56K Cases ng Sexual Exploitation ng Children

By Congressman Christopher de Venecia

Finishing the day with a meeting of the Committee on Economic Affairs with our Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibition (MICE) Industry Stakeholders.

In this meeting, we were able to discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic to the MICE industry and the steps they are taking to adjust to the new normal, as well as what government can do in the interim.

Eto talaga yung panahon ng pagbabayanihan.

***

Isa sa mga magagandang dulot ng siensiya at teknolohiya sa problemang CoVid – 19 sa ating bansa. Tignan itong face mask kung saan ang frame nito sa ibabaw ay gawa sa bamboo. Kaya kelangan bigyan ng karampatang pondo ang mga ahenisya tulad ng DOST para ang creativity ng ating mga mamamayan ay ma-harness nang mayos para makatulong sa taong-bayan. Sana 1% man lang ng pondo ay mailagay sa research and development ng lahat ng ahenisya ng pamahalaan.

***

Photo Credit: heart.co.u.k

Ayon sa Department of Justice - Office of Cybercrime ay aabot sa 56,000 ang possibleng consumated sexual exploitation of children sa isang taon. Ikinababahala din natin na nagiging "source" ang ating bansa ng mga batang subjected to sex trafficking at forced labor.

Kaya naman ipinahayag natin ang ating suporta kay Congresswoman Yedda Romuladez sa kanilang tawag na magkaroon ng pagsisiyasat in aid of legislation sa laganap na online sexual exploitation of children (OSEC) para masiguro natin na hindi na sila maabuso at mapagsasamantalahan.

This Congressman Loves Durian and PEZA

 

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Geez, I thought my crowd drawing fruits Sweet Davao Pomelos are the craze of the folks of Pangasinan’s province but many went gaga to my 100 kilos Davao famous Puyat variety Durian, the golden standard of durians in the country, where they have been wiped out from the display area in just four hours.

This after the crew of the lorry from Mindanao disembarked the crates, that contained the King of Fruits, from its three days cruise from its depot in General Santos City to its base in Urdaneta City.

The truck was part of the fleet of ten lorries or big 10- wheeler trucks owned by my M’lang, Cotabato Province town mate Marilyn “Akay” Jordan-Muit where her siblings like Dukduk and Dakdak Jordans helped her and hubby Dodong run their multi-million pesos General Santos Pride Movers (GPM) at the entrepot or bagsakan in the vernacular of the Eastern Pangasinan city.

“Are you at your house Congressman Mon?” I called by phone Pangasinan’s debonair Fifth District Representative Ramon Mon-Mon Guico III after I separated a sack full of his favorite Puyat export brand ripening brown durians from those I have to bring in Dagupan City.

HEAVENLY TASTING DURIAN. Pangasinan Fifth District Representative Ramon "Mon-Mon" who sports with his right hand his favorite Davao export variety Puyat Durian while he holds with his left hand  two dragon fruits at the family owned  WCC Aeronautical & Technological College in Binalonan, Pangasinan

“I’m at the terminal,” he retorted about his location at the family owned airport terminal of the WCC Aeronautical & Technological College in Binalonan, Pangasinan where before you entered the swanky area you have to pass two security checkpoints that protect the aeronautical school, the houses of the solon and his father Binalonan Mayor Monching Guico.

Despite enmeshed in a meeting with Nueva Vizcaya Congresswoman Luisa Cuaresma at the second floor of the terminal, used to lounge actor Coco Martin during the reelection rally of Senator Grace Poe last May 2019, he descended and asked me his bills for the fruits.

“Baka busy kayo sa itaas with your guests, aalis na ako,” I told the solon while our  tête-à-tête commenced already for 10 minutes.

“Okay lang,” he told me as a prelude where he asked me about the political development in Pangasinan.

We exchanged notes about his projects, programs, and especially the employment juggernaut and the province's marvel Sumitomo Wiring Systems Ltd. that will generate 12,000 jobs that will be taken pro rata from the 212 villages in the one city and eight towns congressional district. Geez, that’s  57 new jobs on each of those villages amid the lethal phantom pandemic Corona Virus Disease -19 that gnawed the employment numbers in the country.

I told him that I read somewhere that Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito B. Plaza approved P13.1 billion worth of committed investments for the months of April and May, which are expected to generate nearly 20,000 new jobs in the country.

Plaza, a former congresswoman from Mindanao, approved 26 new projects on May 21, its first meeting since the Luzon-wide lock down begun in middle March this year.

She said 68.5% of investors are foreign, including American, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Chinese.

This brought PEZA-approved investments to a total of P29.6 billion for 113 projects in the first five months of 2020.

