Bulacan not a haven for criminals

MALOLOS CITY—Criminals has no place in Bulacan, Governor Wilhelmino Alvarado said yesterday as he announced to convene the Provincial Peace and Order Council tomorrow (Monday).

He also reminded local police to intensify operations against criminal elements; while limiting hours in watching telenovelas in their headquarters.

The governor’s statement came after Bulacan journalists along with businessmen nagged him over the rising crime rate in the first two months of the years in the province.

“Bulacan is peace and it is not a haven for criminals,” Alvarado said in his weekly radio program aired over DWSS radio yesterday.

He said that he will convene the PPOC tomorrow (Monday) to assess and address the situation.

“Criminals are getting bold, insulto n a yan gobyerno lalo na sa PNP,” Alvarado said citing the killing of a businesswoman near the capitol compound here in broad daylight.

“They must be stopped, and to do that, there must be team work between local government units and the local police,” he said.

The governor added that order must come first for peace to take place, noting that criminality serves as deterrent to economic progress.

Alvarado also expressed concerned over police inability to solve crimes and added that they should intensify campaign against law less elements, instead of watching telenovelas in their stations.

“I am not banning them from watching TV, because it’s a source of information on whats going on in the world, but they should limit TV hours especially watching telenovelas,” the governor said.

Lawyers hail ex-CJ Puno's appointment on TF Watershed

Former Chief Justice Reynato Puno (2nd from left) with Grace Padaca, former governor of Isabela, and employees of the MWSS led by Adminitrator Gerry Esquivel (4th from left).

MALOLOS CITY—Lawyers and environment advocates in Bulacan hailed recent appointment of former Chief Justice Reynato Puno as legal advisor to Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System’s ((MWSS) newly formed Task Force Five Watersheds (TF5W).

Lawyer Ted Villanueva, chair of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Bulacan chapter said Puno’s appointment is timely.

“It came at a very opportune time when natural disasters are hitting different part so the country,” he said.

Villanueva said the country must not wait for another disaster to happen saying that Puno’s appointment is both active and proactive move.

“We really need to prepare, and the former chief justice new job is a preparation in itself,” he said.

Last week, Puno formally accepted the job as legal advisor to MWSS-TF5W that will initiate the Integrated Watershed Management System (IWMS).

A volunteer job, Puno will get P1 a year salary in establishing a legal framework for the implementation of the IWMS.

“Its about that we have a consolidated law on watershed management, and I agree with the former chief justice because there are overlaps in the laws and some parts of it are archaic already,” said Villanueva who is now actively pushing for the conduct of an environment summit in Bulacan by June this year.

Puno’s appointment was also welcome by Bro. Martin Francisco, the chair of the Sagip Sierra Madre Environmental Society (SSMES); Lawyer Rustico De Belen, head of the Bulacan Environment and Natural Resources Office (BENRO); and Mendel Garcia, the head of the Angat Watershed Area Team (AWAT).

Francisco cited Puno’s accomplishments as Chief Justice including the issuance of the Writ of Kalikasan, and the creation of green court that hears environment related cases.

For his part, De Belen said that Puno is “a true advocate of environmental justice.”

“His court is known for its noble and selfless efforts to protect the environment,” De Belen said.

The former chief justice appointment also open new hopes for Garcia of the AWAT.

He said that Puno should also visit the Angat Dam Watershed which supplies 97 percent of Metro Manila’s potable water needs.

The Angat Dam Watershed is one of the five watersheds that Puno and members of the TF5W is aiming to protect.

The others are the Umiray Watershed, La Mesa Watershed, Ipo Watershed and the Marikina Watershed.

In an interview last week, Puno said that protection of all five watersheds is critical as far as securing potable water supply for Metro manila is concerned.

He said that water is now a national concern and the Aquino administration do not want a repeat of water rationing incidents in Metro Manila in the past years.  (Dino Balabo)

Irrigating rice-based crops: The low-cost way

The farming circle has probably reached the tipping point where the word “irrigation” is almost synonymous to pulling off wads of cash. Not in anyone’s wildest imagination could it be equated to being low cost.

