ANTI-LOGGING CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED IN DAVAO, CARAGA, SURIGAO, AGUSAN

 MANILA, Philippines—The government is now focusing its crackdown on illegal logging in six provinces in Mindanao where loggers still reign in “connivance” with local, environment and police officials.

Antilogging officials on Friday pinpointed Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte and Surigao del Sur in Region 13 or Caraga Region, and Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte and Davao Oriental in Region 11  as “hot spots” where illegal logging has thrived more than a year after President Benigno Aquino III banned logging nationwide.

“Caraga and the Davao peninsula are the corridors [of illegal logging],” said retired Gen. Renato Miranda, chief of the Illegal Logging Task Force whose headquarters was transferred to

Butuan, Agusan del Sur last week to eliminate logging at its source on Mr. Aquino’s orders.

Enforcement problems

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje admitted having a tough time enforcing Mr. Aquino’s Executive Order No. 23, which bans logging nationwide, on the six provinces because of the connivance of illegal loggers with local government executives, environment field personnel, and police officials.

“We’re now focusing on six major problematic provinces. They’re the remaining provinces where we have not contained logging because of connivance among local officials, DENR field personnel, police and other regulators,” he said.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said five mayors were now being investigated while eight police officials in Caraga were suspended for alleged involvement in illegal logging.

Philippine National Police Director Nicanor Bartolome had also expanded the one-strike policy to include police commanders, who would be relieved if they fail to confiscate illegal logs.

With Mr. Aquino taking a direct hand in the campaign, the departments of environment, interior, police, customs and law enforcement agencies, have mobilized all their resources to the six provinces.

Friday morning, a multi-agency team seized 18 container vans of lumber at the Davao port, Paje said, a week after 55 container vans of lumber at the Manila North Harbor, also from Davao, were confiscated.

“The President had wanted this stopped yesterday,” said

Paje, who relieved 31 key officials in Regions 11 and 13 last Saturday for failing to curb illegal logging.

Paje has personally tapped Assistant Secretary Marlo Mendoza, coordinator of the National Greening Program, to replace the relieved regional director in Region 13, and oversee the crackdown on illegal logging in the region. Paje said he would oversee the NGP in the meantime.

New Region 11 director

“We need a very credible person to implement this program,” he said of Mendoza, who headed Bantay Kalikasan for five years.

Paje also designated Mark Fragada as the new Region 11 director, crediting him for the seizure of the lumber in Davao port Friday.

“The major strategy is to have a laser-focused attention on these areas. I’m with the President in stopping this as fast as possible,” he said. “With new people on the ground, we’re optimistic we’ll be able to neutralize illegal logging.”

The strategy would be two-pronged: continuing operations against the loggers, and livelihood for log cutters through the DENR’s reforestation program, according to Paje and Miranda. PDI

AQUINO SIGNS NEW MINING POLICY

 

But Palace to bare details of EO 79 only Monday

President  Benigno Aquino III has signed Executive Order No. 79 spelling out his administration’s policy on mining and will present it on Monday, a Palace source said Friday.

Presidential Communications Secretary Ramon Carandang would not confirm the signing of the much-awaited policy, but he acknowledged that the final draft that was submitted to the President underscored the need to increase the royalties and the taxes levied on mining firms.

Mr. Aquino earlier said that the taxes and royalties collected by the government from mining operations amounted to only 10 percent of their total revenue.

Carandang said the final draft of the order upheld the primacy of national laws over local laws and ordinances.

The primacy of national laws was earlier questioned by some 40 governors including Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, an ally of the President. They threatened to challenge the administration’s mining policy before the Supreme Court once it was signed by the President.

Salceda said the order would allow the national government to override the  anti- or pro-mining policies of local executives.

“There will always be people that would question the EO, but we believe it will be acceptable to most of the reasonable stakeholders,” Carandang said.

Mr. Aquino said the 1987 Constitution was “very, very clear” that national laws would always take precedence.

“If they [the governors] feel that their rights are being trampled upon, by all means they can go to the appropriate courts,” the President said earlier.

He said the government would also impose a mining ban on 78 eco-tourism sites through the executive order.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the new order would recoup some P760 million in forgone revenues due to the failure to collect occupational fees yearly.

“Application and occupational fees are so dated. The department is planning to hike the P50,000 application fee and increase by a thousand-fold the occupational fees,” Paje told reporters on the sidelines of the Environment Department’s 25th anniversary celebration.

“The moment that a particular area is under a company’s name, that company should start paying its dues. No more grace period.”

A mining company is required to pay its occupational dues once it is granted an exploration permit, minerals production sharing agreement or financial and technical assistance agreement.

The Mining Act actually mandates the collection of an annual occupation fee of P5 per hectare for the exploration permit; P50 per hectare for mineral production sharing agreement and financial or technical assistance agreement; and P100 per hectare for mineral reservation.

Mining stocks rose on Friday, bucking the downtrend in other shares amid speculation that the President had signed an executive order on his minerals policy.

The mining and oil counter, one of the six sub-sectors in the Philippine Stock Exchange, advanced 2.8 percent on Friday despite the overall decline of the PSE index. The index dropped 6 points, or 0.1 percent, to close at 5,362.68.

The stocks of Lepanto Consolidated Mining and Manila Mining Corp. were among the biggest gainers on Friday. Lepanto Consolidated Mining’s stock price increased 7.3 percent to P1.47.

The stock of Philodrill Corp., which has stakes in several mines, also jumped 5.8 percent to P0.055, while Manila Mining Corp.’s stock rose 5.6 percent to P0.075.

Philex Mining Corp. and Benguet Corp. also saw their stocks rise Friday. With Othel V. Campos/MANILA STANDARD

Spanish gov’t to help Zambo preserve Chabacano- envoy

by NEWSTUBE online magazine & newspaper

Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Jorge Domecq, who came here to keynote the 75th Dia de la Ciudad de Zamboanga last Sunday, assured that the Spanish government is committed to help the city government in its effort to preserve the city’s Spanish derivative language called Chabacano.

