News briefs

RALLOS SUBMITS BID FOR SRP LAND

Despite a  Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from the Court of Appeals, one of the heirs of Vicente Rallos  won’t give up his claim against the Cebu city government.

Roy Rallos, one of the Rallos heirs, submitted a P10-million bid in the Sheriff’s Office for 9.7 hectares of the 300-hectare South Road Properties.

Roy said  the TRO issued by the appellate court didn’t include the sale of the SRP lot.

“A simple reading of the dispositive portion of the CA’s resolution clearly shows that it did not, in any way, enjoin the April 17, 2012, public auction,” Roy’s mother Lucina said in a letter to head clerk of court Jeoffrey Joaquino and sheriff Eugenio Fuentes.

Fuentes earlier told Cebu Daily News, “A TRO has been issued by the CA. There will be no public auction.”

Lawyer Jade Ponce, a consultant of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, said he couldn’t help but laugh at Roy’s claims.

The auction scheduled last Tuesday didn’t push through.

The CA set  a hearing on May 9  to determine whether  to extend the order that prohibits the auction while the main case is being resolved. /Reporter Ador Vincent S. Mayol

ALCOSEBA PLANS TO BECOME CARCAR CITY VOTER

Cebu City Councilor Raul “Yayoy” Alcoseba said he had to transfer his voters registration to Carcar City so he can run for a seat in the Cebu Provincial Board for the 1st district in 2013.

He said Hilario “Junjun” Davide III invited him to join the Liberal Party slate in the district, which covers Talisay City to Carcar City in the south.

“By next month, I have to decide whether to  push through with my plans because I have to establish one-year residency to qualify ,” he said.

Nevertheless,  Alcoseba said he intends to finish his third term as Cebu City concilor.

In the transfer ahead, he said he feels it “is necessary to serve the people of the district where I came from.”

BO-PK Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. also filed for transfer of his voter’s registration from barangay Capitol Site in the Cebu City’s north district to Guadalupe in the south district. /Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac

ZUBIRI TO SUPPORT GWEN

Resigned Sen. Miguel  Zubiri said he would support Gov.  Gwendolyn Garcia if she runs for senator in 2013.

Zubiri, a native of Bukidnon in Mindanao, was guest of honor at the graduation of the Maritime College of South Western University (SWU) yesterday.

Some students who graduated were beneficiaries of a  scholarship from Zubiri.

Zubiri said that he will support  any Cebuano and Mindanaoan senatorial candidate regardless of political affiliation.

He also appealed to Sen. Koko Pimentel that they  work together for the good of the country.

“Koko Pimental and I were both victims,” he said referring to election cheating and political maneuvers.

Zubiri said he was  confident of winning in 2013 because “my votes from the Visayas and Mindanao are already enough.” /Correspondent, Chito O. Aragon

CEBUANO TO BE USED IN SCHOOLS

STARTING  this June, elementary public schools will use  Cebuano as a medium of instruction for pre-school to grade 3.

Dr. Carmelita Dulangon, regional director of the Department of Education in Central Visayas (DepEd-7), said studies showed that use of the mother tongue  improves the academic performance of students.

She said the Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MLE) is an effective approach of using more than two languages for literacy and instruction.

“Though Cebuano is the concentration of the learner’s education,  in June other foreign languages such as English will still be used so that the children will understand the subjects better,” Dulangon said.

Dr. Dulangon said this is part of President Benigno Aquino III’s policy that mandates the use of the mother language in all parts of the country. Public school teachers will undergo trainings on how to teach Cebuano to children.

A total of  14 pilot schools in Region 7  will use MLE in June. This includes  Loon South Central Elementary School and  Getafe Central Elementary School in Bohol province and  Boljoon Central School, Catmon Central School and Carmen Central School in Cebu.

She said the instructional materials are being prepared in Manila. A Cebuano dictionary will also be used for the MLE.

“The dictionary was published in 2009 and will be permanently used by teachers of public schools,” Dulangon said. Correspondent  Careen L. Malahay

IBP: NO PROSECUTION FOR ECLEO LAWYER

THE lawyer of fugitive cult leader and congressman Ruben Ecleo Jr. cannot be prosecuted unless there’s evidence that he’s aiding and abetting his escape from the law.

Earl Bonachita, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City chapter president, said under the rules of court, contacts made between a lawyer and his or her client falls under “privileged communication.”

Ecleo’s lawyer Orlando Salatandre admitted to local reporters  that he receives phone calls and text messages from the cult leader asking for updates on his parricide case, which the court ruled against him last Friday.

“We can’t  pin down Atty. Salatandre with (obstruction of justice) based only on the declarations he made. We would have difficulty proving that he violated the law,”  Bonachita said.

He said a lawyer can’t be examined on any communication made between him/her and the client unless he or she is given permission to do so.

When asked if he knew the whereabouts of his client, Salatandre said he didn’t bother asking.

Ecleo,  congressman of the lone district of Dinagat Island in Surigao del Norte, was convicted  on April 13 for the murder of his wife Alona inside their home in sitio Banawa, barangay Guadalupe, Cebu City, on Jan. 5, 2002.

Ecleo, supreme master of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), was sentenced to 20 to 40 years and ordered to pay P26.3 million in damages to Alona’s heirs.

He is also facing a 31-year jail term after being convicted by the Sandiganbayan on graft charges.

Bonachita said the IBP Cebu City chapter will pass a resolution commending the private prosecutors of the case and Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Soliver Peras of Branch 10 for Ecleo’s conviction.

Alfredo Sipalay, one of the six prosecution lawyers, fugitives like Ecleo lost their chance to file an appeal for refusing to surrender. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol