WINDOWS
Gabriel L. Cardinoza

WE had fun in Lucena City last week when we attended the Luzonwide Media Conference on the Environment sponsored by the Tanggol Kalikasan, a public interest environmental law office. I traveled from Dagupan with seven other Pangasinan journalists and that seven-hour trip was one of those rare dull moments when you get a chance to engage in a long talk with your colleagues.

We did not actually plan to be there that weekend. And we did not even have the slightest thought we would be traveling that far. Monday of that week, I got a phone call from Jessie Perez (no, not the media person) of Tanggol and he asked if I wanted to join the conference and if I could please help him invite other media practitioners from the province. It was an all-expenses paid package, he added, and there were 12 slots for Pangasinan.

I emailed him some names that same day and he patiently contacted them. By Tuesday morning, Jessie was asking me to invite two more, possibly ladies, because Tanggol has reserved the rooms at the Queen Margarette Hotel  and they will have to pay it whether it’s occupied or not. There were initially two takers, but by the afternoon, they had backed out.

I had wondered why the short notice. It turned out that the invitation to Pangasinan media had already been sent out weeks before and those invited first have confirmed participation: only to back out the last minute because of pressing commitments that suddenly cropped up.

It was raining hard when we arrived in Lucena that Friday afternoon. Typhoon Caloy was just several hundred kilometers then southeast of the Bicol Region and we were even expecting that Lucena was in its path. (Caloy, of course, later swerved towards the general direction of Mindoro and exited toward the South China Sea.)

That night, power went out in the hotel and as we (Philippine Star’s Cesar Ramirez and RGMA’s Dante Cera were my roommates) opened the sliding door to our room’s veranda, we could hear the wind howling, prompting DZWM’s Lydia Colobong to think the following morning that what she heard were moans of ghosts.

During the opening program of the conference, a total of 60 participants was registered, with the bulk coming from the Bicol Region. I was surprised that there was only one representative from
Baguio City. Northern Luzon media practitioners came from Abra, Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya.

The seminar content itself was very informative. We were presented environmental figures I have not heard before. For instance, we were told that “according to a Swedish Space Corporation Study, in 1900 the 70.56 percent forest cover of Luzon total land area of 13,302,486 hectares has dramatically decreased to only 25.59% in 1987.

“When the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) conducted a study, they discovered that only 500 individuals or corporations were responsible for the drastic decline in forest area all over the country. The study also revealed that they along with their cohorts benefited from the exploitation.”

Also, for the first time, I learned that the Philippines was never ever connected by land bridges to mainland Asia, like what my grade school History teacher taught us. We were a group of islands that separated from Australia millions of years ago and we had drifted to where we are now as an archipelago.

There is no doubt that all of us, after attending the conference, have become more informed and empowered in the difficult task of saving the earth from degradation. There were animated and sometimes, emotional discussions during the sessions and everybody actively took part in the short workshops.

Our group’s pride was RGMA’s Deo Lopez, who surprised all of us for his very active participation in the conference. He did not hesitate to ask questions and volunteer to share his views and comments during open forums.

On our way home last Sunday afternoon, our trip from Lucena to Cubao was filled with laughter. But that’s completely a very different story.

Telephone cable thieves busted p. 3

By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre
 
LINGAYEN – Two telephone wire thieves were caught red handed with their loot of telephone cables early morning of Thursday by elements of the provincial police command’s Special Operations Group (SOG).
           
Supt. Rolando Magno, SOG chief, identified the suspects as Jhudy V. Rosario, 21 years old, a resident of barangay San Vicente, San Jacinto town and one Joshua Malicdem.
           
The two were caught by policemen conducting stake out operation at about 1:30 a.m. in barangay San Isidro, Binmaley as they were about to put the cut cable wires inside two sacks.
           
Magno said the two tried to run away upon seeing the operatives. Malicdem was able to escape but Rosario was collared.
           
During the interrogation, Rosario allegedly identified other members of his group as “Buwaya” and “Jerome” while their leader is a certain “Jumel” of PNR Site, Dagupan City. He also identified a woman named Rely Lamsen as their buyer of copper wires (taken from telephone cables after burning it).
           
Lamsen was subsequently arrested after she was spotted at PNR Site, Mayombo in Dagupan City at about 5 a.m. 

Magno said they approached Lamsen after Rosario confirmed it was her.  Taken from her possession was a sack containing approximately 10 kilos of copper wire. Several cut cables were also discovered in the premises of her house at barangay Bacayao Norte also in Dagupan City.

On the same day, Senior Supt. Alan L. Purisima, provincial director, presented to the media the two suspects, as well as their loot.

Rosario will be charged with theft while Lamsen will be facing violation of the Anti-Fencing Law which commands higher penalty.

Last Friday (May 19), Purisima together with Deputy Provincial Director for Operation and Intelligence branch head Supt. Noli G. Taliño conducted a dialogue with officials from PLDT and Digitel.  Also present were Supt. Harries Fama (Provincial Police information officer), Chief Insp. Lloyd Millan  from the Investigation branch and chiefs of police from the different localities in Pangasinan.