One Mindanao - August 24, 2011

2 ONE MINDANAO Wednesday, August 24, 2011Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)P. Urro Street, San Francisco DistrictPagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur 7016Telephone no. (062) 215-1480 / 925-0038Cellphone no. 0908-8843404E-mail : [email protected] [email protected] : hnb_r9pia

Northern MindanaoGraces’ Building, Antonio Luna StreetCagayan de Oro City 9000Telefax No. (08822) 72-66-83Telephone no. (088) 856-8178 / 729-594Cellphone no. 0928-5204305 0917-3084969E-mail : [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)2/F Kanto Motors Bldg.,Quimpo Blvd., New MatinaDavao City 8000Telephone no. (082) 297-0991 / 301-8580Telefax no. (082) 297-0992 / 304-2044Cellphone no. 0917-7053606 / 0918-9202950E-mail : [email protected]

Central Mindanao (SOCSKSARGEN)Provincial Capitol Compound Bautista Bldg., Zulueta St.Koronadal City, South Cotabato 9506Telephone no. (083) 520-0249Telefax no. (083) 228-9736 / 228-9739 / 520-0100Cellphone no. 0921-6873373 / 0928-5204307E-mail : [email protected] [email protected]

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines Bldg.,J. Rosales Avenue, Butuan CityTelephone no. (085) 341-5285 / 360-1239Telefax no. (085) 341-2370Cellphone no. 0917-7188834Email: [email protected] [email protected],ph

PIA REGIONAL OFFICESIN MINDANAO

Today’s News...

COVER STORY : Mindanao businessmen sup-port responsible and sustainable mining

NATIONAL• Aquino receives International Olympiad winners in Malacañang• President Aquino meets former British Prime Minister Tony Blair• President Aquino to visit People’s Republic of China• 6 agreements to be signed during President Aquino’s state visit to PROC – DFA• Malacañang condemns killing of Negros Occidental broadcaster• Ochoa: Rapid response teams ready in Libya and Syria• Malacañang welcomes Senate move approving resolution concurring ratification of Rome Statute• Aquino appoints Acosta presidential adviser for environmental protection

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)• Duyog Mindanao promotes civil society’s participation to sustain peace in the island• LGU Agusan Norte prepares for Christmas season• 2011 Nat’l Crime Prevention Week set in Butuan• Butuan City Gov’t and GIZ partnership strengthened• Tagalog News: Buwaya sa Agusan Marsh, sumalakay muli• Surigao City Prosecutors Office bares first sem accomplishments

Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)• Local industry promotion sustains drive vs poverty in ARMM• ARMM to settle accrued arrears with GSIS• LGUs prepare 10-year solid waste management plan• Dipolog conducts fishery law enforcement training• One region, one business community – PCCI

Northern Mindanao • DOST’s OL Trap sites show decrease in dengue cases• DSWD-10 constructs 69 KALAHI-CIDSS sub-projects costing Php66.59M• OWWA-10 gives notice of awards to Mis.Occ. OFWDSP scholars• DSWD’s SEA-K offers sustainable livelihood for the poorest of the poor• NYC convenes advisory council to advance youth development in NorMin

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)• LMP-DavSur vows commitment on health programs• PCUP reiterates call for just and humane eviction, demolition• RPOC-XI chair asks NPAs to release POWs, to convene IHM• Nat’l travel agencies see ecotourism boom in Tagum City• PDEA nabs MJ and shabu pushers

OUR COVER

The cover of this issue features the

Mindanao Business

Conferencewhich is set on

Sept. 7-9, 2011 at Pagadian City.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011Wednesday, August 24, 2011 3ONE MINDANAOWednesday, August 24, 2011

Cover Story:Mindanao businessmen support responsible and sustainable mining

by Michael Vincent D. CajulaoPIA Region IX

In a press conference con-ducted yesterday here, Philippine Chamber of Com-merce and In-dustry (PCCI) Regional Gover-nor for Western Mindanao Edgar Mata Bagarinao said they are for mining but it should be re-sponsible and sustainable. “WE are for responsible and sustainable mining operations here. Basta dapat sundin nila ang batas”, Bagarinao said. He also said that mining in-dustry will be beneficial to Mindan-ao and the country as a whole thru the taxes paid by the operators and the job opportunities it offers.

“Mindanao and the whole coun-try will benefit, either directly or in-directly, in mining. For one, taxes

will go to the government’s coffers which can be used to fund programs and projects. It also gives jobs to the locals as mining opera-tions need hu-man resource”, he explained. The business

g r o u p also allayed fears on destruction of the environment saying they will keep an eye to the mining operators throughout Mind-anao. “We will keep an eye on all mining operators here to make sure that they operate according to the

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) – The Mindanao Business Coun-cil said it supports any mining activities provided that it conforms to the laws and policies implemented by the national government when asked about the coming operation of Sagittarius Mining Incorporated in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

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Mindanao businessmen... from page 3

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law and that our envi-ronment is preserved and protected”, Ms. Lourdes Quisumbing, President of the Paga-dian City Chamber of Commerce and Indus-try, stressed. She said having big mining firms like SMI to operate in Min-danao will really boost economic activity. “If these compa-nies pay their taxes on the area of their oper-ations, would you not want that? They will be pouring their resources in our area”, Quisumb-

ing exclaimed. Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Cholo Soliven also shared the same posi-tion saying responsible and sustainable min-ing is being supported by their chamber. “Our chamber is in full support of re-sponsible and sustain-able mining as this en-sures the protection of our environment and the continuous growth of our economy,” the flamboyant business-man said.

However, he stressed that they do not support the pro-posed mining opera-tion in Ayala District, west of the city, saying it will destroy the city’s watershed. “But we again re-iterate our opposition to the proposed mining site in Ayala because it will destroy one of the city’s remaining water-sheds. This is not re-sponsible and sustain-able mining”, Soliven said. (MVC/PIA9-Zambo City)

Aquino receives International Olympiad winners in Malacañang

Bronze medalists Henry Jefferson Morco and Miguel Arnold Reyes won a medal each from the 2011 International Mathemati-cal Olympiad (IMO) and the

2011 International Physics Olympiad, respectively. Accompanying the group during the call held at the President’s Hall in Mala-canang Palace was Science

and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo. Morco, from Chiang Kai Shek College, won the bronze with two other Filipino team members that earned

President Benigno S. Aquino III received a new breed of Filipino achievers who bagged their respective awards from different prestigious internation-al competitions.


the highest medal haul of the country ever since it joined the IMO in 1988. Because of the Philip-pine team’s successful per-formance in the Math Olym-piad this year, the country’s standing in the contest went up to 54 from 74 in 2010 out of 101 countries. The equally-brilliant Reyes of the Philippine Sci-ence High School / UP Dili-man was also awarded the 2nd Grand Award - 2011 In-tel International Science &

Engineering Fair. Based on the official ranking, Reyes with another Filipino teammate got scores higher than 60% of the en-tire participants. A total of 393 students from 84 coun-tries joined the Olympiad. Another winner, Angeli Joyce Dy of Capiz National High School also won the 4th Grand Award from the 2011 Intel International Science & Engineering Fair. Other members of the entourage were Julius Mag-

alona Basilla, Roland Christo-pher Caballar and Jose Perico Esguerra from UP Diliman; Filma Brawner - Director, Science Education Institute & OIC, Philippine Science High School System; Ricky Banaag and Arlita Narag of INTEL Philippines; Mark Ivan Roblas - Science Education Institute (SEI-DOST) and Glen Mackenzie Ong - Math-ematical Society of the Phil-ippines. (jcl/11:31 p.m.)

President Aquino meets former British Prime Minister Tony Blair

Blair paid a courte-sy call on the President at Malacanang’s Music Room which was fol-lowed by a dinner host-ed in his honor by the President at the State dining room. Blair on Wednes-day signed an agree-ment with Philippine ed-ucation officials for the adoption of his foun-dation’s religious liter-acy program aimed at teaching school children inter-faith and intercul-tural dialogue. T h e p r o g r a m ,

which integrates les-sons on peace-building in schools with the his-tory of religious conflict, is part of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation initia-tive. The program called “Face to Faith,” teaches young people key skills for the conduct of ef-fective dialogue and en-gagement particularly on different faith and cultural traditions. Blair’s arrival in Manila is his second visit in the country, the first was in March 2009 for

a speaking engagement at the Ateneo de Manila University during the celebration of its 150th anniversary. Blair served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from March 1997 to June 2007. He is currently the quartet representa-tive to the Middle East, representing the Unit-ed Nations, the Euro-pean Union, the United States and Russia. (as/11:27am)

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who arrived in Manila for the sign-ing of religious literacy program, met President Benigno Aquino III in Mala-canang Tuesday night.

