Couple dies in Isabela
road mishap
CORDON, Isabela -- A couple died when their
motorcycle crashed into a road repair project along the national highway here
in Barangay Caguilingan Tuesday night. Chief Insp. Ronnie Naira, Cordon police
chief, identified the fatalities as Ephraim Caagusan, 44, and his wife Jane,
43. Police said the area is accident-prone due to
the failure of the Department of Public Works and Highways to put up warning
signs. -- Raymund Catindig
Animal facilities need mandatory
registration
BAGUIO
CITY -- All interested partners, firm, corporation, association, or any
government agency who desires to engage in the establishment, operation and
maintenance of animal facilities are required to secure a certificate of
registration at the Department of Agriculture-Cordillera Administrative Region
through its Livestock Program and the DA-Bureau of Animal Industry prior to local government unit’s issuance of
business permit.
This action is pursuant to Republic Act No.
8485 known as Animal Welfare Act (AWA). This act provides guidelines in the
registration of animal control facility, aviary, cattery, cattle farm, circus
or carnival show, corral, crocodile farm, goat farm, corral, grooming facility,
hog farm, kennel, laboratory animal facility, monkey farm, ostrich farm, pet
shop, poultry farm, racetrack and equestrian establishment, slaughterhouse,
stock farm, stockyard, stud farm, veterinary clinic, veterinary hospital,
wildlife rescue center and zoo and other animal facilities.
Further, the AWA protects and promotes the
welfare of animals, including birds by supervising and regulating the
establishment and operation of all facilities utilized for breeding,
maintaining, keeping, treating or training of all animals either as objects of
trade or as household pets.
For more information, contact DA-Livestock
Sector, BPI Compound, Guisad, Baguio City at (074) 444-9872/ Smart
(0998-3767-419); Globe (0915-2209-987). -- JFPotectan
Ilocos Norte sets Christmas activities
LAOAG
CITY – The provincial government officially opened its annual Christmas
celebration, "Paskua Mi Ditoy," with a light-up at the provincial
capitol here Nov. 14.
"Paskua
Mi Ditoy" is an Ilocano phrase which means "Pasko namin dito."
A
Solid North Tupig Cook-Off was also held Dec. 16 in the town of Dingras.
Conceptualized
in 2010, start of Gov. Imee R. Marcos' administration, it became highlight in
Ilocos Norte's Christmas celebration.
The
cook-off encouraged innovation of traditional
cuisine, with contingents deviating from the usual lineup of tupig ingredients
and using roasted peanuts, cheese, langka (jackfruit), and even gamet (Ilocos
black seaweed) in their creations.—Mizpah
Grace G. Castro
Discrimination of HIV-infected workers
prohibited
BAGUIO
CITY – The City Council approved on first reading a proposed ordinance
prohibiting all forms of discrimination perceived or suspected or even found to
be positively infected with Human Immune Deficiency virus (HIV) in workplaces
within the jurisdiction of the city.
The ordinance authored by Councilor Leandro
B. Yangot, Jr. stated employers cannot simply equate HIV to disability, thus,
it is unlawful to discriminate against any employee or applicant because one or
she is perceived, suspected or confirmed to be infected with HIV in regard to
hiring, termination, promotion, compensation, job training or any other term,
condition or privilege of employment.
Yangot claimed it will be unlawful for
employers to require compulsory HIV testing to applicants seeking employment
with them or to its current employees who are suspected of having been infected
with the dreaded illness.
He added all local government and private
employers, must have an official protocol in handling suspected or positive HIV
cases in their respective workplaces and that they can get the assistance of
the Department of labor and Employment (DOLE) on how to formulate and adopt the
required protocol.
Under
the provisions of the ordinance, licenses or permits issued by the local
government to employers or business entities found guilty of committing
discriminatory acts or policies shall be revoked. -- Dexter A. See
Mark Fernandez pleads not guilty to
drug raps
ANGELES
CITY – Movie actor Mark Anthony Fernandez pleaded not guilty to charges of
possession of illegal drugs during his arraignment here Tuesday.
The
Hall of Justice was declared off-limits to media as security personnel guarded
the main entry.
A
bus of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology that brought Fernandez here
dropped him off at the back door.
The arraignment of Fernandez was twice
postponed after government prosecutors filed a motion seeking to include a
“grinder” for marijuana on the list of items recovered from the actor. He was
arrested on Oct. 3 after over 500 grams of dried marijuana were found in his
car.
Fernandez has yet to be arraigned for
resistance and disobedience to authorities after he allegedly tried to flee
after police found the illegal drugs.
