Situationer

The season of the Lord's birth these days got the most of the people's concentration as somewhat routine and being culture, it got the most appeal thus the celebration goes on as usual so that the town is with firecrackers understands it as one yearly affair.

Though there are some few that do not go with the crowd and do not show celebration signs most are in the atmosphere and feel the air with songs to forget problems that are ever present to make their lives busy and facing realities that are inevitable and be meet head on.

Town officials who do not like to offend supporters remain here but others who are graduating are on travel outside that people say they are running away from carolers.

Asembliya Wala Mapahigayon

Matud pa ni Mesach Magsayo,bag-ong napili nga konsehal sa Brgy. San Pedro nga ang iyang nadunggan sa radio nga dungan tanan barangay sa nasud mag-asembliya nadtong petsa 11 wala mapahibalo pag-ayo mao nga daghan ang wala makapahigayon niini, bisan sila mismo.

Hinoon, matud pa niya, dali ra man na buhaton kay pinaagi sa Kapitan magtatawag lang ug aduna pa man usab panahon, modangat na.

"Wala man god mi pahibaloa", pero amo nang sabutan sa konseho ug siguro maka-asembliya mi di pa matapos ang bulan ug tuig.

barangay assemblies-routine

Divino Alavanza, Initao ABC personnel yesterday said that barangay officials are actually knowledgeable about assemblies in the barangays for these are routine and done twice a year.

In the DILG office here, Alavanza said, barangay officials must have done that last Saturday the 11th as mandated by the President thru the Secretary of the DILG.

Those who were not able to, he added, may have to do that before the month and year ends.They still have time to do so, Alavanza said.

Barangay Assembly-Not Held

Tawantawan Secretary Lucila Pacanut said this afternoon in their barangay hall that the council was not able to hold Saturday day the Presidential directive of synchronized and nationwide barangay assembly.

There was no instruction or communication about it sent to them by the DILG, Pacanut said.

And she thinks they were not the only ones that missed it, for all if not most of Initao did not hold it at that date, the 11th this month, she added.

However, they are scheduling it earlier next year, she said.

he is not running

The one expected by some sectors to run for the Board of MORESCO Tata Carbonilla is not running for it. This was known no other from him when the observer talked to him the other night at his home.

Carbonilla said he does not have half million to finance it, and if only this election is way back last year, maybe but the recently concluded ones took a lot from him.

It's Jeffrey and Dodo Go who are on the line to run for they have the means, he said. And it might be Tenyeng Caberte too as this admin's choice, he pointed out.

SITUATIONER

After the recent SK/ABC elections, people here are looking forward for the MORESCO Board election that will next follow. People are saying that there are three heard candidates to contest the lone seat for Initao. They are the former board Jeffrey Go, the now Municpal Administrator Tenyeng Caberte and Tata Carbonilla.

These are known pro-administration of the Acains, and as the recently concluded barangay elections when their own men clashed for contention various seats of the barangays, they are now at odds, people conclude.

The wind blowing is still "money talks", they say.

ABC Election-No Contest

As expected, the ABC election was a done deal. This was confirmed last Tuesday when the known contestant to the post San Pedro Barangay chair Karel Carbonilla withdrew and did not bother going to the SB Session Hall where the proceedings were held.

COMELEC officer Dina Cabunoc said she texted Carbonilla but she responded excuses and did not show up.

The Elections went on with a fast pace after the already veteran Tubigan Barangay Chair Eboy Waslo was elected. He then presided and with other offices filled up automatic after secret voting, and of course proclamation followed and their oathtaking was planned.

CHAIRMAN-SAID TO BE WITH ADMIN

People are saying that Gimangpang Bgy. Chair Richard Go is going to join the administration of Mayor Enerito Acain V, but this morning at their barangay hall, he did not deny nor confirm that he is when the Observer asked him so.

Go was emphatic that meantime, he is to remain loyal to his group and that in the ABC election tomorrow he will be there and participate to vote.

He knew that there are three to contest for the presidency and who may win takes the seat. He then excused himself for he reasoned,they will have their
(the council's) first session.

