LEGAZPI CITY, Aug. 8 — Several still uncontrolled forest fires rages in Albay as this story is being written. Ominous signs that challenges the touted disaster preparedness of the province. The forest fire in Cagraray island in Bacacay town, which started two days ago in the mountainous area of Barangay […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Coconut farmers are projected to suffer from economic hardship due to loss of income until next year or even up to 2016 as the consequence of Typhoon Glenda. Philippine Coconut Authority-Albay senior agriculturist Alvin Trespeces said agency records estimated the total loss in terms of farmers’ income […]
RAPU-RAPU, Albay– A forest fire which raged for five days almost engulfed the forested part of the island of Batan, of the two-island municipality of Rapu-rapu of Albay province. The fire began on Friday last week but came to the knowledge of Albay public safety and civil defense offices three […]
Mention disaster preparedness and the province of Albay always comes to mind. But not all LGUs and government offices in the province “walk the walk” and “talk the talk” of the indefatigable governor Joey Sarte Salceda. In Tabaco, at least 21 sacks of rice and cartons of relief goods (noodles) […]
LEGAZPI CITY -– Commuters traversing the Yawa bridge here better find an alternative route to avoid inconvenience. Starting Monday, August 6, a traffic rerouting affecting buses, trucks and delivery vans take effect as works on the bridge widening project starts. While the project has an allotment of P140 million approved […]
SORSOGON CITY — A village in Bacon district here may soon be erased from the map if the geo-hazard threatening it would not be acted upon, the village chief on Monday warned. Osiao barangay chairman Tito Dio said typhoon Glenda spawned massive flooding in their locality, made worse by the […]
Albay governor Joey Salceda expressed irritation on the announcement of the Albay Power Energy Corp. (APEC) that the electricity supply in the entire province will be restored in October this year yet. The announcement crossed the eyebrows of consumers in the province. Salceda said Saturday he has asked the assistance […]
LEGAZPI CITY — While few localities in the province have their electricity supply restored much of the area taken over by Albay Power and Energy Corporation are still in the dark. It is more likely that the unenergized areas of the province will have to wait for at least two […]
SORSOGON CITY – After the storm that hit the Bicol region comes the backlash. Sorsogon provincial officials accuses the Albay leadership of allegedly seeming and deliberate exaggeration and padding on estimated disaster report on the value of devastation wrought by Typhoon Glenda. Of the six Bicol provinces, Albay claimed to […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Two teams from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in Manila repaired nine of the 10 monitoring stations around Mount Mayon including six of the seven similar equipments around Bulusan volcano disabled by typhoon “Glenda” on July 15. Headed by Dr. Maria Antonia V. Bornas, Phivolcs […]
Bicol region is reeling from the massive blackout, total power disruptions in all areas, while affected residents are just beginning to face the difficult task of rebuilding, again. Even with the absence of electric power in the entire region, the provincial governments in Bicol have ordered the decampment of a […]
Typhoon “Glenda” left behind with majority of electric cooperatives, power retailers, in the Bicol mainland and other areas powerless, as noted by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). In the NGCP’s 7:00 a.m. update Wednesday, identified these cooperatives as the Eastern Samar Electric Cooperative Inc. (ESAMELCO), Samar Electric […]
LEGAZPI CITY, July 15 — As of 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, tropical storm “Glenda” was located at about 90 kilometers of this city and is expected to hit Legazpi City at about 4:00 p.m. The typhoon is expected to pass by Prieto Diaz in Sorsogon, then Legazpi and the First District […]
Seven provinces are now under public storm signal No. 3 as typhoon “Glenda” has maintained its strength and continues to move westward towards Bicol region, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) on Tuesday. Public storm signal No. 3 (winds of 101-185 kilometers per hour is […]
LEGAZPI CITY –- The public works and highways department is almost set to start the expansion to four lanes of the Yawa bridge here at a cost of P140 million. According to public works Bicol assistant regional director Armando Estrella, the initial amount of P50 million is now ready, hoping […]
