General Santos City News November 2011

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Raid in General Santos yields 2,000 geckos

by Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer


GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Government agents on Tuesday seized 2,000 geckos from a trading company here and are now preparing charges against the company owners and others believed involved in collecting and trading the protected species. Senior Supt. Albert Fierro, director of the police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Central Mindanao, on Wednesday said the raid on Mindanao Development Venture and Trade in Barangay Lagao was carried out by agents of the CIDG, the National Bureau of Investigation and other police units after the company was found to be engaged in the buy and sell of geckos. The capture and trade of geckos had been outlawed. Fierro quoted Mario Librada Legazpi, owner of the trading company, as saying his company was collecting the geckos for use in organic farming. Fierro, however, said representatives from the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are not buying Legazpi’s story. Fierro said PAWB representatives believe that the geckos were being sold to collectors who crush the animals into powder in the belief that these have medicinal value. In other countries, such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, geckos are being passed off as cure for cancer and even the human immunodeficiency virus. A 300-gram gecko could fetch P45,000 in the black market. Openly trading in geckos, a protected species, is prohibited in the Philippines. “The payoff for the 2,000 geckos was supposed to take place on Wednesday but we were able to prevent it,” said Fierro. He said charges of violation of the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act were now being prepared against Legazpi and his companions. The seized reptiles, meanwhile, would be released back into the wild, he said.





DSWD to reform subsidy program for poor families

by Allen V. Estabillo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/29 November) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is eyeing some policy and systems changes in the national government’s conditional cash transfer program in a bid to enhance its planned expansion next year to more impoverished areas of the country, especially in Mindanao. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said they are currently studying various strategies to further improve the delivery and monitoring systems of the anti-poverty initiative, which is also known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps. “We’re currently undertaking a review of the policies and operational guidelines of the program so we can further enhance and improve its delivery. We want to know what were those that we’re doing right, what we’re doing wrong and set the specific areas or program components that needed to be strengthened,” she said in a consultation-dialogue with the media on 4Ps implementation. The media consultation was part of a series of engagements launched by the DSWD with 4Ps stakeholders in the country’s 17 regions. Soliman, who is also 4Ps national project director, said they have so far consulted the program’s beneficiaries, barangay health workers, day care workers, teachers, provincial governors, city and town mayors, civil society organizations, members of the House of Representatives and officials of the departments of Health, Education and the Interior and Local Government. 4Ps is a poverty reduction and social development strategy of the national government that provides conditional cash grants to “poorest of the poor” households to improve their health, nutrition and education particularly of children aged 0-14 years. The program provides beneficiaries cash grants of P500 a month for health and nutrition expenses and P300 a month per child for educational expenses. A household with three qualified children could get P1,400 monthly. The release of the benefits are subject to compliance with the 4Ps conditions such as availing of pre and postnatal care services among pregnant women; preventive check-ups, vaccines and deworming pills among children; sustenance of at least 85 percent school attendance among 3-14 year-old children and attendance to family development sessions of parents and guardians. Social Welfare Assistant Secretary Parisya Taradji, 4Ps deputy national project director, said among the changes they are considering for next year is the strengthening and improvement of the program’s monitoring mechanisms. She said they specifically intend to speed up the delisting of “verified” unqualified beneficiaries of the program, which presently stands at 162,401 households. “On the average, our beneficiaries receive P1,200 of the maximum P1,400 that they can get because of their failure to comply with some of the program’s conditions. We’re aiming to improve on this aspect next year,” Taradji said. Meantime, from this year’s target of 2.34 million households, the DSWD has set the expansion of 4Ps to 3.04 million households in 2012, which is the fifth phase of its implementation. The national government earlier increased the program’s budget from P21.19 billion this year to P39.5 billion next year to cope with its planned expansion. Soliman said they intend to complete the enrollment by next year of the identified “poorest of the poor” households in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and the neighboring regions based on the results of the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction or NHTS-PR survey earlier conducted by the agency. The DSWD is presently processing the enrollment of around 65,000 additional households in the ARMM that were covered by its expansion target of 1.3 million households for this year. Mindanao’s six regions comprise the bulk of the enrolled 4Ps beneficiaries as of last October 31 with 1,086,280 households or 48.65 percent followed by Luzon with 669,575 households or 29.99 percent and Visayas with 476,984 or 21.36 percent. (Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews)






MIND DA NEWS: Lessons still unlearned

by Mindanews


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/27 Nov) — For the last two weeks, reports in the media about what happened in Al-barka, Basilan on October 18 have been crowded out by the Arroyo super sensational events. The International Monitoring Team (IMT) and the government and MILF ceasefire mechanisms have yet to begin their investigation on Al-barka. But on November 9, philstar.com (The Philippine Star) reported, “CIDG files multiple murder charges vs 13 MILF commanders.” The 13 included “fugitive Dan Laksaw Ansawi”. Also charged were “300 other John Does” involved “in the killing … of 19 soldiers and wounding of 15 others.” On November 17, Luwaran, the MILF official online publication, headlined: “All males in Albarka village, Basilan charged with murder” – clarifying that in Cambug the village or barangay referred to. there are only 604 registered voters more than half of the number comprised of women. The males charged must have been aged 18 and above. According to the Luwaran report, the complaint was filed on November 4 by the Western Mindanao Command legal division before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office in Basilan which “issued a subpoena to 8 MILF members and 300 other John Does”. The 308 were led by Commander Laksaw Dan Ansawi. Obviously, these were the same people charged by CIDG of the Philippine National Police. What do these reports show? Government agencies cannot get their acts together and they don’t follow agreed procedures. And, worse, they have not learned lessons from similar missteps in the past. Why did the military and the police file separate murder charges against the same respondents — except in the number of MILF commanders involved? Why did they preempt the investigation to be conducted by the International Monitoring Team and the Joint Coordinating Committees on Cessation of Hostilities? Both the MILF and the military have filed against each other complaints of violations of the Ceasefire Agreement through their respective CCCHs. The outcome of the probe will determine what to charge and who to be charged. Was the October 18 military-MILF encounter in violation of the ceasefire agreement? If so, the determination will be strictly according to the provisions of the 1997 Ceasefire Agreement reaffirmed in 2001. Under No. 5 of the “Ground Rules” (Article III), “The GRP and the MILF will make appropriate actions on their respective forces who violate these Implementing Guidelines and Ground Rules.” Were non-MILF members involved? If there were, they are the only ones to be charged before the regular criminal courts according to Philippine criminal laws. If the October 18 incident was not in violation of the ceasefire agreement, what was it? The IMT-JCCCH probe will determine this. The military and the police should have kept in mind the July 10, 2007 similar encounter in Guinanta also in Al-Barka where eleven of the Marines killed were beheaded. In the ensuing investigation by the JCCCH and Bantay Ceasefire, the Abu Sayyaf – not the MILF rebels – were found responsible for the beheading of the Marines. However, by the time the probe team report came out, the MILF commanders including Asnawi and also hundreds of John Does had already been charged in court with warrants of arrest issued against them. Despite the probe team’s report, the charges against Asnawi and the other MILF commanders and men were not withdrawn. Later Asnawi was arrested while boarding a plane in Zambanga City en route to Mecca for pilgrimage. He and others jailed in Basilan escaped. For that, Asnawi is a “fugitive” and “rogue MILF”. Asnawi’s being such to the military and the police and the staunch defense of Asnawi’s innocence by the MILF have triggered and complicated the last October 18 Basilan incident. MILF will not surrender Asnawi despite AFP’s vehement demand. AFP and PNP should have not preempted the joint IMT-JCCCH probe of the October18 Basilan incident. Ignoring the lessons from the July 10, 2007 incident will only fuel more military-MILF rebel confrontations in Basilan in violation of the Ceasefire Agreement. (Patricio P. Diaz, General Santos City. patpdiazgsc@yahoo.com)





