Pet Melliza

Legaspi Miagao town, 40 km. south of Iloilo City, has inked a deal with the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) to erect a Triple A abattoir which, when done, will enable the facility to produce frozen choiced cuts that are eligible for export overseas. Councilor Rodolfo Legaspi II did not state the cost of the abattoir to be built outside the poblacion but said Mayor Macario Napulan reported the municipality is erecting one funded by the NMIS. He did not say though whether the budget would be a grant or a soft-term loan from the national government agency. An NMIS-accredited triple-A abattoir has complied with world standards on safety, hygiene and sanitation, and quality of meat  processed, among others. For one, the facility within and its holding bay outside (for animals awaiting processing) is hygienic, the solid and liquid wastes treated in septic tank, with clean running taps, and conveyor chain where the carcasses are suspended on air while processed. The NMIS...

Iloilo City March 2, 2015 The Army has deployed its special operations team in Iloilo City purportedly to support the civilian government eradicate poverty. The two-week deployment of the unit from the 82 nd Batallion though has ignited a furor among militant organizations, and also prompted the city council to call for a public hearing. The promised goal of the Army: community development Kgd. Joshua Alim, chair of the committed on peace and order, said he was “alarmed” by the “unannounced arrival” of the Army contingent that made its presence felt in six economically blighted barangays. Members of the local Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan – Panay) and the human rights group Karapatan – Panay sent a delegation at the public hearing held this morning. Some of their members though staged a rally near Iloilo City Hall denouncing the “militarization” of the city. This writer was unable to cover the entire proceeding nor the rally but it already look...

Sumagaysay PPA port manager for Panay and Guimaras, Rosenda Sumagaysay says the construction of a mall with a ferry terminal at the Fort San Pedro area, is in full swing despite opposition to the privatization scheme that exposes government and taxpayers at the receiving end. Sumagaysay however, denies the PPA has a hand on the mall with a ferry terminal being built on a 1.8 ha. prime property that government owns. PPA used to administer the property before, the area called "Rotary Park" where small businesses thrived. Government spent millions clearing the area by relocating more than 50 stalls and houses. In 2010, newly installed President Benigno Aquino issued a proclamation handing over ownership of the property to the city government. The DOTC, mother department of the PPA, spent P125M to erect a berthing and landing area for small crafts. However, after completing the job, it issued a waver in favor of Double Dragon empowering the latter to manage it and charge...

Miagao townhall, more elegant than before Ginadumili ra, Bernardo, kang Republic Act 9184 nga pahat-pahaton ang sangka infra project sa tig-50 mil pesos o mas manubo pa, lamang makapaiway sa public bidding. Kag sagad kamo, Bernardo, pati-pati sa pasarig kang iban hay duro ron nagburosong sa pasarig. RA 9184 prohibits splitting of a single infra-project into segments of P50T or less each just to avoid public biddings. Miagao townhall from a distance On the other hand, relying to much on promises might end you up holding an empty bag. Miagao's P5 M budget for a new abattoir, enacted by its sangguniang bayan in early 2013 has been converted to cash, oppps, into fragments of a single project implemented sans public bidding. That project is now the magnificent landscape replete with a statue on a rotunda fronting the townhall. RA 9184 requires a public bidding for projects or procurements above P50T but smart apparatchiks can do away with the public ...

Women transient vendors picket Miagao town hall. (web photo) The public market of Miagao, Iloilo is one of its kind in the whole of   Yrong-Yrong Province. Miagao is the only one In Yrong-Yrong which operates an abattoir right in the heart of its public market in violation of PD 856 or the Sanitation Code of the Philippines which requires that slaughterhouses must be built at least 25 meters from residences, government offices, places of worship, restaurants and public markets, among others. The outgoing administration of Mayor Julieta in 2013 allotted P4.4 M to erect a new abattoir outside the poblacion. The succeeding rulers led by MakNapul forgot to implement it for reason known only to them. Further, Miagao's public market is the only one in Yrong-Yrong running into deficits. While other public markets are net earners for their LGUs, Miagao's collections for 2014 is in the red of almost negative P1 M. Ay, andut ra, Bernardo, haw? The town sp...

Miagao, Iloilo March 9, 2015 "Women hold half the sky" That statement, attributed to Ho Chi Minh and echoed by Mao as well as other revolutionaries in the world, point to one fact: there can be, not just development but life itself, without women. Ambulant vendors, all women, picket the townhall of Miagao today denouncing the "harassments" they suffered in the hands of town officials. They wave flags and placards indicating they are members of the militant women's organization Gabriela. The women are not just vendors plying their wares on foot to earn their keeps. They sell fresh and dried fish, fruits and vegetables, among others, to reach homes, thus serving fellow housekeepers (who are mostly women) who are constrained to go to the public market. They are wage earners whose hands feed families. These are not just ambulant vendors, these are persons, angry women who are defending life by mounting a protest against the powers-that-be out to stif...

Miagao Church (web photo) Ay abaw, Bernardo, ang merkado ta nahimo ron nga "lagong kapital of Yrong-Yrong"! Diin timo kakita kang tindahan nga gasirbe man nga irihawan? Sa banwa ta, eh. Ang iban tana nga banwa ang andang slaughterhouse sa sagwa poblacion kag may kaugalingon nga septic tank amo nga gatago kang solid kag liquid nga higku.  Dyan sa banwa ta tana, ang higku kang irihawan garinapta lang sulod kang tinda; ang liquid wastes ginapailig lang sa kanal kang banwa. Amo ran nga pagsampot mo sa tinda, ang una nga gasumalang kanimo amo ang gaaislngaw nga bahu kag panong kang mga lagong nga gabagrong. Ang mga tendero tlad sa sulod kang tinda gaugot hay naggamay dlang gasurolod agud mangompra tinda nanda nanda. Luwas nga may arkabala sanda nga ginabaydan, may arkila pa sa pwesto sanda ginabaydan. Naglala pa gid hi-ul nanda hay gin-expand ang tinda sa gwa, sa sidewalk kag dalan. Rigto ron gaparanong mga bumalakal hay gamay lang tana bahu kag lagong ang gasamong...

Gerardo & Julieta Flores (web photo) Maan lang tinyo dyan, Bernardo kag Gerardo! Overheard off-the-record interview by Datu Ibra and Kamlon. DI & K: Bati ko, gub, mabunggo kanimo si O____ sa 2016? A_____: Padalagana, ha ha ha. Bisan 'sawa kag kabataan n'a mabulig pa kanakon pangampanya kun matabo. DI & K: Ngaa, gub, haw? A_____: Nag-istorya kanakon 'sawa na. Gaturo luha na, mangayo nga mag-leave anay tana para magpabugnaw. Nagtuad tana nga nadiskubrehan nanda nga ang deposito nanda nga P47 M sa sangka bangko ubos ginpangwidraw ni O____. Maan kun diin ni pare gin-gasto ato nga kwarta kay wara gid tana katiraw ang 'sawa kag mga kabataan. ******************************** Lawid pa daad interview nanda pero put-an ta lang rigya. Aton-aton lang dya,m ha? Hay off-the-record dya nga interview. Ay maan gid lang tinyo rigyan sa primero, Bernardo kag Gerardo!