TYPHOID RAGES IN NEGROS ORIENTAL
NEGROS ORIENTAL, February 3, 2005 (STAR) THE SOUTHERN BEAT By Rolly Espina - No tsunami hit Negros Oriental. But since last week, typhoid has afflicted 70 Sibulan residents who are now confined at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital. There are reportedly more suspected cases of the water-borne disease.While suspicions centered on drinking water from the Sibulan Water District, there were several typhoid cases purportedly from other municipalities.
Negros Oriental Gov. George Arnaiz scotched the agitation of some Sibulan councilors to compel the SIWAD to shoulder the hospitalization expenses of the typhoid victims. He said it was not only legally unfeasible, but there has been no concrete evidence yet to bolster such suspicions since other typhoid victims came from Bacong and as far as Mabinay.
The challenge to medics is to determine the exact causes of the developing situation. Public health authorities, however, should move fast to contain the upsurge of typhoid cases. A trained epidemiologist should be able to pinpoint the factors that led to the sharp increase of cases among Negros Oriental folk.
Pacificador Now A Peacemaker
Buoyed up by his recent acquittal in the assassination of former Antique governor Evelio Javier, former Assemblyman Arturo Pacificador took the high ground recently when he expressed willingness to act as a middle man in the reconciliation efforts between Rep. Exequiel Javier and Gov. Salvacion Zaldivar-Perez.
It’s a new role for the former Antique political kingpin whose political fortunes went into eclipse following his prolonged detention in connection with the Javier slaying.
Pacificador agreed to act as a go-between in the reconciliation of the two Antique politicians, during the Reklamo Publiko, a public affairs program in Iloilo City.
Lack of unity among Antiqueño political leaders, Pacificador said, prevents the province from taking off.
Raj Padilla of Panay News quoted Pacificador as saying, "Our leaders need to have a good relationship with each other. If they continue to quarrel, they have no business staying there."
Pacificador’s comment hinted that he, now in his 70s, might try to stage a comeback. "Basi pamanlang mapilitan man ako" was his pregnant comment.
Last year, Pacificador ran for vice governor while he was still in jail. He lost. That was before he won his freedom when the Regional Trial Court absolved him of involvement the murder of former Antique governor Javier in 1986.
Pacificador, however, remains a firm believer in the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos. He blamed EDSA 1 for the crisis which the country currently faces and for its image as the second most corrupt in the world.
"He was the best president the country ever had," Pacificador asserted without blinking an eyelash.
"Our people benefited from the taxes they were paying during Marcos’ time because they could see projects around them. Today, it’s different," the former majority leader of the House declared pointedly.
Pacificador, however, gave credit to Gov. Perez whose record he dubbed as "impressive despite many limitations."
Perez’s elder brother, Enrique, was governor of Antique when Pacificador was assemblyman of the lone district.
That was a major high-profile performance that could presage Pacificador’s taking an active role in Antique politics again. It’s definitely worth watching.
Minors Raped And Killed
The rape of female minors is jarring enough. Worse, they are also killed in the process. And that was what happened recently in Western Visayas.
The first such incident happened in Dingle, Iloilo when the remains of 13-year-old Sharon Rose Daquilana, of Barangay Moroboro, was found in an irrigation canal in nearby Barangay Canabugan last Saturday. She was allegedly raped and killed by a neighbor.
Last Friday, her mother, Susan, said her daughter went to her sister’s house. She failed to come home that evening. The next day, a search party was organized. They first found Sharon’s slippers 300 meters from her house. Later, her T-shirt and that of the suspect were also found.
Sharon’s remains were discovered later in the afternoon. An autopsy report by Dr. Owen Labaguin of the PNP Region 6 crime laboratory found that she died of asphyxia. She also sustained a blood clot in her head caused by a hard object. There were also lacerations in her organ.
Police launched a hunt for the suspect named Supi.
The second incident occurred last Monday when 18-year-old Joel Solidum, of Barangay Rizal, San Carlos City, reportedly slashed the neck of a 10-year-old girl, his second cousin, after he molested her.
The victim, Rona Cabanilla, a student of the Medina Elementary School, was on her way home when Solidum waylaid her.
San Carlos police chief Ricardo de la Paz said Rona’s head was almost severed.
Indications point to the fact that Rona must have tried to fight back against her cousin.
Solidum, who was seen at the scene of the crime before Rona’s body was discovered, was immediately arrested by the police. Solidum admitted the crime when he was confronted with his scythe and bloodstained clothes.
He claimed that he saw a "demon" who reportedly egged him to commit the crime. And he also expressed remorse for the crime, which De la Paz considers one of the most gruesome he has seen in his police career.
Social welfare officers should look into why cases such as these continue to occur. And church leaders must be able to catechize the faithful against committing such heinous acts.
A Major Gambling Haul
Negrenses were astonished last Monday when the Silay City police netted a gambling financier and seven of her personnel in a raid on a suspected gambling den, an outfit named Camia.
The financier, Sylvia Golez, a highly visible Silay personality, was not in her house when police raided it. But they found enough evidence on the premises, including record books and gambling paraphernalia, plus P16,000 in bets, to warrant her inclusion in the charge sheet filed with the Silay prosecutor’s office.
Two of her personnel were later nabbed Monday when they tried to bribe PO3 Dante Victor Escorpion with P15,000 to drop the charges against those arrested in the raid.
Mike Javier and Diosdado Cientos were arrested by the police and charged with attempted bribery. Their transaction was witnessed by members of the media and several ranking police officers.
The raid on the Golez headquarters was covered by a search warrant issued by RTC Judge Felipe Banzon.
But there was a mysterious twist to the episode. These were two text messages discovered by Senior Inspector Rico Santotome, chief of the provincial anti-gambling task force, on four cellphones seized from the gambling den.
The first stated: "Tell everyone not to sign any affidavit, kong sakiton kamo. I have a colonel coming to check on you by morning. They will (be) kicked out if they do any dirty tricks."
The second stated: "It is your legal right not to sign any affidavit without the presence of your lawyers."
Outgoing PNP provincial chief Mike Edison Belarma expressed suspicions that the gambling outfit financed by Golez may have "police protectors."
Police are still trying to establish if the "colonel" in the text message actually exists and who he is.
At least this time, the "big one" has been included in the net and not only the underlings were charged. That certainly is a feather in the cap of the Silay police force.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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