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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. 3 | NO. 7 February 23 - March 1, 2015

Siquijor Guv supports blood donation campaign

SIQUIJOR (PIA)—To carry out his commitment for an all-out support to the Philippine Red Cross’ (PRC) intensive campaign for blood donation, Siquijor provincial governor Zaldy Villa earlier through an executive order creates the provincial blood council that is intended to help and promote mass blood donations in the province.

The order is made in accordance with RA 7719, otherwise known as the National Blood Services Act of 1994.

The Provincial Blood Council is chaired by the provincial governor with the Integrated Provincial Health Officer (IPHO) chief Redempta Cortes as the Vice-chairperson.

Members are Dar Lyn Honrubia as SP Chairman of the Committee on Health, all municipal health officers, PRC Officer-incharge Rowena Maputi and IPHO personnel namely Jemma M. Fortich, Ligaya Daniel, Elgie Generalao, and Pamela Domiguez.

Members from the line agencies and private sectors include Engr. Mario de la Peña of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Lina Medel of the Provincial Social Welfare and Siquijor Provincial Governor Zaldy S. VIlla Development Office (PSWD), Dr. Joseph Irwin Lagura of the Department of Education, Benie Jun Bantawig, president of the Rotary Club of Siquijor Central, Atty. Gertrudes Ladion, BCBP, Rizalie A. Calibo of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA), and the provincial director of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

PRC Officer In-Charge, Rowena Maputi expresses her thanks to the governor and the provincial government for the endeavour that will contribute to blood security in the province, which, she said, the level of blood availability at present is zero .

To a t t a i n b l o o d s u f f i c i e n c y f o r t h e p r o v i n c e , e a c h m u n i c i p a l i t y s h o u l d h a v e a t l e a s t 350 potential donors which is equivalent to 2,100 or more donors province wide, says Maputi.

She suggested that each barangay should have a maste list of its constituents’ blood type that is easily accessible.

Maputi encourages the public to support and donate blood.

“There is nothing to be afraid of in donating blood,” she said as she enumerated the benefits that a donor can gain in donating blood.

Among its benefits are: the change oil mechanism which means that the blood circulating the body will replenish immediately with new blood cells.

Through the chronological tests done to the blood donor, diseases like Hepatitis B, C, HIV, Malaria and syphilis can be detected.

Donors will also receive a donor card that he can use during emergencies.

Donors are advised to get enough rest of at least 5 to 6 hours, no alcohol intake for the past 24 hours prior to the donation and no fatty foods included from the previous meal.

Accumulated blood from the donation will be used for blood transfusions for patients with dengue, cancers among others.

According to Maputi, donating blood is a social responsibility, one is obligated to do for his fellowmen.

She said Red Cross bridges the gap between the needy and the giver. It is about people helping people.

If there are no people willing to help, Red Cross services are futile, she said.

At present, Maputi said that her office has launched the Pledge 25 Program, a program o f t h e R e d C r o s s Yo u t h w h i c h e n c o u r a g e s i n d i v i d u a l s a g i n g 1 8 - 2 5 t o d o n a t e b l o o d r e g u l a r l y.

Interested donors are welcome to visit their office every day from Mondays to Fridays located in between the Rural Health Unit and the Commission on Election (COMELEC) office in Siquijor, Siquijor. (mbcn/rac/PIA7-Siquijor w/ reports fromI.A. Abatayo)

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

National government and LGUS, urged to cooperate on investing in infrastructure

Development Coordinating Council and PIDS, contains all the recommendations that address urban competitiveness, poverty reduction, ensuring housing affordability and delivery, among others.

However, Navarro says there are a lot of areas for improvement.

“The plan has no articulation of purpose-driven and deliberate facilitation of goods and people mobility through strategic transport. It also did not articulate how urban development and growth corridors can be shaped by strategic infrastructure investments.”

The national level of urban planning still lacks the level of direction and cohesion that is necessary to sustain and optimize the economic growth already achieved by the country.

