VOL. 10, NO. 23 JANUARY 8 - 14, 2013 CATBALOGAN CITY 8 PAGES

By RICKY J. BAUTISTASWE News and Features

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CSC now accepts applicants for

October Career exams

Samar pols ink election covenant

See ROXAS page 3...

<---------------------------------PRE-SIGNING MEET-UP.Police Chief Superinten-dent Elmer R. Soria, PRO8 Regional Director (right) conversing with Bishop Isabelo C. Abarquez (center) at the Bishop’s House in Calbayog City during the planning stage last December 8, 2012 for the elections peace covenant sign-ing slated on January 13, 2013.(PRO-8 photo)

CATBALOGAN CITY -- The Army’s 8th Infantry Division based in this city announced that they are now in the process of accepting applicants for Candidate Soldiers for the Calendar Year 2013 that are willing to be trained and join the Army.

Captain Gene Orense, chief of the Division Public Affairs Office said anyone that will qualify the requirements needed can now submit them-selves along with their creden-tials to the 8ID headquarters at Camp Vicente Lukban, Brgy. Maulong, from January 14 to 19, this year.

Lt. Colonel Leo Lorenzo Madroñal, assistant chief of staff for personnel (G1 of 8ID) said that “If you are 18-26 years of age, single, physically and mentally fit, at least 5 ft in height, with no pending cases in court, have passed the AFP

aptitude test and battery (AFPTAB) examination and have all the needed documents for processing, you are all welcome to apply for the candidate soldier course and join the Philippine Army.”

Captain Orense emphasized that at this time only male applicants can be entertained. Interested female applicants may have yet another time in the future.

The Army officials advised applicants to bring the following original documents for processing: NSO Birth Certificate; Form 137/Transcript of record; Diploma (HS/College if graduated); one (1) piece 2x2 ID picture with name tag and valid identifica-tion cards.

Should anyone needs further clarifications and inquiries, they may contact Capt. Emerson A Borja, 8ID Recruitment Of-ficer at telephone number 256 – 2199, local 3611, 8ID page at Facebook or visit 8ID personally. (Lilith Sabuco Teña)

8ID now accepts applicants for Candidate Soldiers

Mila Tan’s camp dole out rice, cash

Rep. Mila Tan

BASEY, Samar -- For all her critics, what she was doing is a clear violation of electioneering, but for her and the rest of the team, they were just giving ‘dole out’ or post-Christmas gifts to all her constituents.

Recently, the Camp of Samar Second District Rep-resentative Milagrosa T. Tan, along with her family members aiming for a re-election this coming May 13, 2013 election,

were seen roaming around the province giving out one kilo of rice and P50 for every house-hold or one voting individual.

Prior to the actual giving, recipients were given a “pass ticket” or a piece of paper which bore the name “Rep. Mila Tan, Gov. Sharee Ann Tan, and Vice Gov. Jimboy Tan.”

During the actual “gift” giving day, however, emcees and their complete lined-up of candidates reminds the public not to forget them in May 2013.

“This is just initial, if you do us a favor comes election, expect more blessings from us,” Mila Tan assured the public.

According to the emcees, two of them media personality working in DYMS Catbalo-gan, the Tan’s camp formed two teams to distribute the same. One team, led by Angel Tan, also running for elective position in Calbayog, was dis-patched and roam around in the first district.

It was learned that the group started their operation last December and expected to visit more than 500 villages in January 2013.

In Every barangay visita-tion, brgy officials were also given small cash. (rjb)

The Civil Service Commis-sion (CSC) Samar Field Office Director Cyril Nathan Eamiguel announces that the commission is now accepting applications for the April 2013 examinations.

Today and until February 28, 2013, application of interest-ed individuals will be accepted.

Requirements include a fully accomplished form (which can be obtained at CSC of-fice), four copies of identical ID pictures with specifications prescribed by the commission and registration fee of P500.00.

In last year examination, director Eamigel said only 56 out of 1,297 takers or just 5% examinees passed the exams.

Meanwhile, in the sub-professional level, of the 110 takers, only (3) three of them passed the test.Passers should have a rating of 80%, the CSC director said.

However, the CSC official urged the public to just try the test. “There is always a chance for everyone,” the director said adding that taking the test is very important in building up their professional careers.

(PIA-Samar)

In Calbayog City

Sec. Roxas sway local pols in Samar: “Be honest in election”

CATBALOGAN CITY – Local candidates and various stakeholders on Sunday signed “a peace covenant” to ensure a “Secured and Safe Elections” in the country, particularly in this province.

Candidates running for the congressional, provincial and various city elective posts gathered together at the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral in Calbayog City last January 13 and inked their pledges of commitment. The event was attended in full force by the police and army officials, DILG and Commission on Elections regional and provincial officers, church leaders, media, academe and stakeholders in Samar.

The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) party in Samar led by the influential Milagrosa T. Tan, Samar governor Sharee Ann T. Tan and Vice-Governor Stephen James T. Tan were present while the Liberal Party (LP) were represented by Rosa Jessica “Aika” U. Delgado, daughter of the slain congressman Dr. Reynaldo Uy. LP candidate provincial board member Eunice Babalcon who is running for the congressional post in Samar

second district also attended the signing of covenant.

The SWE also spotted several provincial post and city post aspirants aside from those mentioned above.

Secretary Mar Roxas of the Interior and Local Govern-ment who represented PNoy arrived around 9 o’clock and met all the above officials. At 10 o’clock in the morning, the

See SAMAR page 3...

CALBAYOG CITY – President Benigno Simeon Aquino III through Secretary Mar Roxas of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) encouraged local

candidates to “be honest” in the May 2013 elections in this province and sign a covenant for SAFE elections.

The DILG Secretary was in the city last Sunday, January 13, and led other congressional, provincial, city

candidates and other stakeholders in the citation of a pledge aimed at ensuring honest, peaceful and orderly

elections.

“Kinikilala po ng pamahalaan ni PNoy na ang halalan ay sentro ng ating demokrasya, ang voice

of the people ay voice of God… Sana po ay maging mapayapa ang halalang ito…

(at asahan po ninyo) na hindi gagamit ang gobyernong ito ng anumang pwersa para

baliin ang kagustuhan ng ating mamamayan,” Sec. Roxas said as he

witnessed the signing of the covenant.

DILG regional director Pedro A. Noval Jr

JANUARY 8 - 14, 20132 ACROSS THE REGIONWebsite: www.issuu.com/samarweeklyexpress

DBM conducts FY 2014 budget forum

More police checkpoints visible as ‘gun ban’ starts

Samar Weekly Express

More towns included in 4P’s program

Local DPWH save over P230 million - Director Asis

PALO, Leyte – The Police Regional Office 8 (PRO8) started establishing police checkpoints in strategic locations throughout the region to implement the “election gun ban” beginning on Sunday, January 13.

“We will set up more checkpoints in strategic places to strictly impose the gun ban during the election period,” Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria, police regional director, said.

