The Valley Journal

Bugaklots ask Malacañang: No renewal of OceanaGold FTAA

8Jan

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Quirino

Bugaklots ask Malacañang: No renewal of OceanaGold FTAA

Bugkalot Festival. PHOTO BY VICTOR MARTIN BY THE VALLEY JOURNAL NAGTIPUNAN, Quirino (January 8)—The municipal government and the indigenous peoples (IP) community are strongly against the mining license renewal of Australian mining firm, OceanaGold (Philippines), Inc. or OGPI, for not recognizing their rights over their ancestral domain where the company operates. The Nagtipunan municipal government led by Vice Mayor Amel Fiesta expressed support for the Bugkalot-Ilongot tribe’s claim of ancestral domain ownership over the area being mined by OceanaGold. OceanaGold’s financial and technical assistance agreement (FTAA) is set for renewal after the company acquired a Certificate of Non-Overlap from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley)...

6Jan

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Quirino

Tribung Bugkalot umalma vs CNO

BUGKALOT DANCE. FILE PHOTO BY VICTOR MARTIN NI VICTOR MARTIN, PN NAGTIPUNAN, Quirino (January 6)—Pumalag ang mga katutubong Bugkalot na patuloy na naninindigan para sa kanilang “ancestral domain” matapos magpalabas ang National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) ng certificate of non-overlap (CNO) na pumapabor sa OceanaGold Philippines, Inc. (OGPI) na nagsasagawa ng pagmimina sa Barangay Didipio na sakop ng kanilang teritoryo. Ayon sa mga elders at mga opisyal ng tribung Bugkalot, ang pagpapalabas ng CNO ng NCIP ay walang sapat na basehan at malinaw na pagyurak sa kanilang karapatan bilang mga katutubo. Ayon kay Rosario Camma, overall chieftain ng tribung Bugkalot na matatagpuan sa mga kabundukan ng Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Aurora at Nueva Ecija, ang CNO na ipinalabas ng N...

Quirino university boosts vermi research, output

31Dec

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Features, Quirino

Quirino university boosts vermi research, output

BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO DIFFUN, Quirino (December 31)—To ensure food security amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) gave more than P2.9 million to Quirino State University (QSU) to boost its vermicast and vermicompost research and production. Elizabeth Carig, QSU vice president for Academic and Research and project leader, said her school’s facilities in its Diffun and Maddela campuses had developed various combinations of materials to produce substrate for vermicast/vermicompost. She added that the vermicast and vermicompost production was in line with DA interventions to continue agricultural production in the safety of people’s homes through the distribution of seeds and seedlings among far...

DENR CV donates lumber for Quirino village evacuees

20Dec

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Quirino

DENR CV donates lumber for Quirino village evacuees

BY CORIE CORPUZ, DENR The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Cagayan Valley has donated 3,338 board feet of common hardwood lumber for residents of Barangay San Pugo in Nagtipunan, Quirino. The residents are among the estimated 190 Bugkalot families who lost their houses to soil liquefaction due to continuous heavy rains brought about by Typhoon Ulysses on November 14. Gov. Dakila Carlo Cua received the lumber from DENR Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan through a deed of donation signed on Dec. 15 in Cabarroguis, the province’s capital. In her message, Director Bambalan said the DENR will explore the possibility of increasing the volume of lumber for donation in line with the post disaster recovery and rehabilitation under the government’s B...

People’s group gets P45.7-m Agroforestry facilities

26Sep

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Quirino

People’s group gets P45.7-m Agroforestry facilities

AGROFOREST. Region 2 environment department executive director Gwendolyn C. Bambalan and provincial environment officer Mariam Frances Malana of Quirino province lead in planting 30 saplings of Yakal (Shorea astylosa), Guijo (Shorea guiso) and Ipil (Intsia bijuga) at the arboretum located in Cabarroguis town. DENR PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO DIFFUN, Quirino (September 26)—A Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-funded watershed rehabilitation project and agroforestry support facilities worth P45.7 million have been completed to provide convenient access to the 741-hectare site development project of a people’s organization (PO) beneficiary in this town. Executive Director Gwendolyn Bambalan of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 2 (Cagayan...

