PRO8 nabs NPA hitman in Eastern Samar

By RPCRD, Police Regional Office 8
November 22, 2012

CAMP KANGLEON, Palo, Leyte  –  The Police Regional Office 8 (PRO8) alerted all its line units against possible atrocities that may be launched by the communist New People’s Army as a leader of its death squad was arrested by the police in Eastern Samar recently.

Regional Director Police Chief Superintendent Elmer Ragadio Soria said the entire police force has been alerted following the arrest of Clodualdo Anua y Calzado alias Melvin/Kidlat/Rico, a leader of the Special Partisan Armed Unit (SPARU) of the NPA in Llorente, Eastern Samar.

“I reminded our policemen to be alert and vigilant as they (NPAs) might conduct atrocities in relation to said accomplishment,” Soria said, further reminding his men on the recent rebel atrocities in the region.

The regional police chief added that he directed his men to initiate pro-active measures through target hardening and enhance personnel security to preempt any violent actions by the rebels.

Reports reaching the PRO8 states that at around 9:50 o’clock in the evening of November 17, Llorente Police Station received an information that 5 armed men believed to be members of the SPARU hit squad of the NPA were sighted heading towards Sitio Parik, Barangay 01, Llorente, Eastern Samar and planning to conduct liquidation targeting PNP/AFP personnel passing in the area.

Acting on the report, policemen from Llorente Police Station led by Police Senior Inspector Gilberto B. Colima, immediately proceeded to the area to verify and upon reaching, the armed men suddenly fired their short firearms towards the responding police elements. A short firefight ensued before the enemy scampered into different directions. There was no casualty on the government forces.

Pursuit operations conducted by the police resulted to the arrest of its leader, who was later identified as Anua and the confiscation from his possession a .45 caliber pistol marked MIV COLT bearing serial number 713363 loaded with 4 live ammunitions while his companions managed to escape.

The arrested person is now under the custody of Llorente Police Station while appropriate criminal charges is now being prepared for filing in court against him, Soria added.

The police regional director further informed that awards will be given to Llorente policemen in recognition of their bravery displayed during the gunfight with the suspected NPA assassins and the subsequent arrest of the death squad leader.

Gene scientist tells public why GMOs are unsafe

By GREENPEACE
November 21, 2012

QUEZON CITY  –  Genetically modified organisms (GMOs), such as Bt corn, Bt eggplant, and ‘golden rice’ pose significant risks to human health and the environment, a gene scientist warned today.

Speaking at a Greenpeace press conference, gene scientist Tushar Chakraborty said GMOs are not safe, have not been independently tested, and have not undergone long-term studies.

Following a landmark case in India last month that called for a 10-year moratorium on GMOs due to safety concerns, Dr. Chakraborty, Principal Scientist of the Gene Regulation Laboratory of the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, recommended the banning of GMOs in the Philippines as the prudent, science-based approach to the uncertainties surrounding these man-made food crops.

Dr. Chakraborty is among hundreds of scientists in India who have come out in support of a ban on GMO food crops in the subcontinent. He is in Manila at the invitation of Greenpeace, as an expert witness in ongoing Writ of Kalikasan hearings at the Supreme Court, to help substantiate scientific findings that GMOs are unstable and unsafe to be planted, processed, and eaten.

“GMO technology is highly uncertain, as such, they are inherently unpredictable and irreversible,” said Dr. Chakraborty. “No short or long term study on these man-made living food crops has conclusively shown that they are safe for humans, livestock or biodiversity. And all scientific studies about the benefits of GM crops are conducted by the same companies that sell it. For this reason, scientists recommended that the Indian government immediately stop the field testing of all GMO crops.”

A scientific report commissioned by the India Supreme Court last month found that the moratorium was necessary because of the potential harm GM crops can cause to humans and the environment. They also warned of the possibility that field trials will contaminate regular crops and India’s food supply. The expert body believes that India’s current regulatory system to assess the safety of GM crops is inadequate and raises questions about the ability to safely conduct field trials.