Unaddressed, the problem trickles down and is exacerbated by local government level’s preference for short-term plans, which lack c o h e s i o n a n d c o m p l e m e n t a r i t y.

Future

Navarro points to ASEAN and China, Japan, and South Korea as examples for alternative solutions. She encourages the country’s policymakers and decisionmakers to study how the strategic infrastructure investments of neighboring countries drove the direction and success of their urban developments.

Recently, the International Enterprise Singapore published a report encouraging Singaporean companies to invest in Philippine infrastructure.

The economic environment is enticing, the report claimed, but the exact same setbacks and concerns Navarro cited in her discussion paper were mirrored.

The opportunities are many— aviation, railway, water, energy—but if the political culture remains, and this is not just about corruption, but also about discontinuity, lack of efficient planning, and an absent political resolve, Singaporean companies will remain reluctant.

In summary, Navarro encourages the Philippine government, from the national to the local level, to participate and commit to strategic national physical planning.

Leaders must produce a framework that streamlines the implementation of infrastructure development in local governments while bearing in mind an overarching vision that also capitalizes on available local resources.

not outlive administrations. Navarro says that they focus too much on residential or commercial plans, or are often too inward, failing to complement and capitalize on the opportunities of working with neighboring local communities.

Present

The percentage of Filipinos living in urban areas is expected by the UN to rise from its current 45.3 percent to 56.3 percent by 2030 and 65.6 percent by 2050. The problem, cited by the World Bank in their East Asia’s Changing Urban Land Escape report, is that the rate of increase in urban land area does not match. By 2010, 23 million Filipinos were living in urban areas, having grown at a 3.3-percent annual rate from the 17 million by the turn of the millennium. Meanwhile, the land area has only expanded annually at 2.2 percent.

For those in Metro Manila who personally deal with poor public infrastructure on a day-to-day basis, it is not surprising when Navarro points out that the country has to invest smartly in its physical capital to be able to cope with such economic demand. The Philippine ranks 98 out of 144 countries in overall quality of infrastructure, bested by nearly all of its ASEAN neighbors except Vietnam, Lao PDR, and Myanmar.

She says the problem used to be the availability of resources. But now, the country has more fiscal room to move. What stands in the way is a historical lack of political will, and she is not alone in this observation.

The World Bank 2014 report on the country’s economic picture stated that infrastructure has surpassed corruption as the country’s foremost development obstacle.

A World Economic Forum observer complimented the Aquino administration’s advocacy for good governance, but added that good governance isn’t only about rooting out the corruption in the system. Richard Javad Heydarian, an Asia-Pacific economic analyst, said, “It is also about timely and effective implementation of strategic projects”.

But prior to implementation, Navarro claims there are issues to tackle when it comes to designing plans.

The National Urban and Housing Development Framework for 20092016, which was designed by the Urban

The Philippines risks failing to fully enjoy the gains of its economic growth if the government does not adopt a strategic national urbanization blueprint and follow it through with strong implementation.

In a discussion paper originally presented to the Network of East Asian Think-Tanks in Singapore last September, Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) Senior Research Fellow Adoracion M. Navarro concludes that the status of the country’s urban planning and implementation is “fragmented and lacks complementarity”.

Navarro’s paper, “Scrutinizing Urbanization Challenges in the Philippines through Infrastructure Lens”, explores the experience of the Philippines in urban planning and how it stagnated. Navarro suggests that a coherent solution is not only found in promoting national coordination, but also in the opportunities and experiences of the country’s regional neighbors.

Past

There were attempts to organize settlement and introduce mass transport between precolonial and Spanish colonial times. But modern urban planning as we know it wasn’t introduced until the American colonial government commissioned Daniel Burnham to improve Manila.

After the country achieved full independence in 1946, the National Urban Planning Commission was created, but local governments undermined its recommendations and regulatory powers.

