp Crame, Quezon City during the PNP Anniversary on August 8. President Aquino will be the guest of honor and speaker during the event.

The two other finalists are PRO-5 in Bicol Region and PRO-7 in Central Visayas.

The validation team led by Director Alfred Caballes will arrive in Camp Bado Dangwa on July 4 to reassess PRO-COR’s administrative efficiency and its operational effectivity.

PRO-COR regional director Chief Supt. Villamor Arellano Bumanglag and the directorial staffs are preparing documents and other requirements that the validation team might request during their visit.

The PRO-COR head said being a finalist in the annual award means a lot to the men and women of PRO-COR because it is a proof that the regional police command is effective and efficient in implementing its mandates towards a peaceful region.

It was during the stint of Bumanglag as city director of the Baguio City Police Office when the unit was awarded for the first time as country’s Best City Police Office in 2002 then got the same award the following year.

When Bumanglag was assigned as provincial director of the Benguet Police Provincial Office, the command was also a back-to-back Best Provincial Police Office in 2005 and 2006.

It is not the first time that PRO-COR becomes a finalist in a national search for best PNP regional command.

The PRO-COR was adjudged Best Police Regional Office in 2002 and in 2005.
PRO-COR was likewise a finalist for Best Police Regional Office in 2006 and in 2009.

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PHL now on first phase of power crisis: expert

By Dexter A. See

BAGUIO CITY – The Philippines has already entered the first phase of the impending power crisis which would take its toll against the national government’s plan to realize a sustainable economic growth and improve lives of over 92 million Filipinos, an energy expert from the University of the Philippines National Engineering Center said here recently.

Prof. Ronald del Mundo, an engineering professor of the UP-NEC and an international energy consultant, said the worst power crisis in the country is expected to happen the next four years but most parts of the country, especially Visayas and Mindanao as well as some parts of Luzon, are now experiencing signs of the crisis, thus, the need for the national government to start refocusing its goals of putting up more power generation plants.

Worst, del Mundo added the country’s power woes is also affected by the existence of more than 200 service contracts previously issued by previous officials of the Department of Energy which are now obstacles in the implementation of more renewable energy projects that could help address the power crisis.

According to him, instead of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) or Republic Act 9136 achieving its goals of giving people with lower power rates, it totally failed to do so considering that the Philippines has now the highest power rates charged to consumers in the Asia-Pacific region.

Because of the problem on high power crisis being charged to consumers, the UP professors revealed most multinational companies operating in the country have already closed their operations and migrated to Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries which charge lower power rates thereby posing a serious threat to the country’s desire to achieve better economic growth and which might result to the mass displacement of workers.

Del Mundo claimed the industry growth of Vietnam annually is from 16 to 20 percent compared to the country’s single digit growth which is now being threatened by the closure of several big industries operating in urban areas in the different parts of the country.

He explained the absence of new power plants in the country today is now the major problem that the power industry is facing considering the rapid growth in the demand for quality power, thus, the impending power crisis that could seriously affect efforts to bring the country’s economy to greater heights.

The EPIRA was enacted into law purposely to provide competition in the power generation industry and improve the transmission and distribution sectors but the existence of alleged monopoly in the power generation industry coupled with the absence of new power plants has failed the law in is purpose of giving Filipinos cheap and affordable power.

He stressed the proposal to auction electric cooperatives is a dangerous ploy by the energy department which might open the floodgates of further monopoly in the distribution aspect of power, thus, such plan of the national government is considered to be ill-advised.

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Isabela mayor survives second murder attempt

ILAGAN, Isabela – A town mayor in this province cheated death for the second time after unidentified men fired at his house before dawn Wednesday.

Police said no one was hurt as Mallig Mayor Pedro Flores and his wife slept in the room of one of their children, not in the master’s bedroom which the gunmen targeted.

Police recovered four M-16 Armalite slugs at the mayor’s room on the second floor.

Just before the elections last year, unidentified men also fired at Flores’ house.

Were it not for a busted air-conditioning unit in the master’s bedroom, the mayor could be dead by now.

The gunmen targeted his room on the second floor.

Police said Flores and his wife had been sleeping for days in one of their children’s rooms on the first floor of their two-story house due to the busted air-conditioner in the master’s bedroom.

Flores said he felt “very lucky” and thankful that the “discomfort” of having a busted air-conditioner proved to be a blessing in disguise for him.

Chief Insp. Jaime Narne, Mallig police chief, said they have provided security personnel to Flores.

In the mid-1990s, the mayor of Mallig, Maximo Isidro, was gunned down although the case was never solved.