The police regional director made this statement during Friday’s command conference attended by members of the directorial staff, city and provincial police directors, chiefs of national support units and officials from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Soria added that this forms part of PRO8’s efforts to reduce election-related violence in the midterm polls, the intensified crackdown against loose firearms and in compliance to Comelec Resolution 9561-A which states that bearing, carrying and trans-porting firearms and other deadly weapons outside the residence or place of business and in public places are prohibited unless authorized in writing by the Comelec.

“We are in close coordination with the Comelec and our counterparts in the Armed Forces of the Philippines on this matter,” he informed.

“With the gun ban, all permits to carry firearms outside residence issued by the PNP to civilian gun holders are suspended except for regular members of the PNP and AFP on duty and in full uniform and members of government agencies who are actually performing law enforcement and/or security functions,”

Soria added.The Comelec resolution also exempts members of privately-

owned or operated security, investigative, protective or intelli-gence agencies subject to some provisions, Justices of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, Sandiganbayan, Court of Tax Appeals and judges of regional, municipal/metropolitan/circuit trial courts and security personnel of accredited foreign diplomatic corps and establishments under international law.

AT LEAST eight (8) more towns in the region were included to the new list of areas to be covered by the national govern-ment’s anti-poverty program.

The new towns that would be covered under the so-called set six of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) are Tunga and Isabel, both in Leyte; Anahawan and Padre Burgos in Southern Leyte; and Lawaan, Guiuan, Mercedes and Sulat, all in Eastern Samar.

The eight towns have combined beneficiaries of about 6,800 families.

The 4Ps, which is also known as the conditional cash transfer(CCT) program, aim to reduce poverty incidence in the country by providing financial assistance to the poorest of the poor by following certain criteria.

These criteria’s includes enrolling children into public schools, getting regular check-ups at the doctor’s office, receiv-ing vaccinations.

Secretary Corazon Soliman together with municipal mayors of the eight towns and governors headed by Southern Leyte Governor Damian Mer-cado signed a memorandum of agreement for the implementa-tion of the set 6 of the program.

Soliman said that since they implemented the pro-gram, poverty incidence has dropped to 30 percent or a decrease of 20 percent from the previous record.

“But even if we’re able to lower our poverty incidence, the government will not stop because we want to ensure to attain zero poverty incidence in our country,” Soliman said. (Roel Amazona)

AS THE government begins to implement the FY 2013 budget, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) likewise starts preparing anew the FY 2014 budget.

As a kick-off activity of the whole budget preparation process, DBM RO8 will conduct a Regional Budget Forum on January 15, 2012 at DBM RO8 Conference Room, Marasbaras, Tacloban City.

DBM Regional Director Imelda C. Laceras stressed the need to attend to the forum of the invited participants for 2014 budget shall be prepared with many breakthroughs in budgeting.

As a glimpse to how 2014 budget shall be prepared, Dir. Laceras enunciated that the 2014 budget process shall be un-dertaken within the context of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) or the budget itself as a budgetary release document.

This attempt would make the national budget more trans-parent and accountable as it would try to eliminate lump-sum funds in agency budget and categorically specify where the funds are intended for.

Aside from the discussion of the budget framework, gen-eral procedures and specific guidelines for the FY 2014 budget preparation, the forum shall likewise tackle the guidelines on the release of funds for FY 2013.

The forum shall be done in two batches, i.e., in the morning of January 15, which shall be attended by heads and Financial Management Officer (FMO)/Budget Officers and Accountants of State Universities and Colleges (SUCs), TESDA RO and schools, CHED and DPWH RO and its engineering districts; and in the afternoon of the same day, which shall be attended likewise by the same representatives of Department of Educa-tion RO and Schools Division Offices, Department of Health RO and supervised direct release hospitals, and regional line agencies where budgets are directly handled by the different Bureaus in DBM Central Office like Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources, (DENR) Department of Agri-culture (DA), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), DTI, DILG, DOTC and DAR.

To sustain citizens’ participation in the budget process, civil society organizations (CSOs) are urged as well to attend the forum.

Should there be any requests for clarifications and sugges-tions as to the conduct of the forum and other CSOs’ concerns, the DBM RO VIII CSO-Desk headed by CBMS Josefina P. Escoto can be reached at 523-1162/7456/1523 and 325-7848.

TACLOBAN CITY – At least P237.76 million savings was generated by the Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from 2012 projects, the agency reported.

The reports said that 6.29% of the P3.77 billion approved budget contract for the year was saved and will be used for other projects.

Regional Director Ro-lando Asis said that they were able to surpass the P136 million savings recorded a year ago.

“Mechanisms for com-petitive and transparent bid-ding process have been ob-served. The department has allowed representatives from civil society organizations to observe bidding procedures,” he said.

Savings refer to the amount realized from projects funded under the DPWH an-nual infrastructure program as a result of value engineer-ing and competitive bidding processes.

“Our savings was primar-ily used for extension and widening of roads, provision of drainage facilities, slope protection works, and instal-lation of directional signs and road safety devices,” he added.

Of the 327 projects, 311 have been completed as of end of December 2012 de-spite weather disturbances. Completion rate could have been higher if the budget was disbursed before the rainy season.

The region has a total na-tional road length of 2,453.52 kilometers with 1,422.72 kms classified as primary arte-rial and 1,031.15 as secondary roads.

As of third quarter of 2012, at least 1,625.93 kms of the national highway is con-crete and 542,562 kms with asphalt overlay.

The official claimed that the region is on track of pav-ing all primary national roads by 2014 and concreting of all secondary highways by 2016. (SQM)

TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) here in the region re-ported that bridges destroyed by past typhoons are to be rehabilitated.

Also to undergo some repair works are those bridges that are now in bad condition due to “old age,” Edgar Taba-can, DPWH assistant regional director, said.

“Under calendar year 2013 infrastructure program, the DPWH will ensure that the bridges in the region will

Repair of damaged bridges in the region assured

See REPAIR page 3...

‘Marijuana’ dealer arrested in Tacloban CityON OR ABOUT 6:20 in the evening of January 11, 2013,

a strike team of PDEA RO VIII netted one Bernardo Quilaquil Claridad, who was arrested in the act of selling one piece of heat-sealed transparent sachet containing suspected dried marijuana leaves to a law enforcer posing as buyer.

In a report to USec. Arturo G. Cacdac, Jr, PDEA Director General, Dir. Gil T. Pabilona of PDEA Eastern Visayas said that Claridad, 42 years old, married and a welder/construction worker residing at El Reposo Street, Tacloban City, sold the dangerous drug to the poseur-buyer for five hundred pesos, which subscribed money was recovered from his possession.

Aside from the marijuana and marked money, an identifi-cation card was also taken from the suspect, who will be facing

cases of violation of Section 5 or the Sale of Dangerous Drugs and Section 11 or Possession of Dangerous Drugs.

Atty. Gil T. Pabilona, PDEA RO VIII Regional Director, warned other persons engaged in the sale of dangerous drugs thus: “Just because our operatives have been instructed to go after high value targets, does not mean that we have minimized our monitoring of low-level drug trafficking activities in our area of responsibility. Section 5 or the Sale of Dangerous Drugs is punished by life imprisonment and payment of a fine of five hundred thousand to ten million pesos if found guilty by the Court, whereas Section 11 carries with it a lighter penalty.

