Tag Archives: Iligan

[Event] Iligan Survivors’ Movement 2nd year Commemoration and Seek for Justice

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Iligan Survivors Movement

IMBITADO KA!

Paghandum sa mga Biktima sa Bagyong Sendong!
Katungod ug Serbisyo alang sa mga Survivors, Ipatuman!
Hustisya sa Kinaiyahan! Hustisya sa Tanan!

Iligan Survivors’ Movement 2nd year Commemoration and Seek for Justice.
December 17, 2013
Iligan City

3AM –
SUGAT alang sa HUSTISYA to be organized by Liga ng Makabagong Kabataan – Ranao. A March to Gerona Bridge.

1.30PM –
ISM Commemoration Proper
Part 1 – Mass at San Lorenzo Parish
Part 2 – March to Gerona Bridge by the Sendong Survivors
Part 3 – Program and Concert for Justice by ISM and Local Artists

Bring with you a candle and torch. You may also bring foods and presents that you may share sa mga mag-atend pud. There will be a coffin floating as a tribute and a way of remembering the dead and missing victims, you may bring flowers.

Roxanne Roble Arevalo Merlyn Manos Jay Cabanday Noy Savandal Lanog Mindanao Lanog Mindanao TV Patrol Northern Mindanao Tatay Remo Fenis Egay Cabalitan Aga Zacaria Al Jacinto Ryan Rosauro Violeta M. Gloria

All submissions are republished and redistributed in the same way that it was originally published online and sent to us. We may edit submission in a way that does not alter or change the original material.

Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc.

[Press Release] Solons, top officials asked to lower pay to minimum wage -PM

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Solons, top officials asked to lower pay to minimum wage

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The Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) challenged senators, congressional representatives and top executive government officials to lower their pay to the level of a minimum wage earner. “If our peak legislative and executive officials are in position for public service and not to wallow in pork then they should be amenable to a radical pay cut. Besides they can better craft law and policies beneficial to the masses once they experience the life of the ordinary worker,” asserted Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

The labor group issued this call as people mobilized today for the anti-pork barrel protest in Luneta and other key cities in the country. PM’s chapters in Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog are joining the Luneta rally this morning while its members in Cebu, Bacolod, Iloilo and Iligan are also participating in similar activities in the provinces.

PM is advocating an “Apat na Dapat” set of demands to address the pork barrel scandal. First, the abolition of all forms of pork barrel, principally the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), the Presidential Social Fund (PSF) and the special purpose funds. Second, the realignment of pork to fund universal social protection from Philhealth coverage to public employment. Third, people’s participation in the budget process from identification of programs and projects to evaluation. And last, the passage of the Freedom of Information bill to enhance transparency and accountability in government spending.

Magtubo said that workers are interested in the protest against pork barrel since through the system of withholding taxes, employed people are taxed on time and pay fully. “Even the informal sector of the working class—the urban and rural poor—pay more than their fair share of taxes since every good and service they buy has value-added tax,” he added.

“But workers do not just want to curb corruption by abolishing the pork barrel. We also want to curtail patronage by removing the discretion of politicians in the delivery of social services. Public services must be accessible to all Filipinos as a right without the need to beg for the indulgence of politicians.” Magtubo explained.

“Just to cite an example, realigning the proposed P25.2 billion PDAF in 2014 can pay Philhealth premiums for a year to 14 million Filipinos, a third of the adult population. The PSF and other presidential pork like the Malampaya funds can cover the Philhealth coverage of the rest of the population to ensure universal health insurance in one stroke,” Magtubo ended.

Press Release
August 26, 2013
Partido ng Manggagawa
Contact Renato Magtubo @ 09178532905

All submissions are republished and redistributed in the same way that it was originally published online and sent to us. We may edit submission in a way that does not alter or change the original material.

Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc.

[In the news] Groups, MILF condemn Iligan bombing -MindaNews

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MindaNews » Groups, MILF condemn Iligan bombing.

By Mindanews
May 7, 2012

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/06 May) — The Iligan City Disaster and Rehabilitation  Coordination Center (ICDRCC), a group comprising more than 20 civil society organizations, have vehemently condemned Saturday night’s blast as “an evil act of a savage person or group,” coming as it did while the city is still recuperating from the devastation brought about by the killer floods unleasthed yphoon Sendong.

