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SCAA confiscate illegally mining supplies from smallScale miners (Frontliner.tk)

By ED N. MALIZA, Correspondent

By AL JACINTORegional Editor-Zamboanga

LOOK/PAGE 7

OPPOSED/PAGE 7

INQUIRY/PAGE 5

Editorial: 74-53-80, e-mail: [email protected] • Advertising: 0917-7121424, e-mail: [email protected]

House inquiry vs.mining firm soughtBAYOG, Zamboanga del Sur––A lawmaker is calling for an immediate House in-quiry on the alleged human rights abuses committed by TVI Resources Development (Phils), Inc. against small-scale miners and Subanen in sitio Balabag in Barangay Depore here.

Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Partylist Rep. Antonio L. Trinio filed House Resolution no. 2246 urging the House commit-tee on national cultural communities to conduct an urgent investigation, in aid of legislation.

Trinio said that there were reports that the giant mining firm backed by mi-litias under the 1st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army committed human rights abuses against small-scale miners and lumads.

The TVI Pacific, Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian mining company that fo-cused on the production, development, exploration,

SCAA confiscate illegally mining supplies from smallScale miners (Frontliner.tk)

CAGAYAN de Oro City––A senior official of the Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 10 is now in the process of verifying the reported issuances of Cer-tificate of Lumber Origins (CLOs) that were allegedly issued fraudulently.

Regional Technical Di-rector for Forestry Demetelo Obsioma said that he will verify the record if the report has already been forwarded to Manila.

Obsioma is apparently referring to the issuance of alleged fake CLOs where payments allegedly did not go to the coffers of the gov-ernment.

“Bag-o pa baya ko dinhi sa office. Ako lang ipatan-aw kung naa na ba mi report niana kay murag nadung-gan nako nga gihimo-an na

and acquisition of resource projects in the Philippines through its subsidiary, TVI Resource Development (Phils.,), Inc. (TVIRD), said Trinio.

He added: “Its Balabag Gold Project is currently conducting mining explora-tion seeking to develop an open pit mining in Balabag Hill in Bayog, a municipality with a population of over

30,000 of which 60 percent of whom are indigenous Subanen tribe.”

Balabag Pioneer team led by its Vice President and Chief Operating Of-ficer Yulo E. Perez arrived in the area in April 2011 but small-scale miners belong-ing to the Monte de Oro Small-Scales Association (MOSSMA) allegedly op-posed the entry of TVIRD

claiming that they have been digging gold in the area since 1980.

The area is currently the site of around 600 houses and establishments where over 3,000 small-scale min-ers, their dependents, and local Subanen lived and worked.

Militarization“In September 2011, the

TVIRD through its Balabag Security Group, developed and implemented a company security operation known as “Oplan Bonkag” (Opera-tion Plan Dismantle), for the

DENR official to look into fraudulent CLOs

kadto nila,” Obsioma said.But DENR’s Undersec-

retary for Operations Er-nesto Adobo said he has no knowledge of the case.

“You can call and ask the Central Office,” Adobo said.

Earlier, businessman Roger Edma disclosed the other week that former CENRO Ronald Gadot is-sued him CLOs from 2005-2010 and asked from him P6 per board feet as payment thereof. Edma even gave this paper two certified true copy of the documents.

“Dako na kaayo nga kwarta ang nakuha ni Gadot gikan nako sulod sa unom ka tuig. Ambot lang ug iya bang gi-remit ang maong kwarta didto sa DENR,” Edma said.

For his part, Gadot said he will face whatever case

WEATHER UPDATEAS of 2:00 p.m. yesterday, the Low Pressure Area (LPA) was estimated based on satellite and surface data at 130 km East of Puerto Princesa City (9.8°N, 120.0°N).

Luzon will experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming widespread rains over Palawan and the eastern section of Central and Southern Luzon which may trigger flashfloods and landslides. Visayas and Western Mindanao will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms while the rest of Mindanao will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

source: pagasa

ZAMBOANGA City––De-spite the worsening power situation in Zamboanga City, many residents are still opposing the putting up of a coal-fired power plant, saying its effect on human health and the environment would be a disaster.

“No. We will oppose the coal-fired power plant because it is dirty and poses grave danger to our health

Coal-fired0plant in Zamboopposed

FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 20122 In Oroquieta City, Relax & Enjoy @

DAMINAR’S RIVERSIDE DAMINAR’S RIVERSIDE GARDEN and ResortGARDEN and Resort

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Zaldy and Bessie Daminaror Reservation: (088) 586-0350Editor: CRIS DIAZ , Email: [email protected]


HOMELESS/PAGE 7MINING/PAGE 6

By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO, Bulatlat.com

THREE MONTHS AFTER SENDONG HIT ILIGAN CITYHomes for the rendered homeless

Fifth of a series

“Even before the typhoon struck, our area a lready didn’t have access to po-table water from the local water company. We had to buy drinking water from a company that sells mineral water, and even then it was expensive,” she said.

A five-gallon plastic con-tainer of drinking water costs P30 ($0.7143), and the Omar family uses one day. Every week, they spend P210 ($5) for water and P840 ($20) for a month’s supply.

“It took a while for the

water company to resume its operations and to send its delivery trucks to our homes here. We were forced to boil water sourced from the hand pump so we could have drinking water. Two of my children had stomach problems like diarrhea and I felt that it was my fault because I didn’t boil the water properly,” she said.

In the meantime, another child fell ill with leptospi-rosis.

“We’ve always known that there were rats here. The children often liked to wade and play in the puddles that

remained after the flood, and my five-year old daughter had open wounds in her feet. The doctor in the public hos-pital said that that’s how she got leptospirosis — the rat urine and feces mixed with the water in the puddles and the f lood water,” she said.Homes for the rendered

homelessLast March 6, it was an-

nounced that 102 houses would be constructed by March 15 in Sta. Elena Baya-nihan Village also in Iligan. This is through the joint ef-forts of the City Engineer’s Office, City Mayor’s-Techni-cal Division, and Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers

ZAMBOANGA City––TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. (TVIRD) has filed libel charges against two community newspapers and a politician accused of publishing paid advertise-ments that maligned the reputation of the multi-awarded mining firm and its officials.

TVIRD, whose main office is in Makati City in Luzon Island, operates a mining project in the town of Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte province. The charges were filed in Makati City by Emmanuel Cayton, TVIRD’s Director for Security; Paul Vincent Arias, its security manager for the Balabag gold project in Bayog town in Zamboanga del Sur; and lawyer Eugene Mateo, its president.

