Surigao Norte lawmakers to back Arroyo as House Speaker
May 21, 2010SURIGAO CITY — Two Surigao del Norte congressmen-elect have vowed to support any move to elect outgoing President and incoming Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as House Speaker in the 15th Congress.
In separate media briefings after they were proclaimed winners in the recently concluded elections, Rep. Guillermo Romarate Jr. (second district) and Rep. Francisco Matugas (first district) expressed all-out support for Mrs. Arroyo should she decide to gun for the House’s top post.
In an interview with reporters at his residence in Tubod town in Surigao del Norte, Romarate said he will fully support an Arroyo bid for the top post in the House.
Romarate claimed Mrs. Arroyo can easily get support from all seven elected lawmakers in the Caraga Region, saying all newly elected House representatives in the region are from the ruling party Lakas-Kampi.
“All I know 86 newly elected congressmen come from Lakas-Kampi and the number is increasing. With this trend, our party Lakas is expected to dominate once again the lower house and of course expected to support congresswoman-elect Arroyo to be House Speaker in the 15th Congress,” Romarate said.
In separate interview at his residence, Matugas also declared all-out support for Mrs. Arroyo should she decide to seek the House speakership.
“She is most qualified, as of now I think her priority is to solidify further our party Lakas-Kampi as she already assumed the Lakas party leadership recently. Then after this solidification process, we will discuss our support for her,” Matugas said.
For the first time in Surigao del Norte’s political history, a single political party dominated all top elective posts — that is from district representatives, governors, vice governors, all municipal mayors and vice mayors, including the Surigao City mayor and vice mayor. They all come from Partido Padajon Surigao-Lakas-Kampi.
On the other hand, Mrs. Arroyo won a landslide victory (169,109 votes), or about 84.23 vote percentage in the final official Commission on Elections (Comelec) count, while rival Liberal Party bet Adonis Simpao only got 20,922 votes or about 10.42 vote percentage in Pampanga’s second congressional district. — GMANews.TV (more…)
Airport upgrade incomplete
SURIGAO CITY — An airport improvement project in Siargao Island has been inspected by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo but the incomplete facility failed to undergo flight tests.
Eyed to be opened before the Arroyo administration exits on June 30, the P152-million Sayak airport upgrade is broken down into P92 million for rehabilitation works and the rest to be spent for building a 7.4-kilometer road leading to the new airport which Mrs. Arroyo inaugurated during her visit on May 14.
Some facilities of the airport, specifically the airport terminal building and the flight service station, have yet to be completed, reports from local media indicate.
The airport’s runway was extended to accommodate larger aircraft while the apron, turnaround pad, security fence and parking area were also improved. The project is on the Super Regions Program list promised by Mrs. Arroyo to complete before her term ends.
Sayak airport in Dapa town has been servicing small aircraft flying mainly from Mactan airport in Cebu. (more…)
UK turns over electric tricycle to Surigao City
May 19, 2010Representatives of the United Kingdom (UK) turned over an electric tricycle to Surigao City in Mindanao in a bid to promote environment-friendly yet practical forms of public transport.
UK Embassy Climate Change Attaché Angela Ibay handed over keys to the E-trike to Surigao City Mayor Alfonso Casurra during simple turnover ceremonies this week.
Each E-Trike can accommodate about eight people, more than the usual capacity of two-stroke tricycles used in the city.
Switching to the E-Trike will not only reduce carbon emissions but will also contribute to traffic decongestion, the UK embassy said.
Currently, more than 3,000 two-stroke tricycles are operating in Surigao City.
The turnover was part of a project by the Islas Ecology Development Advocacy (ISDA) Foundation to push for an alternative mode of public transport that is environment-friendly and economically viable.
Research by ISDA Foundation showed a setup involving a solar-powered charging station to serve public electric tricycles would be affordable.
The study also encouraged private sector participation in finding practical solutions for climate change mitigation.
In the Philippines, the transport sector is the biggest source of greenhouse gases comprising about 38 percent of emissions, the UK Embassy said.
In Surigao City, the number of two-stroke tricycles is increasing and may add to traffic congestion and noise and air pollution.
On the other hand, the project also seeks to provide tricycle drivers and operators access to credit, which the foundation has done through an arrangement with a rural bank for affordable micro-financing.
ISDA Foundation said the Surigao City Government has already discontinued the renewal of tricycle franchises except for electric tricycles.
