Copy of the Volume 7 Publication (File Retrieved)
Sangyaw Mindanao
Vol. 1 No. 7 Iligan City, Lanao del Norte 10 Php
WHO Representative Visits Iligan
Janet An Braza
Dr. Howard Sobel, a World Health Organization (WHO) representative from New York, USA, visited Iligan City last October 19, 2007. Sobel was welcomed by City Health Officer Dr. Levi Villarin, together with the DOH Representative Dr. Janet Braza, some doctors from Region 10, and few representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
With the entourage, Sobel went to the Iligan City Hall to see the Mayor; unfortunately, the Mayor was out of town for a very important business. They were then entertained by Atty. Cenas, the Executive Assistant of Mayor Lawrence Cruz.
Sobel would be here in the country for one month (from October 15-November 15) to monitor the cities of the country’s three-hundred-thousand-strategy of their 20% topographic coverage for his passions for children through his ‘Iwas Tigdas’ Campaign.
In a related development, it can be recalled that last Monday, October 15, the flag raising ceremony done by the City Hall’s employees was graced by the newly proclaimed 1st District Congressman of Lanao del Norte, Hon. Vicente “Varf” Belmonte, Jr. He initiated the giving of vitamin K and oil capsule for measles vaccination to the kids who were present during the ceremony.
The giving of the medicines were done to prevent children from being infected with measles especially German measles, rubella measles and the like, which were very contagious and more alarming than SARS, Pneumonia and Meningitis. The number of children in the Philippines who died because of measles was 75,000. “This is huge,” said Dr. Sobel. Twenty percent of them got some complications.
“For the campaign in 2004, we managed to get enough children on door-to-door cases depending on the situation of the place and circumstances. With did the same thing on November 26, 2006 campaign. Cases of measles and its complications were then reported on January 2007. With the use of topographical strategy, these cases were detected in Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and more especially on coastal areas and, recently, in Palawan. It was found out that cases of measles originated somewhere outside the country, and 20% of the children’s population would surely be affected by this every year. The honeymoon stage or period only takes after every two years,” the DOH representative further said.
“My first-hand experience while I was living near the St Lazarus Hospital opened my eyes to what life is. It is threatening and this keeps me worrying. We moved for the next outreached program—which would happen every three to four years period. This campaign must reach to every child. At least, we had covered 80% for the whole intensive campaign; 20% was being missed. We made sure that every door was knocked on and every child vaccinated. In the United States we had successfully achieved our campaign since every one of us was doing our jobs well,” Sobel narrated.
“In measles vaccination, there must be three doses. One dose is 85% effective, 2 doses is given later on, perhaps after a month or after a year,” Sobel finally pointed out.
According to Dr. Villarin, “We have ironed out these problems. But we only have 3,001 social workers (DSWs) in the city.” Sobel rejoined that “If we only have one-thousand DSWs, that is so difficult for us to operate. In fact, your 3,001 is only a fraction for the total children’s population of the country. Given a 90 children for every DSW, your 3,001 DSWs will be equivalent to 27,000 children. At present the ratio is around 48 DSWs for 6001 children—this is very hard to manage,” Sobel sadly commented.
It’s called the Magna Carta for the health worker 31% representative, the same case in DSWD- we, 663-Executive Order from the President- Immunization Program- Specifically in vaccination for Measles.
Any missed children during the campaign should be shouldered by the DSWD- for the welfare of children.
Alay Lakad Foundation, Inc., Iligan Chapter
The Council of Alay Lakad-Iligan Chapter had finally held its caucus last October 18, 2007 after this was postponed August. This caucus was made for the Council’s orientation, review and preparation of their by-laws.
The Council’s agenda focused on the overview as to how the council would work progressively. The members had agreed to create some committees. Two of the committees were the Standing Comittees from DepEd and that from the DPWH which concerned the offices for the national). The creation of these committees was stipulated in Article 8 which states that, “The president shall have authority to appoint members to be officers for the council/replacement for the inactive members who were officers. By it, the board of directors recognizes the appointments.
