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Cultists attacking, raping women in Pampanga town
BY MAR T. SUPNAD

CANDABA, Pampanga – Young women here are cowering in fear after a group of cultists was reported to have been attacking and raping women the past several days.

The reported prompted Mayor Gerry Pelayo to appeal to police authorities and barangay officials to set up a dragnet for the arrest of the members of the dreaded cult.

In a radio interview, Pelagio confirmed the report that a group of at least 40 cultists has invaded his town, but said six of them have been arrested by police.

Pelagio appealed to the public, particularly his townmates, not to panic as he, policemen, and barangay officials have adapted measures to stop the activities of the cultists.

“Nananawagan ako sa mga kababayan ko na huwag matakot at gumagawa kami na kami ng paraan para mahuli at maubos ang mga demonyong ito na naghahasok ng lagim sa ating bayan ng Candaba,” the mayor said.

Pelagio did not identify the suspects but said five of them came from Bulacan and another is a native of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija.

He said they are now languishing in jail. The cultists were reportedly barging into houses during the wee hours, spraying liquid so that no one inside the house would awaken.

“May iniispray daw silang chemical para hindi magising ang mga nasa bahay at saka nila gagasahin ay gugupitin nila ang kanilang underwear,” Pelagio said.

The mayor said at least 10 women have been molested by the cultists the past several days.
The mayor vowed to arrest the cultists until the group is “obliterated.” Pelagio said one of the safety measures is to prevent the entry of unidentified persons “selling ice cream.”

He added he had set a meeting with policemen and barangay officials to discuss ways to stop the cultists’ attack on women.


Human error blamed on helicopter crash
BY DEXTER A. SEE

BESAO, Mountain Province — Police investigators here said human error was the cause of the crash of a military chopper in Ambaguiw, Besao town morning of June 3.

The crash resulted in injuries to two of the chopper’s passengers. Investigation showed the chopper, which was on a supply mission to assist the 53rd reconnaissance group of the Philippine Army, flew to the area despite the bad weather that day.

Sensing trouble, the crew tried to maneuver the helicopter back to the Wallace airport in San Fernando City , La Union but they were forced to crash-land at a mountainous place in Besao.
Soldiers and policemen hiked to the remote barangay of Dandanac to cordon the crash site and guard the chopper from individuals who may take advantage of the situation.

The Huey helicopter, which belongs to the Philippine Air Force, crashed at about 11:15 a.m. shortly after it lost contact with tower controllers at the Wallace air station.

The helicopter was piloted by a certain Captain Pacordo and co-piloted by Lt. Calaunan.
The three other persons on board the chopper were identified only as Technical Sergeant Tanamoro, Sergeant. Aviles , and Corporal.

Duque, Tanamoro and Duque suffered fractures in their body and were airlifted by the rescuers to the V. Luna Hospital in Quezon City for treatment.

The chopper mishap came in the wake of other crashes of military planes in various parts of the country.

Recently, some helicopters of the PAF were grounded due to the series of mishaps rhat led to the loss of lives and properties.


Rotary club honors 10 Baguio barangay heads

BAGUIO CITY – The Rotary Club of Metro Baguio cited 10 of the 128 barangay chairmen in this city for the exemplary services rendered to heir constituents and the city as a whole.
Given citations were Guisad Central barangay chairman Ferdie Bayasen, East Quirino Hill barangay chairman Mathew Bayao, Loakan Proper barangay chairman Basilio Binayan, Lower Rock Quarry barangay chairman Alberto Bravo Sr., and Scout Barrio barangay chairman Ramon Corpuz, Upper Rock Quarry barangay chairman Johnny David, Imelda village barangay chairman Jose Fernandez, Salud Mitra barangay chairman Nida Galace, Loakan Liwanag barangay chairperson Josephine Mariano and Quezon Hill Proper barangay chairperson Angelita Padilla.

Hillside barangay chairman Danilo Salcedo was cited as a Hall of Fame awardee for garnering three consecutive awards as an outstanding punong barangay of this mountain resort city.
The RCMB chose their awardees on the extent of their advocacy of tourism promotion, prevention and eradication of drug abuse, child abuse and juvenile delinquency, provision of non-formal education centers in their respective areas and the strict enforcement of laws and the protection of the environment, among others. -- Dexter See


Grenade blast foiled
BY JERRY PADILLA

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – A normal day could have turned to mayhem had a city hall employee here not prevented an explosion when he discovered as grenade at the steps of the Don Franscisco “Pacoy” Ortega monument early morning on June 14.

