Vol.2 No. 13 June 26 - July 9, 2014

Resident’s/Business Copy

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BARANGAY BF HOMES AMBULANCE

BARANGAY BF HOMES TANOD BARANGAY BF HOMES FIRE STATION BARANGAY BF HOMES POLICE BARANGAY CAA AMBULANCE Las Piñas CITY POLICE BFFHAI SECURITY

IMPORTANT NUMBERS

809-8670809-8843842-4682809-3604

871-3901873-1948807-3115

809-8670809-8843842-4682809-3604

871-3901873-1948807-3115

Vol.3 No. 16 August 6 - 19, 2015

YOUR INDEPENDENT SOURCE OF COMMUNITY NEWS & INFORMATION

NBI, Brgy. Team raid Drug Den

Water Service Interruption affects BF

Resident’s/Business Copy

NOT FOR SALE

NEWSNEWS NEWS

Brgy. BF joins Metro ‘Shake’ drill

The VPS rescue team demonstrates team work and coordination to help “disaster” victims

The City Government of Las Piñas announced on July 20 that it had busted a syndicate that was alleg-

edly selling bogus Friendship Route stickers to motorists who wanted to access several private subdivisions around the city.

The city’s law enforcers organized an entrapment operation on July 13 and appre-hended four suspects namely Ferdie “Jojo” R. Reyes, James R. Berocal, Rowel T. Pineda and Lilibeth P. Mancela – all residents of the city. Of the four, Reyes is believed to be the

mastermind while Pineda worked as a se-curity guard at the BF Resort Village.

The four suspects will be charged for violation of the Republic Act Number 8293 (Intellectual Propert Code), falsification and violation of City Ordinance Number 715-06 (Friendship Routes creation).

How the syndicate was bustedThe first to fall in a series of sting op-

erations led by retired Police Senior Inspec-tor Joe Gonzales, head of the Mayor’s Of-fice’ Civil Security Force, was Berocal who

offered to sell the FR sticker for P1,000 and agreed to meet up with the undercover buyer at the parking lot of SM Center in Barangay Pamplona 3 at around 3:00 PM of July 13. When arrested with two pieces of sticker and marked money, he confessed to have secured the counterfeit sticker from Mancela who yielded five (5) more stickers. Next to fall was Pineda who was nabbed while on duty at his post at BF Resort Vil-lage and found in his possession another five (5) stickers.

Las Piñas busts fake car sticker syndicate

Elements of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Barangay

BF Homes Peace and Order Team recovered illegal substances and drug paraphernalia after they conducted a warranted search at a house along Nicanor Jacinto St. and another along V. Fernandez St. inside BF Homes, Parañaque City. The barangay Peace and Order Team is composed of Kagawad Rey “XO” Casanova, Executive Officer Ruben Rosales, Franco Salamat, Lauro Carabeyo and Jonadin Dacanay.

Armed with search warrants issued by Judge Jaime M. Guray of the Parañaque Regional Trial Court, the law enforcers recovered from the Nicanor Jacinto St. site two heat-sealed

transparent plastic sachets containing crystalline substance, one transparent plastic box containing assorted drug paraphernalia and one wooden chest box also containing assorted drug paraphernalia. Over at V. Fernandez St., the enforcers discovered and confiscated a full grown marijuana plant, methamphetamine hydrocholoride (shabu) weighing 42.2068 grams, dried marijuana, as well as several pieces of used aluminum foils, an improvised lighter and a weighing scale.

The NBI recommended for prosecution, for violation of Section 11 Art. II of Republic Act Number 9165 (Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002), people at the

Maynilad Water Ser-vices, Inc. (Maynilad) announces water

service interruption schedule in August, affecting areas in Cavite and Metro Manila, including ar-eas within Barangay BF Homes in Parañaque City and BF Homes subdivision enclaves in Muntin-lupa and Las Piñas. According to the company, they are realigning

their seven-foot-tall water pipe-line along Juan Luna St. and Her-mosa St. in Tondo, Manila, to give way to the flood interceptor proj-ect of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Although, the service inter-ruption is scheduled at various times from August 10 - 13 and from August 17 – 18, interruption in BF is scheduled

/Cont’d. to P8

/Cont’d. to P8

/Cont’d. to P5

/Cont’d. to P8

IN AN action-packed thirty minutes, Baran-gay BF Homes, Veritas Parochial School (VPS), BF PNP PCP-5 Main police station, Pergola

Mall, Robinsons BF and other members of the Phase 1 business community banded together to conduct the local version of the Metro Manila “Shake” Drill – or the metro-wide earthquake drill – which started precisely at 10:30 AM on July 30, and which saw roughly a thousand people walk down the streets to converge at the Elsie Gatches St. parking area in front of the Resurrection of Our Lord Parish (ROLP).

The drill commenced as scheduled with the use of emergency vehicle sound systems and the ringing of church bells. Much to the surprise of officials of Barangay BF Homes and VPS, sev-eral office employees from a nearby building and from other businesses also joined in, resulting into a bigger-than-expected crowd converging at the parking area. Most of the VPS people, and em-ployees from Pergola, Robinsons and Barangay BF

PCCI-PQUE HOLDS 73RD GMM

FEATUREPAGADUAN LEADS POLICE FORCE IN BF

BARANGAy BF CELE-BRATES NUTRITION MONTH

2 43CENSUS IN PARAñAQUE BEGINS AUGUST 10

2

August 6 - 19, 2015NEWS2

BFFHAI reports half-year accomplishments PQUE gives birthday cash gifts to BF seniorsLess than a year after taking over of the af-

fairs of BF Homes subdivision, the BF Federation of Homeowners Association, Inc. (BFFHAI) recently reported that it has provided assistance and ser-vices concerning their members but also the entire subdivision in general.

For the period of January to June of 2015, the federation reported that they managed to fabricate and install perimeter fences at enclaves or locations located at the edges of BF Homes subdivision such as BF Mariposa, Garden Homes at Abelardo, BF Garden Homes Rio, Rio de Janeiro extension, Kan-luran, BF Parklane, Concha Cruz drive, BF Interna-tional Central, F. Cruz, Kyoto street, Munich street, Metrocore, Legacy Homes and at the boundary of UPS5 and BF Homes. The federation claimed that these projects were done in response to enclaves that called their attention about walls that were broken or non-existent.

Regarding the roads in BF Homes, the federa-tion said it repainted the humps along main roads of the subdivision, repaired or restored holes and damaged roads (Tirona street, Pilar Banzon street, Aguirre Avenue and Concha Cruz drive), repainted intersection boxes at the corners of Aguirre-Ma-

yuga, Batac Tuazon-Elizalde, Tehran-Aguirre and Tropical-4S, and installed movable gates manned by security guards at Elizalde street, El Grande Av-enue, Metrocore gate and BF Mariposa.

On the theme park located along Pilar Banzon street, the BFFHAI reported restoring the combat wire, the playground amenities, cleaning the park and hired 3 grass cutters. The theme park was also used as the venue for the BF Saturday Market which operated on most Saturdays since February 14 giv-ing sellers a new place to sell food, fresh products and other items to buyers who flocked in. The park hosted the June 24 disaster awareness seminar that saw PHILVOLCS director Renato Solidum and other important speakers share valuable informa-tion to the community.

Other services reported include the upgrading of the community closed circuit television (CCTV) system; flood control and de-clogging in coopera-tion with the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA); installation of lights along Tropical Av-enue, Elizalde street and Palace street; restoration of community main gates; and declogging, grass cutting, trimming and de-fogging services to hom-eowners, among others. v

Over one thousand and three hundred se-nior citizens of Barangay BF Homes lined up hop-ing to be given their much awaited birthday cash gifts by the City Government of Parañaque and the Office of Senior Citizen Affairs – Parañaque (OSCA-Parañaque) in coordination with Barangay BF Homes and the Senior Citizens Association of Barangay BF Homes, Inc. (SCABBI) on July 21 at the Phase 1 gym along Pilar Banzon street, BF Homes, Parañaque City.

Under the rules, senior citizens who are certi-fied SCABBI members carrying OSCA Cares pro-gram cards and whose birth months fell within the January to June period were qualified to receive their respective birthday cash gifts worth P500. Be-fore receiving the gifts however, each of them had to confirm their presence by lining up at registra-tion tables and showing their cards.

The gifts were released after several speeches delivered by guests that include Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez, Vice Mayor Rico Golez, Barangay BF Chairman Jeremy Marquez, OSCA-Parañaque officer-in-charge Dante Pacheco, City Councilors Beng Amurao, Wahoo Sotto, Jackie Bustamante-Mendoza, Tess de Asis, Binky Favis, former Councilor Bhong Benzon and expected can-didate Kenneth Amurao. As of press time, OSCA-

Parañaque had not confirmed the exact number of recipients of the cash gifts.

Value of gifts for seniorsDuring his keynote speech, Mayor Olivarez re-

iterated the message that the City Government will continue to care for its senior citizens and that they would not be forgotten no matter what happens.

