Vox Bikol Vol. 28 Issue No. 29

Embedded Scribd iPaper - Requires Javascript and Flash Player
multibrand
maIn: coR. p. buRgoS & gen. Luna StS., naga cIty teL noS.: (054) 473.72.62 / 478.34.58 bRancHeS: IRIGA • LEGASPI • SORSOGON
“Dealer of quality home appliances & furnitures”
DIStRIbutoR
YULETIDE’S TREE. An enormous Christmas tree looms over passersby and motorists at Legazpi City’s Penaranda Park, signaling the advent of the holiday season. Photo: Dandale Carpio
Albay crime rate highest in Bikol
PNP RECOM-5 report on crime statistics out by year end
SoNNY SALES
LegazpI cIty (7 December) — aLbay pRoVInce registered the highest crime rate statistics among Bikol provinces in the last quarter of this year with reportedly high incidences of crimes against persons and property, and increased number of rape cases reported in November this year.
This is according to PNP regional office spokesman Police Chief Insp. Jun Samson who admitted nonetheless that actual comparative statistics among the Bikol provinces have yet to be publicly presented; he added that actual assessment of statistics will be revealed in a PNP RECOM-5 report at the
end of this year. Samson also said that Bicol PNP Chief Supt. Cecilio Calleja Jr. noted recently the mounting number of crime cases involving minor offenders. Cases involving minors were reported in Camarines Sur towns, mostly involved in
theft and robbery cases, and a robbery-holdup gang recently apprehended in Sorsogon City involving minors from 15 to 17 years of age. Samson said that Calleja has ordered the PNP Regional Investigation and Detective
BY rP ESCALANTE
DOLE Bicol to employ Bulusan-affected residents
Heavy ash falls and lahar prevented the residents of these municipalities to till their land rendering them’jobless’ since Mt. Bulusan started erupting. The regional director bared that a total of P400,000 is earmarked by DOLE Bicol to fund the emergency employment program designed to provide salaries for the 22-day work period that each of the beneficiary will render. Breakdown of the resident-beneficiaries include 80 families in Juban, being the most affected town, and 30-a-piece for Irosin and Casiguran towns. The emergency employment program will be handled by DOLE
DoLE / PAGE 5
SoRSogon cIty (10 Dec) -- tHe Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Bicol will employ this December some 100 jobless residents displaced by the Bulusan eruption from three affected municipalities in the province as part of the ‘emergency employment program’ of the agency. DOLE Bicol Regional Director Atty. Alvin M. Villamor said that the emergency employment is one measure to augment the loss of income of 100 residents from Casiguran, Juban and Irosin towns in Sorsogon. Villamor observed the three municipalities are greatly affected by the series of ash fall and lahar from Mt. Bulusan threatening the lives and livelihood of the residents.
DENR finalizes forest boundary of three Bikol provinces
ALBAY / PAGE 5
PHoTo: cHArIsm sAYAT
DecembeR 6 -- RaRIng to beat the deadline for the forest land boundary assessment and delineation (FBAD) by year 2011, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Bicol fast tracks the finalization of timberland border of three more provinces. Jose Flores, chief of the Regional Assessment and Delineation Team (RADT) reported to DENR Regional Executive Director Joselin Marcus Fragada that they finished the assessment and delineation of forest land boundary of Masbate and Sorsogon while,
DENr / PAGE 5
Albay, DOST-Pagasa to set up automatic weather station
BY mA LoTErTE
Bikol police nets cache of firearms
camp gen. SImeon oLa, LegazpI City (8 December) -- Two persons transporting assorted short firearms from Cebu were arrested by joint police operatives of Regional Public Safety Battalion (RSPB) and Sorsogon Police Provincial Office led by PSupt Oscar Reyes Regala in a spot checkpoint, 6:30 a.m. of December 5 in Barangay Putiao, Pilar, Sorsogon. Reports reaching Police Regional Office (PRO) in Bikol showed that a concerned informant from Cebu alerted Sorsogon PNP that a RORO bus with plate
FIrEArmS / PAGE 5
LegazpI cIty (8 DecembeR) -maInStReamIng climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction measure are gaining more grounds in the province of Albay following the joint undertaking of the national and local governments to establish an automatic weather station (AWS) in the
first district of the province. Executive Director Manuel Rangasa of the Center for Initiative and Research on Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) in Albay disclosed that a memorandum of agreement has been recently entered into and by the
WEATHEr / PAGE 5
2
Volume XXVIII | Issue no. 29|
Vox Bikol Viewpoints
6- 12 december 2010
Poisoned fruit
LaSt DecembeR 10, on InteRnatIonaL Human Rights’ Day, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the Department of Justice (DOJ) which is led by Sec. Leila de Lima to withdraw the criminal charges made against the Morong 43. The said withdrawal of criminal charges by the government’s prosecuting body reportedly resulted from the DOJ’s review of the case which yielded that supposed evidences against the Morong 43 were “fruit of the poisoned tree.” Specifically, the evidences obtained against them were “through the improper service of a search warrant.” What this clearly indicates, at the very least, is that the 43 individuals who constituted the now famous Morong 43 were wrongfully arrested because the authorities (the military in this case) did not follow the correct procedures. While the President’s order seemed to excuse the military’s “mistake” from any legal liability (and to leave unaddressed the question of whether the Morong 43 were indeed members of the New People’s Army), this “mistake” which is obviously not the first one which the military committed, serves to highlight how terribly facile it is for law enforcement agencies to arrest, detain, and even torture civilians in a post-Marcos and postGloria Arroyo period. It seemed, at least as the Morong 43 case showed, that the operating procedure of “arrest first, ask questions later” (or worse, “shoot first, sort them out later”) remain in effect in President Aquino’s daang matuwid. Still, it is a tribute to the new Justice Secretary that such “mistakes” are revealed and corrected. She should also be commended for submitting her review and recommendations on the case as early as she could possibly do this which was last October. The high regard of the public and more particularly, the confidence accorded her by the families of the Morong 43 as well as the victims of the Ampatuan Massacre are testaments not only to her ability, but more importantly, to her disposition to effect justice. The Aquino government’s withdrawal of the criminal charges against the Morong 43 shows that Sec. de Lima—unlike her other predecessors—is not keen on accepting “poisoned fruits.”
Human Rights Day 2010
on DecembeR 10, 2010, tHe world dedicated the celebration of human rights day to all “human rights defenders who act to end discrimination.” It will be remembered that a cornerstone of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) that the United Nations General Assembly adopted and proclaimed on December 10, 1948, is the provision against discrimination. Article 2 of the UDHR states: “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty.” To this day, discrimination exists in many forms, and thus, the work to end discrimination continues. To celebrate Human Rights Day, our Philippine Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism sponsored a Kapihan on Human Rights at the Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City. Of the many issues that were discussed there, it was the continuing discrimination against our differentlyabled fellow human beings that stood out for more vigorous monitoring and corrective action. An example that all of us should readily be more conscious is the requirement for access to persons with disabilities in buildings, roads, and other establishments. “I almost broke my neck using the ramp for the disabled in one building since it was too steep,” one disabled participant in a wheelchair related. Even in language, it’s not correct to say “tao din sila” in referring to the disabled. They are simply our fellow human beings entitled to equality. Thus, Article 1 of the UDHR clearly sets out the basic principle that: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.” Now, there’s no money in defending human rights; only rewards or treasures in heaven. Indeed, my own father, former NBI Director J. Antonio M. Carpio, had to endure being detained twice by the Marcos Dictatorship for his human rights advocacy then. Many other defenders around the world have even been killed, tortured or their families and relatives are made to pay the price of their advocacies. Thus, it is only fitting that we remember all human rights defenders and give them all the support that we can. Of course, the defense of human rights begins with our own selves, with the recognition that as also stated in Article 29 (1) of the UDHR, “[e]veryone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible.” Indeed, as human beings all, we must speak up and step up to end discrimination wherever it rears its ugly head.
