De Lima should explain VIP treatment to former FG says Trillanes

MANILA, September 21, 2011-Senator Antonio “Sonny” F. Trillanes IV urges Justice Secretary Leila De Lima to explain her apparent selective application of the law and her VIP treatment to former First Gentleman Miguel Arroyo.

Trillanes reacted on media reports that Mr. Arroyo left the country via Munich, Germany for medical reasons, saying that De Lima must explain why she decided not to place former FG Mike Arroyo in the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) watch list despite of the plunder charge filed by the Criminal Investigation Detective Group (CIDG) against him, in the same manner she has placed others with similar charges in the watch list.

“This is clearly contrary to the position she took in earlier cases, like the case of former PAGCOR Chairman Efraim Genuino and his children, who were all placed in the watch list on the basis of plunder charges filed against them,” Trillanes said. 

The senator recalled that two or three weeks ago, Sec. De Lima said in a press conference that she is studying the possibility of placing FG in the watch list.

“As usual, it was all just a press release.  Now the horse walked out of the barn because she left the barn door wide open,” Trillanes stressed, pointing out that by not placing former FG Arroyo in the watch list, she is allowing him to flaunt the law and leave the country unchallenged despite of the serious charges against him.

“De Lima should explain and take responsibility in case he does not return anymore to face the charges against him,” Trillanes added.    

Trillanes earlier demanded for the resignation of Sec. De Lima because of the supposed failure of the latter to pursue the numerous cases filed against former President and now Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo despite of the fact that she has been in office for more than fourteen (14) months. (Jason de Asis)

Aurora ecozone official bats to revoke architect Palafox’s license

MANILA, September 20, 2011-The Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) calls to speed up the hearings on high-profile architect Felino Palafox, Jr. who has been accused of violating the code of ethics for architects and environmental planners and sabotaging the development of Aurora ecozone being developed in Eastern Central Luzon.

The APECO filed complaints last May 2011 with the two Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) board, stating that Palafox’s license to practice should be suspended if the Boards of Architecture and Environmental Planning under the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) find him guilty of breaching the code of ethics for architects and environmental planners.

  

APECO fired Palafox as master planner after the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) declared the plans he prepared for the ecozone unusable.

“Palafox, nonetheless, charged and collected P32 million for the unused plans,” APECO President Robbie Mathay said.

“Palafox did not only rob APECO blind, but also the communities that stand to benefit from the development,” said Mathay. “The lesson we have learned here is this: self-proclaimed gold is oftentimes dross,” he said, saying that Palafox’s sloppy work is proof that he is hardly the conscientious architect he pretends to be.

APECO awarded and signed a design services contract with Palafox Associates, which won the bidding for the master plan development of the ecozone last November 2008.

Last March 2009, Palafox Associates requested a supplemental contract from APECO covering hydrologic study and hydraulic design allegedly not covered by the original contract. Both parties signed the supplemental contract in June of the same year.

“A month later, Palafox Associates informed APECO of its outstanding balance amounting to almost P8.5 million in professional fees,” Mathay said.

APECO responded with a memorandum supported by the OGCC stating that the surveys under the supplemental contract were already covered by the original design services contract.

The CAAP and PPA also issued an opinion stating that Palafox Associates’ design placing the seaport in close proximity to the airport was ill-chosen, rendering the design useless.

APECO asserted that Palafox acted in bad faith when it insisted on a supplemental contract even before the original contract was fully completed, the complaint stated.

“Palafox claimed that the original contract could not be accomplished without the supplemental studies and surveys. However, Palafox Associates eventually submitted reports without actually conducting the surveys and studies it proposed, resulting in unusable and defective plans,” Mathay said, explaining that not content with the damages he had already caused APECO, Palafox still divulges information he acquired during his service to APECO, in clear violation of the confidentiality of information between the client and contractor.

“Palafox Associates acted in bad faith,” Mathay said. “They took advantage of APECO’s trust, inducing it to enter into an unnecessary supplemental agreement and practically robbing it blind, adding that Palafox failed to protect APECO’s interests as its client and even caused incalculable harm to the ecozone’s development.

