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<center>[[Bataan Province, Philippines|<font size=4>'''Province of Bataan'''</font>]] - [[Bataan Archived News|<font size=4 color=green>'''Archived News'''</font>]]</center>
<center>[[Bataan Province, Philippines|<font size=4>'''Province of Bataan'''</font>]] - [[Bataan Archived News|<font size=4 color=green>'''Archived News'''</font>]]</center>
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==Livelihood for Sumalo folk set==
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*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/340088/3-agencies-aid-zambales
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*By: Mar T. Supnad
<tr><td align="center">[[Image:Bataan st joseph.jpg|300px]]<br>St. Joseph Church</td></tr>
*''November 04, 2011''
<tr><td align="center">{{zad02}}</td></tr>
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==Balanga being transformed into high tech-city==
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?menu=2&webregion=R03&article=1951336534568
*By: PIA
*''Thursday, May 10, 2012''


HERMOSA, Bataan — To enable them earn an additional source of income, the residents of Sumalo here composed mostly of farmers were given and will be provided with livelihood training.
CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- This relatively undeveloped city is being transformed into the vision of being a world-class university town by 2020. In this light, the city government of Balanga has lined up various technological projects in remodeling the Bataan capital into a “high tech-city.”


Retired Colonel Rene Rapisura, administrator of the Riverforest Development Corp., the company of the Litton family that owns a 213-hectare property in Barangay Sumalo here, said that the livelihood training program will be sponsored by the developer of the area.  
Balanga City Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III announced the construction of a city library and a city information technology lab parallel to improving the education sector with the university town project.


==Roy Diaz celebrates his 95th birthday==
The said project allots 18.51 hectares or 23 percent of the central district’s 80.42 hectares for the establishment of schools, churches, city hall, and other public buildings.
*Source: http://www.thecalifornian.com/article/20111028/OFFSIXTYEIGHT02/111025049
*By: DAVE NORDSTRAND
*''October 28, 2011''


Salinas’ best-known World War II veteran gazed out across the aged oak trees and brown hills near his home.
Garcia said that studies were made designing Balanga after internationally renowned technological institutions like the Silicon Valley in California that has gained prominence worldwide with its investments on computer innovations.


Roy Diaz was feeling a bit like an aged oak himself.
“Silicon Valley (adopted) the fine mixture of ingenuity, innovation, and resourcefulness, (thus) people there were able to transform this once barren, secluded area into a high-tech investment and economic hub,” he said.


“Four years ago I had a knee operation. It was fine,” he said. “Then it backfired. They say I’m too old to get another operation.”
In Balanga, free wireless frequency internet connections are available in barangay halls, public elementary schools, and business establishments.


Sore knee or not, Diaz turned 95 Oct. 23, and, sore knee or not, friends and family threw him a party at the Salinas Elks Lodge on Airport Boulevard.
The city government is also establishing information technology corners and e-Centers in Balanga’s 25 barangays under the Barangay Online program, which will serve as venue for technical assistance and online library.


Because of his war experiences, Diaz, like all those who have served and sacrificed, has a certain public presence.
According to Roneth Santos of the city government, about 42 units of closed-circuit television cameras were installed around the city monitored by the Philippine National Police and the Public Safety Office for public security.


History has given Diaz special distinction, however. He’s a survivor of the Bataan Death March — one of the most notorious atrocities of World War II — who was a POW for 3 1/2 years in Japanese slave labor camps.
Santos said that a subsidized computer loan program for city public school teachers was also launched which gave a P5,000 subsidy to teachers who want to own a laptop computer and the remaining balance was loaned to them with zero interest.


In February 1941, he was one of 105 members of Company C, 194th Tank Battalion of the U.S. Army, largely made up of young men from the Salinas area who had signed up for a National Guard unit that got converted. When the United States was plunged into the war Dec. 7, 1941, after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, Company C was stationed in the Philippines and became among the first armored units to engage in combat against Japanese soldiers.
Garcia also pioneered the use of a 3 x 4-meter giant LED TV monitor in center of the Plaza Mayor De Balanga used in celebrations.


Some 10,000 Allied troops who weren’t killed in action in the initial battles on the Bataan Peninsula, including most of Company C, were captured and force -marched to a prison camp about 60 miles distant. The captives were allowed little food or water. Stragglers were executed along the way. Once at the prison camp, they were routinely tortured. Later, many of them were shipped to Japanese slave-labor camps, where they subsisted on starvation rations.
“We therefore urge each and every Balangueño to continue believing and commit themselves as our partners in pursuit of vision to make Balanga one of the finest cities in the world,” added Garcia.


In 1945, Diaz was one of only 47 men from Company C who made it home from war. Now he’s the company’s last Salinas survivor. (There are three others: Larry Rotharmel, Sacramento; Norman Rose, San Jose; and Manuel Nevarez from Sparks, Nev.)
==Free CCP workshop to dig ‘gold minds’==
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?menu=2&webregion=R03&article=1951336464310
*By: Jose Mari Garcia
*''Wednesday, May 09, 2012''


“Roy’s positive attitude and lack of bitterness is remarkable considering the conditions he survived in Bataan and Japan,” Elks Lodge member Barry Wilson said.\
CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- About 200 kids from various public and private schools in this city gathered for a four-day arts workshop facilitated by trainers from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to discover “gold minds” among gifted students.


'''The basic struggle'''
The fourth string of the free, annual workshop dubbed “Batang Sining” was held in Balanga Elementary School from April 30 to May 3 and hailed esteemed art aficionados like Palanca hall of famer Dr. Luis Gatmaitan; Herminio Beltran, chief of the inter-textual division of CCP; Rey Escasenas, storyteller from Alitaptap group; and Jasmine Tresvalles, CCP culture and arts officer.


Diaz’s parents, Ida and Benjamin “Blanco” Diaz, got word of their son’s capture via a blue-and-white U.S. government telegram.
Balanga City mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III said that the use of arts as a catalyst for social change and a force for values transformation among students will mobilize cultural awakening and discover gold minds in line with the city’s vision of a world-class university town status by 2020.


“Your son, Private First Class Roy Diaz has been reported a prisoner of war of the Japanese government ...” the telegram reads in bold block letters. Diaz still has it in a scrapbook.
“The Batang Sining Creative Expression Workshop for elementary students is part of the city government’s quest to help bring the arts to the masses, particularly to students, and to bring out their imagination, innovative spirit and artistic abilities,” said Garcia.


During his years as a POW, Diaz and his fellow soldiers endured forced labor and the threat of tropical disease. Rations were so meager that his weight fell from 150 pounds to a skeletal 85 pounds, which stretched the skin over his ribs.
The participants from grades three to five took part in the activities for day one of the workshop that included group plays like the boat is sinking, connect the body parts and group cheer; creative introductions; storytelling; and writing about what is their idea of a perfect world.


Men were shot, bayoneted, and beaten. Friends died.
Day two presented sharing of folk stories, art of mime, storytelling hour, appreciating poetry, drawing images in poems and choral reading. Puppet-making and puppetry were staged on day three of the workshop, while dramatization, group presentations and graduation were held on day four.


Memories of such things never take the day off. Even on a birthday decades later, they’re there, Diaz said.
“In our time today, the children have their different arts. Their music, for the old-school people, is deafening. This program aims to produce caliber artists like Lea Salonga and Jessica Sanchez,” said City Schools Division of Balanga Supt. Dr. Ronaldo Pozon.


“I still think ... often of those events,” he said of his unit’s tragic journey through the war.
He added that the Batang Sining workshop was in line with the new Child Protection Program of the Department of Education that eyes to steer the students away from abuses like vices at home and in school.  


“I think about it every day.”
==Ordering back the tides==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/189605/ordering-back-the-tides
*By: Juan Mercado
*''Tuesday, May 08, 2012''


'''Readying for war'''
Trees fail to flower,” Aetas huddled at the Bataan mountaintop meeting told Fr. Shay Cullen. “Bees are disappearing. Storms  blow away our nipa huts as never before.”


Roy Diaz was born Oct. 23, 1916, in Monterey.
With Preda Foundation coworkers, the priest toiled up the two-hour steep trail on horseback. Preda buys Aeta wild mangoes at double what lowland hawkers offer and markets them abroad.


His father worked for fish companies along the wharf. His mother made enchiladas and tamales and sold them.
Half a world away, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research scientists documented what Aetas learned from seat-of-their-pants.


“I’m Portuguese on my mother’s side and Spanish on my father’s side,” Diaz said.
University of Bern experiments span two decades, four continents and 1,634 plant species. “Spring flowering and leafing advances 5 to 6 days per year for every degree Celsius of warming,” they report in the journal Nature.
His grandfather on his mother’s side was a harpooner on a whaling ship, in the days when Monterey was a whaling station.


Later, just before his Army service, Diaz was a dry land farmer, growing tomatoes with his father and doing well.
Bern tests “underestimated how much plants change,” reports British Broadcasting Corp. science reporter Matt McGrath. He adds that research leader Elizabeth Wolkovich and This Rutishauser fret over additional water needed by a plant community that  sprouts a week  earlier.


In 1936, he joined Company C. Diaz was assigned duties as a mechanic.
Contrary to myth, Filipinos have modest freshwater endowment: 6,332 cubic meters yearly. In contrast, Malaysians tap into 26,105 cm. Saudi Arabians have only  118 cm. They bartered more oil for water last year when Riyadh ’s last aquifers ran dry.


'''Heavy combat'''
Here, “we  have a water aristocracy set on its head.” A squatter’s shack in Cebu City pays 13 times for water than a gated Maria Luisa enclave home, notes the United Nations World Water Development Report.


By the spring of 1942, U.S. and Filipino troops, including Company C, were fighting the Japanese troops on the Bataan Peninsula.
In the Philippines, 54 out of every 100 lived in cities by 2007. By 2020, the number of urban Filipinos will be double rural counterparts. Many cities are saddled with below-par water facilities even as births and migration interlock.