Aquino receives... from page 4


President Aquino to visit People’s Republic of China

President Benigno S. Aquino III will visit the People’s Republic of China from August 30 to September 3, 2011 to further enhance relations between the two countries, the Department of Foreign

Affairs announced on Wednesday.

In a press briefing in Malacañang, Assis-tant Secretary for Asia and Pacific Affairs Cristi-na Ortega said the Pres-ident’s state visit to the cities of Beijing, Shang-hai and Xiamen high-lights “the centuries-old friendship between the Philippines and China, and our desire to pro-mote more exchanges and better understand-ing between our peo-ples.” “The State Visit will further strengthen the 36 years of friendship and mutually beneficial relations between the Philippines and China,” Ortega said. “The visit hopes to push for more trade, investment, media, cul-ture, education and tourism exchanges be-tween both sides. It will also showcase the Phil-

ippines as an attractive and profitable business destination,” she add-ed. Ortega pointed out that among the activi-ties the President will undertake during the visit include meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premiere Wen Jiabao and Chairman Wu Bangguo of the National People’s Congress. The President will also keynote three im-portant fora: the Philip-pine-Chinese Economic and Trade Forum in Bei-jing, High Level Forum with Yangtze River Del-ta Government Officials and Business Enterpris-es in Shanghai, and the Philippine-Fujian Busi-ness Conference in Xia-men. Aside from these, the President will hold one-on-one meetings

with selected Chinese businessmen to pro-mote the government’s Public Private Partner-ship (PPP) program. He will also join the Filipino community in each of said cities to personally get an over-view of their situation. Ortega said that there are 12,700 Filipi-nos living and working in various cities in the PROC. Diplomatic rela-tions between the Phil-ippines and China were established on June 9, 1975 and since then, China has been the Philippines’ third larg-est trading partner and fourth largest source of tourists as well as the fourth largest source of development assis-tance. (rck)


6 agreements to be signed during President Aquino’s state visit to PROC – DFA

The Department of Foreign Affairs announced on Wednesday that at least six agreements will be signed during President Benigno S. Aquino III’s five-day State Visit to the People’s Republic of China from August 30 to Sep-

tember 3, 2011. Assistant Sec-retary of the DFA’s Office Asia and Pa-cific Affairs Cristi-na Ortega said that these agreements will be signed dur-ing the business fora and meetings the President will be having with Chinese business leaders in the different cities he will be visiting. The three cit-ies the President will visit are Beijing, Shanghai and Xia-men. Ortega said the

agreements include the Joint Statement (PH-PROC) on the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines-Chi-na Five-Year Devel-opment Program for Trade and Economic Cooperation, an MoU between the PCOO and State Council In-formation Office on Friendly Exchanges, an MoU on Sports Cooperation, Imple-menting Program on the MoU on Tourism and Exchange of Let-ters on the Executive Program of the Phil-

ippines-China Cul-tural Agreement. On the Joint Statement on the West Philippine Sea, Ortega said that the document will be re-leased but only after the State Visit. “We will have a Joint Statement of the Philippines and China (on the West Philippine Sea)…that will be crafted dur-ing and right after the State Visit to China so hindi pa na-tin alam yan. I don’t think we can preempt

the Joint Statement but I would assume that there would be a line or two on the West Philippine Sea,” Ortega said.

On the Philippine-China Five-Year De-velopment Program for Trade and Eco-nomic Cooperation, Ortega said the tar-geted sectors of this program are in in-frastructure, mining, energy, information and tourism. (rck)

Malacañang condemns killing of Negros Occidental broadcaster

Malacañang on Wednesday condemned the murder of 42-year-old former broadcaster Neil Aranga Jimena of Negros Occidental.

In a statement, Presi-dential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda assured the family of the slain journalist that the full force of the law is being applied to immedi-ately identify and appre-hend the perpetrators of the crime. The Palace also ex-tends its deepest sympa-thies to the family of Ji-

mena, who was shot dead on Monday by unidentified assailants in E.B. Magalona town, northern Negros Oc-cidental. “The full force of the law is being applied to swift-ly identify and apprehend the killers of Neil Aranga Ji-mena. We have tasked the PNP to constantly update us on the progress of their

investigation,” he said. “We condemn his murder and call on those who may have informa-tion concerning the case to swiftly contact the authori-ties. To his loved ones, we extend our deepest sym-pathies and we will work to ensure justice is done,” he added. (co)


Ochoa: Rapid response teams ready in Libya and Syria

The Rapid Response Teams (RRTs), trained and prepared to address developments in crisis-affected countries with significant OFW populations, have been activated and are closely monitoring developments in Libya and Syria, Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said on Wednesday.

“RRTs were deployed to Syria and Libya on Au-gust 13, and the team in Syria has already reported that they have validated the contingency plans for OFWs based in Syria,” Ochoa said. “The RRT assigned to Libya, on the other hand, is at the Libya-Tunisia bor-der. It is closely monitor-ing developments in the area and is ready to assist OFWS that leave Libya via that route,” added Ochoa, who also chairs the Over-seas Preparedness and Response Team (OPRT). Ochoa said one of the priority programs of the OPRT when it was formed by President Be-nigno Aquino III was the formation of several RRTs, with each team assigned to review and assess the contingency plans pre-pared by Philippine diplo-matic posts in the Middle East. “We did not want to wait for the next cri-sis to occur before acting so we formed and trained the RRTs in anticipation of

these developments in the Middle East. These teams were trained last May and have been ready for de-ployment to crisis-affect-ed countries in the Middle East since June of this year,” Ochoa said. The RRTs are tasked to verify and validate the contingency plans in crisis-affected areas, familiarize themselves with actual conditions on the ground and augment efforts and personnel of the Depart-ment of Foreign Affairs in countries where there are political upheavals. The RRTs, which are composed of select per-sonnel from the DFA, De-partment of Labor and Employment (DoLE), De-partment of National De-fense (DND), and the Armed Forces of the Philip-pines (AFP) report directly to the OPRT and work in tandem with the foreign affairs office. The OPRT was estab-lished through Executive Order 34 signed by the President on April 6, 2011. It replaced the Presiden-

tial Middle East Prepared-ness Committee (PMEPC), which was created under Executive Order No. 159 in 2002, to deal with the evacuation of thousands of Filipino workers in the Middle East at the height of the Iraq crisis. Under EO 34, the OPRT is composed of the Executive Secretary as chairperson and the presi-dential adviser on Over-seas Filipino Workers’ Con-cerns and secretaries of the DFA, DoLE, DND, and, the Departments of Justice (DoJ), Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Budget and Management (DBM), as members. The high-level crisis team is tasked to draw up strategies and programs and formulate policies to appropriately respond to crisis situations affect-ing Filipinos abroad. It is also tasked to develop and adopt interactive operat-ing arrangements among agencies to ensure maxi-mum coordination.


Malacañang welcomes Senate move approving resolution concurring ratification of Rome Statute

Malacañang welcomed on Wednesday the move of the Senate to approve a resolution concurring with the ratification of the Rome Statute that paved the way for the Philippines to join the

International Criminal Court (ICC).