“Until now Palafox continues to make malicious allegations and libelous statements against APECO; thus, Palafox must be disciplined and penalized once and for all,” Mathay ended. 

Prior to this, international architect Jun Palafox filed graft and corruption against Senator Edgardo J. Angara and 4 others in connection with the creation of the ecozone in Aurora. (Jason de Asis)

Angara slams graft raps filed by Palafox

BALER, Aurora, September 20, 2011-Senator Edgardo J. Angara slams international urban planner and architect Felino “Jun” Palafox in the creation of the economic zone in Aurora province accusing Palafox for violation of ethics for architects and environmental planners and sabotaging the development of the ecozone that is being developed in Eastern Central Luzon.

“When Palafox and Associates was awarded the design contract for the master plan of the Aurora ecozone after a public bidding in November of 2008, we welcomed what we thought then was a piece of good news.  From his many TV interviews, Felino Palafox Jr. appears as a conscientious architect imbued with a civic spirit,” Angara said.

“How wrong we were,” he asked, saying that for a fee of P32 million, Palafox and Associates came  out with a master plan that was declared useless by three government agencies: the Philippine Ports  Authority (PPA), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC).

“It was a sloppy piece of design work that proposed a seaport very near an airport. That shabby piece of architecture would endanger the whole project, according to the agencies that evaluated the technical and environmental soundness of the Palafox master plan,” Angara said in his statement. 

The veteran Senator said that instead of correcting the design of Palafox, the self-proclaimed “internationally-known architect” engaged in an accusing binge after the rejection of his master plan. He called the ecozone project—that was initiated to lift underdeveloped areas on the coastal areas of Central Luzon into the 21st century—a “scam”.

“He accused us of benefitting from the project, which belongs to the government and where our participation is a requisite of the law creating the ecozone, a project that has been considerably derailed by the faulty and shabby design work of Palafox,” Angara said, explaining that if there was anybody that benefitted from the project it was Felino Palafox Jr.

“Palafox useless design work with a billing of P32 million, the administrators of the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority have decided to take action against Palafox Jr. They have had enough of this phony,” Angara said. 

Angara said that Palafox was accused of violating the code of ethics of architects before the Professional Regulations Commission (PRC) and violating the code of ethics of environmental planners before the Environmental Planning Board under the commission.

“The two charges seek to strip him of his license, which, hopefully, would strip of him of the moral perch he has been using as platform for his professional bankruptcy and phoniness,” Angara ended.

Prior to this, Palafox Jr. has filed in a 5-page graft and corruption complaints against Angara and four others for allowing the creation of the ecozone in Aurora before the Ombudsman.

It was stated in his complaint that Angara allowed the creation of Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO) even if the area was prone to floods and landslides.

Palafox also raised the conflict of interest issue where the Angara’s relatives are supposedly members of the APECO board. (Jason de Asis)

Kiko calls to unmask masterminds of P7.5B farm to market probe

MANILA, September 20, 2011-Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Foods calls to unmask the mastermind of P7.5B farm to market roads.

Pangilinan said that his committee wants to investigate the enormous amount released from the Department of Agriculture (DA) during 2010’s election period supposedly to be used in constructing farm to market roads without a work program.

“If found true that no farm-to-market road was constructed when this amount was released from January to June 2010, then those responsible for this anomaly must be held accountable and must explain themselves to those who toil their farms relentlessly yet remain below the poverty line,” Pangilinan said.

“I will file a resolution calling for an investigation into the anomaly, especially considering COA reports that funds to be used in constructing farm-to-market roads in Maguindanao were mostly spent for gas purchases from service stations owned by former President Arroyo’s known allies the Ampatuans,” he added.

“This is plunder. Our people were deprived of the opportunity to improve their lives with the help of these much-needed roads,” he furthered.

