LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

Missing roads, Nasecore and ‘Jack’s rice’ power
MARCH L. FIANZA

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- In last Saturday’s special board meeting, Beneco found an ally in Jack’s statement of support to the electric cooperative’s proposed car plan. Jack is none other than the guy Mr. Jack Dulnuan, the practical businessman about town whose popularity ratings do not seem to go down.

According to him, the managers who will be using the cars to be bought (if they are bought) deserve to be compensated for doing their job. “Apay nalaka aya ti agi manage ti Beneco? Agsakit ti ulo. I know that because I am an incorporator and I was the first president,” he said.

The businessman-farmer who owns one of the longest running restaurant businesses in Baguio and Benguet cited some factors in support of his approval of Beneco’s car plan.

“The employees of Beneco were successful in bringing down the systems loss percentage, aside from lessening the number of employees as against an increasing number of consumers,” said the inventor of “Jack’s Rice.” The popular rice-topping is probably the most original in the Cordillera, if not in the whole country.

On the other hand, National Association of Electricity Consumers for Reforms, Inc. (Nasecore), Cordillera Chapter directors Peter Dumaguing and Catalino Panganiban asked that the car plan be set aside. In a three-page statement, Nasecore understood the benefits that the car plan would give the managers and supervisors, but “it will be costly to Beneco as a whole.”

For his part, former Beneco director and president Steve Busoy suggested that 70 percent of the purchase amount for a car would be shouldered by the employee while the remaining 30 percent would be paid by Beneco, which he said would be a win-win solution to the deadlock.

Whatever, I see many good points in all the speakers’ statements, including GM Gerry Verzosa. I see the proponents and opposition closing in. As of the moment, a win-win alternative is the only thing missing.
***
Passing by Tarlac and Pampanga last week, I could not avoid listening to the conversation of the bus driver and the conductor about the overdue opening of another expressway, supposedly the newest in Luzon. Beneath the lahar that is now infusing billions of pesos to the province of Pampanga , another expensive road is waiting to be inaugurated.

This is the unfinished Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway that was started in 1999. With a little side trip to the internet, I found out that it was worth P15 billion then. Nine years later today, it costs P27 billion.

In fact, price for the expressway is still escalating due to the weekly hike in fuel prices that translate to higher prices in construction material. Aside from that, changes in the expressway’s design and scope also contributed to the escalation in construction cost. The expressway is expected to be worth double its price next year as when it started construction in 1999.

Buses and other motorists have complained about the long delay in travel that the construction has caused. Still, for reasons known only to the players or those involved, the project has yet to be completed.

And the bus driver asks: what is taking them so long to finish the project? Then the conductor remarked in mixed Ilocano – Tagalog: “Di naman talagang kelangan yang expressway na yan… mas kasapulan tayo pay ti kwarta panang urnos ti talon.. humph.. nakangin-ngina pay dayta..’ (The expressway is not badly needed as compared to our needs in agriculture, and it is so expensive).

“Walang kwenta yan” (That’s nothing, the driver quipped). Then he continued talking about the multi-million Caloocan-Bulacan road improvement. Surely, the Subic-Clark-Tarlac expressway construction cost is peanuts compared to the $802 million road improvement from Caloocan to Malolos in Bulacan.

According to Senator Frank Drilon, there is something very wrong in the 32 kilometer road project and that is why the government must have it terminated Based on his computation, Pinoys are paying $25.0625 per kilometer since 2004 for a project which is not moving, or Pinoys are paying $1 million per day for a project that they can not see.

Different people differ in the way they see things. As the bus moved past Pampanga, I thought maybe the conductor grew up in a farm and that ricefields were of more importance to him than constructing luxurious expressways. Support for the agriculture sector was his priority, not any modern road which represents another face of tourism. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com

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THE MOUNTAINEER

Black power (1)
EDISON L. BADDAL

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Now that Barrack Obama has clinched the nomination as the standard-bearer of the Democratic party of the USA for the forthcoming presidential elections this November,2008, it can be arguably said that blacks have already arrived as a power to reckon with in American politics. This is not to say though that they will not be undergoing some form of prejudice, overtly or covertly, but from hereon, they will no longer be taken for granted by the whites.
In a way, it points to USA gradually shedding its racist spectrum after a literally apartheid prism of the past centuries that gave birth to the civil rights mass movement in the decades following the second world war. Nevertheless, the feat was no fluke as Obama trounced a formidable adversary in Senator Hillary Clinton after a nerve-wracking and grueling race. The victory was no less spectacular as Hillary has always been a frontrunner in the primary election surveys since the battle for the primaries started sometime in March,2007.

Hence, Obama having edged out Hillary, despite her seemingly insurmountable advantages at first, in the final legs of the campaign is no doubt a matchless come-from-behind victory for some years to come. Besides, Obama is a neophyte senator of Illinois while Hillary was already a senior senator of New York before they raced for the Democratic nomination. Hobbling Obama’s candidacy in the seminal stage of the campaign was the predominant belief that Americans are not yet ready for a black president.. But what could have militated against such prejudice by white Americans was that they were not also ready for a female president.

In this context, the primary election voters could have been faced in an awkward situation of being caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. In the end, though, it boiled down to the fact that whereas Americans are not ready for a black president, the more that they are not ready for a female president.

It is thus that Hillary’s being a woman, although white, proved to be more her downside than that of Obama, who being black, is a true-blue male. Supposedly, the average American voter prefers a male, despite being colored, than a woman as leader although she is white. And to think that in the history of the United States, no woman ever became president as no woman also was ever been elected as Vice-President. Walter Mondale, though had a female running mate during his fight for the US presidency against the Gipper in 1984 but the candidacy was fruitless. His dark skin notwithstanding, what proved to be a clincher for Obama’s nomination was his huge organizational ability. With his canny communication skills, he was able to persuade many groups of voters of varied backgrounds to pitch in for his candidacy.

Thus, his comparative lack in resources was surmounted by a smooth and well-supported organizational network. At this point, his strong showing in the race certainly made him a man to watch in the political field and a black president may yet be in the offing.

Down the rough and crooked trail of American history, the blacks have always been the subject of racist economic and political policies characterized by segregation in schools, hospitals, transportation and facilities like lunch counters, drinking fountains, public toilets, public transport among others.

This is on top of some 250 years in which blacks were traded as chattels or objects of commerce subject to bidding and all forms of human indignities like rapes, beating and murder. It is estimated that about 100 million blacks have been murdered for various reasons at the height of slavery, during the Civil War and during the first reconstruction period following the civil war. In the latter, many were mercilessly lynched and murdered by white supremacists and other racist groups bitterly opposed to biracial, multicultural democracy and racial equality.

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HAPPY WEEKEND

P33-M Cordillera fund/ MP special elections
GINA P. DIZON

BAGUIO CITY -- Again, this topic is seemingly boring. Yet we dwell with it for quite some time again with Cordillera Month being celebrated this July. National Economic Development Authority regional and Regional Development Council chairman Juan Ngalob said ‘We need to motivate others” in the move for Cordillera autonomy. Joining him was former NCIP officer Fernando Bahatan Jr, in urging participants if the autonomy forum held last July 23 at the University of the Cordilleras to go for regional autonomy.

It had been nearly 20 years since the two plebiscites had been conducted which resulted to a NO vote on regional autonomy. Yet, after all those years, the response is still basically the same. Cordillerans are wary of approving autonomy for the Cordillera. Based on a recent survey sponsored by RDC which was published in this paper months back, 65% rejected autonomy because respondents here simply did not understand Organic Acts providing for regional autonomy. This was compounded with pessimistic positions that autonomy will not bring anything good in their lives and people are confused on different opinions on autonomy. Where lack of understanding and information is the problem, this brings us to ask what efforts are being done to address this gap to let Cordillerans know what autonomy is all about.

