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VOLUME 7 NUMBER 102WED - THU

MARCH 5 - 6, 2014

PAGE 6 PLEASE

BY DING CERVANTES

ANGELES CITY- This city will host senior ministers representing 21 member-

nations in next year’s Asia-Pacifi c Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit to be hosted by the Philippines, as Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan cited ongoing projects that include the P100-million lighting of roads through tourism areas extending from Clark Freeport to the so-called Heritage District downtown.

Angeles to host APEC senior ministers yearlong in 2015

Sila ay ilan lamang sa mga pasyenteng pumipila sa labas ng tanggapan ng PCSO sa Angeles City upang humingi ng tulong.

KUHA NI ROMMEL RAMOS

NI ROMMEL RAMOS

ANGELES CITY —Pag-katapos ng kanyang di-alysis session sa isang pagamutan, ay sa Phil-ippine Charity Sweep-stakes Offi ce (PCSO) sa lungsod na ito tumu-tuloy si Pilar Pabalan ng bayan ng Arayat.

Ito ay upang matiyak niya na maipoproseso ang kanyang papeles sa

UPANG MAKAUNA SA PILA SA PCSO

Pasyenteng humihingi ng tulong, sa kalsada kumakain, natutulog

hinihinging tulong para sa kanyang susunod na pagpapa-dialiysis.

Si Pabalan ay isa la-mang sa dumaraming pasyente na pumipila sa labas ng tanggapan ng PCSO sa lungsod na ito.

Masasabing itinuring na nilang tahanan ang gilid ng kalasada sa la-bas ng nasabing tang-gapan dahil doon na sila kumakain at natutulog. PAGE 6 PLEASE

Ang totoo, si Paba-lan ay sa tricycle na na-tutulog, samantalang ang kanyang kalagay-an bilang isang dialysis patient ay nangangail-angan ng mas maayos na pahingahan.

Ayon kay Ma-ria Lourdes Soliman, branch manager ng PCSO sa lungsod na ito, ang pagdami ng

Pamintuan briefs mediamen on progress of works at the city’s Heritage District.PHOTO BY BONG LACSON

“We were told that Angeles, including Clark, will be hosting senior ministers for a limited period, but intermittently for the entire 2015,” Pa-mintuan told media in a press conference. The Philippines last hosted APEC in 1996.

Pamintuan said work is already afoot to com-

plete the Heritage Dis-trict, including the re-moval of spaghetti wires tangled between posts. “About 70 percent of such wires have already been removed, Except for one, all other com-munications fi rms have already complied to re-move the ugly wires

BY ASHLEY MANABAT

CLARK FREEPORT- At this early, talks are ripe that the holding of the hot air balloon fi esta next year will again be

Balloon fest back to Clark in 2015CIAC’s Luciano contradicts self

reverted to this freeport contrary to the recent pronouncement that the dirigibles pose danger to air traffi c at the nearby Clark International Air-port (CIA).

Offi cials of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) have confi rmed that there are ongoing negotiations for the re-staging of the hot air bal-loon in 2015 here.

CDC Tourism and Promotions Department Manager Noemi Garcia said “consultations with the Philippine Interna-tional Hot Air Balloon Fiesta Foundation, Inc. (PIHABFFI) for a grand-er balloon fi esta are un-derway, with the 2013

event being used as a benchmark.”

The 2013 Hot Air Bal-loon Fiesta is considered the biggest and most successful sports-tour-ism event since its in-troduction in 1994, with the participation of the Breitling Jet Team as the

highlight.The PIHABFFI, head-

ed by Capt. Joy Roa, has been at the forefront of hosting Hot Air Balloon Fiesta here every Feb-ruary, drawing tens of thousands of local and foreign visitors. But Roa

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BY DING CERVANTES

ANGELES CITY- Fed up with spend-ing P100 million yearly to dispose of its garbage, Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan held up his whip: segragate or rot.

Folk in this city started last Satur-day to segregate their wastes after garbage dump trucks refused to gath-

Segregation to bring down AC’s P100-M cost of waste disposaler mixed garbage amid Pamintuan’s program to bring down the city govern-ment’s annual garbage disposal cost to only 21 percent.

The city has been disposing of its 218 tons of wastes daily at the Ger-man-technology landfi ll in Barangay Kalangitan in Capas, Tarlac.

But city environmental chief Fran-

cisco Punzalan said about 67 percent of the city’s waste are biodegradable and could be used for manufacturing compost or for recycling into animal feeds.

“Only about 21 percent are residu-al wastes that could be diverted to the landfi ll,” he noted.

Punzalan said the city’s daytime

population of about 500,000, on top of business establishments, produce about 218 tons of garbage. If the bio-degradable wastes are recycled or buried by composting by the sources themselves, the city would reduce its P100 million expenditures for dispos-al by as much as 80 percent, he add-ed.

MALLGOERS recently had the rare opportunity to watch a performance orga-nized and dedicated to bring back the beauty of damaged churches in Bohol during the Talan-Awon Ug Kasikas sa Bohol (Sights and Sounds of Bohol) fundraising event at SM City Olongapo.

Supported by The Na-tional Commission for Cul-ture and the Arts (NCCA), The Cultural Center of the Philippines(CCP) SM Super-malls and SM City Olongapo this fund raising project was organized in response to the calamity that struck Central Visayas, especially Bohol, for the benefi t of The Dio-cese of Tagbilaran.

SM Olongapo tenants and private company also supported the event such as KFC, Jollibee, Pizza Hut, Photoline, National Book-store, SM Cinema and John Graphic Image.

The city’s talented stu-

SBMA director Paulino (3rd from Left) leads the ceremonial ribbon cutting with MOCCI Honorary Chairman Pineda (left), Councilor Piano (2nd from left), SM HR Manager Lo (3rd from right), Rev. Monsignor Cacho (2nd from right) and Councilor Marzan (right). The photo exhibit aims to raise funds for the rehabilitation of Bohol churches which were damaged by the earthquake.

dents and cultural performers get together to share their tal-ents, music and voices for this cause. The performers include Almira David Lat with her ren-dition of “Anak” and the String Ensemble of Olongapo City National High School who ser-enaded the crowd with their love songs and pop songs. Koro Colegio de San Columba-no headed by professor Roland Fronda performed the Doxolo-gy and Lupang Hinirang,

Councilor Eduardo “Edic” Piano was the guest of honor during the event. Other guests who attended include Project Director of the exhibit Pinky San Andres, SM HR Manag-er Rodora Lo, Rev. Monsignor Crisostomo Cacho, SBMA director Cynthia C. Pauli-no, Councilor Eyrma Yvette Marzan-Estrella, Honorary Chairman of Metro Olongapo Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (MOCCI) Aurelio “Bong” Pine-da, City Tourism Offi ce repre-sentative Lei Montoya and Ro-

taract Club of Freeport Zone Vice President John Gilbert Sevilleno.

The event also launched The Bohol Heritage Sites exhibit by Noel San Andres at the lobby of SM Cinema. The exhibit features magnif-icent photos of the churches before they were damaged by the earthquake and super typhoon, landscapes, sea-scapes and the unique peo-ple of Bohol. San Andres is a well-respected travel pho-tographer having complet-ed projects for the Nation-al Commission for Culture and the Arts. He has done extensive work photograph-ing the cultural icons, land-scape and festivals of Ilocos Sur and many other provinc-es across the country.

The exhibit will be show-cased across SM Malls in the country. It will run from February 27- March 5, 2014 at SM City Olongapo.

