Caring our mother earth...

Please read! I am sharing to you this email I got from PGTEP e-group of which I am a member...

Philippines will join countries around the world as we literally "turn the lights out" for Earth Hour - an event that will fuel awareness on climate change and prove that when the people of the world work together, they can make a difference in the fight against global warming.

Earth Hour will take place throughout the Philippines from 8 to 9 in the evening on Saturday, 29 March 2008. WWF invites you to participate by shutting off lights for 60 minutes, organizing your own "lights-out" event or by forwarding this mail to your friends, workmates and family.

Launched in Australia on the 31st of March 2007, Earth Hour moved 2.2 million people and 2100 businesses in Sydney to turn off their lights for one hour. This massive collective effort reduced the city's energy consumption by 10.2% for one hour. With Sydney icons like the Harbour Bridge and Opera House turning their lights off and unique events such as weddings by candlelight, the world took notice. Inspired by the collective effort of millions of Sydneysiders, many major global cities are joining Earth Hour in 2008, turning a symbolic event into a global movement.

YOUR participation will go a long way in spreading the message that we, as individual droplets working collectively can create an impetus far more powerful than the mightiest of rivers. For more information, log on to the WWF Earth Hour page at: www.earthhour.org.

Five killed, 25 others injured in two accidents in Kalinga

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Five persons including a Canadian national and a four year-old girl were killed in two accidents which occurred in the province last week.

At around 3 PM of March 5, a Dang-on mini bus with plate number AYC 908 fell into the creek at Luyucan, Nambaran, this city, resulting in the death of four of its passengers and the injuring of 25 others.

The police identified the fatalities as Luis Tingle, 40, of Casigayan, this city, Cristina Asan, of Taloktok, Tanudan, Kalinga, Uney Kawasaki, 4 years old, Bulanao, this city, and Corazon Espita, 43, of Quezon, Isabela.

Those wounded all of whom are now confined at the Kalinga Provincial Hospital in Bulanao are the following: Ardy Dangani, 34, married, of Anonang, Rizal, Kalinga; Rowel Eugenio Bactad, 18, single, Alcala, Pangasinan; Nelly Grace Palattao, 19, single, Laya East, this city; Rosalina Garcia; Elizabeth Miana, 40, married, of Purok 2, Bulanao, this city; Joan Estanilla, 19, single, Purok 6, Bulanao; Remy Magmuyao, 28, married, Purok 7, Bulanao; Emilio Puegan, 34, married, of Purok 5, Bulanao; Marisol Baniaton. 22. single, Laya, this city; Mylin Tinipac, 17, single, Purok 2, Bulanao; Russel Umawing, one year old, Maddela, Quirino; Gina Macababbad Umawing, 31, married, Maddela, Quirino; Princess Macababbad, 3, Maddela, Quirino: Jocelyn Macababbad, 49, Appas, this city; Moharmin Dumarayo, 37, married, Dagupan Centro, this city;

Lourdes Campilis, 50, Agbannawag, this city; Angelito Prudencio, 22, single, Quezon, Isabela; Benigno Awingan, 27, single, Purok 4, Bulanao; Eddie Lozano. 50, married, Liwan, Rizal, Kalinga; King Jocel Agsao, 3, Rizal, Kalinga; JoanaMarie Bataoil, 19, single, Agbannawag; Sgt. Celestino Leo Josue, 40, single, Purok 5, Bulanao; Bartolome Sembrano, 54, widower, San Juan, this city; Florencia Lumanao, 72, Purok 4, Bulanao; and Robert Espita, 25, single, Purok 3, Bulanao.

Initial police investigation revealed that the bus which is owned by Raymundo Apil of Marbulig 1, Cauayan City, Isabela and driven by Jessie Bruno of Purok 7, Bulanao was going uphill towards Nambaran when it suddenly moved backwards at high speed.

The bus broke through the railings of the Luyucan Bridge falling into the creek some 20 meters below.

The police said that they still could not determine the real cause of the accident because Bruno fled right after the accident. They, however, expect him to surrender shortly as he has already sent surrender feelers.

