Information is our business.
iSIQUIJOR THE OFFICIAL E-NEWSLETTER OF THE PHILIPPINE INFORMATION AGENCY - SIQUIJOR | WWW.PIA.GOV.PH and the DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - SIQUIJOR | WWW.DOST.GOV.PH
VOL. 2 | NO. 1 January 1-10, 2014
Holiday firing ban results to zero-casualty, says PNP-Siquijor SIQUIJOR, January 10 (PIA)—PNPSiquijor’s compliance to Holiday firing ban resulted to a zero-casualty or zero-victim during the recent Holiday seasons in Siquijor province. Police Senior Inspector Mariano Labe confirmed this in an interview with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) earlier following the Muzzle Untaping of Issued Firearms on January 6, this year at the Siquijor Police Provincial Office (SPPO) Ground in Caipilan, Siquijor. Labe said he lauded the SPPO’s policemen for complying with the Philippine National Police’s (PNP) directive that prohibited the use or firing of issued firearms during Christmas and New Year revelries. “We also owed this to the public who have strongly cooperated with us,” Labe said, citing that the zero-casualty/ victim record of the PNP have matched the record of the provincial health office. He said the police and the public’s cooperation is an indication that they have learned and understood their advocacy for a peaceful and secure community. During the Muzzle Taping, this writer was the keynote speaker and she shared St. Francis peace prayer, “Lord Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace” which she said, serves as an echoing call to all mankind, police personnel or not, as she calls the Siquijor police to continue its mission of being the instruments of peace. Muzzle Taping, is all about peace and security which Jesus comes to bring us and which is what Christmas is all about: peace, joy and goodwill, this writer said while lauding the
SPPO for all its initiative and efforts that have maintained Siquijor island’s peace and order. Police Superintendent Teofilo C. Siclot Jr. also said the muzzle taping of firearms and its good result after the untaping would clear some apprehensions on police personnel’s involvement
in the cases of indiscriminate firing that were reported in many areas in the previous revelries. The writer also assisted P/Supt. Siclot in the conduct of muzzle taping of firearms after the short program. (mbcn/RAC/PIA7-Siquijor)
PNP-Siuqijor Provincial Director PSSupt Primitivo T. Tabujara Jr. addressing his men in uniform at the Siquijor Police Provincial Office during the PD’s New Year’s Call on January 6 at the SPPO Ground, Caipilan, Siquijor.
DOH on top of tackling spread of measles, says Palace The health department is doing everything to control the spread of measles in the country especially in highly populated areas, a Palace official said on Thursday. “Ginagawa po ng Department of Health (DOH) ang lahat ng nararapat para ma-control po ang pagkalat ng sakit na ito; mapangalagaan ang kalusugan, lalong-lalo na ng mga kabataang unang naaapektuhan nito,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma said in a press briefing in Malacanang on Thursday. “At nagbigay lang po ng impormasyon si Secretary Ona na hindi lang naman po dito sa
Pilipinas nagkaroon ng ganyang karanasan, sa iba pang mga bansa tulad ng Pakistan, maging sa several parts of the US ay nakakaranas din ng increase in the incidence of measles.” An outbreak is the occurrence of cases of the disease in excess of what would normally be expected in a defined community, geographical area or season, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). There is no specific treatment for measles and recovery may take two to three weeks, WHO said. Complications of measles however may result in blindness, diarrhea, pneumonia, encephalitis and ear
infection. Vaccine is available for children to prevent them from being infected. Among the symptoms of measles include eye redness, coughs and colds, high fever, rashes on the ears, face, neck, and the whole body, and difficulty of breathing, the health department said. Health officials said they are looking at a possible new strain of measles that caused the cases of the disease in Metro Manila. Measles is a highly contagious viral disease transmitted through droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons. PND (as)
iSIQUIJOR GOVERNMENTNEWS
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
DOST to open online payment system for gov’t transactions
B y A l l a n M a u r o V. M a r fa l
By February 2014, expect the long queues for government transactions to start disappearing as PhPay – an Internet-based electronic payment facility developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) – is expected to go live by that month. This was revealed during the year-end activity of the Integrated Government Philippines iGovPhil) Project last December 11, 2013 at
Ayala Land Techno-Hub in Quezon City. PhPay will allow the public to pay for government transactions through online delivery channels, including ATM accounts, credit cards, bank and nonbank over the counter payments, mobile wallets (SMS), mobile banking and rural banks, among others. It is among the products and services under iGovPhil, a joint project of DOST agencies Information a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n s Te c h n o l o g y Office and Advanced Science and
