One Mindanao - January 14, 2012

Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)

P. Urro Street, San Francisco DistrictPagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur 7016Telephone no. (062) 215-1480 / 925-0038Cellphone no. 0908-8843404E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]: www.piazampen.blogspot.comFacebook: PIA WesMin Info Blitz

Northern Mindanao

Graces’ Building, Antonio Luna StreetCagayan de Oro City 9000Telefax No. (08822) 72-66-83Telephone no. (088) 856-8178 / 729-594Cellphone no. 0928-5204305 0917-3084969E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]: www.pia-10.blogspot.com

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)

2/F Kanto Motors Bldg.,Quimpo Blvd., New MatinaDavao City 8000Telephone no. (082) 297-0991 / 301-8580Telefax no. (082) 297-0992 / 304-2044Cellphone no. 0917-7053606 / 0918-9202950E-mail: [email protected]

Central Mindanao (SOCCSKSARGEN)

Provincial Capitol Compound Bautista Bldg., Zulueta St.Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506Telephone no. (083) 520-0249Telefax no. (083) 228-9736 / 228-9739 / 520-0100Cellphone no. 0921-6873373 / 0928-5204307E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)

Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines Bldg.,J. Rosales Avenue, Butuan CityTelephone no. (085) 341-5285 / 360-1239Telefax no. (085) 341-2370Cellphone no. 0917-7188834Email: [email protected] , [email protected],phBlogspot: www.piacaraga.blogspot.comFacebook: PIA Caraga Updates, PIA Agusan del Norte, Pia Agusan del Sur, Pia Surigao del Norte, Pia Surigao del Sur

PIA REGIONAL OFFICESIN MINDANAO

Cover Story

Hope amidst

crisis

Executive Editor ……......... EFREN F. ELBANBUENA Cluster Head, Southern, Western and Central Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Region XI

Managing Editor ……......... ABNER M. CAGA Cluster Head, Northern and Northeastern Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Caraga Region Officer-in-charge,PIARegionX

Associate Editors ……....... NOEMI B. EDAGA Regional Director, PIA Region IX

OLIVIA T. SUDARIA Regional Director, PIA Region XII

Regional Desk Editors …... Jocelyn P. Alvarez, PIA Region IX Elaine O. Ratunil, PIA Region X Rudolph Ian G. Alama, PIA Region XI Danny E. Doguiles, PIA Region XII Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region

Copy Editors ……………….. Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region Nora C. Lanuza Molde, PIA Caraga Region

Layout Artists ……………... Gerie Mae G. Coco, PIA Caraga Region Richard D. Atillo, PIA Caraga Region Editorial Advisers :

ATTY. JOSE A. FABIADirector-General

Philippine Information Agency

SEC. HERMINIO “Sonny” B. COLOMAPresidentialCommunicationsOperationsOffice

An Electronic News Magazineof the Phliippine Information Agency

Mindanao Clusters

EDITORIAL BOARD

Margie Rauto-ValmoriaNorthern Mindanao

page 4

Today’s issue...Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 Vol. 1 No. 153

Northern MindanaoForeign organization gives vital infra to Sendong-affected families

Northern MindanaoMisOr health care providers extend assistance to Sendong victims

Robert E. Roperos, Caraga Region‘Kahit Isang Araw Lang’ unity run set in Butuan

ARMM Gov eyes agro-industry-based ‘big impact’ projects

Across the Nation:

Regional News:

27

13

14

19

25

30

Palace urges peaceful celebration of the Feast of the Sto. Nino 11

11

Southern MindanaoMayor Sara gives all-out support to tourism industry18

DEDoguiles, Central MindanaoPNP provincial offices in Region-12 get new patrol cars20

Jennifer P. Gaitano, Caraga RegionPAG-IBIG Butuan grants P7.5M calamity loans22

Rene V. Carbayas, Western Mindanao

Moner C. Dayaan, Central MindanaoMga opisyal humiling ng hustisya para kay Vice Mayor Sema22

Claro A. Lanipa, Western MindanaoDepEd extends full support to the ‘YES FOR PEACE’ campaign29

8 16

30

4 Saturday, January 14, 2012ONE MINDANAO

Hope amidst crisisCover Story

Less than a month ago, people were so busy preparing for the Christmas season.

by Margie Rauto-Valmoria

5 Saturday, January 14, 2012 ONE MINDANAO

Many were seen busy buying gifts, partying and even planning for a vacation. Happiness was no-ticeable. However, this perennial excite-ment vanished and turned into des-olation as some people in some ar-eas of Northern Mindanao perished due to tropical storm ‘Sendong.’ December 16, 2011 is the first morning for Misa de Gallo, and on the evening of that same day, Sen-dong reportedly hit some parts of the region. Most schools and even other government agencies held Christ-mas party on that same day Sen-dong started to ravage the place.

