Alakdan notorious gang leader nabbed in Nueva Ecija

Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, Municipal Hall.

SANTA ROSA, Nueva Ecija, August 3, 2011-Senior Superintendent Roberto Aliggayu, provincial police director revealed that the leader of a notorious criminal gang engaged in at least 17 robbery-holdup, gun-for-hire and carnapping activities in this town and adjoining towns in the province, was arrested late Tuesday night by operatives of the local police in the town proper.

The suspect identified as Ponciano Germino, 39, of Barangay Lourdes in this town, who is the leader of the dreaded Alakdan Group, a 17-man band involved in a string of criminal activities in the province in recent months.

Police Superintendent Ricardo Villanueva, chief of the provincial intelligence bureau said that only eight (8) members of the group remained after the others were waylaid in shoot-outs with lawmen in various operations in the province.

Chief Inspector Marcelino Veneracion, Santa Rosa police chief, who led the police team, arrested Germino at around 10:30 pm Tuesday in Barangay Poblacion where he was spotted pushing his motorcycle towards Barangay Cojuangco. Lawmen took from his possession one caliber 45 pistol and one magazine with eight live ammunitions.

Veneracion said that the operation against Germino was carried out after several days of intelligence build-up.

Germino is the leader of the Alakdan group tagged for the robbery-holdup with homicide in connection with the death of one Rolando Batalla who was held-up then killed in Barangay Bayanihan, Gapan City last May 4.

He is also facing a case for robbery-holdup with frustrated homicide for robbing businesswomen Ma. Cecilia Sta. Ana and Juanita Sta. Ana in Barangay Sto. Rosario here last April 13. Taken from the duo were P400,000 worth of cash.

Santa Rosa, Maharlika highway.

Ten hours later – Germino carted a Mio Soul motorcycle from 16-year-old victim John Bryan Canada in Barangay Valenzuela in this town.

A day before, Germino also carnapped a motorcycle owned by one Analyn Enriquez in Barangay Luna also here. 

Germino has standing warrants of arrest in the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Cabanatuan and the Municipal Trial Court in this town.

A bail bond of P180,000 was recommended by Cabanatuan RTC Branch 25 Judge Teresita Cativo for carnapping.

Charges of violations of Republic Act 8294 for illegal possession of firearms have been filed against Geronimo. (Jason de Asis)

Jinggoy bats DOJ and P’Noy to place Mike Arroyo in the immigration watchlist

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada at the senate
blue ribbon committee hearing.

MANILA, August 3, 2011-To ensure former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo’s presence at the next hearing of the Senate related to the anomalous purchase of the Philippine National Police (PNP) of three helicopters two years ago, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada bats the Department of Justice and Malacañang for the urgent watchlist order of him to the Bureau of Immigration.

“I am calling DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima and President Aquino to immediately instruct the immigration to place Mr. Arroyo in its watchlist,” Jinggoy said.

The senators at the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee second hearing agreed to summon Arroyo and her purported accountant, Rowena del Rosario to air their side on the issue scandal after businessman Archibald Legaspi Po, owner of Lion Air Inc. and Asian Spirit, manifested that two (2) of the helicopters bought by the PNP from Manila Aerospace Trading Corporation (Maptra) were actually owned by Arroyo.

The senators established that the choppers were actually owned by Arroyo; thus, the PNP are now in the limbo of controversy after they paid P105 million for the purchase of three brand new helicopters in 2009 but it turned out later that two of them were second hand.

Archibald Legaspi Po at the senate hearing.

Po admitted that in 2004, purchasing five helicopters for the former First Gentleman was mainly for use during the presidential campaign period and for the personal use of the Arroyos and their close allies.

“We have extensive verbal communication with Arroyo as regards the actual purchase, delivery and subsequent disposal of the helicopters,” Po admitted, saying that the expenses for the use and other costs related to the maintenance of the choppers were paid for in cash by Arroyo thru del Rosario. 

“In effect, Mr. Po admitted that he was the frontman of FG for this transaction and clearly established that it was FG who engineered the whole deal related to the PNP’s purchase of the helicopters,” Jinggoy said.

Other resource persons at the senate hearing.

“Po’s confirmation that he subsequently received a call from Arroyo after the controversy broke out and before Po was summoned to testify by the Senate, further proved that Po is intimately connected with the former First Gentleman,” Jinggoy noted. 

