Drilon to DBM: Make sure no pork in 2015 budget

MANILA-Senate President Franklin Drilon today called on the Executive, through the Department of Budget and Management (DBM),  to ensure that the 2015 national budget currently being drafted will be free of “pork” or anything that resembles the then Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF).

“The Senate will exercise the strictest examination of the 2015 national budget to make certain that no revival of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in any form or calling will occur,” said Drilon.

He suggested that funding allocated for PDAF in previous years should be directly channeled for the country’s instruments for social services such as massive backing for public hospitals, free public education in higher levels, poverty alleviation program, and assistance to the agricultural sector.

The 2015 national expenditure program being drafted by the DBM is nearing completion. The draft will be the basis of the national budget to be approved by Congress.

Drilon, former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, said that the PDAF, declared as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in late 2013 should be avoided altogether in this year’s national budget.    

“The Supreme Court ruling is clear about when congressional involvement with the budget should end. Therefore anything related to the PDAF in the 2015 national budget should be avoided,” he said. 

In 2013, the Senate abolished their PDAF months before the SC declared its unconstitutionality.

Drilon also invited the public to be “active watchers” of the national budgeting process.

“To our people, especially to our youth, take a look, probe and examine piece by piece the laws our lawmakers craft for this country especially the national budget. Please help us monitor and make sure that every peso in the 2015 GAA will be spent for the betterment of our nation,” he concluded. 

PNoy, Drilon to inaugurate P4-B infra projects in Western Visayas

MANILA-President Benigno S. Aquino III, together with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon, will inaugurate and inspect on today/June 27 P4 billion worth of infrastructure projects which will improve tourism, connectivity and business efficiency in Western Visayas.    

The Senate leader, an Ilonggo native and known champion of Iloilo in the national political level, will accompany President Aquino in a tour that featured about nine major infrastructure projects ranging from road expansion projects, social housing units, bridges and major regional facilities.

President Aquino earlier urged his Cabinet during a meeting with the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Board to focus on completing similar ongoing projects and “to lay the groundwork for long-term economic development and inclusive growth.”

The projects include the P2.1-billion Iloilo circumferential road, the P700-million Iloilo Convention Center, the P500-million Senator Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue and the P170-million Iloilo River NHA Subdivision Phase I in Barangays Camalig and Lanit Jaro.

The lawmaker said that the support of the President was especially crucial in the overall realization of these projects.

“The executive initiative and concern was a great impetus towards the realization of these projects that would ultimately benefit not only Iloilo, but the national economic situation as well,” Drilon stressed.

“We Ilonggos would like to express our heartfelt appreciation President Aquino in his support to every step we take in the road to development. We are grateful that the Aquino administration sees us as active players for national growth, and that national assistance has been made available in our most crucial undertakings,” he emphasized.

The Senate chief explained that the road and bridge projects are expected to provide significant improvements in Iloilo’s logistical capacity, while the housing projects are seen to contribute to Iloilo’s social programs.

The convention center, on the other hand, is seen to expand Iloilo’s tourism industry and enhance its bid in becoming the regional hub for major local and international events and summits.

Also joining the President are Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad.

Iloilo circumferential road

President Aquino will conduct a drive-through inspection of the four-lane 14.18-kilometer Iloilo Circumferential Road which cost P2.1 billion charged against the 2011 to 2014 General Appropriations Act.

Drilon described the Iloilo Circumferential Road (C-1) as a new road opening which is envisioned to serve as the most fundamental component of the road network in Metro Iloilo area.

“This new road will not only relieve Iloilo of traffic, but more importantly, will open hundreds of hectares of new areas for development,” he added.

Iloilo Convention  Center

President Aquino will also conduct an inspection of the P700-million Iloilo Convention Center located at Iloilo Business Park in Barangay Mandurriao in Iloilo City

Drilon said the two-storey convention center, which will be situated on a 1.7-hectare of lot donated by the Megaworld, sees completion by end-2014.

The new edifice will have an iconic design inspired by Iloilo’s Dinagyang and Paraw festivals. It is designed to attract and accommodate large sized conferences, summits, congresses, fairs, and trade shows and exhibits. It can accommodate more than 3,700 people, noted Drilon.

