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Archive for June, 2006

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‘Bodol-bodol’ alive again

Posted by Michille on 30th June 2006

‘Bodol-bodol’ alive again - Sun.Star Bacolod!

TWO Bacolodnons lost a total of P194,000 in cash to a swindler who communicated with them thru cellular phone and instructed them to deposit money in various bank accounts.

The Bacolod City Police identified the victims as Mary Jane Tebe, 34, resident of Barangay Mansilingan; and Amabelle Lacson, 47, of Barangay Villamonte, both in Bacolod City.

Tebe lost her P170,000 while Lacson lost P24,000.

The victims, who were separately swindled, told the police that the same suspect who identified himself as William Golez duped them.

According to the victims, Golez introduced himself as the Philippine Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates.

In the case of Tebe, she told Police Station 7 investigator PO2 Lyndon Ortonio that Golez informed her that her husband allegedly stabbed his co-worker in Dubai and that her husband also sustained stab wounds and will be needing P165,000 for medical operations.

The victim added that Golez warned her not to tell anyone especially the police about this.

Tebe said at around 11 a.m. of Tuesday, she deposited the amount of P60,000 to the bank account of a certain Theresita Sobega with Account Number 352-523-3714.

By 12 p.m. of the same day, another P75,000 was wired to a certain Fernando Soriano Ocampo with address in Imus, Cavite. And another P35,000 was sent to Ocampo also through Western Union.

Golez informed Tebe that a certain Doctor Zuniega is the one attending her husband in Dubai.

The victim did not receive any call from the suspect after sending the money to the persons he referred.

Tebe then called her husband in Dubai to check if he is doing okay and told her about the information relayed to her by Golez. To her surprise her husband said that he did not get into a fight nor does he need medical attention.

While, Lacson received a call from Golez while she was attending a funeral of her neighbor at the Rolling Hills Cemetery in Barangay Estefania last June 24.

Golez demanded for P24,000 for the medical treatment of her husband, Eugenio Lacson, who reportedly killed his co-worker.

The suspect informed Lacson that a certain Dr. Fred Oribe from Puerto Princesa, Palawan, was attending to her husband in Manila.

Lacson immediately wired the amount to a certain Pete Lowell Stone of Dasmariñas, Cavite.

She said that it was too late when she knew that nothing had happened to her husband.

She then reported the incident at the Police Station 4 of the same day.

Bacolod City Police Office Director Pedro Merced said this modus operandi were used before.

His advise is: “The victims should verify first the report before entertaining the demand of the suspect.”

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RDDC XI gives financial assistance to landslide victims in Pantukan, Comval Province

Posted by Michille on 30th June 2006

RDDC XI gives financial assistance to landslide victims in Pantukan, Comval Province - PIA!

Davao City (30 June) — The landslide incident that occurred in Sitio Biasong, Brgy. Napnapan, Pantukan, Compostela Valley Province last June 19, 2006, 6:30 p.m. as a result of heavy rain, brought misfortune to the residents of the area. It resulted to the death of three (3) people and injured five (5) others. Six (6) shanties were totally destroyed.

It has been the commitment of the government to assist these victims the best it can in the form of financial assistance from the President’s Social Fund through the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council XI/Office of Civil Defense XI.

Dir. Carmelito Lupo, of the Office of Civil Defense XI personally handed the financial assistance to the victims and other beneficiaries. The amount of P10,000.00 each for the dead and P5,000.00 for the injured totaling to P45,000.00 was given in cash.

The victims assisted were : Dead - Jhonriel Tequillo, 16 yrs.old; Lady Jane Magdipig, 4 yrs.old; and Marilyn Magdipig, 33 yrs. old. Injured/Wounded (hospitalized at Davao Regional Hospital, Apokon, Tagum City - Erlinda Macadagat, 22 yrs. old; Eduardo Macadagat, 35 yrs. old; and Reynaldo Magdipig, 26 yrs. old. (RDCC XI/PIA)

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Arroyo ally warns vs probe of bishop

Posted by Michille on 30th June 2006

Arroyo ally warns vs probe of bishop - ABS-CBN News!

Administration congressman Prospero Pichay on Friday urged President Arroyo to stop insinuating that Caloocan City Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez should be investigated for filing an impeachment complaint against her.

Pichay told Magandang Umaga Pilipinas that Iñiguez broke no law since the bishop made it clear that he filed the complaint as a Filipino citizen and not as a member of the Church.

“So, I think Malacañan should refrain from saying the bishop should be investigated,” Pichay said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Thursday the President wants to find out if the bishop violated any doctrine in the Catholic Church when he filed the third complaint Wednesday.

