Difference between revisions of "Sorsogon Province, Philippines"

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 ==[[Sorsogon News]]==
-'''Sorsoganons peacefully celebrate “Semana Santa” 2012'''
+'''Do Not Panic'''
-*Source: http://www.pia.gov.ph/news/index.php?article=801334042257
+*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/356732/do-not-panic
-*Tuesday 10th of April 2012
+*April 11, 2012, 12:53am
-:by Benilda A. Recebido
+:by  MADEL R. SABATER and LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
-SORSOGON CITY, April 10 (PIA) -- Assessment of the Philippine National Police Sorsogon Provincial Office (PNP-SPPO) bared that aside from the electrocuted 16-year-old male in one of the beach cottages in Bacon District, Sorsogon City, the celebration of “Semana Santa,” a Spanish term for the Holy Week, was generally peaceful.
+Malacañang and an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday called on the public to stay calm and not to panic amid the rocket launch of North Korea scheduled between April 12 and April 16.
-Devotees and Catholics in general were in their prayerful mood especially during the Visita Iglesia and processions on Good Friday. Priests in their Lenten homilies reiterated Pope Benedict XVI’s call for Charity which is the very heart of Christian Life.
+This developed as the United States urged anew North Korea not to conduct a nuclear test or launch a satellite and called on China to exert its influence over its neighbor to try to ward off such "provocative actions."
-According to PNP Sorsogon Director PSupt John CA Jambora, they attribute the success of the activity to the full support and cooperation shown by Sorsoganons, “that is why we are thankful to them that no untoward incidences were noted all throughout the entire observance of the Holy Week,” he added.
+But Ryu Kum Chol, deputy director of the Space Development Department of the Korean Committee for Space Technology, said, "All the assembly and preparations of the satellite launch are done," including fueling of the rocket.
-Meanwhile, passengers bound for Manila and Legazpi City were irritated with the insufficient number of bus and vans. According to some commuters departing for Manila, they had to wait for about six hours or more to be accommodated.
+Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda assured that preparations are being made should North Korea push through with the satellite launch.
-Philippine Coast Guard Sorsogon Station through PO2 Rico Gabion reported that their assessment of the observance of “Semana Santa” in Sorsogon this year was very successful since there were no problems and negative incidences noted. He admitted however, that fewer passengers in three major ports here were recorded compared to that of last year.
+"We are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best and it will be irresponsible for the government not to take the necessary precautions," Lacierda said in a press briefing yesterday.
-Latest data reported from Matnog station stated that there were 1,535 passengers in Matnog port. There were no reports yet from Pilar and Bulan stations as to the number of their passengers during Holy Week.
+Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, member of the CBCP Permanent Council, said people should pray instead of panicking, saying it’s still possible that the launch will not affect the country such as what happened during the 1970’s when the US satellite Skylab disintegrated in space with its debris falling in Western Australia.
-However, PCG and PNP both said that they will keep on strictly monitoring major ports and terminals in the province as part of their “Oplan Summer Vacation” since tourists and vacationers will continue to flock for the summer season.
+At that time, people panicked because everybody thought that the debris from the Skylab was going to fall on their backyard.
-Aside from terminals, the PNP has also deployed their personnel including police trainees to areas frequently visited by tourists such as the town of Donsol for the whale shark inter-action, Bulusan for Bulusan Lake activities, Sorsogon City for its Paguriran Island, Pto. Diaz for mangrove tour, Casiguran for the famous freezing Orok Spring, Barcelona for its breathtaking and huge corals, as well as the province’s prime beach resorts in Bacon District, Sorsogon City, Gubat, Sta. Magdalena and Matnog towns, among others. (MAL/BAR-PIA 5, Sorsogon)
+"Many times such fears are not founded. Remember the Skylab many years ago? Nothing fell," he said in an interview.
+Still, Bastes urged the people to pray that North Korea will change its mind about the launch and instead focus on feeding their hungry people.
+"Pray that the leaders of North Korea will rather feed their hungry people than show a false military might," he said.
+Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo also appealed for prayers from the people.