Never did it dawn to people that its wrath would cause severe devasta-tion. History has it. The cities of Ili-gan and Cagayan de Oro are not a usual path for typhoons. Life here is more comfortable. But the his-tory was changed by TS Sendong. With what happened, a new perspective emerged – an eye opener in every way. Life is more than comfort itself. The happening has given opportunity for people to look at life in a more meaningful way. Several stories that manifest the echoes of people’s kindness, care, love and loyalty recurred.


During the tragic event, differ-ent stories of saving act came out and help flooded in different forms. Mostly were saved through the help of some rescue teams coming from different agencies like the army, police, coast guard, air force and some others. Some people nearby and neighbors who were not affected by Sendong extended their help by casting some ropes to the struggling victims. Even logs, woods, animals became a source of salvation. A dog saved a girl in the city; in

darkness in Hinaplanon, Iligan city, a student identified the voice of his former teacher helped his mentor; and a lot of heartbreaking stories surfaced. Why do bad things happen? In dark hours, most of the things neglected can be valued and some good deeds made by people can be more appreciated and recognized. Life is a season—a season of celebration and a season of expe-riences—in no particular time and place but everything in God’s or-der.


Palace elated over survey ranking the Philippines as 8th friendliest country

Malacanang expressed elation over the HSBC Expat Explorer Survey result, which ranked the Philippines as the eighth friendliest country in the world.


Palace elated over survey ranking the Philippines as 8th friendliest country

Earlier, the 2012 In-dex of Economic Freedom, published by The Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation gave the Philip-pines a 57.1 score for eco-nomic freedom, making its economy the 107th freest in the 2012 Index. The score is 0.9 point higher than last year. “We’re also happy to note that in one of the sur-veys conducted by HSBC, the Philippines ranked as one of the… the eighth friendliest country out of most of the countries rat-

ed in the world. And this is why we believe na talagang it really is more fun in the Philippines,” Deputy Presi-dential Spokesperson Abi-gail Valte said in a radio in-terview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday. “The administration will always promote what is good… what is good with the economy and people,” Valte said countering the criticisms being leveled against the Aquino admin-istration. According to HSBC’s Expat Explorer Survey re-

leased last year, the Philip-pines is the eighth friendli-est country in the world for expatriates. HSBC surveyed 3,385 expats in 100 coun-tries between May and July 2011. The countries were ranked based on four cate-gories: ability to befriend lo-cals, success in learning the local language, capacity for integrating themselves into the community, and ease in which they fit into the new culture. Forbes.com, citing the results of the HSBC sur-vey, said the Philippines is a country “friendly on wal-lets,” with large number of expatriates saying they have an increased access to luxuries, including domestic staff, swimming pools and owning properties. New Zealand topped the list of the world’s friend-liest countries, posting ex-cellent scores in all four cat-egories. (AS)

10 Saturday, January 14, 2012

Malacañang called on the public to

celebrate the Feast of the Sto. Nino in a peaceful and orderly manner, a Palace official said on Saturday.

Palace urges peaceful celebration of the Feast of the Sto. Nino

“Sumunod po tayo doon sa ating mga awtori-dad. Napaigting na po ng mga nagpo-foot patrol at mga nagbabantay ang Phil-ippine National Police (PNP) at ang Navy para nga sa sel-ebrasyon. At sana po mag-ing orderly ang Sinulog,” Deputy Presidential Spokes-person Abigail Valte said during an interview aired over government-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Satur-day. The Feast of the Sto. Nino is being held on the third Sundays of January. It is the period when Ton-

do and Pandacan in Ma-nila, Cebu, and many other provinces, towns, and cities in Luzon, Visayas, and Min-danao pay homage to the Holy Child Jesus The Sto. Niño, a repre-sentation of the Child Jesus, literally means “holy child.” Filipinos, being largely Ro-man Catholics, venerate and are faithful devotees of the Sto. Niño. A mass is set to be of-ficiated on Sunday morning by Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle at the Sto. Nino Parish Church in celebration of the Tondo fiesta in Manila.

This will be followed by a Sto. Nino Fiesta grand pro-cession from the said church to major streets in Tondo and then back to the church. Meanwhile, the Sinulog is an annual festival held on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City. The Sinulog celebra-tion lasts for nine days, cul-minating on the final day with the Sinulog Grand Parade. The day before the parade, a fluvial procession from Mandaue City to Cebu City is held at dawn with a statue of the Santo Niño carried on a pump boat. (JS)


Sendong victims receive health care assistance by Apipa Bagumbaran

Victims of the tropi-cal storm

Sendong have been receiving health care aid from the Inte-grated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) here.

