DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/22 Dec) – The Army’s 10th Infantry Division will transport on Friday, December 23, at least 21 truckloads of relief aid to the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan for the victims of typhoon Sendong.

Maj. Jacob Obligado, chief the 10th Civil Military Operations (CMO) Battalion, said the relief goods were donated by several individuals and organizations in their effort to extend relief assistance to the calamity victims.

In a text message, Obligado said the effort is dubbed as “Pagtinabangay Caravan Alang sa CDO ug Iligan,” which is a public-private partnership facilitated by the 10ID. Continue reading »

View Sendong in a larger map

(I’ve added an approximate path of Typhoon Sendong (international codename: Washi) based on PAG-ASA’s  Severe Weather Bulletin as of 10:30pm of December 18,2011 )

Here’s my attempt to map out natural disasters, mostly major ones, that hit Mindanao. The green markers indicate the past incidents while the red ones represent the areas hit by typhoon Sendong (international codename: Washi) on December 17, 2011.

You may navigate through the map if you want to view it a little bigger. Just click on the markers to view the details.

These are based on the data of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and few news reports quoting concerned local government  agencies. For accurate data, you may also search the website of the NDRRMC.

If you think I might have missed some disasters that hit Mindanao, please feel free to post your comments or suggestions.

With this data on the map, which part of Mindanao you think it’s still safe to live?

Reposting this from Facebook:

Fr. Eric Garcia Velandria S.J.
Coordinator of Sendong Operation,
KKP Office, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Corrales Ave.
9000 Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines.

Cash donations can be deposited at this account:

Account Name: Xavier University

Account Number: 9331-0133-63

Xavier University Relief Center is conducting a relief operation for families affected by Bagyong Sendong.They are asking for donations in:

CASH
FOOD (noodles, canned goods, etc.)
BOTTLED WATER and
CLEAN CLOTHES.

You can drop them off at the
Xavier University KKP-SIO.
Volunteers also needed @DSWD (Masterson Rd, Upper Carmen).
Call 09066150095 or 858-8892. Let’s help, please

Other Useful Information:
SMART LIBRENG TAWAG, INTERNET and CELLPHONE CHARGING sa PHILCOM OFFICE, MAX SUNIEL ST. CARMEN (RIGHT BESIDE ACSAT GYM) for those who would like to contact their loved ones who have been affected by the recent FLASHFLOODS. Please tell your friends, family and neighbors!!!! Please repost. – T. Tamayo

For those who live in Manila, you can help us
For CASH/ CHEQUE donations…(through Simbahang Lingkod)

Direct deposits may be made online from any BPI branches (inter-branch transactions are free of charge), pay to:

SIMBAHANG LINGKOD NG BAYAN (Account Name/Payee)

Bank of the Philippine Islands (Loyola-Katipunan Branch)

BPI Peso Checking Account Number: 3081-1111-61

BPI Dollar Savings Account Number: 3084-0420-12

–

Reposting from Iligan Bloggers website:}
ONE FOR ILIGAN: Help the Typhoon Sendong Victims

Donate $1 for the ILIGAN FLOOD VICTIMS OF TYPHOON SENDONG

Maayong Iligan in this season of giving.

Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. is humbly requesting your generous help for the victims Bagyong Sendong of Iligan City.

Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc.  is accepting donations in kind for the victims of Typhoon Sendong in the city. We encourage the following items for donations: canned goods, noodles, bath and laundry soaps, toothpaste, rice, used clothings, slippers, and cash donations.

DROP OFF POINTS: St. Michaels’ Cathedral, DXIC Radio Staion, City Hall, Rizal Park, and Calda Pizza Iligan City Branch will be the drop off point for the donations in-kind of cash. Please do not hesitate to ask to verify for you to extend your help to the victims of Typhoon Sendong.

Paypal ID: singcol.inquisitor@gmail.com

BDO Account: Revilla N. Carbonell-Noel – 109451077611

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Look for Erika Cruz 09052802002

See at Rizal Park at 8AM on December 18, 2011

You can contact the following point persons for your donations and other inquiries.

ILIGAN BLOGGERS SOCIETY, INC.

SITE: http:// iliganbloggers.com

EMAIL: iliganbloggers@gmail.com

FB Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/iliganbloggers

LISA (LAI) MARIE MIRASOL | Pinay Travelista, @pinaytravelista
(IBS, Inc. Web Content Manager)
http://www.pinaytravelista.com/ 09062558863; (+63) 222-2117

ALEXANDER SINGCOL | iligan Inquisitor, @lexuzinquisitor
(IBS, Inc Board of Trustee Member)
http://theiliganinquisitor.blogspot.com/ 09053117925, (+63) 8360272

REVILLA CARBONELL-NOEL | Adventures in Life
(IBS, Inc Board of Trustee Member)
092193209944, 09427009788

For more Updates on Iligan City status after Typhoon Sendong:
DXIC: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/rmn-dxic-iligan

FB Fanpage: http://www.facebook.com/iliganbloggers

Your Donations will be read and shown at: www.iliganbloggers.com

Daghang Salamat.