“To tie up all the issues together and put a closure on this controversy, it is therefore imperative that Mr. Arroyo’s presence at the next hearing and the subsequent hearings that the Senate will schedule is assured,” the Senator said; thus, there is a pressing need to put them in the watchlist order of the immigration. (Jason de Asis)

CBCP to Santiago: RH bill not the answer in solving poverty

MANILA, August 2, 2011— One need not ask an expert in liberation theology to understand that the reproductive health (RH) bill is not the key in solving poverty in the country, a Catholic Church official said.

Monsignor Juanito Figura, secretary general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said that while liberation theology is good, the “social forces of oppression” must first be determined and be taken in the Philippine context.

These “forces”, he said, could refer to the widespread corruption in the government, unequal distribution of land, widening gap between the rich and the poor, worsening criminality, severe incidents of hunger, and human trafficking.

“I cannot see why I would support the RH bill because the good provisions, for the sake of mothers and children, are already stated in the mandates of government agencies,” Figura said.

“The pro-poor provisions are also already with the agencies. There is no need for a new law. What we need is sincere and committed implementation of the already existing laws,” he said.

The CBCP official was reacting to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s call to the Catholic hierarchy to support the passage of the controversial RH bill.

Santiago, who authored RH bill in the Senate, said that the desire to protect women and children from “unspeakable poverty” is a strong ground for passing the measure.

Invoking liberation theology, she said that it revolves around the theory that the message of Jesus Christ is “above all a call to struggle against the social forces of oppression.”

In Santiago’s first of her three-part co-sponsorship speech on the RH bill, she said that the proposed law is not against Church’s teachings.

“Liberation theology sees Jesus’s message as a call to struggle against the social forces of oppression. The present struggle for an RH Act to protect the health and quality of life of mother and child in the context of unspeakable poverty in the Philippines is part of (this),” she said.

Santiago said the Church must take a clear stand against social injustice and under liberation theology the first step to abolish it is to recognize that “the Church is tied to the unjust system that oppresses the very poor.”

Unfortunately for Santiago, Msgr. Figura could not connect how the RH bill would be able to address these “social forces of oppression”. “I could not see the logic. I am sorry to say that,” he said.

“Is RH bill a valid answer? Is it an answer to give solutions as early as possible or is RH bill just a little part, if that what it is, a little part of a bigger solution such as a sincere crusade against graft and corruption, the sincere commitment to distribute the land to whom they should belong, and sincere decision to stop human trafficking,” Figura added.

Santiago has decided to divide her speech into three parts, starting with the issue of primacy of conscience in Catholic theology mainly because the Catholic Church has emerged as the biggest stumbling block to the passage of the bill which requires government funding for contraceptives. [CBCPNews]

Cabanatuan City top cop to be replaced by police colonel from Crame

Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija. 

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija, August 2, 2011-This city’s police station chief Police Superintendent Eliseo Cruz is set to be replaced by a police colonel from Camp Crame to pave the way for his promotion into the next higher rank next month.

A source said that Cruz replacement is Superintendent Bernard Dasugo, who is a section chief at the Directorate for Personnel and Resource Management office (DPRMO). Dasugo reportedly has the backings of the influential Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC).

Dasugo, who is 10 years Cruz’s junior, is a product of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA). He will assume the post as officer-in-charge.

“Cruz has overstayed in his post since he is already police chief for four (4) years already dating back to 2006. Normally, a police chief’s stint in a particular assignment lasts for only three (3) years. He’s already there for four years so his stay in his post is too long,” the source, who sought anonymity said.

Last May 29, 2006, Cruz was first appointed city police chief during the remaining last year of the third and last three-year term of Vergara.

A month before he assumed his post, a controversy erupted when Vergara opposed his designation and even recalled several patrol cars donated by the city government to the city police in protest. Cruz told Vergara he was willing to resign his post if only to restore normalcy in the relations between the city government and the city police.

In a surprising change of heart, Vergara later accepted Cruz’s appointment. Cruz was relieved on June 8, 2009 and went into schooling up to February 2010.

Last May 2010 elections, Vergara won and reassumed his post and he sought Cruz’s reinstatement, paving the way for the latter’s second tour of duty as police chief on July 1 last year.   

