one mindanao - january 19, 2012

PIA REGIONAL OFFICESWestern Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)

P. Urro Street, San Francisco DistrictPagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur 7016Telephone no. (062) 215-1480 / 925-0038Cellphone no. 0908-8843404E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]: www.piazampen.blogspot.comFacebook: PIA WesMin Info Bliz

Northern Mindanao

Graces’ Building, Antonio Luna StreetCagayan de Oro City 9000Telefax No. (08822) 72-66-83Telephone no. (088) 856-8178 / 729-594Cellphone no. 0928-5204305 0917-3084969E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]: www.pia-10.blogspot.com

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)

2/F Kanto Motors Bldg.,Quimpo Blvd., New MatinaDavao City 8000Telephone no. (082) 297-0991 / 301-8580Telefax no. (082) 297-0992 / 304-2044Cellphone no. 0917-7053606 / 0918-9202950E-mail: [email protected]

Central Mindanao (SOCCSKSARGEN)

Provincial Capitol Compound Bautista Bldg., Zulueta St.Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506Telephone no. (083) 520-0249Telefax no. (083) 228-9736 / 228-9739 / 520-0100Cellphone no. 0921-6873373 / 0928-5204307E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)

Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines Bldg.,J. Rosales Avenue, Butuan CityTelephone no. (085) 341-5285 / 360-1239Telefax no. (085) 341-2370Cellphone no. 0917-7188834Email: [email protected] , [email protected],phBlogspot: www.piacaraga.blogspot.comFacebook: PIA Caraga Updates, PIA Agusan del Norte, Pia Agusan del Sur, Pia Surigao del Norte, Pia Surigao del Sur

Today’s issue... Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 Vol. 1 No. 158

Malacañang says Aquino gov’t continues to work hard to chart country to higher growth

City acquires P28.5M garbage trucks

SSS launch raffle promo for OFWs

DA urges farmer groups to avail of seeds, seedling assistance

Bagong ARMM cabinet members, kinilala ni OIC Hataman

PNP-Tandag City chief wants thorough investigation on alleged carnapping case

Army recorded very minimal violent activities for the last quarter of 2011

10President Aquino invites Thailand investors to Public-Private Partnership program 11

Health office conducts health orientation for community

Jocelyn P. Alvarez, Western Mindanao

Lanao del Sur police campaigns for zero plastic bags, styro

Lanao Norte contingent undeterred by latest Sinulog result

Southern Mindanao

Dani Doguiles, Central Mindanao

Ac Agad, Central Mindanao

Greg Tataro Jr., Caraga Region

David M. Suyao, Caraga Region

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Executive Editor ……......... EFREN F. ELBANBUENA Cluster Head, Southern, Western and Central Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Region XI

Managing Editor ……......... ABNER M. CAGA Cluster Head, Northern and Northeastern Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Caraga Region Officer-in-charge,PIARegionX

Associate Editors ……....... NOEMI B. EDAGA Regional Director, PIA Region IX

OLIVIA T. SUDARIA Regional Director, PIA Region XII

Regional Desk Editors …... Jocelyn P. Alvarez, PIA Region IX Elaine O. Ratunil, PIA Region X Rudolph Ian G. Alama, PIA Region XI Danny E. Doguiles, PIA Region XII Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region

Copy Editors ……………….. Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region Nora C. Lanuza Molde, PIA Caraga Region

Layout Artists ……………... Gerie Mae G. Coco, PIA Caraga Region Richard D. Atillo, PIA Caraga Region Editorial Advisers :

ATTY. JOSE A. FABIADirector-General

Philippine Information Agency

SEC. HERMINIO “Sonny” B. COLOMAPresidentialCommunicationsOperationsOffice

EDITORIAL BOARD

Cover Story

Leonardo “Happy L.A.”

Avila; From Radio Jock to

Public Servant

Rudolph Ian AlamaSouthern Mindanao

Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 Vol. 1 No. 158


City acquires P28.5M garbage trucks


DA urges farmer groups to avail of seeds, seedling assistance

Bagong ARMM cabinet members, kinilala ni OIC Hataman



President Aquino invites Thailand investors to Public-Private Partnership program

Health office conducts health orientation for community

Jocelyn P. Alvarez, Western Mindanao

Alfonso T. Ruda, Western Mindanao

Lanao del Sur police campaigns for zero plastic bags, styro

Apipa P. Bagumbaran, Northern Mindanao

Lanao Norte contingent undeterred by latest Sinulog result

Dani Doguiles, Central Mindanao

Greg Tataro Jr., Caraga Region

David M. Suyao, Caraga Region

Vincent N. Labial, Northern Mindanao

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4 Thursday, January 19, 2012ONE MINDANAO

Cover StoryLeonardo “Happy L.A.” Avila; From Radio Jock to Public Servant

Leonardo Ramos Avila III was just 18, when he became a

Disc jockey for DXUM in 1975. The radio stint proved to be young man’s

watershed that would eventually redefine his career as one of Davao’s

top FM DJ leading to a successful career in local City politics.

