SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union - Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Leopoldo Bataoil rushed on Friday to Batac, Ilocos Norte to get first hand information into the slaying Wednesday night of a radio reporter in that town.

Slain with three stab wounds in different parts of his body at about 10:00 p.m. Wednesday was Andy Acosta, 46, a beat reporter of radio station DZJC in Laoaga City and a native of Batac town.

Acosta was on board his motorcycle while he was bound for home to Batac from Laoag City when he was stabbed by the unidentified suspect or suspects using an ice pick in different parts of his body. Read more

by D. Alibutud

THE Philippines is on the road paved with brown gold: cocoa

Although a minor player at the moment, the potential for the Philippines is attractive: as much as $150 million a year from cocoa exports.

Because local production is a meager 6,000 metric tons, foreign-sourced cocoa fill confectionary vats to produce local chocolates and other products about 30,000 MT of coca beans imported yearly.

But with the support of the United States Department of Agriculture (usda), 10,000 hectares of cocoa farms are about to be planted in Apayao and Kalinga, Cagayan, Quirino and Isabela. Read more

BAGUIO CITY - Many students around the world consider an American education as the way to a better job back home. This doesn’t seem to be the case with Filipinos.

Philippine nationals enrolled in US colleges and universities for the school year 2005-06 rose by 6.4% to 3,758 over the previous school year. But they are the fewest among Asians.

Only about 0.3 % of college students from the Philippines - or between 5,500 and 6,000 - study overseas.

About six out of 10 go to the United States, the rest study in Britain, Australia, Japan and Germany, according to the Institute of International Education (IIE) in its annual report “Open Doors 2006″.

Thailand, which has the biggest number of Southeast Asia, has more national studying in the US, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and even Vietnam have more students than there are Filipinos studying in the US.

Higher education is the fifth largest service sector earner in the United States, according to the US Department of Commerce. Read more

DAGUPAN CITY - The Commission on Elections is not satisfied with the turnout of voters’ registration nationwide.

This was revealed by Dagupan City Election Officer Remarque Ravanzo even as he said that the poll body has come up with a measure to remedy the situation.

Ravanzo, a lawyer, said the Commission has promulgated Comelec Resolution No. 7684 ordering the conduct of registration on Sundays in offices of election officers nationwide, including three municipalities in the National Capital Region. Read more

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan - With only its railings being completed, the P700 million Domalandan bridge will be fully completed December 23 this year, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

DPWH Regional Director Fidel Ginez said with only the middle span of the bridge put under the curing stage, the 700-meter bridge spanning across the Limahong channel in Lingayen can now be walked on by pedestrian traffic.

Ginez who recently inspected the project, said the bridge is still close for vehicular traffic but he advised motorists to wait a little, as eventually, it will soon be opened. Read more

by P. JULIAN

FREAKY weather is upon us, and the Philippines is facing the violent forces of a climate change.

And like other low-lying coastal cities, Manila will be at the forefront of rising seas, terrible typhoons and frequent floods.

Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Jakarta, Tokyo, Bangkok, Karachi, Mumbai and Dhaka - all share the fate of Manila, according to the UN Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), because strange weather will be common at the end of this century.

There will be heat waves, heavy rains and - in temperate countries - snow storms. The number of extremely warm nights and the length of heat waves for land areas around the globe will increase significantly. Read more

Doctors recommend more sex.
by J. RESTITUTO 

MORE SEX may cure vaginal itching and burning after intercourse.

Women are often allergic to their partners’ semen, and, for some, having more frequent sex can be part of the treatment, according to a  medical authority on allergy.

Symptoms include itching, burning and swelling in the genital area. In the most severe cases, hives or swelling may appear elsewhere on the body and the woman may experience difficulty in breathing.

Most women affected are between age 20 and 30, and almost half (41%) experience the allergy during their first sexual intercourse. Read more

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan - Gov. Victor E. Agbayani renewed his call on the provincial police command to intensify its campaign against illegal gambling, particularly jueteng.

The governor said he has directed Senior Supt. Alan Purisima, provincial police director, to stop jueteng operation in the province.

Gov. Agbayani said he received reports that the illegal numbers game has been revived in some towns.

“I’m told that there are areas that are backsliding, so we have to re-double our efforts in order to preserve the gains that we have achieved so far (against jueteng),” the governor said.

For several weeks, jueteng was grounded to a  halt in the province where the number one anti-jueteng crusader, Archbishop Oscar Cruz of the Lingayen-Dagupan archdiocese, is based. Read more

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan - The Provincial Health Office has formed the first-ever Provincial Employees Diabetes Association - PEDA) in its bid to combat diabetes which is one of the top 10 causes of death in the province.

Dr. Jackson D. Soriano, OIC-provincial health officer, pointed out the need to closely monitor people afflicted with the ailment and to help them recover together with members of their families.

Through the organization, he said, members could avail of free benefits such as free Random Blood Sugar (RBS) and cholesterol check-up, free consultation and starte doses of drugs, lectures, film viewing, nutrition/diet counselling, Hataw/Exercise, diabetic foot and wound care and vascular Dopler. Read more

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan - The provincial government is studying measures that provide more benefits to day care workers.

Board Member Marlyn Primicias-Agabas said she has filed a proposed ordinance which seeks to provide guidelines for hiring, removal and renumeration of daycare workers all over the province.

“There is a need to come up with such an ordinance to ensure that standards met in terms of qualifications of daycare workers and that they are renumerated in accordance with the service they rendered,” she said. Read more