VOLUME 2NUMBER 221WEDNESDAYFEBRUARY 18, 2009

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BY TONETTE T. OREJAS

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—The new Philippine NationalPolice director in Pampanga

does not think the illegal numbersgame jueteng exist in the province.

New Pampanga copchief: What jueteng?

PAGE 6 PLEASE

PASSAGE. Sr. Supt. Keith Singian hands over PNP Pampanga banner toChief Supt. Leon Nilo Dela Cruz, Central Luzon Police Director as Sr.Supt. Gil Lebin Jr. waits to receive it at yesterday’s turnover of command.

PHOTO BY BONG LACSON

DRUG FREE. Balibago Barangay Chair Tony Mamac (3rd from right) gamelyposes before submitting his urine sample for drug testing. With him areCouncilor Dan Lacson, and barangay chairmen Val Lagman and John Sladkyand police personnel. PHOTO BY JOEY PAVIA

BY DING CERVANTES

ANGELES CITY- Pam-panga 1st district Rep. Car-melo “Tarzan” Lazatin hasclarified that he has notanointed any “mayorable”against his long-time po-litical adversary MayorFrancis “Blue Boy” Nepo-muceno, but reiterated hehimself no longer has

TARZAN SAYS

No anointed candidate vs. Nepo yetmayoral plans.

In an interview withPunto during the inaugu-ration of the center for“Walking Free Pampanga”project for the disabled atClark Polytechnic, he alsovirtually shut down, evenlocked doors on possiblereconciliation with Nepo-muceno.

“I have remained neu-

tral (on whom to supportfor mayor in the 2010polls), but any candidateis okay for as long as it isnot Blue Boy,” he said.

Among those reported-ly poised for mayoral bidare Vice Mayor VickyVega-Cabigting, North Lu-zon Railways Corp. presi-dent and Subic-Clark Alli-

PAGE 6 PLEASE

CLARK FREEEPORT -Metro Pacific TollwaysCorp. (MPTC) presidentand chief executive officerRamoncito Fernandezsaid here that his firm,which has acquired 67.1percent of shares of Ben-press Holdings Corp.(BHC) in the Manila NorthTollways Corp (MNTC),has no plans to increasetoll rates at the North Lu-zon Expressway (NLEX)despite the global eco-

DESPITE GLOBAL RECESSION

No plan to hiketoll at NLEX

nomic crunch.“We are also bound by

the same agreements be-tween the MNTC and theTollways Regulatory Board(TRB), so the toll rates willremain as is,” Fernandezsaid in a briefing of localmedia.

He noted that the TRBwould allow possiblechanges in current ratesonly in January next yearas scheduled.

PAGE 6 PLEASE

BY ERNIE B. ESCONDE

BALANGA CITY - Thecall “to bury” the BataanNuclear Power Plant inNapot Pt. at the Bataanmountain town of Mo-rong has snowballedwith the gathering in asymposium Monday af-ternoon of anti-nuclearveterans and new gen-eration of advocates fora new fight against there-commissioning ofwhat they call “ the mon-ster of Morong”.

After the forum thatlasted from 1:00 to 5:30in the afternoon, about500 people joined thetorch parade around themajor streets in the Cityof Balanga. Chants of“Tutulan BNPP” filledthe air.

Monsignor AntonioDumaual, lawyer DanteIlaya, University of thePhilippines ProfessorRoland Simbulan andPampanga Gov. Ed Pan-lilio led the anti-nukeveterans in the forum

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WHY? Bacolod Chicken Inasal’sBBQuito Paborito Ni Betty LaFea of course!

Motivated by the success ofYsabella’s Chicken – which wasthe first special project of Ba-colod Chicken Inasal (BCI) withABS-CBN – the Philippines’ pre-miere chicken Inasal family res-taurant has decided to concoctanother tasty teleserye treat!

The result is not just one buteight delicious meals, all in-spired by ABS-CBN’s well-lovedprimetime show “I Love Betty LaFea” that features Bea Alonzoin the title role.

The program’s creative teamand Bacolod Chicken Inasal’smarketing team brainstormedand put on their culinary think-ing caps and thought of two setsof dishes: one based on the sim-ple, no-frills, and practical milieuwhere Betty La Fea resides, andanother based on the posh and“sosi” environment of the EcoModa advertising agency whereArmando (played by John LloydCruz) and Daniella (Ruffa Guti-errez) hold office.

Thus, taking heed of Betty

Everybody loves Betty La Fea… but what does Betty La Fea love?La Fea’s love for street food, BCIcame up with BBQuito Paboritoni Betty La Fea: six comboseach with three sticks of barbe-cues (pork, chicken and “laman-loob” like gizzard, liver or “isol”),all served with garlic rice andNestea iced tea. The barbecuesare doubly flavorful becausethey’re dipped in sweet marinateand then basted with a secretbarbecue sauce. The BBQuitoPaboritios are BCI’s first-evervalue meals affordably pricedbetween P99.50 to P109.00.

Then there is the Eco ModaEspecial set. Take your pick oftwo sumptuous feasts. The first,Pollo Galantina, is quarteredchicken stuffed with meat,cheese and vegetables, accom-panied with thick gravy. Thisgallantina is actually a treasuredfamily recipe from the grand-mother of the BCI owners.

Then there is also the healthyand mouth-watering Liempo Sa-broso – roasted pork belly fla-vored with lemongrass andserved with soy vinegar dip. TheEco Moda Meals are priced atonly P225.

So if you want to save butstill would like a yummy andfilling meal, go for any of theBBQuito Paborito ni Betty LaFea. But if you can afford tosplurge, try Eco Moda Espe-cials.

Bacolod Chicken Inasal hasbranches at Edsa Central, Jupi-ter St., Greenhills, Quezon CityCircle, SM City Sta. Mesa, Rob-insons Place Ermita, Glorietta 4,Metrowalk, Forum Robinsons Pi-oneer, SM Megamall, Paseo Cen-ter, Trinoma, SM City Clark, Rob-insons Otis, One E-ComCenter -SM Mall of Asia, One WorldSquare McKinley, Fastbytes Fil-invest, SM City Marikina and SMCity Baliwag and soon to open atSummit Ridge Tagaytay.

THE KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS Council 3709 of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga recently turned-over to Pampanga Archbishop Paciano B.Aniceto, proceeds of their fund-raising concert held last December. Presenting the check is Grand Knight Nathaniel M. Paras who is joined by (L-R)Sir Knight (SK) Roberto Hizon, SK Cesar Ma. Ocampo, Past Grand Knight and San Fernando City Councilor SK Jimmy Lazatin, Council Recorder SKHonesto Domingo Jr., SK Dan C. Dungao, SK Ernesto Dumas, SK Msgr. Norberto Coronel, and Council Financial Secretary SK Roberto Garcia.

BY JOHNNY REBLANDO

SUBIC, ZAMBALES – Threepersons selling a fake goldbar to a businesswoman were

3 nabbed for fake gold bararrested by joint operatives ofthe 315th Provincial MobileGroup (315th ZPMG) and Sub-ic Police Station during en-trapment operation at Atin

Beach Resort in BarangayCalapandayan, this town Mon-day afternoon.

