SHELTERS FOR MAGUINDANAO
MANILA, JANUARY 2,
2012 (STAR) (PHOTO - Fireworks
light up the sky at the Bacolod Government Center grounds.)
For the first time, Bacolod will welcome the New Year as one big family,
through a spectacular countdown party tonight at the Bacolod Government Center
(BGC) grounds.
The party, dubbed "Countdown to a Great Year: Bacolod Welcomes 2012," is the
first public event of its kind in Bacolod and also the first in Negros
Occidental, and is a brainchild of Mayor Evelio Leonardia.
Leonardia said this is an attempt to divert the cultural tide in Bacolod,
where families typically celebrate New Year's Eve at home, by encouraging them
to celebrate the occasion with a "larger community."
The mayor said the party will be held "from sunset to sunrise" as it will
start at 6 p.m. today all the way to the first sunrise of 2012, or until 6 a.m.
tomorrow.
Leonardia is promising the people of Bacolod an unforgettable New Year's Eve
countdown party.
"The New Year's Eve countdown party will be worth remembering. We will make
it big-time. We want this celebration to establish Bacolod City as the New
Year's Eve Capital of the Philippines," he said.
It will start at 6 p.m. with the switching on of Lights and Dancing Statues,
followed by a program and Lights Show at 8 p.m., Dance Showdown at 9 p.m.,
MassKara Dancers, Elvis Attack, Fire Dancers and Drumbeaters at 10 p.m., another
Lights Show at 11 p.m., the Countdown at 11:30 p.m., and 30 minutes of fireworks
display at midnight. There will be live bands from 12:30 a.m. to 6 a.m.
Leonardia said the BGC grounds is now considered a family-oriented place and
has become a rendezvous of friends and individuals who are conscious of their
physical fitness, thus he is inviting families to welcome the New Year there.
There will be food and drink kiosks at the BGC grounds for family picnics,
while the parking lots will be reserved for tailgate parties, he said.
"People can party at the BGC until the sun rises on Jan. 1," he said.
Leonardia also hopes that the Bacolod Countdown Party could develop into
another tourist attraction of the city, like its world-famous MassKara Festival,
the BacoLaodiat Festival, and the Inasal Festival.
2,340 shelters to be built for displaced Maguindanao folk
By Jose Rodel Clapano The Philippine Star Updated January 01, 2012
12:00 AM 0 comment to this post
MANILA, Philippines - The government's Payapa at Masaganang Pamayanan
(Pamana) program turned over the other day to the Autonomous Region in Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM) a check worth P62 million for the construction of the 2,340
shelters for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Maguindanao.
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Teresita Deles turned the check to
newly installed ARMM officer-in-charge Vice Gov. Baino Karon, who represented
OIC Gov. Mujiv Hataman, in a simple ceremony at Deles' office in Pasig City.
The turnover was witnessed by Governors Mamintal Adiong Jr. (Lanao del Sur),
Abdusakur Tan (Sulu), Sadikul Sahali (Tawi-Tawi) and Jun Akbar (Basilan),
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-ARMM Assistant Secretary
Pombaen Kader, OPAPP Undersecretary Dimasangcay Pundato, Undersecretaries Louie
Montalbo and Gettie Sandoval, Assistant Secretaries Howard Cafugauan, Jehanne
Mutin and Romie Halabaso, and Director Susan Marcaida.
Deles said a total of 2,340 shelters will be constructed for families
displaced by armed skirmishes between government forces and lawless elements led
by Moro rebel commanders Ameril Umbra Kato and Bravo after the aborted signing
of the memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain in August 2008.
She said the shelters are expected to be completed within four months in five
municipalities, namely Talayan, Datu Anggal Midtimbang, Datu Piang, Datu Saudi
Ampatuan, and Datu Salibo.
The IDP Shelter Assistance Project, which provides basic housing facilities
to displaced families in conflict-affected areas, is a project under Pillar 1 of
the Pamana program.
Pamana is the government's peace and development framework that seeks to
reduce poverty, improve governance and empower communities through
community-driven projects that address the people's needs and also promote
peace.
To achieve peace, Deles said it should first be won on the ground.
"The government is sincerely committed to winning peace, not only on the
peace negotiating table, but also on the ground, especially in conflict-affected
communities, in order for them to have a stake in sustaining peace," Deles said.
For his part, Maguindanao peace and development officer Dave Utto, who
represented Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu, lauded President Aquino for being "serious
and dedicated in advancing peace and development in the ARMM."
"Peace-building efforts and development programs of the national government
and the local government which are experienced by the people in our province are
big blessings. They promote the welfare of the Bangsamoro," Utto said.
The OPAPP serves as the oversight agency of the Pamana program, while the
departments of Social Welfare and Development, Interior and Local Government,
and Agrarian Reform are the implementing agencies.
To uphold transparency and accountability, civil society groups monitor the
implementation of Pamana projects.
For the IDP Shelter Assistance Project, the government has tapped the
Institute for Autonomy and Governance as its third-party monitor.
The contractor for the Maguindanao shelters is the Kilusang Magkaibigan
Multi-purpose Cooperative.
8 towns tagged as illegal logging hot spots in Cagayan
Valley By Charlie Lagasca The Philippine Star Updated January 02,
2012 12:00 AM 0 comment to this post
BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – At least eight towns in Cagayan
Valley have been identified as illegal logging hot spots. This was disclosed
during a recent regional multi-sectoral forest protection committee meeting in
Tuguegarao City.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-led committee
identified the towns as Cabagan, Ilagan, Jones, San Guillermo, San Mariano and
Tumauini in Isabela, and Maddela and Nagtipunan in Quirino.
It was also disclosed during the meeting that several areas in Nueva Vizcaya
and Cagayan are still prone to illegal cutting of trees as shown in various
apprehensions of hot lumber in 2011.
Based on these apprehensions, the towns of Kasibu and Quezon in Nueva Vizcaya
are still havens of so-called carabao logging wherein loggers utilize water
buffaloes to haul illegally cut timber from the forests down to the nearest
access roads.
Forester Bernardo Valiente said a total of 934 cubic meters of illegal cut
lumber placed at P10 million were confiscated or intercepted during the second
quarter of 2011.
Overall though, the DENR said illegal logs seized by the anti-illegal logging
task force, composed of the DENR, local government units, police and military,
last year were significantly less than in previous years.
The DENR attributed this to its non-stop crackdown, with the help of the
private sector, including Bantay Gubat volunteers, on illegal logging in line
with President Aquino's order for a logging moratorium nationwide.
Forester Benjamin Tumaliuan, DENR regional executive director, said they
would further intensify their ground and aerial operations to eventually rid the
region of illegal loggers or timber poachers.
The northern Sierra Madre biodiversity corridor, home of some of the world's
endangered flora and fauna species, including the Rafflesia leonardi, said to be
the world's biggest flower species, lies in Cagayan Valley, especially Isabela
and Cagayan.
The northern Sierra Madre also hosts one of the country's remaining largest
forest covers. However, it continues to be threatened by illegal logging,
slash-and-burn farming and environmentally destructive practices.
"There are no sacred cows in the implementation of the logging ban in the
region. We have to protect our remaining forest cover in the region," Tumaliuan
said.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2011 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
All
rights reserved
PHILIPPINE
HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE [PHNO] WEBSITE
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/phnotweet
This is the PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE (PHNO) Mailing List.
To stop receiving our news items, please send a blank e-mail addressed to: phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
Please visit our homepage at: http://www.newsflash.org/
(c) Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
-------------------------------------------------------------Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/phno/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
phno-digest@yahoogroups.com
phno-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
phno-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
