OPINION: Scent of a Woman

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

That award-winning 1992 film Scent of Woman strikes a nostalgia in me. I ask Davao del Norte Vice Governor “Baby” Suaybaguio to watch the blockbuster film again- at home.

The film is starred by actor Al Pacino (a retired irascible, blind, medically retired U.S. Army officer Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade in the film) and Chris O’Donnell (tukayo Charlie Simms, a preparatory school student who takes a job as an assistant to Al Pacino or Frank Slade).It won for Al Pacino the Academy Award for Best Actor and more cinema laurels for director Martin Bres.

I think last year or early this year the HBO and Cinemax played it again- and again (in the outfits’ shenanigans to playing with our culture of easily forgetting things, err like Ninoy’s heroism or Kris loves with Phillip Salvador and Joey Marquez– no pun intended).

There’s a lot of walking CD vendors now and pirates are coming up with well-CD recorded films in glossy and sleek covers. Ask for it, and the latest Pacquaio’s fight, and voila- they have it.

Anyway, film-watching at home is good for the coming weekend holiday as warm-up starter before going to the cemetery to meet a riotous exploding living population paying homage to our millions of beloved dead, the global warming notwithstanding.

To set our mood for the All Saints Day (Nov 1, Saturday) and All Souls Day (Nov. 2, Sunday), choose the film genres that are good for the soul- the classic, romantic, that which dramatically slow-moving but emotion-captivating with surprise denouement. Not the comedy, action, Jacky Chan, brutal, horror films please.

I mean the Scents of the Woman is primarily classic but comic. It intrigues the heart in seeing a cantankerous middle-aged man who is now blind, alcoholic and impossible to get along with (Al Pacino) having a time in New York with the aid of youthful assistant Charlie Simms, just to take a room at the posh hotel, eat at an expensive restaurant, to wish to sleep with a beautiful woman, and then commit suicide. Later, the blind Colonel tangoes with a girl whose perfume captivates him (hence the title of the movie).

To cut the movie short, Slade’s suicide does not materialize as he is prevailed upon by Simms.The rest is history.- they become close friends and shortly Slade cause for the exoneration of Simms from the allegation that he plays the prank on school headmaster. End for now.

Flashback: I saw the vice governor two decades ago so smart in jeans when he was still the city mayor. That time his nephew Konsehal Nickel must have been still in shorts. I saw in the latter a déjà vu on VG Baby. But being older but still smarter, VG Baby could take the Al Pacino’s role, while being young and neophyte, Kons. Nickel could take Chris O’Donnell’s.

Not that the VG portrays in real life Slade’s film character. He’s already south in age now after serving the city and province in length, with interregnums after electoral defeats.And huwah! (Slade’s stereotyped shout in the movie which I like to hear), the VG has returned fragrantly ensconced in his current public seat- for that scent of a kingmaker.

Forget that blink when he was reminded by movant BM Larry Caminero there was still that third and final reading to finally junk the Purok Ordinance two weeks ago. VG Baby might have just an afterthought what’s in store for the Urban Poor Ordinance of his young nephew Nickel that was yet forthcoming to land in his august hall.

As to Kons. Nickel, he may play a prank of his Urban Poor Ordinance, knowing that as his uncle’s earlier plan of running for the Congress was political suicide, hence the VG’s silence now, the new measure that has recently reached at the Davnor SP seems to be also one that would have him kissed his young political career goodbye. Or this scent of 2010 is just subject for a director’s cut? Oh baby, for that Scent of a Woman. (For online edition, visit my blog at: https://cha4t.wordpress.com, for comments, reactions, e-mail: ruralurbanews@yahoo.com, or ruralurbanews@yahoo.com)

NEWS: “Paperless legislation” for Tagum SP next year

oct 9

TAGUM CITY – Patterned after what the Agusan del Sur provincial government has trailblazed ahead, the City Hall will be investing about P1.5 million to implement a “paperless legislation” in the City Council by next year.

Under the scheme, city councilors would no longer have to deal with voluminous papers but instead use laptops in doing legislative works such in submitting their committee reports, proposed resolutions and ordinances.

