by anyajulia | Sep 8, 2009 | Headlines, National News
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has declared Monday a non working holiday.
The day, which she declared as a National Day of Mourning should allow everyone to keep the day as a National Day of Mourning on the burial of Iglesia Ni Cristo executive Minister Erano Manalo.
Manalo died of cardio-pulmonary arrest last August 31 at the age of 84.
Cognizant of the huge role INC leaders have done for the country, the President also ordered all flags to be flown at half mast on Monday.
The move is to signify a country-wide mourning on the interment of the INC leader.
Meanwhile, another non-working holiday is slated on September 21, Monday.
According to Presidential Spokesperson Cerge Remonde, President Arroyo also declared Sept. 21 a non-working holiday being Eid’l Fitr.
The day also coincides the last day of Muslim fasting signifying the end of Ramadan, as provided by law.
The Palace official said Eid’l Fitr is listed as one of the holidays stated in Presidential Proclamation 1869. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Sep 8, 2009 | Headlines, National News
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered Cavite police to immediately investigate the murder of a key witness to the Dacer-Corbito double murder case, a day before he was supposed to appear to a panel to investigate the case.
Mrs. Arroyo demanded that the police report as fast the findings to the murder of Jimmy Lopez and his female companion in a rented house in Indang town of Cavite province.
Lopez, then a civilian agent of the Lacson-led and defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, was one of the two key witnesses to the celebrated murder of publicist Bubby Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
Lopez, his brother William and two others earlier have executed affidavits regarding their knowledge to the double murders, which happened in 2000.
Other witnesses are now whisked to safety by the Department of Justice and placed under the witness protection program anew, says Secretary Agnes Devanadera.
It may be recalled that former PSSupt Cesar Mancao implicated senator Panfilo Lacson as the mastermind of the celebrated double murder case.
On Lopez’s murder, Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary and concurrent Task Force 211 Chairman Ricardo Blancaflor said the killing was aimed at stopping the reopening of the controversial case against Senator Lacson.
“The killing of Jimmy Lopez is a strong indication that the ‘enemy’ is going to do everything to put a stop to the reopening of the case,” Blancaflor was quoted in an interview.
An investigation is ongoing on the double murder case of Dacer and Corbito, who were garotted, burned and buried off a ravine in Indang town, Cavite province in November 2000.
Unidentified armed suspects shot Lopez and his female companion in his rented house in Cavite province in the wee hours of Sept. 2.
He was supposed to appear on Thursday before the DOJ panel of prosecutors to affirm his testimony in connection with the Dacer-Corbito double murder case. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Sep 5, 2009 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
EXPECT the country’s best paddlers here as the 3rd Leg of the Philippine Kayak Challenge rows to the region’s eco-tourism capital this November.
The leg comprises a marathon kayak crossing from Cebu to Bohol, organizers said during the recent Provincial Tourism Council Meeting last week.
According to Val Camara, the Department of Tourism (DOT) Philippine Convention and Visitors Corporation (PCVC) brings to the Visayas the Adventure Philippines Kayaking Campaign to generate a new consciousness for the sport.
The racing event, open for single and tandem, sit in and sit-on kayak enthusiasts would take off from an area somewhere near Punta Engaño in Cebu.
Then it would take paddlers to the coasts of Cordova and then cross to Olango island in Cebu.
From there, the race shifts to a dangerous crossing to Getafe Bohol through the islets and tide flats to complete the 24-kilometer crossing distance.
Then from Getafe town, the racers take their boats to the coasts of Buenavista, Inabanga, Clarin and then for a short stop at a sandbar off Tubigon town.
Then the race continues to Calape, take the Moalong River and the out to PuntaCruz point in Maribojoc before crossing the Maribojoc Bay for the final dash to Panglao island.
“This is exactly the activity that would open up another niche market for tourism in Bohol,” asserts Camara.
He said kayak ideally fits into Bohol because the sport is supportive of the eco-cultural tourism dream here and allows coastal communities to come up with future plans to make kayak a part of their environmental tourism options.
It all started when Secretary Ace Durano personally took on a kayak and explored Wahig River in Danao town, and everything just happened, commented Gil Ocena of local kayak outfitter Bugsay and Bohol Outdoor Explorers.
BOEX coordinates for the DOT the preparations for the Bohol Cebu segment of the “paddle the country” campaign.
The secretary’s love for the sport may have been a big motivation for the country’s second look at the potential of the sport as a tourism activity here, Ocena said.
The site is ideal for the challenge as Bohol ranks first in the country’s kayaking destinations, Camara said.
More than that, race organizers said the coastal areas between Getafe to Panglao in Bohol would be hosts to amateur kayak enthusiasts as they paddle their way to Panglao in this segment of the race.
