Difference between revisions of "Cebu City News July 2013"

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==Police seize P2-M fake bills in Cebu==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/31/police-seize-p2-m-fake-bills-cebu-295292
*Wednesday, July 31, 2013
:By  Davinci S. Maru and Jill Tatoy-Rabor
CEBU CITY -- A maker of fake bills was arrested and some P2 million in counterfeit P1,000 and US$100 bills were confiscated from him by the city police last Monday night.
The police also seized a computer, scanner and printer from Richard Uy, 65, who faces a pending case filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).
When the police arrested Uy in Banilad, Cebu City at 9:30 p.m. Monday, they said he distributes fake bills in Cebu and Malaysia.
Aside from counterfeit money, Uy also allegedly produces fake identification cards, driver’s licenses, transcripts of records and birth certificates.
Uy, a resident of Barangay Kasambagan, depends on pre-orders, said Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Mariano Natu-el Jr.
The bills are sold from P90 to P250 each.
Uy admitted he has been producing the fake bills for almost two years but said none of his clients were politicians.
Natu-el said the operation was planned after different police stations in Cebu City received several complaints from the public about counterfeit bills.
They traced the origins of the bills and conducted a one-week surveillance that led them to Uy. The Investigation and Detection Management (IDMB) conducted the buy-bust operation.
In the operation led by Chief Insp. Aileen Recla of the IDMB, a police decoy paid Uy P2,000 in exchange for almost P20,000 worth of fake bills, all of them P1,000.
While Uy was preparing the ordered bills, the operatives arrested him.
Police confiscated P800,000 worth of P1,000 bills that were ready for delivery and some fake US$100 that were still being printed.
After checking Uy’s cellular phone, the police found out that the P800,000 worth of fake bills were ordered by a man who was planning to bring them to Malaysia, where he would exchange them for ringgit.
“Base sa text, nagbisaya lang ang ga-order (The text message was in Bisaya); he is probably from Cebu,” said Natu-el.
Why Malaysia?
He said Malaysia was the destination of choice because it is reportedly harder there to detect whether the peso bills are fake or not.
“We hope that the Bangko Sentral will also give us tips on how to identify fake bills, especially now that manufacturers are learning how to closely imitate the real ones,” said Natu-el.
The outgoing Cebu City police chief said this was the biggest operation they had against counterfeit bills so far during his term. The police still have to investigate the scope of Uy’s alleged operations.
Uy was charged yesterday with a case of violating Republic Act 166 or the Registration and Protection of Trade Marks, Trade Names and Service Marks. He was also charged with possession of counterfeit bills.
Uy was previously charged with the same offense by the NBI but made bail last November 2012.
“They must be vigilant, especially in dealing with money,” said Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO).
Authenticate
He said the public, especially business establishments, should take the time to authenticate bills before receiving them.
Fake bills lack security features like watermarks, concealed values and security fibers. They also tend to have different colors and textures compared with genuine bills.
Comendador said they didn’t receive intelligence reports about a group manufacturing fake money in Cebu Province, but heard about distributors.
“We traced some before, but they were not manufacturers,” he said.
As a precaution, the Cebu Provincial Board approved a resolution in 2010, urging the Bangko Sentral and law enforcement agencies to stop the spread of counterfeit bills.
The manufacture and possession of instruments for falsification of money are penalized under Article 176 of the Revised Penal Code. (Sun.Star Cebu)
==Visayas trees now in print==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2013/07/30/visayas-trees-now-print-295171
*Tuesday, July 30, 2013
:By sunstar.com.ph
DESPITE a sudden downpour last July 24, guests from across Cebu province witnessed the unveiling of the first publication that compiles Philippine trees in the Visayas region and aims to provide comprehensive information about these indigenous tree species.
Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi) launched the Manual on Native Trees in the Visayas at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center, Cebu City.
The manual is a compilation of 101 Philippine native trees found in the Visayas.
The trees are grouped alphabetically according to the family classification each belongs to, and presented with descriptions that include their official names, scientific names, local names, methods of propagation and uses.
Also included are practical tips on how to plant a seedling and how to nurture it to full growth.
A glossary is provided to help readers in understanding technical words.
The book launching was attended by Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, mayors from different municipalities of Cebu Province, and representatives from various government agencies, civic organizations, and academic institutions all over Cebu.
Dominica Chua, Rafi chief operating officer, and Magpale formally presented Manual of Native Trees in the Visayas to the public through an unveiling of an enlarged version of the book cover.
Free copies of the book were given to identified guests and partners.
“Rafi has special preference for native trees due to their many benefits to surrounding flora and fauna,” Chua stressed.
During the program, a presentation of the results of this year's Run 2 Plant 4 Greenin Philippines was also done by Marge Gravador, executive director of Rafi’s Integrated Development unit.
The free running and indigenous tree planting event was held simultaneously in over 40 municipalities of the Province of Cebu last June 29.
Another initiative of Rafi in promoting biodiversity conservation is the Rafi Native Trees Nursery in Barangay Busay, Cebu City. The nursery houses 200,000 seedlings of 218 native tree species.
Manual on Native Trees in the Visayas was conceptualized to contribute to the achievement of Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals, which is to ensure environmental sustainability by reversing the loss of environmental resources.
Copies of the book are sold at P2,500 each at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center, 35 Lopez Jaena St., Cebu City. Interested buyers may contact (6332) 418-7234 loc. 515 and look for Noel Fornolles.
==New PB dad eyes replicating Cebu City projects for Prov Aid for the elderly, sports commission among targets==
*Source: http://www.philstar.com/cebu-news/2013/07/29/1026211/new-pb-dad-eyes-replicating-cebu-city-projects-prov-aid-elderly-sports
*Monday, July 29th, 2013
:By Gregg M. Rubio/JPM
CEBU, Philippines - Provincial Board Member Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba is eyeing to replicate some programs of the Cebu City Government in the Province of Cebu.
Among these are the creation of the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs and Provincial Sports Commission.
Alcoseba, a three-term councilor of Cebu City, held two committee chairmanships in the legislative body before his election as PB member in the last May 13 elections.
These are the committee on markets and the committee on games, amusements, and sports.
At the Capitol, Alcoseba was assigned to the PB committee on public services, and senior citizens.
Alcoseba said that he is crafting a proposed ordinance for the creation of the said bodies to be presented before the PB next month.
Unlike in Cebu City, Alcoseba noted that the programs for the elderly in the province are handled by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).
Alcoseba said there should be an office that will focus on the senior citizens in giving benefits and privileges.
Among the benefits Alcoseba is proposing is the giving of financial assistance to the senior citizens like Cebu City has been doing.
Alcoseba said that once an office for the elderly would be established, a separate funding shall also be appropriated out of the provincial funds.
Another body that Alcoseba wants to be created is the Provincial Sport Commission which is under the Office of the Governor.
Alcoseba observed that sports activities of the Province were just entrusted to the Association of  Barangay Councils and the Sangguniang Kabataan.
He emphasized the need to have grassroots program on sports that can create leadership and discipline to the youth. — (FREEMAN)
==Toledo City lass bags top Mutya crown==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/454139/toledo-city-lass-bags-top-mutya-crown
*Sunday, July 28, 2013
:By Inquirer with a report from contributor Orly G. Cajegas
Angeli Dione Gomez, a film graduate from Toledo City, Cebu, is the country’s new Mutya ng Pilipinas-Tourism International.
The 20-year-old Gomez, who also competed in the Binibining Pilipinas pageant early this year, will try to duplicate last year’s victory of fellow Cebuana, Rizzini Alexis Gomez, in the Miss Tourism International pageant in Malaysia.
Gomez got her crown from fellow-Cebuana, Rizzini, who is also the reigning Miss Tourism International.
During the final round, Gomez was asked what women from the West can learn from Filipino women. She replied: “Their virtue. They’re very strong and dedicated in their culture. That’s something Western women can learn from Filipino women.”
Gomez, who was also proclaimed Mutya ng Crimson, received the same prize package awarded to Koreen Medina who was crowned Mutya ng Pilipinas-Asia Pacific International  in the 2013 Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant on Friday night at the NBC Tent at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Medina, an 18-year-old Mass Communication student from Quezon City,  was also proclaimed Miss Talent, Miss Sheridan Beach Resort, Miss Lancaster Hotels and Miss Zen Institute. She, received her crown from last year’s winner Camille Guevarra. The new queen received a prize package worth P1 million, and will represent the country in the Miss Intercontinental pageant in Egypt later this year.
Asdis Liza Karlsdottir from the Filipino community of Iceland was hailed Mutya ng Pilipinas-Overseas Communities, while Maureen Ann Montagne from the Filipino community of Arizona and Kristian Aubrey Nolasco from Caloocan City were proclaimed first and second runners up, respectively.
Destiny
Gomez, who majored in film at the International Academy of Film and Television in Mactan, Cebu,  knows she is destined to become a beauty queen, believing that beauty queens are born, not made.
She  was crowned Reyna ng Aliwan 2012 and was also named Miss Resorts World Manila 2012 fourth runner-up.
Her  father is a pediatrician while her mother is a businesswoman.
She attended high school at B.R.I.G.H.T. Academy, before majoring in film at the International Academy of Film and Television. She is the eldest of three daughters.
Gomez used to ride horses and play polo, but an accident forced her to give them up. She now does poi, hoops, and contact juggling. She also collects jigsaw puzzles and now has about 50 in her collection.
Pressure
Asked if she feels the pressure to win the international title after her predecessor’s feat, Gomez said:  “I’ll try not to think  about that”.
“But I’m going to get more tips from Rizzini, hopefully to help me win the crown again for the Philippines,” she said.
As Toledo City’s Festival Queen, Angeli won another national crown as the Reyna ng Aliwan. And early this year, as a candidate in the Binibining Pilipinas Gold, Angelie (who tripped twice on pageant night) didn’t advance to the semis despite being an early favorite among pageant watchers and bloggers.
==Rape-slay suspect nabbed==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/453647/rape-slay-suspect-nabbed
*Saturday, July 27th, 2013
:By Michelle Joy L. Padayhag
A 39-year-old scavenger was arrested as a suspect in the raping and killing of a 19-year-old girl in barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
Roel Janoy, 39, was identified by a 10-year-old witness as one of the three persons who allegedly raped and killed 19-year-old Queennie Marie Arriesgado, whose body was found last July 20 in a grassy area in Mahiga Creek about 100 meters from the Mabolo Police Station.
Janoy denied the accusation against him.
The suspect claimed that during the incident, he was sleeping in a makeshift shanty under the Juan Luna Bridge where he was arrested yesterday afternoon.
Chief Insp. Ryan Asidera Devaras, chief of the Mabolo police, said the witness saw Janoy and two other persons believed to be 19 and 20 years old, drag the victim to the grassy area.
The witness said Queennie Marie was standing near the bridge when the assailants arrived, covered her mouth with a handkerchief and dragged her to the grassy area.
The victim was stabbed with an icepick, police said.
Janoy had no criminal records before he was arrested, police said.
Devaras confirmed that “solvent boys” often loiter in the area where the crime happened.
Janoy is detained at Mabolo Police Station pending the filing of rape and homicide charges against him, police said.
A follow-up operation to arrest the two other persons linked in the crime is underway, police said.
==Paint brushes used on bbq?==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/26/paint-brushes-used-bbq-294470
*Friday, July 26, 2013
:By  Bernadette A. Parco and Princess Dawn H. Felicitas
THE Cebu City Council wants the City Health Department (CHD) to thoroughly inspect paint brushes in the city that are used as “basting brushes” in restaurants, food stalls and barbecue stalls along the road.
The call came after two environment groups detected high levels of lead in paint brushes, making their use for food applications unsafe.
The Philippine Earth Justice Center Inc. (PEJC) and EcoWaste Coalition, after conducting the third in a series of toxic chemicals testing in Cebu City, found that barbecue vendors in Carbon and Larsian use paint brushes on the food that they sell.
Paint brushes, they said, are not the right tools for basting sauce on meat because they contain a high amount of the toxic chemical called lead.
The groups tested 19 paint brushes for toxic chemicals as part of their effort to prove that those sold in Cebu contain a safe amount of lead.
The brushes sold in six hardware stores in Cebu City cost between P5 and P119.
The result of the tests showed that of the 19 brushes, 16 were found to contain lead.
The lead content of these brushes reached between 309 ppm (parts per million) and 10,500 ppm, which the groups said are way above the US limit of 90 ppm for lead in paint and surface coatings.
In a statement, EcoWaste Coalition Project Protect head Thony Dizon said the results of the test showed that paint brushes used for greasing barbecue contain high amounts of lead.
“This raises the possibility of basting sauce being contaminated by lead coming from paint brushes, especially if the brushes started to flake because of continued use,” he said.
In an interview, stall caretaker Orce Manoza told Sun.Star Cebu that he only uses a proper basting brush for the barbecue he cooks.
A former construction worker said he could tell whether a paint brush is used or not.
He said paint brushes should only be used to apply paint and not for food preparation.
PEJC co-founder Gloria Estenzo-Ramos said that with the results of the tests, government officials should focus on informing the public about the hazards of misusing products that contain lead.
“We also hope our findings will induce hardware stores to demand lead-safe paint and paint brushes from their suppliers to safeguard public health,” said Estenzo-Ramos in a statement.
The groups cited the World Health Organization that lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems, including neurological, gastrointesyinal, cardiovascular, among others.
Three samples of Mayon brush has non-detectable lead level while the paint brushes that contained lead did not have proper labels and no warning that these should not be used for food.
They recommend using improvised brushes made of banana pandan and tanglad leaves.
In an approved resolution, City Councilors Alvin Dizon and Mary Ann delos Santos said that lead is a chemical element, which is regarded as a heavy metal and at certain degrees can cause grave effects on the public health.
“It is a poisonous substance as it damages the nervous system and causes brain disorders making it a developmental and reproductive toxin,” they said.
“We strongly urged CHD to conduct thorough inspections of paint brushes used in restaurants, food stalls and barbecue vendors to ensure that these paint brushes are lead-free and not hazardous to the health and the well-being of innocent consumers,” they added.
Dizon and delos Santos said CHD’s inspection should be done together with the council’s committee on health, hospital services and sanitation, headed by Councilor Lea Japson.
In the same resolution, Dizon and delos Santos are asking hardware stores, as suggested by the Eco Waste Coalition, to require their suppliers to make lead-free and non-toxic paint brushes.
On the request of the environment group for the council to craft an ordinance banning the use of paint brushes for food applications, Dizon said he is willing to author it together with Councilor Nida Cabrera, who is the head of the committee on environment.
“An ordinance is proper to ensure strict compliance,” he said. (Sun.Star Cebu)
==City malls, businesses set up anti-flood measures==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/452449/city-malls-businesses-set-up-anti-flood-measures
*Thursday, July 25, 2013
:By Aileen Garcia-Yap
Commercial establishments and two malls in Cebu City are setting up their own flood mitigation measures for the rainy season.
In a press statement Cebu Holdings, Inc. corporate communications manager Jeanette Japzon said Cebu Business Park’s drainage system absorbed the floodwaters, causing it to subside quickly.
A two-hour downpour last July 20 flooded low-lying parts of Cebu City.
Cebu Holdings Inc. owns and operates Ayala Center Cebu at the Cebu Business Park.
“We were also able to quickly reroute traffic to prevent vehicles from being stranded along flooded roads,” she said.
About four inches of rainwater pooled in part of basement 1 near the mall’s west entry.
Japzon said the ongoing excavation of their building hit a pipe, so the water seeped into the basement instead of going into the drainage.
“The floodwaters subsided. There was no report of damage to property or the cars parked in the area. It was an isolated incident,” Japzon said.
Japzon said they are finalizing plans to upgrade their drainage systems and utilities to anticipate extraordinary situations brought about by climate change.
SM City Cebu in the North Reclamation Area was also affected by the heavy downpour last Saturday evening.
Mall manager Sherry Tuvilla said the flooding stranded many customers.
Tuvilla said there is a pending government project to rehabilitate the Mahiga Creek. The mall signed an agreement with the Cebu city government in January 2010 to partly fund this through an advance tax payment arrangement.
“Coordination with the City to pursue this critical project is continuing. Currently we are working with a designer for a water holding tank that can contain rainwater from the government drain line,” Tuvilla said.
==Over 60 bands to join Cebu music fest==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2013/07/24/over-60-bands-join-cebu-music-fest-294177
*Wednesday, July 24, 2013
:By  (Cristy Jane M. Baltes, PIT intern/Sunnex)
ABOUT 64 bands will be joining this year’s Cebu Music Festival, also known as “Tukar sa Sugbo,” which will be held in Ayala Center Cebu and SM Cebu City, said the Cebu City Tourism Commission (CCTC) on Wednesday.
"This event is a way of expanding and improving the Cebu music with its flexibility of any genre for public viewing," said CCTC in-charge Ana Quisumbing.
She said of the bands, 27 will perform in Ayala on July 26-27, while the other 37 will perform at SM City on August 2-3. The bands will receive an honorarium from the two malls, she added.
Quisumbing also said that the CCTC will also invite guests from Korea. The guests are yet to be identified.
Posters and streamers will be posted at the main streets of Cebu City for these activities, she said.
Among the sponsors of the celebration are the Culture Art Council of Korea, Pepsi, and Island Souvenirs.
The Cebu Music Festival is a project of the Cebu City Government, through the CCTC and Cebu City Tourism Foundation Inc.
==2 cities search for next steps, funds against disasters==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/23/2-cities-search-next-steps-funds-against-disasters-293889
*Tuesday, July 23, 2013
:By  Bernadette A. Parco, Princess Dawn H. Felicitas and Rebelander S. Basilan
IT will take P2 billion for the Cebu City Government to move thousands of families away from danger zones, like riverbanks, so they can live safely.
But Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he believes moving these families has become more urgent, following last Saturday night’s heavy downpour that caused landslides and flooded streets.
The City Government of Mandaue, for its part, will work on addressing floods affecting city roads, while the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will inspect the drainage in flood-prone areas of the national highway.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 called on local government units to look at geohazard maps, to help them plan and work with national agencies or organizations, in preparing for disasters.
In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu yesterday, Atty. Collin Rosell of the Cebu City Government said at least P2 billion will be used to fund the relocation and financial assistance for the affected families, pegged at P200,000 per family.
Law says so
Rosell is chief of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), which estimated how much it would cost to clear the three-
meter easement zone of rivers.
The amount includes the cost of lot acquisition, construction of starter houses and cash aid per family, which will be equivalent to the minimum wage for 60 days or about P18,300.
This is in compliance with Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.
Asked how many structures are located within the three-meter easement, Rosell said that based on their data, there are 7,000 houses, shared by some 10,000 families.
The figures have to be verified, though, as the newly formed group by Mayor Michael Rama—known as the Project ReDZ or Reduction Danger Zones—has another figure.
The project’s head, former city councilor Jose Daluz III, said that based on the Geographic Information System of the City’s Management Information and Computer Services, there are some 4,600 families living within the three-meter easement.
PNoy, Binay
So the families will be relocated, Rosell told Sun.Star Cebu that the City wrote President Benigno Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay last year to ask for assistance in securing the P2-billion fund.
Malacañang has referred the matter to the National Housing Authority (NHA).
The City, though, Rosell said, was told by the NHA to use first the P78 million that the City secured from the agency’s Poverty Alleviation Fund III in 1998 yet, before securing more financial aid.
The P78 million is also intended for the relocation of families living near rivers, creeks and other waterways.
The use of the fund is yet to be approved by the City Council, as the legislative body has scheduled a public hearing on this next month.
Earlier, DWUP had said they intended to use the money to build two medium-rise buildings in the Old Lorega Cemetery, which are estimated to accommodate 174 families.
As for the advice of the NHA, Rosell said they will heed it and use first the P78-million fund.
In a related development, Project ReDZ met yesterday to discuss their move against the families living near the five major rivers in the city: Mahiga, Lahug, Guadalupe, Kinalumsan and Bulacao.
Families
The group was formed after the city suffered from a long and heavy downpour Saturday night, which triggered landslides and floods.
During their meeting, the group said there is a need to remove informal settlers from the riverbanks for their safety. City Hall also needs to conduct dredging operations, restore the original width of the easement, and take legal action against illegal structures and buildings, among others.
But first, Daluz said there is a need to identify all the families currently living within the three-meter easement.
“We are not thinking yet of how much it will cost us to remove all the families in the danger zones because we want to identify them first and talk to them, cooperate with them. We believe that they are part of the solution,” he said.
In Mandaue, the City Engineering Office is preparing the program of work and estimates (Powe) for drainage works at the intersection of Plaridel St. going to Barangay Opao and on A.S. Fortuna St., particularly in the LH Prime area.
It is also working on the Powe for the dredging of Tipolo Creek.
Rainwater
Florentino Nimor, head of the City Planning and Development Office, said Mandaue plans to install a new drainage for the rainwater runoff from Plaridel St. to flow to the creek in Opao.
Some P25 million from the City’s disaster risk reduction and management fund will be allocated for the dredging of Tipolo Creek to fix flooding in Tipolo.
Nimor said solving the flooding in the LH Prime area will require the cooperation of private stakeholders, since the drainage cuts through private lots.
The DPWH Sixth Engineering District, with the help of the City, is assessing the drainage in eight flood-prone sites, including five along the national highway or M.C. Briones St.
The sites along the national highway are Sudlon, Maguikay, Highway Seno, Cebu Shipyard area and Subangdaku flyover.
The other three sites are the LH Prime and Rolling Hills on A.S. Fortuna St., and the intersection of Plaridel St. going to Opao.
Simulation
After the inspection, recommendations will be made to the DPWH regional office.
Nimor said the City’s drainage board has yet to receive any report or copy of the findings of the DPWH Sixth District Engineering Office.
The City will use a software application to identify the chokepoints for rainwater runoff in the LH Prime area.