According to IPHO chief, Dr. Alinader Minalang, the health care assistance was extended to the victims through the conduct of medical missions in Bubong town, and in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan last week where a total of 2,166 patients were given various medical services. He said some 812 patients were served in Bubong town, this

province, while 854 individuals in Barangay Ubaldo Laya, Iligan City and 500 patients in Barangay Balulang

in Cagayan de Oro City were afforded free health care services. Among the services offered included medical consultations, provision of free medicines and shots like tetanus toxoid immunization, Vitamin A provision,and also wound management, counseling, and health education.


Reproductive health services such as pre-natal check-up, post natal check-up, and family planning were extended too, he further said. Aside from that, clean delivery kits for pregnant women and hygiene kits were also distributed to the victims. Minalang said the health assistance dubbed as “Medical Mission: Handog ni RG Hataman at Gov Bombit Adiong Para sa Sendong Victims,” was provided through the support of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Mujiv Hataman and provincial Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr.

The Amai Pakpak Medical Center also extended their support by sending in doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel, he added.


Foreign organization gives vital infra to Sendong-affected familiesLANAO DEL NORTE - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) sent critical humanitarian assistance to families displaced by tropical storm Washi (known locally as Sendong) in the southern Philippines and has begun essential work to improve the living conditions of those being sheltered in evacuation centers.

Afirstbatchof255shelterrepairkits were distributed to families with partially damaged houses in Barangay Iponan in Cagayan de Oro and in Barangay Santiago in Iligan City. Both were among the areas worst hit by the flashfloodstriggeredbySendong. With EUR 700,000 from the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO), IOM will provide shelter repair assistance to up to 1,894 families in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, and also upgrade the facilities of 17 evacuation centers where thousands of families had been forcedtoliveindifficultconditions. The distribution comes as classes resumed in Philippine public schools, emphasizing the need to decongest the already crowded schools converted into evacuation centers. “There is an urgent need to provide displaced families who can return to their places of origin not identifiedas permanent danger zones with materials to repair their homes and to promote the safe and voluntary return to either places of origin or to move to

alternative sites,” says IOM Emergency Programme manager Dave Bercasio. The shelter materials will help to improve living conditions and promote a sense of normalcy in their lives,” he said. At the Macasandig covered courts, among the largest evacuation sites in Cagayan de Oro City, IOM has completed the construction of bathing cubicles and bed kits. An upgrade of facilities is also underway at the North City Central Elementary School. “The facilities currently being used as evacuation centers are not equipped to handle the number of people who have sought refuge in these areas. There is a need to carry out repairs and upgrade facilities as well as support their maintenance to promote safe and humane living conditions within these sites,” Bercasio added. Aside from the shelter kits, IOM has distributed over 1,600 non-food


item kits consisting of sleeping mats, mosquito nets, and jerry cans and is preparing to build 46 bunkhouses to accommodate 230 families at the Lumbia relocation site in Cagayan de Oro. The Organization has also started construction of two multi-purpose halls at the Calaanan relocation site.IOM is also assisting local social workers in gathering information to identify families who are in need of permanent relocation and who cannot return to areas declared as geo-hazard zones. Sendong struck the southern Philippines on December 16, 2011 triggeringflashfloodsaspeoplesleptin their homes. The storm dumped about 142 millimetres of rain in a span of 12 hours. Thousands of homes were swept

away and more than 1,000 people killed. Philippine disaster officialsestimate that over 700,000 people havebeenaffectedbythefloods. IOM has provided assistance to the Philippine government with its Typhoon Emergency Response Programme since 2009 when a series of typhoons struck the country. In particular, the Organization supports the government in rolling out and coordinating efforts within the Camp Coordination and Camp Management and Non-Food Item humanitarian response sectors. IOM’s projects facilitate the re-establishment of humane living conditions through repair and rebuilding of shelters, as well as disaster risk reduction through “build back better” approaches. (IOM)

MisOr health care providers extend assistance to Sendong victimsby Elaine O. Ratunil

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - Governor Oscar S. Moreno lauded doctors, nurses, and staff from the seven provincial hospitals in the province who assisted in the ‘Tabang Medico’ for Sendong victims.