“This is a realization of a lifelong dream of the residents of Panay Island to have their own highly impressive and sophisticated convention center at par with those of Cebu and Davao’s that will be capable to hold the best and the most glamorous of the conferences, exhibitions, among others,” said Drilon.

“This project is designed to position Iloilo as a prime convention destination in the Visayas,” he added.

Improvement of Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Avenue

Another road infrastructure President Aquino and Drilon are set to inaugurate is the Sen. Benigno Aquino Avenue, which was widened into a tree–lined, 10–lane avenue, complete with red-tiled bicycle and pedestrian lanes.

The avenue, commonly known as the Iloilo-Jaro Diversion Road, is the main gateway to the city from the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan. It also connects Iloilo City to other central towns in the province.

The road improvement cost P494.2 million and includes widening of concrete pavement in both directions, provision of a bicycle and walk lanes, construction of a two-lane service road, loading and unloading bays, sidewalks, drainage system, and planting of tress and ornamental plants.

Drilon pointed out that the newly-renovated road is very conducive to pedestrians and bikers: "This kind of road inspires and helps commuters shift to biking and walking. Given the heavy traffic in the streets of our cities, there is a great potential for bicycles and walking to be the preferred mode of transportation for our countrymen on the go.” 

Drilon noted that such initiatives are not exactly unheard of in the country, as he pointed to several road projects in Iloilo which the senator had supported, where non-motorized travel has been integrated in the road systems.

The senator thus said that similar efforts should be made throughout the entire country: "We need to explore more options and choose the best alternatives. These programs will not only help alleviate our environmental concerns, but they will also promote a healthier regimen for our people.”

Low-cost housing

The President will also formally turn-over some 1,000 low-cost housing units to their beneficiaries. The P170-million Iloilo River Subdivision Phase I in Barangays Camalig and Lanit, Jaro is now home to 1,000 families, who used to live on the banks of the Iloilo River and have been a major source for river pollutants.

“Today, because of our efforts, the river is no longer a community toilet, but a place where people can fish,” said Drilon.

Drilon said that multisectoral organizations have been tapped to ensure the families’ welfare and spearhead a social preparation, and "to address the different needs of this newly-organized community.” 

“The provision of housing units alone would not solve the problem of poverty and lack of support affecting every informal settler. Any effective plan then would need to strike at the socio-economic roots of the problem,” said Drilon.

Drilon said that President Aquino is also expected to conduct a drive-through inspection of five key bridges in the province including the Aganan Bridge in Pavia Iloilo (P66 million) and the Iloilo Bridge (P88.2 million), the Iloilo Bridge II (P150 million), the Jaro Bridge (P157.7 million), and the Floodway Bridge (P53 million) located in the city.

Drilon also cited the P11.2 billion Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project Phase II as among the big-ticket projects being undertaken in Iloilo. The project will provide uninterrupted irrigation water supply to 32,000 hectares of farm land and benefit more than 783,000 farmers in Western Visayas.

Follow Iloilo’s lead

Drilon said the developments in Iloilo can be applied in other parts of the country: “We will not stop pursuing our development goals because we want to show to the whole country that if it can be done in Iloilo, it can be done anywhere.” 

“What we see here is not the vision and effort of a select few. This truly is an endeavour that enjoyed assistance from the executive, local government units, and our great partners in the business sector,” Drilon said.

Drilon emphasized that the successes being experienced in Iloilo is a combination of a "united and result-oriented political leadership, and a highly cooperative and effective partnership with members of the private sector in Iloilo.”

“We can only do that if we can create an environment conducive to investment. More investments mean more jobs. More jobs mean less poverty. To attract investments, we embarked on a massive public infrastructure development,” Drilon underscored.

“In Iloilo, we have proven that we can create change when we put our collective interest before individual interest. In Iloilo, we are nurturing big dreams and are working hard to realize these dreams,” he concluded. 