“We have to do all we can. The Spanish government has decided to help preserve the Chabacano, which I think is a unique language, a very rich language which is not that known by so many people and so I think it ought to be protected and preserved,” Ambassador Domecq said when interviewed during his visit to Sta. Cruz Island.

Spanish Ambassador Jorge Domecq and Mayor Celso Lobregat happily show a picture of their happy visit to the Las Islas de Sta. Cruz which mesmerized the envoy and his lady Rosa Rufino de Domecq, as they face the media for an exit press con Monday afternoon.  BENJIE BARREDO

Asked how he would assess Chabacano in comparison with Spanish, Domecq said, “I was very impressed. I was very moved when I heard people speak the Chabacano. To come to a city in the other side of the world and to hear a language which is the sister of your own language, it’s fantastic!”

According to the ambassador, the Spanish embassy in Manila will regularly organize series of activities aimed at preserving Chabacano and will also consider the publication of books in Chabacano in partnership with other organizations.

For example, he said, in the month of March the embassy will be having Instituto Cervantes, a Spanish non-government organization teaching Spanish language across the world, in a series of activities.”We will be having a cycle of Chabacano films or movies,” he said.

“To preserve Chabacano, we will also organize a conference in July together with the association of Chabacano at La Salle University,” the Spanish envoy said.

Mayor Celso Lobregat and Spanish Ambassador Jorge Domecq in a huddle before the start of the exit press conference of the envoy before enplaning back to Manila February 27. BENJIE BARREDO

For his part, Spanish First Secretary Antonio Garcia, who joined the ambassador in his trip to Sta. Cruz Island together with Mayor Celso Lobregat, suggested that Chabacano can be declared an intangible heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The UNESCO seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. It is embodied in an international treaty called the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage , adopted by UNESCO in 1972.-(Vic Larato)

Queen Sofia of Spain visits Zamboanga City

---

ZAMBOANGA CITY, July 6 (PNA) – House Deputy Speaker for Mindanao and first district Congresswoman Ma Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said the visit Thursday of Queen Sofia of Spain to Zamboanga City was a welcome development for this southern port city. 

Salazar said the Spanish government, through self-sustaining programs, had been extensively helping identified communities here in Zamboanga City through non-government organizations (NGOs).
Queen Sofia and her entourage that include Spanish Ambassador to the Philippines Jorge Domecq arrived here aboard a presidential plane at 9:15 a.m. Thursday.
Queen Sofia visited several Spanish-funded projects that included housing projects, Akay Kalinga for street children, Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) and schools.
One of the schools the queen visited was the Claret School, which is run by Spanish priests who composed of the Claretian Missionary Fathers (CMF). 

“The partnership between these two countries (Philippines and Spain) had a long history. The fruit of this partnership are the various initiatives that they have generously extended to us,” Salazar said.
“As in my capacity as first district representative, our office has likewise partnered with Instituto de Cervantes of Manila to propagate the Spanish language as something very dear to our creole the Chabacano, so the visit has only strengthened all these initiatives,” Salazar said.
Instituto Cervantes is a worldwide non-profit organization created by the Spanish government in 1991.
It is the largest organization in the world dedicated to the teaching of the Spanish language and increasing knowledge of culture in Latin-American countries.
At present, Instituto Cervantes has 77 centers in 44 different countries. Its mission is to promote the teaching, study and use of Spanish as a second language, and to contribute to the advancement of Spanish and Latin-American cultures throughout the world.
Aside from visiting Spanish-funded projects, Queen Sofia also offered prayers and flowers and lighted candle at the Royal Fort of Our Virgin Lady of the Pillar of Zaragoza, commonly known as Fort Pilar.
Fort Pilar is a 17th century military defense fortress built by the Spanish colonial government in Zamboanga City.
Fort Pilar is a major landmark and a symbol of Zamboanga City’s cultural heritage.

Zamboanga City is only one of the three areas visited by Queen Sofia during her stay in the Philippines. The two other places are Albay and Manila. (PNA)

Lobregat thanks Zamboangueños for Queen Sofia’s warm welcome

---

ZAMBOANGA CITY, July 6 (PNA) – Mayor Celso Lobregat has expressed gratitude to residents of Zamboanga City for the rousing welcome accorded on Thursday to Queen Sofia of Spain.
Lobregat likewise thanked the military and police and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and all offices of the city government that helped in the successful turnout of the historical visit of the Queen to Zamboanga City.
In particular, Lobregat thanked Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) Chief Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes, Police Regional Office-9 (PRO-9) director Chief Supt. Napoleon Estilles, Zamboanga City Police officer-in-charge Chief Supt. Mario Yanga, 3rd Air Division Commander Brig. Gen. Emeraldo Magnaye and Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM) commander Rear Admiral Armando Guzman.
Lobregat also cited the participation and contribution of the different schools to the successful visit of Queen Sofia, specifically the Zamboanga State College of Marine Sciences and Technology, Southern City Colleges, Sinunuc Elementary School, Sinunuc National High School, Claret School, Don Pablo Lorenzo Memorial High School and the Sta. Maria Elementary School.
He said the Queen’s visit to Zamboanga City the whole day on Thursday turned out smooth, peaceful and well-organized.
“The rousing welcome we accorded the Queen is definitely a big boost to the peaceful image of the city of Zamboanga,” he stressed. 

He described the visit of the Queen Sofia, the first high foreign dignitary to visit this city was a monumental event for Zamboanga City.
Finally, Lobregat said gratitude also goes out to Queen Sofia herself, for making Zamboanga City one of the sites to be visited during her visit to the Philippines.

“It is truly an honor for the City of Zamboanga to be visited by the Queen of Spain. I don’t think there was any other foreign dignitary of such stature that ever visited Zamboanga in the past,” Lobregat added. (PNA)

MILF general consultations to boost ongoing peace process, says Palace

MANILA, July 6 (PNA) -- Malacanang said it hopes that the Bangsamoro general assembly to be conducted by Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) this weekend will eventually pave the way for the signing of a peace agreement with the Aquino government.

The MILF is holding its general assembly starting July 7 to 9 in Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao. The MILF said that at least 500,000 to one million people will be attending the general assembly.
Representatives from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and other international organizations are expected to participate.
“We view this as a positive development for the MILF to consolidate its support for the peace agreement. And so it’s something that we welcome. Secretary Ging Deles and the negotiating panel will be there in Camp Darapanan to attend,” Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said in a media briefing in Malacanang on Friday.
Asked by reporters if the Aquino administration expects the meeting to fast-track the signing of a peace agreement with the MILF, Lacierda said: “We certainly would hope so and as we have always stated, we are cautiously optimistic that a peace agreement will be signed within this administration.”
During the last general assembly held in 2005, some 900,000 MILF followers went to Camp Darapanan to know the progress of the peace talks then.
The goals of the MILF consultative assembly is to rally supporters behind its negotiating positions, to keep restive rebel commanders in line and check their loyalties, and to show its force and influence in Mindanao to the general public.
The MILF has been battling the government for over 30 years to achieve self-rule in Mindanao. Upon assuming office, the President initiated renewed peace efforts with the MILF hoping that under his term a peace deal would be signed.

Analysts have estimated that the conflict has resulted in some 50,000 to 60,000 deaths for the past 30 years. (PNA)

Deles, Leonen to grace MILF assembly in Maguindanao

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao, July 6 (PNA) -- Presidential peace adviser Secretary Teresita Deles and chief government negotiator Atty. Marvic Leonen will be joining the biggest Bangsamoro gathering in Mindanao beginning Saturday.

Ghadzali Jaafar, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) vice chair for political affairs, said Deles and Leonen have confirmed their participation in the two-day gathering of Moro community leaders who will be consulted on the progress of the GPh-MILF peace process.
"Both peace advocates have confirmed their participation and we are very glad," Jaafar said.
MILF, the gathering organizer, said the Bangsamoro Leaders' Assembly to be held at Camp Darapanan, Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao, is expecting more than 500,000 individuals from all over the country.
Major General Rey Ardo, chief of the 6th Infantry Division, said he will personally attend the assembly on two reasons.
"I will attend because I was invited and I would like to show that the military is supportive of the government's peace initiatives, the gathering being part of the peace process," Ardo told reporters.
Soldiers were deployed around the vicinity of Camp Darapanan, the MILF stronghold, to secure participants coming in to the venue from as far as Metro Manila, Baguio, Visayas and Mindanao.
Also invited are officials and diplomats of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) founding chair Nur Misuari.
On the second day of the assembly, a close-door plenary will be held while MILF chair Ebrahim Mohammad Al Haj will hold a news conference.
About 100 local, national and foreign journalists have signified their intention to attend, Jaafar said.
Mohaqher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, said non-Muslims were also invited and many have confirmed their attendance.

After the opening program, Deles and Leonen will hold a news conference Saturday at the 6th ID headquarters here before proceeding to Manila. (PNA)

All systems go for Aboitiz $546M coal-fired power plant in Davao - FRONT PAGE - The Durian Post. No. 144

BY ROGER M. BALANZA

   The Aboitiz Power Corporation was expected to start construction of its  $546 million 300-megawatt (MW) circulating fluidized-bed coal-fired power-generation facility in Davao.
    Aboitiz, through its subsidiary Therma South Inc. (TSI), signed on June 30, 2012 contracts worth $546 million with local and foreign partners to build the power plant in Binugao, Davao City, and Inawayan, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur.
    The project, the single biggest direct investment in the Davao Region, had faced a storm of protests from environmentalist groups over fears of pollution and threats to the Dumoy aquifer, that feeds the need for potable water of  Davao City’s 1.5 million people.
    Aboitiz had initially planned to siphon water from the underground reservoir, atop which the coal plant would sit, to cool the plant’s system.
    But Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte steered the Davao City Council of which he is the presiding officer into endorsing the project.
    Duterte said Mindanao, wracked by a power crisis, needed the project.
    The vice mayor calmed down the protests by forcing Aboitiz to revise its plan and to source out water from free-flowing wells. spring and rivers and no longer from the underground water reservoir.
    In a statement, Aboitiz said the project contractors include Formosa Heavy Industries Corp. and a consortium composed of Black & Veatch and Leighton Contractors (Philippines) Inc. Under the contracts, Formosa Heavy Industries will design, supply and erect the power-block equipment, while the Black & Veatch consortium will perform civil works, as well as engineer, procure and construct the balance of plant systems and facilities.
    Site-preparation for the project had been started in April this year by First Balfour Inc.
    Commercial operation of the first 150-MW generating unit is targeted on or before March 31, 2015, with commercial operations of the second unit following three months later.  
    The Therma South power project will generate up to 2,000 direct and indirect jobs during the estimated 37-month construction period.
    In the statement, Aboitiz said: “Anticipating tightness in the power supply in Mindanao, AboitizPower is committed to do what it takes to build the Therma South power project at the soonest possible time.”
    ”We will continue to invest in power-generation projects to support the growth of Mindanao today and in the future,” said Erramon Aboitiz, AboitizPower president and CEO.
    “This  coal-fired plant will be equipped with state-of-the-art technology that will meet stringent international health, safety and environmental standards to ensure that the facility will have the least adverse impact on the environment and surrounding communities,” Aboitiz said.
    “We have a strong track record in adhering to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity in carrying out our responsibilities while developing and operating power-generation facilities, and resolving to advance the well-being of the communities and the environment that they affect,” Aboitiz said.
    The Aboitiz contractors come with heavy credentials and track record in the power generation industry.
    Black & Veatch will bring considerable international expertise in leading the consortium. In 2011 the company was ranked the number-one engineering company in power-generation services by Engineering News-Record.
    “Our focus is to deliver an efficient and world-class power solution in the region that supports this important need for critical energy infrastructure,” said Dr. Hoe Wai Cheong, Asia and MEIEA regions managing director of  Black & Veatch’s global energy business.
    Leighton Contractors (Philippines) Inc. has had a continuous presence in the country for close to 20 years, and is a subsidiary of leading international contractor Leighton Asia, India and Offshore.
    “We are proud to be part of the consortium awarded this project. Leighton has been an integral partner in the development of major building, mining and power projects in the Philippines. We are looking forward to working with AboitizPower to deliver the Therma South power project,” said Boyd Merrett, Leighton Asia, India and Offshore executive general manager for Mongolia, the Philippines and Guam.
    The Therma South power project had also been endorsed by the Municipal Council of Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur and granted an environmental compliance certificate by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources through the Environmental Management Bureau.
    For nearly 80 years, AboitizPower has been at the forefront of developing and operating power-generating plants using various technologies throughout the country.  Aboitiz said the project will provide the Davao area and Mindanao as a whole, with reliable, dependable and competitively priced power, thereby strengthening the region’s position as a destination for business, investment and tourism.

