Septuagenarian seeks help in cancer fight

By Ramon Dacawi 

People with extra cash may want to help Mariano Mapili, a 76-year old house painter suffering from cancer of the rectum. He has to undergo four more rounds of chemotherapy and five sessions of external beam radiation treatment.

Eleanor Tejedo, the patient’s 44-year old daughter, said his third  chemo  session set on March  14 remains tentative as the family has been financially drained. The financial strain is  on top of unpaid hospital bills from previous treatments and confinement.

“He had his second chemo treatment last February 24-26 as the doctor was willing to administer it despite our having paid only half of the cost pegged at P9,000,”  Tejedo said last Wednesday.

“The doctor also strongly recommended  that the five-session radiation treatment should also be done as soon as possible but we can hardly think of it because of the prohibitive costs,” Tejedo explained.

The nearest radiation therapy service  available is in Daguapn City where an oncology center gave a quotation of  P32,300 for the five-session package.

 In a letter endorsing  Mapili’s request for assistance, city social welfare and development officer Betty Fangasan said the family[s economic capability “falls below the poverty threshold. (Mapili) financially depends on his children for his medication”.

Punong  barangayJustina Andaya of Fairview, Baguio City, through kagawad Pedro Genove Jr. also issued a certificate of indigency for the patient whose family stays in a house at No. 62, purok 2 of the said barangay.

Eleanor  said his father, a native of Al-alinao, Naguilian, La Union, was diagnosed for cancer last January.

“We were encouraged to appeal for help as his ailment is at stage 2, which means he has a very good chance of recovering provided he is able to follow the treatment protocol we can not sustain without help,” she said.

Samaritans may contact Eleanor’s cellphone number – 09472098811. 

Read more...

Baguio media polls scheduled March 8

The Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club (BCBC), the umbrella organization of journalists based in Baguio and Benguet, will hold its annual election of officers on March 8 at the regional office of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA).

 This was announced by the BCBC elections committee which convened last Monday after incumbent club president Roderick Osis designated past president Ramon Dacawi as chair of the poll body.

The committee, composed of past club presidents Delmar Carino, Harley Palangchao, March Fianza and Alfred Dizon, set the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy at 4:00 p.m. on March 6, either at the public information division of the city mayor’s office or at the PIA regional office.

 The certificate of candidacy must bear the prospective candidate’s certification that she or he is qualified to run, together with the seal and signature of a notary public.

To be attached to the certificate of candidacy are the prospective candidate’s platform, together with a certification on her or his length of service and present position, issued by the head of the media outfit he or she is employed in. 

Immediately after the deadline of filing of candidacies, the election committee will meet to determine the qualified candidates for the following positions: president, vice president of print, vice-president for radio, vice-president for television, secretary, treasurer, auditor and four members of the board of directors.

In keeping with tradition, Osis will serve as ex-oficio member of the board while the duly elected president will designated two business managers.

To help the members make their choice, the election committee will subject the candidates to a forum at 10:00 a.m. on March 7 at the PIA regional office located beside the Wright Park Lake.

Voting on March 8 will begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m, followed immediately by the canvassing of ballots and proclamation of the winners.

Read more...

Kabayan street dancers win again in flower fest

BAGUIO CITY — For the third year in a row, Kabayan dancers from Kamora National High School again showcased the Ibaloi culture and tradition in a spectacular way to win last week’s street dancing competition, one of the highlights of the 19th Panagbenga Festival, here.

Thousands of viewers were struck with awe as the group performed the “Adivay” Festival of Benguet.

With Panagbenga’s theme “Inspiring the community for greener tomorrow”, the group centered their performance in the four elements of nature – earth, wind, fire, water, that did not only touch the judges but the viewers, giving them the win.

The performance’s story line being the ever generous provider, “Gatan,” the goddess of earth provided the native inhabitants with vast greenery of natural resources and rich hunting grounds.

As they celebrate their bountiful harvest with a ritual called “Bendiyan”, they forgot to invite “Bentawan” the goddess of fire. Bentawan felt so offended that she burned the whole forest surrounding their community.

Having no more source of livelihood, the tribe chanted and prayed to “Kabunian” (God) for mercy and bounty. Kabunian saw their sincerity and conveyed to “Angban” the goddess of water to provide them with enough rain. When the soil became fertile again, the natives started to generate their forest by planting trees, crops and flowers.

With the help of “Kabigat” the goddess of wind, seeds were spread rapidly and the lush natural resources came to life. Soon enough the “Panagbenga”, so called the Season of Blooming came to pass.

