Streetlights along scenic Kennon Road. to be restored
The street
lights that used to greet passengers to Baguio through the scenic Kennon
Rd. will be restored by the Benguet Electric Cooperative which wrote-off the
power arrears and pay the incoming energy consumption through the cooperative
social responsibility fund of director Robert Valentin of Tuba and Sablan
towns.
In
a letter, Valentin informed Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan, provincial governor
Crescenco Pacalso, Tuba mayor Ignacio Rivera and Punong barangy Ciupriano
Balinag of Camp 1, Tuba that the Beneco board condoned power bills totaling
P40,272.75, with future payments estimated at P4,500 a month charged to his
corporate social responsibility fund.
The
illumination of the approach to Tuba and Baguio was earlier sponsored by
Benguet Rep. Ronald Cosalan but was discontinued in November, 2010.
“We
are likewise pleased inform you,” Valentin said, “that our Beneco
Honorable Board favorably approved the condonation of the P40,272.25 unbilled
power of the said streetlights. Moreover, our cooperative will shoulder the
necessary rehabilitation of he streetlights as well as extension of secondary
lines with an estimated cost of P23,086.10.”
“We
hope that our modest contribution will improve the image of the Cordilleras as
one of the premier tourist destinations in the country,” Valentin added.
Aside
from illuminating the approach to Baguio, the streetlights at Camp 1 give
commuters traveling
at night
the signal that they are already ascending to the city proper and to other
parts of Benguet. – Ramon Dacawi.
.
YMCA academic olympics Oct. 21-22
BAGUIO CITY –
Students from various elementary, high schools and colleges in the city showcased their scholarly prowess in the 2017
Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) Academic Olympics which started
yesterday (Oct. 21) until today at the YMCA Baguio.
YMCA
Baguio president Jerome Gawidan said the olympics which has run for decades
now feature various competitions
including quiz bee, Bible quiz bee, essay writing, on-the-spot drawing,
oration, extemporaneous speaking and tula (poem) delivery.
Contests
in the performing arts include particularly dance and singing (vocal solo and
duet).
This year’s
olympics with the theme, “A Call for Servant Leadership” is part of the
activities lined up for the YMCA Baguio’s 76th anniversary celebration on Dec.
1.
The
winners will represent the city in the regional leg slated on Nov. 18-19.
The next
activity in the YMCA Baguio anniversary calendar will be the inter-school
debate to feature competitors from the various high schools on Oct. 28-29.
On
Nov. 4, a Fun Run will fire off. Registration is on-going for P150 with
medal, certificate and t-shirt.
The year-round
basketball tournament is also ongoing with match-ups now among corporate groups
following the conclusion of the high school league recently.
On
Nov. 29, the choral competition will unravel featuring choirs from the various
elementary, high schools and colleges. – Aileen
P. Refuerzo
Bontoc
girl needs fistula to survive
BAGUIO CITY -- Maintaining dialysis three
times a week for a lifetime is a common problem among dialysis patients being
squeezed continuously of their meager finances.
Double the fund stress
and you have Julla Sabling,a 21-year old from Bontoc, Mt. Province whose family
has been trying to cope with her need to undergo thrice-a-week blood-cleansing
sessions in order to survive.
That’s why she has been here in Baguio since
she was diagnosed for kidney failure in June last year, to be closer to the
life-saving dialysis machines at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical
Center.
Beside the need to pay
P2,200 per dialysis session, Julla is threatened by the successive failure of
her arteriovenus grafts (AVFs) created to allow treatment.
She has undergone
several AVF creations which eventually failed, with doctors advising her to
undergo AVF grat at the National Kidney and Transplant Institute in Quezon
City.
The graft would cost
some P45,000 which the family cannot raise. Her father Juan is an electrician
while her mother Chernlyn is a government employee earning P30,000 a month.
Julla has two brothers – Jovanne, 14 and at
Grade 7, and Juan, 17 and at Grade 11.
Those who can help
raise Julla’s fund for a graft or would like to sponsor a session or two of
dialysis may contact her at the dialysis center at the Baguio General Hospital.