Nimor said that Dr. Danilo Jacque, the City’s consultant on solid waste management who is also an expert on hydraulics, will facilitate the computer simulation.
Nimor said data—such as the size of existing culverts—will be inputted in the software to identify the chokepoints.
When the simulation is done, the result will be presented to the stakeholders in the area.
“We will conduct a public hearing and tell the stakeholders what we need to do,” Nimor said.
City Administrator James Abadia said de-clogging operations are ongoing.
But he said the City may hire private contractors to de-clog drains because the City’s two vacuum trucks are not enough.
Clearing
Abadia said clearing operations along waterways are also ongoing. The City’s target is to remove about 3,500 illegal structures.
To help communities prepare for disasters, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 7 is assessing the 1:10,000 scale geohazard map for 221 barangays in four cities and five municipalities in Cebu.
“The 1:50,000 scale geohazard maps, which are now available online in four websites, can be accessed by anybody online,” said DENR7 Regional Executive Director Dr. Isabelo Montejo.
Montejo said the new geohazard maps can provide specific physical characteristics and identify possible landslide-prone and flood-prone sitios in each barangay covered.
“Our color-coded maps would serve as appropriate warnings for our barangay officials to initiate necessary measures to reduce possible impacts or effects of landslides and floods,” he added.
==How were 500 sacks of rice pilfered from CIP?==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/22/how-were-500-sacks-rice-pilfered-cip-293761
*Monday, July 22, 2013
:By  Elias O. Baquero
THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu and the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) are separately investigating how smuggled rice got spirited out of the heavily guarded Cebu International Port (CIP).
Port of Cebu District Collector Edward Dela Cuesta told journalists last July 16 that about 160 sacks of rice were stolen from CIP.
However, the pilferage has reached more than 500 sacks already, based on the latest inventory last July 19.
The missing 500 sacks of rice could be worth at least P780,000, based on the price fetched during a public bidding of smuggled rice last May. Each sack went for P1,560.
There are still 1,229 cargo containers of smuggled rice at the CIP, containing a total of 292,880 sacks.
A source at the Port of Cebu revealed that nine 20-foot cargo containers of rice were found with broken official seals. Of the nine, five were inventoried and found to be missing at least 239 sacks.
The other four containers will be inventoried today, after rain interrupted the process last Friday.
Storage
Lawyer Dante Maranan, chief of the Port of Cebu’s Auction and Cargo Disposal Union (ACDU), said his office only facilitates public bidding. Dela Cuesta, he said, created an inventory committee chaired by Arneth Von Carmel Manququis to account for the rice shipment.
When sought to comment, Manquiquis said her committee will submit an inventory report to Dela Cuesta today.
The stolen rice bags were stored at CIP, which belongs to the jurisdiction of CPA. Shipments are considered under BOC’s full jurisdiction only once these are transferred to the customs container yard.
After an initial inquiry, Dela Cuesta said they banned a retired employee of Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. from entering the customs zone on suspicion that he participated in stealing the rice.
NFA deal
Under the Tariff and Customs Code, the BOC’s Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) is the official guardian of all cargoes seized and forfeited in favor of the government.
Dela Cuesta said the smuggled rice was supposed to be sold through public auction last June 25 and July 18, but Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon stopped it on instructions of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.
Dela Cuesta said that Department of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala suggested to Purisima that the National Food Authority (NFA) buy the smuggled rice at P850 per sack. (The NFA reports to the agriculture department).
The port collector said he wondered why Alcala got interested in the smuggled rice when the NFA recently imported rice from Vietnam, which arrived in Cebu in eight vessels.
CPA General Manager Dennis Villamor said he has ordered an investigation on the reported loss of the rice stocks, while Col. Oscar Lopez, the manager for port safety and security, has an initial report on the matter. That report has yet to be revealed.
==Cebu City Council to tackle implementing rules==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/449267/cebu-city-council-to-tackle-implementing-rules
*Sunday, July 21st, 2013
:By  Doris C. Bongcac, Jose Santino Bunachita
Stores in Cebu City will no longer be allowed to use plastic bags on Saturdays  by September this year.
That’s the target date to apply  implementing rules for  City Ordinance 2343 or the “No Plastic Saturday Ordinance of Cebu City.”
In the second year of implementation, the ban will extend to Wednesdays.
Plastic bags are identified as a main cause of clogged sewage drains and waterways, a problem that manifests in flashfloods all over the city after a heavy rain like last night’s downpour that left main roads in Metro Cebu under water.(See story on page 2).
Implementing rules are being finalized by the author, Councilor Nida Cabrera, after a series of consultations with business owners and retailers, who initially resisted the ban on using cheap, convenient plastic bags.
Over three years in the              making, the ordinance for a partial ban was passed by the Cebu City Council on Dec. 12, 2012 and signed into law by Mayor Michael Rama last January 16.
Violators face a P2,000 fine on the first year of implementation and a higher P5,000 fine on the second year along with a six-month imprisonment and possible revocation of an establishment’s business permit.
“It’s been a long while since we passed the ordinance but we haven’t implemented it yet because we were drafting the implementing rules and regulations. We were also meeting with the different mall managers and vendors to explain the ordinance,” Cabrera told Cebu Daily News.
The main sponsors were Councilor Cabrera and Edgar Labella, who is now vice mayor.
It takes a few minutes to use a plastic bag, but once discarded it takes up to 1,000 years for the bag to degrade, filling up garbage dumpsites, unlike paper or a bayong made of leaves which decomposes.
As stated in its purpose, “This ordinance is promulgated to eliminate the widespread use of plastic shopping bags for packaging; prevent pollution of waterways which hurts the marine life; eliminate clogging of sewages that causes flooding; prevent chocking of landfills; also raise the level of public awareness and responsibility in the use of shopping bags as well as to increase the (city’s) revenues in solid waste management.”
The ban was welcomed by some business groups at the forefront of advocating the use of recyclable bags, like the Cebu chapter of the Philippine Retailers Association.
PRA Cebu chairperson Melanie Ng said Cebu retailers were prepared for the ban.
“We were consulted even before, by then councilors Nestor Archival and Nida Cabrera. That’s why PRA Cebu launched ‘Every Bag Counts’,” she said, a campaign for member stores to use alternative bags of paper or other recylable materials.
The fact that it’s not a total ban, she said, should encourage retaliers to support the ordinance.
“It’s going to be impemented by phases. Our malls and supermarkets in Cebu City have long implemented the once-a-week use of paper bags or conduct promos or give discounts to shoppers who use eco-bags or biodegradable bags,” said Ng.
Stores in Ayala Center and SM City are an example.
Philip Tan, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the root cause of the problem is poor solid waste management.
“In Europe, people bring their own shoppping bags and clean their own mess. We, in the Philippines, let others serve us. It’s not the fault of the plastic but the fault of irresponsible and undisciplined people,”he said.
He said the initial once-a-week plastic ban would mean additional cost to retailers and that he hoped the cost of alternative materials for shopping bags would decrease.
Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alan “Dondi” Joseph agreed that consumer habits were a factor.
“If we had good solid waste managment and recylcing, we wouldn’t need to ban plastics. Huge plastic wastage is a symptom of the problem which is poor waste management.”
In a forum on air and water pollution last Friday in City Hall, where findings of scientistis of the University of San Carlos were discussed, one official lamented the widespread use of plastic.
“Is it possible for Cebu City to ban plastics? I can see plastic floating 10 kilometers from Cebu’s shorelines. It creates a very, very bad impression of Cebu,” said Dr. Edgar Solana, director of the Pollution Control division of the Cebu Institute of Technology.
In the forum, Cabrera explained that the city would schedule days for a ban on plastic bags to regulate its distribution. She will present the proposed IRR to the City Council in August.
Under the IRR, the city will have a program to buy used plastic bags at 50 centavos per kilo.
Section 8 of the ordinance ecourages business establishments to give incentives to customers to bring their own non-plastic shopping bags and provide disposal bins for plastic and other wastes. The used bags would then be turned over to an accredited member of the Philippine Plastic Industry Association, Inc. for recycling. /with reports fROM Cris EVERT LATO
==Resto owners to explain business to City==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/20/resto-owners-explain-business-city-293416
*Saturday, July 20, 2013
:By  Jujemay G. Awit
ONE by one, the Cebu City Liquor Licensing Commission met with the owners of restobars located within a hundred-meter radius of the University of San Carlos (USC) Main Campus.
The commission’s chairperson Msgr. Achilles Dakay said their summons will not be limited to restobars surrounding USC but it is a start, prompted by the closure of Kuerks Restaurant Ltd. Co.
“We will call them one by one to hear their side,” Dakay told reporters.
At yesterday’s meeting, the commission called the owners of Kuerks/Knock Box and Mr.
J’s.
While Kuerks/Knock Box is located at the Aznar parking lot across the USC Law School in Jones Ave., Mr. J’s is located perpendicular to the institution at Sanciangko St.
Mari Giev Flores faced the commission to explain that Knock Box started as a pizzeria but they later served alcohol.
Dakay learned that the main provision served at Knock Box is pizza so he told Flores to just forgo the serving of alcohol.
No alcohol
“She promised there will be no more alcohol,” said Dakay.
Knock Box will be taking over Kuerks, which was closed by the Cebu City Government for various complaints of violation of the anti-noise ordinance, failure to pay social amelioration and business taxes and serving alcohol within a hundred-meter radius of a school.
But Mr. J’s owner, former Kamagayan Barangay Captain Mansueto Avila, said his restobar has a special permit to serve alcohol.
Dakay admits that while Mayor Michael Rama has announced there will be no more special permits to be issued, some establishments have been issued permits last January.
A special permit can serve alcohol to patrons after 10 p.m.
Rama’s pronouncement was made at about the second quarter of the year.
“We have not received a notice, this is just a consultative meeting,” said Avila.
He also said Mr. J’s opened in 2006, ahead of the opening of the annex building of USC where the law school is located.
But Dakay also said that even if the establishment came first, when institutions like schools, Church or hospitals are built, the latter will have to be prioritized.
Avila said he will follow the City Government’s policy on special permits.
But he said, “I will be obliged but that will be hard to implement because the City would be bankrupt.”
Avila said alcohol manufacturers would complain about this and the City will lose a lot in social amelioration taxes. He also wondered how the City can implement the 100-
meter radius prohibition when institutions are scattered all over the urban area.
Avila also questioned the provision under the Cebu City ordinance preventing establishments to serve alcohol to minors because the ordinance identify minors to be below 21 years old while the definition of a minor under the national law is below 18 years old.
Dakay said there is a need to amend the existing ordinance to make appropriate definitions of “sell” and “serve.”
While Kuerks is barred from serving alcohol, they can sell.
More establishments will be called in the coming weeks.
==P3.5-M ‘shabu’ found in Cebu town==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/19/p35-m-shabu-found-cebu-town-293295
*Friday, July 19, 2013
:By  (KAL/with EOB/Sun.Star Cebu)
CEBU -- The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized on Thursday morning P3.5-million worth of white powder believed to be shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) in the rented apartment of the Nigerian national earlier arrested in Yati, Liloan, Cebu.
The Filipino live-in partner of James Cunta Okwudili Uyanneh voluntarily turned over to the NBI agents a gray travelling bag she had long suspected to contain contraband, NBI supervising agent Rennan Oliva said.
Oliva told reporters that the agents did not force Susan Santillan, 38, to give them the bag.
When the bag was opened outside the apartment, cardboards similar to the one confiscated from Uyanneh inside a motel in Mandaue City Tuesday night were found.
Fourteen packs of white powder believed to be shabu were found inserted between the cardboards.
NBI-Central Visayas Director Antonio Pagatpat, who was present during the operation, said the packs weigh around 700 grams.
Uyanneh will be charged with violating Section II (possession of illegal drugs) of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
After the operation, NBI filed charges against Uyanneh for violation of Section 5 (sale of illegal drugs) of RA 9165 before the Mandaue City Prosecutor’s Office Thursday afternoon.
Uyanneh was arrested inside the Moonlight Lodging Inn at the North Reclamation Area Tuesday night.
During the inquest proceeding before Assistant City Prosecutor Mary Francis Daquipil, Uyanneh opted not to avail of his right to preliminary investigation.
As a result, the complaint will be elevated to court for trial. Selling of illegal drugs is non-bailable under RA 9165.
An inquest is a summary inquiry that is meant to check if the warrantless arrest of a person can be justified by probable cause.
Oliva said their operation Thursday was valid because Santillan gave her consent to search the room and she gave the bag to the NBI team.
A warrantless search, under the rules of court, can be valid and the seized items are admissible in evidence when the owner allows the law enforcers to search his place.
Law enforcers do not have to warn people that they have a right to refuse consent to a search. If they get consent through trickery or coercion, the consent does not validate the search, according to an online law encyclopedia.
Santillan said that she was reading the newspaper about her Nigerian partner’s arrest before the agents arrived in the apartment past 11 a.m.
She learned of Uyanneh’s arrest only last Wednesday from her son. She did not believe him right away.
“I did not expect this to happen,” she said.
Uyanneh, she said, has a sister who is a judge in Los Angeles, California. Santillan said she did not know Uyanneh was involved in the illegal drug trade.
But she got suspicious when Uyanneh refused to let her open the gray travelling bag, which was always locked.
Her suspicions grew when Uyanneh would tell her not to disturb him when he was inside their bedroom.
“He told me he would be praying,” Santillan said.
Uyanneh’s firm, Eco-Pacific Global Link, was listed as member of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) in 2008, and has since been dropped from the roster.
The CCCI said that after Global link was delisted, they never heard from Uyanneh again.
The firm reportedly sold crude oil.
Meanwhile, the lawyer of another Nigerian who had been looking for Uyanneh said Uyanneh has a pending warrant of arrest for estafa.
Nilo Ahat, lawyering for Adolphus Ugfigwe, said they had been searching for Uyanneh since 2011 for his failure to deliver four vehicles that his client had bought and fully paid for.
Ugfigwe has sued Uyanneh for estafa for a P2.8-million unpaid transaction.
“With his arrest, we hope that the warrant of arrest against the Nigerian fugitive will be served,” Ahat said.
==3-day DRR Summit for newly-elected officials in CV set==
*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=1061374053487
*Thursday, July 18th, 2013
:By  Fayette C. Ri�en
CEBU CITY, July 18 (PIA) -- Newly-elected officials in Central Visayas are expected to participate in the three-day Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Summit on July 31 to August 2 at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in Mandaue City.
The DRR Summit, organized by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) 7, aims to guide newly-elected officials in crafting or improving their respective disaster risk reduction and mitigation program.
OCD 7 Regional Director Minda Morante, who also sits as chairperson of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) in Central Visayas, said it is imperative for first-time local chief executives to participate in the summit so they will know what to do amid frequent occurrences of increment weather.
Apart from mayors, also invited to the summit are local planning officers, local disaster focal persons and representatives of the Department of Local and Interior Government (DILG).
“Over 500 participants have been invited to attend the summit,” bared Morante adding that the summit is necessary especially after elections with new sitting mayors and that re-orientation on the importance of DRR is critical amid frequent weather disturbances during this rainy season.
Danao City in northern Cebu yesterday experienced waist-level flooding after a waterspout hit them the other night as Morante said they are still waiting for reports to reach their office on any casualties or number of injured.
“A waterspout usually happens after heavy thunderstorms. And we have been experiencing heavy thunderstorms since last week,” disclosed the OCD7 chief.
The OCD7 director said the city government of Danao has its own local disaster risk reduction and management council (DRRMC) which is tasked to act on the situation and report it to the provincial DRRMC.
“That is why it is very important for LGUs to have an active local DRRMC as we will wait for their report” and also check on what assistance can be given to them (Danao City), said Morante.
According to an online dictionary, a waterspout is similar to a tornado but in a lesser degree or a lesser whirlwind occurring over water and resulting in a funnel-shaped whirling column of air and spray.
Morante said Danao City is a coastal area and that flooding is a risk in case of a waterspout.
The RDRRMC 7 again emphasized on the attendance of local chief executives to the DRR Summit that will reflect their commitment on mitigating the risks of natural disasters especially in these times of climate change threat.
Morante was one of the key panelists in the recent AGIO7 Forum held at the PIA7 Office that featured the annual observance of July as National Disaster Consciousness Month. (PIA7)
==City Hall closes Kuerks 9 days after brawl==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/17/city-hall-closes-kuerks-9-days-after-brawl-292888
*Wednesday, July 17, 2013
:By Jujemay G. Awit and Kevin A. Lagunda
THE Cebu City Government padlocked Kuerks Restaurant Co. Ltd. Tuesday afternoon.
At exactly 2 p.m., the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement (PROBE) Division of the Cebu City Government, headed by Racquel Arce, arrived at the open-air establishment to serve the closure order.
Just as personnel refused last Friday night to receive the notice to show cause why Kuerks should be allowed to keep operating, personnel also refused to receive the closure order yesterday.
Arce was told that the establishment is no longer Kuerks Restaurant but Knock Box. Two Knock Box tarpaulins hung from the railings surrounding the establishment.
Padlocked
The same railings were chained and padlocked by PROBE and personnel from the City Treasurer’s Office. The padlock used is from the Cebu City Government.
But Arce recognized that the management can continue to operate at night if they wish to because the railings can be moved.
“But they will be facing another violation if they do that,” warned Arce.
While the employees claimed that the establishment is already Knock Box, there are still more prominent signs that says it is Kuerks resto-bar.
The bar beside it still bears the logo KB for Knock Box.
“Ocular inspections were conducted in your area and verification of your records was also made with the Office of the City Treasurer relative to the status of your business establishment. It was found that you have violated the Tax Ordinance, Liquor Ordinance and the Anti-Noise Ordinance of Cebu City,” said the closure order signed by Mayor Michael Rama.
Since the order was not formally received, PROBE posted it on the wall where the stage for the live band was situated.
On the parallel wall is the notice to show cause why the bar should not be closed. The notice sought a reply within 72 hours, but there was no reply from the management.
Expired
While the establishment was said to be Knock Box, an expired sanitary permit was posted on the wall that states that the bar is Kuerks.
The permit was issued to Richard Aznar and was valid until February of this year.
Talisay City Councilor Richard Aznar claimed that the bar was already sold to a certain Mrs. Flores last year.
Tax Mapping of Business Establishment Division Chief Juanita Monina Paires recalled
that on record, the owner of Kuerks is a certain Mari Giev Flores.
But the establishment did not renew its business permit and has not paid its social amelioration tax last year.
“This establishment is closed for violating the tax, liquor and anti-noise ordinances.
Closure order dated July 16, 2013,” read the notice printed on six bond papers and posted on various locations inside and outside the bar.
“So far we only received the order to close this place but there will be others. The violations are not limited to this place,” said Arce.
No charges
Kuerks was highlighted because it was rumored to be owned by Councilor Gerardo Carillo, who denied ownership of the bar. No record would also point to him as the owner.
But Carillo was in the bar in the early hours of July 7, when a brawl ensued on nearby Osmeña Blvd. The bar is located in the Aznar Parking Lot.
Carillo responded to the brawl among young men, and 16-year-old Jan Niño Pogoy was sent to the hospital. Pogoy claimed that Carillo hit him in the head with a rock.
No case was filed against Carillo as of yesterday.
The management’s remedy is to meet with City Attorney Jerone Castillo and discuss how
the bar can correct its lapses.
Rama said he does not want to talk about settlement as of yet.
“We are doing this to serve a lesson to everyone,” said Rama.
Also yesterday, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 Director Antonio Pagatpat said they cannot start their investigation on the rumble unless the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) will give them the reports on the incident.
Progress
He told reporters yesterday they need the spot and progress reports on the case.
Pagatpat’s statement contradicted that of CCPO Director Mariano Natu-el Jr., who said he already turned over to the NBI the documents last Monday.
Pagatpat further said if the police decide to file complaints against Councilor Carillo, the NBI will stop its investigation.
In an earlier report, Pogoy’s family has not yet decided if they will file charges.
Jan’s policeman-brother Kenneth, who is assigned to the Parian Police Station, said they want to focus on the boy’s recovery for the moment and have avoided asking him about the incident.
Pogoy is still confined in a private room in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center after undergoing surgery in the head.
Three witnesses told homicide investigators that they and Pogoy were drinking at Kuerks when a group of boys started to argue with them. The argument led to the fistfight and the injuries Jan suffered.
==Kuerks bar told: Heed order or face closure==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/445225/kuerks-bar-told-heed-order-or-face-closure
*Tuesday, July 16, 2013
:By Michelle Joy L. Padayhag and Jose Santino Bunachita, Correspondents
There won’t be any amnesty if Kuerks Restaurant Bar refuses to receive the notice of order from the Cebu City government.
“If they (Kuerks Restaurant Bar) insist on not answering replies, we will be forced to close the establishment with or without the notice order,” City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo said.
Last Friday evening Juanita Monina Paieres, tax mapping division chief, served the notice of order to prohibit serving liquor to minors and staging live band music to Kuerks management.
Piaeres and her City Hall team were accompanied by police as she served the notice order during the middle of a live band performance at the Kuerks bar located along Pelaez Street, barangay Kamagayan, Cebu City.
Castillo said they cannot automatically shut down an establishment without serving the notice of order so the management can explain their side.
He said he will meet with his staff to assess the report submitted by the inspection team on the Kuerks bar and other night spots.
On receiving the notice, the establishment is given 72 hours to submit their explanation in writing.
Paieres said Kuerks Restaurant Bar violated City Ordinance 1413 which prohibits establishments from serving liquors if they are located 100 meters from schools, hospitals or churches.
She also said the establishment violated the ordinance after they were found selling liquor to persons aged below 21 years old.
Kuerks Restaurant Bar came under fire due to a brawl that resulted in one minor sustaining a severe head injury.
The 16-year-old victim named Jan Niño Pogoy, was allegedly bashed on the head with a rock by Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, who denied the allegation as well as reports that he owned the bar.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama visited Pogoy at a government-owned hospital last Wednesday evening.
