Tabuk City pawnshop tunneled into

HARD LUCK PAWNSHOP. The first attempt in 2009 was foiled but a second attempt to tunnel into the Anytime Cash Pawnshop in Tabuk City was successful. In photo are policemen bringing out the digging instruments of the robbers on April 18, 2011.** Photo by Estanislao Albano, Jr.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Even criminal gangs live by the saying “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.”
Almost two years after the police thwarted an attempt to break into the Anytime Cash Sanglaaan pawnshop along Mayangao Street here, the establishment was ransacked last weekend.
The robbers gained entry into the pawnshop through a hole bored through the concrete floor from a meter-wide tunnel under the pawnshop coming from the drainage canal some three meters away.
Quoting Norilyn Tambogon, 33, and Bobby Cunanan, 34, branch head and assistant branch head of the pawnshop chain, respectively, the police said that the robbers carted away more or less P100,000.00 from the cashier’s table drawer and an Asus computer monitor.
The two who reported the robbery to the police minutes after they discovered it last Monday morning further informed that the robbers tried to open the vault with a bolt cutter but did not succeed.
Perhaps that’s what they will work harder on next time.
On the first week of June 2009, the local police foiled an attempt to tunnel into the pawnshop.
Acting on an intelligence that some people were digging a tunnel underneath unidentified business establishments along Mayangao Street from the nearby drainage canal, police investigators found a freshly dug tunnel underneath the pawnshop.
The police staked the pawnshop starting on June 3 but when the robbers did not return on June 8, they concluded that the gang may have caught wind that the police were aware of what they were up to and abandoned the planned heist.
The police exposed the aborted robbery attempt on June 8 by digging at the doorstep of the pawnshop in full public view. They recovered the following equipment from the tunnel: two shovels, one bolt cutter, one hydraulic jack, three improvised chisels, one insecticide spray and a black bag containing five plastic water containers and candies.
This time around, police investigators retrieved from the crime scene an array of digging and boring tools including five crowbars of various sizes, a short shovel, bolt cutter, haydraulic jack, sledge hammer, hand drill and a flashlight.
Investigator Aurelio Bitanga said that the robbers dug alongside the old tunnel which was plugged with gravel and boulders.
He also said that the pawnshop employees have not reported any missing jewelries pawned with the shop. **

Kaingin not only means of livelihood – Tubban

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Mayor Ferdinand Tubban cannot accept the claim of  constituents engaged in kaingin or slash and burn farming that if they stop the practice, they will starve to death.
 During the annual consultation and planning session for the  barangays of Magnao and Guilayon held in the former barangay on April 19, Tubban firmly told officials and residents in the area to stop the practice of cutting trees and burning the flora on the mountainsides.
 He said that the practice not only worsens the problem of pollution considering that plants especially trees absorb carbon dioxide but it also causes landslides and dries up water sources.
 He reminded that the city already had an experience with a deadly landslide.
 He also pointed out that under the development master plan of the city, the two barangays form a  part of the area designated for tourism activities.
 Tubban refuted the claim of resident Alex Baralin that people in Magnao will not live if they stopped making kaingins recalling that back in the old days, residents of the barangay were able to live on the yield of their coffee plantations and fruit trees.  
 He urged the residents of the two barangays to stop thinking that  slash and burn farming is the only means of livelihood  available to them and instead should explore other possibilities.
 He also advised that since their current means of eking out a living is detrimental to the environment, they should prioritize livelihood in their barangay development plans.
 “You could live without burning trees. It is you who could think of remedies. Think about the best alternative livelihood and let’s see how the LGU could assist you,” Tubban said.
 The ZZW would learn from Magnao resident Peter Gonayon that the slash and burn farming and the burning of mountainsides escalated three years ago when the use of weedicides was introduced in the barangay  simplifying and shortening the process of farm preparation.
 Gonayon said that from then on, corn dislodged rice as the prime agricultural product of the barangay as it could be planted twice a year unlike upland rice which could only be planted once a year.
 He added that the economic returns of corn is much better than that of rice and coffee  but it  led to the clearing of even the mountaintops which is used to be spared from the kaingin practice.
 Interviewed after the consultations, Baralin said that he sees the point of Tubban but insisted it is impossible to grow rice or corn under trees.
 Baralin also claimed that 99 percent of residents of Magnao are kaingineros.
 The situation in Magnao which, incidentally, is the birthplace of Tubban’s father, Thomas, is a challenge to Tubban whose campaign platform and later executive agenda which has the acrostic SAVE EARTH is  very strong on environmental protection.**

SC finally rules - Tabuk and 15 others are really cities

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The David and Goliath match-up is over and it ended like the Biblical showdown of yore.
Voting 7-6, the Supreme Court (SC) dismissed with finality during its session in Baguio City last Tuesday the motion for reconsideration (MR) of the 122-strong League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) of the court’s February 15, 2011 ruling which upheld the constitutionality of the laws converting 16 muncipalities into the so-called 16 new cities.
In junking the MR, the court demolished the contention of the league that the 16 new cities are unqualified because their local incomes are way below the P100,000,000.00 local income required by RA 9009 for towns to become cities.
The court pointed out that Congress clearly intended the 16 erstwhile towns to be exempted from the P100,000,000.00 local income requirement set by RA 9009 which took effect on June 30, 2001 when the cityhood bills were already pending in Congress.
The decision which was penned by Associate Justice Lucas Bersamin also debunked the argument of the LCP that it is not hard to comply with RA 9009 citing as proof the recent conversion of some towns after having hurdled the income requirement by pointing out that almost half of the 122 members of the league have local incomes below P100,000,000.00.
The court also called the new income requirement arbitrary as it was not supported by research and empirical data and did not take into account the effects of its imposition.
“While the Constitution mandates that the creation of local government units must comply with the criteria laid down in the LGC (Local Government Code), it cannot be justified to insist that the Constitution must have to yield to every amendment to the LGC despite such amendment imminently producing effects contrary to the original thrusts of the LGC to promote autonomy, decentralization, countryside development, and the concomitant national growth,” the court said.
The LCP has been insisting that the cityhood laws violated Article X Section 10 of the Constitution which provides that “no province, city, municipality or barangay shall be created, divided, merged, abolished or its boundary substantially altered, except in accordance with the criteria established in the local government code and subject to approval by a majority of the votes cast in a plebiscite in the political units directly affected.”
Meantime, the two top officials of this city who have been grappling with the problems resulting from the drastic reduction of the city’s internal revenue allotment (IRA) since they assumed office June 30 of last year lauded the last ruling of the SC.
The P31M monthly IRA of the city which it started receiving in January 2008 was reduced to P11M in June 2009 after the SC issued an entry of judgment on its April 28, 2009 ruling denying the second MR of the 16 new cities of the October Nov. 18, 2008 decision declaring unconstitutional the 16 cityhood laws for violation of Section 6 and 10, Article X of the Constitution.
The sharp reduction of the IRA derailed the development projects as well as affected seriously the delivery of the newly improved services of the city to the detriment of constituents and until now, city officials still have their hands full trying to make both ends meet.
Vice Mayor Darwin Estranero who is new in politics was elated that with the ruling, Tabuk will soon enjoy all the privileges of a city one of which is the increased IRA.
“We are happy because the services we promised during the elections would be realized considering that if indeed the decision is final, our city IRA would soon come. We have been waiting for this because it is our only hope all plans for the city will be realized,” Estranero said.
“For one, we could allocate more funds to peace and order programs which hopefully, would improve our peace and order situation. The peace and order situation remains as one of the number one deterrent to the coming of more investors into the city. More investors would spell speedier economic growth for the city,” Estranero added.
Mayor Ferdinand Tubban who is also new to an elective position thanks God for the victory of the 16 new cities in the SC.
“We thank God that the Supreme Court has declared with finality that Tabuk is a city. There was a time when our quest for cityhood looked hopeless but that did not discourage us. Instead, we were challenged to entrust the matter to God because He is the source of all good,” Tubban said.
Tubban is in the midst of retrenching casual, contractual and job order employees of the LGU because for this year, the amount available for their wages is only P9.5M when the amount necessary to maintain the 416-strong non-regular workforce for the whole year is P19.8M.
Despite the reduction in the IRA, the LGU was able to maintain the services of the non-regular employees through belt-tightening measures, sacrifice of some projects and services and by using the allocations for the unfilled positions in the plantilla.
This year, however, this is no longer possible as the unfilled positions have already been abolished.
Tubban also recognized the people who contributed to the attainment of cityhood including former mayor Basilio Wandag during whose term the drive was set into motion and former congressman Laurence Wacnang who filed the bill in Congress.
“We also thank the many residents of the city who even when the situation seemed hopeless still helped us pray that finally, the Supreme Court will decide in our favor,” Tubban said.
Unlike in the original David and Goliath confrontation which was quickly resolved, however, the struggle between the 16 new cities and the LCP was long drawn and with each side experiencing changes in fortunes a couple of times.
The LCP took the first round when on November 18,2008 the SC declared the laws converting 16 municipalities into cities unconstitutional.
Undaunted by the setback, the 16 new cities fought on and on Dec. 21, 2009, they won a reversal.
But on August 24, 2010, the SC reversed itself anew. This, too, did not take out the fight from the 16 new cities who filed an MR which was granted on February 15, 2011.
Reacting to the reported plan of the LCP to file a second MR, City Legal Counsel Edward Kiser said that this would be an exercise in futility because Section 5, Rule 27 of the Rules of Court disallows a second motion once a ruling becomes final.
“It is clear in the resolution that their MR has been denied with finality. Furthermore, the decision is not only for the MR but for the whole case as it sustained with finality the constitutionality of the conversion of the 16 new cities. If they file an MR, it will be considered a prohibited pleading,” Kiser opined.**

Matagoan Program of the Tabuk City LGU institutionalized

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Ten years after it inception and after reaping national and even international recognition, the Matagoan Program of this city’s LGU has been institutionalized through an ordinance passed recently.
The program is intended to bring about peace between feuding parties though the usage of indigenous peace-making practices. It also advances the cause of peace in the community by passing policies which aim to prevent disputes and to govern the settlement of disputes in the event they break out.
On the basis of the program’s accomplishments during the period 2006-2008 foremost of which is the improvement of the peace and order situation, the LGU received the prestigious Galing Pook Award in 2009 making it the first ever Cordillera LGU to win the award.
The Galing Pook Foundation chose the Matagoan Program as its entry in the seminar conducted by Liaison Group, the network of award-giving bodies of various countries including the Galing Pook based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in Cusco, Peru on December 8-13,2010.
Former Tabuk City mayor Camilo Lammawin, Jr., the initiator of the program, presented the same during the seminar which dealt with movements and innovations being made to improve the lot of indigenous peoples around the world.
Authored by Councilor Faustino Teckney, Jr., Ordinance No. 03, series of 2011, institutionalized the Matagoan Program as the peace program of the city and also provides that allocation for its implemented be included in the annual budget.
Section 2 of the ordinance created the Matagoan Bodong Consultative Council which consists of the city mayor who is chairman, the vice mayor who is vice chairman, the program coordinator and other members who may be appointed by the mayor.
Under Section 4, the following are the functions of the MBCC: acts as policy-making and peace-making body; oversees the implementation of approved peace policies; mediates and conciliates; initiates dornats (rewarming) of the bodong or peace pact; conducts information and education campaign on the program.
In the brief explanatory note, the ordinance recalled that the Matagoan Program was established in 2001 “to establish Tabuk as a peace sanctuary by restoring harmonious relationships and peaceful co-existence between and among the concerned tribes in the place by employing traditional and alternative means of resolving their cases involving both inter-personal and inter-tribal disputes or conflicts.”
It reasoned that since the program is an effective and efficient peace-making means, there is a need to institutionalize it “to help preserve peace and order in Tabuk.”
Program Coordinator Alexander Gunaban lauded the passage of the ordinance saying that now, the program is assured of continuity and regular funding.
He explained that the Matagoan Program is just a special program under the office of the mayor and as such could be discontinued anytime. The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) may or may not also allocate funds for it.
He bared that up until now, the Matagoan Program does not have an allocation of its own but shares in the budget of the City Peace and Order Council. ** 

EMB Kalinga tells gold miners to shift to safer methods

By Gigi Dumallig, PIA CAR/Kalinga

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Small scale miners here should shift to the use of environmentally friendly processes to prevent further pollution of river systems in the province due to the use of mercury in their mining practices.
This is the recommendation of Environment and Management Bureau (EMB) Provincial Officer Engr. Ricardo Dang-iw concerning the latest findings that traces of mercury were found during a recent chemical sampling of the major waterways in the province.
Mining industries are now using Carbon in Pulp (CIP) extraction technique for recovery of gold which has been liberated into a cyanide solution as part of the gold cyanidation process. This should also be adopted in the province to get away from the use of mercury, Dang-iw said.
Because of its detrimental effect on health and the environment, the use of mercury is not allowed in mines. This is aside from the fact that most mercury sources are illegal and if produced it is only allowed for pharmaceutical purposes, explained Dang-iw.
“Mercury is not sold in stores and there are only a few identified regulated industries given the authority to sell this chemical,” he said.
He said that local governments with mining operations in their localities should take action and help local miners to gradually adjust from their traditional mining practices to friendlier methods.
“We have government agencies like the Mines and Geological Bureau (MGB) to assist them set up the new technical processes in local mines,” Dang-iw said suggesting that as a start, the local government units should already issue moratorium on the use of mercury for the miners to comply with the use of safer mining practices.
Asked why not a total mercury ban, he said that the moratorium period will provide the small scale miners time to adjust and adopt the new technology so as not to disrupt their livelihood activities.
He underscored the need for an immediate action from the concerned LGUs not only to protect the river ways but most especially the health of those directly in contact with said hazardous chemical during amalgamation and rode processes.
A sizable income he said is useless if in the future, one ends up using it to just to stay alive from an incurable illness.
Concerning the mercury traces, Dang-iw said that the EMB could not yet determine the extent of contamination since the sampling conducted last January was the first chemical testing in the province. He said that at least a series of water sampling is needed to do the comparison.
He however emphasized that any traces of mercury in water ways should already cause an alarm for the community. It should be expected he said that a higher concentration is possible in the tributaries at the mining areas since the water sampling was conducted only in the lower river portion covered by the EMB test areas.
The province at present has two identified small scale mining areas located in the municipalities of Balbalan and Pasil.
Concerned with the findings, Tabuk City Mayor Ferdinand Tubban recently called the attention of the EMB to also furnish the local government of Tabuk a copy of the findings and recommendation for proper action of the LGU. Tabuk is dependent on the Chico River for its water source for its farm and household needs. **

Army confiscates 2,920 board feet of narra

Peter A. Balocnit

TABUK, Kalinga – Elements of the 77th Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army based at barangay Bantay here confiscated recently 2,920 board feet of narra at the Calanan junction road.
The seizure of the prohibited forest product is the first act of security officers in the province to carry out the mandate of President Aquino in Executive Order No. 23 banning cutting and harvesting of timber in natural and residual forests.
According to reports, the military acted on a tip that a white Elf was loaded with 255 narra lumber flitch being transported along the Pinukpuk-Tabuk national road . Upon confirmation of the information, elements of the 77th IB, 501st Brigade conducted a checkpoint at the Calanan junction here and apprehended said contraband. However, the driver escaped, the report said.
The contraband estimated to value P145,000.00 (local price) was loaded on a drop side type Mitsubishi Canter (not an Isuzu Elf) with plate number THW 944. Immediately after the seizure, the forest items were turned over to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office here for safekeeping pending the administrative adjudication of the case.
Bonifacio Manganip, Forest Protection Officer of the CENRO said their office posted a notice to the public calling on owners or claimants of said sawn narra lumber to claim the same within 15 days and bring along documents showing proof of ownership and permit allowing cutting and transport.
“If no claimant will appear after the 15-day claiming period, CENRO will issue a notice of hearing for administrative adjudication and if warranted, recommend forfeiture of the items in favor of the government,” he said.
As provided in EO 23, the Armed Forces of the Philippines is a member of the anti-illegal logging task force organized in every province together with the DENR as lead agency; Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Philippine National Police. ** 

Security force dispatched to Lubo, Tanudan to pacify clan conflict

By Peter A. Balocnit , PIA-CAR/Kalinga

TABUK, Kalinga – Security forces from the army and the police are now dispatched in Lubo, Tanudan to pacify the looming clan conflict that claimed two more lives this month.
Fourteen enlisted personnel from the 21st Infantry Battalion, 501st Brigade under 1Lt. Aries Apduhan are now stationed at Lubo to augment local police to fprestall the escalation of hostilities.
Another team from the provincial PNP mobile group will join the peacekeeping force as soon as assignments of personnel in other risk areas are put in place to avoid a security vacuum.
Tanudan Mayor Johnwell Tigganay earlier requested for a peacekeeping force to be deployed in the area. The request was made through the Provincial Peace and Order Council chaired by Gov. Jocel Baac.
Baac directed during the PPOC meeting last week to send a composite team to avert further bloodshed. A composite team was immediately organized and a detachment was established in the conflict zone.
It may be recalled that Roger Cullapoy and Sallaya Condaya of the Angnganay clan were killed in separate incidents the past weeks allegedly by their enemies in a vendetta.
Tiggangay said a Scene of the Crime Operative team went to Lubo to conduct investigations on the killing of Condaya and criminal charges were filed in court against the suspects. **

Tabuk City corn farmers rue tumbling prices

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Rolando Bangibang, a village councilor, said that his fellow farmers in barangay Cudal who harvested and sold their corn crops up to three weeks ago wore wide smiles on their faces.
“But those who are harvesting now have grim looks on their faces,” the barangay official said.
The reason the mood changed among corn farmers in Cudal and in all other corn-producing places in the city is that starting the first week of March, the prices of corn which hit an all time high of P14.50 per kilo for dried grains in mid-February started to decline steadily.
When the ZZW checked on April 1, the prices have gone down to P10.50 per kilo for dried and P6.50 for undried.
Bangibang said that those who harvested early were able to pay their loans with the village cooperative but that on the other hand, you cannot see those who are harvesting now settling their obligations with the lending institution.
He said that most of the farmers of Cudal borrow their farming capital which averages P25,000.00 per hectare from the village cooperative.
City alderman Martinez Vicente, a resident of barangay Calaccad where like in Cudal 90 percent of the population depend on their cornfields for their sustenance, said that at the current price, corn farmers are lucky if they break even.
“At P10.50 per kilo, you could profit if your harvest is good but if not, then you could even lose considering the high cost of farm inputs and labor nowadays,” Vicente said.
Martinez, however, does not blame local traders for the adverse developments saying that it is the big millers in Isabela with whom the former do business who are setting the prices.
Evelyn Barroga, provincial manager of the National Food Authority (NFA), said that the downtrend in corn prices is caused by the near simultaneous harvest in most of the corn-producing areas in the country.
She informed that with the expected effect of the peaking of the harvest nationwide on the prices of the staple, the NFA is ready to purchase from farmers the moment prices in the market equals or becomes lower than the government support price of P10.40 per kilo.
“For Kalinga, we have P10M allocation for this cropping season. That is equivalent to 12,000 bags. If the prices in the market continue to dip, we could request for augmentation. Last year, we bought 50,000 bags,” Barroga said.
“We are ready to buy whenever the outside prices become lower than the government support price. We are ready to come to the rescue of the farmers,” Barroga added.
In the case of rice, Barroga informed that her office has a budget of P142M to purchase the staple from Kalinga farmers in 2011.
Regarding the complaint of local rice farmers that the quality standards of the agency is too astringent, Barroga said that they have no choice “because we are using government funds for the procurement.”
“The high standards is normal in the existence of the NFA because of the policy of stocking the rice as buffer. It takes at least six months before we dispose of the stock unlike private traders who have brisk turnover of stocks” Barroga said.** 

Tabuk City now jueteng free – but for how long?

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – As this news is being written, this city is jueteng-free.
No less than Chief of Police Bobby Glen Ganipac declared to the ZZW that the illegal numbers game no longer exists in his jurisdiction.
Ganipac could not give a definite answer though when the ZZW asked when exactly did Tabuk achieve its new status vis-a-vis jueteng only saying “nabayagen” (long ago.)
When the ZZW pressed him for a specific time, he said it could be a month.
On the other hand, a source at the City Hall had earlier told the ZZW that it was last March 22 that the gambling operation ceased.
But the ZZW is more inclined to believe the statement of a jueteng bettor who said that it was only on Monday, March 28, that the cobradors or jueteng bet collectors stopped plying their trade.
He recalled that the winning numbers in the morning and afternoon draws last Sunday were 21-1 and 17-1, respectively.
The bettor does not believe that the city has heard the last of the local jueteng operation saying that several times in the past, the activity had stopped but these only turned out to be mere lulls.
As for Ganipac, he assured the ZZW that the stoppage of the operation is for good.
When the ZZW asked him if those behind the operation stopped the activity on their own free will, Ganipac answered it was the police who stopped them.
As of press time, the ZZW could not reach the Kalinga and Apayao Religious Sector Association (KARSA), an organization of clergymen which has been waging an uphill battle against the social menace for years now, for comment.
Earlier, the ZZW had tipped the KARSA of the new development and the latter had promised to send someone to place a bet to test the veracity of the information.
The bettor the ZZW talked to estimated the daily jueteng take in the city to be at the vicinity P100,000.00.
**

Tabuk City corn farmers rue tumbling prices

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Rolando Bangibang, a village councilor, said that his fellow farmers in barangay Cudal who harvested and sold their corn crops up to three weeks ago wore wide smiles on their faces.
“But those who are harvesting now have grim looks on their faces,” the barangay official said.
The reason the mood changed among corn farmers in Cudal and in all other corn-producing places in the city is that starting the first week of March, the prices of corn which hit an all time high of P14.50 per kilo for dried grains in mid-February started to decline steadily.
When the ZZW checked on April 1, the prices have gone down to P10.50 per kilo for dried and P6.50 for undried.
Bangibang said that those who harvested early were able to pay their loans with the village cooperative but that on the other hand, you cannot see those who are harvesting now settling their obligations with the lending institution.
He said that most of the farmers of Cudal borrow their farming capital which averages P25,000.00 per hectare from the village cooperative.
City alderman Martinez Vicente, a resident of barangay Calaccad where like in Cudal 90 percent of the population depend on their cornfields for their sustenance, said that at the current price, corn farmers are lucky if they break even.
“At P10.50 per kilo, you could profit if your harvest is good but if not, then you could even lose considering the high cost of farm inputs and labor nowadays,” Vicente said.
Martinez, however, does not blame local traders for the adverse developments saying that it is the big millers in Isabela with whom the former do business who are setting the prices.
Evelyn Barroga, provincial manager of the National Food Authority (NFA), said that the downtrend in corn prices is caused by the near simultaneous harvest in most of the corn-producing areas in the country.
She informed that with the expected effect of the peaking of the harvest nationwide on the prices of the staple, the NFA is ready to purchase from farmers the moment prices in the market equals or becomes lower than the government support price of P10.40 per kilo.
“For Kalinga, we have P10M allocation for this cropping season. That is equivalent to 12,000 bags. If the prices in the market continue to dip, we could request for augmentation. Last year, we bought 50,000 bags,” Barroga said.
“We are ready to buy whenever the outside prices become lower than the government support price. We are ready to come to the rescue of the farmers,” Barroga added.
In the case of rice, Barroga informed that her office has a budget of P142M to purchase the staple from Kalinga farmers in 2011.
Regarding the complaint of local rice farmers that the quality standards of the agency is too astringent, Barroga said that they have no choice “because we are using government funds for the procurement.”
“The high standards is normal in the existence of the NFA because of the policy of stocking the rice as buffer. It takes at least six months before we dispose of the stock unlike private traders who have brisk turnover of stocks” Barroga said.**