Entrepreneurial Farmer

Mapeso: I Do Not Eat Dinuguan In Aklan

Most Aklanons were shocked in the revelation of Dr. Modesto Mapeso regarding the deplorable sanitary condition of the slaughter house of the Municipality of Kalibo. The disclosure of Dr. Mapeso was made during the recent session of the Kalibo Sangguniang Bayan (SB).
Dr. Mapeso is a practicing Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, the first Provincial Veterinarian of the Province of Aklan. He served in that capacity for almost half a century. He retired as Regional Director of the National Meet Inspection Service, Region VI.
According to Dr. Mapeso, the process of meat handling from slaughtering up to transporting meat to the market is most antiquated and worst for it is unsanitary in Kalibo.
For one thing, Mapeso pointed out, there is no stockyard. The animals are being butchered right where the livestocks are stocked. The animals are butchered on the floor which has mudded water, as drainage is poor if there is any. “I never eat ‘dinuguan’ in Aklan as I remember meat handling in the slaughter house of Kalibo,” Mapeso added.
During the said SB session, nobody denied the deplorable condition in the abattoir of Kalibo located in Barangay Tinigao. One reason advanced as cause of poor meat slaughtering and handling of livestocks and meat products in the abattoir of Kalibo is lack of fund.
Learning of the present resources available in support for food production in the municipality, particularly to follow protocol on the recommended method of meat handling will not demand more resources. What is needed is a qualified personnel to guide if not impose compliance to proper sanitation.
According to Ms. Eleanor Isada, Human Resource Manager of LGU Kalibo, it is not possible to hire a qualified Dr. of Veterinarian for assignment in the abattoir. But upon inquiry, the Office of the Municipal Agricultural Officer has 18 personnel, two (2) of whom are graduates of Dr. of veterinary medicine. Even if the 14 barangays are assigned one agricultural technologist each, there are four without assignment. If two technologists are assigned in the Kalibo Municipal Office, the two Dr. of veterinary graduates can be assigned to the abattoir; their positions maybe re-classified into appropriate title for assignment in the slaughter house. When fund is available their salary grade can be upgraded.
Around the slaughter house, there are available land area which can be used as stockyard. If it is a private land, it can be rented, payment of rental fee will come out of the income from the abattoir.
Meanwhile, if money is not available for facilities acquisition, used lumber maybe constructed as tables or stands for butchering animals so that its meat may not touch the ground and be free of any contamination.
In the transport of meat from the abattoir to the market, it is loaded in tricycles which are opened to dust and other contaminants. More often, meat touches the ground. If LGU Kalibo cannot provide appropriate vehicle to transport meat, it may negotiate with private sector or individual who maybe contracted to haul the meat like pork and beef from the slaughter house to the markets. Kalibo does not need much money to improve the quality of products from its abattoir considering its present resources. It only needs recognition of the problem, proper solution to the problem, and the will to do it.

STL Money For Mendicants

Mayor Antonio T. Mameng of Banga – the beautiful is pushing for the approval of a resolution requesting the PCSO to conduct Test Run for Small Town Lottery (STL) in Aklan. During the public hearing on the resolution, Mayor Mameng urged the Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan to approve it so the municipal mayors will have a sure source of money to give as alms for the mendicants. According to him, there are several mendicants visiting his office daily to seek alms. “There are about 20 of them now in my office,” Mameng stressed. He also challenged those presents to “tinguha ninyo nga mag mayor agud hitun-an ninyo.”
Banga claims to be the center of culture in Aklan. Is this the culture, the culture of begging. Aklanons wish to emulate from Banga? What a shame!
I am very sure several Banganhons triumphed over poverty through honesty, hard work, patience, perseverance and frugality. How many conquered poverty in Banga by gambling? This is a very good study for students and professors in the fields of social, economics and culture.
Who are the most depressed families in the 1950’s of Banga who have conquered poverty and now living in a life of dignity? What did they do and how did they do it in the conquest of poverty?
On the other hand, a question maybe also asked, who are the Banganhons who lived the lives of plenty in the 1950’s but now they are living in scarcity? ASU can conduct this study.
I expect Mayor Mameng to lead a life of honesty, hard work, and frugality. I expect Mayor Mameng to lead in the reinstatement of Banga as the beautiful. I expect him to lead a life of morality and maintain Banga as the center of culture in the Province of Aklan.

Computer At P240,000 Each

According to a very reliable informant, some 48 units of computers were distributed to the different public schools in Aklan. Each school or district received 1–2 units. In the memorandum receipt the recipients signed, each computer cost P240,000. Wow! Ha?
Window shopping in the computer shops in Kalibo tells that kind of computer distributed cost between P20,000–P25,000 each, add P5,000 for transportation and handling; it makes P30,000 or at a total cost of P1,440.000. However, the value in the memorandum receipt is P240,000 each or a total of P11.52 million for the 48 units distributed in Aklan. Subtracting P1.44 million from P11.52 million gives P10.08.
Ahay - -a! This is the P10.08 million price difference in Aklan alone. How about those distributed in other provinces and cities of Western Visayas?…of the whole Philippines?This is worst than the National Broadband Network deal. This computer deal, by all means, must be investigated and the culprit be given penalties she/he/they deserve. /MP

Do You Favor To Conduct STL Test Run?

Text & Photo by Ambrosio R. Villorente

Most Rev. Jose Romeo O. Lazo, D.D. giving his comment on the proposal to conduct STL Test Run

Banga Mayor Antonio T. Mameng (right) advocating to conduct STL Test Run so that the mayors can raise money to be given to the mendicants.

Hon. Morania speaking against the proposal to conduct STL Test Run

A portion of the cause oriented group which conducted protest rally against the conduct of the STL Test Run in Aklan just by the side of the Capitol building while the public hearing was going on inside the SP session hall.

Picture above is Mr. Candido Padios, 88, single from Pob., Batan, Aklan. He said, he went to Kalibo to participate on the Public Hearing on STL. He strongly opposes gambling, he said.

A public hearing on the proposal of Hon. Rodson Mayor and Hon. Nemesio Neron was heard in the morning last Monday, October 8, 2007. It was held at the Session Hall, Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), Kalibo, Aklan. The proposal is to approve a resolution requesting the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) to conduct a test run on the Small Town Lottery (STL) in the Province of Aklan.
All the members of the SP Aklan constituted themselves into a single committee to discuss the said resolution either to recommend or not recommend its approval. Several resource persons were invited to give their views regarding the proposal to conduct test run in Aklan. They represented the religious group, civic clubs, business group, non government organizations, and the academe. The PCSO was also invited to attend and brief the participants in the public hearing regarding the STL operations. The League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) representative was also invited.
However, the PCSO begged off that it cannot send any representative during the pubic hearing because the official concerned was abroad. The LMP was not able to have its designated representative. In view of it, Mnsgr. Adolfo Depra called the meeting defective. Hence, another public hearing is scheduled on October 26, 2007.
Vice Governor Gabrielle V. Calizo presided the public hearing. Hon. Rodson Mayor and Hon. Nemesio Neron were given 5 minutes each to explain their resolution. Hon. Plaridel M. Morania and Hon. Wilbert Ariel I. Igoy who oppose the resolution were given 5 minutes each to explain why they oppose. On the part of the Diocese of Kalibo, Most Rev. Jose Romeo O. Lazo spoke for 5 minutes to explain his view on the matter. PSSUPT Benigno B. Durana, Jr. was also given 5 minutes to give the side of the police. Mr. Virgilio Bautista spoke in behalf of the civic clubs. Atty. Allen S. Quimpo enlightened the public hearing of his experience about the test run on the STL in Kalibo in 1989 while he was the mayor of Kalibo. Ms. Didi Quimpo representing women and NGO gave the views of her organization.
After the meeting which lasted for 3 hours, no decision was made. Another meeting on the matter is scheduled on October 26. Before the meeting adjourned, Hon. Morania requested those people inside the session hall who are in favor of the proposal to hold STL test run to raise their right hands. People remained silent for about 30 seconds. Nobody raised his right hand. /MP

PREGINET: DOST’s Existing Broadband Network

The controversial National Broadband Network (NBN) project with the Chinese firm ZTE has been hogging the headlines, what with exposés of anomaly and corruption allegedly involving some Cabinet and other ranking government officials, and the President’s husband (FG Mike Arroyo).
But behind the din of Senate investigation on the issue that has became a high-rating teledrama is an existing government broadband project that failed to catch similar big public’s attention—except for its beneficiaries—in the past seven years that it has been existing.
PREGINET, or Philippine Research Education and Government Information Network, is a nationwide broadband network that interconnects academic institutions, government offices, and research and development (R&D) offices in the country.
It is currently serving 76 institutions: 14 universities, 28 research institutions, 33 government offices and one non government organization. (Aklan State University in Banga, Aklan is one of the institutions.)

Humble Beginnings

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) started in 1994 the vision that was to become PREGINET when it provided seed money to a university consortium to set up, operate, and maintain a domestic wide-area network called the Phnet.
For the first time, university-consortium members and the country became connected to the Internet. Commercial Internet service providers (ISPs) came in afterwards, spurred by the introduction of the technology. It has since became the fertile training ground for the country’s Internet engineers.
The DOST, with the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) as implementer, moved a step closer to its research and development (R&D) vision by spearheading the development of the country’s next-generation Internet.
Through the Asian Internet Interconnection Initiatives (AI3) project it was initially funded with P5.5 million and provided connectivity to global-research and education networks.
In June 2000, DOST cashed in P24 million for the first year to what was termed “high-performance research and education network”—the PREGINET.
“Currently, the concept of a research and education network is relatively new in the Philippines. Its potential to contribute to innovation research collaborations is a target that ASTI-PREGINET hopes to meet,” ASTI director Denis F. Villorente told PSciJourn News Service.

