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Last of two parts THEIR band was born in the 80s and spanned an exciting decade that began with Sen. Ninoy Aquino’s death, a non-violent People Power Revolution, and the eventual collapse of Martial Law regime. They sailed through 1991 with flying colors, when they did their last concert at an exclusive bar in Malaysia belting “From a Distance,” the hit single by American pop star Bette Midler then. And yet some of their repertoire in many other concerts in Manila, Olangapo, Naga, and Legazpi included the protest songs of the turbulent 70s. It was the era of the hippies and Vietnam War, Women’s Lib, and beauty titlist Nelia Sancho joining the underground New People’s Army and later marrying one of its young armed combatants. But as if celebrating the triumphs of the Edsa Revolution and the old-style Hollywood excitement of Madonna, Naga’s Soundwaves Band began making its mark with their “foxy, lively” singing style that also assured the audience of warm night and wholesome entertainment. But as they journeyed along and found themselves as either an 8- or 9-man/woman showband among the finest bars in Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Hongkong, and Japan, the Soundwaves Showband had accumulated a total of thirteen vocalists, led by Andy Belmonte and Ning-Ning David who would soon marry each other, siblings Cherrie and Val David, Elizabeth Morales, Menchie Soloria, Lolibeth Zardilla, Irma Penalosa, Yolly Gomes, Brenda Arroyo, Ajit Jimenez, Boots Mesias, and Lydia Almedral. And did you know that Ms. Arroyo and Ajit were Miss Bicolandia and Miss Naga City, respectively, before they joined the band, though briefly? Those who had joined the band’s rhythm section were: Victor de Villa, Ranilyo Sugcang, Babes Brocka, Rocky Delis, Manuel Pinto, Randy Bongat, Victor Bai Abellana, Cacoy Esporlas, Monico Alania, Bobby Batingan, and Siegfredo Azana. The others in this section but are no longer around as they joined their creator in the prime of their lives were: Ching Rea, Edgar Alanis, Freddie Seisner, and Nikki Bongat. Nikki was the older brother of Naga Mayor John Bongat who perished in a plane crash while joining a team to deliver relief goods to typhoon victims in Camarines Sur. The band’s sessionists (sax, trumpet, and trombone) were Tony Dotillos and Jiggs Navarette. Those who had ventured and are now settled abroad are Arroyo (SF, USA), Zardilla (Calif, USA), Mesias (USA), Sugcang (Hongkong), Delis (Canada), Espinas (Europe), and Azana (US). The rest are either based in Manila or are staying for good in Naga. Asked what kept their company and music alive and wonderful throughout their years together, NingNing said they owe it to their manager Ramon ‘Otom’ Hernandez who taught them strong discipline, as well as high sense of professionalism, in and out of the stage. Otom, who was also the proprietor and manager of Deckhouse Restaurant of then popular Lindez Hotel in Naga’s downtown district where the Soundwaves made its first step to the stage, has gone out of his way to keep the band abreast with the big-name singing groups in 5-star hotels in Manila. In fact, he “has brought the Soundwaves to Metro Manila’s entertainment circuit to observe how the Big City’s ‘total performers’ were making it to the top of the heap,” a local paper has reported. Now comes February 12, at six in the evening, the stylish The Tent of elegant Avenue Plaza Hotel will present “The Soundwaves Rewind, The Reunion Concert” with the names that I have aforementioned (or 99% of them) coming home to perform before their fans, friends, and avid supporters. With these fans and supporters expected to come in droves, the concert will be the best to happen two days before Valentine’s Day in the city’s famous, dynamic, sparkling and fabulous strip – Magsaysay Avenue. Fortunately, Ningning disclosed, Otom will be in town from his comfort zone in Manila, to join his “babies” in the February Sunday night concert, making the reunion complete. Will they be singing with the same perfect notes (that, according to an article that praised their talents to high heavens, made waves – big musical ripples, that is – in Naga’s entertainment scene) that many of us lovers and nightowls had been missing since they disbanded in 1991? That was 26 years of sound of silence as far as good live music aficionados are concerned. Well, grab your tickets now while they are not yet sold out and find out.

NAGA CITY---Newly-appointed White House Assistant Press Secretary Ninio Fetalvo, 23, whose parents hailed from Camarines Sur, comes from humble beginnings with grandparents doing blue-collar jobs for their four children to finish college. Marylyn Fetalvo Balares, 52, dean of the College of Criminology of the Naga Foundation College, narrated her borther and Ninio’s father Nelson, 54, having completed his Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology at the Bicol College of Arts and Trade (now Bicol State College of Applied Sciences and Technology) here in Naga City while his mother Minerva Hilario, was a nurse from Calabanga town, about 19 km from this city. “My mother, now 82, had small eatery then, while my father, already deceased, was a humble mechanic,” Balares revealed. She said Ninio’s family visited them when he was 16 years old, seven years ago, though she has no inkling what the future White House assistant secretary was up to. Balares finds Ninio to be shy but smart and he was close to her daughter Herlynn, 26, now a government lawyer at the Public Attorney’s Office. She said Ninio was born prematurely in 1993 in Florida, so was her younger sibling, Tina Marie. Her brother and sister-in-law bore only two kids and Ninio is the older one. Balares said she chatted with Ninio after his appointment to congratulate and tease him that “this is the right time to visit the U.S.” She said he only thanked her as a response. She said Nelson called her up and instructed her not highlight the achievement of his son when interviewed because the family wanted to remain low profile. Balares was told by her brother that he cried with joy when Ninio surprised the family on Jan. 9 that her nephew was appointed assistant press secretary. “Being an aunt to Ninio, I am of course very proud of his achievement and he is bringing honor to our family surname. It is unbelievable he made there in the most powerful nation on earth. He is so young and he will go a long way,” she said. Balares said Nelson also confessed that before the US presidential elections in which Ninio was already part of the Republican campaign machinery, the Fetalvo family was anxious on what future her nephew might face should Donald Trump lost. She said it was a blessing for the family that Trump won. Balares said her sister-in-law had been working in Florida as nurse before she even married her brother and it was in 1992 that he also immigrated to the US. The following year, Ninio was born. She said the Fetalvo family was supposed to come to Naga City in April this year for the wedding of their eldest nephew but she is not sure now because of Ninio’s appointment as part of the Trump official family. Balares said her lawyer-daughter has inspired Ninio to pursue the law profession, who majored in political communications at George Washington University in Washington DC. “My daughter and Ninio are in constant contact until now,” she said. According to the Asian Journal Dateline USA, Ninio became an intern with the Republican National Committee (RNC) when he was at his senior year in college because “he realized he wanted to pursue a career in politics.” The RNC website showed that Ninio was appointed APA press secretary in which he was involved in issuance of statements regarding the Republican’s agenda on Asian American and Pacific Islander community. He was deeply involved in the campaign that on Jan. 8, 2016 he and Director APA Engagement Jason Chung “released a memo highlighting Hilary Clinton and the Democrats’ hypocrisy toward Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.” He was also going around the US during the elections and appeared on television in behalf of the Republicans.

LEGAZPI CITY --- The top official of the Police Regional Office in Bicol (PRO5) has ordered the speedy resolution of complaints filed by the spouses of policemen before the Regional Women’s Desk Office (RWDO) and Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS) at PRO5’s headquarters in Camp Simeon Ola here. Chief Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, PRO5 director, said he issued the order because every personnel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) has an obligation not only to secure peace and order but also to become role model of “clean living” in their communities so they could gain the respect and support of their fellow citizens in various PNP programs. Sr. Insp. Ma.Luisa Calubaquib, PRO5 spokesperson, said data from October 14, 2014 up to the present show that there have been 15 cases of grave misconduct filed by the spouses of Bicol policemen that constitute violations of Republic Act (RA) 9262. RA 9262 or “The Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004” defines various violent acts or abuses that may be committed by the policemen against their wives and children. She said the complaints against the policemen range from “abandonment, living in with another woman, claims of financial support, mental and physical abuse, and other forms of domestic abuse.” “Out of the 15 cases filed before RWDO and RIAS, five cases that involved marital conflict have been resolved,” she added. Calubaquib said one of the five cases involved a police officer with a rank of Police Officer 3 who was dismissed from PNP service while another case that involved a police officer with a rank of Police Officer 2 was meted with suspension for 90 days. She said another of the five cases involved a police officer with a rank of Senior Police Officer 1 who was demoted by one rank because of the complaint filed against him. “The latest case, which involved a Police Officer 2, was resolved after it was dismissed because the erring policeman and his wife have agreed to an amicable settlement,” said Calubaquib. She said some of the 15 complaints will likely face dismissal proceedings because the complainants had failed to appear in the scheduled hearings. “We are presuming that the complainants and the respondents agreed to settle the complaints outside of the RWDO and RIAS or have decided to live with each other again,” she said. Calubaquib said the recent cases of violence committed by some police officers against their wives prompted PRO5 to implement a program called “Men Opposing Violence Everywhere,” or MOVE, in all provincial police offices and PNP stations in the Bicol region. “These police officers, who are facing charges with regards to violation of RA 9262 were obliged to join MOVE and automatically undergo seminars and workshops,” she said. Calubaquib said MOVE was able to gain support from media, non-government organizations and other government agencies in facilitating the seminars and workshops. Last year, Chief Insp. Arthur Gomez, who is the “regional focal person” for MOVE, was able to visit and organize the men in all PNP stations in the Bicol region regarding MOVE’s objectives. He said the trainings and workshops tackled how the policemen could take care of the welfare of their families and avoid domestic violence. “We trained them also how to investigate and deal with cases of domestic violence in their areas of responsibility,” said Gomez. Buenafe said he ordered a speedy resolution to the pending cases because he believes that policemen should be able to uphold strong family ties. “This is one way of the policemen gaining the love and respect of the community,” he said. Buenafe said this would in turn lead to the community’s “unconditional support” to every program initiated by the PNP. He added that a happy PNP officer with strong family ties tends to be more very effective in performing his duty and becomes more immune against vices and is likely not to engage in corrupt activities. “Their family serves as an inspiration in doing good and in performing their obligations to the community,” Buenafe said.

