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November 21, 2010
Tough Choices

Early this month we stated that in order to begin saving Lake Buhi, the strict implementation of the Fisheries Code provision that only 10 percent of the total area of any lake be occupied by fish cages ought to be effected. This, we admitted, had very troubling direct consequences to the economy of Buhi where majority of the inhabitants are largely dependent on the fishing industry.     

Early this month we stated that in order to begin saving Lake Buhi, the strict implementation of the Fisheries Code provision that only 10 percent of the total area of any lake be occupied by fish cages ought to be effected. This, we admitted, had very troubling direct consequences to the economy of Buhi where majority of the inhabitants are largely dependent on the fishing industry.      

July 14, 2011
Montero is Pajero, "devil's money" is people's money

The bishops came out cleaner from yesterday's Senate hearing, but maybe only enough to allow them to restart with clean slate in their relationship with the government and, more importantly, the Filipino people.

The bishops came out cleaner from yesterday's Senate hearing, but maybe only enough to allow them to restart with clean slate in their relationship with the government and, more importantly, the Filipino people.

Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos' humble admission of some "lapse of judgement" in requesting for a vehicle from former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a courageous act borne out of deep reflection.

July 12, 2011
Disciplining Inday Sarah

By this time, out of chaos things might have begun to sink in for Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte who is a lawyer. The punches she threw at Sheriff Abe Andres was felt by an entire nation. While sheriffs are not the kind of figures the man in the street can identify with, it is not lost that Andres is just an ordinary guy doing his job.

By this time, out of chaos things might have begun to sink in for Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte who is a lawyer. The punches she threw at Sheriff Abe Andres was felt by an entire nation. While sheriffs are not the kind of figures the man in the street can identify with, it is not lost that Andres is just an ordinary guy doing his job.

July 9, 2011
Freedom of Information

Watching live coverage of the Senate investigation of the PCSO mess, the Filipinos get to know that a sitting president can easily do magic with people's money by converting line item allocation in an agency's budget into an intelligence fund and spend the money with impunity, beyond the reach of government auditors.

Watching live coverage of the Senate investigation of the PCSO mess, the Filipinos get to know that a sitting president can easily do magic with people's money by converting line item allocation in an agency's budget into an intelligence fund and spend the money with impunity, beyond the reach of government auditors.

Kudos to Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) chairwoman Margie Juico and Director Aleta Tolentino for bringing this to the light of day, including how loto and sweepstakes income could be lost to gifts or even bribes to favored supporters.

March 28, 2011
60 Minutes Plus

For the fifth year, millions across the globe last March 26 have turned off their lights for 60 minutes starting at 8:30 PM to join Earth Hour 2011. Known landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Christ the Redeemer statue at Rio de Janeiro, the Empire State Building in New York went dark to highlight the fight against climate change's adverse effects.

For the fifth year, millions across the globe last March 26 have turned off their lights for 60 minutes starting at 8:30 PM to join Earth Hour 2011. Known landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Sydney Opera House in Australia, the Christ the Redeemer statue at Rio de Janeiro, the Empire State Building in New York went dark to highlight the fight against climate change's adverse effects.

March 18, 2011
Division

Barangays from the Partido district or the Fourth Congressional District of Camarines Sur had been reported to have submitted resolutions to their congressman, Rep. Arnulfo “Noli” Fuentebella, seeking the secession of the district's 10 municipalities in order to establish a new province, Eastern Camarines or Camarines Oriental. The reported reason for this effort is in order for these municipalities' development agenda be prioritized and pursued by the would-be new province.

Barangays from the Partido district or the Fourth Congressional District of Camarines Sur had been reported to have submitted resolutions to their congressman, Rep. Arnulfo “Noli” Fuentebella, seeking the secession of the district's 10 municipalities in order to establish a new province, Eastern Camarines or Camarines Oriental. The reported reason for this effort is in order for these municipalities' development agenda be prioritized and pursued by the would-be new province.

February 16, 2011
Angie's Honor

Tragic, certainly. But heroic? The transcript and notes on Angie Reyes’ last conversation with a confidant (disclosed by PCIJ) provide a portrait of how he viewed himself as a tragic but flawed hero.