With the ap-proval on third and final reading of its resolution concur-ring in the ratifica-tion of the Rome Statute, the Senate has paved the way for the Philippines to join the Inter-national Criminal Court (ICC), with a vote of 17-1, Presi-dential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said. Lacierda said President Benigno S. Aquino III had endorsed the Rome Statute on May 6, 2011. Lacierda said the Department of Foreign Affairs will deposit the instru-ment of ratification this week in New York. “This is a concrete demon-stration of the ad-ministration’s com-mitment to human rights and account-ability within and

among nations,” Lacierda stressed. According to the statement re-leased by the De-partment of For-eign Affairs (DFA) the Philippines, through then Depu-ty Permanent Rep-resentative to the United Nations in New York Enrique Manalo, signed the Rome Statute on December 28, 2000. Under the Philippine Constitu-tion, the DFA noted that treaties ratified by the President need the concur-rence of the Sen-ate before these can enter into force and effect. Senator Miri-am Defensor-San-tiago, chairperson of the Senate Sub-committee on the ICC, delivered the sponsorship speech on the treaty last August 16. Sena-

tor Loren Legarda, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Foreign Rela-tions, likewise de-livered a co-spon-sorship address. P r e s i d e n t Aquino received in Malacañang last March ICC Presi-dent Sang Hyun-Song. The DFA has been an ardent advocate of Philip-pine ratification of the Rome Statute through the years. Under Secre-tary Teofisto Gu-ingona, the DFA recommended its ratification to Pres-ident Gloria Ma-capagal-Arroyo in 2002 and under Secretary Blas F. Ople resubmitted the same to the President in 2003. The Rome Statute was con-cluded in 1998 by the United Nations (UN) Diplomat-

ic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an ICC that was participated in by some 140 States, including the Philip-pines. The Statute entered into force on July 1, 2002, after 60 States had become Parties. The ICC, which is headquar-tered in The Hague, The Netherlands, has jurisdiction over the most seri-ous crimes of con-cern to the interna-tional community, namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression. To date, there are 116 states that have either ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute, 15 of which are from Asia and the Pacif-ic, including Cam-bodia, East Timor, Korea, Australia, and Japan. (JS)


Aquino appoints Acosta presidential adviser for environmental protection

President Benigno Aquino III has appointed former Rep. Juan Romeo Nereus “Neric” Acosta of Bukidnon province as presiden-

tial adviser for environmental protection. Acosta, a

member of the Liberal Party, took his oath of office as pres ident ia l adviser for en-v i ronmenta l protection be-fore President

Aquino in Mala-canan Palace on Wednesday. Acosta, who served as representative

for the first district of Bukidnon, is the prin-cipal author of the Clean Air Act. He also sponsored major environmental legislation on clean water, solid waste management and biodiversity protection. He also served as the House of Rep-resentative’s chairman of the Committee on Ecology and vice chairman of the Com-mittees on Science and Technology, Human Rights, and Foreign Relations. Acosta ran but lost in senatorial race in May 2010 national elections. (co)

ACOSTA

THE PRESIDENT IN FOCUSTHE PRESIDENT IN FOCUSHis Excellency Menashe Bar-on, Ambassador Ex-traordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to the Philippines, troops the Palace Guards upon arrival at the Malacañan Grounds for the Presenta-tion of Credentials at the Music Room of Malacanang Palace Tuesday (August 23). (Photo by Ryan Lim / Malacañang Photo Bureau)

President Benigno S. Aquino III accepts the creden-tials of His Excellency Menashe Bar-on as Ambassa-dor Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the State of Israel to the Philippines during the Presentation of Credentials at the Music Room of Malacanang Pal-ace Tuesday (August 23). (Photo by Jay Morales /

Malacañang Photo Bureau)


Duyog Mindanao promotes civil society’s participation to sustain peace in the islandby Robert E. Roperos

“Duyog Mindanao,” an initiative led by the Mindan-ao PeaceWeavers (MPW) is aimed at achieving a nego-tiated political settlement of the armed conflict between the Government of the Phil-ippines (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is crucial in moving forward genuine de-velopment not only in Mind-anao but in the entire coun-try, as well. In a press statement, Jude Cabusao of Duyog Min-danao said the initiative was undertaken after the 2011 World Development Report showed that armed conflicts further disrupt efforts to-

wards development and ad-dress mass poverty. “New poverty data re-veal that poverty is declin-ing for much of the world, but countries affected by violence are lagging behind. For every three years, a country is affected by major violence, poverty reduction lags behind by 2.7 percent,” Cabusao said. Cabusao further said no low-income fragile or con-flict-affected country has yet achieved a single Millennium Development Goal (MDG). “People in fragile and conflict-affected states are more than twice as likely to be undernourished as those

in other developing coun-tries, more than three times as likely to be unable to send their children to school, twice as likely to see their chil-dren die before age five, and more than twice as likely to lack clean water,” he said. On average, Cabusao said a country that experi-enced major violence over the period from 1981 to 2005 has a poverty rate of 21 percentage points higher than a country that saw no violence.These, according to Cabusao are some of the reasons why Duyog Mindanao was orga-nized. (RER/PIA-Caraga)

BUTUAN CITY, August 24 (PIA) -- A campaign to raise citizen’s awareness on the outstanding issues about the on-going peace process in Mindanao is taking place.

LGU Agusan Norte prepares for Christmas season by Nora CL MoldeAGUSAN DEL NORTE, August 24 (PIA) - The provincial government of Agu-san del Norte headed by Governor Erlpe John M. Amante is now preparing for the coming Christmas season by improving its provincial capitol’s park. According to Gov. Amante, the province has allotted one million pesos for the improvement and beautification of the Capi-

tol Park at the provincial capitol compound, Butuan City. The budget will in-clude beautification of the

provincial capitol’s sur-roundings like landscap-ing, putting up of Christ-mas lights and repair of the existing fountain.

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LGU Agusan Norte... from page 11... The provincial capi-tol, its surroundings & park, according to Gov. Amante will surely be a nice place for Butuan-

ons and Agusanons’ fam-ily recreation during the Christmas season. The said improve-ment and beautification of

the park will start within this week. (NCLM with reports from Agusan del Norte PIO/PIA-Car-aga)

2011 Nat’l Crime Prevention Week set in Butuan by Jennifer P. Gaitano

BUTUAN CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) – The National Police Commission (NAPOL-COM) Caraga will once again spearhead this year’s National Crime Preven-tion Week (NCPW) with the theme: “Pinoy Ako, Crime Prevention Misyon Ko!” from September 1-7, 2011. During the Technical Working Group (TWG) meet-ing held Tuesday, Aug. 23 at the PNP-Caraga Regional Con-ference Room, members from the government line agencies and non-government organi-zations have lined-up activi-ties for the weeklong celebra-tion. NCPW will kick-off on Sept. 1, 5:00am with a Fun Walk dubbed “Lakad Laban Sa Krimen” from the city’s Rizal Park going to Agusan del Norte Provincial Capitol Cov-ered Court. A ‘Hataw’ exercise will follow after the fun walk. On Sept. 2 is set for the launching of the Provin-cial Anti-Drug Abuse Council

(PADAC) which will be held in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur. Seminar on Crime and Drug Abuse Prevention is also set on Sept. 3 at the People’s Hall, City Hall Compound spearheaded by the Sang-guniang Kabataan (SK) from different barangays in Butu-an. Since the youth is the main focus of this year’s NCPW celebration, TWG chose the out-of-school youth from different barangays in Butuan as participants of the Mural Painting Contest on Sept. 5 while on Sept. 6, the same seminar on crime and drug abuse prevention will be con-ducted in Bayugan National

High School, Bayugan City. Meanwhile, said cele-bration will culminate on Sept. 7 with an Ecumenical Prayer, Blood-letting activity, Award-ing of PNP and BJMP Model Family, as well as Awarding of winners for the Mural Paint-ing Contest at the Agusan del Norte Provincial Capitol Cov-ered Court, this city. With this, government agencies headed by NAPOL-COM is encouraging the gen-eral public to witness and support every activity set for this celebration and help in advocating for a crime and drug-free region. (JPG/PIA-Caraga)

Butuan City Gov’t and GIZ partnership strengthened by Maria Rebecca Ayaton

BUTUAN CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) - After a year of coordination, the Deutsche Gessellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and Butuan Citygov-ernment finally formalized and strengthened their partnership by signing the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Technical Assistance and Advi-sory package on Co-Management Area. This agreement was sealed by Mayor Ferdinand Amante Jr. as the city mayor

