Albay News September 2017

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Albay - Archived News
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Location of Albay within the Philippines
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Provincial Capitol Building of Albay, in Legazpi City

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

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

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

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

WHY??

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

Legazpi City celebrates 2017 Peace Month

(OPAPP)

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay – Bb. Pilipinas Grand International 2017 and National Peace Ambassadress Elizabeth Clenci joined the Peace Buzz in Legazpi City, Albay as part of the peace caravan, which aims to deliver the message of peace across the country.

The Local government of Legazpi City welcomed the Peace Buzz with the “Albayanong Jovenes Kasaro Para sa Katoninongan” or Walk for Peace around the city proper. Personnel from the different security groups, and scholars of Daraga Community College joined the peace walk.

During the opening activity held in the provincial capitol, Deputy Presidential Peace Adviser Undersecretary Nabil Tan underscored the significance of the Peace Buzz's journey.

“The Peace Buzz signifies our collective journey to peace. Ang paglalakbay na ito ay para iparating sa lahat ang mahalagang mensahe ng kapayapaan. Lahat tayo ay dapat kumilos upang makamit ang kapayapaan sa ating bansa. Ang bawat hakbang ay hakbang para sa kapayapaan (This journey is to bring the message of peace to all our countrymen. All of us must take part in bringing peace to our country. Every step is a step for peace.) Peace won’t be achieved by the government alone but by all the stakeholders, the Filipino people,” he said.

Police Chief Inspector and Chief of Police Community Relations Elvide Esparrago of the Albay Provincial Police encouraged all citizens of Albay and fellow Filipinos to become protectors of peace.

“For several years, war and conflict destroyed and claimed many precious lives of our fellow Filipinos in which both sides are losers, but we still don’t learn any lesson from it. So this time we are calling Albayanos and all Filipino people to give peace a chance to reign in our hearts and in ourselves, and denounce armed conflict, and become agents and protectors of peace even in its simplest ways,” he said.

For her part, Clenci reminded the youth participants to always be informed and updated by the progress on the peace process in the country.

“By equipping ourselves with the basic knowledge and facts of the peace process in our country, we are strengthening our government’s efforts to eradicate the spread of harmful ideologies and violent extremism,” she said.

Clenci emphasized that peace must start within ourselves and we must teach our children early so that the value of peace will be ingrained even until they grow up.

“Peace start within our homes. We must teach our children to do simple acts of kindness to other people, so that eventually they can start a culture of peace in their communities,” she said.

The Bb. Pilipinas read a story called “Ang Itim na Pusa” for the children of Sagrada Familia as part of the Kids Peace Tour and Story-telling. She also adopted the role of a big sister and brought the kids along to visit different tourist spots in Albay. In the afternoon, a Youth Peace Conversation with the students of Bicol University was conducted. It provided a venue for the youth of Legazpi to air their ideas on how to actively participate in the peace process and peace building in the country.

The Peace Buzz is a caravan that will travel nationwide to showcase and highlight the peace building efforts of the government and provide updates on the progress of the peace process. The Peace Buzz will drop by key cities to engage and collaborate more with different stakeholders.

The Peace Buzz started its kick off in Baguio City wherein a whole day of peace activities where conducted. This includes the offering of prayer for Marawi to be brought in Iligan City, where the persons displaced by the conflict are currently staying. Other activities in Baguio include a motorcade with Baguio Bikers’ Association as a sign of support and commitment for peace in the country.

After its kick off in Baguio City, the Peace Buzz was welcomed by the local government of Quezon City with the Ceremonial Ringing of the World Peace Bell. The Peace Buzz will be making stops in Catarman Provincial Capitol, Catbalogan City, Butuan City, Davao City, and will conclude in Iligan City.

PNP chief bent on weeding out thousands of rogue cops

By Mar Serrano and Connie Destura (PNA)

LEGAZPI CITY ---- Police Director General Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said he would get rid of 3,500 rogue policemen who tarnish the good image of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Dela Rosa, in an interview Friday, said, "I will make sure that the days of these police scalawags would end soonest, as the police internal cleansing process is ongoing and in full speed."

“We will try our best to cleanse our ranks as I have said before, it cannot be done overnight or weeks, months or year,” he said.

Dela Rosa said measures have been instituted to address the problem on police scalawags but he lamented that “we have already passed the one-year period but there are still cops who commit wrongdoings”.

The PNP chief said that of the 175,000-strong police force in the country, around 2 percent or 3,500 are considered police scalawags and these are mostly based in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

The number of cases against bad cops is still insignificant but being magnified by people who are opposed to the campaign to cleanse the PNP of scalawags, specifically with regard the government’s war against drugs, Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa cited the purging of close to 300 policemen who are facing charges or found to have committed misconduct.

“Those cops involved in grave misconduct, we make it clear that they would no longer be admitted back to the service,” he said.