With ecological balance finally restored in their community, they celebrated once again with a “Canao” called “Adivay”, a native term meaning “to come together and have fun”.

Read more...

NIA allots P239 million irrigation funds to Kalinga

By Larry Lopez

TABUK CITY, Kalinga  - – The National Irrigation Administration allotted P239 million to boost the existing irrigation system in the province, according  to NIA  Administrator Claro Maranan.

In his keynote address during the 19th Kalinga Day Anniversary and Ullalim Festival Feb. 14, Maranan  said  the fund  is released in two tranches with the first release of  P119M  in 2014 and P120M in 2015.

He said the fund is intended to finance more irrigation infrastructure-support projects to scale-up rice production in Kalinga.

Maranan informed that based on the latest record of NIA, Kalinga has the potential to achieve an average yield of 10MT/hectare and  can become the country’s top rice- producing province.

At present, the province posts an average yield of 7MT/hectare as qualifier in the annual National Rice Achiever’s Award.

He said the province’s notable achievements in agriculture had moved the national government to pour-in more funds for irrigation here in line with President Benigno C. Aquino’s Rice Production Enhancement Program.

The projects when implemented would convert Kalinga’s remaining 18,200 hectare irrigable land as new rice production area, Maranan said.

Read more...

Biggest Ilocos Region rice plant built in Piddig

By Freddie G. Lazaro

PIDDIG, Ilocos Norte — A rice processing plant, considered the biggest in Region 1, is under construction in this town some 18.3 km east of Laoag City.

The project aims to establish a sustainable rice business enterprise through processing palay produced by the farmers in Ilocos Norte from milling to packaging for distribution for sale to the public markets in the Ilocos and other regions in the country.

Mayor Eddie Guillen said the target of the plant, which expected to start its operation this April, is to process all palay grains produced by the farmers from milling to packaging for distribution for sale to the public markets in the Ilocos and other regions in the country.

Records from the Ilocos Norte’s Provincial Planning and Development Office in 2012 showed that at least 334,694 metric towns of rice were harvested from the 65,478 hectares of farm land.

Instead of bringing the palay grains produced by our farmers in the province for processing in Bulacan; we can now do it in our town once the processing plant will operate with a lesser cost,” he said.

The processing plant is said to be the biggest in Ilocos region as it will build in a 3,000 square meters lot. It has four components to include milling section, packaging section, drying section and a warehouse.

“Once the plant is fully–operational, we will probably have the least selling cost of rice compared with rice prices at public markets in Bulacan,” he said.

Read more...

Panagbenga 2014 closes withaplomp, color, drama

By Julie G. Fianza

BAGUIO CITY – The Panagbenga 2014 closes today (March 2) with aplomp, color and drama with performance of winners for streetdancing, floral float, and elementary drum and lyre category at Athletic Bowl, Burnham Park.

According to Baguio Flower Festival Foundation, Inc. executive committee chair Anthony de Leon, the country’s premier military school, the Philippine Military Academy presents a silent drill, after which a synchronized fireworks display will be done at 8 p.m. at the Rose Garden, 2 areas of Melvin Jones, Athletic Bowl, all at Burnham Park, and Cathedral grounds.

Business establishment SM has its own pyrotechnics display at the same time, it was known.

In a press conference earlier, Mayor Mauricio Domogan, together with hotelier de Leon and Execom co-chair Freddie Alquiros expressed appreciation to the academe, participants, volunteers, sponsors, barangay officials, peace and order agents, the local community and all who worked hard for the success of the festival.

According to the Panagbenga executives, the Panagbenga as a whole is “very successful, well-planned, peaceful, orderly and efficiently managed through teamwork.”  

The flower floats made of 85% real blooms were greatly improved in quality, “with variety but very good,” the mayor said. Streetdancers and drum and lyre participants gave very impressive performances, he added.

Members of the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO) headed by PSupt Jesus Cambay were lauded for the easy moving traffic specially after the two parades. “Vehicular traffic moved immediately, there was no standstill,” it was known.

Numerous volunteers from the universities, and schools, and different civic groups were also on hand for assistance, the BFFFI executives said.

The chosen judges for the streetdancing and the flower float parade were of unquestionable reputation as to the results, they being members of the World Flower Council, Mayor Domogan said.

As announced during the press conference, winners for the elementary drum and lyre are: Jose P. Laurel in 5th  place, with a cash prize of  P50,000; 4th  place, Quezon Hill Elementary School, P70,000; 3rd place, Baguio Special Education,  P90,000; 2nd place, Baguio Central School, P110,000; and first place, Mabini Elementary School, P130,000.00. Participating schools screened at the opening parade last February 1 get P40,000 each.

