My pre and post EDSA recollections - and the first successful coup!

EDSA People Power Monument, photo from Philstar.

“Today, 27 years later… the greed, the apathy, the cronyism and the corruption we brought down at EDSA during those four days are still with us in our land,” former President Fidel Ramos said after a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani, Philstar reports.

But Ramos challenged Filipinos to confront and remove “new tyrannies” such as self-serving leaders, greedy autocrats and “cliques of corrupt officials.” “In our homeland, there are still oligarchies, opportunists and warlords we have yet to banish from our political and economic life,” Ramos said. 

In Marinduque, such "new tyrannies" that Ramos talked about are really old tyrannies that remained, were never removed all this time since the Marcos reign. Self-serving leaders succumbed to by sycophants and ass-lickers, greedy autocrats whose favorite words are 'control and dominion', cliques of corrupt officials whose appetite for money and power are insatiable.

Indeed they have yet to banish from the political life of the island of Marinduque - the 'Heart of the Philippines' - if we must pursue the truth that CHANGE ONLY COMES FROM THE HEART.

FIRST SUCCESSFUL 'COUP'

I was at EDSA 1986, among the millions who gathered there. I was at Luneta rally for the "Tagumpay ng Bayan" rally, too, a week before the EDSA Revolution. Let me share what also transpired minutes after that said rally called for by Cory Aquino. Going home after that rally was over (and I kept hearing people say "will of the people na talaga"), we passed by the open-air auditorium on the way to Taft Avenue. A regular live coverage of "Concert at the Park" was going on, and there was a male foreign singer wearing a printed polo shirt, singing (a Tagalog song if I remember correctly), and I started booing. I was aware that the rally being held at the national park was not covered by government television and there, the state-owned Channel 4 was covering 'live' that afternoon concert that had attracted a small audience, as many seats were empty.

Then others followed the booing, too. The singer responded by waving his hand with a nervous smile, slowly stepping backwards, realizing something was going to happen. He didn't get to finish his song. I just watched amused as throngs of people, in laughter and glee, went up the stage all at once, took over that stage noisily while flashing the Laban sign. Off went the TV cameras. (They went off seconds before people got on stage as I later found out. So televiewers did not get to see that part).

 I don't think that small episode was even reported by media.(I followed the major dailies the next day but saw nothing). And probably this is the very first time that that earlier expression of a minor but significant 'coup' staged by passers by going home after a peaceful rally is being recounted. I personally feel that that was the first successful display of civil disobedience prior to EDSA. It occurred within minutes after Cory launched a nationwide campaign for civil disobedience.

It's all of 27 years na pala after that. Am reposting the following blog that I first wrote in August 2009. To help keep aflame the CORY-SPIRIT, the EDSA SPIRIT ALIVE, especially in MARINDUQUE, the HEART of the PHILIPPINES, ngani ah!

SAYING GOODBYE TO CORY

We bid farewell to our Icon of Democracy. As I watch her funeral cortege on TV I write this from my Marinduque house in tears now and then. I never got the chance to shake Cory’s hand. But I remember...

I was a Marcos and Imelda fan before Ninoy Aquino was shot dead at the airport tarmac that hot Sunday in August 1983. It was probably the result of constantly following for over a decade, on government-television, all his speeches, all her affairs and all the glitter that went with them.

But then before Ninoy’s arrival reports were already abuzz that he’d be assassinated upon arrival. Which was why Salvador Laurel organized a sizeable crowd to meet Ninoy at the airport to surround the returning Marcos nemesis. When the flash reports came out that Aquino had been killed at the airport, I remember that the streets of Manila were practically deserted, with people glued to TV-sets wanting to know more details.

I didn’t join the long kilometric line of people at Ninoy’s wake in Sto. Domingo Church although most of my friends did. I had mixed feelings watching the unending stream of humanity go by during the long funeral cortege to Manila Memorial. Something in me still rejected the notion that the Marcoses had anything to do with the crime committed...

But not too long after that, a diplomatic official of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Manila, where I was working then as office manager, asked me what I thought of the assassination. I replied coldly: How could someone like Galman who was supposedly with the Left have entered the tarmac and have previous knowledge that Ninoy would not be allowed to pass through the passenger exit like the rest of the passengers, but be brought down by the security forces to the runway? It reeked with conspiracy.

Then I found myself part of the regular Friday rallies at Ayala and Paseo de Roxas, that eventually led to the snap elections, that led to the Tagumpay ng Bayan rally at the Luneta where a million people converged and remained oh so deafeningly quiet listening to every word that came forth from Cory’s mouth. At another rally in Liwasang Bonifacio, my mother, she was 66 then, wanted to see Cory in person and joined me. We both never got the chance to even touch Cory’s hand.

