SUBSIDY FOR SINGLE PARENTS EYED
NAGA CITY: A proposed ordinance has been filed before the city council that would create a solo parents office to handle relief assistance for solo parents—abandoned or widowed, including impregnated women.

In case the ordinance pushes through, children of solo parents will also benefit educational assistance from the city hall budget equivalent to 1 percent for economic development. The proponent said that the Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000 or Republic Act 8972 has not been felt by solo parents for lack of mechanism that a local ordinance is necessary to see to it that the welfare of these people are duly attended. Councilor Nelson Legacion, proponent of the proposed ordinance, said that of the 94 millions population, statistics would show that about 13.9 millions are solo parents and thousands are reported residents of Naga City. Being the heart of Bicolandia and the most progressive and biggest among the region’s eight cities, Legacion said that Naga City has the heart and financial capability to create and enforce the ordinance. MANNY T. UGALDE

SON BEHEADS HIS 70-YEAR-OLD MOTHER
A 70-year-old woman was reportedly killed and then beheaded by his son using a sugarcane bolo on Tuesday dawn in Negros Occidental province, police reports said. Chief Supt. Agrimero Cruz Jr., Western Visayas police director, identified the victim—Nenita Aguirre Belleza, a widower and a native of Moises Padilla town in Negros Occidental. Cruz also identified the suspect who was arrested by responding policemen, Viajojie Aguirre Belleza, 38, married. Senior Supt. Milko Lirazan, Negros Occidental provincial police chief, reported that the son was depressed and was reportedly abandoned by his wife due to his alcoholism. ANTHONY VARGAS

 CONDEMNED BUILDING RISKS LIVES AND LIMBS
BAGUIO CITY: Due to life threatening risks, barangay officials and residents are requesting authorities to act upon and demolish a building, which was condemned during the 1990 killer quake. Twenty-two years after the building was condemned, the building still has not been demolished despite orders for its demolition. The building is owned by Mrs. Yolanda Lagman. “What is it with this particular person who seems to be untouchable as her structure still stands and her business along with her tenants are ongoing despite complaints, resolutions and orders?” the residents stated in their letter forwarded to the city mayor. According to them, “life and detriment of ordinary people are at risk due to her condemned structure. Passersby are likewise affected by the stench of human waste and urine as here septic tank is defective or maybe non-existent.” The right of passage approximate to the condemned building is used not only used by residents but by students and employees, of Pines National City High School, University of the Cordilleras, St. Louis Center High School and likewise churchgoers of St. Vincent Parish. LARRY MADARANG

DRIVE FOR MORE CLASSROOMS LAUNCHED
ILOILO CITY: The campaign for more classrooms in Western Visayas was launched on Tuesday at the new city hall for donations from individuals, corporations and other sectors, in a move to help solve the acute classroom shortage in the country and in the region. The campaign dubbed as 10 Moves is a multi-sectoral consortium expected to mobilize the government and the private sector in working together to solve the national problem on education. The campaign is part of the Bayanihang Pampaaralan as a private sector-led umbrella campaign in raising funds for classrooms, in response to the Department of Education’s call for support. Spearheaded by Mario Derequito of the Ayala Foundation and co-convenor of 57-75 educational program, 10 Moves aims to raise funds for 10,000 classrooms nationwide with a classic donation of P10 a day for 10 months from at least two million people. DepEd reported a shortage of 66,800 classrooms and that its budget may only cover 56,000 classrooms. There is a need for ordinary citizens and the private sector to help in covering the remaining 10,000 classrooms. LYDIA C. PENDON

SPEEDING AMBULANCE KILLS WOMAN
A speeding ambulance killed a middle-age woman and injured another after bumping to a motorcyle along a busy highway in Butuan City on Sunday, police reports said on Tuesday. Belated reports reaching the Philippine National Police operations center in Camp Crame identified the fatality as Edna Magbanua, married, of legal age and resident of Upper Doongan, Butuan City. The reports said that the mishap happened on Saturday at the intersection of J. Rosales and J.C. Aquino Ave., in Butuan City when a motorcycle driven by Rogelio Salazar, 57, was bumped by a speeding ambulance, driven by Larry Ronato. The ambulance was reportedly transporting a patient from Butuan Medical Center and was heading for Cagayan de Oro City. ANTHONY VARGAS

MOTORBIKE RIDER SLAYS SURIGAO FARMER
A MOTORBIKE-RIDING gunman struck killing a 55-year-old farmer on Sunday in Surigao del Norte province, police reports said on Tuesday. Belated reports at the Philippine National Police operations center in Camp Crame identified the victim as Bernabe Imaden of Brgy. Sto. Nino, San Isidro, Surigao del Norte. The reports said that the shooting incident took place on Sunday while the victim was resting in his place. The gunman on a single Honda TMX motorcycle with no plate number shot the victim on his head and different parts of his body, reports said. ANTHONY VARGAS

RETIRED TREASURER DIES IN ROAD MISHAP
HERMOSA, Bataan: A 71-year-old retired municipal treasurer died after she was allegedly sideswiped by a vehicle as she walking homeward along the shoulder of the national road in Hermosa, Bataan on Monday. SPO1 John Canare, Hermosa police investigator, said that an attending physician declared Loreta Yandoc Sibug, awidow and a retired municipal treasurer of Hermosa, dead on arrival at the Orani District Hospital in Orani, Bataan. She was unconscious due to head and body injuries when brought to the hospital. ERNIE B. ESCONDE

ARMM SKILLS TRAINEES INCREASING
THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) on Tuesday said that the number of enrollees for technical vocational education and training (TVET) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), increased. About 4,500 more youth scholars in the region are being targeted to be absorbed for the month of November and December in the TVET programs, Tesda said in a statement. Tesda said that it also targets at least 8,956 youth in the ARMM to enroll in the training program using the agency’s P61.6 million fund allotted in August this year. Tesda added that the training fund was part of the P5.89-billion Transition Investment Support Plan that the government provided to the region to fast track key development initiatives and reforms. Of the 8,956 target scholars, ARMM has so far enrolled and trained a total of 4,497 or about 50 percent, according to a report from Tesda director Joel Villanueva. NEIL A. ALCOBER