Socoteco II power rates up

by Edwin G. Espejo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/26 November) — Electricity costs went up by at least P0.31 per kilowatt hour for November following the disruption of power supply early in the month as shown in the latest billings released by the South Cotabato II Electric Cooperative (Socoteco II) this week. Socoteco II institutional services manager Geronimo Desesto said power costs went up following a P0.238 spike in the generation charge imposed by Therma Marine Inc. from where the utility firm sourced its supply shortfall when one of the two power plants of STEAG in Misamis Oriental was shut down for preventive maintenance. Transmission and systems losses costs also increased by P0.07 pushing the power rate increase to P0.31 per kwh (kilowatt hour). “Tamaas din ang transmission cost kasi tamaas ang generation charges. Sa Therma Marine natin kinuha yung kulang,” (Transmission and systems losses costs also increased because we sourced our shortfall from Therma Marine) Desesto explained. The cost of electricity is expected to drop in the December billing of Socoteco II. Socoteco II general manager Rodrigo Ocat however said power rates could go as high as P6.24 per kilowatt in February next year when the power sales agreement between the electric cooperative and Therma Marine takes effect. At the moment, Socoteco II is charging its consumers an average of P5.45 per kilowatt hour to include value added tax. Ocat said they have entered into a contracted with Therma Marine Inc. for an 18-megawatt supply to cover up for the announced reduction of supply from the National Power Corporation (Napocor or NPC). Therma Marine is owned by the Aboitiz Power group which purchased two of NPC’s power barges that have combined capacities of 220 megawatts. The NPC had earlier announced that it can only supply up to 70 percent of total requirements of Socoteco II starting next year, according to Ocat. Supply could go down further upon notice because of the delicate and declining available capacities from NPC’s generating plants. Socoteco II needs a base load capacity of at least 70 megawatts by early next year. The power distribution firm however has a peaking requirement of 107 megawatts. Demand for power supply is expected to increase once mall giant Shoe Mart (SM) opens in the second quarter of next year. Power supply and sales agreement between Socoteco II and NPC have been shortened to three years due to precarious and declining generating capacities of the state-owned power company. Socoteco II has also entered into a power supply agreement with the Alcantara-owned Sarangani Energy Corporation (SEC) which is building a 200-megawatt two-phased coal fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani. The power plant is expected to start generating electricity late 2014. Representatives from both Socoteco II and SEC said they expect power supply to stabilize and power rates to go down once the new power plant begins commercial operation. Investors and stockholders of SEC were in Maasim Friday to lead the groundbreaking ceremonies of the power plant project which is estimated to cost a total of US$450 million or P19.4 billion. (Edwin G. Espejo/MindaNews)

Groundbreaking set for Conal’s $450M coal-fired power plant

by ROGER M. BALANZA


General Santos City — Conal Holdings Corporation has announced groundbreaking rites for the 200MW coal-fired power plant in Maasim, Sarangani. The groundbreaking ceremony for the $450 million power plant is scheduled on November 25, said Joseph Nocos, vice president of the Alcantara Group’s Conal Holdings. This is a step to making the project a reality, said Nocos in a press briefing on the project that would be implemented by sister company Sarangani Energy Corp. Nocos told mediamen based in this city that the construction of the first 100MW phase of the project would be completed in 36 months, with the second 100MW following after 12 months of the completion of the first phase. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources issued Conal an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) in 2009. The project was opposed by the Catholic Church and environmental groups including Greenpeace, which is monitoring coal-fired power plant projects in Mindanao.





Pacquiao reveals talks ongoing with Floyd's camp

by abs-cbnnews.com


Manny Pacquiao disclosed he has already sent his adviser Michael Koncz to begin the negotiation for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight. Pacquiao made the announcement following his homecoming in General Santos City. ANC Top Story, November 24,