Ngalob said the national government forwarded P33 million for Cordillera matters which includes the conduct of information-related activities for 2007 and 2008. He said the amount of P5 million had already been spent for the survey, among other expenses. This brings us to a remaining amount of P28 million. Ngalob during the forum said RDC will go slow in implementing this amount. What plans does RDC intend to do? The forum did not elaborate much on this however. But Ngalob said advocacy on regional autonomy would reach the public. How will this be done?

Where lack of information is the problem, why don’t the RDC give the work to the Philippine Information Agency and other private information outlets do the information drive. With information which is readily available and information which needs to be dug, journalists as part of their daily work can easily do this job. Add to this youth and sectoral organizations who can naturally, as part of their activities do community based information activities. Lack of information has since been the problem. Where money is the problem, P28 million is available and much can be done with it. The Cordillera Studies Center has done already lots of research and field-based data on issues of Cordillera concerns, and so with other non-government agencies dwelling on Cordillera concerns.

So with the departments of Agrarian Reform, Natural Resources and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples. Otherwise if not, what had they been doing? It would be a matter of packaging available information and let the people know the relevance of these researches to regional autonomy. PIA and other information outlets and organizations to include student and youth groups have the capacity to do this work. Plays, skits and other innovative methods aside from roundtable discussions, fora, and forms in tri-media are effective ways of letting people be informed of what they are lost of.

In the same development, it was learned that autonomy-related researches are on the pipeline by RDC in collaboration with government offices including NCIP and some non-government organizations.

Are results of these researches dependent on advocacy and autonomy- information drives? That is, are there not already available information which can be packaged in order that the drive on autonomy push on while waiting for scholarly researches to be published? Otherwise, after ten years, with the way that we are moving, we will be back in 1990 when the first plebiscite was conducted.
***
Six months had already passed since Mountain Province Rep. Victor Dominguez died, yet lawmaking bodies have not yet acted on a political decision to have special elections in the province. The seat is still being comfortably occupied by caretaker Kalinga Rep. Manuel Agyao. While others also sit back comfortably and wait for the next elections in May 2010 to come, others are not that comfortable sitting down. Mountain Province Gov. Maximo Dalog said the provincial government is willing to bankroll the holding of the special elections if the funds will not exceed P3 million. How true is this? The Commission on Elections has also not issued any go signal on the availability of funds for special elections in Mountain Province.

Understandably, funding for special elections should come from the National Government. Obviously, the reason is that lawmaking bodies are not forwarding any measure for the holding of special elections for Comelec to give a certification. For whatever reason that is, these law making bodies who hold elective positions are not paving the way for people to exercise their fundamental right in electing their own leader. As we know, self-serving motives and interests as what local newsman Gregory Taguiba said, governs the thinking of these elective officials. Amen to that.

Equally, people of Mountain Province are also cool about holding special elections. Raising a complaint seemingly is a non-practical issue which is better spent on working for a kilo of rice to be cooked for the next meal and on for the next meal. Yet, on the other hand, where to get the next meal is dependent on being concerned about who decides on how much a kilo of rice costs.

Anyway, House Speaker Prospero Nograles said no special elections have been set for Mountain Province, "unless all the members of the (recently combined) Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) and Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) leaders agree and file a bill for the activity.”

The Speaker was in Baguio City recently for the joint declaration of merger between the ruling Lakas-CMD and Kampi political parties represented by Baguio Rep. Mauricio Domogan and Rep. Agyao. What future awaits the peaceful people of Mountain Province who are at the waiting end for what their leaders will do for them?

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TRAILS UP NORTH

Mayoyao on my mind
GLO A. TUAZON

MAYOYAO, Ifugao -- I've been whiling away three days in Lagawe, Ifugao when I heard a distant town in the province would be holding a harvest festival. I have not been to the place yet so I thought it would be a good idea to see it now and join the festivities at the same time.

Riding a bus to Mayoyao from Lagawe took more than four hours, through the narrow, winding roads. Most parts are unpaved, the roads are still bad along the Banaue side going to Bangaan Village and Batad where the famous terraces are located.

Turning right on the other side of the river that was the "divide," Mayoyao was in sight. My mouth and eyes were the same circular shape of ohs as we went along. Rugged, distant beauty all its own. Mayor Romeo Chulana humbly commented during his welcome address that he would not say their town is beautiful or awesome, that would come from the people visiting the place themselves.

So I'm saying it now, the place is a sight and the people are cool and very accommodating. First day I was housed and warmly welcomed in a cozy nook overlooking the village and terraces below. Farther was a large white and green structure that is the Mayoyao Hostel.

Yes, a hostel alone on top of a hill, like a castle looking over its domain of plantations, the grains now golden, blowing with the shift of wind. I was taken to the municipal plaza, the paired orbs of green and red lights glowing in the early evening, lighting the facade of the municipal hall and the stone-tiled playground. The sound of glee from children playing pierced the chill of the night.

Harvest time is often one of the most joyous season of the crop cycles anywhere. When the efforts and fatigue of planting and tending to the crops end and then comes pay back time. All the pressures vanish to the sights of reaping the fruits of the labor.

Mayoyao, along the lower regions is almost done with the harvest but the upper areas are still pushing on ahead to reap the crops. The pale gold grains sway with the winds at a steep elevation. Barangay Chaya this place is called. And then people came to meet and greet us, that all too familiar grin of teeth stained reddish-brown with the habit of momma chewing.

The calloused hands that shook ours were warm and strong, like the will that persevered all those times tilling the lands that fed them. My defenses of good poise broke and then I was all about mingling with them, clicking here and there, some at angles leveling me face to face with the dogs sniffing at my intrusions. My face as red as he stains of the momma on the ground, the adrenaline worked too well with a swig or two of the baya (tapuey or rice wine).

The ritual for harvest begun with the slaughter of a native pig, it being struck right below the pit of the foreleg, directly thru the heart. It did not take a minute for the pig to bleed and squeal, then lay silent, an apt sacrifice for the good health, luck and prosperity of the host family and those who will be participating in the harvest.

While the men started to butcher the pig for cooking, the women paraded down the rice paddies to start the harvest. I caught up with the women, running the paddies like a child, unmindful of the heat. My cameras clapping the sides of my leg and arms as I ambled my way down. The kel-leng (individual rice paddies) I noticed were wet, unlike the dry paddies I went to in the lowlands during harvests.

The harvesters sloshed their way in a line, each armed with that circular blade for cutting one rice stalk at a time. The bantering started, consequently interrupted once in awhile by the joyous singing to shoo away the boredom and heat. As they moved forward they trample the empty stalks to the mud on their feet, to rot there and become fertilizers for the next crop. Incidentally we were told to remove money, especially coins from our pockets to the harvest area. It is considered taboo as belief goes that with money, it was like we were buying the souls of the rice crop.

Only the women are allowed to harvest. The children may help too and they were there to collect the bundles of rice stalks from the harvesters which they in turn hand over to the men to tie in bigger bundles. Tied now, the bundles would pass to another man for the raw stalks to be trimmed. When the bundles reach ten, the owner of the field would bring it to the house and placed first in a ceremonial kayabang.

From there, the head of the family (the father), takes the bundles out to arrange it under the house or granary for stocking. It goes on until the fields are done. Ironically nobody is allowed to eat until the harvest is over. To fill up the tummies and invigorate the tired, sunburned harvesters, baya is passed around. These days however, light snacks are allowed.

With harvest done, we were fed with rice and big slices of boiled meat skewered on a stick. The baya flowed, like bottomless tea orders. The gong-beaters started again and merrymaking continued with some dancing. The ritual was concluded with the chanting of the menfolk, a prayer to the Maker and Giver of Life.

I viewed Mayoyao again from above, the wind gently skimming my face. For a long time, Majaojao and its people will be on my mind. -- email: twilight_glo@yahoo.com

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UNDERVIEW

Garbage in, garbage out
MIKE GUIMBATAN JR.