by Rudolph Ian Alama

5 Thursday, January 19, 2012 ONE MINDANAO

Leo Avila adopted Happy L.A as his radio moniker and his radio program was named Pinoy Rock and Rhythm, playing mostly rock and roll and folk. The program attracted many local musicians who would give demos of their original songs. “Pero pag-pakinggan ko parang ni-record sa banyo.” (When I listened to it. it sounded like it was recorded in the bath-room.) Happy L.A. said. He then got an idea, gathering different bands with original materials they set out to record their songs just to get the quality fit for radio airing. And thus began the golden age of the Davao music scene. We began recording, “there were times when we would record for three straight days.” Said Happy L.A., recording were set-up in Student Center (then located along Claveria), UM Technical School in Ban-goy where they would set up for a live out-door recording sessions, Yamaha-Yupangco building which had a 24-track recording studio. The recording was an ex-deal as Ya-maha would get free plugging in Happy LA’s program. Then there was DEMS Recording

studio, a well-equipped recording studio in Matina run by a Non-Government Orga-nization.” In the late 70s his was the most lis-tened radio program. “I remember the pro-gram would be at 6 to 6:30 p.m. when peo-ple would relax at their homes or be with their friends drinking tuba. Life was simple then. They would just listen to the radio and relax.” Happy L.A. said. And aside from recorded materials, musicians would drop by and jam on the program live, he recounts seeing Joey Ay-ala, Bong Durias, Eric Dalisay and Popong Landero as among those artists who would drop by at his program. The music those days were of folk and rock and roll, influ-ence by Seals and Crofts, Crosby Stills and Neil Young. Happy L.A. remembers a young boy, the son of Bong Durias who would tag along at the station. “ang liit-liit pa siya nuon. Pero ngayon ang laki na.” Literally and figura-tively, Happy L.A. was describing Jay Durias of South Border. Aside from recording, Happy L.A ventured into producing concerts and gigs. During those

Leonardo Ramos Avila III was just 18, when he became a

Disc jockey for DXUM in 1975. The radio stint proved to be young man’s

watershed that would eventually redefine his career as one of Davao’s

top FM DJ leading to a successful career in local City politics.


days two bands would stand out developing some sort of musical rivalry, these were the JBM band (which later became Sticky Stones) and the Aldaba band. Happy L.A managed the Sticky Stones and remembers the popu-larity of the two bands and the well-attended concerts. “During a concert at the then Davao YMCA Gym we headlined the face-off be-tween the JBM and Aldaba bands, there were so many people during the event that the gate to the gymnasium was destroyed.” He recalled. Aptly named Pinoy Rock and Rhythm concerts, the organizers would eventually tie up with schools to conduct school tours (Pinoy Rock and Rhythm School tour) and would visit other nearby cities and provinces (Pinoy Rock and Rhythm on the road). However the DXUM partnership end-ed when the station reformatted favoring a more mellow pop sound. The station was sending signals that Pinoy Rock and Rhythm was out of place with the station’s new Mellow Fever format. The unhappy

Happy L.A. left and accepted the longstand-ing offer of DXXL. “In 1980 I got mar-ried (to Lorelyn Trini-dad), it was a change of priorities na rin. Dati when I was in DXUM I was still single.” Happy L.A. said. With higher pay and added responsi-bilities to his job he gave up being the band man-ager of Sticky Stones though he continued to be the band’s adviser until they disbanded in the early 80s.


In the early 1980s peace and order deteriorated in the City and the local per-forming scene was temporarily silent. But his love for Rock and roll and the local musi-cians never waned. Despite being in a Top 100 format radio station, Happy L.A would still inject music of local bands though not as often as his DXUM days. “Sundays nalang sila ma-feature. He recalls the tagline “Fly-ing High on a Sunday” which describes the Sunday format of DXXL.” When peace returned to the City, Hap-py L.A organized concerts featuring local musicians. “Those were the Araw ng Dabaw concerts, the Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga (MAD) events.” The anti-drug concerts were held in PTA grounds (now the People’s Park), Uyanguren Avenue and the newly opened Sandawa avenue. Happy L.A fondly recalls the Sandawa MAD concert; “there was a very huge crowd, we even managed to get Mayor Duterte to go to the stage and deliver a message, when the Mayor went to the stage, he saw a very young boy sporting an earring and the Mayor admonished the boy right in front of the stage.” Happy L.A. recalls amusingly, re-membering his young DJ/rocker days when he was sporting earrings and wearing torn jeans. But Happy L.A was not a believer of

a dirty rock lifestyle. “I shun drugs, even as a band manager it was a big no, no for my band to perform when they are high on drugs. You must play for the audience and not for yourself, when you play for the audi-ence you must be responsible.” He said. In 1988, Happy L.A has become a household name as one of Davao City’s top FM radio personalities; during the 1988 lo-cal elections he took a gamble and ran for a seat in the City Council where he eventually won. He served the City Council for major-ity of the past two decades and took on the task of espousing the environment par-ticularly in the conservation and preserva-tion of the Davao Gulf. In recent years, the younger generation of Dabawenyos refer to him as “Mr. Pawikan” (sea turtle) in ref-erence for his advocacy to save the endan-gered sea turtles and their nesting sites in the City. In 2010, with the limits of his three-terms as city councilor he was appointed by Mayor Sara Duterte as the Officer-In-Charge of the City Agriculturist Office. As the OIC City Agriculturist Leo Avila is on the forefront of the City’s intensified upland rice and agro-forestry program criti-cal economic and environmental center-pieces of the present city administration.


