The construction of the initial phase of the 5.9-hectare sanitary landfill project in Purok Acacia, Barangay Felisa, Bacolod City will start in January next year.
During the groundbreaking rites yesterday, A.L. Salazar Construction president, Andy Santiago, committed to finish the first phase of the sanitary landfill by June 30, 2011. He said the project that had passed through the eye of a needle, will be a showcase in the south that will greatly help their reputation in Manila. They are also involved in the landfill projects of San Mateo and Montalban in Rizal, which will cost the local governments about P25 million per meter, he added. Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the sanitary landfill is the most important project of his administration since environmental concern is a priority concern. “Where environmental protection program is concerned, this is definitely a giant leap,” he said. The first phase of the landfill project of Bacolod covering 2.7 hectares has a project cost of P32 million that will be sourced from the deferred Internal Revenue Allotment of the city. The second phase covers 3.2 hectares. Leonardia said that, based on the report of the Department of Environment and National Resources Mines and Geoscience Bureau in Quezon City, the present location of the sanitary landfill is acceptable and very strategic. In his report dated July 22, 2009, DENR-MGB supervising science research specialist Ricarte Javelosa said the present existence and operations of the roadways in the area provide an excellent accessibility to the landfill site, and that there is no sign of residential occupancy in and nearby the area. He said these present physical conditions and the soil properties around the site is fit for the development of a sanitary landfill. Javelosa said that with a sound and effective sanitary landfill design and operation, threat of groundwater contamination in the area is considered extremely remote. He said the sanitary landfill is safe from flood-prone areas and is also located outside the hydrogeological environment of the Lupit River Basin and Caliban River Basin, so the geographical alienation of the project makes the groundwater reservoir of Lupit River safe from any threat of contamination. The landfill is obviously outside the groundwater well field of Bacolod City and lies away from the general flow paths of the water table, he added. Javelosa said the landfill is adequate to accommodate the waste generation of Bacolod in the next 10 years or more. “Taking into account the present general geomorphology, hydrological conditions and physical environment of Bacolod City, nowhere can you find an area for the sanitary landfill better than the present proposed site,” he said. Former Councilor Greg Gasataya, who chaired the Committee on Environment, said the landfill project was issued an ECC by the DENR VI on Dec. 6, 2010. He said this is one project that is highly politicized but fortunately, the competent authorities prevailed. DENR regional director Oscar Cabanaya said the sanitary landfill should be considered as an investment of Bacolod City that will ensure a clean environment and help boost its tourism industry. Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson said, at long last, Bacolod’s dream to have its own sanitary landfill has been realized. “This is not for political reasons but for the future of our children. Let us do our share in keeping Bacolod clean,” he said. Councilor Al Victor Espino said Bacolod will be one of the first in the region to implement this kind of project, while the contractor will implement all modern technologies to sustain the program. The landfill project is within the boundary of Bacolod, Murcia and Bago and is located about 1.5 to 3 kilometers east-northeast of the five production wells of the Bacolod City Water District in Felisa. Also present at the groundbreaking rites were BACIWA general manager Juliana Carbon, Felisa Barangay Captain Mona Dia Jardin, and Councilors Em Legaspi-Ang, El Cid Familiaran and Caesar Distrito and several barangay captains.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO Visayan Daily Star
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COUNCILOR El Cid Familiaran has passed a resolution requesting Public Employment Services Office (Peso) manager Moises Dela Cruz to submit the list of city scholars to the City Council.
The request came as the city scholars continue suffering from the delayed allowances and tuition subsidies from the Local Government of Bacolod. Post your online prayers for Japan earthquake victims The list should include the names of the schools they attend, their respective courses and year levels, their addresses, their grades or other related data, what programs or categories they belong to, and all other pertinent information. The resolution cited the numerous reports concerning the city scholars' problems, which have been aired over media outlets and which have circulated around the city. Such complaints by the scholars range from unpaid tuition fees for a number of semesters and withholding of allowances that scholars are entitled to under City Ordinance 386, Series of 2005. Reports further state that because of such conditions, many city scholars have quit college because the schools they attended would no longer enroll them. Others were forced to quit because they have not received their allowances for the past two or three semesters. Familiaran said the implementation of the present city's scholarship program and the plight of the city scholars deserve to be looked into by the City Council. For the council members to appreciate the problems and concerns raised, including questions on the implementation of the city's scholarship program, they need pertinent data, Familiaran added. Mayor Evelio R. Leonardia has also expressed concern on the plight of the city's scholars. He said that he will re-evaluate the city's scholarship program. He has also requested from the PESO Manager a detailed report about the status of the city scholars. (Carla N. Canet) Sun star BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia confirmed Monday that they cannot grant Christmas bonus and cash gifts to job order employees of the City Government as it is not allowed by law.