When Marcos and family fled in the evening of the fourth day of the people power revolution in February 1986, the jubilation, shouting and happy faces at EDSA could only be described as that of a people’s collective realization that there was freedom at last. Someone around remarked that the final Liberation of Manila in 1945, must have been like it. A bonfire was lit near the gate of Camp Crame and I, together with some close friends, joined the people dancing around it. Some of Cory’s close supporters were there including Tingting Cojuangco who also joined that ‘liberation dance’.

With Cory’s installation as the revolutionary president there was more euphoria. Weeks later the local papers bannered news stories that a Nobel Peace Prize should be awarded to the Filipino people for that peaceful revolution. “Smilets Revolusjon”, the smiling revolution, was the first book co-written about EDSA only within a few weeks after the victory by Bjorn Egil Eide and Terje Svaboe, the authors, well-known Norwegian correspondents had made Manila their base to follow the events as they unfolded. But the peace would be besieged with coup threats that Cory, clearly serving singularly to restore democracy and the democratic institutions, survived only because of her unwavering faith that we all knew.

But I wondered what I, an anonymous soul among the old Cory crowd, could do somehow in my own way to help her regime survive. I checked the PLDT directory and traced the address of Raul Manglapus, a former exile who I knew did propaganda work in the U.S. against the regime of Marcos, and known close friend of Ninoy. I came up with a proposal to pursue the Nobel Peace Prize angle.

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by a committee created by the Storting, Norwegian Parliament and could only be given to individuals (not to a people), who’ve made exemplary political achievements the year following its announcement. I wrote to Manglapus about the need for somebody to work quietly for the nomination of Cory for the Nobel Prize and not assume that someone else is doing the work. He immediately responded with a phone call and invited me to his house in San Lorenzo village. To make a long story shorter, to fulfil the nomination requirement, he eventually made representations with the U.P. president, Jose Abueva to make a formal nomination and I was given a copy. Later, Manglapus confirmed to me that separate nominations were also made for Cory by Nobel laureates, Lech Walesa and Desmond Tutu whom he had some earlier political association with during his exile as a human rights activist and Christian democrat.

Then on my part, when the opportunity came, I was able to arrange through Manglapus an exclusive interview with Cory in Malacanang by Eide and Svaboe to be telecast, for several installments, on the Norwegian government television, NRK (Norsk Rikringskasting). Soon, Aftenposten and Arbeiderbladet, Norway’s biggest newspapers were featuring Cory as the number one favorite from among a shortlist of other nominees for the peace prize, with full page color features on her. There were many phone exchanges between Manglapus and me following those developments, and I sent him clippings from the Norwegian dailies that were sent by diplomatic pouch to the Embassy.

A couple of days before the announcement by the Nobel committee in October 1987, Reuters picked up the alarming news (not played up locally), that Cory was set to declare martial law following another failed coup attempt. Finally, it was not Cory... The Nobel Peace Prize that year went to relatively unknown Oscar Arias Sanchez of Costa Rica. The embassy diplomats told me on the day of the announcement that Sanchez was way below the shortlist of nominees but the Nobel committee apparently opted for a “safe” winner. They couldn’t afford to give the award to someone who might indeed declare martial law later.

I thought how wrong they were, because a Nobel would precisely discourage what Cory described as “dambuhala” from staging more coups.

A few more days after the announcement Larry Henares wrote on his Inquirer column “Make My Day”, details on how the coup plotters robbed Cory of her peace prize; how her enemies intercepted phone calls and used the foreign media to alarm the Nobel committee that she was set to declare martial law - precisely to thwart the awarding of the world’s most prestigious and most coveted award to Cory.

I would have been the happiest person on that day in October 1987. But too bad, there were no cellphones yet that could have prevented buggers and interceptors from doing further disservice and evil deeds against those on the side of truth and freedom. I just wonder now if ever they regretted that, or remain pleased that they had the power to destroy an idea that could only be good for the country including themselves.

But in the final analysis, who needs a Nobel Peace Prize, our democracy has been restored and it is up to us, Filipinos, to protect it and keep it going. And Cory who fought for it with resolve is resting now in blissful peace in the company of her solitary hero, Ninoy. A whole nation is in deep gratitude to the woman who awarded us with Peace, Democracy and Love. Goodbye Cory!

In the beginning was "Malindug"

From Malindug to 'Maalindog'.
The Buenavista contingent in today's Araw ng Marinduque celebration, first celebrated province-wide in 2008.

