COMMUNITY BILLBOARD

  

Bishop fears abortion to rise with SC ruling

BAGUIO CITY -- A Catholic bishop fears that abortion cases in the country will spike after the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of the Reproductive Health Law.

In an interview with Church-run Radyo Veritas, Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon said that with the High Court's ruling, the RH law will now be implemented.  

The bishop has also expressed dismay over the SC decision, which he claims ignored what the duty of the State provided for in the Constitution to protect life of the unborn child.

Abortions have been prevalent in the country despite the existing anti-abortion law in the Philippines, or Republic Act 3815,  Bishop Cenzon noted.

The prelate said that with or without the RH law, the contraceptive mentality among Filipinos is also prevalent as indicated with the growing number of abortion cases.

Bishop Cenzon cited that base on the research of Guttmacher Institute and University of the Philippines Population Institute, there were 470,000 induced abortion cases in the country in 2000. This number rose to 560,000 in 2010.

Calasiao mayoral bet to file libel case vs Czech envoy

Calasiao, Pangasinan – US-based former Calasiao mayoral bet Wilson de Vera of the Liberal Party  is planning to file a libel suit against Czech Ambassador Josef  Rychter for accusing him  of attempting to extort $30-M from a Czech train company to win a contract from Metro Rail Transit. De Vera, being linked by the Czech official  to the bribery attempt, was contacted by Pangasinan media men through e-mail and cell phone early this week to get his side on the Czech’s accusation that MRT General Manager Al Vitangcol used him (De Vera) to offer $30-M bribe in exchange for a contract to supply MRT 48 new coaches in 2012. De Vera described the Czech’s accusation as a big lie and a “figment of wild imagination.” -- LBI

Benguet congressional office to provide scholarships  

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet --The Benguet Congressional District Office has allotted  P42  million  worth of  educational assistance  program  for poor  but deserving students from the province who want to earn degrees in college.

The  amount of P14 million  is  intended for the Commission on Higher Education -Cordillera  and another P28 million for the Benguet State University for scholarship grants

According to Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan,students can  apply  for any of  the  scholarships. 

This he said  is one way of assisting the youth in Benguet who want to go to college but cannot do so because of poverty.

“With the Educational Assistance Program, we can help them fulfill their dreams,” he  said.

The  goal is to have 10 scholars  in every barangay in Benguet who should maintain passing grades without any failure in their rating cards.

Cosalan urged would-be scholars to give their best and study hard so they can have a better future.  

He said not all are given the opportunity to be offered scholarships so they should take advantage of this blessing that come their way and hopefully pay it forward by being good citizens of the country.

We have so many scholars who are now professionals and are successful in their chosen careers, Cosalan added. -- Joseph Zambrano

Banaue  dad creates parenting movement

By Daniel Codamon

BANAUE, Ifugao -- The municipal mayor  here  has created  a Responsible Parenting Movement (RPM) and designated  a municipal population officer as the main person in implementation of responsible parenthood and natural family planning program in the municipality.

Mayor Jerry Dalipog said   this was in line  with the  the national government –issued directive on RPM and NFP to empower Filipino families through responsible parenting by making couples aware of their basic responsibilities as parents and local government units has to take full charge in its implementation.

It also gives the LGUs liberty to promote artificial family planning while the national government advocates all scientific natural family planning technologies.

Dalipog assumes as the  RPM  with Vice Mayor Joel Bungallon as the vice chairman.

Members are municipal health officer Lorna Baga, municipal Social Welfare and Development officer Blandina Campos, ABC president Genoveva Pocopio, school nurse Rosa Bahatan, municipal treasurer Martha Ballangi and municipal local Civil registrar Gertrude Daguio.

Designated  as the population  officer was municipal nurse Romana Lingan.

The  RPM  is tasked to  organize the Responsible Parenthood-Natural Family  Planning (RP-NFP) Team at the municipal and barangay levels, ensure that the barangay RP-NFP Team and Community Health Workers perform their functions, continuously sustain the barangay RP-NFP, coordinate the conduct of municipal trainers training on RP-NFP, keep a master list of all NFP users and attendees of the RPM-NFP classes and keep a master list of couple mentors or providers.