Butuan City government and Dr. Stephanie Schell-Faucon, Principal Advisor of GIZ- Con-

flict Sensitive Resource and Asset Management (COSER-AM) on Tuesday, Aug. 23 at

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Butuan City Gov’t... from page 12...the City Mayor’s Office-Con-ference Room 2, this city. GIZ-COSERAM will tech-nically and financially support the city and will furthermore provide assistance to incor-porate disaster-risk-reduction and climate-change-adapta-tion in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) and Forest Land Use Plan (FLUP). The said program aims to ensure that governance of natural resources and assets is implemented in a peaceful and sustainable manner ben-efiting the community. GIZ-COSERAM works throughout the Caraga region with an in-tegrated approach to poverty reduction and peace building. Moreover, the program

includes capacity develop-ment for multi-stakeholder dialogue processes and par-ticipatory Barangay Develop-ment planning in eight (8) pilot barangays namely: Ap-aro, Nongnong, San Mateo, Bitan-agan, Manila de Buga-bus, Tungao, Dulag and MG Santos. According to Dr. Schell-Faucon, to advance the socio-economic development of the Nasipit Lumber Company area that covers around 11 thou-sand hectares of land will be the starting point in doing the project. “GIZ wanted to support Caraga region for the fact that it is one of the poorest regions in the Philippines yet

it is very rich in terms of nat-ural resources and it has the potential for development,” Faucon stressed. Meanwhile, City Mayor Amante emphasizes that this partnership with the GIZ-COSERAM is basically aimed to secure the land, people and development of Caraga. The GIZ is a federally owned enterprise that sup-ports the German government in the field of international de-velopment cooperation, has been implementing projects to promote economic, ecolog-ical and social development in the Philippines for more than 30 years. (MRA/PIA-Cara-ga)

Tagalog News: Buwaya sa Agusan Marsh, sumalakay muli by David M. SuyaoAGUSAN DEL SUR, Aug. 24 (PIA) - Binulabog ng mga sigaw at hiyawan ang tahimik na madaling araw ng Barangay Nueva Era, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur ng mga bagong gising na mga residente ng makitang hila-hila ng dam-buhalang buwaya ang isang tatlong taong kalabaw sa gilid ng sapa na sum-abit sa tulay na siyang ginagamit ng mga mamamayan sa pagtawid sa ilog. Sa isang iglap, dumami ang mga taon para makita kung ano ang dahilan ng hiyawan at sila ay namangha ng makita ng kani-knilang mga mata ang isang napakalaking buwaya, na kung sukatin ang likoran nito ay himigit kumulang mga tatlong talampaka ang lapad, at tinatayang nasa 12 talam-pakan ang haba, habang hila ang isang batang kalabaw pa-tungo sa malalim na parte ng ilog, at nginangatngat ng kan-

yang matalas na pangil ang leeg ng kanyang biktima. Sa kanilang pagkamangha, wala n I isa man ang nagtangkang awatin ang dambuhalang bu-waya, kung saan, ang kanyang biktimang kalabaw ay sumabit sa tulay. Sa kapaguran mara-hil, iniwan ng buwaya ang kan-yang biktima at ito ay lumobog at iniwan ang kanyang biktima sa paanan ng tulay. Wala pa ring naglakas loob na lumapit man lang sa patay na kalabaw

sa takot na biglang lumabas uli ang buwaya at sagpangin ang sino mang makita sa paligid. Sa pakipanayam ng isang taga radyo DXDA, sinabi ni Barangay kapitan Teofanes Adlawan na ang ilog na aming nakikita ay nakakabit sa Agu-san Marsh, at ito ay malapit lamang sa Lake Mihaba kung saan, mga dalawang taon na ang lumipas, isang batang sag-wan ang kanyang Bangka gal-ing ng lumulutang na esk

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welahan, ang sinagpang din ng dambuhalang buwaya. “Kami ay naniniwalang dalawa ang mga dambuhalang buwaya sa paligid namin at sila ay palipat-lipat lamang dito sa paligid ng Agusan Marsh. Dahil sa pangyayaring ito na nakita naming mismo, pinagbawal na naming ang sino mang su-makay sa bangka. Ito rin ang nagpatibay sa aming hinala na ang mga buwaya ring ito ang umatake at lumapa sa isa nam-ing kababaryo,” sabi ni Kapitan Adlawan. Sa pakipanayam din kay Maritess Salon, isa sa mga res-idente ng Barangay Nueva Era, isang nagngangalan ng Daniel

Auxtero, 56 taong gulang, ang nawala sa ilog habang ito ay nangingisda. Ayon sa kanyang asawa, si Daniel ay nagpaalam sa kanya na mangisda mga alas 9 ng gabi mga isang buwan na ang nagdaan, at ito ay hindi na nakauwi. Nakita na lamang ng mga naghanap na kabaryo ng sumunod na araw ang kanyang Bangka, sagwan at sombrero na nakalutang mga ilang kilo-metro lamang ang layo sa ka-nilang barangay at malapit sa Lake Mihaba sa loob mismo ng Agusan Marsh. Ipinaalam agad ni Ba-rangay Kapitan Adlawan sa mayor ng Bunawan na si Edwin Elorde ang pangyayari, ha-

bang binabantayan ng mabuti ang paligid ng ilog kung saan nakita ang kalabaw na hila-hila ng dambuhalang buwaya, at kung saan din lumubog ang nasabing buwaya. “Sinabi ng aming lokal na pamahalaan na huwag pa-tayin ang mga makitang buwa-ya dahil ang mga ito ay kanil-ang huhulihin nang buhay. Sa kasalukuyan, ang aming muni-sipyo sa Bunawan ay mayroong kulungan na ginawa para ma-paglagyan ng mahuling mga buwaya,” sabi ni B/kapitan Ad-lawan. (kasama ang ulat ni William U. Andres ng DXDA/PIA-Agusan del Sur)

Surigao City Prosecutors Office bares first sem accomplishments by Dandy Lapura

SURIGAO DEL NORTE, Aug. 24 (PIA) – The Surigao City Prosecutors Office unveiled recently its 2011 First Semester accomplishment with 1,292 cases received for January-June this year. Surigao City Prosecu-tor Atty. Manuel Tesiorna, in his report sent to the office of Mayor Ernesto Matugas, said that his office was able to re-ceive 1,187 preliminary cases or regular and 135 inquest cases. “There are 476 cases still pending including the 2nd semester of 2010. Disposed cases totaled around 816 with at least 513 cases filed and 303 dismissed.” Also, the office was able to issue 452 Fiscal’s Clear-ance, “thus providing addi-tional income to benefit the city of Surigao,” he said.

Tesiorna said that aside from criminal complaints, his office also stands as the gov-ernment representative in Special Proceeding, making sure that there is no corrobo-ration between two parties. He said his office received 73 cases for the first semester of 2011 and of the 73 cases, 3 cases were granted. “Out of 652 clients who asked for legal assistance, a hundred percent of that num-ber was given help thereof, insuring that Surigaonons are well informed with the laws,” he added.

Lastly, Tesiorna said the Surigao City Prosecutors Office was able to bring jus-tice to 69 complaints or cases filed herein, giving a convic-tion judgment by the courts. “For the 452 clearances that were issued for the 1st se-mester, the prosecutor’s of-fice provided it with speedy legal remedies to those need-ing legal documents to further process for any purpose that such clearance is needed,” he concluded. (DL/PIA–Su-rigao del Norte)

Tagalog News... from page 13...

