Cebu local news (daily update)

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LONG ROAD FOR GIRL SURVIVOR 10/18/2011

13-year-old views 6 coffins, ‘needs strong emotional support’


With her family gone—the victims of a shooting rampage at home —13-year-old Embrelaince Therjoy Ponce turned to relatives for comfort.

She spent the night in an aunt's house but is asking when she can go home.

Social workers yesterday met with the next of kin to discuss who would watch over the high school student, the lone survivor of Sunday's bloodbath in Talisay City.

DSWD social worker Clavel Saycon said the child “needs strong emotional support from her family and friends” to cope with the trauma of losing both parents and three siblings.

Embrelaince or “Ember” was the youngest child and the only one spared by her father, Emmanuel Ponce, who ordered her to leave the house Sunday morning before the former seaman took his .45-caliber revolver and shot dead his wife, three adult children and the househelper in their house in Palm View Village, barangay Tabunok.

The cause of his rage is still a matter of speculation.

Neighbors and some relatives talked about marital troubles and a head injury he suffered 10 years ago, while psychologists said the 55-year-old head of the household may have wrestled with “psychological issues.” (Story on page 2.)

Fortunately, relatives of both of the child's parents are ready to be Ember's guardians, said Saycon, adding that the DSWD would still ask the girl whom she wanted to live with, and would assess the prospective relatives who volunteer to take her in.

The teenager underwent a stress debriefing with social workers yesterday, but was still in shock, refusing to talk about what happened.

“The loss of parents and siblings is very traumatic. She doesn't want to talk about it yet,” said Saycon, who heads the Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) of Cebu province.

No one can tell how long her grief and adjustment to the tragedy will take.

“The incident will affect her greatly as she grows up. She's just a teenager, who barely has enough coping mechanisms for something like this,” said Dr. Glenda Basubas, chairperson of the Philippine Mental Health Association (PMHA) in Cebu, in a separate interview.

Already, the 13-year-old survivor is being asked to make tough decisions— where to live next and where to bury her parents.

The mother comes from Bicol while the father's relatives want to bury Emmanuel in his hometown in Alegria, south Cebu.

“Neutral lang mi. Whatever the child decides, we’ll follow,” said an aunt Rosellei Redula of Talisay City.

Shortly before noon, Ember arrived at the St. Peter's Funeral Homes in Imus Avenue and broke out in sobs as she viewed six white coffins laid out in the large vigil room.

Ember, who will turn 14 in December, was comforted by an aunt.

The girl went first to the casket of her mother, Melinda, 53, whose photo in a framed front cover of Women's Health magazine rested on top. Melinda, an assistant branch manager of the Banco de Oro in Taboan, Cebu City, was a runner. A glass display of Melinda's 22 medals in previous marathons was placed on the floor. She had just finished a BDO fun run on that ill-fated Sunday morning.

Then there were the remains of the father, and siblings 26-year-old Ellaine Grace, 25-year-old Heather Joy and 18-year-old Emlin Bridge, and their househelper 30-year-old Anastacia Deniega.

An uncle, Paul Redula, said relatives were thankful that DSWD staff arrived a few hours after the gun slayings.

“She has school exams this week, but we asked the school guidance counselor to excuse her,” he said.

At the Capitol, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia called the killings “an incomprehensible tragedy.”

“The saddest person I believe is the lone surviving member of the family,” she said.

Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, who met with staff of the Provincial Council for the Welfare of Children, said they agreed to place a child psychologist on standby in case Talisay City's social welfare officer needs one and would continue to monitor Ember's status.

Dr. Basubas of PMHA, in a separate interview, said intervention through “diffusing” sessions and medical care are needed because of the trauma's possible adverse impact on the child's personality development.

This could be depression, social withdrawal and difficulty adjusting with her peers.

“She's caught between trying to protect the image of her family and how people will perceive their situation,” Basubas said, explaining her struggle.

Saycon of DSWD said a more “intensive” interview with the child will have to wait till she is ready.

