Three motorcycle drivers killed in Cagayan
mishap
SOLANA,
Cagayan -- Three motorcycle riders were killed here last week when they were
rammed by a Suzuki Vitara driven by Marcelino Balao, 32, of Tuguegarao City at
Barangay Nangalisan.
The Tuesday
collision killed Marcial Diaz, Steven Peña, and Bubut Agustin, all residents of
Amulung, Cagayan.
SM Baguio employees give Christmas treat to
street sweeper
BAGUIO CITY
-- A street sweeper received an early Christmas gift as she was chosen by the
SM Baguio employees to receive gifts in the annual share-a-joy even sponsored
by mall workers.
Jacinta
Buclig, 62, a widow, received gifts and cash amounting to P15,000 from the
human resource Department, which collected voluntary contributions from workers.
Buclig, a
park attendant (street sweeper) for 30 years, was surprised when mall employees
visited her at the Children’s Playground of Burnham Park and treated her to a
short musical program.
A mother who
works to single-handedly raise and send four children to school, Buclig came to
tears as she was given a tribute and told that she and her children have a free
pass and lunch at SM Baguio.
“This is our
fourth year. Instead of having a Christmas party, we decided to give joy to
someone,” Karren Nobres, SM Baguio manager for information said.
This year’s
theme of the project is “KriSMiles, United We Give.”
Blackouts hit Ilocos Sur
LAOAG CITY,
Ilocos Norte – Power interruptions will hit several towns in Ilocos Sur
Wednesday and Thursday, the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) said.
The towns of
San Ildefonso, Sto. Domingo, Magsingal, San Juan, Cabugao, Sinait and Bantay
dad no power from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The outage
was due to repairs at the substation of Ilocos Sur Electric Cooperative
(ISECO) in Sto. Domingo.
Power
interruptions affected the towns of Sta. Maria, Narvacan, Burgos, Nagbukel and
Santa due to repair of ISECO’s substation in Narvacan. -- Ariel Tejada
MP gov’t workers told: enhance family
planning
BONTOC,
Mountain Province -- – Some 75 employees of the provincial government underwent
responsible parenting (indigenized – culture sensitive) and family planning
seminar headed by the provincial population office here Dec. 5.
Provincial
population officer Shirley A. Chiyawan said the seminar was aimed to empower
families through responsible parenthood by making couples aware of their basic
responsibilities as parents with the inclusion of culture. Chiyawan added that
seminar aimed to educate participants on family planning method which allows
couples to attain their desired number of children and determine spacing of
pregnancies.
On behalf of
Gov. Leonard G. Mayaen, provincial
administrator Johny V. Lausan said responsible parenthood is being able to
provide the physical, psychological, social, moral and spiritual needs of our
children. He added that children need
both parents to create an atmosphere of security that will give them the
confidence they need to give meaning to the world. “Providing a harmonious and
healthy environment does not rest with only one parent, but is the outcome of a
shared parenting task and responsible parenthood from both parents”,
Lausan said.
Dr. Imelda
A. Sabog of Bontoc General Hospital said family planning enables couples to
decide number and spacing of their
children based on decisions to achieve desired family size based on their
social and economic capacity.
Among family
planning methods discussed by Sabog were pills, oral contraceptives,
injectablea, condom, billings ovulation, basal body temperature (BBT),
sympto-thermal method, lactation amenorrhea method (LAM), standard day method,
intrauterine device (IUD) insertion, vasectomy and bilateral tubal ligation
(BTL).
Thomasa O.
Sangayab lectured on responsible parenting with
culture plaing a major role like in teaching children values. Pastor Patrick Fegckan discussed selfless
love and service to people without expecting a reward in return. -- Alpine L.
Killa
Baguio night workers join AIDS Day parade
BAGUIO CITY
-- Hundreds of night workers in colorful costumes joined a parade, here, in
commemoration of World AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) Day last
week.
The event,
with the theme “Getting To Zero, Zero New Infection, Zero Discrimination, and
Zero AIDS,” was also marked with a prayer and a releasing of doves by members
the Baguio Association of Bar and Entertainers Society (BABES) during their
program at the Baguio Convention Center, here. Health officials led by City
Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo graced the program.
PMA cadets visit historic Pangasinan
LINGAYEN,
Pangasinan — A total of 195 cadets from the Philippine Military Academy in
Baguio City recently toured this town to learn the vital role it played in
history, particularly in World War (WWII). The tour is part of the PMA
“Salaknib” Class of 2017’s Interdisciplinary Tour, during which they will visit
provinces and towns in Luzon that played a vital role in WWII.
