Congressman Erbie A. Fabian has pledged to file a bill in Congress that will improve and protect the interest and welfare of health care workers including nurses.

Speaking during the oath-taking ceremony of 204 new nurses at the Marcian Garden Hotel, Rep. Fabian said he has initially discussed with Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara, son of Sen. Edgardo Angara, for collaboration in the passage of bills of national importance and interest.

Barangay residents can continue to look forward to local employment with the continuation of Kabisig projects funded by the city government.

However, City Chief Executive Assistant Roseller Natividad said the city government will see to it that projects undertaken in the barangays under the Kabisig program will be properly monitored and checked.

The very reason why most barangay roads not only cracked but sunk a few months after completion is because of utter lack of supervision during the construction.

Usual defects noted are insufficient ground compacting, failure to replace the soil in soft areas, prescribed mixture of cement to sand and gravel not being followed, the thickness of cemented road must often thinner than what is required.

Every bonafide Zamboangueno reminisces with great pride and overwhelming sense of honor the Belle Epoque when Zamboanga City used to be the leading commercial, industrial, cultural and political center in the entire Mindanao area. At present it has become a disturbing and even embarrassing reality that she has been left at the tail end of progress and development in comparison with such galloping and steadily accelerating cities as Davao, General Santos and Cagayan de Oro.

By way of recollection, Zamboanga during the Spanish Colonial Government was the most advanced region in Southern Philippines. It was the center of the Spanish culture, hub of Commerce and Trade, a major military base, the capital of governance, and the seat of the Mindanao Archdiocese.

Congressman Erbie A. Fabian yesterday expressed elation as he revealed the mounting support and encouragement he has been receiving from veteran legislators at the House of Representatives as well as from well-meaning friends.

"I am very happy that three termer congressmen like Reps. Miguel Zubiri and Ace Barbers have expressed their support and willingness to help me," said Rep. Fabian after he arrived from Manila to celebrate the feast of St. Ignatius de Loyola in Tetuan where he resides on Saturday.

Rural Improvement Club (RIC) member Mrs. Estrella B. Gagnier of Barangay La Paz went home victoriously after being proclaimed champion during the 7th National Meat Processing Contest (utilizing kabir chicken meat), held last July 21, at DA-BAI, APDC, Marulas, Valenzuela City.

The contest was sponsored by the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Animal Industry, Animal Products Development Center (DA-BAI, APDC) and ASIA-PACIFIC Meat Project.

A forum on the foreign retirement program of the Philippine Leisure and Retirement Authority (PLRA) was held yesterday morning at the Waling-Waling function room of the Garden Orchid Hotel.

PLRA introduced the special resident retiree''s visa (SRRV) to the different sectors present at the forum. The SRRV program aims to promote the philippines as an alternative retirement home for foreigners. Subsequently, the program will generate high revenues for the country.

Mayor Celso Lobregat said yesterday that he will fight against a proposal to withhold part of the internal revenue allotment.

A congressman proposed to cut 20 % from the IRA to mend the financial problem of country.

One day recently I was waiting for my turn in a doctor’s office. A TV set was on in the waiting area and it was something to help while away the waiting time. At one point in the program a commercial was shown for a vitamin, and the wan looking woman plugging the product said “ Sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, bawal magkasakit.”

Nothing could be truer, because illness is always a difficulty.

The Philippines and Malaysia yesterday ended a weeklong joint martime training exercises with both countries pledging to fight terrorism together, officials said.

Officials said the exercises, which began July 20 in Sabah, involved close to a dozen ships and about 100 soldiers from both the Philippines and Malaysia.

City caretaker Antonio Orendain Jr. said yesterday that the city government has shouldered all the medicines and also provided other immediate medical assistance to the 40 students who fell ill after eating poisonous castor beans last Monday afternoon.

Orendain said the city government has coordinated with a pharmacy near the Zamboanga City Medical Center (ZCMC) to release the needed medicines and dextrose for the patients and charged it to the city government.

It has been said that one of the good qualities of a true leader is “Resolute Confidence in what he is doing”.

He has thought it out and is willing do die for it but if a leader withdraws his position because of criticism or negative reaction, he is not a true leader.

The State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday drew varied reactions from Zamboanga City officials.

The president''s thrust is to pursue her so-called "Pro-Poor Program" which she said a timely solution and to alleviate poverty in the country.

A nationwide painting contest has been launched by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to provide a venue for young students "to express their vision for a cleaner, greener, healthier and more environment-friendly world."

The national art competition, having the theme, "Wanted: Seas and Oceans Dead or Alive?" is being staged by the DENR in cooperation with the Department of Education (DepEd) and CEMEX Philippines Foundation, Inc., a non-stock corporation promoting environmental stewardship.

The City Health Office disclosed yesterday that acute respiratory tract infection is still prevalent in the city based on last week''s report.

Dr. Rodel M. Agbulos, City Health Officer, said that prime contributing factors of this infection are the sudden change of temperature, personal hygiene, and environmental sanitation. However he stressed that this is not an alarming situation and that the office is monitoring theinfection.