THE YEAR 2022 is a time of profound change in Philippine society politically, economically and more. Seismic is perhaps even a moderate word to describe this action-packed year full of surprises, twists and turns.
As we welcome New Year 2023, let us look back at the events, personalities, places, and institutions that shaped 2022 and shook us all down to the cellular level. Undoubtedly, there are many. The staff of this paper endeavored to pick some of the more significant ones. What are yours?
MAY 2022 ELECTIONS and BONGBONG MARCOS
The May 9 synchronized national and local elections were perhaps the most exciting in decades and its results were projected to profoundly affect the country in the next six to 12 years.
The UniTeam presidential timber, former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., scored a landslide victory.
Marcos Jr.’s formidable showing came 36 years after his father’s corrupt totalitarian regime was driven out of Malacañang Palace in 1986 by a popular uprising called EDSA People Power Revolution – a truly seismic event in Philippine history.
P34-M SHABU – BIGGEST HAUL IN REGION 6 IN 2022
Suspected shabu valued at P34 million was seized by Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) operatives in Barangay Old Poblacion, Escalante City, Negros Occidental on March 4. To date, this remains as the largest confiscation of shabu in Western Visayas this year.
PDEA believed the shabu was either from Cebu or Metro Manila and intended for distribution in Bacolod City.
GARIN POLITICAL DYNASTY STRONGER THAN EVER
POLITICS remains a family affair for the influential Garin clan in Iloilo province’s 1st District. The May 9 elections saw them even tightening their grip on power.
The Garins even managed to expand their influence despite the passing in 2021 of their patriarch, former congressman and Guimbal town mayor Oscar Garin.
Garin’s son Richard, himself a former congressman, former vice governor and former Guimbal mayor, won as mayor in the adjacent town of Miag-ao.
Richard’s wife, reelectionist Cong. Janette Garin, secured a second term to serve the 1st District which covers the towns of Guimbal, Igbaras, Miag-ao, Oton, San Joaquin, Tigbauan, and Tubungan.
The Garin family matriarch, Richard’s mother Ninfa, was reelected as mayor of San Joaquin.
Richard’s elder sister Jennifer Garin Colada was elected mayor of Guimbal while younger sister Christine, the incumbent vice governor, secured another term.
The late Oscar Garin served as congressman from 1987 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2004. Wife Ninfa was elected congresswoman of the district for one term – 1998 to 2001 – and had previously served, too, as Sangguniang Panlalawigan member.
UNGKA FLYOVER ‘SINKING’
On Sept. 5, the P680-million Ungka flyover in Pavia, Iloilo and Iloilo City was fully opened to traffic after over two years of construction that started in 2020.
But after only two weeks, it was ordered closed by the Department of Public Works and Highways due to “vertical displacement”. Three piers are sinking, causing the flyover to sustain cracks.
As of this writing, this problem is yet to be remedied by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Another problem emerged related to this – traffic congestion in Barangay Ungka, Jaro, Iloilo City and Barangay Ungka 2, Pavia, Iloilo.
ESTANCIA MASSACRE
Three young businessmen were shot to death in Barangay Villa Panian, Estancia, Iloilo around 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 14.
According to their friend and business partner Jevron Parohinog who survived the attack, they were robbed by armed men.
The three victims were Jan Paul Mark Bosque, 28, of Sara, Iloilo; Chrysler Floyd Fernandes, 27, of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo; and Mark Clarenz Libao, 24, of Jaro, Iloilo City.
After weeks of probe, the special investigation task group of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office filed murder charges on Nov. 18 against Parohinog and 10 other personalities. Probers claimed the killings were about money and debts.
But just this Dec. 10, the Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the charges. There was insufficient evidence or lack of direct evidence, pointed out the 11-page resolution signed by Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Ronilo Pamonag and approved by Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor Ma. Elena Hofileña Gerochi.
AFRICAN SWINE FEVER
ON THE second week of October, Western Visayas logged its first cases of African Swine Fever (ASF) in Oton, Iloilo.
ASF is a highly contagious viral disease of pigs. In its acute form the disease generally results in high mortality.
The ASF eventually spread to the towns of Tigbauan, San Miguel, Leganes, Santa Barbara, New Lucena, Mina, Dumangas, Barotac Nuevo, Alimodian, and Iloilo City.
The outbreak prompted restrictions in the movement of hogs, pork and products from these areas. It also resulted to the culling of pigs in the affected areas.
The ASF eventually found is way to the nearby island-province of Guimaras this December.
The provinces of Antique, Negros Occidental, Capiz, and Aklan and Bacolod City restricted their borders to prevent the entry of ASF into their turfs.
