He also added that they already had requested the Coast Guard Maritime Environmental Protection Group – Central Eastern Visayas. The oil response team had been sent already to the Ro-ro port terminal in Barangay Benit, San Ricardo, Southern Leyte.

Last July 28, there are 147 passengers and crews of the M/V Ocean Kings II were rescued by the Philippine Coast Guard and San Ricardo Rescue Team after the roro vessel run aground in the coast of Barangay Benit, San Ricardo at early afternoon.

According to Master Chief Petty Officer Dancel, the ferryboat left  Lipata (Surigao City) Ferry Terminal at 12 noon on that day. When the vessel reached the Balongbalong point, it was hit by the 7 feet (estimated) high waves that caused the water to ingress.

It was learned that grounding the ship at the coast of the Barangay Benit is the decision of the ship captain, Captain Zaldy Angot, upon learning that his ship had problem in turning back and that the water had entered already the ship. So instead of going straight to Liloan Ferry Terminal the ship captain decided to revert its route to the Benit Roro Port but did not reach the port, instead run aground.

Out of 121 passengers, 2 of them are children and the ship was carrying 16 rolling cargoes including 2 buses.

It was also learned that the M/V Ocean King II was the one boarded by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the inaugauration of the Benit Roro Port of San Ricardo, Southern Leyte on April 2009.

(Report by Jade G. Nombrado/ English Translation by Sustines Laplana /Image credit to Southern Leyte Balita)

According to him, symptoms of the Dengue Fever are fever, rashes on skins or bleeding. “However, Dengue Fever currently doesn’t show symptoms recorded on the book. Sometimes patients experience only the fever without rashes. Sometimes there’s no bleeding… That’s why, the patient should be brought immediately to the hospital for immediate checkup and treatment,” the doctor said.

Dr. Trumata added that the two elementary grader who died this month of August were not immediately brought to the hospital before the illness’s worsen. The first victim was an 11 year-old girl from Barangay Abgao who studied at the St. Joseph College and the other victim was a resident of Barangay Mantahan and a pupil of the Tomas Oppus Pilot School.

However, the number of patients admitted at the SOYMPH who are suffering from Dengue Fever, according to Dr. Trumata,  has decreased compared to the number of patients last month of July. (Report by Jade G. Nombrado /English Translation by Sustines Laplana /Image credit to thinkquest.org )

Yellow confetti showered while people mostly wearing yellow shirt chant “Cory! Cory!…” and holding their hands with the “L” or laban sign which was used by Cory during her campaign for the 1986 Presidential Election against the dictator president Ferdinand Marcos. They were not hindered by the hunger and rains in laiding her to her destination.

Former president Aquino’s remains were buried just beside her beloved husband, Ninoy Aquino.

In the other regions of the Philippines, people stayed off the street watching the live coverage of the burial. Yello color is everywhere… People wear yellow shirt, pinned yellow ribbon and flew yellow ballons. Some Catholic parishes offered mass for the president.

Currently, Maasin City experienced rains and gusty winds.

The reason of the accident that happened in the heavily traveled Red Line at 5PM (Washington time) between Fort Totten and Takoma stations is not yet known. But the Homeland Security Department authority said that there was no sign of terror in the incident.

According to the report, one of the dead was the female operator of one of the trains, and the rescuers were treating 70 injured passengers.

Because of our current hardships and economic miseries our government must not remain callous and insensitive to act. Members of both the Lower and the Upper House must muster their political will to hasten the approval of a House Bill aim at making mandatory for all operators and drivers nationwide to use the Compressed Natural Gas(CNG)to run the vehicles and factories. The aforesaid HB was co-authored by House energy committee chairman Mikey Arroyo of Pampanga and Parañaque City Representative Eduardo Zialcita. With the immediate implementation of this economic measure, our country can do away with being overdependence on imported fossil fuels, which greatly contribute to the heavy pollution in our big cities and the environment. When this goal would be realized, the Philippines can have a huge reduction on fuel expenditures and its unabated heavy pollution in big metropolis where all types of utilities and factories abound would be greatly reduced.

