"Ang tagal nilang ipinapangakong ipasasara nila hanggang ngayong umaapaw na wala namang aksyon." -- Irisan Barangay ChairmanThomas Dumalti.Irisan folks are barricading the Irisan dumpsite because they're feed up. Report here. Whatever happened to Baguio's garbage segregation program? Gone of the wind na rin ba iyon?
"Hihintayin pa ba naming maging mala-Payatas ito, at may mamatay sa pagguho ng basura bago sila kumilos?" -- Irisan Barangay Kagawad Phillip Tanawi.
Congratulations to those who passed the Civil Service Exam last March 2008. The results were released this month and the Inquirer is reporting that our region recorded the highest passing rate (19.64%) which is ten percentage points higher than the national passing rate (9.99%). Not bad, boondock dwellers, not bad at all :-)
For the list of CS Prof and Sub-Prof passers from the Cordilleras, here's the link.
Here's the Inquirer report:
MANILA, Philippines -- The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has produced the highest number of passers in the recent civil service exam held March 9, with a 19.64 percent passing rate, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) said on Tuesday.
Results of the latest civil service exam showed that out of the more than 52,000 examinees, only 5,286 passed, or 9.99 percent, nationwide for the Career Service Professional and Sub-professional written examinations.
Although CAR produced the highest number of passers, the exam topnotcher, Christine T. Battung, was from Cagayan Valley. Battung garnered a rating of 91.15, while sub-professional level topnotcher Nicole P. Victoria from the National Capital Region (NCR) had a final rating of 95.84.
Passers of the civil service exam will be conferred with either professional eligibility or the sub professional eligibility, a requirement for those who wish to work for a specific position in government, the CSC said.
But passers will still have to meet three qualification standards for a specific position, CSC said. These standards are education, experience, and training.
CSC revealed that majority of passers was unemployed, which numbered to 2,908. Passers from the private and public sector numbered 1,105 and 1,003 respectively, CSC said.
More than 3,700 passed the Professional level, while 1,496 passed in the Sub-professional level.
CSC said that top choices for government work included accounting, human resource development, management and audit analysis, computer operations, report writing, and public relations for the professional level. The top choices of work for the sub-professional level are computer operation, word processing, book keeping, general clerical, typing, clerical accounting, and cashiering.
By Delmar Cariño/Sunstar Baguio
PASAY CITY -- The information center in Alfonso Lista, Ifugao was recently recognized as one of the country's models in the delivery of science and technology services for farmers.
Toasts were given to the town's Farmers Information and Technology Services (Fits) on Thursday at SM Mall of Asia here for adopting an information dissemination system that helped farmers boost production and protect their water resources.
The Fits Alfonso Lista was one of three awardees the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) and the Department of Science and Technology (Dost) hailed as champions for providing avenues for science to mitigate rural poverty.
Also feted at PCARRD-Dost's First Tachno Gabay National Summit at the sprawling mall's convention center were the Fits of Banga, Aklan, and Ubay Agri Park in Bohol
Joven Sevilleja, municipal agriculturist of Alfonso Lista, said the information center that was launched in 1999 had since then serviced more than 600 rice and corn farmers.
The service came in terms of providing the community with the needed information to promote best farming practices, such as the use of Bio-N, farm mechanization and community based monitoring system.
Sevilleja said the town, which has more than 18,000 hectares of corn and 1,260 hectares of rice, gained much from the services Fits provided. "I feel more inspired by this recognition," he said.
Earlier, Ireneo Ortega, a farmer from Conner, Apayao, was also recognized as the Cordillera's best Magsasakang Siyentista for adopting good farming practices in his farm that produced cacao, lanzones and other dryland crops.
The Fits and Magsasakang Siyentista formed part of PCARRD and Dost's Techno Gabay program that is aimed at modernizing agriculture by enhancing access to knowledge and technology through extension workers, farmers and entrepreneurs.
Congrats to Police Inspector Abraham Galingan for this award.
From the PIA: Proving that Kalinga police officers could top other policemen in the country in the performance of their duties, an officer from the Kalinga Police Provincial Office (KPPO) was recently adjudged as the Most Outstanding Intelligence Officer after a nationwide search conducted by the Humanitarian International Records (HIR).
Said award was presented to Police Inspector Abraham W. Galingan by Vice President Noli de Castro during the Humanitarian International Record Grand Anniversary and Award Celebration held at the Gallery Hall, Manila Hotel recently.
Insp. Galingan was bestowed the coveted title after considering his noted accomplishments and impeccable records as the KPPO Provincial Police Intelligence Officer from 2003 to 2006 showing confidence, courage, loyalty and determination in fulfilling his duties.
Among his accomplishment is the arrest and neutralization of notorious organized crime groups and Top Most Wanted Criminals.