He is being held at the provincial jail in
San Fernando. – Ding
Cervantes
DSWD giving emergency shelter cash aid
in Kalinga
CITY OF TABUK, Kalinga - - The Department of
Social Welfare and Development is now distributing emergency shelter cash aid
to families whose houses were damaged by super typhoon ‘Lawin’ last
October.
City Social Welfare and Development Officer
Susana Daluping reported there are 6,744 families affected, 454 with totally
damaged houses and 6290 partially damaged houses.
Under the program,
each family is given P5, 000 cash aid for construction materials. The list of
beneficiaries was prepared based on the reports and authentication
submitted by barangay officials, Daluping noted. For easier release, recipients
were advised to submit pictures of their damaged houses.
A team from DSWD,
CSWDO and LGU will monitor to check whether beneficiaries properly used the
cash aid given to them.
In the aftermath of
‘Lawin’, DSWD Sec. Judy Taguiwalo, who led in distribution of relief goods in
the province and initial emergency shelter cash aid to 10 families, here, vowed
to extend additional cash assistance to more families affected. -- Larry T. Lopez
OWWA processing cash applications of typhoon-
affected OFWs in Abra
BANGUED, Abra -- The Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration through the Overseas Filipino Workers Center here headed by
Fredelyn Beato is now processing applications under its Cash Relief (CARE)
Program.
The CARE program is a
relief program of the OWWA extended to OWWA members and their families who were
victims of Typhoon Lawin. It gives P3, 000 to active members and P1, 500 to
inactive OWWA members.
Abra badly hit by the
typhoon where tropical cyclone signal No. 5 was raised. Abra had a total
estimated cost of damages to life and properties of over P3.3 billion with
almost 20,000 houses damaged; one death and 73 persons injured; crops damaged
reached almost P300 M; tree plantation - P8 M; fishery - P8.7 M; livestock -
P58.4 M; agri-land - P87.5 M; and government infrastructures - P2.7
Billion. The province was declared under state of calamity -- Maria Teresa B. Beñas
WWII memorial to rise in Ilocos Sur
SAN
ESTEBAN, Ilocos Sur – Local officials led by Mayor Ray Elaydo in this coastal
town are now readying the construction of a historical landing site and
national marker in Barangay Apatot, site of the landing of the USS GAR
submarine at the height of World War II where then young armed forces soldier
Ferdinand Marcos and US and Filipino commandos reportedly unloaded tons of war
equipment and supplies on November 23, 1944.
Mayor Elaydo said that the putting up of the
historic landing site is one of the tourism attractions being developed by his
administration in this coastal town, which once served as the message center of
the 121st Infantry, USAFIP-NL, the provisional seat of the provincial
government during the liberation campaign and the seat of the base hospital of
the US Army.
“Based on the history and revelations of the
old folk here, Marcos and Lazaro Guzman led and guided other commandos aboard
from the USS GAR submarine in successfully unloading big guns and other war
materials during the World War II in barangay Apatot. This is why our
town was in world map due to its role during the war,” Elaydo said. -- Mar T. Supnad
Kalinga joins push to end violence
against women, kids
CITY OF TABUK, Kalinga - - The provincial
government, agencies and the public participate in annual observance of the
18-day campaign to end Violence Against Women (VAW).
Gov. Jocel Baac earlier
directed concerned local offices to organize and conduct activities promoting
gender equality and empowering women to get involved in community development.
He also asked everyone to wear orange or hang orange cloths or ribbons as icon
for the defense of women’s rights.
The 18-Day campaign to
end VAW is observed annually from Nov. 25 to Dec. 12 to raise awareness among
all stakeholders that VAW is a public issue of national concern. It supports
the Philippine government’s goal to protect the human rights of women and their
children and its commitment to address all forms of VAW.
With the theme, “VAW-free Community
Starts with Me”, shifts the campaign to positive advocacy messaging by
giving emphasis on everyone’s commitment and contributions in ending VAW,
and collaborative pursuit of our common vision of a VAW-free community.
Dr. Bernadette Andaya, head of the provincial
office of the Department of Health here, earlier said they planned to gather at
least women during the culmination day on Dec. 12 for an advocacy lecture aimed
to sustain in the communities the advocacy to keep stakeholders vigilant
against gender abuses.-- Peter A.
Balocnit
445th Pampanga Day festivity kicks off
CITY
OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga -- The 445th Aldo ning Kapampangan (Pampanga Day)
celebration kicked off here Monday with the theme “Masayang Pamilya king
Maasensung Probinsya” at the provincial capitol grounds.
The
celebration started with a holy mass officiated by Archbishop Florentino
Lavarias where Gov. Lilia Pineda was joined by provincial government officials,
employees, municipal and city mayors and other local government officials.
