Church girds for ‘1017’ protest rally

Last week, except for the mini-rally staged by members of Negros mediamen there was hardly a ripple against Proclamation 1017, but the protest rally by about 100 mediamen at the Fountain of Justice in front of the city hall may have emboldened churchmen.

Yesterday, Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra issued a call to the Catholic faithful and other concerned citizens to join tomorrow’s protest action against Proclamation 1017 at the Bacolod Plaza.

"The President was aware of the disgust, the clamor and ire of the majority of Filipinos who understood the implications and grave threats PP 1017 posed to us all," the Bacolod prelate said.

The March 8 prayer rally at the Bacolod plaza, he said, is still on.

We must guide our people in Negros during those times of confusion and turmoil despite the President’s lifting of the state of national emergency.

He also issued Circular Letter 2006-04 to all parish priests, parochial vicars, chaplains and rectors of churches, superiors of seminaries, religious congregations, secular institute and apostolic life, heads of schools and lay associations and the Christian faithful to help organize a remarkable number of delegates to the prayer rally.

"The Church should remain even more resolute in being the conscience of society, staunch defender of the oppressed and guardian of civil liberties," the bishop observed.

Meanwhile, Rep. Monico Puentevella of Bacolod City stated yesterday morning that because he is now aware of the extent of the conspiracy to topple the government, he is more convinced that President Arroyo did the right thing in issuing PP 1017.

But he also noted that his initial reaction was that the all-encompassing embrace of PP 1017 which included the Visayas and Mindanao was questionable.

Manapla Mayor Manuel Escalante, president of the Negros Association of Chief Executives, said majority of Negros Occidental mayors supported the proclamation. So did several other local executives.

Negros Occidental Gov.Joseph Maranon, said that the lifting of PP 1017 has put the country back to normal and "the media will have no more fears."

"Inspite of 1017, the peso improved. I am optimistic that the economy will move forward. But I hope it trickles down to the level of the common man," Maranon said.

In fairness to the administration, however, local media practitioners were not subjected to any form of harassment by the authorities. As a matter of fact, their mini-rally ended up with police officials, led by Bacolod Senior Superintendent Pedro Merced, and the mediamen, especially the newshens, in jocular exchanges.

Besides, except for some minor complaints of alleged threats to their lives previous to PP 1017, no local practitioner had been inconvenienced by the proclamation by government officials.

What seems to be bothering local mediamen is more the threat of possible reprisals. It is a known fact that most journalists here adhere strictly to the Code of Ethics of Journalists by the Philippine Press Institute and the National Press Club.

Incidentally, there has been no noticeable impact on the tourism trade of the city and practice.

The hullabaloo over WNC nurses

Still the biggest news insofar as Bacolodnons are concerned is the release of the test results of the 599 nursing graduates of the West Negros College. The long-awaited results showed that 476 of the 599 examinees or 79.46 percent passed the exams. Surprisingly, one of them reportedly topped the exams.

WNC vice president Ernesto Arbolario said Dr. Pearl Pedroso passed the December board exam with a score of 85.4, which is higher than the highest score garnered by students from other schools.

Yvette Pauline Paragua of the Ateneo de Davao was reported to have scored only 85.2 percent.

But there was also a legal tangle, which commenced following the announcement by Pharson Mamalo, PRC (Professional Regulations Commission) legal division chief, that the Board of Nurses had filed administrative charges against the 700 WNC nursing graduates who applied to take the board examination last December, including the 599 nurses whose results were released Thursday.

The charges were reportedly for "course overloading" which is a violation of the rules of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Thus, while they will be allowed to take their oath, the examinees will not be issued their nurses licenses until the termination of their administrative cases.

Mamalo added that the PRC is also studying the possibility of filing charges against WNC officials.

Dr. Pedroso, a 37-year-old mother of two and working as a community doctor in Palawan, has a masters degree in tropical medicine. She decided to take up nursing — the easiest way for her family to go to the United States in a few years time.

Well, that’s the situation of the WNC nurses who must undergo additional legal ordeal before their travails could end.

Erwin Ambo Delilan of Bacolod’s Sun STAR reported from Iloilo yesterday that the special team of Senior Malacañang investigators arrived in Iloilo Sunday to validate evidence on the alleged multi-million peso fertilizer scam.

The probers reportedly will try to determine the culpability of top agriculture officials, led by former agriculture secretary Chito Lorenzo, Undersecretary Joc-joc Bolante, undersecretaries Belinda Gonzales and Ibarra Poliquit as well as assistant Secretary Felix Montes and all DA regional directors.

Of special interest to Western Visayas residents are the alleged involvement of several lawmakers from Panay and Negros Occidental including Iloilo Rep. Oscar Garin, Aklan Rep. Florencio Miraflores Guimaras Rep. Edgardo Espinosa, Laibo Mayor Reymar Revaldo, Capiz Gov. Vicente Bermejo and several mayors of Iloilo.

Bermejo had denied the claims of the fertilizer scam whistle blower Jose Barredo Jr. The latter claimed that Rep. Puentevella of Bacolod availed of the allocation of several millions of pesos of the alleged liquid fertilizer from Feshan Philippines Inc., the distributor of the fertilizer.

Barredo, however, claimed that among those who rejected the offer were Reps. Arthur Defensor of Iloilo and Jose Caros Lacson of Negros Occidental. Former Negros Rep. Alfredo Maranon and Gov. Joseph Maranon also rejected Barredo’s offer to facilitate the release of the fertilizer allocation.

The Maranon brothers and Lacson rebuffed Barredo because they shifted their support to Fernando Poe Jr.

The Senate agriculture committee, headed by Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. has come up with its initial report on the scam. And this was what prompted the President to order a separate investigation into the mess. The Magsaysay report inferred that the top officials may have tried to cover up the case because of Bolante’s involvement. Incidentally, Bolante remains abroad and has refused to heed several summons by the Senate committee to answer questions about the fertilizer scam.