DARAGA, Albay --- The much-ballyhooed P4B Bicol International Airport suffered another setback after the Department of Transportation failed to bid out the P400M budget that resulted to its Sub Allotment Release Order (SARO) to elapse, a visibly irate Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda disclosed. The P400Mllion budget was for the airport Phase 2B that would cover the construction of the airport passenger terminal building which President Duterte wanted to be completed on or before 2019. The airport project was started in 2007 as one of the priority medium term projects of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but was momentarily put on hold by the incoming President Noynoy Aquino. Pres. Aquino finally gave his green light to proceed with the construction and announced its completion by 2015. Despite the pronouncement, however, the project suffered funding delay from then Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas. Some two months before the May 2016 presidential election, the P900M budget for the continuing construction of the airport suffered more delay due to bidding precedures, prompting then Gov. Joey Salceda to warn Malacanang that the glitch in the airport’s construction may affect the presidential ambition of then administration bet Mar Roxas. Last December 8, incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte paid a visit to the Bicol International Airport project in Barangay Comon, Daraga town and led its ground breaking where he also pledged to finish the project within a period of 3 years. He also approved the airport’s upgraded funding to P4.7B, according to Salceda. Salceda lashed at the DOTr over the lapse of the P400M SARO and accused its officials of gross incompetence saying the oversight was intentional. He said with the lapse of the Saro for the P400M budget, it would take between 3 to 6 months more to have it revived. A rebidding will be required, he added. Salceda is the proponent of The Bicol International Airport the Bicolanos have been awaiting to be realized. Sans the delays, the project should have been completed as early as last year.

THE WORD OF THE LORD Gospel Gospel MT 5:13-16 Jesus said to his disciples: “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.” SURAT KI FATHER Dear Father, Pano po nagigin miyembro kan Parokya an sarong parokyano? Minagalang, Jenny Dear Jenny, An sarong persona nagigin miyembro nin sarong familia sa pagpangidam asin pagpangaki saiya (birth). An sarong persona nagigin miyembro kan simbahan -kan parokya sa bonyag. An bonyag iyo an espiritwal na pagpangaki (spiritual birth). Sa paagi kaini kita nagigin aki nin Dios, tugang ni Cristo; nagigin kitang kaayon sa Simbahan. Kaya an apod sa bonyag ‘sacrament of initiation’. ‘Initio’ boot sabihon pagpoon. Kun kaya an bonyag iyo an pinaka-enot na sakramento. Bako makapagkumpisal, bago makapagkumpisal-komunyon, o bago kumpilan kaipuhan na ma bonyagan. Kaya man an pagpabonyag nin omboy, bako sana ining seremonya kundi an pag-ako kan biyaya nin buhay ki Cristo. Sa paagi kan bonyag nagigin miyembro an sarong persona kan Simbahan asin an saiyang pangaran pinagre-registro sa libro kan bonyag (Book of Baptism). An salud espiritwal kan mga parokyano yaon itinatao sa Cura Parroco. An pagigin miyembro kan parokya bako sana an pagsurat kan ngaran sa libro, kundi ini man an pagpartisipar sa buhay kan parokya. Ini nagpapahayag sa pagsimba kada Domingo asin mga aldaw nin obligasyon; paghiras nin kayamanan, talento asin panahon para sa mga pangangaipo kan parokya. Igua nin mga mina-volunteer bilang lector, lay eucharistic minister, choir, sacristan, asin iba pa. Igua nin mga parokyano na minagalang sa pagmangno kan mga kagamitan kan parokya; igua nin mga nagtatabang sa manlaen-laen na formation programs arog kan Life in the Spirit Seminar, PREX, Bible Seminar, Catechesis, etc. Igua man nin mga parokyano na nagtatabang sa pagtipon nin fundo para sa mga programa asin aktibidades kan parokya. An iba nagtatabang sa mga charitable works, arog kan pigbisita sa mga bilanggoan, pagpakakan sa mga aki na may malnutrisyon, pigbisita sa mga may helang, pagpakasal kan mga nagsasararo na, pagtao nin formation sa mga jovenes, pagtabang sa pangataman kan kapalibotan. Sa laog kan parokya igua man nin mga comunidad na nagmamantener nin orphanage, harong para sa mga gurang asin magagadanon, hospital o clinic para sa mga may helang, eskuwelahan para sa mga kaakian asin jovenes. An ibang parokyano minaanduyog sa disaster relief actions kan parokya, o pagtabang sa pirilian bilang pollwatcher o pagbantay kan mga balita. Igua man nin mga nagtatabang sa mga programa asin aktibidades sa mga barangay asin sitios. Dakul na aspeto an buhay kan parokya. Ini tugma man sa buhay nin sarong persona. Kaya an parokya iyo man an lugar kun saen, auot pa man lugod, an banhi kan pagtubod na inako sa bonyag minatalubo. Kaya orog na karahayan na an sarong persona miyembro nin sarong comunidad Cristiana, na inaapod parokya. Ngonian na kita nagce-celebrar kan Taon nin Parokya mahiling man lugod niato an halaga kan pagigin miyembro nin sarong parokya. Minagalang, Father MAGHOROP-HOROP: An pagbukas kan pinto trabaho kan paratukdo; alagad an paglaog sa pinto disipulo an magibo. You may contact us at caceresinbox@yahoo.com Families: Stewards of vocations PRIESTS, bishops, and even the Supreme Pontiff came from families. All of them grew up in the context of a family. The seed of their vocation began to sprout in one way or another inside the family. Oftentimes, those who respond to the call of God to the priesthood are first inspired by the witness of love and service of their parents even in the simplest ways. Many of them have parents who are actively involved in parish activities. These parents bring their children to church to hear Mass and to involve them in their apostolates. The children may not understand what their parents do but their eyes are slowly opened to what Church life means. And at the end of the day, the whole family prays its devotions such as the holy Rosary. Thus, the seed of vocation is slowly planted in the children’s hearts. This seed, if nurtured, will soon sprout and bear fruit. The most basic of all communities, the family may be considered every person’s first experience of the Church. It is the domestic Church, a small parish. This basic community ought to discern the will of God for itself through the leadership of the parents. They walk together towards the fulfilment of God’s dream for them. Pope Francis in his homily on August 6, 2014, said that the journey of Israel in the desert towards the Promised Land was a journey of families. There were grandparents, parents and children walking together. Oftentimes they were confronted by the complexities of life but by clinging to the faithfulness of God they overcame it all. Thus, the family is a small unit of the People of God. It is a small pilgrim Church. From this small Church, God calls young men to be ministers of the Universal Church. In His own mysterious ways He plants the seeds of vocation to the priesthood. The family, even however imperfect it may be, receives this wonderful gift from God. As Don Bosco said, the greatest gift to a family is a son-priest. To give a child to God may be a great sacrifice for parents but God will not take it unrewarded. He cannot be outdone in generosity. The parents, as they give their son, also receive an unimaginable blessing from God. Thus, families must be grateful when one of their children begins to express his desire to be a priest. Every family must welcome this with open mindedness. It is saddening to know that at times, it is the parents who first discourage their son to pursue this vocation. They must not interfere God in fulfilling His plan for their child and for the Church. Instead, families must help their children discern the will of God. In as much as this vocation is a gift to a family, it is also a responsibility. The family is the steward of vocation. It has the task of nurturing this vocation through constant prayer and dialogue with the child who is dreaming of becoming a priest. The whole family must journey with him in this pursuit. The path he will be taking is not easy. He needs a support system. Vocation to the priesthood, then, is not the child’s solitary journey It is a journey of the family. Respond to violence with Christ’s love, strength, pope tells churches VATICAN – Pope Francis prayed for an end to the daily violence and brutality waged by fundamentalist extremists in the Middle East. “Your sufferings are our sufferings. I join you in praying for an end to the conflict and for God’s closeness to those who have endured so much, especially children, the sick and the elderly,” the pope told representatives of the Oriental Orthodox churches Jan. 27. The representatives were in Rome for a meeting of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Oriental Orthodox Churches, PRIESTS, bishops, and even the Supreme Pontiff came from families. All of them grew up in the context of a family. The seed of their vocation began to sprout in one way or another inside the family. Oftentimes, those who respond to the call of God to the priesthood are first inspired by the witness of love and service of their parents even in the simplest ways. Many of them have parents who are actively involved in parish activities. These parents bring their children to church to hear Mass and to involve them in their apostolates. The children may not understand what their parents do but their eyes are slowly opened to what Church life means. And at the end of the day, the whole family prays its devotions such as the holy Rosary. Thus, the seed of vocation is slowly planted in the children’s hearts. This seed, if nurtured, will soon sprout and bear fruit. The most basic of all communities, the family may be considered every person’s first experience of the Church. It is the domestic Church, a small parish. This basic community ought to discern the will of God for itself through the leadership of the parents. They walk together towards the fulfilment of God’s dream for them. Pope Francis in his homily on August 6, 2014, said that the journey of Israel in the desert towards the Promised Land was a journey of families. There were grandparents, parents and children walking together. Oftentimes they were confronted by the complexities of life but by clinging to the faithfulness of God they overcame it all. Thus, the family is a small unit of the People of God. It is a small pilgrim Church. From this small Church, God calls young men to be ministers of the Universal Church. In His own mysterious ways He plants the seeds of vocation to the priesthood. The family, even however imperfect it may be, receives this wonderful gift from God. As Don Bosco said, the greatest gift to a family is a son-priest. To give a child to God may be a great sacrifice for parents but God will not take it unrewarded. He cannot be outdone in generosity. The parents, as they give their son, also receive an unimaginable blessing from God. Thus, families must be grateful when one of their children begins to express his desire to be a priest. Every family must welcome this with open mindedness. It is saddening to know that at times, it is the parents who first discourage their son to pursue this vocation. They must not interfere God in fulfilling His plan for their child and for the Church. Instead, families must help their children discern the will of God. In as much as this vocation is a gift to a family, it is also a responsibility. The family is the steward of vocation. It has the task of