Barangay Mapping Early Next Year

The Municipal Election Officer of Initao Dina Cabunoc said yesterday that SK will be involved in their voters barangay mapping when 15-18 years old teens will be surveyed preparing for their registration when they reach the majority age qualifying them to vote.

Not only the SK will be involved, Cabunoc said, but the PNP and other existing organizations that have the heart to get involved like the religious sector as the Initao evangelicals.

SITUATIONER

04 December 2010-Initao's Association of Barangay Captain is waiting for what it looks forward to have a new president that is going through the way it should when he has the opponent to tackle. Unlike the previous when it was already pre-arranged who takes the seat presiding over them.

Initao DILG Officer Amelia Ablanque said it is possibly a three-way contest; that of Bgy. Chairmen of Apas, Tubigan, and San Pedro. They are Hadie Acain, Eboy Waslo, and Karel Carbonilla.

Initao political kingpin Enerito Acain V is going through a big problem, the source said, for Eboy was promised to get the prexy seat so that he joined the former's admin. But the Acain political planner Tata Carbonilla is adamant and is at the back of his daughter's bid for the same seat.

Sensing that Eboy does not have the means, Carbonilla is certain that his daughter Karel will be the next ABC President Tuesday's election.

SK FEDEREATION ELECTION-NO CONTEST

Franz Roa, SK President of Poblacion became SK Federation Prexy yesterday in a no-contest election supervised by the DILG and COMELEC.

In the SB SESSION HALL, the proceedings went smoothly from the start to finish and the officers elected were then and there proclaimed with the oathtaking following thereafter.

Vice Mayor Enerito Acain V, officiated in lieu of the Mayor who is in her nine month pregnancy and is said to deliver anytime this week.

52M Barangay Road Project Stalled

Two land owners in which the road for improvement traversed did not sign the waiver, said this morning Initao's MPDO Ariel Galarroza, so that the planned implemetation has not begun.

n his office, Galarroza said that pending those owners' refusal means their men cannot move and they have to find options that may include using police power of the LGU.

They may resort to expropriation proceedings, Galarroza said.

SITUATIONER

People are resigned to what they have known for long that in years following after local elections, the following are what, they say, may be observed:

1. The first year: "mamawi pa's gasto";
2. Second year: "mamayad sa utang";
3. The third year: magtigum para's sunod.

This is why people are saying "walay project human election, ayha na kanang hapit na pod election, kanang upat ngadto's tulo na lang ka bulan, naa na pod project, unya dili mahuman".

This early, no major project implementation is yet observed. there might be after the oathtaking of the newly elected barangay officials,

DAMAGE PLACED AT 200THOUSAND

The vehicular accident last week that involved three dead and two hospitalized incurring the owner of the cargo truck liabilities amounting to two hundred thousand pesos, said this afternoon Initao Police Station Commander Elvis Galarroza.

Galarroza pointed that out hospitalization alone will make that amount even rise for unlike death, it is not a one time expense. And subsequent treatment bills will certainly follow after those patients make recoveries that sub-normal body state may be felt by them.

He said that the owner of the truck, Dr. Elmer Sayre has to answer for all of that.

MAYOR AVAILABLE IN THEIR HOME

This morning in a chance chat with Amy Bagares, the Mayor's private secretary, the Observer was informed that due to the obvious reason she is nearing her day to deliver being pregnant for eight months, the Mayor cannot or just don't come to office to prevent from happening a what may be an irreversible accident taking place.

She is in control, Amy says, pointing out her responsibilities as the the town's chief executive and she does things in their home and she is always available there. And on the oath-taking of the newly elected barangay officials, AmyBag said they opted to do it en-mass come 30th November and the Mayor may not be the one officiating but that must be the congressman.

SITUATIONER

INITAO, MISAMIS ORIENTAL, November 20, 2010 - The weather is good, sunny day and the roads to the hinterlands are dry but due to the rain the past weeks, motorcycle rides are bumpy and dusty. These road passages need the grader to make them plain as this that would hide all water passages the rain created cutting even the centers making maneuvers slow and dangerous.