The Americans were running out of ammunition.
A “youth bulge” characterizes this migrant torrent, San Carlos University’s Soccoro Gultiano and Peter Xenos of East-West Center point out. Hormones of these young migrants are on overdrive. They will tarry in the reproductive age bracket longer.


“We didn’t have spare parts or nothing,” Diaz recalled.
A sharper slowdown in birthrates won’t materialize anytime soon, not even if the Reproductive Health bill gets into law books. But demand for just about everything else will spiral. And there is no substitute for water.


Food was low, too. Troops ate monkeys and rats and snakes to stay alive.
Politically charged issues, like a chief justice’s blacked out dollar accounts, smudge concerns including shifting rain bands. A bachelor President’s date will send commentators into  a tizzy. But glossing over emerging threats can be lethal.


For three months they held out. Then came their surrender and the Bataan Death March. During that infamous event, the Imperial Japanese Army forced thousands of American and Filipino prisoners on a trek of horrors.
“We’re seeing changes happening… in ways  we didn’t expect to see for hundreds of years,” 27 scientists led by Oxford University’s  Alex Rodgers caution in their recent  “State of the Oceans” report to UN.


Those who dropped out, those who tried to take a sip of water, those who held out a hand to a wounded comrade, were beaten or stabbed or executed.
As polluted seas warm, we enter  “a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history,” they wrote. Over-fishing, pollution and climate change interlock “in ways not previously recognized.”


“I remember dead people and the stench,” Diaz said.
“Accelerated” changes include melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Sea levels are rising and methane trapped in the sea bed, is seeping out.


“A body over here. A body there. We wanted to bury the bodies, but the Japs said, ‘No.’”
Here “expect  sea waters to rise by at least 20 cm in the next 40 years,” writes Dr. Wendy Clavano in  a current  series for Environmental Science for Social Change, a Jesuit research organization.


Diaz was eventually shipped to a slave labor camp in Japan.
The severest threat stretches “along the Paci?c seaboard: from Samar all the way down to eastern Mindanao.” Include the Zamboangas and island provinces of Romblon and Marinduque in the Sibuyan, says Clavano, a PhD  from Cornell University .


He survived life as a POW, in part, by volunteering for work details — such as bridge repair — outside prison camp gates. That gave him better access to food and water.
She suggests the creation of a “vulnerability index.” This could undergird mitigation programs for what initial data pinpoint as “high risk areas. That sweeps in the Lingayen Gulf (La Union and Pangasinan), Lamon Bay (Quezon and Camarines Norte), Camotes Sea (western Leyte, northern Bohol, and northeastern Cebu).


As the war neared its end, U.S. planes began dropping food to U.S. POWs, a process that went undisturbed by the Japanese.
Add to that list Guimaras Strait (along northwestern Negros Occidental and Guimaras), central Sulu Sea (Cuyo Archipelago), Iligan Bay (in particular Misamis Occidental), Zamboanga del Norte and Bislig Bay (Surigao del Sur).


“One day a Japanese interpreter told us to get on a train because we were going north,” Diaz said. “Pretty soon we could see the ocean. A U.S. hospital ship was out there.
`Only 4 percent of coral reefs here in remain in pristine condition. Other countries with equally threatened reefs are Haiti, Grenada, Comoros, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Kiribati, Fiji and Indonesia.


“We were given a physical. Then they told us to go to the mess hall and have ham and eggs or whatever we wanted to eat.”
Edges of the “Tropical Belt —outer boundaries of the subtropical dry zones—have drifted towards the poles, notes Nature Geoscience. Temperature and rainfall changes alter yields, including politically-volatile crops like corn and rice.


'''Life after war'''
“In the Philippines, rice yields drop by 10 percent for every one degree centigrade increase in night-time temperature,” BBC’s environment correspondent Richard Black writes. As droughts dry reservoirs, yields have fallen by 10 percent to 20 percent over the last 25 years. More declines are ahead.


After his return home, Diaz married Lorraine Sayers, now 85, who grew up near the Diaz farm. They wed in 1956 after meeting in 1955 at the Colmo del Rodeo parade. The couple still lives on a parcel of that original Diaz property. The land is the very same that John Steinbeck christened “The Pastures of Heaven.” That would be near the end of San Benancio and the start of Corral del Cielo roads.
Three billion people live in the tropics and subtropics. They’ll nearly double by the end of the century. The National Statistical Board asserts there are 93 million plus of us today. No sir, it’s 99.9 million, counter some United States and international bodies.


Wild ducks, flapping their wings in reverse, skid to a stop on the farm pond. Deer graze in the sunny silence.
The “most extreme summers of the last century could become routine towards the end of this century,” predicts the University of Seattle. What would be summer 2100 in the Philippines be like?


With a little help from his walker, Diaz strolls around his garden. What he can’t do, thanks to that uncooperative knee, is kneel to work the soil.
Filipino policy makers must move beyond politics-as-usual. Overdrawing on aquifers in Metro Cebu and Manila is causing severe  land subsidence. Clavano urges that priority be given to adaptation and mitigation approaches for sea rising levels. Like King Canute, politicians cannot order back the tides.


“No more basketball, either, but I did wash the dishes this morning,” Diaz said.
“Nor can we move crops north or south since many are photosensitive,” notes Dr. Geoff Hawtin at International Centre for Tropical Agriculture. “Tipping points could come quickly.”


'''A sunshine moment'''
==Red tide notice remains in effect in Bataan==
*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?menu=2&webregion=R03&article=561336288823
*By: PIA
*''Monday, May 07, 2012''
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) reiterates its caution to the public to avoid gathering and eating shellfish from the Bataan coastal waters as red tide toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning remains present in these areas.


More than 100 guests were expected at the birthday party. Among them, Joe Amato, also a former World War II POW. Plus several widows and survivors of other POWs.
Affected by the ban are the municipalities of Mariveles, Limay, Orion, Pilar, Abucay, Samal and Orani and the city of Balanga.
There were times during the war when Diaz doubted he’d make it to the next day, let alone his 95th birthday.


Now, here he is, on a glide path toward the century mark.
BFAR Central Luzon information officer Lanie Lamyong said “based on the latest shellfish bulletin issued last May 3, the current red tide toxin level in shellfish samples collected from the coastal waters of Bataan and Masinloc Bay are still significantly higher to the 60g STXg/100g tolerable limit.”


“I take it easy. That’s all,” Diaz said. “No other choice, really. I take a deep breath. I look up and into the sky.
Lamyong reiterated that fishes, squids, shrimps and crabs harvested from these areas are safe to eat as long as they are fresh and washed thoroughly and their internal organs such as gills and intestines are removed before cooking.


“I keep going.”
==Palace wishes Jessica Sanchez good luck in final AI stages==
*Source: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/257316/news/nation/palace-wishes-jessica-sanchez-good-luck-in-final-ai-stages
*By: LBG, GMA News
*''Sunday, May 06, 2012''
As it congratulated her for advancing the top four of “American Idol,” Malacañang on Sunday wished Filipino-Mexican singer Jessica Sanchez good luck in the next stages of the competition.


Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Filipinos will continue to support Sanchez in her quest to top the reality television search for the next singing superstar.


“Congratulations, and we continue to wish her good luck for the final stages of the competition,” Valte said in a text message read on government-run dzRB radio.


==Bataan Freeport attracting more investors==
Last week, Sanchez survived another elimination round on American Idol, while 18-year-old country singer Skylar Laine was booted out.
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/338308/bataan-freeport-attracting-more-investors
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''October 19, 2011''


The Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) has emerged as a leading economic center with the arrivals of investors who are pouring in their investments here.
In the Philippines, Filipinos continued to show support, especially those from her mom's hometown in Bataan province.


As this developed, AFAB slated a month-long celebration this October for the second year anniversary of the passage of RA 9728, the law creating the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) and the AFAB.
Sanchez's Filipina mother Editha is a daughter of Eddie Bugay, a retired US Navy man who hails from Samal but is based in Orani town in Bataan.


“This year’s anniversary theme – ‘Respecting the Past, Building the Future’ - reminds us that as we move forward to a better future as productive members of the FAB Community, we should not fail to look back and treasure the past and the lessons that it holds,” said AFAB Chairman and Administrator Deogracias G. P. Custodio.
==Balanga City uses passbook to save enviroment==
*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?menu=2&webregion=R03&article=1951336115976
*By: Jose Mari Garcia
*''Saturday, May 05, 2012''


Custodio said the celebration also aims to further strengthen the linkages between the AFAB and its stakeholders. "The celebration is an expression of the AFAB’s gratitude to its stakeholders and the public in accepting and fully supporting its endeavors," he said.
CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- In this city, passbooks are not only used to save money, but also to help save the environment.


To realize this goal, Custodio said, the AFAB has kicked off the month-long celebration with the FAB roving orientation-seminar for high school and university students in Bataan. Included in the calendar of activities are: Oct. 13, PhilHealth Seminar on the updates on programs and benefits; Oct. 14, FAB Oktoberfest; Oct. 19, Write Your Best Seminar; Oct. 20, SGV Seminar for FAB locators and managers; Oct. 26, FAB Exhibit; and Oct. 11-26, the FAB Sports Fest 2011.
Under the Junk Shop ng Bayan Project of the city government, public schools in Balanga use customized passbooks to keep track of plastic garbage they each one has collected.


“Today, the FAB is an emerging economic center that is set to define the new model for global free port Asia. The AFAB administration has attracted new investors in less than a year, marking an almost 40 percent increase in the number of locators in the FAB. This proves the viability of doing business at the FAB and the trustworthiness of the AFAB as an authority that will stand by its promise to ensure locator satisfaction,” the FAB chairman pointed out.
The accumulated trash of schools will be picked by a truck and the points saved in their passbook may be used to claim rice rewards, said Annie Tuazon, consultant on solid waste management of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).


