One Mindanao - September 21, 2011

2 Wednesday, September 21, 2011

C O N T E N T SNATIONAL• Aquino underscores importance of ‘openness’ in government dealings with the people• Aquino joins 45 other countries in launching Open Government Partnership• Aquino remains firm on West Philippine Sea stance• Aquino vows to continue his parent’s fight for democracy• Palace renews its commitment to peace with communist rebels• Malacañang underscores governments policy of upholding human rights

TALKING POINTS• DOE backs LPG Safety Bill• Oil imports cheaper than locally produced products, says DOE• Pres. Aquino orders review of oil deregulation law• DOE isusulong ang panukalang LPG Safety Act

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)• Mayor orders office heads to solve Davao flooding, housing concerns• Davao’s new tag line: “Davao. Life is Here.”• Davao City to focus on agroa-forestry• DENR to embark on PPP with mining firm’s adopt-a-CBFM project• Davao City slates Davao Gulf Week• New Bataan boosts investment promo• DSWD leads family week celebration

Central Mindanao (SOCSKSARGEN)

• P52-M vowed for planned public hospital in Surallah • Turnover ng internal security operations sa S. Cotabato iniurong sa Setyembre 30 • DOH-CHD 12 conducts healthy lifestyle campaign• OIC aspirants vow to rid ARMM of graft and corruption

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)

• A Success Story –Intensified and Sustainable Development of Aquaculture (ISDA)• SP to urge Sen. Guingona for additional P2 million funding• Program to promote gender equality in political participation in Butuan City• DSWD-Caraga prepares reports on social protection and development• PNP-13 initiates Reg’l. Training Center groundbreaking ceremony

Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)

• ZaNorte’s DDPKaRoM a growth corridor weaving for agro-industrial, eco-tourism development• Pagadian City to host 47th NEB Meeting of the League of Cities of the Philippines • Hotel and restaurant staff, drivers should treat our guests with courtesy, Mayor Co urges • AusAID cites ARMM performance efficiency, grants P3.5B education fund

Northern Mindanao• Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park turns 6, tribes showcase culture• DOST’s Search for 2011 “Filipinnovation” Award is on • Poster-making contest highlights World Food Day celebration on Oct. 16 • 4ID Chief pins Wounded Personnel Medal on troops• Bukidnon PLEB undergo orientation on RA 6975 & RA 8551

OUR COVER

SULUtops abaca fiber

production in region IX

EDITORIAL STAFF

An Electronic News Magazine published daily by Philippine Information Agency (PIA)

Mindanao Clusters

Executive Editor ……......... EFREN F. ELBANBUENA Cluster Head, Southern, Western and Central Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Region XI

Managing Editor ……......... ABNER M. CAGA Cluster Head, Northern and Northeastern Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Caraga Region

Associate Editors ……....... OLIVIA T. SUDARIA Regional Director, PIA Region XII NOEMI A. EDAGA Regional Director, PIA Region IX

RUTCHIE C. AGUHOB Officer-in-charge,PIARegionX

Regional Desk Editors …... Jocelyn P. Alvarez, PIA Region IX Elaine O. Ratunil, PIA Region X Rudolph Ian G. Alama, PIA Region XI Danny E. Doguiles, PIA Region XII Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region Nora CL Molde, PIA Caraga Region

Copy Editor ……………….. Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region

Layout Artists ……………... Gerie Mae G. Coco, PIA Caraga Region Richard D. Atillo, PIA Caraga Region Emmanuel D. Gonzales, PIA Caraga Region

Editorial Advisers ……….... ATTY. JOSE A. FABIA Director-General Philippine Information Agency

SEC. HERMINIO “Sonny” B. COLOMA PresidentialCommunicationsOperationsOffice

PHOTO CREDITS:

panoramio.comabafiberen.onlinefreeonline.comfida.gov.phglatfelter.comnerbac.orgqrbiz.comseeknomore.blogspot.com

3Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Cover Story:

Sulu, one of the most fertile lands in the country, but is beset with peace and order problem, is region IX’s

biggest loose abaca fiber producer from 2006 to last year, according to data reported by Fiber Industry Development Authority IX (FIDA) Regional Director Eduardo B. Holoyohoy.

4

by Michael Vincent D. Cajulao

Sulu tops abaca fiber production in region IX


5

H o l o y o h o y, speaking before participants of the SME (small and medium enterpris-es) Regional Cara-van held in Paga-dian City last July 4, said Sulu tops in loose abaca fi-ber production for the last 5 years. He pointed

that although Sulu, including Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, are part of the Auton-omous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), the three island provinces are still under the watch of region IX.Sulu produced 13,524.69 metric

tons of loose fi-ber in the last five years, but the er-ratic peace and or-der situation in the province saw the annual production decline from 2008 to last year. Sulu averages 2,704.94 metric tons of pro-duction per year or 92.65% of the region’s total pro-duction. Dir. Holoyohoy pointed the vast demand of the Philippine fiber in the world market. “Eighty per-cent of the world’s natural abaca fi-ber comes from the Philippines, with Ecuador as the other major source of abaca fi-ber”, he stressed. According to Holoyohoy, Japan and the United Kingdom are the top two importers

Cover Story: Sulu tops .....from page 3


Cover Story: Sulu tops .....from page 4

of our abaca fiber. “Japan is us-ing our abaca fiber for their paper bills. They have increased the fiber content of the Japanese Yen to 60% as it makes counterfeiting very difficult. The new Philippine peso bill, on the other hand, uses 30% abaca fiber content”, he explained.United Kingdom,

on one hand, uses the abaca fiber for ropes or cordages. FIDA is also looking into one of the biggest poten-tial market of aba-ca… China. “China, as the leading tea produc-er and consumer, is a very big market. They use abaca pulp to make tea bags. We’re talking of billions of con-

sumer of tea per day and imagine the huge demand of our abaca in China alone”, Ho-loyohoy pointed. He said FIDA is now looking for added investment on the abaca in-dustry to further boost exportation of Philippine aba-ca fiber and other produce derived from abaca. Ho-loyohoy, in his presentation said there is a need to expand programs

on abaca, rehabili-tation and main-tenance of abaca farms throughout the country, pro-viding facilities to fully utilize the farmers produce, conducting of liveli-hood trainings, and partnering with pri-vate institutions for more investments. (MVC/PIA-Zam-bo City)


Aquino underscores importance of ‘openness’ in government dealings with the people


President Benigno S. Aquino III underscored Tuesday the importance of “openness” on the part of government in order to achieve

national solidarity of purpose and action between the people and their leaders.

8


In his speech at a forum leading to the for-mal launch of the Open Government Partnership held at the Google head office here, the Presi-dent said that by keep-ing communication lines open between the peo-ple and its leaders will lead to a positive power-ful connection between themselves. “Engaging our fel-low citizens in dialogue positively reinforces a culture of openness. A continuing conversation between the government and its citizens builds a positive, powerful con-nection between individ-ual leaders and citizens, fostering the reintegra-tion of government with society as a whole. In other words: openness inspires trust, which is the foundation of a gen-

uine partnership,” the President said. He cited several concrete examples be-ing done in the Philip-pines to help empower the citizenry and build a genuine partnership with the government. Among these are the “Pera ng Bayan” (People’s Money) web-site that encourages the public to report cases of corruption, posting of budgetary releases and bids for government contracts online, and the Official Gazette or the government portal “on the principle that legis-lation and other regula-tions must be freely ac-cessible to all. The President point-ed out that all these are meant to empower the citizenry, which he said, is “the essential aspira-

tion at the heart of the digital revolution sweep-ing the globe: where technology liberates the individual and renews a sense of solidarity be-tween the public and private sectors.” “As a member of the OGP Steering Com-mittee, we are, there-fore, not only excited, but derive strength, from working together to achieve our shared aspirations. By means of National Action Plans in-formed by the success-es and lessons each of us can share with each other, the best practices from our individual na-tional milieus can be-come a source of collec-tive strength, making a living reality of the Dec-laration of Principles on Open Government,” the President said. (RCK)

President Benigno S. Aquino III joined 45 other world leaders in formally launching the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments

to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance in ceremonies held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel here Tuesday.

Aquino joins 45 other countries in launching Open Government Partnership

Aquino underscores .....from page 7

9


The President, togeth-er with eight other world leaders that comprise the OGP steering committee chaired by US President Ba-rack Obama and co-chaired by Brazil President Dilma Rousseff, presented the Open Government Decla-ration that concretizes the group’s commitment to the OGP. The Open Government Partnership aims to: 1) in-crease the availability of in-formation about the govern-ment activities, 2) support civic participation, 3) imple-ment the highest standards of professional integrity throughout the respective administrations of its mem-bers; and, 4) increase ac-

cess to new technologies for openness and accountabil-ity. In his brief remarks, President Aquino told those present that the participa-tion of the Philippines in the OGP is a symbol of his ad-ministration’s commitment to honest and effective gov-ernance. “It presents clear ad-vantages to the Philippines: we can access and exchange best practices, peer consul-tation, and technical assis-tance in implementing our domestic initiatives,” the President said. “The Philippines has always been, and remains committed to, the ideals put forward by the OGP. Being

part of a global community of transparency advocates is more than a source of col-lective strength for us; it also allows our government to strengthen its efforts and find opportunities for coop-eration with its peers,” he added. He expressed confi-dence that “so long as we stand firmly united in veer-ing away from a jagged path of dishonesty and conceal-ment; and so long as we run governments focused on righting the wrong and stay-ing along the straight path, the coming generations will surely inherit a more peace-ful, prosperous, and open world.” (RCK)

Aquino joins .....from page 8


The President reit-erated his government’s position on the issue in his speech at the Asia Society here Tuesday. “As for the Philip-pines, we wish to main-tain good neighborly re-lations with China. In our competing claims in the West Philippine Sea, we have already drawn the line between what is dis-puted and non-disputed in terms of where we would never relinquish our sovereign rights,” the President said. “We have likewise called for the peaceful and rules-based settle-

ment of disputes. From our vantage point, and as we have heard affirmed in our recent state visit to China, this maritime dispute does not define the multi-layered rela-tions between the Phil-ippines and China,” he added. He also said that the United States of America was the Philippines’ only defense treaty ally who shared the same funda-mental values of free-dom, democracy and belief in open markets. “Whenever two partners share the same core values, their re-

lationship is bound to endure,” the President said. President Benigno S. Aquino III was invited by the Asia Society to speak about his admin-istration’s domestic and foreign policy thrusts during his official visit to the United States from September 18 to 23. Asia Society was founded by John D. Rock-efeller III in 1956 to pro-mote greater knowledge of Asia in the U.S. It is a global institution based in New York with offices throughout the U.S. and Asia. (RCK)

11

Aquino remains firm on West Philippine Sea stancePresident Benigno S. Aquino III stood firm on the government’s

stance on the West Philippine Sea but maintained that it still wanted to keep “good neighborly relations with China.”