He even cited the case of the 1,000 policemen in Caloocan City who were removed from the station and told to undergo retraining and be reassigned to other stations in Metro Manila.

Asked what would be the impact of the dismissal of thousands of recidivist cops to the entire PNP organization, Dela Rosa said 2 percent is insignificant but would be very significant on the quality of service it has to deliver to the public.

Dela Rosa, who led the 116th Police Service Anniversary celebration here, urged his men to practice what he called “Kuyogin ang Police” meaning "discipline or police your own ranks".

Anti-drug campaign

When asked if there are organizations out to sabotage the government's campaign against hard drugs, he said there are unconfirmed reports that there are people making moves to disrupt the fight against this menace.

“I still have to validate whether there are indeed people orchestrating this or maybe, these people are manipulated to go against the campaign – ang drug problem na ito ay gamitan,” Dela Rosa said.

EU human rights issue

When asked to comment on the statement of the European Union Human Rights Council asking the Philippine government to investigate the alleged cases of extra-judicial killing (EJK) in connection with the government campaign against drugs, Dela Rosa said: “They (EU) don’t have to dictate on us what we have to do. Is the Philippines under EU?”

“We are doing our job, we are investigating the cases where we have to establish that some of the EJK cases are not drug-related and are personal clashes that are being blamed on the campaign on drugs,” he said.

According to Dela Rosa, the government's campaign against drugs is certainly destroying the illegal business of drug lords, and “they won’t take this sitting down because they are losing billions of pesos so they wanted the campaign to fail.”

Deaf in Albay given 'voice' to fight for their sexual rights

By Frank Cimatu (Rappler.com)

The Manila-based Forum for Family Planning and Development has been holding workshops on reproductive health and rights in Albay province for the past 3 years

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Coming out as gay is hard enough, but coming out as gay when you’re deaf too is a double whammy.

Alex, who is from Legazpi City, said coming out as gay was actually easy. Using Filipino sign language, he said that he was glad to have been easily accepted by his deaf friends.

“Coming out to the world is harder. Being deaf, we are already discriminated and hurt,” he signed.

The Manila-based Forum for Family Planning and Development has been holding workshops in Albay province for the past 3 years.

Chi Vallido, campaigns officer of Forum, said they have serviced more than 100 deaf from the province in 5 reproductive health and rights workshops here in Legazpi City, Tabaco City, and Ligao.

Vallido said that even in their first workshop, they saw the need to involve the police because the deaf had been reporting cases of sexual harassment and molestation to them.

“Even in the middle of the workshops, they had been telling their traumatic stories at the same time that the interpreter had to tell them to shut up,” Vallido said.

Kevin de Vera, the Forum adolescent RH coordinator, said that the deaf thought it natural that they would be harassed, that when they learned about their rights, they were furious.

RIGHTS WORKSHOPS. The Forum for Family Planning and Development has been holding reproductive health and rights workshops in Albay. Photo by Mau Victa/Rappler

RIGHTS WORKSHOPS. The Forum for Family Planning and Development has been holding reproductive health and rights workshops in Albay. Photo by Mau Victa/Rappler

According to the defunct Philippine Deaf Resource Center, one out of 3 deaf women in the country experienced harassment and rape, and half of the cases happened in their own home.

The police had been joining the Forum in their RH workshops since, De Vera said. They were the ones lecturing the deaf about their rights and how they can report abuses.

The police and the Albay Deaf Society have been coordinating with each other.

Vallido said that to facilitate communication between the two, one of the criminology schools in Albay has required its students to learn Filipino sign language.

During the recent seminar in Legazpi City, they expected only 35 deaf students, but 60 came to attend. Ten criminology students also joined the workshop.

The deaf tested these “hearing students” if they knew the basic reproductive health words and concepts and if they could understand what they were reporting. They gave a wave when the hearing students responded correctly.

Sabina “Ruffa” Torregoza, a transgender and health worker, also taught them how to combat discrimination against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community.

Salceda: Free tuition starting ‘18 now certain

(Manila Standard)

LEGAZPI CITY — Free tuition and miscellaneous fees in state universities and colleges and Tesda-accredited technical vocational schools is no longer just a dream, says Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda.

“It’s now for real!” Salceda said after the House Committee on Appropriations, where he is senior vice chairman, has finally sourced out and allotted some P41 billion for the program in the 2018 national budget.

This now assures funding for the implementation next year of the celebrated Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or Republic Act 10931, which President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed into law earlier this year, the congressman said.

This was despite doubts on the government’s capacity to finance the program, Salceda noted. The measure did not specify its fund sources, but the President advised the House to ensure funding for it, he added.

Salceda, principal author of RA 10931 in the House, and Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles separately announced the good news in Legazpi City and Manila, respectively, and confirmed that P41 billion to P51 billion is set for the education budget next year.