“In India, the commercial release of Bt eggplant was banned in February 2010 after scrutiny by the scientific community. Ironically, here in the Philippines, the Department of Agriculture has been relentless in approving GMOs without the benefit of a comprehensive and objective study and analysis of safety data,” said Daniel Ocampo, Sustainable Agriculture Campaigner for Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

Since 2002 the Philippine Department of Agriculture, through the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), has approved 67 GMOs for importation as food, feed and processing. Aside from Bt eggplant, there are ongoing field trials of other GMO food crops such as Bt corn, and GM papaya. But the most worrisome GMO approvals are for rice – the country’s staple food. Greenpeace has warned that the cultivation and commercialization of genetically-modified rice will spell disaster for Philippine agriculture.

Aside from the inherent dangers to health and the environment, GMOs lead to the increased use of, and resistance to, pesticide and herbicides, since most GMOs are designed to be used exclusively in tandem with same-brand chemical inputs. They also endanger the livelihoods of farmers, locking them into an industrial agriculture system that enables the monopoly of a few giant agro-chemical companies who have control of the seeds.

Greenpeace is challenging the country’s GMO regulatory system. Last April, the environment group filed a petition for a Writ of Kalikasan and Writ of Continuing Mandamus against Bt eggplant field trials in the Philippines. The hearings for the Writ of Continuing Mandamus are currently ongoing.

“GMOs are a major threat to our country’s food security. They are a distraction to available, safe and proven solutions,” noted Ocampo. "Greenpeace is demanding that the government cancel all GMO approvals, including experimental field trials. Instead, they should supporting ecological solutions that ensure food security and sound environment as alternatives that will guarantee a healthy, viable and sustainable agriculture to feed the country.”

‘RSOG’ nabs suspect in rape of high school student in Samar

By RPCRD, Police Regional Office 8
November 20, 2012

CAMP KANGLEON, Palo, Leyte  –  Police operatives have arrested a man who went into hiding after allegedly raping a high school student in Samar more than a year ago.

Police Chief Superintendent Elmer Ragadio Soria, PRO8 Director, identified the suspect as Carlo Mabongga y Golondrina alias Todok, 23, single, self-employed, of Brgy. Balugo, Tarangnan, Samar who was arrested by the PRO8 Regional Special Operations Group (RSOG) in his hide-out in said village.

Armed with a warrant of arrest issued by Judge Esteban V. Dela Peña of Regional Trial Court Branch 40 in Tarangnan, Samar for 2 counts of Rape in relation to RA 7610 under Criminal Case No. T-170 and T-171, elements of RSOG and members of Tarangnan police headed by Police Inspector Constantino C Jabonete, Jr raided the suspect’s lair. Judge Dela Peña did not recommend any bail bond for the suspect’s temporary liberty.

Soria said the suspect was surprised but did not resist arrest.

The incident transpired sometime in April 4, 2011 when the victim, who was then a 17-year old high school student, was fetched by Mabongga and a 15-year old girl, from the victim’s residence in Brgy. Aurora, San Jorge, Samar at around 8:00 o’ clock in the evening.

The three were supposed to attend the SK Night in Brgy. San Vicente, a baranggay along the Maharlika Highway in Catbalogan City, some 10 kilometers south from the victim’s residence, on-board a single motorcycle driven by the suspect.

Instead of proceeding to Brgy. San Vicente, the group went to the house of Mabongga’s grandmother in Brgy. Balugo, Tarangnan, Samar some 3 kilometers to their supposed destination wherein another suspect, JC Boy Lindero, was waiting. The group then engaged in a drinking session until around 11:30 o’ clock in the evening when the incident transpired.

Still at large and being hunted down by the police were Lindero and the other girl who went into hiding after learning that the victim filed a rape case against them.

“The long arms of the law will finally catch them,” Soria said.

As this developed, Soria reiterated PRO8’s commitment for the protection of women and children specially those victims of abuse and violence.

He cited his earlier directive to line units that any crime against women and children be given highest attention and a firm commitment for its investigation and prosecution.

NPA to dismantle Dazas' private army, anti-people projects in Northern Samar

By NDF - Eastern Visayas
November 20, 2012

The National Democratic Front-Eastern Visayas today said orders have been issued to all units under the Rodante Urtal Command of the New People's Army in Northern Samar to dismantle the Dazas' private army as well as their anti-people projects.

