Cebu local news (daily update)

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Bella Ruby’s ‘largesse’ denied

RELATIVES of Bella Ruby Santos were prevented from delivering food to the 94 inmates of the Naga City Jail yesterday.

The inmates missed out on the hanging rice, pansit and slices of lechon that were brought in a tricycle.Anna Marion “Bebot” Lalican, Santos’s sister, said Santos asked them to bring the food because they were celebrating their fiesta in Barangay Inayagan, City of Naga.

Jail Warden Jenesis Mongcopa told Sun.Star Cebu visitors are only allowed to give food for the personal consumption of the inmate they are visiting.

Santos, an inmate in the jail, declined to comment. But before the food arrived, she granted an interview to a local newspaper.

After that, she declined to talk to the media.

“Gikapoy nako’g pa-interview (I’m tired of giving interviews),” she reportedly said.

Appeal

Lalican and another relative, 82-year-old Natividad Encariado, appealed to the jail guards to accept the food.

“Dili mani pasikat amoa, nanghatag lang mi ani kay pista man sa amoa unya gahikay man sad mi didto (We’re not showing off. We just want to share what we prepared for our fiesta),” said Lalican.

Encariado told Sun.Star that Santos is a generous person.

“It’s just in her nature,” she said in Cebuano.

She said Santos often gave money and food to neighbors and relatives.

She said that before Santos was arrested, she left money to be distributed among her relatives.

The money came from the proceeds of Santos’s house that was pawned a month ago.

Meanwhile, Mongcopa denied allegations that they are giving Santos special treatment.

He confirmed, though, that Santos asked if one of her relatives could distribute food to her fellow inmates.

“To avoid issues, I did not allow it, and besides it is against our rules,” he said.

He assured the food was not accepted.

“It might create complacency na manghawod siya sulod sa cell since iya pirmi pakan-on sila (Santos might become de facto leader inside because she would always feed her fellow inmates). We won’t tolerate such things,” he said.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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Control of task force to revert to CPPO

WITH suspect Bella Ruby Santos in jail and set for arraignment tomorrow, Task Force Ellah Joy, the group that was formed to investigate the kidnapping with homicide case that Santos now faces, will be downgraded.

Operational control over the task force will revert to the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) and its director, Senior Insp. Patrocinio Comendador.“This matter is now a case solved as far as the police are concerned,” said Senior Insp. Louie Oppus, concurrent task force head and deputy director for operations of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7.

He said the only thing to do is monitor its prosecution.

Oppus was among the guests at the 3rd general assembly of the Philippine Society for Industrial Security last Friday.

Task Force Ellah Joy, which operates from the PRO 7, was created following the CPPO’s arrest of Norwegian Sven Erik Berger and Filipina Karen Esdrelon for the abduction and killing of Ellah Joh Pique last Feb. 8.

They were later released when their alibis checked out.

Confident

Oppus expressed confidence that the CPPO is capable of continuing various initiatives the task force began to ensure the successful resolution of the case.

“Comendador is already part of the existing task force and has a deep grasp of the case. It is only right that control over the task force goes to him at this stage,” he said.

With Santos scheduled for arraignment tomorrow, the first step toward a full-blown trial, task force officials like Oppus are expected to be called to the stand.

It was to Oppus that Detective Inspector Andrew Chalmers addressed an earlier letter expressing how the London police have already stopped “all investigative activity” against Santos’s fellow suspect and British boyfriend Ian Charles Griffiths.

Griffiths, a 50-year-old accountant, was arrested in London last April 1 in connection to the case. He was released on bail.

The charge was for the alleged violation of Section 9 of the Offences against Persons Act, the equivalent to crimes against persons under the Philippines’ Revised Penal Code.

“When they (British authorities) reviewed the evidence, they found that it was not enough,” said Atty. Rameses Villagonzalo in an earlier interview.
Villagonzalo is Santos’s lawyer.

He said the defense is trying to secure a copy of the letter and they have already asked the court to issue a subpoena to compel its presentation.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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DENR conducts census at CCPL

EIGHT years after the Central Cebu Protected Landscape was established, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR 7) formed a team that will conduct a census and registration of occupants in 22 barangays within the protected area.