“When we try to talk about the incident, she'd change the topic. We need to give her enough space and time,” she said.

Since Sunday afternoon, Ember has been staying in the house of her aunt, who is the first cousin of his father.

“We will confer with the child and also consider her plans and decisions,” Saycon said.

“She needs strict monitoring.” Candeze R. Mongaya and Rhea Ruth Rosell with reports of Carmel Loise Matus and Jhunnex Napallacan

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Father may have faced ‘psychological issues’ 10/18/2011

Domestic violence a silent crime, say experts


The father in Talisay City who shot dead several family members before turning the gun on himself last Sunday should not be immediately blamed for the killing spree, a psychologist said.

“Don't blame the perpetrator right away. He may have needed treatment for a condition that caused his violence,” Dr. Glenda Basubas said.

Basubas, who heads the Philippine Mental Health Association ( PMHA) chapter in Cebu, said that 55-year-old Emmanuel Redula Ponce who killed his wife, three adult children and their helper in Palm View Village may have been suffering from psychological issues.

Ponce, who suffered a head injury 10 years ago that forced him to end his job as an overseas seaman, may have suffered major trauma after the accident, she said.

However, details of his workplace accident and effect on his health were not available.

“We can't rule out other possibilities that caused the trauma. We have to asses all angles and study his basic personality profile,” Basubas told Cebu Daily News.

According to her, if drug use issues are involved, this could cause an individual to be become more suspicious, suffer from hallucinations and have a dysfunctional personality that would extend to relationships with the family.

Another possibility is that Ponce may have been suffering stress that lead to his paranoia, she said.

Neighbors of the family talked about incidents of domestic violence in the Ponce household over the years.

If the trouble had been reported earlier, the shooting rampage could have been prevented, Basubas said.

“Earlier intervention in violence at home would have a better outcome for the family. If help was sought, something could be done,” Basubas said.

Basubas said the psychiatric history of the perpetrator should also be investigated to understand what happened and to prevent it from happening again.

The reluctance to report cases of domestic violence because some consider it a “private matter” is a factor in its prevalence today.

“Some families want to appear happy and harmonious to society,” she explained.

The problem remains because the issue is not properly addressed in society and there is lack of information about the issue, which leads to a negative stigma.

Women should be more assertive to prevent abuse in the home, said Basubas.

She said there are few complaints of domestic violence because the women who suffer feel that they can't be protected by the law or they fear a threat to their own lives or worry that the family would fall apart.

“Some suffer in silence because of the embarrassment. They are afraid to divulge that they are battered or abused,” she said. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter

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Gwen submits biggest-ever P3.6-billion budget for 2012 10/18/2011



ON yesterday's deadline for the submission of next year's budget, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia submitted the Capitol’s biggest budget in the province's history in the amount of P3.6 billion.

This is more than last year's P2.6 billion and exceeds the proposed 2011 budget of P3.01 billion.

The bulk will go to the Capitol’s Development Fund and the governor’s office.

The budget of the vice governor also went up to P38.3 million, a contrast to last year’s complaint by the late vice governor Greg Sanchez Jr. when his office budget was reduced by 60 percent at P18 million.

His successor, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, is affiliated with the Bakud party of the Durano clan, which is aligned with the Garcia administration’s One Cebu party.

Garcia said, “The budget advocates the principles of good governance, with emphasis on participative governance in planning and budgeting as the key to attain fiscal discipline, allocative efficiency and effective utilization and management of funding resources.”

Provincial and city councils must approve their budget by Dec. 31.

For Cebu province, the Office of the Governor has one of the largest allocations at P447.178 million.

The bulk or P776 million goes to the Capitol's Development Fund for various programs and projects.

The services were categorized as general public, social and economic services.

The new budget also allocates P72.672 million for the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), P38.313 million for the Office of the Vice Governor, and P6.499 million for each of the offices of the 15 provincial board members.

Also, the province's 18 hospitals will run on a P60.582 million budget for 2012.

