By Jani Arnaiz
Inquirer Visayas
MAASIN CITY, Philippines—Businessmen joined government officials in collecting garbage that has affected the coral reefs in Padre Burgos town in Southern Leyte on Saturday.
The clean-up drive, held amid heavy rain, was initiated by the Southern Leyte Chamber of Commerce (SLCC). It aimed to create awareness among residents about the importance of proper disposal of their garbage to protect the coral reefs that have provided the town with 30 dive sites.
Robert Castañares, chamber president, said the campaign was also part of the organization’s tourism program.
“We didn’t know how serious it (garbage problem) was until former PNP (Philippine National Police) chief Jesus Verzosa called our attention,” he said. “Verzosa was dismayed because he saw a lot of garbage like plastic bags and bottles in the coral reefs unlike two years ago.”
About 300 sacks of garbage were collected from the shoreline and shallow waters, Castañares said.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Sunday, March 27, 2011
What to eye for in a farm estate
March 11, 2011 20:15:00
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Manila, Philippines—For hobbyists, serious farmers and retirees who need to shake off that sedentary lifestyle, what should be their guide in shopping for farm lots, now that these are sprouting like mushrooms all over the land?
Let’s ask the experts.
“Farm estates successfully integrate man-made, low-density development with the natural features of the site,” said Amado de Jesus, founding chair of the Philippines Green Architecture Movement. He added, “These are much more sensitive than regular land developments like subdivisions. Waterways, old growth forests, including indigenous wildlife must be respected and preserved while providing modern facilities.”
For agri-idealists, all farm practices should be ecologically sound. Bangon Kalikasan president Joey Papa said the basic things to ask and do when on the lookout for farm lots would be:
1) Does the development espouse organic farming?
2) Is rain harvesting done to avoid the overconsumption of water, especially for the farm?
3) Are there alternative sources of energy (such as the sun) for the farms and houses?
4) Is there an Estate Ecology Center or a similar establishment to manage solid waste?
5) Did the developer uproot or cut existing trees (a no-no) instead of planting additional ones?
Green Architecture Advocacy Philippines Chair Ega Reformado advised that one should take into consideration:
1) the development’s accessibility;
2) sewer system and drainage;
3) the type of fertilizer to be supplied (must be nontoxic, natural);
4) the power supply;
5) the sustainability of the development;
6) use of local materials and labor;
7) design of farm houses (should be “green”);
8) the community interaction; and,
9) recycling practices.
Inquirer Property, in 2010, cited 12 things to look for in a farm estate.
These are:
1) Fertile and tillable soil, preferably the clay loam to loamy soil type;
2) Available water (river, irrigation system, shallow or deep wells or rainwater ponds);
3) Accessibility, via a farm-to-market road;
4) Available power or electricity source;
5) Peaceful, environment-conscious community;
6) Land that is legally titled, and properly classified to become agricultural estate, and not those with agrarian disputes.
7) Sustainable if not fully organic farming technologies and best practices in organic inputs and materials production as well as the whole gamut of the value chain from preproduction to production up to postharvest, processing, handling and distribution and/or sales of produce;
8) Stress-free farm environment;
9) Avoid typhoon-prone areas where flooding is likely to occur;
10) Location. Metro Manila-based professionals can choose farm estates near the National Capital Region, such as Batangas, Rizal, Laguna or neighboring northern provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bataan and Pangasinan, including Zambales and Nueva Ecija;
11) Know if a particular area is prone to soil runoff;
12) Farm estates should be in an area with a strong civil society—strong enough to oppose irresponsible land developers. Tessa Salazar
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Manila, Philippines—For hobbyists, serious farmers and retirees who need to shake off that sedentary lifestyle, what should be their guide in shopping for farm lots, now that these are sprouting like mushrooms all over the land?
Let’s ask the experts.
“Farm estates successfully integrate man-made, low-density development with the natural features of the site,” said Amado de Jesus, founding chair of the Philippines Green Architecture Movement. He added, “These are much more sensitive than regular land developments like subdivisions. Waterways, old growth forests, including indigenous wildlife must be respected and preserved while providing modern facilities.”
For agri-idealists, all farm practices should be ecologically sound. Bangon Kalikasan president Joey Papa said the basic things to ask and do when on the lookout for farm lots would be:
1) Does the development espouse organic farming?
2) Is rain harvesting done to avoid the overconsumption of water, especially for the farm?
3) Are there alternative sources of energy (such as the sun) for the farms and houses?
4) Is there an Estate Ecology Center or a similar establishment to manage solid waste?
5) Did the developer uproot or cut existing trees (a no-no) instead of planting additional ones?
Green Architecture Advocacy Philippines Chair Ega Reformado advised that one should take into consideration:
1) the development’s accessibility;
2) sewer system and drainage;
3) the type of fertilizer to be supplied (must be nontoxic, natural);
4) the power supply;
5) the sustainability of the development;
6) use of local materials and labor;
7) design of farm houses (should be “green”);
8) the community interaction; and,
9) recycling practices.
Inquirer Property, in 2010, cited 12 things to look for in a farm estate.
These are:
1) Fertile and tillable soil, preferably the clay loam to loamy soil type;
2) Available water (river, irrigation system, shallow or deep wells or rainwater ponds);
3) Accessibility, via a farm-to-market road;
4) Available power or electricity source;
5) Peaceful, environment-conscious community;
6) Land that is legally titled, and properly classified to become agricultural estate, and not those with agrarian disputes.