nurturing this vocation through constant prayer and dialogue with the child who is dreaming of becoming a priest. The whole family must journey with him in this pursuit. The path he will be taking is not easy. He needs a support system. Vocation to the priesthood, then, is not the child’s solitary journey It is a journey of the family. Respond to violence with Christ’s love, strength, pope tells churches which include churches with large communities in Syria, Iraq and throughout the Middle East. The Oriental Orthodox churches that officially participate in the dialogue include the Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Ethiopian, Eritrean and Malankara Orthodox Syrian churches. The pope said he recognized that “many of you belong to churches that witness daily the spread of violence and acts of brutality perpetrated by fundamentalist extremism.” Praying for an end to the conflicts, the pope said his heart went out to all those affected, in particular the most vulnerable and “the bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, and the lay faithful who have been cruelly abducted, taken hostage or enslaved.” Often, he said, such situations of “tragic suffering more easily take root in the context of great poverty, injustice and social exclusion, due to instability created by partisan interests, often from elsewhere, and by earlier conflicts that have led to situations of dire need, cultural and spiritual deserts where it becomes easy to manipulate and incite people to hatred.” As Christ’s disciples, the pope said, “we are called to testify everywhere, with Christian fortitude, to his humble love that reconciles men and women in every age. Wherever violence begets more violence and sows death, there our response must be the pure leaven of the Gospel, which, eschewing strategies of power, allows fruits of life to emerge from arid ground and hope to dawn after nights of terror.” Representing the Oriental Orthodox participants, Coptic Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of Damiette, Egypt, asked the pope to pray for their people and he presented the pope with an icon made by nuns living in the Monastery of St. Demiana. The icon, he said, represented the “ever-flowing cup” of Mary because it was in her womb “that she carried the body and blood of Christ before it was in the cup of the Eucharist.” At the end of the audience, the pope asked that they pray the “Our Father” together, each in his own language. (Carol Glatz/Catholic News Service)

EDITORIAL Noise pollution YOU go to bed late in the night to meet a deadline the following morning and only barely a quarter of an hour that you start snoring, out from your window comes the ear-splitting sound of a motorcycle blazing the main street of a residential district that you live in. Will you not blow your top and curse the heavens because for eons now nothing is being done to solve this simple problem of catching the perpetrator and show him the prison cell where he belongs, at least for the rest of the night? For our policemen, our lousy law enforcers, to know, there is Ordinance No. 2008-053 authored by City Councilor Salvador M. Del Castillo, passed by the Sangguniang Panglunsod, and approved by then City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo, which until now has never been repealed, which means that it is very much in force. As early as in pre-Spanish times, when the natives of this land were far more civilized, it was a crime to whistle, or indulge in an activity that disturbs the silence and serenity of the night where the felon is meted with physical punishment, or extra work for the community the next morning. The said city hall-crafted measure, entitled “An ordinance prohibiting noise in the City of Naga,” declares as a policy that noise is a public nuisance and poses danger to the health of the people. Specifically, it disallows and deems as a violation of law, the use, among others, of modified motorcyles and modified mufflers that emit sound (noise) of more than 80 decibles while plying the streets of Naga. A modified muffler, ironically, means a device attached to a motor vehicle, changed in form and character, on which a sound booster and other sound emitting devices are installed in order to increase noise volume. A modified motorcycle, on the other hand, is a motorcycle where the manufacturer’s original design is altered to produce unnecessary, discordant, and blaring sound which annoys, disturbs, distracts, or offends the senses. The same ordinance provides fines and penalties for violators with P5,000 and 60 days’ imprisonment as maximum. One late night at a funeral parlor along Penafrancia Avenue here, while everyone was mourning, a motorcycle sped through with its blaring sound that seemed to have awakened the whole neighborhood. But that wasn’t enough because two other more motorcycles with its blaring exhaust systems soon followed. What was worse was that those motorcycles were passing through and back a police station which is only a few meters away from the funeral parlor. Was anyone apprehended? None. The cops on the block must have been deep in their sleep, or are simply ignorant of their duties. “Nagtuturog na naman sa pansitan”, an exasperated observer would say. Are there no other responsible officers or public officials ready to help curb this problem? For them to know, these modified motorcycles that continue to increase in number are plying night and day the many busy and crowded streets of the city. And we have over 200 cops to arrest them, including the hundreds more of barangay officials and tanods who are supposed to be on their beat – on the streets – to keep the city peaceful and safe. Again, speaking of the local police, there have been confirmed and unconfirmed reports of young students being forcibly taken away by van-riding suspects. The recent incident was about a student of Naga Hope Christian School late last week. The report said a man in black van grabbed the student while about to cross a street toward a bank near the rotunda along Panganiban Avenue. In clear daylight, the little boy was pushed inside the van and punched out but was able to free himself by kicking the man who sat by the van’s door and made good his escape. Did you know where that incident happened? Yes, near the rotunda as mentioned, where a few steps away is a safely ensconced Police Station 1. Indeed, when no police could ever catch an errant rider of a motorcycle with its blaring sound that puts to shame the wailing sirens of an ambulance, how could we expect them to collar a thief, a kidnapper, or a perpetrator of a more serious crime? Gee whiz, these lousy cops are so pathetic! Dateline seattle | Greg S. Castilla, Ph. D. Walk beside me and be my friend This is my first article in Bikol Mail for 2017. For weeks I could not figure out what to write about because of so many pressing issues occupying my mind. They are mostly political in nature, ranging from the future of refugees and immigrants under the administration of the unpredictable Donald Trump to the proposed transfer of the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem – a move that could trigger more bloodbaths in the Middle East. The ongoing extra-judicial killings in the Philippines and the possibility of Bongbong Marcos stealing the vice-presidency from Leni Robredo through legal machinations continue to bother me. On a personal level, the thought of how my grandchildren will be treated in a society like America that appears to be getting more intolerant of diversity is a cause of concern. Faced by these innumerable vicissitudes in life, I thought I would write about a topic that is “politically neutral,” something that is not offensive, yet strikes the heart of anyone just the same: Friendship. For quite sometime now, I’ve observed how Facebook has redefined the meaning of friendship. With one click on the computer key board, one can easily meet new friends online. There is excitement in being able to chat and share experiences with another person one hardly knows, although at times information shared are not true but meant to deceive the other person. With the amount of time that so-called friends spend on Facebook chatting, there is no doubt in my mind that these persons will develop a bond of sorts. But sometimes I wonder if the bond will last, especially if one is not even sure if the personal profile one posts on Facebook is real or not. Sometimes, I am even surprised that by just one click, one can unfriend a friend. It tells me that they are not really friends but just pretenders. The kind of friendship that the social media is promoting these days is a far cry from the kind of friendship that my generation has experienced. It was the late Muhammad Ali who said that “friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.” Indeed, friendship is the hardest thing to explain because it takes time to develop. It also takes patience and sincerity. It cannot be artificially created by some social media tools like Facebook, where one’s photos, status or personal updates are given more emphasis and importance than what really matters like personal disposition or personal values. Friendship comes with being open to all that could happen – good or bad. It is not, as someone anonymous said, “about people who act true to your face. It’s about people who remain true behind your face.” Friendship is often based, or should I say, starts with common connections. Then it develops into what I can do for the other person. I call it a blessing if the doing-to-the-other-person stuff is mutual and lasts forever. But sometimes it doesn’t. There are the fair-weather friends who flee at the sight of any problems or difficulties. When you need them the most, they are nowhere to be found. Some are lucky to have friends – childhood friends, high school friends, and professional friends – who have stayed with them through thick and thin. They have become their drinking buddies, wedding sponsors, email and text pals, confidants, and supporters in one’s advocacies. They are true and tested friends who are always there for you in the best of times and in the worst of times. Some people become friends because they like each other’s company. Others become chums because of common experiences and interests. Aristotle, one of the greatest philosophers, once said, “Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.” Back in his time, Aristotle had already thought about the power of friendship. Thus, friendship cannot be taken for granted. It serves like a well that one can draw support from. It can also serve like a spring that provides life, without which human relationship is devoid of meaning. Life without a friend is death without a witness, is how a Spanish proverb puts it. During our golden high school reunion last year, I noticed with my high school friends their need to feel connected. They enjoyed talking about their shared values and interests. They enjoyed drinking together. It is as if they wanted to just hang out with one another and spend time together. Laura Carstensen, a Stanford University psychologist, developed an influential theory called “socio-emotional selectivity”: As people sense that their time is near, they shed superficial relationships to concentrate on those they find most meaningful. “They invest more in their remaining connections,” observed Gary Kennedy, director of geriatric psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center. On a similar note, I am reminded of what Albert Camus wrote, “Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” I am a witness to this truism as my high