DEATH IN THE ‘QUANTICO’

sale store in Zamboanga, and Henry Allard, a Daily Bulletin employee, went down with the 3,000-ton steamship. The victims included 18 passengers and 54 crew members.

Report of the incident, which was carried by the Manila Times, only reached Manila on the morning of December 28 after Captain Gisbert, skipper of the vessel, dispatched from Romblon a telegram to the shipping office saying ‘the steamer had gone ashore at 7 p.m., Wednesday night and sustained damage to an unknown extent,’ adding ‘the cargo could probably be salvaged.’

The national paper, in its December 28, 1918, edition (‘18 believed lost in wreck of interis-land steamer’) described the lost ship as ‘the best vessel in the interisland traffic.’ Before the Battle of

FRED C. LUMBA SPECKS OF LIFE

“Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” HENRY FORD.

*******

There. Henry Ford has spelled it for us.

Working together - cooperation and coordination - is the formula to achieve success and then sustainable progress.

While the President makes the effort to sell the country’s economic potentials before the international business community, officials in his government appear to be going their own way even as global inflation and the soaring prices of local commodities continue to harass and hustle every Pinoy household.

We do not see the Department of Trade and Industry actively cooperating with the Department of Agriculture in resolving the skyrocketing price of onion and the disman- tling of cartels that control the supply chain in the market.

The dictionary defines “cartel” as an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition.”

A cartel is formed when a group or groups band together to control the supply of a product for their best (vested) interests.

It is crystal clear to every Pinoy that the horrifying adverse economic effects of the cartels have damaged our socio-economic environment such that even higher authorities and line agencies could not contain, suppress, disband and, more so, jail them.

The cartels have become powerful and influential. They have been in operation since the late fifties when shrewd business operators took advantage of the loose government policies as the Philippines was coming out of the

Manila Bay, the steamer was called Lyemoon, after the eastern entrance to the harbor of Kai Tak Airport, in Hong Kong. When it was acquired by the U.S. shipping board and then transferred to the insular government, it was renamed after a small town in Virginia, USA.

The paper added: ‘Vicente Madrigal [a Spanish-Filipino shipper] chartered the steamer for many months, and about three months ago it was turned over to the Robert Dollar com-pany. It was on its second run to Cebu, Zamboanga, and Davao, when it met disaster.’

An account in The Kahimyang Project reports the cause of the accident: “The typhoon was first moving west by north, then inclining northward as to be moving decidedly NNW, to the east of central part of the country, and finally recurving backward not only to west by north but to west by south and even to WSW. The typhoon followed a sudden southward migra-tion. It was…very unusual, anomalous, and surprising in all of the Weather Bureau history.

“The forecasters…noted the fact that the typhoon was moving very slowly…as a sign that the typhoon was recurving northeastward, yet the opposite happened. The typhoon ap-proached the country the following day on December 25… Also called the ‘Christmas Ty-phoon,’ [it] was named Quantico in memorial to the interisland steamer…that was cast ashore and wrecked in Tablas Island (Romblon).”

Reyes was succeeded as secretary of the Department of Mindanao and Sulu by Teopisto Guingona, father of the second vice-president from Mindanao, Teofisto, Jr.

Getting Our Acts Together

ruins of the Second World War. There are thousands of farmers cooperatives existing in the country and various other cooperatives but they don’t seem to factor in in the on-going food supply chain.

How is it that a country blessed with great natural resources and patrimony finds itself in poverty and its people in a state of penury?

Filipinos are politically polarized and this polarization is the answer as to why we cannot get our acts together.

Our political leaders appear to be great in making speeches but lack the executive action to implement what is good and profitable for the people.

The DTI and the DA are two of the most important line departments that, if only their respective officials act with dispatch, can together find long-lasting solutions to the problems besetting us in these contemporary times.

The decades old malpractice is that when the President is not looking, some mischievous officials attempt to sneak in some quick money schemes. When they don’t get caught the first time, they make another try, using their same old corrupt system that will then become a template for future corrupt transactions.

This is the vicious cycle PBBM must get rid of if he wants to leave a legacy of good governance..

Knee jerk reactions are what the people see from government officials when emergencies and calamities descend upon their offices. They stammer and reel from what they see as staggering headaches because they have no visions for the future.

Cooperation - getting their acts together - is the key to a nation’s progress and prosperity. There is no argument against this.

No matter how big and herculean the problem is - as a Chinese adage says - “many hands make light work.”

Which means that any presidential appointee who cannot perform his assigned task must be replaced - or fired.

Watch and listen attentively to Senate hearings live on FB or Youtube.

You can easily identify who among the resource persons representing a particular government agency is unqualified or reactionary. They stammer, search for answers or point to a scapegoat.

Wow, do Filipinos deserve these officials who are paid handsomely from taxpayers’ money?

