Ecija gov’s solon-wife eyeing 2016 gov position

CABANATUAN CITY – The Umalis, Nueva Ecija’s political kingpins, are fielding outgoing third district Rep. Czarina “Cherry” Umali as the clan’s standard-bearer for governor in the 2016 elections.

Gov. Aurelio Umali, husband of the incumbent lawmaker who is also on his last term as provincial chief executive, announced this amid the emerging “womanization” of the political leadership in the province.

The governor said Vice Gov. Jose Gay Padiernos will be his wife’s running mate to sustain the gains of the Umali administration.

“Definitely, Congresswoman Cherry will run for governor and I have been assured by Vice Gov. GP (Padiernos’ initials) that he will join us in 2016,” he said.

Umali said women leaders are fast stamping their class in politics, be it in the international, national and local political arenas.

He took note that in the House of Representatives, an unprecedented 79 female lawmakers were elected last May, showing the drift toward electing women leaders as a power bloc such as Reps. Georgina de Venecia, Lani Mercado, Lucy Torres-Gomez, and Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, to name a few.

“Incidentally, Nueva Ecija has three women as representatives out of the four congressional districts, namely Reps. Estrellita Suansing in the first district, Czarina in the third district, and Magnolia Antonino-Nadres in the fourth district,” he said.  

Umali, executive vice president of the League of Provinces of the Philippines, added that in the provinces, people have witnessed the election of female governors.

Rep. Umali would make her bid to be the first-ever female governor in the once politically strife-torn province.

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Bocaps to compel erring bizmen to secure permits

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio Domogan last week directed barangay captains here to compel erring businessmen in their areas of jurisdiction to comply with the business permit requirements.

               

The mayor issued memoranda to the heads of at least 41 barangays where most business establishments were found to be operating without the necessary business permits based on the inspection report of the permits and licensing division of the city mayor’s office.

The report showed that in many barangays in the city, businesses without permits have outnumbered those with permits.

“You are hereby directed to compel those owners of establishments that were found to be operating without business permits to secure the same immediately or else this office will be constrained to initiate appropriate options relative thereto,” the mayor warned in his memoranda.

He gave the barangay captains 15 days to report on the actions taken on his directive.

The memoranda were issued to the punong barangays of West Quirino Hill, Aurora Hill Proper, East Modernsite, West Modernsite, Lopez Jaena, South Central Aurora Hill, West Bayan Park, Ambiong East Bayan Park, Bayan Park Village, Brookspoint, Leonila Hill, North Sanitary Camp, Campo Filipino, Upper and Lower QM, Marcoville, AZCKO, Atok Trail, Engineer’s Hill, San Luis Village, Scout Barrio, Quezon Hill, Palma-Urbano, Pinsao Proper, San Antonio Village, ABCR, T. Alonzo, Kayang Ext., Victoria Village, Alfonso Tabora, Trancoville, Camp 7, Middle Quezon Hill, Asin, San Roque Village, Lualhati Compound/Wright Park, Middle Rock Quarry, Lower and Middle Quirino Hill. 

More barangays are expected to hear from the mayor as the licensing office under CristioLagyop continues the rounds of inspection.

As of July 18, licensing teams have inspected business establishments in 69 barangays. 

Of the 5,260 establishments inspected, 2,058 were found operating without permits.  But in some barangays, illegal businesses outnumbered the legal ones as in the case of Middle Quezon Hill where out of 118 establishments inspected, 71 had no permit.

Owners of the unlicensed businesses who will fail to secure permits will face closure.

Last year, the mayor ordered punong barangays to submit a detailed list of business establishments with or without business permits in their barangays.

               

This was in line with the city’s goal to “establish a benchmark on the actual number of business establishments operating with or without business permits in the city and to provide a database for our revenue-generating and service-oriented establishments.”

               

The licensing team conducted inspections to supplement the mayor’s order.

               

Since he reassumed office in 2012, the mayor has ordered a crackdown on illegal business establishments operating in the city without the required business permits as part of the drive to increase the city’s revenues. 

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Four former rebels get government assistance

By Geraldine G. Dumallig

TABUK CITY, Kalinga –  Four former rebels in Kalinga who voluntary surrendered to the government  recently  received a  total of P211,000 assistance  under the “Gun for peace program” of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. 

According to 501st Brigade Commanding Officer Col. Roger Salvador, the GFP was conceptualized as an AFP transition initiative program to assist surrenderees. 

It offers cash incentives to New People’s Army members who surrender with their firearms.

“The national government has allotted P10 million for this project nationwide which is an initiative to temporarily accommodate rebels returning to the folds of law while the transition of the Social Integration Program (SIP) to Comprehensive local Integration Program   is fully formalized,” he said.

This program he said, aims to ensure assistance is  provided to rebels returning to the folds of the law to become productive citizens and to live a peaceful normal life with their families.  

Aside from this, Salvador said two of the  returnees  also received livelihood assistance  while the other two were accommodated by the Philippine Army  after passing the qualifying test and training.

With these opportunities being offered by the government, other NPA members who want to get back to mainstream society were encouraged to avail of the assistance while funds are available. 

