BALANE
to field Manang Josie
vs.
Oyie
The Joson-led Bagong Lakas
ng Nueva Ecija (BALANE) has unanimously named former three-termer Rep.
Josie Manuel-Joson as its standard bearer in the 2010 gubernatorial elections,
and will face her former co-lawmaker, Gov. Aurelio Umali.
This was reached during a
meeting of the BALANE Provincial Council composed of party stalwarts from
various towns and cities, last June 20 in Quezon town.
Josie, daughter of former
Gapan Mayor Basilio Manuel, is the wife of former Vice Gov. Mariano Cristino
Joson who lost to Umali in the 2007 elections.
Fourth Dist. Rep. Rodolfo
Antonino, BALANE district chair for southern Nueva Ecija, moved to divide
the house to determine if there was any objection to Josie's endorsement
but no one spoke out.
Lawyer Chito Lahom described
his party mates response to Josie's endorsement as "so overwhelming".
Josie said that she was heartened
by her choice as BALANE's official candidate for governor and the support
of what she called the "four pillars" of the party -- her husband Mariano
Cristino; First Dist. Rep. Eduardo Nonato Joson, former Gov. Tomas Joson
III and former Vice Gov. Eduardo Joson IV.
Earlier, there were reports
that the BALANE candidate for governor could either be Vice Gov. Edward
Thomas Joson, Rep. Joson or former Gov. Joson.
Josie will be the first woman
gubernatorial candidate -- and a non-blood relative -- to be fielded
by the Josons.
She will try to recover the
Capitol after the Joson's 48 year old hold on it ended with her husband
Mariano Cristino's loss to Umali. ###
Popoy
being nudged to run against Oyie, Josie
Jose "Popoy" Taruc, former
running mate of Gov. Aurelio Umali, is being convinced to run for governor.
It was learned that Taruc
was being eyed by local politicians and Church leaders as an alternative
gubernatorial candidate to Umali and former Rep. Josie Manuel-Joson.
A signature campaign urging
Taruc to run has reportedly been launched.
Taruc is the son of broadcaster
Joe Taruc. He ran for vice governor in 2007 under Umali's Lakas-CMD but
lost to Edward Thomas Joson. He was later appointed by Pres. Arroyo as
director of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office and became its youngest
director at age 31.
Taruc has declined to comment
on the moves to draft him as a third force in the 2007 gubernatorial elections
but admitted that he had been approached to challenge Umali. He said that
despite political differences, he and Umali have remained friends. ###
Ecija
among 6 provinces eyed as potential election hot spots
The Philippine National police
identified six provinces -- including Nueva Ecija -- as potential election
hot spots
PNP chief Jesus Versoza said
that the other provinces were Abra in Luzon; and Sulu, Lanao del Sur, Lanao
del Norte and Maguindanao in Mindanao.
Versoza explained that the
provinces had a track record of violence in previous elections because
of intense political rivalries among the local warlords who maintained
private armies.
He said that by declaring
those areas as hot spots, the police and the local residents would be prepared
to cope with the worse that could happen on election day next year.
He said that those facing
threats to their lives would do well to take extra precaution, saying that
each person would be allowed only two uniformed police security escorts.
###
Influenza
A (H1N1) aftermath
Jaen
under state of calamity; virus victims fast recovering
Local officials declared
the town of Jaen under a state of calamity after 19 residents in two barangays
tested positive for Influenza A (H1N1) virus.
The virus had affected Barangays
Hilera with 17 cases and Pakul with two cases.
Barangay Lambakin continued
to be monitored after some residents were afflicted with flu-like symptoms.
It was learned that health
officials were observing more than 100 people in the three barangays to
check if they had been infected with the virus.
The local government released
P600,000 in contingency funds and distributed medicines and relief goods
to the residents.
The Department of Health
had earlier declared an Influenza A (H1N1) community outbreak
in the town.
Meanwhile, Gov. Aurelio M.
Umali announced that the provincial government would give food assistance
to the Jaen victims who had to stay home, and financial assistance to workers
who were unable to work.
"It's about time that we
should help those who were advised to do self-quarantine due to the onslaught
of the H1N1 virus," Umali told a radio interview.
He said that he was heeding
the request of Dr. Benjamin Lopez, provincial health officer, to give food
assistance to the families of victims of the virus in the three affected
barangays.
Umali said that he had asked
Lopez to identify the workers who fell ill and lost income. He did not
provide details as to the amount of financial and food aids that would
be given.