Claridad is presently under the custody of the PDEA Cus-todial team. (PR)

DSWD Sec. Dinky Soliman

ENVIRONMENTJANUARY 8 - 14, 2013 For alerts and feedback, e-mail at mysolotrek@gmail.com Website: www.issuu.com/samarweeklyexpress 3

Congressional aspirants in Guiuan town trade raps on “mangrove-cutting” issue

ROXAS from page 1 ...

Samar Weekly Express

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REPAIR from page 2 ...

CATBALOGAN CITY -- Paranas Mayor Felix Babalcon, in his recent annual State of the Municipality Address (SOMA) urged his constituents to preserve the remaining forest cover in their municipality.

Citing the recent tragedy in Mindanao as example, the town chief said “… because of neglect and abuse in their environment, they suffered a lot in consequence.”

In a document Ulot Watershed Eco-tourism Development Plan, it is said that the town of Paranas has 57% jurisdiction over the large watershed in Samar Island. Its municipal profile adds that of the total land area of 55, 612 hectares, some 45, 573 hectares are classified as forest land.

“If we abuse our forest and the remaining trees in the man-groves, which serve as our natural defense during harsh winds and heavy rains, this will spell disaster. As the roots seep excess waters, it prevents swollen rivers and streams,” he lectured about the forest-flood dynamics.

The mayor also lauded the different people’s organization based in the Ulot Watershed with the DENR implementing the National Greening Program of the Aquino administration. These people’s organizations are conducting reforestation projects with funding from DENR, the mayor said.

He also called on the people of Paranas to continue protect-ing the forest covers by planting trees and not engaging in illegal activities in the forest such as poaching and kaingin.

said the signing of the poll treaty is initiated by the Commis-sion on Elections and the Philippine National Police in Eastern Visayas and supported by the Diocese of Calbayog. “This (effort) comes after Samar province was identified as one of the areas of concerns in the upcoming elections due to its history of heated electoral contests,” said Noval Jr. Sec. Roxas arrived in Calbayog City at around 9 o’clock and met regional and provincial officials, leaders of government agencies and civil society groups based in Samar. After Roxas talked, pledges of commitment were given simul-taneously by Comelec regional director Jose Nick A. Mendros, PNP director Elmer R. Soria, Maj. Gen. Gerardo T. Layug, 8ID Commander, among other guests. The candidates, on the other hands, after signing the covenant released white balloons and doves which symbolizes the start of a “peaceful elections.” Organizers said they were optimistic that with the local poli-ticians’ signing the agreement, as well as with the commitment and vigilance of the media, civil society and of voters, politicians would match their word with actions to pursue peaceful and credible elections in the province. (Ricky Bautista)

Preserve forest cover, town mayor urged constituents

“We should protect our forest, not only because most of our livelihood is derived from it but because these remaining forests cover is also protecting us.”

Meanwhile, the mayor recalled that when Typhoon Quinta threatened to hit Paranas, he immediately dispatched a team composed of policemen and rescue units to monitor the local situation. Luckily, the mayor said no one was hurt in the natural calamity in his area of concern. (Avah Ebalde/PIA)

proper ceremony started. Sec. Roxas talked as well as all the PNP, AFP, DILG, Comelec regional leaders, encouraging all the candidates not to resort in unfair election.

“We hope that by this signing of a peace covenant, the upcoming May 13, 2013 election would be peaceful,” says one of the speakers.

Earlier, the PNP and DILG considered the province of Samar, with a voting population of 481,275 in its two cities and 24 municipalities, as one of the “priority areas” to watch as it was also considered “hot spot” as evidenced by numerous cases of killings and violence recorded in the previous elections.

The police said some of the influential politicians in Samar hired the services of “guns for hire” and employ “private armed group” to ensure their election winnings. Notably, a huge num-ber of election candidates blatantly resorted to massive vote buying, harassment and election cheating. No one, however, was charged by this manipulation of votes.

Most Rev. Bishop Isabelo Abarquez during his mass also encouraged the politicians to ensure “pure and clean” winnings.

At the end, candidates, after signing the poll covenant released on air several white balloons and doves – a symbol of purity and clean election 2013.

“The beauty of democracy shines brightly with upright leaders, enlightened citizenry and vigilant community,” says Police Chief Supt. Elmer Soria.

“The voice of the people is the voice of God. Let the people decides, that’s the essence of a true democracy,” Sec Roxas said in Filipino.

Other observers in the area prayed that the candidates re-ally follow what they said, promised and signed. “We know that fact that they will still resort to vote buying and other election cheating, hopefully they will not,” one observer opined. (Ricky Bautista)

be cared of, in which 34 identified bridges will undergo a repair, rehabilitation and strengthening program,” Tabacon said.

These 34 bridges are from Biliran, Bagumbong Bridge; Leyte’s 1st district, San Juanico Bridge; 2nd district Bosay Bridge, Balagnon Bridge and Libag Bridge; 3rd district, Bawod Bridge, Katmon Bridge, Hacienda Ma-ria Bridge, Manlawaan Bridge, Taping Bridge, Tapunok Bridge and Ul-og Bridge; 5th district are Tagpuan Bridge, Ugkaan Bridge and Ilosig Bridge.

In Southern Leyte, DPWH is set to rehabilitate and strength, Agas- agas Bridge, Bugasong Bridge, Kawayan Bridge, Divisoria Bridge and the replacement of the tem-porary to permanent bridges in Salvacion bridges 1 and 2.

Also to be rehabilitated are the following bridges in Northern Samar:Kalab-og Bridge, Lam-og Bridge, Indikita Bridge, Marayanduyon Bridge, Palanit Bridge and San Miguel Bridge; Samar 1st district are Bugtong Bridge, Malaga Bridge, Manok – manok Bridge, Pinya Bridge and Rosales Bridge; 2nd Catbalogan divisoria Bridge, Rawis and Bagacay Bridge.

Tabacon further disclosed that this program has already been bid out and ready for implementation this year.

However, he admitted that they are still to wait for the statement of allocation release order (SARO).

“We are ready for the implementation for this pro-gram in which this will be immediately implemented upon the receipt of the SARO,” he disclosed.

“Immediately, award and notice to proceed will be issued to the winning bidders or contractors for this program,” he added.

Meanwhile, Palanit Bridge in Northern, Samar has the biggest allocation at P 50 million, Tabacon said.

(Robert Francisco)

THE cutting of man-groves incident in Guiuan town, Eastern Samar has turn into a political issue as the two candidates seeking for the lone congressional district of the province both accused each other of exploiting it for politi-cal gains.

Guiuan town mayor, An-naliza Kwan, accused of il-legally cutting of mangroves in one of her villages, said that a “politician” is obviously behind on the filing of a com-plaint against her due to this alleged incident.

The mangrove- cutting incident resulted for Kwan to be charged before the Office of Environmental Ombudsman. She allegedly gave her order

for the project to go on despite of an absence of a permit from the Department of Environ-ment and Natural Resources (DENR).

“I firmly believe that there is a politician behind this is-sue. For obvious reasons, this is being done to besmirch my reputation. But my conscience is clear,” Kwan, who is now on her third and last term as mayor, said.

