CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Tuesday morning’s bombings in Basilan are a defining moment for the Philippines in the run-up to the first-ever automated presidential elections scheduled for May 10, said an executive of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Monsignor Elmer Abacahin, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Basic Ecclesiastical Community (BEC), said the government’s response to the Basilan attack which killed at least 15 persons will define the outcome of the elections.

“The bombings are a direct attack on our democracy,” he told this reporter by mobile phone. “It has sown fear in the hearts of the people of Basilan, thereby affecting the elections because candidates there are also afraid to campaign. And campaigning is a part of the elections. So if no one campaigns then the elections are already affected,” he added.

Abacahin stressed the importance of the government’s response to the attacks in light of the attacks on two Army detachments in Ampatuan, Maguindanao before midnight on the same day of the Basilan bombings.

Unidentified armed men first launched at least 10 M203 grenades at the detachment of the Army’s 46^th Infantry Battalion based in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Matagabong at around 10 p.m. Tuesday.

The second attack took place 30 minutes later at the military detachment in Sitio Lapu-Lapu less than a kilometer away.

Sitio Masalay and Sitio Lapu-Lapu are located within the same area where more than 50 people were massacred on November 23, 2009 allegedly under the order of Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr, who is under government custody.

“All these attacks are terroristic attacks and designed to sow fear in the hearts of our people. I personally am condemning in the strongest possible terms these attacks, which are the handiwork of terrorists and barbarians,” Abacahin said in the vernacular.

“However and whatever the government’s response to all these attacks have great implications on the elections on May 10. Thus, I am calling for prudence on the part of the government to study all available options before setting into motion its response to these attacks,” he added.

Abacahin also denied reports that the Basilan bombings have started a Christian-Muslim conflict in Mindanao because one of the sight of the bombing was the Sta. Isabel Cathedral in Isabela, the provincial capital.

“Although one of those attacks was the cathedral in Isabela, I don’t believe it will hasten a religious war in Mindanao. The attacks were purely terroristic and barbaric acts,” he said.

Meanwhile, Abacahin urged the Catholic faithful all over the Philippines to extend financial help to the Basilan prelature, whose Sta. Isabel Cathedral was damaged by Tuesday morning’s attack.

“I am personally calling on the faithful to help our brothers and sisters in Basilan in the rebuilding of their cathedral,” he said.

The Basilan prelature, or more specifically the Prelature of Isabela in Basilan was created on October 12, 1963, and comprises all territories constituting the civil jurisdiction of Basilan Province. It covers a land area of 1,359 square kilometers, and its Catholic population of 83,400 is 31 per cent of total.  Its titular patron is the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

130,000 to 140,000 of the more than 300,000 population of Basilan are Catholic Christians. (Bong D. Fabe)

DEADLY BLAST. Residents look at destroyed motorbikes after bomb explosions in Isabela City, Basilan Province, Philippines, on Tuesday morning.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Put Basilan under martial law.

This was the call of various sectors in Mindanao yesterday following the attacks on Isabela City in the province of Basilan Tuesday morning by the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf that left 15 people killed.

Monsignor Elmer Abacahin, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) Basic Ecclesiastical Community (BEC), said Bishop Martin S. Jumoad and even Cotabato
Auxiliary Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo have urged the government to place Basilan under martial law.

“During our talks yesterday right after the bombing of the Sta. Isabel Cathedral in Basilan, bishop Jumoad told me that it would be best to put Basilan under martial law,” he told this reporter by mobile phone.

“Even Bishop Bagaforo, the auxiliary bishop of Cotabato urged the government in a radio interview this morning to declare martial law in Basilan,” he added.

Abacahin, however, said that the calls for the imposition of martial law in Basilan are “purely the personal calls” of the two bishops and not endorsed by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

“I understand their calls because this needs a purely police and military action,” he said.

The Anak Mindanao (AMIN) party-list group also said there is a need for government to “flex its muscles” in Basilan to prevent further bloodshed.

Calls for a declaration of martial law in Basilan began circulating yesterday morning, with some floating the name of Lt. Gen. Benjamin Dolorino, chief of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) as martial law administrator.

