BATAAN SK CHAIRMEN ELECT PRESIDENT SAMAL, Bataan: Sangguniang Kabataan (SK or Youth Council) chairmen in Bataan on Friday last week elected Kenneth Paulo Malibiran of Ibaba village as SK president. As president, he is expected to represent them as ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Council) in each of the province’s 11 towns and one city.


A 6


ERNIE B. ESCONDE BY RHAYDZ BARCIA CORRESPONDENT


MABILOG ON WARPATH VS. MIWD news The Manila Times MONDAY D e cember 6, 2010 ILOILO CITY: Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog of Iloilo City has recently issued an


ultimatum to the management of Metro Iloilo Water District (MIWD) “to shape up or ship out” following reports that MIWD General Manager Le Jayme Jalbuena,


Administrative Division chief Josephine Amarylis Castro and other MIWD officials continue to defy his appointing authority over the board of directors.


ROSIN, Sorsogon: Almost a month after Mount Bulusan exploded, residents of the affected communities on Sunday pressed for livelihood assistance as damage to crops, fisheries, livestock and their health continue to worsen.


34-year-old mother of five Erna Habitan, 34, who lives in Irosin town’s Bolos village, told The Manila Times that the ash Bulusan had spewed had all but destroyed their livelihood. “The ashfall ruined our primary source of livelihood,” she said, add- ing that local poultry and vegetables have perished while cattle have no more grass to eat.


She also said that their most pressing problem is the toll the vol- canic explosions had taken on their health: many of the residents, both young and old, were suffering from asthma and coughs. “We need medicines, potable drinking water and livelihood for us to recover,” she said.


Another Bolos resident, 66-year-


Victims of Bulusan blasts seek livelihood aid I


old Emy Cater, confirmed the situa- tion that Erna described. “Many [suffer from] colds, cough and skin irritations. Water sources, specifically drinking water, have been badly affected,” she said as she queued for relief goods delivered by officers of the Ako Bicol party-list at the Bolos Elementary School. Bolos village is located 6 kilo- meters from the Mount Bulusan, which exploded a number of times since in November. Several towns— Barcelono, Bulusan, Gubat, Juban and Irosin—were affected the most by the blasts’ impact.


The explosions had earlier promp-


ted Mayor Eduardo Ong of Irosin to declare the town to be under “a state of calamity,” although residents


Mindanao journalists receive threatening texts


ZAMBOANGA CITY: A group of Filipino journalists based in Cotabato City have received apparent death threats—the second in a month— raising new security concerns and putting their lives at risk. The threats, “Mga gongong kayo


mga media. Mamamatay tao. Baket takot kayo. Mga gago kayo media [Stupid media. Killers. Why are you afraid. You in the media are stupid], were sent through cell phone number 0949-4563979. They were also sent to the same group of journalists and workers at the Bureau of Public Information of the Autonomous Region in Mus- lim Mindanao. It was the second time that the


workers and journalists were threatened.


They also received this text mes-


sage: “Humanda kayo mga medya, lentek kayo, bakho kayo [Be warned,


you in the media].” The motive of the text sender


was still unknown but the jour- nalists who received the threats have reported the matter to the authorities. Last year, at least 57 people


were killed—among them 31 jour- nalists—in Maguindanao prov- ince in southern Mindanao by gunmen who were allegedly fol- lowers of the feared and power- ful Ampatuan clan. Many members of the clan them-


selves are facing multiple-murder charges in connection with the Maguindanao massacre of Novem- ber 23, 2009.


The Philippines is listed by inter- national press watchdogs, such as Reporters Without Borders, as one of the most dangerous areas for journalists, along with Iraq and Af- ghanistan.


AL JACINTO


■ Residents of Tinampo village in Irosin town receive free food rations from volunteers of Ako Bicol party-list over the weekend. PHOTO BY RHAYDZ BARCIA


complained that local officials have failed to extend much-needed assist- ance to them.


The Ako Bicol party-list, mean-


while, already responded to their needs by distributing food and min-


eral water to them, as well as pro- viding free medicial missions. Bulusan’s explosions, however, continue to threaten thousands more in the coming days as some fear that heavy rains may dump as


much as 500,000 cubic meters of volcanic debris into the local river channels and low-lying areas. In Irosin’s Cogon village, rivers were


swamped with lahar flows that carried debris and rocks from the restive vol-


ARMM Governor Adiong to deliver SORA


COTABATO CITY: Acting Regional Gov. Ansaruddin Alonto-Adiong of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is set to deliver his State of the Region Address (SORA) today at the Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center (SKCC) inside the regional government center in Cotabato City. ARMM spokesman Ali


Macabalang said that dozens of foreign and national dignitaries have confirmed their attend- ance to the event, which is a local version of the SONA (State of the Nation Address) that the President delivers in Congress every July. Macabalang told The Manila


Times that Adiong is expected to inform his constituents on what his administration has accom- plished so far in the delivery of basic services to the people. The


governor is also expected to discuss what he plans to accomplish in the remaining months of his administration. ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo said that the provincial governors and mayors of Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao province will also attend the SORA. The 23-member Regional