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 15Wednesday, August 24, 2011 ONE MINDANAOWednesday, August 24, 2011

by Iskak L. PaguitalLocal industry promotion sustains drive vs poverty in ARMM ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Aug 23 (PIA) – Industry, not politics, serves as the flagship of economic prosperity of nations. I cannot paraphrase exactly the thesis of an article I read more than a decade ago. But indeed it meant that way. The writer substanti-ated it with the examples of the British Empire with its East India Company, the United States and Japan with their global industrial might as well as of lesser nations and entities whose industry sectors created so much economic pros-perity and political power. South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam are on the rise. That leaves any well-meaning Muslim hard put in finding a number of Muslim nations that could come near this category. Then sometime in 2003 came Samuel Hun-tington’s “Class of Civili-zation” book which helped me gain a little bit more insight into the economic state of the Muslim world, including our own Auton-omous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The book reinforces long-standing and damag-ing misperceptions such as the “notion that Western

and Muslim civilizations had little in common…and that Islam and modernity are inherently incompat-ible.” This is borne by the judgment based on the scientific and economic superiority achieved by the western civilization over that of the Muslims all over the world. Nevertheless, Nazeer Aziz Ladhani, chief ex-ecutive officer of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, pointed out that “What clouds our understanding of this issue -- and exac-erbates efforts within the Muslim world to demon-strate the fallacy of the Islamic versus modernity dialectic -- are the pover-ty, ignorance and isolation endemic to the developing world, where the majority of Muslims live.” And so there lies the crux of writ-er Huntington’s thesis. Poverty and its at-tendant features such as the prevalent lack of the

economic uplifting force of industries, has come at the center of the Muslim dilemma. In the so-called developing world where most of the poor Muslim nations belong, poverty alleviation has become a focus for much of the ef-forts of governments and developmental bodies in the world today. The United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal is that of halving or reducing to 50% the glob-al poverty incidence. The ARMM, with its more that 60% poverty incidence, understandably the high-est in the country, has not been fairing well in recent decades. The unresolved Moro political/territorial problem and the unshrink-ing poverty incidence con-tinue to necessitate exter-nal impetus for economic advancement. The Japanese gov-ernment, thru the Japan International Cooperation

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In a press release, ARMM Information Chief Ali macabalang disclosed that the Office of the Regional Governor (ORG) is follow-ing up vigorously its earlier communications with all in-stitutions including the GSIS

with known collectibles from agencies of the regional au-tonomous government. “We have earlier asked all concerned entities in for-mal writing, asking them to update us on the standing payables due them. One of

these agencies is the GSIS,” ARMM Executive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo said. He said Acting ARMM Governor Ansaruddin Alon-to-Adiong, in his desire to “clear the debts” of the re-gional government before

ARMM to settle accrued arrears with GSISISABELA CITY, Basilan, Aug 24 (PIA) – Incumbent officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) are girding to settle some P400-million ac-cumulated arrears spawned by past administrations failure to remit timely school teachers’ premiums to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Agency (JICA) has been helping the ARMM since 2004 to enhance its so-cial and economic condi-tion. JICA provided sup-port to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to enhance a Rice-Based Farming System and as well as various support towards the early efforts to develop Halal indus-try. Numerous JICA social and infrastructure support programs are indeed mak-ing significant contribution in the overall effort to lift the region from the ashes of decades-long war. The recent launching of the JICA funded Devel-opment Study on Promo-tion of Local Industry in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (LIP-ARMM) comes as another welcome development as it sustains earlier efforts, particularly the Halal Food Industry Development ini-

tiatives. And it opens an-other opportunity for the ARMM development agents in working up our regional economic dilemma. Reporting back to DAF after my short stint at DTI-ARMM, it was a delight to renew my team-up with the top guns of the agen-cy. ASec Tess Maguindra, CEO VI, was designated LIP Focal Person for DTI, and Dr. Baks Datumanong a resource person for One Town One Product. I also got my LIP Focal Person-DAF designation. And so back to work for the thing that interests us most, being part of the effort to mitigate poverty incidence in ARMM, though one very tall order it might seem. Local Industry Pro-motion aims to develop businesses. It will encour-age the emergence of in-novative kind of entrepre-neurs and industry leaders

who could produce more goods and values for our local agri-fisheries and other resource endow-ments for the purpose of creating livelihood and jobs. Joblessness and pov-erty help fuel our current peace and order problem which is generating dire consequence on the lives of thousands of people in evacuations centers, in the slums of population centers and elsewhere. Industries, no mat-ter how our regional politi-cal entity will evolve, will be our flagship carriers towards social and eco-nomic development. But, for now, such flagships cannot launch their voy-ages into the competitive sea without political will – meaning: full measure of required governmen-tal equity. (DAF-ARMM/RVC-PIA9 BaSulTa)

Local industry... from page 15 ...

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 17Wednesday, August 24, 2011 ONE MINDANAOWednesday, August 24, 2011

LGUs prepare 10-year solid waste management plan by Franklin P. GumaponDIPOLOG CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) - The participants to the solid waste manage-ment workshop conductedhere recently by the Environmental Management Bureau-Manila have each come up with a 10-yearsolid waste management plan to be implemented in their respective local government units (LGUs). Around 63 participants who were mostly City/Mu-nicipal Planning and Devel-opment Coordinators from the different cities and mu-nicipalities of the provinces of Zamboanga del Norte,Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay attend-ed the activity. National Solid Waste Management Commission (NSWMC) Deputy Executive Director Eligio T.

Ildefonso has empha-sized to the participants the importance of putting up a sanitary landfill that con-forms to the standards set by the commission. Meanwhile, the local government units (LGUs) have been given time to pre-pare a draft of their10-year solid waste management plan which will first be sub-mitted to EMB regional office before endorsing the same

to EMB-Manila for further evaluation. EMB-Manila also pledges financial support to LGUs with approved solid waste management plan. Proper solid waste dis-posal system has remained a big challenge among LGUs not only in theregion but in the entire country as well. (FPG/PIA-Zambo. Norte)

he bows out of office this coming October 1, has or-dered the updating of the outstanding payables they have inherited from past ad-ministrations. As an offshoot of the passage of R.A. 10153, which defers the Aug. 8, 2011 ARMM elections to 2013 and allows President Aquino to install officers-in-charge (OICs) for 21 months, in-cumbent elected regional of-ficials including Adiong will bow out on Sept. 30. Although the Adiong administration merely inher-ited a great magnitude of problems including financial debts, it is “very desirous to leave a legacy of good gov-ernance for the successors to administer the ARMM sys-tem smoothly,” Sinarimbo said. Since the advent of the Adiong administration on December 14, 2009, re-

mittances of premiums of the region’s 22,000 public school teachers have been done promptly, except for the arrears accumulated in several years starting early 2000, GSIS sources said. The arrears in teach-ers’ GSIS contributions had piled with interests to more than P800-million. Upon election and office assump-tion in 2005 of ARMM Gov-ernor Zaldy Ampatuan, pay-ments of the arrears had been made in installments that brought the debt to around P400-million, they said. Incumbent DepEd-ARMM Secretary Baratu-cal Caudang said that on instruction of Adiong, he is pushing the forging of a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the GSIS for the settlement of the outstand-ing arrears. Caudang said his fi-

nance personnel are “sourc-ing out funds” to pay the arrears through some mech-anisms that would be stipu-lated in the MOA. Also on order of Adi-ong, Caudang said, his office had paid in trances more than P300-million back salaries of public schools teachers ac-cumulated since 2005. According to Sina-rimbo, their regime has in-stituted administrative and operation reforms and what is left to settle is their inher-ited financial woes. National and foreign institutions including the Na-tional Economic and Devel-opment Authority, the World Bank, the Japan Internation-al Cooperation Agency, and the executive body of United Nations’ humanitarian agen-cies have separately given the Adiong administration “satisfactory” ratings. (BPI-ARMM/RVC-PIA9 BaSul-

ARMM to settle ... from page 16...


Dipolog conducts fishery law enforcement training by Franklin P. GumaponDIPOLOG CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) - Sixty deputized fish wardens have recently completed a three-daytraining on fishery law enforcement conducted by the City Agriculturist Office (CAO) headed by Dionisio C. Mandawe. The training aimed to equip the participants with the basic knowledge and skills that areindispensable in enforcing fishery laws. A group called Dipolog Fishery Law Enforcers (DFLE) consisting of 14 alert teams, six spotterteams and five infor-mation officers was also orga-nized during the said training. This group will help theCity Fish

Warden in running after illegal fishing activities in the area. City Councilor Kenny Cal Ong, who represented City Mayor Evelyn Uy in the closing program,expressed optimism that the city would again en-joy the abundance of marine resources with the help ofthe deputized fish wardens. He urged them to assist in the im-plementation of fishery laws to

restoreand preserve the ma-rine resources. Coastal cities and mu-nicipalities are always faced with the problem of big fishing vessels encroaching in the mu-nicipal waters. Under fishery laws, these big fishing boats are not allowed to fishwithin the 15-kilometer radius from the shorelines. (FPG/PIA-Zambo. Norte)

by Michael Vincent D. CajulaoOne region, one business community – PCCI ZAMBOANGA CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) – Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Regional Governor for Western Mindanao Edgar Mata Bagarinao said it’s best for the region to act as one business community to boost eco-nomic activity here as he encourage the full participation of all business chambers in the region for the 20th Mindanao Business Conference on Sep-tember 7-9, 2011 In a press conference held yesterday afternoon, Bagarinao said the business group in the region should be on the same direction for a much stable economic cli-mate. “All of the business chambers here in region 9 should be on the same page as this will make us more competitive”, Bagarinao pointed. He pointed that there is no room for individuality if the region wants to move forward. “Dapat hindi tayo nag-kakanya-kanya. We have to pull all our resources and ship it to the market coming out directly from us. Hindi yung idadaan pa natin sa

ibang region”, he stressed.Bagarinao said the region has many products and Zam-boanga City has the facili-ties to ship out the regional products. “We can utilize Zam-boanga Free Port and Eco-nomic Zone to ship out our products. Zamboanga del Norte does not have the facility, same is with Zam-boanga del Sur. Mas malapit pa ang Zamboanga kaysa sa Cagayan De Oro”, he added. Zamboanga City Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Cholo So-liven agreed with Bagarinao saying the city’s chamber is fully supporting this year’s business conference with Pagadian as host.