The Aquino government warmly welcomed Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra of the Kingdom of Thailand who is meeting President Benigno S. Aquino III during her Official Visit Thursday, which aims to further

strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.

ACROSS THE NATIONThailand Prime Minister Shinawatra arrives for official visit Thursday


Prime Minister Shi-nawatra and her official delegation, on board a government aircraft Airbus 310 of the Thai Royal Airforce, touched down at exactly 9:50 a.m., Thursday on the runway of the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.

The Thai delegation was welcomed by Phil-ippine government offi-cials led by Foreign Af-fairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario, Commis-sion on Higher Educa-tion Secretary Patricia B. Licuanan, Philippine Ambassador to Thailand Linglingay F. Lacanlale, Manila International Air-port Authority General Manager Jose Angel A. Honrado and Philippine Airforce Commanding General Major Gener-al Lauro Catalino de la Cruz, among others.

Upon their arrival, Thai Ambassador to the Philippines Prasas Pras-asvinitchai and Chief of Presidential Protocol and

Presidential Assistant on Foreign Af-

f a i r s

Ambassador Miguel A. Perez Rubio ascended the Thai aircraft to greet and welcome Prime Min-ister Shinawatra.

Following the arrival ceremonies, the Thai leader also went to Rizal Park in Manila to per-sonally offer flowers and respects to Filipino Na-tional Hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

During the wreath-laying event, Prime Min-ister Shinawatra was received and joined by Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim, Secretary Licuan-an, Philippine Nacy Flag Officer in Command Vice Admiral Alexander P. Pama, Ambassador Ru-bio, National Parks De-velopment Committee Executive Director Ju-liet H. Villegas and Brig. General Ramona Go, Aide-de-Camp assigned to the Thai leader.

Prime Minister Shina-watra then proceeded to Malacanang Palace to attend to a series of activities that include a bilateral discussion with President Aquino.

The discussions will also be attended by other officials from both the Philippines and Thailand focusing on the issues of en-ergy, agriculture, de-fense, culture, educa-tion, combating drug trafficking, and disas-ter risk reduction and management, among others.

Issues on the signifi-cant developments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are also expected to be discussed.

Culminating the official visit is President Aquino’s hosting of a luncheon in honor of Prime Minister Shinawatra before she leaves back home in the afternoon.

The visit is one of the highlights of the 63rd anniversary of establishment of dip-lomatic relations be-tween the Philippines and Thailand, which is being commemo-rated this year. (JCL)


“According to the Bank of America-Merrill Lynch survey, the Phil-ippines has become the third most-preferred market in the world for global fund managers, after China and Indo-nesia. This is borne of expectations that in the wake of four credit up-grades, the country’s investment grade will be further upgraded later this year,” Presi-dential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a statement issued on Wednesday.

“The survey also cites investor confidence be-

ing boosted by the Presi-

dent’s reform agenda,” Lacierda said.

Reports said the se-ries of upgrades last year manifest that the Aquino administration’s economic program is on the right track.

Fitch Ratings raised its credit rating for the Phil-ippines to BB+ from BB last June, just one notch below the credit rating company’s investment grade.

Standard & Poor’s, another credit rating company, raised its out-look to positive from sta-ble last November, citing the country’s strong ex-ternal liquidity and im-proved fiscal position.

Lacierda said that

the Aquino government continues to work to-ward the goal of having a sustainable inclusive growth for the country.

“The simple fact is justice, accountabil-ity, transparency, good governance, and the improvement of the economy to accomplish inclusive growth are an indivisible whole,” Laci-erda said.

“An economy that is inclusive is one in which citizens are empowered to improve their lives and contribute to the well-be-ing of the national com-munity,” he said. (JS)


The Aquino government continues to work harder to chart the country to a higher growth trajectory amid the latest survey by the Bank of

America-Merrill Lynch showing that global fund managers have increased their position in the Philippines, making it the third most preferred market in the world.


President Aquino invites Thailand investors to Public-Private Partnership program

President Benigno S. Aquino III has invited Thai investors and businessmen to

invest in the Philippines through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) program, a government program aimed at accelerating the financing, construction and operation of key government infrastructure projects.

The President issued his invitation during his Expanded Bilateral Talks with Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in Malacañang on Thurs-day.

He cited the impor-tance of the private sector as an invaluable partner in the Philippine govern-ment’s quest to uplift the life of Filipinos.

“I also took the op-portunity to invite Thai companies to invest in

my government’s PPP program.

The private sector is a vi-tal partner in fulfilling our growth and development objectives,” the President said.

“The government is committed to providing the enabling environment for private sector partici-pation through Public Pri-vate Partnerships (PPP),” he added.

For her part, Prime Minister Shinawatra said the Thai government was ready to throw its full support for businessmen and investors who will in-

vest in the Philippines.“Thailand is ready to

provide support to Thai investors who wish to invest in the Philippines under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) pro-grams,” Shinawatra said.

