Ten marijuana bricks seized

Tabuk City, Kalinga - An inspection conducted by police at the Talaca checkpoint in Agbannawag, this city, around 4:20 PM of December 18 on a passenger bus bound for Manila yielded 10 dried marijuana bricks weighing around 10,000 grams with estimated Dangerous Drugs Board value of P250,000.00.

The police said the contraband were packed in a carton box without markings or address of owner and was loaded in the running board of the Dangwa bus bearing plate number AYC 449 with body number NE 836 being driven by Joseph Laguito Ente with his conductor Rogelio Mariano Dayao and bus inspector Montano Walac.

Kalinga Police Provincial Director Maximino Valiente said that when the policemen asked the bus crew and the passengers who owns the carton, nobody admitted ownership of the baggage.

Valiente said the apprehending policemen acted on information dried marijuana bricks are being transported by buses and jeepneys from Tinglayan, this province, the primary source of marijuana in the locality, and are intended for other provinces including Metro-Manila.

The police team which was led by Inspector Naddiahan Pinkihan of the 160th Mobile Group and SPO4 Celestino Dong-as of the Drugs Enforcement Unit (DEU) here flagged down the bus and requested the driver for an inspection of the bus which resulted in the find. **by Estanislao Albano , Jr., ZZW Dec. 23, 2007

"Local reds should do some soul searching" - Yano

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Philippine Army Commanding General Alexander Yano has called on the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army (CPP-NPA) to lay down their arms and join the free market of ideas because if their ideology is superior, they will be victorious in the end.

Yano who was at the 501st Infantry Brigade camp in Calanan, this city, December 14 as part of his Christmas rounds of the troops told local newsmen that the CPP-NPA should take their anniversary on December 26 as a time to do a deep soul searching and accept that their ideology is unacceptable to Filipinos.

Yano claimed that after more than three decades, the CPP-NPA has not made any positive contribution to society but on the contrary, has brought hardships to the country.

Yano said that it is rather ironic that while other countries have repudiated the ideology because they have found that it does not work, the CPP-NPA keeps on trying to establish it in this country.

Yano, however, said there is nothing wrong about local reds espousing their ideology for so long as, they do not use force and arms to force it into Filipinos.

In reaction to the comment of a local media-man that the Armed Forces of the Philippines is fighting the NPA the wrong way because "the only way to win against the guerilla is to out-guerilla him,'' Yano said it is a simplistic view of the "problem because insurgency is multifaceted and complex and the military aspect is just a small part of it.

"This is not just an AFP and PNP problem because it involves social, political, economic and psychological aspects. Even if we address the armed NPA if the other components are not addressed by other agencies, we will not be able to win. The approach should be wholistic," Yano said.

Yano said that even if the AFP annihilates the NPA if other sectors of society including the media think that insurgency is purely a military matter and "we cannot put out act together, we can never win the war."

In his pep talk to the troops, Yano emphasized that the 80,000-strong Philippine Army is a team and its mission is to defeat the CPP-NPA and other threats to the security of the nation.

Saying that in the Army every member counts, he exhorted the soldiers to shake off the culture of mediocrity and do their best in whatever role they are given because the failure of a part in the Army will affect the functioning of the entire complex machine. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW Dec. 23, 2007

Kalinga DILG acts on Rizal ABC controversy

Tabuk City, Kalinga - The Department of Interior and Local Governments here has ordered the board of canvassers of the Liga ng mga Barangay (Liga) of Rizal town to report within 72 hours on how the Liga conducted its elections on December 11 which resulted into two different sets of officers.

Provincial Director Francisco Gamatero said the report should have been submitted within 24 hours after the elections but as of December 18, his office; had not yet received it. Gamatero said that his order for the BES which is headed by the Municipal Local Government Operation Officer with the Municipal Election Officer (MEO) and a representative from an NGO or the religious sector as members to submit sworn statements on how the elections were conducted.

Gamatero explained that while it is true under the Liga election guidelines, the BES should have ruled on the controversy with its decision appealable to the national Liga but the DILG provincial, office decided to intervene to facilitate the resolution of the case "to "preserve relations among our people in Kalinga."

After being informed of the election of the two sets of officers, the Kalinga DILG right away referred the matter to the legal division of the DILG regional office for legal recommendations.