Legazpi City — The province of Albay and this city will be able to showcase as a booming economic and tourism hubs outside Manila in the coming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in 2015, DFA Undersecretary Laura del Rosario said Thursday. Earlier, reported here that probably 10 of 63 APEC ministerial […]
Legazpi City, Albay — Still aching from the unabated electric power serrvice interruptions courtesy of Albay Power energy corporation, the residents of this city are also beset with another problem. Consumers within the service area of Legazpi City water district (LCWD) face the probability of a fresh round of rate […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Members of the defunct Albay Electric Cooperative (ALECO) believes that the P500-million rehabilitation fund the coop received from the national government seven years ago has been misappropriated. The members who formed the group Aleco Forum has asked the Anti-Graft Division of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) […]
The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) announces that 11,225 out of 29,188 passed the Nurse Licensure Examination given by the Board of Nursing in the cities of Manila, Bacolod, Baguio, Cabanatuan, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Dagupan, Davao, Iloilo, Laoag, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Pampanga, Tuguegarao and Zamboanga last May 2014. The successful […]
LEGAZPI CITY – This Bicol city hosted last year more than half a million tourists, an increase of 32.27 percent from the previous year’s number of arrivals. As recorded by the Bicol regional office of the Department of Tourism, the total arrivals of both domestic and foreign tourists here for […]
Gov. Joey Salceda joins move to boycott payment to APEC LEGAZPI CITY, -– A boycott move against the San Miguel Energy Corp. (SMEC) is gaining ground as its newly acquired controversial Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco), now named Albay Power and Energy Corp. (APEC), has yet to deliver its much-vaunted stable […]
Albay governor Joey Salceda just called the power blackout that inconvenienced constituents for eight days and eight nights as “Bitano Massacre”. Adding that the hapless occurrence which highlighted the seervice of the Albay Power and Energy Corporation, a creation of the San Miguel Enenergy Corporation, may have made residents firmer […]
Legazpi City, Albay — Albay power blackout disrupted our lives, bigtime! On Wednesday, May 28 at about 9″00 o’clock AM the electiricity being supplied by Albay Power and Energy corporation (APEC) thru feeders 1, 2 ,3 and 4 in this city, suddenly went off. The APEC, (the company created with […]
The blackout being suffered by Legazpi City, Manito town and some areas of Sto. Domingo town started on Wednesday morning after the 35-year-old 20-MVA transformer of the Bitano sub-station conked out. Imported during the Martial Law years, (during the implementation of establishing electric cooperatives in the country) in 1979, it […]
LEGAZPI CITY, — Power blackout in Legazpi City and parts of Albay entered its sixth day on Monday after the 35-year-old 20-MVA transformer in the Bitano sub-station here, covering four feeders, totally collapsed on Wednesday morning and is now beyond repair. The problem in power supply lack came a few […]
A CALL FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE by Oliver O. Olaybal All Albay lawyers are requested to provide legal assistance to their fellow member-consumers in Aleco. Aleco needs your help. A group of unelected individuals have subcontracted the franchise operations of Aleco without the consent of Aleco member-consumers, and without the approval […]
LEGAZPI CITY, Albay, June 1, 2014 — For four days now, the entire city of Legazpi including the towns of Sto. Domingo and Manito, are still plunged into total darkness by the Albay Power Energy Corporation. According to reports a 20-MVA power transformer of a sub-station of the electric service […]
BATO, CamSur — A belated report on Tilapia fishkill in Lake Bato of Camarines Sur was recently confirmed by the municipal agriculture office here. The downpour of rain after long sunny days has brought about fishkill in 70 percent of the fish cages of “tilapia” in the lake. This report […]
MANILA, May 17 — The Department of Tourism on Thursday welcomed United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General Taleb Rifai who arrived in Manila. Secretary General Rifai’s visit will start off with a dinner meeting in Manila with select Cabinet members of the Aquino administration, businessmen, and officials of […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Secretary General Taleb Rifai of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNTWO) will arrive on Saturday to preside over the 26th Joint meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and the UNWTO Commission for South Asia. Rifai, a Jordanian national, will also preside […]