7) Sustainable if not fully organic farming technologies and best practices in organic inputs and materials production as well as the whole gamut of the value chain from preproduction to production up to postharvest, processing, handling and distribution and/or sales of produce;
8) Stress-free farm environment;
9) Avoid typhoon-prone areas where flooding is likely to occur;
10) Location. Metro Manila-based professionals can choose farm estates near the National Capital Region, such as Batangas, Rizal, Laguna or neighboring northern provinces of Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Bataan and Pangasinan, including Zambales and Nueva Ecija;
11) Know if a particular area is prone to soil runoff;
12) Farm estates should be in an area with a strong civil society—strong enough to oppose irresponsible land developers. Tessa Salazar
Monday, March 14, 2011
PH nuclear proponents abandon position
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Jocelyn R. Uy, Tonette Orejas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—Proponents of nuclear power in the Philippines are reversing their position following partial meltdowns at two nuclear reactors in northeast Japan as a result of an 8.9-magnitude earthquake on Friday that spawned a massive tsunami.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said he had favored nuclear energy before because of high power rates in the country and because he had believed that the risks of nuclear energy could be managed.
“But now, the sheer fact that our country is situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire like Japan has settled the debate in my mind—no more to nuke plant,” Salceda said.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said the situation in Japan vindicated Catholic bishops in opposing repeated proposals either to revive the mothballed nuclear power plant in Morong, Bataan, or to develop a plant elsewhere.
“What is happening now in Japan confirmed our previous and present fears [about nuclear power plants],” Iñiguez said Sunday on the sidelines of the Church’s 25th celebration of National Migrants’ Day in Pasay City.
President Benigno Aquino III’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, ordered the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) project mothballed in 1986 due to safety issues and irregularities that attended its funding and construction.
Early last year, the Pangasinan provincial board endorsed a proposal by then Rep. Mark Cojuangco for the province to host two nuclear power plants.
In pushing for the building of a nuclear plant in the province, Cojuangco said it would push Pangasinan’s progress and lower its electricity rates.
Other nuclear power advocates made their voices heard last year after the country felt the initial symptoms of a power shortfall that could worsen in the next 50 years.
Former Sen. Manuel Roxas II, the Aquino administration’s “troubleshooter,” expressed interest in tapping nuclear power for the country when he was campaigning for vice president in the May 2010 elections.
Roxas said then that he would support studies on how the country could benefit from building a nuclear power plant and rehabilitating the BNPP.
But Iñiguez said government officials must closely follow the developments in Japan, where a nuclear plant operator in Fukushima Daiichi was scrambling to avert meltdowns in other reactors.
“They must study and intently follow what is going on with Japan’s nuclear plant now and consider what could happen if we have that kind of problem in our country,” he said.
Thousands of residents living near the nuclear plant have been evacuated after the cooling system of one of the reactors was damaged by the temblor that spawned a tsunami that wiped out towns and killed hundreds of people in Japan’s northeastern coast.
Rethink nuke proposal
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said the situation in Japan should force a rethinking of the nuclear proposal.
“While there is a need to address the issue of power supply, the safety considerations should be paramount and should not be compromised,” he said.
Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez said the damage on the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant would serve as a strong argument against the activation of the BNPP.
Buhay party-list Rep. Irwin Tieng said the damage to the reactors had put into question the safety record of Japan’s nuclear plants.
“We have to decide what to do with the BNPP as soon as possible. Our inability to offer cheap electricity has kept investors away but safety remains a priority issue that must be addressed,” Tieng said.
Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy said the earthquake tragedy in Japan proved to be the strongest argument against attempts by some sectors to revive the BNPP.
Dy pointed that since the proponents of nuclear power had pointed to Japan as the model to prove the safety nuclear power, the explosion in one of its nuclear reactors showed that this assumption was false.
She said Congress should put on the back burner all proposals for the revival of the BNPP.
The House committee on energy is set to tackle a proposal by Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, wife of Mark, to conduct a validation process that would determine whether the Philippines should go nuclear in its search for additional power supply.
Asked what Malacañang thought of proposals for the country to go nuclear, President Aquino’s deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, Sunday said it was better to look at proposals for alternative fuels that were “less controversial and with less opposition.”
No to BNPP
In the City of San Fernando in Pampanga, the Nuclear-Free Bataan Movement-Network (NFBM-Net) renewed calls to the President to reject proposals to revive the BNPP.
Lawyer Dante Ilaya, NFBM-Net chair, said the administration and proponents of the rehabilitation of the nuclear plant should learn from the disaster that struck Japan.
“The devastating earthquake in Japan should open our eyes to the reality that the Philippines is not a safe place for nuclear [power] plants,” Ilaya told the Inquirer by telephone.
Ilaya is one of the first antinuclear activists who resisted the project that began in Morong, Bataan, in the 1970s.
“Our country is often visited by earthquakes and we do not have the technology to prevent a nuclear disaster in case of a strong earthquake. Japan, despite being industrialized, turns out to be helpless against it,” he said in a statement.
In the same statement, Msgr. Antonio Dumaual, NFBM-Net co-chair, urged the government to go for clean energy from renewable sources, such as solar power.
Ilaya and Dumaual called on the government to dismantle the BNPP, to stop calls to rehabilitate and operate the facility and to address the power shortage in the country.