****

I told Rep. Guico that PEZA is a saving grace of this sorry country in terms of foreign direct investments ( FDI) versus her Southeast Asian neighbors that attract most of the numbers of investors.

“FDIs declined by 13% yearly from 2006 to 2010 in the Philippines, FDIs in the Special Economic Zones grew by 23% yearly in the same period,” as cited in 2013 by Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) Executive Rosario Manasan.

PEZA oversees 408 economic zones with 4542 locator companies employing 1.6 million workers.

“This SEZ things should be taken cared by the government by protecting the status quos like the tax incentives even amid new proposals to immediately cut corporate income tax and lengthen the sunset period for existing fiscal incentives that our Senators wanted to change,” I once told him.

I asked him if the construction of the edifices of the SEZ in Binalonan was shouldered by government.

“No, not a single cent,” the pilot turned solon quipped.

“Your chutzpah should be emulated by the government rather than perking up the economy through Balik Probinsya, Bagong Pag-Asa (BP2) Program that will further bleed financially the coffer like building those people’s houses and infrastructures that will host their livelihood,” I said

As with other SEZs in other Asian countries, Philippine SEZs “have costs that outweigh their benefits, according to Manasan.

She cited the Bataan Export Processing Zone (BEPZ) where “its costs (consisting primarily of infrastructure development costs) exceeded the benefits (employment and associated wage income of workers in the ecozone, exports and associated foreign exchange earnings, local input purchases by ecozone enterprises, and government revenues).”

In Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (APECO), despite “government investments amounting to P2.9 billion in an airstrip, port improvement, paving and rehabilitation of the Baler-Casiguran Highway, flood control, and other on-site improvements, there were only 10 approved locators as of April 2013 and only three of them have started doing business.” The APECO official website appears to be inactive and is silent on the number of investor-locators.

***

As we conversed at the ground floor of the airport lounge, the beauteous solon’s wife Arlyn Grace Guico descended from the second floor and discussed with the lawmaker about the lunch they were going to treat their guests.

“Dito ka na mag lunch Mortz,”she told me as it was already 11:30 AM.

“Thanks maam but kailangan ko ng umuwi sa Dagupan City kasi set up ko pa ang temporary fruits stand namin where my wife will display the Davao fruits like durians, Davao lakatans, and pomelos infront of McDonald – Tapuac in Dagupan City”.

The couple told me that the best durian they tasted was the Malaysian brand a friend in Pampanga, where the madam came from, gave them.

“Maliit lang siya pero grabe ang lasa,” she stressed.

Popular cultivars in Malaysia, according to Wikipedia, and Singapore (Singapore imports most of its durians from Malaysia, hence the varieties are similar although there may be slight variation in the names) include "D24", which is a popular variety known for its bittersweet taste; "XO", which has a pale colour, thick flesh with a tinge of alcoholic fermentation; "Chook Kiok" (Cantonese meaning: bamboo leg) which has a distinctive yellowish core in the inner stem; and "Musang King" ('musang' is the Malay word for palm civet) which is usually the priciest of all cultivars. Musang King is known for its bright yellow flesh and is like a more potent or enhanced version of the D24.

Enough said!

Who said I could not write the pungent but sweet and addictive tasting durian and PEZA in one Op-Ed column?

Who said I could not be a trader at the same time an economics and political opinion writer, er, food connoisseur te-he at the same time?

Enough said, again!

READ: 

M'lang Produces The Tastiest, Sweetest Pomelo

(You can read my selected columns at mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too at totomortz@yahoo.com)

“It’s a Mask!” Photo Challenge

 By Christopher "Toff" de Venecia

I was nominated by Congresswoman Sol Aragones and I'm posting a photo of myself here, wearing a mask created by local designer Jerome Lorico.

Due to increasing cases of COVID-19 in the country, Cong-Tour has launched the “It’s a Mask!” campaign. As a show of support, I encourage you to post a selfie or a picture of yourself wearing a face mask to help save the lives of our families, our ka-barangays, our fellow Filipinos, and help the economy and tourism to recover from this pandemic. Tag and nominate your friends so we can reach as many people as possible!

I nominate Manay Gina de Venecia to continue the “It’s a Mask!” Challenge.

Pangasinan Fourth District Representative Christopher "Toff" de Venecia.

***

Starting the workweek with a committee hearing for North Luzon Growth Quadrangle para sa isang consultative meeting kasama ang NEDA - Regional Development Council. Dito ay nagkaroon tayo ng briefing tungkol sa RDC Developmnent Plan at mga programa para sa North Luzon.

Humingi din tayo ng update ukol sa Regional Recovery Program partikular na sa agrikuluta at turismo para sa ating probinsya at rehiyon.

