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8 PAGES JANUARY 24 - 30, 2012 CATBALOGAN CITYVOL. IX NO. 25

MGB asks DENR chief to stop small-scale mining in Eastern Samar

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BORONGAN CITY – A Qatar-based international company is now in need of highly-skilled and semi-skilled workers, a labor office in Eastern Samar an-nounced recently.

The Borongan City employment office said the Ozem International Placement Services is set to hold a “special recruitment activities (SRA)” on January 25 and 26, 2012 for interested and qualified job applicants who will soon be deployed in Doja, Qatar.

The DOLE office said the basic salary will range from 4,000 to 4,500 dollars with a monthly allowance of 200 and no placement fee shall be asked.

The needed skills include masons, foremen, plumbers, drivers, electricians, welders managers and supervisors. For more details and information, applicants are advised to get in touch with the DOLE in Borongan City. (rjb)

Photo shows cartoons and sacks of relief goods delivered by the 8th Infantry Division based in Catbalogan City to flood af-fected areas in Mindanao. (8ID)

THE regional office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has asked Environment Secretary Ramon Paje to issue an order for the stoppage of the small- scale mining operations in Eastern Samar.

Romulo Babatugon, chief of the supervising unit of the MGB-8, said that the recommendation stemmed from

SAMAR Representa�ve Mel Senen Sarmiento (1st District), talks on the K to 12 and Legisla�ve Reforms in Educa�on during the 1st Regional Educa�on Summit at DepEd regional office, Candahug, Palo, Leyte, January 20. (Vino R. Cuayzon)

CALBIGA, Samar – Few days after the truce, the New People’s Army launched its first attack in Samar kill-ing one militiaman and wounding four govern-ment soldiers in this town outskirt village last Monday morning.

The encounter oc-curred at around 7:35 in the morning between the vicinity of Brgy. Caam-longan and Guimbaga, a remote villages of this municipality killing one Citizen Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAF-GU) after sustaining a fatal gunshot wound into his lower abdomen.

As of press time, the identity of the casualty was withheld as his fam-ily has yet to be informed about the incident. The victim was rushed to a military hospital but pro-nounce dead on arrival

2 REGIONAL NEWS Samar Weekly Express

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POLICEReports

Murder suspects arrested

o highlight the celebration of its 61st year anniversary, the Department of Social Welfare & Development (DSWD), Regional Office No. 8 headed by Regional Director Leticia C. Diokno has scheduled a series of activities.

TACLOBAN CITY – Under the leadership of Regional Director Ro-lando M. Asis, coupled with the dependable as-sistance of ARD Edgar B. Tabacon, the Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) was able to complete 520 out of the 715 projects it has been tasked to im-plement in 2011 with a corresponding allotment of P3,611,179,000.

Region VIII was able to post an actual accom-plishment of 54.02% against the planned ac-complishment of 49.91% having completed 520 projects, with 105 still on-going and the 90 un-started projects from various infra.

Out of the 5,573 Car-ry-Over Projects from CY 2010 for implemen-tation, the Region was able to achieve 98.75% accomplishment against planned accomplish-ment of 97.82% having completed 5,549 projects with 12 still on-going and 12 unstarted proj-

This was revealed by Ms. Vina P. Aquino, DSWD Information Officer. Ac-cording to her, DSWD re-gional office along Mag-saysay Boulevard will be conducting a Trade Fair and Photo Exhibit on January 24-27, and this will be open to the public. Right after the formal opening, which is scheduled at 2:00 p.m., a press conference will be held.

Centered on the theme, “DSWD @61: Tuloy-tuloy sa Kaunlaran,” the said fair, she informed, will showcase various products of the Self-Employment Assis-tance – Kaunlaran (SEA-K) livelihood program of the Department. It was bared that the activity will be par-ticipated in by a number of group beneficiaries coming from the municipalities of Palo, Abuyog, Alang-alang,

all of Leyte; Ormoc City; Calbiga and Basey, Samar; Balangkayan and Guiuan, Eastern Samar; and Allen, Northern Samar.

Ms. Aquino informed that a number of handicrafts will be available and this includes handicrafts made out of abaca, banig, and recycled paper, to include pili nut delicacies, dried fish, banana chips, “binagol,” and other assorted food items. DSWD is inviting the one and all to include government employees, who may also extend tech-nical assistance in line with product development and packaging.

Further, it was shared that among the exhibitors are from the ANGAT KA-BUHAYAN SEA-KABAY-AN, Inc. of Calbiga who got the Panata Ko Sa Bayan Awards under th Model

SEA KABAYAN or SEA-K level II category, at the na-tional level.

Ms. Aquino revealed that the said winning KABAYAN, which is a merger of five SEA – K associations who have suc-cessfully graduated SEA-K level I, will be receiving its awards at the DSWD Cen-tral Office in Quezon City, during the conduct of its culmination ceremonies.

The “Pagkilala sa Na-tatanging Kontribusyon sa Bayan” otherwise known as “PANATA KO SA BAYAN” awards, Ms. Aquino added, seeks to give due recogni-tion to the efforts extended by individuals, groups, and organizations whose ‘pana-ta’ or vow is to share their resources, time and selves in providing better opportuni-ties for the disadvantaged sectors. (Marivic Alcober)

ects.DPWH Region 8

posted 100% accomplish-ment in the implementa-tion of 140 projects worth P1.8 billion disbursed under the CY 2011 Regu-lar Infrastructure bud-get. From the additional releases of P1.93 billion it was able to accomplish 50% considering that the budget was only al-located during later part of last year.

For the last four months of 2011, the De-partment of Budget and Management announced the release of P1.93 bil-lion for infrastructure development. This was part of the stimulus package of the Aquino government.

The DPWH Region 8 ranked number one from January to August 2011, among all regional offices of the department nationwide, in terms of project implementation.

W i t h t h e h u g e amount of additional releases, the regional office ranking slipped

to the sixth place from September to Decem-ber. Said ranking is still commendable consider-ing the big amount was released only on the last quarter.

The DPWH in East-ern Visayas is the only region in the country with additional funds higher than the regular budget.

The DPWH in East-ern Visayas in 2011, was a model of judicious spending until the third quarter of 2011 as the agency moved for qual-ity spending and re-alignments. It generated a total of P 670,474.78 million savings from 140 projects that were bid out. This feat is at-tributed to the strict im-plementation of “open competitive bidding and transparency”.

Director Asis laud-ed the committed men and women of DPWH-8, from the District Engi-neers to the laborers, for the abundant harvest of accomplishments.

CATBALOGAN CITY -- The government’s program called Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P’s) has helped hundreds of rural moth-ers raise their self-esteem, said Catbalogan City Link Vilma Abantao.

In a recent interview, Abantao shared that one moth-er from Barangay Pangdan, who helps her husband in fish-ing said she has gained some amount of self confidence, during a sharing session in the monthly “Family Development Session” (FDS).

“I can see that 4Ps does not only help the poor families finan-cially but also emotionally and socially,” Abantao offered.

This happens, she added when mothers have to face teachers and health officers for the needed certifications to keep their documents updated prior to the release of the cash grants.