“We know that there were some gaps between Zamboanga City and Pa-gadian due to the region-al center issue. But we are putting it aside and give our full support to the Pagadian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) as host of this year’s business confer-ence”, Soliven said. Pagadian Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Lourdes Quisumb-ing thanked all the business chambers in the region for the support and encour-age them to participate in this year’s business confab. (MVC/PIA9-Zambo City)


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DOST’s OL Trap sites show decrease in dengue casesCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Aug. 24 (PIA) – The use of theMosquito Ovicidal Larvicidal (OL) Trap, has helped increase the awareness of the communities on the nature of the dengue carrying “Aedis Aegypti” mosquito and howto prevent them from breeding any further.

This observation was made by Regional Director Al-fonso Alamban of theDepart-ment of Science and Technol-ogy (DOST), region 10, who said initial resultsfrom vari-ous regions revealed the de-crease in dengue cases after using the OL Trap. One of DOST’s Research and Development (R&D) strategies in addressingden-gue, the OL Trap is part of the government’s multi-pronged approach in fightingthe said fatal disease. “It works by attracting the said mosquito, through the trap’s black color andor-ganic solution, to lay its eggs in the trap. The solution then kills the eggs and thelarvae, thus, eliminating the next generation of mosquitoes,” Alamban said. In region 10, for exam-ple, a total of 1,058 dengue cases were admitted tothe different sentinel hospitals, region-wide, from January 1

to August 11, this year,which was actually 76.56 per-cent lower compared to 4,514 cases during the sameperiod, last year. Dr. Jaime S. Berna-das, Regional Director of the Department of Health, Cen-ter for Health Development (DOH-CHD), region 10, said OL Traps were established in strategic areas to trap the fe-male dengue-carrying mos-quitoes. The same observation was given by Dr. Josephine Ibalo, DOH Dengue Coordina-tor in the province of Bukid-non who noted that there were only 40 dengue cases in the whole province, as of August 10, this year, a signifi-cant decreasefrom last year’s 1,447 cases or a decline of 97.24 percent. Meanwhile, the DOST S&T Media Service has report-ed that in Eastern Visayas-where the OL Trap was initially launched, five (5) barangays

in Northern Samar, Southern Leyte, and Leyte showed zero dengue incidence after the OL Trap was usedin said areas. Barangay Dalakit in Catarman, for example, had 44 cases, last year, whileBa-rangay Airport had 30 cases and Barangay 109-A in Leyte had 64. Its neighbor,Barangay 109, also showed significant decrease in its dengue cas-es from 122 lastyear to only three (3), this year. Again in Region 2, five (5) schools in Ballesteros and Claveria towns in Cagayan re-ported “zero case” as of press time, namely the Libag El-ementary School, North Cen-tral School, Caritan Elemen-tary School, Cataggamman National High School, and University of Cagayan Valley. Official reports also show that in 2010, there were 210 aggregate cases of dengue among schoolchildren in four (4) barangays where these schools were located.


After the OL Trap rollout in these barangays, no cases have been reported,thus far. Ballesteros and Claver-ia were declared “hotspots” for dengue cases, last year,with the former having 213 cases and the latter, 15 cases. To date, there have beenno dengue cases re-ported since the roll out.

With the decrease in dengue cases reported in the region, Dr. Labasan,Municipal Health Officer of Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, said that additional units are-needed for other barangays, as they found that mosquito eggs and larvae are “killedri-ght then and there. It is the only way to stop the eggs

from hatching,” he added. This month, DOST and the Department of Educa-tion (DeEd) are workingto-gether in providing OL Traps to elementary and second-ary school, both public and-private, that are located in hotspot areas of the country, Alamban added. (DOST/PIA-10)

DSWD-10 constructs 69 KALAHI-CIDSS sub-projects costing Php66.59MCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, August 24, (PIA) -- The Depart-ment of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has constructed 69community sub-projects in Northern Mindanao under the Kapit-Bisig Laban saKahirapan – Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) program. In today’s “Talakayan sa PIA,” held at the Philippine Information Agency(PIA), KALAHI-CIDSS Regional In-frastructure Assistant, Engr. Ruel Pagua, disclosed that 69 community-driven proj-ects have been completed in six (6) municipalities of the region with a total grant of Php66,588,967.85. Particularly, the munic-ipalities covered by the pro-gram include Kapatagan,Lala and Bacolod in Lanao del Norte and Concepcion, Lo-pez Jaena, and Sinacaban inMisamis Occidental, Pagua said. These projects include the construction of the wa-

ter systems, concretedrain-age system, road gravelling and concreting, pathways, suspension bridges and so-lar drier with warehouse and rice mill. Construction of class-rooms, day care centers, health stations, seawall, dredging and slope protec-tion were also among the projects constructed under KALAHI-CIDSS, he further said. These facilities, he added, were identified and completed by the beneficia-ries through the community-driven development process-es of the KALAHI-CIDSS. A poverty alleviation

program of the government, KALAHI-CIDSS aims to em-power local communities through their enhanced par-ticipation in community proj-ects that reduce poverty and is one of the largest poverty alleviation portfolios of the World Bank in the country. It also aims to reduce poverty by providing seed funds for community infra-structure, common service facilities and capability-build-ing and improves local gov-ernance by providing train-ing programs and capacity strengthening for localgov-ernment units (LGU) as local institutions. (PIA-10)

DOST’s OL ... from page 19

by Apipa Bagumbaran


by Nestor Flores, Jr.

OWWA-10 gives notice of awards to Mis.Occ. OFWDSP scholars0R0QUIETA CITY, Misamis Occidental, Aug. 24 (PIA) – At least 10 depen-dentsof Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) from this province, who have qual-ified for theDependents Scholarship Program (DSP) received their Notices of Award, last August19. This brings to 32, the total number of OFW-DSP beneficiaries in theregion, Regional Direc-tor Petrona M. Bergado of the Overseas Workers Wel-fareAdministration (OWWA), region 10, said. Early this month, OW-WA-10 also gave the notice of awards to 22 OFW-DSP-beneficiaries from Misamis Oriental. Bergado said the OFW-DSP came into effect with OWWA Memorandum of In-structions No.003, series of 2010, that offers financial assistance to qualified de-pendents of OFW’s who are active members of OWWA and receive a monthly salary of not more than US$400 or below. “This will be deter-mined through the verified employment contract, over-seasemployment certificate or OWWA OFW member verification sheet,” Bergado said. The scholars will en-

roll in any 4-year or 5-year baccalaureate degree or as-sociate degree leading to a baccalaureate degree and become agents in commu-nity development. They shall receive fi-nancial assistance of P10,000 per semester to cover the tuitions fees and other aca-demic-related expenses and a group health and accident insurance worth P100,000.00 per scholar. Meanwhile, Bergado said an active OWWA mem-ber is defined as an OWWA-registered member who has a valid membership at the time of availment or whose membership has expired for not more than six (6) months. Considered OFW le-gal dependents are children, natural or adopted, of mar-riedOFW’s/Single OFW’s, brother or sister, half-blood-ied or single/childless mar-riedOFW’s. Qualifications of a le-gal dependent include the