Ermita said that the President was looking into an encyclical that Pope Benedict XVI had given her during her visit to the Vatican this week. Mrs. Arroyo was checking on the Catholic Church interpretation of what its officials should and should not do, especially in relation to politics, he added.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, meanwhile, said although the impeachment is a political matter Iñiguez intervened based on moral accounts of the complaint.

Cruz said whenever morality is in question, even if its about politics, members of the Church have the right to intervene.

Iñiguez became the third person to lead the filing of an impeachment complaint against the President on Wednesday.

The complaint’s contents were the same as those filed by Zenaida “Nini” Quezon-Avenceña and former vice-president Teofisto Guingona on Monday and Tuesday.

The complaint raises not only the issue of Mrs. Arroyo’s legitimacy but also allegations on the rash of political killings and corruption in the administration.

The complainants accused the President of having committed culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption and betrayal of public trust when she exercised “dictatorial powers to suppress the lawful exercise of the people’s right to free speech, expression, assembly, free press and information in connection with and the legislative power to inquire on, matters relating to or affecting the legitimacy of her presidency.”

The alleged culpable violations of the Constitution referred to the “patently illegal and blatantly unconstitutional issuances” such as Executive Order 464, Presidential Proclamation 1017 and the calibrated preemptive response, which were all struck down by the Supreme Court.

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China agrees to help build homes, schools – JDV

Posted by Michille on 30th June 2006

China agrees to help build homes, schools – JDV - The Manila Bulletin Online!

BEIJING — Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. said he had “fruitful talks” with China’s leader of parliament, Wu Bangguo, as he wrapped up official meetings here.

Chinese officials gave a “positive response” to the Philippine request for Beijing to build a million low-cost houses and 100,000 classrooms in the Philippines, De Venecia said.

The Speaker and his delegation were honored with a dinner at the Great Hall of the People by Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China. Wu praised De Venecia as a “political and economic visionary” of the Philippines and the region who has helped build peace and significantly improve bilateral relations between China and the Philippines.

The Chinese leader called bilateral relations with the Philippines “at a high point,” said De Venecia.

The Speaker arrived in Beijing Wednesday accompanied by a delegation composed of Socio-Economic Planning Secretary and NEDA Director-General Romulo Neri and Reps. Mark Cojuangco, Isidoro Real Jr., Edwin Uy, and party-list Rep. Ernesto Pablo of APEC and Philippine Ambassador Sonia Brady.

De Venecia said China also responded positively to the Philippine request for Beijing to create a large industrial park in Clark, the former American airbase, to house manufacturing plants and companies.

He also sought to increase Chinese tourist arrivals in the Philippines and boost farm production of Chinese hybrid rice and hybrid corn “so that development can reach the great masses of our people.”

De Venecia’s visit to China came on the heels of the successful PhilippinesChina Economic Partnership Forum in Manila attended by a huge Chinese high-level commercial and business missions led by Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai.

The Forum, the first of its kind for the two countries, led to the signing of a 10-point framework agreement for economic partnership by Minister Bo Xilai and Trade Secretary Peter Favila and Neri.

“Our proposals to China embody the major components of President Arroyo’s 10-point legacy program and will go a long way in advancing the Philippines’ anti-poverty program,” De Venecia said.

De Venecia was also accompanied by business leaders such as Francis Chua, president of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Donald Dee, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI); National Fisheries director Malcolm Sarmiento, Pag-Ibig Fund President Romero Quimbo, CREBA chairman Manuel Serrano, housing developers Gary Vasquez and Alex Asuncion.

From Beijing, De Venecia and his party will fly to Shandong, Quindao, Guangdong, Guilin, in Guangxi province.

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Bomb experts detonate 5 land mines in Bicol

Posted by Michille on 30th June 2006

Bomb experts detonate 5 land mines in Bicol - The Manila Times!

By Rhaydz B. Barcia, Correspondent

Barangay Pawili, Bula, Camarines Sur: Military and police bomb experts on Thursday detonated at least five powerful land mines that communist guerrillas planted along the busy Maharlika Highway.

The controlled explosions stalled traffic along the major highway for almost 10 hours.

Army Maj. Ramon Ronard J. Rosario, a bomb expert and spokesman for the Civil Relations Group in Bicol, told The Times that the mines could have maimed or killed many motorists and commuters passing through the highway.

Rosario and his men rushed to the site to help the group of Senior Police Officer 2 Leo Escalona, chief of the Ordnance Bomb Disposal Team in Camarines Sur.

