AFFECTED subsistence miners in Camarines Norte rally in front of Camarines Norte Capitol Building to ask the lifting of cease and desist order from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau or hasten the approval of the Minahang Bayan permit to allow them to undertake small-scale mining activities. Juan Escandor Jr. By Juan Escandor Jr. DAET, Camarines Norte --- On Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14), about 3,000 subsistence miners held a rally in front of the Capitol building here as they cried for source of livelihood after the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) issued “cease and desist order (CDO)” against illegal mining activities in the 12 towns of Camarines Norte province. Officials of the towns of Jose Panganiban and Paracale told the Bicol Mail that a total of about 11,000 families directly depending on small-scale mining activities have lost their livelihood with the enforcement of the CDO. “The action of the director of the MGB has displaced economically subsistence miners in seven villages in Jose Panganiban that are easily translated to 6,000 families or about 30,000 individuals who are affected,” according to Sarah Marie P. Aviado, municipal environment and natural resources officer of Jose Panganiban. In the town of Paracale, the number of subsistence miners and their families affected by the CDO reached 5,000, revealed Gil B. Salen, municipal planning and development coordinator. Wilfredo Sapalaran, 54, affected subsistence miner, said he started mining in 1980 in Barangay Luklukan in Panganiban town, and made do to raise his seven children even though his eldest is 32 years old and the youngest is eight years old. Sapalaran said his spouse is a plain housewife while two of his children are already married so that four of his children are still dependent while one child is already working and helps the family. “I call on the government to allow us continue our mining activities because we do not destroy the environment unlike the large-scale mining that strips mountains of vegetation,” he said pointing to the verdant terrain where they mine by making tunnel in the mountain. But Guillermo Molina, MGB Bicol director, explained the CDO he issued against illegal mining activities on January 10, this year, was based on the Executive Order 79 and the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 7076 or the Small-Scale Mining Act. Molina said he the CDO he issued was not the first one because two previous MGB directors had issued the same years back. “The issuance of the CDO shows that we are doing activities not in line with the laws. I decided to enforce the CDO all over the province, especially in the towns where there are illegal mining activities like Paracale, Panganiban and Labo,” he said. Molina said he had forwarded the directive he issued against illegal mining activities to the local governments of the province, municipal and barangay in Camarines Norte and that he had deputized last week the municipal police of Labo and Panganiban while Paracale municipal police was deputized earlier. Maria Linda Yasis, 46, said the primary livelihood of her family is through subsistence mining so that if the government continues to prevent them from mining it is tantamount to “burying their family in the grave.” “We don’t even have steady income with the only livelihood (subsistence mining). When there is no gold we suffer, if we strike one our family is provided and we can send our kids to school,” Yasis said. She said through mining her eldest child was able to finish Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and her two high school students and four children are still in the elementary. Yasis said there are still six children who have to finish school. Gov. Edgardo A. Tallado said he sympathized with the subsistence miners who lost their livelihood since the CDO was enforced by the MGB without giving them alternative livelihood. “There were pending application at the MGB that won’t give them permits,” Tallado said. Molina said the permit for subsistence miners to get mining permit is through the Minahang Bayan which applications had been pending approval since 2010 and still under process. He said the biggest problem confronting the approval of the Minahang Bayan is the consent from mineral claimants under it which are usually the large-scale mining corporations with approved mineral claims in Camarines Norte. Molina said only one large-scale mining corporation, the Golden River, has consented to give their claim under the Minahang Bayan applied for in Paracale town. Serafin Dasco, president of the Samahan ng Magkakabod ng Paracale (Association of Subsistence Miners in Paracale), retorted that if the problem is the consent from mineral claimants, there must be period of prescription of the mineral claims once it is not used for a long period. Molina said there is prescription which is five years and after which the MGB can recommend for cancellation of the mineral claims but he said there are instances when the mineral claims cannot be cancelled because of pending review if it is under process renewal. He said all over the Philippines only seven Minahang Bayan had been approved 10 years after the Small-Scale Mining Act had been implemented. Molina said it will only be the secretary of the DENR who can reverse the CDO against small-scale mining in Camarines Norte or interested group can ask the court to grant them temporary restraining order while the processing of the Minahang Bayan is underway.