Reports reaching the officeof Zambales Provincial Police

Office (ZPPO), Director, Sr.Supt. Rolando Felix, identifiedthe suspects as Alex Odin, 35,resident of Barangay Sto Niño;Macky Dipatuan, 38, residentof Barangay Amagna, all inSan Felipe, Zambales andJose Eulalio, 40, of BarangayAsinan Proper, Subic, Zam-bales.

315th ZPMG Director, Supt.Jerry Sumbad, said that atabout 1:45 p.m., operatives ledby Inspector Jelson Dayupayarrested the suspects in theact handing the fake gold barthey said worth P4 million to acertain Merly, a businesswom-an in Zambales.

Sumbad said the negotia-tion started from San Felipe,Zambales where Merly met Di-patuan and Oden, then shewas brought to Atin Beach Re-sort where Eulalio waited forthem.

“Hinihingian nga ako ngP5,000 para daw sa pambay-ad sa banka dahil yung gintoay nasa kabilang isla at nangipakita niya ang bara ng gintoay kaagad siyang sinunggabanng mga pulis”, said Merly.

Recovered from the sus-pects’ possession was onefake gold bar weighing morethan 8-kilos.

The suspects are detainedat the Subic Police Stationfacing charges for violation ofArticle 315 of the Revise Pe-nal Code (Estafa).

FAKE GOLD BAR. (From left to right) Suspects Alex Oden, Jose Eulalio and MackyDipatuan pointed the fake gold bar they are selling worth P4-million to a businesswomanin Zambales after their arrest. PHOTO BY JOHNNY R. REBLANDO

with a new crop of advocates.Some nuns were seen in the fo-rum and in the torch parade.

Dumaual, former chairpersonof the Nuclear Free BataanMovement in the 1980s threat-ened to go back to the streetsand conduct “welgang bayan”that they did at the height of thestruggle against the BNPP.

“Pero, sana naman makinigna ang gobyerno para hindi namaulit ang malawakang protes-

ta tulad noon,” the priest of theHermosa (Bataan) parish said.Speakers reminisced the past onhow they participated in massactions all over Bataan. Somepictures of the protest actionswere shown.

Dumaual said the callagainst the re-commissioning ofthe nuclear power plant beganafter Bishop Socrates Villegasissued three pastoral state-ments condemning the revival ofthe BNPP. The pastoral letterswere read in masses for the sec-

ond Sunday already.The third statement will be

read this coming Sunday afterwhich the following Monday(February 23), a prayer rally willbe held in front of the St. JosephCathedral in Balanga City.

Monsignor Dumaual said theInternational Atomic EnergyCommission has found 4,000defects in the BNPP “with somedefects that can no longer beremedied.” The participants inthe forum signed a giant “State-ment against revival of BNPP.”

Panlilio said he has beenagainst the nuclear plant sincehe was a seminarian. “Tutol akonoon at tutol pa rin ako ngay-on,” he said. The priest turnedpolitician said the BNPP wasmarred with anomalies afteranomalies. He said the plantstands at an earthquake faultdangerous not only for the peo-ple of Bataan but for most ofCentral Luzon.

“Wala pang kakayahan sascience ng nuclear ang Pilipinasat saan dadalhin ang nuclear

wastes?,” the Pampanga gover-nor said. He called on every oneto unite and register their voicesagainst the BNPP. “Hindi la-mang mga taga-Bataan angmagbabayad ng uutangin nanamang $1 bilyon kundi ang la-hat ng mga Pilipinong taxpay-ers,” Panlilio said.

Bataan Gov. Enrique Garciahas also registered his sentimentagainst the opening of theBNPP. “Tanungin muna natinang taong-bayan at sila ang da-pat masunod,” he said.

FROM PAGE 1

‘Bury BNPP’ move snowballs

IBA, ZAMBALES—A giant Aus-tralian mining firm with an invest-ment of $500 million has start-ed mobilizing its resources andis ready to start its first nickelcommercial mining operation inthe Philippines.

Zambales Gov. Amor Deloso,in a briefing with local officialsand business leaders here, saidRusina Mining N.L., in partner-ship with European PLC Com-pany and two other local miningentities, D.M Consunji MiningCompany (DMCMI) and Fil- AsiaMining Company, will operate, ina month or two, the 10,000 hect-are nickel mineral rich area inAcoje, Sta. Cruz town.

Deloso disclosed that asmelting plant is being put up tocomplement the mining opera-tion so that “only finished prod-ucts such as nickel blockswould be shipped out to foreignlands instead of the usual crudeprocedure of exporting raw ma-terials and products from ourcountry.”

Aussie firm invests $500-M in mining“Certainly, Rusina and com-

pany will help ease-out the coun-try’s economic gloom outlookbecause some 3,000 to 5,000workers will be hired for variousworks during its full operationtime by 2010,” he said.

In a recent dialogue withcompany officials of Rusina,CEO Robert G. Gregory assuredprovincial officials here of theirearnest intentions to bring aboutgood prospects for the miningbusiness in the country despitetight credit conditions and lownickel prices at the moment.Acoje Nickel Mining Project inZambales will remain viable forlow-cost mining operation, headded.

In a statement Gregory said“the key to mining is low costand that’s where the Philippineshas an edge over the others -quality yet low cost projects.”

Citing prospects for the AcojeNickel Mining project Gregory isoptimistic it will remain profitablebecause of the entry into the

scene of its technology partnerEuropean Nickel PLC which willintroduced the “propriety heapleach process, a mining processwhere nickel is chemically ex-tracted from crushed and minedores and are very low-cost effec-tive.”

Acoje’s total mining develop-ment cost was estimated byRusina as about $498 million in

infrastructure and working capi-tal, 70% of which will be spentin the Philippines while partnerEuropean PLC will spend about$10 million for feasibility studies.

Pre-feasibility study accord-ing to Mines and Geo-scienceBureau (MGB) documents foundthat the nickel project in Acoje,Zambales has a deposit of about34.4 million metric tons of nick-

el ores and with A1.09 nickelgrade. Rusina, according toDENR sources, can produce24,000 metric tons of nickel oresdaily for a decade.

Meanwhile, as a token ofappreciation for the company’sconcern and development pur-suit for Zambales, Deloso awarded Rusina a three-year taxholiday. –Johnny R. Reblando

THE Philippines Water DistrictAssociation (PWAD) has con-ferred the “Best Water DistrictPerformer Award” and “BestNewsletter Award” to the Ma-balacat Water District (MWD)in the recent 30th PWAD Annu-al Convention held at the Wa-terfront Hotel in Cebu City.

MWD Chairman DiosdadoPangilinan said the MWD hadbeen cited for the second timeas “Best Water District Per-former” because of its valuableperformance last year.

For 2008, Pangilinan saidthe MWD has a team of highlycompetitive individuals thatgreatly improved the level ofefficiency in their dealings withthe consumers.

Pangilinan said MWD best-ed Metro Cebu, Metro Lipa, Ba-tangas, and Metro Tuguegaraofor the much coveted “Best Per-former Award.”

“This only shows that theMabalacat Water District hadbeen efficient in its operations,”said Pangilinan.