Functions and Purpose

According to ASTI, one of the objectives of PREGINET is the establishment of exchange points for research, education and government institutions. It facilitates interchange of research information, research and training, collaboration, and access to international databases.
It is also a venue to demonstrate novel applications in the areas of e-commerce, agriculture, telemedicine, distance education, digital libraries, information dissemination, hazards and disaster monitoring, prediction, warning and mitigation, delivery of government services and information to citizens and business.
The originally five-year project is on its third expansion period. With a total cost of P79 million, it is implemented in partnership with the Commission on Information and Communications Technology Telecommunications Office (CICT-Telof).

Backbone

PREGINET’s backbone currently consists of three exchange points located in Quezon City, Cebu City and Cagayan de Oro City. Links are then provided from the backbone to at least one access point per region.
It uses the Visayas-Mindanao Telecommunications Office Network of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to interconnect institutions in Iloilo, Cebu, Tacloban, Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Iligan, Cotabato and Davao.
Private-sector support is also maximized through its partnership with private telecommunications companies. The Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC) is one international organization that supports PREGINET.
The project also provides value to the academic, research and government institutions in four areas: connectivity, communication, content and community. ASTI, in cooperation with the DOST regional offices and DOTC-Telof, manages the network. ASTI also establishes, monitors and maintains the PREGINET national backbone up to the regional access points, and maintains central database of all ongoing projects.

Philippine Open Internet Exchange

The Philippine Open Internet Exchange (PhOpenIX), a component of PREGINET, is an open-to-all, carrier-neutral Ipv4 and Ipv6 multilateral-peering exchange and a nonprofit membership-based exchange. It is managed and operated by ASTI.
The I-Root server is now operational and answering DNS Top Level Domain queries on the exchange. This is made possible through the partnership with Packet Clearing House (PCH), APNIC and Auto-nomica/Netnod.
With partnership with i.root-servers.net operators, the exchange will have an instance of the I-Root server directly available at the IX core switch. The I-Root server incorporates IP any cast technology. It uses routing topology to send Internet traffic to the nearest or best destination.
This leads to better distribution of services and improves response times for end users which means faster resolution of fully qualified domain names to IP addresses for the Philippines.
Besides DOST-ASTI, the PhOpenIX is supported by the CICT, Philippine Network Operators Group, Innove Communications, Inc., Cisco and PCH.

Cost recovery and Sustainability

Although funding for PREGINET is ending on December 31, 2007, ASTI has formulated a plan that would continue and support its activities with minimal funding support from the DOST.
The PhOpenIX will carry on with its operations and expand its community. According to the PhOpenIX website, ASTI will continue to host an instance of the I-Root server (192.36.148.17) in Manila. The installation was assisted by operators from PCH and APNIC.
Among the enhancements they would carry include network sustai-nability, grid computing facility, IPv6 inter-network test bed and more collaboration with local universities.
Institutions connected to the system would form part of the cost-recovery scheme and sustainability of the project. (PSciJourn News Service) /MP

Clean Coal Technology Useful for Economic Growth

By ALEX P. VIDAL

A senior official of the Taipei-based Formosa Heavy Industries Corporation (FHIC) has urged Filipinos to adopt the clean coal technology to ensure stability of power supply and to use it as “key to invite more investors in the country.”
Feng-In Hong, senior administrator of FHIC, explained in an e-mail that “clean coal technology is useful for your economic growth now and in the future and is environmental friendly.”
Hong, who has been with the company for almost 10 years now, swore that clean coal technology “will lower the power rate and improve the stability of the power supply in your country.”
“We are so glad that we can share with you some of our experiences here in Formosa for the coal fired power plants, we call it clean coal technology,” wrote Hong referring to the Clean Coal Technology Educational Tour participated mostly by journalists from Iloilo City last September.
Hong’s company had entered into a partnership with Global Business Power Corporation (formerly Mirant Global Corporation) “to help address the need for reliable supply of electricity in the Visayas at the least cost using clean coal technology,” said Engr. Adrian N. Moncada, Global Business Power Corporation’s assistant vice president. (Ed: Global Business Power Corporation has two diesel plants in Aklan which are serving as centers of controversy in the electric power field.)

TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE

Bringing together the two companies’ technical experience, they have proposed the “Panay Expansion Project”, a US$120-150 million investment.
The 100-megawatt Clean coal-Fired Power Plant (2x50-megawatt units) is being proposed to be built in the 15-hectare plant vicinity of the current Panay Power Corporation (PPC) in Brgy. Ingore, La Paz district, Iloilo City.
Moncada, who accompanied the contingent in the two-day tour, said the target markets of the project are Iloilo City, Guimaras and the rest of Panay Island. Its proposed timeline of construction is 24 months from 2008 to third quarter of 2010.
It will be installed near the sea so that coal could be delivered by ship and sea water can be utilized for condenser cooling.
Moncada said to minimize emissions and control waste, the new coal plant will use an enclosed coal conveyor system, an electrostatic precipitator which catches solid particulates, continuous emission monitoring system (CEMS) and continuous opacity monitoring system (COMS), waste water treatment facility and the latest circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boiler technology.

REDUCE ENERGY RATE

Moncada said Global Business Power Corporation (GBPC) is eyeing a coal fired plant to reduce the energy rate, improve power system reliability and address the issues on environment in the city of Iloilo.
The coal plant shall augment the supply of its existing diesel-fired power plant in the city, he stressed, which will be maintained as a peaking plant while the coal plant will serve as baseload energy source for Panay Island including Iloilo City and Guimaras Island.
GBPC operates a 72-megawatt diesel-fired power plant in La Paz but its capacity will not be enough to support the city’s growing demand for power which peaks at more or less 85 megawatts, it was learned.
Proponents of the project said the new coal plant will use the same “environment-friendly” technology of FHIC’s subsidiary, the Asia Power Energy Corporation (APEC)—an existing coal-fired plant based at the TECO special economic zone in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

TECHNICAL ASPECT

GBPC and FHIC have agreed that FHIC, the largest private enterprise in Taiwan with over 30 years and over 83 units of planning, engineering, construction and operation experience in and outside Formosa Group, will handle the technical aspect of the project such as designing and constructing the plant.
Proponents have observed that “there are certain limitations to non-renewable energy supply in the country.”
Coal, they pointed out, has 216 years of reserves, natural gas with 61.9 years and crude oil with 40.3 years remaining. Coal is reportedly “the most viable solution” to Panay’s looming power crisis in the coming years “considering its technical feasibility and commercial viability.”
The Semirara coal deposit is reportedly enough to support a 100-megawatt coal-fired power plant for 90 years aside from other potential alternative coal mines in the country.
“Coal is the most cost-efficient option compared to hydro, natural gas, geothermal or other renewable sources of energy,” stated the facts from the Panay Expansion Project Brief.“GBPC is open to tapping renewable sources of energy such as solar and wind, but none are available that are both technically feasible and commercially viable. Baseload plant options include natural gas or geothermal which are not available or sustainable in Iloilo City or elsewhere in Panay Island.” /MP

Sugilanon Ni Tita Linda

Ni Tita Linda Belayro

Sobrang Pagpalangga

May isaeang ka ina nga may pitong dag-on nga onga. Gwapo ag sadya-an it pang-eawason rayang onga. Palangga gid imaw ko anang nanay. Haeos owa naga halin sa anang euyo rayang onga. Sa madaling hambae, nagmasakit rayang onga. Owa magbuhay ag namatay imaw. Duro guid ro kasubo ko anang ina. Haeos indi imaw maka kaon sa pagtinangis.
Pagkatapos it eobong sa onga, sige-sige nga pagpakita ko onga kana kada gabi-i sa mga lugar nga pirmeng guina hampangan nana. Kon Makita nana nga naga tangis ro anang ina hay naga tangis man imaw.
Isaeang gabii, sa sige nga pag tilinangis ko anang ina, nagpakita imaw sa anang ina nga may daea nga maisot nga lampara. Naka suksok imaw it puti nga guin paeambong kana sa anang eobong. Idto imaw nagpakita sa sikwayan ko anang ina. Pagkabatyag ko anang ina, habugtaw imaw.
Naghambae ro patay, “Inay punduha eon ro imong pagtinangis ay indi ako makatoeog bangud bunak ro akong eambong sa kaabu-abo nga eoha nga naga halin kimo.”
Hinadlukan ro nanay ag nag pundo eon imaw sa pagtinangis. Masunod nga gabii, nag pakita eon man ro onga, nga may daea nga lampara. May korona nga mga bueak ro anang oeo.
Naghambae ro patay: “Tan-awa nanay, mamaea eon ro akong eambog, ngani naka pahuway eon ako ag naka toeog sa akong eo-eobngan”.
Halin kato, guin haead nana sa Diyos ro anang kasubo. Guin pas-an it mahipos ro anang kasubo. Owa eon man magpakita ro patay ag mahamu-ok eon nga naga pahuway ro onga sa anang maisot nga katre sa idaeum it eogta. /MP

SPORTS

Prov’l. Interschool Badminton Cup
Generates Overwhelming Participation

By ODON S. BANDIOLA

Vice Gov. Billie V. Calizo with the hyper-active badminton participants (picture above) from different grade schools of Aklan.

