MikeLigalig.com

 Junction: the venue for
Teatro Abatan launch

Dusk is usually dark at the river in Junction, Cortes where the saltwater meets and mingles with the fresh water from its headwaters.

But with a theatrically lit set and few tricks, the riverbank village center takes a magical look with spotlights beaming and heightened anticipation brought by the higantes joining the spectators for the formal launching of Teatro Abatan, July 22.

Teatro Abatan, a collection of community theaters from Cortes, Maribojoc, Antequera, Balilihan and Catigbian would unite to empower people, in a larger than life mission using the area’s rich culture and heritage as the source of power against oppressive poverty.

Teatro Abatan takes its name from the venue where the sea and fresh water meet. It also sits as the fitting venue for the Teatro Abatan’s weekly fare of plays and cultural numbers in a dinner theater concept.

Dignitaries from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the as well as arts and culture workers from all over Bohol and the country trooped down to the center for the Bohol Day capping activity July 22.

The Abatan Main Village Center is hub to the Abatan River Community Life Tours.

While there are plans to convert the center into a venue for an evening theater featuring community collectives along the tour circuit’s five towns, developing the software component of the plan takes on a bigger dare, agrees Teatro Abatan creative director Gardy Labad.

The center also feature shops selling souvenir items handcrafted by the communities of Cortes, Maribojoc, Antequera, Balilihan and Catigbian. These towns are also the venue for cultural interactions during the tours.

As daylight dimmed, the center slowly flooded itself with lights as activity builds up with the arrival of the guests.

Amid the flurry of the performers putting on the touches in their make-ups and costumes, the arriving guests took to the village center shops to get souvenirs and help the communities. 

The national Anthem and the Bohol Hymn completed the opening reassertion of the country and Bohol’s strong cultural heritage as the Loboc Children’s Choir rendered the patriotic hymns.

The Punta Cruz Cultural Collective soon took the makeshift stage for the Pambansang Dalangin as expressing the country’s solidarity with the entire world in the global fight against corruption.

And just as everyone was about to mellow with the danced prayer, the innocently angelic Loboc Children’s Choir shared to the audience defining magic of music and songs in a culture of a people and place.

With the night’s appetizers priming the artistic palate, stage soon came alive and aglow with the home-cooked featured snippets of performances presented by the Cortes, Lincod Maribojoc, PuntaCruz Maribojoc, Balilihan and Catigbian Cultural Collective in front of an assemblage of the guests. 

Cortes Cultural Collective helped people recall the fading and hazy memory of the life and exploits of Wadje and the community at the mouth of Abatan. A tale of empowerment and love of home, Cortes’ dance drama succulently presents the river tour’s value in protecting home and country.

The same taste is carried on by Tawag sa Bantawan: PuntaCruz’s rendition of the tale behind the historic watchtower done in the classical southern Philippines’ pangalay.

The homey themes unity against threats in life are done in artistic monologues retelling a 17th century Malabojoc and how it prepared against the piratical raids. 

The joie de vivre of Lincod’s community life showcase in a dance reveals a community’s inter-connectedness with the creation. Celebrating the mangrove resources along the Abatan is a recurring theme in the circuit’s day tours.

Antequera’s Abatan ni Tamblot musicale showcases the artistry of a community who dexterously weaves a life story in a play that baskets it all: Tamblot and the olden civilization of people celebrating nature at its best, and poised at the brink of a crisis when made to choose between two life-changing options.

Catigbian’s realistic comedy attempts to satire at the way some communities view poverty while presenting a simple solution in a twist.

Balilihan, a town that keeps by its bosom a tradition of the rural Bohol succeeded in initiating the audience into the life’s rituals of a Boholano and paused no beat to engaged the audience in a kuradang that moved the festive center into one wriggling body in communion with selves and the mystical environment.

And as if it were not enough, next come-on was a fluvial parade of the puppets which peaked with a spectacular fireworks display that lit the village center’s sky.

At the peaking excitement, a memorandum of agreement between UNESCO and Bohol was signed to signify cooperation in supporting and developing the initiatives of the river management as spearheaded by the Teatro Abatan.

PCSO caravan carries
Charity virus to Bohol

UNLIKE the dreaded A N1H1 virus wreaking havoc in the Americas, this virus government authorities want to infect just as many allows people to share charity.

And in fact, it is the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) that spearheads activities and campaigns to infect people with the contagious the charity virus spreading in Bohol.

In its 10th leg of the Summer Charity Caravan 2009, which would be visiting 20 provinces and municipalities in time for the 75th Anniversary of the sweepstakes, the PCSO wants to make Bohol stricken with the virus, one that would goad volunteers for charity work.

Campaigning for Kaibigan ng PCSO, the government charity office want volunteers who pledge commitment to charity work during the launching rites at the Bohol Cultural Center, Tagbilaran City.

According to a PCSO press material, there are already 5,349 volunteers processed since its national launching in February.

Kaibigan ng PCSO attempts to recruit and mobilize thousands of volunteers for the various activities of the charity agency, particularly its historic National Medical Mission this September.

For the diamond anniversary, the PCSO puts up an ambitious simultaneous national medical and dental mission in the country’s 42,000 barangays on September 6.

Volunteers then would be assigned in medical missions after completing trainings in First Aid, Basic Life Support, Child and Maternal Care and Disaster Management, PCSO said.

For senior volunteers of the Kaibigan ng PCSO, they can be awarded with the health cards which puts them on the priority list of those seeking financial and medical assistance from the charity agency.

The caravan was fresh from Batanes, Nueva Vizcaya, Davao City, Cebu City, Palawan, Iloilo, Bacolod City, Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Cauayan, Isabela.

After Bohol, the Caravan is expected in Quezon, Batangas, Cagayan de Oro, Tarlac, La Union, Zamboanga del Sur, Camarines Norte, Nueva Ecija, Antique, Leyte and Samar.

A medical mission set to serve between 1,500 to 2,000 patients also unfolded at the Bohol Cultural center while the team also entertained requests for financial assistance to those who cannot afford to send their sick relatives to the hospital.

For 2008, reports said PCSO has served 163,948 patients, and released a little more than P143 M for various medical and hospitalization aid for the VisMin areas.

Catigbian-coop
Seals OTOP JV  

SHEDDING off the hassles of running its One-Town-One Product (OTOP) display center and its processed meat operations while addressing other development priorities, Catigbian has finally decided to go for joint venture (JV).
Picking a cooperative partner with the best proposal for the OTOP town display and operating it to sustainability, LGU Catigbian said production of fresh and processed carabeef would now be handled by both.
Within the next few days, the town dads would be sealing the agreement with the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) stipulating important provisions for cooperation in the operation of OTOP before it will be finally implemented, shares town information officer Ardissa Estavilla.
On the other hand, Mayor Roberto Salinas earlier said the town has finally decided to seek a partner in the operation of its OTOP Center knowing that an enterprise like this is best left with the meticulous quality control of the private sector.
Last week, according to Estavilla, local leaders sat down to deliberate on project proposals submitted by the two millionaire cooperatives: Mantacida United Farmers’ Multi-Purpose Cooperative MUFAMPUCO and Bagtic Masagana Multi-Purpose Cooperative (BMMPC), all from Catigbian.
By Wednesday, odds had heaped upon MUFAMPUCO.
The said cooperative is multi-awarded as best performing cooperative in the region and boasts of trailblazing innovations in transforming the town into a formidable agricultural chub.
“This cooperative has played a vital role in uplifting the lives of the Catigbianons and, without doubt, has helped in revitalizing the economy of the town, with the local leaders openly admitting the coop has acted as one of the LGU’s arm of progress and development, Estavilla, who doubles as the town information officer bared.
With this development, Mayor Salinas said he is optimistic that the town’s OTOP will finally take-off giving new economic opportunities to the town.

Once identified as the bamboo craft capital, Catigbian shifted to meat processing owing to the fact that it has Visayas biggest livestock auction center.

Now, products like carabeef tapa (locally known as “kosahos”), carabao skin chicharon and other processed carabao meat will soon be available anytime, he said as he added local and foreign tourists can also bring home other processed products as pasalubongs.

PCSO suggests raising bail
for “illegal lotto” suspects
THE final nail to seal the coffin for illegal numbers game may just be legislation, hinted Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office VisMin Department Manager William Medici Thursday.

During a press conference at the Bohol Tropics resort, the PCSO authorities including Medici agree that illegal numbers game has dented on their operations.

The PCSO, a government mandated office to deliver charity assistance to poor patients run the traditional sweepstakes draws and daily lottos, its proceeds going to the common fund for the agency’s medical assistance and medical mission programs.

Their draws however provide a venue for illegal numbers game operators to ride on their draws to perpetuate an illegal small town lotto operation, robbing the government of revenues it can use for its service programs.

Stressing the need for coordinated efforts among local government executives’, their political will and sustained crackdown by law enforcement can make a difference, Medici added that PCSO intends to lobby separately for legislators to go for an increase in bail bonds for those apprehended.

In the government’s sustained drive against illegal gambling and the directive issued by the regional police chief to go hard on illegal gambling, police operatives here have sacked many persons suspected of collecting, coordinating and financing the illegal swertres, cockfights and card games.

Oftentimes however, it’s the swertres guys who often get out on bail immediately.

Over this, the PCSO Vismin manager said that a bail bond for suspects temporary liberty pegged at a measly P200 would be easy to put up by a financier.

He then suggested a legislation raising the bail bond as a solution to stop the vicious cycle of arrests and posting bail.

