Zambo still free from African swine fever
LOCAL MAYOR Beng Climaco signed Executive Order 543–2020 to strictly implement the Department of Agriculture guidelines of zoning and protocols with regards to the movement, sale, and trade of hogs, pork and pork products to contain Continue on page 5 A man roasts a pig in Zamboanga. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)
Founded July 2019
MAYOR BENG Climaco praised health workers and volunteers, including barangay leaders for their effort in the anti-polio campaign of the local government. Continue on page 2
A health worker gives an anti-polio vaccine to a child in Zamboanga. (Christine Lim)
‘Miles de gracias’
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Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2020
Clear roads of obstructions, DILG orders mayors ‘Barangay chairmen who fail campaign to face charges’
T
HE DEPARTMENT of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has ordered a second wave of road-clearing operations following last year’s successful campaign. DILG Secretary Edu“Tuloy ang Disipli- urgency and enthusiardo Año said the local na Muna campaign sa asm as when the Presgovernments are given 75 ating mga kalsada. I di- ident himself directed days to clear public roads rect LGUs, especially the us during the State of of blockades or obstruc- barangays, to clear local the National Address. tion to ease the flow of roads and sustain the Binibigyan ko kayo ng 75 traffic and movement of gains of the road-clearing calendar days para Continue on page 3 people. operations with the same
No Wuhan coronavirus in Zambo
Mayor Beng Climaco during last year’s road-clearing operetions. (Kathy Wee Sit)
ZAMBOANGA CITY remains free from the deadly Wuhan coronavirus, but two persons were being sought so they can undergo quarantine as part of a measure to prevent the entry of the disease which broke out in China in December. The duo was believed to have travelled in areas where there are reported cases of the virus also called Coronavirus Disease 2019 (CoVid-19). Continue on page 2
Members of the medical team of Jiangsu Province cheer for each other before entering a temporary hospital converted from Wuhan Sports Center in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, Feb. 17, 2020. (Xinhua / Xiao Yijiu)
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The Zamboanga Post
‘Miles de gracias’
Mayor Beng Climaco thanked health workers for their hard work during the recent anti-polio campaign. (Christine Lim) Continued from page 1 “Miles de gracias con todo maga oficiales de barangay que ta dale di ila ciento por ciento suporta na campania contra polio. Barangay chairmen Erol Natividad of Manicahan and Arthur Alejandro of Mercedes and all the officials from the other 96 barangays, let us continue working together to ensure a better future for our children and ultimately ensure a polio-free Zamboanga City,” Climaco said. “Despite harsh conditions, health workers and volunteers continued their house to house an-
ti-polio vaccination campaign, as well as school visits to reach every eligible child in line with the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio bOPV2,” she added, referring to the bivalent oral polio vaccine. The second round of the anti-polio campaign which began February 17 and ended February 23 – targeted 200,000 children under 10 years old. The next round of the campaign is set on March 23 until April 4. The previous anti-polio campaign (Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio mOPV - monovalent oral polio vaccine) vaccinated over
112,000 children below 5-years old and Zamboanga City achieved the highest number of children vaccinated in Western Mindanao and overshot its target by more than 9%. Climaco has repeatedly recognized the efforts and hard work of health workers, including volunteers and barangay leaders, as well as partner agencies for the successful implementation of the anti-polio program. She urged parents and guardians who failed to have their children vaccinated to take advantage of the next round of anti-polio campaign. (Zamboanga Post)
No Wuhan coronavirus in Zambo Continued from page 1 Earlier reports said at least 8 people were being monitored for any symptoms of the virus, but the City Health Office said it has cleared 24 people – all placed under monitoring - after a two-week quarantine period. “Todo este sila yan exceed el di aton quarantine period, so todo sila cleared. Tiene lang history of travel, but they do not have any signs and symptoms. Zamboanga City remains free from the coronavirus disease 2019. We don’t have confirmed
cases in Zamboanga City,” said City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Amor Miravite. She said they continue to track, trace, and monitor individuals who have entered Zamboanga, especially those with history of travel in areas affected by the virus, particularly those coming from China, Hong Kong, and Macau. The CoVid-19 has already killed over 2,000 people and infected tens of thousands more in China and other parts of the globe. It is believed to have transferred from an-
imal species to humans in a seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan, the Hubei’s capital city. The virus develops 2-14 days after infection which include symptoms of colds, cough, fever, shortness of breath and severe respiratory problems. Preventive measures include regular hand washing with soap and water, covering cough and sneeze, drinking adequate water, proper hygiene and sanitation, healthy lifestyle and avoiding crowded places. (Zamboanga Post)
Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2020
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The Zamboanga Post
Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2020
Clear roads of obstructions, DILG orders mayors ‘Barangay chairmen who fail campaign to face charges’
Mayor Beng Climaco. (Kathy Wee Sit) Continued from page 1 gawin ito. This will continue whether you like it or not, especially since it has produced favorable results for the people,” Año said. “Now, we will not only validate the performance of the mayor, but also of the barangay captains. We recognize that the barangays have the No. 1 responsibility in keeping their roads obstruction-free so
under Road Clearing 2.0 and we will also assess the performance of the barangays and file appropriate charges (if they fail) if necessary. Nagawa na natin ito noon, ngayon mga barangay naman. We will continue to keep an eye on the LGU and barangay compliance and will not hesitate to file a new batch of administrative cases sa mga pasaway na hanggang ngayon ay hindi
pa rin nakakasunod,” he added. Año also reminded all local governments and the police that tricycles and pedicabs should not operate on national highways. He said local government must create a plan to rationalize the routes of all tricycles. “Bilang bahagi ng ating road-clearing effort at pagpapaluwag ng kalsada, pinapaalala natin sa ating mga kababayan
na bawal ang mga tricycle at pedicab sa national highway. Huwag na po tayong makulit at marami na din pong mga aksidente na nangyari bunga ng kapabayaan dito,” he said. In July last year, Año - upon the order of President Rodrigo Duterte - issued Memorandum Circular 2019-121 which gave mayors 60 days “to exercise their powers essential to reclaim public roads which are being used for private ends, and in the process rid them of illegal structures and constructions.” Following Duterte’s directive, Climaco – together with barangay officials – led a massive operation called “Oplan Baklas” against road obstructions even though the local government had been implementing this long before the DILG order. Zamboanga was also cited last year by the DILG for its vigorous road-clearing campaign, including the strict enforcement of
the anti-littering, anti-garbage and anti-traffic laws and city ordinances. DILG commended Climaco and the local government for its efforts in implementing Duterte’s order to clear public roads of all obstruction. Paizal Abutazil, the DILG regional director for Western Mindanao, said Zamboanga City obtained 90 points – the highest points beyond the passing mark set by the national government, and praising the local government efforts and Climaco. Abutazil led the validating team of the national government in Zamboanga and the following criteria were the basis of the rating: Ordinance, wherein the City scored 14 out of 15 points; Inventory- the City got a perfect score of 5; Road Clearing – the local government got 45 out of 50 points; Displacement Program earned for Zamboanga 8 out of 10 points; Rehabilitation Efforts gave the
City Government 13 out of 15 points; and Grievance Mechanism with a perfect score of 5 for a total points of 90. Climaco thanked the validating team and Zamboanga passed with flying colors, saying, the accolades should go to all the barangay officials, the citizens and those who contributed to the “united” efforts of the Zamboangueños. She said the local government has effectively sustained the campaign and with the new DILG order, “we will double our efforts with the support of the Zamboangueños.” Last week, the local government already convened the different barangay chairmen and discussed the mobilization of barangay tanods to conduct monitoring and patrol to ensure that public roads remain clear of illegal structures and maintain cleanliness of the surrounding. (Zamboanga Post)
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The Zamboanga Post
Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2020
Zamboanga Pictures in the News
(Photos by Kathy Wee Sit, Bong Serondo, and Christine Lim)
Mayor Beng Climaco swears into office newly-hired and newly-promoted employees.
Zamboanga City is the second highly urbanized city in Mindanao to have the Local Public Transport Route Plan.
Mayor Beng Climaco praises health workers and volunteers, including barangay leaders for their hard work during the Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio for bivalent oral polio vaccine targeting children below 10-years old.
UNICEF Technical staff sit down with City Hall department heads to review the work plan for the implementation of the Country Program for Children where Zamboanga City is a recipient.
Mayor Beng Climaco commends Police Station 9 under Maj. Ramon Bautista and PDEA agents for the successful confiscation of 1 kilo shabu and arrest of drug pushers at Camanchile Drive in Zone III.
As a Valentine gift, Mayor Beng Climaco officiated the mass wedding of loving couples dubbed Casamiento 2020.
Mayor Beng Climaco and Task Force Zamboanga Chief Col. Antonio John Divinagracia brief USAID Logistics staff about the security situation in Zamboanga at the Western Mindanao Command.