Get your acts together, folks. Don’t wait for the President to boot you out. Oops! (Email feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) GOD BLESS THE PHILIPPINES!

CHANGING... FROM 2

premium open lots, a condotel, commercial and dining areas, and an exclusive marina.

Ameria, a premier subdivision that offers its future residents a chance to live a contemporary, nature-filled lifestyle within Agriya – an agri-tourism site in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, is also underway.

Lagdameo said DLI is also expanding the flexible workspace Regus Business center. Currently, there are two centers in Davao City and DLI is expanding it in Cagayan de Oro, which is expected to be operational in June this year.

DLI is the franchise

DAVAO... FROM 2

habited by IP citizens have been identified and studied. The 16 pilot civil registration desks will be established in Barangay Gumitan, Marilog

Proper and Baganihan (to cater to the Matigsalug tribe); Barangays

Salaysay, Magsaysay and Malamba (for the Ovu Manuvu); Barangay Dacudao, Baguio Proper and Tamayong (inhabited by the Klata tribe); Barangays Atan-Awe, Daliaon Plantation and Catigan (for the Tagabawa); and Barangays Mapula, Tapak, Malabog and Pandaitan (to serve the Ata tribe).

By putting up civil registration desks in these communities, with locations chosen with the help from tribal leaders to maximize accessibility, indigenous citizens will no longer have to wait for a mobile civil registration team to visit them nor will they have to venture far from their homes to the district registration offices.

However, distrust

DABAWENYOS... FROM 3 STRONG... FROM 3

partner of IWG, the leading flexible workspace provider with brands such as Regus and Spaces.

“We are eyeing to open Regus centers across Mindanao not just in CDO. We will have GenSan eventually and other cities as well,” he said.

Meanwhile, Lagdameo said that DLI has able to achieve 100 percent occupancy for the 16-story Damosa Diamond Tower between last year and the first quarter of this year. The tower now houses locators that include three brand new BPO companies, Anflocor Management and Investment Corporation, and DLI.

of outsiders from the tribes poses another challenge to have IP citizens registered. It is for this reason, Braceros said, that the office has chosen members of IP communities to serve as civil registration agents in soon-to-be established civil registration desks.

“Right now, there are 16 barangays taking part of the pilot of the project. The tribal leaders were the ones who selected candidates to become civil registration agents,”

The IP registration agents were given seminar workshop on basic civil registration laws. They were also trained on how to properly prepare birth certificate and making the right inquiries to clients to determine false from genuine information.

Braceros said that for the month of February, the Civil Registrar’s Office aims to deploy three civil registration agents to three barangays. CIO

Before you reach the age of 50 you have to seek medical attention. Aside from the mammogram we are also advocating that you do selfbreast examination,” So said.

Next is the cervical cancer and females aged 21-years-old and above is recommended to undergo pap smear to check for abnormalities that may be indicative of cervical cancer.

“However, once you do this and negative ang result or walay findings then the doctor will recommend, kung pila ka years na pud magpa-pap smear pag-usab. Where can you get this service? This is available sa atoang mga local health centers and hospitals,” So said.

For colorectal cancer (colon cancer) the screening is recommended for those aged 45 and above.

“Daghan ta ug pwede buhaton ani like colonoscopy ug uban pang mga procedures all you have to do is magpa-konsulta gihapon,” So said.

Prostate cancer screening can be done through Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) test, which is used to monitor men after surgery or radiation therapy for prostate cancer to see if their cancer has recurred.

“This is very common (cancer) sa atoa pero dili

PH... FROM 5

from China revived the foreign demand for Philippine-made goods in January.

“Additionally, supply chain pressures also eased further, with panelists citing that improved infrastructure, more vendors and lifting of port restrictions helped with delivery times,” Baluch said.

She added the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) aggressive monetary stance has been effective as kaayo common ginabuhat ang screening but we are still recommending and we are still advocating for it. Ang test ani is PSA or Prostate Specific Antigen ug ginabuhat ni ages 55-years-old and above. It’s just simple laboratory test,” he explained. signs of easing pressures were recorded last month while demand has yet to be negatively impacted by the policy tightening.

Lung cancer is also very common but according to him, screening is not being done in the Philippines because it is costly.

So said a-pack year of smoking is recommended, which is used to describe how many cigarettes a person had smoked in his lifetime, with a pack equal to 20 cigarettes. If a person had smoked a pack a day for the last 20 years, or two packs a day for the last 10 years, he has 20 pack-years.

He also said that if a person is a chronic smoker he has to consider screening for lung cancer and the recommendation of the US experts is the low dose CT scan.

“We need to be aware of the common causes of cancer. With the screening, we are trying to look for the disease even na wala pa tay ginabati or simtomas. The purpose is aron madakop nato ang sakit or cancer early mintras wala pay condition ang pasyente,” he said.

