One Mindanao - January 7, 2012

Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)

P. Urro Street, San Francisco DistrictPagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur 7016Telephone no. (062) 215-1480 / 925-0038Cellphone no. 0908-8843404E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]: www.piazampen.blogspot.comFacebook: PIA WesMin Info Blitz

Northern Mindanao

Graces’ Building, Antonio Luna StreetCagayan de Oro City 9000Telefax No. (08822) 72-66-83Telephone no. (088) 856-8178 / 729-594Cellphone no. 0928-5204305 0917-3084969E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]: www.pia-10.blogspot.com

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)

2/F Kanto Motors Bldg.,Quimpo Blvd., New MatinaDavao City 8000Telephone no. (082) 297-0991 / 301-8580Telefax no. (082) 297-0992 / 304-2044Cellphone no. 0917-7053606 / 0918-9202950E-mail: [email protected]

Central Mindanao (SOCCSKSARGEN)

Provincial Capitol Compound Bautista Bldg., Zulueta St.Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506Telephone no. (083) 520-0249Telefax no. (083) 228-9736 / 228-9739 / 520-0100Cellphone no. 0921-6873373 / 0928-5204307E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)

Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines Bldg.,J. Rosales Avenue, Butuan CityTelephone no. (085) 341-5285 / 360-1239Telefax no. (085) 341-2370Cellphone no. 0917-7188834Email: [email protected] , [email protected],phBlogspot: www.piacaraga.blogspot.comFacebook: PIA Caraga Updates, PIA Agusan del Norte, Pia Agusan del Sur, Pia Surigao del Norte, Pia Surigao del Sur

PIA REGIONAL OFFICESIN MINDANAO

Cover Story

Victoria Adventure

Park First in Zamboanga City

Executive Editor ……......... EFREN F. ELBANBUENA Cluster Head, Southern, Western and Central Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Region XI

Managing Editor ……......... ABNER M. CAGA Cluster Head, Northern and Northeastern Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Caraga Region Officer-in-charge,PIARegionX

Associate Editors ……....... NOEMI B. EDAGA Regional Director, PIA Region IX

OLIVIA T. SUDARIA Regional Director, PIA Region XII

Regional Desk Editors …... Jocelyn P. Alvarez, PIA Region IX Elaine O. Ratunil, PIA Region X Rudolph Ian G. Alama, PIA Region XI Danny E. Doguiles, PIA Region XII Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region

Copy Editors ……………….. Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region Nora C. Lanuza Molde, PIA Caraga Region

Layout Artists ……………... Gerie Mae G. Coco, PIA Caraga Region Richard D. Atillo, PIA Caraga Region Editorial Advisers :

ATTY. JOSE A. FABIADirector-General

Philippine Information Agency

SEC. HERMINIO “Sonny” B. COLOMAPresidentialCommunicationsOperationsOffice

An Electronic News Magazineof the Phliippine Information Agency

Mindanao Clusters

EDITORIAL BOARD

Jocelyn P. AlvarezWestern Mindanao page 5

Today’s issue...Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 Vol. 1 No. 146

Gideon C. Corgue, Western Mindanao SP urges Co to reactivate CDRRMC

Western Mindanao ARMM Gov intensifies crackdown on “ghost employees, entities”

Central Mindanao PDRRMO removes obstruction in rivernear Lake Maughan

Mga troso nakumpiska sa North Cotabato

Across the Nation:

Regional News:

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Palace appeals for orderly and peaceful celebration of the feast of the Black Nazarene on Monday12

P156-M support fund to LGUs released by DILG, DBM Mary Christine Anthonette Salise , Caraga Region

14

35

Jean Marie C. Mendoza, Northern Mindanao DOH urges TS ‘Sendong” victims to avail of medical services vs. leptospirosis20

Northern Mindanao Agro industrial firm gives Sendong survivors a fresh start 21

Carina Cayon, Southern Mindanao Davao to improve tourist arrival data25

Central Mindanao

Socorro Community eCenter upgrades Internet connection 34Melody Cocon , Caraga Region

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Message Cover StoryWhat is so important in a new year? It is just the changing of a number. From 2011, it is now 2012.

The coming of a new year is celebrated in all cultures and religions. It is the coming of a new age.It is also a reason to hope.

Our countrymen, by overwhelming number look at 2012 with hope for a better life and a better Philippines, and rightly they expect so much from our leaders especially our President. 2010 and 2011 were the foundations of this great expectation. From a campaign promise of daang matuwid, the one year and a half of the Aquino Presidency has laid out the plans and programs of good governance. We saw the development and articulation of the Philippine Development Plan. We saw the systematic prosecution and bringing to justice of those who have violated the law. We saw the start of rebuilding and strengthening of the foundations of democracy and our institutions.

We saw that public money was prudently spent and policies were cleverly crafted.

We saw that this government is truthworthy and its President can be trusted. People saw that and they believe that they can deliver on the change that he promised.

These are the reasons for the high hopes and expectations for 2012.

As they say, new year is an opportunity for renewal. As we meet 2012 and embrace its promise of a new and better life for all Filipinos, let us look at 2011 and the years before that as foundations into the future. Let us take a stock of the good and trail-blazing projects that we had undertaken. Let us continue to innovate and improve on them and with hard work and with the grace of God Almighty, we will be able to do more.

To all the officials and personnel of PIA and our partners, thank you for a fruitful 2011. Your work in improving and saving the lives of others through timely, accurate information has affected the lives of countless Filipinos.