Kwan, who is seeking for the lone congressional district of Eastern Samar, however, did not name the politician who could be behind on this.

Her lone rival on her at-tempt to join the House of Representatives is the incum-bent Rep. Ben Evardone.

But Evardone, who is seeking for a possible second term under the Liberal Party, strongly denies the allegation of Kwan saying he has nothing to do with the issue.

“She should not put poli-tics on it because it was a clear violation of environ-mental laws….It is national government program to plant mangroves and yet Annaliz is condoning, if not, spearhead-ing the move to destroy man-groves” Evardone said.

“I have no hand in it. It is the initiative of her constitu-ents and barangay officials. I did not even know this local government unit project until the people complained against the destruction of the man-

groves,” he added. Kwan was charged before

the Office of Environmental Ombudsman by village of-ficials of Campoyong, where the alleged mangrove cutting took place July of last year.

Also charged was con-tractor Cosme Tiu Sonco, owner of the AI’s Enterprises and Construction, which was supposed to handle the resettlement project.

The mangroves were al-legedly cut to give way for a housing resettlement project by the National Housing Au-thority. About 300 families coming from Campoyong and Barangay 6 were identi-fied to benefit the project with an area of four hectares. (jag)

Reporters and cameramen covering the signing of election covenant took shots of the candidates in Samar signing their ‘pledges and commitment’ last January 13, 2013 in Sts. Peter and Paul Cathe-dral in Calbayog City. DILG Sec. Mar Roxas witnessed the event. (Hon. Step Tan photo)

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OPINION Samar Weekly Express

JANUARY 8 - 14, 2013For alerts and feedback, e-mail at mysolotrek@gmail.com

EDITORIALHoping for SAFE!

Overkill!?

Views on newsBy Ricky J. Bautista

trexpelunker@yahoo.com

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Cheating and political violence during elections are prac-tices that are hard to break. Before every elections, various groups come together for a covenant to work for a Secured and Fair Elections (SAFE).

Last Sunday, a peace covenant will be signed in Calbayog City in Samar, considered one of the country’s hotspots, by opposing political individuals and groups to be facilitated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

In the past elections, the biggest perpetrators of violence are political kingpins, who did not sign the covenant, and the New People’s Army (PNP), which is raising funds by extort-ing “permit-to-campaign fees” from candidates.

The PNP reported that the number of private armed groups in Eastern Visayas had been whittled down to two but with loose firearms still proliferating and few suspects being arrested. The potential for violence, however remains.

The Comelec, for its part, must do more than make a best efforts pledge to conduct credible elections. But among government agencies, the Comelec is one of the most set in its ways, resistant to reforms, impervious to criticisms of in-competence and complicity in cheating. Even eith automated elections, the public is unlikely to see any change in the way the Comelec does business.

Still, hope springs eternal. The vigilance of various sec-tors, including those who are not signatories to the covenant, can still deter fraud. Every vote saved from cheaters can still make a difference.

Whatever it is, whether it is a rubout or shootout, still it’s a massacre. It is overkill!

The debate on the “Atimonan 13” is getting hot. The possibil-ity that operatives involved in said checkpoint can be charged is now becoming near. Probers are getting more and more evidenced that there is no shootout, they’re more akin on the possibility of an ambush or planned assassination.

Why? All of the slain victims are all inside the cars. Only few of them managed to fire their guns. And not all of them have guns. Those slain police and military officers had no bad records, so far.

The NBI are trying to find out if the killing of 13 men at a checkpoint in Atimonan, Quezon on January 6 was a planned liquidation.

The operation was led by police officer Hansel Marantan, who has been linked to previous rubouts, but cases against him never prospered.

Question: Why the police still give him assignment that could lead to bloodbaths like this? Why was he assigned again to handling checkpoints where he is noted to be a “killing ma-chine?” There are many harmless office jobs available for cops with bloody reputations like officer Marantan. Why oh why General Alan Purisima, sir!?

-o0o-Covenant Signing in Samar.I would like to commend the efforts of the Philippine Na-

tional Police led by Police Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria, DILG in the region led by Atty. Nick Mendros, the Commission on Election and the Church sector led by Bishop Abarques for a job well done. You had successfuly gathered most of the local candidates and made them signed a “manifesto” or a commit-ment, a pledge that they will not resort to any kind of violence, unlawful ways just to win the May 13 elections.

As expected, many of the local candidates in Samar appeared wholeheartedly, affixed their signatures in the manifests.

We are praying though that this effort shouldn’t be thrown in the bastket. Though there are others who said that, still, those

See VIEWS p5...

OPINIONJANUARY 8 - 14, 2013

Samar Weekly Express

For alerts and feedback, e-mail at mysolotrek@gmail.com Website: www.issuu.com/samarweeklyexpress 5

DISCLAIMER:

Views expressed in the opinion and commentary sections do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Sa-mar Weekly Express. The SWE does not knowingly pub-lish false information and may not be held liable for the views of readers exercising their right to free expression. The publication, however, reserves the right to edit contributions for clarity, as it sees fit. --- Ed.

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Insubordination of the highest order?Acceptance and Abandonment

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IN this life, we need to acquire a good, healthy sport-ing spirit, because life is actually like a game. Yes, life is like a game. We set out to pursue a goal, we have to follow certain rules, we are given some means, tools and instruments, we are primed to win and we do our best, but losses can come, and yet, we just have to move on.

Woe to us when we get stuck with our defeats and failures, developing a loser’s mentality. That would be the epic fail that puts a period and a finis in a hanging narrative, when a comma, a colon or semi-colon would have sufficed.

We need a sporting spirit because life’s true failure can come only when we choose not to have hope. That happens when our vision and understanding of things is narrow and limited, confined only to the here and now and ignorant of the transcendent reality of the spiritual and supernatural world.

An indispensable ingredient of this healthy sporting spirit is the sense of acceptance and abandonment that we need to deliberately cultivate. This does not come automatically, as if it’s part of our genes. We have to develop them.

We have to learn to accept things the way they are or the way they can be. Yes, it’s true that we can shape things and events in our life. We can even shape, to a certain extent, persons.

There’s a certain validity to the saying that “life is what we make it.” But this cannot be true all the time. We cannot succeed in all our plans all the time, no matter how pure our intentions and heroic our deeds. Life has aspects outside our control.

It would be wrong to fall into anguish and bitterness just because of these frustrations. In the Book of Ecclesias-tes, we are already warned to be ready to accept all kinds of possible situations and predicaments.

Hints and Traces

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” What does it a profit if one works or not, is wise or not, if he succeeds or loses. Everything will just be the same in that everything ends and is thrown into Sheol, that is, into darkness and oblivion.

Of course, this Old Testament wisdom has a limited validity. It is imperfect and incomplete, in that it has not yet known the liberation and perfection brought about by Christ, the Son of God who became man precisely to save us.

But it is basis enough for us to develop an attitude of acceptance in life, which also has to be accompanied by an attitude of abandonment in the hands of God. This latter attitude is rooted on a richer truth that comes from our faith, our belief that there is God, our Creator and Father, who loves us and provides for us everything that we need.