Dolorfino, the twin “peace general” of Eastern Mindanao Command’s (EastMinCom) Lt. Gen. Reymundo Ferrer, is also a primemover of the Operation Peace Course (OP Kors!) peace trainings conducted by the peace and development non-government organization Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc. (BMFI) and Institute for Autonomy and Governance (IAG).

While not endorsing the calls for martial law over Basilan, which is the home province of AMIN’s Rep. Mujiv Hataman (who is running for governor), the party-list group it will be prudent for government show it is still in control especially in light of reports that the ASG is plotting an attack similar to the infamous 1995 massacre in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay.

“Government must exercise prudence in handling the Basilan attacks and show it is still in control so as not to let the attacks degenerate into more bloodshed which will ultimately exacerbate the hardships of an already suffering people there,” AMIN’s Rep. Ariel C. Hernandez said.

Both Abacahin and Hernandez said Tuesday’s attacks on Basilan will have a chilling effect on the upcoming elections synchronized automated elections “because people will now fear for their security.”

“This attack is also anti-development because investors and business people will now have second thoughts in pouring their capital in Basilan,” Abacahin said.

It will also affect the ongoing peace process between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) especially because of unconfirmed reports that some MILF guerrillas were involved in the attacks.

Aside from putting Basilan under martial law, the government’s security sector “especially the police and the military should come up with a comprehensive and detailed peace and order plan for Basilan and Mindanao,” Abacahin said.

“Personally, I am urging the police and military to intensify their action against these terrorists,” he added. (Bong D. Fabe)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Noting the importance of the watershed of Lake Lanao to the power needs of Mindanao, the chairman of the newly-constituted development authority in the island has called for an interagency meeting to discuss the watershed’s management.

Jesus Dureza, chairman of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA), said he has called an interagency meeting here to discuss the watershed management of Lake Lanao after personally seeing the widespread denudation and rampant illegal logging in the area.

The Lake Lanao watershed, situated in the boundaries of Lanao del Sur, Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro, is a vital ecosystem in Mindanao. It feeds water to Lake Lanao which supplies most of the electricity in Mindanao.

“A wide area there has been cleared, obviously by illegal loggers,” he said, adding that he also saw cut lumber scattered in the area.

During an aerial survey of the area with Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales on March 23, Dureza noted the poor management of the watershed, the effect of denudation and illegal logging as contributory factors to the widespread rotating brownouts being experienced all over Mindanao which has already affected the island’s economy.

The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) blamed the brownouts to the very low water inflow of the National Power Corporation’s (NPC) hydro-power complexes in Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon because of El Niño.

But according to Dureza, poor Lake Lanao watershed management, illegal logging and denudation also contribute to water wastage which in turn causes the receding water level of the lake.

NPC is extracting an average of 1 centimeter per day of water at Lake Lanao to run the turbines of the six power plants of the Agus Hydro-power Complex, located along the stretch of the Agus River, the lake’s only outlet to the sea.

NPC’s Agus Hydro-power Complex has a combined generating capacity of 639 megawatt.

Lake Lanao, located 701.35 meters above sea level in Lanao del Sur, is the second largest freshwater lake in the Philippines. It has an area of 354.60 square kilometers and a mean depth of 60 meters, with the deepest part at 112 meters.

It is one of the original fifteen (15) ancient lakes on earth and it is estimated to be over two million years old.

Lake Lanao used to be home to 18 endemic fish species that cannot be found anywhere else. But all these species are now gone.

The lake’s watershed area is 1,678.30 square kilometers.

Aside from the triple-threat identified by Dureza during his aerial survey of the lake and its watershed areas, the Environment department of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has also noted the “sprouting” of habitations in the fringes of the lake.

“There are also built-up areas that have sprouted within the watershed, particularly near the fringes of Lake Lanao,” a report quoted DENR-ARMM Secretary Sultan Sarangani as having said.

The interagency meeting here will try to address all these and other problems.

Dureza said there is a great need to rehabilitate the areas surrounding Lake Lanao and it is of utmost importance to address these immediately, noting that the power supply of Mindanao will not be affected by El Niño.

“We do not have to look for rain when there is El Niño with an intact watershed in Lake Lanao,” he said.

He said that there is also a plan to reactivate the Lake Lanao Development Authority.

Expected to attend the interagency meeting are officials of the Environment departments, non-government organizations such as the Save Lake Lanao Movement (SALAM), people’s organization, local government units, private institutions and concerned agencies and individuals.