But then, that is probably why we need to imagine further. Irrigation can be low cost as the PhilRice researchers based in Batac, Ilocos Norte would prove.

With the rather dry environment, water is indeed a scarce resource in Batac. Rain comes almost only in June to November—hardly enough to irrigate the crops planted in the province. Hence, the challenge is to do more with literally “less.”

Engr. Noel Ganotisi, Engr. Romel Batuac, and Dr. Reynaldo Castro are developing the low cost drip irrigation system (LDIS) for rice-based high value crops such as bitter gourd. The ultimate aim is to meet the water requirements of the crops despite water issues.

The team first had an experiment in the station, which ran for 6 months, from January to June 2010 on a 250 sqm plot of bitter gourd. The experiment endeavoured to use locally available materials so anyone could replicate the technology.

“Except for the dripper, all materials are available in Batac,” Ganotisi said.

The LDIS used plastic drum, control valves, filter, mainline and manifold, and lateral lines (moldex hose).

Ganotisi likewise highlighted that LDIS only required about PhP 30,000, 53 to 72% lower than the commercial irrigation dripping system for 1,000 sqm plot!

When it comes to performance, the LDIS also showed impressive results. Ganotisi and his team reported 55% of saved water using LDIS – an amount enough to irrigate other crops, something that could have just been wasted if conventional furrow irrigation was used.

Application efficiency of LDIS also showed favorable results. Application efficiency is the percentage ratio between the volume of water beneficially used by the crop and the volume of water delivered to the area. In simpler terms, it speaks of how efficiently the water was used.

“It’s indeed very efficient. This can be explained by the fact that water was applied “at the root zone of the bitter gourd,” Ganotisi said. This way, less water is applied “unlike in furrow irrigation where wider area is irrigated since more water is needed to run in furrows. Even those spaces that do not need to be wetted are irrigated when using furrow method”.

Consequently, the team reported that LDIS-irrigated bitter gourd produced slightly higher marketable fruits (78.62%) than those irrigated using conventional furrow irrigation (77.02%). Additionally, a return on investment of 85% over a one year period was reported.

Trying it out on field

After the station testing, the team started the on-site trial in Currimao, Ilocos Norte. While still months away from harvest, the farmer-cooperator could already enumerate a couple of advantages in using LDIS.

“This is user-friendly for women and for aging farmers. Once the containers are filled, I only need to turn on and off the drippers and all’s done! I can now focus on my other tasks,” said Agnes Asuncion, 51. Agnes is into making soaps, something she learned from a DOST training.

Eduardo Asuncion, 67, Agnes’s husband, said that setting up was likewise easy. He said that he could follow what Engr. Ganotisi and his team taught him.

During the interview, the couple added that the technology is apt for upland and rainfed areas. They also attested that the conventional method of irrigating their crops was laborious.

“The conventional method was a bit tedious, and aging farmers will certainly have issues with it,” Agnes said.

At a time when the challenge is to make do with scarce resources, innovations as this should be encouraged. What’s more, this is an inexpensive innovation that farmers can very well replicate in their own farm— another manifestation of the favourite mantra of innovators: the more brains you use, the lesser money you will need.

The paper won the third best paper award during the 61^st PSAE Annual National Convention and 9th International Agricultural Engineering Conference and Exhibition in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte on April 25-29, 2011.

DA-PhilRice is a government-owned and –controlled corporation that aims at developing high-yielding, cost-reducing, and environment-friendly technologies so farmers can produce enough rice for all Filipinos.

For more information, please visit or contact DA-PhilRice at Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija with telephone number (044) 456-0285 loc 511/512 or any PhilRice station near you. You may also visit their website at www.philrice.gov.ph or text your questions to 0920-911-1398. (Jaime A. Manalo IV)

Alarmed over rising crimes, Governor to convene PPOC on Monday

MALOLOS CITY—Due to increasing crime incidents in Bulacan, Governor Wilhelmino Alvarado vowed to convene the Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC) on Monday, March 5.

This came after local residents, including businessmen expressed alarm over the rash of violent crimes in the province since the last week of January.