“Five hundred Pesos is a small amount to give to our elderly citizens but what

Recently the BF Federation of Homeowners Association, Inc. (BFFHAI) sent several of its per-sonnel to Elizalde St. where they installed several yellow metallic tubes on the side of the road just in front of the commercial complex owned by lo-cal businessman Alex Lina supposedly to prevent “illegal parking” along the street approaching the Elizalde-Concha Cruz corner.

Unsurprisingly the move attracted concerned reactions from the business tenants and Lina personally visited the BFFHAI office on July 28 to discuss the situation. BFFHAI officials told NEWS-VILLE that previously customers had parked their cars along the road (instead of parking on the com-plex’s parking slots facing up) which caused slower traffic near the corner of Concha Cruz. Lina said that BFFHAI’s suggestion – that the higher space right in front of each business be utilized as a one-way driveway and that parking would be done facing down the street – sounded reasonable and agreed to give it time to test for at least the next few weeks.

“I did not argue with them over their idea and agreed to try it and observe. I need to convince one of the business tenants (a flower business) to re-move their stuff placed in front of the store so that the planned driveway can be cleared of obstruction. What is clear is that under the new system, only up to three cars can be parked (facing down) because the makeshift driveway narrows approaching the makeshift exit,” Lina said. v

BFFHAI installs parking barriers in front of Elizalde complex

As PQUE city officials looked on SCABBI Vice President Nitz Wenceslao, OSCA-Parañaque OIC Dante Pacheco and SCABBI President Elpidio Padama blew the candles on top of a birthday cake in honor of the BF senior citizens.

Several yellow metal tubes were installed by BFFHAI as bar-rier in front of this Elizalde street commercial complex suppos-edly to prevent “illegal parking”.

Through its Education Committee head-ed by Kagawad Rocel Espino, Barangay BF Homes celebrated again Nutrition Month with a special activity held at the Phase 1 gym which attracted roughly two thousand children, parents and offi-cials on the morning of July 30.

In her speech, Kagawad Espino reminded people that good nutrition achieved through bal-anced diet, exercise and efficient learning on the part of students go hand in hand. Adding zest to the celebration were students dressed in cos-tumes that reflect nature, fruits (which symbolize nutrition) and regional culture.

“Having a well balanced lifestyle can make good results with the students’ learning and per-sonal growth. Apart from food, we will soon im-plement a thirty minute exercise period in daycare centers to be done on a daily basis so that the students can make efforts to be fit,” Espino said.

For his part Barangay BF Chairman Jeremy Marquez welcomed the students and parents and expressed to them his opinion of the celebration. “This Nutrition Month celebration is very impor-tant because it relates well with the old saying that ‘health is wealth.’ The lesson behind this celebration is important not just for our children but also for other members of their families. Do not forget the value of exercise too.”

Parañaque City Councilor Tess de Asis, who heads the city’s Committee on Education, also graced the event and encouraged the students and

Barangay BF celebrates Nutrition Month

Pagaduan leads police force in BFAs Barangay BF Homes continues to experience a

“low” rate of crime-related incidents, new BF PNP PCP-5 Main police station chief Police Senior Inspector (PSI) Nelson Pagaduan leads a working force of twenty-seven police personnel (including himself) and maintained opera-tional procedures that were initiated by his predecessor PSI Elizaldy Matulac.

“In accordance to the goals set by the high command, we strive to maintain order throughout the community. Ev-ery day we set up police checkpoints and roving patrols in and around BF Homes subdivision and even entered the de-pressed areas. We will continue making our presence felt,” Pagaduan told NEWSVILLE.

With regard to the current crime situation of Barangay BF Homes, there has been a drop of crime reports listed on the police station blotter since after the big fire that struck the Dela Rama compound on March 28.

“Fortunately and so far under our watch, there has not been any major incidents involving violence. We will con-tinue doing what we can on maintaining police visibility and at the same time prevent crime from happening,” Pa-gaduan said.

Before taking over the local police station last April,

/Contd. on P8

For the third straight year, Marymount Academy conducted a series of special activities emphasizing important lessons about tolerance, protection and friendship during its Anti-Bullying Day event on July 31.

Like in the previous editions, the school or-ganized students to group at the gymnasium and promoted the “big sibling and small sibling” model of inter-action between the young little students and their older, taller counterparts. A group breakfast was held which emphasized not only unity but also socializing between students.

Along the way, a quick lecture with a video presenta-tion about the effects of bul-lying and solutions on how to prevent it was conducted by school officials. Among those lessons, friendship was stressed as a solid solution

to bullying and that people need to show respect, be responsible, be kind and show good behavior to others.

Also emphasized was the “3R Campaign” which stated that people must recognize that every indi-vidual is different and unique; they must respect one another and each other’s individuality; and that they

must take responsibility to care for one another and protect each other’s uniqueness.

As the program progressed, the little students found time to play or socialize with their older counterparts. Their bond was highlighted in a special game of “group caterpillar” in which stu-dents grouped themselves and lined up by height and moved forward by hopping. The event concluded with the students signing their names at a nearby board formalizing their pledge not to bully others and to prevent bullying from happening. v

Marymount holds Anti-bullying Day

Marymount Academy officials gave cer-tificates to students who participated in the Anti-Bullying Day event.

Barangay BF daycare students and parents paraded on July 30 to celebrate Nutrition Month

Kagawad Rocel Espino. P’que Councilor Tess de Asis

PCP-5 Main police station new chief Police Senior Inspector (PSI) Nelson Pagaduan (right) inspects a PNP checkpoint along Aguirre Avenue

parents to keep nutrition in mind always as it is key to achieving healthy living. She praised Kagawad Espino and the rest of the barangay for organizing the Nutri-tion Month activity.

Before the event, parents, students and teachers converged in front of barangay hall at Elsie Gatches St. where free meals and drinks were served for breakfast. After breakfast, the participants paraded around the Phase 1 business zone before entering the BF Homes Aguirre Gate and finishing at the gym. v

Pagaduan served as station commander of the PCP stations in Barangay Sto. Nino and at PCP-2 (covering Solaire Resort’s area) and as chief administrator at the Parañaque PNP head-quarters. Maintaining order around Barangay BF Homes in-cluding the Parañaque stretch of BF Homes subdivision have been his team’s goals since April. v

August 6 - 19, 2015 3NEWS

After a delay, the Muntinlupa-Cavite Ex-pressway or MCX (AKA Daang Hari- South Luzon Expressway Link Road) was formally opened to motorists on the afternoon of July 24 with a prom-ise that Metro Manila commuters bound for Cavite and vice versa can expect faster trips.

Made for P2 billion and operated by Ayala Corp. for the next 30 years, the 4-kilometer, four-lane toll road connects the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) to Bacoor City in the province of Cavite. The new road is expected to not only reduce travel time but also decongest traffic in the cities of Las Piñas (specifically the Daang Hari Road) and Muntinlupa (Commerce Avenue).

Adding zest to the excitement of the MCX’s opening was the announcement that the use of the tollway will be free for the first month (until August 23, 2015) which Ayala Corp. Chairman and CEO Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala described as a “sign of goodwill” from their group. A special ceremony was held at the MCX Toll Plaza in Muntinlupa City which was graced by President Benigno S. Aquino, Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime Fresnedi, former Senator Manny Villar, and Congressmen Rodolfo Biazon (Muntinlupa) and Mark Villar (Las Piñas).

Toll rates for the highway have been set at P17 for class 1 vehicles, P34 for class 2 vehicles and P51 for class 3 vehicles. Once in effect starting August 24, the toll fee will be collected as integrated with the toll fee from the motorist’s destination on SLEX/Skyway to Susana Heights followed by addition of P17 for class 1 vehicles. Also the highway operators

announced that e-Pass and RFID (radio frequency identification) travel are acceptable.

With regard to incoming traffic from the SLEX, the official Facebook page of the MCX posted on July 19 that cars coming from Makati should keep right on the SLEX after passing by the Shell gas station and enter the new exit located 800 me-ters before the old Susana Heights exit. The new exit is to be shared between the MCX and Susana Heights. 300 meters after the entry, motorists head-ing for the MCX should turn right while those who intend to go to Susana Heights only need to drive straight.

On the aspect of vehicular capacity, Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secre-tary Rogelio Singson said in an AAVA News report that the MCX is expected to handle about 25,000 cars daily, mainly of Cavite-based residents going through Commerce Avenue in Filinvest City, Ala-bang, Muntinlupa City. Ayala Corp. meanwhile said that the MCX would save motorists around P400 million in fuel costs and over a billion Pesos in pro-ductivity per year. v

AROUND TOWNROLP PROgRAM STARTS AUgUST 26

The Resurrection of our Lord Parish (ROLP) in Phase 1 of Barangay BF Homes announced that it is inviting people to participate in the next ROLP “Balik-Aral ng Katesis-mong Katoliko” which will start at 3:00PM on August 26 at the Immaculata Hall. The program is a 10-session weekly catechesis which will be conducted in Tagalog and will take place every Wednesday after the launch. Meanwhile, the ROLP also announced that it is accepting applications for the 2nd batch of the “Kasalang Bayan” which will be held on October.