The source said Dasugo’s designation will still have to be approved by Vergara, adding that provincial police director Senior Superintendent Roberto Aliggayu has been informed of Cruz’s impending relief.

Aliggayu and Cruz were caught in a controversy when the anti-illegal quarry provincial task force of the Nueva Ecija provincial government impounded 10 quarry trucks of the city government last June 30 for allegedly operating illegally. The trucks were later ordered released by the court.

This prompted Chief Superintendent Edgardo Ladao, regional director for Central Luzon of the Philippine National Police to advise Aliggayu and Cruz to take no unlawful orders from both Vergara and Governor Aurelio Umali who have been feuding over the city government’s bid to convert the city into highly urbanized city.

Mayor Vergara later criticized Cruz over the impounding of the quarry trucks, claiming the latter lacked guts in his “teleradyo” program over the Vergara-owned DWJJ.

Offended, Cruz told Vergara he was resigning but the latter later apologized for his outburst and prevailed on Cruz to stay in his post.

Cruz said that he accepted Vergara’s apology, saying it was hard to turn it down considering the latter showed class in his act of humility.

Chief Superintendent Jesus Gordon Descanzo, who was once the station commander here said if Cruz remains in his post, it would set back the latter’s hopes of getting promoted to senior superintendent or full-pledged colonel. 

It was learned that eight of Cruz’s “mistahs” in the 1990 batch of the Philippine Military Academy were already promoted to full colonel.

In 2009, Cruz is a recipient of the prestigious Country’s Outstanding Policemen in Service (COPS) award which was handed by no less than then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.  

Cruz’s reported impending relief comes on the heels of the selection of the Cabanatuan police as Central Luzon’s city police station of the year for 2010 whose awarding rites will be held August 11 in Camp Olivas, Pampanga. (Jason de Asis)

Twin bids seeking to declare Cabanatuan a HUC, lone district conflicting

Photo of Nueva Ecija Board
Member Emmanuel Antonio
"Anthony" Umali.

CABANATUAN CITY, August 2, 2011–A member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan said, that the twin resolutions passed recently by the Sangguniang Panglunsod asking President Aquino to issue a proclamation declaring this city as a highly urbanized city and seeking congressional sponsorship to declare it a lone congressional district are conflicting and don’t jive with each other.

Board Member Emmanuel Antonio “Anthony” Umali, younger brother of Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio “Matias” Umali, told newsmen that the intended goals of HUC conversion and lone district run counter to each other, a fact seemingly lost on its proponents.

Umali said that they are saying that the city is now developed so it can qualify as HUC. On the other hand, they say it should be converted into a lone district to get more aid. Obviously, there is conflict in that resolution of Cabanatuan City council.

The younger Umali was reacting to the recent passage by the city council of the HUC resolution and a resolution requesting his sister-in-law, third district Rep. Czarina Umali or other Nueva Ecija congressmen to sponsor a bill declaring Cabanatuan as a lone district.   

In passing the HUC resolution, the city council, chaired by Vice Mayor Jolly Garcia, said that the city has met all the necessary requirements for conversion, including income. Eleven of the city councilors, mostly supporters of the governor’s estranged former ally, Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara, signed the resolution.

If President Aquino issues a presidential proclamation declaring Cabanatuan a HUC, a plebiscite will be held among residents to ratify the proclamation.  

The passage of the twin resolutions came nine months after Governor Umali and Vergara parted ways over the HUC issue which the former vehemently opposed. Umali said Cabanatuan is not yet ready and ill-prepared to become HUC, adding its conversion would cripple the delivery of basic services to Cabanatuenos.

Vergara has argued that the HUC conversion of Cabanatuan is long overdue, saying its full development could not take off while under the provincial government.

It is the second attempt to convert the city into HUC. In 1995, Vergara’s predecessor, then-mayor Manolette Liwag pushed for HUC conversion which was subsequently proclaimed by then-President Fidel Ramos. However, the move lost badly during the plebiscite, largely due to the opposition made by the Josons. 

If the bid succeeds, Cabanatuan would be politically independent from the provincial government and voters from Cabanatuan will no longer vote for governor. Also, all taxes collected in the city would no longer be remitted to the province and all resolutions and ordinances passed by the city council would no longer be reviewed by the provincial board.         