In their complaint , Cayton, Arias and Mateo assailed the two weekly newspapers for publishing a so-called “memorandum” that was allegedly issued by TVIRD and made to appear that the mining firm and its employees had hatched a plan to harm Julito Mond-ing, a member of the mu-nicipal council in Bayog.

“The advertisement is an utter falsity and lie because no such plan exist or has ever existed. No such memo-randum was ever written, prepared and received by TVIRD personnel. Mr. Arias has not written or prepared any memorandum similar to the memorandum con-tained in the paid advertise-ment that was published in the Pagadian City Star and Mindanao Balitang Lokal.”

“Neither did Mr Cayton receive any such memo-randum from Mr. Arias. TVIRD and its personnel do not engage in nefarious and evil conduct described in the memorandum in question,” according to the

ILLEGAL mining activities in Balabag in Zamboanga del Sur’s Bayog town.

TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. has filed libel charges against a municipal council member and

two weekly newspapers in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province. Photo by Al Jacinto

Mining firm sues 2 weekly papers, politician for libel

GROUNDBREAKING OF WATER SYSTEM AT UPPER RAMONAL, CAMAMAN-AN. Congressman Rufus Rodriguez breaks ground for the construction of a water system for Upper Ramonal, Camaman-an costing P500,000 with Chair. Dometilo Acenas, Jr., (L-R) Kag. Wendyl Princillo, Kag. Licinio Amoguis, Kag.Vernie Galarpe, and kag. Pedro Arda, Dist. Engr. Allan Boromeo and AD Engr. Ceasar Hipuna Jr.

By AL JACINTORegional Editor-Zamboanga

Iligan Bay Chapter.City Engineer Franklin

Maata was quoted as saying that the construction efforts were delayed because of a shortage of hollow blocks in Iligan. They are already buying hollow blocks in other areas of Lanao del Norte to supplement Ili-gan’s construction materials needs.

In the meantime, late last month, The National Housing Authority (NHA) said that it would purchase lots that would be used as relocation sites for affected families in Iligan city whose houses were washed out. The

BUTUAN City––An eight-year old girl was accidendally shot and killed by his own father in Sta. Cruz, Barangay Manila de Bugabos here on Thursday.

Caraga police spokesman Supt. Martin Gamba identi-fied the victim as Jelly Jean Ranoco and the suspect as Romeo Liza Ranoco.

Gamba said Romeo was cleaning his licensed caliber .45 pistol at his home in Purok 9 Sta. Cruz, Barangay Manila de Bugabos at around 7pm when he “accidentally fired” the gun and hit Jelly Jean.

The victim was imme-diately rushed to Manuel J. Santos Hospital here where she succumbed to a gunshot wound in the breast an hour after arrival, Gamba said.

Romeo voluntary surren-dered to responding police officers led by PO3 Gilberto Oclarit.

The suspect is detained at the Butuan City police jail and will be charged with parricide, Gamba added.

Pa killsdaughter

By PAT SAMONTERegional Editor-Caragawith JOEL PORTUGAL

Correspondent

MALAYBALAY City––The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), Revenue District 99 (RD-99) in Bukidnon, urged taxpayers to file their income tax returns (ITRs) before the deadline to avoid the rush.

Myrna Bernardo, Rev-enue District Officer of BIR-RD99, in a telephone interview, said this year’s deadline has been extended to April 16, Monday, since April 15 falls on a Sunday.

“BIR accredited banks here will be opened to facilitate payments up to 5p.m. daily from April 2 to 16 -- except Saturdays, Sundays, April 5 to 6, and April 9 which are holidays,” she said.

File yourincome taxearly: BIRBy RUBY LEONORA BALISTOYPhilippine Information Agency

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Editor: RUEL PELONE , Email; [email protected]

agricultural sector in his district of responsibility, but to the whole region as well. He added that it’s only apt to return the favor to those employees who have vigorously dedicated and committed themselves for the betterment of region’s populace, especially those marginalized farmers in rural communities. In return, Dir. Ramos articulated her indebtedness to Cong. Rodriguez in the form of giving out three boxes, consisting packets of assorted vegetable seeds. She added that in this way, the congressman would be able to expand his reach in lending a hand to more people while also assuming the role of being an ally of the department in convey-ing brighter impact to the underprivileged segments of the society. In closing, the benefi-ciaries have commonly ut-tered their warmest thanks to Cong. Rodriguez as the financial assistance be-stowed to them would allow them to move ahead from a traumatic calamity such as the typhoon Sendong. # (Joanne L. Olson, DA-10)

Typhoon Sendong victims in the govt receive assistanceCAGAYAN de Oro City––Exactly three months since typhoon Sendong has wrought havoc in the city, financial support amount-ing to around P 300,000 has been poured in to victims, particularly those under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office (DA-10) through second district Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez. During the formal turn-over of assistance, a to-tal of 156 employees were conferred with cash assis-tance worth P 2,000 each. Of which, 60 employees came from DA-10 while the remaining are from the department’s attached bureaus and agencies: Phil-ippine Coconut Authority (12), Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (6), Bureau of Plant Industry (4), National Dairy Authority (2), Fiber Development Authority (1), National Irrigation Administration (49) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (22). Leading the occasion is DA-10 Regional Executive Director Lealyn Abellanosa- Ramos, who conveyed her utmost gratefulness that she along with the employees in attendance has managed

to surmount the hurdles as a consequence of the recent catastrophe, and has importantly, emerged as a survivor. Moreso, she revealed that she hasn’t been much expectant that the agency would obtain help for its employees, considering that there are other typhoon vic-tims who have gone through more devastating conditions such as losing both their homes and their respective source of income. Never-theless, she extended her sincerest appreciation of the enduring efforts exerted by Cong. Rodriguez to hand-out financial support to the department’s employees. For his part, Cong. Rodriguez expressed that the office hasn’t only been largely responsible for the advancement of the

Distribution of Financial Assistance to typhoon Sendong victims by 2nd district of CDO Hon. Cong. Rufus B. Rodriguez. Top left photo shows Cong. Rodriguez handing out the P 2,000 cash assistance to one of the typhoon-affected employees of the agri. dep’t. Top right photo shows RED Ramos uttering her gratefulness for the congress-man’s selfless efforts in likewise extending aid to gov’t employees thru the provision of assorted vegetable seeds. Joining her is PCA Reg’l Mgr. Luis G. Cruz and RTD Engr. Roxana H. Hojas.