He sent the medical team to the various evacuation centers in Cagayan de Oro to provide medical helpespeciallytothefloodsurvivors. Tabang Medico is a regular medical mission of the provincial government conducted monthly in the different towns of the Misamis Oriental. Further, Gov. Moreno considers,

“The ship of a dynamic society is propelled by robustly healthy and able constituents and will lose the way in theoceanofinfirmitiesifmannedbya sick crew.” Hence, the creation of Tabang Medico program for the 23 towns and two component cities of the province, which targets the health and general well-being of its human resources


directed to a progressive community.Further, it practically brings the medical/health services of the province to the grassroots level and to the doorways of the people, with a focused intervention for the indigents and less privileged constituents as it boasts of its distinct province-wide secondary health care parallel referral system that, to date, has operated on 1,425 patients cataract operation, hemiorrhapy, hydrocelectomy, orchidectomy, cheilosplasty, myoma, thyroidectomy, hydrocephalus, cholelithomy, breast cancer, among others. Meanwhile, Gov. Moreno recently deployed Capitol’s heavy equipment to Brgy. 40 to help in the land preparation of the relocation site developed by the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro for the Sendong survivors.


DavSur earns P1B from investments in 2011by Carina Cayon

The downpour of investments was noted good in 2011 for

Davao del Sur, bringing in over P1.2 billion worth of various busi-nesses that rose in the province. Provincial director Engr. Ed-win Banquerigo of the Department of Trade and Industry reported this saying that the accomplishment in investments last year exceeded DTI’s targets by ten percent. During yesterday’s Kapihan sa PIA, Banquerigo attributed the suc-cess to the various innovative proj-ects and to the strategies focusing on generating bottomline outcomes

as undertaken by the provincial of-ficeofDTI. He said that “Big ticket invest-ments specifically within the Sta.Cruz and Digos City were consid-ered investment and job genera-tors for the province.” From the investments last year, he said that a total of 3,466 jobs were provided to the residents of Davao del Sur. In 2010, the em-ployment generated reached to 1,108, he added. Banquerigo also reported a bullish performance of the export industry that earned a total of US$16.542 million, marking an in-crease of about 145% compared to 2010’s US$11.372 million. The export sales largely came from the earnings of the coconut coir products which met high de-mands abroad for textile produc-tion, he stated. Aside from the coco coir, Davao del Sur also exports oth-er agricultural products such as banana chips and mangoes.


DavSur earns P1B from investments in 2011

The xylose product, a sweet-ener extracted from coconut shells and generated from the CJ-Toyota Tsusho Xylose Plant in Sta. Cruz, has also been providing earnings to the export industry in the province. DTI’s accomplishment report of 2011 stated that the xylose plant operation has generated approxi-mately more than US$24 million in export sales since 2010. The company has also provided US$1.5 million in workers compen-sation that covers 200 employees, the report said. In the domestic sales, DTI-Davao del Sur reported an accom-plishment of over P242 million from the new and existing businesses. Banquerigo said that DTI has provided various interventions and

special projects to develop and in-crease business confidence of themicro, small and medium entrepre-neurs in the province. Hesaidthathisofficehasas-sisted a total of 1,794 MSMEs last year, noting an increase of more than 400% from the 414 assisted MSMEs in 2010. TheDTIofficialalsomentioneda 100% compliance to the fair trade and industry laws (FTL) among busi-ness operators in Davao del Sur. Banquerigo attributed this achievement to DTI-Davao del Sur’s massive consumer education cam-paign which resulted to consumer empowerment, saying that traders are now more vigilant of the FTL. (PIA-11/Carina L. Cayon)

Mayor Sara gives all-out support to tourism industryDAVAO CITY- MAYOR Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio said that she is giv-ing her all out support to the tour-ism industry after inducting the new set of officers, board of directors and members of the Dabaw Tourism Operators Association (Dabtoa) in-side her office yesterday. “The tourism industry is the big-gest industry that brings in money from outside Davao City ,” she said. Carpio added that her adminis-tration is very much willing to help Dabtoa composed mostly of tour


operators and business establish-ments that are involved in the tour-ism business. Carpio inducted the Dabtoa officersledbyitspresidentCharitoAranda of 829 One World Travel. The others are vice-president Lino Lee of John Gold Group, secretary Susan Alvarado of 109 Ticket Zone, treasurerAidaAvilaofPacificBlueTravel, assistant treasurer Estrelita Jagonia of Jewelry Express, audi-tor Jerome Camina of RCBC, press relation officers Darius Relatadoof GMA Davao Channel 7 and Lito delos Reyes of Mindanao Daily Mir-ror. The board of directors are John Baricuatro of John Gold Group, Do-mingo Ang of Marina Tuna, Ronald Go of EcoTrans Car Rentals, Evelyn Elemino of D’Leonor Hotel, Jaime Llames of Philippine Retirement Au-thority, Elizabeth Dureza of Seagull Mountain Resort and Alma Uy of Tagum Tourism Council, who was

