2 highway robbers surrendered by tribemates

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Two persons, one of whom is a minor, who pulled off a highway robbery in a notorious stick up area in the gateway to the city evening of may 21 were surrendered by their barangaymates morning of may 23.

Police identified the suspects who they say both admitted to the crime as Canwell Dalignoc and a seventeen year old male person. Both are single, residents of Nambaran, this city, and members of the Tulgao Tribe.

They were surrendered to the police by a group of Tulgao tribesmen headed by Nambaran barangay captain Rolando Baswit and PO3 Miguel Aboli. The group included the father of the minor.

The police said that so far, three of the more or less 10 passengers of the public utility jeepney with plate number AYC 926 came forward to file complaints against the duo after learning they have been taken into police custody.

The driver claimed the duo divested him P2,400.00 personal money and P2,300.00 collection while one passenger said that he lost a Nokia 1112 cellphone and P800.00 cash while another alleged the holduppers took her P1,300.00.

Nambaran is a notorious hold-up area but the frequency of the incidents drastically dropped after the dead bodies of the three alleged highway robbers two of whom were residents of Nambaran were found in Isabela sometime late last year.

The police said that upon learning of the latest robbery and suspecting that it is again the handiwork of their tribemates, the people of Nambaran exerted efforts to ferret out the culprits which led to the identification of the minor who, upon being confronted by his father, admitted to the crime and revealed the name of his cohort Dalignoc.

The police said that the father of the minor has since executed and affidavit against the two suspects.

The police related that the two suspects who boarded the jeep pretending to be passengers before the barangay center stopped the vehicle upon reaching the outskirts of the barangay and declared a hold-up.

According to the police, Dalignoc and the minor were armed with .38 caliber pistol and a knife, respectively. **Estanislao Albano, Jr.

Kalinga has most number of malaria cases in CAR

The province of Kalinga still has the most number of malaria cases in the Cordillera region while the town of Paracelis in Mountain Province accounts for almost all of the province's malaria cases.

This was based on figures released by an official of the Global Fund Malaria who said that Paracelis town registered 240 malaria cases in 2007 while the rest of the Mountain Province had only three. Read more...

Sell

By Alex Magno

Too bad, Meralco chair Oscar Lopez reversed quickly his position on selling the Lopez stake in the power distribution monopoly.

The earlier offer to sell was attributed to an emotional outburst by the Lopez patriarch. Proper business sense might have also eventually taken hold. Several power plants, majority-owned by the Lopez holding company, earn much more than Meralco selling to the distribution monopoly.

But that is precisely the issue. With the Lopez group controlling management of Meralco and Lopez-owned power producers selling to the monopoly, a very clear conflict of interest pertains. That conflict of interest could be injurious to consumer interest and welfare.

A very interesting point was brought out in the course of the congressional hearings on the Meralco issue last Monday. By deft questioning, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile elicited from Meralco representatives that fact that the company consumes 72 million kilowatt hours of electricity each year.

Meralco, it appears, does not pay for the electricity it uses for its own operations. In which case, the cost of that large volume of power usage is passed on to consumers. At a discounted rate of P5.70 per kilowatt hour, the cost of that volume of power adds up to P427.5 million. That amount is added to the bills consumers pay.

That might only be the tip of the iceberg. Meralco should be asked to reveal all major buyers of power who benefit from discounts and deferred payment arrangements. That might be an interesting list. Read more...

Sidetrack

By Prof. Alex Magno

Saying he is sick and tired of the business, Meralco’s Oscar Lopez has offered to sell his family’s 33% stake in the power distribution monopoly.

That is a dramatic statement to make. But, unfortunately, that is not the point of the controversy over the management of Meralco.

Nobody wants to take out the Lopez stake in Meralco — although the GSIS certainly has the financial muscle to do so if it comes to that. Everybody wants to know if Meralco is being run well enough so that it cannot be said that the high cost of power shouldered by consumers is due to an inefficient distribution company.