MWD bags two PWAD awardsBEST PERFORMER AND BEST NEWSLETTER

Pangilinan also said that“Danum: Agus Ning Biye,”the official newsletter of theMWD bagged the “Best News-letter Award” for the second time.MWD clinched the same awardfor the newsletter in 2008.

The newsletter reports on thevarious developments in MWDprojects and highlights majorachievements such as modern-ization and so on.

“Nagpapasalamat ako samga kasamahan ko sa Maba-lacat Water District sa kanilangpagsisikap, sipag, at tiyagapara mapaunlad at mabigyanng magandang serbisyo angaming mga kababayan,” saidPangilinan.

“Sana sa susunod na taonmakukuha na naman natin angdalawang awards na ito paramaging hall of famer tayo,”said Pangilinan.

Pangilinan urged MWDemployees to work harder toimprove services to the con-sumers. He said that the MWDhas recently embarked on itscomputerization program Geo-graphical Information System(GIS) in a bid to speed up ser-vices to the public.

Pangilinan also said thatMWD is currently overseeingthe construction of the waterreservoir with water treatmentfacilities in Barangay Ca-machiles. The project is ex-pected to be finished in 14months.

Pangilinan

BY ARMAND M. GALANG

LLANERA, Nueva Ecija - “Theyare now professional masons.”

Thus Mayor Lorna Mae B.Vero said after the 39 construc-tion masons received their cer-tificates of competencies fromthe Technical Educationand Skills Development Au-thority (TESDA) after undergo-ing a seven-day Holcim GalingMason training on Monday.

Vero said the local govern-ment, in coordination with ce-ment maker Holcim Philip-pines and other agencies,pressed for the training tomake the labor force more com-

peti t ive, especial ly thesedays when a lot of workers aredisplaced amid the global finan-cial crisis.

The training cum productionwas undertaken inside theLlanera Central School wheretrainees started building aschool building.

“Most of our masons haveacquired their knowledge byexperience. Now, they are pro-fessionally trained, equippedwith certificates and advancedknowledge in the field,” Verostressed.

Trained masons would en-joy the upper hand in the labormarket, even internationally,

she said.Bienvenido Ronas, a mason

who f inished the trainingcourse as “Best Galing Mason”said he bas been on the job forquite a long time now. But helearned a lot more, in thecourse of the training. Asidefrom technical abilities, he saidhe realized the importance ofsafety and communicationskills.

Teri Cruz, CSR coordinatorof the Holcim Philippines, Inc.,said several masons who un-derwent the course have beenin-demand for overseas place-ment. “Before, they did not usegloves and shoes, now they

have all the safety gadgets,”she stressed.

Holcim donated 200 bags ofcement for training cum pro-duction purposes, Vero said.Besides the Llanera LGU andHolcim, Nueva Ecija’s 2nd Dis-trict Rep. Joseph Violago, theAssociation of Constructionand Informal Workers (ACIM),the Department of Education(DepEd) and the Jobs Trade,assisted in the realization ofthe training course.

After the training course formason, the local government ispushing for the same activitiesfor electrical, plumbing and oth-er workers.

Masons get upgrading course

TEN MYANMAR nationalswho came from Kuala Lum-pur in Malaysia en route toPalau had been preventedfrom entering the country.

Immigration Commission-er Marcelino Libanan said the10 Myanmar nationals arrivedat the Diosdado MacapagalInternational Airport in Clark onMonday via Air Asia and ap-peared to have no hotel res-ervations.

Libanan said the Myan-mar nationals are scheduledto leave the Philippines onFebruary 25, 2008 at the Ni-noy Aquino International Air-port (NAIA) on their way toPalau.

Libanan said the Myan-mar nationals stayed in Ma-laysia for 15 days prior to theirarrival in Clark. The group in-tended to stay for another 10days in the Philippines beforeproceeding to Palau.

Heranio Manalo, chief ofthe BI’s airport operations atClark, said that Myanmar na-tionals had been using thePhilippines as a transit point.Manalo also said that “theydid not present return ticketsto Myanmar.”

Manalo said the group hadbeen sent back to Malaysiaon the same Air Asia flightbecause “they could becomepublic charge” in the countryshould they be allowed tostay.

“We are also preventinghuman traffickers from usingthe country as a transit point,”said Manalo.

The BI reported that some2,751 suspected Filipino ‘tour-ist workers’ lacking travel doc-uments had been preventedfrom leaving the country lastyear as part of its program tocurb human trafficking.

Manalo said the BI hasstepped up its campaignagainst human trafficking insupport of the programs ofCommissioner Libanan.

Clark BIbars entry

of Myanmarnationals

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Zona LibreBong Z. Lacson

E d i t o r i a l O p i n i o nO p i n i o n

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

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Atty. Gener C. EndonaJoey R. AguilarCaesar “Bong” LacsonJoanna Niña V. CorderoMa. Teresa U. VillanuevaDondie B. VenturaJose Yabut/Gilbert Mendoza

LLL Trimedia CoordinatorsPublisher

EDGAR V. MOVIDOFounder

As Capitol falters,Tetangco soars

A MARKED decrease in overloaded trucks going throughApalit town has been noted lately.

This, no thanks to the Capitol – enmeshed as it is inthe tug-of-war between the governor and the sangguniangpanlalawigan (SP) over Ordinances 261, 349, whateverelse that has anything to do with trucking.

“The decrease in the number of overloaded truckspassing our town is the desired effect of the very strictimplementation of our anti-overloading campaign. Wereally want to protect our roads and infrastructure, avoidroad accidents and teach violators due and rightfulrecognition of the law.” Thus said Apalit Mayor OscarTetangco Jr.

Tetangco has been at the vanguard of the anti-overloading campaign, long before it came to fashion –and passion – at the Capitol. Early last year, he createda task force comprising of local officials, police and LandTransportation Office deputies to implement the law toits fullest.

Hundreds of overloaded trucks have since beenapprehended, impounded and penalized. Apalit andnearby San Simon have become access detours forquarry trucks evading various checkpoints on their wayto Metro Manila and Southern Tagalog for their deliveries.

“This apparent success of our anti-overloadingcampaign is no reason for self-congratulations but animpetus for us to strive even harder, until our roads arefinally freed from their scourges,” Tetangco said.

A hands-on manager, Tetangco himself often takescharge of the nitty-gritty of his anti-overloading campaign,going about town even in ungodly hours just to makesure his men are on the job.

The Capitol, especially the governor, has a thing ortwo to learn from the young Tetangco here.

Even as the below-40-years-old first-term mayorexpressed high hopes for an anti-overloading ordinancefinally resolved by the governor and the SP, he totallydisapproved of the move to cut truck sidings as a meansto curb overloading.

Explains Tetangco: “It is not only quarry materials ourfellow truck operators load, though lahar really seems tobe the most damaging of their load. Many carry otherloads on their trucks, especially on their way here. I agreewith the other groups in their opinion. The best way todetermine a truck’s load is by weighing it. Weighingscales will be the best solution to the problem ofoverloading and not cutting.”

Tetangco knows whereof he speaks, grounded as heis in the success of his anti-overloading campaign. Anda ‘tis said, you can’t argue with success.