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Soil test required instead:Baguio does away with building height limit

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The city government no longer considers imposing a four-storey height limit on buildings as effective earthquake safety measure but will instead impose strict requirements for soil tests and compliance with the standards of the National Building Code for future constructions in the various zones.

Mayor Mauricio Domogan said last week this was in view of the findings by experts that the buildings’ susceptibility to temblors is not based on the number of levels but on the capability of the soil on which they are built and on the soundness of the structures.

He said a study of the buildings that collapsed during the July 16, 1990 supported these findings prompting the city to abandon plans to impose a height limit and instead focus on policies requiring soil tests for buildings more than two floors, imposing restrictions on danger zones and ensuring sound constructions by strictly requiring compliance to the building code.

He said the soil test will determine how many levels the ground can hold while the building code compliance will assure quality and earthquake-proof structures.

The city will be also strict in disallowing structures to be built on areas considered as danger zones like sinkholes and waterways.

The mayor said experts found that most of the buildings that collapsed during the 1990 temblor had structural defects or violated construction standards.

The mayor said the Hyatt Hotel had defective design and construction that were not addressed properly while Hilltop Hotel and Nevada Square had built additional floors that were not in accordance to their buildings’ original design.  Baguio Park Hotel also had structural issues as the base piling procedures recommended by the engineer were not followed during the construction.

As its policy, the city now requires soil rest for structures with more than two floors before a building permit can be issued. 

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National coffee confab set in Baguio Nov 5-6

By Art  Tibaldo

BAGUIO CITY -- The Cordillera Administrative Region will host a national conference on coffee as a value laden industry that has a wide scope of business opportunities and investment potentials.

Coffee growers, brewers, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders whose business interest deals with the production and marketing of the popular drink will convene in Baguio City at the Hotel Supreme Convention Hall for a two-day conference on Nov. 5 and 6.

               

With the theme “Gold in Coffee: A Brewing Success”, the Philippine Coffee Conference is set to gather around 500 coffee participants from all over the country.

The first of its kind Coffee Conference to be held at the country's summer capital, it provides a venue to   discuss the latest developments including milestones, plans and programs in the coffee industry. The conference also aims to impart best practices, industry knowledge and present new market opportunities for domestic and export of Philippine coffee.

The conference will also showcase the coffee industry book launching, coffee value chain exhibit and techno demonstration.

The business forum on the second day will feature suggested ways to set up a coffee shop / store business to interested participants with the topics “Franchising a Coffee Business, A Must-show Experience” and “Starting a Small Café”

Likewise, the event will also allow participants to appreciate some existing coffee production and processing facilities during the project visit and enjoy popular tourist destinations during the city tour after the event.

Organized by the Department of Trade and Industry  and the Department of Agriculture of the Cordillera Administrative Region, the conference expects to boost public and private partnership among key players of the industry and generate more support   in the promotion of coffee as a food and gourmet industry. 

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Sapi, a film of possession and frightening realities

Sapi, acclaimed filmmaker Brillante Mendoza’s latest film, opens at SM Cinemas beginning Nov. 6.

A co-production between Solar Films and Centerstage Productions, the film depicts the phenomenon of possession and frightening realities of everyday life.

In the film, Sarimanok Broadcasting Network (SBN) needs a miracle to stay alive in the competition with its rival station Philippine Broadcasting Channel eating up the TV audience’s major share.  SBN’s news team finds that documenting an actual spiritual possession could be their only hope.

Tasked to head the documentary production is Meryll Flores (Meryll Soriano), a trainee TV executive producer, along with Dennis Marquez (Dennis Trillo), the reporter.  Needless to say, the success of the project will also secure their eventual promotion in the company

However, the miracle seems to evade Meryll’s team.  They go distant places, schools, provincial areas, religious groups, and faith healers, just to cover the case of mass possession, but to no avail.  They simply cannot find a single incident of possession.

Worse, Baron Valdez (Baron Geisler), cameraman of the rival network PBC, is the one who was able to capture the isolated case of demonic possession that involved a high school teacher.

To fulfill her task, Meryll enters into a deal that is more profoundly horrifying than the harrowing scene of paranormal possession.  To acquire the needed footage, she buys the outtakes of the Ruby possession case from Baron. 

But at the point where Meryll imagines to be the turning point of her new career, an exorcising reality dawns on her with a spiraling effect that mirrors the political system governing the TV network.

Reality is profoundly stranger than fiction, as Sapi offers not only horrifying cases of exorcism, but most importantly, uses the said occult phenomenon as a metaphor for the appalling state of Philippine government; supposed public servants acting as spirit possessing Juan de la Cruz, consuming and corrupting the wealth and minds of the helpless nation.

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COMMUNITY BILLBOARD

Outstanding barangay kagawads honored

BAGUIO CITY  -  The top ten outstanding barangay kagawads were recently recognized and awarded here at the Baguio Convention Center. 

Outstanding barangay kagawads were: Eduardo Emmanuel Cayetano and Julie Datayan of Loakan Proper, Jose Cawiding of Hillside, Larry Datayan of Middle Quirino Hill, TeresitaEllamil of City Camp Proper, Brenda Lasala of Upper Q.M., EladioOrtenero of Kabayanihan, Glory Taclawan of Pinget, Faustino Wayas of Pacdal, and CarlitoZordilla of Irisan.

