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Dengue cases up in Ifugao; drive on against the disease

November 3, 2016, 4:04 am
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By Marcelo B. Lihgawon

LAGAWE, Ifugao -- The Provincial Health Office has intensified its campaign   against dengue with alarming increase of the dreaded disease in the province.
In a radio interview, Dr. Priscilla Pagada of the PHO disclosed that their office in coordination with other local authorities and health care givers started some interventions to halt the increasing cases of dengue in the 11 municipalities of the province.
Since July 24, the PHO recorded a total of 328 dengue cases  provincewide  with the town  Tinoc having the highest with 88 cases followed by Lagawe – 59; Banaue – 42; Kiangan – 30; Hingyon – 27; Aguinaldo – 23; Asipulo – 22; Lamut – 18; Hungduan – 16;  and Alfonso Lista – 3. Only Mayoyao has no case.
Pagada said they have conducted fogging in Tinoc to eliminate mosquito breeding places.  
She added they are constantly reminding the practice of search and destroy strategy through the “4’clock habit to eliminate breeding places of mosquitoes.
She said the best preventive measure is the destruction of the breeding places of mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus by having clean surroundings, covering water containers that might serve as the breeding places of the mosquitoes, observing a healthful lifestyle and eating the proper nutritious foods.
“We will continuously conduct surveillance of dengue suspect cases to determine if there’s an outbreak, she said. 

 Meanwhile, Yvon Indunan also of PHO, advised the public to consult a doctor for early detection and management of the disease if ever they experience flu-like symptoms manifesting dengue such as severe headache, muscle and joint pains, extreme fatigue, red rashes and vomiting. 
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Congress urged: Pass no parking, no register law

November 3, 2016, 4:05 am
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By Dexter A. See 

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan urged Congress to pass a law that will include private vehicle owners in the government’s no parking, no registration policy to help reduce the unabated use of roads as parking spaces in the different parts of the country.
The local chief executive said it was unfortunate private vehicles are not included in the coverage of the no parking, no registration policy that is why people without available parking spaces within their houses and properties simply buy vehicles and make use of roads fronting their houses as their parking areas that contribute in constricting traffic in the barangays.
“Congress must already pass a law to expand the coverage of the no parking, no registration policy so that private vehicle owners will be compelled to have their own parking areas before they will be allowed to own vehicles,” Domogan said.
He added the no parking, no registration policy covers only those individuals wanting to own public utility vehicles but the said policy is always being circumvented by unscrupulous individuals wanting to own public utility vehicles.
According to him, one of the unwanted practice of some unscrupulous individuals is they take pictures of the parking spaces of their neighbors or available open spaces near their houses to be shown as proof of their available parking spaces for the registration of their public utility vehicles but the truth is that their vehicles are parked on roads fronting their houses.
He called on concerned government agencies to conduct due diligence in the inspection of the photographs being shown to them by applicants of public utility owners as their parking spaces to check the veracity of what are being presented to them as pieces of evidence.
Domogan said significant increase in volume of vehicles in the city without parking spaces has greatly contributed in the worsening traffic congestions not only in the city proper but also in most of the barangays considering that the narrow roads and streets are being used as parking areas of motor vehicle owners.
He added there is need for concerned government agencies to be strict in the implementation of the no parking, no registration policy for applicants of certificates of convenience to make sure that what they are declaring as their parking spaces will be true so as not to be part of the problems of the local government in term of the wayward parking of vehicles along national, city and barangay roads.
He said it should be the obligation of motor vehicle owners to have their own parking spaces and not for them to burden the government and residents in their barangays to suffer the consequences of their use of roads as the parking areas for their vehicles, citing that people should not be made to suffer the inability of motor vehicles to find sufficient parking areas for their vehicles.

He appealed to vehicle owners to comply with the implementation of the anti-road obstruction order for the convenience of the greater majority of the populace in all the city’s barangays.
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Backflow keeps 55 villages in CL under floodwater

November 3, 2016, 4:05 am
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By Freddie C. Velez and Franco G. Regala

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga -- — Despite sunny weather, backflow of floods in Nueva Ecija and Pampanga during super typhoon “Lawin” has now submerged 21 low-lying barangays (villages) in Calumpit, Bulacan and 34 more in the towns of Macabebe, San Luis, San Simon, and Apalit in Pampanga.
It was supposed to be a smiling sunny day in Calumpit Tuesday, but as residents stepped out of their homes they found themselves wading through flood with a height of 2 feet – and in some areas even four feet.
Car owners had to move their vehicles to high ground. The Calumpit-Hagonoy Road was impassable to light vehicles in the area of San Jose, Purok 1.
A natural catch basin in Central Luzon, Calumpit began to take in water from Nueva Ecija and Pampanga at 6 p.m. Sunday and by 6 a.m. yesterday, 21 villages of the town were already under water, said Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer Liz Mungcal.
Governor Wilhelmino M. Sy-Alvarado has already ordered the deployment of rescue teams to help stranded residents move to safer ground.
He said the initial number of families affected by the flooding was 14,439 or 68,190 individuals.
Alvarado said the PDRRMC is also monitoring Bulacan’s riverside areas of Hagonoy, Paombong, Plaridel and Pulilan as backflow from the Pampanga river system continues
The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council 3 (RDRRMC3) said floods also continued to torment 34 areas in Pampanga.
It said all 24 barangays in Macabebe were still experiencing between 1-foot and 1-foot-high flooding and so goes with three villages in San Luis; five in San Simon; and two in Apalit.


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Tour, events, hike held to promote Kalinga tourism

November 3, 2016, 4:06 am
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By Peter A. Balocnit

LUBUAGAN, Kalinga- - The Provincial Tourism Office recently conducted a 3-day familiarization tour to promote Kalinga’s Village Hopping tour package.
Lorraine Ngao-i of the PTO said this was participated by tour operators, travel agents and guides from Manila, Baguio, Tuguegarao, Bontoc and Tabuk City.
She added that a group of mountaineering clubs earlier made a climb to Mt. Sapokoy in Pasil which is part of the 444- kilometer Cordillera Great Traverse covering six provinces aimed to establish a trekking trail comparable to those famous trails in other countries.
Meanwhile, Lubuagan town, dubbed “Cultural citadel of Kalinga” celebrated World Tourism Day  with  the community  revisiting  places of interest   for better appreciation  of their tourist destinations.
Ansherina Rose Odiem of Lubuagan Tourism Services said her office headed promotional Walk for Tourism from Barangay Mabilong to Dangoy recently attended by about 100 community members.
The activity  aimed to raise awareness among residents  of their own pride of place  and  condition of roads and trails as basis in providing solutions and concerns in line with this year’s celebration theme of  "Tourism for all: Promoting universal accessibility."
Pupils and students participated in the tree planting activity in partnership with the Municipal Agricultural Services Office where 67 Mahogany seedlings were planted by senior high school students and pupils within the school grounds of the Lubuagan Central School.
“A healthy environment equates a responsible tourism,” Odiem said,  adding the activity aimed to raise awareness among the young regarding global trend of climate change and how they could help mitigate this in their own little way such as planting trees.
  -- JDP/PAB 


