Comelec names Pagdanganan 2007 poll winner

By Immanuel Pastolero, Special to The Manila Times

The Second Division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed former Tourism Secretary Roberto “Obet” Pagdanganan as the duly elected governor of Bulacan and ordered Joselito “Jon-Jon” Mendoza to vacate his office in the provincial capitol.
“This is a historical vindication not just for my family, but for the people of Bulacan,” Pagdanganan said as a reaction to the resolution.

Comelec has ordered the proclamation of Pagdanganan after a highly disputed recount which revealed that he had garnered a total of 342, 295 votes against Mendoza’s 337, 974 votes for a margin of 4, 321 votes.

The recount disproves the 2007 election results, which showed that Mendoza defeated other candidates with 364, 566 votes.

The resolution signed by Commissioners Nicodemo Ferrer, Lucenito Tagle and Elias Yusoph also ordered Mendoza to cease and desist from discharging the functions of governor in the province. The Interior department headed by Secretary Ronaldo Puno is ordered by the Comelec to implement the resolution.
Mendoza, brother of former Gov. Josie de la Cruz of Bulacan, has been in the provincial capitol since 2007.

The decision would leave Pagadanganan with only five months in office. But Pagdanganan said that he could do many things in the remaining five months of his term as governor.

The recount was ordered after Pagdanganan filed an election protest in June 2007. He claimed that he was cheated by Mendoza and that some of the ballots were “doctored.”

Meanwhile, Comelec has said that the decision is not yet final and executory allowing Mendoza to appeal the decision.

From: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/7000-comelec-names-pagdanganan-2007-poll-winner

Pacquiao still up for grabs

Boxer’s party has yet to decide on alliances

ALABEL, Sarangani: Philippine political heavyweights are courting boxing idol Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao to win his endorsement for the May 2010 presidential elections in an effort to cash in on his soaring popularity. Pacquiao said here Sunday he would soon announce which candidate he is backing, and he denied reports he was already aligned with Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr., one of the front-runners in the presidential race, of the Nacionalista Party.

“I will announce later what is my [national] party and who is the presidential candidate I am aligning with,” he told reporters in this southern Philippine town at a gathering of his “People’s Champ Movement,” a new local party Pacquiao is starting.

He admitted meeting with Villar in Manila on Friday but denied that he had already joined forces with the Nacionalistas.

“I did not give any commitment,” he said.

Villar met with Pacquiao in Manila at a dinner to celebrate the Filipino boxer’s recent victory over Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas. Then on Saturday, Villar confirmed that he spoke with Pacquiao during the dinner.

Villar said, however, that he was leaving it to Pacquiao to make the formal announcement “out of respect for him.” He added that he and Pacquiao had agreed in principle to support each other.

Manila dailies, meanwhile, gave front-page coverage to reports that Villar was offering to make Pacquiao the official Nacionalista candidate for Congress in the southern province of Sarangani.

This is despite a longtime alliance between Pacquiao and President Gloria Arroyo who has endorsed another candidate, former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, as her presidential bet.

It’s up to Pacquaio

In Manila, Arroyo spokesman Cerge Remonde downplayed the speculation, saying “that is between Manny Villar and Manny Pacquiao. We will not interfere in that, and we will not complain if this [alliance] happens.”

“But I think it is still unclear, because Manny Pacquiao denied that he is joining NP [Nacionalista Party],” Remonde added.

In one radio interview on Saturday, Pacquiao said he was “100-percent sure” of running for congressman of Sarangani under his own People’s Champ Movement.

But he added that his party was yet unsure whether it would coalesce with other political parties or back specific candidates at the national level.

Villar, a billionaire property developer, has been placed second in surveys of contenders in the presidential elections.

Pacquiao, whose boxing victories have made him a national hero, has already said he plans to run for the Congress seat in Sarangani.

His popularity soared even further after he demolished Cotto last week to become the only man in history to win seven titles in as many weight classes.

