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President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Administrative Order 278 to provide measures for the optimum utilization of water resources in Metro Manila.

President Arroyo issued AO 278 after the water level in Angat Dam fell to an alarming level that might be aggravated by the El Nino phenomenon during the first quarter of 2010.

As a consequence, a shortfall in water supply for Metro Manila is expected due to the alarming level of Angat Dam.

AO 278 also noted the critical need to institute appropriate measures to ensure the optimum utilization of water resources for Metro Manila.

”There is a need to actively implement water conservation measures and to improve the operational efficiency of water service providers like reduce the level of non-revenue water, to maximize the limited supply of water,” AO 278 said.

President Arroyo ordered the adoption of urgent and decisive measures to address the water shortage in Metro Manila to protect the health and well-being of the population.

In line with the order, Mrs. Arroyo urged to follow measures to mitigate the effects of water shortages.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), through the National Water Resources Board (NWRB), was directed to appropriately cut-down water allocation and actual releases to the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) and the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) effective January 2010. - PNA

Iloilo water supply reaches critical level
By Edwin L. Torrecampo

ILOILO CITY, Feb 18 (PNA)- The Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) has drawn up contingency measures to avert a looming water shortage in the city.

MIWD general manager Jaime Jalbuena said on Thursday that the water level at the Maasin Watershed had sunk to critical levels and expected to recede more as the rainy season was feared to come only by July this year.

Jalbuena said that water level at the watershed, the city's major source of drinking water, had receded by 32 meters, while at the Sedimentation Basin water went down by 10 centimeters.

He said that the markdown amounted to 35 percent of normal level, and may rise sharply in the coming months because of the anticipated long dry spell.

He said that starting Friday, water distribution in the city and the suburban areas would be dependent on a specific rotating schedule.

In the absence of precipitation, Jalbuena said that the strict implementation of the distribution scheme would help preserve precious water and ensure continual water supply to the city's 400,000 inhabitants.

By Lilybeth G. Ison

Pro-administration lawmakers on Thursday expressed confidence that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo would likely be elected as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Deputy Speaker and Maguindanao Rep. Simeon Datumanong said the Lakas-Kampi-CMD (Christian, Muslim, Democrats) is the biggest political party and it is expected that most of its candidates for Congress will win in the forthcoming May elections.

"It will not be difficult for PGMA (President Arroyo) who will be congresswoman in the 15th Congress to become the Speaker," he said.

Deputy Speaker and Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson also said there is a big possibility of the President, if she becomes the representative of the Second District of Pampanga, to be House Speaker "if the Lakas-Kampi-CMD will be able to maintain majority" at the Lower Chamber.

Bulacan Rep. Lorna Silverio, for her part, said majority of those running for Congress belong to the Lakas-Kampi-CMD, so "there is no reason why majority would not choose PGMA as Speaker."

"She (Arroyo) is an efficient and hardworking leader. The legislative work is not new to her for she was a former Senator," she added.

Silverio stressed that the President will make history if chosen the first woman Speaker.

The fielding of President Arroyo by the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD as its candidate for Speaker was revealed by a staunch ally of the President, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, who said that the President has a big chance to be elected next Speaker because of the more than 100 Lakas-Kampi-CMD congressmen seeking re-election in their respective districts.

Even opposition lawmakers recognized the qualification of President Arroyo to become the next Speaker.

Palawan Rep. Abraham Khalil Mitra, Liberal Party’s gubernatorial candidate in Palawan, said the President is a "shoo-in" as House Speaker if ever she wins as representative in the Second District of Pampanga. - PNA

Final standings after nine rounds:

7 points -â€" L. Q. Liem (Vietnam)

6.5 â€"- A. Korobov (Russia)

6 -â€" A. Motylev (Russia), Z. Jianchao (China), N.N. Truong Son (Vietnam), B. Grachev (Russia).

5.5 -- I. Cheparinov (Bulgaria), M. Vachier-Lagrave (France), I. Nepomnichtchi (Russia), B. Xiangzhi (China), W. So (RP), G. Sargissian (Armenia), B. Savchenko (Russia), E. Bacrot (France), A. Timofeev (Russia), E. Bareev (Russia), E. Najer (Russia), E. Iturrizaga (Venezuela), A. Dreev (Russia)

MOSCOW, Russia -â€" GM Wesley So of the Philippines made history by bagging the top junior award for the second straight year in the 2010 Aeroflot Open chess championships at the Hotel Gamma-Delta of the Ismailovo Tourist Complex here.

So agreed to a final-round draw with GM Eduardo Iturrizaga of Venezuela with the black pieces after only 10 moves of the Queen’s Gambit.

He accepted to finish in a tie for seventh to 19th places with 5.5 points on three wins, five draws and only one loss in the prestigious, nine-round tournament.

Overall, So finished in 11th place after the tiebreak â€" a big improvement from his last year’s performance where he finished only in a tie for 19th to 36th places with five points on three wins, four draws and two losses.

But the draw was also more than enough for the 16-year-old Filipino champion to bring home the coveted top junior trophy given to the highest-placed player 18 years old and below for the second year in a row.

For the award, So upstaged GMs Sanan Sjugirov of Russia and Eltaj Safarli of Azerbaijan, who closed out with 4.5 points, and GM Saleh Salem of the United Arab Emirates, who wound up with three points.

Last year, the Bacoor, Cavite-based So also edged Safarli and Sjugirov for the award.

So, the unanimous choice as the “Chess Player of the Year” for 2009 by the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA), pocketed 2,500 euros for his feat.

National Chess Federation of the Philippines (INCFP) president/chairman Prospero “Butch” Pichay and secretary-general and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino lauded So for his newest achievement in international chess.

“It was another big achievement for Wesley and the Filipino people. His tremendous success provides the inspiration to our chess players to continue to do their best to excel,” said Pichay, who is mainly responsible for the growing popularity of chess in the country again.

Tolentino said So’s triumph as the top junior player in Aeroflot validates his claim as the world’s brightest young new player.

GM Le Quang Liem of Vietnam emerged as the solo champion when he toppled former winner GM Ian Nepomniattchi of Russia after 60 moves of English opening.

Le finished with a nine-round total of seven points on five wins and four draws to capture the title and the top prize of 21,000 euros.

But GM Anton Korobov of Russia prevented a 1-2 finish for the Vietnamese when he defeated GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son in 36 moves of Gruenfeld defense to clinch solo second place with 6.5 points. He earned 12,000 euros.

Four players -- GM Alexander Motylev of Russia, GM Zhou Jianchao of China, GM Boris Grachev of Russia and Truong Son -â€" shared third to sixth places with six points.

So finished with 5.5 points, the same score of last year’s champion GM Etienne Bacrot of France, top seed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, GM Ivan Cheparinov of Bulgaria, GM Evgeny Bareev, GM Boris Savchenko, GM Evgeniy Najer, GM Artyom Timofeev and GM Alexey Dreev of Russia, GM Bu Xiangzhi of China, GM Gabriel Sargissian of Armenia, Iturrizaga and Nepomnichtchi.

Among the notable players who finished behind So in this tournament widely considered as the world’s strongest Open Swiss competition included former world championship candidate GM Gata Kamsky of the United States, GM Rauf Mamedov of Azerbaijan, GM Krishnan Sasikiran of India, GM Alexander Khalifman of Russia, GM Andrei Volokotin of Ukraine, GM Akadij Naiditsch of Germany, GM Luke McShane of England, GM Arman Pashikian of Armenia and GM Giovanni Vescovi of Brazil.

The only other Filipino campaigner in the tournament -â€" GM Darwin Laylo -â€" withdrew after one draw and six losses in the tournament. (PNA)

The continuing two to three-hour daily rotational brownouts here and in other key cities in Mindanao will not likely end any time soon after the island’s power deficit rose to 159 megawatts (MW) on Thursday.

In an advisory issued Thursday by the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP), the company said Mindanao grid’s available capacity had dropped to 1,021 MWs from the 1,094 MWs generated by the existing operational power resources last Monday.

Although the island’s peak demand dropped to 1,180 from the 1,210 recorded last Monday, the significant reduction in Mindanao grid’s available power capacity caused the increase of the previous supply deficit of 116 MWs to 159 MW.

“The shutdown of power plants, the increase in power demand among customers, and the dry weather of the El Niño have been limiting the available capacity or supply in the power system,” the NGCP said in a power system update emailed to the Philippines News Agency by its Regional Corporate Communications Officer Belinda Canlas.

The company said that In Visayas and Mindanao, the electricity supply generated from power plants continued to be low and might not be enough to meet the demand of power grid users.

Last Monday, NGCP said the Agus 5 hydroelectric power plant was placed on maintenance shutdown but its Unit 1 was already synchronized with the Mindanao grid as of February 16 and is now undergoing testing.

The diesel-fed Power Barge 117’s Unit 2 was also placed under maintenance shutdown and will not be operational until March 1.

“Because of the lean power reserves, the system may be forced to implement load curtailment among Visayas and Mindanao grid users to ration the available power and to ensure the reliability and stability of the entire transmission network,” the NGCP said.

Rodolfo Ocat, general manager of the South Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Socoteco) II, earlier warned that the continuing daily rotational brownouts may extend until June due to the significant drop in water reserves of Lake Lanao in Lanao del Sur and the Pulangi River in Bukidnon.

He said the drop in the water levels was attributed to the onslaught of the prolonged dry spell, or the El Niño phenomenon in the area.

The Lake Lanao-Agus River System and the Pulangi River host the National Power Corp’s main hydropower plants that generate the bulk of Mindanao grid’s power supply requirements.

Ocat said the power cooperative, which needs at least 106 MWs of power supply during peak hours, had been voluntarily shedding a significant load from its daily supply requirement in the wake of ongoing power supply shortage.

Socoteco II serves this city, the entire Sarangani province and the municipalities of Polomolok and Tupi in South Cotabato.(PNA)

(PNA) - The Department of Agriculture (DA) has earmarked an initial P882.18 million to fast track the implementation of mitigation measures for farmers and fisherfolk in 14 provinces in Luzon and the Visayas, where the El Niño phenomenon that is expected to last until July has already damaged over 200,000 metric tons (MT) of palay, corn and other crops with an aggregate value of P2.84 billion.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap on Thursday said the DA’s regional field units (RFUs) in the five El Niño-hit regions are already drawing up with local government units (LGUs) their respective master lists of affected farmers eligible for food aid under the Emergency Food Assistance Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Separate master lists are also being prepared by RFUs and LGUs for farmer-victims qualified to enroll in skills training programs of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) or for possible emergency employment for the construction or repair of farm-to-market roads (FMRs) and irrigation facilities, he said.

The 14 affected provinces are Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino in Northern Luzon; Bulacan and Nueva Ecija in Central Luzon; Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque and Romblon in the MIMAROPA area or Region 4-B; Masbate in Bicol; and Antique, Guimaras and Negros Occidental in Western Visayas.

According to the February 16 situationer report by the DA Central Action Center (DACAC), crops planted in 10,533 hectares have zero chance of recovery while those planted in another 147,633 hectares can still recover from the dry spell -- or a total of 158,166 hectares of affected farmland with 201,237 MT of assorted crops valued at P2.84 billion combined.

Of these affected farms, some 35,360 hectares are palay fields with 56,696 MT of damaged crops valued at P963.84 million, while another 122,748 hectares planted to corn fields with 144,359 MT were also damaged worth P1.88 billion.

Worst hit among the 14 provinces is Isabela, which has absorbed palay losses amounting to P1.85 billion from 144,359 MT of damaged crops in a total of 87,850 hectares, and corn losses valued at P1.85 billion from 101,609 MT of destroyed crops in 72,157 hectares combined.

The damaged palay fields represent 3.39 percent of the one million hectares for harvesting over the January-March period while the volume account for 1.5 percent of the production forecast of 3.79 million MT for the period.

Some 40 journalists based in the Visayas and other areas with rich tourism potentials will be given a media briefing Friday at the Heroes Hall of Malacañang as the launching event for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s week-long tour next week of the Tourism Super Region, one of five growth corridors defined in her 2006 “super region” strategic development plan.

“We have invited media personalities to the briefing, which will include an open forum with ranking officials of government agencies and presentations on Philippine economy in general, tourism and other Super Regions,” the Office of the Press Secretary (OPS) said.

The Tourism Super Region tour is the fourth leg of her five-Super Region tour started three weeks ago with her visit to the Cyber Corridor, which consists of major cities nationwide with large information and communication firms and business process outsourcing corporations.

The second Super Region visited was the Urban Luzon Beltway consisting of South Luzon, CALABARZON, Metro Manila and Central Luzon regions envisioned as a major logistics and services hub in the Pacific-Asia rim that accounts for about $ 1 trillion of the estimated $ 3.5 trillion global logistics market. Early this week, the Chief Executive traveled through Agribusiness Mindanao Super Region, to project the region as “breadbasket of the Philippines.”

Malacañang officials described Philippine tourism as a sunshine industry that can be optimized through private sector intervention. (PNA)

The country's actual budget deficit reached P298.5 billion in 2009, erasing speculation that it swelled to over P300 billion, the Department of Finance said Thursday.

The figure was equivalent to only 3.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GNP), a measure of the country's total output of goods and services in a year.

Finance Secretary Margarito B. Teves told a press conference that the final figure was P48.5 billion more than the 2009 goal of only P250 billion as the budget shortfall totaled P26 billion in December 2009.

“The budget deficit of P298.5 billion was due largely to weak revenue and the implementation of revenue-eroding measures as well as lower proceeds from privatization,” Teves said.

There were initial fears that the budget deficit would bloat to P330 billion and create complications like a credit downgrade which makes it difficult for either government or the private sector to borrow.