–PR-SMOL

Sights and Sounds of Bohol come to SM City Olongapo

NI DINO BALABO

MALOLOS—Planong ipasu-basta ng pamahalaang pan-lalawigan ng Bulacan ang 257 bloke ng mamamahaling tea rose marble na tinatayang nagkakahalaga ng P30 milyon o higit pa.

Ito ay matapos ipagkaloob ng Malakanyang sa Kapitolyo ang pamamahala sa mga nasabing bloke ng marmol na minina may apat na taon na ang nakakaraan sa Biak Na-Bato Mineral Reservation Area.

Ang mga nasabing bloke ay kasalukuyan pang nasa loob ng dating minahan ng Rosemoor Mining and De-velopment Corp. (Rosemoor) sa itaas ng bundok ng Bi-ak-na-Bato sa Barangay Kala-wakan, Donya Remedios Trin-idad.

Ang mga bloke ay ipinag-kaloob ng Malakanyang sa Bulacan halos apat na taon matapos kanselahin ng De-partment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ang Mineral Production Shar-ing Agreement (MPSA) ng Rosemoor.

Ayon kay Gob. Wihelmino Alvarado, malaki ang posibili-dad na isubasta nila ang mga nasabing bloke ng tea rose upang ang pondong kikitain dito ay mapakinabangan ng Bulacan.

Sinabi niya na ang mapag-bebentahan ng mga marmol ay gagamitin sa mga proyek-to ng Kapitolyo. Ngunit wala pa siyang tinukoy na proyekto o programang pagkakagastu-san ng mapagbebentahan sa marmol.

Binigyang diin din ng punong lalawigan na mais-usubasta lamang ang mga bloke ng ayon sa patakaran ng DENR.

Bukod dito, kailangan din na magpatibay ng isang res-olusyon ang sangguniang panlalawigan na magbibigay sa kanya ng kapangyarihan upang makalagda sa isang kasunduan sa sinumang ma-nanalo sa pagpapasubasta.

Nagpahayag din ng kaga-lakan si Alvarado sa desisyon ng Malakanyang na nagbigay ng karapatan sa pamahalaang panlalawigan na angkinin ang mga bloke ng marmol.

Ito ay nakapaloob sa liham na nilagdaan noong Enero 21 ni Abogado Michael Aguinal-do, ang deputy executive sec-retary for legal affairs ng Offi ce of the President.

Sa mas naunang pahay-

P30-M tea rose marble ipinaubaya ng

Malacañang sa Bulacanag naman, sinabi ni Inhinhye-ro Riben Landayan ng Mines ang Geosciences Bureau sa Gitnang Luzon na kung ang pagbabatayan ay ang halaga ng tea rose sa taong 2012, ito ay umaabot sa P16,000 bawat metro kubiko.

Ang pahayag ni Landayan ay inihayag matapos maim-bentaryo ang mga bloke noong Nobyembre 2012. Tina-taya niya na ang bawat bloke ay may sukat na apat haang-gap pitong kubiko metro.

Batay sa pagsusuma ng Punto, tinatayang aabot sa mahigit P24 milyonang hala-ga ng 257 bloke ng marmol. Ito ay kung ang bawat bloke ay may sukat na anim na ku-biko metro, at may halagang P16,000 bawat kubiko met-ro. Ang nasabing pagtaya ay maaring tumaas o bumaba dahilang batayan nito ay ang presyo noong 2012.

Batay naman sa mga naunang pahayag ng mga negosyante ng marmol, ang tea rose marble ay ang pinakamahal na uri ng marmol sa merkado. Ito ay dahil sa mapupulang guhit nito. Ang tea rose marble ay sa Bulacan lamang mamimina.

Sa kabila naman ng ma-higpit na pagmimina sa tea rose sa mga nagdaang taon, isang hotel sa Las Vegas ang sinasabing nalalatagan n gtea rose marble ang lobby.

Bukod dito, marami din sa Tsina ang naghahangad ng tea rose dahil sa masuwerte daw ang pulang kulay nito.

Ito ang dahilan kung bakit maraming bloke ng tear rose na kasalukuyang nasa mina-han ng Rosemoor ang may tatak ng isang kumpanyang may pangalang “BVIC” na na-kabase sa Tsina dahil ito ay nakontrata na ng nasabing kumpanya.

Subalit ang mga nasabing bloke ay hindi nailabas ng mi-nahan matapos ipagbawalang pagmimina ng nasabing mar-molnoong 2010.

Kaugnay nito, may mga nagsasabi namang may ka-malasang hatid ang pagmim-ina ng tea rose dahil ilang prominenteng tao na nasa pagmimina nito ay napatay.

Kabilang dito sina Rodante Marcial na pinaslang noong Pebrero 2003; Contantino Pascual na pinaslang noong 2007, at ang kanyang tiyahin na si Dr. Lourdes Pascual na diumano’y pinaslang sa loob ng kanyang tahanan sa Lung-sod ng Quezon ilang taon na ang nakakaraan.

BY DING CERVANTES

GUAGUA, Pampanga- The leader of a group pushing ille-gal drugs and manufacturing counterfeit medicines was ar-rested by the police in a buy-bust operation at about 5 p.m. Monday in his residence in Ba-rangay Sto. Cristo here.

Provincial police director Senior Supt. Oscar Albayalde said agents from the Pampan-ga police intelligence branch and the Philippine Drug En-

forcement Agency (PDEA) conducted the buy-bust oper-ation that led to the arrest of suspect Carmelino Bartolo, 48.

Albayalde said the sus-pect heads the Bartolo group known to be a major drug pusher and manufacturer of counterfeit drugs. Bartolo was also implicated in the murder of one Ronel Manalansan in this town, he added.

The police recovered from Bartolo 190 pieces of brand-

ed Nubain drugs, 438 pieces of generic Nubain drugs esti-mated to cost P44,700, signif-icant volumes of expired as-sorted drugs, and a marked one-thousand peso bill. The drugs were being examined yesterday at the police labora-tory in Camp Olivas in the City of San Fernando.

Albayalde said Bartolo was charged with violating the Dangerous Drugs Act and that more charges are being con-templated against him.

Leader of group pushing drugs, manufacturing fake meds falls

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WATER FUN. For the fourth time in as many years, Fontana opens its water theme park for a day of fun exclusively to children with special needs. The event is a joint corporate social responsibility project of Fontana, the Department of Education and the Department of Tourism with Regional Director Ronnie Tiotuico as main convenor. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

BY ASHLEY MANABAT

ANGELES CITY - The state-owned Bases Conversion De-velopment Authority (BCDA), which oversees the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SC-TEx), said it will construct a

BCDA, DPWH to construct permanent toll plaza for seamless SCTEx-TPLEx interconnection

permanent toll plaza togeth-er with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), that will pave the way for a much smoother tran-sition for motorists entering the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway (TPLEx) from the

SCTEx and vice versa.“The toll plaza will pro-

vide a seamless interconnec-tion between the SCTEx and TPLEx that will result in fast-er travel time and convenience to the motorists,” BCDA Pres-ident-CEO Arnel Paciano D.

Casanova told members of the press last Friday during the “Batirulan” media forum or-ganized by the Capampangan in Media, Inc. (CAMI) and the Holy Angel University here in cooperation with the Clark De-velopment Corp. and the So-cial Security System.

Casanova said DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson has given the green light to “commence at the soonest”” the construction of the perma-nent Tarlac Toll Plaza.