Legislative Assembly of the ARMM, led by Speaker Ronnie Sinsuat, is set to hold session at the SKCC and suspend it at 2 p.m. to pave the way for Adiong’s delivery of his first SORA, organizers said. “The highlights of the Adiong administration’s mostly unprec- edented achievements, as well its plans and policy directions, will be announced in the SORA,” Macabalang said. According to the ARMM spokes- man, such achievements have


drawn attention not only from the national government, but also from foreign donor-institutions like the World Bank and the Japan International Coordination Agency, which have rated the Adiong regime’s project implementation “very satisfactory.” In a radio interview on Satur-


day, Sinarimbo said that the Senate’s unprecedented approval of the P1.8-billion ARMM budget for 2011 “without a single question asked” is a great feat in the national government’s paradigm shift in dealing with the autonomous region. ARMM finance officials said that the congressional hearings on the ARMM budgets in the past had been characterized by “extensive grilling” because of suspicions of the regional government’s fiscal and administrative operations. JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL


US ambassador set to visit Quezon high school today


UNITED States Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr. is set to visit Lusacan National High School in Lusacan, Tiaong in Quezon province today. According to a statement from the US Embassy in Manila, Thomas has been invited by Mr. Buenaventura “Sammy” Luces, an alumnus of the US Government-funded International Leader- ship in Education Program (ILEP) of the Philip- pine-American Educational Foundation, to visit the school.


The ILEP brings teachers from the Near East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Western Hemisphere to the United States to learn about the latest advancements in educational meth- odology and policy.


The program also aims to develop the teachers’ lead- ership skills necessary to implement and promote change within their schools and home communities. Lusacan National High School is where Mr. Luces puts into practice the teaching methodology and skills he acquired from the educational exchange.


cano after it experienced heavy rains. Ong told The Times that similar


downpours may shift volcanic ma- terials from Bulusan’s slopes down to the gullies connecting the Kadac- an River, hitting not only Cogon, but other villages like Bagsangan, Bulawan, Gabao, Gulang-Gulang, Mapaso and Tinampo. For his part, Mayor Jimmy Fragata of Juban town also told The Times that lahar will hit hundreds of fami- lies living in Rangas village and nearby areas, since river channels from the village that pass through the Kadac-an River goes to the Binanwaan Tampi area, where the depository of lahar is heavily silted. “We’re soliciting the national gov- ernment’s assistance to dredge the silted river channels in the soonest time to spare the communities from clear danger,” he said.


Ed Laguerta, resident volcanolo- gist of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Bicol, told The Times that lahar flow pose a serious threat to Irosin and Juban. According to him, the volcanic materials threaten to flow over the four river channels in those towns.


Basilan gunmen free last 2 hostages


ZAMBOANGA CITY: Gunmen on Sun- day freed two of the remaining hostages they held in Basilan prov- ince in the southern Philippines, officials said. The two hostages, who were among a dozen people seized late last month, had been re- leased after they were swapped with three of the gang leader’s kin, who were kidnapped by rela- tives of the abductees. The gunmen, led by Pawi Ham- bali, originally demanded weapons and money in exchange for the free- dom of the two men, whom they abducted on November 27 in the town of Ungkaya Pukan.


Officials said that a family feud that stemmed from a land dispute prompted the kidnapping. “The two remaining hostages had been freed by Hambali in ex- change for three of his kin, [who were] also abducted by his vic- tims’ relatives and family. There was a swap of hostages and all ends well,” provincial Deputy Gov. Al Rasheed Sakalahul told The Manila Times. Pawali’s group released 10 of the hostages on Tuesday last week after a series of negotiations with the vil- lage elders, but held on to the re- maining two.


Sakalahul said that Hambali kid- napped the victims, who were mostly fishermen, thinking that they were relatives of his foes and to force the other family to settle their feud.


It turned out, though, that 10 of the hostages had nothing to do with the conflict. Family feuds or clan wars are not uncommon in Basilan or in many parts of Mindanao, espe- cially in Muslim areas where ran- dom attacks stemming from the conflicts occur. Such feuds some- times last for decades and often target innocent clan members. AL JACINTO


House clears electric cooperative


BANGUED, Abra: The Lower House Committee on Cooperative Development over the weekend cleared the Abra Electric Cooperative (Abreco) of alleged irregularities. The company’s board of directors (BOD),


led by President David Guzman, explained to House committee Chairman Rep. Jose Ping- ay and other lawmakers during the investiga- tion into the matter that Abreco have been above-board in all its actions in the midst of complaints that it has not been conducting general assemblies, among others. Rep. Joy Bernos of Abra had earlier asked the House to probe Abreco over controversies surrounding its management. She had ques- tioned how it failed to hold general member- ship assemblies for the past three years, and as a consequence its board directors and gen- eral manager have been holding on to their positions illegally.


Abreco General Manager Loreto Seares Jr.,


however, said that general assemblies have not been called for the past three years because the cooperative is on a transition period toward registering itself at the Cooperative Develop- ment Authority (CDA).


He said that, from March 2007 onward, the


CDA gave them two years to prepare the re- quirements for its registration, which includes fixing its by-laws. Earlier, it was discovered that these by-laws failed to include standard requirements in choosing candidates for the position of gen- eral manager.


Abreco also said that after CDA gave them another year to finalize all requirements, a gen- eral assembly planned in March 2010 was reset to March next year due to the new Cooperative Code of 2009, which again revised the require- ments for cooperative registrations. Seares Jr. vowed that, in the 2011 general as-


sembly, proposed amendments in their by- laws—which will include criteria in choosing the new general manager and members of the BOD—will be ratified.


He maintained, though, that the general as- sembly will not be held not because of the House inquiry but because it is really scheduled. Satisfied with their explanations, Ping-ay asked the CDA to regularly monitor Abreco and the upcoming assembly.


THOM F. PICAÑA


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