Pangilinan said that theft of government money through anomalous transactions must be ended. The people particularly the farmers should be given justice from their overlong plight. There is a need to trace where the said enormous funds went and the culprits and their accomplices should be punished. (Jason de Asis)

Senate approves Geology Profession Law

MANILA, September 20, 2011-Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV, author of Senate Bill No. 2941 was approved on third reading of the senate that seeks to repeal the 46-year-old geology profession law and replace it with a new measure that will govern the practice of geology
profession and education in the country.

Trillanes has been pushing for a new law to make it attuned to the present conditions and global standards and at the same time protect the practice of profession in the country from unqualified foreign nationals.

Trillanes said that geology profession has grown and has become even more vital in our society as well in our economic activities in order to address our country’s present needs in areas such as the continued search for energy sources, mineral resources, land development, mitigating natural hazards, geotechnical and geothermal studies for infrastructures, and environmental planning and monitoring.

Trillanes, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization said that the existing law which covers the geology profession has become completely out-dated, if not obsolete, in the context of developing nation and globalizing world.

The proposed measure stated the following salient features such as; to wit, it redefines and expands the coverage of the practice of geology, and delineates the scope of the practice vis-a-vis other allied fields such as mining and metallurgical engineering; It establishes the creation of a board which shall be named the Professional Regulatory Board of Geology and shall supervise, control, and regulate the practice of geology. It states the Board’s authority
in the conduct of education, examination and licensing of geologists; It provides for a guideline in issuing the certificates of registration and identification card, as well as the certificate of specialization to our professionals; It provides for a mandatory continuing professional education for geologists in order to ensure that they would be up-to-date on the latest development and innovations in their profession; and the bill includes a foreign reciprocity clause which prohibits the practice of foreign geologist in the country unless the country of the foreigner geologist grants the same or similar privileges to Filipino
geologists in their country.

The other version of Trillanes bill is House Bill No. 380 which is still pending with the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation. (Jason de Asis)

P500 thousand pesos awarded to Abra former rebels

BANGUED, Abra, September 20, 2011-A total of five hundred thousand pesos was given as financial assistance by the Department of social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to ten former rebels at the provincial Capitol.

The former New People’s Army (NPA) were awarded 50,000 pesos each by the government through the Social Integration Program (SIP) of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process (OPAPP) identified as Igan B Luebyang, Jaime P Luis, Samuel C Gamsawen, Jimmy C Monlingit, Vilma S Valera, Viado S Cayyong, Junjun G Sibalo, Ariel B Sibalo, Joel J Fransisco, Villamor T Bringas and Carmelita B Balweg, the wife of Jovencio Balweg, a former NPA commander and the brother of the late rebel priest Fr. Condrado Balweg.

Governor Eustaquio Bersamin of Abra advised the former rebels to spend their money wisely and invest it in business or livelihood venture for it to be sustained.

Col Eliseo Posadas, the commanding officer of 503^rd Brigade and Lt. Col. Noel T Baluyan, the commanding officer of 41^st IB, Philippine Army witnessed the ceremony.

“We have called it Local Peace Talk (LPT). We are asking the remnants of NPA here in Abra to go down and surrender. In our level in the military, we will give 15,000 pesos to rebels who will surrender with their arm. We will then turn them over to the DSWD for guidance counseling and then to Gov. Bersamin for them to avail the financial livelihood assistance that will be given to them by the Governor.” Posadas said.

The Social Integration Program (SIP) is a government program that involves a set of intervention for ex-rebels and their dependents. SIP is under the supervision of the National Committee on Social Integration under the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) The committee was created by virtue of Administrative Order 172; Creating the National Committee on Social Integration (NCSI) tasked to implement the SIP for rebel groups.

“The goals of SIP are both short and long term. The immediate goal of the SIP is the improvement of security condition (restoration of peace and security) to allow for peaceful social and economic activities, while the long term goal is the sustained social and economic re-integration of former rebels into a peaceful society,” Posadas said. (Jason de Asis)

Drilon calls for investigation over P7.5-B Arroyo farm to market funds

MANILA, September 19, 2011-Senator Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee bats for the Senate investigation of the P7.5 billion farm-to-market roads fund released by the Arroyo administration last May 2010 elections even without actual programs of work.

