Etrike starts running in Surigao
June 17, 2010SURIGAO CITY – The eco-friendly electric tricycle of Etrike started running in this city.
With the growing concern over noise and air pollution, the city government on Wednesday encouraged transportation owners to use this eco-friendly electric tricycle.
The Etrike runs 80 kilometers in just one charging, it was also learned.
“Aside being environment-friendly, this Etrike is very cheap,” said Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Casurra.
The initial running of Etrike here was during the 112th Independence Day celebration where thousands of Surigaonons witnessed the launching.
Surigao is the first city in Mindanao to use this alternative mode of environment-friendly, economical and sustainable transport, the battery-operated Etrike, it was gathered.
The Etrike can accommodate eight people, more than the usual capacity of the regular motorized tricycle.
This new technology was recently turned over by the British Embassy in Manila to the city government here as part of a project by the Islas Ecology Development Advocacy (ISDA) Foundation to push for an alternative mode of public transport that is not only eco-friendly but also economically viable.
British Embassy representative and Climate Change Attaché Angela Ibay personally handed over the keys of the Etrike to the mayor. (manila bulletin)
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What could wipe out political dynasties?
June 1, 2010MANILA, Philippines—The 2010 elections saw the fall of some of the well-entrenched political families at the local level, most of them because of their close association with the extremely unpopular President Arroyo.
A quick scan of the election results show that at least 5 political dynasties suffered huge defeats. They include 3 families whose members served in the Arroyo Cabinet for a considerable amount of time.
Political analysts told abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbreak that aside from voters’ dissatisfaction with administration allies, poor performance in their current terms and less funds in the homestretch of the campaign also set back these families’ bids.
Fathers and sons
The Arroyo connection was among the reasons cited by analysts for the defeat of the father-and-son bids of the Ermitas in Batangas, the Gonzalezes in Iloilo City, and the Defensors in Quezon City.
“They did not realized how poisonous the GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) connection was to them and did not distance themselves from the President,” said public administration professor Prospero de Vera Jr.
“They were at the forefront and are all out in defending President Arroyo,” added Ateneo de Manila political science professor Benito Lim.
Former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita failed to reclaim his old seat as congressman of Batangas’s first district. He lost to former customs commissioner Tomas Apacible.
Ermita had served as congressman from 1992 to 2001. After his 3 terms, his daughter, Eileen Ermita-Buhain, took over and served for 3 terms until 2010.
Ermita’s son, Erwin, suffered another defeat in the vice gubernatorial race in the province. It was the younger Ermita’s second defeat in the vice gubernatorial race against incumbent Mark Leviste. Erwin and Leviste first clashed in 2007.
“He [Eduardo Ermita] was quite a big political boss in Batangas, but he is always seen defending President Arroyo,” Lim said.
Former Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. was defeated by Iloilo City vice mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog in the mayoralty race. Mabilog led Gonzalez by 15,000 votes.
The former justice chief’s son, incumbent Iloilo City Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr., lost his re-election bid to outgoing Mayor Jerry Treñas in the congressional race. Treñas led him by around 24,000 votes.
The Gonzalezes have represented the lone district of Iloilo since 1995. The father completed 3 terms in 2004, and was succeeded by the younger Gonzalez. It would have been the son’s third and last term if he won this year.
In Quezon City, Rep. Matias Defensor Jr. failed in his re-election bid in the 3rd district. He was defeated by Jorge John Banal Jr. by 6,000 votes.
His son, former environment secretary and Presidential Management Staff chief Michael Defensor, lost miserably to outgoing Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista in the mayoralty race.
The Defensors have represented the 3rd district since 1995. The younger Defensor served as congressman from 1995 to 2001. His younger sister, Ma. Theresa, took over from 2001 to 2004. The father succeeded the daughter in 2004 and was re-elected in 2007.
Michael acknowledged in 2007, when he lost in the senatorial race, that his association with President Arroyo became a baggage in the campaign. He had served as Arroyo’s spokesperson.
De Vera said that it was a difficult battle for Gonzalez and Defensor because they faced local officials who were more familiar with the daily concerns of the voters and what was happening at the grassroots.
“Local officials are the ones who have the capacity. They are the ones who can give employment to the people,” De Vera said.
Barbers out, Matugas in
In Surigao del Norte, the Barbers clan was wiped out by the Matugas family. The sons of the late Senator Robert Barbers were defeated by the kin of 1st district Rep. Francisco Matugas, who secured a second term by defeating Barbers’ party mate Constantino Navarro III.