Police investigators, headed by city police director Supt. Rolly Bersola identified the employee as Danilo Fusilero, a resident of Baranagy Langcuas now assigned at the city electrical section.

Fusilero said the grenade, wrapped in a thin yellow cloth caught his attention at about 5:15 a.m. when he was roaming the vicinity.

His job was to switch on and off the lights at the plaza and the Lion’s Park, a recreational area east of the main city hall building.

POI Rommel Inocencio, said the grenade’s safety pin was already removed when it was discovered.


Masked men in Ilocos murder farmer’s leader
BY JUN GUIANG

LAOAG CITY – A 45-year-old leader of farmers was blasted to death by two motorcyclists armed with shotguns and wearing black bonnet in Barangay Bulbulala, Vintar, Ilocos Norte night of June 11, lawmen said.

Insp. Crisanto Sadino, Vintar police chief, said victim, Rolando Camit, president of the farmer irrigators association, succumbed to multiple bullet wounds in the body. Doctors at the provincial hospital tried to revive him, but failed.

Investigators said the victim had just arrived home from his farm when assailants fired at him.
Meanwhile, businessman Patronicio Martinez Jr., 36, married, was also gunned down by two motorcycle-riding armed men night of June 10 in front of his house at Barangay Medina, Dingras, Ilocos Norte.


4 NPA guerrillas surrender to cops
BY MIKE GUIMBATAN

CAMP DANGWA, Benguet – Four alleged members of the New People’s Army in Abra surrendered to police authorities last week.

This was the result of Oplan Sagaok covering the municipalities of Sallapadan, Lacub and Malibcong and convincing rebels in the “Order of Battle” to surrender.

The NPA rebels who surrendered without their firearms were Johnson Guinay Timbreza, 18, of Umnap, Malibcong; Arna Danao Siddayao, 20, of Pacqued, Malibcong, said to be medical Officer of Yunit Gawaing Masa, and Junie Lingbaoan Bacuyag, 22, of Buneg, Lacub.

The fourth surrenderee was identified as Robert Siy-eyen Kidlayen, 22, native of Barangay Demang, Sadanga, Mountain Province , political officer of the NPA’s Saulo Lumadao command, of Barangay Maguyepyep, Sallapadan, Abra.

The four surrendered to elements of the Abra Police Office and the regional operation group.
It was coordinated by Senior Insp. Jomarick Felina and Chief Insp. Mauricio Carria-en under the supervision of Senior Supt. James Bucayu and Senior Supt. Alexander Pumecha, acting provincial director of Abra.



Unknown men burn school in Abra

BUCAY, Abra – Unidentified men torched a building of a Catholic school for unknown reasons here dawn on June 11.

Senior Supt. Alexander Pumecha, director of the Abra Provincial Police Office, said a building of Our Lady of Fatima School located at Poblacion, was burned by unidentified arsonists at about 3:30 a.m.

Firefighters from the Bucay municipal fire station and concerned residents were able to put out the fire two hours later, but this came after school property and valuables had been burned.
Pumecha ordered a thorough investigation of the case. It was learned that the men poured several gallons of gasoline around the school building before they set is ablaze.

Witnesses said the fire immediately spread to the different floors of the structure.

Arson investigators reportedly recovered various items at the site. Pumecha called on witnesses to the incident to got the police station and identify those who were responsible for the burning. -- Dexter See



JDV calls for moratorium on Cha-cha
BY JENELYN MODEJAR

DAGUPAN CITY – Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said a moratorium for the proposed Charter Change will be imposed and Congress would instead devote efforts to consolidating economic gains under President Arroyo.

De Venecia told newsmen here Thursday when he attended the birthday celebration of Dagupan Mayor-elect Alipio Fernandez Jr. and the unveiling of the monument in Lingayen town of the late Gov. Aguedo Agbayani that he has been fighting for Cha-cha for 15 years, but the proposed amendments should be deferred.

“I think we should have a moratorium for the moment and concentrate on the economy,” he said.

He said the country needs sustainable developments after the country recorded a 6.9 percent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of the year.

He said there is a need to increase the GDP growth to seven percent that his proposal adopted by the government, which is the 747 economic action plan, can be implemented.

“Seven percent GDP growth for seven years, this is the only way to break the back of poverty in the Philippines ,” he said. “We can create not only the beginnings but an expansion of the Filipino middle class.”

