10-ft high statue of Epifanio delos Santos unveiled in hometown

SAN ISIDRO, Nueva Ecija – A 10-feet high statue of revered former governor Epifanio delos Santos was unveiled here yesterday morning by local officials and private citizens in honor of the great academician,  artist, poet and politician after whom Edsa was named.

         

         The iconic statue, made of cement and painted bronze, was opened to the public following a morning Mass at San Isidro ng Magsasaka parish church during its feast in front of the Plaza delos Santos and just across the historic town hall.

          The monument was a pet project of the 1958 class of the General de Jesus Academy High School led by its president, Dr. Romeo Lorenzo.

          Lorenzo, younger brother of former fourth district Reps. Victorio Lorenzo and Julita Lorenzo-Villareal, said the statue was a fitting tribute to delos Santos, more popularly known as Don Panyong, considered one of the most illustrious Novo Ecijanos in history.

          “This is in fact long overdue and we should be proud of him, the first democratically elected governor of Nueva Ecija,” Lorenzo said.

          The event was graced by relatives and granddaughters of Delos Santos among them former press undersecretary and now Manila Bulletin vice president for public relations Carmencita “Ching” delos Santos-Suva, Angelita delos Santos, Julieta delos Santos and Yolanda delos Santos, Mayor Cesario Ileto Jr., Vice Mayor Gerry dela Cruz, Councilor Larry Jimenez and municipal administrator Napoleon  Ocampo among others.

          Funding for the project was sourced from the municipal government and a cash donation from Santos-Suva.

          “I thank this class for recognizing my lolo,” Santos-Suva said, recalling that the library put up by his grandfather was often visited by past presidents, including Emilio Aguinaldo and Manuel Luis Quezon.

She said they are planning to put up a museum in his honor.

          Considered a genius in his time, Delos Santos, whose first name Epifanio  was drawn from the word “epiphany” (divine manifestation),  has excelled in no less than 28 professions.

          He was born April 7,1871 in Malabon as the only child of Don Escolastico delos Santos and Dona Antonina Cristobal.

Delos Santos graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Arts at Ateneo de Manila as a summa cum laude and finished his law course at the University of Sto. Tomas, emerging as bar topnotcher in 1898.

He was an academician and scholar, bibliographer, artist, biographer, civil servant, critic, essayist, ethnographer, journalist, historian, jurist, librarian, linguist and polyglot, monographer, musician, novelist, paleographer, philanthropist, philologist, philosopher, poet, researcher and revolutionary leader all rolled into one.

          He was the first Filipino to have been elected Novo Ecijano governor  in 1902. He was reelected in 1904.

          He was also associate editor of the revolutionary newspaper La Independencia in 1898 with the pen name Solon. As publisher, he published Tagalog Literature and the “Confidential Letter of Dr. Jose Rizal” among others. 

          In 1900, he was named district attorney of this town and in 1904 was designated provincial fiscal in Bulacan and Bataan.            

          He was known to have built the largest collection of books and antiquities in the country, including 2,000 book titles, many of whom were extraordinary.

          Epifanio died of cardiac arrest on April 28,1928 in Manila at the age of 57.

In recognition of his contributions to arts, culture and the country’s history, the 23.8-kilometer Highway 54 passing through six cities and 17 towns in Metro Manila was named Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa) by virtue of Republic Act 2140 on April 7, 1959.

          Edsa is now considered the most historic highway where two People’s Power revolutions were staged, first in 1986 and second in 2001 which led to the ouster from Malacanang of sitting presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, respectively.

          Filipino and foreign experts have heaped praises on Delos Santos.   

          Claro M. Recto described him as the foremost literarian in the Philippines while American historian Austin Craig called him as the island’s best writer in literature.

          “Powerful intelligence, a formidable receptacle of culture and gifted with words,” said Jaime De Veyra, resident commissioner to the US House of Representatives, in reference to Delos Santos. (Manny Galvez)    

Legarda: Prioritize RE Development, Mitigate Climate Change Impacts

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today renewed her call for more investments in renewable energy (RE) as part of a long-term solution to the growing power needs of the country, and in a bid to mitigate the effects of environmental degradation and climate change.

Legarda, the United Nations Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for Asia-Pacific, made the call at the inauguration of Phase 1 of the San Carlos Solar Inc. (SACASOL) solar farm in Negros Occidental.

SACASOL is a joint venture between Bronzeoak Philippines and the Swiss-German investment firm ThomasLloyd.

Legarda noted that the solar farm created 3,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, and will entail 300 workers to maintain. The facility will sequester 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and will feed the Visayas grid a total of 22 MW of clean energy to service power needs. 

 

“This can be replicated in Mindanao to solve our power woes. It is time that we heighten efforts to increase the country’s RE capacity. We need to increase our RE installation targets and make RE part of the solution to the country’s growing energy demand,” she said.

Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Climate Change, also stressed that “for a nation that is facing the daunting impacts of climate change, we need to take action towards drastically reducing greenhouse gases and carbon emissions.”

The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) indicated that “throughout the 21^st century, climate change impacts are projected to slow down economic growth, make poverty reduction more difficult, further erode food security, and prolong existing and create new poverty traps.”

“Renewable energy is recognized as a long-term solution to the global effort to avert and mitigate the effects of climate change and the impacts of our expanding energy use. It is worth noting that the Philippines has huge potential for renewable energy development. We must encourage more investments on RE because the Philippines is abundant in such. It is second in geothermal energy use and studies show that we have more than 200,000 potential renewable energy resources that remain untapped,” Legarda noted.