“Free SUCs is real. No tuition and miscellaneous expenses. Admission is the only requirement,” Salceda posted on his social media account, followed by “No tuition in community colleges is real” and “Free techvoc in Tesda/LGU-run TVET is real.”

At the state-run Bicol University in Albay’s second district, which Salceda represents, some 28,000 students stand to benefit from the measure with a subsidy of about P480 million per year.

There are 114 SUCs (state universities and colleges) and 16 LUCs (local universities and colleges) accredited by the Commission on Higher Education and 122 technical vocational institutions accredited by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority in the country.

Salceda filed his version of the measure, HB 2771, in July last year “to solve the continuing paradox that while college education helps us to escape poverty, Filipinos have to be rich to afford one.” His bill was merged with those filed by party-list Reps. Antonio Tinio of ACT and Sarah Jane Elago of Kabataan party-list.

The salient components of the breakthrough legislation include: Free higher education in SUCs and LUCs; Free technical-vocational education and training in post-secondary technical-vocational institutions; Tertiary Education Subsidy for Filipino students, and a Student Loan Program for Tertiary Education.

Salceda said RA 10931 will usher in the “next wave social revolution in building a more egalitarian society.” He refers to the law a “a most vital social legislation, second only to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion bill in terms of significance and permanence.”

The Bicolano lawmaker said RA 10931 drew much of its provisions from the Albay model on Universal Access to College Education program, which he pioneered when he was governor of his province for nine years.

The program had helped some 88,888 students in completing their studies and served as the “inclusive tool and key to Albay’s poverty reduction from 41 percent in 2007 to 17.1 percent in 2015,” he noted.

Salceda, however, said students in community colleges may have to wait awhile, since only about 16 out of 111 LUCs have passed CHED accreditation.

RA 10931 also provides for some P1.3 billion in student loans for those who belong to the lowest 30 percent who may need additional financial resources in pursuing their college studies.

Aside from its mechanisms that provide all Filipinos equal opportunities to quality education in private and public educational institutions, the measure also aims to prioritize poor but academically able students, ensure optimized utilization of government resources in education and recognize the complementary roles of public and private institutions in the tertiary educational system.

Albay gov orders construction of alternate road to Pantao Port

By Sonny Sales

LEGAZPI City -- Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara ordered Provincial Engineering Office head Dante Paquiao to complete a detailed engineering plan for the contruction of an alternative road so that the provincial government could open to commerce the long completed International Pantao Port in Libon town.

Constructed at the cost of P2 billion during the Macapagal-Arroyo administration, through the initiative of then congressman and later Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda, the port of international standards for docking of foreign shipping via the China Sea to Bicol, has not been put to use for nearly two decades due to poor access road.

After sustaining damages due to sea surges during Typhoon Reming in 2006, the Philippine Ports Authority made extensive repairs, but Bichara noted that since then, the port has not been opened officially due to dilapidated access road and deep ravines towards Libon town.

Bichara said the new alternative road being planned for construction will not use the old route, which is prone to erosions and landslides due to the deep ravines.

Critics said Pantao Port is a “white elephant” and blamed Salceda for the exorbitant cost of the international port which has not benefited the province for the past 15 years.

DPWH builds coastal road in Legazpi City

By Betheena Kae Unite

A coastal road that is expected to address flooding in Legazpi City, Albay is now underway, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the project would be an alternative road with flood control facilities and a joggers’ lane.

It is a 1.67-kilometer road project that also includes seawall and drainage facilities at Barangay Baybay, Legazpi City, Villar said.

Villar expressed confidence that the project would also help decongest traffic in Legazpi City as well as effectively protect people from the coastal hazards.

The new road, Villar further said, would encourage fitness and wellness activities for local Bicol residents and tourists as site for sporting events like triathlon, marathons, cycling and fun runs.

Recently, Villar, Undersecretary Dimas Soguilon, Assistant Secretary Eugenio Pipo, DPWH-Region 5 Director Danilo Versola, DPWH-Region 5 Construction Division officer in charge Cornelio Relativo and other DPWH regional directors inspected the road construction.

He said the road will be completed by the first quarter of 2018.

The P330-million project is part of the Legazpi City Urban Drainage Improvement Project which is a priority project of DPWH considering the vulnerability to flooding of Legazpi City during heavy rains, typhoons and high tide with its location near Albay Gulf and several other watercourses.

Asusano bags 3rd gold in ASEAN Para Games

By Jean Malanum

KUALA LUMPUR -- Newcomer Cendy Asusano ruled the women's shot put F54 event on Friday to pocket her third gold medal in the 9th ASEAN Para Games athletics competition at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil here.

The 27-year-old Asusano, who hails from Albay province, registered 5.50 meters on her fourth attempt.

Vietnamese Ng Thi Ngoc Thuy submitted 5.06 meters to win the silver medal, while Marites Burce of the Philippines recorded 4.85 meters to settle for the bronze medal.

