Mayors declare prov'l police chief
'persona non  grata'

Nueva Ecija mayors have declared Sr. Supt. Agripino Javier, chief of the Nueva  Ecija Provincial Police Office, as a persona non grata.

Eighteen of the 27 members of the League of Municipalities in Nueva Ecija signed a resolution against Javier for his alleged violation of the authority vested in local executives under the Local Government Code.

The league headed by San Antonio Mayor Arvin Salonga -- who defeated Javier's wife, Lanie, in the May elections -- said Javier disregarded the mayors' power to choose their chiefs of police.

Other police sources scored the alleged indiscriminate transfer of low ranking police officers to other offices without justification. They cited the case of 14 policemen in Jaen who were transferred to other police stations; eight in San Antonio, three in San Isidro; and two in Gapan city.

San Isidro Mayor Sonia Lorenzo said the provincial police office failed to consider the fact that a policeman transferred to Nampicuan at the other end of the province was tracking down a case, while another policeman's wife was suffering from cancer.

"I believe there must be a sort of human consideration in this case," Lorenzo said.

She said the reshuffle of police chiefs after an election was normal, but not as was done now where low ranking policemen were the ones transferred.

For his part, Javier branded the move to declare him a persona non grata as purely political, saying it was initiated by members of Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija (BALANE) headed by First District Rep. Eduardo Nonato Joson.

He explained that the ones he appointed were merely officers in charge and not chiefs of police.

He pointed out that he himself is an OIC and could not not appoint a regular chief of police.  He added that the process of appointing OICs does not require the presentation of their names to the mayors concerned.

Earlier, Vice Gov. Edward Thomas F. Joson called for the immediate relief of Javier for his alleged inability to stop jueteng in the province. ###
 
 

Govt. tries to prevent spread of swine diseases

Authorities in charge of animal food security sent a team to Nueva Ecija last August 21 to help prevent the spread of swine diseases that include hog cholera, swine influenza and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome.

The team from the Bureau of Animal Industry helped local veterinarians in immunizing backyard raised swine after laboratory tests confirmed that at least 6,000 hogs from 19 pig farms in the province were found to have been infected with swine diseases.

According to local hog raisers, ten towns in the province had already been affected by the diseases. The province is a major supplier of pork products to Metro Manila.

San Leonardo had the most hog deaths at 368, with 2,696 others sick of swine influenza in five barangays.

Other affected areas were Peñaranda with 230 pigs dead and 2,680 afflicted in eight barangays; Aliaga, 17 dead and 38 afflicted; Gapan City, 224 afflicted in four barangays; and Manggahan in San Isidro, 48 afflicted.

Gov. Aurelio M. Umali has ordered necessary measured such as strict quarantining, massive inoculation and constant cleaning of swine farms.

Though officials said that over 500 pigs had died of the diseases, they stressed that there was no cause for alarm since the fatalities accounted for less than one percent of the total hog population in the province.

Though none of the diseases could be transferred to humans, people have been warned against eating meat from infected animals as the antibiotics used to cure them could be harmful to human beings. ###
 
 

Gapan City marks 6th Charter Anniversary

Gapan City celebrated the sixth anniversary of the ratification of its charter last August 25. In deference to the destruction inflicted by a huge fire that totally razed the city's public market two weeks before, a number of activities supposed to be held in connection with the annual Tsinelas Festival had to be scrapped, but not the climax of the festivities, the Grand Tsinelas Parade, which for the first time was held in the morning to escape the afternoon monsoon rains.	A concelebrated Thanksgiving Mass officiated by Fr. Elmer Mangalinao, parish priest, opens the anniversary day activities.
Mayor Ernesto Natividad and Vice Mayor Christian Tinio lead city officials and employees in the thanksgiving service.	}Fourth District Rep. Rodolfo Antonino speaks during a short program in the city plaza.
The city mayor, vice mayor and Sangguniang Panglunsod members -- all in Gapan-made slippers -- join the Grand Tsinelas Parade.	The 2007 Mutya ng Gapan and her court  on a 30 foot giant slipper at the head of the parade of nearly 60 floats.
Among the parade participants: TV personality Raiza Cenon, a Gapanense...	... street dancers...
... and marching bands.	The parade passes in front of the ruins of the city market.

Edno asks GMA, Noli to resign for snap polls...

First District Rep. Eduardo Nonato Joson filed a resolution asking President Arroyo and Vice President de Castro to resign from their positions and call for snap elections.

Joson said Filipinos have lost trust in the two top officials as shown by the May mid-term elections where most of the administration senatorial candidates lost.

Joson's move was supported by Rep. Joel Villanueva of the party list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC),  who said the resolution should be discussed in a plenary session of the Lower House.

He said he welcomed Joson's filing of the resolution as this would help resolve the legitimacy issues hounding the President and Vice President. ###
 
 

... and asks for reinstatement of death penalty

First District Rep. Eduardo Nonato Joson said the recent case involving seven year old Geraldine Palma who was kidnapped, raped, killed and stuffed into a suitcase by her captors was a compelling reason to reinstate the death penalty law.