Located at the tip of Central Luzon, the FAB has superior competitive advantages which include its location as it is the nearest Freeport to Manila, making it an ideal transhipment point for domestic, regional and global shipping. It has a total land area of 1,742 hectares, and bounded with harbors with a depth of 11 to 13 meters which are ideal for port operations.
“If you have collected three kilos of dry and clean plastic, you will be rewarded with a kilo of rice. You could then accumulate the points to get more rice,” Tuazon said.


Engr. Jose Utrillo, President of the Concord Pacific Investment Holdings, Inc., a consortium of foreign and local investors, has proposed with FAB chairman and administrator Deo Custodio to build an international seaport inside FAB. Utrillo’s group has been studying the FAB’s master plan.
According to CENRO, Balanga City, the capital and economic center of Bataan, is producing 20 to 25 tons of varied garbage everyday, which is equivalent to 9,100 tons yearly.


Rep. Abet S. Garcia, 2nd district-Bataan, who authored the FAB law, said investors will also get to enjoy the superior incentives the FAB offers such as Income Tax Holiday (ITH) from four years to eight years; 5 percent tax in lieu of local and national taxes after ITH period; duty free importation of capital equipment, raw materials, consumer goods and personal items; exemption from wharfage dues, export taxes, imposts and fees; domestic sales allowance of up to 30 percent of total sales; and special visas for investors.
With the city’s population of about 90,000 which is projected to balloon in years, proper and sustainable solid waste management is critical as to not fill up the dumpsite in Brgy. Munting Batangas, said CENRO head Nelia Castor.


==MOA defended==
Therefore, CENRO has been piloting environmental projects including the Junk Shop ng Bayan, Gamit Pang-eskwela Mula sa Basura, Operation Linis Ilog and Linis Barangay, and the production of doy bags from tetra packs.
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/338063/morong-holds-fish-cook-fest
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''October 17, 2011''


BALANGA CITY, Bataan — Officials of the Department of Health (DoH) and Bataan Governor Enrique "Tet" Garcia defended the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) for the management and operations of the government hospital here.
Castor said the garbage truck circulates the city every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The schools also may call their office whenever they have amassed plastics.


As this developed, the House of Representative’s Health Committee headed by Rep. Alfredo Maranon, 2nd district, Negros Occidental, will review the MOA entered into between the DoH and the Bataan provincial government for the upgrading of the Bataan General Hospital and its conversion into a training hospital.
Meanwhile, small plastics like those from snack food will be brought to the Material Recovery Facility in Brgy. Munting Batangas where they will be macerated.


==Army helps protect the environment==
Tuazon said that since small plastics are strenuous to be sewn as doy bags, they will be put through a pulverizer funded by the Department of Science and Technology to be grinded and mixed into the production of paper tiles.  
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/337497/army-helps-protect-environment
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''October 12, 2011''


The Army’s 7th CMO Battalion here headed by its Commanding Officer Lt. Col. Benito V. Doniego Jr. has launched a new full-blown battle: To help preserve and protect the environment.
==Balanga City bats for zero illiteracy rate==
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?menu=2&webregion=R03&article=1951335927897
*By: Jose Mari Garcia
*''Friday, May 04, 2012''


Col. Doniego said that they have a standing order from their Commanding General Ireneo Espino of the 7th Infantry Division, to now shift their battle in protecting and preserving the environment since the threat of insurgency in Bataan has been a thing of the past.
CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- The education sector here is eyeing the gradual reduction of illiteracy rate among children and youth by allotting more land space and projects in Balanga for students.


“Our soldiers are always going out in full battle gear from the Camp not to wage war against the rebels but to plant trees, clean the streets and going after illegal loggers and other forms of environmental concerns,” pointed out Col. Doniego inside his headquarters here.
Under the University Town project, Balanga City Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III has allocated 18.51 hectares (ha) or 23 percent of the central district’s 80.42 ha for the establishment of schools, churches, city hall, and other public buildings.


Known as adopted son of Bataan for having established good rapport to the community, media and the local officials in the province since he was a young Lieutenant, Col. Doniego said that their main concern now is work for the protection of environment such as going after the suspected illegal loggers and even fishers who, he claimed, were sabotaging the country’s beautiful environment.
“The planning started in 2007 and based on a study we did, there are three components of a university town: provide access to quality education, complete facilities for the students, and provide conducive learning environment,” Garcia said.


Doniego and his men were seen by newsmen leading in the clearing of the Roman highway of fallen trees that blocked the main road at the height of typhoon "Pedring" and "Quiel," including the one giant tree that fatally fell on the vehicle of Gov. Tet Garcia. Gov. Garcia’s driver Efren Pascual died of severe head injuries while the governor miraculously survived. The governor’s vehicle, a Ford Van colored white, was in total wreck.
In a statement made by the city government, education projects that include programs starting from day care centers to tertiary schooling are prioritized in light of achieving the vision of a “world-class university town by 2020.”


In declaring Bataan and other neighboring provinces as insurgency-free, Col. Gregorio Catapang, Brigade Commander of the Army’s 703rd Infantry Brigade, had said that the Army in Central Luzon is now concentrating in environmental programs such as planting trees, clearing the clogged rivers and waters ways, running after illegal loggers, among others.
“Among Mayor Joet Garcia’s plans for the city is to lower the number of non-readers to the point of eliminating them totally,” said the city government.


Soon to become Army general, Catapang said that the army are now focusing much of their attentions in protecting the environment due to alarming climate change that is now hitting the globe.
“The city government prioritizes education in the project, thus, several programs relative to literacy were implemented. More studies and trainings were held to ensure that proper education will produce well-rounded citizens," it added.


So with the leadership of the Sangguniang Kabataan headed by its national president Assistant Secretary Lousie Gabriel “Gabz” del Rosario who have been working hand in hand with local leaders in the country to promote environmental awareness.
Among the projects are Responsible Parents Training through Education for the Upbringing of Children (Educhild), Reactivation of the Council for the Protection of Children, Iskolar Balangueño Scholarship Program, TEACHNOLOGY Computerization Program, Provision of Assistance to Public Schools, and Centers for Excellence.


Eldest son of Mayor Ramil Del Rosario of Bagac town in Bataan, Asec del Rosario has been scouting seedlings for fruit-bearing trees for their regular tree-planting programs which he said a must to ensure the greener future of the next generations.
These undertakings of the Garcia administration had led to the award from the National Literacy Coordinating Council as 2nd Most Outstanding Local Government Unit last September 2011.


==DTI 3 implements price freeze in Bataan==
Balanga has one state university, 10 colleges, seven secondary schools, 30 elementary schools, 27 day care centers, and 10 pre-schools.  
*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=58510
*By: Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu
*''October 11, 2011''


Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-3 on Monday said a freeze in the prices of basic goods is now in effect in the entire province of Bataan plus six other areas which have been declared under a state of calamity due to typhoons Pedring and Quiel.
==Freeport Area of Bataan’s new brand gets nod of investors==
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?menu=2&webregion=R03&article=1951335770588
*By: PIA
*''Tuesday, May 01, 2012''


Areas earlier placed under price freeze are: Olongapo city, Aurora, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Tarlac.
CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- The Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB), the province’s top dollar economic hub, launched recently its new official brand which gained the approval of international investors.


DTI Central Luzon information officer Wilfred Carbonell explained that, “under a state of calamity, an automatic price control is implemented as contained in Section 6 of RA 7581 otherwise known as the Price Act as a preventive measure to avoid chaos that may result from overpricing of basic goods such as processed milk, canned goods, coffee, laundry soap, detergent, candles, bread and salt during times of calamities.”
FAB administrator Deogracias Custodio said the new symbol of the multimillion economic zone in booming Mariveles town signifies different values essential to establishing businesses.


Hence, the prices of basic goods in the mentioned areas excluding agricultural products should remain in their pre-Pedring levels.
“The new FAB brand is almost full circle to connote unity, expansion and growth,” said Custodio.


Carbonell added that, “upon declaration of state calamity by the local government, a price control can be implemented for the duration of 60 days unless lifted sooner by either the local sanggunian or by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.”
He explained the color red in the logo denotes passion and determination needed to cultivate a business while the blue stands for stability of growth.


Also, local governments and provincial DTI offices can adjust prices to reflect additional operational costs or the costs of bringing the products in the market.
Executives of foreign companies expressed satisfaction over the new brand which, according to Custodio, represents the Filipinos as globally competitive with world-class service.


However, this still needs the approval of either the National Price Coordinating Council or the President. The adjusted prices must be published in newspapers of national circulation.
“It is sort of fresh and the design looks good to us,” said Dong-In Group general manager Park Ki Jung.


Carbonell warned businessmen of the penalty for profiteering in prize freeze areas – up to P1 million in fines and/or imprisonment of one to five years.
The corporate chiefs also pointed out that building business in the country has its share of advantages compared to other Asian countries.


If the case is hoarding, violators can face up to P2 million in fines and/or imprisonment of five to 15 years.
According to John Cartwright, general manager of C&L Philippines Footwear Manufacturing Corporation, FAB is very promising and full of potentials as it is very accessible from Manila and other neighboring cities via the new Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.


==Longtime legislator Foy dies at 96==
“One thing more, the wages are up in China,” said Cartwright.
*Source: http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_19074153
*By: Carlos Silva Jr. and Christine Steele
*''October 09, 2011''


SILVER CITY - The Grant County area lost a piece of history Saturday.
Park added that the availability of qualified manpower and English-speaking workers are plus points for FAB.
 
Thomas P. Foy, a survivor of the Bataan Death March in World War II, and former state legislator, died at age 96.
 
Family members said he died of natural causes at his home in Bayard.
 
Foy was born is Silver City, and lived in Bayard, Santa Clara, Hurley and the Mining District area for his entire life. He received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and a Juris Doctorate from Notre Dame University in South Bend, Ind. in 1938 and 1939 respectively.
 
Foy lived by the words and philosophy, "Get a good education, work hard, have a good moral compass to guide you, and serve your fellow man. Accept responsibility for the good that you do as well as the mistakes that you make. Enjoy life," his family said.
 
