Mt. Province
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02.09.08Gambling and Prostitution in the Boondocks
Once upon a time, people in Bontoc do not gamble. This is according to Albert Ernest Jenks in his book, The Bontoc Igorot:
No man or set of men habitually spoils another’s accumulations by exacting from him a tax or “rake off.” There is no form of gambling or winning another’s earnings.
We, of course, shouldn’t take a statement made by an outside observer as 100% accurate but Jenks, who visited Bontoc in 1903, gets more specific here:
Cockfighting is the Philippine sport. Almost everywhere the natives of the Archipelago have cockfights and horse races on holidays and Sundays. They are also greatly addicted to the sport of gambling. The Bontoc Igorot has none of the common pastimes or games of chance. This fact is remarkable, because the modern Malayan is such a gamester.
Well, I’m not sure if “modern Malayans” back then were such gamblers as Jenks portrays them but if the writer visits Bontoc now he will see that its residents have caught up with their lowland siblings in the gambling front. He will, no doubt, notice the center of Bontoc’s gambling universe, the Acofo Building which is located right smack in the middle of town.
He will also likely hear the story of a frustrated husband who reportedly axed the door of the gambling den because his wife was spending her time gambling her (their?) money away. Finally, Jenks might wonder about the inability of the Bontoc and Mt. Province police and the local government units to implement the law on illegal gambling.
Bakit nga kaya? Why is the police not doing anything about this? We’re sure it’s not for lack of information. They’re certainly not blind or deaf. Maybe they don’t have balls? Shall we call them Mt. Province Police “No Balls” Division?
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02.08.08Rep. Victor Dominguez, 2008
Our condolences to the family of Mt. Province Congressman Victor Dominguez (leftmost in above photo) who succumbed to cardiac arrest this afternoon. Here’s an Inquirer report by Frank Cimatu:
Representative Victor S. Dominguez of the lone district of Mountain Province succumbed Friday to cardiac arrest and complications from diabetes at St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City. He was 72.
Mountain Province Governor Maximo Dalog said Dominguez had been sick for sometime. “The province is deeply mourning his death and his provincemates would like to pay their last respects,” said Dalog.
Dominguez served as Mountain Province representative from 1987 to 1998 and from 2004 to present. He was replaced by his wife, Josephine, in 1998.
He ran but lost to Roy Pilando in the 1998 elections. Pilando died before finishing his term.
Dominguez belonged to an influential family in the Cordillera. His father, Alejandro, was a former mayor of Sabangan, the family hometown, while his older brother, Honorio, served as mayor of Tadian town.
A civil engineering graduate of Saint Louis University here, Dominguez started as a gravel-and-sand dealer and contractor.
Meanwhile, we learn from bibaknets that the Congressman will be at the Batasan on Tuesday, February 12. The following day, February 13, he will be transported to Baguio for interment.
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01.27.08Quote of the Day
“We cannot go to Afghanistan to march as a people of Sagada to condemn terrorism. What we can do is make our call for peace reach Afghanistan.” - Herminia Cadiogan, mother of Kabul bomb victim Zennia Aguilan.
We’re with Ma’am Herminia on this one. Meanwhile, read Desiree Caluza’s report on Zennia’s interment.
In the blogosphere, fellow iSagada blogger Juan Bondad blogs about Zennia here. So does Manja Bayang who quotes Zennia quoting Douglas Adams’ “I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have gone, where I needed to be.”
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01.25.08Rafael Slay Suspects Under Custody
From ABS-CBN: Three suspects in the murder of Paracelis town mayor Cesar Rafael last month are now in police custody.
ABS-CBN morning show Umagang Kay Ganda reported that Rene Yadao and Bong Felix surrendered and confessed to the murder of Rafael.
Yadao and Felix told investigators that they had been planning the assassination of Rafael as early as November last year. They said a barangay chairman, whom they have yet to name, masterminded the killing.
Rafael, 58, was gunned down by five men while on board his Toyota Hilux pickup (AHH-386) last December 25 in Barangay Palitod, Paracelis, Mountain Province.
Last Tuesday, police also arrested a third suspect, Tirso Abalos, for the ambush-slay.
RELATED POSTS: Probers: Politics Behind Rafael Murder; Cesar Rafael: Death of a Mayor.
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01.23.08Probers: Politics Behind Mayor Cesar Rafael’s Murder
Come on people in power, let’s have a gun ban not only during elections but forever and ever. Politicians, of course, should be the first to surrender their guns. Here’s the latest update on the murder of Paracelis Mayor Cesar Rafael.
Politics behind murder of mayor, probers say
By Dexter See/Manila BulletinBontoc, Mountain Province — Police probers here said that politics is behind the murder of Paracelis Mayor Ceasar Rafael on Dec. 25, 2007.
They said they are now closing in on the suspects in the first sensational political crime in this province.
Senior Supt. Joseph Adnol, director of the Mountain Province police office, said that the investigators have ruled out revenge and personal grudge as motives, noting that circumstantial evidence point to politics as the cause of the murder of the mayor.
He said that the investigators are now validating the information on the five to 10 suspects who, they said, have not yet left the province due to the tightened security they have implemented at various exit and entry points.
However, Adnol did not give any description about the politicians involved in the killing, saying it is still premature to disclose such details because this might prejudice an on-going operation against the mastermind and the killers.
The men who carried out the murder plot on the long-time municipal chief executive of Paracelis are said to be aligned with an influential person in the town.
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01.21.08Photo of the Day
Herminia Cadiogan with a picture of her daughter, Zennia Aguilan. Photo courtesy of AFP.
RELATED POSTS:
Zennia Aguilan Updates
Update on Zennia Aguilan
iSagada Killed in Afghanistan. -
01.18.08Update on Zennia Aguilan
Mom rues loss of OFW daughter to insurgent attack in Kabul
By Frank Cimatu/InquirerHerminia’s sweet little girl is coming home but it is not the homecoming she wanted for her daughter. Zennia Aguilan, 31, a physical therapist, was killed with five other people on Monday when armed men stormed the Serena Hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan.
Her 60-year-old mother, Herminia Aguilan, was not sure when her body would be brought home. “She’s short and very sweet,” said Herminia, a retired teacher at Saint Mary’s School in the tourist town of Sagada in Mt. Province.
“She called regularly and the last time was when she greeted me ‘Happy New Year,’” she said by telephone.
Zennia, the fifth of seven children, was still small when her father died.
Her only sister is the eldest and a nurse in the United States so Zennia was her mother’s little helper, said her aunt, Mary Padilan.
“She’s very loving especially with kids,” said her cousin Shirley Lebeng. “Zennia wanted to help her family and I don’t think she had a boyfriend. She always gave us gifts,” Lebeng said.
“My daughter is very thoughtful,” Herminia said.
Although originally from Agawa village in neighboring Besao town in Mt. Province, Zennia and her siblings had to stay in Sagada to be with their mother. Continue Reading…
