Vendors say new site for San Mateo’s public market ‘environmentally hazardous’

photos and text by IVY A. GARCIA
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


SAN MATEO, RIZAL—VENDORS operating in a public market at Brgy. Gitnang Bayan II here said the relocation of this municipality’s decades-old public market to an area near the Marikina River poses many environmental hazards.
The San Mateo Public Market will be refurbished for the building of a planned Pamantasan ng Bayan ng San Mateo and the marketplace will be transferred to Kambal Road that’s not near to both the San Mateo Dumpsite (a waste transfer station) and to a slaughterhouse, but also near the San Mateo River.
Speaking on behalf of the market’s vendors, Atty. Gioan Legazpi said market vendors plan to file a water pollution control and abatement case against the San Mateo local government before the Pollution Adjudication Board of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA).
The opposition stems largely from the environmental hazards and alleged violations of some existing laws that the relocated public market’s new location will pose.
Legaspi said it is okay to relocate the public market to a place that is not a hazard-prone area like the planned one in Kambal Road.
Legaspi approximates that the new site for the public market is less than 10 meters from the river bank.
Legaspi cites Presidential Decree 1067, or the Water Code of the Philippines, where article 51 provides that “the banks of rivers and streams, and the shores of the seas and lakes throughout their entire length and within a zone… of 20 meters in agricultural areas and 40 meters in forest areas… to the easement of public use (for) recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing and salvage.”
“No person shall be allowed to stay in this zone longer than what is necessary for recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing, or salvage or to build structures of any kind,” article 51 of PD 1067 provides.
Legaspi also said local officials of San Mateo failed to secure an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) from DENR for the new site of the public market. As well, the planned site of the public market also lacked an environmental impact statement system, this being required by Presidential Decree 1586.
Since the new site is also near the Laguna Lake, Legaspi said constructing the market in the planned site has no “discharge permit” from LLDA.
According to Republic Act 4850 that created the LLDA, a discharge permit is the authorization LLDA gives to any industry or establishment that discharges any liquid wastes or regulated effluents to the Laguna Lake.
The proposed site of the new public market is, Legaspi claims, even near the San Mateo Waste Transfer Station. Thus, Legaspi says the site violates section 15 of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, or RA 9003, which provides that no establishment shall be set up within 200 meters from open or controlled dumps, or from sanitary landfills.

School for a market
The existing site of San Mateo’s public market was once a patch of land since the early 1950s, and vendors covered their stalls with umbrellas or cloth. In 1992, during the time of former San Mateo Mayor Amo Santos, this patch of land was cemented and a two-storey building was constructed.
“Maria,” who has been a vendor at the market for 44 years, said the facility “is still a public market”.
But the construction of the second storey was left unfinished and unused until the administration of then Mayor Jose “Peping” Diaz finished construction and made the second floor a local college.
This school, called the Pamantasan ng San Mateo, is sometimes called “U.P.” for “upper palengke [market]”.
Maria said the planned location for the public market is rarely visited because the area’s foul smell comes from the San Mateo landfill, and “it floods there easily” since the San Mateo River is just a “few meters” behind.
But current San Mateo Mayor Jose Rafael “Paeng” Diaz, son of the older Diaz, said protestors are people “who hate discomfort and who don’t want to be relocated” since they have been used to being in the old place.
As for the waste transfer station in Kambal Road, Diaz said it will be moved to a sanitary landfill in Brgy. Pintong Bukauwe, which has been operating since 1990.
Diaz added the site of the new San Mateo public market will have a site development plan, a larger parking area, and a “more organized” drainage system.
As well, Diaz said the new market will also have a sewage treatment plan to cover the waste water coming from the planned market’s wet section.
This is unlike the current market, Diaz claims, where the waste water system goes straight to San Mateo’s drainage system.
“So it will be cleaner [in the wet section of new public market’s site]. Nobody will fall even when the area’s slippery; no rats and cockroaches will roam around. There will also be a more orderly electrical system compared to the existing market’s electrical system that looks like a spaghetti,” Diaz said.
The Pamantasan ng Bayan ng San Mateo has been a plan of former Mayor Jose “Peping” Diaz.
In the current Pamantasan that has 600 enrollees, tuition fees per semester cost only P4,000. Before, the tuition is only P2,000 per semester.
Mayor Diaz also said that current place of the old market is an ideal site for the Pamantasan ng Bayan ng San Mateo, because it is at the center of the town,
The relocation of the market in Gitnang Bayan II may also ease traffic on the main road, the younger Diaz said. (912 words)

