02092018
ZamboNewsOnLine
No
dates set for completion of
renovation
works Grandstand
By Letty Militante
There is no specific date when the ongoing
renovation and rehabilitation of the Joaquin F. Enriquez Memorial Sports
Complex in Boulevard, Baliwasan this city will be completed. .
City Mayor Maria Isabelle C. Climaco
Salazar can not tell as to when the JFEMSC will be completed although
some officials predicted that the work will be completed by the first quarter
of this year..
“ I can not tell when it will be finished
,” Climaco Salazar said.
However, Climaco Salazar said that the work is
now t 60 % done
Acccording to Climaco Salazar, the weather
particularly rains have caused delays on the work although the completionof the
repair and renovaton work the JFEMSC was earlier set for the first
or the 3rd quarter or September of
the current year 2018.
Among those need to be completed are the
putting of artificial grass- first inMindanao, aside from the
rubberized playing courts and oval.
This also include the other facilities like
lighting on dormitories and comfort rooms.
The doors will be fabricated for durability
instead of being made from ordinary lumber.
As this developed, Climaco Salazar is
hoping to realize the completion of the JFEMSC at the proper time time.
(Letty M. Militante)
300
ends TESDA trainings
in
Livelihood skills, projects
By
Letty Militante
Some
300 scholars of the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority
(TESDA) completed their months long training in four schools in this city
yesterday.
Their
graduation held at a local school was witnessed by Congressman Dennnis C.
Laogan representing the Kabuhayan Party List.
Laogan
told newsmen that the 300 graduates of TESDA is part of the training covered by
an appropriated budget of P 10 million for the city of Zamboanga
The
TESDA graduates completed courses like driving,, baking –pastry making ,
cooking, preparations of cold dishes, massage-therapy and others
.
Laogan
said that the party list on kabuhayan will continue to give the
scholars these training programs as part of
a promise for the whole city of Zamboanga
Laogan
said that the scholars program for kabuhayan , kinabukasan at kalusulugan
(KKK) will continue by adding more scholars to for
training.
They
will also be provided with tool kits so they can start livelihood
projects after the training (Letty Militante)
xxxxx
Troops, crime group clash
in Kalawit, Zambo Norte
Government security forces clashed with a
syndicated crime group involved in extortion and kidnapping activities in
the province of Zamboanga del Norte
Chief Supt. Billy Beltran, Police Regional Office
(PRO) 9 director, said the clash happened at around 12:08 p.m. Tuesday in Sitio
Monob, Barangay Daniel Maing, Kalawit, Zamoanga del Norte.
Beltran said joint police and military forces
were on combat patrol when they encountered more or less 20 gunmen, who are
said to be members of a crime syndicate.
He said the firefight lasted for around 30
minutes after which the armed men fled towards the hinterlands.
He said there were no casualties on both the
government and the enemy side. The armed men are reportedly involved in
extortion and kidnapping activities in Kalawit and in nearby areas.
He said the troops recovered from the clash site
the following: one KG9 (9-mm Luger) assault rifle with ammunition; a rifle
grenade; a fragmentation grenade; 10 sets of hammock; four sets of fatigue
uniforms; six backpacks; a binocular; four flashlights; a cellular phone; and
empty shells for M-16 Armalite rifle and M-14 rifle.
He said troops are tracking down the whereabouts
of the syndicate crime group members. (PNA)
xxxxx
BBL draft now in
The House of Representatives’ version of the
proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is now submitted and being deliberated in
the joint congressional committees.
This after the sub-committee meetings were
conducted last week and it was presented as an urgent priority of the Committee
on Local Government and Peace, Reconciliation and Unity to come up with the
“draft bill,” which will be tackled for public consultation and finalization in
the House plenary in due time.
Rep. Celso Lobregat of this city’s first district
on Wednesday said the BBL Sub-Committee, in which he was one of the three
members, took the lead to harmonize its provisions as they had already
discussed it provision by provision and “agreed to disagree” the
constitutionality and partiality of it and taking into consideration the
unconstitutional provisions, which needed to be discussed thoroughly.
The sub-committee, chaired by Rep. Wilter Wee
Palma II (1st District, Zamboanga Sibugay) and represented by at least three
members each from the three committees, is now coming up with a working draft
bill based on House Bills 6475, 92, 6121 and 6263 authored by House Speaker
Pantaleon Alvarez, Deputy Speaker Bai Sandra Sinsuat Sema (1st District,
Maguindanao), Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (2nd District, Pampanga) and Rep.
Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo (1st District, Lanao del Norte), respectively.
The four bills seek to provide for the BBL and
abolish the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). They seek to repeal
Republic Act 9054, entitled “An Act to Strengthen and Expand the Organic Act
for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao” and RA 6374 entitled “An Act
Providing for an Organic Act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.”
“We were already done with our bloody work of
consolidating the four proposed BBL bills, those provisions not agreed upon
will be referred to the mother committee, after that we shall have public
consultations and there might be changes again before it reaches the plenary,”
said Lobregat, member for the majority of the House Committee on Local
Government, Peace, Reconciliation and Unity.
He said the Bangsamoro Transition Commission
(BTC) version of the BBL was dominant, but it didn’t mean that the house
committees would approve it, instead they would still had to scrutinize it and
determine its constitutionality based on the consolidated version of the BBL.
“We made it very clear, we make the consolidated
draft bill and this will be used for discussion in the committee level,”
Lobregat said.
He said there was no problem in passing the BBL
as long as the unconstitutional provisions would be removed and it would not
jeopardize the welfare of other Filipinos who did not wish to be under the
jurisdiction of the proposed Bangsamoro region.
“It is the commitment of the House leadership
that the BBL will be materialized, we were give a timeline, but again, we
wanted a constitutional BBL, we are part of the Philippines, it is not only the
Bangsamoro who has to be considered but the entire Filipino nation should also
be heard, and it is the reason why the senate and congress are now doing its
series of public consultations here in Mindanao region,” Lobregat said.
“Again, I would like to reiterate to the public,
that I am for peace, I am not anti-peace but we need a Bangsamoro Basic Law
that is just, fair, acceptable, feasible and within the realm of the
constitution and existing laws,” Lobregat added. (PNA)
xxxxx
ARMM local executives
warned vs 4Ps anomalies
JOLO, Sulu – Local government executives down to
the barangays in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) have been
sternly warned to stop all irregularities in the payout of cash incentives
under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps).
Lawyer Laisa Alamia, Armm executive secretary,
issued the warning during the Local Government Unit (LGU) Assembly on Social
Welfare Protection at Camp Gen. Teodulfo Bautista in Barangay Busbus, this town
on Feb. 6..
Alamia, who is also the Department of Social
Welfare Secretary in ARMM (DSWD-Armm), said her office has received reports
that there are barangay officials, teachers and local social welfare personnel
who are pocketing portion of the cash incentives of 4Ps beneficiaries.
Each family-beneficiary of the 4Ps receive
PhP1,400 monthly. The program is a human development measure of the national
government that provides conditional cash grants to the poorest of the poor, to
improve the health, nutrition, and the education of children aged 0-18.
Alamia said the beneficiaries of the program are
being threatened to be delisted once they will complain or report about the
irregularities with the office of the DSWD-Armm.
There are also people who were listed as
beneficiaries although they are not from poor families or the names are not
that of the persons in the photograph that appears on the list of
beneficiaries.
Alamia said they must stop such illegal practices
or face arrest.
“We are serious about this. I’ll give you the
chance, the opportunity (to stop). No arrest will happen, but one you are
caught during the payout, you will not just be removed from the service, you
will be arrested,” she said during the assembly.
She said they have tapped the military, police
and other law enforcement agencies to help them monitor the implementation of
the 4Ps.
She warned that military personnel will be
watching them and monitoring the implementation of programs and projects of the
government in the barangays sinceMindanao is under martial law.
The release of the cash incentives under the 4Ps
in Armm is “actual payout” with corresponding biometrics. Previously, the
incentives is released through the banks by way of Automated Teller Machines
(ATMs) like in other regions.
Alamia, however, said there are still
irregularities since they uncovered there are collusion among the
beneficiaries, who don’t belong to poor families.
Alamia is optimistic this irregularity will be
stopped with the help of the military, police and other law enforcement
agencies.
During the forum, the mayors and their respective
barangay officials were reminded of their obligations and responsibilities
based on Martial Law Instruction No. 1 issued on January 8, 2018, by Defense
Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who is the martial law administrator.
The assembly concluded with the signing of
commitment by the mayors and barangay officials to help stop the
irregularities.
The assembly was aimed at reiterating the
importance of the 4Ps program and that the “no fraud” policy is being
implemented in its fullest capacity.
