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27/06/2025

State of the Province Report
WHAT goes on now at the provincial capitol? The unexpected suspension of Gov. D**g Padilla placed the capitol workforce in a state of disarray. Padilla won by a landslide on the May 12, 2025 elections over opponent Edgardo Tallado, but now merely six weeks after he won handily a pall of gloom descended on the capitol. Rumors say the governor will be under suspension for 18 months or one and a half years, effectively halving his three year term if no legal remedy is found. Unverified reports say chiefs of offices in the provincial capitol have gone into leaves of absence. If true, what will Concon Panotes and Artemio Serdon, acting governor and vice governor respectively, do in the short time that they occupy the two highest positions in the province? Answer: nothing. Whoever is behind the machinations against the incumbent top officials of Camarines Norte have done a huge disservice to its people.
Read BICOL POST

24/01/2025

Basud SB joins water fray

Acting belatedly on an issue that directly affects its constituents, the Sangguniang Bayan of Basud issued an invitation to Engr. Jonson Chan, branch manager of Primewater Infrastructures - Camarines Norte, Inc. to appear in its next regular session to discuss the exacerbating water distribution problems plaguing consumers in the Daet South-Basud-Mercedes area. The Basud town board is the latest local government body to require Engr. Chan’s presence in its meeting after he was grilled at previous sessions of the provincial board and the Daet Sangguniang Bayan. It has been explained before that water interruptions were caused by turbidity at the Mampurog river where water is sourced to supply homes in Basud as well as in Mercedes town and the southern part of Daet. Engr. Chan said the turbidity problem is expected to be remedied in 2026 with the construction of sedimentation basins at the filtration facility in Brgy. Dagotdotan in Daet. Primewater Infrastructures is a water firm identified with tycoon Manny Villar and currently has a joint venture agreement with the Camarines Norte Water District which owns the concession to supply water in seven towns of the province.

District hospital opens
A new 25-bed capacity hospital was inaugurated on Wednesday, Jan. 15, in Brgy. San Pedro, Sta. Elena town, this province. Gov. Ricarte Padilla led provincial and municipal officials in the blessing ceremonies with the acting officer-in-charge Dr. Rachel Diezmo and representatives of Galeo Mining Corp. which donated the hospital beds. Padilla said the new hospital is part of his program to attend to the health needs of his constituents, while Dr. Diezmo said the new facility will be a huge help to residents of the first district needing immediate medical attention. Other notable personalities during the event were Vice Gov. Joseph Ascutia and Dr. Catherine Barcelona Reyes.

03/01/2025

CHALLENGES FACE PRIMEWATER, CNWD
The sole service provider of drinking water in Camarines Norte together with its partner Primewater Infrastructure Inc. are facing serious challenges this year which may result to movements at the Camarines Norte Water District’s management and the abrogation of their Joint Venture Agreement.
Gov. Ricarte Padilla last Dec. 27, 2024 had sent letters to the CNWD board and the branch manager of Primewater in Camarines Norte for them to submit to him documents related to the JVA signed in 2016 not later than January 22, 2025 or 15 days after his letters were received by the concerned parties last Dec. 27, 2024. The governor demanded from the CNWD copies of the JVA, plans for addressing water distribution issues, handling of consumer complaints, analysis of the financial benefits and risks resulting from the agreement, and its sustainability and responsibilities under the JVA. Padilla, on the other hand, asked Primewater to submit contingency plans to remedy water service disruptions, a comprehensive strategy to ensure reliable and consistent water supply to the Daet South-Basud-Mercedes area, investment infrastructure upgrades, advance water treatment technologies, and alternative water sources. He also asked for transparency and accountability measures and consumer feedback mechanisms, and compensation plans for water users inconvenienced who suffered difficulties due to water shortage.
The governor’s action followed weeks of water service interruption during downpours which led to protect actions chiefly directed to the Villar-linked firm. Water district officials led by GM B**g Villaluz and the board president also got caught in the protest actions for allegedly failing to act against Primewater for its inefficiency as it is empowered to do under the JVA. The number of protesters were noticeably increasing, from only a few individuals at first and more participating in the second. Protest leaders hope for a groundswell of support as they gain momentum, aiming ultimately for the termination of the JVA and firing of the responsible CNWD offcials.
Padilla vowed to resolve the problem, saying he will exercise transparency in all matters related to the problem to keep his constituents informed.