This refractory pattern would continue, as Navarro’s paper demonstrates, and exacerbated by a failure in successive national administrations to strongly implement urban development plans.

These failures led to the decentralization of responsibilities to specific agencies. Navarro notes that oftentimes, these agencies “did more permitting and licensing”, foregoing their power to “craft strategic urban development plans with actual physical targets and that take into consideration circulation space, physical infrastructure, and connectivity or mobility in ever expanding urban areas”.

But it’s not just the habitual inefficiency of national agencies.

Local government units (LGUs), though required by law to produce a Comprehensive Land Use Plan, are often trapped in their own problematic practices. LGU infrastructure projects do

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DepEd reminds schools to keep grad rites simple

The Department of Education (DepEd) reiterated that graduation ceremonies in schools should be simple but meaningful and should promote civil rights, foster a sense of community, and encourage personal responsibilities.

Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC said, “While graduation rites mark a milestone in the life of the

graduates, these should be conducted without excessive spending, extravagant attires, or extravagant venues.”

Luistro directed the public school heads to charge any expenses related to the graduation rites to the school Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) under the 2015 budget.

“Contribution for the annual

yearbook, if any, should be on a voluntary basis,” he added. ParentTeacher Associations (PTAs) may donate funds as long as these are from voluntary contributions.

Luistro added that nonacademic projects such as but not limited to attendance to field trips, film showing, Junior/Senior (JS) Promenade and other school events should not be imposed as requirements for graduation.

The graduation ceremonies should be scheduled either on March 26 or 27, 2015.

This year’s graduation theme is “Saktong Buhay: Sa De-kalidad na Edukasyon Pinanday”. This year ’s commencement exercises shall highlight the importance of quality education in forging a decent future for the Filipino youth.

“Through this theme, we hope to emphasize the Department’s commitment in honing the 21st century skills among Filipino graduates in order for them to actualize their life goals and dreams not only for themselves but also for the less fortunate,” Luistro said.(deped.gov.ph)

Germany paves way for more Filipino dual citizens starting 2015

Effective December 20, 2014, children born in Germany after January 1, 2000, to parents who, upon said birth, 1) were both foreigners and 2) one parent has stayed in Germany legally for eight years, and 3) the child has grown up in Germany, can now opt for both German citizenship and the citizenship of their parent’s country when they turn 21. Previously, children born to foreign parents had to face the difficult decision of choosing only one citizenship upon reaching 21. For those who were born of Filipino parents, this meant choosing German citizenship over Filipino citizenship.

The amended German citizenship law, the German Nationality Act or StAG, has now abolished the exclusivity rule that obliged children born in Germany of foreigner parents to choose one citizenship over the other citizenship (Optionspflicht).

Children born of foreigner (non-German) parents in Germany after January 1, 2000, can now have both citizenships. However, one condition states that they should have grown up in Germany. This means they have been in Germany for eight years or attended a school in Germany for six years, or graduated from school or occupational training in Germany.

The same exemption from the obligation to choose is applicable to those children of foreign parents who were born in Germany between January 1, 1990, and December 31, 1999, and were naturalized, becoming German citizens in the year 2000.

For them, they are likewise no longer obliged to choose one from both citizenships and can therefore retain their dual citizenships provided they grew up in Germany.

The changes to the citizenship law will not affect the current rule in the

Philippines that children born of mixed marriages (ex. Filipino-German) are entitled to both citizenships (dual citizenship by reason of blood).

Thus, aside from the usual dual Filipino-German citizens, born of mixed Filipino and German parents and who are therefore both Filipinos and German by birth, there is now a newer group of dual Filipino-German citizens. They are those born of Filipino parents, or of a Filipino parent and a non-German parent.

Philippine Ambassador to Germany Melita Sta. Maria-Thomeczek applauded

the recent amendments to the German law.

