MASBATE-PHILIPPINES

Two firms have agreed to a new joint venture that will see them explore the potential of a number of mineral claims on Masbate Island.

According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the island, which is 350 km south of Manila, is to be the setting for Geograce Resources Philippines and Vale Exploration Philippines' latest projects.

So far, seven mineral claims totalling 84,046 hectares of land have been identified.

Michael Defensor, GEO management services chair, said: "We are extremely pleased to become the first Philippine partner of Vale, which is not only one of the world’s biggest mining companies, but its success is strongly rooted in helping develop its home country, Brazil, into a natural resources superpower."

The newspaper notes that Vale is to provide $6 million over the course of the next three years to finance the exploratory projects.

Masbate is a V-shaped island, 30 miles south-west of the tip of Luzon.

The island's coastline meets the Sibuyan, Visayan and Samar seas.

PHILIPPINES - Concerns that fish and seafood supplies could have been contaminated by bodies recovered from vessels sunk in typhoon Frank around the Philippines have been allayed by health officials.

The Department of Health (DoH) said that fish and other seafood, including those from waters near the capsized MV Princess of the Stars, are safe to eat.

Fish sales have reportedly dropped in the Masbate province as residents fear marine products had been contaminated according to reports in the Inquirer.

The Inquirer said that Masbate Governor Elisa Kho also appealed to the public for calm as she allayed concerns that fish caught in Masbate’s water poses health risks to consumers.

"As long as they cook the fish very well, it is safe for consumption," said Kho, who is also a medical doctor.

She said the fish scare has affected the income of fishermen in Masbate.

Dr. Baby Banatin, chief of the DoH’s Emergency Management Service, dismissed fears that fish and other seafood found in the seas around of the capsized ferry, where hundred dead bodies are believed to be trapped, are contaminated.

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the government Tuesday to stop the killings of farmers in Masbate and other parts of the country.

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma issued the appeal following the killing of peasant leader Alberto Yusi last July 20.

"It is the landless, the exploited, the disadvantaged and the powerless who have the single most urgent claim on the conscience of the nation today. It is also the death of Ka Bito and the 45 others who were also killed in the name of agrarian reform, whose children, families and fellow farmers seek justice for the lost lives and the rightful claim to the lands they tilled and died for," Ledesma, executive chairman of the Second National Rural Congress, said in a
statement posted on the CBCP website.

Ledesma noted Yusi was the fourth victim in land-reform related killings in the province in less than seven months.

Yusi was president of the Ticao Farmers Federation and the Samahang Anak ng Magsasaka ng Famosa, Inc. (SAMFAI) and provincial chairman of Ugnayan ng Mga Nagsasariling Organisasyon sa Kanayunan (UNORKA) in Masbate.

His death occurred barely two weeks following the killing of peasant leaders Rene Llabres and Junrie Pagaspas, reportedly by armed men in military uniforms.

The CBCP also noted that in December 2007, New People's Army (NPA) guerillas allegedly killed peasant leader Mark Anthony Vale, a village captain.

Vangie Mendoza, national coordinator of UNORKA, said about 40 farmers have been killed nationwide since 2001.

"(The) government and (the) military are not doing enough to stop killings of farmers," she said.

Masbate Bishop Joel Baylon earlier reported that he, some priests and Catholics, have been receiving death threats allegedly from Muslim rebel groups, anti-social groups and landlords.

The CBCP demanded immediate action by government on the killers and perpetrators of violence in Masbate.

Ledesma said the Second National Rural Congress underlined an agreement that there should be wider and equitable distribution of land for the small farmers.

It also stressed that landlessness is a problem, that large landholdings should be broken up, that farmers should have secure tenure and assisted to produce more and raise household incomes, and that land-to-the tiller should continue to be the underlying principle of the country's agrarian reform, he added.

MANILA, Philippines - Suspected communist rebels on Tuesday morning fired at Army soldiers in Masbate ahead of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's visit in the province, a regional military spokesman said.