“Cong. Raul Daza and his son, Northern Samar Gov. Paul Daza, are rabid supporters of the Aquino regime's Oplan Bayanihan to consolidate their political power,” said NDF-EV spokesperson Fr. Santiago Salas. “Gov. Daza, who also chairs the Regional Peace and Order Council, has been pushing for the setting up of Barangay Peacekeeping Action Teams (BPATs) in support of “counterinsurgency.”

Moreover, the NPA has found the BPATs in Northern Samar to be actually a front for the Dazas' private army in recruiting goons for the 2013 elections. Even the local government units in the province also balk at setting up BPATs – about 400-strong already with more to be added – because they are obliged to spend for these though there are barangay tanods (village watchmen) and the paramilitary CAFGU doing the same functions.”

The NDF-EV spokesperson added the Dazas also received a total of P225 million, with P100 million more due in 2013, from the Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan (PAMANA) project of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process. “The PAMANA-funded projects, such as the P30 million Mondragon-Silvino Lobos road, are merely cash cows for the Dazas as well as part of “counterinsurgency” especially in covering up human rights violations and the militarization of various areas under Oplan Bayanihan. There are already criticisms against PAMANA because it is merely duplicating the services of other government agencies; its real role is to apply the cosmetics of “peace and development” to vicious military operations under Oplan Bayanihan.”

Fr. Salas also said the Dazas lead the provincial government in supporting the 8th Infantry Division through funding the Local Social Integration Program, which gives monetary rewards for any NPA member who surrenders. “The Dazas and the 8th ID show their contempt for the people by calling on the NPA to give up the armed struggle and participate in the LSIP. They feign to dangle rewards and livelihoods worth a few thousand pesos, which in the end still results in a lifetime of poverty. Needless to say, the Dazas and the 8th ID have utterly failed, while the NPA and the peasant masses persevere in the just cause of the revolutionary struggle and believe the root causes of the civil war must be addressed.”

The NDF-EV spokesperson said the NPA is already acting to dismantle the BPATs and the Dazas' anti-people projects. “The NPA is in the process of disarming the Dazas' goons and advising them not to allow themselves to be used by the oppressors and exploiters of the people. The NPA is also meeting with the peasant associations and the organs of political power in the countryside to discuss the Dazas' anti-people projects and how to oppose and dismantle these. Dismantling the Dazas' goons and their anti-people projects must be done to stop the Dazas' reactionary violence, official corruption and counterrevolutionary support of Oplan Bayanihan.”

Chiz slams IMF proposal to tax text

By Office of Senator Chiz Escudero
November 19, 2012

PASAY CITY  –  Senator Chiz Escudero opposed the proposal to raise tax on text messaging to boost government revenues by International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Chief Christine Lagarde during her visit to the country over the weekend.

“It is not for any institutions or any foreign entities for that matter to dictate upon us what to and what not to tax. IMF and its chief has no business in even suggesting that we impose tax on text. The power to tax is inherent in Congress and any external intervention is already meddling with our sovereignty” Escudero said.

Lagarde in a press conference in Malacañang, suggested that telecommunication services are mines for new source of taxation because of its wide base of 102 million subscriptions.

She said that passing the sin tax bill would be “great progress for the revenue collection of the country” and added that “if more is needed in the pure decision of the government of the Philippines, then telecommunication would satisfy those two criteria,” referring to text messaging and calls.

Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights said Lagarde’s suggestion is skewed, if not so unfeeling, granting that it has a place in our economic affairs.

“I strongly oppose this foreign meddling and even the idea behind it. Ms. Lagarde is better off making suggestions to her fellow Europeans who can perhaps learn a thing or two from us”.

The senator said taxation should be based on the ability of taxpayers to pay. He said text messaging is so ingrained among the lower socio-economic strata with about 90 percent of mobile phone users have pre-paid lines. “Instead of providing relief for the Filipino public, this twisted idea of taxing text is an additional burden to the masses”.

