Tabuk’s water quality probed

Tabuk City, Kalinga – The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) is conducting a legislative inquiry into persistent complaints on the quality of the water being served by the Tabuk Waters (TAWA), the private firm operating the water system of the city which was constructed through a loan from the World Bank.

Councilor Sandra Mejia, chairman of the committee on health, informed the media that the foremost concern of the SP is the rising level of manganese, copper and fluoride in the water, which, according to tests made by the TAWA last month and in December 2007, have gone beyond the safe range.

Mejia said that during the SP session on September 1, TAWA Assistant General Manager Rodolfo Yumol has assured that despite the increasing levels of the three substances, the water is still safe for human consumption but the body wants to make sure.

Mejia intends to immediately consult the Department of Health (DOH) regional office on the finding to know the implication to public health and safety of the increasing pattern of the substances in the TAWA water.

Mejia also informed that the TAWA has agreed that henceforth, she and Councilor Reamcy Adong, infrastructure committee chairman, will be present during the collection of water samples for physical and chemical properties test “to remove all doubts that the samples were taken elsewhere.”

“We also recommended to the TAWA more sampling points because we noticed that their present sampling points are not representative of all the areas in their coverage. For instance, they need to get samples in areas where many people congregate such as public markets,” Mejia said.

Regarding the complaints on murky and undesirable odor of TAWA water experienced by some consumers, Mejia quoted Yumol as saying that it is caused by ”suction pressure” which, according to him, happens when there is a sudden stoppage in water supply and which results into the entry of outside water into the pipeline through leaks.

Yumol went on to say that another possible explanation of the phenomena is the reaction between chemicals present in raw water and water treatment chemicals.

“I recommended to the TAWA that they should conduct periodic inspection and repairs of leaks in the pipes to prevent the contamination of the water. Even if there are sudden stoppage in the flow of the water if there are no leaks, outside water cannot seep into the pipeline,” Mejia said.

Mejia said that leaks are indeed dangerous because the water outside the pipes could contain contaminants such as solvents, petroleum products, metal degreasers and other chemicals.

Mejia said that during his appearance before the SP, Yumol did not say whether they have already complied with the earlier DOH recommendation for TAWA to install more chlorinators to answer the observation of some consumers of sudden increase and decrease of chlorine in the water.

Mejia said that the TAWA has no choice but to improve its water because there are already cases of consumers disconnecting on account of poor quality of water and defective meters.

“As of now, the number of consumers of the TAWA is not yet enough to maintain the sustainability of the water system. How will it be able to attract more consumers if it does not improve the quality of its water?” Mejia asked.

Because of the policy of the TAWA to only act on formal complaints, Mejia has urged the public to submit black and white complaints or contact the hotline of the firm.

“They require individual customer complaints but they were amenable when I told them to treat the legislative inquiry as a formal complaint and act on the issues and concerns raised,” Mejia said. ** By Estanislao Albano Jr., ZZW

Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Kalinga proposed

Tabuk City, Kalinga – A peace advocate has proposed the establishment of a body similar to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa as a means to heal the deep wounds inflicted by tribal and criminal violence in this province and to prevent them from erupting into fresh violence.

Roman Catholic Bishop Prudencio Andaya informed the media that Chito Generoso, director of the Interfaith Commission on the Culture of Non-violence (ICCN) who was here this week to conduct a seminar on trauma resolution and reconciliation organized by the local Peacemakers’ Movement (PMM) had proposed the creation of the body as an important step towards lasting peace in Kalinga.

Andaya described the South African model which was organized and went to work after the abolition of apartheid as a body which brought the victims and the perpetrators of violence face to face with the former recounting their violent experience or loss of loved ones and the latter confessing their atrocities and asking for forgiveness and amnesty from prosecution.

“There are a lot of things to be considered. The situation of South Africa and Kalinga are different. In South Africa, it was the government versus the people while in Kalinga it is people versus people. We also have a vindictive culture. The groundworks should be thoroughly put in place so that people who confess their violent acts will not be the subject of vengeance or legal action,” Andaya said.

Andaya foresees that there will be resistance because for one thing, in order to settle a case of violence in the province, the payment of indemnity is a must while in the TRC of South Africa, those who confessed their acts were forgiven.

Andaya, however, implied that the proposal is worth considering and that if ever it will be set up, it should be sponsored by the government.

Andaya revealed that as part of its peace efforts, the PMM has organized the trauma and reconciliation seminar because of the recent realization that the healing of the trauma left by tribal and criminal violence in the province has been overlooked in the local peacemaking procedures.

“Many of the revenge killings in the province spring up due to unresolved tensions in the family. Even if settlement is made there are still a lot of cases of revenge killings because the victims are left unaided. We would like to focus our attention to the orphans and the widows. For one, the orphans are potential avengers. In trauma, there is what we call transgenerational effect which means that if the hurts of a generation remain unresolved, it could spring up in two or three generations just like revenging for a grandfather,” Andaya, founder of the PMM, said.

Started in 2003, the PMM whose members are the relatives of victims of violence who are sworn to non-violence is trying to help the orphans overcome their trauma through guidance and counseling programs and is also looking for help for the establishment of a scholarship program for them in the hope of “preventing killings later.”