Since we have no vehicles and cars suitable for the utilization of Compressed Natural Gas, big financing institutions should come to rescue and help the government to buy the needed vehicles in places like the USA,Canada,India,China and in other countries where vehicles design for compressed natural gas fuel are being manufactured. The Malampaya-Palawan oil and gas fields in the country must be mined now and tap other potential oil and gas fields in various places of our nation to sustain our fuel needs. On the other hand, our big capitalists who choose to be consignees in this kind of business should not be tempted in the near future to mix compressed natural gas with crude oil like we have in all gasoline stations throughout the country, called kerosene by other name.

The mixture of two elements, we’ve just mentioned, like we are buying at gas station, especially if there is a blackout, will surely result to additional pollution in all our areas. The additional pollution due to crude oil mixture with the natural gas is very evident by the soots gathered inside our noses the night before when we resort to kerosene use as temporary substitute for the absence of electric power. Have you not observe that in your home, especially in the households of poor Filipinos? In contrast, unadulterated natural gas, if there’s a detection of any soot, is so insignificantly negligible to consider as pollution. Some of emission of kerosene (a mixture of natural gas and crude oil) put inside the lamps would also pollute our rooms the following day, if you have observed that as well. This means that if in the near future some tricky and hoarding businessmen would be tempted to do this deplorable thing, the pollution in our environment would re-emerged. Hence, there’s an urgent necessity to screen the attitude of businessmen/capitalists who would like to participate in the Government’s venture in this kind of undertaking where the issue on environment-friendly fuel is at stake.

Considering this probable prediction of the money-oriented rather than service-oriented attitude of some businessmen to rake huge profit in the name of mixture elements, the House Bill must include as one of its provisions prohibiting any capitalist/consignee to mix CNG with crude oil. A monitoring task force must be created that would include as members the Energy Committee Chairman, energy official and some honest and prudent NGO environmentalists for the purpose of monitoring and regular checking of CNG’s natural content before dispensing the fuel for private and public use. Those businessmen who would violate the law must be slapped with huge fine and imprisonment. We seriously need honest and prudent investors/capitalists in the strict application of such law in order to achieve our goal to greatly reduced our environmental pollution which make adults and children in this country suffer from illness and eventual death to countless of lives. According to reports pollution also causes chronic coughing in millions of children across the globe.

Other alternative fuel or energy that has been tapped to provide electricity and run vehicles is the solar energy. It has already been experimented and found to be feasibly usable and suitably applicable in running vehicles and providing electricity in numerous households in the country. It’s a free source of limitless energy and is non-pollutant: one of the greatest gifts from Mother Nature that remain untapped for centuries by man. The emergence of Great Minds in the field of Science and Technology are responsible for a huge leap in inventions and discoveries that have provided man his amenities including some of his needs in life more obtainable than before. We can also use electricity to run jeepneys and buses, which is also pollution-free. Makati’s current use of electric jeepneys plying in various areas of the city, which is much lesser in fuel expenses for the drivers and operators compared to gasoline and crude oil, is very encouraging and worthy of emulation for other cities and provinces. The experiments that our scientists, technical men and the experts have been doing are enough proof that the Philippine Government has the capability and the capacity to relentlessly pursue on these projects. A huge budget proportionate enough for its continual implementation must be made now for its effective realization.

The two alternative sources of fuel and energy that we are discussing are sure ways that will eventually release us from our overdependence on gasoline and crude oil which is now very prohibitive to obtain.

Global warming caused by unregulated environmental pollution, which also damaged the ozone layer according to the scientists, is not only a Philippine concern and problem. It is also a concern and a problem of every country, every nation throughout the world, whether the industrialized or the developing because we breathe the same air and we live in the same planet. Therefore, it is of urgent necessity that all the nations and other countries of the world, including the United States of America, China, England, Australia, India, Russia, Japan, European countries, UK and Germany should also shift to alternative fuel like Compressed Natural Gas, solar energy to run their vehicles, cars and factories, biofuel or biomass, deuterium in order to achieve the highest degree of pollution reduction in our Planet Earth.

