N. Ecija, 22 other provinces 'liberated' from red rebels

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) declared Nueva Ecija and 22 other provinces as having been liberated from leftist rebels.

Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos, AFP spokesperson, said that internal security operations in the "liberated" provinces have been turned over to local government units and the police, with the military supporting law enforcement operations.

Aside from Nueva Ecija, the other "liberated" provinces are Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino,  Aurora, Biliran, Cebu, Bohol, Camiguin, Misamis Oriental, South Cotabato, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Cavite, Marinduque, Romblon, Guimaras, Siquijor, Northern Samar and Southern Leyte.

Burgos said that leftist rebels still operate in 25 other provinces but could not say how many of these would be cleared of rebels by next year. ###
 
 

Typhoon-affected farmers exempted from irrigation payments

About 12,000 farmers affected by recent typhoons in Nueva Ecija and nearby areas served by Pantabangan Dam will be exempted from paying irrigation service fees.

Eng. Josephine Salazar, operations manager of National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIA-UPRIIS), said the farmers to be benefited tilled 15,000 hectares of the total of 104,000 hectares serviced by Pantabangan Dam.

The move for irrigation fee exemptions was made by NIA Administrator Antonio Nangel following the requests of Gov. Aurelio Umali, Vice Gov. Jose Gay Padiernos and the provincial chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines led by Peñaranda Mayor Ferdinand Abesamis.

Salazar, however, clarified that the irrigation fee exemption applies only to farmers whose average yields did not exceed 40 cavans.

“We cannot possibly grant the request of other farmers whose average yields are above 40 cavans as this will affect the operations of UPRIIS,” she said.

Salazar said that with the exemptions, UPRIIS would lose about P3 million which could 
be used for the maintenance of irrigation canals and the purchase of fuel requirements. ###
 
 

Kaya Natin! hails 2 Ecija mayors as new champs

Two Nueva Ecija mayors are featured in Kaya Natin! Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership's second  book entitled “Kaya Natin! Champions: Empowering and Effective Leadership with Integrity’’.

The book is a compilation of 10 stories of local and national government officials who have embodied the values of effective and empowering leadership with integrity.

Among those featured as new champions are Cabiao Mayor Gloria “Baby” Crespo-Congco; San Jose City Mayor Marivic V. Belena; Secretary Neric Acosta, Presidential Adviser for Environmental Protection; Rep. Arlene “Kaka” J. Bag-ao of Akbayan Partylist; former Mayor Bae Janaree “Janjan” P. Disomimba of Tamparan, Lanao del Sur; former Mayor Florante “Tante” S. Gerdan of Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya; Provincial Administrator and former Mayor Fermin “Perry” M. Mabulo of San Fernando, Camarines Sur; former Mayor Mary Jane C. Ortega of San Fernando City, La Union; Mayor Cecilia Claire “Jeng” N. Reyes of Alicia, Isabela; and former Councilor Francis Melville V. Tinio of Binalonan, Pangasinan.

Kaya Natin! lead convener Harvey Keh expressed hope that the book will give everyone a renewed sense of hope and belief as it shows how the champions have gone beyond the call of duty to help improve the lives of so many Filipinos.

This second book of the movement was initially convened by the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG), together with Among Ed Panlilio, and Ramon Magsaysay for Government Service Awardees DILG Sec. Jesse Robredo and former Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca. ###
 
 

Globe interconnects with PLDT in Ecija

Novo Ecijano subscribers of Globe and Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) can now call each other without paying long distance charges.

Globe Telecom, Inc. said it has completed the network link-up with PLDT in Nueva Ecija, La Union and Benguet in compliance with the National Telecommunications Commission's directive to lower telecom charges.

Covered by interconnected services In Nueva Ecija are residential and business phones in Cabanatuan City, Palayan City, San Jose City, the Science City of Muñoz, Gapan City, Guimba, Cabiao, San Isidro, Jaen, San Antonio, Rizal, San Leonardo, Santo Domingo, Talavera, and Santa Rosa.