The team is composed of representatives of local government units, nongovernment organizations and technical personnel from the Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Services.“The activity is undertaken to provide the DENR with basic data as basis for establishing management zones and buffer zones, and for the preparation of programs, including the identification of alternative livelihood opportunities,” said DENR 7 Regional Executive Director Maximo Dichoso.

The census, which has a budget of P442,000, includes detailed demographic studies, assessment of socio-economic conditions and validation of proofs of occupancy.

Proclamation

CCPL was established through a Presidential Proclamation 441, issued by the President Arroyo in August 2003. It has a total area of more than 28,000 hectares, covering the watersheds of Buhisan, Mananga and Kotkot-Lusaran, and the national parks of Sudlon and Central Cebu, which are located in the cities of Cebu, Talisay, Toledo and Danao, and in the municipalities of Minglanilla, Consolacion, Liloan, Compostela and Balamban.

“Our objectives are to determine and attest to the actual number of occupants within the protected areas, establish the exact location and approximate size of homelots or farmlots, and check the period of occupancy over certain portions,” said Dichoso.

“We will be issuing an official list of tenured migrants, which is not a tenurial instrument that would grant security of tenure over the areas being occupied,” he added.

Meanwhile, the DENR filed a criminal complaint before the Office of the Prosecutor in Cebu City against Richard and Jonard Obod, residents of Barangay Sudlon II in Cebu City, for allegedly cutting trees inside the CCPL.

The complaint is based on the joint affidavit of Protected Area Superintendent Ariel Rica, Cristituto Ruaza of Kantipla Ecosytem Enhancement and Protection Foundation and Danilo Villaban.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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Toledo coal firms ask court to junk Tepo

A COAL-fired power plant in Toledo City has asked the court to “dissolve” an order prohibiting electricity producers in Cebu from dumping coal ash in alternative facilities or to give it to people who need backfill materials.

As this developed, Capitol requested the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 7 that it be allowed to use only high-density polyethylene (HDPE) lining instead of a combination of HDPE and bentonite clay for its secured coal ash landfill on the former Balili property in the City of Naga.Jose Ramon Castillo and Ramil Abing, counsels for Cebu Energy Development Corp., Toledo Power Corp. and Global Business Power Corp., filed a motion to dissolve the temporary environmental protection order (Tepo) issued by Mandaue Regional Trial Court Branch 28 Judge Marilyn Lagura-Yap last Sept. 19.

The power producers asked the court that they be allowed to dispose coal ash in sites other than court-designated dumping facilities in Barangay Landahan in Toledo City.

The companies asked that they be allowed to bring coal ash to sites with permits from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), areas needing backfill materials and to facilities of cement manufacturers that can use the wastes from coal-fired power plants.
The Tepo, they said, has resulted in “grave and irreparable damage ... as it will force them to cease operations."

"If private respondents' operations stop, there will be power shortage in the province of Cebu,” the power producers’ motion said, adding that the Cebu grid could lose up to 220 megawatts when their plants shut down.

The motion pointed out that there is no evidence that the power producers failed to comply with environmental laws.

The Tepo stemmed from a case filed by environmental advocates who raised the health and environmental risks caused by coal-fired power plants.

The Tepo also applies to the coal-fired power plants of the Korea Electric Power Co.-Salcon Power Corp. (KSPC) consortium in Naga.

At the Capitol, Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said Section 21 of Republic Act 9003, also known as the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, provides that the appropriate lining for landfills can be HDPE or bentonite clay.

Garcia said HDPE is more affordable than bentonite clay, which is available only in Negros at P3,700 per cubic meter.

The Province is prepared to install HDPE lining to be able to use the coal ash landfill in Naga as disposal facility for coal ash from KSPC’s plants.

Garcia met with EMB 7 and KSPC officials earlier to discuss the issue.

The governor said she believes the new director of EMB 7, Francis Quililan, would bring a “wind of change” at the agency.