“Start ‘em young,” Aklan Vice Governor Gabrielle V. Calizo stressed as she opened the first ever Provincial Inter-School Badminton Cup 2007 at the Acevedo Farms at New Buswang, Kalibo, Aklan last Saturday, September 29 so-dubbed in her honor, being the main backer of the two-day tourney.
The tournament was participated by some 218 young badminton players from some 20 elementary schools, high schools and colleges based in the capital town of Kalibo and the neighboring towns.
“Why badminton? This is the kind of sports discipline that many young Aklanon people have the potential to excel in the future as this is the kind of game where height and heft are not too significant factors to be able to compete with the best in the region and the country,” Vice Governor Calizo emphasized.
The Ati-atihan Badminton Club Director Manolita Q. Acevedo led the tournament organizers. The tournament was divided into various categories: boys and girls, 8 years old and below. The boys and girls, 12 years old and below, both in the elementary level, high school and college category. All badminton events were in the doubles competitions.
The overwhelming turnout inspired Vice Governor Gabrielle V. Calizo to make the Provincial Inter-school Badminton Cup an annual tournament.
“Sports is not all about winning, but most importantly, it is all about discipline, sportsmanship, right value, character treats, and humility in victory. These are more than golds, silvers and bronzes,” she concluded.

After the competition, the following emerged the winners:

8 YEARS OLD BELOW CATEGORY
BOYS
Champion : JON JASON QUIMPO – NVC
KENT CHRISTIAN URETA – NVC
Runner-up :KENNETH JONES NECICITO – NIS
JOSHUA TOLENTINO – NIS
GIRLS
Champion : ABIGAIL MALUMAY – NIS
BLESSIE MAYEEN NUÑEZ – NIS
Runner-up :ELENI ANGELIC DEBUQUE – Wadeford
VIOBRA NATALIE NARAVAL – Wadeford

12 YEARS OLD BELOW CATEGORY
BOYS
Champion :JOHN ALEJAGA – NBES
JEM MARK BRIONES – NBES
Runner-up : KIT REODAVA – KPES
PITT LINDREN PLANA – KPES
GIRLS
Champion :GAMINA ISBERTO – ACC
CHARMAINE MALICSE – ACC
Runner-up CHERRYMAE MILLARES – NBES
JANICE RICAFORTE – NBES

HIGHSCHOOL CATEGORY
BOYS
Champion :MARK PAGAYON – ACC
KEN ILARINA – ACC
Runner-up :JOSEPH RADISLAO – RSHS
JARDINE PANADO – RSHS
GIRLS
Champion :GAY MARIE SANTIAGO – ACC
HONEY JOY DEL ROSARIO – ACC
Runner-up :SARAH MAE NOBLE – ACC
ALEXANDRA NICOLE SERASPI – ACC

COLLEGE CATEGORY
MEN
Champion :ZALMER REYNALDO – SGC
JUNLEE MAGALIT – SGC
Runner-up :IAN AGUSTIN – SGC
RAINIER TUPAS – SGC
WOMEN
Champion :TRACY PINOS - SGC
MELMA QUINDATO – SGC

Runner-up :CHRISTINA QUIDATO – ASU
MARY GRACE PASTRANA – ASU

Badminton is a sports discipline young Aklanons should learn. “Only time can tell but it is hoped from among their ranks as these young boys and girls excem-plify in these pictures. These are the 218 parti-cipants from the 20 elementary, high schools and colleges who par-ticipated in the recent Vice Gov. Billie V. Calizo Provincial Inter-school Badminton Cup held at the Ati-atihan Badminton Center on Septem-ber 29 - 30, 2007, at the Acevedo Farms at New Buswang, Kalibo, Aklan. /MP

BOXING COVERAGE RIVALRY

ABS-CBN Promotes ‘Digmaan’
While Rival GMA-7 Endorses ‘Will to Win’

By ALEX P. VIDAL

The shoe is now on the other foot.
In a strange twist, ABS-CBN, erstwhile “live” coverage sponsor of boxing icon Manny Pacquiao played up not the Oct. 7 non-title rematch between Pac-quiao and Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas dubbed “Will to Win” like what rival GMA-7 did, but the World Boxing Organization (WBO) heavyweight championship tussle between Russian champion Sultan Ibragimov and challenger Evander Holyfield on Oct. 14 in Moscow it dubbed as “Digmaan.”
ABS-CBN had been a consistent partner of the Filipino beakbuster in his past blockbuster fights in the Philippines and in the United States against Mexican hombres and even once co-promoted with the Manny Pacquiao Promotions (MPP) the 28-year-old lefty’s 12-round WBC international superfeatherweight rumble with Oscar Larios at the Araneta Colesium in 2005.
In the pay-per-view Pacquiao-Barrera shootout co-promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank and Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, ABS-CBN has no involvement both in the coverage and sponsorship.
GMA-7 was able to reportedly outbid the rival network for the right to broadcast “live” the Pacquiao-Barrera fisticuff. (Ed: The live broadcast was aborted. SM Butz J. Maquinto of RGMA-DYRU, Kalibo apologized for it.) Thus, for three weeks, GMA-7 covered Pacquiao’s training in Cebu including his departure to Los Angeles and arrival in Las Vegas.
It was reported it will cover the megabuck fight “live.” (But it didn’t.)
ABS-CBN, on the other hand, has neither advertised nor mentioned the “Will to Win” fight and is focusing heavily on Evander Holyfield’s attempt to annex his fifth world title currently worn by the Russian dynamo in a championship brawl promoted by Seminole Warrior Boxing, Golden Boy, Golden Grain Promotions, Main Events, Yuri Federov Sports Lab, Real Deal Promotions and Sampson Lew-kowicz in association with Nafta Moskva and the Seminole Tribe of Florida will be televised from Moscow, Russia via pay-per-view.. /MP

Education

ASU Tops Vet Med Board Exam

The Aklan State University (ASU) Vet Med graduate, Dr. Melanie Masangkay Pelayo ranked second in the recent Veterinarian Licensure Examination given by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC).
For two years (2005-2006), the ASU-SVM is a consistent top performing school in the licensure examination. This year, Dr. Pelayo brought glory to her Alma Mater by bagging the second place in the Top 10 examinees
Dr. Pelayo, the daughter of Engr. and Mrs. Delano Pelayo garnered an average of 83.75 percent; only 1.5 percent lower than the topnotcher Dr. Dennis V. Umali of UPLB who got 85.25 percent.
The Aklan State University conducted a motorcade in honor of Drs. Melanie M. Pelayo and Anabelle L. Samino together with 13 other ASUians who passed the Licensure Examination for agriculturists this year. The new agriculturists are: Karol Kay T. Amacio, Rasel J. Billones, Andrew D. Bretaña, Japhet L. Catuiran, Jayrelo C. Celab, Rio S. Dunque, Johner C. Francisco, Mary Grace C. Ibit, Cecile M. Maquirang, Catheryn G. Morales, Lorelie N. Rambunay, Ruel O. Veloso, and Norlie M. Villa.
During the celebration of the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross with the theme “Paghiliugyon ag Pagpasaeamat” held recently, the testimonial program for the board passers and the closing program for the Student Convention was held. President Emeritus, Dr. Helmar E. Aguilar and University President, Dr. Benny A. Palma awarded certificates of recognition to all board passers. It was indeed a celebration of thanksgiving for the ASU community. (ASU-PME)/MP

Health Link

PLGPMI Midwives
Join Bombo Medico 2007

By Cecille dela Rosa de Lemos

The officers of the Philippine League of Government and Private Midwives, Inc. – Aklan Chapter, headed by its president Cecille R. de Lemos, joined the medical–dental mission organized by Bombo Radyo dubbed as BOMBO MEDICO 2007 on September 23, 2007 at Kalibo Elementary School II.
This community outreach program of Bombo Radyo was able to cater to some 1,500 Aklanons who sought medical and dental attention, according to Mr. John Allen Ascaño, Bombo Radyo station manager, and Mr. Eril Ibardolasa, Bombo Radyo assistant manager.
The medical–dental mission was co-sponsored by the local chapters of all the allied health groups: Aklan Medical Society, Aklan Pharmaceutical Association, Aklan Dental Association, Phil. Nurses Association – Aklan Chapter, Philippine Army, NVC Caregivers, and the Philippine League of Government and Private Midwives, Inc. – Aklan Chapter. /MP

Isyung Police

PNP Applicants Screening
In Aklan PPO

By PO1 Nida L. Gregas

The Provincial Screening Committee evaluated and initially screened the applicants for PNP Attrition Recruitment Program Phase 2 in the Aklan Police Provincial Office on October 5, 2007. The Committee is composed of PNP PSUPT REMUS ZACHARIAS P CANIESO, Deputy Provincial Director, NAPOLCOM as chairman, Atty. Jose S Niego, Hearing Officer, PPOC as co-chairman, P/Major Paquito S. Saratiosa (ret), Action Officer, PLEB; SB member Mark Quimpo, PLEB Chairman, PWCCD SPO4 Profiteza I Morato, PWCCD PNCO/Police Women Representative; and PO3 Mary Rocely Repedro as the secretariat to search for qualified applicants in the province of Aklan.
After the preliminary screening, the committee will endorse them to the Police Regional Office 6 to process their application folders and to be part of the PNP organization. This composition is based on the NAPOLCOM MEMO CIRCULAR No. 2003-009 dated October 7, 2003, in support to the directive of PRO6, authorizing the Aklan Police Provincial Office to establish a Provincial Screening committee and prescribe its membership. A total of 42 applicants from different municipalities were interviewed. /MP