He said he told the doctors to extend every possible assistance to the victim.
The recommendation to close the restaurant bar submitted by the City Treasurer’s Office yesterday awaits Rama’s approval.
City Treasurer Emma Villarete said the bar was inspected following a complaint from GV Towers Hotel about the noise created by the live band performances at Kuerks.
The restaurant-bar also owed the city nearly half a million pesos in back taxes and its business permit already expired.
Rama directed City Administrator Atty. Jose Marie Poblete to intensify their inspections of night spots in the city and enforcement of the city ordinances on liquor ban and curfew of minors.
Aside from Kuerks, City Hall teams were dispatched to inspect bars in Mango Avenue, I.T. Park and the downtown area last Friday night.
“When there are people reacting that will be very positive. That means our composite team is around and they should be very observant enough. They should be complying because we mean business,” Rama said.
Rama said he will appoint a point person in the mayor’s office who will be on call 24/7 to respond to any emergency and keep him updated.
“Lahi naman gud ang Cebu City (Cebu City is different). We are being visited by an increasing number of tourists. We are becoming a city that doesn’t sleep so the government should also be awake,” he added.
==Mike defers plan to run for mayors’ league presidency==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/15/mike-defers-plan-run-mayors-league-presidency-292537
*Monday, July 15th, 2013
:By  Princess Dawn H. Felicitas
FOR what he called “practical” reasons, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has decided to shelve his plan to run for president of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP).
In a news conference he called at his office yesterday, Rama said he came up with his decision to no longer run after his meeting with Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista in Manila last Friday.
Rama said he learned from Bautista that the Liberal Party (LP) will field him (Bautista) in the LCP elections on July 19. Bautista reportedly added that his candidacy is supported by President Benigno Aquino III.
“Seeing the whole picture, it would not be practical for me to force (my plan), especially that there is such a thing as a formed ticket that I have been made aware of when I went to Manila,” the newly reelected Cebu City mayor said.
Rama added he has less chance of winning the LCP’s top position considering that the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) has fewer local allies who won in the May 13 elections, compared with the LP.
“Considering the numbers we (UNA) have, layo ra man among numbers sa LP (The LP has far more winning allies than we have),” he said.
Asked if he is disappointed, the mayor answered it would have been better if the President did not get involved in the LCP’s electoral process.
“Di man ta kapugong kung mao na ilang gusto (We really can’t stop them, if that’s what they want),” he said.
Currently, the LCP is headed by San Fernando City, Pampanga Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.
Asked if he will not vie instead for other LCP positions, Rama said the LP has already formed a ticket and fielded candidates for every LCP post.
Rama said he will just wait until 2016, particularly after the 2016 national and local elections.
Rama is an ally of UNA headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is expected to run for president in the 2016 elections.
Despite the developments, Rama said he will still attend the LCP election on July 19.
In the same press conference, Rama said he knows that Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Alan Purisima was not in Manila when he went there last Friday. Purisima was in Cebu City during the change of command of the Police Regional Office 7.
Aside from the LCP, Rama went to Metro Manila also to follow up on his request for the appointment of his choice as head of the Cebu City Police Office, Senior Supt. Noli Romana.
Since he was not able to talk to Purisima, Rama again appealed to the PNP to act on his request, saying he cannot fully exercise his “supervision, operation and control” over the police if the chief of police is not his choice.
==Citom seeks help with traffic site, app==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/14/citom-seeks-help-traffic-site-app-292387
*Sunday, July 14, 2013
:By  Jujemay G. Awit
IN time, people can just check a website or their mobile devices to know which areas in Cebu City are marred by slow-moving traffic and which routes will let them get around faster.
The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) has created the cebutraffic.org as part of the Department of Transportation and Communication’s (DOTC) Philippine Transit App Challenge.
It now hopes to find developers who can build apps using the information fed by devices assigned to taxi drivers all over the city.
Citom was the only agency from outside Manila that joined the DOTC’s program. The other participants were the Metro Manila Development Authority, the Light Rail Transit Authority, the Metro Rail Transit 3, the Philippine National Railways, and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.
The Citom-developed website shows the streets of Cebu inked with colors that represent how fast or slow traffic was moving in each area. But this information was taken in May yet.
App challenge
As it is now, the website shows a snapshot of the city’s traffic from that one day in May, but the intention is to develop the site so that it becomes more useful to the public, said Citom Executive Director Rafael Yap.
The Transit App Challenge, launched last July 2, is a search for developers who can make apps using the information from Citom.
Citom, in turn, plans to gather the data from about 500 cab drivers.
Cebu City is one of three Asian cities tagged as beneficiaries of a World Bank program on sustainability. In the area of transportation, the bank has distributed 500 global positioning system or GPS-enabled phones for taxis to collect real-time traffic flow and road condition data.
BRT, too
Yap said at least 250 phones have been installed.
The data collected can also be used in the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transport system, which the City Government is pushing for.
Yap also explained Citom’s side in opposing flyovers.
“It is not about flyovers per se. Flyovers work in certain locations but not in high-density urban locations,” said Yap.
Yap, though, supports the bill of Rep. Raul del Mar for a Metro Cebu Traffic Authority because it’s not feasible for each local government unit to manage the traffic in isolation, without working with other communities around it.
It was del Mar who originally pushed for the flyovers on M.J. Cuenco Ave. and Gorordo Ave.
==‘Don’t pay Balili contractor’==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/13/don-t-pay-balili-contractor-292290
* Saturday, July 13th, 2013
:By Flornisa M. Gitgano
CEBU -- The provincial legal officer recommended that the Capitol not to pay the P6.8 million being collected by the contractor who supplied the back-filling materials for the former Balili property.
In a letter sent to Provincial Accountant Marieto Ypil, Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega “strongly recommended to cancel the disbursement of voucher and not to pay” the Supreme ABF Construction and Construction Supply Company Inc.
Ortega pointed to the pending cases related to the purchase of the former beach resort in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City and the lack of authorization from the Provincial Board (PB).
Ypil had asked for Ortega’s legal opinion regarding the payment. He recalled that the PB’s approval is “required under the audit observation memorandum” of the Commission on Audit (COA) and that there was a controversy regarding the back-filling project.
Ortega also said the signing of the contract between former governor Gwendolyn Garcia and the contractor has no approval from the PB.
The contractor delivered 27,683 cubic meters of back-filling materials for the development of the former Balili property.
Garcia is facing graft and technical malversation cases before the Sandiganbayan for the purchase of the 24.9-hectare Balili property last 2008. She is now the congresswoman of the province’s third district.
Ortega pointed out that “the backfilling was done when the Balili property was already the subject of litigation”.
“There were pending cases being faced by former governor Garcia and several officials of the Province of Cebu before the Sandiganbayan and, as such, the back-filling activity could be considered in the nature of tampering with evidence as the entire Balili lot property is the root cause or bone of contention in the cases mentioned,” Ortega’s letter read.
Officer-in-charge Ma. Yolanda Cabando of the Provincial Treasurer’s Office said the process of paying a supplier begins in the pre-audit division.
It will then be sent to the accounting office, and then to the treasurer’s office for the issuance of a check.
Last December, Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III, Vice Governor Agnes Magpale and PB Member Arleigh Jay Sitoy filed complaints against Garcia before the Office of the Ombudsman, after they found out about the “irregular” filling of limestone in submerged portions of the Balili property.
They also included in their complaint former Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre and businessman Bernabe Gilbor, president of the Bacolod City-based contractor.
Follow-up
Three days before the May 13 election, the anti-graft office upgraded into criminal and administrative complaints its fact-finding inquiry regarding the backfilling of the Balili site.
Ypil assumed that the contractor probably knew about the status of the payment since the company has been conducting follow-ups.
“Nakahibaw nana sila kay sige na man na silang follow up,” Ypil told reporters.
He believed the contractor also knew that there were pending cases related to the Balili property.
Sun.Star Cebu called the office of Supreme ABF Construction in Negros Occidental but Maricar Castillo, one of the staff workers, requested that the call be put off until today, because their head was not around yesterday, July 12, to answer queries.
“As far as my understanding of the Local Government Code is concerned, all the transactions contracts entered into by the Provincial Government should carry the consent of the Provincial Board,” Davide told reporters. (Sun.Star Cebu)
==CTO pushes for bar’s closure==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/12/cto-pushes-bar-s-closure-292085
*Friday, July 12, 2013
:By  Kevin A. Lagunda and Princess Dawn H. Felicitas
THE Cebu City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) has recommended to Mayor Michael Rama the closure of the restobar where a fracas involving Councilor Gerardo Carillo and a 16-year-old boy happened dawn of July 7.
But Acting City Treasurer Emma Villarete said in a news conference yesterday that the recommendation has nothing to do with the recent incident.
The CTO has found out that Kuerks Restobar on Pelaez Street has been delinquent in its tax obligations, has violated the Anti-Noise Ordinance, has failed to secure a permit from the Liquor Licensing Commission, and has not renewed its business permit for
2013.
That, as Carillo asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the incident because he couldn’t trust the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to do it without bias.
Girlfriend’s family
Also, Carillo, in an interview over radio dySS yesterday morning, said the restobar is owned by the family of his girlfriend. He refused to name them.
He said he frequents the place, particularly on weekends.
Asked if he was drunk when the fracas happened Sunday dawn, Carillo said he had some drinks.
As in his previous statements, Carillo said he was not the one who hit Jan Niño Pogoy, 16, with a rock, as the boy’s friends alleged.
“It is something I cannot imagine I will do. I was only there to pacify. Besides, konsehal ta sa Syudad sa Sugbu ug wa sad koy motibo nga hilabtan to sila (I am Cebu City councilor and I don’t have a motive to hurt them),” he said during the interview.
His duty
Asked why he did not call the police instead, Carillo said that being a councilor, he is duty-bound to stop and pacify any fight.
“It’s our social responsibility. It’s our moral obligation. We will be remiss of our duty if we will not do that,” he said.
That, as the NBI 7 will investigate the bar incident upon Carillo’s request.
Supervising agent Rennan Oliva said Carillo sent them a letter Wednesday afternoon, requesting them to conduct an inquiry “to avoid any bias.”
Carillo did not trust the homicide section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to do an impartial investigation.
Carillo mentioned in his letter, addressed to NBI 7 Director Antonio Pagatpat, that the boy’s brother is a police officer assigned in CCPO.
“Likewise being a councilor of the City of Cebu,” he requested for an NBI investigation.
Too noisy
Meanwhile, City Hall records show that Kuerks is owned by Talisay City Councilor Richard Aznar.
Aznar, in an earlier interview, said he no longer owns the barm, it having been sold last year to Mary Jane Flores.
Villarete said a CTO team found the violations during inspections conducted last May 31 and June 1.
The inspections, she said, followed a complaint the CTO received from GV Towers, a hotel nearby, on the excessive noise coming from Kuerks.
Other establishments nearby have also been complaining about the noise coming from Kuerks, Villarete said.
She said the CTO submitted to Mayor Michael Rama last Wednesday its recommendation for the bar’s closure.
She said it took CTO time to submit the recommendation because her office had been busy preparing for the May 13 midterm elections.
“Our recommendation for the bar’s closure has nothing to do with the recent incident. Na-taymingan lang,” she said.
Rama said he has yet to receive the CTO report and recommendation on Kuerks Restobar.
Nevertheless, he will refer the matter to the City Legal Office for review.
Coordination
At the NBI front, Oliva, who has been assigned to handle the case, said they will coordinate with the CCPO in conducting the inquiry.
He said he sent yesterday a letter to CCPO Director Mariano Natuel Jr. asking for the
police reports on the incident.
“We will get to the bottom of everything,” Oliva told reporters.
Pogoy, who suffered severe head injuries, was admitted to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. He is recovering in the public hospital.
Three minors told homicide investigators that they and Pogoy were drinking at Kuerks when a group of boys started to argue with them. The argument led to a fistfight.
One of the minors said Carillo approached them and struck Pogoy’s head with a rock.
The witness said Pogoy dropped to the ground and was bleeding, while Carillo went back inside the restobar.
==‘I didn’t hit minor with rock’==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/11/i-didn-t-hit-minor-rock-291860
*Thursday, July 11, 2013
:By Jill B. Tatoy, Jujemay G. Awit, Justin K. Vestil and Kevin A. Lagunda
CEBU City Councilor Gerardo Carillo denied hitting a minor in the head with a rock.
He said he was merely trying to pacify a brawl that involved Joseph Niño Pugoy, 16, around 4 a.m. last Sunday.
Pugoy regained consciousness yesterday after undergoing surgery last Monday, revealed his brother PO1 Kenneth Pugoy.
Joseph Niño, however, is still in the neurological section of the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
Carillo had been avoiding the media after he was accused of hitting the younger Pugoy with a rock. His lawyer, Noel Archival, was the one who faced reporters when the story broke out last Tuesday.
No alcohol
But yesterday, Carillo could not evade reporters who approached him after the City Council’s regular session.
Carillo said he was at the Kuerks Restobar on Pelaez St. talking with Duljo Fatima Barangay Captain Elmer Abella. Carillo claimed he was not drinking anything that contained alcohol.
Carillo wants the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to head the investigation on the incident because Joseph Niño’s brother, Kenneth, is assigned at the Cebu City Police Office.
He said he will wait for a formal complaint from the Pugoys.
PO1 Pugoy said they have not yet asked his younger brother about the incident.
Evidence
The policeman said they will file a case against Councilor Carillo if they have enough evidence.
“Dili ko mahadlok kung public figure ba ka o politiko kay gusto ko og hustisya sa akong manghod. Pero sabutan lang sa namo na sa among pamilya (I am not afraid of politicians because I want justice for my brother. But this still has to be discussed by our family),” Kenneth said.
Joseph Niño and Kenneth’s father is also a policeman. SPO1 Samuel Pugoy is assigned in Lapu-Lapu City.
Carillo said there were no minors drinking at the bar and the brawl that involved Joseph Niño occurred outside Kuerks.
He said the minor and his friends were outside the restobar waiting for another group that was drinking inside Kuerks.
Pacify
When the brawl occurred, Carillo said he and Abella went out to pacify those involved.
Abella told radio dyLA that Carillo could not have hurt the minor.
He said he had a drinking session with Carillo around 1 a.m. Sunday at Kuerks but he left the restobar earlier. He said he was surprised on hearing that Carillo was accused of hitting a minor with a rock.
The Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said the Pugoys can file a case of serious physical injuries in relation to child abuse against Carillo.
“We still have to check the medical certificate of the victim. If they are willing to file a case, they must execute an affidavit,” said SPO1 Jay Aballe of the Homicide Section.
Settlement
CCPO Director Mariano Natuel Jr. said the decision to file a case or not is up to the complainant.
“If they are open to settlement, then the victim will have to execute an affidavit of desistance. For now, investigators will have to wait,” Natuel added.
A rock with bloodstains was recovered by the police at the scene earlier.
Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol, on the other hand, said they do not have jurisdiction over the case involving Carillo because the incident happened beyond the councilor’s duty.
He said the ombudsman can only conduct an inquiry on a public officer when the latter committed unlawful acts related to his work.
Liability
He said the anti-graft office can conduct an investigation after an official is convicted of a criminal case, to see if he or she has an administrative liability.
Carillo also denied he owned Kuerks Restobar.
The business permit of Kuerks was issued to Richard Aznar, a councilor in Talisay City.
Aznar, in a separate interview, said his family no longer owns Kuerks Restobar.
He said his father, Richard Christopher, and some Manila-based partners opened the bar but they sold it last year to Marie Jane Flores.
But he said the new owner still pays rent to the Aznars, who own the lot that the bar occupies.
Revoke
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants the bar’s business permit revoked if it is proven that it serves alcoholic drinks to minors.
Councilor Margarita Osmeña said the Cebu City Anti-Indecency Board should check and implement the ordinance requiring bars to put up signs warning minors from entering their establishments.
Rama said he plans to revive the inspection on bars and restaurants to ensure that these establishments are complying with the ordinance.
==Citom official says the volume of traffic in Cebu City is too much to handle==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/10/citom-official-says-volume-traffic-cebu-city-too-much-handle-291722
*Wednesday, July 10, 2013
:By  Jujemay G. Awit
THE Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) alone cannot solve the traffic problem in the City, a Citom official said.
“I cannot solve traffic in Cebu City, that’s impossible. The number of vehicles is not under my jurisdiction. What Citom can do is control congestion,” said Citom Executive Director Rafael Yap.
He said the number of vehicles can only be controlled if the National Government comes in, like in Singapore where there are legislations setting requirements to owning a
vehicle.
But Yap said Citom is not washing its hands of the traffic problem and said public transport is the only way to solve it. He was the guest of Kiwanis Group yesterday at the Casino Español.
“I love the jeepneys... Is it affordable? Yes. Is it efficient? No. Is it comfortable? No,” said Yap.
He said the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) will resubmit the proposed Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) in Cebu City with proof of concept within the year.
The proposal, if implemented, is still within “acceptable level of delay.”
The BRT was not approved in the level of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) board last November.
The BRT will continue to be pushed because of its feasibility, according to the DOTC study, and because of concurrence from political factions and the support of the Cebu City Council.
As far as the railway system is concerned, Yap said the passenger volume in Cebu City has not reached a level for it.
But while the BRT is still up in the air, work on proposed bike lanes in Cebu City is on the way.
The technical working group on the bike lane met yesterday to clean the first draft of the ordinance providing for a segregated bike lanes and facilities in selected major and secondary roads.
The group decided to call the proposal, “Tindak Lane Ordinance.” Tindak is Bisaya for pedal.
The group agreed that the word is truly Cebuano.
The meeting was facilitated by the Office of Councilor Nida Cabrera attended by Yap, Movement for Livable Cebu’s Mark Canton and Rudy Alix and bike enthusiast Ryan Noval.
Cabrera is the sponsor of the proposed ordinance.
==Rama wants ‘drug-free, traffic-free Cebu City’==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/441225/rama-wants-drug-free-traffic-free-cebu-city
* Tuesday, July 9th, 2013
:By Correspondent Jose Santino Bunachita and Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac
CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama told police and traffic officials that he wants a “drug-free and traffic free” Cebu City at the end of his second term in office.
In separate briefings with the police, Cebu City Integrated Traffic Operations Management (Citom) officials and department heads, Rama again outlined the policy directions of his administration in peace and order and traffic.
When asked if his goal can be achieved within his term Rama replied that they “will endeavor to do it. We have to aim high. If we don’t aim high, chances are, we will continue to (have crimes),” he said.
He said he will meet separately with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to discuss the city’s drug situation. Rama will tap former Dangerous Drugs Board undersecretary Paul Oaminal as his consultant in the anti-drug campaign.
The Police Coordination and Advisory Council said illegal drugs and unlicensed firearms were involved in the shooting deaths of a traffic police officer and enforcer and a daylight robbery of a money remittance shop in Mabolo near a police precinct.
These incidents also prompted Rama to renew his call to replace Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el Jr., acting Cebu City police chief, with Senior Supt. Noli Romana.
Romana was reassigned to the Police Regional Office.
Rama also wanted the city’s traffic enforcers to work on a 24/7 shift especially in areas where entertainment spots are located.
“The Citom will be on call 24/7 as part of the city’s disaster preparedness measure,” the mayor said.
Rama said in Japan, traffic personnel who complain about their job will be relieved until those remaining in their jobs will complete the tasks assigned to them.
Citom operations chief Rafael Yap said a 24/7 deployment of his personnel will depend on the availability of their manpower and resources.
Citom has 554 personnel of whom 275 are traffic enforcers and 279 others are parking aides and office personnel.
“As it is now, Citom is currently short of personnel.  We will try out best to accede to (the) mayor’s wishes without hampering peak hour operations,” he said.
Yap said their personnel was reduced last July 1 with the non-renewal of 22 traffic enforcers.
Under the existing set up, Yap said, Citom’s 253 traffic enforcers are divided on three shifts daily: 6 a.m. to 2p.m., 2p.m. to 10p.m. and 10p.m. to 6 a.m.
==Palma declines new term in CBCP; Villegas elected==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/08/palma-declines-new-term-cbcp-villegas-elected-291350
*Monday, July 8, 2013
:By  Elias O. Baquero
THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) chose Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan as its new president, after Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma declined a possible reelection.
Palma, according to the CBCP website, said one term as head of the bishops’ group is enough for him and that he plans to devote more time to his pastoral work in Cebu.
Archbishop Palma will remain as CBCP president until Nov. 30, 2013.
Archbishop Villegas, the current vice president, will assume his new office on Dec. 1, 2013, along with Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, who was elected vice president during the weekend.
Villegas was elected around 9 p.m. Saturday in the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Paco, Manila. The election of the rest of the CBCP positions was completed at 11 a.m. yesterday, said Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer, who is close to Palma.
Sun.Star Cebu tried to call the archbishop, but he had other commitments. “Regrets, I could not answer. I am presiding at our CBCP meeting,” Archbishop Palma texted.
The CBCP also elected Fr. Marvin Mejia as secretary general, succeeding Msgr. Joselito Asis. Fr. Mejia is currently with the St. Therese Parish in Lahug, Cebu City.
Archbishop John Du, who replaced Palma in Palo when Palma became the archbishop of Cebu, was elected as CBCP treasurer.
Congress
Dr. Bullecer said he was sad that Palma did not seek a second term, considering his accomplishments in the past two years. He observed, though, that his commitments as CBCP president often sent the archbishop out of Cebu; he attended meetings not only of the CBCP, but also the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference, which last met in Vietnam.