In July 2009, Kelvin Rodolfo, a Filipino-American geologist, drummed up support for a detailed hazard assessment by Mahar Lagmay and Fernando Siringan on Mt. Natib where the BNPP was closely built. With a report from Christine O. Avendaño
When in Cebu City, please visit also gregmelep.com for your retirement and real estate needs.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines—Proponents of nuclear power in the Philippines are reversing their position following partial meltdowns at two nuclear reactors in northeast Japan as a result of an 8.9-magnitude earthquake on Friday that spawned a massive tsunami.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said he had favored nuclear energy before because of high power rates in the country and because he had believed that the risks of nuclear energy could be managed.
“But now, the sheer fact that our country is situated in the Pacific Ring of Fire like Japan has settled the debate in my mind—no more to nuke plant,” Salceda said.
Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said the situation in Japan vindicated Catholic bishops in opposing repeated proposals either to revive the mothballed nuclear power plant in Morong, Bataan, or to develop a plant elsewhere.
“What is happening now in Japan confirmed our previous and present fears [about nuclear power plants],” Iñiguez said Sunday on the sidelines of the Church’s 25th celebration of National Migrants’ Day in Pasay City.
President Benigno Aquino III’s mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, ordered the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) project mothballed in 1986 due to safety issues and irregularities that attended its funding and construction.
Early last year, the Pangasinan provincial board endorsed a proposal by then Rep. Mark Cojuangco for the province to host two nuclear power plants.
In pushing for the building of a nuclear plant in the province, Cojuangco said it would push Pangasinan’s progress and lower its electricity rates.
Other nuclear power advocates made their voices heard last year after the country felt the initial symptoms of a power shortfall that could worsen in the next 50 years.
Former Sen. Manuel Roxas II, the Aquino administration’s “troubleshooter,” expressed interest in tapping nuclear power for the country when he was campaigning for vice president in the May 2010 elections.
Roxas said then that he would support studies on how the country could benefit from building a nuclear power plant and rehabilitating the BNPP.
But Iñiguez said government officials must closely follow the developments in Japan, where a nuclear plant operator in Fukushima Daiichi was scrambling to avert meltdowns in other reactors.
“They must study and intently follow what is going on with Japan’s nuclear plant now and consider what could happen if we have that kind of problem in our country,” he said.
Thousands of residents living near the nuclear plant have been evacuated after the cooling system of one of the reactors was damaged by the temblor that spawned a tsunami that wiped out towns and killed hundreds of people in Japan’s northeastern coast.
Rethink nuke proposal
Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said the situation in Japan should force a rethinking of the nuclear proposal.
“While there is a need to address the issue of power supply, the safety considerations should be paramount and should not be compromised,” he said.
Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez said the damage on the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant would serve as a strong argument against the activation of the BNPP.
Buhay party-list Rep. Irwin Tieng said the damage to the reactors had put into question the safety record of Japan’s nuclear plants.
“We have to decide what to do with the BNPP as soon as possible. Our inability to offer cheap electricity has kept investors away but safety remains a priority issue that must be addressed,” Tieng said.
Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy said the earthquake tragedy in Japan proved to be the strongest argument against attempts by some sectors to revive the BNPP.
Dy pointed that since the proponents of nuclear power had pointed to Japan as the model to prove the safety nuclear power, the explosion in one of its nuclear reactors showed that this assumption was false.
She said Congress should put on the back burner all proposals for the revival of the BNPP.
The House committee on energy is set to tackle a proposal by Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, wife of Mark, to conduct a validation process that would determine whether the Philippines should go nuclear in its search for additional power supply.
Asked what Malacañang thought of proposals for the country to go nuclear, President Aquino’s deputy spokesperson, Abigail Valte, Sunday said it was better to look at proposals for alternative fuels that were “less controversial and with less opposition.”
No to BNPP
In the City of San Fernando in Pampanga, the Nuclear-Free Bataan Movement-Network (NFBM-Net) renewed calls to the President to reject proposals to revive the BNPP.
Lawyer Dante Ilaya, NFBM-Net chair, said the administration and proponents of the rehabilitation of the nuclear plant should learn from the disaster that struck Japan.
“The devastating earthquake in Japan should open our eyes to the reality that the Philippines is not a safe place for nuclear [power] plants,” Ilaya told the Inquirer by telephone.
Ilaya is one of the first antinuclear activists who resisted the project that began in Morong, Bataan, in the 1970s.
“Our country is often visited by earthquakes and we do not have the technology to prevent a nuclear disaster in case of a strong earthquake. Japan, despite being industrialized, turns out to be helpless against it,” he said in a statement.
In the same statement, Msgr. Antonio Dumaual, NFBM-Net co-chair, urged the government to go for clean energy from renewable sources, such as solar power.
Ilaya and Dumaual called on the government to dismantle the BNPP, to stop calls to rehabilitate and operate the facility and to address the power shortage in the country.
In July 2009, Kelvin Rodolfo, a Filipino-American geologist, drummed up support for a detailed hazard assessment by Mahar Lagmay and Fernando Siringan on Mt. Natib where the BNPP was closely built. With a report from Christine O. Avendaño
When in Cebu City, please visit also gregmelep.com for your retirement and real estate needs.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
US experts fear 'Chernobyl-like' crisis for Japan
By Ken Maguire
Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON – US nuclear experts warned Saturday that pumping sea water to cool a quake-hit Japanese nuclear reactor was an "act of desperation" that may foreshadow a Chernobyl-like disaster.
