LIMAY, Bataan — Local officials here headed by Mayor Ver Roque have been sponsoring a skills training for their constituents in preparation for another set of job opportunities in the industrial town. Roque is personally supervising the ongoing training of welding and other technical courses to see to it that his constituents are properly trained and be qualified to be employed at the giant Petron Refinery which is under multi billion expansion program.

Earlier, the Municipal Council adopted a resolution asking multi-national companies operating in Limay town to give 70-30 ratio in hiring personnel with favor given to local folk. (Mar T. Supnad)

Tarlac Gets 8 D.I.L.G. Seals

SAN FERNANDO CITY, Pampanga — Seven municipalities and a city in the province of Tarlac received recently the Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH) from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). DILG Regional Director Florida Dijan personally bestowed the recognition to the town representatives of Concepcion, Gerona, La Paz, San Clemente, San Jose, Sta. Ignacia, Victoria and Tarlac City in a ceremony held in the city.

Dijan said the SGH is given to local government units (LGUs) that have excelled in the areas of planning, budgeting, revenue mobilization, financial management and budget execution, procurement, and resource mobilization. (Franco G. Regala)

Tañada Pushes Coco Levy Law

CANDON CITY, Ilocos Sur — House Deputy Speaker and Quezon Representative Lorenzo “Erin” Tañada III sought the reversal of the April 2010 Supreme Court (SC) ruling with regard to the 47 percent sequestered San Miguel Corporation (SMC) shares claimed by the coconut farmers as purchased using the coconut levy funds.

Tañada said he wanted that the entire 47 percent be declared public funds and effectively owned by the coconut farmers. But as it is, he said that the SC merely affirmed its earlier decision saying that Mr. Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco owns 20 percent, and the remainder, originally 27% but due to SMC’s investment in Kirin, whittled down to 24%, SMC block shares as government-owned. (Freddie G. Lazaro)

S.C. Orders Baguio Landfill Closure

MANILA, Philippines — The Supreme Court (SC) has issued a writ of kalikasan stopping the Baguio City Government from further using its old dumpsite to prevent a repeat of the disastrous garbage spill during the onslaught of typhoon “Mina” in September last year as well as not to further degrade a major river system in the area.

In a four-page en banc resolution, the SC granted the petition filed by Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan and 15 other persons, including provincial board members of Benguet and La Union, and national artist Benedicto “Bencab” Cabrera seeking the issuance of a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) against the use of the 30-year old Irisan landfill. (Leonard D. Postrado)

Anti-Rabies Drive In Pampanga

SAN FERNANDO CITY, Pampanga — The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO) here disclosed Sunday that their office has already administered anti-rabies vaccine to at least 60,700 dogs in the province.

The program is part of the priority program of Pampanga Governor Lilia G. Pineda to assure that the people of the province are free from rabies infection. (Franco G. Regala)