The Philippines and Thailand share one of the oldest and strongest bilateral relationships in Southeast Asia at 63 years which the two lead-ers have hailed as “a dy-namic and fruitful part-nership.” (RCK)


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San Pedro bags 2012 ‘Pasalamat’ festival grand prize by Gideon C. Corgue

For the second time, barangay San Pedro bagged the grand prize during the ‘Pasalamat’ festival held at the city gym on Jan. 15. A total of 23 clustered barangays

participated in the impressive, majestic and colorful celebration.


The ‘Pasalamat’ is a grand an-nual festival held on the third Sunday of January every year, celebrated in honor of patron saint Sr. Sto. Nino. The winners of the ‘Pasalamat’ festival were announced after hours of ritual dance and showdown at the city gymnasium. San Pedro was the first contingent to receive a cash prize of P100,000. Lison Valley contingent was judged as first-runner up and won P80,000. The Kawit contingent got the second place and won P60,000. Sto. Nino is the third runner-up and received 40,000. The fourth runner-up, the clustered barangays of Bom-ba, Poloyagan and Napolan received P30,000, while the other contingents received a consolation prize of P20,000 each. Mayor Samuel S. Co in his mes-sage said the street dance and parade (barangay category) will only be up to this year since next year, it will be an ‘invitational’ street dance competition where contingents from the different cities in the Philippines will be invited to participate. Co said he will increase prizes for the competition just to attract partici-

pants and to make the festival more lively, elegant and entertaining be-cause it draws huge crowd and brings prestige for Pagadian City. Co said the prizes for the com-petition will be increased to attract participants and make the festival lively and elegant. This festival draws a huge crowd and brings prestige for Pagadian City. Among those who witnessed the event were ZamboSur 2nd district Representative Aurora E. Cerilles and her husband, Governor Antonio H. Cerilles, first lady Priscilla Ann F. Co, provincial, city and barangay officials and the viewing public. (ALT/GCC/PIA9-Pagadian)


City acquires P28.5M garbage trucksby Jocelyn P. Alvarez

ZAMBOANGA CITY - 6 new compactor dump trucks costing the city some P28.5 million acquired using the 2011 budget were recently unveiled and turned over to the Office of the City Environment and Natural Resources (OCENR).

Mayor Celso Lobregat who lead the turned over said the new addition of garbage trucks will help accelerate garbage collection in the barangays. City Information Officer (IO) Sheila Covarrubias said the “the 6 dump trucks bring the number of garbage vehicles purchased from 2007 to present to 16 units.” Covarrubias said that the city government has also replaced some old dilapidated dump trucks. “The mayor believes that the city does not only need to replace the dilapidated ones but also the need to

increase the number of garbage ve-hicles considering that the volume of garbage is increasing,” Covarrubias said. Covarrubias said Lobregat vowed to purchase six more garbage vehicles this year, “at least 6 units more are included for purchase in the 2012 nbudget,’ she revealed. The lady IO explained, “un-like the older units, the compactor type garbage trucks are equipped with a rear input and compactor and equipped with a small camera each that allows the driver to monitor if the

loading and unload-ing of the garbage is done or not.” The acquisition of the new trucks is in line with the city government’s con-tinuous fortification of the solid waste management pro-gram and to help solve the city’s sol-id waste problem. (JPA / PIA ZBST)


The seminar, which was held on January 12-13 was attended by rep-resentatives from the Department of Health and PHO, headed by provincial health officer Dr. Eduardo Gulayon. PHO Nurse III Rommel Jamo-lod said all barangays are directed to maintain a community health team to monitor the health condition of the lo-cal residents as well as provide proper nutrients to the children and pregnant mothers, including their regular visit to the health centers for pregnancy moni-toring. The Community Health Team will

be composed of the Barangay Health Workers, midwives, and barangay of-ficials who will conduct a survey to de-termine the health condition of family members. Some of the municipalities in Zamboanga del Norte who have re-ceived technical assistance from ZU-ELLIG Family Foundation for the same purpose are the municipalities of Siayan, Leon Postigo, Gutalac, Kalawit, and Mutia, particularly Leon Postigo which was able to build its health cen-ter through Zuellig Family Foundation. (ALT/ATR)

Health office conducts health orientation for communityDIPOLOG CITY - In line with President Benigno Aquino III’s Universal Health Approach, the Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Health Office recently conducted a two-day Community Health Team Orientation at Mibang Hotel, this city.

by Alfonso T. Ruda


World Vision holds culmination rites for “Child Friendly Space”by Jumalyn J. Picato

After five (5) days of psychosocial intervention for children left upset by typhoon Sendong, the World Vision Philippines culminated recently its school-based ‘Child Friendly Space’

(CFS) under the theme “It’s cool to be back in school.” Child Protection Specialist, Rosalyn E. Lorin said CFS assists children to be ready for school despite the hardships and struggle they had to face in aftermath of the typhoon, which hit the city last month and left

thousands of families homeless and grieving. CFS aims to ensure children’s well being by providing responses to the questions they have in mind and allows sharing of experiences, in a way


enable the kids to realize that there are also people and structures in the community that cares and support them. “Through this, children were able to express their feelings and appreciate life. They could still act as a normal child,” she added. During the culmination activities

in both Macasandig and Macanhan Elementary Schools, this city, teachers presented their output during the five day activity with World Vision consisting mostly of art works, prayers and hopes of the children. Some teachers and students in the higher grade likewise shared their testimonies on the Sendong experience, to give inspiration to the other children. Meanwhile, World Vision

Mindanao Communication Specialist, Crislyn Felicilda also expressed hope for the children’s full-recovery. “We pray for the full-recovery of the children and the World Vision together with the teachers and parents, we wanted to take care of your future,” she said.