By Manuel T. Ugalde LEGAZPI CITY --- Many local newsmen here, dubbed as “instant journalists” for whatever the tag means, are now desperately looking for other jobs after the former Albay governor left the provincial capitol when he ran and won as congressman after his last executive position expired last year. During the past 9 years that then Gov. Joey Salceda held the reins at the Capitol, these instant journalists were recipients of the so-called media assistance fund that was established under the watch of the ‘media-friendly’ former governor. That mediamen’s privilege vanished into thin air with the assumption of Al Francis Bichara as the province’s new governor who put the break on such ‘mediamen’s bounty’ or “grease money” (as some more discriminating legit newsmen would deride it) when a resolution was passed disallowing release of such fund effective June 30, 2017. The Bicol Reporters Association (Brass) disclosed that Albay which is the regional administrative center for Bicol with most of the regional offices as sources of news based in Legazpi City used to have only 30 active members in both the broadcast and print industry in the early 80s but these rose to 100 in 2007, as more radio stations multiplied and eventually there was the centeris the home of the Bicol Regional Center based in Legazpi City have barely around 30 active and part time media practitioners in broadcast and print during the early 80’s that rose close to 100 in 2007, especially among broadcasters when radio stations multiplied to then 35 now and they have the media assistance find from the provincial capitol to look forward to. But while radio stations flourished, the local weeklies barely survived the onslaught of high printing cost. Bicolwide, only a dozen weeklies continue to survive, albeit on irregular basis, from the original 30 weeklies, according to veteran journalist-writer Prof. Salvador Flor, 74, president of the Bicol Reporters Association. How the fund came to be During the incumbency of then Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda since his assumption of the top post in the provincial capitol in 2007, he thought of extending monthly assistance by way of a provincial board resolution that appropriated funds for local journalists who will help in promoting the province’s frontline programs. The media fund assistance handled airtime of every block-time broadcaster whose remuneration was paid through the radio station that aired the program while reporters collected their honorarium through the governor’s private ‘finance officer.’ According to Flor, economic constraint forced many local AM-FM radio stations in Legazpi to lay off their regular announcers and reporters that many of them opted to go a block-timers in order to have access to fund assistance being dangled by the provincial capitol. A question is asked: If a broadcaster receives ‘manna’ from the provincial capitol, would he speak ill of those who are its occupants – from the provincial board members that appropriated the fund up to the provincial governor that approved and releases the fund? It is said that there is no way that the fund will be revived as the new governor, Al Francis Bichara, is very much against the ‘bribe money’ scheme. A published report said that radio stations in Albay have grown to more than 35, most of these are community FM radio stations that are heavily identified with politicians. Bichara himself has his FM Fox Radio Station that has been in operation for more than 8 years now with his Capitol spokesman Danny Garcia as station manager. Garcia said FOX FM is plain public service, news and music and was never intended as a political tool of the governor. Former capitol public affairs chief Ex Rieza said media support fund from Salceda actually began during his 3-term as 3rd district congressman that ended in 2007 where Salceda would use his personal funds. Rieza said the former governor was so concerned about media workers who live on tiny income. About 90 percent of the broadcast and print media workers in Albay had availed of the capitol support fund without condition, he said. Salceda’s critics said the fund – out of taxpayers’ money – was Salceda’s scheme to win the media’s strong support lest they would not be receiving any of the ‘hot money.’ Concerned sectors lamented that the proliferation of block-time broadcasters and community radio stations in the time of Salceda also multiplied the number of extremely incompetent and broadcasters, who are more likened to ‘hitmen’ or avid propagandists that dish out outright lies and untruthful reports. ‘No news at Capitol’ Flor lamented that during the visit of Miss World Catriona Ragas Gray on Oct. 14 whose mother is from Oas, Albay, not one from the media had covered her Capitol visit on Gov. Bichara except Garcia of Fox FM Radio. Miss World Gray, however, was mobbed by close to 30 media workers and a huge crowd when she of every student aim to have at least one college graduate for every family, his grand tourism program that links four provinces. He said the media support fund was cleared by the Commission on Audit. proceeded to nearby Ninongs Hotel to meet with Rep. Salceda. Flor admitted that Albay was put in the international map not only because of Mayon Volcano but because of Salceda’s mega projects citing his strong advocacy on climate change, effective disaster and risk management aimed for a zero casualty in times of disaster, and tourism programs that increased tourists’ arrivals in the province. Flor said Salceda also surprised Albayanos when the province became a host durin the 2013 Asean Pacific Economic Cooperation ministerial meeting. Added to this is the P4B Bicol International Airport which President Duterte pledged to become operational before 2019. All these developments in Albay were in the news, Flor said. Asked why Salceda continue to draw crowds and media attention even outside Albay compared to other local officials, Flor said he has yet to interview Salceda but I think it’s not the funds that attracts the media which Salceda’s critics had been saying but Salceda’s treatment of the media, critical or otherwise, and his propensity to deliver news. Seven months after Salceda’s departure from the capitol, law graduate broadcaster Wally Magdato said, laughing: “It’s always no news day at the capitol, not even a cup of coffee.”

By Mylce Mella, ABS-CBN NAGA CITY --- Using the social media through his Facebook account, mountaineer-environmentalist Jojo Villareal pushed the red button to express alarm over the ancient trees that were marked “x” inside the protected Mt. Isarog Natural Park. The markings, according to Villareal, are indicators that the trees are destined to be cut off to give way to a proposed roadway towards a renewable energy project being constructed in the area. More fellow netizens have expressed disgust, fear, and strong opposition to the project following Villareal’s posting on his Facebook about the impending plunder of the protected area. Reporteddly a project of Clean and Green Energy Solutions, the 1.5 megawatt mini-hydro project has been in the works for about a year now. It has been estimated that three years will be needed to complete the project in Bgy. San Pedro (formerly Bgy. Aroro) in the town of Goa, Camarines Sur. The contractor has been identified as Pacific Summit Construction Group. So far, an access road has been constructed in the area, with diggings for large pipes to be installed. A pile of water pipes can be seen in the working site. Also to be constructed are surge tanks, where water will be impounded, reports said. According to the plan, a part of Rangas River will divert the running water to the proposed plant to produce energy. The power produced will then be sold to the Camarines Sur Electronic Cooperative IV. The Rangas River and the project site, which Villareal and local environmentalists said lie within the Mt. Isarog Protected Area, are within the congressional district of Rep. Noli Fuentebella. San Pedro Barangay Chairman Jinky Llagas said it was in March last year that she was told about the project. Documents about the project were shown to her by personnel of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) when she requested for them. “Dakula po an proyektong iyan, siyempre may mga proseso. Bale naghapot po ako ki