Joson feared that family members of victims of heinous crimes might take the law into their own hands to avenge the deaths of their loved ones.

He urged the government to take the necessary steps to protect its citizens and give justice to victims of heinous crimes. ###
 
 

Tommy J. on US tour

Former Gov. Tomas N. Joson III is on a month long tour of the United States, to be capped by a visit to the East Coast trade show to test the American market for rattan and bamboo home decor made by farmers in Nueva Ecija.

"We want to see if we can improve the lives of these farmers," he said.

Joson's first stop was Vallejo, California, where he participated in the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament last August 17. 

He also promoted a coffee table book on Central Luzon, a project commissioned when he led the region's development body.

Joson said the addition to a war memorial in Pangatian, Cabanatuan City of a sundial monument honoring the rescuers of 600 American prisoners of war was among his proudest accomplishments as governor.

He also mentioned the transfer of the provincial capitol from Cabanatuan City to Palayan City originally envisioned 40 years ago by his father, the late Gov. Eduardo L. Joson, for economic and militarily strategic reasons.  It took that long to find the money for the transfer to be implemented, he pointed out.

Jesus Malgapo said several events were planned during Joson's visit to  Vallejo, partly to repay the former governor's hospitality when a trade mission from the city visited Nueva Ecija last year.

"He really rolled out the red carpet for us, so the city of Vallejo is trying to reciprocate," Malgapo said. ###
 
 

Cabanatuan barangay nutrition scholar is region's 3rd best

Cabanatuan City's entry in the Search for Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholars placed third in the Central Luzon regional competition.

Yolanda San Pedro, 28, of Barangay Padre Crisostomo, received an overall rating of 83.46%. For her feat, she received a plaque of recognition and cash incentive from the Regional Nutrition Council.

Barangay nutrition scholars are community workers under the Nutrition Development Division of the Social Welfare and Development Office of each local government unit. They help implement health programs for their barangays, including the monitoring of cases of malnutrition among babies and children up to six years old, and providing maternal care.

The criteria in the selection of regional winners consisted of complete documentation of community health programs and services -- especially malnutrition -- and their results, and support received from the barangay council and government and non-government organizations. ###
 
 

Cabiao to plant sorghum for ethanol production

Cabiao Mayor Abundia Garcia said the municipal government, with the help of a Malaysian investor, is embarking on a massive propagation of sorghum for ethanol production in a 2,000 hectare area in Barangays Bagong Sikat and Santa Isabel.

Garcia recently met with Nik Ibrahim Awang, managing director of Kelantan Concrete Product, Atlantic Network and Atlantic Palafox -- Malaysian companies engaged in manufacturing concrete products, bricks, pebbles, granite and palm oil.

Awang said it would be his first major investment in ethanol production outside Malaysia 
and the first foreign investment in Cabiao.

The Malaysian investor intends to spend P470 million for the Cabiao sorghum project.

Garcia said the venture could generate 1,000 jobs and give additional income to farmers.

She said Away would be given monetary and non monetary incentives in line with the thrust of Gov . Aurelio Umali to provide all sorts of incentives to attract foreign investments.

Garcia said the two barangays selected for sorghum production were parts of an Agrarian Reform Community (ARC) with 1,400 agrarian reform beneficiaries.

She said that sorghum is grown in the area during the dry season, with an average yield of 110 cavans per hectare. The crop  can produce as much ethanol alcohol as sugar cane, resists draught and flood and can be harvested twice a year.

The establishment of a sorghum plantation in Cabiao is considered a major breakthrough for the country's ethanol industry which received a boost with the approval of the Biofuels Bill in January to ease over dependence on imported fuel.

Ethanol is used as a fuel additive for motor vehicles. ###
 
 

After 33 years...
Pantabangan mayor appeals for those displaced by Pantabangan Dam

Pantabangan Mayor Romeo  Borja appealed to the national government to help his constituents who were displaced by the construction of Pantabangan Dam 33 years go.

The building of what was then Asia's biggest earthen dam submerged 8,100 hectares of Pantabangan town including the Old Poblacion and seven other barangays, forcing the residents to transfer to other places.

Borja said it was time the residents were provided with stable livelihood since the resettled families from the Old Poblacion were still living a hand-to-mouth existence.

The mayor said that when the residents were resettled, the national government gave them only two pigs and goats.

He said the government should now give justice to the Pantabangan residents who gave up their lands and properties to host an irrigation dam that they never directly benefited from since the project became operational. ###
 
 

Novo Ecijana DH stranded in Jeddah consulate for 2 years;
wants to go home

A Novo Ecijana who was hired by a Saudi family in 1987 as a domestic helper and ended up working as a shepherdess for 18 years, is stranded in the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and wants to go home.