Davao City House of Hope young cancer patients find hope in healing priest

HAND OF GOD. Healing priest Fr. Fernando Suarez ministering his curing power to a young cancer patient at the House of Hope. KIWI BULACLAC

BY ROGER M. BALANZA

 For the young cancer patients, there is hope in the House of Hope. There is also hope in Fr. Fernando Suarez, the healing priest who came to visit the House of Hope last week to help heal the stricken children.
    Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he had invited Fr. Suarez to Davao City partly for the cancer patients of the House of Hope, run in a room at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC).
    Fr. Suarez held a healing mass at the center for the young wards. He also held masses in two Catholic churches that were attended by an estimated 50,000 people.
    In the Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa television program hosted by lawyer Gerladine Tiu on ABS/CBN on Sunday where the healing priest was a guest, Duterte said the children are desperate to be healed.
    He hoped that through Fr. Suarez’ intervention, God would cure them.
    Duterte is helping raise funds for the House of Hope and the young cancer patients. He has also donated a house in Margarita Villa near SPMC for the patients and their kin tending to them.
    While some  patients come only for check-up and medication, many stay in the ward for long. The long stay causes inconveneince to family members attending to the patients as the SPMC has no sleeping quarters or other provisions for them.
    This prompted him out of pity to donate the Margarita property to SPMC spefically to be used for the young cancer victims.
    The house now serves as temporary home for the children and those attending to them while the patients are on the recovery period, said Duterte who adds that many of the families with cancer patients at SPMC  are from the nearby provinces and have no home in the city.
    Duterte said the Margarita house now serves as an extension of the cancer ward at SPMC where children who lost their limbs practice their newly-installed prosthetics.

Fr. Fernando Suarez ‘healing masses’ draw 50,000 Dabawenyos

HEALING PRIEST Fr. Fernando Suarez with Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo
Duterte and, at back, Duterte’s chief assistant Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go, right, and businessman Jun Te. KIWI BULACLAC

BY ROGER M. BALANZA

An estimated 50,000 Dabawenyos attended healing masses in three Catholic churces during the June-30 to July 2 visit in Davao City of ‘healing priest’ Fr. Fernando Suarez.
    Fr. Suarez who heads the Missionary of Mother Mary of the Poor has gained fame for his healing powers.
    Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he invited Fr. Suarez to come to Davao City to help heal the Dabawenyos and ‘feed our souls.’
    The large attendance in the healing masses was due in part to the announcement of Vice Mayor Duterte in the Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa television program hosted by lawyer Gelraldine Tiu on ABS/CBN, where Fr. Suarez was a guest, on Sunday.

    The masses were held at the St. Francis of Assisi Parish headed by Fr. Bong Gonzaga in Maa , Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish headed by Monsignor Cuizon in Bo. Obrero , and in the chapel of the Souuthern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) for young cancer patients of the House of Hope.
    Duterte said he had himself healed by Fr. Suarez, adding prayers are needed at this time when the world is beset with crisis and Dabawenyos are grappling with their own personal problems.
    When I am desperate that I could not get things right, I go to Fr. Suarez, he said.
    In the television program, Duterte said Fr. Suarez’ visit is a special blessing to the Dabawenyos.
    Duterte who frankly admits that he is not much into religiosity, said he invited Fr. Suarez because he believes that Dabawenyos could find God through the intervention of the healing priest. ROGER M. BALANZA

Slow DAR action on land conversion hampering Davao investment climate

    Davao City officials said that slow action on application for conversion of agricultural lands by investors is affecting the business investment climate in the city.

    The applications for conversion of more than five hectares, to be acted on by the DAR Manila office, take years to be approved.
    The snail-paced action has put on hold many business projects in the city involving mostly real estate development and resorts in the outskirts of the city on lands classified as agricultural by DAR. The Davao City government requires the conversion permits before approving the projects and issue local permits.
    City planning officer Roberto Alabado said there are several investments having problem in conversion but the local government cannot impose on national agencies like DAR to speed up the conversions.
    But he said City Hall compromise by issuing “conditional permits” while the applications for conversion are pending with DAR.
    A case in point is the 30-hectare D’Leonor Inland Resort in Cabantian that has complied with local requirements but lacks a conversion permit from DAR.
    We have given them a conditional permit, said Alabado.
    Tourism and investment officer Jayson Magnaye said his office encountered similar probelms of investors finding it hard to secure conversion permit from  DAR.
    Magnaye could not give a figure on the number of the affected projects but agreed the slow process could stymy investors on pushing through with their projects.
    Alabado and Magnaye told the Durian Post that there may be a need to conduct a headcount of the projects affected by the slow conversion as it would deal a negative blow on the city as an investment haven.

