Boy
student accuses school worker of rape
By
Obet Samonte / October 2, 2007
THE
National Bureau of Investigation in the Caraga region has pressed charges against a Department of Education employee in Butuan
City who allegedly turned a 13-year-old high school student into his sex slave for three years.
NBI regional director
Lauro Reyes has recommended to the city prosecutor the filing of rape and child sexual abuse charges against Patricio Tababa
of Purok 13B, barangay San Vicente.
The
complaint lodged by the second-year high school student and that of his parents said Tababa first committed rape on April
5, 2004, during San Vicente’s fiesta.
In his sworn statement,
the complainant said Tababa approached him, made introductions, and requested to talk with him in the San Vicente National
High School campus where both sat on a bench.
To his surprise,
the boy said, Tababa offered him money and sexually abused him.
He said
Tababa gave him P200 after the incident.
He added that the
alleged abuse was repeated and became almost regular at twice a week inside Tababa’s house or at the San Vicente High
School campus.
NBI special investigator
Gabriel Falcon said the alleged abuses committed by Tababa surfaced on Aug. 8 when the complainant’s aunt told his parents
that Tababa accused their son of stealing an unframed cross stitch.
In their
joint sworn statement, the parents said their son denied that he took Tababa’s cross stitch.
Falcon said Tababa
will be charged with rape under Article 266-A paragraph 2 of the Revised Penal Code and child sexual abuse under Section 5(b)
of Republic 7610.
SK
chair killed in road accident
By Orlando Dinoy / October
2, 2007
A Sangguniang Kabataan
(SK) chair of barangay Osmeña, Sulop, Davao del Sur, died Monday morning in a vehicular accident.
Police authorities
identified the victim as Ronie S. Mangonaon, 22.
Traffic investigator
SPO1 Antonio Albino told the Mindanao Gold Star Daily that Mangonaon was on his way from Sta. Maria town to Digos City when
the accident occurred.
Albino said Mangonaon
was driving a government-owned motorcycle on the highway when he accidentally bumped into a 10-wheeler truck from the opposite
direction.
“He was in
the wrong way when the incident happened,” Albino said.
Traffic police said
the victim had neither a driver’s license nor a student permit to drive a motorcycle.
Police also said
they believed the victim was drunk at the time of the accident.
Town
dad, wife slain in ambush
October 2, 2007
ARMED men ambushed
and killed on Sunday a town councilor and his wife in Lebak, Sultan Kudarat.
In an interview over
a Cotabato City radio station, Sultan Kudarat police chief Supt. Suharto Tocao identified the victims as municipal councilor
Dionisio Aguelo and his wife Elizabeth.
Tocao said the couple
was on their way to Lebak town proper aboard a motorcycle when waylaid along the road.
The official’s
wife died on the spot while Aguelo died hours after at a local hospital where he was rushed following the ambush.
Tocao theorized the
incident as politically motivated but did not elaborate. pNA
Normin co-op
leaders want radicalization of cooperatives
By Mark D. Francisco / October 2, 2007
THE Cooperative Development
Authority (CDA) in Northern Mindanao has raised what seems to be radical measures to overhaul government
cooperative policy in the Philippines.
In a forum with Senator
Juan Miguel Zubiri held Sunday during the opening of local celebrations for the National Cooperative Month, CDA-10 overseer
for Cagayan de Oro Ben Cyrus Ellorin raised four points for possible legislation to improve cooperativism in
the country.
One of the points
is to amend the Local Government Code and make mandatory the position of municipal/city local cooperative officer in
each local government unit in the Philippines.
In that way, Ellorin
said the government could ensure monitoring development of various cooperatives at the grassroots level.
Coop-Nattco Rep.
Guillermo Cua agreed.
Speaking at the same
forum, Cua said he wants to elevate Ellorin’s proposal so that the municipal/city local cooperative office could have
a five-percent share of the internal revenue allotment of an LGU. Cua also suggested that each province in the country must
have a Sangguniang Panlalawigan member representing the cooperative sector in an ex-officio capacity.
Cua’s twin
proposals were contained in a bill he filed earlier this month after Coop-Nattco was reelected into Congress during last May’s
elections.
The bill is now calendared
with the Lower House committee on cooperatives. Zubiri vowed that he would look into the matter when the
bill reaches the Senate level.
“I am only
one senator. If you can lobby to the other senators for an amendment to the Cooperative Code of the Philippines, it would
surely boost the bill to be passed in the Senate,” he said.
Ellorin also wants
electric cooperatives in the country to be under the fold and supervision of the CDA instead of the National Electrification
Administration (NEA).