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 20124



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RUBRICS/p.7

DISCIPLE/p.7

Ang Bag-ong Tawo

Alex A. PodadorAlex A. Podador

THINK a minute.In the town of Black-

pool, England is a high tower almost 400 feet tall with a clear glass floor on the top.

So when you’re up there it looks like you’re walking on air hundreds of feet high above the ground.

An English newspaper had a funny photo of a woman at the edge of this invisible glass floor.

Her hands were cover-ing her face as she tried to get the courage to walk on it.

Even though she knew the floor was safe, she was still afraid!

You might have flown on an airplane before, and even though you knew the plane was safe, and the pilot was well trained, you still were nervous and scared.

Because you know there

A smart bet

is always a chance some-thing might go wrong!

But then, there’s noth-ing in this world that is perfectly safe, guaranteed with no risks whatsoever.

This is true even in the simple everyday things.

Any day, we can have a car or bus accident on our way to work or school; or we can find out we have cancer or some other dis-ease; or your good, sweet little girl can get involved with the wrong guy.

But even though noth-

ing is completely safe or risk-free, we can’t keep ourselves and our fam-ily locked away from the world so that we don’t go anywhere or do anything!

But you know, there’s one road you can take that’s 100-percent guaranteed safe and fun: to follow and live Jesus’ way––every day of your life.

You see, Jesus Christ wasn’t just a good man or teacher; and He wasn’t just a prophet.

Jesus Himself said very

clearly that He is God––God the Son.

Jesus said that He is the One Who can forgive our sins, and He proved it––by being the only person in all of history to bring Himself back to life after being dead and buried for three days!

Jesus promises and guarantees you that if you’ll live His way everyday, He will always keep you safe.

Even when you die, Je-sus will take you through it safely, to live with Him.

He will also be with you now everyday to help you in all your decisions and problems.

So you’ll never have to worry or fear anything again.

Living for Jesus is not only a smart bet, it’s the only safe bet with your life you can make.

Just Think a Minute.

Think A Minute

Jhan Tiafau HurstJhan Tiafau Hurst

THIS CORNER was appalled after a friend in the media reported that a contributor in another paper was calling my name in his piece of dung article last week.

This contributor wanted to im-press that he writes decent English. He even imputed that my English grammar was inferior. After all, he said somebody from the media fed him that information.

Being a writer-editor for over 30 years that comment is not new to me. In fact, I have witnessed how local community journalism prospered in the last three decades. I have witnessed how crackpots obtained press cards and the nerve to call themselves journalists!

I have trained a number of present day writers and became part of their quest for perfection in the extinct profession of writing. A number of those who experi-enced my hands revolted the way I handled them because of the standard that I imposed on them. Some of them considered me their enemy to this day. I am proud of them! At least, they will never forget me. Sorry, folks, they miserably failed to be a journalist although some pretend to be one.

Honestly, to be a writer is not as easy as the contributor of the other paper thinks so. Certainly, this contributor and the conspirator (another known half-baked media) who pinned this writer in their comments do not know the basic in journalistic discipline.

It is also very unfortunate that pretenders who want the rare opportunity of recognition as a writer infest

The Code of Hammurabithe media. Usually, these pretenders are the source of intrigues among members of the Fourth Estate. These pretenders politically tagged legitimate members of the press in their efforts to please their benefactors.

Right from the start, my mentors thought me to be considerate and be fair with colleagues in the press. I have maintained a self-imposed respect among peers as a way of professional discipline. Number nine of the ‘Journalist Code of Ethics’ clearly state: ‘I shall not take unfair advantage of fellow journalists.’ The half-bakes never observed this guarded tradition. Instead, they are the precursor of chaos and disorder within the ranks of the Fourth Estate. They wore swollen heads!

More often than not, journalists are demeaned with the incursion of ‘unwanted’ individuals who joined the Fourth Estate in the pursuit of personal interest. There are also those who joined the profession with the delu-sion that they are free to do anything in the guise of ‘press freedom.’

Somehow, these pretenders always employ what it takes. These pretenders often win over the legitimate ones and had the gall to proclaim themselves as members of the press. These are the very individuals that the world of journalists vehemently abhor and despise. Editors around the world hate these pretentious individuals to be part of the journalists’ fraternal character.

As I have said, I never have had the intention to go down to the level of the other paper’s contributor and his conspirator. The Code of Hammurabi says ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ Although I believed it is time to launch a whip, I still owed much to Francis Bacon’s, ‘For my name and memory, I leave it to men’s charitable speeches (writings).’ react: [email protected]

Cris DiazCris Diaz

“THEN He said to the crowd if any of you wants to be a follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23).

Great crowd is always following Jesus wherever He goes, because they have seen or heard his amazing miracles. But how many of them are serious enough to be His true disciple? Jesus is not impressed by the great number of people in the crowd, for He could see their hearts. Not many are truly willing to deny themselves, to take their cross daily and to follow

THE term Rubric originally referred to instructions (often written in red) for conducting religious ser-vices, but in the mid 1990s was given this new meaning by the education community according to Wikipedia.

Overall, Rubrics is a set of cri-teria typically linked to learning objectives or simply instructions which in my contemplation can also be structured as guidelines on how we should traverse and overcome human challenges. It is clear that standards in living our life to its maximum potential may be varied yet would have a common ground as to what really can create lasting meaning and impact. In this column, we will explore various steps and set of proven strategies that can bring about positive change through vibrant discussion on specific topics based on eclectic knowledge on the different rubrics of life by people of different achievements and stature…

To start our journey, let me share first my own simple criteria which I constantly check every waking moment candidly taken from my initials, ELP. I have studied and observed various qualities of men from different walks of life and came to realize that everything I need to do to be personally successful can be anchored to my initials which would lead me to perpetually remember them. They are; Enthusiasm, Love, and Purpose.

Firstly, lets talk about the fuel that powers any indi-vidual to perform their level best which is…Enthusiasm. People specially in our proactive generation often find themselves deluged with self-help books to improve their

Rubrics of life

The true disciple of Christ

Him at all cost.Just like in our time,

there is an ever growing number of people who fill several big churches. I may say, there is a significant number of professing chris-tian nowadays. Is God really impressed by their number?

If you will examine each of their hearts how many will really pass the test of becoming a true disciple of Christ?

