MORE NEWS, BAGUIO CITY

Cordillerans win ‘athletes of the year’ Asian award
By Sim Dilan

BAGUIO CITY -- A core of 30 athletes and sportsmen bannered by 24th Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Marianne Mariano and Marites Baby Bitbit in wushu and cycling respectively will receive the prestigious NCCB Kafagway sports Award for exemplary leadership and outstanding achievement in the field of sports for the year 2007

Mariano, an education student from the University of the Cordilleras (UC) and Bitbit from the Coco Cola battling Co. were named “Athletes of the year” for their sterling gold medal finish in their respective sports discipline during the biennial Sea Games edition held in Rakhon, Ratchasima, Thailand last December.

The annual award and recognition rites with city Mayor Reinaldo Bautista, Jr., Rep. Mauricio Domogan and Dr. Virgilio C. Bautista, chairman of the Baguio Centennial Commission as principal guest will be staged at he historic Malcolm Square starting at 9 a.m. on Jan. 19.

A photo exhibit featuring the sports Hall of Famers from the city and the Cordillera Region by the NCCB Kafagway sport committee will be part of the annual awards program.

The roll of honor includes the most outstanding athlete in their respective ports event. At the helm are SEA Game silver medalist Alice Kate Aparri, Jouveliet Chalem and Ronigen Solfa (women’ boxing), Benjie Rivera (wushu), Midel Dique (athletics) and Brent Velasco (muay).

The SEAG bonze medalists are Daniel Parantac (wushu-taulo), Helen Dawa and Estegay Liwanen (judo); Zaida Laruan and Jay Olod (muay) and elezer Sunang (athletics).

Special award will also be given o the 16 Cordilleran athletes and five officials who were member of the Philippine National Contingent to the Thailand sports conclave held from December 5-15, lat year.

Aside from the medalists the other athletes in the RP team were Christabel Martes, Mark Eddiva and Jennifer Laguilag. The Cordi officials are Tony Canbelaria, president of the Wushu Frderation of the Philippines-CAR chapter, and coaches Billy Alumno (muay), Glecerio C. “Boy” Catolico (boxing) and Danny Crosby (judo). UC’s Mark Sangiao served a international judge referee in wushu.

The other top awardees are reigning Universal Reality Combat Championshois (URRC) Philippine National champions Kevin Belingong (lightweight); Ray Docyogen (pinweight) and Eduad Folayang (welterweight). Fearless Mixed Martial Arts pinweight national titlist Joel Amurao is also an awardee.

Special citation will also be presented to Karen Naverette-Anton, Baguio Midland Courier sports editor, Jogen Tamayo, Jr., Bishop Carlito Cenzon, sportsmen Yul Benosa, Gleerio Catolico Eduardo Lauriano, Arnisadores Christopher and Melissa De Leon, Texas Instrument Philippines (TIP), University of the Cordillera ABS-CBN, Mountaion View, and University of Baguio (UB).


Baguio gov’t offering cash prices for early tax payers
By Ramon Dacawi and Julie Fianza

BAGUIO CITY – To entice taxpayers to pay on time, the city government is offering a total of P250,000 in cash prizes aside from other incentives under an annual raffle draw open to business establishment and real property owners for early tax payers.

City treasurer Thelma Manaois said tax collection will be extended morning of Saturdays this January to accommodate those whose available time to pay their taxes falls on week-ends.

Business operators have until March 20 to renew their permits and pay their fees while real property owners (house and lot) have until March 31 to settle their taxes for the first quarter of the current year.

Both types of taxpayers who have fully paid on time are being issued raffle tickets for the draw set in April, according to Manaois.

Instead of the usual prizes in kind, the cash incentives will enable raffle winners to expand or set up their own businesses, said local treasury operations officer Marietta Catriz.

The cash prizes will be P100,000; P75,000; P50,000; and P25,000 for the top four winners. The three fifth prizes will be in the form of cellular phone loads of P5,000 each.

These are aside from umbrellas or T-shirts issued on a first-come, first-served basis, “while the supply lasts”, Catriz added. Free coffee on a serve-yourself basis also offered to all taxpayers, including those obtaining their community tax certificates or paying other fees.

A total of 12,636 business establishments and 95,874 taxable real properties were registered by the city as of December, 2006.

Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. said last week the city is targeting 14,000 business establishments registering and paying their taxes this year.

To speed up the processing, the mayor directed the whittling down of initial requirements for renewal of permits to four, namely clearance from the city treasurer’s office, certification of payment of taxes, barangay clearance and sanitary permit.

Certifications from the City Environment and Parks Management Office (relative to sewerage), the fire department and the City Building and Architect’s Office shall no longer be required as attachments in the processing of the renewal of business permits,” the mayor said in an administrative order he issued last week.