Dureza, however, said the meeting, which was set this week, has been postponed because those invited to participate have prior commitments.

“But it will definitely be this month because this is a very important matter that needs our immediate attention. I also would like a full attendance during the meeting because we need all the opinions of all stakeholders so we can come up with a comprehensive plan,” he told this reporter by mobile phone. (Bong D. Fabe)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro will celebrate a triple event for the first time in its history on the last day of this month; and two of those events concern only one man chosen by God to shepherd His flock.

April 30 is a very red-letter day for Rev. Fr. Jose Araneta Cabantan, SSJV. He will be celebrating his 20^th anniversary as a priest on that very day, which will also see him ordained as a bishop by no less than the Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams.

This year is also the 25^th Anniversary of the founding of the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Camaman-an, Cagayan de Oro City, where Cabantan studied for the priesthood.

Cabantan, parish priest of the Miraculous Medal Parish in Barangay Lumbia and director of the Social Action Center of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Malaybalay by Pope Benedict XVI on February 17, 2010 to replace Bishop Honesto Pacana, S.J., D.D, who tendered his resignation and retirement two years ago.

Pacana is now 77 years old.

Cabantan’s ordination will take place at the newly refurbished St. Augustine Metropolitan Cathedral here at exactly 9:00 in the morning.

“God truly works in miraculous ways,” he told this reporter, admitting that he will be the first bishop who studied for the priesthood at the St. John Vianney Theological Seminary.

“Dako gyud kini ng milagro sa Ginoo (This is a great miracle of God),” he added.

Fr. Joe, as he is fondly called, was born in Lagonglong town, a fifth class municipality in Misamis Oriental in 1957. He is now 52 years old.

“I had a feeling that something big will happen in my ministry as a priest. But I did not expect this although I already heard ‘news’ about this eventuality but I just keep it in my heart. God really works wonders and I accept this with humbleness,” he said in the vernacular.

Fr. Joe is a chemical engineer by profession before he entered the San Jose de Mindanao College Seminary, also located in Camaman-an in 1983.

He graduated from the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT) with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering in 1979.

From Cebu, he had a short teaching stint at the RVM-run St. John the Baptist High School in Lagonglong, teaching Chemistry. But he left teaching for a more lucrative job in Surigao working for Nonoc Mining.

But Fr. Joe said he “heard” the call of God to enter the priesthood. And so after finishing Philosophy at the San Jose de Mindanao College Seminary, he entered the St. John Vianney Major Seminary as part of the pioneer batch of seminarians.

St. John Vianney Theological Seminary, named after the patron saint of priests, St. John Vianney, is an interdiocesan theological seminary faithful to the tradition of the Catholic Church in the formation of candidates for the priesthood. Established in 1985 by the Bishops of the Metropolitan Province of Cagayan de Oro, it serves primarily the dioceses of Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Surigao, Tandag and Malaybalay (CABUSTAM), and secondarily, other dioceses.

Fr. Joe was eventually ordained priest in 1990.

“God maybe has something for me in Bukidnon,” he said.

The Diocese of Malaybalay, which has around 1.4 million Catholics, is served by 80 priests and 164 religious.

Fr. Joe will be the fourth bishop of the Diocese of Malaybalay, following in the steps of Bishop Francisco Claver, S.J., Bishop Gaudencio Rosales (now Archbishop of Manila), and Bishop Pacana.

Claver served as Malaybalay bishop from 1982 to 1984; Rosales from 1984 to 1994; and Pacana from 1994 to 2010.

Fr. Joe will also be the first Malaybalay bishop to come from Cagayan de Oro since it became a prelature 75 years ago. (Bong D. Fabe)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Men far outnumber women in Northern Mindanao (Region 10), according to the head of the National Statistical Coordination Board of the region (NSCB-10).

“Based on the 2007 census, there are 104 men for every 100 women in the region and there are more men than women until you reach the age of 64,” said Linnito M. Pascual, NSCB-10 OIC regional division head.

Pascual said that while it was true in the ‘80s that there are more women than men in Northern Mindanao, this is no longer true at present as shown in the 2000 and 2007 censuses; giving hope to single women to find a partner in life.