Ondoy’s aftermath becomes business opportunity for Pasig City subdivision

photos and text by ANNE JUDITH B. JAMNAGUE
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


PASIG CITY—HIGH waves, unaided folks, and instant haunted houses: Where’s tomorrow?
Those were the images that left the seven-hectare subdivision Pasig Greenpark in Imelda Ave., Manggahan (near the Pasig City-Cainta, Rizal boundary) muddled given the wrath of typhoon Ondoy a year ago. Not surprisingly, many residents fled the subdivision and its many tragic reminders.
This is where business opportunities sprang, and new business models tested in the area.
Apartments mushroomed to entice new tenants, such as 10 newly-built apartment units that await 50 new villagers in Greenpark.
And amid last year’s floods, Pasig Greenpark remains a good location to build apartments, says Engr. Darryl Alagon.
“People working near here (Pasig Greenpark) want easier means to reach home instantly, without thinking of the construction process”, Alagon said, referring to office workers found in Eastwood (Libis, Quezon City), or even call centers near Tiendesitas (found along C5).
Newly-opened small businesses such as a spa, some food outlets, construction suppliers, and retail stores then greeted new and old residents. All these enterprises have found the trend of rebuilding after Ondoy a sound business model.
Amid the horrors brought by Ondoy, 33-year subdivision resident Sherly Lucas-Reyes opened Sweetwater Spa in Queensland St. earlier this year.
To her surprise, Reyes said the spa had many followers. “It was at first risky, baka kasi maulit yung baha (there might be a repeat of flooding here).”
Vivian Barroquina was unmindful on the disastrous event that made her small food stall submerged in floods last year. But the owner of Vivian Store in Soliven St. reconstructed her store and business continues to be brisk —like prior to Ondoy.
Even a market was created as new homes are built and rebuilt here.
Melmaray Hardware and Construction Supplies, found in Hawaii St., then came into the picture.
Owned by Medardo Catura, Melmaray capitalized on residents’ efforts to elevate their homes. “There’s a greater demand for building, rebuilding, and elevating existing homes here,” said Catura.
Solid Homes, Inc. developed Pasig Greenpark during the early 1970s, and the subdivision was recognized as a peaceful executive community.
Pasig Greenpark measures approximately seven hectares with 48 streets and more than a thousand home owners. The subdivision is near Eastwood Plaza and Transcom in Tiendesitas where many call center agents work and find the place near their offices.
Ondoy changed all that in just a matter of hours: A YouTube video that resident Jeffrey Copiaco did while floating a Styrofoam-made ice cooler box captured the murky brown waters that made Pasig Greenpark “devastated” by Ondoy.
Online, some residents are calling for buyers of their Greenpark houses and lots, such as 209 sq.m property (worth PhP3.5 million) advertised in www.sulit.com.ph, and a 90 sq.m property, also worth some PhP 3.5 million (advertised in www.binebenta.com).
Such is why the influx of new residents and the opening and re-opening of old small businesses surprised Victorio Mejia, president of Greenpark Homeowners’ Association.
“The village became more commercialized and open to the public: that’s the new trend here in Greenpark,” said Mejia. “Nothing like before.” (505 words)

