LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Governor Nestor Fongwan lambasted the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for its slow rehabilitation of the Pico Road, a major road for businessmen and residents.

“[The DPWH] should be sensible and sensitive enough to finish this [at this time],” Fongwan said.

Ongoing drainage road repairs at the Pico Road have been giving motorists something to gripe about for the past months while the governor commiserated with local folk saying “dapat bigyan ng attention ang mga lubak nay yan.”

MANILA, Philippines - Voting 133-79-7, the House of Representatives approved the Reproductive Health bill on third and final reading on Monday, December 17.

In a historic vote, the Senate and the House of Representatives on Monday, December 17, separately approved the controversial Reproductive Health bill (RH bill) on third and final reading.

It was a blowout for the RH bill, a measure that was rabidly opposed by the Catholic Church.

These and other issues hounding the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) bill have, in the words of principal sponsor Sen Pia Cayetano, been debated for over a year in the Senate “until it was blue in the face.”

Until recently, proponents feared this will still be the case, with staunch critic Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile predicting that the debate will stretch until June 2013 or after the midterm polls.

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet - Governor Nestor Fongwan is asking the Provincial Board to approve a donation of P200,000 for victims in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental in Mindanao.

Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental were worst hit by the recent typhoon which left country with over 700 dead.

Fongwan is asking the Provincial Board to approve the request for assistance with a sense of urgency. The assistance can be culled from reserved funds.