Editorial
Let it Snow, Let it Snow
(Ode to My Colonial Childhood)
Long befoRe tHe cIty of Baguio invited everyone to witness snow in the Philippine highlands, we had snow in our home. My aunts would spend the whole afternoon after the celebration of the Immaculate Conception to whisk a drum-full of snow. I do not know the recipe for that snow; all I recall is that the main element was soap named Perla, and some salt. My aunts were good snowmakers. They made real good snow. We would place it around the bare twigs that would be set up as Christmas Tree. All throughout the season, that white “thing” stayed there on the tree in the sala, complementing the posters and calendars of snow-capped mountains. All over the wall we would pin with tucks Christmas Cards, with glitters simulating silvery snow. Little churches alone and sad stood on small hills in towns that were draped in white ice. Christmas had to be cold and, given the fact that global warming was a teeny-weeny bit of a warning in those years, the Decembers of those years, I recall, were chilly, by Filipino standard. I always loved the sound of the word “Yuletide” and it helped that there was always a “Happy Yuletide” sign somewhere in our home. No one really cared what it meant, not even if it referred to a pagan winter festival ascribed to Germanic tribes. There was a relish that came easily when you say “Yule”, as if you are hailing a friend or some elemental. The word sounded wintry, even if we only saw winter in photos. Then came the Christmas Carols. I had favorites, and these choices were carried on to my adult life. Christmas songs are always recall tools, a lilt there and a poignant melody in minor key there are enough to bring rushing back memories of childhood, of innocence, when the world was cool and carefree and no one had the humorless life to deconstruct Christmas. Christmas was never a concept. There was no postcolonial discourse to trigger a questioning. Christmas was almost neutral in those days, long before call centers aimed for accent-free or neutral English. Then – and even now perhaps – it was never kitsch to sing a song like “Winter Wonderland”: Sleigh bells are you listening/In the lane, snow is glistening. It becomes even mystical: In the meadow we can build a snowman/ And pretend he’s Parson Brown.” Capping this colonial experience, it calls that Later on, we’ll conspire/As we dream by the fire.” A fireplace! I do not remember if we did build a fireplace. I guessed the kitchen with its open oven more than made up for this cozy scenario. I discovered early on Ella Fitzgerald, the so-called First Lady of American Music. It is an appellation difficult to believe for Ms. Fitzgerald, the best jazz singer, bar none, was African-American. But that’s another issue. The charm was Ella could sing any Christmas carol in that velvet voice that hid and revealed an elegant rasp and growl. So, there we were singing to her classic “Let it Snow, Let it Snow.” Composed by the team of Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne in 1945, right there in the embrace of World War II, the song has the most infectious beat. You know the lines: “Oh, the weather outside is frightful,/But the fire is so delightful,/And since we have no place to go,/Let it snow!, Let it snow!” The infection goes: The fire is slowly dying/And my dear, we’re still good-byeing/But as long as you love me so/ Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! This Christmas carol was, after all, a song of sophisticated seduction. It was not a Christmas carol; in fact if it is considered a Christmas song, then it is the only song for the season that has no Christmas at all in the lyrics. But who cares. After so many years, the colonial education goes on. When my cultural defenses are down, I am one of those who contribute to the power of one Christmas carol popularized by Bing Crosby. You know the lines, which go this way: I’m dreaming of a White Christmas/Just like the one I used to know. Colonization triumphs when we not only dream of “white” things but also when we subconsciously and unconsciously claim that memory to have always been felt to be appropriately – all the time – there.
6- 12 december 2010
Vox Bikol Viewpoints
Volume XXVIII | Issue no. 29
What to make of the truth commission Setback
by benJIe oLIVeRoS Bulatlat.com tHe SupReme couRt HaS DecLaReD Executive sible for its setbacks. At the minimum, the Aquino administraOrder 1, creating a Truth Commission to investigate the cortion’s legal team is inept. I remember my lawyer cousin, who ruption cases of the previous Arroyo administration, as uncon- used to be vice-president and the only woman member of the stitutional citing the equal protection clause of the Constitusenior management team of a GOCC, telling me how patently tion as basis. This is strike two for the administration of Pres. flawed was the manner by which Memorandum Circular 1, Benigno Aquino III. Earler, the Supreme Court issued a Status which later became Executive Order 2, was formulated. It was Quo Ante Order in the case of Bai Omera Dianalan-Lucman. obvious, she said, that Aquino’s legal team did not do their Lucman was one of four Arroyo appointees homework. who filed petitions before the Supreme Court What is worse is that, seemingly the Aquino (SC) questioning the constitutionality of Execuadministration lacks the political will to run after tive Order No. 2. The SC decision on Lucman’s former president and currently Pampanga Rep. case, in effect, pushed back Executive Order Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Pres. Benigno Aquino No. 2, which recalled, withdrew, or revoked the so-called mid- III has, since the start of his administration, been issuing night appointments of the previous Arroyo administration. strong statements. “There can be no reconciliation without What caused these setbacks of the Aquino administration? justice,” he said during his inaugural address. He was quoted Justice Sec. Leila De Lima called the recent decision of in news reports as saying that if the government does not run the Supreme Court declaring as unconstitutional Executive after those who committed crimes, then these crimes would Order 1 as politically motivated. Chief Justice Renato Corona be committed again and again. According to a news report of vehemently denied this saying that “what is right is right, GMAnews.tv, when Aquino was asked recently if Arroyo was what is wrong is wrong.” Well, Chief Justice Corona seems to politically untouchable, he replied “…I will not let that hapgloss over the fact that who defines what is right and what is pen. I do not give up if I know that I am right.” wrong are humans, and in this case, the honorable justices of Unfortunately, these strong statements are not matched the Supreme Court. The justices of the Supreme Court may (or by action. All the administration has done so far was to issue should) be honorable, but they are not infallible; nor are they Executive Order 1 and wait for the Truth Commission to come immune from political influences. The influence of the fact with its findings on corruption issues that have been the subthat most current justices of the Supreme Court were appointject of so many Senate investigations before and despite the ed by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the decievidences and statements of witnesses pointing to the culpabilsions they make concerning the former president could not be ity of the Arroyo family. Why did it not file cases against the discounted, although there are exceptions. Former chief justice Arroyo family immediately? The filing of cases would even Reynato Puno has shown how a justice could be independent put the Arroyo family and her allies at the defensive. despite being appointed by Arroyo. Also why did the Aquino administration not include huAdded to this, the task of the Supreme Court is to “interman rights violations, specifically extrajudicial killings and pret” the Constitution and the country’s laws. And interpretaenforced disappearances, in the cases to be investigated by tions are subjective. Would the justices focus on the intent and the Truth Commission? Because extrajudicial killings and spirit of the provision of the Constitution or the law or on how enforced disappearances are serious crimes against humanity, it was written? Which provision of the Constitution or which these make the creation of a Truth Commission more compellaw would the justices cite and use as basis for determining the ling and unassailable. It would be politically embarrassing constitutionality or legality of an issue that was put before it? for the Supreme Court to reject the creation of such a Truth Undoubtedly, the position of each justice on an issue brought Commission. There have also been enough precedents in the before the Supreme Court is guided by his or her political creation of such Truth Commissions abroad, such as in Argenconvictions, even Puno. The question therefore is, which side tina and Chile. In both countries, the last dictators who ruled of the political fence do the convictions of majority of the before the transition to democracy were able to pass amnesty justices lie? With the current composition of the Supreme laws to shield themselves from criminal and civil suits. And Court and the decisions it has so far made, it is obvious that yet, this did not prevent the creation of Truth Commissions it is predominantly conservative. Even during the time of and the prosecution of the dictators and the generals involved former chief justice Puno, there were several times when he in human rights violations. was part of the dissenting minority. But his arguments, though If the Aquino administration is really serious about representing the minority, was so eloquent that it could not holding the Arroyo family and their allies accountable for the be simply set aside. With Chief Justice Renato Corona at the crimes they committed against the Filipino people, it could not helm, the people could expect an uphill battle in the defense of dilly-dally about it nor could it put a glove to the arm of justheir rights. tice. It must act decisively and with determination. Otherwise, However, regardless of the political flavor of the current the Filipino people could forget about achieving justice under Supreme Court, the Aquino administration is primarily respon- the current administration.