The EMB 7, under then director Allan Arranguez, cited four violations of the Capitol landfill’s ECC.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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SK heads to get P3,000 allowance

THE barangay captains and barangay councilors will not be the only ones who will have a merrier Christmas this year.

This is because the Cebu City Government will also give allowances to all Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) chairpersons in the city. Mayor Michael Rama, through his secretary Belinda Navascues, announced this in a meeting with all barangay captains and barangay councilors yesterday.

Navascues said that all SK chairpersons will get, starting this year, P36,000 each year or P3,000 monthly.

All barangay councilors also get the same amount.

All 80 SK chairpersons in the city sit as ex-officio members of the barangay councils.

Barangay captains, on the other hand, are entitled to P60,000 in allowances from the City yearly or P5,000 monthly.

Rama had promised the release of the allowances when he delivered his state of the city address last July.

The appropriation for the allowance was included in the second supplemental budget, which was passed by the City Council last month.

In an interview yesterday, Rama said that the City will release the barangay officials’ allowances from September to December.

The mayor said he still has to consult the Commission on Audit if the City can retroact the release starting from January to August.

“Para way lain nga ma-storya ba. But definitely ihatag gyud na nga allowance,” he said.

Upon the requests of the barangay captains, the allowances will be released through payroll and not through checks, said City Accountant Marietta Gumia.

The City is just waiting for the executive order that will establish the guidelines of the release of the barangay official’s allowance.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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Banker shares successful experience in farming

AT a time when food is getting scarce, a land owner in the northern town of Borbon wants to share his successful experience in farming.

Butch Cabatingan has turned a four-hectare land along the sea in Barangay Tabunan, Borbon into a farm resort.The Borbon Beach Farm not only provides a scenic view of the sea facing Leyte, it is also home to papaya, banana and coconut trees.

“Food is very important,” the 53-year-old banker said. “There’s a big market for food.”

Cabatingan said he harvests 500 kilos of papaya every week and sells them at P15 per kilo. “There’s weekly income in papaya,” Cabatingan said.

“I continue to expand the farm because there’s still market absorption,” he added.

There are about 1,000 papaya trees in the farm, which is fertilized using vermi cast, an organic fertilizer.

Cabatingan, who also planted mahogany and molave seedlings this year, gets his fertilizer from his poultry farm and his goats.

He said he feeds his goats with banana trunks from his farm.

From 5,000 heads when he started his poultry farm, he now has 24,000 heads.

Cabatingan said one challenge in farming is finding a market.

“If you’re a businessman, you should look for a market,” he said.

Workers

He said one should also be passionate in order to succeed in farming.

“You have to put your heart into it, and that is something that can’t be taught,” he said.

Although he is a banker by profession, Cabatingan said farming is his passion. He works in Cebu City and spends his weekends in his farm.

Cabatingan, who has 20 workers helping him in the farm, said he consults experts from the Department of Agriculture (DA) to ensure the success of his farm.

He said he also buys certified seeds. One problem with most farmers, he said, is that they don’t buy certified seeds because they find these seeds costly.

Resort

Cabatingan, who graduated with a degree in management from the Ateneo de Manila University, said he would need at least P50 million to fully implement his design for the Borbon Beach Farm.

He said his plan is to offer only 20 rooms, as he wants the farm resort to be exclusive.

Guests in the resort, he said, can have a chance to experience the life of a farmer.

At present, guests can already go snorkeling and scuba diving.

The DA organized a two-day media tour in the farm as part of the activities for the World Food Month celebration.

“The farm is fully assisted by DA,” said Anna Delza-Barimbao, DA media relations officer.

She said the DA has extended all kinds of technical assistance to Cabatingan.

Through farming, Cabatingan said his grandparents were able to send their children to college in Manila.

“There must be money in agriculture,” he said.

Cabatingan said there are many idle lands because the children of farmers who become successful professionals in the city do not want to go back to or settle in their hometown.

Barimbao said land owners should make their lands productive. She said land conversion is also threatening the country’s agriculture.

“We are seeing farming as a business. It’s no longer just for family consumption,” Barimbao said.

