All eyes focused on oil retrieval

It’s not only the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that is focused on the retrieval of oil from the sunken Solar I along Guimaras Strait. Negrenses are also very much interested in the retrieval operations.

Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Maranon boarded the Allied Shield Saturday for a briefing on the retrieval operations. Mark Phibbs, who heads the Sonsub, which leased Allied Shield to the oil insurance firm, handled the briefing.

Phibbs assured the Negros Occidental governor that measures are in place to prevent possible spill from reaching the Negros Occidental shoreline.

Sonsub was contracted by the Protection and Indemnity Club, the insurer of Solar I. The retrieval operation is reportedly going to cost an estimated $6 million or about P10 million daily. According to Joe Nicholas, IOPC Fund deputy director, the operation is supposed to last 20 to 25 days.

Sunday, the Allied Shield shipped out from the BREDCO international port in Bacolod to Guimaras to start work on extracting the estimated 900,000 liters of oil in Solar I.

DENR Regional Director Lormelyn Claudio said the agency had required an Environment Compliance Certificate from Allied Shield. A defense line had been set up in anticipation of an oil leak into the sea. The Philippine Coast Guard had also set up a second line of defense consisting of oil booms, while a third line was set up by Guimaras barangays.

The DENR has mobilized four teams for the recovery operations, according to Livino Duran, Negros Occidental Provincial Environment and Natural Resources officer.

Meanwhile, Phibbs said all risks are being anticipated and the Sonsub has set up a contingency plan to ensure a fail-safe operation.

The Allied Shield crew will operate 24 hours a day, seven days week. That is why they estimate that they could wind up their project in 20 to 25 days, according to Phibbs.

A team from the Allied Shield will recover the off loaded oil when these are taken to the Bacolod BREDCO Port. The DENR will monitor the volume of recovered oil and adopt safety precautions to prevent any mishap.

Petron reportedly spent P300 million to clean up the oil spill in Guimaras when Solar I sank off Guimaras Strait between Negros Occidental’s southern part and the island-province seven months ago. The company has also reportedly distributed millions more to livelihood claimants, most of whom were fisherfolk who lost their livelihood when the fishing grounds were polluted by the oil leak.

Killings continue

The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse wielded its scythe once more during the weekend. And two men, one of them a dismissed militiaman, allegedly involved in a series of robbery incidents, were killed in a gunbattle with soldiers in Barangay Minapasok, Calatrava.

The Calatrava incident occurred just a few days after the ambush-slay of a barangay captain and six other civilians in La Libertad, Oriental Negros, last Friday.

The Calatrava fatalities were identified as former CAFGU member Norberto Gallego, 41, and his nephew, Crisanto Gallego, 36.

A civilian, Anthony Casipong, was hit by a stray bullet on his left foot.

The Bug-ang and Marcelo detachments were dispatched to Minapasok following complaints about the presence of armed men, including one of the 10 most wanted persons in the country.

Superintendent Edgardo Ordaniel, of the 611 Provincial Mobile Group, said the two Gallegos were drinking when the military men were met by gunfire, which originated from several houses and the two Gallegos reportedly traded shots with the government forces.

Soldiers turned over to the police a caliber .38 revolver taken from Norberto.

Crisanto was recovered during early Saturday morning in a forested area of the barangay. But his caliber .45 pistol was missing, according to Lt. Col. Felicisimo Budiongan, Task Force Group North chief.

Ordaniel said police are still checking if Crisanto is the the same person as ‘Amay Gallego’ who has a pending arrest warrant for murder issued by the La Carlota Regional Court. The warrant was for the fatal shooting of a policemen two years ago.

Crisanto reportedly has a P300,000 reward on his head if he is really Amay Gallego.

Norberto, according to Ordaniel, was dismissed as a CAFGU member of the Marcelo detachment for his alleged involvement in holdup activities in the barangay as well as in nearby Minapasok.

Meanwhile, La Libertad Mayor Josie Limkaichiong concluded that the slaying of Awa Barangay Captain Lydio Baylon and six other civilians was politically motivated. Baylon, she claimed, was among her staunch supporters.

This was disputed by Brig. Gen. Gregorio Fajarao, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, who said the Oriental Negros police suspected that the perpetrators of the ambush were members of the New People’s Army (NPA).

Fajardo admitted that Baylon was an active supporter of the military in Barangay Awa. He credited him for preventing the entry of insurgents into their village.

Limkaichiong told Bombo Radyo that she may run for Congress against Olive Paras, the wife of first district Rep. Nacinto Paras.

Paras, on the other hand, simply stressed: "Let’s wait for the findings of the police and the military to bring the perpetrators to justice."

The ambushers reportedly wore fatigue uniforms and opened fire on the government truck carrying the Awa residents to the town proper, 40 kilometers away.

Also killed in the ambush were forest guard Rudy Maximlom, Dionald Bastillano and four hitchhikers.

Baylon, according to Lt. Col. Norman Flores, was reportedly a former militiamen who had organized the Barangay Self-defense Force in the upland barangay of La Libertad, 108 kilometers north of Dumaguete City.

Eddie Dava, an Isabela, Negros Occidental resident, said he was interrogated by the rebels about Baylon when he narrowly escaped an attempt to liquidate him last Feb. 11.

Bacolod councilors given awards

Bacolod City’s councilors showed their mettle recently when three of them were voted among the top 20 Outstanding Councilors of the Philippines at the national assembly of the Philippine Councilors League at the Cebu International Convention Center.

Of the top 10, Lyndon Cana of Bacolod City, together with three councilors from Quezon City, and one each from Benguet, Bulacan, Iloilo, Southern Leyte, Mandaluyong and Cebu were chosen.

But the top 10 included two more from Negros. These were Bacolod City majority floor leader Ana Marie Palermo, and Jocelle Batapa-Segue.

Caña, chairman of the committee on environment and ecology and trade, is running as an dependent for the vice mayoralty of Bacolod. He has the most number of local ordinances, most of which have far-reaching impact on local residents.

The TOCP awards were given by the Junior Chamber International Philippines. This was done in collaboration with the Philippine Councilors League and the Office of Senator Edgardo Angara.

Only 85 of the 13,124 councilors in the country were initially nominated and were screened after the list was narrowed down to 200.

The panel, composed of six judges, was chaired by Dr. Melwida Guevarra, chairman of the Galing Pook Award Foundation. The other members included Sen. Angara, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Archbishop Deogracia Yniguez of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Bulacan Gov. Josefina de la Cruz, and Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo.

For the time being, politics took a back seat in the local media. But one can’t help notice that the Court of Appeals recently upheld the exclusion Iloilo Provincial Administrator Manuel Mejorada from the list of voters of Barangay Amparo in Iloilo province.

The CA upheld the MTC and the Regional Trail Court decision to delete Mejorada’s name from Precinct No. 0036-A of Barangay Amparo.

Mejorada, the lower courts ruled, had failed to comply with the six months residency requirement specified under Republic Act 8189.

The CA upheld the findings by the lower court that Mejorada was actually residing in Lopez Jaena, Jaro district, where his wife and children also reside.

TESDA Director-General Augusto Syjuco lodged the exclusion case against Mejorada last July 24.

Mejorada is reportedly elevating his case to the Supreme Court.

Incidentally, the Iloilo provincial administrator had hinted that he may take on Syjuco in the present elections. The post is currently occupied by Syjuco’s wife, Rep. Judith Syjuco (2nd district, Iloilo).