2 years after, 8-yr-old girl still cries for her mama

by Aquiles Z. Zonio

Inquirer Mindanao


GENERAL SANTOS CITY—Mention her mother’s name and 8-year-old Rhully Mae Montano Shulla quickly breaks into tears. “She can’t sleep alone. She must constantly be in the company of others. She can’t be left alone,” her grandmother, Nanay Maura, said. Rhully Mae is the youngest of two children of Marife “Neneng” Montano, publisher of Saksi News, who was among at least 32 journalists and media workers slaughtered in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao on Nov. 23, 2009. They were accompanying the wife and other relatives of then Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu in filing his candidacy for governor against the ruling Ampatuan family. Two years after the massacre, the children of the victims continue to suffer from trauma and financial woes. Nanay Maura, 65, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Rhully Mae had been showing disturbing behavior since losing her single mother. Aside from her fear of being all by herself, the child has become somewhat forgetful, her grandmother said. “She would arrive home without her bag. Often, it is left either in the tricycle or in school,” Nanay Maura said. Rhully Mae would always call her mother, the grandmother said. Barely three days before Neneng’s second death anniversary, the child kept asking “Where’s my mama? When will she come home?” Her performance in school has also been affected. According to Nanay Maura, the school principal had advised her to seek professional help. “The problem is we don’t have money. Meanwhile, I always encourage her to go out and play with her friends or peers,” the grandmother said. Rhully Mae and her elder brother, Jether, 18, are recipients of scholarship grants from the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP). She receives P1,000 so she can enroll and P500 in monthly allowance. Jether, a first year accountancy student at a private school in General Santos City, gets P1,500 per semester during enrollment and P3,000 monthly allowance. “We miss our bonding time. Going out to the mall, dining together and buying toys, clothes, etc.,” he said as he recounted the happy times he and his sister had with their mother. He described his mother as hardworking, someone who would do everything to provide what they need. “Jether was a spoiled brat during his boyhood. But he has changed a lot since he became a teenager, all because of Neneng’s patience and love for him,” Nanay Maura said. The grandmother said she had lost not only her daughter in the massacre, but also “my own livelihood.” She used to work and stay in the farm at Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province to augment Neneng’s income. “We helped one another to provide the needs of her children. Now, I am left alone to face the difficult tasks of rearing and providing their basic needs,” she said. Nanay Maura said she needed financial support for the schooling of two children and their survival. Where’s Jergin? Another massacre victim and single mother, Gina dela Cruz of Gensan Focus left behind five children—aged 18, 11, 10, 7 and 2 years—in the care of her mother, Nanay Nancy, 65. Three of the children are scholars of the NUJP and Bantay Bata 163. Often, Nanay Nancy said they would eat just once a day because of financial problems since her daughter’s death. But the children have learned to live with it and nobody is complaining, she said. The eldest child, Jergin, now 18 and also a single mother, was compelled to work “part-time as majorette instructress during the day and a promo girl of a liquor brand at a disco bar in the evening,” she said. But Nanay Nancy, who is busy with household chores and taking care of the other children, is worried if Jergin really works at Horton’s Disco Bar on North Osmeña Street. On their own John Elliver “Janjan” Cablitas, 18, said the death of his mother, Marites, publisher of Gensan Focus, was a big loss to the family. “She left behind a deep and aching void no one can ever fill,” he said. When Marites was still alive, everything—breakfast, uniforms, etc.—were ready when her children woke up in the morning, said Janjan, a second year student taking up BS Marine Transportation. He and his elder brother, Mark Elliver, 19, are scholars of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ). Their mother was the one doing all the housework, Janjan said. Now, they have to do it by themselves, he said, as their father, a policeman, is always on duty. “We miss the times when we were together. I will never forget when she was still alive it was a real party during our birthday. Now, during birthdays we prepare just ‘pancit,’ and, sometimes, none at all,” he said. Motivation The support given by the Inquirer motivates and inspires Ma. Alexandra “Polay” Morales, 12, to study hard. She is the eldest daughter of slain Gensan Focus sales agent, Rosell Morales. Polay dreams of becoming a lawyer someday “to help my family overcome poverty and to help victims of injustice find justice for themselves.” Right now, she said, she is developing her reading habit. “I heard that you have to read a lot when taking up a law course. So as early as now, I want to develop my reading habit,” she said in the vernacular. “She needs to develop self-confidence. She’s shy,” said her mother, Grace. After the massacre, Grace noticed that Polay would usually sulk in a corner and cry. “Before, I was worried. She was not saying anything. She would just cry and cry,” she said. Polay said she was close to her father. “He helped us do our assignments, brought us to and fetched us from school and, during his free time, we went out together to eat and buy toys,” she said. Since his death, the family’s finances have turned from bad to worse and the children are not getting the proper nutrition needed for their age. Appeal for help In Bacolod City, the sister of massacre victim, Bart Maravilla of Bombo Radyo, who was from Negros Occidental, is appealing for help for his children. Teresita Maravilla, who lives in the city’s Barangay (village) 6, said she had been taking care of four of her brother’s children—Colleen, 16, Jashen, 15, Josh, 11, and Jinx Cyrus, 7. She said she was buying and selling scrap iron for a living. Teresita said the youngest child, John Clarence, 5, had been living with her other brother in Cadiz City. Another journalist from the province, Henry Araneta, a correspondent of radio dzRH, was among the massacre victims. With a report from Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas





UN team seeks continuous humanitarian aid for Mindanao

by Bong S. Sarmiento


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/21 November) –The United Nations (UN) has sent a team to the Philippines for a five-day mission on how best to provide humanitarian assistance to people affected by armed conflict and natural disasters. Catherine Bragg, UN deputy emergency relief coordinator, and her team were in Cotabato City Sunday until Monday for field visits on the humanitarian efforts and meetings with government officials and other foreign aid agencies working in Southwestern Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. She flew in to the country on Saturday and was slated to meet with Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa noontime Wednesday following a meeting with the diplomatic community to ask for support to humanitarian action in Mindanao, according to her schedule of activities furnished to MindaNews. “At least 698,000 people continue to require humanitarian aid in central Mindanao. This includes those displaced, people who have returned home or resettled elsewhere, as well as other vulnerable groups in need of assistance,” she said in a statement. UN humanitarian agencies and partners have this year appealed for $33.3 million to fund relief operations in Mindanao. Key gaps remain in health, food security, nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, shelter, protection monitoring and rehabilitation of basic social infrastructure. In 2008, following the botched signing of the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD), war broke anew between government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front forces largely affecting communities in Maguindanao, Lanao and North Cotabato provinces. The MOA-AD, which would have given the MILF wider political and economic power, was eventually declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Bragg will also discuss with government officials how the international humanitarian community can best provide coordinated support to complement the country’s response to natural disasters. She was slated to meet with Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman and Undersecretary Benito Ramos, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council “The Philippines is among the world’s most disaster-prone countries. The people of the Philippines live with the constant threat of typhoons, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions,” said Bragg. “The international community is here to support the government in providing the quickest and most effective response in times of crisis,” she added. Accompanying Bragg were her Special Assistant Yannick Martin, and Philippines Desk Officer Alf Blikberg. (Bong Sarmiento/MindaNews)





Tuna capital, General Santos City

by Rem Zamora for abs-cbnNEWS.com


Workers at the fish port of General Santos City in Mindanao process the catch in the early morning. The city remains to be the tuna capital of the Philippines despite the dwindling catch due to stricter regulations on fishing in international waters.





GMA in Maguindanao Hole

by Mindanews


GENERAL SANTOS CITY, November 19 – Immediate Past President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo fell into the Maguindanao hole in late afternoon of November 18. Never did she have an iota of thought four years ago that she was digging a hole to swallow her ingloriously shortly after basking in power. Never did she think that hole would feature in a drama where she would end up either a heroine or a villain. Fortunately for the beleaguered Aquino III government, the Maguindanao hole turned up as its ace against the Supreme Court TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) issued to void the WLO (Watch List Order) of the Department of Justice preventing Arroyo from flying out of the country for medical reasons. The government fears that once the Arroyos are out of the country they would not return to face the criminal cases yet to be filed against them. The drama started in the evening of November 15. At past noon that day, the Supreme Court issued the TRO which the Arroyos obviously had known earlier to be in their favor. They already had plane reservations for Singapore and Hongkong. Within hours of the issuance of the TRO they were ready with the P2-million bond and another legal requirement. DOJ prevented the Arroyos from leaving at the risk of contempt of court and a constitutional crisis. DOJ and the Palace defied the TRO on procedural grounds – it had not been served to the Justice Department and it was issued before the hearing of oral arguments scheduled on November 22. Obviously to remedy this, the Supreme Court heard en banc DOJ’s motion to lift the TRO and other new petitions on November 18.

DOJ while hoping for the best, prepared for the worst. While the en banc hearing was going on at the Supreme Court, the government filed in court the “electoral sabotage case” against GMA, then Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan, and Maguindanao Election Supervisor Lintang Bedol, et al. The Supreme Court had said that it granted the TRO since there was no pending criminal case against the Arroyos.