school buddies intensely talk of getting together more often, now that the members of our batch are nearing the “fields where roses fade.” The Philippines on world’s stage THERE’S no doubt that the recently concluded Miss Universe Beauty Pageant held in Metro Manila has catapulted the Philippines in the world’s stage. The pageant which was shown on television in more than 20 nations throughout the world has projected the Philippines as a tourist destination in this part of the Asia Pacific. The Miss Universe organizers should receive kudos for staging the preliminary events in Cebu, Boracay, and Bohol for all the world to see the Philippines as one of the best tourist attractions. Although Filipina candidate Maxine Medina did not make it to the three finalists, we should take pride in her being included in the Final Six. We know that she did her best even in the pre-pageant competition. I am sure that she and all the other candidates who participated in the event are now savoring the good memories they had in our country. We should also give kudos to the Duterte administration for the security measures implemented by the police authorities which rendered the event free from disruption and harm. Let’s look forward to another international event in our country like that of the Miss Universe Pageant in the near future. Last January 20 to 24, my spouse Minda, daughter Gigi, and grandchildren Sam, Arlo and Tonie had the opportunity to have our family bonding at the exclusive Anvaya Cove Resort in Subic, Morong, Bataan. The place is facing the Pacific Ocean with white sandy beach and about five hours trip from Metro Manila. Although the place is open to the public, the resort is operated by a membership club and in order to be able to make use of the facilities of the club one should either be a member or a guest of a member. We were there as guests of Gov. Aurelio Umali of Nueva Ecija who is a friend of Gigi and we stayed at his Villa which is about five minutes’ drive from the beach resort. It was indeed an opportunity for family bonding and unwinding which I will forever treasure. TRIVIA: Thanks to my AdeNU high school class ‘54 batch mates Rufo “Tuts” Tuy, Jr., Belindo “Endoy” Tordilla and Jose “Peping” Faviner for the fun and joy they shared with their batch mates and spouses on the occasion of their respective birthday anniversary last Sunday at the Bob Marlin Resto-Bar. QUOTATION OF THE WEEK: “SOME MEN SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE AND SAY WHY. I DREAM THINGS THAT NEVER WERE AND SAY, WHY NOT.” EDWARD M. KENNEDY FOR OUR WORD OF LIFE: “THE JUST MAN’S SACRIFICE IS MOST PLEASING, NOR WILL IT EVER BE FORGOTTEN.” SIRACH 36:6 CHOSKO | Luis Ruben M. General Lawbreaker gov’t no better than felon it wishes to get rid of I’M sorry to admit that I didn’t get what lawyer Bryan Dennis Gabito Tiojanco was saying about lawyers not knowing that President Duterte “represents a legal principle that springs from a widely shared intuition” (“What lawyers don’t get about Duterte,” Opinion, 1/5/17). And that legal principle is necessitas legem non habet, meaning, necessity knows no law. Although maybe this principle was “endorsed” by some of history’s great statesmen, what the author did not say is that it is a medieval concept, articulated first by St. Augustine, and debated upon by the philosophers of his time, including some popes, but made applicable not to state actors but to people who are precisely the victims of society’s injustice, if not government’s oppression. A man whose family is starving can be justified under this principle to break into a house to steal food. Poverty knows no law, it is argued. Shades of Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables” which Victor Hugo made into a long-running argument for necessitas (but not anymore when he stole church articles from a convent for which he was nonetheless forgiven by the priest). The principle somehow stayed as private law until Machiavelli made it as a recommended practice for his Prince, and which Hitler later made as his own justification in slaughtering Jews “to defend the Motherland”—the same words used by Tiojanco in explaining the principle which could as well be the same justification for Mr. Duterte’s “If you destroy my country, I will kill you.” Which then obviously makes the principle very dangerous if government, rather than its victims, invokes it. Government then, contrary to its very nature, would be ironically advocating lawlessness. Even out of whatever necessity, grave or extreme, when government itself breaks the law, it would be no better than the criminal it wishes to eliminate. Government can never be justified to disregard the very laws that it has sworn to enforce or the Constitution that created it. Necessitas was never intended for government or the powerful to appeal to. Law, or specifically the Constitution, grants power and at the same time limits it. While it is true that our Constitution recognizes necessity (not the necessitas principle though, which should be distinguished), it is necessity exercised within the bounds of the law, not necessity in defiance of the law. After all, the three inherent powers of government—police power, eminent domain and taxation—are all motivated by necessity. But limited always by constitutional precepts. Never the extrajudicial kind. Even in the US war on terror, extrajudicial means have always been delicately approached, with former president Barack Obama insisting that “enhanced interrogation”—meaning, torture of suspected terrorists—must be avoided, and that government should not stoop down to the level of terrorists, necessity or even Donald Trump notwithstanding. Ever the constitutional law professor, Obama knew what Justice Louis Brandeis said of the government as “the omnipresent teacher” that teaches the people by example, and “if it becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law, it invites every man to become a law unto himself, it breeds anarchy.” Or do we rather welcome authoritarianism “with thunderous applause,” if that is the “shared intuition” or the popular demand? Tiojanco knows that no dictatorship lasts, and eventually all responsible will face reckoning; and that’s probably the reason he calls on Congress and the Supreme Court to grant “legality” to Mr. Duterte’s extrajudicial methods in dealing with a perceived necessity. Indeed, after five and a half years, Duterte will be swamped with all the nasty cases, and that would include his PNP chief, some of his Cabinet members, etc. So the law, after all, which necessitas denigrates, will then be another refuge for scoundrels. At any rate, our Supreme Court—when it was at its highest in the national esteem after its reorganization post-Edsa—(speaking through the revered Justice Pedro Yap) shot down all logic and practicality of the necessitas principle in a case (Aberca vs Ver) finding Marcos henchman, Gen. Fabian Ver, liable for damages to their victims: “In times of great upheaval or of social and political stress, when the temptation is strongest to yield—borrowing the words of Chief Justice Claudio Teehankee—to take the law of force rather than the force of law, it is necessary to remind ourselves that certain basic rights and liberties are immutable and cannot be sacrificed to the transient needs or imperious demands of the ruling power. The rule of law must prevail, or else liberty will perish. Our commitment to democratic principles and to the rule of law compels us to reject the view which reduces law to nothing but the expression of the will of the predominant power in the community. Democracy cannot be a reign of progress, of liberty, of justice, unless the law is respected by him who makes it and by him for whom it is made.” The author is a practicing lawyer here in Naga City and is a columnist on leave of the Bicol Mail. He teaches constitutional law at the University of Nueva Caceres. This article was first published in the January 30, 2017 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “With Autism,” not “Autistic” “Misunderstanding is generally simpler than true understanding, and hence has more potential for popularity.” - Raheel Farooq If you happen to be around downtown Naga or in any major city this Saturday, you may run across Angels Walk for Autism, brought together by Autism Society Philippines (ASP) and trod through main streets simultaneously in major areas across the Philippines. It is an annual advocacy event that has been held since 2007, with a growing number of participants. In Naga, it would start from Plaza Quezon; pass through Panganiban Drive, and culminate with a program at SM City Activity Center. “Over the last 10 years, it has become the kick-off event of the Philippine National Autism Consciousness Week”, which officially occurs every third week of January since 1996 by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 711, signed by then President Fidel V. Ramos, with the intent of increasing awareness on autism and its effects, as well as its early identification, and ensuring immediate intervention. Now then, how much awareness does the public have of autism? NO, Persons with autism do not live in a world of their own. Neither are they cold or lack empathetic feelings. They may be non-verbal (or they may not speak conventionally intelligibly), or have communication delays, or many of them may have difficulty engaging in conventional social interactions, but this does not mean that a person with autism is inevitably, helplessly oblivious to the concerns of the social environment. Although there is some difficulty and eccentricity, some persons with autism could engage in meaningful social relations. A person with autism expresses empathy, although it is channeled in a manner that is difficult to recognize. Freddie Odom is a person with autism, an American who in 2010, was elected to serve on the City Council, in Bluffton, Georgia. Prior to this, he had been an actor, author and teacher. (mentalhealthdaily.com) Now, does that sound like a person who lives in his own world? NO. Persons with autism do not all have intellectual disability, or some sort of mental disability. “Autism is a complex neurobehavioral condition that includes impairments in social interaction and developmental language and communication skills combined with rigid, repetitive behaviors.” (www.webmd.com) It may or may not include a low level of intelligence quotient, which is associated with intellectual disability (for some of you who choose not to be politically correct, or just plainly lack information, that’s mentally retarded). Derek Paravicini is a Briton with autism (and with total blindness), who is able to “fully replay an entire song or musical piece after hearing it just once” Henriett Seth is a Hungarian with autism, a writer, poet, artist, and musician, who in 2001, won an International Literature Competition and International Alliance of Hungarian Writers award.” Jacob Barnett: is a Canadian with autism, who “by age 15 was accepted to a one-year master’s degree program at the Perimeter Institute in Waterloo, Ontario”, being the youngest student to have ever been accepted into the program. (mentalhealthdaily.com) NO. Persons with autism are not violent. They “suffer from sensory integration disorder, where the brain has trouble receiving and responding to information that comes in through the senses. Common sounds may be painful or overwhelming and can trigger what outsiders would consider as tantrums.” (www.autismsocietyphilippines.org) Another cause of seemingly violent behavior is emotional distress. Think of it this