Some of the highlights of the Council’s meeting were the following:
1.) Purposely, the composition is the primary need of the Iligan Chapter. Alay-Lakad Foundation Director, Pastor Lumapguid, spared some moments for a clarification about the motioned agreement if it did not violate the above law or provision. 2.) The motion for reconsideration to accept individuals who were volunteers (specifically those who were not the members of the group as it was now composed) to be automatic members for the foundation, especially those who attended the previous caucus, was approved.
There were 20 attendees of the meeting which were leaders or key persons of various religious, private and government organizations. Arranged according to their order in the attendance sheet, some of the attendees were: Eng’r. Simeon J. Clerigo, Pastor Lumapguid, Pastor Letty (Living Word Ministries and the President of ICADAC), Director Jo Mabanta (DSWD-Dangpanan sa Iligan), Director Grace Saquilabon (DSWD-Iligan), Mr. Jeffrey Rebleza and Mr. Melvin Angot (CMO), and the publisher of Sangyaw Mindanao, Ms. Janet An Braza (CLBC-Iligan).
Application forms for the council’s membership are now ready to be distributed. This application also means invitation to the city’s various agencies or state representatives—either with an individual membership capacity or with an official capacity as a volunteer and must have a heart for the welfare of the foundation.
The Alay-Lakay Foundation’s workforce or projects made were 1) TESDA Scholars, 2) DSWD Computer School Scholars, 3) Medicine/ Emergency, and 4) other kinds or types of scholars.
The Council disclosed in the meeting that its target date for the National Alay Lakad would be on February 2008. The Council adjourned its meeting after their lunch break.
Ex-Barangay Captain Ambushed in Lanao
Ex- Barangay Captain Jimmy Pascan of Lumbac, Upper Mangga, Kolambugan, Lanao del Norte, together with five (5) policemen, who were the Security Balikbayan of the newly-elected Governor Khalid Dimaporo, were ambushed on their way as they were riding on a jitney vehicle last October 20, at 6am. One of the 5 policemen died on the spot.
After the incident the victims were admitted in Kolambugan Emergency Hospital (KEH) at 8am. But the hospital personnel only gave first aids to the victims and advised them to move to another hospital. While Pascan who was shot twice in his abdomen and on his right leg was left in KEH, the victim policemen were soon rushed and admitted in a private hospital in Iligan City.
It took several hours before Pascan was transported by a government vehicle of Kolambugan to GTLMH. With his bleeding leg, he arrived in GTLMH at 1 o’clock noon, and was soon attended by the doctors of the city hospital. He was then supplied with blood. His relatives bought two bags of blood, as prescribed by the doctor, directly from the St. Mary’s Hospital, a private hospital in Iligan. One bag of blood was used for Pascan, but at 7pm he died, unfortunately. It was learned that Ex-Barangay Pascan was the Calamity Fund Officer of Lumbac at present.
Now in order to save some money, Pascan’s relatives needed to refund the unused and remaining bag of blood at the St. Mary’s Hospital. The blood cost Php1, 800, but failed to have some refund because the hospital’s cashier was nowhere to be found. They went back to GTLMH and bargained that even if they would only be paid Php1, 000 for a bag of blood, it would be alright for them. But the hospital refused and said that they had no money and secondly, it was not GTLMH’s blood. They could have negotiated for long but since the vehicle of Municipal Mayor Beltran Lumakig of Kolambugan had arrived at 9pm to transport the dead body to Pascan’s hometown, they left immediately because, it was a Muslim’s practice to bury their relative’s corpse right away, that is, without waiting for the next day.
The victim’s sister and relatives did not only lose a family member (Jimmy Pascan), but also lost their chance to refund the unused bag of blood worth Php1,800, said Ms. Anac Pascan Takiri, the married daughter of the victim.
