SUBURBIA
EDGEDAVAOVOL.5 ISSUE 235 •WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 30, 2013 SouthCot, SK get P150M for flood control projects
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HE national government has approved the release of around P150 million for the construction of flood-control structures in the provinces of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. South Cotabato 2nd District Rep. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said Monday such allocation was mainly intended for the development of stable embankments along critical portions of the Allah River in the municipalities of Sto. Nino in South Cotabato and Isulan in Sultan Kudarat. She said the planned structures would mainly protect local communities from perennial flooding and prevent massive soil erosion along the riverbanks. “The lack of embankments has caused the river to change its course and eventually eat up significant portions of farmlands and communities in the area,” she said. Fuentes said their recent monitoring showed that the gap between the river and some local communities has been reduced to only around 30 meters due to the continuing soil erosion. Hundreds of hectares of farmlands in the two municipalities had been wiped out in the last several years due to the massive erosion along the banks of the heavily-silted Allah River. Allah River, which is among the biggest natu-
ral waterways in Region 12, traverses nine municipalities and a city in the provinces of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. The river system, which has caused severe flooding in portions of the area in the past several years, drains towards the Liguasan Marsh and the Rio Grande de Mindanao. Fuentes said the river embankment project will initially cover portions of Barangays Dajay and Ambalgan in Sto Nino town. She said it will include the rehabilitation of the approaches of a steel bridge that connects Sto. Nino town and the upland villages of Surallah and Lake Sebu towns. The official said the rehabilitation works will also cover the Halilan Bridge in Lake Sebu that was earlier damaged due to a flashflood in the area. Fuentes said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is now working on the bidding and the awarding of the project’s contract. She said DPWH officials were pushing for the completion of the bidding and awarding process before the election ban on infrastructure projects on March 29. “We’re hoping that all these processes will be completed before the deadline to facilitate the construction of the projects before the start of the rainy season in June,” she added. [Allen V. Estabillo/MindaNews]
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SHOUTS OF JOY. Students from the Northern Mindanao Colleges express their victory when they were declared the champion of the 2013 Drum and Lyre competition in Cabadbaran City in Agusan del Norte on Jan. 25, 2013. [MindaNews/Erwin Mascarinas]
18 of 26 Mindanao govs seek reelection; 6 unopposed; 6 ex-govs running again
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IGHTEEN of 26 Mindanao governors are seeking reelection on May 13 but six of them need not campaign: they are running unopposed. As in past elections in Mindanao, it’s still all in the family as the same faces and surnames are vying for or trading elective posts. Six former governors want to return to their posts, one of them already a winner because she is unopposed. Four sons are
running for the gubernatorial posts their fathers occupied for at least three terms; two daughters and a brother of former governors are also running. The six incumbent governors who are running unopposed include the governors of the provinces badly battered by Typhoon Pablo: Davao Oriental’s Corazon Malanyaon (NP) and Compostela Valley’s Arturo Uy. (LP). The four other unopposed governors are
of “trapal” per allocation to the LGU. DA 12 Regional Executive Director Amalia Jayag-Datukan said that through the strict implementation of the Republic Act 9184, otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act of the Philippines, the regional office has generated savings which are utilized to procure these raffle prizes for the farmers. Through raffle draws, Datukan hopes that many farmers will actively join in the department’s quest to ensure that there is enough food on every Filipino family’s table. Aside from these winners, Joseph Ortiz, also from Lebak, received his one head of carabao that he won from a raffle draw done during the Provincial Farmers’ Action Council (PFAC) Convention spearheaded by the National Food Authority (NFA) in La Trinidad town of Benguet in August last year. [PNA]
