Zamboanga mining firm in P11.6 M cassava project

ZAMBOANGA CITY –- A mining company operating in two areas in the Zamboanga peninsula has initiated an P11.6 million cassava plantation project in Bayog town, Zamboanga del Sur that will benefit some 350 farmers in 20 barangays in the municipality.
To firm up the project, the company, TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. (TVIRD) has signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) wth the Zamboanga del Sur provincial government for the establishment of the cassava plantation in Bayog.
Zamboanga del Sur Governor Antonio Ceriles said “this is the biggest project that farmers have had in Bayog in so many years,”
Renne Subido, TVIRD Vice President for Corporate Social Commitment, said this is part of the company’s commitments to the government. He added that the company responded positively when the provincial government asked TVIRD to be a partner in the cassava plantation project.
TVIRD identified the barangays beneficiaries for the project as Poblacion, Kahayagan, Kanipaan, Damit, Salawagan, Dipili, Lamare, Depore, Sigacad, Balukbahan, Matin-ao, Datagan, Bubu-an, Canoayan, Deporehan, Liba, Camp Blessing, Supon, Balumbunon, Conacon, Bantal, Dimalinao, Pulang Bato, San Isidro, Depase, Matun-og, Dagum, and Baking.

No corner for criminals to hide in Davao City

 

    Criminals could not stay long in Davao City because there are many “eyes” watching for them in all corners of the city, said Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
The series of successful raids on drug dens last week are results of monitoring by police assets who are all over the city watching out for criminals, said Duterte in his television program Gikan sa Masa, Para sa Masa on ABS/CBN on Sunday.
The raids in Barangay Ilang, Quezon Blvd and Ponciano Street netted 35 suspects arrested and two dead.
The success of the raids also means that the policemen are working and the intelligence gathering has been raised to a new level, said Duterte.
He gave credit to the police intelligence operatives and their ‘assets’ who had worked in crime-prone areas for years.
Some of the operatives were already in place in these areas  since 20 years. I would like to assure that every every corner in the city is being watched, he said.
Duterte admits that drug-dealing in the city is rampant but said police would do its best to arrest the pushers.
He said earlier the city has become a magnet for drug pushers because of the concentration of people who are the ready market.
Shabu, the most common drug in use, are sourced from nearby provinces like Cotabato, said intelligence operatives of the Philippine Drug Ennforcement Agency in the Davao Region.
Marijuana, once the favorite drug before shabu, dubbed as the poor man’s cocaine, became popular, is staging a comeback, said the anti-narc operatives.
Several arrest of marijuana couriers have been made, with the pushers admitting they sourced the banned weed from provinces in the Davao Region.
A suspected drug pusher was killed and 15 others were arrested in two separate raids conducted by authorities here on Friday and Saturday.

    The raids carried out by joint elements of the Davao City Police Office, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, Sta. Ana and San Pedro Police Stations, City Public Safety Company, and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency brought to 35 the number of suspects in a renewed campaign against drug peddlers.
Twenty persons earlier had been arrested in Barangay Ilang in Bunawan District.
Senior Supt. Ronald Dela Rosa, DCPO head, identified the fatality as Orlan Jonson Dela Cuesta, 41, of Purok 4, Barangay 23-C, Quezon Blvd., this city, who died of a lone gunshot wound in the head after he resisted arrest and fired back at the raiding team members Saturday morning.
Nine other suspects were arrested in the same raid. They were identified as Landring Dela Cuesta, a certain Anecito, alias Cetong Lim; Pangalian Macaway Palawan, Arnold Formarejo Lim, Jay-ar Villaflor Ladislao, Ampre Gulani Dela Cuesta, Nelson Buscado Gamale, Richard Dela Cuesta, and Jonebre Eulogio Pitao.
Dela Rosa said the raiders recovered from the lone fatality’s possession one .22 caliber revolver and two sachets of suspected shabu.
On the other hand, recovered from the possession of the other suspects were 19 sachets of suspected shabu, drug paraphernalia, two Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolvers, 12 bullets, and one mobile phone.
On Friday’s raid, elements of the San Pedro Police arrested six drug suspects in a buy-bust operation at Purok 5, Barrio Tagalog, Barangay 4-A.
Supt. Antonio Rivera, chief of San Pedro police station, identified the suspects as Arnel Sellon Andrion, 48; Albert Roy Andrion Espejo, 28; Hilario Anoya Olaer, 29; Melchor Anoya Olaer, 28; Perla Atangan Olaer, 45; and Celestino Juman Arballo.
Recovered from their possession were one big sachet and three small sachets of suspected shabu, one .22 caliber revolver, four pieces of live ammunition, 27 heat-sealed sachets of suspected shabu, three rolls of aluminum foil, a marked P500 bill, two improvised lighters, wrapped dried leaves of suspected marijuana, and other drug paraphernalia.