-- Ramon Dacawi
No texting for
Central Luzon cops on duty
CAMP
OLIVAS, Pampanga – Central Luzon police officers are no longer allowed to send
text messages while on duty, based on an order issued by the regional police
director Chief Supt. Amador V. Corpuz.
Corpuz
said the “no text policy” is effective immediately in the entire region.
Corpuz said a number
of police officers are often preoccupied with sending text messages or fiddling
with their mobile phones while on duty.
“The no text policy is
my marching orders and the alibi that they are making report in texting is
already an old alibi,” Corpuz said.
He
said the public feels safer if there are police officers on duty who are alert
and not preoccupied with texting.
“There will be greater
challenges ahead and we need to build a stronger community; you are old
enough to do what is right,” Corpuz told his men. -- Mar T. Supnad
Wi-fi
connections eyed for 2,300 buses
At least 2,300 provincial buses and their
riders will benefit from the free, high-speed wi-fi connections and other
services that will be provided by communications giant PLDT Inc. to
members of the Provincial Bus Operators Association of the Philippines (PBOAP).
The PLDT said over the
weekend that the partnership, forged through its corporate business unit PLDT
Enterprise, would involve providing PBOAP members with wi-fi connectivity,
closed-circuit television monitoring and vehicle tracking through the SmartBus
suite of services from the Smart Biz LTE bundle.
“Giving the commuting
public easy and fast access to the internet through our Smart Biz LTE can take
their mind away from the daily grind. It will also enable them to
perform tasks online while in transit,” the PLDT said.
“Our partner bus
operators said the Smart Bus suite gives them the assurance that their buses,
personnel and the riding public are secured,” Jovy Hernandez, senior vice
president and head of PLDT Enterprise, said.
PLDT’s SmartBus product enables bus operators
to comply with the government’s plan to modernize the country’s public
transport system.
Kalinga 4Ps get rice
aid
TABUK
CITY, Kalinga – More than11, 000 Pantawid Pamilya program beneficiaries in the
province started receiving rice subsidy from the program.
Under the Duterte
Administration, Pantawid beneficiaries are extended additional P600 monthly
rice aid.
Lorna
Lumiwan, 4Ps Provincial Link, disclosed the Dept. of Social Welfare and
Development released the rice assistance for January because the period was
covered under the “suspension of evaluation on compliance” due to super typhoon
‘Lawin’.
But starting February
until end of the year, release of rice aid will be back as compliance-based,
Lumiwan said.
Under the 4Ps program,
indigent beneficiaries receive monthly cash benefits provided they comply with
conditions set on health, education and attendance to family development
sessions.
Pantawid
families are required to have regular health monitoring at rural health units,
qualified children should be in school and undergo regular family development
sessions. -- PIA Kalinga
Central Luzon OFWs to
be hired as teachers
CITY
OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The Dept. of Education in Central Luzon announced
that it will be hiring 43 returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to teach
in different schools in the region.
Michelle Catap-Lacson,
DepEd3 Project Development Officer II said the 43 returning OFWs will be given
permanent teaching positions in public schools near their residences in the
provinces of Aurora, Bulacan, Bataan, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and Tarlac.
“They will be
automatically given permanent teacher items, and be assigned to schools with
shortages,” she said, adding that 25 teachers will be assigned in the
elementary level while 18 will be assigned in the Junior High School level.
She added that the
Schools Division Offices have been instructed to conduct thorough interview and
demonstration teaching and address noted gaps through the conduct of teacher
trainings and other apt interventions.
The hiring of
OFW-teachers is under the “Sa ‘Pinas Ikaw ang Mam at Sir” (SPIMS) Program of
the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in partnership with DepEd, which
was launched in 2014 to assist OFWs who are passers of the Licensure
Examination for Teachers (LET) working abroad as professional teachers or
household service workers to be employed as teachers when they return to the
country.
--
Franco G. Regala
Tabuk City ups drive against
minor drivers
TABUK CITY, Kalinga
-- The City Public Order and Safety
Office has intensified its campaign against minor drivers amid reports of
high violations.
POSO
Dionisio P. Falgui III reported their office had recorded 1,911 traffic
violators in the city from January-June, mostly minor drivers and driving
without license.
This
explains why road accident is the top cause in cases of physical injuries in
the city police report, Falgui said.
