Unite to elect Quake hitsworthy Northcandidates Cotabato
Read the full story on page 6
Your Mindanao-wide online Newspaper
Ompong Plaza vows to end Plaza dynasty VOL. 2, No. 290
www.businessweekmindanao.com
Monday
April 29, 2013
P10.00
By CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN, Editor-at-large
SAN Francisco, Agusan del Sur––Political dynasty, the very same vehicle that brought him into politics and various elected positions in the past, will be the main thing that Rodolfo Plaza will be fighting against when he gets elected to Congress in May.
EDDIEBONG PLAZA
Ompong, as he is more popularly known, is a scion of the Plaza clan – which has maintained its grip on the province’s politics for decades now. But Ompong, 54, said he was willing to help dismantle his family’s political dynasty and that of other clans by supporting proposals to outlaw the so-called family political affair when he gets elected as representative of Agusan del Sur’s second congressional district, which is made up of this town and the municipalities of Rosario, Bunawan, Trento, Sta. Josefa, Veruela, Loreto and La Paz.
He described the Plaza family’s political hold as part of the “age-old corrupt feudal wardlordism and governance with impunity.” Ompong’s new-found battle against political dynasty came as a surprise to both voters and politicians here. After all, it was the same political dynasty that made him congressman from 2001 to 2010. The family’s name even helped him when he ran for the Senate under Erap’s party in the 2010 elections. He was number one among the senatorial wannabes in so far as Agusan del Sur was concerned with a total vote of over 127,000. Ompong lost in his senatorial bid though when the nationwide tally came in but his placement in the provincial tally had proven that the Plaza family’s influence DYNASTY | page 11
OMPONG PLAZA
‘Labor only scheme’ worsens plight of poor in Bukidnon province
Uncovering the terror in Baganga
By Walter I. Balane of MindaNews.com
By CHERYLL D. FIEL DavaoToday.com
MALAYBALAY City–– Bukidnon Vice Governor Jose Ma. R. Zubiri blamed Friday the rise of the province’s poverty incidence to the “labor only” contractual scheme resorted by agricultural plantations. Bukidnon’s poverty incidence rose to 43.3 percent in 2012 from 38.8 percent in 2009 and 40.4 percent in 2006, according to the “First Semester Per Capita Poverty Threshold and Poverty In-
cidence among Families, by Region and Province: 2006, 2009 and 2012” released by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) last April 23. In other words, 43 out of 100 families in the province are poor. This placed Bukidnon as the 7th in Mindanao and the 13th in the country with HEAVILY ARMED. A battalion of the elite Philippine Marines arrive in Butuan City the most number of families on April 23, 2013 to implement the order of President Aquino to crush the New People’s considered poor in 2012. Army rebels following the ambush of Gingoog Mayor Ruthie Guingona.
Last of two parts
The unforgettable Sitio Limot
WHAT they came for in Sitio Limot was worth all the troubles. The village was once located in the middle of a forest but this time there was a wide swath of land with stumps and occasional newly re-grown trees, the place apparently poor | page 11 MindaNews photo by Erwin Mascarinas still reeling from the devastation of typhoon Pablo. What missioners find appalling was that despite the abundance of aid pouring in from local and international donors, the residents are The research group also said the Philippine economy will likely According to realmost hungry, homeless search group IBON, that the report released by Moody’s grow by 6.5% to 7% this year and and scared. the growth figures Analytics was a mere hype meant to could be among the fastest growth Ian Mostrales, a nurse registered in the past attract more international invest- rates in the world. who joined the medical IBON reiterated that any gain quarters were based on ments and speculative activities team found out that the most from positive growth forecasts shallow and speculative in the region. The think-tank reported that sources. terror | page 11 jobs | page 11
Ibon: without jobs, growth forecast meaningless THE growth forecast by think-tank Moody’s is meaningless, especially since it looked into the “impressive” rate of the country’s g ro s s d om e s tic product (GDP).
Editorial: e-mail: mindanaodailynews@gmail.com • 72-33-44, 856-3344 Advertising: e-mail: mindanaodaily.ads@gmail.com Contact cell nos.: 0917-7121424, 0947-8935776