Infra repairs in Cainta not enough to ensure avoiding a repeat of Ondoy

by PAMELA T. CABRERA
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


CAINTA, Rizal—FLOODING still prevails in this municipality that made headlines last year after typhoon Ondoy placed many areas, especially the posh subdivisions, under water.
Weeks before the local government unit will convene a flood summit, clogged esteros and waterways are still prevalent, residents say, and these have not yet eased the municipality’s flooding problems.
For example, damages from the rip-cracked fences that guard Brookside Village and Don Mariano Subdivision from Mapandan creek led to the overflow of the creek when rain hit the area last August 5.
But the Cainta local government unit, led by Mayor Mon Ilagan and Waste Management Office head Atty. Keith Nieto, is clearing off those trash-laden creeks, aside from unclogging drainage systems with the use of vactor machines that run 12 hours a day.
Nieto said the Cainta LGU is also working with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to restore wrecked creeks and drainage systems that withstood various typhoons, including Ondoy.
Cainta is currently relocating to Antipolo City a total of 400 families settling along the municipality’s esteros and water way systems, so as to avoid them being swept by running water. Some 130 families have been relocated already.
The LGU also recently launched an “Ilog Ko, Buhay Ko” project that aims to save a polluted Cainta river, the main water basin of the municipality’s esteros and water ways.
Nieto said the town is trying to clean eight months worth of garbage that last year’s typhoon left behind.
Ondoy killed 15 people and affected more than a thousand families here, says official municipal records. Currently, some 130 families were permanently relocated to Antipolo City
Ilagan also announced that Cainta will organize a flood summit this October to not only review the municipality’s 10-year solid waste management plan, but to determine environment-related courses of action so as to avoid a repeat of Ondoy.
Cainta has been spending PhP27 million in these anti-flooding public infrastructure projects, but estimates by some local officials show that PhP100 million is needed to rebuild Cainta. (336 words)

Infra repairs in Cainta not enough to ensure avoiding a repeat of Ondoy Cainta’s flood summit in Oct. to review town’s sold waste plan

by PAMELA T. CABRERA
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


CAINTA, Rizal—FLOODING still prevails in this municipality that made headlines last year after typhoon Ondoy placed many areas, especially the posh subdivisions, under water.
Weeks before the local government unit will convene a flood summit, clogged esteros and waterways are still prevalent, residents say, and these have not yet eased the municipality’s flooding problems.
For example, damages from the rip-cracked fences that guard Brookside Village and Don Mariano Subdivision from Mapandan creek led to the overflow of the creek when rain hit the area last August 5.
But the Cainta local government unit, led by Mayor Mon Ilagan and Waste Management Office head Atty. Keith Nieto, is clearing off those trash-laden creeks, aside from unclogging drainage systems with the use of vactor machines that run 12 hours a day.
Nieto said the Cainta LGU is also working with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to restore wrecked creeks and drainage systems that withstood various typhoons, including Ondoy.
Cainta is currently relocating to Antipolo City a total of 400 families settling along the municipality’s esteros and water way systems, so as to avoid them being swept by running water. Some 130 families have been relocated already.
The LGU also recently launched an “Ilog Ko, Buhay Ko” project that aims to save a polluted Cainta river, the main water basin of the municipality’s esteros and water ways.
Nieto said the town is trying to clean eight months worth of garbage that last year’s typhoon left behind.
Ondoy killed 15 people and affected more than a thousand families here, says official municipal records. Currently, some 130 families were permanently relocated to Antipolo City
Ilagan also announced that Cainta will organize a flood summit this October to not only review the municipality’s 10-year solid waste management plan, but to determine environment-related courses of action so as to avoid a repeat of Ondoy.
Cainta has been spending PhP27 million in these anti-flooding public infrastructure projects, but estimates by some local officials show that PhP100 million is needed to rebuild Cainta. (336 words)

Wait till Nov. to ride PNR trains plying south of Luzon—PNR official

by KRISTINE ELIZABETH B. DIHIANSAN
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