Re-electionist Governor Robert Ace Barbers was defeated by the Sol Matugas, wife of Rep. Matugas in the gubernatorial race. His older brother, former governor Robert Lyndon Barbers, was defeated by Ernesto Matugas, brother of Francisco, in the mayoral race in Surigao City. (Robert Dean Barbers, general manager of Philippine Tourism Authority, again lost in his congressional bid in Makati’s 1st district).
The running mates of Ace and Lyndon also lost. Another party mate, Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Casurra, lost in the congressional race in the 2nd district.
The Barbers family has been in power since 1992, when their father was elected as representative of the province. When he won in the 1998 senatorial race, Ace took over the congressional seat and served for 3 terms until 2007. Lyndon, meanwhile, served as governor from 2001 to 2007.
“The Barbers started to weaken in 2007,” said De Vera. “Their strength weakened due to their close association with the President and the ruling coalition.” The Barbers are known stalwarts of Lakas-CMD before they jumped to the Nacionalista Party this election.
Jalosjoses expand turf
In the Zamboanga Peninsula, the fall of a political clan in Zamboanga Sibugay heralded the expansion of another family from the neighboring Zamboanga del Norte.
The Hofers, who belong to the Lakas-Kampi-CMD, lost their grip on Zamboanga Sibugay after 3 family members lost in the local races. The patriarch, outgoing Governor George Hofer, lost in his mayoral bid in the capital town of Ipil against incumbent Mayor Eldwin Alibutdan.
The 2 other members of the clan lost to members of the Jalosjos clan from Zamboanga del Norte. Rep. Dulce Ann Hofer, daughter of George, lost in the gubernatorial race against Rommel Jalosjos, son of former Zamboanga del Norte Rep. Romeo Jalosjos.
Her brother, George “Jet” Hofer II, was defeated by another son of Romeo, Romeo Masupil Jalosjos, in the congressional race of Sibugay’s 2nd district.
De Vera said the Hofers were defeated probably because they could not match the financial resources of the Jalosjoses, who wield economic power in Zamboanga del Norte. The Jalosjoses have big businesses in Zamboanga del Norte, among them the Dakak Beach Resort, one of the main tourist spots in the province.
The Hofers have been in power even before the province was carved out of Zamboanga del Sur in 2001. The patriarch served as mayor of Titay town from 1992 to 1998 and congressman of the then 3rd district of Zamboanga del Sur from 1998 to 2001 (before the district was converted into a separate province).
Governor Hofer was among those who pushed for the separation of Sibugay from Zamboanga del Sur.
The victory of the Jalosjoses in Sibugay expanded the family’s influence in the region that is composed of 3 provinces and an independent city, Zamboanga City.
Three members of the family won in their respective races in Zamboanga del Norte: Board Member Seth Frederick Jalosjos, son of former Rep. Romeo Jalosjos who won in the congressional race in the 1st district; re-electionist Rep. Cesar Jalosjos, Romeo’s brother, in the 3rd district; and Dapitan City Mayor Dominador Jalosjos, another brother of Romeo, who was re-elected.
The Jalosjoses were able to penetrate Sibugay local politics by aligning themselves with other political figures in the area. They are party mates of Mayor Alibutdan, the Olegarios, and former vice governor and outgoing Rep. Belma Cabilao, whose son Jonathan Yambao won as congressman of the 1st district.
Campaign funds, track record
Analysts said that the dynasties that survived in the recent elections were those that were able to localize themselves and build an economic base.
“Other dynasties are more established because they have businesses and they have ties with national government,” said Lim.
“They are those who set up economic activities and generate jobs for the people in their locality,” De Vera said.
Resources for the campaign and the politician’s track record, they added, could explain why some political dynasties fell.
De Vera said the local candidates received lesser campaign funds from their parties and national candidates compared to previous elections.
“It was a bit dry,” De Vera said. “Local candidates had to fund themselves and they were already scraping the bottom of their campaign chests during the last week of the campaign. That was the most crucial point because that was the time to buy votes.”
Political families that had more resources, he said, enjoyed a huge advantage over those who had limited resources and who had to rely from campaign donations.
De Vera added that some families also failed to adjust with the new automation system and still used the old strategies of campaigning and vote buying. “They still used the traditional method of vote buying even if it is now harder to monitor if the voters actually deliver votes for them.”
Lim, meanwhile, said that the clans’ track record in governance also affected the outcome of the election at the local level.
“At the local level, it is easier to know if you have a good track record because people know that by the jobs created by the politicians and by the schools and roads they built,” Lim said. “If there is corruption, it is also easier for the people to evaluate.” (abs-cbnnews) (more…)
Surigao City, 3 Surigao del Norte towns piloted for disaster mitigation project
May 27, 2010Surigao City (26 May) — The nickel city of Surigao and three municipalities of Surigao del Norte province in Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga region) were chosen as pilot areas in identifying possible disaster risks and mitigation projects.