BAGUIO CITY – This summer capital’s fresh air was diluted with the stench of rotting garbage since July 14 but but local policy makers have yet to meet on July 28 to decide on short and long term solutions. Pure Garbage talk.

If P9 million will be spent for a month of garbage collection and disposal, that would be P108 million in a year. Last year, a private lot owner in Itogon, Benguet offered only P25 million for a ten hectare property. Smells fishy ***

When Irisan and Tuba folks barricaded the dumpsite, they were just implementing a mandate to close the landfill effective January 2007 which the city government failed to implement. Garbage knows no rules .

Purchase of relocation site and construction of an engineered landfill has been discussed by local officials in the pastyears but they never allocated a budget for land purchase. Grandstanding garbage.
***
The city market and central business district will be first cleared of dump while segregation at source will be closely monitored. Propaganda garbage. The present measurement of good governance according to existing people's views is based on what they see and what they smell.
***
Recycled leader -- One who keeps on promising and manages to still gain popular support despite limited performance.

Biodegradable leader - One who is on his last term who thinks more of his next career than the welfare of the people he serves.

Residual leader -- One who became a leader and maintains position not because of good performance but because of family background, religious or civic group endorsements.

Baguio leader – One who can clean all the streets of garbage, impose discipline among household and business establishments in managing wastes, has a recycling and compacting plant and constructs an engineered land fill in the city outskirts.

Baguioite - One who resides in the city, loves the city and knows how to properly dispose his garbage and convinces his neighbor to do the same.

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ENVIRONMENT WATCH

Women encourage use of bayong

SAN MATEO, Isabela – A women-based group here is leading an effort for the return to biodegradable alternatives, among them the ever-reliable bayong as a market or shopping bag in place of the ubiquitous plastic bags. Dubbed Walang Plastikan, this southwestern town’s chapter of the Isabela Green Ladies Organization is now spearheading a “No to Plastic” campaign in a determined effort to get rid of plastic bags and other related environmentally-destructive items.

According to Dr. Crispina Agcaoili, IGLO president, the move for this rice and corn-producing municipality to return to the use of bayong and other bags made of indigenous materials instead of depending on plastic sand bags is part of a concerted effort to lessen, if not to eradicate the use of non-biodegradable items here.

“Our campaign is to discourage the indiscriminate use of plastic bags, not only in malls but also in ordinary public markets and sari-sari stores,” said Agcaoili, wife of Mayor Roberto Agcaoili.

This recently-launched campaign has now been complemented with a town ordinance seeking to discourage the use of plastic bags in public markets as well as other establishments.

The return to the use of the bayong or woven rattan or bamboo baskets or bags, which rural folk had been commonly using before, would greatly complement the town’s environmental protection efforts by lessening the amount of garbage being disposed.

“By promoting the use of bayong, we will not only help lessen the expense on plastic bags which cost from P1 to P10, this will also result in less eyesores in the town,” said Agcaoili.

Coupled with a strict garbage disposal system, he said, the ban on the use of plastics would also reduce the town’s waste disposal problem.

Besides plastic bags, Mrs. Agcaoili said the campaign also aims to discourage the use of cellophane bags, styropores and plastic straws, which are hazardous to one’s health since a chemical reaction may happen when they are mixed with foodstuffs items and soft drink products. -- CL


Baguio garbage problem in a fix

BAGUIO CITY -- The call is back to the basic Rs –reduce, reuse, recycle – as the city government last week took emergency measures – including having trucks haul tons of trash to a dumpsite in Capas, Tarlac – to ease the garbage crisis and move on to a more permanent solution to the problem.

The city’s barangay chiefs Tuesday morning told city administrator Peter Fianza they have rallied anew households to segregate their waste, hold on to non-biodegradable such as plastics and establish and share temporary backyard compost pits for those that decay. Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. earlier reiterated his appeal for residents to do their share by employing waste reduction techniques in their homes.

Fianza, who was designated by the mayor to oversee management the solid waste problem, explained the moves within the barangay level will give the city time to normalize collection and proper disposal, including locating a landfill site.
Collection in the barangays fully resumed late Thursday afternoon with the arrival of more trucks from Metro Waste, a firm accredited to haul garbage, to beef up the city’s own.

Earlier that day, Fianza convinced a picket of residents affected by the closed dumpsite at Irisan to allow trucks to enter and haul garbage earlier dumped there as a temporary staging area, to add to their loads collected from the barangays and for transport to Capas. The protesters initially stood their ground but eventually relented when Fianza explained that no additional garbage shall be added to the heap and that sorting by scavengers will not be allowed.

Pending the pin-pointing of an alternative staging area, however, Fianza said he will ask the affected residents to allow secondary sorting of waste in the dumpsite as the one in Capas would not accept glass and other sharp materials.

Fianza has also asked the city environment and parks management office to see whether a city-owned lot can be used as a staging or composting area. He was initially considering another area along Marcos Highway which the city earlier planned for a bus terminal, only to find out it has been converted for housing purposes, with some of the lots already titled.

The situation, however, brightened up same day as the Philippine Military Academy offered its dumpsite for compost garbage, mostly vegetable trimmings from the market and animal manure from the city slaughterhouse, the major contributors of this type of waste.

Fianza has also appealed to vegetable farmers and traders to do their trimmings at the farms or at the trading centers to help reduce waste coming into the city. Crucial to the steps being taken will be the city council’s meeting tomorrow afternoon to discuss more permanent measures and funding, including the purchase of a lot among several being offered as dumpsite.

Mayor Bautista has also asked the council to pass a P42-million outlay for the set up of 15 material recovery facilities in the barangay clusters and P35 million for 10 dump trucks. The city’s 128 barangays were divided into clusters last year when the waste segregation campaign was stepped up.

At the weekly “Ulat sa Bayan” media forum last Thursday, vice-mayor Daniel Farinas said the mayor personally went to Capas, Tarlac last Thursday to inspect the landfill facility the city will temporarily use.

Farinas has filed a resolution to declare the city under a state of calamity to enable the local government and the barangays to utilize calamity funds in tackling the garbage issue.

He has also proposed an outlay for the purchase of 16 pulverizing machines to support the waste reduction campaign within the 16 barangay clusters. – Ramon Dacawi and Aileen Refuerzo.

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AGGIE UPDATE

Planting malunggay
FREDDIE LAZARO

VIGAN CITY – Never underestimate the “lowly” malunggay. National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary Domingo Panganiban urged the local officials and residents to continue planting malunggay trees at vacant lots citing benefits derived from it. Secretary Panganiban was recently here in the province to attend a meeting of agencies involved in the implementation of the national KALAHI convergence program. The meeting was held at a beach resort in Cabugao.

He said that there are significant food nutrients that can be derived from malunggay. "A cup of malunggay leaves boiled with hot water is equivalent to three glasses of milk, and it is equivalent to five pieces of carrots in terms of calcium or potassium, beta carotene and Vitamin A."

"It is also equivalent of four pieces of banana, lakatan variety," Panganiban said. "Malunggay leaves when grounded into powder are best and nutritious ingredient in baking bread."

The secretary lauded the efforts of Ilocos Sur Gov. Deogracias Victor "DV "B. Savellano to go "back to basic" in agriculture, noting the newly created 16-hectare barangay demo farm in Barangay Labnig, San Juan town.

In the plant section of the Demo farm, more than 500 malunggay plants are seen growing on the sides of plots and near the pheriperal fences. The demo farm has large plots of assorted vegetables, called the "pinakbet garden," sweet corn, soya beans, peanuts, pigeon pea, hundreds of jackfruit trees, hundreds of banana plants, hundreds of coconut trees, malunggay trees, sunflowers, hundreds katuday trees, mongo, sorghum and tobacco.

