Tommy J.  charged with malversation

Former Gov. Tomas N. Joson III and two former provincial officials were charged with malversation of public funds at the Office of the Ombudsman.

The charges for the alleged embezzlement of P1.457 million from a government owned corporation were filed by Raymund Sarmiento, chief of the Public Affairs and Monitoring Office of the provincial government.

The former governor and his former treasurers Lilia de Jesus and Adoracion del Rosario-Sumangil were accused of violation of the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for their alleged failure to remit loan payments of provincial government employees totaling P1.457 to the Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. (Quedancor).

The loans were under a livelihood assistance program called Ginintuang Ani Countrywide Assistance for Rural Employment Services Program for Income Augmentation and Livelihood covered by a memorandum of agreement between the provincial government represented by Joson and Quedancor.

Sarmiento said the non remittance covered loan payments deducted from the salaries of borrower officials and employees for August, September, October and December 2004; February up to July 2005; October, November and December 2006; and January to May 2007.

As proof, Sarmiento submitted copies of disbursement vouchers for the unremitted deductions.

The charges against Joson came in the heels of graft charges filed by Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson against Gov. Aurelio Umali, his wife, 3rd Dist. Rep. Czarina Umali, and three others for alleged anomalies in various projects. ###
 
 

Edward J. files graft cases vs. Umalis

Vice Gov. Edward Thomas F. Joson filed graft charges against Gov. Aurelio M. Umali and his wife, 3rd Dist. Rep. Czarina Umali, with the Office of the Ombudsman last April 22.

Also charged were Provincial Treasurer Edilberto Pancho, Provincial Administrator Alejandro Abesamis and Ferdinand Abesamis, a consultant.

One case arose from the allegedly anomalous purchase of 93 multicabs that the provincial government distributed to barangays.

Joson said that the provincial government paid P176,200 for each multicab unit though the supplier, identified as CHK Motors, said that each vehicle could have been bought for only P135,000 including registration.

The vice governor also said that Umali illegally hired the services of the provincial information officer, Edgardo Rillon, and a consultant, Ferdinand Abesamis.

Josons said that the Civil Service Commission had rejected Rillon's appointment for lack of eligibility, while Abesamis had been dismissed from government service during the Estrada Administration. ###
 
 

'Pure political harassment' says Umali

Gov. Aurelio M. Umali said that Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson's filing of charges against him, his wife and other provincial officials were efforts to cover up the Josons' "litany of crimes".

Umali was reacting to the charges of violation of the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act filed by Joson against him, his wife, Provincial Treasurer Edilberto Pancho, Provincial Administrator Alejandro Abesamis and a consultant, Ferdinand Abesamis.

He just laughed off the overpricing charges, pointing out that the past Joson administration bought practically the same version of of the vehicle at P160,000 per unit.

He said the charges were pure and simple acts of political harassment intended to derail his administration in effecting changes in the political image of Nueva Ecija as a violence prone province and turning it into an agricultural and industrial hub.

“The efforts of Joson and company to freeze my administration is unrelenting and continuing even before and right after I took my oath of office,” the governor said
.
“These actions of Vice Gov. Joson prejudice and harm the Novo Ecijanos, more than they do me,” he added. ###
 
 

Rice millers stop buying palay

Citing diminishing capital and low demand for milled rice from outlets, San Jose City rice mill owners have stopped buying palay.

Edgardo Alfonso, president of the San Jose City Rice Millers Association, said their combined capital now could only buy up to 60 percent of the 11 million metric tons of palay that they usually bought during harvest time.

The reason: palay price rose to more than P19 per kilo, thus the millers' combined capital of P2 billion could only buy a portion of the total harvests, unlike when palay prices ranged from only P9 to P10 a kilo.

Aggravating the situation is the low demand for milled rice. Because traders use the money earned from selling milled rice to buy palay, it takes them longer now to raise money to buy more palay. 

San Jose City has the biggest number of rice mills anywhere in Luzon. The owners would send agents to northern Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan and Nueva Vizcaya to buy palay which is milled and sold to outlets in Metro Manila and Southern Luzon.

He denied that rice millers manipulated the buying price of palay to earn more. As for the perceived rice crisis, he said the "noise" created by the alleged very low supply of rice in the world market resulted in panic buying and speculation by some traders.

He also blamed government officials for sending the wrong signals to the public about the real rice situation.

It was only recently that the government announced that there was not rice crisis at all but it came too late, Alfonso said. ###
 
 

Farmers, millers affected by raids vs. rice hoarders

Both rice farmers and millers complained that the raids being conducted by the government on suspected rice hoarders were scaring retailers from stocking up on rice for fear of being accused of hoarding.

Arsenia Francisco, a Cabanatuan City farmer, said she would suffer losses as retailers were hesitant to buy her palay.