In another development, past 3 PM on March 4, Otto Unsinn, 62, of British Columbia, Canada, was hiking to Buaya, Balbalan, this province, the birthplace of his wife Eulalia nee Lumiwan, 56, in the company of EulaIia and 15 ofher relatives when he suddenly tripped on a rock and fell frontward causing him to lose consciousness.

Eulalia, a community care giver, said that her husband failed to break his fall with his hands because both hands were hampered by his back pack so that his face hit the rocks on the trail.

According to Eulalia, it was raining and they were going downhill when the accident took place.

Eulalia said that they tried everything to revive Unsinn but to no avail because the tongue of Unsinn had receded into his mouth.

"We rushed him to the clinic in Pinukpuk Junction, Pinukpuk but the doctor declared him dead on arrival," Eulalia said.

Eulalia had just requested the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct an autopsy of the body "for my protection and that of my relatives because we were the only ones there when the accident took place."

The Unsinns who resided in British Columbia since they were married in 1999 were on a vacation in the country. **by Estanislao Albano , Jr.

Photo credit: J. Donaal

Tourist's misadventure: Canadian man meets mountain's spirits!

A supposed excitement and merry-making relative to the first time visit cum adventure of a westerner married to a local woman has turned unexpectedly into bizarre and total grief. This came about when Otto Unsinn, 62, met his own death in what appears to be a mishap afternoon of March 4 in his way to the remote mountainous village of Buaya (or Buwaya), Balbalan.

According to some witnesses who happen to be the victim's companions at the time of accident, Unsinn and his wife Eulalia Lumiwan, 56, together with several locales, were trekking the trail going to Buaya when the accident happened.

Unsinn who showed that time too much excitement to reach his wife's native home was moving fast ahead of the others when suddenly he got skidded and dropped into a relatively deep canal while trying to cross it. Apparently, he fell quickly headfirst facing the ground and as he landed his head quick-struck a seemingly sharp crushed stone immediately causing him unconscious, a witness said. Bruises in the face and a wound in the lower jaw are visible.

The wife tried to apply a sort of first aid by pumping his breast and then rushed him after that to the hospital. Few hours along the way, Unsinn was still with his pulse but did not make it the time he reached the Pinukpuk District Hospital. There he was declared dead on arrival.

Unsinn is a German national turned Canadian citizen.

The wife has already informed the German and Canadian embassies regarding her husband's death and her desire to bring home to Canada the cadaver, and she and her relatives also had requested the police and the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct an investigation and perform an autopsy to dispel doubts on the matter.

Unsinn now lies in state at the residence of Mr. Castro Bedoy, brother-in-law, at Purok 4, Bulanao, Tabuk City, this province while waiting the travel papers and other requirements be processed and finished for him to be brought home.

Five dead in three shooting incidents in Kalinga

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Five persons were killed and three others were injured in three shooting incidents in this province this week.

At around 6 AM of February 12 in Macutay, Rizal town, Dominic Orpella Soliman, 27, Jackson Barcellano Marcos, 17, and Pedro Barcellano, 54, were going to their farm on board a hand tractor cum trailer when they were ambushed by two unidentified men.

The police said the three were killed instantly. SOCO personnel found 14 empty shells and one live bullet for a cal. 5.56 M14 rifle.

The police said they still have to determine the motive of the killing.

At around 11:30 PM of February 13, William Gonzalo, 40, was also killed while P03 Oliver Camuyot, JayR Angyuda, 17, and Fred Reyes, Jr. were injured in a shooting incident which took place in the Bradford Refreshment and Music Lounge in Bulanao, this city.

In their initial report of the incident, the police said that policemen who responded to the bursts of gunfire which emanated from the music lounge found Gonzalo, Camuyot and Angyuda sprawled on the floor with gunshot wounds. The wounds of Gonzalo were fatal, the report said.

According to the same report, the police also found Reyes hiding infront of a nearby residence with a gunshot wound in the breast and was in possession of a cal. 45 Armscor pistol with an empty magazine.

