Ecija aims for dairy capital tag.

The provincial government of Nueva Ecija is embarking on a mass-based project that is aimed at making the province the country’s top producer of fresh carabao milk.

Gov. Aurelio M. Umali’s administration has already linked up with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine Carabao Center in launching the project.

The project was initiated by the DTI under its One Town, One Product program in collaboration with the provincial government.

Umali said his administration will provide technical and financial support to the project in a bid to further strengthen the diary industry, which is being eyed as an alternative source of income for local farmers.

DTI regional director for Nueva Ecija Brigida T. Pili said the OTOP project was earlier launched in Talavera, Llanera and Guimba towns and Muñoz Science City.

She said the production of milk and other milk products such as pastilles de leche and mozzarella de queso has become a rich source of alternative income in these areas.

Pili added that DTI is holding on July 1st, 2008 its “2nd Gatas Festival,” in support of the OTOP program.

Highlight of the festival is the giving of due recognition to farmers cooperatives, local entrepreneurs, technical institutions and other local government units in the province, who participated in promoting the dairy industry.

Gapan cops seize arms cache in raid

Police arrested Wednesday (June 18) a 65-year old man for possession if several high-powered firearms and ammunition.

City police chief Supt. Marlon D. Bingcang said his men raided the house of Danilo Ramos alias Danilo de Guzman, of Purok 5, Barangay Mangino, which yielded a .45 pistol, a .30 pistolized Carbine, a 12 guage shotgun, an M-16 baby Armalite rifle and hundreds of assorted ammunition.

Bingcang said the suspect tried to escape by blocking the road with a farm tractor upon seeing the approaching police patrol vehicle.

“Nagtatakbo iyung suspek at hinabol ng mga pulis at nakasako na raw iyung mga armas,” he said.

The suspect’s house located at the outskirts of the city was placed under police surveillance for two weeks amid reports that armed men were sighted several times in the area.

When asked by this reporter, the suspect admitted owning the guns but denied links with armed groups. He said he already owned the guns when he was still living in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija.

Charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition were filed against the suspect. Assistant city prosecutor Edwin S. Bonifacio recommended a bail of P80,000 for the suspect.

Bingcang also reported that a nine-day intensified police campaign from June 12 to 20 against loose firearms in the city yielded 12 high-powered firearms

He said the weapons were surrendered by some civilians, local traders and barangay officials who availed of the governement’s amnesty program.

The firearms and ammunition were also presented as a birthday gift to provincial police chief Senior Supt. Napoleon C. Taas during his 46th birthday celebration Friday (June 20).

Taas gets guns, goons on birthday

This top cop has got “guns, goons but minus the gold” on his 46th birthday.

Nueva Ecija police director Senior Supt. Napoleon C. Taas yesterday received these very “unusual gifts,” never before presented in the entire police history, from his chiefs of police.

Presented to Taas were 73 assorted loose firearms and ammunition that were arranged in three long tables and 88 of the province’s most wanted persons, who were arrested in one week of operations.

“Never akong nakakita nang ganito karami, sa mga units pinanggalingan ko before, isang mesa lang, but this one, it is times three,” he said.

Taas said these accomplishments were the result of the support given to the police by the citizenry, the local government units and non-governmental organizations in the province.

He said texting by concerned citizens helped the police solve at least 80 percent of these crimes.

“Sinabi ko sa kanila, I will not accept gifts on my birthday. Pero ito, trabaho ang hinandog nila. Matinding trabaho ito,” Taas said.

He said corresponding awards and citations will be given to his men for a job well done.

The Nueva Ecija Press Club represented by Magtanggol Vilar gave Taas a triple-rooted mango sapling as a birthday gift.

Farmers told to use less fertilizer

Experts from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) are offering some advice to farmers on how to cope with rising fertilizer price.

Data from the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA) showed that prices had doubled to P1,772 per sack.

FPA asked farmers to use fertilizer sparingly which are against common wisdom among farmers that by applying more fertilizer they get more yield.

According to Wilfredio Collado, head the PhilRice’s Agronomy, Solis, and Plant Physiology Division, applying nutrients that are soil is just money wasted. Hence, he advised to apply fertilizer only when needed.

To be able to do this, farmers according to the rice experts must first know their soil and determine what nutrients are lacking on it by conducting soil analysis and there are many ways to do it, such as nutrient omission plot technique (NOPT), minus-one element technique (MOET), soil test kit (STK), and laboratory analysis.

Collado said NOPT is done by establishing three plots in the field. In the NOPT set-up, the whole field he said is treated with complete fertilizer (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium or NPK), while the three plots get only two nutrients each. In NOPT, Collado stated that farmers should closely monitor the standing crop and observe any deficiency syndrome across the crop’s stage.