Board Member Umali echoed the governor’s view that Cabanatuan is still not ready to become a HUC. “In due time, Cabanatuan will be ready and when that time comes, all of the Umalises will support it. But not at this time,” he said.

He said that with regards to lone congressional district, the governor is open to re-districting, involving the whole province, not just Cabanatuan. The issue about the HUC conversion must be settled first before the lone congressional bid is discussed.

“Once Cabanatuan is converted into HUC politically independent from the province, the provincial government will no longer have the powers to check on possible abuses by erring city officials,” the governor warned earlier. (Jason de Asis)

Aurora ecozone construction of buildings and facilities delayed

CASIGURAN, Aurora, August 1, 2011-Roberto “Robbie” K. Mathay, Aurora Pacific Economic Zone (APECO) president and chief executive officer revealed that the completion of the P437-million corporate campus and other facilities of the APECO inside this freeport zone has been delayed.

“APECO’s timetable for construction of the corporate campus and other facilities inside the freeport has not been completed,” Mathay admitted, saying that the facilities are 60 percent completed. “Yes there was some slippage,” he said when asked by newsmen.

“The administration building of the Apeco originally set for completion in April, will be completed in September. The corporate campus is being constructed by the New Kanlaon Construction, Inc. which won the bid to construct the project.

NKCI chairman and chief executive officer Antonio Evangelista said that their firm is not to blame for the delay. “The facilities being built are not part of the original design. It’s not our company’s fault that the completion of the corporate campus was delayed,” he said in an interview by phone.

“It started during ground-breaking ceremonies last January 2010, Construction of Phase 1 that involves the corporate campus, which requires development of an initial 24 hectares. It includes development of access roads, installation of underground utilities, water and electrical lines, drainage and sanitation and telephone and cable facilities,” he recalled.

NKCI president Rolly Narciso said that during the ground-breaking rites, they expect the hotel to be finished in March 2011, the telephone facilities to be installed in April 2011 and the administration building to rise in September 2011.         

The corporate campus will house a two-story administration building, a three-star hotel and other amenities. The corporate campus will also have a clubhouse, a dormitory for workers, and service support buildings.

The site is located beside the newly completed airport some 30 minute drive from the town proper, some two hours from the capital town of Baler and six hours from Manila.

“While the buildings have not been completed yet, most of the road networks leading to the corporate campus are already finished. We will soon start construction of the 50-room hotel which will be completed in the first semester of next year. The hotel is supposed to be finished last March,” Mathay said.

Senator Engardo J. Angara and
Congressman Sonny Angara.

Mathay added that Apeco deputy administrator Ramon Fernando has already discussed with representatives of Globe and Smart Communications for the setting up of a telephone system within the corporate campus where a call center is being eyed.

He said that if we have a call center inside the ecozone, we can then sell bandwidth space to the town of Casiguran.            

Senator Edgardo J. Angara along with Congressman Juan Edgardo Angara, authored Republic Act 9490 creating the Aurora Special Economic Zone, said that once the economic zone becomes fully operational, the province will become a hub of development in northeastern Luzon covering Aurora, eastern Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.

“The newly finished P157-million airport constructed by Cavacon Corp. will serve as an international airport featuring a two-kilometer runway that can accommodate large aircrafts,” he ended. (Jason de Asis)

P2.4-B international container seaport to rise in Aurora ecozone

CASIGURAN, Aurora, August 1, 2011-Roberto “Robbie” K. Mathay, president and chief executive officer of the Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO) said that a P2.4-billion international container seaport is set to be constructed here by the South Korean government aimed to transform this economic zone into a logistics hub for exportation of agro-fishery, timber and industrial products in central Luzon and northern Luzon.

“The project will be funded through Official Development Assistance of the Korean government with counterpart funding from the national government,” Mathay said, adding that a consortium composed of the Dasan Engineering and DY Engineering companies completed the feasibility study for the international container seaport after three months. The study was funded through a P15-million grant from the Korean Economic Development Cooperation Fund.

“It’s a very huge and important project. The modern container port, which is projected to be finished in four years, will complement the domestic seaport and will attract business locators; thus, spurring economic development not only in Central Luzon but also in Cagayan Valley through the export products of five (5) provinces in Northern Luzon,” Mathay said.