The name of Marinduque was derived from the word “Malindug”, which has a significant historical implication because the word means “tall and elegant stature” in Tagalog and has a similar, if not parallel meaning to the Visayan term “malindug”.Malindug also connotes sexiness, 'maalindog'.

In a study of place-names conducted by F. Arsenio Manuel, he wrote that these were two cognate terms which fittingly describe the island’s volcano, which today is known as Mt. Malindig.

The Dasmarinas listing of encomiendas in 1751 already spelled Marinduque in this manner. How did this come about then? Manuel explained that the phonetic hispanization of the word “Malindug” followed the Spanish phonetic system. Spanish does not tolerate the voiced velar stop “g” in its phonology. In Morga’s Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas and other Spanish chronicles for example, the term for ‘loincloth’ (bahag in Tagalog), is spelled ‘bahaque’. This spelling and its Spanish pronunciation follows Spanish phonetic laws – ‘bahag’ becoming ‘bahaque’.This change according to Manuel also appear to have happened to “Palanyag” which became “Paranaque”, with additional change taking place, the “l” becoming “r”, again following Spanish phonetic tendencies. This “l” to “r” spin shift is, also evident in “Marinduque” according to Manuel.

Manuel’s study was also consistent with an earlier study made by Cecilio Lopez, known as the Father of Philippine Linguistics”. Lopez wrote: “In old chronicles, the name of the island occurs in such varying forms as Malinduc, Marinducq, marinduc, Malindic, and Malindig” These are forms, he said, quite evidently to be analyzed into the well-known ‘adjectival’ prefix ‘ma-‘ denoting chiefly existence, and a stem occurring in Tagalog as ‘lindig’, in Bikol as ‘lindog’ or ‘lindug’.”The change of the first sound of the stem ‘l” to ‘r” is likewise in consonance with a common Indonesian phonetic law, while the conversion of final “g” into the Spanish ending “que” finds an exact parallel in the case of the town Paranaque which in Tagalog is called ‘Palanyag’.

Mt. Malindig rises to 1,157 meters, the highest peak on the island-province of Marinduque. At its summit, a mossy forest grows and a variety of ferns and wild orchids. In the volcano’s foothills are areas where rare species of birds, deer, boar, wildcats, monkeys and other endemic wildlife still survive but in danger of extinction due to the encroachment in their habitation of the local populace. Mt. Malindig has been identified as a protected area.

There is still a long way to go in the area of environmental campaigns that should be conducted in the barangay and municipal level for the conservation, protection and preservation of the biodiversity in Mt. Malindig and its vast foothills. Today, the spectacular view of the southern slopes of Mt. Malindig from Elefante Island, serves as the major attraction of the world-class luxury resort, Bellarocca Island Resort and Spa located on the said small island.

Malindig is considered a potentially active volcano, in part because of the existence of the sulfuric springs of Malbog.  There is no record of its last eruption. The volcano’s unique location at the heart of the Southern Tagalog region creates a unique panorama that encompasses Mindoro, Verde Island, Southern Luzon, all the way to Bicol and Burias Island.

Mt. Malindig was named Mt. Marlanga by the Americans during the American Period in the Philippines but this has been changed back to the original name of Mt. Malindig. It has been the subject of folklore, (Legend of Marin and Duque), and has inspired the creation of songs (“Malindig Foxtrot” by Ramon Madrigal) and contemporary dance-dramas (“Mara Unduk” by Eli Obligacion). Years back, a local school-based (Marinduque Victorians College), street festival, “Malindug Festival”, was also held in Buenavista to raise awareness on the need to preserve and protect Mt. Malindig’s remaining biodiversity. 

Glimpses of Marinduque culture with Mara Unduk from 4:42

Marinduque case vs Placer Dome/Barrick Gold

Legal counsel Walter J. Scott

A month after the SP issued Resolution No. 264 in. 2005, authorizing Gov. Carmencita Reyes to enter into a special outside appointment and engagement contract with legal counsel Walter J. Scott on the lawsuit against Placer Dome, Inc., the same SP amended the said Resolution through Res. No. 306 s. 2005, lifting the cap imposed on the maximum reimbursable amount of the outside legal counsel.

So, the board members at that time changed their minds and found it sensible and fair to lift the cap as it would “give Placerdome (sic) an undue leverage by pushing the team of lawyers to exhaust all its resources to the detriment and disadvantage of the province of Marinduque; and further diminish the momentum and enthusiasm of the lawyers who will be part of the case”.

Resources.

