Zamboanga News Forum

Via Mindanao Examiner

Via Mindanao Examiner

Mayor Celso Lobregat has cited a group of US-based Filipinos who have been conducting a yearly outreach mission for minority tribal groups in the city as part of activities for the Dia de Zamboanga. The group called Lingkod Timog and headed by President Cely Heredia, is in the city for the sixth straight year to conduct a two-day medical-dental and surgical mission in barangays Sangali (February 23) and Taluksangay (Feb. 24). Today, the group will hold a feeding program for the Badjao community in barangay Maasin.Lobregat thanked the group for its yearly humanitarian mission saying it is a big help to depressed communities in the city. He said the same activity complements the city government?s accelerated health program anchored on the vision ?nuestro deseo un ciudad sin enfermedad?.The group led by Mrs. Heredia and husband Armando, the association?s former chief executive officer and other volunteers from Rhode Island and California, USA; Manila and other parts of the country, paid a courtesy call on Mayor Lobregat Monday afternoon. Also joining the group were Philippine Marine Commandant BGen. Juancho Sabban and wife Irene, who are responsible in bringing the Lingkod Timog volunteers to Zamboanga City.The medical outreach missions were held in coordination with the City Health Office, Western Mindanao Command, Naval Forces Western Mindanao and other agencies. They formed part of the celebration of the 73rd Dia de Zamboanga which culminates on Friday, February 26.The outreach activities in Sangali and Taluksangay benefited over a thousand indigent families. These activities for the Badjao communities in the city started in 2005 through the initiative of the Sabban couple who developed close ties with Lingkod Timog during their year long stay in Rhode Island in 2004.Meanwhile, the 73rd Dia de Zamboanga marks the city?s Charter Anniversary and is themed ?Zamboanga: Probao y Aprobao?.Other highlights of the celebration include the Awarding ceremony for most outstanding Zamboanguenos at 7 p.m. on February 25 at the Garden Orchid Convention Center; grand civic military parade with the competicion de selyo de Zamboanga and inter-school drum and lyre competition 1p.m. and the commemorative program at 3 p.m. at the Joaquin Enriquez Grandstand on February 26 with former Senator Franklin Drilon as guest of honor.Other events are the 13th Celso L. Lobregat Cup-Dart Tournament Feb. 26-27 at the Ram?s Beer Garden; Crimson Mania (a mini-concert, fashion show and dinner for a cause) Feb. 26; Sam Concepcion Live in Zamboanga on Feb. 27 at the City Coliseum in Tetuan; 3rd Mayor Celso L. Lobregat Lawn Tennis Tournament Feb. 27-28 in Pettit Barracks and the 1st Dia de Zamboanga Invitational Mountain Bike Circuit Challenge Feb. 28 at the Pasonanca Park.

Via Zamboanga Times

Police arrested a 51-year-old man who was accused of trying to rape a teenager in Sitio Kalang, Sangali at dawn last Wednesday. The suspect was identified as Jesus Oliveros y Nevabina, widow of High Zone, Sangali.A police report said that Oliveros entered the house of Mrs. Angeline Asani, 44, and tried to rape her 16-year-old daughter.Police said that while Oliveros was about to touch the girl, her brother, Dominic screamed for help prompting the suspect to run away.The incident was reported to the Sangali Police Station, afterwhich its personnel led by Chief Insp. Ricardo Garcia went on a hot pursuit operation that led to the arrest of Oliveros.He was detained at the Sangali Police Station pending the filing of trespassing and attempted rape charges against him in court.

Via Zamboanga Times

Officials from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (formerly NPC) yesterday announced the implementation of a 138 kilovolt transmission line and sub-station project costing roughly P1 billion for Zamboanga City.

