Fire destroys Gapan City market

The Gapan City public market -- the biggest in southern Nueva Ecija -- was totally razed by an early morning fire last July 12.

It was the biggest fire seen in Gapan City in recent decades and happened at a time when the city was in the thick of preparations for its sixth cityhood anniversary on August 25.

Insp. Norman Fines, city fire marshal, said the blaze started at about 2:15 AM at Building 2 of the market complex that housed dry good stalls.

"Ang mga nagititinda ng gulay ang unang nakakita," he said.

Fire authorities have ruled out arson as the cause of the fire. They initially attributed it to faulty electrical wiring but were verifying reports that an LPG or gasoline tank left unattended at an eatery could have caused the blaze.

It took five hours to fully contain the fire with the help of fire trucks from some 15  towns and cities, including one from as far as Santo Domingo.  Firefighters in the province had their hands full as a fire was also raging at the same time at the Santa Cecilia parish church in Palayan City.
 

Except for a row of  stalls in a separate building at the eastern side, the entire market complex that occupied one entire block at the city center was destroyed.

Explosions could be heard from time to time from burning cooking gas tanks. No fatalities were recorded.
 

Mayor Ernesto L. Natividad with some  city officials surveyed the fire scene at about 8:00 AM and talked to some of the affected vendors.

He said a new city market, this time two stories high to maximize space, will soon be erected on the site of the burned market which was built in 1976 during the Velayo administration. In the meantime, he said vendors would be relocated to adjacent temporary market sites on two vacant lots astride the city plaza.

City accountant Nenita Abenales, who accompanied the mayor, initially placed the damage at over P100 million and said the amount could go higher, as some vendors reported losing millions of pesos worth of stocks.

Adelina Roque, local franchisee of NE Bake Shop and a foreign currency trader, said she was lucky to have been able to retrieve cash from her store at the front of the market complex before the flames reached the area.

Recto Yap, who operated a glassware store at the center of the market where the fire began, said he lost hundreds of thousands of pesos worth of goods, including some that had just been delivered.

Luis Ignacio, who lives at the second floor of his hardware store across the street from the market complex, said he was roused from sleep by an explosion at past 2:00 AM. When he looked out of the window to check, he said saw flames on the market roof.  He immediately phoned the local fire station and those of adjoining towns using a list of emergency numbers that he had been keeping.

Firefighters had a hard time refilling their trucks as the fire hydrants were located right beside the burning building.

A stall owner said power supply in the market was not immediately turned off. "Isang oras pa muna bago mapatay ang kuryente," he complained.

Other vendors noticed that there were no market watchmen on duty at the time.

Supt. Marlon Bingcang, city police chief, said a composite team from the Traffic Management Group, Regional Mobile Group and the local police was sent to guard against looters.

He said three suspected looters who had taken boxes of soap and shampoo from a market stall were arrested.

Hours after the fire, text messages circulated among Gapan residents saying, "Ang pagkasunog ng Gapan public market ay dapat paimbestigahan ng taong bayan at tingnan ang kaugnayan nito sa planong pagtatayo ng bagong palengke." ###
 
 

Disaster officials prepare as rains continue

The Nueva Ecija Provincial Disaster Coordinating Center (PDCC) prepared some 1,000 packs of relief goods and placed heavy equipment and rubber boats on stand by as typhoon Dodong passed northeast of Luzon and continued to dump heavy rains last August 9.

Three to four foot deep floods hit parts of Gapan City, while residents in low lying areas in other towns in Nueva Ecija were told to prepare for possible evacuation.

The center headed by Dr. Abraham Pascua, provincial director of the Department of Interior and Local Government, met at the old capitol building in Cabanatuan City to assess the situation.

Gov. Aurelio M. Umali suspended classes in all levels in the province.

Pascua said the 27 towns and five cities in the province have their own disaster coordinating councils, with the PDCC ready to provide help when needed. ###
 
 

Pantabangan Dam water release suspended

The heavy monsoon rains experienced in the past few days, induced by typhoons Chedeng and Dodong, prompted the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIA-UPRIIS) to suspend the release of water from Pantabangan Dam.

Before the rains, the dam was releasing irrigation water at the rate of 110 cubic meters per second to sustain the needs of farms programmed by UPRIIS for irrigation coverage during this planting season.

Antonio S. Nangel, operations manager, said that as of August 9, the water level in Pantabangan Dam had reached at 190.01 meters, a meter higher than two days before.