represented by Edith Julian of Ha-ven’s Peak Mountain Resort.Inducted as new members were Mary Vic Alvarez of Sunny World Travel, Ronelyn Llanos of Miso Spa, Ray Irwin Rubio of Cubepixel, Abegail Dionela of Bonjee Clowns, Jazmine Middleton of Bluejaz Re-sort and Queenie Fukuoka of Ori-ental Restaurant. Dabtoa, which now has 30 of-ficers andmembers, will be cele-bratingitsfirstyearanniversaryonJune 14 at 2 p.m. at the D’Leonor Hotel in Bajada. Among Dabtoa’s activities held lastyearwerethefirstDavaoTour-ism & Trade Expo at the NCCC Mall in August, Kayak Summerfest at Bluejaz Resort in Samal in May and their participation to the Philippine Travel Mart at the SM Megamall last September. “We will have more bigger events this year,” said Aranda. (PR)

facts and figures

1remaining number of river sensorsput up by SMART and Ateneo de Davao en-gineering students under the SWEEP (Smart Wireless) Engineering Education Program. Which was left untouched by looters and van-dals


S. Cotabato exceeds palay production by 104.9 MTby Dani Doguiles

KORONADAL CITY -- Surplus palay production in South Cotabato last year reached 104,926 metric tons, according to data from the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist here.

From January to Decem-ber, data showed that the province accrued total pro-duction of 222,502 MT of palay; estimated local de-mand was only 117,576 MT or 9,798 MT per month.

Even in June and July -- considered as lean months in rice production parlance -- the province recorded ex-cess harvest, provincial ag-riculturist Reynaldo Legaste said.

In these months the prov-ince had spare harvests of


3.452 MT and 2,069 MT, respectively.

“If we go back to our records in the last ten years, this is the firstyear that we had not ex-periencedasingledeficitin our monthly produc-tion,” Legaste said.

Year 2011 became very productive for farmers in South Cota-bato, he said, because of favorable weather, continuous support pro-grams made available to farmers by the Depart-ment of Agriculture and

interventions from local government units.

These factors have al-lowed farmers to plant an extra third cropping of rice.

Legaste also reported that the province is as-sured of at least 23,000 hectares of rice that can be harvested from Janu-ary to March this year because of continuous planting in the last quar-ter of 2011.

If weather remains fa-vorable, surplus produc-tion could be realized in

the first quarter, whichLegaste said could de-fraydeficitsexpectedinthe second semester of 2012 with the scheduled total shutdown of two dams of the Ala River Ir-rigation System due for repair and rehabilitation starting May.

Closure of Ala RIS is expected to affect about 9,000 hectares of rice paddies in South Cota-bato, particularly in the Upper Valley towns of Surallah, Banga, Sto. Nino, and Norala.

PNP provincial offices in Region-12 get new patrol carsby CT Apelacio

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- For efficient service, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 12 here turned over three brand new Innova patrol cars to police provincial offices (PPO) in the region, said police regional public information officer Supt. Resty Damaso.

He said the patrol cars were personally turned over by PRO-12 regional director CSupt. Benjardi Mantele to the chiefs of PPOs in North Cotaba-to, South Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat, Wednes-day (Jan 11) at PRO-12

headquarters here.Mantele reminded the

PPO chiefs that the utility vehicles are intended to aid them prevent crime or intercept criminal ac-tivities in their areas of responsibility (AOR).

He also credited the

acquisition of vehicles to PNP director general Nicanor Bartolome who made sure that PPOs will be given brand new pa-trol cars to enhance their efficiency rate in inter-vention of crimes espe-ciallyatfieldoffices.


According to him, the new acquired cars will help police be “more capable and ef-fective in performing their mission to better serve and protect” the people in the commu-nities.

He said the utility car distribution project is spelled out under the PNP “Ten-point Action Plan” espoused by the director gen-eral himself.

With the patrol cars, Mantele add-ed, police will have no reason to fail in their foremost task to maintain the peace and or-der in their AORs.

“Let us show our

best performance in every battle that we’re going through because that is what we ought to do in this organiza-tion, and in turn, let us provide proper, ad-equate and timely re-sponse to the call of those who are in need

of our service,” the Po-lice Regional Public In-formationOffice,quot-ed Mantele as saying.

The PNP believes that having a patrol car will increase police mobili-ty describing it as very vital in monitoring the internal security of the region and keeping it intact.