About 7:45 a.m., troops headed by one Lt. Bilog were on board a civilian vehicle when fired upon by an undetermined number of New People's Army (NPA) rebels in Bagacay village in Mobo town, said Army 9th Infantry Division spokesman Maj. Christopher Morales.

At the time of the incident, Morales said the troops were on their way to Cataingan town.

Incidentally, Mobo town is located about 90 kilometers away from Placer town, where President Arroyo was scheduled to convene a Cabinet meeting.

Morales said no casualties were reported on both sides, even as the troops immediately returned fire against the ambushers.

He added that pursuit operations are on going against the rebel attackers.

Earlier in the day, a landmine explosion occurred about 3 a.m. in Ban-ao village in Placer town. No one was injured in the explosion. - GMANews.TV

Manila (14 July) -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is scheduled to visit the fourth class municipality of Placer in Masbate province Tuesday (July 15) to personally deliver enhanced social services to the poor.

She will also preside over the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC)-Cabinet meeting at the Floro V. Casas Hall of the Celera Inocencio Central School for an update on the rehabilitation efforts being undertaken by government agencies in the areas hit by Typhoon Frank.

The President will also receive a briefing on the latest developments on the MV Princess of the Stars tragedy.

She will also lead the delivery of enhanced social services including healthcare, snack packs and vitamin A gels for Grade 1 pupils, school chairs, certified rice seeds and hybrid corn seeds, among others.

The municipality of Placer is one of several areas devastated by Typhoon Frank. Local officials will brief the President on the extent of damage in the province, as well as the status of ongoing efforts to bring back to normal the lives of the people.

The Masbateños' main source of livelihood, farming and fishing, was severely affected by the typhoon.

Residents claim that the small fishing industry suffered a big blow as some of the typhoon casualties were fishermen. The bodies of some of the victims were washed ashore after the calamity.

Masbate was among the provinces placed under a state of calamity in the aftermath of Typhoon Frank. Close to 8,000 families in the province, most of them living in the coastal areas, were evacuated to higher grounds at the height of the typhoon.

PLACER, Masbate – Take it from members of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Cabinet: fish caught in the waters off Masbate are safe to eat.

To show that the fish scare that had swept Masbate and nearby provinces following the MV Princess of the Stars sinking is overblown, the President’s men had sumptuous buffet of sea foods the other day (Tuesday).

The menu included crabs, shrimps and fish caught in the waters around this island province.

Heading the group was Vice President Noli de Castro and Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

Also present were Trade Secretary Peter Favila, Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, Health Secretary Francisco Duque and Albay Gov. Joey Salceda.

Duque said that fish and other delicacies of the deep, including fish caught near the ill-fated MV Princess of the Stars, are safe to eat.

The fish scare has impacted the livelihood of fisherfolk, who derive 50 percent of their income from fishing.

The Cabinet members arrived here Tuesday for the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) meeting in Placer, a 4th class municipality of Masbate.

A Low Pressue Area (LPA) has been spotted off the coast of Masbate and is expected to bring dump rains over the province and areas nearby on Thursday, the weather bureau said.

Satellites of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration plotted the LPA northeast of the province at 2 a.m. Thursday.

PAGASA said the LPA is lying along the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ICTZ) and may affect regions in Southern Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The weather bureau said there is no tropical cyclone affecting the country at the moment.

It, however, said areas affected by the LPA and the ITCZ should expect party cloudy to cloudy skies, except during the afternoon or evening with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms.

Provinces in Central Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao will have cloudy skies, with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms, which will become widespread rains over the western sections of Visayas and Mindanao. PAGASA warned areas near west of Visayas and Mindanao for possible landslides and flashfloods.

Light and moderate winds will prevail from east to southwest of Luzon and will vary over the rest of the country. PAGASA said coastal waters will be slight to moderate, except during thunderstorms.