Then there’s that much ballyhooed $12 million escrow supposed to have been deposited by Placer Dome “in a bank in Hongkong known only to select government and Marcopper officials”, according to board member Allan Nepomuceno. Read.  But he said then that government authorities had to” work double time” because even if authorities had agreed that the repair of Marcopper’s Makulapnit Dam that was in “imminent danger of collapsing” was to be funded by the escrow money, DENR engineer Mike Cabalda stated during the meeting “that the escrow fund is about to expire next year (2007)".

On March 25, 2007, the Philippine Daily Inquirer ran an article ('Marinduque dad unhappy over pace of suit vs mining firm'), on the contract with the U.S. lawyer who “will be paid 10 percent of the first $15 million recovered, with reimbursement of expenses from the first $15 million not to exceed $500,000 to 40 percent of the next $35 million of recovery or 33 percent of any recovery above $50 million.” Among others, the article also stated that if the counsel withdraws for cause, “he will be entitled to reimbursement of expenses and costs he advanced from any recovery and payment of the contingent fees from any recovery attributed to counsel’s efforts prior to withdrawal and 20 percent of any other and further recovery thereafter”.

Provincial board member Mel Go at that time also said that the stipulated compensation package “was detrimental to the province because Scott was able to persuade the provincial government to attach to the contract the $15 million escrow fund deposited in 2001 by Placer Dome in a financial institution intended for the rehabilitation of the Boac River”, the PDI article stated.

“With the compensation provisions of the contract, Scott is already assured of getting 10 percent from the $15 million escrow fund which is already in place at the time that he signed the agreement to represent the province. That fund is intended for the rehabilitation of the river and should not be included in the contract at all,” Go continued.

No one seems to be talking now about the fate or status of that $12 million escrow originally intended for clean up of the Boac River, nor anyone further probed the propriety or legality of attaching the escrow to the contract with the lawyer, if true, as stated in the said article. 

Secrets, then stunning surprises next, just like in the old days?

The claim for damages to the people of Marinduque and ecosystems of Boac and Mogpog Rivers, Calancan Bay and coastal areas

It's the Marcopper minesite, folks!

And so it goes. On June 24, 2005, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Marinduque passed Resolution No. 264 s. 2005, authorizing Governor Carmencita O. Reyes to enter into a Special Outside Appointment and Engagement Contract with legal counsel Walter J. Scott on the lawsuit against Placer Dome, Inc. to be filed in a country where jurisdiction can be had for the damage it caused to the people of Marinduque and the province’s ecosystems, “specifically the Boac and Mogpog Rivers, Calancan Bay and the surrounding coastal areas.”

The authorization was subject to the following conditions:

1  " Pursuant to the authority conferred by this resolution the provincial Governor shall forthwith cause the appointment and sign the contract of engagement of the services of outside counsel, in the person of Atty. Walter J. Scott and to exercise such powers and perform such acts as are incidental and necessary for the accomplishment of the objectives and purposes for which this authority is intended;

2.  The appointment and engagement of the services of the herein outside counsel for the remuneration of his services shall be dependent upon successful litigation of the case or recoveries as defined in the contract of engagement, subject to the following percentage sharing:

a)      1^st $15 Million             - 10% plus reimbursement of not more than $500,000.00

b)      Next $35 Million       - 40% plus reimbursement of not more than $ 1,000,000.00

c)       $50 Million and above – 33% plus reimbursement of not more than $ 1,500,000.00;

3. The Office of the Provincial Governor shall upon signing by the parties of the appointment and engagement contract of special outside counsel referred to above, submit the same to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for legislative concurrence.

    

  4.  Any amendment or modifications of the terms and conditions of the signed agreement shall only be affected by mutual agreement of the parties thereto, subject to the ratification of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan."

From 2007 to 2010.

The case against Placer Dome filed in 2005, was removed to U.S. District Court at the request of Placer Dome. Then U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval dismissed the case in June 2007, citing an improper choice of forum or court. Read

In late September 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the District Court decision dismissing the case in favor of Canada on forum non conveniens grounds. The defendants moved for a reconsideration of that ruling by the judicial panel that had decided it and the request for reconsideration was denied.  The case was returned to the Nevada state court where it was originally filed. Read

In 2010 the Sangguniang Panlalawigan passed Resolution No. 775 series 2010 – Resolution of consent to the continued representation of the Province of Marinduque by the Diamond McCarthy LLP, Suell & Wilmer LLP and Zambrano & Gruba Law Office in the case filed by the province against Barrick Gold Corporation and Placer Dome, Inc. in the Nevada State Court. In relation to this, then provincial administrator, J. Roberto Abling, sent a formal letter, May 20, 2010, to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan with the following queries, to wit:

Query from Carrion administration ignored?