Meanwhile, Dalipog has  also reorganized  and expanded the composition of the Local Poverty Action Team (LPRAT).

The  LPRAT  in now composed of the  mayor as  chairman with Jimmy Cabbigat from the Civil Society Organizations as the vice chairman.

Members include  15 from local government unit offices and officials and 15 from the various CSOs in the municipality. 

Three members from the municipal government compose the secretariat.

BFP activates   fire station in Tinglayan

TINGLAYAN, Kalinga --The Bureau of Fire Protection has  now  four municipal fire stations in the province with the  activation of Tinglayan Municipal Fire Station last week.

Mayor Johnny Maymaya accepted responsibility from BFP-Cordillera  regional director Senior Supt Sergio Soriano Jr. as he expressed gratitude for granting their request to have their own municipal fire station.

Said fire station is strategically located at the municipal building compound in a lot donated by the local government unit. This will be  under the leadership of SFO1 Nestor Aboli as the Municipal Fire Marshal.

A fire truck is also issued in said office.

The mayor commended the bureau for their assistance in training volunteers in the area as he appealed for their continuous support especially in the information education drive and additional trainings in the barangays.

He shared said as cultural community, the people of Tinglayan have  their traditional way  for  distress call during fires  which they call  “fotad.”  

Fotad he related  is done primarily to alert the tribe and call for help.

All those alerted are obliged to come and help extinguish the fire.

“After the fire is put off, the community would gather and investigate its cause. Anyone who was not able to respond to the fotad would also be investigated and penalized if they don’t have any justifiable reason why they fail to help,” he said.

The activation of the fire station  coincided with the regional celebration of 48th Fire Prevention Month in the province with the theme “Isulong ang Kaunlaran, Sunog ay Iwasan, Kaalaman at Pag-iingat and Kailangan.” -- Geraldine Dumallig

100 graduate ALS system in  Ifugao

ALFONSO LISTA, Ifugao -- With the theme “Hindi NatitinagangPusong PILIPINO”, the Alternative Learning System (ALS) here graduated  100 students under its Basic Literacy Program (BLP) last March 25  at the Sta. Maria Ampitheater of Barangay Sta. Maria, this municipality.

The graduates composed of 48 boys and 52 girls came from the different barangays of the municipality who have attended  classes under the   ALS of the Department of Education (DepEd) conducted by mobile teachers (MTs) to adapt with the situation and convenience of the learners.

Most of the learners are over-aged students, out-of-school youth  and some  parents  who did not finish their basic education.

 The ALS classes were conducted in  two districts.  The first district was administered by Dominador Guinid as the District Alternative Learning System Coordinator (DALSC)  and District II by  Apolinario Paculor.

They were  assisted   by three  MTs each, two   hired by the DEpEd and   four  by the local government unit.

 In her message to the graduates, DepEd  Cordillera Region Director Ellen Donato  told the graduates “to cherish the gift of learning and keep doing while savoring the gains in each stage, shun from being victims of circumstances and make your life better for yourself and those around you by sharing the gains of education in every endeavor where need be.

In the end, you would be consoled with the thought that you are not only a statistic but a significant asset to nation building”.

Meanwhile, provincial ALS coordinator Arsenio Yongoyong informed that a total of 426 out of the total of 1,111 who took the Accreditation and Equivalency (A and E) Test given by the ALS last year passed the examination. The  38.34%  passing rate is the second highest in the Cordillera Administrative Region  next to Baguio City with 53.82%.

Of the 426 passers, 16  in the elementary level while 410  in the secondary -- Daniel Codamon

ASEAN, K-12 national confab held at BSU

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE) convened April 3-5 here at Benguet State University to discuss issues and challenges on the the country’s K-12 education program and ASEAN integration. Attended by students and teachers of different universities in the country, the goal was to learn new insights on future media landscapes with the theme “Communication and Media Education and Practice: Issues and Challenges on ASEAN Integration and K-12”.

Dr. Sauwakon Ratanwijitrasin, the Centre Director of the ASEAN Regional Center For Higher Education and Development spoke Bologna process and harmonization in education and importance of changing the education landscape of the ASEAN.