One of Pacquiao’s political allies, Juan Domingo, said there was an offer by President Arroyo’s ruling Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) party for Pacquiao to join.

But Lakas has already endorsed a member of an established political clan as its candidate for the Sarangani
seat, said Domingo.

But also on Sunday, Lakas-Kampi spokesman Reggie Velasco said that they would still welcome Pacquaio to the administration party, but that he “has to undergo the rigorous selection process.”

Despite his fame, Pacquiao lost in his congressional bid in 2007 to incumbent Darlene Antonino-Custodio, who hails from an established local political clan.

The victory over Cotto, however, won him even more fame, with President Arroyo conferring on him on Friday the ceremonial “Sikatuna Award”—an honor normally reserved for foreign heads of state.

Party defections

Officials of Lakas-Kampi and the Liberal Party said, meanwhile, they believe that the political turncoatism shown by some members of the administration party was symptomatic of a weak political system.

“[A] reassessment of political parties is needed,” said Edu Manzano, the Lakas-Kampi vice presidential bet, during the weekly press forum Balitaan sa Tinapayan, on Sunday.

Manzano added that the Philippines should return to a two-party system because the vetting process would be more rigorous and would result in the selection of the best candidates. Plus, ideological lines would be more pronounced, he explained.

But Liberal Party spokesman Rep. Erin Tañada of Quezon province said that reverting back to the two-party system would not answer the problem of turncoatism.

He cited as an example the high profile changing of alliances by the late Ferdinand Marcos, who left the Liberals to run under the Nacionalistas in the 1965 elections. In that race, Marcos ran against the then incumbent and Liberal standard-bearer Diosdado Macapagal, President Gloria Arroyo’s father.

Tañada said that the only answer to the problem of turncoatism would be an injection of ideologies into the political system. He added that the country needs politicians who have a clear political agenda that people could support, and that with an ideological party, candidates can present solutions that would be hardwired to their beliefs, thus giving the people a choice.

Some of the most prominent names who bolted the administration to join the Liberals include Mayor Sonny Belmonte of Quezon City, Mayor Recom Echiverri of Caloocan City, Gov. Vilma Santos-Recto of Batangas, and her husband, former National Economic and Development Authority secretary, Ralph Recto.

Also, about 400 local officials have taken their oath as members of Villar’s Nacionalista Party.
AFP AND ANGELO S. SAMONTE WITH REPORTs FROM RUBEN D. MANAHAN 4TH AND IMMANUEL PASTOLERO

From: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/42-rokstories/6537-pacquiao-still-up-for-grabs

Bannering Bulakeño pride

Pambansang.com
By Immanuel Pastolero, Special to The Manila Times

As a high school history teacher in La Salle Greenhills, June Joson always looks for a venue of discussion to open the minds of his young students to the rich history of our nation and the importance of his province of Bulacan in our historic struggle for independence.
He sees talking points in everything, even in T-shirts. And T-shirts that evoke historical pride is a specialty of his shop Pambansang.com.

Pambansang.com is a graphic design studio that works on different fashionable trinkets like T-shirts, bags and button pins that proudly banner distinctive Bulakeño designs and imbibes Bulacan’s historic reputation.
Joson, also an active member of different socio-cultural organizations, started the business of designing shirts with some of his friends on June 19, 2008.

“Initially, we only had 30 shirts. I allowed my friends to choose the design they wanted and then I asked them to pay for it before we made the shirts. That’s where it caught on.”

With an initial capital of P60,000 to P100,000, Joson together with his five employees, bought shirts and
screens that would be needed for the production to go full throttle.

He said that the most capital intensive of his needs for the business is the rent for the stall they have in Malolos City.

Joson recounts that when they started the business they worried that Bulakeños might not want the designs because of its regionalist theme. “We had apprehensions that people might not appreciate the product,” he said. But contrary to their fears, many Bulakeños were instant fans of the playful and cultural designs of Pambansang.com.

