Movers and shakers of 2010

BELIEVE it or not, 2010 may be considered as a year of changes.

Well, at least, in the National Government.

Marked with a metamorphosis in governance, the current administration, led by President Benigno Aquino III, vowed to end corruption, with fingers crossed, in all its forms.

It is, indeed, a bold step and a startling contrast to his predecessor, whose nine-year stint as Chief Executive was plagued with scandals, controversies and tragedies.

But governments that are just beginning, like a mother during childbirth, must undergo birth pains, if only to feel the lifelong commitment of raising children.

The Cordillera region was not spared from these pains.

These included droughts, accidents, controversial projects, typhoons, pressing issues and a whole lot of election gimmickry.

Here’s a rundown of significant events that moved us — if the local press was right, really moved us.

Or maybe, it’s just us.

10. Development in autonomy?

Stale as a topic for most Cordillerans, especially the youth, and expected never to be a trending topic on Twitter or in any similar site. Local autonomy advocates never gave up in its 23-year quest for Cordillera autonomy.

After all, National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) Regional Director Juan Ngalob said “there is no real development in the region without autonomy.”

But pursuing autonomy is not only this year’s dilemma, as lawyer Nestor Atitiw’s group continues to assert the jurisdiction of the Cordillera bodies (Cordillera Regional Assembly, Cordillera Bodong Administration and Cordillera Executive Board) created under Executive Order 220 to educate people and, with their Constitutional mandate, to pursue autonomy.

“It’s clearly stated in the Constitution that we are in command of the bid for autonomy,” Atitiw said.

But on which group will succeed, we can only hope for the best for the region, and it shouldn’t take 23 years more.

9. Aids, measles, dengue etc.

Health concerns will always move us. The upsurge of dengue cases recorded has risen from 1,502 reported cases (January 1 to September 20, 2009) to 4,354 cases this year, a 220 percent increase, a report from the Department of Health-Cordillera Administrative Region noted. Eleven deaths were also registered during the peak months of the outbreak.

Measles has also reached outbreak levels in Baguio City. City Health Services Office (CHSO) Chief Epidemiologist Dr. Donnabel Tubera claimed that last March, from no reported cases in 2009, confirmed measles cases surged to 11, with 60 more suspected cases in clustered areas in Kayang Hilltop and nearby barangays. The spread was attributed to the fact that the disease is airborne.

This prompted the CHSO, under Dr. Florence Reyes, to launch a simultaneous immunization of 95,000 children aged six months to 12 years old to prevent further spread of the disease.

Meanwhile, the problem of the human immunodeficiency virus and the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV-Aids) continues to worry residents. Social Hygiene Clinic Dr. Celia Flor Brillantes said from January to September, six cases of this dreaded disease have already been confirmed.

“This is already an unprecedented and alarming increase because confirmed cases before 2004 were only two per year, while four per year were recorded since 2005 up to last year,” she said.

Majority of the new cases were men having sex with men while Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) still top the number of monitored cases since the city recorded its first HIV case in 1988.

8. Typhoon ‘Juan’

A series of typhoons either missed or hit the country in the past year. But the strongest of all struck the country last October.

Probably the world’s strongest typhoon for the year, Typhoon “Juan” claimed six lives and injured at least ten people as it battered the Cordillera and Northern Luzon provinces. Kalinga and Apayao provinces were the most badly hit, authorities reported.

More than P1.1 billion in damages in agriculture and livestock were reported by the Department of Agriculture. They eventually released P3 million in subsidized seeds as mitigation measures.

Also, 60 houses were totally destroyed while 222 others were partially damaged, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) initially reported.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, in a report to the OCD said that of the 926 families (or 4,008 individuals) needing preemptive and immediate evacuation, 763 families sought refuge in 40 designated evacuation centers while 305 families opted to stay with relatives.

Major roads leading to the Summer Capital such as Marcos Highway and Naguilian road were spared from major slides but Kennon Road was kept closed for more than a day. Other secondary national roads leading to other Cordillera provinces, meanwhile, were kept closed.

If there’s something the Cordillerans should be thankful for, it is this — the strongest typhoon in 2009, Typhoon “Pepeng,” as well as other similar rain typhoons, did not hit the region.