way, they are more sensitive to sounds, light and images than the ordinary person is; and when sounds are too loud, and images are too glaring, won’t you behave erratically? NO. Not all persons with autism look alike, or look a certain way. (You’re probably confused with another syndrome.) They “do not share any physical characteristics, in as much as they do not share the same developmental or behavioral patterns. The condition is also widely distributed across race and other demographic areas, making physical generalizations baseless.” (www.autismsocietyphilippines.org) In fact, a large majority of them (if not all) could be considered aesthetically appealing (or in other words, good looking). Yes, of course, appearances are subjective; but go have a look and judge. When asked of what the public still needs to be aware of about autism, ASP Naga Chapter Secretary, and SPED teacher Rona Saulon stresses society’s need for consciousness to restrain from using the term, “autistic” as a derogatory remark. She notes that even some prominent personalities unmindfully and carelessly include the word in public addresses. ASP’s 1Pangako goes: “para mahinto ang maling paggamit ng salitang “autistic” bilang katatawanan o insulto.” “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,” Matthew 7:12 Jomapa, Tomas, Ludovico YESTERDAY (February 1) was the 154th birth anniversary of foremost Bicol hero Jose Maria Panganiban and we are glad and proud that the City Government of Naga, through its City Events, Protocol and Public Information Office, had once again spearheaded its meaningful celebration. Jose Maria Panganiban was a propagandist, activist and essayist who advocated for reform in the then Spanish colony of the Philippines. He was a founding member of the propaganda organization La Solidaridad. His legacy is celebrated throughout the Philippines and the Spanish Filipino community. Pepe, as he was fondly called, was born in Mambulao town that now bears his name in the province of Camarines Norte. His father was from Bulacan and his mother (nee Enverga) was from Tayabas (now Quezon), the latter was then part of the expansive See of Caceres, whose Diocesan seat was situated in then Nueva Caceres, which is now Naga City. At 4 years of age, his mother already recognized his genius as oftentimes he would be found ransacking his father’s books for additional reading materials. At his tender age Pepe was already aware of the plight of his fellow Filipinos. At one time, he witnessed a Spaniard maltreating a native. He immediately rushed and begged the Spaniard to stop the cruelty. Whereupon, the Spaniard chased him but as he was a fast runner, he was spared from harm. In 1873, Panganiban went to Nueva Caceres and enrolled in the seminario (today’s Holy Rosary Seminary) where he surpassed all his classmates and showed his ability as an orator. Original copies of his report cards, all marked “sobresalientes” or excellent are on display at the seminary museum until this day. From the seminario, he went to the Universidad de Sto. Tomas in Manila where he completed his preparatory medicine with honors. In May 1888, Panganiban went to Spain to continue his medical studies in Barcelona but abandoned them after he made the acquaintance of a community of activists and became a member of the pro-Filipino organization La Solidaridad. Under the banner of the organization, Panganiban published, using the pseudonym Jomapa, essays critical of the educational, social and economic conditions of the Philippines under Spanish rule. Although he remained an activist throughout his entire career, his life was cut short by tuberculosis at age 27 in a boarding house in Spain. His remains were returned to his homeland in 1985 and interred within the base of one of the many monuments in his honor. Unfortunately, the first monument erected in Bulacan by his father’s townmates is no longer existent, except for those found in Camarines Norte and one standing inside the Naga Central School campus, built by that school’s patriotic parent-teachers’ association in later time. Furthermore, an avenue that serves as the gateway to Naga’s business center was named after him. But while we honor Panganiban with all our heart, we never had chance to recognize the heroism and nobility of our two fellow bonafide Naguenos’ lives – the Arejola brothers. Tomas Arejola was born in Nueva Caceres [Naga City] on Sept. 18, 1865. Like Panganiban, Tomas studied at the Naga seminary. In August 1888 he also went to Spain to study law in Madrid, where he became an active member of the Asociacion Hispano-Filipino. When the asociacion was dissolved, the Circulo Hispano-Filipino was founded with Arejola as president. He wrote articles about the plight of the Philippines in various newspapers in Spain, including La Solidaridad. On Sept. 4, 1898, he was appointed by Aguinaldo as representative to the National Assembly. In 1901, he went to Hongkong where he became a member of the Central Revolutionary Committee. During the American colonial time, he became a delegate to the First Philippine Assembly of 1907 and was re-elected vice president of the Partido Nacionalista de Filipinas. He died in Manila in 1926 at the age of 61. His ancestral home, though it was henceforth acquired by a new owner, still stands today along Penafrancia Avenue, Born January 31, 1861, Ludovico like his brother Tomas, studied at the Holy Rosary Seminary. He took up Bachelor of Arts at Letran, and later pursued Law studies at the same college. Because of imposing resistance, he was arrested on October 10, 1896. With the other people who were arrested, he was tortured in Nueva Caceres. He was sent to Bilibid by ship, where he and his companions suffered terribly as they were put inside the place in the ship where cattle were also kept; their bound feet trussed to their tied wrists. He then returned to the Philippines after. He was appointed by President Aguinaldo to become the Coronel de la Milicia Territorial which had the responsibility of organizing the milicias in Ambos Camarines and Catanduanes. Later, he was promoted to the rank of General. He was also tasked by Aguinaldo for the solicitation of contributions for the Philippine revolution. General Arejola divided Ambos Camarines and Catanduanes into five military districts. He was offered the governorship of Ambos Camarines by Governor General Taft, but turned down the offer. He organized a large guerrilla army that fought the Americans at Agdangan, Baao. After that encounter, he and his men camped in the mountains of Minalabac and settled there for more than a year. Because of rampant sickness in the ranks, persistent and relentless American operations, battle casualties, acute lack of firearms and ammunition, and atrocities by the US soldiers on innocent civilians, the Bicolano general opted to surrender to the Americans. When he finally signed the peace agreement on March 1901, he and his 800 men marched to Nueva Caceres where they were accorded with full military honors. As Naga historian Jose Barrameda wrote: These two Nagueños (Tomas and Ludovico), heroes both, one with a sword, the other with a pen, remain unhonored to this day in their own city.

LEGAZPI CITY --- Amid the suspension of Oplan Tokhang by the Duterte administration, the police in Bicol will focus on “barangay drug-clearing operations” while operations against drug personalities will be sustained although both activities will be under the stewardship of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Senior Insp. Ma. Luisa Calubaquib, spokesperson of the Police Regional Office in Bicol (PRO5), said the mandate of the Philippine National Police (PNP) as an organization is to concentrate on the “seven focus crimes, such as robbery, murder, homicide, theft, carnapping, cattle rustling and rape.” She said included in PRO5’s current thrusts are “internal cleansing and police community relations activities.” Calubaquib said these were the specific instructions that they received from Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. She said PRO5 Director Melvin Ramon Buenafe, who attended the recent command conference with the PNP Chief at Camp Crame, gave instructions that all drug-related operations will temporarily be conducted solely by PDEA. Calubaquib said PRO5 will only be on a “lay low status” on the anti-illegal drug campaign called Project Double Barrel but assured massive drug-clearing operations in all barangays in the region will be pursued. “We will still be saturating all barangays as required from us by the Dangerous Drugs Board or DDB--to clear the villages or to recommend which barangays have been cleared of the illegal drug problem,” she said. According to her, PRO5 is nearly 80 percent complete in its operation against the high- and low-value targets in the drug watchlists given to it by PDEA. She said those in the list, including the newly identified drug personalities in the region, could not push forward with their illegal activities because their names are in the watch lists. Buenafe has ordered that walk-in (drug) surrenderees still be processed at police stations according to PNP procedures and guidelines. Supt. Frandee Echaluce, chief of Complaint Referral and Monitoring Center or CRMC of PRO5, added their seminars and police community relations program in the villages will also be in relation to the anti-illegal drugs campaign. He said they will hand over to PDEA the list of their drug suspects and other issues on the illegal drug problem. “The PNP will just act as security or support to every PDEA operation in the region,” said Echaluce. He confirmed that some police officers in the region are facing dismissal proceedings because of their involvement in the proliferation of illegal drugs. Echaluce said those policemen, who tested positive during drug tests conducted in all police stations months ago, are now on a “floating status” at the RHAU or Regional Holding Account Unit of PRO5. Calubaquib confirmed some erring police officers in the Bicol region are facing dismissal procedures before the office of the Regional Internal Affairs Service (RIAS) at Camp Gen. Simeon Ola, headquarters of PRO5. She named one of the candidates for dismissal as Sr. Insp. Plebbie Aterado, who is facing nine cases of grave misconduct and abuse of authority. The latter is temporarily held at the PNP’s RHAU inside Camp Ola. Calubaquib said presently, there are cases filed before the office of RIAS against erring police officials, most of which involve grave misconduct while the cases filed by the wives of police officers were in relation with violation of Republic Act 9262 or “Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004.” The other cases of the policemen facing dismissal proceedings involved RA 9165 or “Violation of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002”. Calubaquib added the PRO5 is ready to accept complaints or reports on abusive and corrupt police officers. "We are ready to accept and investigate,” she said. Calubaquib said PRO5 is “soliciting the help of our constituents to find and identify these erring police officers” who are abusing their positions. Meanwhile, Cotton Yuzon, spokesperson and public information officer of PDEA in Bicol, said they cannot issue a comment on the pronouncements made by the PNP chief and the President because they “do not yet have specific instruction from their central office.” “We have not yet received any order or guidelines from our national office so kailangan muna naming gawin ang dati naming ginagawa before,” (we will continue with what we have been doing before) she added.