He also said the archbishop will have more time to prepare for the international Eucharistic Congress, which is scheduled on Jan. 25-31, 2016 and may include a visit from Pope Francis.
Palma, the doctor said, wants to start the preparations now for the congress, which is expected to draw 30,000 to 40,000 participants from all over the world.
A 15-member team from the Vatican is scheduled to arrive in Cebu on Sept. 5 to advise Archbishop Palma on the preparations and inspect areas where the congress can possibly be held.
According to the CBCP website, Villegas, 52, will lead the 96 active and 40 honorary members of the bishops’ collegial body, when his term starts on Dec. 1.
Villegas was ordained priest by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin in 1985. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Manila in 2001. In 2004, Villegas was appointed bishop of the Balanga dioncese, and then he was named archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in 2009.
Valles, on the other hand, was ordained priest in 1976 and was appointed as the fourth bishop of Kidapawan in 1997. In 2006, he was named archbishop of Zamboanga until 2012, when he was transferred to the Davao archdiocese.
==Free lessons? Music to city children’s ears==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/07/free-lessons-music-city-children-s-ears-291221
*Sunday, July 7, 2013
:By  Bernadette A. Parco
THE only sources of music for 14-year-old John Paul Cosido as he was growing up in an upland village in Cebu City were TV shows and a coin-operated videoke machine.
But the teenager, named after the future saint Pope John Paul II, turned out to be a virtuoso, a naturally talented musician, who now boasts of a string of public performances as a violinist.
He is the youngest son of a widow, Filomena, who sells vegetables and raises chickens to make a living.
Now, the sounds of Cosido’s daily life go beyond the clucking from their backyard. He now has a repertoire, which varies from classical music to the popular Filipino ditty “Pusong Bato.” He played the latter during his music class with Sistemang Pilipino volunteer teacher Noel Martin.
Sistemang Pilipino Founder and Chief Executive Officer Lianne Sala told Sun.Star Cebu that Cosido was referred to them by a French priest, who was impressed by the boy’s talent.
Cosido, using a guitar, can recreate most of the music he hears. He performed at the group’s launching concert at the Basilica del Sto. Nio in March this year.
The young man dreams of being a professional artist someday, following the likes of violinist Gilopez Kabayao, a Gawad CCP Awardee for Music in 2008.
Cosido now has weekly music lessons with Sistemang Pilipino, which aims to provide world-class music education and performance opportunities for children and youth. They focus on under-served communities.
The group was founded last year by Sala, the niece of renowned concert pianist Ingrid Sala-Santamaria.
Sala said the creation of Sistemang Pilipino was inspired by “El Sistema,” the Venezuelan movement for social justice through music that began in 1975. (Related photo, A8)
The group is looking for sponsors or donors of instruments; music lessons for one child cost about P2,500 per month.
Sala, together with Martin, contrabass virtuoso Jiovanni Tabada, pianist Miracle Romano and music teacher Mark Melecio held music lessons in singing, violin and cello at the SOS Children’s Village in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City yesterday morning.
Melecio said it took some time to develop the children’s interest in choir singing, which requires strict discipline.
But he points out that the children in the village have potential, and their performance has improved in the last two months.
Tabada, the son of Mactan weather bureau chief Oscar Tabada, teaches girls between six and 14 how to play the violin.
In a separate interview, Dipolog City-based Romano said music helps build the children’s character.
“I especially see music’s effect on my students with special needs. Music gives them something to come home to... and that is very
important,” she added.
SOS Village Director Mario Victor Baang explained that the children in the village undergo child development programs; as they cannot be with their own families, the village offers them an alternative family life.
Baang added that with the music lessons, the children have developed the habit of attending practice sessions, which is important in self-discipline.
“They now care for the (musical) instruments that they use and they have developed self-confidence,” he said.
==Customs lot, bldg eyed for waterfront project==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/439439/customs-lot-bldg-eyed-for-waterfront-project
*Saturday, July 6th, 2013
:By  Doris C. Bongcac
The Compaña Maritima lot and building claimed by the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) as its own will form part of the Cebu City government’s Waterfront Development project, a legal consultant of Mayor Michael Rama said.
Jade Ponce, Rama’s executive assistant, said yesterday he’s discussing with some academic experts about the city’s plans to preserve the area’s historical value and coordinating with the city legal office in reviewing the legality of the CPA’s claim.
The CPA questioned Cebu City Hall’s plans to contest ownership of the Compaña Maritima lot, saying that the city government recognized its claim by asking their permission to use the lot several times.
CPA media liaison officer Karen Gonzales said a letter sent by the mayor’s office sought permission to use the Compaña Maritima lot for the annual Cebu City Hall inter-department sportsfest.
“That area should benefit all of the people of Cebu including the future generations,” Ponce said.
He said the Compaña Maritima lot will form part of the city’s heritage plans.
He said the lot connects to the nearby Malacañang sa Sugbu and the Pari-an heritage monument.
The city’s Land Management Commission passed a resolution during a meeting held last month asking the city assessor’s office to issue a tax declaration on the Compaña Maritima property and place the lot under the city’s name.
Ponce said the tax declaration would allow the city to assess the lot’s value and the taxes to be collected from its use.
Gonzales said a tax declaration doesn’t prove City Hall’s ownership of the lot.
“They (CPA) had authority (to use the property) but only as far as the use of the properties as a port (is concerned). But if the lot is no longer used as a port, they already lose their jurisdiction,” Ponce said.
Ponce said it’s no surprise that the city government considered taxing the lot only now after learning the CPA’s plans to build a maritime museum on the property.
In a press statement, acting CPA deputy general manager Yusop Uckung said the CPA owns the lot “based on legal and historical grounds.”
He said the Compaña Maritima lot and building and the surrounding area was covered by Presidential Decree 857 which turned over all supervision, control and regulation of port operations and construction of ports from the Bureau of Customs to the Philippine Ports Authority.
“With the creation of the CPA, through Republic Act 7621, the Compaña Maritima properties were turned over by the PPA to the CPA,” Uckung said. . With Correspondent Michelle Joy Padayhag
==Cebu today and some of its development challenges==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/438843/cebu-today-and-some-of-its-development-challenges
*Friday, July 5th, 2013
:By  Fernando Fajardo
Fifty two percent of Cebu’s land has a higher than 18 percent slope. This leaves less than half of its land potentially arable. Less arable land, coupled with great demand for housing, commercial and other non-agriculture uses limits the ability of Cebu to supply its own food requirements. Likewise, the highly sloping nature of Cebu’s terrain makes it highly susceptible to soil erosion, landslides and flash floods which is also aggravated by climate change. This is the first challenge newly elected leaders in Cebu must consider.
Cebu has three highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue and the Province of Cebu with its six component cities and 44 municipalities. What we know as Metro Cebu today consists of seven cities and six municipalities in the eastern side of Cebu starting from Danao City in the north to Carcar City in the south, including Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova in Mactan Island. Metro Cebu is not an official political government unit but merely an economic unit delineated for purposes of integrated planning and coordinated implementation of development projects as envisioned under the Mega Cebu concept of the Metro Cebu Development Coordination Board.
In the 2010 census, Cebu counted a population of 4.167 million or 4.51 percent of the entire nation and 61.28 percent of Central Visayas. From 2000 to 2010, Cebu’s population grew by 2.19 percent annually. At this rate, the population of Cebu will reach 4.64 million in 2015 and 5.18 million in 2020. I ask our newly elected local government officials: Do we have the resources to meet the needs of our fast growing population?
Metro Cebu’s population was counted in the 2010 Census at 2.551 million or 61.2 percent of the entire population of Cebu with an annual growth rate of 2.83 percent. While desirable from the economic point of view because of economies of scale, the rapid growth and high level of concentration of population in Metro Cebu can also create more social problems like lack of housing and the rise of slum areas, pollution, traffic snarls, mounting garbage and so forth. Globally, however, economic growth is seen as coming largely from fast growing metropolitan areas. The second challenge, therefore, is how to plan and make Metro Cebu grow faster without creating or compounding the ills of urbanization. Can our newly elected local government officials in Metro Cebu do this?
The economy of Cebu is the largest in the south after Metro Manila in the north. Cebu’s economic growth is driven by the rapid increase in investments in business process outsourcing, tourism, and real estate development. As of last year, there were already 139 information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing firms located in Cebu which generated a total of 95,000 jobs. In 2011, foreign and domestic tourist arrivals reached 1.922 million. From 2006 to 2011, foreign tourist arrivals grew faster at 12 percent annually compared to domestic tourist arrivals which grew only by 7.0 percent annually. Six special economic zones (SEZs) operate in Cebu where most of the island’s exports are generated. In 2012, the six operating SEZs hosted 278 locators with a total employment of more than 100 thousand workers and over US$ 3.0 billion in exports.
But are we to depend only in this type of activities for our future? I ask our newly elected local officials: What is our strategy to make Cebu competitive in attracting more and varied types of investments in the next three years and thereafter?
In 2011, the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of the Central Visayas region was estimated at P601.9 billion at current prices. This was 6.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the entire country. There is no government estimate of GDP below the regional level. However, applying its percentage share of the total population to the Central Visayas GRDP would give Cebu P373.2 billion in gross provincial domestic product (GPDP) in 2011. This is equivalent to 3.8 percent of the GDP for the entire country.
Since most of the industrial, export and related service activities in the region are concentrated in Cebu, its GPDP is surely much higher than the above estimate. This, however, is not consoling enough. In 2009, for which latest data is available, Cebu’s average family income was still much lower at P207,0000 than that of Metro Manila’s P356,000 and barely surpassed the P206,000 national average. How can we make Cebu’s GPDP and average family income higher than they are now? This is another challenge to our newly elected officials because more of the same BPO, tourism and real estate development may not be enough.
Beginning in 2000, official government data on employment is broken down to the regional level only. Data from the April 1999 Quarterly Employment Survey, however, showed that Cebu had long ago achieved its transformation from being pre-dominantly agricultural to industrial and service activities when it reported that Cebu’s dependence on agriculture was already down to less than 30 percent of its employed workers. This is good because industrial and service activities give higher income per worker than agriculture.
Given a 4.4 million projected population this year and assuming a working age group equivalent to 65 percent of the population and 65 percent labor force participation rate, Cebu will have a labor force of about 1.859 million this year. If the 7.4 percent unemployment rate of the region in January this year is also true in Cebu, about 137,000 workers are unemployed here, not to mention the underemployed which regionally reached 20 percent. Furthermore if Cebu’s labor force were to grow by 2.19 percent, similar to its population growth, Cebu’s labor force will increase by at least 40,000 annually. This, I am sure, is much greater than what the combined BPO, tourism and real estate development is presently generating.
Lack of employment opportunities and the inability of the employed workers to get higher wages because of the high unemployment rate explains why the nation’s poverty incidence remains high at over a fourth of our population. Creating jobs, therefore, is another big challenge that our newly elected local government officials in Cebu must address.
==Resurrecting the pre-War charm of Cebu City==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/438173/resurrecting-the-pre-war-charm-of-cebu-city
* Thursday, July 4th, 2013
:By Jobers Bersales
Mayor Michael Rama made one giant step forward by announcing in his inaugural speech the resurrection of the moth-balled Cebu Waterfront Heritage Development Project through the appointment of former mayor Alvin Garcia as consultant. Had Garcia been given a second term in the 1990s, Cebu would most probably be basking in the charm of a beautiful waterfront stretching from Fort San Pedro down to the Carbon Market and Freedom Park. Even the Dutch government was willing then to pitch in to see the project through. But the ugly face of politics intervened, Garcia lost and the project was left in total darkness.
Meanwhile, Cebu’s waterfront area started to develop. A huge and humongous red building now blocks the waterfront view of Fort San Pedro, a painful reminder of the absence of a heritage conservation program for the city. Fortunately, the private sector took the cudgels for heritage promotion and protection at the old Spanish quarter of the city. And in succession, we saw Ricardo Cardinal Vidal pursuing the conversion of the former Cathedral Rectory into the archdiocesan museum, Jimmy Sy converting his papa’s old warehouse (the ancient Jesuit House of 1730) into the Museo sa Parian sa Sugbo and Val Sandiego sprucing up his family’s balay nga bato also in Parian. Even the University of Southern Philippines pitched in and converted a room at the old Mabini Campus to house the memorabilia of Jose Rizal. Of course, Casa Gorordo was way ahead of all these efforts way back in the 1980s when governance and development was still a stranger to heritage.
Lest we forget, the Cebu Waterfront Development Project originally started as a study carried out by a small group of architects and urban planners called the Cebu Heritage Conservation Council, founded by architect Joy Martinez-Onozawa. This study, complete with public consultations of all stakeholders, including vendors and the urban poor, proposed a 20-year development plan for the old Spanish quarter of Cebu. This covered the waterfront as well as its immediate built environment roughly stretching to the borders of the Cathedral and the Basilica del Sto. Niño to the west, Parian to the northwest, the 1920s warehouses along MacArthur Boulevard to the northeast and the Chinese-owned 1920s warehouses as well as Carbon Market and the former Warwick Barracks to the south.
The result of this study was three volumes of research, architectural designs and plans which also became the subject of two master’s theses, one at the University of Hong Kong by Therese Tumulak Crisostomo, which can still be accessed on the Internet. There are also various studies of this area in downtown Cebu that have been carried out from time to time by the College of Architecture and Fine Arts (CAFA) of the University of San Carlos, which even carried out an exhibit last year at the Ayala Center. In fact, there are courses being taught now that focus on the downtown area of Cebu.
All told, the aim of these studies is to revitalize those areas of Cebu that are deemed dirty by day and dangerous by night. I am glad, for one, that Mayor Mike has also made the firm decision to clean up the old Warwick Barracks and perhaps restore the old Plaza Washington, now called Freedom Park fronting the University of San Jose-Recoletos.
We have always boasted to guests that Cebu City is like Singapore. But where are the wide open spaces, the parks, the tree-lined avenues that make every visitor of Singapore gasp in awe?
During their previous terms, Mayor Mike Rama and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia started sprucing up the stretch to Capitol. Then the mayor also started cleaning up the islands along New Imus Road even as he built a park for senior citizens behind city hall. His greatest achievement, according to one fan I met the other day, was the way he cleaned up the Cebu City Medical Center and made it simply liveable instead of being a dreadful end-point for the destitute and the dying. I would not be surprised if the doctors there quietly campaigned for Mike. I too would have done so.
Perhaps you will agree with me if I have high hopes for the next three years. Expect a more livable Cebu from here on.
Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
==Elderly killed in Cebu fire==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/437599/elderly-killed-in-cebu-fire
*Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013
:By  Jhunnex Napallacan, Chito O. Aragon
CEBU CITY — An elderly woman was killed in a fire that destroyed her home in Mandaue City early morning on Wednesday.
Maria Pino, 79, a widow, was alone when the fire engulfed her house at Purok 3, Barangay (village) Cubacub, Mandaue about 12:45 a.m., said Senior Fire Officer 1 Cipriano Codilla Jr., investigator of the Mandaue City Fire department.
Her son, Lumer 43 and his family lived in a house beside Pino’s. But Lumer told Codilla that by the time they woke up, the fire had engulfed his mother’s house.
Codilla said Lumer believed that Maria may have been fast asleep because they didn’t hear any scream that may have alerted them that the house was on fire.
Codilla said the fire may have been caused by an unattended kerosene lamp which Maria used to light her house.
He said Lumer told them that his mother didn’t like using electrity because she didn’t like the glare.
Codilla said the kerosene lamp might have been knocked down, triggering the fire which easily destroyed the house because it was made of bamboos and other light materials.
The fire didn’t spread to other houses because the neighbors were able to put out it immediately.
==The mayor’s agenda for Cebu City==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/436755/the-mayors-agenda-for-cebu-city
*Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013
:By  newsinfo.inquirer.net
- Make the South Road Properties productive and demand payment from its creditors;
- Strictly regulate liquor and gambling and install additional CCTVs as a crime deterrence measure;
- Pursue the expansion of the Cebu City Medical Center and put up a satellite hospital in the mountain barangay of Bonbon;
- Take advantage of the city’s harmonious relationship with the Cebu provincial government and already resolve the 93-1 issue;
- Shift to  high gear the city’s “Gubat sa Basura” program to address environmental concerns;
- Empower the barangay captains to function like “little mayors”;
- Enforce the three-meter easement and implement drainage improvement programs;
- Widen interior roads to at least six meters as a disaster preparedness measure;
- Continue the concreting of roads in the mountains;
- Develop Freedom Park and Warwicks located within the Carbon Market Complex;
- Pursue the trans-axial highway project of the late vice governor Greg Sanchez and the proposed third bridge to connect Cebu City and Mactan Island;
- Come up with winnable and expedient solution to  the issue of franchise taxes and the tax dues from hospitals and schools;
- Establish a housing program also for City Hall employees;
- Pursue programs on education, sports, arts and culture.
==Davide, Rama assume office==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2013/07/01/davide-rama-assume-office-290118
*Monday, July 1, 2013
:By  Elias O. Baquero and Flornisa M. Gitgano
TWO former allies in the Cebu City Council, lawyers Michael Rama and Hilario Davide III, took over the two highest elective offices in Cebu at noon yesterday.
“You will have an honest Capitol,” Davide said in his first speech as governor, addressing his family, supporters and political and business leaders in the Capitol social hall.
A few minutes later in Plaza Independencia, on the other end of Osmeña Blvd., Rama took oath for his second term as Cebu City mayor.
“I am honored and privileged to accept a second term with all responsibility, with all my heart and soul,” Rama said.
Vice President Jejomar Binay was a no-show at the Team Rama event, despite the cancellation of his trip to China to appeal for the life of an overseas worker on death row.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II officiated at his third oath-taking ceremony in Cebu during the weekend.
He swore in Davide, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and 12 members of the Provincial Board, a day after leading similar ceremonies for fifth district officials in Danao City and winners from the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) in Cebu City last Saturday.
Davide and Rama both won office as BOPK allies more than a decade ago. Davide is expected to introduce his appointees today, while Rama will speak during the inaugural session of a council dominated by his political rival’s allies.
Firsts
About a year after his first term as mayor began in 2010, Rama decided to leave the BOPK. This year, he became the first person to defeat BOPK party leader and former mayor Tomas Osmeña in an election.
In his speech in the Capitol, Secretary Roxas said change has come to Cebu.
“For the first time in 18 years, we have a governor who doesn’t have the same surname as the previous, who doesn’t come from the same political family, and now we have a governor who has emerged to lead Cebu’s more than four million people,” said Roxas.
He reminded Davide and Magpale that as the new leaders of the Province, they will face hard decisions and choices.
Fr. Bernardo Oyao celebrated the 10 a.m. mass before the oath-taking, where he urged everyone to pray for the “total commitment” of the new administration’s officials.
“We pray for you, Governor Davide, Vice Governor Magpale and members of the Provincial Board, as you journey together sa matuwid na daan (on the straight path),” said Fr. Oyao.
Health, food
In his inaugural speech, Davide said he believes that an honest, transparent, accountable, effective, efficient and sincere government will create real, sustainable progress.
He promised to equip the district hospitals and make sure these are efficiently administered, its hiring policies reviewed with the help of medical schools and organizations in the private sector.
“Makalaom ang mga masakiton nga matagad ug matabangan sila, ug dili magtinga diha sa daplin tungod sa kadugay sa ilang paghulat nga moabot ang pagtabang (The sick can expect help and attention, and not have to fight for their lives while they wait for health care),” he said.
The Province, Davide said, will also ask the national government to provide more classrooms and facilities, and for a partnership in a vocational-technical training program in the countryside.
He will also “revitalize and expand the Farmer-Scientist Training Program” and improve farm-to-market access. The program was initiated during the administration of former Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia (now congresswoman of Cebu’s third district), with help from Davide’s uncle, Dr. Romulo Davide.
For tourism, Davide said his administration will further develop community-based tourism programs and will request for the support of Rep. Ace Durano (Cebu Province, fifth district), former secretary of the Department of Tourism.
Highway
“Cebu’s topography encourages the construction of a trans-axial highway, connecting both ends of the island, with convenient access to the shoreline,” said Davide.
This idea was first raised by the late vice governor Greg Sanchez, whose daughter Grecilda is also beginning her first term in the PB.
In Plaza Independencia, Mayor Rama took his oath before Court of Appeals Associate Justice Pampio Abarintos at 11:45 a.m., before a crowd of about 1,000 supporters.
Team Rama’s winning candidates for the City Council—Mary Ann delos Santos of the north district and Dave Tumulak, Hanz Abella and James Cuenco of the south district—first took oath.
Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella then followed. Labella edged out former vice mayor Joy Augustus Young by fewer than 200 votes, one of the slimmest margins in this year’s Cebu elections.
Inaugural
Between the mass and the oath-taking, organizers of the event showed a film on the rigors of the campaign.
In his speech, Mayor Rama said he was honored to accept the new challenge of a second term, and urged the people to work with him.
“My victory is your victory. If the people have spoken, then God has also spoken before us, because the voice of the people is the voice of God. With God, nothing is impossible,” Rama said.
Days before his oath-taking, the reelected mayor hosted meetings with the broadcasters’ association and the columnists and staff of the local papers, in order to present his vision.
Rama said yesterday he will make the details of his administration’s accomplishments known, as well as reveal his plans for his second term, when he addresses the inaugural session of the council today.