A true disciple of Christ is a person who has no any selfish ambition. If you wish to be a true disciple of Christ

you must put away all your selfish ambitions. A true disciple of Christ lives in simplicity. he is contented with the basic things in life in order to support the Great Commission of Christ. A true disciple of Christ has died to all his selfish ambitions and personal agenda in life. His primary concern is to advance the cause of Christ never his/her personal agenda. He is working in order to have a provision for his daily living, not for prestige and position.

Christ is his supreme

Erwin L. PepinoErwin L. Pepino

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012 5

Editor: Joe del Puerto Felicilda , Email: [email protected]: Joe del Puerto Felicilda , Email: [email protected]

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Inquiry...from page 1

for the purpose of es-tablishing its claim on Sitio Balabag thus forcibly evict-ing the current occupants, and securing its personnel and equipment,” said Trinio in filing his resolution.

“Oplan Bonkag called for the deployment of soldiers of Bravo Company of the 53rd Infantry Battalion as well as Special Civilian Armed Forces Geographi-cal Units Active Auxilia-ries (SCAA) from the 5th Infantry Battalion, both belonging to the 1st Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, but was placed under the command of TVIRD’s Balabag Site Officer In-Charge and Security Man-ager, Retired Army Col. Valentino V. Edang,” the resolution stated.

Trinio claimed the SCAA are paramilitaries, trained and armed by the Phil-ippine Army, but whose compensation is paid for by TVIRD, in accordance with an order issued by President Benigno S. Aquino III last October 2011, authorizing the deployment of so called “special militias” to serve as security forces for private mining companies.

He said that since the last quarter of 2011,TVIRD’s “clearing operation” have allegedly resulted in numer-ous human rights abuses against the local Subanen population, small-scale miners, their dependents and supporters.

HarassmentTrinio said that “on No-

vember 18, 2011, TVIRD’s SCAA destroyed P100,000 worth of equipment be-longing to the small-scale miner Wendell Bation and on November 30, a TVIRD

demolition team burned down four houses, includ-ing that of Camila and Nelson Condol, a Subanen couple, whose 2 month old baby died two weeks later due to exposure. They also bulldozed the subsistence plots of the community, destroying their root crops and banana plants.”

On December 1, the SCAA forcibly entered a small-scale mining facility owned by Jolito Mond-ing, and on December 2, they carried out warrant-less searches and arrests while allegedly conducting “hot pursuit” operation against lawless elements, said Trinio.

“On January 15, 2012, an additional contingent of 220 more SCAA was deployed by TVIRD in the area, transforming it into a veritable war zone,” the lawmaker added.

He said that since Janu-ary 20, TVIRD has imposed a blockade on the area, confiscating mining sup-plies such as rice, fuel and other necessities.

He alleged that the giant mining firm has fenced off the Edal Water Source Area, a mountain spring that serves as the main source of water for the community.

Likewise, he said the TVIRD placed checkpoints and other restricted access roads leading to and from Sitio Balabag, resulting in a dramatic decline in at-tendance at the Balabag Primary School established and financed by MOSSMA and serving the largely in-digenous population in the area. According to the school’s teacher in-charge, the total attendance has dropped from 102 to 50 since the arrival of the mi-litias.

‘Hostage-taking’The lawmaker said that

on February 20, dozens of reporters and human rights workers from Pagadian City, who were planning to investigate a scheduled demolition of houses in Sitio Balabag, were report-edly detained for several hours alledgedly by the militias who blocked the roads leading to the area after TVIRD used backhoe to excavate two sections of the Diplahan-Guinoman-Balabag road, a public road deliberately destroying the main access route to Sitio Balabag.

The mining firm’s “spe-cial intelligence units” have been conducting “close monitoring” surveillance activities on individual who actively opposed to the entry of TVIRD, said Trinio in his resolution adding, “these people are human rights advocate Ed-gar Baling, MOSSMA Presi-dent Roselyn Silva,Trustee Arandy Silva and Bayog municipal councilor Jolito Monding, have reported received death threat from unknown entities.”

In a press conference with 1st Tabak Division Commander Brigadier Gen-eral Ricardo Reiner Cruz III who earlier said that it was a landslide that prevented the media from passing the road, but after verifying reports, he later disclosed to media that it was an excava-tion to blocked small-scale miners of their supplies for mining operations.

Mayor Palma of Dipla-han even intervened to settle the conflict between the MOSSMA and TVIRD by covering the two sections excavated between the road leading to Barangay Guino-man, Diplahan and Sitio

Balabag, Dapore of Bayog.The mayor explained

that he only wants to help the people who were strand-ed and whose business were hamper due to road exca-vation.

“Until no court order will be issued, people are free to do business in Bala-bag, no one can stop them and no one can cut the road leading to the area,” Palma said.

Earlier, the Communist Party of the Philippines had also condemned the TVIRD, the AFP and SCAA for carrying out a widespread campaign of crime, terror, and abuses against the Sub-anen minority people and the residents of Zamboanga del Sur since last year.

Small-scale miners are already operating even be-fore August 1, 1987 in which according to Republic Act 7076, Section 3 (f ) “ac-tive mining refers to areas under actual exploration, and Republic Act 7076, Sec-tion 23 actual occupation by small-scale miners and who have been in actual operation of mineral lands on or before August 1,1987 xx shall not be disposed, ejected or removed from said areas.”

“The application for the exclusion of the area is still pending with the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) of Zamboanga del Sur, and the rights of MOSSMA ought to be re-spected and protected,” according to Bert Bayona, consultant of MOSSMA.

He added that the hap-less persons had asked protection that are reso-lutely continuing this risky crusade for peace, justice, equity, freedom, and mate-rialization of their dreams and aspirations. (RC)

BUTUAN City––The Bu-tuan City Water District will mark two important events this week: the 11th Water Consciousness Week and its 38th Anniversary.

BCWD General Manager Anselmo L. Sang Tian said the twin affairs will start today (March 26) to run until April 1 with the theme “Water Security: Rising to the Challenge.”

The activities for the week-long celebration will kicks off with a motorcade at 8 am with participants to assemble at the city sports complex in Barangay Lib-ertad. A press conference will follow at the BCWD conference hall where local mediamen will be updated on developments at the water district and presented its annual accomplishment report, Sang Tian said.

BCWD’s twin affairs will come after last week’s nationwide celebration of World Water Day 2012 which centered on the lo-cal theme: “Katiyakan sa Tubig, Katiyakan sa Pag-kain”, an adaptation of the international theme: “Water and Food Security.”