Angara urges gov't to beef up the country's national police force

MANILA-To fight the crime surge, government should put “more boots on the ground” by hiring 50,000 more policemen, a move which would both raise the national police strength to 200,000 and the cop-to-population ratio to the ideal one per 500, Senator Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara said on Thursday.

"With a current population of 100 million, the country needs about 200,000 policemen, but the authorized 'uniformed personnel ceiling' of the Philippine National Police (PNP) is only around 151,410," Angara stressed.

“Filling all of these, plus adding more," he said, “should be part of the 'last two years’ agenda of the Aquino administration."

“If I may give an unsolicited advice, I think the President should announce a massive policemen recruitment program in his second-to-the-last SONA (Statement of the Nation Address)," Angara said.

"It will send a comforting message to the nation that more men are being suited up to roll back crime," the neophyte senator emphasized.

Last year, 1,033,833 crimes were reported to the police, which Angara said could just be fraction of the total as more victims, skeptic perhaps that the culprits will not be caught, opt not to report to the police what they had experienced.  

“Understated the data may be, it still paints a scary picture: One is murdered every hour, a robbery is committed every 10 minutes, someone is raped every 72 minutes, a theft is happening every three and half minutes,” he exclaimed.

Angara said Aquino’s SONA announcement can be followed through with a request in the 2015 national budget, which the President must submit to Congress within a month after his July 22 speech, for funds to hire the initial batch of rookies.

He proposed that 25,000 policemen be hired in 2015 and the same number in 2016 .

"The initial cost of hiring 25,000 new cops, assuming they will join the service in the second half of the year, is about P5 billion," Angara said.

But he admitted that the number of recruits can be pared down. “Of course, there is the question of funding. We can then downscale the quota and stretch the recruitment period. What is important is to assuage the people that more cops are coming.”

Angara noted that the “first year price tag” of P5 billion is almost equivalent to the P4.8 billion of the scrapped PDAF of senators. “It is one-fifth of what could have been the entire pork of both houses of Congress.”

“If we are looking for a project to which we can rechannel the scuttled PDAF funds, then what could be more worthy than hiring more policemen to keep our communities and children safe?" the lawmaker said.

Angara said the one policeman for every 500 population ratio “is not an option but a mandate of law, Republic Act  6975, the 1989 law creating the Department of Interior and Local Government.”

But a quarter of a century since it was passed, the policeman-to-population ratio, which on paper currently stands at one per 675, has never been achieved, Angara pointed out.

“In contrast, our ASEAN neighbors are fielding more policemen. Thailand has one for every 304 persons; Indonesia, one per 428; Malaysia, one per 267," he said.

In addition to hiring more policemen, the PNP can maximize its force by “unshackling police officers from their desks, and handing over administrative duties to non-uniformed personnel (NUP),” Angara said.

In a bid to free police officers who should be pounding beats instead of doing paper work, the PNP is hiring 13,000 NUPs this year.

Angara said the Philippine ratio of one policeman to 675 population does not translate to the actual number of cops on duty at any given time.

“Cops work in shifts. There are those who call in sick, on leave, in training, or are suspended. Thousands are assigned to headquarters duty or support services.    So the actual number of policemen in precinct duty, or on patrol, who can respond to a distress call is probably a third of the total force, and that is already a very optimistic estimate," he said.

Legarda Honors Centenarian Helena Benitez

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda honored Dr. Helena Z. Benitez and highlighted her notable contributions to the country, as the former senator, pioneer environmentalist, educator, advocate of culture and civil society leader celebrates her 100th birthday today, June 27.

“Dr. Helena Benitez is a Filipina whose character inspires people. She has established a place in our history with her vision, intelligence, resilience and innovative spirit. Dr. Benitez is a catalyst of change who played many roles and conquered many frontiers,” said Legarda.

Dr. Benitez was a member of the Philippine Senate from 1968 to 1972. She was the first Filipina to have chaired the UN Commission on the Status of Women, the first Filipina member of the Board of the International Association of Universities, and the first Filipina conferred the Presidential Award of the Order of Sikatuna, with a Rank of Datu.