There are some 4,085 fami-lies in the city of Catbalogan enjoying the benefits of the conditional cash transfer also known as 4Ps.

Abantao said that 56 of the original number has been delisted for reasons like refusal to attend family development sessions, inclusion error and not having children 0-14 years of age.

“The constant FDS has also reduced the number of complaints reaching us,” said Abantao.

“The FDS helps them raise concerns and we try to address it then and there so they will not have to travel to the city to raise their problems as regards implementation of the program,” said one of the four city links in Catbalogan.

“The mothers too, have learned the values of pakikisama as they have been grouped with a parent leader,” she added.

They have to do their best pakikisama in the communities as some activities like growing a vegetable garden has to be done with a group.

“Some groups have also been earning from the vegetables they plant,” added Abantao.

The city link who has to travel via all forms of transpor-tation to reach her clients said she is praying that the emo-tional and social development these mothers have achieved will be sustained even after they have ‘graduated from the conditional cash transfer program of the Aquino gov-ernment. (Ninfa Quirante)

4Ps help rural

mothers

PNP gets 7 new patrol carsThe Philippine National Police in Eastern Visayas recently

received seven (7) brand new PNP Toyota Innova Vehicles from the PNP Directorate for Logistictics represented by PCI Godofredo Ergo.

PCSupt. Arnold Rayala Revilla, PNP-8 Regional Director, informed that these police vehicles are part of the 2010 PNP distribution of vehicle quota and part of the continued efforts of the PNP to upgrade the facilities and equipment of the local police force in support to police field operations under the PNP Integrated Transformation Program.

The brand new PNP vehicles were turned over to the Pro-vincial Directors of Leyte Police Provincial Office, Eastern Samar Police Provincial Office, Samar Police Provincial Office, Biliran Police Provincial Office, and the City Directors of Ormoc City Police Office and Tacloban City Police.

During the turn-over ceremony, Director Revilla encour-aged the recipients of the new patrol cars to take care and make good use of the vehicles at all times so as to serve the community better.

He also urged them to make the necessary efforts in carrying out the PNP’s mandated tasks of keeping the crime situation under control, to continue serving the community by giving them a feeling of safety and comfort and to parlay that work in finding a way to make it beneficial to the greater public. (Ricky Bautista)

CATBALOGAN CITY – Three murder suspects were apprehended by the Catbalogan PNP after a hot pursuit operation late last week.

Supt. Avelino Doncillo Jr., the city police chief identified the suspect as certain Wilson Panican y Vargas alias Justine, of legal age, single and a resident of P-2, Brgy. Guinsorongan, Michael Arpon, of legal age, single and resident of Sitio Lili-potan, Brgy. Guinsorongan and certain Arnel Vito of Brgy. Bunu-anan, all of this city.

Last December 28, the village chairman of Brgy. Guin-sorongan reported to the police about the discovery of a dead male person, naked and apparently a victim of a summary execution at the grassy areas of the Catbalogan public cemetery.

The cadaver was later on identified as certain Antonio Padul y Bustamante alias “Petot”, a gay, 36 years old and a resident of Brgy. 9, Tomalistis, this city.

A day later, some witnesses told police about the suspects’ whereabouts that led to the latter’s immediate arrest.

A case of murder was filed against the suspects before the office of the City Prosecutor under Inquest Proceeding docketed under NPS No VIII-08-INQ-11l-00298, with no bail recommended.

At present, subject arrested persons are presently de-tained at Catbalogan Lock-up Cell awaiting trial. (Lilith Sabuco Teña)

CATBALOGAN CITY – The police, in its effort to elimi-nate the series of livestock thieveries in Samar, conducted an operation that led to the arrest of one suspect.

Last January 13, the Borongan City police received a tip that a stolen carabao is being sold at the Borongan Public Market.

Upon investigation, the police led by Supt. Mario Cristino Alpez Lucero arrested the suspect identified as certain Jojo A. Badiola, 29 years old, married and a resident of Barangay San Jose, Borongan, Eastern Samar, who was then trying to negotiate the sell.

Shortly after, the suspect was brought to the police station in Borongan for further investigation and disposi-tion. It was learned that the carabao was owned by certain Mariles Dilao, of legal age and a resident of Brgy. Songco, same city.

The suspect was charged by the police in violation of the PD 533 otherwise known as the Anti-cattle rustling law.”

PRO-8 Senior Supt. Elizar P. Egloso, chief of the RPCRD said that the thieveries of carabao in Samar adversely affects the food production for self-sufficiency in rice, corn and other staple crops, as well as in fresh meat and prejudicing the livelihood of our agricultural workers.

“It should be stop at once,” the police official disclosed. (rjb)

‘Cattle rustler’ netted

SCIENCE AND ENVIRONMENTJANUARY 24 - 30, 2012

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DOST equipment thieves are murderers - DOST chief says

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epartment of Science and Technology Secretary Mario G. Montejo likens to murderers the thieves who stole several meters of cables and five pieces of 12 volts batteries at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-PHIVOLCS) seismic relay stations in Sto. Domingo, Albay.

“These unscrupulous in-dividuals are not only thieves they could also qualify as murderers. By stealing cables of seismic sensors to sell for a measly sum, they jeopardize the safety and put at risk the very lives of the people of Al-bay, their properties, as well as the resources of the province in the event of a major volca-nic activity,” Sec. Montejo expressed his dismay over the theft in the unmanned Phivolcs relay station near Mayon Volcano in Albay.

According to an official report, the seismic station of the DOST- Phivolcs in Legazpi has not received any data from the two relay stations in the Municipality of Sto. Domingo since De-cember 14 last year. Upon inspection of the team from DOST-Phivolcs, they discovered that meters of cables connected to the seismic sensors from the unmanned relay stations and five pieces of 12 volts batteries were missing.

DOST- Phivolcs’ un-manned relay stations are equipped with seismic sen-sors and radio transceivers that transmit seismic data

to the PHIVOLCS central station in Quezon City. These stations transmit vital information on seismic and volcanic activities in the province.

DOST- Phivolcs Direc-tor Renato U. Solidum said that the incident has caused 50 percent loss in data trans-mission. “It is a good thing that Mayon Volcano is not active as of this time,” he told.

Dir. Solidum added that Mayon Volcano is on Alert Level 1 which, in a scale of 0-5, it is considered abnormal. “There were sev-eral volcanic activities that were monitored,” explained Dir. Solidum.

However, Dir. Solidum stressed that the incident, although it caused tempo-rary disruption in seismic data transmission, did not hinder the normal opera-tions of the agency in terms of volcanic and seismic monitoring. “The incident did not cripple Phivolcs be-cause other relay stations in Albay are functioning effi-ciently,” he revealed.

Sec. Montejo urged the people who live near DOST

weather and seismic fore-casting and monitoring stations to be vigilant in re-porting malicious activities that compromise the safety of the people.

“The safety of the people is our primordial concern, which is why the government is ag-gressively installing weather forecasting and other monitor-ing equipment like rain gauges and water level sensors critical to monitoring flood prone ar-eas,” he added.