NAGA CITY---A regional inter-agency group tasked to promote juvenile rights and welfare in Bicol is against the proposal to lower the age of criminally liable offenders 9 years old from 15 years old which is pending in Congress. Assistant Regional Prosecutor Remiel O. Nibungco, a member of the Regional Juvenile Justice and Welfare Committee (RJJWC)-Bicol, said the general sentiment of the members of the RJJWC is to retain the present minimum age of criminal responsibility to 15 years old under the present law. Among the members of the RJJWC are representatives of the Department of Justice, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Interior and Local Government, Public Attorney’s Office, Commission on Human Rights, Department of Education, Department of Health, Philippine National Police, Bureau of Jail Management of Penology, and two representatives from non-government organizations. The JJWC is a policy-making, coordinating and monitoring body tasked with the implementation of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act (Republic Act. 9344) as amended by R.A. 10630. R.A. 9344 is the law that raised the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 9 years old to 15 years old and took effect on May 20, 2006 while R.A. 10630 further clarified the procedures, establishment of center for intensive juvenile intervention and provision on victim assistance and emphasis in the processes. Nibungco said at present the children 15 years old and below do not have criminal responsibility when they commit criminal offense even as they are not exempted from civil liability and joint parental responsibility. While for children 12 years old and below 18 years old, they are committed in a youth care facility called “Bahay-Pag-asa”, he added. “But under the amended law we have categories. For example, children 12 years old up to 15 years old, when they commit serious offense like murder, we must have intervention for that which is more intensive. The intensive intervention will be done inside the Bahay-Pag-asa,” he said. Nibungco said Bahay-Pag-asa as defined by R.A. 10630 is a facility where children in conflict with the law are housed for reformative procedure which shall be operated by a multi-disciplinary team that works on individualized intervention plan with the child and the child’s family. Genoveva G. Barcelon, JJWC secretariat, said that after ten years of implementation, RA 9344 and RA 10630 had come a long way but until now there is no Bahay-Pag-asa ever established in Bicol that will cater to the children in conflict with the law. Barcelon said the scientific basis of why the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 15 years old is the finding that the human brain fully develops at the age of 21, a position they maintain and which the present law provides. She said the local government units (LGUs) are hesitant to commit for the full implementation of the juvenile justice and welfare law for fear of the costs it would entail them especially for the maintenance and operation of the BahayPag-asa. She said the law requires LGUs to set aside 1 percent of the internal revenue allotment (IRA) but still only Camarines Norte LGU has committed P5 million for the construction of BahayPag-asa among the LGUs in Bicol. Barcelon said the primary thrust of the juvenile justice and welfare law is to heighten the community-based intervention program with the LGUs crafting a comprehensive local juvenile intervention plan for developmental, preventive and rehabilitative interventions. “But the reality, it is only Naga City in the Bicol region with comprehensive plan being a pilot area, which should be integrated into the annual investment plan,” she said. Barcelon said the construction of the BahayPag-asa is only secondary and that the JJWC goes around the LGUs from the barangay to the municipal levels to orient local officials of their roles in the full implementation of the juvenile justice and welfare law. She said they have saturated the provinces of Camarines Norte, Catanduanes and Sorsogon which are now crafting their respective comprehensive intervention plan for the juveniles which include the endorsement that their respective plans be integrated in their annual investment plan. “It is still a challenge for the local councils to enforce the mandatory allocation of 1 percent from their IRA for the protection of children,” Barcelon said. She said at present there are 17 minors who are detained in regular jails with cases ranging from theft to murder.

The following was delivered by the author as keynopte speaker during the Pagsurat Bikol 5 held at the Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Nabua, Camarines Sur last January 28, 2017 with the theme, “Pagpapahiwas kan Sinugkaran, {arta’naw sa Kinaagahan” (Expanding the Horizon, Looking Towards the Future). DIYOS MABALOS tabi sa paggiromdom sakuya kan maski madaralian buda sa tahaw kan rawraw sa buhay asin kabuhayan na iwinalat kan bagyo, idinagos nindo an pagtiripon na ini kan mga parasurat Bikolnon. It’s a bit convenient, I’m sure, that you would think of me, although I will be the first to claim no authority on the state or practice of Bikol writing, doing so little of writing in the language myself, and knowing only from my scant reading of the literature that is being written right now in the region. I had a temporary direct experience or at least a vantage point on contemporary Bikol writing when many years ago I sat on the teaching panel of the UP Writers Workshop together with my friend Jun Balde. That’s how I got acquainted with the likes of Frank Peñones, Vic Nierva, Kristian Cordero, Jimple Borlagdan, among others, and still others whose names I can’t recall now. And then they changed the format of the workshop and the Bikol Desk, as I referred to it then, disappeared. Then again there are the current anthologies being produced by almost the same writers in their dogged devotion to the language. Ateneo de Naga University Press, some assistance from the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, in which I am involved as consultant, and individual initiatives, or even collective efforts by Kabulig and other organizations, signal to us the healthy ferment that is happening within Pagsurat Bikol. My own online publishing initiative afforded me some vantage on what was happening as well. Between 2008 and 2011, I was publishing a blog, later reformatted as a magazine, called poet’sPicturebook and later Electronic Monsoon Magazine. The online publication attracted contributors here and abroad—it welcomed poetry mainly, the occasional essay, and photographs. It encouraged the ekphrastic kind of poetry, or poetry based on or about a work of art like painting or other visual medium. It was also multilingual, and since I presumed it had an international readership and contributor base, I took on the translation chore for contributions in Filipino, and of course those in Bikol. That’s how I more or less witnessed the “development” among individual Bikol writers and the news and briefs they brought with their notes on their contributors. Besides, it gave me the venue to regularly practice my translation of poetry from the two languages I knew, Filipino and Bikol. Anyway, that’s also how I came to know, perhaps close at hand, the the ongoing work of Bikol poets as they and their work matured, what their subjects were and how they chose them, what they thought of the world. It was like being a witness to memory being created in poetry, and I even was not spared of the news of the sudden departures of fellow writers like Val Fajardo, Mike Bigornia, and as the online magazine evolved, Rudy Alano and Jun Belgica. But many good things do not last. The little online magazine was getting contributions from everywhere. On the other hand, I was running out of time in some form. I could not wait for contributions forever, and I needed cash for the rental of online space. The first payments I got from my freelancing—I was semi-retired by this time: retired from advertising but not retired from making a livelihood—I bought a domain name for the mag. There were two solid years of issues based on a loose application of themes. Sometimes the theme for the issue was announced. Sometimes the theme was derived from some common thread in the available contributions. It was a nice game to play. Still the contributions, while coming from everywhere around the globe literally, were not that frequent. As my writing projects made more demands of my time, I was missing issues. In mid-2011 I stopped planning the issues and announcing for contributions. My short-lived personal online publishing venture had ended. But not before affording me this vantage point into the creative work especially of Filipinos and Bikolanos abroad and at home. The building of the houses of memory does not stop, anywhere, everywhere, in every language. Iyo ini, siguro ang sadiri o personal kong pagtâ-naw sa padagos na paghiwas kan sinagkuran kan pagsurat buda tataramon na Bikolnon, asin an pagtâ-naw man kan lengguwahe mismo sa kaagahon kan saiyang futuro. Kaya, bago ko malingawan, saro ngonang Maligayang Pagbati sa mga organizers ng kumperensiyang ito, buda mainit na enhorabuena sa inda sa tahaw kan aram kong sari-saring kadifisilan madagos lamang ini. Which brings us to the main points of my little discourse. Aram nindo siguro na among the writers from the regions, an sakuyang obserbasyon na ang Bikolanong parasurat an halos dai ko madangogan ki reklamo manongod sa sa sitwasyon kan tataramon buda pagsurat sa Filipinas? Bako masusupgon o mabooton ang parasurat na Bikolnon, kundi bilog an saiyang boot, an tiwala sa sadiring kakayahan na baklayon an responsabilidad kan parasurat sa sadiri, sa lengguwahe, buda sa banwa. Sa pagkaaram ko, halos gabos na mga aki pang parasurat na midbid ko, tri-lingual. Daing takot sa imperial Manila daa, garu man sana natural ang magdara o maggamit nin tolong lengguwahe, and he does it as a matter of fact, and so nonchalantly. Ining kusog ki boot na ini, ining kumpiyansang ini sa sadiring kakayahan ang sarong birtud na mahatod saiya sa mas mahiwas pang kasagkoran nin bisyon, an mas maliwanag pang kinaagahan kan Tataramon na Bikol. Here’s my little advice. Looking ahead, looking to expand horizons means to look more inside yourselves. It also means, as writers, it is looking to and into the language itself. How far has it gone since the start of the Bikol resurgence or renaissance? How, in fact, did that resurgence start? The answers to those questions are not as important as how to proceed now that you Bikolano writers have started the resurgence. We could say that the Bikol Desk at the UP National Writers Workshop helped some by exposing young writers to the rigors of a collegial critical look at the first draft of a poem or story, and it helped that those fortunate enough to attend the UP workshop submitted their works in the Bikol language. But that is as far as it goes. The continuing resurgence is at your own locomotive power and what other push or pull do you still need? First, you need language itself. That’s why I say look into Bikol and ask how else, what other elements are needed to further strengthen it? Many of you, if not all, are already writing in it. So here’s my first memorandum: 1) Take Care of Your Language. Taking care does not mean protecting it jealously from encroachment. From within or without. Taking care does not mean keeping it pure. There is no such thing as a pure language. The only pure language is a dead language. A living language grows and growth is from without and from within. Do not be afraid to borrow but be bold in the act of appropriation. Taking care means to build the language. Build it firmly and robustly. Build it with a liberal lexicon and usage. Build it by using it expansively. Build it to explore the houses of memory, build it to build memory itself. Using it expansively means bringing it to the various domains of knowledge and life. I know you know this already. Perhaps your experiences are broader than mine. You have