Pugante, Nadakip ng Baler PNP

BALER, Aurora, March 4, 2013-Nadakip ang isang lalaki na tumakas sa bilangguan mula sa piitan ng Baguio City na kinilalang si Charlie Buluag Y’ Fontanilla, 27 years old, residente ng Brgy. Sabang, Baler, Aurora na may kasong frustrated Homicide na kasalukuyang pinagdudusahan nito bago tumakas ng kulungan.

Ayon sa puganteng si Charlie, hindi umano nito intensyong tumakas sa bilangguan. Napasama lang ito sa dalawa pang preso na tumakas sa bilangguan mula sa Baguio City.

Makalipas umano ng limang buwan ng umuwi ito sa kanilang tahanan sa Brgy. Sabang kung saan siya nasakote ng mga otoridad.

Nasa pangngalaga na ng Baler PNP si Charlie upang ipagpatuloy nito ang kanyang kaso at sinampahan ng panibagong kaso dahil sa pagtakas nito sa kulungan. (Ferdinand Pascual, 92.1 Radyo TV Baler)

Most Wanted sa Maria Aurora, Arestado

MARIA AURORA, Aurora, March 4, 2013-Arestado dakong alas dose ng tanghali kamakailan sa Brgy. Lublub, Castaneda, Nueva Vizcaya ang isang most wanted na kinilalang si Bernabe Obra Sr. Y’ Bravo, 55, residente ng Brgy. Dianawan dahil sa kasong panghahalay sa sala ni Baler Regional Trial Court Branch 91 Judge Evelyn Turla.

Pinangunahan ni Maria Aurora OIC Chief of Police Police Inspector Rommel M. Zagala ang pag-aresto kay Bernabe na sa kasalukuyan ay nasa pangangalaga na ng mga otoridad sa bayang ito. (Ferdinand Pascual, 92.1 Radyo TV Baler) 

SONNY ANGARA CAUTIONS SCHOOLS ON CHARGING GRADUATION FEES

  Team Pnoy senatorial candidate Rep. Edgardo “Sonny” Angara today expressed disappointment over reports that some schools continue to charge fees for graduation despite complaints from several parents and students.

 

  Angara reminded public schools’ officials  that charging graduation fees violate the ban imposed by the Department of Education.

 

  “I think it would do well for our public schools to avoid creating further burden to students as most of them come from poor families. What we should do is help them to graduate,” Angara said here.

 

  The Department of Education, through its DeTXT Action Center, has received at least 180 complaints against schools that continue to collect graduation fees and defy the DepEd’s order.

 

  “Graduations are special occasions and should be celebrated, most definitely. But their significance should not be seen as diminished if they are ‘spartan’ as what [DepEd Secretary] Bro. Armin Luistro urged schools to do,” Angara said.

 

  As chair of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Higher and Technical Education during the 15th Congress,  the lawmaker from Aurora conducted inquiries into reports of some nursing hospitals charging miscellaneous and “association” fees without the prior knowledge of their students.

 

  Angara lobbied for the passage of House Bill 3546 which protects the right of students enrolled in courses requiring professional licensing examinations to enroll in review centers of their choice, amid reports that some schools were going as far as dictating their students’ airfare and lodging during review classes.

 

  “Our educational system should be structured such that the only thing keeping students from graduating are their grades and proven academic competence, and not whether they have the capacity to pay,”  Angara said.

 

  In his speech during the launching of his “Angara ng Estudyanteng Pinoy Movement” at the National College of Science and Techonolgy (NCST) here,  Angara promised to take steps to treat most problems besetting public schools.

 

  Among these problems are the lack of funds for students’ scholarships, school infrastructure and higher salaries of teacher, low quality of education and limited access to quality education,  and higher rate of violence and student dropout.

 

  He said he would strive to address these problems if elected to the Senate even as he asked the government to tap other sources to generate much-needed investments to sustain and fund  educational programs.

 

  Angara also praised the NCST students for their achievements despite their limitations.  The NCST emerged as overall champion in the 3rd Battle of Wits held in Adamson University-Manila recently.

 

  The NCST also recorded a 100 percent passing rate in the recent Licensure Examination for Teachers, with all of them immediately landing a job after graduation.

 

  He also thanked the NCST officials for making him an honorary professor in the university. Angara is a former lecturer at the New Era University and Centro Escolar University.

 

  Angara sponsored numerous bills on education and social reforms, including  the Bill of Rights for New Graduates,” which seeks to provide incentives and other forms of assistance to new college graduates. He is also responsible for the approval of Joint Resolution 4 which called for the implementation of the Salary Standardization Law III that raised the salary of state workers, including public school teachers.

 

  He promised to push for a free college education to at least one child of every poor family beneficiary under the Conditional Cash Transfer, or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) , being implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT SHOULD NOT BE AFFECTED BY SABAH ISSUE – SONNY ANGARA

 Team Pnoy senatorial candidate Edgardo “Sonny” Angara today said the hard-won  Bangsamoro  Framework Agreement should not  be  a casualty of the Sabah violence   and that everything must be done to preserve  its  integrity.

 

  Angara said those who claim that the agreement is at the root of the ongoing fighting between armed men of the Sulu sultanate  and Malaysian forces may be the same people who do not want the dream of achieving lasting peace in Mindanao  to succeed.

 

  “The instability and conflict in Mindanao has pestered for so long,” Angara said.

