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New York Times Report in 1901 About Bohol

You can watch online the impeachment proceedings conducted by the Philippine Senate.
Here's the link: http://www.senate.gov.ph/videos/live2.asp

“Looking into the future is a fool’s occupation,
but it is the bigger fool who dares not to.”
â€"Voltaire

islander, kung gireport to nimo sa Supreme Court tong extortionist stenographer, he/she surely would have been fired by the SC.

Ug walay hopia, pwede pud binangkal para maglagumo ang agi.

SECOND DIVISION

JUDGE LUCINA ALPEZ DAYAON, Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court of Macabebe, Pampanga, Branch 54,

Complainant,

- versus -

JESUSA V. DE LEON, Court Stenographer III of the same court,

Respondent.
   

A.M. No. P-11-2926



Present:



CARPIO, J., Chairperson,

BRION,

PEREZ,

SERENO, and

REYES, JJ.





Promulgated:



February 1, 2012

x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x


DECISION


CARPIO, J.:


The Case

This administrative matter refers to the habitual absenteeism of Jesusa V. De Leon (De Leon), Court Stenographer III, Regional Trial Court of Macabebe, Pampanga, Branch 54, in violation of Administrative Circular No. 14-2002.

The Facts

In a letter dated 7 July 2010 sent to the Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), Presiding Judge Lucina Alpez Dayaon (Judge Dayaon) of the Regional Trial Court of Macabebe, Pampanga, Branch 54, reported that De Leon has been absent, without approved leave, for the period 22 April 2010 to 5 May 2010, and 27 May 2010 to 25 June 2010. Judge Dayaon requested that De Leon be dismissed from the service since her habitual absenteeism without leave for prolonged periods of time constitutes conduct prejudicial to the best interest of public service.

Judge Dayaon stated in her letter that she previously issued a Memorandum dated 5 May 2010 directing De Leon to submit a written explanation why she should not be recommended for dismissal from the service for her unexplained absences and failure to transcribe stenographic notes on time. Despite the receipt of the Memorandum on 6 May 2010, per Server’s Report dated 11 May 2010, De Leon failed to submit an explanation and complete the transcription of the stenographic notes.

Judge Dayaon stated that this work attitude of De Leon has been recurring for many years. In 2008, Judge Dayaon issued three memoranda on different dates, 20 June, 3 November and 26 November, directed to De Leon for her absenteeism and failure to transcribe stenographic notes; unauthorized/unexplained absences; and delay in transcribing stenographic notes and disobedience to lawful orders of the court. In 2009, the record of De Leon’s absences and tardiness exceeded the number of times she was present at work.

Judge Dayaon declared that De Leon submitted three letters of explanation on different dates, 26 June 2008, 9 December 2008, and 27 March 2009. However, De Leon did not account for her absences without leave during the months of April to June 2010. Judge Dayaon stated that De Leon’s habitual absenteeism constitutes conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and warrants the penalty of dismissal.

In a Report dated 13 August 2010, the Leave Division of the OCA, issued a Summary of Absences Incurred by Jesusa V. De Leon. The records show that De Leon incurred unauthorized absences for the year 2010: April 22-30 (7 days); May 4-14 and 24-31 (14 days); and June 1-25 (18 days). In the 1st Indorsement dated 22 September 2010, the OCA directed De Leon to file her comment within 10 days from receipt.

In her Comment dated 30 October 2010, De Leon admitted that she was absent during said dates in the months of April to June 2010 because her three children were afflicted with cough, cold and fever. De Leon stated that her husband was out of work, and they had no sufficient money to seek treatment from a doctor, and had resorted to self-medication. Because of her miserable condition, she neglected to file an official leave for her absences. De Leon added that she did not have enough money to cover her transportation expenses from her residence to the RTC and their daily needs were kindly provided for by concerned neighbors, friends and relatives.

Moreover, De Leon stated that when her children became well she reported for work on 28 June 2010. Thereafter, she had been regularly present and only had three stenographic notes pending to be transcribed. De Leon sought the indulgence of the Court since her work is her only means of livelihood after having served the judiciary for 18 years.

The OCA’s Report and Recommendation

In its Report dated 10 February 2011, the OCA found De Leon habitually absent for incurring unauthorized absences for the months of April, May and June 2010. The OCA stated that De Leon’s reasons of attending to the needs of her children and financial difficulties are insufficient to justify her absences and exonerate her from administrative liability. However, these circumstances help mitigate the penalty to be imposed.

The OCA made this recommendation:

1.      the instant administrative case against Ms. Jesusa V. De Leon, Court Stenographer III, Regional Trial Court, Branch 54, Macabebe, Pampanga, be RE-DOCKETED as a regular administrative matter; and

2.      Ms. Jesusa V. De Leon be found GUILTY of Habitual Absenteeism, and, accordingly, be SUSPENDED for ONE (1) MONTH WITHOUT PAY, with a STERN WARNING that a repetition of the same of similar act shall be dealt with more severely.


The Court’s Ruling

We adopt the findings and recommendation of the OCA.

Administrative Circular No. 14-20021 (AC 14-2002) provides:


A. HABITUAL ABSENTEEISM

1.      An officer or employee in the civil service shall be considered habitually absent if he incurs unauthorized absences exceeding the allowable 2.5 days monthly leave credit under the law for at least three (3) months in a semester or at least three (3) consecutive months during the year; x x x

B. SANCTIONS

The following sanctions shall be imposed for violation of the policy on habitual absenteeism:

1st offense â€" Suspension for six (6) months and one (1) day to one (1) year.

2nd offense â€" Dismissal from the service.

The circular provides that an employee is considered habitually absent if the employee incurred unauthorized absences exceeding the 2.5 days allowed per month for three months in a semester or at least three consecutive months during the year.

In the present case, De Leon incurred unauthorized absences for three consecutive months in the year 2010: 7 days in April, 14 days in May and 18 days in June. These unauthorized absences, which De Leon admitted and certified to by the OCA in a Report dated 13 August 2010, clearly fall under AC 14-2002. Under AC 14-2002 and The Uniform Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service,2 the penalty of habitual absenteeism for the first offense is suspension of six (6) months and one (1) day to one (1) year.

However, in several administrative cases,3 mitigating circumstances merited the leniency of the Court. The presence of factors such as length of service in the judiciary, acknowledgment of infractions and feeling of remorse, and family circumstances, among other things, play an important role in the imposition of penalties.4 Also, in Re: Habitual Absenteeism of Mr. Fernando P. Pascual,5 we have ruled that where a penalty less punitive would suffice, whatever missteps may be committed by labor ought not to be visited with a consequence so severe. It is not only because of the law’s concern for the workingman. There is, in addition, her family to consider. Unemployment brings untold hardships and sorrows on those dependent on the wage-earner.

Here, we have considered De Leon’s length of service, acknowledgment of her infraction and apology to determine the appropriate penalty. Since this is her first infraction, De Leon deserves another chance. However, the circumstances may not be further mitigated since De Leon had previously been issued several memoranda by Judge Dayaon in 2008 for her unauthorized absences, delay and failure to transcribe stenographic notes, and disobedience to lawful orders of the court. Also, in 2009, she reported for work less than her absences and tardiness. Thus, taking into account all the considerations, we adopt the recommendation of the OCA that De Leon be suspended for one month without pay with a warning that a repetition of the same or similar acts in the future shall be dealt with more severely.

WHEREFORE, we find respondent Jesusa V. De Leon, Court Stenographer III, Regional Trial Court of Macabebe, Pampanga, Branch 54, GUILTY of HABITUAL ABSENTEEISM and impose on her the penalty of SUSPENSION of ONE (1) MONTH WITHOUT PAY with a warning that a repetition of the same or similar acts in the future shall be dealt with more severely.

SO ORDERED.

ANTONIO T. CARPIO

Associate Justice

islander, maayo pay natulog nalang ka ug imo o di ba kaha nagtan-aw ug movie. naa gani uban sa kalsada na matulog tungod sa kahubog.

By George Friedman
Security Weekly

The evolution of geopolitics is cyclical. Powers rise, fall and shift. Changes occur in every generation in an unending ballet. However, the period between 1989 and 1991 was unique in that a long cycle of human history spanning hundreds of years ended, and with it a shorter cycle also came to a close. The world is still reverberating from the events of that period.

On Dec. 25, 1991, an epoch ended. On that day the Soviet Union collapsed, and for the first time in almost 500 years no European power was a global power, meaning no European state integrated economic, military and political power on a global scale. What began in 1492 with Europe smashing its way into the world and creating a global imperial system had ended. For five centuries, one European power or another had dominated the world, whether Portugal, Spain, France, England or the Soviet Union. Even the lesser European powers at the time had some degree of global influence.

After 1991 the only global power left was the United States, which produced about 25 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP) each year and dominated the oceans. Never before had the United States been the dominant global power. Prior to World War II, American power had been growing from its place at the margins of the international system, but it was emerging on a multipolar stage. After World War II, it found itself in a bipolar world, facing off with the Soviet Union in a struggle in which American victory was hardly a foregone conclusion.

The United States has been the unchallenged global power for 20 years, but its ascendancy has left it off-balance for most of this time, and imbalance has been the fundamental characteristic of the global system in the past generation. Unprepared institutionally or psychologically for its position, the United States has swung from an excessive optimism in the 1990s that held that significant conflict was at an end to the wars against militant Islam after 9/11, wars that the United States could not avoid but also could not integrate into a multilayered global strategy. When the only global power becomes obsessed with a single region, the entire world is unbalanced. Imbalance remains the defining characteristic of the global system today.

While the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the European epoch, it also was the end of the era that began in 1945, and it was accompanied by a cluster of events that tend to accompany generational shifts. The 1989-1991 period marked the end of the Japanese economic miracle, the first time the world had marveled at an Asian power's sustained growth rate as the same power's financial system crumbled. The end of the Japanese miracle and the economic problem of integrating East and West Germany both changed the way the global economy worked. The 1991 Maastricht Treaty set the stage for Europe's attempt at integration and was the framework for Europe in the post-Cold War world. Tiananmen Square set the course for China in the next 20 years and was the Chinese answer to a collapsing Soviet empire. It created a structure that allowed for economic development but assured the dominance of the Communist Party. Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait was designed to change the balance of power in the Persian Gulf after the Iraq-Iran war and tested the United States' willingness to go to war after the Cold War.