ANNE CURTIS IS YES! MAGAZINE'S 2012 MOST BEAUTIFUL STAR

DAVAO POWER COOP ABANDONS TOURIST ISLAND

Igacos power woes over;
Daneco gives up island

The lights have faded out in the Davao del Norte Electric Cooperative (Daneco) continuing but failed bid to effectively light up the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos) in Davao del Norte.
    But locals and the thousands of tourists that flock to the tourist island need not worry.
    The Davao City-based Davao Light and Power Company (DLPC) is coming to the rescue to brigthen the island and put a close to the dark history of Daneco's poor service.
    Daneco, during a recent general assembly of cooperative members in Maco, Compostela Valley, has approved a resolution turning over to DLPC its business of lighting up Igacos.
    The resolution given the thumbs up by the power coop's more than 9,000 member-consumers, also authorized the Daneco Board to enter into a memorandum of agreement with DLPC on the power distribution transfer.   
    Igacos City Administrator Cleto Gales said the transfer would be a boon to the island's investment and tourism promotions initiatives.
    This would ease investors' apprehension of unstable power supply,  said Gales.
    Daneco's bad service marked by persistent brownouts has been a perennial complaints of locals and businessmen. ROGER M. BALANZA
   

Development and Distress in Mindanao: A Political Economy ...

Development and Distress in Mindanao: A Political Economy ...

KADAYAWAN SA DABAW FESTIVAL 2012 - Updates-Faces of Dabaw

Aquino government welcomes 15-member contingent from Indonesia

MANILA, July 2 (PNA) -- The Aquino administration welcomed the decision of Indonesia to send a 15-member contingent to the country as part of its contribution to a multinational team monitoring the ceasefire between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). "We needed 60 peacekeepers. We only have around 40 right now. And so it is good that Indonesia has offered to provide peacekeepers to us. They sent around 15, so kulang na lang siguro ng lima.... So that’s why we welcome the offer of Indonesia to come in and be observers," said Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda during the regular press briefing in Malacanang on Monday.
Last June 30, Indonesia deployed the contingent to Central Mindanao where the International Monitoring Team (IMT) is presently based, according to news reports.
The ceasefire-monitoring team from Indonesia will join the delegates from Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, Libya and Norway.
The inclusion of Indonesia in the IMT contingent was also a result of the request made in 2009 by Foreign Affairs official Rafael Seguis and MILF chief peace negotiator Mohagher Iqbal for Jakarta to send a contingent to the truce monitoring team.
Lacierda said the government is still hopeful towards arriving at a peace agreement with the MILF during the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino III.
Last August, President Aquino met with MILF chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim in Tokyo, Japan as a show of government’s sincerity to move the peace process forward.m

The President and Murad agreed to fast track the negotiations to achieve a just and lasting peace in Mindanao. (PNA)

US, PHL start joint naval exercises in Sarangani Bay

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, July 2 (PNA) – About a thousand joint American and Filipino troops are taking part in the nine-day United States (US)-Philippines naval maneuver exercises along Sarangani Bay that formally opened Monday. Capt. Robert Empedrad, deputy commander of the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao Command, said the troops, which comprise 400 American as well as 550 Filipino naval and coast guard personnel, will undergo joint training exercises as part of the Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2012 program.
He said two US vessels — the missile-guiding frigate USS Vandergrift and cutter-ship US Coast Guard (USCG) Waesche —are taking part in the naval exercises.
USS Vandergrift arrived around 1:05 p.m. Sunday near the mouth of Sarangani Bay and was met by Philippine Navy (PN) ship Salvador Abcede. USCG Waesche arrived about an hour later.
Vandergrift arrived at the Makar Wharf here around 3 p.m.
Empedrad, who acts as CARAT 2012 exercise director, said another US ship also arrived in the country — the USNS Safeguard, a rescue and salvage ship — and docked in Manila for training exercises at the Manila Bay.
He said naval exercises, which is the first time that US naval units were holding in the area, would be conducted in the seas off Maitum and Maasim towns in Sarangani and in Balut Island of Sarangani town in Davao del Sur.
The naval exercise, which would not be visible from the shores, is within the area of responsibility of the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao Command, he said.
The official said inland activities include medical and dental civic action program and concerts by the US Navy’s 7th Fleet Band in this city and Glan town in Sarangani.
At-sea activities include in-port training, subject matter exercise exchanges, riverine operations training, and diving and salvage exercises.
Empedrad said four PN ships - corvettes BRP Magat Salamat and BRP Miguel Malvar, Salvador Abcede, and coastal patrol craft BRP Teotimo Figuracion — as well as Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) BRP Pampanga are taking part in CARAT 2012.
Commander Joseph Coyme, spokesperson of the PCG Contingent in CARAT P012, said the Coast Guard exercises will cover search and rescue and emergency medical situation.
He said the Coast Watch Stations, which are operated by the PN and being worked out to be handled by the PCG, will have a communications exercise with the American’s P3C Orion aircraft.
CARAT 2012 aims to enhance combined inter-operability and capability between the Philippine Navy and United States Navy as well as to test its personnel and naval assets’ operational readiness and ultimately, improve the defense capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The specific objectives of CARAT 2012 are: to enhance current PN and USN and USGC and PCG capabilities in naval operations; increase the level of interoperability between the navies and coast guards of both countries in the conduct of combined naval operations focused in night time operations; test and develop the combined communications interoperability between the PN and USN; and promote situational awareness and information sharing between PN and USN forces.(PNA)

10,000 troops up for deployment for upcoming ARMM general voters registration

COTABATO CITY, July 2 (PNA) - Over 10,000 military and police troopers are set for deployment for the July 9 -18 general voters re-registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The troops deployment intends to secure 1,047 voters’ registration machines set for distribution to the ARMM provinces of Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-tawi, Basilan and Lanao del Sur.
“A ratio of 10 security personnel per machine was the order given us,” Sr. Supt. Alberto Supapo, Philippine National Police (PNP)–ARMM deputy director for operations, said in an interview.
Supapo, however, noted that the bulk of troops assignment would depend on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) security assessment on diverse areas of the region based on recommendations by the regional military and police officials.
He said based on the Comelec watch list for the 2010 national and local polls, the number of ARMM villages that fell under the category of ”areas of concern” per province were: Maguindanao – 377; Lanao del Sur – 107; Sulu – 29; Basilan – 18 and Tawi-tawi – one.
Under the “areas of immediate concern” category, Lanao del Sur topped the list at 171 villages; followed by Maguindanao – 82; Basilan -66; Tawi-tawi – 34 and Basilan – 15.
“The security situation in these areas might be different now under the Aquino administration. As I earlier said, it would all depend on the Comelec as to where the troops are much needed to secure the registrants and the voters registration machines,” Supapo stressed.
On June 26, Comelec-Maguindanao officials met with local military and police officers at the AFP Camp Siongco, Datu Odin Sinsuat town where they discussed peace and security matters regarding the forthcoming general list up.