“There are more single men in Region 10 than there are single women (10 years and above),” he said, adding that there are “120 single men for every 100 single women” in the region.

According to Pascual, the greatest disparity between men and women is in public office.

Based on the 2007 elections, men holding public/elective office far outnumber the women at 84.3 percent.

Of the 12 congressional representatives in Northern Mindanao, only two are women, namely: Rep. Marina Clarete and Herminia Ramiro of the first and second congressional districts, respectively, of Misamis Occidental.

Misamis Oriental’s two legislative districts have men: Rep. Danilo Lagbas (deceased, 1^st district) and Rep. Yevgeny Emano (2^nd district); Lanao del Norte’s two legislative districts are represented by Rep. Vicente Belmonte and Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo; Camiguin’s lone legislative district has Rep. Pedro Romualdo; while all the three legislative districts of Bukidnon are dominated by men: Rep. Candido Pancrudo (1^st district), Rep. Teofisto Guingona III (2^nd District) and Rep. Jose Maria Zubiri III (3^rd District).

All the five governors of Northern Mindanao are men: Oscar Moreno of Misamis Oriental, Loreto Leo Ocampos of Misamis Occidental, Jose Maria Zubiri of Bukidnon, Jesus Jurdin Romualdo of Camiguin and Mohammad Khalid Dimaporo of Lanao del Norte.

Only one of the region’s five governors is a woman, Irma Ali of Lanao del Norte.

Of the entire region’s 46 Sangguniang Panlalawigan members, only two are women; 72 of the 93 mayors are men and 79 of the 93 vice mayors are men, said Pascual.

Aside from politics, men also dominate the labor force and employment in the region.

“Of the October round of the Labor Force Survey (2008) posted 1.38 million men over 1.34 million women,” he said, adding: “Men have higher labor force participation rate of 83.2 percent with a 95.8 percent employment rate, whereas women only have 59.7 percent participation rate and 95.7 employment rate.”

Pascual said that the only sector where women outnumber the men is in government employment.

“The 2008 CSC Inventory of Government Personnel showed that there are 13,691 women, 13,393 men and 321 whose gender not indicated in Government service in Northern Mindanao,” he said.

However, “the women’s share is declining in comparison to 2003 CSC report which showed that there are 34,848 women and 26,015 men in Government Service in Region 10,” he added. (Bong D. Fabe)

BREAKFAST MEET. Rep. Ariel Hernandez of Anak Mindanao party-list meets with Archbishop Antonio Ledesma in the prelate’s residence in Cagayan de Oro City earlier this year. (Bong D. Fabe)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY–A Mindanawon congressman yesterday urged local government officials to initiate mitigation measures to the ongoing shortage of electricity on the island, stressing that officials of local government units (LGUs) have the power to do so.

Rep. Ariel Hernandez of the Anak Mindanao (AMIN) party-list explained that LGU officials, especially those in the provinces of Bukidnon and Lanao del Sur, can do this by taking the lead in rehabilitating their watershed areas.

Bukidnon hosts the Pulangi hydro-power complexes of the Napocor, while Lanao del Sur hosts the Agus hydro-power complexes.

These two hydro-power complexes supply most of the electricity of the Mindanao grid.

“Local government officials are powerful because they control the purse of their respective localities and they have command responsibilities over their constituents. As such, they should take the lead in the rehabilitation of their watershed areas to prevent the long-term effect of the shortage of power we are now experiencing in Mindanao,” he said.

Aside from this, Hernandez also urged LGU officials to activate their respective watershed protection committees, as well as the multisectoral water-and-forest protection committees to strictly implement the laws, rules and regulations regarding the utilization of watershed, waterways and forest areas.

He noted that chairman Jesus Dureza of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) has reported about the massive denudation of the watershed areas surrounding the Agus hydro-power complexes in Lanao del Sur.

Aside from this, the Regional Development Council of Northern Mindanao has reported that soil erosion has been observed in the watershed areas of Lake Lanao.

“This is very alarming. These, as well as that of Bukidnon, which surrounds the Pulangi hydro-power complexes, should be the target of a massive reforestation project of the LGUs and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources [DENR],” he said.

To be able to really implement these measures, Hernandez urged the DENR to take the lead in partnership with LGU officials, environmental groups and other concerned individuals and organizations, as well as the Catholic Church, to draw up a comprehensive watershed rehabilitation and management plan for Lake Lanao and Pulangi River.

