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Deal for power plant in GenSan questioned VOL. 2, No. 271
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April 6-7, 2013
Devotees queue and offer red roses at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Davao City to show their veneration to St. Therese of the Child Jesus whose relics were brought to the city on Thursday, April 4. This is the third Philippine visit of the Pilgrim Relics of the saint who said, ”After my death, I will let fall a shower of roses… My mission is to make God loved…” Thousands of favors and miracles have reportedly been received by those who prayed for her intercession. MindaNews photo by Ruby Thursday More
2 dead, 51 downed by suspected cholera in Maguindanao island
COTABATO CITY (MindaNews /) – A three-year-old girl and an elderly woman died and at least 51 others suffered severe vomitting and loose bowel movement in Bongo Island in Maguindanao due to a water-borne disease that doctors suspect could be cholera. A total of 44 victims have so far been admitted at
the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center (CRMC) since Wednesday and are now being closely monitored by doctors, according to Dr. Arcela “Weng” Abo, a municipal councilor in Bongo who has many relatives among the victims. S h e s ai d t h e y w e re alarmed over the sudden deaths of the two victims
last uesday. The fatalities, she said, caused them to immediatley move out the other suffering individuals, mostly minors, from the island. “Sourcing out clean potable water in the island is not easy. Many of the children we brought here are already severely
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 4 April) – The Department of Agriculture (DA) in Southwestern Mindanao is keeping a close watch on the region’s gricultural production areas due to a prevailing dry spell affecting some parts of the area. Zaldy Boloron, officerin-charge of DA Region 12’s operations division, said they are regularly monitoring the farm areas that
were affected by the unusually intense summer weather to facilitate the necessary interventions n case the situation worsens. But he said there were no reports so far of any damage or severe impact to farm crops in any part of the region as a result of the intense weather condition. Region 12, which is also known as the Soccsksargen Region, comprises the
provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato as well as the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Kidapawan and Cotabato. “We have not yet received any report regarding crop damages or if there are farm areas that already started to dry up,” Boloron said. The official said that based on their monitoring, there
cholera | page 10
DA worried over dry spell in Region 12
DA | page 10
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GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/) -- Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) chair Secretary Luwalhati Antonino has questioned due to supposed lack of consultations the signing last month of a build-operate-transfer (BOT) deal for a 20.9-megawatt (MW) bunker-fired power plant in this city. Antonino said she is personally opposing the agreement signed by proponents A Brown Co. Inc. (ABCI) and distribution utility South otabato II Electric Cooperative (Socoteco II) as it allegedly failed to follow the required procedures and processes, specifically the public hearings. “Hindi porke may authority kayo sa board pipirma na kayo ng kontrata (It does not mean that when you obtained the board’s authority, you can already sign the contract),” she said in an interview aired Friday orning over ABSCBN General Santos. Antonino was referring to the Socoteco II board of directors’ president Elenito Senit and general manager Rodolfo Ocat, who represented the electric coop-
erative in the supply and transfer deal with ABCI. Under the agreement, ABCI’s wholly owned subsidiary Peak Power Energy Inc. will build, operate, maintain and transfer a 20.9MW bunker-fired power plant in the franchise area of Socoteco II over an undisclosed period. Roel Castro, Peak Power president, said in a statement that the “decision to build power generation facilities is our way of contributing a solution to the power problem in Mindanao.” Senit said the agreement will help cover for the power deficit within its franchise area as a result of the reduced power allocation from he National Power Corporation (NPC). Socoteco II is presently implementing daily rotating brownouts lasting seven hours for each of its two feeder grouping or a total of 14 hours due to the power shortage. The rotating brownouts outages were mainly blamed on the severe load cuts imposed by the National Grid Corporation of the power | page 10
Experts to produce strategic transport plan for Davao City DAVAO City (MindaNews/) – The city will have a sustainable, strategic public transport plan to be produced by a team of international consultants at the end of a 9-month study that started last month, an official said Thursday.
Roberto Alabado III, chief of the City Planning and Development Office said the study is a grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that committed $1 million for the project. The ADB hired in-
ternational consultants from Halcrow, a consultancy firm based in the United Kingdom, "to investigate issues and problems to help enhance the public transport system here," Alabado said.
The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has announced that its memorial planholders may request to convert their plans to cash not lower than the contract price until August 31, 2013. Dubbed GSIS En-
hanced Optional Exit Mechanism (EOEM), the program allows planholders to refund their cash payments depending on the type of their memorial plan. The GSIS said EOEM is being implemented to protect the planholders from
memorial servicing problems that may arise in the future, adding that the cash refund will enable the planholders to pay for their other expenses. Holders of the GSIS Genesis Flexi Plan may refund 150 percent of
transport | page 10
GSIS planholders can file for refund
GSIS | page 10
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