NEWS BRIEFS

ENVI OFFICIAL SURPRISED BY GRAFT CASE

The acting chief of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer of Cebu expressed surprise over the filing of criminal case for graft and corruption by the Ombudsman in the Visayas last June 19.

Richard N. Abella was charged before the the Regional Trial Court of Cebu City last June 19 for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA 3019) for the release of rattan poles valued at P265,000, which were declared as corn grains on Feb. 17, 2003.

Eddie Llamedo, spokeman of the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources – 7 furnished Cebu Daily News a copy of a memorandum dated April 16, 2012 from the Office of the Ombudsman Field Investigation Office in Quezon City which considered the case “closed and terminated.”

“I am very surprised with the filing of a criminal case against me. This is more than double jeopardy,” Abella told Cebu Daily News.

Abella was chief of the Cebu City Community Environment and Natural Resources Office when the rattan poles were released.

The illegal forest products came from the Maguing Rebel Returnee Rugnan Valley in Lanao del Sur in Central Mindanao and consigned to Insular Rattan and Native Products.

The Ombudsman found that even if the shipments were already classified as “Illegal Forest Products and subject to confiscation or forfeiture,” these were still released.

Cebu Daily News tried to contact Lapinig but failed. /Correspondent Jessa J. Agua

VIDAL: NEW CJ MUST POSSESS MORAL VALUES

Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said he hopes the Judicial and Bar Council considers upright moral values in the criteria of choosing the next head of the Supreme Court.

“The person selected must not be immoral. For example, if he has a problem with his family, how can he be a good Chief Justice when he has domestic problem?” Vidal said in an interview.

Nominees screened by the JBC will be recommended to the President who will appoint the Chief Justice.

The JBC earlier allowed live TV coverage for the selection process, just like the recently-concluded impeachment trial of the Chief Justice that ousted Renato Corona./Correspondent Jessa J. Agua

FOCUS DENGUE DRIVE ON PREVENTION

The campaign against dengue needs coordination between health offices, said Regional Director. Asuncion Anden of the Departmetn of Health (DOH) after conflicting reports emerged over the number of cases in Lapu-Lapu city.

She said the campaign should focus on promoting the “4S” habits for prevention.

These are (1) search and destroy mosquito breeding sites, (2) self protection measures, (3) seek early treatment, (4) say NO to indiscriminate fogging.

She said this after the Lapu-Lapu City Health Office corrected a report about the number of dengues in the city which should be 83 and not 155 as reported by the DOH.

“The local and regional information systems should complement each other,” said Anden.

“As of now, we cannot say who is right or wrong between Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit -7 (Resu-7) and and the Lapu-Lapu City Health Office” the regional health official said.

In the latest dengue bulletin in Central Visayas, the cities of Cebu, Dumaguete and Lapu-Lapu have the highest incidence of the mosquito-borne disease./Correspondent Jessa J. Agua