The search and award is being conducted and presented by the HIR to advocate the promotion, information and development of social educational, cultural, economics, leadership and human values through the conduct of Biographical Research and Record of outstanding men and women in the various field of human endeavors around the world.
One of the major stories we covered in this blog, the killing of Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell and the subsequent trial of Juan Duntugan for murder, is now kinda coming to an end. The court has found that Duntugan is guilty of murdering Campbell and sentenced him to life in prison. I'm reprinting the Inquirer story below.
And here are the links to our previous stories:
Missing in Ifugao: Julia Campbell, US Peace Corps Volunteer
Video Updates on Julia Campbell
On Juan Dontugan's Surrender [highly recommended by me for re-reading hehe]
People vs. Dontugan I
People vs. Dontugan II
Campbell Family to Attend Dontugan Hearing
Life in prison for killer of Peace Corps Volunteer
Melvin Gascon/Inquirer
Justice came Monday for Julia Campbell, a Peace Corps volunteer who gave up a journalistic career in the United States to work with the poor in the Philippines but found death instead on a deserted mountain trail in Ifugao province.
A judge found 25-year-old woodcarver Juan Donald Duntugan, the lone suspect in the April 8, 2007, killing of Campbell in Batad village, guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
Duntugan, wearing a striped green shirt, showed little emotion. He immediately turned to his jail escort and thrust his hands for handcuffing after the decision was read out to him in English in open court.
But he sobbed as the verdict was translated in the Ifugao dialect.
“This is justice for Julia,” Prosecutor Reynaldo Agranzamendez told The Associated Press by telephone. “But justice can only compensate, it cannot bring her back to life.”
Judge Ester Piscoso-Flor of the Regional Trial Court also ordered Duntugan, a father of three, to pay the family of Campbell P39.7 million in actual, moral and exemplary damages.
The judge said Duntugan killed Campbell “with the use of treachery and abuse of superior strength” but that she could not impose the death penalty because it had been banned in the Philippines.
The 40-year-old Campbell, a volunteer English teacher in Albay province where she waded through floods to help victims of Supertyphoon “Reming,” was posthumously awarded the Order of the Golden Heart “for her dedicated service to the Philippines” by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo two months after she was murdered.
Campbell was bludgeoned with a rock on Easter Sunday last year while trekking alone in a mountain path in Batad village, about 10 kilometers from the town proper.
She had disappeared after she stopped at a village grocery run by Duntugan’s wife to buy soda. Police said the American was murdered shortly afterwards.
Her decomposing body was found 10 days later, buried in a dried-up gorge, about 20 meters from the trail.
Duntugan later surfaced to own up to the killing but claimed in his defense that he killed Campbell in a fit of rage after mistaking the American for his enemy in the village.
In his arraignment, Duntugan entered a plea of “not guilty” to the murder charges.
"My mind went blank," Duntugan said during the hearing.
"I didn't know who bumped me or what he or she was. I just grabbed a rock and smashed it into that person's head."
The judge rejected the defense and ruled the killing was premeditated and involved "abuse of strength and treachery."
For nearly two hours, two court employees took turns in reading the decision as Duntugan stood in front of the packed courtroom of RTC Branch 34 in Barangay (village) Tam-an. The sealed envelope containing the decision was turned over to the clerk of court by Judge Flor on June 23.
Defenseless Julia
At the front row sat Geary Morris, Campbell’s elder sister, accompanied by the victim’s friends and colleagues in the Peace Corps.
Duntugan’s wife, Grace, who sat on the second row, bowed and cried.
In Manila, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney thanked all those who worked to solve Campbell’s killing and added: “I think for all of us it’s important now to move on.”
“Our Peace Corps is trying to continue the work that meant a lot to her,” Kenney said.
In elevating the killing from homicide to murder, the court gave credence to the prosecutor’s accusation that Duntugan, based on his statement issued to the police after his surrender, “attacked the defenseless and unsuspecting Julia from behind.”
“Even without the admissions of (Duntugan), the number and nature of wounds sustained by (Campbell) are indicative of abuse of superior strength,” the court said.
The court noted that Campbell suffered 15 wounds on different parts of the body, caused by at least 15 blows, mostly to the head.
Family accepts
The bulk of the damages awarded to the victim’s family represented Campbell’s unearned income—as a result of her death—for the next 26 years amounting to $871,676, or over P39 million.
The decision ended more than a year of trial in which 16 witnesses—15 for the prosecution and one for the defense—testified in 11 hearings.
Duntugan was whisked away by jail guards after the sentencing and did not speak to reporters.
His mother, Jane, said the family was accepting the court’s ruling.
Lawyer Eugene Ballitang, one of Duntugan’s lawyers, said the defense panel was studying the possibility of filing an appeal to the Supreme Court based “on pure questions of law.”
