PIA Dispatch - Monday, December 29, 2008

PGMA visits Sagada's tourist attractions

SAGADA, Mountain Province – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took a short trek this morning to the mystique caves in this quaint town as part of her continuing effort to promote the country’s tourism industry.

“This is very interesting,“ the President said as she and other members of the presidential party viewed the coffins hanging from the cliff of the Sagada mountain.

Together with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, son Diosdado “Dato,” congressman of the first district of Camarines Sur; daughter Lulli, granddaughters Mikaela and Monique, and some special guests, the presidential party first stopped to view the Hanging Coffins.

Ray Fiarod, an official of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) assigned in Sagada, said that the caves serve as the final resting place of deceased Sagada folks after the Hanging Coffin ritual.

“After the deceased are put inside the coffins, they are brought to caves high in the cliffs where they join the coffins of their ancestors,” he said.

Fiarod said the Hanging Coffin ritual involves forcing the body of the deceased into the tight spaces of the coffins. Bones are often broken in the process, he added.

In olden times, the people of Sagada preferred to “bury” their dead on the cliffs of mountains than in the ground.

A municipality in Mountain Province north of Baguio City, Sagada is six hours by bus from the country’s summer capital via the Halsema Highway, passing through Benguet province.

From the Hanging Coffins, the President and her party proceeded to the Lumiang Burial Cave, where 80 to 100 coffins are kept.

“That burial site is a private one. They belong to one clan and only those belonging to that clan are allowed to be buried there,” Fjarod told the First Family.

Not content with viewing the burial place from afar, the First Family and their guests bravely trekked down the 500-meter trail to the cave.

“This is really wonderful,” a visibly happy President said upon reaching the wide entrance of the cave and seeing the piles of coffins inside.

Tourism Regional Director Purificacion Molintas said that aside from the caves, Sagada boasts of several other scenic natural attractions that local and foreign tourists alike would surely love to see.

Molintas added that there has been an increase of tourist arrivals in the province since the completion of Phase One of the Halsema Highway rehabilitation project stretching from Baguio City to Mount Data, Bauko in Mountain province.

She expressed optimism that local tourism would be further boosted with the completion of Phases Two and Three of the Halsema Highway rehab program and the improvement of the Bontoc-Tabuk-Tuguegarao road section.

The President has made the rehabilitation of several road networks in the Cordillera a priority project of her administration to accelerate the economic development and promote tourism in the area.


DA implementing 2-tiered system of intervention programs for 2009

The Department of Agriculture (DA) is carrying out a two-tiered system of intervention programs for 2009, which gives priority to state funding support in areas where local government units (LGUs) are ready to provide counterpart funds, in line with its new streamlining policy to enhance food security and sufficiency and at the same time energize the countryside in light of the global financial contagion.

DA Secretary Arthur Yap said these intervention programs are in support of President Arroyo’s centerpiece program for agriculture dubbed FIELDS, which stands for stands for Fertilizers; Irrigation and other rural infrastructure; Education and extension services for farmers; Loans; Dryers and other postharvest facilities; and Seeds.

Under this two-tiered system, which was hammered out in a series of Management Committee (ManCom) meetings during the November-December period, the DA will give priority to areas where LGUs are willing to provide counterpart funding for farm-friendly programs and to the 2,600 clusters spread out in 48 provinces across the country where per-hectare yields are below the national average of 3.8 metric tons (MT) or 76 cavans per hectare.

Yap said these priority areas for government funding or intervention support will be divided under the two-tiered system, based on each and every FIELDS component.

“Although the DA’s intervention programs aim to target all sector, especially those in the 2,600 clusters nationwide, we have reached consensus following a series of ManCom meetings to prioritize areas where LGUs are ready and capable of providing counterpart funding, in a bid to draw more funds from the private sector, LGUs and other groups other than the national government,” Yap said.

“Greater investments in the sector will induce greater economic activity, which will in turn rev up the rural economy and create more jobs in the countryside at a time when the global financial flu is expected by international experts to get worse in the year ahead before it gets any better,” Yap added.

For instance, under the Fertilizer component of FIELDS, Yap said agreement was reached that support for organic fertilizer production will be given to the first 600 clusters where LGUs are willing to provide counterpart funding for this type of intervention, and then to 2,000 more clusters in provinces where per-hectare production are below the national yield average.

As for the Irrigation component of FIELDS, Yap said the priority locations will be communities where LGUs will provide counterpart funding. The counterparting is a salient feature of the Balikatan Sagip Patubig Program (PSPP), a tripartite program of DA-NIA, LGU and Irrigators Associations (IA). These areas are located nationwide.

Areas with high cropping intensity in national irrigation systems are, as of July 31, located in the following: Magat River Integrated Irrigation System, Isabela (182%); Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation System, Nueva Ecija (188%); Zamboanga Peninsula (189%); and Davao Region 11 (197%).

Based on the consensus, Yap said priority areas for the construction of farm-to-market roads, on the other hand, will be those that will open new areas of production and low-yield farming communities.

Yap said that LGUs that can provide counterpart funding of at least 10% for the construction of FMRs will be prioritized, for funding support next year. Such proposed FMRs should physically connect farm and fishery production areas to existing municipal or provincial road networks.