But will the governor listen. Yeah, does the governorever listen?

Napag-uusapanlangNi Felix M. Garcia

Samahan diumigi, sumamapa kaysa dati!ANHIN MAN po nating suriin kumbagaItong nangyayari sa pagitan ninaEd Panlilio at ang S.P. ng PampangaAy posibleng dulot lang ng pulitika.

Na namamagitan sa dalawang paksyonMula nang maupo bilang GobernadorItong si Among Ed na solong humabolPero tinalo ang Administrasyon;

(At si dating senior board member Pineda,Na bagama’t kumpleto ang makinaryaAy nasapawan ng isang baguhan paNa katulad niyang wala namang pera).

Natural lamang na ngayo’t nagsosoloAt walang kakampi itong si Panlilio,Sa bumubuo riyan ng ating KonsehoAy ano pa nga bang maasahan nito?

Kundi ang posibleng palagi siyang taloSa anumang bagay na hilingin nito;Partikular na sa alin man proyektoNa pam-‘pogi points’ sa panig ni Panlilio!

Pero ano man ang posibleng dahilanNitong di matapos-tapos ng iringanNina Ed Panlilio at ng Sanggunian,Ay taong bayan ang apektado po riyan.

Kasi, imbes sila’y makapagserbisyoNg tapat at walang halo kahit ano,Yan ng dahil lamang sa naturang puntoAy pigil ang lahat diyan sa Kapitolyo;

Na kung saan pati mga OrdinansaAt E.O. na dapat masunod kumbaga,Ay bine-veto at nire-repeal nilaBunsod nitong sila’y laging magkakontra.

At di magkaisa sa magandang layonDala lang marahil sa ayaw po nitongBumubuo po riyan ng kabilang paksyonNa bumango si Gob sa kanyang panahon?

Kaya’t anhin na lang nila’y di tumagalSi Gob Ed Panlilio sa panunungkulan,Dulot na rin nitong posibleng personalNa interes lang ng ilang ‘aspirants’ d’yan?

Na di po malayong ya’y may koneksyon dinSa isinusulong na siya’y patalsikin,Kundi man sa Recall, ay baka sakalingSa ibang paraan ay kusang bibitiw;

Sa pamamagitan ng laging pag-ipitNg S.P. kay Gob sa mga ninanaisNitong ipairal ngunit ginigipitItong dating Pari ng nasa paligid!

Gaya halimbawa nitong pag-repeal n’yanSa sarili na rin po nilang Ordinance,Na naglalayong baguhin ng tuluyanAng nilalaman ng Ordinance 261.

Na kung saan ito namang pina-iralNg implementing rules saka mga guidelinesNi Panlilio hinggil sa unang OrdinanceAy natural lang na apektado po riyan!

At tila lalo lang lolobo kumbagaAng dati’y malubha na nga pong problemaNitong mga ‘Truckers’ sa paghakot nilaNg buhangin galing sa ating probinsya;

(May karugtong)

AVE ATQUE vale. As the Latins have it, hail and farewell. As thepolice – at least Chief Supt. Leon Nilo de la Cruz, top cop forCentral Luzon – has it, “from one good hand to another.”

The helm of the Pampanga Police Office that is. Senior Supt.Keith Ernald Singian, OIC-police director, relinquishing his post toSenior Supt. Gil Lebin, his PMA mistah, yesterday morning.

“Two great police officers,” said De la Cruz of Singian – “for hishighest devotion to duty,” and Lebin – “hard-working.”

After pinning the Medalya ng Kasanayan, the police efficiencymedal, on Singian, the regional police director, hailed Singian forhis accomplishments in “curbing crime and developingprofessionalism among his men.”

Came to mind what the uber developer Delfin Lee said at thePPO last Monday: “Respect is what one feels soon as enteringthe grounds here. Respect is what Keith Singian has earned notonly from his men but among the various sectors of Pampangasociety. I now belong to your fans, Colonel Singian.”

Notes ona turn-over

The two-year term of Singian at the PPO sawthe neutralization of kidnap-for-ransom gangs andraids in shabu laboratories and warehouses inFloridablanca and Dau, Mabalacat that greatlydiminished the nefarious drug trade in the province,if not in the whole region.

It was at Singian’s watch too that a large cacheof arms of the splinter group RebolusyonaryongHukbong Bayan was confiscated, which, somepolice officers deemed as a major setback to whatremains of the insurgency movement.

Then there was the hostage drama on aGenesis bus beamed live to a national televisionaudience that ended in the safe release of all thehostages, and, the death of the hostage-taker.

The two-year term of Singian saw thePampanga Police Office earning PPO of the Year(2007 and 2008) in Central Luzon.

“Great officers like you will always shine,wherever your way takes you,” De la Cruz said ofSingian in his send-off.

To Lebin, he gave two pieces of advice: “Doyour job. Do it well.” Even as he expressed thecertainty that Levin “can do it.”

No stranger to Central Luzon is Levin, havingbeen at the Criminal Intelligence and DetectionGroup at Camp Olivas for quite a time – “goingthrough four RDs (regional directors).”

Before coming back to the region as a memberof the RD staff last month, Lebin was chief of thePNP Maritime office in Palawan.

Whispered as a relative of the Arroyos, beingan Ilonggo, Lebin said the only Arroyo he couldrelate to was the street where he lived.

So what had he to say of the open animosityof Gov. Eddie T. Panlilio on his designation asOIC-PD of Pampanga?

“I follow orders. I just do my best.”

So what is his stand on jueteng, asked theintrepid Tonette Orejas.

“Is there jueteng here?”Why Lebin, despite the expressed objection

of the governor, I asked De la Cruz.“Lebin is the only available qualified officer.”How about, Senior Supts. George Gaddi,

Sonny Cunanan, and Danilo Bautista who weresupposed to be in a list?

“Both Gaddi and Cunanan are not assigned inthe region. Bautista is holding a very sensitiveposition at the regional office. And what list?”

Tonette again: “The list you were supposed tohave returned to SILG (Interior Secretary RonniePuno) according to my source.”

“Who is your source?”Tonette: “I cannot tell you, you know that.”“Your source is lying. I did not return any list.”Why is Lebin OIC only and not PD?“This is in accordance with law. With Singian

due for relief and in the absence of a list presentedto the governor, an OIC has to be designated.”

So is Cong. Mikey Arroyo meddling in policematters?

“I am the RD and I make decisions. The lasttime I had contact with the congressman was whenhe texted Merry Christmas and once in January.”

So has the region’s top cop been talking tothe governor on these matters, lately?

“No.”Hold onto your seats folks, more drama is set

to unfold in this saga of the hunt for a police chiefto Panlilio’s liking in the province of Pampanga.

Ah, yes, RD De la Cruz remembered me alltoo well for the inclusion of my name in the policeorder of battle when he was Pampanga PC’s intelofficer.

A hearty laugh we had in remembering.

ON THIS DAY in 1930, Pluto,once believed to be the ninthplanet, is discovered at theLowell Observatory in Flag-staff, Arizona, by astronomerClyde W. Tombaugh.

The existence of an un-known ninth planet was firstproposed by Percival Lowell,who theorized that wobbles inthe orbits of Uranus and Nep-tune were caused by the grav-itational pull of an unknownplanetary body.

Lowell calculated the ap-proximate location of the hy-pothesized ninth planet andsearched for more than a de-cade without success.

However, in 1929, usingthe calculations of Powell andW.H. Pickering as a guide,the search for Pluto was re-sumed at the Lowell Obser-vatory in Arizona.

On February 18, 1930,Tombaugh discovered the tiny,distant planet by use of a new

Pluto discoveredTODAY IN HISTORY

astronomic technique of pho-tographic plates combinedwith a blink microscope.

His finding was confirmedby several other astronomers,and on March 13, 1930--theanniversary of Lowell's birthand of William Hershel's dis-covery of Uranus--the discov-ery of Pluto was publicly an-nounced.

With a surface tempera-ture estimated at approxi-mately -360 Fahrenheit, Plu-to was appropriately given theRoman name for the god ofthe underworld in Greek my-thology.

Pluto's average distancefrom the sun is nearly four bil-lion miles, and it takes ap-proximately 248 years tocomplete one orbit.

It also has the most ellip-tical and tilted orbit of anyplanet, and at i ts closestpoint to the sun it passes in-side the orbit of Neptune, the

eighth planet.After its discovery, some

astronomers quest ionedwhether Pluto had sufficientmass to affect the orbits ofUranus and Neptune. In 1978,James Christy and RobertHarrington discovered Pluto'sonly known moon, Charon,which was determined to havea diameter of 737 miles toPluto's 1,428 miles.

Together, it was thoughtthat Pluto and Charon formeda double-p lanet system,which was of ample enoughmass to cause wobbles inUranus' and Neptune's orbits.

In August 2006, however,the International AstronomicalUnion announced that Plutowould no longer be considereda planet, due to new rules thatsaid planets must "clear theneighborhood around its orbit."

Since Pluto's oblong orbitoverlaps that of Neptune, itwas disqualified.

Agyu Tamu!AtbpEdgardo “EDPAM”

Pamintuan

NASABI ko sa nakaraang Agyu Tamu! Atbp kolum, na pag-uusa-pan natin ngayon kung anu-ano ang mga infrastructure projects nakasalukuyang ipinapatupad ni Presidente Arroyo sa buong kab-uuan ng Luzon, sa ilalim ng pamamatnubay ng inyong cabalen atabang lingkod bilang Chairman/CEO ng Subic-Clark Alliance forDevelopment Council (SCADC) and Development Champion of theLuzon Urban Beltway (LUB) Super Region. Ang SCADC at LUBinfrastructure projects ay para sa pagtatayo ng isang WORLD-CLASS MEGA LOGISTICS HUB ditto sa Subic-Clark Corridor namagsisilbing sentro ng daluyan ng negosyo at komersyo at ngtinatawag na MAIN GATEWAY n gating bansa sa Asia PacificRegion na kung saan naroroon din naman ang mga bansa na maykanya-kanya sentro ng daluyan ng negosyo at komersyo.

Logistics Hub:Sentro ng daluyan

ng negosyo atkomersyo

Ano nga ba ang “logistics hub” at bakit kailan-gan nating maitayo ito? May nalathala sa “TheEconomist” (7/16/06) na makapagbibigay ng ideyatungkol dito:

“… logistics has become the electronicage’s PHYSICAL INTERNET… a vital interac-tive link in the Global Supply Chain that pro-pels the fast moving Global Economy’s tradeand commerce.”

Sa pamamagitan nito, paliwanag ng The Econ-omist article:

“… goods are moving around the worldwith increasing efficiency … transportingitems from fresh flowers … to electronics …and even live whales! …which have beenFedexed from one place to another.”

“… this logistics phenomena has spawned theconstruction and development of hub centres instrategic capitals of the world from London Heath-row to Paris, Cologne GermanytoHongkong andSingapore, Guangzhou and Manila in the Asia-Pacific rim.”

“… these logistics hubs act as distribution andtran-shipment nerve centers buzzling with load-ing and unloading of highly containerized cargoescrossing varying international datelines often inthe stealth of night.”

“… the principal driving force in this vastand increasingly complex global-supplychain is the underlying Cost Effectiveness ofthe manner these cargoes jump from onemode to another like landbased lorries andtrucks to fixed railways trains to airborne jum-bo and midsize jets” and, if I may add, seaborneshipping vessels.

“… This phenomena has given rise to the so-called Multi-Modal interconnected transport sys-tems criss-crossing these logistics centres.

While the United States has trailblazed the logis-tics highway…however newer state-of-art hubshave emerged in the global arena…the mosttalked about of which is the front running of the ofthe emerging economy of the Middle-East—thecity state of Dubaiin the United Arab Emirates.”

Alam natin na para umunlad ang ekonomiyang isang bansa at upang ang mga mamumu-hunan, Pilipino man o banyaga, dapat makapag-tatag ng LOGISTICS HUB na siyang SENTRONG DALUYAN NG NEGOSYO AT KOMERSYO.At ito nga ang dahilan kung bakit iniutos ni Pres-idente Arroyo na magsagawa at magtatag ng mgakinakailangan infraistraktura ng transportasyontulad ng seaports, airports, roads and bridg-es, and related communications infrastruc-tures such telecommunications broadbandnetwork, telephone and cable systems, andthe like, sa kabuuan ng Luzon, na sumesentrosa Subic-Clark Corridor, para sa pagtatayo ngisang WORLD-CLASS LOGISTICS HUB, upangang ating bayan ay makasama sa tinatawag naGLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN na kung saan ang mgamayayamang bansa ay nakikipagnegosyo at ko-mersyo sa pamamagitan ng palitan o bilihan ng“goods and services” na mga produkto ng kani-kanilang bansa.

Kung kayat ang mga proyektong nauukol samga pangangalian na ito ang kasalukuyang pi-nagkakaabalahang itinatayo ng gobyerno Arroyopara kompletuhin bago matapos ang termino ngPangulo sa 2010, samantalang ang iba namanay naitayo o natapos at kasalukuyan nang gina-gamit. At ang mga proyektong ito ay siya natinngayong iisa-isahin, gaya ng nasabi ko sa na-karaang kolum. Ang mga sumusunod na proyektoang tinutukoy ko.

(To be continued)

BY GRAZELLE ANN BUMANLAGINTERN

NOWADAYS, it’s hard to pur-chase a candy for only fifty cen-tavos. It would be impossible tophotocopy two pages with onlya peso. It would be unreachableto own a car because the priceof gas has constantly been cost-ly despite whatever roll backs.It’s a challenge to cope with inthese trying times. Below aresome people who share theirmethods of coping with thatchallenge.

“Stop unnecessary purchase

Coping with the trying timesof junk foods and meriendas,schedule shopping of clothes(they can do it at least once amonth), walk instead of driving ifwhere you’re going to is onlyaround the area, simple thingsaren’t hard to do, all you need ismotivation,” said Edwin DeLeon, an Angeles UniversityFoundation student.