The budget would be used to buy 14 units of laptops, one for each of the councilors, vice mayor and the secretariat, server and two back-up CPUs, scanner, WIFI connection, networking and peripherals including training and installation, said Vice Mayor Allan Rellon.

Last week several city councilors went to Agusan del Sur and saw for themselves how the paperless session in the said province works.
“What can be added to the city is the use of emails in sharing proposed legislations,” Rellon said.

He added that in this scheme a laptop-carrying proponent councilor can send his proposed measure to his colleagues to invite them for comments or for co-authorship, or send it to the secretariat to be calendared.

From reports gathered, the laptops would be brought by the councilors outside the City Hall and during sessions they would have to connect the laptops to the local area network in the session hall.

On the other hand, Councilor Rey Salve proposed to provide P1.5 million for the paperless legislation in the Annual Investment Plan for the 2009.
He said the Sangguniang Panlalawigan is also interested to implement the same next year. Some of its members went ahead in their Lakbay Aral on paperless legislation. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

NEWS: Internet cafes welcome mayor’s probe on Tagum sex scandal

sept 11

The president of the association of internet cafés in Tagum City bared yesterday they welcome the ongoing investigation of Mayor Rey Uy in identifying the establishment where the spreading Tagum sex video scandal took place.

Eddie Silagan, president of Internet Café Association of Tagum (ICAT), said that they are just waiting for the results of the mayor’s current probe.

During last Tuesday’s meeting of the Internet Café Housing Board (ICAB) the mayor called on internet café operators to police their own ranks into not violating the city ordinance regulating the operations of internet cafes such as the allowing pornography to happen and the minors and schoolchildren to play online games during school hours inside their establishments and others, Silagan said.

The mayor has also urged them to unite and not to fight against each other for the internet user market which internet cafes could share in healthy competition.

At press time, internet cafes in the city are already being subjected to close monitoring by the City Hall after Uy mayor issued an executive order earlier this week creating a monitoring group from his own office to strictly enforce the city internet café ordinance.

Silagan, who is the operator of the Aroma Internet Café along Mabini Street, said his establishment itself had been checked and monitored for any violation the other day.

He said they also welcome the mayor’s monitoring saying that internet operators in the city have been wary now after the sex video scandal of a UM-Tagum female student broke out in news last week.

He said that internet café owners worry over implications of the unknown liability in case the internet café where the cyber sex scandal took place is identified saying that what if the establishment is known but the person who recorded the sex video could not be identified among those working in the internet café.

He said for his establishment alone he has two assistants rotating in the shifts in the morning and in the evening.

Vice Mayor Allan Rellon earlier said that the mayor would not hesitate to close down the erring establishment in this city’s own sex scandal that has already spread to cellphones and the Internet.

On Monday, the UM-Tagum administration blamed the still unknown internet café in the city as the one which caused for the spread of a 20-minuter sex video clip of one of its students who later dropped out.

In the much-talked video clip that has stunned the city, the UM-Tagum young female student using a chat user name “Baby” bared sensitive parts of her body and used sex toy penis while chatting with a prodding foreigner chat boyfriend with username “Clyde”.

Asked on the charge that the involved internet café has used a remote access software in stealthily recording Baby’s orgasmic acts, Silagan said it is a possibility but “most of the internet café owners are only more of entrepreneurs doing business and do not know about it”.

He added though that there are internet cafes in the city which have owners, technicians and workers who might have known about the operations of remote access softwares.

He said that for him it would be difficult for outsider technicians hired to do occasional computer repairs to install these programs without the owners knowing it.

He said that internet café operators are usually not experts on the technical side of the business.

ICAT has also welcomed the call for the amendment of the city internet café ordinance with provisions from lessons learned from this city’s own sex video scandal.

Silagan also reiterated anew his group’s condemnation over the use of the internet café for pornography purposes and the spread of Baby’s sex video clip.