“Every time we would release a new design the people would line up in anticipation, and within the day of the launch all of the stocks with that new design would be bought,” Joson said.

“In fact some buyers turned out to be collectors,” Joson added. Some would buy all the designs and collect it, because of the limited number of prints they release.

“We only print 100 shirts per design and after that we phase it out. It adds a certain aura of exclusivity because only a few would have that design,” Joson said

Joson added that customers even from abroad are very interested in the prints that they offer because it is unique.

The T-shirts designs carry the distinctive character of the different cities and municipalities in Bulacan. One shirt declares: “Iputok mo! Bocaue Fireworks” referring to Bocaue, Bulacan’s primary product—fireworks. Another states, “High Tide Hell Hagonoy” alluding to the tendency of the Municipality of Hagonoy to go underwater whenever it is high tide.

“The designs are very hip and trendy,” Twila Bergania, a frequent customer of Pambansang.com said. “It’s very Pinoy and it makes you feel proud of the Bulakeño heritage,” she added.

Fashion, culture and heritage have always been the mantra of Pambansang.com, and it proved to be a formula for success. Joson said that the business is lucrative. Ensuring that all investments returned to them within a year and now Pambansang.com has a definitive following among the youth of Bulacan especially those who study at nearby schools and universities.

“Many students here in BulSU [Bulacan State University] wear the shirts Pambansang.com designed, it gives you an added sense of identity,” Bergania said.

Pambansang.com has just celebrated its first anniversary, and because of its relative young age, the main marketing strategy of the clothing brand relies on word of mouth and participation in different events such as bazaars, school fairs and fashion shows.

“Events like school fairs and bazaars are frequented by our target customers and it gives as the necessary venue to market our products,” Joson said.

Pambansang.com targets students and young professionals as potential customers. “Technically, students and yuppies are our primary market, but many older customers are attracted by some of our designs like the shirt which has the design ‘May asim pa! Sukang Paombong,’ many middle aged customers are attracted at the humorous nature of the designs,” Joson said.

Though the designs might tickle one’s funny bone, there is a serious side to it. “We take great pride at the culture and heritage of Bulacan, and we express it through our designs. We aim to provide a venue for the youth to rediscover the beauty of our province through fashion, and we have taken this up as an advocacy,” Joson said.

Expansion is well on the way for Pambansang.com. Joson said that they are starting research of different provinces so that they could also release designs that would highlight the identity of different places in the country, which would open their base to a larger number of customers. But they said that the Bulakeño mark would not be erased in their products.

“We see [Bulacan] as a reflection of the whole nation. It is a microcosm of sorts,” Joson concluded.
Pambansang.com is located at second floor Room 1 Guevarra Building, Malolos City, Bulacan.

For details, call +63 (044) 662-3513 or visit http://pambansang.com.ph

From: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/sme-news/5115-bannering-bulakeno-pride

RELOCATION OF FLOOD VICTIMS MEETS DELAY

Relocation of those displaced by recent typhoons would take longer than what had been projected, Malacañang said Friday.
The government also admitted to hitches in transporting goods to typhoon-devastated areas in Northern Luzon but otherwise, it said, relief and rehabilitation efforts there were moving along according to plan.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said, “We are very much on track. We don’t have serious problems on the relief aspect because as per the report of Secretary [Esperanza] Cabral of the DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development], we really have very sufficient supply of relief goods.”

He added, though, that Cabral reported some minor problems in transporting the relief goods as well as equipment to Northern Luzon.

The government also admitted that it would take time to relocate the hundreds of thousands displaced by tropical storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng.

“We have determined three stages as a response to the problem [of relocation]. The first stage is relief, which will take one month to three months. Second is immediate recovery, which will take three months to six months. Third is relocation and rehabilitation, which will take six months or more. So, I think the actual major relocation will still take place maybe three months or six months from now or much longer,” Remonde said.

Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd said that the government and the private sector have agreed to lead relief caravans to the victims of Ondoy and Pepeng, which claimed hundreds of lives and billions in crops and property in Northern Luzon, particularly Benguet province, including the resort city of Baguio.

