Violation of Comelec gun ban

Two more face complaints of violation of the Comelec gun ban and illegal possession of firearms after the recent raid in Dagohoy, an interior town 72 kilometers from this capital city.

SPSupt. Nicomedes P Olaivar Jr., commander of the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC), identified the suspects as Ariel Avergonzado Macabenta, 25 yrs old, married, and Pablito Indino Macabenta, 56 yrs old, married, both residents of barangay Kagawitan, Dagohoy.

They were arrested in a raid on Friday morning and investigators filed the complaints against them today (March 4).

Police Provincial Director Constantino Barot Jr. said the police units in Bohol are conducting successive implementation of search warrants on loose firearms—both unlicensed firearms and those with expired licenses.

Oplan Paglalansag was conducted on March 1 at 7 o'clock in the morning by joint elements of PPSC led by Olaivar, Provincial Investigation and Detective Management Branch under PInsp. Pelagio Rosagaran and Dagohoy municipal police under SPO1 Jerry Amang.

PO2 Nelson Lodripa said the raiding team swooped down the residences of the suspects based on search warrant Nos. 13-07 and 13-08 issued by Acting Presiding Judge Marivic Trabaho-Daray of Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 52 based in Talibon.

Investigators already filed complaints of illegal possession of firearms against the suspects, in relation to violation of Republic Act 8294 (An Act Amending The Provisions of Presidential Decree No. 1866, as amended, Entitled "Codifyingthe Laws on Illegal/Unlawful Possession, Manufacture, Dealing in, Acquisition or Disposition of Firearms, Ammunition or Explosives or Instruments Used In The Manufacture of Firearms, Ammuni"tion or Explosives, And Imposing Stiffer Penalties for Certain Violations Thereof, and for Relevant Purposes).

Confiscated and seized from the residence Ariel Macabenta were one cal .38 Smith and Wesson pistol with serial number C65924, eight live ammunitions of cal .38, two empty shells of cal .38 and one empty shell of cal .45.

Address the problems of geo-hazards

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) has authorized Governor Amado Espino Jr. to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to effectively address the problems of geo-hazards in the region.

This was provided for in Resolution No. 1781 approved by the SP in its regular session Monday (March 4) in connection with the conduct of Geological Science Scoping (GSS) and preparations of Engineering Geological and Geohazard Assessment (EGGA) for any environmental critical project, including subdivisions and housing.

The SP said that in order to adequately and comprehensively address and mitigate the possible effects/impacts of geologic hazards, the DENR should require the conduct of EGGA, in addition to the Environment Compliance Certificate (ECC)
REQUIRED ON ENVIRONMENTALLY-CRITICAL PROJECTS, LIKE HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS AND OTHER LAND DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS, PRIVATE OR PUBLIC.

THE RESOLUTION ALSO STATES THAT NOT ALL GEO-HAZARDS ARE DUE NECESSARILY TO NATURAL CALAMITIES BUT ALSO TO THE NEGLIGENCE OF ASSIGNED AUTHORITIES.

Invest in Palawan

Like other developing provinces in the country, Palawan is getting its fair share getting over over a billion pesos of investments in 2012, according to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).

Emma Quillope, Senior Trade and Industry Development Specialist of DTI-Palawan, said these billion-peso investments also created 8,443 jobs.

She said these 4,225 new businesses in trading, manufacturing, agriculture, and other services, account to 60% of total new business registrations in the MIMAROPA (Mindoro/Marinduque/Romblon/Palawan) region.

This year, DTI-Palawan expects more investments to come in, particularly in the municipalities where new tourism sites have been flourishing. These areas include the towns of El Nido, Coron, San Vicente, Taytay in the north; and Narra, Quezon, and Brooke's Point in the south.

Malaysia Kills Filipinos in Sabah

As clashes between Malaysian authorities and the armed followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III continue, Malacanang Tuesday said what the Philippine government can do is to assist their families left behind.