As this developed, Mayor Celso Lobregat welcomed this development saying it is proof that Zamboanga is moving forward by leaps and bounds. The project will complement the increasing power demand in the city due to the numerous investments being put up here. Peter Jubas, NGCP Mindanao Projects Division head and Engr. Ruben Conti, NGCP consultant yesterday morning met with Mayor Celso Lobregat to discuss plans for the immediate implementation of the project through the AER Construction and Development Company Inc. and ALRAF Construction and Enterprises joint venture. Among the concerns tackled were the acquisition of the road right of way for the passage of the transmission lines. The supply and delivery of transmission line materials is hundred percent complete and what is being awaited is the construction of transmission lines from Sangali in the east coast to Pitogo in the west coast. The proposed transmission line reinforcement between Sangali and Pitogo aims to provide or extend reliable bulk power services in Western Mindanao. It is also intended to remedy operational problems such as line outages and at the same time provide for the projected increase in power demand in the area. The project covers 32 km transmission lines made up of 225 steel towers, according to Jubas. â??This will really improve the transmission of power from Sangali to Zamboanga City and this will also address the increasing demand of power in Zamboangaâ?.Engr. Conti said the trickle down effects would be the hiring of local people to undertake the project and will ensure power availability, reliability and quality.The project, according to Engr. Conti, is intended to answer the power demand of Zamboanga City for the next 10-15 years. â??The load of Zamboanga in terms of megawatt and megawatthours is growing by leaps and bounds so we, the power utility industry has to meet this demand that is why we are investing over one billion pesosâ?, the NGCP consultant stressed. He stressed power demand of Zamboanga  City is quite large, equivalent to the demand of the rest of region 9 and that it growing very fast. Based on NGCP records, consumption through power transmitter 1 is 37.69 mw while power transformer 2 consumption is pegged at 42.3 megawatts. (CITY HALL PR-Sheila Covarrubias)

Via Zamboanga Today

A farmer became the 12th shooting incident victim in 13 days when he was shot to death by unidentified assailants at the vicinity of Zone 1, Barangay Bunguiao, this city, last Monday night.

Investigation conducted by the personnel of Sangali Police Station identifies the victim as Sunny Boy Paelmariano Salazar, of legal age, and a resident of the said barangay.Police added that the victim suffered a lone gunshot wound on the left portion of his breast and died instantaneously. Initial reports disclosed that prior to the incident, the victim together with his nephew, Noriel Fernandez, was walking along the barangay road of Bunguiao when the gunman, accompanied by several male companions blocked the victim and without provocation, shot him once on the breast. The victimâ??s nephew upon sensing danger, managed to escape unharmed and hurriedly ran towards their neighbor to seek assistance. However, the suspects immediately fled on foot towards unknown direction after the incident. A follow-up investigation was launched by the local police personnel for the possible identification of the assailants and their whereabouts. Motive of the incident is yet to be determined by the police authorities. (Eugene A. Lasprilla)     

Via Zamboanga Today

by Hader Glang

External factors caused power interruptions which affected about half of Zamboanga City on Wednesday and Thursday this week, officials of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) said yesterday.
Line Engineer Daniel F. Ilagan of Zamboanga City-based NGCP said the July 29 power interruption occurred due to the tripping of the Sangali-Zamboanga City Line No. 2 (San Roque-Tulungatung portion) at 7:35 p.m.
“It was caused by the accidental contact of a cargo bed of a dump truck with wires between structure nos. 1 and 2 at Sitio Talongon, San Roque, Zamboanga City,” Ilagan said in a press statement.

After the lowering of the cargo bed, the NGCP re-energized the line at 9:02 p.m. Strong winds around 6 oâ??clock in the evening of Thursday, July 30, sent a coconut palm landing on the wires of the same NGCP Sangali-Zamboanga 69,000 volt Line no. 2 and causing a widespread blackout in the City, according to Ilagan. He said a combination of factors delayed the restoration of the line. â??These were the heavy traffic at main roads traversed by the NGCP linetruck in going to a switch facility in Malagutay and the unavailability of the road leading to the faulted line section in Cabaluay.â? The NGCP troubleshooters were at the access road in Guisao, but they could not enter it because it was closed for concreting works. They proceeded to the detour in Katumbal. On its way up, a jeepney stuck in heavy mud, blocked the dirt road, preventing the NGCP linetruck to pass the road. Linemen had to  pull the jeepney out from where it was stuck to clear the way. The power firmâ??s linemen, guided by â??habal-habalâ? drivers in Guisao who pointed to the location of loud explosion, reached structure nos. 73 and 74 in interior Cabaluay, by 8:31 p.m. where a coconut palm hanged from two overhead ground wire (OHGW). â??After the palm was removed and some standard procedures were undertaken, line no. 2 was successfully re-energized by 11:00 in the evening,â? said Ilagan. The engineer said some areas under their line no. 2 were actually energized by 7:34 because it was able to re-energize all Zamcelco Substations after a switching procedure in Malagutay. The load of line no. 2 was temporarily transferred to line no. 1. However, according to Ilagan, line no. 1, connected to the 50 megawatt power transformer no. 1 in Sangali Substation, was not enough for the entire load of the City. â??Hence, although we have energized all Zamcelco Substations by 7:34 p.m., the coop had to shed some loads in some of its feeders, while line no. 2 was out,â? Ilagan said. The NGCP is the new operator of the power transmission facilities nationwide formerly managed by the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo). Hader Glang

