The gruesome incident took place 8 years ago

TACLOBAN CITY- Justice remain elusive to the family of noted botanist Dr. Leonardo Co who was killed while doing a research work inside the complex of the Energy Development Corp.(EDC) in Kananga, Leyte eight years ago.
Co was killed on November 15,2010 in Barangay Lim-ao, Kananga, which is within the EDC complex, together with forest guard Sofronio Cortez and another companion, Julius Borromeo.
In 2013, a case of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and attempted homicide was filed against members of the 19th Infantry Battalion, based in Kananga by a panel of prosecutors of the Department of Justice.
However, the family of the late botanist, through their lawyer Edmund Lao, filed a motion seeking to upgrade the case into murder.
Lawyer Alexander Abinguna of the Katungod-Sinirangan Bisayas, a local human rights group, said that they are disappointed that it’s been eight years now since the murder of Co took place and the perpetrators remain scot-free.
“Our call is still the same: those who killed Dr. Co should be held accountable. To us, the delay in the decision of the case could be deliberate considering those involved (in the killing incident) are members of the state forces. They thought that delaying the decision of the case could result for the public to forget on the case,” Abinguna said.
Abinguna said that they remain positive that the soldiers involved in the case would be found guilty, citing the case of retired military general, Jovito Palparan who was meted with jail time after a court finds him guilty of kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
Palparan, incidentally, served as Eastern Visayas top military official for eight months in 2005 which was marked with alleged human rights violations.
Lawyer Desiree Pontejos, regional director of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), also said that they are also dismayed on the slow pace on the case of Co and his companions.
“We are monitoring the (progress of the) case. We are also disappointed that up to now, there is no resolution on the murder of Co,” Pontejos said.
The respondents of the case were members of the 19th IB led by Lt. Ronald Ochimar.
Ochimar, in previous interview, said that on that fateful day, they were conducting their operations against members of the New People’s Army.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY — Rice traders in Eastern Visayas are given until next week to fully comply with the suggested retail prices (SRP) for the staple, an official of the National Food Authority (NFA) said on Tuesday.
NFA-Eastern Visayas assistant regional manager Raymond Tafalla admitted that some traders defy the new SRP since they still have old stocks of rice bought at higher prices.
“The maximum is two weeks after the launch in Ormoc City last November 9. We don’t want to hear this excuse of old stocks again. We have deployed our staff to conduct an inventory of existing stocks in private warehouses,” Tafalla told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in a mobile phone interview.
The central government on Friday began enforcing the SRP for rice in cities and provinces nationwide. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol led the provincial launch in Ormoc City.
In consultation with rice industry stakeholders, the following SRP were set: regular milled rice (local), P39 per kg.; well-milled rice (local), P44 per kg.; premium rice (local), P47 per kg.; well-milled rice (imported), P39 per kg.; and premium rice (imported), P43 per kg.
To raise awareness on the SRP for rice, the NFA regional office will launch the program in six provinces of the region. The first is on Wednesday in Northern Samar.
Starting Nov. 23, the NFA regional will impose sanctions against traders and retailers not complying with the SRP set for both local and imported rice sold in the market.
Sanctions include a written warning on the first offense and for succeeding offenses, the violators could suffer penalties of a jail term of between four months and four years and a penalty of between PHP2,000 and PHP1 million. The NFA will also cancel their licenses to engage in rice trading and retailing.
NFA Acting Administrator Tomas Escarez warned that starting next week, NFA officials who will fail to enforce the SRP for rice in their respective areas will be relieved immediately and placed on floating status.
“NFA provincial managers who will fail to implement the SRPs will be subject to a one-strike policy while regional directors will similarly be subjected to administrative sanctions, including relief from their posts,” Escarez said in his speech in during the SRP launch in Ormoc City.
The central government came up with SRP for rice as the prices of the staple surged to record high this year.
(SARWELL Q. MENIANO/PNA)

Highest in three years with 6 deaths

TACLOBAN CITY- Dengue fever cases in Northern Samar has claimed the lives of six children with more than 1,000 others falling ill due to the said mosquito-bites ailment.
The 1,073 cases of dengue fever covering from the months of January to November 13 of this year is the highest of the province for the past three years, Jessica Tepace, provincial dengue coordinator, said in a mobile phone interview.
Tepace said that the 1,073 dengue fever cases of the province is its highest since 2015 wherein 635 people were downed due to dengue fever.
In 2017, there were only 529 dengue fever cases with a single death.
The municipal government of Mondragon town has placed the entire town under a state of health emergency last October, Tepace said.
She said that almost all of its 24 barangays have dengue fever cases with the villages of Bugko and Cahicsan having the most number with combined 44 cases.
A one year-old boy from the village of Eco of said town died this week due to the mosquito-bite ailment, Tepace said, without giving details on the circumstances of the case.
Fatalities, whose age ranged from four years old up to 9 years old, due to dengue fever also occurred in the towns of Catarman, the provincial capital, with two deaths with the towns of Biri, Gamay, and San Isidro with one death each.
Tepace said that they expect more cases of dengue fever before the year ends as the province continues to experience rainy season.
“The increase of the dengue fever cases in the province is due to stagnant waters caused by the rains that we have experienced since the start of the year,” she said.
“That is why we are encouraging the public to clean their surroundings particularly those areas where there are stagnant waters which mostly serve as the breeding ground of dengue-causing mosquitoes,” Tepace said.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)