Atty Manny Salibay, chair of ICDRCC, called on sectors to assist the police and the military to find the culprits of the blast that killed two persons and injured at least 30 others, and to help attend to the needs of the injured and the relatives of the dead.

“We will not be terrified by this act of terrorism. God will be with us,” the group said in a statement.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) also condemned the bombing.

Robert Maulana, a  member of the  MILF peace panel said the bombing was “an act of violent insanity that killed and injured people.”

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

Human Rights Online Philippines does not hold copyright over these materials. Author/s and original source/s of information are retained including the URL contained within the tagline and byline of the articles, news information, photos etc.

[In the news] CDO Now Movement chooses to stay transparent, honest | Sun.Star

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CDO Now Movement chooses to stay transparent, honest | Sun.Star.

By Michael Andrew W. Yu
March 13, 2012

THOUGH its recall campaign has already been terminated, Save CDO Now Movement said it still chooses to stay on the course of transparency and honesty.

Tito Mora, spokesperson of the movement, said they did not purposely file the petition with spurious signatures just to make a point.

“Save CDO Now Movement is not just about making a point. It is about pointing to the direction of our vision of a safe Cagayan de Oro. That is where we want to go to, that is where all this leads to and that is what we want to build,” Mora said.

He said they respected the pronouncement of the city’s political leaders from “politicizing” their cause.

“We rejected the temptation to shortcut the process. We paid out of our pockets and people donated, that even just one peso was so precious to us,” he added.

Last week, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) called off some petitions for recall election filed at its offices due to “lack of budget and time.”

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

[In the news] ‘Sendong’ victims to get houses from government -INQUIRER.net

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‘Sendong’ victims to get houses from government.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
March 6, 2012

Vice President Jejomar Binay has approved the purchase of seven relocation sites in northern Mindanao and the Visayas for the construction of 15,000 new homes  for victims of Tropical Storm “Sendong.”

Binay, who is also chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), said his office and the National Housing Authority (NHA) had authorized the purchase of four properties in Cagayan de Oro City, two in Iligan City and one in Dumaguete City at a total of P237 million.

“The sites would be subjected to geohazard surveys to ensure that the communities that we will build are safe and environmentally sustainable,” said Binay  in a statement issued Monday.

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net

[In the news] Opol mayor lauds raid vs illegal miners -MindaNews

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MindaNews » Opol mayor lauds raid vs illegal miners.

By Erwin Mascariñas
March 1, 2012

OPOL, Misamis Oriental (MindaNews/29 February) – Mayor Dexter B. Yasay lauded the raid against illegal miners operating along the Iponan River of this town last Tuesday, saying the drive will be even more fruitful now that his undermanned police force has been backed by soldiers.

He said that Tuesday’s raid, which resulted in the confiscation of 15 diesel-powered hydraulic pumps, put out of commission more illegal mining operations than the raids in the two previous years combined.

Yasay said 9 of the 15 confiscated hydraulic pumps came from Sitio Inapasan, while the remaining 6 were from Sitio Araw-araw, both part of Barangay Bagokbok of this municipality.

The mayor said he was glad that the campaign against illegal miners, which came over two months after Typhoon Sendong claimed over a thousand lives in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, has now caught the attention of the Provincial Peace and Order Council headed Vice Gov. Norris Babiera, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the regional and provincial police force and the Philippine Army.

Aside from the heavy rainfall, environmentalists have blamed the killer flashfloods on December 16 and 17 to mining and logging operations in the hinterlands of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan and neighboring areas.

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

[In the news] Hataman clears way for log permits -INQUIRER.net

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Hataman clears way for log permits.

Philippine Daily Inquirer
February 22, 2012

DUMINGAG, Zamboanga del Sur—The highest ranking officer in charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has ordered an inventory of tree plantations in the region in preparation for the possible issuance of permits to cut trees provided these were not from natural growth forests.

Mujiv Hataman, acting ARMM governor, said the inventory was needed to determine which individuals or companies would be issued tree-cutting permits.

Following the Dec. 17 disaster that struck the northern Mindanao cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, Hataman received direct orders from President Aquino to stop logging in the region.