 

  “The Framework Agreement provides for the total infrastructure on how to achieve peace, on  how to build the zones of peace and prosperity that we have been dreaming of for Mindanao .  The Framework should not be a casualty of the Sabah violence,”  he added.

 

  The lawmaker from Aurora earlier urged the people to respect and support whatever decision President Aquino will make on the Sabah question in order to end the conflict. .

 

  He said that a multilateral approach to solving the problem appears to be more effective, though a bilateral negotiations with Malaysia cannot be ruled out.

 

  “It is an international problem with so many dimensions and complexities . So a multilateral approach that would have more participants and with all the  dynamics of the violence factored in would be a more ideal approach, “ said  Angara.

 

  A standoff in Sabah erupted in violence last Friday, with 12 followers of the sultan of Sulu and two police officers killed as Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak declared his patience had run out.

 

  Angara stressed that the Philippines cannot resort to war or other non-peaceful means  to resolve the Sabah dispute with Malaysia.

 

  He said the Constitution “renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations.”

 

  Article 51 of the United Nations Charter  also obligates its members, including the Philippines, to settle international disputes only by peaceful means., he said.

 

  Angara said the next Senate will surely address and review the overall problems in Mindanao and the Framework Agreement.

CAVITE YOUTH GROUP BACKS SONNY ANGARA’S SENATE BID

A youth group here pushed for the senatorial candidacy of Aurora Rep. Edgardo “Sonny: Angara  because of his “outstanding track record” as a legislator.

In a manifesto of support released by the “Angara ng Estudyanteng Pinoy Youth Movement” during its launching at the National College of Science and Technology,  the signatories to the statement cited Angara’s unblemished record as a public official as the best qualification for anyone running for office in the May 13 elections.

 

They also praised Angara for sponsoring laws that seek to raise the quality of education in the country, alleviate the plight of the poor, and raise the standard of government service.

 

“We fully support Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, the congressman from the lone district of Aurora,” the manifesto said. “He is on top of our list of public officials who raise the quality of education for the people, especially the youth. This is our collective stand.”

 

Among the laws authored  by Angara are the Universal Kindergarten Act  and  Joint Resolution 4  which called for the implementation of the Salary Standardization Law III for  state workers, including public school teachers.

 

He also pushed for the passage of the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (E-GASTPE) which raised the value of educational vouchers as tuition payments for student-grantees  in private school, and the Special Education Bill  which established SPED centers in school divisions nationwide.

THE SON(NY) ALSO RISES PART 3

Senator Edgardo J. Angara must be grinning from ear to ear nowadays. You see, his unico hijo, Congressman Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara is once again figuring prominently in surveys which – as we all know – may not be the be-all but is a proven barometer in senatorial races.

Based on the latest survey of Stratpoll, the dashing congressman from Aurora has made a quantum leap among the list of senatorial candidates, shooting up to no. 4 from rank seat 13 two months ago.

It is a blatant truth that Team Pnoy senatorial candidate Edgardo “Sonny” Angara has now managed to enter the so-called winning circle as he inched his way up to No. 4 in the latest Stratpoll survey.

Congressman Sonny attributed his improving standing in the surveys mainly to his track record as a legislator and his good image as a public servant, saying that the people are still throwing their support for President Aquino’s “Daang Matuwid” (straight path), given that other Team PNoy bets are doing good as well.

The complete Stratpolls survey results of senatorial candidates in the Magic 12 were Legarda (83%), Escudero (79%), Pimentel (77%), Angara (73%),  Ejercito Estrada (70%), Cayetano (67%), Enrile and Villar (both with 59%), Honasan (57%), Binay (55%), Zubiri (53%) and Trillanes with 52 percent.

In other surveys, he is now inside the magic circle of 12 a little over two months before Judgment Day in May.

He thanked the people for bringing him back in the Magic 12 Senate seats based on the latest survey of winnable candidates in the May 13 elections conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and the Business World.

The SWS February 15-17, 2013 pre-election survey, which polled 1,200 registered voters nationwide, showed Angara, a representative of Aurora, sharing 11th-12th places with former senator Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri of the United Nationalist Alliance. Angara, the only son of outgoing Senator Ed, returned to contention after placing 13th in the January 2013 survey.

He was 5th-7th in the August 2012 survey.

Angara said that they are very gratified with the people’s show of support for our group. It is a clear sign of the widespread support and clamor for Pnoy’s reforms, adding that they want to assure the people that we in the Team Pnoy will continue to promote good governance.

“I will continue to fight for better education and better jobs within our own country,” he explained.

The SWS survey showed the administration-led coalition taking the lead in the Senate race, with four Team PNoy, one United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and three independent candidates as likely taking the top eight seats.

Senator Edong’s role in Cong Sonny’s resurgence is pretty obvious and it will surely work wonders again for Aurora if the younger Angara gets elected in the Senate. Never mind that the governorship has been given up by the senator. It is what I would call one step backward, two steps forward. And we should give credit to him for taking the supreme sacrifice of abandoning his Capitol run for a worthier cause.

It’s an uphill climb if he rules the Capitol with no one else tending the fort at the top. At best, it will be viewed as a Phyrric victory and Aurora will be at a loss with no senator to give it an added push.

Here is hoping that Cong. Sonny will be called Senator Sonny comes June 30. (Jason de Asis)