In 1940, Foy joined the 200th Coast Artillery Battery of the New Mexico National Guard and was assigned to the Philippines in 1941. The men of the 200th and 515th Coastal Artillery units held out against Japanese forces from December 1941 until April 1942 when Major Gen. Edward P. King Jr. surrendered his troops on the small island of Bataan in the Philippine Islands.
 
"He saw the writing on the wall," Foy said of King in a 2008 interview with the Sun-News. "He was ordered not to surrender. It was hopeless to try and defend Bataan."
 
Foy, a first lieutenant at the time of the surrender, said the mixed United States and Filipino forces were out of food, out of ammo and "were just about played out" when King made the decision to surrender on April 9, 1942.
 
Survival was a long shot.
 
Beginning the day of surrender, some 70,000 Filipino and United States soldiers began forced marches across country nearly 60 miles to prison camp O'Donnell.
 
The march lasted nearly a week, during which time Foy said soldiers were denied food, water and were forced to sit in the middle of rice paddies for hours in the scorching heat.
 
Troops who couldn't walk were bayoneted to death and beaten and run over by tanks or other transport equipment.
 
"There were Japs in front of us, Japs behind us, Japs beside us and bayonets all around. If you couldn't walk you were bayoneted to death," Foy said in a 2006 interview with the Sun-News.
 
When the captives were finally marched into camp O'Donnell there was insufficient food or water for the captives.
 
On June 6, 1942, the Filipino soldiers were granted amnesty and released, while the American prisoners were moved to camp Cabanatuan. In January 1945, 512 prisoners at Cabanatuan were rescued in a military effort known as the Great Raid.
 
Many prisoners from Cabanatuan were sent to prison camps in Japan, Korea and Manchuria.
 
Foy was part of a group of some 3,000 U.S. troops, along with 24 other officers, sent to Japan. Of the 25 officers in Foy's group, only 13 survived to be rescued in September 1945 shortly after the war ended.
 
Foy was honorably discharged from the Army on Oct. 14, 1946. He received the decorated Bronze Star, Purple Heart, the Asian Pacific Ribbon and the New Mexico Distinguished Service Medal. Foy also received an outstanding service award from the Disabled American Veterans. He was a life member of Veterans of Foreign War Post #3347. A member of the American Ex-POW's and an avid supporter of all military and veterans causes.
 
After returning from the Philippines, Foy opened his own law practice in Bayard in 1946. In 1948, he married the love of his life, Joan Carney. They had five children and raised and educated them in Bayard in the Cobre Consolidated School District.
 
In 1948, he decided to run for District Attorney of the Sixth Judicial District, and beat the incumbent and spent eight years - 1949 to 1956 - in that office.
 
After serving as district attorney, he returned to the private practice of law in 1957 and served as a board member and then vice-president of the New Mexico Board of Bar Commissioners.
 
In 1970 he decided to run for the state legislature, and represented District 39 from 1970 to 1998.
 
"He was a true blue democrat," said former legislator Murray Ryan who served with Foy in the House of Representatives and has known him all his life.
 
"His first loyalty was to the Catholic church, then to the Democratic Party," Ryan said.
 
While the two didn't always see eye to eye, Ryan said they always remained friends.
 
"We got along beautifully and cooperated very well," he said.
 
Foy was responsible for the designation of millions of dollars in southern New Mexico counties for local public infrastructure. Some projects include monies for a veteran's nursing center in Truth or Consequenses, a veteran's housing unit at Fort Bayard Medical Center, the construction of Bataan Veterans Park in Santa Clara, the Santa Clara Municipal Building, the Bayard municipal and police and fire buildings, as well as many other helpful construction projects for the betterment of the Grant County Mining District and all of Hidalgo County.
 
Raymond G. Sanchez, former New Mexico speaker of the House, also served with Foy and said there was no one more respected than "Tommy."
 
"He was a beloved and respected member in the New Mexico House of Representatives," Sanchez said. "When he gave his word, it was always good. When someone needed something, Tommy was there."
 
"He was also big help in getting additional funding for the university," Ryan said. "And he was widely respected by the Democrats statewide."
 
Foy was a member of the New Mexico Bar Association for 70 years, received numerous awards related to the practice of law. From 1997 to present Foy was appointed as a National Commissioner from New Mexico on the Uniform State Laws Commission. As a result of his lifetime of service and the achievements he made, Foy received a Doctor of Humane Letters also known as an Honorary Doctorate from Western New Mexico University in 2004.
 
"After his unbelievable service to this country and the sacrifices he made, and the terrible, terrible persecution and torture that he endured, for him to rise up and be able to accomplish all that he accomplished, I'm pretty sure that was divine ordination," Ryan said.
 
Foy was dedicated to God, family, country, community, the law, and Notre Dame football.
 
He was a communicant of the Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Bayard, and a member of the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of the Holy Sepulercure.
 
He founded of the Grant County State Bank to give ordinary folks access to loans and capital to purchase homes, cars and businesses. He served on the bank's board of directors for decades and as its chairman for 14 years. The bank later became Sunwest Bank and is now a branch of Bank of America.
 
He helped to subdivide parts of Bayard, and was integral in the development of Bayard and the Cobre Consolidated School District.
 
In 1965, the Silver City-Grant County Chamber of Commerce named Foy "Citizen of the Year."
 
Foy was also very involved in the Bayard Lions Club and was selected as a Melvin Jones Fellow having been a member for more than 70 years. He served as a past district governor for Lions in southern New Mexico, and was previously the state commander for the VFW, Ryan said.
 
He was a current member of Silver City Moose Lodge #1718 and a life member of the Silver City Elks Lodge.
 
Last summer, Foy was interviewed by students in Sarah Pineda's art class at Cobre High School for a mural at Bataan Park memorializing veterans like Foy for their sacrifice and service.
 
Sanchez felt that Foy lived a good life.
 
"I'm glad he went peacefully, but I just thought he was going to live forever," he said. "We were so fortunate to have him for so long."
 
Foy was preceded in death by his wife Joan, his son Tom Foy Jr., and his sister Rosemary Stewart. He is survived by two daughters Celia Foy Castillo (and her husband Alvino) and Muffet Foy Cuddy, both of Santa Fe, his sons Carney (and his wife Creta) and Jim (and his wife Valvina) both of Silver City, daughter in-law Suzanne Jollensten of Albuquerque, and nine grandchildren: Celita Castillo of Santa Fe; Felisa Boatwright (and her husband Clark) of Los Lunas; Loren Suzanne Jollensten Foy of Santa Fe; Erin Cuddy of Albuquerque; Reese Cuddy of Albuquerque; Carston Foy of Amarillo, Texas; Caytlyn Foy of Dallas; and Valerie Horton and John Horton (and his companion Marisa) of Albuquerque. Foy also has two great-grandchildren Eleanor Boatwright and Jonathan Horton, and is survived by one sister, Winfred Momsen of Bayard, and one brother J. Franey Foy of Boulder City, Nev.
 
Foy was a man of honor and integrity who lived his life to the fullest and always had a smile on his face, his family said.
 
Funeral services are pending at Baca's Funeral Chapels of Silver City. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Thomas P. Foy Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 266 Bayard, NM 88023.
 
The fund is just starting, Jim Foy said, and will be used to provide college scholarships to one or two recipients, depending on funding.
 
The family has historically set up scholarship funds in lieu of flowers in times of death, Jim Foy said. A scholarship fund was set up by the family when Joan Foy passed away and the fund has awarded a $500 scholarship annually for the last 15 years.
 
When Tom Foy Jr. passed away, the family started the Tom Foy Jr., memorial scholarship fund and that has awarded a roughly $1,000 scholarship per year for the past 25 years.
 
"Historically my father has helped fund both the above mentioned scholarships, we just thought it was time he had his own," Jim said.
 
==Bataan gov asks SolGen, DENR to probe 300 families' eviction==
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/337047/bataan-gov-asks-solgen-denr-probe-300-families-eviction
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''October 08, 2011''
 
The Solicitor General and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) have been asked to look into the case of at least 300 families facing eviction from a property they have been occupying for the last 60 years in Hermosa, Bataan.
 
The appeal to the SolGen and the DENR was contained in a letter from Bataan Governor Enrique Garcia who took on the cause of the families facing eviction in Barangay Sumalo, Hermosa.
 
It comes in the wake of a writ of injunction issued by Judge Jose Ener Fernando of the Regional Trial Court Branch 5 which favors the owner the landowner to go ahead with fencing of more than 200-hectares property.
 
In his letter, Garcia specifically asked DENR Secretary Ramon Paje and Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz to investigate the angle of possible social injustice committed against his constituents given that the families under threat of eviction had established settlement in the area before the place was even constituted into a barangay in 1957.
 
“We are endorsing to you for appropriate action the distressed calls for government assistance and intervention of a great majority of the residents of Barangay Sumalo in Hermosa, Bataan who are facing summary eviction from the land which they have been occupying and tilling even before the place was constituted as a barangay in 1957,” wrote Garcia.
 
==DTI 3 freezes prices in typhoon-hit areas in Central Luzon==
*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=57961
*By: Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu
*''October 07, 2011''
 
Hoarders and vendors who take advantage of the situation beware! Or suffer the consequesnces of heavy fine or imprisonment. DTI Central Luzon information officer Wilfred Carbonell warned businessmen of the penalty for profiteering in prize freeze areas – up to P1 million in fines and/or imprisonment of one to five years.
 
If the case is hoarding, violators can face up to P2 million in fines and/or imprisonment of five to 15 years.
 
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regional office 3 on Thursday said a freeze in the prices of basic goods is now in effect in seven areas in Central Luzon which have been declared under a state of calamity due to typhoons Pedring and Quiel.
 
The seven areas are: Dinalupihan, '''Bataan'''; Olongapo city; Aurora; Bulacan; Nueva Ecija; Pampanga; and Tarlac.
 