Logs cut from the forests of Lanao del Sur, a province in ARMM, had made floods that swept the two cities deadlier, pummeling hundreds of people to their deaths.

A logging firm, Vicmar, was identified as the operator of the concession from which the killer logs are believed to have come.

As a result of Mr. Aquino’s instruction, Hataman issued Executive Order No. 3 which imposed a moratorium on tree-cutting even in private plantations in ARMM.

Hataman, however, said EO 3 was not a blanket ban on tree-cutting in plantations. He said it merely imposes a stricter procedure in the issuance of tree-cutting permits “because we want to make sure the trees are really from private estates and not from our remaining forests.”

The inventory, he said, would help authorities identify the source of trees that would be cut in the region.

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net

[In the news] Move to revoke mining exploration permits in CDO, Iligan lauded -InterAksyon.com

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Move to revoke mining exploration permits in CDO, Iligan lauded
by Cong Corrales, InterAksyon.com
February 21, 2012

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Anti-mining advocates here lauded the unexpected but “long overdue” resolution of the Regional Development Council 10 urging the Mine and Geosciences Bureau to revoke all mining exploration permits in the uplands of Iligan and this city.

The advisory committee of RDC 10, which includes the representatives of Northern Mindanao, said the disaster wrought by tropical storm “Sendong” late year, showed clearly enough that the unabated extraction of natural resources has threatened both cities’ fragile ecologies.

Authored by Cagayan de Oro 2nd district Representative Rufus Rodriguez, the resolution stems from a disclosure of MGB Regional Technical Director Alfredo Relampagos that they issued four exploration permits in Cagayan de Oro and one in Iligan City.

Read full article @ www.interaksyon.com

[In the news] 2 Northern Mindanao senators back green bills | Sun.Star

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2 Northern Mindanao senators back green bills | Sun.Star.

February 21, 2012

MINDANAOAN Senators Aquilino Pimentel III and Teofisto Guingona III said Saturday they will support the pending house bills and resolutions on environmental protection and rehabilitation of Sendong-devastated areas.

The bills are filed by Cagayan de Oro Representatives Rufus Rodriguez (2nd district) and Maximo Rodriguez of Abante Mindanao party-list.

The two senators from Northern Mindanao issued this support during the Mindanao Summit on Disaster Risk Reduction and Geo-Hazard awareness held in Cagayan de Oro over the weekend.

The bills include House Bill (HB) 1063 imposing a logging ban in Cagayan de Oro City, HB 1064 declaring Cagayan de Oro City as a mining-free zone, HB 5663 that seeks for the appropriation of P2 billion for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, and HB 5685 granting a 50-percent subsidy on the electricity bill of residents in the affected cities.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

[In the news] Mindanao journalists held overnight by mining firm’s militia -InterAksyon.com

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Mindanao journalists held overnight by mining firm’s militia
InterAksyon.com
February 20, 2012

MANILA, Philippines — (UPDATE – 8:43 p.m.) A dozen journalists from Pagadian City were stopped Sunday and held overnight by militiamen detailed to a foreign mining firm the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines said Monday.

The journalists managed to leave area of Sitio Balabag in Barangay Depore, Bayog town, Zamboanga del Sur, late Monday afternoon after the Special Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Unit militia who had held them were “pulled out.”

The group was on its way back after covering the demolition of houses, mostly owned by small-scale miners, at a site targeted for exploration by Canadian firm TVI Resource Development Inc. when their way was blocked by the SCAA, who had even ripped up portions of the road with a backhoe.

Jong Cadion, publisher of Frontline Mindanao Balita, said when asked who had ordered them stopped, the militiamen replied: “’Yung TVI.”

Read full article @ www.interaksyon.com

[In the news] More funds sought for ‘Sendong’ victims -INQUIRER.net

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More funds sought for ‘Sendong’ victims
Philippine Daily Inquirer
February 6, 2012

The United Nations (UN) has asked the international community for more funds to effectively meet the humanitarian challenges in the aftermath of Tropical Storm “Sendong” (International Name: WASHI) that lashed this city over a month ago.