Aviation

PAL Eyes Foreign Investors,
Sets Int’l Road Show

Philippine Airlines will tap foreign institutions as potential equity investors in its parent company, now that the country’s biggest carrier has moved out of rehabilitation, PAL president Jaime J. Bautista said.
“We will be embarking on a road show across Asia, Europe and North America to drum up interest in a limited offering of shares in PAL Holdings, Inc., our parent company,” Bautista said.
The move culminated a nine-year stint under regulatory supervision that transformed the once ailing flag carrier into a robust, profitable company with an ambitious agenda for the future.
In a simple ceremony at the Securities and Exchange Commission boardroom, SEC chair Fe Barin handed Bautista official documents containing the agency’s approval of PAL’s petition to move out of receivership.
The rest of the SEC’s members – Commissioners Ma. Juanita Cueto, Jesus Enrique Martinez, Thaddeus Venturanza and Raul Palabrica – as well as the head of PAL’s rehabilitation receiver, Renato Francisco, witnessed the turnover.
That formally released PAL from the strictures of its rehabilitation plan, the document that has served as the blueprint of the airline since June 1999, a year after the SEC placed PAL under receivership.
PAL’s creditors, who have come to terms with the flag carrier on the rescheduling of its remaining obligations welcomed the move. As of August 31, 2007, PAL had $869 million in outstanding principal debt, down from $2.2 billion when it entered receivership.
Graduating from receivership will bring about a number of benefits for PAL, including lower financing costs, improved financing terms and better access to capital markets.
It will also open up more doors for the airline, which no longer has to deal with the stigma of being under rehabilitation. This is expected to lead to more commercial and marketing opportunities.
Moreover, the lifting of receivership provides greater flexibility for PAL as it seeks to grow its fleet, expand services and venture to new markets.
Bautista thanked PAL chairman and CEO Lucio C. Tan, who infused $200 million in fresh equity into PAL in June 1999 which triggered the approval of the rehabilitation plan, saved the airline from liquidation and put it on the road to recovery.
“Dr. Tan’s bold and selfless move, taken when no one else wanted to touch PAL, was an act of faith in our ability to turn around the company. The new PAL, now among best-performing airlines in the world, is a testament to Dr. Tan’s commitment,” he said.
The PAL chief also acknowledged the flag carrier’s various stakeholders, particularly the riding public, for standing by the airline when it mattered most: “Your strong support throughout PAL’s rehabilitation lifted us from crisis and turned us into a success story.”
Bautista paid tribute to PAL’s 7,500-strong work force: “It was your hard work and sacrifice that enabled us to attain this remarkable achievement. We could not have done it without everyone pulling together.” /MP

Editorial - October 8 Issue

Pinoys In The US Mull ‘Hero’ Tag

By JEREMAIAH M. OPINIANO

In the Bay Fair, California, U.S.A., outside the five-car intercity train streaks of images rush as white as Rodrigo’s streaks of hair, the flecks of paint on his denim, rubber shoes, and fingers, and the future awaiting undocumented migrant Filipinos like him.
“I’m getting homesick! Let them know I’m a ‘TNT’,” he blurts out in Pilipino. TNT is migrant-speak for undocumented foreigners hiding from immigration authorities.
A few eyes darted his way but went back to the images outside the train of the Bay Area Rapid transport system.
The attention Rodrigo got may mean some passengers think this man’s gone haywire. What with the tension gripping foreign workers in the United States on new immigration laws and policies.
This side of California offered the street for rallies of advocates seeking greater leniency in dealing with illegal immigrants like Rodrigo. California historically embraced migrants like a venus flytrap. But with the US economy sagging under the weight of war spending, conservatives are pointing to an easy scapegoat: illegal immigrants.
Federal government statistics estimated 210,000 Filipino undocumented migrants are in the US. However, with a systematic network of support, outside the more than 2.5 million Filipinos temporarily or permanently working and living in the U.S., the number of TNTs may go higher than government estimates.
The whole state has maintained the invisible umbilical cord for most Filipinos. Their creativity to land American soil amid strict immigration processes matches the Mexicans’ ability to defy border restrictions.
The motivation is high. At home, it’s poverty and the lack of opportunities for hitching on the upper social strata. For Rodrigo, it is both. With a degree in civil engineering from a Philippine university, he could work in US only as a handyman, doing paint jobs for a living. But because the latter career has been lucrative with the early and middle years of a real estate boom in the US, Rodrigo sends a thousand dollars (P45,000) every month to his family in the Philippines. He even sends US$4,000 (P180,000 at US$1=P45) every mid-year to fund his five children’s schooling.
“Maybe that’s why they call people like me ‘heroes’,” Rodrigo said as he got out of the 24th Street Mission station: “We do everything possible to keep our families happy.”
Husband and wife Tony and Elenita Manuel [Editor’s note: because of their status, some Filipinos agreed to be interviewed only if we protect their identities.] disagrees.
Both are also “out of status” in the US and yet they could still send US$1,000 every month to siblings and nieces from both sides of their families.
Manuel said even if he and his wife send money to make sure their younger relatives go to good schools in the Philippines, they couldn’t be considered heroes.
“I still don’t want to be called a hero just because of that,” Tony demurs.

Family

The money that Rodrigo and Manuel couple sends back home is part of the US$12-billion average annual remittance that she and millions of Filipinos send from more than 190 countries.
This cash hoard hasn’t only bloated the purse of families in the Philippines to spend on basic needs like food but also for luxury items like cars and investments in real estate as well as small and micro-businesses.
This cash flow, according to economists and analysts, is saving the country from several financial shocks since 1986.
“I don’t know if overseas Filipinos think of themselves [as heroes] in the literal sense,” University of the Philippines anthropologist Michael Tan said.
“But they certainly know how important their migration is for their families, and maybe to some extent, for the national economy,” he added. To note, they could still send money back home, despite their “illegal” status.
Add those who work based on a contract, Arnold Reyes pointed out.
“They [overseas Filipino workers or OFWs] remit almost all of their earnings, while we [immigrants] only send some money to show to relatives we are still important,” said Arnold Reyes, a physical therapist who lives in Ventura County, California.
But Elenita Manuel, a dental assistant said, using self-importance as reason makes them less qualified as “heroes”.
When I send money home, it’s because my nieces need it and not because I want them to make me feel I’m still important, husband Tony said.
“Good thing we haven’t been caught,” he added of their “illegal” status.
Good thing, too, they have each other to support on, they added, compared to Rodrigo who pointed to his immigration status as one of the reasons for missing the Philippines.
“I’m a hero to my family,” he said to no one in particular.

Absence

For Alberto Oliveros, family members absent from his daily life compel him to work for 12 to 16 hours a day five days a week. Oliveros, who works at the Laguna Honda Hospital in San Francisco, said he needs the money to send to his mother in Hong Kong and to siblings and relatives in his hometown of San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte.
When told the time, Oliveros jumped off the sofa where he dozed off, splashed water on his face, and hand-combed his black hair.
“I have to work from 11 p.m. ‘til tomorrow. That’s an extra US$50 an hour,” he said while smoothing the green nurse’s polo he just donned before catching a nap.
“It’s a waste to miss overtime,” he said before closing the door to the apartment he temporarily shared with this writer.
Filipinos in the U.S. tend to work very hard, Oliveros’s former colleague Arnold Reyes said.
“Filipinos in the US want a secure future, and then enjoy [the fruits of their labor when they retire],” he added. He said, a six-day work week of a dozen hours a day is normal.
For Oliveros, going through this grueling schedule is also because of a US$5,000-monthly mortgage payment on the new house he bought. For Arnold, it’s for the mortgage on his US$60,000 BMW.
Working abroad is the one decision I haven’t regretted, San Jose, California-based Consuelo Dacanay said.
Dacanay works in the airport to screen passengers going through x-ray machines and body scanning equipment.
She waved a two-kilogram two-feet black wand from just below the armpit to the waist of an estimated 60 passengers every hour.
She’s paid US$9 an hour for a 48-hour workweek.
“If somebody in the Philippines would have a chance to go abroad, here especially, they should; I won’t stop them. I’d even goad them,” Dacanay said during her 15-minute break.
The former schoolteacher added: “second-raters will be left in the Philippines, and there will be no more life back home.” /MP

