DARAGA, Albay --- Government engineers will speed up the construction of the Binitayan bridge here following the release of a P40 million promised by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Albay Representative Al Francis Bichara disclosed over the weekend.

NAGA CITY - - A RANKING OFFICIAL of the Bicol River Basin and Watershed Management Project (BRBWMP) has confirmed the relocation of some 300 families along the low-laying banks of the Sipocot River due to the expected rise of water-level, once the P 1.9 Billion, gigantic Malaguico Dam project in Sipocot, Camarines Sur is completed by 2010.

UYA AN RAWITDAWIT na binasa sa 'Haliya nin Banwaan: Protesta sa Pagratak kan National Artist Awards':

We are living in times of recession and we all try to make do with the reduced resources we now have. In Germany the government worked hard and made many an effort to not hand down to the voters the full consequences of the global economic depression. At least until the upcoming elections of the Federal German Parliament on September 27, that is, as the government would be blamed for such unpleasant changes in the peoples' wallets and would lose many voters to the opposing parties.

This coming Friday, the Virgin will be taken out of her Shrine and brought to the center of the city. If we follow the chronicles of old, and by metaphor of geography, She will be coming from Naga - the old settlement across the river - and to the Nueva Caceres, the colonial capital. When she sails back to her home the Sunday after of the land procession, somewhere the magical Serpent believed treasured by the ancestors of those that carry her on their shoulder at present will be wailing and forgotten.

It's almost certain now that Noynoy will run for president, especially given Mar's sacrifice followed by other presidentiables withdrawing to support Noynoy. The next question would be his pick for vice-president, a presidential candidate's first most defining decision.

NAGA CITY-Artists in this city on Friday staged Haliya, a Bikol ritual dating back to pre-Hispanic times, to protest against alleged irregularities in the selection of this year's National Artists.

NAGA CITY (5 September) - - THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL RAILWAYS (PNR) commuter train will service passengers from Ligao City in Albay, to Naga City and Sipocot town in Camarines Sur, during the Peñafrancia Week festival this month.

In the middle of dishonesty, fraud and cheating that plague the present national government, I long for sincerity and truthfulness. Amid extravagance and squandering by government officials from the illegitimate president and her cabinet to the congressmen and women down to the barangay captains, I long for decency and prudence. In the midst of self-enrichment and wealth accumulation of politicians, I long for simplicity and self-sacrifice. In the middle of apparent stealing and malversation of taxpayers' money, I long for honesty. Amid corruption and bribery worsened by questionable decisions of acquittal of the primary instigators of the crime, I long for integrity in governance.

MANILA, Sept. 3, 2009- Metropolitan bishops led by Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales vowed for support to workers in ensuring decent work amidst the worsening global financial crisis. They took this stand at a meeting held last Tuesday morning at the Residencia del Arzobispo in Intramuros, Manila.