Lanao del Sur police campaigns for zero plastic bags, styroby Apipa P. Bagumbaran

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur - As its modest contribution to help the country fight global warming, the Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office (LSPPO) has jumpstarted a campaign against the use of plastic bags and styrofoam materials.

The campaign dubbed “Zero Plastic Bags and Styrofoam for LSPPO” prohibits the use of plastic bags and styrofoam inside the LSPPO headquarters and in the 39 municipal police stations in the province. Police Senior Superintendent Romeo Magsalos, LSPPO Director, said the campaign was launched last week to raise the level of consciousness and awareness among LSPPO personnel on the adverse impact of the continued use of plastic bags and styrofoam to the environment. He said the campaign is encouraging all LSPPO personnel to become green advocates and be part in saving the environment by reducing their use of plastic bags and styrofoam. The job of the police is not only to protect the people but also the environment, he cited. As part of the campaign, the LSPPO is also including plastic bags and styrofoam to its Public Enemy list making plastic bags and styrofoam as the Public Enemy No. 1, he further said. Magsalos is hoping that other police stations in the country would also replicate this campaign.

He also expressed hope that LSPPO personnel, as heads of their own families, can influence their respective families to refrain from using plastic bags in their home and not to buy things packed in a plastic.They can rather buy those that use recycled paper or those with minimal packaging, he said. Magsalos said those caught not cooperating with the campaign shall be penalized with fatigue duties such as 20 push-ups and running around the oval.


Lanao Norte contingent undeterred by latest Sinulog resultby Vincent N. Labial

TUBOD, Lanao del Norte – Although this year’s performance by Lanao del Norte ‘The Land of Beauty and Bounty’ was not enough to get the judges’ approval, officials from this fast-rising province remain committed to the Sinulog Festival of Cebu City.

“Our main objective in joining the festival is to promote Lanao del Norte as a peaceful and beautiful province where Muslims and Christians live harmoniously with one another. On that goal, I can say - mission accomplished,” Governor Khalid Dimaporo remarked. This is the first loss of the province since 2009 when it first competed in the Free Interpretation category of the biggest cultural festival in the country. Last year, ‘The Land of Beauty and Bounty’ won second place in the Street dancing category after going against 49 contingents including veteran powerhouses like Tangub’s Sinanduloy Cultural Troupe, Tribu Himag-Ulaw of Placer, Masbate, and Tribu Buyoganon of Abuyog, Leyte. “This year’s result inspires us all the more to put on the biggest and grandest performance our province has ever produce come Sinulog 2013. Everyone should not miss it,” Information Officer Lyndon Calica said. The 2011 Ms. Lanao del Norte, Angel Lou Pates, gave the contingent its sole victory as she grabbed the fourth runner-up crown in the Search for Sinulog Festival Queen.

“The annual entry of ‘The Land of Beauty and Bounty’ contingent is also the province’s way of thanking Cebu City for the solid trade partnership it has enjoyed through the years as well as our unique way of contributing to the pageantry and color of the Sinulog Festival,” Calica added. The top 5 winners in the Free Interpretation were Lingganay Festival of Alang-alang, Leyte (1st place); Tribu Himag-ulaw of Placer, Masbate (2nd place); Karatong Festival of Dulag, Leyte (3rd place); while Lumad Basakanon of Barangay Basak-San Nicolas in Cebu City and Toledo National High Vocational School of Toledo City, Cebu won the fourth and fifth place, respectively. The Alang-Alang, Leyte contingent also won the special awards for Best Musicality (Festival Music) and Best in Festival Costume. In the street dancing category, Carcar City won first place, while Tangub City and Placer, Masbate took second and third place. This year’s Sinulog festival saw 50 contingents battled for the top prizes in last Sunday’s Grand Parade – 23 in the Sinulog-based category and 27 in Free Interpretation. (PIO-LDN)


E-Passport processing back to normal – DFA by Carina Cayon

After experiencing a delay in the processing of the

electronic passport last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs here announced that it has resumed its normal processing pace starting this month. “The e-passport processing is back to normal this year,” DFA Re-gional Consular officer-in-charge Er-linda B. Albay said during the Davao Talking Points forum today (Jan. 17)

over Radyo ng Bayan. Albay explained that the system in DFA central office bogged down last year which caused the delay in the e-passport processing of up to two months per application. Currently, she said that the regular processing has resumed to a 20-working day before an applicant could get his/her e-passport which goes with a fee of P950. The express processing, she

added, has ten working days that entails a fee of P1,200. Albay reminded that personal appearance is strictly required to all applicants who will undergo the biometric technology in capturing the needed information for the passport. DFA has started the issuance of the e-pass-port in March 2010 in the country following a requirement from the


International Civil Aviation Organi-zation (ICAO), she said. The e-passport contains bio-metric information of the passport holder, of which data is enclosed in a chip embedded at the back cover of the passport that could easily iden-tify. Albay said that the colored maroon e-passport has enhanced security features such as it is tam-per proof. She stated that the green

passport is still honored in all other countries but reminded those hold-ers who obtained their passports in 2007 to renew six months or more before the expiration period within the year. The DFA-Davao official report-ed that her office has marked an increase in terms of the processed passports for the last two months. Albay noted that over 300 pro-cessed and paid applications are be-ing handled by her office per day.