Citing their initial findings, the police said Camuyot and some companions were drinking at one table when all of a sudden and with no apparent reason, Reyes who was drinking at another table stood up and shot Camuyot hitting him in the left and right thighs.

The police also said that Gonzalo and Angyuda were hit by stray bullets.

The report did not say who shot Reyes.

The police reported that they found nine empty shells and a misfired bullet of a cal. 45 pistol and seven slugs in the crime scene and another empty shell of a cal. 45 pistol in the place where Reyes was located.

At around 3:35 PM of February 14, Reynante Anog, 40, married, farmer and former kagawad of Dilag, this city, was shot dead apparently accidentally in his residence in Bulanao Norte, this city, by a 13 year old neighbor.

According to police investigation, the victim placed a loaded cal. 9mm on their kitchen table and then went to brush his teeth in their sink which is more or less three meters away.

At this point, the boy who just entered the kitchen held the gun and accidentally squeezed the trigger causing the gun to fire hitting the victim in the arm and exiting through his left armpit and entering his breast. Anog did not reach the hospital alive. ** By Estanislao Albano Jr.

Thieves hit two government properties

Tabuk- City, Kalinga - Taking advantage of the work break, thieves ransacked two government properties in this city last weekend.

Sometime on the afternoon of February 9, the grade six room of the Bulanao East Elementary School (BEES) in Bulanao was ransacked with the culprits carting away 10 bags of Northern Cement and some steel bars worth P2,000.00.

BEES principal Henry Alunday and PTCA president Pedro Gayudan reported to the police that the thieves removed the nails which served as lock hinges of the main door.

Alunday and Gayudan brought along with them a grade six pupil of the BEES who revealed that he saw his older brother and two other students of the nearby Kalinga National High School hauling steel bars on the road below the school.

The boy further claimed that the three suspects tried to buy his silence with P75.00 but he declined the bribe.

The police said that the BEES authorities are now negotiating with the parents of the suspects for a possible amicable settlement of the case.

Abraham Gulingan, chief of the Agro-aqua Center Division (ACD) of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist located at Purok 5, Bulanao reported that their bodega was broken into night of February 10 with the thieves taking away 32 bags of rice seeds.

Gulingan said that the thieves sawed off the two hasp plucks of the door to gain entry into the bodega. He added that 10 bags were eventually recovered in a rice mill in Bulanao Norte where the thieves sold part of their loot.

The rice seeds have a price tag of Pl,150.00 per bag.

Gulingan said that the ACD does not have a security guard because no provincial security personnel wants to be assigned there since 2006 when the living quarters in the compound was fired upon by unidentified men. Since the security office of the provincial government is not assigning any guard to the ACD, he has asked Bulanao barangay captain Virgilio Gunnawa to deploy tanods in the area at night. ** By Estanislao Albano Jr.

Agencies pushing unoy rice and DENR thresh out differences

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Obviously there is a conflict between the DENR on one hand and the Department of Agriculture and LGUs here on the other hand due to the efforts of the latter to promote the production of unoy (indigenous Kalinga rice) in the province.

Slash and bum farming or kaingin is a no no to the DENR. On the other hand, in light of the growing demand for unoy rice in the local and international markets, it does not seem to be an issue to the DA and the LGUs that a portion of the unoy produced in the province comes from kaingins.

The two parties had a chance to confront the issue during the training on upland rice-based farming system conducted by the DA, the Agricultural Training Institute and Tabuk City here on February 7 and 8, 2008 which some 50 kaingineros from the upland barangays of this city attended.

With both sides admitting that kaingin is a part of the local culture and as such, would be hard to stop, they agreed to work out a system whereby the harmful effects of the fanning practice will be mitigated.

Peter Warner Manadao, information officer of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) proposed that the farmers identify areas for kaingin purposes and cultivate these on rotation basis to allow for the process of fallowing to take place.

"These areas for kaingin making should preferably be on lower elevations meaning below 1,000 meters above sea level because forests above 1,000 meters are sources of water, serve as habitat for remaining wildlife and help check climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide," Manadao told the kaingineros.