travelled literally into farther territories and horizons, into other modes of living and professions. All the more should you write, take down notes, create your obras—stories, poems, memoires, novels. Never stop. The Internet is there for you to use in research, in comparing notes, in publishing itself. Create a blog or a website. Correspond with your friends. But I have to warn you. The Internet democratizes information and data. But it does not empower or bestow knowledge. It is a great venue or medium for the acquisition of information but it is not triggering the proper synapses for the building of knowledge, and for the refinement of knowledge and information into wisdom. It is still a machine that at this stage crudely resembles our brain, but it still has not the power to contemplate. It still has not the reflective capacity or even reflexive instinct to meditate. It cannot make Buddhas out of us. Only physical and printed books can. The printed book in its own limitations imposes a linearity to our thoughts while reading; the electronic data base of the Internet gives us snatches of information and an amalgam of undifferentiated data. Converting it into knowledge is still the work of the human brain. Therefore, write your books in the Bikol language but have them published and printed physically, in the analogue machines of Ateneo de Naga University Press or Agnus. Send them out on the Internet and cyberspace digitially, sell them if you can on Amazon or other online sellers, but the physical ink-and-paper books will still have a different effect on the knowledge and wisdom building of your readers. Take note, even Amazon will soon go back to physical stores. And the sale of books still grows t in incremental proportions as well as exponentially in both format simultaneously—digitally as well as analog. This means that people read as much from their Kindles as from hardcovers and paperbacks, both ordered from Amazon and the like. Technology does not readily replace or kill formats. The physical book still has a long way to go before extinction, whatever the digital producers or consumers say. Next we even go a bit more basic and analogue. 2) Write the New Bikol Orthography. I would also say create because now is the best time as you have the most ample resources and experience. I understand Ateneo or another institution is publishing a new edition of Lisboa’s Vocabulario de la Lengua Bikol—did I get the title right? And I understand we have extant Bikol dictionaries by Lynch and Mintz. Now is the time to start writing a modern Bikol Orthography. The language is growing and it is being used first by the most conscientious users of the language, the writer and poets. And of course it is being used by the church, and the government. I really have no exact idea to what extent. Therefore make lexicographers of yourselves, writers. Make it a parallel career or a major project. Or organize a collective. Get representatives from all the major users, geographically, the livelihoods, the professions, and all the power domains. Use all the extant dictionaries as reference and starting points to create the modern Bikol orthography. I will not prescribe how to do it, or pretend to know what specific elements it should contain, but use all the references possible, local, national, and from abroad. Orthography is not a new thing. But it is a legitimate branch of language studies. And a practical necessity for a growing and modernizing language. Orthography is the first step in codifying a language. Why do you need it? For three reasons mainly: standardization, modernization, progress. Standardization is not only for uniformity’s sake. It is for the ‘recognizability’ of words and for the differentiation between shades of meaning especially if two words sound the same. Or, if one word is used for two or several meanings. Before I give examples, I would like to shift to the third but parallel task for Bikol writers at this stage of the Bikol literary renaissance. Modernization and progress would be the objectives of the third parallel task which is to 3) Unify the Bikol Lexicon. As writers and main users of the language, you are in the pivotal position to write dictionaries. The linguists or linguistic scientists would like to arrogate to themselves the task of writing dictionaries but I would insist they not do it without the involvement of the primary users of the language, the writers. Now for the examples—which I remember mentioning similar examples in my similar role as speaker for an earlier group of Bikol writers in the past. That seems like a lifetime ago. Unification of lexicon would mean the stock vocabularies of the two groups of users of what we refer to as the Bikol language—Legazpeño and Nagueño. Even before that maybe you writers and other users of the language should decide what to officially call these two components of language based on the geographical capitals of the region. —Eño is, of course, a Spanish formation or suffix. Would you like a more “native” manner? That should be one of the more basic things to consider. Again to the examples. I remember I gave two pairs years ago, but right now I can recall only one pair: pandok and lalaogon. In the unification of lexicons this represents what we can do with existing words as a means of enriching the language. Why not use pandok to refer to the physical and visible face, and lalaogon for a “deeper” or more meaningful term to describe the face as a manifestation of the soul, which is, in fact, what it is. Thus we can say, for example, that dai ko masabutan ang pandok niya for an impenetrable facial expression, and sarong mahamis na gigidom an bumisita sa saiyang lalaogon. Isn’t that, perhaps, a richer Bikol we are speaking and writing? The way I observe in many written examples is the use of saldang and aldaw, with the former referring to the heavenly body (the sun) and the latter to the day or time period. That to me is a practical way of assigning denotations and not having to constantly distinguish between the name of the heavenly body and the name of the day if we have only one term, aldaw. And that is one way of growing the language. I am sure there are still many examples for unifying the Bikol lexicon and this is also another way we can import words from other Bikol languages or dialects to continually enrich and make practical and usable what we call the Bikol language. And borrowing is of course one of the main means of language building, but borrowing from related languages is always better than borrowing from foreign ones for quicker absorption into the mainstream and readier understandability by users. In Filipino, the classic examples are kalayaan and katarungan. You probably know the story about how Rizal got wind of at the time a neologism from Marcelo H. del Pilar, the word kalayaan. Rizal wrote his brother Paciano, while he was in Germany and translating Schiller’s play, William Tell, that he had no Tagalog word for the German freiheit (freedom) and could only think of the Spanish word libertad. But Rizal remembered Del Pilar’s Tagalog translation of one his essays where he first encounters kalayaan. The root word is extant, laya, which is related to layas and has to do with wildness. But when you reassemble the word with the prefix and suffix, kalayaan seemed just right for Rizal to translate the rather abstract German ideal of freiheit. Layas, which is familiar to us Bikols, is related to the Visayan word ilahas which is the relatively new Filipino word for wild as in wild animals, to distinguish it from the usual term mailap (elusive literally) which can apply to both humans and animals. The other early modern example I cited because it has become so familiar is katarungan, which did not exist before Lope K. Santos’ Balarila. We know the root tadong or tarong, which both mean straight and uprightness in Bisaya. Again, with the Tagalog affixes at the beginning and end of the root it performs a very formal purpose of denoting justice so we do not have to borrow the Spanish justicia. As recent as ilahas is the Ilocano rabaw and the Bikol lawas. Rabaw and lawas have been adopted into Filipino to technically denote the physical surface and body instead of just saying ibabaw and katawan. Note how easier it is to use them to designate the material surface (ang kahoy na rabaw ng mesa) and geographic bodies of water (ang malaking lawas ng tubig tulad ng Dagat Pacifico). The precision is very useful instead of incurring unintended humor as in saying ang katawan ng tubig. Our languages (Tagalog, Bikol, Bisaya) all belong to the bigger Austronesian language family of the vast Pacific area. From the examples above the wisdom of borrowing from native Filipino languages instead of from English or Spanish, with the former being of the Anglo-Saxon Germanic family and the latter a Romance language, an offshoot of Latin. It is said that an Ilocano or Kapampangan can live for one week in Naga City and learn at least conversational Bikol, but a child must make a triple or quadruple leap from his his native Bisaya or Bikol when being taught English. (Of course the proliferation of English in media lessens the difficulty, but so it does for Filipino which has become the archipelago’s incontrovertible lingua franca.) This internal borrowing must happen if we must strengthen Bikol as as literary and technical language for our region. Again, there is none more practical and empowered than writers, you and me, who can accomplish this. You might want to organize a Bikol academy for the propagation of the Bikol language, and send out researchers on Bikol terms for livelihoods, industries, and commerce, but the lead and vanguard is still the writers. 4) The fourth task is to translate, translate, translate. Perhaps one of the proofs of the maturity of a language is its ability to translate the best from any other language. The Bikol we are working on must translate between and among the other Bikol languages, must translate into or from Filipino, the national language, and into foreign languages like English or any of your preference. That is the only way you can converse with our archipelagic nation and with the world. So become translators as well, Bikol writers. Make it another parallel career. Translation has always been denigrated as a second-class citizen of sorts in literature, a parasite of the original work, an imperfect art that is always in progress. Some of great writers had their share of bad words for it. Rumi said that “Silence is the language of God. All else is poor translation.” Or as the poet Yevegeny Yevtushenko, who is not always politically correct, said: “Translation is like a woman. If it is beautiful, it is not faithful. If it is faithful, it is most certainly not beautiful.” Praise is given grudgingly. “Translation is the art of failure,” the semiotician Umberto Eco said. There is the classic Italian adage, “Traduttore, traditore.” Translator, traitor—for betraying to us the meaning of a language we do not know or do not speak. On the other hand, the literary philosopher Walter Benjamin called it the “afterlife” or resurrection of the original work, its recreation in a new language, not necessarily the translating or target language but a greater or ideal language which I suspect used the universal grammar imagined by Noam Chomsky. Perhaps one of the most sober descriptions comes from the leading theorist of translation today. Lawrence Venuti says, “To read a translation as a translation, as a work in its own right, we need a more practical sense of what a translator does. I would describe it as an attempt to compensate for an irreparable loss by controlling an exorbitant gain.” Well, he only means we gain more than we lose in translation. We gain understanding, we engage in the conversation between languages, we close the gulf between cultures. Imagine if there was no translation, would we know Sophocles or Aeschylus or Virgil or Dante? Would we enjoy the exquisite quatrains of Omar Khayyám’s Rubaiyat if there were no Edward FitzGerald? 