It was also a venue for members of the LGU, the
military and the merchants to show their commitment and support to help monitor
and be watchful of fraudulent activities and that benefits from the national
government reaches its beneficiaries in full. (PNA)
xxxxx
More Zamboanguenos
urged to donate blood
The Zamboanga City Blood Council (ZCBC) has
embarked on information campaign to encourage the public, especially the
barangays, to regularly donate blood.
Maria Christine Lim, ZCBC program coordinator, on
Tuesday said this came about as only 33 out of the 98 barangays were regularly
conducting blood letting activity despite an ordinance that establish
City/Barangay Blood Councils.
City Ordinance No. 336 seeks to establish the
City/Barangay Blood Councils and prescribe the rules and regulations for its
effective implementation in Zamboanga city.
The ordinance was enacted on July 24, 2008 and
approved on August 8 of same year.
It was aimed to institutionalize the provision of
Republic Act No. 7719 otherwise known as the National Blood Services Act of
1994.
Lim said one of the hindrances in the mobile
blood donation was that there were residents afraid to donate blood.
Those qualified to donate blood are individuals
aged 18 to 65, weighing 50 kilograms with normal blood pressure, and hemoglobin
count not less than 125 gm/ml.
Lim said they had coordinated with the Liga ng
Mga Barangay to encourage all of the barangays to conduct their respective
mobile blood donations.
“We have to inculcate the value to be there for
others. We will not have problem on blood supply if all healthy individuals
will donate blood and all barangays will conduct mobile blood donations” she
said.
Aside from helping others, she added that
donating blood also stimulated the bone marrow to produce new blood cells
“making our blood forming organs function more effectively.”
Meanwhile, Lim is also encouraging the barangays
to come up with a registry system that will serve as blood directory.
She said the directory was useful in times of
emergency since it would serve as guide what types of blood were readily
available in the community. (PNA)
xxxxx
Elite Army battalion
in Sulu vs Abu Sayyaf
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
deployed a battalion of elite troops to defeat the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in
the province of Sulu
Deployed in Sulu is the Army’s 5th Scout Ranger
Battalion, which was deployed inMarawi City at the height of the
battle against the Daesh-inspired Maute Group just after the unit was activated
last year.
Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Western Mindanao
Command (Westmincom) chief, on Monday led the send-off ceremony of the
battalion held at Camp Basilio Navarro in this city.
The program was held after Monday’s flag raising
ceremony.
The battalion, headed by Lt. Col. Mario Jomalesa,
underwent a series of trainings at Camp Gen. Arturo Enrile in this city after
its stint in Marawi City
“I am sure that you will do well in defeating the
threats in Sulu as you did a great job in leading the fight to liberate Marawi City
“I am confident that you will be able to deliver
the soonest,” he added.
Five, including a junior officer, of the 5th
Scout Ranger battalion were awarded Gold Cross Medals for gallantry during the
series of firefight against the Maute Group last year in Marawi City
The awardees were First Leiutenant Jay-arr
Quiapo; Sergeant Gerry Gaspar Padayogdog; Sergeant Antonio Basa; Corporal Lisan
Aspacio; and, Corporal Rodrigo Novilla. (PNA)
xxxxx
Abu Sayyaf attacks won't
hamper dev't in
ARMM
Gov. Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has vowed to continue the implementation of
infrastructure projects amid attacks by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) against
workers undertaking the program.
Hataman issued the statement after the members of
the ASG killed two workers and injured two others in an ambush last week at
Barangay Baas, Lamitan City
The victims were employees of the Department of
Public Works and Highways in ARMM (DPWH-ARMM) which is undertaking road
construction projects in the province.
“We remain firm in our determination to continue
building the infrastructure our people need. Yes, we grieve, but these attacks
will not deter the ARMM regional government from continuing efforts to provide
the infrastructure and vital services our people need,” Hataman said in an
interview here.
He noted that the Abu Sayyaf bandits persisted in
attacking since 2012 the ARMM government’s ongoing construction of transcentral
roads in Basilan.
He said the bandits are against the projects
“because these roads provide the law enforcement and military personnel and
their vehicles easier access to the Abu Sayyaf lairs on the island.”
He said the transcentral roads they are building
are vital to connecting communities in the region and facilitating growth and
development that will offer the people better opportunities for prosperity and
peace.
“The DPWH-ARMM builds roads so that development
can reach the most isolated and poorest communities--even if our district
engineer has been attacked twice with hand grenades, even as the department has
been subjected to numerous threats, and attempts at extortion,” he added.
