St. Mary’s Catbalogan champions General
Info Quiz for Catbalogan Fiesta
By NINFA B. QUIRANTE, (PIA Samar)
August 18, 2006
CATBALOGAN,
Samar – An all-girl team from St. Mary’s College of Catbalogan (SMCC),
High School Department emerged champion in the general Information
quiz on Tuesday.
The quiz, joined in by
four other high schools based in Catbalogan,
Samar, was one of the features of the Likud-Patag Fiesta
celebration.
Cheska Marie Geli,
Seville Meyer Cabael and Le-Anne Dacles composed the winning team
which garnered some 57 points out of the highest possible score points
of 90.
The quiz was divided
into three stages from easy with one point each, graduating to
moderate with 2 points each question and difficult with some three
points each.
The girls from SMCC
received three thousand pesos for their prize while the coach got
seven hundred pesos.
Samar State University
(SSU) came in close with some 54 points. The team of Alexander Uy,
Jesette Conduna and KaizaJay Abancia also got some P2,500.00 with
their coach raking in some five hundred pesos.
Samar National School
students placed third and received P2,000.00. The two non-winning
schools went home with consolation prizes as well.
Dr. Meldrito Valles,
over-all chair of the contest introduced the Hermano Mayor, Lamberto
Vasquez who took delight in awarding the cash prizes to the winners.
Vasquez himself donated the prizes.
Valles in his speech
mentioned that the Likud-Patag Fiesta always holds the general
Information quiz to inspire the high schoolers to read a lot, somehow
excel in their studies, be aware of the current events and stay smart.
Interestingly, the
Catbalogan fiesta does not only stage cultural shows but also academic
competition like Spelling, Parliamentary Debate and Quiz Bee.
Race Against Time
Oil spill could displace 5,000 families
–
Governor Nava
By MONTESA GRIÑO / PNS
August 18, 2006
GUIMARAS – As much as
5,000 families could be displaced by the oil spill from a tanker that
sank off Guimaras Island, warned Governor Rahman Nava as authorities
scramble to contain the oil’s spread.
These families of some
10,000 persons depend their livelihood on the sea, he explained.
The Philippine Coast
Guard also said the oil spill is endangering a marine reserve near the
island.
The Coast Guard said
yesterday that the spill has stretched as far as 19.5 nautical square
miles off Guimaras, affecting 16 villages in the island and spread to
a national marine reserve.
The 1,143-hectare
enclosed Taklong Island shelters limestone islets where mangrove,
coral reefs and sea grass beds are planted.
The tanker, M/V Solar
I, was carrying two million liters of bunker oil when it sank off the
island Friday last week. It was chartered by Petron Corp., the
country’s largest oil refiner.
Nava has a lower
number of barangays affected – 14. He said 11 of these barangays are
from Nueva Valencia while the three were from Sibunag.
The affected barangays
in Nueva Valencia are San Antonio, Igdarapdap, Canhawan, Cabalagnan,
Lapaz, San Roque, Lucmayan, Tando, Dolores, Guiwanon, and Panobolon.
In Sibunag, the
affected barangays are Brgy. Alegria,
San Isidro
and Sabang.
Nava said the oil
spill is also affecting the island resorts of Nagarao, Siraray,
Nalibas Pamangkulan and Naoway.
“The mouth of Lawi
Cove in Jordan town is also affected,” Nava added.
The governor said he
issued an order prohibiting fishermen from venturing to the affected
areas. Fishes from these areas are not guaranteed safe to eat anymore,
he explained.
As of this writing,
the coral reef area affected reached 15.8 square kilometers; mangrove
–105 hectares; and seaweed farms -- 42 hectares.
Nava said he is also
expecting fish kills and reports of skin diseases erupting. Nava
expressed dismay over the oil spill. “We don’t know when it is going
to be over,” he said.
Experts said the
cleanup could take long – as much as nine years.
Nava said he already
talked to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The President did not
pledge any financial assistance, he said, but assured him of help in
other ways.
Eastern Samar OFWs
deployed to Lebanon back home safe
By SENTAY BELIZAR-QUITORIO
August 17, 2006
BORONGAN, Eastern
Samar – Governor Ben P. Evardone of Eastern Samar negotiated
with the Secretary of the DOLE to rescue some of his constituent-OFW-Domestic
Helpers deployed to Lebanon. Earlier the governor provided free calls
direct to the warring country for relatives to personally call and
check their condition.
More or less nine (9)
arrived safe one from Borongan and Sulat, three from San Julian., four
others from Balangkayan as of press time. Evardone is expecting more.
Reports from the Provincial Jobs Promotion and Placement Center (PJPPC)
confirmed more OFWs from Eastern Samar were deployed only few months
ago. Personally a staff of the PJPPC called OFW in Lebanon and they
confirmed the difficult situation.
However, some seemed
to tolerate their fear thinking about being jobless back home.
According to them their employer tags them to safe houses and
evacuation centers with their family and this according to Annie Baris
of Balangkayan, it was dreadful hearing bombings and seeing buildings
fall. Her lady employer was not considerate. She has to escape and ran
for her life. Just like other lucky OFWs she was able to reach the
parish of the Filipino priest.
Nelia Abenis of
Borongan considered herself lucky because her employer gave her the
freedom to decide to go home, others according to her were locked up
in the house while their employer ran for their lives.
Another OFW narrated
an incident when the Philippine Rescue Team in Lebanon even went
house-to house for OFWs whose addresses were forwarded and within the
identified safe grounds. Some went into hunger strike and even
pretended sick just to convince their employer that they be allowed to
go home.
Evardone called
Secretary Arturo Brion of DOLE and personally reported the cases of
those Eastern Samareño-OFWs still in
Lebanon
(believed to be in the hands of their employers) and has submitted to
the governor’s office for help: Lucia Godimo, Clarites Valderama,
Heide Gereña and Elizabeth Yape.
Meanwhile Governor
Evardone provided a counseling service to war-shocked OFWs and started
negotiation with TESDA for possible assistance to these dislocated
workers: Roy Reyes - San Julian, Rize Guerera - San Julian, Eleanor
Obaldo - San Julian, Anatolia Talon - Sulat, Nida Ejada - Balangkayan,
Jenalyn Baris - Balangkayan, Agapita Baris - Balangkayan, Annie Baris
- Balangkayan, Nelia Abenis - Borongnan.
Army to play active
role in regional development, new 8ID Chief assures
By ELI C. DALUMPINES, (PIA Samar)
August 17, 2006
CATBALOGAN, Samar –
The newly-installed Commanding General of the Army’s 8th Infantry
Division based in Camp Vicente Lukban here at Samar’s capital assured
that the army under his command will continue to play an active role
in regional development.
MGen. Rodrigo F.
Maclang, who assumed post as the new 8ID chief in a simple turn-over
ceremony Wednesday, has directed all army units in the division to
assist the local government units in the region to ensure that the
programs of government, especially those that are
development-oriented, will not be hindered.
"Today, I am publicly
issuing my first command directive: All units shall extend the
necessary assistance to the developmental initiatives of all local
government units within the operational jurisdiction of the 8th
Infantry Division," Gen. Maclang said.
"I am convinced that
through our active and concerted effort, we can attain an increased
level of security towards peace and progress in this region," Gen.
Maclang stressed.
The new 8ID chief
likewise called on all sectors to help the local government officials
in addressing the root causes of poverty and insurgency.
This call was in
response to President Arroyo’s statement during her state of the
nation address last July 24 recognizing the important role the local
government officials are playing in addressing the country’s 38-year
old insurgency.
According to him,
economic development in this part of the country has, for four decades
now, slowed down. This he blamed to the presence of the communist
insurgents which, he said, placed our country into a "quagmire of
woes".
Gen. Maclang, however,
issued a call to the insurgents to join the government in establishing
a more progressive future instead of wasting their skills,
intelligence and energy to another 40 years of futile effort.
"Help us expand
progress from the urban areas to the countryside, instead of waging
insurgency to the cities from the countryside," the new 8ID chief said
referring to the classic enemy strategy of "encirclement".
He stressed that the
government’s offer for peace is sincere and that the government is
hopeful that this will, in turn, receive a sincere response from the
insurgents.
Esperanza to tackle
pollution in world's centre of marine life
By LEA GUERRERO, Greenpeace Southeast
Asia
August 17, 2006
MANILA, Philippines –
The Greenpeace ship MY Esperanza has arrived in the Philippines
Tuesday, on the latest leg of her global Defending Our Oceans
expedition to highlight the wonders and the environmental threats to
the world's oceans and to campaign for the establishment of marine
reserves.
Scientists recognize
the Philippine archipelago as the world's centre of marine
biodiversity, but the country's rich marine ecosystem is severely
threatened by pollution from diverse sources.
"The oceans give our
planet life but in return we are emptying them of fish, heating them
with climate change, and filling them with toxics pollution," said Von
Hernandez, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Campaign Director. "In the
Philippines, we find some of our important marine ecosystems
suffocating from pollution from industries, sewage, and trash.
Millions of Filipinos depend on these marine resources for survival,
yet we are destroying them at an alarming rate."
This is the
Esperanza's maiden voyage to the
Philippines,
in a journey that started from an action packed face-off with Japanese
whalers in the Southern Oceans, to chasing pirate fishers in
West Africa. The Defending Our Oceans expedition aims for the establishment of a
global network of marine reserves, where 40 percent of the world's
oceans is protected from exploitation.
In the Philippines,
Greenpeace will campaign against plastics pollution in
Manila
Bay
and draw attention to the damage being caused by Australian mining
firm Lafayette's toxic spills in the marine ecosystem of the South
Eastern tip of
Luzon. The Esperanza will also highlight the country's successful
implementation of a community-managed marine reserve in
Apo Island, which now
provides food and income to the host community, and will help promote
it as a model for marine reserves worldwide.
The waters of the
Philippines are home to over four hundred species of coral, more than
two thousand fish species and are an important area for marine
mammals, sea turtles, sharks and rays, including the whale shark—the
world’s biggest fish. However, a scientific study from 2005 lists the
Philippines as the most highly threatened center of unique marine
species, citing the danger of mass extinction in a scale similar to
that of the destruction of the Brazilian rainforests.
"The Philippine
government acknowledges habitat degradation, pollution, and
destructive fishing as among the most pressing threats facing the
country's marine ecosystems," added Hernandez. "Yet the government's
clear bias towards exploitation, as shown by its all-out support for
destructive mining operations which impact on marine life, proves that
the government itself has become part of the problem."
Libel, no longer a
convenient legal tool to harass local mediamen
By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
August 16, 2006
TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte –
Libel can no longer be used as a convenient tool to harass local
mediamen.
This, after the House
of Representatives has approved on third and final reading a proposed
measure providing for the venue of the criminal and civil action in
libel cases against community journalists, publications or broadcast
stations.
The House Bill No. 77
which was authored by Representative Raul del Mar of the first
District of Cebu, mandates that the criminal or civil action in cases
of libel against a community journalist, publication or broadcast
station shall be filed in the Regional Trial Court of the province or
city where the principal office or place of business of said reporter,
publication or broadcast station is located.
The same bill also
provides that the civil action shall be filed in the same court where
the criminal action is filed. Under the present rules, the complainant
or offended party, if he is a public officer, can file the complaint
in Manila if his office is in Manila or in the office outside of
Manila if his office is located there. If the complainant is a private
citizen, the venue is his place of residence at the time of the
commission of the offense.
Thus, a newspaper or
broadcast station in Aparri or Jolo, Tacloban or Davao can be made to
answer a complaint filed in Metro Manila where the complainant resides
although the subject, the issue or the incident published, - in law
the cause of action did not arise in Metro Manila.
In this context, the
element of oppression is there. The toll of inconvenience, financial
or otherwise, is often more onerous and burdensome than the penalty or
fine prescribed by the law. This may even lead to a miscarriage of
justice in cases where the accused or defendant failed to appear
because of the distance and travel constraints.
The need to address
this particular concern of local mediamen can never be aptly stressed.
The community journalist and his organization, mostly financially
handicapped and already afflicted with all sorts of pressures and
threats, need immediate relief from the present rule on venue of libel
cases, whether criminal or civil, which create an opportunity for
oppression.
Hopefully, this bill
will also be passed when it reaches the Senate.
Army officer cries
amendment of R.A. 9344
By ALICE E. NICART, (PIA Borongan)
August 16, 2006
