iSIQUIJOR_14_4/19/19

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iSIQUIJOR GOVERNMENTNEWS

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DOH gives tips to avoid diseases during dry season

(PIA) -- The Department of Health (DOH)-Negros Oriental gave tips to avoid diseases that usually occur during summer season. The DOH provincial office intensified its information campaign to prevent common illnesses that arise during dry season in view of the negative impact of the El Niño phenomenon. DOH Provincial Officer Dr. Socrates Villamor reminded the public to practice proper food handling to avoid contamination which could lead to diarrhea, a common disease during dry season. Villamor explained that food preparation can be affected by the minimal water supply due to extreme hot weather conditions. “Of course with the extreme heat, ang atong mga pagkaon dali ra gyud siya ma-spoil. So dapat naa tay proper food handling and preparation. Kung naa tay sobra i-refrigerate dayon. Kung kaunon man balik dapat initon usab before

kaunon (With the extreme heat, our food gets spoiled easily. We should practice proper food handling and preparation. Refrigerate leftover food immediately and reheat it before eating it again),” Villamor said. Another cause of diarrhea is drinking water from contaminated source or containers that are not cleaned properly. Aside from this, Villamor also advised the public to avoid getting exposed under the heat of the sun for more than three hours and always keep hydrated to avoid the health risks associated with extreme hot weather like heat stroke. Other common diseases during hot weather conditions are mosquitoborne diseases like dengue, skin diseases among children, and respiratory diseases manifested through coughs and colds. The DOH official disclosed that the department is monitoring the manifestation of these conditions from the municipal up to the regional level. “We have the epidemiologic

surveillance unit in place from the municipal level up to the regional level. The surveillance officer of the certain municipality will report to the provincial level. The provincial level surveillance team will assist the Local Government Unit in mitigating the increase in the certain disease condition. If they still need the help of the regional office, that’s the time we come in. More or less that is the scenario of what the department is doing to mitigate the expected rise of diseases,” said Villamor. In a Kapihan sa PIA forum held recently, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) - Negros Oriental Chief Meteorologist Neptune Catarata announced that the province is experiencing below normal rainfall condition from March to May this year due to El Niño phenomenon. Catarata said the weather condition is expected to last until August this year. (ral/PIA7-Negros Oriental)

Dr. Rinly R. Gecosala, President and Founder of Philippine Public Health Foundation USA giving Technical Lecture on Wellness and Well-Being: Their Role in Anti-Aging and Alternatie Medicine at GAD Building, Siquijor, Siquijor (rac/PIA-7/Siquijor)

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. 07| No. 14 Aprii 12-19, 2019

SAVE Siquijor: A flicker of hope for clean, free elections

SIQUIJOR (PIA)--Admit it or not, proven or not, vote-buying or vote-selling has been happening in Isla de Fuego, Siquijor as with other parts of the country. Founded and unfounded reports have been heard and read all over yet to the desperation of many, the practice continues to exist, making locals numb and seemingly becoming used to it, even wanting and waiting for more every election. Vote buying, is not just a recent development in Philippine elections, says the November 2013 UK Essays on Effects of Vote Buying in the Philippines. Its existence started with the coming of foreign colonizers and continued to evolve and flourish with the advancement of new technologies and the development of new ideas. From 1929 (American Period) up to the present, reports said, landmark cases of massive vote buying practices have been recorded including Siquijor, In fact, the province earned the name as the only province in Central Visayas officially identified as engaging in massive vote buying. But hopeless as it may seem, at least in this year’s midterm elections, there is this movement or organization that is bound to give a “flicker of hope” and bring back the flame of honesty, dedication and trust for the Island of Fire . A flicker of hope to those who have lost confidence in the country’s electoral process, to those whose dreams and longings for real change have been daunted with the corrupt practices they see or experience everywhere, or to those young and ordinary folks who have been wary of the empty promises and whose simple wish is to live life they so deserve. Amidst the realities on why politicians buy votes and why voters sell their votes, the movement named SAVE Siquijor (Siquijodnons Against Vote-buying Electionists) sprouted and has launched a communications contingency that hopes