He said he also wants every police officer apprehending a bet collector to legally keep half of the confiscated bet money and gets the other half as soon as he sends the suspect to jail or puts him on a penalty.

That way, police officers would keep the enthusiasm in pursuing the case.

This as the PCSO could not yet assure the people that the entry of small town lotto could kill the illegal numbers betting victimizing the poor people on the towns.

Peace converts here get
Bohol “seeds of hope”

IT would be another “armed struggle” with former rebels now peace converts as Bohol Vice Governor Julius Caesar Herrera gave them seeds of hope to start anew.

The peace converts, or more popularly known in Bohol as “kauban sa reporma” (KR) belong to the latest batch of rebel returnees decided stopping their pursuit of a lost war.

The new “armed struggle” is essentially one that uses the KRs arms in tilling the soil and produce food from the sweat of their brow.

Still stigmatized as former extremists, the 26 returnees here found themselves hard up in finding livelihood opportunities much less, the capital to start a decent life anew.

Through the Office Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, the government, with the help of local officials here succeeded in granting P20T livelihood assistance.

Seeing that majority of these peace converts decide to be anonymous farmers, the vice governor, who heads the Sangguniang Panlalawigan’s Agriculture committee found the perfect opportunity to recruit new allies.

The seeds, a complete Pinoy pinakbet pack consists of ampalaya, eggplant, squash, okra, string beans and tomatoes were each given to peace converts as starter seed set to germinate at home, Herrera said.

This may be a real small thing, but great beginnings start from here, Herrera said in the vernacular as he elaborated on the parallel effort growing the seeds of hope in the government’s honest peace initiatives.

In his engagements across the province, Herrera has been convincing people to go back to agriculture as a response to the global crisis that threatens to shake rock-steady economies across the globe.

He shared his dreams of keeping backyard gardens so that families can cut on spending costs.

Consequently, Herrera has been on the recruiting binge to convince people of the vision for food sufficient Bohol.

In support of his personal crusade, the province of Bohol has recently allotted P1M more to feed the Herrera dream of food security, shared Provincial Administrator Tomas Abapo during the awarding ceremonies last week.

Usec. Parras absolves Yap
in ‘another fertilizer scam’  

NONE other than the Agriculture undersecretary on operations absolved Secretary Arthur Yap over accusations that the agency is embroiled into another scam, over fertilizer again.

Undersecretary Emmanuel Parras belied the claims alleged by a national daily columnist that another fertilizer scam is in the brew and it involves Chinese Filipino businessmen and fertilizer dealers accordingly favored by Yap.

Parras initially clarified that Yap came after the controversial fertilizer scam and could not be involved in it.

In fact in a letter sent to Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist Neal Cruz, Secretary Yap equivocally denied any part in any of the fertilizer transaction investigated by Senator Ramon Magsaysay in the 13th Congress and by Senator Richard Gordon in the 14th Congress. 

Moreover, he also stressed during the telephone interview with DyTR that it is unlikely for the Department of Agriculture (DA) to be involved in the alleged fertilizer scam when there is a government procurement process being followed and that the department is not having any hand in getting its supplies and materials now.

Speaking in the vernacular through a radio interview, Parras, who used to be with the National Irrigation Administration said that the DA under Yap is not even giving out fertilizers but discount coupons.

In the same letter to Cruz dated March 9, Yap reiterated that under his watch, the fertilizer support program of the Department of Agriculture now involves mere distribution of Fertilizer Discount Coupons to farmers, through master-lists provided by Municipal Agriculture Officials. 

“Farmers choose what organic or inorganic fertilizers they want and just get discounts for their purchases by using the coupons we are handing out to them in coordination with local government units. The DA no longer procures the fertilizer or dictates the fertilizer brands they have to use,” Yap said.

We have laws and so we can’t really say we have favored suppliers, Parras also added.

Just as the DA rebuttal came, many hint that the columnist’s bone of contention could be provoked by instigation from Bohol.

The subject article also questioned why DA Sec. Yap is always visible in Bohol, especially in the third congressional district where he is rumored to run.

Parras also added that Yap is named the cabinet steward for the Administration’s Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP), where the DA is actively implementing agri-related infrastructure and organic fertilizer production programs.

Over the observation that Tap is often in Bohol, he said “my visits to Bohol must also not be injected with political color because my extra work in Bohol and in Region 2 are on account of my recent designation as the Cabinet Steward for the President’s Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program or CLEEP in these areas.

Former Congressman Eladio Jala, speaking also in an interview with DyTR said he thanks Sec. Yap for bringing in projects to the district now represented by his son, Adam Relson.

He also added that the projects came because President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo saw the unity in Bohol and she was pleased by it.

Anticipating airport traffic…
DPWH starts P86M road
works for airport access  

BECAUSE development can’t wait, the government is into P86M widening and bridges repair projects for the access roads leading to the tourist island and its airport.

“The projects are set to approximate the timetable for the airport operationalization, pending the ironing of wrinkles in the right of way acquisition for the multi-billion air facility,” explains Engr. Edgar Damalerio of Bohol’s first engineering district.

Speaking for District Engr. Celestino Adlaon, Damalerio said the widening project is supervised by the regional office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

“It would be a disaster is for tourists and locals wanting to catch a plane but couldn’t squeeze through traffic due to narrow roads and so they miss the flight,” points one construction worker who is now in the frenzy of the construction on sections from Jacinto Borja Bridge to Vano Bridge in Poblacion Dauis.

“The land bridge that connects the island to mainland Bohol must be fortified, widened and paved right so it could carry the main bulk as traffic shifts to the proposed airport” added an engineer who supervises for the in the 900 meter road widening and bridges construction works.

It may be recalled that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has wanted Panglao Airport to rise well before her term ends in 2010. This she said during her State of the Nation Address when she bared her tourism super region plan for the Visayas.

According to DPWH â€"7 Engr. Rene Ye, the government is putting up some P86M for the construction and repair of the two bridges as well as the widening of the causeway sections leading to Dauis.

He also added that a parallel project is about to commence from Tagbilaran City’s Sitio Ubos to Totolan Dauis.

Both causeways have previously been identified as possible bottlenecks as soon as the Panglao Airport lifts off.

At the narrow Vaño Bridge, Engr. Ye said the cost for the government is P4.337 to get the additional two lane extension and sidewalk done within 135 calendar days.

The bridge repair adds 2.91 meters from the edged of the old slab bridge and should put in 9.38 meters from the center of roads, Engr. Ye claimed.

In Bohol, people have started asking if the airport is definitely going to happen with the dying down of the news after President Arroyo launched the P4.7B project to be funded by the Department of Transportation and Communication last year.

The on-going construction works however ignites a new hope that Bohol may indeed be poised to fly economically when the airport gets into the wind.

Yap gives P6M for Bilar
Irrigation improvement

HITTING two birds with one stone.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap breaks ground for the P6M improvement of the Bilar Agricultural College Communal Irrigation System, aimed to drastically increase rice harvests while stressing the need for government to spur jobs in the countryside. 

With a financial crisis crippling industries here, the government has pressed on long-term investments in agriculture to manifest its livelihood and emergency employment program aimed at helping the poor from the effects of the crunch.

“The government has the money, thanks to the fiscal reforms implemented by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo,” Yap bared.

Yap, who is the cabinet steward for livelihood and emergency employment program in Bohol impressed on the long term benefits of investing in irrigation facilities and small water impounding projects just as the that is investing money on agriculture.

For the project, government authorities hope to maximize 40 hectares of irrigated rice lands by generating hectares and rehabilitating the 35 hectares of prime beds in barangays Zamora and Riverside in this town, states Engr. Olympio Galagala Jr., Bohol irrigation officer.

Using the excess water of Bilar’s Yectin River, the irrigation system improvement is also expected to benefit residents who would be provided river bank protection, upgrade harvests and help 186 farmer beneficiaries of the Zamros Irrigators’ Association, according to the project profile.

Sec. Yap also asked farmers assembled during the activity to switch to organic fertilizer as he promised to put up two shredder machines for use by tow irrigators’ association in composting activities.

He also instructed Bilar Mayor Fanuel Cadeliña to seek for a new site for organic agriculture so as to allow the farmers wider options for growing rice.

Meanwhile, the mayor vowed to help in establishing such a site as he conveyed the town’s gratefulness for the projects he received for his people.

“It has been a long desire for the people here to maximize on their rice production output,” Cadeliña said told the secretary.

He also hoped the secretary’s coming would signal, not the end but the beginning of strengthened cooperation between the local government and the agriculture department.

“Everybody’s vigilance”
Best fire prevention tip

VIGILANCE calls rang out the whole hour while top fire fighters in Bohol admit they may be helplessly fighting without everybody’s help.
 
At the recent Kapihan sa PIA, firefighters said they may have enough capability and equipment to last an hour-long firefight, but not for long, especially when everybody cares less about the prevention side of things. 

“Here, fire safety should always be a challenge, concern and priority for everybody,” sums up Provincial Fire Marshall as they guested the weekly forum, this time to mark the month for fire prevention.

March has been the designated Fire Prevention Month as it is in the hot sunny days of this month when grasses and kindling dry enough to be easily combustible.

Because most fires start with human factor, City Fire Marshall Manases Bautista assures that as long as there is always vigilance, they can keep things under control. He even assured listeners of the hour-long radio program that the Bureau of Fire Prevention (BFP) would be there to respond to any fire alarms.