A total of 35 nominees from 23 barangays were screened and validated by the Association of Barangay Kagawads, said ABK president Grace Mayos of Gibraltar barangay.

After the screening and validation, the nominees were trimmed down to 20 nominees for the final judging, added Mayos.

The board of judges for the said search were University of the Philippines Chancellor, Dr. Raymundo Rovillos, Vice President for Administration of the University of the Cordilleras Dr. Leonarda Aguinalde, Civil Service Commission Director Atty. Allyson Locano, and Legal Executive Officer of the Department of Labor and Employment Emmanuel Barcellano.

The top 10 outstanding barangay kagawads were given plaques of recognition and P1,000 cash each.  The 11th to 20th placer received certificates of recognition and P500 each. -- JhoArranz

Baguio inks sisterhood ties with San Fernando, Barlig

BAGUIO CITY – Baguio has declared sisterhood ties with San Fernando City in Pampanga and with Barlig town in Mt. Province.

The city council approved resolutions accepting the offers of said places for kinship.         

In Resolution No. 241, the body noted commonalities with San Fernando City, which is regarded as the Christmas Capital of the country and the regional center of Central Luzon while Baguio is the summer capital and also the seat of national line agencies in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

“As of 2010, the City of San Fernando has a population of 285,000 which is not quite far from the City of baguio’s population of 310,000.  In both cases, the growth of population was due not only to natural increase but also to in-migration,” the resolution noted.

“While the city of Baguio is known as the Center of Education, the City of San Fernando continues to strengthen its role as the education center of the Province of Pampanga.  Both have highly educated manpower reserved and highly qualified labor force.”

“With the foregoing commonalities, it is but proper to reciprocate the declaration by the City of San Fernando, Pampanga by likewise declaring a twinning/sisterhood ties in order to strengthen and to develop our relationship and to further foster our cultural, social, tourism, economic, professional, scientific and technical expertise and mutual understanding on matters where advantages or privileges are granted by each local government unit to the constituents of the other,” the resolution said.

 In Resolution No. 240, the city also agreed to pair up with Barlig town noting the town’s attributes.

“Barlig is a fifth-class municipality of Mt. Province with a population 6,168 divided in 11 barangays.  Its residents are predominantly of Igorot descent but despite living in a single town, the people speak different languages,” the resolution noted.

“The town boasts of its own rice terraces, the Barlig Rice terraces near the center of the town and Lias Rice Terraces in Lias.”

            

The body said the sisterhood ties would “strengthen and to develop the city-town relationship and promote exchange of best practices.”

            

The body asked the Philippine International Sisterhood and Twinning Association Baguio City Chapter (PHISTA-BCC) committee to prepare the necessary documents for the establishment of the twinning relationship with said areas.

Woman loses 2 kids, struggles to survive
BAGUIO CITY -- Grace Dupingay Bango had been a mother twice, but only for seven days in each instance. Two years back, she gave birth to a baby boy. Last September, she had a baby girl.

Both infants came two months early. Both went prematurely, too.

Each survived by their mother’s side for only seven days. She remembers their birthdays: May 25, 2011 and Sept. 2, 2012.

Most likely, the losses had something to do with her being a diabetic. The metabolic malady was diagnosed in 2003.

To try to keep her blood sugar at normal levels, Grace, now 32, is on daily insulin injection.  

The insulin maintenance is something Isagani, her 32-year old husband, can sustain, even with his meager earnings as a pocket mining hand depending on luck. 

What the young, still childless couple can’t cope with on their own is Grace’s other condition. Last Christmas, doctors told her her she had  end-stage renal failure. It meant both her kidneys were dead. 

Kidney failure, like heart ailment, high blood pressure and going blind, is  a long-term complication of diabetes. 

Before her thrice-a-week hemodialyis treatment last Monday, Grace walked to the city hall.

She needed to know when the budget allocations of the city councilors for support to indigent patients like her would be available. 

“The nurse at the (renal) treatment room  told me I have only two more dialysis sessions I can charge to Philhealth,” she said with a sense of urgency,  referring to the government health insurance agency.

Grace’s schedule for the four-hour blood-cleansing sessions is on the third shift (between 3 to 4 p.m.) every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center. 

That meant she would have used her second-to-the-last Philhealth card last week No more since Sept. 14.

Like many other hemodialysis patients – 185 of them at the BGHMC-, Grace knows for quite sometime now  how expensive it was – and is – to be poor.

Poverty gnaws deep even for the normal poor who, unlike her,  never lost a child and, despite the occasional pangs of hunger, are, on the average, considered healthy. 

For hemodialysis patients, however,  there’s no relief in sight. Dialysis treatment is for life, done at least twice-a-week,  with dire consequences for those who skip a treatment or two.

For Grace and many others similarly situated, the saving grace is their undiminished will to live against the odds. 

That’s why she started knocking on doors last. Like others before her, she signed a paper that permits her story to be written, “for publication and airing in any media outlet, with the hope that readers/listeners would be able to extend their help to enable me to sustain my treatment”.

