May 2013 election

Leaving the country without any clarification to the issues threw to a person might an indication of guilt.

According to the Bureau of Immigration's (BI's) information there were two solons linked to the PDAF scam have silently slipped out of the country. And one of them, was the former Congressman and once a Governor of Agusan del Sur, Rodolfo "Ompong" Plaza, last September 11 via Cebu Pacific 5J108.  The aircraft also flies the Manila-Hong Kong route.

The other one was Ruby Tuason, who left the country last August 26 via Cathay Pacific Airways flight CX906. No mention of Tuasons' destination but in a website, flightstats.com showed that the flight regularly departs for Hong Kong.

Ompong Plaza consumed 81.5 million of his pork barrel on Napoles' fake NGOs. And one of the Top 5  among all lawmakers linked to PDAF scam that has the biggest pork barrel ingested on the NGOs.

Some netizens asks what does it mean? The two might see each other in Hong Kong? Do they go there just to buy things just like any other rich pinoys? Or maybe, just to avoid of the punishments that might be given to them?

We don't know, me either. What do you think? What is/are their reason/s in getting out of the country?

What's on your mind? Share it here!

Last May 2013 election


Image courtesy from www.facebook.com/ompongplaza143

The provincial government of Agusan del Sur and the municipality of Loreto town of the same province wrote a scathing letter accusing human rights group Karapatan of duplicity. The issue stemmed from the evacuees who were holed up for weeks at the Bankerohan gym last month when they were displaced from their villages by the skirmishes between government troops and communist rebels.The letter rued the “black propaganda” by Karapatan at the expense of the province and the local government of Loreto when the group claimed that the more than 400 evacuees fled because of militarization and hamletting of their villages.

Agusan del Sur Governor Adolph Edward G. Plaza, who signed the letter, claimed that Karapatan “wittingly or unwittingly” twisted the facts when it mounted a media blitz surrounding the four-day stand-off when residents of Loreto sought the help of the provincial capitol against the backdrop of hostility and violence in the remote villages.

The accusations were serious:

 Karapatan and other progressive organizations persuaded the evacuees from leaving the temporary shelter at the Covered Court of D.O. Plaza Sports Complex;

 Karapatan told the evacuees to hold vital information about their true health condition to authorities;

 The group “instigated” residents to not return home unless there’s a military pullout;

 Refusing entry to the crisis committee to negotiate with the leaders of the evacuees;

 Backtracking on the agreement to escort the evacuees home after the provincial government promised farm aids and livelihood;

And finally, after agreeing to bring them back to their villages, Karapatan and other progressive groups brought the displaced residents—jammed on three Elf trucks—along with another van for the lactating mothers and infants to Davao City instead of back home to Loreto.

The whole story is rich in irony: a group advocating human rights is putting the health and safety of innocent civilians at risk in for media mileage. While we do appreciate that activism is essential to point out government and military excesses, Karapatan does have a lot of explaining to do over its role in the whole fiasco.


Source: Mindanao Times

CEBU CITY – Agusan del Sur governor Eddiebong Plaza presented before human resource and organizational development (HROD) practitioners both from the government and private sectors the province’s Strategic Performance Management System (SPMS).

The local chief executive gave a talk on “Shared Governance, Shared Future: Making the Performance Scorecard Work” during the 2013 National Human Resource Symposium held at the Waterfront Hotel.

Held under the auspices of the Civil Service Commission through the Civil Service Institute and the Australian Agency for International Development’s Philippine-Australia Human Resource Organizational Development Facility, the forum aimed in further strengthening HROD to bring about institutional changes and reforms.

    In his presentation, Governor Plaza shared his leadership approaches in ensuring the effective performance of the provincial government of Agusan del Sur (PGAS) officials and employees through the implementation of the SPMS to bring about sustainable development in the province.

According to Ms. Josephine Ambongan; the Provincial Management Human Resource Officer and also Chief-of-Staff of the governor, the modified version of the PGAS-SPMS was crafted by a core team that responded and coincided with the basic elements and requirements of the CSC model pursuant to its Memorandum Circular No. 6 of 2012 as enunciated in Resolution No. 1200481 dated March 16, 2012.

She added PGAS adopted the principles of the balanced scorecard by Norton and Kaplan and harmonized the concepts of the PGAS Modified Performance Evaluation System (MPES) including the concepts and guidelines of the CSC-SPMS model as a management tool in managing and measuring performance in the various levels in the organization.

The HR officer pointed out the PGAS-SPMS is under pilot-testing effective July to December 2013 as authorized by CSC with a facilitator team starting the conduct of the SPMS orientation and workshop to have common understanding on the new tools, process, and guidelines for its smooth implementation.

Participants gave positive responses to the talk of Governor Plaza and appreciated the headway PGAS has attained in human resource development and management system and invited him as resource speaker in their respective local government units. Some even expressed desire to conduct bench marking by visiting Agusan del Sur. (PPIO_ADS / Melody De Vera)

BUTUAN CITY, August 27 (PIA) -- The Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) of Caraga has created a Joint Investigating Teams on IDPs. in response to the reported internally displaced person (IDPs) situation in Loreto, Agusan del Sur.