Collections for the year reached P1.123 trillion, which were P115.9 billion lower than anticipated.

This was because the Bureau of Internal Revenue delivered only P750.3 billion, instead of P798.5 billion as expected.

The Bureau of Customs also delivered only P220.3 billion instead of P273.3 billion while the Bureau of Treasury contributed P9.8 billion, or 9.8 percent more than its target.

Public spending was hiked significantly last year, particularly at the tailend of the fiscal program, due to weather-related destruction on key infrastructures.

Still, such spending grew by only 12 percent to P1.421 billion, or P67.4 billion lower than intended, Teves said.

“In summary our deficit in 2009 was higher than likely budget gap of P290.2 billion announced earlier. We actually hoped to perform better than we anticipated due to improved tax collection performance in December but the revenue gains were offset by increased spending for infrastructure towards yearend,” he said.

The deficit in December alone amounted to P26 billion, significantly higher than year-ago deficit of only P1.4 billion as revenues fell 16.3 percent to only P101.5 billion.

Teves expressed apprehension that Congress, most of whose members seek reelection during the upcoming May exercises, might cave in to people's demands and enact more revenue-eroding measures that denied the national coffers with some P49 billion last year. (PNA)
RMA/VSV/mec

Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral said Thursday the government’s campaign to prevent HIV/AIDS by advocating condom use was ineffective because it failed to get the support of the Church.

Cabral, in a radio interview, claimed the Department of Health’s (DOH) ABC program against HIV/AIDS has failed because the Church apparently blocked its third component - which is encouraging people to use condoms.

The ABC program means A is for “abstinence from sex", B for “be faithful to your partner" and C for “condom use" to combat HIV-AIDS.

The DOH chief said while condoms are not 100-percent foolproof, they help prevent the incidence of HIV-AIDS infection.

Cabral also advocated that the best way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases is by being faithful to ones partner.

The DOH’s “Ingat Lagi, My Valentine campaign,” which was held last Valentine’s weekend at the Dangwa Flower Market in Manila, has received criticism from the Catholic Church for supposedly being “immoral”.

The DOH then clarified that the condoms given last Valentine’s weekend were not meant to promote artificial contraception, but rather a reminder to the public of the importance of responsible sexual behavior in combating the threat of HIV/AIDS.

The DOH, reiterating the words of Deputy Presidential Spokesman Ricardo Saludo, explained that the condom distribution should not be construed as a signal that the government is advocating sexual licentiousness. The free condoms were just a tool of a creative campaign aimed at promoting awareness on HIV/AIDS prevention at a most opportune time â€" Valentine’s Day.

The health agency also pointed out that the distribution of the condoms to adults was undertaken by a private merchandising firm, DKT, and that the government did not spend for the procurement of the condoms, as it was also DKT that supplied them.

The DOH’s role in the campaign was focused on raising public awareness and information dissemination, as it employed counselors to explain the ABC campaign to the people who were present in the area during the weekend. - PNA

The Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) on Thursday said more than 600 barangays (villages) in Metro Manila are getting ready for lower water supply by June as the water reserve in Angat Dam is expected to fall to a critical level.

MWSS senior deputy administrator Macra Cruz told reporters that the water level in Angat Dam has been going down at a rate of .25 to .30 meters a day.

As of 8 a.m.on February 17, Angat Dam's water level was at 196.41 meters, and they expect it to fall to a critical level of 180 meters by May or April.

Angat Dam, a multi-purpose reservoir in Bulacan province, supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila's raw water requirements and irrigates more than 20,000 hectares of rice land in that province.

Cruz said if Angat Dam's water level drops to 180 meters, regulators would have to stop allocating water for irrigation. The remaining water would be used solely for Metro Manila's water supply.

She said the volume of water being supplied daily to Metro Manila amounts to 4,000 million liters at an average of 46 cubic meters per second.

Cruz said because of Angat Dam's unusually low water level, they have been forced to lower the delivery of water to the metropolis to 40 cubic meters per second affecting a few barangays.

At 170 meters, Angat Dam would not be able to provide the 97 percent water requirement of Metro Manila.

She said water supply in 584 barangays that fall under the jurisdiction of Maynilad Water Services Inc. (MWSI) and 50 more barangays in the east sector being supplied by Manila Water Company (MWC) will be affected. - Philippine News Agency

The country's disbursement of foreign aid for public projects rose sharply last year because of the huge funding released by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the World Bank (WB) for crisis mitigating programs, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

Data from NEDA's project monitory staff showed that the amount of official development assistance (ODA) that was disbursed last year went up by 132 percent to US$ 2.4 billion.

Disbursement from project loans amounted to US$ 795 million, while program loans reached US$ 1.64 billion.

Foreign-funded projects, which generally deal with infrastructure upgrade or improvement, require counterpart funds from beneficiary governments. Lack of counterpart funds can lead to a delay in implementation or outright cancellation of the foreign aid.

"The significant increase in disbursements, amounting to US$ 1.475 billion, is largely attributed to tranche releases of five program loans funded by ADB and WB," NEDA said.

The program loans were the $ 500-million Countercyclical Support Program-Subprogram II; $ 250-million Development Policy Support Program-Subprogram III; $ 225-million Local Government Financing and Budget Reform Program-Subprogram II; $ 300-million Governance Justice Sector Reform Program, and the $ 200-million Global Food Crisis Response Program Development Policy Operation of World Bank.

NEDA said the ADB recorded a 309.63 percent increase in disbursement level last year to $ 1.32 billion.

This was followed by World Bank with $ 355.37 million, up 82.65 percent from the $ 194.56 million in 2008.

Projects funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) rose 41.76 percent to $ 592.94 million last year from $ 418.28 million in 2008.

Disbursement of the other sources account â€" comprising ODA from Germany, Belgium, South Korea, Austria, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Kuwait, among others â€" rose to $ 172.31 million from $ 98.58 million previously.

NEDA, on the other hand, said 17 program and project loans have disbursement rates below 50 percent because of problems in procurement and financial issues.

Projects with zero disbursement include Northrail Project Phase 1 Section I; Credit Facility for the Environmental Management Project; Subic Bay Freeport Environmental Management Project II; Banaoang Pump Irrigation Project and Tulay ng Pangulo sa Kaunlaran.

The Philippines’ cumulative ODA loan commitments numbered 100 and reached a combined $ 9.7 billion. Of this, $ 2.5 billion is accounted by program loans while the remaining $ 7.2 billion is for project loans.

The ADB accounted for 19 ongoing loans amounting to $ 2.24 billion; JBIC, 40 loans at $ 3.46 billion; World Bank, 22 loans at $ 1.61 billion; China, six loans, $ 959.99 million, and others, 32 loans at $ 1.42 billion.

ODA is defined as flows of official financing administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as the main objective. Such loans are concessional in character with a grant element of at least 25 percent. (PNA)
scs/DGA/utb

London-based Forum Energy denies hunting oil in Spratlys
By Marie S. Neri

London-based Forum Energy Plc.denies that its drilling and exploration activities are within the controversial Spratlys island.

In a statement, Forum said the contract awarded to them by the Department of Energy under the Geophysical Survey and Exploration Contract (GSEC) 101 was not located in the Spratlys Group of islands.

GSEC 101, which was recently converted to Service Contract (SC) 72, covers 880,000 hectares in the Reed Bank basin. Reed Bank is at least 150 kilometers east of the Spratlys and is closer to the island of Palawan, Forum said.

The company also said that SC 72 was within the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) identified under Republic Act No. 9522, or the Philippine Archipelagic Baseline Law, signed on March 10, 2009.

RA 9522 defines the archipelagic baselines of the Philippines, while affirming Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction over these areas which include SC 72.

Reed Bank has been subject of numerous exploration campaigns in the past under the Philippine contractual regime and P.D. 87.

The first petroleum contract in the area was awarded by the then Ministry of Energy in 1975.

The following year, the first of the seven wells was drilled. Over 6,000 kms of 2D seismic and some 250 sq. kms of 3D seismic have been acquired both by foreign and Filipino companies through exploration contracts signed by the Philippine government.

â€" Philippine Maj. Gen. Natalio Ecarma III, the incoming Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in the Golan Heights, on Wednesday visited U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the latter’s U.N. headquarters in New York.

Ecarma begins his tour of duty as commander of the 1,043-strong United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) on March 1, taking over from Maj. Gen. Wolfgang Jilke of Austria.

Last October, a 336-man Philippine infantry battalion of peacekeepers assumed their posts in the Golan Heights, a three-decades old disputed region in the Middle East situated between Israel and Syria.

The Philippines is one of six nations that have contributed military personnel to the UNDOF. The other countries are Austria, Canada, Croatia, India, Japan and Poland. (PNA)

Makati Business Community Favors Gibo Teodoro

Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. on Thursday made an impression with the elite Makati Business Club (MBC) when he laid down his clear-cut platform of governance, specifically his plan to uplift the economic condition of the country.

"They (businessmen) were very impressed. Gibo is very articulate," said MBC president Alberto Lim, when asked how the members viewed Teodoro.

Teodoro was the guest at the MBC general meeting held at the Hotel Intercon in Makati City where he was grilled by businessmen about his platform of governance.

"We feel the economy is very important. In fact, we are working on a first year plan that we will offer to all (presidential) candidates for them to react," said Lim.

He said the MBC is planning to draft an economic agenda that they would give to the presidential candidates.

During the forum, Teodoro vowed to work for an eight percent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) that would be sustainable throughout his term should he be elected president.

He also promised to increase the gross per capita income of Filipinos from US$ 1900 to US$ 3200.

Teodoro said these would be his "tall order," noting that good governance and good fiscal policy would make these attainable.

The former Defense Secretary earlier said the government needs more money to address the damage of an extended dry spell brought by El Nino phenomenon. - PNA

A man who authorities said apparently suffers from mental illness managed to breach security during the Olympics opening ceremony and get close to U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Canadian officials said Wednesday.

"Not at any time was the VP in any danger," said Olivier Lapointe, spokesman for the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit.

The man, who was not identified, used fake credentials to get inside British Columbia Place, the site of the 2010 Winter Olympic opening ceremony Friday, according to Lapointe.

Police apprehended him about 12 rows away from Biden's section, Lapointe said. He briefly escaped police custody, running into a nearby hallway, but was quickly recaptured, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Gregory Gomez del Prado said.

The man did not have any weapons on him and did not appear to have criminal intentions, Lapointe said. The man likely suffers from mental illness and won't face any criminal charges, Lapointe added. - CNN

Eight U.S. missionaries who were detained for almost three weeks in Haiti on child kidnapping charges arrived in Miami, Florida, late Wednesday night after a judge ordered them freed.

The group arrived at Miami International Airport on a U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane from the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

"It feels great for him to be back from Haiti," said Hiram Sasser, who represents one of the men, Jim Allen. "It's great that the attention will return to where it should be back on the people of Haiti."

The freed Americans were among 10 charged with kidnapping and criminal association for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after a magnitude-7.0 earthquake devastated the impoverished country on January 12. - CNN

Nearly half the world's primate species are in danger of extinction, according to a report released Wednesday by a major conservation group.

The main threat facing primates -- including apes, monkeys, and lemurs -- is tropical forest destruction, with the illegal wildlife trade and commercial bush meat hunting also playing roles.

Scientists say primates are humankind's closest animal relatives.

Of the world's 634 primate species, 48 percent are threatened with extinction, according to the report, issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The Switzerland-based group calls itself the world's oldest global environmental organization.

"This report makes for very alarming reading," said Christoph Schwitzer, an adviser to the group, in a statement. "Support and action to help save these species is vital if we are to avoid losing these wonderful animals forever."

A handful of primate species count populations in the dozens. For example, there are just 60 to 70 Asian monkeys known as golden headed langurs, found only on an island in Vietnam's Gulf of Tonkin.

There are fewer than 100 remaining northern sportive lemurs, which live in Madagascar, and around 110 eastern black crested gibbons, found in northeastern Vietnam.

The report, which details the 25 most endangered primates, has been issued biannually by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 2000. It will be formally released Thursday at Britain's Bristol Zoo Gardens. - CNN

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The last time I was in Tagbilaran I passed by her Internet cafe and I found it was already closed. Any news about Mari and Steve?

How is baby Matt now, Grace? Great that Lumine is ok now.

@glacier: probably
@dabinsi: sure.

Private and personal reasons, Belle.

Just an advisory. Ayaw nalang mo katingala. Thanks.
Someday I will be back sa FB. Exact date is unknown though.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou stressed here on Wednesday that his government is " ready to turn a page" and "ready to curb the deficits considerably, " while placing at the same time the country on a course of growth.

However, the prime minister also warned: "We do not want to be a lightning rod for whatever profiteers who do not permit us to deal with the program that the Europeans and we want to implement. "

Addressing an informal cabinet session on Wednesday afternoon, the prime minister briefed the council on his contacts in Paris and Brussels that were concluded with a joint declaration of political support for Greece by the 27 heads of state and government from EU countries.

"We are not asking for money from others, we are not asking for money from Germans, Italians, French or whatever other taxpayers. We are asking for the necessary time to enable us to implement our program which will secure for the country the credibility and the possibility to borrow with regular terms," Papandreou stressed.

The prime minister also pointed out that "we want a serious evaluation of the existing stability, growth and reconstruction program and not general and irresponsible talk of measures on what Greece needs and what not."-PNA

The London stock market closed higher on Wednesday with the leading share index FTSE 100 up 32.58 points, or 0.6 percent at 5,276.64 points.

Hedge fund specialist Man Group led the gainers, up 5.2 percent, on rumors that U.S. investment firm BlackRock was interested in buying a stake.

Banking shares remained in demand after rising strongly on Tuesday. Lloyds was up 3.2 percent and Barclays was 2.9 percent higher. (PNA/Xinhua)
ALM/ebp

The National Electrification Administration (NEA) said its total collections hit nearly P6 billion in 2009.

In its report, NEA said they were able to attained 100 percent collection efficiency after exceeding its annual target of 96 percent from 2008.

NEA said a total of P4.393 billion were collected from Electric Cooperatives (ECs) and another P1.503 billion from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM) or a total of P5.879 billion.

“The very good collection performance ensures the availability of funds to service its obligations and to partially finance the Rural Electrification Program (REP),” it said.

Out of the 110 ECs which have loans with NEA, 55 have paid their amortizations in advance; 40 are current; and only 15 have arrears.

As a policy, ECs which are advanced in the payments get additional points in the yearly categorization and classification ratings being done by agency.

The categorization is being done to assess the operational performance of the ECs in order for them to be more efficient and effective distribution utilities and be responsive to the heightened demands of the electricity industry. - PNA

The government is considering providing tax cuts on electric cars as part of its efforts to bolster eco-friendly businesses amid the global drive for green growth, government officials said Thursday.

Discussion is underway to provide electric cars with exemption from consumption, acquisition and registration taxes which are applied to other kinds of vehicles in South Korea, the officials at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said.

"Buyers of eco-friendly hybrid cars are given reductions on special consumption tax and others. In line with it, the government is also planning to offer the same tax benefits to buyers of electric vehicles," said a high-ranking ministry official on condition of anonymity.

Under the current law here, for example, a car with a 2,000cc engine or smaller is subject to a 5 percent special consumption tax on its total purchasing cost. The tax rate for a larger one rises to 10 percent.

The envisioned tax incentives could reduce vehicle purchase costs by around 3 million won (US$ 2,620), experts say.

The move is part of the government efforts to bolster green businesses as the nation's next generation growth engine. Such tax cuts are expected to draw customer attention and boost sales of the vehicles drive by eco-friendly technologies.-PNA

Americans live longer due in large part to the surging use of improved medical technology, according to a national report released on Wednesday.

Advanced medical technology also drives down rates of major killers such as heart disease and cancer, said the annual report issued by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Americans are living longer than ever before -- 77.9 years on average, according to the report.

Improved medical technology has become a driving force of the nation's medical system. The report found, for instance, that the rate of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and computed and positron emission tomography (CT/PET) scans tripled from 1996 to 2007.

Knee replacements, the report found, increased 70 percent in the past decade. And organ transplants also became more common. The number of kidney transplants per one million people increased 31 percent, for example, and the number of liver transplants increased 42 percent.

Although Americans live longer than ever before, many Americans are still troubled by excessive weight, insufficient exercise and lack of insurance, the report warned.

The use and misuse of medical technology may also be a factor behind the ever-increasing cost of health care, said the report.

Negros Oriental has recorded at least a 28 percent increase in dengue cases in 2009, according to Dr. Socrates Villamor, Provincial Epidemiology Surveillance Unit (PESU) chief of the Department of Health (DOH).

A total of 1,538 cases were recorded in 2009, higher compared to 2008 with only 1,201 cases as shown the data monitoring record of the DOH in Negros Oriental.

According to Dr. Villamor, their records are coming from the reports of the different hospitals in the province which are collected and updated each month.

The record also showed a total of five deaths recorded in 2009 due to dengue disease. Six dengue deaths were recorded in 2008.

The top five local government units with dengue cases last year include Dumaguete City with 575, Sibulan, 185, Tanjay, 148, Dauin, 94 and Siaton, 59 cases.

Dr. Villamor said one of the contributory factors in the rise in dengues cases last year was the erratic weather patterns that brought more rains.

Dengue is a disease spread between humans through a mosquito carrier, the aedes aegypti, which are endemic to Negros Oriental. (PNA)

Global health will be the focus of this year’s annual United Nations conference with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the UN Information Center in Tehran (UNIC) reported on Wednesday.

Kiyo Akasaka, Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, issued a joint statement with the Australian Government in which he said the UN DPI/NGO conference â€" now in its 63rd year â€" will be held in Melbourne from 30 August to 1 September.

Mr. Akasaka said the conference would examine global health as it relates to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the set of social and economic targets which world leaders agreed in 2000 to try to reach by 2015. Those goals include reducing child mortality, boosting maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

Hundreds of NGOs and civil society groups are expected to participate in the conference, which has only been held outside of UN Headquarters on two occasions. Last year’s event was staged in Mexico City and focused on the theme of disarmament.- PNA

The recently- secured contract for generic Tamiflu is expected to boost CCM Duopharma Biotech Bhd earnings for financial year (FY) 2010, says OSK Research.

"Although the contribution is only incremental to earnings, we are positive overall on this contract as it will enhance CCMD's earnings anyway," it said in a research note Wednesday.

Thus, the research house said it has upgraded FY10 earnings forecast of CCMD by 5.8 percent, while maintaining its 2009 forecast.

The RM32 million contract awarded to CCMD in October 2009 represented 50 percent of the total government contract for the supply of the generic Tamiflu.

CCMD also believes there is upside potential for the current contract given that currently it only covers 10 percent of the total population against the government's goal to achieve about 20 percent stockpile of the nation's populace.

In a recent meeting with the CCMD management, OSK said the group also expects its upcoming human vaccines fill and finish (F&F) to drive earnings momentum from FY11 onwards. (PNA/BERNAMA)
vcs/ebp

South Korea's population mobility fell in 2009 as people were discouraged from moving amid slumping economic conditions, a government report showed Wednesday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, 8.49 million people changed their legal residence last year, down 3.6 percent from a year earlier. This marked the third consecutive year of contraction since 2007 when the mobility declined 2.9 percent.

The downward trend is attributed to sluggish housing market and economic conditions that discouraged people from moving. South Korea has around 49 million population with over 10 million residing in Seoul and its surrounding areas.

People who moved in Seoul and its surrounding areas declined last year as well, continuing its downward move for the five straight year, the report showed.

Net population increase there totaled 44,000, also the lowest on-year growth since 1999 when 95,000 people were added to their residence list, according to the report. (PNA/Yonhap)

A foundation has included Nueva Vizcaya as one of its 40 pilot provinces in the country to undertake various programs, projects and activities designed to eradicate the incidence of malaria in upland villages.

Dr. Edwin Galapon, provincial health officer, said Filipinas Shell Foundation (FSF) has allotted some USD 31 million for its malaria-eradication program in the country.

“This fund will be divided to 40 pilot provinces as recipients of this program. The amount given for each province will depend on their proposed work and financial plan,” Galapon said.

He said that 80 percent of the requirements of the malaria eradication program will be financed through the FSF fund while 20 percent will be funded by the provincial government.

The malaria eradication program which will be implemented by the Provincial Health Office (PHO), Department of Health (DOH), provincial and municipal local governments from 2010 to 2015 aims to reduce the morbidity and mortality of malaria incidence by 70 percent.

The program covers eight municipalities with upland villages in the province such as Diadi, Villaverde, Quezon, Bagabag, Dupax del Norte, Dupax del Sur, Kasibu and Alfonso Castaneda.

Health officials, according to Galapon, met early this week to follow-up the implementation of the malaria eradication program in the province. - pna

Panama waits for 200,000 dosages of vaccines to prevent the A(H1N1) influenza, to arrive before the end of February, chief of Epidemiology of the Panamanian Health Ministry, Gladys Guerrero said on Tuesday.

The purchase of the vaccines was done through the Pan American Health Organization, and it is part of a pack bought by the Panamanian government to be used with the groups of most vulnerable people.

Guerrero said that the first to get these vaccines will be those children under five years old, the senior citizens and those patients with chronic diseases.

Guerrero said that last year the country received 100,000 vaccines, and 83 percent of them were already used during the first stage of sanitary campaign. (PNA/Xinhua)
FFC/ebp

Hong Kong health authorities reported a new death case of the influenza A(H1N1) on Tuesday, bringing the number of such cases in the city to 69.

The latest case involved a 53-year-old male patient with diabetes and end-stage renal failure. He went to Princess Margaret Hospital on Feb. 11 over fever and pneumonia syndrome.

He was tested positive for influenza A(H1N1) on Feb. 13 and had been in a critical condition. He finally succumbed Tuesday morning.

The case has been reported to the Hospital Authority Head Office and the Center for Health Protection. (PNA/Xinhua)

Davao City Councilor Edgar Ibuyan Sr. is tackling a proposal requiring call centers in the city to provide special quarters for its agents as reports say the agents have become the most vulnerable sector getting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

Ibuyan said the proposal by fellow city councilor Tessie Maranon is being thoroughly discussed by his committee on labor in view of hundreds of workers employed by sprouting call centers here.

Earlier reports said call center workers are late night workers and go to bars after calling work off. Their lifestyle exposes them to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) infliction.

Ibuyan said some of the firm opposed the requirement claiming limited space for the special quarters, which would serve as sleeping rooms for agents’ call off work at wee hours.

But Ibuyan said his committee is continuing studies on the proposal of Maranon, who chairs the committee on information technology.

Ibuyan earlier authored a city ordinance requiring malls and supermarkets to provide seats for salesgirls.

The landmark legislation was widely lauded here by women’s groups for being gender sensitive.

The city councilor said requiring call centers to have special quarters for late-night workers would help stop spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases in the city. - PNA

Pulupandan, Negros Occidental former mayor was gunned down by a motorcycle-riding assassins beside the compound of the Jaro Cathedral at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Former Mayor Luis Mondia was in critical condition when rushed to the Iloilo Mission Hospital where he expired several hours later.

Mondia was comatose when brought to the hospital.

The victim was with his wife and were about to board their service vehicle after they attended the 7 p.m. mass in time for “Ash Wednesday”, when shot by one of the two motorcycle-riding suspects at close range. The victim was fatally hit on the neck, right armpit and head.

The staccato of gunfires sent church-goers to scamper for their safety as the suspects hastily boarded the get-away motorcycle and sped towards Brgy. El 98, Jaro where they disappeared.

A civilian volunteer officer who was directing the vehicular traffic beside the Jaro Cathedral has witnessed the shooting incident.

Meanwhile, the Scene on the Crime Operatives (SOCO) recovered three deformed slugs and one empty shell of .45 caliber pistol in the crime scene.

C/Inspector Orly Gabinete, chief of Jaro PNP (Philippine National Police) station, has led the investigation and hot pursuit operation against the fleeing assassins believed to be professional hired killers.

Checkpoints have been conducted in possible exit points outside of metro Iloilo, particularly in Mandurriao, Oton, San Miguel and Pavia. -PNA

The provincial elections office has called on national candidates and their supporters to first consult the elections offices as to the location of the common poster areas before they post campaign posters or materials in Pangasinan.

Provincial election officer Reddy Balarbar made the call after all municipal and city election offices conducted an all-out drive against posters of national candidates that were placed other than the common poster areas located in each barangay in towns and cities of the province.

The operation was pursuant to Balarbal’s directive to all election officers in Pangasinan last February 11 to conduct "Operation Baklas" on February 16 because of the rampant violation in the posting of campaign posters of candidates for president, vice president and senators.

“We already designated common poster areas in very locality where the supporters of candidates would place campaign posters. But there are people who are really hard-headed and really wanted to violate,” he said.

He said tons of campaign posters were wasted after they were removed by municipal and city election offices in Pangasinan. These were either nailed on trees, hanged on electric and telephone wires or posted or nailed in electric posts.

The provincial election officer also called on the candidates to show they are environment friendly by not nailing posters on trees.

"Spare those trees and make our surroundings clean", Balarbar told the candidates and their supporters.

The official dismissed as flimsy the reason of some of the candidates’ supporters that they don't know the locations of the common poster areas. - PNA

At least 79 additional shelter units were completed and were officially turned over to the local government unit (LGU) early this week at Poona Piagapo town in Lanao del Norte.

These were in addition to the 35 shelter units that were turned over early this month to the LGU in Kauswagan town of that same province.

The new completed shelter units in Poona Piagapo were formally turned over by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) officials.

The shelter units were located in barangays Tangclao, Nunungan, Maliwanag and Piangamangaan, all of Poona Piagapo town.

Region 10 DSWD regional director Atty. Araceli F. Solamillio said the units provided were under the Modified Shelter Assistance Project crafted in the Indicative Rehabilitation Plan prepared by the DSWD and the local government of Poona Piagapo.

The region’s social welfare chief said the project reached more than P5 million with counterpart of P1 million by the local government.

Some of those beneficiaries of the project were especially intended to those families affected by the conflict that erupted last August 18.

Poona Piagapo Mayor Saripada Yusoph was almost in tears as he also expressed the predicament and fear the families had to go through when the war erupted.- PNA

The Tarlac Provincial Police Office (TPPO) based in Camp Macabulos, Tarlac City, Tarlac transformed a 600 square meter idle lot into a verdant vegetable garden after receiving a “Gulayan sa Kanayunan” program briefing by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

As the country reeled through the grave effects of the recent super typhoons that stormed most of the Luzon islands, DAR conceived the “Gulayan sa Kanayunan.”

This was in reaction to vegetables hitting record high prices beyond the reach of simple households.

The program was successful in drawing attention of those who saw their benefits. The PNP asked DAR for the program briefing.

“Thanks to the DAR for this program since it did not only teach us to raise vegetables but also showed us possibilities in augmenting our income,” Sr. Supt. Col. Elsa F. Miranda of TPPO said.