“If you think of business, do it now. If you won’t do it now, it will just remain a dream,” Cabatingan said.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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CPDRC escapee yields, faces sanctions

TWO days after bolting from the provincial jail, an inmate decided to yield back to the authorities yesterday.

Renante “Bolatik” dela Rosa said he escaped because his mother, who tried to visit him at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC) for the first time, was denied access to the jail facility.In his two days out of the prison, dela Rosa said he was bothered by his conscience and decided to call CPDRC assistant warden Reynaldo Pepito to surrender.

“Lisud ning mo eskapo ta sa prisohan kay dili ka katog. Makonsensiya ta. Unya dili ko ganahan magsige’g tago-tago (It is very hard when you’re a fugitive. You cannot sleep. You are bothered by your conscience. And I no longer want to keep on hiding),” said dela Rosa, who is facing a murder case.

Pepito told Sun.Star Cebu that he received a call yesterday morning from dela Rosa.

“I was surprised to receive a call from him. I urged him to surrender and assured that he won’t be harmed back here in prison,” said Pepito.

Dela Rosa narrated how he was able to escape. He said he climbed up the fence of CPDRC, passing through the back portion of its kitchen.

He got out around 5 p.m. last Thursday. He walked through the vast mountain areas of Barangay Kalunasan and arrived in Barangay Labangon, Cebu City at 1 p.m. Friday.

He said he threw away his inmate’s orange T-shirt. He was walking shirtless until he passed by a house, where he asked for a glass of water and was given a T-shirt.

He decided to visit his friend in Duljo Lawis, Barangay Pasil. His friend advised him to surrender.

Yesterday morning, he was urged to surrender and decided to meet with Pepito in Barangay Carreta where he was arrested back at 3:15 p.m. yesterday.

Provincial Jail Warden Algier Comendador said they will have to wait for the Council of Leaders’ decision for the sanctions on dela Rosa.

The Council of Leaders is a group of inmate officers at the CPDRC.

“We still have to check the Council of Leader’s decision and we will decide if we will approve it or not,” said Comendador.

He added that one of the possible sanctions of dela Rosa is “isolation” or separating him from other detainees.

“This is for safety purposes since we may not know that other inmates will be mad at dela Rosa since their privileges as inmates may be affected after his escape,’ he said.

Comendador said he will also submit a report to the court that handles dela Rosa’s case about the latter’s escape from jail.

Meanwhile, although dela Rosa has been taken back to the jail, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia ordered a full investigation on the incident.

She wanted to know what Comendador and his jail guards were doing on their jobs that an inmate managed to escape under their watch.

“What were they doing? Were they sleeping on their job?” she told reporters.

With the incident, Garcia is no longer sure if she would approve the request of the inmates to allow their families to visit them on Dec. 24, considering that during a regular visiting day, an inmate escaped.

The request was made during her 56th birthday last Oct. 12.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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Female police asset murdered inside home

A 23-YEAR-OLD woman was shot dead by two unidentified men inside her home in Lapu-Lapu City yesterday afternoon.

Investigators of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LCPO) believed that the murder of Evelyn Sabandal may have been related to her job as a police informant.Sabandal, 23, was inside her home in Sitio Matumbo in Barangay Pusok when the gunmen attacked her past 2 p.m.

Police officers (PO) 2 Luisito Ernie and Franklin Bulaquia of the LCPO Crimes Against Persons Desk said that the two suspects, who were wearing striped shirts, knocked on Sabandal’s house and told her that they would like to buy shabu from her.

Sabandal reportedly told the two men that she does not sell illegal drugs.

As she turned her back, one of the two men suddenly pulled out a 9mm pistol and shot Sabandal in the forehead.

Slug

The two men then fled from the area.

Sabandal was brought to the Mactan Doctors Hospital, but died later.

A slug was found at the crime scene.

Ernie said that the attack on Sabandal may have been related to her job as an informant for the police.

The suspects behind Sabandal’s death may be involved in the illegal drug trade, and may have been irked by the victim’s involvement with the police, Ernie added.

