DepEd to replace teachers’ bonus lost to robbers

Pasig City (6 January) — The Department of Education, through its Region IV-A office, is making appropriate arrangements to immediately replace the teachers’ bonus forcibly taken by robbers.

The heist occurred last December 29 where some P4.9M allotted as cash gifts for 800 teachers in Rizal were grabbed at gunpoint by robbers. According to DepEd Region IV-A Director Paraluman Giron, the regional office is doing its best to replace the amount from available funds.

“We have generated funds to replace the P4.9M productivity enhancement incentive (PEI) of Rodriguez 1 and 2 of the Division of Rizal,” said Giron.

Meanwhile, almost half of all sixteen DepEd regions reported that their P7,000 bonus have been fully released to teachers. (DepEd)

NVizcaya allocates P60M for education programs, projects

by Ben Moses Ebreo

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya (January 5) — The provincial government here has allocated some P60 million to pursue its programs, projects and activities in a bid to raise the quality of education in this province.

Board member Edgardo “Edu” Balgos, provincial board’s chair on education said the amount which was approved by the Provincial School Board (PSB) will be spent for the construction of additional school buildings, purchase of computer sets, trainings and seminars for public school teachers and in raising the incentives of Special Education Funded-teachers in the province who only receive P4,500 each.

The P60 million was shelled out from the P150 million share of the provincial government from the P750 million payment of the Casecnan Water and Energy Company (CWEC), contractor of the $10.5 million Casecnan Multi-Purpose Irrigation and Power Project (CMIPP) in Alfonso Castaneda town.

The amount represents the past and previous tax payments of the company from its real properties since the start of its operation in 2000.

The town of Alfonso Castaneda also got its 40-percent share from the P750 million real property tax payment.

CMIPP which was built under Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme seeks to augment irrigation needs of farmers in Central Luzon and provide additional 100 Mega watts of power for the Luzon grid.

The project siphons waters from the Casecnan and Taang rivers in Nueva Vizcaya through a 36-kilometer diversion weirs to the Pantabangan dam in Nueva Ecija. (PIA NVizcaya)

PGMA inducts into office new drug czar, PROC envoy

Manila (5 January) — In simple rites in Malacanang, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo inducted on yesterday Frank Benedicto as ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (PROC) and former Presidential Anti-Smuggling Group chief, Undersecretary Antonio Villar Jr. as chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board.

Ambassador Benedicto will serve in a concurrent capacity as the country’s envoy to Mongolia and North Korea.

The Commission on Appointments has already approved the appointment of Cebuano Frank Benedicto as ambassador to China in December 2009.

Ambassador Benedicto was appointed by four successive Presidents to different foreign capitals – by President Corazon Aquino as Ambassador to Singapore; by President Fidel Ramos to Seoul and thereafter to Brasilia; by President Joseph Estrada to Ottawa; and by President Arroyo to New Delhi, and now to Beijing.

A Cebuano, Ambassador Frank Benedicto is one of our oldest serving political envoys… and for good reason. In every post he served – Singapore, Brazil, Ottawa, Seoul, New Delhi – his officers and staff swear by him.

Generous to a fault, he travels cross-country to visit every Filipino association event. His Mandarin is an invaluable asset to his posting to Beijing.

On the other hand, Undersecretary Villar replaces former Senator Vicente Sotto III, who resigned in November in order to run for senator in the 2010 elections under the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) party.

As DDB chief, Undersecretary Villar said he will work hard to reduce, it not entirely eliminate, illegal drugs. He intimated that he expected a more hazardous life ahead as the new anti-drug czar.

“I have lost friends and political allies when I took the reins as anti-smuggling czar, and I am now expecting more foes as I push the legacy of the government [war] against drugs,” he said.

President Gloria Arroyo has announced the appointment of Undersecretary Villar as her anti-smuggling czar, on December 29 in Baguio.

Undersecretary Villar, head of the presidential anti-smuggling group, will hold the position in a concurrent capacity, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said. (PIA

Typhoon Ketsana and Parma Victims Welcomes New Year

01 January 2010 – Philippines — evacuees affected by the recent typhoon Ketsana and Parma welcome the new year in evacuation camps in brgy. Dos, Calamba, Laguna, outskirt of Manila. Due to damages brought about by the typhoons, over 1000 families are still displaced and live in crowded evacuation centers. The longer they stay, the worse the conditions get. The families have little or no access to clean water supply and proper sanitation, and some have already developed ailments, most common are skin and respiratory diseases. The national government have given the settlers only up to December 31 to relocate, after which, the evacuation centers will be dismantled. But the evacuees said they cannot go back to their original abode, which are either still underwater, or have been declared as danger zones. (Buck Pago/AKP-images)

Evacuees Welcome the New Year

01 January 2010 – Philippines — evacuees affected by the recent typhoon Ketsana and Parma welcome the new year in evacuation camps in brgy. Dos, Calamba, Laguna, outskirt of Manila. Due to damages brought about by the typhoons, over 1000 families are still displaced and live in crowded evacuation centers. The longer they stay, the worse the conditions get. The families have little or no access to clean water supply and proper sanitation, and some have already developed ailments, most common are skin and respiratory diseases. The national government have given the settlers only up to December 31 to relocate, after which, the evacuation centers will be dismantled. But the evacuees said they cannot go back to their original abode, which are either still underwater, or have been declared as danger zones. (Buck Pago/AKP-images)

Fire Works

01 January 2010 – Philippines — evacuees affected by the recent typhoon Ketsana and Parma welcome the new year in evacuation camps in brgy. Dos, Calamba, Laguna, outskirt of Manila. Due to damages brought about by the typhoons, over 1000 families are still displaced and live in crowded evacuation centers. The longer they stay, the worse the conditions get. The families have little or no access to clean water supply and proper sanitation, and some have already developed ailments, most common are skin and respiratory diseases. The national government have given the settlers only up to December 31 to relocate, after which, the evacuation centers will be dismantled. But the evacuees said they cannot go back to their original abode, which are either still underwater, or have been declared as danger zones. (Buck Pago/AKP-images)