Aquino vows to continue his parent’s fight for democracyPresident Benigno S. Aquino III vowed to continue the fight

his parents, former Senator Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. and former President Corazon C. Aquino, started in their quest, as public servants, to bring real and lasting democracy to

the Philippines.


The President made the promise in his speech at the Asia Society here Tuesday. “In 1981 my father spoke of the redemption of our democracy. In 1986, my mother spoke of the need to preserve democracy. Today, I look forward to continuing our conversation, by means of the open forum fol-lowing my opening re-marks, on the ways we are seeking to vindicate democracy,” the Presi-dent said. The President said that since he had tak-en office in July 2010, his administration had taken concrete steps to implement needed re-forms to weed out cor-ruption, end hunger and spur economic growth. “Our administra-tion is committed to transformation: from a country where nice guys finish last, to one where those who deviate from the straight and narrow will face punishment for their crimes,” the Presi-dent said. “Our goal is to em-power the citizenry so that, regardless of who is in power, the citizenry

demands the authentic rule of law. The task I have assigned to my col-leagues in government is to demonstrate this by means of sustained reforms that foster mer-it, transparency, and ac-countability,” he added. Among the reforms began by his adminis-tration include the cut-ting of wasteful govern-ment contracts such as rice importation of the National Food Corpora-tion and road bidding projects of the Depart-ment of Public Works and Highways. This, the President said, has resulted in the trimming of the NFA’s debt to P153-million from P177-million in the previous administration and savings from the DPWH of some P7-billion which can be utilized for other priority develop-ment projects such as the Conditional Cash Transfer program. The President also mentioned the Finance Department’s move to promote fiscal transpar-ency through its website called “Pera ng Bayan” or “the people’s money” that allows the public to

anonymously report tax cheats, smugglers, and crooks. “The government likewise subjects gov-ernment officials to life-style checks and vets their statements of as-sets and liabilities to find out if what they have ac-quired is commensurate with their income,” the President said. These campaigns are yielding results as the President said that a total of 67 tax evasion cases and 43 smuggling cases—with claims total-ing more than 26 billion pesos and 58.16 billion pesos, respectively—have been filed against certain groups and indi-viduals. The President said that despite all of these achievements, there still remained the need for additional foreign and domestic investments. He lauded the busi-ness process outsourc-ing industry which he said “is now the sec-ond largest in the world, next only to India, with revenues of $8.9 billion in 2010. The Philippines also ranks fourth in the world in shipbuilding.”

12

Aquino vows .....from page 10


He added that infra-structure modernization has been given a boost with the Public-Private Partnership program. “Our mantra here is: the right project, with the right quality, at the right price, run by the right people, and deliv-ered right on time. Giv-en the experience with projects in the past, it is important that the cor-rect and legal processes are followed so that they

can stand up to public scrutiny,” the President said. These reforms, the President said, have re-sulted in having four different credit rat-ing agencies, namely, Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s, Fitch and the Japan Credit Ratings Agency, giving the Phil-ippines positive rating actions, all within a span of a year. “The World Eco-

nomic Forum has also ranked us 75th in their latest Global Competi-tiveness Report: a ten-spot jump from last year’s 85th place. This jump is the highest for our country since it en-tered the survey, and is evidence that the Phil-ippines, which opened for business under new management only a lit-tle over a year ago, is faring very well,” the President said. (RCK)

Aquino vows .....from page 11

Palace renews its commitment to peace with communist rebelsMalacanang reiterated its commitment for the peaceful

resolution of the decades-long conflict with communist insurgents saying it continues to hope that peace will be achieved in the future.

“We strongly be-lieve in a peaceful resolution so patuloy pa rin kaming umaa-sa na magkakaroon po ng magandang resulta ang peace negotiations with the CPP-NPA-NDF (Com-munist Party of the Philippines-New Peo-

ple’s Army-Nation-al Democratic Front of the Philippines),” Presidential spokes-man Edwin Lacierda said in a press con-ference on Wednes-day in Malacanang. Lacierda was re-acting to a reporters’ question on whether

the government ex-pects the leftist in-surgents to declare a ceasefire after the Armed Forces of the Philippines suspends military operation in observance of the Peace Month this September. The Armed forc-

13


es is observing the United Nations (UN) International Day of Peace today and the celebration of Peace Month 2011, while the government de-clared a one-day uni-lateral truce with the CPP-NPA-NDFP. The ceasefire de-clared by the Armed forces only shows the government’s com-mitment to peace, Lacierda said, add-ing however that the government can’t dic-tate on the rebels to do the same. He said the ceasefire would give the rebels an op-portunity to visit their families. “But our resolve is that in the long run peace will solve the problem and not vio-lence. However we would continue to de-fend ourselves even if it’s a one-day cease-fire,” he said. The AFP car-

ried out its Suspen-sion of Military Op-erations (SOMO) with the communist left from 12:00 a.m. on Wednesday until 12:00 a.m. the fol-lowing day. M e a n w h i l e , ceasefire with the Moro Islamic Libera-tion Front (MILF), on the other hand, is still holding as the government affirms its commitment to abide by the Agree-ment on the General Cessation of Hostili-ties signed by both parties in 1997. In its statement in celebration of the Peace Month, the gov-ernment peace panel negotiating with the CPP-NPA-NDFP re-iterated its commit-ment to “staying the course of peace” as it prepares for the next round of formal talks with the communist left in October.

The panel urged the people to affirm the primacy of the peace process by compelling the parties to carry on with the negotiations. At the same time it called on all stakeholders to “reclaim peace as our common birthright” as the decades-old armed conflict with the NPA has already caused countless deaths and suffer-ings. It also said in its statement that “we must honor peace as a wellspring-of our hope, our faith, our aspirations” by anchoring peace on justice and social re-forms. The panel like-wise pushed for build-ing peace which re-quires transformation of the minds and ac-tions of both sides---the government and rebel forces. (AS)

Palace renews....from page 12


Malacañang underscores governments policy of upholding human rightsMalacañang underscored the government’s strict

compliance of upholding human rights as it noted the stern efforts of the Aquino administration in observing due process to bring erring individuals to the law and

serve justice to those who have been offended.

In a press brief-ing at the Palace on Wednesday, Presiden-tial Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that the government has made it a policy to uphold the human rights of every individual regardless of belief and political incli-nation. “The human rights situation, as far as this administration is con-cerned, we have made it a very strict policy to uphold human rights. In fact, we have extended this even to those who do not agree with this administration,” Lacier-da said. Lacierda said that due to the said policy, some groups even re-sorted to accusing the government of being slow in penalizing those who have committed violations to the people and the country. “In fact, that is the

reason why we are be-ing accused… of (seem-ingly) taking so long in filling cases, it’s because we are strictly observant of human rights. So, we believe in due process and we will continue to uphold due process and human rights in this country,” Lacierda not-ed. Thirty seven years ago, Proclamation No. 1081 was signed by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos declaring the country under martial law. Once in effect, it covered the entire re-public on September 21, 1972. It was announced to the public two days later. Marcos ruled by military power through martial law, altered the Constitution in the subsequent year, made himself both Head of State as President and Head of Government

as Prime Minister, ma-nipulated elections and the political arena in the Philippines, and had his political party - Kilusang Bagong Lipu-nan (KBL) - control the unicameral legislative branch of government called the “Batasang Pambansa.” All these allowed Marcos to remain in power. The proclama-tion was actually signed on September 17, but was postdated four days later on Septem-ber 21 because of Mar-cos’ superstitions and numerology beliefs. Marcos formally announced the procla-mation two days after at midnight on Sep-tember 23, 1972 via live national television broadcast. Martial law was lifted by President Marcos on January 17, 1981. (JCL )


The Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB) is still pushing for the LPG Safety Act despite resistance from some members of the lower house and the LPG refillers association.