He said if the growth rate is lower the country cannot defeat poverty.

De Venecia said that despite the moratorium in Cha-cha, he is still committed to changing the system of government from presidential to parliamentary because all the successful governments in Europe and Asia are parliamentary.

Officials of the pro-administration Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) urged De Venecia to forget about the Cha-cha initiative.

“We in the incoming Congress should discuss socio-economic measures instead of Cha-cha,” said re-elected Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, Kampi president. He said Cha-cha would only distract lawmakers from working on bills that would sustain the country’s economic growth.

“What we need is chamber change, not Charter change,” said Villafuerte, who was citing the slogan of his candidate for Speaker, Cebu Congressman-elect Pablo Garcia.

Kampi spokesman Jacinto Paras said it is the consensus of party members that De Venecia should not include Cha-cha in the agenda of the 14th Congress.

“Cha-cha is divisible. It could derail our economic gains,” he said in the same news forum.



GMA flagship projects delayed due to lack of first-class cement
BY DEXTER A SEE

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Hundreds of millions worth of vital infrastructure projects of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo under the North Luzon Agri-business Quadrangle are now facing serious delay in their implementation due to the lack of first-class cement supply in Northern Luzon .

William T. Go, proprietor of the Goldrich Construction, contractor of several packages of the phase III of the Halsema highway and the Bontoc-Tinglayan section of the Bontoc-Tabuk-Tuguegarao road bared this saying he opted to suspend all his work until concerned government agencies and cement manufacturers would ensure the availability of Portland or first-class cement in the regular 40-kilogram bag for the masses.

Although Portland cement is available in bulk, Mr. Go said they could not bring such cement supply to their different project sites in Mountain Province since trailers could not reach the project sites due to the narrow roads.

He said suspension of works is a show of concern for the implementation of quality projects as envisioned by the Arroyo administration even in the countryside and that they are not solely for the profit to be gained from the projects.

On the use of Excel blended cement as a replacement for Portland cement if the design mix would pass the compressive strength of the Department of Public Works and Highways, the contractor said they will not bow down to such alternative because it will surely result to a violation of the contract, particularly the specifications of materials, since it is clearly provided that the type of cement to be used is Portland Cement Concrete Pavement.

Go said use of Excel blended cement would entail additional cost on their part since they would be subjected to questionable payments by the Commission on Audit and that the same would be disadvantageous to the government and the people.

With the admission of Ernesto Ordones, Executive Director of the Cement Manufacturers of the Philippines in a recent statement, that there is no shortage of cement, Go said cement manufacturers must availability of Portland cement in the regular 40-kilogram bags so that the government and the people will be provided with quality private and public infrastructure that would last for a long time.

Unfortunately, what is happening is that even though there is no shortage of cement, there is no available Portland cement to the ordinary consumers which deprives the people of quality projects.

The contractor appealed to all other contractors in the region and in the country to duplicate what he has done for the sake of the beneficiaries of vital infrastructure projects especially in the countryside so that government agencies will be forced to do their jobs in ensuring the availability of Portland cement in the regular 40-kilogram bag.

The P1.3 billion phases II and III of the Halsema highway, particularly along the Mount Data to Bontoc and Bontoc to Banaue sections, and the P1 billion Bontoc-Tinglayan-Tabuk-Tuguegarao road is now in full swing.

The Arroyo administration is now utilizing most of its funds for the implementation of pro-poor projects in the different parts of the country, the Cordillera region a major priority, but the quality of these projects is highly questionable if government agencies will not mandate cement manufacturers to produce enough supply of first-class cement for the general public especially in the regular 40-kg bag.



Test-tube lakatan saves banana farms
BY BILEY E. TEMANEL

CAUAYAN, Isabela – Nothing is left to chance in Mang Sammy’s banana farm. And he uses no less than plantlets nurtured in a test tube.

Water from shallow tube wells irrigates the field. Because the tissue-cultured Lakatan does not like too much water, drainage canals get rid of excess water especially during heavy and continuous rainfall.

Fertilizers are precisely measured: 4 bags of urea and 5 bags of muriate of potash per hectare to ensure proper growth and fruit sweetness.

Weeds are removed around the banana plants. Preventive mulch composed of rice hulls lessens the cost of weeding. Deleafing is made each month to prevent diseases, especially the Black Sigatoka that causes a significant loss in yield.

Bamboo poles prop the fruits during windy and rainy days to prevent the tipping-over of a heavy bunch.