He said the construction of the Tarlac Toll Plaza will cost some P175 million. The BCDA will shoulder the cost of the toll plaza’s detailed design, traffi c management and installation of the Toll Collection System (TCS) amounting to P25 mil-lion. The DPWH on the other hand will fund the civil works at a cost of P150 million—the bulk of which involves the con-struction of the toll plaza.

BCDA Project Manager for SCTEx Services Joshua M. Bingcang said the con-struction of the permanent toll plaza will take some six months assuming favorable weather conditions for its construction.

According to Bingcang, the new toll plaza will have sev-en toll lanes. Of the seven toll lanes, four lanes will cater to motorists from the SCTEx en-tering the TPLEX while the re-

maining three lanes will ser-vice motorists from the TPLEx entering the SCTEx.

Bingcang noted that two toll lanes will be reversible al-lowing additional lanes to ad-dress the queuing of vehicles during unusually high traffi c volume.

In the meantime, while the Tarlac Toll Plaza has yet to be constructed by the DPWH, Casanova said plans are un-derway to address the queu-ing of vehicles caused by the present set up.

“We are exploring the in-terconnection project with both the Manila North Toll-ways Corp. concession hold-er of the NLEx and the Private Infrastructure Development Corp. concession holder of the TPLEX,” he added.

Casanova said that in the TPLEx for instance, the inter-connection plan would allow motorists exiting the SCTEx and entering TPLEx to pay their exit toll fee and at the same time get their entry ticket at the TPLEx Central Toll Pla-za and vice versa.

“This would considerably reduce toll transaction time and allow for faster travel time as motorists will only stop at one toll both to pay their exit toll fee as they exit the SCTEx and get their entrance toll tick-et as they enter the TPLEx,” Casanova noted.

INSPECTION. Gov. Lilia Pineda discusses with Mabalacat City Mayor Marino Morales her observations on the Mabalacat City College which she inspected with1st District Board Members Cris Garbo and Cherry Manalo, Engr. Noli Pangan of the Provincial General Services Offi ce, Mabalacat Councilor Krizzanel Garbo and the principal of Mabalacat City College. PHOTO COURTESY OF JUN JASO, PAMPANGA PIO

BY ERNIE ESCONDE

MARIVELES, Bataan- A top offi cial of the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB) on Thurs-day expressed fear that a pro-longed truck ban in Manila may cause reduction in ex-port value and work stoppage in more than 50 locators in Mariveles town.

Lawyer Deogracias Cus-todio, FAB chairman, said that with the truck ban they have noticed reductions of 30 per-cent in incoming and 20 per-

cent in outgoing trucks. “We also see a project-

ed monthly decrease in ex-port value in the amount of $153,000,” he added.

The chairman said the truck ban will have a heavy toll on over 17,000 workers in more than 50 multinational fi rms in the former Bataan Ex-port Processing Zone- turned Bataan Economic Zone.

“Any prolonged effect we may suffer may result in work stoppage that may possibly cause layoffs that we want to

prevent,” Custodio said.He foresees slowdown in

production and the growth in exports they are experiencing greatly reduced.

All FAB locators are into manufacturing that make use of the ports in Manila. The chairman said he was in-formed by the head of the lo-cator’s association that one fi rm has not received its in-coming shipment.

“If this continues, this may result in work stoppage,” he said.

Custodio said Manila May-or Joseph Estrada has obvi-ously a point and admirable in the desire to help his constitu-ents. He said that indeed the traffi c congestion in the me-tropolis is so heavy.

“Kaya lang baka hindi na-kikita ang big economic im-pact ng truck ban. It has wide-spread effect on investors and the workers. Let us work to-gether, sit down as soon as possible to fi nd a workable solution,” the FAB head asked the former President.

Custodio said they are studying the possibility of es-tablishing barging operation that will pass through Manila Bay from the Manila ports to the Mariveles harbor. He said that this will cut the cost of transporting by half from the P18,000 paid to a container van one way from Mariveles to Manila.

As to the use of the con-tainerized port in the Subic Freeport, he said that locators fi nd it not reliable due to the frequency in ship calls.

Exec fears reduction in export value, work stoppage in FAB with truck ban

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LLL Trimedia Coordinators, Inc.Publisher

General ManagerEditor

Marketing ManagerLayout

Circulation

Atty. Gener C. EndonaCaesar “Bong” LacsonJoanna Niña V. CorderoDondie B. VenturaJojo Manalo/Lacson Macapagal

EDGAR V. MOVIDOFounder

Business & Editorial offi ce at Unit B Essel Commercial Center,McArthur Highway, Telabastagan, City of San Fernando

Tel. No. (45) 625•0244 Cel. No. 0917•481•1416puntogitnangluzon@yahoo.com or marketing@punto.com.ph

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Punto! Central Luzon is a proud member ofThe Philippine Press Institute

E d i t o r i a lacaesar.blogspot.com

Zona Libre Bong Z. Lacson

OOpinion

FloaterEIGHT TIME world champion.

Count ‘em divisions: Flyweight. Super Bantamweight. Featherweight. Super Featherweight. Lightweight. Light Welterweight. Welterweight. Light Middleweight.

Six political parties joined. List them now: Liberal Party-Atienza

wing. Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Nacionalista Party of Manny Villar. Liberal Party of President BS Aquino. PDP-Laban of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

“Float like a butterfl y” Muhammad Ali only did in boxing.

Manny Pacquiao took it to the political ring.

And “sting like a bee” did turncoatism.

Plain and simple party politics, as bastardized, in the Philippine praxis.

SinkerTHE EMERGING political scenario for 2016.

Liberal Party: Mar Roxas for President and Kris Aquino for Vice President.

Yet-to-be-named Party. Jejomar Binay for President and Vilma Santos for Vice President.

With these as the only choices, can this country still sink any deeper?

Abyssmal.

Balloon burst“ALL SET for 2015 Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark.”

Screamed the slug of a press release from the Clark Development Corp. late Monday afternoon, with the story reading thus:

CLARK FREEPORT- Offi cials of the Clark Development Corporation announced that talks are ongoing for the restaging of the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta for 2015 inside this freeport.

Tourism and Promotions Department Manager Noemi Garcia said that consultations with the Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta Foundation, Inc. (PIHABFFI) for a grander balloon fi esta are underway, with the 2013 event being used as a benchmark.

The 2013 Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is considered the biggest and most successful sports-tourism event since its introduction in 1994, with the participation of the Breitling Jet Team as the highlight.

The PIHABFFI, headed by Capt Joy Roa, has been the (sic) forefront of hosting Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark every February, drawing tens of thousands of local and foreign visitors.

This year’s hot air balloon festival on (sic) April which will be held in Lubao, Pampanga was initiated by the Regional Offi ce of the Department of Tourism…

What gives here? For starters, a refresher of history: the hot

air balloon festival was a brainchild of the DOT birthed in 1994, at the time of Secretary Mina Gabor. Looks like it has gone full circle with the DOT at its helm again.

Troubling now that just as the Lubao fest is starting to gain some media mileage, comes this CDC press release bursting its balloon, idiom intended and most appropriate there.

This is most evident in this not-so-subliminal reduction to non-event of the Lubao balloon fest, to wit:

…Aside from the kaleidoscope display from the hot dirigibles, other events during the “Weekend Of Everything That Flies” include sky diving, hang gliding, ultra-light planes, aerobatic precision fl ying, light airplane rally, helicopter fl ight demo, remote controlled aeromodellers as well as kite fl ying, among others…

Beat that Lubao, CDC may as well have said there.