To do this, he said
there must be an amendment of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act which mandates that electric cooperatives be under NEA.
Along this line,
Zubiri exhorted cooperative leaders to write the other senators and demand for passage of the bill.
“Senators,
especially the reelectionists, are politicians and are always perceptive to public opinion,” he
said.
Ellorin also called
for an investigation into allegations that some cooperatives – which are given tax incentives under the Cooperative
Code of the Philippines – are being made to pay more by the Bureau of Internal Revenue than what is stipulated in law.
“I will personally
tell the President that so the Chief Executive can possibly issue an executive order on the matter,” Zubiri said.
Ellorin further called
on Congress to give CDA extra quasi-judicial powers to solve intra- and inter-conflicts among cooperatives in its jurisdiction.
No opposition
to Hanjin project, say town officials
By
Mike Baños /
October
2, 2007
OFFICIALS of Villanueva
and Tagoloan have clarified they are not opposing the proposed shipyard of Korean shipbuilder Hanjin in a 300-hectare area
of the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental, contrary to published reports in a national broadsheet.
“We have not
received any negative or adverse feedback from either Tagoloan or Villanueva,” said Norris Babiera, Misamis Oriental
vice governor, on the occasion of the inauguration of a new real estate project recently.
“Hanjin’s
main operations are in Subic but they can not accommodate all of their operations there so they want to bring over a substantial
portion of their operations to Phividec,” Babiera said. “So far, the local governments of Villanueva and Tagoloan
have both been very receptive to the project.”
Norman A. Ricacho,
municipal administrator of Villanueva, has also denied published reports that the municipality is blocking
the P20-billion shipyard project. Final investments are expected to top US$1-billion since Hanjin’s subcontractors are
also reportedly moving into Phividec.
“How can we
do such a thing of which we are so certain that this project will bring more benefits to the people of Villanueva than harm,”
Ricacho said. “Hanjin is a shipyard assembly that needs thousands of labor force. In other words, it’s a labor-intensive
company that every LGU has dreamed of. We know that this is the primary solution in addressing the ever growing employment
problem in our locality. Not even to mention the domino effect in our local economy wherein thousands of people have the purchasing
power.”
Ricacho categorically
denied the report that Villanueva was one of those municipalities opposing the project. On the contrary, he said, the LGU
welcomes Hanjin as a prime mover to development and poverty alleviation of the townspeople.
“We
are a bit suspicious who made the unscrupulous move to discredit us,” he added.
“We really don’t know who is behind this scenario on the making. But we believe this is just
a political maneuver by individual or individuals who want to take away our opportunity for growth and development.”
The
office of Tagoloan town mayor Paulino Emano had yet to issue an official statement on the issue.
Meantime,
Ricacho said the alleged pollution issue brought against a steel making facility in Villanueva is being addressed by concerned
government agencies.
“Elegant (Chemical
Alloy) will no longer process metals with paints that cause fault odors,” Ricacho said.
“With regard to the noise pollution, we have to bear in mind that that area is an industrial area not a residential
one.”
Ricacho
further said that Elegant has demonstrated its commitment to resolve the issue by formally creating a
Multi-partite Monitoring Team (MMT) as mandated by the Environmental Management Bureau in Region 10.
“One of the major tasks of this MMT is to see to it that
the company has complied with all the provisions on the Environmental Compliance Certificate issued by DENR,” he added.
48 brgy polls file candidacy papers
By Nilo Abrogueña / October 1, 2007
FORTY-EIGHT residents aspiring for various seats in their barangays
and youth councils in Cagayan de Oro on Saturday filed their certificates of candidacy before the local Commission on Elections
(Comelec) office.
Stalin Baguio, city elections office chief, said 48 residents filed
their candidacy papers before the Comelec office, as of 3 pm, on the first day of the filing of certificates of candidacy.
Officials expected more residents to beat the 5 pm deadline.
Comelec will open its doors to candidates again today until Oct. 18,
the last day for the filing of certificates of candidacy.
Baguio said the Come-lec office will be open until midnight on Oct.
18 to receive the certificates.
As of 3 pm, Saturday, four residents officially launched their candidacy
for barangay chairpersons of San Simon, Lapasan, Cugman and Baikingon. They were Rodolfo Nacario, Resurreccion Valenzuela,
Alfredo Guinto and Victoriano Alugar. None of them are seeking reelection.
Baguio said 42 others filed their certificates of candidacy for barangay
councilors. The candidates for barangay councilors come from San Simon, Carmen, Lumbia, Pagalu-ngan, Pigsag-an, Baikingon,
Bulua, Iponan, Pagatpat, Patag, Camaman-an, Bu-go, Tablon, Cugman, and Barangays 31, 36 and 40.