movies and trains
3
Analysis
O Wait, O Wait
by William grimm
A friend complained that his parish had not used the hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel on the first Sunday of Advent. I tried explaining that the hymn is not legitimately used until December 17, when the focus of Advent’s prayers and readings shifts to preparing for Christmas. He did not care for liturgical or theological niceties, however. He wanted his favorite hymn, and he was not willing to wait for it. It is ironic that he would not wait in a season that is all about waiting. The word “advent” means “coming,” but the Lord does that. Our part in the season is waiting “in joyful hope” to welcome his coming. And not just in this season. The meaning of the Church’s liturgical seasons is not limited to those seasons. Repentance and conversion mark our whole life, not just 40 days in Lent. Our baptismal union with the risen Lord is not limited to Easter time. We rejoice that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” not solely in the Christmas season. The seasons give us time and reason to concentrate our thoughts and prayers on different aspects of our whole lives. Advent is the liturgical season that possibly more than any other encapsulates our day-to-day experience. Waiting is the story of our lives. As children, we wait for birthdays and school holidays. In our youth we wait to be old enough to do “grown-up” things. We wait for trains, planes and buses. We wait for death. In the end, only the birthdays (an indeterminate number), the school holidays and death are sure to show up. But if waiting is the state in which we live until we die, why do we have so much trouble with it? We hate to wait. Why can’t we get used to it? Our hunter-gatherer ancestors had to wait for prey or patiently search out edible plants, insects and animals. Agriculturalists still must wait through the long growing season between planting and harvest. I wonder if our, if my, impatience with being patient is a product of the age of “instant” in which
we live. Instant coffee. Instant noodles. Instant gratification. “Advent” means “coming” and coming is something that happens from the future, and the future is something we can only await. This is the time of year when I remind myself that my whole life is lived in expectation of something that is coming, and that does not merely mean December 25. I have a past. It has made me the person I am in the present. However, the story of my past and present is not the real story of me. My real story is in the future, in God’s invitation to draw closer and in the opportunities (including death) that will bring me closer and closer to God. God calls to me from out of the future rather than pushing me from the past. Every moment is an advent. In every moment God invites me to move away from the past through the present into a new future. But, there are obstacles. Of course, I have no choice about going into the future. Though physicists have shown that it can vary in speed, time moves in only one direction in this universe. My obstacles are the sins of my past and my tendency to not let go of them in the present. They prevent my fully meeting the advent of the future because one of the characteristics of sin is that it is directed to the present. I sin because of what I want or want to avoid in the present. The people who went to the Jordan River to John the Baptist had to repent and abandon their sins if they were to meet the one who would come, the Christ. The same is true of me. That does not mean abandoning the present. It means living a present that can worthily come with me into the advent of the future. The eternal future to which God calls me must shape my present. This four-week season of Advent is a reminder of what my whole life must be, a “waiting in joyful hope for the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ.” _______ Father William Grimm is a Tokyo-based priest and publisher of UCA News, and former editor-in-chief of “Katorikku Shimbun,” Japan’s Catholic weekly.
eVeRy noW anD tHen, I would hear murmurs of queries on when train services to Bicol will resume. Most of these queries morph into desires and nostalgia to see the classic iron horse back clanging and honking along the tracks of our region. For now, as said in one of my poems, “the train station is quiet,” literally quiet—no personnel, no passengers, no vendors, no trains, only remnants of the rich past, memories of trains chugging to a complete halt at the station where throngs of passengers were caught in the noisy, liminal stupor of waiting and saying goodbyes. I recall all these instances—together with numerous playtimes, meetings, comings and goings—with a most intense and recurring longing for the transport of my childhood. The irony is with the realization of the demise of it, an ever-surprising awareness of a pastiche of pathetic images before me: the ramshackle old train station, battered rickety trains and misshapen tracks. Gone were the images shown in the better movies way back some few decades ago. But even the movies have yet to see, again, a new era of better craft. Those were the days, as the hopeless would say. In the late 1950s, the multi-story movie Bicol Express was first shown in Philippine moviehouses. It starred Dely Atayatayan, Max Alvarado and the then so young Fernando Poe Jr. and was produced by Premiere Productions. The movie was almost entirely shot in a train of the Manila Railroad Company (now PNR). It was simply classy. The coaches were clean, almost posh. Any Bikolano—Noranian Bikolano, if being Bikolano is not synonymous to being a Noranian—must have seen that Nora Aunor-starrer of the seventies which title I could not remember for the sheer reason that I was not yet art-sensitive in my early years except for my interest in drawing. It had a scene showing the character of Nora in a Bikol-bound train leaving Paco station. A hint of decay was seen; but the film was nice in its melodramatic, neorealist attempts. At the least, ideologies were still there. Remember that Leonora Cabaltera Villamayor used to be a water vendor in the train station of Iriga City before she won in Tawag ng Tanghalan. Time went by and the Philippine National Railways suffered economic setbacks that were made more severe by crippling natural calamities and the equally devastating government neglect. Those who did not have the opportunity to witness this gradual demise of our railroad industry may actually see patterns in recent films that employed images trains in their frames. More recent films showed no better images of trains than those rusty box freight cars and shabby passenger coaches retired in Caloocan yard. These recent filmmakers—usually of ridiculous and artless action movies—used cars and coaches only to blow them up during bloody shoot-outs. In an attempt to imitate more technology-equipped American action movies, I once saw a Filipino action movie where the main character had a hand-to-hand combat with his archenemy on the roof of a train traversing the Palikpik-Ayungin bridge in Calauan, Laguna. Perhaps, the scene was merely for spectacle as the bridge is the deepest of all railway bridges in the Philippines. More ridiculous was Bala at Rosaryo which starred Bong Revilla in which the chase scene was taken in a Pasudeco train (small trains for transporting sugarcane around Negros province) painted over with a PNR label that gave it a trying hard, horror train-like appearance. We can only question sensibility when we see movies where shoot-outs are confined to abandoned train yards and old warehouses. But even recent television shows also manifested the sorry state of our railways. No one will ever forget, I think, of Dolphy’s Home Along da Riles in the late 90s where all characters, except for Kevin Cosme’s officemates, belong to what is now called informal settlers. Tayong Dalawa (2009) had a season-ender combat scene taken at the PNR yard in Biñan, Laguna, where Ringo, played by Coco Martin, was gunned down while trying to elude the police. This sorry state was even capitalized by some pseudoneorealist documentarists and independent filmmakers in the uncountable films that featured (if not capitalized on) the distressing life along the railroad tracks of Metro Manila. The indie film Isnats showed trains as the transport of people getting away from their drug dealer-pursuers, while Sta. Mesa has a storyline that revolves around the life of a probinsiyano’s life in the delirium of the slums of Manila. I have written it somewhere else then that the gradual decay of our railway system also meant death of the towns where its tracks slither through. Residents of these towns could only hope for the great come back of the express. Similarly, I would like to make a conjecture that this deterioration of our railroad is just a microcosm of a journey towards a rather more derelict society. We often complain of our many senseless, inane films. But then, again, this too is just a microcosm of our own crumbling societal sensibilities. We want good trains, but we stone passing trains to death. We want good movies, but we always bear in ourselves the colonial stigma we label our films. Where now’s the rub? The individual Filipino may start ruminating. Vic Nierva blogs at http://aponihandiong.blogspot.com and supports http://lupikontradam.blogspot.com.