UPROAR OVER ILOILO CITY’S TRANSPORT PLAN
THE ILOILO City government rolled out its Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) on June 12. It allowed only city loop jeepneys to haul into the city all provincial passengers from transport terminals located in the city’s boundary barangays. It prohibited provincial jeepneys from entering the city.
However, public uproar due to the inconvenience it created forced Mayor Jerry Treñas to suspend the LPTRP.
MORE POWER EXPANSION
THE Senate on May 30 approved on third and final reading the MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) expansion bill or House Bill (HB) 10306. It eventually lapsed into law.
The new measure allows Iloilo City’s sole power distributor to expand its service coverage to the second and fourth districts of Iloilo province.
Pavia, Iloilo’s Sangguniang Bayan Member Daniel “Dan” Fajardo II welcomed the passage of the bill and described this development as “good news” especially for Pavianhons.
In a privilege speech August 2021, Fajardo pointed out that a decrease in the cost of electricity would have a direct impact on the lives of Pavia’s residents and stakeholders such as the various businesses that have made the municipality their base of operation. He cited as example neighboring Iloilo City which enjoyed a dramatic drop in electricity rate by MORE Power.
IN BACOLOD: ALBEE IN, BING OUT
BACOLOD City elected a new mayor on May 9. Former congressman Alfredo “Albee” Benitez chalked up an insurmountable vote lead over reelectionist mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia .
This was an intense race. Leonardia was a veteran Bacolod politician who banked on the loyalty of supporters and his well-entrenched political machinery.
On the other hand, Benitez packaged himself as a fresh and young alternative to an old and worn-out leadership.
Of course, it also helped that Benitez – also a successful billionaire-businessman – had a well-funded campaign machinery.
STORMS ‘AGATON’ AND ‘PAENG’
On April 11, torrential rains unleashed by Tropical Depression “Agaton” caused massive flooding that displaced nearly 12,000 individuals in the provinces of Capiz, Iloilo and Negros Occidental.
A state of calamity was declared in several towns and thousands of individuals were displaced.
The initial estimate of losses in Western Visayas’ agriculture reached P111.1 million, according to the Department of Agriculture.
A total of 3,971 farmers were affected in the provinces of Capiz (2,990), Iloilo (826) and Antique (155). The agricultural losses included rice, corn, high-value crops, aquaculture, poultry and livestock, among others. The three provinces lost a combined 7,081.52 metric tons (MT) of agricultural produce.
Six months after, in the last week of October, Tropical Storm “Paeng” struck Region 6. There was heavy rain and massive flooding. The region was placed under a state of calamity by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Paeng” put the spotlight on the fragility of the region’s bridges and roads. At least seven bridges were damaged in Antique, Aklan and Iloilo.
BACOLODNON ‘MOVIE QUEEN’ SUSAN ROCES
Bacolod City-born actress Susan Roces, regarded as the “Queen of Philippine Movies”, passed away on May 20. Jesusa Purificacion Levy Sonora was 80. The cause of her death was not disclosed.
Roces’ husband was actor Ronald Allan Kelley Poe, better known as Fernando Poe Jr. and regarded as the “King of Philippine Movies”.
Roces was born on July 29, 1941 to a French-American mother of Jewish descent and a mestizo father of Spanish and Chinese descent.
She was a member of one of the country’s biggest clans, the Locsin family of Negros Occidental. The clan’s eponymous forebear, Wo Sin Lok, was a peddler from Xiamen who emigrated to the Philippines and firstly settled in Molo, Iloilo City.
Roces launched a career in show business in 1952.
She was last seen in the long-running teleserye “FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano” on ABS-CBN, where she had a recurring role as “Lola Flora”.
SEN. FRANKLIN DRILON BIDS POLITICS GOODBYE
In June, Ilonggo senator Franklin Drilon formally bade farewell to the Senate, the chamber he had served for 24 years, highlighted by serving as Senate President four times.
“It is my privilege and honor to have served you and our beloved nation for most of my life. It is with immense gratitude and profound pride that the gentleman from Iloilo, for the last time, yields the Senate floor,” he said during the traditional valedictory address for outgoing senators.
The 76-year-old Drilon of Molo, Iloilo City said it was time for him to call it quits after being in public service for almost three decades. He also pointed out that to date, “I am the only Drilon who holds an elective position in government. I am fully aware that public service is not something I can bequeath to my children or my relatives. It is both a responsibility and a privilege that is pro-actively chosen, out of a deep sense of duty and desire to serve, not out of entitlement or a birth right.”
There is a time for everything. A time to work and a time to rest. After being in public life for more than 35 years, Drilon stepped back to his private space to spend more time for himself and his loved ones.