In 1989-1991 the world changed the way it worked, whether measured in centuries or generations. It was an extraordinary period whose significance is only now emerging. It locked into place a long-term changing of the guard, where North America replaced Europe as the center of the international system. But generations come and go, and we are now in the middle of the first generational shift since the collapse of the European powers, a shift that began in 2008 but is only now working itself out in detail.

What happened in 2008 was one of the financial panics that the global capitalist system periodically suffers. As is frequently the case, these panics first generate political crises within nations, followed by changes in the relations among nations. Of these changes, three in particular are of importance, two of which are directly linked to the 2008 crisis. The first is the European financial crisis and its transformation into a political crisis. The second is the Chinese export crisis and its consequences. The third, indirectly linked to 2008, is the shift in the balance of power in the Middle East in favor of Iran.

The European Crisis

The European crisis represents the single most significant event that followed from the financial collapse of 2008. The vision of the European Union was that an institution that would bind France and Germany together would make the wars that had raged in Europe since 1871 impossible. The vision also assumed that economic integration would both join France and Germany together and create the foundations of a prosperous Europe. Within the context of Maastricht as it evolved, the European vision assumed that the European Union would become a way to democratize and integrate the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe into a single framework.

However, embedded in the idea of the European Union was the idea that Europe could at some point transcend nationalism and emerge as a United States of Europe, a single political federation with a constitution and a unified foreign and domestic policy. It would move from a free trade zone to a unified economic system to a single currency and then to further political integration built around the European Parliament, allowing Europe to emerge as a single country.

Long before this happened, of course, people began to speak of Europe as if it were a single entity. Regardless of the modesty of formal proposals, there was a powerful vision of an integrated European polity. There were two foundations for it. One was the apparent economic and social benefits of a united Europe. The other was that this was the only way that Europe could make its influence felt in the international system. Individually, the European states were not global players, but collectively they had the ability to become just that. In the post-Cold War world, where the United States was the sole and unfettered global power, this was an attractive opportunity.

The European vision was smashed in the aftermath of 2008, when the fundamental instability of the European experiment revealed itself. That vision was built around Germany, the world's second-largest exporter, but Europe's periphery remained too weak to weather the crisis. It was not so much this particular crisis; Europe was not built to withstand any financial crisis. Sooner or later one would come and the unity of Europe would be severely strained as each nation, driven by different economic and social realities, maneuvered in its own interest rather than in the interest of Europe.

There is no question that the Europe of 2012 operates in a very different way than it did in 2007. There is an expectation in some parts that Europe will, in due course, return to its old post-Cold War state, but that is unlikely. The underlying contradictions of the European enterprise are now revealed, and while some European entity will likely survive, it probably will not resemble the Europe envisioned by Maastricht, let alone the grander visions of a United States of Europe. Thus, the only potential counterweight to the United States will not emerge in this generation.

China and the Asian Model

China was similarly struck by the 2008 crisis. Apart from the inevitably cyclical nature of all economies, the Asian model, as seen in Japan and then in 1997 in East and Southeast Asia, provides for prolonged growth followed by profound financial dislocation. Indeed, growth rates do not indicate economic health. Just as it was for Europe, the 2008 financial crisis was the trigger for China.

China's core problem is that more than a billion people live in households earning less than $6 a day, and the majority of those earn less than $3 a day. Social tensions aside, the economic consequence is that China's large industrial plant outstrips Chinese consumer demand. As a result, China must export. However, the recessions after 2008 cut heavily into China's exports, severely affecting GDP growth and threatening the stability of the political system. China confronted the problem with a massive surge in bank lending, driving new investment and supporting GDP growth but also fueling rampant inflation. Inflation created upward pressure on labor costs until China began to lose its main competitive advantage over other countries.

For a generation, Chinese growth has been the engine of the global economic system, just as Japan was in the previous generation. China is not collapsing any more than Japan did. However, it is changing its behavior, and with it the behavior of the international system.

Looking Ahead

If we look at the international system as having three major economic engines, two of them -- Europe and China -- are changing their behavior to be less assertive and less influential in the international system. The events of 2008 did not create these changes; they merely triggered processes that revealed the underlying weaknesses of these two entities.

Somewhat outside the main processes of the international system, the Middle East is undergoing a fundamental shift in its balance of power. The driver in this is not the crisis of 2008 but the consequences of the U.S. was in the region and their termination. With the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, Iran has emerged as the major conventional power in the Persian Gulf and the major influence over Iraq. In addition, with the continued survival of the al Assad regime in Syria through the support of Iran, there is the potential for Iranian influence to stretch from western Afghanistan to the Mediterranean Sea. Even if the al Assad regime fell, Iran would still be well-positioned to assert its claims for primacy in the Persian Gulf.

Just as the processes unleashed in 1989-1991 defined the next 20 years, so, too, will the processes that are being generated now dominate the next generation. Still powerful but acutely off-balance in its domestic and foreign policies, the United States is confronting a changing world without yet having a clear understanding of how to deal with this world or, for that matter, how the shifts in the global system will affect it. For the United States strategically, the fragmentation of Europe, the transformation of global production in the wake of the Chinese economy's climax, and the dramatically increased power of Iran appear as abstract events not directly affecting the United States.

Each of these events will create dangers and opportunities for the United States that it is unprepared to manage. The fragmentation of Europe raises the question of the future of Germany and its relationship with Russia. The movement of production to low-wage countries will create booms in countries hitherto regarded as beyond help (as China was in 1980) and potential zones of instability created by rapid and uneven growth. And, of course, the idea that the Iranian issue can be managed through sanctions is a form of denial rather than a strategy.

Three major areas of the world are in flux: Europe, China and the Persian Gulf. Every country in the world will have to devise a strategy to deal with the new reality, just as 1989-1991 required new strategies. The most important country, the United States, had no strategy after 1991 and has no strategy today. This is the single most important reality of the world. Like the Spaniards, who, in the generation after Columbus' voyage, lacked a clear sense of the reality they had created, Americans have no clear sense of the world they find themselves in. This fact continues to define how the world works.

Therefore, we next turn to American strategy in the next 20 years and consider how it will reshape itself.

There are many gems of wisdom from this set of advice.

By Rey Anthony Chiu

Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes hailed members of the Bohol DAR employees Multi-Purpose Cooperative for their pro-active move to strengthen cooperation among its employees and help each other in tough times.

Gracing the 24th General Assembly of the multi-million cooperative which has now registered P 61 million in assets from a P12,840 paid up capital in 1991, Sec. de los Reyes urged strong partnerships between DAR employees and the agrarian reform beneficiaries considering that the government land reform program ends in 2014.

In his first visit to Bohol, the secretary also cited that the coop’s mission to uplift the economic condition of its members by creating appropriate interventions to develop a strong cooperation among its members through continuing education has borne fruit.

As his official message to DAR employees gathered at the Upper Cogon Gymnasium, the secretary called everyone to continue with their mandate of distributing lands to the landless while looking at it in its totality as the regional development it can bring.

The new secretary came to Bohol in time when former DAR Secretary now Representative Nasser Pangandaman also stepped into Bohol, a once in a lifetime historic incident for Bohol DAR coop members, said information officer Ma. Lydia Bantugan.

Initially organized in 1991 with 75 constituting members, DODARE started out as a financial assistance service center for its members.

The assistance was in the form of a loan with a measly 5% interest, but by prudent management, the coop settled for surpluses by each end of the year of operations.

Now branching out and diversifying to lending operations at 16% interest rates, the coop dangles salary, petty cash, motor vehicle, appliance, business, purchase orders and bonus loans, Bantugan said.

The coop, duly registered by the Cooperative Development Authority also opens up its savings and time deposits as quasi-bank starting 2003, according to Bantugan.

Aside from this, from its funds, the coop also put up its own building with an accompanying training center hall for rent, catering and lodging services in its BODARE Pension House located within the premises of the DAR office.

The track record of the coop can be gleaned with this data, she pointed out: in 1991, we only had 75 members, in 2011, we had 691 members availing of our services, she pointed out.

That is discounting the fact that a new member would be required to contribute P1,500 initial capital share, a P200 membership fee.

By: Rey Anthony Chiu

Wanting always to go right in its sustainable eco-cultural tourism destination dream, Bohol gets every help it can get, this time, from an international assistance group.

The German Technical Cooperation or Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) lends to Bohol the technical expertise of Nanda Ritsma, a Dutch national who has been assisting eco-tourism projects in Netherlands and in Bhutan where she worked for the tourism value chain in the Himalayas in the last six years, said Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Provincial Director Maria Elena Arbon.

At the tourism core group meeting held at the DTI Conference Hall Thursday, Director Arbon presented Ritsma to the core group members who gathered to review the outputs of the earlier tourism strategic planning workshops.

Ritsma is the latest foreign worker lending her technical assistance following a help the provincial tourism program got from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) through couple David and Fiona Aaron.

The Aarons worked with PROCESS, a Non Government Organization largely involved in implementing AusAID projects on community development and eco-tourism.

At the meeting attended by tourism, government and business sector representatives, Ritsma, who admitted she still has to immerse herself in the communities here, said she is excited especially when she finds a new kind of sectoral partnership which may be different from her past experiences.

During the meeting also, representatives sifted through the tourism strategic planning workshop outputs and pegged its next steps to advance Bohol eco-tourism industry into its dream of a sustainable industry that works out for the improvement of the people’s lives but also retaining the communities’ cultural identity.

For starters, everyone in the core group agreed that the province needs a massive Information Education and Communication program which should center on the new National Tourism Law and the Access Law (Republic Act 9442).

According to the group, IEC would also delve into the issues on Culture of Tourism, Environment Conservation, National Tourism Law and the National Tourism Development Program, Culture and Heritage Preservation, Product Development for Local Government Units and Eco-tourism.

Also, with a little more than 3,000 rooms available for Bohol and faced with an ever increasing tourist arrivals, stretching stay average, the lack issue of rooms surfaced as a sore issue the core group first tackled from the workshop outputs.

Next steps, according to the group include Training Needs Assessment (TNA) for front office, housekeeping, kitchen staff and stakeholders interested in a home-stay program in Bohol.