We need to enliven our faith, detaching ourselves from the suffocating grip of our senses and reasoning alone that can only discern things to a certain extent, but not all the way. We need faith to put ourselves in the omniscient and omnipotent system of God.

As Pope Benedict said in his Letter, Porta fidei (Door of faith), that proclaimed the Year of Faith for 2012 to 2013, “there is no other possibility for possessing certitude with regard to one’s life apart from self-abandonment, in a continuous crescendo, into the hands of a love that grows constantly because it has its origin in God.” (7)

Only the doubters and skeptics, the agnostics and athe-ists subjectively exclude themselves from the all-embracing providence of God, who governs everything out of wisdom and love.

A certain sense of abandonment is needed in life. It surely is not the type where we just do nothing. It’s an active, intelligent abandonment, driven by faith and love for God.

We can know God, and know him a lot. We can cooper-ate with him, and cooperate with him a lot. But we cannot know him completely, nor cooperate with him 100%.

Someone said that if anyone claims to know God com-pletely, and by corollary, to cooperate with him completely, we can be sure that that God is not the real God, for God, while knowable and relatable, always transcends our ways. So trust, a sense of abandonment, is unavoidable.

Christ, the fullness of divine revelation, himself taught us to live a certain sense of abandonment. And he lived it to perfection when he abandoned himself to the will of his Father by accepting his death on the cross.

Let’s meditate on his passion and death often.

LIFE’S INSPIRATIONS: “… And God spoke all these words… `You shall not murder’…” (Exodus 20:13, the Holy Bible).

-o0o-“INSUBORDINATION OF THE HIGHEST ORDER”? Let

me get this straight: the January 06, 2013 operation that killed 13 men in Atimonan, Quezon Province was actually submitted to Malacanang, through the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) since October 2012 yet, but was not ap-proved by PAOCC officials before it was carried out?

So, how come Supt. Hansel Marantan, the head of the police team that killed the 13, and his group proceeded to carry out the operation---codenamed “Coplan Armado”---just the same? Was that not insubordination of the highest order? Or, was it the classic case of “ok, you can do it, but if you get caught later, I will have nothing to do with it, or, you are on your own if something goes wrong?”

Whatever happened here, this is totally frightening. Imagine, police officers can kill---several people, including policemen and military men at that---according to an “operation plan” that had not been previously approved or at the very least discussed? What, really, is happening to our country, general?

-o0o-

RE-POSSESSING THE RUNWAY OF PAGADIAN AIR-PORT: Lawyer Ganie Abubacar, the counsel of Sominal Taug---or the representative of the heirs who have been declared as the rightful owners of the runway of the Pagadian City Airport---sent me a copy of a letter signed by Sominal, notifying the airport management and other government officials of her intention to “repossess” the runway. Here are parts of the letter: “December 8, 2012, Muricay, Pagadian City. Mr. Jose Bodiongan, Airport Area Manager, Pagadian Airport Pagadian City.”

“Dear Manager: In an order dated November 19, 2012 issued by the Regional Trial Court of Pagadian City, Branch 18, in Civil Case No. 4382-2K2, a copy of which was already furnished to the defendants, the (court) decreed:

“Wherefore, the foregoing premises considered the DOTC through the Department Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya, the Chief Budget Division Marisam Malabag, the Chief of Account-ing Division Edna C. Tapar, Department Cashier Ofelia D. Vera, and the CAAP Officials through Lt. Gen. William K. Hotchkiss III, CAAP Director General and Jose Bodiongan, Pagadian City Airport Manager, are hereby ordered to facilitate the payment of the FIVE MILLION (P5,000,000.00) Pesos to the plaintiffs.”

-o0o-

GOV’T IGNORING CLAIMS OF OWNERS: “Until now however, not one of the afore-named acted accordingly to manifest their intention to comply with the afore-quoted order. It seems that this order is bound to be consigned to the limbo of another delay to the great damage and prejudice of the plaintiffs whose private property was unjustly sequestered by the Govern-ment for the construction of the Airport of Pagadian City…

“Under all the foregoing circumstances, it now becomes clear to the plaintiffs that they are left no alternative but to re-possess their private property which have been utilized by the present Pagadian City Airport, and from which the defendants have already earned sizeable revenue since the operation of the airport several years ago.

“The repossession of the airport by the plaintiffs is precisely in accordance with the Constitution and the pertinent provisions of the Civil Code of the Philippines and the statement of the Court. It is the earnest hope of the plaintiffs that you and the other personnel of the airport will not stand in the way of the restora-tion of the private property to its lawful owners, the plaintiffs…”

-o0o-

REACTIONS? Please call me at 0917 984 24 68, 0918 574 0193, 0922 833 43 96. Email: batasmauricio@yahoo.com.

candidates may still resort to vote-buying, dirty tricks, mud-slinging, “epal” maneuvers, I hope this shouldn’t be the case.

They should follow the rules of a “clean election.”Maaram man kita nga yana pala, damo na it mga kapal

muks ha Samar nga sige na it libot-libot pagpinanlamano bisan dire election campaign. Amo na ine ang mga kapal muks!

And, I hope the COMELEC will also be serious in monitor-ing and charging those candidates violating the “golden rules.”

Para naman at least, mapamatud-an niyo dida ha Comelec nga dire kamo nababaydan, sugad hit nagsasarang nga mga iru-istorya. Dire naman ngani ito sekreto, di ba?

-o0o-Pass the FOI bill now! Here let me pass with my avid readers the sentiments of fel-

low journalists, biggest media affiliations airing the strong mes-sage to the world. This is particularly addressed to the present administration of Mr. Noynoy Aquino and the Supreme Court.

“To the House of Representatives: Get down to work, assure a quorum, focus work on the FOI bill in the last nine session days of the 15th Congress (Jan. 21 to Feb. 6, 2013). BALIK TRABAHO NA, SIGURADUING MAY QUORUM, TUTU-KAN ANG FOI BILL SA HILING NINE SESSION DAYS NG 15TH CONGRESS.

To the political parties: Take a party stand, support the FOI bill. MANINDIGAN BILANG PARTIDO PARA SA FOI BILL.

To the candidates in the May 13, 2013 elections: Deliver on your promise to pass the FOI bill, before making any new promises to secure our votes. We will remember those who will kill the FOI bill, when we vote on May 13. TUPARIN ANG INYONG PANGAKO NA ISABATAS ANG FOI BILL. OBLI-GASYON NIIYO ITO SA ILALIM NG 1987 CONSTITUTION. TATANDAAN NG MGA BOTANTE KUNG SINO ANG NAG-SULONG, AT KUNG SINO ANG PUMASLANG SA FOI BILL.

To President Aquino: Lead, make good on your promise as a candidate in May 2010 that you will assure the passage of the FOI bill. ANG PANGAKO BIILANG KANDIDATO, DAPAT MATUPAD NGAYONG IKAW AY PANGULO NA. ANG PANGAKO AY PANGAKO, HINDI DAPAT MAPAKO.