In the open category street dancing contest where six groups participated, Kamora National High School garnered the plum prize of P200,000. It is noted that since 2012, the Kabayan, Benguet -based school has been consistently winning the top prize with their portrayal of local folklore through choreographed dance. Adjudged as hall-of-famer, the group may opt not to join the contest next year. There however is a suggestion that hall-of-famers join again as there is a noted diminishing number of contestants in the streetdancing category.   

The Baguio City National High School (BCNHS) and Pinsao National High School are awarded second and third prizes with P150,000 and P100,000 cash prizes, respectively. Both portrayed Cordilleran customs and practices, with costumes, accessories, and stage sets. All participating groups get a token amount of P30,000 each. 

For the flower float category, the International Pharmaceuticals, Inc., from Cebu, won first place with P200,000 as plum prize, the Department of Agriculture garnered second place with P175,000 cash prize, and third place with P150,000 cash prize is Manila North TC.

The Handog Ng Panagbenga sa Baguio contests had the BCNHS, University of Baguio and University of the Cordilleras awarded with P50,000 each, while the kite-flying contest had three winners awarded Five, Four and Three thousand each.

All events were anchored on the theme, “Inspiring the Community for a Greener Tomorrow.”

The traditional event, Pony Boys’ day featuring Gymkhana or games on horseback was witnessed yesterday at the Athletic Bowl wherein cowboys from Pacdal, Mines View, John Hay and neighboring areas of La Trinidad, Tuba, and Itogon participated. The landscaping entries at the Market Encounter/Baguio Blooms along Burnham Lake Drive ends today, as with the Session Road in Bloom where the whole stretch of the city’s premier street is a promenade area. It was noted that recyclable materials were used in the activities, which was hailed as an improvement from the past years.

During the press conference, the BFFFI Panagbenga executives said they look forward to running Panagbenga 2015 with comments and requests from other sectors through the media.  

For next year, it is suggested that all participants including city and barangay officials, or out-of-town guests join the choreographed dancing to the tune of the Panagbenga Hymn, which is patterned from the steps of the IbaloiBendian. Neighboring or any interested town specially those from the La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba and Tublay (BLISTT) towns are being urged to join the festival with their own streetdancers or float contingents. Members of the academe who were hall-of-famers should be persuaded to join again, it was known. Early negotiations should be done for international media coverage for the 20th version of Panagbenga, local counterparts said.

More provisions for parking, housing or camping spaces should be given more thought for the next flower festival it was urged, as it was observed that more tourists, and some locals have opted to set up tents and experience more of Baguio’s chill.

A more detailed report shall be given a week after the closing, the BFFFI executives said.

Read more...

COMMUNITY BILLBOARD

 DOT plans makeover of Kennon Lion’s head

BAGUIO CITY -- The Department of Tourism, with the help of the Department of Public Works and Highways, is planning to rehabilitate the Lion’s Head landmark on Kennon Road.

The plan is to beautify and to widen the place that will give order to the place especially during the peak season for when all visitors passing the road stop to take a picture.

DOT Regional Director Purificacion Molintas said the regional technical working group has allocated a budget of P50 million for the redevelopment that will start next year.

Part of the plan, said Molintas, is to relocate roadside stores to the multipurpose building to prevent them from being an eyesore to the beautiful mountain scene.

She said, improvement of tourist destinations is important to Baguio and the Boracay Technical Working Group, a national tourism task force protecting the two top tourism destinations in the country.

The Lion’s Head, which is the first attraction seen by visitors entering the city, was a donation of the Lion’s Club of the Philippines to entertain tourists stopping at the roadside clearing of Kennon Road to appreciate the breathtaking mountain view.

Baguio City barangays bag Cordillera sanitation award

By David Balway and Cleo Mae Valdez

BAGUIO CITY – Barangays Balsigan and Imelda village bested other villages in the region as they qualified as finalists in the 2013 National Search for Barangay with Best Sanitation Practices (NSBBSP). 

Both barangays won the regional award and were honored during City Hall’s flag raising program where they are among 32 finalists in the annual search by the Department of Health, in which they received a plaque of recognition and an incentive of P150, 000 to fund their sanitation projects.

The competition is part of DOH’s advocacy to give recognition to the local government units at the barangay level that have demonstrated exemplary contributions in obtaining and sustaining its targets under the Millennium Development Goals on Water and Sanitation.