Northern Philippine Times
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Diocese of Baguio starts radio program to tackle social issues

November 3, 2016, 4:07 am
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BAGUIO CITY -- The Diocese of Baguio, in partnership  with  The Baguio We Want Movement,   recently launched a radio program  for discussion and analysis of  national and local issues affecting the city. 
The program entitled “Shepherd's voice: converging people and government”    is aired over DZWT 540 Radyo Totoo from 10 a.m. to 12 noon every third Friday of the month hosted by Bishop Carlito Cenzon.
Cenzon, during the program launching said through Shepherd’s Voice, aside from the invited guests, the public and other sectors of society will also get an opportunity to be heard   as listeners are open to share their ideas, reaction and suggestions.
They may text their   questions to the DZWT hotline or through Facebook or email.
The Bishop narrated how the program came about.  Living in Baguio for the past 14 years, he has seen the developments in the city and the sense of citizen concern and participation.
He initially thought that people are in fear to talk about what is happening in the city with a lot of criticizing and many negative points being shared about Baguio, until something good happened.
There was this voice he said  that became stronger and stronger; a voice which was saying ‘Bishop, there are people in Baguio who want to talk and they are looking for a venue, are you willing to convey?’
With the support of the Baguio Diocese and other concerned groups, Bishop Cenzon convened the  People's Summit   early last year which  gathered about  500 Baguio residents  to discuss  several issues affecting the city and  share their hopes and ideas for  the future of the  city ,  what  they want to see changed or what changes they want to see for Baguio,   and  how to put forward  these ideas for a better baguio.
This was followed by the “Pushing for the Baguio We Want” forum at University of the Philippines - Baguio in August last year launching the People’s Statement and the Baguio We Want Agenda.
So, that started the Baguio We Want Movement and now this radio program, he said.
Topic for the initial program was on traffic management and peace and order.
For the next airing of Shepherd’s Voice, budget and monitoring will be topics on Nov.r 18 and. The Dec. 16 program will tackle human rights and waste management.
The radio program is also in   coordination with the Saint Louis University. -- T. Baptista  and J. Malab


Northern Philippine Times
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4th Ilocos bocap nabbed for drugs

November 3, 2016, 4:07 am
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By Bismarck Bengwayan

MALASIQUI, Pangasinan – A barangay chairman here was nabbed in a sting operation late Monday.
Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Region 1 director Jeoffrey C. Tacio disclosed a PDEA team and local police arrested Boyet G. Geronimo, 35 at Barangay Bolaoit.
Boyet had reportedly been distributing illegal drugs to nearby barangays, Boyet while serving as barangay chairman of Barangay Potiocan.
“This is the 4th chairman that was arrested since our president was seated. Disappointingly, it confirms that several leaders we have elected are involved in the illegal drug trade” Tacio said, referring to anti-narcotics operations of law enforcers in the region.
It was on August 10 and 14 when Roger Sibayan, Barangay Chairman of Barangay Rissing, Luna, La Union and Al Aguibay of Barangay Virvira, Carasi, Ilocos Norte were arrested through a buy-bust operation respectively.
This, while Lamberto Villa, barangay chairman and leader of the Dawis Drug Group was killed when he allegedly attempted to shoot law enforcers who were serving a search warrant in his house early morning of Sept. 21 at Barangay Tayambani, San Carlos City, Pangasinan
 The suspect was formally charged for cases of violating of Sections 5 for selling a sachet of methamphetamine hydrochloride under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

The motorcycle used in the illegal transaction was also confiscated and if found guilty Geronimo will be facing life imprisonment.
Northern Philippine Times
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More drug suspects shot dead in Northern Luzon

November 3, 2016, 7:12 am
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MORE drug personalities were shot by police and suspected vigilantes in separate incidents in North and Central Luzon last week.

             Ilocos Sur
In Ilocos Sur, Robert de la Cruz, an alleged member of the Tengsico-Cabreros drug ring operating in Ilocos Sur was shot dead after attending a barangay assembly in Sabangan in Santiago town on Wednesday. 

Chief Insp. James Patrick Calibuso, Santiago police chief, said De la Cruz surrendered under Oplan Tokhang recently, but did not stop selling illegal drugs.
Purisimo Dante Francisco Jr., 46, chairman of Barangay 3 in Vigan City, was driving his tricycle on his way to visit his family in Barangay Calabanginan when unidentified motorcycle-riding men opened fire Wednesday night.
The victim was reportedly a witness to a murder case filed against suspected drug addicts in his barangay.
Meanwhile, an alleged top drug trafficker in Vigan City, was shot dead by motorcycle-riding men in Barangay Bagani Campo on Oct. 22.
Jason Toquero, 33, of Barangay Patpata, was in a car when one of two assailants shot him, according to city police chief Supt. Reynaldo Lizardo.
Probers recovered nine bullet shells at the crime scene.
Lizardo said Toquero, who earlier surrendered to authorities during the conduct of Oplan Tokhang in their village, ranked second on the drug list of the city police.

Baguio City
In Baguio City, July Day Manarang, 32, was critically wounded in a gun attack in front of a machine shop in Bokawkan road on Tuesday night.  Police said the victim is a suspected drug pusher.
Nueva Vizcaya
Meanwhile, more ”high-value” pushers  and other drug personalities were arrested in the past three days.
Armando Meneses, 42, a missionary, was arrested in a sting in Barangay Roxas, Solano, Nueva Vizcaya on Tuesday. 

Chief Inspector Billy Mangali, Solano police chief, said the suspect is on the drug watchlist of the provincial police.

Pangasinan
In Pangasinan, five barangays in Dagupan City have been declared drug-free.
Supt. Neil Miro, city police chief, identified the barangays as Mamalingling, Salisay, Pogo Grande, Tebeng and Mangin.
Miro said he is confident that at least 80 percent of their barangays will be cleared of drugs before the end of the year.
Severino Pascua, alias Jong, a resident of Barangay Asan Sur in Sison town drew his gun and fled in a red Mitsubishi Adventure when he sensed that he had sold shabu to undercover agents in Barangay Poblacion 5 in Villasis, Pangasinan at around 12:05 a.m. on Tuesday, police said.
Pascua was collared at a checkpoint in Barangay Unsad, triggering a gunfight with police officers.
Pedro San Jose, 44, reportedly engaged police officers in a shootout during a sting in Barangay Del Rosario in Pili town on Monday.
Sachets of shabu, guns and ammunition were recovered from the fatalities, police said.
Felizardo Claridad, 40, alias Burnok, and Rudy Padilla, 23, residents of Barangay Poblacion East in Sta. Maria, Pangasinan, were riding a motorcycle when unidentified men in a white van with no license plates fired at them Monday.
They were pronounced dead on arrival at the Eastern Pangasinan District Hospital.
Romeo Belbis, 50, with aliases of Romy and Manok, was cleaning the tomb of his relatives at the Urdaneta City Catholic cemetery when he was shot.
Boyet Geronimo, chairman of Barangay Potiocan in Malasiqui, was arrested during a sting in Barangay Bolaoit. 
Senior Supt. Ronald Lee, Pangasinan police acting director, said a sachet of shabu and P500 in cash were recovered from the suspect.
Supt. Roland Sacyat, Malasiqui police chief, said Geronimo is a “high-value” drug target, who surrendered under Oplan Tokhang on Aug. 3, but did not stop his illegal activities.