DAVAO CITY- Overseas Filipino workers can win a trip back home and cash prizes for active Social Security System (SSS) membership and motivating fellow OFWs to become SSS members under a special raffle promo starting this month, a top official said. SSS President and Chief Execu-tive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. said

the “Member-Get-Member” (MGM) promo aims to encourage overseas workers to urge fellow Filipinos in their communities abroad to become active SSS members. “It is SSS’ priority to reach out to OFWs. We learnt that despite their hard work, they are often excluded from social security programs of their host countries,” he said. “Thus, en-suring their SSS coverage is a way of giving them social protection wherev-er they are.” To be eligible as “nominators,” interested OFWs must have a mini-mum of one posted contribution dur-ing the last three months from the time of registration for the MGM pro-mo. The promo carries the slogan “Sa SSS: Kasamahang OFW ay Pro-tektado, Meron Pang Pa-Premyo.” Nominators can refer new or exist-ing members to SSS as “nominees,” who must have no posted contribu-



tions for 2011. “Nominators automatically earn one entry to the monthly raffle for ev-ery posted contribution of each nomi-nee, provided they also pay their own SSS premium for the same month,” De Quiros said. “More referrals mean more chances of winning.” A total of nine winners of P10,000 each will be chosen via electronic raf-fle every month from January to June 2012. Monthly raffle draws will be held on the last working day of the succeeding month. “OFW nominators and nomi-nees with six posted contributions for January to June 2012 will qualify for the Grand Raffle, which will be held in September as part of the 55th SSS anniversary celebration,” De Quiros said. The SSS offers as Grand Prize a vacation package that includes round-trip economy-class airfare to Manila from the winning OFW’s coun-try of work; round-trip airfare, airport

transfers and hotel accommodation for a four-day stay for two in Bora-cay; and P45,000 pocket money. “The Grand Prize is convert-ible to P160,000 cash. SSS will also award a special prize of P50,000 and a plaque of appreciation to the OFW-nominator with the most num-ber of nominees in recognition of the member’s exemplary support for the promo,” De Quiros said. The institution will also draw two 2nd prize winners of P30,000 each; three 3rd prize winners of P20,000 each; and ten winners of P10,000 each as consolation prizes. Interested OFWs can register at SSS foreign offices and through the SSS website (www.sss.gov.ph) starting January 15. Local branches, including SSS’ office at the Philip-pine Overseas Employment Admin-istration (POEA) headquarters in Mandaluyong City , will accept ap-plications from January 16 to June 30.

did you know...That the Davao City Central 911 is one of the three centralized emergency response systems in the world that adopt the phone emergency numbers 9-1-1. The countries of the United States and Canada are also the ones using the emergency number system.


Sarangani launches filariasis elimination campaignby CT. Apelacio

GENERAL SANTOS CITY - The provincial government of Sarangani through its Provincial Health Office (PHO) is stepping up its campaign on the elimination of filariasis (lymphatic filariasis) in the entire province.

Photo by Cocoy Sexcion/Sarangani IO


On Monday, Jan. 16, the province launched its campaign at Nomoh Integrated School in Maasim town.

Funded by the Sagit-tarius Mines, Incorporat-ed (SMI), the P1-million campaign will be imple-mented throughout the province, said the Pro-vincial Information Of-fice.

Governor Mig Dominguez said the province will continue to fight filariasis and other debilitating dis-eases stressing on the importance of partner-ship with other stake-holders—the national government agencies, non-governmental orga-nizations and even the private sectors.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), lymphatic filari-asis, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a painful and profoundly disfiguring disease.

The disease is caused by three species of worms, known as filar-iae. The three species are Wuchereria ban-crofti, Brugia malayi and Brugia timori. The in-fection is usually mani-fested later in life, even if it was acquired during childhood.

Filariae are transmit-ted by mosquitoes with infective larvae. When a mosquito bites a human host, the parasites are deposited on the per-son’s skin which later enter the body and mi-

grate to the lymphatic vessels, causing dam-age, swelling of the ves-sels and suffering.

WHO said the “disfig-uring swelling of the legs and genital organs is a classic sign of late-stage disease” cause tempo-rary or permanent dis-ability of a person.

The lymphatic system contains immune cells called lymphocytes, which protect the body against harmful viruses and bacteria.

PHO said the infec-tion can be treated with drugs unless such con-dition is already chronic and requires other types of treatment.

Drugs to combat fi-lariasis include the com-bination of “either dieth-ylcarbamazine citrate (DEC) and albendazole, or ivermectin and al-bendazole or the regular use of DEC fortified salt can prevent occurrence of new infection and dis-ease.”