Grace is the youngest of three children of a marginal rice farming couple in Lagawe. Ifugao. Her brother Fernando, 37, is an off-and-on jeepney driver plying the Plaza-Trancoville route here while her sister Eva, 40, married with seven children, is into pine needle craft with her husband. 

Grace married Isagani Bango, a  provincemate. After their wedding, the couple came to Baguio in search of opportunity to raise a family. Isagani, now also 32, found work with a pocket-mining labor crew in Antamok, Itogon.

In a social case study report, social welfare officer CoralieDulnuan noted: “(Grace and Isgani) expressed their financial difficulty because their financial resources were already exhausted since the death of their baby (in) September, 2013 and her maintenance medication.”

The couple live at No. 37, Purok 23, San Carlos Heights, Irisan, Baguio City. Because Isagani has to work in the dog-dole, Grace is often left alone.
Those who can help may ring up Grace’s number (09129542490) or that of Isagani (09308914266). – Ramon Dacawi

German karate students help Cordillera patients
Traditional martial arts students in southern Germany  recently pooled and sent P88,000 for four gravely ill patients in the Cordillera, including two toddlers stricken with hydrocephalus that had left their young parents emotionally and financially drained.

The amount, sent in two remittances in less than a month, was the latest from the adherents of Shoshin (A Beginner’s Mind), one of the biggest martial arts school in southern Germany founded by former world champion Julian Chees and affiliated with the Japan Karate Association.

Renate Doth, secretary of Shoshin Kinderhilfe Foundation, established in 2004 as the humanitarian arm of the karate school, made the cash transfes after the members’ regular monitoring of news dispatches on the plight of indigent patients in the Cordillera.  

The first tranche amounting to P43,500 was split into P12,000 to support Louise Dane Maggongey Martinez, a five-m onth old girl who has been in and out of hospitals for hydrocephaly, and P41,500 for the second chemotherapy session of Barbara Fagcayang, a 43-year old fighting breast cancer. 

The second tranche of P44,500 was equally divided to boost the chances of two-year old hydrocephalus patient Dhea Rose Kitongan and for the maintenance medication of  a farmer who was hospitalized due to a stroke. 

“Please tell those Samaritans in Germany that what they sent is pure relief,” said Roger Kitongan, Dhea Rose’s father requested when he received the P22,250 fund support early evening the other Saturday. 

“My  daughter has been suffering since birth,”  “Roger said. She has been fighting since then. I guess no parent , or anyone who knows,  can give up on a baby with such determination to live.”

For the traditional martial arts students in Germany, the continuing out-reach program allows them to live out a basic tenet of karate laid out by Gichin Funakoshi, the Okinawan master and recognized by many as the founder of the shotokan : “Karate ne sentenashi” (Karate has no offense).

Shoshin began reaching out to the Cordillera in Christmas, 2004 when Chees, the first ever non-German by birth to have been drafted into the German national karate team, traveled to Banaue, Ifugao and delivered P70,000 to two mothers who each lost a daughter when their common house was buried by a landslide at the height of a typhoon.

As of last year, Shoshin had extended over P2 million support to needy patients in the Cordillera region.

Over in La Trinidad, Benguet,  businessman-sportsman  Gilbert Tanding  also recently established a  fund to also enable him to extend assistance to indigent patients.

Tanding so far had shelled out P9,000 used for the a session of hemodialysis treatment for kidney patients Jocelyn Singson, a kagawad of barangay Bahong, and 19-year old DharrenGawili of barangay Balili and Belinda Allosa of Pinsao, Baguio City,  aside from P2,000 cash support to kidney patient Ruben Tomayan and P1,000 worth of medicines for Ruben Lalan, a former jeepney driver plying the Baguio-Acupan (Itogon) route who suffered a heart attack early this year. – Ramon Dacawi

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Baguio village aspirants show ‘ideal’ way in barangay polls

EDITORIAL

Politicians could follow the lead of Barangay Pinsao Pilot Project in Baguio for peaceful elections without having to spend much.

They can win without money, political machinery and the Commission on Elections would have less to monitor for cheating, violence or over-spending. 

Shameless politicians spend a lot of money and resources by giving away free t-shirts, tokens,  food and drinks  as "bribes" to win.

But in Pinsao Pilot Project it is different. Even the poor can run because everyone is given equal political campaign rights and the campaign need not be expensive.

The barangay election campaign period in this barangay started without a big bang or festivities as compared to  other areas in  nearby barangays and the rest of the country where one is greeted by fireworks, parades  and  posters indiscriminately  posted on every nook and cranny not even sparing tree trunks and branches.

In a covenant signed   by candidates for punong barangay and kagawad, they agreed to protect the environment by prohibiting posters and other related paraphernalia to be pasted or hung along posts, walls and trees.

The signing was witnessed by respected elder and kagawad Virginia Malag who will finish her term this year. The candidates also agreed to be non-partisan giving equal rights by putting all names of candidates in alphabetical order in a specially designed posting board divided equally among the candidates  which was later put up in six  designated areas within the barangay approved by the Commission on Elections.

Their agreement included prohibition of giving bribes, T-shirts, tokens, gifts or food and drinks to voting residents.

