Nueva Vizcaya now 95% energized
“Out of the 275 barangays of Nueva Vizcaya, we now only have to work with and complete the requirements needed for the remaining 25 barangays,” said Lloyd Valdez, board chair of the Nueva Vizcaya Electric Cooperative(NUVELCO) here.
He said Representative Carlos Padilla has appealed to the Department of Energy(DOE) for their reconsideration in view of the issuance of an administrative order requiring electric cooperatives in the country to provide 20 percent counterpart for the full energization of the remaining barangays and sitios in the province this year.
For 2009, he said the cooperative has identified Barangay Unib in Sta. Fe town; Sitio Opocan in Manamtam, Bambang town; and Sitio Kion in Bitnung and Sitio Puto in Binuangan, all of Dupax del Norte town.
“We hope that our congressman’s appeal will be considered by the DOE so that we can source out other funds to push through with the remaining unenergized barangays,” Valdez said. (PIA NVizcaya)
Feature: Discovering the Ibanags
by Oliver T. Baccay
Tuguegarao City (18 August) — “Simple but meaningful”…this is how visitors described this year’s Pavvurulun Festival in the celebration and preservation of the Ibanag culture, and discovering the talented Tuguegaraoenos.
Hon. Delfin Telan Ting, City Mayor, spearheaded the celebration highlighting the unity of the Ibanags in working against difficulties and obstacles in achieving growth and development.
Tuguegarao City is known as the Premier Ibanag City, the center of excellence in education, commerce and culture in Northeast Philippines, that’s why every patronal fiesta, the city officials used to line up activities that showcases the Ibanag tradition and culture such as the Street dancing in the tune of Ibanag courtship dance’Kalingkingan’, the Battle of the Bands in the tune of Sampaguita March, the original Ibanag children’s game, the folksong writing competition and performing the traditional Maskota wedding dance.
In the midst of a sunny day, the students played their role gracefully with a smile and with feelings in the street dancing competition. Kalingkingan is a kind of bird that thrives in the Callao Caves of Peñablanca, the town adjacent to the city and the cavers’ paradise of the north.
Kalingkingan birds go out from the cave every 6 o’clock in the evening to look for food and to have merry making, and then goes back every 6 o’clock in the morning to take a rest.
The Kalingkingan dance was formulated by the Ibanag ancestors, converting the birds’ nature and characteristics to an Ibanag culture. The birds’ characteristic of going out every 6 to look for food is like an Ibanag gentleman who looks for a lady to court every night. Their characteristics also of looking for food together and goes back together from the cave where they came from is attributed to the Ibanags togetherness, which is the essence of’Pavvurulun Festival’-oneness. Later, it was transformed to a song and dance.
Though the dance is an original festival of Peñablnaca, the city wants to showcase it also because the essence of the dance jived to the city’ festival theme of reminiscing and reviving the Ibanag Culture.
City Vice-Mayor Danilo Baccay said the street dance competition highlighting the Kalingkingan Ibanag dance is one way of reviving and preserving the Ibanag tradition and culture.
On the other hand, the students also displayed their talents in playing the instruments in the Battle of the Bands competition using the’Sampaguita March’ as the common tune of the bands.
The competitors displayed their strategies and styles in playing the bands using their colorful uniforms, but the judges chose only 3 winners in the competition.
Schoolchildren also enjoyed playing the original’Gaggayam na Cagayan’ or the children’s game that preserves the Ibanag culture.
In all activities which was conducted, it depicts on how the Ibanags live a simple life, on how do they work together to achieve progress, on how they preserve their hospitality.
Vice Mayor Danilo Baccay said it is being observed that nowadays, the new generation doesn’t know how to speak in Ibanag that’s why they are now planning to pass a resolution mandating the schools teach Ibanag dialect to schoolchildren.
The hospitality of the Ibanags was also one among the limelight of the festival. With the’Pancit Batil Patung’, the specialty of Tuguegarao, visitors really felt the real Ibanag taste as they were warm welcomed with the delicious ‘pancit batil patung’.
In the mass wedding, several couples were given blessings to tie a knot in a traditional way the Ibanag celebrate wedding. The Maskota Dance is always practiced, the real Ibanag wedding celebration.
“The true essence of this festival is the celebration of our original tradition and culture, our act of showing that we are proud of being an Ibanag,” Baccay said in an interview. (PIA 2)
DILG, Philhealth to give free health insurance to barangay officials
by Vency D. Bulayungan
Lagawe, Ifugao (16 August) — The Department of Interior and Local Government(DILG) and the Philippine Health Insurance Corp (PHILHEALTH) will enter into a joint project that will provide free health insurance coverage for barangays officials and their families. This was announced by DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno during the recent Liga ng mga Barangay congress held in Baguio City.