He said that by practice and by legality, job order employees cannot enjoy the benefits that permanent employees enjoy because of the limitations in the law. Leonardia also cannot categorically disclose the exact amount the city will grant to permanent employees. "We are still finalizing as to how much Christmas bonus and cash gift we will grant. I will still sit down with the City Finance Committee composed of the City Budget, City Treasurer, among others, to discuss this matter," he said. Earlier, two members of the City Council of Bacolod City -- Councilors El Cid Familiaran and Elmer Sy -- echoed the sentiments of the job order employees of the City Government, calling Leonardia to follow the generosity of the Provincial Government of Occidental Negros. The Provincial Government reportedly will grant P25,000 for each employee as their cash gift and another P15,000 as their incentive bonus. However, on the part of Bacolod, the city even recently downgraded its plantilla or semi-permanent employees to job order employees because of the lack of funds. Carla N. Canet Sun Star Bacolod Bacolod’s number one city councilor has declared that a concerted action of city government officials, the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), various sectors in the Peace and Order Council (POC), and the barangays including local anti-crime watch volunteers, are now needed to combat unabated petty and large-scale criminal activities in the city, as they now appear unstoppable. The proposal was aired by councilor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of the City Council’s Public Order and Security Committee, during an interview over DYRL’sTungkaron Ta Ini, program yesterday.
Familiaran’s proposal came in the wake of a crescendo of criticisms flooding media outlets coming from the public, and from the Metro-Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MBCCI), and the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which practically represent the business community in the city. This also came with four members of the City Council, lawyer Archie Baribar, Em Ang, Al Victor Espino and Familiaran himself, coming out openly and expressing their concern about the crime situation in the city. Several veteran journalists have also opined, including those supportive of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia, that something must now be done as criminals appear to have a run of the city, operating with impunity, committing petty and big crimes. The city government must now call a meeting of the Peace and Order Council (POC) and enlist active support and assistance in combating crimes which have reared its ugly head for months on end, now. It must be the executive calling the shots and it is his call, Familiaran said, saying the onus of responsibility lies on the shoulders of Leonardia who was away for about a month, first in Texas, where he was present during the Manny Pacquiao-Antonio Margarito fight. The councilor who got the biggest number of votes during the last May elections took exception to Bacolod Police Chief Senior Supt. Celestino Guara’s declaration that crime incidents in an urban center such as Bacolod is normal. He had added in a recent interview, that there was also somebody orchestrating the commission of crimes and who wants him removed from his post as police. However, they are protectors of people’s lives and properties and they must comply with this role, Familiaran said. One measure which the police has adopted is the establishment of the Bacolod City Anti-Crime Task Force (BCACTF), but which is hindered from doing its utmost because they lack gasoline for their operation, mainly monitoring suspicious characters on board motorcycles, too. A source also complained that the Bacolod Police is hardly mobile and therefore, has no visibility because the defective patrol cars it acquired years back are hardly serviceable, he said. By Edgar Cadagat Negros Daily Bulletin Bacolod’s number one city councilor has declared that a concerted action of city government officials, the Bacolod City Police Office (BCPO), various sectors in the Peace and Order Council (POC), and the barangays including local anti-crime watch volunteers, are now needed to combat unabated petty and large-scale criminal activities in the city, as they now appear unstoppable.
By Edgar Cadagat Negros Daily Bulletin Bacolod Rep. Anthony Golez Jr. has filed House Bill 3142 calling for the upgrading of the salaries of public school teachers from salary grade 11 to 15 by 2012.
The solon made the announcement Saturday during the 59th DepEd Bacolod Teachers’ Day celebration at the Bacolod Arts Center at the Bacolod City National High School with the theme “Quality Teachers for Quality Education.” Golez said teachers with salary grade 11 receive about P15,600 a month, and if upgraded to salary grade 15 by 2012, they will receive about P24,887 a month with the full implementation of the salary standardization law. “I believe that part and parcel of having quality education and quality teachers is to have quality family life for the children, quality economic life for the family, and quality social services from the local government,” he said. If these three other factors are present, the ingredients for having quality education is complete, he added. Golez said he also filed on Oct. 6, 2010 H.B. 3454 providing teachers additional financial support of P3,000 or a total of P9,000 in a span of three years. He said there will be P8.3 million worth of new school buildings and P8.7 million worth of comfort rooms to be constructed in Bacolod City, including P3.2 million worth of furniture to be provided to the schools. He has also filed house bills for the conversion of high schools and colleges into specialized schools, he added. Golez said he and Councilor El Cid Familiaran are thinking of helping teachers with their housing needs by creating a teachers’ village with the help of the Vice President. Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the city government has increased the teachers’ Emergency Cost of Living Allowance from P1,000–P1,500 a month. He said the teachers’ welfare will always be a priority of his administration, he said. Leonardia said they will put up the Education and Training Center School 4 in a lot owned by the city at the reclamation area and will also construct the Division Office within the compound. He said they are also providing medical kits to the different schools in the city. Also present during the affair was ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. Antonio Tinio. Meanwhile, Golez said the bill he filed on the re-districting of Bacolod is going on third reading. He said Bacolod might be divided into two districts ahead of Iloilo since he was informed that Iloilo has some problems. Golez said he was also assured by the Department of Public Works and Highways that once they have the Regional Development Council approval, they will start the construction of the first flyover in Bacolod City.*CGS Visayan Daily Star IMPLOSION TAKING PLACE. In an earlier column write-up, we advanced the possibility that there would be an implosion in the Bacolod Police owing to weak leadership of the present police chief which we also attributed to weak civil government leadership.
