₱30-Billion Project to address Mindanao blackouts - Pres. Noynoy Aquino

NASA Night Map 2013 shows Mindanao is even darker than North Korea.  Mindanao Power shortage has becoming more severe. The demand is higher while the supply is not enough for the entire rich island. Mindanao Island has been forgotten for decades. 

President Benigno S. Aquino III witnessed yesterday the contract signing of the ₱30-billion investment of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), Inc. to build power plants in Mindanao and provide 405 megawatts of coal power to the region's grid.

The contract was signed between Phividec Industrial Authority and FDC for the establishment of the 405 megawatt circulating fluidized bed (CFB) coal-fired thermal power plant in an 84-hectare land within Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental.

With the project, President Aquino said Mindanao will soon become the "Land of Promise Fulfilled."

"These plants that Filinvest are committing to is a reaffirmation of this confidence. They are a significant part of the long-term solution. This signing gives us peace of mind that the permanent solutions are being put in place," Aquino said. "By 2016, these three plants, by themselves, will be providing 405 megawatts of coal power to the Mindanao grid."

"With the energy these plants will be producing by 2016, we expect production capacity to be almost 470 megawatts above peak demand," he added.

"We are not just increasing Mindanao's maximum capacity. Beyond that, we are reinforcing their entire energy supply with more reliable and stable sources. We are making their energy infrastructure much more competitive," Aquino said, noting that the establishment of the power plant in Mindanao is expected to generate 2,000 jobs.

President Aquino said the development comes at a critical time when the government is working on a peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), noting that with the spur of economic growth in Mindanao comes more lucrative centers in the area aside from Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

NEW POWER PLANT IN MINDANAO –President Benigno S. Aquino III witnesses the signing of a land lease agreement between Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) and the FDC Misamis Power Corp. in Malacañang on April 17, 2013, for the lease of land for the construction of a coal-fired power plant that will generate on initial 270 megawatts of electric power, targeted to operate in 2016. Seated with the President are Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Enegry Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla. The agreement was signed by PIA Administrator and Vice Chairman of the Board Leo Tereso Magno and FDC President and Managing Director Jesus Alcondo. Others in photo are: Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) First Vice President and General Counsel Atty. Pablito Perez, FLI First Vice President Engr. Antonio Cenon, Filinvest Development Corporation (FDC) Chairman Jonathan Gotianun Villanueva, Misamis Oriental Mayor Juliette Uy, PIA Chairman of the Board B/Gen. Triunfo Agustin (Ret), PIA Corporate Secretary Atty. Raul Ragandang, and Poblacion Barangay Captain Leah Dagasuhan. (Richard Viñas)

President Aquino, meanwhile, said that while there is a current power crisis in Mindanao, power woes in the southern part of the country did not happen overnight as former local officials in the area relied solely on hydropower without ensuring the maintenance of hydropower plants. Illegal logging was also prevalent.

"So, when we stepped into office, we knew that we had to start working immediately. We began making the structural changes that encouraged the private sector to come in and put up power plants," Aquino said.

He said last year, Aboitiz began a project to build two coal-fired power plants in Davao, which will provide a total of 300 megawatts, which will be finished by late 2015.

"Businessmen normally would tend to be a conservative lot. But here, they are actually placing the other sources to a commitment not in terms of a demonstrated market that is already there but rather this is really a commitment of theirs to share in building a future, which is to invest when it is not exactly clear," Aquino said.

"Everything will materialize in the best light. So, it is a boat of confidence on their part, and this should be encouraged. And, we should help those who are actively helping to solve the problem instead of grandstanding," he said.

The Palace had earlier said that power woes in Mindanao will ease by 2015 as power plants takes three to four years to be established.

Manila Bulletin

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Circumcision: Philippines, World to cut or not to cut

The ancient circumcision in Egypt  

IN the Philippines circumcision—the removal of all or part of the prepuce (pronounced "pre'pyoos") or foreskin—is not related to religion. The vast majority of Filipinos are circumcised—whether they are Catholic, Muslim, or whatever. It is a "coming of age" ritual, and traditional for a boy to prove his manhood properly, it should be done without anesthetic.

In the United States and most industrialized countries, circumcision is usually performed on the first or second day after birth and usually takes only about five to 10 minutes. In comparison, most boys are circumcised between the ages of 10 and 12 in the Philippines.

"The decision about having a newborn circumcised usually depends on the parents' religious beliefs or personal preferences," states The Merck Manual of Medical Information.  "The main medical reason for circumcision is to remove an unusually tight foreskin that is obstructing the flow of urine."

Circumcision is an ancient operation of unknown origin, performed originally with flint (stone) knives prior to the use of metal.  The earliest known artifacts from Egypt are dated at about 4000 BC, centuries before circumcision's adoption by the ancient Hebrews.