Isabela
Meanwhile, the bodies of two Chinese men who were killed in an alleged shootout with police operatives during a raid on a shabu laboratory in Cauayan City, Isabela on Oct. 23 have yet to be claimed.
Supt. Ariel Quilang, Cauayan police chief, said he provided security to bodies of Kim Punzalan Uy and Cangbo Shien from Fujian, China  to prevent any attempt to smuggle them out of the mortuary.
Derrick Carreon, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director for information, said they have yet to file cases in connection with the raid.

Bulacan
An alias Monmon was slain in a reported shootout with police during a sting in Barangay Bitungol, Norzagaray, Bulacan at around 1:45 a.m. Thursday.
Police said the fatality was on the barangay drug watchlist.
A caliber .38 revolver, two sachets of shabu and drug paraphernalia were reportedly recovered from the fatality.
Angelo dela Rama, alias Buknoy, allegedly shot it out with a police officer who posed as a buyer of shabu in a sting in Barangay Minuyan in Lancelot Kaacbay and a man who has yet to be identified were found dead in Barangay Makinabang in Baliuag, Bulacan Wednesday.
Their faces were covered with packing tape and their bodies bore a piece of cardboard identifying them as drug pushers.
Edwin Bernardo was shot dead by unidentified men  in Barangay Ilang-Ilang in Guiguinto also in Bulacan Wednesday.
Police said the fatalities were on the drug watchlist in their barangays.
San Jose del Monte City on Wednesday. 
His six cohorts, who were arrested, yielded 14 sachets of shabu with an estimated street value of P16,000, police said.
Reynaldo Lomidao, alias Rey Malaya, was shot dead along MacArthur highway in Barangay Poblacion in Marilao town on Monday.
Three bullet shells for a caliber .45 pistol and a piece of cardboard identifying the fatality as a drug pusher were recovered at the scene.
Senior Supt. Romeo Caramat, Bulacan police acting director, said the fatality was a known drug pusher and user in his barangay. --- Ric Sapnu, Raymund Catindig, Eva Visperas, Efren Lazaro
Northern Philippine Times
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Baguio mayor hits PNP over selection of chiefs

November 3, 2016, 7:14 am
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By Dexter A. See 

BAGUIO CITY – The chief executive of this summer capital assailed the Philippine National Police over its practice of relieving and selecting police chiefs without consulting local governments which he was contrary to law.    
In the case of Baguio, Domogan urged the PNP not to take too long in submitting to him list of qualified senior officers so the screening committee will select the next city police director.
Domogan said it took the PNP two years before it submitted to him list of qualified senior police officers as replacement of former city police chief Senior Supt. Jesus Cambay who was unceremoniously relieved from his post without justifiable reasons.
He expressed disappointment over the practice of the PNP to place officers-in-charge in lieu of permanent police chiefs that exceed the 30-day grace period enshrined in the law to suit interests of senior official  dictating such scenario.
 “We are wondering why there is always a fast turnover of police officials in the Baguio City Police Office  when the law provides that the tour of duty of police chiefs should be a maximum of two years. What is in BCPO that the other police offices do not have, thus, there is always a fast turnover of police officers?” Domogan asked.
Former BCPO chief Senior Supt. George Daskeo, who served as officer-in-charge of the local police force in January, was chosen by the screening committee as city police director in June but he was suddenly relieved from his position on Sept. 30.
Domogan said the problem with the PNP is just they simply replace a police chief without the proper consultations with the concerned local chief executive who deserve to be informed on the justifiable reasons for the sudden relief of their police chiefs.
According to him the proposal of Sen. Panfilo Lacson to remove the power of local chief executives in the selection of police chiefs in their areas of jurisdiction is moving away the PNP from the local government, thus, it is also proper for the PNP to stop requesting financial and technical support from the local governments for their maintenance and other operating expenses and mobility among others and that the same must already be left to the national government.
Instead of supposedly having a closer relationship with the local government, the local chief executive said it seems the PNP is trying to deprive concerned local officials with powers vested on them to appoint the police chief in their areas of jurisdiction by circumventing the law in coming out with flimsy reasons just to justify relief of an official that they do not like and replace the same with an officer-in-charge that tends to listen to their dictates.
He said it is high time for the PNP leadership to end such wrong practice if they want that people will continue to bestow their trust and confidence to them.
It was learned that Daskeo, who was promised a position for his supposed promotion in Camp Crame, is now in a floating status contrary to what was promised him just to leave BCPO.


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Circular economy and sustainable society

November 6, 2016, 3:17 pm
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BANTAY GOBYERNO 
Ike Señeres

According to Wikipedia, circular economy is a “generic term for an industrial economy that promotes greater resource productivity aiming to reduce waste and avoid pollution by design or intention, and in which material flows are of two types: biological nutrients, designed to re-enter the biosphere safely, and technical nutrients, which are designed to circulate at high quality in the production system without entering the biosphere as well as being restorative and regenerative by design.
This is contrast to a Linear Economy which is a 'take, make, dispose' model of production”. Simply put, it is a type of economy that more friendly to the environment, because it does not pollute so much as it produces, and whatever it produces is cleansed first before these are returned to the environment.
Also simply put, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations (UN) aims to have a sustainable society that in essence would also result in a sustainable planet. Unlike the previous definitions of the UN however, the new meaning of sustainability now includes other aspects of sustainability, and not just the environment itself. True enough, the slogan of the UN says that the SDGs are the “17 Goals to Transform the World”.
Looking at these goals, we could not help but notice that one way or the other, most of the goals would have something to do with the environment, directly or indirectly. For example, the first three goals are “No Hunger”, “Zero Poverty” and “Good Health and Well-being”, three separate goals that obviously could not be met not unless we could reverse the damage of industrial waste to the environment.
History will show that public policies and modern technologies do not always go together when it comes to the restoration and the protection of the environment. Sometimes, there may be public policies in place, but there may be no modern technologies that could be used to enforce these policies.
At other times, there could be modern technologies available but there may be no public policies that have been put in place. In between these cracks, there could be other problems that could get in the way, such as the lack of measures to curb corruption, and the lack of political will. Serious as these problems might be, it seems that looking for the practical solutions for these would be easier than looking for the technological solutions.
As we talk about the political dimensions of this subject matter, it would eventually become clear that the debates about the enforcement of environment laws would boil down to the conflicts of interests between big business and the small people. By the latter term, I would actually mean the poor people who are not only the victims of displacement due to the actions of illegal miners and illegal loggers; they are also the victims of man-made and natural disasters that could be traced to environmental damage.
At times it could be said that the lack of enforcement could be blamed on corruption, if and when public officials would look the other way because of bribes. Aside from corruption however, it could also be the abusive use of power and influence by those who are in public office.
It is not all bad news however, because the incumbent administration now seems to be diligent about curbing corruption and about enforcing environment laws. Aside from that, there is the other good news of more pro-environment forces that are learning how to use the social media as their tools for online protests and public advocacies.
Perhaps what would come out as better news is if these forces would wake up to the reality that all the manufacturers could be pressured to adopt Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs) thereby ensuring that all the industrial wastes that they would produce should be cleansed first before these are released back into the environment. In theory, it would seem easier to cleanse industrial wastes before these are released, rather than to clean up after these wastes are already released.
In reality, the circular economy if put into place, is not just all about cleaning the environment. It is also about producing clean energy and clean food.
That is so because more power could be produced by converting waste into energy. That is also because more agricultural land could be made available for food production as more polluted soils are re-mediated in order to make these arable again. That logic would also apply to fisheries, because more marine food could be produced as more bodies of water are cleansed of contaminants. The same logic would also apply to forestry, because more fruits and edible leaves could be harvested as more pollutants are removed from the air.
As the circular economy becomes more widespread, there would also be more value added produced, as more minerals and metals are recovered in the process of cleansing the waters and soils around us. We are often told that we could not clean the bays not unless we clean the rivers, that we could not clean the lakes not unless we clean the lands and the mountains that feed it. While that massive supply chain might seem too impossible to cover, that is not really impossible to do now, because technologies such as Super Critical Water (SCW) and enzymes are now available. All told, all we need to do now is to enforce the already existing laws to make the circular economy happen.