She established the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company in 1957, was co-founder of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines, served as chair of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, and was multi-term president of the Civic Assembly of Women of the Philippines.

“Dr. Benitez is a trailblazer and a positive force towards nation building. She is a woman leader I look up to and among her many achievements, I wish to highlight her role in environmental protection,” said Legarda, who is also a known environmentalist.

“She is famous for initiating the first comprehensive report on the State of the Philippine Environment in 1971 and authoring several pieces of legislation that allowed environmental issues to come to the forefront of national concern,” Legarda said.

Dr. Benitez is the author of Republic Act 5752, the Municipal Forests and Watersheds Act, which mandated every city and municipality in the country to establish, develop and maintain a permanent forest, tree park, or watershed that covered at least two percent of its territory. She also authored the Philippine Eagle Protection Act (R.A. 6147), the Tamaraw Sanctuaries Act (R.A. 6148), and the Forestry Profession Law (R.A. 6239), among other legislative accomplishments.

Her commitment to saving the environment extends beyond national borders. She headed the first Philippine Delegation on the UN Conference of the Human Environment (UNCHE) in 1972, became the first Filipina and first woman president of the Governing Council of the UN Environment Programme, and became the special adviser to Secretary General Maurice F. Strong in the United Nations Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development (UNCED), more popularly known as the Rio Summit, in 1992.

“Dr. Benitez has worn many hats and achieved so much not only for herself but also for the Filipino nation. She continues to live a very fruitful life because at 100 years old, she still serves as the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees of the Philippine Women’s University. I wish all Filipinos would strive to replicate her fearlessness, vision, resilience and innovative spirit to nurture a better, greener and more sustainable future,” said Legarda.

On June 4, 2012, the Senate adopted Senate Resolution 786, sponsored by Legarda, to honor Dr. Benitez for her service to the Filipino people and to acknowledge her contributions to the nation.

Organizers of Ecija’s “Taong Putik” Festival eyes Guinness Record

ALIAGA, Nueva Ecija – Organizers of Tuesday’s “Taong Putik” Festival are seeking another milestone : the event’s inclusion in the Guinness Book of World Records (GBWR) for having the most number of people who bathed in mud in one single occasion.

          Father Carlos Padilla, parish priest of the St. John the Baptist Parish in Barangay Bibiclat which organized the festival, said the event is unique in itself and deserves to be recognized by appropriate world-renowned bodies such as the  GBWR.

          “It’s possible that we may apply it with Guinness. Anyway, it is something that is unique, a religious ritual involving mud people and devotees,” Padilla said.

Mayor Beth Vargas agreed, saying the event has distinguished itself from other events in the country. “But of course, we have to consult the organizers because as far as we know, they don’t want to commercialize the event,” she said.

The possible application of the “Taong Putik” Festival in the GBWR was raised after it drew 7,000 mud people and St. John devotees Tuesday which was covered by national media and wire agencies.

Every 24th of June, Bibiclat, a rustic barangay some 30 kilometers from Cabanatuan City, welcomes hundreds of tourists and devotees of St. John. They were welcomed by a uniquely-dressed group of devotees whose faces and bodies were smeared with mud and covered with dried banana leaves, a form of religious ritual of humility, penance and vow.

By turning themselves into mud people, participants emulate St. John the Baptist, who hid his role as the chosen one to baptize Jesus Christ by appearing in most biblical tales dressed like a beggar, wearing animal skin to deceive those who were after his head.

Among those who took part in Tuesday’ festival were elderlies and children as young as three years old.

Vargas said the oldest participant in the event is a centenarian whose name she could not recall.

Asked if the festival could also be declared as an international pilgrimage site, which is being lobbied by the city government of Manila in the case of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Padilla said the St. John parish has been declared a diocesan shrine of the Archdiocese of Cabanatuan and thus, is a pilgrimage site in itself.

He explained that a parish can be declared as a diocesan shrine when its patron saint is a miraculous patron. 

Vice Mayor Alfredo Domingo and his wife Leny, who go to Church in the morning said the event has enhanced the town’s image as tourist spot.

