DAVAO CITY, Philippines — All 38 fire victims are now accounted for after the body of a missing call center worker here was found Thursday, January 4.

Fire Senior Superintendent Jerry Candido, spokesperson of Inter-agency Anti-Arson Task Force on Friday, January 5 said the body of Alexandra Moreno-Castillo was already recovered 12 days after the tragic fire at the NCCC Mall of Davao.

Candido said Moreno-Castillo was found around 7pm Thursday at the fourth level, the floor occupied by business process outsourcing company Survey Sampling International (SSI) Davao where she was a Quality Assurance supervisor.

Her family confirmed it was her Friday morning, Candido said.

A keychain of a miniature Volkswagen and a burnt bag with passport and the frame of a pair of eyeglasses inside were found near the body.

Her remains, Candido added, were stucked at the crevices on the floor. It might be the reason why it took days for Moreno’s remains to be recovered, he said.

The first body of a fire victim was found on December 24. Thirty six more fire victims were found at the lobby of the fourth level of the mall on Christmas Day.(davaotoday.com)

New year, new crises. Plummeting prices, degrading quality of life. But most citizen-consumers feel happy, it seems.

The Philippines allegedly ranks third, among the happiest of nations, if that means anything. Well, it does, for social media well-wishers. Indeed, digital windows have doors that open to other such windows, without intermediary spaces, in what Byung-Chul Han (2017) calls demediatization. The overload of information carrions as all of us produce and consume double-dead data. If we are all writers and readers, then any of us can become poets. If you have developed a liking for what might be deemed unhealthy, carry on and read through your screen-windows that is nothing more than a black mirror, once turned off. Continuing your solitary activity of reading may translate to solidarity of acting, or otherwise.

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Half-seriously, I intended to draft the manifesto of the Poetry Democratic Front (PDF), a revolutionary force to reckon with, as implied by someone who describes himself in interviews and introductions as not your usual poet and proceeds with a list of his great achievements to prove that writing poetry is possible, without a coterie or a literary barkada. Filename to be distributed via email shall be pdf (dot) pdf. Due to his impressive biodata, let us call him CV in this article. After criticizing workshop circuits, gate-kept publications (with, what, not your usual yale padlocks) and institutions, both emerging and established, CV sets an example for aspiring poets, like Maalaala Mo Kaya protagonists who overcome their poverty through hard work, against all odds, via resourcefulness and out-of-the-box routes. PhDF revolution, anyone?

Circumvention is, of course, possible and necessary; and CV raised some valid arguments here and there. However, giving premium to the individual, particularly himself, for whom he writes his poems for (as mentioned in the interview), is no less problematic than the figures and structures he problematized. Such thinking is not quite different from romanticized notions of writers as the conscience of their times, poets as the voices in the wilderness, the verses / literature / art as vessels of beauty / truth / freedom. I hope devoting a paragraph or ten of this insignificant article (that performs like a tabloid that employs cheap use of the blind item) to the poetic genius of CV is enough. With his Marxism relegated in his essays, and refuge from madness elevated in his sublime poetry, what can go wrong?
A lot perhaps, going by Edel Garcellanos Extra Memo (2002) and his other essays that challenge what Rogelio Braga (2016) will later term Philippine literary mafia headed by ninongs and “ninangs” (gender-neutral translation: godparents), as Arlo Mendoza (2017) will call them them. Garcellano remarks how the privileging of writers as individuals outside politics or beyond partisan categories reproduces the prevailing delusion of literary gadflies regarding their talents, qualities, essence, gifts, greatness that makes them chosen ones, ordained to stare at the face of the Absolute.”

This time, neither cliques nor confabulators anoint CV, as he sets his lyric poetry that subverts and reinvents the form by, well, being longer than usual. Such rad, much wow. CVs attempts to divorce his poetics and aesthetics from politics or what he calls the madness of the world that his Marxist essays dissect is as faulty as the doe-eyed celebration of interconnectedness and liberty offered by social media and other digital platforms that punctuate the instant and the now. What he naively assumes as his autonomy” is an exemption, rather than the rule. Emphasis on assume.” He once policed the knee-jerk, meme-like trolling aimed at the anthology Bloodlust (2017) and the obnoxious new protest poetry that failed to justify its existence and to situate itself within the tradition and history of Philippine protest poetry. Surprise: one of the editors of Bloodlust put out a good word for CVs first poetry collection, gravitas and grace-laden, last 2015.

