METROPOST


Judge stops City from enforcing Ord 90


The Regional Trial Court has extended its 72-hour Temporary Restraining Order stopping the City of Dumaguete from implementing a controversial ordinance requiring tricycle drivers to join an association before they are given a Mayor’s Permit.


Bancorro of RTC Branch 41 last week extended the TRO up to April 10. Tricycle drivers had questioned the Ordinance, arguing that they could not be compelled to join an association because it violates their constitutional rights.


Lawyers for the tricycle drivers, Aldo Munoz and Harold Jumuad, said the freedom to join associations also means that the


Dgte campaign


candidates start


candidates are vying for the 12 elective posts here for the coming May 13, 2019 local polls. The posts are those for


mayor, vice mayor, and 10 slots for the City Council. Lawyer Juvenal Tuale, acting election officer of Dumaguete City, on Friday said he is set to meet with the candidates to introduce himself, as well as discuss salient points on the upcoming elections. Tuale, who was the


election officer of Bayawan City, was named as acting EO of Dumaguete effective March 27, following a reshuffling order by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).


A total of 23 political TRO Judge Leoncio


tricycle drivers are free not to join associations or organizations.


at the requirement for organization membership because it would mean having to pay membership dues.


The drivers are balking day period.


Councilor Alan Gel Cordova, the author of the ordinance, said the intention of requiring the drivers to become members of an organization is to facilitate the dissemination of information from the City to the tricycle drivers, among others.


MARCH 31 - APRIL 6, 2019


NEWS and UPDATES 3 DOST


later declared the City Ordinance as invalid, after Board Member Rommel Erames pointed out that it was unconstitutional. Munoz said they believe they have reached “second base” with the extension of the TRO.


April 5. In an interview, Vice


The next hearing set on


The City Council had declared the ordinance as valid after the Provincial Board of Negros Oriental failed to act on the Ordinance after it was submitted for review within the mandated 30-


Governor Mark Macias said it is not easy to review the laws of the 25 local government units. He said they have to see if all the requirements were met. Macias said both the City Council and the Provincial Board believe they are in the right, but they have both promised to abide by the court decision. (Alex Pal)


Top Negros NPA official nabbed


announced the capture of former priest Francisco “Frank” Fernandez, who is said to be the top leader of the New People’s Army in Negros Island. In a statement, Lt. Col. Randy Pagunaran, commanding officer of the Army’s 94th Infantry Battalion said Fernandez, 71,who is also the regional secretary of the Regional Committee in Negros, was arrested along with his wife Cleope Lagtapon, 66, regional dept secretary for communication and education, and Gee-ann Perez, 20, a regional communications staff. They were arrested in a military operation on March 24 in a resort in barangay Calumpang, Nagcarlan, Laguna.


“Magpaila ila usa ko sa mga kandidato tungod kay wala ta nailhe dinhi ug usab ato pod nga hisgutan ang mga importante nga kamanduan kabahin sa eleksiyon (I will first introduce myself as I am not known to many here plus there are important details regarding the election that I will have to discuss),” he said.


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recovered three .45 caliber handguns, three hand grenades, a cellphone and some subversive documents. Pagunaran said the capture of the three NPA leaders in the resort shows that they were living an easy and luxurious life, spending millions of pesos that they mulcted from businessmen and politicians, while their members have to live in poverty in the mountains,


The Army said they The mi li tary has The Provincial Board


releases undergrad scholarship results


The Department of Science and Technology- Science Education Institute has announced the qualifiers for undergraduate scholarship programs. The names of qualifiers are posted at the DOST- website. The qualifiers will enjoy P40,000 subsidy for tuition and school fees, receive P10,000 book allowance per academic year and be given P7,000 monthly living allowance for the academic year, among other benefits. These scholars have


to be enrolled in any of the science and technology priority courses in any state


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48 pupils get tablets


far from their loved ones. “During the past several decades, Fernandez has been in hiding from the law and has done nothing for the masses. He failed the people,” Pagunaran said. The province of Negros Oriental, meanwhile, is still under full alert status for possible attacks by the New People’s Army (NPA) in line with its 50th founding anniversary last March 29. Colonel Raul Tacaca,


Provincial Police Director, confirmed this, after having received a directive from Police Regional Office 7 (PRO7) director, Brig. Gen. Debold Senas. During a staff conference at the Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office (NOPPO), Tacaca said they discussed concerns regarding the full alert status with police chiefs instructed to review and undertake target hardening measures to foil possible atrocities by the NPA. “Alam naman natin na may presence tayo ng NPA dito at active sila (We know that there is NPA presence in the province and they are active,” he said.