Noting that most causes of fires here, according to their investigations is faulty practices especially in handling appliances and electrical circuits, fire officer Vincent Ente shared fire prevention tips.

He said “it really pays to have fire and emergency numbers handy, near the phone or in the phone book, and adding that Bohol fire hotline 160 can be accessed from any PLDT or Cruztelco landlines.

He also said from a Globelines phone, the fire station can be accessed by dialing 411-3120.

Do not overload electrical circuits, and do not use improvised fuse wires for busted fuses, explaining that most often, this causes circuit overloads and fires.

Both firefighters also agree that the practice of octopus connections more often than not, causes fire and advises to stay away from using it.

“Never leave candles burning,” Ente said.

When modern firefighting equipment may not be available, small homes in the rural areas can always stock dry powder or sand, an axe and pails of water was the most immediate fire fighting equipment, Ente reminded listeners.

All of these may initially control fires, Ente shared.

On the reduction of fire incidents in Bohol last year, Ente summed up by sounding the call to continue vigilance, reiterating that fires are not just BFP ‘s concern.

Fix the fixers…
Text to Ombuds, CSC

YOU come to a government office for a transaction. Just as you alight from your car, this widely grinning man comes and offers to “fix it out for you, for a fee.”

Relax, a fixer just has offered his “exceptional” service to you.

Exceptional, because the task which you can probably complete with nary a hitch is now offered to you “sans the hassle.”

The hassle actually is having to through the “long queue” and having “to wait” and wonder at how a government employee could sit on your papers if you don’t bleed with “lubricating money”.

It’s no big deal and really for a fixer who has to “grease his way” to smoothen your papers by most likely bribing an insider and thus tripping a long line of red-tape rolling up to the top man in the organization. Tired of such things? Try this.

The Office of the Ombudsman has lately come up with a mechanism to fix the fixers. And it is just a text or call away.

The Ombudsman along with the Civil Service Commission (CS) has engaged into gear the Anti Red Tape Law, or Republic Act 9485 to “fix the fixers” by throwing the book on them and slapping them with stiff penalties.

RA 9485 imposes imprisonment of as long as six years and or a fine of up to P200,000 or both, the law states. 

No big deal really. All you need to do is report the name of the fixer, name and location of the government office, the date and the type of transaction to the Office of the Ombudsman through 0926-699-4703 or call (02) 927-4102 or 927-2404.

The CSC has also a hotline and you may also text to 0917-839- 8272 or call (02) 932-0111.
As this developed, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has commended the Bureau of Customs (BOC) for being the first state agency to comply substantially with RA 9485.
She made the commendation during her brief visit to the BOC headquarters in Manila to personally check on the agency’s implementation of the law and its reportedly enhanced operations efficiency.
BOC Commissioner Napoleon Morales, Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) president Antonio Kalaw, and Civil Service Commission (CSC) Assistant Commissioner Anicia De Lima were on hand to welcome the President who was accompanied by Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya.
De Lima said the President’s visit was to highlight the agency’s compliance with RA 9485 and stress her resolve to curb red tape and illegal transactions in government offices.

Construction workers
enlist at DPWH Bohol  

SHELTERING the poor who would be most affected by the fallout, the government has caused massive job openings for the unemployed to stack them with the buying power.

In fact, through the government’s Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP), all government agencies have virtually opened its doors to workers seeking temporary jobs enough to tide them over the global economic strain.

Leading the pack here in Bohol is the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). The agency is now putting up a database of skilled workers in construction work, those on the list would be given top priority by contractors who bag the 1260 government infrastructure projects nationwide, says source from DPWH.

The database acts as the ones with the top pick priorities, especially during job fairs to be set up in the provinces, says Regional Director Josefino Rigor in a faxed message to PIA.

By agreement with the contractors, DPWH submits the database to the winning bidders.

With this, the government public works agency asks skiled workers as foremen, heavy equipment operators, steelmen, laborers, road maintenance men, masons, plumbers and other construction related skills to enlist at the Bohol First Engineering District, at New Capitol Site here in Tagbilaran on or before March 17, when a job fair is slated.

Likewise, the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are on a similar program looking for warm bodies.

The PNP recruitment is part of the executive directive to recruit 15,000 police officers in five years, which started in 2006, PNP sources also reveal.

These new bloods, totaling 7,000, will replace the retiring, dead and dismissed police officers in the last semester of 2008 and for the first semester of 2009, the source added.

Applicants however need to go through series of examinations and trainings.

Those who pass will have year-long Field Training Program (FTP) at the Police National Training Institute.

For those considering military careers, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has 6,7000 slots which will be divided among the Army, the Airforce, the Navy and the technical services, government sources also pointed out.

Applicants should be 18 to 23 year olds, physically fit and have obtained at least 72 college units.

And just like their counterparts in the police, applicants must pass examinations and trainings.

Moreover, at this time when job-hunting work force needs all the help they can get to seek postings on tight budget, the labor authorities have proposed online interviews.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque has asked for the adoption of internet technology to reduce costs of job hunting for the unemployed.

Roque said internet facilities, which can be set up in DOLE regional offices, will bridge the distance between applicants and their prospective employers who are based abroad.

TESDA reported Filipinos are preferred workers in Canada, Australia and in the Middle East in sectors of health care and construction.

Govt allots P47M for
Bohol farms roads

SOME BARANGAYS of Corella, Anda, Carmen, Sevilla, Lila, Loay, Loboc, Valencia and Sagbayan would be lucky this year as the Department of Agriculture spares P47M for their farm-to-market roads (FMRs).

Seen as an apparent government attempt motivate farmers to attain more than the 105% rice sufficiency level, the FMR would also be crucial in cutting farmer’s losses especially when they start transporting goods to the markets. 

According to reports from the DA Regional Office, through acting director Ricardo D. Oblena, the DA hopes to implement all the P47M this year as they expect this development greatly benefits Bohol rice farmers.

In fact, the government is engaged in two-pronged agriculture sector infrastructure spending: to motivate farmers to raise productivity levels and to spur people to get jobs and capacitate them to earn, sheltering them from the fall-outs of a global economic meltdown.

The amount however is lower than what the government agriculture agency has sowed last year.

Oblena shared to the media about the P65M worth of crucial farm roads implemented all over the three districts of Bohol last year.     

Some P22M worth of projects were implemented last year in Bohol’s first district alone, and these farm access routes include the towns of Balilihan, Catigbian, Tubigon, Dauis and Panglao. 

In the second district, P15M worth of road rehabilitation and developments were implemented in Ubay and Trinidad.

The third district on the other hand implemented P28.565M in projects covering Anda, Carmen, Dimiao, Loboc, Valencia and Sierra Bullones.

This year, the DA also hopes the projects would be effectively implemented as they hope the mentioned local government units would be able to put up the counterpart funds.

Success in the implementation of the farm to market roads is dependent on the willingness and the capability or local government units to source out counterpart funds for the projects, Oblena said.

Choco frontliners get
“Skills” enhancement

CARMEN, BOHOL. TOURISM front liners especially involved in the operations of Bohol’s peak tourism product underwent a seminar workshop on personality enhancement to allow them to cope up with the world-class service demanded of them especially in the upcoming peak season.

Carmen Mayor Manuel Molina underscored in his letter request to Bohol Tourism Officer (BTO) Josephine Cabarrus the need to train front-liners so they can be equipped with the right personality and attitude especially when serving tourists and guests drawn by the magic of the Chocolate Hills.

Mayor Molina asked the BTO to facilitate a 2-day training seminar for this purpose.

Himself conscious of the need to upgrade Carmen personnel services and approximate international standards, the mayor together with his team of local government officials asked the BTO to design for them the training the soonest possible time.

Anticipating the influx of tourists for the peak summer season, local officials believe that equipping their people with the right skills adds up to the good memories of a tourist here.

Comprising the BTO resource pool for the workshop aside from BTO Cabarrus are tour guides Chito Vaño, Roy Ometer, Christopher Boncales and Rey Anthony Chiu of PIA Tagbilaran.

Meanwhile, BTO has been retooling tourism stakeholders through personality enhancement seminar workshops for tourism industry stakeholders.

“We want all Boholanos who are now working in the industry to be able to maximize their skills in keeping the industry alive especially during an anticipated global meltdown,” says a tour guide who is part of the pool. 

At this, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said tourism industry remains a key sector in generating job opportunities amidst global economic crisis.

She added that “Tourism is one of the sectors we have to strengthen as our response to the global meltdown.

The President said her administration has persistently pushed various tourism-related projects to create jobs and open livelihood opportunities resulting in the industry’s unprecedented growth during the last four years.

She pointed out that the Philippines has a lot to offer to tourists, domestic and foreign alike, as amply demonstrated by the continuing increase in visitors arrivals.

She stressed however that tourism should not be promoted at the expense of the environment as she underscored the government’s aggressive promotion and carrying out of environmental awareness and solid waste management programs to ensure the cleanliness and beauty of the country’s tourist destinations.

Loon mulls medi-care
members for anti-rab

ANTI-rabies advocates in exchange for medical health insurance, you bet.

While spending a sizable budget for medical health care (Medicare) insurance assistance, Loon Mayor Lloyd Peter Lopez figured out he could also ask a payback from his constituents.

In a PowerPoint presentation to Asian group visiting Bohol to study the province-wide anti-rabies prevention and eradication program implementation, Mayor Lopez bared the plan to engage more of his people to respond to the threat.