SISFU STUdENTS ENCOURAgEd TO PAR-TICIPATE IN CREATIVITy CONTEST

Southville International School Affiliated with Foreign Universities (SISFU) in BF International, Las Piñas City announced formally the “I Love SISFU” creativity contest open to its enrolled students who are either amateur or professional photographers or artists. Participants have until 5:00 PM of August 20 to submit their entries in the form of art works, videos or photos. Apart from reflecting the students’ passion and gratitude of their school, the contest will also serve as a representation of what the students think SISFU believes in. At stake are cash prizes of P8,000, P5,000 and P3,000.

PERgOLA MALL’S AUgUST EVENTSAt 7:00 PM of August 7, 8 and 9, the International DOTA 2 Championships will be showcased via a large screen at Clara’s Square on ground floor. Meanwhile, on August 15, the Scrabble Club will be having its 4th anniversary cel-ebration at the ground floor at 3:00 PM. Lastly, on August 29, the mall will host the Indie Fest 2015 Bazaar at the

2nd floor starting from 10AM up to 9PM.

COMELEC SATELLITE REgISTRATION AROUNd BARANgAy BF THIS MONTH

People who wish to exercise their right to vote start-ing next year are encouraged to join the lines on some COMELEC satellite registration activities scheduled around Barangay BF this month. On August 9, Robinsons Supermarket BF Parañaque in Phase 1 will host the satel-lite registration at the 2nd floor from 9AM to 5PM. The next week – August 16 from 8AM to 5PM – Tahanan Vil-lage will have its turn at its multipurpose hall (part of the covered basketball court). Finally, BF Northwest will host the last satellite registration activity on August 23 at its covered court near the clubhouse from 8AM to 5PM. People visiting the registration activities inside Tahanan and BF Northwest are advised to observe local traffic and safety rules.

PQUE dRRMO TO CONdUCT MORE dISASTER AWARENESS SEMINARS IN

BARANgAy BFWith earthquake and related disasters hanging in people’s minds, Parañaque City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) OIC admin-in-training Jericho Adolfo told NEWSVILLE on July 30 that their of-fice will be conducting more disaster awareness semi-nars in Barangay BF in the next the few months. He did not elaborate where and when exactly those seminars will be held, however. “We’ve been contacted by some people and communities in Barangay BF lately to serve them through informative seminars on what to do when disaster strikes and how to reduce the risks.” v

On Legitimacy and Economic Development

The MCX Toll Plaza located in Muntinlupa City. (source – Muntinlupa Cavite Expressway Facebook page)

BF resident and SEA Games triathlon gold medalist Nikko Huel-gas will make his much awaited re-turn on the local racing circuit as he reunites with his corporate team to participate in the Compressport Tri-club Challenge set for August 15 at the Fontana Leisure Parks & Casino in the Clark Freeport Zone, Pampan-ga province.

Huelgas told NEWSVILLE that he and three teammates will compete with other teams on the 4X Super Sprint Relay which will be composed of 400 meters swimming, 10 kilo-meters biking and 2.5 Km running. Under the competition rules, a team of four members will each accomplish a complete triathlon in succession. Teams can be composed of an all-male lineup, an all-female lineup or a mixed

(have at least 1 member of the opposite gender) lineup. Huelgas was unable to name his teammates as of press time.

Regarding fitness, Huelgas stressed that he’s been managing his training well ever since he returned to BF Inter-national after spending several months abroad. The overseas training helped him win the SEA Games gold medal in men’s triathlon and helped the country gain a respectable finish as a team in the Asian Triathlon Championships.

“I’m still maintaining my training load the same with that of Portugal (training camp) but it can be a little challenging considering that training facilities are not that accessible here,”

Huelgas said. “For the race itself, I need to make sure I do my best and motivate my teammates in order to get to the podium.”v

Huelgas to race again on August 15

Census in Parañaque begins August 10

Residents of the City of Parañaque are encour-aged to fully cooperate with the statistical researchers and enumerators from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) who will conduct a census of population in the city beginning August 10 up to November 10 this year. The PSA formally calls the census the 2015 Census of Popula-tion or POPCEN 2015 for short, which is a nationwide census.

The said national census aims to provide government executives, policy and decision makers and planners ac-curate population data of all barangays in the country, which they can use in formulating policies and directions of their plans and programs. It is designed to collect the complete enumeration of all households while providing information on some characteristics of population such as age, sex, educational attainment and marital status.

On the part of the City Government, Mayor Edwin Olivarez announced that they are now in the process of training researchers which they hired specifically to do the house to house interviews as part of the city govern-ment’s initiatives to support the NSA’s 2015 Census of Population project.

Nikko Huelgas wearing his corporate team’s cycling uniform. (source – Nikko Huelgas Facebook page)

“We cannot overemphasize the importance of this census, since the results which they (PSA) will obtain from the campaign will be very helpful in providing us with facts which we would then use in crafting policies and programs that would best serve the interests of our people ” Mayor Olivarez said.

The mayor also mentioned that the census would best help them in formulating policies con-cerning the delivery of basic services such as those about health, education, employment, housing, in-frastructure, disaster relief and other socio-economic concerns.

For its part, the PSA announced that enumera-tors wearing the official POPCEN 2015 ID cards will visit and interview every household to ask basic in-formation such as age, sex, marital status, education, and usual occupation. The interview will take from 15 to 30 minutes for each household.

POPCEN 2015’s enumeration period covers Au-gust 10 up to September 6 in most provinces and may extend until the end of September 2015 in big cities. The population count by province, city, munici-pality, and barangay will be submitted to the Office of the President for proclamation as official census counts in January 2016. Other detailed data will be released on staggered basis starting last quarter of 2016. Sources – Parañaque PIO, psa.gov.ph v

Newsbits from the City

TAMBUNTINg AMONg HOUSE MEMBERS OPPOSINg ELECTION IN MALLS

According to a July 19 report by The Standard (formerly The Manila Standard), Parañaque District II Congressman Gus Tambunting joined several members and leaders of the House of Representatives voicing their concern over the pro-posal of holding the next national and local elections inside shopping mall. House majority leader and Mandaluyong Representative Neptali Gonzales, Jr., said that it was not a good idea to push through with proposal citing difficulties in monitoring the polls and the uncertainty that comes with voters being allowed to vote in any of the precincts inside the mall.

For its part the Commission on Elections or COMELEC led by chairman Andres Bautista announced on July 20 that a technical working group started researching the possibility of using shopping malls as voting precincts in 2016. Prior to that, the poll body was approached by the Robinsons and SM mall operators offering their respective shopping malls as voting venues. Bautista made clear however that the COMELEC cannot tap malls owned by politicians.

PQUE gIVES OUT MORE LANd TITLESThe City Government of Parañaque announced on July 22 that Mayor Edwin Olivarez was “making good” on his cam-paign promise on providing decent shelter and houses to marginalized Parañaquenos as more beneficiaries from dif-ferent barangays received from him land titles as well as certificates of full payments of lots.

Among the latest beneficiaries are 13 families from Perpetual Help Neighborhood Association in Brgy. Sto. Nino who after years of waiting have finally received their lot ti-tles thus giving them legal ownership of the properties they occupy in the area.

Olivarez also handed down certificates of lot award to 16 beneficiaries from Sacred Heart of Jesus Neighborhood Association in Brgy. Moonwalk, while 10 more beneficiaries from Bagong Buhay Neighborhood Association in Brgy. San Dionisio also received their certificates of full payment for the lots that they currently occupy.

Meanwhile, a check worth P1.872 million was also handed down by Mayor Olivarez for the acquisition of a property occupied by members of G.P. Rivera Homeowners Association in Brgy. Sun Valley. Source – Parañaque PIO

ST. PAUL COLLEgE AdAPTS SOLAR POWERThe Standard (formerly Manila Standard) reported on July 25 that St. Paul College of Parañaque (SPCP) went solar as it launched a 96-kilowatt peak solar photovoltaic system. The move, which was witnessed by Parañaque District 1 Repre-sentative Eric Olivarez, made it the first-ever solar-powered school within the city. Prior to the launch, solar solutions pro-vider Green Heat Corp. installed solar panels on the rooftop of the institution’s high school gym. It has been estimated that the said solar panels can generate 2.22 percent of the school’s daily energy needs estimated at 14,500 klowatt-hours. Impressed, Congressman Olivarez encouraged other schools to follow SPCP’s renewable energy move as the City of Parañaque itself undertakes similar green initiatives. PARAñAQUE SHAkE dRILL A “SUCCESS”

The City Government of Parañaque announced on July 31 that the Shake Drill that was held at the city hall grounds was a “success” as it showed its “readiness” to respond to the effects of “The Big One” (a major earthquake geologists and other experts say may occur in Metro-Manila) resulting from the conducting of evacuation and search and rescue operations

At 10:30 a.m., as sirens sounded and church bells rang, City Hall employees led by Mayor Edwin L. Olivarez, students of private and public schools, employees of private establishments and mall-goers, trooped out to designated safety centers in orderly fashion under the guidance of the City Disaster and Risk Reduction and Management Office personnel.

