Oro fire kills engaged couple

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (BEN BALCE/Jan 22)– A fire of still unknown origin trapped and killed two sweethearts in Barangay Carmen yesterday. They had planned to get married this year.

The fire broke out shortly after 3 a.m. and razed to the ground a two-storey house in Acacia St. Zone 7, Carmen, owned by Felicidad Talampas.

The engaged couple – Gilbert Verzuela, 27, of Bicol; and Emma Sagario, 28, of Purok C-28, Hinaplanon, Iligan City – were trapped inside one of the rooms. They were boarders.

Senior Ins. Francis Villaflor said the victims may have died of suffocation.

Various sources said Verzuela and Sagario had taken the September 2006 bar exams and had opted to wait for the results here. There were reports that they were classmates.

City fire station chief Oscar Abecia said the victims were burned beyond recognition.

Abecia said it took investigators some time to identify the victims because they suffered 3rd degree burns all over.

Fellow boarders said they heard cries of help but they could not do anything because the fire quickly spread. They said the victims could not go out of any of the windows because there were grills.

Sagario’s mother Linda said Emma, her only daughter, and Verzuela had planned to get married and were just waiting for the results of the bar exams.

Officials placed the damages at P250,000. Investigators theorized that the fire was caused by faulty wirings but some witnesses said some boarders were observed to be cooking even during wee hours and possibility that the fire might started.

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7 feared dead in Agusan mudslide

CAGAYAN de Oro Journal (BEN BALCE/Jan 19) – Seven people, including three children, are believed to have been buried alive in a mudslide caused by continuous heavy rains along the boundaries of Bolobo and Maasin in Esperanza town, Agusan del Sur Wednesday evening.

Authorities said at least four houses were buried midnight last Wednesday.

Rescuers are looking for Faustino Pungcol, Rosita Kadisal, Bert Triwalan, Nelo Galeria, Nitoy Galeria, and two others whose identities were unclear at presstime.

A capitol spokesperson, Ferdinand Perez, said Gov. Eddie Bong Plaza immediately sent a rescue team to the landslide area. He said rescuers need heavy equipment to unearth the victims.

Esperanza mayor Lorena Manpatilan sent another team composed of police, municipal engineering personnel and barangay officials and headed by municipal social welfare officer Minda Benadero.

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BIR-Surigao ups 2006 tax collection

BIR Revenue Region No. 17 Regional Director Tamanatao S. Amerol (left) and Ms. Lilia C. Guillermo, BIR deputy commissioner of information system group (right) and Ms. Aida Simborio (background) who briefed participants in the Payment Data Entry System (PDES) training held January 11, 2007 at BIR Regional Training Center in Butuan City.

CAGAYAN de Oro Journal (BEN BALCE/Jan 18) - Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Revenue District No. 105 based in Surigao City headed by Revenue District Officer (RDO) Satar Laguindab said, the district has overshot its target collection goal for 2006. For the last four years, the district was able to overshoot its assigned goal.

"The district continuously stepped up collection efforts for the last four years," said Laguindab adding, "the increased collections every year not only helped our district target but also boosted the region's target collection."

Laguindab said, the district collection target for 2006 was P400, 670, 000 and the district collected as of January 11, the amount of P424,548,329.38; an increase of P23,878,329.38 which is 5.96 percent more and almost 50 percent higher than the 2005 collection goal of P265,670,000.

BIR regional office here through its cumulative report since 2003 showed that all districts overshot their individual collection targets.
"RD No. 105 in Surigao maintained increased collections against its collection target even much higher compared to other districts," said BIR Revenue Region No. 17 regional director Tamanatao Amerol.

Amerol said, all districts contributed in no small measure to the Region’s over-all good performance which posted a 15.61 percent increase in actual collections by collecting P1,620,734,770.87 against their collection goal of P1,578,359,000; an increase of P42,375,770.87 or 15.61 percent against the previous year's actual collections.

The BIR Caraga-region oversees the revenue collections efforts of four regional district offices, namely: Butuan-based RD 103 headed by regional district officer (RDO) Edilberto Radaza; RD 104 headed by RDO Lordel Monteclaro based in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur; and RD 106 headed by RDO Marcelino L. Yap based in Tandag, Surigao del Sur.

The revenue collection performance report for year 2006 furnished on this paper showed the following data: RD 103 – Butuan City posted an increased collection for 2006 increase of 3.53 percent; RD 104 Bayugan, Agusan del Sur posted a 3.53 percent increase; RD 105 Surigao City, an increase of 5.96 percent and RD 106 Tandag, Surigao del Sur with an increase of 1.78 percent.

Amerol said, the tax collection performance is largely boosted by the ongoing tax education and information campaign coupled with the various measures and strategies being implemented by every district revenue office in the region aimed to exceed their respective target collection goals.

All revenue district offices have exceeded its target collections over last year's (2005) collections.
"The biggest collection was made by Surigao City district revenue office under the leadership of Laguindab," Amerol said.

Second highest is RD No. 104 based in Bayugan, Agusan del Sur under RDO Lordel Monteclaro with actual tax collections of P275,233,854.43 or an increase of 3.53 percent with the amount of P9,390,854.43.

Butuan City revenue district office under RDO Edilberto Radaza also exceeded its target goal for 2006 amounting to P4,452,948.03 from its target collections of P627,003,000 after Radaza collected P631,455,948.03.

Tandag, Surigao del Sur revenue district office under RDO Marcelino Yap also exceeded by 1.78 percent (2006) totaling P5,081,582.02.

Amerol said, the BIR Commissioner has ordered all Regional Directors throughout the country to sustain the effort in the government's drive against tax evasion following his warning to other businessmen and firms that BIR would never countenance tax evasion as it is considered a "crime against the people."

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Floods displace 61,000 in Agusan del Sur

CAGAYAN De Oro Journal (BEN BALCE/Jan. 17) – At least 61,041 persons or 13,310 families have fled to evacuation centers or safer grounds yesterday as heavy rains continued to pour and swell floodwaters in low-lying areas in Agusan del Sur.

The rains have not let up since Dec. 30, 2006.

An initial report from the Provincial Disaster Management Council (PDMC) said nine towns and 75 barangays have already been affected as of 9:30 a.m., Jan. 16.

Among these are the flood-prone towns of Prosperidad, the capital; San Francisco, Loreto, Veruela , Esperanza, Bunawan, Talacogon, Bayugan, and Sta. Josefa.

The PDMC said nine barangays and more than 2,500 families in San Francisco town have been affected; 13 barangays and 3,875 families in Prosperidad; nine barangays and 1,580 families in Loreto; 13 barangays and 1,609 in Esperanza; 10 barangays and 3,033 families in Bunawan; three barangays and 119 families in Bayugan; and seven barangays and 561 families in Talacogon.

The PDMC has no numbers yet for Veruela and Sta. Josefa towns but continues to monitor the situation.

The council’s initial report said flash floods have also already damaged 2,448 hectares of crops, including vegetables.

Three casualties were reported, although it was not clear if they were just wounded or already dead: Lemuel Matulin Serrano,15, of Sampaguita, Veruela; Rolly A. Maboy, 12, of Baking-king, Esperanza, and Rustom C. Deploma, 5, of Cubo, Esperanza.

Related story at Malaya, Nat'l Newspaper