To those to whom much was given, much is expected. God has been so kind to us. Let us do more. We pray for wisdom. We pray for strength. We pray for guidance and protection as we perform our daily task with honor, dedication and joy.

God bless our country and its people. God bless PIA and the Philippines.

ATTY. JOSE A. FABIADirector-General

5 Saturday, January 7, 2012 ONE MINDANAO

Victoria Adventure Park Cover Story

Thinking of Adventure Tourism as a vehicle for development, Lacuachero, a group of professionals who has passion for adrenaline-rushing adventure tourism activities fell in love with Barangay Victoria

and since then envisioned Victoria as a model barangay for adventure tourism development.

by Jocelyn P. Alvarez

First in Zamboanga City

How it came to be

6 Saturday, January 7, 2012ONE MINDANAO

“Barangay Victoria is a com-plete package, they have caves, river, waterfalls and a lot more of nature’s wonders, perfect for ad-venture tourism activities,” Man-ny Paster of Lacuachero said. Putting into actions the group’s dream for Victoria, Lac-uachero in partnership with the Zamboanga Adventure Tour-ism and Eco recreation Society

(ZATERS)–a multi-sectoral group promoting adventure tourism, started in 2011 to slowly intro-duce the barangay’s adventure tourism potentials to local tour-ists. More people started to visit Victoria for spelunking (caving), water tubing and the self-fulfill-ing conquer of the Siete Andanas (seven-stage) waterfalls.

The Proposed Adventure Park Lacuachero moved their ac-tions to a higher level by propos-ing to construct and develop the first ever adventure park in Zam-boanga City. The proposal was presented to Victoria barangay council and concerned proponents. “Lacuachero presented the

proposal to the barangay coun-cil, June last year.” Paster said.“We sought permission to use and develop the proposed area,” Paster recalled. “Then we started cleaning and clearing the proposed area after we got the council’s nod,” he said.


Noble cause

“We saw the eco-tourism po-tentials of Victoria and how these potentials can help the communi-ty, so we decided to do something to help Victoria and its people,” the adventure enthusiast-Paster said. The young Paster said the group aims to promote Baran-gay Victoria through Eco-Tour-ism; develop and conserve the eco-tourism sites of the baran-gay; provide alternative income to the community during conduct of adventure tourism activities in Victoria; provide opportunities to empower constituents of the barangay socially, politically and economically and make Baran-gay Victoria as MODEL Barangay for Eco-Tourism. Paster said Lacuachero and ZATERS shared the same selfless goal and that is to work hand in hand for the promotion of eco-

adventure tourism. “We share the same pur-pose of all these we are doing. We want to contribute towards preservation of adventure tour-ism sites through environment friendly practices and minimum impact adventure tourism activi-ties,” he said. “We want also to create a positive impression about the city through eco-tourism activi-ties and promote her as a must-see destination,” Paster shared. “The conduct of adventure tourism activities is one strategy of increasing public awareness and appreciation on tourism. It is also an alternative sports and exercise to promote the partici-pants’ well being,” he said. Paster assured that the group also puts weight on coop-erating with other organizations with similar aims.


The Victoria Adventure Park Construction and LGU support

Lacuachero started minor development and construction of the Victoria Adventure Park, June of last year and is still under con-struction up to this time. “While it is still under con-struction, it is already operational and many have already tried our adventure activities in the park,” Paster explained. Original Plan for its open-ing was August 2011 but was re-scheduled for this year until it is completed. “Mayor Lobregat sent his engineers the other day to as-sess the area and I received a text message Thursday, inform-

ing me that the mayor has allo-cated funds for its development,” Paster excitedly said. “Councillor Gerky Vales-co, who is the chairman of the Committee on Tourism visited the area this week and pledged Php100,000 from his funds,” he said with a wide smile on his face. “With concerted efforts and partnership of private groups and our local government, we are with high hopes of a beauti-ful Victoria Adventure Park that will surely serve its purpose,” he said.”


Activities in the Adventure Park

The adventure park will offer its “guests” adrenaline-rushing ad-venture activities like rappelling, rock climbing, tree top free fall, rope courses and a lot more. Present Eco-sites of the Baran-gay include: Pader Cave – where adventure enthusiast can do

caving/spelunking ; Water Falls (Siete Andanas) for water activi-ties; Manicahan River – for the conduct of water tubing and oth-er water activities; Mangrove for Mangrove tours, Firefly watching and the latest is the Victoria Ad-venture Park.

Rock climbing

Rappelling

Tree top free fall

Rope Courses


Barangay Victoria, Zamboanga City

Victoria is located in the main east coast highway, about 24 kilometers from the main city hall. Records from the city gov-ernment tells, Victoria was once called Sitio “Kuwangan” a name coined due to abundance of sea shells in the area.

Kuwangan was renamed to Victo-ria after the victory of the “Nacionalista Party” in the elec-tion way back Feb-ruary 1955. Victoria used to be a sitio under Baran-gay Manicahan but a resolution sepa-rating Victoria from Manicahan pave the way for the creation of a new barangay.Victoria was created into a barangay on October 25, 1992. At present, Vic-toria has Feliciano G. Revillas as it’s

“Punong barangay’ (barangay chairman). “Since the introduction of adventure tourism in Victoria, the community members de-veloped a sense of responsibil-ity in them to protect their nat-ural resources like caves and falls,” Paster proudly ended.


