Dead teacher, poll watcher given honors

By Juliet Labog-Javellana
Inquirer
Last updated 06:53am (Mla time) 08/09/2007

MANILA, Philippines — A teacher and a poll watcher, who died in a school torched by policemen in Taysan town in Batangas province in May, have been posthumously conferred the Order of the Golden Heart by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

 

The award, one of the highest honors given by the government to civilians, was conferred on Nelly Banaag, for 22 years a teacher at the Pinagbayanan Elementary School, and poll watcher Leticia Ramos, “in recognition of their courage and sacrifice in defending the sanctity of the ballot.”

 

It was received by their respective widowers and children.

 

Banaag and Ramos, now considered heroes of the May 14 elections, were trapped and died in one of the classrooms that were razed at dawn of May 15, just as the teachers had finished canvassing the votes.

 

The torched school was subsequently named in Banaag’s honor.

 

Special Operations Group

 

Ms Arroyo and Education Secretary Jesli Lapus traveled to Taysan on May 18 to attend the necrological rites for Banaag and Ramos and to extend financial benefits to their families.

 

During her visit, Ms Arroyo ordered Philippine National Police Director General Oscar Calderon to ensure swift justice for the two women by filing charges against the masked men who had fired their guns and set the school ablaze.

 

The men, believed to be members of the PNP Regional Special Operations Group in Batangas, were linked to reelectionist Mayor Hernando Villena of Taysan.

 

Calderon earlier identified the suspects as Chief Insp. Robert Marinda, head of the RSOG team in Batangas, and his deputy, Senior Police Officer 2 William Relos, and three other RSOG members.

 

Benefits

 

He said in May that Villena, who had failed to win reelection, was considered a suspect for being the possible mastermind.

 

Banaag’s family received close to P600,000 in insurance benefits and financial assistance from the Department of Education, the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Government Service Insurance System.

 

During the necrological services, a GSIS official gave Banaag’s family about P262,000, representing the partial payment for her life insurance and survivorship benefits. The official said the family would also receive a monthly pension of P4,100.

 

Lapus gave P200,000 as life insurance, and P50,000 and P20,000 from the central and regional DepEd offices, respectively.

 

Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral also gave an unspecified amount as DSWD assistance.

Close to 6,000 evacuated in Metro Manila due to floods–NDCC

By Joel Guinto
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 10:31am (Mla time) 08/09/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Floods triggered by torrential rains have forced 5,814 people to 22 evacuation centers in Metro Manila and Cavite province and affected 42,041 others in Central and Southern Luzon, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) said Thursday.

Dry spell impacts on poverty; cost to rice up to P1B

By Amy R. Remo
Inquirer
Last updated 05:39am (Mla time) 08/09/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Damage to rice from the dry spell may amount to between P600 million and P1.14 billion or about 200,000 to 400,000 metric tons, Agriculture Secretary Arthur C. Yap said Wednesday.

 

“The damage refers to the costs of planting rice and may still change depending on how the weather turns out,” Yap said.

 

He assured the public that rice supply remained stable.

 

“The supply needed for 2007 is in place. What we’re trying to assure is the supply of rice for 2008, which we are now augmenting through the quick-turnaround [planting] program,” he said.

 

He said that by this month, the National Food Authority would have around 800,000 metric tons of rice in its warehouses.

 

More than 127,000 hectares of farmland have withered in the northern third of the country after lower-than-normal rainfall in June and July, the Office of Civil Defense said.

 

Fishponds, too

 

Also devastated were some 41,000 hectares of fishponds.

 

Worst hit by the dry spell were the regions of Ilocos, Central Luzon and Southern Tagalog, Bicol and Cagayan Valley.

 

Besides destroying crops, the dry spell is hampering power generation, causing price increases that have hit the poor.

 

The weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has warned that the low rainfall risks developing into drought conditions if the dry spell persists into next month.

 

“Given that there are so many farmers affected by drought, the effect on poverty could be substantial,” said Sheila Encabo, a senior official at the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).

 

Agriculture accounts for just under a fifth of domestic economic output but it employs some 19 million Filipinos, or about 35 percent of the labor force.

 

Farmhands form a large part of the 40 percent of the population that lives on P90.36 a day or less.

 

Dennis Arroyo, NEDA deputy director, said the government’s 6.1-percent economic growth target for 2007 remained in place, but warned a drought could cause food price inflation and worsen poverty.

 

Consumer prices

 

For the government as well as economists, the other emerging threat is the revival of inflation. Consumer prices rose at a higher than expected clip of 2.6 percent in July as the dry spell pushed up the cost of food.

 

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco said the seven-month inflation figure was still within its 2.6-3.1 percent full-year forecast.

