Rachel Aumentado could have had a successful professional career. With a management degree from the country''s prestigious University of the Philippines, Los Baños, she could have easily landed a job and live a full life. Her opportunities would have seemed endless.

But everything has been wasted since she joined the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People''s Army), squandered in all the years hiding in the mountains and fighting the government for a cause tainted by extortion, kidnapping, abuse and harassment on civilians and even purging of their own members.

Three young boys were arrested last Saturday after they were linked to a burglary in Barangay Luyahan.

A police report disclosed that Leopoldo Tuting, Jr., 64, married, of Luyahan reported to the Sta. Maria Police Station that burglars broke into his residence last Friday.

The Department of Agriculture through its Institutional Support Service Section and the Livestock Section recently conducted a four-day Swine and Animal Waste Management Training on Enhancement Course for Extension Delivery System (ECEDS) for the Agricultural Extension Workers (AEW) of

livestock here in Zamboanga City.

The first Western Mindanao Command chief, Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, faces great challenges in fighting terrorists and the communist guerrillas in the region.

In the formal deactivation of the Southern Command and the activation of the new Western Mindanao Command, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said that Cedo has assumed the toughest post in his entire military career.

A policeman and a young boy were wounded in a clash between policemen and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Barangay Jalian, Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte last Monday morning.

A report reaching the Police Regional Office identified those wounded as SPO2 Asna Bata Naing and a certain Alvin Abdurahaman.

The region-wide concern over terrorism was underscored when Australia recently announced a new counter-terrorism package that will allot more than US$92 million to its Southeast Asian neighbors over the next four years. The Philippines will be among those countries participating in the package.

Australian Embassy official Pablo Kang said the amount has been allocated by Canberra to Manila as part of its counter-terrorism package to help to build on existing cooperation in law enforcement, intelligence and border control in this part of the region. Australia and the Philippines have been strengthening ties to prevent terrorist attacks. The two countries are close to signing a security pact allowing Australian troops to hold war games and military training in the Philippines.

SAN JOSE, CA. -- I woke up yesterday with one sad news. My Aunt Anna (Salazar), the barangay chief of Bolong for many years, passed away. She fell ill from the Big C when I left two months ago. She and my late Dad were like siblings when they were growing up in the beautiful and scenic barangay of Bolong. I remember Bolong (its extraordinary qualities that sooth the senses) because that''s where my sisters and I went when we were little ones every Sunday to visit our relatives (Lolos and Lolas) and to enjoy the black sand and the beach that was usually dotted with big and sometimes deadly jellyfish in the summertime. One of my aunts has a small nipa hut a spitting distance from the shoreline. You can feel the cool breeze blowing in your face in the early afternoons. A little farther down the beach was a slaughterhouse for turtles. (It wasn''t illegal yet in the 50s and 60s to slaughter turtles.) Aunt Anna used to tell me that turtle meat was good for the lungs. It tastes like beef, too. The late Mayor Cesar C. Climaco used to tell jokes about turtles. He had one dedicated to the late Mayor Hector Suarez. Climaco''s playful remarks about turtles and Suarez helped him win the election in 1953. (Incidentally, Climaco was the first elected mayor of Zamboanga, while my grandfather, Manuel D. Jaldon, was the last appointed mayor.)

Bolong then was a dull barrio with no more than 20 houses built of light materials standing meters apart from each other. And, it''s a wonder that there are no chinks living there, although I know that a wealthy Fil-Chi owns a huge tract of land at the far end of the beach. In those days, also, police detectives would do their shooting proficiency along the beach. They''d throw a coconut head in the water and start firing their 45s and 38s at it. That made it more difficult for them to hit their target, which was good practice, right? Today, we have all sorts of shooting ranges.

A good home for the old folks is what we need here in Zamboanga City. So far, we only have around three that I know of. One at Talon-Talon, subsidized by the City Government, and two private ones. "We Care Home" in Sta. Maria is owned and managed by the Bernardo Family, and the Pioneer Home, owned by the Nuevo Family in Baliwasan.

Just a few days ago, I placed my mom into the "We Care Home" for her own good. It''s actually a home away from home, but they have caregivers that can attend to my aged mother who is 93 years old. It''s not because I don''t love my mother, it''s because I am not very healthy myself, a diabetic, who suffers from a hi-cholesterol level and uric acid from time to time, due to eating the prohibited foods I am advised not to eat, plus, I am caring for a husband who have been a victim of hypertensive stroke five years ago.

Having been cited for the proficient and skillful management in setting out the local budget, the regional office of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said yesterday they are impressed by how the city government is being managed by Mayor Celso Lobregat.

Rafael Evangelista, Jr., NEDA regional director, said "given the figures and the evaluation by no less than the Commission on Audit, this is an encouraging update that reflects the assured direction that the city is taking."

The minority bloc in the House of Representatives has afterall retained Congressman Erbie A. Fabian as member.

Mayor Celso L. Lobregat yesterday debunked earlier reports that Congressman Fabian was ousted from the minority bloc in the House of Representatives.

The first historically installed Western Mindanao Command Chief Maj. Gen. Eugenio Cedo yesterday stressed the continuity of fighting against terrorism in Western Mindanao forming the first step of his stint as the top military commander in the region.

Cedo told newsmen during his installation at the former Southern Command Headquarters that his priorities will be the relentless combat operations against the Jemaah Islamiyah in Sulu, the Abu Sayyaf, Communist guerrillas and all its remnants operating here in Western Mindanao.

Monsignor Crisanto dela Cruz has extended assistance yesterday to the Canelar fire victims temporarily housed at the Canelar Elementary School.

Assisted by the members of the Knights of Columbus St. Joseph Council, the prelate distributed packs of rice, sardines and noodles to the 216 families yesterday afternoon.

Mayor Celso L. Lobregat yesterday said that the city is now ready to begin serious planning for the huge integrated bus terminal after the deal for the lot purchase has been sealed.

Lobregat announced this as he denied criticism that the property in Divisoria for the bus terminal bought from the Caliolio property was overpriced.

Congressman Erbie A. Fabian yesterday led officials in the inauguration and blessing rites of the pedestrian overpass project built in Putik along the Maria Clara L. Lobregat Highway.

The P4.2 million overpass, which was built in front of the Putik Central School chiefly intended for students and teachers crossing to and from the said elementary school, was implemented thru the initiative of Rep. Fabian.

Former Mayor of Tuburan, Basilan Hajarun Jamiri yesterday appealed to the captors of Eleanor Grace Gonzales, daughter of Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) president Dr. Eldigario Gonzalez, who was kidnapped last month, to release her without any ransom.

Jamiri made his appeal over the radio yesterday morning with Vic Alvarez of RGMA-Super Radyo Zamboanga after the hostage''s father had asked his support to negotiate with the kidnappers for the safe release of Grace.