An improvised bomb exploded on Thursday, February
1, at the residence of Engineer Soler Undug while another explosive was safely
detonated after it was recovered at the residence of Engineer Bong Lasatan
in Isabela City
Undug is the Basilan provincial engineer of the
DPWH-ARMM while Lasatan is the assistant engineer of the provincial engineering
office.
“Even as we mourn the deaths of the two workers,
we condemn the attack on them and the assaults on the personnel of the ARMM who
have been working to ensure that government services are delivered well so a
lasting peace may become a reality here (in Basilan),” Hataman said. (PNA)
xxxxx
Hunger, abuses push
ASG members yield
Difficulties in life and maltreatment are some of
the reasons why members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) decided to surrender to
the military authorities in Basilan province.
Brig. Gen. Juvymax Uy, Army’s 104th Infantry
Brigade commander, on Monday said these were the revelations of the three
notorious ASG members who surrendered to his command in Basilan.
Uy identified them as the following: Garama
Sulayman, 21; Omar Jaljalis, 18; and, Marhaban Pael, 34, who surrendered on
Saturday his battalion commanders.
Uy said Sulayman alias Abu Tarik is number nine
in the list of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as among the notorious
ASG member in Basilan.
Sulayman is a follower of ASG sub-leader Radzmil
Jannatul.
Jaljalis alias Oman
Uy said they turned over two M-16 “Baby Armalite”
rifles and a carbine rifle with ammunition.
“They said they decided to surrender due to
hardship and hunger they experienced with the ASG. Besides, they also
experienced manhandling and worst some of them were killed,” he said.
He said the surrenderees “are now happy that they
finally have the chance to live a new life with with loved ones.”
They were brought to the headquarters of the
Joint Task Force Basilan for custodial debriefing, medical checkup, and proper
disposition.
“The surrenderees in the Basilan, Sulu and
Tawi-Tawi (BaSulTa) areas continue to snowball as the Western Mindanao Command
(Westmincom), through the different Joint Task Forces, sustains its security
operations, particularly isolating the reformables from the hard core ASG
members, through community-based dialogue, community support programs, and
diplomatic mentoring,” Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Westmincom chief said.
The surrender of the three have brought to a
total of 170 ASG members who surrendered to the government authorities.
Of the total, 75 have surrendered in Basilan; 60
in Sulu; 33 in Tawi-Tawi; and, two inZamboanga City
xxxxx
Zambo pushes conversion
of Voc-Techs into colleges
The City Council is pushing for the conversion of
the two Technical Vocational (Voc-Tech) schools into a city government-owned
college.
To be converted into a college are the Ayala
and Vitali Technical Vocation Schoolswhich will be named
Colegio De La Ciudad de Zamboanga.
Councilor Elbert Atilano Sr. on Monday told the
Philippine News Agency that the conversion of the two vocational schools is
aimed to bring tertiary education closer to residents in the far-flung areas.
The Ayala Vocational Technical School is located in Barangay Ayala which is 16
kilometers west of the city, while Vitali Vocational Technical School
Atilano said the curriculum of the Colegio De La
Ciudad de Zamboanga will be focused on industrial education.
“This is relevant to use especially Zamboanga City
He said the city government-run college, once in
place, should be equipped with complete and modern equipment in support to the
local government unit’s thrust on education.
“This school will be an option for those students
who cannot afford to go to private universities and colleges,” he said.
“We (the city) had been providing assistance to
the education sector but the focus is on basic education. We don’t have support
for the tertiary, which is the reason why there are several students who cannot
pursue college after graduating in high school,” he added.
Atilano, who is pushing for the creation of the
Colegio De La Ciudad de Zamboanga, has authored an ordinance seeking the
creation of the city government-owned college.
The ordinance has been referred to the City
Council’s Committee on Education after it hurdled the first reading last week.
(PNA)
xxxx
Let’s give BBL a
chance: --Dureza
JOLO, Sulu --
Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Jesus Dureza urged officials here to rally
behind the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), which is being pushed by
the Duterte administration.
“Let's give this (BBL) a chance to make it work,”
he told a gathering of local officials inside the municipal hall of Jolo on
Wednesday.
Dureza, who arrived here ahead of the Senate
hearing on the BBL on Thursday, emphasized the “new BBL now is an improvement
of the old BBL.”