The police regional director also expressed confidence that thepresence of patrol units is important fac-tor in police operations to enable them attain the vision of “a free-crime environment” in the region.


Mga opisyal humiling ng hustisya parakay Vice Mayor SemaCOTABATO CITY -– Ilang matataas na opisyal ng Maguindanao at Cotabato City sa pangunguna ni Governor Esmail Mangudadatu ang humiling sa mg otoridad na bilisan ang pagiimbestiga sa pananambang kamakalawa kay City Vice Mayor Datu Muslimin G. Sema.

Kasama ring nanawa-gan ng mabilisang paglu-tas sa kaso sina Magu-indanao Vice Governor Datu Dustin Mastura at City Mayor Japal Guiani, Jr.

Ayon sa mga opisyal kailangang bilisan ang imbestigasyon upang maagang maresolba ang kaso at maiwasan ang samot-saring reaksyon na lalong nagbibigay ng kumplikasyon sa nasa-bing kaso.

Hiniling din ni Mangu-dadatu sa mga mama-mayan ng Maguindanao na magdasal para sa ag-arang paggaling ni Sema na kung saan ay kasalu-kuyang nagpapagaling sa isang pagamutan sa Davao City.

Ito naman ang sina-bi ni Maguindanao Vice Governor Mastura hinggil sa pagkakilala niya kay Sema” “Si Datu Muslim-

in G. Sema na siya ring MNLF chairman ay isang simpleng tao at maitutur-ing na kaibigan ng lahat.”

Hiniling din ni Mastura sa binuong Task Force Sema kahapon na siyang mangunguna sa imbesti-gasyon sa pag-ambush kay Sema na gawin ang lahat para matukoy sa la-long madaling panahon ang tunay na salarin o mga salarin upang malu-tas na ang kaso.

Sa panig naman ni City Mayor Guiani, hiniling nito

sa mga mamamayan na iwasan ang pagkakaroon o pagbibitiw ng mga sali-tang puro haka-haka la-mang at walang sapat na basihan.

“Hinihiling ko sa lahat na huwag pangunahan ang magiging resulta ng kasalukuyang gina-gawang pagsisiyasat ng ating mga otoridad at hintayin lamang ang ka-lalabasan ng Task Force Sema,” pahayag ni Gui-ani. (Moner C. Dayaan-PIA Cotabato City)


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All set for Kahimunan Festival 2012, organizers say

Organizers of Barangay Libertad’s Kahimunan Festival said the staging of this year’s grandest street dancing competition in the city on Sunday, Jan. 15, is all set as local contingents have prepared breath taking performances that will entertain

not only local residents but also visitors.

by Robert E. Roperos


According to Ba-rangay Captain Vincent Rizal Rosario, five local contingents will vie for the championship title in the Grand Kahimunan Streetdancing Competi-tion which is considered the highlight of the festi-val. The five contin-gents are Barangay Lib-ertad Women’s Group, Libertad National High School, Libertad Cen-tral Elementary School, Sta. Cruz Chapel and the Purok 3-A dancers.

Rosario added aside from the Grand Kahimu-nan streetdancing, the children’s Kahimunan will also be held. The official also said that the festival’s Executive Committee members have agreed to invite members of the board of judges composed of choreog-raphers the neighbor-ing provinces and from this city who are not residents of Barangay Libertad. He added that this is to ensure a fair result. Brgy. Capt. Rosario stressed that this year’s preparation is the same with the previous years and the only difference is that contingents of this year’s festival is ex-clusive to Barangay Lib-ertad residents and or-ganizations. Aside from this, the official said four wide screens will be placed in strategic locations in-side the Libertad Sports Complex where the final

showdown will be con-ducted. “This can also be viewed through Internet live streaming,” Rosario said. With this, the of-ficial urged the people here to inform their rela-tives and friends abroad of this development so that they may be able to witness Butuan City’s local version of Sinulog Festival. Meanwhile, the Search for 2012 Mutya Hong Libertad will culmi-nate this evening in the Grand Coronation Night at the Libertad Covered Court here, while the Libertad Singing Idol Season 2 contestants will take center stage to-morrow evening in the said venue. Kahimunan Festival is held every third Sun-day of January in time with the annual fiesta celebration of Senior Santo Niño, the patron saint of Barangay Liber-tad, this city.


PAG-IBIG Butuan grants P7.5M calamity loans

BUTUAN CITY -- The PAG-IBIG Fund here is now accepting calamity loan applications from its members all over Caraga Region, which was declared under state of calamity through Presidential Proclamation No. 303 by President Benigno S. Aquino III on Dec. 20, 2011.

