The Barrachielian Mirror Janaury 1 2014

01.01.14

olwsun

.wordp

ress.c

om

HEALTH officials are worried thatthis year will be “worse” than thepast five years as cases of firew-orks-related injuries continue torise before the New Year, even as agrowing number of local govern-ments have banned the use offirecr-ackers inwelcoming 2014.Assistant Health Secretary Enr-

ique Tayag said in radio interviewsthat the number of injuries as ofMonday was higher by 21 percentthan theaverage from2008 to 2012.“We are afraid the figures this yearwill surpass previous records. Sowe are doing a last-minute cam-paign. We are appealing to the pub-lic not to light firecrackers this NewYear’s Eve,” said Tayag, also headof the National Epidemiology Ce-nter.To help reduce injuries, at least

three cities in Mindanao led by Da-vao City, Zamboanga and Kida-pawan have been observing a no-firecrackers holiday season.Davao City, which has been im-plementing the ban the past 11years, wants to be known as the cityof“torotot” (party horns).In Metro Manila, the cities ofCaloocan and Valenzuela have alsolaunched campaigns against usingfirecrackers.Tayag reported on his Twitter

account that the total number ofrevelry-related injuries had shot upto 244 as of6 a.mofDec. 30.In one day, 46 cases were added tothe Department of Health (DOH)

listofinjuries.Of the injuries, one was caused byfirecracker ingestion while five we-redue to stray bullets.“Piccolo,” a banned firecracker,

remains the major cause ofinjuries,with 153 cases, or 64 percent of thetotal numberofinjuries.“We are preparing for the worst

but we are hopeful that the numberof injuries this year will not surpasslastyear’s levels,” Tayag said.The number of people using fire-crackers continues to increase de-spite the government’s appeal forthe public to welcome theNewYearthrough alternative noisemakingmethods.The DOH noted thatmost of thoseinjured (87 percent) were males,while 30 percent were children be-low 10 years old. Half of the inci-dents recorded happened in MetroManila.In Davao City, Arnold Dellosa,

Smart’s regional sales manager forSouth Mindanao, said the firm wasplanning to gather 10,000 torotot-blowers in one place this year tobreak Japan’s 6,900 record ofparty-horn blowers in the Guinness BookofWorldRecords.The event at Freedom Park on

Roxas Boulevard in the city willstart at 1 p.m. onDec. 31 to 1 a.m. onJan. 1.In homes, city residents have be-come creative making noise or pla-ying music at full volume, bangingpans andevenshouting their lungs.

ByDANIELSTAANA

Crackersinjuriesareworsethisyear

COMMENT:PAGE2

Yearlygarbage feedumpedSkyrocketsawaitbuyersastheyaredisplayed inAlbayDecember31st.Phil ippine Daily Inquirer

IS the Quezon City government inneed of additional revenues that ithas to charge homeowners a gar-bage fee?This was the question raised by

some residents who voiced theiropposition to the recent signinginto law of a new ordinance thatwould require them to pay anannual fee for trashcollection.The ordinance introduced by

Councilor Victor Ferrer Jr. of thefirst district was approved by Ma-yorHerbertBautistaonDec. 26.In an interview with the Inquirer

on Monday, Bautista said the newregulation would take effect assoon as it is published in a gene-

rally circulated newspaper nextmonth.The annual garbage fee, which

ranges from P100 to P500 depen-ding on the size of a homeowner’slot, condominium unit or apart-ment, is to be paid simultaneouslywith the real property tax.Bautista said the new fee was

expected to generate between P50million and P60 million every year.The additional funding, he added,would go to the city’s environ-mental projects such as urban refo-restation, waterway cleanup ope-rations and even disaster risk redu-ctionandmanagement.“If P100 to P500 is paid on an

annual basis, I do not think it will

be a big burden,” Bautista told theInquirer.But residents are questioningwhythe city, known to be among therichest in the country in terms ofrevenues, needsmoremoney.A checkofits website showed thatQuezonCity’s gross revenue colle-ction for 2012 totaled P13.69 bil-lion, an increase of P750 millioncompared to that of 2011. Thefigure dwarfed the P11.37 billiontotal revenue in 2012 of Makati,traditionally the country’s richestcity.“Quezon City has a lot ofmoney

so I wonder why the governmenthas to collect more,” one residentsaid.