Manadao also called on the rice research agencies of the government to develop a rice variety adapted to lowland farming but with the same quality, glutinousness and yield as that of upland rice "so that we need not touch the forest."

On the other hand, Felicitas Balmores, Tabuk City unoy rice program coordinator, is suggesting an upland rice farming technique calling for the planting of hedgerows and tiger grass to serve as buffer against soil erosion and likewise the planting of fruit trees and coffee in the steep portions of the kaingin.

Both sides and also the kaingineros who attended the training agreed that the watersheds should not be touched at all.

Kalinga Unoy Farmers' Association president Ramon Ambatali agrees with Manadao that areas identified for kaingin purposes should be cultivated in a cycle so that fast growing trees such as paper trees could be planted in the portions first cultivated and harvested in the next round.

He also recommends that the government provides the seedlings and the technology for the planting of fruit trees in areas which have lost their fertility and no longer suited for kaingin farming.

Ambatali sees a bright future for unoy rice because of the simplicity of the technology required and also the rising price of the commodity.

Ambatali who is devoting a one-hectare kaingin to the mimis, one of the two unoy varieties exported to Montana, USA, claimed that unoy rice does not need modern farm inputs and could be grown with just the old indigenous farming techniques.

According to Ambatali, a kilo of any unoy variety sells at as high as P50.00 - 60.00 in the local market which is more than double the price of the new rice varieties. ** By Estamslao Albano Jr.

Small contractors assail clustering of projects

Tabuk City, Kalinga - Small contractors and the Kalinga Engineering District of the Department of Public Works and Highways are at odds over the decision of the latter to cluster projects to P20M packages starting this year.

Under the scheme which the KED Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) claims to be allowed under the RA 9184 or the Procurement Act, small contractors can no longer participate in the bidding as the maximum price they could bid for is only P15M.

In their petition submitted to the KED and Kalinga Congressman Manuel Agyao, the small contractor vehemently objected to the new scheme claiming it unjustly disqualifies them in the implementation of projects in the province and only favors big time contractors.

They also charged that the scheme is confiscatory in nature as it deprives small time contractors of their source of livelihood.

Meanwhile, assistant district engineer and BAC chairman George Mi-ing defended the scheme saying mat it is part of the joint effort of the DPWH - Cordillera Administrative Region to pull the region out of the bottom when it comes to performance rating of the 16 DPWH regional offices in the country.

He said that for several years now DPWH-CAR has been languishing at the bottom and that the dismal performance of the KED is one of the factors contributing to the situation.

To drive home his point, Mi-ing informed that as of press time, there are still projects for 2007 in the KED which have not been completed negatively affecting the standing of the engineering district.

"We see clustering as one means of expediting the implementation of projects," Mi-ing told the media.

BAG vice chairman Andrew Choycawen claimed that from the KED's experience, under the old procedures, small contractors which lack equipment and are not financially capable have been able to contract projects resulting to delays in the implementation of the projects as well as in low quality of the output.

The two BAC officials denied that the new system of engaging the services of contractors is unfair to small contractors because they could always partner with big contractor or cluster among themselves in order to qualify to participate in the bidding.

One of the signatories of the petition of the small contactors who does not want to be named reacted that the KED should not generalize the performance of small contractors. He also asked that if it's the performance of the small contractors which really prompted the decision to cluster, how come the KED is allowing the same local contractors to enter into joint ventures with big time contractors or to cluster among themselves.

"In a joint venture between a small local contractor and outside big contractor, it is likely that the small contractor will do the job just the same because you cannot expect outside contractors to come work in the province. There is also the possibility of management problems which could lead to delays in the work," the contractor said.

The contractor said that if the intent of the KED is to prevent unqualified contractors from obtaining projects from the district, then there is always the post evaluation process where they could be weeded out.

The contractor suspects that the improvement of the performance of the district may not really be the real objective of the new scheme.

"With so many contractors in the province and so little infrastructure funds coming to the district, there is not enough work to go around," the contractor said adding that only seven local contractors benefit from the new system. ** By Estanislao Albano Jr.