From an initial amount of $28.4 million, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-Ocha) is appealing for $39 million in response to “the dramatic increase of needs” of more than 300,000 people over the period of six months.
So far, the agency said $9.6 million had been raised, including $3 million disbursed from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to support aid activities in the immediate aftermath of the storm.

Torrential rains brought by Sendong triggered flash floods in 13 provinces on December 16-18 last year. According to UN estimates, nearly 48,000 houses were damaged and 625,000 people lost their livelihood.
More than 550,000 were also forced out of their homes.

Hardest hit were the Northern Mindanao cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, where entire communities were wiped out by rampaging waters.

Seven weeks after the disaster, some 21,900 survivors remain in crowded evacuation centers in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, and more than 400,000 people continue seeking refuge in makeshift shelters and with host families in their areas of origin, the UN further noted.

Some have returned to their damaged houses in highly hazardous and disaster-prone areas even as the government had already declared these as “no-build” zones.

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net

[From the web] Filipino of the Year 2011: The Volunteers – INQUIRER.net

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Filipino of the Year 2011: The Volunteers
They’re the silver lining behind dark clouds, rainbow after a storm
Philippine Daily Inquirer
February 5, 2012

(Editor’s Note: Now on its 21st successive year, the Inquirer’s Filipino of the Year honors a living Filipino who made the most positive impact in the past year as voted upon by the editors and assistant editors. Aside from the one most voted upon, the other nominees in the order of their number of votes were Leila de Lima [some editors have been voting for her the past three years], the Indie Filmmaker, Dragonboat Team, President Aquino [last year’s winner], Azkals, Robin Lim, Netizen, Beauty Queens and Mommy “D.”)

Were an artist to piece together a collage of the names and faces of the rescuers, relief workers, volunteers and donors who stood and delivered during and in the aftermath of Tropical Storm “Sendong” and other calamities in 2011, the resulting artwork would look, without doubt, lit from within.

A good heart beating at its core would cause the collage to glow.

There is no master list of the volunteers and donors, none tracking their names, their hours, their deeds or their gifts (in the future, there should be an effort at keeping one). But they were there—when and where they were needed.

It was in the last quarter of 2011 that the most destructive typhoons hit the country. “Pedring” and “Quiel” blew into Luzon in September and October and left 101 dead. The first affected 3.03 million people in 35 provinces and the latter, 1.11 million people in 18 provinces.

Then one night in December, Sendong unleashed an unprecedented amount of rain on places in Visayas and Mindanao so unfamiliar with such fury that, instead of keeping watch, the villagers went to sleep as the rivers were swelling. The cities of Dumaguete, Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were the hardest hit.

At last count, 1,268 people were dead, 6,071 were injured and 52,435 houses were ruined, with almost 15,000 totally destroyed. The damage to infrastructure and agriculture was assessed at P1.71 billion.

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net

[In the news] Fil-Am journalists raise money for ‘Sendong’-stricken colleagues- INQUIRER.net

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Fil-Am journalists raise money for ‘Sendong’-stricken colleagues
By Nimfa U. Rueda, Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 29, 2012

 LOS ANGELES—Filipino-American media practitioners here have raised at least $9,000 for media colleagues who were among those who died and lost their homes when Typhoon “Sendong” struck Northern Mindanao last month.

The media practitioners spearheaded a benefit concert and art auction, dubbed Sining Para sa Bayan, in Glendale, California, on Jan. 21.

The two-part event featured top-notch performers, musicians and artists, including Pinoy folk rock pioneer Florante and Emmy-award winner Jess Española, a visual animator for the cartoon series “The Simpsons.”
NUJP fund drive

Proceeds will go to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) fund for media workers who were among the victims of the deadly typhoon that left more than 1,000 people dead and displaced around 330,000 residents in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

Read full article @ globalnation.inquirer.net

[In the news] PNoy to NHA: finish homes for ‘Sendong’ survivors before June 2012 – MindaNews.com

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MindaNews » PNoy to NHA: finish homes for ‘Sendong’ survivors before June 2012.

By Violeta M. Gloria, MindaNews.com
January 26, 2012

  ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/25 January) – President Benigno S. Aquino III today told officials of the National Housing Authority (NHA) to finish all the houses for suvivors of floods brought by tropical storm Sendong last month by June 2012.