Email bantaygobyerno-subscribe@yahoogroups.com or text +639956441780
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Looking for Halsema

November 7, 2016, 4:11 am
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LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March Fianza

            The road space fronting Cooyeesan and the strip along the opposite side have become private parking areas but for some reasons we do not know, the police does not care to question that, more so with our public officials.
            Has a road been sold to become the parking lot of a building? Even an unattached Baguio returnee who comes up to recall memories of love ones at the cemetery notices this – pauses and in a fleeting moment asks what has become of this beloved city.
            Then the Manila-based Baguio soul passes the main gate of the cemetery manned by half a dozen policemen who frisk every corner of his wandering eyes. He sees cut grass inserted between unknown graves.
from it. Can a city with overflowing funds for garbage disposal in Tarlac allot a little money for cleaning the cemetery? No. Nobody thinks about that since All Saints Day and All Souls Day only come once a year.
I first looked for the burial grounds of Mayor Eusebius Julius Halsema and his wife Marie Boesel Halsema before lighting candles on the graves of my folks. What stirred me so was to see for myself if the grave of the first American mayor of Baguio was cleaned from the last time I saw it the other year. It was not.
  Baguio’s first colonial mayor was an engineer volunteer for the Bureau of Public Works before getting appointed as such. He developed many parts of the charter city and served as district engineer of Benguet at the same time.
It was during his term as mayor when city roads were widened and the first light airplane landed at the Loakan airfield. But the most important and most famous work by Halsema was the construction of the Mountain trail that was later named after him.
Mind you, the mountain highway’s name was changed to Ninoy Aquino Highway but the Igorots who traverse it daily refuse to recognize the replacement becauyse they know history.
Halsema started carving a mountain road in 1919 while he was Baguio mayor, city engineer and district engineer of Benguet. Although enveloped by fog most of the time, the slippery road was opened to vehicular traffic in 1930.
It was also during his time when the Asin hydro-electric plant was built to energize a lumber sawmill that supplied Pine timber to the gold mines in Benguet. By the way, it puzzles us today how the Baguio government came to be the “owner” of the Asin hydro-electric plants.
Not even the Americans who built it do not have any single document to show that it was turned over to the city. The only connection that links it to the city was that it was built by the first American mayor and first Benguet district engineer, and energized the old city hall and a private sawmill at Tadiangan, Tuba. But it was built and operated on Tuba soil.    
On March 15, 1945 the Japanese bombers came but Halsema preferred to stay in a room next to the doctor's office as he was recovering from a bout of dysentery. He was killed when bombs hit the hospital, his body crushed under the concrete walls.
Somewhere in a forgotten spot just a few yards from the center section of the Baguio Cemetery, one used to read the original epitaph “Baguio is his monument” on the cement slab of Mayor EJ Halsema’s grave.
Again, for no good reason, somebody changed the epitaph to “The mayor who engineered Baguio City”. Eeeew! How it destroys history – in just the same way when the names of some of Baguio’s city streets are changed to satisfy the whims of politicians.   
There were four other Americans who were appointed as mayors for Baguio during its formative years before EJ Halsema took over from February 7, 1920 to May 31, 1937. They were E. W. Reynold (September 1, 1909 - February 5, 1910), E. A. Eckman (March 1, 1910 - April 1913), A. D. Williams (May 24, 1913 - May 16, 1918) and C. S. Dandois (June 10, 1918 - December 19, 1919).
By all means, the past administrators could have wanted that nobody tampered with the blueprint development of Baguio as envisioned by the urban planner Architect Daniel Burnham and wished for by genuine Baguio folks. The simple Burnham plan that was closest to the hearts of Baguio people was sustained by Mayor Halsema.
The old city was closest to nature – not too much concrete, no overcrowding, no traffic jams, no squatters and no TSA applications over forest lands, no serious garbage problem, no leasing of public parks, no private management at the skating rink, and no parking construction under Melvin Jones. But that’s not now if you look around.
The grasses around Halsema’s marble marker are tall as that corner of the cemetery has been neglected for a long time. After all the initial improvements, the city and its officials can stop cleaning Halsema’s graveyard, anyway they get no further benefit


Northern Philippine Times
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Is The Honeymoon Period Over?

November 7, 2016, 4:19 am
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By Erick San Juan