As Department of En-vironment and Natural Resources Secretary Ra-mon Paje said, this year’s activities would focus on increasing public awareness to conserve water resources “not only because we need water to drink, bathe in, and wash our clothes, but also because it is an important component of the food that

Butuan City water district celebrates 28th anniversary

By PAT SAMONTE, Regional Editor-Caraga

we eat.”“Water is very much

incorporated in the food supply chain, whether in irrigation and fisheries or producing feeds for our livestock,” he said.

According to Paje, WWD 2012 will also look at how the swelling population can cope with the increasing pressure on available water resources by consuming less water-intensive products and reducing food wast-age, which translates to lost water.

“This is the concept of measuring the water foot-print or the total volume of fresh water used to pro-duce the goods and services consumed or produced,” he explained.

The water summit dubbed “Water Knowledge Fair” at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel in Mandaluyong City started with the launch-ing of “Knowledge products” focused on delivering water services, particulary in rural areas.

Representatives from government agencies, local governments, water service providers, implementers of the Sagana at Ligtas na Tubig sa Lahat (Salintu-big) program, and other stakeholders attended the summit to discuss different water-related programs and strategies.

The event was organized by the Philippine govern-ment along with partners from the Millenium Devel-opment Goals Fund.

BUTUAN City––Some 705 peasants and Mamanwa na-tives were displaced by mili-tary strikes in Sitio Zapanta Valley, Barangay Bangayan, Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte and Ferlda, Ferlda, Alegria, Surigao del Norte prompting a militant group to condemn what it said “merciless acts” of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Aquino regime against the lumad people.

The Kahugpungan sa Lumadnong Organisasyon (Kasalo)-Caraga said the airstrikes and entry of gov-ernment troops in populated areas had forced 279 people or 80 families to fl ee their homes on March 11. Some 429 people or 125 families are

Military strikes displace705 peasants in Agusan

By PAT SAMONTE, Regional Editor-Caraga

now temporarily sheltered at the Barangay Bangayan Multi-Purpose Hall while 276 people or 76 families are scattered in Alegria, Surigao del Norte 52 of whom are Mamanwa natives.

Kasalo-Caraga Genasque Enriquez said his organiza-tion “strongly condemn(s)” the military operations as elements from the Philippine Army’s 30th and 38th Infantry Battalions and the 3rd Special Forces of 402nd Infantry Brigade launched combat op-erations in Barangay Ferlda, Alegria, Surigao del Norte on March 4-6, and Sitio Zapanta Valley, Barangay Bangayan, Kitcharao, Agusan del Norte on February 28.

Enriquez said the mili-

tary airstrikes, shellings and bombings targeted mountain areas sent some 45 families or 149 individuals 52 of whom were women, nine pregnant and 53 children with ages ranging from one to six years, to evacuate and walk nine kilometers of muddy roads.

According to Enriquez, the mountains connecting Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur contain “large deposits of minerals especially gold” while “large coal deposits” can be found in Kitcharao in Agusan del Norte and Gigaquit in Surigao del Norte.

He mentioned Minimaz Gold Exploration as among those with mining interests in the mountains in Santiago, Jabonga and Kitcharao towns. SR Mining, Inc., he said,

has gold mining operation in these mountains while applications for exploration permits in the towns of Tubay, Santiago and Jabonga and Cabadbaran City have in-creased. A survey is being conducted by the Lopez-owned First Gen Hydro Elec-tric Corporation in Zapanta Valley, he said.

He said the continued opposition by the lumads in Caraga against large-scale, destructive and foreign mining “is one of the major motivations for the brutal militarization and indiscrimi-nate bombing” in the area especially in Zapanta Valley.

Enr iquez said that through the military, the Aquino regime “intends to silence the lumad people’s resistance” against mining.

Homeless...from page 2

Th e NHA was said to be sending a team to Iligan city to assess the prices of the lots presented by the owners to be used as relocation sites. Th e NHA is also coordinat-ing with humanitarian and relief organizations that have off ered to build more perma-nent shelters and houses for the victims.

While the relief agencies wait for the government to turn over land where houses for the victims can be built, tent cities and camps have been established in various areas in iligan.

One such tent city is in Luinab and it serves as the temporary home of 156 fami-lies. Th e average family has between two to six children. Th e tents were donated by an international relief agency each tent spans some 20 square meters. Inside the fl oor is laid with thick plastic and rubber matting. Th ere is no electric-ity inside the tents, but the

refugees are lent fl ashlights, and there are lamp posts that are turned on at night.

Th irty-four year old Lennie Liza Rinez lives in one of the tents with her husband and two children.

Th e elder is Jandy, a two year old girl with big and beautiful doe eyes, while the younger is a six-month old baby boy named Matthew. Lenni’s husband sells peanuts in the city proper, and earns P200 ($5) a day.

Th e Rinezes had no op-tions left when Sendong struck. Th ey used to live in a rented, one room house in Katipunan in Hinaplonan, and the typhhon destroyed it.

“We had nowhere else to go. At fi rst we lived with relatives, but there was no space in their house either, and it didn’t seem to right to impose our presence on them too much because they,too, were victims of the typhoon. Their house survived, but there wasn’t space there for another family with two young children,” she said.




BUTUAN CITY, BAYUGAN CITY, SAN FRANCISCO, TAGUM CITY

SUZUKI * HONDA YAMAHA* KAWASAKI

MEMBER: G.A. ROMARATE GROUP OF COMPANIES


EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE

Notice is hereby given that the intestate estate of Late CONSUELO CAINGIN BALACUIT, who died on August 15, 2005 at Bayabas, Cagayan de Oro City, leaving an amount deposited in the Philippine Veterans Bank the sum of Php 131,178.68 Philippine Currency, is the subject of EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE made and entered into by MATILDE BALACUIT LIZADA, LEONOR BALACUIT CATAMCO, VIOLETA BALACUIT CAASALAN, EMMA BALACUIT LIGTAS, JESSIE CAINGIN BALACUIT, ELMER CAINGIN BALACUIT and MARITA BALACUIT CAYLO, all of legal age, Filipino, married, the parties hereto are the sole heirs of the decedent, as per Doc. No. 70; Page No. 14; Book No. 30; Series of 2012, under Notary Public of Atty. REYNALDO A. VITORILLO.

