Mantalaan Volume 1 Issue 1

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MANTALAAN

The Official Gazette of Cagayan de Oro City

September 20, 2013, Friday. Volume 1 Issue 1

The City council approved a 30-percent

increase of water rate for the residents

of Cagayan de Oro, including Opol and

Casinglot in Misamis Oriental.

Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD)

General Manager Rachel Beja said that

the water rate adjustment has

been approved by the Local

Water Utilities Administration during

a meeting together with the City

Council committee on public

utilities headed by Councilor

Roger Abaday on September 12,

Thursday.

The said 30-percent water rate increase

will be implemented on a staggered

basis for 80,000 water consumers.

The first part will take effect on Novem-

ber 1 this year with a 10-percent rate

adjustment generating the minimum

charge from P168 for the first ten cubic

meters to P184.80 for residen

tial consumers and from P336

for the first ten cubic meters to P369.60

for commercial users. The succeeding

adjustments will be carried out on Feb-

ruary 1 and May 1 next year.

By Tonett Magallanes

Acording to Beja, the approved water

adjustment is proposed to maintain the

utilities, perform necessary improve-

ments especially on the reparation of

pipelines and defective meters and to

fund water expansion projects such as

the non-revenue water (NRW) reduction

program. The adjustment will also help

cover the inflationary cost of electricity,

oil and other consumables used in oper-

ations since 2007.

Inside this issue:

City Council

approves

water rate hike

1

City gov’t launches

BLT program

1

Mendicant no more 2

When there was

Friday-Saturday

lights

3

YouPage 4

City Council approves water rate hike

City Gov’t launches BLT program

By Rezza Tolinero

With the aim to improve the health,

nutrition and early education of chil-

dren, the Cagayan de Oro City Gov-

ernment starts the Busog, Lusog, Tali-

no (BLT) Program on September 17 at

Balulang Elementary School.

In partnership with Jollibee Group

Foundation, this

> BLT Program, ❷

Photo by PIA 10 MANTALAAN

Mantalaan is a

Cebuano word

which means

masthead, news-

paper or tabloid.

MANTALAAN

Mendicant no more

W e’ve all been in a situation wherein we’re constantly

followed by determined beggars to ask alms from us; poking, giving a businessman alike sales talk, using pitiful cradled infants as bate, and the so called “friendship status” which they use when you usually meet them on streets. These were just few of their evolving tactics just to ensure that passer-by can lend an amount to them. This insinuated act must not be

tolerated as the more we give, the more

they develop self-reliance to others.

Good thing that our City Government is

mapping out plans to combat this rising

dilemma. The City Social Welfare and

Development

(CSWD) head

Teddy Sabuga-

a had been

mandated by

the City Mayor

to start

campaigns

aimed to stop

people from

giving alms to the beggars. He also

ordered the CSWD to strictly impose the

Presidential Decree 1563 or the Anti-

Mendicancy Law.

By the way, what is Anti-

Mendicancy Law or the PD 1563? Well

this law is all about establishing an

integrating system for the control and

eradication of mendicancy – depending

on alms for a living, providing penalty,

appropriating funds therefore, and for

other purposes.

Do we even know that we have this law? Why was it only brought up now? If we had this law since then, why would this problem be constantly on rise? Well, cheers to the higher ups!

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* * * The CSWD also revealed that majority of these child beggars were exploited by adults. They were already planning to contain these child beggars and send them to Boys Town, Sabuga-a said that the social workers would then try to identify their parents and teach them how to earn without sending their children to beg on the streets. The said sector would also tap the Technical Education and Skill Development Authority (TESDA) to help in training the beggars. For now, certain measures were already been brought up by the City Government to end up this dilemma. But still the public has to take part by not anymore giving alms to those beggars. Mendicancy breeds crimes and

exposes mendicants to indignities and

degradation, an immediate need to

provide appropriate services to enable

mendicants to meet their needs and

develop self reliance is in dire at stake. So

let’s all take part in making our place a

child- friendly city where mendicancy is

just a word in the dictionary.

opinion

By Jade Alfie Sale Armed innuendo

MANTALAAN

feeding program will accommodate 40 malnourished children aged 0-6 years old from selected schools in the city for 120 days. 40 pupils from kindergarten to grade 3 in Balulang Elementary School feasted on the vegetable balls-- comprised of crushed horse radish or malunggay, kangkong, carrots and tuna, slice of banana and fish soup which were prepared by their parents. “Ang mga kulang na nutrisyon sa bata kinahanglan na atong apason para mahimo siya nga epektibo na estudyante (We should meet the child’s proper nutrition so that he or she can become an effective student), ” says Teddy Sabuga-a, City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) Officer during the program. He also added that the City has been focusing on the formative years of children as “we are trying to make a social development to our future leaders.” On the three major components that CSWD is working on namely health, nutrition and education, Sabuga-a highlighted nutrition as the most important component which has a greater impact on the two other components. As the representative of City Mayor Oscar Moreno, Sabuga-a relayed that the Mayor intends to separate CSWD from other departments in order to set a program focusing on children aged 0 to 6 years old particularly on early childhood care and development. The Department of Education (DepEd)

together with the city and barangay officials has

also placed their support for the said activity.