Asusano gave the Philippines its first gold medal in the tournament when she won the javelin throw F54/55 last Monday. She collected her second gold medal in the discus throw event.

Asusano has a three-year-old daughter and is living in Rosario, Bulacan.

In the men's discus throw F11, Filipino Evaristo Carbonel registered 27.06 meters in the fourth round to win the silver medal. The gold medal went to Thailand's Boonsri Phichai, who submitted 31.41 meters, while his compatriot, Wongngoen Arnon recorded 24.47 meters to win the bronze medal.

In the women's shot put F55, Jesebel Tordecilla finished fourth (5.12 meters) behind gold winner Truong Bich Van of Vietnam (6.68 meters), silver medalist Htet Htet Aye of Myanmar (5.96 meters), and bronze winner Ngo Thi Lan Thanh of Vietnam (5.33 meters).

Filipino Jerrold Mangliwan placed sixth in the men's 200-meter T52/53 event dominated by Thailand. Pichet Krungget won the gold in 27.85 seconds, Sopa Intasen pocketed the silver (28.39 seconds), and J. Saksiripong got the bronze (28.57 seconds).

As of 12 noon Friday, the Philippine athletics team has a total of nine golds, five silvers, and five bronzes.

Aside from Asusano, the other triple-gold medalist in the team is newcomer, sprinter Ma. Cielo Honasan, a 15-year-old polio victim from Botolan, Zambales.

Honasan's medals came from the T44 100 meters and 200 meters events, and the T44/46 400 meters event.

Prudencia Panaligan delivered two gold medals coming from the women's 100 meters (T52/53/54) and 200 meters (T53/54), while Rosalie Torrefiel won the gold in the women's F12 javelin throw event.

The other silver medal winners are Arman Dino (men's T47 100 meters and 400 meters), Tordecilla (women's F54/55 javelin throw) and Jeanette Aceveda (women's F11/12 shot put), while those who contributed the bronze medals are Burce (women's F54 discus throw), Tordecilla (women's F54/55 discus throw), Joel Balatucan (men's F54/55 shot put), and Raul Angoluan (men's T40 800 meters). (PNA)

Bicolana bags 1st gold for PH in 9th ASEAN Para Games

(Bicol Standard)

LEGAZPI CITY 9/19/17 (Bicol Standard) -- A native of Albay bagged the first gold medal for the Philippines in the 9th ASEAN Para Games for javelin throw F54/55 on Monday at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Cendy Asusano, a mother of a three-year-old girl, and a newcomer of the Para Games, said: "Lagi lang ako nagdadasal na bigyan ako ng Panginoon ng lakas at sana magtagumpay" (I always pray to God to give me strength and hopefully become triumphant).

“Gusto ko ipakita na kaya kahit may kapansanan ako (I want to show that I can do it even if I am differently-abled),” said Asusano to the media.

She registered 13.04 meters on her third try in the competition.

The Bicolana para athlete who resides in Santo Rosario, Bulacan has been training since January 2017.

She is a double gold medalist (javelin and discus throw) in the 2015 Philippine National Games (PNG), a sports program of Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

Bicol DPWH struggling hard against rampant road obstructions

By Manly M. Ugalde [BicolToday.com]

LEGAZPI CITY, Albay – The Department of Public Works and Highways is struggling hard resolving old and ongoing road obstructions that have cost alarming road accidents in Bicol where a son of a DPWH official who was driving a car figured in a road accident twice that killed two pedestrians in a district his father is the district engineer.

The Philippine National Police reported close to 8,000 road accidents covering the period 2015 – 2016 for Albay alone. Last year, the PNP reported 3,800-plus road accidents, according to Albay provincial police office spokesman Senior Police Inspector Art Gomez.

DPWH assistant regional director Esmeraldo Sarmiento, however, said the region’s 16 district engineering are doing it’s best to lessen the obstructions that developed severe traffic congestions in many parts of Bicol, aggravated by the simultaneous massive roads and bridges’ widening as he has listed down the many observations and complaints raised to him during the interview. He appealed to motorists and the public for extra patience.

Sarmiento and regional director Danilo Versola are both new and stranger in Bicol. Versola is from Davao, Sarmiento from Bulacan.

According to Rep. Fernando Gonzalez (Albay 1st Dist), the DPWH is merely on road improvement with the concreting of the 4th lane and bridge widening. He said the widening to a 20-meter road right- of- way cannot be done without removing first the rich and poor squatters that, in many sections of the roads, have encroached the tiny lane serving for pedestrians. DPWH officials claimed that the existing 4-lane roadway is barely 12.4-meter at 3.1-meter a lane.

Local executives complained that traffic congestion are taking so much toll for motorists who question the simultaneous widening of roads and bridges which motorists noted most prominent in the first district of Albay the DPWH has rated as a “model” district. Bicol University students in Legazpi (2nd District) wonder how the DPWH could have the nerve allowing a hundred old culverts dug from the kilometers-long drainage project and merely lined-up for long at the roadside in front the University campus at the risk and discomfort of pedestrians.