As expected by passengers and motorists, particularly "habalhabal" drivers, the roads upland will be gradered either by town or provincial personnel of their engineering offices. On when this might be, this will be this time a hundred dollar question!

Accidents are expected. Certainly cuts, bruises, treatment in clinics, pharmacies, hospitals even morgue destinations are realities.

Recount Complaint Dismissed

Election result recount complaint of defeated chairmanship candidate Vicente Jajalla against the winner and incumbent chairman Virgilio Magallanes was recently dismissed by Initao Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) Judge Hazel Perez.

The Observer learned this anew from Melody Almeda, MCTC Clerk of Court, who said that the complaint was dismissed for "lack of merit". Requirements were not complete. Papers, supporting documents were not fully met, thus resulted dismissal of the case.

Jajalla is said and overheard saying to appeal his complaint.

NCIP DIFFERS TRICAP

"TRICAP is NGO", pointed out Initao Higaonon Tibal Chieftain Datu Jake Lundahay when the Observer asked him last week how is he related to that group.

TRICAP (Tribal Community Association of the Philippines)is a registered NGO, the Datu said. and of course it has legal public recognition.

The difference is that TRICAP has the membership of mixed personalities. Natives and tribal descendants compose the group unlike that of NCIP (National Commission of Indigenous People), they are of the tribal descents only.

"Nativo ug Tribu" are two different things, Datu Lundahay stressed. Nativo can mean residents of the Philippine Islands but not of the tribal groups while tribu, are descendants by blood.

And "TRICAP is NGO, NCIP is GO", Lundahay said.

Moral Recovery Learned

SB, SESSION ROOM, INITAO, MISAMIS ORIENTAL-In a short talk during the orientation seminar conducted by NACPHIL (National Chaplaincy of the Philippines) Friday, Initao Police Station Commander Elvis Galarroza said that they in the PNP have long learned of moral recovery and values formation.

"Kada semana tua ko's Cagayan de oro", he said. this was to attend the weekly lecture in the PNP regional office about the said subjects that they had to go through.

"Tanan Police mo-undergo niini", Galarroza also said, referring to what NACPHIL is doing here orienting religious leaders of the locality what to do and what to expect from the national and local governments on how corruption in our country may be eradicated.

"Sa among opisina walay excempted", the chief said.

REPRESENTATION SET

Yesterday Datu Jake Lundahay, municipal chieftain of Higaonon tribe of Initao said that they will be represented in the Sangguniang Bayan by next year, and he stressed that he may sit as member of SB when budget for the slot is approporiated this year.

Datu Jake assured that the Mayor and the SB are already one in making the aspiration of their tribe to be represented in the local governance and they will no longer be marginals as what they are today.

He said they belong to the NCIP (National Commission of Indigenous Peoples),and have legal guarantees.

it was not suicide

Jerry Galagnao, 37, married and left a widowed wife, four children, died of bullet wounds not that he committed suicide as earlier said, this is what Initao PNP Station Commander Elvis Galarroza declared yesterday when the Observer clarified what happened the night of November 3 in Bgy. Kanitoan.

Their investigation showed that the alledged self inflicted wound was from his own home-made gun did not match. The bullet was that of a real gun not from it, and a suspect is left unidentified, Galarroza stressed.

They tested the said home-made gun, "dili man mobuto". The wife told him, Galarroza continued that the couple had arguments that night, and stones were thrown up their ceiling that Jerry went out of their house to investigate bringing a flashlight.

Down there, Galarroza continued, flashlighting the vicinity, a shot was heard and Galagnao fell dead.

POLL RESULTS RECOUNT COMING

MCTC Clerk of Court Melody Almeda said that this afternoon, a defeated candidate for chairmanship of Bgy. Calacapan Vicente Jajalla filed a petition for recount of ballots of the just concluded elections.

Jajalla, she said, is not satisfied with the result, he went to their office and deposited the required amount Php 30,000.00 that is said to have been contributed by his Higaonon tribe constituents.