The first 100 days of the Duterte administration has shown several good and bad aspects in its governance. Those who voted for DU30 gradually find mistakes and a lot of blunders especially in his style of using cuss words. Campaign supporters suddenly turned sour and now become critics to the administration’s shortcomings. Is the honeymoon period over? What went wrong? Is there an exodus of supporters turning sour already?
The number one supporter and the man who believed he can do it as the president of the land is no other than former president Fidel Ramos. Now a supporter-turned-critic, PFVR wrote in his articles what a true leader is and how he sees the Filipinos being led in the wrong direction. Even pundits accepted DU30 as a ‘necessary evil’ in a divided nation. But oppositors believed that former President Ramos created a ‘Frankenstein’ out of Digong. Of course the diehard Duterte fans in turn criticize PFVR, and in the long run we are again divided. Is this what we hoped for and asked for after being led to the pits of the previous administration’s ‘tuwid na daan’? Where are the promised changes?
Ramos said from day one, a national leader must define where he will bring the nation and show the people how to get there. He leads by setting the right example that the citizenry should emulate. He leads by making the correct decisions for the betterment of the many, not the enrichment of the few.
The bottom line is, Ramos said, Duterte cannot do it alone. Nether can the government do it alone.
“But when all of us strive together with one goal in mind, and abide by the same precious values and commitments—we become a strong nation, able to achieve the higher quality of life we have always yearned for—in an environment of enduring peace and sustainable development,” he said.
He added that the government was “losing badly” after Duterte’s first 100 days because the administration gave priority to the war on drugs at the expense of alleviating poverty, bringing down the cost of living, attracting foreign investments and generating jobs. (Source: PH a sinking ship — FVR by Sandy Araneta @manilastandard)
PFVR was right because of the so much attention given to the war on drugs and criminality, but where are the big fishes? Why eliminate the poor people who are victims of hardships and unemployment? The war on poverty was not addressed and it was shown on the latest survey that the government should now focus on the poverty issue and generating jobs. The common (tao) people most probably DU30’s supporters are now asking the present leadership to put the war on drugs operation in the back burner and have real and tangible government policies that will help the poor Pinoys in their day-to-day struggle to survive.
Another very crucial matter that is being overlooked by the DU30’s administration due to his war on drugs is the country’s security from external threats. For the president, the war on drugs is too big that the national police is not enough and so he also included the armed forces to help in the campaign against drug users, dealers and protectors. Added to this is his campaign to bring an end to the Abu Sayyaf menace in the south that has sent several troops in the area instead of getting the mastermind and financier who basically owns the businesses in Sulu and nearby provinces to lessen the collateral damage and deaths of our soldiers.
Now the crucial question lies in the external and maritime defense that we needed badly in this exciting time where the rumblings of a possible world war is in the offing. External threat is always there especially Duterte announced the suspension of maritime patrol with the US on the country’s coastal area.
With the endless verbal attack on the US, the United Nations and the EU, with the possible termination of agreements and ties with them, are we headed to deliberately weakening our capabilities and defense in relation to our alliances in case a war broke out.
The present leadership is perceived dragging the whole country to the wrong direction when it comes to foreign policy and diplomacy among nations. The growing number of Filipinos who are in favor of the US than China is already a clear sign that we must not trust China wholeheartedly and do away with Washington’s help in the process.
We are approaching a year of global turbulence and a helping hand from an old ally will somehow help us get through during the hard times. Unless President DU30 changes his mind on certain important matters such as this, we will all go down with him unwittingly,

God forbid!
Northern Philippine Times
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Duterte’s flip- flop diplomacy

November 7, 2016, 4:22 am
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PERRYSCOPE
Perry Diaz   

When President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte announced his “separation” from the United States during his state visit to China, it shook the world. Not that it would have changed the balance of power in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region, but it was because of the abrupt  – “strange,” I might say – way of which it was announced.   But what is surreally baffling is his retraction the next day.   Is it a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome or it’s just plain grandstanding? 
One personality wants to maintain the status quo on U.S.-Philippine relations while the other personality wants to sever all ties with the U.S. and align with the “ideological flow” of China and Russia.  And in a moment of Napoleonic illusion, he saw himself as part of an alliance – China, Philippines, and Russia -- against the world!  Why didn’t he include North Korea?
The problem is: Duterte (also known as Du30) seems to live in his own little world totally detached from the geopolitical realities that dictate how nations – and their leaders -- interact with one another.  
He seems to think of the Philippines as an island onto itself that can provide security for her people without help from anybody.  And, worst, dismantling the Philippines’ military ties with the U.S. would strip the Philippines of the capability to defend her sovereignty and territorial integrity.       

Digong’s brand of geopolitics
Evidently, Duterte’s brand of geopolitics digresses from established norms and conventions in international relations.  His handling of the Philippines’ West Philippine Sea/South China Sea claims vis-à-vis the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) ruling, which is overwhelmingly favorable to the Philippines, has bungled the country’s strong case against China.  Had Duterte stayed on course in pursuing the Philippines’ claims, the other claimant-countries could have used the PCA ruling to pursue their own maritime claims against China.    
It’s interesting to note that with all the geopolitical mishaps and diplomatic faux pas that Duterte did, he had the temerity to claim that he was a Foreign Service graduate. At a press conference last October 19 during his state visit to China, Filipino journalist Ellen Tordesillas quoted him in her column as saying: “Now that I am the President, by the grace of God, I read a lot; I’m a lawyer and I studied geopolitics and all, and also I am a graduate of the Foreign Service so I get to know how to balance this contending (forces).”   
But what Digong did was break one of the rules of geopolitics, which is: “Geopolitics is not a zero-sum game.” Indeed, in today’s globalized economy, the object of geopolitics is to arrive at a win-win situation where players need to compromise.  Gone are the days when nations go to war to settle territorial disputes. The Cold War is over and we are now living in a multipolar world order where all nations are interdependent with one another.  The world is shrinking too; and everybody is just a “click” away.    
Digong’s attempted maneuver to “separate” from the U.S. -- militarily and economically -- and threatened to form an alliance with China and Russia, did not only fail to materialize but it also made a “village clown” of himself.  And while he made all these geopolitical and diplomatic boo-boos, his Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had the thankless job of straightening out the knots and kinks of his “independent foreign policy,” which has been causing a lot of embarrassment for him. 

It’s all drama
With all the “Du30 drama” he staged in Beijing, Duterte was able to attract $24 billion in investments and loans from China.  It must have made Chinese President Xi Jinping feel triumphant that the Philippines -- under Duterte’s leadership – is now in his pocket, totally detached from the U.S.  And it would certainly have given him a firm grip on the vast South China Sea.  Wrong! 
The day Digong returned to the Philippines, he clarified that he’s not cutting ties with the U.S.  He said he was just pursuing a “separation of foreign policy” from the U.S., which was quite different in meaning and purpose to what he proclaimed in China, which was “separation from the U.S.”  He said that he didn’t want it to affect local jobs in American-owned companies in the Philippines and the large number of Filipinos in the U.S.  He also said that it is in the best interest of the Philippines to maintain diplomatic relations with the U.S.

Volte face
An article on the Nikkei Asian Review titled, “Duterte’s ‘about-face’ unsettles Xi,” published last October 28, talked about Duterte’s volte face [an act of turning around so as to face in the opposite direction] upon his return to the Philippines.  The report said: “The Internet was not slow to react to Duterte's volte face, and the word ‘fraud’ has gone viral. One social media post read, ‘Duterte changed his face as soon as he returned to the Philippines after securing money from China.’
“The reference was to the traditional Chinese art of ‘face changing,’ where performers go from one character to the next by swapping masks in a Beijing opera or during a banquet. Many feel it was not the mask that was changed so much as a complete change of heart.
“Other online posts put it in less uncertain terms, ‘China got dumped. China was deceived,’ read one. Another said, ‘It is a divorce in disguise [from the U.S.] for the sake of borrowing [from China]. That's not uncommon in China.’ ”

Damage control
It must have occurred to Duterte that he didn’t have to let go of the U.S. now that he had secured a huge economic package from China.  During his subsequent visit to Japan following the China trip, he appointed Philippine Star columnist Babe Romualdez as special envoy to the U.S., reportedly as part of a “rebooting” of relationship with the U.S.
The Philippine Star report said: “Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. informed Romualdez of his appointment yesterday at the Imperial Tower Hotel in Tokyo, on the sidelines of Duterte’s three-day official visit.
“We are trying on how we can work with the changes… especially with the upcoming elections in the US so we will see how we can (establish)… let’s call it as rebooting our relationship with the US,’ said a member of the President’s official delegation here.
“We’d like to communicate the message of how we will have a rebooting of our relationship,’ the official, who declined to be named, added. ‘Yes, of course we will continue our relationship with the US.’
“As special envoy, Romualdez’s ‘special mission’ is to put back on track Philippine-US relations,” the report concluded, which begs the question: Can Romualdez fix the damage Digong made?