And the litany of Roa’s big-time and blue chip sponsors:

Over the years, the event has been supported by PIHABFFI, Clark International

Airport Corporation (CIAC), Philippine Air Force (PAF), Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), United Parcel Service (UPS) and DOT…

Compared to Lubao’s seemingly lonely duo of DOT’s Ronnie Tiotuico and the newly established Pilipinas International Balloon Festival Inc. of four-wheeler Noel Castro.

Indeed, a snooty denigration of this year’s fest in that CDC press release.

Teka, teka. I see some half-truths in that italicized take on the sponsors above.

One, CIAC has severed ties with the hot air balloon fest organizers since 2011. Here’s a direct quote from CIAC President-CEO Victor Jose “Chichos” Luciano that found space in the local media prior to that year’s festival, to wit:

“This year, 2011, the CIAC has not joined

the Hot Air Balloon (Festival). We believe that the project is not in focus with the priorities of CIAC which are to accelerate the development of the airport and woo more airlines to fl y to Clark.

For 2010, when CIAC became a partner in the project, through my own efforts, singlehandedly I raised P5.5 million from sponsors which very well covered the P3.5 million payment to Joy Roa.”

There. And how much has the CDC been paying Roa all these years? Payment that has been questioned far and wide for being unliquidated and unaudited? Ombudsman, anyone?

Two, the Philippine Air Force contingent in Clark, if we remember right, also cut ties with Roa’s balloon fest, resulting to its holding last year at the Omni Aviation area and not at its usual PAF locale.

Indeed, what gives here?That press release is a practical rehash of

what the CDC issued in late November 2013, to wit:

CLARK FREEPORT -- An offi cial of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) has confi rmed reports that the 18th Philippine International Hot Air Balloon Festival (PIHABF) slated in 2014 has been cancelled.

CDC Tourism Offi ce Manager Noemi Garcia said the event will resume in 2015 with more well-prepared activities.

Garcia, at the same time, denied reports that Captain Joy Roa will no longer handle the annual festival in Clark, which is witnessed by thousands of spectators.

Last month, Roa asked offi cials of CDC, including President Arthur P. Tugade to suspend the event to prepare for it longer.

“He (Roa) has set a standard and he wants to surpass the success of the 2013 hot air balloon festival,” Garcia said.

A website released an article stating that CDC cancelled the event because of lack of preparations.

Sabotage, anyone?Back to that slug of “All set for 2015 Hot Air

Balloon Fiesta in Clark.” For a “grander balloon fi esta” at that, according to the CDC.

How will this stand with the given reason for “disallowing” this year’s balloon fest to take place at Clark, constraining the DOT to move it to Lubao?

Media reports carried: “The reason of the location transfer is due to traffi c situation in aviation where some ten international and domestic airlines are now operating and fl ying in and out of Clark from various destinations. According to a source, a hot air balloon event should be staged at a 25-km no-fl y zone.”

So, is CDC certain of much lesser fl ights at the Clark airport in 2015 warranting a comeback of the hot air balloon fest?

Or is this all a case of the Filipino saying ’pag ayaw may dahilan, ‘pag gusto may paraan?

Yeah, I smell more than enough putrid hot air here to launch Roa’s balloon into orbit.

ON MARCH 6, 1909, the Uni-versity of the Philippines Los Baños founded by American botanist Edwin B. Copeland, was offi cially established.

The Board of Regents of the American University of the Philippines established the College of Agriculture in Los Baños, Laguna, setting up an institution dedicated to re-

search and education in agri-culture and related disciplines.

UPLB has played an in-fl uential role in Asian agricul-ture and biotechnology due to its pioneering efforts in plant breeding and bioengineering focusing on the development of high-yielding and pest-re-sistant crops.

It is a recipient of the Ra-

mon Magsaysay Award (re-garded as Asia’s Nobel Prize) as well as other awards from other Asian countries in recog-nition of its research works.

At present, the UPLB of-fers programs in the natural sciences, engineering, formal sciences, social sciences and liberal arts through its nine col-leges and two schools.

University of the PhilippinesLos Baños is officially established

TODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORYTODAY IN PHILIPPINE HISTORYSource: www.kahimyang.infoSource: www.kahimyang.info

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Napag-uusapanLangFelix M. Garcia

Yan ing manuyang?

KANITANG e me pa ikuang apatanguKing yain mung sinta ing anak kung bungsu,Kilub ning aldo-aldo nanan mu na ruguKeti na ka tuknang, tanuran mu niamu.

E ra ka man yutus ban mangutud dutungTa’ka mikalundag, mangalap palakul;At keta pelalung masias a palumpungPagkapilitan mung atilad maranun.

Mipmu nong’ danum ding tapayan a kapsaLalamnanan mu pa pati na ring banga;Nung misan pelalung kuran at balanga,Kakapmuan mu naman ampo pa ing banga.

Agiang e ka ‘nabis biasang mugit sarulE ra ka ayoyo king dayat durulung;Apibabata mung kilub patingapunLumba-sumaka ka babo ring tarundun.

At agiang ala kang tibukbuk o kupya,Maguanta kang pali libutad taldawa;Misan, ala ka mang pangambil bitasaApibabata mu, akakit mia mu sa’.

Pero nanu’t ngening ikua mu ne ruguIng solung anak kung pangane at bungsu,Mangutud mang dutung e mu na’ta balu,Danum man ala na, metung mu mang tabu.

Ngeni ka mebistung tiktak ka katamadAt alang nanu mang king bie pamagsikap;E na ka bisa mang tumalas keng burakO magpastul karing sese kung damulag.

Aba, makananu me rugung apakanIng kekang asawa keng katamad mung yan?Aku pa wari ing magdusang mamusanPari karing maging bunga mung temaran?

Yan ing kalbaryu ra misan ding pengariNung e la mikalmang manuyang da reti,Lalu pa’t antimo king bili kung ini,Akung maki anak kaniting babai;

Bisa ku’t e bisa aku na ping pilmiIng manese karing palipi na niti,At yan anti ku nang penitensya patiNgening ing anak ku e rugu misuerti.

At ing atupan na nung wari keng asuYa kabud ngara pin ing kaung man kanuE na’gawa uling ala’ng kabud bisyuNu’ne makadamag kilub na ning kubu.

Paburen ku no’man waring mate danupPati ring apu ku a kakung kalukupNgening ining tata e re rugu kikimutAt e na apakan sarili nang asbuk?

Natural mu karing aliwang pengariIng malugud karing keyang maging suli,Nung inia aku na ing papakan patiKening lamaran a manuyang kung ini!

AS WE all know, the impact of typhoon Yolanda was enor-mous and unprecedented worldwide, considering its toll on lives and properties.

Our local communities and people on ground prepared for the strong typhoon. Howev-er, post disaster assessment showed that more needs to be done in helping our commu-nities prepare for stronger ty-phoons and future disasters.

Defi nitely, we are one with President Aquino in saying, “We don’t want to be trapped in the vicious cycle of destruc-tion and reconstruction di-saster after disaster” as the Philippines faces an average of 20 typhoons a year, along with associated fl oods, and storm surges, as well as earth-quakes, among others. Re-cent events and global reports have shown that there is an in-creasing trend in the intensity and frequency of disasters. As a disaster laboratory, the Phil-ippines and our communities have a high risk of facing that can cause massive destruc-tion as Yolanda did.

While we cannot stop the occurrence of natural hazards, we can defi nitely mitigate po-tential disaster risk in our com-munities.

We, at the Department of Science and Technology be-lieve that we can use science to better understand and im-prove our disaster planning and preparations at the nation-al and local community levels.