following: Single, not morethan 21 years old at the time of the application, high school graduate or about tograduate from high school or already enrolled in col-lege, this semester, and-physically and mentally and morally fit. Present during the awarding of notices were Henry Ken Regalado, Provin-cialAdministrator, Leonardo Rodrigo, Provincial Head, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Leo Velez, Provincial Direc-tor, Technical Education and Skills Development Author-ity (TESDA). Also present were Gorardo Peralta Provin-cial Auditor, Commission on Audit(COA), Concordia Dete Acosta, Trade Promotion Of-ficer, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Bon-ifacia Gado, Administrator, Oroquieta Agro-Industrial School (OAIS). (OWWA/PIA-10)


by Ruchell L. Mula,

DSWD’s SEA-K offers sustainable livelihood for the poorest of the poorCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Aug. 24 (PIA) -- To help thepoorest of the poor rise from poverty, the Department of Social Welfare andDevelopment (DSWD), region 10, will be providing them sustainable liveli-hood through the Self Employment Assistance-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) Program. Particularly, SEA-K targets the beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pami-lyangPilipino Program (Pantawid Pamilya), af-ter they graduate from the 5-year duration of the Program in a partic-ular area. Lawyer Araceli F. Solamillo, Regional Di-rector of DSWD-10, said SEA-K is aconvergence strategy framework aimed at enhancing the family’s socio – econom-icskills towards sustain-ing education of their children and their other basic needs. She said the Pan-tawid Pamilya Family will be provided with various

trainings and skills en-hancement to help them to become self-reliant families and for them to totally rise from pover-ty. It will also enable them to access to credit, promote entrepreneur-ship, increaseunder-standing on values of honest work, pay debts, have social responsibil-ity and increase their in-come. Meanwhile, Sola-millo said DSWD has ac-tually three (3) core pro-grams which are aimed to generate greater im-pact on poverty reduc-tion in the country: Pantawid Pami-

lya, a poverty reduction and social development strategy of the National Government that provide conditional cash grants to extremely poorhouse-holds to improve their health, nutrition and ed-ucation, particularly, of children aged 0-14. KALAHI-CIDSS, a community-driven de-velopment project which aims to empower com-munities through their enhanced participation in community projects that reduce poverty and SEA-K, a livelihood and capability building pro-gram. (DSWD/PIA-10)

In today’s media forum, “Talakayan sa PIA,” KALAHI-CIDSS Regional Infrastructure Assistant, Engr. Ruel Pagua

(second from left), discloses that 69 community-driven projects have been completed in six (6) towns of North-

ern Mindanao with a total grant of Php66,588,967.85. (Rodolfo D. Mendoza/PIA-10)


NYC convenes advisory council to advance youth development in NorMinCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, August 24 (PIA) – The NationalYouth Commission (NYC), in Northern Mindanao, has convened its Regional Advisory Council (RAC), yesterday, to tackle concerns and programs geared towards youth development in the region. Eddie Cuaresma, NYC Northeastern Mindanao Cluster Head, said the meet-ing was aimed at discussing youth concerns at the grass-roots level to come-up with-recommendations and poli-cies to address youth-related gaps and issues in order to advance the welfare of the youth sector in region 10. It also serves as a venue for sharing and dis-seminating information and updates on the various pro-grams of its member-agen-cies and youth organizations in the region, he added.During the meeting, youth participation in the Nation-al Greening Program of the Aquino administration and in the up-coming National Crime Prevention Week cel-ebration were tackled by the council. In relation to youth employment, the promotion of the Government Intern-ship Program (GIP) in North-ern Mindanao and the up-dates on the Special Program for Employment of Students (SPES) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) were, likewise, dis-

cussed. Representative from the Department of Agricul-ture (DA) also presented to the group the status of the Farm Youth Development Program and the Young Fili-pino Farmer Training Pro-gram of the department. Population Commis-sion (POPCOM) Regional Director Psyche Paler also gave an overview of the Na-tional Indicators on Adoles-cent Friendly Services where Northern Mindanao was eyed as the pilot area for this new guideline. She stressed that the national indicators will serve as the standard for all ado-lescent health programs of both public and private agen-cies in the country. Moreover, matters re-lating to the reformation of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) were also debated dur-ing the meeting while the programs and best prac-tices of the Misamis Ori-ental Youth Development Council(MOYDC) and the Gingoog City Youth Develop-ment Council (GCYDC) were likewise presented to the

group. Held at Hotel Conchita, here, the 17th RAC regular meeting was actively partici-pated in by representatives from the following govern-ment agencies:POPCOM, DA, DOLE, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Interior and Local Govern-ment (DILG), Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment (DSWD)and National Economic Development Au-thority (NEDA). Commission on High-er Education (CHED), and Department of Environ-mentand Natural Resourc-es (DENR), Department of Science and Technology (DOST),Philippine Drug En-forcement Agency (PDEA) and National Police Commis-sion (NAPOLCOM).National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC), Philippine Employ-ment Service Office (PESO), Philippine Information Agen-cy (PIA), as well as, repre-sentatives from Local Youth Development Councils and youth organizations in North-ern Mindanao. (PIA10)

by Apipa Bagumbaran


DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur, Aug. 24 (PIA) – The League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Davao del Sur chapter vowed to strengthen the implementa-tion and its support to health programs in the province in a bid to provide universal health care to all of the constituents. The group said that this action “will ultimately contribute and speed up the achievement of the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) 4, 5, 6 on reducing child and maternal mortal-ity, AIDS, Tuberculosis, ma-laria and other infectious diseases.” In particular, the group committed to sustain dialogue and action between and among members of the LMP, DOH and partner or-ganizations “by building on the gains of our programs” under President Benigno Aquino III’s Aquino Health Agenda focused on provid-ing Universal Health Care for all Filipinos. The universal health care strategy mandates the national and local gov-ernment units to enroll the poorest 40% of Filipinos to health care program and improve health facilities into functional health providers

of essential health packages and the resulting achieve-ment of the MDGs. DOH regional director Teogenes Baluma report-ed during the summit that DOH has already enrolled into the National Health In-surance Program a total of 75,871 families in Davao del Sur, who earn an income of P3,460 and below per month. Baluma challenged the local chief executives to expand the enrollment program and provide bud-get for the enrollment of the remaining poor families earning a monthly income of P6,073 and below. He said that this par-ticular requirement of the universal health care for all program has put emphasis on the vulnerable groups to give them economic protec-tion in times of sickness. The manifesto of com-mitment also took up the

aim to empower and capaci-tate mayors, local govern-ment health services pro-viders, health volunteers and supportive stakeholders through well designed ca-pacity building program. Another vow was to continue strengthening part-nerships between the LMP and DOH including regional and local government health offices to constantly work together and link with other stakeholders from the aca-deme, faith based groups, professional organizations such as non-government or-ganizations. In aggressively ensur-ing that all programs and projects on health will not be stalled by the lack of funds, the group promised to prac-tice resourcefulness, saying that they shall cooperate to find alternatives for the im-plementation of health strat-egies and programs. Lastly, it was commit

by Carina L. CayonLMP-DavSur vows commitment on healthprograms

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Wednesday, August 24, 2011 25ONE MINDANAOWednesday, August 24, 2011Wednesday, August 24, 2011

by Mai Gevera-MacapagatDAVAO CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) – The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) reiterates for a just and humane, and voluntary eviction and demolition. Following the cove-nant signed by President Benigno Aquino III with the urban poor anchored on Republic Act No. 7279 or the Urban Develop-ment and Housing Act of 1992, PCUP Chairper-son Hernani B. Pangani-ban said “no PCUP rep-resentative would sign any recommendation for demolition unless provi-sions of the act are ob-served.” PCUP strongly calls for the observance of at least 30 days notice to affected entities prior the date of demolition, presence of concerned local government offi-cials during the demoli-tion, execution during

good weather, and that there should be no use of heavy equipment for demolition. The law also pro-vides adequate reloca-tion whether temporary or permanent to be han-dled by the LGU con-cerned and the National Housing Authority with the assistance of other government agencies within 45 days from the service of notice. However, if reloca-tion is not possible with-in the said period, fi-nancial assistance in the amount equivalent to the prevailing minimum wage multiplied by 60 days must be extended to the affected families.

