Only the customers of the Luzon grid will continue to have uninterrupted power service today, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.

Luzon grid, according to the NGCP, have enough reserves of around 223 MW today. First Gas Power Corporation’s Sta. Rita Modules 10, 20, 30 & 40, and San Lorenzo Units 50 & 60 are generating 252 MW each, totaling 1,512 MW contribution to the Luzon Grid.

This means that available capacity in the Luzon grid is higher at 7,170 MW as compared to the 6,947 MW peak demand.

Both Visayas and Midanao will continue to experience rotating brownouts.

In the Visayas, generation deficiency was placed at 30 MW after two units of Salcon Power Corporation’s Cebu Diesel Plant need to have an emergency shutdown which will cut around 10 MW from the Visayas grid’s available capacity.

The grid is expected to lose another 30 MW at 3pm from the shutdown of one unit of Cebu Thermal Plant, also owned by Salcon Power Corporation, resulting to up to 30 MW deficiency to the region.

Likewise, CE Casecnan Water and Energy Company’s Casecnan power plant, which was giving 65 MW is also down to 0 MW due to low water elevation.

Visayas has available capacity of 1,125 MW lower than the peak load of 1,155 MW.

The Mindanao grid will continue to suffer rotating brownouts after its generation deficiency increased again further to 748 MW today from the 700 MW generation deficiency recorded yesterday.

Mindanao has 772 MW available capacity compared to the 1,472 MW peak demand.

dThe NGCP maintained that the limited available capacities from National Power Corporation’s hydro power plants, most of which have water reservoirs that are drying up due to the El Niño dry spell is contributing to the power shortage.

Another factor that contributed to the increase in generation deficiency in the region is the emergency shutdown of Therma Marine 2 Unit 1 at 11:34 am today. The said plant which is owned and operated by Aboitiz Power has a capacity of 50 MW.

Water elevation of hydro power plants in Mindanao continues to be below critical level. Lake Lanao is at 699.02 meters, which is below the critical level of 699.15 meters. Pulangi elevation is at 283.9 meters. The peak demand for Mindanao today is 1,497 MW as against available capacity of 749 MW. (PNA)
DCT/MSN

DUMAGUETE CITY – A 14-year old boy has filed charges of kidnapping/serious illegal detention, grave coercion, and violation of R.A. 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act) against Negros Oriental Vice Gov. Jose Baldado, a certain Romeo Sablada and a “John Doe”, before the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office.

The boy, accompanied by his father and a lawyer, filed the complaint around 10 a.m. even before police authorities had completed their investigation into the case in the absence of a statement from the victim and witnesses.

However, Sr. Supt. Augusto Marquez, Jr. said that anybody can file a case directly in court even without the assistance of the police or other law enforcement agencies.

The three cases, docketed under NPS numbers 10C-00139, -00140 and -00141, are now on the desk of Provincial Prosecutor Diosdado Hermosa for review prior to raffling for preliminary investigation, a court employee who requested anonymity said.

Among the witnesses that the boy presented were his father and a couple with whom the boy had stayed during weekdays in the town proper where he was attending high school.

Last Friday, the complainant took his oath before Fiscal Vilmo Ampong while the two witnesses executed their affidavits and were subscribed by Fiscal Elizabeth Bayhon on Monday.

The complaint stems from the now celebrated purported kidnapping of the boy last Feb. 15, who alleged that while he was walking to school shortly before classes started, Sablada and the unidentified driver of a motorcycle allegedly snatched him off the road and brought him to the house of Baldado in Manjuyod town.

The boy had further alleged that upon arriving at the vice governor’s residence, the official had asked him to tell his father to withdraw the pending case against four policemen in Manjuyod.

The boy’s father had filed charges of illegal detention against the four policemen after he was also charged for frustrated murder for allegedly shooting Romeo Sablada, one of the respondents, a few years back.

Baldado has repeatedly denied involvement in the alleged kidnapping, saying he was in Dumaguete at the time when the supposed incident took place.