The NSBBSP, in its sixth year, envisions boosting and accelerating the local government and community action in addressing sanitation problems in their respective areas.

The indicators of the award are coverage of households with sanitary toilet facilities, coverage of households with access to safe water supply, improvement in sanitary toilet coverage, approved barangay budget for water and sanitation projects and programs for the last 2 years, and local sanitation initiatives.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan expressed his gratitude to the winners and further said that the awards and distinction was for the whole city as well.

Pul-oy Festival celebrated in Burgos, IlocosNorte

BURGOS, Ilocos Norte — For the very first time, this town has broken out in celebration for three straight days as it launched its annual tourism and cultural extravaganza in the “Puloy Festival” which set its culminating activities last week. The festival known as “Pul-oy,” an Ilokano term meaning “gentle breeze,” will now be celebrated every year as mandated by Municipal Ordinance 2014-001. Mayor Cresente N. Garcia said their festival – which is centered on a strong faith in God as exemplified by national hero Fr. Jose A. Burgos, on whom this town was named – featured a floral and dance parade, salatipul-oy (folk dance competition), “Burgos got Talent” program, and Miss Burgos 2014 coronation night. -- Freddie G. Lazaro

Mt. Province PLGU to employ 100 studes  under SPES

By Juliet B. Saley

BONTOC, Mountain Province – The provincial government will employ this summer some 100 students under the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

Provincial Public Employment Service Office (PESO) officer Ernesto Emilio said these students who will be hired on a first come, first serve basis shall be distributed to the ten municipalities in the province for a maximum of 20-work days.

Emilio said the provincial government shall pay each student beneficiary 60 percent of the daily wage of P230.00 while the remaining 40 percent shall be the counterpart of DOLE.

Qualified to apply in this program are poor but deserving students who are bonafide residents of the province; must be 15 – 25 years old and must be physically fit; must belong to families whose parents’ or guardians’ net taxable income should not be more than P116,000.00

For college student applicants, they must have passed 75 percent out of the total units enrolled during the last semester and for high school students, they should have passed all their grades.

Emilio said interested applicants are required to submit application letter of intent addressed to the Provincial Governor, two ID pictures (1 x 1), birth certificate, and income tax return. High school students are required to submit their grades for school year 2012-2013 and for college students, they must submit their grades in the first semester of school year 2013-2014.

If an applicant is high school or college dropout, he must submit his latest grades accompanied by a certificate of good moral character issue by the punong barangay.

Emilio said all requirements must be submitted first week of March since submission of complete documents to DOLE-CAR regional office shall be on March 14, 2014.

This SPES program is a regular annual job creation program of the national government intended for the poor but deserving students to augment their school fees by providing them work during summer vacation.

More job vacancies seen In infotech, BPO in Ilocos

LAOAG CITY -- , Ilocos Norte — More job vacancies are seen in the information technology and business process outsourcing sector (IT-BPO) in Ilocos region and other parts of the country this year, Director Grace Ursua of the Department of Labor and Employment said last week.

This developed when Ma. Lourdes Sison of SITEL, Inc. and Judelyn Cruz of Sutherland reported that IT-BPO sector is growing by leaps and bounds as they both echoed projections that the IT-BPO sector is poised to achieve its growth target of topping the 960,000 IT-BPO jobs in 2013 and revenues of US$16 billion.

The IT and Business Process Association in the Philippines (IBPAP) had projected that the IT-BPO sector is likely to exceed its target of raking in US$25 billion in revenues by 2016 due to the faster year-on-year growth of 19 % that it has been experiencing.

Sison and Cruz made the announcement when they appeared in a regional PESO Year-end Performance Assessment recently with the 70 managers of Public Employment Service Offices (PESOs) in Region 1.

Earlier, DOLE Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz confirmed that IT-BPO sector needs a lot of workers.

“Officials of the IBPAP sought out the DOLE’s help on how to fill-up hard-to-fill jobs in the IT-BPO sector because apparently it is not attracting that many jobseekers,” Baldoz.

She lauded the DOLE Region 1 Office for bringing in IT-BPO sector representatives to orient the region’s PESO managers about the sector.

Despite protests, trees along Manila-Rosales Road cut

ROSALES, Pangasinan — Despite protests, crew startedto cut hundreds of trees along the Manila North Road here.

Former Rep. Mark Cojuangco said last week he had pushed for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources approval of the cutting of trees along the road here.

“I really pushed to secure the permit from the DENR to cut the trees that impede traffic flow and pose danger on motorists,” said Cojuangco..