Bong Moleda (kan DENR) kung ano ang mga papeles na dapat kong mahiling,” Llagas said. An Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), signed by then DENR Regional Director Gilbert Gonzales last November 2009 was among the documents shown. There was also a Certificate of Non-Coverage of the project, which showed that it (the project) needed not to secure an ECC for the project operation to start. Llagas said there were complete documentary requirements shown to her and that many of her constituents were given jobs at the project site. “Their lives have somehow improved due to the weekly income (they earned from the project),” Llagas said referring to the residents hired for various jobs at the site. Meanwhile, project manager Engr. Homobono Serrano declined an interview but assured this reporter that their papers and documents are in order. He added that they have applied for permit from the DENR to cut a total of 73 trees along the project site but such application is still under processing by the DENR. The project did not escape attention by the Ateneo de Naga University Institute for Environmental Conservation and Research and according to their investigation, a dam to be constructed as part of the mini-hydro project will be situated right within the restricted premises of the Mt. Isarog Natural Park. “When water supply decreases because of the hydro project, organisms and other natural inhabitants downstream of the river will be severely affected,”according to Joanaviva Plopenio, officer-in-charge of ADNU-INECAR. “We have a law, the NIPAS law of 1992, with its implementing rules that clearly restrict activities within the natural park. So that project should not have been allowed,” she stressed. As far as the INECAR, the ECC that Clean and Green Energy Solutions has been talking about had already expired. INECAR plans to submit their own report to the DENR. “As much as possible, we will submit such report in the national level, to DENR Secretary Gina Lopez. Mas marhay duman para madali an aksyon,” Plopenio said. If the Department of Energy were to be asked, its spokesperson and Undersecretary Wimpy Fuentabella, former congressman and son of the incumbent congressman of the 4th district ng Camarines Sur that comprises the controversial project, averred that natural resources may be utilized to produce alternative renewal sources of energy. “We have to develop our natural resources for wealth creation, for us to compete with other countries. We have to be very logical and scientific in approaching all these problems…if we keep on delaying certain projects then we will have a problem,” he stressed. The preservation and protection of Mt. Isarog Natural Park is very important as it is the source of potable water that are supplied to various municipalities surrounding the mountain, including the burgeoning city of Naga. The mountain is enveloped by fresh, clean air and is home to rare species of fauna and faura, including the endemic Isarog shrew rat, cloud frog, at forest skink, which are of great interest to scholars and scientists. The natural park at the higher portion of Mt. Isarog was declared as a protected area in 2002. Mylce Mella, ABS-CBN

By Juan Escandor Jr. NAGA CITY --- In the nick of time, the Court of Appeals stopped the dismissal of Camarines Norte Edgardo A. Tallado who was earlier ordered dismissed by the Ombudsman. The appeals court granted Tallado the writ of temporary injunction before the 60-day temporary restraining order (TRO) it granted last year expired Friday (Feb. 10), effectively lifting continuously the dismissal order issued by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on April 18, 2016. Issued on Thursday (Feb. 9), the appeals court reiterated the condonation doctrine it cited in the issuance of TRO on Dec. 12, 2016 as applied in the case of Morales vs. Court of Appeals and Binay Jr. The writ of temporary injunction supplanted the TRO it granted to Tallado that initially lifted Morales’ dismissal order imposed on the governor in relation to the administrative case filed by four provincial government personnel he dismissed in 2010. “Until it is settled how the prospective application of the condonation doctrine should be applied, the Ombudsman’s Decision dated April 18, 2016 imposing the dismissal from service upon herein petitioner (Tallado) should be enjoined,” according to the Court of Appeals Third Division. The writ of temporary injunction was penned by Associate Justice Rosmari D. Carandang and concurred by Associate Justices Mario V. Lopez and Myra V. Garcia-Fernandez. In its April 18, 2016 decision, Morales found Tallado “guilty of grave misconduct and oppression/abuse of authority with the aggravating circumstance of recidivism and meted the penalty of dismissal from service with the accessory penalties of cancellation of eligibility, bar from taking any Civil Service Examination, forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification for reemployment in the government service.” The administrative case in which Morales decided against Tallado was filed by Millene Marie D. Belarma-Dela Cruz, Mark Anthony Mago, Maria Joannelle I. Crisostomo and Shanta Valenciano-Baraquiel, who were previously appointed by former governor Jesus Typoco Jr. Citing the application of the condonation doctrine, the appeals court decision further explained that “the acts complained of in the administrative case were committed in 2010.” Tallado has been reelected in 2013 and 2016 as governor since he decisively won the 2010 elections. Two weeks before the elections in 2010, Tallado had been installed by the Department of Interior and Local Government as governor after the Supreme Court decided in his favor the petition to nullify and reverse the election results in 2007 that made Typoco the governor of Camarines Norte for almost three years. The appeals court has also noted the failure of the Ombudsman “to show cause why the TRO issued should be lifted and why petitioner’s (Tallado’s) application for the writ preliminary injunction should not be granted,” It granted Tallado the writ of preliminary injunction after the extension of the submission of the Ombudsman of “the show cause” argument against Tallado’s application lapsed on Jan. 23, 2017. The appeals court further ordered that the bond of P50,000 posted last year as condition of Tallado’s reinstatement as Camarines Norte’s governor “shall continue to serve as injunction bond.”

By Bobby Q. Labalan SORSOGON CITY --- A ranking official of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) in Sorsogon was arrested by government troops as attempts to end the decades-old insurgency through peace talks bogged down. Senior Supt. Ronaldo Cabral, director of the Sorsogon Provincial Police Office (PPO) in an interview Monday, said Emmanuel Alindogan More alias “Ka Cris,” 53, was nabbed by joint operatives of Sorsogon PPO and 31st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army in Barangay Tughan, Juban at around 1:50 p.m. on Sunday. “More is currently the secretary and finance officer of Larangan 1 of CPP-NPA-NDF operating in the province, particularly in Sorsogon City, Barcelona, Casiguran, Gubat, and Prieto-Diaz,” he said. Cabral, however, did not state the circumstances surrounding the arrest, whether the rebel leader resisted or gave up peacefully. More’s arrest, by virtue of a warrant issued by Judge Victor C. Gella, Regional Trial Court Branch 52, Sorsogon City for attempted murder under Criminal Case No. 2007-6945, occurred just a day after the rebel group officially terminated its unilateral ceasefire following the withdrawal of the government peace panel from the peace talks. The government had earlier formally served notice to the CPP-NPA-NDF peace panel on the official termination of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantee or JASIG. Cabral added that earlier during the week, two armed clashes between the government and rebel forces had occurred in Sorsogon within a span of only four days. NPA rebels and Army troopers clashed at Sitio Burabod, Barangay Trece Martirez, Casiguran town on February 6 while another encounter occurred at Barangay Tula-Tula Norte, Magallanes in the morning of February 10. Two army personnel were reported injured in the Casiguran clash but none was reported in the encounter in Magallanes.