Joining drinking binges with their constituents was not allowed including campaigning "under the influence" of liquor to “earn the respect” of the community.Posters of candidates were not allowed.

Incumbent PB Sotero Dulayca, former PB Edgar Kapawen Sr. and incumbent kagawad Patrick Dangatan, all running for the top position headed signing of the covenant participated in by 15 aspiring kagawads.

They agreed there shall be no political mudslinging and  "polyetos" will not exceed one-half of a regular coupon bond and the barangay hall’s computers, materials, equipment among others would be off limits for use by candidates including incumbents.

To maintain harmonious and peaceful elections, the candidates also agreed to campaign together  at the same time during house-to-house sorties. 

"We think this is the most honourable way to campaign. Less expense on our part while earning respect of constituents," said a candidate.

Need we say more?

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How to be happy

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

(As a welcome respite from our weekly tirades, we print this article sent to our mailbox which may change your life.)

Is being happy and successful possible? Could knowing how to live a happy life really be as simple as applying three fundamental principles to our lives?

There's nothing like being happy - we feel good, we look great, we have terrific relationships, and we're much more successful when we are happy.

So get happy ... it's actually our natural state. Being happy and successful or unhappy and unsuccessful is a learned condition, so why not learn how to be happy.

First, being happy (genuinely happy) requires first knowing what makes us happy. You probably think you know the answer to this, but you may find that the real answer is a lot more fun! Being happy requires clearly seeing the real self - the born-that-way, unique individual. This is the crucial first step.

Second, by thoroughly knowing our real self, we can then evaluate what we really do want. Often we expend great energy, time and money on something that once we “have” it, doesn't provide us with the happiness and fulfillment we are looking for. This step is about spending our lives accomplishing and having things that will allow us to live a happy life.

Third step to being happy (and generally this is where people erroneously start):we then design our goal and wish lists ... and go about purposely and passionately, day-by-day living the life we’d really love to lice.

This is the last step to success - putting it first, and doing it out of alignment with our true selves, is the reason so many of us fail over and over again in our quest for happiness and living what could be an extraordinary life.

Whether we want a better job, to be able to pay our bills easily, to lose weight, to have better health, to enjoy a loving relationship, or create a multi-million dollar enterprise, or all of these and more, this 'step' comes last!

Once we have No. 1 and No. 2 firmly in place, No. 3 is relatively easy.

Knowing how to live a happy life (and a successful, prosperous one as well)requires a solid foundation. Applying the above three essential principles to our lives gives us that solid foundation. It also gives us an unbelievable sense of peace and well-being. 

We see clearly who we are, we see clearly what we want/are supposed to do, and we also see clearly how we are going to go about doing it.

This gives us a crystal clear focus - enabling us to jump out of bed every morning eager to pursue our purpose-driven goals, and other activities that makes being happy an automatic consequence of our daily lives.

Once you have the foundation in place, whatever you choose to do in your life can be “built” relatively quickly; and you can easily and quickly “re-build” (i.e. change your plans/goals) at any time throughout your life. Once you have the fundamental steps to happiness and success firmly established, each new goal is simply a new adventure!

Live an extraordinary life! Practice being happy and how to go about living an extraordinary life. We can't be happy all of the time - but why not most of the time? We won't always make a success of everything we have a go at - but why not most things?

There is no such thing as an unrealistic, nothing-ever-goes-wrong life. Regrettably that just doesn't exist - for anyone. Developing a Lovely Life Plan will however ensure you avoid a lot of life's problems, and also help you deal with those you can't avoid in a far more comfortable way.

What's your plan?Design the life you want to live, and then inspire you while you love making it happen. It's at your fingertips if you wish to put in the effort ... it is possible to live a happy and prosperous life.

Discover what true happiness is, and how to accomplish your life goals. Being happy and successful is simply about implementing certain ideas and practices into your life.

Design and live your extraordinary life.This is your life ... love living it! Psychology studies prove that happy people are more successful, have better relationships, are healthier and live longer. Isn't it time to learn how to be happy?Documenting the positive things in our lives can help us achieve more positive things in our lives!

Had a bad day? They shouldn't happen very often. If they are, find out why.  Practice daily affirmations for one month  and see what happens. Fairytale stories can come true.It's up to us to write our own “fairytale” story. See it, feel it, and believe it.  The health of your body mind and soul will affect how positive and productive you can be ... more.

Don't worry, be happy!Worry drains us of happiness. Perhaps it “simply” takes a look from a different perspective to start living a joyous life and it starts from self-motivation.

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The ‘Pork Barrel King’ under siege!

PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz

 If there is one thing that President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III consistently does, it is to blame his predecessor, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for all the ills and scandals that befall his administration.  And poor Gloria can’t do anything to defend herself from her detention room at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.

The latest “blame game” P-Noy played on Gloria was before the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals.  P-Noy told the audience that Gloria was responsible – not him – for the pork barrel scandals, saying that he only inherited the problem from her. 

He claimed Gloria may have spent more than P1 trillion in her efforts to remain in power and that some of this money was possibly being used to destabilize his administration and even ‘sow violence and terror.’  By implicating Gloria in the scandals, he was probably hoping that Gloria would become the lightning rod for all the criticism that would otherwise have been aimed at him.    

