Articles

IRIGA CITY ---  The popular local ABS-CBN TV morning show MagTV na Oragon featured in its May 16 edition the University of Northeastern Philippines (UNEP) campus here, its various college departments, modern laboratories and facilities to give parents and students the opportunity to know the best courses the university offers and its tradition of academic excellence as a prestigious learning institution in the Bikol region.

This genuine desire to inform prospective students of UNEP's high quality of education was boosted when MagTV na Oragon hosts toured the campus.

BANGKOK, Thailand, May 14, 2009--Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Bishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovitvanit of Nakhon Sawan as the new archbishop of Bangkok.

The announcement was made on May 14 during which Pope Benedict XVI also accepted the resignation of Cardinal Michael Michai Kitbunchu of Bangkok.

Archbishop-elect Kriengsak was born on June 27, 1949, and was ordained a priest on July 11, 1976.

MANILA, May 15 -- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) resumed on Friday the opening of the bids for the 2010 poll computerization project after granting on Wednesday the motions for reconsideration filed by four automation companies.

Atty. Ferdinand Rafanan, head of the Comelec's Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC), said they would try to finish the deliberations on the eligibility documents so that they can proceed immediately with the technical and financial documentations.

NAGA CITY --- Everyone here heaved a sigh of relief after the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM) based in Alabang, Muntinlupa City informed Naga City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo and City Health Officer Vito 'Butch' Borja Tuesday night that the medical examination and laboratory test conducted on the 4-year old child suspected to have acquired the dreaded Influenza A(HiN1) proved negative.

LEGAZPI CITY -- DENTAL AND MEDICAL Missions including relief distribution and engineering works are being conducted by units of the Philippine Army in the typhoon-stricken locality and surrounding villages of Hubo,  Magallanes in Sorsogon province, where 18 people had died and scores of dwellings lost  in destructive landslides.

The 901^st Brigade, PA community relations office in Camp Simeon Ola here reported, that Dental and Medical missions including engineering works in the affected villages were conducted from May 7 to 13.

NAGA CITY—Daet Mayor Tito Sarion said on Thursday that the national government should declare several provinces and regions, including Bikol, as calamity-prone areas.

Sarion said there was a need to institutionalize a system on how to address disaster preparedness and response.

LEGAZPI CITY, May 7 (PNA) - The Philippine National Railways (PNR) management announced Wednesday that construction of new central station in Naga city to serve as railway terminal in Bikol is expected to be completed before the end of 2009.

Nicolas Beda Priela, Private Sector Consultant to the PNR, told members of the Regional Development Council (RDC) during the full council meeting that repair and rehabilitation of rail tracks and bridges were on-going.

The Sangguniang Panglungsod of Naga unanimously approved a resolution authored by education committee chairman Nelson Legacion, reminding school officials in the city about the Department of Education's (DepEd) "no collection policy".

In the resolution, Legacion expressed concern over reports that some public elementary and secondary schools in the city were collecting fees from students and parents presently during enrolment. The city councilor said that some of the reports and complaints were verified in Sabang Elementary School.

Naga City  -- While many Bikolanos celebrated and enjoyed SM's opening in Naga City, few were conversant of the crisis brought by typhoon "Dante" which ravaged areas due to landslides particularly in Catanduanes and Sorsogon. Other vicinities in Bikol were also affected due to the floods brought by the typhoon.

According to the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), "Dante" killed 25 people in Bikol while three remain to be missing. Damages were estimated to reach P191.2 million including P170.535 million in 25,117.11 metric tons of crops; and P127.7 million in infrastructure.

John Reinier B. Bulaong, a sophomore of the Ateneo de Naga University High School Department grabbed one of the slots for the International Mathematics contest of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

ROME, May 7, 2009-- The newly premiered movie "Angels and Demons" is little more than "harmless entertainment," with many factual errors and little cultural value, according to the Vatican newspaper.

Two dispassionate articles in L'Osservatore Romano May 7 may disappoint the film's promoters, who had sought a conflict with the Vatican of the type that surrounded "The Da Vinci Code" in 2006. Both films are based on books by author Dan Brown.

LEGAZPI CITY, May 7 (PNA) - The Department of Tourism (DOT) said the last tranche of the P2.5-million fund assistance to the province of Sorsogon for the establishment of various infrastructure and other tourism projects, has been released earlier this week.

DOT Bicol regional director Maria Ong-Ravanilla said the grant was given under the Expanded Grassroots Entrepreneurs for Eco-Tourism (GREET) program of the DOT which had been conceived to enhance livelihood opportunities in the tourism sector.