Last June 19, a regional command conference was also held at the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City for a wider security plan in connection with the activity. (PNA)

Social Worker Licensure Examination June

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announced on Friday that 893 of 1,429 examinees passed the June 2012  Social Worker Licensure Examination.  Social Worker Licensure Examination June 2012

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Social Worker Licensure Examination June 2012

Indonesia peace monitors on GPH-MILF talks arrive in Philippines

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  Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels

Indonesian peace monitors on Sunday joined an international mission tasked to ensure that a ceasefire between the Philippines and Muslim insurgents held as both sides aim to sign a peace deal this year.

The Indonesian team consisted of 10 military officials and five civilian experts on conflict prevention, and were deployed upon the request of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government.

The group is the newest foreign contingent to join the mission, which consists of about 40 others from Malaysia, Brunei, Japan, Libya and the European Union.

“Their arrival is an assurance that the ceasefire is seriously in place,” the government’s chief peace adviser Teresita Deles told reporters.

Deles said the 12,000-strong MILF and the government were aiming to sign a peace deal by the end of the year, following a breakthrough agreement in April in which both sides committed to create a new autonomous political region in the troubled south.

“We are expanding common grounds and we are both looking for ways on how to close distances on the most contentious issues,” she said.

“There are certainly signs that the two sides are moving towards addressing each other’s concerns.”

“We are officially cautiously optimistic,” Deles said when asked whether a final peace deal would be signed this year.

The MILF has waged a rebellion for more than three decades, originally for the establishment of an independent state in Mindanao, the southern third of the mainly Catholic Philippines.

It has however in recent years dropped its bid for full independence in favour of autonomous control over large areas in Mindanao, which it claims as Muslims’ ‘ancestral domain’.

The insurgency has claimed more than 150,000 lives since the Muslim rebellion began in the early 1970s.

The peace effort nearly collapsed in October 2011 after MILF rebels killed 19 soldiers who they claimed entered their area in violation of the truce.

The killings touched off fierce battles on several fronts in Mindanao, during which as many as 40 soldiers, police and civilians were killed and thousands displaced.

Both sides later agreed to forge ahead, and there had not been any fighting since January.

READ MORE:

• Six months of peace and counting for MILF, military

• COMMENTARY: Remembering Al-Barka

• EDITORIAL: Global terror: Victory consolidated

• Guv insists MILF tried to set up camp in South Cotabato

Kadayawan, SMI, Blaans and children’s education

We find it timely to write about Indigenous People  because Davao City is celebrating next month the Kadayawan Festival, the festival of thanksgiving for bountiful harvest and in honor of the city’s tribal communities, their customs and tradition.

While the Kadayawan, like other Philippine festivals, has been invaded by the virus of commercialism, it is worthy to note that its original indigenous concept has remained. The Hiyas ng Kadayawan (Festival Gem) search, for example, has limited contestants to girls with indigenous and Muslim roots.

Kadayawan, and other festivals anchored on concepts on the indigenous, however, should not be viewed as a mere celebration for IP (lumad) culture and tradition. Its spirit should extend beyond—to year-round concerns for lumad welfare, particularly education. Not only in Davao but elsewhere.

In South Cotabato indigenous people are hoping for President Aquino’s intercession in resolving the issues preventing them from benefiting from mining investments in the area after the provincial board enacted an environment code disallowing open pit mining. Tribal communities see the environment code as stumbling block to their aspirations as a people.

Sagittarius Mining Inc. (SMI) plans to mine for copper and gold in its $6 billion Tampakan project but its operation could be derailed by the environment code.

BLAAN CHILDREN. Their future hitched to progress and development to be contributed by the mining industry to South Cotabato

With the threat of derailed progress of South Cotabato and consequently to the IPs, progress that SMI could bring, the IPs are raising up their arms against the provincial government.

The IPs’ future is not the only thing at stake here. Even their rights. Despite strong IP support for SMI, the voice of the lumads is not being heard. The IPs of Tampakan have ancestral domain rights over part of the project area.The IP right over ancestral domain is enshrined in the Indigenous Peoples Right Act (IPRA). The right allows IPs to enter into agreements with business, sharing part of profits from company operations.

SMI, to the IPs, is an angel from heaven to bring progress to tribal villages and the financial capacity to send their children to school.

The Blaans, the IPs ofTampakan, however, see hope in a recent order of President Aquino for authorities to find a compromise on the mining issue in South Cotabato.

It is through SMI that their  children now will have access to health services and education, with SMI around.

But even as SMI faces stormy weather before it can operate, the company already has sent more than 8,000 Blaan students to school as scholars. Its corporate social responsibility, infact, includes adult education for the tribe, which is much welcomed by the uneducated elders.

SMI is expected to employ some 9,000 workers in its construction stage and over 2,000 when the mine starts full swing operations. Lumads would be given preference, which should be a reason why the IP communities are up against their provincial government for passing the environment code that threatens the SMI operation.

        To the IPs, work means not only food for the table but also education for their children.

Even South Cotabato governor Arthur Pingoy concedes that education has been the biggest beneficiary from the presence of mining companies in his province.

Governor Pingoy highlights gains in the education programs of his administration citing support from the mining companies and other private companies.

Our shortage of 15,000 chairs for all public schools in the province has already been bridged through the efforts of SMI and other companies, the governor said.

SMI is proponent of the proposed Tampakan Copper-Gold Project hosted by South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Sarangani, and Sultan Kudarat. It is said to be potentially the biggest single foreign investment in the country.

