LINGAYEN, Pangasinan, Philippines — The remains of overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) Reynaldo Bartolome, who died in a car accident in Saudi Arabia last October, may be here before the New Year, Pangasinan Board Member Ranjit Ramos Shahani (6th District) said Thursday.

Shahani helped facilitate the repatriation of Bartolome’s remains through Vice Consul Lorenzo Jungco who is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Shahani said it was Reynaldo’s wife, Nida, who is from Asingan, Pangasinan, who sought his help because her efforts to have her husband’s body home before his supposed 34th birthday on Jan. 26, 2011 returned have failed.

Apart from Bartolome, two other OFWs who were killed in the same road accident on Oct. 25, 2010, will be repatriated as a result of Shahani’s efforts. (Liezle Basa Iñigo)

BAGUIO REGULATES FIRECRACKER SALE

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The city government is regulating the sale of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials in the remaining days of the year to allow local residents and visitors to celebrate the coming of the New Year with a joyous bang.

However, Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan ruled the regulated sale of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials will be the last and that the same will no longer be allowed in the coming years.

Reconsidering his earlier stand on the total ban of the sale of firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials, the local chief executive said only the 20 members of the Baguio Paputok Association will be allowed to sell authorized firecrackers and pyrotechnic materials to ensure that the safety of the public will be guaranteed. (Dexter A. See)

AFTER 3 DAYS, MAN RESCUED AT SEA

BATAAN, Philippines – A fisherman listlessly floating at sea for three days was rescued by a cargo vessel in waters near Cabra Island in Bataan, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported Thursday.

Lieutenant Commander Armando Balilo, Coast Guard Public Affairs chief, said that PCG Station-Bataan received information from their vessel traffic management system (VTMS) in Corregidor that a foreign cargo vessel named “M/V Mell Siloso” was able to “recover a live male person floating at vicinity west of Cabra Island.”

The man was identified as Oscar Morillo, 47, whose fishing boat capsized due to strong waves somewhere off Zambales. A PCG vessel picked up Morillo at a rendezvous with MV Mell Siloso some 10 nautical miles from La Monja Island. Morillo was then taken to the PCG Station in Mariveles for medical attention. (John Carlo M. Cahinhinan)

MALARIA CASES DOWN IN KALINGA

TABUK, Kalinga, Philippines — Key agencies in the province are calling anew for public support towards the prevention and control of malaria cases which have been on the rise over the past several years.

Kalinga Global Fund Malaria Coordinator May Langbayan said that to realize this endeavor, the Philippine Government in partnership with private institutions such as Global Fund and the Pilipinas Shell Foundation Inc. (PSFI) are working together to provide free treatment and preventive resources just to ensure that the country will soon achieve its goal of becoming malaria free in the coming years to spare people from the effects of the dreaded illnesses which is caused by mosquito bite.

At present, she said Kalinga is improving in its anti-malaria programs as indicated by the decreasing cases over the past several years. (Dexter A. See)