By Jason B. Neola NAGA CITY --- The Sangguniang Bayan of Canaman, Camarines Sur has passed and adopted a resolution authorizing their Municipal Mayor, Henry P. Ragodon, to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Municipal Government of Camaligan town relative to the operation of trimobiles that pass through the two neighboring municipalities. The resolution, dated February 7, 2017, states clearly that the authority is being given in compliance with the recent Order of Branch 61 Regional Court Trial Judge Soliman M. Santos Jr. that provides for a Court-preferred compromise settlement of the civil case for injunction with application for TRO and writ of preliminary injunction which is dependent upon a MOA relative to the operation of a trimobile association whose units pass through common connecting roads of both municipalities. Judge Santos stressed that the court-preferred compromise settlement of the case envisions and depends on the two defendant municipalities executing and putting into effect a memorandum of agreement (MOA) governing the plying of tricycles by members of the SIMSDTODA of Dugcal Road, Camaligan connecting Barangays Sua and Del Rosario in Canaman. He furthered that the emerging key terms of the settlement which nevertheless be subject to the local government processes of the two defendant municipalities is for the SIMSDTODA drivers to be allowed to pass through and unload passengers on Dugcal Road but not to pick up passengers unless for an emergency situation. According to records of the case, members of the Camaligan Deputized Traffic Enforcers (Cadete) conducted series of apprehensions of tricycle drivers with franchises approved by the Municipality of Canaman while they pass by Dugcal Road from Barangay Sua to Barangay Del Rosario, the latter belonging to Canaman town. There is no other road that connects Sua to Del Rosario but Dugcal Road which is located within Camaligan town. It was argued that no local government can prohibit the passage of any vehicle, public or private, along a national road, referring to Dugcal Road. Last January 17, as reported in this paper, Judge Santos, with the issuance of a temporary restraining order on the case has ordered the authorities of Camaligan to stop apprehending tricycle drivers of nearby Canaman town who pass by the road in the former town while going to their true destination.

By Paulo DS. Papa NAGA CITY --- The Naga City Police Office reported that since the launching of President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-illegal drug campaign ‘Oplan Tokhang’ when he took over in June last year until its indefinite termination early this month, some 3,531 persons in this city voluntarily surrendered as either drug users or pushers. The report also shows that of the 168 suspects arrested, 76 were considered as drug pushers while 92 of them were labeled as drug users. Twelve persons were killed as of July 1, 2016 as a result of separate anti-drug operations conducted in various parts of the city. Oplan Tokhang was temporarily terminated early this month following the much-publicized arrest-kidnapping of a Korean businessman by rogue policemen which prompted the government to order an investigation while returning the illegal-drugs campaign to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). Police Station No. 1 located at Plaza Quezon that covers under its jurisdiction the barangays of Tabuco, Igualdad, Sabang, Abella, San Francisco, Tinago, Mabolo, and Dinaga, reported the surrender of 48 drug pushers and 663 drug users during the aforementioned period, and the arrest of 39 more suspects, 31 of them were labeled as drug users and 8 as drug pushers. At Police Station No. 2 located along the Concepcion Rotonda covering the barangays of Del Rosario, Concepcion Grande, Concepcion Pequeña, Magsaysay, Triangulo, and Lerma, a total of 1,343 persons (1,238 users and 105 pushers) voluntarily surrendered while 32 suspected pushers and 24 suspected users were arrested. In Police Station No. 3 located at Peñafrancia Avenue that covers the barangays of Peñafrancia, Liboton, Calauag, Bagumbayan Sur, Bagumbayan Norte, San Felipe, Sta. Cruz, and Dayangdang, 715 persons voluntarily where 241 were considered as drug pushers and 474 as drug users. A total of 35 suspected pushers and 37 suspected users were arrested. Report from Police Station No. 4 based in Bry. Cararayan that covers the barangays of Balatas, Cararayan, San Isidro, Panicuason, Carolina, and Pacol, show that 82 drug pushers and 680 drug users voluntarily surrendered while only one suspected pusher and no suspected drug user was arrested. Three out of twelve incidents of extermination under Oplan Tokhang here in Naga City are considered as “DUIs” (Death under Inquiry) which are under investigation while the identities of the casualties were held in confidentiality for strategic reason. The remaining nine casualties who were duly identified after investigations are the following: 1. Noel Balla y Palermo of Brgy. Peñafrancia who was shot dead on July 23, 2016 with 0.35 grams of Shabu and Caliber 38 revolver loaded with six ammunitions in his possession. 2. Pablito Ona y Hernandez of Bgy. Carolina who was killed in August 20, 2016 while allegedly in possession of 1.314 grams of suspected shabu. The following four persons who were killed in alleged shootout with arresting policemen on September 22, 2016 at Sitio Matiway in Bry. San Felipe, here, were identified, as follow: 1) Guilberto Manlangit Jr. y Moll 2) Michael Alexander Imperial y Bufete 3) Celso C. Rosanes Jr. 4) Ronald Esperida y Ipo. Recovered from the four young men were 9 sachets of shabu weighing 4.764 grams, three Cal. 38 pistols, one Cal. 45 pistol, and nineteen live bullets. Two more persons while in possession of three sachets of shabu and a Cal. 28 revolver were also killed on October 13, 2016 in Bgy. Concepcion Pequena. They were identified as follow: are: 1) Romeo Caurel Sr. y Mayao 2) Romeo Saldy Caurel y Tuason a.k.a “Bebe.” Also shot dead by the Naga police was a certain Rafael Peñera y Cerdon of Brgy. Peñafrancia. He died while allegedly in possession of a sachet of dried marijuana leaves.