“The LGUs can use the emergency funds for all these,” he said.

While these are being done, the Napocor should also start the badly needed dredging and desiltation processes of the Agus and Pulangi hydro-power complexes, Hernandez said. (Bong D. Fabe)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The continued widespread rotating brownouts in major cities in Mindanao are already taking a toll on investment opportunities in the island, said the president of the an association of industries here yesterday.

This, as this business hub of Northern Mindanao continues to suffer 5-hour brownouts daily.

Jerome Soldevilla, president of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Industries (COCI), disclosed that Ingasco, Inc., one of the country’s leading gas manufacturing and distributor, has put on hold its plant expansion program at the PHIVIDEC area “after failing to get an assurance of a power supply contract” from the National Power Corporation (NPC) and local power utilities.

Ingasco Inc. is a joint venture company between Japanese firm Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC) and Caloocan Gas Corporation. It earlier indicated plans of putting up an air separation plant in Misamis Oriental next year to boost its existing productions in Batangas.

“Hundreds of permanent jobs are expected to be generated with this new project.

Unfortunately, the project has been put on hold pending assurances of a reliable power supply from the Mindanao grid,” Soldevilla said.

Ingasco needs about 3 megawatt for its operations.

It is 2007 financial disclosure, Ingasco reported sales of more than P1 billion, making it one of the Philippines’ leading companies engaged in the production, marketing and distribution of oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, acetylene, carbon dioxide and other allied gasses.

Soldevilla also said that new business entrants have complained about the lack of coordination between the NPC and the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation in handling the evaluation for new power supply contracts.

Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director-General Lilia Delima admitted that no new investments came to Mindanao during the first quarter of this year.

“This is really sad for Mindanao. Investors’ confidence has gone down. Unless permanent and long-lasting solutions are put in place to address this power issue, Mindanao’s competitiveness as an investment destination will continue to erode,” Soldevilla said.

Soldevilla urged presidential candidates to draw up a master plan that addresses the power shortage in Mindanao this early so that whoever will win on May 10 will just have to implement the plan and exercise political will to see it through for the good of the island and the whole country.

“We look forward that the next administration will exercise political will in securing a stable and reasonably priced power supply in Mindanao, after the current administration miserably failed to look into this problem a long time ago,” he said. (Bong D. Fabe)

POLLS OBSERVER. Healing democracy spokesman Adelaida Ditucalan (right) briefs Canadian journalist Tania Natscheff during her recent ocular visit to Lanao del Sur as part of the preparation for the Observers’ Mission to the conduct of the May 10, automated national elections in the Maranao province.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—An international observers’ mission will monitor the conduct of the first-ever automated presidential elections in Lanao del Sur, the spokesperson of a Maranao grassroots project funded by the European Union said yesterday.

Healing Democracy spokesperson Adelaida Ditucalan said the Observers’ Mission, dubbed as Kapamagompong 2010 will be participated by select personalities from interfaith communities locally and abroad particularly from Canada, Australia, Malaysia and the US.

Local participants will be coming from various faith-based groups such as the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Sisters Association in Mindanao (SAMIN), Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), Ethnic Groups Development Resource Center (EGDRC), Moro-Christian People’s Alliance (MCPA), Ecumenical Bishop’s Forum (EBF) and others.

”They will be visiting polling places and interview election stakeholders in a 5-day monitoring that will start on May 8 and will end on May 13,’’ she said.

Ditucalan said Kapamagompong is a Maranao term for ’’convergence.’’

She said the objective of the observers’ mission is to bring to the attention of the interfaith communities, both locally and internationally, the extent of election-related fraud and violence in the province.

“It will also muster pressures on the candidates against committing fraud and violence and support people’s efforts to protect their votes,” she added.

As a part of the preparation, journalist Tania Natscheff, a producer of a Canada-based broadcasting corporation and participant to the Kapamagompong 2010 has visited the Province on March 28 to 31 for an ocular visit and exposure to the pre-election day political landscape of Lanao del Sur.

Natscheff visited communities in Taraka and Ditsaan Ramain towns and interviewed members of the Voters’ Collectives—a community-based electoral watchdog—and visited the offices of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) in Lanao del Sur to intensify networking and preparations for the mission.