Over the past few years, the Supreme Court has ruled twice in consumer-interest cases filed against Meralco. Read more...

CPLA factions bury hatchet; gear for third autonomy drive

Tabuk City, Kalinga - The two Cordillera People's Liberation Army (CPLA) factions which have been at odds since 1994 when they split set aside their differences for the sake of their common aspiration for the establishment of an autonomous government in the Cordillera as provided for in the 1987 Constitution.

In a meeting held in Bulanao, this city, night of April 24, top leaders of both factions - the Balweg and Molina factions - solemnly swore to be one and remain as one through the indigenous practice called sapata after choosing the officers of their high command through a consensus.

Chosen chairman and vice-chairman were former Bucloc, Abra mayor Mailed Molina, leader of the Molina faction, and Miguel Sugguiyao, Jr. of the Balweg faction, respectively. The other top officers of the reunited CPLA are the following: Arsenio Humiding (Molina faction) - political affairs officer; Leonardo Bun-as (Balweg faction) - chief of staff; and Juanita Chulsi (Molina faction) - deputy chief of staff.

Engr. Andres Ngao-i, CPLA member, informed the media that Secretary Jesus Dureza of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and Philippine National Police Cordillera Regional Director Eugene Martin witnessed the oath-taking of the officers of the CPLA high command the following night at the Davidson Hotel in Bulanao.

Sugguiyao told local media that the process of reunification, which started in 2004 and was facilitated by the OPAPP and the National Security Council (NSC) was hastened by their common perception that the government is seemingly insincere in the new drive for Cordillera autonomy.

Sugguiyao said that the choice of the Regional Development Council (RDC) to spearhead the drive is especially suspicious because the advent of autonomy means the death warrant of the council.

Saying that despite the split in the ranks of the CPLA, they kept the hope for autonomy burning, Molina claimed that giving the CPLA a more important role in the drive for autonomy was stipulated in the memorandum of agreement (MOA) forged by the government and the CPLA on April 25 in this city as a result of a workshop on the concerns of the CPLA sponsored by the OPAPP

Signing for the government were Dureza and for the CPLA Molina and Sugguiyao. Gen. Martin and Col. Roberto Morales, commanding officer of the 501st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army stood as witnesses for the government and Marcelina Bahatan and Gabino Ganggangan, chairman and secretary general, respectively, of the Cordillera Bodong Administration, the political arm of the CPLA.

"We are one of the most active groups, if not the most active group, fighting for Cordillera autonomy. Our observation is that autonomy would have won in either of the two plebiscites had the campaign resources been used properly and those entrusted to spearhead the campaign done their best," Molina said.

Other salient points of the MOA, according to Molina, are the acceptance by both parties that the integration of the CPLA into the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as provided under AO 18 has already been substantially accomplished and the commitment of the government to act on the long time request of the CPLA for the compensation of their members numbering around 70 who perished during joint CPLA-AFP operations against the New People's Army.

Molina told the media that what was not included in the MOA is their demand for the immediate revival of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) bodies - the Cordillera Regional Assembly (CRA) and the Cordillera Executive Board (CEB) - precisely because the objective of these bodies is to prepare the region for autonomy.

The CAR bodies were in effect abolished in 2000 when the government reduced their budget to P1.00.

"The scrapping of the CAR bodies was ironic precisely because these bodies are additional channels of development for the region," Molina said.

Molina said that it appears the government is also deliberately controlling its compliance with its commitment to give livelihood assistance to the erstwhile rebel group.

"That's what we observed. They do not give outright. We still need to nudge them before they give. They may have their reasons though," Molina said.

Molina said that with the reconciliation of the CPLA factions, the government has no more reason to hold back its commitments to the CPLA embodied in the Mt. Data Peace Accord signed by then President Corazon Aquino and the late CPLA leader Fr. Conrado Balweg on September 13, 1986.

"In the past, every time we reminded the government of its unfulfilled commitments under the peace accord, they would say that the CPLA should first unite. We are now united," Molina said.