 

“This continues to support our view of a manageable inflation environment. Nonetheless, we are mindful of the risks to this view, which include volatility in oil prices, possible weather disturbances, increases in wages and transport fares,” Tetangco said.

 

“If the [dry spell] continues, there will be pressure to push up prices,” warned Jonathan Ravelas, an economist at Banco de Oro.

 

Power generation has also been hit by falling water levels. Metro Manila suffered power outages last month with hydroelectric plants grinding to a halt as rivers dried up.

 

Utility companies are now planning to further cut water supplies to the metropolis starting Aug. 15, and the Air Force has been cloud-seeding to try to bring on rain.

 

The Department of Agriculture said corn production in the first half of the year was below target.

 

Production targets

 

Yap said the effects of the dry spell meant it would now be difficult to achieve the country’s production growth aims.

 

But he said the losses could be made up for in other areas, noting that the central and southern islands, where coconuts, bananas and pineapple are farmed, had normal rainfall.

 

The agriculture department is carrying out a quick turnaround planting program to further boost yields in production areas not affected by the dry spell and thus, make up for the estimated shortfall.

 

Yap said the agriculture department would need about P150 million for this program.

 

Earlier, Yap said the dry spell had not reached a critical level.

 

The last dry spell in the Philippines affected 68 percent of the country and cut agricultural output by 6.6 percent in 1998, when rice yields plunged 43.6 percent and corn 26.6 percent.

 

Backs emergency powers

 

Yap said he would back controversial proposals to give President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo emergency powers to deal with the drought.

 

Such powers would allow her to get relief projects off the ground quickly, bypassing the government’s supply procurement rules and other red tape. With a report from Agence France-Presse

Collapse House

RESCUE. Armida Arorong is carried out by rescuers from the rubble of her collapsed home in Antipolo, Rizal. Arorong is one of five persons who were saved after a wall from Brentwood Subdivision collapsed on their house as strong rains brought by tropical storm Chedeng lashed Metro Manila and most parts of Luzon. INQUIRER/RAFFY LERMA

URBAN BOATRIDE. Enterprising residents OF Barangay Tunsuya, Malabon use a wooden boat to ferry passengers through the flooded streets as heavy rains brought by tropical storm Chedeng lashed Metro Manila and many parts of Luzon. INQUIRER/RAFFY LERMA

Holywood actor at Mt. Diwalwal

CHANGED MAN. Holywood actor Josh Harnett says he is a changed man after meeting Filipinos at the gold-rich mountain site of Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo, Compostela Valley where he filmed part of his new movie, “Come With the Rain”. INQUIRER/DENNIS JAY SANTOS

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. hosts his first press conference in Camp Aguinaldo Wednesday, shortly after he assumed office. INQUIRER.net/JOEL GUINTO

Clearing Operation

EYE FOR TROUBLE. A Marine sniper scans the terrain for signs of trouble as government troops mount a clearing operation in Sitio Corestal, Brgy. Buhepahu, Ungkaya Pokan after a Tuesday night encounter with lawless elements in the area. INQUIRER/EDWIN BACASMAS

FOR THE RECORD. Filipina mothers join others in 23 other countries in a synchronized breast feeding event at the TESDA office in Taguig in a global attempt at establishing another Guiness World Record on Simultaneous Breastfeeding in multiple sites to cap the celebration of World Breastfeeding Week. INQUIRER/REM ZAMORA

SUPPLY CONTRACTS IN MASINLOC SALE MAY HIKE ELECTRICITY BILLS FURTHER

The Arroyo government’s recent low-profile sale of the National Power Corporation’s (Napocor) 600-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired plant may result in higher electricity bills, according to independent think-tank IBON Foundation.

The plant was sold to AES Transpower Ltd of Singapore, a unit of US-based global power corporation AES with a bid price of US$930.83 billion.

The plant was able to fetch such a rich price because the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation, in conjunction with Napocor, packaged the plant with an aggregate 264.514 MW of power supply contracts, which will be the required volume of power to be supplied. Such contracts may result in higher rates through cost recovery mechanisms such as the controversial Purchased Power Adjustment (PPA).

This is particularly since the bid price is especially high, given that the winning bid in the last failed auction of Masinloc was US$561 million, reportedly enough to buy a brand-new 600MW power plant.

In the earlier sale, it was estimated that for the winning bidder, YNN Corp., to recover its bid, Masinloc’s production cost at the time of the bidding would have to increase by some 144 to 154 percent.

As shown by the country’s past experience with deregulation of the oil industry and privatization of water services in Metro Manila, private corporations would use all means available to them to jack up profits given that they have a captive market.