He furthered that the project can accommodate a 50,000-metric ton capacity ship and will have berthing facilities, superstructure facilities such as a multipurpose wharf with storage yards, passenger wharf and fishery wharf for marine products; cargo handling equipment such as 350-ton capacity harbor cranes, forklifts with a maximum 25-ton capacity and sewage treatment facilities.

“This container seaport will serve as alternative gateway for cargo destined for Manila and considerably reduce cargo transport cost and transport time. The current cost of transporting a 20-foot container van from the Manila North Harbor to Casiguran is at P75,000,” he said.

“Imagine if we have a container port here, this will be drastically lessened. The port has the ability to provide more convenient, efficient and cost-effective shipping services for exporters,” he furthered.

 

Mathay said that instead of unloading marine products such as yellow fin to Navotas, these can be processed in Casiguran, similar to what they do in fish ports in General Santos City and Davao.  

It is estimated that the container seaport will have a cargo volume of 733,000 tons per year under the feasibility study of the project. The planned jetty-type, 210-meter long multipurpose wharf, will allow berthing at both sides of a maximum size vessel of up to 20,000 dead-weight tons (dwt).

Kent Avestruz, APECO manager for corporate planning said that the passenger wharf is projected to provide a berth of 100 meters which allows 400-gross ton capacity coastal cruise vessels to berth. The fishery wharf will be equipped with a 100-meter berth for small scale ships and ship repair facilities. 

The study revealed the two types of cargo in the area: the cargo produced within the economic zone and the cargo from other ports. It stated that this is where the container seaport will play an important role in handling the cargo from the freeport zone which is located at the rear of the port.

  

A high-level team from the consortium led by project coordinator Shan Sheonghan Kim conducted an ocular inspection of the site of the container port project in Pagas Point in Barangay Dibacong along the Casiguran Bay last January. Kim was accompanied in the trip by three (3) engineering coordinators Se Wook Yeo, Ji Hoon Lee and Hyuk-Yoon Kwon.

“The container seaport project will accommodate the produce not only of Aurora but also in the provinces of Isabela, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino,” he said. (Jason de Asis)

Central Luzon top cop rules out separate probe on poll fraud whistle-blower

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija, July 31, 2011-Chief Superintendent Edgar Ladao, Philippine National Police regional director for Central Luzon have ruled out the possibility of conducting a separate investigation into  allegations of massive irregularities in the 2004 and 2007 elections by Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago, a former provincial director in Zambales.

He said that the allegations made by Santiago on the alleged switching of election returns at the Batasang Pambansa building in the 2004 presidential polls no longer fall under the jurisdiction of the PNP regional office because the ball is now in the hands of the Department of Justice.

“The case is now being handled by the DOJ. Even the PNP leadership in Camp Crame can’t touch it,” he said in an interview after presiding over a command conference with Nueva Ecija police director Senior Superintendent Roberto Aliggayu and provincial directors of Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales at the regional police headquarters in Camp Olivas Friday afternoon.

The revelations of Santiago were made public by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Thursday, two days after she met the police officer and five others.

Santiago claimed four break-ins at Batasang Pambansa in January 2005 in which his team stole 6,000 original ERs and replaced them with fake ones so that then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would still emerge as the winner in the event of a recount. Official poll results showed her winning over closest rival Fernando Poe Jr. by over a million votes.

Ladao also said that he does not have anything to do with Santiago’s relief as Zambales provincial director last July 7.

“We just received the order to relieve him,” he said, without specifying who issued the order. He said Santiago is now assigned in Camp Crame.

Ladao echoed the statement of PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. who said he was not privy to the reason behind Santiago’s relief as Zambales provincial director.

Commenting on Santiago’s expose, he said that he supports him and his fellow officers in their quest for truth but not when they followed illegal orders, referring to the switching of the ERs.

Cruz said Santiago is considered on absence without official leave (AWOL) for failing to report to the PNP Director for Operations last July 7 after his relief from Zambales. He said Santiago would be given 30 days to report, apart from the 10 days earlier given him, or face expulsion from the police service.