“While this takes time as it is done season-long, it is likely the most efficient as it is held in the actual farm covering all stages of the rice crop,” said Collado.

Female security officer hurt in accidental firing

A female security officer at the capitol here was accidentally shot in the arm last Monday (June 16) by, of all people, a police officer who was unloading his firearm as a security measure. Police identified the owner of the gun as PO1 Javier Ramos II y Brian, assigned at the 309th Police Mobile Group. The victim, identified as Emelita Natividad, female security employee, was shot in the arm by a stray bullet which was fired from the gun of Ramos. She was taken to the Premiere General Hospital in Cabanatuan City and was reportedly in “stable condition.” The police said Ramos was at the capitol to transact “official business.” He was “unloading his firearm, an Armscor 9mm pistol, underneath a table pointed downward as a measure for gun safety before entering said office” when it went off. The shooting occurred in the office of Lorenzo Umali, chief of the provincial security division. Javier was placed in the custody of Superintendent Nelson Sulit of 309th Police Mobile Group based in Bongabon, Nueva Ecija. an investigation is being conducted to determine the liability of the police officer. Police said this is the second case of accidental shooting in the capitol that involved a member of the civilian security unit.

Coupons for poor proposed

Independent Rep. Edno Joson has filed a measure seeking to implement “voucher system” for food, fuel, medicine and emergency employment for the poor.

House Bill No. 3435, Joson said, intends to provide safety nets and a measure of relief to poor Filipinos during the high cost of oil and fuel products.

A voucher system, such as coupon, ticket or other similar paper instrument, will give poor Filipinos relief from poverty and hunger brought about by continuing inflation and rising costs of fuel and commodities.

The proposal stated that any qualified beneficiary is entitled to one voucher at any given period of time.

Joson said that in terms of priority, vouchers for food and employment will be first and second, respectively.

“Such diresituation besetting our countrymen is further aggravated by lack of gainful employment,” Joson said.

“Accordingly, included herein is a proposal to afford our countrymen emergency employment and/ or unemployment compensation akin to that of social welfare benefits in some foreign countries,” he added.

Joson said that the rules and regulations of the measure will be prepared by the DSWD, in coordination with the DoH, DoLE and the DoE.

The solon also proposed that the budget for the voucher system will be five percent of the annual budget of the government agencies.

‘Sweet sorghum won’t affect rice production in Cabiao’

The massive planting of sweet sorghum as a bio-fuel crop in this town won’t affect local rice production, Mayor Abundia Garcia said over the weekend.

Garcia said the areas planted for sweet sorghum used to be idle lands which are now being tapped for massive production, adding that existing rice lands will continue producing palay.

“The areas planted to sweet sorghum used to be unproductive and we are utilizing them without sacrificing the areas devoted to palay production,” she said.

Earlier, Garcia led local officials unveil an ambitious plan to plant sweet sorghum in 7,000 hectares of agricultural lands over the next two years, which, experts said, could provide some 49,000 local farmers and dependents a whopping P1.5 billion in potential income per year.

Garcia also said that the municipal government intends to put up multi-stock distillery for sweet sorghum in the impact zone of the project that can churn out up to 100,000 liters of ethanol daily. She said that a Malaysian investor to invest up to P500 million for the sweet sorghum project.

In March, Garcia, municipal planning and development coordinator Jose Hipolito and municipal agriculturist Ruperto Joson Jr. led local officials in harvesting sweet sorghum at a two-hectare portion of the plantation in Barangay Bagong Sikat and the response from local farmers was overwhelming.

Hipolito heads a research and study team for commercial-scale production of renewable energy source like ethanol in line with the national government’s thrust to tap environmentally friendly source of energy.

The municipal government is targeting to mass-produce sweet sorghum in barangays Entablado, Bagong Silang, San Gregorio, San Antonio, Sta. Isabel and San Carlos.

Garcia said the mass production of the crop could bring back Cabiao to its old glory days when it was the earliest site of sugar plantation in Luzon similar to that Cabiao Cabuyao, Laguna. Local historians say that Cabiao derived its name from the word “Kabyawan” which means grinding mill that used to extract sugar and juice it into molasses, from which several of this mills were located in this town long before the coming of the Spaniards and eventually improved these mills into granite stones mills.

Hipolito, a history expert, recalled that this delta-like town was once a thriving sugar plantation, but hard-headed local folks stopped producing sugar and shifted to rice and corn in protest over the landlords and merchants who were dictating the price.

He said that Barangay San Antonio (formerly known as Barangay Pantalan) was once an inland port of the early Malay settlement up north of the nearby Pampanga province, delivering sugar produce in the mouth of the Pampanga River in the towns of Minalin and Macabebe which had been the trade route before the advent of the Spaniards.