Geopolitics is addition
Now that Digong has his cake, he wants to eat it, too.  But while a zero-sum game might produce intermediate success in the short term, just like what Digong did on his China visit; he should – nay, must! -- realize that in the long term, good geopolitics produces better results if it weren’t played as a zero-sum game.  It reminds me of the late legendary political leader Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez whose mantra was “Politics is addition.”  And so is Geopolitics.
At the end of the day, Digong’s flip-flop diplomacy may have worked in his favor at this time, but he must be careful because it could boomerang the next time he flip-flops. (PerryDiaz@gmail.com)


Northern Philippine Times
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Population and planning

November 7, 2016, 6:44 am
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By Gina Dizon 

Population increases. It does not decrease  unless there is mass death. And so with  increase of Philippine population  from 76.5 million in year  2000 to 101 million in 2015, expect  2017 population to go 103 million. 
This means need for more food, more school rooms, more health facilities, more vehicles, and more space where humans move around, establish shelter and source their livelihood. More space for officials and officers in government to plan how an increasing population is addressed with services whether a resident is bona fide or an informal settler.  
A recent forum here sponsored by the National Statistics Office –Mountain Province presented trends of the population  in the national, regional and province  level registered the highest in CARAGA region at 14.4 million  followed by  the National Capital Region at 12 .6 million and the lowest in the Cordillera  among the 14 regions at 1.72 million.  
The Cordillera increased population from 1.37 million in year 2000 to 1.6 in 2010 to 1.7 million in 2015 with the highest population growth rate in Benguet at 1.9% followed by  Baguio City at 1.54%. Obviously Benguet where  bustling La Trinidad is located is nearly a city by itself is the most populated  at 330 thousand  followed by Baguio City  at 252 thousand. In the same  manner that the highest populated place in Kalinga is Tabuk City and the most populated in Ifugao is Alfonso LIsta near the business district in Santiago, Isabela.
Republic  Act 1062 is clear on its mandate: to provide  government planners, policy makers and administrators with population data on which to base their  social and economic  development  plans and programs.  
Data particularly gathered by NSO are size and geographic distribution of the population, composition in term of age, sex and  marital status; religious affiliation; school attendance, literacy, highest grade completed, technical or vocational course  obtained; housing characteristics, agriculture, business, industry and other sectors of the  economy; occupation  of people, household level characteristics such as  those used for lighting, source of water supply for drinking or cooking. 
And for Executive Order 352 particularly calls for  census on housing characteristics in the barangay level including  presence of selected facilities, establishments, informal settlers, relocation areas and inmovers.
Other data needed is the number of women and children  abuse as noted by Provincial Social Welfare and Development (PSWD) Officer Rosalinda Belagan during  said population forum. And so with vulnerable data sites where  disaster can happen as  forwarded  by Edward Padcayan of the Provincial Disaster Risk and Management Council (PDRRMC). 
And with the number of drug surrenderees nowadays is there space for drug rehab centers, space for Special Education Centers (SPED), space for persons with disabilities (PWDs) with nearly 1500 cases of registered PWDs in the province and space for women in crisis centers.

Need for public space

This brings to a concern the need for equivalent space as population  expands and needs demand the space- commercial area, agricultural farms, government offices,  housing space, evacuation space, lots for social  facilities, school and training spaces, parks where children and  people come together and  talk and play and move around. And parking spaces to accommodate persons who buy cars and don’t have their personal garages and cars of  tourists who visit  tourist places. This while having sharp note on protective areas as watersheds not to be  invaded to ensure the much needed water supply of residents.    
Parking  happens anywhere even especially on public roads in the midst of people having their own cars without securing their own garages. And  in the midst of a growing tourism industry since the 1980s.
School rooms are needed with growing number of schoolchildren and  the community is in need of space to build public facilities.
Consider space for Materials Recovery Facilities  (MRF) when  economy grows. And so when make shift  MRFs  just sprout from anywhere one will come to the conclusion that  a proactive planning of where an MRF site shall be located  was not  a priority  of officers and officials in government until  ecologists shouts it’s  the call of the day. 
Mountain Province which opens and exits  road outlets to commercial towns in Santiago Isabela, and tourist towns of  Banaue Ifugao in the east and Ilocos in the west, and a Halsema Highway cut in the middle of the province to heavily populated Baguio City has the ;lowest  population growth rate in CAR and the lowest  population among the  six provinces. 
Nevertheless,  increasing population is noted highest  in the vegetable producing  town of  Bauko with its majestic mountains which pose potential for  eco-tourism, followed by  Paracelis  near  the bustling business area in Santiago Isabela.
Bontoc  the capital town of the Province since the early 1900s  up to now already  showed potentials of  getting heavily populated. It was a century ago in June 28, 1910 when the Philippine Commission under the American Government issued Resolution Number 29 delineating area and boundaries of the Bontoc townsite  of the provincial government. And so the  Capitol space,  barracks, hospital, and  jail section  were  identified of  where these shall be. The  Bontoc town site seemingly had  a plan of how  Bontoc shall look like. 
The presents reveals how public space is  slowly getting  depleted due to  infrastructure facilities  and residential houses built on the once spacious lot. Meantime the center of the town  utterly shows a demand for parking lots at the turn of the  21st century.

Tourism and parking spaces

Jerry Santos, NSO-Mountain Province  director wondered how Bontoc as the capital city should have foreseen the need for parking spaces.
In the tourist town of  Sagada, not only when  tourists boomed in the 1990s that the tourist-visited town  saw the need for parking spaces which let  the spacious Mission Compound  opened for parking and so too in  other private lots.
Not only Bontoc or Sagada is a potential tourist town but practically the 10 towns of the province  each with distinct attractions- hot springs in Bontoc, majestic mountains in Sadanga, astounding rolling hills in Paracelis, trekking trails in  Bauko and boating spots in Tadian apart from caves and waterfalls in Sagada, and cultural interests in Bontoc. 
With the Province a vast space for eco-tourism potential awaits  communities how they treat tourism in their own areas in the now and in the coming days. With Sagada serving as an example of how it welcomed backpack tourists in the 70s to 80s in their homes having eventually  expanded to a number of small inns to big inns and a few restos in the 90s to spaces for parking lots in the very recent years, other eco-tourist potential towns better start planning now how extensive or regulative their tourism be when  tourists come invading their very homes, backyards, and woodlots.
Comes now planning which is the direction of why there is  gathering of population  and data. Through CLUP or the Comprehensive Land  Use Plan lays down the plan of how community space is used- for residential, forest, watershed, agricultural,commercial lot and space for recreation.  