Entrepreneurial Farmer

Ambrosio R. Villorente

Is It A Sin To Gamble?
To gamble is to play games of chance for money or some other stake. It is to take risk in order to gain some advantage. To others, gambling is to earn easy money. To some, gambling is a sort of a recreation resorted to after working hard.
The Roman Catholic priests of the Diocese of Kalibo led by Bishop Jose Romeo O. Lazo, has been opposing gambling, legal or illegal, over the years. They have seen the “ugly effects of gambling in the lives of the people especially the poor. Gambling destroys the moral fiber of the people.” This opposition is embodied in their “pastoral statement of opposition to small town lottery” (STL).
The pastoral letter is dated September 19, 2007 and it was read and discussed during last Sunday’s holy masses in all Roman Catholic churches in all towns and barangays of Aklan.
The pastoral letter encourages “the 24 Parishes of the Diocese of Kalibo, the Parish Pastoral Councils, the lay organizations, movements, associations and societies to take immediate and appropriate action to denounce the entry of STL” in Aklan. It urges to begin information and formation campaign about the evils of gambling, STL in particular.
The pastoral letter prodded the people to continue praying and be vigilant in our commitment to safeguard the moral and spiritual life of the people especially Aklanons.
The issuance and discussion of the pastoral letter are the result of the proposed “Test Run” of the STL by the 16 Mayors of Aklan. “The same proposal was submitted to the Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan for three times and it was rejected for three times also and now it is resurfacing,” stated the pastoral letter.
In the argument of Mayor Edgar R. Peralta of New Washington, STL like cockfight, Lotto, and Binggo are all legalized. Lotto, cockfighting and Binggo are allowed to operate in Aklan. He must, as well, allow the operation of STL to be fair to everybody.
Gambling is a sort of recreation, a way to enjoy but losing surplus money. However, if money is spent that it should have been appropriated for man’s basic needs like food, medicine, shelter and education, gambling becomes evil that erodes moral and even economic values of our people.
The protocol of gambling in the Philippines will certainly lead any person to play lotto and STL and will eventually direct those who engaged in to sins and perdition that even their only honor will be mortgaged if not sold.
Betting stations will proliferate even in the backyard so that even the school boys and girls will be enticed to bet their pocket money, the spouses will be persuaded to bet its money appropriated for either food, education, medicine, or house repair in the hope to win easy money. Only few have won; millions have lost. What is the main purpose of Lotto and STL? Are the Mayors’ proposal to earn money for their municipality and to provide amusement to the people?
If they are serious to achieve these objectives, they can establish a gambling center in their respective town similar to that found in Las Vegas, Nevada; New Orleans; Monte Carlo, Monaco; and Cannes, France. In these places, people go there not must to win but to enjoy even if they lost a fortune of their earnings. However, their losses do not hurt as their main aim to visit those places is to enjoy with their money, win or loss.
There are restrictions to follow such as the use of dress code. In Monte Carlo and Cannes for instance, those who are allowed access are dressed properly, no short, no sandals. Lotto in Kalibo allows everybody access and bet.
Those municipal mayors who wished to give fairness and justice to the admirers of various gambling ways may approve ordinance that will establish a gambling center where all these STL, Lotto, Binggo and even cockfights are located for those who are lonely but with much money to gamble, lost or win surplus money and enjoy.

GSIS Appropriates P380 B For Big Wigs

In year 2006, the GSIS paid an average of P4,499.50 monthly pensions to the 152,606 pensioners or P53,995.26 or a total of P8.24 billion. This P4,499 monthly is too small for the needed maintenance medicine of senior citizens.
Moreover, the GSIS is investing US$1 billion or P45 billion abroad at P45 to a dollar exchange rate. But why does GSIS invest the people’s money abroad? Is the Philippines encouraging investors to invest out of the Philippines?
But come to think of it. The SSS increases the SSS pensioners’ monthly pension by 10 percent annually. On the other hand, the GSIS pensioners received zero (0) increase. Is the GSIS established for the few? Is it for the welfare of the state employees?Not only that, the GSIS under Mr. Winston Garcia has shifted the burden of expenses in the payment of monthly pension from the GSIS to the individual pensioners. Garcia is depositing GSIS money to the Union Bank that has no branches in the provinces and cities. As a consequence, the pensioners are compelled to withdraw their pension money from other banks which collect service fees for every transaction. This is unfair. /MP

Mayor Navarosa Denies Allegations Vehemently

By Ambrosio Villorente

“There us no iota of evidence. . . any semblance of authority for this complainant . . . to be entertained by the Honorable Ombudsman. All evidences are inadmissible, hearsay and without any semblance of credibility. It does not show any motive whatsoever. . .that could have possibly interfered with said transaction. . .” This is the response of Libacao Mayor Charito I. Navarosa to the complaint lodged against him and 15 others, most of whom are employees of the Local Government of Libacao.
Ms. Rizalina Lil R. Guevara–Dianco filed her complaint with the Ombudsman (Visayas) for alleged violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Law, specifically Section 3 (b) (c) and 3 (e) corrupt practices of public officers; for directly or indirectly requesting or receiving any gift, present or other pecuniary or material benefit and for causing any injury to any party.
Ms. Guevara-Dianco alleged she represents Chiara Construction which is one of the bidders for the construction of a River Construction Revetment Wall in the Municipality of Libacao. However, after submitting its bid and thorough evaluation of all the bids submitted, the Bids and Awards Committee chaired by Alex E. Dionela awarded the project to M.G. Salazar Construction Corporation.
In her complaint, Rizalina Lil R. Guevara–Dianco alleged Mayor Charito I. Navarosa and 15 others had committed violation of anti-graft and corrupt practices law. Guevara-Dianco claimed she represents the Chiara Construction which has submitted a much lower bid of P34,608,908.29 than the winning bidder of P40,431,955.11 of M.G. Salazar which is higher than P5,823,046.82.
In his counter affidavit submitted on September 28, 2007 to the Ombudsman (Visayas), Cebu City, Mayor Charito I. Navarosa vehemently denied the allegations stated in the complaint filed by Ms. Rizalina Lil R. Guevara-Dianco. Likewise, the 15 others implicated in the same complaint strongly denied the accusation.
For one, Libacao Mayor Navarosa and Alex Dionela, chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee told the Ombudsman, Guevara-Dianco does not have any legal personality to represent, act or speak in behalf of the losing bidder, Chiara Construction as she does not have any board resolution to empower her to file such complaint for and in behalf of the said construction corporation.
The complaint is quite malicious as “she has impleaded several respondents who should not” as they did not have any participation on the matter. Mayor Navarosa denied any knowledge of the alleged meeting at Zapa Bar, Kalibo where the complainant alleged she was offered P2 million for her to withdraw the bid of the Chiara Construction for the project.
Moreover, Mayor Navarosa claimed he has neither hand on the bidding and awarding process of the project nor influence whatsoever on the bids and awards committee as the chairman and members are all civil service employees who have security of tenure and could not be persuaded to commit illegal acts.
Mayor Navarosa explained the bidding and awarding processes as prescribed by the World Bank which finances the project is strictly and religiously complied with.
The answer of Mayor Navarosa are all corroborated by all the 15 other accused. All the answers stated by the respondents are duly supported by documents enclosed in their counter affidavits.
In the joint counter affidavit of Mr. Alex E. Dionela, chairman of the Bids and Awards Committee and all the members of the committee, they said “we merely observed the Logofind Procurements Manual in the awarding of government contracts. . .particularly in the construction of the River Protection Revetment Wall”.
The rejection, even if it is the lowest bidder, of the Chiara Construction was based on the findings appearing in the Bid Evaluation Report stating therein the comparative track records of all the bidders which Chiara Construction in the Post Qualification Evaluation Report failed because it has no track record in constructing similar projects. . .similar in nature and complexity to the aforesaid project”.
Likewise, Phesco Incorporated and PERRC Construction Development Corporation also failed in the same Post Qualification Evaluation for similar reasons. It was only the M.G. Salazar Construction Corporation which qualified in the said evaluation. Hence, the award of the project to M.G. Salazar. The award to the said construction firm was reviewed by the Department of Finance and the World Bank, the chairman and members of the Libacao LGU Bids and Awards Committee stressed. They pointed out, “the awarding of contract (revetment project) to M.G. Salazar Construction is in order and proper, hence, the complaint filed by (Ms.) Rizalina lil R. Guevara–Dianco has no legal basis whatsoever.” /MP

SPORTS

Pinoys in Taiwan Agog Over Pacquiao-Barrera Rematch

By ALEX P. VIDAL
Filipino boxing fans working in several factories in Taipei, Taiwan are equally excited as their countrymen in the Philippines and in the United States for the Oct. 6 (Oct. 7 in Manila) rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera scheduled for 12 rounds in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“Wala kaming tra-baho sa Sunday (Oct. 7) kaya siguradong maka panuod kami ng laban ni Pacquiao. Pero ano’ng channel ba? (We have no work this coming Oct. 7 so it’s already certain that we can watch Pacquiao’s fight. But which TV channel?” quipped Salvador Henares, Jr., who works in a coal-fired factory in Mail Liao, some 300 kilometers away from Taipei.
Henares said during weekend when they were free. He and his fellow Filipino workers who love boxing always talk about Pacquiao who he said is not so much popular in this Chinese country.
Henares said other Filipino fight fans working in other areas in Taiwan also talked about Pacquiao and his upcoming megabuck duel with the extremely popular Barrera through text.
“Sometimes, we share our predictions in the e-mail if not in the text message,” added Henares, a Batangueno, in Tagalog.
He predicted a Pacquio win by knockout in six rounds. “Malakas si Pacquiao at hindi kaya ni Barrera ang mga suntok niya (Pacquiao is too powerful for Barrera),” he said.
Meanwhile, members of a delegation from the Philippines traveling on a technology educational tour in Taiwan, admit that “the Pacquiao-Barrera rematch is always included in the discussions of Filipinos everywhere in the world today.”
“Nasa Taiwan tayo ngayon ngunit doon sa atin, tudo na ang pustahan kung ilang round babag-sak si Barrera,” said radio broadcaster Richard Sombero of Aksyon Radyo. “We are going to cover the fight live.”
“Pacquiao will repeat his knockout win over Barrera,” predicted Adrian Moncada, an engineer from Metrobank Group of Companies.
“Excited na ang mga Pinoy all over the world to watch the fight. Ilan kaya ang mga manood sa pay-per-view?” volunteered newspaper publisher Limuel Fernandez.
“Nasaan na kaya si Pacquiao ngayon? Nasa States na ba siya?” asked Richard Eugenio, Sr., vice president of Toledo Power Company.
In his excitement to get a pre-fight commentary from boxing analysts, an anchorman from Iloilo-based DYSI-RGMA station called up by long distance a member of the delegation just to hear from him the latest about Pacquiao’s preparations.“Can Pacquiao beat Barrera by knockout? Or will Barrera avenge his loss? what is your fearless forecast dahil malapit na lang and bakbakan?” gushed anchorman Eric John Pamplona. “Aa-bangan natin ang laban na ito.” /MP