LEGAZPI CITY — The city government will pursue its plan to build a monument of Saint John Paul II here. Vice Mayor Vittorio Roces said Tuesday they could not help regretting why they had not done it before. This is not a very original idea, but more of a copy […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Official government data revealed that there are 187,673 Bicolano households which do not have access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation, according to the Department of Social Welfare. The provinces of Masbate, Camarines Sur and Albay posted the highest incidences of households with no access to […]
RAPU-RAPU, Albay -– What happens now that the mining operations of a giant multi-national industrial firm in the mineral-depleted barangay of Pagcolbon, on which most villagers were made dependent on for their livelihood for years, have terminated? How about their lands within the 180-hectare site which were turned barren by […]
LEGAZPI CITY, April 27 — A big crowd of parishioners of the Saint Gregory the Great Parish here is expected to gather at the Albay Cathedral to join the procession at 3:00 p.m. Sunday and the Pontifical Mass led by Bishop Joey “Bong” Baylon at 4:00 p.m. for the canonization […]
LEGAZPI CITY — The Citizens Crime Watch Bicol chapter will file before the Office of the Ombudsman on Tuesday a complaint against Philippine National Railways officials on the procurement of allegedly sub-standard wooden railroad ties for the repair and maintenance of the rail line in the Bicol region. The complaint […]
Yveth Santiago of Daraga Albay a Bicol University accountancy graduate and a CPA is the newest Bb Pilipinas Supranational winner. Bb. Pilipinas International winner Mary Anne Bianca Guidotti is a “Bicolana” though residing abroad, her mother hails from Daraga, Albay. While favorite candidate Mary Jean Lastimosa was crowned Sunday night […]
LEGAZPI CITY –- Albay Gov. Joey Salceda has announced he is filing charges against the Philippine National Railways for using the premium tourist train not in the Bicol-Manila route where its acquisition was intended. The PNR utilizes the trains on Tutuban-Laguna run instead of the Bicol route where it is […]
As the Philippine Military Academy conduct its ceremonial graduation exercises at the Borromeo Field today honoring the “Siklab Diwa” class of 2014, many Bicolanos and more so with Albay folks stand proud. Seven of the graduates hail from the province including the class valedictorian Cadet First Class Jheorge Llona. The […]
LEGAZPI CITY, March 2 — The fund raising drive launched in Albay province for Olympic figure skater Michael Christian Martinez collected P200,348 and $1.25 in totals. Governor Joey Salceda personally turned over the money to Martinez and his mother as contribution to the expenses of the athlete in the (recently […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Starting the first week of March, Albay Electric Cooperative, now renamed as Albay Power Energy Corporation (APEC), will be under the management of San Miguel Electricity Corporation. Newly installed general manager Alan Marchan said after the audit on management, technical and operations last January, SMC fully take […]
LEGAZPI CITY -– A proactive Mayor Noel E. Rosal here early this week ordered the city’s Integrated Coastal Resource Management Unit to fully secure the coastal water channel where whale sharks currently inhabit. “We want Poliqui Bay conserved by way of protecting it from illegal fishing activities, water pollution and […]
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb 17 — Hundreds of residents of this city hoping to catch a fleeting glimpse of rare visitors flock to the shoreline. For the third time, whale sharks, locally known as butanding, have reappeared in the waters off this city. The presence of these gentle sea giants, six […]
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 13 – To financially assist the lone Filipino skater competing in the Winter Olympics in Russia, Albayanos have launched a fund-raising campaign for Michael Christian Martinez as their pre-Valentine gift to the Filipino figure skater. The campaign, dubbed as “Piso para sa Pusong Pilipino: People’s Valentine Gift […]
It is really a big deal that Albay’s view deck zone and rest house was finally restored. Yet, there is the unanswered question on how come it was left being a white elephant for over a decade which concerned local government officials and, or, agencies did nothing. For over ten […]
Legazpi City — The Bicol University will open next school year a medical school in its main campus in this city, according to Gov. Joey Salceda. Its (prospective) medical students will use the facilities of the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital (BRTTH). Meanwhile, the BRTTH also based in the […]
