The Case Of Cotabato City Judge Indar

The Supreme Court of the Philippines disbarred a trial court judge in Cotabato for issuing decisions on numerous annulments of marriage cases without conducting any judicial proceedings in the cases.

In per curiam decision, the High Court found Judge Cadar O. Indar, Al Haj, Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 14, Cotbato City and Acting Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court, branch 15, Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao, guilty of gross misconduct and dishonesty.

The case originated from reports by the Local Civil Registrars of Manila and Quezon City to the Office of the Court Administration that they have an alarming number of decisions, resolutions, and orders on annulment of marriages cases issued by Judge Indar. 

the audit team found that the list of cases submitted by the Local Civil Registrars did not even appear in the records of cases received, pending, and disposed by RTC Branch 15 in Shariff Aguak and the annulment of marriage decisions did not also exist in the records of RTC Branch 14 in Cotabato City.

During investigations, Judge Indar and clerk of court lawyer Umaima Silongan failed to appear before the investigating team. The authorities also failed to locate their whereabouts. 

The Supreme Court ruled:

"Such malfeasance not only makes a mockery o marriage and its lie-changing consequences but likewise grossly violates the basic norms of truth, justice, and due process. Not only, that Judge Indar's gross misconduct greatly undermines the people's faith in the judiciary and betrays public trust and confidence in the courts. Judge Indar's utter lack of moral fitness has no place in the Judiciary. Judge Indar deserves nothing less than dismissal from the service!"

Automatic Weather Stations Installed in Region XI

Six Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) were successfully installed in Region XI by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PAGASA). the six weather stations were strategically located at the Provincial Nursery of Baganga, Davao Oriental; Jose Abad Santos, Davao del Sur; PAGASA office, Sasa, Davoa City; City Hall, Island Garden City of Samal; Provincial Capitol of Nabunturan, Compostela Valley Province; and at the Davao Oriental State college o Science and Technology in Mati, Davao Oriental. The AWS are stand-alone devices that measure weather-related factors and transmit data from remote areas to the PAGASA Head Office on real-time basis.

"These AWS stations installed in the region play critical role in mitigating hazards not only in the region but all throughout the country. This equipment will transmit weather data from the remote sites to PAGASA Head Office for further analysis and weather forecasting," says DOST XI Regional Director Dr. Anthony Sales. 

Aside from those installed by DOST-PAGASA, there were four units installed in Region XI under the collocation project with SMART Communications Inc. The collocation project of DOST-PAGASA with SMART aims to improve the weather monitoring, forecasts, warnings and strengthen the disaster preparedness and mitigation efforts of the Philippines. 

If you need further information please do not hesitate and contact Mr. Eric c. Colmenares thru telephone no. (082) 221-5428.

Issues of Sovereignty - The Territorial Dispute between China and Philippines

Scarborough Shoal, a cluster of coral reefs and islets...

It lies well within a 200-nautical-miles "exclusive economic zone" provided for by the United Nations Convention on "The Law of Sea". But China - which claims most of the South China Sea, including portions also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, insists that the Shoal has been part of its territory since at least the 13th century and points to old maps that mark it as Chinese... .

Moral and Human Values

In these eventful times with shouting for peace all around the globe but also with "lust after war", with corrupt politicians and terrorism attacks against innocents and with cries for justice, it is very easy to forget moral and human values. People, don't let this happen!

Allow me to ask you a questions: "What makes a modern person?" Technology and knowledge for sure? If not, we couldn't operate with our computers or other equipments. Skills, of course, belong to it. But more important are attitudes and values, and our readiness for new ways of reacting, feeling and looking for things.

I am afraid that we have to look first into ourselves. Everybody of us can notice our group feeling besides terrible egoism many times. We care so much for the good of our own families and ourselves by making great sacrifices even for a long time. Charity starts and ends mostly at home. Why are we not able to develop fidelity that expands into a wider field of action so that we can go beyond the limits of our unsocial system and reach to others around us?

We easily blame our governments. This happens in mostly every country worldwide - not only here in the Philippines. But don't we only get the government that we deserve? Misuse, improper treatment, rude language and behavior, corruption - these are all reflections of ourselves. The mistake the injustice, the wrong sense of values, and the lack of priority through arrogance and ignorance are daily with us and simply our own.