Carbonell explained that “under a state of calamity, an automatic price control is implemented as contained in Section 6 of RA 7581 otherwise known as the Price Act as a preventive measure to avoid chaos that may result from overpricing of basic goods such as processed milk, canned goods, coffee, laundry soap, detergent, candles, bread, and salt during times of calamities.”
 
Hence, the prices of basic goods in the mentioned areas excluding agricultural products should remain in their pre-Pedring levels.
 
Carbonell added that “upon declaration of state calamity by the local government, a price control can be implemented for the duration of 60 days unless lifted sooner by either the local sanggunian or by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.”
 
Also, local governments and provincial DTI offices can adjust prices to reflect additional operational costs or the costs of bringing the products in the market.
 
However, this still needs the approval of either the National Price Coordinating Council or the President. The adjusted prices must be published in newspapers of national circulation.
 
==Bataan offered as site for coal plant in Subic==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/65517/bataan-offered-as-site-for-coal-plant-in-subic
*By: Robert Gonzaga
*''September 26, 2011''
 
DINALUPIHAN, Bataan— Should stiff opposition in the nearby Subic Bay Freeport in Zambales stop the construction of a 600-megawatt coal plant there, the project would be welcome in Bataan, said Governor Enrique Garcia Jr.
 
He said a 600-MW coal plant by GN Power Co. Ltd. in Mariveles is under construction and will be online by 2012. He said he was aware of the strong opposition to the Subic coal plant proposed by a consortium of energy firms led by Aboitiz Power, Manila Electric Co. (Meralco) and Taiwan Cogen Corp.
 
But unlike in Subic, “we’re open to discussion [with the proponents as an alternative site for the coal plant],” he said.
 
“Of course, we’re still going to conduct a study on the project because we put a premium on the environment in Bataan. But we’re open and the project is viable here,” he added.
 
Environment advocates, Zambales and Olongapo City officials and locators at the Subic Bay Freeport, especially those involved in tourism-related businesses, have opposed the project, citing the water and air pollution that they said would be generated by its operation.
 
They also assailed project proponents for the lack of proper consultations on the project.
 
Olongapo Mayor James Gordon Jr. earlier said the proponents should relocate the project because it was not welcome in the city.
 
Garcia, however, said concerns on environmental impact in Bataan due to the coal plant project in Mariveles have been addressed “because the technology that [GN Power] is going to use will minimize the pollution here.”
 
He said a housing project will also rise in the vicinity of the plant, “proving that it won’t cause significant pollution.”
 
He said the Mariveles coal plant will benefit Bataan because of “low electricity cost.”
 
==New Bataan boosts investment promo==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/business/2011/09/22/new-bataan-boosts-investment-promo-180781
*By: www.sunstar.com.ph
*''September 22, 2011''
 
THE local government of New Bataan in Compostela Valley province has taken the lead in promoting the municipality for local and foreign investments.
 
The conduct of its first-ever Investors’ Forum last month, as part of celebrating the town’s 6th Sal’upongan Festival, signified the commitment of local leaders in positioning New Bataan as an investment destination.
 
New Bataan Mayor Lorenzo L. Balbin Jr. said that inviting investors is one of their poverty alleviation strategies, as investments generate employment and income to the municipality.
 
The Local Government Unit (LGU) of New Bataan took the initiative of institutionalizing investment promotion activities by designating an Investment Promotion Officer as well as reviewing and amending their Local Investment Incentives Ordinance.
 
In coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry - Compostela Valley (DTI-ComVal), the conduct of the Investors’ Forum was made to draw interests from both local and international businesses to locate their investments in the municipality.
 
Board of Investments-Davao (BOI-Davao) chief Engr. Gil M. Dureza and DTI-ComVal Project Team Manager Nelly L. Esperanza, together with investors and manpower agencies graced the event. The forum also showcased the investment potentials of New Bataan especially in the mining industry, agriculture and tourism.
 
To date, New Bataan has attracted business locators in the municipality in the field of agriculture, bio-fuel, hydropower, mining and mineral processing.
 
OZ Wisphil Trading Corporation is partnering with Eagle Fly Corporation in putting up a P25-million coco coir decorticating plant, while Secura International Corp., a company engaged in bio-fuel production, is set to lease at least 2,000 hectares for its Napier grass production and processing plant. Hedcor Philippines is also eyeing a hydropower project while at least 20 firms are already engaged in gold processing plants.
 
Esperanza said that DTI-ComVal teamed up with BOI-Davao in facilitating more investments to be poured into the area particularly in rubber production and cavendish banana export as well as on the hydropower project.
 
Esperanza is optimistic that with the full support coming from the LGU, DTI and BOI more investments will be generated in the coming months.
 
==Bataan sees more Japan investments==
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/334892/bataan-sees-more-japan-investments
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''September 19, 2011''
 
More foreign investors are expected to invest inside this Freeport area following the recent visit of country representative Mr. Norio Matsuda of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) inside the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB), which is another positive move that will further promote and expose FAB to the foreign and local investors.
 
“This is a fulfillment of our responsibilities of developing and strengthening partnerships with international organizations through cooperation. JICA works with global communities, which the AFAB links with to promote the Freeport as a world-class business center,” said Chairman and Administrator Deogracias G. P. Custodio of the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB).
 
Mr. Matsuda and Ms. Flery Chan, Chief of JICA Poverty Reduction Section, met with the Chairman and Administrator where the FAB head discussed about FAB’s potential as a growing business hub in the region.
 
The FAB has been the investment destination of choice of 40 companies from Korea, Japan, Taiwan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Bahrain and France, as well as local firms. These companies created job opportunities for Bataeños while enjoying the superior incentives that the FAB offers to its locators.
 
==1,500 trees planted in Bagac==
*Source: http://pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=r03&id=54737
*By: Joelyn G. Baluyut
*''September 17, 2011''
 
BAGAC, Bataan- A total of 1,500 trees were planted by more than 250 employees of different government agencies in the region as well as those from non-government organizations (NGOs).
 
Spearheaded by the Central Luzon Association of Regional Officers (CLARO), the planting of trees was conducted at mountainous portions of Sitio Kinainisan in Bagac; planted trees included narra and mahogany variety.
 
According to National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) regional director Remigio Mercado, who is also CLARO president, “this tree planting activity is CLARO’s contribution to the National Greening Program of the government to address the global warming. Through this effort, we could help bring back the regular climate we used to have.”The worldwide change in climate is catastrophic in many countries; the country is trying to mitigate the effects here by planting millions of trees.
 
A 248-hectare of land, the planted area, is regularly maintained by CLARO as a result of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the preservation of the area, Mercado added.
 
Philippine Information Agency (PIA) staff Raymond Frias, a participant during the tree planting, said that “a project like this will help not only the preservation of the environment but as well promotes camaraderie among different government agencies who participated in the tree planting.”
 
Participating agencies came from the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Bureau of Fire Protect (BFP), Bureau of Jail and Management Penology (BJMP), Philippine National Police (PNP) of Balanga and Pampanga, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Association of Mountain Farmers of Sitio Kinainisan (AMSKI), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) of Morong, Dinalupihan, Bagac, Bataan and Regional Office 3, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Commission on Audit (COA), Commission on Population (POPCOM), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) of Region 3 and Bataan, Department of Health (DOH), DENR, and PIA.
 
The program coincides with the celebration of the Philippine Civil Service’s 111th anniversary this month with the theme “Championing RACE: Public Service Excellence at Full Speed,” and in pursuance to Executive Order No. 26 or the National Greening Program.
 
==15 missing, 3 rescued as boat sank off Maraviles==
*Source: http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=200&articleId=727466
*By: Shannel Tabanganay
*''September 15, 2011''
 
At least 15 fishermen went missing while three others were rescued after the boat they were riding sank the coast off Bataan province today.
 
The incident happened after huge waves hit the still unidentified vessel while it was traversing the waters off Mariveles area.
 
In a report, the Philippine Coast Guard said SL Mahogany tanker passed by, spotting the three distressed fishermen in the area.
 
The rescued fishermen revealed that there were 15 others who were with them in the boat, prompting the PCG to conduct a search and rescue operation for the missing individuals.
 
==Preservation of Mariveles watershed up==
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/334298/preservation-mariveles-watershed
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''September 14, 2011''
 
AFAB, Bataan, Philippines – The recent successful launching of an environmental protection campaign aimed at protecting and preserving the unique beauty of Tarak Peak, the highest mountain range which serves also as watershed in this industrial town has created an environmental awareness with the support showed by government officials and private individuals.
 
The environmental awareness campaign was actually initiated by typhoon victim resident of Metro Manila Dennis B. Cuarto who launched the Tarak Travel and Events Koordinator (TREK) in his bid to drum up support for environmental protection. An economics graduate of Ateneo de Manila, Cuarto specifically lauded Congressman Abet S. Garcia, 2nd district, and top officials of the Authority of Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB) headed by its chairman and administrator Lawyer Deo Custodio for their unequalled support in the campaign on environmental awareness for the preservation and protection of the Tarak Peak mountain range.
 
Cuarto sold his little computer shop in barangay Alas-asin, Mariveles town just to start his crusade in environmental protection after he himself had become a victim of typhoon "Ondoy" that swept through Metro Manila few years ago. Cuarto’s motorcycle business in Metro Manila was also severely affected after all his brand-new motorcycles were eaten by rust and moss after days of massive floods.
 
“I would like to give special praise to Congressman Garcia, AFAB chairman Custodio, Mayor Jesse Concepcion of Mariveles town and other concerned citizens for their indescribable support in launching of 1st TREK,” said Cuarto who gained praise from the people of Bataan.
 
Atty. Custodio and his group from AFAB have been ascending twice into the 1,022 meter high above sea level Tarak Peak upon the invitation of Cuarto, and he (Custodio) himself noted the unique beauty around Tarak Peak.
 
Actively joining with Cuarto in TREK group are Ronadi “Nadz” Montecillo, head of Administration; Reslyn “Res” Clasara, Head for Operations and Romina “Mina” Cervantes, head for Finance and Allit Fallore.
 