The mechanisms for the other FIELDS components are still being drawn up, he said.

Yap said the counterpart funds provided by LGUs will help offset the impact of the financial crisis by generating economic activities and creating more jobs in the countryside.

Rural economic growth, he said, should be private sector-driven instead of LGUs being heavily dependent on national government subsidies to spur development in the countryside.

Yap directed DA officials in charge of the various Ginintuang Masaganang Ani banner programs of the Department to coordinate with local government organizations such as the Union of Local Government Authorities of the Philippines, League of Provinces of the Philippines and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines in identifying the priority areas where the Department will channel its FIELDS intervention programs in 209.

At the same time, the DA secretary also instructed Director Nieva Natural of the DA planning service to spearhead the creation of the Yap-conceived national and regional monitoring teams that will conduct “periodic field validation and rapid appraisal” of the DA’s intervention measures under its GMA banner programs, and keep tabs on the release of funds to program partners like nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and people’s organizations (POs).

This new system of checks and balances at the Department is part of the systemic overhaul that Yap is carrying out to ensure the more judicious disbursement of funds to its program partners and guarantee that such government funds do reach the intended beneficiaries of the various FIELDS programs.

One more feature of this new DA system is the issuance of stringent guidelines covering the release of funds to FIELDS beneficiaries like NGOs and POs.

For a better system of coordination with Commission on Audit people assigned to the DA, this set of guidelines adopted last year includes COA Circular No. 97-001 and 94-013, which respectively cover government-fund disbursements to NGOs and POs and to LGUs. (DA-PRESS OFFICE)


DOE orders crackdown vs LPG hoarders

MANILA, Dec. 29 (PNA) — The Department of Energy (DoE) has ordered a crackdown on oil companies’ LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) facilities following reports of hoarding.

Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes directed the Presidential Task Force on the Security of Energy Facilities and Enforcement of Energy Laws and Standard (PTF-SEFEELS) to immediately conduct the inspection after the LPG Marketers Association (LPGMA) accused oil firms of “hoarding” their products, causing the tightness in supply.

The inspection will start on January 2, Reyes told reporters.

During a meeting with the oil firms, Reyes said he was assured that there is no shortage of cooking gas.

“There is no supply shortage. What we have is a technical problem and there are kinks in the distribution system because of the unusual increase in demand,” Reyes said.

However, he confirmed that the industry is experiencing some problems in their distribution system as demands increase especially during Christmas eve.

LPG demand went up by as much as 30 percent during the Christmas season, prompting the oil distributors to secure additional supply.

Reyes also warned LPG refillers, marketers and dealers against using the temporary tightness of supply as an excuse to raise LPG prices.

Apart from the reports of hoarding, Reyes also instructed the task force to check the reports of under-filing and unauthorized use of LPG cylinders.

“The solution is for the suppliers to upgrade their distribution capabilities. This is a hauling problem. There is a bottleneck in the distribution system but no shortage of supply,” the Energy official said.

Arnel Ty, president of LPGMA, accused the oil firms of keeping their LPG products, causing supply disruptions among the distributors.

“We have to know when they can resolve this because we have customers waiting on the 31st and January 1. They have to resolve the problem of queuing,” Ty said.

According to him, distributors started experiencing rigidity in the supply last week.
But Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell and Total Philippines denied the accusation of LPGMA.
“We are able to supply our customers despite the surge in demand,” Petron officials said. (PNA)

Stiffer penalty for possession of explosive takes effect on Jan. 11

MANILA, Dec. 29 (PNA) -- Department of Justice (DOJ) Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said the government’s anti-terrorism campaign will be beefed up with the effectivity of a law imposing stiffer penalties on illegal possession of firearms and explosives this coming Jan. 11.

Blancaflor, also head of the DOJ’s Anti-Terror Council (ATC), reported that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has signed into law Republic Act (RA) 9516, otherwise known as an Act Increasing Penalties for Illegal Possession of Explosives.

RA 9516 amends Presidential Decree (PD) No. 1866, also known as the Law on Illegal Possession of Firearms and Explosives.

Under PD 1866, the offense was bailable and carried a lighter penalty.
But under the new law, offenders charged with illegal possession of explosives will no longer be entitled to bail and will be meted the penalty of reclusion perpetua.

Blancaflor said: “The law will cover not only the illegal possession of explosives but also the possession of instruments used in the manufacture and delivery of such, whether electronic, chemical, electrical or otherwise.

"The law also includes illegal possession of hand grenades, rifle grenades, pill box bombs, molotov cocktails or other explosive or incendiary devices capable of producing destructive effect on contiguous objects or causing injury or death to any person."

"This law will be a boost to the government's fight against terrorism and insurgency,” Blancaflor stated.

He cited as an example the SuperFerry 14 bomber who has been earlier charged with illegal possession of explosives under PD 1866.

But the crime was then bailable, the suspect posted bail and went into hiding in Mindanao to train under the Jemaah Islamiyah.

After a few months, he came back to Manila and bombed the SuperFerry 14 that resulted to the death of 116 persons. “We hope that with the effectivity of this law, such thing will not happen again,” Blancaflor said. (PNA)