A nation might have been rich with abundant blessings; it is only unfortunate that these blessings could not made useful because some flaws in the entire system. Why do we have collapsing economies or huge foreign debts? Because human values are not put into place. It's easier to fill own pockets  then to care for a neighbor. Aren't we paid for the service we rendered that we resort to other unlawful and shameful activities? Are we really priotizing material things over and above spiritual satisfaction?


We are becoming weaker and weaker when we lack punctituality, honesty, and task responsibility. We have to improve as human persons with national pride, discipline, and consistency, because skills and knowledge of technology are not enough. We have to avoid too much subjective comments, sensisivity and being fancy and conceited of ourselves.

If a nation like the Philippines is still rich of natural resources and intelligent, high creative people, these people should prevent criticism from know-it-alls such as insufficiency, imbalance, or inequality.

(Repost from my column IN MY OPINION in Mindanao Daily Mirror June 1, 2012).

Good Prize, Sir!

I love Shakespeare! Most of his literary works can inspire one to prepare one write up after the next.

"All the world is a stage" and columnists sometimes might really "roar like a lion". Being sure about their topics they don't have "much ado about nothing' now and then, or from time to time. Occasionally columnists and other writers or commentators feel like "love labors lost" by pointing defects and abuses but only receive discredit, misinterpretation, disapproval, disdain or indifference.

That causes me personally a certain uneasiness of mind. We all know that hell is paved with good intentions; but before we might miss the bus, let's give caviar to the general, and suddenly is NOT much ado about nothing!

"Put money in thy purse" and go down town. Trading and haggling at any corner is part of our daily life.

Being in Apo View Hotel several times and visiting some other places in its surroundings I observed (again and again!) some traders, who try to sell puppies for hefty amounts up to 4,000 Pesos and even much more. Poor devil, that's really enough to drive me around the bend1

I really love dogs. I stressed already before many times, that I am happy and proud having six "TLC"-dogs at home: "True-Lasting-Company"-creatures... . Loving animals is worth it. But look at those pitiful creatures, suffering in very small cages, and even being put into the murderous sun all day long. The cut-throat dealers even don't mind the heart-touching yelping and howling of those pitiful puppies.

I ignored one dealer's hints, who even tried to follow me in Ilustre street while shouting "Good prize, Sir!" Overstrained I "persuaded" myself to hold my explosive reaction and controlled my temper. I am pretty sure certain legitimacy could finish this awkward and flimsy business which is nothing more then animal tortures. 

By the way, while leaving Davao City in different directions (and not only there!). one can also encounter other dealers who love to sell snakes, birds and other creatures. It's indeed distressing and upsets me.

(Reposted from my column "In my opinion", Mindanao Daily Mirror,May 25, 2012.)

Do You Love Philippine Soap Operas?

If you love them, then you might have another reason to watch TV in the Philippines.

ABS-CBN opened yesterday the pages of one of the most provocative stories to be ever told on television: Precious Hearts Romances presents HIYAS, starring the first team up of Zanjoe Marudo and Megan Young. this series marks the return of sought-after leading man Zanjoe in a soap opera and marks the first daring role to be portrayed on television by host-actress Megan. Joing the two are model-turned-actor Edward Mendez, and princess of Pinoy indie films, Mercedes Cabral.

HIYAS is being aired every day after "PBB Teen edition 4 UBER on ABS-CBN.

Be Again On Guard Against Dengue

The Philippines' weather bureau predicts the onset of the rainy season now. The usually rainy season is six months in the Philippines - from June to November each year. With rains comes flooding, along with threat of illnesses such as dengue fever.

We are all advised here to be vigilant against dengue, a perennial health problem, prevalent in tropical countries such the Philippines. Anyone can fall ill with dengue fever any time during the year but the number of patients increases during the raining season. The dengue-carrying mosquito  called AEDES AEGYPTI, which is black with white spots, lays eggs in clear waters found in flower vases, cans, bamboo husks, empty soft drink bottles, rain barrels, and old rubber tires. Left undetected and treated, dengue could lead to a number of complications.