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Dietary supplement is a product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs.

Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.

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Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion.

But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened .

Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions.

  • Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE?
  • Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace?

WHY??

There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance:
  1. The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice.
  2. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.
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Police seize P2-M fake bills in Cebu

By Davinci S. Maru and Jill Tatoy-Rabor


CEBU CITY -- A maker of fake bills was arrested and some P2 million in counterfeit P1,000 and US$100 bills were confiscated from him by the city police last Monday night.

The police also seized a computer, scanner and printer from Richard Uy, 65, who faces a pending case filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

When the police arrested Uy in Banilad, Cebu City at 9:30 p.m. Monday, they said he distributes fake bills in Cebu and Malaysia.

Aside from counterfeit money, Uy also allegedly produces fake identification cards, driver’s licenses, transcripts of records and birth certificates.

Uy, a resident of Barangay Kasambagan, depends on pre-orders, said Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Mariano Natu-el Jr.

The bills are sold from P90 to P250 each.

Uy admitted he has been producing the fake bills for almost two years but said none of his clients were politicians.

Natu-el said the operation was planned after different police stations in Cebu City received several complaints from the public about counterfeit bills.

They traced the origins of the bills and conducted a one-week surveillance that led them to Uy. The Investigation and Detection Management (IDMB) conducted the buy-bust operation.

In the operation led by Chief Insp. Aileen Recla of the IDMB, a police decoy paid Uy P2,000 in exchange for almost P20,000 worth of fake bills, all of them P1,000.

While Uy was preparing the ordered bills, the operatives arrested him.

Police confiscated P800,000 worth of P1,000 bills that were ready for delivery and some fake US$100 that were still being printed.

After checking Uy’s cellular phone, the police found out that the P800,000 worth of fake bills were ordered by a man who was planning to bring them to Malaysia, where he would exchange them for ringgit.

“Base sa text, nagbisaya lang ang ga-order (The text message was in Bisaya); he is probably from Cebu,” said Natu-el.


Why Malaysia?

He said Malaysia was the destination of choice because it is reportedly harder there to detect whether the peso bills are fake or not.

“We hope that the Bangko Sentral will also give us tips on how to identify fake bills, especially now that manufacturers are learning how to closely imitate the real ones,” said Natu-el.

The outgoing Cebu City police chief said this was the biggest operation they had against counterfeit bills so far during his term. The police still have to investigate the scope of Uy’s alleged operations.

Uy was charged yesterday with a case of violating Republic Act 166 or the Registration and Protection of Trade Marks, Trade Names and Service Marks. He was also charged with possession of counterfeit bills.

Uy was previously charged with the same offense by the NBI but made bail last November 2012.

“They must be vigilant, especially in dealing with money,” said Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO).

Authenticate

He said the public, especially business establishments, should take the time to authenticate bills before receiving them.

Fake bills lack security features like watermarks, concealed values and security fibers. They also tend to have different colors and textures compared with genuine bills.

Comendador said they didn’t receive intelligence reports about a group manufacturing fake money in Cebu Province, but heard about distributors.

“We traced some before, but they were not manufacturers,” he said.

As a precaution, the Cebu Provincial Board approved a resolution in 2010, urging the Bangko Sentral and law enforcement agencies to stop the spread of counterfeit bills.

The manufacture and possession of instruments for falsification of money are penalized under Article 176 of the Revised Penal Code. (Sun.Star Cebu)






Visayas trees now in print

By sunstar.com.ph


DESPITE a sudden downpour last July 24, guests from across Cebu province witnessed the unveiling of the first publication that compiles Philippine trees in the Visayas region and aims to provide comprehensive information about these indigenous tree species.

Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi) launched the Manual on Native Trees in the Visayas at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center, Cebu City.

The manual is a compilation of 101 Philippine native trees found in the Visayas.

The trees are grouped alphabetically according to the family classification each belongs to, and presented with descriptions that include their official names, scientific names, local names, methods of propagation and uses.

Also included are practical tips on how to plant a seedling and how to nurture it to full growth.

A glossary is provided to help readers in understanding technical words.

The book launching was attended by Cebu Vice Governor Agnes Magpale, mayors from different municipalities of Cebu Province, and representatives from various government agencies, civic organizations, and academic institutions all over Cebu.

Dominica Chua, Rafi chief operating officer, and Magpale formally presented Manual of Native Trees in the Visayas to the public through an unveiling of an enlarged version of the book cover.

Free copies of the book were given to identified guests and partners.

“Rafi has special preference for native trees due to their many benefits to surrounding flora and fauna,” Chua stressed.

During the program, a presentation of the results of this year's Run 2 Plant 4 Greenin Philippines was also done by Marge Gravador, executive director of Rafi’s Integrated Development unit.

The free running and indigenous tree planting event was held simultaneously in over 40 municipalities of the Province of Cebu last June 29.

Another initiative of Rafi in promoting biodiversity conservation is the Rafi Native Trees Nursery in Barangay Busay, Cebu City. The nursery houses 200,000 seedlings of 218 native tree species.

Manual on Native Trees in the Visayas was conceptualized to contribute to the achievement of Goal 7 of the Millennium Development Goals, which is to ensure environmental sustainability by reversing the loss of environmental resources.

Copies of the book are sold at P2,500 each at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center, 35 Lopez Jaena St., Cebu City. Interested buyers may contact (6332) 418-7234 loc. 515 and look for Noel Fornolles.

New PB dad eyes replicating Cebu City projects for Prov Aid for the elderly, sports commission among targets

By Gregg M. Rubio/JPM


CEBU, Philippines - Provincial Board Member Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba is eyeing to replicate some programs of the Cebu City Government in the Province of Cebu.

Among these are the creation of the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs and Provincial Sports Commission.

Alcoseba, a three-term councilor of Cebu City, held two committee chairmanships in the legislative body before his election as PB member in the last May 13 elections.

These are the committee on markets and the committee on games, amusements, and sports.

At the Capitol, Alcoseba was assigned to the PB committee on public services, and senior citizens.

Alcoseba said that he is crafting a proposed ordinance for the creation of the said bodies to be presented before the PB next month.

Unlike in Cebu City, Alcoseba noted that the programs for the elderly in the province are handled by the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).

Alcoseba said there should be an office that will focus on the senior citizens in giving benefits and privileges.

Among the benefits Alcoseba is proposing is the giving of financial assistance to the senior citizens like Cebu City has been doing.

Alcoseba said that once an office for the elderly would be established, a separate funding shall also be appropriated out of the provincial funds.

Another body that Alcoseba wants to be created is the Provincial Sport Commission which is under the Office of the Governor.

Alcoseba observed that sports activities of the Province were just entrusted to the Association of Barangay Councils and the Sangguniang Kabataan.

He emphasized the need to have grassroots program on sports that can create leadership and discipline to the youth. — (FREEMAN)

Toledo City lass bags top Mutya crown

By Inquirer with a report from contributor Orly G. Cajegas


Angeli Dione Gomez, a film graduate from Toledo City, Cebu, is the country’s new Mutya ng Pilipinas-Tourism International. The 20-year-old Gomez, who also competed in the Binibining Pilipinas pageant early this year, will try to duplicate last year’s victory of fellow Cebuana, Rizzini Alexis Gomez, in the Miss Tourism International pageant in Malaysia. Gomez got her crown from fellow-Cebuana, Rizzini, who is also the reigning Miss Tourism International. During the final round, Gomez was asked what women from the West can learn from Filipino women. She replied: “Their virtue. They’re very strong and dedicated in their culture. That’s something Western women can learn from Filipino women.” Gomez, who was also proclaimed Mutya ng Crimson, received the same prize package awarded to Koreen Medina who was crowned Mutya ng Pilipinas-Asia Pacific International in the 2013 Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant on Friday night at the NBC Tent at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. Medina, an 18-year-old Mass Communication student from Quezon City, was also proclaimed Miss Talent, Miss Sheridan Beach Resort, Miss Lancaster Hotels and Miss Zen Institute. She, received her crown from last year’s winner Camille Guevarra. The new queen received a prize package worth P1 million, and will represent the country in the Miss Intercontinental pageant in Egypt later this year. Asdis Liza Karlsdottir from the Filipino community of Iceland was hailed Mutya ng Pilipinas-Overseas Communities, while Maureen Ann Montagne from the Filipino community of Arizona and Kristian Aubrey Nolasco from Caloocan City were proclaimed first and second runners up, respectively. Destiny Gomez, who majored in film at the International Academy of Film and Television in Mactan, Cebu, knows she is destined to become a beauty queen, believing that beauty queens are born, not made. She was crowned Reyna ng Aliwan 2012 and was also named Miss Resorts World Manila 2012 fourth runner-up. Her father is a pediatrician while her mother is a businesswoman. She attended high school at B.R.I.G.H.T. Academy, before majoring in film at the International Academy of Film and Television. She is the eldest of three daughters. Gomez used to ride horses and play polo, but an accident forced her to give them up. She now does poi, hoops, and contact juggling. She also collects jigsaw puzzles and now has about 50 in her collection. Pressure Asked if she feels the pressure to win the international title after her predecessor’s feat, Gomez said: “I’ll try not to think about that”. “But I’m going to get more tips from Rizzini, hopefully to help me win the crown again for the Philippines,” she said. As Toledo City’s Festival Queen, Angeli won another national crown as the Reyna ng Aliwan. And early this year, as a candidate in the Binibining Pilipinas Gold, Angelie (who tripped twice on pageant night) didn’t advance to the semis despite being an early favorite among pageant watchers and bloggers.

Rape-slay suspect nabbed

By Michelle Joy L. Padayhag


A 39-year-old scavenger was arrested as a suspect in the raping and killing of a 19-year-old girl in barangay Mabolo, Cebu City. Roel Janoy, 39, was identified by a 10-year-old witness as one of the three persons who allegedly raped and killed 19-year-old Queennie Marie Arriesgado, whose body was found last July 20 in a grassy area in Mahiga Creek about 100 meters from the Mabolo Police Station. Janoy denied the accusation against him. The suspect claimed that during the incident, he was sleeping in a makeshift shanty under the Juan Luna Bridge where he was arrested yesterday afternoon. Chief Insp. Ryan Asidera Devaras, chief of the Mabolo police, said the witness saw Janoy and two other persons believed to be 19 and 20 years old, drag the victim to the grassy area. The witness said Queennie Marie was standing near the bridge when the assailants arrived, covered her mouth with a handkerchief and dragged her to the grassy area. The victim was stabbed with an icepick, police said. Janoy had no criminal records before he was arrested, police said. Devaras confirmed that “solvent boys” often loiter in the area where the crime happened. Janoy is detained at Mabolo Police Station pending the filing of rape and homicide charges against him, police said. A follow-up operation to arrest the two other persons linked in the crime is underway, police said.

Paint brushes used on bbq?

By Bernadette A. Parco and Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


THE Cebu City Council wants the City Health Department (CHD) to thoroughly inspect paint brushes in the city that are used as “basting brushes” in restaurants, food stalls and barbecue stalls along the road.

The call came after two environment groups detected high levels of lead in paint brushes, making their use for food applications unsafe.

The Philippine Earth Justice Center Inc. (PEJC) and EcoWaste Coalition, after conducting the third in a series of toxic chemicals testing in Cebu City, found that barbecue vendors in Carbon and Larsian use paint brushes on the food that they sell.

Paint brushes, they said, are not the right tools for basting sauce on meat because they contain a high amount of the toxic chemical called lead.

The groups tested 19 paint brushes for toxic chemicals as part of their effort to prove that those sold in Cebu contain a safe amount of lead.

The brushes sold in six hardware stores in Cebu City cost between P5 and P119.

The result of the tests showed that of the 19 brushes, 16 were found to contain lead.

The lead content of these brushes reached between 309 ppm (parts per million) and 10,500 ppm, which the groups said are way above the US limit of 90 ppm for lead in paint and surface coatings.

In a statement, EcoWaste Coalition Project Protect head Thony Dizon said the results of the test showed that paint brushes used for greasing barbecue contain high amounts of lead.

“This raises the possibility of basting sauce being contaminated by lead coming from paint brushes, especially if the brushes started to flake because of continued use,” he said.

In an interview, stall caretaker Orce Manoza told Sun.Star Cebu that he only uses a proper basting brush for the barbecue he cooks.

A former construction worker said he could tell whether a paint brush is used or not.

He said paint brushes should only be used to apply paint and not for food preparation.

PEJC co-founder Gloria Estenzo-Ramos said that with the results of the tests, government officials should focus on informing the public about the hazards of misusing products that contain lead.

“We also hope our findings will induce hardware stores to demand lead-safe paint and paint brushes from their suppliers to safeguard public health,” said Estenzo-Ramos in a statement.

The groups cited the World Health Organization that lead is a cumulative toxicant that affects multiple body systems, including neurological, gastrointesyinal, cardiovascular, among others.

Three samples of Mayon brush has non-detectable lead level while the paint brushes that contained lead did not have proper labels and no warning that these should not be used for food.

They recommend using improvised brushes made of banana pandan and tanglad leaves.

In an approved resolution, City Councilors Alvin Dizon and Mary Ann delos Santos said that lead is a chemical element, which is regarded as a heavy metal and at certain degrees can cause grave effects on the public health.

“It is a poisonous substance as it damages the nervous system and causes brain disorders making it a developmental and reproductive toxin,” they said.

“We strongly urged CHD to conduct thorough inspections of paint brushes used in restaurants, food stalls and barbecue vendors to ensure that these paint brushes are lead-free and not hazardous to the health and the well-being of innocent consumers,” they added.

Dizon and delos Santos said CHD’s inspection should be done together with the council’s committee on health, hospital services and sanitation, headed by Councilor Lea Japson.

In the same resolution, Dizon and delos Santos are asking hardware stores, as suggested by the Eco Waste Coalition, to require their suppliers to make lead-free and non-toxic paint brushes.

On the request of the environment group for the council to craft an ordinance banning the use of paint brushes for food applications, Dizon said he is willing to author it together with Councilor Nida Cabrera, who is the head of the committee on environment.

“An ordinance is proper to ensure strict compliance,” he said. (Sun.Star Cebu)

City malls, businesses set up anti-flood measures

By Aileen Garcia-Yap


Commercial establishments and two malls in Cebu City are setting up their own flood mitigation measures for the rainy season. In a press statement Cebu Holdings, Inc. corporate communications manager Jeanette Japzon said Cebu Business Park’s drainage system absorbed the floodwaters, causing it to subside quickly. A two-hour downpour last July 20 flooded low-lying parts of Cebu City. Cebu Holdings Inc. owns and operates Ayala Center Cebu at the Cebu Business Park. “We were also able to quickly reroute traffic to prevent vehicles from being stranded along flooded roads,” she said. About four inches of rainwater pooled in part of basement 1 near the mall’s west entry. Japzon said the ongoing excavation of their building hit a pipe, so the water seeped into the basement instead of going into the drainage. “The floodwaters subsided. There was no report of damage to property or the cars parked in the area. It was an isolated incident,” Japzon said. Japzon said they are finalizing plans to upgrade their drainage systems and utilities to anticipate extraordinary situations brought about by climate change. SM City Cebu in the North Reclamation Area was also affected by the heavy downpour last Saturday evening. Mall manager Sherry Tuvilla said the flooding stranded many customers. Tuvilla said there is a pending government project to rehabilitate the Mahiga Creek. The mall signed an agreement with the Cebu city government in January 2010 to partly fund this through an advance tax payment arrangement. “Coordination with the City to pursue this critical project is continuing. Currently we are working with a designer for a water holding tank that can contain rainwater from the government drain line,” Tuvilla said.

Over 60 bands to join Cebu music fest

By (Cristy Jane M. Baltes, PIT intern/Sunnex)


ABOUT 64 bands will be joining this year’s Cebu Music Festival, also known as “Tukar sa Sugbo,” which will be held in Ayala Center Cebu and SM Cebu City, said the Cebu City Tourism Commission (CCTC) on Wednesday.

"This event is a way of expanding and improving the Cebu music with its flexibility of any genre for public viewing," said CCTC in-charge Ana Quisumbing.

She said of the bands, 27 will perform in Ayala on July 26-27, while the other 37 will perform at SM City on August 2-3. The bands will receive an honorarium from the two malls, she added.

Quisumbing also said that the CCTC will also invite guests from Korea. The guests are yet to be identified.

Posters and streamers will be posted at the main streets of Cebu City for these activities, she said.

Among the sponsors of the celebration are the Culture Art Council of Korea, Pepsi, and Island Souvenirs.

The Cebu Music Festival is a project of the Cebu City Government, through the CCTC and Cebu City Tourism Foundation Inc.

2 cities search for next steps, funds against disasters

By Bernadette A. Parco, Princess Dawn H. Felicitas and Rebelander S. Basilan


IT will take P2 billion for the Cebu City Government to move thousands of families away from danger zones, like riverbanks, so they can live safely.

But Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he believes moving these families has become more urgent, following last Saturday night’s heavy downpour that caused landslides and flooded streets.

The City Government of Mandaue, for its part, will work on addressing floods affecting city roads, while the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will inspect the drainage in flood-prone areas of the national highway.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 called on local government units to look at geohazard maps, to help them plan and work with national agencies or organizations, in preparing for disasters.

In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu yesterday, Atty. Collin Rosell of the Cebu City Government said at least P2 billion will be used to fund the relocation and financial assistance for the affected families, pegged at P200,000 per family.

Law says so

Rosell is chief of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), which estimated how much it would cost to clear the three- meter easement zone of rivers.

The amount includes the cost of lot acquisition, construction of starter houses and cash aid per family, which will be equivalent to the minimum wage for 60 days or about P18,300.

This is in compliance with Republic Act 7279 or the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.

Asked how many structures are located within the three-meter easement, Rosell said that based on their data, there are 7,000 houses, shared by some 10,000 families.

The figures have to be verified, though, as the newly formed group by Mayor Michael Rama—known as the Project ReDZ or Reduction Danger Zones—has another figure.

The project’s head, former city councilor Jose Daluz III, said that based on the Geographic Information System of the City’s Management Information and Computer Services, there are some 4,600 families living within the three-meter easement.

PNoy, Binay

So the families will be relocated, Rosell told Sun.Star Cebu that the City wrote President Benigno Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay last year to ask for assistance in securing the P2-billion fund.

Malacañang has referred the matter to the National Housing Authority (NHA).

The City, though, Rosell said, was told by the NHA to use first the P78 million that the City secured from the agency’s Poverty Alleviation Fund III in 1998 yet, before securing more financial aid.

The P78 million is also intended for the relocation of families living near rivers, creeks and other waterways.

The use of the fund is yet to be approved by the City Council, as the legislative body has scheduled a public hearing on this next month.

Earlier, DWUP had said they intended to use the money to build two medium-rise buildings in the Old Lorega Cemetery, which are estimated to accommodate 174 families.

As for the advice of the NHA, Rosell said they will heed it and use first the P78-million fund.

In a related development, Project ReDZ met yesterday to discuss their move against the families living near the five major rivers in the city: Mahiga, Lahug, Guadalupe, Kinalumsan and Bulacao.

Families

The group was formed after the city suffered from a long and heavy downpour Saturday night, which triggered landslides and floods.

During their meeting, the group said there is a need to remove informal settlers from the riverbanks for their safety. City Hall also needs to conduct dredging operations, restore the original width of the easement, and take legal action against illegal structures and buildings, among others.

But first, Daluz said there is a need to identify all the families currently living within the three-meter easement.

“We are not thinking yet of how much it will cost us to remove all the families in the danger zones because we want to identify them first and talk to them, cooperate with them. We believe that they are part of the solution,” he said.

In Mandaue, the City Engineering Office is preparing the program of work and estimates (Powe) for drainage works at the intersection of Plaridel St. going to Barangay Opao and on A.S. Fortuna St., particularly in the LH Prime area.