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Buguias shabu peddler nabbed

By Emely Cayandag-Fama

BUGUIAS, Benguet -- A shabu peddler was arrested in a buy-bust operation by drug law enforcement agents here June 27 at around 8:45 p,n, along the highway here at Nakiangan, Abatan.

The target-listed drug personality was identified as Jimmy Lawangen Subang, 47, of of Nakiangan.

Subang sold a sachet of shabu to an agent of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Cordillera Administrative Region who posed as buyer.

Law enforcers found in his concession one more sachet of the illegal drug.

The confiscated two sachets of shabu, which weighed .18 gram, was valued at P2,000.
Criminal cases for illegal drugs were filed June 28 against Subang, before the office of the provincial prosecutor.

Undersecretary Jose S. Gutierrez Jr., the PDEA Director General commended the PDEA – CAR, led by the just-installed officer-in-charge, investigation agent Gil Cesario P. Castro for the arrest of Subang.

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Vizcaya gov warns aliens engaged in illegal mining

By Charlie Lagasca

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – Gov. Luisa Cuaresma has urged the Korean embassy to advise its nationals to refrain from engaging in illegal mining in the province, saying those who will be apprehended will be dealt with accordingly.

This, as Cuaresma ordered the police to step up their operations against illegal mining and smuggling of minerals, which, according to reports, have been going on unabated in the province’s remote mountain areas for years now.

“We have to file cases against those engaging in this illegal activity. I will even give a reward for our policemen who can confiscate and arrest those responsible,” said Cuaresma in Tuesday’s meeting of the provincial peace and order council.

Earlier, Eva Antiporda of the Bureau of Immigration’s regional office, said they would look into the reports that foreigners, especially Koreans, Chinese and Taiwanese of questionable status, were engaging in small-scale mining in the province.

Cuaresma said she has been hearing reports on the influx of foreigners purportedly to engage locals in the extraction of minerals such as in the villages of Alimit and Didipio in Kasibu town and Runruno in Quezon town.

According to reports, these foreigners, allegedly only holding tourist visas, have been financing illegal small-scale miners to extract minerals in these gold-rush sites, raking in millions of pesos from the proceeds of the illegal activity.

Their presence, reports also indicated, even encourage more locals to resort to small-scale mining despite the dangers it poses to their lives and to the environment.

Cuaresma said they would be coordinating with concerned foreign embassies to look into their nationals’ activities here.

“Let me reiterate once again that I have not issued any permit for anyone to extract, gather and transport our mineral resources,” she said.

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Mayor seeks help to save Banaue rice terraces

By Dexter A. See

BANUAE, Ifugao — The mayor of this tourist town is seeking the help of the national government and international community for the preservation of the famed but endangered Banaue rice terraces to boost the tourism industry that had placed the province in the map of most preferred places worldwide.

”We need the help of the national government and even the international community to preserve the rice terraces of our municipality which is now on the state of deterioration because of various natural and man-made activities,” said Mayor Jerry Dalipog.

He said many private owners of the rice terraces cannot attend to their land anymore because they have found better sources of livelihood and that their children are also studying in different schools outside the province.

Dalipog added they old to farm the terraces, their children are going to school while others are working elsewhere which has left the rice terraces barren and invaded by pests.

"If there are no palay planted, what will the tourists see? The terraces are not worth viewing for if there is no rice planted in it," Dalipog said.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is bent on delisting the rice terraces in the municipality adding it is an endangered heritage site because the terraces have rapidly deteriorated through the years because their owners are no longer tending the same considering they have other pressing priorities rather than attending to it he said.

The UNESCO team, he added, will be coming back next year to evaluate the status of the terraces, thus, the need for concerned government agencies, local governments and even the private owners of the terraces to come out with a preservation plan that will bring back the grandeur of the world heritage site to convince the UNESCO team to retain the rice terraces as a scenic world heritage site to enhance the local tourism industry.

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Century-old tourist town road gets new facelift

By Pamela F. Dungala

SAGADA, Mountain Province – The rehabilitation and upgrading of the Dantay-Sagada road here is halfway done and targeted to be finished by the end of this year.

Under supervision by the Department of Public Works and Highways provincial office headed by officer in charge district engineer John T. Marquez and OIC assistant district engineer Charles C. Sokoken, the project is 55 percent complete.

The project was funded under the 2010 General Appropriations Act with contract amount of P48,019,911.05. bid out to BMK/E.T. Latawan Construction on Feb. 25, 2010.

The project commenced on Jan. 16 with works to include widening, curb, gutter and slope protection works.