Palace pushing for sanctions of Compostela Valley officials over deadly landslideLocal

Compostela Valley officials who were

negligent in ensuring the safety of their constituents in mining areas will be held accountable for the this week’s deadly tragedy to avoid the repeat of similar incidents, Malacanang said on Saturday.

During a radio inter-view over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan Saturday, Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said local of-ficials should be punished for allowing the landslide victims to stay in the dan-ger zones. “Kailangan ho talaga dahil hindi pwedeng pau-lit-ulit na nangyayari ang mga ganitong bagay. Hin-di biro ang mga ganitong

landslide at nakita naman natin na hanggang ngay-on patuloy ang search and rescue operations,” Valte said referring to the accountability of local of-ficials. The law must be strictly implemented this time so that no residents will stay in danger areas, she said, adding that al-lowing the people to go back to their dangerous

dwelling places would be unacceptable. “Kailangan naman talaga ay higpitan na na-tin, hindi na pwede yung… ‘kasi balik ho sila nang ba-lik’ hindi na pwede yung ganoon,” she said. “Kailangan na lang talagang hanapan ng re-location at hindi pupuwe-deng isang beses sasabi-han na ‘Bawal kayo dito.’ Kailangan yan baban-

12 Saturday, January 7, 2012

tayan. Hindi puwedeng ngayon sasabihan n’yo silang ‘hindi ho kayo pu-wede dito’ tapos bukas kakalimutan na.” Valte also said she’s sure that Interior and Lo-cal Government Secre-tary Jessie Robredo has made his initial report to the President after doing an assessment in the area this week, as instructed

by the President.She added that Robredo already ordered forced evacuation of the residents in danger spots mandat-ing local officials to strictly guard the place so that no residents will go back to their houses. Also this week, Pres-idential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that the De-partment of Interior and

Local Government (DILG) is looking into the lapses that resulted to the dead-ly incident which killed scores of people. Military officials said some 100 individuals are still missing due to the landslide, which happened Thursday at around 3 a.m. following incessant rains. (AS)

Palace appeals for orderly and peaceful celebration of the feast of the Black Nazarene on MondayMalacañang

reiterated an appeal by local

and police officials to the devotees of the Black Nazarene to take necessary precautions and refrain from bringing along with them their children and valuables to ensure an orderly and peaceful celebration of the Feast of the Black Nazarene on January 9, a Palace official said on Saturday.


Palace appeals for orderly and peaceful celebration of the feast of the Black Nazarene on Monday

During an interview aired over government-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Sat-urday, Deputy Presiden-tial Spokesperson Abigail Valte reiterated an earlier appeal by the Manila City officials, Metropolitan Ma-nila Development Author-ity (MMDA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to the public against bringing children and valuables. “Doon po sa ating mga debotong medyo may edad na, let’s take the necessary precautions dahil alam naman po na-tin ‘yong mga nagiging pangyayari tuwing nagka-karoon ng Pista ng Poong Nazareno. Maraming tao diyan, baka mainit, baka umulan, please let us take the necessary precautions para hindi naman magka-roon ng mga masasaktan. Minsan kasi diyan tala-gang tulakan,” Valte said. Valte also warned the public against crimi-nal elements such as pick-pockets and snatchers. “Let us not put ourselves in a less secure situation. At maging alerto po tayo,”

she said. Manila Mayor Al-fredo S. Lim said the pro-cession’s route has been cleared of obstructions, potholes, hanging wires and even broken bottles and the like to ensure the safety of the devotees who will be joining the proces-sion barefooted. For so many years, thousands of devotees flock to the Feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila. Oftentimes, many were injured and some died from the stampede during the procession. The Black Nazarene is the patron saint of Qui-apo. The life size image of the Black Nazarene shows

a “black” Jesus Christ car-rying a cross. The statue has been housed at the Saint John de Baptist Church in Quiapo, Manila also known as the Minor Basilica of the Black Naza-rene since 1787. The im-age of the Black Nazarene is brought out in proces-sion on its feast day and on Good Friday. The statue was brought to Manila by a Spanish priest in 1607. It was aboard a ship that caught fire, the image was burned, and it came to be known as the “Black Nazarene” which the peo-ple has since decided to preserve and honor. (JS)


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Zambo’s “Merloquet Falls” gets city’s attention for promotion by Jocelyn P. AlvarezA fter long years

of “nesting” unnoticed

and “untouched,” Merloquet Falls finally caught the city’s attention to include her in the eco-tourism development.


SP urges Co to reactivate CDRRMC

City Information Officer (IO) Sheila Co-varrubias said “Merlo-quet Falls is one of the city’s natural attrac-tions that is included in the eco tourism program of the local government.” “This hidden and unspoiled natural falls is one of those attrac-tions included in the city’s promotional ma-terials,” Co-varrubias shared. The Mayor, on Wednesday, along with some members of the city council and other city officials including Archbishop Romulo

Valles trek the rugged and steep terrain lead-ing to the breathtak-ing Merloquet Falls. A c co rd i ng t o Covarrubias, the team’s visit to the falls is a show that the city wants to help promote the scenic falls as one of the city’s famous attractions. The mayor him-self took a wade into the cold and clear water that falls into a natural pool. Covarrubias said the visit to the falls was a sidelight to the inauguration of 9 in-frastructure projects

in Mangusu and Sib-ulao amounting to P16.1million lead by Mayor Lobregat. The lady IO said, after the exhaust-ing inauguration, the team took a trek to the interiors of ba-rangay Sibulao, Si-tio Merloquet, some 78 kilometers east of city where the falls’ majestic beauty lies.“The dip was a wel-come respite after the series of inau-guration and long walk,” she said. (JPA /S.Covarrubias/CIO/PIA ZBST)