In a letter dated August 19 to Caraga regional peace and order council (RPOC), Kahugpongan alang sa Kalambuan Association/ IDP Spokesperson Ricky C. Lope, HELP Agusan Sur Co-initiator and Spokesman Susan E. Claro, and HELP Agusan Sur Co-initiator and United Church of Christ in the Philippines Agusan District Conference Minister Rev. Jesse A. Pagalan appealed the Caraga RPOC for urgent action about the IDPs from Loreto who are taking temporary shelter in Davao City.

It was revealed that “around 500 individuals were forced to evacuate due to intensified military operations by the 26th Infantry Batallion and paramilitary group-Bagani Force in the four barangays of Loreto, Agusan del Sur. Apparently, internal displacement happened wherein hundreds of families of Agusanon Manobo lumads and peasants took refuge at the Barangay 5A Gym, Bankerohan, Davao City after the provincial government of Agusan refused to heed their humanitarian needs and appeals.”

The HELP Agusan Sur and IDPs sent their appeal to RPOC stipulating alleged existence of illegal private armed group and torture, and raised concerns and request for humanitarian assistance. They bared that the conflict has affected the livelihoods of IDPs and deprived the Manobo tribe from their ancestral domain.

With this, the Caraga RPOC immediately created a joint investigating team on August 19 to validate the allegations of the HELP Agusan Sur and IDPs from Loreto. The team will also conducting meetings necessary to discuss pertinent issues/concern on the IDPs, and prepare report and recommend measures based on the findings.

The joint investigating team headed by the DILG Caraga Regional Director Lilibeth Famacion is composed of the regional directors from Commission on Human Rights, Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, Office of Civil Defense, National Economic and Development Authority, Philippine Information Agency, Philippine National Police-PRO 13 and commander of 401st Infantry Brigade of 4ID Philippine Army.

Meanwhile, Famacion revealed that the RPOC will be conducting special meeting on August 28 to discuss appropriate measures that the team will undertake in order to come up with a comprehensive approaches about the appeal of HELP Agusan Sur and the IDPs. (FEA/JSN, PIA-Caraga)

MANILA, Aug 31 (PNA) -- Malacanang condemned the murder of an Iligan City radio commentator. saying it would coordinate with police for the immediate resolution of the case.

“Hindi tino-tolerate ng pamahalaan ang mga ganitong pangyayari lalo na laban sa mga media practitioners,” Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a radio interview over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Saturday.

Valte said the Palace will be coordinating with the Philippine National Police to get more details of the case and serve justice to the family of the victim.

Fernando Solijon of dxLS Love Radio was shot multiple times late Thursday as he was about to board his car after having drinks with colleagues at a friend’s house. The gunman fled aboard a motorcycle driven by another man, police said.

Solijon, 48, is a well-known radio commentator critical of alleged corruption and rising crime in Iligan City.

The radio station, where Solijon worked for seven years, described the killing as “work-related.”

According to the National Union of Journalists in the Philippines, Solijon would be the 159th journalist killed in the country since 1986 if his killing is proven to be work-related. (PNA)
HBC/PCOO/JSD

MANILA, Aug 31 (PNA) — Businessmen consider the third quarter a ghost month but businessmen remain bullish on their outlook, a central bank survey showed.

Results of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ (BSP) business expectations survey (BES) for the third quarter of 2013 showed a lower confidence index (CI) of 43.8 percent from the previous quarter’s 54.9 percent.

In a briefing Friday, BSP Deputy Director of Department of Economic Statistics (DES) Teresita Deveza attributed the lower index to seasonal drop in demand due to the rainy season, higher competition particularly with products from China and peso weakness.

“Uncertainties in the global economy such as the impact of the anticipated exit from quantitative easing in the US also contributed to their lower optimism,” she said.

Deveza said the outlook of Filipino businessmen is similar to those in Hong Kong, South Korea, and India but is weaker compared to those from US, UK, Canada, Germany and New Zealand.

Amid the lower confidence index for the third quarter this year, BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo, during the same briefing, said businesses “continue to be broadly bullish.”

“There was some slight decline in the confidence index, but in general it remains in a positive territory. And therefore the bullishness that we saw in the first and second quarter continue through the third quarter,” he added.

On the other hand, the index for the four quarter posted its all-time high 60 percent since the survey was conducted nationwide in the last quarter of 2006.

Deveza said seasonal demand also plays as a major factor due to the Christmas season and introduction of new product lines.

“The prevailing favorable macroeconomic conditions such as low interest rates, manageable inflation, steady growth of overseas Filipino remittances, increase in investment inflows as well as the recent investment grade credit rating from three rating agencies namely Fitch Ratings, Standard & Poor’s and Japan Credit Rating Agency also boosted business confidence for the next quarter,” she said.

Meanwhile, the respondents also see the peso to sustain its current depreciation mode in the third quarter but to recover in the fourth quarter.

Both the interest rates and inflation are expected to increase both in the third and the fourth quarter.

The survey was conducted from July 1 to 13, 2013 and was participated in by 1,552 firms included in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Top 7,000 corporations. (PNA)
DSP/JS/UTB