Not indebted, just autonomous and gifted, unlike poets who have to form a collective to forward a new aesthetic that consequently concerns itself with the polemics and politics within and without literary institutions. Example: High Chair, which shall publish Kerima Lorena Tarimans Pag-aaral sa Oras: Mga Lumang Tula Tungkol sa Bago (approximately, Study of Time: Old Poems on the New), one of the books of poetry I am looking forward to, after reading some of her poems and translations. Does Tariman lack the autonomy of CV? She has neither the prestigious PhD nor the institutional affiliation nor the decorated curriculum vitae but she was among the pool of writers and editors of Unyon ng Manggagawa sa Agrikulturas (UMA) Bungkalan: Manwal sa Organikong Pagsasaka (2017). The solitude of individual poetics and solidarity of collective praxis braids Tarimans literary and organizational work into a banig of verses and subversions, perhaps driven by the same kindred energies that empower the poetry of Gelacio Guillermo and Alan Jazmines, Ericson Acosta, Axel Pinpin, among others, who weave political lines and aesthetic struggles.

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Had there been a pissing contest for the title of the most radical (and unusual) poetry free from hegemonic institutions that govern our miserable lives, the ones I would be vying for have slim chances of being awarded. If I wanted to win a cash prize, I would rather bet that they find such recognistions ridiculous. They are barkada-less and all barkadas are theirs. They are tribeless and all tribes are theirs. They are homeless and all homes are theirs. They are nameless and all names are theirs. To the fascists they are the faceless enemy, who come like thieves in the night, angels of death: The ever moving, shining, secret eye of the storm. For Han, such are crowds that constitute a mass capable of epic rage, an affective state that translates to a capacity, or power, to interrupt existing conditions and bring about new ones. On the other hand are swarms whose “digital outrage” CV somehow summons to his side. Rallying a horde against the mad world, he attracts isolated individuals who had enough of the system but would rather not develop a we.”

This essay may be mistaken as a participant to what Han calls an online shitstorm or the digital swarms “gathering without assembly.” Far from it. This article does not advocate a mere smear campaign to strike individual persons for the sake of unmask[ing] or mak[ing] an item of scandal, since CV exists [as] more than a person: he becomes an it, an I with a tea, a pronoun referring to a template of the enlightened homo digitalis, a snowflake in the swarm: a hybrid in the multitude who resists empire within empire: fleeting, unstable, vacillating, scattered poetic geniuses who blush when poets of the establishment notice their fellow poet-genius. This essay may be mistaken, not just as dictatorship in conversations that invoke democracy but also as a rejection of kindred spirits who also wish to resist the reactionary government of authoritarian patriarchs. Far from it, as a crowd assembling a critical mass for enough political energy for a potential ouster is yet to come but in order, I hope, we hope, let us hope.

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Anyone can join any group. As long as principles are shared, methods are generated, values are negotiated, pasts are reviewed, and futures are imagined, I can co-exist with people and groups. You choose: (a) a self-absorbed fist-in-the-air call-to-arms by someone who coins (in an email interview hence not spontaneous) the term PDF revolution as a blanket resistance, inclusive of a randomizer; or (b) a call to act by self-reflexive groups who know that they might themselves become territorial gatekeepers, hence they enable shared spaces (like Better Living Through Xeroxography), perhaps with preventive measures and progressive steps toward collectively creating dynamic reading and writing communities that foster creativity and criticality. In taking down neoliberal structures, would you opt for a bodiless swarm or a resolute crowd committed to a common cause?

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – The inter-agency group tasked to investigate the tragic NCCC mall fire is expected to come up with a recommendation on fire safety measures.

Fire Superintendent Jerry Candido, spokesperson of the Interagency Anti-Arson Task Force, said they have initially discussed on reassessing standards on fire safety during their meeting last December 30.

