Poll body trims “senatoriables” 

Down to 32, nuisance delisted 

Rey Anthony Chiu 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, January 17, 2013 (PIA) –The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in several en banc sessions, and considering the legal department’s earlier screenings, trims the list of senatorial aspirants from 85 to 32 in a matter of three months. 

Among those whose names were stricken off the list were Boholano senatorial aspirant Severo Maluenda Jr. from Nahawan Clarin and 53 others who tried their lucks in a bid for senate seat were nipped in the bud by the Comelec move. 

To the heave of relief of millions of voters who needed to go through the long list of candidates, the Comelec move is a welcome respite. 

As to the propriety of staving off less-deserving candidates, Bohol Election Supervisor Atty. Eliseo Labaria assured that everyone underwent due process before being delisted. 

“Not one among those who have been declared nuisance is denied of the due process to defend themselves,” Labaria said at the recent Kapihan sa PIA Thursday. 

According to the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), the Commission may, motu proprio or upon a verified petition of an interested party, and after due notice and hearing, refuse to give due course to or cancel a certificate of 

candidacy, if it shown that the certificate of candidacy has been filed to put the election process in mockery or disrepute. 

Here, the candidate can be declared nuisance. 

Or, Atty. Labaria said, if the filing of a candidacy is to cause confusion among the voters by the similarity of the names of the registered candidates; or when the reason for filing the certificate of candidacy is to obtain money, profit or any other consideration, or when the reason for filing is to discredit another candidate, he can be declared nuisance candidate. 

The provincial election supervisor also explained that if the candidate clearly shows he has no bonafide intention to run for the office for which the certificate of candidacy has been filled and thus prevent a faithful determination of the true will of the electorate, then a nuisance candidate can be determined. 

Listed as capable of being voted upon as senators are Ricardo Penson (independent), Samson Alcantara (Social Justice Society), Greco Antonious Beda Belgica (Democratic Party of the Philippines), Baldomero Falcone (Democratic Party of the Philippines) and Christian Señeres(Democratic Party of the Philippines). 

The Adminsitration party also fielded Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV, former Las Pinas City Rep. Cynthia Villar, Former Akbayan Rep. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros-Baraquel, Former Senator Maria Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal, Former Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and Senator Aquilino Martin Pimentel III. 

From the United Nationalist Alliance, the senatorial line up include Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay, Margarita “Tin-Tin” Cojuangco, former Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon, Former Senator Ernesto Maceda, Former Senator Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri, San Juan City Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, Zambales Rep. Maria Milagros “Mitos” Magsaysay, Cagayan Rep. Juan Ponce “Jack” Enrile Jr and Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan. 

The Comelec also allowed green lighted the candidates of LP and UNA to run for Senate: Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB) chair Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, and Senator Loren Legarda. 

Other official senatorial candidates include: John Carlos De Los Reyes, Marwil Llasos, Rizalito David, Former Philippine Constabulary chief Ramon Montaño, Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward Hagedorn and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Teodoro “Teddy” Casiño. (30) 

============

Boholanos must know the 

Standard for checkpoints 

Rey Anthony Chiu 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, January 18, 2013 (PIA) -- As government forces have set up checkpoints in the implementation of the gun ban, Election Supervisor Eliseo Labaria urged people to be in the know to pick legal checkpoints from the illegal ones. 

In the onset of the midterm election period since January 13 and the implementation of the election gun ban, Atty. Labaria said that police and Comelec checkpoints have been set in the towns to implement the gun ban as prescribed by law. 

In the event when some opportunists use illegal checkpoints to mulct and exact money for settlement of alleged traffic violations, authorities have warned motorists on such. 

But, he said police and Comelec checkpoints, are easy to determine as these follow the standard police manual of operations for checkpoints. 

The manual of operations as disseminated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) said these mobile checkpoints are known by presence of a clearly marked vehicles for mobile checkpoints, the presence of warning signs and a signage bearing the names and rank of the police commander of the area as well as name of the Comelec election officer. 

When the checkpoints are set up at night, the police manual of operations also detail that these checkpoints must be in well lit areas and the police officers manning the stop are in complete uniforms with patches to identify them. 

“As much as possible, the area where the checkpoints shall be established must be properly lighted, with a noticeable signage bearing the name of the PNP unit and the participating organization/s visibly displayed in the checkpoint site, to prevent any apprehension from the public of the existence of the same,” the manual stated. 

When set up at night, motorists can contribute to the operation by dimming their lights upon approach of the checkpoint and then opening up their roof or interior dome lights so the police could easily inspect the vehicle’s interiors. 