The recount is yet to be scheduled as there are yet summons to be issued and served to those who are involved, Almeda said.

ALL SAINTS/SOULS ' DAYS PEACEFUL

For the yearly observance of all souls' and saints' days, as usual people came in and went out of the cemetery of Initao just along the highway causing some problems delaying at times passing vehicles.

It rained heavily in the afternoon of the first day that sellers in the vicinity had to gather things not getting wet when rain fell, and it was sunny the next day and the police had to redirect vehicular flow for orderly traffic.

It was peaceful alright and what remains to be seen is the gathering of garbage left around that may be hauled by people from office of Maggy Maghanoy, the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer of Initao.

ASSUMPTION OF OFFICE-01 DECEMBER

Initao, Misamis Oriental-Newly elected barangay and SK officials will assume office the first day of next month, said yesterday Dina Cabunoc, Initao Municipal Election Officer.

In the certified lists of the winning candidates that Cabunoc gave, there are ten barangay captains here retained their positions or were re-elected, and four are new and two are "balikbayans".

The new ones are: Richard Go of Gimangpang, Joseph Magallanes of Kanitoan, Carryl Mae Carbonilla of San Pedro, and Patricio Dala of Tawantawan. The balikbayans are: Abundio Tacbobo of Jampason and Josefina Tupag of Pontacon.

Ten others are retainers or reelected. Their oathtaking may take place anytime before December one says Maam Dina, the DILG is the one to schedule that, she said.

VISION

INITAO OBSERVER:

VISION: A well informed, ( ecomonomically, spiritually, politically )educated and having the good sense of humor Initaonon.

MISSION: To inform, educate and help develop among Initaonons the good sence of humor.

FOUNDATION DAY CELEBRATION NEXT YEAR

It is March 10, 1917, said Initao MPDO Ariel Galarroza referring to the town's foundation day or the day when Initao became a municipality. And he also said the information was sent to them recently by UP (University of the Philippines).

It was supported by Act No. 2011, Galarroza further said, and it was yet pre-commonwealth era and not RA for there was no republic yet, with perhaps a gobernador-general ruling the archipelago.

Sales Janog, SB Secretary confirmed Galarroza's information telling the Observer that UP Archeological Society sent them a booklet pointing out above-mentioned date as indeed the one which Initao was founded.

And Janog added, the LGU is now tasked towards next year's celebration while the church (RCC) is assigned to spearhead this year's fiesta celebration.

Children 6-10 Years Young Used

What the Observer recently learned here from victims of break-ins is that children as young as six years were made to enter residences via shoulders of adults.

What they saw running away to exits thieves made, were children guided through and into a waiting vehicle that they say not from this place.

Bliss, San Pedro went through this last year and a repeat this month this year which resident and victim Dr. Elmer Sayre had his window jalousies fingerprinted. What results he got, he said, were fingerprints of children.

Thieves Strike Again

Bliss, San Pedro, Initao, Misamis Oriental, 15 October 2010 - some residents here found out their fences cut and residences were intruded by thieves the previous night.

Retired MSU employee Jaime Gamo complained that their interlink fence had three openings. The thieves using cutter-pliers attempted to enter his house but failed. Melody Almeda's fence had one opening and in Elmer Sayre's kitchen the intruders had dinner.

Things were no longer in their favor when something made them to leave the place faster, unlike two years ago here when expensive cell phones, watches, keys, etc. were parts of their loot. Gamo's house is secured by locks, Almeda has barking dogs and Sayre has pretty good blocked and iron fences.

Those thieves did strike again, chose the wrong houses, they failed.

Dengue-Sophisticated Now?

When I was still working in Manticao Hospital, dengue was still single, said recently retired physician Porferia Amarga when asked about the disease that is seemingly plaguing the town these days.

She said it was not hard treating it then, unlike today that dengue has A, B, C! And I cannot give more than I know about it.

"You rather go and see Dr. Bernardo, she knows best, she has the expertise working in the hospital this time", Amarga added.

INITAO-FOREST TOWN

It was two years ago since this town became somewhat a household byword in Misamis Oriental and elsewhere after the then President GMA was said to have called Initao, the poorest town of the whole Philippines.