The vice governor told reporters that he was not aware of the charges filed against him as he has not received any official communication yet and only learned of it following a request for media interview late Tuesday afternoon.

He described the move as an overkill of the political attack launched against him by his political opponents who want to derail his campaign in the coming May elections.

Baldado is running for governor under the Nacionalista Party.

He said he is not afraid to face the charges as he has witnesses who can testify that he was at the boulevard doing his routine walking exercise when the “kidnapping” took place.

He also lamented what he perceives as sensationalism in the news considering that the media learned ahead of him of the filing of charges.

“As usual it is always the media (who gets the information first) as far as cases involving a political figure…and so I don’t know the implication. There’s something behind (this) to destroy one’s reputation and one’s name. Because, as a matter of fact, as you know, the accusation is baseless,” Baldado said.

The vice governor had earlier also accused some people at Capitol of distributing copies to the media of the police blotter entry of the kidnapping when the story first broke out about four days after the supposed incident. (PNA) V3/JFP

DUMAGUETE CITY – Three weeks have already passed since the celebrated alleged kidnapping of a minor in Manjuyod, Negros Oriental where the provincial vice-governor had been implicated, but police investigators still do not have enough evidence to warrant the filing of formal charges in court against the suspects.

Provincial police director Sr. Supt. Augusto Marquez, Jr. had earlier told reporters that the police will file charges if there is sufficient evidence against Vice Governor Jose Baldado, barangay tanod Romeo Sablada, and a third unidentified suspect.

However, reports are circulating that the young boy who claimed to have been snatched by two men last February 15 and brought to the house of Baldado, is nowhere to be found.

Marquez, Jr. has deployed a team of investigators to focus on the “kidnapping” case due to its sense of urgency with the upcoming elections.

Baldado, who denied involvement in the case, is gunning for the gubernatorial seat against incumbent Gov. Emilio Macias II, whose name has also been dragged in the “kidnapping” case.

Marquez, Jr. said that it would be a difficult case to prosecute if the purported victim, his father and other witnesses will not issue their statements and appear in court.

In fact, there has been a report that the boy was once again “kidnapped” although this has not been confirmed, he added. (PNA)
LAP/JFP

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL – Five communist New People’s Army (NPA) rebels and a military officer died during a clash between the two sides in the outskirts of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental.

Citing report reaching the Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Army spokesman Lt. Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said the firefight also resulted in the recovery of three high-powered firearms of the rebels.

Burgos said troops from the 62nd Infantry Battalion were on a patrol at the vicinity of Sitio Aluyan, Barangay Caduhaan, Cadiz City at around 10 a.m. when they caught up with an undetermined number of rebels.

“They (the soldiers) were conducting security patrol when the fighting broke out,” Burgos said, adding that the name of the slain Army lieutenant was withheld pending notification of his family.

Burgos said the troops recovered at the scene of the encounter the five bodies of the still unidentified rebels. Also recovered were an M14, an M16 and an M653 rifles. (PNA)
scs/VR

BAGUIO CITY- A mini bus bound to Santa Rosa, Laguna carrying 48 Catholic devotees crashed into an acacia tree along Marcos Highway in Pugo, La Union some 48 kilometers west of this mountain resort at around 6 p.m. Saturday, killing eight of its passengers on the spot, according to Paeng Valencia, president of the Baguio Rescue 911.

Policemen from La Union are still establishing the identities of the eight fatalities. Two others who were seriously injured are now confined for treatment at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

Witnesses told probers that the ill-fated bus with plate number HRE 316 apparently lost its brakes and rammed into the tree trunk which prevented it from falling to a nearby ravine.

Survivors recounted to policemen that the group was among more than 200 devotees from Santa Rosa, Laguna who were in Baguio City for the weekend “visita iglesia” (church visits), an activity that precede the Lenten Season.

