Zozobrado bats for cleaner environment, holds Mt. Apo clean-up with SK

Councilor Rachel Zozobrado in coordination with the SALAM-SK led the call to rid Mt. Apo of garbage through the 3rd Mt. Apo Clean-Up Drive from March 31 to April 5, 2008.

Among the participants of the climb and the clean-up are Zozobrado’s staff. former Sangguniang Kabataan chairperson and kagawads, volunteers and out of school youth. Among the goals of the week-long activity are the following: clean up Mt. Apo’s surroundings, maintain a clean and green environment within the mountain and assist the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in its mission to resolve the garbage problem.

“Tourists and mountain climbers can help keep Mt. Apo clean in their own little way especially by not leaving their garbage in the mountain,” Zozobrado said. She said keeping a protected area like Mt. Apo clean and green is a way of helping the government in its sustainable development program.

At 9,690 feet, Mt. Apo is considered the country’s highest peak and is a very attractive site for mountain climbers and tourists who want to take the challenge of climbing the highest mountain in the Philippines.

More than a ton of garbage most of them non-biodegradable materials like liquor bottles, plastics and tin cans have been collected by volunteers during last year’s post-climb clean-up at Mt. Apo last year. Zozobrado said the number continues to grow as more people climb the Mt. Apo Park.

Among those who is very vocal about protecting Mt. Apo is the Mt. Apo Foundation, Inc, headed by Atty. Ermelo Libre. He was one of those responsible for the four-year closure of Mt. Apo in the year 2000 to protect the national park.

Former dad’s legacy lives on
TMC notes higher compliance rate to
Zozobrado’s helmet ordinance

It has been a year on April 26, since former councilor Jesus Zozobrado death. However, his memory lives on thanks to an ordinance he penned which continues to prevent accidents and deaths among the city’s motorists.

“Na notice namo na grabe ang compliance sa helmet ordinance sukad ikompara nato katong wala pa ang ordinansa (we noticed a high compliance rate to the helmet ordinance compared to the time when it has not been approved yet),” Traffic Management Office deputy chief Bibiano Alcuizar said yesterday.

Alcuizar was referring to City Ordinance 0189 which regulates the use of single motorcycles by limiting the number of passengers to only persons including the driver. The same ordinance also required motorcycle drivers and their passenger or backrider to wear the prescribed helmet to prevent death as a result of motorcycle accidents.

Repubic Act 4136 creating the Land Transportation Office already required the wearing of helmets but the law has not really been implemented especially in the third district of Davao where habal-habals ferry as many as five (some more than that) passengers in one motorcycles.

“Mas aware na ang mga tao karon na required gyud sila mag suot ug helmet tungod sa pagsaba-saba ni Zozobrado kaniadto,” Alcuizar said. There are a few who still violate the ordinance “pero grabe gyud ang pagbaba sa violation sa pipila ka tuig,” he added.

Zozobrado’s peers in the city council also miss the bombastic councilor who never let an argument pass if it involves corruption and the welfare of the Dabawenyos. However, the Zozobrado legacy continues to live on not only through his ordinance but also through the presence of his daughter who is now a city councilor and his son Atty. Jesus Zozobrado who is assistant regional director of LTO XI.

“In more ways than one, papa was my hero, the end all and be all of everything I did. I became a lawyer because he was a lawyer. And like him, I also served as a public prosecutor. Now, I am a public official because I want to continue the service he began, continue his legacy. And what a legacy he left us... more precious than any fame or property could ever be,” councilor Rachel Zozobrado said.

Up to the end, she said, the former councilor made his family proud because he has never tarnished the name and reputation he had painstakingly built.

Councilor Rachel Zozobrado, along with the other Davao City Councilors, witnessed the launching of Eden Nature Park's "Tinubdan" last April 10. Tinubdan is Davao City's newest cultural attraction located in Eden Nature Park, Toril.

Tinubdan comes form the root word "tubod" which in the vernacular means source or origin of water. It is Eden's response to the clamor for peace and understanding in a society of mixed cultures and ancestries.

Zozobrado said Tinubdan will hopefully attract more tourists to Davao City. She said it does not only showcase the freshness of Davao's natural resources but it also enables locals and tourists to get a glimpse of Mindanao's customs, traditions and beliefs.

Zozobrado Speaks On Mindanao Alliance Youth Congress

Councilor Rachel Zozobrado commended the organizers of the Mindanao Alliance Youth Congress for providing a forum and bringing youth from different parts of Mindanao together to discuss issues that concern them now and in the future.

"The active participating of our young citizens in this congress is a concrete manifestation of eagerness in pursuit of transformation not just spiritually but holistically ---as what the Christian and Missionary Alliance Churches of the Philippines is aiming for," she said.

Zozobrado, who represented vice mayor Sara Duterte for the Congress opening night last April 7, said the event is an opportunity for the youth express themselves and to stand and shine for something they believe in.

5 of 8 women councilors vote YES to Children’s Dev’t. Plan

Majority of the Davao City women councilors see the Davao City Local Development Plan for Children as beneficial to women and children and to the family as a whole during last Tuesday's session.