Meanwhile, a total of 24.7 hectares of unoccupied lot in Tarlac City has metamorphosed into a fruitful vegetable heaven which produced string beans, bitter gourd, squash, eggplant, okra and the like.

Eventually, the over supply of the produce went on to be sold at the local market for better income generation of the farmers who participated in the program.

About 3,000 farmer beneficiaries in Tarlac were also trained to develop their farming skills as well as in leadership.

Lectures on basic organic fertilizer production to reduce farm input cost, in bred rice and sweet potato wine production were provided to enhance their farm outputs. Rural women were trained in basic cosmetology.- pna

A P2.5-million new youth home called “Bahay Pag-asa” is set to rise at Barangay Basirang in Tudela town, Misamis Occidental province.

The “Bahay Pag-asa” is a project of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Northern Mindanao.

The ground breaking of the said project, which was held early this week in Barangay Basirang, was spearheaded by DSWD Assistant Secretary Vilma B. Cabrera and Region 10 DSWD Regional Director Atty. Araceli F. Solamillo and other local officials.

Solamillo said the facility will provide temporary care for children who were apprehended and released by the law enforcers but could not be returned to their family due to absence of child's family, difficulty to locate child's family, the incapacity of the child's parents to provide proper protection for the child, or the risky and hazardous environment where the child and his or her family lives.

She said the “Bahay Pag-asa” is going to provide protection and immediate social services to the disadvantaged child in a safe and home-like environment.

"The facility will also give each child opportunities for physical, emotional, spiritual, and technical/vocational skills development," she added.

The primary beneficiaries of “Bahay Pag-asa” are those children aged 15 years old and below, who was alleged to have committed heinous crime; 16 to 18 years old, who come in conflict with the law, have no parent or relatives to come home to while assessment of discernment is being undertaken; and those who are abused, neglected and exploited by parents or relative who are unemployed, irresponsible, with very low parental skills or with serious behavioral problems. - PNA

By Mike dela Rama

LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 17 (PNA) â€" The proposal to hold an early election in Masbate province is very lean, this according to the Commission on Election (Comelec) Bicol regional office.

Comelec Bicol regional director Zacariaz Zaragoza told the Philippines News Agency Wednesday, that holding an election in Masbate ahead of the May 10 general election will not materialize without legal basis.

“The law provides that general election is on May 10, this means that holding an election ahead is illegal unless the Philippine Congress will enact another law,” Zaragoza said.

He explained that being an election hot spot is not a basis to conduct an early election in the province of Masbate. “The proposal is very lean because there is no longer time for Congress to pursue legislative measure that would allow the holding of election ahead May 10 general election.”

Earlier, lawyer Alberto Cañares III, acting election supervisor for Masbate, said he has been calling for separate balloting in Masbate, which has a long history of election violence and rampant vote-buying.

Holding advanced elections in “hot spots” that include Masbate could prevent bloodshed and massive fraud as the poll body would be able to concentrate its security and administrative forces in those areas.

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said on Wednesday native products from Cebu, Mindanao and Ilocos region are among the items with the highest sales in various trade fairs here including the on-going flower festival.

Art Tibaldo, DTI information officer, said this was determined since last year and "it remains the same in the Market Encounter of the Panagbenga."

Among the saleable products of Cebu are preserved mango and other tropical fruits; while the fresh and processed durian like candies from Mindanao area take a big percentage in daily sales.

From the Ilocos region, the saleable native products include the "tinubong" (a glutinous rice delicacy placed inside a fresh bamboo), sugarcane wine and vinegar and fried corn.

All of these products were greatly improved in the last eight years through the One Town, One Product, a national livelihood program launched by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"This is the reason why that our own trade fair Impakabsat where we sell native Cordillera products is done in Metro Manila where they were determined to be enjoying great patronage from the residents," Tibaldo explained. (PNA)

Finally, an Ilocano translation of the highly acclaimed book, “ America is in the Heart,” by a famous author from this town, Carlos S. Bulosan.

The Ilocano book, “Adda Itti Puso ti Amerika,” which is considered a history of the early Filipinos in America, will be launched on February 19 at Bulosan’s hometown by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) led by Presidential Adviser on Culture and NCCA Executive Director Cecille Guidote Alvarez and the local government here led by Mayor Ramon N. Guico Jr. and Vice Mayor Ramon V. Guico III.

Guico said the book launch and mini-exhibit coincides with the town fiesta celebration and the annual visit of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a favorite daughter of the town. He said the President is expected to join the book launch as a fitting tribute to the town's hero.

The President's mother, the late First Lady Evangelina M. Macapagal, and grandfather, the late engineer Juan Macaraeg, a US pensionado, hail from Binalonan.

Also expected in the event is Pangasinan Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr. and Dagupan City Mayor Al Fernandez, who are fans of Bulosan.

The Ilocano book was translated from English by Manuel S. Diaz and published by the NCCA and the Media Touchstone Ventures Inc.

Ces Rembaud, managing editor of the weeky Bannawag magazine, hailed the publication of the Ilocano book. “This book will enable the Ilocanos, especially the youth, to understand the hardship and difficulties that the early Filipinos in America underwent so the next generations would succeed there,” he said.

Chairman Jose Lad. Santos of the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (KWF) said the book should be made a required reading for students in the country to able to appreciate the role of the first Filipinos abroad, particularly in America.

No less than former President Fidel Ramos hailed Bulosan for his contribution to the success of the Filipinos in the United States .

In his visit to the US in 1993, then President Fidel Ramos paid tribute to Bulosan for his contribution towards the acceptance of Filipinos in America.

Ramos said: “Carlos Bulosan, my neighbor in Pangasinan, arrived in Seattle, Washington poor and unlettered; then worked in canneries, picked fruits and vegetables and did other menial jobs. But he taught himself to be a better person.

“If life is so much better here for minority groups today, they owe a great part of that change to this man â€" Carlos Bulosan. We may not remember Carlos Bulosan, but his ideals â€" and his struggles â€" have survived him.”

Bulosan, hailed by National Artist Nick Joaquin as one of the greatest writers of his time, is only one of the famous sons of Binalonan, a small town but a giant in many ways because of its outstanding sons and daughters.

Other famous Binalonians aside from President Arroyo, her mother and Bulosan are Chief Justice Manuel Moran of the Supreme Court, grandfather of beauty queen Margie Moran; First Lady Evangelina Macaraeg, famous US pensionado engineer Juan Macaraeg and Mayor Ramon Guico Sr., who was one of the country’s outstanding mayors and farmers during his time.

Guico’s son, Ramon Jr., is the only three-term president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, while a grandson, Ramon III, is the town’s vice mayor and a leading educator as he heads one of the most progressive aviation schools in the country, the WCC Aviation Company.

Binalonan is also the home of a West Point graduate, Elicio V. Tavanlar, and top military and police officers like Major General Nathaniel Legaspi of the Philippine Air Force, Col. Norman Legaspi, Col. Amorsolo Gabot, Col. Bonifacio de Castro, Chief Supt. Dominador Resos, Commodore Romeo Aradanas and others.

Other outstanding lawyers and leaders also trace their roots to Binalonan like former Court of Appeals Court Justice and Justice Secretary Demetrio Demetria, a bar topnotcher, and the late Congressman Magdaleno Palacol Sr.

To sports enthusiasts and fans, Binalonan is the home of Philippine cycling champions Rufino Gabot, brothers Samson Etrata and Benjamin Etrata, William Calip, and Gonzalo Espiritu.

And thanks to President Arroyo, Binalonan has its second Philippine Ambassador (after Manuel Moran) in the person of Eva G. Betita, who is now the Philippine envoy to Brazil.

Presidential Adviser on Culture Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, who is NCCA executive director, said the book was translated by writer Manuel Diaz under a grant from the NCCA initiated by its National Committee on Language Translation headed by Dr. Jovy Peregrino, National Committee on Communications head Alfredo Gabot, who is a grandson of Bulosan, and the Sub-Commission for Cultural Dissemination led by Commissioner Elmar Ingles.

Bulosan is perhaps the most prolific and most popular writer of his time. His works â€" short stories, essays and poems â€" have been published in leading magazines of his day, like The New Yorker Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post, Harper’s Bazaar, Town and Country, Arizona Quarterly and Westways, among others.

In 1943, Bulosan submitted a collection of his stories entitled “The Laughter of My Father” to Harcourt Brace & Co. When it came off the press in 1944, the book became an instant hit and was later translated into several languages.

It was also in 1943 that Bulosan was commissioned by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and The Saturday Evening Post to write one of the four freedoms for his inauguration. Bulosan’s essay, “Freedom from Want,” was published by the magazine side by side with “Freedom of Speech” by Booth Tarkington, “Freedom of Worship” by Will Durant and “Freedom from Fear” by Stephen Vincent Benet, and illustrated by famous American artist Norman Rockwell.

Tarkington, Durant and Benet were all Pulitzer Prize winning authors and among the most popular American authors of the 20th century. The fact that Bulosan was commissioned along with the three famous authors is a testament to his literary success.

Bulosan wrote many stirring stories, poems, essays, plays, and editorials, including “The Romance of Magno Rubio” which has been transformed into an award-winning play; “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow,” “Letter from America,” and “The Voice of Bataan.”

Bulosan chronicled the painful struggles of Filipino workers and other minorities in the US. He captured their often cruel stories with a sensitivity that tugged at the heart of every Filipino. His vivid account of these struggles is carefully woven into his soul-stirring book “ America is in the Heart,” first published by Harcourt Brace & Co. in 1946.

So powerful is Bulosan’s presentation that thousands of copies of the book have been sold, and even up to the present, it is required reading in high schools and colleges in the US.

The University of Washington in Seattle re-issued the book in 1973 with an introduction by American writer Carey Williams. The university is also the repository of all the original works of Bulosan.

“America is in the Heart” has also been translated into various languages. The book’s sequel, “The Power of the People” or “The Cry and Dedication,” was subsequently published in the US and Canada. (PNA)
LAP/Alfred Gabot/utb

A pool of evaluators from Manila will arrive here Thursday to conduct random evaluation of five barangays in Dumaguete after it was adjudged as one of the national finalists for the search for the Most Child Friendly City in the country.

The evaluators are representatives from the different government agencies and a non-government organization who will evaluate the child development programs implemented in the city.

Mayor Agustin Perdices said the evaluators will review the implementation of the program based on reading materials available at the day care and Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) centers, health and nutrition of the children and local ordinances that are essential to the children.

He is hopeful that Dumaguete will finally be chosen as Most Child Friendly City after reaping the award in Region 7 for four consecutive years.

Perdices said said child development programs are among the priority concerns of the city government especially during his stint as city mayor.

The mayor strongly believes that the formative years of the children are important for their basic learning, especially with working parents who do not have enough time to teach them. - PNA

 Police here have warned villagers in Maguindanao to be extra careful on unexploded ordnance that could be littering in remote villages.

Senior Superintendent Alex Lineses, Maguindanao police director, issued the warning after a "signature firepower" of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front went off in the village of Kabingi, Datu Saudi Ampatuan town, killing three persons, including a nine-year-old boy, Wednesday morning.

Lineses identified the fatalities in the 11 a.m. explosion as Saiden Untag, 18; his wife Taga Kulige, 16; and Saiden’s brother Tata, 9, all residents of Barangay Kabingi.

Quoting police reports from Datu Saudi Ampatuan, Lineses said the victims were burning woods to make charcoal when the explosion occurred, killing the woman and the boy instantly.

Relatives rushed the husband to the hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

The shoulder-fired rocket propelled grenade is a signature firearm of the MILF who figured in several skirmishes with government forces in Maguindanao last year.

Lineses said the grenade did not explode during the skirmishes last year or years before but went off when triggered by the extreme heat due to charcoal making.  - PNA

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Negros Oriental has received five sets of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to be used for the training of election officers and assistants and members of the Board of Canvassers in preparation for the May 10 automated polls.

The machines, which arrived early this week and are stored and secured at an undisclosed place, shall be inspected tomorrow prior to the simultaneous nationwide training from February 19 to 25, acting provincial election supervisor Eddie Aba said.

First to undergo training are the election officers and their assistants from the five cities and 20 towns of the province, the Board of Canvassers and prosecutors, on the use of the machines.

During the whole month of March, the Board of Election Inspectors, to be divided into five batches composed of 30 to 40 people per batch, shall also undergo similar training on computerized elections.

Aba also clarified that these machines and other paraphernalia are simply for training purposes and will not be used during the conduct of the elections, thus eliminating doubts over possible fraud.

- pna

Hundreds of cooperatives nationwide are expected to gather in Dumaguete in October this year for the holding of the Philippine Cooperative TEAM (Together, Everyone Achieves More) Shop.

At a press conference here Wednesday, Dr. Profetiza Lim, head of the City Cooperative Development Council, announced that Gov. Emilio Macias II has already pledged to support the three-day national summit in Dumaguete with a funding of P2 million.

Lim said the TEAM Shop has been scheduled for Oct. 1 to 3, and is expected to boost local economic activity, increase tourism exposure, and showcase the province’s different cooperatives and their success stories.

Earlier, the National Cooperative Development Council and its provincial and city counterparts here had signed a memorandum of agreement with the governor on hosting the TEAM Shop this year.

Dr. Lim said she and other officials from the cooperative development councils will be visiting Butuan in early March in preparation for the TEAM Shop.

Butuan played host to the last TEAM Shop, she added. - pna

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena said that unless he is asked by one of the parties involved, he will keep his hands off the threat of ship owners to hold a transport holiday on March 1.

”As a general policy, I do not get involved in disputes unless one of the parties asks me to get involved. If the shipping companies ask me to get involved, then I have to go,” the mayor said.

”It’s very hard for an outsider to be involved. The contending parties both end up hating you,” he said.