Her documentation of experiences and first-hand interviews will be shared to the Canadian delegates who are coming to the mission.

Ditucalan said Healing Democracy initiated the Kapamagompong 2010 to gauge the conduct of the May 10 elections according to international standards that apply to the conduct of genuine democratic elections such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Kapamagompong 2010 will release a mission report and will popularize this to the international community.

Healing Democracy is a European Union-funded project that seeks to contribute for the promotion of democractic electoral process in Lanao del Sur.

Healing Democracy, which is a Maranao grassroots electoral undertaking supported by interfaith communities, has initially been granted a P7.2 million grant from the Euopean Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) program, for the various undertakings such as voters’ education and election monitoring in its areas of coverage.

Healing Democracy is spearheaded by the Consortium of Christian Organizations for Rural-Urban Development (CONCORD), Inc. and includes as partners the Liga ng Kabataang Moro (LKM) Lanao; Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM); Ethnic Groups Development Resource Center (EGDRC);  Rural Missionaries of the Philippines; Community-Based Health Services (CBHS) Northern Mindanao; Suara Bangsamoro Northern Mindanao; Kawagib Alliance for the Advancement of Moro Rights; Samahan ng mga Lingkod na Artista sa Mindanao (SALAMIN); and Moro-Christian People’s Alliance (MCPA) Lanao. (Bong D. Fabe)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—With the near-completion and opening of the Laguindingan International Airport and with the Mindanao Railway System already in the drawing boards, business and trade are expected to increase in this parts of Mindanao, which is why a Mindanawon congressman yesterday urged the government to draw up a comprehensive master plan for the revitalized Cagayan-Iligan Industrial Corridor (CIIC).

“If we really want investors to pour in their millions and even billions in the Cagayan-Iligan Industrial Corridor, then we have to start developing a comprehensive master plan for it,” said Rep. Ariel Caringal Hernandez of the Anak Mindanao (AMIN) party-list.

Noting that the international airport in nearby Laguindingan town is targeted to open on January 17, 2012 and the Saudi Fund for Development’s expression of willingness to fund the Mindanao Railway System, Hernandez stressed that this will be best complemented  by a comprehensive master plan for the CIIC.

“The completion and opening of the Laguindingan International Airport in the municipality of Laguindingan will open the doors for investors and tourists to our shores. Thus, there is a great need to come up with a comprehensive master plan for the CIIC to really entice investors to establish their businesses here,” Hernandez said.

The Cagayan-Iligan Industrial Corridor (CIIC), which lies within two provinces, Lanao del Norte and Misamis Oriental, and within two regions, Region X and Region XII, is a 187-kilometer stretch of mainly coastal strip facing the bays of Iligan and Macajalar and has a total land area of 3,227 sq.kms.

The Mindanao Railway System is made up of a network of railways linking Cagayan de Oro City to Iligan City up to Zamboanga City, and to the Agusan and Surigao provinces. It also has extensions to the cities of Davao and General Santos.

Construction of the first phase of the MRS project covering the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan stretch is being prioritized because it is an industrial and economic corridor.

Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, who filed House Bill 1855 in 2008 creating the Mindanao Railways Corp. (MRC), said that the Mindanao Railway System “will not only solve traffic congestion in the city, especially with the opening of the Laguindingan International Airport, and other urban centers of Mindanao, but will also boost tourism and business along its route. This will be a more efficient, cost-effective and fast mode of transportation linking all major cities and towns of Mindanao.”

The Mindanao Railway System will passed through the CIIC, which covers 19 municipalities — Claveria, Jasaan, Villanueva, Tagoloan, Opol, El Salvador, Alubijid, Laguindingan, Gitagum, Libertad, Initao, Naawan, Manticao and Lugait of Misamis Oriental; and Linamon, Kauswagan, Bacolod, Maigo and Kolambugan of Lanao del Norte — and has been designed as a major industrial, processing and trade zone, with the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro as centers.

The CIIC is also considered as one of the investment destination in Mindanao, with the following development roles: (1) transshipment hub of Mindanao due to its proximity to domestic markets such as Cebu and Manila with safest and shortest sea route; (2) one of the major agri-industrial centers in Mindanao; (3) trade and services center in Northern Mindanao; and (4) power provider in Mindanao by harnessing the power of Maria Cristina Falls.