It is also working on the Powe for the dredging of Tipolo Creek.

Rainwater

Florentino Nimor, head of the City Planning and Development Office, said Mandaue plans to install a new drainage for the rainwater runoff from Plaridel St. to flow to the creek in Opao.

Some P25 million from the City’s disaster risk reduction and management fund will be allocated for the dredging of Tipolo Creek to fix flooding in Tipolo.

Nimor said solving the flooding in the LH Prime area will require the cooperation of private stakeholders, since the drainage cuts through private lots.

The DPWH Sixth Engineering District, with the help of the City, is assessing the drainage in eight flood-prone sites, including five along the national highway or M.C. Briones St.

The sites along the national highway are Sudlon, Maguikay, Highway Seno, Cebu Shipyard area and Subangdaku flyover.

The other three sites are the LH Prime and Rolling Hills on A.S. Fortuna St., and the intersection of Plaridel St. going to Opao.

Simulation

After the inspection, recommendations will be made to the DPWH regional office.

Nimor said the City’s drainage board has yet to receive any report or copy of the findings of the DPWH Sixth District Engineering Office.

The City will use a software application to identify the chokepoints for rainwater runoff in the LH Prime area.

Nimor said that Dr. Danilo Jacque, the City’s consultant on solid waste management who is also an expert on hydraulics, will facilitate the computer simulation.

Nimor said data—such as the size of existing culverts—will be inputted in the software to identify the chokepoints.

When the simulation is done, the result will be presented to the stakeholders in the area.

“We will conduct a public hearing and tell the stakeholders what we need to do,” Nimor said.

City Administrator James Abadia said de-clogging operations are ongoing.

But he said the City may hire private contractors to de-clog drains because the City’s two vacuum trucks are not enough.

Clearing

Abadia said clearing operations along waterways are also ongoing. The City’s target is to remove about 3,500 illegal structures.

To help communities prepare for disasters, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 7 is assessing the 1:10,000 scale geohazard map for 221 barangays in four cities and five municipalities in Cebu.

“The 1:50,000 scale geohazard maps, which are now available online in four websites, can be accessed by anybody online,” said DENR7 Regional Executive Director Dr. Isabelo Montejo.

Montejo said the new geohazard maps can provide specific physical characteristics and identify possible landslide-prone and flood-prone sitios in each barangay covered.

“Our color-coded maps would serve as appropriate warnings for our barangay officials to initiate necessary measures to reduce possible impacts or effects of landslides and floods,” he added.

How were 500 sacks of rice pilfered from CIP?

By Elias O. Baquero


THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu and the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) are separately investigating how smuggled rice got spirited out of the heavily guarded Cebu International Port (CIP).

Port of Cebu District Collector Edward Dela Cuesta told journalists last July 16 that about 160 sacks of rice were stolen from CIP.

However, the pilferage has reached more than 500 sacks already, based on the latest inventory last July 19.

The missing 500 sacks of rice could be worth at least P780,000, based on the price fetched during a public bidding of smuggled rice last May. Each sack went for P1,560.

There are still 1,229 cargo containers of smuggled rice at the CIP, containing a total of 292,880 sacks.

A source at the Port of Cebu revealed that nine 20-foot cargo containers of rice were found with broken official seals. Of the nine, five were inventoried and found to be missing at least 239 sacks.

The other four containers will be inventoried today, after rain interrupted the process last Friday.

Storage

Lawyer Dante Maranan, chief of the Port of Cebu’s Auction and Cargo Disposal Union (ACDU), said his office only facilitates public bidding. Dela Cuesta, he said, created an inventory committee chaired by Arneth Von Carmel Manququis to account for the rice shipment.

When sought to comment, Manquiquis said her committee will submit an inventory report to Dela Cuesta today.

The stolen rice bags were stored at CIP, which belongs to the jurisdiction of CPA. Shipments are considered under BOC’s full jurisdiction only once these are transferred to the customs container yard.

After an initial inquiry, Dela Cuesta said they banned a retired employee of Oriental Port and Allied Services Corp. from entering the customs zone on suspicion that he participated in stealing the rice.

NFA deal

Under the Tariff and Customs Code, the BOC’s Enforcement and Security Service (ESS) is the official guardian of all cargoes seized and forfeited in favor of the government.

Dela Cuesta said the smuggled rice was supposed to be sold through public auction last June 25 and July 18, but Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon stopped it on instructions of Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima.

Dela Cuesta said that Department of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala suggested to Purisima that the National Food Authority (NFA) buy the smuggled rice at P850 per sack. (The NFA reports to the agriculture department).

The port collector said he wondered why Alcala got interested in the smuggled rice when the NFA recently imported rice from Vietnam, which arrived in Cebu in eight vessels.

CPA General Manager Dennis Villamor said he has ordered an investigation on the reported loss of the rice stocks, while Col. Oscar Lopez, the manager for port safety and security, has an initial report on the matter. That report has yet to be revealed.

Cebu City Council to tackle implementing rules

By Doris C. Bongcac, Jose Santino Bunachita


Stores in Cebu City will no longer be allowed to use plastic bags on Saturdays by September this year. That’s the target date to apply implementing rules for City Ordinance 2343 or the “No Plastic Saturday Ordinance of Cebu City.” In the second year of implementation, the ban will extend to Wednesdays. Plastic bags are identified as a main cause of clogged sewage drains and waterways, a problem that manifests in flashfloods all over the city after a heavy rain like last night’s downpour that left main roads in Metro Cebu under water.(See story on page 2). Implementing rules are being finalized by the author, Councilor Nida Cabrera, after a series of consultations with business owners and retailers, who initially resisted the ban on using cheap, convenient plastic bags. Over three years in the making, the ordinance for a partial ban was passed by the Cebu City Council on Dec. 12, 2012 and signed into law by Mayor Michael Rama last January 16. Violators face a P2,000 fine on the first year of implementation and a higher P5,000 fine on the second year along with a six-month imprisonment and possible revocation of an establishment’s business permit. “It’s been a long while since we passed the ordinance but we haven’t implemented it yet because we were drafting the implementing rules and regulations. We were also meeting with the different mall managers and vendors to explain the ordinance,” Cabrera told Cebu Daily News. The main sponsors were Councilor Cabrera and Edgar Labella, who is now vice mayor. It takes a few minutes to use a plastic bag, but once discarded it takes up to 1,000 years for the bag to degrade, filling up garbage dumpsites, unlike paper or a bayong made of leaves which decomposes. As stated in its purpose, “This ordinance is promulgated to eliminate the widespread use of plastic shopping bags for packaging; prevent pollution of waterways which hurts the marine life; eliminate clogging of sewages that causes flooding; prevent chocking of landfills; also raise the level of public awareness and responsibility in the use of shopping bags as well as to increase the (city’s) revenues in solid waste management.” The ban was welcomed by some business groups at the forefront of advocating the use of recyclable bags, like the Cebu chapter of the Philippine Retailers Association. PRA Cebu chairperson Melanie Ng said Cebu retailers were prepared for the ban. “We were consulted even before, by then councilors Nestor Archival and Nida Cabrera. That’s why PRA Cebu launched ‘Every Bag Counts’,” she said, a campaign for member stores to use alternative bags of paper or other recylable materials. The fact that it’s not a total ban, she said, should encourage retaliers to support the ordinance. “It’s going to be impemented by phases. Our malls and supermarkets in Cebu City have long implemented the once-a-week use of paper bags or conduct promos or give discounts to shoppers who use eco-bags or biodegradable bags,” said Ng. Stores in Ayala Center and SM City are an example. Philip Tan, president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the root cause of the problem is poor solid waste management. “In Europe, people bring their own shoppping bags and clean their own mess. We, in the Philippines, let others serve us. It’s not the fault of the plastic but the fault of irresponsible and undisciplined people,”he said. He said the initial once-a-week plastic ban would mean additional cost to retailers and that he hoped the cost of alternative materials for shopping bags would decrease. Cebu Business Club president Gordon Alan “Dondi” Joseph agreed that consumer habits were a factor. “If we had good solid waste managment and recylcing, we wouldn’t need to ban plastics. Huge plastic wastage is a symptom of the problem which is poor waste management.” In a forum on air and water pollution last Friday in City Hall, where findings of scientistis of the University of San Carlos were discussed, one official lamented the widespread use of plastic. “Is it possible for Cebu City to ban plastics? I can see plastic floating 10 kilometers from Cebu’s shorelines. It creates a very, very bad impression of Cebu,” said Dr. Edgar Solana, director of the Pollution Control division of the Cebu Institute of Technology. In the forum, Cabrera explained that the city would schedule days for a ban on plastic bags to regulate its distribution. She will present the proposed IRR to the City Council in August. Under the IRR, the city will have a program to buy used plastic bags at 50 centavos per kilo. Section 8 of the ordinance ecourages business establishments to give incentives to customers to bring their own non-plastic shopping bags and provide disposal bins for plastic and other wastes. The used bags would then be turned over to an accredited member of the Philippine Plastic Industry Association, Inc. for recycling. /with reports fROM Cris EVERT LATO

Resto owners to explain business to City

By Jujemay G. Awit


ONE by one, the Cebu City Liquor Licensing Commission met with the owners of restobars located within a hundred-meter radius of the University of San Carlos (USC) Main Campus.

The commission’s chairperson Msgr. Achilles Dakay said their summons will not be limited to restobars surrounding USC but it is a start, prompted by the closure of Kuerks Restaurant Ltd. Co.

“We will call them one by one to hear their side,” Dakay told reporters.

At yesterday’s meeting, the commission called the owners of Kuerks/Knock Box and Mr. J’s.

While Kuerks/Knock Box is located at the Aznar parking lot across the USC Law School in Jones Ave., Mr. J’s is located perpendicular to the institution at Sanciangko St.

Mari Giev Flores faced the commission to explain that Knock Box started as a pizzeria but they later served alcohol.

Dakay learned that the main provision served at Knock Box is pizza so he told Flores to just forgo the serving of alcohol.

No alcohol

“She promised there will be no more alcohol,” said Dakay.

Knock Box will be taking over Kuerks, which was closed by the Cebu City Government for various complaints of violation of the anti-noise ordinance, failure to pay social amelioration and business taxes and serving alcohol within a hundred-meter radius of a school.

But Mr. J’s owner, former Kamagayan Barangay Captain Mansueto Avila, said his restobar has a special permit to serve alcohol.

Dakay admits that while Mayor Michael Rama has announced there will be no more special permits to be issued, some establishments have been issued permits last January.

A special permit can serve alcohol to patrons after 10 p.m.

Rama’s pronouncement was made at about the second quarter of the year.

“We have not received a notice, this is just a consultative meeting,” said Avila.

He also said Mr. J’s opened in 2006, ahead of the opening of the annex building of USC where the law school is located.

But Dakay also said that even if the establishment came first, when institutions like schools, Church or hospitals are built, the latter will have to be prioritized.

Avila said he will follow the City Government’s policy on special permits.

But he said, “I will be obliged but that will be hard to implement because the City would be bankrupt.”

Avila said alcohol manufacturers would complain about this and the City will lose a lot in social amelioration taxes. He also wondered how the City can implement the 100- meter radius prohibition when institutions are scattered all over the urban area.

Avila also questioned the provision under the Cebu City ordinance preventing establishments to serve alcohol to minors because the ordinance identify minors to be below 21 years old while the definition of a minor under the national law is below 18 years old.

Dakay said there is a need to amend the existing ordinance to make appropriate definitions of “sell” and “serve.”

While Kuerks is barred from serving alcohol, they can sell.

More establishments will be called in the coming weeks.

P3.5-M ‘shabu’ found in Cebu town

By (KAL/with EOB/Sun.Star Cebu)


CEBU -- The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) seized on Thursday morning P3.5-million worth of white powder believed to be shabu (methamphetamine hydrochloride) in the rented apartment of the Nigerian national earlier arrested in Yati, Liloan, Cebu.

The Filipino live-in partner of James Cunta Okwudili Uyanneh voluntarily turned over to the NBI agents a gray travelling bag she had long suspected to contain contraband, NBI supervising agent Rennan Oliva said.

Oliva told reporters that the agents did not force Susan Santillan, 38, to give them the bag.

When the bag was opened outside the apartment, cardboards similar to the one confiscated from Uyanneh inside a motel in Mandaue City Tuesday night were found.

Fourteen packs of white powder believed to be shabu were found inserted between the cardboards.

NBI-Central Visayas Director Antonio Pagatpat, who was present during the operation, said the packs weigh around 700 grams.

Uyanneh will be charged with violating Section II (possession of illegal drugs) of Republic Act (RA) 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

After the operation, NBI filed charges against Uyanneh for violation of Section 5 (sale of illegal drugs) of RA 9165 before the Mandaue City Prosecutor’s Office Thursday afternoon.

Uyanneh was arrested inside the Moonlight Lodging Inn at the North Reclamation Area Tuesday night.

During the inquest proceeding before Assistant City Prosecutor Mary Francis Daquipil, Uyanneh opted not to avail of his right to preliminary investigation.

As a result, the complaint will be elevated to court for trial. Selling of illegal drugs is non-bailable under RA 9165.

An inquest is a summary inquiry that is meant to check if the warrantless arrest of a person can be justified by probable cause.

Oliva said their operation Thursday was valid because Santillan gave her consent to search the room and she gave the bag to the NBI team.

A warrantless search, under the rules of court, can be valid and the seized items are admissible in evidence when the owner allows the law enforcers to search his place.

Law enforcers do not have to warn people that they have a right to refuse consent to a search. If they get consent through trickery or coercion, the consent does not validate the search, according to an online law encyclopedia.

Santillan said that she was reading the newspaper about her Nigerian partner’s arrest before the agents arrived in the apartment past 11 a.m.

She learned of Uyanneh’s arrest only last Wednesday from her son. She did not believe him right away.

“I did not expect this to happen,” she said.

Uyanneh, she said, has a sister who is a judge in Los Angeles, California. Santillan said she did not know Uyanneh was involved in the illegal drug trade.

But she got suspicious when Uyanneh refused to let her open the gray travelling bag, which was always locked.

Her suspicions grew when Uyanneh would tell her not to disturb him when he was inside their bedroom.

“He told me he would be praying,” Santillan said.

Uyanneh’s firm, Eco-Pacific Global Link, was listed as member of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) in 2008, and has since been dropped from the roster.

The CCCI said that after Global link was delisted, they never heard from Uyanneh again.

The firm reportedly sold crude oil.

Meanwhile, the lawyer of another Nigerian who had been looking for Uyanneh said Uyanneh has a pending warrant of arrest for estafa.

Nilo Ahat, lawyering for Adolphus Ugfigwe, said they had been searching for Uyanneh since 2011 for his failure to deliver four vehicles that his client had bought and fully paid for.

Ugfigwe has sued Uyanneh for estafa for a P2.8-million unpaid transaction.

“With his arrest, we hope that the warrant of arrest against the Nigerian fugitive will be served,” Ahat said.

3-day DRR Summit for newly-elected officials in CV set

By Fayette C. Ri�en


CEBU CITY, July 18 (PIA) -- Newly-elected officials in Central Visayas are expected to participate in the three-day Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Summit on July 31 to August 2 at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) in Mandaue City.

The DRR Summit, organized by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) 7, aims to guide newly-elected officials in crafting or improving their respective disaster risk reduction and mitigation program.

OCD 7 Regional Director Minda Morante, who also sits as chairperson of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) in Central Visayas, said it is imperative for first-time local chief executives to participate in the summit so they will know what to do amid frequent occurrences of increment weather.

Apart from mayors, also invited to the summit are local planning officers, local disaster focal persons and representatives of the Department of Local and Interior Government (DILG).

“Over 500 participants have been invited to attend the summit,” bared Morante adding that the summit is necessary especially after elections with new sitting mayors and that re-orientation on the importance of DRR is critical amid frequent weather disturbances during this rainy season.

Danao City in northern Cebu yesterday experienced waist-level flooding after a waterspout hit them the other night as Morante said they are still waiting for reports to reach their office on any casualties or number of injured.

“A waterspout usually happens after heavy thunderstorms. And we have been experiencing heavy thunderstorms since last week,” disclosed the OCD7 chief.

The OCD7 director said the city government of Danao has its own local disaster risk reduction and management council (DRRMC) which is tasked to act on the situation and report it to the provincial DRRMC.

“That is why it is very important for LGUs to have an active local DRRMC as we will wait for their report” and also check on what assistance can be given to them (Danao City), said Morante.

According to an online dictionary, a waterspout is similar to a tornado but in a lesser degree or a lesser whirlwind occurring over water and resulting in a funnel-shaped whirling column of air and spray.

Morante said Danao City is a coastal area and that flooding is a risk in case of a waterspout.

The RDRRMC 7 again emphasized on the attendance of local chief executives to the DRR Summit that will reflect their commitment on mitigating the risks of natural disasters especially in these times of climate change threat.

Morante was one of the key panelists in the recent AGIO7 Forum held at the PIA7 Office that featured the annual observance of July as National Disaster Consciousness Month. (PIA7)

City Hall closes Kuerks 9 days after brawl

By Jujemay G. Awit and Kevin A. Lagunda


THE Cebu City Government padlocked Kuerks Restaurant Co. Ltd. Tuesday afternoon.

At exactly 2 p.m., the Prevention Restoration Order Beautification Enhancement (PROBE) Division of the Cebu City Government, headed by Racquel Arce, arrived at the open-air establishment to serve the closure order.

Just as personnel refused last Friday night to receive the notice to show cause why Kuerks should be allowed to keep operating, personnel also refused to receive the closure order yesterday.

Arce was told that the establishment is no longer Kuerks Restaurant but Knock Box. Two Knock Box tarpaulins hung from the railings surrounding the establishment.

Padlocked

The same railings were chained and padlocked by PROBE and personnel from the City Treasurer’s Office. The padlock used is from the Cebu City Government.

But Arce recognized that the management can continue to operate at night if they wish to because the railings can be moved.

“But they will be facing another violation if they do that,” warned Arce.

While the employees claimed that the establishment is already Knock Box, there are still more prominent signs that says it is Kuerks resto-bar.

The bar beside it still bears the logo KB for Knock Box.

“Ocular inspections were conducted in your area and verification of your records was also made with the Office of the City Treasurer relative to the status of your business establishment. It was found that you have violated the Tax Ordinance, Liquor Ordinance and the Anti-Noise Ordinance of Cebu City,” said the closure order signed by Mayor Michael Rama.

Since the order was not formally received, PROBE posted it on the wall where the stage for the live band was situated.

On the parallel wall is the notice to show cause why the bar should not be closed. The notice sought a reply within 72 hours, but there was no reply from the management.

Expired

While the establishment was said to be Knock Box, an expired sanitary permit was posted on the wall that states that the bar is Kuerks.

The permit was issued to Richard Aznar and was valid until February of this year.

Talisay City Councilor Richard Aznar claimed that the bar was already sold to a certain Mrs. Flores last year.

Tax Mapping of Business Establishment Division Chief Juanita Monina Paires recalled that on record, the owner of Kuerks is a certain Mari Giev Flores.

But the establishment did not renew its business permit and has not paid its social amelioration tax last year.

“This establishment is closed for violating the tax, liquor and anti-noise ordinances.

Closure order dated July 16, 2013,” read the notice printed on six bond papers and posted on various locations inside and outside the bar.

“So far we only received the order to close this place but there will be others. The violations are not limited to this place,” said Arce.

No charges

Kuerks was highlighted because it was rumored to be owned by Councilor Gerardo Carillo, who denied ownership of the bar. No record would also point to him as the owner.

But Carillo was in the bar in the early hours of July 7, when a brawl ensued on nearby Osmeña Blvd. The bar is located in the Aznar Parking Lot.

Carillo responded to the brawl among young men, and 16-year-old Jan Niño Pogoy was sent to the hospital. Pogoy claimed that Carillo hit him in the head with a rock.

No case was filed against Carillo as of yesterday.

The management’s remedy is to meet with City Attorney Jerone Castillo and discuss how the bar can correct its lapses.

Rama said he does not want to talk about settlement as of yet.

“We are doing this to serve a lesson to everyone,” said Rama.

Also yesterday, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 Director Antonio Pagatpat said they cannot start their investigation on the rumble unless the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) will give them the reports on the incident.

Progress

He told reporters yesterday they need the spot and progress reports on the case.

Pagatpat’s statement contradicted that of CCPO Director Mariano Natu-el Jr., who said he already turned over to the NBI the documents last Monday.

Pagatpat further said if the police decide to file complaints against Councilor Carillo, the NBI will stop its investigation.

In an earlier report, Pogoy’s family has not yet decided if they will file charges.

Jan’s policeman-brother Kenneth, who is assigned to the Parian Police Station, said they want to focus on the boy’s recovery for the moment and have avoided asking him about the incident.

Pogoy is still confined in a private room in the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center after undergoing surgery in the head.

Three witnesses told homicide investigators that they and Pogoy were drinking at Kuerks when a group of boys started to argue with them. The argument led to the fistfight and the injuries Jan suffered.