The bus was bound to Santa Rosa, Laguna, the point of origin of the trip, when the accident happened.(PNA) V3/AAG/AAGalacgac

CAMP BGEN OSCAR M. FLORENDO, La Union – A checkpoint in front of the police station in San Gabriel, La Union intercepted at dawn Friday a gray Toyota Hi-ace van loaded with 100 kilograms of marijuana bricks worth P2.525 million.

The police led by Senior Inspector Eduardo Sarmiento, chief of police of San Gabriel, arrested all four persons on board the van after discovering the dried marijuana bricks in the vehicle’s compartment.

Senior Superintendent Noli Taliño, La Union Police director, in his report to Region 1 Chief Superintendent Constante D. Azares Jr., disclosed that personnel of San Gabriel police led by Sarmiento flagged down the van for routine inspection at around 1:30 a.m.

Noting that the occupants of the van were acting “unusually nervous,” the police officers decided to check the vehicle’s compartment after some negotiation and found the marijuana bricks.

Taliño identified the occupants of the van as Bony T. Santos, 34, and Francis Mogati, 22, both of La Trinidad, Benguet; and Lindel Camilo, 23, and Molitas Mariacos, 19, both from Barangay Lon-oy, San Gabriel, La Union. They are now detained at the San Gabriel police station.

The police seized 15 bricks of dried marijuana leaves weighing one kilo each, 33 two-kilo bricks, and 20 one-kilo marijuana rolls.

According to Sarmiento, they requested the presence of Barangay Poblacion Sur Chairman Carlos Caweng and Nestor Ducusin of Bombo Radyo La Union, also a resident of the said barangay, to act as witnesses when the suspects initially refused to open their van’s compartment.

When the suspects finally allowed the interior of the van to be inspected, the police found three sacks, a box and a plastic bag containing the marijuana bricks.

Sarmiento said that prior to the interception of the van, they received a tip from an unidentified concerned citizen regarding the marijuana shipment.

Azares personally commended Sarmiento and his men for their accomplishment, even as he expressed satisfaction over the good police-community relations in San Gabriel.

“Keep up the good work, and continue your good partnership with our stakeholders,” Azares told the men and officers of the San Gabriel Police Station. (PNA)
scs/lvm/lvmicua/rma

CAMP AQUINO, Tarlac City- Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff General Victor S. Ibrado has congratulated the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) for its significant accomplishments against insurgency problem in Northern and Central Luzon.

“You have made Northern and Central Luzon a better and safer place for the community,” Ibrado told the military troops during his recent visit here.

“Thank you for your support, without you I cannot accomplish things,” he said.

However, Ibrado said that their quest to crush insurgency problem in the country is like a basketball game that they ”are now in the last two minutes and should not have an overtime.”

“Masyado nang matagal ang labanan (The fight is long overdue) and I can say, steadily, the strength of our enemies is declining considering the more than 100 rebel personalities captured and surrendered and 135 firearms confiscated,” he added.

He also reminded the uniformed men to shun away from the partisan politics this coming May 2010 elections.

He asked the troops not to let themselves be used by any political party or personalities this coming polls.

“Choose the candidates whom you think is competent. But, do not sell your votes,” the AFP official said.

This coming election, he said, the soldiers’ duty is to assist the Commission of Election (Comelec) to have orderly, peaceful and honest election. (PNA)
FFC/zst/EG/ps

CEBU CITY – Close to P6 million worth of cocaine was seized by operatives of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) 7 of the Police Regional office (PRO) 7 in Eastern Samar after a follow up operation on a drug raid held in Cebu.

The Cebu raid yielded 12 packs of cocaine but operatives conducted a follow-up operation where they seized one kilo of cocaine in Borongan, Eastern Samar.

The RID 7 already arrested a poseur buyer during a buy bust in the pier area in Cebu city last Monday noon and the team seized 12 packs of cocaine from the suspect.

One pack reportedly costs P60,000.

During the follow-up operation, however, the team failed to arrest the suspect since they only found one kilo of cocaine inside an empty hut.