DOE backs LPG Safety Bill

OIMB Director Mon-sada said during an inter-view with DZRB and PTV 4’s Talking Points that leaks from LPG tanks are among the most com-mon causes of fires aside from candles and faulty electrical wiring. Thus, the Depart-ment of Energy and the OIMB have been pushing for the bill’s approval in order to ensure the safe-ty of LPG tanks. “Isa ang LPG sa dahilan ng mga sunog. Hindi naman nec-essarily dahil sumabog ang tangke pero may leak,” she explained. House Bill 5052 otherwise known as the LPG Safety Act requires a one-time LPG cylinder

exchange, swapping and rehabilitation in order to avoid usage of damaged tanks and to reinforce safety within households and other establishments which utilize LPGs or liq-uefied petroleum gas for cooking. While there are safety guidelines for handling LPGs, some consum-ers find it difficult to re-place cylinders as they cost more than the fuel itself and just be con-tented with refilling. If passed, the bill would re-quire consumers to bear additional costs due to the confiscation of LPG tanks. In the meantime, some lower house rep-

resentatives also ques-tioned the quorum dur-ing the second reading of the bill where only 73 of the 285 congressmen were present where at least half of members should be present. Despite this, OIMB still stressed the need for a law which obliges the public to adhere to safety measures. “Gusto namin may batas para mas ma-liwanag siya at hindi kami basta tanungin Supreme Court o sa korte na ha-haba pa ang proseso. Ta-lagang dapat ang tangke ay mayroong may-ari at iyon ang brand own-er” concluded Monsada.(PND GGPIA-GHQ)


Discussions at the recent DOE circular workshop last September 12 and 13 at the San Miguel Corporation Management Training Center in Cavite revealed that imported oil products are

cheaper than locally produced oil products.

Oil imports cheaper than locally produced products, says DOE

This was disclosed by Oil Industry Manage-ment Bureau (OIMB) Di-rector Zenaida Monsada during today’s Talking Points, a radio program of the Philippine In-formation Agency and Philippine Broadcasting System heard over DZ-RB-Radyo ng Bayan. Monsada said im-ported products are cheap because they are just excess from oil prod-ucts that other countries have produced. Local products, meanwhile, are expensive because they are produced from scratch, utilizing expen-sive equipment. The workshop was conducted for DOE aimed at coming up with guidelines on how local-ly produced oil products compete with imported

ones. It was here that DOE also discovered that prices of gasoline and fuel mixed with bio-ethanol are almost the same now. The director claimed that the increase in fuel prices may also be attributed to the fact that these producers are using prices as demand management tool, “they want to expand their re-sources, and at the same time earn more money.” “We are looking for the long term benefit of using bioethanol, even if it is a bit expensive. As they say, the prices of fuel would definitely in-crease in the future since its supply is already di-minishing, which in turn will increase their pric-es,” Monsada added. According to Di-

rector Monsada, in the 1980’s the country is more than 90 percent dependent on oil but is now down to 30 percent while power generation’s dependence on oil is re-duced to just 8 percent. This is due to cheap-er production of power from alternative sources such as solar, thermal, wind and coal which are produced on site. The workshop in-cluded plenary pre-sentation by the etha-nol producers and the Petroleum Institute of the Philippines, and lo-cal bioethanol pricing, allocation and impor-tation guidelines for bioethanol by the In-dependent Philippine Petroleum Companies Association. (PND/ARB/VQR PIA-GHQ)


Pres. Aquino orders review of oil deregulation lawQUEZON CITY, September 21 (PIA) -- President Aquino ordered the Philippine National Oil Corporation (PNOC) to review and study the Oil Deregulation Law to determine when the government can step in to address the heated issue on oil prices, at the same time still follow the global thrust on oil deregulation.

This was re-vealed by Director Zenaida Monsada of the Oil Indus-try Management (OIMB) of the De-partment of En-ergy (DOE) during today’s “Talking Points” aired over Radyo ng Bayan. “Though there is deregulation, the government is still doing its job to somehow monitor the oil prices and prevent the price from drastically in-creasing,” added Dir. Monsada. Dir. Monsada further said “that what the general

consumers should understand is that oil prices are dic-tated and influ-enced by interna-tional market prices not by local players since practically all of our oil are im-ported overseas.” One option be-ing eyed by the government to ad-dress this issue on increasing oil pric-es is for PNOC to buy oil and make an inventory of this purchased oil and become a price stabilizer once the private oil firms si-multaneously de-cide to increase the

prices of petroleum products. President Aqui-no last Wednesday met the leaders of various trans-port groups in a dialogue regarding their concerns on the indeterminable oil price hikes. The Oil Dereg-ulation Law was enacted on July 28, 1997 by the Phil-ippine Congress to promote the lib-eralization of the downstream oil in-dustry as well free competition in the oil sector. (PND/PAE/ PIA GHQ)


This was re-vealed by Director Zenaida Monsada of the Oil Industry Man-agement (OIMB) of the Department of Energy (DOE) dur-ing today’s “Talking Points” aired over Radyo ng Bayan. “Though there is deregulation, the government is still doing its job to somehow monitor the oil prices and prevent the price from drastically in-creasing,” added Dir. Monsada. Dir. Monsada further said “that what the general

consumers should understand is that oil prices are dictat-ed and influenced by international market prices not by local players since practi-cally all of our oil are imported overseas.” One option be-ing eyed by the gov-ernment to address this issue on increas-ing oil prices is for PNOC to buy oil and make an inventory of this purchased oil and become a price stabilizer once the private oil firms si-multaneously de-cide to increase the prices of petroleum

products. President Aqui-no last Wednesday met the leaders of various transport groups in a dialogue regarding their con-cerns on the inde-terminable oil price hikes. The Oil Deregu-lation Law was en-acted on July 28, 1997 by the Philip-pine Congress to promote the liberal-ization of the down-stream oil industry as well free compe-tition in the oil sec-tor. (PND/PAE/ PIA GHQ)

DOE isusulong ang panukalang LPG Safety ActQUEZON CITY, September 21 (PIA)--Isinusulong ng Oil Industry Management Bureau (OIMB ) ang pagpasa sa panukalang LPG Safety Act sa kabila ng pag-alma ng ilang miyembro ng mababang kapulungan at samahan ng mga negosyante ng LPG o Liquefied Petroleum Gas Refillers’ Association (LPGRA).


Mayor orders office heads to solve Davao flooding, housing concerns

Besides citing significant accomplishments under her present administration, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte also expressed her challenge

to concerned local offices to solve the flooding problem and housing issue.

20

by Mai Gevera-Macapagat


“You should start tagging all our residents needing decent housing and develop the existing resettlement sites, give our relocation sites ac-cess to water and elec-tricity,” the mayor said in her State of the City Address Tuesday after-noon. These two issues remain to be the top concerns that Duterte and her team will have to face in the coming months after some parts of the city were wrecked by the killer flashflood in June this year. Duterte also in-structed her engineer-

ing team to prioritize the opening of all road net-works to two-wheel and four-wheel vehicles. Thirteen percent of next year’s P4.1 billion annual budget will go to infrastructure projects which were unimple-mented in the previous years; 25% will be spent for barangay develop-ment projects; 16% for investment generation, agriculture, fisheries de-velopment, cooperative services and tourism enhancement; while the bulk of the budget is for social development. The mayor ban-tered about the reduc-

tion of the city’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from last year’s P4.4 bil-lion to a significant 13% low. Brought about by the recent decision of the Supreme Court on the citihood case of ten new cities, the budget for all other cities was downscaled as well. Thus, Duterte’s administration plans to adjust some of the pro-posed budget in the re-spective sectors given the loss of about P360 million from the city’s IRA. (PIA-11)

Davao’s new tag line: “Davao. Life is Here.”

by Mai Gevera-Macapagat

DAVAO CITY, Sept. 21 (PIA) – “Davao. Life is here.”This is the new tagline launched earlier by the city government of Davao led by Mayor Sara Duterte with guests from the tourism and business sectors as well as the media. It is part of the new brand divulged to the public as the city gov-ernment makes a boost in its tourism sector

aiming to receive more tourists and investors in the coming months. Brand expert Rey “Bai” Manginsay pack-

aged the entire branding about life in Davao, the things non-Dabawenyos long for, while some Da-bawenyos take for grant-

Mayor oders....from page 19

21


ed. From the adven-ture hike to Mt. Apo, to the heavenly taste of the Durian fruit, to the juicy bite of Davao Pomelo, all these are but some of the reasons why many tourists long to visit the city. “We see these things everyday and sometimes taken for granted but for our mar-ket, for those who do not live here, these are the reasons why they come to Davao,” Duterte said. The mayor de-scribes the entire brand-ing as something that each Dabawenyo will take part on, something they will own. The brand mak-er “Bai” divulged how

it took him ten years to understand Davao life and appreciate it. He chose the Philippine monkey-eating eagle as the brand identifier. “The eagle is a very strong image because it is unique and we own it. Its kingdom is in Mt. Apo, another tourist destination of the city. It symbolizes power and unity,” he said. Mayor Duterte ap-preciated the use of the eagle as the defining image of the city since the Philippine eagle is uniquely Davao. The im-age shown in promo-tional materials is an eagle wearing tribal ac-cessories which depict the multi-cultural set-up in the city.

The city govern-ment is yet to release other promotional ma-terials in the coming months. However, ready for publication and for airing are the television commercial, the mate-rials for print ads, the new brochure, and the website. Duterte and her team urged Dabawenyos to embrace this new branding by using the logo in their letterheads, buses, and all other av-enues where this may be known and exposed to the public. “With this strate-gy, we also expect more tourists and investors to come visit our city,” she said. (PIA-11)

Davao City to focus on agroa-forestry

by Rudolph Ian G. Alama

This as Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte de-clared in her recent

State-of-the-city ad-dress about the impor-tance of agro-forestry in

rehabilitating the upland and agricultural areas of the city.

