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Thursday, September 25, 2008
THE NABUNTURAN PEOPLE'S INITIATIVE PETITION TO REPEAL THE P90-MILLION BOND FLOTATION ORDINANCE
NABUNTURANONS UNITE! REGISTER YOUR OPPOSITION TO THE EXORBITANT, EXTRAVAGANT, EXPENSIVE AND AMBITIOUS P90-MILLION BOND FLOTATION OF NABUNTURAN, COMPOSTELA VALLEY BY MAKING COMMENTS AFTER THE FOLLOWING FULL TEXT OF THE NABUNTURAN PEOPLE'S INITIATIVE PETITION:



REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES
SANGGUNIANG BAYAN
MUNICIPALITY OF NABUNTURAN
COMPOSTELA VALLEY PROVINCE


IN RE: PETITION FOR LOCAL INITIATIVE TO REPEAL MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE NO. 2008 - 10 ENTITLED: AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE BOND FLOTATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF NABUNTURAN, COMPOSTELA VALLEY IN THE AMOUNT OF NINETY MILLION PESOS (PHP90,000,000.00) TO FINANCE THE PLANNING, DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENT OF THE NABUNTURAN PUBLIC MARKET PROJECT
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P E T I T I O N

THE UNDERSIGNED PETITIONERS, all registered voters of the Municipality of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, by themselves and counsel, respectfully file this Petition for Local Initiative pursuant to Section 122 of the Local Government Code or Republic Act NO. 7160, and state:

PREFATORY STATEMENT

1.1 This is a Petition for Local Initiative to REPEAL Municipal Ordinance No. 2008 – 10, otherwise known as the Bond Flotation Ordinance of the Municipality of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley to finance the “Nabunturan Public Market Project” in its entirety as authorized under Sections 120, 121 and 122 of the Local Government Code of 1991. As such, and with all due respect, the requirement of stating the contents or text of the ordinance sought to be repealed under the law becomes unnecessary.

Local Initiative is resorted to (or initiated) by the herein registered voters of the Municipality of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley directly in order to repeal[1] a clearly oppressive and grossly disadvantageous local ordinance which if not repealed will result to great wastage to taxpayers’ money, dissipate the coffers of the Local Government Unit and more importantly, displace hundreds of market vendors from the said facility resulting to loss of income, loss of jobs and grievous economic injuries to the ordinary citizens of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley.

To be sure, the truth is the herein petitioners are merely seeking social justice for while it may be trite, it still is true, SALUS POPULI EST SUPREMA LEX. The welfare of the people is the Supreme Law. And, JUSTITIA NEMENI NEGANDA EST. Justice is to be denied to no one.
GROUNDS FOR THE LOCAL INITIATIVE

1.2 While there are numerous grounds for this Petition for Local Initiative in order to REPEAL Municipal Ordinance NO. 2008 – 10, the succeeding discussion cover the most significant salient points to pursue this initiative.

First and foremost, the Local Finance Committee of the Municipality of Nabunturan, upon the conduct of a Full Comparative Study concluded that disadvantages abound as to the proposed Bond Flotation primarily because there are “undetermined expenses that will result in problems in the budgeting and accounting process later”. This is primarily due to the fact the nature of bond flotation with its floating rates of interest plus the numerous underwriting, trusteeship, guarantee and consultancy fees (all of which are recurring expenses save for the one-time consultancy fee of P2,700,000.00) that have to be determined on a yearly basis and the added fact that according to the Local Finance Committee itself, as a clear “limitation of their comparative study”, the actual cost of bond flotation and its ensuing operation/s cost cannot be fully ascertained as again, it will largely be dependent on market forces and movements.

1.2.1 In the same Comparative Study, said Local Finance Committee concluded that the advantages of directly securing a loan from a Government Financial Institution (GFI) will be that the “cost of borrowing will be properly stated and easily provided in the budget” aside from the fact that “easier terms can be negotiated with the depository bank”. To underscore this fact, the Provincial Government of Compostela Valley was able to negotiate for a lower interest rate of only 7.5% p.a. for its very recent loan agreement considering that the Land Bank of the Philippines (the creditor bank) was its depository bank.

1.2.2 And yet, in spite of such recommendations by the Local Finance Committee, the body tasked under the law to primarily evaluate the economic and financial ramifications of any proposed local legislation that would affect the financial standing and fiscal position of the Local Government Unit, the Honorable Sangguniang Bayan, with all due respect, chose to totally ignore the same and proceed to enact the questioned Municipal Ordinance No. 2008 – 10.

1.2.3 What is worse is that as found by the Local Finance Committee, during the two (2) years while the public market is under construction, the LGU of Nabunturan will already spend P39,600,000.00 on interest payments as compared to only a projected total interest payments for GFI borrowing at P30,933,750.00 for the same period of time. That is actually a whopping P9,000,000.00 difference in interest payments making the Bond Flotation project prove to be GROSSLY DISADVANTAGEOUS to the government.
1.3 Second, there is NO gainsaying the fact that the securities market at the moment is very volatile. The Philippine Stock Exchange had been performing badly all year due to sub-par investor confidence, a growing recession of the United States as well as the global economy, the skyrocketing fuel prices, the escalating food prices, the increased public transportation fare rates and the burgeoning unemployment figures.

1.3.1 To repeat, investor confidence at the moment is at historic lows. This has also greatly affected the local borrowing facilities of the National Treasury with numerous T-Bill or Treasury Bill Auctions – aborted or canceled – because the bid prices set by banks and other investors are so low that canceling T-Bill auctions would be more productive as it would save public funds rather than pursuing the same at rock-bottom interest rates set by such investors. At other times, T-Bill auctions were canceled due to the fact that only one (1) bank appeared to be interested in such auction.

1.3.2 These aborted T-Bill auctions are well-documented and much-publicized that it would be unthinkable for any local government unit to enter into the selling of Sovereign Municipal Bonds nowadays as the same endeavor is clearly dead in the water, so to speak. Such timing is not only bad, it is very bad.

1.3.3 Third, the Approved Final Feasibility Study of the Project shows that for the said proposed Public Market to be “self-liquidating” as required by law, the lowest rates of stall rentals would be P35.00 per square meter/daily or a monthly rental of at least P10,500.00 per 10 square meter stall! This is NOT only exorbitant, this is economic suicide as NO market vendor in his right mind would jump to secure market stalls at this unconscionable rates. Yet, to set rental rates lower than this would also be “economic suicide for the LGU” as under the law PROFITABILITY is a requirement before any Bond Flotation may be allowed for Local Government Units. The requirement of profitability is mandatory as only SELF-LIQUIDATING and INCOME-PRODUCING projects are allowed to be funded by way of Bond Flotation under Section 299 of the Local Government Code.

1.3.4 In essence, in order to prevent displacing the market vendors of Nabunturan as “assured” by some members of the Honorable Sangguniang Bayan and by both the Vice – Mayor and Mayor of Nabunturan itself, the rental rates will have to be “brought down” thus, the public market would operate at a loss and the concept and requirement of “self-liquidation” would be flushed down the drain.

1.4 Verily, the present occupants of the Nabunturan Public Market, especially those whose old stalls were burned, would NO longer be able to afford such rental rates as provided under the approved Feasibility Study in order to make the project viable and truly “self – liquidating as well as income – generating” and would be out of the public market very soon, the very place were they are able to eke out an honest living for many years already. In sum, such proposed public market supposedly funded through the much-ballyhooed “bond flotation” would anti-poor and anti-people.

1.4.1 And, if the Honorable Members of the herein Sangguniang Bayan as well as the Mayor and Vice – Mayor of Nabunturan swear to high heavens that the projected rates under the approved Feasibility Study will NOT be implemented as according to Mayor Humol in his interviews with the media that “consultation” will still be conducted before the any rental rate is set so that lower rates may be arrived at – then – it is now crystal clear that he is violating the law because the approved Feasibility Study now proves to be only “for show” and in truth and in fact, the project will NOT be self-liquidating nor income-generating! Obviously, everything was cock and bull, so to speak.

1.4.2 If they do so, then, the herein petitioners, with all due respect, will have to invoke both the administrative and criminal jurisdictions of the Office of the Ombudsman as there is already willful violation of the law by the Mayor, Vice – Mayor and the approving members of the Honorable Body. Truly, fraud and misrepresentation would have been employed inasmuch as the “feasibility study” was only used to, for lack of a better word, FOOL the populace of Nabunturan. If indeed, the rates provided in said feasibility study, which were set, studied and projected in order to make the project truly self-liquidating and income-generating, will NOT be used at all because lower rates will be provided defeating the purpose of profitability and self-liquidation, then, all of these public officials would have committed FRAUD and facilitated FALSEHOODS upon the people of Nabunturan as well as committing serious violations of the Local Government Code.