Applying science, we can draw up scenario-based strat-egies and protocols in dealing with calamities: from empha-sizing early warning and ear-ly action to achieve minimum loss that can then lead to quick recovery.

I am pleased to note that we are not alone in this. The DOST, the Department of In-terior and Local Government, and the Offi ce of Civil Defense of the Department of National Defense have teamed up to ensure local communities can be made safer using science and technology coupled with local knowledge from commu-nities.

From the lessons we have learned during the onslaught of Yolanda, we have come up with a 4 point agenda to Guide Community Disaster Preparedness: 1) Increase lo-cal risk knowledge; 2) Capac-itate hazards monitoring; 3) Test warning and communica-tions protocol; and 4) Build re-sponse capability in communi-ties

Let me tell explain to you our call, Iba na ang Pana-hon! This is a two-pronged slogan. First, it embraces the change in our seasonal cli-mate and weather patterns, as well as the severity of the im-pact of weather-related natural hazards in the country.

Bunsod ng ibang panahon, mas nakararanas na po tayo ng madalas at malalakas na mga bagyo. Bago si Yolanda, dinaanan po ang ang Pilipinas ni Ondoy, Pepeng, Sendong, Reming, maging ng isang na-pakalakas na Habagat. Dito sa Gitnang Luzon, dumaan si Santi. Nagbaha din sa Zam-bales at Bataan.

COMMENTARYCOMMENTARY

Iba Na Ang Panahon:Science for Safer Communities(Keynote remarks of Department of Science and Technology Secretary Mario G. Montejo at the two-day workshop on the role of science in disaster preparedness held at Oxford Hotel, Clark on March 3, 2014)

Moving forward, the second part of the Iba na ang Pana-hon! slogan also highlights the availability of new tools such as latest high-resolution maps and fl ood modeling solutions, among others, to allow our sci-entists to study hazards and bring better forecast warnings down to communities.

Through these new tools, we also hope to raise the awareness and understanding of local chief executives, di-saster managers, partner civ-il society organizations, and even the local community me-dia on these hazards, and the NEW tools that can be used for community disaster pre-paredness hinged on the 4-pt agenda mentioned previously.

What’s New?So what are the new offer-

ings in this workshop?To increase the under-

standing of the community on the local risks and vulner-abilities of their area, we are launching today new hazard maps, such as high-resolution maps which are good for un-derstanding inundation, fl oods and storm surges down to the municipal and even up to the community level in barangays.

We hope these new infor-mation will spur the right di-saster imagination to guide you in your respective commu-nity plans.

Most of you may ask, ‘What do we mean by disaster imag-ination and why is it important during planning for disasters?’

By using Disaster Imagi-nation, our local chief execu-tives and disaster managers can think and act two steps forward by anticipating—using scientifi c data—the potential of a hazard to wreak havoc in communities. Our early warn-ings should do just that—trig-ger disaster imagination that will prompt early action.

Let’s take a scenario for public storm warning signals. We hope that through this two-day event, warnings issued by our agencies will instantly trig-ger the disaster imagination of people in a way that a Public Storm Signal No. 3 or No. 4 will prompt early action among the community to adopt ac-tion plans such as evacuating ahead of the storm or staying in areas identifi ed as disas-ter-safe zones.

The experience from Yolan-da is a good source of collec-tive memory among the Filipi-no people of what a Signal No. 4 typhoon could do to a coast-al community and even across regions situated along its path. This type of collective memo-ry could be used to prompt us to not second-guess a warn-ing once it has been issued from the national government to local communities. Mem-bers of the community, after all, possess better knowledge in terms of documenting and sharing the collective memory of the hazards.

This brings me to the intro-duction of the format for the workshops, which will include presentations of the hydro-meteorological and geologi-cal hazards in Central Luzon from our plenary speakers. By giving the overview of the disaster risks of the region, it

is our hope that this will usher visualization or imagination of the disaster’s impact. By build-ing on the paradigm of resil-iency, this prompts us to cre-ate actionable disaster plan-ning and a closer coordination between communities in the region and even with the na-tional warning agencies.

The regional perspec-tives on hazards will be com-plemented by the provincial workshops that will allow pro-vincial and municipal chief executives to better under-stand their communities and the risks present therein. Our team of experts will provide you with the latest information in the form of recent multi-haz-ard maps, as you go along the solution-seeking workshops.

Participate in the disaster imagination workshops, allow your team to visualize the cat-astrophic impact of hazards based on the vulnerabilities of the location and population so we can seek better solutions and lower our vulnerability to disasters.

I enjoin you to take this op-portunity to build your contact with our team of regional and national experts. This will be crucial to implement an end-to-end communications proto-col, wherein we can establish a feedback loop to ensure that information and early warn-ings will reach the intended audience and prompt proper action from the community.

With its tools, expect PA-GASA to give dependable cli-mate outlooks and forecasts for typhoons and storms, storm surges, fl oods and drought. PHIVOLCS takes charge of monitoring earth-quakes, whether tectonic or volcanic, and warn against tsunami, among others.

On top of them, we have Project Noah and DREAM that continually builds up on need-ed information and know-how.

The Project NOAH and DREAM and its 150 scien-tists are working 24/7 to com-plement the data issued by our national weather bureau, DOST PAGASA as well as help extend the forecasting of weather and rain probabili-ty from hours to several days, and soon seasonal forecasts, which will be crucial to com-plement state, commerce, and agricultural planning in the Philippines, among other ac-tivities.

Each municipality, province and region has distinct land-scapes and vulnerabilities. Through these workshops, we hope to learn from each other on how to spur better team-work between the national government, the local govern-ment units and their communi-ties, because the best disaster risk reduction strategy calls for us to work together.

We envision to cover the end-to-end process for sci-ence-based and scenario-driv-en community disaster pre-paredness from early warning and early action to achieve minimum loss and establish quick recovery post disaster.

As local chief executives and disaster managers, are we ready to commit and do our best to perform this task?

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FROM PAGE 1

NOTICE OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENTNotice is hereby given that the heirs of LUTGARDA G. ARROZAL who

died intestate on April 20, 2012 in the United States executed an Affi davit of Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate with Sale of her estate, more particularly described as a parcel of land (Lot 20, Blk. 1 of the sund. plan Psd-03-110588 being a portion of Lot 194-C, Psd-035409-055272 LRC Rec. No.) situated in the Bo. of Sta. Maria, Mun. of Mabalacat, Prov. of Pampanga and covered by Transfer Certifi cate of Title No. 045-2011002873, before Notary Public Aldin C. Ayson as per Doc No. 24, Page No. 67, Book No. VI, Series of 2014.

Punto! Central Luzon: February 20, 27 & March 6, 2014

NOTICENotice is hereby given that on November 5, 2013 at Angeles City, the

heirs of Marciana G. Dayrit who died intestate on April 6, 2012 in Angeles City, executed a DEED OF EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE OF THE DECEASED MARCIANA G. DAYRIT before Notary Public Mylene A. Yturralde-Chan of Angeles City, and entered in her Notarial Register as Document No. 2277, Page No. 70, Book No. XI, Series of 2013.