By Mar S. Arguelles LEGAZPI CITY --- At least four suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels were killed on Monday in an encounter with Army soldiers in Barangay Pangle, a remote village of Aroroy town in Masbate, the Army’s 9th Infantry Division (9thID) spokesperson Capt. Joash Pramis reported. Pramis, quoting an initial report, said that at around 6:30 a.m., a platoon of Army soldiers who were on combat patrol engaged a 20-man group of NPA guerrillas in a 20-minute firefight where four NPA rebels were killed. Pramis said the identities of the slain rebels have yet to be determined as their bodies are still being transported to the town hall for identification and documentation purposes. Recovered from the encounter scene were two M14 rifles, two M16 rifles and an M230 grenade rifle. Army soldiers are still on hot pursuit operation and scouring the neighboring areas where the remaining NPA rebels could have sought refuge.

By Dennis B. Gonzaga A tale of mortality, memory, and transcendence KRISTIAN Sendon Cordero's sophomore film, Hinulid (2016), reminds us of an old Irish saying that goes: “Death leaves a heartache no one can heal. Love leaves a memory no one can steal.” He attempts to craft a film that is an ode to mortality, memory and transcendence. The spine of the narrative is simple enough: Sita Dimaiwat (Nora Aunor), a migrant worker, returns to the Philippines to attend to the remains of her beloved son, Lukas (Jess Mendoza). She takes the train back to her town, carrying the burden of her son's ashes and of the protracted miles bursting with endless cascades of memories. Cordero then deftly wraps this simple narrative with layers after layers of sharp social commentaries, lush metaphors, rustic myths, and deep philosophical and poetic contemplations. He even manages to insert brief torrents of humor in an otherwise poignant cinematic terrain. The film can be daunting to watch and digest because it eschews natural temporal progressions. It dares to exist across all permutations of time and all configurations of space. It invites its audience to inhabit its unique imaginarium with no offer of compromise nor apology. And this is where the film eventually and simultaneously succeeds and slips. To understand and appreciate Hinulid, one must examine it through three different lenses: the personal, the regional, and the cardinal. THE PERSONAL The film is, at its very core, personal. It is a fetish. It is an indulgence. It is a dissertation on one's own path within and beyond the bounds of loss, despair, retribution, and redemption. Hinulid is Cordero at his most insightful and at his most visceral. The film, at times, feels alien to the senses and to the wit because it is an extension of the artist's psyche. It is yet another refrain in the artist's grand opus that seeks to unify various creative mediums and artifacts into one Wagnerian totality. As with Angustia (2013), Cordero presents himself first as a poet, then as a philosopher, and lastly as a filmmaker. At times, he struggles to find balance among these roles. The film bears witness to this internal struggle. There are moments when the film benefits from Cordero's threefold persona. But in equal measure, the struggle translates into visuals in a most distracting manner. Herein lies a dissonance. Hinulid requires—or demands—its audience to forego its own set of prejudices and thoughts and to surrender fully into the continuum of the film's conjectures. But this is not necessarily a flaw or an oversight. Rather, it is a timely rebuke of the ails of culture. It seeks to challenge the unwashed to rise above the economics of cultural mediocrity and to strive for sophistication. Hinulid challenges its audience to gauge the film on its own terms, to see it according to its vision, to understand it within the framework of its own discourse rather than what contemporary culture requires it to be. Still, this laudable attempt is not without its problems. The film is saddled with tirades that may be legitimate commentaries on social realities but which ultimately burden the narrative. There are moments when Hinulid goes into tangential acts which have no clear ties to the core story. There are jabs that would only make sense to an inner circle of acquaintances. A member of the audience even remarked that Hinulid sometimes feels like three separate films squeezed into a two-hour and plus full feature. This remark would have been justifiable since the film actually leans on the symbolism of Christ thrice-interred. But the opportunity is lost because there is a glaring disjoint between and among these meandering themes. THE REGIONAL Hinulid's primary strength is that it is regional cinema through and through. Although the film explores a rather universal subject, it does so in a medium that is unapologetically local. The regional sensibility is not merely confined to the language of the narrative—although this is its most brilliant asset. The emergence of regional cinema has always been stifled by the prevalence and primacy of the metropolitan platform. The economics and politics of cinema has yet to be divorced from centralist geopolitics. One can only cringe at the idea of a regional film being shown in the heartland it represents months after being screened in cinemas in Metro Manila. The stinging irony is that regions must be content to play second fiddle despite being the true cradles of the creative impetus. This is a critical gap since regional cinema must and should be first viewed and reviewed from a regional perspective. Despite the impositions of the politics of cinema, Hinulid still accomplishes its task of being a film of, for, and by Bikol. The terrain is Bikol. More importantly, the characters and the talents portraying them are Bikolanos. As mentioned, language is the film's most valuable asset. Hinulid is a powerful exponent of regional cinema because it respects the language. The actors and actresses speak the language with such care and sincerity. The film mostly prides itself as being the platform where Nora Aunor finally speaks in her own vernacular. But the film's true star is the language itself. The film ultimately sounds genuine to the native speaker. This is a stark improvement from Cordero's debut film, where key characters ultimately soil the material with their lack of capacity to respect the rigors of the language. The emphasis on Bikol—in all its glorious variations and permutations—is indeed a refreshing break from the dismissive and frequently exotic treatment reserved for the tongue of regional films. The commentary is evident: one who crafts a narrative in an indigenous terrain must accept and learn the language—from its overt inflections to its most arcane nuances. The film also avoids the hegemony of the exotic