’A very long year’
“It is our belief that treachery and abuse of superior strength should not have qualified the crime to murder,” he said.
Morris said it had been “a very long year,” but thanked all those who supported the Campbell family, including their Filipino lawyers.
The Peace Corps has assigned more than 8,000 volunteers to the Philippines since 1961, Philippine officials say.
Campbell, a freelance journalist who worked for the New York Times and other media organizations, came to the Philippines in March 2005.
As a journalist in New York City, she was described as a tenacious reporter, and fellow reporters remembered her generosity and courage.
Campbell said she decided to leave her job and join the Peace Corps after the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center bombing.
“I lived near Ground Zero,” Campbell said. “I wanted to show people in the world what Americans are really like because after 9/11, people had the impression that Americans are bad, selfish and greedy.”
Quitting the rat race
Campbell added that most of them in the Peace Corps were not rich, came from the middle class and received no salaries, except for a small living allowance.
She wrote in her blog that “at the age of 38, I decided to step out of the rat race of New York, join the Peace Corps and board a plane for Manila.”
“I wanted to reach out to people. I wanted to volunteer and do it full time,” Campbell said.
She helped establish an ecology center that has been named for her in Donsol town in Sorsogon province, which is famous for whale sharks. She later taught English and literature at Divine Word College in Legazpi City.
Her brutal killing drew public condemnation because of its contrast to her efforts to help provide education to the country’s poor and promote environmental protection.
Campbell's death stunned this quiet corner of the Philippines, a popular tourist destination known the world over for its 2,000-year-old rice terraces.
‘Every day is a struggle’
Campbell kept a blog where she chronicled her volunteer work in the Philippines, including the joy she felt in helping the poor and her longing for home as her two-year Peace Corps stint neared its end.
“I would be lying if I did not say that every day is a struggle. I miss home and my old life. I miss being there for the things that happen in the lives of people I care about,” Campbell said. With reports from Cynthia Balana, Inquirer Research and Associated Press
Note: Updates on Mayor Cesar Rafael's murder here and the Abra explosion here.
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From Philippine Star: The mayor of Paracelis town in Mountain Province was killed in an ambush yesterday, while an explosion rocked the home of a congresswoman in Bangued, Abra.
According to Senior Superintendent Joseph Adnol, Mountain Province police director, Mayor Cesar Rafael was driving in remote Sitio Sinigpit, Talitud, Paracelis town when five unidentified men fired at his vehicle.
Rafael died on the spot.
Members of the police mobile group were dispatched to the town to conduct an investigation and track down the suspects.
Meanwhile, Abra Rep. Cecille Luna survived an explosion that rocked her house in Bangued town at 7 p.m.
The congresswoman’s three sons – Lagayan town Mayor Jendrix Luna, barangay chairman and Bangued ABC president Ryan Luna and Cromwel Luna – and four others were wounded.
They were rushed to nearby hospitals but were later declared out of danger by doctors. Ryan was taken to the Abra provincial hospital while Jendrix and Cromwel were brought to the Searex Emergency hospital.
Cordillera police director Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin said they are investigating whether the explosion was an accident or an attack against the Luna family.
Martin said he has taken the congresswoman to a safehouse secured by Abra policemen.
“Rep. Luna is now at an undisclosed place surrounded by police bodyguards,” he said. “We are still investigating the incident. But the blast was powerful because it destroyed the garage, which was converted into a receiving area.”
Reports reaching Martin showed that Luna’s sons were at the receiving area when the blast occurred.
The congresswoman was in the sala at the time of the blast.
Police have not identified the wounded workers.
The Cordillera police chief said the garage conatined firecrackers, which the family intended to use for the coming New Year revelry.
“Nobody saw someone throwing a lighted cigarette or a grenade in the area,” said Martin.
Responding elements of the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) of the Cordillera police are now sifting through the explosion site to gather evidence.
Luna defeated former Abra Gov. Vicente Valera in the congressional race in elections last May.
Valera is protesting Luna’s victory before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Manila.
Read related story at the Inquirer.
INFO SOURCE: Philippine Star
Thanks to Vincent Cabreza for picking up our post on the Ifugao hut in London and for adding new details to the story. Thanks also for the shoutout to both this blog and The Nashman's.
You can read Vincent's article here. But here's some excerpts and our usual unsolicited comments (hehe):
Ifugao Gov. Teodoro Baguilat Jr. said the hut’s predicament was “unjustifiable.”Just as we suspected. We don't think the embassy officials really exerted much effort to find a new custodian for the hut. In Sagada tambay speak, "for compliance" lang ginawa nila.
He said government officials once consulted him about relocating an Ifugao hut inside a Philippine property abroad, but had not followed up this request with information until the embassy announcement this week.