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1. Rear part 5. Grinding tooth 10. Wrath 12. Central point 14. Impart 16. Turner of music 17. Yoko of music 18. Think probable 20. Attempt 23. _Mans 25. Devour 27. Furious 29. Actinium symbol 31. Born 33. Drag 35. Jet engines 38. Putrefy 40. African lily 41. Show up 43. Clan emblem

45. Passageway 46. Organic substance 47. Actual existence

DOWN 1. Edible rootstock 2. About 3. Disregard 4. Guided 6. _My own 7. Oblique 8. Rara_ 9. Of the kidneys 11. Flat color 13. Stratum 15. Unprocessed 19. Male sheep 21. US inhabitants 24. Gem weight 26. Golf peg 28. Compulsion by threat 30. Phenomenon of light

32. Greek letter 34. Aims 36. Pigeon cobp 37. Mineral spring 39. Woody plant 42. Baked dish 44. Musical tone

CIRCLE A WORDALDAAMRODARADORASPHODELBALARBOROMIRCAMLOST

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Mining...from page 2

affidavit of the com-plainants, who said that the memorandum was a bogus document.

They said the publica-tion was allegedly moti-vated by ill will and malice and intended to destroy the good name and reputation of TVIRD as well as that of the complainants.

The three TVIRD offi-cials said the publication of the fake memorandum as a paid advertisement was intended to harass, dis-honor and discredit them and the good name of the company.

T VIRD said among those charged were Mond-ing, and Toefisto Deocades, Jr., and Artemio Locsin, publishers of Mindanao Balitang Lokal; Mike Mi-jares and Alili Mae No-quiao, both are editors of the newspaper; including its business manager, Ge-rarda Locsin.

Also charged were law-yer Aquilles Ceniza, Sr., publisher of Pagadian City Star; Venus Joy Viradio, the editor-in-chief; Cristo-rey Ramones, its editorial consultant, and Gerarda Locsin, the newspaper’s business manager.

Both newspapers are based in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur. There was no immediate state-ment from the accused and

the politician is allegedly into illegal mining activities in Balabag where hundreds of families are also engaged in illegal mining of gold.

TVIRD, an advocate of responsible mining, has been well accepted by the Subanons in Zamboanga del Norte which host its copper-zinc mining opera-tion in Mount Canatuan.

It is now looking beyond the development of the Canatuan sulphide plant to its second development-stage property and planned production center at the Balabag gold and silver project in Bayog town.

TVIRD has provided the indigenous peoples col-lege scholarship program, school buildings and class-rooms, and farm-to-market roads, coffee and rubber clones and seedlings for sustainable livelihood and employment, including a health facility that offers free consultation and ad-mission of patients, among many others.

The mining firm has received various awards not only for its outstanding en-vironmental protection and enhancement program, but also as a ‘model employer” in Zamboanga del Norte and in the Zamboanga Pen-insula region. Just recently, TVIRD was also awarded by the local government of Siocon for its contribu-tion to the town’s growing economy. (Al Jacinto)

ILOILO City––A former World Boxing Federation (WBF) titlist has been ar-rested by responding po-licemen on a charge that he is an accomplice in a pre-dawn attempted rob-bery in Jaro district here, Saturday onboard a public utility jeepney on a 53 year-old woman bound for Metro Manila.

William Magahin, who held briefly the WBF Jr. lightweight crown in l990 and a consistent member of the Philippine Boxing Team during the 80s, strongly de-nied the accusation hurled by the victim, Rosalinda Barona.

Th e robbery victim said it was surprising that a former rated boxer like Magahin failed to make a move to neutralize the prime sus-pect, Jonathan Edrosolano by using his fi sts. Instead, Magahin tried to coax her to give up the bag contain-ing the sum of P2,000 and a plane ticket to Edrosolano.

Initial police investiga-tion showed that Edrosolano had grabbed the victim’s bag and and bolted out of the jeepney, with Magahin

Asean age group qualifier Janelle Frayna looks for the next best move in her game against a Davao opponent in the girls’ division of the 2012 National Juniors Chess Championship being held at the Misamis Oriental provincial capitol chess park in Cagayan de Oro. The winners in this Mindanao elimination round will have the chance to be selected for the Philippine representatives to the World Junior U20 Championships later this year. Photo by Gerry L. Gorit

Former boxing champion arrested

following suit.Edrosolano has also im-

plicated the jeepney driver who was not immediately

identifi ed in the crime. philippine news agency

MONDAY, MARCH 26, 2012 7www.mindanaodailybalita.com

FICCO Bldg., Lapasan Hi-way, Cagayan de Oro CityTel No. 72-3344, cell No. 09264874974

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Disciple...from page 4

To do the will of Christ is his utmost joy and hap-piness. He is willing to suf-fer for Christ sake. There are things in life that he will forgo such as career or marriage just to do the great will of Christ. A true disciple of Christ is willing to take up his cross daily. He is willing to suffer in order to glorify Christ in his life. He is willing to suffer in order to uphold the teachings of Christ in his life. He will rather be contented in just a small income as long as the job is blameless before God’s eyes rather than enjoying a large salary but with a job full of compromises.

Yes, nowadays it is very easy to profess as a Christian but to live as a true disciple of Christ is not that simple. It requires a wholehearted devotion and all out com-mitment to the Lordship of Christ. It is difficult but only in living as a true disciple of Christ we will experience the true joy and glory of christianity.

Jesus adds His call for discipleship in John 8:31-32 that says “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” This speaks of obedience to what He commands and reverence to His promises.

A person who is free indeed by Jesus does not live in a prison cell by way of living in the “things of this of world” but of things that are godly. Godly living is based on biblical teach-ings. Truth in living is found only in word of God. Living in truth is living with Jesus. Other than that is living in lies and compromises.

Look...from page 1

Edma would file against him.

“Wala man na problema Ed kay iya (referring to Edma) man na katungod. Nadakpan man gud namo iyang 3 ka trak nga gikan sa Butuan nga matud pa niya gikan kuno sa Mt. Lumot. Basin mao na iyang gikasuk-an,” said Gadot who claimed he is the consultant of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PA-OCC) operating in Northern Mindanao.

“La man ko mahimo ana Ed kung mao gyud iyang gusto. Mo-depensa na lang ko,” Gadot said.

Gadot who is placed by the DENR under “floating” status for two years now because of alleged corrup-tion case filed against two of them before the Om-budsman Mindanao said he is surprised why the long before issue is now again opened.

