March | 2007 | Northern Dispatch (nordis) Weekly

No peace with Anti-Terror Law

March 31, 2007 in general, human rights, national

BAGUIO CTIY (Mar. 31) — There is no chance for peace with the passage of the Human Security Act more popularly known as the Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB), a veteran human rights lawyer and activist said in a forum today, March 31, held here at the Bishop’s House.

Atty. Neri Colmenares, spokesperson of the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (Codal) and Bayan Muna third nominee said the passage of the ATB made peace talks between government and rebel groups impossible. He said that aside from the general rule of government not to negotiate with terrorists, the said law criminalized negotiation with groups declared as terrorists such as the New People’s Army (NPA), Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). He also said the passage of the law insults the rebel groups. Read the rest of this entry →

Friends, supporters upbeat on Satur’s release

March 31, 2007 in general, human rights, national

BAGUIO CTIY (Mar. 31) — Friends and supporters of Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo are optimistic Ocampo would be released this coming Tuesday, April 3 after the Supreme Court (SC) declared that the case filed against him is defective.

Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares, Ocampo’s co-nominee for Bayan Muna is hopeful he would be out of jail by Tuesday. He said the SC’s decision on Ocampo’s release would be announced on Tuesday. Read the rest of this entry →

Molintas challenges Domogan for congress

March 31, 2007 in Baguio City, elections, general

8 contenders challenge Yaranon for mayorship

BAGUIO CITY (March 30) — It can be considered a David versus Goliath story in this city as Councilor Jose Mencio Molintas, of the United Opposition (UNO), battles for the top position against incumbent Rep. Mauricio Domogan, a rabid ally of the Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

In the election history of this city, it was in the 2004 mayoralty contest when the daring crusader Councilor Braulio Yaranon defeated then incumbent mayor Bernardo Vergara, who was the administration candidate with more than generous resources for the political election campaign. Yaranon made history when he with his simple conviction and limited resources defeated the incumbent by thousands of votes, a-never in Baguio’s election history. Read the rest of this entry →

Pangrehiyong kumbensyon ng Kabataan Partylist idinaos

March 31, 2007 in Cordillera, elections, general

BAGUIO CITY (Mar. 30)—Idinaos ang panrehiyong kumbensyon (Regional Convention) ng Kabataan Partylist, ang pinakamalawak na organisasyon ng mga kabataan sa buong Pilipinas, noong Linggo, Marso 25 sa Igorot Park, Baguio City na dinaluhan ng humigit-kumulang 350 kabataan mula sa iba’t ibang probinsiya ng Kordilyera.

Bagaman umuulan-ulan, matagumpay na naidaos ang kumbensyon na nagumpisa sa isang motorcade bandang 11:30 ng umaga. Ang motorcade nagsimula sa Baguio Convention Center papuntang Session Road at Baguio Public Market at nagtapos sa Igorot Park. Mahigit 10 dyip ang dumalo sa nasabing motorcade. Read the rest of this entry →

Kalinga folk reject geothermal project

March 31, 2007 in Cordillera, energy, general, land rights

TINGLAYAN, Kalinga (Mar. 30) — In solid show of consensus, the Indigenous Peoples of Barangays Tulgao East and West rejected the Geothermal Project proposed by the Guidance Management Corporation a (GMC)- Aragorn Power and Energy Corporation (APEC) in a Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) process last Thursday, March 22 held at the St. Dominic’s Church in Tulgao West, Tinglayan, Kalinga.

Tulgao folk rejected the geothermal project due to their strong recognition of the importance of their Ancestral Domain as intrinsic to their lives, identity, sense of history and preserving the environment to ensure a good future for the next generations of their tribe. They were also concerned that the project may trigger tribal wars with nearby tribes because the project will cross ancestral domain boundaries. They have for a long time maintained bodong or peace pacts with neighboring tribes. Read the rest of this entry →

Patrolling policemen ambushed in Abra

March 31, 2007 in Cordillera, general, insurgency

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet (Mar. 30) — One policeman was killed while two others were wounded when New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas waylaid two teams of patrolling policemen along the forest between Lacub and Tineg, Abra on Thursday afternoon.

Guerrillas of the NPA’s Abra-based Agustin Begnalen Command surprised two teams of the First Regional Mobile Group (RMG) of the Philippine National Police-Cordillera led by Police Inspector Rey Tad-o while reportedly patrolling the said area at around 1:30 PM. Read the rest of this entry →

CPDF tells AFP to ‘stop lying’

March 31, 2007 in Cordillera, general, insurgency

BAGUIO CTIY (Mar. 30) — The Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF), in a statement sent to the media, called on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to stop lying to the public.

CPDF Spokesperson Simon “Ka Filiw” Naogsan in a statement criticized Lt. General Bonifacio Ramos, commander of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) of the AFP for lying to the public about an alleged abandoned New People’s Army (NPA) camp at Mount Abikiyan in Aguid, Sagada, Mountain Province last March 9. Read the rest of this entry →

NPA hits US gov’t, denies drugs trade involvement

March 31, 2007 in Cordillera, general, insurgency

BAGUIO CTIY (Mar. 30) — The New People’s Army-Ilocos-Cordillera criticized the United States government for accusing the NPA of maintaining or protecting marijuana plantations in the Cordillera.

In a statement, Martin Montana, spokesperson of the NPA’s Chadli Molintas Command dismissed the allegations as a “typical psywar tactic” of the US military. He added that the US is accusing the NPA to be involved in the illegal drug trade for a greater military intervention in the country. Read the rest of this entry →

Editorial Cartoon: 1 April 2007

March 31, 2007 in general

Editorial: RP Asia’s most democratic country

March 31, 2007 in editorials, general, opinion

Republic of the Philippines “the most democratic country in Asia.” This is what our cute president declared in a speech delivered at the Manila Hotel a few days ago.

Did she mean to redefine the meaning of the word Democracy? There was a time Democracy was defined as a government of the people, by the people and for the people. When people in government are meant to selflessly serve the citizens. Could democracy in this country now mean:

Keeping up with the world record for Political or extra-judicial killings? Where journalists, lawyers, priests, lobbyists, labor leaders, student activists, peasant leaders, critical tribal leaders and party list members are either shot or gagged in their pursuit of their professions? Where community leaders are shot because they dared to question why government services are not delivered to their communities? Where political opponents are killed in public? Read the rest of this entry →

Advocate's Overview: Election based on issues

March 31, 2007 in columns, general, opinion

By ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW

It is now the middle of the campaign for the senatorial candidates. The local campaign has just started. However, I observed that senatorial candidates failed to share their position on various issues of national significance.

So far, they only made promises to address housing, health services, education, food on the table etc. They failed to substantially discuss how they will address these issues concretely. Our election remains to be a venue for promises. Read the rest of this entry →

Brutally Frank: Political dynasties

March 31, 2007 in columns, general, opinion

By MARY ANN “MANJA” BAYANG

Political dynasties are prohibited in the Philippines – but it is not punishable and it has become part of a Filipino culture. Political dynasties run the country – from the highest post to the lowest barangay council. Every election time, we hear the same names and see the same faces.

Section 26, Article II of the Philippine Constitution provides that “the State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service, and PROHIBIT POLITICAL DYNASTIES as may be defined by law.” The thrust of this provision is to impose on the state the obligation of guaranteeing equal access to public office. As Commissioner Sarmiento aptly explained, “By including this provision, we widen the opportunities of competent, young and promising poor candidates to occupy important positions in the government. While it is true we have government officials who ascended to power despite accident of birth, they are exceptions to general rule. The economic standing of these officials would show that they come from powerful clans with vast economic fortunes.” Read the rest of this entry →

Weekly Reflections: Breaking the silence

March 31, 2007 in columns, general, opinion

By REV. LUNA L. DINGAYAN

“Jesus said to her, ‘My daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace, and be healed of your trouble.” — Mark 5:34

A Seminar-Workshop on HIV/AIDS

I would like to share with you some reflections on HIV/AIDS that I shared with a group of young people from all over Asia including the Philippines organized by the Asian Methodist Youth Network (AMYN). They had a seminar-workshop on HIV/AIDS here in our city with the theme, “Breaking the Silence.”

HIV/AIDS is no longer just be the problem of people in Africa; rather it is now a global problem. It is not just an epidemic; it is now endemic. Epidemics go away, they say; but endemic diseases remain. Some would even call it pandemic due to the magnitude of the problem. Read the rest of this entry →

Burburtia Krokis: 1 April 2007 (Puzzle)

March 31, 2007 in general

By ART B. BELISARIO

ACROSS
1 kantyaw (Ilok);
5 metal na elemento, o tipo ng kulay-asul (Eng);
11 halamang nakakain mula ugat hanggang dahon (Ilok);
12 umusbong, lumitaw (Eng); Read the rest of this entry →

Makan a la Pinoy: BBQ sarsa ken marinada

March 31, 2007 in food, general

Ni BRENDA S. DACPANO

Paborito ti kaaduan ti barbecue, uray ania a klase… sibubukel a manok, nailgat iti naingpis a karne, lames wenno nateng. Ti sekreto ti nananam a bbq ket adda iti sarsa, pangiyuperan wenno dadduma pay a maisapsapo ken maipulagid ditoy.

Padasen yo dagiti sumaganad ta bareng no magustuan yo. Read the rest of this entry →

Salun-at tayo, biag tayo: DAGITI UMISU KEN UMNO A PANANGTARIPATO KADAGITI UBBING

March 31, 2007 in general, health

Dagiti nasustansya a taraon

Panagpasuso

Maiyallukoy ti panagpasuso ti ina ngem iti panagpasuso iti botelya gapu ta ket mas superyor.

Pasusuen a dagus ti maladaga apaman a maipasngay. Ti panagpasuso a dagus iti maladaga ket makatulong iti panagpatubbog iti a gatas. Maikkan iti gundaway ti maladga a masusuna ti umuna a tubbog ti suso iti inana a colostrum. Read the rest of this entry →

Anti-spam measure

March 29, 2007 in notices

Due to a tremendous increase in spam comments which have been flooding our blog in the past couple of weeks (although they are stuck at the moderation queue until we can pick out the valid comments and trash the rest), we are now forced to tighten restrictions. For now, visitors to the Nordis website can comment only if they first register as users. We encourage our regular readers to register, which is a simple and straightforward procedure.

Military presence alarms Ilocos Sur HR watchdog

March 24, 2007 in general, human rights, Ilocos

VIGAN CITY, Ilocos Sur (Mar. 20) — According to a human rights watchdog here, “the province of Ilocos Sur is under intensified militarization as part of the National Internal Security Plan (NISP) being launched by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with the aim to annihilate party lists groups and progressive organizations.”

The Ilocos Human Rights Advocates (IHRA-Karapatan) denounced the relentless militarization here and pointed at the military as the number one human rights violator. Read the rest of this entry →

Consumers bear cost of power pilferage

March 24, 2007 in Baguio City, energy, general

BAGUIO CITY (Mar. 22) — Systems losses does not quite hurt Benguet Electric Cooperative (Beneco) management but it is heavy on the pocket of power consumers, Beneco disclosed in a recent press conference.

Guidelines from the National Electrification Administration (NEA) allows electric cooperative a 14% rate on recovery on systems loss, Beneco Officer-in-charge Lawrence Umaming revealed. This means an additional amount in the unbundled power rates consumers have to bear, according to Umaming. Read the rest of this entry →