"We have done everything possible, and we continue to do everything possible to peacefully end this (Sabah) standoff. Unfortunately, the position taken by the Kiram family is a position that leads down to violence," said Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda in a press briefing.

"Ang ginagawa namin ngayon, itong mga naiwan sa Basulta (in Sulu) ay tinutulungan po natin 'yung mga pamilya," he said.

"In fact, the wife of Raja Muda (Agbimmudin) Kiram -- Haji Norkiza Kiram -- is in touch with the families. She is instrumental in helping us identify who are the people who went to Lahad Datu. And upon identification of the people who went to Lahad Datu, we are able to trace the families of those men who went to Lahad Datu. So, we are going to provide assistance to them and (the) DSWD (Dept. of Social Welfare and Development) is on top of that," he noted.

DSWD Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Juliano-Soliman earlier said social workers from Bonggao were added to assist the existing Pantawid Pamilya network of social workers in Simunul, Tandabanak, and Sibutu, all in Tawi-Tawi.

"In addition, the DSWD is working with the wife of Raja Muda Agbimmudin Kiram to help identify families whose husbands or sons are in Lahad Datu so that food and other assistance can be provided," she said.

Most Corrupt Gloria Arroyo

Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her son, Camarines Sur (2nd District) Rep. Diosdado Ignacio Arroyo, were charged with plunder before the Office of the Ombudsman Tuesday.

The charge was in connection with two aborted infrastructure projects in Camarines Sur province allegedly costing P676 million.

The former president is currently detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City for a separate plunder case in connection with alleged misuse of P366-million Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office confidential/intelligence funds during her incumbency.

She is seeking re-election as representative of the second district of Pampanga during the May 13, 2013 elections.

In a 17-page complaint, lawyers Robert Guevarra and Renecio Espiritu, Jr. accused Mrs. Arroyo of using public funds to boost her son's congressional candidacy in the second district of Camarines Sur during the May 10, 2010 elections.

The complaint said: "The shameless and unconscionable use of the people's money was done in order to create for then presidential son, Dato Arroyo, a political bailiwick in the province of Camarines Sur.

"Respondents, by their deliberate, brazen and wanton act, treated public funds as if it were private bank accounts to be dispensed as their royalesque caprice and frivolity see fit."

The complainants argued Mrs. Arroyo allotted millions of pesos for dam, irrigation and bridge projects in Camarines Sur as a "birthday gift" to her son in 2008, who ran and later won as congressman in the second district of Camarines Sur in 2010.

"These projects were rushed in time for respondent Dato Arroyo's re-election bid in 2010... Billions of pesos were spent and wasted as these projects turned out to be economically unviable and damaging to the lives of the residents and the ecosystem found in the affected communities," the complaint said.

The complainants cited the Libmanan-Cabusao Dam Project, which they claimed was "rushed with neither consultation with the affected communities nor adequate study about its adverse effects."

They also cited a study from the Ateneo de Naga University's Institute for Environmental Conservation and Research that said the construction of the dam "is not justified" since it may displace residents from Lupi and Sipocot towns, both in Camarines Sur.

The same study also said the dam may "destroy irreplaceable ecosystems and livelihoods" in Lupi and Sipocot towns.

The complainants also argued the dam project was suspended by the National Irrigation Administration "due to its social unacceptability."

They used as basis of their complaint the Skybridge Project linking four areas in Camarines Sur, which supposedly remains incomplete up to this day because the bridges "would have to be constructed on a very soft ground."

Safety of the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said on Tuesday that President Benigno Aquino III has already asked Malaysian Prime Minister Najib for the safety of the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah, in the wake of escalating armed conflict between Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram's followers and the Malaysian police security and armed forces.

The Malaysian government launched Tuesday air strikes on Kiram's group as security forces sought to end the three-week standoff.

Earlier reports quoted Prime Minister Najib Razak as saying that the Malaysian government had no choice but to quell militant invaders in Sabah.