+"Let us pray that North Korea would change its mind because we don’t really know what damage it will bring to us – we don’t know where it will hit that’s why we should be careful and we should pray to prevent a crisis in the world," he said over Church-run Radyo Veritas yesterday.
+Lacierda said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has already been directed to make the necessary preparations for the launch.
+Notices, Lacierda said, have already been sent, particularly on the no-fly zone while the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
+(NDRRMC) will monitor probable sites where rocket debris may fall.
+Earlier, the NDRRMC warned parts of the rocket may fall on Philippine territory after the launch between April 12 and April 16.
+The Department of the Interior and Local Government already instructed officials in six regions – Regions 1 (Ilocos), 2 (Cagayan Valley), 3 (Central Luzon), 4-A (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon), 5 (Bicol), and Cordillera – to implement contingency plans for the rocket launch.
+North Korea, which is pressing ahead with plans for a satellite launch despite US and regional appeals that it desist, is also preparing a third nuclear test, South Korean news reports said Sunday.
+Another nuclear test is bound to scare neighbors and infuriate the West, which has long sought to curb the North’s nuclear ambitions.
+South Korea’s Yonhap news agency quoted an unidentified intelligence source as saying North Korea was "clandestinely preparing a nuclear test" at the same location as the first two.
+The State Department repeated its advice to the North not to launch a satellite, saying this would violate UN Security Council resolutions and a February 29 denuclearization agreement.
+"Our position remains: don’t do it," said spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. "North Korea’s launch of a missile would be highly provocative, it would pose a threat to regional security and it would be inconsistent with its recent undertakings to refrain from any kind of long-range missile launches."
+Nuland told reporters a third North Korean nuclear test "would be equally bad if not worse."
+She declined comment on whether the United States also had reason to believe that the North might be preparing a nuclear test, saying she could not discuss intelligence matters.
+North Korea, which three years ago pulled out of six-party disarmament talks on its nuclear program, agreed in February to stop nuclear tests, uranium enrichment and long-range missile launches in return for food aid, opening the way to a possible resumption of the negotiations.
+But that has all unraveled with the North’s rocket launch planned for this month, probably between Thursday and the following Monday. The North says it is merely sending a weather satellite into space, but South Korea and the United States say it is a ballistic missile test.
+The United States has called on China, the closest that North Korea has to an ally, to exert such influence as it has with Pyongyang, a point Nuland made again on Monday.
+"We believe, in particular, that China joins us in its interest in seeing a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and we are continuing to encourage China to act more effectively in that interest," she said.
+Flights Rerouted
+With the scheduled rocket launch, several airlines will reroute flights over the Philippines, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said yesterday.
+About 20 flights including Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, All Nippon Airways, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, and Delta Airlines will be rerouted between Thursday and Monday, when North Korea says it will launch a satellite. The exact timing depends on weather.
+Floramel Joy Songsong, spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, said the agency will temporarily close three northeastern air corridors, which will result in an additional 20 minutes of travel time for the airlines.
+Japanese carriers JAL and ANA will change flight paths on routes connecting Tokyo to Manila, Jakarta and Singapore, while domestic flights will not be affected.
+JAL has four flights a day on the expected rocket launch dates. Airline official Norio Higashimine said each flight will carry more fuel in case of an unexpected route change.
+ANA is making similar route changes on five flights.
+Philippine officials also told ships and fishing boats to avoid northeastern territorial waters where rocket debris may fall.
+Meanwhile, Aurora province is now preparing for the rocket launch as the towns of Casiguran, Dilasag, Dinalungan, Baler, and Dingalan are among the places identified by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as "spots" where debris may fall.
+Other places include Bugey, Gonzaga, and Santa Ana towns in Cagayan; Palanan, Maconacon, Divilacan, and Dinapigue towns in Isabela; Real, Infanta, and General Nakar in Quezon.
+People in Batanes, Camarines Sur, and Camarines Norte are also advised to take precautionary measures. (With reports from Reuters, AP, and Mark Anthony N. Manuel)
 ==Photo Gallery of Sorsogon, Philippines==