As expected, the TRO was sustained with the same 8-5 vote that issued it – the eight all Arroyo appointees. However, RTC 112 of Pasay City, to which the election case had been raffled, issued the warrant of arrest immediately. The warrant was served to Arroyo at the St. Luke’s Hospital before the Arroyos could leave for their 5:30 flight to Singapore. GMA will be under hospital or house arrest.

RTC 112 must also have issued a DHO (Departure Hold Order) against GMA as prayed for by the prosecution. The Supreme Court TRO does not cover a lower court DHO. DOJ immediately petitioned the Court to lift its TRO since an arrest warrant had already been served to Arroyo. While Arroyo’s lawyers said they would ask the Supreme Court to restrain the filing of the electoral sabotage case that will be another story and it will take time to unravel.

The “electoral sabotage case” is the Maguindanao hole. That stemmed from the alleged order of Arroyo to rig the 2007 senatorial election in Maguindanao to give the Arroyo coalition Team Unity a 12-0 win – the eventual result despite the protests filed with the Commission on Elections. The case materialized after Andal’s provincial administrator and Bedol exposed how the rigging allegedly took place.

As a consequence of the exposé, Senator Miguel Zubiri, the 12th winning TU candidate, resigned to give way to Aquilino Pimentel III, who had challenged his (Zubiri’s) election at the Comelec and the Senate Electoral Tribunal. Pimentel filed the electoral sabotage complaint following the exposé and his installation in the Senate.

The electoral sabotage case is nonbailable. Because of her present health condition, Arroyo will not be detained in a regular detention cell; however, she will be under either hospital or house arrest. Will her lawyers be able to obtain relief for her from the Supreme Court?

But while she is in Maguindanao hole, more criminal cases – corruption, plunder, etc. – will be filed against her and her husband. One or two are in the “pipeline”. Even if her lawyers can get her out of the Maguindanao hole, more holes will be in her way.

GMA’s falling into the holes she has dug will have serious national political and legal consequences. She has triggered the confrontation of the Malacanang and the Supreme Court which actually started with her midnight appointment of Justice Renato Corona as Chief Justice. Some of the President’s allies have tagged the Court as an obstacle in the President’s tuwid na daan (straight road) program; the Arroyo loyalists are accusing the President of “vindictiveness” and of persecuting the Arroyos. Abangan ang marami pang susunod habang nasa Mindanao hole si GMA. (Patricio P. Diaz, General Santos City).






PACQUIAO WATCH: Red Flags

by Edwin G. Espejo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/18 Nov) – In journalism parlance, red flags are warning signs. Manny Pacquiao’s “uncomfortable victory” over Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez certainly points to ominous writings on the wall for the Filipino boxing icon. At this point, there is no telling if Pacquiao’s popularity has already reached a point where there is no other way but down. Performances that leave doubts to his ability to rampage over opponents will surely take their toll on his popularity as a rallying figure of the Filipino people, both as a world class athlete and a rising politician. The Filipino people, judging by the debate generated by his not-so-popular win over Marquez, were divided for the first time last Sunday. Maybe not equally divided but a line was clearly drawn inside the house. At this stage of his boxing career, Pacquiao is coming to the realization that, at one point or another, he will lose not only a step. He will soon find himself at the receiving end of punishments atop the ring either by his own doing or coming off another fresh, younger and stronger challenger if he stays longer than he should in the sports. For all the knockouts he had recorded over the course of his 59 professional fights, he also absorbed a lot of punishments. The many sparring sessions he had to log to keep himself in top condition as he gears up for a fight are as punishing, maybe even more, than the actual fight themselves. These are the wear and tear factors that many boxing fans often conveniently forget or gloss over. Manny is an epitome of a world class athlete when in the thick of training. But he also indulges in some splurges that will eventually take their toll on his physical well being. Boxing is a cruel contact sports that can turn even the sturdiest fighter into an ageing warrior overnight. Pacquiao is far from being one, for now. He may still be the same fearsome brawler-turn-finesse-fighter three or four fights down the road. But the bells are now tolling. He will have to decide soon when to put a stop to the beatings he had to absorb to secure a victory satisfying to his fans, a one standard he has set so high that a narrow decision win is actually viewed as a loss. The same may be said of his political stock. For as long as he keeps winning, Pacquiao will continue to tickle the imagination of the Filipino people. He is a rallying figure for majority of poverty-stricken Filipinos. For many, Pacquiao is the hope majority of the Filipinos never even had. But once he loses his luster as a prime fighter, many will nitpick on his frailties and vulnerabilities. The many untold stories about his personal life will no longer be glossed over by the accolades he is now getting atop the ring. Pacquiao needs to bounce back from the third episode of his rivalry with Marquez with a satisfying and convincing win in his next fight. Whoever it may be that Top Rank and Team Pacquiao choose. In fact, he needs to keep winning until he decides to finally retire from boxing. He needs to leave behind a legacy of winning before he finally goes for a national elective post by the time he is eligible, either in 2016 or in 2022. He needs to feed on the cult persona he has built over the years of his boxing conquest. But most of all, he also needs to clean the house of hangers-on, sycophants, freeloaders and opportunists. Because like it or not, these will be the same people who will eventually destroy the house that Pacquiao built. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Edwin G. Espejo writes for asiancorrespondent.com.)

Newspaper executive killed in General Santos City

by CMFR


CMFR/PHILIPPINES – The circulation manager of a newspaper in General Santos City was shot dead by a motorcycle-riding gunman outside his office last 11 November 2011. General Santos City is part of South Cotabato, a province approximately 1049 kilometers south of Manila.

An unidentified gunman shot Alfredo “Dodong” Velarde Jr. in front of the compound of the local newspaper Brigada News at around 3:45 a.m. (local time). In a repeat of a common pattern in the killing of journalists and political activists, the gunman fled on a motorcycle driven by another unidentified man. Velarde was rushed to the hospital but was dead on arrival.

According to media reports, Velarde and his companion–who escaped unharmed–were waiting for the guard to open the gates of the newspaper’s compound when the incident happened.

Inquirer.net reported that the closed-circuit television camera installed at the gates of the compound recorded the arrival of Velarde’s car but the place where he parked his vehicle was not visible to the camera. The security camera also recorded the arrival of the two motorcyle-riding suspects, but failed to record where they stopped and the attack itself.

A police officer who refused to be identified told Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) that the police have yet to identify the gunman despite the compound’s close circuit television camera because the gunman’s face was covered.

Ernie Gabonada, station manager of Brigada FM station, the radio station of Brigada News, told CMFR that Velarde had a dispute with local tabloid dealers. He also said that the victim had been sued by two teenagers for frustrated murder. But Gabonada said he did not know who was behind the killing.

Meanwhile, lawyer Froebel Kan Balleque, spokesperson and counsel of Brigada News, told CMFR that the killing of Velarde might have been work related because “May rivalry or competition na nangyayari sa loob (There’s rivalry or competition inside the company).”