“These mines could have caused a bloody scene. They are more deadly and dangerous than grenades,” he said.

Lt. Col. Florante Isles, spokesman for the Army’s 9th Infantry Brigade, said the mines were unearthed by civilians early Thursday morning on the highway in Pawili.

On June 19 a soldier was seriously wounded when a mine exploded as his car passed by.

Military officials here said they are expecting the New People’s Army to commit more atrocities in the region. Last Sunday the rebels harassed the detachment of the Army’s Bravo Company, 31st Infantry Battalion, 9th Infantry Division, at Taisan Village, Sipocot, Camarines Sur.

Another band stopped two buses on Quirino Highway, Barangay Gaongan, Sipocot, and used the vehicles to block the road to prevent the arrival of reinforcements, Isles said.

Earlier, the police in Bicol said the NPA remains the most potent threat to the region’s economic stability.

Supt. Robert Morico, PNP regional operations and plans division deputy chief, said the Bicol Regional Party Committee of the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA had 594 fighters last year, but that its strength dwindled by 25 percent during the first quarter of 2006.

Two weeks ago fierce fighting between the military and the communist guerrillas broke out at Monte Calvario Village in Buhi, Camarines Sur, leaving a soldier and two rebels dead.

Rosario said the encounter took place while President Arroyo was conducting a dialogue with the officials of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council to check its preparedness and contingency plan in case Mount Bulusan has a major eruption.

Rosario said on Thursday that a military patrol chanced upon at least six rebels.

After a brief firefight, the insurgents fled, leaving behind two M16 rifles, three backpacks with subversive documents and personal belongings, three grenades, one handheld radio and ammunition.

Based on the statistic of the National Economic and Development Authority in Bicol, over 1,000 of the more than 3,000 barangays in this province are under the control of the communist guerrillas.

At least 450 clashes were recorded from January to December 2005, a 2-percent increase from 2004.

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NBI agents want their boss out

Posted by Michille on 30th June 2006

NBI agents want their boss out - INQ7.net!

By Margaux Ortiz
Inquirer
Last updated 10:39pm (Mla time) 06/29/2006

Published on Page A23 of the June 30, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

DESCRIBING their boss, Nestor Mantaring, as an “ineffective dictator,” a group composed of over 300 officials, agents and special investigators of the National Bureau of Investigation yesterday withdrew their support from the acting NBI director.

The sentiment of the NBI Investigators Mutual Benefit Association Inc. (IMBAI) was a complete turnaround from six months ago, when they issued a resolution on Dec. 23 endorsing his appointment as the bureau’s permanent director.

The latest resolution was signed by 16 officials of the association who claimed they represented the “silent majority” of the bureau’s agents nationwide.

“I called an emergency meeting because there was a clamor from the members to settle this issue,” NBI head agent Rafael Ragos, chair of the IMBAI board of directors, told reporters in an interview. “We want a better director,” he added. The group claimed that the bureau has remained stagnant under Mantaring’s leadership.

Deputy Director for Intelligence Services Edmund Arugay, a member of the group’s board of directors, said they wanted President Macapagal-Arroyo to know about the acting NBI director’s “poor performance and dictatorial style of administration.”

“Even when he was still officer-in-charge of the bureau, he ordered the reassignment of several division chiefs and agents without any valid reason,” Arugay said, stressing that only an NBI director has the capacity to issue special orders. “Those he deemed disloyal to him, he reassigned to far-off provinces. The only system he knows is the ‘bata-bata’ (favoritism) system,” Arugay added.

Mantaring, however, said that the resolution may have stemmed from a special order he issued on June 26 about the reassignment of a regional director and four deputy directors, including Arugay. “This is only a regular internal reshuffle, nothing personal,” he told reporters.

The special order, which would take effect on July 3, appointed Arugay as the deputy director for Comptrollership; deputy director for Regional Operations Services (DDROS) Victor Bessat as the deputy director for Special Investigation Services (DDSIS); deputy director for Comptrollership Fermin Nasol as the new DDROS and Central Luzon head Edward Villarta as the new intelligence chief in place of Arugay. Mantaring also appointed former DDSIS Alejandro Tenerife as the acting assistant director.

“The special order was not a demotion for Arugay,” the NBI acting director stressed. “In fact, the reshuffle was for his own improvement because deputy directors should be able to assume different types of responsibilities in preparation for eventual directorship.”

Mantaring added that a number of agents have called him since the issuance of the IMBAI resolution to express support for him. NBI Special Task Force executive officer Arnel Dalumpines said IMBAI officials did not consult other members about the meeting.

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