03/01/2025

Ex-board members rang alarm bells in 2017
Former Sangguniang Panlalawigan board members Michael Canlas and Atty. Godfrey Parale as early as 2017 wrote a letter addressed to the members of the provincial board seeking a review of the Joint Venture Agreement between the Camarines Norte Water District and Primewater Infrastructure Corp. The letter, a copy of which was furnished Bicol Post, was submitted to the provincial board 20 months after Primewater started to manage the day to day operations of the water district. It sought the review and thorough investigation of the agreement due to the prevaling poor water distribution service in the province at the time.
The letter alleged that the CNWD lost its GOCC classification resulting to the imposition of the 12% value added tax, which is passed on to consumers, when it entered into a partnership with Primewater. Canlas and Parale, in their seven year old letter, also asked the provincial board to conduct the following: to determine whether there was a loophole built into the contract as alleged by a local consumers group; whether there was a possibility that the agreement may be nullified; to seek remedy for exemption to the value added tax; and to look for a solution to the labor dispute resulting from the displacement of employees caused by the JVA.
The letter apparently did not get enough attention from the other board members as evidenced by the body’s inaction. Meanwhile, the joint venture inked by CNWD and Primewater might be invalid because there was no public hearing before the contract finalized. Protesters who picketed the CNWD-PW offices last month said water consumers were not consulted nor informed of the JVA’s contents and the CNWD merely conducted a press conference to refer the matter to the public before it was signed.

03/01/2025

Talisay Mayor Dondon Mancenido pinarangalan
ng Bureau of Fire Prevention regional office
Photo courtesy of Mayor Mancenido
Malugod na tinanggap ni Mayor Dondon Mancenido ang isang plake ng pagpapahalaga mula sa Bureau of Fire Protection bilang pagkilala sa kanyang mahalagang ambag tungo sa kaligtasan at pag-asenso ng pamayanan sa pamamagitan ng donasyon ng 1,000 metro kwadradong lote para pagtayuan ng himpilan ng pamatay sunog sa bayan ng Talisay. Ang plake ay personal na iniabot sa alkalde ni BFP Bicol regional director FSSupt. Achilles M. Santiago noong Dis. 17, 2024.
Matagal nang inaasam ng mga residente ng Talisay na magkaroon ng mga bumbero sa kanilang bayan sa halip na umasa sa saklolo mula sa karatig bayan tulad ng Daet at Vinzons sa tuwing magkakaroon ng emergency. Ang mga bumbero ay hindi lamang sumusugpo ng sunog bagkus may pagsasanay sila sa pagresponde sa mga sakuna at kalamidad. Ang fire station sa Talisay ay itatayo sa tinaguriang Carlos Ascutia Complex sa Brgy. San Francisco kung saan nandoon din ang mga gusali ng Superhealth Center, Senior Citizens Center, at Early Child Learners. Inaasahan na magiging sentro ng administrasyon ng lokal na pamamahala ang lugar sa darating na mga taon.

03/01/2025

Gov. Padilla issues ultimatum to PrimeWater management, CNWD board
Apparently nearing the end of his patience, Camarines Norte Gov. Ricarte Padilla issued what may be construed as a veiled ultimatum to PrimeWater-Camarines Norte branch officers and CNWD management. The governor asked the water board to submit to him a copy of the Joint Venture Agreement signed in 2016 together with its recommendations on how to remedy the problem besieging water consumers in the Daet South-Basud-Mercedes area.

In a letter to the CNWD board dated Dec. 27, 2024 and stamped received on the same date by the water district office, Gov. Padilla gave it 15 days to reply to his request for a detailed and comprehensive presentation outlining, among others, the roles and responsibilities of both parties in the JVA, proposed improvements in water service delivery, the plan for addressing consumer complaints, a thorough analysis of the financial benefits and risks associated with the JVA, and environment impact assessment to ensure the sustainability and responsibility of the project.
Gov. Padilla also sent a letter to PrimeWater Branch Mgr. Jonson Chan demanding the immediate submission of a comprehensive Water Security Plan within 15 days from receipt of the letter. The recent water supply affecting thousands of households in Daet South, Mercedes, and Basud is unacceptable and demands a swift and decisive response, the governor said, describing as atrocious and abysmal the current state of water service delivery. Padilla painted PrimeWater as inefficient and incompetent in providing adequate water services to his constituents.
Both letters closed ominously with the governor saying that failure of CNWD and PrimeWater to submit the documents he wants within the stated timeframe will result to more drastic action from the provincial capitol.