This was evident when five of the eight women councilors in the city voted YES to the resolution which was being pushed by councilor Angela Librado despite the opposition of religious groups headed by Archbishop Fernando Capalla. A total of 18 councilors approved the resolution while 2 abstained and four voted yes.

“I voted yes because I believe nothing in the LDPC is against the law, morals and public policy,” councilor Rachel Zozobrado said yesterday. As a public servant, she said, “I have to think of the common good and the adoption of the LDPC will be beneficial to our children and the people of Davao in general.’

Councilor Mabel Sunga-Acosta asked for the deferment of the approval of the resolution saying it would be best to see the final draft including the amendments first before it is put to a vote. “Anyway the deferment will not change the minds of those who have already decided to vote for or against the resolution,” she said.

But when the councilors decided to put the resolution to a vote, Acosta voted yes. The other female councillors who voted yes for the LDPC are councilors Myrna Dalodo-Ortiz, Sudagar, Zozobrado and Librado-Trinidad. Councilors Dante Apostol and Conde Baluran abstained from voting.

The primary oppositors of the resolution are councilors Teresita Mata-Marañon and Pete Laviña, Pilar Braga and Susan Reta.

“The LDPC has a beautiful title but its reproductive flavour make sit objectionable as it involves contraceptives; the policy is destructive and reduces the meaning of sexual act which can lead to sexual promiscuity, abortion and teenage pregnancy,” Mata-Marañon said.

Councilor Pilar Braga said she voted NO “because of my deep Catholic faith.” Laviña said it is a Trojan horse because the reproductive law has failed to be approved in Congress and now they are using the local legislatives to have it approved.

Librado-Trinidad denied all the allegations of the religious groups and even of Archbishop Capalla saying a closer look at the resolution will show that it promotes the role of parenting and the family in moulding the character of the children and it does not promote pre-marital sex.

Davao Farmers Urged To Promote Products Through ALMACEN

Davao City farmers especially those from the third district should take advantage of the facilities available at the Alternative Marketing Center or ALMACEN located in Catalunan Pequeño this city.

The Josefa Segovia Foundation, Inc. has spent P15 million for ALMACEN, which is an alternative marketplace and marketing center for farmers, cooperatives, local government units and people’s organizations in the city

“Farmers can coordinate with ALMACEN or with their cooperatives so they can market their products using ALMACEN’s facilities,” councilor Rachel Zozobrado said. The JSF has been working with the upland farmers for the last 16 years and they know the needs of the farmers well so they can assist them in marketing their products, she added.

Zozobrado said among the problems being faced by farmers from the third district today is transportation and marketing of their produce. If they can take advantage of the assistance being offered by the Foundation in terms of providing transportation and marketing for their products then they would be better off, she added.

ALMACEN opened its doors to the public November last year and JSF is inviting farmers to coordinate with the Foundation and find the best way for them to market their products for free through the center. They have allotted ten market stalls for farmers cooperative and associations as well as people’s organizations. As of now, only one of the stall is being occupied.

Planning is underway to maximize the exposure for farmers’ products that will be displayed in the center. The center is also being eyed as the venue of night markets for selling fresh fruits, livestock, fish, seedlings and even flowers.

DCWD taps Bgy. Cebuda main line
50-year wait for water now over

The long wait for water is now over as residents of Purok 5, Barangay Cebuda in Bago Oshiro, Mintal this city finally saw water oozing from the main water line of the area. This came after the Davao City Water District tapped the main water line last Thursday, March 27.

“The residents of barangay Cebuda can now start applying for their own water connection,” councilor Rachel Zozobrado said yesterday. The construction of the water line was a project was a project of the late councilor Jesus Zozobrado but lack of communication and other problems delayed the full implementation of the project years after it was completed.

Zozobrado, who witnessed DCWD’s tapping of the main water line, said “at long last niagas na gyud ang tubig diri sa Purok 5.”

The project encountered delays after the Bureau of Plant Industries refused to cooperate with the barangay and then accused the residents of the area as squatters. The project was already completed but DCWD earlier refused to activate the main water line sans the payment of the disinfection fee.

Zozobrado however criticized DCWD for not informing them about the fee earlier so as to fasttrack the project. Engineer Rosendo Almonte, chief of DCWD’s Planning and Design Division said they may have been remiss when they failed to include the P11,839.70 disinfection fee in the work program.

“Nalipay gyud mi kay diri na mi nanigulang pero wala pa gyud mi nakabitan ug tubig,” Sitio Cebuda resident Gloria Sarucam said. Sarucam has been living in Purok 5, Barangay Cebuda in Bago Oshiro all her life. She is now 49 years old. Her five children and her several grandchildren were all born, brought up and presently living in the same barangay for several decades already.
Sarucam said the water from the artesian well can only be used for cleaning and washing but not for drinking. “Pero mauga man gud sya (artesian well) kay gamay lang ang tubig unya daghan pa gyud linta nga musaka kung maugahan (water from the artesian well easily dries up and lots of leech come out of the well when the water is too low) ” she added.

With the activation of the main water line and the possibility of their applications being approved by DCWD, Sarucam and the other residents of Purok 5 no longer have to buy water at P1.50 per container per gallon.

Zozobrado said it is high time that the people of Purok 5, Sitio Cebuda are given a chance to be able to get their own water lines for the first time in 50 years.