After the mass, attendees gathered for the
flag raising ceremonies.
Some
19 municipalities and cities participated in the street dancing competition
where they presented their respective festival dances.
Floridablanca bested the other participants
followed by Guagua, San Simon and City of San Fernando. Special citations were
also given to San Simon and Guagua for their head dress and costumes,
respectively.
Other activities in this year’s week-long
celebration included river cruise, launching of Preventive Health Management
System and medical mission, coronation of Mutya ning Kapampangan and most
outstanding Kapampangan awards. -- PNA
Ifugao student dropouts spur teachers’
training
LAGAWE, Ifugao – The icreasing number of
students dropping out from school in the province has spurred a training attended
196 participants composed of teachers, student leaders and local school
board members recently completed training on mechanisms and procedures in
handling child abuse and bullying in cchools and on positive discipline and
child protection policies against child abuse in schools.
The
activity oriented the participants on the Department of
Education’s(DepEd) policies on child protection, anti-bullying and the legal
bases of these such as the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the
Child, the provisions of the Philippine Constitution on the rights of children
and assistance to them, the Family Code of the Philippines and the Code of
Ethics for Teachers to help strengthen the formation of Child
Protection Councils(CPCs) in the schools, clarify the roles and functions
of each stakeholders and to develop action plans for the CPCs.
The training which
coincided with the celebration of November as Children’s Month, was made
possible through the effort of the Cordillera Parents’ Federation, Inc. (CPFI)
in collaboration with the DepEd Ifugao Schools Division.
The DepEd adapted the child
protection policy to provide special protection to children who are threatened
or endangered by circumstances which affect their normal development. It
includes all forms of abuses or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect,
maltreatment and exploitation and sexual abuse.
It also establishes
the right of the child to education.
The training was
initiated by CPFI after learning dropouts were up in schools since not all
teachers were trained the the policy.
Moreover,
based on program quality review last year, it was noted that there is still an
increasing number of children aged 6-14 years who are at risk of dropping out
from schools which is one of the major challenges of the DepEd and other
stakeholders.
CPFI is enhancing its
collaboration and partnership with different stakeholders like the Student
Governing Councils, Local School Boards, CPC and the DepEd towards the
prevention of drop outs. -- Daniel B. Codamon
DOE urges prudent use of fuel and
electricity
BAGUIO CITY -- The Department of Energy
urged prudent use of energy in
government offices to reduce expenditures.
DOE officials stressed
this during a seminar on Government Energy Management Program headed by the DOE
in partnership with the Philippine Information Agency held recently at Hotel
Supreme here.
DOE – Energy Unit
Management Bureau Assistant Director Jesus Anunciacion said the GEMP was for
energy efficiency and judicious use for fuel and electricity requiring them to
reduce their consumption by 10 percent.
For the past 10 years from September 2005 to
December 2015, the government saved P2.42 billion in electricity and P310
million in transport fuel, he said.
Senior Science
Research Specialist Maximino G. Marquez, also of DOE, said the GEMP indicated use of agency savings yearly since September
1, 2005 in kilowatt-hour for electricity and liters which is limited to 50
percent of accumulated savings for those who failed to attain the required
minimum 10 percent savings and 100 percent of their accumulated savings for
those who attained 10 percent savings or more.
Priorities in the use
of savings were improvements in energy efficiency of government entity or
facility, upgrade, lease, purchase of vehicles to be used by employees as
shuttle service, purchase or lease of service vehicles to replace the old and
inefficient units assigned to officials, citations or recognitions and grant of
other benefits to employees consistent with the Collective Negotiation
Agreement.
The government
has also conducted spot checks in 814 government agencies while certificates of
energy/monetary savings have been issued to 252 government agencies with a
total monetary savings of P489.7million, he added.
Anunciacion said
brownouts will be experienced if electricity is wasted. -- Susan C. Aro
TESDA urges tec-voc institutions to training and scholarship program
BAGUIO CITY -- The Technical Education and
Skills Development Authority in
Cordilleraurged public and private technical vocational institutions (TVIs) to
participate in its Training for Work and Scholarship Program (TWSP).
Daisy Jamorabon of
TESDA-CAR said as the lead agency of the government in charge of the
development and implementation of technical education and skills development in
the country, TESDA has been providing various scholarship grants to the
qualified beneficiaries under TWSP.