PAGADIAN CITY – In its desire to protect its people from calamities that are now happening in the country especially in Mindanao, the Sangguniang Panlungsod thru the committee on public saftey vice-chairperson Bienvenido Culve on Tuesday has passed a resolution urging Mayor Samuel Co to reactivate the city disaster risk reduction and management council (CDRRMC).

by Gideon C. Corgue


In its regular session at the Sangguniang Pan-lungsod session hall, the resolution said with the re-cent tragic flooding in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan which caused loss of lives and properties, there is an urgent need for us to prepare for any eventuality should natural disaster strikes. Culve said if Co will reactivate the CDRRMC, the barangay risk reduc-tion and management council (BDRRMC) will be activated also in their re-spective barangays. Culve said the city government has initiated the move saying that with the fortuitous event that took place the cities of CDO and Iligan, there were some people who blamed on the local government unit (LGU) for not protect-ing the environment. “We don’t want that people will

blame us for not making a comprehensive disaster preparedness measures,” Culve explained. According to the study of geologists, Culve said this year 2012, there are disasters to come in the Philippines saying that the country is lying within the “Pacific Ring of Fire” . “It is expected that there are about 200 dormant volcanoes ready to erupt anytime, thus we need to be ready,” Culve reported. Culve said the SP has sent also letters to office of civil defense (OCD9) regional director Adriano Fuego and Philippine red cross (PRC) provincial administrator Hildaliza Muñoz to appear in the next regular session on January 13 to explain on what training programs with regard to disaster prevention and disaster preparedness


ARMM Gov intensifies crackdown on “ghost employees, entities”

ISABELA CITY – Manifesting its commitment to reform the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman has intensified its crackdown on “ghost employees” in the different departments under its jurisdiction.

they have implemented adding that offices have primary roles in the disas-ter-management training programmes. “There will be ques-tion and answer session where Fuego and Muñoz will be asked on the di-saster preparedness and management measures,” Culve added.

It can be recalled that on February 8, 2007, OCD 9 in coordination with the city government conducted an earthquake drill to miti-gate the impact of disaster where teachers, students in public elementary and secondary schools, gov-ernment employees, and the public have joined the activity.

Pagadian was once a victim natural disaster in on August 16, 1976 where huge tsunami waves bat-tered the shorelines and killed thousands of lives and swept away houses in the Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami. (JPA/GCC-PIA9, ZamboSur)


The Bureau of Pub-lic Information disclosed that the crackdown com-menced with a memoran-dum ordering the release of salaries to teachers be made exclusively via ATM accounts staring next month. The report said that teachers in the ARMM and other employees in its education department will only be receiving sal-aries thru valid automat-ed teller machines (ATM) bank accounts effective this February as the re-gion’s present caretaker government intensifies its crackdown on ghosts. Hataman said the move is intended to purge the Department of Education (DepEd) in the region of ghost teachers and employees. He promised that the same measure will be imposed in other agencies in the ARMM, saying that “a valid bank account is one way of ensuring the existence of an employee.” A c c o r d i n g t o Hataman, the unavail-ability of ATMs in remote areas of the region is not a compelling reason to make exemptions. He indicated that he is not convinced that

teachers in far-flung ar-eas won’t make a visit to a more developed town near them at least once a month. The OIC governor is determined to impose the measure and ap-pears to be unfazed by possible opposition from some employees. Hataman has sum-moned regional and pro-vincial officials of DepEd-ARMM to a meeting this week at the region’s seat in Cotabato City to dis-cuss his marching order and other policies meant to address perennial is-sues in the department. Alleged corruption issues have hounded DepEd-ARMM for years with controversies rang-ing from the non-remit-tance of the GSIS contri-butions of its employees to the uncovering of ghost teachers, employees and even ghost schools. The appointed ARMM chief said he wants to personally deal with the issue of corrup-tion in the department in the first 100 days of his administration. “Gusto namin af-ter 100 days tapos na ang problema namin sa ‘ghost’ [entities],” (We hope to end the problem

on ‘ghosts entities’ after 100 days.) he said. He shared his dis-appointment at a list that was presented to him during the course of their inventory of DepEd-ARMM’s personnel that apparently it does not contain enough informa-tion to verify the exis-tence of teachers in the region. Hataman said the list does not provide clear information on the teacher’s address and school assignment which make it useless in track-ing them down. Further, the former Anak Mindanao party-list representative has asked the region’s edu-cation officials to identify the schools covered by the approved P1-billion school building program for this year. Hataman said there are schools in the region that have more than enough school build-ings in relation to the to-tal number of enrollees and teachers while other schools are in dire need of infrastructures. “School buildings should be put up where it is needed most,” he said. (JPA/BPIARMM/RVC-PIA9 ZBST)


WFP assists Phl reach remote areas affected by tropical storm ‘Washi’

The United Nations World Food

Programme (WFP) and the Philippine Government are extending the emergency response to Tropical Storm Washi to focus on remote, cut-off areas around Iligan City.

Working closely with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and with airlift support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, WFP has already supplied emergency food assistance to almost 3,300 people stranded in Mungulong, outside Iligan City. Plans are now underway to airlift food rations to other isolated communities around Iligan City such as Panoroganan where almost a thousand people are in need, and

Mainit, where another 1,350 people require

assistance. “WFP continues to support the Philippine government’s relief efforts, and we are grateful to the Armed Forces of the Philippines for providing the necessary logistical support that enables us to reach people in these remote areas,” said WFP Country Director and Representative Stephen Anderson. “These are vital supplies which will help them get through this difficult time.”