Several experts, in a conference call with reporters, also predicted that regardless of the outcome at the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant crisis, the accident will seriously damage the nuclear power renaissance.
"The situation has become desperate enough that they apparently don't have the capability to deliver fresh water or plain water to cool the reactor and stabilize it, and now, in an act of desperation, are having to resort to diverting and using sea water," said Robert Alvarez, who works on nuclear disarmament at the Institute for Policy Studies.
"I would describe this measure as a 'Hail Mary' pass," added Alvarez, using American football slang for a final effort to win the game as time expires.
An 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on Friday set off the emergency at the plant, which was then hit by an explosion Saturday that prompted an evacuation of the surrounding area.
Workers doused the stricken reactor with sea water to try to avert catastrophe, after the quake knocked out power to the cooling system.
What occurred at the plant was a "station blackout," which is the loss of offsite air-conditioning power combined with the failure of onsite power, in this case diesel generators.
"It is considered to be extremely unlikely but the station blackout has been one of the great concerns for decades," said Ken Bergeron, a physicist who has worked on nuclear reactor accident simulation.
"We're in uncharted territory," he said.
The reactor has been shut down but the concern is the heat in the core, which can melt if it's not cooled.
If the core melts through the reactor vessel, Bergeron explained, it could flow onto the floor of thecontainment building. If that happens, the structure likely will fail, the experts said.
"The containment building at this plant is certainly stronger than that at Chernobyl but a lot less strong than at Three Mile Island, so time will tell," he said.
Peter Bradford, former head of the US NuclearRegulatory Commission, said that if the cooling attempts fail, "at that point it's a Chernobyl-like situation where you start dumping in sand and cement."
The two worst nuclear accidents on record are the1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine and the partialcore meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in the US state of Pennsylvania in 1979.
Another expert said the Japanese accident will rank as one of the three worst in history.
"If it continues, if they don't get control of this and... we go from a partial meltdown of the core to a full meltdown, this will be a complete disaster," Joseph Cirincione, the head of the Ploughshares Fund, said in an interview on CNN.
Cirincione faulted Japanese authorities for providing partial and conflicting information about what was happening at the plant.
Cirincione said the presence of radioactive cesium in the atmosphere after the plant was vented indicated that a partial meltdown was underway.
"That told the operators that the fuel rods had been exposed, that the water level had dropped below the fuel rods and the fuel rods were starting to burn, releasing cesium," he said.
Japan's nuclear safety agency rated the Fukushima accident at four on the International Nuclear Event Scale from 0 to 7, meaning an accident "with local consequences," an official said Sunday.
The Three Mile Island accident was rated five while Chernobyl was a seven.
The government declared an atomic emergency and said tens of thousands of people living within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the plant should leave after an explosion at the nuclear plant Saturday.
"This is obviously a significant setback for the so-called nuclear renaissance," said Bradford, the former NRCcommissioner.
"The image of a nuclear power plant blowing up before your eyes on the television screen is a first."
But a spokesman for the World Nuclear Association said in an interview with CBS News that the threat of a full meltdown is minimal.
"I think that possibility is remote at the best of times and is diminishing by the hour as the fuel gets cooler and generates less heat," said Ian Hore-Lacy, spokesman for the industry organization.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer:
Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON – US nuclear experts warned Saturday that pumping sea water to cool a quake-hit Japanese nuclear reactor was an "act of desperation" that may foreshadow a Chernobyl-like disaster.
Several experts, in a conference call with reporters, also predicted that regardless of the outcome at the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant crisis, the accident will seriously damage the nuclear power renaissance.
"The situation has become desperate enough that they apparently don't have the capability to deliver fresh water or plain water to cool the reactor and stabilize it, and now, in an act of desperation, are having to resort to diverting and using sea water," said Robert Alvarez, who works on nuclear disarmament at the Institute for Policy Studies.
"I would describe this measure as a 'Hail Mary' pass," added Alvarez, using American football slang for a final effort to win the game as time expires.
An 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck Japan on Friday set off the emergency at the plant, which was then hit by an explosion Saturday that prompted an evacuation of the surrounding area.
Workers doused the stricken reactor with sea water to try to avert catastrophe, after the quake knocked out power to the cooling system.
What occurred at the plant was a "station blackout," which is the loss of offsite air-conditioning power combined with the failure of onsite power, in this case diesel generators.
"It is considered to be extremely unlikely but the station blackout has been one of the great concerns for decades," said Ken Bergeron, a physicist who has worked on nuclear reactor accident simulation.
"We're in uncharted territory," he said.
The reactor has been shut down but the concern is the heat in the core, which can melt if it's not cooled.
If the core melts through the reactor vessel, Bergeron explained, it could flow onto the floor of thecontainment building. If that happens, the structure likely will fail, the experts said.
"The containment building at this plant is certainly stronger than that at Chernobyl but a lot less strong than at Three Mile Island, so time will tell," he said.
Peter Bradford, former head of the US NuclearRegulatory Commission, said that if the cooling attempts fail, "at that point it's a Chernobyl-like situation where you start dumping in sand and cement."
The two worst nuclear accidents on record are the1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine and the partialcore meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in the US state of Pennsylvania in 1979.
Another expert said the Japanese accident will rank as one of the three worst in history.
"If it continues, if they don't get control of this and... we go from a partial meltdown of the core to a full meltdown, this will be a complete disaster," Joseph Cirincione, the head of the Ploughshares Fund, said in an interview on CNN.