7. Price increases

A precursor to increased cost of living, rising prices of fuel and prime commodities have not spared the region. Early in the year, prices of sugar have steadily increased by as much as 155 percent, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Cordillera reported.

The region experienced increasing fuel prices every month, from as low as 50 cents per liter to P1.50. Baguio also has more expensive fuel prices than other provinces in Northern Luzon.

This has prompted local taxi operators to file a petition at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) requesting a flag-down rate increase of P15, bringing the current P25 flag-down to P40. They are also asking for an additional P2 for every kilometer.

Regional Public Transport Affairs Office head Perfecto Itliong Jr. said majority of the operators have been suffering from the very low flag-down rate of P25. Motorists in the region as early as now are already complaining about this move of the local transport sector.

Last June, the cost of construction implements like cement and steel bars increased mainly due to the onset of the rainy season, the DTI reported.

6. Wage hike battle

Spiked prices resulted in the overburdening of the Filipino workman. And this has not spared the region’s work force.

By September, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) finally heard the local workers’ plea for a P75 hike in their daily wages.

The current minimum wage rate in the region is 260 per day. The petition underwent several consultations both with the management and the employees sector.

Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) Regional Director Ana Dione said the Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board, which she heads, heard all the responses of both sectors for two months.

Finally, after deliberations, the board decided to grant a P12 increase in cost of living allowance in the region effective January 2011. However, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) belittled this increase. In an interview, KMU Chairperson Elmer Labog, who visited the city early December, said this is not even enough for the workers’ transportation expenses for the whole day.

5. Never-ending protests

Student protests have been the highlight of President Aquino’s visit to the city early December.

UP Baguio student council president Mark Leander, one of those who staged protests during Aquino’s visit, said the six SUCs also share the same fate as UP Diliman.

In Benguet alone, for UP Baguio, Leander said funds that are part of the University of the Philippines System were slashed by P1.39 billion (or 20.11 percent) while the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) for Benguet State University was cut by 20.95 percent.

Meanwhile, last March, students from the university have also been protesting unstoppable tuition fee increases.

Commission on Higher Education (Ched) Regional Director Freddie Bernal said tuition fee increase underwent consultations and proper procedures before implementation. He pointed out that the increase is not more than the inflation rate.

The schools that increased their tuition fees for incoming freshmen are Baguio Central University, STI College-Baguio, Saint Louis University, Easter College, and BVS College.

Meanwhile, Cordillera Career Development College will not increase its tuition but increased its Baguio Benguet Educational Athletic League (BBEAL) and Cordillera Higher Education Sports Athletics Association (CHESAA) fees by 100 percent.

4. Questionable projects

Controversial projects have also created a fuss with the local community. Among these projects are the stalled post-“Ondoy” and “Pepeng” Short-Term Infrastructure Rehabilitation Project (Postirp).

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Cordillera revealed it may take time for the road cuts, particularly in Benguet, to be repaired due to the delayed release of funds and the delays in bidding out the projects to contractors.

Currently, only around 85 percent of the road repairs have been completed based on their total assessment of projects all over the region.

Several of these projects have been ordered for renegotiation, including the 19 calamity projects junked by the present administration.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson, during his visit to Baguio City last September 1, said they moved for the renegotiation of the projects to eradicate possible charges of anomaly in the 19 approved negotiated contracts for projects under the Postirp.

Among them is the P53.06-million post-“Pepeng” rehabilitation of a road sector in La Trinidad, Bokod, Itogon and Buguias, Benguet; Sabangan, Mountain Province; and Tabuk, Kalinga, which was awarded to Ferdstar Builders Contractors.

The 19 projects with a total cost of P934.1 million are part of the 139 projects, or 42 contract packages, funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Currently, the region is still ailing from very poor conditions of national roads, with only 41 percent of the region’s national roads paved, a Regional Development Council report added.

3. El Niño and La Niña

The Department of Agriculture here reports that the damages of El Niño affected 7,393 farmers, who lost their main source of livelihood this year.

Corn, among other agri-products, has been most affected as the corn crops include those planted last October to December for harvesting from January to February.

The damaged corn plants were planted in over 30,000 hectares of land in Kalinga, Ifugao, Mountain Province, and parts of Apayao.