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD), National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) along with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) are already preparing for a project that would help local government units (LGUs) identify disaster risks and incorporate mitigating measures into their local development plans.
The integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (DRR-CCA) in Local Development Planning and Decision-Making Process, aims to provide high-risk LGUs a guide in identifying options for collective responses to common risks.
Surigao del Norte was chosen as a pilot area following its formulation of a DRR-enhanced Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan (PDPFP).
Under the plan, the provincial government has identified Surigao City and Claver, Gigaquit and Bacuag towns, all of Surigao del Norte province cluster as high priority areas for DRR interventions.
Anytime from now, the OCD, NEDA, HLURB and local disaster councils will conduct field inspections to validate hazard risks identified by the LGUs and generate their support for the project.
The team, led by Regional Development Coordination staff director Susan Rachel G. Jose, was able to identify an eroded riverbank in Bacuag and several rain-induced landslides along the newly constructed highway from Surigao City to Claver, Surigao del Norte.
The Integrating DRR-CCA project is expected to produce a Reference Manual that would showcase a risk assessment methodology and suggest entry points for mainstreaming disaster and climate risks reduction in land-use plans.
The project is being implemented by NEDA, with support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Australian Agency for International Development.
Meanwhile, Northeastern Mindanao OCD Regional Director Blanche T. Gobenciong said the DRR-CCA pilot projects in Surigao City and in the Surigao del Norte’s three towns will make “positive.” mitigating measures in times of calamities.
“This is a big help to our local communities,” added Director Gobenciong. (muc/PIA-Caraga) (more…)
More losers cry poll fraud
May 25, 2010
MANILA, Philippines—Going by the stories of losing candidates, a group of “koala bears” must have been roaming the country during the election period offering to fix votes for a fee ranging up to P50 million.
Defeated candidates from Quezon City to Surigao del Norte Monday testified at a congressional hearing and alleged that men had approached them claiming they could rig the country’s first automated polls.
“I was surprised when he asked me if I am willing to engage his services, including those of his partners, to guarantee the victory of my entire slate in the province,” Surigao del Norte Gov. Ace Barbers told the House of Representatives committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.
“If I subscribe, the victories of myself, my vice governor, congressmen, and all my mayors will be guaranteed. The price—P50 million,” Barbers said.
Barbers said he spurned the offer. He and his entire team, including 21 mayoral candidates, lost.
Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, who also came to grief at the polls, said three men came to his house in January and offered to cheat for him. He said he refused and they did not talk about money.
Last week, a masked man claimed in a video shown at a media forum that he had taken part in vote-shaving and vote-padding operations in exchange for money.
The same video was played at the House hearings and the committee chair, Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., immediately dubbed the masked man the “koala bear” because of his appearance. The man identified himself in the video as “Robin.”
Several officials have doubted the man’s claims.
The term “koala bear” is a misnomer. Koalas are not bears but marsupials, like the kangaroos. They feed on low-energy eucalyptus leaves. Endemic to Australia, they walk on four legs but also climb trees.
Koalas are said to be loners and wail like a baby when hurt or sad. They might scream when touched but are described as harmless.
Lengthy tale
Barbers spun a lengthy tale at the hearing, telling of how a man approached him at the Camp Aguinaldo golf club last November and offered to make him and his allies win. He said the alleged poll operator was a “decent-looking man.”
Barbers said Laguna Gov. Teresita Lazaro and Rep. Munir Arbison had similar tales to tell.
Election officials and representatives of automation machine suppliers Smartmatic have stressed that the results of the polls could not be manipulated, and that preprogrammed results could not be inserted in the machines.
They also said that if any shenanigans took place, it would be easily detected under the automated election system.
One of a group
Barbers later told reporters he was withholding the identity of the man at the moment because he wanted to convince him to come out. He said he had the man’s phone number but could not contact him when he tried to call the number.
Barbers said the man told him that he was part of a group going around the country in search of politicians who wanted to manipulate the polls.
The man claimed to have the capability of manipulating the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines and that all of these would be reprogrammed before the polls to accommodate those who would hire their services.
Barbers said he was told that the PCOS machines were tampered with to reflect different dates and times to confuse those who would investigate the transmission of results. The machines could also be overridden by another computer when it came to transmitting results.
Flash cards
The man also supposedly said that the compact flash cards, which contained the instructions for the PCOS machines, would be replaced with ones containing the preprogrammed results after the testing process.
Barbers said he would have to shell out a 35-percent downpayment on the P50-million fee by February, another 35 percent at the start of the campaign and the balance upon proclamation.
If he was not interested, the man would peddle his services to his opponents, Barbers added.