WFP is also dispatching rice and vegetable oil in trucks provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to the areas of Santiago, Hinaplanon, Mahayahay and Tipanoy within Iligan City, and beyond to Rogongan, Digkilaan, Bonbonen and Kalilangan. In response to a request from the Department of Education, and in coordination with UNICEF and Save the Children, WFP will also provide short-term emergency school meals to 40,000 displaced children returning to school. As part of recovery efforts, WFP is stepping up its support to initiatives such as debris clearing and school repair activities through food-for-work projects. WFP, in partnership with DSWD,

is currently conducting relief and early recovery operations in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and parts of Lanao del Sur. A total of 207,500 people affected by Tropical Storm Washi have been reached by WFP emergency food assistance since relief operations began on December 19. (WFP)

DOH urges TS ‘Sendong” victims to avail of medical services vs. leptospirosisby Jean Marie C. Mendoza

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The Department of Health-Center for Health Development (DOH-CHD) advised tropical storm ‘Sendong’ victims, especially those who waded in flood waters, to avail of medical services to avoid being a victim of a silent, deadly disease—leptospirosis.

The DOH-CHD also reminded individuals with suspected leptospirosis to religiously take the medicines given to them. Leptospirosis can damage internal organs and possibly fatal, warned DOH. The illness lasts from a few days to three weeks or longer. Without treatment, recovery may take several

months. A person may become infected with leptospirosis when a person’s open wound comes into contact with water contaminated by urine of infected animals, especially mice.‘Sendong’ victims are also advised to maintain proper personal hygiene and to always maintain clean surroundings.


All the hospitals in the city are now on a “Code Red” status and DOH officials are doing their best in preventing this disease and are giving out medicines antibiotic prophylaxis and other medical treatment, inside and out the evacuation center. Among the signs and symptoms are fever, chills, bone and body pains then later a few days they will developed red eyes and rashes, said Dr. Dave Mendoza, Head of the Regional Epidemiology, Surveillance and Disaster Response Unit of DOH-CHD here during a recent meeting

of the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC), region 10. Mendoza added that once it comes into contact with cuts and open wounds in the skin, a person may develop high-grade fever, muscle pain and nausea. If complications may arise, it can lead to renal failure, respiratory distress and eventually death. Meanwhile, Mendoza said

the high increase in the number of cases of suspected individuals could probably be associated to indifference of the people to take the prophylactic dose of Doxycycline. He said that although the people received their ration of the said medicine, many did not take the medication. Many people, especially, those living outside of evacuation centers (EC’s) came only for the food rations and relief goods but not for the medical consultations, Mendoza further said.

Agro industrial firm gives Sendong survivors a fresh startBUGO, Cagayan de Oro - As a city comes to terms with its loss, an agro-industrial pioneer in this city help survivors get a fresh start.

Several days after Typhoon Sendong unleashed its fury on a city sound-asleep, food manufacturer and exporter Del Monte Philippines sent one of its backhoe/loaders to help

clear debris on affected residential areas. College student John Sumintang, 20, who grew up along Carmen’s riverdike, said he’s glad Del Monte is


clearing away debris where houses of friends once stood in sitio Acacia. John said: “This backhoe does not only clear away dirt; it sweeps away grim reminders of death and destruction – so we can move on.” Since then, the clean-up team has grown to three backhoes and two dump trucks for hauling debris to landfill sites and two water trucks for washdown of cleared areas. As the team hauled away fallen trees and torn houses that litter muddy streets, communities slowly get back on their feet. Students are back in school; business is slowly perking up. Cagayan de Oro City Councilor Atty. Alvin Calingin earlier requested Del Monte for assistance to shore up rehabilitation work in key areas. Kag. Calingin has also asked the assistance of other generous benefactors who have willingly loaned a payloader and two dumptrucks to complement the clean-up effort. Even with three backhoes and two dumptrucks working full-time, the task is simply too big for one group to do. The task calls for an entire community to come together and share in whatever way it can.The idea of a bigger cleanup drive was sparked by a simple bayanihan spirit initiated by volunteers from Del Monte’s residential areas or camps. Mostly members of Plantation’s “eco-brigades” who undertake tree-planting and cave clean-ups in Bukidnon, they came down in jeepney loads to the city to help several dozens of cannery employees clean their homes so these can be ready

for reoccupancy by New Year’s Eve. Bringing their own showels, pails, brooms and brushes, these eco-volunteers took turns to scrub clean muddy floors and walls and dig away dirt. Their presence brought the sunshine back into the life of grieving families and a desolate landscape. A doctor who lives near a cannery worker’s family, and was herself a beneficiary of the cleanup, said she’s happy that Del Monte has fanned out is efforts to clean up homes of neighbors of its employees. She said, “These kind people from Del Monte started the work for us, and gave us back hope. Now, we’re ready to finish the job ourselves.” But bringing out debris stacked inside homes only kept litter piling up on the streets. Del Monte sent in its mechanized clean-up team to augment the bayanihan effort of its eco-brigades. This second phase of Sendong emergency efforts is actually a challenge to the company’s logistical requirements as equipment for the planting season are now on city streets. But reaching out to the community in both good times and in emergencies has deep roots in Del Monte’s 85-year history. From a tradition started by its pioneers, the company values the support of communities from which it draws strength to grow its business. Then as now, Del Monte believes in “Helping communities help themselves.” Del Monte employee Sonny