DARAGA, Albay, Feb. 2 — Albay folks commemorate the day when the almost perfect cone-shaped Mayon volcano burst its fiery temper, hurling superheated ash, sand and molten rocks that buried alive countless villagers who sought sanctuary inside the Cagsawa church in February 1, 1814. After 200 years, Albayanos pay tribute […]
LEGAZPI CITY, — Albay opens its international gateway through this city on January 30th. On this day, about 156 Chinese tourists will visit the Bicol province during the initial direct flight from Xiamen, China. The Chinese nationals are expected to stay for a five-day tour. The domestic airport here has […]
LEGAZPI CITY — There is no reason to be flaunting about the age of modern air travel in the region via the Southern Luzon international airport. The thing is, the airport’s completion may come beyond the 2016 national elections, yet. Because of this, Bicolanos, more specifically the people of Albay, […]
LEGAZPI CITY — The seemingly endless saga of Albay province’s lone electric cooperative continues. Already saddled with a four-month-old labor strike, the Albay Electric Cooperative is again facing another threat of power disconnection after it received on Wednesday the notice for its failure to settle last year’s outstanding power bills […]
LEGAZPI CITY, Jan. 6 — The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) here on Monday suspended for an hour the operations in the Legazpi City domestic airport after a Cebu Pacific plane that had just landed and was negotiating the runway suddenly stopped due to a mechanical trouble. Antonio […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Fresh from her triumph in the Tokyo pageant, that definitely capped the year’s unprecedented haul of various international beauty titles ever, the newest Miss International 2013 Bea Rose Santiago will be home in the Bicol region before the year ends. Bea Rose will mark her homecoming with […]
Albay governor Joey Salceda is giving a P1,000 cash reward to anybody who could furnish a video or photo, much better if accompanied by audio recording, of any provincial employee lighting firecraker on New Year’s eve. Identity of the “whistleblower” will also be kept confidential. “This is not a joke,” […]
LEGAZPI CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development should provide a “Noche Buena” package to each of the 1.1 million families displaced by super typhoon “Yolanda” in the Visayas, Albay governor Joey Salceda said Saturday. “DSWD should have started repacking Noche Buena packages, but four days to go, […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Barely a month after the occurrence of a deadly explosion in an illegal coal mining operation in Batan ssland in Rapu-Rapu, Governor Joey Sarte Salceda urged the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to conduct an investigation into the reported unabated illegal coal mining operation in the area. The massive illegal […]
Sixteen town and city mayors, and hundreds of barangay captains, received recognition from the regional office of the Department of Health for initiating blood-letting drives in their localities during the agency’s Dugong Bicol Awards. Awardees include the mayors of Tabaco city and Tiwi in Albay, Naga city, Ragay, Sipocot, Cabusao, […]
CAMP GEN. SIMEON A. OLA, Legazpi City, — A housewife died while 23 other passengers swam to safety when their boat capsized after hitting a floating big piece of wood while cruising the Tipya River in Jovellar town, Albay, early Friday afternoon at the height of heavy rains in the […]
LEGAZPI CITY — Unknown to the 250,000 power consumers in Albay, the National Electric Administration has filed for a power rate increase in anticipation of the final takeover of the San Miguel Corp. of the operation of its recently acquired bankrupt electric cooperative of the province, according to documents obtained […]
Legazpi City has new police chief, 100 more cops and 100 Glock firearms CAMP GEN. SIMEON A. OLA, Legazpi City, Dec. 2 — The Bicol Regional Police Office leadership has installed a new police chief, assigned 100 more police officers and turned over 100 Glock 9mm-caliber pistols to the Legazpi […]
LEGAZPI CITY — The United Nations Green Climate Fund (GCF) headquarters will formally open on Wednesday, December 4 with an inaugural dedication at 10:30 A.M. The center is located at the G-Tower of Songdo in Incheon City, South Korea. The G-Tower building is specially designed for the GCF and other […]
CAMP GEN. SIMEON A. OLA, Legazpi City — The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has offered a reward of P50,000 for the capture of the barangay captain of Sabang in this city now hunted by authorities for alleged illegal drugs trafficking. Regional director Archie Grande identified the fugitive barangay official […]