Mayor Concepcion and Rep. Garcia, had also cited Cuarto’s move, despite his not being a resident of Bataan.
 
==2 suspects shoot away at reporter’s Bataan home==
*Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/7190-2-suspects-shoot-away-at-reporters-bataan-home
*By: ERNIE B. ESCONDE
*''September 13, 2011''
 
BALANGA City, Bataan: Two local media organizations on Monday strongly condemned the strafing with M-16 rifle on the house of a reporter Sunday night and asked police authorities for speedy investigation to pinpoint the culprits.
 
Police recovered 26 5.56 shells at the facade of the house of Nerlie Ledesma, reporter for daily tabloid Abante, in Tagnai Village in barangay Tuyo here. The galvanized iron roofing of her house took multiple bullet holes.
 
“Mariing kinokondena ng Bataan Press Club ang pagbaril sa tahanan ni Nerlie na isang pagsikil sa karapatan ng mga mamamahayag sa lalawigan. Hinihiling namin sa pulisya na magsagawa ng masusing imbestigasyon para madakip ang gumawa ng kahindik-hindik na insidente na isang pananakot sa media,” said Raffy Viray, Bataan Press Club president.
 
Mhike Cigaral, vice-chairman of the National Union of Journalists- Bataan chapter, declared - “Ang NUJP-Bataan ay mariing kinokondena ang pamamaril sa tahanan ni Abante reporter Nerlie Ledesma lalo pa’t naroon ang 14-taong gulang nilang anak na babae. Hinihiling namin sa pulisya ang mabilis na aksiyon upang mahuli ang may kagagawan nito.”
 
Supt. Melecio Buslig, Balanga City police chief, said they immediately responded when informed of the incident. He said that they conducted operations along the rice paddy areas where the culprits reportedly fled.
 
PO2 Leonel Gatchalian, Balanga police investigator said two still unidentified men in camouflage uniform and with face-masks riddled with bullets the house of Ledesma at about 9:20 in the evening.
 
He said that investigations are ongoing.
 
==Bataan villages backed on prolife ordinances==
*Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/57187/bataan-villages-backed-on-prolife-ordinances
*By: Tonette Orejas
*''September 12, 2011''
 
Former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia of Balanga City in Bataan have defended seven barangay (village) councils threatened with legal suits following their approval of ordinances protecting the life of the unborn child.
 
In a statement, Pimentel and Garcia said EnGendeRights and its lawyers had “no reasonable ground” to assume that the ordinances of Barangays Puerto Rivas Lote, Puerto Rivas Ibaba, Puerto Rivas Itaas, Cupang Proper, Cupang West, Tortugas and Tanato were already being implemented.
 
The statement came after Dean Pacifico Agabin, Prof. Alfredo Tadiar and their client, EnGendeRights, as well as the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, filed position papers questioning the constitutionality of the ordinances.
 
“The provisions of the… barangay ordinances can be struck down for being prejudicial to public welfare, unconstitutional, inconsistent with existing laws such as the Local Government Code of 1991, Magna Carta of Women, Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, and for violating international laws,” lawyer Clara Rita Padilla, executive director of EnGendeRights, said in a statement.
 
The group said it “actively promotes a human rights-based approach to sexual and reproductive health in Philippine laws and policies and in East and Southeast Asia.” It said it “believes that making abortion safe and legal saves women’s lives.”
 
'''No Balanga approval yet'''
 
But the Balanga City council, according to the mayor, has not yet approved the seven ordinances because the Food and Drug Administration has yet to respond to a request for a dialogue to shed light on abortifacient pills.
 
The barangay councils, on the other hand, have asked for time to study further the ordinances.
 
Citing results of interviews with health workers and village officials on September 7, Padilla said that despite the suspension of the ordinances, women were not allowed to avail themselves of free supplies of pills and injectibles.
 
“These are examples of mounting repression by local government units in restricting access to modern contraceptives and infringing on the rights to sexual and reproductive health,” Padilla said.
 
According to Garcia, there is no law that requires the local government to distribute contraceptives for free.
 
Pimentel and Garcia said the barangay ordinances were clearly not meant to “repress the rights of anyone but in fact to protect the life of the mother and unborn from conception,” as enacted in the 1987 Constitution.
 
Pimentel, author of the Local Government Code of 1991 (Republic Act No. 7160), said the barangay ordinances are constitutional, based on the general welfare provision of the code and principle of local autonomy.
 
'''Harmful contraceptives'''
 
Pimentel said that barangay ordinances banning contraceptives that may cause harm or injury to the unborn and the mother are “not arbitrary but are based on updated and valuable medical and scientific studies.”
 
Garcia said Balanga has “one of the most intensive and genuine responsible parenthood programs in the country.” Its program focuses on “protecting virtues and values which help and lead parents to become truly responsible.”
 
Pimentel and Garcia told EnGendeRights to be careful with “labeling the proposed ordinances as repressive and using false assumptions to gain media mileage in the campaign for the [reproductive health] bill.”
 
EnGendeRights is filing cases against city and village officials with the Commission on Human Rights and the Department of the Interior and Local Government so that “these reproductive rights violations will not be committed,” Padilla said.
 
==Orion can decongest Metropolitan Manila==
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/333073/orion-can-decongest-metropolitan-manila
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''September 03, 2011''
 
ORION, Bataan, Philippines – Mayor Jose Santos Saturday asked President Benigno S. Aquino III to make this town be an alternative port to decongest Metro Manila’s ports.
 
The President recently said there is a need to decongest Metro Manila which has been straining under the weight of a ballooning population and the heavy volume of vehicles such as jeepneys and big trucks plying near the ports.
 
“President Aquino should consider our coastal town as an alternative to Metro Manila’s ports and we can be a part of the solution to decongest Metro Manila, since our town is located along Manila Bay which is very close to Metro Manila,” pointed out Santos, a political ally of Aquino.
 
Santos said that aside from being strategically located, the town’s harbor is deep enough to take in international and cargo vessels. “Orion town is accessible to Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, North Luzon Expressway, SBMA and Clark and it is only 22 nautical miles from Manila or 45 minutes away travel via Manila Bay,” said Santos.
 
Orion has a port built through the initiatives of Rep. Abet S. Garcia and the Philippine Port Authority that can accommodate ferry boats. Garcia is also inviting ferry owners to open a Manila-Orion route.
 
Santos pointed out that the national government should consider his town’s harbor if it wanted to decongest Metro Manila. “Of course, the big cargo trucks, the thousands of jeepneys plying Metro Manila’s ports can then be lessened once there is an international and alternative port in Orion,” said Santos.
 
Only recently, a US-based investment firm signed contract with the mayor to put up a $500-million garbage-fuelled power plant in Orion that can be the answer to the garbage problem in Bataan.
 
Jose U. Utrillo, president and chief executive officer of the Concord Pacific Investment, said the government of Orion will not spend a single centavo for the proposed plant.
 
==Cheaper electricity in Bataan seen==
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/332939/cheaper-electricity-bataan-seen
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''September 02, 2011''
 
MARIVELES, Bataan — Bataeños and investors in the province are looking forward to cheaper electricity rates once the construction of the 600-megaWatt (mW) GN power plant which is expected to be completed and made operational next year.
 
Governor Enrique “Tet” Garcia, one of the proponents of the GN power plant, said electricity will soon be offered at a price cheaper by 30 to 40 percent than present power rates being charged.
 
Bataan 2nd District Rep. Abet S. Garcia and Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) Chairman and Administrator Deogracias G. P. Custodio relayed this information to Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP) officers Thursday.
 
The two officials met with BPAP Executive Director for External Affairs Martin Crisostomo and BPAP Executive Director Gigi Virata.
 
“Gov. Garcia had personally went a number of times to China to convince the GN power plant management to put up the coal-fired power plant here and one of his request was to have a cheaper power supply of electricity here,” said Rep. Garcia.
 
In its website, the equity for Mariveles Station (GN power Project) will be funded by Sithe Global and Denham Capital Management ("Denham"). The Engineering, Procurement and Construction counterparty is CNEEC (China).
 
GN power said that its regulatory framework is investor-friendly and transparent, and low current per capita electricity consumption combined with robust economic growth should ensure moderate to high- demand growth.
 
The Mariveles Project is expected to have the lowest marginal operating cost of any coal project on the grid when completed by year 2012.
 
It will provide significant benefits to the local community by reducing electricity costs, as well as providing jobs and substantial economic stimulus.
 
With this bit of good news for investors in Bataan, economic development in Camaya Coast is entering a new and promising phase, he said.
 
Dubbed the “Boracay of Bataan,” Camaya Coast President Goody Ilagan said the beautification of the beaches, hotel and resort in the area is being rushed.
 
Garcia and Mayor Jesse Concepcion have been promoting the beauty and unique environment of Camaya Coast being located in this industrial town.
 
Only recently, Engr. Jose Utrillo, president of the Concord Pacific and Investment Holdings, a US-based multi-national company engaged in garbage-fueled power plants and International seaports, sought audience with Custodio to express interest in putting up an International Seaport in this town.
 
==Agri project to benefit over 13,000 farmers in Bataan==
*Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2011/09/01/agri-project-benefit-over-13000-farmers-bataan-176662
*By: Anthony Bayarong
*''September 01, 2011''
 
SOME 13,772 farmers from Bataan province will benefit from a project jointly initiated by the Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian reform (DAR) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
 
A 3,970-hectare agricultural and forestry area in Orion town was chosen to pioneer a local agro-enterprise in the province.
 
DENR will distribute seedlings of Atis, Guyabano, Mango, Cacao, Rambutan, Coffee Arabica and Macadamia while DA will conduct capability building training on organic farming and give out vegetable seeds.
 
DAR, for its part, will hold lectures ranging from land tenure improvement to agrarian justice delivery.
 
Eden Ponio, DAR Regional Support Services Division chief agrarian reform officer, explained that the local convergence agro-enterprise cluster site project seeks to stimulate economic activity in the countryside and support the Aquino administration’s National Greening Program.
 