Dr. Heraldo Layaoen, national program coordinator for sweet sorghum and vice president for development planning and external linkages of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) based in Batac, Ilocos Norte with whom the municipal government linked up to pursue the project, said the biggest sweet sorghum plantation in the country is in Ilocos Norte covering 30,000 hectares.

He said that over the next two years, it is likely that this town will emerge as the capital of sweet sorghum production in Central Luzon, noting that the local leadership is very aggressive in the pursuit of the project and has in fact procured seeds for the mass production of sweet sorghum. “In Cabiao, there is no more social barrier and sweet sorghum is accepted as a primary crop,” he said, adding that one hectare of the crop can get between 60 to 65 tons per hectare of stalks which will give 2,700 liters of bio-ethanol juice.

Cabanatuan City to construct 47 school buildings

The city government will construct this year 47 public school buildings or 125 classrooms in support of the national government’s program to provide adequate infrastructure facilities for the education sector.

In a statement, Cabanatuan City Mayor Alvin Vergara said the project aims to address the classroom shortage in the city which was brought about primarily by the big increase in the enrollment in public elementary schools.

Because of the high tuition fees in private schools, some parents opted to enroll and/or transfer their children to public schools, the mayor said.

He said that the new school buildings will replace the dilapidated buildings damaged by termite and earthquakes.

The mayor noted that because of the lack of school buildings, some schools are using barangay halls and school grandstands and stage as temporary classrooms.

The total project cost, Vergara said, is P100 million, P90 million of which is funded by a loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP). The remaining P10 million is shouldered by the city government.

The P90-million DBP loan is secured by a portion of the local government unit’s (LGU’s) special education fund, which is sourced from the proceeds of the additional one percent tax on real property.

Cabanatuan City is ranked first in the collection of real property taxes among LGU-cities in Region 3, according to a 2007 report of the Bureau of Local Government Finance.

Cops arrest 6 kidnap suspects in Nueva Ecija

Nueva Ecija provincial police authorities arrested six suspected members of a 10-man kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) gang in raids here and in Rizal town last Wednesday. Nueva Ecija police director Senior Supt. Napoleon C. Taas told mediamen here that the arrested suspects were involved in the kidnap for ransom of the Philippine National Bank (PNB) Vice President Ramon Murillo last June 3 on Quezon Ave., Quezon City. Murillo, who reportedly paid a P1-million ransom, was rescued by policemen. The police recovered from the group P850,000 cash, five hand guns, and three vehicles, including Murillo’s car. Credited for the arrest of the six KFR suspects in Nueva Ecija were operatives of the Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office and the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER), headed by Senior Supt.. Dindo Espino. The suspects were turned over by Taas to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Avelino I. Razon Jr. at Camp Crame. They were identified as Florentino Amolo, said to be the gang leader, of Barangay Barlis, Cabanatuan City; Melchor Herrera and Niño Carangan, both of Nueva Ecija; Alvin Candazo, Armando Aquino, Reggie Parungao, Edgardo Hernandez, Jocelyn Ferolino and Reynato Alcazar. One of the suspects, identified as Crizaldo de Guzman, suffered a fatal heart attack hours after the arrest of the gang men.

Muñoz leads drive for rice self-sufficiency

Fourty nine provincial chief executives will lead local mayors, farmers, and other stakeholders in increasing rice production.

The governors, tagged as rice provincial champions, will spearhead the development and implementation of their own rice-sufficiency plan in conjunction with the national master plan.

A team from the Philipine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) here, led by its executive director Leocadio Sebastian, crafted the 119-page master plan, titled “Focusing on Increasing Provincial Productivity”, targets palays (rough rice) production of 18,504,207 metric tons (mt) in 2009 and 19,770,004 mt in 2010 or 96.07 percent and 100.74 percent sufficiency levels, respectively.

The palay requirement by 94.89 million Filipinos in 2010 is placed at 19,624,857 mt.). The budget is P14.890B for 2009 and P14,967B for 2010 or a total of P29.857B.

Sebastian said Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap approved the plan and had submitted it to President Arroyo.

Included in the plan is the improvement of irrigation systems, use of high-quality hybrid and inbred seeds, integrated crop management, provision of soft loans for the establishment of shallow tube wells (STWs) and surface water pumps, and delivery of extension support services.

High quality seeds, said to be the most fundamental cultural practice in which other technologies are based, will be subsidized at P800 per bag of hybrid seeds.

The 49 governors represent the “focus provinces” identified as the “main sources of production growth”. Topping the ten focus provinces are Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Pangasinan, Iloilo, Cagayan, Tarlac, Leyte, Camarines Sur, North Cotobato, and Maguindanao. They contribute around 45% of the total production each year.
The other focus provinces are: Kalinga, Ilocos Norte, Ilocus Sur, La Union, Nueva Viscaya, Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Zambales, Laguna, Quezon, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Palawan, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, egros Occidental, Guimaras, Bohol, Northern Samar, Western Samar, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Compostele Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, South Cotabato, Suldan Kudarat, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, and Lanao del Sur.