The cadets
visited Pangasinan’s Veterans Park where the memoirs of the landing of Allied
Forces led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur to liberate Luzon Island from the Japanese
occupation are displayed, and paid a courtesy call on Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr.
– himself, a PMA alumnus – who hosted their lunch. -- JojoRiñoza
DA packaging highland veggies for
intl market
By Carlito Dar
BAGUIO CITY
- - Ready to eat “Chopsuey” dish and processed “Sayote” byproduct and as meat
extender readily available in groceries and supermarket and possibly in the
international market.
These are
just among the post-harvest processing products on Benguet vegetables that the
Department of Agriculture is planning, as bared by DA Secretary Proseso Alcala
in a press conference last week.
Alcala said
that DA is set to implement the Philippine Rural Development Program, whose
primary purpose is for farmers to maximize their income from their agricultural
produce.
He disclosed
the plan to process Benguet’s semi-temperate vegetables into chopsuey dish in
ready-to-eat tetra-packs. He said there are already talks with the Department
of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to include it in their family packs for their relief
operation in times of calamities or disasters.
Another
Benguet agri-product the DA is looking into is the “Sayote”. According to the
Secretary, the sayote has a very big potential in entering the international
market as what seen in the supermarkets and groceries of Dubai and Abu-Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates.
“We are
looking into the market and processing of Sayote which is a very good
meat-extender, whether on chicken, pork or beef,” Alcala said.
“At the end
of the day, aside from the additional market that ASEAN Integration 2015 will
bring, our population of 100 million is already a very big market so what we
need to do is to increase the productivity of the farmers, improve the quality
of their agricultural produce and look into other byproducts that we can
process at the Agri-Pinoy Trading Center”, he said.
The
Agri-Pinoy Trading Center in La Trinidad, Benguet which is expected to be operational by the
first quarter of 2015, include a processing center so that farmers from Benguet and even
Mountain Province can maximize their income from their yields.
Alcala was
on official visit here in Baguio and nearby La Trinidad last week for the
anniversary of DA’s Cordillera Highland Agricultural Resource Management
Program and for a site inspection and meeting with local partners and
stakeholders of the P600 Million Agri-Pinoy Trading Center. (JDP/CCD – PIA CAR)
DTI pushes
cacao industry in Abra
BANGUED,
Abra -- Efforts to level up the cacao cottage industry in Abra is being pushed
by the Department of Trade and Industry to cope with ASEAN 2015.
DTI-Abra
director Arell F. Banez, regional
coordinator for cacao industry promotion in the Cordillera, invited DTI cacao
industry national coordinator Director Edwin Banquerigo and Valente Turtur, Executive Officer of the
CACAO Industry Development Association in Mindanao to conduct training on cacao development Nov. 19 – 21.
The training
was attended by the cacao producers and processors from the provinces of Abra,
Apayao and Kalinga.
The first
day was forum on cacao investment promotion at Coopmart of the Abra Diocesan Teachers and Employees
Multi-Purpose Cooperative in Bangued.
The second
day was the hands-on training on production in Bucay where cacao production is a cottage industry for
many residents there. They have been
growing cacao and producing the popular tablea, a locally-produced chocolate
out of cacao.
The third
day was planning workshop where the local
producers planned activities to promote the industry and adopt it as their
alternative livelihood on a commercial scale guided by the challenges of ASEAN
2015 to be able to cope with the demands of the world market.
Other
municipalities in Abra are now involved in growing cacao to sustain this future
industry in Abra. – Maria Teresa Benas
Kalinga agri extension ‘worker wins national award
PASIL,
Kalinga -- An employee of Pasil
Municipal Agriculturist Office won this year’s top award in the search for
National Agriculture Extension Worker for Organic Agriculture Category by the
Department of Agriculture.
Provincial rice program coordinator Joe Casibang reported Rowena Gunnay bested other
55 national nominees for the award which recognizes excellent performance of
agriculture extension workers under DA’s program in promoting organic farming
in the country.
Gunnay
received her trophy and P30,000 cash incentive during the National Organic Agriculture
Convention in Davao City, recently.
What made
Gunnay won the prestigious award, according to Casibang, were her efforts in
organizing, training and empowering upland farmers in Pasil on organic farming
technology that boosted their production of Kalinga’s vaunted upland Unoy Rice.
Because of
her efforts, Pasil Unoy farmers had increased and sustained their export of
Kalinga’s pure organic upland Unoy Rice to the US. She maintains a library of
all her works, which she shares as reference materials to farmers.