1.5 Fourth, besides additionally, some legal questions abound as to the propriety of such bond flotation ordinance. For one, such Bond Flotation Project was NOT unsolicited. Otherwise stated, it came from the purported “financial advisor” of the Municipality of Nabunturan – that is – Preferred Ventures Corporation. The proposed project actually did not come from the bright and inquisitive minds of the members of the Honorable Sangguniang Bayan of Nabunturan. Instead, it was marketed and sold to the members of the august body, including the Vice-Mayor and the Mayor of Nabunturan itself by representatives of Preferred Ventures.

1.5.1 It was for this reason that questionably, the Honorable Mayor of Nabunturan, Mayor Macario Humol, proceeded to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with Preferred Ventures Corporation making the latter the exclusive candidate as “financial advisor” of the local government unit for a fee of a whopping P2,700,000.00 or 3% of P90,000,000.00 without the benefit of scouring the market for other advisors as such through a transparent public bidding of said services.

With all due respect, the Honorable Mayor (and even possibly, the Vice-Mayor and the SB members who authorized him as such) have already committed serious violations of the law in so doing. But let us leave it as it is.

1.6 Fifth, the staggering amount of NINETY MILLION PESOS (P90,000,000.00) for just one singular infrastructure project is both unconscionable and bordering on the immoral. More than a few modern and efficient municipal public markets had been built and constructed at way lesser amounts such as the newly opened Maragusan Public Market (less than P5 – Million), the modern Monkayo Public Market (wet and dry sections at just over P20 - Million) and even the proposed ultra-modern Laak Public Market valued at more or less P30,000,000.00 only.

1.7 It would have been understandable if this massive infrastructure project valued at P90,000,000.00 is undertaken at the first term of the local chief executive as there would be a semblance of “responsibility” and “accountability” on this score particularly that the amount involved is simply staggering and comprises nearly an entire year’s Internal Revenue Allotment of the Municipality of Nabunturan. Besides, with floating interest rates provided under the Bond Flotation Ordinance, the interest involved would also be enormous amounts that are designed to be raised solely from the rental payments of the public market project. Indeed, why only now?

THE LEGAL BASIS FOR THIS PETITION
AND THE PROCEDURE PROVIDED BY LAW

2.1 Under the Local Government Code of 1991, particularly, Section 122, Paragraph (a) thereof, the first step in undertaking Local Initiative is the filing of a PETITION by not less than ONE HUNDRED (100) registered voters of a certain municipality with the Sangguniang Bayan concerned for proposing the adoption, enactment, REPEAL, or amendment of an ordinance. Hence, this petition filed before the Honorable Sangguniang Bayan of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley.

2.2 And, under Paragraph (b) of the same Section, where NO favorable action is taken by the sanggunian concerned within thirty (30) days from its presentation, the proponents may then invoke the power of initiative and resort to the procedure provided Section 122, Paragraphs (b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g) and (h).

2.3 However, under Section 124, Paragraph (c) of the Local Government Code of 1991, if the sanggunian concerned adopts in toto the proposition presented and the local chief executive approves the same, the initiative shall be canceled as the proposition now becomes an ORDINANCE or RESOLUTION itself as the case may be.

2.4 It bears emphasis that the instant Petition for Local Initiative does not fall under one or any of the limitations set under Article 149 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Local Government Code of 1991.

THE PROPOSITION

I - WOULD YOU, AS ONE OF THE REGISTERED VOTERS OF NABUNTURAN AGREE TO REPEAL THE QUESTIONABLE AND SEVERELY ONEROUS BOND FLOTATION ORDINANCE OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF NABUNTURAN OTHERWISE KNOWN AS MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE NO. 2008 – 10?
THE PROPOSED REPEALING ORDINANCE

“AN ORDINANCE REPEALING MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE NO. 2008-10 THEREBY RENDERING SAID ORDINANCE FUNCTUS OFFICIO AND WITH NO FORCE OR EFFECT WHATSOEVER”

WHEREAS, Municipal Ordinance No. 2008-10 authorizing Bond Flotation for the Construction of the proposed Nabunturan Municipal Public Market has been pursued and ordained sans the favorable recommendation of the Local Finance Committee considering that the latter found more disadvantages to resorting to Bond Flotation rather than securing loan/s from GFIs.

WHEREAS, the approved Final Feasibility Study of the Bond Flotation and the proposed Nabunturan Public Market readily shows that the projected rental rates for the project to become viable and self-liquidating would be exorbitant and would displace numerous market vendors from the same public market.

WHEREAS, the staggering amount of P90,000,000.00 intended only for one infrastructure project is NOT only unreasonable but downright unconscionable as the same amount can already be used to finance three (3) to four (4) high impact infrastructure programs in the municipality and would even be more than enough to pursue “pump-priming” of the local economy of Nabunturan.

WHEREAS, the only way to prevent the total wastage of taxpayers’ money which will surely happen once the project would prove to be non-self liquidating and non-viable and the eventual hemorrhaging of the coffers of the Municipality of Nabunturan is to recall and repeal such ordinance.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, RESOLVED, AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, to enact an Ordinance REPEALING Municipal Ordinance No. 2008-10 thereby rendering the same functus officio with NO force or effect whatsoever.

MUNICIPAL ORDINANCE NO. 2008 - ___

Section 1. Short Title. This Ordinance shall likewise be known as the “Bond Flotation Repealing Ordinance”.

Section 2. Repeal of Municipal Ordinance No. 2008-10. This Ordinance hereby FULLY REPEALS and renders ineffective as well as without any force or effect Municipal Ordinance No. 2008 -10 otherwise known as the “Nabunturan Public market Project to be funded and implemented under the Bond Flotation of the Municipality of Nabunturan”.

Section 3. Effectivity. Upon approval of this Proposed Ordinance pursuant to Section 123 of the Local Government Code of 1991, through Local Initiative, or under Section 124 thereof, whenever the Sangguniang Bayan adopts this initiative, this ordinance then takes effect and FULLY REPEALS Municipal Ordinance No. 2008 -10.

Section 4. Repealing Clause. Any Ordinance or Resolution or parts thereof, inconsistent with this Ordinance is hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

“SO ORDAINED.”

DESIGNATION OF AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES

3.1 Pursuant to law, the undersigned petitioners, through their signatures provided below, hereby formally designate Hon. Alfonso L. Tabas Jr., and Messrs. Antonio M.I. Mencidor, Emilio P. Delos Reyes and Charlie V. Monforte together with their counsels whose names and signatures appear below, to be the duly authorized representatives of the herein petitioners to appear, argue and comply with all requirements before the Honorable Sangguniang Bayan and the appropriate Commission on Elections offices.

3.2 In accord with this formal designation, the above- named individuals and counsels are authorized to sign and fill – in any pertinent document required by the Sanggunian or the COMELEC as the case may be and to represent them in any hearing or proceeding in pursuance of this Petition for Local Initiative.

P R A Y E R

WHEREFORE, in the interest of social justice and good governance, the herein petitioners respectfully pray that the Honorable Sangguniang Bayan of Nabunturan ADOPT the herein Petition for Local Initiative and APPROVE THE RECALL AND REPEAL of Municipal Ordinance No. 2008 – 10.

Other relief just and equitable are likewise prayed for.

Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, Philippines, 7 August 2008.

Assisted by:

LOPOZ FUENTES-LOPOZ & SEVILLENO
Counsel for Petitioners
Suite 1, 3/F MJB Bldg., No. 75, GSIS Heights
McArthur Highway, 8021 Matina, Davao City
Tel. Nos. (082) 301-8267; (082) 301-5922

By:

ARVIN DEXTER M. LOPOZ Roll No. 45515
PTR No. 18113301; ComVal; April 11, 2008
IBP No. 736153; Davao City; June 16, 2008


MARIE JUDE M. FUENTES- LOPOZ
Roll No. 46686
PTR No. 6078830; Davao City; Jan. 04, 2008
IBP No. 731082; Davao City; Jan. 04, 2008


CHERYL S. SEVILLENO
Roll No. 53102
PTR No. 6078829, Davao City; Jan. 04, 2008
IBP No. 731081; Davao City; Jan. 04, 2008



VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION


Republic of the Philippines}
Nabunturan, Compostela Valley} S.S.
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WE, THE UNDERSIGNED PETITIONERS, all of legal ages, married/single, Filipinos, residents and registered voters of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, Philippines, after having been sworn to in accordance with law, hereby depose and say:


1. That we are the PETITIONERS in the above-entitled Petition for Local Initiative;

2. That we have caused the preparation and filing of this Petition before the Honorable Sangguniang Bayan of Nabunturan;

3. That we have read and understood the contents of this Petition for Local Initiative and that the allegations therein are true and correct to the best of our own personal knowledge or based on authentic records;

4. That we hereby attest that we have not commenced any other action or proceeding involving the same issues in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or different branches thereof, or any other tribunal or agency, and that to the best of our knowledge, no such action or proceeding is pending in the said courts, tribunals or agencies, and that should we learn that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending therein, we hereby undertake to report the said fact within five (5) days from notice to this Honorable Court.


IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we hereby set our signatures this ______ day of __________ 2008 at Nabunturan, Compostela Valley, Philippines.
posted by Rural Urban News @ 5:29 PM   0 comments
Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley News

NEWS: People’s initiative petition filed vs. LGU P90 M bond flotation in Compostela Valley town

Posted by: cha4t on: September 25, 2008

NABUNTURAN, Compostela Valley- The people’s initiative petition seeking to repeal the controversial ordinance approving the P90-million bond flotation project of the municipal government of this town was finally filed to the local sanggunian Wednesday.

The bond flotation seeks to fund for the construction of a new public market building.

The Nabunturan initiative petition runs as the first test case in the exercise of people’s initiative in Mindanao as provided by the Constitution while only a couple of cases have been reportedly made in Luzon.

The petitioners led by Councilor Raul Caballero were composed of the authorized representatives of the petition, youth leaders, and representatives of public market vendors, who have since been apprehensive of being dislocated once the project is materialized.

Antonio M.I. Mencidor, one of the authorized representatives of the petitioners, said that their petition is not meant to obstruct development but stop the extravagant, exorbitant and expensive bond flotation project.

He added that the municipal bond float was rejected even by the town’s Local Finance Committee for its “uncertain terms”.

The petition seeks to repeal Municipal Ordinance No. 2008-10 which approved the P90-million bond flotation pushed by Mayor Macario Humol, Vice Mayor Romeo Clarin and eight of the eleven town councilors.

Also opposing the project are Councilors Alfonso Tabas Jr and Editha Arangcon.

Lead counsel of the initiative petitioners is Atty. Dexter Lopoz.

Petitioners stated that under Sections 120, 121 and 122 of the Local Government Code of 1991, local Initiative is resorted to or initiated by a minimum of 100 registered voters of the municipality directly in order “to repeal a clearly oppressive and grossly disadvantageous local ordinance which if not repealed will result to great wastage to taxpayers’ money, dissipate the coffers of the local government unit and more importantly, displace hundreds of market vendors from the said facility resulting to loss of income, loss of jobs and grievous economic injuries to the ordinary citizens of Nabunturan”.

They charged that “the nature of bond flotation with its floating rates of interest plus the numerous underwriting, trusteeship, guarantee and consultancy fees (all of which are recurring expenses save for the one-time consultancy fee of P2,700,000.00), the actual cost of bond flotation and its ensuing operations cost cannot be fully ascertained”.

They stated that compared to bond flotation, a loan from a Government Financial Institution (GFI) has the “cost of borrowing properly stated and easily provided in the budget” aside from the fact that “easier terms can be negotiated with the depository bank”.

They charged that as found out by the LFC during the two (2) years while the public market is under construction, the LGU of Nabunturan will already spend P39,600,000 on interest payments alone as compared to only a projected total interest payments for GFI borrowing at P30,933,750 for the same period of time.

For among these, the petitioners charged the “whopping P9,000,000 difference in interest payments making the bond flotation project prove to be grossly disadvantageous to the government”.(Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


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NEWS: COMVAL UNITY THREATENED

Posted by: cha4t on: September 25, 2008


Potential congressional bets form shadow slates

The much-touted political unity of incumbent leaders in Compostela Valley especially in the District 1 is continued to be threatened with the reported formation of “shadow slates” of both Vice Gov. Ramil Gentugaya and Boardmember Maricar Zamora-Apsay, who both earlier confirmed to run for the congressional post by 2010.

Sources said that recently both of the camps, although feigning to be friendly in public gatherings, have recently formed their respective “shadow slates” in the scenario of break-up of the merged Lakas-Kampi administration party in choosing the standard-bearer for the post that is being finished for serving by the last-termer Cong. Manuel “Way Kurat” Zamora.

The shadow slates that have been much-talked of have divided the incumbent boardmembers and mayors in the district.

Earlier, Boardmembers Dexter Lopoz, Neri Barte and last-termer Armando Codilla and Monkayo Mayor Manuel Brillantes and Maragusan Mayor Cesar Colina Sr were reported to be supporting the congressional bid of Gentugaya.

Apsay on the other hand has reportedly got Boardmember Paul Galicia, former Maragusan Mayor Arsenio Yanong and former Boardmember William Andres in the initial list for her “shadow slate” while taking the support of Montevista Mayor Teofista Jauod and last-termer Compostela Mayor Reynaldo Castillo.

In this scenario, both Gentugaya and Apsay might end up fielding non-Lakas rivals in towns where they have no support of incumbent mayors.

As this developed, reports said that in Compostela town opposing councilors are reportedly blocking the plan of Mayor Castillo of getting a P35-million bank loan for an infrastructure project for his last term.

Reports said that the tiff involved councilors allied with the former Vice Mayor Joerge Rapista, who was defeated in 2007 for mayoralty bout with Castillo.

Sources also said that current Vice Mayor Jesse Bolo, who ran in tandem with Rapista in the last polls, had already pledged as Lakas member, but is entertaining to run for a mayor still if he would not be endorsed as official mayoral bet of the administration party.

Bolo, for becoming a Lakas member, becomes the most senior incumbent official who could claim for the administration’s mayoral bet but sources said that Cong. Zamora has not been endorsing Bolo yet for the post even in jest during public gatherings where both were present.

Sources also said that the influential councilor Dolfo Ang is also aiming for the mayoral post if Rapista would run with him as his vice mayor.

Otherwise, Ang would run as vice mayoral bet of Rapista if the latter decides for a comeback, sources said.

In the last polls, Castillo and Rapista had only more than 1,500 votes between them as a margin.

Councilor Haidee Suarez is also reportedly eyeing the mayoral post.

On the other hand, Mayor Castillo because of health reason is now contemplating to run as vice mayor than as vice governor especially after provincial officials have not earlier given support to his plan of running as vice governor, sources added.

But sources said that since Bolo is not being endorsed yet by Cong. Zamora and the latter is the Lakas district chairman, the congressman might have the mayoral post for himself as the administration’s party standard bearer with Castillo as his vice mayoral bet

But that scenario might pull a hometown decision of voting a mayor really coming from Compostela, sources told Sidlak.

Zamora’s town is Monkayo while he has his congressional office on his three terms located at Compostela, which he considered as his second hometown. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


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Zero pork

Posted by: cha4t on: September 24, 2008


Davao del Norte Boardmember Roger Israel must be at least understood when he let loose his sentiment last Monday’s session over the absence again of the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in the Annual Investment Plan of the province for 2009.

So we’ll expect that Davao del Norte boardmembers will be left holding an empty bag again for next year, the time which BM Israel has earlier professed he would join in any fray between and among other BMs in the session hall, kay di na siya mahadlok makasala.

With that prospect, DavNor BMs can only beg and beg to the one holding the provincial kitty at a time when DavNor’s Great Tug of War across all SPs and SBs would already have been heightened.

But under another prospect that a continued zero-pork scenario could open an easy floodgate of raiding incumbents under the baton of Governor Rodolfo del Rosario, the tendency of the one holding purse is to cave in to the clamor of the boardmembers for a share of the PDAF, which is otherwise dubbed as the pork barrel fund for local legislators.

Then, BM Israel might have a point after all in releasing a sigh over his fear of stepping on the toes of the provincial power holders at this early, and in planning to have it coming by next year.

There’s double-edge knife that springs from such statement. One is that Israel is still ready to absorb shocks of not having a pork barrel to live with as a politician always solicited by thousands of begging constituents. Second, and this pertains to time, he might be already courageous enough by 2009 to shake off whatever fear of political reprisals and upsets in his long career as a politician spiced by his jump-hopping acrobatics from the city council to the SP, and vice versa, that in the end, maybe he’ll no longer fear of treading to the other political fence of the Floirendos.

And so he might say, so what if he’s not given a pork barrel so he would still bring a paltry sum from his pay taken home after the usual tolicitors would have their day. For he has the other fence, too, to rely on for huge logistics for his reelection or running to other post. Unfortunately or fortunately, Israel’s colleagues might also be secretly thinking on this. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

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NEWS: Town anti-bond flotation group ready to file people’s initiative petition

sept 22


The group that has been opposing the controversial P90-million bond flotation project of Nabunturan municipal government is now ready to file its people’s initiative petition before the Sangguniang Bayan after it managed to secure signatures of more than 200 registered voters in town.