DENR, Quirino LGUs to expedite land titling

18Sep

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Quirino

DENR, Quirino LGUs to expedite land titling

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Region 2 forged on September 16, 2020 a partnership agreement with the municipalities of Aglipay and Cabarroguis in Quirino province to facilitate land titling. DENR PHOTO BY CORIE CORPUZ TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan (September 18)—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Region 2 and the municipalities of Aglipay and Cabarroguis in Quirino province are set to facilitate land titling after the signing of the memorandum of partnership agreement (MOPA) on Wednesday at Quirino Watersports Complex in Diffun town. The MOPA for the Rapid Land Tenure Appraisal was signed by DENR Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn C. Bambalan and mayors Jerry T. Agsalda and Willard V. Abuan. "We are encouraging municipali...

17Sep

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Covid-19, Health, Quirino

ULAP, LBP assist LGUs vs Covid

GOV. DAKILA CUA BY THELMA C. BICARME, PIA CABARROGUIS, Quirino (September 17)—Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines National President and Governor Dakila Carlo Cua and Landbank president and chief executive office Cecilia Borromeo announced that local government unit (LGU) executives can now make full use of loans and loan subsidies to respond to the challenges of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. This after President Duterte signed into law the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2) which provides for a ₱165.5 billion fund for pandemic response and recovery. The law sets aside ₱2 billion subsidy for the payment of interest on local government loans from state-run banks and ₱1.5 billion assistance to local government units. In a letter to th...

10-hectare fruit orchard rises in Quirino

23Aug

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Quirino

10-hectare fruit orchard rises in Quirino

AGRI-FORESTATION. Donato Gammad, chairperson of the Kadikitan Association for Community Development (KAFCD) in Nagtipunan town in Quirino province tells Gwendolyn Bambalan, Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 2 executive director, of the successful National Greening Program in their community. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO NAGTIPUNAN, Quirino (August 23)—A people’s organization has bared its success in the development of a 10-hectare fruit orchard in this town in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 2 (Cagayan Valley) in support of the National Greening Program. Donato Gammad, chairman of the 200-strong Kadikitan Association for Community Development (KAFCD), said with DENR’s support, their rambutan planta...

P40.79M flood control project in Isabela town nears completion

19Aug

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Quirino

P40.79M flood control project in Isabela town nears completion

FLOOD CONTROL. The P40.79 million flood control project of the Department of Public Works and Highways - Isabela First District Engineering Office in Malapagay Section in Santo Tomas, Isabela is about to be completed. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY MERLITO G. EDALE JR. CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela (August 19)—A P40.79 million flood control project implemented by the Department of Public Works and Highways - Isabela First District Engineering Office (DPWH-IFDEO) is nearing completion. The flood control project is located along the Cagayan River, Malapagay Section in Sto. Tomas, Isabela. Engr. Evelyn Costales, DPWH-IFDEO head, said the said project started on February 13 involving the construction of a 257-meter flood control structure along the Cagayan River. Costales said the project cons...

16Aug

By Leander DomingoNo Comments

Quirino

Cua pushes for country’s state of calamity extension

BY THELMA C. BICARME CABARROGUIS, Quirino (August 16)—The Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) President and Quirino Governor Dakila Carlo Cua recommended to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to adopt a resolution recommending to President Duterte the extension of the declaration for at least four or six months. Cua said the state of calamity in the country is effective only until next month. The President signed Proclamation No. 929, “Declaring a State of Calamity throughout the Philippines due to coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on March 16. Under the said declaration, the national government and local government units (LGUs) were allowed to utilize appropriate funds including the Quick Response Fund, their disaster prepa...