“Before former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stepped down from office, the funds were released by the Department of Agriculture from January to June last year,” Drilon said.

Drilon revealed that they are now gathering prima facie evidence about the probe funds where these farm-to-market roads were released before the change of the administration adding that a similar scheme such as the P729.48 million in fertilizer funds which were diverted for the 2004 presidential campaign of GMA who is now a Pampanga representative.

Drilon said that the actual releases of the P7.5 billion fund were done in just six months and that’s the reason why the senator questioned how the department of agriculture then headed by former Secretary Arthur Yap was able to disburse such amount.

“The former officials in the Department of Agriculture are rather efficient in utilization of funds,” Drilon said, who also chair the Senate Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures, which came through with the alleged irregularity in the project.

“We are determining if the funds went to ‘farm-to-pocket roads’, ‘roads to my farm’ or nothing has happened at all,” Drilon said.

Drilon said that they are currently looking about the liability of officials involved and do not want to come to any early conclusion, saying that they are on the process of verifying pertinent documents related to the project as to where the projects are located. (Jason de Asis)

Jinggoy sought support of civil service eligibility upon councilors

MANILA, September 19, 2011-Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada sought the support of his fellow lawmakers in the Upper Chamber to approve Senate Bill 2946 which confers civil service eligibility upon members of municipal and city councilors and provincial board members.

Estrada sponsored a bill which will grant civil service eligibility to all Sangguniang Bayan, Sangguniang Panlungsod and Sangguniang Panlalawigan in due recognition to their invaluable services in their respective areas of governance.

Estrada cited that the Local Government Code of 1991 actually grants appropriate civil service eligibility on the basis of the number of years of service to the Punong Barangay, Sangguniang Baranggay and other barangay officers, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission stated in his bill.

“It is but fitting that elected members of the Sangguniang Bayan, Panlungsod and Panlalawigan, who are carrying out broader and extensive duties and responsibilities be granted the same eligibility privilege,” Jinggoy, once a local chief executive of San Juan City, reasoned.

Committee Report 55 of the Committees on Civil Service and Government Reorganization and Local Government grant Career Service Sub-Professional Eligibility to council members who have served for an aggregate period of six (6) years, and Professional Eligibility to those who have served for an aggregate period of nine (9) years; provided that they meet the educational requirement of completion of at least 72 units of any baccalaureate program, and finishing a bachelor’s degree, respectively.

The Philippine Councilors League composed of more than 16,000 city and municipal councilors nationwide through its National President Councilor Ronald Carcellar (Poro, Cebu) had earlier expressed full support of this measure.

The bill covers all members of the Sangguniang Bayan, Sangguniang Panlungsod and Sangguniang Panlalawigan who have been elected after the effectivity of the Local Government Code of 1991 once it is enacted into law. (Jason de Asis)

“Costa Pacifica” world class hotel started to rise in Aurora

BALER, Aurora, September 18, 2011-To cater to the ever-growing tourism industry in the province, a three story world-class resort hotel named “Costa Pacifica” started its construction now with seventy eight (78) rooms at a three hectare site at Barangay Sabang which is the favorite surfing destination of local and foreign tourists.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara said that the modernize hotel will charge the cheapest rate among the hotels here in the country and is now being built by the internationally acclaimed Raintree Company which is known builders of several high-end hotels and manager of the Discovery Suites in Ortigas and Boracay, restaurants, food courts and food parks along Ayala Avenue.

Annabella Wisniewski, Raintree president briefed Angara about the project Friday afternoon together with Raeana Cranbourne, who is the firm’s project director, a half-Filipina and half-Australian.

Wisniewski said that the hotel will have a restaurant and cafeteria where meetings, conferences and socials can be held. It will be completed in December 2012, with a soft opening a month earlier.

“This type of hotel is appropriate for Filipino hospitality. It’s a terrific industry because Filipinos are naturally hospitable. The project will also give many attributes to tourism industry,” Wisniewski told newsmen.

She said that a prominent architect Ed Calma designed the hotel which construction has already generated 150 local jobs.