This year, the govern-ment is set to install wa-ter level sensors and rain gauges in all major river systems in the country as part of the national flood forecasting, monitoring and mitigation program spearheaded by the DOST . Sec. Montejo raised the matter of pilferage of DOST monitoring equipment dur-ing yesterday’s interagency meeting on the national flood program convened by the Department of Public Works and Highways and attended by the Depart-ments of Justice, Interior and Local Government, So-cial Work and Develop-ment, and the Environment

and Natural Resources. The DILG and the DOJ in par-ticular will look into ways on how to protect these vital monitoring equipment in the local level and im-mediately prosecute those caught stealing them.

Sec. Montejo also ap-pealed to the community and their leaders to help protect this equipment. “More importantly, people in the areas where monitoring equipment are installed should help safeguard these equip-ment. After all, their lives, properties, and communities’ safety are all at stake here,” Montejo said.

President Aquino has certified as urgent the proposed bill in Congress penalizing the stealing of weather and disaster moni-toring equipment of the DOST.

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has chosen Eastern Visayas as the pilot site for the implementation of the Na-tional Greening Program in 2012.

This recognition was made after the DENR Re-gional Office sent a very good panoramic view of Kanloboc mountain range in Southern Leyte which could easily match the Chocolate Hills in Bohol. Once jeopardized by ex-cessive logging and kain-gin, these 2,000 feet high mounds will soon be home to towering trees thanks to locals who volunteered to protect these mountains and replanted some 400 hectares of formerly de-nuded land with the help of GIZ and DENR.

The progress of this area will be evaluated and monitored by the DENR in the coming days, DENR Regional Public Affairs Officer Purificacion Daloos said.

Being the pilot area for NGP is actually recognition of the Region’s exceed-ing its targeted number of hectares with tree seed-lings planted since it was launched last year.

“Eastern Visayas was able to produce 4,052,500 seedlings for production and 8,105 hectares for planting with indigenous tree species,” Daloos further informed.

“We actually hit more than 100% because of our partners such as schools, non-government organizations, national government agencies and local government units

that held tree-planting activi-ties,” Ms. Daloos added.

It was learned that DENR’s accomplishment resulted from the agency’s social mobilization strategy where various partners from different sectors were made to plant trees under the greening program. The convergence initiative of the Environment, Agricul-ture and Agrarian Reform departments posted an accomplishment of 83% by producing 70,000 seedlings out of the target of 84,000 seedlings.

As an offshoot of the region’s accomplishment last year, DENR-8 was giv-en a higher target of 12,365 hectares to be planted with trees.

“We seek the cooperation of the general public in at-taining this target. If we have made it last year, we hope to achieve this year’s target by planting more open and denuded forestlands in the region,” Ms. Daloos said.

Moreover, Ms. Daloos disclosed that the NGP aims to post a minimum survival rate of 80% for the seedlings by tapping science and sound upland practices, and confining indentified NGP planting sites in areas where there are communities who will be tapped to maintain and ensure growth of plant-ed seedlings into mature trees.

The NGP seeks to har-monize all greening efforts in the country and aims to plant 1.5 billion tree seed-lings on 1.5 million hectares of land nationwide from 2011 to 2016.

CATBALOGAN CITY – As a lead agency of the govern-ment’s campaign to lessen the effect of the Climate Change, all provincial and municipal offices of the Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources (DENR) are directed to avoid using plastic food containers and styro-foams.

This was announced by DENR Regional Information Officer Purificacion Daloos to members of the press late last week.

The environment official said all employees and officials were all enjoined to follow the new rules and observed the “no plastic policy anywhere in the region’s offices.”

Canteens and caterers were also warned not to bring any food containers made of plastic or styrofoams, Daloos said.

Earlier, the DENR learned from a study that plastic materi-als have been the primary cause of canal clogging thus resulted to flashfloods to cities of the region. Environment experts also claimed that it would take a hundred years for styrofoars to melt and rot, thus it posed hazard to the surroundings. (rjb)

DOST Sec. Montejo

Regional directors, representatives from the private and government schools and other stakeholders pose with DepEd undersecretary Yolanda Quijano (6th from left) and other DepEd 8 officials after the 1st Regional Education Summit at DepEd regional office, Candahug, Palo, Leyte, January 20. (Vino R. Cuayzon)

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4 OPINION Samar Weekly Express

JANUARY 24 - 30, 2012 OPINIONJANUARY 24 - 30, 2012

Samar Weekly Express5

EXPRESSSamar Weekly

THE EXPONENT OF SAMAR PROGRESS

Handling Temptations

HINTS & TRACESBY FR. ROY CIMAGALA

roycimagala@gmail.com

• EDITORIAL •

Selective JusticeIN our justice system, doers of high-profile

criminalities rarely go to jail. They usually hold the highest positions in the land, or enjoy immense power and influence. They swarm in number, stealing millions worth of money and property, or engaging in multifarious criminal activities in broad daylight, yet they never languish in lock up cells even just for a day or two.

But if the offenders or violators of certain rules and laws are ordinary guys, they are eas-ily plunged behind bars, their rights trampled and ignored courtesy of selected abusive law enforcers. At a complainant’s over-acting and exaggerated report about an offense that may have been distorted or taken out of context, policemen could lock the accused in prison without due process, treating him guilty even before he is proven as such in court.

Are these ordinary “criminals” the only persons that law enforces could arrest and imprison, the cases of whom being seen as a money-making game? What about those high-profile “criminals” in luxurious, air-con-ditioned offices, are they difficult to arrest? Do they monopolize human rights such that they have become untouchables?

It seems that this has become the rule of the game. Steal a few pesos, commit slight of-fenses, do this and that either consciously or otherwise and you will end up in jail. But do steal hundreds of millions, engage in heinous crimes, and you will go scot free. But you’ve got to have enormous money, power, and influence to be able to do all this, bribing your way ev-erywhere where law enforcers and interpreters are around.

At this point we are witnessing big person-alities being put to trial for alleged irregularities and all. But despite the gravity offenses they are accused of, in the end, they will not get what they really deserve; the rule of law would fail have them languish in jail, unlike what lowly offenders experience.

THOUGH we have to face big issues and bigger challenges this year, especially in the areas of economy and politics, we should never forget to develop and strengthen our personal skills in handling temptations. This concern never goes passé, and it touches a basic, indispensable aspect of our life in all levels.

These days, temptations come to us in the subtlest and trickiest of ways. This can be due, at least in part, to the in-creased level of sophistication both in people’s thinking and in world development, especially in the area of technology and ideology.

With these developments, temptations can easily come undetected, and sin can be committed in most a hidden way and even easily rationalized. How important therefore it is for us to always grow in humility and simplicity, finding ag-gressively practical ways to achieve them! If not, we would just be lost.

The healthy fear of God is disappearing. In its place, a most heinous sense of self-importance is dominating. The criteria to determine what is good and bad have become blurred. They have gone almost completely relativistic and subjective, declaring total independence from any absolute and objective rule or law.

Some psalms can give us helpful ideas on how to handle temptations.