Alternative
organic farming technology advocates use of indigenous and natural inputs,
which are proven environment-friendly and less cost in place of commercial
inorganic implements, Casibang explained.
The technology applies in the production of rice, corn, high-value crops and
adapted in the integrated farming system now practiced by many farmers in the
province.
In 2013,
eleven agriculture extension workers from Kalinga had won national awards from
DA. – Larry Lopez
Ifugao PCPC trained on non-violent discipline
LAMUT,
Ifugao -- Twenty five members of the Provincial Council for the Protection of
Children were trained last week for the promotion of positive discipline
through non-violent communication.
The
Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office said CPC members, being lead
implementors in children related laws, must realize that positive discipline
through non-violent communication, and not the infliction of pain or fear work
best.
Infusing
non-violent communication helps children develop appropriate thinking and behavior;
it guides them to develop their self-discipline and confidence in harmony with
self and other, the PSWDO added.
Participants
were oriented on non-violent communication, its process and barriers;
the Department of Education’s protection policy, Lagawe town’s ordinance on
positive discipline, handling disclosure.
The second
day was devoted the simulation of the
non-violent communication process by groups and planning for the council’s
activity in terms of information advocacy for the promotion of NVC
province wide.
The 25
trained PCPC members will act as trainers and communicators on positive
discipline or no corporal punishments in the society.
Based on
PSWDO reports, from January to June this
year, three cases of child abuse were committed by teachers, 28 were sexually
abused by various perpetrators and 12 are children in conflict with the
law. -- Marcelo Lihgawon
Kalinga is Cordillera’s bet in nat’l rice achievers award
TABUK CITY,
Kalinga -- Kalinga province is once
again Cordillera region’s entry
to the 2014 National Rice Achiever’s Award of the Department of Agriculture
(DA)-CAR.
Kalinga is
the only province in the Cordillera Region that has posted positive growth rate
in rice at 3.99%, according to Kalinga Rice Program Coordinator Joe Casibang.
DA holds
annual search to promote the country’s rice industry as component under the
National Food Sufficiency Program.
Winners in
the annual search are given cash incentives to finance projects that enhance
rice production growth.
For Kalinga, the P4 million cash incentive it received in 2012 was used for the
improvement of the farm-market-road leading to the Office of the Provincial
Agriculturist’s (OPAG) demo-farm while
that for 2013 was allocated for the planned construction of the
farmers’ academy at the OPAG compound. – Larry Lopez
Six Ifugao schools vie for nutritionally friendly school
LAGAWE,Ifugao
-- Six schools in the province are vying for the 2014 search for Best
Nutritionally Friendly School.
The search for BNFS is one of the local initiatives of the provincial
government to ensure safe, nutritious snacks to pupils. It advocates for
nutritious foods for Filipinos, and promotes the choice of selecting native
delicacies with high nutritive value.
According to
Provincial Nutrition Office, contest aims to encourage school management
help provide supplemental feeding to identified very low nutritional status as
part of the process of the canteen.
Members of the PNC technical working group will be going to the different
schools from December 1-8.
Three of these schools are for elementary category and three
for central school category.
The criteria
for the contest are : school canteen (nutrition) - 30 percent;
school garden – 40% and health and sanitation of the school - 30
percent. -- Marcelo Lihgawon
Kinuday Burger’’ wins in Adivay cooking
competition
LA TRINIDAD,
Benguet -- The Benguet people showcased
their innovativeness in cooking their
traditional smoked meat called “kinuday” in the on-going Adivay Festival with the “Kinuday Burger” setting its own
identity.
The
Department of Agriculture and Benguet Provincial Veterinary Office awarded best in Kinuday cooking award to Mila
Opino from Pipingew Women’s Association of La Trinidad, Benguet for her
“Kinuday burger” recently here
at Wangal Sports Center here.
Other
winners included Freddie Basilio from
TopdacMulti Purpose Cooperative in 2nd place,
Rebecca Noces from Taloy Sur
Farmers Association of Tuba, 3rd place, and Victoria Flores from Tawangan Agrarian Reform Community Cooperative of
Kabayan, Benguet, 4th.
Meanwhile, the top five awardees for the “Kinuday”
making competition were the municipalities of Bokod, La Trinidad, Kabayan, Tuba
and Atok.
The criteria
for judging for the cooking competition were:
presentation (10%), Texture (10%) Flavor ( 10%) and taste 20 (%). In the
kinuday making contest, criteria were
aroma ( 10 %), color (10 %), packing (20 %), and presentation (10 %) .
Dr. Ruben L.
