Ex-board member files criminal, administrative raps vs. Umali

Former Board Member Jose Bernardo "JB" Yango filed criminal and administrative charges last April 5 at the Office of the Ombudsman against Gov. Aurelio M. Umali.

Yango, a former Philippine Basketball Association player and three term Sangguniang Panlalawigan member, accused Umali of alleged harassment that was committed last March.

He charged Umali with grave threats, violation of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials, misconduct in office and other crimes or administrative offenses that the Office of the Ombudsman may deem appropriate for violation of the provisions of the Constitution and other laws.

Yango, who is again running for board member in the First Congressional District under the Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija of the Josons, said that Umali allegedly called him up at about 11:30 PM last March 30 and confronted him over his attacks on the governor.

“I have personally talked to him numerous times. He was using cellular phone number 0918-9059698 which is the number of the cellular phone he normally uses,” Yango said.

“The threats that Umali made was obviously an attempt to discourage me from further discussing the issue of onion importation in the province," he added.

Vice Gov. Edward Thomas Joson, who is running against Umali for the governorship, said that local onion farmers have been incurring great losses because of onion importation.

Yango said that he was forced to transfer residence form one place to another to avoid further harassment from Umali and for fear for his life and those of his family members.

He said he had reported the phone call to barangay officials in Cuyapo where he is based.

Yango said he experienced harassment tactics from Umali after he declined the governor's offer for him to run under his ticket if he would testify against former members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the former governor.

He said that he decided to come out and file charges against Umali to protect his family.

Meanwhile, Umali denied Yango's allegations that he had threatened to have the former board member killed over allegations that he governor was behind the flood of imported onions.

Umali said that he was too busy campaigning and had no time to focus on having someone killed. ###
 
 

Umali asks for COMELEC control over Ecija

Gov. Aurelio Umali and local officials from four other provinces have written to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) requesting that their areas be placed under the control of the commission during the election period.

Placing an area under COMELEC control means that the COMELEC commissioner that will be assigned to that area will become the acting governor and have jurisdiction over all the law enforcement agencies there.

Election Commissioner Lucenito Tagle said that the local officials cited incidents of election related violence in their areas.

Tagle clarified that the requests for COMELEC control from Umali, Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen, Ilocos Sur Rep. Salacnib Baterina, Iloilo City Rep. Raul Gonzalez, Jr., and San Manuel mayoral candidate, former Vice Admiral Virgilio Marcelo, were in the forms of letters.

He said that the COMELEC needs formal petitions to be able to act on the requests. Upon receipt of a petition, he said that the COMELEC will conduct a hearing and afterwards render a decision based on the request and the recommendation of the Philippine National Police.

Tagle said that the local officials requesting COMELEC control  gave common reasons: the escalation of violence and general threats to leaders that could disrupt the elections. ###
 
 

Yellow team campaigns again in Ecija

Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III and his running mate, Sen. Manuel 'Mar" Roxas III, campaigned in southern Nueva Ecija last April 8.

Aquino first landed by helicopter in Peñaranda town, then went to the Gapan City public market to speak at a proclamation rally of local candidates. Later, he joined Roxas and senatorial candidates Risa Hontiveros and Teofisto Guingona III in a joint press conference at the Gapan City Hall.

In the evening, Aquino attended the commencement exercises at the College of the Immaculate Concepcion in Cabanatuan City as guest of honor and speaker. A couple of kilometers away, Roxas' wife, Korina, spoke at the graduation rites of Wesleyan University-Philippines. [Photos courtesy of Reuters] ###
 
 

Bongabon stages 'Sibuyas Festival'

Bongabon school children and farmers in colorful costumes took to the streets for the traditional staging of the Sibuyas Festival last April 8.

The town is acknowledged as the country's onion basket, with over 3,000 hectares of farms planted to onion.

Mayor Amelia Gamilla said that they decided to push through with the festival in spite of the losses incurred by onion farmers due to the very low prices of their products.

“We decided to go on with Sibuyas Festival because we wanted to be happy despite the crisis. Definitely it will pass. In due time our farmers will recover from this test,” the mayor said. She started the festival when she was first elected as mayor in 2004. She is running for a third term.

Aside from street dancing and barangay night, Gamilla said that they also conducted a technology transfer program for local farmers 16 weeks before the festival. The farmers were taught pest management, crop protection and familiarized with onion varieties. [Videocap courtesy of UNTV] ###
 
 

All set for Divina Pastora coronation anniversary

Thousands of Marian devotees will flock to Gapan City on April 26 as the Three Kings Parish celebrates the 26th canonical coronation anniversary of the miraculous image of La Virgen Divina Pastora and the 24th anniversary of the declaration of the Gapan church as her National Shrine.

Bishop Sofronio A. Bancud of the Diocese of Cabanatuan will lead a concelebrated Mass at 2:00 PM, highlighted by a re-enactment of the coronation rites.

Top government officials led by Gov. Aurelio M. Umali, former 4th District. Rep. Julita L. Villareal, City Mayor Ernesto L. Natividad and Vice Mayor Christian U. Tinio will participate in the offertory.

After the Mass, a grand procession of the images of the Divina Pastora, the Three Kings and patron saints of all of the city's barangays and sitios will be held, accompanied by contingents of street dancers from different parishes and Catholic schools in the diocese.

The devotion to the Divina Pastora was started by the Valmonte family sometime in the 1700s when they received the miniature wooden image as a gift from an Augustinian friar. The image was passed on to generations of caretakers, among them General Pantaleon Valmonte, hero of the 1896 “First Cry of Nueva Ecija”. The devotion eventually spread because of miracles attributed to Her, that the parish eventually adopted Her as its second patron saint, together with the Three Kings. The May 1 feast day of the Divina Pastora draws thousands of devotees who come from various places in Nueva Ecija and adjoining provinces, giving Gapan its reputation as a “Pilgrimage City”.

On April 26, 1964, through the joint efforts of the late Archbishop Emilio A. Cinense of the Archdiocese of San Fernando which then had jurisdiction over the Gapan parish; Archbishop Mariano G. Gaviola, the first bishop of the newly created Diocese of Cabanatuan; Msgr. Paterno E. Bernabe, former parish priest; and the people of Gapan, the image of the Divina Pastora was canonically crowned by virtue of a decree issued by Pope Paul VI. She was also declared Patroness of the Diocese of Cabanatuan and the province of Nueva Ecija.

On February 19, 1986, the Valmonte family donated the original image of the Divina Pastora to the Gapan church where it is now permanently enshrined at a side altar. On April 26 of the same year, the church was declared as National Shrine of La Virgen Divina Pastora in ceremonies presided over by Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, then president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. ###
 
 

EDSA's 139th birthday marked

The 139th birthday of EDSA -- Epifanio delos Santos, two-time former governor of Nueva Ecija -- was marked last April 7.

Called Don Panyong, he was a scholar, translator, linguist, philosopher, philologist, artist, poet, bibliographer, journalist, publisher and editor.

He was born to Escolastico delos Santos of Nueva Ecija and Antonina Cristobal in Malabon, Rizal and finished his studies at the Ateneo Municipal de Manila and law at the University of Santo Tomas.

When the revolution broke out, he was a staff member of La Independencia, the official newspaper of the Philippine Republic founded by General Antonio Luna. After the revolution, he co-founded several newspapers and wrote and published many works on Philippine history and culture.

He lived in his father's home province, Nueva Ecija, where he rose from being a district attorney to governor. It was there that he did much of the research and historical writing that led to his appointment as director of the National Library in 1925, a position that he held until his death on April 18, 1928.

By virtue of Republic Act No. 2140, Highway 54, the longest street in Metro Manila was renamed in 1959 as Epifanio delos Santos Avenue -- EDSA for short -- in his honor. ###
 
 

Notorious gang leader killed in Good Friday shoot-out

A leader of the Gatchalian robbery group died in an encounter with operatives from the Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office who were manning a checkpoint last Good Friday.

Police identified the fatality as Danilo Gatchalian Marmolejo, 36, of Poblacion West, Rizal, Nueva Ecija.

He was killed in a shoot-out with elements of the Provincial Public Safety Management Company led by Insp. Alexander Reyes at a police/COMELEC checkpoint in Barangay Bicos, Rizal.

Provincial Director Ricardo Marquez reported to Central Luzon Police Director Arturo Cacdac, Jr. that Gatchalian was riding a black Honda motorcycle without plate number on his way to Cabanatuan City from the Rizal town proper when flagged down at the checkpoint. He did not stop and instead fired shots using his caliber .45 pistol, prompting the policemen to fire back.

Marquez said that Gatchalian had a number of standing warrants of arrest and various criminal cases in court including violation of Republic Act 8292, robbery, hold up and carnapping. 

He said that the suspect was the leader of the Gatchalian robbery group and is among the most wanted persons in Nueva Ecija in 2009.  His group was involved in a series of robbery and  hold up cases with the suspects usually riding a motorcycle in tandem. It was reportedly involved in gun-for-hire activities and carnapping in Nueva Ecija and the adjacent province of Pangasinan. ###
 
 

2 die in Black Saturday motorbike accident

Two men died when the motorcycle that they were riding in tandem fell into a concrete ditch in an accident-prone stretch of the Nueva Ecija- Aurora Road in Barangay Singalat, Palayan City last Black Saturday.

Supt. Moises Pagaduan identified the victims as Dennis Dayao Cardenas, 23, and Jon Eric Catalig, 25, both of Barangay Pinagbayanan, Laur.

Investigation showed that at about 9:30 PM, the motorcycle being driven by Cardenas fell on its side while negotiating a sharp curve and slid into a roadside ditch.

The impact killed Cardenas on the spot while Catalig was rushed to the Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center in Cabanatuan where he later died. ###