This image is a government online payment system that will enable the public and institutions to undertake government transactions through online delivery channels including debit instructions (ATM accounts), credit instructions (credit cards) and mobile wallets. The system will avoid long lines for government transactions, travel time and bureaucratic red tapes. DOST through its attached agencies, Information and Communications Technology Office and Advanced Science and Technology Institute developed PhPay, which is under the Integrated Government Philippines Project or iGovPhil. (Photo from iGovPhilippines website)
Malacanang open to moving school opening to September Malacanang said on Sunday that it was open to the proposal moving the school opening from June to September, saying this was in line with the preparation of the creation of an ASEAN Integration in 2015. In a radio interview aired over government run radio dzRB Radyo ng Bayan, Presidential Communication and Operation Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma, Jr. said that this proposal was also in line with the advocacy of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) of ASEAN mobility which aims to provide easier travel of people within the region. “Bukas ang pamahalaan sa pagaaral ng panukalang ilipat ang panahon ng pagbubukas ng klase para sa mga kolehiyo at unibersidad, mula Hunyo patungong Setyembre, bilang paghahanda sa pag-iisa ng ating mga kasaping bansa sa ASEAN sa ilalim ng konsepto ng ASEAN integration simula sa taong 2015,” Coloma said. “Layunin din ng panukalang ito ang
pagtugon ng ating bansa sa panawagang bigyang-daan ang ASEAN mobility, o ang malayang paglalakbay ng mga mamamayan sa bansang ASEAN upang mag-aral sa mga paaralang may internasyonal na orientasyon, at upang magamit ang kanilang mga kakayahan o talento sa iba’t ibang larangang propesyonal,” he added. He however stressed the importance of having to further study this proposal in order to come to a fruitful decision on the matter. “Ipinauubaya ng pamahalaan sa Kongreso, bilang kapantay at independiyenteng sangay, ang pangunguna sa pagkilos sa paglipat sa schedule ng pagbubukas ng klase dahil ito ay napapaloob sa batas,” Coloma said. “Sa kasalukuyan patuloy na tatalima ang pamahalaan sa pangunguna ng Kagawaran ng Edukasyon sa isinasaad ng batas tungkol sa itinatakdang panahon ng pagbubukas ng klase,” he added. PND (rck)
Technology Institute, which aims to make interactive, interconnected, and efficient government collaboration possible. According to Jops Josef, project leader of PhPay, several private payment aggregator companies have offered their services for PhPay including Dragon Pay, Master Card, LBC and Rural Net. “What it offers is convenience to citizens and government agencies. A citizen will not spend for fares or gas and parking fees, and food. Paying online will also save the citizen time for not falling in line. It also lessens the opportunity for graft and corruption as it eliminates face-to-face contact and promotes transparency on payments made to the government,” Josef said. A convenience fee will be collected for each online, which possibly cost 10-40 pesos per transaction. The Bureau of Treasury (BTr) will play a crucial role in implementing this system, as it will serve as singlegovernment merchant in the whole electronic payment process. Traditionally, each agency is required to deposit payments to BTr at the end of each transaction day. However, PhPay will shorten this process by allowing the payments to go directly to BTr. The system may even further improve once engagement terms with the payment aggregators have been finalized, Josef revealed. He advised government agencies with existing contracts with other online payment system providers to honor these contracts. “PhPay is only here to give them other options, especially when their contracts expired,” he added. At present, ICTO is looking forward to include government owned and controlled corporations and state universities and colleges under PhPay’s coverage in the project’s next phase. As of late, 43 national government agencies have shown interest in PhPay. These agencies will undergo assessment to determine if they are qualified and capable of offering these services. PhPay is currently undergoing pilot testing, with the Cooperative Development Authority, Department of Industry and National Computer Center of ICTO as clients. For more information about PhPay and other services and products of iGovPhilippines Project, log on to i.gov.ph or checkout the Integrated Government Philippines Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/iGovPhil?ref=br_tf .
iSIQUIJOR GOVERNMENTNEWS
DepEd sets early school registration on January 25 The Department of Education (DepEd) has set January 25, 2014, a Saturday, as the date for early registration in all public elementary and secondary schools nationwide. “We want to prevent logistical problems when the new school year starts in June,” explains Secretary of Education Armin Luistro, who signed the order (PDF: DepEd Order No. 2 s. 2014) in part to gather information in order to prepare to address potential gaps that may arise even before regular enrollment. “If our school heads know how many students they will have ahead of time, they can better prepare classrooms and seats and learning materials.” Early registration specifically targets all five-year olds, to ensure their enrollment in kindergarten, and all six-year olds, to ensure that they are enrolled in Grade 1 come June.