Punto! Central Luzon: February 20, 27 & March 6, 2014

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINESSUPREME COURT

REGIONAL TRIAL COURTTHIRD JUDICIAL REGIONCity of San Fernando (P)

OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT& EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF

EF No. 161-13Punto Central Luzon

NOTICE OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL SALEUpon extra-judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended fi led by

HOME DEVELOPMENT MUTUAL FUND, with its offi ce address at Suburbia Commercial Center, Maimpis, City of San Fernando, Pampanga, against LARRY A. ESCRIBANO, with residence and postal address at Blk 75, Lot 21, Calle 49, Xevera Subd., Calibutbut, Bacolor, Pampanga to satisfy the mortgage indebtedness which as of September 30, 2013 amounts to NINE HUNDRED SEVENTY EIGHT THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED FIFTY FOUR PESOS AND 58/100 (Php 978,554.58) including penalties, charges, attorney’s fees and expenses of foreclosure, the undersigned Ex-Offi cio Sheriff and/or her duly authorized Deputy Sheriff will sell at public auction on March 18, 2014 at 10:00 A.M. or soon thereafter (from 9:01 A.M. to 3:59 P.M.), at the main entrance of the Jomafer Bldg., RTC, Dolores, City of San Fernando, Pampanga, to the highest bidder for CASH or MANAGER’S CHECK and in Philippine Currency, the following property/ies with all the improvements thereon, to wit:

TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. 687641-RA parcel of land (Lot 21, Blk. 75 of the cons. Subd. Plan

Pcs-03-015720, being a portion of the cons. Lots 3008-P-4, 3008-P-5, 3008-P-7, Psd-141126, lot 3008-P-6-A to H, Psd-03-159018, L.R.C. Rec. No.) situated in the Bo. of Calibutbut, Mun. of Bacolor, Prov. of Pampanga… xxx containing an area of FORTY FIVE SQUARE METERS AND FIFTY SQUARE DECIMETERS (45.50) more or less. xxx“All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned on the above

stated time and date.”“In the event the public auction should not take place on the said, it shall

be held on March 25, 2014 without further notice.”Prospective buyers may investigate for themselves the title herein above

described and encumbrances thereon, if any there be.City of San Fernando, Pampanga, February 18, 2014.

ANGELITO B. DOMINGO Sheriff IV

ATTY. JOSELEA Y. FLORIA-BALLETA Clerk of Court VI & Ex-Offi cio Sheriffcc: HDMF Suburbia Commercial Center, Maimpis,

City of San Fernando, Pampanga

LARRY A. ESCRIBANO Blk 75, Lot 21, Calle 49, Xevera Subd., Calibutbut, Bacolor, Pampanga

PUNTO! Central Luzon: February 20, 27 & March 6, 2014

which are mostly dead anyway,” he noted.

Already the French government has sent teams to also help up-grade the local museum in the Heritage District in

Angeles to host APEC senior ministers yearlong in 2015the area of the Holy Ro-sary parish church, he said.

The district also in-cludes the historic Pa-mintuan mansion where Emilio Aguinaldo held the fi rst anniversary cel-ebration of Phiippine In-

dependence, amid plans to cover a creek with concrete slabs so that a garden-promenade could be built over them.

As part of the prepa-rations for APEC, the Department of Foreign Affairs Offi ce of the Un-

dersecretary for Interna-tional Economic Rela-tions, in partnership with the Asia-Pacifi c Eco-nomic Cooperation Tech-nical Assistance Training Facility and the United States Agency for Inter-national Development,

has already held a work-shop entitled, “APEC Capacity Building Work-shop: Supporting the Philippines 2015 Host Year” to build awareness on the APEC process.

Representatives from former APEC host econ-omies, such as Peru (2008), the United States (2011) and Indonesia (2012), also shared their experiences in organiz-ing APEC events.

pasyenteng pumipila sa labas ng kanilang tang-gapan ay nagsimula noong nakaraang taon bunga ng polisiya sa de-centralization ipinatupad ng PCSO.

Nakapaloob sa nasa-bing polisiya na ang pag-poproseso sa mga ap-likasyon at kahilingan ng mga humihingi ng tuloy ay isasagawa na sa lalawigan kung saan mayroon tanggapan ang PCSO.

Ito ay inayunan ng pasyenteng si Jaime Oc-ampo ng Pulong Masle sa bayan ng Guagua na nagsabing dati ay mada-li lamang ang proseso sa paghingi nila ng tu-long sa PCSO main of-fi ce kubg saan sila noon nagtutungo.

Ayon kay Soliman, “hindi namin gusto na may natutulog sa kalsa-da.”

Iginiit pa niya na mag-ing sila mismo sa loob ng tanggapan ay hindi na rin natutulog.

Ito ay dahil sa patu-loy na pagdagsa ng bil-ang ng mga pasyenteng humihingi ng tulong sa kanila.

Ang problema ay ang kakulangan ng PCSO ng sapat na bilang ng tau-han partikular na ang so-cial worker.

Sa kasalukuyan, sin-abi ni Soliman na nag-ii-sa lamang ang kanilang social worker.

Ipinaliwanag niya na ang isang kaso ng pasy-ente ay kayang iprose-so ng isang social work-er sa loob lamang ng 20 hanggang 30 minuto.

Ngunit patuloy ang pagdami ng pasyente, bukod pa sa muling nag-sisibalik ang ibang pasy-ente na kanilang natu-lungan na humihingi ng karagdagang tulong.

Ang pagbabalik ng pasyente sa tanggapan ng PCSO ay bunsod na rin ng kakulangan sa pa-nanalapi na pantustos sa kanilang patuloy na pag-papagamot.

“Kailangan ko pong magtiyaga na pumila

para maaganapan yung ibibigay na numero ng PSCO,” ang naluluhang pahayag ni Pabalan.

Sinabi niya na Bi-yernes pa lamang ng gabi ay pumipila na siya upang maagapan ang numerong ibibigay ng PSCO para sa susunod na linggo.

Ang pagpoproseso ng papeles ay karani-wang nagsisimula kung araw ng Lunes.

Ngunit sa kabila ng pagsisikap ng PCSO na mapabilis ang pagpo-proseso ay marami pa rin ang hindi napagbibi-gyan.

Kabilang dito si Jesus Batac ng Barangay San Roque Dau sa bayan ng Lubao na nagsabing “isang buwan na kami sa pila ngunit hanggang ngayon ay hindi pa rin umuusad.”

Dahil sa kalagayang ito,nananawagan si So-liman para sa karagda-gang manpower na itat-alaga sa PCSO sa lung-sod na ito dahil lumal-abas daw ang kanilang

operasyon ay pang-re-hiyon.

Ito ay dahil mgaging mga taga-ibang bayan at lalawigan ay lumalapit din sa kanila.

Binanggit din niya na limitado rin ang pondo ng kanilang tanggapan sa araw araw na umaabot lamang sa P250,000 bawat araw.

Dahil dito, iginiit din ni Soliman na dagdagan sila ng ayuda mula sa PCSO main offi ce upa-ng higit ma marami ang kanilang mabigyan ng tulong.

Gayunpaman ay ginagawa naman daw nila ang kanilang maka-kaya upang matulungan at mapagserbisyuhan ang mga humihingi sa kanila ng tulong.

Kapag Lunes ng um-aga sila nagpapamah-agi ng numero para sa mga humihingi ng tulong kayat kung weekend ay nagsisidagsaan na ang mga ito upang makaku-ha ng mga numero na hindi naman daw nila mapigilan.

Pasyenteng humihingi ng tulong...FROM PAGE 1

has fi gured in a contro-versy over his failure to liquidate millions of pe-sos in government funds which subsidized the hot air balloon festivals.

This year’s holding of the hot air balloon festi-val in Barangay Prado Siongco, Lubao, Pam-panga on April 10-13 is located some 33 kilome-ters away from the CIA.