Invitation To Aklan Media

Kabayan Hotel, owned and managed by Legend Hotels International Corporation is in the industry for six (6) fruitful years. It is known for its continued innovations in guest-delighting services and facilities that identify Filipino hospitality. It is focused to its target market, fellow countrymen: the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and provincial-based travelers.
It is glad to inform you that Kabayan Hotel Sales and Marketing team will be having its sales mission on October 8 to 12, 2007 in Kalibo, Aklan. During this trip, it will launch its latest hotel products and promotion.
In connection to its visit in the region, it likes to invite you to attend its product update on October 9, 2007, 10:00AM at Sampaguita Gardens Resort, 506 Rizal Street, Poblacion, New Washington, Aklan. It is our utmost desire to meet you in person as our way of expressing our heart-felt appreciation for patronizing us for more than half a decade.

Due To Voters Increase In AklanCOMELEC Needs More Ballot Boxes, Precincts

By Venus G. Villanueva
The increase in the number of Aklan’s voting population for the October 29 Barangay and SK elections requires the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to provide additional ballot boxes and polling precincts for Aklan.
Acting COMELEC Provincial Election Supervisor (PES) of Aklan Lorena Tumbagahan said this lack of ballot boxes and precincts is one of the concerns being looked into by her office in the province in the wake of the remarkable increases in the number of registered voters in the province of Aklan.
Aklan’s registered voters now number 300,578. In the May 2007 local and national elections, the province had 273,709 registered voters, with Kalibo, the capital town having the biggest number. There is an increased of 26,869 voters or 9.8 percent.
COMELEC records also show that for this coming SK election, there are 25,182 young people in Aklan who will be voting for their sector’s representatives. Tumbagahan assured that COMELEC-Aklan, with its 17 election officers in the municipalities is more than ready for the October 29, 2007 Barangay and SK elections.
The COMELEC office, Kalibo, Aklan under Tumbagahan has also started distributing to various government offices copies of Resolution No. 8285 on the deputation of certain departments under the executive branch, government-owned and controlled corporations and financial institutions in connection with the October 29 Barangay and SK elections.Deputized departments which would perform specific duties relative to the conduct of the elections as mandated in the resolution included the Department of Education, Department of Finance, Department of Transportation and Communications, Commission on Audit, Department of Budget and Management, and Philippine Information Agency. /MP

Media and Good Governance*

* Speech of Atty. Ronquillo C. Tolentino delivered on the occasion of the Forum On Good Governance sponsored by the Aklan Public Information Officers Association held on September 28, 2007 in Gov. Corazon L. Cabagnot Memorial Tourism and Training Center, Old Buswang, Kalibo, Aklan.
Aklan journalists are well aware off their responsibilities believing as they do that they play a very important role in Aklan development and progress. So many of them would stress the Jeffersonian statements of preference for a press without government than a government without press, firm in their adherence to that democratic principle enshrined by Thomas Jefferson in his Letter which states, thus: “Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that it cannot be limited without being lost.” And Aklanon journalists are wont to remember Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s defense of the freedom of the press when the great American president said: “Freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly are among the very fundamentals of democracy and all of them would be nullified should freedom of the press ever be successfully challenged.”
I would say with enough candor that Aklanon journalists, whether in the print or electronic media, are firm believers that freedom, to use the words of Carlos P. Romulo, initiates responsibilities and ultimately comes to generate the intelligence, initiative and wisdom that make for restraint and order. And the awareness of that Harvard University President Nathan Pussey phrase of “those wise restraints that make men free.”
Aklanon journalists, as before and now, have considered the freedom of the press as one of the radical rights of men coupled with the awareness that philosophers and constitutionalists from Voltaire to Justice Holmes had enshrined in their writings the validity and need of this freedom.
Earlier Aklan journalists would center their writings more on the history, tradition, customs, and culture of Aklan. But it was not to be so for long albeit Aklan was young. Journalists, having an affection for the printed word even long before the advent of radio and Aklan separation were probably imbued with importance of newspapers. I remember Carlos P. Romulo, former UP president; one time president of the United Nations General Assembly, a former foreign affairs secretary, newspaper editor and publisher and Pulitzer prize winner, once said: “A newspaper has a function all its own. It commands an audience which other types of news media – the radio and TV for example, cannot reach with any commendable effect. The interpretation of events, the interplay of fact and opinion, the color and tension of points of view – these are matters which other media of communication cannot transmit with the convenience and ease, let alone with the authority, of the printed page. In the last analysis, it is perhaps to our intelligence and precisely where that intelligence resides, which is the mind, that the newspaper addresses itself.”
Aklanon newspapermen, like the great Carlos P. Romulo, have their interests in newspapers derived from a long and personal affection with the printed word. And it is an affection cherished by most, if not all, newspapermen. To quote Romulo again: “it is from that love that our society today enjoys a considerable measure of contact with events and with the men and women all over the world that are involved in them. Our newspapers have even gone beyond this. They have consciously, and from day to day, helped us to understand ourselves and the complicated world we lived in.”
Corollary to the law creating Aklan as a distinct and separate province came politics, or if you will, the politics of governance. Political groupings were: formed, each political party seeking the mandate of the Aklan electorate to lead the province even as they saw the rich and vast God-given natural resources of the province then waiting for orchestrated development. In their own respective times and administrations, they have focused on Aklan development albeit on different approaches and targets, on divergent political visions, thinking and perspectives.
Believing that public opinion should be the constant source of liberty and democracy, Aklan journalists have freely commented on the conduct of public officials, inclusive of candidates for public office. The journalists in our province are well aware that “This privilege rest on the sound policy of encouraging discussion as a means of informing the public as to what is happening as to what should be done in public affairs thus, promoting the adoption of sound measures and deterring misconducts by those who administer the affairs of government. It is in the interest of continuing debate on matters of policy and questions of public good that the recognition of press freedom ultimately rests.”
The arrival of radio broadcasting in Aklan expanded the frontiers of press freedom and journalism. Aklanons have realized the importance of radio as a means of communicating their ideas.
And so with politicians to their constituencies. The importance of radio to Aklan progress and development actually needs no further elaboration. Suffice it so say that radio shall remain as the fastest means of transmitting news and other information materials.
On the 47th anniversary of Aklan and on the night of April 25, 2003 on the occasion of the First Community Press Summit sponsored by the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. in cooperation with the Aklan Press Club, Congressman Apolinario Lozada, Jr. Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, had occasion to state: “Media holds the power to sway minds to influence the opinion of the masses, to convince people that a glass is indeed half-empty or half-full. But, with this power comes the responsibility of accuracy and truth in reportage. Media’s power over the people is most apparent in the broadcast industry-in radio and television-where sound and tone (and image, in the case of TV) contribute to the effective conveyance of emotions for or against persons, things, or ideas. Undispu-tably, media can make or unmake fortunes. It is a small wonder, therefore that so many rich and famous individuals race against each other to gain control of media-related enterprises.”
“Of the three vehicles of mass communications, radio is considered the most potent in our country. This is because radio, being the most affordable, has the widest reach. In rural areas unreachable to print media and televisions, the radio continues to be major source of information and entertainment. In this part of the Philippines, I do believe so.”
“By the sheer size of their publics, therefore, our radio broadcaster should be among the most influential of media practitioners. To them, therefore, the responsibility of truth and accuracy should weigh heavier, not only because of their wider public but also because their medium – the spoken word – has a far more potent effect on their public. We need only to remember that the damage that the spoken word can cause can barely be rectified even when the speaker retracts his statement in a subsequent broadcast.”
Political leaders in Aklan are fully aware of the doctrine of fair comment which assures to the citizen the fullness freedom to express his views and his opinion on public affairs. As it has been emphasized, the constitutional right of speech is basic since it is through public opinion that those who administer the government are apprised of what the people want.
It is admirable that political leaders of Aklan, aware of the high literacy rate of the people, have honored the doctrine of fair comment. I would like to believe that they are cognizant that “The single purpose of the rule permitting fair and honest criticism is that it promotes the public good, enables the people to discern right from wrong, encourage merit, and firmly condemns and exposes the charlatan and the cheat, and hence is based upon public policy.”
Too, it is notable that public officials, with the exception of a few, are open to criticisms from the media. I would venture to say that they are not too thin-skinned with reference to comment upon their official acts. It is my observation that they are aware of the doctrine laid down in U.S. vs Bustos, 37. Phili.731, 740-741 which states: “The interest of society and the maintenance of good government demand a full discussion of public affairs. Complete liberty to comment on the conduct of public men is a scalpel in the case of free speech. The sharp incision of its probe relieves the abscesses of officialdom. Men in public life may suffer under a hostile and an unjust accusation; that wound can be assuaged with the balm of a clear conscience.”
Aklan politics and politicians recognize the fact that media is powerful cognizant of what the English statesman and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli; postulated, thus; “The press is not only, free, it is powerful. That power is ours. It is the proudest that man can enjoy. It was not granted by monarchs; it was not gained for us by aristocracies; but it sprang for the people, and with an immortal instinct, it has always worked for the people.” Rightly, Aklanon politicians consider that “the liberty of the press is the palladium of all civil, political and religious rights.”
Even as Aklan political leaders recognize the awesome power of media and its very potent and influential role, it is with justifiable pride to say that Aklan journalists both in the print and broadcast media have pursued their media careers with dedications, vigor and enthusiasm characterized by truthful and responsible reportage and commentaries.
I would say that Aklan journalists both in the print and broadcast media, in their unwavering quest and commitment to the exalted objectives of journalism, have never been oblivious of their role and responsibilities and never forgot that injunction from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, thus: “The information provided by the media is at the service of the common good. Society has right to information based on truth, freedom, justice and solidarity. The proper exercise of this right demands that the content of communication be true and – within the limits set by justice and charity-complete. Further, it should be communicated honestly and properly. This means that in gathering and in the publication of news, moral law and the nature of their profession, journalists have an obligation to serve the truth and not offend against charity in disseminating information. They should strive to respect with equal care.” /MP