Being raised in the animal section of the farm are several heads of cattle, carabaos, goats, native pigs, sheeps, chicken, geese, turkey, and fighting cocks.

Upon assumption of office last year, Governor Savellano started the massive planting of malunggay in the province.

"A malunggay tree is easier to grow, and it does not need fertilizer or irrigation but only "TLC" or the ‘tender loving and care,’" Secretary Panganiban said.

Studies in the Philippines and other countries shown that malunggay is nature’s "medicine" with all the parts of the tree, besides the leaves, having medicinal or therapeutic value.

The leaves of malunggay, dubbed as "miracle tree," are discovered to be most nutritious bio-food on earth because it contains various nutrients such as calcium, protein, vitamin A (beta carotene), Vitamin C, iron, potassium, minerals, and amino acids.

The leaves and flowers of malunggay are ideal food for breastfeeding mothers, malnourished children and the elderly.

The leaves can also help in the treatment of headache, bleeding caused by a shallow cut or wound, insect bites, bacterial or fungal skin, gastric ulcers and and diarrhea. The pods are used in the treatment for worm, liver, and spleen problems, and joint pains.

Malunggay is also known to fight cancer. Scientists reported that it can hike male potency by spurring more sperm production.

The seeds of malunggay, when mixed with coconut oil or with its seed oil, can be used to treat arthritis, rheumatism, gout, cramps, sexually transmitted diseases (STD), urinary problems, epilepsy, and boils. The seeds are also good for water purification or cleaning contaminated water.

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BUSINESS BITS

A karinderia’s success story
MISHELL M. MALABAGUIO

A popular eating place for tourists in Bacolod City for the past 11 years is Aboy's Restaurant, which is famous for its grilled blue marlin and such other specialties as squid fat, tuna sisig, pork sisig, and grilled mushrooms.

The 1,464 sq m restaurant, which has been designed to look like a mansion, has four function rooms that can accommodate as many as 120 to 150 customers at any one time. On a typical day, it serves an average of 500 diners and gets one or two bookings for its function rooms. It is a successful business in every way—a labor of love by a former pharmaceutical salesman who started it in 1992 as a small carinderia (eatery) with bare soil as flooring. Nestor Evaristo, now 49, had put up Aboy's Restaurant the hard way.

After being assigned in Bacolod for 10 years as a salesman for United Laboratories, he found life in the city to his liking and decided to stay there for good. Thus, when the company reassigned him to Manila in 1992, he decided to quit and go into business on his own in Bacolod. He thought that it would be easier to run a business in Bacolod considering that he and his family had already lived there for 10 years during his assignment.

Before he could put up a business, however, the Evaristos had already used up his P80,000 separation pay from Unilab. To make ends meet while still thinking up a suitable business, Evaristo peddled polvoron, fishball, and whatever sellable product he could lay his hands on, while his wife, Rodelia, sold insurance plans. Then one day, Evaristo chanced upon a vacant lot along Burgos St. near the public market. Since he was used to doing home cooking, he instinctively thought of putting up a carinderia on that spot.

The problem was that he did not have the capital for it. "I therefore pawned my Volkswagen for P28,000 to raise the money," he recalls. As it turned out, the amount he got was just enough for the construction of a kubo (nipa hut) made of coco lumber and for the other start-up expenses.

Through sheer determination, however, the Evaristos somehow managed to put up their carinderia. To get started in the business, the Evaristos served only typical carinderia fare like menudo and mechado. They thought that these dishes would be suitable for the drivers and sales agents who were their target customers. They were wrong; hardly any of their target customers liked or bought their food offerings.

It was then that the Evaristos decided to serve sinugba (grilled food), the native Ilonggo dish. It was to become their carinderia's specialty, but at that time, even with its introduction, all that the couple could attract was an average of 20 customers a day—hardly enough to make the business a going concern. Worse, they could not serve dinner because the place was so dark and the carinderia could remain open for business only from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The Evaristos thus found themselves in a serious quandary. Their carinderia was not making any profit at all; out of its daily capital outlay of P1,000, it was grossing only P500 because half of the dishes were just going to waste. Thus, for three months, just to keep the business afloat and be able to pay their helpers, the Evaristos had to pawn their belongings one after another. Evaristo tried to get a loan from the banks but to no avail. "That's the sad reality of starting a business," he says. "No bank would want to help you because you don't have a credit history and a track record."

As a last resort, Evaristo decided to reinvent his menu and to come up with a market buzz for his restaurant. He did tests to determine what dishes would sell, then improved the taste of those dishes. He also did several sales gimmicks: one was to give out discount coupons through taxi drivers, and the other to ask for the business cards of his customers. "The taxi drivers didn't get anything from our 15 percent discount coupons but some of the passengers who received them would give the drivers a tip in appreciation," he says.

After a week of the coupon distribution effort, more customers came to eat at Aboy's. In fact, the word of mouth became so effective that even prominent people in Iloilo started coming to the place to eat. It was at this point that the Evaristos decided that Rodelia should take charge of the financials of the business, and that Nestor should devote his time to cooking and serving.

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FRONT PAGE

Armed men raid LU pol’s house; aide kills gunman
By Jerry Padilla

NAGUILIAN, La Union – The mastermind of a group of men who barged into the home of this town’s vice mayor to kill him before dawn July 6 is still being determined by police.

Vice Mayor Reynaldo Flores was not hurt as one of his security aides gunned down one of the intruders while responding policemen arrested two others.

Flores, who previously served as Naguilian mayor for three terms, said he suspected the incident was politically motivated.

Flores’ bodyguard Cleto Huliganga shot dead Mario Alcido, 28, as he, armed with a Cal. 45 pistol and his companions barged into the vice mayor’s residence in Barangay Natividad around 4 a.m.

Responding policemen collared two of Alcido’s companions, identified as Magno Menci and Bernard Alcido, as they tried to flee on board a Delica van.

Their cohorts were able to escape.

Flores, with the group of Mayor Abe Rimando, recently bolted the local chapter of the pro-administration Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino headed by former Rep. Tomas Dumpit Sr. and joined the Nationalist People’s Coalition group of Gov. Manuel Ortega.

After the incident, Flores requested the Explosive and Ordnance Division at Camp Florendo in San Fernado City in the province to check surroundings of his residence for any explosives that could have been planted there. Police initially theorized the suspects belonged to the “Acetylene Gang.”

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Kidnap brains of Cagayan business couple arrested

By Armand Tamaray

TUGUEGARAO CITY – Despite undergoing plastic surgery to alter his face and elude arrest, the “mastermind” behind the kidnapping of a wealthy Filipino-Chinese businesswoman here was nabbed last week.

Senior Supt. Jude Santos, Cagayan police director, said Joey Jose, who allegedly plotted the abduction of businesswoman Editha Chua on Aug. 15, 2001, was arrested by a joint police team in Rodriguez, Rizal on July 12.

Ranked ninth on the list of the region’s most wanted persons, Jose, 40, who used several aliases such as John Mark Bautista Quintana, carried a P100,000 reward for his arrest.

Santos, who was the regional police intelligence officer at the time of the kidnapping, said Jose changed his identity in his driver’s license and other personal iden­tification documents.

“But we were able to track him down when three of his cohorts were apprehended earlier,” he said.

“We want to give credit to our colleagues in Rodriguez, Rizal for their efforts leading to the arrest of the suspect.” Two more suspects in the kidnapping remain at large, Santos said.

Police records bared six men barged into the Chua residence here and seized the businesswoman, leaving her husband unconscious after they struck him with a gun.

Police rescued Chua at a police checkpoint a few hours later. But his kidnappers escaped the police dragnet.

The Chuas are engaged in wholesale business and run grocery stores here.