This was not! says a VRP (very reliable person who likes not named) in Libetad yesterday when the Observer had a serious talk with him in his office there. VRP said he was with the PGMA party when she was led to see Initao's LASANG,the remaining forest area of the town.

"That was in 2008", he said. He also said He witnessed what happened there and after which the party went to Manticao then to Laguindingan and there gave her speech in which she was alledged to have said "Initao the poorest town".

"No, she did not say that", VRP said, what GMA referred to then about Initao, after her exposure to its forest and was somewhat amazed there still one retained and maintained by the government, she went on to call Initao, a "forest town in the Philippines".

That was "I think because of her experience in LASANG without getting shown of suburban or the other areas of Initao", he said.

A Better Initao

"A Better Initao" is what they have come up, says Social Welfare and Development Officer here Lanie Espallardo when yesterday in her office the Observer asked what was their output last month after going through a seminar on strategic planning.

"A Better Initao" is their agreed vision for the locality. And each department head of the LGU is tasked to pursue the objectives established for the purpose of attaining that years from now, Espallardo said.

Today, she pointed out, it is still wrong spelling, "a bitter Initao" considering what hit the locality when three years ago the then President GMA called it the poorest town of the country.

They are having meetings, says Espallardo, to make it better.

Officials Went Through Strategic Planning

In her office, Local Government Officer of Initao Amelia Ablanque told the Observer this afternoon that local officials here have undergone a three-day seminar last month in Cagayan de Oro City on strategic planning.

All heads of offices in the LGU were there, September 5-7, as well as the mayor, vice mayor, municipal administrator, Mrs. Ablanque said.

She was also there, she said, and the output was that they were able to come up with what to do, strategies to implement with all responsible entities expected to contribute towards Initao improvement.

BIRTH EXCEEDS DEATH

In his office this morning, Local Civil Registrar of Initao Harry Bagares said that there are more births than deaths this year, as their report/records show.

As of October 4, Bagares pointed out, there are already over a thousand births reported by hospitals, clinics, trained hilots here, and only 119 deaths recorded. On why there seems to be daily burials in the cemeteries here, Bagares said that those are Initaonons who lived somewhere but relatives chose them to be buried here, added to this, some casualties from accidents here and elsewhere.

About people in Initao getting married or marrying, their record shows 150plus and by December, their estimate may hit 200, He said.

Town MRDP Funded

This morning in his office, Initao MPDC Ariel Galarroza said that the town's barangay road program MRDP has recently been approved of funds by the World Bank amounting to 62Mphp.

The previously 59M proposed budget that he defended last 17 September for the then 6 road projects, Galarroza said, was increased to 9 covering almost all barangays with the exception of San Pedro, Pagahan and Gimangpang.

The projects are now ongoing, he said, with an Iligan construction group that won the bidding making preliminaries for road construction in the upper mountain areas of Initao.

Councilor Burial Today

Calacapan Bgy. Councilor Melvin Aguilar,39 who died last Friday of cardiac arrest is scheduled to be buried in the Catholic cemetery by noon today is as of this writing already in the Roman Catholic church in Poblacion, Initao, Misamis Oriental.

The councilor's sister said yesterday that Melvin was not sick, he was taken on a motorcycle for the hospital after he felt breathing was hard, and consequently he died along the way.

Melvin's wife said they were  eating their supper with sinugbang pidlayan after which he laid down for a good day's rest on their bench. Then and there he complained he could not breath right.

Tragically, it was Aguilar's last supper and his last breath, pidlayan killed him.

CABERTE RETIREMENT POSSIBLE

Misamis Oriental Provincial Local Government Officer Ponciano Caberte may retire this year when things going on about new requirements that positions such as his transpire and mandatory, pointed out Initao Municipal Local Government Officer Amelia M. Ablanque.

In their office yesterday, Ablanque emphasized that Caberte is not alone but all provincial and city heads may go if and when CESO (Career Executive Service Officer) people will have been the ones to occupy said positions.

