CSWDO distributes add’l aid to Matina Aplaya fire victims

The City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) distributed on Monday additional food and non-food assistance to victims of the April 21 Dumalag fire.

CSWDO Officer-In-Charge

Julie P. Dayaday, in an interview with the City Information Office, said that on Monday, more food and non-food items were distributed to the fire victims and were given along with assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Office of Senator Bong Go at the Shanghai Gym where the fire victims are currently staying.

The distribution is in addition to the hygiene kits, mobile kitchen, and modular tents provided by the city government immediately after the fire.

“Maghatag ta og food and nonfood assistance sa ilaha, validated naman 31 ang totally damaged nato, apil na na diha tanan apil na ang renter, sharer (We will be giving food and non-food assistance to them, we already finished our validation there are 31 damaged houses, the [victims] already includes the renters and the sharers),” she said. She said that in all there are 62 families affected and 185 individuals/dependents. Out of the 62 families, 31 are house owners, 14 are renters, 15 are sharers and two are boarders.

Dr. Ma. Theresa Bad-ang, nephrologist and head of the Southern Philippines Medical Center-Human Advocate and Retrieval Effort, however, said that “people inside the hospital” should be the first to know everything about organ donation.

“Organ donation should be known first thoroughly by doctors and nurses in the hospital before the public so that it will succeed,” Bad-ang said, adding organ donation should only be done following the consent of a family member of a “braindead” patient.

“We cannot do organ donation if the patient is not dead. The public should know that when you are brain-dead, you are legally dead, and you can donate your organs as long as

Bad-ang underscored the role of the media to boost organ donation, describing the press as “a powerful tool” for people to support the campaign.

“We want to educate them because they are our partners. Without them, people will have a difficult time understanding the benefits of organ donation,” she said.

She assured donors that their bodies will not be “desecrated or mutilated” and instead be treated with “utmost care.”

She also urged the people who have signed up for organ donation to inform their families, especially those who are driver’s license holders, that they are donors.

Bad-ang said that on average, they are able to identify at least 30 donors every month.

The primary challenge, however, is getting the families to give consent. (PNA)

338 Davao Oriental farmers receive P2.7-M fertilizer vouchers from DA

The Department of Agriculture in the Davao Region distributed on Monday PHP2.7 million worth of fertilizer discount vouchers (FDVs) to 338 farmers in Cateel town, Davao Oriental province.

“Farmers will use the FDVs valued at PHP6,600 per hectare to claim the fertilizer. However, they can only receive a maximum of PHP13,200 worth of FDV to cover two hectares of rice area,” Jacinto Macoy, Jr. DA-11 rice program focal person, said in a statement.

Macoy said Cateel farmers can claim their fertilizers through an accredited merchant, the Bacphil

Planters Fertilizers Corporation.

“The FDVs should be claimed not later than April 30 as they can no longer be used beyond that date,” he added.

The DA-11 rice program has a total budget allocation of PHP87 million worth of FDVs for 9,945 rice farmers in the region. As of April 24, the agency has released a total of PHP35 million for the assistance which is equivalent to 4,237 FDVs.

Apart from vouchers, DA-11 has also been providing input subsidies to rice farmers such as seeds, fertilizer, training, and cash assistance, to improve their production. (PNA)