"While the BES was organized as a quasi-judicial body to perform mandates pursuant to Liga policies and guidelines, we also recognize how valuable relations are especially in this part of the region which are manifested by strings of relationships that bounded us since time immemorial. Furthermore, the Liga is supposed to foster camaraderie among its members all for the progress of the province and should therefore not be a cause of dissension," Gamatero said.

Gamatero confided that he had expected it was the Liga elections of Lubuagan which would again give the DILG-Kalinga headaches this year as the town has a history of disorderly Liga elections "but it turned out to be the most orderly and peaceful."

"Expecting some trouble, I requested for police assistance for the Lubuagan Liga elections but it was smooth and took only 30 minutes as the incumbent Liga president of the town conceded defeat immediately," Gamatero said.

Gamatero said that it appears the cause of the row in Rizal was the change in the Liga policy on the payment of dues on all levels as a qualification to vote and be voted upon.

Under the old policy, no Liga member could stand for elections unless he is fully updated with his obligations to the Liga in all levels with the cutoff date for payment on December 6.

"However, on December 5, Memorandum Circular 2007-156 was issued deferring the payment of dues at all levels, anyway those who will win will be confirmed as requisite for sitting in the council and before confirmation, they should have settled all their dues which means that during the December 11 elections, all had equal chance to vote and be voted upon. We disseminated the circular through text messaging and hard copies and I believe Rizal had a copy," Gamatero said.

Gamatero continued that majority of the Liga chapters in the province questioned the new policy on election day but when his office clarified the issue, all the other chapters accepted the new guideline except for some Liga members in Rizal. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW Dec. 23, 2007

Kalinga coops slam new cooperative regulations

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Cooperatives in this province have signed a manifesto opposing the Manual on Rules and Regulations (MORR) for credit and savings cooperatives calling the regulations "both a nightmare to us and an angel of death for the cooperative movement."

In a rally organized by the local chapter of the nationwide United Cooperative Movement (UCM) on December 10, local cooperatives lambasted the MORR which was drafted by the Cooperative Development Authority and approved by Malacanang for implementation on October 16,2007 as illegal, in bad faith, anti-people and destructive.

Lawyer Dick Bal-o, member of the Sangguniang Panlungsod here, opined that the MORR violated the procedural and substantive requirements for the passage of laws.

Citing sources, Bal-o said that the MORR did not undergo proper public hearings where the stakeholders would Have been invited to express their opinion on the proposed regulations.

Bal-o also said the MORR has contents which are not consistent with the Cooperative Code of the Philippines which it is supposed to implement citing as samples the inclusion of appointment to government office among the disqualifications for doctors of cooperatives and also the requirement for cooperatives to secure licenses.

Bal-o also said the MORR was not published in a generally circulated newspaper which is mandated by law.

One of the most objectionable contents of the MORR to the local cooperatives is the provision which requires candidates for directors to be college graduates.

Tabuk Farmers' Multi-purpose Cooperative manager Emilio Dulnuan questioned the provision .saying that by contrast, the law only requires candidates for elective positions in the government to be merely able to read and write.

He pointed out that many cooperatives in the countryside have been started and nurtured by non-college graduates and now all of a sudden the government disenfranchises these cooperative pioneers.

Dulnuan said that instead of picking on the lowly officers of cooperatives, the government should attend to worthwhile concerns to help farmers many of whom are members of cooperatives such as the price of palay which stagnated in the last 10 years and in contrast, the price of fertilizer which has tripled during the same period.

UCM-Kalinga chairman Bishop Renato Abibico pointed out that the apparent intent of the MORR is to make cooperatives operate like banks which could not be since the two institutions have different cultures and values.

He also said that with the implementation of the MORR, cooperatives will be supervised by authorized bodies and the service fees required for this supervision will be a heavy burden on cooperatives.

Abibico said that using the MORR formula for supervision service fees, the Tabuk Multi-purpose Cooperative (TAMPCO) whose assets stood at P332M at the end of October 2007 would have paid P325,000.00 had it been supervised for the first ten months of the year.

"The standards and rules set by the MORR are so stringent that small cooperatives will have nothing else to do except try and cope with them," Abibico said.