In a recent sustainability report released by the company, SMI has declared supporting 19,000 elementary, high school and college students for the year 2010 alone, in the form of tuition and other school fees and monthly allowances and has provided salary support for teachers within its proposed project area.

The report also declared that SMI has invested PhP135 million (USD3 million) in 2010 as part of its Corporate Social Involvement (CSI) initiatives including education, health, livelihood and enterprise-building programs.BY ROGER M. BALANZA

DAVAO CITY BATTERED HUSBANDS TOLD: Fight vicious wives

BY ROGER M. BALANZA

 

 

 

They wash the dishes. They cook. They do the laundry. Tend to the children. Bring the kids to school. And worse they get insulted in public….by their wives.
The days of the battered husband in Davao City may be numbered.
A group espousing “men’s rights” has surfaced to save the battered hubby from the most cruel of experiences for a male specie in this universe: being insulted, crucified, laughed at and joked about by friends and neighbors because they don’t have the heart and courage to stand up to a partner of Hitlerian blood.

Husbands have rights, too, said Rene Estorpe, president of Men’s Responsibility on Gender and Development (MR GAD).
In what appeared to be a call for war urging battered hubbies to stand up against dictatorial queens of the house, Estorpe has dished out an advice if the king of the house is under siege by a husband-battering wife.
Run to the village council to file a complaint, said Estorpe, village chair of Barangay Agdao in Davao City.
It is time for battered husbands to come out in the open, said Estorpe, who frankly admits he is not a battered husband.
His village of about 7,000 males is widely known as a war zone for domestic quarrels.
But Estorpe, who knows about many battered husbands in his village, is wondering why only two cases of battery had been brought as a complaint before the village justice mediation board.

Fear, he said to explain why husbands keep their hell to themselves and endure the suffering in the hands of a satanic partner.

The Philippines has the Act on Violence Against Women and Children (VAWC) that women conveniently  use as legal remedy against abusive husbands.

There is no law protecting husbands against satanic wives

If there is a law on women’s rights, there should be a law for men’s rights, said Estorpe.
Estorpe bared the newly-established MR GAD at a recent conference in Davao City.

ON BUILDING A SQUATTER-FREE DAVAO CITY

 

 

 

All local government units have one common problem: informal settlers. In highly urbanized LGUs like Davao City, the number of informal settlers grows annually due to migration by people seeking better opportunities.

            Also spread out around the city are old settlements on private lands working out purchase plans with owners that could not be speedily pursued due to fund lack.

            While anti-squatting laws are in place to prevent illegal occupation of private and government lands by informal settlers, the spirit of humanity, sometimes, bind LGU hands from enforcing an iron-fisted policy.

            Urban land reform planning however is seen as a long-term solution to urban squatting.

            In Davao City, housing planners map out multi-pronged approaches to respond to relocation, funding source and creation of sustainable communities for thousands of informal settlers.

            On top of this grand plan to make Davao City squatter-free is the Local Housing Board chaired by the Mayor.  Armed with the Davao City Shelter Code, the landmark legislation authored by Councilor Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling, the Local Housing Board identifies on-site and off-site settlements, approves funding for land purchase and guides the implementation of socialized housing projects. The Local Housing Board also interacts with key national government housing agencies to collaborate on implementation of housing projects.

           With the Davao City Council providing a guiding hand to support legislation strengthening socialized housing programs, the Davao City government is on the right track towards providing long-term solution to housing for the city’s thousands of homeless urban poor.

            The Urban Land Reform Program (ULRP) has been strengthened with the participation of the Socialized Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), which would absorb about 75 percent of cost of land purchase of local government socialized housing projects.

            The SHFC funding initiative under its Localized Community Mortgage Plan (LCMP) would quadruple the capability of the local governments P100 million stand-by housing fund to serve more informal settlers and other qualified sectors.

About 40 hectares of property where there was supposed to rise an export processing zone in the early 90s—for two decades a wide piece of abandoned land—has been turned into a settlement for thousands of homeless urban poor dwellers here.

Failing to take off after initial road works and several buildings and much fanfare, the First Oriental Ventures project on the 70-hectare property in Barangay Ilang, Bunawan District crashed even as it was touted as Davao City’s window to the world export market.

            But while the city lost its chance to be in the map of the country’s export processing zones, the First Oriental Ventures’ failure has come as a gift to indigent homeless families looking for a roof over their heads in this city of 1.4 million where acute housing is social problem.

            The First Oriental Ventures property had been foreclosed by the banks after the company closed down and abandoned the project.

            Today, this piece of grasslands could serve as model for the city’s ULRP.

            About twelve homeowners associations under the umbrella of the Kobbler Federation—a non-government organization of urban poor associations—has been born on the site.

           The Philippine Deposit Insurance Commission, the Fareast Bank and the Land Bank, which collectively own the property worth about P60 million, through their joint Asset Privatization Committee, has already issued intent to sell the property to the settlers numbering around 3,000 families after negotiation by Councilor Cabling.

           The property has now more than 3,000 families settled on the site which could own their lots under the Localized Community Mortgage Program (LCMP). A program of the state-owned Socialized Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), the program allows for purchase of settlement site with SHFC pitching in 75 percent of the cost and the local government the remaining 25 percent. Beneficiaries pay amortizations on a long-term contract, with the local government handling collection.

          There are several dozens more homeowners association existing as informal settlers are negotiations are underway for the city government to provide funding for land purchases.

            And as it looks to the future, the Davao City government foresees more migration coming in as the city’s unlimited opportunities as Southern Mindanao’s premier city lure migrants from other provinces and regions. But city planners have no doubt that the city government has already set into place the machinery for long-term solution to urban poor housing in the Shelter Code authored by Councilor Cabling and the political will of local administration to achieve the Dabawenyos vision to make their city squatter-free.