The caravans are expected to leave Manila 6 a.m. of Monday, Bello added, and go to Benguet and Baguio City and the other typhoon-hit areas: Bulacan and Nueva Ecija provinces in Central Luzon; Cagayan and Isabela provinces in Cagayan Valley; and Abra, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan provinces, also in Northern Luzon.

Calamity funds

The private sector, according to Remonde, will play a big role in assuring that the P12-billion calamity fund recently approved by Congress would be used wisely.

Reacting to a concern raised by Sen. Edgardo Angara on the use of the P12-billion fund, the Press secretary said that the government was taking Angara’s warning seriously.

“The warning of Sen. Angara is very well-taken. We welcome that statement and we would like to assure him that this will be done with utmost transparency and partly, this is also in fact part of the . . . I understand they are creating congressional oversight committees to look into this and that is welcome,” Remonde added.

“And the Reconstruction Commission will also have some oversight on this. We agree with Sen. Angara that the use of this [calamity fund] should be judiciously and wisely done and should really go to intended beneficiaries,” he said.

Remonde added that the P12 billion would be allocated for immediate rehabilitation of damaged roads and bridges and relocation of those displaced by the typhoons.

Besides the oversight committees being set up, he said that existing government rules and procedures are in place to ensure that there will be transparency in spending the money.

“We already have the government procurement and transparency board and all other related systems and procedures. In addition to this, we have the congressional oversight committees looking into this . . . we have the Reconstruction Commission and of course, most of all, we have the ever-vigilant media that will help ensure that all these will not go to waste,” Remonde added.

The participation of the private sector will be a guarantee in assuring that the money is spent wisely.
Businessman Manny Pangilinan heads the commission, Cardinal Ricardo Vidal of Cebu and Finance Secretary Margarito Teves as co-chairmen.

The commission will not only be overseer but also implementor of all reconstruction activities, Remonde said.

Foreign donations

Foreign aid to those displaced by Ondoy and Pepeng seemed to keep flowing.
The Japanese government has given the nongovernment organization Christian Aid P4.4 million in grant particularly for Ondoy’s victims.

Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Makoto Katsura and Daphne Dajoras Villanueva, the country director of Christian Aid, signed the grant contract at the Japanese Embassy also on Friday.
The grant will provide packs of food and non-food items to around 3,200 households or approximately 19,000 people in Bagong Silangan village in Quezon City and three villages in Rodriguez town (formerly Montalban) in Rizal province.

Based on reports from the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) as of October 13, more than 800,000 families were affected by floodwaters and mudslides caused by Ondoy.
Also according to the reports, 45,129 families are still in evacuation centers.

The reports said that Ondoy caused the death of 337 people and 37 others to remain missing.
Japan delivered P10 million in emergency relief goods to the Philippine government on September 30.

Then on October 9, it gave P210 million in food assistance through the United Nations World Food Programme as a response to the United Nations Flash Appeal made on October 3.
Moreover, the nongovernment organization Japan Platform had contributed P50 million for relief operations and medical missions.

Malaysia also on Friday sent 43 tons of relief goods to the typhoon victims.
Two Royal Malaysian Air Force C-130s transported blankets, clothes and rice, according to a report of Malaysian news agency Bernama.

Two more flights are expected to take off on Sunday, the report said.

Thajudeen Abdul Wahab, the secretary of Malaysia’s National Security Council, told a news conference that Kuala Lumpur would continue humanitarian aid to disaster-hit countries, like the Philippines.
From South Korea also on Friday, Secretary Cabral received donations consisting 3,000 fifty-kilo sacks of rice, clothes, blankets, shelter materials and assorted medicines from South Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Choi Jung-kyung.

The donations for both Ondoy and Pepeng victims were coursed through the Korea International Cooperation Agency.