“I did not even know it was [a hut in the Philippine Embassy in London]. I can’t even remember the government official who referred it to me. In the first place, bringing the hut to London as decoration is culturally inappropriate, and now they have no use for it, the hut is discarded just like that,” Baguilat said.Just to clear things up, according to the Nashman, the hut was brought to London by the British Museum so maybe the original purpose was really to include it in the museum's collection. We don't know how it ended up in the embassy though.
He said Ifugao huts are probably as popular as the centuries-old rice terraces in the province.
Ifugao huts are intricately designed, and are erected “like lego-sets” because each beam is shaped by hand to fit together without using nails, he said.Hopefully, we will continue to learn how to do the design :-) Manuel Dulnuan has more details about the construction of an Ifugao hut here.
“There is actually no death ritual accorded properties. There is a ritual conducted when Ifugao huts are transferred, but if government is going to spend at all on the hut, it may as well be for its relocation and not a ‘death ritual,’” Baguilat said.Yup. The governor is correct in that there is no such thing as a death ritual for inanimate objects. To be honest, we actually coined "death ritual" but we based in from the source and then we also can't think of any other term to describe what was going to be done to the hut.
Baguilat said he was contacting his relatives based in London to let them take custody of the granary because it will take another Ifugao to reconstruct it after it is dismantled and shipped out of the embassy compound.Thank God for that. At least there won't be any "death ritual". Hopefully a permanent and more fitting home will be found for this hut. Again you can read the whole Inquirer story here.
Cross-posted at kaigorotan.com
UPDATE: For pictures of this soon to be dismantled Ifugao hut, visit The Nashman's blog.
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Well, we don't know much about this story. But here are the facts which we gleaned from the announcement here:
Ano bang meron sa Baguio at parati na lang may kontrobersiya? And now it's the young people who are starring in this silliness. It's kind of entertaining if you think about it.
What more can you ask? There's alleged bribery, alleged conspiracy, alleged parental (grandparental?) meddling, alleged involvement of police escorts. It's really like in the movies. Kulang na lang ng allegations of sex and violence.
The sad thing about this is that some of these kids have to be lying. Maybe it's de Vera's camp. Maybe it's her accusers. We don't know. But they can't both be telling the truth.
What has Baguio turn into? I'm sure you'll agree that it used to be a model for the Cordilleras in the area of politics and governance. Nowadays, it is such a messed up place.
Controversy mars poll for new SKF president
By Rimaliza Opiña
A SUPPOSEDLY non-political exercise of the youth in electing their leaders was marred by controversy following allegations of payoffs, conspiracy with government officials, intrigues and meddling of parents.
Ysabel de Vera, granddaughter of former Mayor Bernardo Vergara and daughter of former Councilor Gladys de Vera, took her oath as the new SKF president amidst allegations that her winning the post was due to vote buying.
De Vera's mother said the losing candidates should accept that her daughter won the elections.
De Vera garnered 48 votes against her closest rival Caren Salingbay with 27 votes. She replaces outgoing SKF president, Councilor Leonardo Bayan Jr.
In an interview aired over Bombo Radyo-Baguio, the older De Vera said she never interfered in the elections.
"She won fair and square," De Vera said while appealing to other parents not to meddle in the exercise.
"Respect the verdict."
"Wala akong ginagawang masama," Ysabel added in that interview.
Prior to the election, SK officials were reportedly bribed P200 as their "pasahe," P115 worth of cellphone load and were promised one unit of cellular phone with camera.
These were allegedly distributed at 18 BC, the bar owned by the Vergaras and which became the temporary headquarters of De Vera's camp, and during an exclusive picnic at the Camp John Hay picnic grounds.
De Vera took her oath before Baguio Representative Mauricio Domogan, following the elections at the Venus Park View Hotel.
One of De Vera's rivals, third placer Kathleen Bilog would reportedly file an election protest, a petition for failure of elections and criminal and administrative charges against some employees of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) city field office and the Baguio City Police Office.
The SK officials were billeted for two days at the Venus Hotel for their training. The elections were also subsequently held there.
Lawyer Ed Bilog alleged the DILG was in cahoots with De Vera's camp by allowing the former mayor's granddaughter to campaign despite a ruling that the campaign was supposed to end.
"De Vera was reportedly escorted by two policemen," Bilog claimed.
Bilog said the DILG also prevented their children from communicating with their parents by confiscating their SIM cards.
On Thursday night, Bilog and some other parents forced themselves into the hotel and reportedly urged their children to walk out because of alleged cheating.
A commotion ensued as a result.
DILG Officer-in-Charge Evelyn Trinidad meantime challenged those accusing them to substantiate their allegations.