Wisniewski said that their firm decided to build a world-class hotel in this capital town to cash in on the booming tourism industry and to spur countryside development. “Besides, we want to showcase the beauty of Baler as a premier tourist destination and tourism can generate a lot of revenues,” she said.        

“The hotel facility they are putting up in the province is very accessible from Manila and is located in the only beach area surrounded by the land-locked provinces of Nueva Ecija and Nueva Vizcaya,” Wisniewski said, adding that her firm is also taking care of the renovation of the adjacent Bahia 1 and Bahia 2 hotels which have a total of 33 rooms.

Angara said that his sister Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo is working on having the area near the chain of hotels into a tourism enterprise zone, the tourism equivalent of a special economic zone with tax incentives for locators.

As a tourism enterprise zone, it will get state funding from the Tourism Industry and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) which will construct building, access road, water systems and related facilities.

The establishment of the hotel is expected to further increase tourist arrivals in the province which registered a 300 percent jump over the last five years.

Provincial Tourism Office (PTO) records showed that visitor arrivals in the province reached a record-high of 68,395 in 2010 from a measly 11,534 in 2006. The province lured 10,778 tourists in 2007, 27,935 in 2008 and 52,316 in 2009.

In recognition of the feat, PTO chief Michael Palispis was adjudged provincial tourism officer for 2010 by the Department of Tourism.

Back to Wisniewski, she has been in the hotel and restaurant business for the past 40 years. She was the first Filipina graduate in hotel and restaurant management at Cornell University and has worked in major hotel firms abroad such as Hilton Hotel and Marriot Hotel in Honolulu, Washington hotel, New York hotel and in Singapore.

Wisniewski decided to return in the country to contribute towards the development of hotel and restaurant nationwide. She said that the project will generate income, opportunities and employments among the villagers of Aurora. (Jason de Asis)

P332.5M Aurora ecozone budget approval in congress

CASIGURAN, Aurora, September 18, 2011-In the midst of protests from its oppositionists and after massive cuts made by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the House of Representatives approved last Wednesday the proposed P332.5-million 2012 budget for the Aurora economic zone wherein the budget is a far cry from the ecozone officials’ submitted budget proposal to the DBM of P3.565 billion.

“The 2012 is only less than 10 percent of the ecozone’s submitted budget proposal for the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO),” ecozone officials said.

APECO President Robbie Mathay revealed that the budget proposal was approved in the plenary along with other attached agencies of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), saying that of the P332.5 million, P55 million has been appropriated for personnel services and P277.5 million for capital outlay, including building construction, land acquisition among others.

Prior to the budget approval, Congressman Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said that a pre-plenary conference was held last September 5 wherein Anakpawis Party-list Representative Rafael Mariano addressed some questions to APECO officials, including the alleged massive displacement of landowners, farmers and fisherfolks.

Mathay gave an assurance that no massive displacement would take place and that the ecozone will inform everybody of the project impact.

Last June 21, 2011, DBM Secretary Florencio Abad stated in his letter to Mathay that they were recommending P332.5 million after a review of the proposed project. “The DBM recommended budget was arrived at applying the zero-base budgeting approach whereby major on-going programs and projects were assessed and reviewed as to relevance, and after assessing APECO’S demonstrated absorptive capacity,” Abad said.

Congressman Angara and Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo admitted that the budget cuts would slow down the pace of construction works inside the ecozone. 

The approval of the project budget also followed intense lobbying by known anti-APECO groups among them the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) which warned that such approval may lead to the wholesale destruction in this town where the project is located and nearby towns in Aurora province.

The groups complaining about massive displacement of farmers and fishermen, land-grabbing and harassment of local folks were Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap and vice chairperson for Luzon Salvador France who earlier submitted a position paper to the 125-member House committee on appropriations chaired by Congressman Emilio Abaya. The clergy of the prelature of infanta also opposed the ecozone project. (Jason de Asis)

Tourist arrivals in Aurora heats up

BALER, Aurora, September 18, 2011-Tourist arrivals in this province continue to heat up as provincial tourism office (PTO) records showed that tourist arrivals in the first semester of this year already surpassed the whole year tourist arrivals last year.

Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo said that tourism industry continues to boom in this province explaining that the number of tourists for the first six (6) months of 2011 already reached 73,689, way above the 68,395 tourists registered in 2010.

Angara-Castillo said that the growth of the local industry is remarkable and the tourism figures are considered phenomenal since the province does not have yet the requisite hotel and infrastructure facilities which are natural come-ons for tourists.

Over the last five years, Michael Palispis, provincial tourism officer chief said that the tourism gains of the province will further improve the 300 percent tourist arrivals in the province.

Visitor arrivals in the province reached a record-high of 68,395 last year from a measly 8,774 last 2005 based on the PTO records, stating that the province lured 11,534 tourists in 2006; 10,778 in 2007; 27,935 in 2008 and 52,316 in 2009. In recognition of the feat, the Department of Tourism (DOT) adjudged Palispis as provincial tourism officer for 2010.

“The tremendous arrivals of visitors recorded in the province were even a conservative estimate since this did not include those who checked in “home-stay” facilities, adding that the two of the major hotel facilities in this capital town are always fully booked because of the on-rush of in-bound visitors,” Palispis said.

Angara-Castillo said that the provincial government is aggressively promoting tourism with the crafting of an Aurora Forest Recreation and Rest Area, Park Development (AFRRAPD), a provincial tourism blueprint which it submitted to the Department of Tourism for inclusion in the National Tourism Master Plan.

Included in the AFRRAPD are the construction of a hotel, conference hall and recreational facilities for water sports activities such as wakeboarding, jet skiing, kayaking, rappelling, and mountain trail.

Angara-Castillo said that the tourism blueprint is one of her development priority agenda where they also launched its own “Balik-Aurora” campaign where “balikbayan” tourists are fetched at the airport and brought to various destinations in the province in line with the declaration of the years 2011 to 2016 as the country’s “Homecoming Years for Pinoys” in accordance to Aquino’s proclamation 181 to boost tourism by attracting “balikbayans”. (Jason de Asis)

P594-M Aurora new modern hospital to rise within 3 months

BALER, Aurora, September 17, 2011-Governor Bellaflor J. Angara-Castillo said that this province will have a P594-million new modern hospital complete with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities within three (3) months.

“The Japanese contractors assured that the upgrading of the Aurora Memorial Hospital at a 3.8-hectare lot in Barangay Reserva will be completed in December and will start full-blast operation by February 19, 2012 on the occasion of the province’s anniversary,” Angara-Castillo revealed, adding that the completion of the project by the end of the year is ahead by three months from the original target completion date of fifteen (15) months.

The governor made the announcement after the briefings by the Japanese consultants and contractors whom she identified as project manager Hatano, consultant’s representative Yasuhiro Matsumoto, Manabu Tokita and Sadaharu Shioni of the Toyo Construction Co. Ltd. which was commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to construct the project.

The hospital will have administration, emergency and operation and delivery buildings; 50-bed capacity ward buildings, service building, and ancillary buildings such as a guardhouse, mortuary and others once it was completed.

“The hospital project is the complete package since it will be equipped with sophisticated equipment,” Angara-Castillo said, saying that  the  hospital will have dental, physical therapy and radiology equipment such as general x-ray system, automatic  x-ray film processor and ultrasound machine for general examination; laboratory equipment (hematology analyzer and autopsy table), central supply and sterilization room equipment and equipment for the ward such as infant warmer and mechanical ventilator.

It also includes other equipments like four defibrillators, anesthesia apparatus with vaporizer, operating tables and EENT.

The project is funded through a P509-million grant from the Japanese government’ and P85-million in counterpart funding from the provincial government.

Angara-Castillo said that the grant-in aid provided by the Japanese government for the project is a testament to its generosity considering that when it was about to be implemented, a killer earthquake and tsunami struck Japan.

“When the tsunami hit Japan, I was having reservations about the project but the Japanese government assured us they would proceed with the aid in spite of the crisis,” she said.

