theregions A The Manila Times FRIDAY D e cember 10, 2010 7


Volcano are facing a bleak Christmas, as the hapless victims of volcanic ashfall are still clamoring for government aid.


According to residents here, with


their livelihood devastated by vol- canic ashfall, they are now strug- gling to survive. Serevino Hagos, 50, father of four children and resident of Bolos told The Manila Times that majority of the people in their village were se- verely affected by the volcanic erup- tion as vegetables, palay (unhusked rice) and coconut plantations were covered by ashfall. “Our pasakay [palay] and kalubi-


han [coconut] plantations are greatly affected by ashfall as the young coconuts were stunted. Defi- nitely this tragedy has affected our harvest—our source of income and survival. The ashfall that smidgen


Bleak Christmas for Mt. Bulusan victims I


BY RHAYDZ BARCIA CORRESPONDENT


ROSIN, Sorsogon: Residents of Sorsogon that were badly affected by the recent explosion of Bulusan


the plants could not easily be rinsed or removed despite of continuous rainfall here. While the animals have no more grass to eat because the ashfall was solidifying just like the cement,” Hagos told The Times in a local dialect.


He said that since the eruption


here, his very own family had not yet received any assistance from the government.


“During the series of explosions last month, we opted to stay home instead of going to evacuation centers as my fellow villagers are complaining of no food ration from the government. Whatever available food and resources we have had, we’ve already consumed it. So, while


most of our compatriots are very ea- ger for Yuletide seasons, we’re facing bleak Christmas here,” he added. The affected communities by Mount Bulusan’s eruption last month—specifically from the six municipalities of Sorsogon such as Bulusan, Irosin, Juban, Casi- guran, Gubat and Barcelona—are clamoring to local officials here, especially to President Benigno Aquino 3rd to follow through their promises as a genuine re- sponder to the needs of the hap- less victims of calamities.


Bselow par Rep. Edcel Lagman of Bicol regarded


the administration of President Aquino as below par. Lagman, a critic of Aquino administration told The Times that the President’s way of gov- ernance is “below par” compared to the previous administration. “He could not equate with the leadership of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo because President Aquino’s way of govern- ance is below par,” Lagman added. He also cited that during the in- cumbency of former president now


Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in times of disaster, she (GMA) imme- diately visited Bicol, execute and carries out mitigating measures. Arroyo looks into the needs of the affected communities as well as lo- cal governments to oversee the con- tingency measures here. The Bulusan Volcano erupted suddenly on November 6 but the strongest explosion took place on November 21 wherein heavy ashfall affected to over a thousand families in the towns of Juban and Irosin. Bernardo Alejandro, Office of Civil Defense chief in Bicol told The Times that the damage to agricultural prod- ucts and marine resources is placed at P8.1 million because of ashfall. At least 425 hectares of active ag- ricultural lands—planted with rice, banana, vegetables, root crops and fruit trees—have been affected. He said that about 79.3ha of agri- cultural crops within the fruiting stage were destroyed and 345.7ha were par- tially damaged while the crops yield a hectare dwindled from 108 metric tons a hectare to 30 metric tons. While the fresh water marine re- source over the Cadac-an River in


Juban town was hit by fish kill be- cause of lava, which also affected the 5,000 pieces of tilapia breeders from Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Re- sources Bicol.


Cedric Daep, chief of Albay Pub- lic Safety Management Office ex- plained to The Times the volcanic ashfall that hit the agricultural crops and plants in Sorsogon has higher silica content which could not be easily dissolved.


State of calamity The Mount Bulusan still shows


unpredictability, the state of calam- ity hoisted in this town while local disaster officials mull a permanent resettlement area for upslope farm- ers in seven villages living within the 4-kilometer-radius permanent danger zone(PDZ).