Allaying fears of residents in low-lying areas already affected by floods that water might be released from the dam, Nangel said that at its present height, the dam needed more rains for it to reach the spilling level of 221 meters.

He said that a public address system has also been installed to warn people in low-lying areas in case these are covered by storm signals.

Meanwhile, Nangel reported to Gov. Aurelio M. Umali that with the current elevation of Pantabangan Dam, "there is no danger of irrigation water scarcity in the dam's service area of 102,532 hectares. ###
 
 

Mild quake shakes Ecija, Aurora

A magnitude 3.6 earthquake shook parts of Nueva Ecija and adjacent Aurora province last August 13.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS)  reported that the quake was felt at 12:22 PM at Intensity 2 in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija and Intensity 3 in Dingalan, Aurora.

It was tectonic in origin, caused by the movement of the Philippine fault. ###
 
 

Tornado hits 2 barangays

One person was hurt while several areas experienced power blackout after a tornado hit two barangays in the adjacent towns of Quezon and Santo Domingo on the evening of July 31.

The tornado smashed through Barangay San Miguel, Quezon and moved on to Barangay Mambarao, Santo Domingo at about 6:00 PM.

Initial reports said several houses were damaged, injuring one Jon-jon Bitardo after house parts fell on him.

The tornado also brought down power posts resulting in blackouts even in adjoining areas. ###
 
 

Ecija owes some P1 billion

A transition team formed by Gov. Aurelio M. Umali reported that the provincial government has incurred a debt of over one billion pesos.

Initial reports of the team said the provincial government had P155 million in unremitted premiums to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) in the last nine or ten years of the Joson administration.

Among the guests who have paid courtesy calls on Umali were those from GSIS and Pag-IBIG Fund bearing demand letters for the provincial government's debts.

Alex Valencerina, GSIS senior vice president of the field operations group, had reportedly told Umali that former Gov. Tomas N. Joson III had entered into a settlement agreement  through a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with the agency for monthly payments from May to December 2004 to settle its arrears totaling P141,374,630.00 that had accrued from 1997 to 2006.

However, the MoA became useless when the provincial government stopped paying after making only two remittances. This resulted in the reimposition of the suspension of loan privileges of capitol employees.

Umali reported that the original P141 million in arrears had increased to P144 million due to the failure of the provincial government to remit current premiums until June 30 this year.

The provincial government also owes P6.8 million to the provincial canteen concessionaires and P600,000 to the Cabanatuan City Electric Corp. for the unpaid electric bills of the Sen. Benigno S. Aquino Freedom Park in front of the old capitol building.

Other financial obligations left by the previous administration are loans for road building equipment and  luxury vehicles acquired in 1992, 1998, 2002 and 2003.

These equipment and vehicles were reportedly "donated" to local government officials of Palayan City, Quezon, Guimba, Bongabon, Cuyapo and San Leonardo during the last days of the past administration. ###
 
 

Joson: Police protecting jueteng

Vice Gov. Edward Thomas F. Joson accused the provincial police authorities of protecting jueteng operations in Nueva Ecija.

He said he received information that the province's police director, Sr. Supt. Agripino Javier, had given police chiefs a go signal to allow jueteng operations in their areas of jurisdiction.

Joson said jueteng operators could not have operated without the blessing of the provincial police director and local government officials.

He said jueteng returned after small town lottery (STL) operations stopped.

The vice governor said only a few towns in Nueva Ecija were jueteng-free, with several jueteng operators fighting among themselves over territories.

Philippine National Police chief Oscar Calderon said Joson should provide evidence to support his accusation against Javier.

He admitted that jueteng was also making a comeback in Bulacan, Batangas and Pampanga.

It was reported that jueteng resurrected after the Nueva Ecija police launched a drive against the operations of the franchised STL because of alleged violations.

Provincial police director Javier said Green 2, the group authorized by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office to run STL in the province, had committed violations causing the arrest of its bet collectors. He said that STL had been used by bookies, collecting three times instead of just once a day, with bet collectors not wearing identification cards.

It was learned that a week after the crackdown on STL collectors, jueteng resurfaced on July 27 in Santo Domingo, Licab, Talugtog, San Antonio, Jaen, Cabiao and San Isidro until it became province wide on August 2. A certain "Randy" was identified as the operator.

Former Gov. Tomas N. Joson III warned Javier that his chief of police could be penalized unless jueteng is stopped.