The activity boosts Bohol’s as a model for eco-tourism. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Sep 5, 2009 | Headlines, National News
TODAY, some two million patients get treated, and by any luck, one individual walks his way to the millionaires’ row if he wins in the P75M richer tax-free lotto for this year’s diamond anniversary draw of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
The PCSO offers the P75-million lotto, in time for the agency’s 75th Anniversary today.
“For the 75 years of continued support, we are giving away more than P100M pesos in our diamond anniversary traditional Sweepstakes Draw as our way of thanking Filipinos, says PCSO Visayas director William Medici during a press conference here.
A huge part of the lotto proceeds get poured into the agency’s social services programs.
According to Dr. Larry Cedro, 30% of the PCSO lotto go to charity upon which some 163,940 individual patients across the country have benefited from the agency’s medical assistance program.
Health authorities revealed that an estimated 6,660 Boholano patients have benefited from the agency’s charity funds and other services.
From the proceeds, PCSO also maintains endowment accounts at the Gov. Celestino Gallares Memorial Hospital in Tagbilaran and some municipal health facilities.
Today, more than 100,000 doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, health workers, medical professionals and concerned citizens from government and private sector perform the record breaking biggest act of charity in the country.
All of Bohol’s 1109 barangays would be covered in the mission, says Capitol Health consultant Fancy Baluyot.
The “100 Percent in One Day” project of the PCSO’s entails nationwide medical, dental and information- gathering mission to cover all of the country’s 41,995 barangays.
The project is envisioned to be both the 75th Anniversary of PCSO and a window for marginalized Filipinos from all over the country to access medical care and organized charity assistance, says Rosario Uriarte, PCSO General Manager and Vice Chair.
Four doctors, two dentists, four nurses and one pharmacist assisted by health professionals, army doctors and Barangay health workers and tanods set-up the mission areas and its security.
Aside from general checkups, minor surgeries like the removal of cataracts and lumps, dental services, eye examinations, bone scan and ear check monitor will be available in selected medical mission sites located in government hospitals and rural clinics.
Feeding missions are also coordinated by church based groups to coincide with the missions, sources revealed.
The mission also distributes free medicines to patients at the sites, mission coordinators in Bohol say.
“PCSO has been doing monthly medical and dental missions for several years now,” says Uriarte. “But this is the first time we’ll hold it in large scale in one day, targeting more than two million patients.”
The feeding missions would be conducted in selected barangays, mostly in depressed areas, in coordination with church-based groups and civic organizations.
The “One Hundred Percent in One Day” project, according to Uriarte, is envisioned to be an annual activity that will serve as a vehicle for spreading the “charity virus,” and make organized and systematic sharing coupled with volunteerism as a way of life for Filipinos. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Sep 5, 2009 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
BOHOL police officials do not just want gun-free tourism areas here.
In a recent move presented to the Provincial Tourism Council, PSSupt. Edgardo Ingking bared the plan to transform tourism areas into “Discipline Zones” (DZ).
“We want to help create an environment to sustain Bohol’s tourism potential by strictly imposing order, maintain and sustain the law enforcement efforts by making sure basic laws are followed,” he told council members.
The police proposal also dovetails with the out-going tourism council chairman Peter Dejaresco who said Bohol’s greatest challenge is to sustain its tourism momentum.
“Unchecked incivility and disorder breeds crime,” Ingking, who may have this as his last legacy to Bohol before he bows out as provincial commander here stressed.
In designated pilot tourism areas, he explained, police would go for zero crime tolerance on basic laws in traffic, squatting, pollution, illegal vending, sanitation and applicable local ordinances.
In these areas, anti-littering, smoking areas, traffic laws, environmental laws, discipline and some local ordinances like stakeholder uniforms may be strictly enforced to impose order.
To be implemented in tandem with the business sector, police and the civil society, the “Discipline Zone” plan creates a formidable force against crimes, he assured.
Set to be a three phased plan, the DZ would start its three month pilot implementation after the stakeholders shall have identified the areas.
Stakeholders would be trained, craft strategies and formulate plans, propagate the communication plan to generate awareness, deploy personnel and asses the situation monthly.
The overall aim is to have the Department of Tourism (DOT) accredit the place as Discipline Zone, the Camp Dagohoy based cop said.
Ingking admitted that the plan was an offshoot of the Environmental Security on Tourism workshop hailed by DOT Undersecretary Salvador Sarabia a few months ago.
Asked which tourism areas he want to pilot, the top cop said he mulled the [plan for Panglao Island or Loboc, well established tourism areas already. (PIA)