The patron saint, St. John the Baptist, is said to perform numerous miracles, including the healing of fatal diseases and ailments.

But the single biggest miracle associated with the patron saint was believed to have occurred sometime in 1944 shortly after a group of Japanese soldiers was ambushed by guerrilla rebels.

In retaliation, the Japanese officers ordered all the men of the community arrested and brought to the chapel grounds in Bibiclat.  Filipinos were about to be shot at noon when their relatives went to the church and prayed hard for their safety.

Suddenly, it rained hard and the Japanese officers - interpreting this as a sign of disapproval from heaven - ordered the execution stopped and set the men free.

The people then danced in jubilation and played in the mud. They attributed the miracle to St. John the Baptist.

As in rituals past, the festival starts before the crack of dawn at 4 am when participants wake up and go to the nearest rice paddies to smear mud on their bodies and wear the grass or dried leaves.

Then they walked around the community and begged for candles or money to buy candles, which they lit before praying.

House owners give them money or candles, believing that this gesture would be paid back with blessings.

Afterwards, they proceed to the church yard to hear Mass. The saint's statue is then paraded around the community, with the devotees carrying lit candles and roses, offering prayers before they wash themselves and join their families for the fiesta celebration later in the day. (Manny Galvez)

Noy wants world-class Bilibid by year-end in Fort Magsaysay where pa was detained

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija–President Aquino wants to have the New Bilibid Prisons, now in Muntinlupa City, to be transferred by year-end to the Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation (FMMR) in Nueva Ecija where his late father, former senator and democracy icon Benigno Aquino was detained during Martial Law. 

  

          Armed Forces of the Philippines vice chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. told newsmen that the Chief Executive wants a modern national penitentiary, reportedly worth P40 billion, to be included in his accomplishment report for 2014.

          “The President wants it done by the end of 2014,” Catapang stressed, adding that the site being eyed is in the municipality of Laur covered by the 44,000-hectare FMMR.

Considered the largest military camp in the country, the reservation - named after another democracy icon - former President Ramon Magsaysay, houses the Army’s 7^th Infantry Division (7^th ID), the Scout Ranger Regiment, the Special Forces and the Airborne Forces.

It was also in this reservation where the elder Aquino and his fellow former senator Jose Diokno were placed under solitary confinement for one month during the Martial Law years.

Catapang said the transfer is now being worked out in coordination with other government offices such as the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).

He said it is being eyed as Public Private Partnership Project of the Aquino administration.

Early this month, DOJ Undersecretary Francisco Baraan, its supervising official on the BuCor and the NBP, said the new facility being eyed is a modern one that will follow international standards and will cost P40 billion.

Baraan said the 551-hectare NBP in Muntinlupa , which opened in 1940, is now heavily congested as it houses 14,500 prisoners in its maximum security detention area alone although it was programmed to accommodate only 8,400 inmates. All in all, the NBP houses around 20,000 inmates.        

 Recently, a controversy broke out in the NBP over the alleged unauthorized hospitalization of high-profile inmates, including convicted drug lord and Sigue Sigue Sputnik gang leader Ricardo Camata, Pasig drug flea market operator Amin Buratong and bank robbery gang leader Herbert Colangco.  

Baraan said the plan is to convert the Muntinlupa penitentiary, valued at around P42 billion,  into a mixed-use commercial area.

As early as May 2012, the Aquino administration has been working to carry out the transfer of the NBP and the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) to Fort Magsaysay.

Gaudencio Pangilinan, then-BuCor director, said the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council was also involved in the negotiations. 

The plan to transfer the 20,000 inmates from the NBP and 2,000 inmates from the CIW was pursued after local officials in Tanay, Rizal opposed an earlier order to transfer them there.

In 2006, Aquino’s predecessor, then-president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued Executive Order 568 authorizing the transfer of the NBP to a 272-hectare reservation in Barangay Cuyambay in Tanay.    

Legarda Hails Declaration of Mt. Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary as UNESCO Heritage Site

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda today hailed the inscription of Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary in the UNESCO World Heritage List and renewed her call for greater protection of the country’s natural and cultural heritage.