Taking a swipe at Umali, Joson asked whether the change in jueteng operations from legal to illegal was part of the new governor's cry for "pagbabago". ###
 
 

Vendivil killings solved

Police declared as solved the killings of the newly elected mayor and vice mayor of Lupao after a composite team from the Police Intelligence and Investigation Branch (PIIB) and San Jose City police arrested a principal suspect.

Sr. Supt. Agripino Javier, provincial police director, identified the arrested suspect as Maximo dela  Rosa, 44, a fire extinguisher agent originally from Barangay San Francisco, San Antonio. He was nabbed in his house in Pulilan, Bulacan.

Dela Rosa was identified by witnesses as one of seven gunmen who shot Mayor-elect Alfredo Vendivil and Vice Mayor-elect Virgilio Vendivil at the San Jose City Cockpit Arena in Barangay Santo Niño 1st last June 15.

Still at large are two other suspects, Arvin Yasay and Abraham Esteban, both residents of San Jose City.

It was learned that Yasay was also the suspect behind the ambush of ABS-CBN correspondent Butch Gamboa last year.

Police have filed double murder charges against the dela Rosa,  who admitted having received P30,000 for the killing.

Gov. Aurelio M. Umali congratulated Javier and "Task Force Vendivil" headed by Supt. Magno Biag for the arrest of dela Rosa. ###
 
 

Ecija records third highest school population in CL...

The population of public elementary and high schools in Central Luzon has increased sharply, with Nueva Ecija registering the third highest figure in the region.

Mario Ramirez, Department of Education (DepEd) Region 3 director, reported through Education Supervisor II Feliciano Lambus, head of the agency's regional planning unit, that Nueva Ecija had a public school population of 273,527, the third biggest in the region after Bulacan (353,372) and Pampanga (304,097).

Among the city schools divisions, San Jose del Monte scored the biggest population at 76,354. Cabanatuan had the sixth biggest with 38,447; Gapan, eighth (21,648) and the Science City of Muñoz, ninth (15,355).

Ramirez said the increase in enrollment was more noticeable in elementary and high schools located in barangays, indicating that many rural parents now want their children to finish basic education. It was also attributed to the "Balik Eskwela" campaign of Education Sec. Jesli Lapuz and the intensified implementation by local teachers of the constitutional mandate for free elementary and secondary education. ###
 
 

... and tops 'Brigada Eskwela' program in region

The schools division of Nueva Ecija  received the biggest estimated cost of donated construction materials for the repair of its buildings and facilities under the 2007 "Brigada Eskwela" program of the Department of  Education.

"Brigada", also called the National Schools Maintenance Week, is a nationwide joint volunteer action by parents, community members and teachers for the minor repair of public elementary and secondary school buildings and facilities before the start of the school year. It involves donation of assorted construction materials such as lumber, sand and gravel, cement, plywood, paint, nails, wires and GI sheets for the repair of desks, chairs, tables, windows, toilets and other school facilities.

The Nueva Ecija schools division received a total of P19,695,297.00 worth of donated materials, followed by Bulacan (P14,710,122.00) and Zambales (P12,463,284.83).

The city schools division of Muñoz received donations worth P2,521,362.75 (ranked 9th overall); Gapan City, P1,255,771.00 (12th) and Cabanatuan City, P676,791 (13th). ###
 
 

Ex-village chief's house strafed

Unidentified armed men strafed the house of the former barangay chair of San Juan, Aliaga.

No one was injured in the shooting incident at the house of ex-barangay chair Romeo Mendoza, but his Mitsubishi utility vehicle was damaged.

Police recovered several M-14 and M-16 shells from the scene.

Mendoza said he and his family were asleep when the shooting happened.

Investigators were still trying to determine the motive behind the incident and it was not clear if Mendoza was planning to run in the October 29 barangay elections. ###
 
 

Drug crazed father takes own children hostage

A 29 year old father, high on drugs, held his two children hostage in Barangay Putlod, Jaen last August 3.

Chief Insp. Alex Mariano, chief of the provincial police intelligence and investigation branch, said Sherwin Canleon held and pointed a knife at his daughters Maika, 5, and Margaret, 4, in the house of his estranged wife, Myra, where he barged in to try to reconcile with his wife.

The Jaen police led by  Chief Insp. Manuel Sevilla negotiated with the suspect to release the two girls while some police officers secretly entered the house through the back door.

They managed to wrestle the knife from Canleon and take away the two girls who were unhurt.

Canleon was charged with grave coercion. ###