Balleque also said that Benjardi Mantele, acting regional director of PNP Region 12, has formed a special investigation group to investigate the killing.

If his killing was work-related, Velarde will be the sixth journalist and media worker killed in the line of duty in 2011. One hundred twenty-three journalists and media workers have been killed in the Philippines since 1986.





PACQUIAO WATCH: Here we go again

by Edwin G. Espejo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/14 Nov) – I am one of opinion that Manny Pacquiao should not have taken a third fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. Sure, the first two fights were close enough to have gone either way. But Pacquiao deserved victories in both of those fights if only because he carried the fight to Marquez being the challenger, and punctuated them by four knockdowns. I believed then that the business was already finished between him and Marquez and if they were ever to fight again, it should have been a “friendly farewell” match for the Filipino boxing champion, a grudge fight before retirement for both of them maybe late next year or early in 2013. Economics and the color of money of course dictated Sunday’s third fight between Pacquiao and Marquez. I also thought given the progress made by Pacquiao over the last three years and the pathetic showing of Marquez against Floyd Mayweather Jr. installed the Mexican a heavy underdog with nary a Chinaman’s chance. Of course, I was dead wrong. So were many self-proclaimed boxing analysts and experts. About the only man who was right was Marquez himself. He proved he is the perfect counterfoil to Pacquiao. He defied all odds. Hell, he even convinced a lot that he won the third of their trilogy. Now comes Top Rank’s Bob Arum who said he will be working out a fourth fight between his prized ward and Marquez. I have high respects for Arum and what he has done for Pacquiao. But I guess this time around, a fourth fight can only be motivated by greed. Arum and the rest in Team Pacquiao, including Freddie Roach, should leave it at that. Let Marquez whine till he drops. Let the bloodhounds salivate till their tongues dry out. Never mind if the Pacquiao-Marquez saga will be debated no end. Never mind if in the deep recesses of many they believed Pacquiao and Marquez never decisively settled their own issues. That is the beauty of greatness. There will always be one to which you are measured against with. There is always one that will provide you the rivalry. A fourth one could end the same way as their first three fights and it will still not resolve the issue of who is the better boxer. Pacquiao cannot forever fight Marquez. Just as Marquez cannot hope to get the rematches he thinks he deserves. Both will have to move on, lest another folly takes it tolls on their health and physicality. Looked at what happened to both Muhammad Ali and the late Joe Frazier. They owned one of boxing’s great rivalries. Yet they were never the same men after their third fight. They would lose majority of their fights after they engaged each other in a near death 1975 encounter in the “Thrilla in Manila” episode of their trilogy. Ali would lose his reflexes in suffering from Parkinson’s disease long before he can enjoy his retirement. Before he died of liver cancer, Frazier too was afflicted with the disease that left Ali debilitated. One need not ponder that on the night Pacquiao and Marquez fought for the third time, a video tribute was shown at the video board of MGM Grand Garden Resort and a minute-long silence was observed. Marquez knows how hard-fought rivalries will take the sap out of even the best boxers in the history of the sports. His younger brother Rafael engaged Israel Vasquez in four brutal encounters they are now bound for retirement. The Mexican is even thinking of hanging his gloves for good. For his goodness, I hope he does. Marquez has nothing left to prove. He may have lost two of his fights with Pacquiao but these close defeats only cemented his legacy as one of Mexico’s purest boxers. And his place in the boxing Hall of Fame is now secured. All that he should thank Manny Pacquiao. After all, only Pacquiao gave him the real chance to prove his greatness. Fellow Mexicans and contemporaries Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera avoided him while the three were on their peak. They robbed him of his early entry to boxing stardom. Pacquiao gave him two chances. Nothing to be ashamed of even if he went down in two controversial fashions. (Edwin G. Espejo writes for www.asiancorrespondent.com.)

PACQUIAO WATCH: Slim to none

by Edwin G. Espejo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/12 Nov) — Juan Manuel Marquez is probably the only person who seriously believes he will win tomorrow against arch nemesis Manny Pacquiao, whom he will be fighting for the third time. Even his long time trainer and mentor Nacho Beristain is conceding Marquez is facing a different and a far more polished Pacquiao than the Mexican last fought in 2008. That alone speaks volume. The oddsmakers in Las Vegas aren’t giving Marquez much sympathy, either. With the odds pegged at as much 10-1 against Marquez, you would think tomorrow’s bets are actually one way tickets to Marquez’ ‘funeral.’ Pacquiao has turned the tables on Marquez, physically at least. He is now the bigger fighter, although he carries only a slim one pound advantage over Marquez during today’s official weigh in. Pacquiao, boxing experts and analysts say, is now at his best fighting weight ever, meeting the 144-pound catch weight limit with ease. He has been fighting north of 140 pounds comfortably over the last three years and chopping off bigger and stronger foes en route to being proclaimed the best pound for pound fighter in boxing today. In addition, he has improved tremendously as a boxer with an underrated defense. Summing up, the Filipino is several notches above his featherweight days, skills-wise. And he has not lost those heavy punches, mind you. Marquez, meanwhile, is stuck in two or three weight classes under Pacquiao’s fighting weight and has not faced the same quality opponents that the Filipino made easy work out with. Except for Floyd Mayweather Jr to whom Marquez lost miserably while fighting as a bloated lightweight. But Mayweather has not been tested against Pacquiao, by his (American) own choice. For all of Marquez’s vaunted technical skills and reputation as a powerful and calculating powerful counter puncher, he repeatedly makes mistakes and has been on the canvass in as many times one can remember. He went down against Marco Antonio Barrera (although the referee ruled it a slip), Michael Katsidis and Floyd Mayweather. He found himself in trouble against Juan Diaz (first fight) and Joel Casamayor. Of course, he hit the canvass four times against Pacquiao in their first two fights. Marquez, along with Erik Morales (first fight), were the only boxers that gave Pacquiao plenty of troubles. But that was 15 or so pounds ago. Although Marquez has incredibly muscled up for this fight, many are not convinced he still got what bit takes to beat Pacquiao. In fact, he may have given up some speed that is pivotal in avoiding another crushing knockdown against Pacquiao. A knockdown he may not be able to survive this time. Marquez may still have a chinaman’s chance. After all, this is boxing. But it is like saying his chances of winning is slim to none. (MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Edwin G. Espejo writes for asiancorrespondent.com)