The source of the drugs is reportedly in Bohol and a cousin, who is based in Samar, sells the stuff in Cebu.

Police intelligence officials who declined to be named said the sale of cocaine is alarming because their informants said they have been selling in Cebu since Sinulog in January.

The buyers reportedly include a big-time drug pusher who conducts the transactions in popular night spots in Cebu City.

PDEA 8 Director Libay Ortiz, said the sale of cocaine has gone up since the prices have gone down.

PDEA 8, which is based in Tacloban, has jurisdiction over Samar.

Ortiz said thy have already seized 300 packs containing one kilo of cocaine each. (PNA)
LAP/EB/ad

LEGAZPI CITY – Unidentified armed men set on fire a public school building in a village in Dimasalang town in Masbate midnight of Monday, a Philippine Army (PA) spokesman said.

Gaid Elementary School in Barangay Gaid, Dimasalang, Masbate was burned down by more or less 10 heavily-armed men, report reaching Army Maj. Harold Cabunoc, PA Bicol spokesman, said.

The school has three classrooms that can accommodate at least 248 schoolchildren, said Enna Cabintoy, the school head teacher.

“Starting today, classes will be conducted in makeshift huts and under the shades of the trees”, she lamented.

Cabunoc quoting a report from Colonel Alvin Tiamwatt, chief of Task Force Masbate said that local residents were shocked to see the school building razed down by flames at around midnight.

Onlookers saw some of the armed men as they hurriedly departed from the crime scene while firing shots in the air, Cabunoc said.

Responding elements of the local police and the military found containers of gasoline believed to be used in starting the flames.

“This is another barbaric act committed by heartless people. Our children don’t have classrooms anymore!”, complained one resident who refused to be identified.

Cabunoc, 9ID spokesperson, said troops of TF Masbate led by Col. Tiamwatt and Masbate Provincial Police chief PSSupt Eddie Benigay, visited the area to assess the security situation and conduct thorough investigation.

TFM is tracking down the attackers believed to be either members of the communist movement or political armed groups. (PNA)
LAP/LQ/MSA/cbd

ILOILO CITY – The damages caused by the El Nino phenomenon in rice lands in Western Visayas have reached some P761.2 million with 43,187 farmers already feeling its impact.

This was revealed by Agriculture regional executive director Larry Nacionales, adding that all concerned agencies are ready with various support programs to assist those farmers who were heavily affected by the drought.

He added that agencies such as the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) likewise the DA are using their existing regular fund which will be replenished later when the El Nino fund is already available.

Data that have been validated by the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) showed that the drought has affected some 46,407.70 of rice lands in Western Visayas; 13,905.82 are totally damaged while 32,501.88 hectares have chances of recovery.

The province of Iloilo has the highest number of affected areas with 31,058 hectares; 10,763 hectares are totally damaged and 20,295.69 hectares are partially damaged.

Meanwhile, 13,352 hectares of rice lands have been affected in Capiz; 2,769 hectares are totally damaged and 10,583 have chances of recovery.

Around 1,168 hectares, 333.58 are totally damaged and 835.23 hectares are partially affected in Capiz; Negros Occidental has 434.57 hectares of rice lands affected; 7.55 are totally damaged and 427.02 are partial.

Guimaras, meantime, has 393.5 hectares of affected rice lands; 332.63 are totally damaged and 360.94 are partially damaged.

Based on the validated data, some 27,116 farmers are affected in Iloilo; 13,390 in Capiz; 1,331 in Antique; 392 in Negros Occidental and 958 farmers in Antique.

He added that the drought has affected a minimal portion of corn plantation in the region with some 2,698 hectares; 87.5 are totally damaged and 2,601 hectares still have chances of recovery.

Nacionales emphasized that data coming from local government units are yet to be validated by the DA team and the BAS because some do not reflect the real situation or are bloated.

Nacionales added that to date, they have been receiving report that the drought has already hit the livestock sector in Negros Occidental although they are still in the process of collating the data. (PNA)
LDV/PGLena/vlo