The project aims to promote agro-tourism development by providing safe, better, faster and easier access road going to this tourist town and nearby.

The Dantay-Sagada Road was opened in the early 1900’s through the initiative of Anglican priest and engineer, Rev. John Staunton.

Through a resolution approved by the members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the province, the road was renamed in his honor.

The road starts from the junction at Dantay, Alab, Bontoc town going up to Sagada (Km384+700 to Km398+260) covering a length of 13.560 kilometers.

Being a provincial road, it has been under the care of the provincial government but could not be fully maintained.

The maintenance of the dirt road has proved to be costly for local government units and other government entities concerned.

As a result, the provincial LGU has deemed it necessary to convert the road into a national road.

Through the initiative of then governor and now congressman Maximo B. Dalog, DPWH Secretary Hermogenes E. Ebdane Jr. signed Department Order No. 20 in April 2009 “Declaring Dantay-Sagada Road Provincial Road (Rev. John Staunton Provincial Road) in Mountain Province into a National Road” pursuant to Executive Order No. 124 authorizing the DPWH to classify roads and highways into national, provincial, city, municipal and barangay roads.

Dalog’s move for the road’s conversion was supported by the provincial DPWH office headed by then District Engineer Leonardo C. Leyaley, local government units of Sagada and Besao and other government and non-government organizations.

Reclassification of the road from provincial to national road will transfer the responsibility of maintaining the road from the province to the DPWH which has enough funds and equipment to do so.

The DPWH has allotted P50 million to cover improvement of some portions of the road for a 1.3-km stretch.

At present, Marquez and his team are closely monitoring the on-going project activities.

On the other hand, DPWH Secretary Rogelio L. Singson also approved after his visit to the district last year an additional P32 million funding which will be sourced out from the MPDEO’s 2011 regular budget.

The program of work for this allocation is being finalized before submission for approval to DPWH Regional Director Edilberto P. Carabbacan.

Meanwhile, DPWH is still looking for other sources of funds for the whole Dantay-Sagada stretch to be concreted.

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Mayor okays temporary closure of Loakan road

By Paul Rillorta

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio Domogan last week approved the temporary closure of Loakan Road particularly the stretch from the junction of Camp John Hay to Scout Barrio area.

The said closure was anchored on the request of the contractor Goldrich Corporation Proprietor William Go for the rehabilitation, improvement, reconstruction and upgrading of the said road which started June 22.

“Approval of the temporary closure will fast track on-going road repairs and expedite completion of the project,” Domogan said.

The road repair is part of the 44M maintenance and rehabilitation work of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

Commuters going to and from the city proper are advised to take alternate routes along Kennon-Camp 7 Roads or Kadaclan –Happy Hollow circumferential roads.

Domogan also ordered the contractor to provide signboards and re-routing diagrams to guide motorists traversing the stretch.

Flagmen will also be dispatched to avoid traffic build-up in the area.

The Traffic Management Branch of the Baguio City Police Office (TMB-BCPO) will be implementing appropriate measures to ease traffic in the affected areas.

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P’sinan declared in state of calamity due to floods

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan — This province was placed Wednesday under a state of calamity as it reels off the devastating effects of massive flooding caused by monsoon rains and tropical storm “Egay.”

Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr. called the special session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for the declaration of a state of calamity, following a report by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council that at least 180 barangays in 20 towns and three cities were inundated for days.

Board Member Jeremy Rosario said the declaration was necessary since barangays, particularly those in the western side of Pangasinan, were still under water until last Wednesday. -- LBI

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Burial ritual results to drowning of man

SADANGA, Mountain Province – A burial ritual here resulted to the death of a man who went fishing along the Chico River with bereaved kin.

Search and rescue operations led by town police chief Insp. Peter Y. Angyoda are still ongoing here to find the body of Vicente Yossayos, 57, married and resident of Barangay Poblacion here who drowned at the river along Sitio Owatyen Barangay Poblacion on June 25 at about 1 p.m.

Police investigation disclosed the victim with relatives and town mates went to the river to catch fish for their supper as a ritual in the observance of the fifth day after burial of their relative.

The group with the victim, were diverting the flow of a small body of water of the river to drain it to catch the fishes when a large volume of water brought by continuous rainfall of tropical depression Falcon suddenly swept away the victim into rampaging waters while his companions scampered to safety.

Meanwhile, in Kibungan, Benguet, search operations are still being conducted to find a resident who was swept away by rampaging water of the Amburayan River on June 25.

The missing young man was identified as Joni Lagadeo, single, and resident of Balbalnag, Badeo here.

The missing man’s family was still keeping hope Lagadeo was still alive.

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