Pandanon Island in Bohol

by Ric V Obedencio
Bohol Standard

THERE’s more than meets the eye in the usual tourism sights and scenic sites in Bohol.

Aside from the usual underwater marine forest of beauty through diving deep down the sea floor off some of the popular dive sites in Bohol, there are other beauty of nature to ponder on. One of these is the existence black forest now discovered in Jagna town and another is the uncommon presence of the gentle ocean giant whale sharks that only a few tourists experienced sight-see or cavorting a few hundred meters off Pamilacan island, Baclayon.

Unknown to many, Jagna town boasts of its rare black coral life-forms that grow a few hundred meters off coastal Barangay Cantagay, said Alessadro Ponzo, a marine biologist of Physallus group.

He said that barangay and municipal officials are contemplating to protect these marine assets. One of the steps is to enlarge the size of “no-take zone” in the marine protected area (MPA) in this barangay. And later on, this could be transformed into regulated tourist attraction in scuba dive or plain snorkeling with a fee, not only to generate taxes but for conservation and protection efforts, he said.

Asked if these black corals are still in good or excellent condition, he said they could be. He added however that inventory of these is needed to find out how they are.

Ponzo said that these black corals must be protected at all times from poaching and illegal harvesting because they are rich source of jewelry-making industry worldwide. Some of these raw materials are used as medicine.

Smuggling of these black corals worth millions of dollars has emerged and luckily apprehended recently.

Barangay chairman Tanie Gaas of Pamilacan, an island barangay off Baclayon town, confirmed in an interview of the presence of whale sharks, a gentle mammoth mammal. He said that these marine mammals always frequent here a few hundred meters of the island’s fish sanctuary apparently for foraging.

Ponzo, who has been scouring Bohol seas for marine research and conservation for quite sometime, confirmed this, saying that this mammals should also be protected to the fullest.

Captain Gaas said he also learned that these sea mammals are reportedly being fed by tourists while swimming and frolicking with them.

Ponzo said if he has his way he should discourage the man-made feeding of these creatures as what is happening now in Oslob, Cebu province, where thousands of tourists flock almost everyday to see and experience the whale sharks.

by Bohol Standard

Very soon, the Provincial Government of Bohol (PGBh) will be conducting trainings down to the barangays for responders in cases of emergencies, calamities, rescue operations and peace and order situations, said Gov. Edgar M. Chatto.

The Chatto-Lim Administration’s overarching development framework of HEAT Bohol LIFE HELPS which encompasses everything from health and education down to youth development and peace and order situations is now focusing on its Countryside Development Program.

Aptly called Purok Power Movement (PPM), the PGBh’s “soldiers for progress,” the Prosperity Teams (PRO-TEAMS), are currently conducting peace and development operations in the barangays to empower communities from the Purok level for sustainable development and just and lasting peace.

Gov. Chatto, seeing that Bohol does not need a one-shot solution but a well-put plan which could withstand calamities and time, has awakened the Purok level in our barangays which has laid dormant for a long time to strengthen the people within.

“Please do understand that this is NOT a dole-out; the purok is empowered to solve its own problems,” Chatto clarified. “This is why we are making people see that every problem is everyone’s concern, every solution imminent if everyone is involved.”

These PRO-TEAMS are now packaging the trainings “in coordination and in relation to peace-keeping efforts by giving lightning-fast response to calamities in every nook and cranny of the province.”

In line with the mandate of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), Provincial Administrator Alfonso Damalerio II, also the Peace and Security Cluster Head, gathered all national, local, line agencies and even the academe Thursday to discuss with everyone the importance of fast response to mitigate emergency and life-threatening situations.

Damalerio expounded on the flow of information from the time it is first received by the Telephone and Radio Systems Integrated Emergency Response (TaRSIER 117) and the path it takes to reach the proper agencies concerned for fast action and proper solution.

It is the mandate of TaRSIER 117, which was created via Executive Order (EO) 7-A, to adopt a holistic, comprehensive, integrated and pro-active approach to emergencies to lessen the socio-economic and environmental impacts of disasters including climate change and promote the involvement and participation of all sectors and all stakeholders concerned, especially the Local Government Units (LGUs).

Understanding this, Chatto is committed to lessen crime volume in the province and mitigate disastrous situations by laying down a strong foundation in the heart of the community to make people see how awareness can ease the burden of calamities and criminalities.

Thus, the collaborative efforts of TaRSIER 117 and the PPM.

The Philippines is sitting on the typhoon belt of the Pacific Ocean and on the Pacific Ring of Fire, making the entire country, including Bohol, extremely vulnerable to typhoons, earthquakes, tsunamis, floodings and storm surges, a fact worsened by the deteriorating condition of the environment and the dwindling natural resources of the country.

For the last four decades, tropical cyclones, floods, flashfloods, fire, earthquakes and armed conflicts are the top hazards afflicting the Filipinos, incurring billions of pesos of damage every year.

The Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) under Col. Constantino Barot, Jr., and the 802nd Brigade of Col. John Bonafos have their own versions of the PRO-TEAMS: the Barangay Peace-Keeping Action Team of the PNP composed of barangay tanods and interested individuals; and the Peace and Development Teams (PDTs) and the Community Organizing for Countryside Development of the 802nd, respectively.

By: Atty. Julius Gregory B. Delgado, J.D.

The Association of Young Boholanos in Metro Manila, Inc. (AYBM), through its Committee on Boholano Heritage, Culture and the Arts, in cooperation with the University of the Philippines Kadugong Bol-anon, organized a post-Valentine’s Fellowship dubbed as “Bayle Bol-anon Tibuok Kalibutan” last February 18, 2012 at the Bonsai Garden at UP Diliman Campus.

The Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of the AYBM decided to offer the traditional community dance Bayle as the activity for February since majority of AYBM’s members have not experienced Bayle way back in Bohol. The activity, which was also a fund-raising activity of the organization for its charitable works, also catered those young Boholanos who were regulars in Baylehan way back in Bohol.

The activity opened up with “It’s a Date”, a dating game with single Boholana searchee asking questions to three good-looking Boholanos who were vying for a chance to date the searchee. The Boholana searchee was Zilpah Sagaysay of Tubigon, a graduate of the Philippine Science High School and finished BA Political Science in Far Eastern University magna cum laude. She currently works in the corporate world of the Philippine National Bank while taking-up law at the same time. The good-looking Boholano candidates were Eric Tañedo of Fatima University, IT Analyst Josh Bongato and former seminarian-turned stock broker Jeff Jamonil. The searchee asked the candidates ten (10) questions such as “Would you change your religion for me?” or “Your mother, yourself and I are in a sinking ship, who will you save and why?” In the end, the searchee chose and expressed her desire to know better Mr. Jamonil, a graduate of the Immaculate of Heart of Mary Seminary.

After the dating game, the main event started with DJ Bart (Aldrin Constantino of Tubigon) announcing the mechanics of the Bayle. DJ Bart explained that the dance will be governed by a ticketing system (Blue Ticket â€" Sayaw sa Tanan; Yellow Ticket â€" Special Group Dance; and Red Ticket â€" Special Exclusive Dance). DJ Bart, assisted by Sound Technician Anklin Galoso of Tagbilaran, played hot to warm-up the participants and then followed by a series of sweet mellow music such as songs from Air Supply, Bon Jovi, Bryan Adams, Jose Mari Chan, Journey, J Brothers, James Ingram, Whitney Houston. The first group dance (Yellow Ticket for P100.00) was sponsored by the Guidulmanons led by internationally-acclaimed Boholano visual artist Sam Penaso who danced with the beautiful nurse from Duero, Ms. Isolde Bernil.

After the first part of the Bayle, an intermission number followed. Mr. Don Quizon, an SGV accountant, awed the attendees with his acoustic guitar skills. Mr. Quizon, while playing the guitar, sang together with Ms. Catherine Laurden, an attractive nurse from Calape, the song “Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang”. After the intermission number, the February birthday celebrants were honored. Atty. Nelso Getigan, former President of the AYBM, and Anklin Galoso, who generously took care of the sounds and lights for the event, were presented a birthday cake and a community singing of birthday song followed.

The second part of the Bayle again started with a hot music and DJ Bart later on played series of romantic songs to accommodate special group dance and special exclusive dance requests. Most of the attendees went home smiling as they can now say and brag that once in their lives they have tried Bayle Bol-anon even here in the metropolis. Bayle will always have special place among the rich Boholano traditions. More than expressing romantic fervor, Bayle Bol-anon serves as a reaffirmation of your belongingness to a certain community. Often times, Bayle Bol-anon is being held to raise funds for a community project. Although some pundits notice its state of near oblivion, the AYBM is committed in preserving the said tradition and hence, will conduct a yearly Bayle Bol-anon as highlight for its February fellowship.

by Bohol Standard

With Governor Edgar Chatto’s report of the State of the Province Address last Friday, accomplishments under the Philippines Provincial Road Management Facility (PRMF) were some of the highlights of the SOPA delivered during the provincial government’s weekly radio program Kita Ug Ang Gobernador.

The governor acknowledged how many of Bohol’s strides in development have been facilitated by the province’s partnership with Official Development Assistance (ODA) agencies, with the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) as its leading ODA partner, through the PRMF.

Primarily a reform program for road maintenance, especially in the repair, rehabilitation, and maintenance of the province’s gravel roads, PRMF has placed emphasis on the implementation of road development projects to meet national government and industry standards for high-quality, all-weather gravel roads.

In 2011 alone, PRMF physical works totaled P73.9 million, covering 21.11 kilometers of priority road networks and directly providing improved road access to 112,259 residents of 73 barangays from 19 of the province’s municipalities.

Chatto stressed that in 2012, this commitment will increase in terms of the funding allocated and distance covered in the form of maintenance contracts, road rectification works, and road rehabilitation projects.

With infrastructure a basic requirement for development, funding and technical support from counterparts, and even from the national government, have greatly enhanced the scope and reach of the provincial government’s resources while highlighting its strong commitment for infrastructure.

The provincial government has currently 164 road sections running well over 800 kilometers and requiring repair, rehabilitation, and maintenance even as the province faces the limited availability of local funds.