That is, with LGUs  limited public space as population increases, LGUs  need to invest money to buy  lots or let someone donate his or her land for public use. For alongside is the question on the readiness of LGUs to respond to demands of the times and the very near future to come. 
Northern Philippine Times
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Innocent child, casualty of gov’t war on drugs

November 7, 2016, 6:45 am
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

Parents and relatives of Danica Mae Garcia, an innocent casualty of the government’s war on drugs, are still gripped by the sorrow of her sudden and violent demise.
“Standing before her tomb on All Saints’ Day, they wept as if the gunshots that rang out in their house in Barangay Mayombo, Dagupan City, was just yesterday,” reporter Eva Visperas wrote. 
“In police records, Danica Mae will remain the first child to die as collateral damage in the Philippine National Police’s anti-drugs war in Pangasinan. But to her parents, Danica Mae will always be their five-year-old angel whose only “fault” was to be an entertaining granddaughter to her grandfather on the day he was the subject of a police operation for being in the drugs watchlist.”
Before leaving, Visperas said, her parents offered at her tomb candles and her favorite chocolate cake. “Family members and relatives said they will continue to demand justice for Danica Mae as they still feel her presence.”
            ***
Danica Mae is just one among the many people killed by lawmen as government intensifies its war on drugs that has alarmed the international community and religious sectors.  
Philippine church leaders on Tuesday renewed calls for an end to killings linked to President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war as millions of people took part in traditional ceremonies to remember the dead.
Duterte's bloody campaign to rid the country of criminals has been a feature of this year's All Saints' Day, with some people using the annual commemoration to poke fun at the brutal crackdown.
Families typically mark November 1 by flocking to the graves of loved ones across the mainly Catholic country, lighting candles and praying for their souls.
Reports have it that  that this year, some retailers in Manila, apparently inspired by Duterte's clampdown that has killed more than 4,000 people, used fake cadavers and police crime tape to promote hand sanitizing products.
A house in the capital was reported as having a grisly display of polystyrene foam in the shape of bodies wrapped in garbage bags and packing tape, with a sign reading "Do not follow them" -- resembling the way victims of the drug war are often found.
But not everyone appreciated the black humor in relation to Duterte's campaign, that has drawn international criticism for alleged extrajudicial killings and rights violations.
"It has come to this: Death has become so easy and common it is now a joke, a visual gag in gleaming malls where families and children gather," an editorial in the Philippine Daily Inquirer said Tuesday.
Duterte, who was swept to power in May on a promise to eradicate drugs by killing suspects, claims police are only acting in self-defence and drug gangs are murdering their members to silence them.
But an official at the influential Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines repeated the church's call to fight drugs "the right and proper way".
"We encourage the faithful to pray for the souls of the victims of extrajudicial killings," Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary at its public affairs office, told Agence France Press.
"We continue our call to stop the killings and to look for the perpetrators."
Archbishop Angel Lagdameo from the central province of Iloilo also issued a statement saying the church "cannot accept in conscience extrajudicial killings".
"Each time a person is killed without due process, a part of us dies also. Our humanity is diminished and our dignity is cheapened," Lagdameo wrote on Sunday.

As a netizen said: Six years more to go, by that time, this country would have surpassed the number of civilians killed as compared to the holocaust  victims of Nazi Germany in World War 2.
Northern Philippine Times
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Duterte rhetoric, policies could weaken peso: experts

November 7, 2016, 6:46 am
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EDITORIAL

Financial experts and groups are saying the last time the Philippine peso neared 50 to the dollar, the global financial system was melting down and the central bank raised interest rates to defend it. This time, they say, it has been driven by the president cursing his trading partners and his finance chief accepting the declines.
Experts predict the currency will weaken past 50 per dollar next year, a level last seen in November 2008.
They don’t see the peso as a long-term, strategic investment. The currency fell to a seven-year low of 48.618 in October, and was Asia’s worst performer in the third quarter, when it fell 3 percent.
Global funds have pulled more than $600 million from Philippine stocks since inflows this year peaked in August as President Rodrigo Duterte cursed while talking about President Barack Obama and announced a “separation” from the U.S. during an official visit to China.
Concerns that his outbursts may jeopardize investments in the nation’s more than $20 billion business outsourcing industry have forced his administration’s top officials to assure companies their interests will be protected as the leader builds new global alliances.
Economic impact is difficult to gauge at this stage and may only be seen longer term, but the uncertainty on his foreign policy could deter foreign investment, experts say, adding it warrants higher degree of risk premium and volatility to be priced in the Philippine peso.
A gauge of swings in the peso climbed to a two-year high of 7.3 percent on Oct. 12 after Duterte said he may travel to Russia after official visits to China and Japan. One-month implied volatility was at 6.1 percent on Wednesday, compared with a 12-month low of 4.4 percent in August.
The Philippine currency was little changed last week at 48.43 per dollar as of 9:13 a.m. in Manila. Local markets were shut Monday and Tuesday for holidays. The peso has weakened from a seven-month high of 45.85 on June 9, before Duterte started his six-year term.
The currency is predicted to drop to 50.3 by March to June. The forecasts compare with the median estimate of 48.2 by mid-2017 in a Bloomberg survey of strategists.
Bloomberg says American companies account for more than 70 percent of the business-process outsourcing industry’s revenue, which is estimated at $22.9 billion this year, according to IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines.
The industry is set to become a key foreign-exchange earner amid fluctuations in the amount of money remitted by overseas workers, which makes up about 10 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Exports have fallen for 17 straight months.
While American companies will continue operating in the Philippines unless official sanctions are imposed, the peso may slide further should the president continue to surprise markets with his “unorthodox rhetoric,” according to Stuart Allsopp, head of country risk and financial markets strategy in Singapore at BMI Research, a unit of Fitch Group.
Pioneer Investment sees declines in the peso as offering a potential short-term buying opportunity as Duterte’s efforts to boost spending may augur well for Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing major economy, GDP expanded 7 percent in the second quarter, the quickest pace in two years.
Even so, the peso could retest the 2008-low and become more volatile as Duterte’s violent anti-drug campaign faces international criticism and the country’s external finances deteriorate, according to Loomis, Sayles & Co. Remittances fell in five of the past 13 months, official data show, and the central bank estimates the current-account surplus will narrow to $3 billion in 2017 from $5.8 billion this year due to rising imports.

Uncertainty in Philippine political landscape is the catalyst, but not the sole reason for the peso’s weakness, say experts. “Current-account surplus is thinning and remittance trend is arguably negative.” 
Northern Philippine Times
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Five drug suspects slain; arrests lessen

November 7, 2016, 6:47 am
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FIVE DRUG SUSPECTS were slain in Bulacan last week even as the number of apprehensions lessened in North and Central Luzon.
Miguel Santos, 52, was resting on his motorcycle along the road when he was gunned down by suspected vigilantes along Cagayan Valley road in Barangay Capihan, San Rafael, Bulacan on Tuesday.
Santos was on the barangay drug watchlist, said Senior Supt. Romeo Caramat, Bulacan police acting director.
Four were slain by suspected vigilantes in Bulacan on Monday.
Botchog Mercado was walking along the road in Barangay Libis in San Rafael town when an unidentified man fired at him. A piece of cardboard identifying Mercado as a drug pusher was found near his body.
Kier Balaguer, alias Bombitan, and an alias Aweng were in a vacant lot in Barangay Banga also in San Rafael when three men appeared from behind and shot them repeatedly.
Ariel Sacdalan, 47, and his son were walking in Barangay Pulong Buhangin in Sta. Maria when he was gunned down. 
Police said the fatalities were on the barangay drug watchlist.
Suspected drug users and pushers have been arrested in police operations.
Vendor Pepito Mendoza, 43, was arrested during a raid on his house on Barangay Paddaya in Aparri, Cagayan on Tuesday.