- “Surrender to God, and he will do everything for you.” (Ps 36)

- “Turn away from evil and learn to do God’s will. The Lord will strengthen you if you obey him.”

- “Wait for the Lord to lead, then follow in his way.”Truth is, we always need God in our battle against temp-

tations. We should disabuse ourselves from the thought that with our good intentions and our best efforts, we can manage to tame the urges of temptations.

We cannot! That’s the naked truth about it. We only can if we are with God. And we have to be with him in a strong, determined way, not in a passive or lukewarm way. Do flies flock on a hot soup? No. But they do on a cold or lukewarm soup.

We need to do everything to be with God. Our mind and heart should be fully and constantly engaged with him. We always have reason to do so—at least, we can thank him for what we are having at the moment: health, food, air, work, etc.

We should never take things for granted. Remember that our Lord asked the only leper who returned to him to thank him out of the ten who were cured, where the other nine were. Our Lord expects us to thank him for everything that he has given us.

From there, let us try our best to figure out what his will for us is at any given moment. We have to have the sensitiv-ity to ask him, even if we are already doing our duties and responsibilities which are part of his will for us, how what we are doing at the moment is part of his will, of his abiding providence over us.

That kind of mentality helps us greatly in avoiding sin and in keeping our love for him. Just the same, we should not be surprised that in spite of this attitude, temptations still come. Jesus himself was not exempted from temptations.

That’s because temptations also play an important role in our spiritual life. They point to us where we are weak. They encourage us to develop the virtues that correspond to them. They remind us to be humble always and to depend always on God rather than on our powers.

Temptations can come because of one’s temperament, as in if one is passionate yet weak of will. He is not well-balanced and energetic. They also come because one has been reared in love of pleasure or in an atmosphere of pride and envy. They also come because of God’s providential designs.

We have to be ready for them. Always with God’s grace which we have to continually ask, we have to develop the skills and other tricks of our warfare

with them. We should learn to ignore them, reject them outright, never entertaining them, and even ridiculing them.

We should learn to pray more intensely, immerse our-selves more in our work and duties and with greater love. We have to grapple with temptations in the little things, never allowing them get into our big things or close to the heart of our spiritual fortress. It might be a good idea too to go to confession once temptations come.

Lastly, never to lose hope even when we fall.

DISCLAIMER: Views expressed in the opinion and commentary sections do not necessarily reflect the editorial posi-tion of The Samar Weekly Express. The SWE does not knowingly publish false information and may not be held liable for the views of readers exercising their right to free expression. The publication, however, reserves the right to edit contributions for clarity, as it sees fit. - Ed.

P-Noy’s leadership brand

4 OPINION Samar Weekly Express

JANUARY 24 - 30, 2012 OPINIONJANUARY 24 - 30, 2012

Samar Weekly Express5

QUIDNUNC’S NEIGHBOR

SAMAR POST

BY CHITO DELA TORRE

COMMENTARYBY ISMAEL AMIGO

1st-APLUMA

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What to Expect in 2012: Undying Recall Elections?

(Part 1 of a series)

AN LAA-GAN

BY ROMMEL L. RUTORzip_rommel@yahoo.com

THOUGH year 2011 passed us through, Samarnons will never get over just yet on the oscillating issue of “Re-call Elections” versus the province highest officials – Gov. Sharee Ann T. Delos Santos and Vice-Governor Stephen James Tan, and will continue to mesmerize followers and observers alike of the province political arena, not to men-tion the fact that the 2013 Senatorial and Local elections is just a year away.

With the kind of force shown by the Opposition Bloc in the Capitol and complemented by the compelling vigor of Samarnons who claimed to have lost their trust and confidence on the present Capitol Leadership, who would have thought that the said initiative that started in the early part of 2011 would be stalled to this date?

While everyone are ticklish waiting for the Recall Elec-tion to happen and not to happen – perhaps for both the pro and anti bloc – here are some scenarios which could help everyone think of its fate.

First, the Recall Election initiative is already in place with the final decision of the Comelec En Banc who found the petition for recall meritoriously substantial against the two highest officials of the province; finding it meritorious however is not the name of the game, but finding those who support the initiative is the ultimate objective for a Recall Petition to prosper and to actually occur.

In the case of Samar’s famed Recall Election issue, the petitioners with the help of their supporters claimed to have mustered about 90,000 individual support who even have affixed their signatures in the petition; the number is more than enough from the 10 percent (about 40,000 plus) requirement of the law for a recall election to prosper; and from this point alone, the number of people who wanted to oust the present Capitol Leadership is already a must, while the second battle would be the actual voting that will take place if all of the processes required by the initiative are satisfied.

But in the first battle for support, a slap-down oc-curred when the more or less 90,000 signatures in the petition shrink to less than the 10 percent requirement of the initiative – meaning more than half of the more or less 90,000 signature of support affixed in the said Recall Peti-tion were pulled out for various reasons; some reasons are that some signatories are allegedly new registered voters, unregistered voters, and most signatures allegedly are forged which brought down the petition to a stall to this

date pending decision by the Comelec Central Office on the move of the petitioners to include in the count some set of signatures which according to them are valid but were declared invalid allegedly due to some manipulations of some Election Officers who were allegedly supportive with the persons being sought for recall.

The slap-down will certainly affect the fate of the ini-tiative, considering that aside from the number of support needed in a recall which at present is being contested in the Comelec , time element – is likewise a vital issue that needs due consideration especially that the supposed recall “process” not the actual “election” yet is now a stone-throw away to the upcoming 2013 elections.

Granting, the Comelec decides favorably and soonest on the move of the petitioners to include in the verified signature count the contested number of signatures pend-ing at their end, then the verification process will come to a halt and eventually get the issue back to the Comelec En Banc for resolution as to the date of the actual recall elec-tions within the year. (Continuation on Next Issue)

ONCE again President Noy’s no-mercy, no-second-chance brand of leadership came into play with the recent sacking of a top honcho at the National Bureau of Investigation.

Like the Bureau of Immigration, the NBI is a line agency of the Department of Justice wherein former Human Rights commissioner Leila de Lima reigns supreme.

NBI director Magtanggol Gatdula sudden fall from grace emanated from NBI’s co-line agency, the BI, within which he allegedly failed to follow an order from a higher office (most possibly, the DOJ) to turn over an undocumented Japanese national to the BI.

He may have the most appropriate first name hereabouts but this time senior Gatdula never had the opportunity other than to explain on national television his abrupt/summary dismissal tarnished his family’s good name.

But for all intents and purposes, Malacanang’s have all the discretion to decide on anyone it pleases to appoint and “dis-appoint.”

A second round of 8 hours brown out hits Basey from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. last Sunday (January 22, 2012) starting from barrio Roxas (Samrak) up to the town of Marabut. A day beforte, some poles had to be checked by the Samar II Electric Cooperative Inc. such that power had to be cut off at the Bagolibas station in Sta. Rita, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m… That caused the brownout yesterday in the towns of Basey, Sta. Rita and Marabut, all in Samar. It’s good thing SAMELCO II scheduled the power shutdown for the hours when the people of these towns had nothing to watch of the proceedings of the Senate Impeachment Court trial of chief justice Renato C. Corona. Today’s brownout is required to enable SAMELCO II linemen to check and repair the “critical structures” in Buscada, the village that welcomes all to the town proper of Basey.