The classroom is the rice field

A farm school that will help farmers increase rice harvests and the country become self-sufficient in rice will open in San Jose City in Nueva Ecija on June 15, the start of the wet planting season.

“It is like a whisper that would soon be felt in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in the same way that the shot in Concord Bridge during the American Revolution was immediately heard around the world,” said Emmanuel Libre Osorio, president of the Toledo Green Coconut Farmers Association, one of the initiators of the Primer Farm School.
It is a school without any building; its classroom is the rice field of Barangay Tondod in San Jose City. Its aim is simple: To launch the Rice Profit Protocol (RPP) developed by inventor Alfonso G. Puyat and farmer Fernando Gabuyo Jr.

The RPP will help the country become self-sufficient in rice in two years and export it in three years. If this seems too ambitious, the expectations could be extende3d by a year.

Can this be achieved? Is this claiming too much, like making a car run fueled by water?

There is one way to find out. Launch the training program or school so the RPP can be scrutinized and monitored nationwide.

What is the RPP? Under the scheme, a minimal addition of inputs (slightly less than P2, 000) and a slight modification in methodology will allow a dramatic increase in rice yields in irrigated fields.

Puyat, son of the late Senate President Gil J. Puyat, is a business administration graduate of the University of the Philippines and Wharton. He became a bank and insurance executive. But his passion since his collegiate years was agricultural and scientific research.

Gabuyo is a marine engineering graduate. He served in an inter-island ship as an apprentice before turning full-time farmer.

In 2004, he won second place in a nationwide rice production contest sponsored by Bayer Crop Science. In the dry season planting, he harvested in his irrigated field 221 cavans per hectare. The champion, Eulogio Guira of Davao del Sur, reaped 227 cavans.

Using his regular rice growing practice but applying the Puyat input, Gabuyo harvested 335 cavans a hectare in his irrigated field during the 2005 dry season cropping. This was about one hundred cavans established by a farmer in China.

After the failed attempt, Osorio suggested that a school be put to systematically spread the RPP. But the idea went pfft.

Because of the recent rice crisis and the threat of traditional rice exporters not to sell to the Philippines (this softened only when the country agreed to buy rice at almost four times the regular price), Puyat, Gabuyo and Osorio decided to open the Pimer Farm School in Barangay Tondod on June 15, the start of the wet planting season.

The format is simple. Farmer-trainees work in the farm of Gabuyo and the farms of his farmer-neighbors who have adopted the RPP.

Because the trainees will be in San Jose for four months, the school will also teach them vegetable gardening and freshwater fish culture. While the main focus is rice, there is no harm making the trainees the complete farmer, Osorio said.

The Primer Farm School will organize the 300 Club and the 200 Club, for those harvesting 300 cavans and above 200 t0 299 cavans a hectare, respectively.
For more details about the Rice Profit Protocol, write Osorio at wawell2004@yahoo.com or call 0919-300-0056.

Ecija cops secure 809 schools

The Nueva Ecija police will guard tightly 809 schools in the province to prevent criminals from taking advantage of the opening of classes.

Senior Superintendent Napaleon C. Taas, Nueva Ecija police provincial commander said he will deploy two uniformed policemen each in four universities, 14 colleges, 59 private elementary and high schools and 732 public elementary and high schools to ensure the smooth start of the school year.

Taas also tapped his force multipliers like the school security guards and barangay officials to help the police in maintaining peace and order in the vicinity of campuses.

“Our main goal is to maintain a peaceful and orderly opening of classes,” said Taas, noting that his 32 town and city police chiefs have prepared contingency measures for “Balik-Eskwela ‘08” to attain their objectives.

Since he assumed his post, Taas was able to send behind bars a total 275 wanted persons and reduced the province’s crime rate by 21 percent.

Despite their vast accomplishments, however, there is no reason for them to relax as criminals are only lurking somewhere ready to strike in an opportune time, he said.

“We have established linkages and communication set up with security officials for easy reporting access for speedy response in case criminals strike in schools,” said Taas.

During the meeting, Taas also distributed volunteers’ ID informing participants the mechanics not only on how to contact police to report crime incidents but also the abusive and erring policemen.

129 drug pushers hunted in Ecija

Cabanatuan City - The Philippine National Police is hunting down 129 drug pushers in Nueva Ecija in a stepped-up drive against illegal drugs.

Senior Superintendent Napoleon C. Taas, PNP provincial director, said the crackdown against drug pushers was intensified on orders of PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr., Region 3 director Chief Superintendent Errol Pan and Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali.

Of the 129 drug pushers now on the watchlist of the police and Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs), 36 are believed hiding in this city, Nueva Ecija’s commercial capital, 23 in San Jose City and 17 in Gapan City.