What the Philippine government is concerned now, Lacierda said, is the safety of the 800,000 Filipinos residing in Sabah.

"The government is concerned for the 800,000 Filipinos in Sabah, and also for those men and women and children that the men who joined Lahad Datu -- the men who (were) left behind here in Basulta, in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi," he said.

"That's the reason why also (Foreign Affairs) Usec. (Jose) Brillantes and the Ambassador to Malaysia Ed Malaya (were) on the ground in Sabah to make sure that the 800,000 Filipinos will not be affected," he said.

Malacanang said the Philippine government had done everything possible for a peaceful resolution in the Sabah standoff.

"For the past three weeks, we have done everything possible from sending emissaries, asking them (armed followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III) to come back and we will talk, and all these pleas fell on deaf ears. Hindi po nagkulang ang pamahalaang Aquino tungkol sa pagprotekta sa kanila," Lacierda explained in a press briefing.

"We have done everything possible, and we continue to do everything possible to peacefully end this standoff.

Unfortunately, the position taken by the Kiram family is a position that leads down to violence," he said.

"The longer this invasion lasts, it is clear to the authorities that the invaders do not intend to leave Sabah," said Najib.

"The government must take action to safeguard the dignity and sovereignty of the country as required by the people," he added.

As this developed, Lacierda said the fate of the estimated 180 Filipinos in Lahad Datu is now in the hands of the Sultanate of Sulu who continue to make a defiant stand.

"The fate of the 180 people in Lahad Datu lies with those who continue to make a defiant stand. Our position has not changed since Saturday morning, and so it is with the Raja Muda Kiram and those followers in Lahad Datu," he said.

Economic gains from election spending

Former national treasurer Prof. Leonor Briones warned against uneven spread of economic gains from election spending.

She noted this activity is a boon to services but hardly benefits the Philippine agricultural sector where poverty is most rife.

"The agricultural sector is therefore just like a spectator amidst the election flurry," she said at State-run PTV 4's 'Hatol ng Bayan' program for the 2013 mid-term polls.

Briones linked the imbalance to mismatch in agricultural workers' skills and election-related labor demands which farmers and fisher folk are generally unable to meet.

"Many of them don't possess the skills required for poll-related work," she said.

Among target activities of election-fueled manpower mobilization are production and distribution of campaign paraphernalia, transaction with financial and other institutions, provision of transportation and accommodation as well as promotion of candidates through traditional and new media.

A sample selected statement of poll-related expenditures National Economic Development Authority-affiliated researchers sourced from Commission on Elections and presented in 2010 show media-related expenses accounted for some 71.26 percent and 73.29 percent of campaign expenditures incurred by presidential and senatorial candidates in 2004, respectively.

"Based on distribution of election expenditures, government services has the highest spending (27.4 percent) followed by manufacturing of election materials (26.6 percent)," the researchers also noted.

They said: "Advertising, to include radio, TV and recreational and cultural activities has an estimated combined share of 22.3 percent while labor recruitment and provision of personnel has a total share of 10.4 percent.

Aggregating, expenditures in the three main production sectors of the economy, services sector accounts for about 73.4 percent and the rest go to industry specifically manufacturing (26.6 percent)."

Briones said: "Campaign-related activities usually commence before elections as candidates and government prepare to woo voters."

The Dept. of Agriculture earlier reported Philippine agriculture expanded by nearly three percent in 2012, fueled by the 3.60 percent combined growth in the crops, livestock and poultry sub-sectors.

"At current prices, value of agricultural production amounted to PhP1.4 trillion, higher by 1.17 percent from the 2011 level," DA also said.

DA likewise reported agriculture accounted for 11 percent of Philippine GDP in 2011 when the country's economy grew nearly four percent.

Latest available data from the National Statistical Coordination Board, released last year, demonstrate poverty's grip on the agricultural sector, however.

The data show 2009 poverty incidence in the country's nine basic sectors was highest among farmers (36.7 percent) and fisher folk (41.4 percent).