Lopez, who is also a physician by profession said the town has practically been alarmed by the unusually high population of stray dogs in his town, some canines taking their posts at key municipal hall alleys.

Loon was once of the first few Bohol towns that wholeheartedly adopted the campaign ahead, the mayor cognizant that he ought to have a head start.

Loon has got the most number of barangays in Bohol at 67, and in an anti-rabies saturation drive, local officials would need all the time they can get.

From an initial budget of P10T, Loon upped the anti-rabies fund to P90T the following year, the mayor reported in an apparent move to show the conviction of local officials about the threat.

Despite starting ahead, while many Loon residents expect a down in reported bite cases, the town registered almost double bite cases last year.

To this, Dr. Lopez attributed to the awareness people now reporting dog bite cases to get the vaccination, rather than getting traditional remedies instead.

Putting up a gallant stand against the magnanimous challenge of getting Loon Rabies Free by 2010, and with the lack of manpower to campaign for responsible dog ownership, the town dad has proposed getting the help from indigent insurance beneficiaries.

The move also earned the nod of Asian study tour group members noting that creative ways of getting to the aim of ridding the risk of rabies should not be limited to fund scarcity.

Along with Mayor Lopez, also presenting local experience was San Isidro’s municipal agricultural officer and Dr. Stella Marie Lapiz for the provincial rabies prevention and eradication program.

Rabies lessons in school
earn Asian admiration
FROM Bohol’s smallest town comes the biggest snap in rabies prevention.
 
And visiting Asian learners who saw rabies disease prevention and control topics incorporated in the school curricula agree it is a pro-creative way of engaging the children in a war against a silent killer.

Asian visitors from neighboring countries watched school children in Corella Elementary School bark and yelp answers when teachers randomly picked on them. Instead of picking ordinary sentences as motivation, teachers leashed their discussions on rabies.

Asian learners watched in Bohol the pilot implementation of a province-wide disease-control program for rabies and hopes to possibly craft a template for emulation by other areas still plagued by the disease.

The Department of Education has piloted rabies education in Corella in response to the Bohol Rabies Prevention and Eradication Council (BRPEC) request to get an information campaign program started early.

With school children at risk, Corella principal Dolores Cuizon told visitors that rabies discussion in classes may be incorporated in English, Mathematics and Science.

In Corella, the classes were each handled by Mrs. Ma. Lourdes Lupase for Grade V, Mrs. Fernanda Ribay for Grade VI and Ms. Priscilla Kae Penales for Grade 2.

Visitor veterinarians and policy decision makers from China, Japan, Cambodia, Laos, South Korea as well as representatives from the United Nations also agree that early rabies lessons would predispose children to be responsible pet owners and keep away from the risk of rabies.

The previous day before the visit to the school, Provincial veterinarian Dr. Stella Marie Lapiz reiterated during the program Orientation that sustainability of the program would entail the collaborative efforts of all Boholanos.

The Bohol Rabies Prevention and Eradication Program aimed at making Bohol rabies free by 2010.

Governor Erico Aumentado has said that Bohol could not stand the risk of rabies especially with the dream of making Bohol a top tourism destination in the country.

As such, while he unleashed the BRPEC to oversee the provincial program, he also asked for counterpart funds from the Capitol to lend the program its bite.

The Council also mobilized Boholano sectors to initiate a massive dog registration and vaccination drive followed by neutering or elimination of stray and unwanted dogs.

Corollary programs for monitoring and surveillance, putting up animal bit treatment centers and convincing politicians to fund the programs sprung the program to action.

Recently, the campaign also earned allies with Alliance for Rabies Control, a Scottish NGO put up multi-million funds for a 4-year program implementation. This too was after the UN aided Bohol with initial funds to start the program running for the whole province. 

Catigbian wins Bohol’s
best market in 2008

NOT resting on their victory after ranking next to the best in 2006, Catigbian Public Market finally bagged the best market award in Bohol this year.

But for Mayor Roberto Salinas, this is one great opportunity to be competing again for the region’s best market, he aired during the awarding ceremonies held at the Island City Mall in Tagbilaran Thursday.

Salinas, a navy captain before he joined the local government, said the victory is also an affirmation that it is not the building that delivers the honor but the constant drive and dedication by local leaders to deliver customer friendly services that spells the by-word in their market’s operations.

Catigbian Public Market, authorities say was a post-war infrastructure and competed in 1956 and should pale in comparison to the modern markets sprouting all over Bohol.

But in this year’s provincial search for public and private market places complying with trade laws such as price tags and weights and measures, Catigbian bested other contenders in a province-wide search for the Pamilihang Bayan, local Department of Trade and Industry sources revealed.

Taking the two next spots in the Pamilihan’s recent awarding ceremonies are Ubay and Tubigon.

This year’s Bohol market finalists are Inabanga, Ubay, Tubigon, Antequera, Talibon, Guindulman and Jagna, evaluation team data revealed.

According to evaluation team member, they hope the search motivates market operators and vendors to ensure upholding of consumer rights, establish standards on this line, encourage market them to run markets following prescribed standards to protect consumers from inaccurate weighing scales.

The “Pamilihan ng Lalawigan” encourages markets to show concern for consumer welfare by demonstrating commitment to the Bantay Bilihin program through complying with fair trade laws, improving the market place and adhering to social commitment and responsibility by implementing complaints and redress mechanism, he continued.

Catigbian topped the Search for “Pamilihan ng Lalawigan” by setting up sustainable quality standards which ultimately impressed the evaluators upon checking on established criteria.

Catigbian has Cresilda Rulida as market administrator while a support staff of revenue collection clerks, utility workers and market collectors assists her.
 
With a market implementing no permit no display policy, revenues generated here run from a little over a million in 2005 to whooping P1.7M in the following year. In 2007, even with the separation of incomes generated from the modern Livestock Center, Catigbian still managed to get P1.4 M and about P1.1M with a quarter still left in the year.

Here, laminated business permits are mandatory and visible price tags and price monitoring boards are also enforced as market bulletins are installed, Salinas said in his speech during the awarding ceremonies.

The public market here has also functional Timbangan Ng Bayan scales, implements one-on-one calibration in all weighing scales, puts up a Consumer Welfare Desk, color-coded market sections for easy identification, covered garbage receptacles in strategic locations and has obstacle free aisles and passageways.  

Aside from visibly clean market surroundings, Catigbian also puts up a public address system, modern cash registers for market collection booths and dispenses free health services during market days.

The innovation has also allowed Catitgbian market to be an object of admiration from visiting legislators and development planners who hope to replicate the practice, Salinas shared.

Tubigon now 1st class town

TUBIGON, under Mayor Luna Piezas, jumps from its last classification as 3rd to first class town, an achievement that would probably go in local history as rare.

Tubigon shares with Ubay barging into becoming Bohol’s first class towns, a position then solely occupied by Talibon.

Then earning a little less than P44 million four to five years ago, the town’s income leaped astronomically in the past three years to an average of P55 million, reported town treasurer Servanda Salomon.

Records bare that Tubigon has earned an average of P63.361 in the past 3 years, catapulting it to the top position.

On the development, local tax observers see that the dynamic local leadership and its improvement of the town market is instrumental in the increase of income.

While many Tubigon residents speculate about increased taxes to maintain the status, Salomon said that aside from the real property taxes, which they do not have any control, municipal taxes remain the same, or until a new tax ordinance is passed.

“There is no upgrading yet of local taxes, except the real property tax, which is revised every three years, she said.

We are expecting a revision of municipal tax ordinances in 2010, as mandated by the local government code, she added.

Wanting to downplay the fear of tax rate jumps, the town bagman said the biggest impact of the re-classification is increase in paychecks for local employees.

“The reclassification basically affects the salaries of local employees; the salary standardization would now be using the first class bracket following salary standardization,” she bared.

The Bureau of Local Government and Finance (BLGF) in its memorandum of circular no 01-M (15)-08 dated November 20, 2008 has issued the re-classification of Bohol municipalities, effective July 29, 2008.

According to BLGF, class brackets are based on average annual income in three years.

First class towns should have an average of P55M or more, 2nd class towns earning P45M to P54M average.

Third class towns earn P35M to P44M; fourth class: P25M to P34M; fifth class P15M to P24M and sixth class towns earn below P15M.

Pamilacan dancers retell
conversion tale in Cebu

CHILDREN dancers of whale hunters now renewed sea shepherds bring Bohol’s most astounding environmental conversion story to the country’s premier tourism promotion event in the Visayas this March 1 in Cebu.

Tribu Pamilacan would be representing cultural treasures of a fishing village and would be bringing in their best dancing form that handed them a major award during the Sandugo Street-dancing festival.

The tribe would be the province’s best dancing showcase at the launching of the Wealth of Wonders (WOW) Philippines diversity of cultures in a showcase billed as One Visayas to be held in Cebu, weeks from now, sources from the Bohol Tourism Office bared.

Homegrown choreographers led by Winston Sendrijas and Jeremeel Decasa, who have been handling dance workshops across the province have been reportedly staying in the formerly whale-hunting island of Pamilacan.

They aim to retrain and recreate the dancing form, which got the island contingent the Bohol Sandugo festival’s Best in Production Design award last year.

With Tribu Pamilacan, also expected to put up their cultural showcases are street dancers from top Visayan festivals as Sinulog, Maskara, Buglasan, Ati-atihan, Dinagyang and Pintados among others.

Tribu Pamilacan would be presenting in a highly choreographed dance drama a depiction of the extraordinary island life in Pamilacan especially when the fishers turned to a lucrative and yet dangerous whale hunting industry

The dance drama however ends with the story of how the fishers, with the help of government and nonâ€"government organizations have turned the anti-environment practice into one eco-cultural tourism enterprise that hauls for them the accolade as sea shepherds.

It may be recalled that Pamilacan was once best known for its stenchy backward fishing community, one it got from sun-drying whale meat.

Now, also from the island comes out one of the country’s fascinating news of ecological tourism which could possibly be Bohol’s greatest conversion story of the decade.

Wanting to build on that story, children dancers have been on the heat of rehearsals set after class hours to impress their story for the whole region to learn, choreographers said in an interview last Sunday.

The Provincial Government through the Bohol Tourism Office, the Ayala Foundation through Ms Bea Zobel and Joel Uichico, LGU Baclayon and some unnamed sponsors jointly fund the tribes Cebu performance, reports said.

Bonior earns DSWD
outstanding mayor  

THE mayor of San Miguel town recently reaped a singular accolade from the national government for putting up innovate bureaucratic measures to dent on poverty in his town.

Mayor Claudio Bonior recently received the Most Outstanding Mayor of the Philippines award from the World Bank and its project funds implementer; the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) shared municipal information officer Menandro Pesquera in an interview.

The award was for DSWD Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) Special Leadership Awards for local chief executives. 

The awarding which was held at the Imperial Palace in Quezon City last February 3 was also attended by awardees from all KALAHI CIDSS areas across the country, reports from San Miguel bared.

Coming in after the DSWD has earlier tied up a partnership with the town, Bonior took poverty alleviation by heart while persuading his colleagues in government to prioritize counterpart support for the country’s social service delivery program, sources close to the mayor added.

“He also pushed for the empowerment of communities consistent with the community driven development tenets adopted for projects under the DSWD,” Pesquera stressed.

According to him, with poverty stalking the town barangays, Bonior strongly pursued community participation in deciding priority development project which the town can counterpart.

Projects his town partnered with World Bank funds implemented by the DSWD include key farm to market access roads, irrigation spillways, rural electrification projects, school buildings, health centers rain collectors and farm impounding systems, he enumerated.

San Miguel tapped the DSWD KALAHI CIDSS from the national government since 2006 and Bonior continued on the steps to poverty alleviation when he assumed office in May of 2007.

Making the KALAHI CIDSS a top town priority supported program, his move also enthused people belonging to the San Miguel Area Coordinating Team, Pesquera said.

The town area coordinating team also won two more awardees: Engr. Ronilo Gauma for outstanding project engineer and Cherry Merin as outstanding municipal roving book keeper in the Philippines.

“New craft” prompts free
Tubigon - Cebu passage
SINCE last week, boat passengers taking Cebu-Tubigon route had the surprise of their lives when they got free rides in three Tubigon-Cebu regular trips.

This after cut-throat competition showed its form and old shipping industry players started asserting their weight in an attempt to sidle out a “the new player” who wants to anchor on the business they have so far wielded power.

The free trips however are only for passengers taking the Tubigon Cebu 7:00 AM, 12:30 PM and 2:50 PM.

Free passages are for passengers who choose the standard two-hour slow boat trips to Cebu over a sleeker and faster 45-minute new player StarCraft, one that can finish the trip in 45 minutes.

Long time industry players Jadestar Shipping Lines and Tubigon Ferry Island Express have shrugged off passage rates, not minding the fuel and operational expenses for now to make sure that Siti-Inter Island Cargo and Services Company Incorporated is gone and out.

Jadestar puts up the 7:00 and 12:30 while Tubigon Ferry Island Express plies the 2:50 slot.

For the faster Starcraft 1, it can however field the same boat for the three trips and vice versa.

The trip back from Cebu to Tubigon however is not affected and is pegged at P180-200 still.

The entry of the new craft came after Tubigon Sangguniang Bayan officially granted the application of SITI Inter-island Cargo and Services Company and hoisted the ropes for the ship owner’s bid to get a Certificate of Public Convenience for the route and back.

The SB approval also assents to the new craft’s return trips from Cebu to Tubigon at 5:45 AM, 11:45 and 1:45 PM.

Meanwhile, Tubigon information officer Ligaya Castillo in a phone interview said they are glad of the development specifically on the entry of a new craft as it would bolster sea traffic and bring more economic development to the town and Bohol’s northern corridors.

“Mayor Luna Piezas is also elated about the coming of the new boat believing that the new service would leave in its wakes countless job opportunities and makes sea trip to Cebu relatively easier,” she added.

Anytime today, as it was postponed from yesterday, the Land Transportation Office's Regional  Flying Squad would be amassing in its impound motorcycles from lowly Boholanos who could not afford to Buy four-wheeled vehicles.

The possible imponding would not basically be from non-registration or from operator's failure to get a driver's license.

The biggest apprehension is that the LTO would go for the non-helmet  wearing riders. Then, is he (driver) does have one, his motorcycle's signal lights, horns, side mirrors, modifications may not be that hard to nitpick especially when the rider has been flagged down.

Maybe, the flag down would be in the disguise of a random check point.

Believe me, after the news that broke out about the operation, outrageous violations could be just a pick away.

It started with the helmet, a convenient way to to flag down motorists.

My fear is that the helmet can just be used as a convenient way to cover the evil operation.

Helmet? well, didnt they know that those who have helmets are still not wearing it right? Or their substandard helmets bought at a shop could easily crack?

Then the petty violations. And then the habal-habal.

And then the endless list of i do not know  what else.

Dura lex sed lex. May the law not be used as a convenient way to bleed dry out dried up brothers.

Legit kaha akong fears knowing the "track record" sa "notorious flying" or flip squad sa LTO?

Punta Cruz now a crux
to histo-heritage tour

A world-class musical drama by a community theater rendered at the foot of the centuries old watchtower is the latest in culture and history pedagogy now making a hit in Bohol.

Here, a community theater tells the story in a brilliant weaving of music and dance.

The artistic cultural presentation retells the infamous pangayaw raids of the moro Tirones, one that would force the people to fortify for themselves and build a stone watchtower for their defense and organize an armada of boat riding men to meet the raiders and engage them in battle at sea.

Pangayaw is a traditional pillaging of moro tribes in the region for gold, food and slaves to be sold to rich sultans in Mindanao in the 17th century. 

Performed by local Cultural Collective at the foot of the centuries old watchtower, the Castillo del San Vicente Eco-Heritage Tour officially opened with much fanfare Thursday, December 18 at the Punta Cruz Complex in Maribojoc.

Mayor Leoncio Evasco, in an interview before the musical and artistic rendition of the tour’s main highlight aired his elation over the outcome of their effort to help the community.

Aided by a funding agency partner and assisted by an NGO, the government and contacted artists, the mayor said the town has developed livelihood and enterprise as well as harnessed young talents in the area.
   
Along with Bohol Alliance of Non-Government Organizations in a project called Building Livelihood Enterprise in Support for Sustainable Eco-Tourism (BLESSED) in Maribojoc, the local government has also effectively reclaimed the town landmark from it’s an image as just one of the many heritage towers here, but as a root of local history and culture becoming a major crux of tourism activities.

“Along the process, the Punta Cruz Cultural Collective, a community theater comprised by 21 artists who went through the Basic Integrated Theater Arts Workshop was established” creative and artistic consultant Lutgardo Labad said.

“The soft launching turned out to be a major event which opened eyes to the historical realities that shaped the local culture and tradition,” admits a Maribojoc local artist who witnessed the 30 minute artistic performance.

Performed at the foot of the 17th century watchtower venerated to San Vicente Ferrer, the brilliant dramatization of historic moro raids intricately weaves the past with the present, reinstating the towering role of the heritage structure in the lives of Maribocjanons, shared a retired teacher too awed by the performance.

Trained local artists from barangays Punta Cruz, Guiwanon, Lagtangon and Bood all of Maribojoc staged the dramatization using classic pangalay (southern temple worship dance) choreography, indigenous instrumentation and the age-old chanted narration to thread the entire story line.

At the opening rites, PACAP Bohol project coordinator May Blanco hailed the town for the integration of culture, empowerment, conservation and history to develop economic and livelihood opportunities for communities.

She pointed out that several development plans overlook the crucial culture and environment, but now Maribojoc.

The Castillo del San Vicente Eco-heritage Tour is unlike your other stops that takes about 15 minutes.

This is may be an hour-long tour featuring local guides, cultural presentations, souvenir item shopping and the soon to open marine protected area guided tours, Fritzie Mae Zamora tells. 

Zamora coordinates Bangon tourism assisted events and also helps communities develop tourism support products.

The tour at the Punta Cruz complex also feature banana chip pasalubongs, native souvenir items crafted by nearby communities and next year also adds a guided marine protected area tours, she added.

LEVEL UP IN DANAO

WANNA do level up?
If you think only on online games can you go level up, take another look.

Here however, level up is not on those multi-tiered internet on-line games.

Far from the thrill of getting absorbed in the perpetual dusk of internet cafes and the muted click of computer keypads is a world for the taking; wild, needing control and truly exhilarating. This is the new kind of level up Danao offers.

Level up here is not on keypads or smooth shifting toggles. Level up here definitely needs more than that.

Tie shoelaces a bit tight. You would need it to get as comfy as if you are barefoot. Why?
Because level up here is root-climbing, cliff-scaling, rock wall climbing, simply bouldering, kayaking, river trekking or zip-lining. 

Your pick. A 60 feet high limestone cliff with a face brittle in summer yet soggy wet with humidity and forest moisture on most times of year.

You’ll have a safety harness, because a slip might just get you plunging to the gurgling waters of the Wahig. That is for amateurs.

For professionals, skipping the safety harness routine is a dare.

LEVEL UP: ROOT CLIMBING

Before that root climbing routine, wade in hip deep or shoulder high river. Your local guide would caution you to follow his steps though.

The relatively simple part is slipping on the safety harness.

Then, harder, you clamber up the intricate weave of roots, your sneakers dripping wet, and toe-holds are tricky.

The hardest: make sure you’ll have three contact points at all times: two feet and one hand or two hands and a feet. Hands over the head. Tight grip. Tug on to the root making sure it wont give way when your full load is on it.

The plan is simple. Climb up the cliff; that’s 60 foot climb using the entangling of roots from that formidable family of ficus (balite).

Note, this is root climbing, not swimming, so keep the focus and don’t ever let go.

WAY DOWN: RAPPELLING

Before the adrenaline could settle down from that mad clamber, now you go down the other way, by ropes.

The same three contact points get used as you snap yourself on to a lifeline on your rappel down.

From an overhanging branch where the lines are hitched, grab the line with your left hand, and your
right holds on to the other line near your butts, to effectively control your rate of descent.

As you hang suspended from that overhang, dangle, allow the wind to calm you down, and then in one heave, slowly loosen your grips, simultaneously kicking off the cliff face when the pendulum gets you there.

SMOOTHER KAYAKING AND RUBBER TUBING

Danao also offers shooting the rapids with plastic and colorful kayaks.

But you need to put on life vests and hard hats. Currents along Wahig River can be tricky and you may need to navigate through massive boulders so a head-gear is in order; for your safety.

For the less adventurous, taking the rubber tubes is the thing for you. The ride is about five minutes long or if the water is alright, you can take a longer one, from the upper tributary before the bridge.

Oh, yes, the trip is smooth, unlike the one that would tire you out when you go river trekking.

The scenery is breathtaking, and the experience is definitely worth more than a page in your diaries.

SPELUNKING: VENTURE INTO THE BOWELS OF THE EARTH

Danao caves also have exactly the lure adventurous people would die for.

Ka Mira, a cave beneath the tourist accommodation center takes you to into a 500-meter walk, wade and crawl. Get into the historic caves that have become the favorite hiding places of local revolutionaries and re-trace their escape routes under noses of pursuing Spanish guardia civiles.

The caves still sport health stalactites and stalagmites, the stone formations are astonishingly perfect and the water that runs through the caves are crystal clear.

If you get lucky, you may spot albino crabs, local cave tour guide would tell you.

Careful though that you do not get into the cave on rainy seasons, the water can rise and you could get trapped for hours. The water marks at the side of the caves can tell that the waster can fills some small passages, especially the portions when you would have to crawl to get through.

You can wedge yourself however in vertical crevices, but you must have the expensive Petzl head gear and the equally costly Black diamond halogen headlamps.

The items however are standard issues for tourists.

GO GETTING THE HIGH

Extreme experience in Danao also gets on a different kind of high.

A zipline which you need to experience if you are that sure about getting a kick is definitely the thing to do

The line is stretched across Wahig river. It is not as long and scary as the one that would be available next month, but people with less bladder control may have to let go. I mean, adult diapers are needed.

The primary goat is to traverse the river while you are suspended on safety harness as you feel the air wheezing in your face when you slide to the other end.

Next month, if they hit it without a snitch, one of the country’s longest zipline would be available.

One of the longest means 550 meters spanned across the cliffs of Danao. You would have to go the way in too, if you have successfully taken the way out. That would be 1,100 meters of slide. But that is not mean.

What is mean is that you would have to slide and when you are off the ground, you would be suspended at least a thousand meters above the forests, rivers and caves of historic Danao.

Cool enough that the people would call this the “Suislide”

For more information about EAT Danao, call Loinda Saluan a the Municipal Tourism Officer 0917 302 1701 or Lumen Gonzaga at 0920 528 0155 or Mayor Thomas Louis Gonzaga at 507-3106 local 187. (KABOG)

Tubigon gets Bohol’s
2nd GMA jobs kiosk

TUBIGON Mayor Luna Piezas succeeds in pulling up from his bag of tricks a jobs kiosk, the second in Bohol and one he “muscled” in his effort to make another pitch at generating jobs and denting on poverty in northern Bohol.

Recent reports revealed that Piezas, who then was a top level executive at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has to rub elbows with the secretary to get for Bohol its second web-based Greater Modular Access (GMA) Jobs Center.

Bohol’s first GMA Jobs kiosk was in Tagbilaran and is now housed at Capitol’s Bohol Employment and Placement Office while the upcoming kiosk would be temporarily at the Public Employment and Placement Office 2nd floor of the town hall.

This would be re-located however at a more accessible place possibly beside Julies Bakeshop, says Tubigon information officer Ligaya Castillo in a phone interview.   

The move complements the country’s stepping up its search for new job opportunities here and abroad for Filipino workers to mitigate the impact of the global economic meltdown on the country’s workforce.

DOLE Secretary Marianito D. Roque, during the GMA jobs center launching said its is a vital step in ensuring local and employment opportunities for its people into the future.

The job centers of kiosks were designed fro deployment in key areas nationwide where heavy human traffic is, to increase access to job vacancies and relevant jobs information.

In it, GMA Jobs Center offers the country's first unified and synchronized, state-of-the-art system which incorporates the DOLE's time-tested Phil-Jobnet job search facility to reach out to a much greater client base with free, relevant jobs and skills information.

According to a press material from the DOLE, the kiosks will provide free job search, job skills matching services, skills registration and other pertinent services to a job seeker.

It also makes available to employers online registration, job postings for free, search for job applicants, and list of applicants with contact information.

The GMA Jobs Center is housed in a modern and convenient, touch screen and web-enabled, ATM-like machine capable of displaying information on employment opportunities and services for both would-be local and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

It is a welcome development here in this northern part of Bohol, where most job seekers need to go to Tagbilaran or Cebu to get search for jobs, Castillo reiterates.

The local government of Tubigon, through the local leaders assure their people faster and more the immediate employment for their jobless and out-of-school youth under different emergency livelihood employment programs, reports said.

Local employment opportunities include jobs in government projects as the construction and maintenance of roads, bridges, irrigation systems, school buildings and hospitals as well as job openings for Filipinos workers in “new job markets abroad.”

Danao puts up
canyon swing

YOU think the country’s longest and highest zipline is a push-over? Wait until Danao could put up the dreaded canyon swing!

And for those who has gooseflesh over the zipline, perhaps the chair lift gets you the thrill and safety you want to be assured.

And if the canyon swing is completed, Danao raises the Pinoy fear factor several notches higher or lower with a promise of a pendulum swing not lesser than New Zealand’s 105 meter with 60 meter freefall.

In fact, Danao Mayor Thomas Louis Gonzaga and Vice Mayor Jose Cepedoza have been closely keeping an eye on the local surveying team so they could judiciously decide which platform can deliver the most exhilarating swing of all, says tourism officer Loinda Corotico Saluan.

Danao, a town 72 kilometers away from Tagbilaran is struggling to beat its own economic problems by pushing for extreme eco-and educational adventure tourism, one which is a stand-out for outdoor explorers. 

In a visit to Danao last weekend, the media missed Mayor Gonzaga by only a few minutes. Hours later, Vice Mayor Cepedoza took the supervision of the geodetic survey team put up by the local assessors office.

Saluan, who also doubles as the town’s information officer said the canyon swing would be their next aim as she pointed to a long queue of local and foreign tourists nervously fixing their head gears. The headgear is a standard measure before one is allowed to do the strapping of body harnesses in the town’s newly opened “suislide”.

The suislide, Danao’s best extreme adventure experience as yet is a 550 meters zipline where tourists slide for their life while suspended up in a canyon of about 250 to 300 meters over the gurgling Wahig River and its rocky beds.

The slide, which takes about 45 to a minute depending on the weight is gravity controlled and has to be taken twice; another one on the way back, has been rated a high thriller by extreme adventurists.

But upping the fear scare factor, Danao wants the scariest: canyon swing complete with free-falls, of course following the standards of safety in extreme sports, Saluan said.

According to a website by Shootover Canyon Swing in Queensland New Zealand, a canyon swing includes jumping off a platform while fitted to a chair or body harness and attached to jump ropes. The configuration is such that your hands and feet are free from entanglements while you do jump combinations. Gravity does the rest.

Of course, this sports activity is not for the weak-hearted, advised an extreme outdoor enthusiast who asked not to be named.

He however said for those who have the nerves for the canyon swing and love the thrill of canyon rushing in, a neat extra set of underpants is quite in order. (rachiu/PIA) 

would like to meet TB addicts in Cebu Jan 29.

Just interested to see if i can rally find that many addicts sa yuta ni Lapulapu?

Whadyou say? Id be at the Cebu Grand.

Choco Hills loses chance
to be new world wonder

ALL efforts to hoist the Chocolate Hills to the new seven-world wonders list vanished as the Zurich-based New7Wonders Foundation announced another Philippine entry instead as the country’s official entry to the search.

The announcement that the Chocolate Hills has been eliminated took Boholanos by surprise as efforts were indeed cast to get the iconic Bohol symbol past the country’s entries.

Local support has earlier organized to make a more emphatic impact on the global campaign to get Boholanos in other parts of the world vote until December 31, the deadline.

However, despite the attempts, several have aired apprehension that by sheer numbers alone in the online voting, Bohol would be totally out if countries with massive populations like China or India come out and vote.

Two weeks of tallying after the deadline, organizers have short-listed the entries to only about 40% of the original 441 nominees. The list also included only one entry per country, Swiss based organizers said.

Winning over Bohol and other national nominees is Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park.

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean National Park, or otherwise known as the Underground River of Palawan edged out other national favorites like Mayon Volcano in Albay, Mt. Pinatubo in Zambales and Hundred Islands in Alaminos Pangasinan, all later nominees.

Up for voting following the short-listing are 261 nominees where only 77 would be accepted to the next phase of voting come July 7 where only 77 nominees would be left.

From the 77, New7WorldWonders panel of experts, including a former United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organizations director general would choose 21 finalists.

From the 21 finalists, it would be 2 years before the new seven world wonders would be announced, organizers said.

The Underground River now stands shoulder to shoulder with other iconic sites as the Loch Ness in Scotland, Grand Canyon in the United States, the Black Forest in western Germany, Mount Fuji in Japan, The Amazon River in South America, the transnational Danube River in Europe, the Dead Sea in Israel, Australian Great barrier Reef, Iguazo Falls in Argentina, Mont Blanc in France Italy border, and the Niagara Falls in the US-Canadian border.   

However, Tubattaha National Marine Park, itself being shared by the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia also came in as a multi-national nominee for the search.

hmm, just passing by, just wondering how many i would be able to see for coffee or beer..

Bohol to host Asian
learners in Danajon

DANAJON double barrier reef and its islands communities would be an open environmental classroom of sorts for 27 Asian youth who would be in this March 25 for the Voyage of the Future 2009 edition.
Voyage of the Future is a bi-annual activity where students from participating Asian countries immerse in communities and ecosystems. It allows them to study the environment and hopefully engage them in future protection and preservations programs, explains Japanese Masao Midaira through an interpreter.
The activity is also documented for a television show in Japan through NHK, Japan’s largest television network, he added.
In the Philippines, NHK ties up with the country’s National Broadcasting Network to help in documenting the learning experiences.
After a tour among Asian countries in the past, Voyage comes to the Philippines where the learning areas would be in Puerto Galera, Danajon reef in Bohol and Apo Island in Negros Oriental.
Elated over the prospect of hosting the event, Governor Erico Aumentado and Talibon Mayor Juanario Item met with Midaira at the Jayvee Long Island Resort in Mahaba Island Talibon yesterday, January 17 to fine tune the coordination activities for the event.
The governor has been insistent in promoting the protection and conservation of the Danajon even staking his political career by relentlessly urging local governments to pursue activities against illegal; fishing, poaching and abuse of the unique ecosystem.
The resort in Mahaba Island of the inner barrier reef in Danajon would be billeting station for the students and television crew for the event.
“We are expecting about 70 students and television crew plus technical staff to come to Mahaba Island during the event, Mayor Item said as he guided the governor to the recent building activities in the resort to accommodate the students and guests.
Four of the eleven days Voyage would be spent in Bohol, the rest would be in Puerto Galera or Apo Island, and the time spent in transit, organizers said.
In Bohol, the Asian students from the Philippines, Japan, China, Thailand, Qatar, Mongolia and Indonesia study the coral reefs and the ocean environment, and with Danajon as a rare double barrier reef, it should be a very interesting Voyage segment, admits Midaira.
Through a Filipino interpreter, Midaira who is a Japanese television producer for the Voyage said that students should be able to learn from the communities how population has affected the marine environment.
“In this Voyage segment, we’d like to showcase how people and government do to preserve, conserve and protect the ecosystem,” he shared.
The Bohol activity would center on immersion activities to let students learn about sustainable island life, mangrove and its ecosystem, seahorses, gleaning, coastal watch operations, island alternative livelihood, traditional fishing and would be filled with lectures and interactive activities as supervised by marine biologists from the University of the Philippines.
The Danajon, the only one double barrier reef in Asia occupies 273 square kilometers of seas and is shared by four provinces of Cebu, Leyte, Bohol and Southern Leyte, Governor Aumentado told the Japanese producer and NBN producer Edgar Reyes.
The governor also promised the NHK and NBN support by committing Bohol resources that he could use to make the activity a reality.

Cortes, a town that is struggling to make a pink identity has come out recently with few government infrastructure projects.

Aside from painting the town pink (ingon si Mayor Jasmin Balistoy nga to commemorate cancer awareness), even the trees at the plaza, the garbage compactor, all public school buildings have the pink paint. Recently, the local government has renovated the market stalls. And yes, they too are pink.

Anyway, there could probably be nothing wrong with using pink as motiff.

What is terribly disturbing  is that the market stalls, thse new government projects do not comply with the national standards.

The stalls, made out of concrete only has one door. Obviously the entrance would also be the fire exit, contrary to the mandates of the National Building Code. This has made the Cortes market stalls fire traps, but they do not trap fire, they trap people.

One can simply see this as one passes by the town market.

Asked why the mayor (who flaunts her being a civil engineer) has allowed it, she said this should discourage stall occupants and tenants to stay overnight on these stalls.

In her words, i could actually glean two things. One, she doesnt give a damn if the law is broken as long as no one stays overninght in these structures. Two, she could not impose discipline and probably could not enforce what the  tenants contract would stipulate.

And when this happens, the easiest way is to play safe. Only one door. No more.

And when a fire breaks, all patrons in a stall would have to jam through that door, the unlucky ones would be grilled.

And the Bureau of Fire Protection, what has it done? Actually, i do not know, but i guess BFP has not really seen the blueprints, because had they, i know it would never be allowed.

So here we are, patrons of an internet cafe in Cortes Public Market, making sure we get the last PC near the door, because come any spark, i would definitely go through that door well ahead.

One more sad thing, next to this internet cafe is a stall that has become a stockpile for Liquified Petroleum Gas!

Oh, my!  Is this the reason why it has to be painted pink, as in cancer? that deadly?  Just asking.

NEW RULES FOR EMPLOYMENT

Dear STAFF,

Please be advised that these are NEW rules and regulations implemented to raise the efficiency of our firm:

Transportation: It is advised that you come to work driving a car according to your salary. If we see you driving a Honda, we assume you are doing well financially and therefore you do not need a raise. If you drive a 10-year old car or taking public transportation, we assume you must have lots of savings therefore you do not need a raise. If you drive a Pickup, you are right where you need to be and therefore you do not need a rest.

Sickness and related leave: We will no longer accept a doctor statement as proof of sickness. If you are able to go to the doctor, you are able to come to work.

Surgery: Operations are now banned. As long as you are an employee here, you need all your organs. You should not consider removing anything. We hired you intact. To have something removed constitutes a breach of employment.

Bereavement leave: This is no excuse for missing work. There is nothing you can do for dead friends, relatives or co-workers. Every effort should be made to have non-employees attend to the arrangements. In rare cases, where employee involvement is necessary, the funeral should be scheduled in the late afternoon. We will be glad to allow you to work through your lunch hour and subsequently leave one hour early, provided your share of the work is done.

Your own death: This will be accepted as an excuse.  However, we require at least two weeks notice, as it is your duty to train your own replacement.

Restroom use: Too much time is being spent in the restroom. In the future, we will follow the practice of going in alphabetical order. For instance, all employees whose names begin with "A" will go from 8:00 to 8:10, employees whose names begin with "B" will go from 8:10 to 8:20, and so on. If you're unable to go at your allotted time, it will be necessary to wait until the next day when your turn comes again. In extreme emergencies, employees may swap their time with a co-worker. Both employees' supervisors must approve this exchange in writing. In addition, there is now a strict three-minute time limit in the stalls. At the end of three minutes, an alarm will sound, the toilet paper roll will retract, and the stall door will open.

Annual Leave:  Each employee will receive 104 Annual Leave days a year - they are called Saturdays and Sundays.

Lunch Break: Skinny people get 30 minutes for lunch as they need to eat more so that they can look healthy. Normal size people get 15 minutes for lunch to get a balanced meal to maintain their average figure.. Fat people get 5 minutes for lunch, because that is all the time needed to drink a Slim Fast and take a diet pill.

Thank you for your loyalty to our company. We are here to provide a positive employment experience. Therefore, all questions, comments, concerns, complaints, frustrations, irritations, aggravations, insinuations, allegations, accusations, contemplations, consternations, or input should be directed elsewhere.

Have a nice week,

The Management

This morning, i had the chance to get to the local Land Transportation Office to claim my plastic license card. 

And the sheer number of people standing in front of the office immedaitely told me that there has never really been a clear understanding by LTO officials of who and what fixers are. Or they choose to ignore?

One of the LTO's top priorities is to make the office ISO certified. And they think fixers at theri gates can make it faster?

As soon as i alit my motorcycle, somebody, who i also saw last year and the year before that met me and asked if i was to get a registration. Waht if i was, could he fix it for me?

LTO has said they have rid of the fixers. Then who are these people outside?

Maybe LTO does not know or do not have any idea how to totally box fixers out of their "big" businesses.

Let me propose a system.

When i saw a guard there posted at the steps before the counters, he could be more useful if he screens all documents and people getting in.