DAVAO CITY, Sept. 21 (PIA) – About 105,000 hectares of non-tillage lands in Davao City are being eyed as agro-forestry ar-eas.

Davao’s new....from page 20

22


23

City agriculturist Leo Avila said that the City has allocated P8-million as initial fund-ing for agro-forestry program this 2011. The amount will be spent for seedlings and trainings for farmers. “Agro-forestry ad-dresses the poverty in the uplands, increases the productivity of small farmers and protects our watershed,” Avila

said during his guesting at Marco Polo’s Club 888 media forum. He bared that out of the 163,000 hectares classified as agricultural lands in the city, the city has identified 105,000 hectares based on ter-rain analysis as suitable areas for agro-forestry. Among the pre-ferred trees and crops for the city’s agro-for-

estry program include cacao, coffee, coconut, abaca and rubber. The City has devel-oped a five-hectare cen-tral nursery in Malagos district and eight satel-lite nurseries spread out in the barangays within the five watershed areas of Davao River, Lasang, Talomo, Lipadas and Sibulan. (PIA-11)

DENR to embark on PPP with min-ing firm’s adopt-a-CBFM projectby Carina L. Cayon

DENR regional ex-ecutive director Jim O. Sampulna said that the adoption by the Sagit-tarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) of two CBFM areas in Kiblawan and Matanao of said province is a wel-come development for

DENR in line with its re-forestation program. Sampulna told the Davao media yesterday in an interview that SMI would be like a foster parent to the communi-ties that would not only engage in reforestation

program but should also take care of the well-be-ing and livelihood of the residents. He said that this endeavor would improve President Benigno Aqui-no’s National Greening Program in the prov-

DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur, Sept. 21 (PIA) – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources here is set to embrace another Public-Private Partnership with a mining firm which signified to adopt an almost 2,000-hectare Community-Based Forestry Management area in two municipalities of Davao del Sur.

Davao City to focus....from page 21


24

DENR to embark....from page 22

ince. Davao del Sur pro-vincial Environment and Natural Resources of-ficer Adonis Rico said that SMI plans to adopt CBFM areas in Baran-gay Balasiao, in Kibla-wan and Barangay Don-gan Pekong in Matanao where the mining firm is proposing for infrastruc-ture components for its Tampakan Copper-Gold project in South Cota-bato. Rico explained that the three-year (2011-2014) duration of the adopt-a-CBFM program would take up reforesta-tion, improvement of the communities’ livelihood, environmental protec-tion and effective stew-ard of the environment. The program would be implemented by the peoples’ organizations Balasiao Integrated So-cial Forestry Association (BALISFA) in Kiblawan and Dongan Pekong Tree Farmers Association, Inc. in Matanao, accord-ing to Rico. “We really need the Public-Private-Partner-

ship to roll the serious-ness of the program,” he told the stakeholders re-ferring to the NGP during the supposed signing of Memorandum of Agree-ment involving SMI, DENR and the provincial local government unit. However, the antic-ipated MOA signing yes-terday was deferred due to the refusal of Davao del Sur Governor Doug-las Cagas to affix his sig-nature, asserting that he wanted a bigger respon-sibility for the provincial government to under-take in this partnership. “I don’t want to be a decoration in this agree-ment,” Cagas said refer-ring to some provisions of the MOA as to the role of the LGU which he told the media in an inter-view were not yet clear to him. However the gov-ernor made it clear dur-ing the MOA signing-turned review discussion with DENR and SMI of-ficials at the province’s Sangguniang Panlala-wigan session hall that he supports the project

only that some hitches in some provisions are needed to be ironed out. Cagas stressed the need of his support and close involvement with the adopt-a-CBFM proj-ect, as he raised the call for an intensified refor-estation program to ad-dress the concern on landslides. He said that Davao del Sur is among the top five landslide prone province in the country, citing the municipali-ties of Kiblawan, Sulop, Matanao, Don Marceli-no, Sta. Maria and Jose Abad Santos as land-slide-prone areas. “We need budget for the reforestation of thousands of hectares in the province,” he stat-ed. Cameron Pocknee, SMI’s safety, health and environment manager, said that reforestation is a significant event of SMI citing their stake-holders’ great interest on reforestation. Pocknee said SMI is willing to negotiate and


Davao City slates Davao Gulf Week by Albert D. Cahilog

agree on the terms in the MOA with DENR and LGU, adding “Hopeful-ly we could finalize the MOA.”During the discussion, Sampulna suggested that SMI grow robusta coffee plant in the areas which he said is a more lucrative undertaking for the communities. He said the proj-ect should be long-term

and sustainable to cov-er improvement of the economic, social and spiritual aspects in the areas.Sampulna bared that SMI is the first mining firm to engage in the adopt-a-CBFM project in the region.In May this year, the Davao Light and Pow-er Co. and the Ther-ma South, Inc. of the

AboitizPower forged a MOA with DENR for the adoption of a 500-hect-are CBFM area in Upper Kibalang, Marilog, Davao City.The Upper Kibalang Agro-Forestry Farmers Associaiton (UKAFA) is tapped to manage and implement the project for 25 years with option to expand coverage. (PIA-11)

DAVAO CITY, Sept. 21 (PIA) – The Davao Gulf Management Council is currently celebrating the 7th Davao Gulf weekwhich started on September 17 and would cap on September 23.

DGMC is now on high gear in its preparation for its two major events scheduled on September 22, to include Project LIFE back-to-back with best CRM practices in Davao Gulf. Project LIFE (Learn-ing Independently for En-vironment) will feature a two-hour session on video showing and discussion on the country’s rich and ma-

rine and coastal resourc-es. There will be a photo exhibit on the images tak-en on Davao Gulf marine life. Both events will be held at the Activity Center of the Abreeza Ayala Mall, Davao City. On September 23, 2011, Davao City will be holding the Mayor’s Con-ference with the theme “Climate Change 101 for

Local Executives”. The council has in-vited Presidential Assis-tant on Climate Change Secretary Elisea Gozon and Department of Interi-or and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo as speakers of the confer-ence. During the regular flag ceremony on Mon-day, Davao City Mayor and DGMC chair Sara Z. Du-

DENR to....from page 23

25


terte said, “Protecting and managing our waters is easier said than done. But it is a task that this com-munity and this genera-tion must act on today.” This year’s celebra-

tion is focusing on the Gulf’s contribution to the socio-economic develop-ment of the provinces, cities, municipalities and communities. The 7th Gulf Week

celebration carries the theme “Gulpo sa Dabaw, Amumahon……Simbolo sa atong Kagikan, Bahandi sa Kinaiyahan.” (PIA-11)

New Bataan boosts investment promo

DAVAO CITY, Sept. 21 (PIA) – The local government of New Bataan in Compostela Valley province has taken the lead in promoting the municipality for local and foreign investments. The conduct of its first-ever Investors’ Fo-rum last month, as part of celebrating the town’s 6th Sal’upongan Festival, sig-nified the commitment of local leaders in positioning New Bataan as an invest-ment destination. New Bataan Mayor Lorenzo L. Balbin Jr. said that inviting investors is one of their poverty alle-viation strategies, as in-vestments generate em-ployment and income to the municipality. The Local Govern-ment Unit (LGU) of New Bataan took the initiative of institutionalizing invest-ment promotion activities by designating an Invest-ment Promotion Officer as well as reviewing and amending their Local In-

vestment Incentives Ordi-nance. In coordination with the Department of Trade and Industry - Compos-tela Valley (DTI-ComVal), the conduct of the Inves-tors’ Forum was made to draw interests from both local and international businesses to locate their investments in the munic-ipality. Board of Invest-ments-Davao (BOI-Davao) chief Engr. Gil M. Dureza and DTI-ComVal Project Team Manager Nelly L. Esperanza, together with investors and manpower agencies graced the event. The forum also showcased the investment potentials of New Bataan especially in the mining industry, ag-riculture and tourism.

To date, New Bataan has attracted business lo-cators in the municipality in the field of agriculture, bio-fuel, hydropower, min-ing and mineral process-ing. OZ Wisphil Trading Corporation is partnering with Eagle Fly Corporation in putting up a P25-million coco coir decorticating plant, while Secura Inter-national Corp., a company engaged in bio-fuel pro-duction, is set to lease at least 2,000 hectares for its Napier grass produc-tion and processing plant. Hedcor Philippines is also eyeing a hydropower proj-ect while at least 20 firms are already engaged in gold processing plants. Esperanza said that DTI-ComVal teamed up

Davao City slates....from page 24

26


with BOI-Davao in facili-tating more investments to be poured into the area particularly in rubber pro-duction and cavendish ba-

nana export as well as on the hydropower project. Esperanza is optimis-tic that with the full sup-port coming from the LGU,

DTI and BOI more invest-ments will be generated in the coming months. (DTI-CV/PBE/JMM)

DSWD leads family week celebration by Albert D. Cahilog

DAVAO CITY, Sept. 21 (PIA) – The Department of Social Wel-fare and Development (DSWD) and its partner agencies start-ed commemorating the National Family Week with a one-hour radio feature at DXRA Radyo Arangkada and a motorcade around downtown Davao.