With this, the PAG-IBIG fund has started processing calamity loans last Jan. 2 and has so far released a total of P7,555,051.56 to all its qualified member-bor-rowers for the nine days operation alone. It is expected to increase in the coming days due to the extent of the declaration. The availment period will run for three months that will last until March 20, 2012. To qualify, a mem-ber must have paid at

least 24 months mem-bership contributions. All other eligibilities re-quired in a regular loan will be waived. The loan proceeds will be 80 per-cent of the total savings net of the outstanding loan. Through the years, PAG-IBIG Fund has been true to its mission, which is to uplift the quality of life of its members through savings. It has been proven by its active participation not only on relief operations but also the granting of calam-

ity loans for its qualified members during calami-ties. Butuan Branch since its inception had released a total amount of P628 million to help alleviate the living con-dition of its members affected by calamities. This catered a total of 77,756 members under Caraga Region. Aside from the Multi Purpose Loan and Calamity Loan, a quali-fied member can also avail of a housing loan.

by Christopher L. Loon


‘Kahit Isang Araw Lang’ unity run set in ButuanBUTUAN CITY- The Avant-Garde Creatives Incorporated in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) and UNTV are set to hold the “Kahit Isang Araw Lang” Advocacy thru a unity run on January 22, 2012.

by Jennifer P. Gaitano

The “Kahit Isang Araw Lang” (Even Just One Day) is a bold call for peo-ple to unite even for just one day, said event coordinator Arthur Peña. “The unity run is a one-day charity run to be held na-tionwide on January 22, 2012 which aims to build computer classrooms for pub-lic schools nation-wide in partnership with DepEd,” said Peña. Participants of the unity run will have to pay the registration fees: 3 kilometer run – P150.00; 5 kilome-

ter run – P200.00; and 10 kilometer run – P250.00. Cash prizes will also be given to the top three winners. Prizes also awaits winners in the raf-fle draw where reg-istrants have the chance to win. In line with this, the launching of this advocacy will be held on January 13, 2012, 9:00 o’clok in the morning at the Commission on Audit (COA) Caraga Regional Convention Hall, South Montilla Boulevard, Butuan City.


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City buys P8M buses

A 40-seater and 30-seater brand new buses worth over P8 million were purchased by the city to help in the tourism promotion

and at the same serve its purpose during official functions.

By Jocelyn P. Alvarez


City Informa-tion Officer (IO) Shei-la Covarrubias said the two buses will have many uses like “bringing around out of town visi-tors who come to Zam-boanga for educational tours or “Lakbay aral”; mass transport of people

forofficialfunctionsandnumerous other purpos-es.” “The purchase of the vehicles is autho-rized by the City Coun-cil and is included in the 2011 budget,” Covarru-bias expressed. Covarrubias said

the vehicles were deliv-ered here in Zamboanga last Decem-ber but the blessing/in-augurationwasheldfirstweek of January, in time with the First Friday Mass of the year. (JPA /PIA - ZBST)

DepEd extends full support to the ‘YES FOR PEACE’ campaign by Claro A. Lanipa

PAGADIAN CITY – To sustain its commitment and active participation in the ‘Yes for Peace’ – Bayanihan Para sa Kapayapaan campaign, the Department of Education (DepEd) issued a Memorandum No. 277 addressed to all Bureau Directors, Regional Directors, School Division and City Superintendents, Heads of Public and Private Elementary and High Schools to extend full support to the campaign.


DepEd-9 Education Supervisor II Aurelio Santisas, who was task to coordinate this move-ment at the regional lev-el, disclosed during the PIA’s weekly media fo-rum held this week that said memorandum gives emphasis for the attain-ment of the objective of the campaign to at least encourage 10 mil-lion peace-loving Filipi-nos, 10 years and older to speak as one to pro-vide a democratic peo-ple’s mandate for the comprehensive peace process particularly the permanent cessation of hostilities between the government and all reb-els groups in 2012. It was learned that DepEd has been in-volved in this campaign since 1996. In 1997, some 2,439,104 Filipi-nos participated in the movement from May 15 to September 16, 1997 while another 334,807 joined the October 10, 2008 to November 15, 2009 to the continuing peace education and advocacy campaign. To help establish people’s support for the ongo-ing peace process, the DepEd distributed 10, 000 copies of DepEd