gaze. Cordero presents a terrain of Bikol that is far removed from the postcard scenes that cheapens one's appreciation of the local and the locale. Cordero's Bikol is not draped in the majesty of its firmament-piercing mountains nor its renowned landmarks nor its mascot delicacies. Instead, his Bikol is a decrepit structure, an aged train system that persists through the sylvan countryside like a defiant serpent of myth, a ubiquitous stream running through an equally ubiquitous rice field, and a feeble hanging bridge that would only be familiar to local inhabitants. It is a terrain of Bikol extracted from memory, from ennui, from nostalgia. It is a Bikol that is without a name. But it is still Bikol nonetheless. Hinulid also succeeds in highlighting the talent of the regions. Nora Aunor will always be in her element regardless of the material. But the mostly Bikolano cast were able to hold their own and prove that the region has much to offer in filmcraft. Hinulid is gifted with such fine and raw actors and actresses who shone in whatever limited screen time was afforded to them. This is enough incentive to convince future Bikol filmmakers to pursue their respective projects without the need to settle for the slim pickings offered at the margins of the metropolitan creative landscape. The breakout performances were those of Raffi Banzuela as the old priest, and Jess Volante as the caretaker of the three interred Christs. They essayed their characters with such depth and density that they may have perhaps been the more suitable anchors for the film's grand narrative. On the technical side, Boyet Abrenica deserves acclaim for his visuals and camera work. He manages to capture the film's abstractions with finesse and co ngruence. THE CARDINAL While Hinulid is successful in championing the regional agenda, it has to be measured and reviewed based on what it is: a film. And this is where the contentions arise. Is Hinulid a poem in long form masquerading as a film? Does it triumph in dispensing its essential claims? Cordero's Hinulid, without a doubt, is a leaner, cleaner, and more refined work compared to his debut film. It is evident that the filmmaker has improved upon the inadequacies of his prior project. But it is also evident that some of the mannerisms remain. Again, this is not necessarily an indictment of the artist as poet and filmmaker. The artist must be engaged within the space of his or her material. The artist is entitled to his or her vision and to the procedure by which this is achieved. But the vision and the material must also be tested through the gauntlet of the gaze of the Other since the artist ultimately seeks the cognizance—not necessarily the approval—of an initiated audience. Hinulid carries a beautiful and elegant narrative that remains relevant even if it has become an overused trope. The pain and tragedy of a mother who buries her child resonates across time, space and the cultural sensibilities that divide generations. Hinulid takes us on a journey home. The train ride is protracted. We are drawn into a lonely journey through the evolving layers and shades of night. Like Sita, the film convinces us of the need to delay the journey. This is because the journey only promises an utter finality. Memory sustains us even as we brace for the inevitable advent of Oblivion. Cordero portrays the rickety train rambling through the old tracks as a parallel to the Tandayag who eventually must return back to Earth and into the bosom of its mother. The reunion is difficult and bittersweet as mother and child are separated by the bounds of life and death. But this powerful metaphor is diluted by excess. Cordero incorporates the imagery of the three interred Christs as parallels for the three stages of Lukas's life: that of a young boy, an adolescent, and finally a young adult. Generously interspersed across the narrative are folkloric elements that range from banana trunks as simulacra for the body, and the feared and revered presence of Death itself. Again, the excess is not necessarily a failure. Hinulid is, after all, a portrayal of reality transposed into the realm of the surreal and the abstract. It would be a project of futility if it veered away from the mythical and the mystical. The problem lies in the film's inability to sew these diverse symbolisms into one congruent whole. The film collapses under the sheer weight of metaphors and alliterations that are eventually left unresolved and even dismembered. The film dabbles into commentaries on militarism, violence, and corruption. Understandable and commendable, but unnecessary to the narrative. Cordero's threefold persona hovers heavily over the film, suffocating it at times. The philosopher tries to flesh out in detail elements that would have been better left in ambiguity. The poet attempts to expand and discuss imageries when they are better left to the inadequacies of the senses. The filmmaker tries to placate the philosopher and the poet. As blasphemous as it may seem, Aunor's Sita is irrelevant to the film. This is not a dismissal of Nora Aunor. She still shines despite the stifling limitations imposed on her character. Sita is intended to be a character of restraint and austerity. She speaks little and filters her affectations. But the film fetters her instead of capitalizing on her capacity for restraint. Ultimately, she becomes an unnecessary token. The character of Sita lacks the complexity and the gravitas to anchor the film's burgeoning layers of symbolisms, social commentaries, and philosophical ruminations. The parental narrative would have been more powerful, poignant, and profound had it been shifted from Sita to the old priest. Raffi Banzuela delivers such an inspired performance as the priest whose capacity for faith and devotion is matched by his irreverence, his passion for the stars, and sensitivity to the tales of the folklands. He would have provided the proper fulcrum around which the film's seemingly disjointed articulations could find a singular movement. Where the chemistry between Sita and Lukas appeared mechanical and contrived, the bond between the priest and the boy felt warm, palpable, and genuine. The old priest, in his role as both mortal guardian and the spectral guide, would have been the perfect psychopomp to bring rest and peace to Lukas. His sorrow for the loss of his beloved ward would have echoed the transcendent message o f the film quite well. This was a lost opportunity. The film still manages to end on a high note. The last minute captures and expands upon the themes of mortality, memory and transcendence in such a spectacular fashion. If not for the repetitive and overly indulgent components that weighed down the meat of the narrative, Hinulid would have set a significant standard in regional filmmaking.

TAGBO, the Bikol word for convergence, is the name of this year’s celebration of National Arts Month in Kabikolan. Writers, visual artists, performers, and film makers have converged to celebrate February as Arts month in the cities of Naga, Iriga, Legazpi, and Tabaco. “Malikhain. Mapagbago. Filipino” is this year’s theme as set by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). The first Biladawit in the Rinconada language, a poetry-performance competition for students on the theme “Onra ka Raga” (Pride of Place) was held in Anthosia Rinconada Café last Feb. 12. The month-long “Wild about Flowers” painting exhibit of Bernadette de los Santos is on-going at the Ayala Mall in Legazpi City. “Apulas: Rinconada for Rinconada Artists” featuring Balderas, bidibidi, Osacnab and Peñones may be viewed from Feb. 19 to 23 at SM City Naga. “Kawat,” an ekphrastic activity with poets writing rawitdawit on selected paintings by the Salingoy Art Group, was also held from Feb. 15-17 at the Ateneo de Naga University (AdNU). Jointly sponsored by the Ateneo Visual Arts Committee headed by Dennis Gonzaga, and Salingoy, the activity will be brought to the general public together with an on-the-spot painting activity on Feb. 18 at the Plaza Quince Martires. The AdNU Press will also be selling Bikol books at the plaza on that day. Dain Linaw an Hinaw by Marissa Reorizo Redburn and Girok: Erotika will be launched by Kabulig Bikol, Inc., an organization of Bikol writers, on Feb. 18 and Feb. 25, at The Cheesecake Company on Magsaysay Ave. in Naga City. Sining Banwa will perform during the launch of Hinaw while Vic Nierva’s short film “Sayaw sa Butal” will open the book launch of Girok, when songs and poems will also be performed. Kristian Cordero’s sophomore indie film “Hinulid” starring Nora Aunor and local actors, will be featured at the Bichara Theater on Feb. 18-19. “Dalan,” a revue of selected Bikol short films will also be held at Plaza Rizal from 5-8 p.m. on Feb. 26, sponsored by the Ateneo Literary Association (ALA). Meanwhile, the Raul S. Roco Library in Naga will host HE(ARTS) FOR READING, a storytelling, puppet show, and film showing for elementary school pupils. In Tabaco City, Kirtan meditation, original Bikol music, poetry, and a short play will mark Arts Month on Feb. 25 through the efforts of An Banwa: Kultura buda Arte kan Tabaco (ABKAT) and Haribol Jam. Wrapping it all up will be a lecture and poetry reading on the Pantomina dance form at the AdNU on Feb. 28. Individual artists and arts groups coordinated with the NCCA and the Naga City LGU through the Arts Culture and Tourism Office (ACTO) to provide support for TAGBO. Doods M. Santos

ALARMED by the recent announcement of an all-out war by the Philippine government through Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), New People’s Army (NPA) and National Democratic Front (NDF), following President Rodrigo Duterte’s decision to terminate the formal talks, we, members and allied partners and networks of the All-Out Peace (AOP), urge both the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the CPP/NPA/NDF to instead work towards all –out peace. We urge them to pause and contemplate on the possible repercussion of an all-out war scenario especially on people on the ground, who, for the last five decades, have been at the receiving end of this prolonged armed-conflict. The AOP speaks in behalf of its constituency among the women, children, youth, peace workers, indigenous peoples, even spouses and relatives of soldiers, guerillas and specially those innocent victims caught in the crossfire and the rest of the most vulnerable sectors in times of war. This war, waged in the name of the people, is as vicious as its aftermath. This has to stop. And the people, their future and welfare, must be given premium if we, as one nation, intend to live up to our collective desire to arrest this cycle of senseless wars. The people have had enough. Looking at the cost of war for decades, with previous governments lavishly spending billions of taxes on arms and ammunition instead of allocating the national budget for social services such as health, housing and education, brought us further to exasperation and hopelessness. The continuation of this war is essentially a thievery from and a crime against the people. Any war of attrition such as this five-decade old armed conflict has proven futile and detrimental to the interests and welfare of the people especially to communities. Historically, a military approach has been proven to be ineffective to curb the conflict as it has brought further unrest to peaceful communities, and caused destruction of livelihood and displacement of thousands of families. This has been in fact recognized by this current government thus its initial bold and fresh approach to the process. At this particular juncture, we urge both the GRP and NDF to refrain from throwing accusations against each other and instead maximize the official negotiating table to settle their differences and reaffirm the primacy of the peace process—the peace process that was a byproduct not only of the peace panels’ tedious negotiations but of the people consistently engaging this process for a durable and lasting peace. We urge both sides to stay the course for genuine peace, and towards this direction, we implore both sides to at least re-install their unilateral ceasefires. For us, there are still reasons to be optimistic and recent setbacks are mere challenges that can be surmounted through active dialogue. We likewise appeal to President Rodrigo Duterte to reconsider his decision to terminate the formal talks as this will bring the whole country back to square one. In just a short period, the recent talks had been making significant advances compared to earlier negotiations such as the agreement on free land distribution to landless farmers under Comprehensive Agreement on Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER) which also seeks to address the root causes of conflict; formation of the Bilateral Working Teams of Reciprocal Working Committees (RWCs) in order to accelerate the drafting of CASER; exchange of drafts and initial discussion on Political and Constitutional Reforms; signing of a Supplementary Agreement for the operationalization of the Joint Monitoring Committee for the implementation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL); and agreement of both parties to discuss the government’s proposal for a binding bilateral ceasefire pact on February 22 to 25 in the Netherlands. These remarkable achievements, we at AOP believe, are enough reasons to add our voices to the mounting call for the resumption of peace talks between the GRP and NDF. Terminating the formal talks therefore would only put to waste these substantive gains. Ending the talks will put in jeopardy the “most compelling reason” why peace negotiation must continue—that war can never be a substitute to the people’s yearning for a just and lasting peace. As part of the broader movement for peace in the Philippines, the AOP appeals for sobriety, mutual respect and calmness to the members of the peace panels. We fervently hope that by the time they decide to resume the peace talks, the interest of the people will be the core of their peace table. NO TO ALL-OUT WAR! YES TO ALL-OUT PEACE! All-Out Peace Movement: BALAY Rehabilitation Center (BALAY), Gaston Z. Ortigas Peace Institute (GZO-PI), Generation Peace Youth Network (GenPeace), Center for Peace Education (CPE) - Miriam College, Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID), Mindanao Solidarity Network (MSN), Philippine-Misereor Partnership Inc. (PMPI), Violeta Gloria, PeaceBuilders Community Incorporated, The Center for Legislative Development, Coffee For Peace (CFP), Mindanao Peaceweavers (MPW).

By Soliman M. Santos, Jr. Naga City, 11 February 2017 THE call to resume the peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) is only right and just because their scrapping by President Duterte was premature, even as the NDFP Panel Chief Political Consultant and Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) guru Jose Maria Sison says he understands him. But this call should be accompanied by another call to resume the unilateral interim ceasefires that were also prematurely terminated first by the CPP and New People’s Army (NPA) leadership for the NDFP (not the other way around) and then soon after followed suit by President Duterte for the GRP. This was the casus belli, as it were, or what triggered the downward spiral of this whole peace process. This prematurity we had already discussed last weekend in an article “Urgent Motion for Reconsideration of the Ceasefire Termination,” forgive the court case terminology of a MR. To save and bring the whole peace process back on track should entail, to use court case terms again, a return to the status quo ante -- the situation before the breakdown in the process. That status quo ante was clearly one of peace talks accompanied by unilateral interim ceasefires up to the Rome Talks of last January 19 to 25. The “Joint Statement on the Successful Third Round of Formal Talks between the GRP and NDFP in Rome, Italy” is the best evidence of the prematurity that we are talking about. It is not the interim, repeat interim only, ceasefire that was premature but rather its termination. In the Joint Statement, it was in fact stated particularly that “The Parties note that their unilateral indefinite ceasefires remain in place.” If only the peace process breakdown could be subject to a court injunction (like U.S. President Trump’s travel ban), the injunction would be to restore that status quo ante of unilateral interim ceasefires. This is what would avoid a deterioration of the situation now that the dogs of war on both sides have been unleashed. This is what is needed as “a measure of restraint” (Sison’s words, akin to a court temporary restraining order or TRO) before it is too late -- before there can no longer be any holding back of the fighting which creates its own negative dynamic for the whole process, as experience has shown. Some peace advocates no less, ironically say that “the absence of reciprocal, unilateral ceasefires should not unhinge our efforts for building peace.” But it has unhinged this process under President Duterte, if not himself also. Others say “Keep on talking even when there is fighting. But keep on listening as well.” But that’s very hard “amid the din and drone” of gunfire and explosions, whether from NPA landmines or Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) artillery shelling and aerial bombardment. These disrupt not just listening but the very business of living in the conflict-affected areas of the countryside. Sison et al. cite at least 10 major agreements that have been sealed since the Ramos administration of 1992-98 despite the continued fighting. But only one of those is considered a substantive agreement, the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). That is only the first of four major substantive agenda items under the framework Hague Joint Declaration of 1992. Just one substantive agreement in nearly 25 years or one generation! That is already “untenable,” to use the CPP-NPA’s description of the unilateral interim ceasefires. Compare that to the two years from the 2012 Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro to the 2014 Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro in the peace talks cum ceasefire with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) during the Aquino administration. We have precisely “been there, done that” already with fighting while talking for the most part of several decades of the GRP-NDFP peace process since 1992, more so if we count from the first round in 1986-87. It’s about time that we try talking and listening without fighting where the latter is understood to be for a reasonable interim period only of an estimated (by the CPP leadership and the NDFP Panel) two years or so to possibly work out comprehensive agreements on socio-economic and politico-constitutional reforms. The Rome Joint Statement indicated fair, if not good, advances on this. Indeed, as an NDFP partisan said, “the aim of the talks is not just to end the fighting but also to address the roots of the armed conflict.” But in the meantime, for a reasonable period, can the fighting (just this, not other forms of struggle) not be put on hold as a “specific measure of goodwill and confidence-building to create a favorable climate for peace negotiations”? This is not yet for the “end of hostilit ies and disposition of forces.” A mere interim ceasefire in this context is not “tantamount to the capitulation and pacification of the revolutionary people and forces.” AND at the end of that reasonable period, IF good faith negotiations still fail to achieve substantive reform agreements, THEN a return to armed struggle would be understandable or even justified, depending also on the circumstances. It is fair, not only by the GRP but also by all peace-loving Filipinos, to raise a privileged question of sincerity about talking peace while fighting a war. As we had written a number of years back, why continue to fight a war if the peace talks are “successful” so far, especially in working towards comprehensive agreements on substantive reforms to address the roots of the armed conflict? Why suffer the loss of precious lives, including of thy comrades, in the meantime if these are going to be achieved? Or does the desire to continue armed struggle indicate an expectation or worse, an intention, that the peace talks will ultimately fail? By the CPP-NPA’s termination of its unilateral interim ceasefire (followed suit by the GRP), it has in effect (or as intended?) preempted an interim bilateral ceasefire already scheduled for another meeting of the two ceasefire committees. One relevant simple question that nobody seems to be asking is: are both sides willing to reinstate the prematurely terminated unilateral ceasefires as an important “compelling reason,” or “key link,” or key gesture (as far as President Duterte is concerned), to reverse the premature announcement of an “all-out war” and the premature scrapping of the peace talks? The simple proposition is that it is only right and that all that have been prematurely done should be undone before it can no longer be undone. ------------------------- SOLIMAN M. SANTOS, JR. is presently a Judge of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Naga City, Camarines Sur. He is a long-time human rights and IHL lawyer; legislative consultant and legal scholar; peace advocate, researcher and writer, whose initial engagement with the peace process was with the first GRP-NDFP nationwide ceasefire in 1986, particularly in his home region of Bicol, a long-time rural hotbed of the communist-led insurgency. He is the author of a number of books on Philippine peace processes, including his latest How do you solve a problem like the GPH-NDFP peace process? (Siem Reap, Cambodia: The Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, 2016).