All these efforts are rewarding: an average weight of 18 kilograms per bunch. During his first harvest – about 67 bunch – Mang Sammy earned P36,180 from the farm gate price of P30 per kilo.

Sammy Cortez is one of the 20 farmers here in Cauayan who are cautiously returning to bananas. In 2003, they destroyed their banana plants in anger because of the Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) disease.

They were bitter, having missed out on one of the country’s table fruits that is affordable and with high export potentials.

The Philippines is the world’s third top banana exporter, selling some 3.33 million metric tons in 2006 that was valued at P5.992 billion.

In the Cagayan Valley region, however, the BBTV disease is common, more so in Isabela province, especially in Cauayan town.

In 2004, the Department of Agrarian Reform-Provincial Agrarian Reform Office (DAR-PARO) of Isabela and the Isabela State University started rehabilitating banana farms – mainly through disease-free, tissue-cultured planting materials.

Twenty farmers in Isabela – including Mang Sammy – were at first apprehensive because the tissue-cultured plantlets were small and were cumbersome to nurture. A Gawad Saka Outstanding Rice Farmer from 2000 to 2002, Mang Sammy was more familiar with rice.

After attending a DAR-PARO seminar, he took the chance. The first 100 plants produced suckers that even helped him expand his farm to 3,500 Lakatan plants. Most of them are now bearing fruits.

So much so that farmers from other towns in Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Benguet visit Mang Sammy’s farm here in Cauayan.

A modest nursery for tissue-cultured banana is being planned. Mang Sammy is already happy that he gets income from the fruits as well as from selling suckers to farmers who want the planting materials.

Because of disease free and tissue-cultured Lakatan, as much as 85% of the BBTV disease has so far been eradicated in Cauayan, San Mateo and Alicia towns.

This writer who holds a Ph. D. of Isabela State University at Echague regularly visits the banana farm of Sammy Cortez that he helped establish.



Candon clergy, Namfrel hit Nueva Segovia religious group on election statement
BY FREDDIE LAZARO

CANDON CITY – Members of the city’s Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting-National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections (PPCRV-Namfrel) denounced what they claimed misinterpretation of the statement by the Nueva Segovia clergy on the conduct of election here.

This was their reaction to the observation of the Priest’s Assembly of the Nueva Segovia, which claimed that PPCRV-Namfrel members here were being used by some political groups in the province.

“We, the officers and volunteers of PPCRV-Namfrel Candon, deplore the dirty, malicious and self serving interpretations of the statement of the Nueva Segovia clergy. It is unfortunate that such statement of the clergy is now being misused and abused by a certain group to promote its own interest and agenda,” they said.

“We declare that there was honest, accurate and faithful canvassing of the votes of Elections ’07 in the city of Candon ,” the members said.

The city’s priest, Vicente Avila, over-all chairman of the Candon PPCRV-Namfrel, said they wanted to clarify the statement of the Nueva Segovia clergy regarding the delay in canvassing of the city’s election returns and the erasures in results of the gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial contest were not countersigned.

“We just want to clear all issues regarding election particularly the canvassing to remove all doubts on the integrity of the elections,” Avila said.

He said they called the attention of Candon City Election Officer, lawyer Fidel Gines, to explain the issue on delay and erasures.

Gines said there was no delay in the canvassing of election returns as shown by the minutes approved by the city board of canvassers with the concurrence of the watchers and lawyers of different political parties.

Based in the minutes of the Commission on Election, the city board of canvassers convened at 6 p.m. on May 14.

At exactly 10 p.m. the board, upon unanimous vote of its members, with concurrence of the watchers present, including lawyers of the different parties, declared a recess and decided to reconvene until the first ballot box containing the election and custody will be submitted by the reception and custody group. The board reconvened at 6 a.m. on May 15.


Rabbit bus plunges into creek; 33 hurt
BY GEORGE TRILLO

TARLAC CITY – The driver and 32 passengers of a Manila-bound Philippine Rabbit Bus are now recuperating after they were seriously injured when the vehicle plunged into a creek in Concepcion, Tarlac on June 12.

The victims were brought to the Sta. Rita Polyclinic and the Concepcion District Hospital for treatment.

Senior Supt. Nicanor Ancheta Bartolome, Tarlac Police director, said 15 of the 33 victims were seriously injured and were transferred to the Tarlac Provincial Hospital .

