Forest, village, sea project launches in Silay City
Bacolod City (22 June) — Forest, Village, Sea (“Mori-Sato-Umi”) a joint project of IKAW-AKO Japan-Negros Partnership for Environment Protection and the Silay City government was officially launched in Silay City recently.
Japan International Cooperation Agency will be extending two million pesos assistance to the technical cooperation for grassroots projects on watershed reforestation and environmental education programs ? introduction of ecotourism.
The groups involved in the project are boy scouts, girl scouts, mangrove planters, ISF holders, students, barangay residents and environment groups.
Ver Pacete, tourism officer of Silay and Leo Canson, IKAW-AKO chairman in Silay, have been tasked to promote the area through ecotourism program which include sentimental journeys, nature camping, valley trekking, star gazing and horseback riding. (PIA/cad)
Public urged to recirculate coins
There is no coin shortage
By Rachelle M. Nessia
Dumaguete City (March 29) — The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is urging the public to circulate coins and accept them as legal tender in the midst of the perceived shortage of coins in the country.
There is P16.9 billion worth of coins circulating in the country as of December 31, 2009, or a total of 15.6 billion pieces.
Divina Salve, a research specialist at BSP here, pegs the ratio of the BSP-produced coins to the population at 187 per each Filipino as of the end of 2009.
Despite this, the perceived shortage of coins persists as “clearly the problem is not in the supply but in the circulation,” said Salve.
According to BSP’s website, the demand for coins remains unfilled in several parts of the country due to the low regard towards public lower-denominated coins and are kept inside bank vaults, piggy banks, inside drawers or thrown away or in video games and video karaoke machines
Salve stressed the need to flush out the coins in storage and for the public to cultivate a habit of regularly using coins in giving payments and exact change.
It costs several millions of pesos for BSP’s Mint Refinery and Operations Department to mint a fresh supply of coins.
“If the coins continue to be poorly circulated, BSP will be forced to produce more coins and this is very costly,” said Salve.
Local businesses have responded to BSP’s call to circulate coins, one of which is Super Lee Plaza wherein the department store’s employees were given P6 for every P5 worth of coins they turned over to the management.
Meanwhile, BSP is also encouraging the public to immediately report persons who are involved in defacing/mutilating and smuggling of Philippine coins, both of which are criminal acts under Presidential Decree 247. (PIA/RMN)
Rest in peace
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (December 4, 2009) – A crew of the Forest Lake Memorial Garden assist the laying down of one of the eight local journalists who were interred Friday, December 4. (Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
Final Blessing
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (December 4, 2009) – A priest gives his final blessing Friday, December 4, at the Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage church to the remains of journalists who were victims of the Maguindanao massacre two weeks ago. Mediamen Ian Subang, Marites Cablitas, Marie Fe Montano, Gina Dela Cruz, Leah Dalmacio, Ronnie Perante, Robillo Bataluna and Russell Morales, all from General Santos City, were interred at the Forest Lake Memorial Garden. (Cocoy Sexcion/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
Capiz achieves 100% energization
by Jemin B. Guillermo
According to CAPELCO General Manager Edgar Diaz, 100 percent of all the barangays in the province have already been provided with complete electrification in March 2005 yet.
Diaz said that the rural electrification program in the province was realized with the support of the congressmen from the first and second districts of Capiz by providing subsidy fund to finance the labor and materials.
He added that as of this month, about 44 million Filipinos are benefiting from the said program.
Diaz said that they are now expanding their services to far-flung areas, particularly in the sitios.
Last week, Capiz 1st District Congressman Antonio del Rosario led in the switch-on of 14 sitios in the 13 barangays of Panitan and Pilar towns.
The project, which costs P4.456 million, was funded through the Priority Development Assistance Fund of del Rosario.
Meanwhile, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered the complete electrification of the remaining 743 rural barangays nationwide before the year ends.
The President has ordered the Department of Energy and the National Electrification Administration (NEA) to fast track the program.
She said that her administration has extended P5.2 billion in financial assistance, the biggest in the country’s history, to electric cooperatives to enable them to accomplish their goal of bringing the benefit of electricity to all barangays.
In a continuing effort to bring down power rates in the country, the President said, the national government is accelerating power and energy development programs to establish more sources of indigenous power.
She noted that the full implementation of the EPIRA law will also start next year after the expiration of the power purchase agreement. (PIA)
Negrenses Rally to Preserve The Country’s Organic Farming Capital
Greenpeace put up two doors signifying an organic, GMO-free Negros (Green) and a GMO-contaminated future (Black), and requested members of the SP to take a stand and pass through the door that signifies their position.
Negros Occidental pioneered the ban on GMOs when it passed the ordinance, also called the “Safeguard Against Genetically Modified Organisms,” in 2007. The province, along with Negros Oriental, has been putting measures into place to turn Negros into an organic food island. Last April, the local government upheld the ban by rejecting shipments of illegal GMO corn at the capital’s port in Bacolod City.
