GOV’T URGED TO SCRAP MRT-7
THE militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) on Thursday urged the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to totally scrap the four-year delayed railway project that will link SM North Edsa in Quezon City to Tungkong Mangga in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan province.

KMP spokesman Antonio Flores claimed that only President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s uncle, Eduardo ‘Danding’ Cojuangco Jr. and Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd family will benefit from the billion-dollar project. “While Cojuangco and the Aranetas feast over the billion-dollar project, farmers will be displaced from their farmlands and the Filipino people will pay for the gargantuan debt to be incurred by the Aquino government for the MRT-7,” Flores said. According to him, the $1.235 billion MRT 7 Project is now at the NEDA after the proponent failed to secure financial closure in December 2010. “The MRT-7’s intermodal depot and residential-commercial components will be built over 311 hectares of agricultural lands in Tungkong Mangga covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) but is allegedly being grabbed by the Aranetas. Urban poor residents in Quezon City and North Caloocan will also be affected by the stations to be built in Batasan and Manggahan in Commonwealth Avenue and in Pangarap Village in Caloocan City,” Flores said. NEIL A. ALCOBER

WAYWARD PASSENGER JEEPNEY KILLS FOUR
FOUR persons, including two children, were reportedly killed by a wayward passenger jeepney late on Wednesday afternoon along the national highway in Ilagan, Isabela province, police reports said on Thursday. Reports reaching Camp Crame central operations center identified the four fatalities as Linda Cabasal; Oliver Cabasal, 11 yrs old; Rhea Salas, 26 and her two-year-old daughter, Joan. The reports said that two persons, Delia Dela Cruz and Mary Ann Alvarez, were also injured in the said incident that took place at around 5 p.m. along the national highway in Brgy. Manaring, Ilagan, Isabela. The reports said that the victims were walking along the shoulder of the highway when a passenger jeep, driven by Claudio Lucas, came from nowhere and ran over the six victims. The victims were rushed by bystanders to a nearby hospital, where the four were declared dead on arrival, reports said. ANTHONY VARGAS

MARIVELES TENDS TO ITS CHILDREN
MARIVELES, Bataan: Of all 11 towns and one city in Bataan, Mariveles has the distinction of having a special office space that exclusively looks after the welfare of children. The beautiful office known as Municipal Council for the Protection of Children or the Tanggapang Pambata is conveniently located at the second floor of the Mariveles municipal hall. Rochelle Fernandez, administrative consultant on children’s affairs, said that although all towns have organized their respective council for children, only Mariveles so far has such an office space. “Our children are our most important resources,” said municipal administrator Luis Gonzales, adding, “This office is exclusively for the benefit of children.” Fernandez said that with the concern town Mayor Jesse Concepcion has shown to children, Mariveles has bagged the regional award as “Most Child-Friendly Municipality” in Region 3 for four consecutive years. ERNIE B. ESCONDE

ZIGA BALKS AT LP SENATORIAL TICKET
LEGAZPI CITY: A Liberal Party stalwart since its inception resigned from the appointment given him by President Benigno Aquino 3rd in protest at what he claims as “distorted selection of candidates for the 2013 election maneuvered no less by the ruling LP leaderships led by Secretaries Mar Roxas of DILG, Florencio Abad of Budget and Joseph Emilio Abaya Jr. of Transportation and Communications.” Former senator Victor Ziga said that the action taken by Roxas, Abad and Abaya was ”a big slap on my face as an LP original and long time member of the executive committee who was made to believe these people were men of principle like you espousing for ‘matuwid na daan.’” A godson and cabinet member of the late president Corazon Aquino, Ziga was reported to have campaigned hard for the senatorial and presidential fights of President Aquino. He said that the junking of original LP bets in favor of perceived winnables no matter who they are reflects the distorted wisdom of typical politicians smarting “who are we in power for” after all. MANNY T. UGALDE

SHABU-SELLING BUSINESSMAN SNARED
A 25-year-old businessman was arrested by combined elements of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Philippine National Police (PNP) after he was caught red-handed in possession of P1.5 million worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, on October 16, 2012 in Iligan City. Undersecretary Arturo G. Cacdac Jr. , PDEA Director General, said that a total of 46 plastic sachets of shabu with approximate weight of 250 grams were seized from Abdulmanan Mapandi, alias Puro, residing in P-10, Tambacan Iligan City. Mapandi is included in the PDEA Regional List of Drug Personalities. At about 9:30 a.m., combined elements of PDEA Regional Office 10 (PDEA RO10) under Director Roberto Opeña, Iligan City Police Station 5 and Highway Patrol Group conducted a checkpoint along Mariano Badelles St. Poblacion, Iligan City after they received a report that a certain Mapandi was on his way from Marawi City to Iligan City on board a carjacked pick-up truck and was transporting shabu. “A few meters away from the checkpoint, Mapandi got off his vehicle and tried to flee, but the operatives were able to subdue him after a brief foot chase,” Cacdac said. JING VILLAMENTE