Occidental Mindoro, Philippines

Four hundred passengers aboard the M/V Pacific Alpha remained stranded off the coast of Mindoro as strong waves have prevented the vessel from docking at the Dangay Pier, a Philippine Coast Guard official said.

The M/V Pacific Alpa, a Roll-On-Roll-Off transport ship bound for Caticlan, Aklan was scheduled to depart from the Dangay Pier at 2 a.m. Thursday on May 15 but was delayed by two hours due to bad weather caused by the tropical storm “Cosme,” PCG spokesman Armand Balilo said in a press conference Friday.

Shortly after ship’s departure, the captain and the owner of M/V Pacific Alpa decided to return to Mindoro since they could not cross the waters due to the “unusual weather,” Balilo said.

M/V Pacific Alpa, owned by Starlite Shipping, is the last of the six transport vessels which got stranded off the coast of Roxas, Mindoro last May 15 until early morning of May 16, Balilo said.

The Dangay Pier is a small pier and cannot accommodate many ships at the same time, Balilo said.

The bad weather is also to blame since most of the stranded vessels were not big enough to counter the strong winds and waves, said Balilo, adding, that unloading a transport ship takes roughly two to three hours.By Katherine Evangelista

INQUIRER.net

After being stranded for more than 24 hours without food or water off Mindoro, passengers aboard a stranded vessel are getting restive and irked with the ship’s crew.

One of the passengers of the MV Starlight Pacific, which left Roxas in Mindoro for Caticlan in Aklan at 2 a.m. Thursday, scored the crew for deciding to leave port despite stormy weather.

“Walang tubig na supply para inumin, dehydrated ang mga tao dito lalo noong umaga paglayag namin. Suka rito, suka roon. Baligtad sa allegation sa balita na maganda ang kalagayan ng tao (We no water to drink, many of us are dehydrated. Many are vomiting. Our situation is the opposite of what news reports are saying that our condition is good),” passenger Ariel Taton said in an interview on dzBB radio at 4 a.m. Friday.

Except for one cup of noodles in the last 26 hours, he said, they have not received any food from the ship’s crew, adding that some passengers dozed off while wearing life vests.

“Antay kami ng antay walang pagkain na dumarating sa amin. Namumuti na ang mata ng tao, yung mga bata gising (We have been waiting for food to come but nothing has arrived. Even the children are kept awake),”he added.

GMANews.TV

Typhoon “Butchoy” (Rammasun) intensified to near-supertyphoon category as it moved north-northeast, even as a low-pressure area inched closer to Mindoro Sunday afternoon.In its 5 p.m. advisory, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said “Butchoy” was 990 kilometers east of Basco, Batanes as of 2 p.m.

Pagasa said “Butchoy” packed maximum winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 210 kph, and is forecast to move north-northeast at 24 kph.

The US Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) classifies typhoons with wind speeds of at least 241 kph as Super Typhoons.

Meanwhile, Pagasa said a Low Pressure Area (LPA) was estimated at 300 km west-northwest of Mindoro. It did not say if the LPA could intensify into a cyclone.

Pagasa said Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao would experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms becoming widespread rains over the western sections of Visayas and Mindanao including Palawan.

The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

GMANews.TV

SAN JOSE, Occidental Mindoro (25 April) — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) will ensure that the movement of rice from this province will not be hampered by checkpoints and other delays that result in additional cost of the commodity.

This was announced by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in an interview with media at the National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in Barangay San Roque I here.

The President arrived at 11:30 a.m accompanied by Trade and Industry Secretary Peter Favila.

She was welcomed by local executives and government officials led by Governor Josephine Sato, Lone District Representative Amelita Villarosa, San Jose Mayor Romulo Festin, NFA San Jose provincial manager Edward Damian, NFA Mamburao provincial manager Elenita Ganelo, and DTI Region IV Director Joel Valera.

The President pointed out that as one of the country’s five biggest rice producers, Occidental Mindoro plays a key role in the rice supply chain.

The province produced a total of 350,000 metric tons of palay last year, Governor Sato enthused to the President.

The Chief Executive said that with rice supply from the province already available, Favila would ensure that transport of the cereal to other destinations would be conducted without delay.

“Gagawin nating no flag-down iyong mga truck na nanggagaling sa Mindoro,” she said.

Rice produced in Occidental Mindoro reaches Metro Manila, southern Luzon provinces, and even as far away as Iloilo, Cebu, Samar and Bohol.

The President also thanked officials of local government units (LGUs), church and the private sector for their role in the distribution of the cereal.

She also cited their cooperation in the government’s campaign to protect consumers against hoarders and “price bandits” who manipulate the prices of food items amid the tight world supply of prime commodities, particularly of rice. (PIA-MMIO)

SAN JOSE, Occidental Mindoro (25 April) — The National Development Company (NDC) will float P2 billion worth of bonds to fund the acquisition and distribution of dryers and other post-harvest facilities to raise productivity and minimize the losses incurred by farmers during harvest season.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced this during the two-on-one interview at the National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in Barangay San Roque I here.

A study made by the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (DA-BPRE) showed that rice post-harvest physical losses amounted to 33 percent of the total production, mostly incurred during drying, milling, threshing, and storage.

The President said Trade Secretary Peter Favila chairs the NDC, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which is managing some P4.6 billion worth of investment portfolios.

“NDC will float P2 billion worth of bonds to fund acquisition of dryers and other post-harvest facilities,” the President said.

The distribution of dryers and other post-harvest facilities is mandated under the President’s multi-billion FIELDS (Fertilizer-Irrigation and Infrastructure-Extension and Education-Loans-Dryers-Seeds) program which will be implemented for the next two years to make food abundant, accessible and affordable.

This includes P500 million for production and fertilizer support; P8 billion for irrigation and P7.21 billion for infrastructure such as farm-to-market roads, roll-on roll-off (RO-RO) ferry ports, and no-frills airports for agricultural cargo; P5 billion for Extension and Education covering research and development, capacity building and training and education in agriculture and fisheries.

Under Loans and Insurance, government financing institutions such as LandBank made available P15 billion for agricultural credit allocated to support thousands of rice farmers nationwide.

Some P2 billion would be spent on dryers and other post-harvest facilities, while P8 billion was allocated for the targeted 1.5 million hectares of farmland under the certified and hybrid seeds program.

The President said irrigated lands now cover 1.4 million hectares, the highest since the 1.2 million hectares achieved during the Martial law years, by rehabilitating what has not been working and establishing new irrigation systems and facilities.

“That is only one-half of our irrigated area so we need and I tasked the DA to spend P500 million a month for irrigation, meaning P6 billion a year,” the President said. (PIA-MMIO)