"Kahit kasi sabihin kong hindi totoo, hindi sila maniniwala," Trinidad said while explaining that the DILG had nothing to do with the elections.
She said the DILG's participation was to train the newly-elected SK officials on their duties and responsibilities.
Trinidad also clarified that SIM cards were not confiscated. She said she asked the SK officials to surrender their SIM cards for the meantime because despite an advisory that cellphones should be on silent mode, no one paid attention during the orientation and that most of the participants were busy sending and receiving short messaging services (texts).
She said there was no intent to bar communication because prior to this, the participants were told to inform their parents that they could not be reached through their cellphones for the duration of the seminar-training.
The elections were organized by the SK Federation and were witnessed by the National Youth Commission, the academe and the BCPO.
"This is an SK affair, parents should stay away. Let the children decide, they have their own minds," Trinidad stressed.
Other winning officers of the SKF include Ramzy Kairuz for vice president, Valerie Buaquen - secretary, John Rey Bandan - treasurer, Jennilyn Cuison - auditor, Alvin Jhey Bunnol - PRO, and Jose Lingwagon – sergeant-at-arms.
INFO SOURCE: Sunstar Baguio
How did the town of Flora, Apayao got it's name? If it's your typical Cordillera town it's naming story would go like this:
"Once upon a time, a foreigner got lost in town. He met a fair maiden and asked, 'What is the name of this place?' The fair maiden thought that the foreigner was asking who she was and so she said, 'Flora'. And so the foreigner took his book and wrote Flora as the name of the place."Sounds familiar? With some variation my hometown and, I think, a lot of Cordillera towns were named like that. For instance, read Padma's post on how Tawangan got its name.
Flora was created as a regular municipality from its mother municipality, Pudtol in June 1966. It was named in honor of the wife of then Congressman Afredo Lam-en of the old Mt. Province named Florence, who visited the place at the times of its creation.The town which is famous for its wood furniture is populated by about 15,000 Ilokanos, Isnegs, and Ibanags.
“We have to ensure that deserving students from the province could be accorded a descent (emphasis supplied) education so that they could be able to uplift the economic standing of their respective families in the future. The full scholarship program must be spared from the political maneuvering of disgruntled sectors who could not admit that we were able to initiate the realization of the program.” -- Mt. Province Congressman Victor Dominguez.
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Apparently, our second favorite Cordiyera Congressman is restoring "his" scholarship program. Read the full story at Northern Philippine Times.
Our take: Yeah we do need descent education. With his help, the students will descend to the level of beggars that Mt. Province people have become famous for. Apparently, that was the purpose of the Congressman when he originally asked students to write him letters to request that they be included in "his" scholarship program.
The cynical side of me thinks that the Congressman is now making "his" scholarship program applicable to all MPSPC students mainly because not a lot of students wrote him to beg. What do you think? But maybe he really saw the light?
Okay, let's give kudos to the Congressman for spending his pork barrel on the education of the youth. As we said somewhere in this blog, it is an inspired way of using public funds. Not a lot of legislators are doing that. And as the Congressman keeps on saying, MPSPC is indeed the first state university to "implement a full scholarship program". This is so mainly because of him.
But let us be clear that these are public funds. It is not as if the Congressman is using his personal money to give Christmas gifts to kids at MPSPC who are getting descent education.
For related posts on Congressman Dominguez, click here.
INFO SOURCE: Dexter See/Northern Philippine Times. IMAGE CREDIT: The Hindsight Factor.
Our photo of the day shows Baguio City officials during their visit to the City of Vaughn in Canada to celebrate the tenth year anniversary of the "twinning" of the two cities.
Read the story at ugnayan.ca and, in case you missed Imie's reflections on this visit, you can read it here. Thanks to Imie for forwarding the ugnayan.ca link to us.
Now, check out our LOLCAT below. It's not really LOL funny but you gotta respect officials, you know.
PHOTO CREDITS: ugnayan.ca via Inquirer.net (which inexplicably cut out one person in the first picture above).
We're publishing your comments in the main page for the others who don't visit the comments section. Thanks everyone.
From Trublue:
While some suggestions are quite dandy, let's all narrow it down to:
I spent some time with the Baguio Councilors when they came here last month for the Baguio/Vaughan 10th year Twinning City celebration. Vaughan is another city above Toronto (Canada).And the Baguio Insider shares her take on Mayor Bautista's veto and the things that we should watch out for in Baguio:
I attended a dinner hosted by the Vaughan city council. Before the dinner, as we were enjoying champagne and vintage wines both Baguio and Vaughan councilors exchanged gifts.
Vaughan councilors gave out their gifts. One to each delegates, excluding their wives. Simple gifts in a paper gift bags. When it was time for the Baguio city councilors to hand out their gifts, there were plenty, there were so many extra gifts that I was even given one.