He has to get the documents and see if the person bringing it is the same guy reflected on the document. Ant discrepancy, a Special Power of Attorney should be required. That way, a "fixer" could still find a profitable business if he could get an SPA upon wilfull consent of the document owner. At least this way, the owners know he would be consenting to the huge deductions a fixer can put up.

And that way, the guard can rid of his arrogance in shouting at clients who come to the office personally to make sure their money do not get into fixers pockets.

Well, maybe, just maybe, the guard and some LTO people still manages to run these fixers, if they can not rid of this simple problem?

So what is it, Sir Joel? Maloloy-on ra ka kaayo? Oh, come on,

I just came from the Cortes Public market, to heed the advice of my close friends. They said, in all public markets in Bohol, or near Tagbilaran, Cortes has the cheapest best buy youll be able to find.

True enough, i did manage to find 28 per kilo when the going pice during the rice crisis was P34.

Last Saturday, camia rice was sold at P24 a kilo.

Hoping to get just the same price or maybe slightly higher with a fiesta barrelling through the town, i was a bit astounded.

Just when the government has parctically declared rice shortage over, Cortes market vendors have sold the same Camia Rice at P26. Now.

I asked why such a jump. The vendor said its because the same rice has gone out of Bohol, to Colonade and has to be transported back to be sold here.

I was thinking, so we were made to pay for the transporation costs that Marcela Farms has to spend to send rice to Cebu and back?

In the first place,did we ask Marcela to ship it out?

If such were  true, how powerful can they be when they can manipulate the price at their whims?

A looming rice crisis is going to happen again in Bohol, courtesy of some individuals making sure they can cash on the need for the staple food.       

And if the government can not do something baout it, let me ask, who will?

 The governor was quite candid about it.

To solve the diminishing sand along the beachfront of Alona in Tawala, he proposed to borrow a dredger from Marra Construction to do the job.

To him, it is that simple. Tow the barge, dip its suction pumps down there where he said would all be sand because it has been simply washed out from the shorelines.

He said a well-known diver, a gud named Holger is providing him the underwater fotos where the suction pumps would suck sand.

And all to extend the beachline so that the occupant establishment encroaching the 20 meter public access zones can edge a bit and now be outside the banned public areas.

Along Alona stretch? where snorkelers get a satisfying peep at the coral cover near the beaches, they would be tampering with nature? Oh my!

why cant they kick out them assholes sitting on the beachfronts to clear the public access zones according to law?

Because they cant do it, "theyre getting the pier to come to the boat?"

And claiming it is for the environment? How ingenious.

What can you say?

Anyone who would know somebody from Cortes or traces his roots from the town may log on to www.cortesanon.com.

Its a relatively baby website but it has shown in the past month that it could provide the platfrom for interaction, reunion, re-rooting and reminiscing of friends relatives and kins from a place called cortes.

See you there1

DOBLE CARA
CORTES Church, no doubt is a century, if not centuries old structure. I may start a heated debate by saying that. The truth is, I haven’t found somebody who can authoritatively say or tell how old the church is.
Too bad, none of our older generations could actually leave to the living the exact date of the structure.   
Over this, let me attempt a wild theory.

There are about two clues as to the dates of the existing structure. One is a date carved on top of the center arch of the outer façade of the church, the other one above the center arch at the baptistry entrance.


The first date, 1896 is displayed prominently at the façade. The other date, 1892 is carved on the head of the arch at the baptistry entrance on the epistle side of the church.
Would the date on the entrance arch correspond to the beginning of the year when the cornerstones of the church were laid out? Or would it simply signify the time when the whole church was “completed”? (Completed is placed in quotation marks because by all indications, Cortes Church is not yet finished!)
Again, the stone member of the arch shows 1896.
But the baptistry, which is obviously a newer structure than the whole fabric of the main church is dated 1892.

Question, would builders build first a baptistery before finishing the body of the church upon which the entrance to the baptistery becomes part?
Going back to the date atop the main arch at the entrance of the first face of the church, it indeed is a later addition, and when this porch or portico façade was completed, the date was carved. 1896.
Proof?
The “lobby” of the puerta mayor feature false arches flanking the massive double doors.


The false arches also feature carved details of what is unmistakably baroque designs following the arch. Two square columns with designs carved in stone also flank the double doors.
The porch is a wide space with adobe tiles, some traces of the Moroccan blue (muslim tiles) can be seen. The space does not have a ceiling. This may be another proof that the church is not really completed.
And then as you take a look at the entirety of the puerta mayor, you will be asking the same question. This is already a complete face of the church, why was this not exposed?
If that were the real face of the church, the building would be aligned to the campanario, and that would make sense.

In other words, why would the builders make the false arches beside the main door when, in the end, it would be ultimately covered by the porch?
The answer lies in my personal belief that the two false arches flanking the main door may indeed be the true face of the church. And the campanario, at one time was in line with the main structure. And the date? Well, this may be before the Augustinian Recollects that is, before 1768.
How did I know that? This.


The inscription JHS with a cross and a crown is a basic Jesuit symbol. Would the Augustinian Recollects who came later allow the Jesuit inscription to be placed on top of the puerta mayor? No way, they’d rather put theirs on it.   
To prove my point, go outside and take a look at the stone formation that may be the old fabric of the older structure.

The above picture is taken from the epistle side. (ANDAS) Notice the black moss sticking to the old coral stones? The moss is indeed interestingly taking a line, right?
Now, look at the gospel side where the campanario is located.
At the side of the campanario, or at the side of the “Andas”, there you will notice that telltale sign of the portico façade as a later addition of the church!

Now, you will ask, why DOBLE CARA?
That is because the “centuries old” church bearing 1896 is just a date carved out after whoever thought of adding that portico façade. The date may coincide with the completion of that addition to that old church!
Why the addition, you would ask?
Because granting that even if our church was built during the early time of the Augustinian Recollects, and that should be after 1768, the people who built it may have copied the design from its mother parish, not Maribojoc, but Baclayon or Loboc.

And why would Baclayon and Loboc churches display two faces or doble caras?

Remember, Baclayon was built by the Jesuits, and so was Loboc.
Building the old Baclayon Church was started in 1596, a year after the first Jesuit missionaries Fray Juan de Torres and Gabriel Sanchez came.
When the Jesuits started to build, they want to be always reminded of home, in their case, modern Europe. To keep that, they attempted to make a European building by copying the arts there and bring these images nearby. The art and the architecture: baroque.
Baroque art is characterized by the profuse use of flowery designs which represent movements. Take a look at the altar inside the church. That is baroque, in my calculations, mid to late 17th century!

In Baclayon, while the Jesuit planners were building the church, piratical raids keep them from focusing on the construction. The same raids later forced the Jesuit builders of Baclayon to seek for another place where they would not be caught unaware. The Baclayon project was ultimately abandoned.
By 1602, the Jesuits formally resettled in Loboc, away from the raiders who devastated coastal settlements.
In Loboc, the Jesuits started another Church, which later got burned. From the fabric of that burnt building, they built the convent, while relocating the new church to its new location where it is now.     
Like Baclayon, the new church, with double towers, feature two similar false arches flanking the puerta mayor.

When peace reigned in Bohol by the early 17th century, the Jesuits went back to administer the settlement in Baclayon and completed the unfinished church and the watchtower in 1725 or 1727.
The art and architecture of these two 16th century churches are unmistakably baroque.
But, politics rocked the universal church. Jesuit popularity was resented by competing Augustinian Recollects. At one time, the Recollects succeeded to convince the pope to expel the Jesuits from all their missions all over the world in the 1760’s.
By 1768, the Augustinian Recollects have reclaimed the Jesuit missions and replaced the frayles in missionaries the mission areas.
But when they came, they were disappointed, even frantic. The Jesuits left their marks in the baroque architecture.

To hide these images, especially in the façade of the old churches, the Recollects did the unthinkable. They added portico facades to hide the Jesuit baroque art in the face of these structures.
The addition, to be an extension of the churches would be covered with roof, effectively making the haunting image of the Jesuit church be lost under a roofed portico facade.
The Augustinian Recollects then built massive tres arcos and two side arcos with equally massive posts like what we also see in Baclayon, Loboc and yes, Cortes.

Thus the churches of the old Jesuit regime bears double faces or DOBLE CARAS: an inner face which is truly Jesuit and an outer face that is also unmistakably Augustinian Recollect.
Now why would Cortes Church, a church later established, by Augustinians be exhibiting that doble cara?
And why would the Augustinian missionaries doing the visita from Maribojoc not insist on a single façade like “mother parish” Maribojoc?

The answer may be because the Recollects may have found the people insisting that they copy their mother church, not Maribojoc, but Baclayon and Loboc.
In fact, because perhaps the residents of Malabago could never forget the influence left by the Jesuits, they insisted that the church art be baroque!

In short, the Augustinian Recollect missionaries could not that easily dictate the residents to build a structure like what they have in their Recollect plans.

And because the residents of Malabago de Paminguitan were descendants of tough men who fought it out and hard against Spanish soldiers in quelling the Tamblot in Tupas, they know too well not to insist.
So, that is what these people are. Renegados.
In fact, the missionaries could not even force the people to get that fancy “SPANISH SOUNDING NAMES”
Think of the Concons, Hubacs, Ocons, Tambis, Nguhos, Pilongos, Agtas, Balates, Pahacs, Boctotos and the funny native sounding names as the first and real renegados.
It is just that the Spaniards could not call them such in the face.
Because if they had done so, you could just imagine the consequences.