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Davao City Vice Rodrigo Duterte defended the decision of the city council to override the veto of his daughter Sara, who is mayor, of the ordinance reclassifying land in Barangay Binugao from protected medium industrial zone to protected heavy industrial zone to allow the construction of a proposed 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant.

The elder Duterte said the override was expected because the council had already voted in favor of the power plant.

“They voted in favor of the project before, it is expected that they will override it (veto). Do you think they will change their minds?” Duterte told reporters.   Continue reading »

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/12 December) — Twenty-one councilors voted on Monday to override Mayor Sara Duterte’s veto of an ordinance reclassifying a parcel of land in Barangay Binugao, Toril District from protected medium industrial zone to protected heavy industrial zone, to allow Aboitiz Power Corp. to construct a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant.

While the session was going on, some 200 protesters had already gathered in front of the City Council building to protest against the establishment of the coal-fired power plant. Continue reading »

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It could be a bleak Christmas for 422 families in Barangay 1-A in Davao City after their houses were razed to ground after the two-hour fire on Friday.

While we were still at home, we were already monitoring radio reports that the fire was really big and and classes at the adjacent Magallanes Elementary School was suspended. Actually, three classrooms were partially damaged by the blaze.

As we arrive Anda St, we could already smell the stench coming from the fire — about a block away.

We passed by the narrow alley beside Menseng Hotel. We were familiar of the area because we’ve been there a couple of times months ago, we took pictures of the community.

At the covered court, we saw the pile of belongings of the fire victims.

Residents say the fire started around 9:15am and quickly spread to houses, which were mostly made of light materials.

Ruby and I moved around and took several shots of residents and scavengers scouring the area what every they can salvage from the pile of ashes.

While some firefighters were still putting out fire in the rubble.

On our way out, Ruby overheard an old woman telling her neighbor that her husband was able to save his motorcycle and their two dogs. All the rest of their belongings, were razed to the ground. Nothing left on their two-storey house but the six concrete posts.

Pacito Fabiaña, in his 60s, told MindaNews that the fire started 50 meters away from his house.

He recounted that when the blaze was already near his house, he immediately evacuated his motorcycle and the two family dogs to the nearby gymnasium about 100 meters away.

“Aside from the motorcycle and our dogs, I was not able to save any personal belongings,” he said, adding that when he tried to return to his house, the firefighters and some barangay officials would no longer allow him and the neighbors as the fire spread so fast.

Two hours later, Fabiaña went back to check what was left of his house – only the six concrete posts of what used to be a two-story house by the riverbank were still standing.

His wife, Anita, told MindaNews that she was in Samal Island about to see a quack doctor when their neighbor informed her of the fire. “I immediately rushed back home. Sadly, my husband was not able to save most of our belongings,” she said as one of their dogs leapt towards her. (Source: Mindanews)

DAVAO CITY—Citing studies of the damage a coal-fired power plant could bring, Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio junked the ordinance seeking for land reclassification for the establishment of the 300-megawatt plant in Barangay Binugao in Toril District in this city.

Duterte-Carpio said the project is prejudicial to the general welfare of the public, adding that she was “disturbed with the environmental and health implications resulting from the operation of the project.”

On November 15 the city council passed Ordinance 0200-11 Series of 2011 reclassifying the area for the proposed 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant project. The move was made upon the request of the Aboitiz Power Corp.

In her three-page message obtained by this writer, the mayor said: “The subject measure is hereby vetoed pursuant to Section 55 [a] of Republic Act 7160 on the ground that the same is prejudicial to public welfare.” Continue reading »

MARAMAG, Bukidnon (MindaNews/04 December) – The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) of South Bukidnon believes it can meet its target to distribute the lands covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) before the year ends.

But Task Force Mapalad (TFM), a national federation of farmers, farm workers and individuals working for agrarian reform, doubts the agency can meet its target given the current pace of the implementation of the program.

Norberto Paquingan, Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (PARO) of South Bukidnon, claimed that they can meet the 2,126-hectare target before December 31. Continue reading »

MARAMAG, Bukidnon (MindaNews/03 December) – Gonzalo Pinuti held his hammer tight as he detached the barbed wire from a fence of a former cattle ranch amid the blistering heat of the sun. With help from a fellow farmer, it took him about five minutes to detach the barbed wires and put down three wooden posts and let his colleagues enter the ranch with carpentry tools, round timber and tents for their temporary shelter.

These farmers were not intruding into a private property but reoccupying a portion of the ranch where they used to dwell.

About 30 minutes later, 57-year old Pinuti, his frame silhouetted below the blue skies, scaled one of the posts to nail one of the frames for a makeshift tent. “For now, we will sleep under this tent while we are building our permanent houses,” the farmer who had worked in the sugarcane plantation in the same area in the 1970s said. Continue reading »

Mindanao from A to Z: A Photo Exhibit

The habalhabal is a motorcycle with wooden extension behind its body to serve as extra seats, with or without a roof to protect the passengers from sun and rain. Along with its big brother the “Skylab,” which has extensions protruding sideways that make it appear like its namesake, the habalbal is ubiquitous here in Mindanao and can navigate through narrow streets and even overtake four-wheel drive vehicles along rough roads. Continue reading »