There were also continuing information that the mayor himself or his men with his intimate knowledge, are allegedly involved in the operation of Jai Alai, a fact being talked about daily wherever one goes in the city. That jai alai, jueteng or the illegal numbers game operation with one, the PBA being operated by a group of Bacolod City councilors. Again, we or those being talked about of being involved in the numbers game, and are denying the involvement of city government officials and, in turn the Bacolod police chief, has brought about a moral depravity and the triggering of low morale among the police’s rank-and-file which is reflected in the results of the ORSITE survey by regional police officers which subsequently tagged the Bacolod Police as incompetent, inefficient and ill-trained. A defensive Police Chief, Senior Supt. Celestino Guara, Jr., hit back and in a pun at the ORSITE Team, said they gave the BCPO a very low rating for one reason or the other, the major one being that they had not been accommodated, the accommodation he meant, is not fit to print here. Again, the BCPO suffered another blow when it was adjudged number 5 in the "Best Police Force" competition in Western Visayas region, only confirming what the ORSITE survey indicated. But then in the past years, the BCPO had garnered high ratings, including consistently bagging the best police force in the national level with awards for successive years. The low morale we had analyzed, clearly is the major reason for the unfortunate ratings the BCPO got because of poor senior police officers’ leadership. However, it is our belief that there were certain factors enfeeblements lacking, the reason for the lower than average ratings of the BCPO. WARNING SIGNALS. That the implosing would come, had been very evident with the worsening crime situation in the city, with both petty crimes and later, alarming incidents of hold-ups and robberies. The fact is that, the police chief as we have pointed out time and again, lacks focus in doing his job of keeping the peace and ensuring that all kinds of crimes do not disturb order in the city. Petty crimes such as snatchings, pickpocketings, killings, and akyat bahay operation felons continue and with no definitive measures being done to minimize or at the most, stop these. It is also disturbing that local government officials have not taken positions on the matter except for councilor El Cid Familiaran who had made many suggestion, including the setting up of motorcycle teams to augment police visibility which could prevent crimes from taking place. We, of course, would want the police and the city government to succeed in solving the peace and order problem, although, on the matter of crimes against property, like many, we are well-aware that the root cause of these is the worsening problem of poverty and incapability of many families to produce food for the table. With the economic crisis, it appears that the intensifying incidence of crimes, will only worsen in the coming days, months, and years. But will the implosion in the police end? Problems such as these are easier claimed to be solvable than it is. But, it has deep roots and while the Bacolodnons must do their share in solving these problems, clearly, the ball is in Mayor Evelio Leonardia’s and Bacolod Police Chief, Senior Supt. Celestino Guara’s court. But, indeed! BACOLOD City Lone District Representative Anthony Golez Jr. and ACT Teachers Party-list Representative Antonio Tinio are pushing for the increase in the salary and other benefits of public school teachers.