Cayad-an, Provincial Veterinarian
head, said the Kinuday cooking competition was aimed to highlight the capability of
Benguet people to showcase the native product of the province. It was set to promote the product and to organize
market outlet as a way to assist livestock backyard farmers in the province.
This year’s
Kinuday making contest was co-sponsored by the Provincial Government of
Benguet, and Solane Gas. -- Sonny Cosme
Ilocos Norte’s Christmas celeb to highlight
fourth “tupig” cookfest
LAOAG CITY
-- Ilocanos will again pay homage to their traditional Christmas rice cake in
line with PaskuaMiDitoy (This is how we celebrate Christmas), the province’s
annual series of activities to celebrate the Holiday season, Dec. 13.
Dubbed as
the “Fourth Solid North Tupig Cook-off”, the event aims to boost the market the
native delicacy and preserve the culinary heritage. "Tupig" is a
sticky rice cake which makes use of glutinous rice as base and is usually
cooked over a coal fire.
The
traditional recipe includes seasoning the base with coconut gratins, butter,
and molasses before it will be wrapped in a banana leaf.
Though the
cooking process usually follows the recipe mentioned above, the cook-off aims
to introduce flavor variations in making the said delicacy. Previous winning
contingent from the town of Sarrat used “latik” or coconut meat and roasted
peanut as toppings.
Other
ingredients explored by previous contestants were cheese, “langka” (jackfruit)
bits and a more surprising twist, the Ilocano black gold “gamet”, an expensive
black seaweed which sporadically grows in the rocks and coral reefs along the
shorelines of the town of Burgos.
Elaine
Lubguban of the Communications and Media Office revealed that this year’s
competition will be held beside Paseo de Paoay, a world-class multi-purpose
commercial building beside the UNESCO heritage Paoay Church.
Lubguban also
said that there will be 14 contingents joining the competition which is
composed of representatives from various local government units as well as
tertiary and secondary schools in the province.
“What we’re
trying to do is to restore the quality ingredients of the old heritage recipe
and at the same time forge new pioneering recipes of fusion and less
confusion,” said Governor Imee Marcos.
In Ilocos
Norte, the said delicacy has evolved from a hearty dessert during Noche Buena
(Christmas Eve meal) to a well-known all-year round street food and a popular
“pasalubong” (take home). It has also become a livelihood particularly among
women.— Grazielle Mae A. Sales
New roads changing lives for Ecija’s farming
folk
PALAYAN
CITY, Nueva Ecija — Fifty-eight years after its declaration as a city,
residents of 19 villages here can now enjoy a walk to their destination with
the concreting of roads in 19 barangays that will serve 37,219 residents.
For as long
as residents here can remember, they had to walk or motor through the rough
road with difficulty. But not anymore, as Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas launched
last week the P10.8-million concrete roads.
Cuevas said
that for people in urban areas, a road concreting project is just an ordinary
development, but for residents here, it means a shift from years of hardships.
“The local
residents have suffered long enough waiting for the road networks to be
connected. It has been a long wait. Now, they finally cross the road of all
these barangays without having to worry about the bad road condition” said
Cuevas. This city was declared as a city in the year 1956.
The 19
barangays that benefit from the project are agricultural areas with almost
4,000 hectares of the total land area devoted to farming, making it easier now
for them to bring their products to the market.
Funding came
from the 20 percent development fund that the city received as part of its
Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) in 2013 and from the cash award when the city
was recognized by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
with a “Seal of Good Housekeeping” in 2012. --
Sheen Crisologo
Magat NIA Dam optimizes water power up north
San Mateo,
Isabela — The Magat River Integrated Irrigation System (MARIIS) has launched
what are said to pre-emptive measures to cope with climate change and the
projected power crisis in the country next year.
After three
decades of operation, NIA-MARIIS Dam in Ramon town irrigating 83,000 hectares
of farmlands in Isabela and Quirino Province, will soon undergo optimization
works. The irrigation dam is located just after the Magat hydro-electric plant
operated by SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP).
The MARIIS
Reservoir Optimization Project (MROP) is a joint undertaking of the NIA and
SNAP that aims to increase the storage capacity of the MARIIS reservoir.
“With the
addition of another set of stop logs on the MARIIS Dam, it is expected to
create an additional 8 million cubic meter-storage capacity for the MARIIS
reservoir which certainly helps NIA store more water and makes both irrigation
and power generation flexible,” said Atty. Michael Bon Hosillos, SNAP
Vice President for Corporate Services.
The project
will include full automation using digital controls of the irrigation dam to
ensure accurate water management fully funded by SNAP at no cost to the
national government.