Leonora Somera, 65, first worked as a domestic helper in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 1987, but when her original sponsor died, she moved to Al-Baha with her sponsor's son, wife and children. There, they left her in a large house to look after their goats, while the family moved to Makkah for the education of the children.

"I never dreamed that this would happen to me," Somera said. '"In the Philippines, I was working as a bus conductor when my husband died. With a six year old daughter to support alone, I had no choice but to seek my fortune abroad.  It was a colleague who suggested I apply as a maid in Saudi Arabia."

Left alone to look after a herd of 42 goats, Somera had to take the animals up the mountain every morning to graze, then bring them down in the evening. Her loneliness was occasionally eased by chatting with some Filipino nurses who lived nearby and rare phone calls from her relatives back home.

She said the Al-Ghamdi family she worked for came to Al-Baha only during school breaks and would give her small amounts of money. Her monthly salary was only SR500. She estimates that she was able to remit home only SR38,000 in her 18 years of stay in Saudi Arabia. At times, she needed money so badly she was forced to sell some of the goats she tended.

She said she has had several encounters with authorities who were surprised to see a foreign woman shepherding goats in such a remote area. Authorities would hold her for lack of a passport but would always release her after she explained her situation.

When asked why she did not run away sooner, Somera said she was scared because of the remoteness of the place. The Filipino nurses she knew were too afraid of the Saudi police to help her escape.

After appealing to the Filipino community for help, a consular team visiting Al-Baha in 2005 managed to rescue Somera and take her to the center for runaway maids in the Philippine Consulate in Jeddah.

Now, twenty months later, Somera is still waiting to go home. The consulate helped her file a labor case against her employer to get back some of her unpaid wages, but the employer never showed up in court and only once visited the consulate to tell that he was bankrupt, and gave only SR7,000 for Somera.

Though Somera is ready to go home, she could not do so until the labor court issues her permission to do so.

"I want to go home as I don't want to die here. My employer still owes me SR63,000 in back wages but since it seems he cannot afford to pay that amount, I'm ready to just go home," Somera said. "I want to see my daughter."

Her daughter, now aged 24, works in a hotel in Manila. ###
 
 

Fake police colonel arrested

A fake police colonel who had been dropping the name of Philippine National Police Deputy Director Avelino Razon to freely operate jueteng in Nueva Ecija was arrested by the police in an entrapment operation in Barangay Bangad, Cabanatuan City last August 25.

The suspect was identified as Ronald Allan Marling of Parañaque City, Metro Manila.

Chief Supt. Perfecto P. Palad, acting director of the Police Regional Office 3, said the suspect, who introduced himself as Supt. Diokno, had facilitated the release of several persons arrested in anti-jueteng operations in Nueva Ecija last August 11.

Razon, upon hearing of Marling's name dropping activity, immediately ordered the arrest of the suspect to clear his name. ###
 
 

Gapan truck hijacking case solved

It took the Gapan City police barely 24 hours to solve a hijack robbery case with the arrest of the truck driver who turned out to be the mastermind.

Police have filed criminal charges against the driver, Francisco Dizon of Purok 6, Barangay Mangino, and his accomplice, Victor Ibañez of Barangay Alua, San Isidro, who remains at large.
 

Supt. Marlon Bingcang, city police chief, said Dizon broke down during the investigation and admitted his participation in the hijacking of a six wheeler truck loaded with P200,000 worth of steel bars in Arayat, Pampanga.

The cargo was owned by Chinese trader Lucsi Ong of Tinio St., Barangay Santo Niño. Gapan City. ###
 
 

Sleepy farmer falls off bike, dies

A 47 year old farmer who dozed off while hitching a ride on a motorcycle fell off the vehicle and died in Barangay Portal, Rizal.

A report submitted to the office of Chief Insp. Alex Mariano, chief of the Nueva Ecija Intelligence and Investigation Branch, identified the fatality as Norberto A. Macataeg of Naranag St., Barangay San Felipe, Llanera.

Investigation showed that at about 7:00 PM, the victim hitched a ride home on a motorcycle driven by his barangay mate Dominador P. Macalulop after attending a drinking session.

Macalulop, sensing that Macataeg had dozed off and was about to fall, tried to help him but lost control of the bike causing the victim to crash head first on the pavement. ###
 
 

PJG Extension Hospital loses computer set to robbers

Robbers forcibly opened the auditor's office of Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center Extension Hospital in Barangay Maestrang Kikay, Talavera and carted away a computer set worth P70,000.

The crime was discovered by Violeta Rivera, 52, an administrative aide, when she reported for work at about 6:30 AM last August 27.

Investigators said the robbery could have happened during the weekend.

Two witnesses, both from Barangay La Torre, told investigators that at about 8:30 pm last August 26, they noticed two unidentified men with backpacks entering the main door of the administration building. They said the men emerged from the building at about 9:45 PM, passing through a dark portion of the hospital.

The Talavera police is still investigating the case. ###