I felt so ashamed witnessing this imbalance. These Canadians probably realized why the Philippines is one of the poorest countries.
Methinks Bautista is just washing his hands off the whole situation, insisting 'he could not have been party to it because he was abroad' while Weygan insists that he knew about it all along, hence the P4.6M allocation for Bautista's vehicles.Thanks everyone :-)
That his veto was forthcoming because of the furor on- and offline, merely for political survival was predicted.
Now, if we had only raised a similar hue and cry over Domogan's flyover! We wouldn't be stuck with that wretched sight.
Things to watch:Actually, these are larger concerns that actually affect EVERY Baguio resident and visitor compared to the greedy move of the councilors to issue themselves cars.
- Rodez's proposal for a market at Burnham Park.
- Farinas' 'development' of Botanical Garden.
- Farinas' satellite markets ('talipapas')
- Php400M landscaping and tree-planting for Burnham Park with a few offices for park personnel.
- Bautista's Php12M 'collapsible' parking building on Burnham Park (er, why do they not require the large schools to build parking building themselves since these are the main sources of human and vehicular traffic in the CBD for students, professors and staff?)
- Bautista's badly-implemented and intented 'No Segregation-No Collection' garbage policy that was timed suspiciously with his declaration of a shift of focus from tourism to 'education.'
Let's give props to Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan for doing something that should have been done 50 years ago. What did he do? Start a program that will "match the volume of production with the volume of demand".
He calls it vegetable profiling. In other countries, it's called a vegetable quota system. Whatever we call it, programs like these are made to ensure that farmers are not planting the same vegetables at the same time thus ensuring that they would have better income for their produce.
As we all know, if everyone plants cabbage the price of cabbage will drop to P1/kilo. The result: farmers lose all the money they invested and their produce is left rotting on those farms because it costs more money to bring them to the market. Oo nga naman, ba't mo pa dadalhin ang repolyo sa palengke if all you'll get is P1/kilo. Kulang pang pambayad ng arkila sa jeep.
So let's hope that this is not a "no action, talk only" kind of thing and that Governor will follow through with this program. It is, as he said, a practical solution to a seemingly unsolvable problem. Farmers, of course, need to cooperate if this program is to work.
Benguet to start veggie profiling
From Sunstar Baguio
NEXT year, the actual volume of production and demand for vegetables grown in Benguet would be determined, which is expected to address the fluctuating vegetable prices.
Vegetable profiling has been proposed in a bid to balance the volume of supply and demand to help farmers' have a stable income.
Governor Nestor Fongwan said the profiling in the vegetable industry would start next year, aiming to balance the volume of vegetables produced vis-à-vis the demand in the market.
Fongwan said this would be one of the most practical ways to minimize price fluctuation, which is often caused by the unpredictable volume of agricultural crops produced.
"With the profiling, we would be able to match the volume of production with the volume of demand. In that case, we will be able to maintain stable prices," he said.
The scheme has also been identified as one of the means to remedy farmers’ problem on globalization.
The upsurge in the volume of vegetables delivered to the trading post leads to a decline in their costs while lack of agricultural supply burdens consumers due to the increase in prices.
Related posts:
Posts on Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan.
Posts on Vegetable Farmers.
INFO SOURCE: Sunstar Baguio. PHOTO CREDIT: GMA News.
Well friends, seems like all that criticism directed against the plan by the Baguio City Council to buy cars had some effect. Mayor Peter Rey Bautista vetoed the plan but only because "the phrase ‘car plan’ in the resolution is inappropriate". Read Vincent Cabreza's report here.
Dude, what kind of silliness is behind that "I'm vetoing it because the term used is technically not correct" thing? Iyan ang sabi nilang hiding behind technicalities.
You veto it because it is the right thing to do. You veto it because there are more important things to spend that money on. You veto it because you want to set an example that Baguio city officials are not the kind of officials who are taken in by materialism and you don't want them to imbibe that false belief that public officials will look presentable and respectable only if they have a car.
Also, the Mayor seems to be of the same mind as the councilors that they, Baguio City officials, need cars. We're really not convinced that there's a need for it.
You need something you can use to visit your constituents? Buy bicycles. If an official doesn't know how to ride a bike, buy one that has a sidecar and let another councilor do the cycling. As The Nashman pointed out in his comments here, the Prince of the Netherlands cycles to work. Why can't Baguio officials do that and set an example for the rest of the country to follow?
Oh, it's not safe to ride a bike in Baguio? Fix it, pare. That's what you are in power for. Pass regulations that would reserve some lanes for people who want to bike.
What? You're too embarrassed to go meet the President (who was not voted President) with your bicycle? Well, snap out of that traditional "I must have a car to be respectable" mold of thinking. It doesn't make you less of a human being if you are a public official without a car.