Cirincione faulted Japanese authorities for providing partial and conflicting information about what was happening at the plant.
Cirincione said the presence of radioactive cesium in the atmosphere after the plant was vented indicated that a partial meltdown was underway.
"That told the operators that the fuel rods had been exposed, that the water level had dropped below the fuel rods and the fuel rods were starting to burn, releasing cesium," he said.
Japan's nuclear safety agency rated the Fukushima accident at four on the International Nuclear Event Scale from 0 to 7, meaning an accident "with local consequences," an official said Sunday.
The Three Mile Island accident was rated five while Chernobyl was a seven.
The government declared an atomic emergency and said tens of thousands of people living within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the plant should leave after an explosion at the nuclear plant Saturday.
"This is obviously a significant setback for the so-called nuclear renaissance," said Bradford, the former NRCcommissioner.
"The image of a nuclear power plant blowing up before your eyes on the television screen is a first."
But a spokesman for the World Nuclear Association said in an interview with CBS News that the threat of a full meltdown is minimal.
"I think that possibility is remote at the best of times and is diminishing by the hour as the fuel gets cooler and generates less heat," said Ian Hore-Lacy, spokesman for the industry organization.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer:
Saturday, March 12, 2011
The world's worst nuclear accidents
Agence France-Presse
TOKYO—Japan said on Saturday that an ageing nuclear plant may be in meltdown after a huge quake and monster tsunami ravaged a large area of the northeast, leaving more than 1,000 people feared dead.
Japan, which has experienced the only two deadly nuclear accidents since Chernobyl, faces atomic crisis after the cooling systems failed in reactors at two plants, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of homes.
Following is a list of the world's worst nuclear accidents in the past quarter of a century:
• March 28, 1979: 140,000 people are evacuated after an accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, United States. The reactor's core suffers partial meltdown, causing contamination within the plant but none outside. There are no casualties. The accident registers five on the International Atomic Energy Agency's seven-point scale of nuclear accidents.
• August 1979: A leak of uranium at a secret nuclear site near Erwin in Tennessee, United States, contaminates some 1,000 people.
• January-March 1981: Four radioactive leaks occur in succession at the Tsuruga nuclear plant in Japan. According to official figures, 278 people are contaminated.
• April 26, 1986: The world's worst nuclear incident occurs when Reactor Number Four at Ukraine's Chernobyl plant blows up after an experiment goes wrong and the top of the reactor blows off. Some 200 people are seriously contaminated, of whom 32 die within three months. The accident is only revealed after a giant radioactive cloud is registered moving across northern Europe.
The fall-out is recorded as being equivalent to that from more than 200 atomic bombs of the type dropped by the US on Hiroshima in 1945. Hundreds of thousands of residents are evacuated from the area and a similar number are estimated to have been contaminated by radiation. The incident registers the maximum seven on the international scale.
• April 1993: An explosion at a secret reprocessing plant in Tomsk-7 in western Siberia releases a cloud of radioactive gas, including Uranium-235, Plutonium-237 and various other fissile materials. The number of casualties is unclear.
• November 1995: Serious contamination is reported at Chernobyl during the removal of fuel from one of the plant's reactors. The incident is reported only after an apparent attempt to cover it up.
• March 11, 1997: Work at the experimental treatment plant in Tokaimura, northeast of Tokyo, is partially halted after a fire and an explosion expose 37 people to radiation.
• September 30, 1999: Two workers die in an accident at the uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Japan -- the world's worst since Chernobyl, rating four on the seven-point scale. Workers at the plant pour too much uranium into a precipitation tank as they cut corners to save time and can only watch helplessly as a blue flash signals the start of
Japan's most serious nuclear accident.
It exposes more than 600 people to radiation and forces around 320,000 to shelter indoors for more than a day. Two of the workers who triggered the disaster die from their injuries in hospital, three and six months after the incident. The first had been exposed to 17,000 times the average annual dose of radiation.
• August 9, 2004: Four workers are killed and seven others severely burned by a leak of non-radioactive steam at a nuclear plant in Mihama, 350 kilometres (220 miles) west of Tokyo.
One of the three nuclear reactors at the plant shuts down automatically when an alarm sounds just before super-heated steam leaks from a turbine and scalds workers. It is Japan's worst accident at a nuclear facility in terms of the number of deaths.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
TOKYO—Japan said on Saturday that an ageing nuclear plant may be in meltdown after a huge quake and monster tsunami ravaged a large area of the northeast, leaving more than 1,000 people feared dead.
Japan, which has experienced the only two deadly nuclear accidents since Chernobyl, faces atomic crisis after the cooling systems failed in reactors at two plants, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of homes.
Following is a list of the world's worst nuclear accidents in the past quarter of a century:
• March 28, 1979: 140,000 people are evacuated after an accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, United States. The reactor's core suffers partial meltdown, causing contamination within the plant but none outside. There are no casualties. The accident registers five on the International Atomic Energy Agency's seven-point scale of nuclear accidents.
• August 1979: A leak of uranium at a secret nuclear site near Erwin in Tennessee, United States, contaminates some 1,000 people.
• January-March 1981: Four radioactive leaks occur in succession at the Tsuruga nuclear plant in Japan. According to official figures, 278 people are contaminated.
• April 26, 1986: The world's worst nuclear incident occurs when Reactor Number Four at Ukraine's Chernobyl plant blows up after an experiment goes wrong and the top of the reactor blows off. Some 200 people are seriously contaminated, of whom 32 die within three months. The accident is only revealed after a giant radioactive cloud is registered moving across northern Europe.