This will not be the end of brownouts. There will be more – in all of the countries around Earth, for the whole year. There are several causes for the recurrences, among them, the mighty natural ones – earthquakes, storms,

‘Brownout’

floods, rains – or the unexpected causes (accidents and the weirdest events). Such have been recurring, year after year, since 2007. In the Philippines, brownouts will be more frequent this year… yes, as in other countries. No matter how much money is put in to improve current systems that will assure non-stop electric power generation, such will be the case. No prayer can stop brownouts from coming.

But of course, we have to shake the hands of all those exerting efforts to maintain the electric supply in every given area. Isn’t it that today many of us clap our hands, or yelp hurrahs each time electric power is restored?

The only time we withdraw our hands from the handshakes is when the rate of power consumption goes a centavo higher. A centavo grows to a peso across a pe-riod of time. Before we realized it, the skyrocketing price for electricity is already further escalating. Governments cannot stop that. Not even prayers.

Electricity, high power rate, brownouts. They will be here to stay. Endlessly. Endlessly, too, demand for comfort, better health and better living, even better death ways, and mightier power will keep rising. And everything will be costly. That’s the price we pay for electricity.

Bringing electricity to the rural communities – like the mountain sitios sans road accesses – will indeed acceler-ate their physical transformation and the rise of attractive havens for investment. In a sense, that outcome will, how-ever, only cloak naked poverty. That is the reason why we cannot eliminate poverty even in megalopolises.

When electric power snags, economy stalls. The longer the period of time power outage takes, the more chances at just anything will there be. Decisions suffer. But that is a natural balancing act . The source of electric power does not belong to anyone but Nature.

In his own words, President Noy let the word out to the working media that “the trust is no longer there.”

That five-letter word is all that matters for administrations that matters no need elaborating that.

But methinks there is something that meets the eye.“Passable” you may say for that simple crime of failing to

turn over an undocumented foreigner as the NBI can easily, for as long as it pleases, re-produce and re-present the warm body of a certain person question.

That is, if this person is still within its immediate reach and if the said person is not one of those high-level wanted list.

But if I were senior Gatdula, I would raise the question on that Korean national who allegedly vanished in thin air on BI’s custody.

An alleged drug trafficker, the said Korean national got away with it at the cost of P150 million national tabloids screamed on their front page banners.

Now, it’s no longer a hot copy for newspapers and BI chief Ric David seemingly got away with it unscathed.

Perhaps, that Japanese national possesses bigger signifi-cance to Malacanang gleaned on Gatdula’s sudden dismissal and David’s stay order.

But P150 million is a lot of money and if there is any real-ity of this, which benefited from whom?

President Noy furthered stressed “that to me is insubor-dination. Now, at the end of the day, the head of the principal agencies will be a person who has our trust and confidence.” “The trust is no longer there.”

Well, we may also say that there may also be no iota of truth to that P150 million pay off.

We rest our case at the moment.

(DOA), the military said.Lt. Col. Cerilo Balaoro, commander of the Army’s

87th Infantry Battalion, said some 50 New People’s Army attacked the soldiers while having a foot pa-trol in said village in response to a tip sent by a local resident.

The encounter lasted 15 to 20 minutes, after which, three suspected NPA rebels, one of them a woman, were captured after the encounter. Four fragmentation grenades, one .45 caliber pistol and one 9mm pistol, a laptop and subversive documents were recovered from the three detainees.

The 8ID, however, failed to release the names of the captured rebels for still unknown reasons. To date, the 8th Infantry Division continues to scout the mountainous areas of the encounter site for possible hideaway of the rebels.

The Calbiga areas was known to be the territory of the NPA’s Arnulfo Ortiz Command and one of the strong hold of the armed forces of the Commu-nist Party of the Philippines in Samar. However, the AOC hasn’t yet claim responsibility of the attack, as of this writing.

The 8ID has earlier declared the island of Leyte as insurgency-free but expressed difficulty in turning the three islands of Samar as “manageable.”

Rebels kill 100 troops in 2011Meanwhile, the NPA killed at least 100 govern-

ment troops and police and waged 447 attacks in year 2011 (down from 184 kill in 2010) despite a continu-ing decline in their 43-year insurgency, the military reported last Sunday.

Army spokesman Colonel Arnulfo Burgos said the attacks by New People’s Army guerrillas included 31 assaults on mining firms, banana plantations and other businesses that damaged $27 million (1.2 billion pesos) worth of equipment and property. The rebels earned nearly $7 million (300 million pesos) from extortion in 2011, he said.

The government has opened peace talks with the rebels but the negotiations have been stalled for months over a guerrilla demand for officials to release more jailed rebels. Norway, which has been broker-ing the talks, has tried but failed so far to bridge the differences.

Although the Marxist insurgency, one of Asia’s longest-running, remains the Philippines’ leading security threat, rebel attacks have declined in recent years. The number of armed rebel fighters dropped 7.8 percent last year to 4,043, Burgos said. The rural-based insurgency has endured amid widespread poverty, landlessness and faulty governance in the country’s poorest regions. Clashes have killed an estimated 120,000 combatants and civilians.

6 NATIONAL NEWS Samar Weekly Express

JANUARY 24 - 30, 2012

Miriam to Prosecution Chief: “Don’t waste our time”

Corona’s daughter, in-law own P43.5-million properties

PAGASA: La Niña may cause another cyclone soon

Prosecutor Rep. Tupaz

CHIEF JUSTICE ON TRIALSpecial Impeachment Coverage

on Justice Renato CoronaEXPRESSSamar Weekly

THE EXPONENT OF SAMAR PROGRESS

M A N I L A — C h i e f Justice Renato Corona’s daughter and son-in-law purchased three properties worth P43.5 million in Que-zon City alone, documents subpoenaed by the prosecu-tion panel shows.

Appearing as witness for the prosecution panel Thurs-day, acting Quezon City Register of Deeds Carlo Al-cantara said the three prop-erties were under the name of Corona’s daughter, Carla, and son-in-law, Constantino Castillo III.

The Castillo’s Quezon City properties are as fol-lows:

1) P18-million property in La Vista sold by Erlinda Castro to Carla (TCT No. 004-2010007780 from TCT No. 88985);

2) P15-million property in Diliman sold by Myrla Nelad-Bajar to Constantino (TCT No. N-125683);

3) and a P10.5-million property in Cubao sold by Daniel G. Encia to Constan-tino (TCT No. RT-20758)

In a press briefing after Thursday’s impeachment trial, the prosecution panel hinted the possibility of Co-rona’s children being used as “dummies” to hide properties acquired through ill-gotten wealth.

“We will get there,” lead prosecutor Niel Tupas Jr. of Iloilo said when asked if his team could prove if the Chief Justice’s children do not have the capacity to buy such properties.

“We will see if they have legitimate sources of income or baka nagamit lang ‘yung mga anak,” he added.

