NI DINO BALABO

NORZAGARAY, Bulacan — Kung ipasa-sara ay maisasara dahil abot iyan ngkapangyarihan ng alkalde.

Ito ang buod ngmensahe ni Provin-cial AdministratorPearly Mendoza hing-gil sa inirereklamongsunugan ng gulongna patuloy na nagsa-sagawa ng operasyonsa bayang ito kahitwalang kaukulangMayor’s permit

Ngunit ayon kayMayor Feliciano Le-gazpi, hindi niya mai-pasara ang planta ngMeng Hong Tradingna matatagpuan saSitio Diliman, Baran-gay Partida, Norzaga-ray dahil hindi paniya natatanggap ang

kopya ng Notice ofViolation (NOV) naipinalabas ng EMBnoong Hulyo 11, namagiging batayanniya para sa legal napagpapasara ng nasa-bing planta.

Nilinaw ni Mendo-za na may kapangya-rihan ang mga alkaldena magpasara ng mgaestablisimyentongang operasyon aynakakaapekto sa ka-lusugan ng kanilangmga kababayan dahilkabilang iyon sa res-ponsibilidad bilangisang lingkod bayan.

sundan sa pahina 7

NI DINO BALABO

NORZAGARAY, Bulacan — Kung ipasa-sara ay maisasara dahil abot iyan ngkapangyarihan ng alkalde.

Ito ang buod ngmensahe ni Provin-cial AdministratorPearly Mendoza hing-gil sa inirereklamongsunugan ng gulongna patuloy na nagsa-sagawa ng operasyonsa bayang ito kahitwalang kaukulangMayor’s permit

Ngunit ayon kayMayor Feliciano Le-gazpi, hindi niya mai-pasara ang planta ngMeng Hong Tradingna matatagpuan saSitio Diliman, Baran-gay Partida, Norzaga-ray dahil hindi paniya natatanggap ang

kopya ng Notice ofViolation (NOV) naipinalabas ng EMBnoong Hulyo 11, namagiging batayanniya para sa legal napagpapasara ng nasa-bing planta.

Nilinaw ni Mendo-za na may kapangya-rihan ang mga alkaldena magpasara ng mgaestablisimyentongang operasyon aynakakaapekto sa ka-lusugan ng kanilangmga kababayan dahilkabilang iyon sa res-ponsibilidad bilangisang lingkod bayan.

sundan sa pahina 7

PCIJ Special Report

Pagcor moneymachine: Whospends what,and how?

page 5

PPICommunityPress Awards

•Best EditedWeekly2003 and 2007

•Best in Photojournalism1998 and 2005 ISSN–1655-3853 • HULYO 18 – 24, 2008 • VOL. 29, NO. 29 • 10 PAHINA • P10.00

MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

KAHIT WALANG MAYOR’S PERMIT

Di pa naisasara ang plantana nagsusunog ng gulong

DI PABOR SA 30% DISCOUNT

9 sa 10 Bulakenyo ayawsa pagsasapera ng IRA

$283-Mpondo ngNorthRailhawak pang Tsina

HAGONOY, Bulacan — Ha-wak pa ng China Export-Import (Cexim) Bank angnalalabing $283 milyon nainutang ng Pilipinas saTsina para sa pagpapagawang naantalang 32.2 kilo-metrong proyektong North-Rail na mag-uugnay sa mgalungsod ng Caloocan MetroManila at Malolos Bulacan.

Ayon kay Edgardo Pa-mintuan, ang bagong pa-ngulo at Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) ng NorthLuzon Railways Corpora-tion (NLRC), hawak pa ngCexim Bank ang $283 mil-yon na nalalabi sa $403milyon kabuoang inutangng Pilipinas sa Tsina noong2004 para sa NorthRail.

“Nasa kanila pa yungpera,” ani Pamintuan saMabuhay nang siya aymakapanayam sa bayangito noong Hulyo 18 kungkailan ay kasama siyangbumisita ni Pangulong Glo-ria Macapagal Arroyo upangmamahagi ng tulong sa mgaresidente ng Hagonoy nanaapektuhan ng nagdaangbagyong Frank.

Nilinaw ni Pamintuan saMabuhay na ang naglabas

sundan sa pahina 7

LUNGSOD NG MALOLOS— Hindi bababa sa 40 silid-aralan ang maipagagawa saP20 milyon.

P20 milyon ang ipina-diskuwento ng mayorya saSangguniang Panglalawi-gan (S.P.) nang kanilangapurahin noong Hunyo 27ang pagsasapera ng kabu-oang P66-milyong karagda-gang Internal Revenue Al-lotment (IRA) na di natang-gap ng pamahalaang pang-lalawigan noong 2001 at2004.

Ang pagpapadiskuwentong P20 milyon o 30 porsi-yento ng kabuoang karag-dagang P66-milyon IRA ayisa sa mga pamamaraangipinayo ng pamahalaang

nasyunal sa mga pamaha-laang lokal upang makuhaang nasabing salapi, na ti-nutulan naman ng minoryasa S.P.

Ang nasabing apurahangpagsasapera ng karagda-gang IRA na hindi pa nata-tanggap ng lalawigan mulasa pamahalaang nasyunalay tinututulan din ng siyamsa 10 Bulakenyong nakapa-nayam ng Mabuhay ni-tong nakaraang linggo.

Ayon kay Nemie Sabinong bayan ng Hagonoy, “Hin-di ako sang-ayon. Ang hak-bang nila ay di pabor sabayan. Masyado nilangminadali ang pagkuha ngdagdag na IRA.”

Sinabi pa niya na dapat

ay naging maingat angmayorya sa S.P. na binubuong mga kakampi at kapar-tido ni Gob. Joselito “Jon-jon” Mendoza.

“Paalala lang po, peraiyan na laan para sa taum-bayan,” sabi ni Sabino.

Bilang isang inhinyero,sinabi pa niya sa Mabuhayna hindi bababa sa 40 silid-aralan ang maipagagawa sanabanggit na P20 milyonnalugi sa Bulacan.

Gayundin ang ang pa-hayag nina Nelson Pangi-linan ng Hagonoy, ArthurLegazpi ng Norzagaray, atng mga Malolenyong sinaJoey Jequinto, Nards Go-mez, Arnold Hernandez at

sundan sa pahina 7IKE SENERES

Ka IkingReportsIKE SENERES, a for-eign service official,joins the ranks ofMabuhay columnistsstarting this week. Hisinaugural column ison Page 3.

Obet: Baka maupo naObet:Bakamauponaako; Jon-jon: Saan?ako;Jon-jon:Saan?LUNGSOD NG MALOLOS — Ipinahayag ni datingGob. Roberto “Obet” Pagdanganan na nagwagi siyasa election protest na kanyang isinampa laban kaykasalukuyang Gob. Joselito “Jon-jon” Mendoza nanagsabi naman na hindi siya mapapalitan.

Sa pakikipanayam ng Mabuhay kay Gob Obetnoong Hulyo 15, sinabi niya na maaari na siyang maupobilang gobernador ng Bulacan sa loob ng tatlongbuwan. Ngunit, ayon kay Gob. Jon-jon, hindimangyayari iyon.

“In two to three months, baka maupo na ako,” aniPagdanganan sa Mabuhay, ngunit sinabi naman niMendoza sa hiwalay na pakikipanayam ng Mabuhay:“Saan siya mauupo?”

Ayon kay Obet, hiniling na niya sa Commission onElections (Comelec) na itigil ang muling pagbilang sa4,800 presinto na kanyang iprinotesta mataposmabilang ang mga boto sa unang 3,500 presinto kungsaan ay sinabi niya na lumamang na siya ng 45,000boto kay Jon-jon.

“Pinatigil ko na, ’yung recount dahil malaki naang lamang ko,” ani ng dating punong lalawigan saMabuhay. Ngunit, sinabi rin ni Obet na nagsampa

sundan sa pahina 7

Kailangan ang NOVbago ito maipasara

HINDI MAIKUBLING USOK — Sa kabila ng makapal napunong kahoy na tumatabing, hindi pa rin maikubli angoperasyon ng Meng Hong Trading sa Sitio Diliman, Barangay

Partida, Norzagaray, Bulacan dahil sa makapal na usok ng mgagulong na sinusunog nila, ngunit hindi pa rin ito maipasara ngpamahalaang bayan ng Norzagaray. — DINO BALABO

2 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 HULYO 18 – 24, 2008

Napapanahon LINDA R. PACIS

Dalawang ‘Dangal ng Baliwag’SA isyung ito, dalawa sa mgabinigyan ng Pamahalaang Bayanng Gawad Dangal ng Baliwagnoong Buntal Festival ang amingitatampok na walang iba kundisina Engr. Ireneo S. Villangca,may-ari ng 8-Waves Waterparkand Hotel at Dr. Emiterio Tibur-cio, nagretirong Dean of Arts andSciences sa Baliwag University.

Engr. Ireneo Santos VillangcaSi Engr. Villangca ay ipinanga-

nak noong June 28, 1931, biyudona may pitong anak. Si LydiaVillangca ang kanyang butihingmaybahay na namayapa na. Angkanyang mga anak ay sina MarietaV. Evangelista, Marisol V. Bena-vides, Marcelino D. Villangca,Melinda V. Cruz, Merlita V. Rodri-guez, Florentino D. Villangca, atMananita V. Santiago.

Siya ay alumni ng Baliwag Jun-ior College (Baliwag University)kung saan siya nagtapos ng highschool noong1948.

Tinapos naman niya ang Bach-elor of Science in Civil Engineer-ing sa Mapua Institute of Tech-

Buntot Pagé PERFECTO V. RAYMUNDO

Simbahang Katoliko vs mambabatasKAPANSIN-PANSIN ang banga-yan ngayon ng Simbahang Ka-toliko at ilang mambabatas napabor sa reproductive health billkung saan sakop nito ang familyplanning.

Labag sa batas ng Diyos angnasabing bill, ayon umano saCatholic Bishops Conference ofthe Philippines (CBCP).

Maganda sana ang isinusulongna family planning dahil malakiang maitutulong nito para ma-pigilan ang paglobo ng populasyonat mababawasan ang mga magu-gutom na bata na nakatakda sa-nang iluwal mula sa sinapupunanng mga ina. Ngunit tinututulannga ito ng Simbahang Katoliko naang ibinibigay na katuwiran aylabag daw ito sa batas ng Diyos.

Naging mainit ang sagutan ngdalawang panig na magkasalungatng paniniwala at paninindigan sapambansang isyu.

Kung masusing pag-aaralan,positibo at maituturing na ma-ganda ang pagkakaroon ng pag-paplano ng pamilya. Malaki angmaitutulong nito sa mga pamilyana nabibilang sa mahihirap nawalang kakayanan na itaguyod ngmaayos ang malaking pamilya.

Sa mga lugar na nagdarahopay dapat na tutukan ang pagpa-patupad ng family planning dahildito mo makikita ang maraming

Promdi

DINO BALABO

ISANG taon na rin ang nakalipas,ngunit hanggang ngayon ay hindipa niya nabibigyan ng disiplinaang kanyang pulis na body guardna nanulak sa mga mamamahayagsa araw ng kanyang panunumpasa makasaysayang simbahan ngBarasoain noong nakaraang taon.

* * *Ang nasabing pulis na body

guard ay parang isang mantsa nanakadikit sa Bagong Bulakenyo.

Kaya naman binansagan itong“lumang bulukenyo”.

* * *Makasaysayan ang unang taon

ng Bagong Bulakenyo sa panu-nungkulan bilang punong lala-wigan ng Bulacan.

Bukod sa siya ang unang Ca-pitan Del Barrio na nahalal bilanggobernador ng lalawigan, mara-ming pangyayaring naganap —paglaganap ng rabies, pagsalantang mga biglang pagbaha sa mara-ming bayan at fish kill sa Balagtas— hanggang sa magdeklara ngstate of calamity sa lalawigan.

Ang kabanatang ito ay mata-tawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyoat ang mga Delubyo.”

* * *Ang mas malaking proble-

mang kaakibat ng mga delubyongnabanggit ay ang pagpapalabasng Provincial Pubic Affairs Office(PPAO) ng pahayag na mayroong“outbreak” ng swine flu at hogcholera sa mga babuyan sa lala-wigan.

Nasundan pa ito ng pagpapa-labas ng imbitasyon sa isang pressconference kung saan ay tatala-kayin daw ang swine flu at hogcholera “epidemic” sa Bulacan.

* * *Kasunod nito ay ang pagputok

ng balitang kabilang ang kailuganng Marilao at Meycauayan sa 30pinakamaruruming lugar samundo na tinaguriang “Dirty 30”.

Ang kabanatang ito ay mata-tawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyoat ang mga Salaulang Bulakenyo.”

* * *Hindi pa masyadong humu-

hupa ang usap-usapan sa “Dirty30” ay pumutok naman ang balita

Unang taon ng Bagong Bulakenyo

nology noong 1952 at naipasa niyaang Board Examination for CivilEngineers noon ding 1952.

Una siyang nagtrabaho sa Na-tional Irrigation Administration(Plaridel, Bulacan) mula 1952hanggang 1968 nang siya na angProvincial Irrigation Engineer.

Mula doon ay ddon naman siyanagtrabaho sa Provincial En-gineer’s Office hanggang ihirangsiya na Provincial Engineer ngBulacan.

Itinatag niya ang VillamarConstruction and DevelopmentCorporation noong 1972 na hang-gang ngayon ay patuloy niyangpinamumunuan bilang presidentat general manager.

Napili siyang OutstandingProvincial Engineer ng Bulakenyoat Metropolitan Press and Radio-TV Club of the Philippines Inc.noong 1971.

Tumanggap siya ng Presiden-tial Award mula kay PresidentFerdinand Marcos noong 1968bilang Outstanding GovernmentEmployee.

Noon namang 1975 ay hini-

rang siyang Outstanding Busi-nessman at nakamit niya angGuillermo Mendoza MemorialFoundation Award.

Dahil sa mahusay na pagkaka-gawa ng Alcala-Amulong Pump-ing Station, tumanggap siya ngCertificate of Appreciation noongMarch 24, 1983 mula sa Amulong,Cagayan.

Binigyan din siya ng Depart-ment of the Interior and LocalGovernment ng isang Plaque ofCommendation dahil natapos ni-ya ang Gamu-Lullutan-San Anto-nio Road sa Ilagan, Isabela ng ngtatlong buwan “ahead of sched-ule”. Mismong si President FidelV. Ramos ang naggawad ng para-ngal sa kanya noong Hunyo, 1996.

Marami pa siyang natanggapna mga parangal. Kabilang ditoang: 1) Dangal ng Lipi Awardgaling kay Gob. Josie Dela Cruz,Setyembre 12, 1999, Malolos,Bulacan; 2) Outstanding Alum-nus, Baliwag Colleges; 3) Out-standing Alumnus (Private Sec-tor) MIT-CE-NSE Alumni Asso-

sundan sa pahina 4

mga bata na walang muwang sanangyayari sa kanilang kapa-ligiran.