ARANGANI will turnover today, January 30, a two-sala new regional trial court (RTC) building to the Supreme Court in its bid to sustain speedy disposition of cases. Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno is set to accept the donation from Governor Migs Dominguez. The new RTC building is adjacent to the existing RTC branch 38 building inside the Capitol compound. “Now more courts will try cases belonging to the RTC jurisdiction,” provincial legal officer Atty. Arnel Zapatos said. He stressed that cases filed “will be just enough for it to be tried properly.” The wheels of justice in the province would expectedly turn faster as RTC branches 47 and 48 would ideally handle 500 to 600 cases though it is still subject for approval of the Supreme Court. If allowed, this “would mean that all cases will be tried in a year,” Zapatos
Agusan del Norte’s Ma. Angelica Amante-Matba (LP), a former three-term governor and incumbent 2nd District Representative who will trade posts with her brother Erlpe John Amante (Kusgan Agusanon Party). Erlpe, the incumbent governor, is running for 2nd District Rep, also. unopposed; Davao del Norte’s Rodolfo del Rosario (LP), Sarangani’s Steve Chiongbian Solon of UNA-People’s Champ Movement, the incumbent vice governor
to Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez who is completing this third term; and Zamboanga del Sur’s Antonio Cerilles. Six former governors want to make a comeback: Agusan del Norte’s Amante who has won even before the elections because she is unopposed; Bukidnon’s Jose Ma. Zubiri ( Bukidnon Paglaum Party) against Delfina Bicatulo (Ind), Lynard Allan Bigcas (Ind) and Romeo Zuce (Ind) while incumbent
said. In the past 17 or 18 years, Sarangani was only relying on its lone RTC branch 38 where unresolved cases caused by postponements of hearings and new cases that cannot be heard immediately due to previous pending cases have clogged the dockets. Contrary to the common dilemma on access to justice clamored by poor litigants here, Zapatos stressed that justice being delayed “is not the sole duty of the courts” and can be provided “when institutions work together.” In 2008, Sarangani rolled out its mobile court under the auspices of Governor Dominguez. From out of almost 3,000 pending cases when Justice on Wheels in Sarangani (JOWs) started declogging the dockets, at least 705 cases were left today. Three-fourths of these, according to Zapatos, are new cases. JOWs, a bus turned
into a mobile court, is a program under Justice Enhancement and Empowerment Program (JEEP) of the Supreme Court that Sarangani locally implemented starting in 2008. Sarangani ran JEEP thru its provincial legal office in support of the social justice provision of both the Constitution and RA 7160 in instituting program and projects concerning legal services and the delivery of basic services for its constituents. The province is the only local government unit in the Philippines which adapted JOWs and the “only LGU that Supreme Court allowed to administer a local JOWs.” Governor Dominguez received the Galing Pook Award in 2011 with JEEP as banner entry. The Galing Pook Award recognized Sarangani as number one LGU in the whole Philippines in terms of justice intervention. [Beverly C. Paoyon/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE]
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Region 12 DA raffles off farm Sarangani to turnover two-sala equipment during info drive RTC building to Supreme Court
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HE Department of Agriculture (DA) in Central Mindanao has distributed in Sultan Kudarat farm equipment and other agricultural items and facilities through raffle draws as among the highlights of Agri-Pinoy information caravan. Besides submitting project proposals, farmers can also avail of farm equipment and other agricultural items and facilities from the agriculture department through raffle draws. This holds true if farmers are actively participating in various activities and programs carried out by the department like a number of farmers from Lebak town of Sultan Kudarat who have just received their winnings from DA 12’s raffle draws. Raffle draw was one of the highlights of the Agri-Pinoy Information Caravan dubbed as ‘Ulat sa Bayan’ of the regional office held at the Lebak
municipal gymnasium. At least 300 farmers, members of irrigators’ associations and employees coming from the different local government units of Sultan Kudarat took their share in the information drive which aimed to keep everyone informed about the agency’s accomplishments and plans. In the raffle draw, two units hand tractor with trailer; 46 rolls of laminated tarpaulins (trapal), 10 plastic water drums; three heads of carabao were raffled off. Three winners of carabao have brought home their work animals right away. Eduardo Almirante and Richard Española both from Brgy. Pasandalan, Lebak each got one unit hand tractor for their respective IA. Aside from the 46 rolls of laminated tarpaulins drawn, DA 12 has also turned-over to Lebak LGU through its municipal agriculture office 355 rolls
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