MANILA—ANY day from now, second-hand passenger coaches from East Japan Railways will arrive here to hopefully re-open the Philippine National Railway’s (PNR) route from Manila to southern portions of Luzon.
But passengers will have to wait until early November to enjoy the rides from Manila to Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions, said PNR operations manager Estelito Nierva.
PNR’s 536 km.-long Southrail operation will be from Manila to Legazpi City.
An August news report quoted Nierva was saying that the Southrail operations of PNR will commence after the celebration of the Peñafrancia Festival (in Naga City, Camarines Sur), annually held on the third Saturday of September.
Nierva said while rail tracks plying the Manila-Legazpi City route are “already passable,” these tracks are still being strengthened with concrete sleepers, or railroad ties that are made out steel-reinforced concrete.
Another reason for the delay of the Southrail project, Nierva said, is the appointing of a new PNR general manager under the Aquino administration, in Manuel Andal.
The US$932.037 million Southrail project, launched in 2009, involved two phases: rehabilitating an existing railway line from Calamba City, Laguna to Legazpi City, Albay, and the construction of a new railway extension line from Camalig, Albay to Matnog, Sorsogon.
Once the rail tracks covering these southern cities and municipalities are identified, PNR said it will allow train speeds of up to 120 kms. per-hour (kph).
If completed, the first year of operations will commence two years after the start of the project, and the route is along the Manila-Lucena City corridor. Services will then reach Legazpi City after another two years, and will extend to Sorsogon after another two years.
PNR projects that some 34,220 people will ride daily the Manila-Legazpi City corridor, though currently about 1,000 passengers ride the Manila-Legazpi City route.
The costs of the project were courtesy of Philippine government loans from Korea and China.
The Northrail-Southrail linkage project (from Caloocan City, Metro Manila to Calamba City, Laguna) costs P54.6 billion, while the Southrail project (from Manila to Legazpi City [phase 1], and extending to Matnog, Sorsogon [phase 2]) costs US$932.037 million (or PhP40.077 billion at US$1=PhP43).
When typhoons Milenyo and Reming hit southern Luzon in 2006, two major passing bridges of the PNR route were destroyed: the San Cristobal Bridge in Calamba City and another bridge in the municipality of Guinobatan, Albay.
Though, the requested PhP1.5 billion budget to rehabilitate the two bridges was only approved in 2008, and repair work began in December that year.
Apart from repairing the bridges, the PhP1.5 billion was also used to strengthen the rail tracks by converting molave-made sleepers into concrete ones.
But existing PNR coaches —particularly the deluxe type— already have television sets on board.
Nierva added that once the Manila-Legazpi City route re-opens, diner coaches will be restored and sleeper coaches will be made available as well.
It is this spacious legroom of a sleeper coach that Marife Bautista misses the most (her last boarding of a PNR train was in January 1988, and the train of this Libmanan, Camarines Sur native rode then only had one dining and sleeper coach apiece, four air-conditioned reclining seats, and ordinary seats patterned after those of passenger buses).
Nierva estimates that if a bus ride plying the Manila-Legazpi City route costs PhP830.80, PNR estimates that the train ride will cost PhP592.50.
Nierva said PNR management has yet to approved fare rates for the Manila-Legazpi City route. (572 words)

QC brgy. finally owns lot its brgy. hall stood for four

by KRISTINE KATE LOUISE DR. FERNADEZ
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