Contributing in great part to Bohol’s infrastructure programs and chief among road development projects of the provincial government, which together with national government counterparts contribute a bulk of P419.7 million to the P748 million from internal and external resources allocated last year for infrastructure, the PRMF is supported by the Australian Government Aid Program and implemented by the Department of the Interior and Local Government with the provincial government.

The PRMF has made possible the creation for the first time of comprehensive provincial road maps based on actual road condition surveys, the updating of data in the determination of core road networks which serve the most constituents and are most in need of repair or rehabilitation, the conduct of video tagging to enable legislators to see actual road conditions without having to travel to the respective road sections, and the creation of a road maintenance map scheduling routine and periodic road maintenance.

With the holding of the province’s second Road Summit in October last year, the PRMF also instituted community participation in the management, maintenance, and even in the design and construction of roads through its launching of the Adopt-a-Road Program, initially through three projects in the municipalities of San Isidro, Catigbian, and Dauis.

The PRMF also made possible the drafting of the Provincial Road Network Development Plan, as a component of the Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan and the institutionalization of the Provincial Internal Audit Office.

Yet another of the program’s components has led to transparency, improved efficiency in tax collection and processing, and local revenue generation.

Through the implementation of the component program Enhanced Tax Revenue Assessment and Collection System or eTRACS, implemented in partnership with the Provincial Treasurer’s Office, the Provincial Assessor’s Office, and the Bohol Information and Communications Technology Unit of the Office of the Governor, the province and the eTRACS pilot municipalities have posted mostly double percentage digit increases in the collection of business taxes, with an average of about 32 %, with some even as high as 59 %. Comparing quarters from 2010 to 2011, the most notable of these is Dimiao’s 73 % increase in business taxes collected.

Another major component of the PRMF is capacity development, amounting to P11.8 million in 2011, which also covered equipment and ICT hardware and software support.

Among the trainings facilitated under capacity development was the recent Constructors Performance Evaluation System accreditation seminar for staff of the Provincial Engineer’s Office, as with trainings on detailed engineering design covering topographic surveys, geotechnical studies, and highway engineering design, among others.

The governor also noted that the province’s partnership with PRMF has improved capacities in key governance functions, such as: planning-budgeting linkage, public finance management, monitoring and evaluation, environmental management, internal audit, human resource management, procurement, and public-private partnership.

With the PRMF, the province has also accomplished such other milestones as the Executive and Legislative Agenda, Human Resource Management and Development Plan, Strategic Financial Management Plan, and Bohol Information Systems Plan.

by Bohol Standard

A government is characterized by the health care it gives to the poor, deprived, and underserved people. So reads the signage just before you exit the Francisco Dagohoy Municipal Hospital in Inabanga. It is conceivably one principle Gov. Edgar M. Chatto lives by as he came to visit the district hospital on Monday.

A day before his 52nd birthday, Chatto was with Internal Affairs Executive Assistant and in charge of infrastructure Engr. Ben Redulla to inspect project developments in the hospital.

An administration building had been put up to make way for the conversion of the current administrative office into private rooms.

A P5M construction of a Basic Basic Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (BEmONC) facility is also ongoing at the back of the existing hospital building.

The Department of Health introduced this form of hospital upgrade to revise the current newborn practices in line with Millenium Development Goal 4 of the World Health Organization which is the Reduction of Maternal and Child Mortality by 2015.

Chatto also made the rounds of facilities, equipment, and staff with hospital chief Dr. Nestor Jumao-as to assess needs and improvements for the provision of primary health care.

Just last Friday at his State of the Province Address, Chatto pronounced the implementation of the Hospital Modernization Program this year. The plan serves a two-pronged purpose: to raise the quality of their medical services; and to increase their revenue-generation capacity.

Partnerships with DOST and UP Manila on a data profiling software system, food production technology specific to address child nutrition as well as access to expertise in the area of mental health are also in the works.

from Bohol Standard

By: Rey Anthony Chiu

Better understanding of eco-tourism and its diverse activities came to Batuan tourism stakeholders during a two-day Eco-tourism Orientation Seminar and Bohol Eco-Tourism Situationer workshop last February 20-21 at the Balay sa Humay.

Training coordinator Chona Digamon of the Batuan Colleges said the gab is part of the Japan International Cooperation Agency approved action plan she proposed during a 2010 Eco-Tourism Management Training held in different venues in Japan.

She said the training series she proposed centered on Human Resource Development includes a series of capacity and skills building workshops for local tourism stakeholders within the Batuan Tourism circuits.

Set in a place literally strewn with a generous amount of Chocolate Hills, “Batuanons and its tourism stakeholders have been hearing the term eco-tourism, but most of them do not really understand the complexity of the term and its underlying philosophy, the outspoken Digamon admits.

The training inputs include Carlos M. Libosada’s Ecotourism in the Philippines, the Making of Bohol as a prime Eco-tourism Destination with a strong agro-industry, as presented by Philippine Information Agency in Bohol.

The training also immersed the local stakeholders in activities like identifying eco-tourism destinations in the province and then assessing their readiness to go full blast on eco-tourism.

Training participants for the two-day activity include 14 tourism officers, hotel and restaurant management students as well as the pool of local tour guides based at the Balay sa Humay rice boutique.

Balay sa Humay is part of a new eco-tourism product of Batuan which has attempted to open as a venue for tourist immersion into a rice-producing community.

The Batuan community life tour includes a guided tour at the Balay sa Humay: rice museum and a rice production walk at the ground floor of the Balay sa Humay Training Center.

Also integrated in the training is basic community tour-guiding where Philippine Information Agency shared inputs based on national standards.

Other relevant inputs were also given by Gaudencio Dumapias, ship captain and owner of a now emerging destination in town: the Shiphaus.

By Bohol Standard

The plan of putting up a new public cemetery in the town of Guindulman had raised various issues; topped by environment, health and sanitation concerns.

In a joint committee hearing called by Sangguniang Panlalawigan environmental protection chairman Abeleon Damalerio, a report from the provincial health office revealed that water samples supplied to 10 barangays served by the local waterworks system had shown contamination that endangers health of the people.

The site of the proposed cemetery project in Barangay Guio-ang is an area where the underground springs and pumping wells of the waterworks system are also located.

PHO head Dr. Reymoses Cabagnot said aside from the other issues involved in the plan for a cemetery/ memorial park, the primary consideration should focus on the health safeguards or effects on the water supply in the area.

The Guindulman Ilaw ng Buhay Water and Sanitation Service Cooperative (GUINBUWASSCO), the water system operator in the town earlier sent a Board resolution to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and to Governor Edgar Chatto to help them convince Guindulman Mayor Maria Fe Piezas not to pursue the cemetery project in Barangay Guio-ang citing the source of water located in the same area.

Mayor Piezas, in presenting the project profile said the memorial park type of cemetery will not involved land excavation but is designed in niches above the ground and patterned after the Tagum City Memorial Park which has won various awards.

GUINBUWASSCO Chairman of the Board Ramon Castro said in explaining their position that they are not against the project; in fact they admire the visions of the Mayor.

“What we are asking is that the LGU looks for another site, but not in Guio-ang for the source of the water supply is within the subterranean level of the area. Cemetery, no mater how modern is the design is still subject to natural changes resulting from calamities or man made disasters. When this happens, the water supply source will be affected,” Castro said.

It was also found out that the Municipal Planning and Development Office had not consulted with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board which is the proper agency that regulates cemetery and memorial park projects.

HLURB regulations prohibits establishment of memorial parks/ cemeteries in areas where there are water sources within 4.05 below ground level and in areas where there are communities (subdivisions), main traffic arteries, churches and schools.

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer Nestor Canda said such cemetery project indeed elicits various opposition and other issues.

By: Rey Anthony Chiu

Other than its Business One-Stop-Shop (BOSS) attaining a record P1.4B new investment in 2011, Bohol still keeps two more aces in getting its people the needed economic uplift-ment.

According to Bohol Trade and Industry Specialist Blair Panong, besides the BOSS showing an efficient business enabling environment, the Business Permits and Licensing System (BPLS) and its Electronic Tax Revenue Assessment and Collection System, also accounted to record increases in new investments here, which may indicate brighter future for Boholanos.

At the Kapihan sa PIA, Panong also stressed that Bohol’s “exceeding the expectations” in its P1.6 billion investments to date, (including the new investments in the first two months of the first quarter) can only mean that a trickle down effect to decrease the poor and the jobless in Bohol could not be far behind.

Records from the BOSS showed that while the office gathers investment data, it shows minimum capitalization average of P3,000 for micro-business and P200 million for medium enterprise in 2011.

“Even then, each of these would demand workers, which could significantly cut Bohol’s unemployed,” he said.

“And by receiving pay, their purchasing power improves, and the economy ultimately rises with it,” he adds.

“All of this for streamlining the business processes and showing that the government is serious in generating funds for its service delivery,” Panong said.

“Beyond the relative ease in starting business at the BOSS, a parallel BPLS is being set in 26 out of 47 towns,” pointed Governor Edgar Chatto, during his last week’s State of the Province Address.

The BPLS is a government led intervention for responding to the high cost of making business in the country on account of bureaucratic red-tape.

Seeing this as a constraint to competitiveness, a move to standardize the processes in acquiring business permits was pushed to significantly cut time and nip on corruption by reducing the number of signatories and potential grease money needed.

“Bohol targets getting the BPLS adopted in the remaining 21 more towns,” according to Chatto.

Sources said breaching the P2 Billion new investments mark in 2012 could not be as far-fetched for Bohol.

On the other hand, Boholanos believe the Enhanced Tax Revenue Assessment and Collection System (eTRACS) could hand in more impressive revenue generation records this year.

Implemented through the partnership of the Provincial Treasurer’s Office (PTO), Provincial Assessor’s Office (PAssO) and the Bohol Information and Communications Technology Unit (BICTU) under the Office of the Governor, the eTRACS in pilot towns resulted in increases in municipal revenues, at an average of 32% among all pilot municipalities, and even as high as 59% in some cases, Chatto shared last week.

By: Rey Anthony Chiu

Come hell or high water, out of sheer dedication, most barangay health workers (BHWs) go absurd lengths to deliver much needed government health services to the grassroots, said Trinidad Mayor Roberto Cajes.

At the recently concluded Trinidad Barangay Health Workers Congress, Cajes pointed out that “health workers sometimes go out in the dead of a stormy night, pursue mountainous trails when summoned for much needed health services.”