This prompted GMO producing companies to field lobby groups to challenge the ordinance. The provincial government reiterated that it is maintaining the ban. Last month, however, anti-organic farming parties were able to sway the SP into holding hearings to reconsider the ordinance.
“It is now time for members of the provincial council to show their support for a future of agriculture that provides real solutions to food security and does not depend on unreliable, unproven techno fixes such as agrochemicals and GMOs” said Daniel M. Ocampo, Greenpeace Southeast Asia Sustainable Agriculture campaigner. “We are calling on the SP to look into lasting solutions that provide income and growth for the province without compromising the health of people and the environment.”
Organic farmers in Negros are looking towards the SP to uphold the ban protecting their means of livelihood – and their way of life – from contamination. “We are spending less on materials to get the same yield of crop when using organic means rather than the chemicals that some entities are pushing,” Jose Winston Cordoba of the Canaan Farmers Association (CFA) said in Ilonggo, his native tongue. “We, and especially our children, are also safe from harmful chemicals when there are no GMOs,” added Arturo Artucilla, also a board member of CFA, an organization of grassroots farmers in the Municipality of Magallon in Negros Occ
idental.
Greenpeace has documented projects on millions of farms in more than 50 countries around the world, and findings reveal that switching to sustainable farming methods increases harvests by an average of 73% — showing that the world’s poor can feed themselves by using cheap, locally-available technologies that will not damage the environment.
Greenpeace is an independent, global campaigning organization that acts to change attitudes and behaviour, to protect and conserve the environment, and to promote peace.
Rotary Club of Dumaguete to plant trees in critical watershed area
by Rachelle M. Nessia
According to Des Tilos, Valencia Information Officer, Sitio Marulay is identified as a critical watershed area for Dumaguete. “Dumaguete City’s water supply mostly comes from Marulay,” he said.
For the past years, DCWD personnel has been regularly conducting tree-planting activities in this area, Tilos added. (PIA/RMN)
Palawan, Mindanao CIQS councils craft contingency plans for airport, seaport disasters
The workshop was an integral part of the sustainability of CIQS-related initiatives in their region as well as to prevent disruptions in the flow of the CIQS operations, members of the Palawan CIQS council say.
“Contingency planning should be taken not only in the context of pre-emptive measure but as a proactive process in dealing with hazards,” says Dir. Norma Talosig, Office of the Civil Defense (OCD)-4 Regional Director.
The contingency plans for the Puerto Princesa airport and seaport cited emphasis on ensuring safety and security in both the newly-renovated airport with its critical contribution to Palawan’s economy and tourism, and the seaport which ensures the mobility of goods and people from and to Palawan and the entire country.
“Airport and seaport security is critical and through contingency planning concerned agencies would be able to identify capabilities which can be tapped in case of untoward occurrences,” said Ivan Baterzal, Industrial Security Officer of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA)-Palawan.
He said that coordinative efforts which are being harnessed and strengthened by the CIQS mechanism are also crucial in combating possible threats to these critical infrastructures.
“Through this CIQS mechanism, we are able to identify whom to coordinate and what type of response is needed on a particular incident, as well as the needed CIQS-related information,” he said.
Mindanao CIQS councils in Cagayan de Oro, Davao, General Santos and Zamboanga also underwent contingency planning in order to mobilize effective actions and resources for emergency response as well as generate commitments among concerned parties to coordinate before and when emergency occurs.
Members of the Philippine National Red Cross, Philippine Port Authority (PPA) and the Zamboanga City Integrated Port Services Inc. (ZCIPSI) medical responders test their injury assessment and treatment skills during the simulation exercise done as part of the customs, immigration, quarantine and security (CIQS) initiatives under the BIMP-EAGA Support Team on CIQS (BEST) project implemented by the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo) with funding support from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). MEDCo
Aside from acquiring knowledge and skills in contingency planning, participants were also oriented on the principles of incident command system (ICS), which provides for a single management system for multi-jurisdictional incidents. Participants will also be led into a simulation exercise for better appreciation of the system.
“We must be aware of the challenges to our peace and development efforts particularly in the security aspect, thus it is critical that our airport and seaport groups through the various local CIQS councils be equipped with the necessary planning and implementation skills that will address these security threats,” said Usec. Virgilio Leyretana, Chairman of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCo).
He added that airports and seaports are vital infrastructures which make them prime targets of terrorist activities crippling our transportation and economic activities.
MEDCo, with funding from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), implements the BIMP-EAGA Support Team (BEST) on CIQS Project, which aims to strengthen coordination and partnership among CIQS agencies, provide capacity- building activities to improve delivery of CIQS services at ports, and harmonize CIQS rules, regulations and procedures.
The contingency planning workshop was organized by MEDCo and facilitated by the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD).