Oh you need a car to go to Manila or Subic or Clark? Take the bus, that's why they are there. If you want to travel in relative comfort, Victory Liner has special buses which travels faster; it has more spacious leg rooms and a comfort room too. But you can travel like the rest of us by taking the non-special ones.
Note: Despite our quibbles with the Mayor's reason for his veto. Let's still give him credit for vetoing the plan.
Update: Read Jack Cariño's take on this latest development.
Related posts:
How to spend P20 million
How to spend P20 million, II
INFO SOURCE: Inquirer/Vincent Cabreza.
Update: The Digital Chain has a post on the profile of child abusers here. And Padma published a poem by Chinee Palatino which tackles child sexual abuse. Both are must reads.
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Physical and sexual abuse of children is being reported more often in the Cordilleras. Here's a report on child abuse cases in Mt. Province for the first seven months of 2007. Here's another one that notes the increasing number of child abuse in Ifugao. And here's a 2004 report for the whole region predicting a doubling of child abuse cases.
The latest news on child abuse emerging from the boondocks is the conviction of an American missionary in Benguet who, according to the findings of the court, molested a 12 year old boy.
Lest we delude ourselves into thinking that "the others" or "outsiders" or "they" are the only ones committing offenses against children, studies actually show that most child abusers are people close to the victim.
From Sunstar Baguio:
CA upholds conviction of American missionary
THE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the conviction of an American missionary doing religious work in Benguet for allegedly molesting a 12-year-old retardate boy.
In a decision penned by Associate Justice Lucenito Tagle, the CA 15th Division denied the appeal made by Keery O'Brien to reverse the July 31, 2005 decision of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of La Trinidad, Benguet finding him guilty for at least five out of 11 counts of acts of lasciviousness.
The trial court sentenced him to suffer reclusion perpetua or a maximum of 40 years in jail for each count and to pay the total amount of P250,000 as moral damages.
The CA said O'Brien failed to present sufficient evidence to counter the prosecution's claim that he willfully took advantage of a 12-year-old boy, whose mental age was only six, by engaging in lascivious acts through coercion and intimidation.
The appellate court gave merit to the direct testimony of the victim, who positively identified O'Brien as his abuser. His testimony was corroborated by his brothers.
"The testimony of a child victim deserves full faith and credit. Undoubtedly, appellant (O'Brien) exploited the victim by giving him money and things to lure him to come back. The fact that the victim is a retardate does not disqualify him as a witness nor render his testimony bereft of truth," the CA said.
In his appeal, O'Brien, who has a Filipino common-law-wife and daughter, insisted that the case against him should have been dismissed considering that the complainant could not even recall the date and time that he allegedly molested him.
The missionary also accused the mother of his victim of trying to extort money from him by filing the complaint.
He noted that his acquittal in the six other cases of acts of lasciviousness only showed the insufficiency of the prosecution's evidence against him.
Based on the records of the case, O'Brien helps and assists children in Tuding, Benguet and Baguio City by providing them with food, clothing, toys, school supplies and sometimes in collaboration with health foundations.
O'Brien admitted that he allowed children to go in and out of his house to play computer, watch television and read some books. Among those frequenting O'Brien's house was the victim and his brothers, who were among the prosecution witnesses.
The missionary said he was surprised to find out that he had been charged with 11 counts of violation of Article 336 of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Article II, Section 5 (b) of Republic Act (RA) 7610, (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act).
But the court gave merit to the argument of the prosecution that the acts of lasciviousness can be committed in most unlikely places "for lust is no respecter of time and place."
"The evidence adduced by the prosecution overwhelmingly established beyond reasonable doubt the five counts of acts of lasciviousness committed by the appellant. All the elements of the crime of act of lasciviousness are present in the case at bar," the court said.
Related stories:
Suffer the Children
Bloody Hell (6th paragraph)
Media 101: Lesson One for Gov't Execs
INFO SOURCE: Sunstar Baguio.
Here's your suggestions on how the Baguio City officials should spend the P20 million which they have budgeted to buy cars for their personal use. Our first post is here.
From KM of Session Road Blues:
Paris and London are way bigger but their mayors take public transport or cycle.
I once saw the crown prince of the netherlands cycling to work one morning. and he takes the train if he wants to inspect the far corners of his kingdom...
From Baguio City Councilor Richard Cariño:
This is a very large city… [which measures] 49 square kilometers. When we campaigned [during the May 14 elections], we were not able to visit all [villages of] the city.Wow. I never thought someone would come up with this lame defense. What parallel universe are we living in these days such that, all of a sudden, 49 square kilometers is now "very large"?