In my article, “P-Noy chops pork, keeps the bacon” (August 26, 2013), I wrote: “But blaming Gloria is not going to work this time around.  Department of Budget and Management (DBM) records show that in 2010, Gloria’s last budget year, PDAF was P6.9 billion. 

The following year, with P-Noy having full control of the budget, he could have pared down the PDAF allocations.  But instead, PDAF allocations took a quantum leap.  In 2011, PDAF more than tripled from 2010’s P6.9 billion to P22.3 billion!  In 2012, it was increased to P24.89 billion.  It was for the same amount in 2013.   But in 2014, PDAF will increase to a record P27 billion!”

***

But this was just the tip of the iceberg.  Last September 25, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, in a privilege speech before the Senate, blew the whistle on his peers.  He claimed Malacañang gave “incentives” — or bribes — to 20 senators in the last two years in exchange for their support – and vote – for P-Noy’s legislative agenda.

Jinggoy said that each senator received an extra P50 million in the form of additional pork barrel for their vote to convict former Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. But while he admitted that he, too, had received the extra pork, he said that it did not influence how he voted.  

A few days later, in an attempt to neutralize Jinggoy’s exposé, Department of Budget and Management (DBM) Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad disclosed that the releases made to the 20 senators totaling P1.1075 billion came from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), a new pork barrel-like program that was created without congressional authority.  

But instead of pacifying P-Noy’s critics, it opened a Pandora’s box and unleashed a barrage of criticism against P-Noy for what many constitutionalists believe was an illegal diversion of funds from budgeted items to DAP.     

Compounding the allegations of impropriety against P-Noy – who earned the moniker of “Pork Barrel King” -- for his use of DAP, the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping further releases of funds from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the President’s Social Fund (PSF).  Also covered in the TRO are releases from the Malampaya Fund. The TRO was in response to three citizens’ petitions that asked the court to declare as unconstitutional the lump sum allocations under the PDAF and the PSF, and the misuse of the Malampaya Fund.

But nothing hurts the Aquino administration more than Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s opinion on the constitutionality of the PDAF.  During the hearing for the oral arguments on the petitions last October 8, he said that the PDAF “on its face is unconstitutional” because the President cannot share the power to utilize public funds with the legislative branch. He said that the power to utilize public funds lies solely with the President; therefore, any power-sharing is unconstitutional. He said that the PDAF is “riddled with unconstitutionality.”   

***

Last October 17, former Rep. Augusto Syjuco filed charges of plunder against Senate President Franklin Drilon and DBM Secretary Abad and his wife, Batanes Rep. Henedina Abad.   Syjuco claimed that Drilon used government funds through the DAP to bribe senators to vote for a “guilty” verdict at the impeachment trial of then-Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.

The complaint against the Abads stems from the questionable release of P752.5 million of pork barrel allocation to Rep. Henedina Abad.  Syjuco claimed this was 10 times her regular pork barrel allocation for the lone district of Batanes, whose population, based on the 2010 census, was 16,467.  That’s roughly P235,000 for every household of five in Rep. Abad’s district.

***

Amidst all these scandals and anomalies, the citizenry has awakened.  Robbed of their treasury – and sovereignty -- by a gang of thieves masquerading as lawmakers, the people are enraged.   Something needs to be done to stop this pillage of the people’s wealth. 

But another people power revolution doesn’t dwell too well with the masses.  The failure of the 1986 and 2001 people power revolutions  -- known as EDSA 1 and EDSA 2, respectively -- to make real change had deterred the people from pursuing EDSA 3.  But what seems to be doable is a “peaceful revolution” where change is truly achieved through a constitutionally legal venue.   Could it be that the 1987 Constitution has outlived its usefulness?   Perhaps it’s time for Charter change.

In Carmen N. Pedrosa’s column, “Former Chief Justice Puno to lead ‘Crowdsourcing a New Constitution’,” she wrote: “By ‘crowdsourcing a new Constitution’ we return sovereignty to the people. That would mean a lot of patience in calibrating what the people say with what constitutional experts think is the right way to frame their desires for good governance. Not just on the issue of PDAF or DAP.” 

But here is the interesting part of her column: “The present illegal government cannot be part of the Crowdsourcing a Constitution Movement. Therefore a transition council with revolutionary powers will have to be organized. It is a formidable task but what is the alternative?”

Heading the Crowdsourcing a New Constitution Movement is former Chief Justice Reynato Puno.  Reputedly known for his incorruptibility, CJ Puno has his work cut out.  The task is daunting to say the least but the challenges are surmountable.

***

It’s too bad that the “Pork Barrel King” is now under siege.  Had he reined in his corrupt underlings and political allies, this wouldn’t be happening.  But it’s never too late.  If P-Noy would give up his P1.3-trillion discretionary fund, which is technically pork barrel, he wouldn’t find himself in this untenable position.   

At the end of the day, if P-Noy would only heed the call to end the pork barrel system including his controversial discretionary fund, his fabled mantra of “daang matuwid” (straight path) would be more meaningful.  But with all the scandals and anomalies plaguing his administration today, nothing seems to be more crooked than his “daang matuwid.”