“We are looking at the most effective way to avoid the same incident from happening because we know what caused the fire, what started the short circuit,” Candido told reporters over the phone Tuesday, January 2.

Candido said the short circuit was due to how the electrical wirings were installed in the building.

“You can see that during the conduct of inspections,” Candido said, referring to the recommendation to relieve local fire officers responsible for the NCCC Mall’s acquisition of fire safety inspection certificate (FSIC) despite violations.

The FSIC is part of the requirements for processing business permits.

Initial investigation showed the fire started at the ceiling of the third floor where the textile section is located. The fire rapidly spread towards the fourth level occupied by the business process outsourcing company Survey Sampling International (SSI) Davao.

The task force is scheduled to resume their probe here on Thursday, January 4.

The agency is targeting to gather all documents and evidence in a week’s time to determine the specific liability of those involved in the fire.

Candido, however, stressed that the building’s violation was “very clear.” (davaotoday.com)

• Authorities say the exit paths of mall were not smoke and heat-proof

• No connection between alarm system at SSI and mall’s

• No functioning sprinkler

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — The 14 year-old local shopping center NCCC Mall was gutted by a massive fire two days before Christmas on December 23, 2017.

Authorities found that there was no functioning sprinkler system at the third floor of the building, where the fire started.

“There was no water, not even a sprinkler head. Without a sprinkler head, the sprinkler system will not function,” Superintendent Jerry Candido, who speaks for the Interagency Anti-Arson Task Force, said during a telephone interview with reporters on Tuesday, January 2.

Meanwhile, the fourth floor of the mall that was leased to business process outsourcing company Survey Sampling International (SSI) Davao had its sprinkler system intact.

But, Candido said they found out that the system was outside the structure of the SSI.

What we know know so far:

• The fire started in a short circuit at the ceiling portion of the alley between the fabric and furniture sections at the third level of the mall.
• The fire blazed for 32 hours.
• 38 workers, including 37 call center employees, died after they were trapped at the fourth level where a business process outsourcing company was located.
• The building, Candido said, failed to comply with the requirement of an automatic fire suppression system.
• The task force has recommended the relief of fire officials effective December 31, 2017. Those who were relieved were City Fire Marshal Honey Fritz Alagano, Inspector Renero Jimenez, Senior Fire Officer 1 (SFO1) Leo Lauzon, FO2 Joel Quizmundo and SFO1 Roger Dumag.
• The task force will resume its meeting on January 4 to continue with the probe.

Manual, not automatic

Every floor had a control valve for its sprinkler system, but it was turned off, Candido said, as the third floor was undergoing repair when the fire incident happened.

Meanwhile, the control valve at the fourth level had long been turned off as SSI was occupying the said floor.

“If you fiddle with the floor control valve, the alarm will sound automatically. That is why they overrode it. The mall’s alarm system was not automatic anymore because the floor control valves were closed,” he said.

“So, although the mall had an alarm system, it was manual. You must pull down the alarm switch before you can sound the alarm,” he stressed.

However, since there was no connection between the alarm system at the fourth level and the mall’s alarm system, the fire alarm was not heard at the workplace where victims of the fire were found dead.

“That is really a violation,” said Candido.

The exits of the building were also found to be not smoke and heat-proof. Investigators saw exits have several “openings” which Candido said would allow smoke and heat to pass through easily.

“The law requires that fire exits are protected. How can you use the exits if the smoke and heat got in first before the person?” he said.

Clearly, he added, the fire exits were cut off by the heat and smoke, which some of the fire survivors reported they were unable to use during the incident.(davaotoday.com)

Peace negotiations with the Communists was notably gaining “unprecedented advances. But what went wrong?

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Peace remains unreachable as the year ended with the negotiations between the government and Communists virtually on a stand still.

Despite two rounds of formal talks this year, President Rodrigo Duterte declared this month the Communists as terrorists, a 360-degree turn around from calling them previously as revolutionaries.

For the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), however, nowhere is the country headed to end landlessness and oppression of d majority poor, thus they opt to continue waging armed struggle.

Will they ever go back to the peace table?