Ambassador Thomeczek stated that “the changes to the immigration law are important in ensuring that Germany continues to be an open and multicultural society. It is especially important that Filipino-German youth, many of whom continue to closely identify themselves with the Philippines, are able to stake their claim to their parent’s homeland. No difficult decisions will have to be made—the only decision they will have to think about it is when to renew their Philippine passport!” (dfa.gov.ph)

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March is Fire Prevention Month

Theme: “Kaligtasan sa Sunog: Alamin, Gawin, at Isabuhay Natin!”

Top Hot Home Fire Prevention Tips and Measures

1. Regularly clean the house by removing the accumulation of dried leaves, wood shavings and litter in all parts of the house, these items can act as “fire fuel”. The mix of heat fuel and oxygen make it possible to create fire. Temperatures of these “fire fuel” via the summer heat can reach a certain critical point where ignition is possible to start dangerous household fires.

2. Give extra attention to oil, native lamps, and other combustible decorations and materials in the house. They should be placed away from curtains and other objects that easily catch fire. Do not put them where the wind, children, cats and other moving beings may topple them. Put them out before going to bed.

3. Observe what your children are playing with during this Summer break, be in high alert this season for children playing with combustible items such as matches inside your house. The spread of fire is faster so react quickly!

4. Regularly check your home electrical installations by a licensed electrician. Have frayed wirings and electrical fixtures repaired to ensure that the recommended solution and brands are used, especially during seasons of fire prevention (Which is summer and Christmas season).

5. Do not overload your electrical circuits, turn off electrical appliances that aren’t necessary to be used.

Overheating of electrical circuits causes the insulation to melt leading to seasonal house fires. Avoid this by using proper insulation such as TARTAN™ 1710 General Use Vinyl Electrical Tape which is flame retardant, a property that stops the spread of fire once source of flame is removed.

Fire prevention tips The following fire prevention measures are generally recommended:  Proper installation and maintenance of electrical connections  Avoiding the use of metal items like staples or nails to fasten electric cords  Proper maintenance of electric cords  Proper use, storage, and maintenance of all electrical appliances  Unplugging of electrical appliances

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.

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after use  Proper connection and maintenance of gas stoves and LPG tanks  Keeping flammable liquids, matches, and lighters out of children’s reach  Avoiding smoking indoors and making sure that cigarette butts are fully extinguished when discarding them  Making sure that lighted candles and mosquito coils are never left unattended  Obeying of “no smoking” signs  Installation and maintenance of fire detection and prevention devices  Securing an appropriate and effective fire extinguisher for your home, which should be Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) certified  Proper storage of flammable items  Keeping flammable objects away from stoves and other heating devices  Observing vigilance when cooking

 If your clothes catch on fire, stop, drop and roll to extinguish the flames.

What to do in case of fire

San Juan Fire Station - 09268249985

 Small fires may be extinguished by covering the flame with a non-flammable item like a pot cover or a dampened towel or blanket. Water should be used only for non-electrical fires.  If the fire gets out of hand, the nearest fire department should be called.  Escape quickly. Your household should agree on an escape plan and each room should have at least two easily accessible escape routes.  Avoid suffocation in a smoke-filled room by crawling as close to the ground as possible on hands and knees to the nearest exit.

Lazi Fire Station - 09058623420

TO OPERATE THE FIRE EXTINGUISHER CORRECTLY....THINK P.A.S.S. P: Pull the pin.

A: Aim at the base of the fire.

S: Squeeze the lever.

S: Sweep side to side.

But they say the most important lesson of all is when not to try using an extinguisher. The devices are only meant for small fires in their very beginning stages. Anything bigger, you should get out while you can and call the nearest fire station: Siquijor Fire Station- (035) 480-9051 Larena Fire Station - (035) 377-2325

“FIRE SAFETY IS OUR MAIN CONCERN” A message from: SFO3 Panfilo U Bagotchay BFP Acting Municipal Fire Marshal FO3 Zylbeth Y Cortes, MPA PIO/Fire Safety Inspector/Investigator