Buenvenida, whose house was completely washed away in Acacia Street, Carmen, welcomes the efforts of Cannery colleagues who volunteered to distribute relief goods (food, vitamin-rich juice, clothes, beddings) across 10 barangays of the city since the floods. Goods and services valued at over P10 million were distributed here as well as in Iligan City. Relief operations continue as some 20,000 liters of water are delivered every day to various points in the city. During the early days of the calamity, Del Monte Foundation provided up to 5,000 free cooked meals as volunteers make a daily round of the city’s evacuation centers. Mobile medical teams hold

free clinics twice a week, which also give free medicines for the deadly leptospirosis disease following an outbreak in the city, and for other diseases. Nurses are dispatched to bring medicines to households of company employees and refer other patients to the company’s mobile medical teams. The company is also exploring partnerships with agencies to help survivors rebuild their homes. Del Monte Philippines, founded in 1926, provides jobs to over 10,000 workers at its cannery in this city and farms in Bukidnon and MIsamis Oriental; and generates livelihood opportunities to another 50,000 families in the region. (Del Monte)


Rescuers race against time for survivors of Compostela Valley landslideUSING only shovels while

waiting for the arrival of heavy equipment, rescuers were racing against time in searching for survivors in the aftermath of the landslide that struck a mining community in Pantukan, Compos-tela Valley before dawn on Thurs-day, authorities said. Lt. Col. Camilo Ligayo, com-mander of the 71st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, whose troops are assisting in the rescue operation,

said at least 25 have been killed in the landslide that struck Sitio Diat, Barangay Napnapan, Pantukan town at 3 a.m. rousing residents from their sleep. But of the 25 reported dead, only 17 so far have been retrieved as of 12:40 p.m. Thursday, according to Dr. Arnulfo Lantaya, spokesman of the Pantukan municipality. He did not discount the possibil-ity that the number of deaths could rise as search and rescue operation is now in full blast. Lantaya also said 16 have been rescued, six of them needing hospi-talization. Like in the flood disasters in Ca-gayan de Oro City and Iligan City, Army soldiers were the first ones to respond following the landslide in Pantukan. Maj. Harold Cabunoc, Army spokesman, said elements from 71st and 72nd Infantry Battalions of the 101st Army Brigade under the com-mand of Col. Roberto Domines were among the first to arrive at the disas-ter scene.


Rescuers race against time for survivors of Compostela Valley landslide

The Philippine Air Force (PAF) dis-patched two UH-1H “Huey” helicopters to Pantukan to assist in the rescue op-eration. Without waiting for the arrival of heavy equipment from Pantukan local government, Army soldiers and other government units started digging up heaps of soil strewn all over the place in a bid to rescue some residents who were covered under tons of earth. It was again a pathetic sight as relatives were crying while looking for their loved ones. The landslide was the second to strike Pantukan, a mining area, in a year. Last year, 23 people were killed in a landslide in the area. Lantaya said that as early as 2008 and again in 2011, local authorities had urged the residents in the mining com-

munity to leave the area because it is prone to landslide but they ignored the warnings. He said the local municipal council has declared Pantukan a disaster area. The landslide was the second di-saster to strike southern Philippines in 20 days. Last December 16, rampaging flood waters killed 1,257 people in Ca-gayan de Oro City, Iligan City and Dum-aguete City, and caused 4,662 injured and 101 missing. It was the most destructive flood to hit Mindanao in living memory. Indiscriminate logging has been blamed for the twin disasters. In the flash floods last month, cut logs rolled down from the mountains to the urban centers, killing people and destroying houses along the way.

Davao to improve tourist arrival databy Carina Cayon

DAVAO CITY– The Davao City Investment and Promotion Center (DCIPC) intended to develop this year the estab-lishment of an efficient tourist arrival records in the city. DCIPC chief Jason Magnaye said his office will “try to improve” a database of tourist arrivals for 2012, urging the cooperation of the private sector. Magnaye said that capturing the actual data on the number of tourist arrivals and the visitors’ profiles in Davao City continued to be a challenge for the tourism


industry. He raised the difficulty of gath-ering the accurate data on tourist ar-rivals based on hotel occupancy, not-ing that only 50 percent of the hotel establishments in the city submit re-ports to the tourism agencies. Establishing a data system would help determine the ideal number of hotels and rooms to accommodate foreign and local visitors, Magnaye told the local media here during the Kapehan sa Dabaw on Monday. He said that an established re-cord on tourist arrivals would also help ascertain the state and the actual performance of the tourism industry, he said. Tourist arrivals were estimated to reach around 700,000 in 2011, Mag-naye reported, admitting though that data were still being consolidated. He reported that about 375,000 tourists were recorded as of middle last year. He said that based on hotel ar-

rivals, about 10% of the tourists were foreigners, while 90% represented the domestic visitors. The DCIPC official reported a ro-bust performance of the tourism in-dustry last year, and is expected to be more aggressive in 2012.He said that the aim of improving the tourist arrival data system would be part of DCIPC’s program in calibrating its investment and promotion activi-ties for Davao City. Also in the line-up of DCIPC’s ac-tivities for this year is its tourism and marketing campaign in other Asian countries. Magnaye said that part of the plan is to bring the campaign in Sin-gapore. Said marketing strategy has been started in China last year. He said promotion and marketing materials and reference documents which would have different language translations have also been improved for foreign investors, he added.

did you know thatThat the Southern Philippine Medi-cal Center, a government tertiary hospital was founded in 1917 as a result of an enactment by the Phil-ippine legislature. the hospital was then known as the Davao Public Hos-pital. In 1946 it was renamed as the Davao General Hospital. In 1957 it was again renamed as the Davao Re-gional Medical and Training Center.