Malacanang continues its pursuit of sustained economic growth, Palace official says
The Aquino government welcomed the National Statistics Office’s report stating that merchandise exports soared by 18.9 percent in November 2013 and assured to continue its pursuit of sustained economic growth that benefits all Filipinos, a Palace official said. “The NSO reported that for the
Other targets of the early registration are out-of-school children (OSC) and out-of-school youth (OSY) from the disadvantaged groups, including street children ages 5 to 18. These targeted learners will be provided with their preferred education delivery system which could either be formal through the alternative delivery mode (ADM) or through the alternative learning system (ALS). To e n s u r e u n i v e r s a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n , D e p E d h a s e n l i s t e d t h e assistance of local and barangay officials for the early registration of OSC, the O S Y, t h o s e w i t h d i ff i c u l t y i n l e a r n i n g a n d t h e i n d i g e n o u s p e o p l e s ( I P s ) . The early registration will see DepEd working closely with the LGUs, the Parent-Teachers Associations, barangay officials, civil society groups, civic organizations and the business sector to ensure wide sectoral participation in the exercise. “Our collective aim is a smooth June school opening, t h a t i s w h y w e a r e p r e p a r i n g a s e a r l y a s J a n u a r y, ” L u i s t r o s a i d .
sixth consecutive month since June 2013, merchandise exports showed positive growth—expanding by 18.9 percent in November 2013 to 4.3 billion US dollars from 3.6 billion US dollars in November 2012,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a statement in Malacanang on Friday. The positive growth was mainly brought by the increase of the top 10 commodities for the month of November 2013. “The cause of this expansion can be found in higher exports in petroleum, minerals, and forest products, as well as manufacture and total agro-based products. A number of examples of the latter include fish products, centrifugal and refined sugar, desiccated coconut, and bananas,” Lacierda said. “This expansion speaks of the potential of our manufacturing and agricultural sectors, the latter of which is one of our government’s priority sectors for its potential to boost growth in the countryside,” he said. The NSO also reported that the Philippines’ year-on-year export growth was the fastest among selected tradeoriented economies in the East and Southeast Asian region, Lacierda said. “This is positive news for our government, as we continue in our pursuit of sustained economic growth that benefits all Filipinos—growth that leaves no one behind,” he said. PND
iSIQUIJORGOVERNMENTNEWS
Recognizing excellence, launching dreams Metrobank calls for nominations for outstanding teachers SIQUIJOR (PIA) --Calling all teachers from this province to join another search for outstanding teachers in the country. The Metrobank Foundation (MBFI), in partnership with the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), have launched the 30th Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT). The 2014 Search coincides with the 35th anniversary of MBFI. With the theme, “Launching Dreams towards Nation Building”, the Search honors the teaching profession specifically those who manifest commitment to the development of the youth through exemplary competence, remarkable dedication to their work, and effective educational leadership. Since its launch in 1984, the Search has awarded a total of 326 educators all over the Philippines. Joining the Search is easy. Teachers just need to submit a two-page Basic Information Sheet (BIS) with no additional documents required. The Search is open to all teachers in the elementary, secondary, and higher education levels in both public and private schools throughout the country. Possible candidates should be Filipino citizen who are actively teaching in the country for the
last 10 years and with valid PRC license. For the Elementary competition, schools are entitled to nominate two nominees, one each from the primary (Kinder to Grade III) and intermediate (Grade IV to Grade VI), while schools for secondary and higher education competition are entitled to one nominee, respectively. Past Regional Finalists and National Finalists of the Search, who meet the basic eligibility requirements and have shown sustained good moral standing in the community, are deemed automatic Provincial Finalists. Good News! Cash prize for each of the ten (10) winners is increased from Php350,000.00 last year to Php 0.5 Million this year. The awardees will also receive a medal, a trophy, and a plaque of recognition for their school. National Finalists not chosen as winners will receive Php20, 000.00 cash while Regional Finalists will get Php10, 000.00 cash incentive. The deadline for submission of the BIS to the MBFI Secretariat or to the nearest Metrobank branch in your area is on/or before January 27, 2014. Basic Information Sheets are now available in all Metrobank branches, DepEd regional and division offices, and