Provincial Engineering Office Multi-purpose Cooperative CEO Bansen Bangibang claimed that with the MORR, the government now appears to be looking at the cooperative sector as a source of revenues. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW Dec. 16, 2007

Narra worth P0.4M apprehended in Tabuk

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Police here confiscated an estimated 7,500 board feet of narra fliches and lumber loaded in a 10-wheeler truck at the police checkpoint at Callagdao, Bulanao, this city, dawn of December 11.

Personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) told the media the contraband has an estimated value of P400,000.00 in this city but could fetch more or less P1,000.000.00 in Metro Manila.

City chief of police Supt. Florante Camuyot said the local police acted on a tip there was a stockpile of narra fliches and lumber somewhere in Callagdao which about to be transported and had conducted a stake* out operation since December 9 at the place.

Camuyot said that when the truck bearing plate number BCU 770 passed the Callagdao checkpoint at around 5 AM, the police flagged it down to check its documents and because the documents presented by the driver, Angelito Mones, 35, married, of Del Pilar, Cabatuan, Isabela, looked doubtful, they brought the truck to the city police station in Dagupan Centro for further verification.

Camuyot said when DENR personnel inspected the load of the truck, they found the narra lumber underneath layers of sacks of rice husk.

Police investigators learned from Mones and the crew, namely, Leo Francisco, 29, Dante Galot, 36, Romeo Galot, 35, Alfredo Rivera, 42, Federico Ballejos, 50, Romeo Geronimo, 39, Alex Cortez, 29, and Roger Paragas, 37, all of Nagrumbuan, Cauayan City, Isabela, that they were hired by a certain Pedro Velasco whom they described as the barangay captain of Nagrumbuan.

They also alleged that Velasco owns the lumber.

Tabuk City Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Geoffrey Sidchogan said they will be filling the appropriate charges against those involved in the transport of the lumber which will also be subject to administrative proceedings for confiscation in favor of the government. **by Estanislao Albano , Jr., ZZW Dec. 16, 2007

Problems facing Kalinga tourism industry

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Kalinga has a lot to interest tourists but how to bring the tourists in is the problem.

Governor Floydelia Diasen and newly installed Provincial Tourism Council (PTC) chairman Natividad Sugguiyao acknowledged this fact during the induction of the officers of the reorganized council on Decembers.

Diasen concedes that although Kalinga has a lot to offer tourists such as its rich culture and traditions it is difficult to bring them in due to negative perceptions of outsiders regarding the peace and order situation in the province.

The governor said that outsiders are afraid to come due to the stigma of tribal wars on the province which she said is unfounded because, according to her, what are happening in the province are disruptions of the peace agreements between tribes caused by crimes and other factors, not tribal wars.

"We have to stress that , there are no tribal wars in Kalinga, only disruptions of the peace and order or peace agreements," Diasen said even as she challenged the new officers of the PTC to spearhead the effort to change the wrong perceptions of outsiders on the province.

Aside from misconceptions on the peace and order situation in the province, the governor said that there is also the need to improve infrastructure because tourist cannot go to places where the road is bad which she said is the current situation of municipalities in Upper Kalinga.

Sugguiyao, marketing manager of the Chico River Quest, Inc. (CRQI), the local Whitewater rafting and kayaking operator, also pointed out that despite its wealth of cultural and natural resources, tourism industry-wise, Kalinga is lagging behind some less endowed provinces because of the lack of strong partnership between the public and private sectors when it comes to the tourism industry.

"There should be a sustained romance between these two sectors and not just interludes or co-terminus relationships with the administration," Sugguiyao who is credited for successfully marketing locally and internationally the Chico River as a prime water sports destination said.

Sugguiyao said that since the tourism industry in Kalinga is still at the fledgling stage, the government should extend a "strong helping hand" but also warned the private sector against too much dependence on government.

Saying that the CRQI broke into the international scene because of sacrifice and substantial investments, Sugguiyao said that depending too much on government will bring frustration "and we will never grow.

Sugguiyao said that the ideal working relations between government and the private sector when it comes to tourism development is a 50-50 partnership.

She also recommended aggressive marketing and promotions and event and destination development as among the most immediate agenda of the PTC. **By Estanislao Albano , Jr., ZZW Dec. 9, 2007

SP nixes transfer of Rizal town to Cagayan

Tabuk City, Kalinga – In a bid to squelch the ongoing move to transfer one of this province's towns to Cagayan, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan has formally registered its opposition to the plan which it assailed as bereft of a valid basis and is selfishly motivated.