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Folks picket Baguio garbage site; gov’t to dump trash no more
By Dexter See and Mike Guimbatan Jr,

BAGUIO CITY -- City officials here were the first to blink in the stalemate over the garbage dumping and gave in to the demand of thousands of residents who braved heavy rains as they held for four straight days a human barricade at the Irisan open dumpsite here to prevent trucks from dumping the city’s trash at the area.

Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista Jr. said the city government will no longer dump garbage at the five-hectare Irisan dumpsite to put an end to the four-day impasse between City Hall and residents of various barangays surrounding the dumpsite, including those in nearby Tuba, Benguet.

Despite the huge expenditure to be shelled out by the city government, Bautista said the city’s trucks will temporarily dump garbage at a government property in Barangay Irisan here.

Later, a private hauler will bring the city’s garbage to a sanitary landfill in Pampanga, he said.

The city government has been eying sanitary landfills in nearby La Trinidad, Benguet, and San Fernando City, La Union as a temporary dumping area for the garbage collected daily in the 128 barangays of the city.

But La Trinidad and San Fernando have denied the request of the city because their dumps have limited capacities.

Since July 13, thousands of residents of Irisan, and Asin and Tadiangan, both in Tuba, Benguet, joined forces and set up a human barricade in front of the Irisan dumpsite, preventing dozens of trucks from dumping the collected garbage at the facility.

The residents said the continuous dumping of waste at the overloaded dump site poses a serious threat to families living in the area since a tragedy, similar to the Payatas garbage avalanche, could happen if the retaining wall of the dumpsite collapses.

In the event of such disaster, thousands of lives would be lost as some 200 houses are located just below the dumpsite.

It would also pollute rivers and farms in Tadiangan and Asin, Tuba, Benguet.

Bautista recognized the validity of the argument of the protesters and adapted the expensive option of dumping the garbage at a sanitary landfill in Pampanga.

He said if no immediate action is taken, a garbage crisis would hit the city, which might ruin its image as one of the cleanest and greenest highly urbanized cities in the country.

Baguio City has not yet complied with the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, which requires all local government units in the country to stop the operation of open dumpsites and set up controlled dump facilities or sanitary landfills to ensure a sound environment.

The protesters maintained the human barricade despite heavy rains as they asked the mayor to visit the dumpsite.

They performed a traditional ritual of offering a burnt chicken to the gods who appeared to be on their side as manifested by the good form of the chicken bile.

A tuba councilor said legally, the residents of the affected villages and downstream communities have all the right to protest because under the law, the Irisan dumpsite should have been closed in January 2008.

The garbage trucks were on standby while city officials tried to convince the picketers to allow the trucks to dispose their cargo.

The mayor mulled on a plan to use a temporary dumping area at the City Camp lagoon, but the idea was met with strong opposition by the residents.

Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia appealed over the radio for cooperation as he announced that the council is in the process of sealing an agreement for the use of a sanitary landfill in nearby Itogon.

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Slay of three Pangasinan councilors alarms execs
By Jennelyn Mondejar

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan -- The Pangasinan Councilors’ League urged the police last week to act on the recent murders of three municipal councilors in the province.

Provincial board member Raul Sison, head of the Philippine Councilors’ League’s Pangasinan chapter, filed a resolution Monday to request Senior Supt. Isagani Nerez, provincial police director to initiate immediate investigation. “This series of killings has become very alarming,” Sison said.

Slain were councilors Juan Ablao of Alcala town, Albert Sibayan of San Quintin town, and Igmedio Lariosa of Binalonan town. Gunmen who shot to death Lariosa morning of July 13 haven’t been identified yet, police said. Lariosa was shot several times as he was on his way home with a Cal. 5.56, killing him on the spot, in an isolated place in Barangay Camangan, a few meters away from his farm.

Police said Lariosa’s attacker took his service pistol, a Cal. 45, but did not touch his wallet containing cash as well as various documents.

The first victim was councilor Albert Sibayan of San Quintin town who was killed last July 2. Sibayan and Lariosa were killed in a span of 12 days this month.

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Itogon gets P43.8-M dam tax

ITOGON, Benguet – The long-time struggle of this mineral-rich town to get its share from operations of the San Roque Multi-purpose dam is finally over. The municipal government received recently three checks, all amounting to P43.8 million, from the National Power Corp.

The amount represented the share of the town from the operations of the biggest dam in Asia over the past four years.

The town’s share, which is four times higher than the share of the provincial government, will be used to fund development programs, one of which is the supply of solar-power energy in the remote village of Domolpos, Barangay Ampucao, this town.

Napocor executives said the release of the town’s share was made possible through a memorandum of agreement signed between Benguet officials and their counterparts in Pangasinan. The agreement calls for the two provinces to receive an equal share in the national-wealth tax levied on the dam operations.

Of the P43.8-million share, the municipal government will get P22.95 million, while Barangays Ampucao and Dalupirip will receive P12.8 million and P7.68 million, respectively.

Barangay officials of Ampucao and Dalupirip said their shares in the national-wealth tax will be used to fund livelihood and community development projects that will benefit their constituents, particularly those who were displaced by the construction of the 345-megawatt power plant.

Provincial and municipal officials said the payment of their shares is a big help for communities which have meager incomes.

Last month, Napocor executives handed over to the provincial government a check for at least P12 million, which is Benguet’s share in the tax on the operation of the dam.

Earlier, Benguet officials insisted that the province should have a substantial share in the national wealth tax on the San Roque dam operation because the water that runs the turbines of the power plant originates from the Cordillera mountain ranges.

Pangasinan had interposed no opposition to the demand of Benguet for an equal sharing of the national-wealth tax as it recognizes the fact that water that runs the power plant comes from the Cordillera. – Dexter A See

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Cordiworkers top 2008 CSC exams

BAGUIO CITY -- The Cordillera Administrative Region posted the highest passing rate for both exam levels at 19.64 percent or 262 passers out of the 1,334 examinees who took the examination here.

Of the said number, 209 passed the Professional test while 53 passed the subprofessional test. These figures, representing 19.39% and 20.7% of the number of examinees for each level, likewise are the highest passing rate for professional and subprofessional levels, respectively, from among the regions.

With a rating of 91.92, Farah Y. Sevilla (CAR – subprofessional) made it to the Top 10 examinees nationwide.

To pass the test, the examinees should get a grade of at least 80.00. The successful examinees shall be conferred their eligibilities needed for appointment to corresponding positions in the government.

The new eligibles, though, should also meet all the other three qualification standards prescribed for a position, which are education, experience, and training. Those who passed the examinations must personally claim their certificate of eligibility (COE) at the CSC regional office where their applications were filed, upon advise of the CSCRO.

In claiming their COE, passers must present one 1” x 1” ID picture with full name tag similar to the picture attached in the picture seat plan during the examination and any valid ID card bearing the examinee’s name, picture, and signature, and the name and signature of the issuing officer.

The complete list of successful examinees of the March 9, 2008 career service professional and subProfessional examinations may be accessed at the CSC website, www.csc.gov.ph. Meanwhile, those who failed may secure a copy of their report of rating also through the CSC website. To secure a copy of the ROR, an examinee must key in name, date of birth, examinee number, examination date, and examination type.

The Cordillera CSC is conducting the second career service examinations paper and pencil test for professional (second level) and subprofessional (first level) for the year on July 27 at the Baguio City National High School.

Failure to take the examination on the scheduled date will mean forfeiture of the paid examination fees. No request for re-scheduling is allowed.

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‘Helen’ kills 2, displaces 19,000 in Northern Luzon
By Jerry Padilla and Armand Tamaray

Tropical storm "Helen" left two people dead and displaced more than 19,000 people in the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions, the National Disaster Coordinating Council reported July 17.

NDCC Executive Director Anthony Golez identified the first casualty as 20-year-old Jonathan Dulay Saliming, who fell into a deep ravine at 9 a.m. while he was driving a dump truck along Balabag Road in Bontoc, Mountain Province.