Police said bus driver Michael Tabinas, 36, tried to avoid a collision with a Farinas bus, which was overtaking a tractor, causing his vehicle to plunge into a creek along the Concepcion-Magalang Road in Barangay San Francisco.

Policemen were trying to track down the Farinas bus which fled after the accident.


Benguet gets P57.9 M unused revenue fund the past 3 years
BY DEXTER A SEE

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has informed the provincial government of Benguet that it would be getting an additional Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) of P57.9 million from the 2007 national budget.

Budget officials assured the release of the amount, saying it has been incorporated into this year’s General Appropriations Act (GAA).

Earlier, Benguet Gov. Borromeo Melchor requested the provincial board to enact a supplemental budget to cover the additional IRA which will be allotted for the implementation of vital priority projects.

The provincial board earlier appropriated Benguet’s regular IRA amounting to P294 million.

The additional P57.9 million IRA share brings the province’s total IRA to at least P350 million.

It was learned that the additional IRA represents the increase in the collection of the revenues in the past few years.

However, thus was not reflected in the past three years because Congress failed to enact a national budget for that period.

With the additional IRA, the provincial government will set aside its plan to borrow a loan of 23.5 million from the Land Bank to fund the implementation of priority projects.

If the bank releases the amount being borrowed by the province, it would represent the advance payment of a portion of the province’s IRA.

The province’s finance committee recommended that the board appropriate the amount what would be actually released to the provincial government on June 30, 2007 and that the balance be appropriated by the next set off board members.

But the amount should have been a part of the provincial budget which the board passed at the start of the year so that there at the start of the year so that there would be no legal problem so that there would be no legal problem over the appropriation of the additional P57.9-million IRA. The projects for which the funds would be earmarked would be pursued only if and when the amount id released to the province.

Some board members expressed apprehension over a move to appropriate the whole amount, saying this may be constructed as “midnight appropriation.”

The additional IRA would be subjected to the mandatory five percent calamity fund.


NEDA OKs P6-B dam project in Nueva Ecija
BY LIAM ANACLETO

JAEN, Nueva Ecija – The National Economic Development Authority has approved the construction of the Balintingon River Multipurpose Project in the province.

Fourth District Rep. Rodolfo Antonino said the P6-billion BRMP will definitely push through as the NEDA, through its Investments Coordinating Council approved the proposal.

Antonino, a close ally of President Arroyo, said the chief executive has identified the project as one of the main priorities under the Super Regions concept of her administration.

He said negotiations are underway for the dam’s contractions through a build-operate-transfer scheme.

The congressman and NEDA officials met with the potential Chinese investor during a recent visit to China .

The BRMP is projected to irrigate 18,800 hectares of agricultural lands in the tri-boundaries of Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Pampanga.

It is capable of providing the irrigation needs of northern Bulacan and enable the Angat Dam to supplement water at the La Mesa Dam, the prime source of drinking water in the metropolis.

Engineer Marcelino Santos, chief of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems said initial plan for construction of the BRMP was created under the Irrigation Development Plan for Central Luzon , a reconnaissance study conducted by the NIA and ECI consultants in 1976.

Under the plan, a 140-meter high rockfill central core dam with a catchment area of 228 square meters was to be built in nearby Gapan City .
Its reservoir will have a storage capacity of up to 572 million cubic meters of water.

A feasibility study conducted by NIA, Electroconsult of Italy and the Italian government showed the project would irrigate 18,800 hectares using the waters of the Sumacbao River , which branches out of the Penaranda River , one of the tributaries of the Pampanga River .

The proposed dam has a potential service area of 63,000 hectares covering the towns of Cabiao, Gen. Tinio, Penaranda, San Isidro, Sta. Rosa and the cities of Cabanatuan and Gapan, all in Nueva Ecija; San Miguel, San Idelfonso and San Rafael in Bulacan and Arayat in Pampanga.

Besides the dam, also to be built are a powerhouse equipped with two are a 22-megawatt Frances turbines, a 710-meter long concrete tunnel discharging 1,430 cubic meters of water per second and a 140-meter long diversion weir to provide hydroelectric power nearby areas.

The dam is the third giant dam rise in Nueva Ecija apart from the World Bank-funded Pantabangan Dam, which irrigated roughly 102,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Central Luzon , and the Casecnan Multi-purpose Irrigation and Casecnan and Taang rivers in Nueva Vizcaya to the Pantabangan Dam through a 26-kilometer underground transbasin tunnel.