STILL COVID-19 BUT…
Restrictions were gradually eased. People, businesses, offices, etc. were beginning to feel more confident after so much lockdowns in 2020 and 2021.
Of course, new COVID-19 virus variants emerged but the feared explosion of cases did not materialize. Thanks mainly to the vaccines.
Iloilo City recorded in January its first case of the highly transmissible Omicron variant – a 46-year-old unvaccinated male seafarer from Arevalo district.
ILONGGO ‘IRON MAN OF ASIA’ DIES
Multi-awarded, one-legged Ilonggo triathlete Rodolfo “Rudy” Fernandez of Ajuy, Iloilo died on Jan. 2 at age 74 due to stroke.
He earned the moniker “Iron Man of Asia” for his amazing athleticism despite his disability, competing in running, swimming and cycling, and prided himself in always finishing the race despite his handicap.
In 1996, he created buzz by swimming from Guimaras to Iloilo. He became a torchbearer for two multi-sport events: the 2001 Southeast Asian Games and the Palarong Pambansa 2005.
NPA LOSING GROUND IN PANAY
Long before Communist Party of the Philippines’ (CPP) founder Jose Ma. Sison died in December of this year, the Philippine Army indirectly declared victory over the insurgency in Panay Island. The New People’s Army (NPA) had lost control of the barangays in Panay where they used to have sympathizers, it said in February.
“We hit them hard on the battle of perception and at the level of combat operations,” said Captain Kim Apitong, officer-in-charge of the 3rd Infantry Division’s (3ID) Public Affairs Office.
The lack of mass actions in Panay Island each time the CPP-NPA has an event such as their anniversary indicates that they have become insignificant, he pointed out.
Panay Island is composed of 3,291 barangays spread in the provinces of Iloilo, Antique, Aklan, and Capiz.
PROPOSED REVIVAL OF PANAY RAILWAYS
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos. Jr. ordered the revival of the railway system in Panay Island, among other roads and transportation systems in the country, during his first State of Nation Address (SONA) on July 25.
“It is clear in my mind that railways offer great potential as it continues to be the cheapest way of transporting goods and passengers,” said Marcos whose SONA centered mainly on revitalizing the country’s economy.
The Panay railways started operating in 1907. Operations ceased in 1983 due to mounting losses.
“We can build upon already existing lines by modernizing these old railway systems,” said Marcos.
The Panay railway system will be integrated as a vital part of the country’s transport and communications systems, he said, also mentioning, the 102-kilometer Mindanao Railway Project and the Cebu railway system.
He described them as “larger-scale railway systems”.
The Panay railway’s original route was 117 kilometers long and included 19 permanent and 10 flag stations. It connected the then towns of La Paz and Jaro (now districts of Iloilo City), Pavia, Santa Barbara, New Lucena, Pototan, Dingle, Dueñas, and Passi in Iloilo, and Dumarao, Dao, Panitan, Cuartero, and Loctugan in Capiz. It reached Roxas City.
CLAIRE DIERGOS SLAY CASE
THE Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office dismissed in April of this year the murder complaint filed against five members of the Lopez family of San Dionisio, Iloilo in connection with the death of businesswoman Claire Diergos in Pavia, Iloilo in October 2021.
There was insufficient evidence, stated the resolution signed by Provincial Prosecutor Shaun Cary Acot and Deputy Provincial Prosecutor Edwin Sustituya.
But the prosecutor’s office found probable cause to indict for murder Raffy Sorioso and Gardo Ibrahim who were former Lopez aides, and Ma. Rudelyn Sumbong, the house helper of Diergos.
The Iloilo Provincial Prosecutor’s Office’s resolution came out almost four months after the murder complaint was filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) and Diergos’ father Samuel in January this year.
Diergos, a single mother, was found dead on Oct. 26, 2021 inside her sport utility vehicle – which she bought from the Lopezes on installment basis – in Barangay Inangayan, Santa Barbara, Iloilo.
‘CHILD SOLDIER’ KILLED IN CANDONI
A 16-year-old New People’s Army (NPA) rebel was killed in a gun battle with government troops in Barangay Gatuslao, Candoni, Negros Occidental on May 3.
“Ka Kisap/Boyca” was a resident of Sitio Maabon, Barangay Cabadiangan, Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, according to Brigadier General Leonardo Peña, commander of the 302nd Infantry Brigade (302IB).
He accused the NPA of using a “child soldier.”
The minor was a member of Squad 2, Platoon 3 of the NPA’s southwestern front.
“We are dismayed by the wasted life of a youth who was made a ‘child soldier’. The NPA is poisoning the minds of their young recruits to topple our democratic form of government,” he said.