Gapan City used to be a haven for drug pushing but drug pushers were flushed out of the city following a string of salvagings of suspected drug pushers a few years age.

Taas said 14 drug pushers are being hunted down in Guimba and 11 in Gen. Tinio.

He said that 13 of the province’s 27 municipalities and one of its five cities are considered drug-free, having no recorded drug pushers or users.

Palayan City, the seat of the province\ial government is also drug-free as well as the towns of Aliaga, Bongabon, Gen Natividad, Laur, Licab, Llanera, Lupao, Nampicuan, Pantabangan, Quezon, San Isidro, Sta. Rosa and Zaragoza.

The areas still with drug-infested barangays are Cabanatuan (four barangays), Muñoz Science City (one), San Jose City and Gapan City (three each) and the towns of Guimba (eight), Jaen and San Antonio (four each), Gen. Tinio, San Leonardo and Talavera (three each), Cabiao and Gabaldon (two each), Carranglan (six), Cuyapo (one), Peñaranda, Rizal, Sto. Domingo and Talugtog (one each).

Taas said an anti-drug information drive is in full swing in the barangays with police stations reaching out to elementary students in their respective areas of responsibility.

He also said that none of the 333 police personnel of Nueva Ecija had been found positive for drugs in a random drug testing conducted by his office.

NE school security tightened

Police have tightened security in all universities and schools in Nueva Ecija in cooperation with local authorities to ensure the safety of students next week, provincial police director Senior Supt. Napoleon C. Taas said.

Taas met with all the chiefs of security of public and private schools and universities and local chiefs of police to fine-tune their preparations for an orderly and peaceful opening of classes.

“I have already directed my police chiefs to prepare and make programs with respect to our Balik-Eskwela 2008,” he said.

Taas said more uniformed personnel will be fielded to augment the security force in all schools on the first day of classes.

He said they have distributed Police Volunteer IDs “I-report Mo Kay Mamang-Pulis-PD” to residents who can report to Taas for immediate action.

Taas also said website www.nuevaecijapulis.com is open to public for access to the internet.

Bgy chief kills brod in duel

Talavera – Two brothers became the modern-day version of the biblical Abel and Cain when they shot each other during a birthday bash in a remote village here Monday evening.

The siblings’ long-standing feud ended with ex-barangay captain Fortunato Rayo, 55, allegedly shot dead by his younger brother, incumbent Barangay Chairman Florencio Rayo, of Kinalanguyan.

Killed in a crossfire was Glaycee Ann Abenojar, 4, of Barangay Sibol.

The bloody shootout occurred at 6:30 p.m. during the 40th birthday celebration of Alfredo Hernal, of Barangay Sibol.

Reports said the rift between the two Rayos worsened when they battled one-on-one during last year’s barangay polls, with the younger Rayo emerging victorious.

Town police chief Supt. Arnel V. Santiago said the elder Rayo died on the spot while his brother is listed in critical condition at the Nueva Ecija Doctor’s Hospital in Cabanatuan City.

Investigators said the elder Rayo was seated and talking with Marilyn Agapinan-Antonio, Fortunata Simon-Hernal, Divina Simon-Abenojar, and her daughter Glaycee Ann when his brother arrived.

Hernal then talked to the younger Rayo and left to buy another bottle of wine.

At this juncture, the barangay official walked closer to his elder brother, who was drinking with friends, and momentarily exchanged mean glances with him.

Both pulled out their handguns and started shooting at each other.

Prior to that, probers said the police received a call from the barangay captain saying his elder brother was creating trouble in the place.

Recovered at the scene were two M-16 Armalite rifles, two Armscor .45 pistols, 14 shells for .45, nine shells for 5.56, a metal jacket for .45 and two spare magazines for .45 and M-16 rifle.

Homicide and parricide charges have been filed against the barangay official.

Gov rapped for P15M fertilizer scam

After being charged with graft for the alleged overpricing of 93 multi-cabs, Nueva Ecija governor Aurelio Umali is again facing another complaint, this time over the alleged padding of fertilizer and water pumps amounting to P15-million.

In his complaint filed before the Office of the Ombudsman, Vice Governor Edward Thomas Joson said Umali, during his term as congressman representing the third district of the province, released P15 million of his “pork barrel” or Priority Development Assistance Fund amounting to two non-governmental organizations.

In December, 2005, Umali entered into a memorandum of agreement with Masaganang Ani Para sa Magsasaka Foundation Inc. to procure and distribute fertilizes to qualified farmer-beneficiaries of his district.

Joson said MAMFI used P12 million to purchase 7,920 bottles of liquid fertilizers for selected beneficiaries in the municipalities of Gabaldon and General Natividad.

“The price for each bottled fertilizer was maliciously, fraudulently and willfully bloated to P1, 500 per bottle when the true and legitimate market price of each bottled liquid fertilizer is only P100 to P150,” Joson said.