5) Rethink role of language—and Bikol—in the dichotomy between science and the humanities. If we knew that Khayyám was in fact a mathematician and an astronomer while being a poet we might have to rethink the role of language in the painful divorce between science and the humanities. We must start start looking into how the Bikol language itself is or might be used in teaching or studying the sciences, technology, economics, engineering, mathematics, and all the so-called technical fields—the STEM in the curriculum—or how it can open more windows through the use of the “local imagination,” i.e., the Bikol language, in elaborating technical and scientific theories and subjects. If you must know, there several pioneers and practitioners of teaching the sciences in Filipino in Manila. One of them, wrote dictionary of economic terms in Filipino, and continues to teach the subject in a university, became KWF’s Dangal ng Wika awardee. Another, a young man, teaches math in Filipino and does so in the most sophisticated style you can imagine, with fantastic effects on students. A group of medical practitioners are compiling a dictionary of medical and surgical terms in Filipino, while a leading engineer and OFW is writing a similar dictionary for engineering and holds conferences on the use of Filipino in their profession. That is only glimpse of what is happening to the national language. Something similar must happen to Bikol if it must fulfill its responsibility in this part of the archipelago. Every language must test itself against the realities of a changing world and face the challenge not just of conveying new ideas and the intricacies of science and technology but the possibilities and risk of the loss of humanity in, for example, the complexity of astrophysics where human consciousness is nowhere considered in interplanetary travel; or closer to home, in the continuing atomization and fragmentation in global capitalism. We live in the cusp of this domination of science and math and technology in human affairs. Language, perhaps the highest manifestation of humanity in the world of the technical and abstract, must bring back that humanity, must restore the place of human consciousness now missing in the mechanistic universe and reduced mainly to being a ghost in the machine. Obviously, the last task I can see for writers is 6) To open once more the links or synaptic channels between the interior and exterior life of the people. This, for me, is the basic function of language. It is not just self-expression, nor communication, but everything brought together to enflesh the soul of a people. And in that incarnation the interior and the exterior come together, the repository of social and historical experience, of values and aspirations, becomes the self-aware and self-respecting created and creative image of the individual and society. Thus the Bikol writer shapes himself through his language. Unlike Umberto Eco’s speech-challenged character but who became a hero nevertheless, Baudolino, for whom time was an “eternity of stammers,” the Bikol writer will be an articulate voice describing and inscribing the wholeness, the memory and future of the Bikol soul. (With apologies to Italo Calvino)

LEGAZPI CITY --- The Bicol Region is now one of the top five tourist destinations in the country compared to its “sluggish” performance during the early ‘90s. “Bicol is now a promising and rosy tourist destination compared to the other areas in the country as the number of visiting tourists, particularly foreign tourists, has tremendously increased annually, said Director Maria O. Ravanilla of the Department of Tourism (DOT) regional office here. She said the region has been attracting more foreign and domestic tourists as shown by the latest records posted by the agency. DOT-Bicol records show that domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in all the six Bicol provinces and six cities in the region, that were recorded from January to June 2016, increased by 26.6 percent compared to the same period in 2015. The total number of combined domestic and foreign tourists was 2,202,003 million from January to June 2015, while for the same period, the total arrivals in the region was 2,787,719 million. In the first half of 2016, Camarines Sur, which is famous for its Caramoan group of islands, recorded the most number of combined domestic and foreign tourist arrivals with 613,062 in 2016. Albay which is known for the majestic Mayon Volcano was second with 352,483 arrivals. Camarines Norte which has become known for its powdery white sand beaches such as Bagasbas Beach and the Calaguas Group of Islands, was third with 249,988 arrivals during the first half of 2016. The records showed that for the same period, Catanduanes had 105,557 tourist arrivals, Sorsogon--86,735 and Masbate--40,651. Among the five Bicol cities that include Legazpi City, Naga City, Iriga City, Masbate City and Sorsogon City, Legazpi City, a component city which is the capital of Albay province had the most number of combined foreign and domestic tourist arrivals during the first half of 2016. The combined total tourist arrivals from January to June in 2016 in Legazpi City was 569,527, while Naga City was a close second with 560,586 total arrivals. Masbate City was third with total tourist arrivals of 106,882. But as to domestic tourist arrivals in the five cities, Naga City ranked first with 468,045 tourist arrivals during the first half of 2016 compared to Legazpi City with total visitors of 367,022. According to the tourism department, the increasing tourist arrivals in Bicol has contributed multi-billion pesos in gross receipts to the Bicol economy and generated jobs for Bicolanos in various tourism-related industries in the region, specifically in hotels, restaurants, resorts, transportation, handicrafts and entertainment sector. Ravanilla attributed the rosy tourism industry in Bicol to the joint initiatives of the private and government sectors who have been working together to build more infrastructure projects to be able to create new tourism hubs. She cited that among the five Bicol cities, Legazpi City posted the highest growth rate of 27.7 percent of combined foreign and domestic tourist arrivals in the first half of 2016, compared to the first half of 2015. Legazpi City recorded 569,527 total arrivals compared to total tourist arrivals of 445,867 for the same period in 2015. “Naga City followed with a 16.47 percent growth rate for the two periods, with 560,586 arrivals for the first half of 2016, compared to 481,304 arrivals for the same period in 2015. Ravanilla said the Legazpi City government under Mayor Noel Rosal has “fast tracked” the construction of a coastal road known as the 4.08-kilometer Legazpi City Boulevard. “The boulevard, which passes through barangays (villages) Victory, Dapdap, Puro and Lamba, contributed to boosting such growth rate,” she said. Barangay Lamba in Legazpi City connects to the Bicol International Airport in Barangay Alobo, Daraga. The groundbreaking of the new airport was attended by President Rodrigo Duterte early in December 2015. Ravanilla said this has meant more jobs, investments and more tourists for the Bicol region as a whole. “This coastal road now serves as an alternate route to decongest traffic jam from the city proper and likewise provides commuters safe access and easy transport of their marine, livestock and agricultural products to the city’s newly built commercial centers,” she said. Ravanilla said foreign investors are now eyeing Legazpi as the “most promising business and ecotourism hub in the country.” She added that in the six provinces in the Bicol region, local government officials, from congressmen, to governors and mayors, have been working together to make tourism a vibrant industry in the region. DOT-Bicol has acknowledged the private sector, specifically Bicolano business tycoon Elizaldy S. Co, chief executive officer of the Sunwest Group of Companies, who has been putting in more investments in Bicol, particularly in Albay province, so that new corridors could be developed along the coastal and upland areas of Legazpi.

LIGAO CITY --- The implementation of the government free irrigation service to farmers which took off this month drew mixed reactions from farmers, and members of irrigators association operating the various irrigation facilities in Bicol, the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) said over the weekend. The reactions were varied even most of the farmers and landowners welcomed the scrapping of irrigation fees being previously charged by NIA. They said such move was a blessing as the money intended for the irrigation charges may be used in upgrading and maintaining their farm lots. On the other hand, many fear that the abolition of fees will greatly affect the operation and maintenance of the facilities which are currently being managed by different irrigators associations across the region, according to Ed Yu, NIA Bicol Spokesperson. It should be recalled that free irrigation service was one of the campaign promises of then presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte, Yu said. Nelia Mantes, 62, married, a riceland owner from Barangay Mahaba in Ligao City in an interview said, “dakulang bagay ini (abolition of irrigation fees) samuyang mga para-oma ta an kwarta magagamit nyamo sa ibang bagay,” (this is a big help to us as we can use the money for other farm expenses.) She said the savings generated from no payment of irrigation fees would also help in cautioning the impact of high cost of farm inputs that hundreds of farmers have to bear during each planting and cropping season. Mantes explained for each planting and cropping season, farmers are also confronted with high operational and maintenance costs which are further aggravated by the low market price offered by rice traders. Rice traders are dictating the prices of palay, with buying prices traditionally pegged at P14 a kilo.Still, farmers are discouraged from selling their produce to the National Food Authority (NFA) despite the latter’s higher buying price of P18 per kilo because of the strict and number of requirements being asked for them to comply by the agency. Ariel Buenavente, farmer and a member of an irrigators association operating in this city, said the abolition of the irrigation fee would result to disbanding of their irrigators’ association. He said the life of the association depends largely on the incentives the group gets in maintaining and operating the irrigation facilities that charge fees. The association sees to it that NIA irrigation facilities are well operated and maintained by keeping the irrigation canals in good shape and making sure that water flows to the intended beneficiary-farmlands. Peter Tiu Lavinia, NIA administrator in a recent interview, admitted that the agency would be spending P2B a year as subsidy fund for maintaining various irrigation facilities across the country. The government subsidy, according to Lavinia, would replace the almost P4B it generates from the Irrigation Service fees (ISF) collected from millions of farmers throughout the country. Lavinia, when asked how the implementation of the free irrigation would affect their budget, cited that NIA, as a government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) would be losing around P13B in back accounts, collectibles for all irrigation fees, and loan amortization arising from the operation of the communal irrigation system. He said, “if mawawala itong ISF and ma condone ang mga back accounts, malaking kalugian ito sa NIA.” Lavinia disclosed that NIA is currently operating with a P38B budget where P12B of the amount go to debt servicing. NIA data show that there are 1.4M hectares of irrigated lands servicing 1.5M farmers across the county. Lavinia said that under Duterte’s term he hopes the agency could attain additional 380,000 hectares of irrigated farmlands by 2022. Of the Bicol region’s 240,000 hectares of irrigable lands, 58% or 140,000 hectares are irrigated that service about 500 irrigators’ associations.