Cebu City Councilor Arsenio Pacana had said he will arrange a meeting with the ship owners and the Martime Industry Authority (Marina) for a possible agreement over their gripes.

He said he may even request the mayor to join the meeting.

The mayor, however, said he will not show up unless asked by the ship owners.

”If he can resolve it, why would I object to them having meeting” But why will I go? I got other things to do. If Pacana can do it, why would I do it?” Osmena said.

-pna

A total of 54 election officers (EOs) of the towns and cities in Cebu will undergo training on poll automation this week as part of their preparations for the May 10 elections.

Cebu City’s poll offices will also start training next week the 3,200 public school teachers who will serve as chairperson and members of the board of election inspectors (BEIs) and support staff.

Cebu City north district election officer lawyer Marchel Sarno said that although the training this week is one month behind the original schedule, it is not too late to train the poll officials.

They will be trained in using the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine and other gadgets that will be used in the voting and transmission process.

The training for the local Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials will start on Friday and will run until February 25.

Comelec 7 Director Ray Rene Buac, assistant director Veronico Petalcorin and Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Castillano will facilitate the EO’s training.

”They have been trained in Manila so they will be the ones to train us on the poll automation. We, in turn, will train all the teachers who were identified to serve in the election on May 10,” Sarno said.

- pna

Cebu City residents and those who work in the city will enjoy a holiday on Feb. 24, a Wednesday, when the Cebu City Government celebrates its 73rd Charter Day.

Students will also enjoy two holidays next week. There will be no classes in all public and private schools in the city on Feb. 24, and a special holiday for all schools will also be observed on Feb. 22, a Monday.

The country will commemorate the 24th anniversary of the Edsa People Power Revolution on Feb. 25 yet. But in Proclamation 1841, President Arroyo moved its observance to the Monday closest to the anniversary.

Republic Act 7287 signed by former President Corazon Aquino declares Feb. 24 a special non-working day throughout Cebu City as it celebrates its Charter Day.

Cebu City Information Officer Nagiel Banacia said there will be no work and classes on that day. (PNA)

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo announced Wednesday that she has no plans to lift the state of emergency in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Cotabato City.

However, the President said that the three areas are already safe for travel anytime since government forces are in place since last December and will continue to be there until after the elections.

The President visited the once-troubled town of Mother Kabuntalan in Maguindanao Wednesday where she led the official turnover of core shelters for internally displaced persons and inspected farm-to-market roads.

She said she will act on whatever the recommendation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will be.

"So far there's no recommendation from the AFP to lift the state of emergency," she said, adding that the state of emergency may continue if it is doing good for the people and the general public.

The three areas were placed under state of emergency following the gruesome massacre of 57 people in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.

Maguindanao was placed under Martial Law from December 5 to 12 to suppress what the military believed was a brewing rebellion by supporters of former Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. who was linked to the massacre.

- PNA

A New People’s Army (NPA) guerrilla was killed during a clash with government troops in Surigao del Sur on Wednesday morning, a military spokesman reported.

Citing reports reaching the Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said the encounter took place at around 10:15 a.m. at the village of Bolhoon in San Miguel town.

Burgos said troops from the 36th Infantry Battalion were on a security patrol when they caught up with about five rebels, resulting in a brief firefight.

“The firefight resulted to one enemy killed and the recovery of one M16 rifle,” said Burgos, adding that no casualty was reported on the military side.

“Troops are still scouring the area to protect the residents from possible NPA atrocities,” he said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is aiming to defeat the NPA, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, on or before June, this year, when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo finishes her term.

- PNA

The Commission on Elections was asked on Wednesday to declare the province of Rizal, especially the municipalities of Binangonan, Cardona and Rodriguez (Montalban), as election hot spots.

In a press conference, Rodriguez Vice Mayor Esteban "Steve" Salonga, provincial chairman of the Liberal Party (LP), asked Comelec Chairman Jose Melo to place Rizal province, particularly the said three towns under the Comelec control and supervision to ensure the conduct of an open, honest and peaceful elections on May 10, 2010.

In a three-page letter to the Comelec, Salonga reported an escalating number of incidents of political harassment and intimidation perpetrated allegedly by Binangonan Mayor Cecilio "Boyet" Ynares, his nephew Governor Casimiro "Junjun" Ynares III and Vice Governor Frisco San Juan Jr. against the LP provincial and local candidates in the province.

It was cited that last Monday (Feb. 15), Rodriguez Mayor Pedro "Ping" Cuerpo and Salonga had just left a party when they were stopped by certain Binangonan town policemen, whom they believed were instructed to harass them.

For his part, Cuerpo said that they were stopped for several minutes by the Binangonan police and it was Salonga who talked to the police to let them go.

Cuerpo and Salonga are running for the positions of Rizal governor and vice governor, respectively, in the forthcoming elections. - PNA

Mayor Jerry P. Treñas had expressed his disappointment on the lackluster performance of the Mandurriao Philippine National Police (PNP) station headed by CInsp. Conrado Carganillo over an escaped prisoner while on custody of the police station last Monday.

Treñas said he had asked the police official of PNP Station 5 to report the incident and explain the escape of Robert Baltazar, 24 years old, resident of Barangay Bakhaw, Mandurriao who is a well-known drug pusher.

The Mandurriao PNP was also under fire last week after three newly promoted police inspectors were complained by a taxi driver who was mauled by the three for refusing to ferry them from a bar to their destination. The taxi driver said he was contracted to wait by a customer and that the three police inspectors were heavily drunk.

Similarly, the city mayor also reported to the local media that CInsp. Musa Amiong, deputy chief of the city mobile group, is under investigation over the incident at Barangay Pala-pala Zone 2 last week.

Amiong was reported by some barangay residents to be “harassing” them while in civilian clothes but armed and going around the barangay looking for houses with streamers of the city mayor. - PNA

Patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are more likely to have a significantly lower frequency of nightmares than patients with mild or no sleep apnea, a new study shows.

The findings indicate that OSA suppresses the cognitive experience of nightmare recall, according to the study published in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

This is the first large study to address both reported dream and nightmare recall frequency in a clinically evaluated sample of patients with a high frequency of severe OSA, said researchers at the University of Colorado Medical School.

This retrospective study involved 393 consecutive patients who were evaluated by overnight polysomnography over a two-year period. Their mean age was 50.5 years with a range of 13 to 82 years, and 67 percent of participants were male.

The results show that the percent of participants with frequent nightmare recall decreased linearly as sleep apnea severity increased. Frequent nightmare recall, occurring at least weekly, was reported by 71.4 percent of people who did not have OSA and 43.2 percent of patients with mild OSA, which was defined as an apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) of five to less than 15 breathing pauses per hour of sleep.

The rate of frequent nightmare recall decreased to 29.9 percent in patients with moderate OSA (AHI of 15 to less than 30) and 20.6 percent in patients with severe OSA (AHI of 30 or more). - PNA

South Korean researchers have developed a tangerine-based gel that has the potential to be used to make artificial skin and various cosmetic products, a state-run rural development agency said Tuesday.

The gel, made using fermentative bacteria called SEA623-2, absorbs nutrients found in the citrus and is harmless to humans, the Rural Development Administration (RDA) said, adding it can effectively protect damaged skin from infections. The cellulose gel is the world's first to be made from tangerines.

v"Products that can cover burn wounds and protect against infections are to be made within the year, while use of the material to make artificial skin may take two-three years," Choi Dong-ro, head of the RDA's institute of horticultural and herbal science, said. Specially made gauzes and creams are currently being developed.

He said detailed clinical tests are planned for 2011 and 2012 with permission to use the material being sought from such agencies as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"Since it is made from natural bio-polymer, no bacteria can thrive in the gel, making it ideal as a base material for medical products," the director general said.

He said that because the gel is a non-conductive substance, there may be applications for it in the information technology sector. - PNA

South Korea said Tuesday it will send 1 billion won (US$ 866,000) worth of hand sanitizer next week to North Korea to help the impoverished neighbor combat the spread of the H1N1 flu virus.

The shipment of 200,000 liters of sanitizer, scheduled for next Monday, comes after South Korea delivered some $ 15 million in anti-viral medications to the North in December in the first state-level cross-border humanitarian aid in nearly two years.

North Korea first acknowledged cases of Influenza A virus infection on December 9, but it has yet to report any flu-related deaths.

The hand sanitizer will be transported to the North Korean border town of Kaesong on South Korean trucks across the military demarcation line and handed to the North there, Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said.

"North Korea agreed to accept the aid on February 22," he told reporters, adding about 20 25-ton trucks will likely be mobilized to deliver the aid.

The Tamiflu aid in December marked the first humanitarian assistance provided by the South Korean government to North Korea since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in Seoul in early 2008. - PNA

Australian scientists revealed on Tuesday they had found that gene variants known to increase a woman's risk of breast cancer also played a determining role in the density of her breast.

Professor John Hopper, of the University of Melbourne's School of Population Health, said the discovery points to new "pathways" for the development of breast cancer, and it opens a new avenue for research into targeted treatment.

"Previous twin studies have suggested there is a genetic link between mammographic density and breast cancer," he said.

"For the first time, we have been able to identify some of the breast cancer genetic variants involved."

The research took in mammogram results and blood samples collected from 830 sets of twins and 600 of their sisters recruited via the Australian Twin Registry.

Scientists then looked for any link between women who had lots of "light areas" - high-density breast tissue - on their mammogram scans and a range of 12 gene variations known to increase the breast cancer risk.

"We aimed to determine if these genetic variants associated with breast cancer risk also influenced mammographic density ... and we found at least two of the variants were linked," said Dr. Jennifer Stone, who led the research into mammographic density. - PNA

On the steppes of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, herdsman Cao Zhenglong sits and enjoys the Spring Festival TV gala on a LCD screen.

He doesn't worry about the electricity he is using, assured in the knowledge his electricity generator can turn both wind and solar energy into electricity.

"With the new wind-solar generator installed last year, we expect to buy more home appliances and live a more modern life," Cao's wife Yue Cuiyun said.

Cao's cottage is 20 km. from the nearest power transformer station on the Erdos Grassland. His home generator is his only source of electricity.

"On the grassland, it is either windy, or bright and sunny. Either way, the generator makes electricity and provides a stable supply of power for the household," Cao said.

The small, three-blade turbine that he once used produced only tiny volumes of electricity. He could barely keep a lamplight on at night without a strong wind.

The couple said that the regional government began to encourage herdsmen and farmers to buy the wind-solar home generators last year by providing subsidies. The subsidy reduced the severity of many rural households' electricity shortage.

Under the policy, herdsmen only pay 3,500 yuan (US$ 512) for a 8,500 yuan wind-solar generator. The government subsidy covers the rest.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has completed on time P7.74 billion big infrastructure projects in Northeastern and Southern Mindanao regions.

In her Mindanao agriculture tour today, the President will inspect these big completed infrastructure projects.

DPWH Caraga regional director Doctor Evelyn T. Barroso reported that P4.74 billion worth of various public works projects located at various areas in the region and some of the commitments of President Arroyo in her State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) were already completed under 2009 budget.

Barroso said the DPWH Caraga has also completed ahead of schedule late last year and some early part of this month the 216 road projects and seven bridges totaling 63.519 lineal kilometers.

"The ground works of the Lingig-Boston Section is also on going without let up. Once all these projects are completed, it is expected to promote the development of agriculture and tourism in these areas," she said.

On the other hand, DPWH Davao has also completed on time P3.02 billion worth of big-ticket infrastructure projects promised by President Arroyo in her SONA in 2007.

DPWH Davao regional director Osop L. Ali said the agency has completed the P1.14 billion worth Manay section of Surigao Sur-Davao Oriental Coastal Road, which serves as the "main trunkline" of coastal municipalities of Davao Oriental in Southern Mindanao and Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte in Caraga region, leading to the main Pan Philippine Highway.

The Biofuels International Philippines, Inc. (BIPI) assured that the production of ethanol as an energy source in Negros Occidental will not be hampered by the dry spell.

BIPI director Frank Carbon said ethanol production in Negros will not be imperiled by El Niño because of its abundance in water resources.

The province has six major rivers that could supply water to irrigation systems thus mitigate the drastic effects of the dry spell, BIPI said.

These major rivers are the Danao River, Himoga-an River, Malogo River, Bago River, Binalbagan River, and Ilog River that flow from Mt. Silay, Mt. Mandalagan and Mt. Kanlaon and strategically scattered in the island which are potential for water source.

With this, the improvement of irrigation facilities is seen as one of the mitigating measures to cushion the phenomenon’s effect.

Meanwhile, BIPI president Roberto Montelibano said they currently have a joint venture agreement with foreign investors to build an autonomous ethanol plant in Brgy. Blumentritt, in Murcia town.

The local investment board has granted a five-year tax holiday to Bacolod Big Joc Realty and Management Corp. for its P60-million investments in the hotel and restaurant business in the city.

The Certificate of Exemption was awarded by Mayor Evelio Leonardia to the company owned by Johnny Chua, whose investments include the East View Hotel and Blue Grass Café, Bar and Grill situated at corners of Pag-asa and the circumferential road in Barangay Villamonte.

“This is another concrete proof how business-friendly Bacolod City is…an indication that the city now is having an economic boom,” said Leonardia.

Leonardia said that the P60 million investments could bring employment for many Bacoleños.

Chua said that instead of putting business in other places, he decided to invest in this city “to promote and create jobs and help the economy of Bacolod.”

Bacolod Business Development and Promotion Center head Ardis A. Jaculina said that the hotel and restaurant is entitled to a business tax holiday for five years.

The two slain New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in the recent Manapla encounter have already been identified and claimed by their families for proper disposition.