Hinugyaw Festival opens with tribute to first settlersby Dani Doguiles

KORONADAL CITY -- Koronadal City’s Hinugyaw Festival 2012 opened with a homage to the first settlers who came to the city before the Japanese invasion of the Philippines.


At 9:00 in the morning yesterday, ac-tivities for the five-day festivities took off with a wreath laying at the martyrs’ shrine inside Koronadal Central Ele-mentary School 1.

Seventeen martyrs – residents massacred by Japanese soldiers for allegedly hiding Fili-pino guerrillas – were buried in the site.

The opening day was capped with a theatrical presenta-tion Handurawan by the Hinugyaw Dance Troupe inside South Cotabato Gymnasium and Cultur-al Center.

Handurawan re-counted the arrival of the first Christian set-tlers, their struggles against the Japanese invaders, and their her-oism.

“The work that these heroes have done gave us the reason to celebrate what we have achieved at present,” Mayor Peter B. Miguel said.

The show had al-ready been shown but only to select audienc-es.

“This has to be seen by students, the youth and the general

public,” he said, “da-hil sabi nga, ang mga taong hindi marunong lumingon sa pinangga-galingan ay hindi ma-kararating sa paroroo-nan.”

The show should

give the audience “a deeper understanding of our heritage, a deep-er meaning of what we are and where we’re heading to,” he added.

On January 10, 2012, Koronadal City turns 72. It was created by vir-tue of Municipal Council Resolution No. 32 series of 1948.

Other important activities lined-up for the five-day celebration include: sports compe-titions (motocross, prac-tical shooting, moun-

tain biking, and golf), Search for Lakambini ng Koronadal, farmers’ festival, foam party and disco sa kalye, and drumline competition.

This year, the city

LGU reinvents its tra-ditional streetdanc-ing competition with Piyesta Korona (Festi-val of Crowns), which Mayor Miguel described as a mix between tra-ditional streetdancing and mardi gras that feature different de-signs of crowns.

As in the previous years, the festival will end with a grand fire-works display at 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday.


PDRRMO removes obstruction in rivernear Lake MaughanKORONADAL CITY -- South Cotabato’s Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) has began operations to remove an obstruction that has caused damming of a river near the outlet of Lake Maughan in Mt. Parker, T’boli town.

John Lorca, a staff of the Provincial So-cial Welfare and Devel-opment Office, said at least 15 persons in-

cluding technical ex-perts from Department of Public Works and Highways, Mines and Geosciences Bureau,

Provincial Environment Management Office, and the local govern-ment unit of T’boli were sent the location on


to clear away at least 10 feet of stone debris that have blocked part of Luhan River, about six kilometers from the lake’s outlet.

Lorca said the damming started on December 26 following a landslide in the area.

The resulting artifi-cial dam “has an area of 15 by 25 feet and depth of 15 feet.”

Lorca added some cliffs in the area have some cracks that could collapse and aggravate the situation if the ob-struction is not imme-diately removed.

On December 29, Gov. Arthur Y. Pingoy Jr. called an emer-gency meeting of the PDRRMC to discuss so-

lutions to the problem and prevent its esca-lation that could mean disaster to areas down-stream.

The council or-dered immediate re-moval of the obstruc-tion. Since the area cannot be accessed by machineries, the stone debris that have formed the embankment are being removed manu-ally.

Meanwhile, Provin-cial Administrator and PDRRMO head Isidro Janita assured the sit-uation in Lake Maughan “is not alarming, ” but added that flashflood could still occur during continuous and heavy rains and if it’s outlet is blocked.

Since the weather has become very unpre-dictable, Janita added, they have hired four persons whose jobs is to regularly moni-tor the conditions of the lake.

Lately, these work-ers removed a mass of floating vegetation to prevent it from block-ing Maughan’s outlet.

Lake Maughan emp-ties into Luhan River, which is a tributary of Allah River.

In September , 1995 a wall of Lake Maughan collapsed , resulting in flashfloods that killed about 100 people and damaged millions worth of crops and properties.

Mga troso nakumpiska sa North CotabatoKORONADAL CITY -- Aabot sa lima hanggang anim na libong board feet ng iligal na troso ang nakumpiska sa isinagawang raid ng mga otoridad sa Sitio Lumayong, Barangay Lumayong, sa Kabacan, North Cotabato ka-hapon ng umaga.

Isinagawa ang raid ng pinag-isang grupo ng Cotabato Police Public Safety Compa-ny, Kabacan PNP at ng Municipal Environ-

ment and Natural Re-sources Office ng na-turanag bayan.

Ayon kay P/Supt. Al-exander Tagum, hepe ng CPPCSC, Kabilang

sa kanilang nakump-iska ang mga buong troso ng iba’t ibang klase ng hardwood tulad ng Apitong, La-waan, Molave, Falcata


Mga troso nakumpiska sa North Cotabato

at iba pa Di pa kasa-ma rito ang mga fin-ished lumber.

Nakuha din sa lugar ang dalawang circular sawmill na ginagamit

sa paggawa ng mga lumber mula sa mga naputol na kahoy.

