Predominantly muslim barangays in Zambo want to be part of Bangsa Moro

Barangay officials of two pre-dominantly Muslim communities in Zamboanga City were questioned by members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod over their respective resolutions petitioning for their inclusion in the soon to be Bangsamoro Autonomous Region (BAR).

In the resolutions of Barangays Busay and Landang Gua in Sacol Island, which lies a few kilometers from the eastern coast of the city, majority of the two villages’ officials purportedly ask the Commission on Elections to include their barangays in the coming January 2019 plebiscite to ratify the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL).

Their separate resolution has been filed with the central office of Comelec recently.

The petitions immediately raised hackles of city residents because in three previous plebiscites, they overwhelmingly rejected inclusion in the Muslim autonomous government, and their general sentiments remain unchanged despite the passage of the new BOL that would transform and enlarge the present Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) into the new BAR.

During the city council hearing held on Nov. 19, Antonio Abdullah, barangay chairman of Busay, denied that he and his seven councilors held a session last October 21, during which they approved the purported resolution.

He and his councilmen added that their signatures in the document were forged.
On the other hand, the councilors of Landang Gua admitted that they affixed their signatures on the resolution when it was passed around.

They were, however, told that the document was a petition for the construction of a water system and solar panels in their island barangay.

During the public hearing, one of the barangay officials lamented that their island is underserved in terms of these basic utilities.

While village officials of Busay admitted to be clueless where the resolution attributed to them originated, the officials of Landang Gua said a certain Usman Isnani masterminded their questionable petition.

Isnani, who was present in the hearing, said he acted on behalf of his brother Ben, who was declared winner of last year’s barangay elections by Comelec by virtue of an election protest he had filed against the proclaimed winner Banjamin Abdullah, who currently holds the office.

However, the latter in turn filed an appeal to the Comelec and no final resolution has been issued.
Under the BOL, local political units contiguous to any of its enumerated territories may appeal to join the BAR through participation in the January plebiscite.

BOL’s Article III, Section 2 (f) states: “All other contiguous areas where a resolution of the local government unit or a petition of at least ten percent (10%) of the registered voters in the area seeks for their inclusion at least two (2) months prior to the conduct of the ratification of this Organic Law. . . 
The establishment of the territorial jurisdiction of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region shall take effect upon ratification of this Organic Law by majority of the votes cast in the above- mentioned territorial jurisdiction in a plebiscite conducted for the purpose: Provided, That in all cases, the political units directly affected shall vote favorably in the plebiscite, as provided in Section 3, Article XV of this Organic Law.”

Article XV, Section 3 (f) states: “Any other contiguous area where there is a resolution of the local government unit or a petition of at least ten percent (10%) of the registered voters in the local government unit asking for its inclusion at least two (2) months prior to the conduct of the ratification of this Organic Law shall form part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region if the majority of the votes cast in the political units directly affected shall be in favor of the inclusion of the petitioning local government unit in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.”

There is, however, no definition in the BOL itself what consists a contiguous area, although there are offshore measurements of its territorial waters.

The Sangguniang investigative public hearing was conducted by the Committee on Ordinance chaired by Councilor Cesar Jimenez.

Forged documents
Towards the end of the four-hour session, he warned that those found responsible for forging the resolutions could face criminal charges like falsification of public documents.

When the report of the hearing is accomplished, the SP will seek the aid of the city government’s legal office for such action, he said.

After learning about the existence of the barangays’ resolutions, the city hall issued a statement stating that Mayor Beng Climaco “calls on all Zamboanguenos- Christians, Muslims or Lumads - to stand united and strongly oppose any move to dismember the territorial integrity of the city.”

"Zamboanga City should never form part nor be included in the Bangsamoro, now or ever,” she said in the statement.

Councilor Jihan Edding said she believes the resolutions will not prosper in the Comelec because of their infirmities and lack of supporting documentary requirements like an SP resolution attesting them.
 
Zamboanga City District I Rep. Celso Lobregat, a member of the Congressional bicameral committee that gave the BOL its final form and enactment approval, warned that if Comelec will act favorably on the barangays’ resolutions, then Zamboanga City will be included in the January plebiscite to ratify the BOL despite that the law excluded the city from its specified mandated territory.

The controversial resolutions, however, seem to indicate that some Muslim residents of the city aspire to become constituents of BAR. 

Source of news and photo credit: Philippine News Agency

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Ex-barangay chief, now kagawad, cleared of carnapping case

The Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) had cleared former Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman of the carnapping case filed by then acting mayor Margarita Osmeña in 2016.

In his decision, MTCC Judge Oscar Andrino said there was no sufficient evidence to convict Ayuman, who later won as barangay councilor of Barangay Apas in the last elections.

“Premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered, finding the accused, Ramil V. Ayuman, not guilty of the crime of violation of Art. 221, paragraph 2, of the Revised Penal Code for failure of the prosecution to prove the guilt of said accused beyond reasonable doubt,” a portion of the ruling read.