DAVAO CITY ORDINANCE SHIELDS GAYS AGAINST DISCRIMINATION

BY ROGER M. BALANZA

WHEN IN DAVAO CITY, don’t ever make the mistake of jeering at, insulting or making fun of the limp-wristed specie of the human race.
The Davao City Anti-discrimination Ordinance authored by Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte would be in full effect soon, and woe to those who would look down on men and women of the third sex and subject them to verbal abuse or slam the door on those applying for jobs.
Humans of the “other kind’  are listed in the local ordinance that would protect anybody against any form of discrimination by virtue of sex, creed or race, with strong emphasis on the marginalized sector like the tribal people, elderly, physically handicapped and, yes, the LGBTs ( lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders).
The ordinance covers a wide range of human activities where gays could be discriminated against including opportunities for employment.
Under the ordinance, the machos and the straight girls should be in equal footing with those from the third sex, to protect their rights under the equal opportunity clause of the Constitution.
Duterte said the ordinance would be implemented this month. While under study by the Davao City Council, the anti-discrimination ordinance had gone through committee and public hearings which were attended by the local gay community.
Duterte has been openly supportive of gay causes, the support stretched up to entry of gays into the Philippine National police.
At one time he urged the police agency to abolish its perceived discrimination against gays in the force, saying that even the communist armed group New People’s Army has opened its doors to gay fighters.
Duterte however has admonished gays to tone down on their loud talks and giggles as they roam neigborhoods at night, over complaints of residents about being disturbed by the girlish guffaws even during wee hours.

MARK ANTHONY BARRIGA LOSES FIGHT VS.Birzhan Zhakypov

The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines has protested light-flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga’s loss against Kazakhstan’s Birzhan Zhakypov.

The Philippines’ lone boxing hope in London lost the match, 17-16, after getting penalized for ducking and headbutting in the third round of the fight. That gave the Kazakh two extra points, making up the difference in the result.

“We felt the referee was a little too quick on the draw on the warning, because the Kazakh was already wrestling Mark to the ground,” said ABAP executive director Ed Picson.

Barriga was leading the fight, 10-8, heading into the third round, when Zhakypov became visibly more aggressive. He wrestled the Filipino fighter to the ground twice early before Barriga without any reaction from Labbe.

“And when the referee finally gave a deduction [for wrestling], it went both ways,” said Picson.

“But that’s the referee’s prerogative. It was a judgment call, I don’t necessarily agree with it.”

According to AKTV’s Lia Cruz, the ABAP will protest the fact that Barriga was warned just once before being penalized, when the Filipino fighter should have been warned three times.

A similar case occurred earlier on Friday, when the United States protested a decision that gave India’s Krishan Vikas a 13-11 victory over American welterweight Errol Spence. In that case, the US said that the Indian should have received two warnings, resulting in an overturn of the result.

Under AIBA Technical & Competition Rules, a protest can be filed by “the Team Leader or by the person having the highest position in the Team Delegation no later than 30 minutes after the completion of the bout.”

Video of the protested fight will be used to render a decision by AIBA.

CYNTHIA VILLAR IN PREMATURE CAMPAIGN FOR SENATOR?

Everyone’s talking about the TV ad of Villar Foundation, Inc. The premature campaigning
advertisement features former Congresswoman Cynthia Aguilar-Villar, wife of Sen. Manny Villar. The title of the ad is “Walang kadala-dala.”

Rumors say former congresswoman Cynthia Villar will run for senator next year. Just so you know, Mrs. Villar is a member of the rich Aguilar clan of Las Piñas. In fact, the jingle for her next TV ad goes something like, “Nakaligo ka na ba sa dagat ng pera?” THE PHILIPPINE HECKLER

KNOWING CYNTHIA VILLAR

Representative, Las Piñas City, 2001 to 2010

Managing Director, Villar Foundation, 1992 to present

Cynthia Aguilar Villar earned her degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines, which recently recognized her as one of its Distinguished Alumni.  She completed her Masters in Business Administration at the New York University.

She practiced as a financial analyst and college professor until she married Former House Speaker and Senate President Manny Villar in 1975.  She then helped her husband in various entrepreneurial ventures, eventually making Vista Land the biggest homebuilder in the Philippines. She managed a private development bank from 1989 to 1998.

In 2001, Cynthia Villar won in a landslide victory as Representative of Las Piñas to the Philippine’s House of Representatives, where she completed three terms or nine years of service until 2010.

Congresswoman Villar also served as chairperson of the Congressional Spouses Foundation from 1998 to 2000. During her term, she built 11 regional centers for women who are victims of abuse.

Likewise, she also served as president of the Senate Spouses Foundation, Inc., from August 2006 to December 2008, during which the Foundation raised P25 million for the rehabilitation of charity wards at the Philippine General Hospital.

Cynthia Villar’s social and civic concerns are wide and varied.  Thus, in 1992, she founded and chaired the Villar Foundation, where she is now actively involved as Managing Director.

Amidst all her achievements and awards, she still considers her family her most cherished treasures and her three well-raised children as her glory. Paolo and Mark are graduates of the Wharton School of Finance—University of Pennsylvania. Her only daughter, Camille, is a Business Management graduate at the Ateneo de Manila University. Paolo now is the Chief Executive Officer of their publicly–listed housing company Vista Land. Camille is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Vista Land’s upscale housing subsidiary Brittany Corporation. She is also a co-host in television variety program Wil Time Bigtime on TV 5. Mark is a member of the Philippine House of Representatives of the Lone District of Las Piñas City. They are all role models of hard work and perseverance—life values that their parents inculcated in them.

CYNTHIA VILLAR FOR SENATOR