It was conceived through the enhanced National Convergence Initiative (NCI) issued by secretaries Proceso Alcala of DA, Virgilio Delos Reyes of DAR and Ramon Paje of DENR last year.
 
Ponio explained that the three agencies will soon identify more convergence areas in the province in the coming months.
 
==Orion chosen as pioneer DA-DAR-DENR convergence site in Bataan==
*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=7&r=R03&id=51676&y=2011&mo=08
*By: Carlo Lorenzo J. Datu
*''August 31, 2011''
 
ORION, Bataan- The Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has chosen a 3,970.86 hectare agricultural forestry area in the municipality of Orion as their pioneer local convergence agro-enterprise cluster site in Bataan.
 
DAR Regional Support Services Division chief agrarian reform officer Eden Ponio disclosed that the convergence site covers four agrarian reform community barangays and 19 non-agrarian reform community barangays with a total of 13,772 farmer beneficiaries.
 
DENR will distribute seedlings of atis, guyabano, mango, cacao, rambutan, coffee arabica, and macadamia to the convergence grantees while DA will conduct capability building trainings on organic farming and give out vegetable seeds.
 
DAR, on the other hand, shall hold lectures on a number of topics ranging from land tenure improvement to agrarian justice delivery.
 
Ponio explained that the local convergence agro-enterprise cluster site project seeks to stimulate economic activity in the countryside and support the Aquino administration’s National Greening Program.
 
It was conceived through the enhanced National Convergence Initiative (NCI) issued by secretaries Proceso Alcala of DA, Virgilio Delos Reyes of DAR, and Ramon Paje of DENR last year.
 
Ponio said the enhanced NCI promotes a framework of sustainable agriculture and rural development that integrates the people, their economy and their environment; optimizes resources and creates substantial effect in the short-term; makes possible model-building across ecosystems, production systems and rural poverty sectors/small producers in the long-term; defines clear mechanisms for harmonization and complementarity among the three rural development agencies to avoid conflicting and overlapping policies that slows the implementation of programs and projects on the ground; and give local government units a more pro-active role in identifying and implementing convergence initiatives at the local level.
 
The three agencies will soon identify more convergence areas in the province in the coming months.
 
==Bataan locator ups capital stock==
*Source: http://mb.com.ph/articles/332478/baguio-holiday-set-september-1
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''August 29, 2011-www.mb.com.ph''
 
FREEPORT AREA OF BATAAN, Philippines — A prominent locator in the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) recently increased its capital stock, signifying an upward trend in doing business at the FAB barely a year after it became operational. D. I. Dawn Patrol Manufacturing Corp. (DIDPMC) increased its capital stock from P10 million to almost P100 million, spelling additional investments in the FAB.
 
The rise in the company’s stock indicates the company’s run on additional proceeds to invest in projects or machinery that will increase corporate profits and efficiency.
 
==Housewives grow organic vegetables==
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/332369/2-rhbs-fall-bataan
*By: MAR T. SUPNAD
*''August 28, 2011-www.mb.com.ph''
 
BALANGA CITY, Philippines  — More than two weeks after the military declared Bataan as insurgency-free, two suspected members of the Rebolusyonaryong Hukbong Bayan (RHB) were arrested by the military and police in an operation in Samal town.
 
Senior Superintendent Arnold D. Gunnacao, Bataan police director, said the joint police and army operation led to the arrest of Rufino Pascual, alias “Pidiong,” of Barangay Imelda, Samal, and Salvador Dadural, alias “Ka Bill,” “Jomell,” and “Buddy,” of Barangay San Juan, also in Samal.
 
Supt. Allan Macapagal, who led the police team, said they had to disarm Dadural who had in his possession a .38-caliber pistol loaded with five bullets.
 
Gunnacao said that upon further verification of records, it was found that Pascual is also wanted for murder in the shooting-death of a certain Jeperson Manalili.
 
==Housewives grow organic vegetables==
*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=51228
*By: Rebecca Grace S. David
*''August 27, 2011-www.pia.gov.ph''
 
BALANGA CITY, Bataan- Three years ago, some 25 housewives from barangay Cataning organized themselves into the KAANIB (Kasama Ani sa Barangay).
 
Since idle homelots in subdivisions in the barangay become garbage dumping areas, the group decided to borrow these lots for them to work on.
 
But first they have to be equipped with the necessary skill to plant organic vegetables. Vegetable experts from the Department of Agriculture Regional Office’s High Value Commercial Crops Program (HVCC) gave them a hands-on training on veggie planting.
 
A 600 sq meter lot served as their experimental plot. The Balanga City Agricultural Office gave them plastic mulch and organic fertilizer in this initial trial. They planted eggplants, tomatoes, siling labuyo, siling berde, pipino, okra, and ampalaya. Along the perimeter fence, they planted papaya and ube.
 
From the training, they learned to produce their own organic insecticide. They fermented for a week the mixture of gin, ginger, kakawati, sili, garlic, neem tree leaves, onions, and sugar. Another concoction is the foliar spray made from the mixture of sugar, gin and gills, entrails, and guts of fishes.
 
KAANIB president Zenaida Tomas enthused that the housewives have earned as much as P3,000 from the sales of their harvest. Three housewives cultivate one vegetable bed. This way, all of them have some produce to sell.
 
The group has already borrowed 2,000 sq m of idle subdivision lots which they transformed into beds of organic vegetables.
 
Backyard planting of organic vegetables not only made the housewives make use of their time productively but also provided them with additional income DA Information officer Jun Espiritu added.

Latest revision as of 15:43, 10 May 2012

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Province of Bataan - Archived News

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.
Bataan st joseph.jpg
St. Joseph Church

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.

Balanga being transformed into high tech-city

CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- This relatively undeveloped city is being transformed into the vision of being a world-class university town by 2020. In this light, the city government of Balanga has lined up various technological projects in remodeling the Bataan capital into a “high tech-city.”

Balanga City Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III announced the construction of a city library and a city information technology lab parallel to improving the education sector with the university town project.

The said project allots 18.51 hectares or 23 percent of the central district’s 80.42 hectares for the establishment of schools, churches, city hall, and other public buildings.

Garcia said that studies were made designing Balanga after internationally renowned technological institutions like the Silicon Valley in California that has gained prominence worldwide with its investments on computer innovations.

“Silicon Valley (adopted) the fine mixture of ingenuity, innovation, and resourcefulness, (thus) people there were able to transform this once barren, secluded area into a high-tech investment and economic hub,” he said.

In Balanga, free wireless frequency internet connections are available in barangay halls, public elementary schools, and business establishments.

The city government is also establishing information technology corners and e-Centers in Balanga’s 25 barangays under the Barangay Online program, which will serve as venue for technical assistance and online library.

According to Roneth Santos of the city government, about 42 units of closed-circuit television cameras were installed around the city monitored by the Philippine National Police and the Public Safety Office for public security.

Santos said that a subsidized computer loan program for city public school teachers was also launched which gave a P5,000 subsidy to teachers who want to own a laptop computer and the remaining balance was loaned to them with zero interest.

Garcia also pioneered the use of a 3 x 4-meter giant LED TV monitor in center of the Plaza Mayor De Balanga used in celebrations.

“We therefore urge each and every Balangueño to continue believing and commit themselves as our partners in pursuit of vision to make Balanga one of the finest cities in the world,” added Garcia.

Free CCP workshop to dig ‘gold minds’

CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- About 200 kids from various public and private schools in this city gathered for a four-day arts workshop facilitated by trainers from the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) to discover “gold minds” among gifted students.

The fourth string of the free, annual workshop dubbed “Batang Sining” was held in Balanga Elementary School from April 30 to May 3 and hailed esteemed art aficionados like Palanca hall of famer Dr. Luis Gatmaitan; Herminio Beltran, chief of the inter-textual division of CCP; Rey Escasenas, storyteller from Alitaptap group; and Jasmine Tresvalles, CCP culture and arts officer.

Balanga City mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III said that the use of arts as a catalyst for social change and a force for values transformation among students will mobilize cultural awakening and discover gold minds in line with the city’s vision of a world-class university town status by 2020.

“The Batang Sining Creative Expression Workshop for elementary students is part of the city government’s quest to help bring the arts to the masses, particularly to students, and to bring out their imagination, innovative spirit and artistic abilities,” said Garcia.

The participants from grades three to five took part in the activities for day one of the workshop that included group plays like the boat is sinking, connect the body parts and group cheer; creative introductions; storytelling; and writing about what is their idea of a perfect world.

Day two presented sharing of folk stories, art of mime, storytelling hour, appreciating poetry, drawing images in poems and choral reading. Puppet-making and puppetry were staged on day three of the workshop, while dramatization, group presentations and graduation were held on day four.

“In our time today, the children have their different arts. Their music, for the old-school people, is deafening. This program aims to produce caliber artists like Lea Salonga and Jessica Sanchez,” said City Schools Division of Balanga Supt. Dr. Ronaldo Pozon.

He added that the Batang Sining workshop was in line with the new Child Protection Program of the Department of Education that eyes to steer the students away from abuses like vices at home and in school.

Ordering back the tides

Trees fail to flower,” Aetas huddled at the Bataan mountaintop meeting told Fr. Shay Cullen. “Bees are disappearing. Storms blow away our nipa huts as never before.”

With Preda Foundation coworkers, the priest toiled up the two-hour steep trail on horseback. Preda buys Aeta wild mangoes at double what lowland hawkers offer and markets them abroad.

Half a world away, Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research scientists documented what Aetas learned from seat-of-their-pants.

University of Bern experiments span two decades, four continents and 1,634 plant species. “Spring flowering and leafing advances 5 to 6 days per year for every degree Celsius of warming,” they report in the journal Nature.

Bern tests “underestimated how much plants change,” reports British Broadcasting Corp. science reporter Matt McGrath. He adds that research leader Elizabeth Wolkovich and This Rutishauser fret over additional water needed by a plant community that sprouts a week earlier.