Ex-Barangay captain Pascan was a good man, but he had no intention of running again for the coming 2007 Barangay Elections this month. Despite the people’s demand that he would run, he did not give in to their request. He instead recommended his nephew to run.
Pascan’s ambush was not related to the electoral campaign for his nephew. It was believed that the Shepherd Organization was alleged to be the one responsible of the ambush. The ambush took place only after a year-long discussion over a land dispute. (jb)
Iligan-Baloi Boundary Conflict
The joint session of the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Iligan and the Sangguniang Panglungsod of the Municipality of Baloi, Lanao del Norte deliberated on the reading and approval of the journal of proceeding in the July 25, 2006 joint session, last Tuesday, October 23, 2007, at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.
It was learned that the Maria Cristina Falls was a property and asset of Baloi. Hence, the falls was claimed by the Baloi residents’ ancestors in 1950s. Below is the program of
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
JOJO S. BASCUG
President, Asia-Pacific Society for Sustainable Development, Inc.
Issues and Awareness
The basic question is, what kind of world are we going to give to our children in the future? It is pointless to just say that our society is facing great environmental problems. There is an overall degradation of the components of our biosphere. The quality of air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil in which we grow our food, and the land where we live, are deteriorating to a disturbing extent. In this transitional period of rapidly increasing awareness of the conflict between human activities and the environmental constraints, our commitment to protect the environment must stand supreme. The need to protect our already depleted natural resources can hardly be more emphasized. This of course cannot be done if humans continue to pursue the progressing patterns.
The environment is an outcome of millions of years of evolutions and mutations, harboring all kinds of countless life forms and ecosystems. Our fundamental goal is its preservation. Man as an intelligent being capable of understanding his surroundings, is the ultimate product of this long and complex evolution. Since life began on earth, nature has evolved its different faces – fauna, flora, the climate and the entire biosphere, each of which play their own specific roles in this grand scheme of things. Everything that exists has a meaning, an objective and a purpose to fulfill. Man, just as other living organism, depends on nature for its food, water, clothing and shelter. Nature, in turn, has its own methods of checks and balances that replenish the depleted air, water, energy, fauna and flora. It is marvelously complex and dynamic, yet balanced system of interchange between matter and energy contained within the environment. But during the rapid growth of civilization in the last few centuries or so, man’s methods of fulfilling his needs have increasingly strained this delicate balance.
Environmental problems are mounting day by day and they need a solution. This solution doesn’t just entail the curbing of environmentally offensive activities of larger bodies – industries and the government. We must also increase awareness amongst ourselves, so that our activities themselves are carried out with due respect to our surroundings.
Human Security Act (Version of 2007)-This Act which is from consolidated Senate Bill No. 2137 and House Bill No. 4839 was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on February 8, 2007 and February 19, 2007, respectively.
- SEC. 2. Policy Declaration
- It is declared a policy of the State to protect life, liberty, and property from acts of terrorism, to condemn terrorism as inimical and dangerous to the national security of the country and to the welfare of the people, and to make terrorism a crime against the Filipino people, against humanity, and against the law of nations...the Act shall take effect two months after the elections are held in May 2007."
Under the Human Security Act of 2007 (RA 9327)
-The accused who is acquitted from the charge shall be entitled to damages in the amount of 500K Php for each day that he has been detained. The Human Security Act also provides for detailed mechanism on how the damages should be paid. The pertinent provision of the Human Security Act reads:
Section 50 Damages for Unproven Charge of Terrorism. – Upon acquittal, any person who is accused of terrorism shall be entitled to the payment of damages in the amount of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 500K) for every day that he or she has been detained or deprived of liberty or arrested without a warrant as a result of such an accusation. The amount of damages shall be automatically charged against the appropriations of the police agency or the Anti-Terrorism Council that brought or sanctioned the filing of the charges against the accused. It shall also be released within fifteen (15) days from the date of the acquittal of the accused. The award of damages mentioned above shall be without prejudice to the right of the acquitted accused to file criminal or administrative charges against those responsible for charging him with the case of terrorism.