Angelo S. Samonte, Immanuel Pastolero, Camille Bianca Lopez, Llanesca T. Panti, Sammy Martin And Xinhua

From: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/tech-times/4128-relocation-of-flood-victims-meets-delay

Leptospirosis deaths hit 89

With 1,027 new cases, DOH declares outbreak
By Rommel C. Lontayao, Reporter

The Department of Health (DOH) on Friday said that it has declared a leptospirosis outbreak in three villages in Marikina City, and that the total number of cases in Metro Manila has surged to 1,027 with 89 fatalities. Barangay Tumana, Malanday and Concepcion I of Marikina had at least five cases each of leptospirosis.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque 3rd said, “We have declared an outbreak there, but by outbreak, we do not necessarily mean that we have a big number of cases. We can declare an outbreak if previously, the place had no case of the disease, then suddenly, several cases were reported.”

Parts of the Philippine shoe capital are still flooded, which serves as the main avenue for the disease-causing bacteria to enter through human skin.

Some areas in Metro Manila and Region IV-A (particularly Calabarzon or the provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) were like Marikina, one of the most affected by the heavy rains brought by tropical storm Ondoy three weeks ago.

Weather reports said that Ondoy dumped more than a month’s worth of rain in about nine hours.

Meanwhile on Friday, Undersecretary Romeo Momo of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said that some areas in Marikina and Pasig were expected to remain flooded for up to five more months—even longer if there were more rains.

“[Waters would go down by] 1.3 centimeters per day with the assumption that there will be no more rains,” he added.

Reported cases

The total number of leptospirosis cases in Metro Manila alone as of October 15 (1,027) has already surpassed last year’s total number of cases nationwide (769). Metro Manila, or the National Capital Region, is comprised of 16 cities and a municipality and is home to about 8 to 10 million people.

Quezon City has the most number of cases in the capital region with 122, followed by Marikina, 82. Manila has 49 and the most number of patients (273) were admitted to the San Lazaro Hospital.

Rizal province, one of worst areas affected by Ondoy, also reported 54 cases.

Officials alarmed

Health authorities are alarmed by the sudden increase in leptospirosis cases in just four days, especially in Metro Manila.

Duque said that on Monday, there were only 140 reported cases in Metro Manila. The figure shot up to 344 after a day and surged to 700 by Wednesday.

On Friday, the Health department convened its Task Force Ondoy and resolved to provide prophylaxis to 1.3 million people in Metro Manila and in Calabarzon where people are exposed or at risk of contracting the disease. The floodwaters in some parts of those areas, particularly communities around Laguna de Bay, are not expected to recede until December.

The Health department has allotted P30.4 million, half of which would be provided for the health needs of 760 projected complicated cases, and the other half to the needs of the projected 3,040 uncomplicated ones.

Duque also said that 19 private hospitals would also admit leptospirosis incidents if in case the 12 Health department-run hospitals and those operated by the local governments could not accommodate the surge of patients.

Deadly disease

Leptospirosis is caused by swallowing the bacteria directly from water, absorbing it through cuts in the skin, or through food. The disease, which is commonly associated with rat urine, can also come from animals like cattle, pigs, horses, dogs and wild animals.

The disease can also be passed from human-to-human contact, said Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy of the Health department’s emerging and reemerging infectious diseases. He was the guest at the weekly media forum in Rembrandt Hotel in Quezon City on Friday.

He advised people to be vigilant, given the surge in cases suggest an epidemic. But he also said that people needed to remain calm.

Symptoms of the disease may appear suddenly—sometimes as early as four days after exposure, or other times as late as 21 days. Common signs and symptoms are flu-like and include fever, a red skin rash and general weakness. Headaches, reaction to light, muscle and joint pains, vomiting and fatigue are also common. Incubation period may last up to a month.

Duque said, “We strongly advise anyone who had a history of wading in the recent floods and who has the symptoms of the disease to consult at once at the nearest doctor or health facility for treatment.”
With Reports From Camille Bianca Lopez, Immanuel Pastolero And Jan Erick Tutaan

From: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/4116-leptospirosis-deaths-hit-89

Barack Obama Takes the Cake

The United States and its people are currently in a honeymoon with their President-Elect.