About 175 barangays here will be covered with the said program because most have an Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) of not more than P1 million each. According to Anthony Ballug, the newly installed DILG Provincial Director here, almost all the barangays here belong to 4th or 5th class municipalities meaning most of the barangays here have an IRA ranging from P300,000.00 to P1M.
Ballug disclosed that if the project will be implemented, this will help a lot of the barangay officials including their families. Health is one of the most expensive concerns to be included in a families budget thus this will be a big help to them, he said.
Puno said that the benefit package which is implemented through a memorandum of understanding between DILG and Philhealth and the different leagues at the local level will prioritize those belonging to 4th to 6th class municipalities.
The health insurance benefits, which fall under the sponsored program of the Philhealth would be given to barangay officials as soon as the local government units concerned can provide the counterpart funding for the initiative. The annual premium for each beneficiary is P1,200.
Under the MOU, the national government through Philhealth will shell out P1,080 while the balance of 120 will be shouldered by the 4th to 6th class municipalities or province. (PIA-Ifugao)
Ifugao community radio station to air
by Vency D. Bulayungan
Located at the second floor of the Municipal Hall building here, the community radio project shall be launched on Monday, August 17.
Mayor Ceasario Cabbigat here said that with the latest development, a Community Media Council and Station Management should be organized to oversee the implementation of the said project.
In partnership with the National Nutrition Council under the Nutriskwela Program, Tambuli Foundation, Catholic Media Station and the National Anti-Poverty Commission, the project is implemented with the LGU here and the Philippine Information Agency here as local partners.
Cabbigat is looking forward for the support of all sectors of the municipality for the success of this project which he deems an important tool in the development not only the municipality but the province as well.
Ifugao lacks communication facilities and aside from the FM radio station in the municipality of Alfonso Lista, this is the only radio station in this part of the province which can cater to the information needs of the people here and the adjoining municipalities. (PIA-Ifugao)
San Quintin bagsakan center opens Tuesdays, Thursdays
by Maritess Beñas
The Bagsakan Center in San Quintin, the first to be established in the Cordilleras by the Department of Agriculture in collaboration with the local government unit (LGU) and the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG), was inaugurated earlier last month.
During its first operation last August 11, the Bagsakan Center had a good start with traders coming from various municipalities in the province and even the neighboring provinces of Ilocos Sur and Benguet that filled all the stalls available.
Though there were items like clothing and other dries goods, most of the commodities sold in the Bagsakan Center are farm produce like fresh fruits and vegetables, fish, pork and beef from the farmers and fisherfolk of the locality as the Bagsakan Center was built primarily for them.
In a report from the office of the municipal agriculturist headed by Mr. Arnildo Timbreza, the Bagsakan Center is able to accommodate the farmers and fisherfolks of the locality who go and market their local produce there. Now, the people in San Quintin and nearby towns are happy because they need not go to Bangued or Narvacan in Ilocos Sur to buy their needs as they now have a ready access to all the things that they need in their daily chores.
The traders as well are benefited because they have a nice place to do their business because the LGU of San Quintin is a very business-friendly host for their marketing activities. Aside from the low charges they levy on the traders, the Bagsakan Center is equipped with the necessary facilities for business. Because of these, the prices of the commodities sold here are very reasonable.
The Bagsakan Center is just one of the support facilities provided by the national government through the DA which is intended to help the farmers generate livelihood by giving them post-harvest and marketing facilities where they could market their produce and encourage them to produce surpluses instead of merely producing for their subsistence. (PIA-Abra)
150 police officers graduate in SCOUT
by Maritess Beñas
Bangued, Abra (16 August) — 150 Police Officers who underwent the Special Counter Operations Unit Training (SCOUT) at the Camp Juan Villamor, Calaba, this town have successfully graduated last August 5, 2009.
The 45-day SCOUT course is a basic combat training for new recruits of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to prepare them for their possible encounter with rebels and other lawless elements and eventualities in the field of operations.
According to P/SSupt. Samuel Diciano of the Abra Task Force, the Abra PNP Provincial Office headed by P/SSupt. Charlo Collado was chosen as the training host and venue for the 45-day SCOUT Training Course because of the wide training ground and the improved training facilities and equipment of the camp.
The SCOUT is a basic requirement for all new PNP recruits and officers. Unless they undergo this rigid combat training, they will not be given their field assignment.