Nakaaawa ang kanilang kala-gayan: halos walang makain angmga inosenteng bata na basta nalamang iniluwal ng kanilang mgaina na hindi alam ang kanilangmagiging kinabukasan.

Ang Simbahang Katoliko natumututol umano sa pagkontrolsa pagpaparami ng pamilya aylantarang nakikipagdebate samga nagsusulong nito, ngunitwala namang nakikita ang publikosa kanila na pagtulong sa atingmga mahihirap na kababayan.

Marahil ay dapat masusingpag-aralan ang pagpaplano ngpamilya at saka na lamang mag-sabatas ng anumang magigingkapaki-pakinabang sa mga ma-hihirap na pamilya, lalong lalo nangayong panahon ng pagdarahop.

Dahil sa pag-ibigMINSAN pang napatunayan naBULAG ANG PAG-IBIG. Ito angkaganapan sa buhay nina Car-mela B. Reyes, reporter ng Phil-ippine Daily Inquirer sa Bu-lacan at dating police Capt.Samuel Estrope na isang Muslimat kasalukuyang nakapiit sa NewBilibid Prison sa Muntinlupa.

Ikinasal sina Carmela at Es-trope sa Function Hall ng NBP

ng nagkasal din kay Robin Padilla.Tumpak ang sinabi ni Fran-

cisco Balagtas na: “Pag-ibig, pagikaw ay pumasok sa puso ni-numan, hahamakin ang lahatmasunod ka lamang ...”

Naging mga ninong sa nasabingkasalan sina dating Bulacan Gob.Obet Pagdanganan at Bise Gob.Willy Sy-Alvarado.

Congratulations sa mga ba-gong kasal.

Judge Petrita Dime pumanaw na ...HINDI inaasahan ang maagangpagpanaw ni Executive JudgePetrita Dime ng Regional TrialCourt ng Bulacan. Siya ay bina-wian ng buhay sa FEU Hospitalnoong Hulyo 10, matapos na siyaay dalhin doon dahil sa na-dehy-drate siya sa kanyang tahanan saNorth Fairview sa Quezon City.

Naulila ni Judge Dime angkanyang namimighating kabiyakna si G. Romeo Dime, mga anakna sina Atty. Ronald, Rosele atRoan na isang doktor.

Tubong Burgos, Pangasinan siJudge Dime. Nagtapos siya ngabogasya sa Unibersidad ng Pili-pinas noong 1962 at ka-batch niyasi Supreme Court Chief JusticeReynato Puno.

Bago maging Executive Judgeng Bulacan, naglingkod muna si

sundan sa pahina 6

hinggil sa pagtanggap ng mgagobernador ng P500,000 sa Mala-kanyang, kung saan ay itinuro niPampanga Governor Eddie“Among Ed” Panlilio ang BagongBulakenyo na siyang nag-abot ngbrown bag na may pera sa kan-yang chief of staff.

Noong una ay itinanggi ngBagong Bulakenyo sa mga mama-mahayag na kumapanayam sakanya ang kanyang pagkaka-sangkot. Ngunit nang idiin siyani Among Ed ay umamin din siya.

Ang kabanatang ito ay mata-tawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyoat ang Brown Bag na may Kala-hating Milyong Piso.”

* * *Hindi pa doon natapos ang

usap-usapan sa “brown bag.”Sinabi ng Bagong Bulakenyo naibabalik daw niya ang nasabingsalapi, ngunit di nagtagal, sinabiniya na gagastustusin na lang niyasa pagbili ng mga halamangnamumulaklak na itatanim saharding pinasinayaan niya saharap ng kapitolyo. Hanggangngayon, wala pang naitanim nahalaman doon.

Nang tanungin siya ng mgamamamahayag, sinabi niya nagagamitin niya ang nasabing perapara sa mga barangay. Kinabu-kasan, sinabi niya ang pera aygagamiting pambili ng halamanpara sa hardin at ang iba aygagamitin sa barangay.

* * *Bago naman matapos ang

2007, umusok ang debate saSangguniang Panglalawigan (S.P.)hinggil sa proyektong BulacanBulk kung saan ang pinagtalunanng mayoryang kakampi ng BagongBulakenyo at minoryang kapa-nalig ni Bise Gob. Willy Alvaradoay kung iuurong ba o itutuloy angkaso ng Bulacan laban sa Metro-politan Waterworks and SewerageSystem (MWSS) upang pagba-yarin ang huli sa Bulacan sapaggamit nito ng tubig mula saAngat Dam.

Matapos ang mahahaba atmaiinit na debate sa mga magka-

sundan sa pahina 4

Kakampi mo ang Batas ATTY. BATAS MAURICIO

Karapatang magmana ng anak sa labasTANONG: Ano po ba ang percentng mana ng isang anak sa labas sanamatay na ama? (639202408641)

Sagot: Maraming salamat posa tanong na ito. Ayon po sa Fam-ily Code of the Philippines, angisang anak sa labas ay mayroonna ngayong karapatang magmanamula sa kanyang mga magulang.Ayon sa Art. 176 ng Family Code,ang halaga ng mamanahin ngisang anak sa labas ay kalahati ngmamanahin ng bawat lehitimonganak. Ganito ang pagkakasabi ngArt. 176: “xxx The legitime ofeach illegitimate child shall con-sist of one-half of the legitime ofa legitimate child xxx” Halim-bawa, ang mamanahin ng isanglehitimong anak ay sampung piso.Ang anak sa labas, na kapatid nglehitimong anak, ay tatanggap nglimang piso bilang kanyang mana.

Kung sakaling hindi ibibigay ngmga lehitimong anak ang dapatmamanahin ng anak sa labasbagamat ito ay kinikilala namanng magulang na pagmamanahan,maaaring magsampa ng kaso anganak sa labas upang pilitin angpagbibigay ng mana sa kanya. Sakabilang dako, kung hindi namankinikilala ng magulang ang bata,maaaring magsampa ito ng kasoupang siya ay makilala muna.

Empleyadong di nagtrabaho,walang suweldo

Tanong: Itatanong ko lang sana,Attorney Batas, kung ang isangempleyado ng contractor ay na-kuryente ON DUTY, siya ba aypatuloy na sasahod? (63915-8108360).

Sagot: Salamat po tanong na

ito. Sa ilalim ng Labor Code ofthe Philippines, ang isang em-pleyadong hindi na nagtatrabaho,sa anupamang kadahilanan, ayhindi na babayaran ng kanyangsuweldo. Sa kabilang dako, kungang dahilan ng hindi niya pagta-trabaho ay ang pagkakasakit opagkakaaksidente niya dahil sakanyang trabaho, hindi na ngasiya susuwelduhan ng kanyangkompanya pero may matatanggapnaman siyang mga pamalit mulasa Social Security System at mulasa Employees CompensationCommission. Mula sa dalawangahensiyang ito manggagaling angmga tinatawag na disability ben-efits, na siya munang pamalit sasahod na hindi makukuha ngmanggagawa habang siya ay maysakit at nagpapagaling.

sundan sa pahina 8

EDITORIALAlfredo M. Roxas, Jose Romulo Q. Pavia, JoseGerardo Q. Pavia, Joey N. Pavia , Jose Visitacion Q.Pavia, Carminia L. Pavia, Perfecto Raymundo Jr.,Dino Balabo

PRODUCTIONJose Antonio Q. Pavia, Jose Ricardo Q. Pavia,Mark F. Mata, Maricel P. Dayag

PHOTOGRAPHY / ARTEden Uy, Allan Peñaredondo, Joseph Ryan S.Pavia

BUSINESS / ADMINISTRATIONLoreto Q. Pavia, Marilyn L. Ramirez, Peñaflor Crystal,J. Victorina P. Vergara, Cecile S. Pavia, LuisFrancisco, Domingo Ungria, Harold T. Raymundo,Jennifer T. Raymundo, Rhoderick T. Raymundo

CIRCULATIONRobert T. Raymundo, Armando M. Arellano,Jess Camaro, Fred Lopez

The Mabuhay is published weekly by theMABUHAY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES —DTI Permit No. 00075266, March 6, 2006 to March6, 2011, Malolos, Bulacan.

The Mabuhay is entered as Second Class MailMatter at the San Fernando, Pampanga Post Officeon April 30, 1987 under Permit No. 490; and asThird Class Mail Matter at the Manila Central PostOffice under permit No. 1281-99-NCR dated Nov.15, 1999. ISSN 1655-3853

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MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

Jose L. PaviaPublisher/Editor

Perfecto V. RaymundoAssociate Editor

Anthony L. PaviaManaging Editor

e-mailmabuhaynews25@yahoo.com

HULYO 18 – 24, 2008 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 3

Depthnews JUAN L. MERCADO

‘Then, the fight began’

Cebu Calling FR. ROY CIMAGALA

Reading the signs of the times

Forward to Basics FR. FRANCIS B. ONGKINGCO

A story about light

Do not be deceived

Regarding Henry

HENRYLITO D. TACIO

(That’s the title of four anecdotesthat a friend told while we waitedfor our flights. Laughing, speciallyat yourself, is therapeutic, he said.Read and understand why. — JLM)

AFTER retiring, this gent wentto apply for Social Security. Thewoman, behind the counter, askedfor a driver’s license to verify hisage. The chap looked in his pock-ets, only to realize he had left itat home.

“Sorry. I’ll have to pick it upand come back,” he said.

“No need. Just unbutton yourshirt,” the clerk replied.

He did as told and revealed hischest’s silver hair.

‘That white hair is proofenough,” the clerk said, then pro-cessed his application.

When he got home, he told hiswife about the experience at theSocial Security office.

There was once a pagan King whohad a son he loved so dearly. Hewas his only joy in life, especiallyafter his wife died giving birth tothis only child. To this misfortunewas added another: his son wasborn blind. He wanted him to betruly happy and gave him every-thing you can imagine: toys, food,lessons in all sorts of disciplinesand arts.

One day the boy asked his fa-ther, “Father, what is light like?”

The King was greatly grievedbecause it was something he knewwould be next to impossible toexplain.

But he didn’t give up easily.He thought there might be somewise man in the world who could

make his son understand whatlight was.

He announced to the four cor-ners of his kingdom and beyond,that he was willing to reward be-yond rewards anyone who couldexplain to his son what light was.

In no time his palace was over-flowing with wise men from allover. There were fat ones, thinones, tall and handsome ones,short and rugged ones, and manymore that would be too long todescribe. When they learned thatthe boy was blind, they exclaimedthat this was impossible. TheKing was asking for a somethingridiculous.

Others, however, attempted tomake the boy grasp what light

I USUALLY don’t open e-mailssent to me by someone whom Ireally don’t know. But there wasone I opened recently because itasked for my help. “I have writ-ten an earlier mail to you but noresponse,” so goes the message.But hey, I never received previousmail from this guy before.

“In my first mail I mentionedto you about my late client whodeposited some fund with a fi-nance company here in UnitedKingdom before he died in April2003,” the sender explains. “Hebears the same surname withyou.”

That’s interesting. I neverknew a relative, for that matteranyone, living in Europe, excepta friend.

“Since his death, I have re-ceived several letters from thesaid finance company to providehis next of kin or any of his rela-tives who can make claim to thefunds before the end of the yearor the company will be left withno option than to confiscate theconsignment and turn the moneyback to the state,” the messagegoes on. “As it has been markedunclaimed for four years, I haveconducted my personal search tosee if I can make contact with anyof his relatives but without suc-cess. It is in the course of my ef-fort that I came to contact you.”

Now, how did he learn aboutme, I really don’t have any idea.

The sender argues, “I haveclosely checked and since you bearthe same surname with my de-ceased client it will be better topresent you as the next of kin andthe right beneficiary of the fundsin the account.”

At the end of his message, hereiterates, “Do respond quick ifyou are interested or should youneed further clarification becausewe have no much time left.”

If I had responded to him, I

THIS task already had its trickyparts since time immemorial. Butcompared to present conditions,the past was rather a very simpleand easy task to carry out.

Given the multiplying forcesand influences that go into ourcurrent culture, reading the signsof the times has become a formi-dable task that approaches thelevel of a nightmare.

And precisely because of ourcomplex, intricate and puzzlingworld, this task has become morenecessary. We need to stay awayfrom the grip of ignorance, confu-sion, error, the ingredients of per-dition.

Still, not everything is lost andbeyond hope. The amount of in-formation, given our ever-devel-oping technologies, is not onlymassive and profound but is alsomuch easier to access now.

Besides, we are never lackingof people with great potentials toeffectively undertake this deli-cate task. We just need to discoverthem and inspire them.

What we needed at present isthe discipline to have an abidingconcern to read the signs of thetimes. This is no simple thing, sinceit’s not just a matter of attitude,habits and skills, though they fig-ure prominently in this task.

Yes, we need to learn how tocollect data, compare notes, dia-logue with different parties, con-sult experts, study, reflect, makeconclusions and plan, etc., but allthese are not enough.

Rather, this discipline in theend depends on our living contactand relationship with what we

She snapped: ‘You should havedropped your pants. You mighthave gotten disability, too’

And then the fight began. …At this high school reunion,

this man kept staring at a drunkenlady swigging her drink as she satalone at a nearby table.

Her interest piqued, his wifeasked: “Do you know her?”

“Yes,” the husband said with adeep sigh, “She’s my old girlfriend.I understand she took to drink-ing right after we split up thosemany years ago. And I hear shehasn’t been sober since.”

“Good heavens,” says the wife,“Who’d think a person could goon celebrating that long?”

And then, the fight began. …Now, this gent rear-ended a car

in the morning rush hour. So,there they were, alongside theroad as other cars inched past theirsquashed vehicles. And then, the

driver of the other car got out.“Sometimes, you just get soooo

stressed and little things seemfunny?, he explained. “Believe itor not. The driver coming towardsme was a dwarf. He stormed overto my car, looked up at me, andshouted: ‘I am not happy.’ So, Ilooked down at him and asked:‘Well, then which one of the sevendwarfs are you?’”

And then, the fight began. …This lady looks looks long and

hard in the bedroom mirror. Sheis not happy with what she sees.

“I feel horrible,” she tells thehusband who is reading the news-papers. “I look old, fat and ugly. Ireally need you to pay me a com-pliment.”

“Your eyesight’s damn nearperfect,” the husband says with-out looking up.

And then, the fight began. … continued on page 6

consider as our God, what we re-gard as our ultimate source of lightand understanding.

This is where the main prob-lem comes. Many of us still relyalmost exclusively on our owndevices, our own natural endow-ments. Many still have not man-aged to link our best resourceswith an objective and transcen-dent God.

Instead, many of us still feelour high intelligence, our clever-ness, our increasing scientific ex-pertise are enough. It is as if thesecan be equivalent to God. Thus,we fail to realize that our sophis-tication can turn into naivete.