In her budget message, Garcia said the province, for the fifth straight year, showed its relative independence from the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share, which accounts for 44 percent of Cebu’s required funding sources. Correspondent Carmel Loise Matus

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Debt payments comprise bulk of Mandaue budget 10/18/2011



MANDAUE City Mayor Jonas Cortes proposed an annual budget of P1.6 billion for next year, slightly higher than by P6.6 million from this year's appropriation.

Of the total proposed appropriation, P114,763,000 is allotted to debt servicing, P53 million of which will be derived from the general funds.

About P56 million will go to fund the public market and P5,763,000 million from the slaughterhouse budget.

The city government also allotted P27 million that will be distributed to the 27 barangays and another P72.5 million as calamity fund.

Personnel services gets an appropriation of P243,375,004.19 million while development fund is set at P82,721,997.80 million, which is not less than 20 percent of the city's projected Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share of P413,609,982.

Cortes, in his budget message, said the total amount does not exceed the city's total estimated income.

He said items like the 20 percent development fund, employee benefits, aid to component barangays, loan amortization, maintenance of city roads and bridges, anti-drug campaign are allotted a fair share of the budget.

Mandaue City is expecting to earn P33 million from the Mandaue City Hospital, P34.1 million from the public market, P2.15 million from the city sports complex and more than P14.5 million from the city slaughterhouse.

Cortes said the budget will also finance programs like solid waste management, environmental protection and socioeconomic programs. Reporter Jucell Marie P. Cuyos

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Cebu City 2012 budget needs boosters a ‘joke’ says Young 10/18/2011



Cebu City Hall needs to raise P4 billion from its economic enterprises, secure a P2-billion credit line and sell P1-billion worth of assets to fund the P11.8-billion annual budget proposed by Mayor Michael Rama for next year.

Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young said the mayor's draft 2012 budget, more than double this year's P4.5-billion budget, was a “joke.”

So far, City Treasurer Tessie Camarillo identified only P4.728 billion from tax and other revenues, which already include the city's Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share of P1 billion.

Another P74.5 million in unappropriated balance from this year's budget is being considered for use to fund the 2012 budget.

The vice mayor met yesterday with Councilors Margot Osmeña, chairperson of the council's budget committee; Jose Daluz; and Noel Wenceslao to discuss the mayor's 2012 budget.

The city’s budget officer, treasurer, accountant and planning officer will be invited to an executive session tomorrow to brief the council.

Still, City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete was confident there may be no more need to avail of a bank loan if the city improves revenue efficiency. He said opening a credit line would only serve as standby fund for the city.

Mayor Rama submitted his draft 2012 budget last Friday to the City Council or two days ahead of the Oct. 16 deadline for local government units.

In his letter, Rama said the 2012 budget would “provide delivery of basic services on an increased level as compared to the same period last year.”

The budget will also “increase infrastructure and utilities support to the special economic zone at the SRP in order to attract economic investments and generate expanding employment opportunities especially to the urban poor residents.”

The biggest chunk of the mayor's draft budget or P6.452 billion is allotted for maintenance and other operating expenses while about P4 billion is for capital outlay.

Personnel services gets an appropriation of P1.81 billion. Of the City Hall offices, the office of the mayor gets a bigger share of the 2012 budget amounting to P1.15 billion.

The appropriation would go to MOOE at P770.4 million, capital outlay at P306.4 million and PS at P75.5 million.

Rama's appropriation for MOOE includes P300 million proposed for senior citizens cash assistance, P300 million for housing project for City Hall employees and a tax collection program of P100 million.

Capital outlay includes P100 million for the city's scholarship program and P60 million for city-sponsored activities.

These include the following:

- the city's assistance for the 2012 Sinulog - P22 million

- 75th Charter Day celebration - P18 million

- Christmas celebration – P10 million

- barangay activities – P8 million; and

- assistance to NGOs/POs – P2 million. The appropriation for PS includes a P10-million budget for honoraria to members of the city's different commissions and special bodies.