Blogger James Bandol criticized the DPWH criteria in giving the “outstanding” award to the Albay 1st District Engineering with its roads rocked by old and ongoing obstructions worsened by the simultaneous road and bridge widening, scouring road sections and potholes. He said a son driving his senior citizen ailing mother to Legazpi from Tabaco suffered a costly experience when his car stepped on a deep pothole in a scouring road section filled with water beside the two close bridge widening projects that smashed his mother face onto the car dashboard. Is this a model district road?, Bandol asked.

Engr. Cesar Sanorjo, chief construction section of the Albay 1st district engineering confirmed, in March his office has bagged the 2017 model award. He refused to elaborate.

District engineers, however, clarified that the rating from the Bureau of Maintenance to be a “model” district was purely based on having a “zero pothole” road as the only criteria. After all, the first district is only maintaining a secondary national road while other districts covers both the primary, national, and secondary roads. They suggested that the criteria to be a model district be amended to cover “clear flow of traffic, complete traffic signages, and regularly manicured roadsides.”

Early this year, parents and teachers at the Lidong Elementary School along the highway of Barangay Lidong in Sto. Domingo town (first district) strongly protested, to no avail, the simultaneous concreting of both road sides, at the same time, uprooting old trees which served as the small pedestrians and students lane.

Rev. Fr. Efren Borromeo, Parish Priest of the Divine Mercy Church at Barangay Lidong called “inhuman” the simultaneous roadsides concreting and uprooting of trees, saying he saw for himself how pedestrians and young pupils pathetically and bravely guiding themselves passing by the side of the busy main 2-lane road as they evade speeding vehicles at their very own risks on the accident-prone Padang – Lidong route.

Former Albay Vice Gov. James Calisin and Jovellar town mayor for 25 years,

Jose Arcangel, 74, claimed that the first district road is prominently getting negative impact from motorists and commuters because aside from the massive road concreting and bridge widening, the road is also a scene of rampant solar drying of palay, worse shielded with big stones from residents and “bigtime” palay traders combined, which the DPWH maintenance crew simply ignore. In addition, the first district is also the known “padyak capital” that freely cruise the national road.

With close to 8,000 units of padyak in Tabaco City alone, the national road is rained by padyaks 24/7, said Calisin who is himself a resident of Tabaco.

DPWH legal officer Oliver Rodulfo explained that many projects at the Albay 1st District are allegedly delayed because a bigtime contractor identified as a congressman infrastructure coordinator continue to reap excessive contracts award with its equipment, manpower and finances unfit enough to handle the magnitude of contracts he reaped region wide. He said the contractor cannot even finish its old airport repair and extension project in Catanduanes.

Rodulfo also claimed that, despite many engineers and employees residing in the first district including the district engineer who commutes daily to its office located in Legazpi (2nd District), scouring road sections with potholes and badly-damaged 4 inches deep approaches in the barely 40-meter asphalted detour route adjacent the 2 close bridge widening projects in Malilipot town are hardly attended.

Mayor Arcangel lamented that, if trees, electric posts, pedicabs, solar drying, road constructions are traffic hazards, I can’t imagine the DPWH engineers could afford to just ignore contractors assembling and manufacturing concrete piles (pilote) and stockpiled on road beside the bridge widening project.

District engineer Simon Arias cannot be contacted for comment. His staff said Arias had long relocated to Legazpi from Tabaco after his son figured in a road accident.

Bicol’s epic legend lives on

(Manila Standard Lifestyle)

From the dustbins of history to the streets of Legazpi City.

This is the unfolding saga of Ibalong, Bicol’s epic legend, which has been revived in a festival.

Regarded as the region’s biggest non-religious festival, Ibalong is based on folklore and is perhaps the only cultural event in the country that relives an epic.

Now in its 26th edition, it is a recreation of a mid-19th century fragments of 60-stanza epic poem penned by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Melendreras about the ancient civilization of the Bicol region.

He was inspired by the accounts of Kadunung, a wandering minstrel and bard for being a fountainhead of folklore.

Cast in the mold of classic mythologies, Ibalong tells about its three legendary heroes—Baltog, Handiong and Bantong—who, with their supernatural strengths, rid the land of beasts and helped attain a golden era.

Arriving at various times in history, these warriors from a faraway land vanquished the dreaded beasts that sowed terror among the populace. Among these dreaded beasts were a giant wild boar called Tandayag and the half-man-half-beast Rabot.

Another prominent character is the villain-turned-heroine Oryol, a beautiful half woman-half- serpent who had a change of heart as she fell in love with Handiong and joined his forces to defeat the monsters of the land.

The legendary heroes cultivated the land, established a government and a justice system followed by an age of discovery and invention that helped civilization flourish.