NEGROS ISLAND REGION REVIVAL
When the 19th Congress opened on July 25, Visayan Bloc congressmen vowed to give priority to the proposed revival of the Negros Island Region (NIR).
An agreement was reached during a meeting before the previous Congress ended. Lawmakers in the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental and Siquijor previously agreed that the new NIR will consist of the three provinces.
Bacolod City’s Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez revealed that NIR may be revived sooner than expected. President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. may issue an Executive Order (EO) reviving the region before a law could be passed, he revealed.
An EO creating NIR was done before – in 2015 during the administration of then President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.
This was, however, revoked by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017, citing budgetary constraints.
BORACAY ONE OF WORLD’S ‘GREATEST PLACES OF 2022’
Boracay Island in the northern tip of Aklan province has been named one of the “World’s Greatest Places of 2022” by TIME Magazine.
TIME Magazine solicited nominations from its international network of correspondents and contributors, with an eye toward those offering new and exciting experiences. It picked 50 far-flung and familiar spots which were thriving, changing and growing, and charting a path to economic recovery and investing in sustainability.
Boracay Island is the only tourist destination in the country included in the list of extraordinary places to explore in 2022, with its postcard-perfect beaches that travellers always return to.
“Boracay Island has once again proven its allure as a tourist haven. Such recognition will surely help us attain our goal of regaining our position in the global market,” said Department of Tourism secretary Christina Garcia Frasco.
REGION 6’S MOST WANTED PERSON NABBED
WESTERN Visayas’ most wanted person – a rape suspect who was further charged with attempted murder – was arrested on July 20 in the remote Sitio Antolihawan, Barangay Toyungan, Calinog, Iloilo.
The 29-year-old Joel Leyble of Barangay Toyungan offered no resistance when cops served him warrants of arrest.
The arrest warrants were issued by Assisting Judge Redentor Eugenio Esperanza of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 76 (Janiuay, Iloilo) for three counts of rape and attempted murder.
From what the police so far gathered, the rape incidents happened sometime in 2020 and 2021 while the attempted murder transpired on May 2021.
The complainant in Leyble’s rape case was the 16-year-old younger sister of his former live-in partner.
The youngster claimed the rape took place on Jan. 20 2021, April 20, 2022 and May 26, 2022.
As for Leyble’s attempted murder case, a certain Sonny claimed the suspect tried to shoot him with a .45 pistol but the gun malfunctioned.
EX-PRESIDENT FVR PASSES AWAY AT 94
On July 31, Fidel Valdez Ramos, former soldier and the 12th President of the Republic of the Philippines, passed away at the age of 94.
The Ramos family did not announce the reason for the former President’s passing but according to some reports, he succumbed to complications from COVID-19.
Ramos served as the country’s Chief Executive from 1992 to 1998. His administration was said to be the driving force behind the renewed confidence of investors in the Philippines, which was then recognized as a budding “tiger economy.”
During the 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, Ramos was considered a hero when he broke away from the administration of President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr.
Ramos was appointed as the Chief-of-Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines under the early years of the Cory Aquino administration before being tapped as the secretary of the Department of National Defense.
INMATES STAGE PROTEST OVER FOOD, ETC.
Around a hundred persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the Iloilo District Jail in Barangay Nanga, Pototan, Iloilo staged a protest on Aug. 24. To attract public attention to their plight, they climbed to the roof of the jail’s administrative building and staged a noise barrage.
Their complaints – meals were not enough and poorly prepared; items being sold in the commissary were too expensive; the warden needed to shape up.
They eventually demanded the ouster of the jail warden.
The Iloilo District Jail has a population of over a thousand PDLs.
CHOLERA, ‘GASTRO’ OUTBREAK
The Iloilo City Health Office on Aug. 30 declared an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis and cholera. It recorded 90 cases with four deaths from July 26 to Aug. 28.
Following the declaration, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council passed a resolution recommending to the Sangguniang Panlungsod to place the metro under a state of calamity due to the two food and waterborne diseases.
Acute gastroenteritis is a disease that occurs when food or water that is contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms (such as E. coli, among others) or their toxins is consumed. Some of its symptoms are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, occasional muscle aches or headache, and low-grade fever.
On the other hand, cholera is an infectious disease that causes severe watery diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and even death if untreated.
It is caused by eating food or drinking water contaminated with a bacterium called Vibrio cholera.
FACE-TO-FACE MASSKARA RETURNS
AFTER two years of hiatus, the face-to-face MassKara Festival of Bacolod City returned in October with on less than President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos gracing it.
