Dinagyang success marred by dispute among rival TV stations’ talents

Everybody had agreed. The Dinagyang this weekend proved a very dramatic success. There were hordes of foreign visitors and many important persons who had attended the affair.

But this was marred by dispute between two rival TV stations — GMA 7 and ABS-CBN later in the afternoon. This was what Sunshine Dizon claimed when the rival ABS-CBN knocked off her microphone when she was about to warble a song. Later, the anchor of the GMA Network also lost her sound.

I had to restrain my mother because she is an Ilongga, she could not tolerate that insult against me," Ms. Dizon stressed.

The GMA anchor, however, glossed over the incident pointing out that she had intervened and ironed out differences with the ABS-CBN whose manager had said that the reason for that was their talents were scheduled to leave for Manila at 7 p.m. and there was no more time to wait for their share of the coverage time.

Otherwise, Dinagyang went out without a hitch. Thousands crammed the various areas where the tribes performed. The Freedom Grandstand, which had been extended to accommodate more visitors, remained crowded. Tickets had ran out much earlier than had been anticipated by the organizers, according to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas.

One of the arresting VIPs was Ms. Lorna Tolentino. And there were many others, including Senate President Manny Villar and several top officials of the government.

Police managed to cope with the crowd. In contrast to previous years, yesterday’s revelers appeared to have been better-behaved. While they jostled for vantage point at the Freedom Park, there was none of the pushing and shoving that had characterized the fight for a chance to better see the going on.

The previous week, the Ati-Atihans of Kalibo also saw a horde of foreigners dancing in the streets of the capital town of Aklan with the local Ati-Atihan participants.

Most of the foreign visitors came from Boracay where they were taking a vacation. All they did was just travel overland from Boracay or Caticlan to Kalibo.

This weekend, the Ati-ati of Ibajay also went out without a hitch in the purist tradition of the cultural and heritage of the past.

Rep. Joeben Miraflores crowded that the Ati-ati of Ibajay (ati-ati is the root word of Ati-Atihan) has retained its cultural purity and has resisted attempts at commercialization.

Dinagsa of Cadiz City also went off with the enthusiastic participation by a mostly Negrense audience, with a sprinkling of balikbayans.

In Kabankalan City, the Sinulog also was an impressive success. It was something that Mayor Pedro Zayco beamed with pleasure at the sight of.

This week, Bacolod’s Our Lady of Candles parish started celebrating the Our Lady of Candles fiesta which falls on the first week of February. What makes it important is that this is a replication of the more than popular Candelaria of Jaro, Iloilo City.

TFM admits self-installation

Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman said he was saddened by the death of a farmer beneficiary in Hacienda Velez-Malaga in Barangay La Castellana town last week but blamed it on the self-installation by the group.

TFM on the other hand, blamed Pangandaman for the violence that erupted leading to the death of Pepito Santillan, 60, Thursday morning.

TFM spokesperson Edna Sobrecanay blamed Pangandaman’s weaknesses, indecisiveness, and failure to fulfill his promise to install the CLOA holders led to the killing of Santillan.

Pangandaman told the Visayan Daily STAR that "I am pointing out to Task Force Mapalad for instigating the trouble."

"It is Task Force Mapalad that risked the lives of the farmer-beneficiaries," he pointed out.

The DAR secretary pointed out that there were ongoing negotiations by his office with Bob Cuenca, the landowner, and TFM lawyer Christian Monsod. But what happened was that the TFM "self-installed themselves on Wednesday without the DAR and the stakesholders.

To avoid bloodshed, Pangandaman said he asked for time to talk with the parties, involved to assure that beneficiaries will later be peacefully installed.

That was exactly how some farmers themselves reacted to yesterday morning the critic by Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, CBCP chairman, blaming defects in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program which he blamed for the recent killings.

A group of sugar farmers agreed that there is an imperative need for the government to review the program implementation and immediately adopt remedial measures to correct these deficiencies.

Lately, several groups had batted for a review of the CARP, especially its implementation.

One of the things that had been the focus of criticisms is the inadequate support projects for land distributed to agrarian reform beneficiaries.

The other is the fact that DAR reportedly issue CLOA’s without first complying the three requisites for it — valuation, compensation, and determination of who are the legitimate tillers of the land.

Instead, the wholesale land acquisition followed by CLOA distribution had often led to controversies, some of which had led to violence.

But the most chilling spectacle was that TFM not only arrogantly asserted that they had the right to self-installation, but they also marched to the provincial capitol and demanded the removal of the PNP provincial chief and the investigation of the La Castellana PNP station chief.

Yesterday, however, Senior Inspector Placido Composa, of the La Castellana police, warned of more violence if the TFM insists on adopting the practice self-installation on-portions of land reportedly awarded to their members without coordinating with the DAR and the other government agencies.

This was also supported by the Movement for Agrarian Reform and Rural Advancement and Kongreso Pagkakaisa ng Maralita sa Kaunlaran, who supported the police position. The group said they expect violence to continue as long as the implementation of the CARP is not reassessed and restudied.

The outcry for a review of the CARP and the need to immediately adopt rectification moves has been building up recently.

And Negros Occidental is the province where the call for review has become more strident and have attained a certain urgency.

Dumaguete shootings

As I had earlier noted, Dumaguete City has been gaining notoriety recently as one place where vigilante justice has accounted for several victims. Lately, three local residents, two of them, students, suffered injuries in two shooting incidents.

Sherwin Hayo, 31, and Kenny Anfone, 17, a nursing student of the Silliman University, were gunned down allegedly by two motorcycle riding gunmen in Barangay Poblacion and Dumaguete City Wednesday.

Actually Anfone was hit in his middle right finger by a stray bullet. It seems that the target of the tricycle-riding gunmen was Hayo whom they shot five times.

The other casualty was Rolly Tabales, 17, who was hit by a stray caliber .45 bullet during a mixup between two warring groups. Tabales was hit when three persons inside a closed store fired back at motorcycle riding men who had fired at them. Later, the trio boarded their own motorcycles and roared off also.

Well, that’s what is happening in what used to be a peaceful community. Now, motorcycle-riding gunmen seem to have become the ubiquitous and dangerous presence in Dumaguete.

This calls for a determined crackdown by the police.