Remember St. Paul saying:“The foolish things of the worldhas God chosen, that he may con-found the wise. The weak thingsof the world has God chosen, thathe may confound the strong.”(1 Cor 1,27)

Many of us still don’t realizethat this objective and transcen-dent God, completely supernatu-ral to us, makes himself accessibleto us in ways that are revealed aswell as established by him, withour cooperation.

There are the doctrines, thesacraments, the Church, etc. thatcan truly connect us with this liv-ing God. What’s needed is thatwe have the necessary disposi-tions, and from there, the appro-priate practices and virtues, tokeep this bond alive and abiding.

With these prerequisites, we canaspire to read the signs of the times.We can penetrate the externals andappearances, expose the ethos ani-mating our society, and monitor its

development — from gestation to ma-turity and decay.

With these prerequisites, wecan have the needed criteria forjudgment, and keep distance fromshallow and narrow perceptions.We would have a running accountof how things are evolving in thedifferent areas.

We have to acquire the exper-tise of identifying the significantelements of our current culture,and to articulate what is good andbad in them, what is right andwrong. Only then can we attemptto come up with the appropriateremedies. And I believe that therealways are cures for our problems.

These days, for example, thePope has warned us about the dan-gers of relativism, both in beliefand in morals. We need to be fa-miliar with its nature, ways andmanifestations.

There are other disturbingisms affecting us today, like indi-vidualism, hedonism, positivism,etc. We need to know them andsee how they are affecting us.

From there, we can try toclarify matters, pointing out theirlack of basis, their inherent con-tradictions, and the unavoidabledead ends that they lead to. Ofcourse, we have to do all this withutmost charity, shunning unnec-essary frictions with other people.

We have to outgrow whateverhesitation we may have with re-spect to this responsibility. Some-times, we think this is too cere-bral, too abstract and not rel-evant, since its need and effectsare often not directly felt.

— roycimagala@hotmail.com

was like. Some made him feel theheat from a burning torch, othersmade him hear the explosion fromfirecrackers, and a few gifted onesperformed incredible magictricks with lights and mysteriouscolor effects.

But after all these, the boysadly confided to his father, theKing. “Father, I can hear thebooms and smell the fumes, butI’m afraid I will never know whatlight is.” And they both cried indespair.

One day, just as the last wiseman left the castle, a stranger ar-rived. The guards asked what hewanted, he said, “I am going tomake the King’s son see light!”

continued on page 4

would have been a millionaire bynow. The deceased person report-edly left some US$15 million andthe man who sent me the mes-sage said we will “provide youwith all the necessary legal back-ing that is required until thismoney is paid out to you.”

However, he wants “a sharebased on our agreement.”

Remember the famous line,“There’s a sucker born everyminute.” This phrase is oftencredited to American showmanP.T. Barnum. It is generally takento mean there are (and always willbe) a lot of gullible people in theworld.

Perhaps the first recorded gull-ible person was the first womanherself, Eve. God told Adam andEve not to eat the fruit “from thetree that is in the middle of thegarden” of Eden. While Adam wassleeping, the crafty serpent toldEve that she “will surely die.”The serpent explained, “For Godknows that when you eat of it youreyes will be opened, and you willbe like God, knowing good andevil.”

The temptation was too strongfor her. After all, the fruit was“good for food and pleasing to theeye, and also desirable for gain-ing wisdom.” So, she took someand ate it. She also gave some toAdam. The rest is now history.

“O woman, born first to be-lieve us,” American poet and jour-nalist Joaquin Miller writes.“Yea, also born first to forget, bornfirst to betray and deceive us, yetfirst to repent and regret.”

Nobel Prize winner AlbertCamus contends, “We always de-ceive ourselves twice about thepeople we love — first to theiradvantage, then to their disadvan-tage.”

“Human beings will continueto deceive and overpower one an-

continued on page 6

Ka Iking Reports

IKE SENERES

DEAR Casimanua, Today is thefirst day of the rest of your life.This is the day you will have todecide what you can do to helpbuild your nation. You hear ev-eryone talk about national devel-opment, but very few people seemto be talking about nation build-ing. As I see it, we have to buildour nation first before we coulddevelop it, given the definition ofwhat a nation ought to be.

By definition, a sovereign na-tion is supposed to be composedof one people, one territory andone government. The latter twoappears to be easy and are alreadygiven, but it seems that there ismuch to be done for us to becomeone people. To begin with, we arenot yet a tightly knit people witha common culture, a common defi-nition of what a people is. Build anation first, and then developwhat has been built. Strictlyspeaking, however, these two arenot mutually exclusive, meaningto say that we could do these twotogether hand in hand, like bodyand soul. I should say soul andbody, because it is the nation thatshould be the soul of a nationalbody.

Are you my Casimanua? Youare, if you are a Filipino or if youare a child of Filipino parents orgrandparents, regardless of whomyou are or where you are now. Inold usage, a Casimanua is a townmate from your own “bayan”.

In these modern times how-ever, we could just freely use theterm to refer to our compatriots,in the same way that we use“kababayan”.

Can you do something to helpin nation building? Everyone can,and we could all find our ownplaces in this noble exercise. Ihave found my place, and I amsure that you could find yours. Itis now my place to help those whoare doing something, whatever itis, to build our nation, and to telleveryone about it, using the massmedia.

You do not have to go very farto help build your nation. All youhave to do is to help build yourown village. Like pieces of a giantjigsaw puzzle, we could build ournation by building its smallercomponent parts, starting withyour barangay which is the small-est unit of government in ourcountry.

Amidst the bad news that tellsus about the negative side of ourcountry, there is good news aboutorganizations and agencies thatare working to build our nation.The problem is their efforts arenot woven together in a commonloom, and there is no sustainedeffort to tell everyone about theirgood deeds.

One way to bring about atightly knit people is to makethem work together towards a

continued on page 4

Letter to my country mates

4 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 HULYO 18 – 24, 2008

Buhay Pinoy

MANDY CENTENO

Bulakenyong May “K”... OkeyTinatampok ngayon programa ng buwanPawang nauukol sa may kapansananTangi na proyektong pagkalingang tunayKapus kapalaran na mga nilalang.

Hulyo ikapito nasabing programaSa Lupang Hinirang tugtog kakaibaNg AKAPIN Angklung Ensemble na ibaMayro’ng kapansanan mga miyembro nila.

Pagkat bingi’t pipi ang tumugtog ditoPati ang palakpak kakaiba itoAla Sandara Park mga kamay nitoWinawagayway lang paghangang totoo.

P.S.W.D. ang tanging tanggapanSi Gng. Weng Tiongson pinamumunuanSila’ng nagtaguyod programang ’sang buwanPawang nauukol sa may kapansanan.

Nang magsalita si Gob. Jon-jon MendozaAng binanggit niya’y pagpapahalagaSa may kapansanan tunay na uubraMakapagtrabaho sa mga kumpanya.

“Business establishment” dito sa BulacanAy hiniling niya dito’y pag-ukulanGawing empleyado ang may kapansananKung kwalipikado sa inaaplayan.

Kung maaari pa ay limang porsiyentoSa mga tauhan may “K” ang mapuestoBasta’t kaya nila hangad na trabahoMatutulungan pa ang pamilya nito.

Punong Lalawigan ay nag-atas namanNa sa HRMO ang may kapansananKahit na lumampas “thirty-five” ang gulangKung sila’y “qualified” okey sa tanggapan.

P.S.W.D.O. may “livelihood training”Na sa mga may “K” ang tanging layuninMatutong gumawa, trabaho ay kamtinNauukol naman sa “family living”.

Gng. Norman Luarca, Assistant Dept. HeadSa “livelihood training” daming makakamitGawa ng “Powder Soap” ng “Dishwashing Liquid”Veggie Meat, Betadine, Acapulco Ointment.

Ang makakatapos ay may katibayanPuedeng magtrabaho at “qualified” namanAt matutugunan itong kasabihan“Pahalagahan ang kakayahan ’di ang kapansanan.”

Gob. Jon-jon Mendoza may tanging layuninAng may kapansanan ay ating lingapinMay papel din sila sa lipunan natinBulakenyong may “K” ay palaging okey.

ciation (October 30, 1997); 4) GrandKnight (St. Augustine Council 4317(1982-1985) at Past-Faithful Naviga-tor, Biak na Bato Assembly.Siya ngayon ay isang matagumpay nanegosyante na may-ari ng 8-WavesWaterpark and Hotel, Gateway toHeaven Memorial Park at iba pangmalalaking negosyo.

Dr. Emiterio TiburcioSi Dr. Emiterio Tiburcio ay masa-

sabing nag-ukol ng kanyang buongbuhay sa larangan ng edukasyon.Nagsimula siyang magturo sa edad na25 taong gulang at tuloy-tuloy nangumikot ang kanyang buhay sa pa-aralan, sa mga estudyante, sa lessonplan at sa iba’t ibang aspeto ngedukasyon.

Kaya’t alam niya ang tamang kon-septo ng epektibong edukasyon gayang sumusunod:

“Kailangan ang nagtuturo ay alam’yong kanyang itinuturo upang dimag-aksaya ng panahon.

“Ang kanyang ituturo ay dapat’yong magagamit at pakikinabanganng mga bata.

“Huwag mag-aksaya ng panahon.Maiiwanan tayo ng edukasyon ngibang bansa lalo na sa mga bagongteknolohiya.”

“Karamihan sa mga estudyante ayayaw mag-aral ng mabuti, di seryosoat gusto lamang ay mag-laro.”

Si Dr. Tiburcio ay nagtapos ng Doc-tor of Education sa Centro EscolarUniversity, Manila; Master of Arts inEducation sa University of the East;Bachelor of Education sa NationalTeachers College. Mayroon din siyangCertificate in Secreterial Science sa

BJC (Baliwag University) with high-est honors at nagtapos ng High School(valedictorian) sa BJC at elementarysa Baliwag Elementary School (vale-dictorian).

Noong 1955, pinarangalan siyangOutstanding Student of the Year ngMunicipality of Baliwag dahil sakanyang high school at college educa-tion bilang consistent scholar.

Siyempre, nang nagturo siya ayhumawak ng iba’t ibang katungkulansa larangan ng edukasyon gaya ng: 1)High School Math and PhysicsTeacher, Baliwag Colleges; 2) Gradu-ate School & College Professor,Baliwag University; 3) Registrar,Bulacan Community College, SanRafael; 4) Acting Elementary, HighSchool Principal, Bulacan CommunityCollege, San Rafael; 5) Principal,High School Evening Department,Baliwag Colleges: 6) Admission Direc-tor, Baliwag University (1980-1986);7) OIC- Principal, High School De-partment, Baliwag Colleges (1986-1987); 8) Asst. Vice President, Ba-liwag University (1986-1989); 9) VicePresident for Academic Affairs,Baliwag University (1989-2003); 10)Dean, College of Arts & Science,Baliwag University, (May 2003-April2008).

Marami siyang hinahawakangkatungkulan di lang sa kanyangpropesyon sa edukasyon kundi pati nasa mga religious at civic organization.

Ilan sa mga ito ang mga sumu-sunod:

Vice-Chairman, Screening Com-mittee, Search for Outstanding Ad-ministrators, Teachers and Supervi-sors (BOATS), 1990-1993; Director,

Asosasyon sa Pilipinas ng mga Co-lehiyo ng Agham at Sining (APCAS),2006-present; Treasurer, Asosasyon saPilipinas ng mga Colehiyo at Sining,2008-2010; Director, Philippine As-sociation for Graduate Education Re-gion III, 2002-2004; President, Asso-ciation of Philippines Colleges of Artsand Science, Region III, 2007-present; Board Member and Trea-surer, Philippine Association forTeacher Education, National, 1996-2000;

President,Bulacan Private SchoolsAssociation, 1979-1992; Vice-Presi-dent, Baliwag University Alumni As-sociation; Vice-President, BaliwagHistorical Society, 1999-present;Chairman, St. Augustine Parish Pas-toral Council Commission on Media,1989-present; President, Parish of St.Augustine Integral Human Develop-ment Foundation, Inc., 2007-present;Grand Knight, KC St. Augustine Coun-cil No. 4317, CY 2001-2002.

Manunulat din siya at kumatha ngmga aklat, lyrico ng mga kanta at edi-tor ng mga lathalain katulad ng Mea-surement and Evaluation, 2003; IsangDekada ng Pagsunod sa Iyo, 1998;Research Made Easy, 1997; EducationPsychology, 1995.

Sinulat din niya ang titik ng Imnong Pamantasang Baliwag at Martsang Pamantasang Baliwag.

Research leader siya ng Oral Lit-erature, Beliefs and Practices ofBaliuaguenos Related to the Dead.Contributing writer siya ng BaliwagCoffeetable Book, 2008; at editor ngMga Mahal na Araw coffeetable book,2000; at Ang Batingaw, St. August-ine Parish Newsletter, 1998-present.

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Forward to Basics from page 3

In reply the guards laughed himto scorn.

But the man continued into thepalace. He was greeted by the King’sassistant and was presented to theKing. The King, who was already tiredwith all the futile attempts of so manysaid, “What do you propose to do,where many others before you havetried and failed in vain?”

The man said, I am here to makeyour son see light! All you have to dois follow my instructions.”

“What are they?” the King askedquite impressed with the man’s con-fidence.

“Build a pavilion where your sonand I can live in for three days.”

“How is this supposed to make himsee light?” the King asked.

The man did not say anything, hesimply continued, “And it must bebuilt in such a way that not the small-est ray of light can enter the pavilion.

The King jumped from his throne,“This is madness!” he cried out.“Where did one ever teach another tosee light within darkness?”

He was about to have the man sentaway, but his son who was listeningattentively said, “ Father,” he pleaded,“would it hurt to at least try? Besides,if after this nothing happens then Iwill forever resign myself to my blindfate. I can make that pavilion myhome and my tomb.”

The King was grieved at this butrealized that the boy was right. Therewas nothing to lose. He had the pavil-ion built like the man said. The wallshad no windows and they werepainted with thick tar. The man alsosaid that they had to put only enoughfood, drink and clothing for exactlythree days. Once they entered, no onewas allowed to stay close to the houseto find out what was going on inside.

When the pavilion was finished, theKing’s son and the man entered. Andto make sure no one would come closeto the building, soldiers guarded thestructure.

As the first day ended, the Kingwas suddenly filled by an unknownfear. How could he let his son go offalone with a stranger? His worseimaginations began to haunt him.“The man may be a monster whowould eat up my son and disappear!”

When the second day began, theKing strolled around the sealed pa-vilion. But he didn’t dare get anycloser since he wanted to keep hisword. But his fears continued tomount.

On the third day he was at thebrink of giving up. He could no longerstand not seeing his son, and muchless to be hidden by a stranger. Hetried asking his guards if they heardanything. Their negative reply onlymade him more anxious. “Was his

beloved son still alive?”Suddenly a strong thunder like

sound filled the whole place. A strongexplosion of light penetrated the tarpaint from everywhere inside the pa-vilion. The King and his guards weredazzled and fell to the ground.