4
Volume XXVIII | Issue no. 29|
Vox Bikol Bikol news
6- 12 december 2010
Navy foils illegal fishing off Ligao waters
LegazpI cIty (8 DecembeR) -- In a joint maritime law enforcement patrol, operatives of the Naval Forces Southern Luzon (Navforsol) and Albay Provincial Fishery Office (APFO) apprehended F/B Draven Cedrick for illegal fishing activities around 2:40 am on December 5, 2010 at vicinity about four nautical miles off south of Barangay Maonon, Ligao City, a navy officer disclosed to PIA News Service. Lt. Darwin Nieva, Navforsol spokesperson, bared that the fishing vessel was apprehended for violations of the Fisheries Code of 1998 ot RA 8550, specifically on Section 86 (unauthorized fishing or engaging in other unauthorized fisheries activities), Section 93 (illegal use of superlight) and Section 104 (commercial fishing vessel operators employing unlicensed fisher folk or fishworker or crew). Nieva said apprehended violators were Wilfredo Roranes, the skipper of F/B Draven Cedrick and three other (3) crew members. The 16 meter long fishing boat is registered to Mr Roderick Apuli of Legazpi City. APFO, meanwhile, reported that the apprehended vessel, including paraphernalia and fish catch, costs some P1 million. Nieva furthered that the apprehended fishing vessel and crew were already turned over to APFO for custody and filling of appropriate case. Commodore Joel E Babas, commander of Navforsol, has commended the crew members of Diesel Fast Craft 338 for the successful apprehension of the illegal fishers and fishing paraphernalia. Babas said that the significant accomplishment of DF338 bespeaks of the Navy’s commitment and dedication to protect the maritime areas from illegal fishing activities. (DFNieva, PAO NFSL/ PIA/mal)
PACUCOA nod anew
cLeaRLy SettIng ItS oWn maRk of distinction, the University of Northeastern Philippines has proven once again its place as one of the best learning institutions in the region. This after the Philippine Association of College and Universities Commission on Accreditation (PACUCOA) cited the university as this year’s recipient of yet another academic distinction. In a letter addressed to UNEP President Atty. Remelisa AlfelorMoraleda, PACUCOA’s Awards Committee, headed by its Chairman, Dr. Rosita L. Navarro confirmed that the university will be the recipient of two major awards in recognition of its dedication to further enhance its courses offerings. UNEP will receive the honor as an Institution with the Highest number of Candidate programs, not just in the Bicol Region but in the Philippines. Aside from the numerous courses offering, UNEP will also receive the distinction as an Institution with the highest number of accredited programs in the Bicol Region. Moraleda said that the continuous support of their faculty to enhance themselves and willingly pursue the university’s vision and ideals are just few of the key factors why UNEP keeps on occupying the prestigious slots allotted by PACUCOA for deserving learning institutions. “UNEP is like a family with its members pursuing a different endeavor but all leading to the same goal and direction. The variety of courses offerings that we have is a result of careful studies and deliberation while keeping in mind that at the end of the day, what matters is what benefit it would give to our beloved students after finishing their courses.” UNEP offers Doctoral Programs in Philosophy (Major in Human Resource Development), Public Management, Business Management and Education (Major in Educational Management). Its Masteral Program also offers degree in Education (MaEd), Business Administration (MBA) and Public Administration (MPA). It also offers a wide array of Under Graduate Degree Programs and Undergraduate Non-degree Programs, suiting every student’s choice in creating and pursuing their respective career paths in the future. UNEP is also full of pride with their accredited programs now all in full swing at the university: Liberal Arts, Bachelor of Elementary Education, Bachelor of Secondary Education, Business Administration, High School, Criminology, Doctor of Education, Master of Arts in Education, Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration. The awarding ceremony is set to take place at the Diamond Hotel in Manila on December 10, 2010, coinciding with PACUCOA’s celebration of its 37th Founding Anniversary and 21st Annual General Assembly. (Lizel S. Macatangay)
From PAGE 8
UNEP gains
WYD...
From PAGE 8
aging the day to day changes.” “In this way,” she added, “WYD Madrid ‘11 reaches young people in all corners of the world.” Most of the interventions and questions are related to registration or participation in WYD as volunteers. Suggestions are also given to questions asked by the organizers. Many users have expressed joy at the prospect of attending the event. There have also been competitions that have drawn a lot of attention, such as suggestions for the choice of the best phrases of the Pope’s Message written for that event. Users selected their favorite quotation and those whose choices received the greatest approval from other users were awarded two front row tickets in the Cuatro
Vientos airfield for the prayer vigil and final Mass. Currently, 70 volunteers maintain the pages, translating and answering the questions that arise through Facebook. Volunteers interact from their native countries with future participants in the event. Madrid’s youth day is also present in other leading social networks: Orkut in Brazil; Mixi in Japan; Tuenti in Spain, and Vkontakte in Russia. Moreover, news of the event is also communicated through Twitter to 5,600 followers, YouTube with close to 400,000 reproductions of its videos, and Flickr with more than 57,000 visits. In addition to the social networks, World Youth Day has a key
presence on the Internet through its official Web site. Since it opened in November of 2009, the visits to the Web site have continued to grow, numbering more than one million at present. The site has received 4 million consultations, the interest being primarily in the organization of the event, the agenda for the week and registration. Already, 200,000 persons have confirmed their attendance at Madrid’s WYD. The country that has registered the most confirmed participants is France, with more than 45,000 attending. It is followed by Italy with more than 41,000, Spain with 25,000 and the United States with over 13,000. (Zenit)
Unborn...
Catli revealed that in the said meeting, the PMA, through its specialty society the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society represented by its President Dr. Sylvia Carnero, claimed that “life begins at fertilization.” This stand is also shared by the CBCP, said its secretary general Monsignor Juanito Figura. “The PMA is against abortion and so is the CBCP. We doctors took an oath to save and protect human life and that definitely includes the unborn child. No doubt the CBCP supports our stand on this,” Catli said. At the start of the meeting, the PMA also distributed to the CBCP panel led by Figura some copies of “An Act Providing for the Safety and Protection of the Unborn & for Other Purposes” by Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez. Also known as House Bill 13, PMA media affairs chairman Dr. Mike Aragon said they are supporting the measure because of its “clear provisions” of being “pro-life.” The PMA did not directly reject the RH bill saying it also has some good points but Aragon said they are one with the church and pro-life groups in pushing for the passage of the HB 13. “We are for the protection of life especially of the unborn. It’s very clear that the bill seeks to protect the unborn,” said Aragon. The CBCP earlier clarified it is not totally against the RH bill but only on certain provisions, Figura said, “which when seen from the moral point of view are not in agreement with the Catholic teachings.” Large-scale public funding for artificial contraceptives such as condoms and pills is assured in the proposed measure. Almost all versions of the bill classify contraceptives including intrauterine devices and injectables as essential medicines where billions of pesos of public funds will be used for its purchase. Advocates of the RH bill disagree that artificial birth control is a form of abortion, which the Constitution disallows. Figura said PMA’s position on the beginning of life could definitely boost the church’s campaign against contraception and abortion. “What is clear now is that the PMA as an institution have that common agreement with the CBCP that, from their expertise as medical practitioners, human
Dominicans...
Church,” the film will also serve as DPP’s fitting gift to the Dominican Order for its forthcoming 800th year foundation anniversary in 2016. “The film is much anticipated because it is the first of its kind. And for us (project staff), it was like St. Dominic was truly with us throughout the entire production,” Aytona, chairman of the Provincial Media Board, said in an interview. Aytona also believes that in discovering St. Dominic during these times, the father for the Dominicans will still be faithful to his promise: “I will be of more use to you in death than I ever did in life.” On Dec. 11, the first public screenings of the film will be held at the Medicine Auditorium of the University of Santo Tomas.
From PAGE 8
life begins at the stage of fertilization,” he said. “Contrary to what the RH bill advocates are saying that life begins at implantation, the doctors are saying otherwise,” Figura stressed. “This is a very important thing.” Both parties, he added, agreed that life should be protected from the moment of fertilization up to its natural death “because the doctors are committed to save lives.” CBCP President Bishop Nereo Odchimar said they will consult legal and medical experts to help them prepare for a dialogue with Malacañang on controversial issues that surround government efforts to shape a reproductive health policy. On the other hand, PMA President Dr. Oscar Tinio said that their organization would voluntarily offer its scientific and medical expertise on the reproductive health issue to both the government and the church. “Medical doctors are major stakeholders and front liners in the reproductive health and wellness of our nation and we should be involved in any discussions concerning the issue,” Tinio said. (CBCPNews)
Screenings start at 5:00 pm and 7:30 pm. “Dominic: Light of the Church” was shot in Spain and France last July and August. The production staff for principal photography and logistics, composed of 13 Filipinos, two Spanish and three French coordinators, and six French staff for the Art and Camera Department, made it possible to graciously finish the project in a tight schedule of only 16 shooting days. The plot of the film zeroes in the struggles of young Dominic until he finds and founds a keen congregation to bring the “light” that will pierce through the obscurities of his time—this explains the symbolic hound with the torch, which resembles the mission of the Order of Preachers. (Levine Lao/CBCPNews)
Gospel...