“Overall, strong domestic demand fed into higher optimism for the year ahead. Moreover, the lack of Covid(-19) restrictions, greater investment in new products and undertaking new projects aided hopes of a prosperous year for the Filipino manufacturing sector,” Baluch said. (PNA)

INVESTMENT... FROM

ment as one of the government’s strategies under the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028, PEZA vows to bolster ecozone ex-

Infrastructure damage has also been noted in some areas in Davao de Oro following the earthquake.

Davao de Oro Governor Dorothy “Dotdot” M. Gonzaga personally inspected the Mayaon bridge in Montevista with personnel from the Provincial Engineer Office and saw that the bridge has cracks and is no longer safe for motorists.

Personnel of Mawab MDRRMO observed cracks in San Roque Church, Mawab Public Library, and RHU birthing facility.

Cabinuangan Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (BDRRMO) in New Bataan, Davao de Oro inspected the structural integrity of the New Bataan National High School on Thursday.

Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Rommel Jandayan said the division will wait for the assessment of the provincial and municipal local government units if the school buildings are still fit to hold classes and offices.

AUTHORITIES... FROM 3

offered to help identify the cause of the deaths of the warty pigs. Aside from examining the carcasses of the pigs, they will also conduct tests on live ones.

Tabamo cited that based on their monitoring the warty pig population in Mt. Kitanglad Range increased in 2020 and 2021 but showed a decline in 2022.

She said if the deaths continued, it could affect the local population of the warty pigs, which play an important role in conservation by dispersing the seeds of some plant species.

She said they could not say for now that the warty pigs were infected with the African Swine Fever or another kind of virus.

Bukidnon was not included as a hotspot of the ASF after the disease infected several hogs in parts of Mindanao starting in 2019.

But as a safety measure DENR-Bukidnon has issued an order banning the entry of swine, pork and pork products into the park effective Feb. 1.

Tabamo said the Kitanglad Guard Volunteers will enforce the order on all visitors entering the park. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno / MindaNews)

ROTARY... FROM 10

Non-Rotarians are classified in the Open Category with another group is for Ladies.

There will be four winners for the Open Individual Category, Gross Champion and Runner Up, Net Champion and Runner Up. The same awaits the winners for the Rotarians in the individ-

GLOBAL... FROM 5

vated inflation spurred on gold bar and coin investment,” Street said.

4 pansion across the country.

“With the inclusion of the ecozone development program in the new Philippine Development Plan, we are positive that more ecozones will be approved and created, especially in the countryside. Ecozones can be shields to soften the landing of the headwinds, the external constraints, and all these global disruptions happening, especially during this time. The other side to this is that ecozones can be economic drivers to accelerate economic recovery and growth,” he added. (PNA)

CAGRO... FROM 4 development of more fish cases for more bangus production in the City.

Among the areas being eyed for expansion is Barangay Lasang.

“Ginahan-ay sa balaod, pagma-declare na as mariculture park, magsugod na siya og develop (The policy for this is being finalized, once the area is declared as a mariculture park, the development will start),”

Necor said. CIO

Jewelry consumption decreased 3 percent to 2,086 tons last year due to hike in gold prices in the fourth quarter.

Demand for gold in technology dropped 7 per- ual category for each group. The total accumulated Stableford Points for the two day tournament will be the basis for the scoring. Team competition will be based on a five-to-playfour-to-count format with only the four best scores each day will be considered. cent in 2022 as deteriorating global economic conditions hampered demand for consumer electronics.

Total annual gold supply ticked up 2 percent annually to 4,755 tons in 2022, while mine production rose to a four-year high of 3,612 tons. (Anadolu)

PH DEBT... FROM 5

billion from the peso value of foreign currency denominated domestic debt,” the Treasury added.

Year-on-year, the end-December 2022 local debt stock rose by P1.04 trillion or 12.7% from the end-December 2021 level of P11.73 trillion.

Foreign debt

Meanwhile, the government external debt amounted to P4.21 trillion, down 0.1% or P5.73 billion lower than the end-November level of P4.216 trillion.

The Treasury attributed the lower foreign debt “due to the P58.34 billion impact of currency adjustments on foreign currency debt valuation.”

“This offset the net impact of third-currency fluctuations against the US dollar amounting to P34.07 billion and the P18.54 billion net availment of foreign loans,” it added.

Compared to 2021, the national government’s external debt grew by 18.3% or P652.34 billion from P3.6 trillion year-on-year.

Ricafort said the peso’s by 2% in January this year “could again help reduce the peso equivalent of the country’s US dollar/foreign debts.”

“However, the $3 billion (or equivalent to about P164 billion) global bond issuance in January 2023 could add to the national government’s outstanding debt stock,” the economist said.

Early last month, the Marcos administration raised a total of $3 billion or about P164 billion from its sale of triple-tranche dollar-denominated bonds, marking its second fund raising effort in the offshore debt market.