“With an
expected average production of 100 cavans per hectare at 54 kilograms per bag
at P19 sums up P1,026 a sack of palay that is equivalent to P102,600 per
hectare,” said NIA-MARIIS operations manager Mariano Dancel.
While
Dancel’s group was able to irrigate rice lands in Isabela including Santiago
City and Quirino Province regularly covered by MARIIS, the agency has managed
to come up with a number of diversion dams that can catch waste water from
farms upstream.
“After
painstaking years of thorough research we were able to construct seven mini
diversion dams that could preserve waste water from creek tributaries that
normally exit to the Cagayan River downstream but now being recycled and used
to irrigate towns formerly deprived of farm water,” informs MARIIS engineering
operations manager Wilfredo Gloria.
Recently
inaugurated, the Patanad Diversion Dam in San Isidro, Isabela that tapS water
from Patanad Creek was designed to irrigate some 200 hectares of farmlands in
town.
With an area
of 200 hectares it can irrigate, the diversion dam is expected to yield an
average of 1,900 metric tons of Palay per cropping season benefiting 235
farmers from the village,” said MARIIS Division II Manager Pedro Dalawampu.
After
irrigating 81,000 hectares of rice lands with an estimated production value of
P8.3-billion from the rice harvests last cropping season in the Province of
Isabela and the rest of the Cagayan Valley Region, NIA-MARIIS has announced the
operation of a 45-kilowatt mini hydro power plant in San Mateo, Isabela.
“We don’t
tap water just for irrigation, we also run mini hydro-electric plants that could
generate power to maximize our resources in serving both our farmers and people
in the countryside,” said NIA Administrator Florencio Padernal during a recent
visit here. -- Ceasar M. Perante
Manang Imee’s Capitol Express supports
farmers
LAOAG CITY
-- A new initiative has been integrated in ManangImee’s Capitol Express (CapEx)
this December as the program continues
to bring frontline services of the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte more
accessible to Ilocanos.
‘Kadiwa
(rolling stores) ni Manang Imee’, the name aptly given to the new program “aims
to sell basic goods and food items much lower than the prevailing market
rates,” said Mr. Edwin Cariño, head of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
office in the province.
The new
initiative is led by Gov. Imee R. Marcos launched during CapEx in Pagudpud on
Dec. 9.
During the launching, the ‘Kadiwa ni Manang Imee’
sold grocery items, namely rice, noodles, sugar, sardines and coffee, as well
as vegetables like squash, mango, papaya, among others.
“This
‘Kadiwa ni Manang Imee’ is an experiment, a project that we are launching here
in Pagudpud because I have heard that existing market rates of grocery as well
as food items here are high,” said Governor Imee R. Marcos.
She also
added that the project “does not mean to break the businesses of the sellers in
the public market but to support the local farmers and less-fortunate
Ilocanos.”
“The grocery
items are sourced out directly from the manufacturers so it is guaranteed that
prices will be lower compared to the market ones while the vegetables are
supplied by Ilocano farmers who are being supported by the provincial
government,” noted Cariño.
“I am so
grateful that I was able to purchase rice at the Kadiwa ni Manang Imee’ with
its price lower than its market rate,” said Rolida Abendanio, 55, of Barangay
Saud, Pagudpud.
Known as the
‘Kadiwa Project’ during the administration of the late President Ferdinand
Marcos, it was one of the noble projects of the former First Lady Imelda Marcos
which sold basic goods and food items at lower prices to solve the rising
prices of basic commodities.
Meanwhile,
the provincial government started to distribute cash incentives during the
CapEx on December 9 to the members of several communities in the province who
rendered work during the Oplan Pakni of the provincial government.
“The OplanPakni is
a cash for work program of Governor Imee for the people who were hard-hit by
typhoon Mario and living on high dengue risk barangays of Ilocos Norte,” said
Eric Pascua, head of Provincial Investment Office.
Oplan Pakni has
employed a total of 1,473 workers from the different municipalities of Ilocos
Norte and they were tasked to help in the cleaning brigade during the aftermath
of typhoon Mario. “The OplanPakni aims to respond to the economic
impact of the typhoon and to address sanitation issues due to debris and
stagnant water,” Pascua added.
Manang Imee’s
Capitol Express is set to visit the following municipalities and cities this
December: Pagudpud (December 9), Badoc, Banna and Batac (December 10), San
Nicolas, Dingras and Sarrat (December 11), Bacarra, Vintar, Tamdagan, Laoag
City (December 12), Piddig (December 18) and Burgos –J Michael Mugas
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