Any officer, employee, personnel, or person who delays the release or refuses to release the amounts awarded to the individual acquitted of the crime of terrorism as directed in the paragraph immediately preceding shall suffer the penalty of six (6) months of imprisonment.
If the deductions are less than the amounts due to the detained persons, the amount needed to complete the compensation shall be taken from the current appropriations for intelligence, emergency, social or other funds of the Office of the President.
In the event that the amount cannot be covered by the current budget of the police or law enforcement agency concerned, the amount shall be automatically included in the appropriations of the said agency for the coming year.
A public officer shall not be personally liable for damages for acts done in the performance of official duties, unless there is a clear showing of bad faith, malice or gross negligence. The Human Security Act follows the general rule that official duties are regularly performed. The police officers, in enforcing the Human Security Act, are acting as mere agents of the State. The State, on the other hand, cannot be sued without its consent.
Consent may be express or implied. Express consent may be embodied in a general law or a special law. Consent is implied when the state enters into a contract or it itself commences litigation. However, not all contracts entered into by the government will operate as an implied consent; distinction must be made between its sovereign and proprietary acts. Stated differently, a State may be deemed to have tacitly given its consent to be sued only when it enters into business contracts.
In instances where the State may not be sued, the only legal remedy is to file the claim under Act No. 3083 (1923), the general law expressly waiving the immunity of the state from suit. The claim must first be filed with the Commission on Audit (COA), which must decide the claim within sixty days from the date of its submission for decision or resolution. If the COA fails to decide the matter within said period, the appropriate action may then be filed with the regular courts. If the COA decides within the said period and denies the claim, the decision may be brought to the Supreme Court on certiorari.
Assuming that a party succeeds in asserting its claim, it cannot execute the judgment may like ordinary civil cases. Within five days from the finality of the judgment, the clerk of court will forward a copy of the decision to the President of the Philippines, who will transmit the same to the Congress at the commencement of each regular session for appropriate action. This will be considered by Congress in preparing the annual national budget. Funds should be appropriated by Congress for the specific purpose of satisfying the judgment before the same may be paid.
By providing for a procedure in claims against the State or its agents, the Human Security Act makes it “relatively” easier for victims to get compensation. If this provision is not present, victims of abuses under the Human Security Act will again be victims in going through the difficult maze of suing - and getting paid by - the State.
Screen violence tied to boys' aggression: study
By Andrew Stern Mon Nov 5, 9:04 AM ET CHICAGO (Reuters) - Boys aged 2 to 5 who viewed an hour of on-screen violence a day increased their chances of being overly aggressive later in childhood, but the association was not seen in girls, researchers said on Monday.
"Of 184 boys (in the study), 25 of them had serious problems with aggression and for each hour on average per day they had watched violent TV, they were three times more likely to be in that group" than those who did not watch violent programming, Christakis said in a telephone interview.
Christakis and fellow researchers, writing in the journal Pediatrics, analyzed the television and video viewing habits of 330 children aged 2 to 5, then assessed their behavior five years later.
Christakis said many parents may be unaware that the shows or video games their young children watch are violent or inappropriate for their age group.
"Kids that age can't distinguish fantasy from reality" and need it explained to them, he said. "Cartoon violence teaches kids that violence is funny and without consequence. So when people in cartoons have their heads flattened and they pop right back out and kids laugh at it, they really are thinking there are no serious consequence to hitting someone in the head, which obviously isn't true in the real world."
TRAJECTORY OF AGGRESSION
Aggression is evident even in infants, but "the toddler and preschool years constitute the time during which most children learn to use nonaggressive alternatives ... . When that does not occur, young children can continue on a trajectory of aggression," the study said.
The aggressiveness identified in the study when the children reached the ages of 7 to 10 -- being mean to others without regret, destructiveness, disobedience at school -- could presage bad behavior into adolescence and adulthood, said Christakis, citing previous studies.