From PAGE 8
does not take offense at me.” As the messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “When you went out to the desert, what did you expect to see? A reed swept by the wind? What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? People who wear fine clothes live in
palaces. What did you actually go out to see? A prophet? Yes, indeed, and even more than a prophet. He is the man of whom Scripture says: I send my messenger ahead of you to prepare the way before you. I tell you this: no one greater than John the Baptist has come forward among the sons of women, and yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
6- 12 december 2010
Albay...
Vox Bikol Bikol news
From PAGE 1
Volume XXVIII | Issue no. 29
5
Management Division (R7) and the PNP regional Legal Service to look into the matter of minor offenders being handed to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and later returned to the custody of parents. Recent crime incidents showed that criminal elements are using minors in many theft and robbery cases in Bikol. Under RA 9344, “The Juvenile Justice Welfare Act of 2006,” teenage offenders below 15 up to 18 years of age are merely handed to the custody of DSWD until they
reach the proper age when they could be charged legally. Samson said that in many cases, minor offenders who were handed back to the custody of their parents by the DSWD later return to the streets and often get involved in another crime. The police spokesman also bared that Calleja had lauded the efforts of the Police Intel-Division and the Camarines Sur PPO for having neutralized in November this year, the Nazaret-Lamadrid robbery-holdup gang.
DENR...
Reportedly, notorious armedrobber Roberto San Jose Nazaret, a former NPA rebel, and Reymund Posadas Lamadrid, who both died in a shoot-out with the police were responsible for the killing of a barangay captain, a salesman in Libmanan town, a grocery owner and his son, and a Japanese national in San Fernando, Camarines Sur. According to the Camarines Sur PPO, four more Nazaret gangmembers are at large and are being hunted by a police intel-tracking team in the region. (SONNY SALES)
From PAGE 1
Dole...
Sorsogon Provincial Field Officer Imelda T. Romanillos while DOLE Bicol will exercise direct administration and pay the wages of the displaced workers. “Actually this is only our emergency response measures because we cannot start rehabilitation yet since Alert level 1 is still hoisted over Mt. Bulusang. Perhaps next year, if the volcano has calmed
From PAGE 1
down, then we can pour in livelihood on these municipalities as a long term intervention,” Villamor declared. The P400,000 emergency employment fund and the 1,000 pieces dust masks were released Monday (December 6) at the DOLE Bicol office to form part of the “Singko sa Singko”, the 5-in-1 anniversary event of the agency. (DOLE V/PIA/mal)
Weather...
From PAGE 1
Catanduanes’ timberland border is underway. “The RADT is set to submit to the National Assessment and Delineation Committee (NADC) the draft bill for the forest land boundary of Sorsogon by year end,” Flores said during the Regional Assessment and Delineation Committee (RADC) meeting presided by Fragada. Fragada ordered the RADT to gather the necessary documents to back up the draft bill for Sorsogon’s timberland boundary to avert unnecessary issues during the NADC deliberation. Flores said the assessment and delineation of Masbate’s forest land boundary is already completed and the RADT is preparing the draft promulgation which will be endorsed on the first quarter of 2011. He reiterated that the timber-
land borders of Catanduanes will be completed this month and the draft bill will be endorsed on the second quarter of next year. He maintained that the RADT is on track with its assessment and delineation targets that would see fruition by year 2011. Last October, the RADT submitted the draft bill for the final forest boundary of Camarines Norte. Fragada lauded the RADT for being commended by the NADC as one with the best FBAD practices, and the only region that passed the committee’s assessment. Among the RADC’s remaining targets are the assessment and delineation of the forest land boundary of Albay and Camarines Sur with its subsequent draft bills by the third and fourth quarter of 2011. Based on the FBAD process,
once the NADC reviewed and evaluated the draft proclamation it will be then endorsed to the DENR Secretary. The Secretary shall endorse the draft bill to the Representatives concerned for sponsorship in Congress. Upon the passage of the law defining the final boundary of the forestlands within a province, the same shall be the basis for the issuance of the certifications of legal status of the land. It shall form part of the control maps and records for all public land applications filed to the Department. The implementation of the survey was based on DENR Administrative Order 2008-24, which specifically provided for a “comprehensive procedure to facilitate the conduct of assessment and delineation of boundaries between forestlands, national parks and agricultural lands.”
Provincial Government of Albay and the Department of Science and Technology, through the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), for the implementation of the project. Rangasa said the automatic weather station will be set up at the Bicol University Campus in Tabaco City, adding that the first district is situated at the so-called Pacific Jinx that is very much vulnerable to all climate related disasters. The project, according to him, seeks to mainstream climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction measures into key national and local development planning and regulatory processes. “We need to enhance the capabilities of key partners and communities to undertake climate
resilient development and testing of integrated adaptation approaches with up scaling potentials,” he stressed. The project will be funded under the Millennium Development Goals Fund 1656 project, a joint program partnership by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Spanish Government. Rangasa also said the establishment of the AWS in the area will primary serve as an early warning and monitoring system for disaster mitigation in the first district of Albay, most especially utilize as means to improve agricultural productivity through a community-based climate information which will be the basis for early warning in areas prone to extreme climate eventualities. (PIA V)
Firearms...
number TXV 911, and body number 701 was transporting assorted firearms, prompting the operatives to set up a checkpoint in Barangay Putiao, where said bus was also flagged down. The suspects, identified as Jorge Guitones, Jr. and Victor Gonzales, when accosted failed to present any documents relative to their baggage containing firearms. Recovered from their possession were three caliber 45 pistols, and 14 caliber 38 revolvers, all paltiks or locally-made without serial numbers.
From PAGE 1
Vox Bikol is now accepting short stories, poems and photo contributions.
voxbikol.ibfi@gmail.com
Don’t forget to include your name, age and occupation.
Please submit your work to
Arrested suspects and confiscated firearms were brought to Sorsogon Police Provincial Office, as case for violation of RA 8294 (illegal possession of firearms and ammunition) is being readied against the suspects. PCSupt Cecilio B. Calleja, Jr., PRO Bicol regional director, has ordered a thorough investigation of the incident to find out whether suspects belong to an organized criminal group engaged in gun smuggling, and as to where their firearms are supposed to be delivered. (PCInspPUSamson, Jr., PRO V/PIA/mal)
For your Editorial design needs, email:
knock@fineapplecreatives.com
This is the first coloring and activity book on the devotion to Our Lady of Penafrancia. It introduces the history, tradition and meaning of the devotion in a way suited to young hearts and minds. It is also for parents and teachers to help them share the devotion to the next generation. Devotees have the solemn duty to nourish, preserve and share the devotion to all peoples. This book is a means to promote the devotion not only across borders, but also across age groups. The future lies in the hands of children and what better way to ensure the continuous growth of the devotion but through them. The illustrations and activities, specially designed for the very young, invite children to recognize the relationship between one’s faith in God and the devotion to Ina. The activities usher them to an understanding of the devotion’s role in their young lives. Parents’ assistance is recommended in some activities. It is hoped that this book assists children to find the devotion as a way to deepen one’s faith and to appreciate the devotion as a moral compass in their daily experience. Written and published in celebration of the tercentenary of the devotion to Our Lady of Penafrancia during the episcopacy of Most Rev. Leonardo Z. Legaspi, O.P., D.D., Archbishop of Caceres.
