4 vol 4 isiquijor 02 01 16

iSIQUIJOR Information is our business.

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. 4| NO. 3January 27 - February 1 , 2014

Agri Sec turns over projects to Siquijor farmers, fisherfolks

SIQUIJOR (PIA) -- It was a big day for Siquijor farmers and fisherfolks as Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala came to visit to bring good news and more agriculture and fishery projects for the province.

Some 2,000 participants comprising local chief executives, national government line agencies, farmers, fisherfolks, and other agriculture stakeholders from the six municipalities joined the Provincial Farmers and Fisherfolks Forum and turn-over of farm equipment, projects and other interventions from the Department of Agriculture (DA) with no less than the Sec. Alcala gracing the affair.

In his message, Alcala said more climate changeresilient infrastructure and other projects are being implemented in the province as he challenged the provincial government to address the water problem in the province.

He said that with the projects and equipment given to the LGUs, he hopes that the province will have enough supply of safe, affordable food for locals and tourists.

A total of nearly P30 million peso-worth of agricultural facilities, farm equipment and other projects were turned over to the Siquijor individual farmers, fisherfolks, people’s organizations, farmers groups, cooperatives and local government units for implementation in the six municipalities.

I n a r e p o r t f r o m D A - P r o v i n c i a l A g r i c u l t u r a l Te c h n o l o g y C o o r d i n a t i n g O ff i c e ( PAT C O ) here, the projects awarded reached P18,090,598 including the total of P740,685 in livestocks, and o t h e r f a r m i m p l e m e n t s a n d e q u i p m e n t r a ff l e d t o t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s a s p a r t o f t h e a c t i v i t y.

All six towns received their share for each LGU, Rural Improvement Club (RIC), vegetable growers and farmer association, multi-purpose cooperative and other people’s organizations.

Enrique Villanueva town has a share of P256,381; Larena with P821,301; Lazi with P4,186,548; and Maria, P1,918,613.

S a n J u a n a n d S i q u i j o r t o w n s r e c e i v e d P 2 , 6 3 5 , 8 6 0 a n d P 5 , 9 7 1 , 2 1 0 , r e s p e c t i v e l y.

Projects and equipments include diversion farm rehabilitation, farm to market roads, 4-wheel and hand tractors, cassava pulverizer, cacao grinder, cacao roaster, HDPE pipe, knapsack sprayers, plastic crates, flower inducer, Plastic crates flower inducers, knapsack sprayers, and other farm implements.

The provincial government also received P1,490,280 as 85% counterpart fund for Hauling truck, 30 vials hemorrhagic septicaemia, and veterinary drugs, cassava and other items.

The Department of Education has P69,720 worth of 140 plastic crates.

For the fisherfolks, a total of P8,807,800 livelihood projects and fishing paraphernalia were also turned over to the people’s organization provincewide.

The local government units of Enrique Villanueva and Maria were awarded P300 million each for the community fish landing center and P250,000 and P75,000 respectively for the various fishing gears.

Matinabangon Women’s association also of Enrique Villanueva received P50,800 for fish processing utensils..

San Juan LGU was given P1,750,000 for various fishing gears and the town’s Maite4 Development Resources Association with P66,000 for fish processing utensils.

Helen Waterworks Association of Larena town received P66,000 for fish processing utensils while Siquijor LGU got P250,000 for various fishing gears.

Another P300,000 is awarded to the Siquijor Seaweed Growers Association for 50 sets of seaweed farm implements and five tons seaweed propagules for all six towns provincewide. (rmn/rac/PIA7-Siquijor.)

iSIQUIJORGOVERNMENTNEWS

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

2015 gains and 2016 plans for MSMEs

The Department of Trade and Industry–Regional Operations Group reported the wins for 2015 and vowed to step up its efforts in 2016 for the betterment of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

“We are proud to inform the public that the regional operations group (ROG) in 2015 has worked with tireless enthusiasm with various partner agencies to support the growth of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, with the establishment of the ever-increasing number of launched Negosyo Centers, established Shared Service Facilities and implemented Bottom-up Budgeting projects [1],” Regional Operations Group supervising Undersecretary Zenaida Maglaya said.