In his several speeches this month, the self-proclaimed socialist President, Duterte said he could not agree to what the Communists want.

“Apparently, there you would want to have a coalition government. I do not have any problems with that, except that as I’ve said before, in many of my statements previously, I cannot give them or share with them a sovereignty which is not my own. It is not mine to give,” Duterte said.

He said when he reviewed the documents of the negotiators he saw that the Communists “want a coalition government.”

The country, he explained, “is run by a Constitution.”

Martial law in Mindanao was also extended by Congress from only 60 days to 588 days, now out to run after the Communists who were outlawed by Presidential Proclamation No. 374.

The revolutionary movement denounced the one-year extension of martial law, saying it is a “de facto” nationwide declaration.

What exactly is going on at the Palace?

Duterte is “testing the waters,” said Joaquin Jacinto, spokesperson of National Democratic Front of the Philippines Mindanao.

“Part of its deceitful strategy is to focus on Mindanao first and perfidiously work its way up to encompass the Visayas and Luzon, so that, in dividing the nation, Duterte will avoid facing the impact of a nationwide uprising against his fascist rule,” Jacinto said.

In turn, the revolutionary movement “is ready to face death” and fight against Duterte, said Jacinto.

“Revolutionaries, as well as the struggling masses, would rather face death fighting rather than bow down to Duterte’s fascist dictatorship,” he said.

The Communists also said they will help in ousting Duterte.

Dream of peace

During his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) in July 2016, Duterte immediately offered the Communists a unilateral ceasefire.

“We will strive to have a permanent and lasting peace before my term ends. That is my goal, that is my dream,” Duterte said.

Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chairman Jose Maria Sison said they are “hopeful” to forge a peace agreement with Duterte.

But, after a year Duterte is apparently pursuing the other way to peace – by pounding the communist movement and calling them “enemies of the state” whom he is out to bully.

In his second SONA, Duterte admitted: “peace eludes us still.”

“So much time has lapsed, so many lives have been lost and so much destruction has been wrought but peace eludes us still. Sometimes I am almost tempted to conclude that peace might not be able to come during our lifetime,” he said.

Days before he delivered his annual speech, Duterte announced he will wage war against the Communists after the battle in Marawi is concluded.

During those times, the two parties were set for a series of backchannel talks to discuss on how to resume the talks.

On July 19, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Jesus Dureza announced the backchannel talks are canceled after an encounter between the NPA’s and members of the Presidential Security Group in the tri-boundary of Arakan, North Cotabato, Bukidnon and Davao City.

The GRP and NDFP held two successful rounds of formal talks this year: the third round of talks was held in Rome, Italy in January and the fourth round was held in Noordwijk, Aan Zee in The Netherlands in April, with both rounds facilitated by the Royal Norwegian Government.

Stalled talks

However, since May, the fifth round of the formal talks between the government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP have been stalled. The government said there was a “lack of compelling reason” to proceed.

Dureza, the government’s peace adviser, said there was “no change of situation” referring to the position of the government that the CPP should rescind its order to the NPAs to intensify attacks amid Martial Law declaration in Mindanao.

Now, what GRP peace panel chief Silvestre Bello described as a “temporary setback” has been on for seven months, growing deeper and uglier.

The cancellation of the backchannel talks in July was the first of the undetermined number of backchannel talks and meetings between the parties that were made known to the public.

On November 22, Dureza again announced the cancellation of all their planned meetings with the CPP-NPA-NDFP following Duterte’s order that there will be no more peace talks.

Dureza said there will be no peace negotiations “until such time as the desired enabling environment conducive to a change in the government’s position becomes evident.”

A day after Dureza’s announcement, Duterte signed Proclamation No. 360 formally terminating the talks with the Communists and on December 5, he signed Proclamation No. 374 declaring the CPP and the NPA as terrorist organizations.

His actions came a month after Marawi was declared “liberated from terrorists’ influence.”

360-degree turn

The government’s promise of peace was replaced with the vow to crush the communist insurgency by the end of 2018.

The NDFP said President Duterte has “clearly sabotaged the peace talks, revealing its utter contempt for peace and total disregard for genuine socio-economic reforms.”