To the House members pushing a right-of-reply provision in the FOI bill: Delink FOI and ROR. Public office is a public trust, hence media has an obligation to pry and probe, critique and censure public officials and issues vested with public inter-est. Libel laws, and self-regulation mechanisms are in place in most media agencies. ANG FOI AT ROR, HIWALAY NA

USAPIN. ANG PUBLIC OFFICE AY PUBLIC TRUST KAYA’T OBLIGASYON NG MEDIA NA MAGSURI AT MAMUNA. MAY LIBEL LAWS AT SELF-REGULATION ANG PRACTICE NG MEDIA.”

Note: above is one of the pooled editorials of all media outlets in the country. In my next issue of VON, I will try to bring some answers to the queries related to FOI, so watch out folks!

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Republic of thePhilippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

8th Judicial RegionBranch 27

Bulwagan ng KatarunganCatbalogan City, Samar

HOME DEVELOPMENT MUTUAL FUND

(PAG-IBIG FUND),Mortgagee,

versusGONZALO L.SARVIDA, JR.

Mortgagor,EJF # 21-12

Extra-Judicial Foreclo-sure Real Estate Mort-

gage Under Act 3135 as amended by Act 4118x- - - - - - - - - - - -x

SHERIFF’S NOTICE OF PUBLIC AUCTION

SALEUpon extra-judicial peti-

tion for sale under Act 3135, as amended by Act 4118, fi led on October 30, 2012, by HOME DEVELOPMENT MUTUAL FUND (otherwise known as

Pag-IBIG Fund), mortgagee-petitioner, with principal and offi ce address at cor. Del Pilar and L. Jaena Sts., Tacloban City, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the original Mortgage Loan Agreement dated September 12, 2002, signed in due form by GON-ZALO L. SARVIDA, JR., mortgagor-respondent, with residence and postal address at Lot 12, Block 3, Catbalo-gan City Homes, Brgy. Jia-an, Jiabong, Samar, in favor of HDMF (Pag-IBIG Fund), Ta-cloban City in order to satisfy the mortgage debt of PESOS: ONE MILLION SEVENTY THOUSAND EIGHT HUN-DRED FORTY SIX PESOS & 25/100 (Php1,070,846.25) Philippine currency, including interest and penalty charges as of July 20, 2012, but, ex-clusively of attorney’s fees, legal costs, sheriff’s fee and expenses of foreclosure, the Ex-Officio Sheriff of RTC, Catbalogan City, Samar, by and thru the undersigned, will sell at public auction on January 30, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. or soon thereafter to 2:00 p.m. at RTC Branch 27, Cat-balogan City, Samar, to the highest bidder, for CASH OR MANAGER’S CHECK and

in Philippine currency, the following property with all its improvements, to wit:

“TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF

TITLE No. T-12797A parcel of land desig-

nated as Lot 12, Block 3 of the consolidation subdivision of Pcs-08-000592-D, being a portion of Lot 24-26, Block 1, Lots 1-13, Blk. 2; Lot 1, Blk. 3; Lots 1-12, Blk. 4; Lots 1-12, Blok 5; Lots 1-12, Blk 6; Lots 1-12, Blk 7; Lots 1-12, Blk. 8; Lots 1-3, Blk 49; Road Lots 1-2-3, Alley 1-2-3-4-5-6, Psd-08-008642-D; situated in the Brgy. of Jia-an, Municipality of Jiabong, Province of Samar, Island of Samar, bounded on the SE. along line 1-2 by Lot 11, Blk 2; on the SW. along line 2-3 by Road Lot 4; on the NW. along line 3-4-5 by Road Lot 4 and on the NE, along line 5-1 by Lot 13, Blk 3, all of the subdivision beginning at a point marked “1” on plan being S. 44 deg. 19’E., 452.92 m. from BBM # 18; Cad. 255, thence S. 53 deg. 39’W., 17.51 m. to point 2; thence N. 00 deg. 35’W., 11.56 m. to point 3; thence N. 26 deg. 32’E., 1.37 m. to point 4; thence 53 deg. 39’E. 9.53 m. to point 5; thence S. 36 deg. 21’E. 10.00 m. to point of beginning; containing an area of ONE HUNDRED THIRTY NINE (139) SQUARE METERS, more or less.”

Prospective buyers may investigate for themselves the title herein above described

and encumbrances thereon, if any there be.

In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on February 6, 2013 without FURTHER NOTICE.

Catbalogan City, Samar, Philippines this 27th day of December 2012.

(Sgd.) ANDREW F. MALLARISheriff IV

SWE January 1 - 7; 8 - 14 & 15 - 21, 2013 Issues

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Republic of the Philippines

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT

8th Judicial RegionCatbalogan, Samar

Offi ce of the Executive Judge

RE: PETITION FOR RENEWAL OF

APPOINTMENT AS NOTARY

PUBLIC FOR AND IN THE

PROVINCE OF SAMAR AND THE

CITY OF CALBAYOGATTY. EDILBERTO G.

MORALESPetitioner

NOTICE OF HEARING

Notice is hereby given that a summary hearing on the petition for notarial commis-sion of Atty. EDILBERTO G. MORALES shall be held on Jnauary 25, 2013 at 11:00 in the morning. Any person who has any cause or reason to object to the grant of the peti-tion may fi le a verifi ed written opposition thereto before the date of the summary hearing.January 9, 2013, Catbalogan City, Samar

(Sgd.) AGERICO A. AVILA

Executive Judge

Date of Posting: SWE January 8-14, 2013

dog bites and wounds.BIR Revenue Regu-

lation 17-2012 dated Dec. 21, 2012, pre-scribes higher tax rates on tobacco and alcohol products.

For distilled spirits, the excise tax rate, based on the net retail price per proof, is 15 percent from January 1, 2013 until Jan. 1, 2014. Th e rate will increase to 20 percent eff ective Janu-ary 2015 onwards.

The excise tax on fermented liquor in-cluding beer is P15 per liter for products whose net retail price per liter of volume capacity is P50.60 or less eff ective Jan. 1, 2013. This will go up to P17 per liter in 2014; P19 per liter in 2015; P21 per liter in 2016 and P23.50 per liter in 2017.

F o r c i g a r e t t e s packed by machine and with a net retail price per pack of P11.50 and below, the excise tax rate is P12 per pack eff ective Jan. 1, 2013.

The rate will in-crease to P17 per pack in 2014, P21 per pack in 2015, P25 per pack in 2016 and P30 per pack in 2017.

Spot check at sev-eral retails outlets in Tacloban showed an increase of P5 in one bottle of Beer Grande and Red Horse, from P60/bottle to P65/bottle.

A stick of cigarette now costs P1 higher while the price of one pack of cigarette is higher by at least P15. (PIA 8)

Tests conducted by the National Telecom-munications Commission (NTC) once again con-firmed that the mobile network of wireless leader Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) delivers supe-rior service compared to competition.

In its latest official press release, the NTC disclosed that not only did Smart pass all fi ve Key Per-formance Indices (KPIs) for Q4 2012, but that it got far better results in every category.

“In the last series of NTC network tests we already scored 5-0. Once again, our performance numbers speak for itself,” said PLDT-Smart Spokes-person Ramon Isberto.

NTC test prove

Smart is good

TUBA from p7 ...