After recounting their exploits, Kadunung suddenly stopped and promised to resume telling the story some other time.

Scholars noted that while the epic is an unfinished story, it is a living legend where the readers can freely continue the saga with their own interpretations of modern-day heroism.

The epic got into mass exposure in 1895 when editor Wenceslao Retana compiled and annotated its fragments in the book Archivo del Bibliofilo Filipino.

While the original Spanish manuscripts were lost, what exists is the portion copied by Fray Jose Castaño and included in the Bibliofilo of Retana published in Spain.

Noted Bicolano essayist Jose Ma. Panganiban supplied the title Ibalong in reference to Tierra de Ibalon, the moniker the Spaniards gave to Bicolandia.

In 1992, the late mayor Imelda Roces inaugurated the festival to rescue the epic from oblivion and make it a source of pride for the city and Bicolandia.

In 2013, playwright Rody Vera of Tanghalang Pilipino adapted it as a dance musical at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal said that the festival puts to the fore Bicol’s rich heritage and resilient character amidst adversities as can be gleaned from the epic’s story. He said that in transforming a forgotten legend into a colorful festival, the city has put a visual touch into the epic to make it more understood by the people.

Aquinas U is now UST Legazpi

(Bicol Standard)

LEGAZPI CITY 9/13/17 (Bicol Standard) -- Aquinas University of Legazpi is now officially University of Santo Tomas (UST) - Legazpi.

This after Securities and Exchange Commission Director Marylou Duka-Castillo signed the Certificate of Filing of Amended Articles of Incorporation of UST-Legazpi on Sept. 12, 2017.

The certificate is copy annexed, adopted on March 20, 2017 by majority vote of the Board of Trustees and by the vote of more than two-thirds of the members of the corporation, and certified under oath by the Corporate Secretary and a majority of the said Board was approved by the Commission on this date pursuant to the provisions of Section 16 of the Corporation Code of the Philippines.

3 policemen awarded for bravery

By JING VILLAMENTE (The Manila Times)

“The act of bravery of these police officers displayed the extraordinary courage and professionalism in a circumstance of peril and exemplary performance beyond the call of duty is worthy of emulation among their fellow officers in the police service and uplifts the image of the Philippine National Police (PNP).”

This was how National Police Commission (Napolcom) Vice Chairman and Executive Officer Rogelio T. Casurao described the three uniformed personnel of the PNP who are this year’s recipients of the PNP Gallantry Award. “This clearly manifests their commitment to serve and protect the people,” Casurao said.

The three policemen received a plaque of commendation and a cash reward of P10,000 each for displaying courage and gallantry in the performance of their duties during Napolcom’s 51st founding anniversary on Friday. Senior Insp. Mark Gil S. Garcia, former chief of the Rizal Provincial Police Office (PPO) special operations unit (SPO), was honored posthumously for his bravery in leading SPO operatives in a series of buy-busts in different municipalities in Rizal on August 19, 2016 in line with the PNP anti-illegal drugs campaign.

Garcia led his team in the successful arrest and neutralization of eight drug suspects. He died in the armed encounter with the suspects.

SPO1 Roberto A. Villamor of the Oas, Albay Police Office, demonstrated extraordinary bravery and dedication to duty when he served as negotiator during a hostage-taking incident on September 5, 2016 that transpired in a public transport bus in Oas, thus, saving the lives of a two year old child and two female hostages.

PO2 Joselito A. Lantano of the PNP’s Police Security and Protection Group was also honored for stopping a robbery on board a moving public transport bus along EDSA, Quezon City on April 4, 2017 that resulted in the neutralization of three criminals and saving the lives of the passengers.

Bill to allow foreigners to own public utilities

By DJ Yap - Reporter (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The House of Representatives has quietly passed a bill that will purportedly allow foreigners to own public utilities, like power distribution or transmission and water pipeline companies, in violation of constitutional restrictions.

House Bill (HB) No. 5828, introduced by six lawmakers led by former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, was passed by a 135-8 vote.

On the surface, HB 5828 only seeks to amend the 80-year-old Commonwealth Act 146, or the Public Service Act.

But Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, a leader of a House independent bloc, said the bill would “virtually amend the Constitution by legislation without waiting for a constitutional amendment.”

HB 5828 redefines “public utility” as any “person that operates, manages and controls for public use” any electricity distribution or transmission and water pipeline or sewerage pipeline system.

But the bill does not propose a similar amendment to the Constitution, which restricts the grant of public utility franchises to Filipino citizens or companies, Lagman noted.

“Moreover, in its definition of a public utility, House Bill 5828 has deliberately deleted the concept of ownership and limited the definition to the operation, management and control of public utilities even as there can be no operation, management or control without an owner,” he said.

The bill also does not include public utilities, like common carriers and telecom firms, which are currently restricted to Filipino ownership, Lagman said.