Lucila Samaniego, a palay trader, said rice millers were thinking twice about buying palay, scared that they would be raided on suspicion of hoarding rice.

She appealed to government agencies like the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to be more discriminate in conducting raids.

Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap agreed with the appeal of millers, saying that the NBI should be more careful in conducting raids on suspected hoarders.

He said that warehouses licensed by the National Food Authority should be inspected only by the agency's agents.

The NBI, for its part, assured rice traders that its agents were merely conducting inspections and not raids as part of the government's campaign against rice hoarders and price manipulators. ###
 
 

A different situation in Talavera
Farmers rejoice over good harvest, high palay prices

Members of an agricultural cooperative in Talavera have two reasons to be happy -- a good harvest and high buying price for palay.

During the harvest festival held by the Nagkakaisang Magsasaka Agricultural Primary Multipurpose Cooperative, Inc. (NMAPMCI) in Barangay Tabacao, the group's chairperson, Ricardo Buenaventura, said that their average yield reached 180 cavans (equivalent to nine tons) per hectare, with some members harvesting 225 cavans per hectare or even higher.

He said that the farm gate buying prices of P17.20 per kilo for freshly harvested palay and P18.20 per kilo for slightly dried palay were unprecedented.

Buenaventura said the income of NMAPMCI members more than doubled, from between P25,000 and P30,000 per hectare before, to between P60,000 and P90,000 now. The cooperative has more than 1,000 regular and associate members.

Allan Buenaventura, a cooperative member, said he was getting an average income of P115,000 per hectare from the 18 hectare farm that he is managing for his aunt who is based in Italy.  He is now preparing for a trip to Hong Kong -- a reward from his aunt.

During the program, Gov. Aurelio Umali said that the province  was expecting a harvest of 75,000 metric tons of palay this season. He said that 30 percent of this would be set aside for the province's consumption, with the rest to be supplied to non-rice producing areas of the country.

He also said that his office, in coordination with the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council, would sell rice at subsidized prices to residents of the 50 poorest barangays in the province during lean months. ###
 
 
 

Bad year for mango growers

Erratic weather and fruit diseases have combined to drastically bring down the production of mango in Peñaranda and elsewhere in the province.

Peñaranda accounts for about 30,000 of the more than 4000,000 fruit bearing mango trees in Nueva Ecija.

Unexpected rains have destroyed much of the flowers of mango trees resulting in fewer fruits. Whatever fruits were developed were attacked by the so-called "gloria-gloria" and "armalite" diseases, marring the surfaces of the mangoes.

During  a forum with mango growers, Dr. Oscar Opina, a technical expert on mango from the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) in Laguna, said the two fruit diseases were caused by the cecid fly that attacks mango leaves and fruits.

The forum was organized by PCARRD, the Central Luzon Agricultural Resources Research and Development Council (CLARRDEC), and the agricultural offices of the provincial government and Peñaranda town. ###
 
 

Ecija police web site goes online

The Nueva Ecija Police Office launched its own web site that is believed to be the first of its kind among provincial commands.

During the launching program last April 21, the provincial police chief, Sr. Supt. Napoleon Taas, said the web site was "a living proof that Mamang Pulis is truly going out of his way to be closer to the community".

The web site complements the computerization of the Nueva Ecija police's main command, its three police mobile groups and the 32 city and municipal police stations in the province.

Taas said that his office's web site is unique as it also features the province's scenic spots and other places of interest taken by six professional photographers from the Society of Portrait Photographers of the Philippines headed by Boy Samson.

The site  at http://www.nuevaecijapulis.com also contains crime statistics, tips and other police related information. 
 
 

4 party-list congressmen charged in Ecija courts for kidnapping, murder

Party-list Reps. Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño and Rafael Mariano of Bayan Muna and Liza Masa of Gabriela, five alleged ranking communist officials and ten other unidentified persons were indicted last April 18 in regional trial court branches in Palayan City and Guimba for kidnapping and two counts of murder for the alleged liquidation of suspected deep penetration agents in three separate occasions.

The other accused were identified as Eugenia Magpantay, Vicente Cayetano, Delfin Pimentel, Emeterio Congred Antalan and Julie Flores Sinohin.

They were charged for the abduction and killing of Danilo Felipe in 2001, and the murders of Jimmy Peralta in 2003 and Carlito Bayudang in 2004.

The charges were based on complaints filed by the widows of the victims, Medelyn Felipe, Isabelita Bayudang and Mayumi Peralta.

State prosecutors led by Floro Florendo, acting provincial prosecutor, noted in their resolution that the party-list representatives were labelled "Leftists" by authorities and their groups were alleged fronts of the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People's Army and the National Democratic Front.

The resolution identified Magpantay, Cayetano, Pimentel and Antalan as 'high ranking officials" of the CPP/NPA's Central Luzon and Nueva Ecija committees. Sinohin and the other respondents were reportedly members of the liquidation squad and intelligence group of the communist movement.