The SCOUT graduates will get their assignments from PRO-COR Regional Director Orlando Pestaño himself at Camp Bado Dangwa in La Trinidad, Benguet where they will be reporting after their four 4-day break following their graduation.
Diciano stressed upon the SCOUTers to always keep in their mind and hearts what they have learned during their training wherever they will be assigned.
During the graduation, the PNP likewise conducted a free medical and dental mission for the PNP retirees in Abra, also at Camp Villamor. The medical/dental mission also served to take an inventory of the retirees to avoid misrepresentation in the pensioners’ availment of pension.
It can be noted that in the past years, there have been cases of misrepresentation whereby family members continued to receive the monthly pensions of retired PNP who have died. The PNP does not want the same thing to happen again that is why they conduct a yearly inventory of their retired members as well as the beneficiaries of their dead members. (PIA-Abra)
DSWD set to implement phases II, III of National Household Targeting System
by Lito Dar
Baguio City (16 August) — To further ensure the efficient delivery of social protection program to poor households nationwide, the government, through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), is now implementing the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).
In a radio interview, Cecil Basawil, NHTS-PR focal person confirmed that the DSWD-CAR has already finished phase I of the program, which covers Apayao, Abra, Kalinga and Mountain Province, the CAR provinces that belongs to the 20 poorest provinces in the country.
The NHTS-PR is a data management system that identifies who and where are the poor in the country. The system makes available to the public a data bank of poor households as reference in identifying beneficiaries of social protection programs.
Based on the data of DSWD-CAR, as of May 31, they have already released P57,258,200 worth of assistance, under the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), to more than 13,000 poorest families in the region.
At the national level, the government’s 4Ps already benefited 700,000 poorest families or equivalent to about 4.5 million family members, which the President reported in her State of the Nation Address last July 27.
DSWD is now set to implement Phase II and III of the NHTS-PR, which will cover all the municipalities in the province of Benguet and Ifugao. According to Basawil, they are tasked to finished the survey by December, so that the program will not be tied up with any controversy with the upcoming 2010 election.
With this development, Basawil announced that they are now hiring emergency employees. For Benguet, they need 62 enumerators, 9 encoders, 6 area supervisors and 1 area coordinator. To those interested to apply they can visit the DSWD-CAR Regional Office or call them at 444-8129 for more details.
For Ifugao, needed are 55 enumerators, 10 encoders, 6 area supervisors and 1 area coordinator. For those who reside in Ifugao but are visiting or in the vicinity of the city, they can also submit their application at the DSWD office, though the final interview and hiring will be done and scheduled by the DSWD-CAR in the province itself.
Accdg to Basawil, for the phase I of NHTS-PR, they have employed 274 emergency workers, in line with the President’s Comprehensive Livelihood and Emergency Employment Program (CLEEP). (PIA)
DSWD builds core shelters for Juban and Pto. Diaz villagers
Legazpi City (14 August) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has earmarked P7 million for the construction of 100 housing units under the government’s core shelter program implemented nationwide for homeless families.
Maria Theresa Guab-Fragata, town mayor of Juban, Sorsogon, said the construction is in full swing and the beneficiaries themselves, through the bayanihan system, are building the housing units
Fragata said the municipal government provides a food-for-work assistance for the workers and their families.
The project was realized through the coordination of the local government with the DSWD that is tasked by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to undertake a massive program towards providing housing units for thousands of poor homeless families nationwide, Fragata said.
The beneficiaries in the locality were identified by the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) through thorough evaluation and screening, she said.
Most of the identified beneficiaries were families from coastal barangays of the municipality who rely mainly on fishing for their livelihood. These families live in makeshift shanties along the coastlines that expose them to extreme hazards during typhoons, she said.
“Relocating these families from the shorelines where their lives and properties are at risk and providing them with decent homes in safer areas is the primary objective of this housing program we owe to President Arroyo,” Fragata said.
Earlier, the DSWD had also started building 100 core shelter units for homeless families in the coastal town of Prieto Diaz located at the eastern tip of the province of Sorsogon.
Benito Doma, Prieto Diaz town mayor, said 100 families belonging to the poorest-of-the-poor in the municipality were chosen as beneficiaries of the project also being built in barangay Talisayan through bayanihan system.
The project was realized under a memorandum of agreement entered into between the municipal government and the DSWD.
As its counterpart, the local government of Prieto Diaz provided a two-hectare lot as project site while the DSWD shouldered the cost of construction and building materials, Doma said. (DSWD V/PIA)
Sorsogon MSMEs to venture on pili food products
by BA Recebido
Sorsogon City (14 August) — Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Sorsogon province should venture on pili farming and product development due to its promising local and foreign marketability, according to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) branch here.
Eleanor A. Eco, DBP branch manager here, said the pili industry offers a very good opportunity for the locals, wherein they can avail of the credit facility under the One Town One Product (OTOP) supported by DBP that provides capitalization for the business.
Eco, however, recommended that it would be something original and of better value if business ventures will not focus on pili sweet products alone, rather develop products such as pili jelly roll, bread with pili spread or pili inspired filling, pudding, cake, pastries and even ice cream, among others.
“I observed in Sorsogon, that seldom such pili food products are made. In most cases, pili products are limited only to candies or other simple confectioneries”, she said.
Eco said DBP specifically promotes pili because it is one among the many indigenous product of Sorsogon with high nutritive value.
“Pili food products will surely be a’click’ to many especially that nowadays people tend to become more health conscious,” she stressed.
Pili is rich in magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, calcium, ascorbic acid, zinc, copper, iron, sodium and even in Vitamin A, B1, B2, B3 and Vitamin E.
“With the perseverance and proper management of MSMEs, the venture can significantly contribute to employment and quality life among Sorsoganons particularly that the Department of Tourism (DOT) is also promoting the “Kulinarya Tour” program as part of cultural tourism,” she added.
“Kulinarya Tour” introduces the Philippine flavors to domestic and international scene and promotes the country as a culinary destination by bringing in local and foreign tourist to areas where the cuisine or food product is most indigenous.
Sorsogon was included in the itineraries of “Kulinarya Bicol Tour” which will introduce the province as prime producer of high-quality pili nuts.
Eco also said that this program is a good step towards bringing food security and poverty alleviation among locals, adding that DBP is their partner in growing their business.
“DBP likewise assured its continuing support to small and medium enterprises through its retail and wholesale lending program, she added.
At present, DBP has P35 billion in capitalization and 80 percent of its borrowers are into MSMEs. In Sorsogon, four MSMEs has already been benefiting from the said program.
For those who want to avail of MSME loans and other DBP programs, they can visit their nearest DBP Branch nationwide.
“We also have five Super Region Management Offices and 16 Regional Marketing Centers, ready to assist the MSME sector across the nation,” said Eco.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture Bicol has recorded some 256 entrepreneurs in the region involved in pili industry. (PIA Sorsogon)
NFA starts palay buy in western Pangasinan
By Danny O. Sagun
Dagupan City (14 August) — The National Food Authority has announced the start of palay buying operations this harvest season in key production areas in western Pangasinan to assure farmers of a ready market for their produce and beef up government stocks.
The NFA buys palay at P17 per kilogram with an additional incentives of P0.20 per kilo for transporting the produce to NFA warehouses, and P0.30 per kilo as Cooperative Development Incentive Fee. Effective buying price of NFA is P17.40 per kilo for individual farmers and P17.70 per kilo for Farmers’ Organization.
NFA western Pangasinan branch manager Ramon B. Cuaresma said the branch began buying corn this harvest season. The NFA buys clean and dry corn at P13 per kilo and P11.50 per kilo for white corn grains (WGN) and yellow corn grains (YGN), respectively, with additional incentives. For individual farmers, NFA buys white corn grains (WGN) at P13.40 per kilo and yellow corn grains (YGN) at P11.90.
As of August 12 the NFA branch procured 213 bags of white corn and 15,615 bags of yellow corn, or a total of 15,828 bags.
For farmer organizations, WGN is priced P13.70 per kilo, while YGN is P12.20 per kilo.
The agency has started revalidating farmers’ passbook this cropping season and set up six buying stations. Locations of buying stations are as follows: Mangatarem GID warehouse in Umangan, Mangatarem; Alaminos GID warehouse in Pandayan, Alaminos City; Kazenbar warehouse in Tebeng, Dagupan City; Ferrer warehouse in Maniboc, Lingayen; Berex Abalos warehouse in Salay, Mangaldan and Fernandez warehouse in Lucao District, Dagupan City.
Cuaresma also said the branch is ready to extend its services for mechanical drying of palay this wet cropping season to farmers and farmers’ organization as part of the agency’s effort to help farmers in their post harvest facility needs.
NFA mechanical dryers are located at the Mangatarem and Alaminos warehouses. A minimal fee of P12 per bag of 50 kilos with a maximum moisture content of 26 percent is charged for farmers or farmer organizations that sell their palay to NFA. Farmers and farmer organizations that do not sell their palay to NFA are charged with the latest approved drying rate in the province. (PIA Pangasinan)