New DOLE 5 OIC-Regional Director assumes post

(Bicol Standard)

LEGAZPI CITY (Bicol Standard) -- Rovelinda A. Dela Rosa vowed to improve labor relations and labor standards as she assumed her post as the new OIC-Regional Director of Department of Labor and Employment Bicol.

Dela Rosa in the simple turnover ceremony here the other day told the media that she will also prioritize ENDO, the Jobstart program, Trabaho, Negosyo at Kabuhayan Jobs Fairs and livelihood programs.

Through Administrative Order No. 345 signed by Labor Sec. Silvestre H. Bello III, the former Assistant Regional Director replaced Atty. Ma. Karina P. Trayvilla who was transferred to the Bureau of Workers with Special Concerns in Manila.

Trayvilla underscored the accomplishments of the office during her term. Among these is the accomplishment regarding ENDO which almost exceeded the target of 2,000 employees.

Dela Rosa, for her part, asked the public for support and assistance in her new task.

140,000 sacks of Vietnam rice arrives in Albay to augment NFA stock

By Mar S. Arguelles (Correspondent,Inquirer Southern Luzon)

LEGAZPI CITY – As many as 140,000 sacks of imported rice from Vietnam will arrive late afternoon Wednesday at the Tabaco Port in Tabaco City on board Vietnamese cargo vessel MV Panh Ba, the National Food Authority (NFA) in Bicol said.

Customs and NFA authorities said the vessel would dock and unload the rice cargo shipment after import documents were submitted and customs and quarantine inspection have been conducted, according to Beth Jacob, NFA Bicol spokesperson.

The rice shipment is the first of the three batches of the 500,000 sacks of rice bought from Vietnam. The other two shipments will arrive before the year ends.

The sacks of rice, once unloaded this afternoon, would be brought to NFA warehouses in six Bicol provinces to augment the low rice stock.

The province of Camarines Sur has the biggest allocation with 40,000 bags, followed by Albay with 31,000 bags, Sorsogon with 25,000, Camarines Norte with 20,000, and 12,000 each for Catanduanes and Masbate.

Jacob said NFA stocks inventory indicate that there are only 42,219 bags of rice available in NFA warehouses which is not enough to last more than a day.

Anti-Crime week underscores new policing system

(SAA/CBD/PIA5-Albay)

LEGAZPI CITY, Sept. 4 (PIA) -- The National Police Commission (Napolcom) is leading the on-going observance of the 23rd National Crime Prevention Week (NCPW) in Bicol region with the theme “Pamayanang Mapagmasid, Kapayapaan ang Maihahatid.”

Napolcom Regional Director Josephmar B. Gil said Napolcom geared this year’s observance to the adoption and immediate implementation of the Community and Service-Oriented Policing (CSOP) System.

The CSOP system will serve as foundation of crime prevention strategy, Gil said.

“This year’s celebration intends to focus on building collaborative partnership among the community, law enforcement agencies and local executives through the adoption and implementation of the Community and Service-Oriented Policing (CSOP) System, with the end in view of creating a more revitalized, secure and safe community,” Gil said.

Gil noted that the CSOP system is undertaken through the collaboration and cooperation of the local executives, the citizenry, and the integrated law enforcement agencies.

“The CSOP system aims to bolster a system of coordination and cooperation among the triumvirate composed of the police local executives and community through the complementation of funds, personnel and logistics for the effective delivery of basic services to the community,” he said.

For Bicol, Napolcom is mounting a series of information drives to amplify public awareness and further strengthen partnership among the community and individuals or groups that have an investment, share, or interest in law enforcement and crime fighting.

The 23rd NCPW and 117th year of Philippine Civil Service were jointly launched last Friday, Sept. 1, in simple rites at the Bicol University by the Napolcom and the Civil Service Commission.

On Monday, Sept. 4, the Department of the Interior and Local Governments will lead the whole-day NCPW Information Caravan at Ayala Malls, featuring one stop information shops, distribution of government’s information campaign materials and showdown of government musical bands.

The showdown among the PNP Combo of the Philippine National Police, Firelane Band of the Bureau of Fire Protection and Reformer’s band of the Bureau of Jail Management and Phenology, is set in the afternoon at the Ayala Malls.

Before the band showdown, a forum dubbed “Ugnayan para sa Ligtas at Payapang Pamayanan” will take place at the same venue starting at 1 p.m.

The forum will deal with crime prevention tips, updates on the intensified drug campaigns, drug awareness and prevention and fire prevention tips.

Student Crime Prevention Committee officers from secondary schools in Legazpi City will convene on Sept. 5 at the Ibalong Conference Hall, Legazpi City Hall compound.

On top of the topics are crime situation updates in the city, legislative updates and plans for the youth, project double barrel basic concepts, guidelines and procedures of mandatory drug test for students, drug abuse and prevention, basic constitutional rights of the youth and salient provisions of anti-bullying and anti-hazing law.