“Duha na ko ka tuig nga nawala sa position karon pa hinoon gipagawas ni Edma,” Gadot lamented.Rubrics...from page 4

character. A lot would seem to endlessly attend motivational seminars and

spend good money just to find out the secrets of becoming great at what they do. However, despite the seminars ,books, and instructional videos on self-improvement still, their personal abyss keeps on going deeper and eventu-ally they become helpless in their quest for greatness. If only we stop searching from the outside and look within, then we can truly understand that anything we do can result to stunning success if we just choose to be enthusiastic. A person can be a genius in his craft and would have all the re-sources to get to the top yet without the fire to do things passionately there’s no way he will make it. Enthusiasm then should be engrained in our character that even in our most unglorified acts, we still exemplify such at-titude. This was very well stated by Mary Kay Ash when she said; “A mediocre idea that generates enthu-siasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one.”

Secondly, Love…one of the most written topic of all ages yet least understood by many. Love in general is the ultimate virtue that teaches individual to understand and find the goodness in the worst of every being. I believe that we can make our life easier if we can just genuinely appreciate each other rather than look for faults and glorify it. Some are busy searching for the weaknesses of others as if there’s a grand prize waiting for them when in fact, the most award winning thing to do on earth is… loving. It is undeniably priceless.

Lastly, we can set our hearts on fire by being mo-tivated to perform our tasks, and we may endure in show-

ing our care to others yet all these worthy endeavours will be worthless if we don’t use them for our ultimate purpose in life. It’s like rid-ing a Ferrari on a freeway at full speed without knowing your destination. We should get to that moment where we can experience lasting success and fulfilment. Yet, we can only experience such ethereal joy if along the way we are doing the things we love. Now…ask yourself what do you truly want in life? What is your purpose in living. Ponder on this, for in life sometimes it’s not how fast you are going but where you are heading that matters.

Today, I can honestly say that I’m still striving to follow my rubric in liv-ing my life each moment. I stumbled a lot and failed a myriad of times yet with ELP in my heart I will en-deavour to start the day believing it’s a great day, appreciating everyone I meet, and acting towards my goal in life which is to touch lives…not too many but hopefully more!

Peace profound!P.S.Congratulations to Fi-

garo Uptown! Now you’re finally brewing!

Residents, led by Talisayan village chieftain Jose-phine Pareja, rally against the putting up a coal-fired power plant in Zamboanga City in this photo by the organizers of the ‘Reject Coal-Fired Power Plant in Zamboanga.’Photo by Al JacintoOpposed...

from page 1and the environment,” said

Josephine Pareja, village chief-tain of Talisayan, about 20 kilometres from downtown Zamboanga where Conal Hold-ings Corporation is putting up a 100-megawatt fossil fuel power plant.

Pareja has led many street protests and demonstrations to dramatize their strong op-position to the coal-fired power plant.

The group Akbayan is also opposing the coal-fired power

plant and also led several dem-onstrations in Zamboanga. It said the power plant will bring more harm than good.

Zamboanga’s daily pow-er consumption is about 100-megawatts and the local electric cooperative gets a little over half of its total re-quirements from the National Power Corporation. And now is suffering from daily power outages lasting as long as 8 hours.

Conal Holdings has already signed a memorandum of agree-ment with the Zamboanga City Freeport and Economic Zone for the fossil fuel power station. It was also granted a so-called “no-objection” resolution from the Zamboanga City Council, although a few council mem-bers have rejected the project because of pollution and its effect to the environment.

Pro-environment groups said coal-fired power plants are the single largest station-ary source of pollution in any country. The toxins these coal fired power plants produce severely damage both human health and the environment and contribute to a reduced quality of life.

Coal-fired power plants are responsible for release over 85% of total global carbon dioxide emissions, a prime contributor to global warming. Emissions from these power plants contain tens of dozens of toxic chemicals and the pol-lution they release every day

are a major threat to human health and environment.

Coal-fired units produce electricity by burning coal in a boiler to heat water to pro-duce steam. The steam, at tremendous pressure, flows into a turbine, which spins a generator to produce electricity. The steam is cooled, condensed back into water, and returned to the boiler to start the process over. But environmentalists say the coal-fired power plants will pollute the air and contribute to global warming.

There are at least 9 coal-fired power plants in the country – six in Luzon Island, two in the Visayas in central Philippines and one in Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

An international environ-mental organization Greenpeace said coal-fired power plant is a clear threat to sustainable development.

“Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel and a main driver of climate change. There are hundreds of examples around the world where communities around coal plants suffer the impacts of environmental damage and health problems,” Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner, Amalie Obusan, said.

Greenpeace said data from the Department of Energy shows that there is already a 50 mega-watts geothermal energy project committed for Mindanao that will be operational by 2014 and another 300 megawatts of indicative renewable en-ergy projects scheduled for 2011-2017.

It also cited data from the Philippine Solar Power Alliance which show that as much as 100 megawatts of solar service contracts for Mindanao have been submitted to the Depart-ment of Energy. (Al Jacinto)


EDITOR: ALLAN MEDIANTE, Email: [email protected] OPENENMarket City, AgoraMarket City, Agora


AS part of its relentless commitment to business continuity and providing seamless Internet experi-ence to its customers, Globe Business steps-up efforts to fast-track the adaptation of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) in the country, in a move that reflects the growing importance of the new protocol as the current IPv4 addresses being used to connect to the Internet are facing near exhaustion.

IPv6 is the next genera-tion of Internet addresses. It supports longer and a vastly larger amount of IP addresses than its predeces-sor, IPv4, which is facing shortage worldwide, with the last block of the 4.3 billion IPv4 addresses as-signed in February 2011.

“In coming years we ex-pect that IPv6 will become the norm and customers will need to adapt to the new IP.

Globe Business promotes IPv6 adaptation in PH

It’s not a question of whether you move to it; it’s a require-ment. If you don’t, over time, you will run the risk of not being able to talk to parts of the internet. However in the early phases of the transition, we’ll be working directly with customers to support them as they make this change and to ensure a smooth transition to the new IP for continuous Internet access through our IPv6 fora,” said Achie Atienza,

Globe Business Product Manager for Internet.

Globe Business has spearheaded learning ses-sions on IPv6, led by Bay-ani Lara of the Advanced Science & Technology Institute, Zwicky Cheung of Tata Communications, Mar Apuhin of Cisco, John Delizo, of UST Global and Microsoft’s Most Valuable Professional awardee, and Rick Lowe of R Lowe Ser-vices, Inc.

The resource speakers highlighted the govern-ment’s initiatives on IPv6, global deployment, actual applications and the joint initiatives of Globe and its partners on how to enable businesses towards IPv6 connectivity.

IPv6 can accommodate the immensely growing number of users, devices with wireless or wired ac-cess, and web services on the Internet.