It was literally “balik yuhum” in Bacolod City, particularly in the performance areas – along Rizal Street for the street dance and all the way to the bigger venue for the arena dance competition at the Paglaum Sports Complex.
Before the pandemic, the performance area was traditionally the Bacolod Public Plaza.
Barangay Granada was declared grand champion and received a P1-million cash prize in the street and arena dance competition.
Besting 16 other participating barangays, Granada also bagged two special awards – Best in Music and Most Disciplined.
LEPTOSPIROSIS KILLS 7 IN BACOLOD
The City Health Office (CHO) of Bacolod confirmed in November that seven people died due to leptospirosis.
CHO Sanitation Division head, Dr. Grace Tan, said they recorded a total of 35 confirmed leptospirosis cases, most of whom were residents of Barangay Singcang.
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. It is caused by bacteria of the genus leptospira.
Without treatment, leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord), liver failure, respiratory distress, and even death.
Symptoms include fever, headaches, chills, muscle aches, jaundice, red eyes, and abdominal pain.
SINKHOLES IN BORACAY
There are over 800 sinkholes in the world-famous Boracay Island off the northwest coast of Aklan province, and these put at risk the lives and properties in the country’s top tourist destination acclaimed for its fine white sand beaches.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (MGB-DENR) counted 815 sinkholes in the island as of this year.
To minimize the risk of collapse, MGB recommended lessening the weight of structures in Boracay such as by having only one-storey buildings.
A sinkhole is a hole in the ground that forms when water dissolves surface rock, often limestone, which is easily eroded, or worn away, by the movement of water.
In a landscape where limestone sits underneath the soil, water from rainfall collects in cracks in the stone. Slowly, as the limestone dissolves and is carried away, the cracks widen until the ground above them becomes unstable and collapses, it explained.
The collapse often happens very suddenly and without very much warning.
WVSU PRODUCES 19 NURSING BOARD TOPNOTCHERS
WEST Visayas State University (WVSU) in Iloilo City dominated the November 2022 Nursing Licensure Examination. With a 100 percent passing rate, it is one of the top performing schools in the country.
Aside from all of its 134 College of Nursing graduates passing the board exam, 19 of them also landed in the Top 10.
Aside from WVSU, two nursing graduates of the University of San Agustin and Saint Paul University Iloilo also made it to the top 10.
HIV INFECTS 8 WV CHILDREN
Eight children in Western Visayas have been infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and one of them died, data from the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (RESU) of the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 showed.
The eight children aged below 15 years old were among the 6,197 cumulative cases of HIV in the region from 1986 to September 2022, according to DOH-6.
The HIV was passed on to them by their infected mothers when the latter were pregnant.
The children with HIV are currently undergoing treatment.
The fatality was a two-year-old child.
Pregnant mothers diagnosed with HIV are receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART) to lower their viral load and the possibility of them infecting their unborn babies.
To further lessen the transmission of infection, the baby is given prophylaxis after birth.
NEGOCC CRIME RATE UP 15.74% THIS YEAR
Negros Occidental’s crime rate rose by 15.74 percent this year, data from the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) showed.
From Jan. 1 to Dec. 15, 2022, the number of crimes reached 4,132 – an increase of 562 or 15.74 percent from the 3,570 crimes recorded in the same period last year.
NOCPPO cited the increase in eight focus crimes – murder, homicide, physical injury, rape, robbery, theft, carnapping, and motornapping. There were 695 this year, an increase of 15.26 percent from last year’s data.
NOCPPO spokesperson, Police Lieutenant Judesses Catalogo, said the crime surge was due in part to increased human activity following the lifting of pandemic restrictions.
However, despite the crime surge, NOCPPO’s crime solution rate also increased. Its Crime Clearance Efficiency was at 97.59 percent, up from last year’s 94.55 percent.
Crime Solution Efficiency is also up at 87.76 percent, higher than last year’s 82.87 percent.
HOLIDAY SEASON FIRES
On Dec. 20, nine houses were totally gutted and three more were partially damaged by a fire that broke out in Barangay Compania, Molo, Iloilo City.
Residents heard three loud explosions before the fire.
Ten families and several boardinghouse tenants were among those displaced.
On Dec. 24, fire gutted 26 houses in a coastal neighborhood of Zone 3, Barangay Calumpang, Molo a few hours before Christmas, driving 37 families or 143 individuals to seek shelter at the village’s evacuation center or with relatives.
The blaze started around 2:15 p.m.
Fires were also reported in Barangay Bonifacio, Arevalo, Iloilo City and Barangay Veterans Village, Iloilo City Proper.
The fires were mainly caused by faulty electrical wiring./PN