ByDANIELSTAANA

PRESIDENT Aquino on Mondayurged Filipinos to remain on thepath of “righteousness” and “rea-son” during what he described asthe “last two minutes” of his term,saying his good government policywas now “eradicating the last ves-tiges ofcorruption.”That is “clear” and because of

good government, “we are able toprovide more opportunities for ourpeople,” Mr. Aquino said in Fi-lipino in his New Year message tothenation.Mr. Aquino, who, running on an

anticorruption platform, was elect-ed in a landslide in 2010, said hisadministration was “close to achie-

ving justice in the prosecution ofthose who committed wrong andabuses” in the use of the PriorityDevelopment Assistance Fund(PDAF).The PDAF was a pork barrel thatchanneled funds to congressionaldistricts. The Supreme Court stru-ck it down recently as unconstitut-ional amid a scandal involving thetheft of P10 billion from the fundallegedly through connivance bet-ween a businesswoman, Janet Lim-Napoles, lawmakers and governm-entofficials over the last 10 years.The President’s message for the

coming year, and for the rest of histerm, offered hope for recovery, re-calling the conflicts and calamitiesthat disrupted life in the country

this year.He paid tribute to Filipinos for

showing “extraordinary resilience”after all the difficulties they wentthrough in2013.“We really triumphed over manythings in 2013,” he said, but ackn-owledged that “there would bemore calamities that would test ourstrength as a nation” in the comingyear.“But let us always be ready to

prove that the strength of our civicspirit will shine in the face ofscoundrels who might sow conflictor earthquakes or typhoons thatmight hit our land.” “We are en-tering anotheryearon the right pathand, as in basketball, we are goinginto the last twominutes.”

2 The Barrachiel ian Mirror01.01.14

Join us on ourfirstanniversary,January 28

Always read usevery Tuesdaystarting Jan. 7

Aquino:BattleagainstcorruptisinourfavorByDANIELSTAANAandANNABELLEROSARIO

Bigdayforpowerprobe:

CONSUMERS will have to wait afew more days for the results ofgovernment regulators’ probeinto alleged collusion amonggenerators of electricity aslargely being behind a recordP4.15/kWh power rate hike thathas been deferred on orders ofthe SupremeCourt.An investigative unit within the

Energy Regulatory Commissionis set to present its findings tomembers of the commission onJanuary 6.

The ERC, together with theDepartment of Energy andelectricity spot market operatorPhilippine Electricity MarketCorp. was set to finish today, Mo-nday, its data gathering and inve-stigation as what actions weretaken by the power generationcompanies and distribution uti-lity Manila Electric Co. that ledto the record hike and whetherthese constituted collusion or not.

RedesignofyourpaperTHEBARRACHIELIANMirro-r had a redesign this past fewmonths- and we have launched ittoday. Together with it is a newlogo. It also have new featureslike the comics section and thesport section being enlarged.

The new font is called Ampli-tude. We use Nimbus Ro-man forthe text- which is a variant ofTimesNewRoman.

COMM EN TWhyban

firecrackers?Monitorthe

manufacturing!THIS firecracker ban is plainnonsense. Why shouldwe banfireworks? It is a tradition.The government should justfocus on two things: manufa-cturing anduse.They should make rules on

how to make fireworks andnew rules on how to use themsafely. And now, if there arerules, enforce them strictly.

Corruptionisstill everywhereYOU know that we are differ-ent from our sister paper, TheOLW Sun, in our political st-ances.We are constantly against

our President now, whichleads the people into halluci-nation that we are now on thelast vestiges ofcorruption.How about the politicking in

Tacloban? The RH Bill? Thecorrupted Customs? Is thiswhat the President calls as theemerging lion in Asia? Whatnonsense is this?

PresidentAquino.TheOLWSun il lustrationSource Photo: TimeMagazine

3The Barrachiel ian Mirror01.01.14

TaclobantobelightedupbyBulacanfireworksONNew Year’s Eve, Tacloban Citywill have a front-seat view of adazzling show, courtesy of one ofBulacan’s top fireworks compani-es. Dragon Fireworks Inc., whichoperates a factory, is shoulde-ringthe cost and production of a lightshow for typhoon-devastated Tac-lobanresidents onDec. 31.Joven Ong, Dragon Fireworks

president, said the 15-minute fire-works display would rise above theTacloban City Hall and would bevisible even to residents living twokilometers away.The company shipped equipment

and pyrotechnic products to the cityon Sunday. A team of fireworks-show technicians has also left forTacloban, according toOng.Dragon Fireworks is the firstAsiancompany to best other pyrotechnicfirms in the world in the 2013Pyronale Fireworks World Champ-ionships, an annual competitionheld inGermany inSeptember.

Tacloban officials had requestedOng to put up the show, taking up aDec. 7 offer made by leaders of theBulacan fireworks industry to pro-vide free fireworks to communitiesstruck hard by Supertyphoon “Yo-landa.”The offer had a catch: Bulacan’sbusinessmen wanted the strickencommunities to request the fire-works because of fears that a fire-works show would be labeledinappropriate.Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin

Romualdez sought out former Bu-lacan Rep. Lorna Silverio, also thistown’s former mayor, who helpedfacilitate the free show.“Of course, we were considering

how the tragedymay have impactedon the Visayas, and many residentsthere may be grieving. As much aswe wanted to initiate the light showourselves, we did notwant to be toldthat the survivors need food, shelterand clothing more than a fireworksdisplay,” Ong saidonMonday.

ByDANIELSTAANA

TheStarlightedupafterthecountdown.TheOLWSun


THEBARRACHIELIANMirro-r had a redesign this past fewmonths- and we have launched ittoday. Together with it is a newlogo. It also have new featureslike the comics section and thesport section being enlarged.

The new font is called Ampli-tude. We use Nimbus Ro-man forthe text- which is a variant ofTimesNewRoman.



@PON T I F EXOurMotherMary is full ofbeauty because she is full ofgrace . Everyoneis

unitedforpeacein'14AS 2013 draws to a close, PopeFrancis reviewed some of the sa-ddest pages of the year beforeinvoking the gift of peace upon thecity of Rome and upon the world.Peace, which he said is the fruit thecommon and united commitmentofall people, withoutdistinction.On the occasion ofhis first Urbi etOrbi message, the Pope stepped outonto the Loggia in the simplicity ofhis white cassock and spoke strongwords. He reminded everyone thatpeace “is not a balance of opposingforces”, nor is it “a lovely façadewhich conceals conflicts and divis-ions”. Peace, he said, calls for dailycommitment; and making peacerequires that all men be united inbuilding this work of art. It was noaccident that he boldly stated that“peace is an art”. For it must befashioned and forged by men'shands, hands “warmed by the

tenderness of God”. We need toseek out his caresses which “do notharm us” but rather “give us peaceand strength”.Remaining united for peace see-

med to be the watchword for Chr-istmas 2013. At Holy Mass on Ch-ristmas Eve, Pope Francis renewedhis invitation to walk together toillumine man's future with the lightofGod. However walking together,as the Pontiff clearly note, does notmean being transformed into apeople who goes astray. Rather, itmeans going to Jesus in order thathe might lead us into the PromisedLand.The journey is a difficult one frau-ght with painful tragedies. In hisUrbi et Orbi Message on ChristmasDay, Pope Francis recalled the mosttragic events of the year: thesuffering of the Syrian people; theplight of the “often forgotten andoverlooked” people of Central

African Republic; the victims inSouth Sudan where tensions arethreatening peaceful coexistence inthe young state; and the victims ofreligious intolerance in so many,indeed in too many countries in theworld. As the Pope noted prior topraying the Angelus with faithfulgathered in St Peter's Square on theDecember 26th Feast of the Chu-rch's first martyr St Stephen, todaymore and more Christians are “un-justly accused andmade the objectsof various kinds of violence. “Un-fortunately,” the Pope said, “I amsure they are more numerous todaythan in the early days of the Chu-rch”. Weneed to pray for them.”“However, this is not enough, he

said. We also need to ensure thatreligious liberty is guaranteed forall believers, not just on paper, for inmany countries which profess toprotect such rights, “especially Ch-ristians face restrictions.. .”

ByLORENZOHOLANDAYIII

Urbi etOrbimessage ofPopeFrancis

“I TAKE up the song of the angelswho appeared to the shepherds inBethlehem on the night when Jesuswas born. It is a song which unitesheaven and earth, giving praise andglory to heaven, and the promise ofpeace to earthandall its people.”In his traditional Urbi et Orbi Chr-istmas message, Pope Francis dw-elt on the announcement of theangels to the shepherds of Bethl-ehem: Glory to God in the highestheaven, and on earth peace amongthosewhomhefavours (Lk2:14).“Above all else,” the Pope said,

Christmas calls us “to give glory toGod, for He is good, He is faithful,He is merciful.” He prayed that allpeople would come to know “thetrue face ofthe God the Father, whohas given us Jesus.” And heencouraged everyone to glorifyGod by spending their lives “forlove of Him and of all our brothersand sisters.”The majority of the Holy Father’smessage was taken up with thetheme of“Peace to mankind.” PopeFrancis reminded us that “truepeace.. . is not a balance ofopposingforces,” a façade hiding conflictsand divisions. Rather “peace callsfor daily commitment.. . starting fr-om God’s gift, from the gracewhich He has given us in JesusChrist.”He called tomind childrenwho are

victims of wars, the elderly, ba-ttered women, the sick. He madeparticular mention of those aff-ected by the ongoing conflict inSyria, and called on theLord to helpall sides of the conflict “to put anend to all violence and guaranteeaccess to humanitarian aid.” Rec-alling the power of prayer, he exp-ressed his happiness that followersof different religions were allpraying together for peace in Syria;

he also invited non-believers “todesire peace with that yearning thatmakes the heart grow: all united,either by prayer or by desire. But allofus, forpeace! ”


PopeFrancisprays yearendvespersVESPERS began at 5 PM RomeTime in St Peter’s Basilica, withPope Francis presiding over theprayers that constitute theChurch’sofficial, public praise ofGod in theevening of the last day of the year,to be followed by the singing of thegreat hymnofgratitude in faith, theTe Deum, and the worship of theBlessed Sacrament before thegiving of the blessing of theEucharisticLord.In his homily, Pope Francis foc-used on the sense of history thatpermeates the life of those whoselives are signed by faith in JesusChrist. “The biblical and Christianvision oftime and history,” he said,“is not cyclical, but linear: it is apath that leads towards aconclusion.” He explained that thepassing year does not represent an

end in itself, but a step on the waytowards a reality that is to becompleted – another step towardthe goal that lies ahead of us: aplace of hope and happiness,because we will meet God, theReason of our hope and Source ofour joy.Pope Francis went on to say that,

as the year 2013 comes to an end,we collect, as in a basket, the days,the weeks, themonths that we havelived, to offer everything to theLord.Pope Francis concluded, invitingeveryone to look toward the newyear, in a spirit ofgratitude for that,which we have received, repentan-ce for that, inwhichwe have failed,and resolve to work with God’sgrace to better our lives, our com-munities andourselves.


withnews.va

Join us on ourfirstanniversary,January 28



SSCCHHUUEEYYBBAATTTTLLEESS FFOORRLLIIFFEESEVEN-times Formula One world ch-ampion Michael Schumacher was fig-hting for his life on Monday after suff-ering severe head injuries in a skiingaccident in the French Alps resort ofMeribel, doctors said."We can say that his condition is life-threatening," Jean-Francois Payen, he-ad anaesthetician at the CHU hospitalin the eastern French city of Grenoble,told anews conference."For the moment we cannot say what

Michael Schumacher's future is," headded. "We are working round theclock-weare trying towin time."The retired motor racing great, 44,

slammed his head on a rock whileskiing off-piste on Sunday morning inthe FrenchAlpine resort where he has avacationhome."His helmet did ofcourse protect him

at least partly. Someone who had suff-ered a similar accidentwithout a helmetwould not have made it here (to thehospital)," Payensaid.Philippe Quincy, the Albertville pub-

lic prosecutor, told Reuters an inquiryhad been launched on Sunday to ide-ntify the causes of the accident. Initialfindings indicated the blowwas so hardthat Schumacher's helmet had shatte-red.


Documents

The Barrachielian Mirror Janaury 1 2014