Senator Tito Sotto.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente C. Sotto III, campaign manager of the late Fernando Poe, Jr. in the 2004 Presidential elections, welcomes the revelations of various witnesses attesting to the switching of election returns in the custody of the House of Representatives in favor of then candidate Arroyo, but at the same time regretted that it’s only now that they came out. His statements are directly quoted as follows:

“The public will recall that during the national canvassing of votes for president in the House of Representatives, I  moved to open just one dubious ballot box to determine if it would tally with the election returns, but I was outvoted by those in the camp of then President  Arroyo. Had my motion been granted, we would not have this spectacle of spilling the beans when it is too late,” Sotto stated.

“We believe in our hearts that FPJ won the elections for president in 2004, but the election returns appeared to be telling us another story.  Now that we have the operatives themselves coming out to reveal their participation in this fraud on the Filipino people, let us hear them out, as we wish that they came out 7 years earlier in May of 2004.   Truth-telling must be timely to be beneficial. ‘Aanhin pa ang damo, kung patay na ang kabayo,’ is an appropriate Filipino saying, Sotto concluded. (Jason de Asis)

PDEA intel officer nabbed by Nueva Ecija cops for robbery

SAN JOSE CITY, Nueva Ecija, July 31, 2011-Police Supt. Edgar Alan Okubo, chief of the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) revealed that they arrested inside a subdivision here last Friday afternoon an intelligence officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency who is wanted for robbery and has pending warrants for grave coercion and for repeatedly failing to attend hearings involving drug-related cases where he is identified as Sherwin Holgado, 32, of Christianville Subdivision, Brgy. Abar 1^st here, who is now detained at the PPSC stockade.

The PPSC team led by Inspector Alexander Reyes arrested Holgado inside the subdivision at around 2 in the afternoon Friday.

Okubo said that the arrest of Holgado was carried out by virtue of four warrants of arrest separately issued against him on April 29, May 16, July 12 and July 18 by two regional courts (RTCs) and a municipal trial court in cities (MTCC) in Cabanatuan City.

The warrants were issued by RTC Branch 27 Judge Angelo Perez for                Holgado’s failure to attend two hearings of drug-related cases, by RTC  Branch 25 Judge Teresita Cativo for robbery and by MTCC Branch 1 Judge Ana Marie-Joson Viterbo for grave coercion.

No bail bond was recommended for the warrants issued in connection with Holgado’s failure to attend the hearings while bail bonds totaling P112,000 were recommended for robbery and grave coercion.

San Jose City down town in Nueva Ecija.

Okubo said that the cases for robbery and grave coercion stemmed from an incident last February 19 when Holgado, accompanied by three others, barged into the house of businesswoman Zenaida Bustamante at Purok 1, Brgy MS Garcia, Cabanatuan City without any search warrant and stashed  away cash worth P16,000.00 and four cellular phones.

As they left Bustamante’s house, the suspects fired three shots to scare on-lookers. They even dragged a by-stander, Teresita Abergas inside their get-away vehicle looking for additional money. The two victims separately filed a case of robbery and grave coercion against Holgado’s group.

Okubo said that the two other warrants were in connection with his failure to appear in scheduled court hearings after taking part in two buy-bust operations of the PDEA last June 10, 2010 and September 20, 2010 which led to the arrests of several drug pushers in Cabanatuan City.  

Okubo said that Holgado has other pending cases for illegal possession of firearms and grave threats in the cities of Muñoz and San Jose stemming from his having drawn his gun following a traffic altercation with members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo who were directing traffic in front of the sect’s church along the Maharlika Highway in Muñoz last June 27, 2010. (Jason de Asis)

100 hectare forest land to be developed as Aurora tourism zone

MARIA AURORA, Aurora, July 31, 2011-Michael Palispis, chief of the provincial tourism office (PTO) revealed that a 100-hectare forested area spanning sitio Canili, Barangay San Juan in this town is being eyed as a premier sports adventure and eco-tourism zone by the provincial government which plans to put up tourism facilities, including a 700-meter zipline.

“The zipline project, which has been identified as a priority project by Gov. Bellaflor Angara-Castillo, is integrated in the proposed Aurora Forest Recreation and Rest Area, Park Development (AFRRAPD), a provincial tourism blueprint which his office is submitting to the Department of Tourism for inclusion in the National Tourism Master Plan,” Palispis said, including the construction of a hotel, conference hall and recreational facilities for water sports activities such as wakeboarding, jet skiing, kayaking, rappelling, and mountain trail.