“The participation of a wide sector of the public in the earthquake drill shows that our constituents are now more prepared and aware as to how they should act and respond in the aftermath of a natural calamity, such as a major earth-quake,” Mayor Olivarez said.

During the drill, simulated search and rescue op-erations were conducted by the city’s Health Emergency Management Staff, City Health Office, Engineering Depart-ment, PNP members, Bureau of Fire Protection personnel, and other offices, and coordinated by the City Disaster and Risk Reduction and Management Office. The open space of Greenheights Subdivision along Sucat Road in Barangay San Isidro served as the evacuation center, where supposed victims were given first aid. v

4-Km MCX formally opened, toll-free use until August 23

BF Homes’ Heavy Traffic

August 6 - 19, 2015FEATURE4

Address:

#73 President’s Ave., Brgy. BF HomesParañaque City

Telephone No.: 585-6071

Email us at:admin@NEWSVILLE.com.ph

Website:www.NEWSVILLE.com.ph

Editor

Baby Endrinal

Writers

Carlo Carrasco

Arnel Endrinal

Kaydee dela Buena

Design / layout

Rene E

“Your independent source of community news and information”.

NEWSVILLE is published every other week anddistributed within the enclaves under BFFHAI, in-cluding BF Homes (Parañaque City) and BF Inter-national (Barangay CAA, Las Piñas City), enclaves under SUBPRESS, and other surrounding villages.

no-parking lane in front of the store that they are supposed to visit. There are also some inappropriate double-parking strategy, extremely slow u-turning, sudden dropping off of passengers without proper signal and halting at what “should be” a passing lane.

3. I appreciate their eagerness to assist on the road (many are truly helpful) but some traffic aides seem to add up to the burden of traffic than lessen it. Some would allow a continuous flow on one street despite the build-up while stopping the cars to move on the other side for long (imag-ine being at Elizalde corner President’s Avenue). There are times too that they pass a quick chat with car drivers they probably know, although there is nothing wrong to chat, but they are doing it in the middle of the street.

4. Cars on the right lane, for example, and they are not turning right (say, Elizalde corner Aguirre or Tirona corner Aguirre). yes some drivers will defend their action by saying that there is no actual sign to do other-wise but come on, have some courtesy!

5. Street children attempting to become parking aides or vendor street children blocking the way to sell their sampaguitas. I don’t under-stand why they are allowed to sell and beg inside the busy areas of the village. Should they be at home studying and not unsafely scattered on the streets of BF? (Hmm…)

6. Sudden stop of some tricycle drivers to drop/load passengers while almost in the middle of the road and others have the habit of inserting their trike between tight gaps.

7. Portions of the road with deeply uneven surface or random holes.

8. Neighboring subdivisions taking the shortcut route to BF Homes.9. Vehicle drivers that are not giving way and blocking the street

corners when the vehicles ahead of them are not moving thus creating a road-block.

10. The notorious “Pinoy Driver Attitude” also applies and so we need to try harder to achieve discipline, exude more patience, remain courte-ous, stay calm. Filipinos are loving people by nature and we always have a smile despite hardships. But sometimes I wonder what is with Filipinos and holding a steering wheel… why when a Pinoy driver casts his hand on it, he seems to be stripped by goodness and is suddenly possessed by negativity—not giving way, no respect, proper behavior omitted, even heartless, always mad on the road as if the other driver is an enemy.

We can always get to our destination safe and happy, shouldn’t we start fixing our over-all system right now? v

dURINg ITS 73rd General Membership Meet-ing (GMM) held at Big Plate, Barangay BF Homes on the evening of July 24 the Philippine

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Parañaque City, Inc. (PCCI-Parañaque City) emphasized that it will con-tinue to push forward with its efforts on being the City of Parañaque’s partner for peace and progress.

At the same event, PCCI-Parañaque City President Dina Bernardo announced that the City Government of Parañaque finished in the Top 3 Most Competitive Cities (Economic Dynamism Pillar-Urbanized Cities Category) during the 3rd Regional Competitiveness Summitt held in Pasay City on July 16. Bernardo stressed that it was an achievement to be proud of as it reflects the competitive nature of the city.

“If we were to be a competitive country, then we must realize that the local government unit (LGU) must be competitive as well in terms of doing business and infrastructure. We still have a lot to do in terms of im-proving our competitiveness,” Bernardo told members of the chamber.

The president also announced that so far over 20,000 businesses have been registered this year with the Parañaque City Business Permits and Licensing Of-fice and the Trade and Investment Committee which the chamber has been coordinating with. In relation, she said that City Councilor Binky Favis is supporting the creation of an independent Public Employment Service Office (PESO).

Special Parañaque-focused website comingWith regard to the future, Bernardo announced the

THERE IS NO need to go to EDSA to feel miserable over the daily heavy traffic in the country. Just within BF Homes, the stretch of President’s Avenue and Aguirre Street is enough to make your hap-

py day gloomy. And no, I am not ranting but just narrating the status of the daily drive here. What could have taken only eight to ten minutes can apparently consume 30 to 45 minutes now.

Not right. So much effort and time wasted. Sometimes, I just hold the steering wheel in disbelief; shaking my head, trap at where I am. This is happening everyday and to think I’m not yet at Dr. A Santos/Sucat Avenue, which is another story.

To get a general picture of the current traffic scenario in the Philippines, here is a portion of an interview with Francis Tolentino, chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). He said that EDSA at the moment is already operating way past its full capacity, explaining that on an almost daily basis, some 520,000 vehicles pass through it going both directions and this is way too much.

The 24-kilometer thoroughfare from Caloocan to Pasay was designed to only accommodate 320,000 moving vehicles going both directions dai-ly. This means, said Tolentino, that a single vehicle stalling on the middle of the highway or a bus dawdling, waiting for passengers, can already have enormous impact on the rest of the traffic, leading to massive delays.

Okay, that is the description of EDSA and a good representation of the Metro’s entire traffic scenario. Economy is improving and most people can now buy their own cars but our pathways are not prepared for the outpour of vehicles.

Perhaps BF area is no exception. No more rush hour here too, heavy traffic happens consistently from early morning to night.

Experiencing the gravity of road delay every single day, as a commut-er/driver, I have listed my personal observations. I don’t claim to mention all the causes with precise measurement or to even sound scientific about it; this is just a plain thought from someone stuck inside the car for more than what’s right, feeling miserable but struggling to remain optimistic and hoping the problem will be solved really soon (by the local govern-ment and the community including all the drivers).

Given the perspective of a resident and usual driver, what’s the root of the chaos? Here is my top ten list.

1. Cars lining at the gate requiring “With Stickers” upon entry when the drivers are well aware that they have none. Such attempt to sneak on the guards can actually cause delay for those with valid stickers.

2. The boom of so many establishments inside the village has added to the frustrating traffic situation. Thanks to those deliberately parking at a

By Verna Austria

upcoming project called Parañaquetoday.com, a website designed to give netizens “an experience on what’s inside Parañaque City Today.” The future website will also help private sector members and entrepreneurs as it will have tools that they can use to promote their businesses globally. For visitors and consumers, the website will help them find the best places to visit, what to do, places to dine at and getting the best deals in Parañaque.

The president noted that according to the Con-sumer Barometer research conducted by Google, TBS Infratest and Interactive Bureau Europe, 70% of Philippine consumers and 65% of Asia-Pacific re-gion respondents go to the Internet to make some form of preliminary online research before making any moves to purchase products or services online.

In relation to the research, Parañaquetoday.com will have a database of varied information that netizens can use with regard to their respective search for Parañaque-centered places, food joints, accommodation, events and tourism.

disaster risk reduction

Speaking on behalf of the absent guest speaker Dr. Teodoro Gonzales of the Parañaque Disaster Risk Reduc-tion and Management Office (DRRMO), DRRMO adminis-trative aide Zareen Trixia Lamberte conducted a detailed presentation about disaster risk and preparedness.

Most notable was the risk analysis covering the future scenario of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake if ever the West Valley Fault shifts. The data showed that based on the Parañaque City damage assessment with the population estimation for 2002-2004 set at 449,811, an estimated 5,700 people could get injured while an estimated 1,358 people may die. On city buildings estimated at 72,230, 21,100 may end up partly damaged while 9,200 may get damaged heavily.

Apart from earthquakes, Parañaque City is vulnerable to flooding, ground shaking, liquefaction, tsunami, severe wind and fire. Lamberte emphasized that the City Gov-ernment had been making progress on preventing flood as the local diversion channel has been heavily cleared and cleaned up.