Javi Barrios, a former callcenter agent and a student, saidthat living beyond her means hasbecome a no-no. Just like whatDr. Bernadette Dalusung said,“Live within your means and cutdown on things which are not

needed.”“It’s always helpful to find al-

ternatives that are of equal qual-ity and benefit to the things I gotused to. Sometimes it may evenmean giving up the “wants” andjust focusing on my needs,” saidMs Barrios.

As well, a Political Scienceprofessor added, “Set your pri-orities and learn to budget.”

“I’m also forced to give up (orjust minimize) the habits that Ihave been constantly doing tosave for the ones that are on thetop of my priority list,” explainedMs Barrios.

A CO-ED’S VIEW

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TheGossip-millerby Cesar Pambid

mang Arab- looking man. Ito na kaya si Hassin o sadyangfriend at business associate niya ito?

Marami’ng nanlalait kay Bb. GandanghariKUNG NARIRINIG sana ni Bb Gandanghari yung mga maaanghang na statement na patungkol sa kanyang pag-paastang babae. Hindi na namin iisa-isahin ang naririnig na naming mga mapanlait na salita mula sa mga hindiumaayon sa pagiging babae na niya.

To cap all those nasty words about Bb, hindi raw ito mukhang babae at higit sa lahat, walang maitutulong sakanyang career ang desisyon niya. Masagwa raw siyang tingnan na mukhang baklang kapre na dapt kung baklaman siya, he should have stuck sa kanyang tunay na pagkatao bilang Rustom Padilla na alam ng lahat nabading pero mukhang lalaki pa rin.

Yung iba naman, nagsabing sobra silang nainsulto kay Rustom na alam na alam nilang mula sa isang machoimage pero ayan, nagladlad at higit sa lahat di pa niya matanggap na bakla lang siya’t hindi tunay na babae.Sana raw di na na-ilusyon pa si Rustom na totoo siyang babae.

At ang nakatatawa, may pabirong sabi yung isang reporter na di hamak daw na mas maganda pa sa kanyasi Ian Valdez na naging gay beauty queen noong araw. At the most daw, si Ian ‘Ate Ganda ang ka-level niRustom.

Pero teka, tanggap kaya ni Ian Valdez na kakalibre lang niya si Rustom? “Ayaw, higit naming magalingakong umarte kesa sa kanya, ano,” mataray na sagot ni Ian Valdez.

O ayan, Bb Gandanghari, hindi ka pa ba susuko?

Kris Aquino, Ai Ai Delas Alas ayaw pang magbatiHANGGANG ngayon pala di pa ayos yung dating isyu kina Kris Aquino at Ai Ai delas Alas.

Ito yung joke ni Ai Ai noon na isoli na lang ni Kris si James sa nanay niya kaugnay ng kontrobersya ninaJames at Hope Centeno noon. Labis na nagdamdam si James kay Ai Ai at mula noon, hindi na naging magandapara kina Kris at Ai Ai ang lahat.

Kaugany nito, nagsalita raw si Ai Ai na kapag nag-guest si Kris sa bagongshow nila ni Ruffa sa Dos, di ito aaten. Meaning, hanggang ngayon, maigtingpa rin yung isyu kay Ai Ai.

Kapag si Ai Ai naman ay nasa The Buzz, nagkukulong lang daw si Krissa dressing room. This simply means na ayaw pa ni Kris na batiin si Ai Ai,kahit lagi nitong sinasabi na silang dalawa ni Ai Ai ay walang problema.Si James daw ang kaaway ni Ai Ai, kumbaga.

Anyway, ayaw namang pakialaman ni Boy Abunda ang away ngdalawa. Kilala daw kasi niya’ng dalawang alaga at batid niyang balingaraw, maaayos daw ito. “Wag nating ipilit ngayon, di pa panahon,”sabi pa ni Boy Abunda.

Heart Evangelista di puwedengmabuntis at manganak

NAKATATAWA naman yung rason na binigay ni Heart kung bakit nag-back out siya sa Muling Buksan Ang Puso. Sila sana niDennis Trillo ang magtatambal sa afternoon soap perolast minute, nagdesisyon si Heart na wag nang ituloyang paglabas dito.

Siyempre, nalungkot si Dennis Trillo lalo na nga’tmay mga malisya yung umiikot na isyu na siyamismo ang inayawan ni Heart. Kumalat din kasiyung balitang sobrang makulit si Dennis noongnagtambal sila ni Heart, na niligawan nga niyaito, kaso nga, walang gusto sa kanya si Heartkaya basted agad siya.

Pero hindi naman yan ang binigay na rasonni Heart. Okey lang daw sa kanya na makata-mbal si Dennis Trillo kaya lang, ang managerniyang si Annabelle Rama ang nagdesisy-ong umalis na lang sa afternoon soap atmaghihintay na lang sila ng primetimesoap gaya ng Luna Mystica. Sa tono niHeart, minamaliit niya yung daytimeslot kaya payag siyang ‘wag na langsa Muling Buksan Ang Puso.

Isa pang dahilan ni Heart, di rawgusto ng kanyang endorsementyung role niya sa Muling ….Manganganak daw kasi siyarito at inaakala niyangmakasisira ang role naito sa produktong ine-endorse niya.

Well, maaaring trueang mga tinuran niHeart pero di po kamimakapaniwala. Higitna malalim ang ka-nilang dahilan kesasinasabi niyangayon.

Hindi kaya?

Dina Bonnevie nagwala sa presinto sa MakatiNAKIALAM si Dina Bonnevie sa kaso ng kanyang kaibigang Syrian guy na nagngangalang HassanSarmini. Business partner daw si Dina ang Arabo kaya dagli siyang sumugod sapresinto nang mahuli at nakasuhan ang kanyang ‘kaibigan’ sa kasong pangan-gagat ng isang GRO sa leeg.

Nagulat ang mga kapulisan sa presinto sa Makati dahil yung GRO ang pi-nagdiskitahan ni Dina. Sinabihan daw ni Dina yung babae na sana tingnan munanito kung ano ang trabnaho nito bago siya nagreklamo. Sa pananalita ni Dina, tilainaalisan niya ng karapatan yung GRO na magreklamo dahil nga mababa lang uring hanapbuhay nito. Na hayagang ginawang pagkampi si Dina na pati nga kaba-bayan at kabaro pa naman niya ay ininsulto sa halip na damayan.

“Dapat sana, tinulungan na lang niya yung Arabo na makapagpiyansa o kayanaman, kinunan na lang niya ng abugado. Lumabas tuloy na sobrang baba ngtingin ni Dina sa mga babaing kababayan niya na biktima ng mga dayuhang ma-hilig gaya ng ‘kaibigan’ si Sarmini.

Hindi naman kasi excuse yung sinasabi ni Dina na matagal ng suki ng club angArabo at yung statement na mababang uri lang ang pagiging GRO. Ang higit nadapat niyang binigyang-diin ay yung inabuso at sinaktan ni Hassan ang isang baba-ing Pinay at dapat nakisimpatya siya, at least dito.