Rounds of “Ugnayan sa Barangay” fora will also be conducted between Sept. 1 and 7 in various barangays in the province of Albay to intensify information dissemination on crime prevention and drug clearing campaigns.

Member agencies of the NCPW technical working group plugged the upcoming events over the “Aramon Ta Daw” radio program of the Philippine Information Agency last Aug. 29.

Updates on NCPW celebration and on programs implemented by member-agencies will be aired on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Ibalong: Bicol’s epic legend lives on

By Marcus Patrick Encinareal

From the dustbins of history to the streets of Legazpi City.This is the unfolding saga of Ibalong, Bicol’s epic legend that has been given a new lease on life through a festival extravaganza.

Regarded as the region’s biggest nonreligious festival, Ibalong is based on indigenous folklore and is, perhaps, the only cultural event in the country which relives an epic.

Now in its 26th edition, it is a recreation of a mid-19th century fragments of 60-stanza epic poem penned by Franciscan friar Bernardino de Melendreras about the ancient civilization of the Bicol region.

He was inspired by the accounts of Kadunung, a wandering minstrel and bard for being a fountainhead of folklore.

Cast in the mold of classic mythologies, Ibalong tells about its three legendary heroes—Baltog, Handyong and Bantong—who, with their supernatural strengths, rid the land of beasts and helped it attain its golden era.

Arriving at various times in history, these warriors from a faraway land, vanquished the dreaded beasts, which sowed terror among the populace. Among these dreaded beasts were giant wild boar Tandayag and half-man, half beast Rabot.

Another prominent character is the villain-turned-heroine Oryol, a beautiful half woman-half serpent, who had a change of heart as she fell in love with Handiong, and joined his forces to defeat the monsters of the land.

The legendary heroes cultivated the land, established a government and a justice system, followed by an age of discovery and invention which helped civilization flourish.

After recounting their exploits, Kadunung suddenly stopped and promised to resume telling the story some other time. Scholars noted that, while the epic is an unfinished story, it is a living legend where the readers can freely continue the saga with their own interpretations of modern-day heroism.

The epic got into mass exposure in 1895 when editor Wenceslao Retana compiled and annotated its fragments in the book Archivo del Bibliofilo Filipino. While the original Spanish manuscripts were lost, what exists is the portion copied by Fray Jose Castaño and included in the Bibliofilo of Retana published in Spain.

The title “Ibalong” was supplied by noted Bicolano essayist Jose Ma. Panganiban in reference to “Tierra de Ibalon”, the moniker given to the Bicolandia by the Spaniards.

In 1992 the late Mayor Imelda Roces inaugurated the festival to rescue the epic from oblivion and make it a source of pride for the city and the Bicolandia.

In 2013 it was adapted as a dance musical by the Tanghalang Pilipino at the Cultural Center of the Philippines by playwright Rody Vera.

Legazpi City Mayor Noel Rosal said the festival puts to the fore Bicol’s rich heritage and resilient character amid adversities as can be gleaned from the epic’s story. He said that, in transforming a forgotten legend into a colorful festival, the city has put a visual touch into the epic to make it more understood by the people.

He noted that Ibalong showcases the city’s strides in economic development, governance and tourism despite being frequently hit by typhoons and eruption of Mayon Volcano.

DA-Bicol allots P91M for livelihood projects

By Connie Destura (PNA)

LEGAZPI CITY – The regional office of the Department of Agriculture (DA) here on Thursday said it has allocated more than P91 million in the pre-implementation of the Special Areas for Agricultural Development (SAAD). The fund is for livelihood projects of the three provinces in Bicol region included in the top 20 poorest provinces in the country, as pilot areas.

DA regional information officer Emily Bordado said the SAAD is a welcome opportunity for the region particularly the far-flung areas that did not receive any intervention from DA for the last two years.

Under the program, the allocated budget of P91 million for the Bicol region for 2018, will be used to finance livelihood projects on upland rice, corn, livestock poultry and vegetables.

The program is anchored on two major components -- Social Preparation and Food Production and Livelihood.

Bordado said the program is people-focused and it would address the needs of special clients – those agri-stakeholders not qualified for regular programs.

SAAD is one of the strategies of DA to alleviate poverty and achieve food security by looking into the weaknesses of the poorest areas and their potentials in food production and livelihood programs.

For 2018, the provinces of Masbate, Catanduanes and Sorsogon in the Bicol region were identified as pilot provinces.

In Masbate, the municipalities of Monreal, San Pascual, Balud, Mandaon, Uson and Cawayan were initially included; in Catandunes, the municipalities of Gigmoto, Bagamanoc, Baras, San Miguel, Bato and Panganiban; while in Sorsogon, the municipalities of Magallanes, Donsol, Matnog, Juban, Barcelona and Prieto Diaz were also tentatively identified as pilot areas.

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