“Dapat ipangako nyo na by June 2012, tapos na ang lahat na mga bahay dito,” (You should promise that by June 2012 all houses here should be finished) Aquino said even before he was through with his introductory greetings.

The core shelters for the survivors, who are still staying in evacuation centers and tent cities, will be built through “bayanihan ng bayan.”

The President’s visit coincided with the 40th day since the destructive floods that killed hundreds of people and wiped out whole communities in both cities.

Aquino arrived in Iligan with Vice President Jejomar Binay, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman and other heads of government agencies to inspect the relocation site for survivors who lost their homes to the floods.

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

[In the news] Environmentalist fears another ‘Sendong’ in Oro – SunStar.com.ph

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Environmentalist fears another ‘Sendong’ in Oro
By Nicole J. Managbanag
Wednesday, January 18, 2012

  AN ENVIRONMENTALIST is urging the government to “clear all riverbanks and flood-prone areas with people” the soonest to avoid another “Sendong-like” tragedy that might come in six months’ time.

Orlando Ravanera, an environmentalist who is also the regional director of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), said there might be another flood coming in the city that is even much worse than “Sendong”.

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Ravanera had been tagged as a “prophet of doom” when he revealed the coming of a flash flood two years ago if illegal activities in the mountains such as mining and logging would not stop.

This time, he is again calling local officials and proper agencies to stop these illegal activities.

“During that time, nobody listened to me. They just took it for granted and instead laughed at me, thinking I was just making stories to scare the people. I hope this time, they will listen to me,” he said.

Ravanera issued the call again after Korean expert Do Jeong Ho from Doalnara Philippines made a survey recently in the city and in the mountains.

Based on the survey, he said “another worst flood will come due to illegal mining and logging” in the mountains, the same reasons that residents in the city cited why “Sendong” had caused much destruction to lives and properties last month.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

[In the news] South Cotabato seeks 5-year mining moratorium – MindaNews.com

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South Cotabato seeks 5-year mining moratorium
By Allen V. Estabillo, MindaNews.com
January 17, 2012

 GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/16 January) – Worried over a repeat of last month’s devastating floods in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities, South Cotabato officials are pushing for a five-year moratorium on all mining activities in critical mountain areas within the province.

Board member Ernesto Catedral, chair of the provincial board’s committee on environment, said his committee is studying the stoppage of all small- and large-scale mining-related operations in the next five years to complement the ongoing reforestation initiatives in the area.

He said the move will facilitate the restoration of the province’s dwindling forest cover, which was reportedly down to just around 25 percent.

“The forest covers of the mountains surrounding Cagayan de Oro and Iligan were estimated at 35 to 40 percent when they were hit by (storm) Sendong. So just imagine what might happen to us in the event another typhoon with the same intensity would hit our area,” Catedral said in a radio interview.

Along with the proposed mining moratorium, Catedral said they will push for the implementation of massive tree planting or reforestation activities within the province’s critical forests.

“In five years, I think we can be assured that the trees we planted have grown enough to survive for a long time,” he said.

When mining activities are stopped, the official said the cutting of trees in forests surrounding several mining areas in the province would also cease.
He specifically cited the ongoing clearing of some mountain areas in the municipalities of Tampakan, T’boli and Lake Sebu, where the small and large-scale mining activities in the province are mainly concentrated.

Foreign-backed Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) is currently exploring the mountains of Tampakan town, which reportedly hosts Southeast Asia’s largest underdeveloped copper and gold deposits, for its planned large-scale mining project.

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

[In the news] Group says ‘climate and economic justice’ needed to prevent repeat of ‘Sendong’ – MindaNews.com

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Group says ‘climate and economic justice’ needed to prevent repeat of ‘Sendong’
By Cong Corrales
January 15, 2012

 CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/14 January) — A coalition of religious, nongovernment and civil society organizations today said they will advance “a bigger commitment to prevent more Sendongs by working for climate and economic justice” at the same time that they started giving stress debriefing sessions for survivors of the flood brought by Storm Sendong last month.

Balsa Mindanao’s psycho-social counseling volunteers numbering at least a hundred started the series of debriefing sessions at the Agusan Evacuation Center in Agusan Elementary School.

