July 2 - 8, 2012 Issue

NATURE GALORE

Camp Peralta eyed as ecotourism site 

By Alex Lumaque and Edalyn  Acta  

The 3rd Infantry Division (3ID) of the Philippine Army based at Camp Macario Peralta, Jamindan, Capiz is being considered an ecotourism area.

3ID Commanding General Jose Mabanta, Jr. said that the exposure of the camp to tourists will be an opportunity to tell the world of the rich cultural heritage of the people there.

In an interview with the Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO), Mabanta said that tourists visiting Boracay will now have another option for a place to visit.

“Visiting the camp will give visitors a chance to understand more of the local society and culture here,” Mabanta said.

More important, the camp boasts of some five waterfalls, which makes it one of the best places featuring the natural environment.

“We believe there are more unexplored waterfalls within the reservation,” he added.

Situated in a sprawling 33,310 hectares, the camp which is also the country’s third largest military camp, has been declared a military reservation through Presidential Proclamation No. 67 and officially proclaimed by virtue of Jamindan’s Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 19.

Covering the towns of Jamindan and Tapaz in Capiz and Lambunao in Iloilo, the camp is home to various Indigenous Peoples (IP) communities.

Mabanta said that in coordination with the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP), the 3ID continues to protect and promote the interest and well-being of the IPs with due regard to their beliefs, customs, traditions and institutions.

Some 54 kilometers off Roxas City, 88 kilometers from Kalibo, Aklan and 122 kilometers from Iloilo City, the camp is a nature park and a wildlife sanctuary.

Among its features include the grotto which shrines the Blessed Virgin Mary just at the hilltop where tourists can enjoy the view of the environs as far as Dumalag town.

Lush with various flora and fauna, the camp is a treat to nature trekkers and lovers who will be offered after a two-hour hike the sight and feel of a 100-meter high waterfalls and three basin falls.

The 3ID camp also boasts of a swimming pool which offers confined water scuba diving and is a great get-together area for command and family activities.

The camp also features the Kalikasan Nature Park, a vacation and picnic area with amenities and a viewing tower.

PDEA files motion for inhibition vs prosecutor

ROXAS City—The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 (PDEA-6) filed a motion for inhibition against the Roxas City Prosecutor’s Office over the case of drug suspect Alberto Billeza of barangay Lawaan here.

PDEA Legal Officer Ronnie Delicana said it wants the city prosecutor not to conduct a preliminary investigation on the case of Billeza, which is currently under a review by the Regional State Prosecutor’s Office. Delicana said that this is so only “on the case of Billeza, not all the cases filed by PDEA against drug suspects.”

Earlier PDEA was frustrated when it learned that policemen here released the drug suspect that their agency arrested in May.

Billeza was released upon the recommendation of Assistant City Prosecutor Alvin Galvez, which was approved by City Prosecutor Erwin Ignacio.

Delicana said he was informed that the reglementary period for Billeza’s detention was about to lapse, thus, the suspect was freed.

Members of PDEA arrested Billeza in a buy-bust operation on May 24. Bricks of suspected dried marijuana leaves were seized from the suspect.

Police here expressed disappointment over orders to release big-time drug personalities, particularly former Police Officer Chester Cordovero.

The City Prosecutor’s Office ordered on June 3, 2011 the release of Cordovero, the No. 2 most wanted person here, who is facing charges for illegal drugs, and illegal possession of a firearm and an explosive.

“Pursuant to the 2008 Revised Manual for Prosecutors and pending the outcome of the automatic review provided for under Department Circular No. 46 dated June 26, 2003, in relation to Department Circular No. 1 dated January 5, 2009, the respondent (Cordovero) is hereby ordered released from the custody of the Roxas City Police Station, unless he is detained for some other lawful cause or causes,” the order said.

On June 6, 2011, Galvez issued another order, this time approved by the associate prosecutor and acting officer-in-charge.

“In view of the dismissal of the above-captioned complaints against respondent in a joint resolution dated May 31, 2011, his release from the custody of Roxas City Police Station is hereby ordered, unless he is being detained for some other unlawful cause or causes,” said the new order.

Galvez refused to reveal what the 2008 Revised Manual for Prosecutors is all about. “I’m sorry;” that was the “instruction from Justice Secretary Leila de Lima,” he said.

Four other drug suspects were ordered released by the City Prosecutor’s Office for the same reason that the said manual is “pending the outcome of the automatic review.”

They were Dino Bermejo, Engr. Julius Marfil, Mark Donato and Alberto Belliza.

Bermejo of Brgy. Baybay here was arrested in a buy-bust operation on October 14, 2010. Some .011 grams of shabu were recovered from him.

Early last year, police arrested Marfil, 38 of Lanot, Roxas City; and Donato, 32 of Salocon, Panit-an, Capiz, in a buy-bust operation in a lodging house here. Sachets of shabu and a .38 caliber pistol were recovered.

In a buy-bust operation on May 17, Belliza was also arrested and some 37.4 grams of marijuana bricks were recovered from him.

P4.9B Panay flood control project hanging

By Edalyn Acta

In August 1982, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) led a feasibility study on the Panay River Basin Flood Control Project to address the perennial problem of flooding in the province of Capiz.

Concluded in October 1985, the study sought to formulate an integrated water resource development plan on the Panay River Basin which covers 12 municipalities in the eastern part of the province.

Covering such aspects as resources development, flood control plan, agricultural development, multi-purpose dams and water supply, the JICA study also included investigation on the socioeconomic hydrology and land use.

In the inaugural meeting of the Regional and Development Council (RDC) in Western Visayas in January 2011 in Iloilo City, Chairman Gov. Victor Tanco Sr., said that if he had his way, he wanted the project to be implemented the soonest possible time.

Engr. Julius Abela officer-in-charge of the Construction Section of the Capiz First Engineering District said the proposed project cost is P4.9 billion which only covers Phase 1.

Spanning 98 kilometers, the project’s original was 12 billion pesos.

In 1996, JICA’s Kenichi Matsui visited Capiz and revealed that the flood control project was shelved in 1985, just after the completion of the feasibility study.

Matsui, JICA’s rivers expert, told Capiz officials that the province loses an average of P144 million worth of crops yearly due to destructive floods.

The province then determined that forest denudation, erosion of the watershed and the heavy siltation of the Panay River all contribute to cause flashfloods in Capiz during the rainy season.

At the time, Capiz Gov. Esteban Contreras presented environmental degradation as their major concern to then Pres. Fidel Ramos in his May 7, 1996 Cabinet meeting in Antique.

Abela said that until now, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are waiting the response from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) and they are hoping that the current president will see to and implement it soon.

Bishop Advincula receives pallium from Pope Benedict XVI

Archbishop Jose Advincula of the Archdiocese of Capiz was one of the four Filipino bishops who received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI on June 29 during a concelebrated mass at the St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

The liturgical insignia of the archbishop made of white wool, the papal pallium symbolizes the Office of the Archbishop, particularly their bond and shared responsibility with the pope to be pastors in their regions.

The three other archbishops were Luis Antonio Tagle of the Archdiocese of Manila, John Du of the Archdiocese of Palo and Romulo Valles of the Archdiocese of Davao.

This rite of accepting the pallium is the last stage of their appointment as archbishops.

Every year during the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Pontiff gives a pallium to newly installed archbishops around the world.

In 2011, Archbishops Jose Palma of the Archdiocese of Cebu and Sergio Utleg of the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao also received the same at the Vatican.