He assured that every tree that is cut for road improvement will be replaced with 100 seedlings. “We’ll find a proper place to plant them; not on the road right of way,” he added.

Baguio City slaughterhouse bunkhouses to be rented out

By Jho Arranz

BAGUIO CITY  -  The city government here would rent out to occupants of slaughterhouse bunkhouses here considering these are owned by the city goverment.

          The bunkhouses were intended to city employees working at the Veterinary Office. 

However, most of the city employees already retired years ago.  Yet, their families are still occupying said bunkhouses.

After evaluation of the Baguio City Market Authority, the proposed  rental of bunkhouses is P2.00 sq.m. a day effective January. 

Mayor MauricioiDomogan said a meeting with the BCMA, barangay officials and representatives of the families concerned the possibility of bidding out the said area once the affected families will not meet the terms and conditions based on the rules, laws and regulations of the audit.

           

The mayor told affected families that the city will allow them to rent the  bunkhouses with the condition that once the property will be needed by the city, they will be given ample and reasonable time to vacate said property.

He directed a team composed of the City Engineers’ Office, City Building and Architecture Office and City Treasurer’s Office to conduct an investigation and determine the actual occupants of the Slaughterhouse Compound. 

LTO starts night checks against carnap groups

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — The Land Transportation Office – Region 1 has intensified its campaign against suspected carnap groups by conducting nocturnal operations. 

Teofilo Guadiz III, LTO- R1chief said part of the campaign is a random check-up of vehicles where they found that there are many unregistered vehicles and expired drivers’ licenses.

He said vehicles without the appropriate documents were also impounded pending verification. Guadiz said the evening check-up was done to apprehend colorum buses who ply the roads in the evening on the belief that law enforcers are asleep in their homes. -- LBI

DILG Kalinga honors retirees

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Department of Interior and Local Government of Kalinga recently cited four retirees of said agency in recognition of their contributions as service providers of the government.

Recognized in simple ceremony were BenifredoMicu who worked as driver for 16 years;  Arthur Buslig who served DILG for 37 years;   Aristio Ande for 27 years of service, and Julio Barcellano who served for 38 years.

In a message, DILG Kalinga provincial Director Francisco Gamatero said the testimonial program commended all the awardees for their exemplary performances.

“The true measurement of commitment in public service is when nobody is supervising you especially in the field,” he said.-- Geraldine G. Dumallig

Read more...

Baguio demolitions get flak

EDITORIAL

There appears to be inconsistencies in implementation of demolition orders in Baguio City and for this, the anti-squatting team was asked to shed light on demolition procedures as some have complained that their structures or houses have been demolished even with court orders stopping such action.

For this, the city council has asked members of the city anti-squatting committee to shed light on the manner of implementing demolitions of illegal structures in the city in the body’s regular session on March 10.

The body will summon city administrator Carlos Canilao who heads the committee, city building official Johnny Degay, city demolition team head Nazita Banez and public order and safety division head Fernando Moyaen.

Councilor Leandro Yangot Jr. who proposed a resolution for the purpose said the body needs to be “properly apprised and guided in coming up with supplemental legislative measures to address” concerns on the procedure being observed by the committee.

In his resolution, Yangot said there are many illegal structures in the city that have been issued demolition orders and many of these orders have been carried out but there are also cases where these orders have been contested and brought to regular courts for the issuance of temporary restraining orders or injunctions due to unresolved conflicts between the concerned parties.

Yangot said there appears to be some inconsistencies in the manner of implementing the procedure.

“One alarming case that was brought to my attention as chairman of the city council committee urban planning, lands, housing and relocation sites is the recent incident where Demolition Order No. 01 series of 2013 was implemented despite a court order stating that ‘the parties agreed that they will maintain the status quo which is that the demolition will not be implemented pending the hearing on preliminary injunction,’” Yangot noted.

He said this should be clarified and threshed out to guide the body in coming up with corrective measures to make the procedures more effective and responsive. 

With this, affected residents and the demolition teams would be guided in acting accordingly.  

Read more...

Creating a Cordillera Autonomous Region

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

(Adrienne Salvi B. Bayangan writes this week’s column. We urge a healthy discussion on the issue of Cordillera regional autonomy so we encourage our readers to send their views on the matter.)

Before anything else, I would like to acknowledge the resource book entitled Cordillera Regional Autonomy which is a project of the Regional Development Council (RDC) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), edited by Lorelei C. Mendoza produced in December 2008. This book served as my basis for all the information presented here.