Taguig Pateros Register of Deeds Randy Rutaquio, another witness of the pros-ecution panel, also presented documents showing a P6.1-milion McKinley Hill prop-erty purchased by Corona’s other daughter, Charina, with her father as attorney-in-fact. It was purchased in October 2008.

Among the documents submitted to the court on

ON HER first day back at the Senate impeachment proceedings, Santiago lashed back at Iloilo Representative and chief public prosecutor Neil Tupas for “coming un-prepared.”

Santiago earlier ordered the prosecution and defense teams to submit a list of their witnesses and documentary evidence to determine the length of the trial.

Defense’s lead legal coun-sel Serafin Cuevas said they have a total of 15 witnesses and 23 marked documentary evidence. Tupas, on the other hand, failed to respond and said he has to consult first with the rest of the House panel.

This was when Santiago lost her cool and reprimanded Tupas.

“You have to come to court prepared. You do not waste the time of this court!” Santiago told Tupas.

Senate President Juan Pince Enrile, presiding officer of the impeachment court, also scored the prosecution for being unprepared with its evidence.

“I assume that the evidence were already marshaled and as-sembled for presentation for each article. It is the right of the re-

spondent for a speedy trial,” Enrile said.

‘Terminal boredom’While she was away for

the first week of the impeach-ment trial nursing hyperten-sion, the feisty Senator could not help but monitor the pro-ceedings, even if it actually “bored” her.

“It has been a display of legal ignorance that’s why the trial has been taking so long. It was un-structured,” she earlier said.

“I suffered from terminal boredom both from watching the impeachment trial on TV and from staying at home. My doctors did not even allow me to watch TV because my blood pres-sure shot up when I watched the impeachment,” Santiago added Tuesday.

Santiago told the im-peachment court to hasten the proceedings by submitting a trial outline.

She then asked the pros-ecution and defense panels to present a list of all the wit-nesses and the substance of their testimonies, and other documentary evidence.

“I think the prosecution was nervous. There was also a little bit of fear. Fear of the unknown of what’s going to happen,” San-tiago noted.

“Everybody has a tendency to go overboard because they think they have to do a dramatic stance in front of the TV. Without the TV, the proceedings could have been finished in a week,” she said.

Santiago also said that the impeachment should be made intelligible to the layman so the public would understand and won’t lose interest.

“The public is not as in-terested because they have no connection between the person accused and the electorate because they have never voted for the chief justice,” she added.

As for the performance of her co-senators, she pointed out that there’s a very thin line between performing their duty as judges and remaining neutral.

“Is is our right to ask ques-tions if the prosecution has not done well and has not satisfied the judges. But the judge cannot take over the counsel and act as if he is already the counsel,” Santiago said.

Although she was bored from the first week of the trial, the senator-judge said she is ready to participate in the trial. “This is my duty. I have no choice.” (From the wires)

Thursday were land titles for Corona properties in Taguig City, Quezon City, and Marikina City.

The impeachment court also directed Thursday the defense and prosecution panels in the trial of Corona to submit their positions on what Article II — the al-legation that Corona failed to disclose his net worth — covers.

The defense has a con-tinuing objection to prosecu-tors presenting evidence to alleged ill-gotten wealth; a charge they say is not con-tained in the complaint.

Senator Francis Escu-dero asked Tupas, one of the authors of the impeach-ment complaint, to submit a memorandum clarifying Article II.

Article II states that the Chief Justice is guilty of betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution for failing to disclose his statements of as-sets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).

Escudero said the pros-ecution panel stated in Ar-ticle II that Corona: 1) failed to disclose his SALN, 2) failed to declare properties in SALN, and 3) properties may have been acquired as ill-gotten wealth.

Asking for clarification, Escudero said the rules state that “each article must accuse the respondent of a singular act.”

Former justice Serafin Cuevas has raised the same argument, saying Article II only deals with his client’s alleged failure to file his SALNs.

Those SALNs are now in the hands of the impeach-ment court, and Cuevas has said this proves Corona fol-lowed the law. He said any evidence to show ill-gotten wealth would be inadmis-sible since that allegation was not made properly.

He said complaints have to be based on ultimate facts, and based on personal knowl-edge that the allegations are true. But the prosecution has been alleging ill-gotten wealth based on reports. “The basis of the allegation is suspicion,” he said.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile agreed with this assessment, saying it would be problematic to argue on “secret bank accounts” and the allegedly illegal acquisi-tion of assets. He allowed questions on Corona’s unit at the Bellagio in Taguig City, however.

He said Cuevas can object each time ill-gotten wealth is brought up, and then he will rule on each. He also noted the continuing objection from the defense.

He added it remains to be seen whether the im-peachment court will accept land titles and other docu-ments as proof.

Meanwhile, Tupas said it will be an “interesting week” next week as more documents in the possession of the prosecution panel are expected to be presented.

“We are in possession of documents and information that we will present to the impeachment tribunal that the public does not know of yet,” he added.

The impeachment trial will resume on Tuesday. Besides the city assessors and register of deeds of six Metro Manila cities, Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares of the Bureau of Internal Revenue is also expected to be presented as a witness.

Corona was impeached on the strength of a complaint signed by 188 members of the House of Representatives in December but his lawyers said the complaint was in-valid because there was no attempt to determine prob-able cause. (Sunnex)

Majority of senator-judges vote against summoning Coro-na’s family. (Senate photo)

Manila -- According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astro-nomical Services Adminis-tration (PAGASA), the La Niña weather phenomenon is set to hit its peak this Janu-ary and could still threaten the country with a tropical cyclone.

The weather agency added that the La Niña is ex-pected to continue through February until sometime in March or May. The months-long La Niña is characterized by colder-than-normal sea surface

temperatures, which result in above-normal rainfall in equatorial Pacific countries like the Philippines.

According to PAGASA, La Niña weather conditions were behind Sendong, the most destructive Philippine tropical cyclone in 2011 that claimed over 1,000 lives.

PAGASA also warned that flash floods and land-slides could occur in several affected areas, particularly in Visayas and Mindanao. The rest of the country is expected to have near-nor-mal rainfall conditions,

with areas of northern and central Luzon and western Mindanao receiving above-normal amounts.