For thousands of years, circumcision has been widely practiced as a religious rite.  It is a ritual obligation for infant Jewish boys, and is also a common rite among Muslims, who account for the largest share of circumcised men worldwide.

In tribal settings, circumcision is nearly always associated with traumatic puberty rites. Occasionally the severed part is offered as a sacrifice to spirit beings. According to Encarta Encyclopedia, the operation certifies the subject's readiness for marriage and adulthood and testifies to his or her ability to withstand pain. Circumcision may also distinguish cultural groups from their uncircumcised neighbors.

In Jewish religious tradition, infant male circumcision is required as part of Abraham's covenant with God.  The Levitical law says that every Jewish male infant had to be circumcised on the eighth day after birth, under penalty of ostracism from the congregation of Israel.  Jews employ a mohel to perform the rite.  After a ritual prayer, the mohel circumcises the infant and then names and blesses the child.

Among the Arabs, circumcision existed before the time of Muhammad (before 570 AD). Although the Koran does not mention it, Islamic custom demands that Muslim males be circumcised before marriage; the rite is generally performed in infancy.

Meanwhile, Herodotus, Philo and other ancient Greeks first suggested that circumcision might have hygienic benefits (ironically, the Greeks did not adopt the practice). Some theories have it that circumcision probably originated as a hygiene measure in communities living in hot and dry environments.

Since the 19th century, many English-speaking peoples have adopted the custom of circumcision, primarily for medical reasons.  In modern medical practice, circumcision of males is a minor operation usually performed in infancy for hygienic purposes.  It is currently estimated that 85 percent of North American males are circumcised.  The incidence among non-Jewish populations of continental Europe, Scandinavia and South America is low.

Studies comparing disease rates among circumcised and uncircumcised men in the AIDS-ravaged Africa show on average three times more HIV infection among the uncircumcised.  One study of a group of HIV-infected men having sex with men in the United States also found a correlation.

Dr. William Cameron, an associate professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada who co-authored several African studies, theorizes that the uncircumcised foreskin sustains tiny abrasions during intercourse, allowing HIV to enter the bloodstream.  Several studies have found that such sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis also occur somewhat more frequently among the uncircumcised.

Meanwhile, the medical case for circumcision is unproved and controversial, says Dr. Donald F. Tuzin, an American professor of Anthropology at the University of California in San Diego.  He says physicians in the 19th century advised the operation for many ailments, including hysteria, sexually transmitted disease, hypersexuality and even hiccups.

Removal of the foreskin also precludes phimosis or the inability to retract the foreskin.  Louis XVI of France, a famous phimosis sufferer, was unable to have sex with his wife Marie Antoinette until he was circumcised at age 21.

Modern proponents suggest that diseases result from the buildup of smegma, a substance secreted under the foreskin.  Also cited is evidence that circumcised populations (especially Jews) display low rates of penile and cervical cancer.  Critics reject the validity of these claims, arguing that such disorders are more likely caused by poor hygiene and by contact with multiple sex partners.

In the early days of Christianity, a controversy arose over whether Christians should be circumcised, as Jews were.  The Apostle Paul emphatically told Gentiles in his epistle to the Galatians: "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision."

To cut or not to cut—this is now one of the most debated subjects among the medical profession.  In fact, there are now Filipino doctors who won't perform circumcision.  "I have convinced quite a number of adolescent males who came to my clinic not to have circumcision anymore," one surgeon admits.  "Those who are convinced are happy and thankful to me. Those who are not convinced seek other surgeons to do the circumcision for them."

In America "it's still an ongoing controversy about whether circumcision is really necessary," says Jack Sherman, M.D., associate chairman of pediatrics at Nassau County Medical Center in East Meadow, New York.  "In 1971 and 1975, the American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP] said it wasn't necessary.   Later, they amended their policy statement, citing studies about lowered penile cancer and first-year urinary-tract infections among circumcised males."

The AAP's 1999 policy statement, based on a review of 40 years of data, states that circumcision has potential medical benefits. "But they advise that parents not use that as their primary criterion when making a decision," says Sherman. "That's like not expressing an opinion at all."

Opponents against the practice say that in circumcision, the baby has no "power" to say no.  Others suggest that circumcising an infant imprints violence on the baby's brain.  Still, others contend that circumcision will leave the male species traumatized by the removal of their foreskins.

Dr. Yehuda Nir, a psychoanalyst who was formerly head of child psychiatry at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Hospital in New York, says he hasn't observed circumcision trauma.  "The only thing men are concerned about with regard to the penis is its size."

Or listen to the words of a Filipino-British man, who's uncircumcised: "I guess sex with an uncircumcised man is just as good as any.  I'm definitely sure that 90 percent of the women I slept with didn't leave disappointed."

Business Mirror

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