Ayuman and his lawyers welcomed the decision. He is the second barangay captain next to Aana Tabal of Barangay Tagba-o who the MTCC cleared for lack of evidence.

“I thank the court for the favorable decision, although I expected that the decision would be like this since there was no malice involved in the first place,” said Ayuman on the delayed return of the vehicle to City Hall in May 2016.

Ayuman, who is running for Cebu City Councilor in next year’s elections, hopes the court will also resolve his case against Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña who allegedly used the Dodge car a businessman donated to the City.

 My message to Mayor Tommy and Margot, to the Ombudsman and the Office of the President is for them to hasten the resolution on the Dodge Charger which was a clear violation since the mayor accepted it from the businessman,” said Ayuman.

Osmeña’s case against Ayuman stemmed from the latter’s delay in returning the City’s vehicle on May 24, 2016, when the Department of General Services had an inventory of all City Government vehicles.

Ayuman returned the vehicle on May 31, 2016 after he received the memorandum the mayor sent.

In March 2017, the fiscal filed the case at the MTCC and Ayuman pleaded not guilty on April 27, 2017.

Source of news: SunStar Cebu
Photo credit:  Philippine Star

Maasin City Barangay Information Officers attend writing workshop

Designated information officers in their respective barangays gathered on Nov. 15 for a communicators writeshop/training under the E-Power Mo campaign of the Department of Energy (DOE).

The city has 70 barangays, and each barangay sent a kagawad or the punong barangay himself to be the barangay information officer (BIO), while some personnel for city offices were also present to represent their heads.

Invited speakers were from the Southern Leyte Electric Cooperative (SOLECO) who were tapped in behalf of the DOE.

In the morning, several topics were thoroughly discussed by the SOLECO personnel, including power-saving tips, know your cooperative, and patronage credit, among others, while some technical matters were also raised during the open forum.

BIOs then went on a writeshop in the afternoon, so they can practice writing news stories about developments that happened in their barangays, or from the topics Soleco personnel earlier discussed.

This was the second gathering of information officers of the city, the first was last month, in which they were taught on writing a one-sentence news lead.

This time they were taught basic tips other than lead sentence or paragraph, such as the support lead, details, and backgrounder, to complete a five or six-sentence news story, in a one sentence, one paragraph format.  (Marcelo M. Pedalino)

Source of news and photo: Philippine Information Agency. 

Barangay Malacañang saved from flooding by flood-control technology

 

Barangay Malacañang is a coastal barangay of the town of Culasi in Antique.

A P7-million sub-project funded by the government’s “Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan: Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi: CIDSS)” implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) saved residents of Barangay Malacañang from flooding every time heavy rains occur.

Residents were able to come up with a Gabion-type flood control project that secures them from the damaging flood. Culasi’s flood control retaining wall is made of big rocks stocked together in mesh wire frames.

(Most Gabion walls can be built without a concrete foundation.  However some supported walls and special engineer-designed walls may require a concrete foundation. Ed.)


Punong Barangay Romeo B. Olave said the flooding that occurs even without typhoons has a damaging impact on the livelihood and even lives of residents.


“Every time it rains, the water overflows from Bacong River and meets with the water coming from the sea,” he said in an interview on Friday.


Bacong River is the biggest river in Culasi. It serves as catch basin of water coming from Mt. Madia-as, a rainforest, he explained.


The constant flooding leads to landslide that in turn damages the produce of farmers, worst leads to the death of children.
“Eighty percent of the barangay are submerged in water,” he said, adding that 70 percent of their 364 households are always affected.


The completion of the Gabion-type flood control project allows residents to go back to their usual farming activities. The barangay households also increased to 468.

“They started to plant rootcrops because they are no longer afraid that it will be washed out by the flood,” he said.
 
The first phase of the project, with a length of 102 lineal meters, was implemented through the Kalahi Millennium Challenge Corporation and was completed in January 2015.
The second phase was completed on Aug. 16, 2017 under the Kalahi National Community-Driven Development Project cycle 2 with a length of 300 lineal meters.
 
The first phase amounted to PHP2 million while the second one was PHP5 million.


Meantime, to sustain the project, the barangay has approved guidelines mandating quarry operators to plant trees beside the Gabion wall. The barangay captain said based on the guidelines, application for permit to quarry will only be approved by the provincial government after the applicant has planted the required number of trees.


“There is a ratio as to the number of trees each quarry operator must plant, depending on the volume of quarry. Without my approval they could not quarry in our barangay,” he said.


Olave is one of the six nominees for the “Bayani Ka! Awards” under the environment protection category. It is an annual recognition given by the DSWD Kalahi: CIDSS to exemplary communities and partners in implementing and promoting the community-driven development approach. 

Source of news:  Philippine News Agency. 
In photo:  Antique's Malacañang Punong Barangay Romeo B. Olave says the Kalahi:CIDSS P7 million subproject protects his constituents from flooding. (Photo by Perla Lena); Gabion-type flood control wall: ianritchiearchitects.co.uk