The association between violent programming and overly aggressive behavior was not found among the 146 girls in the study, who tended to watch more educational and nonviolent shows than the boys, Christakis said.
Boys may be more genetically predisposed to aggression, "so the same level of exposure brings out aggression in them where it doesn't in girls. It also could be boys are socialized to respond aggressively," he said.
"We'll be launching an experimental study in kids this age and try to reduce the amount of violent TV they watch and increase the amount of pro-social programs -- which should tell us a lot more," Christakis said.
STeenage killer leaves suicide note
By JARI TANNER, Associated Press Writer Thu Nov 8, 6:07 PM ET As the grim details emerged of a premeditated massacre by a youth consumed with anger against society, stunned Finns mourned the victims of his deadly rampage. Flags across the Nordic nation flew at half staff.
Armed with a semiautomatic handgun and 500 rounds of ammunition, 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen emptied nearly 20 rounds into some of his eight victims Wednesday, police said.
He also tried to set the school building on fire in what police said was a well-prepared attack that Auvinen had foreshadowed in Internet postings.
Grieving students placed candles outside the sealed-off high school in Tuusula, some 30 miles north of the capital,
A day of mourning was declared and memorial services were held across the country, including in Tuusula, a town of 34,000 people, where a church was turned into a crisis center with experts on hand to offer comfort.
The president attended a memorial service in the capital.
"The violence at the Jokela school center has shocked us to our very core. This unbelievable incident has rendered us speechless in pain and distress," Bishop Mikko Heikka told the mourners in Helsinki Cathedral.
Police said Auvinen left a suicide note "saying goodbye to his family and a message ... indicating his will against society." They said he appeared bent on causing maximum bloodshed as he opened fire.
Police also seized books and other printed material that suggested Auvinen was angry at society and was planning an attack.
"His opinions were extreme and he had radical thoughts," police spokesman Jan-Olof Nyholm said, adding there was no indication Auvinen was affiliated with any political movement.
Investigators believe Auvinen revealed plans for the attack in postings on YouTube in which he urged revolution and grinned after taking target practice with a handgun.
One posting called for a popular uprising against "the enslaving, corrupted and totalitarian regimes."
"I am prepared to fight and die for my cause. I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection," the posting said.
Finnish media said he posted similar messages in chat rooms just hours before the shooting spree.
Apparently selecting his victims randomly, Auvinen killed six fellow students, the school nurse and the principal before turning the gun on himself, police said. More than 400 students aged 12-18 were enrolled at the school.
"There's nothing that links him with the victims except that they attended the same school," Detective Superintendent Tero Haapala told The Associated Press. "But the explanation can be found mainly in his Web writings and his social behavior."
Haapala described Auvinen as a social outcast who was "bullied in school." He did not provide details but suggested that the bullying may have helped lead to the violent behavior.
"You can say that the motive is still open," Haapala said.
Investigators gave a chilling account of the mayhem, which started just before noon and ended two hours later when police found Auvinen in a bathroom near the school cafeteria with a gunshot wound to his head. He died at a hospital a few hours later.
Police found 69 shells at the scene, suggesting Auvinen fired at least as many shots. The victims were shot in the head or the upper body — some only a few times, others almost 20, Haapala told a news conference.
The killer also tried to start a fire. He doused the floor and walls of the school's second floor in a flammable liquid but failed to ignite it, Haapala said.
Auvinen shot the victims with a .22-caliber Sig Sauer Mosquito pistol, police said, adding that about a dozen other people were injured as they tried to escape from the school.
Police said Auvinen, who had no previous criminal record, belonged to a gun club and got a license for the pistol on Oct. 19. He allegedly bought the gun days before the attack from a local gun store along with 500 rounds of ammunition.
While some international gun-control groups linked the school shooting to the availability of firearms in
The Interior Ministry said
___
Associated Press writers Peter Dejong in Tuusula and Marius Turula in
By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 58 minutes ago
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Before they leave for Iraq, thousands of troops with the 101st Airborne Division line up at laptop computers to take a test: basic math, matching numbers and symbols, and identifying patterns. They press a button quickly to measure response time.