NDFP Mindanao spokesman Joaquin Jacinto said Duterte has revealed “his true character as a puppet of US imperialism.”

“From the start, he was already an avowed implementer of neoliberal policies, ensuring profits for the business interests of big bourgeois compradors and foreign monopoly capitalists,” Jacinto said adding the government’s “Build, Build, Build” program and the new tax reform will burden the public with debt and more taxes.

In Mindanao, he said, the government has also brought death and destruction, after the crisis in Marawi and the extension of Martial Law in the island.

Human rights organization Barug Katungod Mindanao said there were 92 cases of killings of activists and 428 cases of trumped-up charges filed against members of progressive organizations, which Duterte has tagged as legal fronts of the CPP and NPA.

Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights in Southern Mindanao region (SMR) said the killings targeted those from the peasant sector “where they have intense anti-mining struggles.”

Jay Apiag, spokesperson of Karapatan-SMR said 32 out of 63 victims of killing in Davao region. Meanwhile, Apiag added they have recorded 18 incidents of aerial bombings in communities.

On and off

The peace negotiations have been on and off since the conclusion of the third round of talks last January.

The NPA terminated its ceasefire on February 10 saying the military took advantage of the ceasefire to encroach their areas.

The ceasefire declared by the NPA on August 28 was the longest in history.

Duterte then suspended talks with the Communists on February 4. On the following day, he called the CPP-NPA-NDF as terrorists after three soldiers were killed by the NPAs in an ambush in Malaybalay, Bukidnon

Unreasonable demands

The Communists said the fifth round of talks was disrupted by the “unreasonable demands” of the government.

NDFP’s peace panel chair Fidel Agcaoili said the government want the CPP to: “1) rescind its order to the NPA that was in the main responding to the intensified AFP military operations nation-wide before and after Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao and, 2) that the NDFP immediately sign a joint ceasefire agreement even without the necessary agreements on social, economic and political reforms in place.”

The Communists felt outrage in people being rounded up and threats against people who are deemed as anti-government.

“In light of these out and out attacks against the people and their revolutionary forces, NPA units are left with little choice but to undertake more and more tactical offensives in order to defend the masses and the people’s army by stopping the reactionary state armed forces from carrying out their onslaught,” Agcaoili said.

The NDFP negotiator also said there could be no immediate ceasefire if there were no agreements on reforms in place.

He said the demand for the NPA to stop fighting was “one-sided” citing that the Armed Forces of the Philippines continue its militarization in the countryside.

Highlights

The peace negotiations under the Duterte administration was notably gaining “unprecedented advances.”

Juliet de Lima, chairperson of the NDFP Reciprocal Working Committee on Social and Economic Reforms (RWC-SER) said: “Just four days before President Duterte cancelled the talks anew, the bilateral teams of the NDFP and the government of the Republic of the Philippines initialed draft documents reflecting substantial agreements on agrarian reform and rural development, and on national industrialization and economic development.”

The initial signing, she said, came after a series of bilateral technical meetings of the NDFP and GRP reciprocal working committees on SER held on October 26 to October 27, November 9 to November 11 and on November 16 to November 17.

During the third round of talks, the Parties signed the Supplemental Guidelines for the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) making the work of the JMC in monitoring the compliance of the two parties with the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) fully operational.

The Parties came up with an Agreement on an Interim Joint Ceasefire on the fourth round of talks.

The agreement was considered a “major breakthrough” in the peace process, said GRP chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III. The agreement directs the respective Ceasefire Committees to meet “in-between formal talks, to discuss, formulate, and finalize the guidelines and ground rules for the implementation of this agreement.”

The NDFP clarified that the signing of the agreement will not go against their principle of agreeing to a ceasefire before reforms are achieved.

Under Duterte’s leadership, the talks reached four rounds in less than a year.

And most significantly, the parties have agreed on accelerating the talks on social and economic reforms by creating bilateral teams to tackle on issues and work on proposals even outside the formal talks.

When the Marawi crisis broke out on May 23, the revolutionary movement expressed support to the government’s fight against terrorism.