Disgruntled Supporters of a Mayor

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

After being stranded for almost four months in the war-torn Cotabato Province when I was caught by President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of the lock down in March 15 to May 15 versus the phantom lethal Corona Virus Disease-19, I wiggled out through a three days lorry ride last July 4 and be in Pangasinan with seasoned Pangasinan media men making rounds of interviews with politicians, public officials, and figures.
Lately, we went to the farm of a veteran public official where he treated us and some major supporters of Dagupan City Mayor Brian Lim for lunch. I heard the grumblings of these demoralized supporters, whose loyalty started during Lim’s father’s mayorship stints, how the subalterns of Brian gave them a run around every time they want to meet him.

An illustration of a disgruntled person. Photo Credit: Goole. com

They unburdened to me their exasperation against the cordon sanitaire that screened the callers of the younger Lim in his office.

Four of these leaders who were responsible in bringing votes to the Lims every time they joined an electoral race deplored being sidelined by the younger Quatro de Jack’s members.

One of them blurted out: “It was liked the proverbial camel in the Bible entering the hole of a needle.”

Son of a gun, I just learned te - he there that even politician and not only the Devil can quote scripture too in the Gospel.

This Pesticide can Save Mindanao's Farmers from Expenses

                       AFTER IT SHOWED ROBUST HIGHLY PROTECTED POMELO TREES

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

M’LANG, Cotabato Province – Farmers in this sweetest producing pomelo town are expected to shift to AMO Growth Enhancer after a major planter attested how the Enhancer will save them tens if not hundreds of thousands of pesos for their crops' protection against pests and diseases.

Jerry Reyes, a resident of Brgy. New Janiuay here, said that it cost him an arm and a leg spraying with pesticide every other day his countless of hectares of pomelo trees to maintain their sweetness and to deflect attacks by bugs, fungi, and others.

“I only used three drums (of water) I poured and mixed them each with a sachet of AMO,” he said about the growth enhancer dubbed as miracle fertilizer he bought at P750 each from Nathanael Fabila who is a renowned seed distributor in Mindanao and manager of AMO Fertilizer there.

Pomelo fruits and their healthy leaves.

Since he shifted from the more expensive fungicide and pesticide to AMO in June 14 this year, Reyes a retiring Captain of the Bureau of Fire of Philippines, started to spray 60 trees, or hills as farmers call them, by eight days interval. Because of it he saw the leaves of the trees became greener, fatter, and more conditioned thanks to the growth enhancer manufactured in Calasiao, Pangasinan and became popular in Northern Luzon particularly.

"After my second spray I will make the interval by 15 days to save on fungicide".

AMO is kelp based fertilizer. It contains only small amount of N, P, and K, it means highest in Potash but adds valuable micro nutrients, natural growth hormones, and vitamins that help increase yields, improve soil structure, reduce plant stress from drought, and increase frost tolerance.

“I saw there maggots shunning the trees and they were thinner,” he cited after he sprayed with AMO the manure from his poultry houses he used as natural fertilizer of the big citrus trees.

There are now less falling leaves in between the stretch of the trees because of the sturdy leaves.

ALTERNATIVE. Cotabato Province’s pomelo planter Jerry Reyes (left photo) listens attentively to plant growth enhancer AMO’s Mindanao Executive Nathanael Fabila who explains to the former the pilot project he will venture into countless trees of the sweetest big citrus tree to be sprayed every 15 days with the growth enhancer. AMO will replace the more expensive pesticide, herbicide, and fungicide Reyes use to the leaves of his tree every other day. 

Eleonor “Lotlot” Alba- Antonio, an executive of the hundreds of hectares’ Sheba Pomelo Farm, said that in her countless of years as supervisor of planters of huge hectares of pomelo in the provinces of Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani, and Davao, the sweet pinkish if not red pulp fruit planted here is the tastiest.

“Aside from the combination of proper care, right fertilizers and pesticides the factor of its being the sweetest is the soil of this town,” Antonio told this writer in her 24 hectares of the scientifically known citrus grandis' plantation in Barangay Buayan here.

But venture in these fruits entail a huge expenses because they are fertilizer and pesticide pampered from a farmer.

You have to wait for five years and the harvest is twice a year. A farmer earned a gross of one million pesos in one hectare per harvest or a net profit of five hundred thousand  pesos (per harvest or one million pesos in two harvests a year with one million pesos in fertilizers, pesticides, labor, and other expenses - Author),” she cited.

Many farmers here, including those former rubber and palm oil planters, shifted to pomelos because of the hefty returned of investment.

AMO is a 5-in-1 formula developed by lawyer Eric G. Acuna, a former congressman, where a farmer can use it as organic fertilizer, soil conditioner, growth enhancer, foliar,  fungicide,  and insect repellent.