When the light disappeared, heheard his son’s Familiar voice, “Fa-ther, father! I can see! I can see! I nowknow what light is like!”

The King was overjoyed and em-braced his son who was no longerblind. The King asked, “Where is theman who made you see, my son?”

The boy answered, “I do not know,but on the third day, he told me hisname and he became a bright lightbefore me and I realized that I couldsee!”

The King asked, “What was hisname?”

The boy replied, “He said he wasJesus.”

* * *Even though it seems impossible

to describe what light is to someoneblind, what is sweetness is to a manwho cannot taste, or a symphony toone who is deaf, it is more impossibleto grasp and share the mysteries Godhas revealed to us through Christ:that we are sons of God, who are calledto be holy in His presence and to livein communion with His love forever.“Lord, that we may see!”

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Napapanahon mula sa pahina 2

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Promdi mula sa pahina 2

kasunod na sesyon, namayani angmayorya sa S.P. Napagtibay ang isangresolusyon na nagbigay kapang-yarihan sa Bagong Bulakenyo nalumagda sa isang kasunduan saMWSS kung saan ang isa sa mgakundisyon ay iuurong ang kaso labansa MWSS.

Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawagna “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at Pagsu-suko ng Kaso Laban sa MWSS.”

* * *Sunod-sunod naman ang insi-

denteng naitala at naiuulat hinggil sapag-abuso sa kalikasan sa pagpasokng taon. Sa Norzagaray, nahuli angisang trak na nagtatapon ng toxicwaste sa palaisdaan. Nagkaroon ng“fishkill” sa Meycauayan, at muli aysa Balagtas. Muli ring may nagpataponng “hazardous waste” sa ilog ngMarilao. Bukod dito, halos wala paring pamahalaang lokal sa lalawiganna nakakasunod sa batas hinggil sapagsisinop ng basura, samantalangtikom ang bibig ng Kapitolyo sa gusotsa minahan sa DRT.

Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawagna “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at angPang-aabuso sa Kalikasan ng Bula-can.”

* * *

Muli namang umusok ang debatesa Sangguniang Panglalawigan nitongHunyo hinggil sa pagsasapera ngkaragdagang IRA na di natanggap ngKapitolyo noong 2001 at 2004 nanagkakahalaga ng ng P66 milyon.Inapura ito ng mayoryang kakamping Bagong Bulakenyo kaya’t nalugiang Bulacan ng P20 milyon, dahil sapinatulan nila ang alok ng bangko naibibigay sa kanila ang nasabing IRAna may 30 porsiyentong diskwento.

Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawagna “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at angPagkalugi ng Bulacan sa ApurahangPagsasapera ng Karagdagang IRA.”

* * *Muli namang nabuhay ang usapin

sa Bulacan Bulk nang katigan ng Courtof Appeals ang naunang desisyon ngRegional Trial Court na pagbayarinang MWSS sa Bulacan sa paggamitnito ng tubig sa Angat Dam. Ito angkasong ipinauurong ng mayoryangkakampi ng Bagong Bulakenyo saSangguniang Panglalawigan, upangmakalagda ang Bagong Bulakenyo sakasunduan sa MWSS.

Ang planong pag-uurong sa kasolaban sa MWSS ay hindi naisampa saCourt of Appeals at ito ay inabutan ngpaglalabas ng desisyon noong Mayo 30.

Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawagna “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at angNaunsyaming Pag-uurong sa KasoLaban sa MWSS.”

* * *Bukod naman sa mga unos na

naitala sa unang taon sa panunung-kulan ng Bagong Bulakenyo, may mganagawa rin naman siya.

Ilan dito ay ang pagpapasinaya sahardin sa harap ng kapitolyo na hindipa rin natataniman ng ipinangakonghalamang namumulaklak, at angpagpapasinaya sa bagong tayongBulacan Medical Center na nagka-kahalaga ng P248 milyon ngunitmahigit P100 milyon nito ay inutangsa bangko, samantalang ang kabuoangbadyet ng Kapitolyo sa taong ito ayP2.038 bilyon.

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Ka Iking Reports from page 3

common goal. To work together in nation building is there-fore like doing two things at the same time, because wecould bond as we build. What is important is for us toweave our efforts in a common loom, bringing togetherthe individual threads of our personal talents until wecould produce beautiful fabrics with which we could makebeautiful clothes.

One way to build a nation is to strengthen its institu-tions and infrastructures. This is not a difficult and dis-tant goal for us. Other nations have reached the moon andMars, and we do not even have to do that. To be able tostart with a peaceful spirit, however, let us leave behindour criticisms about how bad our situation is. Let us thinkahead with a positive attitude, in a way putting our com-plaints in silent mode.

Like a field of dreams, you could get together withyour village mates to build your own local institutionsand infrastructures, and the help from elsewhere willcome. With a peaceful spirit and a positive attitude, itwould be easy to dream about building your nation bybuilding your village first, until one day you will wake upto see your dream come true.

What is the best way to start? If you promise me thatyou will bring together two or three of your own villagemates for all of you to start working together, I will prom-ise you that I will bring together the organizations andagencies that could work together with you in buildingyour village.

Choose what you like to do, but always make sure thatit is either institution based or infrastructure based. WhatI mean by institutions are the local units or counterpartsof national institutions right where you are, or right whereyou come from, if you are already abroad. Whoever you areand wherever you are, as long as you are my Casimanua, Iwill help you, for as long as you will commit yourself tohelping your own nation by helping your own village.

Email me at iseneres@yahoo.com or text me at+639293605140. Watch my TV show “Ka Iking Live”every Friday from 9:30 to 10:30 PM in Destiny CableChannel 3 (Windows Media Player MMS://202.128.41.99/gnn). Read my column “Ka Iking Reports” published by24 local newspapers nationwide. Visit my website http://intercharity.blogs.friendster.com. Form your ownIntercharity Circle and let us build our Nation as onepeople.

artangelprintshop

(0632) 912-4852 (0632) 912-5706

HULYO 11 – 17, 2008 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 5

PCIJ SPECIAL REPORT

Pagcor money machine: Who spends what, and how?

BY MALOU MANGAHAS

AND TITA C. VALDERAMA

PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM

Last of Two PartsGLORIA Macapagal Arroyo will godown in Philippine history as thepresident who made gambling thethird biggest source of governmentrevenues, after taxes and customsduties.

Under her watch over the lastseven years, the Philippine Amuse-ment and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) hasgrown into a humongous money — andpower — machine. The gross revenuesof the monopolistic state gamblingagency more than doubled from P13billion in 2001 to P26.83 billion in2007, for an average annual growth of18 percent.

This falls behind only the tax col-lections of P712.09 billion by theBureau of Internal Revenue (BIR),and the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC)collections of P210.5 billion in 2007.

On parallel track, the President’sSocial Fund (PSF) that serves asArroyo’s fat political purse has re-corded a steeper climb. Funded fromMalacañang’s shares in Pagcor’s rev-enues, the PSF increased nearly 50percent from P1.03 billion in 2006 toP1.42 billion in 2007.

That may increase some moreshould Pagcor’s latest venture, the$20-billion Tourism City that willrise on reclaimed land along ManilaBay, succeed. Pagcor’s “terms of refer-ence” for the project boasts that Tour-ism City “could triple the annual in-come generation of Pagcor from $500million to $1.5 billion, thus dramati-cally increasing the income of theNational Government to whom allPagcor revenues accrue.” (See sidebar.)

In a recent interview with the PCIJ,Pagcor Senior Vice President Rene C.Figueroa qualified that “the govern-ment will have more money, notPagcor,” on account of Tourism City.

Who spends and how?But the Palace and Pagcor may

have some serious explaining to doregarding the latter’s ever-increasingbillions. The questions they need toanswer include where Pagcor’s moneygoes, who spends it and how, and whythe Commission on Audit (COA) andthe BIR say Pagcor is not paying taxescorrectly and fully.

Pagcor President Rafael “Butch”Francisco, who also spoke with PCIJlast week, did say that of the agency’sgross earnings, 65 percent representsthe government’s shares, franchisetax, and the PSF. This portion, he said,is automatically deducted from whatPagcor earns.

The 35 percent balance of Pagcor’sgross revenues goes to operating ex-penses, as well as into a so-called“community services fund” and allo-cations for various “confidential, in-telligence, extraordinary and miscel-laneous expenses,” and “subsidies anddonations,” he added.

If the PSF runs dry, or a calamityor disaster strikes, Francisco said,Pagcor draws additional amountsfrom its “community service fund.”

But he admitted that for most ofthese funds, liquidation reports arenot submitted to explain howMalacañang and the other agenciesspend the amounts. Sometimes, hesaid, President Arroyo makes re-quests for donations, even beforePagcor could raise the money for these.

“Actually, minsan the Office of thePresident, (says) paki-donate namandito. Ibig sabihin, hindi pa kumpleto’yung ano (collections) namin, naka-earmark na (Actually, sometimes theOffice of the President says, pleasedonate for this thing. That means eventhough we haven’t completed our col-lection, the money’s already ear-marked),” Francisco said. “Kungminsan, nakikita namin kung saannapupunta, ’yung iba hindi na naminnakikita na (Sometimes we see whereit’s going, but the others we don’t).”

Pagcor has 12,000 employees butin 2007 the agency reported operat-ing expenses of P11.03 billion, upfrom P10.73 billion in 2006 . Monthon month, Pagcor’s operations billamounts to P919 million on average,or about P30 million daily.

Unfortunately, the law is largelysilent about how Pagcor, Malacañang,and other state agencies must accountfor how they spend Pagcor’s money.But laws do specify where Pagcor’sbillions should go: to the national gov-ernment through dividends and taxes,other state agencies, and yes, the PSF.

Half of Pagcor’s gross earnings, infact, are to go to the national govern-ment. It must also pay five percent ofgross earnings as franchise tax.

Other laws mandate Pagcor to setaside portions of its net earnings tothe Philippine Sports Commission,host cities, and other governmentfunds, including the Early ChildhoodCare and Development Fund, Gaso-line Station Training and Loan Fund,Barangay Micro Business Enterprises,National Endowment Fund for Chil-dren’s Television, and other “man-dated contributions.”

But the 2006 COA report on Pag-cor reveals that Pagcor has not remit-ted to these smaller governmentfunds a cumulative total of P719.77million.

Winnings vs earningsOpposition Senator Francis Escu-

dero has taken Pagcor to task for com-puting its franchise tax against “win-nings” and not against gross earnings.Based on its P22-billion “winnings”in 2007, Pagcor paid only P1.1 billionin franchise tax.

Escudero said Pagcor should havepaid P1.34 billion, or P243 millionmore, based on its gross earnings ofP26.85 billion last year.

The BIR, for its part, has insistedthat the reformed Value-Added Taxlaw should apply and that Pagcor, acorporation, must pay 35-percent cor-porate tax, in lieu of a franchise tax.

Pagcor has filed a suit with the Su-preme Court to contest the BIR’s po-sition.

Then there is Pagcor’s refusal topay dividends to the national govern-ment, equivalent to half of its net in-come after taxes. Pagcor has arguedthat it should be exempted from pay-ing dividends, on account of its fran-chise tax burden, and that everymonth of its operations supposedlystarts with zero net earnings, andtherefore it has nothing to remit.

Both arguments have been de-bunked by COA, citing a Departmentof Justice (DOJ) opinion that its pay-ment of franchise taxes does not ex-empt Pagcor from paying dividends.

COA has refuted Pagcor’s claim ofhaving nothing to remit as dividends.In 2005 and 2006, COA said, Pagcorearned a cumulative P1.87 billion, netof corporate income tax. COA has in-sisted that Pagcor must still pay halfof this amount, or about P933 mil-lion as dividends due the national gov-ernment for 2005-2006.

Pagcor has filed an appeal with theDOJ to reverse its opinion on Pagcor’sdividends obligation. Even more,Pagcor chairman Efraim Genuino alsosent a letter to Malacañang, seekingguidance from the President, on theissue of whether or not Pagcor mustbe covered by the law on the dividendsburden of government-owned and -controlled corporations.

The inquiry, COA said, has been re-ferred to the Department of Financefor comment and advice.

Fast, vast expansionBy contrast, there is no question

over how Pagcor has been raking inmore and more money under the Ar-royo administration.

In the last seven years, state-spon-sored gambling in the country has ex-panded at great speed across geo-graphical regions, games, and onsiteand online platforms.

Pagcor today operates a virtualgaming kingdom: 13 casinos in majorPhilippine cities, eight VIP (very im-portant person) clubs, three slot-ma-chine arcades, 180 bingo parlors, anda lucrative Internet casino platformusing prepaid cards.

Working with technology providerPhilweb Corp. (a subsidiary of thePhilippine Long Distance & Tele-phone Co.), Pagcor earned P138.5million in 2005 just from its Basket-ball Jackpot and e-Casino Filipinogames online.

These days, Philweb is among thegrowing list of corporations placingtheir bets on the success of TourismCity and seeking Pagcor’s approval toparticipate in the project.

Another local group that has ex-pressed interest is Waterfront Phil-ippines Inc., which is owned by thefamily of William T. Gatchalian, aclose friend and adviser on overseasworkers’ affairs of deposed PresidentJoseph Estrada.

Pagcor insiders say there have also continued on page 6

Safe bet or big gambleSOON AFTER she took power in January 2001, Presi-dent Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave her imprimaturfor the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corpora-tion’s (Pagcor) showcase project that she had wantedto christen “Bagong Nayong Pilipino Integrated Tour-ism City.”

A little more than six years later, Pagcor unveiledits plan for what is now called the “Tourism City”project along Manila Bay.

The project, Pagcor said, would bring in millionsof dollars of revenues for the government, give a mil-lion Filipinos jobs, and pack in 10 million tourists inthe first five years of its run.

Pagcor also said that it would be the Philippines’sanswer to Macau’s gaming paradise and Singapore’sSentosa. Through Tourism City, Pagcor hopes to turnthe Philippines into Asia’s premier gaming-and-tour-ism hub.

The project, however, is up against formidable com-petition across the world, with the players multiply-ing every year.

The “Asian Casino Executives Summit” scheduledin Singapore on September 9-10 has organized pan-els along themes that mostly exclude Manila as aserious contender.

For instance, under the “Asian Gaming ModelAnalysis” session, a panel has been organized on thetheme of “Singapore vs Macau: Examining the Gam-ing Business Models and Strategies of the Two Terri-tories.”

A second session on “Assessing the Growth Oppor-tunities in Asian Gaming Sector” features resourcepersons from Japan (“A Yen for Gaming – Japan Head-ing Down the Casino Development Path”), anotheron Vietnam (“Vietnam: The Next Gaming Invest-ment Frontier?”), and a panel discussion on “India,Cambodia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia – Whereare Asia’s Next Gaming Hotspots After Macau?”

Pagcor President Rafael ‘Butch’ Francisco, how-ever, scheduled to speak at a 30-minute, pre-lunchsession, on Day 2 of the summit, on the topic “CasinoReal Estate Investment Opportunities: Pagcor City– A Mega Real Estate Investment Project in the Phil-ippines.”

Francisco told PCIJ recently that Tourism City isbased on the business model of Las Vegas, which hasbeen dubbed as “The Entertainment Capital of theWorld,” or even derisively, “Sin City.”

The U.S. city of Las Vegas in Nevada boasts of TheStrip, a 6.4-kilometer section of Las Vegas BoulevardSouth that hosts most of the world’s largest casinos,hotels, and resorts. The Strip contains 18 of the 25largest hotels in the world, with a combined capacityof over 67,000 rooms.

“The idea is not just to build a casino, the 65 per-cent (component) is to bring in tourists,” Franciscoexplained. “You know in Las Vegas, the streets arefull of people, tourists, unlike in Macau that has nopeople on the streets, all gamers.”

Manila’s Tourism City, Francisco said, will be amixed 65-35 percent non-gaming and gaming opera-tions. It will feature casinos, resort complexes, themeparks, theaters, and even a retirement village.

Its master plan was launched in April 2008 dur-ing the Asia’s Gem Gaming and Entertaining Lei-sure Expo, a forum of casino and tourism magnatesall over the world.

It’s not clear, though, if Tourism City’s proponentsare aware that since 2006, Macau has outstripped

continued on page 6

Artist’s 3-D scale model and site map of the Pagcor Tourism City aka Bagong Nayong Pilipino - Manila Bay Integrated City. — SKYSCRAPERCITY.COM

6 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 HULYO 11 – 17, 2008

The Pagcor money machine:Who spends what, and how?

Safe bet or big gamble from page 5

The Strip as the world’s most profitable gaming mar-ket. Macau raked in $6.485 billion from slots andtable games that year, ahead of Las Vegas’s $6.079billion.

But in his interview with the PCIJ, Francisco didclarify President Arroyo’s role in the project. He said,“It’s been a long time since 2001 (when) she had toldus to proceed with the project. That’s her only role,the parameters she left to us, the Pagcor board.”

However, when Tourism City begins to unfold,Francisco, laughing, said: “By that time in 2010 (whenproject rolls out), iba nang presidente ang makiki-nabang d’yan(another president will benefit fromit)!”

Pagcor’s 13: Where to gamble• Metro Manila, 4 casinos: The Heritage Hotel in

Pasay City; Provident Resources International Com-plex in Parañaque City; Hyatt Hotel and Casino andthe Manila Pavilion Hotel in Manila.

• Cebu, 2 casinos: Waterfront Airport Hotel &Casino, fronting Mactan International Airport andWaterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino in Lahug.

• Angeles City, Pampanga, 2 casinos: AlongMcArthur Highway in Balibago and inside the Mi-mosa Leisure Estate in Clark Field.

• A casino each:– Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel in Laoag City, Ilocos

Norte– SM Tourism Estate across Taal Vista Hotel in

Tagaytay City– Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo City– Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City– Pagcor Hotel in Bacolod City.

— Malou Mangahas, PCIJ

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Regarding Henry from page 3

other. Basically, everyone exists in thevery nature of suffering, so to abuseor mistreat each other is futile,” com-mented 1989 Nobel Peace Prize re-cipient, the Dalai Lama.

In the Philippines, a lot of peopleare swindled by the so-called pyramidscam. I am not sure if they fall preybecause they are naive or greedy. Idon’t want to judge but did thesepeople think that making fast money— getting more than double theamount invested in a short span oftime — is not usual.

“One of the weaknesses of our ageis our apparent inability to distin-guish our needs from our greeds,”wrote Don Robinson. I am remindedof a wealthy businessman telling hispartner. “I’m not greedy,” he toldhim. “All I want is the land next tomine.”

A farmer was passing under ahaunted tree when he heard a voicesay, “Would you like to have seven jarsof gold?” He looked around and sawno one. But his greed was aroused, so

he shouted eagerly, “Yes, I certainlywould.”

“Then go home at once,” the voicesaid. “You will find them under yourbed.”

The farmer ran all the way home.Sure enough, there were the seven jarsunder his bed — all full of gold, ex-cept for the one that was only half-full. Now, the farmer could not bearthe thought of having a jar half-filled.

He had all the jewelry of his fam-ily melted into gold coins and pouredthem into the half-filled jar. But thejar remained as half-filled before. Thiswas exasperating! He saved andskimped and starved himself and hisfamily — to no avail. No matter howmuch gold he put into the jar, it re-mained half-filled.

So one day, he begged the king —where he worked — to increase hissalary. His salary was doubled. Again,the fight to fill the jar was on. He eventook to begging. The jar devoured ev-ery gold coin thrown into it and re-mained stubbornly half-filled.

The king now noticed how miser-able and starved the farmer looked.“What is wrong with you?” he asked.“You were so happy and contentedwhen your salary was smaller. Now,that it has been doubled, you are soworn out and dejected. Can it be thatyou have the seven jars of gold withyou?”

The farmer was astonished.“Who told you this, Your Majesty?”he wondered. The king laughed andreplied, “These are obviously thesymptoms of the person to whomthe ghost offers the seven jars. Heonce offered them to me. I asked ifthis money could be spent or wasmerely to be hoarded and he justvanished without a word. Themoney cannot be spent. It onlybrings with it the compulsion tohoard it. Go and give it back to theghost this minute and you will behappy again.”

“We’re all born brave, trusting andgreedy, and most of us remain greedy,”said Mignon McLaughlin.

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Buntot Page mula pahina 2

As a hobby, an editor-friend collects the text of ads,billboards and bumper stickers. They provide a rich lodeof humor, he says. Here are some:

Ad in a newspaper classified section: “Guitar for Sale.Cheap. No strings attached.” Billboard in a hospital room:“Smoking Helps You Lose Weight ... One Lung At A Time!”Ad in a management glossie: “Success Is Relative. MoreThe Success, More The Relatives.” Barber shop ad: “WeNeed Your Heads To Run Our Business.”

Ad in a family magazine: “You Know Your kids HaveGrown Up When Your Daughter Begins To Put On Lip-stick. Or Your Son Starts To Wipe It Off.” Ad in a women’smagazine: “Behind Every Great Man, There Is A Sur-prised Woman.”

Restaurant Notice: “All drinking water in this estab-lishment has been personally passed by the Manager.”Signs in three bars: “When I Read About The Evils OfDrinking ... I Gave Up Reading”. “My Grandfather Is 80And Still Doesn’t Need Glasses ... He Drinks Straight OutOf The Bottle.” And: “Those Of You Who Are Drinking ToForget, Please Pay In Advance.”

Billboards In Driving School: “If Your Wife Wants ToLearn To Drive, Don’t Stand In Her Way.” “Don’t LetYour Kids Drive If They Are Not Old Enough Or ElseThey Will Never Be.” Sign in beauty parlor window: “Don’tWhistle At Girls Going Out From Here. She May Be YourGrandmother.”

Heard about the “Baptist Bathroom”? No? Well, hereit is: A very proper lady planned a camping vacation forher Baptist Church group. She wrote to make sure it wasfully equipped. But she could not bring herself to writethe word “toilet”. She opted for “BC”, i.e., “bathroomcommode.” “Does your campground have its own BC?”,she asked.

The campground owner could not figure out what “BC”meant. He asked around. “Perhaps, she meant a BaptistChurch,” he was told. “After all, the letterhead referred toa Baptist Church.”

So, he sent this reply: “Madam, The BC is located ninekilometers from the campground in a beautiful grove. Iadmit it is quite a distance if you are in the habit of goingregularly.

“It can seat 350 people at one time. And it’s openTuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The acoustics are verygood. Everyone can hear even the quietest passages.

“It may interest you to know that my daughter mether husband there. We’re having a fund-raiser to purchasenew seats. The old ones have holes in them.

“Unfortunately, my wife is ill. So, she has not been ableto attend regularly. It has been a good six months sinceshe last went. It pains her very much not to be able to gomore often.

“Perhaps I could accompany you the first time you go,sit with you, and introduce you to folks there.”

(Have a great weekend. “May the Lord open the win-dows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you willnot have room enough to receive them all.” Malachi 3:10)

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Depthnews continued from page 3

Judge Dime bilang Clerk of Court saManila Trial Court Branch 4 at nag-lingkod naman bilang legal officer saCourt of Appeals at Supreme Courtsa panahon ni Justice Serafin Cuevas.

Nagsimula siya sa Bulacan noongNob. 11, 1996 bilang Presiding Judgeng Branch 14. Natalaga siya bilangExecutive Judge ng Bulacan noong2005.

Isa sa mga samahan na aktibongpinamumunuan niya ang LAKAN-Hukom kung saan siya ang co-founder.Nagsilbi rin siya bilang pangulo ngnasabing samahan.

Inihatid siya sa kanyang huling

hantungan sa Heritage Park sa TaguigCity noong Huly 14.

P500-milyong pautangsa mga drayber

INUTUSAN ni Pangulong GloriaMacapagal-Arroyo ang lahat ng gov-ernment owned and controlled corpo-ration at ibang pang mga financialinstitution na bumuo ng P500 milyonspecial loan package para maipahiramsa mga pamilya ng mga transportworker sa buong bansa.

Magmumula ang pondo mula sa E-VAT na nakolekta ng pamahalaanpara mapakinabangan ng mga nasa

sektor na ito sa pagsisimula ng mgalivelihood project.

Inutusan din ng Pangulo ang Presi-dential Management Staff na himukinang mga pribadong marketing insti-tution na bumuo ng kahawig na fi-nancing program para sa mga pamilyang mga transport worker.

Sa aking sariling palagay, kahawigito ng programa ni dating PangulongFerdinand Marcos na Masagana 99 napinautang sa mga magsasaka.

Ngayon naman ay mga drayber angpauutangin.

Kayo, ano sa palagay ninyo?

and -controlled corporation. Theagency acquired a 25-year charter onJuly 11, 1983 under Presidential De-cree 1869, and was allowed contin-ued existence by Marcos’s immediatesuccessor, Corazon Aquino, as well asby subsequent presidents.

The charter assigned Pagcor witha three-pronged mandate: regulate allgames of chance, particularly casinogaming in the country; raise funds forthe governments’ socio-civic and na-tional developmental efforts; andhelp boost the country’s tourism in-dustry.

Under that old charter, though,Pagcor and Pagcor alone was allowedto run and operate legal gaming andgambling, and typically, in what arecalled “special economic zones.”

But since Pagcor was granted a newcharter last year, it can now set up,subfranchise, and approve casino op-erations anywhere in the Philippines.

The caveat is that under the newcharter, as it was in the old, Pagcor

can do so only with the consent of lo-cal government units.

Still, chances are not one of the 11local governments that have giventheir nod to Pagcor operations in theirarea is regretting its decision.

An official report obtained by thePCIJ showed that from 2004 to 2007,the 11 cities hosting Pagcor gamingoutlets have received a four-fold av-erage increase in their “share” fromthe agency’s revenues.

Manila tops the list, with “actualremittances” from Pagcor of P437 mil-lion from 2004 to August 2007; PasayCity, P196 million; Angeles City inPampanga, P188 million; Cebu City,P187.5 million; Parañaque City, P172million; Tagaytay City, P92 million;Davao City, P86 million; OlongapoCity in Zambales, P78.5 million;Bacolod City, P74.5 million; Mactanin Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, P64.5 mil-lion; and Laoag City in Ilocos Norte,P25.5 million. — with additional re-porting by Tita C. Valderama

from page 5

been several queries from overseas re-garding how to be part of Tourism City,including those from a still unidenti-fied but big U.S. gaming concern, andeven “offers from Russians.”

For sure, Pagcor’s track record as amoneymaking machine has made itsTourism City venture look like a safebet. Indeed, Pagcor has had a winningstreak in business largely because itis a monopoly. From every peso of ev-ery bet made by gamers and gamblers— rich or poor, Filipino or foreigner,Pagcor takes a cut. That has notchanged with its new charter, whichhas only enhanced its earning powersome more and made the likes of Tour-ism City possible.

Three-pronged mandatePagcor was created in 1977 by then

President Ferdinand E. Marcos,through Presidential Decree 1067-A,as a 100-percent government-owned

BAGONG NAYONG PILIPINO — The formal ground-breaking ceremony for the Bagong Nayong Pilipino washeld on April 3 at the project site located alongMacapagal Avenue in Parañaque City. In attendance

were Pagcor officials led by Board Chairman and ChiefExecutive Officer Efraim C. Genuino (center) togetherwith other top government officials and executives fromthe companies selected to invest in the project. — PR

Treated unfairly by newspapersthat refuse to publishyour response?

Write us.Philippine Press Councic/o PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTERm. 312 B.F. Condominium Bldg.A. Soriano Ave., Intramuros, Manila

Obet: Baka maupo naako; Jon-jon: Saan?

mula sa pahina 1ng counter protest ang kampo ni Jon-jon na sa kanyangpananaw ay isang paraan upang mapigil ang kanyangpagiging gobernador.

“Sila ang naghahabol ngayon at hinaharang angpagbabalik ko,” ani Obet Pagdanganan.

Gayunpaman, sinabi ni Jon-jon sa Mabuhay nakatotohanan ang mamamayani kapag natapos angprotesta. “I assure you, hindi magpapalit nggobernador sapagkat nasa panig tayo ng kato-tohanan,”ani Jon-jon na nasa ikalawang taon ngayonng panunungkulan bilang gobernador matapos niyangpalitan ang kanyang nakatatandang kapatid na sidating Gob. Josie M. Dela Cruz noong Hunyo 30, 2007.

Si Gob Josie ang humalili kay Obet noong 1998.Una rito, sinabi ni Jonjon na “hinding-hindi niya

(Pagdanganan) ako tatalunin, dahil siyam na taonakong mauupong governor.”

Si Jon-jon ay dating kapitan ng Barangay Duhat sabayan ng Bocaue at naging kinatawan ng mga kapitansa Sangguniang Panglalawigan. Tinalo niya si Obetnoong nakaraang halalan nang lumamang siya ng15,732 boto. Si Jonjon ay nakaipon ng kabuoang botona 364,566 kumpara sa 348,834 boto ni Obet.

Ngunit hindi basta sumuko si Obet. Sa halip aynagsampa siya ng protesta para sa 4,800 presinto namatatagpuan sa mga lungsod ng Malolos, San JoseDel Monte at Meycauayan, at mga bayan ng Bocaue,Norzagaray, Calumpit, San Rafael, Sta. Maria, Plaridelat Donya Remedios Trinidad. — Dino Balabo

mula sa pahina 1ng pera mula sa CeximBank ay ang China NationalMachinery and EquipmentGroup (CNMEG), ang kon-traktor ng proyektongNorthRail na nahinto angimplementasyon nitongPebrero.

Sinabi pa ng pangulo ngNorthRail na ang paglala-bas sa bangko ng peranginutang ng Pilipinas aynakabatay sa kung anongbahagi ng proyekto angisasagawa.