While he said the sex video scandal is an “isolated case”, Silagan also described that the sex video scandals “are not at all new” but “common” these days in the Internet. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

NEWS: Way Kurat: “I’m willing to face the SP” “But Joecab should also go there”

july 14

Compostela Valley Congressman Manuel “Way Kurat” Zamora (1st District) has accepted the challenge of former Gov. Jose “Joecab” Caballero saying that he is very much willing to go to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to shed light about what he can remember during the meeting with Chinese-speaking investors and with President Arroyo herself during her visit to Compostela town last July 2006.

In that presidential visit, the President announced at Zamora’s congressional office that she was bringing with her investors of Chinese firm ZTE Corp interested to invest in mining ventures in the province.

In an interview over the weekend, Cong. Zamora said that Caballero was right in saying that the President came to visit her congressional office and was also right for passing the buck of the issue to the congressman but “with all respect to him, Caballero should also go there” referring to the SP which moved last week to conduct a legislative inquiry on the reported $1-billion mining project of ZTE Corp to Diwalwal.

Zamora suggested that since he is on the thick of marathon budget hearings at press time until October 11 and onwards Caballero should first face the SP so that his statements “could be put on the record” and “after that, file a motion for me to appear”.

“I’m willing to appear but I could not just be available due to the marathon hearings,” Zamora said.

Zamora said that during the presidential visit there was indeed a meeting that occurred inside his congressional office with the President and Chinese-speaking officials with their interpreters.

But, he said, he did not know what were the particular companies the Chinese-speaking visitors were representing for.

He said he was not the only the one who knew what transpired during the meeting since former 2^nd District Cong. Prospero Amatong and all the mayors were also there except Monkayo Mayor Manuel “Junjun” Brillantes.

Caballero, then governor at that time, was not invited to attend in Compostela visit of Arroyo but reports said that he and Brillantes had also met with ZTE investors at Marco Polo Hotel during the visit.

Caballero, in separate interview, denied he met with ZTE officials saying they were only having their lunch with Mayor Brillantes at the hotel while the President graced for the launching of the congressman’s earthworm and nursery project at his congressional office.

Currently, the ZTE Corp is embroiled anew of another controversy about its award of mining rights over 8,000 hectares of mineral reservation in Diwalwal a year after the firm figured in the anomalous NBN deal. The firm was accused of giving millions of bribe money to national officials including the President to bag the multi-billion NBN contract.

For its legislative probe, the SP entasked last week its environment committee to call Caballero, Finance Secretary Peter Favila, DENR Sec. Lito Atienza, former DENR Sec. Michael Defensor and others to shed light on the report of $1-billion deal of the ZTE Corp. for the mining rights over Diwalwal which the SP feared could trigger unease among Diwalwal miners if the report is not clarified.

The SP acted on following privilege speech of Boardmember Dexter Lopoz who notified his colleagues two weeks ago about the deal as first hinted by an editorial of the Philippine Star before the new ZTE controversy hit the current headlines.

Boardmember Neri Barte joined with Lopoz last week calling for legislative probe on ZTE’s Diwalwal deal which got the SP nod. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

NEWS: Mayor Uy to close internet café in sex video scandal

For Baby’s justice

Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy will not hesitate to close down the internet café found to be the one where the so-called Tagum sex video scandal occurred as the city authorities continue on their probe on it.

Vice Mayor Allan Rellon relayed this to Sidlak after the interagency Internet Café Advisory Board (ICAB) convened Tuesday upon instruction of the mayor to tackle on the sex video scandal involving a young female student of the University of Mindanao-Tagum City and recommend measures to the mayor to address it.

Rellon presided the meeting of ICAB which he co-chairs with the mayor.
He said that the mayor, who is now investigating the case, will not hesitate his discretionary power to revoke or not renew the business permit of the internet café where the cyber scandal took place.

He said the ICAB also resolved and recommended to Mayor Uy for internet café attendants or watchers to secure occupational permits from the City Hall with a certificate of attendance of ICAB seminar.

ICAB has also scheduled a meeting with owners of internet cafes on Sept. 29 at 2 P.M. at the Sangguniang Panglungsod session hall.

