3 medical students die in Cabiao fire

Three female medical students from Metro Manila were killed and a fourth one seriously injured in an early morning  fire last February 9 at a community clinic in Barangay Sta. Ines in Cabiao .

Cabiao Fire Officer Babyboy Esquivel identified the fatalities as Cecille Quintos, Jessa Perez and Jen Morillos.

The fourth medical student, Miguel Ramos, was with the three victims when the fire started at the second floor of the health center.  He was saved by firemen, sustaining third degree burns. He was brought to the Duque Medical Center and was in stable condition.

The physicians were assigned to the Cabiao health center by the St. Luke's College of Medicine's Department of Community and Family Medicine in Quezon City for a month's stay as part of their curriculum.

The two-story health center is a joint project of the Cabiao local government and St. Luke's Medical Center and has been in operation for the past six years.

The Cabiao police said that the four medical students were sleeping in the health center when the fire broke out. They rushed to the bathroom but were suffocated by smoke.  The male intern was rescued when firefighters forcibly opened the bathroom door.

Investigators are looking into the cause of the fire. ###
 
 

Gapan LTO head shot dead

The chief of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Gapan City was shot by two motorcycle riding men while she was on her way home from office aboard a tricycle.

Supt. Ricardo Villanueva, acting city police chief, said that the victim, Marilou Garcia, 50, was nearing her home in Barangay Pambuan when the suspects shot her in the head and back.

She was rushed to a local hospital but was declared dead on arrival.

Mario Sta. Maria, an LTO employee, said that Garcia had no known enemy. She had served the agency for 20 years and was on her third year as LTO chief of Gapan City.

However, Villanueva said that the killing could be job related as the victim had been receiving death threats. ###
 
 

Malacañang absolves Cabiao mayor

Malacañang has junked the administrative case filed against Cabiao Mayor Abundia Garcia by town officials for allegedly badmouthing them.

An order released by the Office of the President and signed by Executive Sec. Eduardo Ermita cut short the suspension imposed on Garcia by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan after it was determined that the case was politically motivated.

The Sanggunian imposed a three month suspension on Garcia after she reportedly cursed Cabiao Vice Mayor Marcelino Simbillo and six municipal councilors for allegedly being traitors and meddling with official documents.

Though the local officials did not actually hear what Garcia had said, they filed a case of grave misconduct against the mayor with the provincial board chaired by Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson, their political ally.

In his order, Ermita said that cursing is a natural way of ventilating one's anger and is not meant to ruin the reputation of anyone.

He also pointed out that the Sanggunian cannot suspend Garcia because a case for slander should have been filed with the court if indeed the reputation of the vice mayor and the councilors were besmirched. ###
 
 

Ecija among 7 provinces that may be placed under COMELEC control

The Philippine National Police (PNP) is studying the possibility of recommending to the Commission on Elections the placing of seven provinces -- including Nueva Ecija -- under its control during the May 10 elections.

The PNP identified the other provinces as Abra, Masbate, Maguindanao, Sulu, Basilan and Sultan Kudarat.

Deputy Director Gen. Jefferson Soriano, deputy chief for operations, said that the deployment of additional policemen will be implemented immediately once the COMELEC approves the PNP recommendation.

The move is meant to prevent the eruption of violence during the elections.

He said that a total of 554 towns around the country have been placed on the PNP's election watch list. ###
 
 

UPRIIS assures sufficient irrigation water supply

Officials of the National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIA-UPRIIS) led by its manager, Eng. Antonio S. Nangel, has assured farmers of sufficient supply of irrigation water from Pantabangan Dam.

This, as the  El Niño or long dry spell is projected to affect Nueva Ecija and a number of other provinces this year.

Nangel assured that Pantabangan Dam can sustain the water requirements of standing crops and can even accommodate a third cropping, including ratooning or the ability of rice plants to regenerate after harvest.