Engr. Andres Ngao-i, PMM coordinator, states that it is not enough to solve cases whether through amicable settlement or through the courts.

“The payment of the indemnity is not enough to bring complete healing. There should be trauma healing in order to attain lasting reconciliation,” Ngao-i, an experienced peace negotiator, said.

Asked how the PMM can intervene in a current case which involves a fierce tribe, Andaya said that the PMM “should reach out to all victims regardless of status and tribal affiliation.”

“We should be tactful and strategize because they are still grieving. And perhaps, even those who have inflicted the wounds are in need of healing. I am sure they are restless even if we say they have no conscience,” Andaya said.

For his part, Ngao-i is positive that had the trauma-healing seminar been held earlier and the PMM stepped into the recent cases of killings, the revenge killings would have been prevented.

“Had the PMM gone to them, they may have said we think about it. Our thinking then was it is hard to enter the cases immediately because emotions were still running high. They might be insulted. We waited for things to cool down. Counselors should go to console and counsel the relatives of the victims as soon as possible,” Ngao-i said. **By Estanislao Albano Jr.-ZZW

A century to rehabilitate Cordillera watershed?

Tabuk City, Kalinga – No less than Cordillera Environment and Natural Resources Director Samuel Penafiel publicly declared that if we depend on the regular funds of the government, it will take that long to rehabilitate the watersheds of the region.

He told the Regional Development Council (RDC) during its meeting here on August 15 that at the rate the government is allocating money for reforestation, 103 years is needed to rehabilitate the 150,000 hectares which the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had identified as critical watershed areas in the region.

There is some hope though that with the help of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the 103 years will be shortened.

Penafiel reported to the RDC that the Chico River watershed master plan initiated by the provinces of Kalinga and Mtn. Province and which was endorsed by the RDC to the DENR central office has already been submitted to the ADB which said it will consider it as a priority under the integrated microresources and environmental management program.

He further said that at the moment, the technical working group which prepared the master plan is in the process of assessing and preparing feasibility studies for the priority programs identified in the master plan, one of which is agroforestry.

While awaiting the action of the ADB, the RDC is also looking for assistance from Regions 1 and 2, the two areas which depend on the watersheds of the Cordillera for their irrigation and hydro-electric needs.

Penafiel reported that plans are afoot for the conduct of an inter-regional summit of the three regions on watershed concerns on October or November with the end in view of coming up with plans on how to jointly address water resource problems.

Penafiel said that Regions 1 and 2 are complaining that while they have funds for irrigation, they could not build new irrigation systems because the funds go to the rehabilitation of the old ones “because you are destroying the watersheds in the Cordillera.”

Tuao, Cagayan for one is complaining that the Chico River is causing flooding and washing out of infrastructures in the town, Penafiel said.

“Each region should come up with how to rehab the watersheds. The two regions are looking at how they could help,” Penafiel said.

Ifugao Governor Teodoro Baguilat, Jr. declared that the complaints of Regions 1 and 2 should serve as an added motivation “to strengthen advocacy for the payment of our water by the national government and the lowland regions because the national government could not provide for immediate rehabilitation.”

“If only the upland communities get a share from water usage fees, they will protect the watersheds and consider them as their cash crops,” Baguilat said adding that the summit should at least come up with how much the two regions should be paying the Cordillera for the water.

Baguilat warned that for so long as the economic needs of the communities in the watershed areas are not met, they will continue to destroy the forest. According to him, there are instances when reforestation areas have been burned just so the people there could be hired again to replant.

Baguilat said that aside from providing livelihood for the upland people, there is a need for legislation which will compel the government to pay for water usage.

OIC-RDC Chairman Juan Ngalob informed that the scheduled regional watershed summit will serve as a preliminary to the inter-regional summit and that its intended output is a policy paper calculating the cost of immediately rehabilitation of Cordillera watersheds and also to maintain them after the rehabilitation.

Ngalob said that with the government hard-pressed to provide the money for the immediate rehabilitation of the watershed, the only option is to try to avail of official development assistance which means going through the National Economic Development Authority Investment Coordinating Committee “which calls for master plans and feasibility studies.”

He further said that in the end, it will be the national leadership which will decide on whether or not the Cordillera watersheds will be rehabilitated and that the role of the RDC is to gather the facts which will serve as basis for the political leaders to act.

“We are trying to package the watershed problem as a problem besetting the Filipino race in Northern Luzon whose future is imperiled unless the national government acts,” Ngalob said. **By Estanislao Albano Jr. -ZZW

Lubuagan, Kalinga to hold 1st Lumin-awa festival on August 18-20

by Lito Dar

Baguio City (9 August) -- In celebration of the centennial founding anniversary of the first civil government of Lubuagan town in Kalinga, the local government unit in cooperation with the Department of Tourism will be holding its first "Lumin-awa" festival on August 18-20.

Lubuagan Mayor James Alunday in a press conference last week explained that the "Lumin-awa", is synonymous to "guminhawa", or to be relieved or relaxed in mind, spirit and health.

