Fifth congressional district proposed

The lone Sangguniang Panlalawigan member allied with Gov. Aurelio M. Umali proposed the creation of another congressional district in the province, to be carved out of the four existing ones.

SP Member Joseph Ortiz of Lakas-CMD said it was time Nueva Ecija added another congressional district to better serve the residents.

He pointed out that under existing laws, a congressional district can be created in an area with a population of at least 250,000. He said that based on the last census where Nueva Ecija was found to have a population  of 1.7 million, the province is in fact eligible to have two additional congressional district and not just one. ###
 
 

Two major road projects to cross Ecija

The Luzon Urban Beltway (LUB), one the five "super regions" created by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has identified 20 infrastructure projects -- including two in Nueva Ecija -- that will be implemented until 2010.

Edgardo Pamintuan, chair of the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council and LUB, said among these are six major road projects that include the Tarlac-Nueva Ecija-Aurora-Dingalan Road; North Luzon East Expressway that will traverse the National Capital Region, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija; Tarlac-La Union Toll Expressway Phase 1; North Luzon Expressway Phase 2 from C-5 Road to MacArthur Highway; South Luzon Expressway Extension from Alabang to Calamba, Laguna; and Metro Manila Skyway Stage 2 from Bicutan to Alabang, Muntinlupa.

Pamintuan said the 20 new projects lined up would bring to 44 the total number of infrastructure projects that the LUB would implement in Central Luzon, Metro Manila, CALABARZON and the provinces of Mindoro and Marinduque which where mentioned by President Arroyo in her State of the Nation Address last July.

The projects include 14 roads and bridges, eight railways, five seaports and roll-on-roll-off ports, four power and electrification projects, three water projects, two airports, two hospitals, one irrigation project, one flood control project and one housing project.

Pamintuan said the LUB has been tasked to orchestrate and fast-track the delivery of the projects at the very least cost to the government and in full transparency. ###
 
 

Ecija among coconut producing provinces quarantined for leaf beetle infestation

The Department of Agriculture (DA) has put under quarantine 26 coconut producing provinces all over the country -- including Nueva Ecija --  and banned the  importation of coconut seed nuts and seedlings from more than 24 countries to prevent the spread of coconut leaf beetles or brontispa.

Agriculture Sec. Arthur Yap approved Special Quarantine 1 issued by the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) in compliance with Executive Order No. 664 ordering that agency and the Philippine Coconut Authority to impose emergency measures to stop the spread of the beetle infestation in the country's 68 coconut producing provinces.

Aside from Nueva Ecija, the beetle infested provinces are Pampanga, Bulacan, Tarlac, Aurora, Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Nueva Vizcaya,  Laguna, Batangas, Cavite, Quezon, Rizal, Southern Palawan, Albay, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Iloilo, Aklan, Guimaras, Bohol, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Zamboanga, Bukidnon and Davao.

The importation ban and quarantine are long been overdue since coconut leaf beetles have been damaging coconut farms in the country for almost two years now since the pests were first detected in coconut trees along Roxas Boulevard in Manila. ###
 
 

PhilRice warns farmers vs. root-knot disease

Integrated pest management researchers from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in the Science City of Muñoz asked farmers to implement measures to lessen the damage from root-knot disease before planting a second crop.

Dr. Evelyn Gergon, PhilRice plant pathologist, said the root-knot disease commonly known as "bukol sa ugat" is caused by a worm species in the soil. If left unmanaged, the rice parasite could affect the second crop, especially onions. ###
 
 

Laur farmers threatened with eviction seek GMA's help

Thousands of farmers in five barangays in Laur who are being threatened with eviction by the military are asking for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's intervention.

Dominador Carbonel, chair of the Barangay Agrarian Reform Council of San Isidro, Laur, said the farmers in the area and in the adjoining barangays of Sagana, Nauzon, Cantong and San Josef were told in a meeting with a certain Col. Barrios of the Philippine  Army to leave their places because the Army allegedly does not honor their certificates of land ownership.

Carbonel called on the President to give them regular land titles in place of the certificates of land ownership that they currently have.

Those certificates were issued at different times by Presidents Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Mrs. Arroyo.