DSWD chairs the Regional Inter-Agency Committee on the Filipino Family with partners from local government units, church-based groups, non-government organi-zations, other government agencies, and the private sector. DSWD focal person on family Susan B. Pascua said, “Our partners have also demonstrated their support by posting advo-cacy streamers and orga-nizing family fun day in their own offices.” Pascua bared other activities for the week to include the opening sal-vo at People’s Park, Fam-ily Dialog at DSWD Group Home for Girls and Wom-en, and a forum on Pur-poseful Parenting with family advocate-couple Norman and Sally Molinos as resource speakers. In time for the cel-ebration, SM Foundation, Inc. of the SM Group of

Companies also turned over on Tuesday donat-ed signature jeans to the three DSWD rehabilitation centers and brand new books to 80 day care cen-ters, elementary and high schools, Pascua added. The week-long event is slated on September 19 to 25 and carries the theme “Confronting Pov-erty and Social Discrimi-nation” based on the Unit-ed Nations Programme on the Family. The local theme is “Hamon sa Pamilyang Pili-pino: Kahirapan ay Tugu-nan, Pagkakapantay-pan-tay ay Kamtan.” The theme highlights the strength, unity, and perseverance of the Fili-pino family in confronting the national social prob-lem of poverty and social discrimination.The Family Week celebra-tion started in 1992 thru

Presidential Proclamation No. 60 signed on Septem-ber 18, 1992. It seeks to strengthen family unity and relationships through meaningful celebration and promotion of Filipino values. Pascua said several agencies joined the mo-torcade including SOS Children’s Village, DSWD-RRCY, SALORSEDFI, Phil-ippine National Police, Population Commission, City Social Services De-velopment Office, Na-tional Commission on In-digenous People, Brgy. Centro-Agdao, Depart-ment of Environment and Natural Resources, Fam-ily Life Phils, Traffic Man-agement Center and the DSWD Regional Office. (DSWD-11/SMS/Car-mela Cadigal-Duron)

New Bataan....from page 25

27Wednesday, September 21, 2011 27Wednesday, September 21, 2011

If commitments were to be counted, the provincial government of South Cotabato has at least P52 M fund for the con-struction of a public hospital in nearby

Surralah town.

28

P52-M vowed for planned public hospital in Surallah


Gov. Arthur Y. Pingoy Jr. in a meet-ing with the press this morning announced that three partners, name-ly: San Miguel Corpo-ration (SMC), Depart-ment of Health (DOH), and Department of the Interior and Local Gov-ernment (DILG) have signified to finance the construction of the South Cotabato Pro-vincial Hospital (SCPH) annex in Surallah. Recently, Gov. Pin-goy went to Metro Ma-nila to sign a memoran-dum of understanding with the San Miguel Corporation for a P30-million assistance pack-age for the province, in-cluding P15 million for the planned hospital. While in Metro Ma-nila, he also met with Health Secretary En-rique Ona regarding possible financial assis-tance under the DOH’s Health Facilities En-hancement Program. He said Ona has committed to give the province at least P30 million. The governor

is confident Sec. Ona’s promise will be realized. While serving as the representative of South Cotabato’s Sec-ond District, Pingoy was instrumental for the release of of P23 million for the upgrad-ing of several health facilities in the province, including that of Polo-molok and Lake Sebu municipalities and SCPH. He also announced that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has also committed to pour in P7 for the project. The provincial gov-ernment in now com-plying with DILG as-sistant secretary for plans and programs Eubert Gutierrez’s di-rective to submit the project’s program plan for possible funding. Meanwhile, a five-hectare lot where the annex hospital will be es-tablished has been iden-tified by the local gov-ernment unit of Surallah. Gov. Pingoy said the provincial govern-ment expects Surallah

Mayor Romulo Solivio to hand in the deed of do-nation anytime soon. He said he has already directed Dr. Rogelio Aturdido Jr., chief of the Integrated Provincial Health Office to fast tract the making of the hospitals design. Construction of the hospital is expected to start in the first quar-ter of 2012 for a tar-get soft opening of the health facility in the second or third quarter. Gov. Pingoy added that this government hospital that will ca-ter to patients in the Upper Valley area, in-cluding the municipali-ties of Surallah, Sto. Nino, Lake Sebu, Nora-la, T’boli and Banga, the provincial hospital in Koronadal City will surely be decongested. SCPH has a ca-pacity for 220 beds but the number of patients served here reach-es as many as 240 to 320. About 24 per-cent of the patients are from the Upper Valley area. (PIA 12)

P52-M vowed....from page 27


KORONADAL CITY, Setyembre 21 (PIA) -- Iniurong sa Set-yembre 30 ang seremonyas para sa paglilipat ng internal security operations (ISO) mula sa Philippine Army papunta sa pamahalaang panlalawigan.

Turnover ng internal security operations sa S. Cotabato iniurong sa Setyembre 30

Nauna san-ang nakatakda ang turnover ng ISO sa Setyembre 23, subalit makakasa-bay nito ang pub-lic consultation ng Sagittarius Mines Inc., para sa kanil-ang environmental impact assessment na parehong ring mahalagang aktibi-dad kung kaya’t ini-lipat sa ibang petsa ang turnover cere-monies. Ayon kay Gov. Arthur Y. Pingoy Jr., ang turnover cer-emonies ay hudyat na ang pamahalaang panlalawigan na ang mamamahala sa lahat ng inisyatibo na may kinalaman

sa seguridad, ka-payapaan at kati-wasayan sa buong South Cotabato, sa halip na ang mga sundalo, partikular na ang 27th Infan-try Battalion ang mangunguna nito. Ayon sa gober-nador isang na-pakahalagang pag-kakataon ito para sa lalawigan upang ipakita sa mga resi-dente sa labas ng Mindanao at ta-ga-ibayong dagat na mapayapa ang South Cotabato. Binigyang diin pa ng gobernador na mas pagtutuu-nan ng pamaha-laang panlalawigan ang pagpapalago sa

kabuhayan sa kan-ayunan sa halip na gumamit ng armas para makamit ang kapayapaan. Sa buong Min-danao, ikalawa pa lamang ang South Cotabato na mabibigyan ng oto-ridad na mamama-hala ng sariling internal security operations. Kabilang sa mga panauhing pandan-gal sa inaasahang dadalo sa ISO turn-over ceremonies sina Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin at Interior and Local Government Secre-tary Jesse Robredo. (DEDoguiles/PIA 12)


GENERAL SANTOS CITY, September 21 (PIA) -- The Depart-ment of Health - Center of Health, region 12 (DOH-CHD 12) has embarked into a healthy lifestyle campaign in the region through the prevention and control of non-communicable dis-eases.

DOH-CHD 12 conducts healthy lifestyle campaign

In a regional multi-sectoral meeting with stakeholders for the pre-vention and control of non-communicable dis-eases held at the Tboli Hotel, this city, DOH-CHD 12 health educator and promotion officer Jennylyn Ellie Ventura said the people should adopt seven health life-style habits. The seven healthy lifestyle habits, accord-ing to Ventura, are no smoking, avoid drinking, stay away from illegal drugs, eat low fat, low salt and high fiber diet; prevent hypertension, do physical activity and manage stress. Ventura said 10 Filipinos die by the hour

due to tobacco related diseases. With this, the government is promot-ing a smoke free envi-ronment and stepped up the National Tobacco Control Program, she further said. Alcohol drinking, the DOH_CHD 12 health educator and promotion officer disclosed, is as-sociated with 80 types of diseases and health con-ditions including mental disorders and several types of disorders and other non communicable diseases such as cirrho-sis. On another healthy lifestyle habit, DOH-CHD 12 has established a food-based dietary guidelines and healthier

food composition of re-ducing salt levels, elimi-nating industrially pro-duced trans-fatty acids, decreasing saturated fats, limiting free sugars and including more of dietary fiber. Regular physical activity, on the other hand, reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, colon cancer and breast cancer, Ventura said. An equally impor-tant healthy lifestyle habit is stress manage-ment where an individ-ual has to identify stress triggers, improve time management and extin-guish job burn out, she added. (OTSudaria/PIA 12)


COTABATO CITY, September 21 (PIA) -- All aspirants as officers in charge (OIC) for governor, vice-governor and the regional legislative assembly in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Min-danao pledged to bring good governance in ARMM and institute vital reforms.

OIC aspirants vow to rid ARMM of graft and corruption

This was the con-sensus among the OIC aspirants dur-ing the public forum held on September 12 to 13 at the Shar-iff Kabunsuan Cul-tural Complex, ARMM compound, Cotabato City. There are sev-en OIC aspirants for governor and seven for vice governor as well as 24 OIC aspi-rants for the regional legislative assembly, twelve each for the first and second dis-tricts of Maguindanao vying for only three al-located slots for each district or a total of six for the two Magu-indanao districts.