The lot for the hospital was donated by Angara-Castillo’s brother, Senator Edgardo J. Angara, who initiated the project along with Congressman Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, Mayor Arthur J. Angara and Japanese Ambassador Makoto Katsura.

The existing 70-year-old memorial hospital in the town proper does not have enough facilities at this point in time. The AMH is functioning only as a small hospital covering the central towns of the province prior to the upgrading of the project.

The present 25-bed capacity hospital’s license was even lowered from Level 2 to Level 1 when the Department of Health (DOH) clamped down on hospitals without a trained surgeon and an anesthesiologist.

Last 2009, the provincial government prompted to seek assistance from the Japanese government which conducted a preparatory survey and dispatched a basic design team.

With upgraded facilities, the AMH would be able to confine 800 more patients per year without transferring them to other places, thus reducing their expenses. It would also increase the total patient-days confined from the present 7,700 patient-days to 13,000 patient-days.

Improved facilities would not only enhance the quality of the hospital’s medical services but also examination and medical care capacities, especially in surgery, obstetrics and gynecology departments.

AMH is also being eyed as the province’s training institution for the midwifery and nursing students from the University of the Philippines School of Health Sciences. (Jason de Asis)

Civil society groups renew call for Sierra Madre’s preservation

MANILA, September 16, 2011—A network of environmentalists and civil society groups renewed its call for the protection of the biodiversity of Sierra Madre Mountain Range.

The call was made during the official launch of the network’s Save Sierra Madre Day celebrations on Sept. 9.

Fr. Pete Montallana, chair of the Save Sierra Madre Network (SSMN), in an earlier statement, expressed alarm on the fast disappearing biodiversity of the mountain ranges due to rampant logging and other human activities harmful to the preservation of the mountain rainforests.

SSMN represents Dumagat tribes and other indigenous peoples, local communities, environmentalists, faith-based organizations, and other forest protection advocates.

“What is disturbing is that Sierra Madre’s biodiversity-rich rainforest, which enables the mountain range to shield much of Luzon from raging Pacific storms, is fast diminishing due to rampant logging, quarrying and other developmental aggressions, such as dam, landfill and garbage dump projects,” Montallana has previously stated.

The priest, who was a recipient of Fr. Neri Satur Awards for Environmental Heroism, stressed the importance of weeding out corruption within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), citing the “unholy alliance” between corrupt DENR officials and illegal loggers.

President Benigno Aquino III has declared September 26 as Save Sierra Madre Day through Proclamation No. 233 signed on August 10, 2011.

The September 26 celebration of Save Sierra Madre Day coincides with the anniversary of Typhoon Ondoy that claimed numerous lives and destroyed properties due to heavy flooding.

Last February 1, the president also issued a logging moratorium in natural and residual forests through Executive Order No. 23.

SSMN members in Metro Manila area are planning to have a Mass and other activities on September 26 in Marikina City, one of the most affected areas by Ondoy.

Members based in Quezon, Bulacan, Rizal, Aurora, and Nueva Ecija will be holding tree-planting activities, thanksgiving masses, and a mountain-climbing trip in their own provinces.

Rich in biodiversity, the Sierra Madre is the largest remaining tract of rainforest in the country with about 1.4 million hectares, 400,000 of which are primary or old-growth forests.

The forests contain more than 3,500 plant species, more than half of which are endemic or unique to the Philippines, and at least a hundred of which are endangered.

It is also home to about 70 threatened animal species which include the Philippine eagle, golden-crowned flying fox, and pygmy forest frog. (CBCPNews)

Budget increase for SUCs gathers support from Congress

MANILA, September 15, 2011—The increase for the budget of the state universities and colleges (SUCs) has been garnering much support in the Lower House.

Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino, in a statement said that Representatives Teddy Casiño and Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna), Emmy de Jesus and Luz Ilagan (Gabriela), Rafael Mariano (Anakpawis), Antonio Tinio (ACT Teachers), Bernadette Herrera-Dy (Bagong Henerasyon) Rufus B. Rodriguez (2nd district, Cagayan de Oro City), Karlo Alexei B. Nograles (1st district, Davao City), Juan Edgardo Angara (Aurora and Chairman of House Committee on Higher and Technical Education) and Josefina M. Joson (1st district, Nueva Ecija and Vice Chair of Committee on Appropriations) had joined their call for a higher subsidy for SUCs.