“This deserves appreciation,” he said.

For that, Trinidad, through its local officials handed in rubber boots and raincoats to each of the towns’ 162 BHWs to help get them to where those needing their services.

This is our small gesture of thanks and appreciation and this could even motivate our grassroots health advocates to work harder to keep the health and welfare of their co-barangay residents at their prime, he said, according to information officer Jojeline Ruiz-Buendia.

At the recent BHW Congress held at the Trinidad Gymnasium last February 21, town BHW coordinator Alicia Balonga said 157 of the town’s 162 attended the gathering to update the health volunteers of the recent developments in the provincial health and nutrition programs.

The BHW Congress adopted the Theme: “Nagkahiusang serbisyong Panglawas alang sa Himsug ug Malipayong Trinidadnon, Buendia said.

These 162 workers all come from the 20 barangays of the town and have been assigned to take care of the health conditions of people in a cluster of houses or puroks, she added.

Congress guest speaker Machiavelia Caliao, BHW provincial Coordinator hailed Trinidad for its gesture and heaped praises upon the town leaders for their clear gesture of unwavering support to the network of barangay pro-health teams.]deliver[/url] much needed government health services to the grassroots, said Trinidad Mayor Roberto Cajes.

At the recently concluded Trinidad Barangay Health Workers Congress, Cajes pointed out that “health workers sometimes go out in the dead of a stormy night, pursue mountainous trails when summoned for much needed health services.”

“This deserves appreciation,” he said.

For that, Trinidad, through its local officials handed in rubber boots and raincoats to each of the towns’ 162 BHWs to help get them to where those needing their services.

This is our small gesture of thanks and appreciation and this could even motivate our grassroots health advocates to work harder to keep the health and welfare of their co-barangay residents at their prime, he said, according to information officer Jojeline Ruiz-Buendia.

At the recent BHW Congress held at the Trinidad Gymnasium last February 21, town BHW coordinator Alicia Balonga said 157 of the town’s 162 attended the gathering to update the health volunteers of the recent developments in the provincial health and nutrition programs.

The BHW Congress adopted the Theme: “Nagkahiusang serbisyong Panglawas alang sa Himsug ug Malipayong Trinidadnon, Buendia said.

These 162 workers all come from the 20 barangays of the town and have been assigned to take care of the health conditions of people in a cluster of houses or puroks, she added.

Congress guest speaker Machiavelia Caliao, BHW provincial Coordinator hailed Trinidad for its gesture and heaped praises upon the town leaders for their clear gesture of unwavering support to the network of barangay pro-health teams.

by bohol standard

A new irrigation facility is hoped to enhance food production that complements the ever-growing tourism industry in Loboc.

The essential farm system, including its lining canal, was inaugurated on Friday led by National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Regional Manager Diosdado Rosales.

It benefits the rice farmers in barangay Bagumbayan where agriculture is a main job and livelihood generator.

Vice Mayor Louie Digal said irrigation is one way to improving farm harvest and, therefore, responding to the increasing food demand of tourism industry.

Tourism is a major economic modifier in Loboc.

Digal said the irrigation project got P1.2 million from Third District Rep. Arthur Yap, although the farmers likewise thanked the vice mayor for helping them address their concern.

Yap, whose wife is a Lobocanon, is a former agriculture secretary.

An additional allocation of P1 million is expected next year to further develop the irrigation facility, the vice mayor said.

Rosales committed the amount during the blessing and inauguration.

Digal said that while improving farm capacity can complement with tourism as in the case of his town, the farmers and their families to be its direct and immediate beneficiaries is inarguable.

Bohol-wide, agricultural enhancement for food self-sufficiency right in the household level is a focal thrust of Gov. Edgar Chatto.

by Bohol Standard

PANGLAO, Bohol â€" Senator Antonio Trillanes candidly said he considers that the EDSA celebration as an unfinished struggle towards change in governance.

“Sa totoo lang, hindi pa tapos and laban tungo sa pagbabago,” he stressed in Tagalog in an excusive interview at Dumaluan Resort in Panglao yesterday where he was welcomed by former Panglao Mayor Dr. Doloreich Dumaluan.

Earlier, the senator, who is now sits as senator-judge in the on-going impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona, met and graced the gathering of the would-be members of what he called Samahang Magdalo, Tagbilaran chapter with provincial coordinator Jerry Pabe at Barangay Cogon hall in this city.

Even if former President Cory Aquino, the mother of incumbent P-Noy has started it (referring to EDSA) but “we have backslide” so many times, in fact, “we have stepped backward.”

by Bohol Standard

The Bohol Environment Management Office is now closely monitoring abandoned quarries, some of them formerly operated by the provincial government, due to environmental risk and hazard to safety of nearby residents.

Leonilo Lafuente, head of BEMO said his office is coordinating with the office of the Provincial Engineer to check on quarry sites that had been issued gratuitous permits as source of quarry materials for road projects.

Investigation on the incident in Candabong, Anda where two truck helpers were buried alive revealed that the side of an excavated quarry site that collapsed was an abandoned quarry of the provincial government.

The quarry which used to be operated by the province looks abandoned with very deep excavation and access road hard to pass through.

Two young children were also recently buried alive and found dead following a landslide of an old quarry in Maribojoc town while they were asleep on an old bunker house below.

lisawalecki.com
Lisa Walecki, noted Lyric Soprano, hails from British Columbia, Canada and currently calls Denver, Colorado her home. She came to the United States to complete her Master of Music in Greeley, Colorado, after which she was accepted into Opera Colorado's prestigious young artist program.

mattburkhalter.com
After graduation, Matt Burkhalter returned to Atlanta where he began working as a designer in print publications. Recently, he was a designer for Premier Exhibitions working in development of new proposals and on show advertising, education materials, exhibition signage and more for Bodies... the Exhibition, Bodies Revealed, and Titanic the Artifact Exhibition.

ryanjordanonline.com
In 2011, Ryan Jordan's "For A Little While" reached #27 on the A/C Hot Main chart and #44 on the A/C Hot 100. Ryan Jordan proved to be charming and original in a modern age of electronic music and is currently in studio recording three additional tracks to complete his second studio album.

A new type of Scam Letter. Beware.

I'm writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and i came down here to Manila, Philippines for a short vacation to visit a resort and got mugged at gun point last night at the park of the hotel where we lodged.All cash,credit cards and cell were stolen off me. thank God i still have my passport ID with me, I've been to the embassy and the Police here but they're not helping issues at all,our flight leaves today and I'm having problems settling the hotel bills, we still have some money in our account but we don't have access to it right from here.

The hotel manager won't let us leave until i settle the hotel bills($2,700 USD)now am freaked out.Please reply and let me if can you have the money wire to me through Western Union i promise to pay back as soon as i get back home.

Best Regards,

Nazaretha Cortez-Villacruz
MSBA,BSHRM- cumlaude
Lecturer  & Program Coordinator-Hotel Management
The Professional Bar and Restaurant School
Auckland,New Zealand

Just a bad timing.

188 Pesos Cebu Pacific Promo 2012 Trips

Cebu Pacific Air Promo: Cheap Fare to Xiamen, China

Cebu Pacific Promo: Cheap Ticket to Macau

Pastilan Pud Ning Pangutanaha

by PNA

The Cebu City Council has passed an ordinance establishing the Cebu City College and allocating funds for the institution of higher learning that will cater to the “poor but deserving constituents of Cebu City.”

The ordinance was filed by Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young and was co-authored by Councilors Rodrigo Abellanosa, Margarita Osmena, Alvin Dizon and Ronald Cuenco.

The newly-approved ordinance states that the City Government will need an initial appropriation of P5 million to start the college.

Once operational, the college will derive its funds from tuition and miscellaneous fees, the City Government, National government or its agencies, foreign governments, private persons, private organizations and institutions and such other sources that are not prohibited by law.

The ordinance will take effect 15 days after its publication in a newspaper of general circulation.

Based on the ordinance, the new Cebu City College will absorb the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program offered by the Cebu City Medical Center-College of Nursing in consortium with the Cebu Technological University.

It will also offer courses that are recognized by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The operations of the college will be overseen by a governing body, which will be composed of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, a college president who will be appointed, chairman of the City Council’s committee on education, head of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) 7, head of the Department of Education-Cebu City Division, Cebu provincial director of TESDA and three representatives from the private sector.

Hisgut-hisgot sa mga butang sa kinabuhi nga palamuot usahay...

By Anthony R. Aniscal

A senator and an AFP general declared yesterday that poverty and (lack of)education are the main enemies of the state which need to be seriously addressed in order to eradicate the existence of armed groups like the New People's Army (NPA).

This was the common view shared by former soldier and now Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Major General Charlie Holganza, national commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines ' National Development Support Command (AFP-NDSC).

Holganza and Trillanes personally visited station DYRD yesterday morning and were simultaneously interviewed over the top-rated weekly program "Radio Merkado.”

by PNA

Davao Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte rebuked the telecommunication firms for tinkering with the accessibility of the Emergency Response Center Central 911 without informing the local government.

Speaking in Sunday’s public affairs program, “Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa,” he said Smart and Globe telecommunications made changes in accessing the 911 which is apart from the original agreement that the contact be simplified by directly dialing 911.

Duterte stressed this emergency number 911 has been bannered in all overpasses in the city to inform the people of the number to call for medical, police and other emergency assistance.

He affirmed receiving numerous complaints from the residents that the 911 is no longer accessible directly through the cellular phone.

Duterte said Smart added asterisk before dialing 911 while dialing 911 cannot be accessed through Globe.

“You made money out of the people of Davao City. You were making changes without the courtesy of informing the local government,” he said.

Duterte pointed out it takes common sense to inform the government of the changes in order to also make the people informed about the change in making emergency calls.

He said these companies have been appealing to him to intercede in the protection of their towers and facilities from rebel attacks.

“Suddenly, you made changes without even the mere courtesy of informing the mayor by publishing the changes in broadsheets or crawlers on television, because it is critical for the people to be informed of the changes in the number,” Duterte said.

He warned that these firms will lose millions of pesos because of discourtesy.

Duterte said he will take the issue to the city council where he will seek for the appearance of the decision-makers of these firms.