With these roles, the CIIC is an ideal location for investments in (1) Metals (Engineering and Metalworking); (2) Construction and Infrastructure; (3) Oleo chemicals and other basic chemicals; and (4) Agriculture, Aquaculture and Agro-Forestry.

Hernandez noted that while the CIIC has been touted as one of the investment destination in Mindanao for more than a decade now, it has not really took off and only very few investors have actually established their businesses in the area because of the lack of a comprehensive master plan.

“The CIIC, despite its considerable potential for being the investment hub in Mindanao, has very limited growth in the past decade because of a lack of a master’s plan. As such, an integrated comprehensive master plan/program aimed specifically at maximizing its four-fold roles is badly needed and should be drawn up as soon as possible especially so that we can present this to the incoming president,” he added. (Bong D. Fabe)

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—Reelectionist second congressional district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez yesterday said he is fully supporting the 20-point “Green Agenda” drafted by an environment advocacy group for Misamis Oriental.

“I fully support this green agenda because I believe that every government official should lead in protecting the environment,” he told this reporter by mobile phone.

Rodriguez is already known here as the “environmental congressman” because of his many bills that protect and preserve the environment and ecology of this city and Misamis Oriental.

He said that as a leader, it is incumbent upon him and others like him to initiate moves to protect the environment especially because of the reality of the drastic and devastating effects of climate change and global warming.

“Climate Change is now a reality and we are affected. As a government official called and elected to serve the public good, it is my prime duty to protect the lives of my constituents and one way of doing that is to help in protecting what remains of our environment because we know that what we do to our environment today have great impact on us in the future. What we are experiencing today, the droughts, devastating floods and typhoons are just the result of our indifference and wanton neglect of our environment in the past. If we want to preserve life as we know if, the lives of future Cagayanons and Misamisnons, we have to start today by protecting our environment,” he stressed.

Some of Rodriguez’s “green” bills and resolutions are: HB03449 “An Act Providing for the Integration of Climate Change as a Subject in the Elementary, Secondary and Collegiage Curricula…”; HB03466 or An Act Providing for the Promotion of Bio-Organic Farming in the Philippines”; HB02125 or an Act Providing for the Urban and Countryside Greening in the Philippines”; HB02512 or an Act Mandating the Use of Recyclable or Biodegradable Materials for the Packaging of Consumer Products”; and HB03577 or an Act Declaring and Establishing Rivers, River Systems, Beaches, Shores and Waterways as Ecological Zones…”

Rodriguez has also filed the following green bills/resolutions in Congress: HB03775 or an Act Promoting and Enhancing the Development, Utilization and Commercialization of Renewable Energy Resources”; HB04105 or an Act Providing a Ban on Dumping of Sewage Sludge and Industrial Waste into the Sea”; HB04108 “An Act to Regulate Pesticide Chemical Residue in Food”; HB04525 “An Act Launching Another Green Revolution Program in the Country”; HB04786 “An Act Prohibiting the Conversion of all Irrigated and Non-Irrigated Agricultural Lands into Non-Agricultural Lands…”;

These and other bills have been filed with the aim of protecting lives and the environment, Rodriguez said.

He also hailed the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth (LRC-KsK/FoE), Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro (ACDO) and the Xavier University (XU) for coming up with the “green agenda” for the May 10, 2010 elections.

Carl Cesar Rebuta, team leader of the Cagayan de Oro City office of LRC-KsK/FoE said that voters should look for candidates who have at least four characteristics of an environmentalist: “aware of the worsening state  of our environment; recognize that the poor, particularly the workers, farmers, fisherfolk, women,  children and indigenous peoples, are especially vulnerable to the effects of environmental degradation; acknowledge that a healthy environment is a basic right that should be enjoyed by the present and future generations; and ever mindful that the responsibility to be stewards of creation is a responsibility of each and everyone of us.”

But beyond all these characteristics, the ideal “green” leader should also be “heedful of the need to defend Mother Nature from being desecrated, contaminated and destroyed by apathy, greed, crass materialism, toxic waste and chemicals, and the unsustainable use of the earth’s dwindling resources,” Rebuta said. (Bong D. Fabe)