Office of the Civil Defense officials in the Cordillera said Saliming, who was on his way to Talubin from Barlig town, was trying to clean his truck’s windshield when he lost control of the steering wheel and fell off the road.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Ilocos Norte said a man was killed from snake bite while he was tending to his cow in Pasil, Paoay, Ilocos Norte Wednesday afternoon.

DSWD Ilocos Norte official Amelia Rico said 22-year-old Alex Lacamento ventured to the flooded fields near his home to save his cow at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday when an undetermined type of snake bit him.

Lacamento was taken to the Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital in Batac City, where he died from his wound.

As of 12 noon July 17, the NDCC said that Helen adversely affected 4,606 families or a total of 19,150 persons in 82 villages in Ilocos Norte and Cagayan due to flooding.
Helen damaged R45,000 worth of livestock and agriculture in the municipality of Sta. Teresita, Cagayan.

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Task force starts probing drug connections : Police colonel, Chinese tagged in big shabu haul

CAMP DIEGO SILANG, La Union – The detained caretaker of the shabu laboratory that police raided in Naguilian town on July 9 in what turned out to be the biggest shabu bust in the country, worth P1.08 trillion, said a police superintendent gave “protection” to the drug syndicate, which included five Chinese chemists.

At the regional police headqueters in Camp Florendo in San Fernando in the province, Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency regional director Supt. Jane Andres Aunzo will head "Task Force Bimmotobot" formed by Ilocos police director Chief Supt. Romeo Hilomen to conduct investigation on the shabu laboratory busted in Barangay Bimmotobot, Naguilian about a week ago.

Gatan, deputy regional director for administration, said the task forcehas also already started looking into the alleged involvement of the police colonel. He urged newsmen not to disclose publicly yet the name of the police officer because of the seriousness of the allegation, which may adversely affect his family.

"We will conduct investigations first before we can publicly disclose his name," Gatan said. Dante “Tomas” Palaganas, 41, shabu lab caretaker, told newsmen here the police official served as protector of the illegal drug operation at a farm in Barangay Bimmotobot, Naguilian, La Union.

Palaganas said the Chinese syndicate members and a certain George Cordero, who leased the 11-hectare farm, delivered four shabu shipments to Manila since they started operations in La Union May last year.

Criminal charges have been filed with the Regional Trial Court in Bauang town against Palaganas and Andy Tangalin, 44, both residents of Naguilian, alleged caretakers of the shabu laboratory. They were arrested by the police team during the raid.

Palaganas, who claimed that he is a police asset, said that he became a caretaker of the laboratory after he was hired by alleged operator Cordero and allegedly upon the recommendation of a police colonel, whose identity was withheld.

After their arrest, Tangalin told La Union Gov. Manuel Ortega that he had been hired as a laborer for almost a year at the raided establishment. Both are detained in the La Union provincial jail.

Police seized six truckloads of chemicals and other paraphernalia to manufacture 180,000 kilos of shabu during the raid. The Chinese chemists and Cordero were not around when police swooped down on the shabu lab.

The syndicate was preparing for its fifth shipment to Manila by month’s end when the raid was conducted, said Palaganas, adding he was paid P15,000 monthly as caretaker.

Palaganas said he became a police informer after he surrendered in January 2007, after he was told police were hunting him down because his name was in the list of the communist rebel group Rebulosyunaryong Hukbong Bayan.

Palaganas added he accompanied the police official to search for a lot before the elections last year, supposedly for a piggery, but which turned out to be for the shabu lab. Palaganas said the chemicals were delivered by closed vans without license plates.

“The Chinese worked at night. During the first operation, I went out because I could not endure the foul odor and the smoke was very thick. I sent text messages to Sir (police official) asking what the operation was all about and why it was not a piggery as he had said.

But he (police official) replied that I should not be scared and that they were only making hog vitamins for export,” Palaganas said in the dialect In Bauang, owners of a resort in Barangay Paringao, said one of the “operators” of the shabu laboratory raided by policemen on July 9 rented a room in their place for almost one year.

The owners bared this after reading reports one of the operators of the shabu laboratory looked like a foreigner. One of the resort owners told newsmen the man checked in at the resort every now and then.

He reportedly always wore sunglasses and had his closed truck parked unattended every time he came in.

When resort caretakers asked what was inside the truck, the man told them it contained feeds for pigs. The police provincial intelligence branch headed by Supt. Jaquelino Laguiwid retrieved the visitors’ logbook from the resort owners to determine his identity.

Police said they sought the help of an artist who was requested to draw a sketch of the physical features of the "mystery man" through description provided by people who saw him in the resort.

Lawmen said they will compare the sketch with the foreigners’ photographs on file at the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation.

The operator of the shabu laboratory might have changed his name several times, they said. Intelligence reports stated one of the Chinese men was billeted in the resort here.

The woman owner of the resort said the artist’s sketch matched physical features of the Chinese guest, who at times was accompanied by several women. "He seldom talks to us and seldom goes out of his room when he is here," she said.

This, as regional police are coordinating with their colleagues in Quezon and Laguna to check possible links between the syndicate behind the shabu laboratory and maintainers of similar illegal facilities raided in two Southern Luzon provinces on July 16.

Senior Supt. Noli Taliño, La Union police director, said the task force headed by Gatan is checking if the three Chinese and two Taiwanese nationals arrested in Southern Luzon were the same five Chinese chemists who worked in the shabu lab in Naguilian, as Palaganas, told probers.

The raids in Quezon and Laguna yielded shabu chemicals worth about P300 million. Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Dionisio Santiago said the five suspects arrested in Southern Luzon together with a Filipino cohort belong to the Ah-Chang drug syndicate, which has links to the Chin San Lin transnational syndicate operating in Asia.

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MORE NEWS, BAGUIO CITY

Baguio mayor presses market dev’t takeover from Uniwide By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – If he will have his way, Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. would rather that the city government take over from Uniwide Sales Realty and Resources Corp. the development and managing of the city market.

The mayor during a press briefing Thursday said the city will benefit more if it will pursue on its own the development of the trading center rather than have it privatized.
The mayor expressed eagerness to begin the development project saying he hoped that the city council would give him the authority to begin talks with Uniwide for the project to gain ground.

“Of course I have nothing against Uniwide’s undertaking the project but if I have my way, I would rather for the city to take administration of the city market and handle its affairs rather than have it privatized,” he said.

He said that given the chance, he would convince Uniwide “to release the contract and allow the city to move forward.”

The city has just hurdled the legal obstacle that for 12 years has prevented it from pursuing the long overdue development of the market, the city’s supposed show window but which is now in a dilapidated state, after the Regional Trial Court here affirmed the validity of its contract with the Uniwide for the development of the market under the design-build-lease scheme.

Uniwide won the bid for the project costing P1.7 billion in 1995 but negative reports on its financial status over the past years raised doubts on its capability to pursue the project.

Under the lease agreement closed during the term of former mayor Mauricio Domogan, Uniwide will build a multi-storey building in the area and operate its upper floors for 30 years. The first floor where the main market place and legitimate vendors will be housed will continue to be operated by the city government.

Bautista said that should Uniwide release the contract, the city can explore other means with which to develop the market where the city can benefit more. Vendors’ groups responsible for the court case reportedly plan to appeal for reconsideration of the regional court’s decision before the Court of Appeals. But unless these groups succeed anew in obtaining a legal prohibition particularly a temporary restraining order or an injunction, the city is free to move forward and pursue the long overdue project.


2 Cordillera gov’t workers top nat’l test scholarships
BAGUIO CITY -- A scholarship worth P100,000 was awarded to two government employees from the region who made it to the Top Ten List in Local Scholarship Program- Master’s Degree Courses examination conducted May 4: Amistad, Febelene W. (PPC) and Laberinto, Philip T. (NEDA).