Regional Autonomy is a mandate to CAR. In Sucessos de las Islas Filipinas published in 1609, Antonio de Morga acknowledged the status of native Cordillerans as independent people. To put Morga’s claim into action, the late president Corazon C. Aquino created the Executive Order 220 in July 15, 1987 to prepare Cordillera Administrative Region into becoming autonomous. This is to accelerate the economic and social growth and development of the units of the region.

After a year of the same administration, she formed CRCC (Cordillera Regional Consultative Commission) to assist Congress in constructing the Cordillera Autonomous Region. But before starting the draft, the government declared Executive Order 220 which created the transitional Cordillera Administrative Region. Because of this, a widespread confusion that administrative is synonymous to autonomous.

Why do we need to pursue autonomy in our region anyway? One of the reasons is widespread poverty. The stable economic development should not be life contentment but a factor for pursuing self-governance. Secondly, discrimination in economic, political, and cultural perspective, the misconception about Igorots alone is offensive when saying they are not Filipinos. Autonomy is a mandate of CAR. This is to hasten CAR’s development pace considering its unique and distinct yet varied culture.

Subsequently, Cordillera autonomy is not easy to achieve. In fact, Republic Act No. 6766 or the first organic act for the creation of Cordillera Autonomous Region was the first F with 80, 835 voting yes and 223, 522 voting no. The issue about the indigenous people’s rights to ancestral domain was not resolved by the RA which boils down to the Cordillerans’ contrary decision. The second F is Republic Act No. 8438, with the first attempt to let leaders make the first organic act, still a failure with 133, 694 agreement and 218, 181 disagreement.

However, the No vote is not against autonomy but to forward indigenous people’s rights. It is therefore clear that the people’s resistance to autonomy is because of the lack of knowledge and orientation about government decentralization. If information dissemination is the core problem of the people’s struggle to regional autonomy, we should therefore learn more about the salient features of Cordillera autonomy.

Before the region, it is the national government’s obligation to defend and secure our region. Now sighting the working draft of RDC (Regional Development Council), let us go to the significant future changes. For the political rights, we will have corporate powers to transact business and formulate our own development policies and pursue its development programs and priorities. For the economic provisions; before conducting programs and projects in the region, there will be coordinating and consulting that will happen first.

Another important feature is that, we will have preferential right to our natural, material and fiscal resources. In addition, development and utilization of these resources shall be under the supervision of the regional government except off course to uranium, coal and petroleum which are under the national government. Finally a very important money matter is the sharing of taxes. As Cordillera Administrative Region we share 60% of our tax collection to the national government but as Cordillera Autonomous Region we share only 20% to the national government. All corporations, partnerships and other entities shall pay their corresponding taxes, fees and charges to the province/municipality/barangay where such establishment are conducting their business operations irrespective of the location of their principal or main office.            

For start of self-governance, the national government will allocate P10 billion for the first five years and P5 billion for the next five years regular allocation from the national budget. This will serve as business “capital”.

There are so many things to learn about Cordillera Regional Autonomy. And we should not be closed but be hungry to the big chance of accelerating our provinces. If information dissemination is the problem for the discrepancy of regional independence, then let us help ourselves to know more about the working draft of RDC. Seminars are planned, e-world is 24/7 and tangible resources are available. This is a challenge to all Cordillera people. 2016 on the road map declares regional autonomy achieved and enjoyed. Cordillera Autonomous Region will not be decided by the national administration but the vote of intellectual cordillera people. We hold the destiny of our region. Let us not be resistant to change.

Read more...

When thieves fight among themselves

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

 Ruby Chan Tuason opened a can of worms when she testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC) implicating Senators Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile in Janet Lim Napoles’ pork barrel scam.  Indeed, never in the history of the Philippine Congress had someone testify before the legislative body accusing incumbent lawmakers for accepting kickbacks.

Prior to Tuason’s testimony, BRC chairman Sen. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III opened the hearing by saying the testimony of Tuason will be a “three-point, buzzer-beater, winning shot.”  This enraged Estrada who then rebuked Guingona and accused Guingona of prejudging him in the pork barrel scam.   “I feel so hurt by the parting statements made by the chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee.  If that’s the case, if he chooses that battle, I will give him that battle. No problem with me," Estrada said.  With that the word war between Guingona and Estrada began.

A few days later Guingona took the floor and delivered a privilege speech.  He clarified Jinggoy’s concerns by saying that his “three-point shot” statement was not a reference to Jinggoy’s innocence or guilt.  He said that he was just trying to emphasize the value of Tuason’s testimony.  But Jinggoy had none of that.  “If your statement was not intentional and not to prejudge me, then what is your intention?” Jinggoy asked Guingona.