To those countries whose climate condition is similar to the Philippines, Nobel Prize winner Dr.. Hartmut Michel during his recent visit to Manila has also advised its respective governments to tap wind power and hydro power that are environment-friendly to generate electricity

Although nowadays the prices of crude oil and gasoline have greatly reduced after a series of rollback, but this ups and downs in pricing activities of the fossil fuels cannot be relied upon by the users and consumers. These kind of dirty fuels have no permanently sustainable pricing movement. It is dependently influence by the law of supply and demand in the international market. The preoccupation of self-interest capitalists/investors who mostly want to rake huge profit in this kind of business undertaking is also something to be considered as contributory factor in the unpredictable and volatile pricing scheme hike.

Hence, our businessmen and the government must not be callously complacent if there are days when crude oil, gasoline and other oil products will have decreased prices. The government must start implementing now the laws on Biofuel act of 2006 and the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 to tap and develop nature’s renewable energy resources that are readily available in our very own environment and are ecology-friendly.

The plan of the government to recommission or revive the 30-year-old Bataan Nuclear Power Plant must be debunked. It was found out by a team of Scientists and Engineers that it has numerous defects in its construction, among other defects, which pose as health hazard detrimental and harmful to the health and welfare of the people and equally destructive to the immediate environment.

Our high government officials, like Congressmen, Senators, Scientists, Engineers, Technical men, The Experts, Educators and other concerned leaders should take heed seriously to what UP Professor Roland G. Simbulan was saying in his commentary article entitled “Is The BNPP Safe?” (PDI, Feb. 5, 2009 issue)

And that of Rina Jimenez-David’s “Anti-Nuclear and Pro-Life” (PDI, Feb. 24, 2009 issue) on the danger of reopening the defective BNPP as energy source. Who has initiated this plan? Why do we have to disrupt our thinking with such kind of energy which produces radioactive wastes harmful to humanity and our already heavily polluted environment? Another kind of potential and unprecedented radioactive disaster will only add to the worsening of our already worst environmental condition.

Common sense of wisdom and political will, unblemished with a sinister and wily scheme of acquiring more wealth thru greediness and self-centeredness, are the only 2 important things that our leaders really need to push thru in the realization, acquisition and the sustainable utilization of nature’s renewable energy resources that abound and are readily available in our environment. Like solar energy, hydropower (waterfalls), wind energy, biofuel from jatropha oil, coconut oil, corn, ethanol from sugar cane, biomass and reportedly a vast limitless deposits of deuterium lying in hibernation under the Surigao Deep also known as the Philippine Deep is waiting to be tapped.( Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)

This was the disclosure of Engr. Fernando Moralde, the Provincial Engineering Office head, before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan members who invited him and his colleagues during their recent session held at the provincial capitol here (April 13, 2009) to shade light on the on-going project. He was accompanied by Engr. Nelson Tan, Assistant Provincial Engineer, who accepts the plan and preparation of work; Engr.Brigido Eway, in-charge of the planning division office and construction of vertical structures; Engr. Alfonso Bantug, project in-charged of the Legislative Building.

He told the SP members that since there were no immediate available funds of P18M at the time of the construction work of the building, they have decided to do it phase by phase. He said that phases one and two have already been done and that they are now on its third and last phase of construction works.

Asked about the details of their earlier works, the Engineer said that phase one has covered the construction of foundations, tie beams, columns, some of the beams of the upper portion of the building and masonry works.

While phase two involved the construction of concrete structures, completion of the beams and of the roof decks, skyline roofing, continuation of masonry works,walling,partitions,roof framing, electrical installations, plumbing system and tile works of all the rooms.

