Island ownership case between Mindoro, Antique provinces continues as Or. Mindoro court affirms jurisdiction over it

By JUANCHO R. MAHUSAY

CALAPAN CITY – The case filed by the Oriental Mindoro provincial government and its municipal government of Bulalacao against the provincial government of Antique and the municipal government of Caluya regarding its claim on a particular island will continue.

This was so after Presiding Judge Recto A. Calabocal, of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 43 in Roxas in Oriental Mindoro, issued recently a court order which dismissed the motion filed by the provincial government of Antique and the local government of Caluya that the case is not under the jurisdiction of the said Mindoro court.

It can be recalled that Oriental Mindoro, through Vice-Governor Humerlito A. Dolor and Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Kristine Grace Suarez, filed a petition entitled "Recovery and Declaration of Territorial and Political Jurisdiction/Dominion, Prohibition and Mandamus," in RTC Branch 43 last September 12, 2012.

The provincial government of Oreintal Mindoro asserted that Liwagao, a 114-hectare island that is now under the jurisdiction of Antique’s Caluya town, should be part of Bulalacao.  The said island is about 30 minutes by boat travel from Bulalacao and is believed to have a big potential for tourism investments.

Because of this latest decision by the court in Roxas, Oriental Mindoro, Atty. Suarez informed Governor AlfonsoV. Umali, Jr. in her memorandum that a pre-trial of the said case was set this June 6.

In the Presidential Decree No. 1801, the island of Liwagao, formerly known as Libago and is in the southeastern part of Oriental Mindoro, is originally a part of the municipality of Bulalacao.   It was acknowledged as a sitio of Brgy. Maasin, said town.

During the tear 1978-1979, the then mayors of Bulalacao and Caluya towns, namely Dolores Bago and Oscar Lim, respectively verbally agreed that the island will be lent by Lim from Bago and it will only be returned at the expiration of their term.

In the continuation of the case, the local executives of Oriental Mindoro hope that they re-claim and re-possess ownership of the said contested island.

5 foreign firms set to start natural gas exploration in Mindoro Island next year

By JUANCHO R. MAHUSAY

CALAPAN CITY – A consortium of five foreign firms will reportedly start drilling natural gas in the southern part of the two provinces in Mindoro Island in the second quarter of next year, the Department of Energy relayed this good news to the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro here.

Accordingly, huge oil and gas seeps were discovered indicated on Mindoro Island, adjacent to the Palawan Basin, which hosts all the producing oil and gas wells in the Philippines.

The gas drilling is said to be scheduled in the towns of Roxas, Mansalay and Bulalacao in Oriental Mindoro province, and in Magsaysay, San Jose, and Sablayan municipalities in Occidental Mindoro.

The operations will begin shortly, according to the news bulletin released by the United Kingdom-based Pitkin Petroleum (Philippines) Plc, the main operator of Service Contract 53, which was approved by the DoE on July 8, 2005 in favor of a consortium of Pitkin, Resource Management Association (Hongkong) Ltd., The Philodrill Corp., Anglo-Philippine Holdings Corp., and Basic Energy Corp.

Energy Undersecretary Jose Layug was reportedly pleased over the prospects in Mindoro Island.  He stated that the service contract area coverage for the said particular prospect is 724,000 hectares and added the exploration period covers seven years (started in 2005) with different sub-phases.

Pitkin Petroleum on the other hand said "numerous onshore oil and gas seeps plus two gas discoveries are located in the contract area and more than 15 prospective structures with individual areas of closure of between seven and 65 square kilometers have been identified from previous work."

The firm has a participating interest of 70 percent in the block, with the remaining 30 percent held by the Philodrill Corp. Basic Consolidated Inc. and Anglo-Philippine Holdings Corp.

Oriental Mindoro First District Congressman Rodolfo Valencia welcomed the move, noting it will further bring economic boom to the already developing province.

He said the National Grid and Transmission Corporation has approved the Batangas-Mindoro Submarine Interconnection Project worth ₱11 billion.

The underwater link aims to convey surplus electric power from Mindoro Grid to Luzon.

Layug said the agency is not only focusing its exploration works on the traditional energy sources, such as oil and gas, in Mindoro Island, but also on renewable sources of energy, such as geothermal, wind, and hydro power.

Last March, this year, President Benigno C. Aquino III led the switch-on ceremony of Mindoro Island’s first hydro-power plant in Brgy. Linaw-Kawayan, in San Teodoro municipality, Oriental Mindoro.

Now operational, the mini-hydro, with a construction cost of ₱405 million borrowed from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), is capable of producing 4.5 megawatts of electricity.