The fall-out is recorded as being equivalent to that from more than 200 atomic bombs of the type dropped by the US on Hiroshima in 1945. Hundreds of thousands of residents are evacuated from the area and a similar number are estimated to have been contaminated by radiation. The incident registers the maximum seven on the international scale.
• April 1993: An explosion at a secret reprocessing plant in Tomsk-7 in western Siberia releases a cloud of radioactive gas, including Uranium-235, Plutonium-237 and various other fissile materials. The number of casualties is unclear.
• November 1995: Serious contamination is reported at Chernobyl during the removal of fuel from one of the plant's reactors. The incident is reported only after an apparent attempt to cover it up.
• March 11, 1997: Work at the experimental treatment plant in Tokaimura, northeast of Tokyo, is partially halted after a fire and an explosion expose 37 people to radiation.
• September 30, 1999: Two workers die in an accident at the uranium processing plant in Tokaimura, Japan -- the world's worst since Chernobyl, rating four on the seven-point scale. Workers at the plant pour too much uranium into a precipitation tank as they cut corners to save time and can only watch helplessly as a blue flash signals the start of
Japan's most serious nuclear accident.
It exposes more than 600 people to radiation and forces around 320,000 to shelter indoors for more than a day. Two of the workers who triggered the disaster die from their injuries in hospital, three and six months after the incident. The first had been exposed to 17,000 times the average annual dose of radiation.
• August 9, 2004: Four workers are killed and seven others severely burned by a leak of non-radioactive steam at a nuclear plant in Mihama, 350 kilometres (220 miles) west of Tokyo.
One of the three nuclear reactors at the plant shuts down automatically when an alarm sounds just before super-heated steam leaks from a turbine and scalds workers. It is Japan's worst accident at a nuclear facility in terms of the number of deaths.
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Anti-plastic ordinance up for 2nd reading
PROVINCIAL Board Member Roque Tiu said that they are now ready for the second reading of the anti-plastic ordinance after the conduct of a public hearing.
Tiu, the proponent and the main author of the ordinance, said the second reading will involve deliberation of every provisions of the ordinance by members of the board.
“We will study each provision if there are provisions that are objectionable and if there are provisions that need to be improved,” Tiu explained.
Once said proposed ordinance is passed on the second reading, Tiu said that it will immediately be referred for the third and final reading.
Tiu added that with long provisions of said proposed ordinance they are expecting for it to be approved by the members of the Provincial Board by the second quarter of this year.
“This is a sensitive ordinance that is why we need to carefully study this especially that it is to be implemented in the municipal level,” he explained, adding that the penalties included in the ordinance will go directly to the coffers of each municipality and not the Provincial Government.
Tiu added that during the public hearing the ordinance has received support from various sectors, especially from the business and national line agencies.
“They were happy that the Provincial Government through the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board) has this kind of move that will regulate the usage of plastic bags and of banning it in the near future,” he added.
During the public hearing, the owner of a big business establishment in Tacloban City that provides materials for home furnishing was also present and showed their alternative packaging materials to the members of the Provincial Board and to those who were at the plenary hall.
Said alternative packaging uses old newspapers as substitute to plastic bags and were made by the families of their employees that become an additional income for their employees.
Aside from the presentation made by the home furnishing establishment, there were also suggestion made by their resource speaker that are considered by the author to be included in the ordinance.
Although there are apprehension from the market sector particularly in the implementation phase of the proposed ordinance, Tiu said that the vendors also expressed support to it as it is also advantageous to them.
Tiu added that the representatives of the Environmental Management Bureau also lauded the proposed measure as it supports their program to reduce and stop the usage of non-biodegradable materials as it will help to minimize the effect on climate change.
The representative from the Department of Trade and Industry-Eastern Visayas also expressed support to the measure as it will complement the agency’s program in promoting the production of native baskets, bags and “bayong” that will provide additional income to its producers. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)
Tiu, the proponent and the main author of the ordinance, said the second reading will involve deliberation of every provisions of the ordinance by members of the board.
“We will study each provision if there are provisions that are objectionable and if there are provisions that need to be improved,” Tiu explained.
Once said proposed ordinance is passed on the second reading, Tiu said that it will immediately be referred for the third and final reading.
Tiu added that with long provisions of said proposed ordinance they are expecting for it to be approved by the members of the Provincial Board by the second quarter of this year.
“This is a sensitive ordinance that is why we need to carefully study this especially that it is to be implemented in the municipal level,” he explained, adding that the penalties included in the ordinance will go directly to the coffers of each municipality and not the Provincial Government.
Tiu added that during the public hearing the ordinance has received support from various sectors, especially from the business and national line agencies.
“They were happy that the Provincial Government through the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Provincial Board) has this kind of move that will regulate the usage of plastic bags and of banning it in the near future,” he added.
During the public hearing, the owner of a big business establishment in Tacloban City that provides materials for home furnishing was also present and showed their alternative packaging materials to the members of the Provincial Board and to those who were at the plenary hall.
Said alternative packaging uses old newspapers as substitute to plastic bags and were made by the families of their employees that become an additional income for their employees.
Aside from the presentation made by the home furnishing establishment, there were also suggestion made by their resource speaker that are considered by the author to be included in the ordinance.
Although there are apprehension from the market sector particularly in the implementation phase of the proposed ordinance, Tiu said that the vendors also expressed support to it as it is also advantageous to them.