Aklan Welcomes New Chief No Reassignment for Durana

By boy ryan b. zabal
Aklan Police Provincial Office (APPO) Senior Supt. Benigno Durana Jr., welcomed the appointment of General Avelino Razon Jr. as the new chief of the Philippines National Police (PNP).
According to Durana, “the official turn over of command by Director General Oscar Calderon on October 1 to General Razon ensured the continuous implementation of the 10-year PNP Integrated Transformation Program.
Razon, a member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class “Marangal” 1974, served as head of Task Force Usig and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).”This is a welcome development for the Aklan Police Provincial Office, which was chosen as Model Police Station (MPS) site. The launching of MPS by Deputy Director General Jesus Versoza last week showcased the APPO’s efficiency in serving the community,” Durana admitted.PNP selected APPO as MPS site as its blueprint in the reform initiatives of the police to enhance the capability in dealing with crimes, improve the communications, equipments and firearms.
Durana also debunked reports he will be reassigned in PNP National Headquarters in Camp Crame when Razon succeeds outgoing chief Calderon.
“Razon’s latest instruction is for me to stay in APPO for at least one year to initiate the reform initiatives in Aklan. I’m giving myself the best shot. I’m in Aklan to serve the people,” Durana stressed. Durana assumed his post on January 13, 2007 from Senior Supt. William Macavinta.
Before being named as PNP chief, Razon was the deputy chief for administration. He is a classmate of Armed Forces Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr.
The new PNP chief completed his Masters in Management from the Philippine Christian University and Masters in Public Administration from the Manuel Quezon University in 1994. He also spent several years battling Moro separatist rebels in Mindanao after his graduation from PMA.
Pasion Takes AFP 47th IB Post
Lt. Col. Nicolas Pasion Jr. took over the command of the 47th Infantry Battalion vice Lt. Col. Earl Baliao last week at Camp Felix Jizmundo in Brgy. Libas, Banga, Aklan.
Commanding General of the 3rd Infantry Division Major General Jovenal Narcise and Philippine National Police (PNP) Senior Supt. Benigno Durana Jr., Aklan police director witnessed the turn over ceremonies.
Baliao thanked Aklanons and the local government units for their support and cooperation given to the 47th Infantry Battalion campaign against lawless elements. He left his post after a year and seven months tour of duty in Panay Island.
Pasion asked his men to concentrate on their role as soldiers in the government’s all out war versus communist insurgents.
“The Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army remains the most potent threat to the security and development of our area of responsibility,” he added.
Durana lauded the men and women of 47th IB as partners in ensuring the peace and order situation of Aklan province and their contribution to the national development efforts by launching projects benefiting the communities of Aklan.
Capt. Antonio Tumnog, 47th IB spokesperson, said Libacao town mayor Charito Navarosa and Bingawan Iloilo town mayor Matt Palabrica also witnessed the assumption of the newly-designated commanding officer.
Militants Denounce $329M ZTE Deal
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Aklan chairperson George Calaor urged Filipinos to double and strengthen their efforts to oust President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.Calaor stressed the ouster during the 35th anniversary of the Martial Law declaration.
“The controversial $329-million ZTE Corp. broadband deal shows how the Arroyo administration abuses its power to exploit the people’s money. The controversy on bribes and payoffs is a clear picture on how corruption works in this regime to stay in power,” Calaor said.
Businessman Jose “Joey” de Venecia III implicated First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo as the “mystery man” in China’s ZTE Corp. multi-million dollar national broadband network deal.
However, ZTE Corp. denied the overpricing and the kickbacks to Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos alleged by the younger de Venecia and namesake of the House Speaker.Calaor also assailed the economic maneuverings and escalation of abduction cases, extra-judicial killings and the implementation of the Human Security Act of 2007. “But with the lessons gained by the people from the past and with their growing strength to win their democratic struggle, this administration shall fail,” Calaor predicted. Ms. Gloria Arroyo has cancelled the NBN project while in China./MP

COMMENT ON THE BLOG

New Comment On Your Post “Health Care”:
It is a loud silence we hear from both the Aklan LGUs and the Aklan Medical Society regarding this controversy of Tonet Viray as far as news found in this forum.
For us Aklanons out of Aklan, our main source of timely news is the Internet. Aklan LGUs and Aklan Medical Society are leaving it to ourselves to form conclusions about this issue. And if you ask me what this conclusion be, it is dependent on the amount of news and commentaries on different sides of the issue. So far, what I read in this forum is not favorable to the Aklan LGU and Aklan Medical Society. I have not seen their responses on this forum nor in any other online forum from Aklan. It seems they have not taken the move to air their side so far.
Let this be a lesson among Aklan politicians that the Internet is a potent forum to present their views and positions. Abdicating their chance may have tremendous ramifications in their 2010 plans.
For statistics, do these politicians know how many people of voting age have stated their location as Aklan in Friendster? Allow me to volunteer - more than 10,000. If all these are voting in Aklan and will vote based on what they read from the Internet, it is large enough vote to have a winning margin in gubernatorial or congressional election in Aklan.
ELMAR GOMEZ

SPECIAL REPORT

‘FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND’
‘Separation Anxiety’ Bedevils OFWs,
Kins Despite High-tech Communication

By ALEX P. VIDAL

Despite the advent of communication technology like e-mail and cellular phone, many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) and their families continue to suffer from “separation anxiety”. This results in abnormal behaviors manifested mostly by children of OFWs and sometimes the husbands and wives.
This was learned in a forum hosted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) regional office, Iloilo City with the theme “Families left behind” held in relation to the celebration of the National Filipino Family Week at the Iloilo Grand Hotel recently.
Ma. Corazon Tolention-Berjes, a psychologist from the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC), said separation anxiety “is still a big problem to deal with” among OFWs and their loved ones.
“That’s why, for children left behind by their OFW parents, there should be one permanent person that they see everyday to act as their surrogate parent,” suggested Berjes.
These children should choose the right surrogate parents that are consistent with their values because the problems that the children will encounter (in the absence of their biological parents) are complex and different, Dr. Daisy L. Chua-Daquilanea, faculty of the Iloilo Doctors College of Medicine pointed out.
According to Daquilanea, “separation among OFWs and their families are categorized into three aspects: a. those who feel the pain each time the parent (mother or father) goes to work abroad; b. those who consider the departure of their parent (mother or father) to work abroad a normal happening and don’t feel any pain; and c. those who harbor resentment to their parent (mother or father) or husband and wife vice versa every time a member of the family travels abroad to work.”

TYPES OF FAMILY

“Communication depends on what type of family (category),” said Daquilanea. “There are variations in terms of how you deal with communication.” Communication is important not only for husband and wife but also for the children.
When parents arrived, there is always period of adjustments; in most cases, children don’t feel at home with the arrival or newly arrived parent; thus, parents should understand the situation and not to react adversely,” stressed Daquilanea.
Dominican Sister Teresita Rosales, a doctor of psychology, said a husband and wife should have “very high self esteem, healthy support system, and good moral values” in order to withstand temptations especially if one of them went to other country to work for a long time.
Lory Pallada, whose wife works as nurse in Saudi Arabia, confessed that he has never visited any night club since his wife went abroad “because of my strong Christian values.” He attends to their two sons he described as “made in the Philippines but born in Saudi Arabia.”
Communications between him and his wife were difficult, he said, when there was no cellular phone yet in the early 90’s. “Sometimes, I had to write her a letter three times a week. That’s how difficult our communication was,” narrated Pallada, an employee of the Department of Agriculture in Iloilo. Nowadays, he said, every time one of their sons gets sick, he will just send a text message to his wife to ask for the right medicine.