The domestic airport in Legazpi receives a boost from the provincial government of Albay with the allotment of P11 million for upgrading geared towards making the city a prospective gateway for chartered flights of foreign tourists. This was confirmed as the provincial legislature unanimously approved last week the allocation requested […]
CAMP GEN. SIMEON A. OLA, Legazpi City — Two Albay local police chiefs get the ire of their superiors very lately, that eventually get axed in the current cleansing of the force in the region. The Bicol regional police office here has formally removed two police chiefs from their respective […]
LEGAZPI CITY, Nov. 27 – Sorsogon serves as jump-off point of Typhoon Yolanda survivors from Samar. As of Nov. 25, there were 21 families and 69 individuals who received aid from DSWD through the Public Assistance Desk. Herminia Diorico of Barangay Maya, MacArthur, Leyte, and six other members of her […]
CAMP GEN. SIMEON A. OLA, Legazpi City, Nov. 26 – The Bicol regional police director has ordered an investigation of the chief of police of the Rapu-Rapu island municipality in Albay after the latter appeared unaware of an explosion in a mining company that killed two persons and injured two […]
LEGAZPI CITY -– The booming tourism industry here will get a boost as the city locates a new boulevard to be constructed in its northern part anytime next year after the completion of all the necessary requirements, permits and clearances, Mayor Noel E. Rosal said in an interview. The proposed […]
Legazpi Bishop Joel Baylon is adding voice on the strong opposition to the Duterte administration-sanctioned deadly all-out war on drug users and pushers. During the Sunday mass service, the bishop lamented the unfortunate disregard of the strong moral outcry for life. The Legazpi prelate announced the ringing of church bells […]
I-Witness Account of the Quest for the Largest Human No-Smoking Sign in Albay Last June 28, 2013 on a bright Friday morning Albayanos converged in Albay park and orderly marched towards the football field of the Bicol University main campus. The massive event was in participation to the quest, and […]
Tourism industry in the Bicol region leaped a considerable improvement beginning last year when it ranked fourth overall compared to other regions of the country.
I strongly believe one of the most beloved pope in the world is Pope John Paul II. He visited the Philippines twice. The first historic and memorable visit to the city of Legaspi was on February 21, 1981. He made a return trip to the country during the World Youth Day Celebration in January 12-16, 1995 in Manila.
LEGAZPI CITY — If he will have his way, outgoing Albay governor Joey Salceda will separate the Office of Civil Defense from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Now that he is the newly elected representative of the second legislative district of Albay, it is exactly what he […]
Imagine this. A handsome building rising on Quituinan Hill fronting the majestic Mount Mayon would be a sight to behold. That prospect emboldens the municipal council committee on infrastructure of Camalig in Albay coming forward with the plan. They proposed to build a P3.5 billion Bicol International Convention Center located […]
LEGAZPI CITY – This Bicol city hosted last year more than half a million tourists, an increase of 32.27 percent from the previous year’s number of arrivals. As recorded by the Bicol regional office of the Department of Tourism, the total arrivals of both domestic and foreign tourists here for […]
As alert Level 3 was raised as of 10 P.M. on Monday, the state institute of volcanology recommends that the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone around Mt. Mayon in Albay province be enforced. The agency advised that the southeastern flank of the restive volcano exposed to the danger of rock […]
Watch this. The national greening program in Bicol provinces. Although it is more of a prop video mouthing the government agency, still some information, including facts and numbers, make a good conversation piece. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is one of the lead agency with thrust in conservation […]
LEGAZPI CITY -– Commuters traversing the Yawa bridge here better find an alternative route to avoid inconvenience. Starting Monday, August 6, a traffic rerouting affecting buses, trucks and delivery vans take effect as works on the bridge widening project starts. While the project has an allotment of P140 million approved […]
For the fiscal year of 2006, 33 out of 107 Bicol municipal LGUs earned an income over and above the P50M mark. Camarines Norte capital town of Daet topped with an annual income of P158M followed by Albay’s premier town of Daraga. CamSur’s Pili earned P77M to place 6th. Catanduanes capital of Virac earned P65M for the 17th.