6
Volume XXVIII | Issue no. 29|
Vox Bikol Feature
6- 12 december 2010
all Center employees
in the philippines reCeive low-end Jobs, low salaries
By MARYA SALAMAT Bulatlat.com
MANILA – The News ThAT The Philippines has overtaken India in the number of new hires in the call center industry has prompted a labor education NGO recently to warn industry stakeholders and the government against risking its workers’ welfare for the sake of such boom, or the projected boom up to 2016. “The welfare of workers in BPO institutions must not be compromised for the sake of attracting more investors,” said Anna Leah Escresa-Colina, executive director of the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER). Citing the inquiry of the Kabataan Partylist on the “dire conditions of callcenter agents,” which served as basis for the filing of House Bill No. 2592, as well as their own research into the plight of call center employees, Escresa-Colina reminded the government that it “must not only foster a good business climate, it must also guarantee good working conditions and protection of workers’ rights.” BPO employees seem to be little aware of their rights, said employees themselves who attended discussions about their common plight even if they are working in different companies. There are more than 300,000 employed in the sector, some lasting for as long as four years or more. Yet, so far, there is no registered union or association of employees in the industry. This gives the employees little to no say in their working condition, from restroom breaks to determining the work-quotas, length of working hours, computation of wage, overtime pay and vacation leaves, if any, to emergency leaves and being accorded due process in cases of termination or forced/extended/open-ended leaves. Current working conditions account for the high attrition rate in the industry. Company owners and executives, meanwhile, have industry associations that actively lobby for, and achieve, more and better government support for their continuous expansion and profit. Uphill Climb for Call Center workers’ Protection Kabataan Party-list Representative Raymond V. Palatino sponsored the BPO Workers Welfare & Protection Act during the past Congress. This year, he and his staff have been holding roundtable discussions with employees of the BPO industry as they prepare the ground for re-filing the bill. The said bill seems to have already been subjected to unfounded criticisms, Palatino told Bulatlat.com during one of his roundtable discussions with BPO employees. During one such discussion, employees from various BPO companies in Metro Manila confirmed the sore lack of security of tenure in the industry, whether the employee is called regular or not, the high quota-pressured night working hours, and the seeming misinformation they have been hearing against the proposed bill for BPO employees’ protection. “The primary condition most workers have to contend with is having to work in graveyard night shifts in order to serve foreign overseas clients. Also, in order to maximize profits, many companies employ schemes to effectively force their employees to work without the benefit of regularization and tenure and a host of other benefits, from health to transportation,” read a brochure for the Kabataan Partylist representative’s HB 2592. Although much of the provisions for the protection of call center agents Palatino seeks in the bill are already provided for by the Labor Code, BPO employees, he reasoned, have many work-related hazards and problems peculiar to and especially experienced only by these workers. And yet, “there is a lack in government measures to especially protect their rights and welfare,” said Palatino. Instead, the BPO industry have repeatedly garnered the government’s support for its peculiar work practices. For example, the government had once granted the BPO industry an unprecedented exemption from observing a certain holiday and thus from paying its employees double their rates for having worked that day. The government has been helping the BPOs trim the cost of hiring and training by providing scholarships for those seeking call center jobs. It has also been granting ecozone status to buildings with BPO companies in it, and not just to landholdings with industrial parks, as was being done before. The status
While providing a lot of support to Business Process Outsourcing Companies, the government is ignoring the oppressive working conditions of call center employees.
gives BPO companies certain perks and incentives. The BPO workers, meanwhile, are largely left at the mercy of these BPO companies. “Our work condition can sometimes make you cry,” said an employee who attended the Kabataan Partylist’s roundtable discussion. She said one can only take so much insults such as, “You’re so stupid!” or “F— you!” over the phone in a single working day (or night). Lower-end of the Global Outsourcing Industry The Philippines’ BPO sector is reportedly a $9-billion industry employing 450,000 people. The bulk is made up of call centers, which should employ 344,000 by year-end, based on an industry association projection last September. Call centers here account for the lower end of the outsourced jobs in this global industry. So far it generates some $5 to $6 billion for the Philippines (while India’s entire BPO industry is still reportedly valued at $9billion). The Philippine BPO industry has been positioning itself as the “preferred destination for outsourcing,” and recently has outpaced rival India in terms of call center new jobs (by a mere 1,200). However, the fact remains that it still gets mainly the low end of the business process outsourcing jobs. The entire outsourcing industry goes beyond call centers, to include services that demand higher skills like software development, engineering design and investment research, as even the acclaimed godfather of Philippine BPO industry, former Senator Mar Roxas, said in his keynote address delivered before the industry’s executives last year. Senator Mar Roxas commented that after more than a decade as a “sunshine industry,” the country has not yet captured the somewhat higher end of the outsourcing business, such as software-writing, engineering and other higher-end development processes. As such, most employees in Philippine BPOs are in call centers, where they are often called as “talents” and the jobs revolve mainly on answering or making phone calls, taking in orders or reservations or doing some tele-marketing for a foreign contracting company. The level of simplicity or complexity of the information needed to respond to phone queries or to market products is used as basis for the salaries a call center agent receives. Experienced technical service representatives assisting customers in relatively complex matters such as running an equipment or program receive a relatively higher salary compared to ordinary call center agents who deal with reservations or as simple as directory assistance or processing local contracts. Local salaries, said Kabataan Partylist Rep Palatino, are much lower compared to the salaries being received by call center workers in other countries, even in other outsourcing countries such as India, Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore. Since early 2000s call centers have been touted as the way to go for new Filipino graduates, competing with migration as an option for some young and even middle-aged professionals. The industry boasts of high-octane come-ons such as above minimum wage rates, cool co-workers and various perks on the job, including a hefty signing bonus, etc. Yet, it is the relatively low cost of Filipino labor and their ability to speak English and copy western culture that have been luring huge foreign companies to the Philippine contact center industry. It is at present largely owned or controlled and operated by multinational companies, if not adjuncts of the big telecom companies. It appears that even big Indian companies with established outsourcing contracts have located their “voice” operations in the Philippines. “More and more people are now realizing what the Philippines has to offer. All big outsourcing companies in India have operations here (in the Philippines),” said Maulik Parekh, president and CEO of SPI Global, a multinational company (check) that does “high-value work from US to the Philippines.” In this year’s CCAP conference, Parekh said he wants to take advantage not only of the “voice” in the Philippines but also of its “innate understanding of health regulations in the US” in the next 10 years. This coincided, by the way, with the Philippine call center industry’s thrust starting this year of expanding its workers’ services to include “complex tasks such as technical support, more comprehensive customer service and higher-level programs.” This will relatively improve the low-end services the contact centers here have been selling, but not necessarily the wages of call center employees. The move is geared more to “enable companies here to compete globally for higher valued services skills-wise, price-wise and technologically-wise,” said Jojo Uligan, executive director of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), in a statement given to the press during their annual conference last September. CCAP is “the oldest and primary contact center industry association” in the country, with member-firms that make up 85-percent of the call centers in the Philippines. Comparatively Low-salary, high-stress, Insecure work Despite the supposed high salaries of Filipino call center agents, they could only out-earn their American counterparts by 2037, based on a Watson-Wyatt study released last year and published by the CCAP magazine “Connect”. At that time, the salary rate hikes for the “low-cost but qualified labor” of Filipinos were rising at 9-percent on average versus 3-percent in the US. The