03/01/2025

Van driver falls asleep at the wheel, crashes into dump truck (foto)
A commuter van driver said he unintentionally fell asleep while driving causing a head-on collision with a loaded dump truck along the highway in Brgy. Bautista, Labo last Dec. 11. Only the engines of both vehicles ‘died’ while the two drivers sustained minor injuries from the mishap. A few months ago a BJMP van fell on its side after colliding with a tricycle causing the death of a BJMP employee, while several other accidents were recorded occurring there this year. Both drivers were rushed to hospitals and are now recovering from their injuries. Police identified them as van driver------and -------at the wheel of the dump truck. Video posted on facebook showed the white van tried to overtake a slow moving SUV as the truck was approaching from the opposite lane leading to the collision. It was viewed as very careless move by the driver who later told police that he fell asleep for a microsecond and regained his senses already trapped between the steering wheel and floorboard of his vehicle. The incident was one of the several incidents that occurred in the same general area leading residents to comment that it is a ‘delinquent place.’

03/01/2025

Reberendo suspendido
Isinailalim sa suspensyon ang isang paring katoliko na tatakbong konsehal ng bayan sa eleksyong gaganapin sa Mayo 2025. Ang sinuspindeng pari ay si Fr. Vicente Dematera ng parokya ng Santa Elena, Camarines Norte. Sa isang circular na ipinalabas noong nakaraang Disyembre 11 at pirmado ni Rev. Fr. Ronald Anthony Timoner, administrador ng Diosesis ng Daet, nilabag di-umano ni Fr. Dematera ang canon law ng simbahang katoliko sa kabila ng isang written warning laban sa balak nitong pagkandidato bilang konsehal. Bunga ng suspensyon ay inalisan ng priestly faculties at ministerial duties si Fr. Dematera, kasabay na rin ang pagbabawal sa kanya na katawanin ang simbahan at diosesis. Subalit nilinaw sa circular na patuloy pa rin ang pagkapari ni Fr. Dematera. Si Dematera ay kandidato sa ilalim ng Partido Federal ng Pilipinas na kinaaaniban ni Gob. D**g Padilla.

03/01/2025

Dry taps bring more woes to weather-weary public
“When the rains come expect our faucets to go dry.” This was a sentiment posted online by one exasperated CNWD-PW consumer obviously long suffering from waterless days whenever the rains fall. Users had to endure on-off water service at best following intermittent heavy rains brought by what the government weather office as a shearline. It described a shearline as the meeting of cold and warm winds in the northeastern part of the country causing precipitation. Many water consumers complained that having no water service made their life more miserable – they cannot clean their bodies, drinkable water is never sufficient, cooking whatever scanty food they can forage is impossible particularly rice, and preparing milk for babies was a big problem.
PrimeWater-Camarines Norte, a service provider in a joint venture with the Camarines Norte Water District, repeatedly asked for understanding from the public it serves for the discomfort dry faucets cause. It explained, as the CNWD also did before the JVA, that water turbidity necessitates temporary closure of its distribution facility in Brgy. Dagotdotan, SLR to prevent damage to its filtration equipment. However, Coun. Sherwin Asis of the Daet municipal board pointed out that at the onset of the JVA sub-contractor PrimeWater had issued a timetable to construct a sedimentation basin where turbid water from the Mampurog River may be rid of mud. “It has been years since PrimeWater released the plans for the sedimentation basin but up to now work hasn’t started yet,” Coun. Asis said in a statement released to the media. (BP Jan. 26, 2024) “If the rains lasted for a month does it mean we’ll have no water for a month?” another online comment asked.
PrimeWater has responded to those queries saying the sedimentation basin will be ready by summer. One factor that somewhat brought a ray of hope to consumers is the private contractor brought in by PrimeWater to deliver additional five megaliters of water to ease shortage in the Daet South-Basud-Mercedes areas. But just the same, Coun. Asis and many consumers has reached a point of dissatisfaction to Primewater’s kind of service to ask for the termination of its contract with CNWD.

10/10/2024

No malice intended, but please enlighten me how the Manguisoc bridge became ICONIC when it doesn't exist yet? Right now it exists on paper only. Perhaps it is prudent to wait for it to become a reality so the people of Camnorte may consider it as iconic, a symbol of pride, of progress, of all that we aspire for.

14/09/2024

Sino ba ang mas kapanipaniwala - yun mga babaeng nilapastangan o si Quiboloy na nagpahayag na sa kanya daw ang universe?

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