LEGAZPI CITY — The Department of Social Welfare and Development should provide a “Noche Buena” package to each of the 1.1 million families displaced by super typhoon “Yolanda” in the Visayas, Albay governor Joey Salceda said Saturday. “DSWD should have started repacking Noche Buena packages, but four days to go, […]
Watch this continuing edition of Road Tour Albay. This portion covers the short distance starting from Barangay Tuburan of Ligao City up until Barangay Agos, Polangui town. Agos is the last barangay of Polangui and the Province of Albay before crossing the provincial boundary and entering Barangay Agos of Bato […]
The whole third district of Albay may soon experience a flood-free area now initially being enjoyed by Ligao city as a result of the “standard-built and graft-less” infrastructure projects in flood control. Rep. Fernando Gonzalez (LP, 3rd District, Albay), one of President Aquino’s leading allies in his “tuwid na daan” […]
Legazpi City — Three family members were massacred on Sunday by a gang inside their Barangay Alongong residence of Libon, Albay. Police identified the fatalities as Felipe Ongog, 60, a businessman; Arnold Ongog, of legal age; and Imelda Ongog, 33. The suspects led by gang leader Gilbert Concepcion immediately escaped […]
Happy to share the lasting glimpse of sunset at Victoria Bay Resort for the day. The short clip of the setting sun is at the town of Oas in Albay. At the brink of forgetting the sunset which is a must when on a beach, but in the end, I […]
The province of Camarines Sur and the city of Naga lead the list of top earners in their category for three consecutive years of 2001, 2002 and 2003. The perennial seconders are Albay province and Legazpi city for the same reference periods.
(PNA) – A group of Bicolano divers did their share of cleaning Albay’s marine environment with a seabed clean-up activity off the coastline of Legazpi city. The event was tagged as scubasura which marked the recent observance of the World Water Day. The drive was spearheaded by the regional office […]
We are sharing the first ever compiled short movie using the chroma key effect on a green screen here. The first output is still wanting of a good end result. Have to invest in good lighting fixtures for the background and the subject, though. On this short movie we present […]
LEGAZPI CITY, Nov. 27 – Sorsogon serves as jump-off point of Typhoon Yolanda survivors from Samar. As of Nov. 25, there were 21 families and 69 individuals who received aid from DSWD through the Public Assistance Desk. Herminia Diorico of Barangay Maya, MacArthur, Leyte, and six other members of her […]
LEGAZPI CITY — The city government will pursue its plan to build a monument of Saint John Paul II here. Vice Mayor Vittorio Roces said Tuesday they could not help regretting why they had not done it before. This is not a very original idea, but more of a copy […]
Indeed, with the alarming upheaval in the belly of beguiling Mayon Volcano, another one is letting out a steam of its own. It would seem to confirm that Albay is home to two volcanoes that both pose threat to health and normal economic life of the province. We are referring […]
LEGAZPI CITY, Feb. 21 — The Filipino-Chinese community and the Albayano culture and traditions blended during the Fiesta Tsinoy Chinese Lunar new year celebration on Thursday here, the first time ever. Tourism department’s Bicol regional director Ma. Nini-Ong Ravanilla, infused the Pastores Bicol in this year’s Fiesta Tsinoy new year […]
The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) needs a shot in the arm as it might have its last breath after 10 months since it is fast losing blood with its fund payout larger than its members’ monthly contributions and income. This was disclosed by PhilHealth board member Eddie Dorotan, who […]