“We decided to trans-fer the venue in view of the air traffi c situation in aviation-related activ-ities at the Clark Inter-national Airport where around nine internation-al and domestic airlines now operate and fl ying in and out from various destinations around the world,” said Noel Cas-tro, chairman of the newly established Pili-pinas International Bal-

Balloon fest back to Clark in 2015FROM PAGE 1 loon Festival Inc. which

will henceforth manage and operate ballooning events.

“Flying hot-air bal-loons at an altitude of 4,000 feet may incon-venience airlines espe-cially if launched during peak hours, thus the de-cision to move out of the 25-kilometer no-fl y zone for balloons,” Castro added.

Lucianocontradiction

But in a text mes-sage to PUNTO!, Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) president and CEO Victor Jose “Chichos” Luciano said he will endorse the re-staging of the hot air bal-loon fi esta in this free-port next year.

“Yes we will endorse that subject to the ap-proval of CAAP (Civil

Aviation Authority of the Philippines) on safety is-sues and for as long as the events will not in-terfere with fl ight opera-tions of our nine airlines in Clark,” Luciano said.

Three years ago, in yet another text mes-sage to media, Lucia-no declared: “This year, 2011, the CIAC has not joined the Hot Air Bal-loon (Festival). We be-lieve that the project is not in focus with the pri-orities of CIAC which are to accelerate the devel-opment of the airport and woo more airlines to fl y to Clark.”

Adding: “For 2010, when CIAC became a partner in the project, through my own efforts, singlehandedly I raised P5.5 million from spon-sors which very well covered the P3.5 million payment to Joy Roa.”

Aside from the ka-leidoscope display from the hot air balloons, oth-er events, during the so called “Weekend Of Ev-erything That Flies,” in-clude sky diving, hang gliding, ultra-light planes, aerobatic precision fl y-ing, light airplane rally, helicopter fl ight demo, remote controlled aero-modellers as well as kite fl ying, among others.

A CDC statement said over the years, the hot air balloon festival has been supported by Roa’s PIHABFFI, CIAC, Philippine Air Force (PAF), CAAP, United Parcel Service (UPS) and the Department of Tourism.

CDC and PIHABFFI offi cials are looking for-ward to a bigger 2015 hot air balloon festival that will surely draw a re-cord crowd, Garcia said.

APEC is an inter-governmental group-ing currently composed of 21 member econ-omies. Commitments made within APEC are non-binding and volun-tary.

APEC focuses on three key areas, name-ly, trade and investment liberalization, business facilitation and econom-ic and technical cooper-ation.

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The GossipmillerCesar Pambid

Kim Chiu handang makipagsabayan sa mga beteranoAMINADO si Kim Chiu na nape-pressure siya sa sobrang galing ng mga kasama niya sa Ikaw Lamang sa pangunguna na nga ng leading man niyang si Coco Martin.

Aside from Coco, nandiyan din ang magagaling na veteran stars na sina Cherry Pie Picache, Cherrie Gil, John Estrada, Angel Aquino, Ronnie Lazaro among others. Also joining them in the cast are Julia Montes and Jake Cuenca.

“Lahat sila, award-winners. Buti na lang, nakasungkit ako ng EducCircle (Best Actress) Award,” natatawang sabi ni Kim.Wala raw siya talagang masabi sa sobrang husay ng kanyang mga co-stars.“’Pag magre-rehearse, magte-take, sobra silang into character na 1970s. Kahit kung paano sila maglakad, kahit hindi pa nagti-take. So, parang ikaw, parang

mahiya naman ako siguro, dapat pag tinawag ako, ‘ako si Isabelle, 1970s ’to, Farrah Fawcet ’yung hair ko,’ ganu’n,” saad ni Kim.Dahil from 60s up to present ang settings ng Ikaw Lamang, kinailangan talagang i-set-up ng produksyon ang mga sinaunang period at say ni Kim, talagang na-

excite siya sa 70s era.“Kasi ang gaganda ng mga damit, ang gaganda ng accessories, ng mga hairstyles. From head to toe, as in sobrang 1970s, pati ‘yung mga props, pati ‘yung

bahay, plato, lahat, 70s talaga,” say ni Kim.We learned na nag-hire pa talaga ang Dreamscape ng magaling na hair and make-up artist para sa serye, si Ruben Nazarette na naka-base na sa Palawan pero

talagang hinanap daw talaga nila to get his services. Si Eric Pineda naman daw ang namamahala ng wardrobe and costume and si Manny Morfe for the production design.

Magsisimula na sa March 10 ang airing ng Ikaw Lamang sa ABS-CBN Primetime Bida.

Ai Ai ayaw nang manlalaki

NA-TRAUMA si Ai-Ai delas Alas sa kanyang swimming lessons nang sabihin sa kanya ng kanyang instructor na subukang lumangoy sa pool na 10 feet ang lalim. Eh, nu’ng simula ng paglangoy niya, sa lalim na four feet muna siya nag-swim at sumisid.

“From the scratch kasi ako dahil hindi talaga ako marunong lumangoy. Floating lang ang alam ko. So nang sabihin sa akin ng instructor ko na sa 10 feet naman ako lumangoy, go naman ako. Kinakarir ko siyempre ’yon dahil ’pag sa dagat na kami, sa 10 feet din talaga kami magsu-shoot!

“So ako, try sa 10 feet. Eh, paglubog mo, siyempre, kailangan mong mag-bubbles! Potah, sumobra ako at dumiretso ako sa ilalim! Nag-panic ako! Dapat hanggang sa gitna lang ako. Hindi ko maabot ’yung tiles kasi ’pag sa four feet, abot ko ’yung tiles ’pag lumubog ako!

“Hindi nangyari ’yon at dumiretso ako sa ilalim! Ha! Ha! Ha! Hinugot lang ako ng instructor ko para umangat! Nakakaloka! Muntik na akong malunod!” chika sa amin ni Ai-Ai.

Kaya naman daw ayaw muna ni Ai-Ai na mag-shoot sa underwater. Studio muna ang kinukunan niya bilang ina-inahan ni Anne Curtis sa Dyesebel.

’Yun nga lang, may buting naidulot din daw ang pag-aaral niyang lumangoy. Lumiliit daw ang tiyan niya na pinagmalaki niya habang aming kausap.

Tukso nga namin, puwede na uli siyang magkaroon ng lalaki.“Ayoko nang mag-asawa, no?” deklara niya. Sabay bawi ng, “Crush-crush na

lang ako ngayon! Ha! Ha! Ha!”Kasi naman, nakakarinig siya ng kantiyaw sa anak na si Sancho ’pag napapansin

na may kilig sa aura niya.“Siyempre may feeling din akong lungkut-lungkutan. Nag-iisa lang naman ako,

’di ba? Pero everything is under control! Tama na ’yung kinilig-kilig lang muna ako! Ha! Ha! Ha!” rason ni Ai-Ai.

Piolo-Toni tinalo ang box-offi ce record

ni Vice GandaDAHIL SA higanteng tagumpay ng Starting Over Again, bilang pasasalamat ay nag-blow-out si Toni Gonzaga sa entertainment press by having a thanksgiving presscon.

Hindi alam ni Toni ang exact fi gures ng gross ng movie na hanggang ngayon ay humahataw pa rin sa box-offi ce pero ang nakarating sa aming balita, close to P400M na raw ang kinikita ng pelikula.

Say ni Toni, hindi raw talaga nila ito ine-expect at ang wish nga lang nila even before the showing, maka-P100M lang ay okay na sa kanila.