January 26, 2011
Checkpoints

Along the road in Barangay Pacol, Naga City, a PNP checkpoint was recently established wherein motorcyclists were being made to stop to present their drivers’ licenses and vehicle registration. Obviously a measure against crime incidents that involve motorcycle-riding felons, the PNP checkpoints at Naga City offer the comfort of police visibility to a palpably distraught public after experiencing the occurrence of a series of criminal activities.

Along the road in Barangay Pacol, Naga City, a PNP checkpoint was recently established wherein motorcyclists were being made to stop to present their drivers’ licenses and vehicle registration. Obviously a measure against crime incidents that involve motorcycle-riding felons, the PNP checkpoints at Naga City offer the comfort of police visibility to a palpably distraught public after experiencing the occurrence of a series of criminal activities.

January 11, 2011
Disrepute

We share the suspicion, harbored by many others throughout the years, that delinquency in the PNP does not lie in individual members; but in the very culture it is immersed in. It is the culture a new recruit gets introduced into when s/he begins formal training in the camps: the strong rule the weak.  

The announcement made by the Philippine National Police regarding the “retraining on values and leadership” of some of its personnel is a welcome development to the sordid state it has plunged itself into. Last year, the PNP has fallen into greater disrepute because of the many incidences in which its members have been involved in the perpetration of crimes, but most especially because of its bungling of the “Mendoza hostage incident” in which Chinese nationals tragically died.

January 4, 2011
Going Online

The present (printed)  issue is in fact the penultimate printed copy of this newspaper. And while this is saddening for us since this entails leaving behind Vox Bikol’s original form which many had been accustomed to, the change (at the start of the new year, no less) brings with it an exhilaration over the immense possibilities of providing news online to Bikolano netizens.   In our judgment then, Vox Bikol’s going fully online signals not a demise, but a rebirth.      

The resuscitation of a moribund Vox Bikol four Septembers ago by the Ina nin Bikol Foundation signaled not so much a shift in this newspaper’s mission emblazoned in the motto altiora petere but a more focused rededication to that goal of seeking what is nobler. Toward this end, Vox Bikol did not aspire to wholly mainstream itself but instead, poised itself to be an alternative source of news and views in print.

December 28, 2010
Christmas Crimes

The disturbing report from the Naga City Police Office (NCPO) is that “December crimes” this year have shot up by 17% as compared to last year’s. In its report, the NCPO cited data which showed that there were 111 known incidents of crime during the period between December 1 to 20 of this year, while “only” 95 cases were filed for the same period last year. In addition, the statistics that the NCPO presented is complemented by anecdotal accounts of how crime seemed to be not only currently more rampant, but also more brazen and audacious.

The disturbing report from the Naga City Police Office (NCPO) is that “December crimes” this year have shot up by 17% as compared to last year’s. In its report, the NCPO cited data which showed that there were 111 known incidents of crime during the period between December 1 to 20 of this year, while “only” 95 cases were filed for the same period last year. In addition, the statistics that the NCPO presented is complemented by anecdotal accounts of how crime seemed to be not only currently more rampant, but also more brazen and audacious.

December 21, 2010
Ignoble

Despite public denials and subdued protestations of acquiescing to China’s will, the Aquino Administration did itself, and the whole nation, a great disservice by snubbing the awarding ceremonies which we had constantly and consistently attended until this year. We have been bullied into not attending the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to detained Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo.

When Alfred Bernhard Nobel established the Nobel Prizes through his will written a year before his death on December 10, 1896, they had been intended to be awarded to persons who had been adjudged to “have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”

Among those awards, one which is the most prized, is that for Peace.

December 13, 2010
Poisoned Fruit

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.”

December 6, 2010
Re-computations

What Tabora’s statement calls attention to really is Casureco II management’s defiance of the law and the law’s lack of teeth in biting it back. Granted that the power cooperative has filed a motion for reconsideration on Judge Clavecilla’s July 6 ruling, it remains bound nonetheless by that court order until a formal resolution is issued. And yet, Tabora et al persist in their defiance of that court order, of the law. They ought to be cited for contempt of court and appropriately penalized.