incident where alleged NPA hitmen shot a policeman in Manjuyod and “so we are TO PAGE 9


Tacaca cited a recent


the Amador Dagudag Elementary School participated in the testing of a novel ICT-based interactive learning system for elementary students using a wireless network of tablets and Open Source educational content held last March 27, 2019 at the eClassroom of said school. This activity is part of the Smarter Schools in Digital Dumaguete Initiative (SSIDDI) which is a collaboration between DepED, DOST,


Dumaguete, Rotary Club and the LGU of Dumaguete. Under this initiative all public schools in Dumaguete will be provided with ICT equipment according to school level, i.e. tablets, servers, flat TVs, and accessories for elementary schools; digital library (stand-alone computer with digitized publications, videos, etc.) for junior high schools; and microelectronics/ microcomputer kits for senior high schools. The goal of the initiative is to enhance the teaching and learning of Science, Mathematics, and English in the public schools by making innovative educational technologies available to the students and teachers.


ICT- Forty eight pupils from


“Silliman is such a center of excellence. A degree from Silliman is a key that unlocks doors of opportunities. Just make sure you are at the right door!” she advised SU Batch 2019. “How about joining the public sector and helping develop and implement effective policies and programs that will unleash our country’s potentials and preserve the democratic institutions that our parents and forefathers have fought for?” she asked them. Or if you choose the private sector, she said, “realize that the job market, here and abroad, will be influenced by government’s policies… With your Silliman education, you could help ensure that


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SU magna cum laude bags campus journ award


On its second year, the Dionisio T. Baseleres Award for Excellence in Campus Journalism named Jameela Antoniette Mendoza, a graduate of Silliman University College of Mass Communication, as its awardee last March 23 at the SU Audio-Visual Theater I.


Mendoza, a broadcasting major who graduated magna cum laude, was the editor-in-chief of SU student paper the Weekly Silliman from August to October 2018. She joined tWS in 2014 during her sophomore year as a photojournalist, and then became the news editor. She also served as a news and feature writer when she returned to SU after a year-long foreign exchange student program in one of SU’s partner universities in Japan, Shikoku Gakuin University.


gold medal and cash prize of PhP 5,000 from Dr. Rosario M. Baseleres, former SU College of Mass Communication dean and wife of the late Dionisio T. Baseleres. The Baseleres family established the award in 2018 in honor of Dionisio T. Baseleres, who was the editor-in-chief


TO PAGE 7 During the awarding ceremony, Mendoza received a


CAMPUS NEWS Be involved, Rasul urges Siliman graduates


Be involved. Beware of alternative facts. Speak out. This was the essence of the message of the Hon. Amina Rasul-Bernardo, president of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy, to the 1,300 graduates of Silliman University during the 106th March 24.


was also attended by the parents, families, and friends of Batch 2019 together with the board of trustees and administrators, guests, faculty, and staff of Silliman University.


sector, do consider becoming an involved citizen,” Ms. Rasul-Bernardo urged the young graduates who will soon leave the university to join the country’s professional sector. The former presidential advisor on Youth Affairs and the first chair of the National Youth Commission, reminded the graduates of the essence of Silliman education: to not merely strive to excel in their chosen field but also develop a strong desire to change their communities for the better.


“Whether [you choose to be] in the private or public The time-honored event at the 117-year-old institution University Commencement


Mayor Felipe Antonio Remollo and Jimmy Chua, associate vice-president of PLDT One Visayas pose after the formal presentation of the CCTV project that will see the gradual installation of cameras in all major intersections and strategic locations in the 30 barangays. The ceremony was attended by Vice-Mayor Franklin Esmeña Jr., City Administrator Ricardo Gonzales Jr., and the City Councilors. (Photo by PIO)


Forty eight pupils from Amador Dagudag Elementary School proudly display the tablets they received. Along with the tablets, the donations included headsets and a server that provides access to open-source educational tools. With the students were the DOST team led by Atty. Gilbert Arbon, DepEd IT officer Kim Fabillar, Inspiro’s Suzanne Lu-Bascara and president of ICT Dumaguete, Randolf Bandiola of Algorithm, Dolf Andringa of Foundation University, and their teachers headed by Principal Archites Daksla, and ICT coordinator Evangelin Lagaras. (Contributed photo)


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