The military authorities in Negros Occidental has identified the slain amazon as Arlene Baynusa, 35, of Brgy. Tabun-ac, Toboso and Reynaldo Vasquez of Silay City, all in Negros Occidental.

Their cadavers have already been claimed by their respective families over the weekend.

The duo were killed on the spot following a 35-minute gunbattle between a squad of 12th Infantry Battalion and a group of heavily armed insurgents in Brgy. San Pablo, Manapla town last week.

Based on the military intelligence community, Vasquez served as the political officer and squad leader of Platoon 1 of Kilusang Larangan-Northern Negros.

The encounter happened after two civilian informants tipped off the military authorities on the presence of some 30 armed men holed inside a hut in the said barangay.

A squad of Army soldiers from the 12th IB’s army detachment led by Staff Sgt. Romeo Arellano immediately proceeded to the area to conduct internal security patrol operation when fired upon by the rebels. The two rebels were killed in the encounter. - PNA

Hydro power firm SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) Magat Inc. recently handed over at least 11 sets of computers and printers to various public schools in Aguinaldo town in Ifugao province.

The computers and printers were turned-over to school officials during a program witnessed by Aguinaldo town Mayor Delfin Bullan, Vice Mayor Gaspar Chilagan, Councilor Agustin Natuno and SNAP External Relations Manager lawyer Mike Hosillos.

Rhoda Santos, SNAP Magat Inc. communications officer, said the computers and printers will benefit at least 1,600 students and teachers of eight public schools in Aguinaldo town.

SNAP Magat owns and operates the 360-megawatt Magat hydroelectric power plant bordering the towns of Ramon, in Isabela province and Alfonso Lista, in Ifugao province.

The company is a joint venture of Aboitiz Group and SN Power of Norway, which took over government operations in 2007.

Mayor Bullan accepted the equipment on behalf of the schools, vowing to ensure proper maintenance and maximum use of the computers for the children and teachers.

“We thank SNAP-Magat for bringing this project to our municipality. These computers will go a long way in the educational development of our children,” Vice Mayor Chilagan also said in his welcome remarks.

Forests in four municipalities of this province will be enhanced, sustained and improved with the recent approval of some P13.6 million grant by Japan.

The grant was given under the contract project, dubbed “Promotion of Participatory Forest Management in the Critical Watershed of Nueva Vizcaya Province,” now on its third year of implementation which features community-based projects now expanding to include four new barangays in Kayapa, Dupax del Sur, Santa Fe and Kasibu municipalities in Nueva Vizcaya.

The project, supervised by the GLM Institute (GLMI), a Japanese non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Nueva Vizcaya, is expected to benefit over 1,000 families in these villages.

The recent signing of the contract marked the appropriation of some 1,262 or about P13.6 million from the “Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO Projects” under Japan’s Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The Grant Assistance for Japanese NGO projects was launched in 2002 to enhance cooperation between the Government of Japan and Japanese NGOs in the implementation of ODA to promote effective and efficient aid for developing countries.

Japanese government’s assistance to the country’s forestry sector focuses on the establishment of sustainable forest management through various projects such as the Forestry Sector Project through Japanese ODA loans and technical cooperation through Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), among others.

A government soldier was wounded when land mines planted by suspected communist rebels along the road in Barangay Anibongan, Lianga, Surigao del Sur exploded, belated report from Lianga police said.

The report said government troopers belonging to the 58th IB Philippine Army on board two ten-wheelers Isuzu military trucks, while on their way to their camp in Lianga on Saturday, hit landmines planted allegedly by undetermined number of New People's Army rebels.

The lone wounded soldier was immediately taken to D.O.Plaza Hospital in Patin-ay, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur for treatment. (PNA)

Operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) have arrested three persons and seized an estimated P1 million worth of metamphetamine chloride or shabu in this southern port city, a PDEA official disclosed Tuesday.

PDEA Regional Director Adzhar Albani said the suspects were arrested in an entrapment around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sampaloc Drive, Barangay Baliwasan, west of this city.

Albani identified the arrested suspects as Apong Andal, 61, Amil Andal, 64, both residents of Barangay Baliwasan, and Rene Hassan, 42, of Jolo, Sulu.

Albani said his personnel have seized from the possession of the suspects 50 grams of shabu with an estimated market value of P1 million. - PNA

He said the entrapment was carried out following reports that the Andals are peddling shabu at Sampaloc Drive, Baliwasan.

Appropriate charges are set to be filed in court against the suspects, Albani said. (PNA)
LAP/Teofilo P. Garcia/utb

The Arroyo administration is harnessing a $ 5-million grant from the World Bank for a project that Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap said should enable government agencies to finally obtain thorough and accurate data on weather conditions.

Yap, in a statement released here by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said the project is also expected to give government agencies an opportunity to work together on a master plan to “weather-proof” Philippine agriculture and other sectors against climate change.

Yap earlier announced this daring government project during the DA Management Committee (ManCom) meeting at the DA central office where World Bank representatives had briefed agriculture executives and field officers about the Philippine Climate Change Adaptation Project, which this international institution is carrying out with the DA and two more agencies through a $ 5-million grant from the Global Environment Facility.

Samuel Wedderburn and Felizardo Virtucio Jr., who presented the project during the ManCom meeting, said this pilot project is meant to develop and demonstrate approaches on how to help targeted Philippine communities cope with the negative impact of climate change.

Weddeeburn is WB's senior natural resources management specialist for East Asia rural development and environment while Virtucio is operations officer for rural development.

They will be working with their counterparts from the concerned government agencies on this project.

Maguindanao will soon have its regular acting governor who will oversee the provincial government's operation until an elected governor shall have assumed office, officials here said.

Ali Macabalang, chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao-Bureau of Public Information, said the selection committee formed by ARMM Governor Mamintal Adiong, was wrapping up its selection process for acting governor, presently held in concurrent capacity by Nariman Ambolodto who was named acting vice governor.

Local officials, including mayors and board members, were asking the ARMM leadership to expedite the selection process as they believe it was inappropriate for an acting vice governor, who chairs the provincial legislative body, to act as acting governor, an executive position.

At least seven aspirants were screened by the selection committee.

Adiong earlier said he has given the selection committee “full autonomy” in choosing an acting governor for Maguindanao.

“People must have perceived that it was Mrs. Ambolodto who was named acting governor. No, she wasn’t. She is even eligible to apply for the position of acting governor is she wants to become one. She can submit herself for screening by the selection committee,” Macabalang said.

The Revenue District Office 74 of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) here will personally ask the support of May 2010 candidates for its ‘Oplan: Iboto Mo’ program.

Revenue District Office 74 head Nelia B. Demalata said they have already asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the list of qualified candidates so that they can approach them personally.

She announced that as of last week, some eight to 10 candidates from here have already registered with the BIR signifying their intention to serve as withholding agents.

Under the Oplan: Iboto Mo, “all political parties and candidates of local and national elections as well as campaign contributors are required to register as withholding agents for the five percent tax on suppliers of goods and service.”

BIR 11 officer-in-charge, Atty. Glen Geraldino, said they might also entertain the idea of making the certificate of payment of the withholding tax as one of the required documents that will be submitted by candidates to the Comelec after elections.

Geraldino added the agency is targeting to collect some P5 billion to P6 billion in taxes nationwide if the program will become successful. (PNA)

The intensified operations of various police units in Western Visayas resulted in the apprehension of 90 persons with 51 now facing cases in court and 31 still being investigated.

Data from the Regional Election Monitoring Action Center of the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO 6) showed that the arrests resulted in the confiscation of 49 firearms, 20 bladed weapons, and two hand grenades.

PRO 6 director, C/Supt. Isagani R. Cuevas said that “the increase in the number of arrested persons and firearms confiscated is a manifestation of the intensified operations law enforcers in the implementation of the Comelec gun ban” as the election draws near.

“There will be no let-up in various police operations, like checkpoints and police visibility, to monitor and arrest the violators of the gun ban,” he stressed.

The highest number of violations still came from Negros Occidental with 27, followed by Capiz and Bacolod City with 15 violators each.

Meanwhile, Antique reported nine violators while provinces of Aklan and Iloilo each have eight apprehensions; Iloilo City with five, and Guimaras with three. (PNA)

Two persons were killed while three others were wounded when a bridge in South Cotabato collapsed on Sunday, police said on Tuesday.

Senior Superintendent Nilo Wong, South Cotabato police director, said the Bacneb Bridge in Barangay Laconon, T’Boli town collapsed around 2 p.m. Sunday, while a heavily loaded passenger jeep was traversing the bridge.

Ernie Lauro, the jeep cum hauler truck driver, said the vehicle was loaded with 43 sacks of corn and was in the middle of the bridge when the structure gave way.

Two passengers, identified as Lantoy Ginda and Celso Kita, were pinned to death by sacks of corn and the fallen truck.

The injured were brought to the T’Boli Evangelical Hospital for treatment.(PNA)

The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has passed the responsibility over the proposed revival of the Panay railway system to the Regional Development Council (RDC6) here, saying the project’s feasibility study has long been submitted to the region’s planning body.

DOTC Undersecretary Guiling Mamondiong said it was the sole responsibility of RDC6, chaired by Antique Gov. Salvacion Perez, to submit the feasibility study (FS) of the proposed project to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) in Manila.

In a recent Ulat ng Bayan here, Mamondiong said that RDC 6 should take action on the proposed revival of the Panay Railway Inc. (PRI) project since no government project plans could be finalized without RDC endorsement of the feasibility study (FS).

However, the DOTC official admitted he was pinning hope on the new administration to take recognition of the project importance and the economic value it would bring to Panay Island.

The railway system was the most important means of transportation in Iloilo and Capiz provinces after World War II. Commuters in two provinces would take the train to bring in their products and services.

The railway system was also expanded to serve the booming sugar industry in central Panay during the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos. However, it suffered a decline as more concrete highways were built parallel to the railroads that eventually stopped railway operations by the 1980s.

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has defended the P100â€"million dredging project in Casiguran town here, saying “it is an aboveboard project that is extremely necessary."

Elmer Dabbay, district engineer of the Aurora-DPWH, told newsmen that the dredging and re-channeling of the Calabgan, Minanga and Tabang rivers, all in Casiguran, were extremely necessary because of the severe flooding that always hits the northern Aurora town even during the slightest rain.

“How can funds for dredging and re-channeling be election funds when flooding has long been a problem in Casiguran? If we don’t re-channel the rivers, water has no way out and Casiguran would perennially be under water,” Dabbay said.

He made this reaction following reports that officials of Casiguran are investigating the project on suspicion it is being used to raise campaign funds.

Earlier, leaders and members of the Nuestra Señora dela Salvacion Parish submitted a petition to the municipal council of Casiguran seeking to investigate the project which they described as “questionable, dubious and anomalous.”

The program of work submitted by the DPWH and the contractors to the municipal council was reportedly “unsigned, undated and unapproved by Mayor Reynaldo Bitong.

Bitong said the work was done haphazardly, as if its proponents were into “campaign fund-raising.”

While he did not identify who was behind the supposed fund-raising, he was clearly referring to Governor Bellaflor J. Angara-Castillo, who initiated the project and tapped the DPWH as implementing agency through a memorandum of agreement. - PNA

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sees the full economic development of Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental due to the big road projects that are set to be completed before she steps down from office in June.

President Arroyo flew Tuesday to this farthest town of Surigao del Sur from Socorro town in Surigao del Norte for the third leg of her Super Regions tour, to inaugurate the P50-million Socorro Feeder Port in Socorro town, Surigao del Norte and do on-site inspection of the ongoing Lingig-Boston Section of the Surigao-Davao Coastal Road.

Mrs. Arroyo, along with some of her Cabinet members including Press Secretary Crispulo J. Icban, Jr., Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Environment Secretary Horacio Ramos and Mindanao Super Region Champion Secretary Jesus Dureza were warmly welcomed by a huge crowd from the education sector, farmers and household beneficiaries of “Pantawid sa Pamilyang Pilipino Program” or 4Ps.

Top provincial and municipal officials led by Governor Vicente Pimentel, Surigao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Francisco Garay, Rep. Philip Pichay (1st district, Surigao del Sur) and Lingig Mayor Jimmy Luna also welcomed the President and her group.

Along with newsmen, Mrs. Arroyo on board a bus made a drive-through to inspect the ongoing ground works of the unpaved 15 kilometers road that will finally connect the town of Boston, in Davao Oriental province to Southern Mindanao (Region 11).

The Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) will meet to discuss the reported kidnapping of a shipping line executive at dawn Friday, Feb. 5.

DCCCII president Engr. Robert Quinto said he would convene the body to verify the kidnapping issue and to discuss other related issues.

Quinto made the comment in reaction to the reported abduction of a certain Jerry Jimenez, manager of Solid Shipping Lines in Ilang, Tibungco, Davao City that hogged the headlines here this week.

Quinto, however, said DCCCII could not ascertain the incident involving a comrade in the absence of an official report or confirmation from the authorities.

He said the chamber wanted to be very careful in discussing the matter in the absence of an official report as this could put the city’s business environment in bad light anew since the shooting incident inside one of the city’s mall last week.

He was referring to the shooting incident that involved two bodyguards of Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu.

Police authorities, particularly Sr. Supt. Rene Aspera, director of the Davao City Police Office (DCPO), had insisted the police had yet to receive a report about the matter and could not act on it in the absence of a report particularly from the victim’s family. - PNA

The Arroyo administration said it spent billions of pesos to make good its promise to make Mindanao super region the country’s agribusiness center.