Media worker in General Santos City shot dead

by Edwin G. Espejo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/11 November) — The circulation manager of Brigada News in General Santos City was shot dead by a motorcycle riding gunman just outside his office along NLSA Road in Lagao, General Santos City early this morning. Alfredo ‘Dodong’ Velarde Jr. was waiting for the guard to open the gates of the Brigada News compound at 3:45 in the morning Friday when the gunman shot him at close range. Velarde died on the spot. He was 45. His female companion, who was seated at the passenger side of the company vehicle, escaped unharmed. The woman said she was not able to see the face of the gunman. The assailant fled together with a companion who was waiting in a motorcycle. Company guards said they heard four gunshots. Reports however said the killing was caught on the company’s close circuit television camera. Police are now conducting investigation including the circumstances and motive behind the killing, and reviewing the CCTV recording to determine if the gunman can be identified. Velarde Jr. was the first media worker from General Santos killed since the massacre of 14 journalists and media workers from this city who perished in the 23 November 2009 Ampatuan massacre along with 18 other media colleagues. Twenty-five other persons also died in the carnage. Other media workers from this city who were killed included Jonathan Abayon of the defunct RGMA Super Radyo, Ely Binoya of Radyo Natin and Dennis Cuesta of RMN’s dxMD. Lawyers Odilon Mallari, Boy de Castro and Vic Mirabueno, who were also radio commentators, were among the victims of unsolved media killings in the city. General Santos has the most number of media killings with at least thirteen journalists and media workers, excluding those who were gunned down in the Ampatuan massacre, already in the list since the early ‘80s. (Edwin G. Espejo/MindaNews)





Media worker shot dead in General Santos

by Aquiles Z. Zonio


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (Updated) -- A circulation manager of a local newspaper here was shot dead early Friday by two unidentified armed men on board a motorcycle.

Alfredo Velarde Jr., 45, circulation manager of General Santos-based tabloid Brigada News, was talking to Irene Rose Geronimo, a guest relations officer (GRO), inside his Mitsubishi Strada vehicle when the gunmen attacked him.

The incident occurred around 3:50 a.m. in front of Brigada News's office in Mahogany Street, Rosario Village, said Philippine National Police spokesman Agrimero Cruz.

Geronimo, 24, a GRO at the Pier 8 Night Club, told Ernie Gabonada, station manager of Brigada FM station and Velarde's colleague at Brigada News, that the gunmen opened the door near the driver side of Velarde's vehicle and shot him several times before fleeing the scene.

The victim was brought to General Santos City Integrated Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.

Crime scene investigators recovered four spent shells and three slugs of caliber .45 pistol, which the suspects used as murder weapon.

The San Isidro police took custody of Geronimo while investigation is ongoing.

Rey Ombana, another colleague of Velarde at the Brigada News, turned over to San Isidro police the victim's .45 caliber pistol loaded with 15 bullets that was recovered from his own vehicle.

A security camera installed at the Brigada News complex captured the arrival of Velarde's vehicle near the gate of the company, but the angle where the victim parked his vehicle was not visible to the camera.

The camera also captured the arrival of the two suspects aboard a Honda XRM motorcycle but the portion where they stopped and the actual scene of the attack was also not captured.

Elmer Catulpos, publisher of Brigada News, told Sun.Star Davao that he has no idea on the motive of the killing.

But Catulpos said Velarde had been facing problems related to his job as circulation manager for the past months.

"I even attempted to settle his problem with one of our dealers but the party involved refused to budge," Catulpos said.

Catulpos also said Velarde punched a guy inside J-Mix Resto Bar about two weeks ago but the victim did not file a complaint.

Two teenagers in San Isidro village had filed frustrated murder case against Velarde when they figured in a fight a few months back.

The case is still pending at a local court here.

Merlyn Velarde, wife of the victim, admitted to reporters that they are facing familial problem but she wants justice for her husband.

The wife said the last time she saw and talked with her husband was on October 28.

"I left our conjugal home after that and I temporarily stayed in Davao to avoid making things worse," Mrs. Velarde said.

She asked reporters not to highlight the family problem they are facing for the sake of their three children.

She said her children have been suffering from trauma due to their marital problem and the untimely death of their father.

Velarde Jr. is the first media worker from General Santos killed since the massacre of 32 journalists and media workers in Central Mindanao who perished in the November 23, 2009 Ampatuan massacre along with 25 others.

Other media workers from this city who were killed by assassins include Jonathan Abayon of the defunct RGMA Super Radyo, Ely Binoya of Radyo Natin, and Dennis Cuesta of RMN's dxMD.

Lawyers Odilon Mallari, Boy de Castro and Vic Mirabueno, who were also radio commentators, were also among the victims of unsolved media killings in the city.

General Santos has the most number of media killings with at least 13 journalists and media workers, excluding those who were gunned down in the Ampatuan massacre, already in the list since the early '80s. (With Edwin G. Espejo/Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)





PACQUIAO WATCH: Narrowing the gap

by Edwin G. Espejo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/10 November) — Skills wise, the gap between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez has narrowed down seven years after they first clashed in a feverish 12-round brawl that ended up in a controversial draw. Back then, the smaller Pacquiao was the bigger puncher but Marquez was the better boxer. Their contrasting styles were then perfectly made for each other even in their second match that Pacquiao snatched via a close split decision victory. Pacquiao was the quintessential aggressive fighter, Marquez always the sly fox waiting in ambush. On Sunday, Pacquiao climbs the ring the bigger man yet no longer the wild and unpolished one-armed bandit relentlessly chasing his victims across the ring. He has morphed into a more complete boxer having rediscovered and harnessed his right hand. Marquez has also reinvented himself. From a passive powerful counter puncher, he has injected some aggressiveness in his style. He also is bulking up for his Sunday date with Pacquiao. When these two protagonists in one of boxing’s famous trilogies clash over the weekend and remain true to their newfound tweaked forms, it will be a slam bang affair. It can end quickly however. Marquez knows he can no longer keep up with the frenetic pace of Pacquiao who has not slowed down a bit since bursting into the American scene via a sixth round knockout of Lehlo Ledwaba. He knows if the fight goes the distance, it is likely Pacquiao will again emerge victorious. Marquez needs to be more aggressive and look to unsettle Pacquiao with powerful jabs. These mean Marquez will have to dictate the tempo of their fight – a very tall order against a dynamo like Pacquiao. The Mexican will have to look for an early knockout. Unfortunately, nobody has done it against Pacquiao in the last 12 years. Marquez can no longer rely on his tested strategy of luring Pacquiao into a trap. The Filipino now knows better. Pacquiao, on the other hand, needs only to be able to connect with authority any of his powerful punches – the fearsome left straight and the explosive right hook he has perfected over the last three years. Remember how he dropped Ricky Hatton and Miguel Angel Cotto with those right hooks? They will be prefect off Marquez’ lazy jabs. Pacquiao will continually feint his attacks to keep Marquez off balance and on the defensive. No other fighter has the ability to reduce and send his opponent into their defensive shells than the Filipino lefty. The secret lies in Pacquiao’s blinding speed and unorthodox punches. Punches that are thrown the unconventional way. His left straight can start as an uppercut. His right cross can come from the waist. He has developed short punches that have gone largely unnoticed. He may throw punches at awkward angles but these are the ones that catch the receivers by surprise. They are not only stinging and biting. They carry so much weight they take away the will to fight from his opponents. These are what make Pacquiao a fan-friendly boxer. They knew Pacquiao will explode but they are waiting when and how it happens. Because with Manny, each victory is always different from the last. (Edwin G. Espejo writes for www.asiancorrespondent.com)