The two are among 40 passers nationwide from a total of 233 examinees who took the written examination for the scholarship test covering school Year 2008-2009. All 40 qualified in the interview conducted at the regional level. The other passers / scholars are entitled to P50,000 worth of scholarship each.

The scholarship covers tuition fee and other school expenses, book allowance and thesis writing and research assistance.

Scholars are also entitled to receive salaries, allowances and other benefits as provided by law and the period of scholarship shall be credited as continuous service, subject to the terms and conditions of scholarship and penalties for violations provided therefore. In 1993, the Civil Service Commission established the service-wide Local Scholarship Program – Master’s Degree Course (LSP-MDC) to provide educational opportunities to employees of the government who wanted to pursue a master’s degree.

The guidelines were revised in 1992 to include the grant of incentives to the Top 10 placers in the written phase of the competitive examination.


8 bagsakan centers set in Cordi towns
By Robert L. Domoguen

BAGUIO CITY – Cordillera residents will have easier access to basic commodities with the establishment of eight barangay bagsakan centers in their localities.

Patricio Ananayo, regional chief of the agribusiness and marketing division of the Dept. of Agriculture reported eight BBCs were set-up in partnership with local government units, multi-purpose cooperatives, and rural improvement clubs.

He said six of the eight BBCs are now part of the operations of the cooperating community MPCs as follows: San Quintin MPC, San Quintin, Abra; Agbannawag MPC, Tabuk, Kalinga; Kibungan Employees MPC, Kibungan, Benguet; Conner MPC, Conner, Apayao; Topdac MPC, Topdac, Atok, Benguet; Dantay MPCI, Dantay, Bontoc, Mt. Province, Pilar RIC, Pilar, Abra; and Danglas municipal LGU, Danglas, Abra.

The BBCs are being set-up by the DA to ensure food security, reduce cost of wage goods, and promote livelihood and income of farmers.

In addition, Secretary Yap has also mandated the NFA to utilize the BBCs as outlet centers for the sale of NFA rice at P25.

Ananayo said BBCs are also encouraged to buy local agricultural products at prices higher than the prevailing traders’ price and sell these products a bit lower than the “kantina” price to the local produce.

Meanwhile, Annayo said that the DA also initiated the opening of another trading center for agricultural commodities in Muntinlupa City which will benefit vegetable farmers in Benguet province and other vegetable producing towns in the Cordillera starting September, this year.

He said 13 stalls in this new bagsakan area, owned by the PhilInvest Corporation, were allotted to vegetables while four boths were allotted for cutflower products coming from Benguet and other parts of the Cordillera.


Killer quake memorialmoved July 16 to July 20
By Isagani Liporada

BAGUIO CITY – “The July 16th “Killer Earthquake” commemoration has been moved from July 16 to July 20.” City Disaster Coordinating Council action officer and city administrator Peter Fianza bared this a few hours after Typhoon Helen hit the city.

“Our civic action groups, to whom we are holding tribute for, are in the middle of disaster mitigation operations right now. We hope that the city’s constituency, especially our sponsors, would understand that we have to do what we need to do so that we could do what we want to do later.”

Earlier the City Government of Baguio in coordination with the City Disaster Coordinating Council (CDCC) and local civic action groups have prepared “something out of the ordinary” for July 16.

However, instead of holding the July 16 events at Malcolm Square, organizers transferred the venue to Session Road between Assumption and Mabini streets, to maximize mayor Reinaldo Bautista’s pronouncement for “car-less Sunday.”

Dubbed “Moving on,” members of various civic action groups prepared a number of activities showcasing “disaster preparedness,” a departure from “remembering a time of denouement” every earthquake anniversary.

At 9 a.m. an exhibit on disaster preparedness shall be shown along Session Road.

The exhibit which would last until 4:26 p.m. (earthquake time) features an exhibit of various rescue equipments, Red Cross Baguio-Chapter bloodletting mission, health mission and free “rescue and survival” experience which includes rappelling, slide-for-life, and wall-climbing for kids of all ages.

Likewise at 9 a.m., local media shall be conducting the annual “poni ni keyew” (tree offering) at the Busol Watershed.

At 4:26 p.m., upon sounding of the city hall siren, establishments along Session Road are encouraged to fly balloons along with members of local communication groups to symbolize Baguio, “has moved on.” At Session Road, local bands shall likewise celebrate “new life through music” via “Moving On: The Concert,” until midnight.

Participating bands include Third Party, Agi, Pickle Relish, Binhi, Sayote Republic, Tumble Weeds, 2nd Squad, Jam Disposition, Crimson Zephyr, Black Heaven, and Ambernoon, among others.


1,000 studes hit police ‘brutality’ gov’t policies in protest march
BAGUIO CITY – Around a thousand students protested “police brutality” as they marched the streets here July 13 airing one grievance after another against the Arroyo administration. Saying more massive youth protests would be done in this summer capital, the students marched to Malcolm Square despite the rain and attempts of police to stop and block them at Session Road and Magsaysay Avenue.

The youth protest was held as part of a national day of action calling on the Filipino people to fight poverty and corruption in government.

“Today, the youth walk the talk. The crisis is unbearable. We cannot afford to be confined within the halls of the academe when our future is at stake,” said Cori Alessa Co of the National Union of Students of the Philippines. Co said the participation of a thousand students was a strong statement of their resurging passion to serve the people. “In this terrible situation, we choose to take this outside, into the streets,” she said.

Also in the march were Anakbayan members who said if the weekly trend of oil price hike continues and 50-centavo fare hikes are approved, a student will need P392 monthly for transportation alone.

They said it’s like sacrificing two meals per month compared with the previous P6 student fare.

“We need structural reforms now, not cover-up solutions like subsidies for individual families,” says Sloan Ramos, spokesperson of Anakbayan. “What we call for is the scrapping of the Oil Deregulation Law so that the government can control oil prices in the country. Subsidies are worthless if prices of basic goods like rice are too high anyway for the public to afford.”

College Editors Guild of the Philippines chair Anjo Cerdeña said during the affair students and their parents are burdened further with yearly tuition increase atop the rising prices of basic needs. “With the prices of basic commodities in an all-time high, our parents’ savings would not be enough to cover schooling.”

Cerdeña said if the Arroyo administration is sincere in giving priority to education, it would “not just speak but act for a tuition moratorium at all levels, in both public and private schools.” He said the “Arroyo administration must resolve the economic crisis before it’s too late and before students drop out because they have no money left for school projects and other needs.”

John Silverio Saligbon, University of the Philippines Baguio Student Council chair whose constituents made up majority of the student participants, promised to intensify the protests in the coming weeks.

He said there was no way out of poverty under a president whose main agenda is political survival.

“There is no stopping the people, toughened by the youth, in removing a morally bankrupt government and replacing it with a pro-people program of, for and by the people,” he said.

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MORE NEWS, BENGUET

Coop sees cheaper power rates for Benguet, Baguio
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The comparatively cheaper power purchased by the Benguet Electric Coop. from the wholesale electricity spot market would mean lower power rates for the over 120,000 consumers who are groaning about the burden of high prices.

Gerardo P. Verzosa, Beneco general manager, bared this saying Beneco has reduced the quantity of power it is purchasing from the National Power Corp. and Team Energy, formerly Mirant, because it is now getting cheaper power from WESM.

The cooperative started purchasing power from WESM during the April 26-May 25, 2008 period. It purchased 3.242 million kilowatt hours during the one-month period. Republic Act 9136, otherwise known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act, mandates electric cooperatives to get 10 percent of its total monthly power requirement from WESM. WESM allows electric suppliers and buyers to trade electricity as a commodity, which cannot be stored and which is impossible to trace which generator had supplied a certain buyer.