In an interview, Antonio M.I. Mencidor, one of those authorized to file the petition complaint, said that the anti-bond float oppositors will file anytime this week to the SB their petition which seeks to repeal Municipal Ordinance No. 2008, that authorized the P90-million bond flotation that would fund for the construction of a new public market in town.

The project has been actively pushed by Mayor Macario Humol who is supported by Vice Mayor Romeo Clarin and eight of the 11 councilors.

Opposing the project are Councilors Raul Caballero, Alfonso Tabas Jr. and Editha Arangcon.

Under the New Local Government Code, a local initiative can be initiated or resorted by a minimum of 100 registered voters in the municipality to directly repeal an ordinance.

The Nabunturan bond float oppositors charged that the said municipal ordinance is exorbitant, extravagant, oppressive and grossly disadvantageous to the government.

In case the SB fails to act or disapproved on the petition within the time required by law, the oppositors have no option but appeal and petition the Comelec, which if it finds the petition meritorious will then set a date to put the petition in a referendum of all voters in the municipality, Mencidor said.

At the latest, the pro-bond float councilors enacted a supplemental budget last month providing an item for “P40-million borrowing”, which had confused the oppositors on why the municipal government would be resorting to borrowing when the local administration has all been telling that the bond float would not engage in a loan. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


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NEWS: Zero ‘pork barrel’ for DavNor BMs for 2009

sept 23

The Davao del Norte Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved yesterday the province’s Annual Investment Plan (AIP) for 2009 without an item Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) which has been looked up as the pork barrel fund of provincial boardmembers just like the first year in the administration of Governor Rodolfo del Rosario.

Boardmember Roger Israel, despite moving for the approval of the AIP yesterday, ostensibly expressed drawn-out regret for the absence of PDAF for boardmembers and vice governor and prayed that they still be given for it next year from other sources and re-aligned items of the chief executive.

Sources said that Gov. del Rosario when he won for his present term had stopped the practice of giving PDAF amounting to P500,000 per year to boardmembers as what had happened during the time of his predecessor Gov. Gelacio Gementiza.

But Boardmember Jose Recarido Federiso, an advocate of participatory governance, on the other hand, reminded anew his colleagues to put the AIP to proper consultations with the people starting at the grassroots level, the barangays and puroks “so the people could express their sentiments” on government plans.

The AIP, which is a compendium of identified projects, was just submitted last week to the SP after a joint meeting with relevant committees and department heads.

A government project could not be funded and implemented without being listed in the AIP otherwise it is illegal under the law.

On the other hand, sources said that the Compostela Valley provincial boardmembers had accordingly concurred with the move of Gov. Arturo “Chiongkee” Uy of not giving them PDAF since the first year so that their PDAFs could instead be funded for high-impact infrastructure projects like the school buildings and roads.

During the time of former Gov. Jose “Joecab” Caballero, the Davao del Norte’s PDAF came in the budgetary item, financial assistance to the SP. It was popularly dubbed as Rural Development Fund (RDF) which mimicked the congressman’s Countryside Development Fund (CDF) or later the PDAF.

During Caballero’s last term, each boardmember and the vice governor shared P1 million and P2 million yearly direct allocations, respectively, with each half of it treated as grants and donations in accounts in the legislative department. It was directly disbursed passing only the vice governor’s approval.

Later the Commission on Audit disallowed the RDF directly disbursed without the governor’s approval which ended one boardmember to the Ombudsman for allegedly giving it to fictitious dead and sick constituents.

The former governor justified that he was giving RDF as show of magnanimity and understanding to fellow incumbent politicians who had been faced with a lot of solicitations and requests from constituents using thousands of reasons ranging from cradle to grave. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

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Scuds for DavNor SP

Posted by: cha4t on: September 22, 2008

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

It seems that the City Council has been sending scuds to the hall of Davao del Norte SP. Last month there was a city ordinance that Tagum’s old political turk Tony Lagunzad detonated for being “vague”.

It was about an NFA lot subjected to a spot zoning and reclassification from agricultural to residential land use. It triggered a verbal ruckus at the SP, and so sooner it blew over to the face of Lagunzad, who was left out in the cold as the inquisitive Boardmember Ely Dacalus abandoned him and joined with the rest present in approving the measure. In the end, Lagunzad abstained. He was so lonely- home alone.

Such verbal wrangling inside the SP of Lakas/Kampi partymates is a portent of things to come even while the Great Tug of War across all DavNor SPs and SBs was not yet evidently coming unlike now after the Cong. Anton’s little subterfuge in the 1st District last week. Maybe there’s already backroom talk in the DavNor SP that Gob. Dolfo and his “eyes and ears” inside the Capitol, chief of all is his politically nosey administrator, have to better watch out.

BM Roger Israel murmured during the verbal tussle between BM Larry Caminero and BM Pol Monteroso over BM “Joe” Federiso’s landmark ordinance on participatory governance three months ago that he was not joining in the fray “kay mahadlok ko makasala”, obviously referring to a political wrath of Gob. Dolfo. “Seguro sa 2009 na,” Israel, the non-Dick, muttered.

Now the scud of the Purok Ordinance stirred the SP anew after it was left to gather dust in one of the SP drawers when it was first quelled from detonating last February. It is over 7 months now when the measure is intentionally- obviously- left to sleep lying on the table. It was not really shelved after Atty. Pasamonte struck the Purok Ordinance down as “legally infirmed” and following the city council resolution asking for its reconsideration.

But after that, nothing was heard, until the SP’s committee of laws chaired by BM Artemio San Juan dropped it like a hot potato to the committee of government and non-government organizations chaired by BM Caminero.

It was not in the dream of BM Caminero that one day he would be presiding a committee hearing attended by lawyers locking their horns over a measure suspected to be politically motivated like the Purok Ordinance and Suaybaguio’s Anti- Urban Poor Ordinance. Such first scud already landed hard on the lap of BM Caminero last Tuesday.

Now, the jaded political observers said that once the Purok Ordinance is enshrined, automatically Yayong Gementiza is emptied of his purok mass base, and if Suaybaguio’s ordinance becomes a reverse landmark piece of legislation, Cong. Arrel Olano, who has no other choice but to run for mayor for a dignified run or retirement, is also emptied of his urban poor mass base. These, while Mayor Rey “Cee O” Uy has his barangay mass base broadened by the mass bases of his most potential contenders in a three-corner mayoral figh by 2010. What a nosey guess of these jaded observers.

It would seem now that these scuds of what they say as “political legislations” are turning out to be seeds of discord between the City Hall and Capitol. The city council might be launching more scuds like rains before 2010, pundits just guess more.

BLOGBUZZ: No mea culpa. I used the word summon in ordinary way, most synonymous to call, and not within the legalese world and word. Well, Comval Boardmember Ruwel Peter Gonzaga last Wednesday delivered his privilege speech to clarify Sidlak’s banner news story on Tuesday about the SP’s plan of summoning (or calling) ex-Gob. Joecab to shed light on the ZTE deal in Diwalwal. He said Sidlak news and Joecab’s reactions were premature as the SP and its environment commitee would still act on the matter. But obvously, from our vantage point, there was already such agreement for a legislative probe, only that it was referred to a committee for final recommendation. The word summon I used was meant for the ordinary and not as a legal parlance… It should be UM Tagum College, and not UM Tagum City which I used in my series of reportage on the city’s own sex scandal. My mea culpa…. I went inside the campus the other day to coordinate for the Rural Urban News policy presentation and press forum next week. A lot of students said that the campus is now back to normal. Thanks. (For online edition, visit my blog at: http://cha4t.wordpress.com)

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The tricycle fare increase in Tagum City

sept 19

The City Legal Officer Roland Tumanda made the inevitable reason loud and clear to quell murmurs around on the possibillity of holding in abeyance the present P7 motorcycle fare since prices of oil products have been already decreasing over the last two weeks. The increased P10 fare will continue for Tagum City despite the price rollbacks.

Since it’s the Tagum City Federation of Tricycle Transport and Services Cooperative (Tafettrasco) that would be benefited, its act of volunteering to distribute the taripas is a just a natural reaction knowing that tricycle drivers and operators have then been losing when gasoline prices were still about a double of the January price level, as well as due to the unfair competition posed by the colorum habal-habals which have been snatching their passengers in the city’s streets during sunny days.

“Unless the ordinance is amended,” Atty. Tumanda said to belabor a point that the fare could still be decreased to attune with current oil prices.

It’s good that there seems to be a quick price reflex now in the country’s deregulation regime in the oil industry but this positive news about price rollback is so scarce vis-avis the many instances of price increase.

We hope there will also be quick reflex mechanism in our local legislation. It seems to us that on the average it would take us one month and a half to two months before legislation is finally implemented after passing through the local and provincial legislative processes. But we start to count on the date of approval of the ordinance. In particular, the city ordinance on fare increase was unanimously enacted last July 28 and if taripas would be issued today, it takes us a total of one month and 21 days to have it implemented.

However, the delay on this fare increase ordinance seems to occur at the provincial level.

Nevertheless, despite what appear as discreet dilatory processes occurring at the provincial level for this piece of legislation, the city councilors who all voted yes to the ordinance should still be congratulated- for increasing fare at a time of decreasing oil prices. Thanks for the delay. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

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NEWS: P10 fare increase to continue despite oil price decreases- Atty. Tumanda

sept 18

Despite the trend of decreasing oil prices at present, the P10 fare increase for tricycles in Tagum City will continue and would possibly start to be implemented today, Friday as the taripa is already ready for distribution.
City Legal Officer Roland Tumanda bared this yesterday.

He said that some 300 initial copies of the taripa were already reproduced yesterday and would be distributed through the Tagum City Federation of Tricycle Transport and Services Cooperative.

Tafettrasco earlier requested the city government that it be allowed to distribute the taripa to among tricycle drivers to fast-track the fare increase implementation.

Atty. Tumanda said that the city government could not do otherwise despite price rollbacks of crude oil products in the country “unless the ordinance is amended”.

Last August 25 the Sangguniang Panlalawigan unanimously approved Resolution No. 503 confirming the fare-increasing City Ordinance No. 305, which was also unanimously approved by the city council last July 28.
The P7 tricycle fare will increase to P10 although students, senior citizens and differently-abled persons would only pay P8 or an increase of P1 for a city-limit ride.

Tricycle owners and drivers demanded for P10 fare on the ground that gasoline prices had already almost doubled from January price level this year when they demanded for it last July. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

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NEWS: City Hall, Capitol SPs clash anew over Purok Ordinance

Prospect of delay of more ‘political” city ordinances seen

sept 18

TAGUM CITY- The long pending city ordinance that tries to abolish elections in purok and instead gives the city mayor the power to appoint purok officials has put the City Hall and Capitol to new legal clash as the measure was tackled again by the provincial board the other day.

No less than a battery of five lawyers from the city government were sent and locked horns with lawyers and officials of the provincial government over the controversial City Ordinance No. 270 entitled “An Ordinance Adopting the 2008 Guidelines in the Organization of Purok”.

The ordinance, which also provides for the formation of purok coordinating councils composed of two or more neighboring puroks, has been seen as a “political ordinance” allegedly meant for City Mayor Rey Uy to have “political control” over puroks in the city.

This as Sidlak sources said that legislations of this type coming from the city council are reportedly bound for delay at the provincial board for one reason or another.

This developed as the City Councilor Nicandro Suaybaguio Jr, who was inside the office of his uncle Vice Governor Victorio “Baby” Suaybaguio yesterday said that he is determined to introduce this coming Monday his ordinance stopping urban poor housing for five years in the city, another measure that is currently drawing flak from the urban poor sector.

Sidlak tried but failed to reach the mayor for comment yesterday.
On Tuesday, Boardmember and PCL provincial president Helario Caminero presided over the hearing on the measure by the joint committee on government organizations and non-government organizations which he chaired, and the committee of laws, resolutions and ordinances chaired by Boardmember Artemio San Juan.

Defending the city’s measure were lawyer councilors Allan Zulueta, Rey Salve, Mylene Baura and Joey Millan and City Legal Officer Roland Tumanda, who took turns in insisting for the legal tenability of the said ordinance which the city government had earlier appealed for reconsideration.
The ordinance was transmitted for confirmation to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan last February but was struck down by former OIC provincial legal officer and provincial prosecutor Ruben Pasamonte as “legally infirmed”.

New provincial legal officer Atty. Jennifer Namoc held on Pasamonte’s grounds the other day.

When the measure reached the SP it was immediately referred to the San Juan’s committee on laws, which subsequently asked for Atty. Pasamonte’s legal opinion.

The measure then sit idly at San Juan’s committee after issuance of Pasamonte’s opinion until two months ago it was referred the measure to Caminero’s commitee.

Caminero said that the joint committee would convene again next week to deliberate the measure less the city council representatives.

Pasamonte described that the ordinance is “legally infirmed” arguing, among others, that the purok is not a local government unit but a people’s organization for which the city government could not interfere in its affairs.

Her chided the city government as “setting a dangerous precedent of appointing purok coordinators and members of purok coordinating council, which is composed of two or more neighboring puroks, and of providing grounds of suspending or removing them, as he stressed on the tradition of puroks to elect their leaders as “linchpin of democratic and republican framework.”

The City Council in a resolution moved last June for reconsideration invoking that under Pasamonte’s view on the purok as an NGO the more the measure is within the ambit of the Local Government Code of 1991 particularly on the specific provisions giving local government units the right to promote, make arrangements with and give assistance to NGOs, among others.

The ordinance authored by lawyer Councilor Zulueta seeks to make the purok as active partner to development with the city government.
On the other hand, asked for comment, Vice Gov. Suaybaguio said that in his own personal opinion and based on what he recently learned from Davao City it is the barangay council which has the power to legislate on purok matters.

He said though he did not want to preempt the SP saying that the “rule of majority” will decide on the fate of the ordinance.
As to his nephew councilor’s forthcoming ordinance, charged by critics as “anti-poor”, he said he would not inhibit himself if it would reach the halls of the SP citing that his role is only to preside and “break a tie or not break a tie”.

He also said that he does not yet sense that controversial city ordinances are putting strains to the relationship of the city and provincial governments including their officials. “The SP is here to confirm or not”.
Sidlak sources said Governor Rodolfo del Rosario reportedly does not like the idea of stopping urban poor housing as pushed by the young Suaybaguio.

Boardmember Jose Recarido Federiso, in separate interview, said that while there is good intention in the ordinance of giving greater participation to the purok to local governance, it pains to him to see the measure trying to destroy the good administration of his friend Mayor Uy.
He called for modification on the controversial measure. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

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Federiso’s landmark ordinance

Posted by: cha4t on: September 15, 2008

Rare is the legislator who thinks and reflects on to craft a legislative measure that requires much theorizing while lessons learned and best practices on the ground, are gathered, no matter what his colleagues may first say. But a legislation of this type was passed in Davao del Norte provincial board out from the labor of one who has not even graduated in high school.

Now Boardmember Jose Recarido Federiso shows it all that if a local legislator has a will and spirit to pursue and an honest heart to have him understood by his colleagues, he can have his measure passed than torpedoed by say a majority banking on their tyranny in numbers or by the filibustering minority. Nothing of that filibustering sort is yet seen in the provincial board or in Tagum city council, except that a few have been showing time and again their independence of the mind when it comes to a seriously flawed measure, like the yet to be submitted Nickel Suabaguio’s proposed ordinance that seeks to stop urban poor housing for five years. Comval SP, on the other hand, has only the triad LBC- Lopoz, Barte and Codilla, the known Three Mosquiteers boardmembers from Kampi and Liberal allied with Mayor Manuel Brillantes, now whetting up an appetite for semblance of democracy in Cabidianan Capitol.

But Federiso’s ordinance on the Provincial Sustainable Integrated Development Process (PSIAD) is a stand out now on the indicator that this is a unique legislation that outlines concrete and practical steps and mechanisms before government plans, programs and budgets are implemented on the ground.

It seeks to institutionalize barangay assemblies, taho sa barangay, purok meetings and consultations, people’s congresses, and the like as approaches of people participation, while it aims to realize people and grassroots participation in governance, transparency and integrated development approach.

Truly, executive agenda when submitted to these bottoms-top participatory and consultative processes and mechanisms become people’s agenda itself and institutionalizes real people governance. This is the overriding goal of Federiso ordinance, while it lays down specifics to start on in implementing the so-called RDR Wheels, which are more guiding program priorities and generic numenklatura of good intents of Governor Rodolfo del Rosario. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

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posted by Rural Urban News @ 4:49 PM   0 comments
Saturday, September 13, 2008
UM-TAGUM SEX SCANDAL STORIES
Sept 13

BLOGISTA
By Cha Monforte

What about the keylogger?

The keylogger is another application that cracks, captures or unlocks passwords of internet café users. A lot of online gamers among the youths already knew this cheat, which is another secret kept by unscrupulous internet café owners, technicians and assistants. Sources said that a lot of trial versions of various keyloggers can be downloaded from many websites.