Anyway, matagal na naming nakikita si Dina na lagging may karay na Arabosaan man siya magpunta. After she had a falling out with her husband noon na angapelyido ay Pecson, lagi nang nagpapakita sa mga functions si Dina na may kasa-

Din

a B

on

nevie

Heart Evangelista

YES MAN (PG13)1220FS • 1240MF • 245 • 450635LFS • 655LMF • 840END

SHOPAHOLIC (PG13)1015FS • 1035MF • 1240 • 245 • 450 • 655839LFS • 900LMF • 1044END

PINK PANTHER 2 (GP3)1200FS • 1215MF • 200 • 345 • 530 • 745846LFS • 900LMF • 1031END

WHEN I MET YOU (GP3)1020FS • 1035MF • 1240 • 245 • 450 • 655843LFS • 900LMF • 1048END

YES MAN (PG13)1050FS • 1100MF • 100 • 300 • 500 • 700835LFS • 900LMF • 1032END

INK HEART (GP3)1050FS • 1100MF • 100 • 300 •500 • 700845LFS • 900LMF • 1045END

VALKYRIE (PG13)1040FS • 1100MF • 130 • 400 • 630830LFS • 900LMF • 1100END

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC (PG13)1050FS • 1100MF • 100 • 300 • 500 • 700845LFS • 900LMF • 1045END

VALKYRIE (PG13)1200MF • 215 • 430640LFS • 700LMF • 910END

HAUNTING OF MOLLY HARTLEY (G)1200FS • 1220MF • 230 • 440630LFS • 650LMF • 840END

INKHEART (G)1200FS • 1220MF • 230 • 440 • 650830LFS • 900LMF • 1045END

WHEN I MET YOU (G)1050FS • 1100MF • 100 • 300 • 500 • 700845LFS • 900LMF • 1045END

“Meron ba rito (Does itexist here)?” Senior Supt.Gil Lebin Jr. answeredback when asked by Pun-to Central Luzon! how hewould deal with juetengwhich, after the quarryscam, Gov. Eddie Panlilioplanned to stamp out.

In the same interviewimmediately after he as-sumed on Tuesday thepost as officer-in-charge,Lebin did not give an as-sessment of the Pampan-ga situation.

Lebin replaced SeniorSupt. Keith Ernald Sin-gian, OIC for two yearswho would assume thepost of chief of sdirectori-al staff at the regional po-lice office in Camp Olivas.

His priority, he said, isensure peace and order inthe home province of Pres-ident Macapagal-Arroyo.

Sought for comments,Panlilio said: ”Based onour study, jueteng opera-tions is camouflaged bythe small-town lottery(STL). STL is very rampant.It’s a very efficient systemin hiding jueteng.”

The Philippine Sweep-stakes Charity Office,which owns the STL fran-chise, started giving per-mits to private corpora-tions to operate the STLin 2004. STL operatorscount at least 16, PCSOrecords showed.

“When [Lebin] says hedoes not know that juetengis operated in Pampanga,that raises a lot of ques-tions,” the governor not-ed.

For one, he asked if theanti-jueteng reputation ofhis choices—Sr. Supt.Cesar Hawthorne Binagand Sr. Supt. SonnyCunanan—- was the rea-son why they were notappointed although theyhave been nominated andendorsed by the SeniorOfficers Placement andPromotion Board(SOPBB).

Lebin’s appointmentcame on the heels of threeresolutions issued by theNational Police Commis-sion in the last 20 months.None of those resolutionslisted Lebin as a nominee.Two of the resolutionswere not officially transmit-ted to Panlilio.

“This is wrong. This is

FROM PAGE 1

New Pampanga cop chief...

a game that the peoplemust stop. It’s a very vi-cious way. Forgive myterm, binaboy nila angproseso ng PNP, pinag-laruan nila, pinaikot-ikotang gobernador,” Panliliosaid of how the PNP han-dled his requests to havewhat to him is a morallyupright police director.

Lebin also assumedthe post although Panliliohas tried to block it throughrequests made to InteriorSecretary Ronaldo Punoand PNP Director Gener-al Jesus Verzosa on Mon-day.

“Is this also why my 18requests to the PNP andthe [Department of Interi-or and Local Government],done in person four timesand copy furnished toPresident Macapagal-Ar-royo, not heeded?” thegovernor further asked.

Panlilio also took noteof the fact that Lebin wasrecommended by thePampanga Mayors’League, “who is chairedby the son of the allegedjueteng lord in Pampan-ga.”

He was referring toLubao Mayor Dennis Pine-da, son of Rodolfo “Bong”Pineda who had been im-plicated in jueteng scan-dals investigated by Con-gress in 1994, 2000 and2005. A regional trial courtcleared the elder Pinedaof the charge on corrupt-ing public officials in 1995.

A copy of ResolutionNo. 52 of the PML, fur-nished to Panlilio on Feb.3, showed it was signedby all mayors except May-or Pineda who was indi-cated in the document as

being on official leave then.Panlilio said he has

nothing personal againstLebin. Considering howev-er the stringent process ofthe SOPBB and the deci-sion made by Chief Supt.Leon Nilo de la Cruz, Cen-tral Luzon police director,to recommend him, hesaid he could not acceptthe appointment of Lebin.

De la Cruz said he didnot act on the recommen-dation of the PML. “Ichoose him in my rosterof officers, he was the onlyone available and qualifiedto be in Pampanga,”

Lebin said he returnedto the Central Luzon po-lice “last January.” De LaCruz said Lebin cameback to the regional head-quarters in “late last year.”

According to De LaCruz, the SOPBB was pre-paring another list fromwhich Panlilio can choosethe next provincial policedirector.

He said he had to putin Lebin to stop the gover-nor’s repeated clamors toreplace Singian.

Singian, although asan OIC since January2007 under former GovMark Lapid, had managedto stay on longer reported-ly through the interventionof Pampanga Rep. JuanMiguel “Mikey” Arroyo.

To this allegation, DeLa Cruz replied: “Mikeydoes not meddle into po-lice matters. I am the re-gional director. I decidematters here.”

Lebin, a Baptist whosewife is a Catholic, said hewanted to make a courte-sy call to Panlilio as soonas possible.

Regional chief, Maritime Office Mimaropa Dec. 17, 2007Regional chief, PMG PRO Calabarzon Sept. 3, 2007Duty, HSS Camp Crame Sept. 8, 2006Regional chief, CIDG Calabarzon June 8, 2005Regional chief, CIDG Central Luzon Aug. 4, 2005Regional chief, CIDG Western Visayas Sept. 17, 2003

PROFILE

Sr. Supt Gil Lebin Jr.PMA Class ‘83

In June last year, Pres.Arroyo ordered TRB toimplement lower NLEX tollrates as the peso-dollarexchange rate then fell toonly P43 to the US dollar.In July, MNTC lowered therates by three percent. ForClass A vehicles travelingthe entire stretch fromBalintawak, Quezon Cityto the Sta. Ines exit inMabalacat, Pampangawas reduced from P180 toP174.

But despite unstableexchange rate and world-wide recession that couldalso affect NLEX’s incomegenerating capacity,MPTC, now the holdingcompany of MNTC, willmaintain the current tollrates at NLEX.

He noted that an aver-age of 140,000 vehicles plythe NLEX daily.