But Duterte refused it saying he could not allow NPA fighters to “fight alongside with government” until a peace pact is forged.

Duterte was clear on insisting to the Communists to talk peace by stopping fighting.

The Communists, however, were not ready to sign a document on ceasefire until the substantial agreement on socio-economic reforms and political and constitutional reforms were put in place.

In its statement on the occasion of the 49th founding anniversary of the CPP on December 26, the NDFP said it is willing to resume the talks but will not “submit itself to talks of capitulation.” (davaotoday.com)

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – This is a look back to what transpired at the Davao City Council in 2017.

The 18th City Council ended the year with a total of 48 regular sessions held.

“This has been a productive year for the council and I’m looking for a more productive year,” Bernard Al-ag, Majority Floor leader said on Tuesday, December 12.

Here’s a glimpse of discussions, ordinances, resolutions in the City Council.

The Apo Agua bulk water project

It was not a smooth sail for the Apo Agua Infrastractura Inc.’s (AAII) bulk water project. It took over four months for AAII, the joint venture between Aboitiz Equity Ventures and JV Angeles Construction Corporation, to get the council’s approval to construct a P10-billion water treatment facility in Baguio District.

It underwent a long hurdle in the council as local legislators made sure no environmental laws were violated as the facility is situated in a watershed area.

The project, which is the biggest water project in the country, is aimed to address the looming water crisis particularly in the second district of the city.

Aeon Towers crane issue

Aeon Towers project manager Engineer Buboy D. Espinosa was grilled by the councilors in one of its regular session in October, after news broke out that some airlines complained of flight misappropriations due to the exceeding height of the crane atop the constructed tower.

Based on Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), the exceeding height of the crane poses great danger to air passengers because it obstructs aircraft traffic in and out of the city.

This outraged both Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and Mayor Sara Duterte and urged them to give a five-day ultimatum for developers to dismantle the cranes atop the 33-story building or else they will never be allowed to do business in the city.

Online payment system

This ordinance proposed by Joanna M. Bonguyan-Quilos was aimed to provide ease of doing business in the city. The approval of the “Electronic Online Payment System” ordinance was eyed to minimize over-the-counter transactions and provide the public faster and convenient system in paying taxes and other government fees.

Drinking challenge

Representatives from the Davao City Water District (DCWD) found themselves in a drinking challenge with the councilors after they told the council that the “yellowish water” at Barangay Cabantian and other neighboring areas is “safe to drink.”

Al-ag challenged officials of DCWD, which spokesperson Bernard Delima immediately accepted and told councilors they are welcome to watch board members and officials drink the “yellowish” water.

Residents in the second district of the city have been complaining about the lack of water supply and quality of water in the area. DCWD’s water quality division maintained that despite the yellowish water, it is safe and potable.

Anti-unattended bag ordinance

Following the clash between the government forces and Islamic State-linked Maute group in Marawi City, the ordinance passed in July was meant to strengthen the city’s security measures against terroristic attacks.

The anti-unattended bag ordinance prohibits and punishes the act of leaving bags unattended in public places within the city. Violators of the ordinance will be penalized accordingly. A higher fee will be fined if such actions caused “undue panic.”

However, one councilor abstained from voting. Councilor Maria Belen Sunga-Acosta said that the ordinance was “unreasonable” because it fines even those whose act of leaving bags unattended in public did not cause undue panic.

Anti-Terrorist group ordinance

In a bid to prevent spillover of terrorism in the city, the council approved the ordinance also known as “anti-ISIS” ordinance. The measure seeks to punish “the act of recruitment and membership” to any terrorist groups. Any related acts of terrorism and support to the said act will also be punished, according to the ordinance.

Diversion Road landslide

Over 40 families were forced to leave their homes along Diversion Road while thousands were stuck in monstrous traffic which continued for several days after a minor landslide occurred in a portion of one of the busiest highways in Davao City.

Representatives of different offices were called by the council to explain the tragedy. According to the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau’s (MGB) geohazard study that was presented in the council in 2011, there should be no human intervention and development on its slope because the ground was unstable. MGB Geologist Beverly Brebante said it was only in 2013 that the City Council designated Shrine Hills into a “protected zone.”