In Tagum sex video scandal, the UM-Tagum coed with user name “Baby” on school uniform chatted with a foreigner chat boyfriend with user name “Clyde” who was directing “Baby” to bare sensitive parts of her body before a webcam.

In the video clip that has spread to cellphones and in the Internet, “Baby” also uses a sex toy penis. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

NEWS: UM-Tagum blames internet café in city’s sex video scandal

Coed “Baby” commits suicide?

The head-director of the University of Mindanao-Tagum City is blaming the still unidentified internet café in Tagum City which has reportedly taped one of the school’s female students who figured in what is dubbed as Tagum sex video scandal that has been already widely spreading in cellphones and in the Internet.

UMTC director Fely Rabaca said that the internet café involved in recording the involved chatting coed should get the blame and punishment for the spread of sex video clip.

She said though that if the coed were still in the school when school authorities knew of the sex video scandal the student could be immediately expelled for tarnishing the school’s reputation as provided in the UMTC disciplinary manual.

“We could not even issue a good moral character certificate for her,” she said.

“Ang internet café gyud ang maoy basolon kay sila ang nakahibalo sa pamaagi (the internet café should be blamed as they know the technology),” she added.

Rabaca also said that school authorities could not prevent students for what they are doing outside the school.

She bared that she instructed her Office of the Student Affairs to investigate on the matter sometime in the first week of last August.

This developed as Sidlak heard from a group of UM-Tagum personnel yesterday that they heard unconfirmed reports that “Baby”, chat username of the suspected UM-Tagum coed, has tried to commit or has committed suicide by cutting her wrist. “Naglaslas daw”.

Baby has since then fled the city to unknown place.

Rabaca said that per school records as of July 18 Baby was considered already “officially dropped” and considered no longer a UM-Tagum student when the news about the sex scandal broke out in the media and at the city’s session hall last week.

Baby is considered to have finished only her first year in UM-Tagum since she managed to officially dropped her subjects during the first term of the first semester of this school year obviously before whispers about her grew louder inside the campus.

Also, Baby managed to secure an honorable dismissal before her sex video clip has been widely shared through the cellphones of many students in the campus, said Maricar Cainglet, UM-Tagum high school guidance counselor.

She said that she only saw Baby’s video clip in a cellphone last August 19.

The guidance counselor said that the last time she saw Baby in the campus was July 16 processing her papers.

She said she was so surprised and even could not believe of the sex video showing Baby describing her as a “sweet, buotan (good) and intelligent student.”

She learned though about her coming from a broken family.

She added that Baby had at least twice shifted in course while studying in UM-Tagum and was a transferee from a college in Davao del Sur.

Baby had also studied at the St. Mary’s College in the city from 1st year to 3rd year high school and graduated in a town in one of Davao provinces.

The UM-Tagum authorities have strongly called yesterday on people to stop spreading further Baby’s sex video.

In what others dubbed as UM Tagum sex video scandal, Baby was chatting with an obviously foreigner chat boyfriend with a blurred username “Cled” or “Clyd” in the chat message box. ((Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

NEWS: New law school to open next year in Tagum

sept 8

TAGUM CITY – A new law school will be opened in the next school year, bared Atty. Jesus Albacite, one among the incorporators of the school, during last Friday’s inauguration of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Edifice located fronting the Hall of Justice at Mankilam this city.

He said that over 100 individuals have already shown interest to enroll in the law school which has a name Saint Thomas Moore Law School.

During the same occasion graced no less than by Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who visited the city primarily for his Justice on Wheels mobile court program, Albacite offered to IBP members to contribute stocks to the school which is organized by a group of lawyers.

The newly-inaugurated IBP Edifice would be used for the IBP-Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley Chapter’s free legal aid and free legal education programs.

The building, dubbed by lawyers as an edifice, was realized through the financial assistance of the administrations of Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario and Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy.

It was first proposed by Atty. Rodolfo Rapista who worked for the passage of a provincial ordinance on the donation of the lot on where the edifice now stands.

But it took five two-year IBP leaderships to have it completed most of which was lengthily served by Atty. Albacite.