To support his P11.8-billion budget for 2012, Rama said he wanted to intensify the city's collection efforts and conduct tax mapping to cover all its economic activities.

The mayor also wants to decentralize tax collection through revenue collection districts and market the SRP to local and foreign investors. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief of Reporters

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Mandaue jeepneys seek help for terminal woes 10/18/2011



JEEPNEY drivers plying the Mandaue City-Ayala Mall route were barred from entering the mall's terminal since Saturday for lack of accreditation with the private facility.

Romeo Armamento, vice president of the transport group Andar's north district, said several drivers ended up arguing with passengers who refused to pay the P10 fare when the vehicle wouldn’t enter the terminal.

The prohibition came a week after Citom prohibited Mandaue-Manalili PUJs from entering the vicinity of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.

“We are like squatters who have been evicted from the Ayala Mall terminal,” said Armamento.

In case they are completely denied access to the Ayala terminal, Armamento proposed that jeepney with route number 21B and 22B be allowed to enter uptown Cebu City passing B. Rodriguez Street to V. Rama Avenue then to the Citilink terminal.

He also proposed that Mandaue-Manalili PUJs, with around 700 drivers, should be allowed access to Plaza Independencia as an alternative route.

The Andar official also asked that they be allowed to assign their own attendants in designated jeepney stops to look after abusive drivers.

City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete and Citom office head Rafael Yap asked the parties to put their proposals into writing so these could be studied by the Citom board.

About 30 operators and drivers led by Armamento went to Cebu City hall yesterday to seek Mayor Michael Rama's intervention.

Since Rama was on a trip to Singapore, Poblete and Yap met with the group at the mayor's conference room.

Armamento said starting Saturday, without advance notice, Ayala terminal management barred entry of 21B and 22B route vehicles in the mall terminal.

He explained that when City Ordinance No. 1837 was strictly implemented requiring jeepneys to use only designated terminals, 21B and 22 B drivers were forced to use the Ayala Mall terminal. However, only 69 sought accreditation with the Ayala management and were issued a new route number 20A and were allowed to unload and unload passengers there.

The rest kept their route no. 21B and 22B numbers. They were allowed to only unload passengers at the mall. The use of Ayala Mall terminal has been made exclusive to jeepneys of route no. 20A, he said.

The new policy is hurting over 300 drivers who take turns plying 70 PUJ units with route nos. 21B and 22B, said Armamento.

Armamento said they needed the city's intervention.

“The Ayala terminal is privately run. What we can do is appeal to the management to allow you to enter the terminal,” Poblete said.

Yap of Citom said prohibiting their entry in the private terminal is not a violation of their travel line to ply routes inMandaue City and Cebu City.

“The travel line only says Cebu City. It doesn’t specify where in Cebu City. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac

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Contempt charges against execs on lot feud 10/18/2011



ONE of the heirs of Rev. Fr. Vicente Rallos filed contempt charges anew against the Cebu City government and its lawyers for trying to stop the implementation of a court ruling.

Cebu City was earlier ordered to pay P133 million to the Rallos family as compensation for a lot expropriated for a road in 1963, an order the city government is contesting.

Lucina Rallos said the city's pleading was “impertinent and scandalous.”

The charges carry a penalty of a P2,000 fine and/or imprisonment of not more than 10 days.

Rallos asked the court to require the city government to name the officials who authorized its lawyers to file the motion to quash the writ of execution.

She also asked the court to strike out the pleading filed by the city from the records.

Regional Trial Court Judge James Stewart Ramon Himalaloan is yet to rule on Rallos' request.

Earlier this month, Rallos also filed a petition for indirect contempt against Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama over statements he made in Cebu Daily News questioning tax obligations of the Rallos family.

Rallos said the statement intended to impede the administration of justice.

Cebu Daily News publisher Eileen Mangubat and chief of reporters Doris Bongcac were also named respondents to the petition.

In an order dated Sept. 23, 2011, Judge Himalaloan gave the go signal for the ex-officio sheriff to issue a writ of execution against the city government.

