The DAILY STAR's choice of Newsmaker of the Year for 2006 is a Bacoleño who has relentlessly worked to rally people here and abroad to build houses for the poor in Negros and the rest of the country.

He is Antonio Meloto, executive director of Gawad Kalinga, who in 2006 received the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia's equivalent to the Nobel peace prize.

He also received the first Haydee Yorac Award in 2006 and his home city gave him the "Dungganon nga Bacolodnon" award in October.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation honored Meloto, 56, and the charity he leads called Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, both for community leadership.

Meloto called his Ramon Magsaysay Award "a celebration of ordinary Filipinos who have found their strength, their voice and their power because they have decided to stop blaming one another and decided instead to work together" to build houses for the poor.

"Gawad Kalinga is a concrete, everyday expression of people power on the ground. This country is being transformed community after community, town after town, through multi-sectoral cooperation following the path of peace.

"It is the bayanihan spirit that is moving Filipinos all over the world to re-connect with their motherland and help the towns and provinces where they come from," he said.

The challenge, he said, is to bring the Philippines out of poverty from 400 years of feudalism that has rendered 70 percent of its people landless -- depriving them of dignity, security and the motivation to aspire for a better quality of life.

"We also face the challenge of liberating our people from the slave mentality borne out of our colonial past, and of restoring their self-respect and confidence to succeed and live with dignity in our own country and anywhere in the world," he said.

The Haydee Yorac award, a project of Meralco and the University of the Philippines, has also cited Meloto for his outstanding visionary leadership and compelling philosophy inspiring a pioneering sustainable movement of volunteerism to eradicate poverty, through the Gawad Kalinga community development ministry.

Meloto was also cited for "giving hope and dignity to marginalized Filipino families by building homes and model communities in the Filipino spirit of bayanihan, emulating selfless public service espoused by the late Haydee Yorac".

Meloto was born on Jan. 17, 1950 to a low middle class family in Bacolod City.

At a young age, he said, he was exposed to the squalid living conditions of the poor, his home being very near a shoreline squatter community where poverty was already very pronounced, even in the 1950s.

He used to walk to the public school, Rizal Elementary School, where he graduated in 1962 as the class valedictorian.

He continued his education at the Negros Occidental High School, where he graduated in 1966 as the class salutatorian and president of the NOHS Student Council.

He also became an American Field Service scholar, where he was able to repeat his senior high school year in De Anza High School in Richmond, California, and later qualified as a full academic scholar of the Ateneo de Manila University.

But the turning point in Meloto's life came in 1985, he said, when he was renewed in his faith at 35, through the Couples for Christ.

Meloto was instrumental in the setting up of the CFC Family Ministries in 1993, expanding the ministry's reach to include, not just couples, but the youth and the singles as well

. It was during his assignment as the country coordinator for Australia that he heard the Lord's call to start the work with the poor through a youth program in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City spearheaded by ANCOP Foundation International, he said. Since it began in 1995, the program has now evolved to become Gawad Kalinga, a movement that builds integrated, holistic and sustainable communities in depressed areas.

Tony is married to the former Lyn Dizon, and they have five children - Anna, Amalia, Jay, Camille and Celine. *

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2006: A year of strife
and bayanihan spirit

In 2006, Negrenses battled against threats to nature, witnessed strife on the national and home front, and prayed for the safety of their provincemates as war raged in Lebanon.

But not all was grim - the battle to save the shores of Western Visayas from the MT Solar 1 oil spill saw the people of the region unite to save the environment, and hope for a more robust sugarcane industry for Negros looms in the horizon.

The Bioefuels Act was finally passed by both houses of Congress and is expected to spur investments in ethanol production and boost Negros' economy. In 2006 Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon also saw to the construction of a new provincial hospital in Silay City and the upgrading of several other health facilities, while in Bacolod City Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia has began the ground work for the construction of a government center. The city also saw the coming in of several call centers that provided jobs for hundreds of workers.

Your DAILY STAR staff, in keeping with tradition, voted the following the top 10 newsmakers of 2006 in Negros Occidental:

THE GUIMARAS OIL SPILL

The sinking of MT Solar 1 carrying 2 million liters of Petron bunker fuel off the coast of Guimaras on August 11 in stormy weather is the DAILY STAR staff's choice as the number one newsmaker of the year.