Ito naman ay naunangipinaliwanag sa Mabuhayng isang opisyal ng North-Rail noong Hulyo 13 kungkailan ay sinabi ng opisyalna “depende sa phase ngproject at trabaho ang pag-wi-withdraw ng pera.”

At una rito, pinabula-anan ni Pamintuan angalegasyon ni Abogado HarryRoque na umabot na sa$150 milyon ang nailabasna pera ng CNMEG. Ayonkay Pamintuan $120 mil-yon pa lamang ang naila-labas sa kabuoang $403milyon.

Sabi ni Pamintuan, ang$120 milyon ay ginamit ngCNMEG sa pagtatayo ngmga sub-structure, pagsu-suri sa tigas ng lupa nalalatagan ng riles, pagba-bakod, pagpapataas sa pa-mamagitan ng pagtatam-bak sa embankment ngriles, pagtatayo ng mgapansamantalang pasilidadtulad ng barracks ng mgakontraktor, at iba pa.

Sinabi rin ng pangulo ngNorthRail na pipilitin ni-lang matapos ang proyektosa loob ng dalawang taon satulong ng Diyos at suportang mga tao.

Ang konsepto ng Pro-yektong NorthRail ay na-buo noong 1994 nang lu-magda sa isang Memoran-dum of Agreement sinadating Pangulong Fidel V.Ramos at Haring Juan Car-los ng Espanya, mataposmahinto ang operasyon ngPhilippine National Rail-

mula sa pahina 1Kapitan Alejandro Joson ngBarangay Tikay.

Ayon sa kanila, mali angginawang pag-aapura ngmayorya ng S.P. sa pagsa-sapera ng karagdagang IRAdahil sa lumalabas na na-lugi ang mga Bulakenyo.

Inayunan din ito ni Fa-bian Hallig ng Alliance ofConcerned Teachers (ACT)sa Gitnang Luzon na nani-nirahan sa Malolos nangsabihin niya na “mali angginawa nila dahil ipinagkaitsa mga mamamayan angkarapatan nila sa kabuoanghalaga na dapat mapuntasa kanila.”

Wika pa ni Hallig, “Hin-di dapat mauwi ito sa pag-suko ng karapatan ng mgamamamayan. Sa nangya-yari, lumilitaw na meronggrave abuse of discretionsa parte ng mayorya ngS.P. Dapat direkta nangmakialam ang mamama-yan ng Bulacan. Dapat ha-bulin nila ito sa gitna ngmalaking krisis partiku-lar na sa bigas, presyo ngpagkain, langis at kuryen-te at pangunahing panga-ngailangan. P20 million isP20 million.”

Para naman kay Ed-mundo Jose Buencamino,dating alkalde ng San Mi-guel, ang pagmamadali ngmayorya sa S.P. sa pagsasa-pera ng karagdagang IRA aysumasalamin sa kakayahanng mga bokal sa paghawakng pananalapi ng kabang ya-man.

Sinabi pa ni Buenca-mino na hindi niya main-tindihan kung bakit nag-apura ang mayorya sa pag-sasapera ng nasabing IRAsamantalang ang daan-da-ang milyong piso na dapatsana’y masingil sa Metro-politan Waterworks andSewerage System (MWSS)ay isinuko sa pagpapatibaysa isang kasunduan nanilagdaan ni Gob. Mendozaat ng MWSS noong Dis-yembre, kung saan isa samga kundisyon ay iuurongng Kapitolyo ang kaso labansa MWSS.

“Dapat ipaliwanag nilaang isyu upang malamankung saan dadalhin angpinadiskuwentong IRA.Dapat ilahad sa publiko atipalasap sa atin ang diwa ngperang iyan,” ani Buen-camino.

Kaugnay nito, sinabinaman ni Benito Fabian,pambayang tagapamahalang Sta. Maria, na magingang kanilang SangguniaangBayan ay pumabor sa pag-sasapera ng IRA na di nilanatanggap noong 2001 at2004.

Ipinaliwanag ni Fabiansa Mabuhay na kaya silapumabor sa pagsasaperangmay diskuwentong 30 por-siyento ay dahil sa halos P5milyon lamang ang ka-nilang matatanggap.

“Walang impact kungpapatulan namin yung in-stallment na payable inseven years,” ani Fabian.

Sinabi pa niya na angkanilang karagdagang IRAay gagamitin sa pagtatayong bagong paaralan.

Matatandaan na noongHunyo 27 ay naging mai-nitan ang debate sa pagitanng mayorya sa S.P. na ka-kampi ni Gob. Mendoza atng minorya na kakampi niBise Gob. Willy Alvarado.

Ilegal ang mga pama-maraang ipinayo ng Mala-kanyang sa pagsasapera ngdagdag na IRA, ayon kayBise Gob. Alvarado.

Ang mga nasabing pama-maraan ay ang pagsasaperana installment o hulugan saloob ng pitong taon, dis-counted o may bawas na 30porsiyento, at paggamit sanasabing IRA bilang ko-lateral sa pag-utang ng pa-mahalaang lokal.

“Hindi iyan ang layuninng batas,” ani Alvarado atiginiit na “batay sa LocalGovernment Code, ang pag-bibigay ng IRA sa local gov-ernment ay di dapat bina-bawasan o kaya’y di dapatpinipigilan.”

Ang pagbibigay ng IRAsa pamamaraang install-ment, discounted o kaya’ybilang kolateral ay pa-wang ilegal, wika pa niAlvarado.

Ngunit, sa kabila nito,namayani pa rin sa S.P. angmayorya sa botong 9-2.

Ayon sa mga informanteng Mabuhay sa kapitolyo,matatanggap na ang nasa-bing binawasang IRA saSetyembre, at dahil may 30porsiyentong diskwentoaabot lamang sa P44 mil-yon sa halip na P66 milyonang halagang matatanggapng pamahalaang panglala-wigan.

9 sa 10 Bulakenyo ayawsa pagsasapera ng IRA

ways (PNR) mula Tutubansa Manila hanggang Malo-los at hanggang Dagupan saPangasinan noong hulingbahagi ng dekada ’80.

Ang nasabing perokarilmula Tutuban hanggangDagupan na may habang194.5 kilometro ay unangipinagawa ng pamahalaangkolonyal ng Espanya saPilipinas mula 1887 hang-gang 1892.

Layunin ng proyektongNorthRail ang muling pag-bubukas ng perokaril pa-

tungo sa Hilagang Luzonupang mapabilis ang biyaheng mga tao at mga produkto.

Batay naman sa doku-mentong naipon ng Mabu-hay, pinautang ng Tsina angPilipinas ng halagang $403milyon para sa konstruk-syon ng NorthRail. Angkasunduan ukol dito aynilagdaan noong Pebrero26, 2004. Batay pa rin samga dokumento, ang im-plementasyon ng proyektoay dapat nagsimula noongSetyembere 13, 2004, sa-

MASINSINAN ang usapan nina NorthRailPresident Edgardo Pamintuan (kaliwa) atBulacan Vice Governor Willy Alvarado sagilid ng entablado sa Sta. Monica HighSchool sa Hagonoy kung saan ay bu-misita si Pangulong Gloria MacapagalArroyo noong Biyernes, Hulyo 18. Sapagkakataong ito, nakapanayam ng

Mabuhay si Pamintuan. Sinabi niya nahawak pa ng China Export-Import Bankang nalalabi sa $403 milyon na inutangng Pilipinas para sa paggawa ng naaan-talang proyektong Northrail na magla-latag ng 32.2 kilometro ng riles mulaCaloocan City hanggang Lungsod ngMalolos. — DINO BALABO

mantalang ang perang inu-tang ay may 20 taong “ma-turity period”.

Ang implementasyon ngNorthRail ay nagsimulanoong Abril 12, 2005 nangsimulan ang paglilipat ngmga iskwater sa gilid ngriles ng PNR patungo samga resettlement site. Da-pat natapos ang proyektonoong Oktubre 31, 2007,ngunit hanggang ngayon aywala pang nailalatag kahitisang metrong riles angCNMEG. — Dino Balabo

Nalalabing $283-M pondo ngNorthRail hawak pa ng Tsina

mula sa pahina 1“Maipasasara ng mayoriyan dahil sakop niya iyonat may kapangyarihan si-ya,” ani Mendoza.

Sa pakikipanayam ngMabuhay noong Hulyo 14kay Raldy Pagador, isangenvironmental manage-ment specialist ng EMB saGitnang Luzon, sinabi niyana nagpahatid na ang kan-yang ahensya ng NOV saMeng Hong Trading noongHulyo 11 o isang linggo ma-tapos siyang magsagawa nginspeksyon kasama angilang mamamahayag saplantang nagsusunog nggamit na gulong noongHulyo 3.

Ayon kay Pagador, ilan samga nilabag ng Meng HongTrading ay ang pagsasagawang operasyon na walang en-vironmental compliancecertificate (ECC), walangbusiness permit, walangenvironmental impact as-sessment (EIA), at ang pag-kakaroon ng masamangepekto sa mamamayan ngpatuloy na operasyon nito.

Ipinaliwanag niya nakaugnay ng pagpapalabas atpagpapahatid ng NOV saMeng Hong Trading ay angpagsasagawa ng EMB ngisang technical conferencesa may-ari nito na isasagawasa Lunes, Hulyo 28.

Ayon kay Pagador, angnasabing technical confer-

Kailangan ang NOV bago ito maipasara

ari ng Meng Hong Tradingna ititigil ang operasyon saAgosto 31.

“Uubusin lang daw’yung gulong na naka-stock,” ani Malubay na si-yang may-ari ng may ka-lahating ektaryang lote nainuupahan ng Meng HongTrading para sa pagsusunogng lumang gulong upangmakatas ang langis.

Ngunit, sa kabila ng pa-ngakong ito, sinabi ng mgaresidenteng naapektuhan

ng nasabing pagsusunog,partikular na ang pamilyani Guillerma Cruz, na kalu-sugan nila ang nakataya.

Sinabi ni Cruz na mulanang magsimula ang ope-rasyon ng Meng Hong Trad-ing sa kanilang lugar aynapadalas ang kanilangpagpapagamot sa ospitaldahil sa nalalanghap namaitim na usok at maba-hong amoy mula sa mgasinusunog na lumang gu-long.

NAPANGITI pa ang isang manggagawang Meng Hong Trading nang makunanng larawan ng Mabuhay sa harap ngkanilang sunugan ng mga gamit nagulong noong Hulyo 3. Kahit na wala

itong Mayor’s Permit, hindi pa rinmaipasara ng pamahalaang lokal ngNorzagaray ang nasabing sunugan nggulong na matatagpuan sa Sitio Dili-man, Barangay Partida. — DINO BALABO

ence ay isang proseso nasinusunod ng kanilang a-hensya. Isa sa layunin nito,aniya, ay makumbinse angmay-ari ng planta na ku-sang-loob na isara at itigilang operasyon nito.

“Unang hakbang iyon,pero kung hindi sila titigilay saka kami kikilos paraisara iyon,” ani Pagador.

Una rito, sinabi ni San-tiago Malubay, ang datingkapitan ng Barangay Par-tida, na nangako ang may-

HULYO 18 – 24, 2008 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 7

Republic of the PhilippinesOFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF BULACANThird Judicial Region

City of MalolosCIVIL CASE NO. 314-03MTC- PANDI, BULACAN

PANDI LIVESTOCK PRODUCERSMARKETING CORPORATION,

Plaintiff/s-versus-SPS. ARCADIO & REMY LIBIRAN,

Defendant/sX—————————————X

NOTICE OF SALE ON EXECUTIONWhereas by virtue of a Writ of Execution issued by the Hon. AZNARLINDAYAG, presiding judge Municipal Trial Court, Pandi, Bulacan,dated March 7, 2005 in the above-entitled case, for the recovery ofthe sum of Php 115, 385.62, the principal obligation, plus interest,penalties as of September 30, 1998 until fully paid, plus the costs ofsuits, etc., levy was made on May 13, 2008 by the undersignedsheriff upon the rights, shares, interest and participation of the de-fendant which is more particularly described as follows:

TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T-497750 (M)

A parcel of land (Lot no. 2076-B-3-C of the subd. plan LRC Psd-215481being a portion of Lot 2076-B-3 LRC Psd-71850 LRC Rec. No. 8503)situated in the Bo. of Malibong Bata, Mun. of Pandi, Prov. of Bulacan,Is. of Luzon.. Bounded on the NE., pts 3 to 5 by Creek; on the SE., pts5 to 10 by Lot 2076-B-3-B of the subd. plan. on the SW., pts. 10 to 12by Lot 2069 SM de Pandi Est.; & on the NW., pts. 12 to 13, 13 to 1 &1 to 3 by Lot 2076-B-3-D of the sub. plan. x x x Containing an area ofFOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED (4,400) SQ. METERS, more or less.

Now therefore, by virtue of said Writ of Execution and in accor-dance with Rule 39, Section 19, of the Rules of Court, Sheriff will sellat public auction to the highest bidder, for CASH and in PhilippinesCurrency, on August 5, 2008 at 10:00 o’oclock in the morning or soonthereafter infront of the Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff located at theBack of Bulwagan ng Katarungan Bldg., Provincial Capitol Com-pound, Malolos City, Bulacan, the above-described property in orderto satisfy said Writ of Execution, together with interests, costs,sheriffs fees and the expenses of the sale.

In the event the public auction should not take place on the saiddate, it shall be held on August 19, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soonthereafter without further notice.

Malolos City, Bulacan, July 7, 2008.

FOR THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFFBy: JUNIE JOVENCIO G. IPAC

Sheriff-In-ChargeMabuhay: July 11 & 18, 2008

NOTICE OF LOSS OF STOCKS

Republic of the Philippines )Province of Leyte ) S.S.CITY OF TACLOBAN )

AFFIDAVIT OF LOSSI, EDITA CASAL y Fabi, of legal age, widow and a resident of Block 17,Lot 43, Phase 2, Cattleya cor. Gorgonia Sts., V &G Subdivision,Tacloban City, after having been sworn to in accordance with lawhereby depose and say:

1. That I am a holder and owner of fifty eight (58) shares of stockof the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) and said ownership is evi-denced by BPI Certificate of Stock No. 27243 and appearing as suchin the Corporate Books of said banking institution;

2. That sometime August 2005, I discovered for the first time thatthe original copy of said BPI Certificate Of Stock No. 27243 wasmissing and no longer among the other certificate of stocks and otherimportant papers and documents in my files which I have not touchedfor quite a long time;

3. That despite diligent and exhaustive effor ts made, said Certifi-cate of Stock No. 27243 could no longer be located or found;

4. That the aforementioned Certificate of Stock No. 27243 wasnever transferred, sold, endorsed, pledged or mortgaged to anyperson or entity as security for any debt whatsoever;

5. That I am executing this Affidavit to attest to the fact of the lossof said Certificate of Stock No. 27243 to request BPI to declare thesame null and void and to issue another Certificate of Stock as itsreplacement.