Atty. Daniel Campoamor is the present IBP chapter chairman for the two neighboring provinces.

The inauguration was attended by some 100 judges and lawyers from the courts in Davao City, Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley.

The city has once a law school through the University of Mindanao-Tagum City but it later folded up for failing to have its law graduates pass the bar exams in a series.(Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

NEWS: Big internet café tagged in Tagum sex video scandal

sept 8

Remote access software reportedly used to secretly record coed
“Baby” is “chinita, puti, flawless” wearing UM Tagum uniform, chatting with “Cled”

A big internet café in Tagum City has been suspected to have secretly recorded using a remote access software to the young coed who figured in playfully baring sensitive parts of herself and doing orgasmic acts using a sex toy penis on webcam on the proddings of a foreigner chatmate boyfriend she was chatting with.

An internet café assistant told Sidlak on condition of anonymity that the video clip of the coed, identified by her username as “Baby” who was chatting with a username “Cled” at the other end, was taken in a big internet café which uses the same white plastic monoblock chairs and has a yellow-colored wooden partition as seen in the “Tagum sex video scandal”.

She said that she has been hearing now and then that assistants of the suspected internet café have long been seeing online activities of their users by using a remote access software secretly installed in their networked computers.

She said that what is urgent is to conduct inspection now to all internet cafes in the city and find out whether a remote access software has been installed in all their computers.

The name of the suspected internet café could not yet be divulged as efforts of Sidlak to reach its management for comment failed.

But the source said that authorities have already leads in pinpointing the suspected internet café from the physical features alone as shown in the 20-minuter video clip that is already uploaded in several pornographic websites offering free uploads for sharing.

She said that the partly-shown yellow-colored wooden partition, electrical line across the white-colored wall background and the monoblock chair used by the girl are “good leads” for the authorities to start on.

Last week, Councilor Maria Lina Baura said that the Tagum sex video clip was being spread from cellphone to cellphone.

BABY CHINITA

Reports said that the coed has already stopped schooling in one of the colleges in the city and left the city to unknown place.

Councilor Alfredo Pagdilao said that he already located the residence of the girl, but other Sidlak sources said that the coed was just renting a boarding house in Mabini street area.

“She is chinita (in eyes), white and flawless in complexion,” a lady internet assistant told Sidlak.

She said that the girl appeared to be coming from a middle class and not from a poor family judging on her looks and attire.

As the city council girded up to investigate Tagum’s cyber scandal last week, the internet café association in the city met before the weekend and called on to stop the further spread of the Tagum sex scandal video.

REMOTE SPY

Remote access software allows user of the “server” computer unit to spy simultaneously on what is happening to other computer units connected as “clients” around the network of the internet café.

It can also capture screenshots, steal data saved and record live webcams into video files without the user of the client desktop knowing that his activities have been monitored and recorded with by the user in the server desktop.

It can control the mouse and keyboard of the client computer unit.

Wikipedia, the popular free online encyclopedia, says that remote desktop applications have varying features, some of which allow seeing an existing user’s session in a running desktop and “remote controlling” it in front of the user’s eyes.

The software thus allows one to access his computer from another computer via the Internet, local area network (LAN), or phone connection and work on the computer remotely as if he were sitting in front of it.

But remote applications through the Internet, which allows one or a business to access a subject computer while miles away from it, are not free and have high dollar prices.

There are though trial softwares downloadable in the Internet, which Sidlak sources said could only work on local area network (LAN) such as the internet café’s network.

The trial software could have been the one used in recording the almost 20 minutes of webcam shows and chat conversations between “Baby” and “Cled,” presumed to be her foreigner chat boyfriend.

Sources said that the sex video clip was spliced only to join the chat message board and the webcam’s live streaming into one clip, both of which were recorded simultaneously in one screen.

The webcam video shows of “Cled” on the same screen was though not included in the clip.

PORNO SITES

Sidlak in its own online sleuthing has found at least two pornographic sharing websites as of yesterday in first pages of Yahoo and Google search engines where the Tagum sex scandal had already landed.

One has the sex video clip was uploaded just late August and the other last week. One has in fact carried an alleged full name of “Baby”.

