DAR TURNS OVER P16M PRDP SUBPROJECT IN SURSUR TOWN

The CARCANMADCARLAN AgriBased Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CAMPCO) formally received the Bangus Production and Marketing Enterprise, which was recently turned over by Department of Agriculture (DA) secretary William D. Dar in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur.

The P16.55 million-worth project is composed of two circular or Norwegian-type fish cages with a 10x10x5m size located in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur, under the DAPhilippine Rural Development Project Enterprise Component. The cages will house a total of 270,000 ‘garungan’ or fingerlings. CAMPCO, as the lead target proponent group (PG), will also supervise the enterprise and act as the consolidator of all fresh bangus produced by the four other cluster PG members.

“We are happy to be here in Prosperidad to personally witness and hand over this assistance and projects from the DA. We also want to emphasize that this is just the beginning of government assistance as we will be pouring more projects for our farmers and fisherfolks,” said Secretary Dar.

Dar added that through PRDP, more LGUs will be provided projects supporting the local commodities of the area.

With fishing as the primary source of livelihood in Cantilan, the project will help alleviate and improve the standard of living of the 595 fisherfolkbeneficiaries under CAMPCO and their households. the 1st year and income enterprise beneficiaries by 8.34%, from P82,800 to P89,703.91 in year 1 up to P79,727.54 in year 10. “With the help of our local government units, the DA will not give up and together we will uplift our economy, our agriculture, and our country so farmers and fisherfolks will prosper,” said Dar.

Dar, together with the Regional Executive Director Ricardo Oñate Jr., Governor Santiago B. Cane Jr, the LGU and DA partner agencies, have also turned over other DA projects and cash assistance to the farmers and fisherfolk in Agusan del Sur. (Zenny G. Awing, PRDP Info/ACE Caraga/PIASurigao del Sur)

Through the improved access to DA services, PRDP envisions to increase the number of bangus producers by at least 5% annually and women participation in the enterprise by at least 10% and raise the householdbeneficiaries income by at least 34%, from P252,000 to P335,753.63 in

NATIONAL NEWS

Next President, lawmakers should work to repeal law preventing quick post-calamity response, says President Duterte

President Duterte declared a state of calamity on the areas affected by Typhoon Odette on December 21 under Proclamation No. 1267.

A declaration of a state of calamity expedites rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts of the government as well as the private sector.

Next President, lawmakers should work to repeal law preventing quick post-calamity response, says President Duterte Congress and the next administration should exert effort to repeal the law hindering the immediate declaration state of calamity to save lives and ease the misery of the people, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has said. During his weekly “Talk to the People” Monday night, President Duterte blamed a law that hindered him from immediately declaring a state of calamity in areas devastated by Typhoon Odette. According to the President, a law covering the chief executive’s power to declare a state of calamity is based on the assessment and evaluation by disaster agencies on the ground. “Ang problema ‘yung assessment pati ‘yung evaluation or even just the declare, maghintay ng report ‘yan… bago ako makagalaw,” he said.

“And that is really so many provisions in the law that would hinder government to just act immediately because I said there has to be --- before the declaration, there has to be an evaluation and the assessment of damage,” he added. For better post-calamity response, the President advised Congress and the next President to repeal the current law governing state of calamity declaration by the President. “That law should be changed. And it behooves upon this Congress, if they want to, or the next President, may I advise: try to repeal the law so that government --- there is already the warning, hindi na kailangan ng assessment,” he said.

It imposes price control on basic goods and commodities and directs all departments, local government units, and government’s uniformed forces to do their part in relief and rescue operations, among others.

Based on the latest National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) situation report, the typhoon left 389 deaths, 1,146 injuries, and 64 missing individuals.

The typhoon also affected over 4.2 million people or one million families, displaced 570,906 residents, and damaged 506,404 houses.

Authorities put the damage to agriculture and infrastructure at P5.3 billion and P16.7 billion, respectively. PND

Gov’t vows to go after profiteers in typhoon-

affected areas also received reports that some traders raised the price of power generator sets. Consequently, all the reported profiteers were immediately referred to the authorities, the trade chief said.

Traders and businesses unreasonably jacking up prices of basic goods and construction materials in areas devastated by Typhoon Odette will be held accountable, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte warned Monday. “I am just giving you the warning na ‘pag nahuli kayo ng DTI or nahuli kayo ng pulis --- ang pulis because the jurisdiction dito sa putting a cap on the prices of goods belongs to --- and even building materials, nasa sa iyo,” President Duterte said in his televised weekly Talk to the People.