The Local Health Board chaired by Mayor Beng Climaco convenes to discuss crucial issues such as the CoVid-19, Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio, dengue and measles cases and the African Swine Fever among others. (Christine Lim)
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The Zamboanga Post
Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2020
Zambo still free from African swine fever Continued from page 1 the spread of African swine fever (ASF) in the country. Climaco said this is also in pursuant to President Rodrigo Duterte’s order urging local governments and national government agencies to harmonize efforts with the Department of Agriculture in stopping the spread of ASF. She said Zamboanga remains free from ASF. City Veterinarian Mario Arriola also explained that the zoning and movement plan is a map guiding local governments on where hogs, pork, and pork products can be transported, sold, or traded according to classified zones. These zones, he said, are based on geographical limits established by authorities upon identification of infected and quarantine zone as well as ASF status of provinces and regions. Arriola said there are two general zones – containment zone and free zones. The containment zone is further categorized into four zones depending on the area’s ASF status: red (infected zone), yellow (surveillance zone), pink (buffer zone), and light green (protected zone). In the recent case of ASF outbreak in Davao region, the province is considered under the red zone,
meaning no pork product from the Davao region is allowed to enter any province or region in Mindanao, he further said. He echoed Climaco’s statement that Zamboanga remains ASF-free due to the vigilant and stringent measures launched by the local government. The local government, Arriola said, has barred the entry of hogs, pork, and pork products from countries and areas with ASF, including pork products that do not have shipping permit and veterinarian certificate. Arriola said local government employees have been deployed to assist in checkpoints and called on residents to avoid feeding hogs and pigs with swill or kitchen refuse and scraps as this may contain contaminated pork products. Checkpoints have been in placed in entry and exit points in Zamboanga since last year to ensure that no infected hogs and its pork products slip past the city. Just early this month, Climaco also reminded authorities to strictly keep a tight watch on the he entry of processed pork products and meat following the outbreak of the fatal hog disease that killed thousands of pigs in Davao City, Davao Occidental, Davao del Sur and in South Cotabato’s Koronadal City. Climaco said strict
protocols will be observed to monitor and regulate the entry of hog and pork products here as a measure against the contagious animal disease. Last September, Climaco organized the “Task Force Karne” with the local government working closely with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture in conducting inspections in support to the national ban on the importation, distribution and sale of all processed pork products from countries infected with the ASF such as China following the breakout of the disease in July 2019, mostly backyard pigs in the provinces of Rizal and Bulacan and then spread elsewhere in Luzon. The task force is comprised of representatives from City Veterinary Office, National Meat Inspection Service, Task Force Ordinance, and Business Permits and Licensing Division. Climaco said random and surprised inspection in public markets and grocery stores, barter trade centers and supermarkets continue here to ensure that no canned pork products, particularly those imported from countries where ASF had been reported. The FDA previously ordered the pull-out from the markets of all processed
pork products such as luncheon meat imported from Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Moldova, South Africa, Zambia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belgium, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Mongolia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. AFS is a large, dou-
ble-stranded DNA virus in the Asfarviridae family. The virus is transmitted to pigs through direct contact with infected pigs, their waste, contaminated clothing, feed, equipment and vehicles, and in some cases, some tick species. Although ASF cannot be
transmitted to humans through contact with pigs or pork, the virus causes a haemorrhagic fever with high mortality rates in domestic pigs; some isolates can cause death of animals as quickly as a week after infection. (Zamboanga Post)
Illegal stalls impede rehab projects
Illegal stalls fronting Western Mindanao State University. THE LOCAL government has ordered owners of stalls fronting the Western Mindanao State University (WMSU) to immediately vacate for illegally operating without business permits and for impeding rehabilitation project there. It said stall owners continue to operate at the back of the Joaquin Enriquez Memorial Complex along Normal Road
despite expired contracts with the local government since 2013. The area is owned by the local government. The Commission on Audit (COA) also reported that some stall operators have sub-leased their rented space which is illegal. “The structure is part of local government properties being inventoried by COA for proper utilization where they discovered the
