Sports complex to cover up Taytay dumpsite begins construction in Dec.

by MAIQUI ROME FRANCIS M. STA. ANA
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program



TAYTAY, RIZAL—A PhP150 million sports complex, set to rise on top of this municipality’s dumpsite that’s near the Laguna Lake, will begin construction this December.
This is even if the complex, to set foot at a 12-ha. controlled disposal facility (CDF) in Brgy. Muzon, threatens to pollute the lake, according to some non-government organizations.
Municipal officials have said that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Rizal has already approved the construction project.
Councilor Chito Esguerra said the controlled disposal facility in Muzon “had already been rehabilitated. The area for the sports complex would be examined by engineers and should satisfy the requirements of engineering before the building is constructed.”
Other possible locations within Taytay have been considered for the sports complex, but it will cost a lot more money to acquire new land.
“I would prefer that the sports complex be constructed at the area of Ortigas in Brgy. San Isidro. But the problem is that it would cost Taytay a huge amount to buy, pay or acquire the lot which would cost another PhP150 million,” Esguerra added.
However, the dumpsite remains operational even if Memorandum-2008-432 issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources already notified the Taytay government to fix the problem,
A year after NGOs Greenpeace-Southeast Asia and EcoWaste Coalition barricaded the CDF, garbage trucks and trucks carrying soil were spotted entering the gates of the controlled dump.
Greenpeace and EcoWaste staged another barricade last August 28.
Taytay is among 931 local government units, including the city of Antipolo and the municipalities of San Mateo and Tanay, warned by DENR for operating open dumpsites and allegedly violating Section 37 of RA 9003.
According to Republic Act 9003 (or the Ecological and Solid Waste Management Act), an open dumpsite that was identified must be converted into a controlled disposal facility, which refers to a disposal site where solid waste is deposited in accordance with minimum prescribed operations of the said site.
Greenpeace-Southeast Asia Toxics Campaigner Ira Beau Baconguis wrote a letter to Taytay Mayor George Ricardo Gacula II last year saying that the CDF in Brgy. Muzon brings about hazardous health risks especially since it is near the Laguna Lake.
Greenpeace explained that mixed wastes already in the dump be left in the pit and simply covered with soil, as this would allow “the continuous leaching out of a toxic cocktail of chemicals into the water and release of dangerous gases from the dump”.
“That was the plan. We told them they have to excavate the waste. The dangers remain. The pollution will continue. Even a dumpsite should not be found anywhere near a body of water,” Baconguis said recently.
The Laguna Lake is also a major source of food and drinking water. Baconguis also added that reports from fishermen in some areas near the lake confirmed that the decrease in the number of fish catch per day is caused by the pollution of the lake.
Gacula, in his reply to the NGOs last year, pledged that the municipal government will adopt “stringent procedures” in closing the dumpsite.
The planned sports complex is part of the municipal government’s infrastructure projects that are planned to cover up the mountain of garbage.
Meanwhile, besides the sports complex, Taytay Councilor Archie Calderon bared that there are other projects proposed within the 12-hectare dumpsite, including a convention center, a high school, a municipal cemetery, and a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).
Calderon said that the MRF will serve as a recycling facility for mixed solid wastes.
“The MRF is where all the garbage will be contained in a single facility and then grinded and turned into hollow blocks that can be used for other construction projects,” Calderon said in Filipino.
This first-class municipality that is home to 262,485 residents is found east of Pasig City (in Metro Manila) and north of Laguna Lake.
The Taytay and Panghulo rivers, as well as the Napindan Channel —all of whose waterways go to the Laguna Lake, are also found in the municipality.



Maiqui Rome Francis M. Sta. Ana, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for his Newspaper Practice and Management class.