1.   "1.  Is there an original contract/agreement between the Provincial Government and Diamond-McCarthy LLP, Snell & Wilmer LLP and Zambrano & Gruba Law Office covering the proposed legal services?

2.   "2.  If there is such a contract, who were the signatories? Better yet, can the Office of the Governor be furnished a certified copy of such a contract/agreement?

3.   "3.  What are the obligations of the Provincial Government financially and otherwise if we were to extend their service?

4.   "4.  Is there an SP resolution authorizing/creating the SP Liaison Committee as mentioned in the fax letter of Mr. James D. McCarthy? If so, can the Office of the Governor be furnished a certified copy?"

Questions that apparently remained unanswered by the SP during the term of Gov. Bong Carrion, probably all in the name of ‘confidentiality’. So was Carrion also kept in the dark? But the so-called SP Liaison Committee stated in No. 4, above may never have been authorized or created by the SP to act as such in the first place. 

For why would certain board members who’ve assumed that liaison role feel strongly that they are not compelled to inform the Sangguniang Panlalawigan as a legislative body on matters about the Nevada case that are of critical importance to the people of Marinduque. 

Board Member Mel Go and Vice-Governor Antonio Uy, Jr. 

So it goes. There appears to be wailing, gnashing of teeth and shooting of arrows among them, some Marcopper stakeholders now. A board member (Mel Go), declared in a recent Barrick Gold open forum in Marinduque: "We have been kept in the dark!"

We may yet also uncover the probability, given the manner by which the Marcopper Mining Disaster has been handled all these years, that the signed Agreement between the Provincial Government of Marinduque and the lawyers concerned may never have been ratified by the SP, as expressly stated in Resolution No. 264 s. 2005 authorizing the governor to enter into that agreement. That's in view of the seeming inability of the SP or Secretariat to respond to official letters as stated above.

See previous post: Keeping Marinduquenos in the dark

Miriam Celine Miciano is among UP''s and Ateneo's creme de la creme this year

Miriam Celine J. Miciano

Warm congratulations to Miriam Celine J. Miciano! She'll be graduating from the Marinduque National High School next month but is already making waves in small town Boac where she lives. Miriam is an awardee of the Oblation Scholarship from the University of the Philippines. This scholarship is a special recognition to the top 50 passers of the UP College Admission Test, a select few constituting less than 0.4% of the 12,732 who qualified for admission to UP this year. (75,000 applicants took the country's most competitive college entrance exam).

But Miriam also took the College Entrance test at the Ateneo de Manila University and was, likewise, chosen to receive the Ateneo Freshman Merit Scholarship that includes a grant of full tuition and fees for any college degree. Next question is which school will be her choice..

Miriam is a daughter of proud parents, Edwin S. Miciano, Boac MTC Judge and Celeste Miciano of the DTI Marinduque Office. She is the third of four children. 

Keeping Marinduquenos in the dark

Marcopper photo attributed to Catherine Coumans

We, Marinduquenos, should never forget that Marcopper Mining Corporation never paid property taxes to the Provincial Government of Marinduque from the time they operated the mines in 1969 up to the time the mine closed down in 1996, due to the environmental disaster that transpired then. Recent estimate of tax obligations to the province of Marinduque now amounts to approximately Php 1-Billion (ca $25-million). Read

A year after the accident, Placer Dome sold all shares and by 1999 the large cleanup project on their hands brought about by the disaster would cost about $60-million (Coumans 1999). That does not include estimates for the repair of the abandoned earth dams that continue to pose threats to lives and property, estimates for damages caused the ecosystems of Mogpog River, Calancan Bay and affected coastal areas. Neither does it include estimates for just compensation for Marinduquenos in general, nor for those filed by various claimants in Marinduque and Manila courts for damages caused by the pollution of Mogpog River and Calancan Bay.

There was that $12-million in escrow that was supposed to have been deposited by Placer Dome in a bank in Hongkong “known only to select government and Marcopper officials”. Read. The said money was supposed to “expire” by 2007, and nothing has been disclosed about the fate of those funds since then.

But really, Marcopper’s operation has been characterized by a long history of keeping secret  from the people of Marinduque, matters of critical importance to them. Previous attempts to sit down to pinpoint responsibilities through Congressional inquiries in those years merely confirmed the lingering suspicion in people’s minds that nothing, nothing positive could come out of a case that has been characterized by extreme confidentiality. If at all, only more shock and disbelief could possibly ensue.

So, this non-disclosure game and treachery that haunt us till now that, absolutely have kept us, Marinduquenos, in the dark on issues pertaining to this 17-year old problem.