“Actually, ang target lang namin talaga ay kumita ang pelikula. Sabi nga nila, makalampas lang ng P100M, okay na ’yun, kasi nga, iba ’yung timpla ng pelikula. Mabigat na light na lalabas ka ng sinehan na parang pinag-isip ka niya, parang iisipin mo ang nangyari sa buhay mo di ba? Na, ‘o, naka-relate ka ba?’ ‘sino ka sa tatlo?’ ’di ba?” pahayag ni Toni.

Maging sa U.S. pala ay humataw sa takilya ang pelikula at nasulat pa.“Oo, kasi talagang lumaban daw sa box-offi ce doon. Nagulat sila, na

parang this newcomer Filipino movie making waves daw in the U.S. Tapos, 52 cinemas lang, naka-$150,000.00,” masayang wika pa ng dalaga.

Sa ngayon kasi, ang may hawak ng record ng highest box-offi ce sa local movies ay ang pelikula ni Vice Ganda last December na Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy na umabot sa P420M. Kasalukuyan pang showing ang Starting Over Again at hindi malayong malampasan nila ang kinita ng GBBT.

Pero ayon kay Toni ay hindi naman daw niya iniisip ’yun at love daw niya si Vice Ganda.

“Natutuwa nga ako sa kanya kasi nagpa-block screening siya (for SOA), so sabi ko, fi rst time na may gumawa sa akin ng ganu’n. Na-touch ako talaga,” say ni Toni.

She added, “mahal ko naman si Vice, pero kung lalampas, eh, magkaibigan pa rin kami. At anu’t anuman ang mangyari, hindi ’yun makakaapekto sa pagkakaibigan namin. At malaki na ang napatunayan ni Vice. Sa kanya na ‘yung tronong phenomenal talaga.”

May bonus na bang ibinigay ang Star Cinema?“Oo, ikadadamdam ko kung wala,” natatawa niyang say. “Sasakit ang loob

ko (kung walang bonus), sa pinagdaanan ko sa pelikula. Ako na lang ang hihingi. Kung hindi man nila bigay, hihingin ko.”

Sa ngayon ay pag-uusapan pa raw nila ng Star Cinema kung ano ang next movie niya. Kung lalagyan ba ng part 2 ang movie o iba naman.

“May nakalatag na talaga akong next na gagawin. Pero dahil nga dito sa movie, hindi ko pa alam kung ano ang magiging plano. Kasi magmimiting pa.”

When asked kung sino ba ang gusto niyang makatrabaho pa or maging leading man, say ni Toni, gusto raw sana niya ay matuloy na ang naudlot na pagsasama nila ni Vic Sotto.

When asked kung magagawa pa ba niyang ulitin ang love scene na katulad ng ginawa niya with Piolo Pascual sa SOA, say ni Toni ay baka hindi na raw at baka maloka na raw talaga ang parents niya.

Kim Chiu

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BY DINO BALABO

HAGONOY, Bulacan—For more than eight decades, the concrete lighthouse at the coast of Barangay Pugad here has served as a beacon to fi shermen in Manila Bay.

But the lighthouse may not reach the century mark as it is now leaning and might fall anytime.

This prodded the provincial govern-ment of Bulacan and the Regional De-velopment Council (RDC) of Central Luzon to move vowed to rehabilitate the said light house three years ago.

Edgardo Baltazar, a local fi sher-man said the light house might not last a year more with the rainy season which usually bring large waves fast approaching.

A councilman of the coastal village

Bulacan lighthouse to fall anytime

Bulacan State University students on board a motorized boat approach the leaning lighthouse of Pugad on the coast of Hagonoy in Bulacan. Provincial offi cials vowed to rehabilitated the said lighthouse three years ago. PHOTO BY DINO BALABO

of Pugad, Baltazar said that the light-house which was noticed to have start-ed leaning a month ago is usually hit by waves.

The same was echoed by Ramon Atienza Jr., the village of chief of Pugad who lamented the condition of the light house. Atienza said they requested as-sistance from the municipal and pro-vincial government for the rehabilita-tion of the said lighthouse.

But the promised assistance is yet to come.

He said that since last year, the so-lar-powered bulb on top of the light house has stopped functioning, probably due to a damaged battery pack or bust-ed light bulb which are easy to replace.

The worst that can happen is for the lighthouse to fall.

Councilman Alfredo Lunes ex-

pressed apprehension that the light-house would suffer the same fate as the lighthouse located in Barangay San Roque, also in Hagonoy, which fell more than two years ago and its solar powered battery pack cannibalized.

The lighthouse has been photo-graphed by PUNTO! many times in the last three years, especially when its so-lar powered battery pack was repaired by the Sigla Movement of the Philip-pines.

On Friday, it was again photo-graphed by PUNTO! and students of the Bulacan State University who joined the “Lakbay Coastal” project or-ganized by the municipal government.

Photos showed that the lighthouse is now slightly leaning and is feared to fall anytime if planned rehabilitation is further delayed.

BY DING CERVANTES

CLARK FREEPORT - Gov. Lilia G. Pineda said the construction of a permanent evacua-tion center in San Isidro in Magalang town has been completed, while relocation sites in San Jose , Floridablanca and Tangle, Mexico are “in the works.”

In a speech read for her by Board Member Rosve Henson during the two-day workshop on the role of science in disaster prepared-ness here, Pineda ad-mitted that “one prov-

ince alone will fi nd it diffi cult to provide immediate, speedy and comprehensive solutions to the complex problems of rescue, relief, and rehabilitation works after a calamity of major proportions such as Super-typhoon Yolanda.”

The workshop was held at the Oxford Hotel here by the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Interior and Local Governments, and the Offi ce of Civil Defense, under the theme “Iba na ang Panahon” to highlight the threats from the effects of climate change.

“The provincial government is doing its best in preparing a contingency plan that can address the requirements of a large scale calamity by establish-ing a strong networking system with the Offi ce of Civil Defense headed by Regional Director Josefi na Timo-teo, the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army,” she said.

Pineda reported that apart from the permanent evacuation centers, “we are upgrading many baran-gay covered courts in the province to be used as tem-porary evacuation centers during times of disasters.”

“We are also fortifying various dikes in Pampanga in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways,” she added.

Pineda also noted continuing trainings in disaster management “such as fi re and earthquake drills as well as water search and rescue operations.”

Evac centers ready for climate change disasters

IN PAMPANGA

Pineda

NI JOHNNY R. REBLANDO

OLONGAPO CITY - Mahigit sa kalahat-ing milyon pisong hal-aga ng mga personal na kagamitan at pera ang tinangay ng di pa kilalang akyat bahay nang pasukin nito ang

bahay ng isang optome-trist dito.

Kinilala ng pulisya ang biktimang si Arlene Alagon, 45, at residente ng No. 137 Otero Ave-nue, Barangay Maba-yuan.

Batay sa salaysay ni Alagon sa pulisya, gal-

ing ito sa kanyang opti-cal clinic at sa pag-uwi nito ng bahay dakong alas-7 ng gabi nang mapansin nito na wasak ang padlock ng main door ng kanilang bahay.

Tinangay ng mag-nanakaw ang ibat-ibang alahas, laptop at perang

cash na nagkakahalaga ng P120,000.

Dahil dito, nababa-hala na ang mga resi-dente ng Olongapo da-hil sa halos araw-araw na insidente ng na-kawan ang naitatala sa ibat-ibang barangay ng lungsod.

P.5-M alahas, cash tangay ng akyat-bahay

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