It's all part of a fledgling Army program that records how soldiers' brains work when healthy, giving doctors baseline data to help diagnose and treat the soldiers if they suffer a traumatic brain injury — the signature injury of the Iraq war.
"This allows the Army to be much more proactive," said Lt. Col. Mark McGrail, division surgeon for the 101st. "We don't want to wait until the soldier is getting out of the Army to say, 'But I've had these symptoms.'"
The mandatory brain-function tests are starting with the 101st at Fort Campbell and are expected to spread to other military bases in the next couple of months. Commanders at each base will decide whether to adopt the program.
The tests provide a standard, objective measurement for each soldier's reaction time, their short-term memory and other cognitive skills. That data would be used when the soldiers come home to identify mild brain trauma that can often go unnoticed and untreated.
One veterans group wants to ensure the Army doesn't use the results to deny treatment by claiming that soldiers' problems came from pre-existing conditions.
"We certainly think these tests should not be used to reduce the responsibility that the Army has to treat the soldiers who have served," said Jason Forrester, director of policy for Veterans for America.
About 7,500 Fort Campbell soldiers have completed the tests, said Dr. Robert Schlegel, a University of Oklahoma researcher who administers the 10-minute exams to soldiers as they file quickly through a testing center.
One question asks soldiers to memorize patterns on the screen and then identify them later among several different patterns. Other questions require soldiers to match numbers and symbols, or complete simple addition and subtraction problems.
"Everybody functions a bit differently in terms of how quickly they react to things, how well they process things and remember things and so forth," Schlegel said.
Brain injuries caused by explosions have become some of the most common combat wounds suffered in Iraq. Thirty percent of soldiers taken to Walter Reed Army Medical Center since 2003 suffered traumatic brain injuries, according to the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.
The brain-injury center, which has seven facilities around the country, has seen 2,669 patients between 2003 and 2007. But doctors believe many less obvious brain-injury cases go undetected.
Sgt. Adam Wyatt, 22, has been close to 20 to 30 blasts from homemade bombs, rocket-propelled grenades or mortar fire during his last two deployments. But he's never been directly hit.
"The initial shock is a little disorienting," Wyatt said. "Your first thought is seeing if anyone is wounded and suppressing enemy fire."
Soldiers sometimes walk away from explosions with no obvious injuries. But the concussion from the blast can have a lingering effect that is not always immediately apparent.
"They look physically normal, but their neurocognitive performance is off," said Col. Mary Lopez, a physician specializing in occupational therapy.
Most brain injuries are mild, and soldiers can recover with rest and time away from the battlefield. But the military estimates that one-fifth of the troops with these mild injuries will have prolonged or lifelong symptoms requiring continuing care.
So little is known about traumatic brain injuries that these baseline readings could become an important cornerstone for future study.
Even the parameters of the injury are not known, like how close a soldier must be to a blast to suffer damage, or whether being knocked unconscious makes a difference, said Jordan Grafman, a neuroscience researcher at the National Institutes of Health. Without baseline information, it is hard to say soldiers are more impaired after they suffer a serious brain injury.
The Army has faced criticism for treatment of Iraqi war veterans after complaints that some soldiers with brain damage were misdiagnosed. The Government Accountability Office is investigating reports that as many as 40 soldiers at Colorado's Fort Carson were misdiagnosed with personality disorders after suffering brain damage or stress-related injuries.
Lt. Col. Mark McGrail, division surgeon for the 101st, said mild brain injury is difficult to diagnose because soldiers often don't report symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, memory problems and irritability.
"The soldiers are by and large very motivated, and they don't want their team to go back out there without them, even though they know they had their bell rung and might not be at the top of their game," McGrail said.