Of Barrick Gold, Marcopper and Nevada

Marcopper mine site, Sta. Cruz, Marinduque

Barrick Gold fined for the release of toxic chemicals in Nevada

But what has Barrick Gold got to do with Marinduque, you might ask? Barrick Gold Corporation is the gold mining company that acquired Canada’s Placer Dome in 2006. Placer Dome co-owned and managed Marcopper Mining Corporation. In 1996 millions of tons of mine waste leaked into the 26-km long Boac River, in what came to be known as the “Marcopper Mining Disaster” that brought national and international attention to Marinduque.

Barrick Gold was then included as defendant in a case filed by the Provincial Government of Marinduque in 2005, in Nevada, closer to Barrick’s home. In 2009, an appeal judge overturned Barrick’s attempt to have the case moved to a U.S. federal court and ordered the case to be heard in a district court in Nevada.

Also in 2009, Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada, a mining watchdog group, testified before the committee on foreign affairs and international development in the House of Commons regarding a bill. The bill would impose sanctions on Canadian resource companies that violate good governance and environmental standards.

Coumans focused much of her presentation on the Marinduque case. “All the cases we are currently working on now have the same elements (as Marinduque) – environmental devastation, human rights abuses, lack of recourse, weak governance and corruption,” Coumans said. Read

Marcopper's Tapian Pit

Reno, Nevada (AP) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered three northern Nevada gold mines to pay a total of $618,000 for failing to report the release of toxic chemicals, including cyanide, lead and mercury from 2005-08.

All three mines are subsidiaries of the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corp. – Barrick Cortez Inc.’s Cortez Gold Mine near Crescent Valley, Barrick Gold US Inc.’s Ruby Hill Gold Mine near Eureka and Homestake Mining Co.’s Bald Mountain Gold Mine near the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

The three agreed to pay a total of $278,000 in fines and spend an additional $340,000 on an environmentally beneficial project as part of a settlement for allegedly underestimating reports of their toxic release inventory required under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, EPA officials said.

“Cyanide, lead and mercury used at these mines have the potential to pose a health threat,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest Region based in San Francisco.

“We insist on accurate reporting of chemical releases so that citizens have a clear idea of the risk from the facilities near their communities,” he said. He added there is no evidence to suggest that the violations posed any immediate danger to workers at the facilities or neighboring communities…

Barrick officials said EPA disputed fewer than 40 of the 330 related reports the companies filed during the time period. “Barrick diasagrees with EPA’s position and the company’s operations have complied in good faith with all requirements of annual TRI reporting since 1998,” said Louis Schack, director of communications for barrack Gold of North American based in Salt lake City, Utah.

“Nonetheless, to achieve regulatory certainty regarding its TRI obligations, Barrick has agreed to enter into a settlement agreement with EPA,” he said Wednesday.

After Pope's shocking announcement, lightning struck St. Peter's dome - not once but twice!

CNN reported this morning that just hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his decision to retire from the papacy, lightning struck the St. Peter's dome at the Vatican, above photo. The Pope made the shocking decision to quit the papacy because of his deteriorating health. Then lightning touched the dome of one of the holiest Catholic churches.

Benedict announced his resignation in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals, calling it "a decision of great importance for the life of the church."

Meanwhile, a Filipino CNN iReporter Rummel Pinera says Benedict's decision to resign should prompt wider debate about how long pontiffs should serve. "I believe that a pope should have a term limit or be given the privilege to resign from office, if he can't do his various duties effectively anymore due to health reasons or old age." he said.

Lightning struck, NOT ONCE, BUT TWICE!

The above photo was caught on camera by AFP photographer Filippo Monteforte. He said "I took the picture from St. Peter's Square while sheltered by the columns. It was icy cold and raining sheets. When the storm started, I thought that lightning might strike the rod... The first bolt was huge and lit up the sky, but unfortunately I missed it. I had better luck the second time...", he said

Diving in Marinduque with LAV - Cong. Lord Allan Velasco

Marinduque is among the top dive destinations in the country. Being in the periphery of the Verde Island Passage Marine Corridor teeming with concentrations of marine biodiversity, there are a lot of unexplored sections of coral reefs, steep walls and underwater canyons, some of which are shown being explored by Cong. Lord Allan Velasco in this video. 

One of the more popularly-known divesites around the island of Marinduque is Baltazar Island off Gasan, shown here.

Congressional bet hinarang sa COMELEC

Congressional bet hinarang sa Comelec

Repost from ABANTE, Feb. 7, 2013

Hiniling sa Comelec na kanselahin ang certificate of candidacy (CO) ng isang congressional candidate sa Marinduque dahil sa citizenship nito.