Two residents of Baya-nga and Baikingon filed their certificates of
candidacy for chairpersons of the Sanggu-niang Kabataan (SK) in their barangays. They were Ryan Libres of Bayanga and Janice
Granada of Bai-kingon.
Baguio said those who have yet to file their certificates should make
sure they have with them all their documentary requirements.
Welfare dept closes down orphanage due to lack of papers
By John Paul Barsopia / October 1, 2007
THE social welfare department has ordered an orphanage closed down
even as government workers took from it orphans due to lack of government papers.
Slapped with a closure order by the Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) in Region 10 was the Holy Child Orphanage in Carmen.
Officials said the orphanage’s operations were illegal.
The orphanage was not registered with the Security and Exchange Commission
(SEC), it had no license from the DSWD and it lacked manpower, said social welfare regional director Aracelie Solamillo.
Social workers took 11 children, whose ages range from four to 12,
and brought them to the DSWD center for children in Macanhan, Carmen.
Naome Gabot, a social worker of the Holy Child Orphanage, said the
institution has been taking care of children since 1987.
Gabot has asked the DSWD to give the orphanage a chance to comply
with the requirements.
Is Gonzales still top
Cowd exec or not?
By Susan Palmes / October 1, 2007
IS Gaspar Gonzales still the general manager or not?
The question was raised by organized employees of the Cagayan de Oro
Water District (COWD).
While the COWD board officially declared Gonzales retired in an Aug.
31 notice, the official has continued to sign documents, according to a labor union in the COWD.
Engr. Reonil Joseph Linaac, secretary general of the labor union,
showed a proof: a Sept. 26 check voucher for the honoraria of members of the COWD board that Gonzales signed.
The voucher showed that each member of the COWD board is receiving
a P33 thousand from the firm.
The voucher had four signatories: accounting processor Anecita Bongabong
Sr., senior corporate accountant Annabelle Estano, finance department head Marilou Ondap and
Gonzales.
‘‘How can this be?’’ asked Linaac, adding
that the Aug. 31 notice of retirement and the Sept. 26 voucher have caused confusion in the COWD.
Linaac said COWD’s employees are waiting for an explanation
from the board chaired by Dr. Raymundo Java.
Meanwhile, Gonzales’s secretary, Virginia Sugian, is reportedly
facing administrative charges for her alleged failure to serve a document from the board to Gonzales.
Members of the COWD board are reportedly blaming Sugian for the confusion
in the firm.
Gonzales had gone on leave last summer. There had been reports that
he would retire. But to the surprise of many in the COWD, he reported back for work last Aug. 30.
Sugian denied any wrongdoing, saying it was the board’s fault
and not hers.
In a Sept. 21 letter, she said she is Gonzales’s secretary and
not the COWD board’s. Therefore, she said it was not her responsibility to give the document to Gonzales.
She said the board should have instructed its staff to deliver the
document to Gonzales.
“ If we follow protocol, any instruction or directive from the
board has to be coursed to the general manager or the assistant manager who is my direct superior,” said Sugian.
Members of Linaac’s group have been wearing black arm bands
to protest alleged pressures aimed at forcing Gonzales to leave the COWD and a recent COWD board resolution that interposed
no objection to Mayor Constantino Jaraula’s request to allow Rio Verde Water Consortium Inc. to directly supply potable
water in some areas of the city.
Tribute to 'Chief' at Divisoria
By Herbie Gomez / February 17, 2007
NO dog
has ever received honors the way a dead pit bull terrier in Cagayan de Oro is getting. Dogs don’t normally grab headlines
but the case of ‘‘Chief’’ is different––it died saving two women from a spitting cobra
in the city last Monday.
Organized dog lovers in the city would gather at Divisoria to pay
tribute to the terrier at 3 pm Saturday.
Eugene Tan, a member of the Royale Pit Bull Club-Ancient Fraternal
Order of the Pit Bulls Inc., said balloons would be released and candles will be lit in honor of Chief.
Organizers are capitalizing on Chief’s ‘‘heroism’’
to make people aware that pit bull terriers are not natural-born killers and that they are gentle and very loyal to their
masters.
Tan said pit bull terriers have long been stereotyped as a breed that
poses great threats to human beings. ‘‘This is not true,’’ he said.
In the United Kingdom, for instance, the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991
regulates the breeding and sale or exchange of pit bull terriers and three other kinds of dog––Japanese Tosas,
Dogo Argentinos, and the Fila Brasileiros.
The regulation covers cross-breeds of those dogs. There, pit bull
terriers were once bred for bull-baiting––a ‘‘game’’ where dogs attacked bulls in pits––and
subsequently, dog-fighting.