The crimes includes the killing of a businesswoman in Paombong town, kidnapping of a family in Meycauayan City, assassination attempt on a mayors aspirant in San Miguel town that resulted to the death of his two companions, robbery at Resureccion Panswhop in Balagtas town and at Pamana Cooperative in Malolos City.

Other crimes include killing of a lawyer in San Jose Del Monte City; a police officer in San Rafael town, and an employee at the Vice Mayor’s office of Malolos City.

Alvarado said that the Bulacan Provincial Police Office reported to him that crime incidents in the province is lower compared to the first two months of last year.

However, he said that crime solution efficiency is low.

“Maraming unresolved case, kaya magpapatawag ako ng Peace and Order Council meeting on Monday,” he said in an interview last Wednesday, March 1.

The governor also noted that while a number of crimes committed in the province remain unresolved, many were committed with boldness.

He cited that the killing of the businesswoman from Paombong, along with the killing od a lawyer in the City fo San Jose Del Monte, thre kidnapping and carjacking in Meycauayan City and the robbery at Pamana Cooperative were committed on broad day light.

“It must be stopped,” he said noting that a number of Bulakenyos approached him and expressed their fears on increasing criminality in the province.

A former lawmaker and vice governor of Bulacan, Alvarado was elected in the 2010 elections.

After his assumption to office, he vowed “to put the house in order” noting that good governance will result to peace and order then to more investments in the province that will generate jobs.

However, the Bulacan Chamber of Commerce and industry said that high crime rate in the province will not only discourage possible investors, but current businessmen from expanding their operations. 

Bulacan students to represent PHL in FLL World Festival

DYCI winning team.  The Blue Ocean 10.

BOCAUE, Bulacan—A 10-high school students robotics team here will represent the country in the Foundation for Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (First) Lego League Food Factor World Festival to be held in St. Louis, Missouri this April.

This came after they ruled the First Lego League (FLL) Philippines held at the Quezon City Interactive Science Center over the weekend, besting 150 other students from 15 participating schools across the country.

Dubbed as the Blue Ocean 10, the Dr. Yanga Colleges Inc., (DYCI) team is composed of Trisha Carmela Santos, Gladys Leigh  Malana, Dave Adrian Bien, Keight Dela Cruz, Lady Alein Goleng, Tim Fabillon, Ramikurt Del Prado, Jules Martin Agsaoay, Jonathan Alejandro, Michelle Alcanar.

All of them are students of the DYCI High School department which produced the 2010 World Robot Olympiad (WRO) champions, and bagged fourth place in the same competitions last year.

“It’s a surprise.  We never though our team will make it to the FLL World Championships,” said Michael Yanga, the director and principal of DYCI High School.

He said that it is an honor to win the FLL Philippines’ first competition that earned them a ticket to the FLL Food Factor World Festival that will be held at the America’s Center and Edward Jones Dome Convention Plaza in St. Louis, Missouri, USA.

The Food Factor World Festival will be participated by competitors from 60 countries from April 25 to 28.

“I’m very proud of our students who have shown that we are really globally competitive and Bulakenyos are truly prime movers of technology,” Yanga said,

The DYCI Blue Ocean 10 team ruled the FLL Philippines’ championship through the students’ invention called Meat’s Anti-Germ Inspection Solution (Magis) v.2.0, a machine that could help people  from eating a contaminated meat especially pork.

Beryl Cruz, the head coach of the DYCI Blue Ocean 10 said that Magis v.2.0, which the team worked on for two months, also has the capacity to detect “botcha”. 

Cruz is also the head coach of DYCI Robotics team that ruled the WRO held at the SM Convention Center in 2010; and placed fourth in the WRO held at the United Arab Emirates (UAE) last November.

Cruz explained that the FLL Philippines  is harder than the WRO competitions noting that it deals with real world problems like the “botcha” scare that hit Bulacan last year.

He said that participants in the FLL Philippines created their invention based on the “food factor,” a theme given by FIRST that is based on their core values.

