BARMM extends aid to typhoon Paeng-hit students

By Nash B. Maulana

COTABATO CITY—Learners from communities ravaged by last year’s tropical storm Paeng received financial assistance from the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (MBHTE-BARMM).

MBHTE-BARMM Minister Mohagher

Iqbal said the agency’s school-based programs translate to post disaster aid in relief of learners severely affected and even traumatized by a devastating community experience in the onslaught of Typhoon Paeng (Tropical Storm Nalgae) on October 29, 2022.

It can be recalled that President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. had presided over the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) which came up with a multi-pronged approach to immediate disaster response and for a long-term rehabilitation program.

Schools offering Islamic Studies and Arabic Language (ISAL) meanwhile also received supplies and equipment from the MBHTE-BARMM.

RTC dismisses waste dumping raps vs. CEO

By Butch Gunio

A REGIONAL trial court junked the case against the chief executive of a sanitary landfill operator in Bataan for alleged dumping of hazardous and liquid wastes under Section 13 of RA 6969 or “An Act to Control to Control Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes”

The case was filed by the local government unit of Hermosa, Bataan, represented by its newly appointed municipal and environmental and natural resources officer.

In granting the Demurrer to Evidence filed by the camp of the Atty. Beulah Coeli Fiel, president and CEO of Econest Waste Management Corp, Judge Amelita Cruz Corpuz of the Regional Trial Court Branch 96 Dinalupihan, Bataan dismissed the case due to insufficiency of evidence. The court said, “There was no testimo- nial or documentary evidence presented that will prove beyond reasonable doubt that herein accused committed the act complained of,” and “that the evidence of the prosecution is insufficient, hence, dismissal of this case is proper under the premises.”

Prosecution witness Ronel Pagcaliwangan, COO of Udenna Environmental Services, while admitting that they did business with Econest, nonetheless denied disposing of any untreated hazardous wastes at the Hermosa landfill.

Court order also noted Pagcaliwangan’s letter dated February 26, 2020, wherein he wrote, “There was no instance where we disposed of any liquid chemical wastes in your sanitary landfill, as these were either treated via our Physico-Chemical Treatment Facility in Taguig or Thermal Oxidation in our Bataan Plant”.

The MBHTE-BARMM said the first set of school provision for ISAL teachers consisted of office supplies and equipment first delivered last March 30 to the city’s Schools Division Office (SDO).

Iqbal said over the weekend that more than 5,000 ISAL teachers assigned in 11 SDOs have been beneficiaries of the program.

Pursuant to the 1987 Philippine Constitution and the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (R.A. No. 10533), the Philippine government through the Department of Education supports the Madrasah Education Program.

“I thank the LGU chiefs who have partnered and will partner with us, hopefully soon. Thank you for embracing the administration’s vision, and know that by supporting the success of the 4PH, you are quashing the Philippines’ long-enduring pain that is the housing gap.

Let the MOUs we have signed represent our unwavering determination to uplift the Filipinos’ quality of living and put an end to homelessness and poverty,” he added.

He reassured the LGUs of the support the DHSUD would devote in the collaboration, saying “for our part, the Department reassures our LGUs that we will be particular in overseeing the completion and success of the housing projects that will be built and dedicated to our countrymen, mainly to those in the marginalized sector. Rio N.