READ: 

M'lang Produces The Tastiest, Sweetest Pomelo

SWEET. Pomelo tree and fruits in New Janiuay, Mlang Cotabato. The rustic landlocked town is a major producer of the bitter sweet fruits in the country.  The person in the photo is the author.

(Send comment to totomortz@yahoo.com)

DE VENECIA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM, TULOY PA RIN!

Bukas na ang tanggapan ni Congressman Toff de Venecia para sa college scholarships.

Ang mga bagong aplikante ay pinapayuhan na mag-apply sa website na: stufaps.chedro1.com/congressional at i-print at pirmahan ang enrollment form na makikita doon.

Pinapayuhan din ang mga aplikante na ihanda ang mga sumusunod na dokumento: kopya ng Grade 12 grades, bio-data na may 2x2 picture, certificate of residency at certificate of good moral character.

Kasama ang enrollment form, ang mga ito ay isusumite sa tanggapan ni Congressman De Venecia.

Para naman sa mga magre-renew ng kanilang college scholarship, mag- register kayo, online sa nasabing website (stufaps.chedro1.com/congressional) at sundin ang mga panuntunan kung paano ire-renew ang inyong scholarship.

Pagkatapos, ay maaari niyo nang i-submit ang mga nabanggit nang requirements, kasama ang inyong certificate of grades kung saan kayo huling nag-aral.

Ang District Office ni Congressman De Venecia ay bukas, tuwing office hours, mula Lunes hanggang Huwebes mula 8:30 AM hanggang 3:30 PM .

Ito ay matatagpuan sa: A.B. Fernandez Ave. Dagupan City (beside Banco De Oro, sa tapat ng Janas Bakery, Dagupan City. Ito ay may telepono, bilang 523-6391 at 0947-324-7674.

Bagamat naantala ng pandemya, naibigay na rin ng tanggapan ni Congressman de Venecia ang mga scholarship cheques mula sa CHED (Commission on Higher Education) noong isang linggo.

Ang De Venecia scholarship program ang isa sa haligi ng paglilingkod ng mga De Venecia, na sinimulan ni five-time speaker Joe de Venecia noon pang dekada sitenta. Mahigit 25,000 na ang nagtapos sa kolehiyo, dahil sa programang ito.

Sa kasalukuyang panahon, isinama rin ito ni Congressman de Venecia sa kanyang plataporma ng paglilingkod, na tinaguriang BAGETS (B-uhay na Turismo, A- Agrikultura, G- Gusali at Imprastraktura, E-dukasyon, T – Trabaho, S – Serbisyong Pangkalusugan)

Aktibo rin ang kongresista sa mga pagpupulong ng Committee on Basic Education, kung paano ang wastong modality ng pag-aaral sa panahon ng pandemya, at sa Basic Education and Culture Committee para maasikaso ang tamang pondo ng mga ahensiyang pang-sining at kultura, tulad ng NCCA, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, National Museum, CCP, National Archives, Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino at National Library, para masigurong ipupursigi ng administrasyon ang 10-point socioeconomic agenda nito, kasama ang pagsulong ng creative arts for economic growth.

Pathetic Backbreaking Labor at P63 a Day

By Mortz C. Ortigoza
I thought the seemingly inhuman backbreaking job of manually crushing stone happened during the time the International Labour Organisation (ILO) denounced the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention of 1999 when women and kids were seen chipping stones with hammers for quarry purposes in Sub Saharan Africa like in Benin (one of the 20 poorest countries in the world), Nigeria, and Burkina Faso.
When I was cruising in a lorry the Pan-Philippines Highway at Catbalogan City in  Western Samar Province last March 6, 2020, I posted with caption photos of shacks where I commented how small the huts and how poor the people who lived at the seaside and near the stretches of the national highway there.



SORRY stone breakers at a village in Calbayog City, Western Samar I interviewed recently about their sad plight where they earn each P63 a day in a backbreaking work. Because of the scarcity of jobs in the Eastern Province these people are forced to hammer stones to smithereens for construction materials. From left is the couple Dionelda and Emilio Gallardo.

"Madami magagandang dalaga diyan malapit sa San Isidro (town), Samar (Province) kaya lang taga basag ng bato sa tabi ng highway (A lot of pretty ladies there near San Isidro town, Samar Province however they worked as stone breakers near the highway,"Roberto "Jun" Alba, Jr., a pal and owner of one of the two air conditioned wing van hauler trucks’ convoy, that I rode from Cotabato to Luzon through Western Samar Province texted me so I can drop by and see how abject poverty rear there ugly heads there when he saw me documenting at Facebook the second day of the three days land trip I had recently from M’lang town in Cotabato Province to his motor pool in La Loma, Quezon City.