For Cordillera, P27
million was set for training scholarship programs. It shall be utilized to
support rapid, inclusive and sustained economic growth through training
programs in priority industries and key employment generators such as
agri-fishery/agri-business/agro-industrial, tourism, information
technology-business process management (IT-BPM), semiconductor and electronics,
automotive, other priority manufacturing industries, logistics,
general infrastructure and new and emerging sector as identified and
recommended by the regional offices or industry bodies.
Invitation to tender
for scholarship programs containing the qualification titles/programs to be
offered in the province/district is posted in the TESDA website and in
significant conspicuous areas in the province/district for a period of seven
calendar days.
Individuals who want
to avail of the said TWSP are advised to visit the nearest TESDA
provincial/district offices in their areas. -- Maria Aprila Cruz
Abra gov’t info officers
inducted
BANGUED Abra -- The Abra Communicators Network, in
partnership with the Philippine Information Agency in the province held
capacity-building meeting and induction of the ComNet’s new set of officers at
the DTI Negosyo Center, here, last week with the theme, ‘Strengthening Network
of Communicators for an empowered and informed public’.
The ComNet’s new set
of officers is led by Forester Carlos Pariñas of Community Environment
and Natural Resources Office – Bangued with Nelly Bacarra of the National Food
Authority as vice president; Novy Lou Baguionon of the Provincial Veterinary
Office, Secretary; Alfreinel Partido of Department of Interior and Local
Government, Assistant Secretary; Pacencia Bello of Dept. of Public
Works and Highways, Treasurer; Rex Hall of Dept. of Trade and Industry,
Auditor; Rolando Biscarra of Villaviciosa local government unit, business
manager, and Jan Nowel Peña of Dept. of Education, PRO.
PIA Cordillera
Regional Director Helen Tibaldo administered the induction of the ComNet Abra
officers.
In her keynote message, Tibaldo outlined that
‘as information officers, our mandate is to inform to inspire; inspire to
involved; and involved to influence (people and the community) for the common
good’. -- Carlito C. Dar
DOH expands mother, child health program
BANGUED, Abra -- The Department of Health has
mapped out its expansion plan to sustain the Mother and Child Health Care
Program in the Cordillera. The MnCHC program funded by the Japan International
Cooperation Agency (JICA) will end on February 2017.
Fude Takayoshi, chief
advisor of the MnCHC program reported positive results on their terminal
evaluation on the project implementation.
Takayoshi said the
project implementers, referring to the Inter-Local Health Zones (ILHZ),
performed par excellence based on the five grid-parameter of evaluation. The 5
grid bases for evaluation are relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and
sustainability.
With the MnCHC
program, the ILHZs have overshot all their targets especially in the overall
attainment of the national government's objective of providing universal health
care to the people.
Because of very
satisfactory performance of the ILHZs covering six municipalities in Abra
namely Dolores, Lagangilang, San Juan, Peñarrubia, Villaviciosa and Pilar, the
DOH will expand the said project after JICA is out and replicate the project in
other 21 municipalities of Abra.
On the part of the
participating local government units, though they were a little short of the
target budgetary counterpart allocation pegged by the Department of Interior
and Local Government, they have become more responsive to the health needs of
their people.
The LGUs came out with
legislative support to the program by passing ordinances on zero home
deliveries to promote health and prevent mortality of mother and child
particularly during birth. -- Maria Teresa B. Beñas
OWWA gives P1.6 million to ‘Lawin-
affected OFWs
BAGUIO CITY – The Overseas Workers Welfare
Administration provided assistance to Overseas Filipino Workers and their
families victimized by Typhoon Lawin.
Under the Cash Relief Assistance (CARE)
program, OWWA provides cash assistance to affected OFWs or their
immediate families at P3,000 for active OWWA members and P1,500 for non –
OWWA member OFWs.
To date, OWWA has
already released a total of P1, 612,500.00 to 748 approved applicants.
Processing of other applications is still on – going.
Applications will be
accepted until Feb. 2, 2017.
OWWA Cordillera OIC Regional Director Evelyn
Laranang explained that the CARE Program is in line with the
government’s commitment to alleviate financial difficulties of OFW families
particularly to OFWs whose livelihood were affected or properties were
damaged during the onslaught of super typhoon ‘Lawin’.
Laranang appealed to those who have submitted
their application and are yet to receive their financial assistance to bear
with OWWA-CAR. Since the program was implemented, applications already reached
11,179 (as of December 1), and OWWA personnel are working overtime to expedite
the processing and releasing of assistance to their clientele.
Super Typhoon Lawin,
which strongest winds and heavy rains hit Cordillera last October 19 and
20, affected 119,134 families or over half a million individuals
and caused billion worth of damages to infrastructure and
agriculture based on the Cordillera Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council report. -- Carlito C. Dar
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