The battle to save the shores of Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros from oil slick hogged the headlines of local and national media outlets, and made it to the international news.

The biggest oil spill disaster to hit the Philippines reached the coasts of Guimaras and some parts of Iloilo and threatened Negros Occidental.

A daily watch of the oil spill threat ensued as local governments and communities pooled resources to prepare for the worst. Even school children donated their hair to the cause of keeping the slick from hitting coastlines.

Local governments declared states of calamity to mobilize resources and President Gloria Arroyo visited Guimaras three times to make sure action was being taken, with Presidential Adviser Rafael Coscolluela appointed as ground commander.

As 2006 drew to a close, some Guimaras residents called for a boycott of Petron products until the oil firm completes the clean-up of areas contaminated by the oil sludge.

The siphoning of the remaining bunker fuel in MT Solar 1 is expected to take place early in 2007 yet.*CPG

CHA-CHA AND OTHER PROTESTS

The year that passed was yet another banner year for protests against various moves made by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The latest of them was the Church-led protests against moves by the House to amend the Constitution through a Constituent Assembly, that forced the Arroyo administration to hold back on its moves for now.

Surmounting charges of electoral fraud, impeachment and "jueteng" protection linked to her family in 2005, Arroyo began 2006 with a push for Cha-cha through a people's initiative. However, when the Supreme Court ruled against it, the Lower House shifted to ConAss, but could not get the support of the Senate.

Protests were also staged to oppose a feared cancellation of the May elections this year.

As of year's end, Arroyo had not given up on Cha-cha, but said it will be done at a time acceptable to the people.

In 2006 Arroyo was also faced with protests for her declaration of a of a state of national emergency amid fears of another martial law, clampdown on the media, and so-called Calibrated Preemptive Response.*GCT

3. WNC NURSES

In 2006, the College of Nursing of West Negros College hogged the limelight after the Professional Regulation Commission and the Board of Nursing withheld the results of 599 of its graduates who took the December 2005 Nurse Licensure Examination for alleged course overloading, or letting examinees to take more courses than allowed per semester.

In response, the examinees, who came from various places in the Visayas, then filed charges against the BON and PRC before the courts in Iloilo, Bacolod and Cebu and the Court of Appeals for mandamus.

Congressmen, many of whom were from Western Visayas, put pressure during the House hearing of the PRC and BON budgets, prompting their officials to agree to the release the board examination results of the 599 WNC graduates, showing that 476 of them passed. By the last week of March, the passers were able to take their oath in Iloilo and Bacolod after undergoing oral assessments conducted by BON officials.

In late November, DAILY STAR reported that the BON had dismissed the administrative charges it filed against the 473 WNC examinees.

But BON Resolution No. 36, approved by the PRC, said prosecution of the charge against the WNC College of Nursing dean shall be continued.

The nursing board examinations were also rocked by charges of cheating in the latter part of 2006.*NLG

4 POLITICAL KILLININGS Extra-judicial killings also took place in Negros Occidental in 2006.

Human rights groups and their allied organizations claimed that 17 of their members were victims of political killings, while three others had gone missing from 2001 up to 2006. +

+++ The alleged political killings and enforced disappearances were immediately blamed by Karapatan- Negros on the military and the government as a whole, as well as on the breakaway Revolutionary Proletarian Army rebel faction.

There are currently 797 victims of political killings nationwide, including Negros, and 206 others have disappeared, the newly-formed group in Negros calling itself HUSTISYA claims

However, the Melo Commission, a fact-finding body created by President Arroyo to investigate extra-judicial killings and other related violence in the country, which held a hearing in November in Bacolod City, said majority of the killings in Negros were related to agrarian reform disputes.

The agrarian-reform related violence, that claimed the lives of four Task Force Mapalad organizers in 2006 is expected to continue, unless the government, landowners and beneficiaries work hand-in-hand for the successful implementation of the program.

Military and police officials have also claimed that some of the killings may have been the handiwork of the New People's Army.

Police records also showed that the NPA hit squads assassinated two policemen, two Army soldiers, 10 civilians, and two barangay officials, suspected to be military informants last year.*GPB

5 COPS ORDERED ARRESTED

Also hogging the headlines in 2006 was the order for the arrest of six policemen linked to the death of barangay captain Eleuterio Salabas who, as of press time, remain at large.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez had ordered the filing of an amended information for kidnapping with murder against six policemen, a Bacolod businessman, and nine others who are charged for the kidnapping with murder of Salabas.

Salabas, former barangay captain of Pahanocoy in Bacolod City, Maiximo Lomoljo and Ricardo Suganob were abducted in Bacolod City on Aug. 2003 and killed, court records showed.

The bodies of Suganob, training director of the Cagayan Capitol Institute for Maritime Education, and Lomoljo, companions of Salabass were later found in Bago City and Pulupandan where they had been dumped.

The decomposing body of Salabas was found weeks later floating in the waters between Ajuy, Iloilo, and Manapla, Negros Occidental.

Charged are Chief Insp. Clarence Dongail, Chief Insp. Jimmy Fortaleza, Senior Insp. Jonathan Lorilla, SPO2 Freddie Natividad, PO2 Allen Winston Hulleza and PO1 Bernardo Cimatu, businessman Manolo Escalante, Ronnie Herrera, July Flores alias Kirhat dela Rosa, Carlo delos Santos alias Caloy, Lorraine Abay alias Lulu, Mamerto, Elma, Elson, all surnamed Cañete, Jude Montilla and Ramonito Estanislao.

No bail has been set for the accused

. Fortaleza, Lorilla, Cimatu and Natividad members of the Bacolod City police office, have been dropped from the PNP rolls

On Nov. 7, Raymond Sombero, 28, of Brgy. Sum-ag, Bacolod City, and an alleged "vital witness" in the kidnapping and murder case, claimed he was bribed and threatened to sign a supplemental affidavit against the 16 accused.

On Dec. 8, Louie Gersaneba, a key witness in the kidnap-murder of Salabas and two others, retracted his claim that the six policemen and 10 civilians were responsible for the crime. Gersaneba said the affidavit he signed was "scripted" and contained "false accusations".*DMG

6 BREDCO AND THE GOV'T CENTER

At the start of 2006 the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod members were at odds with the executive branch over the Bacolod Reclamation and Development Corporation issue, but towards the end of the year they supported the Mayor in pursuing the government center project for Bacolod City.

The members of the SP were divided on the issue of the city government taking over the management and operation of the Bacolod port after Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia decided on Oct. 12, 2005 that the takeover should be vigorously pursued if a qualified renegotiation with BREDCO failed.

The majority members who were against it said the ordaining of an extrajudicial takeover through an ordinance or executive order will drag the city into a long-drawn out legal battle, the minority in favor said the city has to protect its rights, including its rights of ownership over the reclamation project, port and port operations at the reclamation area of Bacolod City.

They said they believe takeover is the only option left to the city after BREDCO delegated or transferred its franchise or privilege over the port to Top Harbor, which is not a party to the contract between the city, BREDCO and the Philippine Estates Authority.

After months of looking for an appropriate site for the construction of a government building that could house all the offices of the Bacolod City government, now scattered in various areas, the search ended with the offer to donate, and the acceptance by the City Council, of a 5,000-sq.m. lot worth P140 million by its owners, the heirs of the late Fernando F. Gonzaga.

Despite having approved the donation and the proposal to borrow P400 million from the LandBank of the Philippines to finance its construction, the Sangguniang Panlungsod members could not decide after several hearings on whether to approve the awarding of the project to the winning bidder, Hilmarc's Construction, or to authorize the mayor to seek the loan from the LandBank for the project. Political affiliations were suspected to be the reasons behind the hesitations.

Before yearend, however, the SP granted Mayor Evelio Leonardia authority to sign the contract with Hilmarc's and the winning bidder was issued a notice to proceed Thursday by Leonardia after the SP also ratified the contract he had signed with the company.

Work was started at the site Thursday last week to comply with the stipulation in the deed of donation of the property that the project must commence before the Dec. 31, 2006 deadline.*CGS

7 SILAY AIRPORT ATTACK

Government officials were caught flat-footed in the raid and bombing on Oct. 12 of the airport of international standards being constructed in Silay City , Negros Occidental, one of the priority mega region projects of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, by the New People's Army.

The story drew local, national and international news coverage.