With regard to business, Lamberte encouraged pri-vate sector members to invest in disaster risk reduction

Parañaque City DRRMO administrative aide Zareen Trixia Lamberte received a plaque of appreciation and a bag from the PCCI-Parañaque City. With her are (L to R) former president Alex Flores, president Dina Bernardo, executive vice president Ferdinand T. Fernandez and director Rodolfo B. Biescas, Sr. v

measures which makes sense as it means protecting long-term investments and avoiding the high cost of repairs and reconstruction of their business facilities. This includes having a resiliency plan on making the business or place of work survive the disaster, helping employees and con-tributing to the community. She said that businesses can employ the so-called disaster risk reduction management-compliant practices such as adhering to the building code, participating in establishment of early warning systems and flood mitigation programs.

In response to questions from former PCCI-Parañaque City president Alex Flores, Lamberte confirmed that the City Government has a calamity fund that can only be accessed when a calamity has been declared. She also said that 5% of the annual budget is allocated to the Parañaque DRRMO which goes into a trust fund (up to 5 years) before going to the general fund.

Before the GMM ended, the chamber gave Lamberte a plaque of appreciation. The chamber also welcome new members via an induction led by president Bernardo.

PCCI-Para-ñaque City President Dina Bernardo.

Parañaque City DRRMO admin-

istrative aide Zareen Trixia

Lamberte.

PCCI-Parañaque City’s Vice President for Budget and Finance Alfonso H. Vizcarra (standing) emphasizes a point during his address to members of the chamber during the July 24 General Membership Meeting (GMM) held at Big Plate in BF Homes.

PCCI-PQUE holds 73rd GMM

[ Verna Austria is a BF Homes resident, and a Freelance Online Marketing

Consultant. Visit her blog: www.WriteNowNa.wordpress.com ]

After enduring a delay, the Parañaque Public Information Office (PIO) headed by Eva Nono fi-nally released through the Office of the Mayor at Parañaque City Hall their newest issue of the Bagong Parañaque news maga-zine last month.

Dated “Mayo 2015” on its front cover, the new issue fea-tures the Bay City concept which the publisher claimed as a refer-ence to Parañaque City’s new im-age related to the recent openings of the City of Dreams Manila, the growth of Aseana City, the develop-ment of the Resorts World Bayshore City, and future mall of Ayala Land. It was estimated that Entertainment City-related investments has reached over $10 billion.

“With strong emphasis on provid-ing high class, wholesome entertainment and other worthwhile activities, we are convinced that the Bay City brand would make Parañaque City a must go place for both local and foreign tourists,” Mayor Edwin Olivarez wrote in his piece in the magazine. “Aside from the taxes we can generate from those projects which we can use in the de-livery of basic services to our people, they will also alleviate poverty because they can generate more than 100,000 jobs for our people.”

Other newsThe magazine also reported that the city scored

a “victory” over poverty and unemployment with the Public Employment and Service Office (PESO) having designed employment plans and executed hiring activities catering to the local job seekers while the Tulong Alalay sa Taong May Kapansanan (TULAy) launched the TUPAD Emergency Employ-ment Program in coordination with the Depart-ment of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Integrated Livelihood Programs. The programs “benefited”

job seekers, manpower seekers, employers, out-of-school youths, students and others.

For elderly Parañaque residents, the City Gov-ernment was reported to have assisted 1,719 people with the Elderly Care and Social Pension program and 1,534 clients served through the Family and Commu-nity Welfare program. On indigents, the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program recorded 8,036 household grantees while the Modified Conditional Cash Transfer Homeless Street Families program registered 155 clients. Walk-ins of Violence Against Women and Children reached 92 while six kasambahays were rescued under the Women’s Welfare program.

Also reported were the launch of new school buildings at Sampaloc Site in Barangay BF Homes and at UPS

IV in Barangay Marcelo. Future projects whose construction were recently approved by the mayor were those in Barangay Sto. Nino (school building) and at Barangay San Isidro (two barangay lying-in clinics and oikuce sub-station). Also included was the installation of over 100 unit lamp posts along Aguirre Avenue in Barangay BF Homes.

The City Government also strived to make Para-ñaque a greener city with projects like tree planting, collection of 370 tons of waste matters throughout 2014, clean-up of the International Coast in Baran-gay Don Galo, and the continued garbage collection by LEONEL Waste Management resulting 195,342 tons of garbage collected in 2014.

“Indeed, our city is undergoing transformation and as we emerge from the shadows to create our own and unique identity, let us work together and embrace the challenges that the future holds,” Olivarez wrote in the magazine reflecting the many reported developments. v

FEATURE 5April 16 - 29, 2015

Bellevue

Las Piñas Representative Mark Villar filed a new bill providing guidelines for the establishment and operation of local colleges and universities in the country.

The congressman emphasized that House Bill Number 4962 – formally titled “Local Colleges and Universities Governance Act” – shall ensure the ob-servance of the necessary requirements for the es-tablishment and subsequent effective operation of a college.

Villar said Local Government Units (LGUs) have taken the initiative to make higher education acces-sible to their constituents by establishing, through or-dinances, local colleges and universities (LCUs) within their territorial jurisdiction under the provisions of the Local Government Code of 1991 or Republic Act 7160.

“It has been observed that the absence of defi-nite guidelines on the establishment of the LCUs has taken a toll on the delivery of quality education to the constituents it serve,” Villar said, Chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry.

Mechanics of the billUnder the measure, the LCU shall be established

Villar proposes guidelines local colleges and universitiesCity belatedly issues Bagong Parañaque Mag

Bagong Parañaque May 2015

issue was released only in July.

or operated through an ordinance duly enacted by the Sanggunian Bayan concerned with prior con-sultation and coordination with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

The bill will cover the new higher education insti-tutions to be established by LGUs, higher education institutions offering non-degree programs and local colleges proposing elevation to university status.

The governing board of a college shall be its Board of Trustees (BOT) while the governing board of a uni-versity shall be the Board of Regents. The governing boards shall promulgate policies in accordance with the declared state policies on higher education, in line with the principle of local autonomy enshrined by Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code of 1991.

A local college may subsequently apply for elevation to a university provided it has complied with the stan-dards and guidelines for the grant of university status pursuant to the pertinent CHED rules and regulations.

Local educational institutions offering only non-degree programs shall not use college or university in its name unless they would eventually offer degree programs and have complied with the requisites pro-vided for the establishment of a College or the grant of university status under the CHED rules and regula-tions. (source: congress.gov.ph) v

only as follows:

NEWS – Water Service Interruption affects BF Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad) announces water service interruption schedule in August, affecting areas in Cavite and Metro Manila, including areas within Barangay BF Homes in Paranaque City and BF Homes subdivision enclaves in Muntinlupa and Las Pinas. According to the company, they are realigning their seven-foot-tall water pipeline along Juan Luna St. and Hermosa St. in Tondo, Manila, to give way to the flood interceptor project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH). Although, the service interruption is scheduled at various times from August 10 - 13 and from August 17 – 18, interruption in BF is scheduled only as follows: Date/Time Area/s Affected Total Hours From August 10 (Monday) 11AM to August 12 (Wednesday) 4AM

Cupang 41 hours

From August 10 (Monday) 1PM to August 11 (Tuesday) 3PM.

HEVA, Inner Circle, PDP, GAHA, Executive Triangle, 4S, Garden Rio, Menlo, West Executive, Pablo Roman, EVS, EVA

26 hours

From August 10 (Monday) 1PM to August 11 (Tuesday) 10AM

Almanza Uno, BF International (CAA), Talon Tres 21 hours

From August 11 (Tuesday) 7AM to August 12 (Wednesday) 12NN

Barangay BF (not specified) 29 hours

From August 12 (Wednesday) 8PM to August 13 (Thursday) 8AM

Almanza Uno, BF International (CAA), Talon Tres 12 hours

August 17 (Monday) 1PM to August 18 (Tuesday) 3PM

Barangay BF (except HEVA, Inner Circle, PDP, GAHA, Executive Triangle, 4S, Garden Rio, Menlo, West Executive, Pablo Roman, EVS, EVA and Southbay/Villongco)

26 hours

August 17 (Monday) 1PM to August 18 (Tuesday) 7AM

Almanza Uno, BF International (CAA), Talon Tres 18 hours

August 17 (Monday) 1PM to August 18 (Tuesday) 7AM

Cupang 18 hours

Putatan Maintenance Meanwhile, some areas within BF are already being affected by water service interruptions from July 23 and expected to last until August 15. According to the customer service of Maynilad, this earlier interruption is caused by the ongoing maintenance they are conducting at their Putatan Water Treatment Plant in Muntinlupa. Those areas already affected are: BF

Putatan MaintenanceMeanwhile, some areas

within BF are already being af-fected by water service interrup-tions from July 23 and expected to last until August 15. Accord-ing to the customer service of Maynilad, this earlier interrup-tion is caused by the ongoing maintenance they are con-ducting at their Putatan Water Treatment Plant in Muntinlupa. Those areas already affected are: BF HEVA, Inner Circle (Las Piñas City), stretch of Concha Cruz drive, Executive Triangle and EVA where water service is expected only from 1AM to 5AM. v

From P1/ Water Service Interruption...