The affected corn-growing areas are Paracelis in Mountain Province with 6,960 hectares; Alfonso Lista, Aguinaldo, Lamut and Lagawe in Ifugao with a total of 20,969 hectares; and Tabuk City, Pinukpuk, Rizal and Tanudan in Kalinga with 5,610 hectares.

Among CAR provinces, Ifugao was the most affected with P1.376 million in the region’s livestock from the municipalities of Alfonso Lista and Aguinaldo.

This has prompted the agriculture department to create small water impounding dams to provide sufficient water to areas hardly reached by irrigation systems.

Cloud seeding operations were also conducted as mitigating measures against El Niño.

Department of Agriculture-CAR regional executive director Lucrecio Alviar approved the livestock program for the region’s P4,793,034 La Niña mitigation plan.

In a report prepared by Livestock Program coordinator Rosemarie Tesoro, the agriculture regional field unit has planned and started producing and distributing 10,000 leaflets on Measures to Mitigate the Effects of El Nino as well as La Nina worth P150,015 in all six provinces in the region.

2. Elections 2010

This year’s national and local elections last May 10 were marred with speculations of election failure but proved to be a success at the end of the day.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) provincial supervisor Elenita Tabangin, in an interview a few days before and after elections, said responses were positive basing on the huge turnout of voters all over the region.

Tabangin said the successful elections were brought about by the enthusiasm of voters to try the first-ever automated national polls.

“It was a miracle,” many claimed as local poll results came out in just half a day.

Acting Comelec Regional Director Ederlino Tabilas said everything went smooth sailing in all provinces of CAR, including Comelec hotspot Abra. Only minor glitches had to be dealt with in the form of transmission and battery problems with the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

Usual problems surrounding elections were observed, including flying voters, removable indelible inks, lost names in voters’ list and overcrowding of precincts.

Baguio City has a registered voters’ population of 153,423, but only 108,011 cast their votes.

But if the national and local polls were just a breeze, the barangay and Sanguniang Kabataan elections held last October 25 is a different story.

Delays in ballot printing and delivery and confusion marked the elections, which were aggravated by the onslaught of Typhoon “Juan,” which devastated the province of Kalinga and left the Mountain Province isolated, making the delivery of ballots and the conduct of elections difficult.

This made history with Kalinga conducting elections earlier due to power outages while elections were postponed in four Abra towns: Tineg town and Barangay Talipugo in Lacub; Paracelis and Natonin towns in the Mountain Province; Tinglayan and Lubuagan towns in Kalinga; several barangays in Cabugao and Conner, Apayao; and a remote barangay in Mayoyao, Ifugao.

1. Eso-Nice bus tragedy

The worst bus accident in three decades tops the list of movers and shakers for 2010.

An ill-fated Eso-Nice Transport Corporation (ENTC) bus, with plate number AVB 549, was traversing the Naguilian road to La Union when it fell off a ravine in Barangay Ambakag, Banangan, Sablan, Benguet, on the morning of August 18. A total of 40 people died instantly.

Immediately, transportation officials ordered a 30-day preventive suspension on the bus company’s operations to start the investigation into the cause of the accident. Multiple homicide raps were filed against the driver, Romeo Subban Jr., and the bus company for alleged negligence.

Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC) Regional Director Federico Mandapat Jr. said the bus company faked its certificate of roadworthiness. He said the Land Transportation Office (LTO) denied having issued the company a certificate of roadworthiness last July 13.

The bus company was also scrutinized for engaging in associate, or “kabit,” system in its franchise, where a certain Gemstar bus was caught issuing Eso-Nice tickets.

Eso-Nice legal counsel Rosendo Meneses admitted to owning the hot ticket.

Meanwhile, the company’s buses are now back on the streets with an alleged refurbished look, with only an “888” and the ENTC sign painted on their bodies.

The decision to finally revoke ENTC’s franchise is now pending at the DOTC’s central office, OIC-Regional Director Celina Claver said.

The year in retrospect gives us valuable and life-changing lessons. The coming year, whatever will move us, whatever will awaken our senses, and whatever will shake us to our feet — all these will make our nation and people strong.

After all, the Philippines is considered as one of the oldest republics in Asia. (JM Agreda)

Published in the Sun.Star Baguio newspaper on January 03, 2011.