Both stated that they have authored bills that will redound to the welfare of public school educators. Golez and Tinio, with Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Councilor El Cid Familiaran, were the guests during the 59th DepEd Bacolod Teachers' Day celebration held last Saturday at the Bacolod Arts Center, Bacolod City National High School. The theme of the celebration was "Quality teachers for Quality Education". Golez said he has filed House Bill 3453, which will grant additional support and compensation to educators. This will mean an additional P3,000 per month to the teachers' regular salary, or an aggregate increase of P9,000 in a span of 3 years, if approved by Congress. Tinio also cited his House Bill 3142, which will upgrade the salary of teachers from Salary Grade 11 to Salary Grade 15. Currently, Salary Grade 11 teachers receive P15,600 monthly salary but if it will be upgraded to Salary Grade 15, this will be increased to P24,887. A decent salary for the teachers would mean quality education for the school children, he told a huge crowd of public school teachers. This because the educators will be more driven and motivated to teach. Golez also said that quality education can be achieved in many aspects. Quality education would also mean quality school facilities. The Secretary of Education has committed to give Bacolod City P8.3 million for building new classrooms and toilets and P3.2 million for school furniture. Good health is also important in achieving quality education, Golez said, adding that teachers and students alike should be in the pink of health and this can be provided through government's implementation of quality social services. And the last ingredient to quality education is a quality family life. Responsible parenthood and financial stability should be present so that the children can be sent to school properly. Golez is also eyeing the establishment of a Teachers' Village, where there will be housing units for Bacolod's public school teachers. Golez has also passed several bills that will convert several national high schools into special technical schools and science and mathematics, and information technology centers so that skilled Bacolodnons will be given the chance to hone and improve their skills by way of hands-on trainings and seminars. Mayor Leonardia thanked the teachers for their great contribution in educating the children and youth of Bacolod. The city government is always there to assist the Department of Education in all its valuable educational endeavors, the mayor assured the teachers. (Carla N. Canet) Published in the Sun.Star Bacolod newspaper on December 06, 2010. IMPLOSION TAKING PLACE. In an earlier column write-up, we advanced the possibility that there would be an implosion in the Bacolod Police owing to weak leadership of the present police chief which we also attributed to weak civil government leadership.
There were also continuing information that the mayor himself or his men with his intimate knowledge, are allegedly involved in the operation of Jai Alai, a fact being talked about daily wherever one goes in the city. That jai alai, jueteng or the illegal numbers game operation with one, the PBA being operated by a group of Bacolod City councilors. Again, we or those being talked about of being involved in the numbers game, and are denying the involvement of city government officials and, in turn the Bacolod police chief, has brought about a moral depravity and the triggering of low morale among the police’s rank-and-file which is reflected in the results of the ORSITE survey by regional police officers which subsequently tagged the Bacolod Police as incompetent, inefficient and ill-trained. A defensive Police Chief, Senior Supt. Celestino Guara, Jr., hit back and in a pun at the ORSITE Team, said they gave the BCPO a very low rating for one reason or the other, the major one being that they had not been accommodated, the accommodation he meant, is not fit to print here. Again, the BCPO suffered another blow when it was adjudged number 5 in the "Best Police Force" competition in Western Visayas region, only confirming what the ORSITE survey indicated. But then in the past years, the BCPO had garnered high ratings, including consistently bagging the best police force in the national level with awards for successive years. The low morale we had analyzed, clearly is the major reason for the unfortunate ratings the BCPO got because of poor senior police officers’ leadership. However, it is our belief that there were certain factors enfeeblements lacking, the reason for the lower than average ratings of the BCPO. WARNING SIGNALS. That the implosing would come, had been very evident with the worsening crime situation in the city, with both petty crimes and later, alarming incidents of hold-ups and robberies. The fact is that, the police chief as we have pointed out time and again, lacks focus in doing his job of keeping the peace and ensuring that all kinds of crimes do not disturb order in the city. Petty crimes such as snatchings, pickpocketings, killings, and akyat bahay operation felons continue and with no definitive measures being done to minimize or at the most, stop these. It is also disturbing that local government officials have not taken positions on the matter except for councilor El Cid Familiaran who had made many suggestion, including the setting up of motorcycle teams to augment police visibility which could prevent crimes from taking place. We, of course, would want the police and the city government to succeed in solving the peace and order problem, although, on the matter of crimes against property, like many, we are well-aware that the root cause of these is the worsening problem of poverty and incapability of many families to produce food for the table. With the economic crisis, it appears that the intensifying incidence of crimes, will only worsen in the coming days, months, and years. But will the implosion in the police end? Problems such as these are easier claimed to be solvable than it is. But, it has deep roots and while the Bacolodnons must do their share in solving these problems, clearly, the ball is in Mayor Evelio Leonardia’s and Bacolod Police Chief, Senior Supt. Celestino Guara’s court. But, indeed! Negros Daily Bulletin TWO members of the City Council of Bacolod City echoed the sentiments of the job order employees of the City Government on Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia.
Councilors El Cid Familiaran and Elmer Sy said Leonardia should follow the generosity of the Provincial Government of Occidental Negros led by Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. when it comes to the granting of fat Christmas bonuses and extra cash gifts. Reports have it that the Provincial Government will grant P25,000 for each employee as cash gift and another P15,000 as incentive bonus. While the employees of the Provincial Capitol will leap for joy this Christmas, the city employees will be staring at a blank wall. This came after all City Hall’s plantilla casuals were downgraded to job order casuals due to lack of funds. This means that they cannot enjoy other benefits, which the permanent or the semi-permanent employees will enjoy this Yuletide season. December is not only a time for sharing and giving; it is the time for the city employees to enjoy the fruits of their labor, the job order employees said. Carla N. Canet Sun Star Bacolod |
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