Asked if the reconciliation between the two groups whose feud once exploded into open violence means that the hatchet has been buried, Molina said that it looks that way. **By Estanislao Albano , Jr., ZZW; 04 May 2008

Kalinga gets first Barangay Bagsakan

Tabuk City, Kalinga - One of the novel attempts of the government to make food affordable to the poor by linking them directly with producers will now benefit a segment of this province's population.

This developed as the first Barangay Bagsakan in the province was launched April 29,2008 at barangay Agbannawag.

The store is operated by the Agbannawag Multi-purpose Cooperative (AMPCO) which received PI00,000.00 worth of marketing facilities from the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region (DA-CAR) to get started in the business of selling cheap but quality food commodities to the public.

Patricio Ananayo, chief of the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Department of the DA-CAR, told the media that the intent of the Barangay Bagsakan program is to "help organizations sell quality food at low prices."

Ananayo said that the concept of the Barangay Bagsakan is to eliminate the involvement of middlemen in the distribution of food products by serving as the link between organized producers and the consumers.

According to Ananayo, the scheme could enable the Barangay Bagsakan to sell at as low as P30.00 what is offered in the market at P40.00.

Ananayo informed the media that aside from the initial assistance of PI 00,000.00 for marketing facilities such as freezers, coolers, weighing scales and packing materials, under the program, qualified Barangay Bagsakan participating organizations could also avail of operational assistance of, as high as P300,000.00 at eight percent per annum interest.

Ananayo said that the DA is targeting cooperatives as partners in the Barangay Bagsakan project because they already have clientele and also buildings.

"The Barangay Bagsakan is not intending to compete with private businesses but to address the needs of the poor be¬cause all Filipinos are entitled to low-priced but quality food," Ananayo said.

Fernando Ramos III, director of the Agribusiness and Marketing Assistance Services of the DA Central Office said that as part of the Barangay Bagsakan program, Bagsakan Centers could also be established to consolidate major products of the locality and deliver the same to markets in the metropolis.

Ramos said that the Barangay bagsakan makes everybody happy - the consumer from the low prices, the operator from the profits and the food producers from the relatively higher prices of their produce.

"This is a gradual movement. We do not think of big buildings right away. We begin from the small," Ramos said of the project, which he claimed is already thriving in many parts of the country.

Speaking in behalf of Tabuk Mayor Camilo Lammawin, Jr., City Administrator Lawrence Bayongan said that the city government is ready to assist other organizations in the city avail of the Barangay Bagsakan program. ** By Estanislao Albano, Jr.; ZZW, 04 May 2008

Father calls arrest of son a fiction

Tabuk City, Kalinga - The father of Julius Obal, 23, married, resident of Bantay, this city, has complained that the news which appeared in this paper's April 20,2008 issue stating that a certain Hadji Obal had been arrested night of April 9,2008 did not happen.

Saying that Hadji is the nickname of his son Julius, retired Department of Public Works and Highways employee William Obal, 65, claimed that he was home on the night of April 9 and no policemen came to their house and that his son presently continues to re port to his work.

"We do not know why this story came out. It has negatively affected my son. While it is true that he was once suspected of involvement in a double murder case, the charges have been dismissed for lack of evidence," William said.

He also protested his son's being tagged as the No. 5 most wanted man of the region "on mere suspicion."

William said that he wanted to clear the name of his son whom he claimed has never been involved in any wrongdoing. ** By Estanislao Albano , Jr., ZZW; 04 May 2008

Palay prices in Tabuk City rise again

Tabuk City, Kalinga - After sliding in the last three weeks and hitting this cropping season's lowest price of P13.00 per kilo last week, the prices of palay in this city began to rally early this week.

As of this writing the price is at a maximum of P14.60 per kilo for fresh and P17.00 for dried palay and at least one local trader forecast that the price will still go up as rice traders in Nueva Ecija and Bulacan are buying palay again.