Along with Sendong, weather systems that in-fluenced the country’s cli-mate in December include the Northeast monsoon (also known as the amihan, which affects the eastern portions of the Philippines from October to March, characterized by cloudiness and rainshowers) and the tail end of the cold front. These conditions are likely to affect the country in early

2012 as well. PAGASA will contin-

ue to monitor day-to-day weather conditions and large-scale climatic patterns, especially those resulting from the weak to moder-ate La Niña conditions. It advises the public in haz-ard-prone areas to remain vigilant about floods and rain-induced landslides and to take precautionary mea-sures against them. (From the wires)

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Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

8th Judicial RegionBRANCH 29

City of CatbaloganProvince of Samar

JULIET G. CALE,Petitioner-versus-

THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF PIO

V. CORPUZ, MAS-BATE AND THE

CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL STATIS-TICS OFFICE (NSO)

Respondents,CASE NO. 8142

CORRECTION OF ENTRIES IN THE CERTIFICATE OF BIRTH AND CAN-CELLATION OF

LATE REGISTRA-TION OF BIRTH.

x - - - - - - - - - - - - xORDER

An amended petition for change of name is filed with this Court and it appears to be sufficient in form and sub-stance. It being so, the same is hereby considered and the case is set for initial trial on 06 March 2012 at 8:30 in the morning here in the session hall of Branch 29 RTC, Cat-balogan City, Samar at Bul-wagan ng Katarungan.Anyone and all interested in the proceedings who have cause to oppose the petition may do so or are enjoined to be present, then and there to show cause why the petition should not be granted. So that at the expense of the pe-titioner, the Court directs her to publish this notice of hear-ing in a newspaper of general publication in this province or country preferably cover-ing also the province of Mas-

bate, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks, duly accredited with the Court and selected by raffle supervised by the Branch Clerk of Court not later than the scheduled hearing.Let copies of this Order be furnished the Solicitor Gen-eral’s Office, the local civil registrar, the registrar general of National Statistics Office and the office of the provin-cial prosecutor, together with the counsel and petitioner. Petitioner and counsel are notified in open court.SO ORDERED.OPEN COURT, January 09, 2012, Catbalogan City, Sa-mar

(Sgd.) AGERICO A. AVILAJudge

SWE Issue January 17-23, 24-30 & 31 - February 6, 2012

Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

8th Judicial RegionBRANCH 30Basey, Samar

IN THE MATTER OF CORRECTION OF

ENTRY IN THE CER-TIFICATE OF LIVE

BIRTH OF JHON MARK,

MARY GRACE ADONA VIñAS

(Mother),Petitioner,

-versus-THE LOCAL CIVIL

REGISTRAR OF STA. RITA, SAMAR and

THE NATIONAL STA-TISTICS OFFICE,

Respondents,SPECIAL PROCEED-INGS No. 2011-12-744

For:CORRECTION OF

ENTRYx - - - - - - - - - - - - x

ORDERA verified petition having been filed with the Court by Mary Grace Adona Viñas through counsel Atty. Julio A. Sebandal, praying that after publication, due notice and hearing, the Local Civil Registry of Sta. Rita, Samar as well as the office of the National Statistics Office, Quezon City, to undertake

necessary Correction in the Certificate of Live Birth to reflect the correct surname of Jhon Mark to BIBAR, the age of the petitioner likewise be corrected to 24, the name of the father of Jhon Martk be corrected and changed to HERBERT TOLIBAS BIBAR, 30 YEARS OLD. Other reliefs and remedies are likewise prayed for.The petition being sufficient in form and substance, same is hereby considered. Hence, let the initial hearing of this case be set to March 22, 2012 at 8:30 in the morning in this Court, at which date, time and place, all interested per-sons may appear and show cause, if any, why this peti-tion should not be granted.Let copy of this Order be published at the expense of the petitioner once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation selected by raffle under the supervision of the Clerk of Court and duly ac-credited by the Court and the petitioner.SO ORDERED.IN CHAMBERS, this 6th day of January 2012 at Basey, Samar, Philippines.

(Sgd.) AGERICO A. AVILA

Presiding JudgeSWE Issue January 17-23, 24-30 & 31 - February 6, 2012

Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

8th Judicial RegionBRANCH 30Basey, Samar

IN THE MATTER OF CORRECTION

OF ENTRY OF THE DATE OF BIRTH OF ROMUALDO F. BAR-

LOSO, JR. IN THE CERTIFICATE OF

MARRIAGE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE (NSO), RELATIVE TO THE MARRIAGE BE-TWEEN ROMUALDO F. BARLOSO, JR. AND

WILMA S. TABUN-GAR ON JUNE 13,

1994 AT BASEY, SAMAR

represented by his spouse, WILMA S. TABUNGAR BAR-

LOSO,Petitioner,

-versus-

THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF BASEY, SAMAR,

Defendant.SPECIAL PROCEED-INGS No. 2011-12-743

For:CORRECTION OF

ENTRYx - - - - - - - - - - - x

ORDERA verified petition having been filed with the Court by Romualdo F. Barloso, Jr. through counsel Atty. Wil-fredo O. Estorninos, praying that after publication, due notice and hearing, the Local Civil Registry of Basey, Sa-mar to undertake necessary Correction in the Certificate of Marriage to reflect the cor-rect date of birth in the cer-tificate of marriage of herein Petitioner from August 25, 1969 to August 25, 1973, and his age appearing therein should be corrected from 24 to 20. Other reliefs and rem-edies are likewise prayed for.The petition being sufficient

in form and substance, same is hereby considered. Hence, let the initial hearing of this case be set on March 15, 2012 at 8:30 in the morning in this Court, at which date, time and place, all interested per-sons may appear and show cause, if any, why this peti-tion should not be granted.Let the copy of this Order be published at the expense of the petitioner once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation selected by raffle under the supervision of the Clerk of Court and duly ac-credited by the Court and the petitioner.SO ORDERED.IN CHAMBERS, this 6th day of January 2012, at Basey, Samar, Philippines.

(Sgd.) AGERICO A. AVILA

Presiding Judge

SWE Issue January 17-23, 24-30 & 31 - February 6, 2012

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reported “rampant” illegal mining activi-ties being undertaken by mining companies whose permits were is-sued by the provincial government of Eastern Samar.

“These mining com-panies are not follow-ing the permits issued to them. There were in-stances that they extract mineral deposits that are not within their permits,” Babatugon said.

“That is why, we have recommended for the stoppage of these rampant illegal activities perpe-trated by these compa-nies. We have to protect our environment,” he added.

Babatugon, how-ever, admitted that they have yet to for-mally ask the Environ-ment secretary on this issue. “Everything is still verbal but we will make our recommenda-tion formal by writing the Secretary,” he said.

He said that it is MGB Regional Director Roger De Dios who will request the Environ-ment Secretary on the stoppage of the small-scale mining activities across the province.

According to Ba-batugon, if this prac-tice of these mining companies would not be checked, this could result to destruction of the environment.

“What they are doing is committing environ-ment infractions. They are not doing any reha-bilitation to the mined areas which in the first place not covered within their permits,” he said.

He also said that there are mining com-

MGB from page 1...panies doing their min-ing activities which do not have their own silting ponds which could damage the en-vironment.

Small scale min-ing operations are in existence in the towns of Salcedo, Llorente, Gen. MacArthur, Gui-uan and Hernani. All these companies are extracting chromite, Babatugon said.

Those companies, whose mining areas ranged from 15 hect-ares to 20 hectares, ob-tained their mining permits from the pro-vincial government of Eastern Samar.

Babatugon, howev-er, declined to mention the names of the min-ing companies which their office found to have committed some violations to their min-ing permits.

Eastern Samar Gov. Conrado Nicart was not available to issue comment as of press time, his media officer Crescentia Quitorio said when reached on her phone through a text message.