Health officials said annual mass administra-tion of the drug combina-tion given for five years is the preferred course of treatment. The drugs are recommended to be given to “individuals at risk” such as those


residing in filariasis-prone community whether they manifest symptoms or not.

In its report, the De-partment of Health said Filariasis is endemic in the provinces of Sa-rangani, South Cota-bato, Sultan Kudarat, North Cotabato, Davao del Norte, Davao del

Sur, Davao Oriental, Compostela Valley, Su-rigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Sulu, Basilan, Maguin-danao, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibu-gay, Bukidnon, Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental.

Global statistics also show that “more than 1.3 billion people in 81 countries worldwide are threatened by lym-phatic filariasis while over 120 million peo-ple are currently in-fected, with about 40 million disfigured and incapacitated by the disease.”

DA urges farmer groups to avail of seeds, seedling assistanceby Dani Doguiles

KORONADAL CITY - Officials of the Department of Agriculture in Soccsksargen Region (DA-12) are encouraging farmer groups to take advantage of the assistance the department’s is offering under its high value crops development program.

Non-government or-ganizations, local gov-ernment units, coopera-tives, civic organizations, and other such groups may also submit project proposals, Danilo Centil-las, DA-12’s high value crops coordinator, said.

Centillas told report-ers Region 12 has P48 million funds for inter-ventions that include, planting materials, farm tools, farm equipment, and machineries.

“They only need to submit project propos-als,” he said.

Interested groups may get project propos-al forms from the near-est local agriculture of-fice or from the regional office in Koronadal City.

Based on a report pa-per that Centillas dis-tributed during a recent press conference, DA-12 aims to distribute 100,000 seedlings of coffee, 100,000 seed-

lings of rubber, and 50,000 seedlings of ca-cao.

They have also allo-cated planting materi-als for 50,000 assorted fruit trees and 20,000 banana (saba).

Seeds slated for dis-tribution this year in-clude 500 kg of lowland vegetable (eggplant, squash, ampalaya and other “pinakbet” vege-tables), 65 kg of upland vegetables (cabbage,


carrots, cauliflower, etc.), and 20,000 kg of soya beans.

Although they have already scheduled this week a writing work-shop to finalize submit-ted project proposals, Centillas said interested groups may still sub-mit project proposals through their munici-pal agriculture office for endorsement by the municipal mayor to the provincial agriculturist.

He said, they have received only 59 project proposal from the en-tire Region 12, “most of these from North Cota-bato.”

“We have only re-ceived only 11 proposals from South Cotabato,” he added.

With the expected shutdown of the Ala River Irrigation System which is due for rehabil-itation in May this year, affected farmer groups , including irrigators’ as-sociations, are urged to avail of DA’s assistance.

A total of 12,000 hectares covering four municipalities (Surallah, Sto. Niño, Banga and Norala) in South Cota-bato and two munici-palities (Bagumbayan and Isulan) in Sultan Kudarat province may

be deprived of water supply for one cropping; about 8,850 farm fami-lies may have to shift to other alternative crops while the two dams of Ala RIS are closed.

Besides planting ma-terials, part of the fund is allocated for 35 power sprayers, 200 knapsack sprayers, 1 tractor, 10 small farm equipment, 20 draft animals, and 20 small farm implements.

They also planned for the establishment of 30 rain shelters, 5 screen houses, 8 nurseries and 1 seed storage facilities.

Regarding the prepa-ration of the proposals,


Centillas advised propo-nents to make their pro-posals simple.

“But we are more con-cerned with the sustain-ability of their projects,” he said, such that ben-

efits may be gained by their members beyond the first year of imple-mentation.

He added, it is impor-tant to have proposals endorsed by the local

government unit so that officials are made aware that such projects may be implemented in their area or may be re-aligned to agree with local programs.

Bagong ARMM cabinet members, kinilala ni OIC HatamanKORONADAL CITY - Sa isang simpleng seremonyang ginanap sa Shariff Kabunsuan Cultural Center, pinangasiwaan ni Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) caretaker governor Mujiv Hataman ang panunumpa sa katungkulan ng kanyang bagong gabinete.

Ayon kay Hataman, lahat ng kanyang bagong cabinet secretaries ay kuwalipikado at dumaan sa masusing pagpili ng screening committee bago itinalaga sa posi-syon.

Kinakatawan din nila ang lahat ng etnikong tribu na nasa autono-mous region, dagdag ng OIC governor.

Sinabi din niyang masusi niyang baban-tayan ang mga cabinet secretaries sa unang 100 araw sa kanilang panu-nungkulan bilang bahagi ng kanyang reformed transitional agenda na nakabase sa mithiin ng Pangulong Benigno

Aquino III.Aniya, ipinangako din

sa kanya ng mga mi-yembro ng bagong gabi-nete ang pagiging bukas sa lahat ng kanilang mga transaksyon at pagpa-patakbo ng bawat tang-gapan ng ARMM.

Kabilang sa mga bagong itinalaga ay sina Atty. Jamar Kulayan para sa Department of Education, Forester Ka-hal Kedtag sa Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Resources, Marites Maguindra sa Department of Trade and Industry, Professor Sangkula Tindick sa De-partment of Agriculture

and Fisheries, Halim Mohammad para sa De-partment of Agrarian Re-form, Dr. Kadil Sinolind-ing Jr. sa Department of Health, Haroun Lucman Jr. para sa Department of the Interior and Local Government, Muslimin Jakilan sa Department of Labor and Employ-ment at Engr. Emil Sa-dain para Department of Public Works and High-ways.