August 6 - 19, 2015FEATURE6

PHOTOS IN & AROUND

PHOTOS

Two men work with the wires at a post at the corner of Elizalde street and Concha Cruz drive on July 28. Students and officials of Montessori de Manila orga-

nized an earthquake drill in Las Piñas City on July 30 (source – Montessori de Manila Facebook page)

Clearly visible along Presidents Avenue is a large Bagong Parañaque billboard displaying images

of Barangay BF Chairman Jeremy Marquez and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

A long line of vehicles heading towards the Aguirre Avenue gate of BF Homes subdivision formed on August 1.

Elements of BF PNP PCP-5 Main police station led by Senior Inspector Nelson Pagaduan conducted a checkpoint along Aguirre Avenue inside BF Homes Subdivision on July 21. Parañaque City Vice Mayor Rico Golez shakes with Mayor

Edwin Olivarez upon his arrival at the Phase 1 gym in BF Homes Subdivision for the release of cash gifts to OSCA card-holding senior citizens of Barangay BF Homes.

Muntinlupa City Mayor Jaime Fresnedi and Congressman Rodolfo Biazon chat on the side during the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway (MCX) opening ceremony held at the Toll Plaza in Muntinlupa City on July 24.

Barangay BF Chairman Jeremy Marquez addressed the hun-dreds of local senior citizens on July 21 at the Phase 1 gym. Seated were (L to R) Parañaque City Councilor Wahoo Sotto, Kenneth Amurao, Vice Mayor Rico Golez, Mayor Edwin Oli-varez, OSCA-Parañaque OIC Dante Pacheco and City Coun-cilor Tess de Asis.

Kenneth Amurao – nephew of PQUE City Councilor Beng Amu-rao – introduced himself to and addressed the senior citizens on

July 21 as they waited for the release of their cash gifts.

PCCI-Parañaque president Dina Bernardo (rightmost) led the induction of the four newest members who formally joined the chamber during the 73rd General Membership Meeting (GMM) held at Big Plate. At left was former PCCI-Parañaque president Alex Flores.

Three unguided youths were spotted occupying the seats just outside a con-venience store at the corner of Aguirre Avenue-Elizalde street on July 25 just waiting for customers to pass by. Accord-ing to operators of the convenience store, their branch has turned into an almost-daily hangout for young beggars.

Parañaque DRRMO OIC admin-in-training Jericho Adolfo led the disaster awareness seminar co-orga-nized by Pergola Mall and Robinsons BF in coordi-nation with Barangay BF Homes at the 2nd floor of Pergola Mall on July 29. In attendance were employ-ees, business tenants and concerned residents of BF Homes.

In celebration of Monsignor Manny Gabriel’s birthday, a talk show-like program was held at the Resurrection of Our Lord Parish (ROLP) on July 29 with many students watching. Serving as “host” (left) was Veritas Parochial School’s high school English teacher Reyna Araneta.

Faculty members and officials of Veritas Parochial School posed with birthday celebrant Monsignor Manny Gabriel on July 29 at the ROLP altar.

Officers of the Senior Citizen Association of Barangay BF Homes, Inc. (SCABBI) posed with Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez, Vice Mayor Rico Golez and OSCA-Parañaque OIC Dante Pacheco shortly after their induction at the Mayor’s Office on July 27. New SCABBI president Elpidio Padama stands between Golez and Olivarez. (source – Vice Mayor Rico Golez Facebook page)

Hundreds of officials and employees of the City Govern-ment of Muntinlupa converged at the Muntinlupa City Hall quadrangle as part of the Metro Manila Shake Drill on July 30. (source – City Government of Muntinlupa Facebook page).

Barangay BF Chairman Jeremy Marquez on his way to observe the execution of the Metro Manila Shake Drill done along Elsie Gatches street on July 30 at 10:30 AM.

Barangay BF emergency personnel par-ticipated in the July 30 Metro Manila Shake Drill demonstration.

Veritas Parochial School’s res-cue team demonstrated how to save a disaster victim while hanging from an elevated place on July 30.

Roughly 2,000 students, par-ents and local officials were

present during Barangay BF’s

Nutrition Month activty at the Phase 1

gym.

by Carlo Carrasco

NEWS 77August 6 - 19, 2015

If there is anything significant about the 1960s, it was the very decade that Marvel Comics started competing seriously on the superhero genre of comic book publish-

ing. In 1962 Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk debuted, followed by the X-Men, Iron Man and the Avengers in 1963. Today there have been many movies based on those Marvel characters and teams which combined to billions of Dollars in global movie ticket sales.

Before any of those Marvel franchises even started, the publisher’s superhero venture truly began with the Fantastic Four which was a team composed of a man who can stretch a lot, a lady who can turn invisible, a man who became a rock-like figure and a man who could turn into a burning being. In late 1961, Marvel launched The Fantastic Four #1 which involved the talents of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (died in 1994). At the time DC Comics (also known then as National Comics) had long been dominating the superhero genre of comics for decades.

What led to the creation of the Fantastic Four? It started when comic book publisher Martin Goodman, who was al-ready aware of the sales success of DC Comics’ Justice League of America, directed then comics editor Stan Lee to create a new superhero team comic book. Lee personally found the comic book medium creatively restrictive and was determined to try his luck on possibly changing things by making the Fan-tastic Four not only different but also stand out.

“For just this once, I would do the type of story I myself would enjoy reading.... And the characters would be the kind of characters I could personally relate to: they’d be flesh and blood, they’d have their faults and foibles, they’d be fallible and feisty, and — most important of all — inside their color-ful, costumed booties they’d still have feet of clay,” quoted Stan Lee in the 1974 book Origins of Marvel Comics.

Strangely enough, artist Jack Kirby gave a different view about the creation of the FF during an interview in 1990. He claimed that he came up with the concept of the superhero team and that Lee simply added the dialogue after the initial story was illustrated. To date, comic book experts remain di-vided as to who truly created the Fantastic Four and not even the existence of Lee’s typed synopsis for FF could settle the disputes. In general, the Fantastic Four is credited to both Lee and Kirby on equal billing.

How did the Fantastic Four impact superhero comics? As it turned out the team made its mark not only within the Marvel universe but also on the status quo back in the 1960s. Unlike most superheroes, the team did not conceal their identities which divided the public’s (within Marvel’s universe) opinion on them. More on the superhero team concept, the FF’s mem-

bers’ respective interests and personalities led to numerous conflicts between them bordering on dysfunctionality but unity whenever something bad happens.

Also Reed Richards’ (Mr. Fantastic) being a focused and yet heroic scientist was considered a twist on the evil mad sci-entist archetype and his dedication to research kept readers boggled on how serious he could be in having a relationship (and eventual marriage) with Sue Storm (Invisible Woman). Johnny Storm (Human Torch) is the childish, irresponsible and hotdogging guy whose love for fun added to the team’s prob-lems. Ben Grimm (The Thing) is rather hot-headed which goes well with his immense strength and ability to smash things easily.

The four got their superpowers (or abnormalities) when they flew in outer space together in a spacecraft which saw its protective exterior fail and they all got exposed to cosmic rays which affected them ever since. Prior to the launch of the spacecraft, Reed Richards learned that the government threatened to cut funding on the special project he had been working on (to achieve interstellar travel) which was a lifelong dream of his. In response, he decided to execute an immedi-ate test flight with his fiancee Sue Storm, her brother Johnny and pal Ben Grimm. Safe to say, Reed was very responsible for what happened and shortly after returning to Earth and realizing the major changes on them, they decided to form a team for the betterment of humanity.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s run on the Fantastic Four month-ly series lasted for over a hundred issues. Along the way their work produced new characters and villains. The most notable of them was super-villain Doctor Doom who has since been regarded by readers, critics and pop culture experts as one of the greatest villains of illustrated literature and even pop culture. Luckily for the FF franchise, Marvel relied on several very talented comic book creators who succeeded Lee and Kirby. Those creators include John Byrne, Roy Thomas, Steve Englehart, Mark Millar and Walter Simonson to name some.

Like other franchises within the Marvel Universe, the FF went through periods of “dramatic” changes and this in-cludes the temporary reboot of the title in the 1996 line of He-roes Reborn when Marvel hired then Image Comics founder Jim Lee (incidentally a former Marvel talent) and his creative team to modernize the superhero team.

In the ever dizzying world of Hollywood, Fantastic Four made it to the movies but in a bizarre fashion. It all started in 1983 when Constantin Film owner Bernd Eichinger discussed with Stan Lee the prospect of obtaining an option for a movie based on the comic book. at a time when Marvel was not too interested in movies and they sold the movie rights to

Constantin Film for only $250,000. That company approached several movie studios but failed to make a deal. Marvel refused to extend the film rights option beyond the December 31, 1992 deadline which led Eichinger to approach low-bud-get movie mogul Roger Corman to produce the film for the sake of keeping the rights.