Roof sealant is new ‘addiction’ in Muntinlupa City

by ADRIAN STEWART T. CO
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program



MUNTINLUPA CITY—THE sealant “Vulca Seal” is used to plug the leaks on roofs, but it is now the new addiction of vagrants here.
While undertaking his job as a jeepney barker along at a street in Alabang, 46-year-old “Danny” snuffled a plastic with a patch of Vulca Seal. “This is our new substitute for rugby,” he said.
He admitted that almost all of what he earned, out of barkering for passenger at PhP5 per filled jeepney, were spent to this vice.
Another Vulca Seal addict revealed that authorities in the city are tending this problem with soft hands.
“They will just bring us to the precinct and ask us for their pang-yosi (cigarette money). Later on, we are already set free,” said 10-year-old “Rico”.
Rugby is a substance known for repairing shoes and fixing floor vinyl. It causes a person’s brain to dry up, making one feel uneasy and unsteady.
Rugby addiction stopped after rugby manufacturers integrated at least give percent mustard oil, an additive that has made rugby unattractive to sniffing addicts due to its dizzying smell. This led to the shift to Vulca Seal.
“Nakakahilo kasi yung amoy noong bawang kaya ayaw na naming ng rugby kahit na mas sulit yon (The garlic scent makes us feel shaky, that is why we are not buying rugby anymore even if it is cheaper),” Danny said.
A gin-size bottle of rugby costs Php65, while a sealant placed on a tetra-pack is worth PhP45.
However, Danny said that they are not getting daily rations of Vulca Seal here; instead they buy it in volumes outside of Muntinlupa City.
This is because hardware stores in the city disallow people from easily purchasing Vulca Seal and rugby.
“Our store’s management ordered us to scrutinize the consumers buying rugby and sealants. If we find them to be confusing, we immediately say that we ran out of stack,” said Christian Ramos, a sales clerk from one of the hardware stores here.
“They (addicts) are easy to distinguish, so even if they say they are not addicts, we disallow them from purchasing Vulca Seal,” said Pacheco Partosa, son of the owner of a general merchandize store here.
Some people even think that some addicts steal goods from market stalls and sell these at a lower price to buy rugby and sealant.
“They will filch anything they see that can be a source of income for them to buy their rugby and sealants,” says Arnel Cueto, a concerned citizen here.
However, he said that not all addicts are pilfering just to buy for their vices; some are like “Danny” who works hard to purchase it.
Muntinlupa City won a Galing Pook Award in 2003 for the work of the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Office (DAPCO) that does surveillance and drug buy-bust operations.
The city even has its own drug-testing laboratory that can screen for the use of marijuana, shabu, and ecstacy, while the local government also operates a Muntinlupa Renewal Home to rehabilitate drug dependents. Muntinlupa also has Barangay Anti-Drug Abuse Councils (BADACs), as well as a text hotline.
But a staff of DAPCO who refuses to be identified said that while there is no specific ordinance against Vulca Seal and rugby use, both substances are technically covered by the city’s anti-drug laws.


Adrian Stewart Co, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for his Newspaper Practice and Management class.

Dogs, cats get enlisted in Marikina City

by MARIE ANGELINE M. PAGULAYAN
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program