Some keyloggers are not even visible in the program folders. They’re so perfectly made to hide it from the other users except the one who installed it or the administrator. So with various remote access applications that have cracked wide open the private fetish activities of the pitiful UM-Tagum coed.

As of now, we are still waiting to hear of the veracity of the report that Baby has tried or committed suicide. Wag lang sana. But we’re hoping Mayor Rey Uy, who is now investigating which among the internet cafés in the city has condemned the life and future of Baby, can catch and pin down the culprit.

Whoever had recorded the Tagum sex video scandal must be pursued. He can run but he can never hide. As they say, way makumkom nga aso. If not this immediate, later he or she would be uncovered and captured by the long arms of the law. Only the truth can set us free.

The other news is that the Internet Café Advisory Board (ICAB), an interagency advisory body created by the enactment of the city’s ordinance regulating operations of internet café owners met the other day upon the directive the mayor, and the co-chair Vice Mayor Allan Rellon relayed to us their recommendation of requiring internet café watchers or attendants to undergo an ICAB seminar and secure occupational permit from the City Hall.Certainly, the measure is good as it now documents who are the internet attendants who could have a bad egg who stain their lot. Pity on them- they are mostly working students and informal workers receiving below the standard wages. But unscrupulous IC owners too are also suspects to this sorry affair.

The city’s IT people may have failed to advise the ICAB based on their expertise on the deeper issues on remote access espying made from an owner’s server computer to the ones used by the paying chatters, gamers and users. Forget first now the issue on semi-closed cubicles inside internet cafes and the one about the adjoining or neighboring internet café and girlie videoke bars in the city.

In Davao City, the webcams are placed fixed atop the monitor or CPU. It’s bawal to place it near or so that it could be focused to sensitive parts of the body. That the semi-enclosed cubicle fixture- although it gives privacy- is also being used a little hiding place among the horny money-makers like the Western Union girls who do sudden bra-flipping for money. When we abolish that fixture we are giving meat and not the flesh to the campaign on No to Pornography!

The use of keylogger and remote access applications is a violation to the provision against hacking. Baby was evidently hacked, although webwhoring is also a violation. But I still don’t condemn Baby’s act. All of the horny foreigner chatters, I repeat the horny ones, are online manipulators, deceivers and cheats wanting to pull a fast one from among our chatting women for pleasure. Maybe Baby was just cajoled, sweet-talked by her foreigner chat boyfriend with promise of sending her so much money. Look, the usual horny foreigners are playing around again with our vulnerability out from our usual poverty. And now the irresponsible brown techies - those who know about the high-tech nitty-gritty operations and programs of the computer- are also horseying around their skills by hacking Baby’s various acts.

There are more IT-innocent Babys in our midst. We pray there would be no more Babys from Tagum City and elsewhere who would be victimized by the unscrupulous techies inside the internet cafes.

The best lesson learned from this Tagum sex video scandal is to never bare at all.

But to the stoppable chatting ladies around wanting to have a new lease of their poor, battered lives by chatting in search for foreigner husbands, they better get a Smartbro (sorry I’m no Smart rep) and chat all the way inside their closed private rooms.

The infidel wives might have already killed their still living husbands, or declared they’ve been separated for so many times while the truth is it is not. But if they don’t want a Smartbro inside their master bedrooms for fear of being caught by their husbands, and they may chat outside, but for heaven’s sake they should not bare inside internet cafes as they might end up as hot mamas involved in another sex scandal. Forgive the sexist pun though as it has been really real these Internet days.(For online edition, visit my blog at: http://cha4t.wordpress.com


NEWS: Mayor Uy to close internet café in sex video scandal

Sept 13

For Baby’s justice

Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy will not hesitate to close down the internet café found to be the one where the so-called Tagum sex video scandal occurred as the city authorities continue on their probe on it.

Vice Mayor Allan Rellon relayed this to the press after the interagency Internet Café Advisory Board (ICAB) convened Tuesday upon instruction of the mayor to tackle on the sex video scandal involving a young female student of the University of Mindanao-Tagum City and recommend measures to the mayor to address it.

Rellon presided the meeting of ICAB which he co-chairs with the mayor.
He said that the mayor, who is now investigating the case, will not hesitate his discretionary power to revoke or not renew the business permit of the internet café where the cyber scandal took place.

He said the ICAB also resolved and recommended to Mayor Uy for internet café attendants or watchers to secure occupational permits from the City Hall with a certificate of attendance of ICAB seminar.

ICAB has also scheduled a meeting with owners of internet cafes on Sept. 29 at 2 P.M. at the Sangguniang Panglungsod session hall.

In Tagum sex video scandal, the UM-Tagum coed with user name “Baby” on school uniform chatted with a foreigner chat boyfriend with user name “Clyde” who was directing “Baby” to bare sensitive parts of her body before a webcam.

In the video clip that has spread to cellphones and in the Internet, “Baby” also uses a sex toy penis. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


NEWS: UM-Tagum blames internet café in city’s sex video scandal

Sept 9

Coed “Baby” commits suicide?

The head-director of the University of Mindanao-Tagum City is blaming the still unidentified internet café in Tagum City which has reportedly taped one of the school’s female students who figured in what is dubbed as Tagum sex video scandal that has been already widely spreading in cellphones and in the Internet.

UMTC director Fely Rabaca said that the internet café involved in recording the involved chatting coed should get the blame and punishment for the spread of sex video clip.

She said though that if the coed were still in the school when school authorities knew of the sex video scandal the student could be immediately expelled for tarnishing the school’s reputation as provided in the UMTC disciplinary manual.

“We could not even issue a good moral character certificate for her,” she said.

“Ang internet café gyud ang maoy basolon kay sila ang nakahibalo sa pamaagi (the internet café should be blamed as they know the technology),” she added.

Rabaca also said that school authorities could not prevent students for what they are doing outside the school.

She bared that she instructed her Office of the Student Affairs to investigate on the matter sometime in the first week of last August.

This developed as the local press heard from a group of UM-Tagum personnel yesterday that they heard unconfirmed reports that “Baby”, chat username of the suspected UM-Tagum coed, has tried to commit or has committed suicide by cutting her wrist. “Naglaslas daw”.

Baby has since then fled the city to unknown place.

Rabaca said that per school records as of July 18 Baby was considered already “officially dropped” and considered no longer a UM-Tagum student when the news about the sex scandal broke out in the media and at the city’s session hall last week.

Baby is considered to have finished only her first year in UM-Tagum since she managed to officially dropped her subjects during the first term of the first semester of this school year obviously before whispers about her grew louder inside the campus.

Also, Baby managed to secure an honorable dismissal before her sex video clip has been widely shared through the cellphones of many students in the campus, said Maricar Cainglet, UM-Tagum high school guidance counselor.

She said that she only saw Baby’s video clip in a cellphone last August 19.

The guidance counselor said that the last time she saw Baby in the campus was July 16 processing her papers.

She said she was so surprised and even could not believe of the sex video showing Baby describing her as a “sweet, buotan (good) and intelligent student.”

She learned though about her coming from a broken family.

She added that Baby had at least twice shifted in course while studying in UM-Tagum and was a transferee from a college in Davao del Sur.

Baby had also studied at the St. Mary’s College in the city from 1st year to 3rd year high school and graduated in a town in one of Davao provinces.

The UM-Tagum authorities have strongly called yesterday on people to stop spreading further Baby’s sex video.

In what others dubbed as UM Tagum sex video scandal, Baby was chatting with an obviously foreigner chat boyfriend with a blurred username “Cled” or “Clyd” in the chat message box. ((Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


NEWS: No taripa yet for Tagum P10 tricycle fare due to Dolfo

sept 6

Wondering why the P10 fare for tricycle ride is not yet being implemented?

There’s still no taripa yet that can be issued by the transportation department of City Mayor Rey Uy as the provincial board resolution was not yet signed by Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario.

“The governor is just so busy these days,” informed Boardmember Roger Israel last Friday when the governor led in accommodating the visiting Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno for the Justice on Wheels’ sortie for the province and Compostela Valley.

As of last Thursday the resolution confirming the city ordinance for P10 tricycle fare was already transmitted to the office of the governor after it was signed by Vice Gov. Victorio Suaybaguio Sr., bared Israel.

He said that the governor could have already signed it today and might be picked up by a representative of the city government or the office of the governor will transmit it to the City Hall.

On August 25 the Sangguniang Panlalawigan unanimously approved Resolution No. 503 confirming the fare-increasing City Ordinance No. 305, which was also unanimously approved by the city council last July 28.

