SAN JOSE, Antique (PNA) – The Antique Police Provincial Office (APPO) is conducting close monitoring and evaluation of 10 barangays in the province placed under the watch list IN the 2007 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.

The close monitoring was to gauge if they would be still included in the election watch list areas in this year's barangay and SK elections.

APPO Director, S/Supt. Ruperto Floro Jr. said which barangay would be included in the election watch list would most likely be determined a week after the filing of the certificates of candidacy (CoC) which ended midnight of October 13.

Nonetheless, he disclosed that initial feedback from his chiefs of police on the ongoing monitoring of the 10 barangays seem to show that the villages are already peaceful and no longer problematic.

These barangays are in the municipalities of Anini-y, Barbaza, Belison, Lauan Valderrama, Tibiao and San Remegio.

Floro said he will request for the definition of the functions of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) so that they would be able to already come up with their deployment plan this elections. He also said he might be asking for an augmentation force from the Police Regional Office 6 (PRO 6).

Meanwhile, Floro said that authorities have already nabbed six persons and confiscated six firearms relative to the implementation of the elections gun ban in Antique.

Iloilo Coal Plant Opposed

BORACAY ISLAND, Aklan (PNA) - Agham (Alyansa ng Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya Para sa Mamamayan, Inc.) party-list lawmaker Angelo Palmones is defending his party’s opposition to the operation of a coal-fired power plant in Iloilo, insisting that coal energy is no longer a viable energy source. Instead, Palmones is pushing for the operation of a nuclear power plant.

"I want the people of Iloilo to know the reality that a coal-fired power plant, as a source of energy, is getting expensive nowadays. With the onset of technology, it is now more viable if we could have nuclear power instead," said Palmones, who is former station manager of DZMM radio. He said, according to the Department of Energy, there are plans to appropriate P100 million for a study on the viability of a nuclear power plant in the country.

"If a nuclear power plant is set up in Luzon, that would certainly benefit power consumers also in Visayas and Mindanao," he said.

The coal-fired power plant in Iloilo is being protested after it had tested its operations because the foul smell it emitted is seen as an indication of health hazards to residents living its site.

Health Centers Built STL

ILOILO CITY (PNA) –- The city’s share from the small town lottery (STL) was used to finance the construction of health centers, according to Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Mabilog said the city earns an average of P600,000 per month from STL operations here, the operator of which was granted a permit to operate until the end of the year. The city receives 10 percent of the proceeds of the STL operation.

The health centers were constructed in Baldoza, Lapaz; Dungon B. Jaro and at the City Proper District near the Fort San Pedro.

Meanwhile, Mabilog was wondering why the city share is almost the same when compared to the share of smaller cities such as Cadiz City in Negros Occidental.