WISH GRANTED

Mai-Mai, who worked as nanny in Hong Kong for 12 years starting when she was 19. She would have returned to Hong Kong in 2005 to work again had God did not grant her and her husband’s wish for her husband to be hired in a job abroad.
“I told myself then that if I would not go back to Hong Kong again, what would be the future of my family since my husband had not landed a job?” Mai-Mai asked.
When it was the turn of his husband to depart as OFW, she stayed behind to attend to their daughter who was only one year old and two months when she left to work abroad.
What motivated her to work abroad, she said, was “the challenge to rise above poverty” as she and her siblings lost their father when she was only seven years old.
Myrna, a mother of four, whose husband works in Korea, said it was she who prodded her husband to work abroad because of poverty.
“My husband had refused to leave but I told him we needed to give our children a good future, something we cannot ensure if he did not work abroad,” said Myrna who is a working mother.
While her husband is in Korea, Myrna said she never tells him that the money he is sending is not enough “because I don’t want him to worry. He is already working hard for us,” Myrna admitted. Her biggest worry is her husband’s jealousy. “There are many temptations (from other men) but I don’t succumb,” Myrna swore.
Jaypee, 19, eldest of the two children, said his father has been away since he was a child “and I am used already to his absence in the house.”

LAWS AND
TRADITIONS

Although he admitted to be closer to his seaman father, Jaypee confessed, he once felt disdain with “deep sadness” when his father missed his high school graduation. “And to think that I got all the medals,” he sobbed. Years later, Jaypee said his father cried in front of him when he confronted him for missing his graduation night.



According to DSWD Regional Director Teresita Rosales, Filipino families are governed by laws, customs and traditions. “Let’s protect what is being taught us by the church; raise the children and strengthen the family, the husband and wife. We need to preserve our families for our launching stage and for our retirement. The reason why parents leave the country to work abroad is purely economics.”
Rebecca P. Geamala, DSWD regional chief of technical assistance division, believed that “children in Western Visayas admitted they have regular communications with their parents working abroad. Letters, the traditional way, has been replaced by texting. On the downside, however, 58.6 percent or majority admitted they talked to their parents “sometimes”.
Academic indicators stated that more children of migrants are in private schools. Nine out of 10 said they were happy or very happy with school. Children of mother-absent families did not do as well as those whose fathers are working abroad or both parents are working abroad.
The same indicators said that many children of migrants are included in the honor roll and are more involved in extracurricular activities and fewer OFW children repeated a grade level.
Of the 1,264,563 families in Western Visayas, 528,072 are poor in a population of 6,211,036.
The region has 1.56 percent annual growth rate. /MP

Campaign 2007 DOH Orientation On Knock-Out Tigdas

By Cecille dela Rosa De Lemos
The joint team of DOH – Aklan representatives Eva. A. Taytayon and Filipina B. Mabasa; PHO Technical Staff Bella R. Villaruel, EPI Coordinator; and Nuela P. Zaldivar, HEPO II, conducted Orientation on Knock-Out Tigdas 2007. It was held on September 26, 2007 at Gov. Cabagnot Training and Tourism Center, Old Buswang, Kalibo, Aklan.
Dr. Emma T. Cortes, Provincial Health Officer II, delivered a very informative message. She welcomed the participants who are municipal health officers; public health nurses; SB members, Committee on Health; and SP member Jean O. Rodriguez, chairman of the Committee on Health. Dr. Maria J. Magpusao, medical specialist III, PHO Technical Division, discussed the background of Knock-Out Tigdas 2007 and Knock-out Tigdas Field Guide.
Knock-Out Tigdas 2007 is a sequel to the 1998 and 2004 “Ligtas Tigdas” mass measles immunization campaign. This is the second follow-up measles campaign nationwide to eliminate measles infection as a public health program. This door-to-door campaign is targeting an estimated nine (9) million children between nine (9) to 48 months old, regardless of immunization status. Any child older than this group age who did not receive measles vaccination in the past shall be vaccinated.
The campaign aims to reduce the number of children at risk of getting measles and to achieve at least 95 percent measles immunization coverage of all children born between October 15, 2003 to January 15, 2007. /MP

Indigenous Peoples Month

By Ambrosio R. Villorente

The Archbishop Gabriel M. Reyes Memorial Foundation, Inc. (AGMRMF) will celebrate the “Indigenous Peoples’ Month” by featuring the Mangyan Traveling Exhibit. This exhibit is in cooperation with the Mangyan Heritage Center.
This traveling exhibit is entitled “The Mangyans of Mindoro: Myth and Meaning “to be held for three weeks at the ground floor of the Museo it Akean, Kalibo, Aklan as announced by Ms. Nynn Arwena G. Tamayo, AGMRMF executive director.
The exhibit will highlight the Mangyan photos taken for the last 100 years (1900-2004) which are “blended with informative text and selected poems, rare artifacts, attire and musical instruments. There will also be audio-video documentary materials on Mangyans. Two volunteer Mangyans will demonstrate cotton spinning, cloth-wearing and bead-work during the whole exhibit.” There will be for sale rare Mangyan handicrafts.
The three-week “must see” started with the Opening Program at 9:30 o’clock in the morning, Thursday, October 4, 2007. The exhibit is until October 26, 2007.
The Mangyan Heritage Center (MHC) endeavors to establish itself as a leader in the presentation and promotion of the indigenous Filipino cultural heritage especially with regard to the Mangyans. MHC helps the Mangyan tribes of Mindoro develop and maintain a center that stands as a testament to the modern day value of their culture. It offers library reading materials, scans and prints selected materials, provides audio-visual material viewing, photocopies selected materials, and allows photo exhibit viewing.
Established in 2000, MHC is a library, archive, research and education center in Oriental Mindoro located in Calapan City. It has 36,000 samples of Ambahan poetry, 2000 recorded Urakay songs, 10,000 decades old photographs, 10,000 theses, studies and journals on Mang-yans, 2,000 news clippings, 500 Mangyan folktales and several Mangyan artifacts. The MHC is open from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. daily except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays.
“Mangyan is the generic name for the eight (8) Indigenous People groups found in Mindoro namely: Alangan, Ba-ngon, Buhid, Hanunuo, Iraya, Tadyawan, Tau-buid and Katagnon. “They live in the central mountainous portion of Mindoro who are estimated to be 10 percent of the total population of Mindoro island. /MP

Atienza Requests, Stop Issuing Building Permits

Sec. Jose L. Atienza, Jr. of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has requested Malay Mayor Ceciron S. Cawaling to “suspend the issuance of building permits on new construction in Boracay Island for six (6) months to give way for the completion of the new environmental assessment and the Master Plan”. Sec. Atienza also requested Mayor Cawaling to “facilitate the passage of a Municipal Resolution on the Matter”.
The request was made in a letter dated August 23, 2007 which Madyaas Pen received a copy of it last week. We are publishing the letter in full for the information and reference of our readers, thus:

Dear Mayor Cawaling:

Greetings!

Boracay Island undoubtedly one of the best island resorts and in fact ranks as 7th most visited tourist destinations in the world. With its white sand beach, clean waters, blue skies and pristine environment, we cannot afford to lose these distinct features to environmental degradation.
Unfortunately, however, the Island is now hounded by various environmental issues that need immediate attention and action from the National and Local Government(s), such as ineffective solid waste management, inadequate drainage, sewage and sewerage facilities, air and water pollution, unbated construction among others. These indicate an unsustainable development which means that economic returns generated are short-term in nature and may, at the end, result to economic collapse of Boracay.
These issues were in fact discussed during my dialogue with Boracay stakeholders and community leaders on August 6, 2007 and there was an agreement that there should be a moratorium on the granting of new construction permits which is within the authority of the municipal government. But the urgency of the issue requires a strong support from the National Government especially the DENR.
The power of the State to regulate the acquisition, ownership, use, and disposition of property and its increments is enshrined in Section 1, Article XIII of the 1987 constitution. Moreover, under Section 3 of Executive Order (E.O.) No. 192 dated June 10, 1987 it is the policy of the State to ensure the sustainable use, development, management, renewal, and conservation of the country’s forest, mineral, land, off-shore areas, and other natural resources, including the protection and enhancement of the quality of the environment, and equitable access of the different segments of the population to the development and use of the country’s natural resources, not only for the present generation but for future generations as well. Thus, this Department’s actions on the environment is always based on our duty to assure the availability and sustainability of our natural resources through judicious use of systematic restoration or replacement, whenever possible (Section 4-a, E.O. 192).
Finally, in accordance with the Local Government Code of 1991, particularly Section 444 (b) (3) (vii), as the Municipal Mayor, you have the power and duty to adopt adequate measures to safeguard and conserve land, mineral, marine forest, and other resources of the municipality.
These legal bases are, I believe, more than enough to support our call for a moratorium on building new structures within Boracay Island for a period of six (6) months until the assessment of the environmental situation in the area is completed and the crafting of a new Environmental Master Plan and the finalization of the Boracay Development Master Plan is done.
While we are aware that there were previous efforts done by other national and local government agencies. I see the need for us all to harmonize our efforts in order to ensure that these are properly coordinated and implemented.
With this, I hope that your office will suspend the issuance of building permits on new construction in Boracay Island for 6 months to give way for the completion of the environmental assessment and the Master Plan and that you shall facilitate the passage of a Municipal Resolution on the matter.
Thank you for your continuous collaboration with this Department in ensuring sound environmental quality in Boracay and in further improving it into a world-class tourism haven.

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.) JOSE L. ATIENZA, JR.