The aspirants for governor who were present are San-chez Ali (Lanao), Mu-jiv Hataman (Basi-lan), Macabangkit Lanto (Lanao), Sai-damen Pangarungan (Lanao), Dimas Pun-dato (Lanao) and Nor-ma Shariff (Lanao). Conspicuously ab-sent was Maguindan-ao governor Esmael Mangudadatu. The applicants for the regional leg-islative assembly in the first district of Maguindanao are Suharto Abas, Tom-my Ala, Datu Habib Ambolodto, Suharto Ibay, Arafat Kusain, Marites Maguindra,

Mimbalawag Mangu-tara, Ishak Mastura, Deonato Mokudef, Quirino Oranto, Ro-meo Sema and Azrad Sinsuat. M a g u i n d a n o second district ap-plicants include Ra-hima Alba, Ramon Amolan, Abdurahim Bagundang, Abdul-basit Benito, Reynal-do Chio, Mokaledin Kido, Khadafeh Man-gudadatu, Maligama-ma Medtamak, Mid-pantao Midtimbang, Edzrael Mohammad, Ali Sangki and Datu Bassir Utto. Vice governor applicants are Bobby Datimbang (Maguin-danao), Hatimil Has-

32


san, Mustapha Ka-balu (Maguindanao), Bainon Karon (Magu-indanao), Macabang-kit Lanto (Lanao and also applicant for gov-ernor) and Saidamen Pangarungan (Lanao and likewise aspiring for OIC-governor). Listed as vice-gover-nor aspirant but not present during the public forum is ARMM officer in charge An-saruddin Adiong. Once appointed, the aspirants said they will prioritize the conduct of audit to determine spe-cifics of anomalies committed of past ARMM officials and make the perpetra-tors answerable to the frauds. They also sub-scribe to amend Re-public Act 9054, the law strengthening and expanding the organic act for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

which amended Re-public Act 6734, an act which created ARMM.Among the amend-ments they will pro-pose are the cre-ation of the office of the Commission on Human Rights and the increase of the budget allocation of ARMM. Other amend-ments include more representations of women, youth and indigenous peoples in the ARMM govern-ment. In addition, the aspirants express support to the peace process and the full implementation of the 1966 GRP-MNLF peace accord. The aspirants pledge to implement social, economic and environmental pro-grams that will fast track the develop-ment of the region. DILG secretary

Jesse Robredo ac-knowledged the dif-ficult task that the OICs have to face: “Malaki ang gagawin ninyo. Hindi lamang sa kamay nila kung hindi sa kamay nat-ing lahat.” (You have a very big responsi-bility. However,this is not solely their re-sponsibility but like-wise of the people.) Fr. Jun Merca-do, the public forum convenor said the acid test of the offi-cers in charge is in their performance of their duties and re-sponsibilities.Meanwhile, the Su-preme Court has temporarily halted the implementation of a law synchroniz-ing the ARMM polls with the 2013 elec-tions which subse-quently also halted the appointment of officers in charge. (OTSudaria/PIA 12)

OIC aspirants......from page 31


A Success Story –Intensified and Sustainable Development of Aquaculture (ISDA)

No t l o n g f r o m n o w ,

a model farm and nature park will be one of the destinations in the municipality of Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, because of the determination of a man like Anthony Marie Amelda.

by David M. Suyao

34


It all started when Anthony Marie Amelda, 35 years old, in his 2,500 square meters low-laying area inside his 5 hectares property. With encouragement by his relatives and friends to convert the small area into a fishpond, Amelda visited the Provincial Agriculture Office (PAO) in Patin-ay, Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur for some advices and assistance for him to start the fishpond. At the PAO, Amelda explained that the area, measuring 2,500 sq. meters, is stocked with flowing underground spring water that never dry-up even during dry season. Amelda also told the PAO technicians that he was planning to make the area a

trial for fishpond, but he do not have the technology even on how to start and maintain his proposed project, aside from lack of capital. The PAO gave Amelda some reading materials for him to study, and the year 2009, Diomedes Cimagala, a fishpond project in-charge of the PAO, visited his area, and saw the area’s potential for fishpond. With the help extended by relatives and friends, Amelda started leveling the area, and constructed a siphon to facilitate and control the flow of water. Another luck for Amelda came because he was chosen to be one of the recipients of the techno-demo in Tilapia production pond. Being a recipient of the techno-demo

project, Amelda received 32 bags of Tilapia feeds and six bags of fertilizer from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and 4,000 Tilapia fingerlings from the provincial government. With the help of BFAR, PAO and the municipal government of Prosperidad, technical assistance was never a problem. Four months later, Amelda was able to harvest 875 kilos of Tilapia, valued at P60.00 per kilo. With that, Amelda pocketed P52,500, having a net income of P22,500 in a matter of four months. A c c o r d i n g to Amelda, the technology given to him by BFAR and PAO contributed much to his beginner’s success. He proudly enumerated the following techniques

35

A Success Story......from page 33


The resolution, which was authored by Councilor Angelo S. Calo, said the City government of Bu-tuan needs financial support for its liveli-hood program such as vegetable produc-

tion. It was revealed that local production of vegetables can supply only 15 per-cent of the province’s consumption needs. The resolution, which was endorsed by all the members

of the SP, said live-lihood projects for the basic means of alleviating poverty given that Caraga Re-gion ranks among the poorest in the coun-try. (PIA-Caraga)

SP to urge Sen. Guingona for additional P2 million funding by Eldie N. David

BUTUAN CITY, Sept. 20 (PIA) -- The Sanggnuniang Panlungsod here, in its regular session has unanimously approved a resolution requesting Sen. Teofisto TG. Guingona III to allocate P2 million from his priority development assistance fund (PDAF) for the livelihood projects of the different barangays in the city.

he introduced such as: 1. The use of proper quality and quantity of fingerlings to be stocked; 2. The importance of water analysis; 3. Quantity and time of feeding, depending on the age of the fingerlings; 4. Constant consultation with experts like the BFAR, the PAO and the municipal technical staff for

proper guidance. At present, Amelda said, he enjoys two harvests per year. His fishpond has now a 6,000 fingerlings capacity, where few days from now, he will again harvest the fruit of his efforts. Believing and looking into the potential of his venture, Amelda

started developing another 1,000 square meters for expansion. “In this area, a model farm and nature park will soon be established and will someday become a destination in Prosperidad,” Anthony Marie Amelda said. (PIA-Agusan del Sur)

A Success Story......from page 34


Paz y Desarrollo (PyD), a Spanish non-government organization supported by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation Development (AECID), together with the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW),

PILIPINA and Miriam College-Women and Gender Institute (WAGI), will be launching its Regional Program to Promote Gender Equality in Political Participation on September 22-23, 2011 at the Balanghai Hotel and Convention Center, Butuan City.

by Gloria Theresa R. Cutab

Program to promote gender equality in political participation in Butuan City

37


This regional program is being implemented in five countries, namely, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Cambodia, East Timor and Vietnam. Aside from the launching of the Regional Program, the event will also be a venue to consult the target areas of Agusan del Norte (Butuan City

and the Municipalities of Kitcharao, Santiago, Tubay) and Lanao del Sur (Marawi City and the Municipality of Balindong) on the strategies for program implementation. More than 70 participants from the target areas composed of elected local government officials and staff, civil

society organizations, community members composed of women, indigenous peoples and youth as well as line agencies and the academe will be present in this activity. The Caraga State University (CSU) also serves as an implementing partner for this event. (PIA-Caraga)

Program to promote....from page 36

DSWD-Caraga prepares reports on social protection and developmentby Jennifer P. Gaitano

BUTUAN CITY, Sept. 20 (PIA) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Caraga Regional Office has asked for the support of local government units of Caraga and government agencies in data gathering as it prepares the Social Protection and Development Report (SPDR). Mr. Jean Paul Parajes, DSWD-Caraga Planning Officer said that part of DSWD Reform Agenda (RA 1) is engaging and leading the sector on Social Protection (SP). “The SPDR serves as a tool for effective planning and budgeting process as well as for

policy formulation and program development,” Parajes said. It was also learned that the SPDR contains the General Information such as the Geographical, D d e m o g r a p h i c Characteristics, Poverty Profile, Source of Income, and Welfare Profile; and the Risks and Vulnerability Assessment

through Identification of Risks and Prevalence of Risk, Identification of Vulnerable Groups and Prevalence of Vulnerability, SP P r o g r a m s / P r o j e c t s Responding to Risks and Vulnerability, and Gaps on Existing SP Programs/Projects Responding to Risks/Vulnerability. (PIA-Caraga)


Police Chief Supt Reynaldo Rafal, PRO 13 Regional Director is thankful to the staff of PSMBFI headed by its president, Police Director Victor Boco, Jr. and all who helped for the realization of the project. The building will be used for training activities and would also serve as transient quarters for PNP personnel from far flung areas who will visit Regional Headquarters. PSMBFI president Police Director Boco on

the other hand said, PSMBFI is a partner of the PNP in providing more benefits for the welfare of its personnel. Prior to the ceremony, PSMBFI has approved to construct eight two storey buildings in various PNP Regional Offices in the amount of Php 10,395,000.00 per unit earlier this year and PRO 13 is one of their beneficiaries. Before the Ground Breaking Ceremony was held, PSMBFI president was accorded

with an Arrival Honor. Afterwhich, the signing of Memorandum of Agreement of the Regional Training Center was conducted between PRO 13 Regional Director and the PSMBFI president and witnessed by PRO 13 Deputy Regional Director for Operation Police Senior Supt Alexander Ignacio, PRO 13 Regional Chief of the Directorial Staff Police Senior Supt David Ombao and other PNP personnel in the Regional Headquarters. (PNP-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)

PNP-13 initiates Reg’l. Training Center groundbreaking ceremonyby SPO1 Arturo S Campania

BUTUAN CITY, Sept. 21 (PIA) – New recruits of the Philippine National Police in Caraga Region will now spend their training here instead of going to as far as Lipata in Surigao City, as the president of Public Safety Mutual Benefit Fund, Inc (PSMBFI) and the Regional Director of Police Regional Office (PRO) 13 (Caraga) initiated the ground breaking ceremony of the Regional Training Center this morning inside the Camp Rafael C. Rodriguez, Libertad, this city.