Without interconnection, a Globe land line subscriber would have to pay long distance rates to call a PLDT land line subscriber within the same area, and vice versa. ###
 
 

League of Cities head supports Pantabangan cityhood

The president of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) expressed support for the conversion into a city of  the town of Pantabangan as long as it meets the requirements.

San Fernando City, Pampanga Mayor Oscar Rodriguez however qualified that while he favors cityhood for Pantabangan, the LCP is not endorsing the move.

Under the Local Government Code, a town may be converted into a component city if it meets at least two of three requirements – average annual income of P100 million in the last two consecutive years, population of 150,000 and contiguous territory of at least 100 square kilometers.

The cityhood proposal for Pantabangan is being supported by the town's mayor, Romeo Borja, Sr., and Second District Rep. Joseph Gilbert Violago, who both said that this would bring further development to the town. ###
 
 

Aliaga has no operating fire truck

Aliaga's only fire truck has been sidelined since September due to engine problems.

Sr. Fire Officer 3 Narciso Edubane said he requested funds from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) office and the office of Mayor Marcial Vargas for the purchase of a new engine for the fire truck or at least a replacement of its transmission but there is no immediate relief in sight.

“The municipal government is now looking for transmission in Metro Manila and other places but has yet to find one,” he said.

Changing the engine would cost P200,000 but the BFP said there was no available budget for this year.

The Aliaga Ford fire truck has been in service for about 40 years.

“At that age, we can expect a truck or any vehicle to be eating funds for maintenance,”  Edubane said.

With Aliaga's population of 70,000, it should have two fire trucks if the BFP ratio of one truck per 40,000 people is to be followed. ###
 
 

Palayan resident slams mayor, city officials for illegal sale of lot

A resident of Barangay Atate, Palayan City has asked the court to nullify the alleged sale by the city mayor and other city officials of a parcel of land that she owned .

Norma Victoria said she owned and tilled more than a hectare of land granted to her as a beneficiary of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and certified by the Municipal Agrarian Reform Office.

However, Victoria said she was surprised to learn that the land had been sold to espouses Geneselle and Vladymir Enriquez of Cabanatuan City on February 16. 2005.

The Enriquezes showed as proof a deed of sale signed by Palayan City Mayor Romeo V. Capinpin, Acting Palayan City Registrar Gaudencio D. Dionisio and the couple which, Victoria said, was a clear violation of the CARP law. ###
 
 

Onion storage depots to rise in N. Ecija, four other provinces

The government has set aside P21 million for the construction of 18 storage facilities in Nueva Ecija and four other major onion producing provinces.

The Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PhilMech) of the Department of Agriculture said the storage facilities will be put up in Nueva Ecija, Mindoro Oriental, Mindoro Occidental, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.

PhilMech said the storage facilities will enable farmers to sell their produce at better prices as these can be stored longer.

The onion storage facility, also called “hanger storage,” holds loosely stored onions in bulk or bags in a shed structure with good ambient air circulation with cool and dry storage conditions.

Each two-story facility costs between P1 million and P1.5 million and can accommodate between 2,000 and 3,000 bags of onion. ###
 
 

PhilRice: plant different rice varieties to fight pests and increase harvest

A biotech expert of the Muñoz-based Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) advises farmers not to plant the same rice variety again and again.

Thelma Padolina, chief of the Plant Breeding and Biotechnology Division, explained that the resistance of plants to pests decreases due to intensive cropping and the use of the same variety every season.

She said that pests continuously exposed to the same rice variety could evolve into more powerful types that would overcome the resistance of the variety.

Padolina said that not all outstanding traits are present in one rice variety such a high yielding, resistant to pests and excellent grain and eating quality.  She said PhilRice keeps on improving varieties to help farmers keep pace with evolving pests and diseases and changing climatic conditions that affect crops. ###
 
 

Guimba boy dies in Bulacan firecracker blast

A six year old boy from Guimba died when the firecrackers that he and his father bought from Bulacan and were transporting to Nueva Ecija aboard a tricycle exploded in Norzagaray, Bulacan last December 26.