Ed Laguerta, Philippine Institute


of Volcanology and Seismology resi- dent chief, told The Times that some 500,000 cubic meters of volcanic debris may remobilize here when heavy rains takes place. Alert Level 1 remains hoisted over Bulusan Vol- cano. The public is strongly advised not to enter the 4-km PDZ because


the area is at risk to sudden steam and ash explosions. At least seven villages in Irosin are also under threat of lahar with the onset of bad weather disturbances. Edilberto Elorza, municipal disaster risk reduction management council action officer here said the villages of Mapaso, Patag, Tabon-Tabon, Santo Domingo, San Augustin, Carriedo, Bacolod, San Pedro, Macawayan, Gabao, Cogon and Gulang-Gulang have been identified as lahar risk areas. Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment in Bicol has allocated at least P400,000 to the victims as assistance. The P400,000 is prorated to three municipalities such as Casiguran, Juban and Irosin wherein about 140 people will be given cash for work. Earlier, Interior and Local Gov- ernment Secretary Jesse Robredo intervened and gave a call to Gov. Raul Lee of Sorsogon to provide assistance among the affected lo- calities, unfortunately Lee alleg- edly turned down the offer saying the provincial government could handle the situation.


Baguio ‘Christmas security’ challenged again


BAGUIO CITY: Security during the Christmas season here has been challenged again, as Philippine Star’s photographer Fernan- do Zapata Jr. becomes the latest victim of burglary. Zapata’s Mitsubishi Adventure AUV was broken into Wednesday night along Leonard Wood. The vehicle’s passenger window was shattered, allowing the bur- glars to cart away the Canon 50D camera, its 10-22mm Canon lens, another 70-200 Canon lens, his laptop, other photo- graphic equipment and personal effects. They were professionals, Zapata said. Surmising from the “work” of the burglars, according to Senior Supt. Marvin Bolabola, Cordillera police’s chief of staff, they might


■ At least 13 of 21 villages in the southern Dipolog City is under water. PHOTO BY JOEL ELLO Dipolog villages remain flooded


ZAMBOANGA CITY: Days of continuous rains have submerged many villages in the southern Dipolog City, but there were no immediate re- ports of injuries of casualties. Flash floods were reported in several areas and photos made available by journalists on the so- cial networking site Facebook.com showed the dev- astation brought about by the rains. Villagers were seen using fabricated raft so they could cross flooded areas. Many farm animals


were also evacuated to safer areas after flash floods threatened villages in low-lying communities af- ter the Miputak Creek overflowed. Flood water in some villages was as high as 4 feet. One Catholic chapel was submerged in water in the village of San Roque. Thousands of people were affected by the flooding, which according to authorities has submerged at least a dozen of 21 of the city’s villages since early this week.


AL JACINTO


Muslims, leaders demand fair share from Sulu Sea oil drilling


THE Muslims in the Sulu Archipelago that in- cluded the Tausug people from the Province of Sulu and the Sama of Tawi-Tawi are demanding their fair share from the oil drilling being con- ducted by the foreign oil exploration company in the Sulu Sea during the round table discus- sion held at the Institute of Islamic Studies of the University of the Philippines (IIS-UP) in Diliman, Quezon City on Thursday. The IIS-UP under Dean Julkipli Wadi hosted the discussion that was attended by the Muslim leaders from Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, academe and en- vironmentalists who are concerned with the en- vironmental impact with the oil exploration pres- ently conducted in the Sulu Sea by Exxonmobil Exploration and Production Philippines. “This discussion is just a start of a series of further discussions by people who are concerned with the preservation of the ecology and envi- ronment. The IIS-UP as an academic institution has also its social science dimension and not solely concentrated on the teaching of Islamic studies,” professor Wadi explained.