He reported that as of February 9, the dam's water level of 207 meters was still above the operation rule curve. He said that UPRIIS has programmed 102,550 hectares of rice lands for the dry season crop, with a total water requirement of 1,283.71 MCM until the harvest time in April.  By that time, he said that Pantabangan's water level will have reached 194 meters, still ideal and safe. At that elevation, some 25,000 hectares of rice lands can be programmed for third cropping or quick turnaround or ratooning or both, simultaneously.

The sufficiency in water supply at Pantabangan Dam is attributed to the judicious releases of water during the series of typhoons last year, which was praised by the Nueva Ecija local government and the neighboring provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga.  Even President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cited the coordination of Gov. Aurelio M. Umali and Nangel in the emergency water releases from the dam when she visited the province after typhoon Pepeng.  Even during the  hearing of the Senate Committee on Climate Change when dam operators in Luzon were summoned to shed light on the devastating floods in Pangasinan, Pantabangan Dam was singled out as having implemented proper protocol in water releases. ###
 
 

Foto highlights of the 60th charter anniversary of Cabanatuan City

Cabanatuan public market cleared of sidewalk vendors

Sidewalk vendors around the Cabanatuan City public market have been relocated to the second floor of the building.

Mayor Alvin Vergara said that the move followed an agreement forged by the city government and the sidewalk vendors for the latter to transfer to  second floor once the stalls for their use and the stairways at the sides of the market building were completed.

The transfer was originally set for last December but the vendors asked for a grace period until after New Year's Day which Vergara granted.

Vergara has been spearheading a campaign to bring cleanliness and order to the once chaotic public market by constructing additional stairways at the exterior of the building to make the second floor more accessible to both sellers and buyers, and implementing a more orderly parking system around the market area. ###
 
 

Ecijana weightlifter among honorees in sportswriters' awards night

Teen power lifter Patricia Llena of San Antonio, Nueva Ecija will be one of two young athletes to be honored by the Philippine Sportswriters Association during its annual awards night at the Manila Hotel on March 1.

Llena and young golfer Carlos Philippe Winsett Palanca will receive the Tony Siddayao Youth Award given to a deserving Filipino athlete who already shows potential even at a young age. It is named after the Manila Standard sports editor and acknowledged dean of Philippine sportswriting.

Llena, 15, won three gold medals and a bronze in the World Sub-Junior and Junior Powerlifting Championships in Sao, Paulo, Brazil. ###
 
 

CLSU prayer rally staged to support sexual harassment victims

Some 100 students and teachers of Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in the Science City of Muñoz staged a prayer rally in support of five students who had filed sexual harassment cases against a male faculty member.

Raffy Fajanela, president of the University Supreme Student Council, said that that the action was intended to demand the immediate resolution of the cases filed against the teacher.

A complainant said that the teacher texted them to agree to a sexual tryst or to engage in "sex on text".

Edgardo Ibañez, CLSU secretary, said that the complaints had been forwarded to the university's committee on decorum and investigation which was formed to tackle instances of sexual harassment in the institution. ###
 
 

Kidnapped San Jose girl recovered in Cuyapo

A four year old girl who had been snatched from her home in Barangay Tayabo, San Jose City was recovered in Cuyapo town over two weeks later.

The kidnap victim, Jamaica Ancheta, was turned to the Cuyapo police station by the couple Jessie and Julie Moises to whom she was entrusted by the woman who had snatched her last January 20.

The kidnapper who identified herself as Mary Jane Bautista of Sta. Maria, Qurino province first won the trust of Francisca Ancheta, the victim's grandmother, until she she ran off with the victim and her sister Hena, 7 years old.

Hena was later recovered from Myrna Espigoy of Barangay Lomboy, Talavera with whom the suspect left her.

Jamaica, on the other hand, was left with the Moises couple after the suspect borrowed money from them.  The couple decided to surrender the girl to the Cuyapo police after seeing on TV that her parents were searching for her. ###