Mr. President, it’s time to wake up and listen to the people, your “boss.” (PerryDiaz@gmail.com) 

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Development from and for the Cordillera

BENCHWARMER

Ramon Dacawi

Four years back, we heard the City of Tabuk, Kalinga was bent on constructing a mini-hydroelectric plant as a renewable energy resource. The local government had applied for a bank loan to build the facility which, when operational, would ensure years of power to the people of Kalinga, literally and otherwise. The plant will be owned by Tabuk and its people. 

               

Tabuk’s project is a move in the right direction. Hydropower generation is highly feasible and practical in the Cordillera. Otherwise private ventures wouldn’t have stamped their brand of business up here, harnessing resources within our midst and beyond our comprehension to see, much less develop, for our own. They are applying or had already obtained water rights over our rivers long before our local government units started taking stock of this region’s resources.

                

Otherwise, the giant firm Aboitiz wouldn’t have bought the Ambuclao and Binga Dams in Benguet and rehabilitated the same. In tandem with a Norwegian partner, the same power giant purchased the Magat Dam in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao which, because of natural wealth and other taxes going to the host local government unit, is being claimed by Isabela as host, despite the fact that lots surrounding the facility are registered in Ifugao.

                

Otherwise, a Korean-baked enterprise wouldn’t be aggressive in its push to harness river water by tunneling in another hydroelectric power venture Kapangan and Kibungan towns in Benguet. Otherwise, Aboitiz wouldn’t have ventured into the Chico River and forged an agreement for a mini-hydro development  in Sabangan, Mt. Province. After all, hydropower is a renewable resource.

                

Now we buy energy harnessed through our resources by these independent power producers, occasionally with feeble protests over the so-called “power purchase adjustment” (PPA) that allows them to charge us even for electricity not delivered or not used by us.

                

Region-wide, our local government units have yet to take the cue and go beyond computing and begging for their share from the exploitation of the Cordillera’s water resources. They have yet to explore the probability of building and owning their own energy plants.

                

I broached this idea of host communities or local government units building and forever owning power plants to the late Benguet provincial prosecutor Felix Cabading as a talking point during the peace talks for the creation of a Cordillera Administrative Region and eventually an autonomous one. 

                

We missed the boat towards autonomy that would have given us a leverage to impose conditions for further natural resource development in the Cordillera. Over two decades after the peace pact was signed and the interim region installed, we seem content with the administrative set-up.

It appears only Juan Ngalob, the regional director for development, and the Regional Development Council, are concerned about the disparity between our level of development and those of other regions that progressed from the extraction of the gold, silver and copper and harnessing of the water resources up here. No one wants to move on towards autonomy that, despite its imperfections, would give us something to improve on.

                

That regional watershed summit at the end of 2008 could have been the venue for taking stock of our rights over what remains of this region’s resources instead of it partly being triggered by the complaint of the lowlands that their vital water source  up here that is the life-blood of their farms and even industries is drying up.

                

For generations, the Cordillera has been the watershed, the resource base for national development. Recently, it has been blamed for the flooding and silting of the lowlands, calamities they say are triggered by the dams and mining activities up here. Lost in that recurrent complaint is the fact these ventures  hardly kept us at pace in development with them and the rest of the country.

                

These are all water under the bridge –about hydro power and gold produced here and delivered to spur development in Metro-Manila and elsewhere. The Cordillera had given so much in the name of national development – at the expense of this region that should now stop crying over spilt milk and stand on its own – like our small-scale miners and vegetable farmers.

It’s time for our regional leaders and local government units to think of and pursue development in terms of our own. It’s long overdue to go beyond begging for what is due and overdue us in terms of national wealth taxes and other benefits and develop our resources for our own benefit. 

               

Reports have it that the Benguet Electric Cooperative plans to venture into mini-hydro development. It is a push in the right direction, and given Beneco’s track record of turning around a problem-riddled system into a class A facility, it can be the beginning towards the region’s sustaining its own development through energy generation that, for most intents and purposes, benefitted Metro-Manila and other regions and the private power producers.  

                

There’s also wisdom in rallying the rest of the Cordillera provinces and Baguio to supporting Kalinga’s push to self-empowerment through its mini-hydro dam project that will be owned, managed and used by and for its people.

                

There’s even a better deal than the Kalinga project, as exemplified by the .2 megawatt Ambangal River hydroelectric power project built by the G-8 countries as their gift to Kiangan, the host town, and Ifugao province. After the facility was finished, it was turned over to the provincial government. The only condition was that part of the income from the sale of electricity would go to the rehabilitation of the rice terraces in Kiangan, Banaue, Mayoyao and Hungduan towns of the province which are endangered due to erosion, neglect and abandonment.

                

Instead of aggressively tapping similar support of foreign countries, however, the region and its local government units appear more keen on approving private enterprise to build and forever own our renewable energy resources.

                

There should be a time-frame, a limit to how long a private hydro-developer should own and operate a generation facility. As noted by Engr. Edmund Bugnosen, a mining consultant and Cordilleran, even mining permits given for exploration and actual extraction of minerals have their expiry dates. This should apply to hydropower developers who should not own the plants they build in perpetuity but should turn these  over to the host local government or community after they have recouped their investments and realized enough profits.