Kuerks bar told: Heed order or face closure

By Michelle Joy L. Padayhag and Jose Santino Bunachita, Correspondents


There won’t be any amnesty if Kuerks Restaurant Bar refuses to receive the notice of order from the Cebu City government. “If they (Kuerks Restaurant Bar) insist on not answering replies, we will be forced to close the establishment with or without the notice order,” City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo said. Last Friday evening Juanita Monina Paieres, tax mapping division chief, served the notice of order to prohibit serving liquor to minors and staging live band music to Kuerks management. Piaeres and her City Hall team were accompanied by police as she served the notice order during the middle of a live band performance at the Kuerks bar located along Pelaez Street, barangay Kamagayan, Cebu City. Castillo said they cannot automatically shut down an establishment without serving the notice of order so the management can explain their side. He said he will meet with his staff to assess the report submitted by the inspection team on the Kuerks bar and other night spots. On receiving the notice, the establishment is given 72 hours to submit their explanation in writing. Paieres said Kuerks Restaurant Bar violated City Ordinance 1413 which prohibits establishments from serving liquors if they are located 100 meters from schools, hospitals or churches. She also said the establishment violated the ordinance after they were found selling liquor to persons aged below 21 years old. Kuerks Restaurant Bar came under fire due to a brawl that resulted in one minor sustaining a severe head injury. The 16-year-old victim named Jan Niño Pogoy, was allegedly bashed on the head with a rock by Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, who denied the allegation as well as reports that he owned the bar. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama visited Pogoy at a government-owned hospital last Wednesday evening. He said he told the doctors to extend every possible assistance to the victim. The recommendation to close the restaurant bar submitted by the City Treasurer’s Office yesterday awaits Rama’s approval. City Treasurer Emma Villarete said the bar was inspected following a complaint from GV Towers Hotel about the noise created by the live band performances at Kuerks. The restaurant-bar also owed the city nearly half a million pesos in back taxes and its business permit already expired. Rama directed City Administrator Atty. Jose Marie Poblete to intensify their inspections of night spots in the city and enforcement of the city ordinances on liquor ban and curfew of minors. Aside from Kuerks, City Hall teams were dispatched to inspect bars in Mango Avenue, I.T. Park and the downtown area last Friday night. “When there are people reacting that will be very positive. That means our composite team is around and they should be very observant enough. They should be complying because we mean business,” Rama said. Rama said he will appoint a point person in the mayor’s office who will be on call 24/7 to respond to any emergency and keep him updated. “Lahi naman gud ang Cebu City (Cebu City is different). We are being visited by an increasing number of tourists. We are becoming a city that doesn’t sleep so the government should also be awake,” he added.

Mike defers plan to run for mayors’ league presidency

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


FOR what he called “practical” reasons, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has decided to shelve his plan to run for president of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP).

In a news conference he called at his office yesterday, Rama said he came up with his decision to no longer run after his meeting with Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista in Manila last Friday.

Rama said he learned from Bautista that the Liberal Party (LP) will field him (Bautista) in the LCP elections on July 19. Bautista reportedly added that his candidacy is supported by President Benigno Aquino III.

“Seeing the whole picture, it would not be practical for me to force (my plan), especially that there is such a thing as a formed ticket that I have been made aware of when I went to Manila,” the newly reelected Cebu City mayor said.

Rama added he has less chance of winning the LCP’s top position considering that the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) has fewer local allies who won in the May 13 elections, compared with the LP.

“Considering the numbers we (UNA) have, layo ra man among numbers sa LP (The LP has far more winning allies than we have),” he said.

Asked if he is disappointed, the mayor answered it would have been better if the President did not get involved in the LCP’s electoral process.

“Di man ta kapugong kung mao na ilang gusto (We really can’t stop them, if that’s what they want),” he said.

Currently, the LCP is headed by San Fernando City, Pampanga Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.

Asked if he will not vie instead for other LCP positions, Rama said the LP has already formed a ticket and fielded candidates for every LCP post.

Rama said he will just wait until 2016, particularly after the 2016 national and local elections.

Rama is an ally of UNA headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is expected to run for president in the 2016 elections.

Despite the developments, Rama said he will still attend the LCP election on July 19.

In the same press conference, Rama said he knows that Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Alan Purisima was not in Manila when he went there last Friday. Purisima was in Cebu City during the change of command of the Police Regional Office 7.

Aside from the LCP, Rama went to Metro Manila also to follow up on his request for the appointment of his choice as head of the Cebu City Police Office, Senior Supt. Noli Romana.

Since he was not able to talk to Purisima, Rama again appealed to the PNP to act on his request, saying he cannot fully exercise his “supervision, operation and control” over the police if the chief of police is not his choice.

Citom seeks help with traffic site, app

By Jujemay G. Awit


IN time, people can just check a website or their mobile devices to know which areas in Cebu City are marred by slow-moving traffic and which routes will let them get around faster.

The Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) has created the cebutraffic.org as part of the Department of Transportation and Communication’s (DOTC) Philippine Transit App Challenge.

It now hopes to find developers who can build apps using the information fed by devices assigned to taxi drivers all over the city.

Citom was the only agency from outside Manila that joined the DOTC’s program. The other participants were the Metro Manila Development Authority, the Light Rail Transit Authority, the Metro Rail Transit 3, the Philippine National Railways, and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.

The Citom-developed website shows the streets of Cebu inked with colors that represent how fast or slow traffic was moving in each area. But this information was taken in May yet.

App challenge

As it is now, the website shows a snapshot of the city’s traffic from that one day in May, but the intention is to develop the site so that it becomes more useful to the public, said Citom Executive Director Rafael Yap.

The Transit App Challenge, launched last July 2, is a search for developers who can make apps using the information from Citom.

Citom, in turn, plans to gather the data from about 500 cab drivers.

Cebu City is one of three Asian cities tagged as beneficiaries of a World Bank program on sustainability. In the area of transportation, the bank has distributed 500 global positioning system or GPS-enabled phones for taxis to collect real-time traffic flow and road condition data.

BRT, too

Yap said at least 250 phones have been installed.

The data collected can also be used in the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transport system, which the City Government is pushing for.

Yap also explained Citom’s side in opposing flyovers.

“It is not about flyovers per se. Flyovers work in certain locations but not in high-density urban locations,” said Yap.

Yap, though, supports the bill of Rep. Raul del Mar for a Metro Cebu Traffic Authority because it’s not feasible for each local government unit to manage the traffic in isolation, without working with other communities around it.

It was del Mar who originally pushed for the flyovers on M.J. Cuenco Ave. and Gorordo Ave.

‘Don’t pay Balili contractor’

By Flornisa M. Gitgano


CEBU -- The provincial legal officer recommended that the Capitol not to pay the P6.8 million being collected by the contractor who supplied the back-filling materials for the former Balili property.

In a letter sent to Provincial Accountant Marieto Ypil, Provincial Legal Officer Orvi Ortega “strongly recommended to cancel the disbursement of voucher and not to pay” the Supreme ABF Construction and Construction Supply Company Inc.

Ortega pointed to the pending cases related to the purchase of the former beach resort in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City and the lack of authorization from the Provincial Board (PB).

Ypil had asked for Ortega’s legal opinion regarding the payment. He recalled that the PB’s approval is “required under the audit observation memorandum” of the Commission on Audit (COA) and that there was a controversy regarding the back-filling project.

Ortega also said the signing of the contract between former governor Gwendolyn Garcia and the contractor has no approval from the PB.

The contractor delivered 27,683 cubic meters of back-filling materials for the development of the former Balili property.

Garcia is facing graft and technical malversation cases before the Sandiganbayan for the purchase of the 24.9-hectare Balili property last 2008. She is now the congresswoman of the province’s third district.

Ortega pointed out that “the backfilling was done when the Balili property was already the subject of litigation”.

“There were pending cases being faced by former governor Garcia and several officials of the Province of Cebu before the Sandiganbayan and, as such, the back-filling activity could be considered in the nature of tampering with evidence as the entire Balili lot property is the root cause or bone of contention in the cases mentioned,” Ortega’s letter read.

Officer-in-charge Ma. Yolanda Cabando of the Provincial Treasurer’s Office said the process of paying a supplier begins in the pre-audit division.

It will then be sent to the accounting office, and then to the treasurer’s office for the issuance of a check.

Last December, Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III, Vice Governor Agnes Magpale and PB Member Arleigh Jay Sitoy filed complaints against Garcia before the Office of the Ombudsman, after they found out about the “irregular” filling of limestone in submerged portions of the Balili property.

They also included in their complaint former Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre and businessman Bernabe Gilbor, president of the Bacolod City-based contractor.

Follow-up

Three days before the May 13 election, the anti-graft office upgraded into criminal and administrative complaints its fact-finding inquiry regarding the backfilling of the Balili site.

Ypil assumed that the contractor probably knew about the status of the payment since the company has been conducting follow-ups.

“Nakahibaw nana sila kay sige na man na silang follow up,” Ypil told reporters.

He believed the contractor also knew that there were pending cases related to the Balili property.

Sun.Star Cebu called the office of Supreme ABF Construction in Negros Occidental but Maricar Castillo, one of the staff workers, requested that the call be put off until today, because their head was not around yesterday, July 12, to answer queries.

“As far as my understanding of the Local Government Code is concerned, all the transactions contracts entered into by the Provincial Government should carry the consent of the Provincial Board,” Davide told reporters. (Sun.Star Cebu)

CTO pushes for bar’s closure

By Kevin A. Lagunda and Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


THE Cebu City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) has recommended to Mayor Michael Rama the closure of the restobar where a fracas involving Councilor Gerardo Carillo and a 16-year-old boy happened dawn of July 7.

But Acting City Treasurer Emma Villarete said in a news conference yesterday that the recommendation has nothing to do with the recent incident.

The CTO has found out that Kuerks Restobar on Pelaez Street has been delinquent in its tax obligations, has violated the Anti-Noise Ordinance, has failed to secure a permit from the Liquor Licensing Commission, and has not renewed its business permit for 2013.

That, as Carillo asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the incident because he couldn’t trust the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to do it without bias.

Girlfriend’s family

Also, Carillo, in an interview over radio dySS yesterday morning, said the restobar is owned by the family of his girlfriend. He refused to name them.

He said he frequents the place, particularly on weekends.

Asked if he was drunk when the fracas happened Sunday dawn, Carillo said he had some drinks.

As in his previous statements, Carillo said he was not the one who hit Jan Niño Pogoy, 16, with a rock, as the boy’s friends alleged.

“It is something I cannot imagine I will do. I was only there to pacify. Besides, konsehal ta sa Syudad sa Sugbu ug wa sad koy motibo nga hilabtan to sila (I am Cebu City councilor and I don’t have a motive to hurt them),” he said during the interview.

His duty

Asked why he did not call the police instead, Carillo said that being a councilor, he is duty-bound to stop and pacify any fight.

“It’s our social responsibility. It’s our moral obligation. We will be remiss of our duty if we will not do that,” he said.

That, as the NBI 7 will investigate the bar incident upon Carillo’s request.

Supervising agent Rennan Oliva said Carillo sent them a letter Wednesday afternoon, requesting them to conduct an inquiry “to avoid any bias.”

Carillo did not trust the homicide section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to do an impartial investigation.

Carillo mentioned in his letter, addressed to NBI 7 Director Antonio Pagatpat, that the boy’s brother is a police officer assigned in CCPO.

“Likewise being a councilor of the City of Cebu,” he requested for an NBI investigation.

Too noisy

Meanwhile, City Hall records show that Kuerks is owned by Talisay City Councilor Richard Aznar.

Aznar, in an earlier interview, said he no longer owns the barm, it having been sold last year to Mary Jane Flores.

Villarete said a CTO team found the violations during inspections conducted last May 31 and June 1.

The inspections, she said, followed a complaint the CTO received from GV Towers, a hotel nearby, on the excessive noise coming from Kuerks.

Other establishments nearby have also been complaining about the noise coming from Kuerks, Villarete said.

She said the CTO submitted to Mayor Michael Rama last Wednesday its recommendation for the bar’s closure.

She said it took CTO time to submit the recommendation because her office had been busy preparing for the May 13 midterm elections.

“Our recommendation for the bar’s closure has nothing to do with the recent incident. Na-taymingan lang,” she said.

Rama said he has yet to receive the CTO report and recommendation on Kuerks Restobar.

Nevertheless, he will refer the matter to the City Legal Office for review.

Coordination

At the NBI front, Oliva, who has been assigned to handle the case, said they will coordinate with the CCPO in conducting the inquiry.

He said he sent yesterday a letter to CCPO Director Mariano Natuel Jr. asking for the police reports on the incident.

“We will get to the bottom of everything,” Oliva told reporters.

Pogoy, who suffered severe head injuries, was admitted to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. He is recovering in the public hospital.

Three minors told homicide investigators that they and Pogoy were drinking at Kuerks when a group of boys started to argue with them. The argument led to a fistfight.

One of the minors said Carillo approached them and struck Pogoy’s head with a rock.

The witness said Pogoy dropped to the ground and was bleeding, while Carillo went back inside the restobar.

‘I didn’t hit minor with rock’

By Jill B. Tatoy, Jujemay G. Awit, Justin K. Vestil and Kevin A. Lagunda


CEBU City Councilor Gerardo Carillo denied hitting a minor in the head with a rock.

He said he was merely trying to pacify a brawl that involved Joseph Niño Pugoy, 16, around 4 a.m. last Sunday.

Pugoy regained consciousness yesterday after undergoing surgery last Monday, revealed his brother PO1 Kenneth Pugoy.

Joseph Niño, however, is still in the neurological section of the intensive care unit (ICU) of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.

Carillo had been avoiding the media after he was accused of hitting the younger Pugoy with a rock. His lawyer, Noel Archival, was the one who faced reporters when the story broke out last Tuesday.

No alcohol

But yesterday, Carillo could not evade reporters who approached him after the City Council’s regular session.

Carillo said he was at the Kuerks Restobar on Pelaez St. talking with Duljo Fatima Barangay Captain Elmer Abella. Carillo claimed he was not drinking anything that contained alcohol.

Carillo wants the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to head the investigation on the incident because Joseph Niño’s brother, Kenneth, is assigned at the Cebu City Police Office.

He said he will wait for a formal complaint from the Pugoys.

PO1 Pugoy said they have not yet asked his younger brother about the incident.

Evidence

The policeman said they will file a case against Councilor Carillo if they have enough evidence.

“Dili ko mahadlok kung public figure ba ka o politiko kay gusto ko og hustisya sa akong manghod. Pero sabutan lang sa namo na sa among pamilya (I am not afraid of politicians because I want justice for my brother. But this still has to be discussed by our family),” Kenneth said.

Joseph Niño and Kenneth’s father is also a policeman. SPO1 Samuel Pugoy is assigned in Lapu-Lapu City.

Carillo said there were no minors drinking at the bar and the brawl that involved Joseph Niño occurred outside Kuerks.

He said the minor and his friends were outside the restobar waiting for another group that was drinking inside Kuerks.

Pacify

When the brawl occurred, Carillo said he and Abella went out to pacify those involved. Abella told radio dyLA that Carillo could not have hurt the minor.

He said he had a drinking session with Carillo around 1 a.m. Sunday at Kuerks but he left the restobar earlier. He said he was surprised on hearing that Carillo was accused of hitting a minor with a rock.

The Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) said the Pugoys can file a case of serious physical injuries in relation to child abuse against Carillo.

“We still have to check the medical certificate of the victim. If they are willing to file a case, they must execute an affidavit,” said SPO1 Jay Aballe of the Homicide Section.

Settlement

CCPO Director Mariano Natuel Jr. said the decision to file a case or not is up to the complainant.

“If they are open to settlement, then the victim will have to execute an affidavit of desistance. For now, investigators will have to wait,” Natuel added.

A rock with bloodstains was recovered by the police at the scene earlier.

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol, on the other hand, said they do not have jurisdiction over the case involving Carillo because the incident happened beyond the councilor’s duty.

He said the ombudsman can only conduct an inquiry on a public officer when the latter committed unlawful acts related to his work.

Liability

He said the anti-graft office can conduct an investigation after an official is convicted of a criminal case, to see if he or she has an administrative liability.

Carillo also denied he owned Kuerks Restobar.

The business permit of Kuerks was issued to Richard Aznar, a councilor in Talisay City.

Aznar, in a separate interview, said his family no longer owns Kuerks Restobar.

He said his father, Richard Christopher, and some Manila-based partners opened the bar but they sold it last year to Marie Jane Flores.

But he said the new owner still pays rent to the Aznars, who own the lot that the bar occupies.

Revoke

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants the bar’s business permit revoked if it is proven that it serves alcoholic drinks to minors.

Councilor Margarita Osmeña said the Cebu City Anti-Indecency Board should check and implement the ordinance requiring bars to put up signs warning minors from entering their establishments.

Rama said he plans to revive the inspection on bars and restaurants to ensure that these establishments are complying with the ordinance.

Citom official says the volume of traffic in Cebu City is too much to handle

By Jujemay G. Awit


THE Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) alone cannot solve the traffic problem in the City, a Citom official said.

“I cannot solve traffic in Cebu City, that’s impossible. The number of vehicles is not under my jurisdiction. What Citom can do is control congestion,” said Citom Executive Director Rafael Yap.

He said the number of vehicles can only be controlled if the National Government comes in, like in Singapore where there are legislations setting requirements to owning a vehicle.

But Yap said Citom is not washing its hands of the traffic problem and said public transport is the only way to solve it. He was the guest of Kiwanis Group yesterday at the Casino Español.

“I love the jeepneys... Is it affordable? Yes. Is it efficient? No. Is it comfortable? No,” said Yap.

He said the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) will resubmit the proposed Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) in Cebu City with proof of concept within the year.

The proposal, if implemented, is still within “acceptable level of delay.”

The BRT was not approved in the level of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) board last November.

The BRT will continue to be pushed because of its feasibility, according to the DOTC study, and because of concurrence from political factions and the support of the Cebu City Council.

As far as the railway system is concerned, Yap said the passenger volume in Cebu City has not reached a level for it.

But while the BRT is still up in the air, work on proposed bike lanes in Cebu City is on the way.

The technical working group on the bike lane met yesterday to clean the first draft of the ordinance providing for a segregated bike lanes and facilities in selected major and secondary roads.

The group decided to call the proposal, “Tindak Lane Ordinance.” Tindak is Bisaya for pedal.

The group agreed that the word is truly Cebuano.

The meeting was facilitated by the Office of Councilor Nida Cabrera attended by Yap, Movement for Livable Cebu’s Mark Canton and Rudy Alix and bike enthusiast Ryan Noval.

Cabrera is the sponsor of the proposed ordinance.

Rama wants ‘drug-free, traffic-free Cebu City’

By Correspondent Jose Santino Bunachita and Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac


CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama told police and traffic officials that he wants a “drug-free and traffic free” Cebu City at the end of his second term in office. In separate briefings with the police, Cebu City Integrated Traffic Operations Management (Citom) officials and department heads, Rama again outlined the policy directions of his administration in peace and order and traffic. When asked if his goal can be achieved within his term Rama replied that they “will endeavor to do it. We have to aim high. If we don’t aim high, chances are, we will continue to (have crimes),” he said. He said he will meet separately with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to discuss the city’s drug situation. Rama will tap former Dangerous Drugs Board undersecretary Paul Oaminal as his consultant in the anti-drug campaign. The Police Coordination and Advisory Council said illegal drugs and unlicensed firearms were involved in the shooting deaths of a traffic police officer and enforcer and a daylight robbery of a money remittance shop in Mabolo near a police precinct. These incidents also prompted Rama to renew his call to replace Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el Jr., acting Cebu City police chief, with Senior Supt. Noli Romana. Romana was reassigned to the Police Regional Office. Rama also wanted the city’s traffic enforcers to work on a 24/7 shift especially in areas where entertainment spots are located. “The Citom will be on call 24/7 as part of the city’s disaster preparedness measure,” the mayor said. Rama said in Japan, traffic personnel who complain about their job will be relieved until those remaining in their jobs will complete the tasks assigned to them. Citom operations chief Rafael Yap said a 24/7 deployment of his personnel will depend on the availability of their manpower and resources. Citom has 554 personnel of whom 275 are traffic enforcers and 279 others are parking aides and office personnel. “As it is now, Citom is currently short of personnel. We will try out best to accede to (the) mayor’s wishes without hampering peak hour operations,” he said. Yap said their personnel was reduced last July 1 with the non-renewal of 22 traffic enforcers. Under the existing set up, Yap said, Citom’s 253 traffic enforcers are divided on three shifts daily: 6 a.m. to 2p.m., 2p.m. to 10p.m. and 10p.m. to 6 a.m.

Palma declines new term in CBCP; Villegas elected

By Elias O. Baquero


THE Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) chose Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan as its new president, after Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma declined a possible reelection.

Palma, according to the CBCP website, said one term as head of the bishops’ group is enough for him and that he plans to devote more time to his pastoral work in Cebu.

Archbishop Palma will remain as CBCP president until Nov. 30, 2013.

Archbishop Villegas, the current vice president, will assume his new office on Dec. 1, 2013, along with Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, who was elected vice president during the weekend.

Villegas was elected around 9 p.m. Saturday in the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Paco, Manila. The election of the rest of the CBCP positions was completed at 11 a.m. yesterday, said Dr. Rene Josef Bullecer, who is close to Palma.

Sun.Star Cebu tried to call the archbishop, but he had other commitments. “Regrets, I could not answer. I am presiding at our CBCP meeting,” Archbishop Palma texted.