Police have been directed to give due courtesy to motorists during the conduct of checkpoint, Labaria said, adding that the primary purpose of the checkpoint is to implement the gun ban and thus they operate only on the principle of plain view, except when in hot pursuit operations or actual commission of crimes. 

This means that as police flag down vehicles, they are not allowed to ask motorists to open glove compartments, handbags or ask drivers to step off their vehicles, Comelec information officer Juvenal Beniga added. 

Using the same plain view principle and limited only to visual search, police force manning the checkpoints are not however banned from implementing other anti-crime operations as they are mandated by law, Labaria warned. 

In these cases, motorists who may have committed visible traffic violations, including standard road safety regulations could be asked to present their driver’s licenses or vehicle registrations, so making these handy can be good, also said Land Transportation Office information officer Balazuela. (30/sjp) 

==============

Red Cross announces trngs on 

lifeguard, basic water rescue 

Rey Anthony Chiu 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, January 18, 2013 (PIA) – Bohol’s current place in international and local tourism map surfaces the necessity for trained lifeguards and emergency responders, trainings which the Philippine Red Cross offers. 

The Bohol Chapter of the PRC in fact puts in its course which grants certifications to lifeguards for future assignments in local or international resorts with pool facilities and offering open-water swimming areas. 

The PRC’s Basic Water safety and Rescue Lifeguard training runs from January 28 (Monday) to February 1 (Friday) at Crystal-E College in Tawala, Panglao, according to the Red cross authorities. 

The training course, which is open to all aspiring lifeguards and water rescuers though, need to have swimming as basic requirement, candidate must be physically fit, must have undergone the Standard First Aid and Basic Life Support certificates from the Red Cross before registering. 

The training registration is P2,500 and does not include meals and accommodation, organizers said. 

Training participants are also instructed to come to the activity with ready swimming attires. 

At this, Bohol Tourism Council members insist that putting up trained lifeguards in resort facilities that offer pools or open water swimming facilities is now becoming a must, for Bohol to be competitive. 

Lifeguards keep swimmers safe, a PTC member points out. 

“They keep the swimming area free from anything that might pose a danger for other swimmers,” she said citing instances when a group of visibly drunk and rowdy foreign guests drinking near a swimming pool caused the suspension of pool operations owing to broken glass which got into the swimming areas. 

Had there been a lifeguard on duty, these drinking guys could have been kept at a safe distance from the pool, she added. 

In most cases, the lifeguard sits in a tall chair so that he can see the entire area he is guarding. 

One key skill of a lifeguard is spotting a swimmer in distress, which can be tough for untrained people. 

The lifeguard training equips the prospective rescuer with enough skill to administer first aid, perform the basic safety and life support before competent medical attention can be given by a professional, Red Cross sources said. (30/ sjp) 

============

Cruise ship calls in congested port, 

Catagbacan phase 2 pushed anew 

Rey Anthony Chiu 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, January 18, 2013 (PIA) – Governor Edgar Chatto insists that the implementation of the phase II of the Catagbacan Cruise ship Port is the next best thing to preposition Bohol in the international tourism map. 

Speaking at Kita ug ang Gobernador while an international cruise ship from its latest international port call in Indonesia berths as the city tourism port, Chatto said the constricted city port prevents international cruise ship from staying in Bohol for long. 

International cruise ship MV Minerva, from Swan Hellenic Cruises docks here for the company’s 21 stop destination offered commercially as 42 days Grand Empires of the East cruise which embarked from Singapore January 3 and returns to Singapore on February 12. 

The cruise ship had Cirebon, Semarang, Bali, Lombok, Komodo Island, Ujung-Andang, Pare-Pare, Sandakan, Sabah Indonesia stop before attaching berth lines in Bohol. 

But owing to the problem of severely congested port in Tagbilaran, the cruise ship has to pull anchors for less than a day visit here, onwards to Manila, Hongkong in China, Halong Bay, Hai Phong, Danang, Qui Nhon, Na Thrang and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, then to Sihanoukville in Cambodia, before Laem Chabang and Ko Samui in Thailand then off to complete the cruise in Singapore. 

“The cruise ship can’t stay long,” Gov. Chatto said, explaining that the cruise ship causes Bohol bound merchandise and trade products to be temporarily kept at bay, on cargo ships waiting for their time to offload. 

Because of this, the governor points out the need to raise anew the need to re-start the push for the completion and full operation of the Bohol Cruise Ship Port in Catagbacan, Loon. 