Operatives of the Pusok Police Station led by Chief Insp. Conrado Manatad are digging deeper into the attack to identify and file charges against the suspects in the killing.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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Senior HS stude ends life

AFTER she was accused by her classmate of stealing their class funds, a 15-year-old girl from Olango Island reportedly took her own life inside her grandmother’s house yesterday morning.

Mary(not her real name) a resident of Sitio Bantegue II, Barangay Tinggo, Olango Island in Lapu-Lapu City was found hanging inside her room.Her aunt, who first discovered the body, immediately cut the rope that was choking Mary when she found the victim still twitching.

Mary was taken to the Sta. Rosa Community Hospital. She, however, died a few minutes later.

PO1 Mike Joseph Toring of the Talima Police Station, in an interview, revealed that a suicide note was found inside her room.

The suicide note revealed that Mary was accused by one of her classmates of stealing their class’ sinking fund worth P1,300.

In her note, Mary denied stealing the fund, and described how she felt ashamed and degraded when the class treasurer accused her of taking the money.

A relative told reporters yesterday that the accusation against Mary was made last Friday in their school, where she was a senior student.

Mary’s teacher reportedly told the class that their funds, which they have been saving since the year started, has been stolen by one of her students.

While the teacher did not mention a particular name, the class treasurer suddenly confronted Mary after the class, and told the latter to admit taking the money and demanded to give it back to the class.

“I-uli ang kwarta. Dili gani nimu i-uli, ipabarang tika (Return the money. If you don’t return it, I’ll have you cursed),” the class treasurer allegedly told Mary.

The relative said that Mary, who was known to be silent, kept her feelings to herself.

The allegation, however, proved to be too much for Mary.

In her suicide note, Mary vowed that even in death, she would return to tell her teacher and the one who accused her that she was not responsible for the missing class funds.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on October 23, 2011.

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Emmanuel Ponce laid to rest

CEBU CITY – Emmanuel Ponce, who shot his wife, three children and their house helper before killing himself, was laid to rest Saturday.

Ponce’s friends and relatives attended the burial in the Queen City Memorial Gardens at the North Reclamation Area in Cebu City.Petronilo Maglasang, Ponce’s cousin, said Emmanuel will always be remembered as a good man. “Nasubo ko kay wala ko magtuo na inig kita namo balik kay patay na siya. (I’m sad because I didn’t expect to see him dead),” Maglasang said.

Meanwhile, the remains of Melinda Ponce, 53, and her children – Elaine Grace, 26, Heather Joy, 24, and Emlin Bridge, 18, – were transported to Sorsogon City in Bicol Saturday.

Their house helper Anastacia Deniega, 34, was also buried Saturday in Talisay City.


CEBU. Relatives and friends offer their prayers to Emmanuel Ponce during the burial Saturday at the Queen City Memorial Gardens. (Maria Armie Sheila Garde)


CEBU. Emmanuel Ponce, 55, was laid to rest Saturday at the Queen City Memorial Gardens. (Maria Armie Sheila Garde)


CEBU. Petronilo Maglasang holds a framed photo of his cousin, Emmanuel Ponce, who was laid to rest Saturday. (Maria Armie Sheila Garde)

Deliverance

A prayer for deliverance was offered Friday in the Ponce residence “to drive away bad spirits disturbing the house” where six lives were lost in a murder and suicide last Sunday.

Fr. Roy Cabradilla of Mary’s Little Children Community conducted the deliverance, a way of casting out evil spirits, after reports of “strange happenings” in the family’s home in Palm View Village in Barangay Tabunok, Talisay City.

Paul Redula, a relative, told Sun.Star Cebu they initially requested for a mass in memory of the deceased.

But because the Ponce family’s remains were at St. Peter Chapels on New Imus Road in Cebu City, the plan was scrapped.

“Also, the priest heard about the strange things happening in the house,” Paul added.

During the deliverance, the relatives of the victims were asked to participate in a rite of confession to pour out any grievances so they will not become mediums of “evil spirits.” (SBG/Sunnex)