Major internet compa-nies including Google and Facebook are to enable IPv6 on their websites perma-nently on June 6, 2012 as part of a transition being orchestrated by a group called the Internet Society. To date, IPv6 represents just one percent of global network traffic.

“While other Internet service providers around the world are still considering

the transition to IPv6, Globe is very much prepared to make the move and sup-ports its early adoption in the Philippines. Enterprises can expect a smooth tran-sition as Globe is now 100 percent IPv6 ready,” added Grace Jarin-Castillo, Head of the Enterprise Segments of Globe Business.

As early as mid-2011, the core IP network of Globe has been IPv6-ready, and more than able to provide seamless Internet experience to its customers and will enable enterprise custom-ers to have more public IP addresses to allocate within their organization. Because Globe employed dual stack-ing IPv4 and IPv6 in its network, enterprises have access to both IPv4 and IPv6 sites on the Internet as infrastructure is capable of transporting both types of traffic.

“The DOE has to follow existing laws which is very clear about government’s role. We are doing all we can within the limits of law. Our actions have been as transparent as possible with very active consultation with stakeholders. We are not siding with anyone but just highlighting the truth of the situation. One such truth is that our actions have resulted in revenue reduction for some cor-porations clearly proving that we are not favoring big business,” Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras said.

Mindanao continues to suffer 4 to 8 hour power brownouts due to genera-tion deficiency.

Almendras said the power shortage is “very

M’danao power shortageis real, says energy dep’tTHE DEPARTMENT of Energy on Thurs-day said the government is not in collusion with anyone to push up power prices in Mindanao by creating an alleged artificial power shortage.

real” and not artificial like other sectors say.

“We have issued a De-partment Circular to ratio-nalize the power supply in Mindanao but, again, this will only be a band aid solution. The real solution for Mindanao, as we said in 2010, is additional base load generation capacity which will require investments from the private sector as allowed by law. These in-vestments will only happen if the local governments and the people of Mind-anao help in solving the situation,” Almendras said.

Senator Sergio Osmeña, chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy , said that the situation was worsen when Congress bicam committee agreed to

postpone the construction of the transmission line interconnection between Leyte and Surigao.

Unlike the rest of the country which has already transitioned to the new market oriented regime, Mindanao remains iso-lated from the national transmission grid which prevents excess power in the Visayas from being fed

into Mindanao. “The Luzon and Visayas

areas now enjoy a sufficient supply of electricity. Visayas alone has a surplus of 380 megawatts, which could easily cover the current shortage in Mindanao,” he added. Luzon and Visayas are about to operationalize the “open access” program which will translate to even lower prices for electricity.

“Secretary Almendras has been adhering to the policy laid down in EPIRA. He is aware of economies of scale and that electric-ity would be cheaper for everyone if distributed over a bigger transmission grid that a smaller one,” Osmeña added.

An energy demand stud-ies made by the Depart-ment of Energy showed that Mindanao would run short of power in about 10 years, Osmeña said.

Osmeña proposes a workshop sponsored by the Department of Energy to bring all stakeholders up to speed on progress made in developing the electricity sector and to agree on short-term and long-term solutions to the power needs of Mindanao.

“We must all begin to read from the same page. We will only have ourselves to blame if these problems continue to fester,” Osmeña said.

MAJOR liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) player Total Phil-ippines sees a “downward adjustment” in cooking gas prices even as it refused to speculate on figures unlike what independent retailers are doing.

“The trend now of LPG contract prices is downward and we are anticipating a downward adjustment,” Total Philippines manager for Corporate Communica-tions Malou Espina said.

Earlier this month, Total implemented price hikes amounting to P7 per kilo or P77 for every regular cylinder of LPG. But Espina said that “seasonality” was now driving prices of the sensitive commodity down .

“Normally at this time of the year, we already see LPG prices start to drop. Europe’s winter season is nearly over and we’re going into the summer months. Prices usually go up during winter. So it’s seasonal,” she said.

Espina said they ob-tained contract prices of LPG at the end of the month.

When requested to es-timate the rollback that cooking gas users should expect, the oil executive declined saying “it would be very difficult to speculate”.

“We don’t want to spec-ulate. It’s very difficult. Oftentimes we have been proven wrong. That is true with (pump) fuel and LPG. We don’t want to anticipate the market, lest we give the public false hope,” Espina said.

Nonetheless, she said To-tal always had competitive prices at the dealer level.

As of Friday, an 11-kilo LPG cylinder from Total was pegged between P820 and P870, depending on trading area.

Arnel Ty, the LPG Mar-keters Association (LP-GMA) Party-List repre-sentative, bared last week that the decrease in world contract prices could result to P5 to P6 per kilo reduc-tion in cooking gas prices.

Total sees downward trend in LPG prices

MAYBANK yesterday an-nounced the appointment of Mr. Herminio M. Famatigan, Jr., as incoming President and CEO of Maybank Philip-pines, Inc. (MPI) with effect from March 15, 2012. The appointment is subject to the confirmation by the Mon-etary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Mr. Famatigan graduated from the University of the Philippines’ School of Eco-

Maybank Philippines announces new presidentnomics and has more than 30 years of banking and finance experience. This includes areas of corporate lending, retail banking, branch administra-tion, distribution and consumer lending. Prior to joining MPI, Mr. Famatigan was President and CEO of Premiere Bank.

Mr. Famatigan succeeds Mr. Amos Ong, who served as President and CEO of MPI since September 2006. Dur-ing Mr. Ong’s leadership, MPI

has expanded its capabilities across retail banking, wholesale banking, and global markets for our clients in the Philippines. For the July to December 2011 period, MPI’s net profit rose by 87% from the corresponding period of 2010 to Php273.9 million.

Mr. Ong will be heading Regional Client Coverage for Global Wholesale Banking, Maybank Singapore.

MPI has been in the Philip-

pines since 1997 and recently announced plans to open 3 additional branches in 2012, bringing the total branch net-work to 55.

Construction of its Corpo-rate Headquarters in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig is going full swing, with completion projected for November 2012. Synergies continue to gain momentum with Maybank ATR Kim Eng, the leading broker-age house in the Philippines.

Maybank Philippines is a member of the Maybank Group, one of Southeast Asia’s largest and leading financial services providers, with pres-ence in 17 countries worldwide, including key financial centres such as Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York, Bahrain, London and Singapore. Maybank Group has over US$135 billion in group assets and is currently ranked fourth among South East Asia’s top banks.

MINDANAO DAILY MARCH 26,2012

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