MARIKINA CITY—A 69-year old woman walked her way to Tañong Barangay Hall in Marikina City not to secure a cedula or barangay clearance, but to enlist her eright-year old brown mongrel for the annual city-wide dog and cat registration.
“If the dogs are safe, people are also safe,” said Vivian Crudo, as she registered her dog, Queenie Thursday morning.
The pet registration around the 15 barangays in Marikina is part of the city’s campaign to control rabies and to promote responsible pet ownership.
Dr. Manuel Carlos, chief of the City Veterinary Services Office (CVSO) said that the registration is being done to avoid diseases coming from these animals, such as rabies.
For a pet to be registered, the owner should fill-out first an application form from CVSO or from their respective barangay halls. The owners of these pets are also required to submit a 2x2 photo together with a 3R whole body, side view photo of their cat or dog.
“Some pet owners seem to ‘laugh’ at the 3R photo requirement. But in legal matters, it’s very important,” Carlos said.
Upon registration, the pet is given a dog tag and a free anti-rabies vaccine. If the pet has been vaccinated already by a private veterinarian, the owner is required to present a proof or certificate of anti-rabies vaccination.
On the other hand, those who are for renewal should present the old registration paper or dog tag, and duly accomplished application form. Both new applicants and for renewal pay a registration fee of P75.
As stipulated in City Ordinance no. 62, enacted in 2007, failure to register the dog or cat will cost the owner as much as P2,000 while another P2,000 for non-vaccination of anti-rabies.
“(Registration) is an obligation for us pet owners,” said Joselito Fabros, 51, who registered his four-year old golden brown mongrel, Chloe, for the first time since they’ve just moved in the city recently.
Despite fortifying the campaign for a rabies-free community, Carlos admitted that they cannot guarantee that all of Marikina City’s pet owners will comply with this ordinance.
“Though we give house-to-house notice to the residents every first quarter of the year, some of them might even hide their dog from us,” he said.
Carlos added that lack of time, and even laziness from a few number of pet owners, are some of the reasons why not all cats and dogs in Marikina are not fully registered.
In 2009, a total of 7,357 pets, with only 27 cats, are registered in Marikina while the number of pets vaccinated reached 5,346 (with only eight of those being cats) Barangay Conception 1 yielded the highest number of registered cats and dogs with 1,049, with 768 of them vaccinated.
As of July 2010, CVSO recorded 5,641 registered pets (no breakdown by dogs and cats is available).
Crudo and her dog were not new in the pet registration process. In fact, it was Queenie’s eighth renewal for this year, for he has been a registered dog since 2003. “Queenie is a registered dog since 2003,” she said.
The annual pet registration in Marikina City was first implemented in August 2003 under the City Ordinance No. 67 (enacted in 2003), which was amended in 2007 as City Ordinance No. 62.
For this year, the city-wide registration runs from August to September. After the two-month period, the registration will be continued at CVSO.
The Anti-Rabies Act of 2007, or Republic Act 9482, referred to rabies as a “highly-fatal disease cause by a lyssa virus”. This virus is transmitted mainly through the bite of an infected animal, and it leads bitten human victims to suffer from muscle paralysis, hydrophobia, aerophobia, and other neurological manifestations.
Veterinary experts said that rabies in cats is twice as common as in dogs.
While there is a vaccine for rabies, there is no treatment for the disease, says Ameircan veterinarian Dr. Ron Hines in a website link, and once the disease seeps into the brain death is inevitable.



Marie Angeline Pagulayan, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for her Newspaper Practice and Management class.

Virus slays 7 dogs in just a month in QC village

by DAISY JANE T. SANDE
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program



QUEZON CITY—DOG owners here are becoming extra-conscious of their pet dogs after a deadly virus killed seven canines consecutively at Hobart Village in Novaliches.
Momoy Marzan, who already lost two three-month-old puppies from the canine parvovirus, has been applying a parvocidal disinfectant, Vikron S.
Karlene Contado, former owner of a five-year-old mixed-breed of an American bulldog and a Dashcund named Riyouchi, uses bleach since it is affordable.
Marzan’s and Contado’s dogs were among those who died one after the other last June with the canine parvovirus virus (scientific code: CPV2).
A symptom of the virus is blood that can be seen in these dogs’ feces, like those in Marzans’ two puppies.
“They (Marzan’s puppies) are living normally until one day, they had bloody feces and then died immediately,” he said.
It was said that Mang Momoy’s two puppies probably acquired the virus when a neighbor’s Labrador died with the same symptoms.
Some three houses away Mang Momoy’s home, another German shepherd puppy died, owned by Buboy Veluz.
CPV2 is a highly-contagious disease whose transmission can be direct or indirect between dogs. There is no dog-to-human transmission of this virus.
If a certain community has at least one dog infected, the spread will be quick especially when dogs excrete feces that contain blood.
The parvovirus causes dogs to vomit uncontrollably, lose their appetite, and experience severe diarrhea.
Most of the affected dogs in Hobart Village, like Minerva Balazo’s mixed breed, just stayed at home, lived and ate normally.
“Chloe,” a mix breed of Japanese Spitz and Golden Retriever, was at home when Balazo’s house helper called her to inform of the dog’s death during the week after spate of death in Hobart’s neighboring streets.
Studies show that the virus lived in an environment for about one to seven months long, and the only way to kill the virus in an infected place is by applying a parvocidal disinfectant in a correct concentration, or use bleach.
No other dog-victim from the said village was reported since June. (336 words)



Daisy Jane Sande, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for her Newspaper Practice and Management class.