An expert warned against a "secondary mosquito species - the AEDES ALBOPICTUS - as a possible dengue risk. The forest area at Mount Makiling in Laguna is said to be the natural habitat of this specie. The Department of Health is conducting further studies to validate the threat from this "secondary mosquito species".

The first quarter of 2012 registered a 28.96 percent drop in dengue cases, mostly in Metro Manila - from 23.241 cases in the same period last year, to 16.511 cases this year.

BUT, be on guard as there is no treatment, cure, or vaccine for dengue. A way to prevent it is to maintain clean surroundings to eliminate breeding sites. Prevention involves regular clean up, fogging, spraying of insecticides and larviciding. Clothing, mosquito repellent, and netting can held reduce exposure.

Struggles Abroad

From the first moment I have been involved with Filipinos I thought that there must be a reason why they detached themselves from their loved ones... only to be enslaved in a foreign country.

Look through a migrant worker's life and agree with me: being an overseas worker is not easy. But for innumerable Philippine families, it seems the only way to survive financially.

Oversea workers have to deprive themselves of many things they used to enjoy at home - physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and even spiritually. Some of them go to the extent of sacrificing one's cherished profession in order to reach that proverbial greener pasture, to cross the poverty line and have a fraction of taste of the "God's' comfortable living.

When one goes abroad, his toughness as a person is put to a test. both, an older timer and a neophyte suffer the same illness every now and then: homesickness, especially when one doesn't receive any news from home any more. Moods become utterly dull and dispositions are greatly affected.

Of course, sometimes unexpected news from home "go abroad": death of a family member, the husband is womanizing or the wife having a paramour; the child is being hospitalized, the house robbed of products of sweat and tears, natural calamities, and many others. And, as I know from many Filipinos abroad, added to these is the knowledge that sometimes hard-earned money is just spent wastefully by the recipients, despite repeated reminders that working abroad is not lifetime.

With these uncalled for events, sometimes you can do nothing but close your eyes, secretly shed tears, have deep sighs and call for someone "up there" for make you stronger and ask for hope. My good friend Arvie, who experienced her first weeks as a nurse in Vancouver in Canada sent me the following lines:

"When things go wrong as they sometimes will, when the road you're trudging seems all uphill, when the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile but you have to sigh, when care is pressing and you lay down a little bit, rest if you must, but never quit!"

How very true, because in working abroad, one is confronted with equally exhilarating daily crosses, deal with hard-to-spell employers, perform boring, routinary, round-the-clock-chores, overcome fatigue, but always doing the very best to adapt to the culture of the new place.

After these sufferings, it is every migrant worker's wish, that his crosses overseas will be rewarded after several years - rewards happily shared by the whole family, the community and by the nation as a whole.

+++

 

(Republished from MINDANAO DAILY MIRROR, Friday May 11, 2012: my regular column IN MY OPINION).

 

Corona debunks charges in Impeachment Court

 Philippine Chief Justice Renato Corona was admitted to the intensive care of a Manila hospital today, interrupting his impeachment trial yesterday.

He was advised to stay in the Medical City Hospital for 48 hours over fears that he could suffer a heart attack, DZHR Radio reported, citing a cardiologist at the hospital. 

Corona had walked out of his Senate trial yesterday after declaring that the charges against him, including an allegation that he stashed away $ 12 million in 82 bank accounts were pure lies forwarded by President Benigno Aquino.

Here is more:

Corona debunks charges in Impeachment Court | BusinessWorld Online Edition

Missing Blindfish of Mayayahay Cave

Compostela Valley - Ever heard or seen a blind fish? Chances are you will not see again in Mahayahay cave in the village of Taboran, unless you are fortune.

The cave is less then a ten minutes walk from the military camp of the 72nd Infantry battalion at camp Manuel T. yan, Sr., headquarters of the 10th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army - 12 km 

away from Tagum City in Davao del Norte.

Efren Tagorda, representative from the Regional Office of the Department of Environment and National Resources - Protected Area Wildlife Division confirmed the "very slim" chance inside the cave of seeing this species of fish.

The unchecked and unregulated caving activities in the past have contributed to the disappearance of the blindfish.

(My grateful thanks to Christine T. Dompor, MPA, Provincial Tourism Officer for sharing this!)