Supt. Bruno Viola, Norzagaray police chief, identified the fatality as John Ezekiel Silva. His father, Noli, was injured.

Viola said the Silvas had bought P30,000 worth of pyrotechnic products in Bocaue to be sold in Nueva Ecija. On the way home at about 8:00 P.M., the father parked his tricycle beside the road in Barangay Partida to urinate, leaving his son in the tricycle.  Suddenly, the pyrotechnic products exploded, killing the boy.

Witnesses said the tricycle engine was running when the blast happened, leading the police to theorize that a firecracker wick could have been ignited by the hot exhaust pipe of the motorcycle. ###
 
 

3 'acetylene gang' members nabbed in Carranglan

Three members of a notorious robbery group operating in Central and Northern Luzon were arrested last December 19 in Carranglan.

Sr. Supt. Roberto Aliggayu, provincial police director, said the three were arrested at about 9:20 P.M. after forcibly entering and robbing a pawn and money transfer shop in Barangay D.L. Maglanoc.

The suspects were identified as Pedro Polides, 39, of Poblacion Norte, Del Pilar, Ilocos Sur; Joe Apalet, 38, of Poblacion, San Ramon, Sigay, Ilocos Sur; and Oscar Docyogen, 34, of Trancoville, Baguio City.

A certain Annaliza Antonio witnessed the suspects jumping from the pawnshop and immediately called the attention of the police.

Seized from suspects were a bolt cutter, an acetylene mini tank, two crowbars, an adjustable wrench, manual drills and other accessories.

Taken from the pawnshop were one cell phone and P3,000 pesos. ###
 
 

4 members of robbery group arrested in Cabanatuan hotel

Four men believed members of an "agaw-armas" robbery hold up syndicate operating in the province were arrested while hiding in the ceiling of a hotel room in Cabanatuan City last December 27.

Those arrested were Jeffrey Sabado, 26, alias Jeff, of 650 Purok 2, St. Nicolas Subdivision, Barangay Bantug Norte, Cabanatuan City; Kelvin Glimao, 24, alias Kel, of Purok Rose, Barangay Bagong Sikat, Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija; Luther Daracan, 20, alias Lut, of Purok Dama De Noche, Barangay Bagong Sikat, Cabanatuan City; and Ariel Flores, 31, alias Aye, of Barangay Homestead ll, Talavera, Nueva Ecija.

Sr. Supt. Roberto Aliggayu,  provincial police chief, said the suspects were arrested in follow up operations by a joint team of Cabanatuan and San Jose City policemen, the Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB) and the Third Regional Public Safety Battalion at Fort Liberty Hotel in Sunrise Subdivision, Barangay Bantug Norte.

The suspects hid in the ceiling of the hotel room.

The police were able to trace the group through an informant who said suspect Flores had stolen a Yamaha Mio motorcycle in San Jose City last December 13..

Aliggayu said that the suspects admitted having participated in a series of robbery hold ups of businessmen and gasoline stations, including cases of gun grabbing in Nueva Ecija and adjacent areas.

Supt. Ricardo E. Villanueva, PIB chief, said the 9 mm pistol recovered from the suspects was forcibly taken from Norberto Ario, security guard of B & S Hardware in Barangay Cabu, Cabanatuan City, last November 29 while the caliber .38 pistol was stolen from Reynaldo M. Maneja, owner of RMM Petron gasoline service station, last December 4. The LTO license plate attached to the RUSI motorcycle used by the group was found registered to the stolen Yamaha Mio.

The suspects were charged with illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, violation of the anti-carnapping law and robbery. ###
 
 

Fertilizer kills kid, downs 4 others

A seven year old boy in Barangay Bakod Bayan, Cabanatuan City died while four others were hospitalized after they ingested powdered fertilizer that they mistook for salt.

The fatality was identified as Francis dela Cruz, a Grade 2 pupil. The other victims were his two sibling and two playmates.

Investigation showed that the children dug up a cassava root and boiled it for snack. While eating the boiled cassava, they dipped it in what they thought was salt but was actually powdered fertilizer.

The children were rushed to Dr. Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center where boy died the following morning. ###