The volunteers included nuns, priests, psychiatric and social welfare professionals, workers, professors and students from universities in Davao, Iligan and Cagayan de Oro cities and Caraga, Zamboanga, and Far South Mindanao regions.

In a phone interview today, lawyer Beverly Selim-Musni, one of Balsa Mindanao’s convenors, thanked the facilitator-volunteers for contributing to the success of the start of a series of stress debriefing sessions for Sendong survivors.

“Our coming together is part of a bigger commitment to prevent more Sendongs by working for climate and economic justice,” she said.

Read full article @ www.mindanews.com

[In the news] Irate Cagayan de Oro folk take crusade vs mayor from virtual to real world – InterAksyon.com

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Irate Cagayan de Oro folk take crusade vs mayor from virtual to real world
by Cong B. Corrales, InterAksyon.com
January 14, 2012

 CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines — Irate residents of this city launched a public forum on Friday to give the public a venue to vent their outrage against the perceived inutility of City Hall in responding to last month’s devastating flashfloods, which claimed hundreds of lives.

The forum, initiated by Save CdO, a group of city residents who started a virtual forum for survivors of tropical storm “Sendong” on Facebook, was launched at the Kiosko Kagawasan at D.V. Soria with at least 200 people in attendance despite the rain and hundreds more walking in to sign the petition to recall Mayor Vicente Emano.

There was also no electricity, prompting organizers to bring in a generator. Group members said City Hall had not processed their application for a permit to hold the forum.

Flood survivors took turns recalling how they made it through the catastrophe and of the city government’s inadequate response.

Save CdO spokesman Tito Mora announced that they have gathered more than 10,000 signatures for the recall petition.

Read full article @ interaksyon.com

[In the news] ‘Sendong’ not entirely fault of climate change, says research body – INQUIRER.net

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‘Sendong’ not entirely fault of climate change, says research body
By TJ Burgonio, Philippine Daily Inquirer
January 11, 2012

 Tropical Storm “Sendong” that left a death toll of more than 1,260 and P1.3-billion in damage to agriculture and property in Mindanao cannot be definitively attributed to climate change but rather was an extreme weather event that could become more likely and frequent with climate change.

The Manila Observatory made this conclusion in its preliminary analysis of Sendong whose heavy rains caused the massive landslides and flashfloods that devastated the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan last December 16 and 17.

The research institution, quoting the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), said Sendong had a one-minute average maximum wind speed of 100 kilometers per hour and was a weak tropical cyclone.

“Technically, then, according to current wind-based typhoon warnings, Sendong was a ‘weak’ storm. But similar to Tropical storms Ondoy and Pepeng, the rainfall amount associated with Sendong was extreme and resulted in severe flooding,” it said.

Read full article @ newsinfo.inquirer.net

[In the news] Helping others amidst disability | Sun.Star

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Helping others amidst disability | Sun.Star.
By Nicole J. Managbanag
January 7, 2012

 DISABILITY can never be a hindrance in pursuing one’s advocacy to help other people.

Despite having no voice, Jerry Orcullo, four-termer past president of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC), has never lost his compassion for his fellow media practitioners who direly need help.

Ka Jerry, as he wants to be called, lost his voice due to laryngeal cancer. But despite being literally voiceless, he still proves that his physical adversity cannot stop him from helping others, especially his colleagues in the media.

At the onslaught of Tropical Storm Sendong, several journalists lost their homes, properties and personal belongings.

Through Ka Jerry’s initiative and many connections while he was still an active media practitioner, he was able to gather help from several donors for those media practitioners who were affected by the flash flood.

Even with disability, this “voiceless man” became an instrument as many of his friends answered his call. Donations then started pouring in, sent to the COPC under incumbent president Attorney Bobby Goking.

Through this, journalists affected by Sendong were given temporary assurance for food, potable water, clothing and even cash.

Ka Jerry, 57, says he feels happy and alive whenever he helps other people.

“Helping others makes me feel less sorry for myself,” he shares.

Ka Jerry was diagnosed to have laryngeal cancer in 2008. Upon learning his condition, he says he prefers to be dead than alive but voiceless.

Read full article @ www.sunstar.com.ph

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