Maglaya stressed that these initiatives of focusing on MSMEs will eventually result to more entrepreneurs, employment, and inclusive growth, adding that the ROG “would continue foster partnership between MSMEs, development partners, and the government.”

144 Negosyo Centers

One directive that ROG has focused on is the establishment of Negosyo Centers. As of December 2015, there are 144 Negosyo Centers. This total has exceeded the department’s target of 100 Negosyo Centers for 2015.

“As of December 31, 2015, a total of 144 Negosyo Centers have been launched. The centers are geared towards promoting the ease of doing

business facilitating access to services for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including business registration assistance, business advisory services, business information, and advocacy as well as access to market linkages,” Maglaya said.

Meanwhile, to reach the grassroots level, more shared service facilities (SSF) [2] have been established with a total of 1,434 SSFs, which already generated 46,573 of employment since its launch in 2013.

Industry clustering strategy for 2016

On the industry clustering strategy, Maglaya said that as a result of various initiatives and interventions in promoting and fostering for industry development nationwide, the six national priority

industry clusters which are predominantly agri-based industries have contributed significant outcome in terms of bottomline indicators. The six priority industry clusters are rubber, coco coir, coffee, cacao, processed fruits & nuts, and tourism support industries.

She noted that as of third quarter 2015, a total of P1.717 billion in investments and P2.621 billion in domestic sales were generated from the six national priority industry clusters.

These surpassed the annual targets by 135% and 144%, respectively.

“In 2016, the industry clustering strategy will be continued to be mainstreamed by DTI with new additional identified priority sectors to bring the development to the countryside,” she said.

Continued support for MSMEs

Maglaya vowed to surpass ROG’s 2015 accomplishments by continuing its initiatives of uplifting the MSMEs and by continuing to raise the bar of service to the Filipino public.

“The ROG will continue to support MSMEs in facing challenges concerning business environment, productivity and efficiency, and access to finance and market as we continually strive to improve our brand of service to the public,” she said.

Among the many milestones of the ROG are the establishment of more than a hundred Negosyo Centers, Shared Service Facilities, Diskwento Caravans, SME Roving Academies, Agrarian Reform Communities, the assistance to typhoon Yolanda victims through the Livelihood Seeding Program, National Industry Clustering, Bottom-Up Budgeting, Coconut Industry Development Program, National Industry Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project, and Promotion of Green Economic Development in cooperation with the government of Germany, among others.

(DTI)

iNFOBYTES

Ania ang pipila ka mga “tips” aron malikayan ang pagka-biktima sa “akyat-bahay”

iSIQUIJORGOVERNMENTNEWS

PhilHealth must improve enrollment in the formal economy to achieve full coverage – PIDS study

Gauging the efficacy of enrollment in PhilHealth’s Employed Program will help policymakers in the health sector determine a more effective approach in achieving the goal of universal coverage.

Last year, PhilHealth officials iterated their commitment to achieving universal coverage by 2016. President Benigno Aquino III signed an amendment of the National Health Insurance Act highlighting the responsibility of the national government to cover the health insurance premiums of Filipinos in the informal sector.

However, full coverage in the formal sector also needs due attention and improvement. Thirty percent of PhilHealth’s members come from the formal economy where enrollment is mandatory. But based on a study by state think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), “full coverage” is “yet to be achieved”.

The private sector currently sits at 95-percent coverage, while the government employed sector sits at

75 percent. Denise Valerie Silverberg, author of the study, argues that examining the level of PhilHealth coverage and enrollment in the formal sector will help policymakers bridge that gap.

Silfverberg surmised that the gap in coverage can be explained by looking at how some agencies comply with labor policy. For example, the low coverage rates may be attributed to the significant number of contractual employees in government who do not enjoy the benefits of being enrolled in PhilHealth.

The perpetuation of contractual employees—something the private sector is just as guilty— allows firms and agencies to stall enrollment of employees into the PhilHealth Employed Program and withhold “appropriate benefits”.