He was referring to the previous BBL which failed
to pass congressional scrutiny due to issues in the Constitution.
The Presidential Adviser said his presence in
this island province is to ensure that the local leaders and public will be
clarified on the content of the BBL.
“Jolo is the model place. What Jolo will feel
will resonate to other municipalities in Sulu,” he said, adding “We would like
to hear from you if there are doubts on the BBL.”.
According to him, it is vital for the residents
in the Autonomous Region to support the creation of the new Bangsamoro
government. “Even if we sign an agreement and Congress pass the law, but if
there's no support from the people, nothing will happen,” he said.
“It should be acceptable to the people in order
to address the historical injustices and give the Moros their right to
self-determination,” he pointed out.
He said in order to achieve it, the current
efforts of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process is to simultaneously
implement both works in the peace process and development.
Undersecretary Nabil Tan, the deputy presidential
adviser on the peace process, concurred Dureza’s statement, saying that
President Rodrigo Duterte expanded the members of the Bangsamoro Transition
Commission (BTC) from 15 to 21 to ensure that the BBL is inclusive.
The BTC’s primary job is to draft the BBL as part
of the implementation process of the signed Comprehensive Agreement on the
Bangsamoro between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
in 2014.
“The BTC focused to correct the unconstitutional
issues of the past BBL,” Tan, who is a native of Sulu, said.
Earlier, framers of the current 1987 Constitution
have stated that the new version of the BBL has no constitutional infirmities
during congressional hearings.
Tan said the passage of the BBL is crucial for
the normalization track of the peace agreement so it can be fully implemented,
such as the decommissioning of the MILF’s combatants.
BTC commissioner Jose Lorena said people of Sulu
will greatly benefit in the BBL.
“We are hit by a calamity of conflict. A man-made
calamity. An artificial calamity that only men can solve. We should move
forward,” he said referring to the objective of the BBL in addressing the
underlying factors of the conflict besetting Sulu and the ARMM.
As such, Lorena said the BBL gives the local
government rights to control over their municipal waters.
At present, the municipal government has no direct
control over the 15-kilometer municipal water but only beneficial rights.
Lorena said the BBL does not only seek to grant
the local government a power to control over their waters but also has created
another 7.2-kilometer buffer to the national waters.
“The idea is that (industrial-scale) commercial
fishing vessels can't encroach to our waters,” he said.
In addition, the BBL will also create Zones of
Joint Cooperation in the Sulu Sea and the Moro Gulf .
“The idea here is for us (the people) to have a
participation in the management of the waters that will benefit the small
fisherfolks,” he said.
Abdel-Razi Amin, vice mayor of Jolo, expressed
his gratitude for “the opportunity to learn about the BBL.”
Both houses of Congress are simultaneously
conducting public hearings on the BBL.
Congress targets to pass the BBL by March. (OPAPP-PR)
Comelec 85% ready for
barangay, SK elections
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is 85
percent ready for the conduct of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elections
on May 14, exactly 96 days to go.
This was how the electoral body described it, as
it highlights its countdown to Election Day.
Comelec Director and Spokesperson James Arthur
Jimenez admitted to reporters on Tuesday that Comelec still had concerns
in Mindanao , where preparations could not
be at full speed ahead.
It could be recalled that Mindanao was placed
under Martial Law on May 23 last year as the Islamic State-inspired Maute Group
took siege of Marawi City
In the joint media conference with the Comelec,
Martin Diño, Undersecretary for Barangay Affairs of the Department of the
Interior and Local Government (DILG), said continuous preparations for the May
elections were underway. So are related activities, such as the DILG's nationwide
campaign for the so-called "Matino,
Mahusay, at Maaasahan (Upright, Efficient, and Reliable)"
Barangay and SK Officials to encourage the public to vote for good leaders.
Diño said the DILG had so far not received any
word from either Malacañang or the Congress for the possible postponement of
the forthcoming elections.
DILG Assistant Secretary for Communication and Public Affairs Jonathan E. Malaya urged the media to be a partner in moving the Filipino voting public to go to the polling precincts and exercise their right to vote.
DILG Assistant Secretary for Communication and Public Affairs Jonathan E. Malaya urged the media to be a partner in moving the Filipino voting public to go to the polling precincts and exercise their right to vote.
"We call on you, our friends in the media,
to help us in rallying for reform bottom-up, from barangay and SK officials.
Together let us move the Filipino people to exercise their right to vote this
coming May 14," Malaya said.
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