Legarda, co-author and co-sponsor of the Renewable Energy Law, noted that the Philippines has already established a legal framework that provides for necessary policy mechanisms for the development of the country’s renewable energy resources.

“We have one of the most comprehensive RE laws in the world that provide the framework of legal and institutional conditions necessary for the private sector to move renewable energy technologies into the market,” Legarda added.

“We have the laws in place, namely, the Philippine Biofuels Act and the Renewable Energy Act. It is only a matter of operationalizing and implementing them,” she said.

The Biofuels Act mandates the blending of biodiesel and ethanol in locally-distributed diesel and gasoline, while the Renewable Energy Law institutionalizes the use and development of renewable energy.

“It is about time that we take a consistent and deliberate effort to develop our own energy resources so that we can guarantee a legacy of clean, reliable and affordable energy for our future generation,” Legarda concluded.

Senate performance not affected by PDAF controversy says Drilon

Senate President Franklin M. Drilon today said the Senate remains on track on its commitment to pass measures pending in the Upper Chamber, assuring the public that the institution would still be able to deliver the legislation of bills much needed by the nation.

“Despite the issues facing certain senators, we have remained focused on our legislative work so as not to derail the approval of important measures that we are deeply committed to pass for the benefit of our people,” Drilon said.

Drilon emphasized the Senate’s close coordination with the House of Representatives expedites and boosts overall legislative performance.

“Never had there been a closer working relationship between the two chambers which have resulted in a speedier passage of bills of national importance,” said Drilon.

Drilon said that records show that the Senate of the 16^th Congress has outpaced the legislative output of the Senate in the previous Congress.

During the first regular session of the 15^th Congress from July 26, 2010 to May 14, 2011, only two measures were enacted into law, five bills approved on second and third reading, and one treaty was ratified. While for the same period in the 16^th Congress, five measures were enacted into law, six were approved on second and third reading, and three treaties were ratified.

Among the bills signed into law by the President are the 2014 General Appropriations Act, the P14.6-billion supplemental budget as well as a joint resolution extending the validity of the 2013 calamity and quick response fund in order to capacitate government’s rehabilitation program on areas devastated by super typhoon Yolanda, and the postponement of the Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

Also enacted is the law establishing the Maritime Industry Authority as the single maritime administration in order to comply with international standards.

“Because of Congress’ timely intervention, we had prevented the possible loss of jobs of around 80,000 Filipino seafarers in Europe. The European Union acknowledged our efforts and gave us more time to reform our maritime industry,” said Drilon.

The Senate likewise passed on third reading four bills, including the Freedom of Information bill which, according to Drilon, “would be a strong deterrent against corruption in the government” once enacted into law. The Senate also passed the bill promoting micro, small and medium enterprises and the measure mandating telecommunication companies to send free mobile alerts to subscribers in the event of disasters and calamities. It also granted a franchise to Cotabato Light and Power Company to prevent disruption of electricity in Cotabato City and parts of Maguindanao.

Moreover, the Senate concurred in the ratification of treaties with the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland (UK), Spain, and India to boost government’s effort to fight criminality, especially those related to child trafficking and prostitution.

On the other hand, various measures are already in the advanced stages of legislation. The bill further strengthening the Sandiganbayan and the measure extending the corporate life of the Philippine National Railways, which shall expire by June this year, are set to be passed on third reading by Monday (May 19). Meanwhile, the Picture-based Health Warning on Tobacco Act is currently in the period of interpellations.

"Before we adjourn in June, we hope to pass 16 priority bills, including the national student loan program, an open high school system for out of school youth, and the Iskolar Ng Bayan Act," emphasized Drilon.

In light of the PDAF controversy, the Senate chief acknowledged that the only way they could regain the people’s confidence and trust is through genuine hard work: This means we must not fail in our mandated task of passing meaningful legislation that would sincerely elevate the quality of the Filipino life.

Lastly, the Senate leader emphasized that the Senate has conducted 280 committee hearings of various proposed legislation, including the hearings conducted by the Blue Ribbon committee regarding the pork barrel scam controversy. With this, Drilon said he expects that a large number of committee reports will be brought to the plenary for deliberation such as the bill increasing allowances of soldiers and policemen nationwide, as well as a bill that would increase the tax exemption limit on employees’ benefits. 

Senate lauds women for helping communities

The Senate today adopted a resolution commending the recipients of the Soroptimist Unsung Women Heroes Awards for their tireless dedication and service in improving the lives of women in their respective communities.

            Senate Resolution No. 628, introduced by Senator Loren Legarda, seeks to recognize the role of women in nation-building.  The resolution was unanimously approved by 21 senators present during the session.

            Legarda said the 10 awardees were recognized by the Soroptomist International of the Philippines for their dynamic and pro-active work in the fields of education, financial literacy, good governance and gender equality, among others.

            The awardees are Elsie Cabral, Rosalia Cervantes, Sylvia de Leon, Olivia Lucas, Emily Lundang, Marilou Portacio, Adelina San Miguel, Fe Tolentino, Julieta Torres, and Crispina Zafra.

            “For actively participating in community work and inspiring others to do the same, it is only proper that these awardees be recognized for making use of existing resources at their dismissal in order to serve the marginalized members of our society,” Legarda said in her resolution.

            The Unsung Women Heroes Awards was first awarded in 2009. It aims to recognize women who take an active role in improving the lives of fellow Filipinos through their work at the grassroots level.  (Zherine Araza, PRIB)