It was not strict then, Ablanque said, it is only this time that things have changed and their positions also require, if pushed through, being presidential appointees.

They are given until October 30 to decide whether to retire or to take lower positions, Ablanque said.

Initao PNP-Honest

When interviewed yesterday in their office, Initao police station Commander Elvis Galarroza said, "we're honest". This was after the Observer asked him questions related to the reported missing millions that SSS did not record in the police blotter.

Our honesty is proven that the last time our integrity was put on the line, we were able to pass the test, he said.

"This was when, aside from the assorted firearms we confiscated, we reported and presented a Cal. 45 pistol to our superiors that we were not able to put into record when we recently arrested carnappers here in Initao".

Unluckily, the vehicle they carnapped crashed and the people who tried to help them tipped the police that they were driven away at gunpoint so that they apprehended them, he said.

Galarroza, emphasized their honesty pointing out that the 45 was found by his men in their CR after they turned over the culprits to their higher-ups. Had those guys decided to hostage them while in their custody, it would have been another story, he said.

Millions Denied

INITAO POLICE STATION, 20 September - The SSS people should have recorded this in our blotter if that is true, this was the answer of Initao PNP station commander Police Inspector Elvis Galarroza when asked about what people are saying that millions, part of SSS collection that an employee carried, when the three-vehicle accident took place Friday killing two.

What were recorded taken, Galarroza said, were the victim's watch, cell phone and his wallet with undetermined amount. "If he had millions then, how could his wallet accommodate that even using one thousand denominations?"

We are still following the case and investigation is still going on, giving special attention and query to who went to the accident site first, because we (the police) were there later than those who help the victims, he said.

promotion not announced

As far as he knows, he has no knowledge about the promotion as ambassador of the DEPED region 10 director Luz Almeda, said Rodelio Obsioma, principal of Initao National Comprehensive High School.

In his office, this afternoon, Obsioma said that even in their meeting 8th September in Opol, there was not anything said there about her promotion and it was as usual conducted by Almeda, who encouraged them to aspire more to achieve their target of getting number 4 next year from the number 7 that they got this year.

We were number 10 when Director Almeda assumed regional directorship, Obsioma said, and nothing was said about her assuming higher position as ambassador, he added.

mayor always available

Only on extreme cases that Initao Mayor Alen Acain cannot be reached, said the mayor's alter ego Amy Bagares when asked Monday the former's whereabouts.

AMYBAG said the mayor is home-based now for she is six-month pregnant and this is not one reason though she cannot very well do her tasks, only what keeps her there is the goings-up-and-down of the municipal hall endangers her.

The mayor signs papers there, etc. or business as usual. And she goes to the office when her presence really matters, Amybag said.

barangay road costs 9M

Sept. 10,2010-In his office Monday, Initao Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator Ariel Galarroza said that Kamelon-Tawantawan road project is costing the government nine million pesos and he is to defend and qualify this in the DA-regional office Sept.17.

This road, Galarroza said, is one of the six proposed for Initao MRDP (Municipal Road Development Program)  amounting to 58 million pesos and funded by World Bank

And he said he will try to negotiate funding increase for said road considering only .5km of the total 1.8km, the upper portion of that is, as far as he knows, guaranteed of getting cemented. Of course canals and some culverts are must components to protect from time to time water surges, Gallaroza added.

Tawantawan -Tourist Destination

Sept. 7, 2010-God willing Tawantawan will be one of the town's tourists destinations, barangay officials say. And by 2018 this vision shall have been attained. This was what The Observer gathered this morning in the office of the Chairman who was then in Sitio Dulag attending the need of residents for water.

 Lucila Pacanut and Bernadette Dadios, secretary and treasurer repectively of Bgy. Tawantawan pointed out that tourism is one of their priority concerns and they have started clearing the highest part of the barangay, Mt. Kitanglad and planting it with trees as initial accomplishments.

The officials said the goal is ambitious indeed and costly, however it is worth it for no other benefits from this but the barangay itself. With the help of the local government supplemented by Tawantawanons working and living abroad, realization is made sweeter.