Itinalaga rin ni Hata-man bilang bagong Cabi-net Secretary si Norkaila Mambuay-Campong at si Atty. Abdulmuin Pakang bilang Regional Solicitor-General. (Ac Agad)


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PDEA identifies illegal drugs hot spots in Agusan del Sur

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Caraga Region has identified a barangay in Bayugan City as hot spot on the trading of illegal drugs.

by David M. Suyao


On the other hand, two barangays in the municipality of Prosperi-dad are suspected to have Marijuana planta-tion sites after PDEA, the PNP, the army and other stakeholders confiscated 532 fully grown marijua-na and seedlings in Sitio Umayam, Lapaz on June, 2011 and uprooted 5,371 hills in Sitio Mactan on July 8. According to PDEA representative, there are two illegal drugs choices that users in Agusan del Sur prefer and these are Methamphetamine hy-

drochloride or shabu and marijuana. “We have also iden-tified the landing points of these drugs coming here in Agusan del Sur. The first choice of land-ing by the traffickers is Surigao City/ Surigao del Norte, Cabadbaran City/ Agusan del Norte, Bu-tuan City, Bayugan City, Barobo, Surigao del Sur and Bislig, also in Surigao del Sur. The modus ope-randi here are, they are using minors and women as courier and seller of drugs, use cellular phones in the conduct of illegal

drug transaction and the use of “kwarta padala” as mode for transfer of pay-ment. To date, we have a total of 144 in our watch list where 92 are active and 52 are considered suspended file,” PDEA representative said. According to PDEA, in spite of problems en-countered like lack of manpower, cooperation of elected officials, pros-ecution and custody of apprehended suspects and the witnesses, they have conducted eight an-ti-drug operations as the year 2011 ended result-ing to 12 drug person-alities arrested and eight cases file in court. “And in order that we can get the full and sincere cooperation of everybody, we plan to conduct seminars to lo-cal officials re RA 9165, and we suggest that we create the Provincial Anti-drug Abuse Council (PADAC) including the MADAC and the BADAC. In this manner, we will have a coordinated ef-fort in curbing the trade and use of illegal drugs in Agusan del Sur,” PDEA representative said.



TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur - Chief of Police Insp. Greggie Pimentel wants a thorough investigation into the alleged carnapping case that happened here.

An already im-pounded Hyundai Elantra in the Tandag City Police Station was turned over to the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) Provincial Highway Team (PHT) after the conduct of a Technical Inspection and Inventory Report (TIIR) on January 13. The said vehicle was then brought to Caraga Highway Patrol Regional Office on the same day.

Before the initial verification with the HPG, Pimentel did not have any slight suspi-cion that it was a “hot car.” The car was driv-en by a certain Rom-mel Polo of Bula, Gen-eral Santos City and was owned by a certain Isidro Lozada.Recovered from inside the car during the TIIR were items belonging to

Lozada and an Identifi-cation Card (ID) bearing his name as Researcher of National Capital Re-gion (NCR) Criminal In-vestigation and Detec-tion Unit (CIDU). An accidental colli-sion with a passenger tricy-cle on January 7 revealed that the unit’s alleged real owner is actually a certain Ronald J. Ricalde of Sta. Rosa Heights, Puting Ka-hoy, Silang, Cavite.

by Greg Tataro Jr.


BUTUAN CITY - The Philippine Army’s 26th Infantry Battalion has identified five confronted threats in their area of operation but as of the end of the year 2011, only four violent incidents were reported.


According to report by 26th IB commander Col. Nhel Richard Patricio, his troops led by 1Lt. Banot en-countered members of Gue-rilla Front 21 of the North-eastern Mindanao Regional Command of the Commu-nist Party of the Philip-pines/ New People’s Army/ National Democratic Front (CNN) in Sitio Goshen, New Tubigon, Sibagat and an-other encounter in Baran-gay Dimasalang, San Luis, Agusan del Sur the early and middle part of October, 2011. No other encounter was experienced after the two encounters until the end of December last year.

“However, because of failure to pay the revolution-ary taxes demanded by the [communist insurgents], we have recorded two arson cases in Barangays Sta. Ma-ria and Libertad, all in the municipality of Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur,” Patricio said. Per assessment of the army’s 26th IB, their area of operation remained peace-ful compared to other parts of Caraga Region. The non-violent activities mostly fo-cus on information and pub-lic operation works while the group operation in Sibagat and the City of Bayugan is attempting to recover their

mass base after the conduct of peace and development efforts in the area. “On our part, our se-curity operations in our area of operation are sustained. Our internal peace and secu-rity operations conducted as early as June last year has affected much on the [com-munist insurgents] efforts. We are therefore en-joining our peace-loving people in the barangays to cooperate with us by telling us the presence and activi-ties by the [communist insur-gents] in their areas so that we can counter them peace-fully if possible,” Col. Patricio said. (David M. Suyao)

one mindanao - january 19, 2012

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