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Here’s a video on the latest development on the Donald Dontugan murder trial. In case you missed our earlier post, click here.

Video Credit: GMANews.TV

Just because it’s vacation time in the Philippines doesn’t mean that we cannot feature our first ever school of the day — Tabuk National High School. From the Smart Schools program:

Tabuk National High School, with a total land area of 32,233 sq. meters and is formerly named Kalinga Apayao Provincial High School, is now on its 39th year of advocating quality education to 3,205 enrollees every year. It is located at the heart of Poblacion, Tabuk, Kalinga. The school was founded and headed by Mr. Augusto Alejandrino, a District Supervisor. The school was nationalized on June 1973 with Mrs. Joaquina C. Falgui as the appointed principal followed by Mrs. Purificacion E. Domingo, Mrs. Aurora E. Plan and at present by Dr. Rodolfo C. Ballog. The school has 72 teachers and 20 administrative and support staff. There are 2 building annexes: New Tanglag and Uma Lubuagan which is considered as the center of curricular and co-curricular activities.

Read the rest of the article here. And here’s a THNS website but we’re not sure whether its the school’s official site or not.

PHOTO CREDITS: Smart Schools Program and TNHS Tabuk.

Aha. We hope someone will bring a formal complaint to the Senate. Maybe the iMPACT group should make this its undertaking as a follow-up of the signature campaign last year? If the Senate does conduct an investigation, the most important thing would be evidence, evidence, and evidence. We hope someone in the know would be willing to spill out what s/he knows.

Senate ready to probe Halsema rehab project
Sunstar Baguio

THE Senate committee on public works is willing to investigate complaints on the implementation of phase 2 of the Halsema Highway rehabilitation project.

Committee chairman Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. said any complaint over alleged anomalies committed will be immediately investigated once the issue is brought to the Senate’s attention.

In a coring test done by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in September last year, a portion of Mt. Data to Bontoc section failed the inspection. This prompted the agency to issue a remove-and-replace order to the contractor.

The rehabilitation of this section is under investigation by both the Office of the Ombudsman and the Presidential Anti Graft Commission (PAGC) for alleged overpricing and partiality in the selection of contractors to handle the project.

Funded by the Office of the President and the Mountain Province District Engineering Office (MPDEO), phase 2 of the project amounts to P1.905 billion.

Halsema highway is the major access route to the Cordilleras, coming from Baguio City.

The project aims to provide basic infrastructure which would support the attainment of the development objectives of the country and to enhance the social and economic progress in the countryside. (RO)

Related posts on the Halsema Project:
Questions, Questions, and a Suggestion
An Open Letter to All i-Mountain Province
Safety First
Project Watch: Complaining Does Produce Results

Here’s the latest update on the Campbell tragedy which we started covering last year. According to the this report, the judge is expected to issue her decision about three months from now. Here’s the links to our previous posts on the Campbell tragedy should you want to revisit them: Missing in Ifugao; Video Updates on Julia Campbell; On Juan Dontugan’s Surrender; People vs. Dontugan I; People vs. Dontugan II; Campbell Family to Attend Dontugan Hearing.

Campbell slay trial ends; verdict to be out June 30
Melvin Gascon/Inquirer

BANAUE, Ifugao, Philippines — The trial of the accused in the murder of United States Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell ended here Wednesday, a day after her first death anniversary.

Presiding Judge Ester Piscoso-Flor of the Regional Trial Court Branch 34 gave the prosecution and the defense 30 days to file their memorandum or a summary of the evidence presented in the case.

She set the issuance of the court’s decision for June 30.

“We are glad that we are on schedule. We expect to come out with the verdict before the end of June to enable both parties get over with this trial,” Flor said.

Wednesday’s hearing, which lasted only 10 minutes, capped more than 11 months of trial of one of this mountain town’s most celebrated cases — the murder of a foreigner in a village that draws thousands of foreign and local tourists every year.

Campbell, 40, a former journalist and an English teacher then assigned in Albay, disappeared on April 8, 2007, while walking along the mountain trail leading to remote Batad village. Her decomposing body was found 10 days later, buried in a gorge about 20 meters from the trail.
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Here’s an article by Maurice Malanes on how we are losing our traditional crop varieties and replacing them with high-yielding ones which require a lot of input such as pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

The result? The farmers become trapped in a cycle of debt and dependency. Biro mo, kailangan nilang bumili ng seeds every time they plant. With these high yielding varieties, you cannot just save your seeds to plant for the next season. You have to buy new seeds every time and, as mentioned above, these varieties require a lot of fertilizer and pesticides.

Who are pushing for this tragedy to happen? Foreign agri-business companies and their local minions a.k.a Gloria and the Department of Agriculture.

By the way, in case you’ve not been visiting Maurice’s blog, he has other must-read articles which are really worth reading.

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Friends, let’s not be too snotty thinking that wisdom does not spring forth from the mouth of artistas. Here’s the words of wisdom from artista/Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. during the recently held Lang-ay Festival where he was the guest speaker: “Lang-ay means oneness. Let us also practice this spirit not only during the festival.”

Oo nga naman. Oneness. Who would go against that, ano?

Bontoc folk urged to value Mt. Province road rehab
Bernadette E. Tamayo/Tempo
SEN. Ramon Revilla, Jr. has called on the people of Mountain Province to show appreciation of the rehabilitation of the multi-billion peso Halsema Highway by actively helping in its maintenance.

Revilla made the appeal during the commemoration of the Lang-ay Festival, the annual cultural event commemorating the charter of the province.
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Good luck to my good friend Philian Weygan and the rest of those organizing and joining the International Igorot Consultation this 12-15 April 2008 in Banaue, Ifugao. Visit Philian’s site for the schedule of activities or program overview as well as a backgrounder on the IIC.

Photo shamelessly stolen from Philian’s site.