For only $1 million, Corman and his company eventually produced the film The Fantastic Four for a 1994 launch but never ac-tually released it in theaters or even on home video and TV. Marvel Comics, which back then had been dealing with 20th Century Fox (Fox for short), paid a few million dollars to ob-tain the mastercopy of the aborted film and granted Fox the movie rights with a big-budget adaptation in mind.

After further delays, Fox released movies of Fantastic Four in 2005 and 2007 grossing over $600 million in ticket sales worldwide on combined budgets of $230 million. While finan-cially successful, the fans, casual moviegoers and critics gave mostly negative reviews to the movies citing weak direction, childish tone, reliance on humor and special effects at the ex-pense of storytelling, and the amount of liberties taken on translating FF into film.

Since then Fox retained the movie rights and as it turned out they quietly developed a big budget reboot simply called Fantastic Four which opened nationwide on August 5. Cur-rently playing in theaters, the new movie has a notably younger (note: everyone’s in their twenties), more hip cast of Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Michael B. Jordan.

While producer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg described the 2015 FF movie as a “celebration of all the Fantastic Four comics that have preceded it,” the new movie had a rough start when it was revealed that the iconic villain Dr. Doom in the film is a computer scientist instead of the (sorcerer and mad scientist he was in the comics), that Johnny Storm is an African-American and that the team engaged in inter-dimen-sional travel instead of space travel prior to gaining powers. There was also confirmed information that director John Trank suggested to Kate Mara that reading the comic books was unnecessary for preparation.

Regardless of how the new movie ends up in the global box office, it has already succeeded in making people think and talk about the Fantastic Four which has been heavily overshadowed by other Marvel franchises when it comes to commercial success on movies, video games, TV and other

media forms. Even though it is not so prominent on movies, the Fantastic Four is historically a flagship Marvel comic fran-chise that people will eventually discover.

And now for the latest in geek world…Hugh Jackman reaches out to fans regarding Wolverine

Recently, superstar Hugh Jackman released online an early teaser art of the still-untitled Wolverine sequel and also he asked fans “What do you want to see happen?” and that their replies should be 50 words or less in length and that he will read them. During the recent San Diego Comic-Con, the star hinted that the “Old Man Logan” storyline may influ-ence the new movie. The film has been set for a March 2017 release.

Capcom asks fans about Resident Evil 2 remakeThrough its official Resident Evil Facebook page, Capcom

posted a query to determine how fans would react with regard to a potential remake of the 1998 blockbuster game Resident Evil 2. Addressed from the publisher’s R&D Division 1 group, the post acknowledges fan outcry for a remake of the said game but admitted they lacked a concrete idea about what it could mean for the brand. In retrospect, Resident Evil 2 is one of the most acclaimed games of the entire franchise and a lot of nostalgic RE fans fondly remember it. The Japanese game publisher Capcom has an outstanding history of upgrading games as well as producing remakes of past hits.

Wii U global console sales finally reach 10 mil-lion mark

After more than two and half years of availability, the Wii U console’s worldwide sales has finally reached the 10,000,000 mark during the first quarter according to Nintendo. Already behind Sony’s PS4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One in the console war of sales, Wii U has been described as a major disappoint-ment in comparison to its predecessor the Wii which sold over 100 million globally. Prior to the latest financial report, several game publishers reduced or even stopped making games for the Wii U which burdened Nintendo and its internal game de-velopers to produce content for it. v

Learn more about the

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“WEMAkEITHAPPEN” FLOWERS ANd EVENTSCatering to customers who want flowers, add-ons and events-re-lated services is “WEMAKEITHAPPEN” Flowers and Events which recently opened its first physical store at the commercial complex near the corner of Elizalde-Concha Cruz. Previously an online busi-ness, “WEMAKEITHAPPEN” Flowers and Events describes itself to be more than just a seller of flowers as it also offers customers add-ons for their party or social gathering needs like commercially available food (examples: donuts, cakes and pizzas) and at the same time delivery services covering some parts of Parañaque, Las Piñas and Muntinlupa cities. Also available florist services as well as car-pets, chairs, lamps and wood craft for lease plus wedding planning/coordination services.

NEW kANPAINewly opened along Aguirre Avenue is New Kanpai, a new Japa-nese fusion cuisine restaurant. New Kanpai has a selection of Japanese-Korean food that will interest customers who like snacks, grilled food, sushi and meals. Among their standout selections are Korean Sasimidon, Mix Sashimi, Mesican Salad, Grilled Makarel and Donkatsu. As of press time they have an opening promo that offer a Kyodon, soup and salad set for P180 and Udon (or Ramen), sushi and salad for P250.

MINISTOPNow serving customers is the newest Barangay BF Homes branch of convenience store chain Ministop located at the new commercial complex located at the corner of Presidents Avenue and Don Rufino street. Just steps away from the gate of Tahanan Village, Ministop

What’s new in town? Here are a few newly opened businesses spotted around BF.

ALLEgEd THREAT REPORTEdA homeowners association official from Sampaloc Site 1, Barangay BF Homes report-ed to the BF PNP PCP-5 Main police station that on the late afternoon of July 19, he was threatened by a certain Diosdado who allegedly said that he (suspect) will kill members of the family one by one if encountered. The suspect was described to be armed with an unidentified firearm and was reportedly a resident in one of the villages along Presidents Avenue, Barangay BF Homes. The victim was advised to file a formal complaint at the Barangay BF Lupon office or at the Parañaque PNP headquarters.

THREE MEN HURT By TWO MALES NEAR gAS STATIONThree men reported to the local police that for unknown reasons they were harmed by two unidentified male factors along Kalaw street (near the Caltex gas station) in Phase 1 of BF Homes at 3:00 AM of July 20. The suspects escaped to an unknown destination. No details were provided by the reportees as to how they were attacked and what kind of injuries they suffered.

MAN APPREHENdEd FOR ILLEgALLy POSSESSINg FIREARMAs elements of the Parañaque PNP police force conducted an Oplan Sita or check-point along Sucat Interchange, Barangay BF Homes on July 20, a 19-year-old man was stopped and frisked at around 11:30 PM which resulted the discovery of a .38 caliber revolver that was loaded with six pieces of live ammunition. The suspect was immedi-ately arrested by the police for illegally possessing a firearm.

MAN ARRESTEd AT J. ESTRAdA COMPOUNd FOR ILLEgAL FIREARM POSSESSION

Armed with a search warrant, Parañaque PNP officers arrested on July 20 a 37-year-old man at his home at the J. Estrada Compound, Barangay BF Homes for illegally pos-sessing a firearm. The police recovered from him a .45 caliber pistol, four magazines and 31 live ammunition pieces.

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The Fantastic Four past and present. (sources – Graphicnovice.com and Newsarama.com)

Fantastic Four

NEWS8 NEWS8 August 6 - 19, 2015

STREET TALk

“For me it’s helpful that these earthquake drills were organized because I finally know what to do if such a disaster happens. Coming out from buildings would mean taking cover under a sturdy table, avoiding shelves or hanging chandeliers and walking out with our hands on our heads for safety.” ~ Lito, drug store manager.

“Simple lessons like never panicking, avoid starting a stampede while in a thick crowd and tak-ing cover. Also important to pray on the way.” ~ Beth, office worker.

“By just watching I learned how to use the fire extinguisher, what to do when pulling a person’s body out from rubble and how to wrap bandages on a broken arm or a broken neck carefully. There should be more drills and I hope the local authorities will schedule more.” ~ Shiela, student.

“I learned the ironic lesson that disaster-related activities like the MM Shake Drill unite people and make them more responsible and more caring. It’s much better than being careless, passive and ignorant.” ~ Jojo, script writer.

“The earthquake drill last Thursday (July 30) is a good demonstration about emergency methods I learned long ago during my youth so I salute the organizers like the LGUs, the schools, the hospitals, police and others. The drill is a great reminder and I would have forgotten the skills I learned had it not been held.” ~ Wimpy, soccer player.

“I will never become a firefighter or an emergency service employee but I watched and learned how to do things like digging through the rubble, climbing up ladders to reach injured people and how to put a fire out with a hose or extinguisher.” ~ dyna, jewelry store employee.

“What did I learn? A new and more sensible goal to volunteer for the betterment of our fellow Filipinos. I am more than willing to help when emergencies happen and I already encourage my neighbors to watch future drills.” ~ Jun, student.

“Apart from watching emergency personnel demonstrate the proper ways to save lives and prevent fire hazards from spreading, I urge people reading this to attend future drills or call up their community leaders to organize drills and seminars all yearlong.” ~ ysabela, clothing store handler. v

What did you learn from the July 30 Metro Manila earthquakedrill?

For the past few months several disaster preparedness lectures or seminars were held around BF Homes as more people became conscious about the scenario in which a powerful earth-quake could happen once the West Valley Fault shifts again for the first time since 1658 which

PHILVOLCS director Renato Solidum (who visited BF Homes on June 24) stressed. Along the way the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) coordinated with several local government units (LGUs) on developing ways to make people aware as to what to do and where to go once disaster strikes. On July 30, several earthquake drills and emergency services demonstrations were held around Metro Manila. Recently NEWSVILLE sent its field reporter around BF to find out if locals learned anything about disaster preparedness and earthquake drills.