The three-day festivity aims to boost the town's economy and development, as he stressed that education, health and tourism are their priority.

The three-day Lumin-awa festival features grand parades, indigenous games/songs/sounds, Agro Industrial Exhibits/fair, stage programme, field presentations and medical/dental mission. The mayor is inviting everybody, local and foreign tourists alike, to witness or discover their rich cultural heritage. Read more...

3 soldiers killed in Kalinga ambush identified

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Police on Friday said the three soldiers who were killed in a rebel ambush in the hinterlands of Kalinga province last Wednesday have been identified.

A report by the Kalinga police to Camp Dangwa, headquarters of the regional police force in La Trinidad, identified the victims as SSgt. Ci-o, Sgt. Galimba and Pfc. Toribio, all of the Philippine Army’s 21st Infantry Battalion.

The three were killed during a clash with suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels at about 4 p.m. last Wednesday at the remote sitio of Lagwak in barangay Limos in Pinukpuk town.

Chief Inspector Joe Baday, chief of police in Pinukpuk, reported that the soldiers were on their way to Pinukpuk from barangay Poswoy in neighboring Balbalan town when they were ambushed. Baday’s report did not name the army soldier who was wounded.

It was unclear if the NPAs who staged the ambush are the same group that bombed a Globe telecommunications tower in barangay Pakawit, also in Pinukpuk, last July 27.

Police said the rebel who was hacked to death by a villager during the cellsite bombing was from barangay Balantoy in Balbalan, which is close to Poswoy village.

The Wednesday ambush came amid President Arroyo’s two-day furlough in Apayao province and Tuguegarao City where she was presented with developmental action plans for Cagayan Valley formulated by the participants to the first-ever local peace and security assembly.

In the meeting, Mrs. Arroyo called on local, military and police officials in the region to “crush the rebels once and for all because they are trying to impede the growth of our country." - GMANews.TV

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Three persons killed in Tabuk City

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Three persons were killed in two separate incidents here recently. At around 3:30 a.m. of July 25 two unidentified gunmen shot to death Danny Garcia, 44, married, resident of Cabaritan, this city, and Cecilio Advincula, 44, single, resident of Lanna, also this city, in the compound of the Southern Bulanao Elementary School, Bulanao, this city.

Responding policemen found Garcia sprawled on the ground with a gunshot wound in his breast and Advincula who was apparently asleep on the floor of the canteen operated by Garcia had gunshot wounds in his head. Both were dead.

A team from Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) of the province recovered three spent shells of a cal. 45 pistol in the crime scene. The police said that the assailants fled the scene following the irrigation canal above the school.

Meanwhile, at around 5 p.m. of July 22 in Pinagan, Lucog, Jimmy dela Pena, 44, married and kagawad of the barangay, was struck twice with a gabyon (a type of digging tool) on the nape by his neighbor Leonard Benjok.

Police said that Benjok was motivated by jealousy believing that the victim was having an affair with his wife.

The police immediately took the suspect into custody and murder charges have already been filed against him. **By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

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Kalinga PUV operators petition for transfer of venue of processing of their papers

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Two groups of public utility vehicle (PUV) operators have petitioned the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to transfer the processing of papers of PUVs in the province from the Cordillera Administrative Region in Baguio City to the LTFRB-Cagayan in Tuguegarao City.

Foremost of the reasons of the Kalinga Federation of Jeepney Operators (KFJO) and the Kalinga Transportation and Development Cooperative (KASTRANSDESCO) is the expense entailed in processing papers in Baguio City.

The two groups cited in their petition the fact that the travel time to Baguio City is 12 hours while it is only one hour to Tuguegarao City adding that their woes are compounded by the presence of many fixers in the LTFRB-CAR.

They also claimed that law enforcement units from the LTFRB-CAR only come to Kalinga once in two or three years thereby "contributing to the proliferation of colorum vehicles in the area."

Cecilio, Mangadap. Board chairman of the KALTRANSDESCO, said that if the .processing of papers of Kalinga PUVs will be done in Region II, the long time problem of the province with colorum PUVs will be solved not only because of the nearness of Kalinga to Tuguegarao City but because the issuance of franchises in Region II is open.

On the other hand, on account of exposed anomalous franchises issued in the CAR in recent years, there is now a moratorium in the issuance of new franchises in the region.

"The whole Cordillera is affected by the moratorium. It will take years to correct the problem to the inconvenience of franchise applicants. The renewal of franchises is also taking a lot of time because the new director scrutinizes the applications so as not to repeat past mistakes," Mangadap said.

Mangadap is accusing the regional office of the Department of Transportation and Communication-CAR for not acting on the recent order of Secretary Leandro Mendoza to apprehend colurom PUVs in Kalinga.

Mangadap said that Mendoza issued the order on June 3, 2008 in response to complaints of the KALTRANSDESCO of the presence of illegal PUVs in the province especially in the capital city.

"Our move has nothing to do with the Cordillera spirit. It is only that Baguio City is too far. The transfer will bring the services of government closer to the people," Mangadap said. **By Estanislao Albano Jr.

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