expired contracts and the on-going illegal sub-leasing of some stall owners and operators,” according to the local government. There are at least 10 stall holders occupying the area. The local government said the Bureau of Fire Protection will now use the area temporarily while its headquarters undergo rehabilitation. (Zamboanga Post)
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The Zamboanga Post
Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2020
Across : 1. Freudian term 4. Hubbub 7. Civic group (abbr.) 12. Weaken 13. Restaurant bill 14. Like old bread 15. Raise 17. Discussion group 18. Pass on 19. Gold bar 20. Ice ___ 22. Circle section 23. Informed of 24. Spanish ranch 29. Zodiac sign 30. Glossy fabric 31. Age 32. Went off the track 34. Old 35. summer shirt 36. Accumulate 37. Counts calories 40. Small bay 42. Satellite’s path 43. Get together again 46. Heavenly scales 47. Sleeve filler 48. Through 49. Double curves 50. Help! 51. Outback bird
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Zambo intensifies antispitting campaign
M
AYOR BENG Climaco has appealed to residents to maintain cleanliness and sanitation and avoid spitting in public spaces because it is uncouth and can spread infectious diseases. Climaco has in- to stop spitting in pub- long-term or in high dosstructed the City Health lic spaces to prevent the es. Some of the chemicals Officer Dr. Dulce spread of communicable in betel nut have been Miravite and City Ad- diseases,” the mayor said. associated with cancer. ministrator Marie AngelShoppers also com- Other chemicals are poiique Go to implement a plained that betel chew- sonous. strict anti-spitting cam- ing is prevalent at market It can also cause more paign aimed at stopping places and people who severe effects including the insanitary and ob- practice this frequently vomiting, diarrhea, gum noxious habit. spit out on streets. problems, increased saliShe said spitting in Climaco reminded va, chest pain, abnormal public is a health hazard, the public of an existing heart beats, low blood especially now the dead- ordinance against public pressure, shortness of ly Wuhan coronavirus spitting. breath and rapid breathwhich emanated from According to health ing, heart attack, coma, China spread quickly experts, betel chewing is and death. It can also trigto different countries. considered likely unsafe ger asthma and might slow “We need to tell people when taken by mouth down heart beat and gas-
(Photo by DNA) trointestinal tract blockage and ulcers, including
the risk of seizures and urinary tract obstruction
and emphysema. (Zamboanga Post)
New route plan for public transport approved Lawyer Martin Delgra III, chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, hands over to Mayor Beng Climaco the “Notice of Compliance” by the local government on the formulation of a route plan for public transport. (Kathy Wee Sit) THE CITY government is set to enact an ordinance adapting the Local Public Transport Route Plan (LPTRP) after complying with the Omnibus Guidelines on the Planning and Identification of the Public Road Transportation Services and Franchise Issuance under the Department of Transportation (DOTr) Order 2017-011.
Lawyer Martin Delgra III, chairman of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, flew to Zamboanga City recently to personally give to Mayor Beng Climaco the “Notice of Compliance” by the local government on the formulation of a route plan for public transport. Climaco was together with Vice Mayor Rommel
Agan and the local LPTRP Team led by City Administrator Marie Angelique Go and Councilor El King Omaga. The LPTRP was drafted by the local government with support from the Western Mindanao State University’s College of Engineering-Extension Services. It is a blueprint that provides access and mobility to people
through public transportation services so that they can utilize and participate in the different socioeconomic activities and amenities of the local government unit. Delgra said the local government is directed to enact an ordinance adapting the LPTRP indicating the routes, authorized mode and number of authorized units. The City Administrator also allayed fears by some jeepney operators that they may be displaced by the new routes, saying, the main objective of the LPTRP is to modernize the local public transport system as mandated by the national government. Go said the LPTRP is just Step-2 of the 10-step process. “Once the plan is
forwarded the City Council, there will be series of committee hearings to address the concerns of each operator.” “As of now, it is still a status quo. I cannot say no displacement, but the opening of new routes will open new opportunities for transport operators and drivers. There are routes that would have to be served,” she said. Under the route plan, the LTFRB granted at least 950 authorized units to operate on new routes. These include 151 mini-buses for Integrated Bus Terminal in Divisoria to the Highway, Veterans Avenue, Pilar Street, Gov. Lim Avenue, R.T. Lim Boulevard, Gov. Camins-Highway to Divisoria. While Curuan via
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Highway will have 49 units; Sangali-Highway will also have 34 units; 214 more units to service the northwest corridor of Limpapa-Labuan-Sinunuc Highway, while Ayala-Cabatangan-San Roque route will have 24 units. Other new routes are the East Corridor— Murga Road, Veterans Avenue, Don Toribio, Don Alfaro, Tugbungan and vice-versa; the north corridor—Luyahan, Pasonanca and Sta. Maria—for a total of 950 authorized units. Many public utility operators and drivers are also supporting the LPTRP, saying, the local government is working hard for their benefit and the riding public. (Zamboanga Post)