Arnulfo Galiguis was nabbed after he sold shabu to anti-drug operatives in Barangay Quezon in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya. --  Ric Sapnu, Raymund Catindig
Northern Philippine Times
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Dengue fever cases in Ilocos down by 66%

November 7, 2016, 6:48 am
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SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union — Dengue cases in the Ilocos region from January to date this year have decreased by 66.64 percent compared to the same period in 2015, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.
David Zaragoza, health education promotion officer of DOH-1, said the figures this year remarkably lowered with a total of 3,162 cases compared to last year with 4,745 cases.
Mortality rate also declined by 33.4 percent rom 16 deaths last year to seven this year.
This year’s dengue-related deaths were recorded in Dagupan City, Mabini, Calasiao, Binalonan, Umingan, Urdaneta City and Asingan, all in Pangasinan.
“This positive outcome is due to the full blast intervention conducted by the health department in partnership with the local government units and the schools from both public and private,” Zaragosa said over the Ammuentayo radio program of the Philippine Information Agency-La Union.
In addition, reports from the DOH-1 revealed that dengue cases in the four provinces of the region showed a significant reduction.
Data from said period showed that cases in La Union went down from 1,869 to 674; Pangasinan-from 1,426 to 1,365; Ilocos Sur-from 802 cases to 735; and Ilocos Norte from 648 last year to 388 this year.
Zaragoza said the continuous advocacy resulted in an active participation of the community.
“They are now armed with proper awareness on dengue prevention and control which they fully embrace and implement in their own household, Zaragoza added.

With this development, the DOH-1 encourages the general public to continuously support all the various health programs to further minimize or even eradicate dengue cases.
Northern Philippine Times
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P450-M school buildings being built in Mt Province

November 7, 2016, 6:49 am
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2 senior high inaugurated 

By Wabilyn M. Lomong-oy
     
BONTOC, Mountain Province – Rep. Maximo Dalog said some P450 million worth of school buildings are now being constructed in the province.
Latest to have buildings would be Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School (MPGCHS) and Talubin National High School, in this capital town which will now have adequate spaces to accommodate students with  inauguration  of two newly-built senior high schools here.
Both schools are among recipients of 3-storey with six classrooms and 2-storey  4-classroom senior high school buildings respectively.
The project is an inter-agency project funded under the Basic Educational Facilities Fund (BEFF) of the Department of Education that was implemented through the Department of Public Works and High Ways- Mountain Province District Engineering Office in coordination with the Office of the Congressman.
The blessing and inauguration of the MPGCHS senior high school building was held Oct. 28 officiated by Rev. Lucresia Turtem of Cathedral of All Saints.
The Talubin senior high school building inauguration was conducted same date.Blessing was led by Rev. Fr. Marcial Castaneda of the Sta. Rita de Cascia.
During both inaugurations, Rep.Dalog in his message expressed his gratitude to everyone who helped in the completion of the said projects. He encouraged the teachers to be committed in helping develop the skills, knowledge of the students that included molding the minds of the student. He urged the students to be committed to study hard and be responsible for their own growth and development to be productive citizens.
Dalog asked commitment of local officials to support senior high school especially implementation of the K to 12 in Mountain Province.
Glynnis Ngeteg, officer in charge of MPGCHS Senior High School, gave thanks to concerned agencies for their efforts in delivery of quality education.
Belinda C. Tinacba, principal of Talubin NHS, recognized the collaborative efforts of all the concerned agencies in the completion of the project.
The Office of the Congressman in partnership with the Children International Incorporated, gave T-shirts to beneficiaries especially seniors.
The same had been giving medical supplies to hospitals and pairs of shoes to organizations in the province. Such supplies were given earlier this year. 


Northern Philippine Times
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Public urged to chip in for giant Christmas tree

November 7, 2016, 6:50 am
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BAGUIO CITY – The city building and architecture office under engineer Nazita Banez is requesting the public to chip in for the giant Christmas tree project by donating household scraps.
Architect Homer Soriano of the CBAO said they plan to fashion this year’s holiday tree from recycled materials out of household junks like discarded pipes, broken appliances, scrap steel, metal, used tires and the like.
Donations may be brought to the CBAO office at DPS barangay or call 442-2503.  Arrangement for pick-up may also be done for donations in bulk.
The recycled concept was hatched to help the city save on Christmas decoration costs.
Soriano said that from last year’s allocation of more than P1 million pesos, this year’s design when executed would require less than P500,000.
The design was done by a private architect and was approved by the CBAO.
The use of recycled materials is also in support of the city’s cleanliness and waste management programs. – Aileen P. Refuerzo  


Northern Philippine Times
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Baguio sets rehab of drug ‘surrenderees’

November 7, 2016, 6:51 am
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By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY – The city government adapted a process on management of illegal drug “surrenderees” or drug-related referrals for public and private entities.
In Administrative Order No. 110, Mayor Mauricio Domogan directed creation of process flow developed during an inter-agency meeting headed by Dept. of Interior and Local Government Baguio under city director Evelyn Trinidad to synchronize actions of stakeholders and adapt complementary actions on management of drug abuse victims.
This process will apply to all drug offenders and dependents referred by both public and private entities as a result of drug tests conducted.
Drug victims who surrendered or referred by public and private entities will undergo documentation processing. 
This stage includes executing an undertaking pledge or affidavit, profiling, executing a waiver to undergo drug test, mug shot, debriefing and finger printing.
 Adults will be subjected to brief intervention by the Dept. of Health or trained BADAC members while minors will be referred to the office of the city social welfare and development office for profiling and psychological examination.
Both will then undergo drug dependency examination by the DOH accredited physicians (Drs. Zoraida Clavio, Clarette Dy and Karen Balanza) and drug testing by DOH accredited drug testing laboratories.
The next step will be filing in court of petition for voluntary confinement by the Dangerous Drugs Board representatives and upon issuance of a court order, the patients will either be confined in a drug rehabilitation facility in Dagupan City or Pampanga for six months or committed as out-patient at the Baguio General Hospital.  
 After the rehabilitation, in-patients will undergo and 18-month after-care program and along with the out-patients may be referred for livelihood assistance from the Technical Education Skills Development Agency (TESDA), Dept. of Labor and Employment (DOLE), OCSWADO, Dept. of Trade and Industry and others for their eventual reintegration in the community.  



Northern Philippine Times
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