AFFIANT FURTHER SAYETH NONE.Signed this 12th day of October 2005 at Tacloban City.

(Sgd.) EDITA F. CASALAFFIANT

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this 12th day of October2005 at Tacloban City, affiant exhibited to me her Community TaxCertificate No. 02719538 issued on 2-01-05 at Tacloban City.

WENIFREDO C. CUATONNotary Public No. 2005-01-07

Until 12-31-2006Attorney Roll No. 35189

DOC. NO. 474PAGE NO. 95BOOK NO. 21SERIES OF 2005

Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25, 2008

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATENotice is hereby given that the estate of the deceased ANGEL I.YOSUICO who died on May 30, 2002 in Angeles City leaving one-half (1/2) conjugal share of four (4) parcels of land more particu-larly described as: 1) TCT No. 120059 with an area of 200 sq. 2) TCTNo. 120060, with an area of 691 sq both of Barangay Lourdes Sur;3) TCT No. 98743 with an area of 664 sq. situated at Barangay Sto.Cristo and 4) TCT No. 232978-R with an area of 4,062 sq. situatedat Barrio Telabastagan, San Fernando, Pampanga devoted to fruitbearing trees who was executed by heirs before Notary Public Atty.Nepomuceno Caylao; Doc. No. 450; Page No. 91; Book No I; Seriesof 2008.

Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25 2008

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Kakampi mo ang Batas mula sa pahina 2

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESSUPREME COURT

OFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFFMALOLOS CITY, BULACAN

E.J.F. NO. P-115-2008

EXTRA JUDICIAL FORECLOSUREOF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY

UNDER ACT 3135AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESSUPREME COURT

OFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFFMALOLOS CITY, BULACAN

E.J.F. NO. 203-2008

EXTRA JUDICIAL FORECLOSUREOF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY/IES

UNDER ACT 3135AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118

LEONILA R. NAVARRO,

Mortgagee,

-versus-

ELIZABETH T. RODRIGUEZ,

Mortgagor.

X———————————X

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALEUpon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amendedby Act 4118 filed by LEONILA R. NAVARRO with postal addressat Brgy. Mabolo, City of Malolos, Bulacan against ELIZABETH T.RODRIGUEZ, with residence at Buhangin St., Atlag, City of Malolos,Bulacan, the mor tgagor/s to satisfy the mortgage indebtednesswhich as of June, 2008 amounts to ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVETHOUSAND PESOS & 00/100 (P185,000.00), Philippine Currency,including interest thereon, excluding __% of the total indebted-ness by way of attorney’s fees, plus daily interest and expensesthereafter, also secured by said mortgage and such other amountswhich may become due and payable to the aforementioned mor t-gagee, the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan thru the undersignedSheriff hereby gives notice to all interested par ties and to thepublic in general that on August 5, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soonthereafter, in front of the Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan,located at the back of the Bulwagan ng Katarungan, ProvincialCapitol Compound, Malolos City, Bulacan will sell at public auc-tion thru sealed bidding to the highest bidder for CASH and inPhilippine Currency, the described real proper ty below togetherwith all the improvements existing thereon:

TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T- 159500

A parcel of land (Lot 6916,Cad-304-D),situated in the Mun. ofHagonoy, Prov. of Bulacan. Bounded on the S., along line 1-2 by lot6914 Cad-304-D; on the W., along line 2-3 by lot 6917 Cad-304-D; onthe N., along line 3-4 by Sapang Taytayin; & on the E., along line 4-1 by lot 6915 Cad-304-D. xx xx xx xx containing an area of FIVEHUNDRED EIGHTY SEVEN (587) SQ. METERS. xx xx xx xx

This Notice of Sheriff’s sale will be posted for a period of twenty(20) days in three (3) conspicuous public places in the municipalitywhere the subject property is located and at Malolos City, Bulacanwhere the sale shall take place, and likewise a copy will be publishedfor the same period in the MABUHAY a newspaper of general circu-lation in the province of Bulacan, once a week for three (3) consecu-tive weeks before the date of auction sale.

All sealed bids with its accompanying transmittal letter addressedto this office must be submitted to the undersigned on or before theabove stated date and hour at which time all sealed bids thus,submitted shall be opened.

In the event the public auction should not take place on the saiddate, it shall be held on AUGUST 12, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soonthereafter without further notice.

Prospective bidders or buyers are hereby enjoined to investigatefor themselves the title to the property and encumbrance thereon, ifany there be.

Malolos City, Bulacan, July 7, 2008.

EMMANUEL L. ORTEGAEx- Officio Sheriff

By: EDRIC C. ESTRADASheriff IV

Copy furnished: All parties concerned

Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25, 2008

HOME GUARANTY CORPORATION

Mortgagee,

-versus-

SPS. RHODERICK J. YANGA& CYNTHIA J. YANGA

Mortgagor/s.x———————————x

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALEUpon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended byAct 4118 filed by HOME GUARANTY CORPORATION, with principaloffice at No. 335 Sen Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City the mortgagee,against SPS. RHODERICK J. YANGA & CYNTHIA J. YANGA, withresidence and postal address at Block 8, Lot 12 King Philip St. RoyaleEstate Subdivision, Brgy. Bulihan, Malolos, Bulacan the mortgagor/sto satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of May 3, 2008amounts to FIVE HUNDRED SEVENTY FOUR THOUSAND SIX HUN-DRED FORTY THREE PESOS & 78/100 (P574,643.78), Philippine Cur-rency, including/excluding interest thereon, including/excluding 10%of the total indebtedness by way of attorney’s fees, plus daily inter-est and expenses thereafter, also secured by said mortgage andsuch other amount which may become and payable to the aforemen-tioned mortgagee.The Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan thru the under-signed Sheriff hereby gives notice to all interested parties and to thepublic in general that on August 5, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soonthereafter, in front of the Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan,located at the back of the Bulwagan ng Katarungan, Provincial CapitolCompound, Malolos City, Bulacan will sell at public auction thrusealed bidding to the highest bidder for CASH and in Philippine Cur-rency, the described real property/ies below together with all theimprovements existing thereon:

TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T-97659

A parcel of land (Lot 12, Blk.8 of the cons. subd. plan Psd-03-072367, being a portion of lot 2, Psu- 10740, LRC Rec. No.)situatedin the Barrio of Bulihan, Mun. of Malolos, Prov. of Bulacan. Boundedon the NE., along line 3-4 by lot 14, and on the NW., along line 4-1 bylot 11, both of Blk. 8, all of the subd. plan. x x x x containing an areaof ONE HUNDRED FIFTEEN (115) SQ. M. x x x x

This Notice of Sheriff’s sale will be posted for a period of twenty(20) days in three (3) conspicuous public places in the municipalityof the subject property is located and at Malolos City, Bulacan wherethe sale shall take place, and likewise a copy will be published for thesame period in the MABUHAY, a newspaper of general circulation inthe province of Bulacan, once a week for three (3) consecutiveweeks before the date of auction sale.

All sealed bids with its accompanying transmittal letter addressedto this office must be submitted to the undersigned on or before theabove stated date and hour at which time all sealed bids thus,submitted shall be opened.

In the event the public auction could not take place on the saidAugust 5, 2008, it shall be held on AUGUST 26, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. orsoon thereafter without further notice.

Prospective bidders or buyers are hereby enjoined to investigatefor themselves the title to the property/ies and the encumbrancethereon, if any there be.

Malolos City, Bulacan, July 7, 2008.

EMMANUEL L. ORTEGAEx-Officio Sheriff

By: ENRIQUE M. CALAGUASSheriff IV

Copy furnished: All parties concerned

Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25, 2008

E R R A T AIN the Notice of Sheriff’s Sale filed by Balikatan Housing Finance, Inc.versus Alfredo CRIZALDY F. TEMPROSA with E.J.F. No. B- 406-2008published in the MABUHAY in its issues dated May 16, 23, and 30,2008 the first name should read “CRIZALDY” and not as published.

* * *IN the Notice of Sheriff’s Sale filed by Rural Bank of San Rafael(Bulacan), Inc. versus Alfredo Francisco and Juliana Dela Cruz-Francisco with E.J.F. No. 117-2008 published in the MABUHAY in itsissues dated May 16, 23, and 30, 2008 the location/ technical de-scription of the property should read…. North along line 4-1 by “AcleRiver” and not as published.

Mabuhay: July 18, 2008

Titulo ng lupa, maaaring hanapinsa Registry of Deeds

Tanong: Good afternoon po, Atty. Mauricio. Mayproblema kami sa lupa na sinasaka namin dito sa Gapan,Nueva Ecija kasi po matagal nang hinahanap ng yumaokong ama ang kopya sa DAR pero hindi namin makita.Ano po ang dapat naming gawin upang makita ang mgapapeles na may kinalaman sa lupa? (639158243185)

Sagot: Maraming salamat po sa inyong tanong saamin. Kung titulo po ang inyong hinahanap, maaaridin po kayong magtungo sa Registry of Deeds diyan saNueva Ecija (malamang sa Cabanatuan City po angtanggapan nito) upang maghalungkat ng records. Anglahat kasi ng titulo ng mga ari-ariang lupa, ke ang mgaito ay sinasaka o residential, ay may kopya dapat saRegistry of Deeds, kung ang mga titulong ito ay tunay.Ngayon, kung hindi po tunay ang titulo o may dipe-rensiya dito, maaaring walang kopyang lilitaw sa Reg-istry of Deeds. Sa kabilang dako, kung wala pang tituloang lupa, maaari kayong magtungo sa Assessor’s Officesa lugar kung saan ito nakalagay, kasi ang Assessor’sOffice ay may tala ng lahat ng deklaradong lupa. Kungwala pa ring record ito sa nasabing tanggapan, maaarinaman kayong magtungo sa Bureau of Lands (na ngayon

ay kilala na bilang Lands Management Bureau) atalamin kung may nakarehistrong naghahabol sa lupa.Kung wala pa din, maaari na kayong magsampa ngaplikasyon upang mapatituluhan ninyo ang lupa.

Mga paalalaMaaari po kayong tumawag sa amin sa aming mga

landline, (02) 994-68-05, 02-433-75-49 at 02-433-75-53,o di kaya ay sa aming mga cellphone, 0917-984-24-68 at0919-609-64-89. Maaari din po kayong sumulat sa aminsa aming address: 18 D Mahiyain corner Mapag-kawanggawa, Teachers Village, Diliman, Quezon City. Odi kaya ay maaari kayong mag-email sa amin sa websitena ito, www.batasnews.com, o batasmauricio@yahoo.com.

Panoorin din po si Atty. Batas Mauricio sa worldwideTV sa Internet, sa YouTube, metacafe at iGoogle, atpakinggan siya sa kanyang mga programa sa radyo: DXASsa Zamboanga City, Lunes-Miyerkules-Biyernes, alas5:30 ng umaga; DZXQ 1350 khz sa Metro Manila, Luneshanggang Biyernes, 6 ng umaga; DYKA 801 khz sa SanJose, Antique (at www.wowantique.com, o www.kiniray-a.com), Lunes hanggang Biyenes, 10 ng umaga; at DYMSAksiyon Radyo sa Catbalogan City, Samar, Luneshanggang Biyernes, 11 ng umaga.

Abangan din ang kanyang pagbabalik sa telebisyon.

http://mabuhaynews.com

8 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 HULYO 18 – 24, 2008

SHOWING ONJULY 23, 2008 ONWARDS

subject to change without prior notice

THE DARK KNIGHT

ALONE

HANCOCK

JOURNEY TO THECENTER OF THE EARTH

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESREGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF BULACAN

THIRD JUDICIAL REGIONMALOLOS CITY

BRANCH 10

SP. PROC. NO. 145-M-2008

IN RE: IN THE MATTER OF CORRECTIONOF ENTRIES IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVEBIRTH OF CHRISTOPHER FUNTILARCAGUIMBAL,

CHRISTOPHER FUNTILAR CAGUIMBAL,

Petitioner,—versus—

THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF BALAGTAS,BULACAN

NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE,ADMINISTRATOR AND CIVILREGISTRAR GENERAL,CARMELITA N. ERICTA.

SPS. CARLOS MIYAHIRA CAGUIMBALAND EMMA N. FUNTILAR,

Respondents.X————————————X

O R D E RIn a verified Petition dated June 17, 2008, of the petitioner ChristopherFuntilar Caguimbal, alleging among others, that petitioner is of legalage, single, Filipino, and with residence and postal address at Blk. 17Lot 14, Ph 3-B Brgy. Dela Paz, Antipolo City where he may be servedwith summons and other court processes; the respondent Local CivilRegistrar of Balagtas, Bulacan, on the other hand, is a public officercharged with the civil registration within his territorial jurisdiction andis holding the office at Balagtas, Bulacan, where he/she may beserved with summons and other court processes; the repondentNational Statistics Office, represented by its Administrator and CivilRegistrar General-Carmelita N. Ericta, is a government agency taskedwith the duty of keeping statistical records of documents, and thegeneration of statistics, and may be served with summons and othercourt processes at National Statistic Office, East Avenue, Diliman,Quezon City; the respondents Sps. Carlos Miyahira Caguimbal andEmma N. Funtilar who are indispensable party in this petition, andmay be served with summons and other legal processes at Block 17,Lot 14, P-3B, Purok Imelda, Brgy. Dela Paz, Antipolo City; that peti-tioner was born on August 27, 1983 at Balagtas, Bulacan to theSpouses Carlos Miyahira Caguimbal and Emma N. Funtilar. Uponsecuring a copy of his Birth Certificate sometime in January 2007 hewas surprised to find out that in his Certificate of live Birth issued bythe National Statistic Office, the middle name and birth place of hisfather as appearing therein were entered as “Mejahera” (Annex “A-2”) and “Naga City” (Annex “A-3”) respectively but in truth and infact, in the Certificate of Live Bir th of his father (Annex “B”), thesame were entered as “Miyahira” and “Bombon, Camarines Sur”respectively, which is the truth and correct middle name and birthplace of his Father. Likewise, the date of marriage of his parents asappearing therein was entered as “March 7, 1983” (Annex “A-4”)instead of April 7, 1998 which is thrue and correct date of marriage ofhis parents; that the error in the above entries in the Certificate of liveBirth was due to a misunderstanding between the informant and therecords officer; to avoid confusion and to put things in legal perspec-tive and to conform to his official records and documents, it isnecessary that a change in the entries be made in the Certificate ofLive Birth from the middle name of his father as appearing thereinentered as “Mejahera” be corrected to “Miyahira” and his father’sbirthplace from “Naga City” be corrected to “Bombon, CamarinesSur”, likewise, the date of marriage of his parents as appearingtherein as “March 7, 1983” be changed to “April 7, 1998”, that suchchange and /or correction is not being done in order to perpetuatefraud, or any miscarriage of justice, or even to evade prosecution,petitioner is not unmindful that as a consequence of filling this peti-tion, he is required by law to pay the docket fess and other necessarylegal fees in order for the said petition to prosper. However, he cannotafford to pay the said fees as he is an indigent. Besides, pursuant toOCA CIRCULAR NO. 121-2007 (Annex “E”), he, being a client ofPublic Attorney’s Office is exempt from payment of docket and otherfees incidental to instituting an action in court and other quasi-judicialbodies, as an original proceeding or on appeal; petitioner prays of thisHonorable Court, after publication, due notice and hearing that anorder be issued directing the Local Civil Registrar of Balagtas, Bulacanthat the corrected entries be made in the Certificate of Live Birth ofthe herein petitioner from the middle name of his father as appearingtherein entered as “Mejahera” be corrected to “Miyahira” and thebirthplace of his father from “Naga City” be corrected to “Bombon,Camarines Sur”, likewise, the date of marriage of his parents asappearing therein as “March 7, 1983” be corrected to “April 7, 1998”.