Memorandum No. 428, s. 2010 dated October 1, 2010. More or less 720,000 responses were generated. Santisas said ‘Yes for Peace’-Bayanihan Para sa Kapayapaan questionnaires are now being circulated in all eight (8) school divisions in the region for the pu-pils and students to fillup indicating their sup-port to the campaign. As per instructions, all re-sponses shall be mailed to the DepEd regional officewith freepostagenot later than the last week of January 2012.He further said, the

consolidated results of this campaign will be deliveredtotheOfficeofthe President in time for the 26th Anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution. On February 22, 2012 at exactly 10 o’clock in the morning all schools are encouraged to hold a simultaneous Panunumpa ng mga Ka-bayani para sa Kapaya-paan, Santisas added. Meanwhile, Alpha Phi Omega, Southern Zamboanga Alumni As-sociation President Bel Yenko, lead convenor of this movement said, that APO has also been involved in the advoca-


ARMM Gov eyes agro-industry-based ‘big impact’ projects

by Rene V. Carbayas

ISABELA CITY – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) caretaker Mujiv Hataman is finalizing its pool of planners to craft “big impact” programs and projects based on the region’s great potential in agro-industry.

Hataman told media that foreign in-stitutions helping the ARMM government should give more focus

on economy-enhanc-ing activities based on agro-industry poten-tials to achieve more life-changing impact

on the region’s major-ity marginalized popu-lace. ARMM information chief Ali Macabalang

for ‘Yes for Peace’ since 1996 in conjunction with DepEd who is direct de-partment of the govern-ment to encourage the students from grade four to fourth year high school to support in the campaign for peace. DepEd-9 Chief, Sec-ondary Education Divi-sion, Dr. Jaliha Sangkula, assured that DepEd will give its full support to

the national and region-wide Yes for Peace cam-paign. She hopes that it is not only the DepEd people but we will also extend our campaign to the local government units through our collab-orative efforts. On the other hand, Sultan Maguid Mar-uhom, Muslim Convenor of the Interfaith Forum for Solidarity and Peace

expressed his support to the movement or ef-fort for the advocacy for peace. He said they stud-ied the questionaires and found it leading to peace and justice which is also their dreams to achieve in this part of the coun-try.Heisconfidentthatthe civil society group in-cluding the interfaith will support this campaign. (JPA/CAL PIA-9)


said that unlike his predecessor former acting Regional Gover-nor Ansaruddin Adiong, who conducted a brain-storming forum with foreign donor-agencies several days upon as-suming office on De-cember 14, 2009, Hata-man said he would sit downwithofficialsoftheinternational commu-nity upon the creation of his pool of planners to be tasked to design a comprehensive pack-age on economic-build-ing mechanisms. Macabalang noted that this will be part of Hataman administra-tion’s policy towards the ongoing multi-bil-lion-peso interventions in the region of foreign agencies of the United Nations (UN), the Eu-ropean Union (EU), the United States (US) and Australia, and the fi-nancial institutions of the World Bank (WB), and the Japanese In-ternational Cooperation Agency (JICA). At the local me-dia forum in Cotaba-to, Hataman acknowl-edged the trailblazing intervention of foreign institutions in the au-tonomous region’s con-

cerns on bureaucracy enhancement by JICA, education and health by UN agencies, and the Australian Agency for International Devel-opment (AusAID), and peace and security by the US Agency for In-ternational Develop-ment (USAID). Hataman said that after the formulation of the economy-boosting plan, he would then bring it to a meet-ingwithinhisfirst100daysinofficewithPhil-ippine-basedofficialsofforeign donor-agencies as a reference in his desired paradigm shift in the receipt of assis-tance from the interna-tional community. The World Bank has expanded last year its services in the ARMM with additional $30 mil-lionfinancingonsmall-scale community-based infrastructure projects, JICA extended its as-sistance period to four more years in capabil-ity-building and edu-cation infrastructures, and the AusAID grant-ed last year a P3.9 bil-lion aid for the region’s education and health concerns in six years, records showed.

But in his analy-sis, Hataman said that while the current mode of foreign interventions bring about some bet-terment in the region, the empowerment of the ARMM’s majority poor sector in agricul-ture remains a dream. He expressed hope that the foreign donor-agencies would take cognizance of the untapped potentials of agro-industry in the re-gion as manifested in the vast track of fer-tile lands and aquat-ic resources dismally tapped. Hataman particu-larly underscored the need for intervention in the receding ecology and water level of Lake Lanao, a major source of hydro-electricity and cultural heritage in Mindanao, and the vast tracks of alienable and disposable lands in Maguindanao, so with the under-tapped ma-rine and aquatic re-sources of the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. ( J P A / B P I A R M M /RVC-PIA9 ZBST)

One Mindanao - January 14, 2012

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