Sa dokumentong isinampa sa Comelec ni Joseph S.B. Tan, botante sa bayan  ng Torrijos, sinabi nito na American citizen umano ang kadidatong si Regina Ongsiako Reyes.

Ayon kay Tan, ang kandidatura ni Reyes ay paglabag sa Section 6, Article VI ng Konstitusyon at Section 74 ng Omnibus Election Code (OEC).

Dapat umanong kanselahin ang COC ni Reyes dahil nakakuha ito ng US citizenship noong 2005 at naisyuhan ng US passport No. 306278853, kung saan inaamin nito na siya ay citizen ng Amerika.

“Based on the certification issued by Acting Chief Simeon L. Sanchez of the Verification and Certification unit  of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) dated January 22, 2013, the records of the bureau reveal that Reyes first used her US passport on October 14, 2005 when she left the Philippines and she used said passport several times up to June 30, 2012 when she left the country fro the US,” ani Tan.

Hindi rin naman umano nag-apply ng dual citizenship si Reyes.

Kinuwestyon din ni Tan ang ‘single’ entry sa civil status ni Reyes dahil kasal umano ito, gayundin ang birth date ng huli kung saan idineklara nito ‘under oath’ na ipinanganak siya noong June 3, 1964, ngunit sa public records ay July 3, 1959.

LP Congress bet mum on disqualification case

Repost from Philippine Dailiy Inquirer

LP Congress bet mum on disqualification case (really 'Cancellation of COC' - ejo)

By Gerald Gene R. Querubin
Inquirer Southern Luzon

9:42 pm | Sunday, February 10th, 2013

 0 42 39

SANTA CRUZ, Marinduque— The camp of lawyer Regina O. Reyes, Liberal Party (LP) candidate for representative of Marinduque, remained mum on a disqualification case filed against her in the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Joseph Socorro Tan, a registered voter of Torrijos, Marinduque, petitioned the Comelec to disqualify Reyes for falsely stating her age in her certificate of candidacy (COC) as June 3, l964, when some pertinent records showed her birth date as July 8, 1959, while others stated that she was born on July 3, 1960.

Tan alleged that Reyes also falsely stated in her COC that she is single when she is allegedly married to a Batangas solon. The petitioner added that Reyes failed to renounce her American citizenship, making her both a Filipino and American citizen when she filed her COC.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer tried to get in touch with Reyes’ mother, Gov. Carmencita Reyes, head of the LP in Marinduque, and Toll Regulatory Board executive director, lawyer Edmund Reyes Jr., Reyes’ brother, for comment, but calls and text messages remained unanswered.

Provincial Board Member Alan Nepomuceno, LP mayoral candidate in the capital town of Boac, when asked for comment, merely said: “The Comelec has jurisdiction over disqualification cases.”

“Marinduque Rising” blogger Eli Obligacion, in his Facebook account, posted that from October last year to February this year, Reyes has not commented on the issue of citizenship raised against her. “Usually silence means admission,” he said.

Obligacion is a tourism consultant of Reyes’ political rival and incumbent Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco.

In the last 35 years, as Marinduque consistently remained a fourth-class province, the province’s political landscape has been dominated by one family—the Reyes clan.

Its matriarch, Carmencita Reyes, has served under six presidents from strongman Ferdinand Marcos to President Aquino at present. The wife of former Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Edmundo Reyes Sr., she started as an assemblywoman in the Marcos parliament from 1978 until 1986.

She also served as representative of the province’s lone district from 1987 to 1998. Carmencita ran and won as governor for three terms, from 1998 to 2007. She ran anew and won as representative of the lone district, from 2007 to 2010.

Her son, Edmund Reyes Jr., replaced her as representative from 1998 to 2007.


Related story: DQ case filed vs House bet who declared younger age

Capitol's PNB Loan 'sinister measure' further opposed

Previous post is about DOTC's approval of a grant for the development of the Marinduque Airport, the same project that the Provincial Government of Marinduque under Gov. Carmencita O. Reyes appears bent on pursuing. This is occuring inspite of prior statements already made by the DOTC and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) confirming allocation of appropriate grants to complete the said airport. Atty. Benjo R. Buenviaje of Sta. Cruz, Marinduque made a response on the article through his facebook account.

Atty. Buenviaje

Atty. Buenviaje serves as legal counsel on the case for Marinduque First Saturday Movers, Inc. an NGO at the forefront of moves to oppose the 'flip-flopping resolutions' issued by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to justify the loan. Buenviaje, in his facebook account posted his comment, reproduced below with some friend-comments.