November 15, 2010
Watching Pacquiao

The militant BAYAN-Bikol had been very critical of party list group AKO BICOL or AKB ever since the latter fielded itself in the last National and Local Elections of May 2010. Very obviously funded and well-connected, AKB had been charged by BAYAN-Bikol of being a “front” for erstwhile Malacañang occupant Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The numerous advertisements it had on TV, print, radio, and even the huge billboards AKB put up during the campaign period indeed proved that it had adequate funding. This was not so surprising as the fact that even before it won in the elections, AKB was the only party list group whose press releases were carried by government media outlets PIA and PNA, indicating that AKB (or at least people within it) was in “friendly terms” with the Arroyo regime.

November 7, 2010
Saving Buhi

The municipality of Buhi headed by Mayor Rey Lacoste had recently met with a catastrophe in the form of an enormous tilapia fishkill which has been estimated to have reached 100 metric tons. The huge loss this entailed for the tilapia fish cage owners, small fishermen, and local fish vendors is reportedly staggering: Php 80 Million.

November 2, 2010
Corrupting the Young

Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Chair on Youth Apostolate, Bishop Joel Baylon, has joined his voice to those which call for the abolition of the Sanggunian Kabataan (SK). The massive instances of vote-buying and irregularities prior and during the just concluded Barangay and SK polls had convinced the Legazpi prelate that the SK, "lofty" though its goals may be, has proven to be "a corrupting influence on the youth."

October 18, 2010
Local Elections

On October 25 of this year, the nation troops yet again to the polls in order for citizens to choose their barangay executives and youth leaders. But as writer-analyst Benjie Oliveros noted, these elections are viewed to be of lesser-significance than the preceding one last May. This is certainly deplorable.

October 11, 2010
Public Belief

Similar to the tempest it caused in 2008, the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill has again kicked up a storm the parties to which are too familiar. On the one hand, there is the government which views a "burgeoning population" and seeks to curb its numbers in the hope of better distributing the limited resources at its disposal. Together with government are NGOs, peoples' organizations (POs), and numerous individuals who fiercely believe in the principles, aims, and benefits of the RH Bill.

On the other, there is the Catholic Church hierarchy, other NGOs and POs, and hosts of citizens who also ardently adhere to the moral position against contraceptives and remain unconvinced by the RH Bill's analysis and proposed solutions.

October 9, 2010
Unproductive

The dialogue last Friday between President Noynoy Aquino and the prelates of the Catholic Church's hierarchy had been intended to sober the inordinately heated discussions taking place between the government and the Church on the legislation regarding reproductive health. While the dialogue did not end the dispute, it did introduce a measure of sobriety and a clearer assessment of what is at issue.

September 23, 2010
Pilgrims' City

Presidential Executive Order #33 and Naga City Resolution No. 2010-280 had declared the city on which INA's image is enshrined as a "pilgrimage capital/city." The EO was issued on September 10 or the day of the Traslacion while the city resolution-despite its terseness and otioseness in comparison with the President's declaration-was issued three days later.

September 16, 2010
Devotion

The whole Bikol region celebrates with special significance the "Peñafrancia Fiesta" this week. The region-and not Naga City alone-celebrates this week the 300th anniversary of the devotion to INA, the Virgin of Peñafrancia. In other words, what devotees celebrate is not a 300 year old image, but that special relationship with INA that took root here, 300 years ago.

September 6, 2010
Viva la Virgen!

The Marian month of September has arrived and for this year, its coming is made greatly significant due to the three hundredth year celebration of the devotion to Our Lady of Peñafrancia that is being marked by the whole of Bikol. This September, the Tercentenary of the devotion to INA is grandly commemorated by the Bikolano people and all of INA's devotees.

August 30, 2010
DILG Head

The search for a name and a face to blame in the wake of the Quirino Grandstand hostage-taking incident last August 23 continues to mount. Quite plausibly, this is what fuels the incessant outflow of analyses on the tragic occurrence: the query "why did this happen?" being a precursor to the more pressing question of "who is to be blamed?"

August 26, 2010
Fair Trade

The recent press conference on the first Annual Francisco Gainza Trade Fair provided an opportunity to clarify not only its relevance to the celebration of the Peñafrancia Fiesta, but also to explain the presence of commerce during the religious festivity.