But companies deliberately shortchanging employees are not just the only flaws. Variations of enrollment rate can also be produced by characteristics that set the private

Cebuano News: Ekonomiya sa PH, milambo og 5.8% sa 2015

MANILA, Jan. 28 (PIA) -- Nakatala og 5.8% paglambo sa ekonomiya ang Pilipinas sa tuig 2015.

Base sa datos nga gipagawas sa Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), misaka sa 6.3 porsiyento ang ekonomiya sa nasud sa ika-4 nga kwarter sa 2015.

Matud pa ni Socio Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, kini na ang pinakataas nga quarterly growth sa niaging tuig.

Apan bisan pa niini, pakyas ang gobyerno nga makab-ot ang 7 taman 8 porsiyentong gross domestic product niadtong 2015.

Gipasabot ni Balisacan nga nagkulang ang gobyerno sa target nga 6.9 porsiyento sa GDP sa ika-4 nga kwarter aron makuha ang 7 taman 8 porsiyentong paglambo sa ekonomiya.

Gipasigarbo usab niini nga naapil ang Pilipinas sa mga nasud nga “fastest inAsia” ang ekonomiya nga nagsunod sa India, China ug Vietnam. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)

and government sector apart, and other factors like establishment size and area.

For the private sector, sectoral employment, nature of employment, union coverage, union-employees ration, and number of employees all influence variations of coverage rate. But in the provinces, it is the size of the firm that matters.

“More employees hired by medium-sized establishments lead to a higher likelihood for the province to have lower coverage,” Silfverberg pointed out, “On the contrary, the greater the number of employees in large-sized enterprises, the more likely it is for the province to have higher coverage levels.”

Silfverberg concluded that before the country can work toward full coverage, policymakers must find a way to address the problems that impede effective implementation of the national health insurance program. Enrollment should be more targeted, depending on the sectors where undercoverage occurs the most.

Monitoring by PhilHealth should also be strengthened. Medium-sized establishments, surmised by Silfverberg, are more likely to short change employees when it comes to health insurance enrollment if they are not closely monitored.

Employers have to be held accountable to follow the labor code provision on employee regularization. The rules are often undermined by resorting to a six-month cycle to prevent employees from being regularized, and to refrain from giving them their due benefits.

Employers—both public and private—should enroll their employees into the program, whether they are regular or casual. Compliance at the local government level should be also closely monitored. After all, it would be harder to close the gap if government units themselves do not implement the health insurance program in their own offices.

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

MANILA, Jan. 27 (PIA)--Nakaalerto na ang Department of Health (DOH) aron Technology Center. pugngan ang pagsulod sa nasud sa zika virus nga mikatap karon sa Latin Amerika.

It contains snippets of information about

Matud pa ni Dr. Lyndon Le Suy, tigpamaba sa DOH nga mokatap ang maong sakit Siquijor, Central Visayas and the Philippine pinaagi sa pinaakan sa lamok ug ang sintomas sa virus mao ang hilanat, trangkaso ug rashes. Government.

Susamang lamok ra kini nga nagdala usab sa dengue ug THERE IS GOOD NEWS EVERYDAY. chikungunya virus apan grabeng maapektuhan niini ang mga nagsabak.

Kini ang hinungdan mao nga susamang sistema ra usab aron makontrol ang dengue ug chikungunya ang ilang gamiton aron mapugngan ang zika virus sama sa pagpabilin sa kahinlo ug pagpanglimpyo sa palibot.

Niadtong tuig 2012, nakatala ang DOH og usa ka kaso sa zika virus sa nasud apan wala na kini nadugangi sukad kaniadto. /Pia Siquijor

Giingong ang naapektuhang buntis sa zika virus /PIA Siquijor nihimugso og puya nga mas gamay ang ulo sa normal nga bata. @PiaSiquijor

Wala pay bakunang nadiskubre alang sa maong sakit. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)

DOH, nakaalerto batok sa zika virus

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