Market vendors, tricycle drivers short of P1 coins in Quezon City

by ABBIJAH C. DULNUAN
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


QUEZON CITY—THE shortage of PhP1 coins has become a daily problem to the vendors of a small community market in Barangay Pag-asa.
The problem started almost two years ago but has only taken its toll this year.
Almost everyday, the vendors lose some of their profits because of giving discounts to their customers when they fall short of change.
To shun this problem without appearing stingy to her customers, Nora Vendicacion uses what she calls “utangan system”.
When she is short of change, Vendicacion asks her customers to retrieve it the next time he or she buys something from her.
Three stalls away from Vendicacion is Rabbie Penos’s stall. He gives out vetsin (monosodium glutamate) as a substitute for a PhP1 change.
If vegetable vendors lose some of their profit because of the unavailability of the PhP1 coins, so do the tricycle drivers who ply the PhP18 route from the market to Shoemart North Edsa.
A joke among the drivers has it that all the missing PhP1 coins are the ones being used in a game show of one of the most popular television networks in the country.
The said game show requires contestants to scoop as much coins as they can from ten bowls of P1 coins and place them in a weighing scale which determines how much they can win.
Just last September 1, a local newspaper reported that the Northern Mindanao office of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has confirmed that there is a shortage of PhP10, and 25 and 10 cent coins in Cagayan de Oro City.
Prior to the May 10 national elections, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas appealed to the public to re-circulate the coins.
As of May 31, 2010, a BSP report on bank notes and coins bared there are about 15.74 billion pieces of coins (valued at PhP17.09 billion) have been issued. The ratio of coins to the population is 170 coins per Filipino, BSP said.
Although the BSP report wrote that there is no shortage of low-denomination coins. Out of the 15.74 billion pieces of coins, 89 percent of them are low-denominated coins.
The same BSP report adds that an artificial shortage of coins may occur since Filipinos keep these in piggy banks, vaults, and wallets and no re-circulating them.
The BSP’s Cash Department even reported that a recent investigation done in Cebu City showed that there is an increased demand for PhP1 coins because these are being used in “Automated Tubig Machines” and coin games.
Smugglers apparently eyed the PhP1 coin due to increased global demand for copper and nickel, the report said.
Brgy. Pag-asa’s vendors and the tricycle drivers speculate that secret transportations abroad of the PhP1 coins are the reason for the coin shortage.
Two years ago, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Bureau of Customs (BoC), and Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group (PASG) intercepted a huge shipment of PhP1 coins that was bound for Korea.
The intercepted shipment recovered 17.9 tons of PhP1 coins, estimated to be worth PhP3 million, which are being targeted to manufacture computer parts (particularly microchips), tokens, or bullets.
The monetary authority has also outsourced coin production to an American and a Canadian coin production companies last June to augment the production by the BSP’s mint plant in East Avenue, Quezon City.


Abbijah Dulnuan, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for her Newspaper Practice and Management class.