In line
with the campaign, mobile check points along the city’s main thoroughfares
has been intensified. Because of strict traffic regulation enforcement,
the POSO had collected P574,350 in penalty fees for the period.
But Falgui said
collection of penalty fees is just secondary to their mandate of assuring
public order and safety.
We impose penalty
because we want drivers to follow proper traffic rules to avoid accidents, he
said.
He appealed
to parents to cooperate with the authorities by preventing their minor-children
from just going on fun-driving without the assistance of licensed
drivers. -- PIA Kalinga
Kalinga
farmers learn ratooning technology
CITY
OF TABUK, Kalinga -- The Provincial
Agriculturist Office educates farmers on the ratooning technology to increase
rice production.
Joe Casibang, Kalinga
rice program coordinator, said ratooning could add at least 40 percent of the
average yield per hectare to farmers.
Under the technology,
farmers are taught to apply some interventions to palay plants left out during
harvest and could still get additional yield. Farmers just apply additional two
bags of urea per hectare compared to the usual 8-10 bags of fertilizer per hectare
in the regular cropping.
Casibang said the
ratooning period runs for about 60 days, which is actually the regular cropping
interval, before the ratooned palay is ready for harvest.
The technology is
applicable to both hybrid and inbred rice. Rice farmers get an average of 120
bags of palay per hectare.
A 50-hectare demo-farm
is being used for the technology in this City, the province's major rice
producing area. -- PIA Kalinga
DSWD
sets 30,000 family food packs for rainy months
BAGUIO
CITY – Dept. of Social Welfare and Development in the Cordillera Administrative
Region has set family food packs for disaster augmentation this rainy season
particularly for landslide-prone areas
in the region.
DSWD-CAR regional director Janet Armas
said 30,000 food packs have already been brought to provinces for distribution
in case of disasters.
She
said 6,200 food packs are in Mountain Province; 5,000 in Ifugao; 2,642 in Abra;
1,500 in Apayao; and 15,601 at their warehouse in Puguis, La Trinidad town in
Benguet.
A food pack contains 6 kilograms of rice,
half dozen 3-in-1 instant coffee, 8 canned goods, brown rice bar (energy bar)
and infant dry-cereals.
Armas said the goods will augment food
supplies in cases of disasters in Cordillera as landslides frequently occur due
to the terrain.
DSWD-CAR, she said, spent about P13 million
for the family packs. About P21 million was also spent for non-food items like
blankets and tents.
Cordillera the past days has been
experiencing strong rains and thunderstorms brought by the southwest monsoon. A
number of roads were closed to vehicular traffic due to landslides. -- PNA
PVET teaches
farmers organic feed formulation
HUNGDUAN,
Ifugao --The Provincial Veterinary Office (PVET) here recently conducted skills
training on organic swine and poultry raising and feed formulation to 83
farmer- recipients of native pig raising project of the provincial
government.
The training was to
enable pig raisers gain more profit in their backyard livestock endeavor by
formulating their own organic feeds using ingredients and materials that are
abundant and indigenous in their places rather than relying on commercial feeds
which are very expensive, said PVET training coordinator Ferdinand Dunuan.
By adopting organic
farming that includes feed formulation to reduce feed cost,
they can produce not only animal meat products which are safe and fit for
human consumption but also earn more profit because organically produced farm
products nowadays are in great demand.
Dunuan lectured
to participants on animal husbandry, issues on bio-organic inputs and good
agricultural practices.
Gilbert Caclini, also
of PVET, demonstrated the preparation of the feeds using the indigenous
materials with the hands on participation of the farmers so that they can
learn and experience on the spot organic feed formulation.
The ingredients and
materials used during the actual preparation of 50 kilograms (kgs) of
organic feed include 20 kilos rice bran, 5 corn grits, 5 corn bran, 3 chopped
banana stalk, 3 chopped camote trunk and leaves, 3 ofipil leaves, 10 ofazola, a
kilo of brown sugar, another kilo of indigenous micro-organism (for
fermentation) and two liters of rice wash.
The farmers said were
happy with what they learned and promised that they will immediately start
preparing their own feed supply. -- Daniel
B. Codamon
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