BLT program... from page 1

Rezza Mae Tolinero Editor –in-chief

Mary Antoinette Magallanes

Layout artist

Jade Alfie Sale Erika Carmela Inovero

Writers

S ometimes the most important

thing during a whole week is to

uplift the atmosphere in ones

mind. The challenge lies in

knowing how to bring this sort of week

with wisdom. After the long days of

stress and sorrow, the sole workable

solution is to relax, serene, and enjoy a

night out. Give your stress wings and let

it fly away.

For the past ten years, families

and friends would look forward to the

night bazaar, live bands, and food trips

in Divisoria every Friday and Saturday

night. During 2003, the city government

of Cagayan de Oro converted a large

section of the Golden Friendship Park

into an open-air restaurant called Night

Café. It’s a nightlife place at the heart of

the city where all class of people gather

together to dine and unwind.

Night Café became a tourist

attraction for it was something uniquely

Kagayanon before the rest followed.

Indeed, a great venue for expats and

local tourists to experience Kagayanon

Cuisines and converse with the local

folks. Though not exactly the same, but

our own version of night cafes and mar-

kets found in Hong Kong and Singapore.

It similarly offers “Halal” food for Muslims

just like in Mecca. Some streets are also

closed to transform them into a mini-

Khao San Road (Bangkok) place. Isn’t that

amazing? Some even said, pag Cagayan?

Night Café na! It brought Divisoria’s

magnificence as the Central Business Dis-

trict of CdeO for when Divisoria Night

Café came, everything adhered.

With an awesome atmosphere, it

was a great place to hangout, chill and

bond with others. It was a typical Filipino

consort with the wide array of cheap re-

tail products and services which one can

wonder the night around inexpensively.

There were also bonuses of live bands

and local musicians or singers who offer

free concerts to the delight of the audi-

ence. No doubt night cafe captured the

heart of the “masa” which manic scene

would surely be missed by many.

Nowadays, there are only engine

sound of cars and beggars roaming

around the park. There is no need to go

anywhere else to find peace and order. It

is another system of achieving inner

peace and relaxation within the commu-

nity. Will this con-

tinuously be the

situation one is

seeking from Di-

visoria which will

revert to its for-

mer sleepy and

melancholic

state?

Any way around, it's a helpful

idea to do something relaxing prior to

making an important decision in your life.

Our world grows smaller, but it grows

dearer and greater. Simple things have a

new charm for us, and we suddenly real-

ize that we have been renouncing all that

is greatest and best, in our pursuit of

some phantom.

Sources:

http://tsadagyud.com/tag/cdo-night-cafe/

http://www.thehappytrip.com/2011/11/cagayan-de-oros

-night-cafe/

“pag

Cagayan, Night

Café na!”

Ph

oto

by

: http://www.fotopedia.com/albums/NZS3kQxzF

1c

By: Erika Carmela B. Inovero

feature Page 3

witnesses of the wonders of the

city. Makaingun g’yud ka nga

“TSADA” ang Cagayan.

#WhiteWaterRafting

#OnlyInCagayan

Story sent by: Darwin Golis

The King of the Rapids

O ne experience that I

can never forget when

I was still living in

Cagayan de Oro City

was being one of the tour guides

in White Water rafting.

To me, happiness is seeing

the people enjoy what the Caga-

yan has to offer to them. Others

may scream and shout as they en-

counter the white rapids but most

of them are feeling the pleasure as

the water splashes to them.

When you are in CDO, you

should never miss this ride. The

thrill and excitement is truly worth

it. You will surely be one of the

I haven’t noticed lot of changes except when they abolished Night Café. It’s

an advantage to for vehicle riders but a disadvantage to some street vendors.

The city admin is trying their best to reform the city but the people

are not cooperating.

I can see no apparent changes as of now. Traffic jam is still there.

“Hapsay” is what they are telling us but I can’t feel it.

I admire the new administration. The streets are harmonious and

peaceful.

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Cagayan de Oro City

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