FEATURE

walked down the street with hands on their heads.As people occupied the ROLP parking area, the

Veritas school rescue team – composed mainly of Grade 9 and Grade 10 students – formed themselves and executed a series of demonstrations showing how to rescue victims buried by rubble, or left hanging high above ground and or trapped inside rooms dur-ing a fire. The proper use of the fire extinguisher was demonstrated as well as specific methods on how to lift and carry victims’ bodies and putting them inside ambulances while on stretchers.

Showing teamwork and close coordination, the VPS rescue team performed the demonstrations flu-idly and gave onlookers a clear view on how to handle victims to give them a better chance to survive in

People in the background observe how the VPS rescue team handle disaster victims

Students, employees and community officials par-ticipated in the local earthquake drill on July 30.

times of emergency. Before the drill started, Elsie Gatches St.

was already closed to traffic so that props could be set up in front of the ROLP which were needed for the demonstration. The Metro Manila Shake Drill was a project of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) in coordination with all cities of Metro Manila – including Parañaque, Las Piñas and Muntin-lupa – to emphasize disaster awareness and risk reduction. v

Nicanor Jacinto house namely Ma. Louthela Taylor, Emily Forsyth, and an Alias ATO (who remains at large). Meanwhile, V. Fernandez St. resident Diosdado Bartolome will be charged also for violating Section 11 Art. II (possession of dangerous drugs) and Section 16 (cultivation or culture of plants classified as dangerous drugs or sources thereof) of Republic Act Number 9165.

Others recommended for prosecution include John Christian Bartolome, Diosdado Bartolome and Arlene Gadon Mercado for violation of Section 6 (Maintenance of a Drug Den); Randi Padin Apa, Michael Romano Accion, Jeffrey Sano, Rico Cabrera Guigiayoma, Wilfredo Ner Memije, Roberto Pecan Berencuel, Jefferson Estampa Delos Reyes, Jaime Gonzales Mendoza and Wilson Sy Guzman, Jr. for violation of Section 7 (Visitors of a Drug Den); John Christian Bartolome and Arelene Gadon Mercado for violation of Section 11 (Possession of Dangerous Drugs).

In a July 27, 2015 report by GMA News Online, NBI Anti-Illegal Drug Unity chief Joel Tovera said that the houses on both Nicanor Jacinto and V. Fernandez streets were “controlled” by a certain Bartolome, a certain Ato and Ma. Louthela Taylor. Allegedly their group maintained both houses.

Tale of the searchAccording to official records, the operatives proceeded

to Nicanor Jacinto St. on July 24 in the afternoon where they encountered Taylor together with Forsyth and some children. After explaining the purpose of their presence and showing and explaining to Taylor the search warrant in the presence of barangay officials and some media representatives, the operatives searched the place (witnessed by barangay officials and media personnel) and eventually discovered the illegal substances and varied drug paraphernalia which were then marked for

From P1/ NBI, Brgy. Team raids drug den...

From P1/ NBI, Las Piñas busts...Follow-up operations on the same day resulted to

the arrest of Reyes who admitted having the counterfeit stickers printed in a printing press in Bulacan. The 17 pieces FR stickers were confirmed to be forged based on security features and the control numbers. The suspects were brought to the Las Piñas Health Center at the City Hall compound for medical examination, before being turned over to the Las Piñas PNP headquarters for proper disposition. Reyes, Berocal, Pineda and Mancela were informed of their constitutional rights in Tagalog which they understood but opted to remain silent.

“Bring them the full force of the law. This must a serve as warning to those who dare to bungle up our programs and continue to victimize the hapless public,” the furious Mayor Vergel “Nene” Aguilar later told the policemen.

Fake car stickers a lucrative business for crooksWhat got the ire of Aguilar are the complaints, which

was admitted by those arrested, that the stickers are be-ing sold from P500 to P1,200 per piece. Last year, an in-formation technology student was also arrested after he posted on the internet that he is selling FR stickers.

Police said the syndicate members found it lucrative to sell the stickers since vehicles bearing the same can pass through private villages with designated routes, oth-erwise denied entry or pay specific fees.

The mayor also instructed the arresting team lead by Senior Police Officer 4 (SPO4) John Miranda not to cease operation until the syndicate’s underlings are put to jail. The team is composed of members of Anti-Crime

is most important is that we do not forget about them and we will pay close attention to them,” Olivarez said. “I remember the times when I gave my father (former mayor) Dr. Pablo Olivarez a gift (worth below P500) on each of his birthday, he smiles because he is remembered.”

Along the way the mayor announced that effective 2016, qualified senior citizens of Parañaque will be entitled to a free medical laboratory test as a gift on their respective months of birth. As it turned out the Olivarez signed into law Draft Ordinance Number 135 (approved by the City Council on July 16) which amended the local ordinance on senior citizen benefits and formalized the medical laboratory test which includes several services such as complete blood count, fasting blood sugar, creatinine, uric acid, cholesterol, trygliceryde, ECG, urinalysis and flu vaccine. OSCA-Parañaque will soon develop the implementing rules and regulations.

Olivarez also confirmed that another bill authored by Councilor Binky Favis is pending at the City Council which seeks to formalize the process in which the City Government will give local seniors at least 100-years-old a cash gift of P100,000. The mayor stressed that the bill’s centerian cash gift was originally written as P10,000 and he asked the proponent to rewrite the amount as P10,000 was deemed as “too small.”

With regard to the total number of Parañaque senior citizens enrolled under the OSCA Cares program, the mayor confirmed that the city now has 24,000 members as of June. The figure marked an increase of over 71% compared to the same period a year ago.

Just before the organizers released the cash gifts, the city and local officials performed a symbolic blowing of the candles on a birthday cake to emphasize their celebration of the recipients’ birthdays. v

inventory. A subsequent laboratory examination conducted on some of the seized items resulted a positive reading for methamphetamine hydrochloride which is identified as a dangerous drug under RA 9165.

At 5:00 PM of that same day, operatives visited the premises of Bartolome (AKA Alyas Bartolome) at V. Fernandez St. which resulted into the confiscation of the marijuana plant, drug-related equipment and over 42 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride.

Suspect, a pastorIn Philippine Star reports dated July 27 and 29, suspect

Diosdado Bartolome – who is a pastor and whose parents founded the Charismatic Outreach Ministries Foundation, Inc. or COMFI – denied peddling the illegal substance of shabu but reportedly admitted that the houses within the compound were used by people who wanted to “jam” with them. He reportedly admitted using the illegal drugs and told the raiding team that the stuff was “just alum crystals”. The suspect started raising his voice when the agents discovered a blue-colored bag containing palm-sized packs of shabu.

Apparently in desperation Bartolome told his daughter to call up a certain “Tito Nick” whom he described to the law enforcers as a “cousin”, apparently referring to former PNP chief Nicanor Bartolome. The suspect said his father is a brother of the father of the former PNP chief.

For his part, former PNP chief Nicanor Bartolome told the Philippine Star that he does not know the suspect and denied that his father was the suspect’s uncle and stated that he has no relative based in Parañaque.

The NBI said that Bartolome’s house was the place of storage while his mother’s house was where the illegal drugs were used. Their recommendations for prosecution were received by the Department of Justice on July 27. v

and Follow-Up (ACFU) SPO3 Gerardo Fernandez, Police Officer 3 (PO3) Erwin Sabun, PO3 Hernan Pua and PO3 Ronni Conmigo.

Free Friendship Route Stickers clarifiedThe Las Piñas friendship route stickers are given out

for free to qualified residents allowing access to desig-nated roadways in private subdivisions as alternate to Zapote-Alabang Road, being the main artery to and from Alabang and Manila via Baclaran.

Officials of the Las Piñas Public Information Office (PIO) explained to NEWSVILLE that so far the City Govern-ment had released roughly 60,000 Friendship Route car stickers to residents ever since the city ordinance estab-lishing the sticker system came into effect. After the initial release of 50,000 stickers, the City Government had been issuing more or less 2,000 stickers in the years that fol-lowed, mainly covering the new vehicles of Las Piñas resi-dents and others who applied the previous year but were not issued. Apparently the fake car sticker syndicate took advantage of Las Piñas motorists’ who failed to get free car stickers from the City Government and made money from them.

Meanwhile, coordination with security officers and homeowners’ associations in over 200 villages and sub-divisions in the city was strengthened following the re-surgence of the syndicate’s operation. For its part, the BF Federation of Homeowner Associations, Inc. said that its gate guards had caught some motorists using fake Friend-ship Route stickers and that they have yet to achieve full efficiency in doing that. v

From P2/ PQUE gives birthday cash gifts to BF seniors...

From P1/ Brgy. BF joins Metro ‘Shake’ drill...