Fernandez also reiter-ated the earlier announce-ment of MPTC chairmanManuel Pangilinan that

the construction of theP2.1-billion NLEX-Seg-ment 8.1, which will linkNLEX to the C-5 Road, willstart this March.

He said the segmentwill be a two-lane, 2.7-ki-lometer expressway thatwill link Mindanao Ave. tothe NLEX. The project isexpected to be completedby April 2010.

Publicly-listed (MPIC)was reported to have allo-cated P12.26 billion toacquire Lopez group’sstake in MNTC, a compa-ny which runs the 84-kilo-meter motorway spanningBalintawak to Mabalacat inPampanga.

MPTC used to be theFirst Philippine Infrastruc-ture, Inc., (FPII). The Lo-pezes, through First Phil-ippine Holdings Corp. andBHC, had owned 99.84percent of FPII, a public-ly-listed firm which, in turn,owned 67.1 percent of theManila North TollwaysCorp. (MNTC) and 46 per-cent of the Tollways Man-

agement Corp. (TMC)which managed NLEX day-to-day operations.

Fernandez said MPICnow holds 67.1 percent ofthe shares previouslyowned by BHC and it isnow the holding companyof the MNTC.

MNTC was establishedin 1998 in response to thecall of the Philippine gov-ernment for private sectorpartners willing to providethe capital and technicalexpertise needed to buildthe infrastructure vital tonational growth.

Other shareholders ofMNTC include EgisProjects S.A. of France,reportedly the world’s big-gest tollways operator;Leighton Asia Ltd. of Aus-tralia, a civil works spe-cialist with an extensivetrack record in toll roadconstruction; and Philip-pine National ConstructionCorp. (PNCC), the state-owned company that holdsthe franchise for the oper-ation of the expressway.

FROM PAGE 1

No plan to hike toll at NLEX

ance Development Coun-cil chairman Edgardo Pa-mintuan and BarangayBalibago chairman TonyMamac. All of them havebeen reported earlier asLazatin’s bet.

The Lazatins and Nep-omucenos have long dom-inated local politics andhad clashed in many elec-tions.

Lazatin had been athree-term mayor of thiscity until he again becamecongressman upon win-

ning the 2007 polls, occu-pying a post which Nepo-muceno also filled for threeterms.

Lazatin has lately beenhitting Nepomuceno withallegations of anomalies inpurchases of vehicles andfirearms, as well as in theP10-million refurbishmentof a room at city hall, butthe mayor’s camp has notbeen short of blamingpresent woes as spill overfrom the Lazatin adminis-tration.

With Lazatin count-ing himself out of the

2010 mayoral race, Ne-pomuceno can’t pre-sume political edge, lo-cal political observerswho asked not to benamed said.

“These are extraordi-narily hard times andwe’re fed up romanticizingtraditional politicos. Now,we will have to think offeeding our families andwe’ve had enough of re-ports of corruption. I thinkAngeleños will vote for amayor whose name is nottraditional,” one of themsaid.

FROM PAGE 1

No anointed candidate...

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CAPAS, Tarlac – The tourismofficer of Mabalacat, Pampangahas a specific instruction to ourgroup: Leave Angeles City by 5a.m. so that you can stay at thecrater of Mount Pinatubo for atleast three hours.

This reporter and four others,including Camille Lazatin andher mother Bella, left the city alittle past 5 and arrived at about6:30 in Barangay Sta. Juliana,here.

There was no traffic along theway as expected. But notablewere the improved roads from theCapas Public Market up to Sta.Juliana, a well-known villagesince 2001 when people begantreks to Mt. Pinatubo.

Mt. Pinatubo is an activestratovolcano at the borders ofZambales, Tarlac and Pampan-ga. The volcano’s ultra-Plinianeruption in June 1991 producedthe second largest terrestrialeruption of the 20th century andthe largest eruption in living mem-ory.

Our driver parked our vehiclein a vacant lot in front of a Kore-an spa and the office of the mu-nicipal government where visitorsregister and pay the necessaryfees.

They ask P50 each fromthose who want to see Mt. Pi-natubo. You pay as much asP500 for a single tourist guideand it is required to get one for asmall group like ours.

Locals rent 4X4 vehicles forabout P3,000 each per day.They can accommodate five per-sons, excluding the driver andthe guide.

You can bring your own vehi-cle but you have to pay P250 asa “road tax.” But think twice be-fore you bring your own vehicle– the ride is quite challengingas you have to pass by a dryriver, big rocks and hills beforereaching the nearest point to Mt.Pinatubo.

From Sta. Juliana, it will take

Conquering Mt. Pinatubo todayabout an hour to reach the so-called “skyway,” one of two stag-ing points to Pinatubo wherepeople start walking to reach thecrater.

The other staging point iscalled the “old way.” It will takeat least three hours of walkingbefore you reach Mt. Pinatubovia this old route. Naturally, wehave chosen to be taken to theskyway where you cut the aver-age trekking time by as muchas two hours. Thanks to theDepartment of Tourism (DOT) inCentral Luzon for developing the“easier route” about two yearsago.

“But many tourists, most ofwhom foreigners, prefer to usethe old way,’ said our guide inthe dialect. “They want more fun.”

Walking for one hour mightbe quite easy to think about.Doing it to reach Mt. Pinatubois really easier thought thandone. You pass by rocks of dif-ferent sizes, river beds and wa-ter coming from the mountains.We had to rest twice beforemaking the final push to reachour destination.

But the trip was fun becausethere were plants to cover therays of the sun and the surround-ings was clean. Best of all, therewere no snakes or wild animalsalong the way.

“Five minutes more and wewill be there already,” said theguide, who could report for workonly once a week because thereare more than 200 other touristguides waiting to be dispatched.

“It’s just above that cut moun-tain,” he added.

A few minutes later I sawman-made stairs and I had ahunch Mt. Pinatubo was justwithin reach. Ergo, after a fewsteps, I finally saw it, raw, natu-ral, beautiful.

That was a Saturday and wewere not the first ones to seethe majestic view surroundingMt. Pinatubo. Those ahead of uswere busy taking souvenir pho-

tos and serving as a backdropwas the crater. Of course, we didthe same.

We thought of just stayingon top of the mountain overlook-ing the crater. There were stairsleading to the crater’s green col-ored waters. Camille said it’sblue-green to be precise.

There was no funny smellnear the waters of the majesticcrater. Our guide disclosed thatat the portion of the crater wasa body of hot water – no wonderthe volcano is still active.

They allow visitors to swimand have boating in the craterwith the help of boatmen. Don’tforget to first pay P250 per per-son at the Sta. Juliana office forboating.

We wanted to have a boatride but we didn’t know the rule.We were contended in seeingthe sights, though many Cau-casians and some Korean en-joyed swimming. The rest ofthe tourists were Filipinos whowere mostly from Metro Ma-nila.

Our group didn’t stay at thecrater for three hours as told.More than an hour was enoughto see the sight to behold – Mt.Pinatubo which made the areasaround it very popular all over theworld following its devastingeruption.

Hey, we had to walk for anhour again before we reachedthe skyway where the rentedvehicle was waiting to ferry usback to Sta. Juliana. So glad Iwas not with “white men” whopreferred the old, long way.

The crater lake