“All the ten member countries (ASEAN) should work together as a whole” Ratanwijitrasin said.

The conference was in line with the ASEAN’s plan to integrate the economies of its member-states in 2015 wherein its leaders declared that the ASEAN Economic Community shall be the goal of this regional integration by 2020.

Papers on communication and journalism topics by faculty and students of different universities in the country  were also presented in the conference. -- Cleo Mae Valdez and Carlo Hije

B’gay execs told: Monitor tobacco sale near schools

BAGUIO CITY  -   Selling or distribution of tobacco products in various school perimeters is rampant  and it has been observed that there are no signage informing and warning the persons below 18 years of age that selling and distribution of tobacco products to them are prohibited. 

It is for this reason that the 128 barangays in the city of Baguio are requested to supervise and monitor within their jurisdiction the convenient stores and ambulant vendors selling tobacco products within 100 meters from any point of the perimeter of a school and at the same time to see to it that there is visible signage informing or warning that selling or distribution of tobacco products to persons under 18 years of age is prohibited through the city council’s resolution no. 053.

This is in support to Republic Act 9211 also known as the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003. 

The act states that, “it is the policy of the State to protect the populace from hazardous products and promote right to health and instill health consciousness among them. It is also the policy of the State, consistent with the Constitutional ideal to promote the general welfare, to safeguard the interest of the workers and other stakeholders in the tobacco industry.  Thus, the government shall institute a balanced policy whereby the use, sale and advertisements of tobacco products shall be regulated in order to promote a healthful environment and protect the citizens from the hazards of tobacco smoke, and at the same time ensure the interest of tobacco farmers, growers, workers, and stakeholders are not adversely compromised.”        

This is also in line with the city’s campaign for a 100 percent smoke-free bureaucracy and city.  --- JhoArranz

813 avail of Bontoc ‘Operation tule’

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Some 813 patients availed of the free “Operation Tule” and medical- dental mission conducted simultaneously from April 2-4, 2014 at the Bontoc General Hospital (BoGH).

According to Dorothy Villanueva, supervising administrative officer of Bontoc General Hospital, 451 patients benefitted from the medical services while 170 others availed of the dental services.

Villanueva added that 192 patients mostly children availed of the free “Operation Tule”.

She said “Operation Tule” is very timely because vacations of schools have just started giving time for the healing or recovery of those who availed of the free circumcision.

She further said that the free medicines were given to the patients who availed of the free services of the hospital.

The medical-dental mission and “Operation Tule” are part of the activities of the 47th Mountain Province Foundation Day and 10th Lang-ay and Cultural Festival.

Meanwhile, in an interview with some of the patients who availed of the medical-dental mission and “Operation Tule”, they thanked the provincial government of Mountain Province through the Bontoc General Hospital and Provincial Health Office in delivering free health services to the constituents in Mountain Province.  -- Alpine L.Killa

TESDA scholarships up

BAGUIO CITY - The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) is calling on interested applicants for training in slaughtering operations under Training for Work Scholarship Program (TWSP).

In a letter to Mayor Mauricio Domogan, TESDA provincial director Angela Gabriel called on interested individuals who have not availed of the TSWP from 2006 to 2013.

The applicant should be 18 years old and a high school graduate, the letter read.

Slots are limited and award is on a first-come-first-served basis. Applicants are enjoined to get in touch with the TESDA Provincial office at AD Tan bldg., Km. 4, La Trinidad, Benguet, or they can call 074-309-1142 for information.

Other short courses in electrical, electronics, basic housekeeping, caregiving, baking, cooking, beauty culture; could also be enrolled in TESDA-accredited schools, in Baguio and Benguet. – Julie G. Fianza

Baguio City centenarian honored

BAGUIO CITY- Baguio Centenarian FlorentinaTabtab-De Vera “celebrates life daily, continues to be an icon of longevity and a pillar of strength, to family, friends and the community” with the more than a hundred years she is blessed with.

Born  Oct. 10, 1912 in Baroro, Bacnotan, La Union; Florentina is the youngest of the seven children of fisherman AgapitoTabtab and housewife Proxedes Buen.