Through Resolution No. 2007-325, the SP also called on all the congressmen and the Regional Development Council (RDC) of the Cordillera to block any legislative act for the transfer of Rizal to Cajgayan.

The resolution refuted the claim of the proponents that Rizal is being neglected by Kajinga saying, "the projects, programs and activities implemented thereat by the various agencies of the government reveal the said allegation and other allegations mentioned in the petition are false and misleading, selfish and self-serving."

The SP also mentioned that the transfer will diminish the area of Kalinga and the Cordillera region.

Aside from the alleged neglect by Kalinga, the petition also bewails that Rizal residents conduct their trading in Tuguegarao City because of the rampant robberies alang the road to Tabuk City and likewise the bias of the bodong (native justice system) against lowlanders.

The main ground cited by the petition is that lowlanders consist 83 percent of the town's population.

Sanggunian Secretary Mathew Matbagan told the media the SP was responding to information the proponents of the transfer are already lobbying among congressmen for the planned transfer although they are not yet through gathering signatures for their petition.

Matbagan said the objective of the resolution is to make Cordillera representatives aware the Kalinga LGU is opposed to the planned transfer and also to try and preempt the submission of the petition to Congress.

Matbagan said that according to information, any representative from the Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera could act on the petition by filing a bill seeking the transfer of Rizal to Cagayan.

Municipal Administrator Marcelo dela Cruz who was j ust replaced by his son Chris Mark as. mayor of the town is the alleged moving spirit behind the move to transfer Rizal to Cagayan. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW, Nov. 25, 2007

Napolcom bats for beefing up ofTabuk police

Tabuk City, Kalinga - As a result of a survey which showed that this city accounts for two-thirds of the crimes takingplace in the province, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) office in the province has recommended the reassignment of three to four policemen from each of the seven towns of the province to this city.

The survey which was conducted by the local Napolcom at the instruction of Governor Floydelia Diasen and Vice Governor Jocel Baac covered the period January 2006 to June 2007 and revealed that of the 161 crimes which occurred in the province during the period, 104 or 65 percent took place in the city.

Of the 36 murders perpetrated in the province during the period, 24 or 66 percent were committed in Tabuk City. All the five homicides recorded during the period also took place in this city.

Kalinga Napolcom Director Fernando Cosidon said the survey confirms what has been accepted for a long time: Tabuk City is a crime-prone locality.

Rizal and Pinukpuk were distant second and third registering 28 and 17 crimes during the survey period, respectively.

On the opposite end were Tanudan and Tinglayan towns with the former registering zero crime rate during the period and the latter with just a case of threat and coercion disturbing its peace during the 18 months.

The recommendation of Cosidon jibes with the proposal of Tabuk City Mayor Camilo Lammawin, Jr. during the provincial peace and order council (PPOC) regular meeting November 9 that the city police force be augmented from the police contingents of other towns on the rationale that these towns are peaceful anyway.

Lammawin said that the assignment of more policemen in the city would enable the establishment of check points in Nambaran and Lacnog, the two notorious hold-up zones in the city.

The mayors of Tanudan, Tinglayan, Pinukpuk and Balbalan who all reported that there were no crimes in their towns in the past month balked at the proposal but Lammawin who is the president of the local chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines said that the matter will be discussed during their meeting.

Saying that problems in peace and order is but natural among population centers like Tabuk City, Cordillera Police Director Eugene Martin who was present during the meeting promised that some of the 150 new police recruits will be assigned to Tabuk City "to show our concern for peace here."

Police Chief Inspector Romulo Danglose, who was just relieved as OlC^chief of police of this city, has informed the media the city police force is seriously undermanned.

"If we follow the prescribed policeman to population ratio for cities which is one to 500 residents, we lack 57 policemen. Compounding our problem is the wide area of the city," Danglose said.

Danglose admitted that the crime-prone Tabuk-Tuguegarao and the Tabuk-Roxas highways are the two main headaches of city law enforcers and are ruining the city in the eyes of businessmen and even ordinary commuters even as he expressed the hope that the new police provincial director will prioritize these highways.

Police Senior Superintendent Maximo Valiente assumed as Kalinga's police director last November 9. **By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW, Nov. 25, 2007