Barangay San Isidro, a 3,100 hectare Agrarian Reform Community, has been a recipient of government projects including farm-to-market roads, bridges and schools. ###
 
 

Guimba high school principal stabbed dead

The principal of Galvan National High School in Guimba town was found dead with multiple stab wounds inside his Nissan pick-up last Sept. 13.

Sr. Supt. Agripino Javier, Nueva Ecija police director, identified the victim as Nolasco Salonga, 46, of Barangay Triala, Guimba.

Salonga's body was found by two teachers, Arnold Punzalan and Normeietha Careco, who first noticed the principal's pickup parked along the road in Barangay San Rafael when they went to the public market aboard a motorcycle to buy food at about 12:10 PM. Upon returning, the two noticed the vehicle still parked where they first saw it and decided to investigate.

They found Salonga's boy on the driver's seat with an eight inch kitchen knife stuck in the neck and down the throat.

Supt. Danilo Fernando, Guimba police chief, said the victim's personal belongings, except for his wallet, were found intact.

Investigation showed that two men had hitched a ride with the victim and could be responsible for the killing.

Witnesses said they noticed the victim's vehicle parked along the road as early as 8:00 AM that day. ###
 
 

Former Llanera barangay chair hunted for teener's death

Police are hunting a former barangay chair of Casile, Llanera for allegedly killing a 16 year old boy.

The victim, Eddienor San Pedro, died on the spot after being shot in the chest by former Barangay Chair Abundio Inovero alias Banding inside the victim's house last Sept. 17.

The victim's mother, Norma, pointed to Inovero and his companion, Resty Matunan, 32, as her son's killers.

Police said the original target of the suspects was Norma's alleged live-in partner with whom Inovero had a heated argument over loose change when he bought goods from a store run by Norma's mother.

Investigation showed that the the victim was watching TV when he he went out to check visitors who had arrived, who turned out to be Inovero and Matunan.

Inovero reportedly fired at the teenager who died on the spot from a chest wound. ###
 
 

Anti-jueteng drive nets 10 in Muñoz...

Operatives of the Nueva Ecija Police Intelligence and Detective Management Branch (NE-PIDMB) arrested ten persons while in the act of drawing the winning numbers in an illegal jueteng game in Poblacion North, the Science City of Muñoz last Sept. 19.

Sr. Insp. Enrico Rigor, PIDMB chief, reported to Chief Insp. Alex Mariano, head of the Nueva Ecija Police Intelligence and Investigation Bureau, that those arrested mentioned the name of a former mayor of Candelaria, Quezon as the financier of the jueteng operations, allegedly with the blessing of some Muñoz officials.

Those arrested were Joselito Dimaunahan, 45, and Alvino Torres, 41,  of  Barangay Malabanbanzor; Joseph Lopez, 27, of Barangay Santa Catalina; Alvin Perez, 22, of Barangay Buenavista East; Ramil Saavedra, 37, and Rolephen Añonuevo, 33, both of Buenavista West, all in Candelaria, Quezon; Jeffrey Catanyag, 19, of Barangay Dalipit, Alitagtag, Batangas; Enrico Cabrera, 30, of Sariaya, Quezon; and Alvin G. Mandigma, 24, of Muñoz.

Confiscated from the suspects were gambling paraphernalia and about P1,000 in cash.

The ten were charged with violation of PD 1602 and Republic Act 9287. ###
 
 

... and 8 more in Rizal

Eight persons involved in "guerilla type" jueteng operations were arrested by the police while in the act of drawing the winning numbers inside a passenger jeepney in Caloocan District, Rizal town last Sept. 22.

Sr. Insp. Samuel Avila reported that the suspects were arrested at about 5:30 PM inside a passenger jeepney driven by a certain June Pimentel Cariaso, 47, of Barangay Santa Monica while waiting for other bet collectors.

The police are looking into the involvement of a former mayor of Candelaria, Quezon in the guerilla-type operations of jueteng in the Science City of Muñoz, Pantabangan, Bongabon and Rizal. ###
 
 

Cabanatuan vendor shot dead by motorcycle riding snatchers

A market vendor in Cabanatuan City died when two motorcycle riding men who had snatched her shoulder bag shot her four times in the face and chest when she tried to resist.