There is no such law here. Nonetheless, pit bull terriers in the country
are suffering from this stereotype––and from bad publicity, the organizers said.
Hopefully, the pit bull terrier would have a new image given how Chief
saved and gave its life for Maria Victoria Fronteras and her 87-year old grandmother Liberata la Victoria in Lapasan last
Monday afternoon, said Tan.
The pit bull terrier jumped on the spitting cobra while the killer
snake was about to attack la Victoria and Fronteras on two separate occasions inside their home. The cobra had snaked through
an opening in the kitchen and nearly killed the women.
Chief bit, immobilized and repeatedly slammed the cobra on the floor.
But before it died, the cobra put up a fight and injected its venom into the dog’s system. Chief suffered as a result
of the snake bite at the lower left portion of the jaw and died a few minutes later.
Tan said what the dog did was consistent with the nature of pit bull
terriers. ‘‘They can be territorial, and they are
very protective of their masters.’’
Tan said Chief would be officially declared the ‘‘grandfather’’
of pit bull terriers in the city. The dog, he explained, was popular among dog breeders here.
The group estimates that there are about 500 pit bull
terriers in Cagayan de Oro and up to 60 percent owe their existence to Chief.
‘‘Chief was very popular (among dog lovers).
Many loved and sought it for breeding because of its size, and because the dog was tame and loveable,’’ said Tan.
He said Chief even won a weight-lifting competition
for dogs.
Tan said, ‘‘To us, Chief was the Manny Pacquiao
of pit bull terriers in the city. It was the champ.’’
The dog was a ‘‘champ,’’ indeed,
even outside Cagayan de Oro. Marlone Fronteras, Chief’s
owner, received messages from dog lovers from all over the country who paid tribute to the pit bull terrier in the discussion
board of dog-tracker.com.
Cops pull off big marijuana haul in Bukidnon
By Mark Francisco and Amor Barlisan / February 17,
2007
POLICE pulled off what could be the biggest marijuana haul so far
in northern Mindanao during a raid in Talakag, Bukidnon on Thursday.
Authorities said they uprooted and seized some P15 million
worth of marijuana plants from a farm owned by 51-year-old far-mer identified as Ernesto Jimenez in Sitio Tigasan, Barangay
Dominorog in Talakag town.
Supt. Rolando Bade, acting director of the Philippine
Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in northern Mindanao, said some 50 thousand marijuana plants were uptooted by the police from
Jimenez’s farm.
Jimenez was arrested and charges were set to be filed
against the Bukidnon-based farmer by police authorities yesterday.
Jimenez, behind bars, admitted to planting marijuana.
He said he was cultivating other crops in his farm.
The cultivation of marijuana is a non-bailable offense
under Section 16 of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
The PDEA sent sam-ples of the marijuana for a confirmatory examination
at the crime laboratory at Camp Alagar yesterday. It will be used as evidence against Jimenez.
2 die, another hurt in Misor road mishap
By Ben Balce / February 17, 2007
TWO people died and another was injured following a vehicular collision
in Barangay Sinalog, El Salvador town in Misamis Oriental at 2 am Thursday.
Police identified the victims as Solaiman Kahir, 41,
a resident of Marawi City; and Jennlyn Reyes, 30, reportedly a resident of PN Roa Subdivision, this city.
The wounded is struggling for life at the Northern Mindanao
Medical Center (NMMC) at presstime. He was identified as Abdul Ahmed, reportedly a tax collector based in Lanao del Sur.
The accident occurred when the driver of a public jeepney
reportedly tried to avoid a white Toyota Innova driven by Kahir and owned by Ahmed at a curve in Sinalog, reported DxIF-Bombo
Radyo.
Ahmed’s driver, Kahir, died on the spot; his head
slammed hard on the car’s steering wheel.
Kahir was declared dead on arrival at the hospital while
Reyes died while undergoing surgery.
SPO1 Ronnie Bolaso of the El Salvador police station,
said there were construction materials stockpiled along the side of the road. He blamed this for the accident.
"The driver of the jeepney had difficulties because
the materials were on his way," said Bolaso, adding this was the reason the jeepney driver failed to avoid the car.
The jeepney driver was identified only as Cesar. He
reportedly came from Cagayan de Oro and was headed for Gitagum town in Misamis Oriental.
Ahmed’s group was rushing to attend a seminar
in Butuan City.
Witnesses said the impact caused the two vehicles to
be tossed into the air. The vehicles overturned and landed 10 meters from each other.
Bolaso said the car was wrecked while the jeepney was partially damaged.