Pagadian City to host 47th NEB Meeting of the League of Cities of the Philippines

Pagadian City, Sept. 21 (PIA) – Just recently, the city of Pagadian suc-cessfully hosted the 20th Mindanao Business Conference with no less than US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas, Jr, as the key-note speaker and guest of honor. The event was attended by more or less 350 corporate businessmen, entrepreneurs and the academe from all over Mindanao.

by Claro A. Lanipa

This time, the city will again place itself in the limelight as the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) 47th National Exec-utive Board (NEB) meet-ing will be held here for the first time on Septem-ber 22-24, 2011 led by National Chairman Mayor Enrico R. Echeverri of Ca-loocan City along with 41 LCP officers from all over the Philippines. Also in-vited to attend the big event are national political leaders, city mayors, gov-ernors and congressmen from the entire island of Mindanao. The LCP, as they de-

liberate the various agenda to be tackled here in Paga-dian City hopes to solidify their unity, promote capa-bility-building, strengthen linkages and foremost, boost the strengths of its member-cities. Other top ranking LCP officers expected to attend the conference are: LCP President Mayor Oscar Rodriguez of San Fernando City, Executive Vice Presi-dent Mayor Evelio Leonar-dia of Bacolod City, Secre-tary General Mayor Hernani Braganza of Alaminos City and NEB Vice Chairman Mayor Paulino Salvador

Leachon of Calapan City. Pagadian City Mayor Samuel S. Co is the LCP’s Vice President for Mindan-ao. Meanwhile, PNP Pro-vincial Director PSSupt Jose Bayani L. Gucela said the entire police force with augmentation forces from the First Infantry “Tabak” Division has intensified its security measures to maintain peace and order and secure the safety of our key officials and visi-tors. (Engr. Nelly Si-sona/ALT/CAL/PIA9/ZamboSur)


Hotel and restaurant staff, drivers should treat our guests with courtesy, Mayor Co urges

PAGADIAN CITY, September 21 (PIA) – With the arrival of city mayors from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao in the city today, hotel and restaurant workers and tricycle drivers who are con-sidered as frontliners in the tourism industry are expected to show courtesy and warm hospitality to the guests.

by Gideon C. Corgue

Mayor Samuel S. Co, in a press confer-ence at the City Mayor’s office on Tuesday told the members of the Zamboanga del Sur-Pa-gadian Press Club, Inc., that it is very necessary for hotel and restaurant workers, and tricycle drivers to show hospi-tality to the guests who will be attending the 47th National Executive Board (NEB) meeting of the League of Cities of the Philippines to be held at the City Com-mercial Center (C3) on September 21-23. “I am enjoining ho-tel and restaurant own-ers thru their crew and staff, as well as the driv-ers who are our tour-ism frontliners, to show hospitality and utmost

respect to our guests. In giving service, we have to show them good cus-tomer service,” Co said, adding that it is the life-blood of any business. “Our guests will be staying in hotels, eat in restaurants, and ride tri-cycles during their brief stay, thus we have to impress them by our commitment to service,” Co said. He said close to 50 city mayors are expect-ed to attend the 3-day activity. Governors and representatives of Zam-boanga City and Zam-boanga del Norte are scheduled to visit the city and participate in the grand affair. On the first day, the guests will be treat-ed to lunch and dinner

with the local officials. A whole day tour will fol-low on day two in the neighboring cities of Ozamis and Tangub, and in the evening, they will witness the launching of the ‘Dancing Fountain’ as well as cultural and mod-eling show.On the third day, there will be a tour within the city as well as a courtesy call to Gover-nor Antonio H. Cerilles, and the NEB meeting. Guests will also witness the grand opening of C3, with a fellowship dinner where top artists, sing-ers and international models will provide en-tertainment to the local chief executives from all over the country. The good mayor said security preparation is already in place say-

41


ing that more than 400 law enforcers from the Philippine National Po-lice and Philippine Army will secure the venue. Meanwhile, Co said during the event, the streets fronting C3 and Robinson’s supermar-

ket such as corners F.S Pajares - Rizal Avenue, Rizal Avenue- Ariosa St., and F.S, Pajares – Jamisola Streets will be temporarily closed to provide ease and com-fort to the guests.

He then appealed to the tricycle drivers to bear with the mini-mal inconvenience due to the temporary re-routing scheme being implemented by law enforcers. (ALT/GCC/PIA9-Pagadian)

AusAID cites ARMM performance efficiency, grants P3.5B education fundISABELA CITY, Basilan, Sept 21 (PIA) – The head of the Austra-lian Agency for International Development (AusAID) has lauded the “remarkable” performance of the present administration of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

ARMM Informa-tion Chief Ali Maca-balang said that such citation for AusAID becomes a major rea-son in the agency’s grant of P3.5-billion fund for a six-year package of assis-tance for education development in the region. “The ARMM gov-ernment (officials) now with their short stay (in office) made a remarkable job in

managing the educa-tion affairs in the re-gion,” AusAID Minis-ter Counselor to the Philippines Titon Mi-tra said at a ground-breaking rite in Cota-bato last week for a P9.5-million building funded by his agen-cy. The AusAID-ARMM partnership has been on for a de-cade now and it found more enthusiasm in working with incum-

bents led by Acting Regional Governor Ansaruddin Adiong, Mitra said. Mitra alongside ARMM Executive Sec-retary Naguib Sina-rimbo and Regional Education Secretary Baratucal Caudang ceremonially laid down the capsule of the two-storey build-ing, which is set for completion in January next year to house the payroll service unit of

Hotel and restaurant .....from page 40

42


the ARMM’s Educa-tion Department and the office of the Au-sAID- Basic Educa-tion Assistance for Mindanao (BEAM). On the eve of the ground-breaking rites, Acting Gover-nor Adiong represent-ed by Sinarimbo and Caudang tendered a testimonial dinner in tribute to Mitra’s “monumental” con-tribution to gray ar-eas in the education system of the auton-omous region, which lack ample subsidies from the national government. “We have no enough words to de-scribe our profound gratitude to you and your agency. You’ve been a dependable source of assistance we profusely need to emancipate our re-gion from the quag-mire of high illiteracy

rate,” Sinarimbo told Mitra at the testimo-nial dinner. Due to the cur-rent “remarkable” ef-forts to bring about quality education in the region, AusAID Filipina education specialist Tess Felipe said Mr. Mitra “fought hard” for his country to provide P3.5-bil-lion grant for exclu-sive use in a six-year education program kicking off next year. Felipe said they have noticed “some gaps” in the rela-tionship between the ARMM education de-partment and the na-tional government in terms of funding re-quirements, a reason she cited as big factor in the intervention of the AusAID. Sec. Caudang pledged to live up to the expectation of the donor agency,

saying: “We’ve prov-en our worth and we shall struggle hard to sustain your trust in us.” Last Wednesday, Mitra also graced the launching at an el-ementary school in Maguindanao of the “Fit for School,” a project on enhanc-ing school pupils’ healthy habit of the Germany-based Ge-sellschaft fur Interna-tionale Zusammener-able (GIZ), an AusAID partner agency. GIZ officials led by Dr. Bella Monce alongside Mitra and ARMM officials dis-tributed packages of fluoride toothpastes, tooth brushes and health soaps to doz-ens of Moro and lu-mad pupils of the Tenorio Elementary School in Datu Odin Sinsuat town. (AGM/ALT/RVC-PIA9 Ba-SulTa)

AusAID cites.....from page 41


photoreleases

Pagadian City Mayor Samuel S. Co on Tuesday (Sept. 20) answers questions from members of the Zamboanga del

Sur-Pagadian City Press Club, Inc. during the Press Conference held at City Mayor’s

Office.

Mayor Samuel S. Co (2nd ) is flanked by city councilors during the Press Confer-

ence held at City Mayor’s Office.


Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park turns 6, tribes showcase culture

At least two (2) tribal rites performed by the indigenous

folks, ceremoniously, opened the 3-day celebration of the

6thAldaw Ta Kalatungan (Kalatungan Day), recently.

by Peri Madridano

45


by Peri Madridano

These were the “Panampulot,” a tra-ditional rite done on the onset of an ac-tivity, which symbol-izes peace and unity among neighboring tribes, and “Panam-pulot,” the partak-ing of food with the spirits and offering of prayers to ward off untoward incidents during the festivities. Tribal commu-nities, government agencies and other stakeholders con-verged at Baran-gay Dagumbaan, Maramag to partici-pate in various activ-ities to celebrate the occasion. These activities were focused on the theme: “Mt. Kalatun-gan atong Panalip-dan para sa Umaabot tang mga Kaliwatan, Pagpakabana mga Kaigsoonan sa Hulga sa Kinaiyahan (Let’s

protect Mt. Kalatun-gan for future gener-ations and from the threats of nature).” To set the tone of the celebration, the Bantay Lasang Vol-unteers coming from the 21 barangays, from the towns of Ta-lakag, Pangantucan, Maramag and Valen-cia City, all of Bukid-non gathered for a discussion on their functions, duties and goals towards Mt. Ka-latungan Range Nat-ural Park. These volunteers play a vital role in the enforcement of rules and regulations of the protected area. The Higaonon, Manobo and Talaan-dig tribes were given the opportunity to stage their songs and dances along with the Talahari Indigenous Band who shared their composition of

songs and dances. Likewise, Eliza-beth Madel from Ba-rangay Dominorog, Talakag, was crowned as Miss Kalatungan or Laga ta Kalatungan 2011, from eight (8) candidates coming from the barangays within the protected area who joined the search. Meanwhile, Re-gional Technical Di-rector Belen Daba of the Protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone Management Services (PAWCZMS) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), region 10, said Mt. Kalatungan is still a close cano-py range which is a Key Biodiversity Area habitat of rare and endemic species of flora and fauna. During the clos-ing program, RTD

Mt. Kalatungan.....from page 44

46


DOST’s Search for 2011 “Filipinnovation” Award is on CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Sept. 21 (PIA) -- Companies with exemplary technology content and market vi-ability, as well, as high potential socio-economic impact will be given recognition by the Department of Science and Tech-nology (DOST).