“Hindi lamang ninakaw ang pera ng bayan, iginisa pa sa sariling mantika ang mga magsasaka dahil ipinagbili sa mga magbubukid ang mga nasabing pataba sa halagang P50 bawat botelya. And worse, ‘yung sinasabing fertilizer ay hindi naman magamit sa lupa dahil para sa palaisdaan ito ginagamit,” he added.

Aside from the fertilizer scam, Joson also revealed that Umali gave P3 million to another non-existing NGO – Samahan ng Mga Manininda ng Prutas sa Gabi, Inc. as financial assistance for barious livelihood programs and supply of irrigation pumps for the various barangays in his district.

Joson said the price of each diesel engine and water pump bought ballooned to P120, 000 when these can be bought for around P40, 000 to P50, 000 each.

Presidentiables say ‘no’ to snap elections

Palace: Bill unconstitutional

Presidential hopefuls have collectively shot down the proposal to hold snap elections, with only two years left before President Arroyo ends her term.

Senators Loren Legarda, Manuel Roxas II and Panfilo Lacson said the proposal poses serious constitutional issues and would entail a revision of Constitution.

Other lawmakers like Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago and Francis Escudero crossed party lines and agreed that holding a snap election less than two years away from general polls would be legally impractical.

Santiago and Escudero cited the lack of constitutional basis and the ill-advised timing for holding a snap poll.

Legarda also questioned the timing, saying problems such as rising costs of food and energy should be given priority. She also said a snap election could not be possible since there is no vacancy in the presidency.

“It’s not timely and I don’t think it is constitutionally possible because there is no vacancy,” Legarda said.

At the same time, Legarda declared her intention to run in the presidential elections in 2010.

Lacson, for his part, said the proposal, after it had been passed for plenary debates at the House of Representatives last Monday (June 2), would not likely see the light of day.

“I don’t see how it can succeed in the plenary. It’s not a joke. When it passes the committee level, it’s something serious,” he said.

Lacson said it was surprising that the bill made it past the committee level despite legal questions.

Lacson surmised the House committee members that approved the snap elections bill “were composed mainly of opposition members.”

Santiago said the bill is unconstitutional since it shortens the term of office of the President.

“In the form of a law, you cannot change the constitutional provision on removal of a sitting President,” Santiago said.

“Impeachment is the sole process by which you can remove an elected President duering her term of office on another ground, you wil be adding to the grounds provided by the Constitution,” she said.

‘slim chance’

Escudero said Mrs. Arroyo may not be the best person for the job but holding a snap election might not be the right solution to the country’s woes at this time.

Escudero pointed out the Constitution only allows a snap election if the President or the Vice Prsident resigns” (and) I don’t see it happening.”

Malacañang agreed the snap elections bill poses constitutional questions.

Unless thwe Constitution is amended to allow snap elections, Mrs. Arroyo will simply spend the remaining 24 months in office, Chief Presidential Legal Councel Sergio Apostol said.

Apostol also denied they are behind the snap elections bill.

“If they (lawmakers) passed that bill, it becomes unconstitutional,” he pointed out.

Apostol added the measure would be rejected once it is questioned before the Supreme Court “because it violates the constitutional provision on the term of the President.”

“They (lawmakers) would have to amend the Constitution before that proposal becomes effective,” he said.

Apostol though could not say Mrs. Arroyo reacted to the approval of the snap elections bill.

Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said the controversial development in the House was not given much attention by Malacañang, owing to the many problems facing the country.

“We have so many problems that we have to confront that we would rather exert our efforts and attention to them than on this issue,” she said.

Fajardo said Malacañangt is leaving the matter to the House, which is expected to tackle the committee report in plenary.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said a snap elections couldn’t be held unless authorized by a special law removing the line of succession.

“If your target is only the President, then impeach her, or force her to resign for example. The line of succession is already defined by the Constitution. It is the Vice President, then the Senate President, then the Speaker, and maybe even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,” he said.

Even if Congress will approve the bill, Gonzalez said Mrs. Arroyo and her allies would likely thumb it down.

“This snap elections (bill) is almost second to impossible. Because will the President sign that bill? I don’t think the President will sign(it into law). The President said she would not resign. It will have a very slim chance. There are many avenues for having a change in leadership,” he said.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal argued a snap elections will definitely work against the political opposition.

Macalintal noted the snap elections bill was endorsed for plenary debates at the House of Representatuives in the effort to end all issues on the legitimacy of Mrs. Arroyo.

He said the bill, once it becomes a law, would also allow Mrs. Arroyo to run again and extend her term of office.

“The opposition if giving President Arroyo a chance in the Constitution to call for a snap election, they should realize that these could also give her basis to extend her term or run again,” Macalintal explained.