PNB had earlier given the provincial government up to December 31, 2012 to contract the said term loan for the specified amount of P300-Million or twice the SP approved amount of P300-Million. With three months before the elections in May, the loan proposal has been resurrected by the Reyes administration. In his facebook account Buenviaje states that 'the group already initiated an injunction case against the provincial government and the PNB before the Regional Trial Court of Marinduque. 

"The case became even stronger when the court recently granted my motion to have the mayors of Sta. Cruz, Boac, Gasan and Buenavista be impleaded as party plaintiffs", Buenviaje stated in his post.     

Benjo Recella Buenviaje shared a link.

Friday

WHY? BAKIT BA GIGIL NA GIGIL ANG GOBYERNONG ITO NA ITULOY ANG PAGUTANG NA YAN? THE MOVERS, THE 1465 REFERENDUM PETITIONERS, AND THE MAYORS OF STA CRUZ, BOAC, GASAN AND BUENAVISTA WILL NOT GIVE UP. WE WILL OPPOSE THIS SINISTER MEASURE "DOWN TO THE LAST DROP OF OUR BLOOD".

DOTC OKs grant for Marinduque Airport but Capitol still pushing for loan for same project despite pr

nblo.gs

With three months to go before the national and local elections, and even as the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) has approved a P100-M grant for airports that include the Marinduque Airport (see article below), the administration of Gov. Carmencita O. Reyes is still pushing fo

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• You, Roby Montellano, Macrina Anis and 10 others like this.
• 

  Joselito Restar Flores keep goin idol atty.

  Friday at 1:56pm · Like · 1
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  Benjo Recella Buenviaje No letting up, Joselito Restar Flores Josel. With all you people behind, we will not waver nor blink an eye. Sana lang tandaan natin ang mga lider nating sumuporta sa lintek na resolusyong ito.

  Friday at 2:12pm · Like · 3
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  Trixie Pelaez Good luck po: don't let this one ruin d future of our beautiful Island!

  Saturday at 7:29am via mobile · Like · 1
• 

  Tats Collantes The more we voice out, the more kababayan will shout for justice.

  Saturday at 11:51am · Like · 1
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  Rose Ribleza Why not involve the media? Big time media......... Start the fire... make it big..... Make it real controversial to media... to politicians in Manila. Get everyone's attention.

  Saturday at 5:00pm · Like · 1
• 

  Trixie Pelaez Atty my nephew is Ombudsman but I think he got promoted to a more higher position. Maybe he can help? His name is Atty. Vladmir Pelaez. His wife is also an Ombudsman. Good luck po: good morning! Have a Blessed Sunday to u & lvd ones!

  Saturday at 11:35pm via mobile · Like
• 

  Trixie Pelaez We have no Ombudsman over here & I really don't know exactly what's their job descriptions are. I just want to help..all I've heard is that Vladmir had helped several of our kbbayans already. If he can't do it, he has other pple who can do it.. I wish we can help! Good luck Atty! God blessings to all! Good morning po:

  Yesterday at 5:12am via mobile · Like
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  Benjo Recella Buenviaje Thanks for the sound advises Rose Ribleza Rose andTrixie Pelaez. We already initiated an injunction case against the provincial gov't and the pnb before the regional trial court of marinduque. The case became even stronger when the court recently granted my motion to have the mayors of sta. cruz, boac, gasan and buenavista be impleaded as party plaintiffs. While the court did not extend the temporary restraining order it earlier granted, the joining of the 4 mayors, together with the actual filing of a direct action of the people via the referendum process with the comelec, served a strong notice to the pnb that their money could be in a very big trouble if they insist on proceeding with the loan transaction while these cases are pending. These are legal maneuvers intended to gain harder impact with least cost. I'd like to have a detailed discussion of this matter with you but I am now barred by what we term in law as the rule on sub judice. Be that as it may, rest assured that there's no letting up and we'll finish the job come what may. I know God will bless us because we are on the side of what is good and just.

  Yesterday at 7:30am · Like · 2
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  Trixie Pelaez Thank you po for sharing d development of this case. Good job Atty! God will not allow this thing to pass because it's not going to benefit our province. Good luck for d hard work Atty! You will be in our prayers as always! You're doing such a wonderful job already & you are not even in d office yet! I can only imagine how Marinduque will be in few yrs in d hands of our future good officials! Hats off to you Atty! How clever can you be! No wonder you are a lawyer. The future of Marinduquenos! Mabuhay ka Atty!

  Yesterday at 7:45am via mobile · Like · 1
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  Rose Ribleza Good job! See you soon........

  18 hours ago · Like