Julito Hermosa, barangay
chair of Hilera, and Ruperto Castro, principal of the barangay elementary
school, said that there was no general alarm as the residents knew that
the virus victims would recover through proper medication and rest. They
said it was just like ordinary flu. They also said that none of those who
were downed by the virus in the barangay became seriously ill, with all
the reported cases having either recovered, or were rapidly recovering,
thanks to the daily help from health personnel.
Classes at Hilera Elementary
School resumed last June 23 after having been suspended for ten days.
Castro said that 14 pupils
who tested positive for the virus were not allowed to attend classes until
June 24 so they could finish the 21 day quarantine period imposed by DOH.
He said that the school was
ready to hold make-up classes for the next eight Saturdays. ###
50
Cabanatuan barangay chairs downed by food poisoning
Some 50 barangay chairs from
Cabanatuan City were rushed to the hospital after complaining of dizziness,
stomach ache, vomiting and diarrhea a few hours after dining at a restaurant
in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.
Those downed by food poisoning
were among 190 Cabanatuan City barangay officials who went on an educational
trip to Palawan.
After a series of workshops,
the organizers decided to take the barangay officials to a restaurant specializing
in seafood.
The barangay officials started
to fell ill afterwards. ###
Opposition
to market code stalls Gapan City market opening
The opening of the new P248
million Gapan City public market was again delayed because of disagreements
between city officials and market vendors over a proposed new market code.
This arose from a meeting
held at the Gapan City Gym last June 27 attended by Mayor Ernesto Natividad,
Vice Mayor Christian Tinio and seven city councilors, and members
of the New City Public Market Vendors Association and the Kapatiran ng
mga Nagtitinda sa Palenge.
The market vendors opposed
the high stall rates contained in the proposed market code, saying these
were excessive compared to those imposed in markets in Pasig and Marikina,
Metro Manila; Vigan, Ilocos Sur; and San Jose City in Nueva Ecija.
The new code imposes a P22,000
fee per square meter of stall, exclusive of the P7,000 discount. The vendors,
on the other hand, demanded P5,000 per square meter for the wet section,
and P10,000 per square meter for the dry section. Vendors displaced by
the August 12, 2007 fire that destroyed the old market even sought an exemption
from the market fees.
Adelaida Roque, president
of the vendors group, criticized the city market awards committee for its
alleged bias in accepting application for market stalls. She asked that
the former market stall owners be given priority She also asked that
her group be represented in the committee to ensure transparency.
The vendors also questioned
the validity of the new market code because of two conflicting legal opinions
issued by the Department of the Interior and Local Government. ###
2 'green'
power projects to go up in Nueva Ecija
The town of Santa Rosa is
one of three sites in the country where the Biosphere process and technology
will be installed.
This was announced by Spectrum
Blue Steel Corp., the outfit granted a license to promote, market, operate
and manage the Biosphere process and technology in the Philippines. It
also launched Zero Waste Philippine Project in partnership with cities
and towns aimed at turning waste into a resource.
The Biosphere process for
generating green energy was invented by Dr. Chris McCormack, chair and
chief executive officer of Global Environmental Energy Corp. The scheme
uses all kinds of waste materials to generate energy.
Aside from Santa Rosa, the
Biosphere process will also be set up in Tanauan City, Batangas and Butuan
City in Mindanao. Preliminary activities for the projects will start this
July.
Meanwhile, another company,
Global Green Power, is set to spend P5.6 billion to put up three 15 Megawatt
biomass power plants in Nueva Ecija, Panay and Pangasinan.
The company's subsidiary,
Global Biomass PLC Corp. has signed a contract with Green Power Nueva Ecija
Philippines, Inc. for the project.
The biomass needed to fuel
the power plants will be sourced from farm waste and other agricultural
residues like rice and corn husks.
Maribeth de Montaigne, Global
Green's director for social programs and poverty alleviation, said that
each of the biomass power plants will deliver around 900 local jobs, purchase
agricultural residues and waste from the local farming communities, and
produce clean, decentralized and renewable energy that does not rely on
imported fossil fuels.
The Nueva Ecija power plant
and the two others are expected to operate by 2011. ###
Fire
destroys San Jose vice mayor's rice mill
Fire hit a warehouse owned
by San Jose City Vice Mayor Mario Salvador in Barangay Calaocan, at 11:30
AM last June 13, destroying farm equipment, a rice mill and thousands of
bags of rice and palay.
Salvador was reported to
be attending a wedding in Tagaytay City when the three-hour fire happened.
The local fire department
was supported by firefighters from the Science City of Muñoz, Rizal,
Talavera, Santo Domingo, Guimba, Cabanatuan City, Pantabangan, 3121 Fire
Volunteer Brigade, Violago Cares and the Belena/Violago Corp. in fighting
the blaze.