And who can blame them?

The US seems to have renewed its vow to be the prime seat of democracy in this world with the election of Mr. Obama.

His outlook on change, democracy, and America’s unique capacity in global affairs has truly inspired multitudes all around the globe. But what truly astounds us is his uncanny choice of people to surround him in these tumultuous times.

His leadership seems to be reconciliatory, centrist at best.

And I am impressed.

Impeachment Day and Other Political Holidays

Well we have Labor day, Jose Rizal Day, Independence Day, Feast Day of different Catholic Saints and Christmas Day, but because of the oddity that seems to define the Philippine Society, I believe that we also need to celebrate political holidays, if that is the case we would need to rewrite the whole calendar.

Ohh, it is brimming with possibilities! We’ll have Impeachment Day, that would last for about two hours because the House Committee on Justice will junk the complaint for lack of substance, or lack of form, or worse, lack of adherence to grammatical rules.

Then we’ll have the annual Cha-Cha Day, that would be marked by a Con-Ass Parade and Con-Con Booths. We would have congressmen in drag and senators in presidential costume. All-night partying and a feast of tuyo and kamatis.

After Cha-Cha day, about three days later, we would have the  Interfaith Rally day, a party with cursing politicians,  men of the cloth, and Bro. Eddie Villanueva trying to parade his claims that he was sent there by God.

Then if there’s an oil price hike, fare rollback, “unfair” jeepney fare raise, and other things like that, we would have a Transport Strike Day, where people, jeepney drivers to be exact, would go out on the street and block other peace loving drivers by threat of flatting out their tires if they don’t join the rally.

It is also in all likelihood that we would have a Coup ‘d etat Day, Rebellion Day, State of Emergency Day, state of Rebellion Day, Senate Inquiry Day, Supreme Court Appointment Day, Raul Gonzales’ Hell on Earth Day, and Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo’s “I am Sorry” Day!

Well, wouldn’t that be great we would have a very red calendar.

A Hoard of Clowns

Con-Con and its Repurcussions for Nograles

House Speaker Prospero Nograles is being threatened with an ouster if he doesn’t dance the way Malacañang’s wants him to.

The majority of legislators in the House of Representatives wants to have a Constituent Assembly as a way to revise the constitution, but this move is faced with serious opposition from the Senate. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has vowed to thwart all modes of extending the president’s term and that includes a CON ASS.

And thus Nograles is ready to strike a compromise agreement with the Senate, and that compromise is in the form of a Constitutional Convention, which for me sounds more appropriate. But Malcañang is out to kill if they don’t get what they want.

Some Congressmen are threatening to send Nograles in the direction De Venecia went. Now we are seeing the extent of these people’s ambition, they are usurping democracy yet again. They deem themselves as representatives of the people yet they do not hold the interest of the masses in their hearts. In this country, self serving motives of our country’s leaders outweigh  the people’s well-being.

This is gravely disturbing. The people is now facing a constitutional emergency because a few elected goons are out to strip us with the right to change our country’s leadership through elections. Let us be vigilant, for this would be a battle of legal proportions that would  reverberate through the two houses of congress.

So Why Another One?

So why another one?

My first blog has a domain name of gagambala07.wordpress.com, and I can’t say that it didn’t suit my needs, but it has been more of a diary than anything else, a page where I can be more like myself– playful, vulgar and unapologetic.

But I believe that my serious posts are out of place in gagambala07, and I needed one account where politics, religion and Philippine Public Affairs is the focal point of the weblog, as a Journalism student it is my responsibility to write about things that happen in the Philippines and around the world it is my sole calling to be the voice of the voiceless, the protector of the oppressed and the light amid the prevailing darkness.

This blog will be my official voice to the world. This is the reflection of the journalist that I am trying to hone within me. This site will contain my random jottings.