She attended grades 1 and 2 at Bacnotan Elementary School, and finished up to intermediate grades at Alabang Elementary School.

Her high school years were spent in Tondo, Manila.

In 1936, Florentina came to Baguio where she worked at the Ibeck Store, the only American store along Session road. She also worked as assistant to Dr. Stafford at Outlook Drive for a year.

She met and later got married to Canuto de Vera on May 05, 1938.

The couple stayed in Outlook Drive drive but moved to Arellano st., Mines View Park Barangay during World War II. House caretakers for a property, they stayed in Mines View Park until 1997.

Florentina and her husband were hardworking folks and brought up their children well, imbibed them with values of integrity and industry. Her grandchildren are also recipients of her care, teachings, and good examples of a life well-lived.

She is thus, whole-heartedly honored with a city resolution given by the council. Recognition and privileges are also conferred to her as to the resolution.

Mrs. De Vera credits her 100 years of live to a “caring family, healthy food and a happy disposition. She was able to weather life’s storms because of her strong conviction that life is to be cherished because it is a gift from the Supreme Giver of life.”

The city has been giving out recognition for citizens who have laid down foundations through examples throughout their long lives. – Julie G. Fianza      

Ilocos PNP adopts young scholars

SAN FERNANDO CITY, La Union – Police here headed by Supt Julius Suriben has launched the project “Batang Iskolar ni Manong Polis ( BIMPO)” which  provides allowance and clothing to young pupils.

The first in the history of the Philippine national Police here, Suriben said “The Manong and Manang Pulis” here has  innovative way of fighting or preventing crimes as well as in gaining the people’s trust and respect for the police.

Recently, one of the three scholars of the city police enrolled in the Project BIMPo, Rhenruff P Samoy, a resident of Catbangen and a Grade 1 pupil, topped her class at Catbangen Central School, this city, and was awarded for being 1st Honor.

As prize, the city police gave her a new pair of shoes and blouse to  encourage her to excel in class.

As a BIMPO scholar, Suriben said, she receives monthly allowance amounting to P 800 from city police.

The fund comes from the voluntary contributions of all policemen of the city as their social responsibility program.

Samoy and her mother expressed their thanks to Suriben and his men for the scholarship and guidance they are providing them.

Rhenruff also thanked the chief of police as she vowed to maintain her standing in class and become a police officer someday.

This project would also remove the stigma of fear for policemen and enhance the relationship between the police and the community.

According to Suriben, they plan to expand the reach of Project BIMPO to cater to more students especially the poor but deserving students and to reach out to more generous benefactors by giving away BIMPO Alkansiya to individuals, organizations and business establishments.

“Lately, a netizen with  Facebook name Lara Geraldine Bacer, an employee of the provincial government of La Union, signified her intention to be a part of the project by helping distribute BIMPO Alkansiyas which according to her will be passed to her friends and co employees during pay day. She discovered about the project when “BalitangAmianan of GMA7″ posted it on their facebook account,” stressed Suriben.

This is a very noble project which Suriben wants to sustain because according to him, this would help attack one of the root causes of crime, which is poverty.

“By giving more educational opportunities to the less fortunate, we are helping the government alleviate poverty which in effect would be decreasing the possibility of crime occurrence and opening windows of opportunity for our fellowmen who may be our future leaders or even one of our best police men and women in the next generation,” pointed out Suriben. -- Mar T. Supnad

Beachgoers told to shun liquor, sun

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Influx of visitors and beachgoers starts last week with searing summer heat now on the upswing.

Here, authorities warned the public specially visitors to shun drinking liquor that may cause drowning.

Supt.Ryan Manongdo, spokesman of Pangasinan Provincial Police Office, said a water-borne team composed of eight cops are on standby to monitor Lingayen beach in case of search and rescue operation.

To date, there has been no reported case of drowning incident here. Meanwhile, Dr. Ana De Guzman, provincial health officer, urged the public not to get exposed to the sun specially around 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. because of strong ultraviolet rays that may cause sunburn or irritation of skin. -- LiezleBasaInigo