‘Delicadeza’

COA execs won’t take N. Vizcaya ‘aid’

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya–Officials of the Commission on Audit on Monday said they will refuse the P10,000 cash assistance being offered by the provincial government, which they were supposed to receive as a yearend benefit in 2008.

Julieta Mangulabnan, COA regional cluster director here, said the agency and its personnel are not entitled to receive assistance from the provincial government other than funding for office facilities and equipment as mandated by law.

“We do not know anything about that. We have not been informed that there is such a grant for the COA, but even if there is one, we will not accept it because it is prohibited,” she said. 

Teamwork

US-based Pinoy doctors bring back bayanihan spirit in N. Vizcaya

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya–Around 200 volunteers from the United States, most of them Filipino doctors, have come back to the country to render free medical services and bring back the spirit of “bayanihan” (teamwork) to their provincemates here.

The doctors, members of the Philippine Medical Society of Northern California (PMSNC) on Jan. 19 kicked off the five-day medical mission “Gawad Lunas 2009″, aiming to provide free medical services to around 10,000 residents of Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Ifugao, and southern Isabela.

“Our group was convinced that it’s about time the health mission comes to Nueva Vizcaya because there is really a great need of free medical services, especially from our poor people,” said Dr. Marlene Mendoza-Cordero, PSMNC program director.

Misguided

‘Aid’ for N. Vizcaya workers sparks more controversy

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya–When the provincial government here finally started distributing the controversial “cash assistance” to its more than 1,000 employees on Friday, officials thought it would be the end of the story. They thought wrong.

Controversy continued to hound the grant of the global economic relief assistance (Gera) of as much as P30,000 to provincial officials and rank-and-file employees following complaints against guidelines set by the office of Gov. Luisa Cuaresma for the release of the employees’ benefit.

New Year threat

PNP: NPA eyeing raids in N. Vizcaya

CAMP SATURNINO DUMLAO, Nueva Vizcaya–Police officials here on Thursday confirmed intelligence reports that suspected New People’s Army rebels have been planning raids on police stations in upland and remote villages of the province.

Senior Supt. Pedro Danguilan, provincial police director, said the police maintains high alert status put in place since last month following the noted heightened activity in the past weeks of communist rebels operating at the fringes of the Caraballo and Palali mountain ranges in Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Nueva Ecija.

“This has been confirmed by the series of sightings of these unidentified armed groups in remote villages in Quezon and Kasibu towns here, and Carranglan in Nueva Ecija,” he said.

Childish

Pols’ bickering spoils festive Christmas for N. Vizcaya workers

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya–More than 1,000 officials and employees of the provincial government here greeted Christmas Day with gloom following the botched release of the “cash assistance” they had been expecting to receive since last week.

Government workers entered the long holiday break on Tuesday getting receiving their global economic relief assistance (Gera) of as much as P30,000, after Gov. Luisa Cuaresma did not approve in time the ordinance releasing a total of P31 million for such benefit.

In a speech before employees Monday, Cuaresma said she refused to approve the ordinance, and blamed members of the opposition in the provincial board for supposedly boycotting the approval of the ordinance last week.

Windfall

Prov’l workers to get P30,000 ‘aid’ in N. Vizcaya

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya–Employees of the provincial government are set to get an additional windfall this Christmas season after the provincial board here on Wednesday approved the grant of at least P30,000 as “cash assistance” to each official and employee, including selected officials of national agencies.

In its regular session Wednesday, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan approved the release of P31 million that would be used to fund “global economic relief assistance” for each of the 1,000 government officials and rank-and-file workers in the province.

In granting the “assistance” to provincial workers, the board cited the current global financial crisis that had purportedly hit major economies in the world.