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December 4, 2011
PA clash in Carabalan with arson suspects
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cKinley, Guihulngan – The group believed to be behind the series of arson incidents in Himamaylan City engaged with the military in an encounter, recently. The clash between the 11 th Infantry (Lapu-Lapu) Battalion of the Philippine Army patrol, led by Cpt. Edval Pendon, and suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) ensued with no casualty.
The 3:00am dawn firefight in Sitio Tara, Brgy. Carabalan lasted for about two (2) minutes, after which the rebels scampered to different directions leaving behind a homemade shotgun and a caliber .45 pistol loaded with seven (7) live ammunitions. Several hectares of sugarcane and a tenwheeler truck were torched by rebels during the last two weeks. The
cost of damaged properties is yet to be determined by authorities. Lt Col. Ram il M. Bitong, the 11th IB Commander, believes the rebels in Himamaylan City do not enjoy the support of the residents there because they now resort to arson. “What the people need and want is genuine peace, security and development, and not the culture of violence that the arsonists are espousing,” Lt. Col. Bitong LT. COL. RAMIL M. B ITONG declared.
Lucky Terminal champs in Sandurot Open Fiesta Invitational Basketball tourney
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Grade 4 pupil of Silliman Uni versity School of Basic Educa tion led the winning members of the Dumaguete Shooters Association (DSA) after receiving a special award as t he young est la dy sho ot er during the Asia-Pacific GLOCK Invitational shootfest held on November 25 to 27 at the Cebu Pistol and Rifle Association (CPRA) International Firing Range in Mactan, Cebu. The event was participated in by practical shooting aficionados from all over the Philippines and the Asia-Pacific. Nicole Marie “Cola” Dicen Tagle, who is only 10 years old, was recognized for her form and precision du ring the tou rn amen t which celebrates CPRA’s 30th founding anniversary. She was honored with a brand new GLOCK safe action pistol that contains factory engraving of her name by GLO CK Asia-Pacific
Limited managing director Sven de Souter and Trust Trade Fir earms an d Ammunitio ns president Girme Gutierrez. Awarded together with Tagle were Roger Abugan (Super Senior Category) and Rowgun Fausto who topped in the Production Division. Also, P/Sup t. Cr isaleo Tolen tino o f
Dumaguete Police Station won 1st runner-up in Rifle Open-Lawmen Category. DSA is one of the country’s active associations of shooting enth usiasts. Its members include professionals, businessmen, judges and law enforcers, among others. Heading DSA as pr esiden t is Mr. Roy T. Cang.
Reader’s Views
Rule of law must prevail
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HE Bill of Rights enshrined in the Constitu tion, past and present, of the Republic of the Philippines, takes precedence over all other provisions thereof. Every public official, before he assumes his duties, takes an oath to “preserve and defend the Constitution,” not in prosecution.
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erseverance and having the heart of a champion were the keys as Lucky Terminal ended up victorious in the Sandurot Open Fiesta Invitational Basketball Championship held November 21 at the Dumaguete City Multi-Purpose Gym as they defeated the Sta. Catalina team in the final game, 85-75. In the first minutes of the 1st quarter, Lucky Terminal had the lead. But during the last minute, Sta. Catalina hounded, thus having a 3point lead, 22-19. Lucky Terminal players redeemed themselves in the 2nd quarter as they were 8 points ahead from their opponent. Sta. Catalina team got even weaker as they were 16 points behind, 67-51, by the end of the 3rd quarter. By the start o f th e 4th quarter, however, Sta. Catalina got back in the
game as they caught up with Lucky Terminal, with the latter only 6 points ahead by the last 3 minutes and 50 seconds. Yet, in the last few minutes of the last qu arter, Lucky Terminal strengthened their defense and completely beat Sta. Catalina. O n th e other hand , Bayawan City bagged the 3rd place as they defeated SL Enterprise with a final score of 86-79. Joe Guirit, city sports consultant, said that the 1st place received P30,000;
2 n d plac e with P20,000; 3rd place with P15,000; and 4th place with P10,000. All of them also received trophies. City Mayor Manue l Sagarba rria hande d the prizes and trophies along with Vice-Mayor Alan Gel Cordova and Councilor Franklin Esmeña. Guirit also expressed his gratitude to the people who witnessed the said event, which was also in relation with the 63rd Charter Day and Fiesta Celebration of the City of Dumaguete.
The trouble with government lawyers is they forget that all persons, before conviction, are as a matter of right, presumed innocent. This is the rule of law. The provisions of the Bill of Rights are self-executing and are demandable anytime. It is for the party who argues against the enjoyment and exercise of these rights to prove that there is urgent need for their curtailment. As public officials, the president and the justice secretary should be the first to set an example in protecting and defending the individual rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. It is ironic that the son of Ninoy Aquino, who fought and died for these individual rights, now leads in violating the Bill of Rights. Almost 80 years, an author of the 1935 Constitution, Claro M. Recto, commented on violations of constitutional guarantees: “Isolated infractions, if left uncorrected, may in time become a chronic condition. If the constitution is allowed to be violated in one provision, it will easily be violated in another provision. If constitution is suspended as to one group of citizens, it can be usurp the powers of another, so can it invade the totality of power.” Recto then admonished: “None of us can be sure that he will have no need of the constitution; it behooves us all, therefore, to protect and preserve it for an evil day. The persons who now defy the constitution or allow it to be subverted and undermined without protest, may themselves cry out for its protection tomorrow, and bewail the loss of the guarantees that they themselves destroyed or denied to their enemies. . .” And then, he wound up his speech with serious foreboding expressed in the follow-
ing language: “ Neither in the toils of the day nor in the vigils of the night can the sentinels of the constitution “relax their vigilance. Let us all be wary and stand up by our arms, set by culpable tolerance or by criminal negligence, our country should, in some forbidding future, become a desolate Carthage, wherein only the naked ruins of our republic shall remain, fallen monuments of the past in those debris our descendants, by then forlorn bondsmen of some corrupt despot, shall in vain endeavor to decipher the language of the constitution, inscribed as in forgotten hieroglyphs, on the sarcophagus of our dead freedoms.” Today is that evil day. I join the eight justices who voted for the issuance of the temporary restraining order. -HECTOR REUBEN D. FELICIANO 1614 San Lazaro St Sta. Cruz Manila
Hey, its just accountability At the start of the case against the Chun, President Kim Young-sam pushed for the enactment of the special law to punish those responsible for the Kwangju case. The bribery scandal involving Roh was said to have given Kim the opportunity he needed to show that his administration and its leader could clear away the painful legacy of the past. Similarly, the arrest and detention of Arroyo is giving the President Aquino the opportunity he needs to show that this administration can fulfill its promise to punish the government officials who plundered state coffers and ordered the commission of human rights violations. Let there be no special extraordinary treatment for Arroyo. If ever, she should be confined in a government hospital like the National Orthopedic Hospital or Veterans Memorial Medical Center where her predecessors, Estrada, was detained while facing an impeachment trial and after he was sentenced to prison for plunder. As the President’s spokesperson has stressed, the case against Arroyo is not about vindictiveness, it is about accountability, she has to answer for her alleged crimes against the Filipino people.