The political leaders of host communities, the provinces and even the region owe it to their constituencies to press for this provision akin to the build-operate-transfer scheme of doing projects.

It’s time, too, for the other provinces, Baguio and the RDC to rally behind the fight of Ifugao for benefits due it from the operation of the Magat Dam, something which then Ifugao governor, now Rep Teddy Baguilat, tried to explain during that watershed summit five years ago.

Otherwise, the Cordillera would remain the watershed cradle for Northern Luzon and the mineral and electric power resource base of the country but never for itself. (e-mail: mondaxbench@yahoo.com for comments.) 

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Freddie’s aging heart

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza

I do not intend to intrude into one’s life, not even envious about musician-composer Freddie’s (Aguilar) latest love affair with a pretty 16-year old Mindoro lass who caught his eyes, but his actions became viral in the social net recently.

In Twitter and Facebook, Ka Freddie was, in his words, excessively criticized when he followed his heart and fell in love with the teener. Taking a closer look, the situation appeared as if the ones who disputed the most recent chapter in his life reacted in certain ways that toed poet-musician Paul Simon’s lines in his song “50 ways to leave your lover”.

The song goes: “The problem is all inside your head she said to me/ The answer is easy if you take it logic’ly/ I’d like to help you in your struggle to be free/ There must be 50 ways to leave your lover./ She said it’s really not my habit to intrude/ Furthermore I hope my meaning won’t be lost or misconstrued/ So I repeat myself at the risk of being crude/ There must be 50 ways.” This could be understood as words from someone jealous.    

Ka Freddie, folk singer born Ferdinand Pascual Aguilar in 1953, left his Isabela home at age 18. He composed "Anak", a best-seller in Pinoy music recording industry and became a celebrity with the hit that he wrote as an “apologetic” song by young rebels to mothers. As a “rebel” too in 1977, I met Ka Freddie while I was treading on an aimless journey in the Ermita District and a bystander at Cola House, Kalaw, Manila along with contemporaries Sammy Comiles, and brothers Reuel and Bobby Carantes.

Ka Freddie also became popular for his interpretation of "Bayan Ko", a song composed by Constancio de Guzman with the lyrics written by Jose Corazon de Jesus in 1928 that supposedly became the anthem during the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution that ended the regime of President Marcos.

***

No one is certain of a situation until things are proven beyond doubt. In the early part of this month, Freddie openly admitted that he is in a relationship with Jovi Gatdula, a 16-year-old girl. His admittance sparked controversy, not only in tri-media but in print, social blogs and in the internet. Ka Freddie said he plans to marry Jovi and have children with her.

On the other hand, the young girl averred that she is willing to have his baby, further claiming that her mother said, “Okay, if it's what makes you happy, we will support you,” but to be careful because the musician “has a lot of women.”

In one TV interview, Ka Freddie’s version was that the girl stood out as one who is matured from a group of female barkadas. Then Jovi and her friends approached him to have a photo taken with him which gave the latter the chance to give the girls his calling card. Five months after the duo made their relationship “official”, Ka Freddie publicly admitted their relationship.

According to him, he recognized the importance of coming clean with the relationship to Ms. Gatdula’s parents, noting that the girl is a minor. The multi-awarded OPM musician said the same motivation drove him to make the admittance last week, but his openness drew criticisms against him instead.

***

On the side of DSWD officials in Manila, they said they are making necessary actions just to “ensure the safety and welfare” of the girl, and are set to talk with Ka Freddie, Ms. Gatdula and her parents in order to better understand the situation. The government officials explained that DSWD is mandated to “protect the welfare of children,” Jovi included since she is still below 18 years old, hence the intervention.

DSWD also wanted to find out the reasons why Jovi’s parents gave their consent, and why the young girl entered into a relationship that has turned controversial. They also claimed they are after finding out about the girl’s condition, what her plans are, and what does she intend to do with her relationship with her 60-year old boyfriend.

But after all these statements and clarifications, the DSWD officials contradict themselves. They now claim that they “are not interfering with the girl’s right to a love affair but they only want to protect and provide guidance to a citizen who entered into a relationship at a young age.”

Furthermore, the DSWD said, they are not treating the couple’s case differently as compared to similar cases set before them. They are not singling out Ka Freddie because they give the same attention to others.

That claim of “equal treatment” of love affairs involving minors and senior citizens, to me is not easy to believe. What is more truthful as the case appears is that the controversy that was ignited through the internet pulled the DSWD to take advantage of the situation and take action in order to avoid facing the same condemnations that Ka Freddie suffered in case it does not lift a finger.

But with thousands of unfed children roaming the streets, what protection to minors is DSWD talking about? With hundreds of teen-aged girls getting pregnant, what equal treatment to minors is DSWD claiming?

I am inclined to think that the famous Pinoy musician-artist but once upon a time unpopular Isabela barrio boy who now manages his own music bar called “Ka Freddie" has the right to be treated fairly like any ordinary person, and whose case should not be inflamed just because he is famous. The man who has been composing and writing songs for 35 years based on what he truly feels is more believable when he told his accusers “magpakatotoo kayo.”  -- ozram.666@gmail.com

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