Contrary to myth, Filipinos have modest freshwater endowment: 6,332 cubic meters yearly. In contrast, Malaysians tap into 26,105 cm. Saudi Arabians have only 118 cm. They bartered more oil for water last year when Riyadh ’s last aquifers ran dry.

Here, “we have a water aristocracy set on its head.” A squatter’s shack in Cebu City pays 13 times for water than a gated Maria Luisa enclave home, notes the United Nations World Water Development Report.

In the Philippines, 54 out of every 100 lived in cities by 2007. By 2020, the number of urban Filipinos will be double rural counterparts. Many cities are saddled with below-par water facilities even as births and migration interlock.

A “youth bulge” characterizes this migrant torrent, San Carlos University’s Soccoro Gultiano and Peter Xenos of East-West Center point out. Hormones of these young migrants are on overdrive. They will tarry in the reproductive age bracket longer.

A sharper slowdown in birthrates won’t materialize anytime soon, not even if the Reproductive Health bill gets into law books. But demand for just about everything else will spiral. And there is no substitute for water.

Politically charged issues, like a chief justice’s blacked out dollar accounts, smudge concerns including shifting rain bands. A bachelor President’s date will send commentators into a tizzy. But glossing over emerging threats can be lethal.

“We’re seeing changes happening… in ways we didn’t expect to see for hundreds of years,” 27 scientists led by Oxford University’s Alex Rodgers caution in their recent “State of the Oceans” report to UN.

As polluted seas warm, we enter “a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history,” they wrote. Over-fishing, pollution and climate change interlock “in ways not previously recognized.”

“Accelerated” changes include melting of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets. Sea levels are rising and methane trapped in the sea bed, is seeping out.

Here “expect sea waters to rise by at least 20 cm in the next 40 years,” writes Dr. Wendy Clavano in a current series for Environmental Science for Social Change, a Jesuit research organization.

The severest threat stretches “along the Paci?c seaboard: from Samar all the way down to eastern Mindanao.” Include the Zamboangas and island provinces of Romblon and Marinduque in the Sibuyan, says Clavano, a PhD from Cornell University .

She suggests the creation of a “vulnerability index.” This could undergird mitigation programs for what initial data pinpoint as “high risk areas. That sweeps in the Lingayen Gulf (La Union and Pangasinan), Lamon Bay (Quezon and Camarines Norte), Camotes Sea (western Leyte, northern Bohol, and northeastern Cebu).

Add to that list Guimaras Strait (along northwestern Negros Occidental and Guimaras), central Sulu Sea (Cuyo Archipelago), Iligan Bay (in particular Misamis Occidental), Zamboanga del Norte and Bislig Bay (Surigao del Sur).

`Only 4 percent of coral reefs here in remain in pristine condition. Other countries with equally threatened reefs are Haiti, Grenada, Comoros, Vanuatu, Tanzania, Kiribati, Fiji and Indonesia.

Edges of the “Tropical Belt —outer boundaries of the subtropical dry zones—have drifted towards the poles, notes Nature Geoscience. Temperature and rainfall changes alter yields, including politically-volatile crops like corn and rice.

“In the Philippines, rice yields drop by 10 percent for every one degree centigrade increase in night-time temperature,” BBC’s environment correspondent Richard Black writes. As droughts dry reservoirs, yields have fallen by 10 percent to 20 percent over the last 25 years. More declines are ahead.

Three billion people live in the tropics and subtropics. They’ll nearly double by the end of the century. The National Statistical Board asserts there are 93 million plus of us today. No sir, it’s 99.9 million, counter some United States and international bodies.

The “most extreme summers of the last century could become routine towards the end of this century,” predicts the University of Seattle. What would be summer 2100 in the Philippines be like?

Filipino policy makers must move beyond politics-as-usual. Overdrawing on aquifers in Metro Cebu and Manila is causing severe land subsidence. Clavano urges that priority be given to adaptation and mitigation approaches for sea rising levels. Like King Canute, politicians cannot order back the tides.

“Nor can we move crops north or south since many are photosensitive,” notes Dr. Geoff Hawtin at International Centre for Tropical Agriculture. “Tipping points could come quickly.”

Red tide notice remains in effect in Bataan

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) reiterates its caution to the public to avoid gathering and eating shellfish from the Bataan coastal waters as red tide toxin that causes paralytic shellfish poisoning remains present in these areas.

Affected by the ban are the municipalities of Mariveles, Limay, Orion, Pilar, Abucay, Samal and Orani and the city of Balanga.

BFAR Central Luzon information officer Lanie Lamyong said “based on the latest shellfish bulletin issued last May 3, the current red tide toxin level in shellfish samples collected from the coastal waters of Bataan and Masinloc Bay are still significantly higher to the 60g STXg/100g tolerable limit.”

Lamyong reiterated that fishes, squids, shrimps and crabs harvested from these areas are safe to eat as long as they are fresh and washed thoroughly and their internal organs such as gills and intestines are removed before cooking.

Palace wishes Jessica Sanchez good luck in final AI stages

As it congratulated her for advancing the top four of “American Idol,” Malacañang on Sunday wished Filipino-Mexican singer Jessica Sanchez good luck in the next stages of the competition.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said Filipinos will continue to support Sanchez in her quest to top the reality television search for the next singing superstar.

“Congratulations, and we continue to wish her good luck for the final stages of the competition,” Valte said in a text message read on government-run dzRB radio.

Last week, Sanchez survived another elimination round on American Idol, while 18-year-old country singer Skylar Laine was booted out.

In the Philippines, Filipinos continued to show support, especially those from her mom's hometown in Bataan province.

Sanchez's Filipina mother Editha is a daughter of Eddie Bugay, a retired US Navy man who hails from Samal but is based in Orani town in Bataan.

Balanga City uses passbook to save enviroment

CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- In this city, passbooks are not only used to save money, but also to help save the environment.

Under the Junk Shop ng Bayan Project of the city government, public schools in Balanga use customized passbooks to keep track of plastic garbage they each one has collected.

The accumulated trash of schools will be picked by a truck and the points saved in their passbook may be used to claim rice rewards, said Annie Tuazon, consultant on solid waste management of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).

“If you have collected three kilos of dry and clean plastic, you will be rewarded with a kilo of rice. You could then accumulate the points to get more rice,” Tuazon said.

According to CENRO, Balanga City, the capital and economic center of Bataan, is producing 20 to 25 tons of varied garbage everyday, which is equivalent to 9,100 tons yearly.

With the city’s population of about 90,000 which is projected to balloon in years, proper and sustainable solid waste management is critical as to not fill up the dumpsite in Brgy. Munting Batangas, said CENRO head Nelia Castor.

Therefore, CENRO has been piloting environmental projects including the Junk Shop ng Bayan, Gamit Pang-eskwela Mula sa Basura, Operation Linis Ilog and Linis Barangay, and the production of doy bags from tetra packs.

Castor said the garbage truck circulates the city every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The schools also may call their office whenever they have amassed plastics.

Meanwhile, small plastics like those from snack food will be brought to the Material Recovery Facility in Brgy. Munting Batangas where they will be macerated.

Tuazon said that since small plastics are strenuous to be sewn as doy bags, they will be put through a pulverizer funded by the Department of Science and Technology to be grinded and mixed into the production of paper tiles.

Balanga City bats for zero illiteracy rate

CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- The education sector here is eyeing the gradual reduction of illiteracy rate among children and youth by allotting more land space and projects in Balanga for students.

Under the University Town project, Balanga City Mayor Jose Enrique Garcia III has allocated 18.51 hectares (ha) or 23 percent of the central district’s 80.42 ha for the establishment of schools, churches, city hall, and other public buildings.

“The planning started in 2007 and based on a study we did, there are three components of a university town: provide access to quality education, complete facilities for the students, and provide conducive learning environment,” Garcia said.

In a statement made by the city government, education projects that include programs starting from day care centers to tertiary schooling are prioritized in light of achieving the vision of a “world-class university town by 2020.”

“Among Mayor Joet Garcia’s plans for the city is to lower the number of non-readers to the point of eliminating them totally,” said the city government.

“The city government prioritizes education in the project, thus, several programs relative to literacy were implemented. More studies and trainings were held to ensure that proper education will produce well-rounded citizens," it added.

Among the projects are Responsible Parents Training through Education for the Upbringing of Children (Educhild), Reactivation of the Council for the Protection of Children, Iskolar Balangueño Scholarship Program, TEACHNOLOGY Computerization Program, Provision of Assistance to Public Schools, and Centers for Excellence.

These undertakings of the Garcia administration had led to the award from the National Literacy Coordinating Council as 2nd Most Outstanding Local Government Unit last September 2011.

Balanga has one state university, 10 colleges, seven secondary schools, 30 elementary schools, 27 day care centers, and 10 pre-schools.

Freeport Area of Bataan’s new brand gets nod of investors

CITY OF BALANGA, Bataan- The Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB), the province’s top dollar economic hub, launched recently its new official brand which gained the approval of international investors.

FAB administrator Deogracias Custodio said the new symbol of the multimillion economic zone in booming Mariveles town signifies different values essential to establishing businesses.

“The new FAB brand is almost full circle to connote unity, expansion and growth,” said Custodio.

He explained the color red in the logo denotes passion and determination needed to cultivate a business while the blue stands for stability of growth.

Executives of foreign companies expressed satisfaction over the new brand which, according to Custodio, represents the Filipinos as globally competitive with world-class service.

“It is sort of fresh and the design looks good to us,” said Dong-In Group general manager Park Ki Jung.

The corporate chiefs also pointed out that building business in the country has its share of advantages compared to other Asian countries.

According to John Cartwright, general manager of C&L Philippines Footwear Manufacturing Corporation, FAB is very promising and full of potentials as it is very accessible from Manila and other neighboring cities via the new Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway.

“One thing more, the wages are up in China,” said Cartwright.

Park added that the availability of qualified manpower and English-speaking workers are plus points for FAB.

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