Palispis said that cables for the installation of the zipline are already available, stretching from the Aniao islet - a known dive site - to the site of the weather forecasting system of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration.

“The zipline is similar to the one in Davao which - at 700 meters - is the longest existing zipline ahead of similar facilities in Cagayan de Oro and Subic,” he explained.      

Palispis said that the Tourism Industry and Enterprise Zone Authority led by its general manager Mark Lapid is also looking for a five-hectare area in the province which it intends to declare as a tourism enterprise zone, the tourism equivalent of a special economic zone with tax incentives for locators.

Palispis said that as a tourism enterprise zone, it will get state funding from Tieza which will construct the building, access road, water systems and related facilities, adding that the establishment of these tourist facilities is expected to further increase tourist arrivals in the province which registered a 300 percent jump over the last five years.

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, Palispis was adjudged provincial tourism officer for 2010 by the Department of Tourism (DOT).

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

“Since 2011 to 2016 that have been declared as the country’s “Homecoming Years for Pinoys,” the provincial government has also launched its own “Balik-Aurora” campaign where balikbayan tourists are fetched at the airport and brought to various destinations in the province,” he added.

Prior to this, to boost tourism by attracting balikbayans to reunite with their families in the country anytime of the year, President Aquino issued Proclamation 181. (Jason de Asis)

CBCP launches website for World Youth Day

MANILA, July 30, 2011―The Filipino youth who are unable to participate personally in forthcoming World Youth Day celebrations in Madrid will have the opportunity to join the youth day celebrations in a virtual manner.

The Episcopal Commission on Youth of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has launched a website that will provide young Filipino Catholics the chance to participate in the various WYD activities in Madrid from August 16-21.

The online portal www.wydpinoy.com will provide a continuous update of events and activities as they happen for the entire duration of WYD celebrations.

The site will enable young people who were not able to go to Madrid as well as parents of pilgrims to follow closely the events as they unfold and will be able to communicate interactively with delegates as they post their sharings and testimonials online.

WYD Media Team

April Frances Ortigas, Web Administrator of YouthPinoy will be heading the YP Media Team for the WYD 2011.

Ortigas said that their presence in cyberspace is a response to the call of Pope Benedict XVI to make use of digital media and social communications and to make God visible in cyberspace.

“The media team is the 1st media delegation consists of six journalists [to] be sent to Spain to document what is happening with the Philippine delegation during the duration of the celebration of WYD,” she said.

“We will put personal sharings/reflections, updates on what the Filipino young people are doing, in the website as it happens. That is the reason why there is a WYD website,” explained Ortigas.

Ortigas also said that families and friends of the pilgrims will have first hand information on WYD events in Madrid as they unfold in real time.

Even if they are in the Philippines, friends and families of the pilgrims will feel the presence of WYD in Spain here in at home through the website, she said.

Opportunity to animate co-pilgrims

According to Maria Lea Dasigan of the National Secretariat for Youth Apostolate Filipino delegates will have the opportunity to animate co-pilgrims during the celebrations.

“As for the Philippine delegation, we have special participations such as the animation of a catechetical site, next is the opportunity to animate the Eucharistic Adoration of the overnight vigil with the Pope where three Filipinos are chosen to [seat] near the Pope in WYD stage. The vigil will be on the last day of the celebration,” she said.

Dasigan also explained that this World Youth Day celebration is not exclusive to young Catholics but also open to other religions.

One of the delegates who will be joining their delegation is a Muslim, she said.

Avenue of past, present and future WYDs

Jan Perlas of the Salt and Light EDSA Shrine Community expressed her gratitude for establishing a website solely intended for the World Youth Day celebration.

Perlas added that the website will be a place where events and activities in Madrid will be well documented as they unfold.

“This website is a living testimony of our firm faith, wherein it will be an avenue of the past, present and future World Youth Days and will be the central page of the youth where we can celebrate the WYD,” Perlas also said.

The website (www.wydpinoy.com) is a joint initiative of the CBCP Media Office Director Msgr. Pedro Quitorio III and the CBCP-ECY Chairman and Legazpi Bishop Joel Baylon and ECY Executive Secretary Fr. Conegundo Garganta.

It will be maintained and managed by the YouthPinoy team of 6 journalists. (Jandel Posion/CBCPNews)