QUEZON CITY—AFTER a four-year long petition, a barangay in Quezon City will finally be entitled of the lot its barangay hall occupied for forty years.
The Accounting Department of the Quezon City government has released a certification that an amount of PhP2.2 million will be available for Metrobank as the payment for the lot where the multi-purpose hall of Barangay Dioquino-Zobel is located.
And hopefully before September ends, barangay officials said Metrobank will not bug them anymore with any takeover of the lot.
Brgy. Dioquino-Zobel is within Quezon City’s Cubao district.
According to documents provided by the barangay chairman Oscar Q. Concepcion, the 439 sq. m.-lot was formerly owned by Luzviminda C. Sansao and Lualhati V. Calapini who granted the request of the building of the barangay hall during the 1970s.
However, 15 years later, the owners of the lot mortgaged the lot to Metrobank-Makati. Then Metrobank officials sheriffed the lot since owners failed to redeem the lot given their death in the United States.
The first Notice to Vacate was issued on March 8, 2006 by the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 220.
But the barangay council sought the help of the former Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte and wrote to the Deputy Sheriff of RTC, Nilo R. Lapid, to defer the writ of possession while the negotiation of the city government and lot owner was ongoing.
However, last August 2, Concepcion received another Notice to Vacate-cum-court order (dated July 26, 2010), giving them a period of five days to leave and return the lot to Metrobank.
A letter was also sent to Lapid from the office of the current QC Mayor Herbert Bautista with same intent to defer the notice while negotiation on the buy-out is being processed.
According to Concepcion, negotiation to buy the lot has started since 2008. But the city government and the bank could not settle the terms of payment.
He said that the price was not an issue but the city government wanted the property to be turned over to them and, after 60 days, comes the payment.
The taxes, as pointed out by Concepcion, were also entrusted by the bank to the city and vice versa, making the situation “complicated”.
He also thinks that the arrangement for the buy-out took long because both parties (Metrobank and the city government) responded after 3-4 months.
The supposedly takeover of the lot was ceased last August 10.
Last August 12, a meeting was held between the bank and the city government regarding the buy-out, following the release of the certification of the amount the next day.
The PhP2.2 million certification from the QC government was released last August 13.
Concepcion expects that before September ends, everything is fixed and the takeover will not affect the barangay hall anymore.
However, four families will be affected by the takeover after they were identified as informal settlers. (480 words)

Sampaloc brgy installs 4 more CCTV cameras

by BIANCA KATHRICE B. BERNARDO
University of Santo Tomas Journalism program

MANILA—BY the first week of October, the periphery of the 21-hectare University of Santo Tomas will have a semblance of closed circuit television cameras found in the streets of major cities in China.
This is after officials of Barangay 471, Zone 46 have purchased four more CCTV camera units, worth a total of PhP100,000, recently to beef up efforts against criminality.
One of these four new CCTV cameras will be placed in Santander St., which barangay officials say had the highest incidence of robbery and hold up cases since 2008.
The three other streets where CCTV cameras will be set up are Navarra, Asturias and Antonio streets, said Councilman Armando Ramirez.
The barangay currently has four existing CCTV cameras, two of those are affixed in Rosarito St. and the other two are placed in Santander and Juaning streets —all of which are connected to a television inside the Brgy. Hall located in Navarra St.
In Santander St. alone, there have been 25 reported cases of theft and robbery that struck at students since last January.
Suspects to those crimes such as Salisi, Basag Kotse and Dugo-Dugo gangs were caught and are currently detained at Precinct 4 in Balik-Balik Street.
Brgy. 471, Zone 46 is where UST, University of Perpetual Help-Manila, and lots of food and computer establishments are found. (219 words)

Miraculous manghihilot in Malate

photos and text by ALYOSHA J. ROBILLOS

University of Santo Tomas Journalism program


MANILA—IN the heart of Malate nightlife lies the spot of Nanay Alice, who is the balm that soothes the aches and pains of both the ritz and the poor, 24/7.
In a place where sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll prevail at night, the Our Lady of Remedies makes her presence felt through the hands of Nanay Alice.
Alicia Espiritu Ramos is a traditional Filipino healer or ‘manghihilot.’ Somewhere along the sidewalks of Jorge Bocobo, she sits beside her Eurotel-sponsored signage that reads “Nanay Alice…Hilot.”

There, she waits and does no hard selling for the people come willingly—a result of the only promotion she gets—word of mouth.
There is often a string of vehicles that conceals this septuagenarian’s makeshift clinic. Patients wait their turn, blending into the bohemian scene regardless of stature or profession.
Ramos had not always been the resident manghihilot of Malate in the Remedios Circle area. For 27 years, she was a volunteer at the Nuestra Señora de los Remedios (Our Lady of Remedies) Parish, more commonly known as Malate Church.
She did a number of things for the institution, from selling sweepstakes tickets, candles and garlands of sampaguita to making sure that the church was spic-‘n-span. Eventually, parish priests convinced her to retire.
According to Alicia, it was not only because the priests took into consideration the aging lady’s unpaid labor, but because of her special abilities as well.