Drilling inquiry


He said the forum was conducted after Rep. Tupay Loong of the First District of Sulu introduced House Resolution 30, which is actually a “Resolution di- recting the appropriate House Committees to con- duct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, into the oil drilling explorations conducted at the Sulu Sea.” Loong divulged that the Exxonmobil Explora- tion and Production Philippines have started drilling its exploration well in the Sulu Sea un- der the Department of Energy Service Contract (SC-56) since October 2009. This Loong’s Resolution 30 also stated that Sulu Sea is part of the territorial waters and national patri- mony of the province of Sulu, where at the same time Sulu is one of the five component provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). He emphasized that any contract entered into


by the national government pertaining to the Sulu Sea should be with primary concern of the people of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. This position is even strengthened by Repub-


lic Act (RA) 9054, or the new Organic Act of the ARMM, whereby the people of the Sulu Archi- pelago is given the opportunity to participate in decision-making.


Thus in the process the Sulu lawmaker also informed the Department of Energy that the Muslims in Mindanao should benefit out of this oil drilling by virtue of the Law on National Economy and Patrimony.


Inherent rights Gov. Abdusakur Tan of Sulu who was represented


by his brother, lawyer Nabil Tan said the Tausugs of Sulu have the inherent rights to benefit out of this oil exploration. Gov. Sadikul Sahali of Tawi-Tawi who was one of the participants chided the Exxonmobil for conduct- ing oil exploration near the town of Mapun (formerly the Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi) on without conducting any public hearing with the people of his province. “We are not properly informed by the Depart- ment of Energy in particular about the activity of the Exxonmobil. There was no public hearing being conducted but merely public information,” Sahali lamented. For his part, Dr. Parouk Hussin, former regional


governor of ARMM said, “it is now about time to demand what is due us.” Under RA 9054, it stated that in the sharing


between the national government and regional government (ARMM) in strategic minerals rev- enues, taxes, or fees, 50 percent should be remit- ted to the regional government and the other 50 percent to the national government. Lawyer Nazzer Ynawat said legal experts should scrutinize if the Exxonmobil has violated or not any of the Constitutional provisions on National Economy and Patrimony stipulated under Section 2 of Article 12 of the 1987 Constitution. Ynawat said the State has the full control and supervision of the exploration, development and utilization of natural resources. He added that in the case of Exxonmobil it is only limited to co-pro- duction, joint venture and production-sharing agreements, but not to manage completely the en- tire oil exploration. Not unless 60 per centum of its capital is owned by Filipino citizens, he added. Meanwhile, a Tausug legal luminary and a member of faculty in the College of Law of the UP, Mehol Sadain agreed with the legal point of view of Ynawat saying that there is likely a legal infirmity in the case of Exxonmobil that should be looked into by experts. On the part of Exxonmobil, lawyer Aristeo Cariño clarified that he is attending the forum in his capacity as merely in-house legal counsel and contracts manager of Exxonmobil.


Cariño said he will bring the matter to the at- tention of Exxonmobil officials after UP profes- sor Gerry de Villa questioned Cariño as to whether this foreign company has its own environmental management plan duly accredited by the Envi- ronment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.


JULMUNIR I. JANNARAL


have been members of “bukas-kotse” gang. Immediately, the Baguio City police organized a tracker team to run after the burglars anticipating the uproar from the media community here who had been on their toes on the spate of robberies and burglaries in the city, mostly unsolved. Last month, Baguio City Hall was robbed by still unidentified suspects de- spite of its strict security and the presences of close-circuit television monitor, still those thieves carted away valuable things inside some of the City Councilor’s offices. The offices of Councilors Nicasio


Palaganas, Sangguniang Kabataan fed- eration Chairman Ysabelle de Vera, the Public Order and Safety Office and


Steno and Clerical Office were “ran- sacked” for valuable things.


Councilor Elmer Datuin, tourism committee chairman of the local legis- lature, said that this is sending a wrong signal to the whole business environ- ment in the city as a seeming pattern of break-ins have taunted the police. He added that “the police force should do something about this series of rob- bery it is not good in our city consider- ing that we are a tourists destinations.” Before the November 1 break, a business establishment just a stone- throw away from the Baguio Police Of- fice and City Hall selling call cards was broken into.


THOM F. PICAÑA


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