Mabuhay Issue No 29

PPI Community Press Awards •Best Edited Weekly 2003 and 2007 •Best in Photojournalism 1998 and 2005

Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980
ISSN–1655-3853 • HULYO 18 – 24, 2008 • VOL. 29, NO. 29 • 10 PAHINA • P10.00

PCIJ Special Report

Pagcor money machine: Who spends what, and how?
page 5

KAHIT WALANG MAYOR’S PERMIT

Di pa naisasara ang planta na nagsusunog ng gulong
$283-M pondo ng NorthRail hawak pa ng Tsina
HAGONOY, Bulacan — Hawak pa ng China ExportImport (Cexim) Bank ang nalalabing $283 milyon na inutang ng Pilipinas sa Tsina para sa pagpapagawa ng naantalang 32.2 kilometrong proyektong NorthRail na mag-uugnay sa mga lungsod ng Caloocan Metro Manila at Malolos Bulacan. Ayon kay Edgardo Pamintuan, ang bagong pangulo at Chief Executive Officer (CEO) ng North Luzon Railways Corporation (NLRC), hawak pa ng Cexim Bank ang $283 milyon na nalalabi sa $403 milyon kabuoang inutang ng Pilipinas sa Tsina noong 2004 para sa NorthRail. “Nasa kanila pa yung pera,” ani Pamintuan sa Mabuhay nang siya ay makapanayam sa bayang ito noong Hulyo 18 kung kailan ay kasama siyang bumisita ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal Arroyo upang mamahagi ng tulong sa mga residente ng Hagonoy na naapektuhan ng nagdaang bagyong Frank. Nilinaw ni Pamintuan sa Mabuhay na ang naglabas
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Kailangan ang NOV bago ito maipasara
NI DINO BALABO NORZAGARAY, Bulacan — Kung ipasasara ay maisasara dahil abot iyan ng kapangyarihan ng alkalde.
Ito ang buod ng mensahe ni Provincial Administrator Pearly Mendoza hinggil sa inirereklamong sunugan ng gulong na patuloy na nagsasagawa ng operasyon sa bayang ito kahit walang kaukulang Mayor’s permit Ngunit ayon kay Mayor Feliciano Legazpi, hindi niya maipasara ang planta ng Meng Hong Trading na matatagpuan sa Sitio Diliman, Barangay Partida, Norzagaray dahil hindi pa niya natatanggap ang HINDI MAIKUBLING USOK — Sa kabila ng makapal na punong kahoy na tumatabing, hindi pa rin maikubli ang operasyon ng Meng Hong Trading sa Sitio Diliman, Barangay kopya ng Notice of Violation (NOV) na ipinalabas ng EMB noong Hulyo 11, na magiging batayan niya para sa legal na pagpapasara ng nasabing planta. Nilinaw ni Mendoza na may kapangyarihan ang mga alkalde na magpasara ng mga establisimyentong ang operasyon ay nakakaapekto sa kalusugan ng kanilang mga kababayan dahil kabilang iyon sa responsibilidad bilang isang lingkod bayan.
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Partida, Norzagaray, Bulacan dahil sa makapal na usok ng mga gulong na sinusunog nila, ngunit hindi pa rin ito maipasara ng pamahalaang bayan ng Norzagaray. — DINO BALABO

DI PABOR SA 30% DISCOUNT

Ka Iking Reports

9 sa 10 Bulakenyo ayaw sa pagsasapera ng IRA
L UNGSOD NG M ALOLOS — Hindi bababa sa 40 silidaralan ang maipagagawa sa P20 milyon. P20 milyon ang ipinadiskuwento ng mayorya sa Sangguniang Panglalawigan (S.P nang kanilang .) apurahin noong Hunyo 27 ang pagsasapera ng kabuoang P66-milyong karagdagang Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) na di natanggap ng pamahalaang panglalawigan noong 2001 at 2004. Ang pagpapadiskuwento ng P20 milyon o 30 porsiyento ng kabuoang karagdagang P66-milyon IRA ay isa sa mga pamamaraang ipinayo ng pamahalaang nasyunal sa mga pamahalaang lokal upang makuha ang nasabing salapi, na tinutulan naman ng minorya sa S.P . Ang nasabing apurahang pagsasapera ng karagdagang IRA na hindi pa natatanggap ng lalawigan mula sa pamahalaang nasyunal ay tinututulan din ng siyam sa 10 Bulakenyong nakapanayam ng Mabuhay nitong nakaraang linggo. Ayon kay Nemie Sabino ng bayan ng Hagonoy, “Hindi ako sang-ayon. Ang hakbang nila ay di pabor sa bayan. Masyado nilang minadali ang pagkuha ng dagdag na IRA.” Sinabi pa niya na dapat ay naging maingat ang mayorya sa S.P na binubuo . ng mga kakampi at kapartido ni Gob. Joselito “Jonjon” Mendoza. “Paalala lang po, pera iyan na laan para sa taumbayan,” sabi ni Sabino. Bilang isang inhinyero, sinabi pa niya sa Mabuhay na hindi bababa sa 40 silidaralan ang maipagagawa sa nabanggit na P20 milyon nalugi sa Bulacan. Gayundin ang ang pahayag nina Nelson Pangilinan ng Hagonoy, Arthur Legazpi ng Norzagaray, at ng mga Malolenyong sina Joey Jequinto, Nards Gomez, Arnold Hernandez at
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Obet:Bakamaupona Obet: Baka maupo na ako; Jon-jon: Saan?
LUNGSOD NG MALOLOS — Ipinahayag ni dating Gob. Roberto “Obet” Pagdanganan na nagwagi siya sa election protest na kanyang isinampa laban kay kasalukuyang Gob. Joselito “Jon-jon” Mendoza na nagsabi naman na hindi siya mapapalitan. Sa pakikipanayam ng Mabuhay kay Gob Obet noong Hulyo 15, sinabi niya na maaari na siyang maupo bilang gobernador ng Bulacan sa loob ng tatlong buwan. Ngunit, ayon kay Gob. Jon-jon, hindi mangyayari iyon. “In two to three months, baka maupo na ako,” ani Pagdanganan sa Mabuhay, ngunit sinabi naman ni Mendoza sa hiwalay na pakikipanayam ng Mabuhay: “Saan siya mauupo?” Ayon kay Obet, hiniling na niya sa Commission on Elections (Comelec) na itigil ang muling pagbilang sa 4,800 presinto na kanyang iprinotesta matapos mabilang ang mga boto sa unang 3,500 presinto kung saan ay sinabi niya na lumamang na siya ng 45,000 boto kay Jon-jon. “Pinatigil ko na, ’yung recount dahil malaki na ang lamang ko,” ani ng dating punong lalawigan sa Mabuhay. Ngunit, sinabi rin ni Obet na nagsampa

IKE SENERES, a foreign service official, joins the ranks of Mabuhay columnists starting this week. His inaugural column is on Page 3.

IKE SENERES

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2
Promdi
DINO BALABO

Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

HULYO 18 – 24, 2008

Buntot Pagé

PERFECTO V. RAYMUNDO

Simbahang Katoliko vs mambabatas
KAPANSIN-PANSIN ang bangayan ngayon ng Simbahang Katoliko at ilang mambabatas na pabor sa reproductive health bill kung saan sakop nito ang family planning. Labag sa batas ng Diyos ang nasabing bill, ayon umano sa Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). Maganda sana ang isinusulong na family planning dahil malaki ang maitutulong nito para mapigilan ang paglobo ng populasyon at mababawasan ang mga magugutom na bata na nakatakda sanang iluwal mula sa sinapupunan ng mga ina. Ngunit tinututulan nga ito ng Simbahang Katoliko na ang ibinibigay na katuwiran ay labag daw ito sa batas ng Diyos. Naging mainit ang sagutan ng dalawang panig na magkasalungat ng paniniwala at paninindigan sa pambansang isyu. Kung masusing pag-aaralan, positibo at maituturing na maganda ang pagkakaroon ng pagpaplano ng pamilya. Malaki ang maitutulong nito sa mga pamilya na nabibilang sa mahihirap na walang kakayanan na itaguyod ng maayos ang malaking pamilya. Sa mga lugar na nagdarahop ay dapat na tutukan ang pagpapatupad ng family planning dahil dito mo makikita ang maraming mga bata na walang muwang sa nangyayari sa kanilang kapaligiran. Nakaaawa ang kanilang kalagayan: halos walang makain ang mga inosenteng bata na basta na lamang iniluwal ng kanilang mga ina na hindi alam ang kanilang magiging kinabukasan. Ang Simbahang Katoliko na tumututol umano sa pagkontrol sa pagpaparami ng pamilya ay lantarang nakikipagdebate sa mga nagsusulong nito, ngunit wala namang nakikita ang publiko sa kanila na pagtulong sa ating mga mahihirap na kababayan. Marahil ay dapat masusing pag-aralan ang pagpaplano ng pamilya at saka na lamang magsabatas ng anumang magiging kapaki-pakinabang sa mga mahihirap na pamilya, lalong lalo na ngayong panahon ng pagdarahop. Dahil sa pag-ibig MINSAN pang napatunayan na BULAG ANG PAG-IBIG. Ito ang kaganapan sa buhay nina Carmela B. Reyes, reporter ng Philippine Daily Inquirer sa Bulacan at dating police Capt. Samuel Estrope na isang Muslim at kasalukuyang nakapiit sa New Bilibid Prison sa Muntinlupa. Ikinasal sina Carmela at Estrope sa Function Hall ng NBP ng nagkasal din kay Robin Padilla. Tumpak ang sinabi ni Francisco Balagtas na: “Pag-ibig, pag ikaw ay pumasok sa puso ninuman, hahamakin ang lahat masunod ka lamang ...” Naging mga ninong sa nasabing kasalan sina dating Bulacan Gob. Obet Pagdanganan at Bise Gob. Willy Sy-Alvarado. Congratulations sa mga bagong kasal. Judge Petrita Dime pumanaw na ... HINDI inaasahan ang maagang pagpanaw ni Executive Judge Petrita Dime ng Regional Trial Court ng Bulacan. Siya ay binawian ng buhay sa FEU Hospital noong Hulyo 10, matapos na siya ay dalhin doon dahil sa na-dehydrate siya sa kanyang tahanan sa North Fairview sa Quezon City. Naulila ni Judge Dime ang kanyang namimighating kabiyak na si G. Romeo Dime, mga anak na sina Atty. Ronald, Rosele at Roan na isang doktor. Tubong Burgos, Pangasinan si Judge Dime. Nagtapos siya ng abogasya sa Unibersidad ng Pilipinas noong 1962 at ka-batch niya si Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno. Bago maging Executive Judge ng Bulacan, naglingkod muna si
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Unang taon ng Bagong Bulakenyo
ISANG taon na rin ang nakalipas, ngunit hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa niya nabibigyan ng disiplina ang kanyang pulis na body guard na nanulak sa mga mamamahayag sa araw ng kanyang panunumpa sa makasaysayang simbahan ng Barasoain noong nakaraang taon. *** Ang nasabing pulis na body guard ay parang isang mantsa na nakadikit sa Bagong Bulakenyo. Kaya naman binansagan itong “lumang bulukenyo”. *** Makasaysayan ang unang taon ng Bagong Bulakenyo sa panunungkulan bilang punong lalawigan ng Bulacan. Bukod sa siya ang unang Capitan Del Barrio na nahalal bilang gobernador ng lalawigan, maraming pangyayaring naganap — paglaganap ng rabies, pagsalanta ng mga biglang pagbaha sa maraming bayan at fish kill sa Balagtas — hanggang sa magdeklara ng state of calamity sa lalawigan. Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at ang mga Delubyo.” *** Ang mas malaking problemang kaakibat ng mga delubyong nabanggit ay ang pagpapalabas ng Provincial Pubic Affairs Office (PPAO) ng pahayag na mayroong “outbreak” ng swine flu at hog cholera sa mga babuyan sa lalawigan. Nasundan pa ito ng pagpapalabas ng imbitasyon sa isang press conference kung saan ay tatalakayin daw ang swine flu at hog cholera “epidemic” sa Bulacan. *** Kasunod nito ay ang pagputok ng balitang kabilang ang kailugan ng Marilao at Meycauayan sa 30 pinakamaruruming lugar sa mundo na tinaguriang “Dirty 30”. Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at ang mga Salaulang Bulakenyo.” *** Hindi pa masyadong humuhupa ang usap-usapan sa “Dirty 30” ay pumutok naman ang balita hinggil sa pagtanggap ng mga gobernador ng P500,000 sa Malakanyang, kung saan ay itinuro ni Pampanga Governor Eddie “Among Ed” Panlilio ang Bagong Bulakenyo na siyang nag-abot ng brown bag na may pera sa kanyang chief of staff. Noong una ay itinanggi ng Bagong Bulakenyo sa mga mamamahayag na kumapanayam sa kanya ang kanyang pagkakasangkot. Ngunit nang idiin siya ni Among Ed ay umamin din siya. Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at ang Brown Bag na may Kalahating Milyong Piso.” *** Hindi pa doon natapos ang usap-usapan sa “brown bag.” Sinabi ng Bagong Bulakenyo na ibabalik daw niya ang nasabing salapi, ngunit di nagtagal, sinabi niya na gagastustusin na lang niya sa pagbili ng mga halamang namumulaklak na itatanim sa harding pinasinayaan niya sa harap ng kapitolyo. Hanggang ngayon, wala pang naitanim na halaman doon. Nang tanungin siya ng mga mamamahayag, sinabi niya na gagamitin niya ang nasabing pera para sa mga barangay. Kinabukasan, sinabi niya ang pera ay gagamiting pambili ng halaman para sa hardin at ang iba ay gagamitin sa barangay. *** Bago naman matapos ang 2007, umusok ang debate sa Sangguniang Panglalawigan (S.P .) hinggil sa proyektong Bulacan Bulk kung saan ang pinagtalunan ng mayoryang kakampi ng Bagong Bulakenyo at minoryang kapanalig ni Bise Gob. Willy Alvarado ay kung iuurong ba o itutuloy ang kaso ng Bulacan laban sa Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) upang pagbayarin ang huli sa Bulacan sa paggamit nito ng tubig mula sa Angat Dam. Matapos ang mahahaba at maiinit na debate sa mga magkasundan sa pahina 4