SFO1 Augusto V. Ariem, chief
fire investigator, said that the entire rice mill building was totally
burned with initial damage placed at P2 million, excluding equipment and
rice stocks destroyed. ###
Army's
7th ID denies torturing Fil-Am activist
The 7th Infantry Division
of the Philippine Army based at Fort Magsaysay has denied reports that
it was involved in the abduction and torture of Filipino-American activist
Melissa Roxas.
In a press conference in
Los Angeles, California, Roxas claimed that she was abducted by about 15
men from a medical mission in Tarlac last May 18. She said that she was
blindfolded, dragged into a van, handcuffed and brought to what seemed
to her was a military camp in Nueva Ecija where she was allegedly tortured.
She was freed last May 15.
In denying the claim of Roxas,
Maj. Charlemaigne Batayol, 7th ID spokesperson, said that it was not possible
for Roxas to have been brought to Fort Magsaysay as the entire camp is
open to the public, including tourists and visitors.
He assured that the Army
upholds human rights and condemns the violations inflicted on Roxas.
He also said that the command
and all its facilities were open to any investigation.
It was not the first time
that the 7th ID was linked to controversies involving activists, especially
when the Army unit was under the command of now Rep. Jovito Palparan. ###
Shops
raided for selling fake combs, toothbrushes
National Bureau of Investigation
(NBI) agents raided stores in San Jose City and Cabanatuan City last June
17 and seized P1 million worth of counterfeit Springmaid combs and toothbrushes.
Raided in San Jose City were
Pol-Pol Merchandise, Home Base Merchandise, Candy Boy General Merchandise
and Master Boy General Merchandise.
In Cabanatuan City, those
raided were Dreamside/D.B. Diaz General Merchandise, AAG Merchandise, AG
Yap Bazaar, SXY, W and V Foody General Merchandise, Weng Enterprises and
Binondo General Merchandise.
The raiding team was armed
with search warrants issued by Quezon City Regional Trial Court Judge Ofelia
Arellezano-Marqu based on the complaints of Placel Manufacturing Co. Inc.
Seized from the establishments
were 21,749 pieces of combs and 30,200 pieces of toothbrush all marked
Springmaid.
The owners of the raided
establishments face charges of violating Republic Act 8293 or the Intellectual
Property Code of the Philippines. ###
1 killed,
3 wounded in botched robbery
One man was killed and three
of his companions wounded when their jeepney was fired upon by armed suspects
who tried to rob them last June 23 in Sitio Balite, Purok Uno, Barangay
Tabon, San Isidro.
In a report by Sr. Ins. Armando
Taruc to the office of Mayor Sonia Lorenzo, the fatality was identified
as Antonio Ruiz Sigua, 47, of Barangay Manga. Those injured were
Antonio's brother Rolando, 50, of Barangay Poblacion East, Zaragosa; Norma
Sigua Romero, 42, of Barangay Manga; and driver Romel Garcia Magno, 32,
of Purok 2, Barangay Tabon.
Investigation showed that
at about 10:45 AM, the victims were on their way home aboard a jeepney
from the Land Bank branch in Barangay Poblacion where they had encashed
a P550,000 check. Upon reaching Sitio Balite, two men on a motorcycle without
plate number sidled up to the jeepney and fired at the victims. A third
armed suspect on a separate motorcycle was also tailing the group.
Despite sustaining a bullet
wound, the driver managed to take the jeepney into a compound, preventing
the suspects from pursuing them. ###
Former
seaman shot dead
Two unidentified motorycycle-riding
gunman repeatedly shot and killed a former seamen who was riding a tricycle
in Barangay Tabuating, San Leonardo last June 24.
Sr. Insp. Carlito Lopez,
officer-in-charge of the San Leonardo police, identified the victim as
Pastor Alvarez of General Tinio town.
The victim had come from
nearby Santa Rosa when attacked. Investigators theorized that the gunmen
could have tailed the victim from that town. ###
2 robbery
holdup gang members arrested
Police arrested two members
of a robbery-holdup gang in Aliaga last June 20.
Sr. Supt. Ricardo Marquez,
Nueva Ecija police director, identified those arrested as Enrico Santiago
Sarmiento, 31, and Eduardo Sarmiento Paez, 22, both of Barangay Ilog Baliuag,
Quezon and members of the dreaded "Alakdan Group".
The two were on board a motorcycle
when stopped at a police checkpoint. Recovered from Sarmiento was a caliber
.22 Smith and Wesson revolver while Paez yielded a hand grenade and caliber
.38 bullets. ###

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