Felipe was abducted on February 17, 2001 in Sitio Balic-Balic, Barangay Narvacan, Guimba allegedly by the hit squad and brought to Malayantoc, Nampicuan where he was tortured, interrogated and killed.

Peralta was killed in an alleged case of mistaken identity in Barangay Sinipit, Bongabon on December 23, 2003.  He was reportedly mistaken for his brother Ricardo who heads the Red
Vigilante Group.

Bayudang was reportedly killed by the same liquidation squad on May 6, 2004.

Sinohin, on of the suspects, turned into a prosecution witness after executing an extra-judicial confession on incidents that point to the other accused as the ones responsible for the killings.

Sinohin said that he fetched the group of Ocampo, Maza, Casiño and Mariano to a house where the participation of Bayan Muna in the party-list elections in 2001 was discussed. The four allegedly directed leaders of the CPP/NPA in Central Luzon to liquidate former CPP/NPA members who would support the party-list Akbayan, with Maza suggesting that members of Gabriela be used in gathering intelligence on those would support that party.

The lead counsel of the accused, human rights lawyer Romeo Capulong, called the charges as part of the long process of political persecution by the Arroyo administration.

The four party-list representatives condemned in a press conference the charges against them, saying that these were "ridiculous," "Palace-directed," and were part of the "continuing political repression" against them, aimed at forcibly removing the people's representatives from the halls of Congress. ###
 
 

9 killed as bus falls into Pantabangan ravine

A bus bound for Aurora with some 50 passengers on board fell into a deep ravine in Pantabangan last April 18, killing nine persons including the driver.

Investigators said the driver lost control of the steering wheel while the bus was negotiating a curve at Kilometer 8 in Barangay Malbang at about 10:00 AM.

Sr. Supt. Napoleon C. Taas, Nueva Ecija police director, said the D Bus Liner bus, with plate number CWW 6434, was on its way to Casiguran from Cabanatuan City.

Pantabangan Mayor Romeo Borja, Sr., who was in Manila at that time, learned about the accident from his son, SP Member Romeo, Jr. 

Three of the fatalities were identified as Peter Balingit, the bus driver; and Rudy Ronquillo and James Santiago. The bus conductor, Relito Alonso, was missing. ##
 
 

Cabanatuan judge found guilty of sexual harassment

The Sandiganbayan First Division sentenced a former municipal trial court judge in Cabanatuan City to five years imprisonment for sexually harassing a court employee on two occasions in 1997.

Found guilty of two counts of sexual harassment and two counts of acts of lasciviousness was former MTC Judge Rogelio Esteban.

The former judge, a wedding sponsor of the complainant, was ordered to pay P100,000 in moral damages.

The complainant accused Esteban of kissing her on two occasions in 1997 while she was working as a staff in his office.

She recounted that Esteban first kissed her on the cheek on June 25, 1997 while she was asking him to sign her appointment paper as a bookbinder.

She quoted the judge as saying, "Ano naman ang magiging kapalit ng pagpirma ko rito? Mula ngayon girlfriend na kita. Araw-araw papasok ka dito sa opisina ko at araw-araw isang halik."

She said that the second harassment happened on August 5, 1997 when Esteban summoned her to ask about her salary after her promotion.

The decision convicting Esteban was written by Associate Justice Rodolfo Ponferrada and concurred with by Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo and Presiding Justice Diosdado Peralta. ###
 
 

Two arrested for illegal guns

Police arrested two persons for carrying unlicensed firearms in San Jose City and San Antonio town.

The San Jose City police under Supt. Sidney Villaflor arrested Roger Roblica, 32, while creating trouble inside the King Rice Mill in Barangay Calaocan with an unlicensed .357 Magnum revolver with three bullets.  He had awakened his co-workers and challenged them to a gun fight.

In San Antonio, Rolando Velasco of Barangay Santo Cristo was nabbed at a checkpoint in Barangay Santa Cruz for possession of a homemade shotgun.

The two were charged with violation of P.D. 1866 as amended by R.A. 8294.###
 
 

Cabanatuan's Nabao creek contaminated

Nabao creek, which flows through the center of Cabanatuan City, was found  contaminated with bacteria and poisonous chemicals.

During the recent celebration of Earth Day, environmental experts recommended to Gov. Aurelio M. Umali the cleaning of the creek which was found contaminated with coliform bacteria from human and animal wastes and other poisonous chemicals.

Prof. Mercedes Cabling of the Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology reported that a water sampling commissioned by the group Krusada sa Kalikasan showed the harmful condition of the creek.

It was learned that the Cabanatuan City Water District, in cooperation with USAID, had started to act on the problem of contaminated water from septic tanks leaking into drainage canals that empty into Nabao creek. ###