Napapanahon

LINDA R. PACIS

Dalawang ‘Dangal ng Baliwag’
SA isyung ito, dalawa sa mga binigyan ng Pamahalaang Bayan ng Gawad Dangal ng Baliwag noong Buntal Festival ang aming itatampok na walang iba kundi sina Engr. Ireneo S. Villangca, may-ari ng 8-Waves Waterpark and Hotel at Dr. Emiterio Tiburcio, nagretirong Dean of Arts and Sciences sa Baliwag University. Engr. Ireneo Santos Villangca Si Engr. Villangca ay ipinanganak noong June 28, 1931, biyudo na may pitong anak. Si Lydia Villangca ang kanyang butihing maybahay na namayapa na. Ang kanyang mga anak ay sina Marieta V Evangelista, Marisol V Bena. . vides, Marcelino D. Villangca, Melinda V Cruz, Merlita V Rodri. . guez, Florentino D. Villangca, at Mananita V Santiago. . Siya ay alumni ng Baliwag Junior College (Baliwag University) kung saan siya nagtapos ng high school noong1948. Tinapos naman niya ang Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering sa Mapua Institute of Technology noong 1952 at naipasa niya ang Board Examination for Civil Engineers noon ding 1952. Una siyang nagtrabaho sa National Irrigation Administration (Plaridel, Bulacan) mula 1952 hanggang 1968 nang siya na ang Provincial Irrigation Engineer. Mula doon ay ddon naman siya nagtrabaho sa Provincial Engineer’s Office hanggang ihirang siya na Provincial Engineer ng Bulacan. Itinatag niya ang Villamar Construction and Development Corporation noong 1972 na hanggang ngayon ay patuloy niyang pinamumunuan bilang president at general manager. Napili siyang Outstanding Provincial Engineer ng Bulakenyo at Metropolitan Press and RadioTV Club of the Philippines Inc. noong 1971. Tumanggap siya ng Presidential Award mula kay President Ferdinand Marcos noong 1968 bilang Outstanding Government Employee. Noon namang 1975 ay hinirang siyang Outstanding Businessman at nakamit niya ang Guillermo Mendoza Memorial Foundation Award. Dahil sa mahusay na pagkakagawa ng Alcala-Amulong Pumping Station, tumanggap siya ng Certificate of Appreciation noong March 24, 1983 mula sa Amulong, Cagayan. Binigyan din siya ng Department of the Interior and Local Government ng isang Plaque of Commendation dahil natapos niya ang Gamu-Lullutan-San Antonio Road sa Ilagan, Isabela ng ng tatlong buwan “ahead of schedule”. Mismong si President Fidel V Ramos ang naggawad ng para. ngal sa kanya noong Hunyo, 1996. Marami pa siyang natanggap na mga parangal. Kabilang dito ang: 1) Dangal ng Lipi Award galing kay Gob. Josie Dela Cruz, Setyembre 12, 1999, Malolos, Bulacan; 2) Outstanding Alumnus, Baliwag Colleges; 3) Outstanding Alumnus (Private Sector) MIT-CE-NSE Alumni Assosundan sa pahina 4

Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

Jose L. Pavia Publisher/Editor Perfecto V. Raymundo Associate Editor Anthony L. Pavia Managing Editor e-mail [email protected] PPI-KAF Community Press Awards

EDITORIAL
Alfredo M. Roxas, Jose Romulo Q. Pavia, Jose Gerardo Q. Pavia, Joey N. Pavia , Jose Visitacion Q. Pavia, Carminia L. Pavia, Perfecto Raymundo Jr., Dino Balabo

PRODUCTION
Jose Antonio Q. Pavia, Jose Ricardo Q. Pavia, Mark F. Mata, Maricel P. Dayag

PHOTOGRAPHY / ART
Eden Uy, Allan Peñaredondo, Joseph Ryan S. Pavia

Kakampi mo ang Batas

ATTY. BATAS MAURICIO

BUSINESS / ADMINISTRATION
Loreto Q. Pavia, Marilyn L. Ramirez, Peñaflor Crystal, J. Victorina P. Vergara, Cecile S. Pavia, Luis Francisco, Domingo Ungria, Harold T. Raymundo, Jennifer T. Raymundo, Rhoderick T. Raymundo

Best Edited Weekly 2003 + 2008 Best in Photojournalism 1998 + 2005

CIRCULATION
Robert T. Raymundo, Armando M. Arellano, Jess Camaro, Fred Lopez The Mabuhay is published weekly by the MABUHAY COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES — DTI Permit No. 00075266, March 6, 2006 to March 6, 2011, Malolos, Bulacan.

Karapatang magmana ng anak sa labas
TANONG: Ano po ba ang percent ng mana ng isang anak sa labas sa namatay na ama? (639202408641) Sagot: Maraming salamat po sa tanong na ito. Ayon po sa Family Code of the Philippines, ang isang anak sa labas ay mayroon na ngayong karapatang magmana mula sa kanyang mga magulang. Ayon sa Art. 176 ng Family Code, ang halaga ng mamanahin ng isang anak sa labas ay kalahati ng mamanahin ng bawat lehitimong anak. Ganito ang pagkakasabi ng Art. 176: “xxx The legitime of each illegitimate child shall consist of one-half of the legitime of a legitimate child xxx” Halimbawa, ang mamanahin ng isang lehitimong anak ay sampung piso. Ang anak sa labas, na kapatid ng lehitimong anak, ay tatanggap ng limang piso bilang kanyang mana. Kung sakaling hindi ibibigay ng mga lehitimong anak ang dapat mamanahin ng anak sa labas bagamat ito ay kinikilala naman ng magulang na pagmamanahan, maaaring magsampa ng kaso ang anak sa labas upang pilitin ang pagbibigay ng mana sa kanya. Sa kabilang dako, kung hindi naman kinikilala ng magulang ang bata, maaaring magsampa ito ng kaso upang siya ay makilala muna. Empleyadong di nagtrabaho, walang suweldo Tanong: Itatanong ko lang sana, Attorney Batas, kung ang isang empleyado ng contractor ay nakuryente ON DUTY, siya ba ay patuloy na sasahod? (639158108360). Sagot: Salamat po tanong na ito. Sa ilalim ng Labor Code of the Philippines, ang isang empleyadong hindi na nagtatrabaho, sa anupamang kadahilanan, ay hindi na babayaran ng kanyang suweldo. Sa kabilang dako, kung ang dahilan ng hindi niya pagtatrabaho ay ang pagkakasakit o pagkakaaksidente niya dahil sa kanyang trabaho, hindi na nga siya susuwelduhan ng kanyang kompanya pero may matatanggap naman siyang mga pamalit mula sa Social Security System at mula sa Employees Compensation Commission. Mula sa dalawang ahensiyang ito manggagaling ang mga tinatawag na disability benefits, na siya munang pamalit sa sahod na hindi makukuha ng manggagawa habang siya ay may sakit at nagpapagaling.
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The Mabuhay is entered as Second Class Mail Matter at the San Fernando, Pampanga Post Office A proud member of PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTE on April 30, 1987 under Permit No. 490; and as Third Class Mail Matter at the Manila Central Post Office under permit No. 1281-99-NCR dated Nov. 15, 1999. ISSN 1655-3853 Principal Office: 626 San Pascual, Obando, Bulacan 294-8122

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HULYO 18 – 24, 2008

Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

3
Regarding Henry
HENRYLITO D. TACIO

Depthnews

JUAN L. MERCADO

‘Then, the fight began’
(That’s the title of four anecdotes that a friend told while we waited for our flights. Laughing, specially at yourself, is therapeutic, he said. Read and understand why. — JLM)

AFTER retiring, this gent went to apply for Social Security. The woman, behind the counter, asked for a driver’s license to verify his age. The chap looked in his pockets, only to realize he had left it at home. “Sorry. I’ll have to pick it up and come back,” he said. “No need. Just unbutton your shirt,” the clerk replied. He did as told and revealed his chest’s silver hair. ‘That white hair is proof enough,” the clerk said, then processed his application. When he got home, he told his wife about the experience at the Social Security office.

She snapped: ‘You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability, too’ And then the fight began. … At this high school reunion, this man kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. Her interest piqued, his wife asked: “Do you know her?” “Yes,” the husband said with a deep sigh, “She’s my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago. And I hear she hasn’t been sober since.” “Good heavens,” says the wife, “Who’d think a person could go on celebrating that long?” And then, the fight began. … Now, this gent rear-ended a car in the morning rush hour. So, there they were, alongside the road as other cars inched past their squashed vehicles. And then, the

driver of the other car got out. “Sometimes, you just get soooo stressed and little things seem funny?, he explained. “Believe it or not. The driver coming towards me was a dwarf. He stormed over to my car, looked up at me, and shouted: ‘I am not happy.’ So, I looked down at him and asked: ‘Well, then which one of the seven dwarfs are you?’” And then, the fight began. … This lady looks looks long and hard in the bedroom mirror. She is not happy with what she sees. “I feel horrible,” she tells the husband who is reading the newspapers. “I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.” “Your eyesight’s damn near perfect,” the husband says without looking up. And then, the fight began. …
continued on page 6

Do not be deceived
I USUALLY don’t open e-mails sent to me by someone whom I really don’t know. But there was one I opened recently because it asked for my help. “I have written an earlier mail to you but no response,” so goes the message. But hey, I never received previous mail from this guy before. “In my first mail I mentioned to you about my late client who deposited some fund with a finance company here in United Kingdom before he died in April 2003,” the sender explains. “He bears the same surname with you.” That’s interesting. I never knew a relative, for that matter anyone, living in Europe, except a friend. “Since his death, I have received several letters from the said finance company to provide his next of kin or any of his relatives who can make claim to the funds before the end of the year or the company will be left with no option than to confiscate the consignment and turn the money back to the state,” the message goes on. “As it has been marked unclaimed for four years, I have conducted my personal search to see if I can make contact with any of his relatives but without success. It is in the course of my effort that I came to contact you.” Now, how did he learn about me, I really don’t have any idea. The sender argues, “I have closely checked and since you bear the same surname with my deceased client it will be better to present you as the next of kin and the right beneficiary of the funds in the account.” At the end of his message, he reiterates, “Do respond quick if you are interested or should you need further clarification because we have no much time left.” If I had responded to him, I would have been a millionaire by now. The deceased person reportedly left some US$15 million and the man who sent me the message said we will “provide you with all the necessary legal backing that is required until this money is paid out to you.” However, he wants “a share based on our agreement.” Remember the famous line, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” This phrase is often credited to American showman P Barnum. It is generally taken .T. to mean there are (and always will be) a lot of gullible people in the world. Perhaps the first recorded gullible person was the first woman herself, Eve. God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit “from the tree that is in the middle of the garden” of Eden. While Adam was sleeping, the crafty serpent told Eve that she “will surely die.” The serpent explained, “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The temptation was too strong for her. After all, the fruit was “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom.” So, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to Adam. The rest is now history. “O woman, born first to believe us,” American poet and journalist Joaquin Miller writes. “Yea, also born first to forget, born first to betray and deceive us, yet first to repent and regret.” Nobel Prize winner Albert Camus contends, “We always deceive ourselves twice about the people we love — first to their advantage, then to their disadvantage.” “Human beings will continue to deceive and overpower one ancontinued on page 6

Cebu Calling

FR. ROY CIMAGALA

Reading the signs of the times
THIS task already had its tricky parts since time immemorial. But compared to present conditions, the past was rather a very simple and easy task to carry out. Given the multiplying forces and influences that go into our current culture, reading the signs of the times has become a formidable task that approaches the level of a nightmare. And precisely because of our complex, intricate and puzzling world, this task has become more necessary. We need to stay away from the grip of ignorance, confusion, error, the ingredients of perdition. Still, not everything is lost and beyond hope. The amount of information, given our ever-developing technologies, is not only massive and profound but is also much easier to access now. Besides, we are never lacking of people with great potentials to effectively undertake this delicate task. We just need to discover them and inspire them. What we needed at present is the discipline to have an abiding concern to read the signs of the times. This is no simple thing, since it’s not just a matter of attitude, habits and skills, though they figure prominently in this task. Yes, we need to learn how to collect data, compare notes, dialogue with different parties, consult experts, study, reflect, make conclusions and plan, etc., but all these are not enough. Rather, this discipline in the end depends on our living contact and relationship with what we consider as our God, what we regard as our ultimate source of light and understanding. This is where the main problem comes. Many of us still rely almost exclusively on our own devices, our own natural endowments. Many still have not managed to link our best resources with an objective and transcendent God. Instead, many of us still feel our high intelligence, our cleverness, our increasing scientific expertise are enough. It is as if these can be equivalent to God. Thus, we fail to realize that our sophistication can turn into naivete. Remember St. Paul saying: “The foolish things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the wise. The weak things of the world has God chosen, that he may confound the strong.”
(1 Cor 1,27)