Malacanang deputy spokesperson Ricardo Saludo said about P8.96 billion was spent from 2001 to 2009 to complete the construction and rehabilitation of 4,427.62 km. of Farm-to-Market Roads (FMRs) in Mindanao.

Saludo said the provision of loans extended to Mindanao farmers is also considerable amounting to a total of P4.77 billion released to 154,536 farmer-beneficiaries through the Land Bank and Agro-Industry Modernization Credit and Financing Program (AMCFP).

The loan provision intends to encourage and develop the capacity of farmers to invest more in agribusiness, he said.

But Saludo said the present administration did not only provide credit to farmers but also to other entrepreneurs.

He said about P4.2 billion worth of credit was released for Mindanao’s microfinance. The amount is seven times higher compared to the total amount released in 2004.

Also, about P51.68 billion was spent for roads and bridges from 2001 to 2009 in Mindanao. This comprises the construction and improvement of 6,557.47 km of roads and 37,734.23 linear meters (lms) of bridges, he said.

(PNA) â€" Cebu election officials have raised the need to ensure a stable power supply in the days leading to and days after the May 10 polls to maximize the efficiency of the first poll automation.

But an official of the Visayan Electric Co. (Veco), Metro Cebu’s lone power utility, said the availability of power is the responsibility of the suppliers.

Election officials Monday met with telecommunication companies, power suppliers, police officials and other election stakeholders at the Casino Espanol de Cebu in Cebu City.

They also discussed the problems that could be encountered if unscrupulous people succeed in installing the signal jammers and blockers on election days.

The need to secure all installations and assets necessary during the elections was also taken up.

Lawyer Marchel Sarno, Cebu City north district election officer, said that five days before election day, the election day itself, and two days after the polls are crucial periods such that “no brownout” should occur.

”That is a crucial time. That is why we proposed to Veco and other power firms that there should be constant and continuous power supply five days before the elections, two days after and of course on election day. We also need to make sure that there is constant power supply in the telecommunication companies,” he said.

(PNA) â€" Five police officers and non-uniformed personnel of the Philippine National Police in Negros Oriental received citations during Monday’s local 16th PNP Day celebration at Camp Fernandez in Sibulan town.

The celebration bannered the theme, “Mamayan at Kapulisan: Bayanihang Pangka-ayusan at Pangkapayapaan.”

The awardees include Sr. Supt. Leopoldo Cabanag, police chief of Dumaguete and Chief Inspector Carlos Lacuesta, Jr. as model senior and junior police commissioned officers, respectively;

SPO2 Allen Germudo as model senior non-commissioned officer and PO3 Edilberto Euraoba III as model junior non-commissioned officer of the year; Geraldine Esparcia as model non- uniformed personnel of the year.

Bayawan City police station was adjudged model urban police station while the Siaton police station was named as the model rural police station.

Some government agencies like the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Commission on Human Rights and civic clubs, non-government organizations and the media were also recognized during the said event.

The celebration was attended by special guests Director Gen. Edgardo Acuña, chief Directorial Staff of PNP National Headquarters and PNP Region 7 director, Chief Supt. Lani-o Nerez.

(PNA) - The National Food Authority (NFA) has assured the consuming public in Negros Oriental of sufficient rice supply in line with the possible decline of food production due to the effects of the dry spell.

NFA provincial manager Francisco Lorico said there is no reason to panic because they have been preparing for the possible increase of rice consumption this year. At present, a total of 80,000 bags of NFA rice are available to supply the needs of consumers, he added.

Lorico said the buffer stock is expected to last until the month of March although another 16,000 bags of NFA rice will be arriving anytime during the week.

According to Lorico they are not expecting the dry spell to affect the province although they are still preparing for enough volume of rice supply to prevent the consumers from panic-buying.

He also clarified that there is no price increase of NFA rice which is sold at P25 per kilo in all Tindahan Natin outlets and accredited NFA stores in the province.

Lorico said they are expecting an increase in the consumption of NFA rice because the corn production during the last cropping season lowered because of the erratic weather pattern.

The price of corn grits in the market is sold at P28 per kilo which is higher by P3 compared to NFA rice which is only P25 per kilo only.

Meanwhile, NFA Provincial Manager Lorico clarified that they are preparing for the request of some politicians for NFA rice. He said all such requests are being forwarded to the NFA regional office for approval.

(PNA) - Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has said he sees “no major problem” as far as the urban section of the city is concerned on the effects of the El Niño phenomenon.

He said those affected are only the farming communities, but the Cebu City Government is helping them by providing hoses and even pumps.

”In Cebu City, it is only the farming communities that are affected. But I do not expect a major problem as far as the city is concerned,” he said.

”There are guys looking into it.. “I’m not going to hit the panic button,” Osmeña said.

The mayor also criticized those who build homes in upland areas, where there is no water, and then lament about the city for failing to provide them with water.

”Why don’t they go to a place where there is water? They go to a place where there is no water, and then I have to provide you with water. It’s not fair for the City,” he said.

He used as example the elevated Barangay Busay, where people built their homes in areas that are unreachable by the Metro Cebu Water district (MCWD).

He advised them to instead go to places where water is available.

He said a new mayor will do his best to accommodate such demand even if the residents are the ones who opted to build their homes in an area inaccessible to water.

The farmers in the mountain barangays have been getting support from the city on their request for containers, hoses, and other items they need to bring water to their plants.

He said surface water is just one source in the city, where deep wells are common.

Drillings are also being done in a few barangays of the City to extract water that would be sold to the MCWD for city constituents.

At the 300-hectare South Road Properties, the mayor said there are wells that are not used yet.

(PNA) â€" Cebu Provincial Election Supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said candidates should attend forums, especially those organized by the youth, as an opportunity for them to educate the public about poll automation.

Castillano said the statement was meant to encourage candidates to help in the voter’s education campaign by ensuring that their supporters know how to vote properly.

Castillano spoke at a candidates’ forum lat the University of the Philippines Visayas Cebu College, where he gave an orientation on poll automation.

”It’s important for the candidates to attend youth forums to educate voters,” he said.

The candidates’ forum was for Cebu City north district congressional candidates to present to a panel their platforms and answer questions from the students.

Only former Air Force pilot Ashley Acedillo, Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos, and former National Bureau of Investigation 7 director Florencio Villarin showed up.

Rachel “Cutie” del Mar, whom her father, Rep. Raul del Mar, has groomed to take his place, did not attend the activity.

Through a letter, she told organizers a Bando Osmena-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) rule prevents them from joining forums and other gatherings where their opponents are present.

(PNA) -- The military and police have sent peacekeeping force in a remote village in North Cotabato to prevent the escalation of hostilities involving two Muslim clans.

Lt. Col. Benjamin Hao, 6th Infantry Division spokesperson, said the 602nd Infantry Brigade under Colonel Alejandro Estomo has sent peacekeepers after two warring families, who are both identified with two large Moro rebel groups, figured in a clash since Sunday.

Sr. Supt. Norberto Batislaong, North Cotabato police director, said the conflict involving Commander Kadi Daud of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Commander Magalona Ampatuan, village chair of Barangay Salat and affiliated with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), was due to land dispute.

Several families have fled to safer grounds after both sides traded bullets.

Quoting reports from the field, police said negotiations are underway to settle the conflict peacefully.

The Army's 57th Infantry Battalion has sent a team of peacekeepers out to prevent both sides from trading bullets. (PNA)

A town councilor was gunned down Monday morning by three unidentified men wearing bonnet in Barangay Buntong, Salvador town, Lanao del Norte province, a sketchy report reaching the police regional command and tactical operation center here on Tuesday stated.

A flash report received at Police Regional Office 10 also identified the victim as Subair Tawan-tawan, 40, town councilor and chair of the council’s committee on health. He was on his way to attend a regular session when shot at close range.

Tawan-tawan, who was wearing a barong, was on board his single motorcycle when three armed men wearing bonnets flagged him down and shot him at close range, according to the report.

Responding Salvador police force found Tawan-tawan lying on the road with his face beyond recognition while his body was riddled with bullets. He was buried on the same day in Buntong based on Muslim rites.

Police investigating team found several empty shells of M16 Armalite rifle at the crime scene.

Motive of the killing and identities of the perpetrators are still not known as of press time.

It was gathered that the victim was a peace advocate, having initiated peace keeping efforts in the municipality of Salvador, a Christian dominated town. - PNA

The Pacific Angel humanitarian mission formally started last Monday in Laoag City in a simple ceremony attended by members of the United States Air Force (USAF), the Philippine Air Force (PAF), local officials, the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) and other concerned agencies.

Col. Essel C. Soriano, commander of the Army’s 503rd Brigade based in Lagangilang, Abra, said a day before the launching of the humanitarian mission, held were the conduct of simultaneous ground breaking ceremonies of various infrastructure projects for the 2010 Balikatan Exercises in two towns of Ilocos Sur.

The Pacific Angel humanitarian mission is a one-week combined medical, engineering, veterinary and experts workshop activity slated from February 15 to 22, 2010 in Laoag City.

“Last Sunday, we formally held the simultaneous formal groundbreaking ceremonies for the constructions of the following infrastructure projects such as the three two-room school buildings in Barangays Teppeng, Cadanglaan, and Marnay, all in Sinait, Ilocos Sur; two-room school building and a flood control facility in Barangay Pias, and a health center in Barangay Baluarte, all in Salcedo, Ilocos Sur,” Soriano said.

”These infrastructure projects will be finished for a period of 31 days,” he added.

Joining Soriano in leading the simultaneous groundbreaking ceremonies of infrastructure projects was Commodore Allan Stratman from the US Forces contingents.

According to Soriano, these infrastructure projects were preâ€"activities for the Engineering Civic Action Program (ENCAP), one of the two major parts of the humanitarian and civic assistance program for 2010 Balikatan exercises.- PNA

(PNA) â€" President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inaugurated and unveiled the marker of the P50-million Socorro Feeder Port in this Pacific Ocean-facing town of Surigao del Norte province on Tuesday.

The feeder port project is designed to expand the market for agriculture and agri-business in the three islands - Dinagat, Siargao and Socorro (Bucas Grande) in Surigao del Norte.

Along with Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Leandro Mendoza, Mindanao Agribusiness Super Region Champion Secretary Jesus G. Dureza, Press Secretary Crispulo Icban, Jr. and Commission on Higher Education Commissioner Hadja Luningning Omar, President Arroyo was received by Socorro Mayor Mamerto Galanida, port manager-designate Teodorico Taruc and barangay chairman Christopher Alvino Taruc.

The newly built Socorro Feeder Port has extension of the causeway, a pier and stair landing support facilities, and land reclamation.

Surigao del Norte 1st District Rep. Francisco Matugas said the feeder port in Socorro town will generate more employment and livelihood to local folks.

The Socorro Feeder Port will also serve the passenger and cargo handling requirements of the mainland Dapa town in Siargao Island and the fish port of Claver town and Dinagat Port in Dinagat Islands.

It will also give tourists, both foreign and domestic, access to various tourism areas in Bucas Grande island where the famous Sohoton cove is located. - pna

Combined units of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Tuesday rescued alive three victims of kidnapping in La Trinidad, Benguet, according to Police Chief Superintendent Orlando Pestano.

The victims rescued were businessman Richard Lu, and his daughter and son.

Three of the suspects are now in custody. They are said to be natives of the Cordillera region.

Brief details of the first kidnapping case here in years indicated that the businessman and children were leaving their house in La Trinidad town when they were taken at gunpoint by the kidnappers.

The residents alerted the police of the incident prompting the PNP to establish checkpoints on all possible escape routes.

The suspected kidnappers were intercepted by the Atok police force in Atok, Benguet at around 9:00 a.m. today and were not able to resist against the lawmen.

Pestano said more details would be available once they complete the investigation. (PNA)
FFC/AAG

By Maricar Cinco
Inquirer Southern Luzon

Laguna, Philippinesâ€"Police say rape is possible in the case of a nine-year-old girl who was found beheaded and half-naked in a grassy area in Paete, Laguna, last Friday.

Marisol Garcia was last seen after she left her school in Barangay (village) Ibaba del Norte on Thursday morning, Senior Inspector Joberman Videz, Paete police chief, said over the phone.

Her remains were recovered at around 3 p.m. on Friday after another kid found the head in a grassy area, also in the village. The victim’s body was found 50 meters away from the head.

Videz said the head was slightly skinned, likening it to “a coconut with the outer skin peeled off.”

The girl, who wore civilian clothes in school, was half-naked when found, prompting authorities to suspect that she was also raped.

But “we are still waiting for the results of the autopsy to confirm that,” Videz said.

He said the victim sustained two stab wounds in the heart and one in the liver.

Police said they have identified suspects in the grisly murder but refused to give further details as this might affect the investigation.

He surmised that Garcia’s attackers could be more than one person.

He said the murder weapon could be similar to a bolo normally used in farming.

Paete is a sleepy agricultural town in Laguna, also known for its wood-carving industry.

“This was the first time we had such gruesome crime here,” Videz added.

Early this month, three children were hacked to death inside their home in Alaminos town, also in Laguna. The victims’ uncle later surrendered to the police.

Note: Whoever repealed the death penalty law in the Philippines, shame on you. Restore the death penalty in the Philippines!

The SN Aboitiz- Power Magat here wants to help the government in mitigating the damaging effects of El Nino to electric power and to the farmers in this region.

The impounded water at the Magat Dam as of press time is recorded at a critical level measuring at 166.26 from its previous normal level of 180-190 meters in the last few months.

SN Aboitiz Plant Manager Melvin Eugenio said over a local radio station here the company will help the government through cloud seeding operations to induce rains at the Magat Dam watershed.

As of press time, rice fields have dried up at alarming levels and can be totally damaged if the dam stops the water supply should the water level continue to drop at a critical level.

Rice farms have been turned to vegetable farms which are on flowering stage that may become damaged due to lack of water.

“Our company has programmed to help the government in cloud seeding operation in order to help our farmers harvest abundantly and keep our hydro power plant continue producing power”, Eugenio added.

SN Aboitiz has already purchased some 1,000 sack of salt through the Department of Agriculture â€" Regional Field Unit 2 (DA-RFU2) and presently coordinating with an airline company in Cauayan City for the cloud seeding operations scheduled anytime starting Monday.(PNA)

Majority of the voters in North Cotabato will go for administration presidential candidate Gilbert "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. because of the belief that he will bring peace and development in the province.

North Cotabato Governor Jesus Sacdalan made this statement during a Lakas-Kampi-CMD party meeting here over the weekend.

"We have a very clear vision for North Cotabato and that is the priority of Gibo," Sacdalan said, adding that 11 of the 17 town mayors of the province belong to the administration party.

Sacdalan, who is running for the first congressional district in the coming May elections, is convinced that Teodoro will be the next occupant of Malacanang.

Recalling the armed hostilities in North Cotabato in 2008, Sacdalan said it was Teodoro, then Defense secretary, who came to rescue the province from total occupation by renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members.

Teodoro, who was the guest of honor at the 12th foundation anniversary of Kidapawan City, vowed to ensure security of the province once elected as successor of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Sacdalan said a recent survey indicated that the more than 600,000 voters of North Cotabato would pick a president that has peace and development vision which could be translated to economic development and prosperity.

The incumbent governor, who at first thought of seeking reelection, decided to seek the congressional seat to pave the way for Rep. Lala Talinio-Mendoza to be the next North Cotabato provincial chief executive. - PNA

With additional funding from the Department of Health and congressional funds, the North Cotabato provincial hospital is expected to have face-lift and improved hospital services, Rep. Bernardo Pinol (2nd district, North Cotabato) on Monday said.

Pinol was pushing for the conversion of the provincial hospital into a regional hospital, but his proposal remained pending before the House Committee on Health.

Pinol was able to secure P72 million additional funds for the improvement of the Cotabato Provincial Hospital.

He said P54 million was allocated for the construction of additional hospital rooms while P18 million will be utilized in the purchase of sophisticated hospital equipment, including a platelet separator.

Speaking during his radio program, Pinol said another P15 million has been secured for the improvement of the Mlang District Hospital in the town of Mlang, North Cotabato.

Pinol said the amount will be taken from the budget of the Department of Health for 2009.

“With these developments, I am very optimistic that we can improve the delivery of health services in the 2nd district,” Pinol said.

Earlier, South Cotabato 2nd district Rep. Arthur Pingoy, chairman of the House Committee on Health, told Pinol during their meeting that the conversion of CPH into a regional hospital is not possible at this time.

Pingoy said the DOH has not yet conferred full recognition of the Cotabato Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Cotabato City as official medical center in Region 12.

He said DOH only allows one regional hospital per region thus Pinol’s proposal remains pending before the committee.

Pinol posed no objection to the move of Pingoy’s committee but said he expects that his proposal will be given priority in the committee’s succeeding meetings. (PNA)
LDV/NYP/EOF

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to inspect on Tuesday the big road project that connects Regions 11 and 13 in Mindanao.

When completed, this road project under the Mindanao Super Region development strategy of the Arroyo administration, will further enhance economic activity in the two progressing southern Mindanao regions.

President Arroyo will be welcomed at the Lingig municipal ground by at least 5,000 students from various schools, teachers, local officials and member beneficiaries of the national government's “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” or 4 Ps.

The President, along with some of her Cabinet officials, will also be met by Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel, 2nd District Rep. Florencio Garay and Lingig Mayor Jimmy Luna.

After a short program, the President, accompanied by the media group, will motor to Barangay Union of that same municipality for the briefing on the road project by Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Victor Domingo.

Along with Caraga DPWH Regional Director Dr. Evelyn T. Barroso, Secretary Domingo will brief the Chief Executive on the already completed Bislig-Lingig Section with two bridges last Jan. 25, and the ongoing ground works on the Lingig-Boundary Bolton Section.

The completion of the road project, which is bordering the provinces of Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental, will complete the close to P2-billion Surigao-Davao Coastal Road under President Arroyo's SONA (State-of-the-Nation Address) projects.

On Tuesday morning, the President will also inaugurate the P50-million feeder port in Socorro town, Surigao del Norte province.

“These big infrastructure projects are a big boost to the economic activity of Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Davao Oriental and other neighboring areas in Northeastern and Southern Mindanao regions,” said Director Barroso.

The visit of President Arroyo in Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur on Tuesday is part of her Mindanao Agribusiness Legacy Tour. (PNA)
scs/MUC/mec

(PNA) -- The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Regional Office here has posted a P1.4 billion revenue collection for the month of January alone.

BIR regional director Romulo Aguila Jr. said this is a remarkable increase compared to the same period last year of P800 million.

Aguila said the P1.4-billion revenue taxes are almost 25 percent higher than their collection target for the first month of the year.

He attributed the revenue collection growth to the country’s economy which started to show signs of recovery following the adverse impact of the global economic crisis.

"The economy has been showing signs of recovery and with campaign funds pouring in from local and national candidates, we have been seeing a renewed invigoration in the local market economy of Central Luzon," he said.

Based on the records of the BIR-Region 3, the regional district office of Pampanga-South posted the highest collection with some P261 million in revenue taxes.

The regional district Office of Pampanga-North, on the other hand, registered the second highest collection with P162 million.

He said the systematic approach in revenue collection implemented by the BIR is also a big factor in revenue collection growth.

Among these are the strict implementation of the Run After Tax Evaders (RATE) program, the Oplan Kandado and the Santax Claus, which was launched last December.

The government-run Davao Medical Center (DMC) located along J.P. Laurel, Bajada in Davao City will soon be named Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) as it readies itself to become the biggest government hospital in the island of Mindanao.

DMC chief of hospital Dr. Leopoldo Vega said the change in name is in line with House Bill No. 5926, entitled: “An act changing the name of the Davao Medical Center in Davao City to the Southern Philippines Medical Center, increasing its bed capacity from six hundred (600) to one thousand two hundred (1,200), upgrading its service facilities and professional health care, authorizing the increase of its medical personnel and appropriating funds therefore.”

However, Vega said though the increase in bed capacity required by the law is only 1,200 the existing bed capacity of the hospital is now 1,500.

“The hospital has an estimated of 260,000 outpatients annually and 80,000 per year were confined to the emergency facility, coming from different places of Mindanao,” he said.

He added that the number of patients admitted in the hospital per year would reach to 70,000, which would make a 202 percent growth of occupancy rate.

Vega said if the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will grant the additional budget for the new buildings and reconstruction the current hospital, this will address the overflowing of patients.

"Let us hope that we will get the exact budget. A bigger facility will definitely benefit the current number of patients,” he said.

He said they will also add more personnel, and improve health services.

Vega said DMC is also the training center for medical practitioners from all over the region.

SPMC will be formally launched in August, Vega added. (PNA)
LOR/Jessie L. Casalda/lvp

(PNA) â€" The power outages in Mindanao worsened due to the critical water level in the Lake Lanao and Pulangi river, source of the Mindanao grid.

It was also learned that the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) on Monday forced hydroelectric power plants located at various areas in the southern island in Mindanao to reduce their power generation by at least 50 percent of their total capacity due to low water inflow of Lake Lanao and Pulangi River because of the onset of the dry spell.

In a statement on Monday, the NGCP said the generating capacity is anticipated to remain insufficient with the unavailability of Agus 5 (Units 1 & 2), the Mindanao Coal Fired Power Plant (Unit 2) and the Iligan Diesel Power Plant.

It was also gathered that the Western Mindanao Power Corporation's power plant in Zamboanga City also decreased its output from 90 to 80 megawatts as of February 9, this year.

This pushed the NGCP, as system operator, to implement power load shedding throughout Mindanao. It will be enforced for the whole month of February as it projects that power supply will remain below comfortable levels.

Eugene Bicar, head of NGCP Mindanao-Systems Operations (SO), urged the execution of some measures to address the situation in the short term, like the completion of the Agus 5 Hydroelectric Plant (HEP) preventive maintenance and trash rack repair; resumption of the operation of Iligan Diesel Power Plant (IDPP) to be expedited by the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) and the National Power Corporation and the contracting of additional power generation if there's one available from embedded generations.

By Mar S. Arguelles

Authorities expressed alarm over the worsening political situation in the island province of Masbate following reports of the rising number of political armed groups (PAGs) sighted in the area.

Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, in his visit on Friday, received reports about the presence of some 2,500 members of 10 PAGs reportedly hired by warring politicasl clans in Masbate from Luzon and Visayas.

Gonzales met with the Joint Security Coordinating Council (JSCC) and Task Force Masbate to assess the volatile political situation taking place the island province.

At Friday’s joint conference with police, military, Commission on Election (Comelec), the clergy and local officials, four of the eight PAGs operating in the province were validated and identified.

PAGs identified belong to one Valenzuela group with alleged 100 men from Bulacan and a Visaya group, which were employed allegedly by ranking politicians seeking re-election.

Military and police intelligence report estimates that the PAGs are armed with high powered assault firearms and are now deployed in the 21 towns across the province.

The presence of these armed groups, including the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, makes the island province a political “powder keg” about to explode anytime, said an intelligence official who refused to be named.

Masbate was placed under special police watch until the end of the election period and created Special Task Force (STF) “Masbate” to maintain peace and order and serve as overseer of all law enforcement and security operations in the province in close coordination with the military and other law enforcement agencies in the area.

Police operatives manning a Commission on Elections (Comelec) checkpoint arrested a man and a woman in possession of several sticks of dynamites and materials used in dynamite making here on Sunday.

Chief Inspector Sofronio Bayan, deputy chief of police of Bauang town, identified the suspects who were on board a taxi that came from Baguio, as Josephine Atiwag Omiheg, 41, and Edwin Marzan, 28, taxi driver, both of Upper Irisan in Baguio City.

Seized from the two were at least 40 pieces of dynamite, four pieces of suspected potassium nitrate with gasoline and three rolls of time fuse, which were found by lawmen in the taxi's compartments.

The taxi was intercepted at a checkpoint along the Naguilian Road in Barangay Ballay, Bauang, La Union.

Lawmen believed the dynamites and explosiveâ€"making materials may have been pilfered from a mining company in Benguet.

The suspects told the police that the explosives and other materials will be used in blasting rocks to provide the right-of-way for a proposed road construction in Alilem, Ilocos Sur.

The suspects were subsequently detained while their cargo of dynamites and explosive materials are now under the custody of the police operatives in Bauang, La Union.

Appropriate charges are now being readied against the two. (PNA)

By Ed G. Yu

NAGA CITY, Feb. 15 (PNA) - Majority of the residents of the town proper of Lupi, Camarines Sur whose houses would be affected by the back water of the P700-million Libmanan-Cabusao Dam had finally agreed to be relocated in a resettlement site offered by the Bicol River Basin and Watershed Management Project (BRBWMP).

Assistant Secretary Tomasito B. Monzon, BRBWMP program director, said the approval of the residents was obtained during the meeting held at the Ragay National Agricultural and Fisheries School (RNAFS) in Ragay, Camarines Sur on February 9, which was attended by 58 of the 86 project affected families (PAF).

BRBWMP operations manager, lawyer Ricky Tomotorgo, who presided the meeting, said the affected families voluntarily accepted the resettlement offer.

The offer consisted of an 80-square meter lot with a core house for each of the affected family, which will be given to the recipient free of charge, including just and disturbance compensations and livelihood assistance.

Tomotorgo said the proposed resettlement site for the residents is a lot owned by the Altamarino family in Zone 3 of Lupi’s barangay Poblacion.

Although we have identified as of now only 86 families who are qualified for relocation, the site is capable of accommodating up to 120 families, Tomotorgo said.

The BRBWMP operations manager said the National Housing Authority (NHA) Bicol office headed by Director Albert Perfecto will be in charge of land acquisition, site development, and construction of houses.

(PNA) â€" Sultan Kudarat officials are pushing for the development of the province as the next academic and research hub in southern and central Mindanao following the conversion last month of the area’s lone government-owned college into a state university.

Sultan Kudarat Governor Suharto Mangudadatu said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo finally signed last January 25 Republic Act (RA) 9966, which elevated the five campus-Sultan Kudarat Polytechnic State College (SKPSC) to full university status.

The new law officially renamed the college’s main base in Tacurong City and its designated campuses in the municipalities of Kalamansig, Palimbang, Lutayan and Isulan to Sultan Kudarat State University (SKSU).

“This is a major development for the province and will mainly boost our efforts to provide quality and affordable education to our people,” Mangudadatu said.

SKPSC’s universityhood was mainly based on House Bill 6311, which was initially filed by Sultan Kudarat (1st District) Rep. Datu Pax Mangudadatu on July 25, 2007.

A counterpart measure was sponsored in the Senate by Senator Panfilo Lacson.

Under RA 9966, the new university was mandated to “primarily provide advanced instruction and professional training in science and technology, agriculture, fisheries, education and other relevant fields of study.”

It should also “undertake research and extension, and provide progressive leadership in its areas of specialization,” inorder to meet the needs of Sultan Kudarat province and Region 12 or Southwestern Mindanao.

Region 12 covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat Sarangani, North Cotabato and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Kidapawan, Tacurong and Cotabato.

SKSU, which assumes government corporate operations, will offer scholarship programs and other affirmative action initiatives to assist poor but deserving students from the area who would qualify for admission.