Via Zamboanga Today

by jimmy villaflores

Parents, teachers and students of two public schools in the city were ?nourished? by District 2 Congressman Erbie A. Fabian?s untiring assistance to the barangays and different educational institutions as the entire country culminated the month-long celebration of the 35th National Nutrition Month yesterday.
Early morning yesterday, Fabian graced the nutrition month culminating program at the Tetuan Central School where he was invited as guest speaker.

After learning that the school does not have a quality sound system, Fabian outrightly announced that he is donating one unit of modern sound system to the school which has a population of more than 1,000.Yesterday afternoon, Fabian motored to Sangali to be the guest of honor of the Sangali National High School for a similar occasion.In his message to the parents, teachers and students, Fabian encouraged them to practice proper nutrition at their respective homes not only during the nutrition month celebration but for the whole year round.This year?s nutrition month theme is ?Wastong Nutrition ay Kailangan, Lifestyle Diseases Iwasan. ?It is not in the quantity of food that you eat but it is in the quality of food that you take in so to perfectly nourish your body,? Fabian told students and the parents in SNHS as he was emphasizing the importance of the proper preparation of foods in each in every household.Just like Tetuan Central School, SNHS had poor sound system prompting Rep. Fabian to again outrightly donate a sound system to be used by the school.After seeing the physical condition of many of the public schools, Fabian made commitment to include in his priority projects the repainting of several schools in District 2. ? Jimmy Villaflores

Via Zamboanga Times

An armed man was shot and wounded Sunday night by the elements of Sangali Police Station for attempting to shot a police officer and resisting arrest.
Sangali Police Station commander Chief Inspector Parson Asadil identified the suspect as Joseph Eijansantos, of legal age, and a resident of Sitio Aplaya, Barangay Manicahan, this city.

The suspect sustained a lone gunshot wound on the neck and was rushed to Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) for treatment and medication.Asadil said the suspect has a pending case filed by the wife of Barangay chairman in Lubigan for gun totting and grave threat.A police team proceeded to the suspectâ??s residence to invite him for questioning at the police station, but he resisted and fought back when held by Asadil.It was learned from police investigators, Asadil suffered burns after the suspect poured him hot water from a thermos.The suspect immediately picked up a Caliber .38 Revolver but before he could harm, he was already shot by policemen.Asadil further disclosed that the suspect was recently released from Zamboanga City Reformatory Center after his case for illegal possession of explosive was dismissed in court.Meanwhile, the suspect has filed a complaint against the operatives of Sangali Police Station. (Eugene A. Lasprilla) 

Via Zamboanga Today

by Eugene Lasprilla

The newly-installed officer-in-charge (OIC) of Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) visited yesterday the police station in Sangali District to check on the peace order situation in the area.
Police Sr. Supt. Amador Corpus, OIC-ZCPO Director, made the visit to give him ideas on the present security condition of villages in Sangali under Police Station 3.
Corpus’visit was also to check the operational strategies imposed by the said station against the threat of lawless criminals.

The OIC police chief disclosed that his intention for Zamboanga City is to instill tranquility and orderly situation of the city including the vast shoreline areas.â??I am very much concern of the peace and order condition of the city and what matters to me is the security of the local populace especially during the wee hours,â? Corpus said. Corpus and the city mobile group (CMG) commander Chief Inspector Rodrigo Maramo also inspected the probable spots, where the additional checkpoints are to be established for their checklist system for Public Utility Buses (PUBs). The OIC city police director has been roaming around the different police station for guidance and boosting the morale of the different local policemen.Earlier, Supt. Corpus already commended the personnel of Tetuan Police Station under Chief Inspector Diomarie Albarico who are manning the security at Guiwan Bus Terminal. (Eugene A. Lasprilla)

Via Zamboanga Today