Makati Rep. Locsin, committee chair, asked why Barbers had not come forward then and said he should have executed an affidavit about meeting the man.
Barbers said he did not believe the man then, and that because of this, he did not think of reporting the matter to anyone.
‘Like cold water’
It was only when reports came out that Smartmatic would replace 76,000 flash cards for possible defects that he felt the man might have been telling the truth, Barbers said.
“I thought I would have a heart attack, I felt like ice cold water was being poured on my entire body. I remembered the conversation and the offer and the words rang in my ear as if my eardrums would burst. Is this it? I remember asking myself. So is it true?” he said.
Barbers claimed the loss of his entire slate was very “revealing.” He also found suspicious the high voter turnout in his rivals’ bailiwicks and their large winning margins.
He also said that in one precinct, a member of the board of election inspectors had cut one side of the ballot to fit it into the machine.
He scoffed at the reason given by Commission on Elections (Comelec) regional director Danny Pobe—who he claimed was linked to the “Hello Garci” scandal—which was that the ballots had expanded due to the weather.
Defensor’s story
Defensor said the three men who came to his house were accompanied by a longtime friend.
“I asked them if [what they were offering] is to prevent cheating. They said, ‘No, no. To cheat,’” he told reporters.
Upon hearing that, Defensor said he just shook the men’s hands to indicate that he was rejecting the offer.
The men gave him their contact numbers, but he did not call them.
According to Defensor, the men showed him documents to back up their claims that they could disable the PCOS machines and manipulate the results. He was unable to get a good look at the documents.
Asked why he only brought this out now, Defensor said he thought that it was just a scam.
Bandwagon effect
James Jimenez, spokesperson of the Comelec, lamented the bandwagon effect of the allegations being made at the House hearings.
“Suddenly there is a proliferation of pre-election offers of ways to subvert the elections. (This is) a case of the ‘me, too’ syndrome … One congressman claims of being offered (help) to cheat and the others say, ‘Me, too,’” Jimenez complained.
“The Comelec hopes that those who claimed to have received such offers can make good on their claims because it would be very instructive for everyone,” he remarked with a hint of sarcasm.
Jimenez said that prior to the elections, the poll body had appealed to politicians who had received shady offers to alert the poll body. Sadly, no one did.
No more recount
The Comelec regional office in Butuan City rejected calls for a manual recounting of votes in the Surigao del Norte elections.
Pobe, the Comelec regional director in Caraga, said: “The winners had been duly proclaimed so any recounting of the votes is impossible. There must be a court order or directive coming from the Comelec central office.”
On Friday, hundreds of Barbers’ supporters and political allies gathered at the Surigao city plaza condemning alleged massive fraud.
Barbers lost by 2,114 votes to the wife of Rep. Francisco Matugas.
“Barbers and his allies were just sour-graping. They must accept the will of the Surigaonons,” Matugas said.
Another protester was Speaker Prospero Nograles, who charged that the compact flash cards supposed to transmit the results might have been tampered with when they were reconfigured before the elections.
“A lot of people are asking how it can be done, if it is possible to reconfigure flash cards and deliver them within 48 hours. And where did the replacement flash cards come from? Taiwan? I did not see a paper trail,” Nograles, who lost in the Davao City mayoral race, said in Filipino. (Inquirer.net) (more…)
Surigao del Norte piloted for disaster mitigation project
May 24, 2010Davao City (25 May) — Municipalities in Surigao del Norte were chosen as pilot areas for a project that would help local government units (LGUs) identify disaster risks and incorporate mitigating measures into their local development plans.
The “Integrating DRR/CCA Project,” or Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation in Local Development Planning and Decision-Making Process, aims to provide high-risk LGUs a guide in identifying options for collective responses to common risks.
Surigao del Norte was chosen as a pilot area following its formulation of a DRR-enhanced Provincial Development and Physical Framework Plan (PDPFP). Under the said plan, the provincial government has identified Surigao City and the ClaGiBa (Claver-Gigaquit-Bacuag) cluster as high priority areas for DRR interventions.
As part of the Integrating DRR/CCA Project, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), together with the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, conducted field inspections to validate hazard risks identified by the LGUs and generate their support for the project.
The team, led by Regional Development Coordination Staff Director Susan Rachel G. Jose, was able to identify an eroded riverbank in Bacuag and several rain-induced landslides along the newly constructed highway from Surigao City to Claver.
The Integrating DRR/CCA Project is expected to produce a Reference Manual that would showcase a risk assessment methodology and suggest entry points for mainstreaming disaster and climate risks reduction in land-use plans.
The project is being implemented by NEDA, with support from the United Nations Development Programme and the Australian Agency for International Development. (PIA) (more…)