average basic salaries in call centers today range between P16,000 to P17,000 ($366 to $389), estimated Uligan of CCAP, in the sidelines of their annual conference this year. Uligan’s estimated average salary falls in the middle of the “P15,000 to P20,000 ($314 to $419) average starting salaries in 2009,” which then Senator Mar Roxas cited when he warned the industry against “cost-creep”, or “labor cost inflation.” Mar Roxas is regarded as a godfather of the country’s BPO industry, having contributed to its birth and growth when he occupied various positions in government from the Estrada to Arroyo administration. Last year he warned the industry against “pricing itself out of the market”, as the Philippines and the BPO industry then vowed to continue expanding despite or because of the financial crunch in the US and Europe. Even as the salaries of Filipino call center employees are comparatively lower globally, since last year, the industry has taken measures to cut costs, largely through slashing its budget for salary increases, reducing paid hours such as overtime, streamlining or reducing the number of people per team – without correspondingly reducing the expected output – putting employees on extended leave or terminating employees. Some call center companies, especially the small to medium ones with 50 to 300 seats, have also closed down as a result of the financial crisis in US and Europe, Uligan told Bulatlat.com. The industry’s employed workforce has actually went down from the 372,000 in 2008 to this year’s projected “growth” of 344,000 employed by year-end. The number of employed is not the only thing that has slid down. According to a Watson Wyatt study in 2009, majority of contact centers in the Philippines decreased their original budget for salary increases for 2009 from 8.40-percent to just 5.36-percent. That was the “sharpest decline on a year on year basis and the lowest in more than 20 years,” noted Watson Wyatt. The cut was much lower than the Philippine’s projected national inflation of 8-percent, it added. Bulatlat.com’s interviews of some call center employees tend to suggest also that CCAP’s estimated average basic salaries of P16,000 to P17,000 ($366 to $389) for call center employees in 2010 may be higher
NEXT PAGE
6- 12 december 2010
Vox Bikol notices
sqm., Property E, TD No. 97-001-0121, parcel of land, situated at Poblacion West, Ocampo, CSur. This was a subject of Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate do hereby divide, partition and adjudicate to wit: (Property A to D to be divide equally among heirs) and Property E to Rosartio C. Paris) Acknowledged before notary public Atty. Crhistie Francis DL. Castro, per doc. No. 1167, Page no. 387, Book no. IX, Series of 2010. Vox bikol: nov. 29, Dec. 6 and 13, 2010 Republic of the philippines RegIonaL tRIaL couRt fifth Judicial Region branch 23 naga city IN THE MATTER OF THE CORRECTION OF ERRONEOUS ENTRY IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF ABIGAEL MARCIAL ANDAL BY CORRECTING THE GENDER FROM MALE TO FEMALE AND TO DELETE MARCIAL BESIDE HER FIRST NAME, ABIGAEL MARCIAL ANDAL, Petitioner, Spec Proc. No. 2010-0076 -versusTHE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF NAGA CITY, AND THE NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE, Respondents. x--------------------------------x oRDeR Filed before this court is a verified petition seeking the correction of some erroneous entries in the record of birth of petitioner Abigael Marcial Andal under Local Civil Registry No. 91-1629 of the Naga City Civil Registry. These entries are: 1. Petitioner’s gender which is incorrectly recorded as male instead of female; and 2. The name Marcial which appears in petitioner’s record of birth as part of her given name is actually the family name of her mother, Yolanda Anyayahan Marcial, and thus must be deleted so that her true and correct name ABIGAEL MARCIAL ANDAL may appear thereon. Finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the same shall be heard by this court on January 25, 2010 at 8:30 o’clock in the morning, at which time and date, all persons who have claim any interest which would be affected thereby may appear and register their opposition thereto. Have this order published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the province of Camarines Sur. Furnish the Civil Registry Office of Naga City, the National Statistics Office, the Office of the Solicitor General, the City Prosecution Office of Naga City, and the parents of the said petitioner with copies of this order and the instant petition. SO ORDERED. Given this 8th day of November, 2010 at Naga City, Philippines. (SgD.) VaLentIn e. puRa, JR. Presiding Judge Republic of the philippines RegIonaL tRIaL couRt 5th Judicial Region Iriga city offIce of tHe eXecutIVe JuDge IN RE: PETITION FOR APPOINTMENT AS NOTARY PUBLIC IN AND FOR THE MUNICIPALITIES OF NABUA, BATO, BUHI, BAAO, BALATAN CAMARINES SUR AND THE CITY OF IRIGA, ADM. CASE NO. IR-120 ATTY. GERARD SIMBULAN PONON, Petitioner. x---------------------------------x IN THE MATTER 0F THE PETITION FOR RENEWAL OF COMMISSION AS NOTARY PUBLIC IN AND FOR THE MUNICIPALITIES OF BAAO, BALATAN, BATO,BUHI, BULA, NABUA CAMARINES SUR AND THE CITY OF IRIGA ADM CASE NO. IR-117 FLORA V. MALATEPANTE, Petitioner. x------------------------------x notIce of HeaRIng Notice is hereby given that a summary hearing on the petition for appointment as notary public of ATTY. GERARD S. PONON and the petition for renewal of commission as notary public of ATTY. FLORA V. MALATE PANTE, shall be held on December 20, 2010 at 8:30 in the morning at the sala of RTC 36, Iriga City. Any person who has any cause or reason to object to the grant of the petition may file a verified written opposition thereto received by the undersigned
Volume XXVIII | Issue no. 29
7
eXtRaJuDIcIaL SettLement among HeIRS of maXImo p. matubIS anD LucILa ReyeS matubIS WItH WaIVeR This is hereby given that the estate of the late SPS. MAXIMO P. MATUBIS and LUCILA REYES MATUBIS died on January 18, 1989 and July 15, 1982 at Iriga City, left parcel of Residential land located at San Juan, Iriga City, with an area of 629 sqm.,; This was a subject of Extrajudicial Settlement among heirs with Waiver to wit: 1) Nina Matubis-Ibarreta, a) portion of lot 1852,Cad-370, designated as lot 1852-B, an area of 246 sqm., b) portion of lot 1852, Cad-370 designated as lot 1852-c, with an area of 14 sqm., 2) Jocelyn Matubis Pana, portion of cadastral lot 1852,Cad-370 designated as lot 1852-A, with an area of 369 sqm., Acknowledged before notary public Leo Arnel M. Caayao, per doc. No. 854, Page no. 171, Book no. XXVII, Series of 2010. Vox bikol: nov. 29, Dec. 6 and 13, 2010 eXtRaJuDIcIaL SettLement of eState This is hereby given that the estate of the late ELEGIO O. PARIS JR., died on February 14, 2009 at Naga City, left certain properties to wit: Property A, TCT No. 26926 (ROD-CAM SUR); 2) Property B, TCT No. 26913 (RODCAM. SUR), 3) Property C, TD No. 97-003-0092, situated at Poblacion West, Ocampo, CSur, with an area of 439 sqm.,4) Property D, TD No. 97-017-0179, parcel of land, situated at Poblacion, Ocampo, CSur, an area of 15,395
before the date of the summary hearing. December 1, 2010, Iriga City, Philippines. (Sgd.) tImoteo a. panga, JR., Acting Executive Judge Vox bikol: nov. 29, Dec 6 and 13, 2010 eXtRaJuDIcIaL SettLement of ReaL pRopeRty WItH WaIVeR of SHaRe This is hereby given that the estate of the late ANTONIO DELOS SANTOS EBRON died on September 10, 1998 at Naga City, left parcels of land located at Caranan, Pasacao, CSur and Poblacion, Pamplona, CSur to wit: I) TCT No. RT-8013 (21492), an area of 180 sqm., under ARP No. 97-005-0240 with PIN 02626-005-12-057, II) TCT No. T-26898, an area of 204 sqm., under ARP No. 97-005-0303 with PIN 026-26-005-13-020, III) parcel of residential lot, an area of 340 sqm.,, under ARP No. 97-001-01521 with PIN 026-26-001-20-028. This was a subject of Extrajudicial Settlement of Real Property with Waiver of Share in favor unto Jennifer Ebron Alipante; Percival O. Ebron and Antonio O. Ebron. Acknowledged before notary public Leoncio Clemente, per doc. No. 228, Page no. 47, Book no. 196, Series of 2010. Vox bikol: nov. 29, Dec. 6 and 13, 2010 eXtRaJuDIcIaL SettLement of ReaL pRopeRty WItH WaIVeR of SHaRe
This is hereby given that the estate of the late SIXTO P. BARNEDO died on February 22, 1989 at Naga City, left parcel of land located at Caranan, Pasacao, CSur with TCT No. RT-8689 (19464, an area of 180 sqm.,, under ARP No. 97-005-0253 with PIN 026-26-005-12-070. This was a subject of Extrajudicial Settlement of Real Property with Waiver of Share in favor unto Gilbert R. Barnedo, Ivy Sharon B. Bulalacao and Sixto R. Barnedo Jr., Acknowledged before notary public Leoncio Clemente, per doc. No. 229, Page no. 47, Book no. 196, Series of 2010. Vox bikol: nov. 29, Dec. 6 and 13, 2010 eXtRaJuDIcIaL SettLement of eState WItH WaIVeR This is hereby given that the estate of the late ARTHUR L. CARESOSA died on October 13, 1980 at Naga City, onehalf (1/2) conjugal interest to wit: I) TCT No. 10523, with an area of 57 sqm., under TD No. 08-02-0002-00349 PIN 135-02-0002-004-021, II) TCT No. 10523, with an area of 352 sqm., under TD No. 08-02-0002-00347 PIN 135-02-0002-004-020. The residential bldg. constructed on the described lots made of mixed materials declared under TD No. 08-02-000200348 PIN 135-02-0002-004020-100. This was a subject of Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate with Waiver in favor unto Clara G. Caresosa, Acknowledged before notary public Norlito C. Briones, per doc. No. 226, Page no. 41, Book no. VII, Series of 2010. Vox bikol: nov. 29, Dec. 6 and 13, 2010
From PAGE 6
Call Center
