Querol facing raps
before Ombudsman
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

It was “no show” yesterday for Chief Supt. Cipriano Querol, regional police director of Western Visayas, at the scheduled closed-door executive session with members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Negros Occidental, who invited him to shed light on the suspension of the authority of Mayor Melecio Yap over the Escalante police by the National Police Commission.

Querol, instead, sent a letter to the SP claiming that he had a pressing matter to attend to, and that a complaint had already been filed against him before the Office of the Ombudsman.

He, however, failed to state what complaint had been lodged against him or to identify the complainant. He also said he will answer the issues raised against him in the proper forum.

Despite hitches in the resumption of formal peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines next month, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, 3rd Infantry Division commander, yesterday expressed optimism about “winning the peace,” although it may take time.

Bautista said that both sides are talking to each other. “Attaining peace is never easy. We should be patient and understanding” he added.

Government and NDFP negotiators had announced earlier their agreement to resume peace talks next month in Oslo, Norway. However, the issue over the release of alleged 13 NDFP consultants, now detained in various jails, have again created irritants on both sides.

The Energy Development Corp. is replacing the 40-megawatt  Northern Negros Geothermal Power Plant in Bago City, with a smaller unit, and will transfer its original equipment to its Nasulo geothermal project in Negros Oriental, NNGP vice-president Dwight Maxino said.

In his letter to Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr. released to the media yesterday,  Maxino said  “The re-sized NNGP will match the field and power plant capacities, and allow the facility to run for efficiently”.

The resource assessment revealed that NNGP could be sustainably operate at 5MW to 10MW with support from the geothermal buffer zone in Mt. Kanlaon, adding that the estimated capacity was arrived at after analysis of the data collected from the two extended well discharge tests, he said.