In lookup of its domain name owners, one website is based in Denver and the other in Chicago.

In one website that does not asks for prior sign-up registration, the clip has a total length of 19 minutes and 35 seconds and shows “Baby”, a pretty looking young coed, wearing a visibly UM-Tagum uniform with a tie marking of “UMTC” and an ID card slung around her neck. She is wearing on her right hand a teener’s watch.

She clip shows her doing her thing with a sex toy penis and in various orgasmic acts and appears be doing under the command of “Cled” who has always his blurred text chats always scrolling up.

Sometimes “Baby” would hit the keyboard for short replies in their exhange of I love yous and ahhhs. Visibly “Cled” is a foreigner as their chat conversations were in English and is also doing his thing at the other end based on his proddings to “Baby”.

On the first show towards the middle of the length, the webcam has only the body of “Baby” captured until her face finally flushes out on screen especially on the near ending when they engaged in brief chat with long text.

The two appear to be already intimate online friends as it appears only a single mention of money in blurred text has been talked about in passing during their chat conversations that revolved more on love relationship. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

NEWS: More noises vs new LTO helmet policy

Sept 2

LTO, DTI not synchronized- Zulueta
Helmet panic buying reported
Money-making of Arroyo administration?- Millan

More noises have been heard slamming the Land Transportation Office’s new national policy on single motorcycles as improper and its fine and penalty provisions as exorbitant such as the violation in not wearing a prescribed helmet carries a fine of P1,500 compared to the P150 fine imposed  in the city’s helmet ordinance.

Councilor Allan Zulueta has called on for the city government to register its objection against the Dept. Of Transportation and Communication-LTO AO No. AHS-2008-015 which prescribes the new rules for the use and operation of motorcycles on highways.

Under the new policy, failure of the driver and/or the passenger or back rider to wear the standard helmet would have him fined P1,500 as against the present P150 local fine.

The “standard helmet” is defined as a protective helmet approved by the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI) with PNS-UNECE 22 marking, a presumably hard and tested type that could protect the head on strong impact.

Zulueta said that obviously the LTO and DTI have not yet synchronized their moves in enforcing the new LTO policy even as he reiterated that LTO failed to consult local government units in making such policy that has reportedly triggered an ongoing panic buying of helmets by motorcycle owners in the city.

Though the controversial administrative order was issued last May 15 pursuant to Executive Order 292, but LTO officer Marietta M. Piccio bared on Monday that while the new AO’s fines are already ready in LTO computerized system there is still a “hold order” on its implementation pending the final resolution of LTO’s national board on contentious issues this week.

Also, Nelly Esperanza, chief of consumer welfare and trade regulations division of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Davao del Norte provincial office, said that the helmet prescribed in the AO is still and “optional product” and is being subjected to consultations at present considering the oppositions they received in the Internet.

She advised though motorcycle owners to buy the helmet with International Commodity Clearance (ICC) marking.

Councilor Francisco Remitar, on the other hand, raised an alarm over the possibility that in the ongoing panic buying of helmets he witnessed in malls and stores in the city, motorcycle owners might end buying two or more unprescribed helmets.

He urged the LTO and DTI to immediately advise store owners selling helmets to only sell the prescribed ones.

He said that with the new LTO policy, there is more tendency to corruption.

Councilor Raymond Joey Millan, in questioning the LTO representative  during last Monday’s session, also raised a query as to whether this latest LTO AO is a money-making scheme of the present administration.

“I guess you know what I mean?” Millan asked, to which Piccio refused to comment.

Councilor Joedel Caasi first blew the lid off last week over the new LTO policy that has now been sending shivers down the spines of motorcycle owners and drivers.

He said that the policy is “anti-poor” that could immediately apprehend driver s of skylabs and motorcycle-riding fish and pandesal vendors.

Caasi said that he first learned of the new LTO AO from photocopies alone and he already heard of LTO personnel from Davao City apprehending several motorcycle drivers in the city due to violations of said AO.