The security arrangement of Silay airport was described even by Region 6 police director Geary Barias as "inadequate", bolstering reports that there was no security plan for one of the most vital government installations in Western Visayas .

As expected, local and national government officials as well the Diocese of Bacolod deplored the attack, which was perpetrated by about 30 New People's Army rebels, for failure of the airport contractors - Takenaka Itochu Joint Ventures and Hanjin International- to pay revolutionary taxes, although the amount being demanded has not been determined yet.

Estimated damage was placed by authorities between P30 million to P50 million.

The airport attack, which was justified by priest-turned-rebel Frank Fernandez, was preceded by two other separate assaults of a police outpost in Brgy. Malasibog, Escalante City on March 19, where the insurgents carted away nine high-powered firearms from policemen and militiamen without a firing a single shot.*GPB

8 A TEACHER'S UNTIMELY DEATH

Schoolteacher Augusto de Leon was killed and three others were injured when two teenagers, one of them a Negros Occidental board member, allegedly "drag-raced" down Lacson Street in Bacolod City at about 10:20 p.m. on July 21, drawing extensive media coverage.

De Leon, 40, a grade school teacher at St. Scholastica's Academy and a teacher at the St. Joseph's High School, was on his way home when the Honda Civic of Sangguniang Kabataan representative Lorenzo Suatengco, 19, hit a passenger jeepney in turn, causing it to bump the motorcycle he was driving.

Bacolod City Prosecutor Emmanuel Lope Lupisan had filed a criminal case for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide against Suatengco and the 17-year-old boy before the Regional Trial Court of Negros Occidental on Sept. 26. The case was raffled off to the sala of Judge Philadelfa Agraviador of Branch 43 of the Regional Trial Court in Bacolod City that has been designated as a Family Court.

Meanwhile, the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod had unanimously passed a resolution banning car or drag-racing activities in Bacolod City.*DMG

9 ETHANOL GETS A BOOST

Year 2006 saw the heightened campaign for the use of alternative fuels particularly ethanol and other biofuels to enable the country to reduce its dependence on imported oil and save billions in foreign exchange.

A month before the year ended, both the House and the Senate passed the long-awaited Biofuels Act of 2006 that mandates the use of bio-fuels by blending five percent bio-ethanol with gasoline within two years from the law's effectivity and one percent bio-diesel within three months from its taking into effect.

Legislators lauded the passage of the bill and said it will hasten and boost the multi-billion dollar ethanol industry that will benefit Negros Occidental and the rest of the country, and also it "a pro-farmer, pro-consumer, pro-economy and pro- people law that is good for Negros being a sugarcane producing province, and major source of ethanol in the future.

Twelve new ethanol plants, four of which are expected in Western Visayas, are being proposed, including the San Carlos Bio Energy Inc. plant in San Carlos City in northern Negros Occidental.

Plans are also underway for the building of an ethanol plant in Murcia and another in Kabankalan City.

Chinese investors visited Negros Occidental in early December to look at potential sites for the setting up of two ethanol plants targeted for construction next year and for the operations to begin in mid 2008.

The plant proposed in the Murcia area is expected to produce about 120,000 liters of ethanol a day, while the one in the Kabankalan area is seen to produce 150,000 liters of ethanol a day.*NLG

10 NEGRENSES CAUGHT IN A WAR

Hundreds of Negrense Overseas Filipino Workers in Lebanon were evacuated when the Hezbollah-Israeli war broke out early in July 2006, and news of their plight along with OFWS from other parts of the countries made the news for weeks.

Those left in Lebanon sought refuge at the Our Lady of Miraculous Medal Church in Sassine, Beirut, while some were not released by their employers in for that something might happen to them, unless they are fetched by people from the Philippine Embassy.

One OFW from Bacolod City sustained a leg injury after jumping out from the window of the apartment of her employer to escape.

Negrenses in Lebanon were split over whether to come home or not with some fearing for their lives and others saying they were living away from danger areas and wanted to continue to work there.

Most of those who decided to come home said they did not want to return to Lebanon while others said they still want to work abroad but in another country.

The Negros Occidental and Bacolod City governments set up free hotline services for the families of the OFW's in Lebanon to allow them to call their loved ones to find out how they were.*CGS

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