Escudero said he will block the proposal if and when it reaches the Senate. “If at all, why not set our sights on taxing luxury goods such as motor vehicles and jewelry instead of taxing text messages?”

17 Leyte rebel returnees receive livelihood assistance from OPAPP

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
November 19, 2012

CAMP DOWNES, Ormoc City, Leyte  –  The Government’s Social Integration Plan being implemented by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) continues to attract and help Former Rebels (FRs) to come back into the folds of law by giving livelihood financial assistance.

On November 16, 2012, an awarding of livelihood financial assistance to 17 rebel returnees was conducted at Barangay Canhandugan, Jaro, Leyte.

The activity which was led by the representatives of OPAPP, was attended by Leyte Governor Mimietta Bagulaya represented by Leyte PSWD Officer Mrs. Clotilde Malatbalat and Colonel Rafael Valencia, the 802nd Brigade Commander, represented by Colonel Dinoh A. Dolina.

In a report from Captain Dranreb Canto, PIO of the 802nd Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division, the former rebels received P50,000.00 each to start a livelihood project which shall be monitored regularly by the OPAPP and other concern agencies.

Aside from awarding of livelihood financial assistance, the activity also highlighted the distribution of certificates to former rebels who had undergone the Social Preparation Training or Livelihood Training administered by the military through the 19th Infantry Battalion and the Provincial Social Welfare & Development (PSWD) Office of Leyte.

OPAPP representative Atty. Maricel Bantilo said that the giving of livelihood assistance to FR’s varies based on the reintegration plan submitted and identified by the them based on their choice, skills and capability to sustain such project.

Colonel Dolina, the Deputy Brigade Commander of 802nd Brigade based in Camp Downes, Ormoc City, in his speech, called on the community to join hand-in-hand in advocating peace and help encourage armed groups to lay down their arms and go back to the mainstream society.

Colonel Dolina also said that as declared and promised by the newly installed Brigade Commander Valencia, the 802nd Brigade will find ways to grant additional financial assistance to former rebels who will voluntarily surrender with firearms in addition to the assistance they will receive from OPAPP.

It may be recalled that on August 23, 2012, the same former rebels received P10,000 each from the Provincial Government of Leyte as Initial Financial Assistance held at Barangay Roxas, Burauen, Leyte.

IMF chief: PHL creditor nation status ‘a big shift’

By OVP Media
November 16, 2012

MANILA  –  International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde on Friday called the Philippines’ change in status from being a borrower to a creditor nation “a big shift.”

The IMF chief noted the role reversal during her courtesy call to Vice President Jejomar C. Binay at the Coconut Palace as she conveyed her gratitude for the country’s contributions to the World Bank as an IMF lender.

“To see your country come up with a contribution on World Bank loans at a time when the economic crisis is not here but in Europe in particular was real,” Lagarde told Binay.

“It was not so much the money, it was the signal that you gave,” she added.

Lagarde said it was now the European countries that have become the borrowers, with Ireland, Portugal and Greece being the IMF’s largest beneficiaries.

For his part, Binay expressed optimism that Europe “will get over the hump soon,” noting that the United Kingdom and France are the Philippines’ two largest trading partners in Europe.

In June, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) committed to provide $1 billion in loan resources under the bilateral borrowing facility of the IMF.

The continued growth of the country’s gross international reserves, fueled by the Overseas Filipino Workers’ (OFW) remittances allowed the BSP to extend loan resources to the IMF.

During their talks, the Vice President and the IMF chief also discussed the housing and real estate developments in the country.

“In my visit and tours, it seems that you have huge developments, massive real estate developments all over the place and then you have a big issue of developing housing for the poor,” Lagarde said.

"So you have two potential challenges here because too much real estate development can create a huge problem and you've got to care for the poor," she added.

Binay told Lagarde that the government’s housing program for the poor was now shifting from single detached units to medium rise buildings.

The Vice President is the Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

PRO8 ‘Tracker Team’ captured Leyte’s No. 2 Most Wanted Criminal in Mindanao

By RPCRD, Police Regional Office 8
November 16, 2012

CAMP KANGLEON, Palo, Leyte  –  Tracker team of Police Regional Office 8 (PRO8) went as far as Mindanao in capturing the number 2 most wanted criminal of Leyte province.

“No matter where these criminals will hide, the long arms of the law will finally catch them,” Police Chief Superintendent Elmer Ragadio Soria, PRO8 director said.

Soria identified the suspect as Abraham Bragas y Palin, 60, married, jobless and a former resident of Sitio Picas, Babatngon, Leyte. He was arrested by a police team from PRO8 in Brgy. San Vicente, Butuan City in CARAGA region, Mindanao.

Bragas is ranked number 2 in the Most Wanted Persons list of Leyte province and was nabbed by virtue of an arrest warrant for murder in criminal case number 2010-02-86 86 issued by Hon. Judge Alphinor C. Serrano of Regional Trial Court Branch 6, Tacloban City.

“After years in hiding, he will finally face trial before the courts of law to answer his committed crime,” the police regional director added.

Meanwhile, another most wanted person was captured by the police in Biri, Northern Samar.

Crisanto Rizabal y Piloniya, 48, married, fisherman, of Brgy. Pio Del Pilar, Biri, Northern Samar was arrested for Illegal Discharge of Firearm based on arrest warrant issued by Hon. Judge Jose Ocenar of Municipal Circuit Trial Court of San Jose, Northern Samar in Criminal Case Number 5128.

A police team led by Police Inspector Michael John Astorga nabbed the suspect, listed as No. 9 most wanted person of said town, near his residence. A bailbond of P10,000.00 was recommended by Judge Ocenar for his temporary liberty.

Soria disclosed that catching wanted felons is one of the main focuses of PRO8’s anti-criminality strategy in order to rid the region of criminals and misfits.

Southeast Asian ships caught illegally transferring fish in the Pacific Ocean

By GREENPEACE
November 15, 2012

PACIFIC OCEAN – Greenpeace International has uncovered a large-scale illegal transfer of fish at sea between one ship from Cambodia, one from the Philippines, and two from Indonesia in the Pacific Commons.

None of the boats are on the official record of vessels authorized to operate in the area and they are therefore not allowed to fish or transfer fish at sea according to the rules of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).

Greenpeace International collected photo and video evidence showing MV Heng Xing 1, a reefer sailing under the Cambodian flag, transshipping fish catches with two Indonesian tuna purse seine vessels (KM Starcki 10and KM Starcki 11) and one Filipino reefer (Sal 19).

The Indonesian and Philippine vessels are bound by WCPFC rules and their involvement in the transshipment is therefore illegal. Cambodia is not a member of the WCPFC and the reefer is therefore considered unregulated.

In addition, an oil slick, stretching a mile long was also observed during the transshipment. Greenpeace will share this evidence with the relevant governments and the WCPFC.

“The failure to close the area in which these activities were observed allows illegal and unregulated activities to continue. The massive multinational illegal transshipment between these four vessels clearly demonstrates the urgent need to close the Pacific Commons to all fishing and ensure regional enforcement is ramped up,” said Farah Obaidullah, Greenpeace International oceans campaigner on board the MY Esperanza.

Greenpeace activists boarded the MV Heng Xing and examined the fish hold, which was full of mostly frozen skipjack tuna and some yellowfin, likely destined for canned tuna markets. Yellowfin tuna was recently assessed under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) criteria for threatened species and are now classified as near threatened.

“Transshipment between vessels is illegal in this area of the Pacific under WCPFC rules because it makes fish catch data and the management of key tuna resources very difficult. Often, this is a way for fishing operations to avoid paying fees to island nations, communities that need fish and income to continue surviving,” added Obaidullah.

The Pacific is the source of 70% of the world’s tuna, providing coastal communities not only with food but also economic prosperity. For years, Greenpeace has been working with Pacific governments to address overfishing and prevent foreign fishing nations from plundering their fishing grounds.

Greenpeace is campaigning for a global network of marine reserves covering 40% of the world’s oceans, including in four high seas areas known as the Pacific Commons, and these be declared off limits to fishing. The environmental group is also seeking a ban on the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) in purse seine fisheries and a 50% reduction in the catch of bigeye tuna.