It appearing that the petition is sufficient in form and substance,SET this case for hearing on August 20, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at whichdate and time, all persons interested and who may have oppositionthereto may appear and show cause, if there be any, why the sameshould not be granted. Let a copy of this Order be published at theexpense of the petitioner in any newspaper of general circulationwithin the province of Bulacan once a week for three (3) consecutiveweeks.

Furnish the Office of the Solicitor General, Office of the ProvincialProsecutor of Bulacan, National Statistics Office, the Local CivilRegistral of Balagtas, Bulacan, the National Archives, petitioner andcounsel with a copy of this Order.

So ordered.Malolos City, Bulacan, June 24, 2008.

VICTORIA VILLALON-PORNILLOSJudge

Mabuhay: July 4, 11, 18, 2008

AFFIDAVIT OF SELF-ADJUDICATIONNotice is hereby given that the estate of the deceased ProcesoGabriel Reyes who died intestate on November 6, 2006 at Bocaue,Bulacan left a parcel of land consisting of Forty Two (42) squaremeters more particularly described as Transfer Certificate of Title No.T-467331 (M) hereby adjudicate to Grace Vivian Reyes the parcel ofland above described and hereby request the Register of Deeds ofBulacan, Meycauayan Branch, to register and render the same effec-tive as per Doc. No. 453; Page No. 92; Book No. 117; Series of 2008in Notary Public of Atty. Teodulo E. Cruz.

Mabuhay: July 4, 11 & 18, 2008

Republic of the PhilippinesSUPREME COURT

Office of the Ex-Officio SheriffMalolos City, Bulacan

PAG-IBIG FUND OR HOME DEVELOPMENTMUTUAL FUND (HDMF),

Mortgagee/s,

-versus-

MARYLOU G. RICAMONTE MARRIED TO EDISONC. RICAMONTE JR.

Mortgagor/sx————————————x

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALEUpon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended by Act 4118 filed byHome Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) otherwise known as the PAG-IBIG FUND withprincipal office at 2nd floor North Centrum Bldg., Tabang,Guiguinto, Bulacan the mort-gagee/s against MARYLOU G. RICAMONTE married to EDISON C. RICAMONTE, JR.,with residence and postal address at #2 Simoun St., La Loma, Quezon City, the mort-gagor/s to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of February 15, 2008, in theamount of THREE HUNDRED FIFTY ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY SEVEN& 66/100 (P351,377.66)Philippine Currency, including/excluding interest thereon, in-cluding/excluding 10% of the total indebtedness as and by way of Attorney’s fees, plusdaily interest and expenses thereafter, also secured by said mortgage and such otheramount, which may become due and payable to the aforementioned mortgage.The Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan thru the Defuty Sheriff hereby gives notice to all interestedparties and to the public in general that on August 19, 2008 at 10:00 in the morning orsoon thereafter, in front of the Office of Branch 77, Regional Trial Court located at theground floor, Now Justice Hall Provincial Capitol Malolos City, Bulacan will sell at publicauction to the highest bidder for cash and in Philippines currency, the described realproperty/ies below with existing thereon:

TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T-366846 (M)A parcel of land (Lot 24, Blk.22, of the cons. subd. plan Pcs-03-008362, being a

portion of cons. lots 3936-3940 Lolomboy Est. & Lots 4280-C Psd-03-077125 (LRC Rec.No.) situated in the Bo. of Loma de Gato, Mun. of Marilao, Prov. of Bulacan. ... Containingan area of Forty (40) SQ. METERS ...

This notice of Sheriff’s Sale will be posted for a period of twenty (20) days in three(3) of the most conspicuous public places in the municipality where the subject prop-erty/ies is/are located and at Malolos City, Bulacan where the sale shall take place, andlikewise a copy will be published for the same period in the MABUHAY a newspaper ofgeneral circulation in the province of Bulacan, once a week for three (3) consecutiveweeks before the date of Auction Sale.

All sealed bids with its accompanying transmittal letter addressed to this officemust be submitted to the undersigned on or before the above stated date and hour atwhich time all sealed bids thus, submitted shall be opened.

In the event the public auction should not taken place on the said date, it shall be heldon AUGUST 26, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. without further notice.

Prospective bidders or buyers are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves thetitle to the property/ies and the encumbrance thereon, if any there be.

Malolos City, Bulacan, July 01, 2008.

EMMANUEL L. ORTEGAEx- Officio Sheriff

By: ARMANDO P. PASCUALSheriff IV

Copy furnished: All parties concerned

Mabuhay: July 4, 11 and 18, 2008

EJF NO. P-107-2008

EXTRA-JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY/IES

UNDER ACT NO. 3135AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118

EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATEWITH WAIVER OF RIGHTS/QUITCLAIM

Notice is hereby given that the late AIDA D. EUSEBIO who died onFebruary 19, 2007 in Muntinlupa City her place of residence at thetime of death, she left personal properties which include the unpaidobligations of her debtor. Also there is no last will and testament leftby the deceased and there is no pending testate or intestate proceed-ings pending before any courts of the Philippines, involving the sameparties and the same property; there are no known debts left by thedeceased for which reason the heirs desire that they settle the estateof Aida D. Eusebio. That Jose Vicente D. Dimaculangan, of legal age,single, Filipino and Emiliano G. Eusebio, of legal age, widower, Filipinoboth residing at #168 Monastery Road, Bgy. San Isidro, Magalang,Pampanga, are the only persons and parties and are the legitimatesurviving son and spouse of the deceased. The surviving spouse haswaived and renounced his rights and interest in the estate of thedeceased, as well his own share, in favor of Jose Vicente D.Dimaculangan executed before Notary Public Jose V. Reyes; Doc.No. 445; Page No. 40; Book No. XV; Series of 2008.

Mabuhay: July 11, 18 & 25, 2008

PANAWAGANNANANAWAGAN si Mrs. Marilisa Factora ng Barangay PalimboProper, Camiling, Tarlac City tungkol sa isang sanggol na babaena iniwan sa may harapan ng kanilang gate noong Disyembre29, 2007. Na kung maaari ay makipag-ugnayan sila sa Depart-ment of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) sa SanVicente, Tarlac City na may telepono bilang (045) 982-0756.

Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25, 2008

There is but one road whichreaches God and that is Prayer.If anyone shows you another,

you are being deceived.

— ST. THERESA

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESSUPREME COURT

OFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFFMALOLOS CITY, BULACAN

STO.ROSARIO CREDIT ANDDEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE

Mortgagee,-versus-

SPS. CHRISTOPHER C. JAVIER &MA. LOURDES B. JAVIER,

Mortgagor.X—————————————X

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALEUpon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended byAct 4118 filed by STO. ROSARIO CREDIT AND DEVELOPMENT COOP-ERATIVE, with office at Sabitan St.,Sto. Rosario,City of Malolos,Bulacan against SPS. CHRISTOPHER C. JAVIER & MA. LOURDES B.JAVIER, with postal address at No.125, Sto. Cristo, City of Malolos,Bulacan the mortgagor/s to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness whichas of July 4, 2008 amounts to ONE MILLION FOUR HUNDRED FORTYSEVEN THOUSAND FORTY NINE PESOS & 88/100 (P1,447,049.88)Philippine Currency, including interest thereon, excluding 25% of thetotal indebtedness by way of attorney’s fees, plus daily interest andexpenses thereafter, also secured by said mortgage and such otheramount, which may become due and payable to the aforementionedmortgagee, the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan thru the undersignedSheriff hereby gives notice to all interested parties and to the publicin general that on August 14, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter,in front of the Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan, located at theback of the Bulwagan ng Katarungan, Provincial Capitol Compound,Malolos City, Bulacan will sell at public auction thru sealed bidding tothe highest bidder for CASH and in Philippine Currency, the describedreal property below together with all the improvements existing thereon:

TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T- 189135

A parcel of land (Lot 7 of the cons. subd. plan (LRC), Pcs- 28383,approved as a non-subdivision project, being a portion of the cons. oflots 5974 and 5975 Malolos Cad., LRC Cad. Rec. No. 505), situatedin the Bo. of Sto Cristo, Mun. of Malolos, Prov. of Bulacan, Is. ofLuzon. Bounded on the NE., pts.4 to 1 by lot 9007, Malolos Cad. andbeyond by Camino Real de Bulacan; on the SE., pts. 1 to 2 by lot5973, Malolos Cad.; on the SW., pts.2 to 3 by lot 8; on the NW., pts.3to 4 by lot 9 (Rd.) both of the cons. subd. plan. xx xx xx xx containingan area of ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY EIGHT (178) SQ. METERS, moreor less. xx xx xx xx

This Notice of Sheriff’s sale will be posted for a period of twenty(20) days in three (3) conspicuous public places in the municipalitywhere the subject property is located and at Malolos City, Bulacanwhere the sale shall take place, and likewise a copy will be publishedfor the same period in the MABUHAY, a newspaper of general circu-lation in the province of Bulacan, once a week for three (3) consecu-tive weeks before the date of auction sale.

All sealed bids with its accompanying transmittal letter addressedto this office must be submitted to the undersigned on or before theabove stated date and hour at which time all sealed bids thus,submitted shall be opened.

In the event the public auction could not take place on the saiddate, it shall be held on AUGUST 21, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soonthereafter without further notice.

Prospective bidders or buyers are hereby enjoined to investigatefor themselves the title to the property and the encumbrance thereon,if any there be.

Malolos City, Bulacan, July 15, 2008.

EMMANUEL L. ORTEGAEx-Officio Sheriff

By: NORMAN S. IPAPOSheriff IV

Copy furnished: All parties concerned

Mabuhay: July 18, 25, & August 1, 2008

EJF NO. 208-2008

EXTRA-JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY

UNDER ACT 3135AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118

HULYO 18 – 24, 2008 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 9

10 MabuhayLINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980 HULYO 18 – 24, 2008

INIAABOT ni Pangulong Gloria Macapa-gal Arroyo ang isang bag ng lambat saisang mangingisdang taga-Hagonoy nanaapektuhan ng bagyong Frank noongdulo ng Hunyo. Bumista ang pangulo sa

Hagonoy, Paombong tinulungan ng Pangulo

Sta. Monica High School sa Hagonoy no-ong Biyernes, Hulyo 18, kung saan aypinangunahan niya ang pamamahagi ngmga tulong para sa mga residenteng na-salanta ng bagyo. — DINO BALABO

NAGLUNSAD ang pamahalaang bayanng Hagonoy sa pangunguna ni MayorAngel Cruz ng “Oplan Tawid Kalakhan”kung saan isinasakay sa dump truck angmga residente patungo sa kabayanan

mula sa mga dulong barangay na lubogsa tubig kapag high tide. Gayunpaman,marami pa ring residente ang napipilitangsumakay sa mga tricycle na sumisingilng mataas na pamasahe. — DINO BALABO

NI DINO BALABO

HAGONOY, Bulacan — Pina-ngunahan ni Pangulong GloriaMacapagal Arroyo ang pama-mahagi ng tulong sa mga taga-Hagonoy na naapektuhan ngnagdaang bagyong Frank.

Pagdating ng Pangulo sa baku-ran ng Sta. Monica ElementarySchool noong Hulyo 18, sinalu-bong siya ni Mayor Angel Cruz atmga residente.

Kumaway-kaway ang Panguloat nakipagkamay sa mga tao atpagkatapos ay umakyat na saentablado at agad na namahaging mga tulong, ngunit hindi siya

nagsalita.Ang unang ipinamahagi ng

Pangulo ay dalawang tseke na pa-rehong nagkakahalaga ngP150,000 sa mga opisyal nakumatawan sa Caniogan Self-Employment Assistance-Kaun-laran (SEA-K) Association, at saMalumot SEA-K Association.

Ang SEA-K ay isang micro-fi-nance program ng gobyerno kungsaan ang halagang ipinauutang aygagamiting puhunan sa pagha-hanap-buhay ng mga kasaping na-sabing grupo.

Namahagi rin si Pangulong Ar-royo ng mga lambat at iba panggamit sa pangingisda ng mgamangingisda sa Hagonoy at bayan

ng Paombong. Namahagi pa siyang 300,000 binhi ng bangus samga maliiit na namamalaisdaansa dalawang bayan.

Bukod dito, ipinamahagi rinng Pangulo ang 100 scholarshipgrant ng Technical Education andSkills Development Authority(TESDA), mga health card at mgasupot ng pagkain na may apat nakilong bigas, delatang sardinas atnoodles, at tatlong patibay paramakakuha ng gamot sa Botika saBarangay na bubuksan sa mgabarangay ng Sta.Elena, Sto. Rosa-rio at San Jose dito sa Hagonoy.

Matatagpuan ang bayan ngHagonoy sa baybayin ng Bulacansa Manila Bay. Isa ito sa mga bayan

sa lalawigan na sinalanta ngbagyong Frank noong nakaraangbuwan.

Dahil nasa baybayin ng Bula-can, laging lumulubog ang Hago-noy sa baha sanhi ng high tide atback flood o tubig ulan na buma-baba mula sa mataas na bahaging Gitnang Luzon na dumadaloypatungo sa Manila Bay.

Isang araw bago bumisita angPangulo sa Hagonoy, sinabi ng mgaresidente na dapat ay sa kabaya-nan magtungo ang Pangulo upangmakita ang tunay na kalagayanng bayan ng Hagonoy.

Iyon ay dahil sa dalawang arawna iyon ng Huwebes at Biyernes ayumabot hanggang hita ang tubig

sa kabayanan kung kaya’t angsasakyan ay hindi makabiyahe.

Dahil dito, ang mga residentesa mga dulong barangay ay sinu-sundo at inihahatid ng mga trakbilang bahagi ng programangOplan Tawid Kalakhan ng pama-halaang bayan.

Maging ang bungad ng Sta. Mo-nica Elementary School ay lubogsa tubig noong Biyernes kungkaya’t nang dumating si Pangu-long Arroyo ay naglagay ang pama-halaang bayan ng tulay na kahoyna may lapad na isang metro upanghindi mabasa ang paa ng Panguloat mga kasama nito. Ang ibangresidenteng nagsipaghintay aynakababad ang paa sa tubig.