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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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02.06.08Cesar Rafael Update
The police is hunting for the suspected mastermind and his alipores according to this latest report from the Philippine Star via ABS-CBN:
BONTOC, Mt. Province – Police vowed to arrest the mastermind and three other suspects in the Christmas Day murder of the mayor of Paracelis town within the month.
Being hunted down for the killing of Mayor Ceasar Rafael are Anonat barangay chairman Rommel “Borbon” Ambatali, the suspected mastermind and alleged leader of a criminal syndicate involved in kidnappings for ransom, robberies in band, illegal possession of firearms, murders and cattle rustling in Nueva Vizcaya and Isabela; Anonat barangay kagawad Danny Agabao, and brothers Tony and Orland Gumbi.
Last week, Ambatali and his six henchmen were formally charged for the Rafael killing after two suspects – Bong Felix, 34, and Rene Yadao, 32 – gave themselves up to police and claimed that they served as lookouts.
The two tagged Ambatali as the mastermind who paid them P5,000 for the hit job.
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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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01.23.08Probers: 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. -
01.20.08Zennia Aguilan Updates
She’s home. From ABS-CBN: The remains of a Filipina spa supervisor who was killed in a suicide attack at a luxury hotel in Afghanistan arrived in Manila Saturday evening. The body of Zennia Aguilan arrived 10:35 p.m. via Emirates flight EK 334. Her remains were met by her two siblings. They however declined to give any statement. Read the full article here.
Sagada folk condemn Afghanistan bombing. From Bulatlat.com: While residents of Sagada, Mountain Province (275 km north of Manila) mourn for the death of a community member in a suicide bombing incident in Afghanistan on Jan. 14, they condemn the bombing incident as inhuman and at the same time criticized the labor export policy of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a “push factor” for health professionals. Read the rest here.
Insensitive as ever, OWWA Administrator says “I told you so”. Remember Marianito Roque? He is the OWWA Administrator who, after stating that Jocelyn Dulnuan was remiss for not paying her dues (scroll down), used Dulnuan’s death to ask OFWs to pay their OWWA dues. This time, Marianito is using Zennia’s death to prove that he is right in banning the deployment of OFWs to Afghanistan. Read the report at GMA News.
Maybe I’m being overly critical, and Marianito may very well be right, but I think there are better times to say those kinds of things. If he is going to undertake a PSA (public service announcement) campaign about paying OWWA dues and not going to dangerous places, can’t he at least wait for families who lost their love ones to grieve before he opens his mouth?
Show some respect, man.