than what the employees are actually getting. This reported average may only be true for those who have had at least two years’ experience and are handling more technical accounts. For the rest who are just starting out, the salaries are much lower. A contractual call center employee in Aegis, for instance, handling a “mere local account”, receives only P9,000 ($206) a month. In a Teleperformance branch that does not regularize its employees, salaries are lower than the starting of P13,000 ($297) in other call centers. In EILER’s survey, call centers that took advantage of the government-induced location in the “next-wave” cities of the Philippines are found to have paid their employees as low as P10,000 ($228) or less a month in 2008, when the call center boom was at its peak and the “cost-creep” in labor cost was not yet being widely aired. CCAP’s Benedict Hernandez told Bulatlat.com that locating in cities outside of the more established Metro Manila offers only “marginal advantages” such as a reduction of 10-percent or less in labor costs. But Parekh of SPI Global said places like Dumaguete and Iloilo have “great talents,” and locating there is a “great way for employers looking at managing price pressures.” He reiterated the Philippine government’s offer of 20 other Philippine cities that are “quite open for BPOs.” So far some 70-percent to 80-percent of call center companies are estimated to be still in Metro Manila, Uligan said. Other companies prefer the “proven locations”, said Hernandez. Salaries, it seemed, can still be controlled in proven locations as Metro Manila, despite stiff competition for talents by call centers. Unemployment rates in the Philippines have been unprecedentedly
high despite the vaunted BPOs in the past decade. There are at least 848,000 new graduates this summer seeking employment, with many aiming for call centers. A BPO employee lamented during a Kabataan Partylist roundtable discussion that companies can bravely and easily fire employees. Its HR departments, said other long-time employees, are swimming in applications. In a BPO company called Stellar in Metro Manila, for instance, some call center employees complained that they could not understand why their salaries amount to only P13,200 ($302) when it is supposed to be P14,00 ($320). The company gave a vague explanation that their salaries are “pro-rated.” In other call centers, employees said they had been made to work like regular employees with peak workload during their training period, but they were only paid measly training allowances. There are also particular work setups in some call center companies. For example at NCO, the company offered a salary amounting to P85,000 ($1,946) for 85 working days. “But you have to be young to comply with the expected output and you have to be willing to work for only a three-month program duration,” said a contact center employee. “If you are a project-based employee, you’re like a willing victim,” she concluded. Allow BPO workers to Form Unions and Advocacy Groups Health issues being faced by BPO workers are also notable, according to EILER. Different institutions have cited the health risks of working in BPOs especially during graveyard shifts. EILER for one, noted how female agents usually suffer urinary tract infections due to the short break allowed for personal necessities— only10 minutes per day. The International Labor Organization (ILO) said night shift call-center agents are prone to sleep disorders, fatigue, eye strain, neck, shoulder and back pains, and voice problems, work stress-induced by harassment from irate
clients, excessive and tedious workload, performance demands, monotony, and regular night work. As a labor advocate, Escresa-Colina is critical of the lack of unions and the reported outright ban in joining unions in BPOs. No BPO company has had a union yet, Escresa noted, adding that it has been reported to them that BPO employees are being discouraged by the management from joining or forming unions during their trainings. In some companies, a no-union provision is even clearly stipulated in pre-employment contracts, said EILER. “This is a direct violation of our constitution,” Escresa said. “BPO companies boast of having the ‘best HR practices’ as their model in managing industrial relations. It should be reiterated that no HR practice can substitute the role of unions in upholding and promoting workers rights inside the workplace. Unions are part of our democratic institutions. It plays a crucial role in achieving people-oriented development. To show the world that the Philippines is really the leader for the global BPO industry, we should show as well that we respect and uphold the rights of BPO workers in our country,” Escresa-Colina said. EILER urged the government to work in ensuring that no rights of BPO workers are being violated or compromised. It warned that if the dismal working conditions prevailing in BPO companies will not be seriously addressed, the Philippines will be the next modern-day sweatshop for the services sector. The Kabataan Partylist, for its part, urged call center agents to form “advocacy groups who will constantly get involved in various activities to promote the rights and welfare of call center agents in their workplaces and even among other companies.” Palatino said that “It is only through the collective action of BPO and call center employees could they ensure that a law protecting them would be enacted and implemented.
GOSPEL (DECEMBER 12, 2010)
When John the Baptist heard in prison about the activities of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples, asking him: “Are you the one who is to come or should we expect someone else?” Jesus answered them, “Go back and report
MT 11:2–11
to John what you hear and see: the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are made clean, the deaf hear, the dead are brought back to life and good news is reaching the poor. And how fortunate is the one who
CoNTINUED oN PAGE 4
Bishop hails Morong 43 case dismissal follow World Youth
200,000
Day on Facebook
maDRID, SpaIn, Dec. 10, 2010--Organizers of the 2011 World Youth Day (WYD) in Madrid are using many means, including social networking sites like Facebook, to draw participants to the event. Some 200,000 are following news of the youth day in 20 languages through Facebook. More than one million have visited the event’s official page on the Internet. Through these means, young people are able to stay updated on novelties of the youth day and give their opinions on related topics. The latest languages incorporated on the Facebook page are Romanian and Hungarian. Cristina del Campo, community manager of the 2011 WYD, explained that “the volunteers are the ones who have suggested opening the page in their language, committing themselves to administer the page, translating the texts we send them and man-
Volume XXVIII | Issue no. 29| 6-12 december 2010
Doctors back bill seeking protection of the unborn
WYD / PAGE 4
manILa, Dec. 7, 2010—tHe Catholic Church’s campaign for the protection of the unborn has gained support from the country’s biggest organization of medical practitioners. A consultative meeting on the Reproductive Health bill was held on Monday between Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and the Philippines Medical Association (PMA) at its main office in Quezon City. Dr. Arthur Catli, PMA executive director, described the preliminary talks as “very cordial” as both parties found commonalities especially on when life begins.
manILa, Dec. 10, 2010—manILa Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo has welcomed President Benigno Aquino III’s order to withdraw all criminal charges against the Morong 43. Pabillo said over church-run Radyo Veritas that he was “delighted” that the government finally recognized the rights of the 43 health workers who were arrested in Rizal province on suspicion of
being communist insurgents. The prelate, who heads the CBCP’s National Secretariat for Social Action – Justice and Peace (Nassa) said authorities should strictly comply with the standards of due process before making any arrests. As the country marks International Human Rights Day on Friday, Aquino ordered the Department of Justice to drop the cases
filed against the health workers. In a speech, Aquino said his administration recognizes that the Morong 43 were denied with the right to due process when they were nabbed and charged with illegal of possession of firearms and explosives. “As a government that is committed to the rule of law and the rights of man, this cannot stand. Therefore, I have ordered the DOJ to withdraw the information filed before the court,” he said at the celebration of the 62nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. The 43 health workers were arrested by the military last Febru-
ary while reportedly attending training seminar organized by the Council for Health and Development. The military, however, claimed the health workers were members of the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels undergoing bomb-making seminars and medical training. Thirty-eight of the health workers are detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City while the seven others are still at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal. Aquino’s order also came seven days after the Morong 43 went on hunger strike for their immediate release. (CBCPNews)
UNBorN / PAGE 4
Dominicans launch film on St. Dominic to mark 40 years
manILa, Dec. 8, 2010— aSIDe from the anticipated quadricentennial festivities of the University of Santo Tomas, the Dominican Province of the Philippines (DPP) is also looking forward to another milestone of its existence. The province will be celebrating its 40th year of existence next year. DPP was founded on Dec. 8, 1971. To mark the fourth decade of DPP, the province’s media board, headed by Fr. Jeff Aytona, OP, embarked on the first full-length period film project about the life of St. Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Order of Preachers. Titled “Dominic: Light of the
DomINICANS / PAGE 4