It may be recalled that Chatto, while he was Congressman prioritized the development of the Catagbacan Port in Loon, as a cruise ship port owing to its natural harbors, sheltered by islets and its potential to billow the sail of tourism in Northern Bohol as well as Bohol in general. 

Chatto used the Districts Priority Development Assistance Fund to fund the phase 1 of the implementation of the cruise ship port. 

For his part, succeeding congressman Rene Relampagos also put in PDAF funds for the improvement of the port access to the highway. 

Chatto said the implementation of the project’s phase 2 is now on the hands of Philippine Ports Authority (PPA). 

Meanwhile, PPA information officer and architect Epelito Ararao, in a phone interview explained that the PPA Central Office is currently studying the move to implement phase the second phase of the project. 

Ararao said the second phase of the project involves a berthing space extension of 50 to 100 meters, adding that most cruise ships are much longer than the currently available 80 meters. 

He also said that while the harbor pilots have determined that the Catagbacan harbors are deep, the channels leading to it and the areas necessary for the cruise ships to maneuver need dredging operations, which also comprise the projects phase 2. 

To date, the PPA, which allocates corporate funds for the project have not informed them of any development but PPA hinted that political pressure as well as possible leverage funds from local of congressional sources may facilitate the quick implementation of the project. (30/ed)

=============

3 Bohol resorts on tripadvisor 

Top Travelers’ Choice Awards 

Rey Anthony Chiu 

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, January 18, 2013 (PIA) – Three Bohol resorts all in Panglao island barge into the prestigious Travelers Choice Awards in the top 20 small hotels in the Philippines for 2013, as summed by TripAdvisor. 

The awards, gathered from raves and reviews for hotels and resorts by travelers across the globe is compiled by tripadvisor, a travel authority that grants web-based reviews and advise on hotels, resorts, flights, holiday rentals, vacation packages and travel guides for destinations all over the globe. 

The homey Amarela Resort, in Libaong, Panglao landed 10th in the top 20, the hip Eskaya Beach Resort and Spa sits in the list’s 12th spot while charming Ananyana Beach Resort and Spa is on the 18th in the list, the tripadvisor website declared. 

Amarela resort, Tripadvisor ranked number 3 of the 37 hotels in Panglao Island in Bohol also capped the 2012 Certificate of Excellence by the TripAdvisor and is leading Bohol Resorts in the pro-environment of zero-carbon emissions resorts. 

“Our heartfelt appreciation to all of our guests who have taken the time to give us reviews and comments. Thank you for giving us encouragement and support, enabling Amarela to constantly strive to offer you the best Boholano service and experience,” the resort facebook account shared. 

On the other hand, Tripadvisor ranks Eskaya Beach Resort number 12th on the list even as it is rated 10th among the 37 resorts in Panglao Island. 

While website ratings and reviews for Eskaya were generally good, some guests pick out problems with service and value for money issues, as can be seen from trip-advisor results. 

Ananyana Resort and Spa, which sits in a comfortable patch of beach is Doljo, Panglao is 18th on the travelers choice even as it gets the 16th rank among 37 Panglao results as per Trip Advisor’s ratings. 

Reviews on the resort never fail to mention the resorts perfect location and great service but some guests put in price as a turndown. 

For a resort and spa that has won Asia’s Best spa years back, the citation could be a reason for the add-on. 

With the awards, tourism stakeholders in Bohol agree that the win for Bohol’s three resorts could again spill into Bohol the spotlight for more local international tourists, as the added publicity would bring. 

Among the winners in this year’s choice awards are Abaca Resort in Lapulapu, Cebu, Atmosphere Resort in Dauis, Negros Oriental, Las Flores in Cebu, The Farm at San Benito in Lipa City, Batangas, Mandala Spa and Villas in Boracay, Padre Burgos Castle Resort in Padre Burgos, Southern Leyte, The Strand Boracay Resort in Boracay, 7Stones Boracay Suites in Boracay, Mangeguey Island in Coron, Palawanand Nami resort in Boracay. 

Walingwaling Beach Hotel in Boracay, Secret Paradise resort and Nature Reserve, Port Barton San Vicente Palawan, Discovery Country Suites, Tagaytay, Stilts Calatagan resort in Calatagan, Batangas, El Rio Y Mar Resort in Coron Palawan, Coron Hilltop View Resort, Coron Palawan and PuraVida, Beach Resort in Dauin, Negros Oriental.(30/ED)