The groundbreaking and construction of the country's second wind power projects, the province's second renewable energy project, was undertaken last September 7.

Situated on a 1,296-hectare mountain village overlooking the scenic beach resorts of the Verde Island Passage, the three-48-megawatt wind farm costs P6-billion.

The construction of the first phase, capable of generating 16 megawatts of electricity and costing P2 billion, has been targeted to last in two years in 2014.

The first operating wind farm facility is in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, with 20 units of wind mills capable of generating 33 megawatts of electricity. Each unit stands 70-meter high, and blade diameter of 41 meters each.

The Bangui wind farm was originally designed to only produce clean electricity without emitting carbon, people call them as "giant electric fans" that have become a major tourist destination in Northern Luzon.

The Puerto Galera wind project is a component of the Power Development Program of Oriental Mindoro supported by the Provincial Development Council (PDC).

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P.1-M reward ng ALAM vs ulo ng killer ni A1

ISINASALAYSAY ng biyuda ni Domingo Ramirez, Jr., aka A1, kay Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) national chairman Jerry Yap kung paano pinaslang ang kanyang asawa ng riding-in-tandem sa harap mismo ng kanilang bahay nitong Linggo (Mayo 26) ng madaling araw sa Baseco Compound, Port Area, Maynila. Si Ramirez ay kilalang lider sa kanilang komunidad at nagpaplanong tumakbo bilang barangay chairman sa darating na Oktubre upang higit pang makatulong sa kanyang mga kalugar. Naglaan ng P.1-M ang ALAM para sa ikadarakip ng suspek.

KASABAY ng pagdalaw sa burol ng pinaslang na Alab ng Mamamahayag (ALAM) coordinator na si Domingo Ramirez, Jr., aka A1, inialok ni national chairman Jerry Yap ang halagang P100,000 para sa makapagtuturo sa pumatay sa biktima.

Kahapon, nagtungo si Yap, kasama ang iba pang opisyal ng ALAM sa burol ni Ramirez para personal na ipaabot ang kanyang pakikiramay sa pamilya ng biktima.

Magugunitang si A1 ay pinaslang nitong Linggo ng madaling araw sa harap mismo ng kanilang bahay sa BASECO Compound, Port Area, Maynila ng hindi pa nakikilalang mga salarin.

Nakatalikod at nakaupo sa gutter ng kalye si Ramirez nang barilin sa batok ng suspek na backride ng isang motorsiklo.

Humarap si Ramirez para hanapin kung sino ang bumaril sa kanya pero muli siya pinaputukan ng dalawang beses na nasalag ng kanyang kanang kamay.

Pahiga umanong natumba ang biktima at sa pagkakataong iyon ay tatlong beses pa siyang pinaputukan sa dibdib ng suspek, at isa pa sa hita.

Itinakbo sa Mother and Child Hospital sa Binondo, Maynila si Ramirez ngunit idineklarang dead on arrival.

Ayon sa biyuda ni A1, alas-4:00 ng madaling araw nang magising ang kanyang mister nang araw na iyon na hindi niya madalas gawin.

Pero gaya nang dati, kapag nagigising siya, nagpupunas muna ng langis ng El Shaddai saka pupunta sa harap ng kanilang bahay.

Paglabas ay agad niyang tiningnan ang kanyang bantay sa pwesto ng tindahan ng krudo saka umupo sa kantong gutter ng kalsada.

Sa pagkakataong iyon, nilapitan siya ng suspek na nakasakay sa motor.

Kaugnay nito, inihayag ni ALAM national chairman ang iniaalok niyang pabuya para sa sino mang makapagtuturo ng pumaslang kay Ramirez.

Si Ramirez, retiradong kagawad ng Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ay kilalang lider ng komunidad sa BASECO at sa loob ng 23 taon paninirahan sa nasabing lugar ay wala siyang pinangarap kundi ang katahimikan at kapayaan sa kanilang komunidad.

Ang BASECO ay isang komunidad sa pantalan ng Maynila na dinayo ng informal settlers na sinabing takbuhan ng snatchers, holdapers at iba pang masasamang elemento.

Isa si A1 sa mga nakikipag-ugnayan sa mga awtoridad upang maestabilisa ang peace and order sa kanilang barangay.

Bahagi ng kanyang pangarap para sa ikaaayos ng komunidad ng BASECO ay tumakbong chairman ng barangay sa darating na Oktubre.

Naniniwala ang kanyang pamilya, ang komunidad at ang ALAM na ang pagpaslang kay A1 ay may kinalaman sa nilalakad niyang implementasyon ng Dismissal Order ng Ombudsman laban sa isang barangay official.

