LEGAZPI CITY (26 May) -- FOUR ENGINEERS and a driver, part of a six-man inspection team from the Quality Control Division of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Central office were reported to have been robbed by armed men at a local hotel in downtown Naga City, with some P 246,000 worth of electronic equipment, cell phones, personal belongings and cash were carted away by the suspects.
Legazpi City (30 May) -- The militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Bikol (BAYAN-Bikol) issued a challenge to president -apparent Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino to immediately order a full investigation on Ako Bicol party list (AKB) and the corporations connected to it such as Sunwest Construction and Development Corporation and Hi-Tone Construction and Development Corporation once he gets into Malacañang.
San Pascual, Burias Island, Masbate (28 May) -- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo inaugurated Thursday (May 27) a new strategically-located RoRo (roll-on-roll-off) port here during her visit to this town.
The P46.3 million RoRo port here, conceptualized as a "bridge between Luzon and the Visayas," was completed last year but blessing and inauguration was held when the President set foot in this remote town for the first time yesterday.
NAGA CITY (24 May) - LAST WEEK'S burning of two heavy-duty motor graders owned by the Sunwest Development Corporation, a big-time Construction firm in Bicol is being linked in an army report to the victory of "AKO BICOL" or "AKB," a Bikol-based partylist group, whose main supporter is known Bikolano Contractor, Zaldy Co, the reported owner of Sunwest Construction firm.
Naga City -- Former NBI Director and human rights lawyer Jesus Antonio Carpio died last May 26 of Parkinson's Disease. He was 78.
Carpio served as Director of the National Bureau of Investigation or NBI from 1986-1989 after being appointed by then President Corazon Aquino.
Prior to his appointment, Carpio was a known human rights lawyer during the Marcos regime, and had been imprisoned by the dictator for being vocally critical.
Nine United States Peace Corps volunteers assigned in different schools/offices in the country facilitated the Division Secondary School English Teachers' Training (DSSETT) held at Pili National High School (PNHS), La Paz, Pili, Camarines Sur.
PILI, Camarines Sur (24 May) -- Agriculture Secretary Bernie G. Fondevilla told the more than 600 delegations to the National 4-H Convention that the government and the people must work together in addressing critical threats of climate change which is largely attributed to man's abuse of mother earth.
Fondevilla, who is supposed to be the guest speaker during the closing program of the 4-day event, May 17-20, 2010 held at the Camarines Sur Convention Center, here, cancelled his trip to Bikol in the last minute due to an urgent call in Malacañang.
Naga City ---- Members from various religious organizations of Caceres, religious communities and parish pastoral councils from the Archdiocese of Caceres gathered on May 22 at the Holy Rosary Minor Seminary for the 1st Archdiocesan Congress of Ecclesial Communities here with the theme "The role of ecclesial communities and the Laity in the Public Square,"
NAGA CITY --- Did you know that the number of Filipinos infected with human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) rose dramatically in the past 10 months?
Doctors at the Philippine General Hospital Infectious Diseases Treatment Complex said the number of HIV cases in the hospital rose to 100 in the past 10 months. Records from the Department of Health (DOH) showed that the number of HIV cases rose to 709 last year, compared to 528 in 2008.
From the time of the campaign period until present, militant group BAYAN-Bikol had been persistently vocal about AKO BIKOL (AKB) for being a "dummy" party-list group of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. BAYAN-Bikol, in fact, had filed with the Comelec a disqualification case against the AKB on the bases that the latter's nominees, Christopher and Elizaldy Co, do not really belong to any marginalized sector being actually wealthy contractors; and for being linked with the outgoing Arroyo Administration.
For my column piece this week, I am sharing below my homily which was delivered last 2010 May 30, on the occasion of the solemnity of the Holy Trinity.
Ngunyan satong sinisilebrar an kapyestahan kan Santisima Trinidad. Sosog sa satong nanudan sa katesismo, ini an misteryo nin mga misteryo na tinutubudan nin satong Katolikong Simbahan.
Like scents, tastes bring us to places, remind us of events and affairs, and conjure within us old feelings. More often, these feelings are heightened because some are of our deepest intimacies while some are of our greatest melancholies and fears. This simple psychology of flavor was, is, and will always be a big part of how we are formed as individual persons.
Akkad in Mesopotamia was the center of the world's first empire some 25 centuries before Christ. The Akkadian language outlasted the empire, becoming the language of several later cultures, including Babylonia.
Even 45 centuries later, we possibly still use a couple of words from that language in our day-to-day activities, words that may descend from the Akkadian words asu, "to ascend," and erub, "to descend." They were the roots of the words for "east" and "west," where the sun ascends and descends. In English, we pronounce them "Asia" and "Europe."
MANILA, May 27, 2010-A ranking Catholic Church leader said authorities still have lot of things to do to prove there sincerity in prosecuting people behind a controversy-ridden government transaction.
Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo believes key personalities behind the botched US$329 million National Broadband Network project with Chinese firm, ZTE Corp. involved other top government officials.
ROME, May 27, 2010-- Bishops of southern African nations are trying to bring global attention to the problem of human trafficking in their region.
The prelates, collaborating with the group Planet Waves, organized a meeting last week on the phenomenon, which affects an unknown number of people. Four episcopal conferences were represented at the meeting: Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
It's estimated 300 people a week enter South Africa illegally from Mozambique alone.
MADRID, Spain, May 27, 2010--The official song for World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid was recently selected. The song, composed by Father Enrique Castro, with lyrics by Auxiliary Bishop Cesar Franco of Madrid, will debut on November 9 on the feast of Our Lady of Almudena at the Cathedral of Madrid.
What were the Spanish thinking? What mindset was in play in the 1849 Claveria List of Surnames, a listing from which a male indio head of the family supposedly chose a Spanish last name for himself and his kin?