The FLL Philippines was organized by Mylene Abiva of the First in Educational Learning Trends Always (FELTA) founded in 1966 by Felicito and Teresita Abiva, with the aim of providing the academe with instructional materials that answers the needs of the times.  (Dino Balabo)

PPI mourns death of veteran journalist

Isagani Yambot (right) with the Late Jose Pavia, the former  executive director of PPI, and Joey Aguilar, the editor-in-chief of Punto Central Luzon. Photo taken at during a PPI workshop at Cagayan De Oro City in October 2009.

The Philippine Press Institute is deeply saddened by the passing of veteran journalist Isagani Yambot. He was 79.

Gani, as was fondly called by his colleagues in the industry and those close to him succumbed to cardiac arrest evening of March 2. Early this week, he underwent quadruple by-pass operation was said to be recuperating.

Mr. Yambot was publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer and trustee of the Philippine Press Institute. He served for two consecutive years as chairman-president of the Institute from April 2009 to June 2011.

The PPI statement reads:

The Philippine Press Institute is deeply saddened by the passing of Isagani Yambot, a true journalist and gentlemen. He will be greatly missed by the profession.

Cellphones benefit farmers; youth proposed as info channels

Returning scholars of Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) had identified farmers’ benefits from using cellphones and the prospect of tapping the youth in disseminating agriculture information through Information Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Hazel V. Antonio, who finished MSc in International Development Studies in Wageningen University and Research Centre in The Netherlands, and Jaime A. Manalo IV, an alumnus of Communication for Social Change program at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, noted cellphones as innovative tools in helping farmers increase productivity. Results of their study were presented in a seminar conducted at the Institute`s Central Experiment Station in Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija.

In her study, Antonio found that cellphones brought farmers savings on transaction and knowledge search costs. The communication device also reduced production expenses and helped increase yield. Results also revealed that the use of cellphones in canvassing palay prices could result in higher selling price as the device helps farmers identify buyers with the most reasonable price. 

In a season, farmers who learned new rice technologies via PhilRice Farmers’ Text Center gained an additional income of P39,000. The farmer-respondents also reported that their selling price increased to as high as PhP14,000 by getting traders’ quotations without travelling.

Her respondents further said they saved as much as PhP8,403 from transportation cost. They used their mobile phones in supervising farm laborers and locating seed and fertilizer sources.

The interviewed farmers also said they gained PhP730 by inquiring through text, instead of going to sources of technical information such as in municipal agriculture offices.

Overall, 85 of the 100 farmer-respondents were able to benefit either in the form of savings, higher income through better selling price of palay, higher yield, or a combination of the three.

Moreover, results showed that using cellphones for agriculture-related activities save more time in farming, which resulted in generating more income from non-agricultural work such as fishing, carpentry, and tricycle driving.

Supporting the results of the study, Manalo said that in a country that envisions food self-sufficiency, the advantages of using cellphones must be extended to more farmers so they could also enjoy the benefits.

A part of Manalo’s research revealed that youth perceived farming as either a wealth multiplier, key to achieving their dreams for their family, or a way to help poor relatives.

“A very strong link between love of family and the desire to continue farming in the future was also established in this study.  A good number of farmers’ children remain to have favorable perceptions on farming and would like to be involved in it in different capacities, directly or indirectly. Some of them want to be farming investors,” he said.

With the results, he recommended that the youth be tapped as channels in extending information to their farmer-parents and relatives who have anxieties in using the device and other ICTs. The recommendation is further supported by the results of another study in 2010, which revealed that farmers want their children to search information for them.

To engage the youth in searching information through cellphones, he proposed that rice camps and information campaign on youth as information channels for farmers would be conducted.

He also suggested for the inclusion of an ICT4D (ICT for Development) in agriculture module in the Technology and Livelihood Education subject; incorporation of games and online quizzes on agriculture-related websites; and for the PhilRice Farmers’ Text Center to consider the “farming buddy” and “textmate” set-up.

DA-PhilRice is a government-owned and –controlled corporation that aims at developing high-yielding, cost-reducing, and environment-friendly technologies so farmers can produce enough rice for all Filipinos.

For more information, please visit or contact DA-PhilRice at Maligaya, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija with telephone number (044) 456-0285 loc 511/512 or any PhilRice station near you. You may also visit their website at www.philrice.gov.ph or text your questions to 0920-911-1398.