NEWS Samar Weekly Express

For your advertising needs, call us at 055-251-2341/053-321-4833JANUARY 8 - 14, 2013 7

MANIL A - SAN Juan City Rep. JV Ejer-cito Estrada urged the Philippine National Po-lice (PNP) to intensify its campaign against loose firearms to curb gun violence in the country.

Ejerc ito Est rada made the statement amid renewed calls for tougher gun control laws following the death of 23 people in separate inci-dents barely a few days into 2013.

A seven-year-old girl from Caloocan City died after she was hit by a stray bullet in the head while watching fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

TUBA aficionados, anywhere in the country and abroad, need not worry that the price of their favorite coconut toddy will increase.

The price of tuba or coconut toddy which is the native wine in Eastern Visayas or in the Waray regionfor that matter, will not be affected by the Sin Tax Reform Law of 2012 which took effect on Janu-ary 1, 2013.

Bureau of Internal Revenue Tacloban As-sistant District Revenue Officer Susan Cabello said the Implementing Rules and Regulations that paved the way for the effectively of Republic Act 10351 or An Act Re-structuring the Excise Tax on Alcohol and Tobacco issued on December 21, was very definite on this issue.

Section 3 of the Im-plementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 10351 reads “Sec-tion 143 of the National Internal Revenue Code of 1997, as amended by Republic Act No. 9334, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

Section 143 of said Act (Fermented Liquors) – There shall be levied, assessed and collected an excise tax on beer, lager beer, ale, porter and other fermented liquors except tuba, basi, tapuy and simi-lar fermented liquors in accordance with the fol-lowing schedule: Effective on January 1, 2013…”

The National Internal

THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) expressed deep concern over another in-cident involving another woman who introduced herself as PDEA agent and extorted money.

PDEA Director General Undersecretary Ar-turo G. Cacdac, Jr. said that the prevailing imper-sonation of PDEA agents happened all over again, citing in particular the recent arrest of Maricar Lazarte, a 31-year-old woman who posed as an operative of PDEA, during an entrapment opera-tion on December 30, 2012.

Lazarte was arrested in a trap hatched by ele-ments of Caoayan, Ilocos Sur Police after receiving a complaint from Michelle Avila, 37 years old, that the suspect demanded money from her in exchange for the dropping of Avila’s name from the PDEA’s watch list of drug personalities in the province. Lazarte even threatened to harm Avila’s family.

Police reports revealed that Avila, fearing for her life, agreed to the demand of Lazarte and gave her P127,000 which was paid in two transactions during the month.

Lazarte was caught red-handed after receiving the marked money amounting to P 5,000 from Avila along the national road of Sitio Pagbaksayan, Barangay Don Lorenzo Querubin, Caoayan, Ilocos Sur.

The suspect allegedly asked for protection money from drug pushers in Caoayan, in exchange for their removal from the provincial list of drug personalities.

“According to the records of PDEA Regional Office 1 Watch List and Master List of Confidential Agents, neither Lazarte nor Avila’s name exists. Our adversaries might think that we are protecting their people. We are not in the business of tagging names of drug personalities and let them go scot-free in exchange for money. The only way for them to get their names off our list is by landing behind bars,” Cacdac said.

Cacdac stated that there is nothing new about this tactic of impersonating people with authority to perform illegal activities. “On August 16, 2012, a certain Jocelyn Mendoza-Domingo was arrested

JV asks PNP to intensify crackdown on loose firearms

Also, a shooting ram-page in Kawit, Cavite left nine people dead on Jan. 4. A few days after, 13 people were killed in a shootout in Quezon province.

The young lawmaker expressed apprehension that incidents of gun vio-lence may increase if the PNP will not be able to immediately track down and apprehend the own-ers of some 500, 000 il-legal firearms.

“The PNP must be able to account for these loose firearms especially since the Philippines is already in the thick of preparations for the May

2013 elections,” he said.Violent incidents

tend to go up as Election Day nears. Ejercito Estra-da said the government particularly the PNP must be able to assure Filipi-nos that it is capable of safeguarding their lives as well as the sanctity of the ballot.

He challenged PNP Director General Alan Purisima to prove that President Benigno Aqui-no III made the right de-cision in appointing him as national police chief and in entrusting him with the task of maintain-ing peace and order in the country. JV EJERCITO ESTRADA

‘Impostor’ PDEA agent nabbed in trap hatch

for swindling after introducing herself as ‘Lieuten-ant Colonel Josephine Mendoza’ from PDEA and fraudulently enlists people who will be deputized as roving PDEA agents, in Sta. Maria, Bulacan,” he said.

The PDEA chief reiterated his call to the public to be watchful of persons claiming to be PDEA agents and verify their identity from the nearest PDEA regional office.

“We will not tolerate unscrupulous people who mas-querade as agents j u s t t o t a r n i s h t h e i n -tegrity of P D E A ,” t h e P D E A chief said.

L o -cally, the PDEA in Region 8 e n j o i n s the public to report any such incidents involving individu-a ls who i m p e r -s o n a t e their em-p l o y e e s and call P D E A RO VIII at (053) 323 7955 and 323 - 7887 and m o b i l e numbers 09216392

3 9 4 a n d 09166496

708 if in doubts.

‘Tuba’ from Waray-waray region not affected by Sin Tax Law implementation

Revenue Code of 1977 did not include tuba because it is not qualified as a big time industry, it is only a small time business, the BIR Tacloban District Revenue official added.

Thus, it is clear that tuba is exempted from the implementation of RA 10351. Also exempted are basi which is the native wine of the Ilocanos and tapuy which is the native rice wine of the people in the Mountain Province.

Tu b a i s m a d e through a process of ex-tracting the sap of an unopened coconut bud. It has a stinging sweet and bittersweet taste. The tip of the bud is lopped and the pale juice allowed trickling into bamboo containers. A sturdy tree yields about a gallon of liquid daily.

From coconut water, comes a syrup concen-trate for tuba. Tuba is a sweet, fresh or mildly fermented sap taken from

tapping the young ex-panded flowers of the coconut. Tuba is clean because it really has natu-ral contents. It is a natural juice from the coconut, so it has nutrients and vita-mins that are also found in the coconut tree itself. And the barok (powdered mangrove bark) which gives the orange-red color to the tuba, is also a natu-ral product.

There are known health benefits of tuba, thus, it became more pop-ular among those living in rural areas because it is where big coconut plan-tations are found. Tuba is cheaper than other ar-tificial medicines used to cure the ailments or other health problems. This kind of vinegar acts as heat trapper, thus people with fever wipe tuba vin-egar all over their body. Other people use the vin-egar as disinfectant for

See TUBA p6

AKLAN, Philippines -- A livelier and more upbeat celebration of this year’s Ati-Atihan Festival – widely-known as the “Mother of All Festivals” – is set to happen this Monday, January 14, 2013.

The Ati-Atihan Festival is a feast held annually in January in honor of the Senior Santo Niño (Infant Jesus), concluding on the third Sunday, in the island and town of Kalibo, Aklan in the Philippines.

In a statement sent to SWE, organizers said hottest stars from Manila will also come to partici-pate in the spectacular fete.