Thanks to Anonymous 2:52 for pointing out this news report which presents the Baguio City councilors' side of the story. I maintain that there are more important things to spend the money on but, as wisely pointed out by Anonymous, let us look at all sides of the matter.
I'm not sure though if this report puts the councilors in a better light. "Let us think out of the box," says one of them. Really? A government official using public funds to buy a car for him/her to use is so not thinking out of the box. Just about every public official who thinks s/he can get away with it, does it. Thinking out of the box would be advocating for the pedestrianization of Baguio.
Councilors okay car plan in good faith
By Rimaliza Opiña/Sunstar Baguio
The Baguio City Council was in good faith when it approved the allotment of close to P20 million to buy vehicles for themselves, the vice mayor’s and the mayor’s offices.
Councilor Galo Weygan added that the barangays were not shortchanged when they allotted P5.6 million from the P25 million surplus shares of the City Government from the 2006 Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) because aside from this appropriation, there are other sources of funds for other priority projects of the City Government.
The P71-million surplus from the 2006 budget as well as the planned P1 billion budget for 2008 are some of the sources where funds could be allotted for various projects, including the purchase of dump trucks for garbage collection.
Since last week, the City Council has been criticized by government employees as well as by ordinary citizens for allegedly being too capricious.
Weygan said the cars would be the property of the City Government. As a condition, they could no longer avail of their travel allowances and they are also obliged to shoulder gasoline and maintenance expenses.
And just like any government vehicle, its use would be limited to official functions, he said, adding that a car is a necessity for the council, especially when councilors have to travel to the barangays and in places outside Baguio.
“We really need it,” Weygan said, citing the problem usually encountered by his colleagues on the difficulty of reserving the use of the council’s service vehicle.
Just like the department heads and their counterparts in other local governments, Weygan said they too should be accorded the same privilege.
Councilor Isabelo Cosalan Jr., one of those who voted for the ordinance’s passage, said he is one of those who would reserve the use of the council’s vehicles at least two weeks ahead of schedule but oftentimes, his request gets turned down because the vehicle is “fully booked.”
As chairman of the committee on lands, housing and urban planning, Cosalan said he has to regularly conduct field inspections and do research as far as Manila, adding the work of the committee is impaired because their mobility is compromised.
In the draft proposal, more than P7 million was allotted for the barangays but the council decided to reduce this to P5.6 million because of a rule that only 20 percent could be allotted for the barangays.
“It is true that Baguio has other concerns which we (council) need to focus on but problems could not be solved all at once. Let us think out of the box. We need service vehicles,” Cosalan said while echoing the sentiment of his other colleagues that there are other sources of funds for various projects in the city.
“I hope the public will not judge us on this issue alone,” said Councilor Fred Bagbagen, another of those who voted in favor of the proposal.
“We need to be mobilized so we can serve the people better,” he added, hoping that the public would come to realize the advantages of being issued their individual service vehicles.
“It is our experience that when we want to go to the barangays, the service vehicle, which is supposedly for the use of the council, is not available,” Bagbagen said, adding that even less progressive cities than Baguio allot a budget for their local officials.
Councilor Nicasio Aliping Jr. reiterated that the council is not disregarding the needs of the public but their service vehicles is also a necessity for them to carry out their duties outside of their offices.
Baguio Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr., meantime, said he does not approve the idea of purchasing cars in lieu of other projects that he proposed to the council.
Asked if he would veto the ordinance, Bautista did not give a categorical answer but assured that he would review it the moment the document reaches his office.
In the ordinance, P4.6 million was allotted for the purchase of the mayor’s car. But Bautista said he was not aware that the council allotted an amount for his own service vehicle, adding he does not need a car.
Weygan, however, countered the mayor’s statement, claiming that before Bautista departed for Canada and the US, he was aware of the council plan.
The councilor said the mayor is privy to this because in a meeting at the Baguio Country Club, Bautista even requested for P3 million for his car and that prior to his departure for China, he asked an additional P1.6 million allotment for the purchase of a patrol car for the Baguio City Police Office.
Weygan explained this is the reason why, from the original proposal of P3 million, allotment for the mayor reached P4.6 million.
Click the following links for our previous posts on this controversy:
How to Spend P20 Million
The Ball is in His Court
Dedicated to Major Basilio and Mayor Peter Rey.
INFO SOURCE: Sunstar Baguio
Do you remember those silly radio dedication programs where you can phone in and say, "Mister DJ, gusto ko pung ididikit ang song na ito kay ehem?"
Well, let's try this route and do a dedication post. Let's dedicate my favorite church hymn, "Once to Every Man and Nation", to two men who have been in the public eye lately. The first stanza of the song goes:
Once to every man and nation,Actually, this hymn has been on m
comes the moment to decide,
in the strife of truth with falsehood,
for the good or evil side;