The CBCP also elected Fr. Marvin Mejia as secretary general, succeeding Msgr. Joselito Asis. Fr. Mejia is currently with the St. Therese Parish in Lahug, Cebu City.

Archbishop John Du, who replaced Palma in Palo when Palma became the archbishop of Cebu, was elected as CBCP treasurer.

Congress

Dr. Bullecer said he was sad that Palma did not seek a second term, considering his accomplishments in the past two years. He observed, though, that his commitments as CBCP president often sent the archbishop out of Cebu; he attended meetings not only of the CBCP, but also the Federation of Asian Bishops Conference, which last met in Vietnam.

He also said the archbishop will have more time to prepare for the international Eucharistic Congress, which is scheduled on Jan. 25-31, 2016 and may include a visit from Pope Francis.

Palma, the doctor said, wants to start the preparations now for the congress, which is expected to draw 30,000 to 40,000 participants from all over the world.

A 15-member team from the Vatican is scheduled to arrive in Cebu on Sept. 5 to advise Archbishop Palma on the preparations and inspect areas where the congress can possibly be held.

According to the CBCP website, Villegas, 52, will lead the 96 active and 40 honorary members of the bishops’ collegial body, when his term starts on Dec. 1.

Villegas was ordained priest by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin in 1985. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of Manila in 2001. In 2004, Villegas was appointed bishop of the Balanga dioncese, and then he was named archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan in 2009.

Valles, on the other hand, was ordained priest in 1976 and was appointed as the fourth bishop of Kidapawan in 1997. In 2006, he was named archbishop of Zamboanga until 2012, when he was transferred to the Davao archdiocese.

Free lessons? Music to city children’s ears

By Bernadette A. Parco


THE only sources of music for 14-year-old John Paul Cosido as he was growing up in an upland village in Cebu City were TV shows and a coin-operated videoke machine.

But the teenager, named after the future saint Pope John Paul II, turned out to be a virtuoso, a naturally talented musician, who now boasts of a string of public performances as a violinist.

He is the youngest son of a widow, Filomena, who sells vegetables and raises chickens to make a living.

Now, the sounds of Cosido’s daily life go beyond the clucking from their backyard. He now has a repertoire, which varies from classical music to the popular Filipino ditty “Pusong Bato.” He played the latter during his music class with Sistemang Pilipino volunteer teacher Noel Martin.

Sistemang Pilipino Founder and Chief Executive Officer Lianne Sala told Sun.Star Cebu that Cosido was referred to them by a French priest, who was impressed by the boy’s talent.

Cosido, using a guitar, can recreate most of the music he hears. He performed at the group’s launching concert at the Basilica del Sto. Nio in March this year.

The young man dreams of being a professional artist someday, following the likes of violinist Gilopez Kabayao, a Gawad CCP Awardee for Music in 2008.

Cosido now has weekly music lessons with Sistemang Pilipino, which aims to provide world-class music education and performance opportunities for children and youth. They focus on under-served communities.

The group was founded last year by Sala, the niece of renowned concert pianist Ingrid Sala-Santamaria.

Sala said the creation of Sistemang Pilipino was inspired by “El Sistema,” the Venezuelan movement for social justice through music that began in 1975. (Related photo, A8)

The group is looking for sponsors or donors of instruments; music lessons for one child cost about P2,500 per month.

Sala, together with Martin, contrabass virtuoso Jiovanni Tabada, pianist Miracle Romano and music teacher Mark Melecio held music lessons in singing, violin and cello at the SOS Children’s Village in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City yesterday morning.

Melecio said it took some time to develop the children’s interest in choir singing, which requires strict discipline.

But he points out that the children in the village have potential, and their performance has improved in the last two months.

Tabada, the son of Mactan weather bureau chief Oscar Tabada, teaches girls between six and 14 how to play the violin.

In a separate interview, Dipolog City-based Romano said music helps build the children’s character.

“I especially see music’s effect on my students with special needs. Music gives them something to come home to... and that is very important,” she added.

SOS Village Director Mario Victor Baang explained that the children in the village undergo child development programs; as they cannot be with their own families, the village offers them an alternative family life.

Baang added that with the music lessons, the children have developed the habit of attending practice sessions, which is important in self-discipline.

“They now care for the (musical) instruments that they use and they have developed self-confidence,” he said.

Customs lot, bldg eyed for waterfront project

By Doris C. Bongcac


The Compaña Maritima lot and building claimed by the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) as its own will form part of the Cebu City government’s Waterfront Development project, a legal consultant of Mayor Michael Rama said. Jade Ponce, Rama’s executive assistant, said yesterday he’s discussing with some academic experts about the city’s plans to preserve the area’s historical value and coordinating with the city legal office in reviewing the legality of the CPA’s claim. The CPA questioned Cebu City Hall’s plans to contest ownership of the Compaña Maritima lot, saying that the city government recognized its claim by asking their permission to use the lot several times. CPA media liaison officer Karen Gonzales said a letter sent by the mayor’s office sought permission to use the Compaña Maritima lot for the annual Cebu City Hall inter-department sportsfest. “That area should benefit all of the people of Cebu including the future generations,” Ponce said. He said the Compaña Maritima lot will form part of the city’s heritage plans. He said the lot connects to the nearby Malacañang sa Sugbu and the Pari-an heritage monument. The city’s Land Management Commission passed a resolution during a meeting held last month asking the city assessor’s office to issue a tax declaration on the Compaña Maritima property and place the lot under the city’s name. Ponce said the tax declaration would allow the city to assess the lot’s value and the taxes to be collected from its use. Gonzales said a tax declaration doesn’t prove City Hall’s ownership of the lot. “They (CPA) had authority (to use the property) but only as far as the use of the properties as a port (is concerned). But if the lot is no longer used as a port, they already lose their jurisdiction,” Ponce said. Ponce said it’s no surprise that the city government considered taxing the lot only now after learning the CPA’s plans to build a maritime museum on the property. In a press statement, acting CPA deputy general manager Yusop Uckung said the CPA owns the lot “based on legal and historical grounds.” He said the Compaña Maritima lot and building and the surrounding area was covered by Presidential Decree 857 which turned over all supervision, control and regulation of port operations and construction of ports from the Bureau of Customs to the Philippine Ports Authority. “With the creation of the CPA, through Republic Act 7621, the Compaña Maritima properties were turned over by the PPA to the CPA,” Uckung said. . With Correspondent Michelle Joy Padayhag

Cebu today and some of its development challenges

By Fernando Fajardo


Fifty two percent of Cebu’s land has a higher than 18 percent slope. This leaves less than half of its land potentially arable. Less arable land, coupled with great demand for housing, commercial and other non-agriculture uses limits the ability of Cebu to supply its own food requirements. Likewise, the highly sloping nature of Cebu’s terrain makes it highly susceptible to soil erosion, landslides and flash floods which is also aggravated by climate change. This is the first challenge newly elected leaders in Cebu must consider. Cebu has three highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue and the Province of Cebu with its six component cities and 44 municipalities. What we know as Metro Cebu today consists of seven cities and six municipalities in the eastern side of Cebu starting from Danao City in the north to Carcar City in the south, including Lapu-Lapu City and Cordova in Mactan Island. Metro Cebu is not an official political government unit but merely an economic unit delineated for purposes of integrated planning and coordinated implementation of development projects as envisioned under the Mega Cebu concept of the Metro Cebu Development Coordination Board. In the 2010 census, Cebu counted a population of 4.167 million or 4.51 percent of the entire nation and 61.28 percent of Central Visayas. From 2000 to 2010, Cebu’s population grew by 2.19 percent annually. At this rate, the population of Cebu will reach 4.64 million in 2015 and 5.18 million in 2020. I ask our newly elected local government officials: Do we have the resources to meet the needs of our fast growing population? Metro Cebu’s population was counted in the 2010 Census at 2.551 million or 61.2 percent of the entire population of Cebu with an annual growth rate of 2.83 percent. While desirable from the economic point of view because of economies of scale, the rapid growth and high level of concentration of population in Metro Cebu can also create more social problems like lack of housing and the rise of slum areas, pollution, traffic snarls, mounting garbage and so forth. Globally, however, economic growth is seen as coming largely from fast growing metropolitan areas. The second challenge, therefore, is how to plan and make Metro Cebu grow faster without creating or compounding the ills of urbanization. Can our newly elected local government officials in Metro Cebu do this? The economy of Cebu is the largest in the south after Metro Manila in the north. Cebu’s economic growth is driven by the rapid increase in investments in business process outsourcing, tourism, and real estate development. As of last year, there were already 139 information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing firms located in Cebu which generated a total of 95,000 jobs. In 2011, foreign and domestic tourist arrivals reached 1.922 million. From 2006 to 2011, foreign tourist arrivals grew faster at 12 percent annually compared to domestic tourist arrivals which grew only by 7.0 percent annually. Six special economic zones (SEZs) operate in Cebu where most of the island’s exports are generated. In 2012, the six operating SEZs hosted 278 locators with a total employment of more than 100 thousand workers and over US$ 3.0 billion in exports. But are we to depend only in this type of activities for our future? I ask our newly elected local officials: What is our strategy to make Cebu competitive in attracting more and varied types of investments in the next three years and thereafter? In 2011, the gross regional domestic product (GRDP) of the Central Visayas region was estimated at P601.9 billion at current prices. This was 6.2 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the entire country. There is no government estimate of GDP below the regional level. However, applying its percentage share of the total population to the Central Visayas GRDP would give Cebu P373.2 billion in gross provincial domestic product (GPDP) in 2011. This is equivalent to 3.8 percent of the GDP for the entire country. Since most of the industrial, export and related service activities in the region are concentrated in Cebu, its GPDP is surely much higher than the above estimate. This, however, is not consoling enough. In 2009, for which latest data is available, Cebu’s average family income was still much lower at P207,0000 than that of Metro Manila’s P356,000 and barely surpassed the P206,000 national average. How can we make Cebu’s GPDP and average family income higher than they are now? This is another challenge to our newly elected officials because more of the same BPO, tourism and real estate development may not be enough. Beginning in 2000, official government data on employment is broken down to the regional level only. Data from the April 1999 Quarterly Employment Survey, however, showed that Cebu had long ago achieved its transformation from being pre-dominantly agricultural to industrial and service activities when it reported that Cebu’s dependence on agriculture was already down to less than 30 percent of its employed workers. This is good because industrial and service activities give higher income per worker than agriculture. Given a 4.4 million projected population this year and assuming a working age group equivalent to 65 percent of the population and 65 percent labor force participation rate, Cebu will have a labor force of about 1.859 million this year. If the 7.4 percent unemployment rate of the region in January this year is also true in Cebu, about 137,000 workers are unemployed here, not to mention the underemployed which regionally reached 20 percent. Furthermore if Cebu’s labor force were to grow by 2.19 percent, similar to its population growth, Cebu’s labor force will increase by at least 40,000 annually. This, I am sure, is much greater than what the combined BPO, tourism and real estate development is presently generating. Lack of employment opportunities and the inability of the employed workers to get higher wages because of the high unemployment rate explains why the nation’s poverty incidence remains high at over a fourth of our population. Creating jobs, therefore, is another big challenge that our newly elected local government officials in Cebu must address.

Resurrecting the pre-War charm of Cebu City

By Jobers Bersales


Mayor Michael Rama made one giant step forward by announcing in his inaugural speech the resurrection of the moth-balled Cebu Waterfront Heritage Development Project through the appointment of former mayor Alvin Garcia as consultant. Had Garcia been given a second term in the 1990s, Cebu would most probably be basking in the charm of a beautiful waterfront stretching from Fort San Pedro down to the Carbon Market and Freedom Park. Even the Dutch government was willing then to pitch in to see the project through. But the ugly face of politics intervened, Garcia lost and the project was left in total darkness. Meanwhile, Cebu’s waterfront area started to develop. A huge and humongous red building now blocks the waterfront view of Fort San Pedro, a painful reminder of the absence of a heritage conservation program for the city. Fortunately, the private sector took the cudgels for heritage promotion and protection at the old Spanish quarter of the city. And in succession, we saw Ricardo Cardinal Vidal pursuing the conversion of the former Cathedral Rectory into the archdiocesan museum, Jimmy Sy converting his papa’s old warehouse (the ancient Jesuit House of 1730) into the Museo sa Parian sa Sugbo and Val Sandiego sprucing up his family’s balay nga bato also in Parian. Even the University of Southern Philippines pitched in and converted a room at the old Mabini Campus to house the memorabilia of Jose Rizal. Of course, Casa Gorordo was way ahead of all these efforts way back in the 1980s when governance and development was still a stranger to heritage. Lest we forget, the Cebu Waterfront Development Project originally started as a study carried out by a small group of architects and urban planners called the Cebu Heritage Conservation Council, founded by architect Joy Martinez-Onozawa. This study, complete with public consultations of all stakeholders, including vendors and the urban poor, proposed a 20-year development plan for the old Spanish quarter of Cebu. This covered the waterfront as well as its immediate built environment roughly stretching to the borders of the Cathedral and the Basilica del Sto. Niño to the west, Parian to the northwest, the 1920s warehouses along MacArthur Boulevard to the northeast and the Chinese-owned 1920s warehouses as well as Carbon Market and the former Warwick Barracks to the south. The result of this study was three volumes of research, architectural designs and plans which also became the subject of two master’s theses, one at the University of Hong Kong by Therese Tumulak Crisostomo, which can still be accessed on the Internet. There are also various studies of this area in downtown Cebu that have been carried out from time to time by the College of Architecture and Fine Arts (CAFA) of the University of San Carlos, which even carried out an exhibit last year at the Ayala Center. In fact, there are courses being taught now that focus on the downtown area of Cebu. All told, the aim of these studies is to revitalize those areas of Cebu that are deemed dirty by day and dangerous by night. I am glad, for one, that Mayor Mike has also made the firm decision to clean up the old Warwick Barracks and perhaps restore the old Plaza Washington, now called Freedom Park fronting the University of San Jose-Recoletos. We have always boasted to guests that Cebu City is like Singapore. But where are the wide open spaces, the parks, the tree-lined avenues that make every visitor of Singapore gasp in awe? During their previous terms, Mayor Mike Rama and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia started sprucing up the stretch to Capitol. Then the mayor also started cleaning up the islands along New Imus Road even as he built a park for senior citizens behind city hall. His greatest achievement, according to one fan I met the other day, was the way he cleaned up the Cebu City Medical Center and made it simply liveable instead of being a dreadful end-point for the destitute and the dying. I would not be surprised if the doctors there quietly campaigned for Mike. I too would have done so. Perhaps you will agree with me if I have high hopes for the next three years. Expect a more livable Cebu from here on. Finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Elderly killed in Cebu fire

By Jhunnex Napallacan, Chito O. Aragon


CEBU CITY — An elderly woman was killed in a fire that destroyed her home in Mandaue City early morning on Wednesday. Maria Pino, 79, a widow, was alone when the fire engulfed her house at Purok 3, Barangay (village) Cubacub, Mandaue about 12:45 a.m., said Senior Fire Officer 1 Cipriano Codilla Jr., investigator of the Mandaue City Fire department. Her son, Lumer 43 and his family lived in a house beside Pino’s. But Lumer told Codilla that by the time they woke up, the fire had engulfed his mother’s house. Codilla said Lumer believed that Maria may have been fast asleep because they didn’t hear any scream that may have alerted them that the house was on fire. Codilla said the fire may have been caused by an unattended kerosene lamp which Maria used to light her house. He said Lumer told them that his mother didn’t like using electrity because she didn’t like the glare. Codilla said the kerosene lamp might have been knocked down, triggering the fire which easily destroyed the house because it was made of bamboos and other light materials. The fire didn’t spread to other houses because the neighbors were able to put out it immediately.

The mayor’s agenda for Cebu City

By newsinfo.inquirer.net


- Make the South Road Properties productive and demand payment from its creditors; - Strictly regulate liquor and gambling and install additional CCTVs as a crime deterrence measure; - Pursue the expansion of the Cebu City Medical Center and put up a satellite hospital in the mountain barangay of Bonbon; - Take advantage of the city’s harmonious relationship with the Cebu provincial government and already resolve the 93-1 issue; - Shift to high gear the city’s “Gubat sa Basura” program to address environmental concerns; - Empower the barangay captains to function like “little mayors”; - Enforce the three-meter easement and implement drainage improvement programs; - Widen interior roads to at least six meters as a disaster preparedness measure; - Continue the concreting of roads in the mountains; - Develop Freedom Park and Warwicks located within the Carbon Market Complex; - Pursue the trans-axial highway project of the late vice governor Greg Sanchez and the proposed third bridge to connect Cebu City and Mactan Island; - Come up with winnable and expedient solution to the issue of franchise taxes and the tax dues from hospitals and schools; - Establish a housing program also for City Hall employees; - Pursue programs on education, sports, arts and culture.






Davide, Rama assume office

By Elias O. Baquero and Flornisa M. Gitgano


TWO former allies in the Cebu City Council, lawyers Michael Rama and Hilario Davide III, took over the two highest elective offices in Cebu at noon yesterday.

“You will have an honest Capitol,” Davide said in his first speech as governor, addressing his family, supporters and political and business leaders in the Capitol social hall.

A few minutes later in Plaza Independencia, on the other end of Osmeña Blvd., Rama took oath for his second term as Cebu City mayor.

“I am honored and privileged to accept a second term with all responsibility, with all my heart and soul,” Rama said.

Vice President Jejomar Binay was a no-show at the Team Rama event, despite the cancellation of his trip to China to appeal for the life of an overseas worker on death row.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II officiated at his third oath-taking ceremony in Cebu during the weekend.

He swore in Davide, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and 12 members of the Provincial Board, a day after leading similar ceremonies for fifth district officials in Danao City and winners from the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) in Cebu City last Saturday.

Davide and Rama both won office as BOPK allies more than a decade ago. Davide is expected to introduce his appointees today, while Rama will speak during the inaugural session of a council dominated by his political rival’s allies.

Firsts

About a year after his first term as mayor began in 2010, Rama decided to leave the BOPK. This year, he became the first person to defeat BOPK party leader and former mayor Tomas Osmeña in an election.

In his speech in the Capitol, Secretary Roxas said change has come to Cebu.

“For the first time in 18 years, we have a governor who doesn’t have the same surname as the previous, who doesn’t come from the same political family, and now we have a governor who has emerged to lead Cebu’s more than four million people,” said Roxas.

He reminded Davide and Magpale that as the new leaders of the Province, they will face hard decisions and choices.

Fr. Bernardo Oyao celebrated the 10 a.m. mass before the oath-taking, where he urged everyone to pray for the “total commitment” of the new administration’s officials.

“We pray for you, Governor Davide, Vice Governor Magpale and members of the Provincial Board, as you journey together sa matuwid na daan (on the straight path),” said Fr. Oyao.

Health, food

In his inaugural speech, Davide said he believes that an honest, transparent, accountable, effective, efficient and sincere government will create real, sustainable progress.

He promised to equip the district hospitals and make sure these are efficiently administered, its hiring policies reviewed with the help of medical schools and organizations in the private sector.

“Makalaom ang mga masakiton nga matagad ug matabangan sila, ug dili magtinga diha sa daplin tungod sa kadugay sa ilang paghulat nga moabot ang pagtabang (The sick can expect help and attention, and not have to fight for their lives while they wait for health care),” he said.

The Province, Davide said, will also ask the national government to provide more classrooms and facilities, and for a partnership in a vocational-technical training program in the countryside.

He will also “revitalize and expand the Farmer-Scientist Training Program” and improve farm-to-market access. The program was initiated during the administration of former Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia (now congresswoman of Cebu’s third district), with help from Davide’s uncle, Dr. Romulo Davide.

For tourism, Davide said his administration will further develop community-based tourism programs and will request for the support of Rep. Ace Durano (Cebu Province, fifth district), former secretary of the Department of Tourism.

Highway

“Cebu’s topography encourages the construction of a trans-axial highway, connecting both ends of the island, with convenient access to the shoreline,” said Davide.

This idea was first raised by the late vice governor Greg Sanchez, whose daughter Grecilda is also beginning her first term in the PB.

In Plaza Independencia, Mayor Rama took his oath before Court of Appeals Associate Justice Pampio Abarintos at 11:45 a.m., before a crowd of about 1,000 supporters.

Team Rama’s winning candidates for the City Council—Mary Ann delos Santos of the north district and Dave Tumulak, Hanz Abella and James Cuenco of the south district—first took oath.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella then followed. Labella edged out former vice mayor Joy Augustus Young by fewer than 200 votes, one of the slimmest margins in this year’s Cebu elections.

Inaugural

Between the mass and the oath-taking, organizers of the event showed a film on the rigors of the campaign.

In his speech, Mayor Rama said he was honored to accept the new challenge of a second term, and urged the people to work with him.

“My victory is your victory. If the people have spoken, then God has also spoken before us, because the voice of the people is the voice of God. With God, nothing is impossible,” Rama said.

Days before his oath-taking, the reelected mayor hosted meetings with the broadcasters’ association and the columnists and staff of the local papers, in order to present his vision.

Rama said yesterday he will make the details of his administration’s accomplishments known, as well as reveal his plans for his second term, when he addresses the inaugural session of the council today.

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