It said it hopes this will pave the way for tricycle drivers and operators to make the switch to the E-trike.
The British Embassy earlier donated an E-Trike and a solar charging station to the ISDA Foundation which will be used to demonstrate to local governments and tricycle drivers and operators that going green is not only better for the environment but also economically viable.
“In Europe there is much talk of electric vehicles. Here in the Philippines, that vision is turned into reality. E-Jeepneys are now plying the streets of Makati through their Green Routes. Now we see the introduction of another alternative mode of environmentally friendly and sustainable transport, the Etrike, with its Philippine design, adapted to Philippine conditions, and using renewable energy as a source of electric power,” Ibay said in an article on the UK Embassy website. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV (more…)
2 ex-teachers win as Surigao del Norte governor, top provincial board member
SURIGAO CITY - Two former teachers and retired Department of Education (DepEd) officials emerged victorious, the first, winning Surigao del Norte’s tightly contested Gubernatorial race while the other, topping the number one Provincial Board Member spot in recently concluded automated polls here.
Proclaimed winners by the poll body was former DepEd Regional Director for Caraga Region and Region 8 Dr. Sol Matugas and former DepEd Surigao del Norte District Supervisor Myrna Romarate.
Neophyte Matugas defeated former House of Representative Spice Boy member re-electionist Governor Robert Barbers. Matugas got 111,225 votes while close rival Barbers obtained 109,011 votes.
Romarate occupied the number one slot in the ten-man Provincial Board seats garnering 81,176 votes in the final official poll body count.
Both are considered to be first in the history of Surigao del Norte politics, Matugas being the first woman Surigao del Norte governor while Romarate was the first woman to be elected number one Provincial Board Member in the male-dominated Sanggunian Panlalawigan chamber.
The two ran under local party Padajon Surigao-Lakas-KAMPI.
Matugas told GMANEWS.TV she will prioritize in addressing issues and concerns of the women and child sector particularly on education, heath care, livelihood and women and child abuse problems and the role of women for sustainable development.
Matugas said under her administration the women will play vital roles in the province’s socio-economic development agenda.
For her part, Romarate claimed that aside from issues and concerns of women and child sector that she will help address, she vowed to look into the plight of the senior citizens, environment, and eco-tourism. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV
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ARMM, other provinces won’t get flash cards on time
May 6, 2010
MANILA, Philippines - Problems in the country’s first ever nationwide automated elections continued to mount Thursday as officials confirmed that clustered precincts in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and other provinces may only get compact flash cards for automated voting machines on Election Day itself.
Chairman Jose Melo of the Commission on Elections said more than 30,000 new memory cards have been reconfigured, tested and are ready for deployment. He added that new memory cards were shipped out to Antique, Bohol, Capiz, Guimaras, Abra, Batanes, Quirino, Makati, Parañaque, Marikina, Batangas, and Palawan Wednesday night.
Officials of poll machine supplier Smartmatic-TIM, however, admitted that the reconfigured memory cards might not be able to reach 5% of the country on time due to security and logistical challenges. The worst thing that can happen, according to Smartmatic Asia President Cesar Flores, is that the memory cards will arrive in the polling centers on Election Day itself.
This includes all municipalities in Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Basilan, Maguindanao, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Misamis Occidental, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur. Other places where the flash cards will be delayed are Toboso, Negros Occidental; Divilacan, Maconaco and Palanan in Isabela; Calayan, Cagayan; and Baliguian, Sibuco, Siocon and Sirawai in Zamboanga del Norte.
Flores said delays in the delivery of the flash cards means that the voting machines will not be ready by May 10 since they first have to be tested and sealed. However, the voting process will still continue as stated in the Comelec’s continuity plan.
What will happen is that voters will still fill up their ballots but will not be allowed to insert their ballots into the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines. Instead, the boards of election inspectors will collect the ballots, store them in the ballot box and wait for the new memory cards to arrive.
Upon receipt of the cards, the BEIs need to install them into the PCOS machines, test the machines and seal the memory cards. Once all preliminary procedures are done, the BEIs will feed all accomplished ballots to the machine for automated counting and transmission.
Flores said the new memory cards must be tested first and the machines sealed before they are used for counting and transmission.
Melo ruled out a proposal to revert to a manual count and reiterated that the automated nationwide election will push through as scheduled on May 10. He added that if things still go wrong, the Comelec is prepared for manual elections in 30% of the country and that the necessary forms have been printed and are already on standby. (abs-cbnnews)
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