“I am happy that we have our new UNESCO World Heritage Site. I commend the agencies, local government units and communities for working hard to preserve and protect the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary,” said Legarda.

“This triumph should also remind us of our role as stewards of our natural resources and cultural heritage. Every citizen should be aware of our collective responsibility to protect our heritage not only for the sake of recognition or inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List, but more importantly as part of our sustainable development goals,” she added. 

Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary is officially the 6th World Heritage Site in the Philippines. Other UNESCO Heritage Sites in the country are Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, Baroque Churches of the Philippines, Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, and the Historic City of Vigan.

The official description of the site states that “the property showcases terrestrial and aquatic habitats at different elevations, and includes threatened and endemic flora and fauna species, eight of which are found only at Mount Hamiguitan.”

Legarda said that the declaration of Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary as a World Heritage Site further highlights the need to safeguard the biodiversity in the area.

“This wildlife sanctuary and many other naturally abundant areas make the Philippines a mega diverse country, but it is also one of the world’s top biodiversity hotspots, with a large number of species either endangered or threatened of extinction. Thus the need for collaborative efforts among government agencies, local government units and citizens to conserve our heritage and if possible, rehabilitate the natural resources that have been damaged by our irresponsible acts,” Legarda concluded.

Drilon backs DOJ for administration of WPP

MANILA-Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said he is opposed to a proposed legislation which seeks to remove the Witness Protection Program (WPP) from the Department of Justice, saying that it is part of the agency’s mandate as the government’s primary prosecution arm to search out for witnesses and ensure their safety to aid in effective disposition of justice.  

The Senate leader threw his support behind Secretary Leila de Lima who sought to retain jurisdiction on the WPP under the DOJ which is the subject of House Bill No. 4583 seeking to transfer administration of WPP to lower courts.

As former justice secretary, Drilon said he fully understands the need for the DOJ to retain control of the WPP.

“It is the duty of the DOJ being the lead prosecutor to gather credible witnesses who have knowledge about the crimes committed. But to persuade a witness to speak out is not an easy task. It is where the WPP plays an important role because it is being used by prosecutors to convince a witness to testify against a criminal offender,” said Drilon.

“The WPP is a factor that convinces witnesses to cooperate with the DOJ in its duty to prosecute criminal offenders and provide justice. It is also therefore the obligation of the DOJ to give 24-hour protection to the lives of state witnesses and provide for their needs while they are in government’s custody,” he added.

Drilon pointed out that there are standards the DOJ follows to enroll a witness into WPP and “politics is definitely not a consideration.”

“The primary considerations are the relevance of the testimony and the threat to the life of the state witness. Politics does not and should not play any role in determining who qualifies as state witness,” he stressed.

During his time as justice secretary, Drilon said the WPP became effective in the conviction of then Calauan Mayor Antonio Sanchez.

The Senate leader concluded that the WPP has been an effective government mechanism for the administration of justice in the country. 

Ecija’s “Taong Putik” Festival draws 7,000 mud people, Catholics

ALIAGA, Nueva Ecija – In 1999, Mary Domingo, then 63, felt a numbing sensation on the right side of her face.

          With the pain refusing to go away, she sought the help of many doctors but they all failed to determine the cause of the pain. She next went to  herbolarios (quack doctors) but they also could not unmask her mysterious ailment.

          Desperate, Domingo turned to this town’s patron saint John the Baptist and went to grace this town’s annual “Taong Putik” Festival. Now 78, she has never missed a single festival since.

Domingo was one of some 7,000 mud people and St. John devotees who turned up for yesterday’s annual event in Barangay Bibiclat here, witnessed by Manila-based newsmen from various media outfits and wire agencies.

Chief Inspector Roberto  Sena, Aliaga police station commander, said this year’s event, themed “Ang Pamamanata,” drew devotees from all walks of life, with the youngest a four-year-old girl Janaya dela Cruz, a first-timer who came over because of her mom.

Another participant Rodel Capalad said he has been gracing the event the past eight years as his way of thanksgiving for the fulfillment of a wish : to pursue his studies. “For as long as I can, I will attend the festival every year,” he vowed.

