MANILA, Oct. 18, 2010-Manila Archbishop Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales paid tribute to one of his parish priests in the Diocese of Malaybalay who was fatally ambushed by men believed to have been hired by illegal loggers 19 years ago.
The 78-year old prelate recalled Fr. Nery Lito Satur as a strong and credible advocate against illegal logging.
Satur then was 29 years old and one of Malaybalay's youngest priests. Media accounts revealed the priest's head was smashed with a rifle butt and later shot pointblank with a shotgun.
Father Andrew Recepcion, president of the International Association of Catholic Missiologists, says Christians in Asia should articulate their faith despite being a minority.
In his interview with ucanews.com he seeks to shed light on current issues and challenges surrounding mission work in Asia.
MANILA, Oct. 19, 2010- President Benigno Aquino III's power given under the Constitution in granting executive clemency cannot be questioned.
But given the speed with which the rebel soldiers were given amnesty, the process should be reviewed for it to be more efficient, an official of the CBCP's Commission on Prison Pastoral Care said.
He said Aquino's granting of amnesty as a gesture for reconciliation to the mutineers should not be the basis in releasing law offenders since it does not constitute restorative justice.
MANILA, Oct. 17, 2010-Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes has called for the halt of the Balocawe mining project, saying that mining in whatever way will only destroy the lives of the people.
"Irresponsible mining destroys our lives and our community. Be it small-scale or large-scale operation, it is an affront to the integrity of creation," Bastes said.
He said the small-scale mining in Brgy. Balocawe, Matnog, Sorsogon, is principally deceptive and destructive and urged the government to cancel the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) issued to the company.
Naga City (13 October 2010) -- Nineteen youth leaders from Bikol Region will join the 8th National Youth Parliament that will be held in Butuan City on November 5 -8, 2010.
On its 159th year and for the third consecutive time, Bank of the Philippine Islands has been awarded by Finance Asia as the Best Cash Management Bank in the Philippines. Through continuous deployment of solutions that meet the increasing sophistication of corporate customers, BPI has kept its position as the best in the Philippine cash management industry. With technology capabilities that match the capabilities of global banks complemented by the widest network among local banks, BPI offers its customers' unparalleled support for the fulfillment of their cash management needs
Iriga City --- To ensure that its personnel are equipped with basic yet quality training programs, the University of Northeastern Philippines (UNEP) sought the help of a training provider who would help in enhancing their Architecture and technical department's capability, particularly in the field of management and supervision.
The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has recently disbursed a total of P650.3 million to its active members and retirees on account of massive reconciliation and records updating projects made possible by its enhanced IT system.
As a result, a total of P195.3 million worth of cash dividends was credited to the eCard accounts of 197,740 active members who did not receive dividends from their compulsory policy for the applicable years 2006, 2007, and 2008.
The average cash dividend paid to these members amounted to P987.77.
NAGA CITY (20 October) -LOCAL CONTRACTOR-ENGINEER Ramil Milano together with a certain Totoy Ona and five other suspects are now facing charges of Kidnap for Ransom filed before the Naga City Prosecutor's Office for the abduction and illegal detention of couple, Eliseo Cabautan Saturno, 49 and wife, Angelina Canlas Saturno, 60, contractors of the completed multi-million Naga City Coliseum.
Legazpi City (20 October) -- The investment of the Provincial Government of Albay for this year's education sector has reached P67.4 million, the highest budgetary allocation of the provincial government next to health, which it has properly divided among different projects.
Albay Governor Joey Salceda's thrust in education is to ensure that there is a college graduate in every family and to give recognition to outstanding teachers, principals, and students as well as providing cash incentives to local government units implementing new innovation in education projects.
LEGAZPI CITY, Oct. 21 (PNA) - The Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) regional office in Bikol has tied-up with major hospitals in the region for its newly introduced medical programs for OFWs.
OWWA Bicol Director Jocelyn Hapal disclosed that the agency has recently entered into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital (OLLH) and Santissima Trinidad Hospital of Daet (STHD), both in Camarines Norte, and with Sta. Maria Josefa Hospital Foundation (SMJHF) in Iriga City, Camarines Sur for the initial implementation of the program.
LEGAZPI City (Oct. 20) - More than 100 member-consumers of Albay Electric Cooperative (ALECO) have unanimously voted for the relief of the power cooperative's management team in a special assembly held Oct. 16 at the Pastoral Center of St. Gregory the Great Cathedral.
By invoking their right to legislate as member-consumers under Article III Section 2 of ALECO by-laws the multi-stakeholders signed the call to relieve Engr. Alex Realoza, operation-in-charge, and his team for mismanagement of the cooperative.