The still present P7 tricycle fare will increase to P10 although students, senior citizens and differently-abled persons would only pay P8 or an increase of P1 for a city-limit ride.

This developed as the prices of the gasoline have been decreasing since the recent weeks.
The clamor of the tricycle owners and drivers for an increased P10 fare arose as the gasoline prices almost doubled from January price level this year when they demanded for it last July.
Israel said that since gasoline prices have been decreasing these days the city passengers could possibly petition the City Hall for the reduction of the approved but still unimplemented P10 tricycle fare.
This would again lead to a new public hearing, he added. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


NEWS: “The poor deserve more than crumbs of justice”- Chief Justice Puno speaking in Justice on Wheels Tagum sortie

sept 7

TAGUM CITY - Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who visited this city on Friday for the Justice on Wheels mobile court program, stressed on the need of the judiciary to bring justice near to the doorsteps of the poor saying that “they deserve more than crumbs of justice.”

Speaking before judges and lawyers from Davao City, Compostela Valley and Davao del Norte, the chief justice said that given that poverty has been a crucial issue in accessing justice in the country’s legal system “justice if it is allowed to be bias, it should be bias in favor to the poor.”

He reminded members of the judiciary in the provinces on the greater task of helping achieve equality not in rhetorics but at the very least in the country’s justice system.

Puno added that amidst the “currents” that presently erode the rule of the law in the country, such erosion has been caused by the incapability to protect the poor who suffer most during socio-economic crisis handled by the overprivileged in the society.

But he said that “so long as there are citizens and groups who fight for the rule of law, we need not lose hope.”

The chief justice himself supervised the delivery of the Justice on Wheels (JoW) for the two provinces which made its sortie at Mankilam this city.

At least five inmates from Compostela Valley, who have been serving jail terms for about 14 years already due to the crime of rape, are due to be released after they were acquitted during last Friday’s JoW hearing. One of their company was convicted of the crime.

The number and names of inmates from Davao del Norte whose old cases were disposed by JoW in the sortie here are still unavailable at presstime.

The JoW which Puno reinvigorated July this year is mediating and deciding cases especially involving those inmates who are above 70 years old and detainees whose cases had dragged for longer periods than prescribed by law or those who have finished serving their sentence or were overstaying.

It aims to increase the access to justice by the poor, declog courts of unnecessary and unimportant cases and decongest jails nationwide.

He reported that court-annexed mediations through the JoW program has successfully resolved 1,329 of the 1,457 total cases or an 85-percent success rate from January to June this year alone.

The chief justice brought along with him the especially-designed Justice on Wheels bus which has two court chambers inside it where JoW hearings were made. It was parked last Friday at the compound of the contiguous provincial jails of the two provinces at Mankilam.

He also inspected the condition of the inmates in the provincial jails.

Puno also made keynote address to a dialogue on anti-violence against women and their children with the city’s barangay officials and inaugurated the newly completed Integrated Bar of the Philippines building of the IBP-Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley Chapter.

Before the JoW’s sortie in the city, it had so far led to the releasing of at least 60 inmates in the places they have visited in different parts of the country.

The JoW has already visited city jails in Manila, Quezon City, Caloocan City, Kalibo, Aklan and Cebu. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


Heaven forbid

sept 8

The Tagum City Government must let its axe fall now so that, proverbially and immediately, heads will roll down from whoever have condemned the life and future of a young coed in one of the colleges in Tagum City already to perdition and put the honor of her family and relatives in the deep, dark quagmire.

In this video sex scandal, that strikes much the hearts and minds of foremost the parents, especially the mothers who nourished, cared and protected their daughters while they were still on the wombs, “Baby”, the pretty young coed was first victimized by a foreigner chatmate-friend usernamed “Cled”, and doubly victimized by the video taking criminal/s.

We pity “Baby” so much for expressing uncensored and fetish innocence on the command and at the pleasure of a prodding foreigner boyfriend, who has ostensibly lured the pretty coed who is so innocent about the stealth and crimes wrecking havoc and unbridled against privacy, life and future in the cyberspace. Truly, in the age of the Internet we’re in already in a Naked Society that our privacies can just be intruded by use of high technologies at the command of the criminal types of techies, programmers, hackers and their funders.

We are most interested to hear on whether those among the internet cafes in the city have installed this so-called remote access applications that can espy on the activities of their paying users. The charge that Tagum sex video scandal was recorded inside one of the internet cafes in the city using this kind of software is serious and is not only giving mischief to the ones who pay for their hourly rates but also violating the city’s ordinance on internet café regulation as well as laws protecting privacy and the rights of women.

We already heard of the statement of the Internet Café Association of Tagum (ICAT), but while condemning the incident is one and belittling it as an isolated incident is another, but these could not compensate for crime that reaches the scale of the heinous in secretly recording a stripping innocent one, who is countryman of their own, before a sex-maniac foreigner knowing that merely possessing a video of it is already risking the life and future of a young Filipina given the implications of its potential spread to cellphone and cyberspace technologies.

We are not yet accusing here as city authorities are still closing in on for their probe, but most probably the sex video clip of “Baby” was recorded in one of the internet cafes in the city by someone, given that café internet themselves have put up firewalls and deep freeze technologies that blocks and kills viruses, hackers and remote access intruders.

We further say to tell it to the marines the call to stop the further the spread of Tagum sex video as internet café owners themselves pretty know well that a sex video clip once this is uploaded and shared to pornographic sites owned by who else but the satanic maniacs it sticks there til eternity. In this Internet era without bounds and barriers, an upload of one triggers millions of downloads worldwide and it spreads in unknown scale and intensity to thousands and millions of cellphones. While there’s yet no international protocol that sanctions for deletion of files in an Internet populated by billions of websites, against these high technologies, “Baby” is totally helpless in preventing her own sex video from further spreading.

The city government has its own Information Technology department as well as the provincial government can beef up its own IT people to immediately deploy now, based on the city ordinance, to conduct inspection of all the computers in all internet cafes in the city to find out whether remote access applications have been installed, and trace its marks in program files, cookies and logs while from among them they could not yet reformat and re-install programs in the hard disks of their computers.

The monitors and the police on the other hand should look for the similarities of the settings in the internet cafes as to the physical leads shown in the cubicle used by “Baby”.

Councilor Joey Millan has a point in saying that the city council needs to re-visit the city ordinance on internet café regulation for an amendment.

These and many more, as we don’t want to see that in one day it’s already our own very own daughters that the world in lust have been feasting on til eternity. Heavens forbid. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


NEWS: New law school to open next year in Tagum

sept 8

TAGUM CITY - A new law school will be opened in the next school year, bared Atty. Jesus Albacite, one among the incorporators of the school, during last Friday’s inauguration of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Edifice located fronting the Hall of Justice at Mankilam this city.

He said that over 100 individuals have already shown interest to enroll in the law school which has a name Saint Thomas Moore Law School.

During the same occasion graced no less than by Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who visited the city primarily for his Justice on Wheels mobile court program, Albacite offered to IBP members to contribute stocks to the school which is organized by a group of lawyers.

The newly-inaugurated IBP Edifice would be used for the IBP-Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley Chapter’s free legal aid and free legal education programs.

The building, dubbed by lawyers as an edifice, was realized through the financial assistance of the administrations of Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario and Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy.

It was first proposed by Atty. Rodolfo Rapista who worked for the passage of a provincial ordinance on the donation of the lot on where the edifice now stands.

But it took five two-year IBP leaderships to have it completed most of which was lengthily served by Atty. Albacite.

Atty. Daniel Campoamor is the present IBP chapter chairman for the two neighboring provinces.

The inauguration was attended by some 100 judges and lawyers from the courts in Davao City, Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley.

The city has once a law school through the University of Mindanao-Tagum City but it later folded up for failing to have its law graduates pass the bar exams in a series.(Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


NEWS: Big internet café tagged in Tagum sex video scandal

sept 8

Remote access software reportedly used to secretly record coed
“Baby” is “chinita, puti, flawless” wearing UM Tagum uniform, chatting with “Cled”

A big internet café in Tagum City has been suspected to have secretly recorded using a remote access software to the young coed who figured in playfully baring sensitive parts of herself and doing orgasmic acts using a sex toy penis on webcam on the proddings of a foreigner chatmate boyfriend she was chatting with.

An internet café assistant told the press on condition of anonymity that the video clip of the coed, identified by her username as “Baby” who was chatting with a username “Cled” at the other end, was taken in a big internet café which uses the same white plastic monoblock chairs and has a yellow-colored wooden partition as seen in the “Tagum sex video scandal”.

She said that she has been hearing now and then that assistants of the suspected internet café have long been seeing online activities of their users by using a remote access software secretly installed in their networked computers.