JANUARY 24 - 30, 2012 PAGE 8

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CATBALOGAN, Samar -- Mahugot nga iginduduso hin mga magbabalaud nga mga taga-Mindanao nga ig-ugsod an October 2013 nga barangay election ngadto hiton kataposan nga Lunes hiton Oktubre 2015 agud diri la nga mapahibub-an iton gastos hiton eleksyon kundi agud man matagan hin igo nga panahon an mga opisyal han barangay ha pagkompleto han ira mga proyekto.

Segun kan Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, an pag-ugsod han mao nga pinili-ay en makakabulig gihapon para magka-urosa an katawhan ha nasud.

Ha iya panuyo nga mahi-ugsod an eleksyon panbarangay ilarum han

House Bill 5654, na-obser-baran ni Rodriquez nga an eleksyon ha Pilipinas en magastos nga aktibidad, diri la para han mga kandi-dato kondi magin man han gobyerno.

Ginpahayag niya nga hadton Mayo 2010 nga eleksyon nasyonal, nakig-kontrata an Commission on Elections (COMELEC) para hin diri na mano-mano nga pag-ihap han mga botos pinaagi han precinct count optical scan (PCOS) nga kagamitan ha kantidad nga P7.2 bilyon.

Para naman hiton 2013 nga pinili-ay, diri lakip an Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) ngan barangay elections, ginbabana-bana han COM-ELEC nga magastos ini hin P15 bilyon ngada hin P20

bilyon.Segurado daw nga iton

tidaraon nga 2013 barangay elections en magmamagas-tos pa kontra han nagastos para han 2010 nga eleksyon panbarangay, kon diin an mao nga pondo en mauruu-pay kon gagamiton para hin iba pa nga mga proyekto han gobyerno sugad hi-ton konstruksyon hin mga tulay, mga kalsada ngan iba pa nga mga proyekto pan-imprastraktura, bisan pa ngani school buildings, sering niya.

Para hin usa nga nasud nga an budget deficit en gin-babana-bana nga maabot hin P349 bilyon hiton kataposan hiton tuig, an P3.6 bilyon nga nagastos hadton 2010 en ura-ura hin kadako nga salapi nga gin-gastos dida

han eleksyon, sering niya.Hi Abante Mindanao

party-list Rep. Maximo Ro-driguez, Jr. nga usa han tagsurat han HB 5654, en natuo nga an pag-ugsod han eleksyon panbarangay en magreresulta hin pagkaada estabilidad ha barangay nga lebel ngan an mga programa nga gintikangan hiton na-kapuwesto yana nga mga lider en magbubunga.

Ura-ura daw hin kahali-pot an tulo ka tuig nga ter-mino han mga opisyal han barangay para maseguro nga an mga programa han barangay en mahipatuman ha husto nga paagi. Diri ig-kakalirong, sering niya, nga an kataposan nga tuig han termino en haros nakatutok na hiton pangampanya. (rjb)

ARMY RECRUITMENT NAKATALAAN YANA NGA ABRIL.An opisina han Division Public Affairs Office (DPAO) han 8th Infantry Division, Philippine Army nga nakabase ha syudad han Catbalogan en nagpasamwak han ira “Army Recruitment” nga pagbubu-haton yana Abril 9-14, 2012 ha Brgy. Maulong, hine nga syudad. An panrehistro han makakapasar han mga rekisitos en pagbubuhaton ha alas 7 han aga hiton nga mga petsa. (rjb)

NAGPAHAYAG hi Sec-retary of Transportation and Communications Mar Roxas dida han nakalabay nga adlaw nga ginbubuhat daw han buhatan en mga kadugangan pa nga mga pag-aram agud kun posible nga maging alternatibo han gasolina an tinatawag nga LPG para ha mga sarakyan nga nagamit hin gasolina ug diesel.

Sumala kan Roxas iya daw iginsugo an pag “test-ing” han mga bag-o nga makina nga di-diesel basi daw hibaruan kun eksakto ba nga gamiton ine tungod

komo ikatulo nga pagpipil-ian kay mas menus daw an gastos hine.

Sumala han surok, nag-sering pa daw ine hi Roxas, nga masukot nga ginhi-himo han Department of Transportation and Com-munications (DOTC), Land Transportation Franchis-ing and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) ug Departmnet of Energy (DOE) an pakipag-sumpayan ha University of the Philippines School of Mechanical Engineering basi masiguro nga ine nga LGP nga paggamit han mga dyip komo kabalyo han disel nga

makusog magbuga hin aso in matatapuran gud man.

Una daw nga nagpa-hayag na an UP School of Mechanical Engineering nga gintubyanan han DOE, nga gutiay la iton diperensya hit gastos kun gumamit an mga operator hin dyip han LPG kay naabot daw hin P300,000 an pagpabalyo han makina ngadto ha di-LPG tikang han disel.

Samtang, abuyon naman an pipira nga mga drivers ug operators han sarakyan pero manginginahanglan daw hin dako nga pondo pag pa con-vert han ira mga makina.

Hi DepEd 8 regional director Luisa Bau�sta-Yu (adi ha wala) nag-papahimatngon ngada ha mga bisita ug mga par�sipantes han estado han edukasyon ha rehiyon dida han “1st Regional Edu-ca�on Summit” nga may tema nga: Strengthening Quality Basic Educa�on via “K to 12” ha DepEd regional office, Candahug, Palo, Leyte, January 20. Kuha gihap ha picture hi Leyte governor Jeri-cho Pe�lla ngan DepEd undersecretary Yolanda Quijano. (Kuha ni Vino R. Cuayzon)

AABREHAN na han Department of Agriculture (DA) ug Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) an pautang ha mga parag-uma hin humay ha upat nga probinsya nga nakantidad hin P400 milyon.

An pautang en usa han mga programa han ad-ministrasyon Noynoy Aquino ha ilarum han food security flagship program, o an mas ginkikilala nga Food Staples Sufficiency Program (FSSP).

Sumala han surok, nag-amot daw an DA ug LBP hin tag P200 milyon kada usa ha ira para maabot an P400 milyon loan program nga nakatalaan daw ipatu-man yana nga 2012.

Una daw ine nga ipapatuman ha mga probinsya han Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Iloilo, ug North Cotabato.

Una daw nga makakatagamtam hine an mga parag-uma nga membro han Irrigators’ Associations (IAs) basta hinbabatiran nga maupay nga nautang, makakautang daw hin P42,000 ha kada ektarya han iya

gin-uuma ha kada pana-hon han pagtanum, kun masugot hira pagtanum han hybrid rice, ngan P37,000 kada ektarya kun magamit la han inbred rice.

Dugang pa han surok nga ine nga una nga P400 milyon in makakaserbe hin 2,000 nga parag-uma kada probinsiya ug 8,000 ngatanan ine hire ha bug-os nga upat nga probin-sya.

Kinahanglan daw da-man nga an kada usa nga membro han IA in dapat mayda por los menus usa ka ektarya hin hagna o lima, nga mayda iri-gasyon, nga gagamiton komo kolateral han iya loan.

Samtang, waray pa naman iginpagawas nga notisya kun san-o an eskedyul han pautang ha mga parag-uma dinhe ha rehiyon otso.