“I will ask the city council to summon you, and if you will not appear before the city council, I will apply for a motion in court to cite you for contempt,” he said.

Duterte said the telecommunication firms simply ignored a part of governance that involves them and the government.

He said the local government has been very kind in asking the NPAs to spare on telcos’ behalf the latters' facilities from destruction.

Customize the Perfect Gift or Create Something New

What Can You Say About People Power?

Sa ato pa, ingnon tang pulonga nga mag-one-on-one counselling kintahay mo, Hubs.

The Philippine Star Website Redesigned and It Sucks Big Time

The philstar.com archives dating back as early as year 2000 are all gone. I hope Philippine Star would restore the original version of its website.

Botoy,

Unsa man diay pud ang imong tumong ug tinguha nga buot ka man makighibalag ni Burdened.

by Emily Marcelo

DEAR EMILY,

I am a 43-year-old single mom to an eight-year-old daughter. My husband died eight years ago, before our daughter’s birth, and we’ve been living with my parents since. I am working as a school nurse and my salary is really not enough for us.

My problem started when I met an 82-year-old divorced American guy who was introduced to me by a friend. She said this guy wanted to meet me, but she warned me that he is old enough to be my father.

When we finally talked, I found him interesting, with a sense of humor, and clearly old.  When he proposed, I readily said yes. I thought about the future of my child, as well as a comfortable life for my parents.

While we were talking, he said he was going to tell me something he didn’t want to hide from me before our relationship deepened. He confessed that he was my mother’s former boyfriend! I got cold sweat and was dizzy for a while, and when I came around, I asked him what went wrong.

He said my grandmother didn’t approve of him then because he was a drunkard and a womanizer. My mother married a businessman instead, who is my dad.

I will be getting my fiancée’s visa in eight months, and I don’t know how to tell my mother about him. I am now worried about the future of my daughter.

â€"BURDENED

Do you need money that badly to be getting married to this old guy?

Your mother must be around your boyfriend’s age by now. Ask her if she ever met this certain American. Then let her re-live what she remembers of him. Could her memory of him still be lucid, you think? If she recalls their time together with passion, tread slowly and ask how she feels about him now. But if she sounds ambivalent, go for it and tell her. The shortest distance between two points is still a straight line. Tell her exactly what your plans with him are.

How sure are you that your future and your daughter’s will be secure with your marriage to this old guy? Since he must know that you are not coming in for the sexual experience, is he comfortable to be your sugar daddy? Has he stashed away enough cash to give you two a life of comfort?

You are a nurse, and you must know how comforting and attractive that is to an 82-year-old man. Face itâ€"imagine home care! He may not look his age, but how long before parts of him start breaking down? Are you prepared to give him the care he will need? Will you have the devotion he will be expecting from this marriage? Do you have the patience and stamina for a long and saintly haul?

Your situation looks surmountable on paper because your case is clearly not unique or unheard ofâ€"a young girl getting married to an old man.  But, is your mind prepared to go through life with him, in spite of the money? And what if he still carries a torch for your mother and actually wants to get to her through youâ€"what now?

Are you sure you’ve tried every available means to get a better job? Remember the saying, “from the frying pan into the fire?”  Or the Filipino saying, “nasa banig na, pumunta pa sa sahig?”

Long story short: things may not turn out as rosy as you dream them to be.

So, don't be the early worm.

Bohol Quality BQ Mall Is So Hot
Reason: aircondition is turned off as early as 6 or 7 p.m. that is the suspicion of most shoppers.

but icm, alturas, and plaza marcela never shut down their aircon until the last shopper has left.

Tricycle drivers in Tagbilaran City have been considered by thousands of travelers as worst in the Philippines.

They demand exorbitant fares for a very short trip.

Tricycle drivers in Tagbilaran do not exemplify the culture and character of the Boholano people.

by Fred Amora
Bohol Standard

Prehistoric artifacts, including a human skull and earthen wares, have been dug up at Sukgang Cavern, barangay Tayong of this town, by archeologists of Philippine National Museum, which, if after carbon dating process could prove that Bohol island was once inhabited by ancient people during or even before Christ’s time.

Municipal councilor Hermes Entero of this historical town bared this during an exclusive interview yesterday at his residence of Bool, Tagbilaran City. His revelation is corroborated by curator Charlemeine Titangco, officer-in-charge of National Museum Bohol branch in this city.

Philippine National Museum (PNM) archeologist Ame Garong also confirmed the ancient finds but the relics were now at the Manila National Museum for more study. She said in her e-mail reply to this writer that the NM would soon conduct a full-blown archeological digging at the site to determine the richness of the cavern, which is just a few meters across the national highway near the border of Lila town.

by Rey Anthony Chiu

Taking off from a national tourism campaign line, Governor Edgar Chatto’s administration unrolled a banner marketing program for Bohol tourism industry, which comes out amid a Department of Tourism’s catchphrase “It’s more fun in the Philippines.”

At the State of the Province Address the governor delivered before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) and invited sectoral leaders in Bohol, the governor, who has been credited as one of those who crafted the Bohol Eco-Cultural Tourism vision in the late 1990’s revealed the marketing program for Bohol’s tourism is “Bohol: Heart of the Islands,” and “Bohol has it all, and it’s all in Bohol.”

“These are the core messages that we are sending out to the world, through a strong, sustained tourism promotion and marketing program,” the governor said during a forum heard simultaneously in most parts of Bohol.

When he was vice governor then, Chatto orchestrated the crafting of a province-wide vision and mission and identified eco-cotural tourism as among economic engines for Bohol’s wholistic development.

Chatto then cited that Bohol’s rich natural resources, high biodiversity and gentle friendly people makes it an ideal magnet for tourists.

Hailed as the place where the friendliness is so eloquently shown by the Sandugo: first recorded international treaty of friendship and consequently the place where the seed of the United Nations was sowed, Bohol’s hospitable people makes the island a destination because of its people.

“We want tourists and visitors to realize that Bohol is “Authentically Philippines,” and with our pristine environment and emphasis on local arts and culture, through our Center for Culture and Arts Development, they will see what is authentically Filipino,” Chatto said in a packed SP Session Hall, Friday February 17.

“The Bohol Tourism thrust is all about recognizing what Bohol truly is â€" the heart of the Philippine Islands â€" both geographically and culturally,” the multi-awarded young leader stressed.

“We are at the heart of the Visayas and, culturally, Bohol is authentically Philippines,” he reiterated.

We want the world to understand that much more than the trifecta of Loboc, Chocolate Hills and the Tarsier, we have the five pillars of tourism, and we want Bohol to be discovered and rediscovered annually by tourists, eventually becoming a perennial destination.

According to Chatto, the marketing program is an outcome of the Tourism Summits conducted through the Bohol Tourism Office (BTO) which were aimed at ensuring sustainable growth of tourism industry and unify the tourism marketing of our municipalities with one voice. (RAC)

What a painful fate! Indeed we belong to a better generation and race.

Kung ang bata mokatawa, moingon ang mga katiguwangan nga gigitik sa angel nga magbalantay.

Karon ang pangutana, unsay porma sa dakong tawo nga gigitik sa iyang angel nga magbalantay?

Tinuod bitaw, daghang wala malipay. Didto sa Cambodia, kung taga Cambodia ka, libre ka mosulod sa Angkor Wat. Ang mga langyaw o tourist lang ang mobayad ug entrance fee. Diri sa Bohol, kung taga Bohol ka, libre na unta nang Chocolate Hills kay taga Bohol gud ka.

The Artistic Wedding

2012 Rotary Convention in Bangkok Thailand

Murag biktima pud diay sya sa Sendong.

Mao nay tambag, dalang kasaba. Way lipud-lipod. Ang kamatuoran lang.

di na molabok kay kuwang ug sikad.

dakong dimalas kung tanan humok na.

In the News Wires:

A clinic doctor surnamed Li said Zhu, about 1.7 meters in height, entered the clinic around 11:40am, saying he felt hurt in his crotch, and asked for anesthetics.

Li said she saw blood on his pants and she told him the anesthetics here were used for teeth. After thinking for a while, Zhu left the clinic.

Witnesses said Zhu went to a fruit store on the campus and suddenly cut off his genital with a fruit knife in the shop. He then ran back to the clinic.

Li was stunned to see him again, his pants soggy with blood. She told Zhu that she could not deal with his wound and asked him to go to the university hospital.

Zhu received simple treatment there and the doctor called for an ambulance. But Zhu suddenly left the clinic and went to a hotel nearby. There he jumped from the third floor and was pronounced dead in the hospital.

Witnesses said the man dressed in a feminine style and speculated that he did the castration to change sex.

islander, now you can call him "hubog bohol"

Giunsa Ka Pagbuhat - Ayaw Nalang Ug Tan-aw

Read and be inspired: An Inspiring Story of an OFW

“I was a nanny in Hong Kong then and part of my job was to make sure my ward would do his homework before he plays with the computer. I was amazed when I saw him move the mouse and something on the screen moved,” she recounts. “I asked him what a ‘mouse’ was, and the boy, lost for words, replied: ‘I don’t know Myrna. Ask the one who invented it.’”

Myrna realized then that she had to learn how to use the computer. She went to the Philippine consular office in Hong Kong and applied for a free course on basic computing, but she had to wait for three to six months because there were so many enrollees. “But I persevered, and I did learn how to use the mouse. When I first learned how to copy and paste, I was so thrilled,” she says.

Myrna is no stranger to perseverance’s evil twin â€" adversity.

“My father was a fisherman. There were times when my mother would cry because we had nothing to eat. Even my siblings were crying. I think I was the only one not crying, but I was crying inside,” she says.

After high school, college was not an option. She sought work abroad and, in 1988, found one as a maid in Singapore. Taiwan came next after Singapore. Then, it was Hong Kong, where she ended up with a bad employer. “I slept in the kitchen, with cartons for a bed,” she reveals. Luckily, she found another job, with a wealthy family who helped her realize her dreams.

They allowed her to enroll in short technical courses and helped her with her work for the Mindanao Hong Kong Workers Federation, which she founded in 1999. After seeing Myrna pounding on a typewriter at 2 a.m. to write requests for her fellow OFWs, her employers gave her a laptop and a printer as a Christmas present.

The laptop became Myrna’s window to business opportunities. Through it, she discovered the social networking platform and came upon one website where she posted a comment. To her surprise, the company to her and told her that her complaint was valid.