A Kapuso Night (a night with GMA artists) filled with dancing, music and other merry-making activities takes place at the Pastrana Park at 6:00 PM. Set to lead the celebration are lovely Kapuso leading ladies Kris Bernal and Louise delos Reyes, together with Party Pilipinas mainstay Mark Bau-tista.

Celebrities stars in Ati-Atihan Festival in Aklan

Last Januar y 11, two homegrown hearththrobs, Aljur Abrenica and Mark Herras, graced the “Mutya Ag Lakan It Kalibo 2013 Grand Pageant Finale and Coronation Night” which happened at the Gov. Augusto B. Legaspi Sports and Cultural Center.

Aljur serenaded the female contes-tants while Mark acted as one of the event’s judges. In this year’s pageant, a total of 24 finalists vied for the crown and titles of Mutya and Lakan of Kalibo Ati-Atihan.

GMA Iloilo Sta-tion Manager, Mr. Jonathan Cabillon,

says “GMA Network is very much excited to take part in one of the most colorful and rhythmic Philippine Festivals, the Ati-Atihan. Our artists have prepared long and hard for their participation, and we look forward to the Kapusong Aklanons’ delight.”

The full details of the Network’s par-ticipation in the 2013 Ati-Atihan Festival will be featured in the weekly travelogue “Let’s Fiesta” airing on January 27 via the Network’s regional stations in Bicol, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Dagupan, Ilocos, GenSan, Bacolod, and CDO.

Meanwhile, the name “Ati-Atihan” means “to be like Aetas” or “make believe

See CELEBRITIES page 8...

Ati-Atihan Festival in Kalibo, Aklan

Pinoy boxing hero to fight in April 2013

Pacquiao eyeing 2 foes

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JANUARY 8 - 14, 2013 Page 8

Ati’s.” Aetas were the primary settlers in the islands according to history books. They too are the earliest settlers of Panay Island where the province of Aklan is situated.

The festival consists of tribal dance, music, accompanied by indigenous costumes and weapons, and parade along the street. Christians and non-Christians observe this day with religious processions. It has inspired many other Philippine Festivals including the Sinulog Festival of Cebu and Dinagyang of Iloilo, both adaptations of the Kalibo Ati-Atihan Festival.

The phrase “Hala Bira! Pwera Pasma!” is originally associated with the Sto. Nino Ati-Atihan Festival as the revelers and devotees keep on going with the festivities all over the town from morning to the wee hours of the next morning, rain or shine, for one week or even more. They believe that the miraculous Child Jesus will protect them from harm and illness.

The highlight of the festival occurs on the last day, the third Sunday of January, when groups representing different tribes compete for tourists’ attention and prizes. The festival ends with a procession of thousands of people carrying torches and different kinds of images of the Santo Niño.

The Ati-Atihan was originally a pagan festival from this tribe practicing Animism, and their worshiping their anito god. Span-ish missionaries gradually added a Christian meaning. Today, the Ati-Atihan is celebrated as a religious festival. (Ricky Bautista)

CELEBRITIES from page 7 ...

MANNY Pacquiao’s much-awaited come-back fight in April is starting to take shape.

Two possible oppo-nents have been named and the fight could ei-ther take place April 13 or the week after.

As of the moment, former World Boxing Associat ion welter-weight champion Vy-acheslav Senchenko of Ukraine and undefeated Jessie Vargas of the US are being eyed to serve as foes for Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez.

On Friday, Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz re-vealed that they’re look-ing at staging the fight in Dubai, Singapore or Macau, marking the first time since July 2006 that the Filipino icon is strut-ting his stuff outside the US.

Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran is cur-rently holding talks with Marquez in Mexico City, discussing his rosy fu-

ture in the event he decides to resume fighting.A Bulletin contact in Mexico said the 34-year-

old Pacquiao is interested in taking the April 13 date, leaving Marquez with no choice but to go with April 20 and Pacquiao has the luxury of picking who among the 35-year-old Senchenko and 23-year-old Vargas will be his rival.

Armed with a 33-1-0 win-loss-draw record with 22 knockouts, the 5-10 Senchenko is best known for sending Ricky Hatton to retirement last year and he used to be trained by Freddie Roach.

Vargas, based in Las Vegas, has a 22-0 card with nine knockouts and one of the fast-rising contenders in the 147-lb division.

Top Rank chief Bob Arum said it would be great that Pacquiao and Marquez would engage in tuneup fights as they get ready for a fifth clash during the height of the Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 14.

(From the wires)

Manny Pacquiao prays in the ring before taking on Juan Manuel Marquez during their welterweight bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on December 8, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

PINOY boxing hero Manny Pacquiao is fighting in April and his camp is looking at three possible sites: Sin-gapore, Macau or Dubai.

Owing to the lure of paying a lower tax rate, Pacquiao is intent in bringing his act elsewhere other than the US.

Pacquiao adviser Mike Koncz said Top Rank chief Bob Arum will be heavily involved in staging Pacquiao’s rare fight outside the US and the fact that his stepson, Top Rank president Todd Duboef is meeting contacts in Asia is proof that plans are afoot for the Filipino to fight there.

‘’We’re fighting in April and we already have an op-ponent in mind,’’ said Koncz.

Franklin Gacal, who is Pacquiao’s lawyer, said fighting in Asia has been in their program even before the fourth fight with Juan Manuel Marquez last year.

‘’It’s for tax purposes,’’ said Gacal, noting that Pac-quiao’s purse won’t be heavily taxed if he fights in Asia.

Pacquiao just got back from his vacation in Hong Kong and Israel and has expressed his desire to get back into the ring even after suffering a stunning sixth-round knockout loss to Marquez at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Arum had floated the idea of featuring Pacquiao and Marquez in a double-header but Koncz said there is no sense putting them on the same night.

‘’Extra expenses,’’ said Koncz, stressing that Pacquiao can stand on his own as he remains a top attraction.

Meanwhile, Pacquiao publicist Fred Sternburg relayed an interesting bit of information yesterday about Pac-quiao’s suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission.

The Nevada commission had earlier came out with an order that Pacquiao will not be allowed to fight until the first week of April and should not engage in any contact (sparring) until the first week of March.

But Sternburg obtained a document saying the sus-pension is only up until March 9, 2013 and that he can’t engage in sparring until Feb. 7, 2013.

Pacquiao, 34, appears to be in high spirits despite a recent ‘’diagnosis’’ that was made by a Filipino doctor as he had passed a CT Scan moments after the Marquez defeat and his MRI less than a week after the fight didn’t show troubling signs.

Marquez, who turns 40 in August, is also being eyed to do one more fight in preparation for a fifth clash with Pacquiao during the Mexican Independence Day celebra-tions in September. (From the wires)

DILG Secretary MAR ROXAS (top photo) delivering his message while Police Chief Superintendent Elmer R. Soria, Regional Director of Police Regional Office 8 (center photo) signing as witness. Local candidates in the province of Samar also signed the “manifesto” of commitment to uphold “Secured and Fair Elections” (SAFE) at the Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Calbayog City, Samar.The effort was initiated by the PNP, DILG, AFP, Comelec, Church leaders, stakeholders of various people’s organizations in Samar. It was covered by local and Manila-based media organizations.