Palace: More safeguards being eyed for Conditional Cash Transfer program Malacañang on Sunday assured the public more safeguards are being built into the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program for poor families. Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Coloma Jr. said this includes adopting a biometric system for the CCT to make sure the aid goes to intended recipients. “Tumutungo na rin po tayo doon sa biometrics para tiyakin po na may integridad yung pagtanggap nila ng mga benepisyo (We are moving toward biometrics to make sure the aid reaches the intended beneficiaries),” Coloma said on state-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan. “Kaya po pinapahusay pa ang pagpapatupad ng batas na ito. Dapat po nating maunawaan na sumasakop ito sa mahigit na apat na milyong pamilya, at ang mga pamilyang ito ay masusing pinag-aralan ang kanilang katayuan, meron tayong identity system (We continue to fine-tune our implementation of the law. We must understand this program benefits more than four million families),” he added. In the meantime, he said it is up to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to address issues raised by the Commission on Audit. The DSWD had said it has already accounted for the 7,782 household beneficiaries allegedly missing from the list of beneficiaries cited in the Commission on Audit 2012 report on Official Development Assistance Programs and Projects. “Patuloy naman po ang pagpapatupad nitong conditional cash transfer program na bahagi ng Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program na isa sa mahalagang programa ng Aquino administration dahil nga po pangunahing prayoridad ng ating pamahalaan na nasasalamin sa pinamalaking porsyentong inukol sa ating pambansang budget ang pangangalaga sa kapakanan ng mga pinaka-nangangailangan (We will continue to implement the CCT, which is part of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino program that seeks to benefit the most number of families),” Coloma said. For its part, the DSWD said it has put in place a replication mechanism of the database where all households encoded are automatically copied in another file. DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman added sanctions will b e t a k e n a g a i n s t o ff i c i a l s o r e m p l o y e e s f o u n d t o b e n e g l i g e n t i n allowing the unauthorized inclusion of household-beneficiaries. PND (jl)
CHED regional offices nationwide. Eligible applicants will then be asked to submit the official nomination forms on February 21st. The forms may also be downloaded through the Metrobank Foundation website at www. mbfoundation.org.ph. For further details, please call the MBFI Secretariat at tel. nos. (02) 857-0618 / 898-8898; telefax: (02) 818-5656/750-0837; or e-mail: idlabitad@ metrobank.com.ph; or aareyes@metrobank. com.ph. Established on January 8, 1979 by George S. K. Ty, 16 years after he founded the Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company (Metrobank), the Metrobank Foundation is engaged in social development projects in the Philippines and other parts of Asia. As the corporate social responsibility arm of the Metrobank Group, the Foundation implements various programs in education, visual arts and healthcare. It also maintains an active and dynamic partnership with other organizations that likewise provide services for the disadvantaged. Among the Foundation’s flagship programs are the Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE), Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT), College Scholarship Program (CSP), MetrobankMTAP-DepEd Math Challenge (MMC), The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers (TOPS), and Country’s Outstanding Police Officers in Service (COPS), and the recently launched Search for Journalists of the Year (JOY). It also supports programs aimed at educating the citizenry on public-interest issues through research and lectures given by the distinguished holders of the Metrobank Foundation Professorial Lecture established by the Foundation in partnership with reputable educational institutions. The Foundation is also the principal owner of the Manila Doctors Hospital (MDH), one of the leading centers of wellness in the country. (PIA-Siquijor w/ MBFI reports)
iSIQUIJOR
is the Island of Siquijor’s first electronic newsletter produced by the Philippine Information Agency-Siquijor Information Center and the DOST - Provincial Science and Technology Center. It contains snippets of information about Siquijor, Central Visayas and the Philippine Government.
THERE IS GOOD NEWS EVERYDAY.
FOLLOW US online! /Pia Siquijor /PIA Siquijor @PiaSiquijor