A glimmer of hope amid the gloomy news

There’s no gainsaying that the summer skirmish between the mainstream CPP/New People’s Army and the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-ABB in Saston, Negros Oriental, is big news. Seven insurgents were reportedly killed, and another from the ranks of the "splitists."

Then, there was the cassava cake tragedy in Mabini, Bohol, that killed 27 schoolchildren. The President herself declared a state of calamity in Mabini. Toxicologists and relief workers also flew to Mabini to look into the situation.

There was actually a spate of bad news, including the slaying of more Abu Sayyaf members in Mindanao. But amid all the depressing stories, there was something that gave us a breather — the prospect of more investments and more job openings.

Yesterday, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo enthusiastically lauded the officials of SPI Technologies Inc. in Dumaguete City and their decision to undertake a P3-billion expansion program in Central Visayas.

The President also visited the 60-seat medical transcription facility of Entheos IT Inc. at the Sinco IT building inside the Foundation University campus, the first of its kind in Central Visayas.

Two other IT centers in Bohol — the Ranturan Foundation and John Clements Consultants Inc. — have embarked on a program for teacher-trainors in Bacolod to train international call center applicants to achieve proficiency in conversational English.

SPI Technologies executive Ian Bellord said the international journal and book publishing services company is aggressively pursuing its P3-billion expansion program in the Philippines.

The Metro Dumaguete facility is SPI’s delivery center for publishing services and one of the outsourcing business firms in Central Visayas. SPI intends to expand its capacity to meet the increasing demand of US healthcare providers for medical transcription services.

SPI will also launch its second major medical transcription center at the Asiatown IT Park in Lahug, Cebu. It is projected to employ about 500 employees.

SPI provides outsourcing solutions to support customers in the management of large-scale, complex content areas such as financial and transactional business process, litigation support, electronic data recovery, editorial and content production, health care documentation and enterprise content lifestyle management.

SPI Publisher Service has 114 staffers at present, which will be increased to about 250 by the end of the year.

As pointed out by John Clements, there is also a need for thousands of manpower proficient in conversational English for IT centers and other outsourcing firms in Manila.

Summer Offensive

It was not the summer preemptive offensive of the government against communist insurgents but an encounter between RPA-ABB rebels who overran a camp of the CPP/NPA in Siaton town of Negros Oriental.

The encounter, which took place in Barangay Mantiki, Siaton, resulted in the discovery yesterday of two more NPA fatalities, which brought to seven the number of slain NPA rebels, according to RPA-ABB leader Lualhati Carapali.

A surprising development was the report from Caparali that elements of the 61st Infantry Battalion have joined the RPA-ABB group of Rey Mallari in pursuing the NPA rebels.

Siaton is near Dumaguete City. Thus, the RPA-ABB patrol was reportedly ensuring the security of President Arroyo.

The group chanced upon the NPA camp with about 40 NPA armed partisans, purportedly the security group of renegade priest Frank Fernandez.

Earlier, Lt. Col. Rey Guerrero, 61st Infantry Battalion commander, had reported the landing in Negros Oriental of NPA reinforcements from other Visayan islands.

He said the group which clashed with the RPA-ABB was headed by Raul Villar, alias Ka Drilon, who has warrants for robbery with homicide.

Visayas Daily STAR’s Gilbert Bayoran reported to Negros Oriental Gov. George Arnaiz that NPA rebels had demanded money from a bulldozer operator in the barangay, which led to the suspension of the road project.

Caparali reported that the RPA contingent managed to recover a generator set, computer diskettes and assorted subversive documents from the NFA camp.

El Niño’s Impact

There’s no more proof of El Nino’s presence than the decision of the Metro Iloilo Water District to ration water to its consumers, following the drop in the water level of the Tigum River, its main water source.

MIWD general manager Jaime Jalbuena was quoted by local mediamen as saying that the Tigum River’s water has dropped to its lowest level ever.

The water level now is even below the previous record low of 93.66 meters recorded in April 2003 and it is not yet the peak of the dry season.

Starting yesterday, water supply was rationed in the towns of Maasin, Sta. Barbara, Pavia and Cabatuan and parts of Iloilo City.

The MIWD also plans to launch a cloud-seeding operation to offset the effects of the El Niño.

In Negros Occidental, however, while deferring temporarily the cloud-seeding operation, Gov. Joseph Marañon did not object to the National Irrigation Administration’s plan to repair and rehabilitate the Bago River Irrigation Project starting March 16.

Army Man Linked To Slay

Law enforcement officers found themselves in more negative situations.

The latest was the implication of a Philippine Army detachment commander in the assassination of former Cadiz City barangay captain Rodolfo Javia.

Superintendent Edgardo Ordaniel, Camiz City police chief, said an arrested 17-year-old brought an ice bucket containing the firearm used in shooting Javier. This was recovered by the police at the crime scene.

The suspect linked the enlisted man to the Javier killing.

Javier, 50, was about to board his jeep after Mass at the Caduhaan Catholic Church when he was gunned down by two unidentified gunmen.

The killing was reportedly triggered by the alleged maltreatment of an hacienda overseer by the victim over a property dispute.

In a related development, a former member of the Civilian Armed Forces Geographic Unit (CAFGU) and his son were meted 12-year prison terms by the Kabankalan Regional Trial Court for killing a rebel returnee in Cauayan town in southern Negros 10 years ago.

RTC Judge Henry Arles found CAFGU Jovito Alegado, 65, and his son, Jose, 43, guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the killing of Roger Campos, 34.

The court said Campos was drinking tuba, with three other people in Barangay Tuyon, Cauayan town, when Jovito, armed with a Garand rifle, and Jose, armed with a knife, arrived and shouted at Arturo Gozon to come down.

Campos intervened and tried to pacify his "relative." While Campos was boxed and stabbed by Jose, the former pointed out that he had surrendered a long time ago.

Jovito then held his rifle and the two grappled for it. Jovito, however, managed to retain his hold on the gun and fired at the victim, hitting him in the forehead.

Well, that puts a sampler on the attempts of lawmen to project themselves as protectors of the public.