Macalintal said a snap presidential election is not allowed under the Constitution.

“If Congress could shorten her term (by allowing a snap elections) then it could also lengthen her (Mrs. Arroyo’s) term. So supporters of President Arroyo should now prepare her to run for 2010,” he said.

‘Unluckiest winner’

The House committee on suffrage and electoral reform led by Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., on Monday (June 2) endorsed a bill calling for a snap preisidential election.

Nueva Ecija Rep. Edno Joson, the bill’s author, said they would urge their colleagues – especially administrative lawmakers – to convince Mrs. Arroyo to agree to a snap election for her and the country’s interest.

Joson, an independent lawmaker, said the only way for Mrs. Arroyo to resolve the lingering political and leadership crisis is to subject herself to a new vote.

Joson dismissed the argument that the bill is unconstitutional, citing the snap elections ordered by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Administration lawmakers immediately expressed their disapproval over the bill, also pointing out the measure as being unconstitutional.

Speaker Prospero Nograles, for his part, pointed out a snap elections also calls for the amendment of the Constitution.

“We have to amend the Constitution. We cannot hold presidential elections earlier than 2010 because the presidency is not vacant,” he said.

Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra said the winner in an early presidential election, if one is called \, would be the “unluckiest person on earth” if people would expect him to bring down fuel and oil prices.

“If elections will be called on account of high food and fuel prices, then the lucky applicant must be able to carry out his or her promise of cheap rice and oil in weeks, or he or she will be booted out of office as a liar,” he said.

He said he doubted whether the winner in a snap elections would be able to calm the oil futures market so the prices would go back to below $100 per barrel.

As to the price of rice, he said it would be return prices to their old levels, he added.

“With the many problems facing the country, anyone wishing to inherit the problems of government is either driven by sheer patriotism or extreme masochism,” Mitra stressed.

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, chairman of the public affairs committee of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), also opposed the idea of holding a snap poll.

Iniguez said that he would only support the calls for a snap election if all preparations were in order.

“What is important is the preparation. If it is not credible, I am against snap election.” He said.

Iniguez explained that it is not easy to organize a snap election. “There should be preparation so it will be a credible election.”

House pushes presidential snap polls

Amid the crisis facing the nation which, day in and day out, seems to be further dragging the country into the black hole of chaos and confusion, the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms yesterday approved House Bill (HB) 3589 which would pave the way for the holding of snap presidential elections, that according to its principal author, Rep. Edno Joson, would bring back order on the country’s political scenery.

The bill, however, provides that President Arroyo can run again for the same seat.

Joson said he sought the holding of snap presidential elections as the country has remained divided since 2004 on the issue of the legitimacy of Mrs. Arroyo’s victory over the late actor and opposition standard bearer, Fernando Poe Jr. in that year’s hotly contested elections.

No one among the less than a dozen congressmen present during yesterday’s congressional hearings objected when committee chairman, Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. moved for the bill’s approval.

Originally proposing to schedule the proposed snap elections on May 2008, HB 3589 provided to target date for the snap presidential polls.

Stressing that snap elections will solve the current political, rice and peace and order crises that have hit the country, Joson said the schedule of elections will be set by congressmen during the plenary debates and period of amendments.

“Definitely, it should be held one year before the 2010 elections,” Joson said.

While expressing delight over the bill breezing through committee deliberations, Joson admitted he is not expecting the measure to be approved on third and final reading by the pro-Arroyo congressional chamber.

“This bill doesn’t stand a Chinaman’s chance of becoming a law. However, I am still hopeful it might gain momentum,” Joson said.

Apparently, moved by the sudden turn of events during the committee deliberations, Joson said he can no longer remember who among his colleagues moved for approval.

“But I think it was Rep. Locsin. He was really for its approval,” Joson added.

The Nueva Ecija lawmaker filed HB 3589 at the height of the political controversy stirred by the controversial $329 billion National Broadband Network project some three months ago.

Joson said after the political crisis triggered by the NBN controversy, the nation is still controversy, the nation is still confronted with the rice and peace and order crises.

He explained that the snap elections bill is anchored on the provisions of Batas Pambansa 883 which was the basis for the conduct of presidential elections that pitted then President Ferdinand Marcos against his successor, President Corazon Aquino in 1985.

In his proposal, Joson said Mrs. Arroyo may still run against any opponent who wishes to challenge her.

“The snap elections will determine whether or not President Arroyo still enjoys the trust and confidence of Filipinos,” said Joson.

In a letter sent to Malacañang on Feb. 20, Joson urged the President to consider the necessity of asking Congress to immediately act on House Bill No.3589 in order to peacefully settle the issues confronting her administration.

Joson said the holding of a snap election is also expected to prevent further political instability triggered by controversy behind the allegedly overpriced $329 million NBN program.