Pinaniniwalaang gal-ing pa ang mga troso sa bahagi ng Bukid-

non at mga bukiring bahagi ng North Co-tabato at pinaanod lang sa Rio Grande de Mindanao. Nakaimbak ang mga ito sa gilid lang ng ilog na siyang pinakamalaki sa Mind-anao.

Sa ngayon inaalam pa ang mga otoridad ang pagkkakilanlan ng may-ari ng mga iligal na troso.

Pansamantalang na-kalagak ngayon ang mga nakumpiskang mga kahoy sa provin-cial capitol sa Amas, Kidapawan.


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Issuance of permit to single motorcycles for public transport, LGU’s discretion – DOTCby Robert E. Roperos

Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Caraga Assistant Regional Dir. Roman Jumawan recently said it is the discretion of the local government units

whether or not to issue permit to single motorcycles that are used for transporting the riding public.


Jumawan said that as of press time, DOTC-Caraga does not issue yellow plate numbers to single motorcycles that are used for passenger’s transportation, specifi-cally the “skylab” and “habal-habal” that are used for public trans-portation in the hinter-lands and far-flung ba-rangays and barrios. “Wala pa ta mag-isyu dinhi sa DOTC-Car-aga og permit ngadto sa mga tag-iya sa mga single motorcycles nga pagagamiton sa pag-transport sa mga pasa-hero, gawas sa mga tri-

cycles,” Jumawan said. (We were not able to issue here in DOTC-Caraga per-mit to owners of single motorcy-cles to be used for transporting pas-sengers, except for tricycles.) Jumawan added there is no legal basis yet for the single motorcycles to be issued with yellow plate num-

bers, which is intended for vehicles for public transportation or “for hire”. “Sa pagkakaron, wala pa’y legal basis para i-yellow plate kana sila,” Jumawan said. (Presently, there is no legal basis to issue yellow plate for single motor-cycles.) Howeve r, the DOTC of-ficial of the re-gion said the lo-cal government units have the discretion to is-

sue permits to owners of this transport vehicle and it’s up to them if they will grant permit to make the transporting of passengers legal. “Tinuod kana nga adunay lugar dinhi sa Caraga Region kung diin ang LGU naga-isyu og permit sa mga ‘habal-habal’ for hire… Discre-tion na kana sa matag LGU,” the official said. (It is true that there are areas here in Caraga Region where the LGU has issued per-mit to ‘habal-habal’ for hire… That is the dis-cretion of every LGU.) Jumawan added that DOTC-Caraga does not issue yellow plate numbers to these type of transport vehicle.


Socorro Community eCenter upgrades Internet connectionby Melody Cocon

BUTUAN CITY – The Community eCenter of Socorro, Surigao del Norte has recently upgraded its Internet connection from satellite to wireless.

The geographical location of the island-municipality did not hin-der the possibility of the 31-kilometer Wi-Fi link across the sea. The ICT-recipient populace expressed gratitude for this devel-opment as this will in-crease the connection speed of 512 kilobytes

per second (kbps) to 2 megabytes per second (mbps). Also, the prohibi-tive monthly payment of P15,000 before is now down to P999. Servicing before was done exclusively by the Internet Service Pro-vider personnel while the present setup can now

be managed, hence low-ering the cost of mainte-nance. Also, the phone-in and online support is available and an addi-tional bandwidth means additional households to be connected, thus in-creasing local revenues. This has opened new opportunities of


Socorro Community eCenter upgrades Internet connection

the eCenter to expand its vision to a wider and ambitious scope to help the community in an at-tainable and cost-saving measure. Following the instal-lation, Socorro CeC man-ager Zenith Rivas spear-headed a staff meeting involving municipal of-

ficials and heads of of-fices to gain their sup-port. Their support will pave the way for the es-tablishment of wireless internet connection with VOIP attached in each of the 14 barangays of the municipality. It will also address the need for a Disaster

Preparedness compo-nent and tax concerns -the eBPLS and eRPTS will be linked to all 14 barangays which will re-sult to a maximum local income. The installation of a PPCTV camera in all LGU offices will likewise ensure transparency in LGU operations. This development is the result of Socorro CeC’s participation to the 7th Knowledge Exchange Conference in Baguio City last November 2011 and other knowledge sharing activities, part-nership with the Gener-al Luna CeC (feeder for SMART broadband) and Wency Barrientos, CeC manager of Araceli Pala-wan.

P156-M support fund to LGUs released by DILG, DBM by Mary Christine Anthonette Salise

BUTUAN CITY – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) have released a total of P156 million to selected LGUs in Caraga Region under the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF).


Funds were released to some LGUs that have been awarded the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH). The DILG awards the SGH to promote good governance among local governments. In Caraga Region, four provinces, six cit-ies and 66 municipali-ties have been awarded the SGH. Three newly converted cities, how-ever, are not entitled to the LGSF since they will receive a bigger Internal

Revenue Allotment for 2012. The funds shall be utilized as capital expen-diture and only for the following types of proj-ects: a) rural electrifica-tion; b) local roads con-nection national roads; c) arterial farm-to-mar-ket roads and bridges; d) local economic enterpris-es; e) flood control and drainage; and f) priority projects of the Nation-al Government such as Millenium Development

Goals, Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Man-agement Act of 2010 and Solid Waste Management Act of 2000. Topping the list of LGUs in Caraga Region is Butuan City which re-ceived P60 million.

One Mindanao - January 7, 2012

Documents

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