Even Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Chairperson Patricia B. Licuanan had joined the bandwagon for pressing the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to increase the meager budget for State-run higher educational institutions (HEIs).

Palatino said that during the interpellation and plenary debates, Jocson had said that her committee will “concretely address the requested increases.”

Aside from the decreasing budget, Palatino also stressed the “reframing” of the existing education policies which serve as the “root cause” of SUC budget cut.

The young lawmaker said, the DBM ‘systematically’ reduces the budget allocation for the SUCs as per advice from the World Bank.

“Is it not ironic that both DBM and WB publicize social betterment as they aggressively push for budget cuts to SUCs? We have to understand that social progress and development will not be possible in the absence of a strong public tertiary education system. SUCs need sufficient funds to be able to qualitatively function,” the lawmaker said.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo, chief of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA), and Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, earlier, had expressed their full support in increasing the budget of SUCs.

On September 19 to 23, different students, youth, and academic organizations will stage a nationwide protest against budget cuts, not only in education but also for other social services. (Noel Sales Barcelona/CBCPNews)

Baler chief of police relieve over crime waves

BALER, Aurora, September 15, 2011-Police Superintendent Benjamin Villasis, chief of police here was relieved by Senior Superintendent Ervin Gumban, provincial director of the Aurora police based in Camp Ravina over the mounting crimes of high-profile robbery-holdup and theft incidents.

Villasis was replaced by Chief Inspector Edgardo Togonon who is assigned formerly as the provincial spokesperson chief and now concurrently PNP chief for operation at Camp Ravina a month after Mayor Arthur J. Angara criticized Gumban and  Villasis over the failure of police to stem the tide of robberies and hold-ups.

Central Luzon regional director Chief Superintendent Edgardo Ladao from Camp Olivas, Pampanga, downplayed the relief of Villasis, saying that the latter went on official leave. “Since he has gone on leave, Gumban replaced him with Togonon and that’s no problem with me,” he said in a phone interview.

Earlier, Angara said that he was totally disgusted with the performance of the PNP in combating lawlessness in this capital town, particularly the rush in high-profile robbery-holdup and theft.

This after unidentified men broke inside the service center of the Aurora Electric Cooperative along Gloria St., Barangay Suklayin last month and ran away with P193,798 worth of cash and other valuables.

Angara was particularly angered that the latest incident happened near the police station. He said with a new police chief, he expects crimes to go down.

He said that his leadership is being embarrassed by the crime wave particularly as this town – Aurora’s smallest municipality but which is the center of education, trade and commerce - is experiencing an unprecedented tourism boom.

Angara said that Villasis texted him after relinquishing his post and even sent him a “thank you” message.

Vice Mayor Nelianto Bihasa, who was with Angara during the birthday bash of the mayor’s sister, Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo at the capitol compound Wednesday night said he warned Togonon to shape up and make sure crimes would go on a downward turn.

Angara-Castillo said that she is expecting that Togonon will immediately conduct case tracking and back tracking of unsolved criminal case to solve the crime waves here.

The crime surge was such that according to Camp Olivas, 170 incidents of theft and 56 robbery cases had taken place in the province from January to June 2011. The first semester report showed that Aurora – on record  as the most peaceful province in the region – even registered higher incidents of theft compared with the more populous Tarlac province which posted only 135 theft cases.

Last July alone, four robbery-holdup incidents were perpetrated one after another, even victimizing a reporter, a prominent contractor, a former board member and a government employee.

Back to Villasis, a reliable source said that despite the alleged failure of Villasis to solve the high profile robbery holdup and theft incidents here in Baler, Villasis is reportedly soon to replace Police Superintendent Eliseo Cruz, an outstanding policeman of the year nationwide who is manning Cabanatuan City police force in Nueva Ecija as chosen by Mayor Jay Vergara. (Jason de Asis)