“They said I was a very good bug tester. That was when I learned that before a software comes out, the developers need bug testers,” she says.

She kept exploring the Internet for social networking problems until she found a company in the United States that wanted more of her feedback. It was two-way: They got feedback from me, and I learned from them,” she says.

In 2006, Myrna went back to the Philippines to have her thyroid problem checked. It was supposed to be just a temporary visit. After the operation, however, she sent an e-mail to her employers and told them she was not going back. “I told them it would be already difficult for me to work as a domestic helper. I asked them to understand my situation. I was surprised because they not only understood, they even gave me a long-service pay,” she says. - full story here

ang combination ana: Hubugsay

After the Rain: Big, Big Highway in the Philippines

Niliki Tungod sa Linog

Linya Paabot sa Hinabang

Pagkahuman sa Baha sa Cagayan de Oro

Hulagway sa Kabangis ni Sendong

After a storm in the Philippines

Benguet Bus Disaster

Hinabang sa Oxfam Alang sa Pilipinas

Bayad sa mga Sala sa Kinaiyahan

Merchants of Venice - Philippine Version

Baha sa Pilipinas Walay Gipasaylo

Holding Onto Dear Life

Philippine Road Damaged by Earthquake

Philippine Flood - Saving What Is Left by Calamity

Loren Legarda - Comments About Her

Waiting for Disasters to Happen

ang mga bata nga bisaya nasaypan ang movie nga "the advertures of _ten" kay tin-tin man ang tawag sa organ kung bata pa.

oh yes, islander. i read somewhere else that producer-director steven spielberg spent around $300 million dollars to make this movie, an unfortunate movie.

like you, yes, i'm sick and tired of hollywood movies. let's all go back to books.

I find the movie boring. Too many too-good-to-be-true scenes. And it seemed that the director had difficulty on how to finally end the movie. Unya naa pa diay part 2. Definitely, I won't watch a part 2 of this movie.

Tintin is too unfeeling.

Watch it here:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/20576918

Recorded Video of Renato Corona Impeachment Trial Day 20

Have no idea, islander. Just found it on eBay auction.

From a reader of the PDI online edition:

Former Fake Pres. Arroyo , corruption and many

1. NBN ZTE Scandal

2. Millions of bribe money to Congressmen and Governors

(October 2007)

3. Cheating in 2004 Elections (HELLO GARCI)

4. Joc Joc Bolante Case (Fertilizer Scam, P728 Million)

5. JOSE PIDAL Bank Account (Unexplained Wealth, P200

Million)

6. NANI PEREZ Power Plant Deal ($2 Million)

7. Use of Road User's Tax for Campaigning

8. Billion Peso Macapagal Boulevard (Overprice of P532

Million)

9. Juetengate? (Illegal Numbers game kickbacks)

10. Extra Judicial Killings

11. Arroyo Moneys in Germany (Exposed by Senator Cayetano)

12. General GARCIA and Other Military Men

13. Billion Peso Poll Automation contract to(Mega Pacific)

(P1.3 Billion)

14. Northrail Project($503 Million)

15.  Maguindanao Results of 2007 Elections (ZUBIRI, BEDOL)

16.  NAIA-3

17.  Venable Contract (Norberto Gonzales)

18.  Swine Scam (Exposed by? Atty. Harry Roque

19. GLORIA Arroyo son hidden assets in united states

20. EURO GENERAL'S

21. CALAMITY FUND SCANDAL.

22.  C-5 road controversy â€" Senator Manuel Villar

23.P550-million worth of funds from the Overseas Workers’

Welfare Administration (OWWA).

24. P780-million LWUA funds-PROSPERO PICHAY

25. BISHOPS's SUV-Gloria Birthday gift

26. Arroyo linked in P325M lotto intelligence fund

27. Arroyo got P200M in kickbacks from govt projects-Zaldy

Ampatuan

28. P200.41 billion or $4.6 billion in Malampaya royalties

from 2002 to May this year.

29.LACSON ACCUSED FG MIKE ARROYO OF SELLING 3  REFURBISHED

HELICOPTERS TO PNP AT P105 MILLION EACH

30. 600,000 metric tons of Rotten rice imported from

India.Kishore Hemlani, an Indian trader allegedly close to

Arroyo, reportedly bagged the P9.5 billion contract for

the rice importation.

31. DATO ARROYO wife bought the condo unit for $570,000,

     70-square-meter one-bedroom, one-bathroom unit (Unit

No. 533) at the luxury high-rise, full-service Gramercy

Towers located at 1177 California St. in upscale downtown

San
Francisco.

32.- P50-million bribe to FG for the president's veto of

two franchise bills

33. The additional funding led to a 41-percent spike in 

advertising expenses, from P76.129 million in 2008 to

P107.420 million in 2009, which went mostly to ads for

Arroyo's achievements.

34. The report said the PIA received from the Department

of Budget and Management a notice of cash allocations

amounting to P344.789 million, even though only P222.488
million was appropriated for it under the national budget.

35.- Denial of pork barrel funds to Malacanang's political

enemies

36.- Praises for Jovito Palparan, alleged mastermind of

extra judicial killings of militants

37.- Removal of govt bodyguards for former pres and Arroyo

critic, Cory Aquino

38.- Appointment of manicurist as a member of the board of

Pag-Ibig

39. Appointment of gardener as deputy of the Luneta Park 

Administration.

40. MIDNIGHT APPOINTMENT of Fake President Arroyo,RENATO CORONA, as SC

Thief Justice

      200+ other illegal midnight appointments

41.- MIKEY ARROYO's undeclared properties in California

42.- Pardon of controversial convicted criminals like

Ninoy's murderers

43.- EO 464; requiring Cabinet members to seek

presidential clearance before testifying in Congress

hearings

44.- Promise (on Rizal Day) to not run for the presidency

in 2004

45.- "Vote Buying" by giving away Philhealth cards

46.- Taxpayers' money for her giant billboards and and

PCSO tv campaign ads[/b]

47- Appointment of Ben Abalos, a staunch GMA ally, as

COMELEC chair

48.- Mikey Arroyo's importation of 32 thoroughbred horses

from Australia worth P384 million.

49.Former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo used 2 choppers 16

times, son Mikey 69

50.PNoy: PAGCOR spent P1 BILLION on coffee

51.Jose Miguel Arroyo owned helicopters’
all Robinson R44 Raven Is with Series Nos. 1370 to 1374
A total of $1,423,025 was paid to Lionair for the five

helicopters.

52.Pagcor ‘pabaon’ to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo: P345M

53.The godmother’s ties to the Pinedas(Jueteng lord)

54. Glorietta 2 and Batasan bombings

    The Glorietta 2 bombing happened during the height of

the bribery case which took place in Malacañang.

55. Misuse of Balikatan funds Navy Lt. Nancy Gadian

revealed an alleged malversation of funds in 2007

56. Solon: Charge Gloria Arroyo for taking P98-M from

PNoy's social fund

57. 50 MILLION PABAON GENERALS

    Former Armed Forces chiefs of staff Narciso Abaya,

Dionisio Santiago, Generoso Senga, Hermogenes Esperon, and

Alexander Yano,chiefs of staff â€" Angelo Reyes, Diomedio 

Villanueva, and Roy Cimatu and MANY MORE..

58.Colmenares: GMA had P488 billion in 'pork.

59. P1 BILLION down the drain in Arroyo-era jatropha

projectâ€"DOST chief
60.Fishers push plunder rap vs Arroyo in purchase of ice machines( overpriced at P455 million in 2009.)
61.$225-million overprice of Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC),
62.Ongpin "front" for former First Gentleman Mike Arroyo in a P660-million loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP)...
63.sale of the old Iloilo airport for P1.2 billion to Megaworld Corp. in 2007

76 vs 27 ang mga edad. something is fishy here.

Night Telescope

Jeremy Lin on Ebay

Jeremy Lin Scores 2 Points Only Against Miami Heat
http://www.nba.com/video/games/heat/2012/02/23/0021100499_nyk_mia_recap.nba

The Hunger Games Showing on March 23 in iMax

HNU is quiet advanced in IT implementation. Through its website www.hnu.edu.ph, a student can pay his tuition fee account, view his transcript of records, check his class schedule, create and send emails, and a lot more.

We hope UB (University of Bohol) would do the same. So far, UB is so laid back. The school doesn't even have a decent campus website, and the updates are not frequent.

The website of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) is almost useless. No updates. No list of schools. No latest news.
This is such a shame to Philippine education.

URL: http://202.57.63.198/chedwww/index.php/eng/The-Commission

list of bought items

iPhone App that Records Sales Receipt

thank you for the enlightenment, insurectus. i will investigate this further. most people believe their emails have been hacked.

I found a website that offers free storage of your files for basic membership.

From CX website, it says:

QuoteCX is a new kind of cloud experience that takes content to the next level with a range of unique features: secure storage, real-time syncing, public and private sharing, interactive group collaboration, and intelligent discovery. Easily organize your content, access it on the go, share it with friends or publish it online â€" you decide what and when. Want to discuss a file with a team? CX does that too with group functionality and a unique file commenting system.

URL: http://www.cx.com

by PNA

Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado on Wednesday hailed the courage, wisdom and the “free spirit” of the 20 women of Malolos during the 123rd anniversary of the well-known "Letter of Rizal to the Women of Malolos" at Casa Real, Plaza Rizal in this historic capital city.

Alvarado, in a speech at the Casa Real shrine,urged the people of Malolos to keep alive the legacy of the brave 20 women from prominent Filipino-Chinese families because their courageous act played an important role in the struggle to uplift the state of women, particularly on education.

He said the women won respect by demonstrating initiative, firmness of purpose, and a desire for education that was unexpected for Filipino women of their time.

Alvarado said that in Rizal’s letter to the young women of Malolos which he wrote in 1889, the national hero paid homage to the 20 courageous women of the town for their desire to educate themselves.

“It was, truly, a liberating action at that time,” Alvarado said as he praised the 20 young women of Malolos who “courageously refused to surrender to friar power and were successful in their struggle for their right to education and stop Filipino slavery.”

City Mayor Christian D. Natividad, who attended the celebration, together with his mother Baby Dionisio Natividad, said the city government has lined-up activities and programs that aims to preserve the significant role of Malolos in the nation’s history.