While Senate hearings on the ZTE NBN deal have been suspended, pending the emergence of a new witness, said to be former Speaker Jose de Venecia, who yesterday said he is willing to testify on the NBN deal and the Shenzen golf luncheon meeting with ZTE officials last Nov. 2, 2006, pointing out that the rules were suddenly changed from a Build Operate and Transfer project to an awarding of the deal to supplier ZTE, thus making this the “turning point” De Venecia also gave no date for him to testify before the Senate, and the hearings continue to hang.

But Joson pushed the special polls on the ZTE NBN issue, saying “In view of the escalating tension brought about by the ZTE investigations and to avert moves by unscrupulous elements to grab power, through extralegal means, this representation has proposed the electoral process as a measure to determine the sovereign will of the Filipino people.”

Nat’l security exec’s kin found dead

A 41-day search missing relatives of National Security Adviser Norberto Conzales ended on Saturday afternoon at the bottom of a well in Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija.

The bodiers of Rolando Gonzales, 60, and his wife, Imelda, 56, residents of Balanga City in Bataan, were identified by a brother of Rolando’s on Saturday. They were abducted on April 20 after hearing Mass at Balanga Cathedral.

Police said Rolando Gonzales was a third cousin of Secretary Gonzales, who reports directly to President Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacañang.

But Senio Supt. Manuel Gaerlan, Bataan police director, said the bodies would still have to be examined by investigators to determine if they were the Gonzales couple.

Participation

Gaerlan said grave’s found with the help of Allan Lopez, 35, of Magalang, Pampanga, who was arrested with four other suspects in Dinalupihan.

Lopez reportedly admitted to policemen his participation in the kidnapping and killing of the Gonzales couple.

Gaerlan earlier, said the victims were apparently abducted to force them to drop their demand for payment of some P900,000 that the suspects reportedly owed them.

He said the spouses were engaed in a money-lending business. Most of their clients were vendors in the Balanga public market, reports said.

3 stab wounds

dr. Jun Concepcion, who was tapped by the police Scene of the Crime Operations (Soco) to do an autopsy, said the bodies found in the old well had three stab wounds each.

“Their bodies appeared to be still fresh and were not bloated,” Concepcion said. “They were readily recognized by a brother of the dead man.”

He said they were probably killed only “a few days ago.”

Killed days ago

Conception said the man’s hands were tied while his mouth was covered with packaging tape. The woman appeared to have been struck by a hard object in her arm and leg, he said.

Bone marrow samples and hair strands from the victims were taken and sent to Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, for analysis and identification, Concepcion said.

Chief Inspector Nick Malazzab, police chief of Sto. Domingo, said they began digging for the bodies last Tuesday. The well, between 30 and 40 feet deep, was probably used for drawing water for irrigation in the area, he added.

The bodies were taken to Bataan on Sunday.

EXTRA! EXTRA!!

Arroyo stops land conversions

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has imposed a two-year moratorium on the processing of all applications for conversion of rice lands into housing subdivisions or commercial areas.

President Arroyo’s directive is contained in Administrative Order 226, which she said, is in line with the policy of the state to make sure that food is available, adequate, and accessible to every Filipino at all times.

To achieve this end, the President said the government has to ensure that all lands utilized and intended for rice production is protected from any other land use or conversion.

Bunye said the moratorium on land conversions became necessary following the global crunch in the supply of staple grains like rice.

“We are 90-percent self-sufficient [on Rice]. We import 10 percent of our requirement. Given what happened in the global market, this is the best thing to do: have a moratorium on land conversion,” Bunye said.

President Arroyo’s order covers not only rice lands, but also lands mentioned under Republic Act 8435 considered as Network of Protected Areas for Agricultural and Agro-industrial Development.

NPAAD covers all irrigated areas, all irrigable lands already covered by irrigation projects; all alluvial plain land highly suitable for agriculture, whether irrigated or not; as well as agri-industrial crop lands or lands presently planted to industrial crops that support the viability or existing agricultural infrastructure and agro-based enterprises.

The classification also covers highlands, areas located at an elevation of 500 meters or above and have the potential for growing semi-temperate and high-value crops, all agricultural lands that are ecologically fragile, mangrove areas and fish sanctuaries. President Arroyo ordered the Department of Agrarian Reform to implement her order.

The global crunch in rice supply this year saw the Philippines emerging as the world’s top rice importer, sourcing over 1 million metric tons of rice from countries such as Vietnam, Thailand and the United States.

When the prices of commercial rice in the local markets went up to P33-P35 a kilo, the government kept to P18.25 the price of state-subsidized rice but allowed only poor families to buy National Food Authority rice.
Likewise, the government launched a drive to crack down on rice hoarders and price gougers, with President Arroyo herself personally visiting the concerned agencies like the National Bureau of Investigation to speed up the prosecution of suspects.