‘Senora’
IT was on Nanay Alice’s 15th year of servitude when, as she claims, that the Virgin Mary reffered her as “Señora Remedios,” supposedly bestowed a life-altering gift upon her.
During one of the many Sundays she spent at the church, she noticed a child barely seven months old, coughing profusely. When the infant suddenly vomited, she allegedly heard the voice of the Lady of Remedies.
“Hilutin mo ang bata (Massage the child),” the voice whispered. Without hesitation, she approached the family and offered to massage the child.
The parents were taken aback by the sudden display of concern from the strange woman. It took an hour before the parents came back to Alicia with the ailing child still crying. A few minutes and some oil-laden rubs later, Nanay Alicia asked the parents to go home and make their child rest.
The next Sunday, the family returned to Nanay Alicia’s spot —this time with a cake in hand. The father, who turned out to be a specialist at the Makati Medical Center, couldn’t stop thanking Nanay that day.
Upon retiring from volunteer work in 1996, Nanay Alice started treating people out in the streets through the traditional “hilot” and herbal medicine.
It became easy for her to sense things, especially those of ill nature, whether they be kept secret or made out in the open. There was, for instance a young woman who approached her for a stomach massage. Nanay Alice refused to massage her because, upon taking the young woman’s pulse, she determined that the girl was pregnant despite the flat appearance of her abdomen.
“There are many doctors who would go along with what you are planning, but I am not going to do it for you,” Nanay said in Filipino rebuffing the girl’s intent to abort her unborn child.

Soothing the pain
HILOT, a massage native to the Philippines, is used as an alternative to invasive treatments and other complicated medical procedures. It makes use of unconventional healing methods such as energy transfer, spiritual philosophy and herbal medication.
According to Dr. Bibiano Fajardo, an albularyo and practitioner of hilot of the Association of Traditional Health Aid Givers Inc. (ATHAG), hilot is the age-old indigenous Filipino healing practice associated with elderly healers who could identify body illnesses and areas of energy imbalance with one touch.
Being one of the oldest and most secret medical arts in the Philippines, hilot is usually taught by the elderly to the younger generations.
Nanay Alice, on the other hand, was taught by no one and was supposedly guided by the grace of the divine Mother.
Advocates and practitioners of traditional medicine like Alicia Ramos keep the art of alternative and unconventional healing afloat despite people’s growing preference for modern and western medical methods.
Alberto Ugdiman and Julie Guinanao, both residents of Jorge Bocobo St., hold Alicia’s uncanny “gift” in high regard. Ugdiman’s leg was red and swollen a few months back, making walking almost impossible.
It did not heal until Nanay Alice massaged it. Although doctors advised him to have it x-rayed for it might have been broken, he ignored the advice and went to see the “manghihilot” instead.
Now, his leg is as good as new: “Some of her methods are the same with our ‘manghihilot’ in Negros Occidental, (and Nanay Alice’s massaging) works, too,” Guinanao said.
Because of her miraculous touch, Nanay Alice has been able to work with prominent medical doctors. Dr. Jaime Z. Galvez Tan, Vice Chancellor for Research of the University of the Philippines, Manila (UP) and former Department of Health (DOH) secretary, has been in touch with Alicia Ramos since 2004.
Currently a professor at the UP College of Medicine, Galvez-Tan often asks his third-year medicine students to visit Ramos and ask about the phenomenon of her work. Galvez-Tan has also included Nanay Alice in his research and books on alternative medicine.
Despite the respect she has gained even from practicing doctors, Nanay Alice keeps herself grounded and never imposes a price on her patients.
Having lost her only son, her heart goes out especially to the children of those like her who are neck-deep in poverty. Nanay Alicia helps her three adopted children with whatever donations she gets from treating the sick round the clock. On a good day, she gets a total of PhP400.
Although she wishes to have a more permanent and stable spot, Alicia Ramos has used her “blessing” from Señora Remedios to help those she can with what she has.
“Masaya ako dahil nakakatulong,” she beamed, the corner of her eyes crinkling in a warm smile. (996 words)