Such rates even exceed the 26.5 percent poverty incidence NSCB reported for the entire Philippine population that year.

"Agriculture is the country's biggest sector but has the bulk of poor people nationwide," Briones noted.

NSCB data likewise show poverty incidence was highest among farmers and fisherfolk in 2006 and 2003.

For both reference years, NSCB reported corresponding incidence rates of 37.2 percent and 37 percent among farmers.

March 8 a special non-working day in Compostela Valley

President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared March 8 a special non-working day in Compostela Valley in celebration of its 15th Foundation Day.

The Chief Executive issued the declaration to give the people of Compostela Valley the full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occassion.

The province, called Comval for short, used to be part of Davao del Norte until it was made independent in 1998 by virtue of Republic Act No. 8470.

The law was subsequently ratified through a plebiscite conducted in the 22 municipalities of the province

Team Patay, Team Buhay

The Supreme Court Tuesday stopped the Commission on Elections' order for the removal of the "Team Patay, Team Buhay" tarpaulin at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City.

In a text message, SC Public Information Office Chief Atty. Theodore Te said during Tuesday's en banc session, the SC issued a temporary restraining order against the implementation of the Comelec's order.

The SC also directed the Comelec to file its comment within 10 days on the petition for certiorari and prohibition with application for injunction and TRO filed by Bacolod City Bishop Vicente Navarra.

The SC set the oral arguments on the case on March 19, 2013 at 2 p.m.

The tarpaulin lists down the names of senatorial candidates in the May 13, 2013 elections that the Bacolod City Diocese said should not get the public's votes because they favored the Reproductive Health Law.

The senatorial candidates tagged as members of "Team Patay" are Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara, Francis "Chiz" Escudero, Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Risa Hontiveros, Teddy Casiño and Jack Enrile.

Party-list groups Gabriela, Bayan Muna, Akbayan and Anak Pawis are also on the "Team Patay" list.

Those in the "Team Buhay" list are senatorial candidates Joseph Victor Ejercito-Estrada, Antonio "Sonny" Trillanes IV, Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan, Mitos Magsaysay, Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III and Cynthia Villar for opposing the RH Law.

In their petition, the Bacolod City Diocese said the Comelec order is unconstitutional since the tarpaulin merely represents the Church's exercise of freedom of expression.

Sultan of Sulu

The governors of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) appealed Monday to the Sultan of Sulu and the Malaysian government to resolve the Sabah crisis in a more peaceful and honorable manner.

"We are appealing to our Sultan, Sultan Jamalul (Kiram) and (the) government of Malaysia if they could resolve this crisis into a more peaceful and honorable manner," Sulu Gov. Hadji Abdusakur Tan told a press conference at the Gateway in Cubao, Quezon City.

Tan admitted the ARMM governors received text messages from Malacanang, asking them to assist in resolving the Sabah situation which worsened last Friday when a firefight between Kiram's supporters and the Malaysian army broke out.

"They (are) asking for our help because the President (Aquino) knows that we know the culture of our countrymen in Sabah," Tan said.

The Sulu governor expressed concern that if the Filipinos living in Sabah will return in Sulu and other part of ARMM would bring problem.

"If our countrymen will return, it would create big problem. That's why we are appealing to our Sultan to consider the problem the crisis would bring in Mindanao. We have no food and shelter to provide for them if they will return," Tan said.

Tan said he was able to talk with Kiram's brother Sultan Esmael but refused to reveal the full details of their conversation.

Tawi-Tawi Gov. Hadji Saadikul Sahali said the tension in Sabah has resulted in the increase of the prices of commodities in the ARMM.

"There is already increase in the value of food stock. Commodities becoming very high unlike before the standoff," Sahali said.

Sahali said he has already alerted the Tawi-tawi municipal mayors for the return of the Filipinos from Sabah.

Maguindanao Gov. Hadji Esmael Mangundadatu believed the Philippine government will be able to resolve the Sabah crisis in a peaceful manner.