            Demolition of shanties of the urban poor was at the core why Mayor Sara Duterte punched a court sheriff who refused to grant her plea to stay the eviction that would have rendered homeless more than 200 families. This piece should thwart any misinformation that there might be something wrong with the city government’s program on urban land reform program. While the city government is serious about eradicating urban squatting, it is doing it with a heart. ROGER M. BALANZA

TAMPAKAN SAGITTARIUS MINES, NATIONAL GREENING PROGRAM AND SAVING PHILIPPINE FORESTS

 

 

 

 

Apart from community-based programs under their Corporate Social Responsibility, the most tangible evidence of mining companies complying with rules and regulations on environmental protection under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 is their programs on reforestation.

The mining act mandates that mining companies must replace if not restore vegetation destroyed in the process of the mining operation.

The Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) behind the US$55 million Tampakan Gold-Copper Project in South Cotabato, is among those closely watched by government on compliance with environmental protection.
But the Department of Ennvironment and Natural Resources (DENR) may not be having headaches in monitoring SMI.
Even before it could start operation in 2016, SMI, with a 10,000-hectare concession that straddles South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur, already has set into place a massive and continuing regreening program started as early as 2008.

Tree-planting activities, in the concession area and extending to areas adjacent to it, are ongoing being implemented by SMI and backstopped by peoples organizations, NGOs, socio-civic clubs, schools, corporate entities, Church groups, local overnment units and other sectors who are pursuing their own respective reforestation and tree planting projects and provided by SMI with seedlings and other planting materials.

South Cotabato is a victim of uncontrolled illegal logging in the past, and illegal mining in the present, and has lost nearly all of its forest covers. The SMI greening program is helping it restore lost forests.
As what is happening everywhere, the people of South Cotabato are aware of global warming and how depleted forests had contrubuted to it, and are willing to help over-all efforts to help solve the climatic crisis placing Mother Earth in grave danger.
SMI with its resources may have come as an angel helping in the mission, at least in South Cotabato and its environs, to arrest global warming through its corporate reforestation program and linkages with various groups in the tree planting campaign.

The DENR has acknowledged that mining companies have resources to engage in massive reforestation, not only as part of their compliance with the
Philippine Mining Act, but also as an important partner in the National Greening Program (NGP).
This is the reason why DENR has entered into memorandum of agreements with mining companies foremost of which is the SMI as important partners of the government in the implementation of the NGP.
For its part, SMI has pushed the antes further as far as the greening program is concerned by entering into partnerships with local government units in Region Eleven and Region Twelve in the collaborative effort of successfully implementing the NGP.
Unlike before the mining act of 1995 when mining companies were not mandated to embed reforestation programs in their operations, the mining companies of today are forced to adopt responsible mining as the barometer of how deserving they are of the permits given them by the government.
The “sins of the past” of mining companies–massive floods, forest denudation and other threats to environment and people—are now being addressed by the Philippine Mining Act that imposes responsible mining as the mantra that should govern mining operations that must balance environmental protection with economic activities.

It is with high hopes mining companies would play an important role in the NGP that is targeting about 500,000 hectares for tree planting in the period 2012 to 2016.
The DENR projects the Philippines would have more green forest areas than deforested ones if NGP meets its 2016 goal of planting some 1.5 billion tree seedlings in about 1.5 million hectares of open, denuded and degraded forest land nationwide.
Philippine areas designated as forests account for about half of the country’s estimated total land area of some 30 million hectares.
Studies show that deforestation reduced the country’s forest cover from over 50 percent of land at the 20th century’s start to only about 24 percent at present. ROGER M. BALANZA

US-based tour group names Japanese Tunnel as among best tourist spots in Davao

The Japanese Tunnel has landed as among top tourist spots that foreign tourists visit in Davao City, landing in 16th place among hundreds of local destinations, said TripAdvisor.com. in its website.
TripAdvisor.com is a travel website that assists customers in gathering travel information, posting reviews and opinions of travel-related content and engaging in interactive travel forums. TripAdvisor was an early adopter of user-generated content. The website services are free to users, who provide most of the content, and the website is supported by an advertising business mode.
TripAdvisor ranks tourist destinations on the basis of inquiries or bookings and reviews by tourists on tourism sites or spots they visit.

DUTERTE reveals why ex-Speaker Prospero Nograles can never be Davao City mayor – HEADLINE – The Durian Post No. 108

BY ROGER M. BALANZA

As far as the business community in Davao City is concerned, former House Speaker  Prospero Nograles stinks and it would move heaven and hell or spend millions of pesos, just so Nograles would not be city mayor.
There are many businessmen who would spend money so Nograles would not win, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said in the Ato ni Bay television program hosted by broadcast journalist Leo Villareal aired on SkyCable on Tuesday.
He said that in the 2010 election with Nograles battling his daughter now Mayor Sara Duterte in the mayoral race, three big businessmen offered to plunk in into his campaign kitty a large sum to ensure that Nograles is defeated.
He said he politely refused the offer, being then confident that Sara would win.

MOBBED EVERYWHERE he goes, the popularity of Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has never waned. Archpolitical foe Congresman Prospero Nograles is reported to be gunning for a fourth crack at the mayoral seat in the May 2013 elections, where he could possibly be facing Duterte for the second time. Nograles had lost three prior bids to capture City Hall from the hands of the Dutertes.
The local business community was apparently then edgy over a massive propaganda campaign launched by team Nograles that the former House Speaker would win the race hands down.

    When the dust of the battle settled down and the votes all in and counted, Mayor Sara Duterte won by a landslide, with a record-setting vote margin of 220,000 votes.
Reports say that Nograles would be taking a fourth crack at the mayoral seat in the May 2013 elections.
Dabawenyos turned down his mayoral bid in the fight against Duterte in 2992, against then Duterte political ally Benjamin de Guzman in 1998 and against Mayor Sara Duterte in the 2010 elections.
Vice mayor Duterte said his party Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod will still have to decide on whether he would seek reelection or run next year for mayor, the post that he held for 18 years.
He said he can not explain why Nograles could suffer the humiliation of political defeats and still go for another fourth debacle in 2013.
But he said he was sure of one thing.
The Dabawenyos and the business community simply do not like Nograles, he said.