A report by Supt. Eliseo Cruz, city police chief, to the office of Mayor Alvin Vergara identified the victim as Olivia  Esteban Castillo, 44, of Nuñez Street, Barangay Bantug Bulalo.

The victim was on her way to her store at about 5:45 PM after collecting payments when the two motorcycle riding suspects grabbed her bag and fired at her when she tried to fight them off.

Witnesses identified the suspects from the police rogue gallery as Joselito Garcia Jose and Kim Ian Banate de Guzman. ###
 
 

Holdup man mauled to death in Santa Rosa

A suspected holdup man was allegedly mauled to death by angry residents while his companion was arrested by the police after the two robbed a passenger jeepney bound for Cabiao and a Petron gasoline station in Santa Rosa last Sept. 22.

The fatality was identified as Roland Gonzales.  He and his companion, Michael Leveriza, 30, were from Miami St., Cubao, Quezon City.

Sr. Insp. Roger Sebastian, Santa Rosa police chief, said the responding policemen found Gonzales bloodied and unconscious near a drainage canal at the corner of Maharlika Highway and Sta. Theresa Street. He was rushed to Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center in Cabanatuan City where he was declared dead on arrival.

Gonzales was believed beaten by residents who responded to the victims' calls for help. ###
 
 

P.5-M illegal narra seized in Carranglan

Almost half a  million pesos worth of banned narra flitches and two trucks were seized by the Department of  Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the police in Carranglan this month.

The illegal wood shipment measuring 5,692 board feet were confiscated by the local DENR and the 308th Provincial Mobile Group in three separate operations.

Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer Gereundio Fernandez said among those seized were some 4,462 board feet of narra "tablon" found in an Isuzu 10 wheeler truck bound for Manila. ###
 
 

3 hurt in Santo Domingo bus-truck collision

Three persons were critically hurt after the Florida Bus they were riding rammed a trailer truck along Maharlika Highway in Barangay Malayantoc, Santo Domingo last Sept. 22.

Those injured were Gaudiocio Talaje, 32, of the Science City of Muñoz; Noemi Domingo, 43, a trader from  Aparri, Cagayan and Florencio Maric, 36 , the alternate bus driver. They were taken to Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center in Cabanatuan City.

Investigation showed that the Isabela-bound bus with plate number NSY-703 tried to overtake an Isuzu trailer truck driven by a certain Ferdinand Amaba when the driver lost control. ###
 
 

Carranglan boy dies after two(!) road accidents

A nine year old boy got involved in two road accidents and never lived to tell about the experience.

The victim, Cave Sandreck Bravo Domingo of  Barangay Minuli, Carranglan, was crossing the highway at about 6:00 AM when an Isuzu Crosswind driven by Robert Arcaira Camero, 42, of Plaridel Bulacan bumped him so hard that he landed some seven meters away from the place of impact.

Camero stopped, picked up the injured boy and tried to rush him to a hospital in San Jose City.

Camero drove so fast that his vehicle flipped over, resulting in injuries to the boy and himself.

The boy was declared dead on arrival at the hospital, while Camero was so seriously injured that he had to be transferred to the Makati Medical Center in Metro Manila. ###
 
 

3 dead, 1 hurt in Palayan mishap

Three farm workers died and another one was seriously hurt when the vehicle they were riding  -- a kolong-kolong -- was bumped by a passenger jeepney along the Nueva Ecija-Aurora Road in Barangay Ganaderia, Palayan City at about 10:00 PM last Sept. 15.

In a report submitted by Supt. Elsa Miranda to the office of City Mayor Romeo Capinpin, the fatalities were identified as Cirilo Ramos Cabrera, 43. of Barangay Cruz Roja, Cabanatuan City; Jonathan Labindao Bernardo, 39, of Barangay Ganaderia and Edgar Aquino Bumanlag, 28, of Barangay Singalat, Palayan City. Injured was Arnel Maliwat Cuerva, 21, of Cruz Roja, Cabanatuan City. All of them worked in a farm owned by one Rene Odulio.

The jeepney that bumped the victim did not stop but the driver, Marcelino Salazar Rafael, 35, of Barangay Singalat, later surrendered to Barangay Chair Ernesto Masilang.

Cases of reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and serious physical injuries were filed against Rafael. ###