Panganiban said the office diligently adheres to its mandate embod-ied in Executive Order 82 that created PCUP as direct link of the urban poor to the government in policy formulation and program implementa-tion addressed to their needs. PCUP is set to con-duct a nationwide urban poor summit for stake-holders to discuss legiti-mate issues and aspira-tions and make it a venue for different agencies to present their programs and projects for the ur-ban poor. (PIA-11/Mai Gevera-Macapagat)

ted that the municipalities would showcase and promote their respective best practic-es in improving health-seek-ing behaviors which would help increase the quality of health services delivered. In his solidarity mes-sage, Governor Douglas Ra Cagas urged the munici-pal mayors to help improve

health programs in the prov-ince, and set aside political differences, saying “When it comes to health, we are one.” “For the good of our people, let’s lighten our load to serve them well,” he stat-ed. Development partners such as HealthPro, TBLinc,

LMP-UNFPA, the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Develop-ment Foundation, Inc. and the Philippine Information Agency attested to the joint declaration of commitment. (PIA-11/Carina L. Cay-on)

PCUP reiterates call for just and humane eviction, demolition

LMP-DavSur vows... from page 24


by Noel BaguioRPOC-XI chair asks NPAs to release POWs, to convene IHMTAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte, Aug. 24 (PIA) – Governor Rodolfo P. del Ro-sario appealed for the early release of the four Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) personnel held captive by the New People’s Army since July 21. The chair of the Re-gional Peace and Order Council (RPOC)-XI made the call after expressing his willingness to help fa-cilitate the immediate re-lease of the jail officers. “My communication lines are open and you can call me anytime of the day,” he appealed to the abduc-tors. The Mindanao peace advocacy movement Sow-ing the Seeds of Peace ac-companied the families of the captives in paying a courtesy visit at the office of the governor in Tagum City last August 23, 2011, in order to ask him to as-sist in the negotiations for the safe and orderly re-lease of the NPA prisoners of war (POWs). The peace move-ment’s party is composed of Sr. Etta Banayo of the Missionaries of the As-sumption, Pastor Jurie Jaime of the UCCP, Fr. Hipolito Paracha of the Di-ocese of Kidapawan, Mae Fe Ancheta- Templa, Man-aging Director of Kyabaan Institute for Social Service and Development Studies, among other peace advo-cates. They brought along with them Jail Warden Eric Llamasares’ wife Emma-

lyn; SJO2 Rogelio Begon-tes’ wife Elizabeth; and Jail Inspector Murphy To-dyog’s wife and mother Mea Lee and Ann, respec-tively. Emmalyn asked the revolutionary movement to allow the jail warden to contact them and to let them offer some food on his birthday on August 26. “Malapit na po ang birthday ng asawa ko at sana kahit patawagin nyo na lang po kung magpa-padala po kami ng pagkain kahit konti lang po para sa celebration ng birthday niya,” she said in between sobs. Mea lee also ap-pealed the abductors to at least let them know the condition of Jail Inspector Todyog, who, she said is suffering from a lingering disease. “Gusto ko lang po malaman kung ok siya kasi may sakit din po ang asawa ko,” she said. His mother Ann fur-ther asked the government to suspend military opera-tions in order to make way for the negotiated release of the captives. Gov. del Rosario was so moved by the plight of the families of the captives

that he readily agreed to convene an independent humanitarian mission (IHM) for the negotiated release of the BJMP per-sonnel. “I am happy to be able to help and I hope that we will be success-ful,” said del Rosario, who is also the president of the confederation of all the leagues of local chief executives in Mindanao (Confed). He bared that the group intends to meet on September 2 in Davao City to be able to organize an IHM that will pursue the negotiations to free the four POWs. He cited the inde-pendent mission as a credible mediation body, being composed of church people, public officials, ac-ademe, peace and human rights advocates, and stu-dent leaders, among other sectors. The IHMs have al-ready proved efficient in facilitating negotiations for the safe release of POWs in the past, particularly in the case of Brig. Gen. Victor Obillio and Capt. Eduardo Montealto. (PIO-DavNor/Noel Baguio)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 27ONE MINDANAOWednesday, August 24, 2011Wednesday, August 24, 2011

by Louie Lapat and Edwin LasquiteNat’l travel agencies see ecotourism boom in Tagum CityTAGUM CITY, Davao del Norte, Aug. 24 (PIA) – A respected national travel agencies organization is seeing a boom in ecotourism activities in Tagum Tagum after a one-day excursion in the said city. Rosemarie Sandoval Ga-lang, president of the Nation-al Association of Independent Travel Agencies (NAITAS), Inc. expressed confidence about the city’s branding of its eco-tourism sites, particularly the recently-launched Tagum City River Cruise. She said that her group is “very much willing” to help promote Tagum City not just nationally but also in its inter-national partners. NAITAS is the biggest and the largest travel associa-tion in the Philippines with more than 1,000 members and 17 chapters scattered nationwide.

NAITAS with a membership of strong marketing agents, pro-duces 65% of outbound air tickets and 70% of domestic air tickets being issued from all over the country. Galang led her delega-tion of 28 NAITAS members during the familiarization trip which itinerary included break-fast at Punong Restaurant, the iconic New City Hall of Tagum and Banana Beach in Magdum. The team also paid a courtesy call to Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy prior to the start of their tour. Over break-fast, the mayor requested the team to help promote Tagum

as he discussed a bit of his ad-ministration’s best practices. Erstwhile NAITAS presi-dent Sheila Johnson, who had been in Tagum six years ago, expressed amazement of the city’s transformation in terms of its ecotourism destinations. “I was surprised because when I was here six years ago, wala pa masyadong tourist des-tinations and it’s really amazing how you had boomed in terms of re-branding your city to be-come a must-see destination,” Johnson said. (CIO-Tagum City/Louie Lapat and Edwin Lasquite)

PDEA nabs MJ and shabu pushersDAVAO CITY, Aug. 24 (PIA) – Agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Regional Office XI nabbed two illegal drug pushers in a buy-bust operation conducted on August 23 at around 5:30 p.m. at Brgy. Tagakpan, Tugbok District, Davao City. The suspects were iden-tified as Renante Cayao Y Gai-lon, 26 years old, single, driv-er, and a resident of Crossing Tagakpan, Davao City and his brother Jerson Cayao Y Gai-lon, 29 years old, single and a farmer, also of the same baran-gay. The suspects were ar-rested after selling two sachets of suspected methamphet-amine hydrochloride otherwise known as “shabu” worth Php 1,000.00 to PDEA agent who acted as poseur buyer. Recovered from the pos-session and control of Renante were the three (3) sachets of suspected shabu, four packs of suspected died marijuana leaves and one Php 1,000.00 buy-bust marked money bill with serial number DP239025. During the conduct of arrest, Jerson interfered in the course of arrest of his younger brother which prompted the agents to frisk him for he might be carrying a deadly weapon.

Unfortunately, the agents re-covered two packs of suspect-ed dried marijuana leaves in his pocket, which led to his im-mediate arrest. The suspects were de-tained at PDEA Jail Facility, while the seized suspected il-legal drugs were submitted to Philippine National Police Crime Laboratory, at Ecoland, Davao City for laboratory examina-tion.Cases for violation of Section 5 (Sale of Dangerous Drugs) and Section 11 (Possession of Dangerous Drugs) Article II of Republic Act 9165 otherwise known as The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 are being prepared against the suspects. PDEA regional director Emerson R. Rosales urged the public to help in the crusade against illegal drugs, saying “Let us work hand in hand to drive out the menace of drug abuse in our country. Report to us those who are involved in il-

legal drug activities.” Concerned citizens can send comments, suggestions, queries and reports on sus-pected illegal drug in their re-spective areas, through texts. For Smart and Talk and Text subscribers: just type PDEA <space> FEEDBACK <space><NAME OF SEND-ER> /<AGE> <BARANGAY> /<CITY or MUNICIPALITY> / <REGION> / <DRUG RELATED INFORMATION> and send to 700PDEA (7007332).For Globe, Touch Mobile, Sun and Red Mobile subscribers: just type PDEA <space> FEED-BACK <space><NAME OF SENDER> /<AGE> <BARAN-GAY> /<CITY or MUNICIPAL-ITY> / <REGION> / <DRUG RELATED INFORMATION> and send to 0999-888PDEA (0999-8887332). The public may also text or call PDEA hotlines at 082-222-3045, 09395433405, 09158362599 or 09331481387. (PDEA-11)

One Mindanao - August 24, 2011

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