To date, MEDCo has facilitated the conduct of various CIQS-related trainings covering various subjects such as Explosives Detection and Threat Management, Intelligence and Surveillance Work-Port Level, Upgrading Human Resources to Combat Transnational Crimes, Aviation Security, Trafficking in Persons, Safe Gun Handling and Marksmanship, Identifying and Handling Dangerous Goods and Illegal Drug Precursors, and the Convention on
International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna. MEDCo
PGMA inspects Canduman Bridge in Mandaue City, Cebu even at sundown
Cebu City (10 August) — Serious in her intent to see the completion of priority infrastructure projects with 11 months left in office, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo still garbed in her fuchsia pink gown and high-heeled shoes after playing ‘ninang’ to a wedding in Cebu wasted no time in inspecting the ongoing construction of the Canduman Bridge in Mandaue City even at sundown.
Last Saturday over 6:00 p.m., Pres. Arroyo proceeded to Canduman Riverside immediately after the wedding at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral to check the status of the still to be constructed Canduman Bridge where she pledged P48M funding assistance last year from the National Government to be taken from the Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH) coffer.
The 40-meter bridge will connect both roads from barangays Canduman and Maguikay at the other end and will serve as an alternate route going to the North as persistent traffic woes continue to beset the narrow two-lane main road along H. Abellana Street in Barangay Canduman, Mandaue City.
In spite of the slightly rocky terrain and dim light leading to the riverside, Pres. Arroyo waked midway to see the developments of the construction and was briefed on its status by Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes.
August of last year, Pres. Arroyo visited the site for the first time after Mayor Cortes sought assistance for the bridge construction after being plagued by heavy traffic and flooding along the main road where an alternate route could help address the dilemma.
Only the bridge construction will be funded by the National Government while the budget for the road right of way, road expansion and the drainage system would have to be shouldered by the local government unit concerned, this was learned.
The Canduman Bridge is expected to be completed sometime in September or October, this year with the non-stop construction ongoing for 24 hours, seven days a week.
Pres. Arroyo reportedly skipped the reception party of the wedding couple, Atty. Cristina Garcia Codilla (daughter of Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia) and Liloan Mayor Duke Franco Frasco and opted to work and oversee the developments of her priority projects such as the Canduman Bridge.
Apart from Pres. Arroyo, some of the political personalities who served as principal sponsors to the wedding event include former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada, Vice Pres. Noli de Castro, and Sen. Loren Legarda. (PIA-Cebu/FCR)
Negros Oriental economy remains strong amid global economic recession
by Rachelle M. Nessia
Dumaguete City (7 August) — The local economy in the province remains in good shape despite the global economic slowdown that has upset the national and international economies.
This was noted by Msgr. Merlin Logronio, president of the Negros Oriental Network of NGOs (non-government organizations) in a recent press conference as he pointed out that there are now more developments mushrooming in the province compared to the past.
“We can see more infrastructures and I can see changes and improvements even in the services in the province,” said Msgr. Logronio.
Bert Aquino, Negornet Board Member, speaking in the same forum, explained that the global financial crisis has mostly affected economies that are export-led or import-dependent. “In Negros Oriental, you seldom see industries that are dependent on importation. Duna’y ginagmay pero dili kayo,” he said.
Aquino said that the province’s economy is very local and is anchored heavily on agricultural, establishments and the local government which is the biggest employer in the province.
Despite the province being seemingly impervious to the global financial crisis, there is still more that needs to be done, said Msgr. Logronio. “We still have a tremendous lack of resources. For example, I believe there are many schools being put up pero dili ra gyud ta kaapas,” he explained.
In terms of employment or lack of it, he urged Negrenses to be resourceful and invent for themselves what they can do and be positive about it.
“Our population is growing rapidly that no good government can really keep up with it,” he lamented.
He stressed that the government has been responsive and trying their best and “we give them credit for that but they cannot do everything.”
He said that it is now up to the private sector to respond midway and organize themselves to respond to the global demands and changes affecting everyone. “I see so many opportunities for the local sector to continue improving our situation,” he explained.
This was echoed by Aquino, who added that this is now the challenge of the local government officials – how to further strengthen the local economy “so we won’t be vulnerable with whatever happens to the global economy.”
Said press conference was held to announce Negornet’s 17th anniversary and its 6th Annual NegOr NGO & PO (people’s organizations) Week from August 3 to 8.
Negornet is composed of 25 NGOs and POs and was formed to serve as a mechanism in consolidating the NGOs and POs along local development and in facilitating meaningful participation in local governance.
Reports of higher government spending and continued resiliency of remittances are among the things that would prop-up the Philippine economy in the second quarter of this year.
Philippine Equity Partners Inc. (PEP) analyst Jojo Gonzales considers the 0.4 percent output of the domestic economy in the first quarter this year as the “worst quarter in terms of growth.”
“Increased government spending, sustained bank lending, the bottoming out of trade, stable remittance flows, all suggest mildly better growth in (the) second quarter,” he said. (PIA/RMN)