PACQUIAO WATCH: All things considered, fear is the factor

by Edwin G. Espejo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/8 Nov) – For awhile, Manny Pacquiao used to wear “No Fear” apparel, being one of its then budding product endorser. Pacquiao now wears the universally recognizable slash brand Nike, a testament to his certified crossover star status not only in the sports of boxing but also in the American mainstream media as well. On Sunday, Pacquiao will try to put a closure and finish his trilogy with arch nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez of Mexico. Their rivalry has spanned well over seven years involving two close but controversial fights that could have gone either way. Pacquiao holds the edge over Marquez with a narrow split decision win four years after their first fight ended in a debatable draw in 2004. Both fighters see each other as thorn on their sides although Pacquiao can easily walk away and claim there is nothing left to prove in fighting Marquez for a third time. But trilogies are supposed to happen that way. One more fight that puts a decisive ending to a rivalry. When they first fought, Marquez was physically the bigger man. The second time around, Pacquiao had to keep in check his weight as he was then already a full lightweight trying to snatch Marquez’s super featherweight title. On Sunday, the roles will be reversed. Pacquiao is both literally and figuratively the bigger man. At the agreed weight of 144 pounds, Marquez has bulked up his muscle tones hoping that he can still be the feared counter puncher that he was who gave Pacquiao all the fits that the Filipino could handle. But more than bulking up to be able to match and negate Pacquiao’s speed and power, Marquez’ corner knew that Sunday’s fight could end in a snap. The inimitable Nacho Beristain has grudgingly admitted that Marquez will be facing a different Pacquiao this time around. He and Marquez no longer see Pacquiao as a one-dimensional attacker who lived and die with his powerful left hand. This time the watchful eyes of Beristain during Marquez’s training has never been so intense. Marquez has never before undergone a conditioning that approximates Pacquiao’s rigid regimen over the last four years since Alez Ariza arrived in Team Pacquiao’s camp. Both Beristain and Marquez know this is their last chance at inflicting the greatest humiliation on Pacquiao. But they also realize that, now more than ever, Pacquiao now has what it takes to finally knock the cold out of Marquez. In fact, Beristain fears this and Marquez too. This is the fight both will wish they had not taken. (Edwin G. Espejo writes for www.asiancorrespondent.com.)





Guess who’s coming to Blogfest Soccsksargen 2.0?

by bariles


The Soccsksargen EXperience Tour for Bloggers must have already made an impression in the Philippine blogosphere that by the time we have started planning for its 4th installment which is still due in September this year, I have already received enquiries from bloggers.

The SEX Tour was started out in September 2010 by GenSan News Online Mag & GandaEverSoMuch as an alternative activity for a group of Manila-based bloggers who flew to General Santos City at that time but were left with nothing to do since their original reason of coming here, the Tuna Festival was moved to a later schedule.

The Soccsksargen EXperience Tour for Bloggers must have already made an impression in the Philippine blogosphere that by the time we have started planning for its 4th installment which is still due in September this year, I have already received enquiries from bloggers.

The SEX Tour was started out in September 2010 by GenSan News Online Mag & GandaEverSoMuch as an alternative activity for a group of Manila-based bloggers who flew to General Santos City at that time but were left with nothing to do since their original reason of coming here, the Tuna Festival was moved to a later schedule.

Needless to say, that initial SEX Tour was such a smashing success that we followed it up with a SEX Tour 2.0in February 2011. A 3rd version, the SEX Tour Tresin September 2011 was also hatched.

All these three SEX Tours did wonders in promoting South Central Mindanao by highlighting its eco/industrial tourism potentials, OTOP products and services of world-class calibre plus its bounty of heavenly gastronomic delights!

(We will be sharing the blog posts from the participants of the SEX Tour Tres in a future feature so watch out for it.)

And now for SEX Tour 4.0, we are expanding the itinerary to include more pitstops and adventours on a larger scale!

This time. SEX Tour 4.0 will traverse 3 Cities (Gen.Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong) and 3 Provinces (Sarangani, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat) and will run from September 1 to 5, again right smack during the ATOP 2nd Best Festival in the Philppines awardee, the Tuna Festival!

So to keep everyone informed and even more excited, here’s the official teaser, the SEX Tour 4.0 poster, created by young Wizard designerJune Raye Prudente, a blogger from Polomolok, South Cotabato.

A registration fee of a measly P2,000 is the small amount required for each participant although we are limiting the number to 25 bloggers at the most. We have already pre-chosen 10 bloggers initially and will need to look only for 15 more.

Transportation fares to and from General Santos City plus expenses on hotel accommodations from September 1 to 5, 2012 will be shouldered by the participants themselves.

Check out GenSanHotels.com for very affordable lodging houses in the city. We can also assist you in scouting for the best places for you to stay while here.

Meals, snacks and water are all complimentary and will be provided by the SEX TOUR 4.0 partners and pitstops. Each SEX Tourist will be given a SEX Tour 4.0 Kit.

If you are interested in joining, just leave a message below detailing your reasons as to why you want to be part of the SEX TOUR 4.0. Along with those is the vow or promise to BLOG about each major pitstop of the tour afterwards. Be sure that your messages are convincing enough to make us laugh, cry, scream and eventually choose you as one of the official 25 SEX Tourists for 2012!





Pacquiao Watch: Tail of a lion or head of a rat, which one?

by Edwin G. Espejo


GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/3 Nov) – Rep. Manny Pacquiao is no longer a regular habitué of the Presidential Palace where before he can just drive past its gates with ease in his silver Porsche Cayenne or any of his latest top-of-the-line sports vehicles. Safe to say, too, he no longer probably receives regular hotline calls from the President or gets to attend dinner at Malacañang the way he used to during the previous administration. Heck, even the P250-million presidential commitment for his pet hospital in Sarangani project may never come. He says Congress is where he is meant to be when he joined politics, and probably the Presidential palace itself one day. Pacquiao looked like he wants to occupy the highest elective post in the land through the backdoor when he announced he will be trading places with Sarangani Gov. Miguel Rene Dominguez in 2013. Or is he now being pragmatic to realize a job at Congress will not do his presidential ambition any favor for as long as he will be treated as just one of the boys, even a “boylet” of powerful brokers of Congress? No sooner than Pacquiao announced he was eyeing the presidency, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile immediately doused his ambitions with a cold warning: the presidential race is more than just a snake pit. And there is Pacquiao nemesis Vice President Jejomar Binay, one of the craftiest politician-operators Philippine politics has ever produced, not to mention all other presidential timbers waiting in the wings that he will have to contend with in a presidential race. Pacquiao probably now realized that being one of the celebrity members of the House of Representative is not enough to sustain his presidential ambition in 2022, still 11 years ahead, without draining his not so bottomless pit war chest. Come to think of it, Pacman knows – as his T-shirt slogan says – he cannot forever box, which is his main source of income. Once he quits or retires from boxing, so will the generous fight purses, commercial endorsements and perks quickly dry up. So, he is running for governor in his adopted province of Sarangani in 2013. That is a big step backward if he thinks it will be his vehicle to the presidency. No Philippine governor has ever been elected president in the Philippines. No presidential contender has ever launched his presidential bid outside of the national capital and got away with it by winning. The Philippine Senate is widely regarded as the honing ground for present and future presidential contenders. For Rep. Pacquiao’s political strategists, however, running for a Senate seat in 2016 while serving as governor in an impoverished province in faraway Mindanao, is a nightmare although not necessarily a political suicide. Never mind if Pacquiao is a national treasure and is still able to bank on the goodwill of his unparalleled achievement in boxing by that time. The senate race would be a different ballgame – the presidential race a different league of its own. I always believe Rep. Pacquiao is cut for the executive job not in the halls of Congress where endless debates fill the hall. Whether the governorship will eventually lead him to the presidency is always a career consideration for Pacquiao to weigh upon. But I salute his decision to run for governor in Sarangani. After all, why be a tail of a lion when you can be the head of a rat? At least in your own little kingdom, you are king.





