Mayor approves takeover of port
BREDCO TO SUE CITY OFFICIALS
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced yesterday that he has approved City Ordinance No. 454 or the “takeover ordinance” involving the seaport operations and the unfinished portion of the reclamation project at the reclamation area in Bacolod City .

In approving C.O. No. 454 dated Dec. 19, 2007 , Leonardia said the proposal for the takeover of the management and operation of the port was anchored, firstly, on the various violations by the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. of the Comprehensive Revised Reclamation agreement it had entered into with the city, which violations have remained uncorrected until today.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said he is meeting with top officials of Air Philippines in Manila today to explore the possibility of reopening the Bacolod Airport .

Leonardia had earlier said that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gave a nod to his appeal for the retention and reopening of the airport during the League of Cities of the Philippines meeting in Manila Monday where she had joined them.

He said that when he presented to the President, in the presence of other mayors, the appeal for the retention or reopening of the Bacolod Airport for general aviation, a possible flying school and even for commercial operation, like allowing one airline to operate, she agreed that it is possible.

A very rare parasitic flowering plant, Rafflesia speciosa, which is a member of the family of the world's largest flower, has been discovered in the 169-has. Mt. Kanlaon Natural Park buffer zone, a Philippine National Oil Co.-Energy Development Corp. commissioned study released yesterday showed.

“The species is the first record of this unique genus is the island (of Negros ),” the PNOC-EDC commissioned Maunsell Philippines Inc. Biodiversity Study furnished the DAILY STAR said.

“The genus Rafflesia is very rare and can only be seen in the forests of Panay, Palawan , Makiling and Banahaw,” the study said.