Six crimes a day occur in Tondo district —police data

by JONAFE Z. BERNEL
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program



MANILA—TOTAL crime cases in Tondo district reached over a thousand during the first half of the year, records from the district’s three police stations show.
Given the total recorded crimes of 1,243 from January 1 to June 30, an average of 6.86 crimes —whether against persons or properties— a day happens in Tondo district, regarded as the Philippine capital’s most unsafe district.
Crimes against persons such as murder, homicide, physical injuries and rape were more prevalent in Precinct 1 with 197 cases. This station covers Smokey Mountain, Don Bosco, Pritil, and Gagalangin.
Precinct 2, which covers Delpan, Asuncion, Dagupan/Ilaya, P. Algue and Bambang, had 160 cases of crimes against persons. It is in the community precinct of Asuncion where a leaked mobile phone video saw police torturing a robbery suspect, Darius Evangelista.
Precinct 7 recorded 81 cases of crimes against persons in its coverage areas of Tayuman and Hermosa.
Aside from the total of 438 cases of crimes against persons in all three districts, a total of 805 crimes against property, such as robbery, theft, car-napping, and cattle rustling, were recorded over the same six-month period.
Precinct 2 recorded the most cases of crimes against property with 370, followed by Precinct 1 (272) and Precinct 7 (163).
Precinct 7 Inspector Aldrin Balagat said his precinct set up checkpoints in identified areas and they seek the aid of barangay tanod forces to check on suspicious elements, especially at night time.
Balagat added also launched Oplan Sita or online spot-checks at any area within their jurisdiction.


Jonafe Bernel, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for her Newspaper Practice and Management class.

Chicharon a PhP5-to-12 million industry in Bulacan town

by GABRIELLE LARA P. BANIQUED
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


SANTA MARIA, BULACAN—THIS first-class urban municipality (32 kms. northeast of Manila) gets at least a tenth of its income from crackled pork skins that remain a heart’s delight to Filipino food lovers.
Santa Maria has a booming agri-based industry, especially through poultry and hog-raising activities that are happening in more than 150 poultry and piggery farms.
These piggery farms are the primary sources of pigs whose skins become the pork rind cracklings that many Filipinos love.
Fortunata Lorenzo, the local government’s budget and management planning officer, says Sta. Maria is tagged as Bulacan’s pride when it comes to chicharon. However, neighboring municipalities are producing chicharon from carabao skin, while San Ildefonso also produces pork chicharon like Santa Maria.
“But nothing else can be compared to Santa Maria’s chicharon,” said Lorenzo.
With a total number of 17 stores scattered across Santa Maria, the chicharon industry contributes ten percent of the town’s annual income, which stood at PhP126.819 in 2009 (according to the Bureau of Local Government Finance).
The local government’s income includes PhP54.617 million from business taxes.
The usual chicharon is prepared by deep frying the dried pork rind with a little salt, and this viand is usually eaten with vinegar, bagoong, lechon live sauce, or atchara.
Sta. Maria’s chicharon is also finding its way into various parts of the country, as Filipinos from abroad who visit the country for a vacation stop by Sta. Maria to buy bags of chicharon as ‘pasalubong’ for their friends and relatives.
Every February, the local government holds an annual “Chicharon Festival” in line with the celebration of the feast of the municipality’s patron, the Immaculate Concepcion.
During this festival, the people present their chicharon in different stylish ways and in varied sizes. Other even put costumes and floats in their chicharon for the traditional parade.
Reynaldo Buenviaje, owner of the store “Daboy’s,” presented his cracklings —chicharon fried with spices— in packs during the festival.
According to him, in regular days, there is not a time that a balikbayan never visits his store. There are some who come from farther parts of the country. “Daboy’s” chicharon is among the suppliers of chicharon in Pampanga, the Bicol region, and in several outlets of Shoemart (SM).
For its part, “Obet’s Chicharon” (owned by Roberto Halili) has never missed in the chicharon festival. During the last festival, Halili made a huge flower figure out of the pieces of chicharon.
Some who joined in the event made a huge pig figure, pig heads, and miniature houses.
Other than designing the chicharon, the natives mix them with dishes like the Pinakbet. Even some famous Filipino restaurants, like Gerry’s Grill, was heartened to use chicharon as an additional flavor to their pork sisig (marinated pork that is seasoned with salt, pepper, and other spices).
People who do not have much budget to cook and eat such cuisines have other means of eating the chicharon. Residents here in Sta. Maria also fancy eating them simply with vinegar, bagoong, and pickled papaya, called atchara.
Richard Julian, a resident and a chicharon lover, eats his chicharon with Mang Tomas’ All Around Sarsa since it almost tastes like pan-roasted pork or litsong kawali.
Although chicharon is definitely not for the weak at heart, it serves as an alternative for saving money from buying too expensive viands.
Usually the prices of these cracklings start from PhP5, while others were sold at PhP12 to PhP50, depending on their packaging. The most expensive brand, which contains backfat, can be bought at more or less PhP100.
Recently, an innovation —the microwavable chicharon— was made so that people can eat them in longer periods of time.
“Jennie’s Chicharon”, owned by Gerardo and Jennie Torres, is prominent mostly among the “balikabayans” who save munching these cracklings even after getting out of the country.
Among their products also include chicharong bulaklak, and chicharon with backfat.
Chicharon is also Sta. Maria’s showcase product in the Department of Trade and Industry’s One Town, One Product (OTOP) program.