Sena said by their own estimates, the crowd was easily at least 5,000, including 2,000 mud people.

Every 24th of June, Bibiclat, a rustic town some 30 kilometers from Cabanatuan City, welcomes hundreds of tourists and devotees of St. John. They were welcomed by a uniquely-dressed group of devotees whose faces and bodies were smeared with mud and covered with dried banana leaves, a form of religious ritual of humility, penance and vow.

Father Carlos Padilla, parish priest of the St. John the Baptist Church – a declared diocesan shrine - officiated the morning Mass here which was attended by third district Rep. Czarina Umali and Mayor Elizabeth Vargas.

Padilla said the tradition originated in 1944 when a group of Japanese soldiers were ambushed by guerrilla rebels. In retaliation, the Japanese officers ordered all the men of the community arrested and brought to the chapel grounds.

The Filipinos were about to be shot at noon when their relatives went to the church and prayed hard for their safety.

Suddenly, it rained hard and the Japanese officers, interpreting this as a sign of disapproval from heaven, ordered the execution stopped and set the men free.

The people then danced in jubilation and played in the mud. They attributed the miracle to St. John the Baptist.

Village elders said people who attend the unique celebration also fulfill a "panata" (vow) for a family member's good health. One of them was Eugenio Alamon, 62, who suffered three strokes and couldn’t walk.

As in the past, the ritual starts before the crack of dawn at 4 am when participants wake up and go to the nearest rice paddies to smear mud on their bodies and wear the grass or dried leaves.

Then they walked around the community and begged for candles or money to buy candles, which they lit for before praying. Afterwards, they proceed to the chapel for a Mass.

The saint's statue is then paraded around the community, with the devotees carrying lit candles and roses.

          By turning themselves into mud people, participants emulate St. John the Baptist, who appears in most biblical tales dressed like a beggar.

From the village’s rice field, groups of taong putik roam the village and ask for alms. House owners give them money or candles, believing that this gesture would be paid back with blessings.

After the ritual, participants gather at the church yard to hear Mass. They light candles and offer prayers before they wash themselves and join their families for the fiesta celebration later in the day.

Vice Mayor Alfredo Domingo and his wife Leny also go to Church in the morning shortly after the Mass was heard.

The vice mayor said the event not only enhanced the town’s image as a pilgrimage site but also its tourism potentials.

Devotees are also known as "San Juan or nag-sa-San Juan" by the townsfolk because they imitate John the Baptist who hid his role as the chosen one to baptize Jesus Christ by wearing animal skin to deceive those who were after his head.

Edwin Dizon, 47, said yesterday’s event was a bit subdued because there was no rain, unlike the previous years.”It was merrier when it rains,” he said.  

Legarda Cites Gov’t Efforts to Provide Public Easy Access to Hazard Info

MANILA-Senator Loren Legarda lauded the efforts of government, especially the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), to provide the public with easy access to information on hazards and vulnerabilities.

Legarda, Chair of the Environment and Climate Change Committees, said she looks forward to the completion of the mobile application on the geo-hazard map, which the DENR is developing in partnership with the PIA, especially with the onset of the rainy season.

“When more people are able to access real-time information on hazards and weather events, more lives will be saved,” she said.

According to the DENR, the mobile application facility will offer the geo-hazard map as a default reference.

It will be useful for government agencies’ dissemination effort of relevant advisories, alerts and mobilization information; while the public can access it for disaster warnings, emergency alerts, situational reports, other important advisories and relevant tips on safety and disaster preparedness.

“I commend the DENR and PIA for creating this application and I hope that this will further strengthen convergence among government agencies to be able to provide accurate and real-time information to the public. A crucial step in building resilience and reducing disaster risks is dissemination of risk information, early warning and disaster preparedness tips to individuals and communities. We hope that this project will help achieve the goal of making every citizen disaster-literate,” said Legarda.

Legarda suggested to also include air quality monitoring and data on water quality and solid waste management.

The DENR said other functions may be developed depending on technical feasibility.

The mobile application is expected to be released in July 2014.