Dreams lead to discovery of missing woman’s body, children say

by Aquiles Z. Zonio


GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—For six months since April, the eight children of Nimfa Dajay had been searching and asking where she might be. Their father, Fermin — before he was arrested on a charge of raping one of their aunts—would give alibis, such as that she had gone home to Arakan, North Cotabato. The children’s desire to locate their mother heightened when she still failed to come home after their youngest sibling, Marlon, died in a road accident three weeks ago. But last Saturday morning, according to the account of two of the children and another relative, the search for the missing woman ended in an old and abandoned septic tank outside the house of a relative where they had lived before in GenSan’s Barangay Ligaya. Nimfa’s remains were recovered through the help of village officials and the police. Darlyn Dajay told the Inquirer in an interview on Tuesday that her mother appeared to her in a dream and told her she was buried near their old house. Bizarre at it may seem, the owner of the house, Alejandro Amoy, a relative, said he, too, dreamed of the missing Nimfa. He said she was very specific about where her body had been dumped. “Two weeks ago, Nimfa appeared in my dream and asked me to open the septic tank,” he said. Amoy said he brushed off the dream but on Saturday, he received a call from Darlyn, who told him about her own dream. It was then he decided to act. With some relatives he went to the septic tank, opened its cover and found a decomposed body. Amoy said he then called up village chair Romy Pagaduan, who, in turn, called up the police, and they retrieved the body. Nimfa was positively identified by her children through her clothes. “We were suspecting that something bad happened to our mother because she failed to return home despite the death of her youngest son,” Gerald said. He said they had no other suspect but their father, who had physically abused their mother. PO2 Angel Marquez, investigator of the Lagao police station, said investigation showed Nimfa had supported the filing of a rape case against Fermin by a younger sister. Fermin also allegedly raped one of Nimfa’s nieces. This, Marquez said, may have angered Fermin and led him to kill Nimfa. “He committed a crime, he should pay for it. He should have told us what he did to our mother so we can give her a decent burial,” Gerald said. Marquez said the police were now readying charges against Fermin for the death of Nimfa.





Machine Operator wins Gen. Santos City Elims of 35th National MILO® Marathon

by bariles


Unheralded Kidapawan native Gilbert Maluyo stamped class by beating a Kenyan runner in the men’s division while Rhodah Chepkirui stood firm all-throughout to rule the distaff side last Sunday in the penultimate leg of the 35th National MILO Marathon in General Santos City.

The 30-year-old machine operator Maluyo timed 1:14:54 to relegate David Kipoech Kipsang of Kenya to third place, while Chepkirui also of Kenya registered 1:27:40 to lead a total of 14 age group qualifiers into the Grand Finals on Dec. 11 at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

Early bet Kipsang further compounded his woes when Elmer Bartolo of Holy Trinity College gave his all in the final kilometers to settle for second with a clocking of 1:14:56—a mere two seconds after Maluyo. Kipsang finished third in 1:15:16 followed by a City Hall employee, Royle Mariano in 1:24:23 and Family Country Hotel’s Jelbirt Gomera who settled at fifth in 1:27:34.

“I was trailing behind the Kenyan runner (Kipsang) until 9 kms into the race when I overtook him. I led at the turning point and went head to head this time with Elmer Bartolo. It was a very tight race until the very end,” said Maluyo.

Maluyo almost could not believe his victory as he was initially intimidated by the presence of a Kenyan runner and had little training. Maluyo shares, “It was a challenge for me to balance work and training and I had to wake up at 4:30 am to do a long run before I headed to work. Add to that, I was nervous because I have been hearing about Kenyans ruling races in Mindanao and Visayas,” Maluyo added.

Jerome Dela Rosa completed the top 10 cast with 1:27:39 for sixth, Rodolfo Villanueva at seventh in 1:30:38, followed by Paul Andrew Paradela (1:30:42), Francisco Veroy (1:31:29) and Diosdado Munar Sr. (1:31:52).

It was a different story on the women’s side as 24-year-old Kenyan runner Chepkirui led from start to finish outpacing last year’s National MILO Marathon Batangas leg titlist Maricel Maquilan who fell to second in 1:32:06.

“I found the race easy, I was alone from start to finish. Thankfully there were no strong local competitors and I was able to reach my goal to earn a slot in the finals,” said Chepkirui, who has been in the country for a month.

Completing the top five were April Rose Diaz who settled at third in 1:34:42, followed by Maria Estela Diaz (1:49:40) and Joan Natividad (2:08:04).

But the biggest casualty in the 21-k race was former three-time National MILO Marathon champion Cresenciano Sabal, who was unable to finish the race because of a foot injury. He is said to participate in the final Davao leg on Sunday for a final swing to clutch a spot at the finals.

The General Santos leg likewise produced a total of 500 pairs of shoes for selected students of General Santos City High School, Dadiangas South Elementary School, HN Cahilsot Central Elementary School, Ireneo Santiago High School and Balunto Elementary School as part of the National MILO Marathon’s ‘Help Give Shoes’ Advocacy.

More than 400 runners from the previous 17-leg elimination races all over the country have already earned slots at the National finals, which offers P300,000 cash prize to the winners in both the elite men and women’s 42.195-km class.

After the 16th leg, the nationwide search for the best runner in the country, will head for its final stop on Sunday in Davao City. On the run-up to the Manila Finals, the National MILO Marathon also announces it is already open for registration for 3k, 5k, 10k and 21k race categories through Manila Race organizer RunRio. Interested participants can log on to www.milo.com.ph for online registration.

P.S.

Meanwhile, here is a photo of Bariles and three of his friends who finished the 5K race of the 35th MILO National Marathon last Sunday along with him. Kaya niyo yan?

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