Daba emphasized the interrelationship of Mt. Kalatungan to ag-riculture and its role as one of the critical watersheds in Mind-anao. Pe r s o n a l i t i e s who were active in the protection of Mt. Kalatungan Range Natural Park were awarded plaques of appreciation to the following: Mayor Alicia Re-sus of Maramag, Punong Barangay Adriano Balaba,

Punong Barangay CeazarTaluas, and Bantay Lasang Vol-unteers Antonio Pin-gol and HerminioGu-into. As part of the closing ceremo-nies, a Brahminy Kite (Haliasturindus) was released in the wilderness in Baran-gay Dagumbaan, as a strategy to inform and educate the local residents primarily on wildlife conserva-tion and protection. Mt. Kalatungan

Range Natural Park was declared as a pro-tected area by virtue of Presidential Proc-lamation No. 305, on May 5, 2000. DENR Region 10 through PENR Officer Agustilo Obsioma of Bukidnon and Protect-ed Area Superinten-dent Virgilino Alima, with the full support of the Protected Area Management Board mobilized the 6th “Al-daw Ta Kalatungan” celebration. (RPAO/PIA-10)

byTess Superioridad-Baluyos

Regional Direc-tor Alfonso Alamban of DOST, region 10, said cash prices of Php100,000, each will be awarded to at least

five (5) national winners which will be given dur-ing the 4th Anniversary Celebration of “Filipin-novation” in November 25, this year.

Qualified to be nominated in the award are start-up compa-nies that are operating for less than three (3) years.

Mt. Kalatungan.....from page 45

47


These companies must be in the field of bio-technology, electron-ics, Information, Com-munications Technology (ICT), material science/engineering, nanotech-nology, and robotics/mechatronics. The nominees will be judged on the follow-ing criteria: technologi-cal content, to include technological innova-tion and its application, manufacturing/produc-tion/service excellence – 50 percent.Market viability to in-clude successful com-

mercialization, global potential, market sus-tainability – 30 percent.Potential socio-econom-ic impact, to include employment generation, environmental sustain-ability, and societal im-pact – 20 percent. Interested to join the search are request-ed to submit their sup-porting papers, such as, company logo, products/services offered, starting date of operation, sales for the last three (3) se-mesters, business plan and contact details. Alamban said regional

candidates will be eval-uated by the regional board of judges in Oc-tober and the winners will automatically vie for the national level of the search. For more informa-tion, please visit the nearest DOST Provin-cial Science and Tech-nology Center (PSTC) in your area, or call the landline phone number (088) 8583931 local 23 or contact Tess Superi-oridad Baluyos, [email protected]. (DOST/PIA-10)

Poster-making contest highlights World Food Day celebration on Oct. 16

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Sept. 21 (PIA) – A nationwide on-the-spot poster making contest will be con-ducted by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organiza-tion (FAO) to mark the annual celebration of the World Food Day on Oct. 16.

by Joanne L. Olson

Anchored on this year’s theme: “Food Prices from Crisis to Sta-bility,” the contest will be held in cooperation with the Department of Ag-riculture (DA) and De-partment of Education (DepEd), region 10.

A yearly affair among elementary pu-pils, the contest aims to heighten their aware-ness on the significance of food in a diverse, yet limitedly-resourced en-vironment, while also allowing them to expand

their imagination and artistic skills. The regional level contest is set on Sept. 30, at the DA-10 Con-ference Room, Cagayan de Oro City, wherein Grades IV to VI elemen-tary students enrolled in

DOST’s Search....from page 46

48


any public and DepEd-accredited private el-ementary schools and who have undergone the rigorous contest elimi-nation process at the school and district levels are invited. To single out the victor, contestants are only allowed to use ma-terials, including a 20” x 30” illustration board, any art medium, except for oil and water color, and a combination of agricultural and fishery products such as dried seaweeds, palay grains, sea shells, squash seeds, mongo, corn kernels/husks, etc. in crafting their poster. Their work will be judged based on the fol-lowing criteria: original-ity, 20 percent;, visual

impact, 20, creative use of agricultural and fish-ery products, 30 percent and relevance to theme, 30 percent. A sole winner at the regional level will be named who will re-ceive a cash prize of Php 3,000 from the FAO and will travel to Manila for the national competition on Oct. 13 at the DA-Information Technology Centre for Agriculture and Fisheries. He/she will also be required to do an entire-ly new poster, on-the-spot, with a completely different design from his/her winning regional master piece. Five (5) of the most exquisite posters will be selected and each will earn a cash prize of

Php 15,000, a trophy and a plaque for the winning school. Also, luminaries will be provided with an all-expense paid educa-tional tour, which will be shouldered by DA’s Na-tional Agricultural and Fishery Council (NAFC). Non-winning re-gional posters, how-ever, will also receive a cash prize of Php 1,000, a certificate of partici-pation and a certificate of appreciation for the school. For further de-tails, you may contact the Regional Agri-culture and Fisheries Information Division (RAFID) of DA-10 at this number: (088) 856-2753. (DA/PIA-10)

4ID Chief pins Wounded Personnel Medal on troopsCAMP EVANGELISTA, Cagayan de Oro City, Sept. 21 (PIA) - A soldier of the Philippine Army (PA) and two (2) active mem-bers of the Civilian Auxiliary Forces Geographical Unit (CAF-GU) were recognized for the wounds they received during two (2) different combat engagements that took place last Sept. 3 and Sept. 5.

Poster-making....from page 47

49


4ID Chief....from page 48

Maj. Gen. Victor A. Felix, Commander of the 4th Infantry “Diamond” Division (4ID), PA pinned the Wounded Personnel Medal (WPM) on Pri-vate First Class Joje-ron M. Gaming, from the 42nd Division Re-connaissance Com-pany (DRC), who has been confined at the Army Hospital, here. Gaming was rec-ognized for the brav-ery he displayed in the performance of his duties during an encounter against an undetermined num-ber of New People’s Army (NPA) commu-nist rebels at Sitio Zapanta Valley, Ba-rangay Bangayan, Kicharao, Agusan del Norte, last Sept. 3. Likewise, CAA Simplicio U. Saloda-

ga and CAA Giovane L. Juan, both mem-bers of the operat-ing elements of Bravo Company, 8th Infan-try Battalion, were wounded during an ambush by an unde-termined number of NPA believed to be members of Guerilla Front 6, North Central Mindanao Revolution-ary Committee (NCM-RC) at Sitio Nursery, Barangay Namnam, San Fernando, Bukid-non, last Sept. 5.The 4ID Commander expressed his heart-felt gratitude and ap-preciation to the sol-dier and CAA’s for their sacrifices and dedication to the ser-vice. “The services rendered by our sol-diers to protect the sovereignty and ter-

r itorial integrity of CARAGA and Region X are worthy and commendable,” Fel ix said. The WPM is usu-al ly given to troops for wounds they re-ceive from the en-emies of the nation and this is always accompanied with f inancial support for medical treatment of wounds. Meanwhile, al l three personnel are now recovering and in good condit ion, Fel ix said. He also as-sured that 4ID wil l continue to support i ts wounded sol-diers and help com-fort and support their famil ies dur-ing these t imes of extreme sacri f ices. (4CMO/PIA-10)

Bukidnon PLEB undergo orientation on RA 6975 & RA 8551MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon, Sept. 21 (PIA) -- Some 96 mem-bers of the People’s Law Enforcement Board (PLEB) from this province, attended an orientation on the salient points of Re-public Act No. 6975 and 8551, recently.

by Rochelle D. Dagang

50


The orientation was conducted joint-ly by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), in the region. Regional Direc-tor Loreto M. Bhag-wani of DILG-10 said PLEB was created as a local community mechanism tasked to investigate and de-cide on citizen’s com-plaints against erring members of the Phil-ippine National Police (PNP).It is also a Local Spe-cial Body which the local chief executives must organize upon assumption to office based on the Local Government Code. Only, the orienta-tion was delayed because of the busy schedule. It was also ob-served that the PLEB members experi-enced several con-straints as a police

disciplinary body, thus the need to con-duct the orientation, Bhagwani said. Initiated by the province of Bukid-non, the orientation was held to instill knowledge to the PLEB members re-garding organization and procedure, ad-ministrative due pro-cess, administrative penalties, apprecia-tion of evidence, de-cision writing, among others. Bhagwani said by virtue of RA6975 and RA8551, the powers of the PLEB include the follow-ing: To conduct hear-ings, resolve and de-cide on cases filed against erring offi-cers of the PNP. To establish link-ages with other gov-ernment agencies and initiate contacts will non-governmen-tal organizations (NGO’s) in the com-munity for a wider

network of alliance in the flight to re-store order and disci-pline among the PNP members. To maintain goodwill towards the church and church-oriented groups for moral advantage of the PLEB. To conduct sem-inars for the PLEB, to assist in improving the professionalism, restore discipline and credibility among the members of the po-lice force, among others. Meanwhile, PLEB is composed of mem-bers of the Sang-gunians, presidents of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC), non-govern-ment organizations (NGO),and repre-sentatives from the Department of Edu-cation (DepEd) and the religious sec-tor, among others.(DILG-10)

Bukidnon PLEB....from page 49


One Mindanao - September 21, 2011

Documents

pia caraga region nora

pia region ximanaging

pia caraga regioncopy

pia region x rudolph

davao flooding

butuan city dswdcaraga

edaga regional director

people aquino