He said the list of businesses with renewed permits will be furnished the fire department, CEPMO and CBAO on a monthly basis so that they can inspect the same.

He said the certificate of inspection takes time to be issued, after a joint team has done on-sight examination of the establishments on compliance with safety and other structural standards.

The mayor also ordered employees not to intercede in or work out the permits of any business applicant, saying that the processing of such is limited to those assigned to the same.

Employees found acting as fixers will be reprimanded on the first offense, suspended from one to 30 days on the second and dismissed from the service on the third.

He added that “in order for business permits to be valid, clearances from the Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System and Philhealth shall be secured by the business operator.”


Execs not optimistic on Baguio gov’t managing Burnham Park
BAGUIO CITY – Some city executives are not ecstatic about President Arroyo’s approval of a city government request for the national government to turn over the management and operation of the historic and scenic Burnham Park here.

The officials who requested anonymity said the city government could become hard up in paying salaries of the park employees, most of who reportedly don’t have civil service eligibility.

President Arroyo had directed Chief Presidential Legal Officer Sergio Apostol to fast-track processing of required documents and procedure for turnover of Burnham Park to the city government.

The park would be transferred to the city under a scheme similar to the plan for the takeover of the Hundred Islands National Park by Alaminos City.

The scheme is similar to the mechanism adapted by the Philippine tourism Authority and the City of Alaminos for the devolution to the city government the operation of the Hundred Islands National Park.

Despite the perceived lack of funds to pay park employees, Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista said, sufficient funds from the city government could be allocated to develop the tourism site so it could draw more tourists to this mountain resort city.

In 1994, former President Fidel V. Ramos issued Executive Order No. 224 authorizing the city government of Baguio to administer, manage, and operate Burnham Park under a management committee.

Under the EO, the PTA was obliged to give the city government an annual subsidy of P18 million to ensure the smooth operation of the park.

However, the amount for the maintenance of the park has never been enough as sometimes, the city government had to advance money for salaries of the park personnel to ensure continuous operations.

With the transfer, the city government can ensure the security of park employees.
The turnover of the park’s management could also ensure the development of the park’s athletic oval with the assistance of the Department of Education.

The city government has allocated an initial amount of various sources to start development of the park.


First female ABC vice- prexy pushes for natural birth control, baby centers
By Nonnette Bennett

BAGUIO CITY – The first woman vice-president of the Association of Barangay Captains here will give the city political affairs a female touch.

She wants to push the natural family planning method for the reproductive sector and a baby center at the city hall for the nursing mothers.

The Catholic church has an avid supporter in its natural family planning methods in the recently elected ABC vice-president and Barangay Captain Eva Marie R. Fianza who intends to help young couples in giving their families quality life and better opportunities.

The 47-year-old nurse says that artificial contraceptives are not working for this generation that has hypertension and other stress-related diseases.

Thus, she will push for a massive campaign for the natural contraceptives and will train local residents to help make the information available to identified reproductive couples.

Bishop Antonio J. Ledesma, S.J., once wrote in a pastoral message that the Standard Days Method (SDM) was a promising new approach to family planning because of its simplicity to teach and use.

He said that with the help of a necklace of colored beads as a mnemonic device, couples are aided to accurately determine the "fertile window" during a woman's menstrual cycle when periodic abstinence may be decided upon.

Bishop Carlito J. Cenzon, Vicariate of Baguio-Benguet, in a recent interview said said that this concern for neighbors and their coming together to respond to their own issues was what we need as a "new kind of church". This meant that clusters of families in the purok or zone would make their own "simbaan ti agkakaaruba" or a church of neighbors.

Fianza said that the men leaders were often too busy with the infrastructure projects of the communities and participated the least in their own family issues. The men left the affairs of running the family to the women and often even neglected their own human needs as officials. Fianza said that with the natural family planning program, the young couples would be empowered to plan the size of their families and also appropriate their financial resources properly.

However, this information and the methods that the couples could avail of will be spread to the 128 barangays of the city through the training of barangay leaders to help spread the information. She said that even the men will be involved in this as the couples will be encouraged to attend together or couples with more children than they can support will also receive the necessary support from the group.

Fianza said there are 32 female barangay captains in the 128 barangays."This is a good beginning," she said in an interview during the turn-over of the ABC office to the officers who were elected Dec. 29.

Apart from this, Fianza said she will also push for an infant and baby center in the Baguio City Hall. She said nursing mothers could easily take breaks to breastfeed their infants if given a center.
This would mean that the government employees would become more efficient since they would not have to use government time and work time to monitor their homes and children.

Admitting that these are going to be firsts in the long list of barangay issues and problems that must be met, Fianza, in the seven years that she has served as barangay captain, is ready for the upward climb.

She is confident that she will be able to sway the gentlemen in her group to join the responsible parenthood program of the city grassroot officials.