Tiu added that the representatives of the Environmental Management Bureau also lauded the proposed measure as it supports their program to reduce and stop the usage of non-biodegradable materials as it will help to minimize the effect on climate change.
The representative from the Department of Trade and Industry-Eastern Visayas also expressed support to the measure as it will complement the agency’s program in promoting the production of native baskets, bags and “bayong” that will provide additional income to its producers. (Leyte Samar Daily Express)
DENR out to save country's endangered largest flower
ELLALYN B. DE VERA
March 5, 2011, 6:28pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has designated a two-hectare “critical habitat” for the threatened Rafflesia flower in Bukidnon.
Rafflesia schadenbergiana, locally known as “bo-o” or “kolon busaw” among Bukidnon’s Bogobo and Higaonon tribes, is the Philippines’ largest flower, which measures up to 80 centimeters or 39 inches in diameter and can weigh up to 10 kilograms or 22 pounds.
Under the DENR Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2011-02, DENR Secretary Ramon Paje declared a two-hectare piece of land situated in Sitio Kalanganan, Barangay San Vicente in Baungon, Bukidnon and called it the “Rafflesia schadenbergiana Critical Habitat” to ensure the survival of the “critically-endangered” flower.
The Rafflesia schadenbergiana was named after Alexander Schadenberg, a German ethnologist who made several expeditions to the Philippines.
The species was first collected in the vicinity of Mount Apo in 1882 and was believed to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1994 in Mt. Matutum, South Cotabato.
In 2007, its presence was also recorded in Baungon, Bukidnon, just outside the Mount Kitanglad Natural Park.
“The Philippines takes pride in the endemicity of its biodiversity. The newly issued administrative order protecting the natural habitat of rafflesia will allow the DENR to work closely with the surrounding communities in ensuring the survival of the country’s largest flower, which, unfortunately, is a threatened species. By all means, we need to keep the critical habitat free from exploitation or destruction, and we can only do this through partnership with the local populace,” Paje said.
March 5, 2011, 6:28pm
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has designated a two-hectare “critical habitat” for the threatened Rafflesia flower in Bukidnon.
Rafflesia schadenbergiana, locally known as “bo-o” or “kolon busaw” among Bukidnon’s Bogobo and Higaonon tribes, is the Philippines’ largest flower, which measures up to 80 centimeters or 39 inches in diameter and can weigh up to 10 kilograms or 22 pounds.
Under the DENR Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2011-02, DENR Secretary Ramon Paje declared a two-hectare piece of land situated in Sitio Kalanganan, Barangay San Vicente in Baungon, Bukidnon and called it the “Rafflesia schadenbergiana Critical Habitat” to ensure the survival of the “critically-endangered” flower.
The Rafflesia schadenbergiana was named after Alexander Schadenberg, a German ethnologist who made several expeditions to the Philippines.
The species was first collected in the vicinity of Mount Apo in 1882 and was believed to be extinct until it was rediscovered in 1994 in Mt. Matutum, South Cotabato.
In 2007, its presence was also recorded in Baungon, Bukidnon, just outside the Mount Kitanglad Natural Park.
“The Philippines takes pride in the endemicity of its biodiversity. The newly issued administrative order protecting the natural habitat of rafflesia will allow the DENR to work closely with the surrounding communities in ensuring the survival of the country’s largest flower, which, unfortunately, is a threatened species. By all means, we need to keep the critical habitat free from exploitation or destruction, and we can only do this through partnership with the local populace,” Paje said.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Squatting not a barangay burden
Plain View
By ATTY. ROMEO V. PEFIANCO
February 23, 2011, 10:28pm
MANILA, Philippines – DILG this week shifted to 44,000 barangays the responsibility of stopping the spread of squatter communities nationwide.
What we know is that squatting on private/public land cannot be stopped even by the national government in cities like Manila, QC, Pasay, Caloocan, Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong, all other local governments in NCR, and in all cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Spread of squatting
Squatting is a social and economic menace that has evolved in the last 50 to 60 years, especially in capital cities. River banks, shallow creeks (esteros), and small waterways have been claimed by squatters for some filthy reasons: 1) disposing of human waste and garbage is made easy, 2) their shanties are located near their place of work, 3) squatters run an underground “business or trade” that requires small capital, and 4) they can easily organize a form of “front” for election purposes.
Battlecry
Last December, the demolition of squatter leantos and shanties was stopped by President Noynoy before Christmas on humanitarian grounds.
What caught the TV viewers’ attention was their battlecry while defending themselves with steel bars and stones. They shouted, “Napakinabangan ninyo kami ng matagal” (We were useful to you for a long time). Yes, their deep grievance carried the ring of truth, especially their usefulness before and during election in May every three years.
Control in haciendas
In small provinces, about 20 of them, where poverty level has not gone down in the last few decades, the barangay officials themselves build their homes on land they don’t own.
Even in big and rich provinces where sugarcane is the principal crop, land ownership in a big town is shared by a few families which they call haciendas.
There are barangays in old and big towns that are fully located within the haciendas. The barangay government functions only with the consent of landowners.
Squatters’ beehive
In November, 1949, a maverick politician was elected congressman in the second district of Manila that includes Quiapo. He was a Negrense (from Talisay and Bacolod) named Arsenio Hilario Lacson. The nation’s capital became a beehive for squatters coming from various provinces and towns in Luzon and the south.