Ayon kay ALAM national chairman Yap, “sana ay makatulong sa maagang pagkakadakip sa pumaslang kay A1 ang iniaalok natingP100,000 patong sa ulo suspek.”

(HNT)c/o Thess Q. Angeles

nadaya ba o talo talaga?

Ni: Thess Q. Angeles

Kakatapos lang ng 2013 National at Local Election, nagging abala ang lahat ng mga tao, datihan at baguhan mga kandidato sa ibat ibang panakinig ng bansa, mga taong sumusuporta sa kani-kanilang pambato. Mga taong gustong tumulong at mga tao din gustong makahingi ng mga tulong. Hindi din naman mawawala ang mga taong panggulo at amuyong sa kandidatong tumatakbo.

Natural mayroon din mga tinalagang  tauhan para mamahala pagdating sa kampanyahan. May mga political staff, coordinator’s, watcher’s, p.r. officer’s at kung ano ano pang katungkulan. Sa dami ng mga ito, aba dapat kahit papaano alam na ng kandidato ang status niya sa lugar na kanyang ginagalawan.

Natapos na ang eleksyon at naiproklama ang mga halal ng bayan ngunit bakit madami pa din sa mga natalong politiko ang ngawa ng ngawa na para bang mga palaka.

Tulad nitong tumatakbong  M sa bayan ng P?? Nagulat daw ito umano noon hindi siya ang nanalo bilang M., sabi daw kasi ng kanyang mga coordinator’s hawak na daw nila ang ibat ibang barangay sa lugar. Sa laki daw ng kanyang mga nagastos  at mga ipinamudmod sa mga tao tiyak daw na wala na siyang katalo-talo. Pati sabi diumano sa kanya ng isang “manghuhula” na siya ay mananalo bilang alkalde… Hahaha bakit hindi mo muna itinanong kung kaylan at saan lugar? Kaya nga hula diba? Maaring totoo, pwede din naman hindi…Oh! dapat balikan mo yoong manghuhula ngayon at tanungin mo sa pagaartista kaya may future pa ako? Hahaha...Chill ka lang ha ang pikon ay laging talo. Oooopppps…!!!!!!!!!!!!!baka naman bawiin mo ang mga naibigay mo na sa mga tao ha??? Ang pagkakaalam ko kasi ganyan din sa ginawa ng kamag-anak mo noong natalo ito bilang barangay kapitan sa isang barangay diyan sa inyong lugar.. Ano ba daw yoon isang bangka? Hehehe… ganun pala yoon may bawiin pagnatalo? Ouch.. tapos ngayon sabi mo nadaya ka? Saan banda? Ganyan naman talaga ang mga natatalo palagi may finger to point to, sasabihin nadaya,nag vote buying ang kalaban. Bakit hindi mo na lang tanggapin ng maluwag sa puso mo ang iyong pagkatalo?  Mga kaibigan kilala ba ninyo kung sino ang aking nasa hot sit? Kung kilala ninyo ibulong niyo na lang sa katabi niyo…hahaha….

Mukha ngang nagiba na ang takbo o sistema ng pulitika sa bansa, hindi na ngayon masyadong interesado ang  taumbayan sa pera ng mga kandidato. Mabuti naman dahil kung lumang sistema palagi ang papairalin natin ay mas malaki ang epekto nito sa atin sa mga susunod pang panahon.

Dito din makikta na hindi na uso sa publiko ang black propagandang inilalabas ng mga politikong sakim sa kapangyarihan, na kahit anong masasamang paninira sa kalaban ay hindi na uubra sa taong nagiisip ng maayos at maunlad na kinabukasan.

65 sea turtles seized in southern Palawan

By: Juancho R. Mahusay

CALAPAN CITY , Philippines  –  Operatives of the police Maritime Group-Special Boat Unit and the Philippine Navy seized at least 65 assorted      species of sea turtles, 14 of them dead,  in Balabac town in southern Palawan last Friday afternoon, according to reports reaching the regional police headquarters here.

In a report, Superintendent Osmundo Salibo, Special Boat Unit chief, said the turtles were found in an abandoned 35-foot motor launch anchored off Barangay Bancalaan in Balabac town. 

The turtles reportedly were to be transported to Hasa-Hasa Shoal in Malaysia and sold to Chinese fishermen.

Personnel of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development went to the area along with Department of Environment and Natural Resources employees to oversee the documentation and disposition of the animals, which included 39 live green sea turtles, the largest of which measured 71 by 63 centimeters; a loggerhead turtle, and 10 hawksbill turtles.

Earlier this year, at least 150 sea turtles were also confiscated in the same area, but the poachers eluded arrest.