BONTOC, Mountain Province — After several days of being isolated from the rest of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and Northern Luzon due to numerous landslides and fallen trees that blocked major road networks because of the recent onslaught of super typhoon “Juan,” life in this landlocked province has started to normalize because people and basic commodities have started to freely move into and from the different parts of the locality.

This developed after major road networks, particularly the Halsema Highway, Mountain Province to Ilocos Sur Road, Bontoc-Tabuk Road, Mountain Province to Ifugao to Nueva Vizcaya Road, Mountain Province to Isabela Road, and the Mountain Province to Cagayan Road were already declared passable by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in the Cordillera and its district offices after the conduct of a round the clock clearing operations over the past three days.

Mountain Province Gov. Leonard Mayaen, chairman of the provincial disaster risk reduction and management council (PDRRMC), hailed the concerted efforts among government agencies and local governments to immediately remove the obstructions in major road networks. (Dexter See)

Laguna Police on 'Poll' Alert

CAMP GENERAL VICENTE LIM, Laguna — Police Regional Office 4-A (PRO 4-A) director Chief Supt. Samuel D. Pagdilao Jr. said it is “All Systems Go” for the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) with security operations for Monday's Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections as he placed the entire police force in the region on full alert.

"All troops are accounted for, we are prepared for this and nothing is left to chance,” said Pagdilao, adding that the PNP in the Calabarzon is fully capable to handle even the worst scenario.

He ordered all security personnel manning polling centers to prepare their equipment and be ready to be converted into civil disturbance management units in case of any untoward incident relative to Monday's election.

Pagdilao said that aside from the 277 policemen from the regional headquarters that will be deployed for election duties, other deployments include 1,381 from Cavite, 644 from Laguna, 1,070 from Batangas, 759 from Rizal, and 1,050 from Quezon with a total of 5,181 police personnel. (Ferdinand Castro)

Hike in Power Share Asked

BAGUIO CITY — The Regional Development Council in the Cordillera Administrative Region (RDC-CAR) here wants a bigger share from the power production of hydroelectric plants getting their water running their turbines from the watersheds of the region so that the same will be used to preserve and protect the vast tracks of watersheds and forests.

At present, host communities of power plants are entitled to a share of one-centavo per kilowatt-hour from the power produced by the power plants with the same being used to fund the implementation of priority projects of villages, municipalities and provinces.

Dr. Virgilio Bautista, RDC-CAR private sector representative, cited that host communities are now being shortchanged with the meager share from the operation of the power plants and that the law providing for such share is already obsolete.

According to Bautista, Cordillera congressmen must realize that people in host communities who are protecting the watersheds and forests must be given enough benefits for a job well done, thus, the need for them to initiate the amendment of the law. (Dexter See)