She said that what is urgent is to conduct inspection now to all internet cafes in the city and find out whether a remote access software has been installed in all their computers.

The name of the suspected internet café could not yet be divulged as efforts to reach its management for comment failed.

But the source said that authorities have already leads in pinpointing the suspected internet café from the physical features alone as shown in the 20-minuter video clip that is already uploaded in several pornographic websites offering free uploads for sharing.

She said that the partly-shown yellow-colored wooden partition, electrical line across the white-colored wall background and the monoblock chair used by the girl are “good leads” for the authorities to start on.

Last week, Councilor Maria Lina Baura said that the Tagum sex video clip was being spread from cellphone to cellphone.

BABY CHINITA

Reports said that the coed has already stopped schooling in one of the colleges in the city and left the city to unknown place.

Councilor Alfredo Pagdilao said that he already located the residence of the girl, but other sources said that the coed was just renting a boarding house in Mabini street area.

“She is chinita (in eyes), white and flawless in complexion,” a lady internet assistant said.

She said that the girl appeared to be coming from a middle class and not from a poor family judging on her looks and attire.

As the city council girded up to investigate Tagum’s cyber scandal last week, the internet café association in the city met before the weekend and called on to stop the further spread of the Tagum sex scandal video.

REMOTE SPY

Remote access software allows user of the “server” computer unit to spy simultaneously on what is happening to other computer units connected as “clients” around the network of the internet café.

It can also capture screenshots, steal data saved and record live webcams into video files without the user of the client desktop knowing that his activities have been monitored and recorded with by the user in the server desktop.

It can control the mouse and keyboard of the client computer unit.

Wikipedia, the popular free online encyclopedia, says that remote desktop applications have varying features, some of which allow seeing an existing user’s session in a running desktop and “remote controlling” it in front of the user’s eyes.

The software thus allows one to access his computer from another computer via the Internet, local area network (LAN), or phone connection and work on the computer remotely as if he were sitting in front of it.

But remote applications through the Internet, which allows one or a business to access a subject computer while miles away from it, are not free and have high dollar prices.

There are though trial softwares downloadable in the Internet, which sources said could only work on local area network (LAN) such as the internet café’s network.

The trial software could have been the one used in recording the almost 20 minutes of webcam shows and chat conversations between “Baby” and “Cled,” presumed to be her foreigner chat boyfriend.

Sources said that the sex video clip was spliced only to join the chat message board and the webcam’s live streaming into one clip, both of which were recorded simultaneously in one screen.

The webcam video shows of “Cled” on the same screen was though not included in the clip.

PORNO SITES

An online sleuthing has found at least two pornographic sharing websites as of yesterday in first pages of Yahoo and Google search engines where the Tagum sex scandal had already landed.

One has the sex video clip was uploaded just late August and the other last week. One has in fact carried an alleged full name of “Baby”.

In lookup of its domain name owners, one website is based in Denver and the other in Chicago.

In one website that does not asks for prior sign-up registration, the clip has a total length of 19 minutes and 35 seconds and shows “Baby”, a pretty looking young coed, wearing a visibly UM-Tagum uniform with a tie marking of “UMTC” and an ID card slung around her neck. She is wearing on her right hand a teener’s watch.

She clip shows her doing her thing with a sex toy penis and in various orgasmic acts and appears be doing under the command of “Cled” who has always his blurred text chats always scrolling up.

Sometimes “Baby” would hit the keyboard for short replies in their exhange of I love yous and ahhhs. Visibly “Cled” is a foreigner as their chat conversations were in English and is also doing his thing at the other end based on his proddings to “Baby”.

On the first show towards the middle of the length, the webcam has only the body of “Baby” captured until her face finally flushes out on screen especially on the near ending when they engaged in brief chat with long text.

The two appear to be already intimate online friends as it appears only a single mention of money in blurred text has been talked about in passing during their chat conversations that revolved more on love relationship. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


Welcome CJ!

sept 5

Welcome to the Palm City, Chief Justice Reynato Puno. It’s his first visit in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley since when he became the country’s highest magistrate.

The “Justice on Wheels” mobile court program the Chief Justice re-launched with vibrancy just last July indeed augurs great opportunities for the poor to access justice. The court, being not insulated by the macroeconomic forces and being a branch of our government has, from the vantage point of being in the provinces, now become more inaccessible not by its location nor of its processes that grind slow (as we know much of this since time immemorial) but by the high tariffs in court fees as well as the legal fees from members of the Bar, fuera delos buenos from those few offering pro bono or affordable services.

In the end, it’s more due to economics that poor suspects and those convicted would just choose to languish in jail beyond the period prescribed by law or fight it for an appeal which they could not sustain anyway or which could only have their family and kins outside in jail suffer economic hardships if not loss of the properties.

Thus, we completely agree with this Supreme Court’s JoW mobile court program that not only tries to make justice accessible, as justice delayed is justice denied that is most often hitting the poor who could not buy time nor buy justice, as they say, but also visits the inmates to look on their plight behind bars in the way that Matthew 25:36 put it: “I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com


Barack Obama is CO

sept 5

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

Well, Barack Obama was a community organizer (CO) you know. Before he went to excel in Harvard law school and after graduating from Columbia University in 1983 with a major in political science, Obama worked as a financial consultant in New York City . But he was bored—and drawn to work as a CO for three years in Chicago . There he organized African blacks, the grassroots and average people like those living in the ghettos, the urban poor in US, for many causes including public housing.

Today’s “biggest celebrity in the world”, to borrow a counter-spin of Republican nominee John McCain, has admitted that his exposure as a CO has most impact on him as politician. Analysts say that’s the reason why Obama became an effective legislator and an audacious public speaker. I have much confidence that Obama could win for the US presidency by November.

Now if Obama could be given a say on the proposed ordinance of the Tagum City Councilor Nicandro Suaybaguio Jr who wants to stop urban poor housing for five years in the city, I bet, the front-running Democratic presidential nominee would easily say, “Yes, the urban poor can”. He will thumb down Nickel’s wayward measure that he would submit for readings at the city council by Monday.

Vice President Noli de Castro, the country’s housing czar, should he come across with Suaybaguio’s measure, would also probably say, “hindi naman dapat ganon… OK, tingnan natin yan”. Tingni!

Let’s see how wayward really is Suaybaguio’s measure. He says that he will craft yet the city’s housing code (or is he referring this to comprehensive shelter plan which took about seven years for the Davao City Council to fully refine, complete and approve?). So there, even without the housing code, which will show the acute housing backlog in the city, which is about 28,000 families requiring at least 280 hectares, Suaybaguio is already making a shortcut by stopping the urban poor to make contribution in addressing the housing problem in the city.

If Suaybaguio’s wayward measure isn’t stopped in independent nominal voting in the way the nematicide-banning measure of Councilor Joedel Caasi was killed by the majority last Monday, then it would pass without extensive study and research, to borrow the reasons of Councilors Rey Salve and SK prexy Cyril Muring in frustrating Caasi.

The city councilors, whom I believe could still independently rise to occasion of erroneous and insufficient measure, wherever it came from, should be appraised that Suaybaguio’s measure is grossly insufficient in substance for taking wrong assumptions. It’s not the form as there’s always easy template for it.

When it defers the issuance of the approval of all documents relating urban poor subdivision, it right away closes the city’s door to access national socialized housing funds such as CMP of the strengthened Social Housing Finance Corp, MMP of NHA, GLAD of Pag-ibig Fund, congressional funds and the like. It also automatically bars other alternative social housing schemes for the poor espoused by Churches such as the Habitat and Gawad Kalinga and by the civil society and cooperatives.

In our series, we’ve always emphasized the need for counterparting, convergence and partnership among stakeholders and the combination of various shelter modes and strategies in addressing the city’s acute housing backlog. The city government could not just do it alone, which is otherwise misplaced as an assumption underlying in Suaybaguio’s measure.

Housing developers could not also do it alone even as they cater only to the middle and high-end markets, and not to the informal sector. But if developers could have the heyday in buying lands within the 5-year deferment period, expect more price speculations among landowners in the city, assuming that they could seize good market from the middle-and-up sectors. This could potentially trigger rise of the selling prices of even agricultural lands for which after the five-year prohibition period it can further bar the urban poor from owning affordable offsite lands via CMP.

Suaybaguio’s measure would also mean the stoppage of onsite CMP projects in the city. For putting no exemption on this, urban poor already occupying lands in city centers will have no chance at all to buy the lands they occupy via the CMP during the deferment period. (For online edition, visit my blog at: http://cha4t.wordpress.com)
posted by Rural Urban News @ 10:00 PM   1 comments

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