Verzosa said for the April 26-May 25 billing, Beneco purchased 14 million kilowatt hours from Napocor at R63.39 million at a generation cost of R4.5279 per kilowatt hour.

At the same time, it purchased 6.789 million kilowatt hours from Team at R30.74 million at the same generation cost. In the past, the utility cooperative purchased power from Napocor as much as 20 million kilowatt hours at a comparatively high price.

Verzosa said the electric cooperative is saving a big amount by getting its power supply from the WESM because it purchases power during off-peak periods or when electricity is sold at cheapest price.

Beneco records show that the off peak period in Baguio and Benguet is from 11 p.m. to 8 a.m. when electricity price is R1.8477 per kilowatt hour compared to R6.061 per kilowatthour during the peak period of from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Verzosa cited another advantage of purchasing power from WSM.

Electricity suppliers would prefer to dispose of power even for free during the off-peak hours rather than shutting down the power plants. He said power consumers could also save big amount by diverting their power consumption during the off-peak period.

If local consumers are able to adjust their power needs, the Beneco official said, there would be a significant reduction in their monthly power bills because this would reflect the actual cost of power purchased from WESM.

While the cooperative has barely started purchasing power from WESM, Beneco officials assure consumers that they will benefits from cheaper rates in the coming months. -- Dexter See


2 dealers nabbed with MJ worth P375,000
CAMP DANGWA, Benguet -- Two alleged members of a local drug group in the Cordillera involved in trafficking marijuana in brick form were arrested recently when they tried to sell 15 bricks of the illegal drug to an agent of the regional Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency who acted as buyer.

Police identified the pair as Ramon Dengyas y Rosendo, 31, married, of Kapangan, Benguet and resident of Dontogan, Baguio City and Pedro Abinglas y Badki, 38, married of Tacadang, Kibungan, Benguet. Dengyas and Abinglas were reportedly nabbed with the 15,000 grams dried marijuana leaves in brick form worth P375,000 during a buy-bust operation led by Police Chief Insp. Edgar Apalla, regional PDEA officer in charge.

The buy-bust operation was done 6 p.m. on July 12 at the bus station in Gov. Pack Road, Baguio. An 1100 Nokia cellular phone was seized from the suspects. A case for illegal drugs was against the duo before the Baguio City Prosecutor’s Office.

The suspects are now detained at the Baguio City Jail; while the seized contrabands were turned over to the Regional Crime Laboratory Office for chemical analysis. The non-drug evidence used by the suspects during the transaction is now with the evidence custodian of regional PDEA.

The PDEA is now trying to obtain information or evidence such as details of property ownership, list of valuable assets, bank accounts, membership identifications, names of family members that can be vital for possible anti-money laundering investigations against Dengyas and Abinglas.


Farmers to benefit from P9-M fruit, veggie processing plant LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Some 200,000 small farmers in Northern Luzon stand to benefit from the opening of a P9-million modern fruit and vegetable processing facility bankrolled by the Department of Agriculture and this town’s municipal government enhancing prospects for the province to sell more of its highland crops like broccoli and celery not only in the country but in the international market.

In a report to DA Secretary Arthur Yap, Director Ricardo Cachuela of the Bureau of Post-Harvest Research and Extension said this project would help accelerate the development of Northern Luzon Agribusiness Quadrangle, one of the five super regions under President Arroyo’s economic development strategy, because Benguet is a key agricultural player in Northern Luzon with over 30,000 hectares planted to upland vegetables and fruits.

Yap, who is the “development champion” assigned by President Arroyo to oversee the NLAQ, has given top priority to the establishment of dryers and postharvest facilities and marketing assistance to producers to further raise agricultural productivity and farmers’ incomes, along with irrigation maintenance, fertilizer and seed support, credit facilitation, research and development or R&D and extension work.

The local government provided the site in the La Trinidad trading post for the establishment of the processing and packaging facility while the DA, through BPRE, provided a counterpart fund of P9 million to cover infrastructure and equipment costs.

Cachuela said the Benguet facility will run three shifts day, cleaning, packing and storing vegetables intended for institutional and high-end markets in Metro Manila as well as for Dole Philippines ’ overseas markets. Dole will operate on part time the facility under a lease agreement with the municipal government of La Trinidad, he said.

The facility, which can process at least six metric tons of vegetables a day or at least two (2) MT per shift, will spell higher incomes for farmers because the modern packing and cleaning techniques used in the plant will help reduce post harvest losses, Cachuela said.

He said two shifts of the facility’s operation will be operated exclusively for Dole’s products while the third shift will be open for local processors but under Dole’s technical supervision.

The processed highland vegetables, like broccoli and celery, will be marketed to Dole’s clients, like hotels and restaurants, including those in Japan , Taiwan , Hong Kong and Singapore .

Dole had already successfully marketed the province’s “long legs” broccoli under the name “Ashinaga broccoli,” which became a hit in Japan .

“This facility is part of the government’s commitment to build a national cold chain program to preserve the high quality of Philippine vegetables and reduce post-production losses, which could run as high as 50 percent, due to poor storage and processing practices,” Cachuela said.

The facility, he said, has opened market opportunities for the province’s vegetables, given that Dole is known for its network of international markets. Aside from the facility, he said BPRE is also set to put up other processing facilities for “lakatan,” a local banana variety, and coffee Arabica in the villages of Alno, Bineng and Puguis in La Trinidad.

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MORE NEWS, NUEVA VIZCAYA

Couple, owners of drug store latest victims : shop condemns rash of murders in Vizcaya

SOLANO, Nueva Vizcaya – Bayombong Bishop Ramon Villena, one of the country’s most outspoken church officials, denounced the rash of killings in this usually peaceful province. “We abhor these violent killings in the strongest possible terms.

What is happening to our province? Villena said in visible anger. “We call on authorities to extend justice to these killings.”

Villena said this last week as he delivered eulogy at the St. Louis Parish Church for Joel Corpuz, 43, and his wife, Cristeta, 42, who were gunned down here on the night of July 5.

The couple, who left four young children, was buried Monday.

The church was filled with thousands of mourners who also condemned the “senseless” killing of the Corpuz couple, who owned the CV Drug Store here.

Police are still clueless on the killing although they earlier suspected robbery a possible motive.

Chief Insp. Corazon Valencia, town police chief, said Corpuz, brother-in-law of Vice Mayor Alberto Bumolo of Kasibu town, and his wife were robbed of their day’s earnings and shot dead by at least two gunmen as they got near their residence on board an owner-type jeep last July 5.

Police said the Corpuzes died from several bullet wounds in the head and body.

The couple’s killing came days after a mayor of a neighboring town and his lawyer-brother barely survived an assassination attempt.

Authorities have yet to name those behind last month’s killing of the barangay chairman of a mining village in Kasibu town, and the dumping here of the remains of an Indian national believed to have been tortured to death after his family failed to raise ransom money for his abductors. – CL

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MORE NEWS, MOUNTAIN PROVINCE

Rice price in Bontoc down

BONTOC, Mountain Province — The prices of commercial rice in the market here have started to go down as measures to stabilize the price of the staple are put in place.

National Food Authority provincial manager Celedonio Mendoza said last week’s price monitoring showed prices of regular milled rice and well milled rice ranged between R30 and R34 a kilo; commercial rice between R35 and R40; and premium and fancy rice ranged between R40 and R48.

This week’s price monitoring showed that the price of regular milled rice and well milled rice is pegged at P30-R32 a kilo; commercial rice, P35-R36; and premium and fancy rice, between P37 and P38.

Mendoza said that the NFA flooded the market with Thailand and US rice sold at prices of P25 and P35 a kilo, respectively.

This caused the prices of commercial rice to go down, he said. Mendoza said some 40,000 bags of US rice were unloaded at the central Bontoc market and distributed to the Institutionalized Bigasan ni Gloria sa Palengke outlets and private rice retailers.

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