OVER 50 houses were destroyed and no less than P5 million in property went up in smoke when a fire broke out in an urban barangay shortly after 9 am here yesterday.
It all started with an argument, said investigators, quoting witnesses.
Authorities are looking for Taroy Saluaga, 43, because witnesses said he threw a gas stove at his brother at the height of a fight.
Investigators said the gas stove may have caused the fire that struck the thickly populated community in Barangay 15, between Kalambaguhan and Burgos, this city.
Cagayan de Oro fire marshall Oscar Abecia said the fire razed to the ground over 50 houses and other establishments. At least 200 families were left homeless.
Badly hit areas were the interior areas of Makahambus, Kalambaguhan, Burgos and Capistrano streets.
A woman, Irene Miranda, was hurt when the 25-year-old jumped from the 2nd level of a burning house.
A two-door apartment owned by ex-vice mayor Antonio Soriano was destroyed.
Fe Licayan, a witness, said she saw the Saluaga brothers exchanging blows. Shortly after, she said she heard an explosion and then the fire spread.
Others said the fire started from the house of Joaquin Saluaga.
Abecia ordered arson investigators to dig deeper and see if the Saluaga brothers were really responsible. He said the local fire bureau would press charges if a case is established against the Saluagas.
"We are still verifying the reports. But this early, it really looks like an arson case based on what residents are saying," Abecia said.
It took more than two hours for firefighters to extinguish the fire. Abecia said the absence of protective gears such as gas masks made it difficult for firefighters to contain the fire that quickly spread because the houses were mostly made of wood.
Abecia said firefighters could not penetrate because of the absence of a pathway.
Curious onlookers and affected residents also gave firefighters a difficult time because it took time before they cleared the streets.
The fire alarm reached 4th level, prompting fire volunteers from private companies and from MMisamis Oriental towns to respond.
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (BEN BALCE / Sept. 9) - MISAMIS Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno yesterday accused his accusers of being backed by ‘‘handlers and financiers’’ who are supposedly out to carry out a demolition job against him.
Moreno said it was unlikely that his accusers––Eddie Dangcal, Ronnie Waniwan and Rey Abacahin––were acting on their own when they field complaints for graft against him before the ombudsman on separate occasions.
"Their intentions are very obvious," said Moreno over DxIF-Bombo Radyo, adding that the complainants were merely being used.
Moreno said he feared the image of the province would be adversely affected by the accusations. ‘‘It’s not me, it’s the province that will really suffer.’’
He faulted his political opponents, saying they resorted to using ‘‘dummies’’ to press charges against him because they were supposedly running out of issues for the alleged demolition job. "All they are after is to demolish me, even to the extent of using dummies."
Abacahin, a local TV segment producer who is one of the complainants, strongly denied Moreno’s accusation.
"I filed the complaint against the governor because of principles. I have no financiers or handlers,’’ Abacahin said.
Abacahin, the first to press charges against Moreno, said he filed the complaint with the intention of knowing the truth and to pressure the governor to be accountable for the use of P12.6 million of capitol funds to provide private vehicles fuel last year.
Abacahin said the owners of all the private vehicles who were given fuel by the capitol in 2005 should also be investigated and subsequently charged in court, too.The Mindanao Gold Star Daily
VILLANUEVA, Misamis Oriental (MIKE BAÑOS / Sept. 9) – A FAMILY of four was washed away early Saturday morning when a flash flood hit their riverside dwelling in this municipality, barely a month after rampaging flash floods and storm tides brought by the southwest monsoon lashed ten towns of the province.
Ma. Cecilia Casino-Rivera, provincial information officer, identified the victims as the Yacona family of Ernesto Yacuna of San Roque Village, Relocation Site, Barangay Dayawan,. Their dwelling was washed away by raging flood waters which hit the area around 2:00AM Saturday, 09 September 2006.
Rescuers have already recovered the bodies of two children Marylose, eight (8) years old, and Jessabel, three (3) months old but the remains of the mother, Annalyn and youngest child Jessamie, two (2) year old have still not been found.
An unidentified number of other dwellings have also been reportedly swept away by the flash flood.
Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council Executive Officer Teodoro Sabuga-a has mobilized the PDCC Quick Reaction Team (QRT) and Bombo Radyo's Philippines 2000 Rescue Team to recover the remains of the missing mother and her child as well as bring relief goods to affected households in the area.
Earlier last month, Sabug-a appealed to the respective Sangguniang Bayans (municipal councils) of towns recently hit by similar flash floods and storm tides to pass an ordinance prohibiting the construction of human dwellings in vulnerable areas such as shorelines and riverbanks.
mike_banos_2000@yahoo.comalternate email : mike_banos@walla.com
A HUMAN rights group un northern Mindanao yesterday linked the military to Sunday night’s killing of an urban poor organization leader in Valencia city.
The victim was identified as Candelario Ayuda, 42, chair of the Kilusan ng Mamamayan in Valencia.
Ayuda was shot dead while driving a "motorela" at the Valencia city proper around 10 pm, Sunday. He was on his way home.
Karapatan regional coordinator Beverly Musni alleged that the assailants were members of the Military Intelligence Company (Mico) based in Bukidnon.
Musni said Ayuda was an organizer of the party-list group Bayan Muna.
The army’s 4th Infantry Division spokesperson, Maj. Nathan Sagun, strongly denied Karapatan’s allegation.
"That is a hasty conclusion by Karapatan, a fallacy," said Sagun.
Sagun then lashed at Karapatan. ‘‘When the NPA (New People’s Army) carries out a killing spree, they are silent.’’
However, Musni said the denial aired by Sagun would be measured against the unsolved killings of 745 other militants, activists and journalists in the country.
"Witnesses can prove that it was the military," Musni said.
Police said Ayuda’s killers used a caliber .45 pistol. They said two gunshot wounds in the back killed the militant leader.
"He died on the spot," police said.
Investigators reportedly recovered six slugs at the crime scene.
Police said they were still looking into the case and were trying to identify the suspects. They did not rule out the possibility that he was killed because of his involvement in militant activities. But they said there were other factors to be considered.
That can be read at Gold Star Daily
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MIKE BAÑOS / Sep 3) - The "Liquor War" for control of the country's alcohol market has found a new battleground in the province of Misamis Oriental.
Bitter corporate rivals Tanduay Distillers Inc. (Tanduay) and Ginebra San Miguel Inc. (GSMI) are both putting up new plants in this Northern Mindanao province to consolidate their forces for control of the lucrative hard liquor market in the Visayas and Mindanao, as well as nearby markets in Asean.
GSMI drew first blood when it took an option for 30 hectares of the Phividec Industrial Estate in Misamis Oriental on August 27, 2004. Company sources said a P1.4-billion alcohol distillery with a capacity of 75,000 liters of hard liquor a day will be built on what will eventually be a 100-hectare property. SMC said production from the distillery will primarily be used to support its export operations. GSMI is 79.6-percent owned by food and beverage conglomerate San Miguel Corp.
Ginebra San Miguel, Inc. (GSMI) is a diversified alcohol-based beverage company owned by San Miguel Corporation . Originally known as La Tondeňa Distilleries, Inc., it was founded by the late Carlos Palanca, its main products are basically hard liquor.
It claims to be the largest producer and distributor of alcoholic beverages in the Philippines. In each of its product categories, Ginebra San Miguel is the market leader, with over 70% share of the gin market. The company supports these brands through a nationwide distribution network that includes 500 beer distributors owned by San Miguel Corporation, a leading multinational in Asia that is the largest food and beverage producer in the Philippines.(orchidasia.com)
GSMI said its net income fell 40 percent to P331.9 million in the first half, from P552.8 million in the same period last year.
But Tanduay now appears to have taken the initiative from GSMI when taipan Lucio Tan announced Saturday at the 15th Mindanao Business Conference in Zamboanga City that the wholly-owned subsidiary of Tanduay Holdings, Inc. has already started construction for a P1-billion Tanduay factory besides Asia Brewery Inc.'s existing brewery in El Salvador, Misamis Oriental.
"Seeing the great potential in Mindanao as a growth area, we are expanding our presence here by investing P1 billion for Tanduay's facility beside Asia Brewery's plant and another P250-million for a soft drinks facility also in Cagayan de Oro," Tan said.
The tycoon said the liquor facility would be one of his company's biggest investments in Mindanao. "Our group's (Lucio Tan Group of Companies) biggest exposure in Mindanao is the state-of-the-art brewing facility of Asia Brewery, Inc. (ABI) in Cagayan de Oro, and it is the first brewery to invest in Mindanao," he said.
What Tan was referring to was actually the ABI brewery in the town of El Salvador, some 20 kilometers west of Cagayan de Oro City in Misamis Oriental and the first ever brewery in Mindanao. Rated to produce approximately 2 million hectoliters of beer per annum, the brewery boasts of fully computerized state-of-the-art brewing facilities and fills ABI's need to supply the growing demand for its products in Mindanao and the Visayas.
The new Tanduay plant will produce 400,000 cases of rum a month, which together with its other plants in Manila, Laguna and Bacolod , would give Tanduay a combined monthly output of 1.3 million cases.
The new facility will be constructed on a two hectares lot within the ABI complex in El Salvador and would include a warehouse, packing facility, distillery and aging plant. It will be built in a year with mostly internally generated funds.
Sources from the ABI plant in El Salvador conform construction has already been going on for two months on the Tanduay plant as well as an adjacent factory for ABI's Absolute Pure Distilled Drinking Water.
Absolute goes through state-of-the-art distillation process employing vapor compression and ozonation and is the first bottled water company to receive NSF certification.
However, there is still no company information available on when construction would start for a P250-million soft drinks factory (also announced by Tan) which will reportedly manufacture the branded Virgin Cola within the same ABI complex.
Misamis Oriental Governor Oscar Moreno welcomed the entry of the two rival liquor companies in the province and believes the intense competition between the two firms would serve as a catalyst for further growth and development in the region.
"We would like to stress laissez faire or free enterprise in Misamis Oriental, and allow the investor to go about his businessman with a minimum of interference but maximum support from local government," Moreno said.
Besides the ABI brewery and the upcoming Tanduay, Absolute, Virgin Cola and GSMI plants, Misamis Oriental also hosts other fruit and other beverage plants in Cagayan de Oro City like Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola, Nature's Spring and Del Monte." mike_banos_2000@yahoo.comalternate email : mike_banos@walla.com >Link