Aside from the existing traffic and motorcycle rules, the latest AO has a one backrider and no-cargo policy. Allowed is only the saddle bag or luggage carrier, which is defined as a DTI- approved built-in carrier of luggage in a motorcycle. Both carry a fine of P1,000.

Drivers must also not wear flip flops, sandals or slippers or drive bare-footed or be fined of P500, P700 and P1,000 and revocation of driver’s license for the first, second and third offenses, respectively.

For having defective accessories such as headlight, tail light, signal light, brake light, side mirror and horn has a fine of P1,000.00.

For modifying any part of the original designs of a motorcycle or scooter without approval of the LTO and the DTI has a fine of P2,000.00.

Several councilors said that the AO is inapplicable, improper and exorbitant of its fines, which according to Piccio will already go to national coffers and not to the city government. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Contributing to the problem than the solution

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

I have interviewed Councilor Nicandro “Nickel” Suaybaguio to get his side on his proposed measure of giving a temporary closed-door policy for the urban poor. For being a scion of a landed family in the city, I couldn’t fault him for using the landowner’s vantage point of seeing things in urban poor housing.

But even that stupid Lina Law, in the words of a national columnist, in describing the Urban Development Housing Act (UDHA) of 1992 (RA 7279) has recognized the acute problem of housing the people. The law spells out various shelter modes and schemes and calls for the combination of these to resolve the country’s high housing backlog.

There has been this backlog highlighted since the 90s when UDHA was enacted and it is continuing now even with combination of housing strategies and the creation of the Social Housing Finance Corporation in 2004 from the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp (NHMFC) so that the social housing for the informal and low-income sector will be given a particular focus.

So with Tagum City. It is too suffering from acute housing backlog. In the city’s comprehensive development and land use plan, the projected housing demand for 2010 is 47,383 dwelling units. These are the households who are currently having no lots to call their own, renting, or sharing spaces with their families across all classes and income markets.

Taking this alarming statistics, and multiplying it by the minimum 100 square meter for a lot of each household, Tagum City two years from now would be needing at least 473 hectares of land to house its landless people.

However, for since the low-income class comprised the bulk of the populace (we peg at a mere minimum of 60 percent), the resulting statistics of 28,000 households in need of social housing paints a grave housing problem that needs about, at least 280 hectares of land.

The city’s sub-regional service center function since time immemorial has just attracted a lot of people to live in its territory and has spawned higher in-migration rate and faster urbanization tempo. The sprouting of informal housing settlements along with the squatting of public places such as the danger zones, road right of ways and accretion areas along the city’s creeks and rivers caused by a burgeoned population is just therefore a manifestation, an effect of the strong economic force of the city.

Thanks, the city’s acute housing backlog and urban light and squatting have been addressed since the recent decade and years by various shelter modes such as CMP, cooperative housing, congressional housing of Rep. Arrel Olano and even direct purchase at the own initiative of the landless themselves out from sheer want and necessity.

The 31 urban poor housing projects occupying at least a mere 64 hectares in the city could only house a total of 3,301 households and have effectively secured the tenure of 2,662 households, which is about a high 81-percent occupancy and not the low 60-percent occupancy highlighted by Suaybaguio.

So this is it. In the face of the acute housing backlog of Tagum City (read 280 hectares against the 64 hectares made of informal housing settlements) why knock on the problem of site development and the non-issue of alleged low occupancy, when much has still to be done with the organized initiatives and community-based land acquisition for housing projects being participated by the landless urban poor themselves.

The city government has limited resources to resolve this acute housing problem. So with the debt-ridden national government that from a formerly doleout housing solution exemplified by the wasteful BLISS projects before, it has shifted the paradigm of housing the people through encouragement of community-based housing projects involving the landless urban poor themselves like the CMP.

If the young Suaybaguio could have his way, that is, stopping for five years any new urban poor housing, he is actually contributing to the problem of landlessness than to the solution of it. We have more lands to take as a problem than the roads of the existing ones, while people continue to flock in to the city to live and prices of lands continue to rise. For now, more landbanking is what we need than site development. (For online edition, visit my blog at: https://cha4t.wordpress.com)