Some symptoms of traumatic brain injury also overlap with post-traumatic stress disorder, another common condition among Iraq war veterans. The brain-injury test could also help doctors differentiate between those conditions, Lopez said. Sandy Schneider, director of Vanderbilt University's brain injury rehabilitation program, said that while it's too early to tell how effective the tests might be at helping diagnose and treat brain injuries, the data could be extremely helpful for researchers. "We're finding out so much more about this injury because of this war, unfortunately," Schneider said. The brain tests have already been tried in pilot programs at Fort Bragg, N.C., with paratroopers who often suffer concussions during jumps, as well as with some soldiers who have deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan and Bosnia. But the 101st is the first unit to use them on a large scale for every soldier preparing to deploy. The division is leaving for its third deployment, splitting between battlefronts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Associated Press Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione contributed to this report from Milwaukee
Glan Mayor Enrique Yap Jr. said that new infrastructure projects in the Davao del Sur towns of Jose Abad Santos and Sarangani, and Glan in Sarangani province would lure more investments to the growth area.
Yap said the approval of a 25-hectare economic zone in Glan would speed up development in the cluster, officially known as Jose Abad Santos-Glan-Sarangani Cooperation Triangle (JAGS-CT).
The P43-million port in the island municipality of Sarangani (Balut island) has been completed, according to the JAGS-CT secretariat.
Glan was also set to renovate its old trading port following its declaration as limited international port.
Mayor Yap, who chairs JAGS-CT, said construction of the national highway connecting Glan to Jose Abad Santos was halfway through where only a trail under coconut trees was used before.
The mayor said a JAGS-CT resolution has been passed requesting for the immediate release of the P20-million fund to finish the road from Glan to Jose Abad Santos.
In a recent forum here, Undersecretary Virgilio Leyretana, chair of Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco), said he had personally followed up the release of the road fund with Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap.
Leyretana commended the JAGS officials for their efforts in helping “accelerate the attainment of economic development” of the depressed areas not only in the Philippines but in nearby northern Indonesia as well.
He added that better relations between the two countries should be maintained to facilitate “trade and commerce.”
JAGS-CT and Indonesia had forged trade agreements for goods and local products, and traders expect regular shipments when the Glan port is completed.
JAGS-CT is a cluster of southern Philippines towns formed in 2003 in support to the Brunie-Indonesia-Malaysia-the Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA).
It aims to increase trade, tourism and investments by enhancing cross-border linkages with the northern provinces of Indonesia.
Mayor Yap said JAGS-CT can prove to other municipalities and countries that smaller growth areas can develop if they just only “cooperate with each other.”
He said JAGS-CT is solely run and financed by the local government units of Jose Abad Santos, Glan and Sarangani municipality. (SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE/BCP
Arts And Entertainment
Wagner opera to be performed in Berlin
Wed Oct 17, 9:
Zeit newspaper that the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which he co-founded, plans next year to perform the first act of Wagner's "Die Walkuere" at Berlin's Waldbuehne — an arena built by the Nazis as part of the complex for the 1936 Olympics.
"Can you imagine that?" Barenboim was quoted as saying in the interview, released Wednesday. "The Waldbuehne was built by Hitler. The music is Wagner. Played by us! Hitler and Wagner would turn in their graves."
Barenboim said the Divan Orchestra, made up of young musicians from Israel
He and the late Palestinian scholar Edward Said founded the group in 1999 in a gesture for peaceful co-existence in the Middle East .
"I had long pondered how it was possible that such gruesome despots like Hitler and Stalin could be such huge lovers of music," he said. "My explanation: For them the music was a kind of secret garden, their own realm, that had nothing to do with real life."
Barenboim, who was born in Argentina
In 2001 he caused an uproar in Israel
He said the Divan Orchestra has also played the opera and that it was the Israeli musicians who chose it — for the "pure instrumental" reason that it gave the brass section a lot to play.
"It had purely musical reasoning," he told Die Zeit. "With Wagner it is never about the politics or Wagner the person, but about his great music."
jsbraza/iligan
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