“So nandito ka man, tell us if there has been a violation or violations during this time because we can identify them and the Philippine National Police, we will ask them to arrest the hoarders and people who are taking advantage of the situation,” President Duterte said after hearing the report of Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez. Lopez told the President that there is an existing price freeze in areas hit by the typhoon, insisting that the prices of commodities prior to the pandemic and the typhoon should remain the same.

“The day after, and I think mga hanggang two days after, habang nagkakagulo pa rin, marami ho talagang na-report na nag-price increase, na nagsamantala,” Lopez said.

“In fact, ang order ko po sa ating mga kasama na ‘yung mga enforcers natin ay talagang mag-aresto ng overpricing.” Lopez also said that many profiteers were apprehended in Bohol and Cebu, and they “Base sa mga ni-report sa atin, mga 50 na explanation letters, 50 na inquiry letters, at iyong kasunod noon ay kaso pagka ito po ay hindi talaga sa atin in-explain ‘yung pagtaas nung presyo na ‘yun,” he pointed out.

“But after po na-apprehend sila, actually ho, Mr. President, kino-correct ho nila ‘no. So tayo ho talaga nakatutok doon sa mga nabalitaan natin na mayroong mga pagincrease ng presyo,” There were also reported increases in fuel prices in several areas, with some doubling or tripling the price to between P120 to P180 per liter, according to Lopez. But after the traders were reprimanded, Lopez said the fuel price in Maasin City; Macrohon, Southern Leyte; and even in the Caraga region now ranges below P56 to P50 per liter.

“Ibig sabihin, ito ho ay after nagkaroon tayo nang pagsupil doon sa mga nagviolate ng mga presyo,” he said. PND

PH receives last batch of gov’tprocured vaccines for 2021

LAST SHIPMENT FOR 2021. Airport workers unload the boxes containing 609,570 doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine at the NAIA Terminal 3 Bay area on Thursday night (Dec. 30, 2021). The last shipment for this year completes the country’s supply deal for 40 million doses from Pfizer. (Screengrab from FB Live) Amid the upward trend in confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 cases in the Philippines, the national government on Thursday night received the last shipment of Covid-19 vaccines for the year — 609,570 doses of Pfizer.

The Pfizer vaccines, which arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 just before 9 p.m., complete the country’s supply agreement for 40 million doses from the US drug maker. Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, special medical adviser of the National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19, thanked the United States (US) government for their assistance in the delivery of the vaccines. “We’d like to thank the US government for their assistance for the delivery of about 40 million doses of vaccines, which we had procured,” he said in an interview with reporters. Aside from the 40 million Pfizer doses procured by the government, Herbosa said the US has also donated more than 26 million doses of Pfizer to the Philippines. “This last shipment, ladies and gentlemen, completes all the procurements of the Philippine government for the year 2021,” he added. To date, Herbosa said the Philippines has more than 210 million doses of vaccine. vaccines.

“It’s an honor to be a small part of the solution to this horrible pandemic here in the Philippines and to see the IATF and all the officials here handle it so well,” he said.

Herbosa emphasized the need to boost the Philippines’ vaccination drive after the country logged 1,623 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday — the highest single-day tally since November 21.

As of Thursday, the country has more than 2.8 million confirmed Covid-19 cases, more than 2.7 million recoveries, and 51,373 deaths.

“(It is) very important because our cases are rising. We are reminding people to get vaccinated, we are reminding people to get their booster doses,” he said.

He also encouraged the public to continue adhering to minimum public health standards as the country welcomes the New Year.

“We do hope that people will be more careful as we greet the New Year and say goodbye to 2021 and meet 2022, please continue to observe minimum public health standards, wear the face mask, congregate with only vaccinated people. If you’re going to hold a party on New Year’s Eve, make sure it’s outdoors like this and observe social distancing,” he added. (PNA/Azer Parrocha)

Of this number, 138 million were procured by the government while the rest were donated by different countries to the Philippines through the COVAX Facility. Michael William Leach, US Embassy consul, praised the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases for its effort to procure Covid-19