Many of us still don’t realize that this objective and transcendent God, completely supernatural to us, makes himself accessible to us in ways that are revealed as well as established by him, with our cooperation. There are the doctrines, the sacraments, the Church, etc. that can truly connect us with this living God. What’s needed is that we have the necessary dispositions, and from there, the appropriate practices and virtues, to keep this bond alive and abiding. With these prerequisites, we can aspire to read the signs of the times. We can penetrate the externals and appearances, expose the ethos animating our society, and monitor its

development — from gestation to maturity and decay. With these prerequisites, we can have the needed criteria for judgment, and keep distance from shallow and narrow perceptions. We would have a running account of how things are evolving in the different areas. We have to acquire the expertise of identifying the significant elements of our current culture, and to articulate what is good and bad in them, what is right and wrong. Only then can we attempt to come up with the appropriate remedies. And I believe that there always are cures for our problems. These days, for example, the Pope has warned us about the dangers of relativism, both in belief and in morals. We need to be familiar with its nature, ways and manifestations. There are other disturbing isms affecting us today, like individualism, hedonism, positivism, etc. We need to know them and see how they are affecting us. From there, we can try to clarify matters, pointing out their lack of basis, their inherent contradictions, and the unavoidable dead ends that they lead to. Of course, we have to do all this with utmost charity, shunning unnecessary frictions with other people. We have to outgrow whatever hesitation we may have with respect to this responsibility. Sometimes, we think this is too cerebral, too abstract and not relevant, since its need and effects are often not directly felt.
— [email protected]

Ka Iking Reports
IKE SENERES

Letter to my country mates
DEAR Casimanua, Today is the first day of the rest of your life. This is the day you will have to decide what you can do to help build your nation. You hear everyone talk about national development, but very few people seem to be talking about nation building. As I see it, we have to build our nation first before we could develop it, given the definition of what a nation ought to be. By definition, a sovereign nation is supposed to be composed of one people, one territory and one government. The latter two appears to be easy and are already given, but it seems that there is much to be done for us to become one people. To begin with, we are not yet a tightly knit people with a common culture, a common definition of what a people is. Build a nation first, and then develop what has been built. Strictly speaking, however, these two are not mutually exclusive, meaning to say that we could do these two together hand in hand, like body and soul. I should say soul and body, because it is the nation that should be the soul of a national body. Are you my Casimanua? You are, if you are a Filipino or if you are a child of Filipino parents or grandparents, regardless of whom you are or where you are now. In old usage, a Casimanua is a town mate from your own “bayan”. In these modern times however, we could just freely use the term to refer to our compatriots, in the same way that we use “kababayan”. Can you do something to help in nation building? Everyone can, and we could all find our own places in this noble exercise. I have found my place, and I am sure that you could find yours. It is now my place to help those who are doing something, whatever it is, to build our nation, and to tell everyone about it, using the mass media. You do not have to go very far to help build your nation. All you have to do is to help build your own village. Like pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle, we could build our nation by building its smaller component parts, starting with your barangay which is the smallest unit of government in our country. Amidst the bad news that tells us about the negative side of our country, there is good news about organizations and agencies that are working to build our nation. The problem is their efforts are not woven together in a common loom, and there is no sustained effort to tell everyone about their good deeds. One way to bring about a tightly knit people is to make them work together towards a
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Forward to Basics

FR. FRANCIS B. ONGKINGCO

A story about light
There was once a pagan King who had a son he loved so dearly. He was his only joy in life, especially after his wife died giving birth to this only child. To this misfortune was added another: his son was born blind. He wanted him to be truly happy and gave him everything you can imagine: toys, food, lessons in all sorts of disciplines and arts. One day the boy asked his father, “Father, what is light like?” The King was greatly grieved because it was something he knew would be next to impossible to explain. But he didn’t give up easily. He thought there might be some wise man in the world who could make his son understand what light was. He announced to the four corners of his kingdom and beyond, that he was willing to reward beyond rewards anyone who could explain to his son what light was. In no time his palace was overflowing with wise men from all over. There were fat ones, thin ones, tall and handsome ones, short and rugged ones, and many more that would be too long to describe. When they learned that the boy was blind, they exclaimed that this was impossible. The King was asking for a something ridiculous. Others, however, attempted to make the boy grasp what light was like. Some made him feel the heat from a burning torch, others made him hear the explosion from firecrackers, and a few gifted ones performed incredible magic tricks with lights and mysterious color effects. But after all these, the boy sadly confided to his father, the King. “Father, I can hear the booms and smell the fumes, but I’m afraid I will never know what light is.” And they both cried in despair. One day, just as the last wise man left the castle, a stranger arrived. The guards asked what he wanted, he said, “I am going to make the King’s son see light!”
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Buhay Pinoy
MANDY CENTENO
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Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

HULYO 18 – 24, 2008
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Napapanahon

Bulakenyong May “K”... Okey
Tinatampok ngayon programa ng buwan Pawang nauukol sa may kapansanan Tangi na proyektong pagkalingang tunay Kapus kapalaran na mga nilalang. Hulyo ikapito nasabing programa Sa Lupang Hinirang tugtog kakaiba Ng AKAPIN Angklung Ensemble na iba Mayro’ng kapansanan mga miyembro nila. Pagkat bingi’t pipi ang tumugtog dito Pati ang palakpak kakaiba ito Ala Sandara Park mga kamay nito Winawagayway lang paghangang totoo. P.S.W.D. ang tanging tanggapan Si Gng. Weng Tiongson pinamumunuan Sila’ng nagtaguyod programang ’sang buwan Pawang nauukol sa may kapansanan. Nang magsalita si Gob. Jon-jon Mendoza Ang binanggit niya’y pagpapahalaga Sa may kapansanan tunay na uubra Makapagtrabaho sa mga kumpanya. “Business establishment” dito sa Bulacan Ay hiniling niya dito’y pag-ukulan Gawing empleyado ang may kapansanan Kung kwalipikado sa inaaplayan. Kung maaari pa ay limang porsiyento Sa mga tauhan may “K” ang mapuesto Basta’t kaya nila hangad na trabaho Matutulungan pa ang pamilya nito. Punong Lalawigan ay nag-atas naman Na sa HRMO ang may kapansanan Kahit na lumampas “thirty-five” ang gulang Kung sila’y “qualified” okey sa tanggapan. P.S.W.D.O. may “livelihood training” Na sa mga may “K” ang tanging layunin Matutong gumawa, trabaho ay kamtin Nauukol naman sa “family living”. Gng. Norman Luarca, Assistant Dept. Head Sa “livelihood training” daming makakamit Gawa ng “Powder Soap” ng “Dishwashing Liquid” Veggie Meat, Betadine, Acapulco Ointment. Ang makakatapos ay may katibayan Puedeng magtrabaho at “qualified” naman At matutugunan itong kasabihan “Pahalagahan ang kakayahan ’di ang kapansanan.” Gob. Jon-jon Mendoza may tanging layunin Ang may kapansanan ay ating lingapin May papel din sila sa lipunan natin Bulakenyong may “K” ay palaging okey.

ciation (October 30, 1997); 4) Grand Knight (St. Augustine Council 4317 (1982-1985) at Past-Faithful Navigator, Biak na Bato Assembly. Siya ngayon ay isang matagumpay na negosyante na may-ari ng 8-Waves Waterpark and Hotel, Gateway to Heaven Memorial Park at iba pang malalaking negosyo. Dr. Emiterio Tiburcio Si Dr. Emiterio Tiburcio ay masasabing nag-ukol ng kanyang buong buhay sa larangan ng edukasyon. Nagsimula siyang magturo sa edad na 25 taong gulang at tuloy-tuloy nang umikot ang kanyang buhay sa paaralan, sa mga estudyante, sa lesson plan at sa iba’t ibang aspeto ng edukasyon. Kaya’t alam niya ang tamang konsepto ng epektibong edukasyon gaya ng sumusunod: “Kailangan ang nagtuturo ay alam ’yong kanyang itinuturo upang di mag-aksaya ng panahon. “Ang kanyang ituturo ay dapat ’yong magagamit at pakikinabangan ng mga bata. “Huwag mag-aksaya ng panahon. Maiiwanan tayo ng edukasyon ng ibang bansa lalo na sa mga bagong teknolohiya.” “Karamihan sa mga estudyante ay ayaw mag-aral ng mabuti, di seryoso at gusto lamang ay mag-laro.” Si Dr. Tiburcio ay nagtapos ng Doctor of Education sa Centro Escolar University, Manila; Master of Arts in Education sa University of the East; Bachelor of Education sa National Teachers College. Mayroon din siyang Certificate in Secreterial Science sa
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BJC (Baliwag University) with highest honors at nagtapos ng High School (valedictorian) sa BJC at elementary sa Baliwag Elementary School (valedictorian). Noong 1955, pinarangalan siyang Outstanding Student of the Year ng Municipality of Baliwag dahil sa kanyang high school at college education bilang consistent scholar. Siyempre, nang nagturo siya ay humawak ng iba’t ibang katungkulan sa larangan ng edukasyon gaya ng: 1) High School Math and Physics Teacher, Baliwag Colleges; 2) Graduate School & College Professor, Baliwag University; 3) Registrar, Bulacan Community College, San Rafael; 4) Acting Elementary, High School Principal, Bulacan Community College, San Rafael; 5) Principal, High School Evening Department, Baliwag Colleges: 6) Admission Director, Baliwag University (1980-1986); 7) OIC- Principal, High School Department, Baliwag Colleges (19861987); 8) Asst. Vice President, Baliwag University (1986-1989); 9) Vice President for Academic Affairs, Baliwag University (1989-2003); 10) Dean, College of Arts & Science, Baliwag University, (May 2003-April 2008). Marami siyang hinahawakang katungkulan di lang sa kanyang propesyon sa edukasyon kundi pati na sa mga religious at civic organization. Ilan sa mga ito ang mga sumusunod: Vice-Chairman, Screening Committee, Search for Outstanding Administrators, Teachers and Supervisors (BOATS), 1990-1993; Director,
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Forward to Basics
In reply the guards laughed him to scorn. But the man continued into the palace. He was greeted by the King’s assistant and was presented to the King. The King, who was already tired with all the futile attempts of so many said, “What do you propose to do, where many others before you have tried and failed in vain?” The man said, I am here to make your son see light! All you have to do is follow my instructions.” “What are they?” the King asked quite impressed with the man’s confidence. “Build a pavilion where your son and I can live in for three days.” “How is this supposed to make him see light?” the King asked. The man did not say anything, he simply continued, “And it must be built in such a way that not the smallest ray of light can enter the pavilion. The King jumped from his throne, “This is madness!” he cried out. “Where did one ever teach another to see light within darkness?” He was about to have the man sent away, but his son who was listening attentively said, “ Father,” he pleaded, “would it hurt to at least try? Besides, if after this nothing happens then I will forever resign myself to my blind fate. I can make that pavilion my home and my tomb.”

Ka Iking Reports

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Promdi

kasunod na sesyon, namayani ang mayorya sa S.P Napagtibay ang isang . resolusyon na nagbigay kapangyarihan sa Bagong Bulakenyo na lumagda sa isang kasunduan sa MWSS kung saan ang isa sa mga kundisyon ay iuurong ang kaso laban sa MWSS. Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at Pagsusuko ng Kaso Laban sa MWSS.” *** Sunod-sunod naman ang insidenteng naitala at naiuulat hinggil sa pag-abuso sa kalikasan sa pagpasok ng taon. Sa Norzagaray, nahuli ang isang trak na nagtatapon ng toxic waste sa palaisdaan. Nagkaroon ng “fishkill” sa Meycauayan, at muli ay sa Balagtas. Muli ring may nagpatapon ng “hazardous waste” sa ilog ng Marilao. Bukod dito, halos wala pa ring pamahalaang lokal sa lalawigan na nakakasunod sa batas hinggil sa pagsisinop ng basura, samantalang tikom ang bibig ng Kapitolyo sa gusot sa minahan sa DRT. Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at ang Pang-aabuso sa Kalikasan ng Bulacan.” ***

Muli namang umusok ang debate sa Sangguniang Panglalawigan nitong Hunyo hinggil sa pagsasapera ng karagdagang IRA na di natanggap ng Kapitolyo noong 2001 at 2004 na nagkakahalaga ng ng P66 milyon. Inapura ito ng mayoryang kakampi ng Bagong Bulakenyo kaya’t nalugi ang Bulacan ng P20 milyon, dahil sa pinatulan nila ang alok ng bangko na ibibigay sa kanila ang nasabing IRA na may 30 porsiyentong diskwento. Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at ang Pagkalugi ng Bulacan sa Apurahang Pagsasapera ng Karagdagang IRA.” *** Muli namang nabuhay ang usapin sa Bulacan Bulk nang katigan ng Court of Appeals ang naunang desisyon ng Regional Trial Court na pagbayarin ang MWSS sa Bulacan sa paggamit nito ng tubig sa Angat Dam. Ito ang kasong ipinauurong ng mayoryang kakampi ng Bagong Bulakenyo sa Sangguniang Panglalawigan, upang makalagda ang Bagong Bulakenyo sa kasunduan sa MWSS. Ang planong pag-uurong sa kaso laban sa MWSS ay hindi naisampa sa Court of Appeals at ito ay inabutan ng paglalabas ng desisyon noong Mayo 30.

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common goal. To work together in nation building is therefore like doing two things at the same time, because we could bond as we build. What is important is for us to weave our efforts in a common loom, bringing together the individual threads of our personal talents until we could produce beautiful fabrics with which we could make beautiful clothes. One way to build a nation is to strengthen its institutions and infrastructures. This is not a difficult and distant goal for us. Other nations have reached the moon and Mars, and we do not even have to do that. To be able to start with a peaceful spirit, however, let us leave behind our criticisms about how bad our situation is. Let us think ahead with a positive attitude, in a way putting our complaints in silent mode. Like a field of dreams, you could get together with your village mates to build your own local institutions and infrastructures, and the help from elsewhere will come. With a peaceful spirit and a positive attitude, it would be easy to dream about building your nation by building your village first, until one day you will wake up to see your dream come true. What is the best way to start? If you promise me that you will bring together two or three of your own village mates for all of you to start working together, I will promise you that I will bring together the organizations and agencies that could work together with you in building your village. Choose what you like to do, but always make sure that it is either institution based or infrastructure based. What I mean by institutions are the local units or counterparts of national institutions right where you are, or right where you come from, if you are already abroad. Whoever you are and wherever you are, as long as you are my Casimanua, I will help you, for as long as you will commit yourself to helping your own nation by helping your own village. Email me at [email protected] or text me at +639293605140. Watch my TV show “Ka Iking Live” every Friday from 9:30 to 10:30 PM in Destiny Cable Channel 3 (Windows Media Player MMS://202.128.41.99/ gnn). Read my column “Ka Iking Reports” published by 24 local newspapers nationwide. Visit my website http:// intercharity.blogs.friendster.com. Form your own Intercharity Circle and let us build our Nation as one people.

The King was grieved at this but realized that the boy was right. There was nothing to lose. He had the pavilion built like the man said. The walls had no windows and they were painted with thick tar. The man also said that they had to put only enough food, drink and clothing for exactly three days. Once they entered, no one was allowed to stay close to the house to find out what was going on inside. When the pavilion was finished, the King’s son and the man entered. And to make sure no one would come close to the building, soldiers guarded the structure. As the first day ended, the King was suddenly filled by an unknown fear. How could he let his son go off alone with a stranger? His worse imaginations began to haunt him. “The man may be a monster who would eat up my son and disappear!” When the second day began, the King strolled around the sealed pavilion. But he didn’t dare get any closer since he wanted to keep his word. But his fears continued to mount. On the third day he was at the brink of giving up. He could no longer stand not seeing his son, and much less to be hidden by a stranger. He tried asking his guards if they heard anything. Their negative reply only made him more anxious. “Was his

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Asosasyon sa Pilipinas ng mga Colehiyo ng Agham at Sining (APCAS), 2006-present; Treasurer, Asosasyon sa Pilipinas ng mga Colehiyo at Sining, 2008-2010; Director, Philippine Association for Graduate Education Region III, 2002-2004; President, Association of Philippines Colleges of Arts and Science, Region III, 2007present; Board Member and Treasurer, Philippine Association for Teacher Education, National, 19962000; President,Bulacan Private Schools Association, 1979-1992; Vice-President, Baliwag University Alumni Association; Vice-President, Baliwag Historical Society, 1999-present; Chairman, St. Augustine Parish Pastoral Council Commission on Media, 1989-present; President, Parish of St. Augustine Integral Human Development Foundation, Inc., 2007-present; Grand Knight, KC St. Augustine Council No. 4317, CY 2001-2002. Manunulat din siya at kumatha ng mga aklat, lyrico ng mga kanta at editor ng mga lathalain katulad ng Measurement and Evaluation, 2003; Isang Dekada ng Pagsunod sa Iyo, 1998; Research Made Easy, 1997; Education Psychology, 1995. Sinulat din niya ang titik ng Imno ng Pamantasang Baliwag at Martsa ng Pamantasang Baliwag. Research leader siya ng Oral Literature, Beliefs and Practices of Baliuaguenos Related to the Dead. Contributing writer siya ng Baliwag Coffeetable Book, 2008; at editor ng Mga Mahal na Araw coffeetable book, 2000; at Ang Batingaw, St. Augustine Parish Newsletter, 1998-present.
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beloved son still alive?” Suddenly a strong thunder like sound filled the whole place. A strong explosion of light penetrated the tar paint from everywhere inside the pavilion. The King and his guards were dazzled and fell to the ground. When the light disappeared, he heard his son’s Familiar voice, “Father, father! I can see! I can see! I now know what light is like!” The King was overjoyed and embraced his son who was no longer blind. The King asked, “Where is the man who made you see, my son?” The boy answered, “I do not know, but on the third day, he told me his name and he became a bright light before me and I realized that I could see!” The King asked, “What was his name?” The boy replied, “He said he was Jesus.” *** Even though it seems impossible to describe what light is to someone blind, what is sweetness is to a man who cannot taste, or a symphony to one who is deaf, it is more impossible to grasp and share the mysteries God has revealed to us through Christ: that we are sons of God, who are called to be holy in His presence and to live in communion with His love forever. “Lord, that we may see!”
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Ang kabanatang ito ay matatawag na “Ang Bagong Bulakenyo at ang Naunsyaming Pag-uurong sa Kaso Laban sa MWSS.” *** Bukod naman sa mga unos na naitala sa unang taon sa panunungkulan ng Bagong Bulakenyo, may mga nagawa rin naman siya. Ilan dito ay ang pagpapasinaya sa hardin sa harap ng kapitolyo na hindi pa rin natataniman ng ipinangakong halamang namumulaklak, at ang pagpapasinaya sa bagong tayong Bulacan Medical Center na nagkakahalaga ng P248 milyon ngunit mahigit P100 milyon nito ay inutang sa bangko, samantalang ang kabuoang badyet ng Kapitolyo sa taong ito ay P2.038 bilyon.

art angel
(0632) 912-4852

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HULYO 11 – 17, 2008

Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

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PCIJ SPECIAL REPORT

Pagcor money machine: Who spends what, and how?

Artist’s 3-D scale model and site map of the Pagcor Tourism City aka Bagong Nayong Pilipino - Manila Bay Integrated City. — SKYSCRAPERCITY.COM BY MALOU MANGAHAS AND TITA C. VALDERAMA
If the PSF runs dry, or a calamity or disaster strikes, Francisco said, Pagcor draws additional amounts from its “community service fund.” But he admitted that for most of these funds, liquidation reports are not submitted to explain how Malacañang and the other agencies spend the amounts. Sometimes, he said, President Arroyo makes requests for donations, even before Pagcor could raise the money for these. “Actually, minsan the Office of the President, (says) paki-donate naman dito. Ibig sabihin, hindi pa kumpleto ’yung ano (collections) namin, nakaearmark na (Actually, sometimes the Office of the President says, please donate for this thing. That means even though we haven’t completed our collection, the money’s already earmarked),” Francisco said. “Kung minsan, nakikita namin kung saan napupunta, ’yung iba hindi na namin nakikita na (Sometimes we see where it’s going, but the others we don’t).” Pagcor has 12,000 employees but in 2007 the agency reported operating expenses of P11.03 billion, up from P10.73 billion in 2006 . Month on month, Pagcor’s operations bill amounts to P919 million on average, or about P30 million daily. Unfortunately, the law is largely silent about how Pagcor, Malacañang, and other state agencies must account for how they spend Pagcor’s money. But laws do specify where Pagcor’s billions should go: to the national government through dividends and taxes, other state agencies, and yes, the PSF . Half of Pagcor’s gross earnings, in fact, are to go to the national government. It must also pay five percent of gross earnings as franchise tax. Other laws mandate Pagcor to set aside portions of its net earnings to the Philippine Sports Commission, host cities, and other government funds, including the Early Childhood Care and Development Fund, Gasoline Station Training and Loan Fund, Barangay Micro Business Enterprises, National Endowment Fund for Children’s Television, and other “mandated contributions.” But the 2006 COA report on Pagcor reveals that Pagcor has not remitted to these smaller government funds a cumulative total of P719.77 million. Winnings vs earnings Opposition Senator Francis Escudero has taken Pagcor to task for computing its franchise tax against “winnings” and not against gross earnings. Based on its P22-billion “winnings” in 2007, Pagcor paid only P1.1 billion in franchise tax. Escudero said Pagcor should have paid P1.34 billion, or P243 million more, based on its gross earnings of P26.85 billion last year. The BIR, for its part, has insisted that the reformed Value-Added Tax law should apply and that Pagcor, a corporation, must pay 35-percent corporate tax, in lieu of a franchise tax. Pagcor has filed a suit with the Supreme Court to contest the BIR’s position. Then there is Pagcor’s refusal to pay dividends to the national government, equivalent to half of its net income after taxes. Pagcor has argued that it should be exempted from paying dividends, on account of its franchise tax burden, and that every month of its operations supposedly starts with zero net earnings, and therefore it has nothing to remit. Both arguments have been debunked by COA, citing a Department of Justice (DOJ) opinion that its payment of franchise taxes does not exempt Pagcor from paying dividends. COA has refuted Pagcor’s claim of having nothing to remit as dividends. In 2005 and 2006, COA said, Pagcor earned a cumulative P1.87 billion, net of corporate income tax. COA has insisted that Pagcor must still pay half of this amount, or about P933 million as dividends due the national government for 2005-2006. Pagcor has filed an appeal with the DOJ to reverse its opinion on Pagcor’s dividends obligation. Even more, Pagcor chairman Efraim Genuino also sent a letter to Malacañang, seeking guidance from the President, on the issue of whether or not Pagcor must be covered by the law on the dividends burden of government-owned and controlled corporations. The inquiry, COA said, has been referred to the Department of Finance for comment and advice. Fast, vast expansion By contrast, there is no question over how Pagcor has been raking in more and more money under the Arroyo administration. In the last seven years, state-sponsored gambling in the country has expanded at great speed across geographical regions, games, and onsite and online platforms. Pagcor today operates a virtual gaming kingdom: 13 casinos in major Philippine cities, eight VIP (very important person) clubs, three slot-machine arcades, 180 bingo parlors, and a lucrative Internet casino platform using prepaid cards. Working with technology provider Philweb Corp. (a subsidiary of the Philippine Long Distance & Telephone Co.), Pagcor earned P138.5 million in 2005 just from its Basketball Jackpot and e-Casino Filipino games online. These days, Philweb is among the growing list of corporations placing their bets on the success of Tourism City and seeking Pagcor’s approval to participate in the project. Another local group that has expressed interest is Waterfront Philippines Inc., which is owned by the family of William T. Gatchalian, a close friend and adviser on overseas workers’ affairs of deposed President Joseph Estrada. Pagcor insiders say there have also
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PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM
Last of Two Parts GLORIA Macapagal Arroyo will go down in Philippine history as the president who made gambling the third biggest source of government revenues, after taxes and customs duties. Under her watch over the last seven years, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) has grown into a humongous money — and power — machine. The gross revenues of the monopolistic state gambling agency more than doubled from P13 billion in 2001 to P26.83 billion in 2007, for an average annual growth of 18 percent. This falls behind only the tax collections of P712.09 billion by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Bureau of Customs’ (BOC) collections of P210.5 billion in 2007. On parallel track, the President’s Social Fund (PSF) that serves as Arroyo’s fat political purse has recorded a steeper climb. Funded from Malacañang’s shares in Pagcor’s revenues, the PSF increased nearly 50 percent from P1.03 billion in 2006 to P1.42 billion in 2007. That may increase some more should Pagcor’s latest venture, the $20-billion Tourism City that will rise on reclaimed land along Manila Bay, succeed. Pagcor’s “terms of reference” for the project boasts that Tourism City “could triple the annual income generation of Pagcor from $500 million to $1.5 billion, thus dramatically increasing the income of the National Government to whom all Pagcor revenues accrue.” (See sidebar.) In a recent interview with the PCIJ, Pagcor Senior Vice President Rene C. Figueroa qualified that “the government will have more money, not Pagcor,” on account of Tourism City. Who spends and how? But the Palace and Pagcor may have some serious explaining to do regarding the latter’s ever-increasing billions. The questions they need to answer include where Pagcor’s money goes, who spends it and how, and why the Commission on Audit (COA) and the BIR say Pagcor is not paying taxes correctly and fully. Pagcor President Rafael “Butch” Francisco, who also spoke with PCIJ last week, did say that of the agency’s gross earnings, 65 percent represents the government’s shares, franchise tax, and the PSF This portion, he said, . is automatically deducted from what Pagcor earns. The 35 percent balance of Pagcor’s gross revenues goes to operating expenses, as well as into a so-called “community services fund” and allocations for various “confidential, intelligence, extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses,” and “subsidies and donations,” he added.

Safe bet or big gamble
SOON AFTER she took power in January 2001, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave her imprimatur for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (Pagcor) showcase project that she had wanted to christen “Bagong Nayong Pilipino Integrated Tourism City.” A little more than six years later, Pagcor unveiled its plan for what is now called the “Tourism City” project along Manila Bay. The project, Pagcor said, would bring in millions of dollars of revenues for the government, give a million Filipinos jobs, and pack in 10 million tourists in the first five years of its run. Pagcor also said that it would be the Philippines’s answer to Macau’s gaming paradise and Singapore’s Sentosa. Through Tourism City, Pagcor hopes to turn the Philippines into Asia’s premier gaming-and-tourism hub. The project, however, is up against formidable competition across the world, with the players multiplying every year. The “Asian Casino Executives Summit” scheduled in Singapore on September 9-10 has organized panels along themes that mostly exclude Manila as a serious contender. For instance, under the “Asian Gaming Model Analysis” session, a panel has been organized on the theme of “Singapore vs Macau: Examining the Gaming Business Models and Strategies of the Two Territories.” A second session on “Assessing the Growth Opportunities in Asian Gaming Sector” features resource persons from Japan (“A Yen for Gaming – Japan Heading Down the Casino Development Path”), another on Vietnam (“Vietnam: The Next Gaming Investment Frontier?”), and a panel discussion on “India, Cambodia, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia – Where are Asia’s Next Gaming Hotspots After Macau?” Pagcor President Rafael ‘Butch’ Francisco, however, scheduled to speak at a 30-minute, pre-lunch session, on Day 2 of the summit, on the topic “Casino Real Estate Investment Opportunities: Pagcor City – A Mega Real Estate Investment Project in the Philippines.” Francisco told PCIJ recently that Tourism City is based on the business model of Las Vegas, which has been dubbed as “The Entertainment Capital of the World,” or even derisively, “Sin City.” The U.S. city of Las Vegas in Nevada boasts of The Strip, a 6.4-kilometer section of Las Vegas Boulevard South that hosts most of the world’s largest casinos, hotels, and resorts. The Strip contains 18 of the 25 largest hotels in the world, with a combined capacity of over 67,000 rooms. “The idea is not just to build a casino, the 65 percent (component) is to bring in tourists,” Francisco explained. “You know in Las Vegas, the streets are full of people, tourists, unlike in Macau that has no people on the streets, all gamers.” Manila’s Tourism City, Francisco said, will be a mixed 65-35 percent non-gaming and gaming operations. It will feature casinos, resort complexes, theme parks, theaters, and even a retirement village. Its master plan was launched in April 2008 during the Asia’s Gem Gaming and Entertaining Leisure Expo, a forum of casino and tourism magnates all over the world. It’s not clear, though, if Tourism City’s proponents are aware that since 2006, Macau has outstripped
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Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

HULYO 11 – 17, 2008

The Pagcor money machine: Safe bet or big gamble Who spends what, and how?
The Strip as the world’s most profitable gaming market. Macau raked in $6.485 billion from slots and table games that year, ahead of Las Vegas’s $6.079 billion. But in his interview with the PCIJ, Francisco did clarify President Arroyo’s role in the project. He said, “It’s been a long time since 2001 (when) she had told us to proceed with the project. That’s her only role, the parameters she left to us, the Pagcor board.” However, when Tourism City begins to unfold, Francisco, laughing, said: “By that time in 2010 (when project rolls out), iba nang presidente ang makikinabang d’yan(another president will benefit from it)!” Pagcor’s 13: Where to gamble • Metro Manila, 4 casinos: The Heritage Hotel in Pasay City; Provident Resources International Complex in Parañaque City; Hyatt Hotel and Casino and the Manila Pavilion Hotel in Manila. • Cebu, 2 casinos: Waterfront Airport Hotel & Casino, fronting Mactan International Airport and Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino in Lahug. • Angeles City, Pampanga, 2 casinos: Along McArthur Highway in Balibago and inside the Mimosa Leisure Estate in Clark Field. • A casino each: – Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte – SM Tourism Estate across Taal Vista Hotel in Tagaytay City – Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo City – Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City – Pagcor Hotel in Bacolod City.
— Malou Mangahas, PCIJ
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from page 5

BAGONG NAYONG PILIPINO — The formal groundbreaking ceremony for the Bagong Nayong Pilipino was held on April 3 at the project site located along Macapagal Avenue in Parañaque City. In attendance
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were Pagcor officials led by Board Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Efraim C. Genuino (center) together with other top government officials and executives from the companies selected to invest in the project. — PR
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been several queries from overseas regarding how to be part of Tourism City, including those from a still unidentified but big U.S. gaming concern, and even “offers from Russians.” For sure, Pagcor’s track record as a moneymaking machine has made its Tourism City venture look like a safe bet. Indeed, Pagcor has had a winning streak in business largely because it is a monopoly. From every peso of every bet made by gamers and gamblers — rich or poor, Filipino or foreigner, Pagcor takes a cut. That has not changed with its new charter, which has only enhanced its earning power some more and made the likes of Tourism City possible. Three-pronged mandate Pagcor was created in 1977 by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos, through Presidential Decree 1067-A, as a 100-percent government-owned
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Depthnews

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porting by Tita C. Valderama
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Regarding Henry
other. Basically, everyone exists in the very nature of suffering, so to abuse or mistreat each other is futile,” commented 1989 Nobel Peace Prize recipient, the Dalai Lama. In the Philippines, a lot of people are swindled by the so-called pyramid scam. I am not sure if they fall prey because they are naive or greedy. I don’t want to judge but did these people think that making fast money — getting more than double the amount invested in a short span of time — is not usual. “One of the weaknesses of our age is our apparent inability to distinguish our needs from our greeds,” wrote Don Robinson. I am reminded of a wealthy businessman telling his partner. “I’m not greedy,” he told him. “All I want is the land next to mine.” A farmer was passing under a haunted tree when he heard a voice say, “Would you like to have seven jars of gold?” He looked around and saw no one. But his greed was aroused, so

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he shouted eagerly, “Yes, I certainly would.” “Then go home at once,” the voice said. “You will find them under your bed.” The farmer ran all the way home. Sure enough, there were the seven jars under his bed — all full of gold, except for the one that was only halffull. Now, the farmer could not bear the thought of having a jar half-filled. He had all the jewelry of his family melted into gold coins and poured them into the half-filled jar. But the jar remained as half-filled before. This was exasperating! He saved and skimped and starved himself and his family — to no avail. No matter how much gold he put into the jar, it remained half-filled. So one day, he begged the king — where he worked — to increase his salary. His salary was doubled. Again, the fight to fill the jar was on. He even took to begging. The jar devoured every gold coin thrown into it and remained stubbornly half-filled.
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The king now noticed how miserable and starved the farmer looked. “What is wrong with you?” he asked. “You were so happy and contented when your salary was smaller. Now, that it has been doubled, you are so worn out and dejected. Can it be that you have the seven jars of gold with you?” The farmer was astonished. “Who told you this, Your Majesty?” he wondered. The king laughed and replied, “These are obviously the symptoms of the person to whom the ghost offers the seven jars. He once offered them to me. I asked if this money could be spent or was merely to be hoarded and he just vanished without a word. The money cannot be spent. It only brings with it the compulsion to hoard it. Go and give it back to the ghost this minute and you will be happy again.” “We’re all born brave, trusting and greedy, and most of us remain greedy,” said Mignon McLaughlin.
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Buntot Page

As a hobby, an editor-friend collects the text of ads, billboards and bumper stickers. They provide a rich lode of humor, he says. Here are some: Ad in a newspaper classified section: “Guitar for Sale. Cheap. No strings attached.” Billboard in a hospital room: “Smoking Helps You Lose Weight ... One Lung At A Time!” Ad in a management glossie: “Success Is Relative. More The Success, More The Relatives.” Barber shop ad: “We Need Your Heads To Run Our Business.” Ad in a family magazine: “You Know Your kids Have Grown Up When Your Daughter Begins To Put On Lipstick. Or Your Son Starts To Wipe It Off.” Ad in a women’s magazine: “Behind Every Great Man, There Is A Surprised Woman.” Restaurant Notice: “All drinking water in this establishment has been personally passed by the Manager.” Signs in three bars: “When I Read About The Evils Of Drinking ... I Gave Up Reading”. “My Grandfather Is 80 And Still Doesn’t Need Glasses ... He Drinks Straight Out Of The Bottle.” And: “Those Of You Who Are Drinking To Forget, Please Pay In Advance.” Billboards In Driving School: “If Your Wife Wants To Learn To Drive, Don’t Stand In Her Way.” “Don’t Let Your Kids Drive If They Are Not Old Enough Or Else They Will Never Be.” Sign in beauty parlor window: “Don’t Whistle At Girls Going Out From Here. She May Be Your Grandmother.” Heard about the “Baptist Bathroom”? No? Well, here it is: A very proper lady planned a camping vacation for her Baptist Church group. She wrote to make sure it was fully equipped. But she could not bring herself to write the word “toilet”. She opted for “BC”, i.e., “bathroom commode.” “Does your campground have its own BC?”, she asked. The campground owner could not figure out what “BC” meant. He asked around. “Perhaps, she meant a Baptist Church,” he was told. “After all, the letterhead referred to a Baptist Church.” So, he sent this reply: “Madam, The BC is located nine kilometers from the campground in a beautiful grove. I admit it is quite a distance if you are in the habit of going regularly. “It can seat 350 people at one time. And it’s open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. The acoustics are very good. Everyone can hear even the quietest passages. “It may interest you to know that my daughter met her husband there. We’re having a fund-raiser to purchase new seats. The old ones have holes in them. “Unfortunately, my wife is ill. So, she has not been able to attend regularly. It has been a good six months since she last went. It pains her very much not to be able to go more often. “Perhaps I could accompany you the first time you go, sit with you, and introduce you to folks there.” (Have a great weekend. “May the Lord open the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing that you will not have room enough to receive them all.” Malachi 3:10)

Judge Dime bilang Clerk of Court sa Manila Trial Court Branch 4 at naglingkod naman bilang legal officer sa Court of Appeals at Supreme Court sa panahon ni Justice Serafin Cuevas. Nagsimula siya sa Bulacan noong Nob. 11, 1996 bilang Presiding Judge ng Branch 14. Natalaga siya bilang Executive Judge ng Bulacan noong 2005. Isa sa mga samahan na aktibong pinamumunuan niya ang LAKANHukom kung saan siya ang co-founder. Nagsilbi rin siya bilang pangulo ng nasabing samahan. Inihatid siya sa kanyang huling

hantungan sa Heritage Park sa Taguig City noong Huly 14. P500-milyong pautang sa mga drayber INUTUSAN ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang lahat ng government owned and controlled corporation at ibang pang mga financial institution na bumuo ng P500 milyon special loan package para maipahiram sa mga pamilya ng mga transport worker sa buong bansa. Magmumula ang pondo mula sa EVAT na nakolekta ng pamahalaan para mapakinabangan ng mga nasa

sektor na ito sa pagsisimula ng mga livelihood project. Inutusan din ng Pangulo ang Presidential Management Staff na himukin ang mga pribadong marketing institution na bumuo ng kahawig na financing program para sa mga pamilya ng mga transport worker. Sa aking sariling palagay, kahawig ito ng programa ni dating Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos na Masagana 99 na pinautang sa mga magsasaka. Ngayon naman ay mga drayber ang pauutangin. Kayo, ano sa palagay ninyo?

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c/o PHILIPPINE PRESS INSTITUTE Rm. 312 B.F. Condominium Bldg. A. Soriano Ave., Intramuros, Manila

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and -controlled corporation. The agency acquired a 25-year charter on July 11, 1983 under Presidential Decree 1869, and was allowed continued existence by Marcos’s immediate successor, Corazon Aquino, as well as by subsequent presidents. The charter assigned Pagcor with a three-pronged mandate: regulate all games of chance, particularly casino gaming in the country; raise funds for the governments’ socio-civic and national developmental efforts; and help boost the country’s tourism industry. Under that old charter, though, Pagcor and Pagcor alone was allowed to run and operate legal gaming and gambling, and typically, in what are called “special economic zones.” But since Pagcor was granted a new charter last year, it can now set up, subfranchise, and approve casino operations anywhere in the Philippines. The caveat is that under the new charter, as it was in the old, Pagcor
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can do so only with the consent of local government units. Still, chances are not one of the 11 local governments that have given their nod to Pagcor operations in their area is regretting its decision. An official report obtained by the PCIJ showed that from 2004 to 2007, the 11 cities hosting Pagcor gaming outlets have received a four-fold average increase in their “share” from the agency’s revenues. Manila tops the list, with “actual remittances” from Pagcor of P437 million from 2004 to August 2007; Pasay City, P196 million; Angeles City in Pampanga, P188 million; Cebu City, P187.5 million; Parañaque City, P172 million; Tagaytay City, P92 million; Davao City, P86 million; Olongapo City in Zambales, P78.5 million; Bacolod City, P74.5 million; Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, P64.5 million; and Laoag City in Ilocos Norte, P25.5 million. — with additional re○ ○ ○ ○

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HULYO 18 – 24, 2008

Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

7

9 sa 10 Bulakenyo ayaw sa pagsasapera ng IRA
Kapitan Alejandro Joson ng Barangay Tikay. Ayon sa kanila, mali ang ginawang pag-aapura ng mayorya ng S.P sa pagsa. sapera ng karagdagang IRA dahil sa lumalabas na nalugi ang mga Bulakenyo. Inayunan din ito ni Fabian Hallig ng Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) sa Gitnang Luzon na naninirahan sa Malolos nang sabihin niya na “mali ang ginawa nila dahil ipinagkait sa mga mamamayan ang karapatan nila sa kabuoang halaga na dapat mapunta sa kanila.” Wika pa ni Hallig, “Hindi dapat mauwi ito sa pagsuko ng karapatan ng mga mamamayan. Sa nangyayari, lumilitaw na merong grave abuse of discretion sa parte ng mayorya ng S.P Dapat direkta nang . makialam ang mamamayan ng Bulacan. Dapat habulin nila ito sa gitna ng malaking krisis partikular na sa bigas, presyo ng pagkain, langis at kuryente at pangunahing pangangailangan. P20 million is P20 million.” Para naman kay Edmundo Jose Buencamino, dating alkalde ng San Miguel, ang pagmamadali ng mayorya sa S.P sa pagsasa. pera ng karagdagang IRA ay sumasalamin sa kakayahan ng mga bokal sa paghawak ng pananalapi ng kabang yaman. Sinabi pa ni Buencamino na hindi niya maintindihan kung bakit nagapura ang mayorya sa pagsasapera ng nasabing IRA samantalang ang daan-daang milyong piso na dapat sana’y masingil sa Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) ay isinuko sa pagpapatibay sa isang kasunduan na nilagdaan ni Gob. Mendoza at ng MWSS noong Disyembre, kung saan isa sa mga kundisyon ay iuurong ng Kapitolyo ang kaso laban sa MWSS. “Dapat ipaliwanag nila ang isyu upang malaman kung saan dadalhin ang pinadiskuwentong IRA. Dapat ilahad sa publiko at ipalasap sa atin ang diwa ng perang iyan,” ani Buencamino.
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Kaugnay nito, sinabi naman ni Benito Fabian, pambayang tagapamahala ng Sta. Maria, na maging ang kanilang Sangguniaang Bayan ay pumabor sa pagsasapera ng IRA na di nila natanggap noong 2001 at 2004. Ipinaliwanag ni Fabian sa Mabuhay na kaya sila pumabor sa pagsasaperang may diskuwentong 30 porsiyento ay dahil sa halos P5 milyon lamang ang kanilang matatanggap. “Walang impact kung papatulan namin yung installment na payable in seven years,” ani Fabian. Sinabi pa niya na ang kanilang karagdagang IRA ay gagamitin sa pagtatayo ng bagong paaralan. Matatandaan na noong Hunyo 27 ay naging mainitan ang debate sa pagitan ng mayorya sa S.P na ka. kampi ni Gob. Mendoza at ng minorya na kakampi ni Bise Gob. Willy Alvarado. Ilegal ang mga pamamaraang ipinayo ng Malakanyang sa pagsasapera ng dagdag na IRA, ayon kay Bise Gob. Alvarado. Ang mga nasabing pamamaraan ay ang pagsasapera na installment o hulugan sa loob ng pitong taon, discounted o may bawas na 30 porsiyento, at paggamit sa nasabing IRA bilang kolateral sa pag-utang ng pamahalaang lokal. “Hindi iyan ang layunin ng batas,” ani Alvarado at iginiit na “batay sa Local Government Code, ang pagbibigay ng IRA sa local government ay di dapat binabawasan o kaya’y di dapat pinipigilan.” Ang pagbibigay ng IRA sa pamamaraang installment, discounted o kaya’y bilang kolateral ay pawang ilegal, wika pa ni Alvarado. Ngunit, sa kabila nito, namayani pa rin sa S.P ang . mayorya sa botong 9-2. Ayon sa mga informante ng Mabuhay sa kapitolyo, matatanggap na ang nasabing binawasang IRA sa Setyembre, at dahil may 30 porsiyentong diskwento aabot lamang sa P44 milyon sa halip na P66 milyon ang halagang matatanggap ng pamahalaang panglalawigan.

Nalalabing $283-M pondo ng NorthRail hawak pa ng Tsina
ng pera mula sa Cexim Bank ay ang China National Machinery and Equipment Group (CNMEG), ang kontraktor ng proyektong NorthRail na nahinto ang implementasyon nitong Pebrero. Sinabi pa ng pangulo ng NorthRail na ang paglalabas sa bangko ng perang inutang ng Pilipinas ay nakabatay sa kung anong bahagi ng proyekto ang isasagawa. Ito naman ay naunang ipinaliwanag sa Mabuhay ng isang opisyal ng NorthRail noong Hulyo 13 kung kailan ay sinabi ng opisyal na “depende sa phase ng project at trabaho ang pagwi-withdraw ng pera.” At una rito, pinabulaanan ni Pamintuan ang alegasyon ni Abogado Harry Roque na umabot na sa $150 milyon ang nailabas na pera ng CNMEG. Ayon kay Pamintuan $120 milyon pa lamang ang nailalabas sa kabuoang $403 milyon. Sabi ni Pamintuan, ang $120 milyon ay ginamit ng CNMEG sa pagtatayo ng mga sub-structure, pagsusuri sa tigas ng lupa na lalatagan ng riles, pagbabakod, pagpapataas sa pamamagitan ng pagtatambak sa embankment ng riles, pagtatayo ng mga pansamantalang pasilidad tulad ng barracks ng mga kontraktor, at iba pa. Sinabi rin ng pangulo ng NorthRail na pipilitin nilang matapos ang proyekto sa loob ng dalawang taon sa tulong ng Diyos at suporta ng mga tao. Ang konsepto ng Proyektong NorthRail ay nabuo noong 1994 nang lumagda sa isang Memorandum of Agreement sina dating Pangulong Fidel V . Ramos at Haring Juan Carlos ng Espanya, matapos mahinto ang operasyon ng Philippine National Railmula sa pahina 1

MASINSINAN ang usapan nina NorthRail President Edgardo Pamintuan (kaliwa) at Bulacan Vice Governor Willy Alvarado sa gilid ng entablado sa Sta. Monica High School sa Hagonoy kung saan ay bumisita si Pangulong Gloria Macapagal Arroyo noong Biyernes, Hulyo 18. Sa pagkakataong ito, nakapanayam ng ways (PNR) mula Tutuban sa Manila hanggang Malolos at hanggang Dagupan sa Pangasinan noong huling bahagi ng dekada ’80. Ang nasabing perokaril mula Tutuban hanggang Dagupan na may habang 194.5 kilometro ay unang ipinagawa ng pamahalaang kolonyal ng Espanya sa Pilipinas mula 1887 hanggang 1892. Layunin ng proyektong NorthRail ang muling pagbubukas ng perokaril pa-

Mabuhay si Pamintuan. Sinabi niya na hawak pa ng China Export-Import Bank ang nalalabi sa $403 milyon na inutang ng Pilipinas para sa paggawa ng naaantalang proyektong Northrail na maglalatag ng 32.2 kilometro ng riles mula Caloocan City hanggang Lungsod ng Malolos. — DINO BALABO mantalang ang perang inutang ay may 20 taong “maturity period”. Ang implementasyon ng NorthRail ay nagsimula noong Abril 12, 2005 nang simulan ang paglilipat ng mga iskwater sa gilid ng riles ng PNR patungo sa mga resettlement site. Dapat natapos ang proyekto noong Oktubre 31, 2007, ngunit hanggang ngayon ay wala pang nailalatag kahit isang metrong riles ang CNMEG. — Dino Balabo

tungo sa Hilagang Luzon upang mapabilis ang biyahe ng mga tao at mga produkto. Batay naman sa dokumentong naipon ng Mabuhay, pinautang ng Tsina ang Pilipinas ng halagang $403 milyon para sa konstruksyon ng NorthRail. Ang kasunduan ukol dito ay nilagdaan noong Pebrero 26, 2004. Batay pa rin sa mga dokumento, ang implementasyon ng proyekto ay dapat nagsimula noong Setyembere 13, 2004, sa-

Kailangan ang NOV bago ito maipasara
“Maipasasara ng mayor iyan dahil sakop niya iyon at may kapangyarihan siya,” ani Mendoza. Sa pakikipanayam ng Mabuhay noong Hulyo 14 kay Raldy Pagador, isang environmental management specialist ng EMB sa Gitnang Luzon, sinabi niya na nagpahatid na ang kanyang ahensya ng NOV sa Meng Hong Trading noong Hulyo 11 o isang linggo matapos siyang magsagawa ng inspeksyon kasama ang ilang mamamahayag sa plantang nagsusunog ng gamit na gulong noong Hulyo 3. Ayon kay Pagador, ilan sa mga nilabag ng Meng Hong Trading ay ang pagsasagawa ng operasyon na walang environmental compliance certificate (ECC), walang business permit, walang environmental impact assessment (EIA), at ang pagkakaroon ng masamang epekto sa mamamayan ng patuloy na operasyon nito. Ipinaliwanag niya na kaugnay ng pagpapalabas at pagpapahatid ng NOV sa Meng Hong Trading ay ang pagsasagawa ng EMB ng isang technical conference sa may-ari nito na isasagawa sa Lunes, Hulyo 28. Ayon kay Pagador, ang nasabing technical confermula sa pahina 1

Obet: Baka maupo na ako; Jon-jon: Saan?
ng counter protest ang kampo ni Jon-jon na sa kanyang pananaw ay isang paraan upang mapigil ang kanyang pagiging gobernador. “Sila ang naghahabol ngayon at hinaharang ang pagbabalik ko,” ani Obet Pagdanganan. Gayunpaman, sinabi ni Jon-jon sa Mabuhay na katotohanan ang mamamayani kapag natapos ang protesta. “I assure you, hindi magpapalit ng gobernador sapagkat nasa panig tayo ng katotohanan,”ani Jon-jon na nasa ikalawang taon ngayon ng panunungkulan bilang gobernador matapos niyang palitan ang kanyang nakatatandang kapatid na si dating Gob. Josie M. Dela Cruz noong Hunyo 30, 2007. Si Gob Josie ang humalili kay Obet noong 1998. Una rito, sinabi ni Jonjon na “hinding-hindi niya (Pagdanganan) ako tatalunin, dahil siyam na taon akong mauupong governor.” Si Jon-jon ay dating kapitan ng Barangay Duhat sa bayan ng Bocaue at naging kinatawan ng mga kapitan sa Sangguniang Panglalawigan. Tinalo niya si Obet noong nakaraang halalan nang lumamang siya ng 15,732 boto. Si Jonjon ay nakaipon ng kabuoang boto na 364,566 kumpara sa 348,834 boto ni Obet. Ngunit hindi basta sumuko si Obet. Sa halip ay nagsampa siya ng protesta para sa 4,800 presinto na matatagpuan sa mga lungsod ng Malolos, San Jose Del Monte at Meycauayan, at mga bayan ng Bocaue, Norzagaray, Calumpit, San Rafael, Sta. Maria, Plaridel at Donya Remedios Trinidad. — Dino Balabo
mula sa pahina 1

NAPANGITI pa ang isang manggagawa ng Meng Hong Trading nang makunan ng larawan ng Mabuhay sa harap ng kanilang sunugan ng mga gamit na gulong noong Hulyo 3. Kahit na wala ence ay isang proseso na sinusunod ng kanilang ahensya. Isa sa layunin nito, aniya, ay makumbinse ang may-ari ng planta na kusang-loob na isara at itigil ang operasyon nito. “Unang hakbang iyon, pero kung hindi sila titigil ay saka kami kikilos para isara iyon,” ani Pagador. Una rito, sinabi ni Santiago Malubay, ang dating kapitan ng Barangay Partida, na nangako ang may-

itong Mayor’s Permit, hindi pa rin maipasara ng pamahalaang lokal ng Norzagaray ang nasabing sunugan ng gulong na matatagpuan sa Sitio Diliman, Barangay Partida. — DINO BALABO ng nasabing pagsusunog, partikular na ang pamilya ni Guillerma Cruz, na kalusugan nila ang nakataya. Sinabi ni Cruz na mula nang magsimula ang operasyon ng Meng Hong Trading sa kanilang lugar ay napadalas ang kanilang pagpapagamot sa ospital dahil sa nalalanghap na maitim na usok at mabahong amoy mula sa mga sinusunog na lumang gulong.

ari ng Meng Hong Trading na ititigil ang operasyon sa Agosto 31. “Uubusin lang daw ’yung gulong na nakastock,” ani Malubay na siyang may-ari ng may kalahating ektaryang lote na inuupahan ng Meng Hong Trading para sa pagsusunog ng lumang gulong upang makatas ang langis. Ngunit, sa kabila ng pangakong ito, sinabi ng mga residenteng naapektuhan

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EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE
Notice is hereby given that the estate of the deceased ANGEL I. YOSUICO who died on May 30, 2002 in Angeles City leaving onehalf (1/2) conjugal share of four (4) parcels of land more particularly described as: 1) TCT No. 120059 with an area of 200 sq. 2) TCT No. 120060, with an area of 691 sq both of Barangay Lourdes Sur; 3) TCT No. 98743 with an area of 664 sq. situated at Barangay Sto. Cristo and 4) TCT No. 232978-R with an area of 4,062 sq. situated at Barrio Telabastagan, San Fernando, Pampanga devoted to fruit bearing trees who was executed by heirs before Notary Public Atty. Nepomuceno Caylao; Doc. No. 450; Page No. 91; Book No I; Series of 2008. Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25 2008
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Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

HULYO 18 – 24, 2008
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Kakampi mo ang Batas

NOTICE OF LOSS OF STOCKS
Republic of the Philippines ) Province of Leyte ) S.S. CITY OF TACLOBAN )

AFFIDAVIT OF LOSS
I, EDITA CASAL y Fabi, of legal age, widow and a resident of Block 17, Lot 43, Phase 2, Cattleya cor. Gorgonia Sts., V &G Subdivision, Tacloban City, after having been sworn to in accordance with law hereby depose and say: 1. That I am a holder and owner of fifty eight (58) shares of stock of the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI) and said ownership is evidenced by BPI Certificate of Stock No. 27243 and appearing as such in the Corporate Books of said banking institution; 2. That sometime August 2005, I discovered for the first time that the original copy of said BPI Certificate Of Stock No. 27243 was missing and no longer among the other certificate of stocks and other important papers and documents in my files which I have not touched for quite a long time; 3. That despite diligent and exhaustive efforts made, said Certificate of Stock No. 27243 could no longer be located or found; 4. That the aforementioned Certificate of Stock No. 27243 was never transferred, sold, endorsed, pledged or mortgaged to any person or entity as security for any debt whatsoever; 5. That I am executing this Affidavit to attest to the fact of the loss of said Certificate of Stock No. 27243 to request BPI to declare the same null and void and to issue another Certificate of Stock as its replacement. AFFIANT FURTHER SAYETH NONE. Signed this 12th day of October 2005 at Tacloban City. (Sgd.) EDITA F. CASAL AFFIANT SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this 12th day of October 2005 at Tacloban City, affiant exhibited to me her Community Tax Certificate No. 02719538 issued on 2-01-05 at Tacloban City. WENIFREDO C. CUATON Notary Public No. 2005-01-07 Until 12-31-2006 Attorney Roll No. 35189

Titulo ng lupa, maaaring hanapin sa Registry of Deeds Tanong: Good afternoon po, Atty. Mauricio. May problema kami sa lupa na sinasaka namin dito sa Gapan, Nueva Ecija kasi po matagal nang hinahanap ng yumao kong ama ang kopya sa DAR pero hindi namin makita. Ano po ang dapat naming gawin upang makita ang mga papeles na may kinalaman sa lupa? (639158243185) Sagot: Maraming salamat po sa inyong tanong sa amin. Kung titulo po ang inyong hinahanap, maaari din po kayong magtungo sa Registry of Deeds diyan sa Nueva Ecija (malamang sa Cabanatuan City po ang tanggapan nito) upang maghalungkat ng records. Ang lahat kasi ng titulo ng mga ari-ariang lupa, ke ang mga ito ay sinasaka o residential, ay may kopya dapat sa Registry of Deeds, kung ang mga titulong ito ay tunay. Ngayon, kung hindi po tunay ang titulo o may diperensiya dito, maaaring walang kopyang lilitaw sa Registry of Deeds. Sa kabilang dako, kung wala pang titulo ang lupa, maaari kayong magtungo sa Assessor’s Office sa lugar kung saan ito nakalagay, kasi ang Assessor’s Office ay may tala ng lahat ng deklaradong lupa. Kung wala pa ring record ito sa nasabing tanggapan, maaari naman kayong magtungo sa Bureau of Lands (na ngayon

ERRATA
IN the Notice of Sheriff’s Sale filed by Balikatan Housing Finance, Inc. versus Alfredo CRIZALDY F. TEMPROSA with E.J.F. No. B- 406-2008 published in the MABUHAY in its issues dated May 16, 23, and 30, 2008 the first name should read “CRIZALDY” and not as published.

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IN the Notice of Sheriff’s Sale filed by Rural Bank of San Rafael (Bulacan), Inc. versus Alfredo Francisco and Juliana Dela CruzFrancisco with E.J.F. No. 117-2008 published in the MABUHAY in its issues dated May 16, 23, and 30, 2008 the location/ technical description of the property should read…. North along line 4-1 by “Acle River” and not as published. Mabuhay: July 18, 2008

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SUPREME COURT OFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF MALOLOS CITY, BULACAN HOME GUARANTY CORPORATION Mortgagee, -versusSPS. RHODERICK J. YANGA & CYNTHIA J. YANGA Mortgagor/s. x———————————x
E.J.F. NO. P-115-2008 EXTRA JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY UNDER ACT 3135 AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118

DOC. NO. 474 PAGE NO. 95 BOOK NO. 21 SERIES OF 2005 Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25, 2008

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE
Upon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended by Act 4118 filed by HOME GUARANTY CORPORATION, with principal office at No. 335 Sen Gil Puyat Avenue, Makati City the mortgagee, against SPS. RHODERICK J. YANGA & CYNTHIA J. YANGA, with residence and postal address at Block 8, Lot 12 King Philip St. Royale Estate Subdivision, Brgy. Bulihan, Malolos, Bulacan the mortgagor/s to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of May 3, 2008 amounts to FIVE HUNDRED SEVENTY FOUR THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED FORTY THREE PESOS & 78/100 (P574,643.78), Philippine Currency, including/excluding interest thereon, including/excluding 10% of the total indebtedness by way of attorney’s fees, plus daily interest and expenses thereafter, also secured by said mortgage and such other amount which may become and payable to the aforementioned mortgagee.The Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan thru the undersigned Sheriff hereby gives notice to all interested parties and to the public in general that on August 5, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter, in front of the Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan, located at the back of the Bulwagan ng Katarungan, Provincial Capitol Compound, Malolos City, Bulacan will sell at public auction thru sealed bidding to the highest bidder for CASH and in Philippine Currency, the described real property/ies below together with all the improvements existing thereon: TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T-97659 A parcel of land (Lot 12, Blk.8 of the cons. subd. plan Psd-03072367, being a portion of lot 2, Psu- 10740, LRC Rec. No.)situated in the Barrio of Bulihan, Mun. of Malolos, Prov. of Bulacan. Bounded on the NE., along line 3-4 by lot 14, and on the NW., along line 4-1 by lot 11, both of Blk. 8, all of the subd. plan. x x x x containing an area of ONE HUNDRED FIFTEEN (115) SQ. M. x x x x This Notice of Sheriff’s sale will be posted for a period of twenty (20) days in three (3) conspicuous public places in the municipality of the subject property is located and at Malolos City, Bulacan where the sale shall take place, and likewise a copy will be published for the same period in the MABUHAY, a newspaper of general circulation in the province of Bulacan, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks before the date of auction sale. All sealed bids with its accompanying transmittal letter addressed to this office must be submitted to the undersigned on or before the above stated date and hour at which time all sealed bids thus, submitted shall be opened. In the event the public auction could not take place on the said August 5, 2008, it shall be held on AUGUST 26, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter without further notice. Prospective bidders or buyers are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title to the property/ies and the encumbrance thereon, if any there be. Malolos City, Bulacan, July 7, 2008. EMMANUEL L. ORTEGA Ex-Officio Sheriff By: ENRIQUE M. CALAGUAS Sheriff IV Copy furnished: All parties concerned Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25, 2008

Republic of the Philippines OFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF BULACAN Third Judicial Region City of Malolos CIVIL CASE NO. 314-03 MTC- PANDI, BULACAN PANDI LIVESTOCK PRODUCERS MARKETING CORPORATION, Plaintiff/s -versusSPS. ARCADIO & REMY LIBIRAN, Defendant/s X—————————————X

NOTICE OF SALE ON EXECUTION
Whereas by virtue of a Writ of Execution issued by the Hon. AZNAR LINDAYAG, presiding judge Municipal Trial Court, Pandi, Bulacan, dated March 7, 2005 in the above-entitled case, for the recovery of the sum of Php 115, 385.62, the principal obligation, plus interest, penalties as of September 30, 1998 until fully paid, plus the costs of suits, etc., levy was made on May 13, 2008 by the undersigned sheriff upon the rights, shares, interest and participation of the defendant which is more particularly described as follows: TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T-497750 (M) A parcel of land (Lot no. 2076-B-3-C of the subd. plan LRC Psd-215481 being a portion of Lot 2076-B-3 LRC Psd-71850 LRC Rec. No. 8503) situated in the Bo. of Malibong Bata, Mun. of Pandi, Prov. of Bulacan, Is. of Luzon.. Bounded on the NE., pts 3 to 5 by Creek; on the SE., pts 5 to 10 by Lot 2076-B-3-B of the subd. plan. on the SW., pts. 10 to 12 by Lot 2069 SM de Pandi Est.; & on the NW., pts. 12 to 13, 13 to 1 & 1 to 3 by Lot 2076-B-3-D of the sub. plan. x x x Containing an area of FOUR THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED (4,400) SQ. METERS, more or less. Now therefore, by virtue of said Writ of Execution and in accordance with Rule 39, Section 19, of the Rules of Court, Sheriff will sell at public auction to the highest bidder, for CASH and in Philippines Currency, on August 5, 2008 at 10:00 o’oclock in the morning or soon thereafter infront of the Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff located at the Back of Bulwagan ng Katarungan Bldg., Provincial Capitol Compound, Malolos City, Bulacan, the above-described property in order to satisfy said Writ of Execution, together with interests, costs, sheriffs fees and the expenses of the sale. In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on August 19, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter without further notice. Malolos City, Bulacan, July 7, 2008. FOR THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF By: JUNIE JOVENCIO G. IPAC Sheriff-In-Charge

Mabuhay: July 11 & 18, 2008

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ay kilala na bilang Lands Management Bureau) at alamin kung may nakarehistrong naghahabol sa lupa. Kung wala pa din, maaari na kayong magsampa ng aplikasyon upang mapatituluhan ninyo ang lupa. Mga paalala Maaari po kayong tumawag sa amin sa aming mga landline, (02) 994-68-05, 02-433-75-49 at 02-433-75-53, o di kaya ay sa aming mga cellphone, 0917-984-24-68 at 0919-609-64-89. Maaari din po kayong sumulat sa amin sa aming address: 18 D Mahiyain corner Mapagkawanggawa, Teachers Village, Diliman, Quezon City. O di kaya ay maaari kayong mag-email sa amin sa website na ito, www.batasnews.com, o [email protected]. Panoorin din po si Atty. Batas Mauricio sa worldwide TV sa Internet, sa YouTube, metacafe at iGoogle, at pakinggan siya sa kanyang mga programa sa radyo: DXAS sa Zamboanga City, Lunes-Miyerkules-Biyernes, alas 5:30 ng umaga; DZXQ 1350 khz sa Metro Manila, Lunes hanggang Biyernes, 6 ng umaga; DYKA 801 khz sa San Jose, Antique (at www.wowantique.com, o www.kiniraya.com), Lunes hanggang Biyenes, 10 ng umaga; at DYMS Aksiyon Radyo sa Catbalogan City, Samar, Lunes hanggang Biyernes, 11 ng umaga. Abangan din ang kanyang pagbabalik sa telebisyon.

http://mabuhaynews.com

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SUPREME COURT OFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF MALOLOS CITY, BULACAN LEONILA R. NAVARRO, Mortgagee, -versusELIZABETH T. RODRIGUEZ, Mortgagor. X———————————X E.J.F. NO. 203-2008
EXTRA JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY/IES UNDER ACT 3135 AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE
Upon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended by Act 4118 filed by LEONILA R. NAVARRO with postal address at Brgy. Mabolo, City of Malolos, Bulacan against ELIZABETH T. RODRIGUEZ, with residence at Buhangin St., Atlag, City of Malolos, Bulacan, the mor tgagor/s to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of June, 2008 amounts to ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE THOUSAND PESOS & 00/100 (P185,000.00), Philippine Currency, including interest thereon, excluding __% of the total indebtedness by way of attorney’s fees, plus daily interest and expenses thereafter, also secured by said mortgage and such other amounts which may become due and payable to the aforementioned mor tgagee, the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan thru the undersigned Sheriff hereby gives notice to all interested par ties and to the public in general that on August 5, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter, in front of the Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan, located at the back of the Bulwagan ng Katarungan, Provincial Capitol Compound, Malolos City, Bulacan will sell at public auction thru sealed bidding to the highest bidder for CASH and in Philippine Currency, the described real proper ty below together with all the improvements existing thereon: TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T- 159500 A parcel of land (Lot 6916,Cad-304-D),situated in the Mun. of Hagonoy, Prov. of Bulacan. Bounded on the S., along line 1-2 by lot 6914 Cad-304-D; on the W., along line 2-3 by lot 6917 Cad-304-D; on the N., along line 3-4 by Sapang Taytayin; & on the E., along line 41 by lot 6915 Cad-304-D. xx xx xx xx containing an area of FIVE HUNDRED EIGHTY SEVEN (587) SQ. METERS. xx xx xx xx This Notice of Sheriff’s sale will be posted for a period of twenty (20) days in three (3) conspicuous public places in the municipality where the subject property is located and at Malolos City, Bulacan where the sale shall take place, and likewise a copy will be published for the same period in the MABUHAY a newspaper of general circulation in the province of Bulacan, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks before the date of auction sale. All sealed bids with its accompanying transmittal letter addressed to this office must be submitted to the undersigned on or before the above stated date and hour at which time all sealed bids thus, submitted shall be opened. In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on AUGUST 12, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter without further notice. Prospective bidders or buyers are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title to the property and encumbrance thereon, if any there be. Malolos City, Bulacan, July 7, 2008. EMMANUEL L. ORTEGA Ex- Officio Sheriff By: EDRIC C. ESTRADA Sheriff IV Copy furnished: All parties concerned Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25, 2008

HULYO 18 – 24, 2008
EXTRA-JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE WITH WAIVER OF RIGHTS/QUITCLAIM
Notice is hereby given that the late AIDA D. EUSEBIO who died on February 19, 2007 in Muntinlupa City her place of residence at the time of death, she left personal properties which include the unpaid obligations of her debtor. Also there is no last will and testament left by the deceased and there is no pending testate or intestate proceedings pending before any courts of the Philippines, involving the same parties and the same property; there are no known debts left by the deceased for which reason the heirs desire that they settle the estate of Aida D. Eusebio. That Jose Vicente D. Dimaculangan, of legal age, single, Filipino and Emiliano G. Eusebio, of legal age, widower, Filipino both residing at #168 Monastery Road, Bgy. San Isidro, Magalang, Pampanga, are the only persons and parties and are the legitimate surviving son and spouse of the deceased. The surviving spouse has waived and renounced his rights and interest in the estate of the deceased, as well his own share, in favor of Jose Vicente D. Dimaculangan executed before Notary Public Jose V. Reyes; Doc. No. 445; Page No. 40; Book No. XV; Series of 2008. Mabuhay: July 11, 18 & 25, 2008

Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

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AFFIDAVIT OF SELF-ADJUDICATION
Notice is hereby given that the estate of the deceased Proceso Gabriel Reyes who died intestate on November 6, 2006 at Bocaue, Bulacan left a parcel of land consisting of Forty Two (42) square meters more particularly described as Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-467331 (M) hereby adjudicate to Grace Vivian Reyes the parcel of land above described and hereby request the Register of Deeds of Bulacan, Meycauayan Branch, to register and render the same effective as per Doc. No. 453; Page No. 92; Book No. 117; Series of 2008 in Notary Public of Atty. Teodulo E. Cruz. Mabuhay: July 4, 11 & 18, 2008

PANAWAGAN
NANANAWAGAN si Mrs. Marilisa Factora ng Barangay Palimbo Proper, Camiling, Tarlac City tungkol sa isang sanggol na babae na iniwan sa may harapan ng kanilang gate noong Disyembre 29, 2007. Na kung maaari ay makipag-ugnayan sila sa Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) sa San Vicente, Tarlac City na may telepono bilang (045) 982-0756.
Mabuhay: July 11, 18, & 25, 2008 REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SUPREME COURT OFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF MALOLOS CITY, BULACAN STO.ROSARIO CREDIT AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE Mortgagee, -versusSPS. CHRISTOPHER C. JAVIER & MA. LOURDES B. JAVIER, Mortgagor. X—————————————X EJF NO. 208-2008
EXTRA-JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY UNDER ACT 3135 AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF BULACAN THIRD JUDICIAL REGION MALOLOS CITY BRANCH 10 SP PROC. NO. 145-M-2008 . IN RE: IN THE MATTER OF CORRECTION OF ENTRIES IN THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH OF CHRISTOPHER FUNTILAR CAGUIMBAL, CHRISTOPHER FUNTILAR CAGUIMBAL, Petitioner, —versus— THE CIVIL REGISTRAR OF BALAGTAS, BULACAN NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE, ADMINISTRATOR AND CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL, CARMELITA N. ERICTA. SPS. CARLOS MIYAHIRA CAGUIMBAL AND EMMA N. FUNTILAR, Respondents. X————————————X

Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff Malolos City, Bulacan PAG-IBIG FUND OR HOME DEVELOPMENT MUTUAL FUND (HDMF), Mortgagee/s, EJF NO. P-107-2008 EXTRA-JUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE PROPERTY/IES -versusUNDER ACT NO. 3135 AS AMENDED BY ACT 4118 MARYLOU G. RICAMONTE MARRIED TO EDISON C. RICAMONTE JR. Mortgagor/s x————————————x Upon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended by Act 4118 filed by Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) otherwise known as the PAG-IBIG FUND with principal office at 2nd floor North Centrum Bldg., Tabang,Guiguinto, Bulacan the mortgagee/s against MARYLOU G. RICAMONTE married to EDISON C. RICAMONTE, JR., with residence and postal address at #2 Simoun St., La Loma, Quezon City, the mortgagor/s to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of February 15, 2008, in the amount of THREE HUNDRED FIFTY ONE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED SEVENTY SEVEN & 66/100 (P351,377.66)Philippine Currency, including/excluding interest thereon, including/excluding 10% of the total indebtedness as and by way of Attorney’s fees, plus daily interest and expenses thereafter, also secured by said mortgage and such other amount, which may become due and payable to the aforementioned mortgage.The ExOfficio Sheriff of Bulacan thru the Defuty Sheriff hereby gives notice to all interested parties and to the public in general that on August 19, 2008 at 10:00 in the morning or soon thereafter, in front of the Office of Branch 77, Regional Trial Court located at the ground floor, Now Justice Hall Provincial Capitol Malolos City, Bulacan will sell at public auction to the highest bidder for cash and in Philippines currency, the described real property/ies below with existing thereon: TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T-366846 (M) A parcel of land (Lot 24, Blk.22, of the cons. subd. plan Pcs-03-008362, being a portion of cons. lots 3936-3940 Lolomboy Est. & Lots 4280-C Psd-03-077125 (LRC Rec. No.) situated in the Bo. of Loma de Gato, Mun. of Marilao, Prov. of Bulacan. ... Containing an area of Forty (40) SQ. METERS ... This notice of Sheriff’s Sale will be posted for a period of twenty (20) days in three (3) of the most conspicuous public places in the municipality where the subject property/ies is/are located and at Malolos City, Bulacan where the sale shall take place, and likewise a copy will be published for the same period in the MABUHAY a newspaper of general circulation in the province of Bulacan, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks before the date of Auction Sale. All sealed bids with its accompanying transmittal letter addressed to this office must be submitted to the undersigned on or before the above stated date and hour at which time all sealed bids thus, submitted shall be opened. In the event the public auction should not taken place on the said date, it shall be held on AUGUST 26, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. without further notice. Prospective bidders or buyers are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title to the property/ies and the encumbrance thereon, if any there be. Malolos City, Bulacan, July 01, 2008. EMMANUEL L. ORTEGA Ex- Officio Sheriff By: ARMANDO P PASCUAL . Sheriff IV

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE
Upon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended by Act 4118 filed by STO. ROSARIO CREDIT AND DEVELOPMENT COOPERATIVE, with office at Sabitan St.,Sto. Rosario,City of Malolos, Bulacan against SPS. CHRISTOPHER C. JAVIER & MA. LOURDES B. JAVIER, with postal address at No.125, Sto. Cristo, City of Malolos, Bulacan the mortgagor/s to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of July 4, 2008 amounts to ONE MILLION FOUR HUNDRED FORTY SEVEN THOUSAND FORTY NINE PESOS & 88/100 (P1,447,049.88) Philippine Currency, including interest thereon, excluding 25% of the total indebtedness by way of attorney’s fees, plus daily interest and expenses thereafter, also secured by said mortgage and such other amount, which may become due and payable to the aforementioned mortgagee, the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan thru the undersigned Sheriff hereby gives notice to all interested parties and to the public in general that on August 14, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter, in front of the Office of the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Bulacan, located at the back of the Bulwagan ng Katarungan, Provincial Capitol Compound, Malolos City, Bulacan will sell at public auction thru sealed bidding to the highest bidder for CASH and in Philippine Currency, the described real property below together with all the improvements existing thereon: TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. T- 189135 A parcel of land (Lot 7 of the cons. subd. plan (LRC), Pcs- 28383, approved as a non-subdivision project, being a portion of the cons. of lots 5974 and 5975 Malolos Cad., LRC Cad. Rec. No. 505), situated in the Bo. of Sto Cristo, Mun. of Malolos, Prov. of Bulacan, Is. of Luzon. Bounded on the NE., pts.4 to 1 by lot 9007, Malolos Cad. and beyond by Camino Real de Bulacan; on the SE., pts. 1 to 2 by lot 5973, Malolos Cad.; on the SW., pts.2 to 3 by lot 8; on the NW., pts.3 to 4 by lot 9 (Rd.) both of the cons. subd. plan. xx xx xx xx containing an area of ONE HUNDRED SEVENTY EIGHT (178) SQ. METERS, more or less. xx xx xx xx This Notice of Sheriff’s sale will be posted for a period of twenty (20) days in three (3) conspicuous public places in the municipality where the subject property is located and at Malolos City, Bulacan where the sale shall take place, and likewise a copy will be published for the same period in the MABUHAY, a newspaper of general circulation in the province of Bulacan, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks before the date of auction sale. All sealed bids with its accompanying transmittal letter addressed to this office must be submitted to the undersigned on or before the above stated date and hour at which time all sealed bids thus, submitted shall be opened. In the event the public auction could not take place on the said date, it shall be held on AUGUST 21, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter without further notice. Prospective bidders or buyers are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title to the property and the encumbrance thereon, if any there be. Malolos City, Bulacan, July 15, 2008. EMMANUEL L. ORTEGA Ex-Officio Sheriff By: NORMAN S. IPAPO Sheriff IV Copy furnished: All parties concerned Mabuhay: July 18, 25, & August 1, 2008 SHOWING ON JULY 23, 2008 ONWARDS

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE

ORDER
In a verified Petition dated June 17, 2008, of the petitioner Christopher Funtilar Caguimbal, alleging among others, that petitioner is of legal age, single, Filipino, and with residence and postal address at Blk. 17 Lot 14, Ph 3-B Brgy. Dela Paz, Antipolo City where he may be served with summons and other court processes; the respondent Local Civil Registrar of Balagtas, Bulacan, on the other hand, is a public officer charged with the civil registration within his territorial jurisdiction and is holding the office at Balagtas, Bulacan, where he/she may be served with summons and other court processes; the repondent National Statistics Office, represented by its Administrator and Civil Registrar General-Carmelita N. Ericta, is a government agency tasked with the duty of keeping statistical records of documents, and the generation of statistics, and may be served with summons and other court processes at National Statistic Office, East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City; the respondents Sps. Carlos Miyahira Caguimbal and Emma N. Funtilar who are indispensable party in this petition, and may be served with summons and other legal processes at Block 17, Lot 14, P-3B, Purok Imelda, Brgy. Dela Paz, Antipolo City; that petitioner was born on August 27, 1983 at Balagtas, Bulacan to the Spouses Carlos Miyahira Caguimbal and Emma N. Funtilar. Upon securing a copy of his Birth Certificate sometime in January 2007 he was surprised to find out that in his Certificate of live Birth issued by the National Statistic Office, the middle name and birth place of his father as appearing therein were entered as “Mejahera” (Annex “A2”) and “Naga City” (Annex “A-3”) respectively but in truth and in fact, in the Certificate of Live Birth of his father (Annex “B”), the same were entered as “Miyahira” and “Bombon, Camarines Sur” respectively, which is the truth and correct middle name and birth place of his Father. Likewise, the date of marriage of his parents as appearing therein was entered as “March 7, 1983” (Annex “A-4”) instead of April 7, 1998 which is thrue and correct date of marriage of his parents; that the error in the above entries in the Certificate of live Birth was due to a misunderstanding between the informant and the records officer; to avoid confusion and to put things in legal perspective and to conform to his official records and documents, it is necessary that a change in the entries be made in the Certificate of Live Birth from the middle name of his father as appearing therein entered as “Mejahera” be corrected to “Miyahira” and his father’s birthplace from “Naga City” be corrected to “Bombon, Camarines Sur”, likewise, the date of marriage of his parents as appearing therein as “March 7, 1983” be changed to “April 7, 1998”, that such change and /or correction is not being done in order to perpetuate fraud, or any miscarriage of justice, or even to evade prosecution, petitioner is not unmindful that as a consequence of filling this petition, he is required by law to pay the docket fess and other necessary legal fees in order for the said petition to prosper. However, he cannot afford to pay the said fees as he is an indigent. Besides, pursuant to OCA CIRCULAR NO. 121-2007 (Annex “E”), he, being a client of Public Attorney’s Office is exempt from payment of docket and other fees incidental to instituting an action in court and other quasi-judicial bodies, as an original proceeding or on appeal; petitioner prays of this Honorable Court, after publication, due notice and hearing that an order be issued directing the Local Civil Registrar of Balagtas, Bulacan that the corrected entries be made in the Certificate of Live Birth of the herein petitioner from the middle name of his father as appearing therein entered as “Mejahera” be corrected to “Miyahira” and the birthplace of his father from “Naga City” be corrected to “Bombon, Camarines Sur”, likewise, the date of marriage of his parents as appearing therein as “March 7, 1983” be corrected to “April 7, 1998”. It appearing that the petition is sufficient in form and substance, SET this case for hearing on August 20, 2008 at 10:00 a.m. at which date and time, all persons interested and who may have opposition thereto may appear and show cause, if there be any, why the same should not be granted. Let a copy of this Order be published at the expense of the petitioner in any newspaper of general circulation within the province of Bulacan once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks. Furnish the Office of the Solicitor General, Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Bulacan, National Statistics Office, the Local Civil Registral of Balagtas, Bulacan, the National Archives, petitioner and counsel with a copy of this Order. So ordered. Malolos City, Bulacan, June 24, 2008. VICTORIA VILLALON-PORNILLOS Judge

Copy furnished: All parties concerned Mabuhay: July 4, 11 and 18, 2008

There is but one road which reaches God and that is Prayer. If anyone shows you another, you are being deceived.
— ST. THERESA

subject to change without prior notice

THE DARK KNIGHT

ALONE

HANCOCK

JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH

Mabuhay: July 4, 11, 18, 2008

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NI DINO BALABO HAGONOY, Bulacan — Pinangunahan ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ang pamamahagi ng tulong sa mga tagaHagonoy na naapektuhan ng nagdaang bagyong Frank.
nagsalita. Ang unang ipinamahagi ng Pangulo ay dalawang tseke na parehong nagkakahalaga ng P150,000 sa mga opisyal na kumatawan sa Caniogan SelfEmployment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) Association, at sa Malumot SEA-K Association. Ang SEA-K ay isang micro-finance program ng gobyerno kung saan ang halagang ipinauutang ay gagamiting puhunan sa paghahanap-buhay ng mga kasaping nasabing grupo. Namahagi rin si Pangulong Arroyo ng mga lambat at iba pang gamit sa pangingisda ng mga mangingisda sa Hagonoy at bayan

Mabuhay
LINGGUHANG PILIPINO MULA PA NOONG 1980

HULYO 18 – 24, 2008

Hagonoy, Paombong tinulungan ng Pangulo
Pagdating ng Pangulo sa bakuran ng Sta. Monica Elementary School noong Hulyo 18, sinalubong siya ni Mayor Angel Cruz at mga residente. Kumaway-kaway ang Pangulo at nakipagkamay sa mga tao at pagkatapos ay umakyat na sa entablado at agad na namahagi ng mga tulong, ngunit hindi siya ng Paombong. Namahagi pa siya ng 300,000 binhi ng bangus sa mga maliiit na namamalaisdaan sa dalawang bayan. Bukod dito, ipinamahagi rin ng Pangulo ang 100 scholarship grant ng Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), mga health card at mga supot ng pagkain na may apat na kilong bigas, delatang sardinas at noodles, at tatlong patibay para makakuha ng gamot sa Botika sa Barangay na bubuksan sa mga barangay ng Sta.Elena, Sto. Rosario at San Jose dito sa Hagonoy. Matatagpuan ang bayan ng Hagonoy sa baybayin ng Bulacan sa Manila Bay. Isa ito sa mga bayan sa lalawigan na sinalanta ng bagyong Frank noong nakaraang buwan. Dahil nasa baybayin ng Bulacan, laging lumulubog ang Hagonoy sa baha sanhi ng high tide at back flood o tubig ulan na bumababa mula sa mataas na bahagi ng Gitnang Luzon na dumadaloy patungo sa Manila Bay. Isang araw bago bumisita ang Pangulo sa Hagonoy, sinabi ng mga residente na dapat ay sa kabayanan magtungo ang Pangulo upang makita ang tunay na kalagayan ng bayan ng Hagonoy. Iyon ay dahil sa dalawang araw na iyon ng Huwebes at Biyernes ay umabot hanggang hita ang tubig sa kabayanan kung kaya’t ang sasakyan ay hindi makabiyahe. Dahil dito, ang mga residente sa mga dulong barangay ay sinusundo at inihahatid ng mga trak bilang bahagi ng programang Oplan Tawid Kalakhan ng pamahalaang bayan. Maging ang bungad ng Sta. Monica Elementary School ay lubog sa tubig noong Biyernes kung kaya’t nang dumating si Pangulong Arroyo ay naglagay ang pamahalaang bayan ng tulay na kahoy na may lapad na isang metro upang hindi mabasa ang paa ng Pangulo at mga kasama nito. Ang ibang residenteng nagsipaghintay ay nakababad ang paa sa tubig.

INIAABOT ni Pangulong Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ang isang bag ng lambat sa isang mangingisdang taga-Hagonoy na naapektuhan ng bagyong Frank noong dulo ng Hunyo. Bumista ang pangulo sa

Sta. Monica High School sa Hagonoy noong Biyernes, Hulyo 18, kung saan ay pinangunahan niya ang pamamahagi ng mga tulong para sa mga residenteng nasalanta ng bagyo. — DINO BALABO

NAGLUNSAD ang pamahalaang bayan ng Hagonoy sa pangunguna ni Mayor Angel Cruz ng “Oplan Tawid Kalakhan” kung saan isinasakay sa dump truck ang mga residente patungo sa kabayanan

mula sa mga dulong barangay na lubog sa tubig kapag high tide. Gayunpaman, marami pa ring residente ang napipilitang sumakay sa mga tricycle na sumisingil ng mataas na pamasahe. — DINO BALABO