Moralde revealed that Congressman Roger Mercado has contributed P2M for the phase three construction works which is now undergoing. The scope of work has covered the tiling of the whole flooring of the building, excavation, construction of septic vaults, drainage around the building, some electrical works, continuation of plumbing and painting.

Another amount of P2M was also allocated for the construction of session hall, slabs and framings and for partial glass covers.

The project in-charge of the Legislative Building, Engr.Alfonso Bantug claimed that the building needs more or less 277 square foot of glass covers. This would amount to P850.00 per sq. foot, he said, based on their canvassing results conducted from various stores.

Moralde said that if ever there’s an additional works of glass coverings, he recommended that the scope of work be implemented thru the supply-and–install system. He said that by this scheme, “we can bill directly to the glass suppliers and not anymore to the contractors”.

On the other hand, Vice-Governor Miguel Maamo, 11, also divulged that he has set aside P1.5M from their 2009 capital outlay for the furniture fixtures and air-conditioning of the one-storey building.

When the PEO head was asked by the Vice-Governor how far they have gone in their works, he said that the Legislative Building is now 80% accomplish.

Other works to b e done in the building are wall cladding, lights installation,water proofing/roof slab, wood works and carpentry, stainless railings, landscaping and the making of parking area.

Further queried by SP Albert Esclamado why the one-storey Legislative Building cost more than the two-storey Provincial Disaster Management Center building, which was also constructed within the Capitol Site. Moralde explained that PDMC’s floor area is only 150 square meters with an estimated cost of P20,000.00 per sq.m.Whereas the Legislative Building has occupied an area of 800 square meters at P20,000.00 per square meter.

He also said that the kind of materials they were using in the construction of PDMC is “below par” compared to the materials they were using in the LB.

If there will be no interruption whatsoever in our third phase of construction, “we would like that the Legislative Building will be finished before July 1,2009,which is one of the “highlights” of the province of Southern Leyte’s 49th founding anniversary celebration”,Moralde said. (Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.)

Two schools have suspended their classes already. These schools are the Philippine Science High School – Palo Campus where the 14-year-old infected student enrolled and the Sacred Heart College in Catbalogan, Samar where the daughter of the infected seaman is studying.

Currently, there are 344 confirmed cases of the H1N1 infection here in the Philippines according to the DOH.

WiMAX or Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access is a telecommunication technology that provides wireless transmission of data using a variety of transmission modes, from point-to-multipoint links to portable and fully mobile internet access. It is much faster and more affordable compared to the existing Globe Broadband products which can be availed at PhP795 per month in 512KBPS speed and PhP1,295 in 1MBPS.

Currently, the WiMAX is already available in select areas in Metro Manila; Cavite, Batangas, Laguna and Quezon in southern Luzon; Cebu, Bacolod, Dumaguete and Silay City in the Visayas; and Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao. And this will be available by the end of the year in areas like Rizal, Benguet, Nueva Ecija, and Bataan in Luzon; and Bohol, Iloilo, Leyte, Guimaras, Capiz, and Negros in the Visayas.

But the question is: Is it really reliable compared to the existing Globe Broadband connection here in Leyte? Well, we can’t tell yet as long as we haven’t tested this new technology.

The lawyer showed to Mr. Abunda the entries at the logbook made by the security guard assigned at the gate of the residence of Dr. Belo that proved that it’s Dr. Belo who left the residence first. Then after more than an hour, Erik Chua with his companion left the residence.

The lawyer also accused Erik Chua of copying some facts stated on the affidavit of Dr. Belo because it’s Dr. Belo who submitted affidavit first. In Dr. Belo’s affidavit, it was stated that on December 18, 2008 Erik Chua and companion went to Dr. Belo’s residence. And this fact was used by Erik Chua too. However, the truth is, in the Dr. Belo’s gate security log book, the date was December 12, 2008 not December 18, 2008.

The lawyer wanted to point out that Erik Chua is not consistent.

Dr. Belo and Erik Chua are both charged by Katrina Halili at the Department of Justice for proliferating the sex videos of Hayden Kho.