Gabrielle Lara Baniqued, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for her Newspaper Practice and Management class.

Floating Malabon resto afloat for more than a decade

text and photos by ROSETTE S. ADEL

University of Santo Tomas Journalism program

MALABON CITY—A FISHING pond here has become the 12-year-old beehive of a floating restaurant here in this flood-prone city.

Now, 12-year-old Balsa sa Niugan added a relaxing place for coffee lovers out there.

This floating restaurant and fishing garden in M. Aquino Street, the first in the city, just opened its coffee shop. Its capacity is 300-strong.

Bilas sa Niugan was established on July 18, 1998 under the ownership of a family-owned corporation, the Centennial Raft and Allied Services Inc..

Asked about the name ‘Balsa sa Niugan’, Manager Loreta Geronimo said that it was her husband, Santy, who had thought of it. Most of the facilities they have were made of rafts which are literally called ‘Balsa’ meaning floating raft made from bamboos that is why they used the name ‘Balsa sa Niugan’.

Mr. Geronimo was also the one who conceptualized the design of Balsa sa Niugan—to cover the dining area, extension area, The Balsa area, Kubo area, Pavilion area, fishing area, and the “Kapihan sa Balsa,” which was opened last June 20 (Father’s Day).

“Each area was gradually added as extensions for our facilities,” Mrs. Geronimo said.

The said areas may be used for events like weddings, baptismal, seminars, reunions, birthday parties and conferences as well as occasional reservations.

“Balsa sa Niugan caters to people from all walks of life, from classes A to C,” says Mrs. Geronimo.

The restaurant’s menu consists of Filipino dishes, seafoods, sizzlings, Japanese and Chinese foods, and cocktail drinks which are being served daily on their operating hours from noon till midnight. “Kapihan sa Balsa” serves brewed coffee, cakes, and pastries.

Dining afloat in a fishpond with a cool relaxing ambiance of our open-air place makes us distinct, says Mrs. Geronimo.

Having been in the industry for 12 years now, Balsa sa Niugan has established its niche in the food retail industry in Malabon.

However, like any other business in Malabon, the location itself is a drawback. Mrs. Geronimo said that because Malabon City is a flood-prone area, whenever there is flood or typhoon, they cannot operate.

Its owners refuse to disclose how much the restaurant earns annually.

As for the community, Barangay Kagawad Rizalito De Guzman said that he sees no problem with the establishment of Balsa sa Niugan.

“Since the establishment is being featured on television and newspapers, our Barangay (Brgy. Niugan) is also being promoted in the process.”

Johanne Bautista a resident of Brgy. Flores, Malabon City said that the concept of Balsa sa Niugan being a floating restaurant “is a good one”. She said that because of this people from other places visit Malabon to experience dining in Balsa, therefore it promotes local tourism benefitting the flood-prone city..

“Balsa sa Niugan a good place for sightseeing, although one thing I find negative about it is that there are lots of mosquitoes during night time because the water is stagnant,” says Marion Karenina Sagun, a resident of Brgy. Tinajeros.

But with simple rafts serving as the restaurant’s humble beginnings, the little pond where Balsa sa Niugan started has become a sea of livelihood for the Geronimo family and the city.

Rosette Adel, a third year Journalism student of UST, submitted this story for hierNewspaper Practice and Management class.