Cornelio Dawas of the GMD Palay Buying Station in Magsaysay, this city, said that with Nueva Ecija and Bulacan being the center of the rice trade in the area, the increase in demand for palay in the two provinces is felt in the city through higher palay prices.

Dawas also noted that this city is the last to harvest among the northern rice-producing localities so that he foresees that the price might return to the all-time high P16.50 per kilo for fresh palay at the start of the harvest season as buyers scramble for the remaining palay supply.

Dawas said that at this point, the palay harvest in the city has not yet reached the halfway point.

Roderick Espita and Gilbert Espita of the Espita palay buying station in Bulanao, this city, however, do not share the optimism of Dawas regarding the trend of palay prices.

They said that the demand has gone up because rice millers in Isabel a are in the process of replenishing their stocks but that once they procure their requirements, it is likely they will stop buying and the demand will relax.

The Espitas said that rice millers in Isabela now only buy when needed unlike before when they built up their stocks until they ran out of money. **Estanislao Albano, jr.; ZZW, 04 May 2008

Agyao appointed “caretaker” congressman of Mt. Province

A political footnote took place in the political Milieu of Mt. Province the past weeks. This came about when House Speaker Prospero Nograles appointed first-term Kalinga Representative Manuel S. Agrayao as the caretaker of this province effective April 1.

This happened despite the endorsement of most politicians of Mt. Province for Baguio City Representative Mauricio G. Domogan to be the caretaker.

The House Speaker said that the appointment of Agyao is in accordance with the “congressional tradition” whereby the choice of the family of the deceased congressman would be appointed as caretaker.

It is recalled that the late Congressman Victor S. Dominguez died in Quezon City at the age of 72 last February 8, 2008 due to cardiac arrest leaving the people of Mt. Province without a representative in the lower house.

Agyao vowed to continue the programs left by Dominguez, especially the free tertiary education for students at the Mt. Province Polytechnic College.

NFA comes to the rescue of Tabuk farmers

Tabuk City, Kalinga - With the price of dry palay now at P15.00 per kilo from as high as P18.50 two weeks ago and threatening to sink even lower, the National Food Authority (NFA) here has some to the rescue of local farmers. At least for the moment.

Assistant Provincial Manager Enrique Baliang said that starting April 23, they are buying at the price ordered by Malacanang which is P17.00 per kilo for clean and dry palay.

Baliang also said that this time, they are relaxing the purchasing regulations of the NFA. Farmers with passbooks could sell 100 bags per hectare of their registered landholding and more importantly, walk-in farmers with no passbooks could sell 50 bags each.

Baliang said that they have received an initial purchasing fund of P5M and that the same will be replenished when exhausted but the problem, according to him, is the P17.00 support price is only good until the end of May.

"We do not know what will happen after the end of May. The danger then is the private traders might exploit the situation when we are no longer able to buy at P17.00," Baliang admitted.

Baliang admitted this is the first time in a long time they are buying even as he admitted that in the specific case of Kalinga, they have badly fallen short of the mandate of the charter of the agency to purchase 10 percent of the rice harvest. "It was only in 1979 when we hit the target but after that, it was good if we were able to buy five percent of the harvest," Baliang said.

Regarding the rice stocks of the provincial NFA, Baliang said that they are giving allocations of five bags a week for each of their 67 outlets and that with more NFA rice supplies arriving in the province, the share of each outlet might be increased to 10 bags a week by the end of April.

As of press time, with only a few of the local traders buying, the price of fresh palay in the market here is down to P12.00 - P13.00 per kilo from the unprecedented P17.00 per kilo two weeks ago.

Daryl Estranero of the Universal Grains Center in Bulanao Norte, this city, who is buying only dry palay at the price of P15.00 per kilo as of press time is apprehensive that the prices will continue to go down until it reaches the normal level which, according to him, is P9.40 to P9.70 for fresh and P12.00 for dry. **By Estanislao Albano, Jr.