The call for special assembly was submitted by the consumers last Oct. 2 to ALECO Board of Directors (B0D), with a copy furnished to National Electrification Administration (NEA). The consumers asked that effective solutions to the problem be explored. However, BOD and NEA ignored it.
CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camsur Oct 20, 2010 - One NPA member lay dead and one firearm was seized in the fresh fighting between government forces and the NPA rebels in Sorsogon's election hotspots, a military official said today.
LtCol Santiago Enginco, Commander of the 49th Infantry Battalion based in Sorsogon said that fresh fighting occurred in Sta Lourdes village of Barcelona town at 6:30am yesterday, October 20 (Wednesday).
CAMP ELIAS ANGELES, Pili, Camarines Sur, Oct. 18, 2010 - Two policemen were shot and killed by undetermined armed men in an ambush in an election hotspot town of Masbate today, a military report said.
LtCol Anthony Purugganan, Commander of the 9th Infantry Battalion which has jurisdiction over Masbate Province said that the two policemen were on board a motorcycle when they were waylaid by unknown perpetrators numbering more or less 5 in Malamag village, Pio V Corpuz town at around 7:00am today.
NAGA CITY (Oct 16) -ONLY TEN of the 40 train coaches classified as "Electric Multiple Units" (EMUs) have been shipped to the country from the Transport Rolling Division of the East Japan Railway Company in Tokyo, as a donation to the Philippine National Railways (PNR) under a program to rehabilitate the railways system in the country.
Sources here revealed that currently PNR is short of freight funds to pay for the shipment costs of the first batch of 40 units of coaches; supposedly, every train coach loaded for shipment in a cargo vessel costs P 3-Million.
CALABANGA, CAMARINES (Oct 12) - THIEVES EQUIPPED with a bolt-cutter, a sledge hammer, and chisels , bore a hole into the roofing and passed through the ceiling of a rural bank in this town carting some P 705, 000 in cash, the local police in this town reported on Monday (October 11).
Calabanga Police Chief Insp. Elmer V. Mora said the management of the Peñafrancia Rural Bank branch had lapses on their part, by not heeding the police's recommendations after the first attempt by thieves occurred on the evening of October 9.
LEGAZPI CITY, Oct. 15- The Bikol Region has 311 election "hot spots" that are under tight watch by the Philippine Army, the Philippine National Police, the Commission on Elections and the respective local government units, an army officer said Friday.
The Army's 9th Infantry Division spokesman Maj. Harold Cabunoc said that based on records, the Bikol Region has 70 villages placed as Category 1 and 241 villages as Category 2 of the Comelec's tally of election watch list of areas (EWAS) or "hot spots."
BAGUIO CITY, October 13, 2010-Addressing the "sins" it committed against the tribal communities, the Catholic Church has begged for forgiveness from the indigenous peoples and vowed to do everything possible to protect them.
The Episcopal Commission on Indigenous Peoples of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines said the church is sorry for its disrespect of other cultures such as the colonization of native peoples in the past.
MANILA, Oct. 12, 2010-Prison advocates continuously fight against the re-establishment of death penalty in the Philippines.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines- Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care (CBCP-ECPPC) has joined with the Coalition Against Death Penalty (CADP) in opposing the restoration of the death penalty law in the country.
The group presented the rules and regulation of the restorative justice and some alternatives to imprisonment.
MANILA, Oct. 15, 2010-The successful rescue of 33 miners trapped under scorching desert in Chile brought important lessons that everyone can learn from, the Archbishop of Manila said.
Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales said he wished Filipinos would learn from the miners' experience.
He attributed the rescue's success to three factors which include the power of prayer, the mining company's and government's determination to save the miners, and the third, the miners' resolve to remain united and will to cooperate with one another.
Aside from its steadfast campaign for quality education, the management of the University of Northeastern Philippines (UNEP) is also known for its staunch stand in protecting our environment. Just recently, UNEP's Association of Graduate Studies conducted an Integration Workshop concerning the Waras-Lalo Integrated Watershed Management Framework. The activity was held at Marioli's Resto and Grill at San Francisco, Iriga City.
PILI, Camarines Sur, Oct 13 -- Researchers of the Bicol Integrated Agricultural Research Center (BIARC) have developed an innovative, environment-friendly technology to convert sweet sorghum residues into bio-organic fertilizer, agriculture officials based here revealed on Wednesday.
Bio-organic fertilizer is the compost from any organic material that has undergone rapid decomposition through the action of introduced homogeneous microbial inoculants.