The city filed a motion to quash the writ of execution as well as the notice of garnishment issued by the sheriff to three SM companies doing business with Cebu city. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol

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‘Guards are not traffic enforcers’ 10/18/2011



When a car pulls out of a parking lot, sometimes the building’s security guard helps guide it out by stopping passing cars.

Not a good idea, said Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) chairman Sylvan Jakosalem.

He said security guards shouldn’t act as traffic enforcers in these situations since this would cause traffic congestion in the main roads.

He sent letters to establishment owners telling them this was a a violation by security guards who go out of their way to assist their clients' cars out of the car park.

“They must be deputized by Citom to do that. They must bear in mind that the cars in the main thoroughfares must be given priority,” he said.

Jakosalem said he was also worried about the rise of establishments in congested areas.

He said parking plans of these buildings must be followed and reminded business owners that Citom may put railings in lots that are not intended for parking.

“The previous administration already did it before. Railings were installed in establishments that failed to comply with their parking plans,” Jakosalem said.

He said vehicles in some establishments were doing diagonal parking instead of parallel parking.

Last week Jakosalem withdrew his plan to ask the Citom board and Mayor Michael Rama to include Citom in the approval of locational clearance of establishments. He agreed with Councilor Ritchie Osmeña that it would just add a layer of bureaucracy. /Edison Delos Angeles

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City Hall to create transfer stations, rent 10 trucks 10/18/2011



Cebu City Councilor Eduardo Rama said the Cebu City Waste Management Board may create a transfer station with a Material Recovery Facility in Inayawan as a stopover of city-owned garbage trucks before solid waste is brought to the proposed Consolacion dumpsite.

“With this plan, the city trucks will only drop their garbage at the transfer station/MRF. They don’t need to go through the hassle of going all the way to Consolacion,” Councilor Rama said.

Rama said that with the plan, garbage would be segregated in the transfer station to be put up in barangay Inayawan.

This would lessen the volume of waste to be trucked to Consolacion.

He said scavengers in the Inayawan landfill would do the segregation to earn income as well.

Also, with the proposed stations, the small city-owned garbage trucks would no longer have to traverse the narrow and bumpy roads to the Consolacion dumpsite.

The ten trucks the city government plans to rent will transfer the residual waste to the dumpsite.

"I still can’t give the exact amount of how much we will spend for the plan since it sill has to be presented to the board. We still have to decide on it,” Rama said. /Edison Delos Angeles

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Ombud starts lamppost inventory 10/18/2011



An inventory of the decorative lampposts installed for the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) Summit in January 2007 was done yesterday as part of the Ombudsman-Visayas investigation.

Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago said results of the inventory will be sent to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in Manila.

The OSP, which represents the State in five pending cases on the alleged overpricing of the street lamps, will submit the results to the Sandiganbayan.

“Each lamppost will be looked into,” Santiago told Cebu Daily News.

Graft Prevention and Control Officer Roderick Blazo, an engineer, led the inventory team of anti-graft investigators that included representatives from the Commission on Audit (COA) and from the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).

In a separate interview, Citom head Rafael Yap said all 140 Asean summit lampposts along S. Osmeña Road in Cebu City are no longer functional while four are missing.

Most, if not all, of the 136 remaining fixtures have lost their heads and electrical connections. Inspection will resume today on those installed near Marco Polo Hotel along Salinas Drive and Juan Luna Avenue in barangay Mabolo.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama earlier asked for the removal of the dilapidated posts in Cebu City because they were eyesores and street obstructions.

Santiago said it’s up to the Sandiganbayan to decide on the mayor’s request because the lampposts are “evidence of the court” and under the custody of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

City governments of Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu don’t want to take custody of the lampposts, which have been vandalized and looted.

Photos of the lampposts were already sent to Sandiganbayan.

Five graft cases are pending after they were filed by the Ombudsman against two contractors and several local officials for a total of 1,800 China-made lampposts believed to be overpriced. /Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol and Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac