Sunday, December 24, 2006

Christmas Message of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo

Dahil sa biyaya ng Diyos, ang kalagayan ng ating bansa ay nagiging magandaat matatag.

The dawning of the year, it will all come together in the Mighty Grace ofthe Lord.Ang mga ipinatutupad nating reporma ay magbubunga na -- lalong mapapabutiang mga serbisyo sa mamamayan.

Asahan nating darami pa ang mga puhunan attrabaho sa mga darating na araw sa patuloy nating paglaban sa kahirapan.This is our mission: to build prosperity for the greatest number of ourpeople.

Tulungan natin ang mga biktima ng kalamidad with heartfelt compassion andgenerosity, sharing and caring for those in direst need.At sa pagsapit ng Bagong Taon, nawa’y lalo tayong pagpalain ng Poong Maykapal.Merry Christmas at Mabuhay ang Pilipinas. -OPS

Radio correspondent survives ambush in San Jose City

A correspondent of dzMM radio station was shot and wounded by a man aboard a motorcycle in San Jose City on Friday.

Rufino “Butch” Gamboa was aboard a tricycle on his way home when he was attacked.

Gamboa, who is also a reporter for the provincial radio station dwNE , suffered two bullet wounds in his left arm and chest. He covered an affair where Nueva Ecija Vice Gov. Mariano Cristino Joson was the speaker on Friday.

Gamboa’s son took him to the affair aboard the family’s jeepney. Gamboa, however, decided to send his son home earlier and he took a tricycle after his coverage.

The motorcycle went close to the driver’s side of the tricycle and the gunman fired successively at Gamboa.
Gamboa, though wounded, alighted from the tricycle and ran. -Anselmo S. Roque

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Gapan dad survives ambush; aide killed

GAPAN CITY - The bodyguard of a city councilor was killed while three persons were wounded in an ambush staged by still unidentified suspects in this southern Nueva Ecija city Wednesday morning, police reported.

Supt. Arnel Santiago, the Gapan police chief, said the security aide, Henry Manggit, died on the spot.
Brought to a local hospital were Sangguniang Panlungsod member Elpidio Rueda, Police Officer 1 Baltazar de la Cruz and another policeman, and private security escorts Nori Jacinto and Eric Fernandez.

Police said Rueda and his group were on their way home in a van to Barangay Sta. Cruz after coming from the city’s public market when they were fired on by men in a gray van.

The ambushers then sped away. -Armand Galang

Monday, December 18, 2006

P30-million bridge in Cabiao completed

CABIAO, Nueva Ecija- After a long wait, the thousands of farming families in this southwest Nueva Ecija municipality will enjoy easy access to the business community after the P30-million concrete bridge has been completed.

Rep. Rodolfo Antonino and Mayor Gloria Crespo-Congco inaugurated the 150-meter bridge in Barangay San Carlos recently.

Congco said that besides direct economic benefits, residents would also benefit from faster delivery of relief goods during calamities.

In the past, she pointed out, rural villages were accessible during calamities only through boats and aircraft. She said the bridge will bring development, citing rising land prices in the area.

The town market, she said, will have greater commerce with easier transport for goods and other commodities.

Congco said the bridge is a dream come true for every child in the community.

“It has been [a long wait through] three presidents, several congressmen and mayors,” she said. Armand Galang

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Cabanatuan exec joins United Opposition

PALAYAN CITY - A local officials from this city has joined the United Opposition to run for mayor in next year's elections.

Vice Mayor Raul Mendoza reportedly bolted Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija (Balane) whose chosen bet for the position is incumbent Gov. Tomas N Joson III. His political ally, Mayor Jay Vergara, is fielding a cousin, energy executive Alvin Vergara, who is coming from the outside.

Mendoza who is in his third and final term will be running in tandem with Air Force Col. Rey Garcia, according to reports.

Garcia is the flying mentor of Jude Estrada, a son of former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada, a powerful opposition figure today.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Caregiving center provides breastfeeding service

CABANATUAN CITY - Mothers in Nueva Ecija who are forced to leave their children for work have found relief with the formation of a care-giving program that provides day-care services to breastfeeding.

Maria Victoria Carlos, former regional training officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and acting chief of the Provincial Early Childhood Care and Development Office, said the nursing mothers who provide breast­feeding services were “properly screened and trained” for the job.

The PECCDO has created a center at the back of the old Capitol along Burgos Street, Cabanatuan City, where at least some 10 nursing mothers, along with 16 trained care­givers, attend to children of working mothers from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Carlos expressed hope the system that is aimed at “optimum growth and developments of infants” could be replicated in other areas. The program, she explained, also ensures that the nursing mothers’ own children are not deprived of proper care. Each breast­feeding mother receives P250 worth of food items that includes five kilograms of rice and canned goods.

The center that started operations on October 23 is a special project set up by Gov. Tomas N. Joson 3rd to provide assistance to working mothers who are forced to leave their children to untrained caregivers. -Armand M. Galang

Monday, December 11, 2006

5-yr-old girl succumbed to suspected meningo

CABIAO, Nueva Ecija - A 5-year-old girl from Barangay San Fernando Sur here died of suspected meningoccoccemia on Monday at the Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center.

Dr. Leon de Leon, municipal health officer, said they recommended the immediate burial of the victim as her family refuses to subject the body to further test.

The victim's close contacts were also given shots of antibiotics, he said.

He stressed though that the case was not a hundred percent meningo. "Only suspected of," he said.

It was learned that the victim was rushed to a local clinic in Cabiao due to high fever but attending physician recommended the transfer to PJGMRMC "on protocol." There, the victime expired. -Armand M. Galang

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Newsman killed in Nueva Ecija

CABANATUAN CITY - A local newspaperman was killed by two motorcycle-riding men in a daylight attack in Sitio Romantiko, Barangay Sta, Arcadia, Cabanatuan City on Thursday.

Supt. Eliseo Cruz, chief of the city police, identified the victim as Ponciano Grande,53, a resident of St. Nicolas Subd., Bantug Norte, Cabanatuan City. Grande, a former director of the Nueva Ecija PressClub, Inc., is also engaged in rice farming.

Police probers said Grande died on the spot. He sustained five gunshot wounds in head and different parts of his body, reportedly from a cal. 45. Grande's wife, Annie Liwag who also hosts public affairs program over radio dwJJ, was several meters away from him when the gunmen fired at him at about11:00 a.m. Thursday, investigation showed.

Responding authorities rushed Liwag to a local hospital for immediate treatment.

The suyspects were decribed as about 17-years of age and wearing baseball cups. Cruz said the couple had no known enemies.

Cruz said they have yet to establish the motive of the killing.

The NEPCI officers and members strongly condemedthe attack and pressed for the immediate delivery ofjustice.

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Actor throws hat into Ecija politics

CUYAPO, Nueva Ecija -A brother of actor Robin Padilla, touted as the Bad Boy of Philippine movies, is throwing a hat into the local political arena, making an early spice into the provincial political contest.

Rommel Padilla, who co-stars in various films of his brother, took his oath of allegiance to the Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija before party chair and Vice Gov. Mariano Cristino Joson. He was accompanied with Robin in the ceremonies witnessed by hundreds of residents at the municipal gymnasium in Cuyapo town where a medical mission was also being held.

Gov. Tomas N. Joson 3rd, said Padilla is eyed to run for a first district seat at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan even as former basketball player J.V. Yango is finishing his mandatory three-term limit.

It can be recalled that in Robin himself run for vice governor of Nueva Ecija in 1995 under Lakas-CMD as runningmate of the late Cabanatuan City Mayor Honorato Perez. Curiously, the Perez-Padilla tandem was then gunning the posts held by Balane.

Robin lost to Vice Gov. Oscar Tinio.

The Padilla’s matriarch, Eva CariƱo, traces her roots at Barangay Nagmisahan, Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija where their close relatives maintain residence.

The Padilla brothers immediately joined he vice governor, who is eyeing the gubernatorial seat in 2007 mid-term elections, in his tour to Talavera, Nueva Ecija where they attended a large meet of women’s groups.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Aurora takes spotlight in tourism fair

CLARKFIELD, Pampanga - They came, they saw and they were conquered.

The province of Aurora, one of the country's poorest provinces, surpirisingly took the spotlight with a spectacular presentation that captivated foreign and local tourists which gathered for the laucnh of the three-day 1st North philippines International Tourism Fair at the Events Center of SM-Clark here on Friday.

Some 40 students of the Baler National High School (BNHS), accompanied by a marching band enlivened the event with streetdancing depicting the famous Baler Coco-Sabutan Festival to chants of "Aurora lalawigang itinatag ng galing at sipag (Aurora a province founded on excellence and industry)" as the audience watched in awe.

The students, clad in multi-color costumes, were apparently inspired by the presence of Aurora Governor Bellaflor Angara-Castillo and Vice Governor Annabelle Tangson who were both visibly elated on seeing the students perfrom.

Angara-Castillo said the province was once tapped by the organizers to render the streetdance of all the provinces comprising the three regions and CAR. "Considering that this is an international tourism fair and this is the first to be held in northern Philippines, this is s big honor for the province of Aurora. This is huge," she said. -Armand M. Galang

"Pacman" to help fans' families

CABANATUAN CITY - The team of the "People's Champion" Manny Pacquiao has pledged to extend relief assistance to two avid fans who were electrocuted, while viewing the Pacquiao vs. Marquez fight 3 on Sunday, Nov. 19 here.

Buboy Fernandez, trainer and best friend of Pacquiao, has reportedly conveyed to the family of the two victims that the Pacquiao Team will undertake the payment of the hospital bills of the two, as well as the funeral expenses of the deceased victim, Jaypee Robles, who died four days from release at the Premiere general hospital here.

Jaypee Robles, 21, and his friend Joey Mallare, 19, both farmers, both residents of Purok 7, Talipapa Norte, this city, sustained third degree burns as a result of electrocution.They were watching the Manny Pacquiao vs. Eric "El Terible" Morales fight on TV at a friend's house in Barangay Pamaldan.Unable to enjoy the fight due to poor reception of the images on the TV set they were watching, the two young men volunteered to fix the antenna by manually altering the iron pole holding the antenna.

Once the cable wires supporting the police were removed, the two moved the antenna to higher ground.However, in the excitement to view the fight and at the same time get a favorable directional setting of the antenna, the iron pole leaned back and landed on a live wire strung nearby which resulted in the electrocution of the two friends.

Mallare's nape, fingers and toes suffered severe burns, while Robles's side of the body, buttocks, fingers, arms and breasts were also severely burned.The victim's families have appealed on TV the other day for assistance from Pacquiao. - MAGTANGGOL C. VILAR