Their votes not needed
In November, 1951, Rep. Lacson decided to run for mayor and one of his major campaign pledges was to relocate or return all Manila squatters to their hometowns. But the candidate made it clear that their votes were not needed. NP Lacson won election by a landslide against a veteran politico and incumbent LP Mayor Manuel de la Fuente.
Demolition
Lacson’s campaign versus squatting, especially in Intramuros in the vicinity of MB, was completely successful after six years. Shacks, shanties, lean-tos made of old plywood, burned GI sheets, and pieces of wood left by anay were demolished on riverbanks, esteros, roadsides, and sidewalks.
Holdout
The last enclave to be vacated were the ruins of an old building destroyed in Liberation ’45 on Juan Luna, Binondo. It was aptly named Casbah (after the crowded quarters in Algiers). The squatters fought the city’s demolition teams to a halt and Lacson was forced to use half a dozen firetrucks to “finish” the relocation of Casbah’s tenants – dips, muggers, petty robbers, and other purveyors of vices big and small.
Re-claiming NCR
After Lacson, the nation’s capital was speedily reclaimed by squatters that slowly invaded all cities of Metro Manila. And no politician of stature ever wasted time to control squatting.
In the NCR, the squatter population is either guessed or estimated between 3.5 M and 4.5 M and QC is reported to be the nation’s squatting capital and leads all cities detached from Rizal province – Navotas, Malabon, Caloocan, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Makati, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Taguig, and Pasig.
Squatters anywhere
There’s no estimate of the squatter population nationwide. In provinces, cities, and towns, squatters build their “homes” on farms, highway shoulders, roadsides, public land, etc.
Controlling squatters, now promoted to “informal settlers,” is a tall order given to barangay officials. (Comments are welcome at roming@pefianco.com).
By ATTY. ROMEO V. PEFIANCO
February 23, 2011, 10:28pm
MANILA, Philippines – DILG this week shifted to 44,000 barangays the responsibility of stopping the spread of squatter communities nationwide.
What we know is that squatting on private/public land cannot be stopped even by the national government in cities like Manila, QC, Pasay, Caloocan, Makati, San Juan, Mandaluyong, all other local governments in NCR, and in all cities in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Spread of squatting
Squatting is a social and economic menace that has evolved in the last 50 to 60 years, especially in capital cities. River banks, shallow creeks (esteros), and small waterways have been claimed by squatters for some filthy reasons: 1) disposing of human waste and garbage is made easy, 2) their shanties are located near their place of work, 3) squatters run an underground “business or trade” that requires small capital, and 4) they can easily organize a form of “front” for election purposes.
Battlecry
Last December, the demolition of squatter leantos and shanties was stopped by President Noynoy before Christmas on humanitarian grounds.
What caught the TV viewers’ attention was their battlecry while defending themselves with steel bars and stones. They shouted, “Napakinabangan ninyo kami ng matagal” (We were useful to you for a long time). Yes, their deep grievance carried the ring of truth, especially their usefulness before and during election in May every three years.
Control in haciendas
In small provinces, about 20 of them, where poverty level has not gone down in the last few decades, the barangay officials themselves build their homes on land they don’t own.
Even in big and rich provinces where sugarcane is the principal crop, land ownership in a big town is shared by a few families which they call haciendas.
There are barangays in old and big towns that are fully located within the haciendas. The barangay government functions only with the consent of landowners.
Squatters’ beehive
In November, 1949, a maverick politician was elected congressman in the second district of Manila that includes Quiapo. He was a Negrense (from Talisay and Bacolod) named Arsenio Hilario Lacson. The nation’s capital became a beehive for squatters coming from various provinces and towns in Luzon and the south.
Their votes not needed
In November, 1951, Rep. Lacson decided to run for mayor and one of his major campaign pledges was to relocate or return all Manila squatters to their hometowns. But the candidate made it clear that their votes were not needed. NP Lacson won election by a landslide against a veteran politico and incumbent LP Mayor Manuel de la Fuente.
Demolition
Lacson’s campaign versus squatting, especially in Intramuros in the vicinity of MB, was completely successful after six years. Shacks, shanties, lean-tos made of old plywood, burned GI sheets, and pieces of wood left by anay were demolished on riverbanks, esteros, roadsides, and sidewalks.
Holdout
The last enclave to be vacated were the ruins of an old building destroyed in Liberation ’45 on Juan Luna, Binondo. It was aptly named Casbah (after the crowded quarters in Algiers). The squatters fought the city’s demolition teams to a halt and Lacson was forced to use half a dozen firetrucks to “finish” the relocation of Casbah’s tenants – dips, muggers, petty robbers, and other purveyors of vices big and small.
Re-claiming NCR
After Lacson, the nation’s capital was speedily reclaimed by squatters that slowly invaded all cities of Metro Manila. And no politician of stature ever wasted time to control squatting.
In the NCR, the squatter population is either guessed or estimated between 3.5 M and 4.5 M and QC is reported to be the nation’s squatting capital and leads all cities detached from Rizal province – Navotas, Malabon, Caloocan, San Juan, Mandaluyong, Pasay, Makati, Parañaque, Las Piñas, Taguig, and Pasig.
Squatters anywhere
There’s no estimate of the squatter population nationwide. In provinces, cities, and towns, squatters build their “homes” on farms, highway shoulders, roadsides, public land, etc.
Controlling squatters, now promoted to “informal settlers,” is a tall order given to barangay officials. (Comments are welcome at roming@pefianco.com).
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