The heated verbal exchange between Jinggoy and Guingona sidetracked the purpose of the hearing, which was to hear the testimony of Tuason to get a clear picture of how Napoles worked with at least three senators – Jinggoy Estrada, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. – in funneling pork barrel funds to bogus non-government organizations (NGO) controlled by Napoles.

                        ***

Tuason, who was the social secretary of former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada, was the “bagwoman” of Napoles who delivered kickbacks to senators who had endorsed their pork barrel allocations to “ghost projects” of Napoles’ NGOs.  Acting as the go-between between Napoles and the senators, Tuason, by her own admission, earned P40 million in “commissions” for brokering bogus projects funded from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel as it is commonly known.  But that’s peanuts compared to the colluding lawmakers who received the lion’s share amounting to 40% to 70% of the money released to NGOs. 

Tuason testified that in 2008 alone she delivered kickbacks totaling at least P9 million to Jinggoy.  But Jinggoy refuted her claim saying that Tuason merely brought him food – pancit– and not money.  She admitted that she had brought assorted sandwiches to Jinggoy; however, she claimed that she used those occasions to deliver Jinggoy’s kickbacks as well.  But poor Tuason, Napoles dropped her out of the scam operation when Napoles figured a way to directly do business with Jinggoy, which makes one wonder: Did Tuason testify to get back at Napoles for cutting her out of the scam operation?

Tuason also implicated Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile whom she claimed to have delivered money to Enrile’s chief-of-staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes.  However, she admitted that she never got to talk to Enrile about his pork barrel allocations.  But she said Reyes showed her Enrile’s authorization letter indicating he had “full trust” in Reyes.

 To date, three senators – Estrada, Enrile, and Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. -- are among 38 individuals who are facing plunder, bribery, and malversation charges before the Office of the Ombudsman for their alleged participation in the pork barrel scam.  But Jinggoy insisted that there were more senators who were involved in the scam, which begs the question: Who are the other senators who had schemed with Napoles to steal the taxpayers’ money? 

During his word war with Guingona, Jinggoy asked Guingona why didn’t he ask Tuason whether she also requested other senators -- incumbent as well as former senators -- for project allocations?  Guingona replied that he had indeed asked her but Tuason denied any involvement with any of them.  But Jinggoy claimed that he had received information proving Tuason’s involvement in transactions between Napoles and other senators.  This prompted Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV to chastise Jinggoy that he shouldn’t resort to “blind items” and instead should name names.  

                        ***

Recently, another respondent in the $10-billion pork barrel scam case offered to turn state witness.  Dennis Cunanan, former head of the Technology Resource Center (TRC), said he was willing to spill everything he knew about Sen. Revilla’s misuse of his pork barrel allocations.  The Department of Justice put him “provisionally” in the Witness Protection Program, subject to the Office of the Ombudsman’s final approval. 

Interestingly, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago filed an “urgent resolution” asking the BRC to summon Cunanan as a resource person to the Senate investigation.  “It is in the public's strong interest for Cunanan to testify before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee's ongoing hearing on the PDAF scam; he can divulge information on the criminal involvement of certain public officials in the scam, and how the scam is perpetuated through the exploitation of loopholes in the disbursement of government funds,” Santiago said in her resolution.  She said that the more eyewitnesses come forward, the stronger the case will be. 

                        ***

On another front, Estrada and Revilla, together with Senators Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and Vicente Sotto III are in hot water for receiving P370 million in “stimulus fund” in March 2012 at the height of the impeachment trial of then-Chief Justice Renato Corona.  This was confirmed by no less than presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, who said that the money came from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP). 

Little was known about DAP until September 25, 2013 when Jinggoy delivered a privilege speech exposing the “secret dealings” and “behind closed-door” negotiations of high government officials to juggle taxpayers’ money including the pork barrel funds. Then he dropped the bombshell: Malacañang gave “incentives” — or bribes — to senators in the last two years in exchange for their support – and vote – for the President’s legislative agenda.  Jinggoy mentioned 20 senators who received an extra P50 million in the form of additional pork barrel for their vote to convict former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.  Of the 23 incumbent senators at that time, only Panfilo “Ping” Lacson and Miriam Defensor-Santiago were untainted by the anomalous releases of DAP funds during the Corona impeachment trial.

With witnesses coming out of the woodwork to testify against those involved in the $10-billion pork barrel scam and the alleged bribery of 21 senators during the Corona impeachment trial, the Senate chamber is degenerating into a free-for-all among the lawmakers. The spectacle of senators pointing fingers at one another in full view of television viewers makes one wonder:  What happens when thieves fight among themselves?  The answer is: the people suffer.  Indeed, that’s what’s happening right now. (PerryDiaz@gmail.com)

Read more...

Lessons for all reasons

PUNCHLINE

Ike Seneres

Perhaps it will never happen, but how I wish that good government programs will be spared from being abolished by the new administrations as the new powers would take over. One of the good government programs that became a victim to this political massacre in the past is the former University of Life (UL), a subsidiary of the former Ministry of Human Settlements. UL was an experiment in lifelong learning that also went into distance learning. I was a Fellow at the UL, concurrently assigned as Marketing Director.

It is highly possible that the new administration at that time was under the belief that the Human Settlements concept was an invention of the former First Lady Imelda Marcos, and that was probably the reason why most of the MHS group was abolished, along with the UL. If only they had checked the facts, they would have discovered that the concept originated from the United Nations (UN), and up to now, the UN has kept the concept as a continuing development framework.

As a center of excellence for non-formal learning, the UL would have been relevant up to today, but that is moot and academic now, because only the campus and its buildings have survived. Fortunately, the campus and the buildings have been put to good use, having been turned over for the use of the Department of Education. All is well that ends well I guess, because the DEPED now has a permanent home of its own, even if there was no plan to make it so.

I started my MHS career at Bliss Marketing Corporation, where I worked as a Group Product Manager and Assistant Vice President. The BMC was also another experiment, tasked with the mission of marketing the products from the Bliss housing sites. It was unique because it functioned like a corporation, even if it was 100% owned by the government. I mentioned this because there was actually a connection between the UL and BMC. The role of the UL was to teach the Bliss residents about livelihood, the role of the BMC was to market the products that came out of these sites.

Looking back, it could be said that the collective purpose of the old MHS group was to provide not only housing but also livelihood, and all other basic needs that are part of the Integrated Area Development (IAD) approach. In between all these, non-formal learning was a necessary component on one hand, as well as product marketing on the other hand. All told, the overall approach of the MHS group was not only to alleviate poverty; it was also to reduce poverty, an important distinction that I have not forgotten up to now.

In the sense that the old MHS group had successfully combined housing with livelihood, it had also successfully combined learning through the UL with marketing through the BMC. This is the perfect combination that I would like to revive, not just for products, but also for social, environmental and cultural actions. You might be surprised why I included cultural actions, but I have observed that in many countries, cultural activism has its own place along with social and environmental movements.

Being an incurable optimist, I believe that our people will eventually learn how to segregate garbage and to obey traffic rules if we would continue to provide for their learning needs. Aside from garbage and traffic, there are so many subjects that our people could learn about, and that could even include lessons wherein they could learn how to grow their own food in their own backyards, and how to cook nutritious foods using affordable ingredients. The list of subjects could go on and on, because the need for learning never stops.

Even with the pervasiveness of online learning technologies, it would still be necessary to offer offline learning options for those who do not have access to the internet. To some extent, television programs could also be used, but in the overall, nothing could beat the potential of interactive learning, regardless of whether it is online or offline.

As far as offline learning options are concerned, the most practical venues would be public places such as public parks, public markets and public terminals. That is so because the people who would need to learn are already gathered in these places. This is also where television programs or video materials could be used, because as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

In reality, there is actually a thin demarcation between non-formal learning and formal learning, the difference being the academic credits that are given in the latter. As it could probably happen however, the graduates of non-formal learning might even be inspired to take up formal learning courses after taking non-formal courses. Conversely, the graduates of formal courses might even want to take up more non-formal courses to supplement what they already know.

Generally speaking, seminars and workshops would fall under the category of non-formal learning, because no academic credits are given for these courses. In many countries, non-formal learning is considered to be synonymous with lifelong learning or continuing education, among other terminologies. Adult education is also another terminology that is used.

As you can see, non-formal courses could be offered anywhere and everywhere. That being the case, would it not be great if anyone could learn anything anywhere, using any available device, or using any available location? Inspired by this thought, the members of the Corinthian Coffee Clutch are already planning to pilot this idea at the Rizal Park.

As it is now, Dr. Antonio Mateo already has a rainwater collection system installed in the park, and that installation could already be used to teach a course about water conservation. Dr.Pepz Cunanan also has a place in the park that could teach people about organic gardening and urban farming. Anyone interested, let me know.

For feedback, email iseneres@yahoo.com or text +639083159262

Read more...