Apart from the torrential rains, Brebante cited that the landslide was partly caused by the presence of developments in the hills, including a resort, residential subdivisions and broadcasting stations. The Department of Public Works and Highway’s two multi-million road-widening projects were also noted to have weakened the stability of the ground.

But DPWH geologist Thea Peguit explained that an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was secured by the office prior to the implementation of the project.

‘Liquid waste’ spill

The council called out the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) to explain the leaking of liquid waste from the sanitary landfill in New Carmen, Tugbok district.

According to the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) 11 the spread of liquid waste or leachate was due to the overflowing wastewater treatment facility, posing a great threat to residents as water in the nearby Matina Pangi river is being contaminated.

Meanwhile, CENRO said the office has cleaned up the filtration facility of the landfill to prevent further spread and assured to improve operations in the sanitary landfill.

The council allocated P100 million for the construction of a new landfill and P42 million for the rehabilitation of the current one.

‘Paperless’ session

With its hope to reduce the use of paper every session, the City Council spent at least P1.3 million to buy laptop units for local legislators to use. Instead of printing the agenda and other attachments, copies of documents will be distributed electronically.

Al-ag said 27 units of laptops worth P50,000 each were already purchased and is ready to be used “exclusively during sessions and their review of agenda” starting next year. An estimated 50 kilos of paper is used by the council every session or at least 8,000 kilos of paper every year.

IP attire ordinance

In the belief that Lumad attire is sacred, Councilor Bai Halila Sudagar, Indigenous People Mandatory Representative and chairperson of the Committee on Cultural Communities and Muslim Affairs, pushed for the approval of the IP attire ordinance.

The measure outlaws the improper use of traditional attire during parades, exhibits, presentations and other related public activities. Event organizers, performers, choreographers who want to use IP attire for the purpose of representing tribes of Davao City must first secure a certification from the Office of Cultural Community Affairs.

4 PH heroes replace Duterte family

It was a shocker when portraits of the Duterte clan- President Rodrigo Duterte, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte went out of sight at the City Council. Instead, four photos of national heroes – Marcelo Del Pilar, Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio and Antonio Luna were placed at the below the emblem of the council.

This was in line with the memorandum released by the Office of the City Mayor encouraging departments and offices to display or exhibit photographs, paintings and other forms of visual representation of Philippine heroes “instead of photographs, paintings or other forms of visual representations of elected or appointed government officials.”

Josephine Nabua, a Local Legislative Staff Officer of the City Council, said the four heroes were picked by Vice Mayor Duterte pointing that they are “freemason heroes” which the younger Duterte is a member of.

Ban protest in Panacañang

Following the letter request of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) sent to the Mayor Duterte, Acosta, chairperson the committee on public safety drafted an ordinance to ban all forms of protest outside “Panacañang” or the so-called Malacaňang of the South.

The PSG said this is to ensure that threats, hazards and security vulnerabilities are addressed since the President holds official meetings there. The proposed ban also covers areas along the road in front of the DPWH, stretching from crossing Panacan going to the bridge near Eastern Mindanao Command.

However, activists highly opposed PSG’s request, saying the prohibition will tamper the public’s right to peaceful assemblies, freedom of expression, and redress of grievances.

Car park incentives ordinance

This proposed ordinance was set to entice land developers and property owners in the city to put up car parking spaces or buildings in the city by giving special real property and tax incentives. Al-ag said this could be a good deal to both the city and businessmen as City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio is eyeing to strictly ban street parking as a way to decongest the worsening traffic in the city.

Pulong resigns

It came as a shock on a day they were supposed to deliberate a proposal to fund rehabilitation for communities hit by Tropical Storm Vinta. On December 25, the council’s presiding officer, Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte, resigned.

The official said he was taking responsibility for two political scandals which implicated him: the smuggling allegations at the Bureau of Customs and the “very public squabble” with his daughter.

Duterte would be considered on leave until the end of 2017, but many have been wondering who will be replacing him as vice mayor.

His successor, according to the mayor, will be a councilor with the highest votes depending on the percentage of voters in a district. (davaotoday.com)