Gov’t procures 15M Pfizer doses for children aged 11 and below

A health official announced that the government has already procured additional 15 million doses of United States-made Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine to boost the inoculation of children in the country by 2022. Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, the special medical adviser of the National Task Force (NTF) against Covid-19, said these Pfizer doses are slated to be delivered in January and February next year. “We’re doing very well. We’re preparing for the booster doses and the second doses for the arrival of Omicron and we continue to procure. We procured 15 million doses of Pfizer for children which will arrive in January and February,” Herbosa said, as he welcomed another delivery of 367,380 Pfizer doses at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Tuesday night. Once these Pfizer deliveries have arrived in the Philippines, Herbosa said the government will start vaccinating children ages 5 to 11 years old. The government eyes at least 13.5 million recipients of lower dosages of the Pfizer vaccine under this age bracket. “In the meantime, we’re catching up and trying to hurry up with the vaccination to increase the [number] of fully vaccinated in the Philippines so that we can be ready for the arrival of the Omicron variant,”

DOSE OF HOPE. A forklift operator loads the shipment containing doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine into a delivery truck at the NAIA Terminal 1 in Parañaque City on Tuesday (Dec. 28, 2021). National Task Force (NTF) chief, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship, and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion, were among those who welcomed the arrival. (PNA photos by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler) Herbosa added.

The government also welcomed the arrival of 1,981,500 doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines on Wednesday and 2,005,300 on Tuesday, procured by the private sector. Private sector ‘unwavering’ support

In a statement, NTF chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., cited the “unwavering” support of the private sector in the expansion of the national Covid-19 vaccination program leading to economic recovery. “Through your efforts, we have been able to significantly expand our vaccine rollout, especially to our essential workers who are playing a key role in our nation’s economic recovery,” Galvez said. The latest data from the National Covid-19 vaccination dashboard showed a total of 107,277,506 coronavirus doses have been administered nationwide, with 48,647,158 Filipinos were fully protected against the dreaded disease and 1,614,505 individuals have received added protection. The Philippines has so far received 208,792,740 doses of Covid-19 vaccines, both procured and donations, since February this year. (PNA/ Lade Jean Kabagani)

Filipinos urged to get vaccinated as PH logs 4th Omicron case

A health official on Monday night reiterated the need for the Filipinos to avail themselves of the Covid-19 vaccination program now that a fourth case of the Omicron (B.1.1.529) coronavirus variant has been detected in the country. Welcoming the arrival of Air Hong Kong Flight LD 456 carrying some 1,187,550 doses of PfizerBioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 in Pasay City, National Task Force (NTF) Against Covid-19 medical consultant, Dr. Ma. Paz Corrales, emphasized that “vaccination is an added protection for all the Filipinos.” “As you all know, we already have four cases of Omicron variant now, we should urge more to get vaccinated in preparation for its possible spread in the country,” Corrales said. Citing that the highly

MORE PFIZER DOSES. Airport personnel offload cargoes containing 1,187,550 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at the NAIA Terminal 3 in Pasay City on Monday night (Dec. 27, 2021). The newly delivered shipment is part of the government-procured Covid-19 vaccines through the Asian Development Bank. (PNA photo by Avito Dalan) transmissible Omicron variant is now spreading in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia, Corrales encouraged those who have yet to receive their primary doses and those who are now qualified for booster doses to get their respective Covid-19 shots.

The newly delivered shipment is part of the government-procured Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines through the funding of the Asian Development Bank.

“We were able to jab [over] 47 million Filipinos already despite the onslaught of the recent typhoon. We are all trying our best, especially in the typhoon-stricken areas to vaccinate as many Filipinos as we can,” Corrales said. (PNA/ Lade Jean Kabagani)

Executive Editor ABNER M. CAGA

Associate Editor FRYAN E. ABKILAN Managing Editor NORA CL MOLDE

Copy Editor VENUS LIM GARCIA

Layout Artists RONNIE E. MADANGUIT JOHN CHARLES B. MALAZARTE

Contributors JENNIFER P. GAITANO

Agusan del Sur NIDA GRACE B. TRANQUILAN

Surigao del Sur SUSIL D. RAGAS

Surigao del Norte/Dinagat Islands DOREEN MARIELLE N. ROSALES

Regional Office Zenny G. Awing Lade Jean Kabagani Azer Parrocha 2Lt Cecille C. Tappa LVPVargas NNC-Caraga DSWD-Caraga BFAR-Caraga CMO Officer, 26IB, PA PRDP Info/ACE Caraga PND, PNA DBP

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