On December 12, 1888, the women of Malolos presented a letter to Governor-General Valeriano Weyler requesting permission to open a night school where they could be taught Spanish.

The women’s daring action, which defied the authority of the town’s Augustinian friar curate, was lauded by reformists such as Jose Rizal, Graciano Lopez Jaena, and Marcelo H. del Pilar.

The incident caused a great stir in the Philippines and in far-away Spain.

Del Pilar, writing in Barcelona on February 17, 1889, requested Rizal to send a letter in Tagalog to the brave women of Malolos.

Accordingly, Rizal, although busy in London annotating Morga’s book penned his famous letter and sent it to Del Pilar on February 22, 1889 for transmittal to Malolos.

The celebration was also graced by Vicente “Bong” Enriquez of VSE productions; Diosdado David Santos, supreme auditor of the Order of the Knights of Rizal; Sarita Zafra, the granddaughter of Alberta Uitangcoy, one of the 20 women of Malolos; and Barbara Gonzalez, granddaughter of Rizal’s sister Maria Rizal.

Could Be Your House Frontyard

T-shirt On Sale 55% Discount

Just Like Leap Year Birthdays

By Scott Stewart

In this week's Geopolitical Weekly, George Friedman discussed the geopolitical cycles that change with each generation. Frequently, especially in recent years, those geopolitical cycles have intersected with changes in the way the tactic of terrorism is employed and in the actors employing it.

The Arab terrorism that began in the 1960s resulted from the Cold War and the Soviet decision to fund, train and otherwise encourage groups in the Middle East. The Soviet Union and its Middle Eastern proxies also sponsored Marxist terrorist groups in Europe and Latin America. They even backed the Japanese Red Army terrorist group. Places like South Yemen and Libya became havens where Marxist militants of many different nationalities gathered to learn terrorist tradecraft, often instructed by personnel from the Soviet KGB or the East German Stasi and from other militants.

The Cold War also spawned al Qaeda and the broader global jihadist movement as militants flocking to fight the Soviet troops who had invaded Afghanistan were trained in camps in northern Pakistan by instructors from the CIA's Office of Technical Services and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate. Emboldened by the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and claiming credit for the subsequent Soviet collapse, these militants decided to expand their efforts to other parts of the world.

The connection between state-sponsored terrorism and the Cold War ran so deep that when the Cold War ended with the Soviet Union's collapse, many declared that terrorism had ended as well. I witnessed this phenomenon while serving in the Counterterrorism Investigations Division of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) in the early 1990s. While I was in New York working as part of the interagency team investigating the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, a newly appointed assistant secretary of state abolished my office, declaring that the DSS did not need a Counterterrorism Investigations Division since terrorism was over.

Though terrorism obviously did not end when the Berlin Wall fell, the rosy sentiments to the contrary held by some at the State Department and elsewhere meant that there was no impetus to mitigate the growing jihadist threat or protect diplomatic facilities from it. The final report of the Crowe Commission, which was established to review the twin August 1998 bombing attacks against the U.S. embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, explicitly noted this neglect of counterterrorism and security programs, as did the 9/11 Commission report.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks triggered a shift in international geopolitics by leading the United States to concentrate the full weight of its national resources on al Qaeda and its supporters. Ironically, by the time the U.S. government was able to shift its massive bureaucracy to meet the new challenge, creating huge new organizations like the Department of Homeland Security, the efforts of the existing U.S. counterterrorism apparatus had already badly crippled the core al Qaeda group. Though some of these new organizations played important roles in helping the United States cope with the fallout of its decision to invade Iraq after Afghanistan, Washington spent billions of dollars to create organizations and fund programs that in hindsight were arguably not really necessary because the threats they were designed to counter, such as al Qaeda's nuclear briefcase bombs, did not actually exist. As George Friedman noted in the Geopolitical Weekly, the sole global superpower was badly off-balance, which caused an imbalance in the entire global system.

With the continued diminution of the jihadist threat, underscored by the May 2011 death of Osama bin Laden and the fall in Libya of the Gadhafi regime (which had long employed terrorism), once again we appear on the brink of another cyclical change in the terrorism paradigm. These events could again lead some to pronounce the death of terrorism.

Several developments last week served to demonstrate that while the perpetrators and tactics of terrorism (what Stratfor calls the "who" and the "how") may change in response to larger geopolitical cycles, such shifts will not signal the end terrorism.

The Nature of Terrorism

There are many conflicting definitions of terrorism, but for our purposes we will loosely define it as politically motivated violence against noncombatants. Many terrorist acts have a religious element to them, but that element is normally related to a larger, political goal: Both a militant anti-abortion activist seeking to end legalized abortion and a jihadist seeking to end the U.S. military presence in Iraq may act according to religious principles, but they ultimately are pursuing a political objective.

Terrorism is a tactic, one employed by a wide array of actors. There is no single creed, ethnicity, political persuasion or nationality with a monopoly on terrorism. Individuals and groups of individuals from almost every conceivable background -- from late Victorian-era anarchists to Klansmen to North Korean intelligence officers -- have conducted terrorist attacks. Because of the impreciseness of the term, Stratfor normally does not refer to individuals as terrorists. In addition to being a poor descriptor, "terrorist" tends to be a politically loaded term.

Traditionally, terrorism has been a tactic of the weak, i.e., those who lack the power to impose their political will through ordinary political or military means. As Carl von Clausewitz noted, war is the continuation of politics by other means; terrorism is a type of warfare, making it also politics by other means. Because it is a tactic used by the weak, terrorism generally focuses on soft, civilian targets rather than more difficult-to-attack military targets.

The type of weapon used does not define terrorism. For example, using a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device against an International Security Assistance Force firebase in Afghanistan would be considered an act of irregular warfare, but using it in an attack on a hotel in Kabul would be considered an act of terrorism. This means that militant actors can employ conventional warfare tactics, unconventional warfare tactics and terrorism during the same campaign depending on the situation.

Terrorist attacks are relatively easy to conduct if they are directed against soft targets and if the assailant is not concerned with escaping after the attack, as was the case in the Mumbai attacks in 2008. While authorities in many countries have been quite successful in foiling attacks over the past couple of years, governments simply do not have the resources to guard everything. When even police states cannot protect everything, some terrorist attacks invariably will succeed in the open societies of the West.

Terrorist attacks tend to be theatrical, exerting a strange hold over the human imagination. They often create a unique sense of terror dwarfing reactions to natural disasters many times greater in magnitude. For example, more than 227,000 people died in the 2004 Asian tsunami versus fewer than 3,000 on 9/11, yet the 9/11 attacks produced a worldwide sense of terror and a geopolitical reaction that has had a profound and unparalleled impact on world events over the past decade.

Cycles and Shifts

A number of events last week illustrate the changes happening in the terrorism realm and demonstrate that, while terrorism may change, it is not going to end.

On Feb. 17, the FBI arrested a Moroccan man near the U.S. Capitol in Washington who allegedly sought to conduct a suicide attack on the building. The suspect, Amine el Khalifi, is a clear example of the shift in the jihadist threat from one based on the al Qaeda core group to one primarily deriving from grassroots jihadists. As Stratfor has noted for several years, while these grassroots jihadists pose a more diffuse threat because they are harder for national intelligence and law enforcement agencies to focus on than hierarchical groups, the threat they pose is less severe because they generally lack the terrorist tradecraft required to conduct a large-scale attack. Because they lack such tradecraft, these grassroots militants tend to seek assistance to conduct their plots. This assistance usually involves acquiring explosives or firearms, as in the el Khalifi case, where an FBI informant posing as a jihadist leader provided the suspect with an inert suicide vest and a submachine gun prior to the suspect's arrest.

While many in the media tend to ridicule individuals like el Khalifi as inept, it is important to remember that had he succeeded in finding a real jihadist facilitator rather than a federal informant, he could have killed many people in an attack. Richard Reid, who many people refer to as the "Kramer of al Qaeda" after the bumbling character from the television show Seinfeld, came very close to taking down a jumbo jet full of people over the Atlantic because he had been equipped and dispatched by others.

Still, the fact remains that the jihadist threat now predominantly stems from unequipped grassroots wannabes rather than teams of highly trained operatives sent to the United States from overseas, like the team that executed the 9/11 attacks. This demonstrates how the jihadist threat has diminished in recent years, a trend we expect to continue. This will allow Washington to increasingly focus attention on things other than jihadism, such as the fragmentation of Europe, the transformation of global economic production and Iran's growing regional power. It will mark the beginning of a new geopolitical cycle.

Last week also brought us a series of events highlighting how terrorism may manifest itself in the new cycle. On Feb. 13, Israeli diplomatic vehicles in New Delhi, India, and Tbilisi, Georgia, were targeted with explosive devices. In Tbilisi, a grenade hidden under a diplomatic vehicle was discovered before it could detonate. In New Delhi, a sticky bomb placed on the back of a diplomatic vehicle wounded the wife of the Israeli defense attache as she was headed to pick up her children from school.

On Feb. 14, an Iranian man was arrested after being wounded in an explosion at a rented house in Bangkok. The explosion reportedly occurred as a group was preparing improvised explosive devices for use against Israeli targets in Bangkok. Two other Iranians were later arrested (one in Malaysia), and Thai authorities are seeking three more Iranian citizens, two of whom have reportedly returned to Iran, alleged to have assisted in the plot.

While these recent Iranian plots have failed, they nonetheless highlight how the Iranians are using terrorism as a tactic in retaliation for attacks Israel and Israeli surrogates have conducted against individuals associated with Iran's nuclear program.

It is also important to bear in mind as this new geopolitical cycle begins that terrorism does not just emanate from foreign governments, major subnational actors or even transnational radical ideologies like jihadism. As we saw in the July 2011 attacks in Norway conducted by Anders Breivik and in older cases involving suspects like Eric Rudolph, Timothy McVeigh and Theodore Kaczynski in the United States, native-born individuals who have a variety of grievances with the government or society can carry out terrorist attacks. Such grievances will certainly persist.

Geopolitical cycles will change, and these changes may cause a shift in who employs terrorism and how it is employed. But as a tactic, terrorism will continue no matter what the next geopolitical cycle brings.