to address the problem of vote-buying and votes selling in the Island as it hopes to move the candidate to commit positive actions by appealing them to refrain from vote-buying instead, showcase their platforms for good governance and public service to secure victory. SAVE Siquijor team spearheads the “Stop Vote Buying on Siquijor Island: An information campaign for true change that works,” says the organizer, Emeniano Somoza Jr., editor, Training Director, Writer who preferred to be tagged as an ordinary Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) who said, he wants nothing but real change for Siquijor. Part of the intitiative, he said, is the conceptualization of campaign materials designed as adoptable for easy reformatting

across all communication platforms. “It would be foolhardy to assume that we will overcome it overnight, but at least we’re now making baby steps in effecting an impact,” Somoza said in a chat with the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) here. With SAVE Siquijor, our mission is to only formally introduce to islanders that a few good virtuous men still exist inspite of this bad electioneering habit so that those who despair will see a glimmer of hope, he said. I am doing this to get the pulse of the grassroots in the coming elections so I can engineer next moves and plans of actions in the future based on my first hand

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iSIQUIJORGOVERNMENTNEWS #Empowering Communities

SAVE Siquijor: A flicker of hope for clean, free elections...from page 1 experiences, Somoza said. SAVE Siquijor gets the inspiration and motivation from President Duterte who, as the team quoted, “ushered in the era of genuine democratic governance through selfless public service” while noting that “under Duterte, politicians who cling onto old shady political habits and practices is being questioned, investigated upon, some resulting to incarceration of some personalities, including as well, those resorting to vote buying in order to gain or establish political power.” The group, Somoza revealed, is earning quite a number of supporters, some secretly though, and some openly. “It’s overwhelming to feel how much of the voters feel desperation... Daghan pa gyud ang gahandom nga mahunong ni (still a lot dreamed for votebuying to stop) based on my encounters with island folks,” shared Somoza. With its long term goal to educate the voting citizens especially those in the vulnerable economically-disadvantaged sector of the electoral body on the bad effects of vote-selling, what else can we hope for but for the team to prosper and the efforts to succeed. Good luck SAVE Siquijor and more power! (rac/PIA7-Siquijor)

A Siquijodnon showing his support to SAVE Siquijor. (rac/PIA7-Siquijor w/ SAVE Siquijor photo)

Rev. Fr. Leonilo Torres officiating the Holy Mass that opened the Healing Festival at Mt. Bandilaan, Siquijor, Siquijor. (rac/PIA7-Siquijor)

iSIQUIJORGOVERNMENTNEWS

Cebuano News CHED: Pag-abli sa klase sa Agosto, rekomendasyon lamang (PIA)--Giklaro sa Commission on Higher Education (CHED) nga rekomendasyon lamang ug dili requirement ang memorandum nga gipagawas nila niadtong Abril 5 diin ang mga State Colleges and Universities (SUCs) ug Local Colleges and Universities (LUCs) i-irog ang pagbukas sa klase o pagsugod sa academic year gikan Hunyo ngadto na sa Agosto. Si CHED Chairperson Prospero De Vera III mipasabot nga wala’y gahom ang komisyon aron manduan ang nga eskwelahan nga sundon kini ug ang mga board of regents lamang ang maka-desisyon kalabot niini. Apan gi-awhag ni De Vera ang mga eskwelahan nga iirog ang pagbukas sa klase sa Agosto tungod sa kasamtangang cash-based budgeting system diin pagapondohan lamang ang mga proyektong nahisulod sa fiscal year. Kun magsugod ang second semester sa Nobyembre, ang SUCs dili makab-ot ang Disyembre 31 nga deadline ug kinahanglang maghulat og dugay ayha pa nila madawat ang reimbursement. Usa pa sa rason sa pag-irog sa academic calendar ang internationalization o mahimong kalinya na sa pipila ka unibersidad sa ASEAN region nga adunay parehong school calendar. Kahinumdoman nga una nang gi-anunsiyo sa CHED nga ang pagsugod sa klase sa mga SUCs ug LUCs sa Agosto na sugod ang Academic Year 2019-2020. Nagpagawas na usab og memorandum ang komisyon kalabot niining kamanduan sa mga CHED regional office directors ug heads sa SUCs ug LUCs sa pagbalhin sa academic calendar. Samtang alang usab sa Department of Education (DepEd), sa Hunyo 3 magsugod ang klase alang sa tuig 2019-2020. Ang maong petsa agi og pagsunod sa Republic Act No. 7797 o “An Act to Lengthen the School Calendar from Two Hundred (200) days to not more than Two Hundred Twenty (220) Class Days,” matud pa sa DepEd diin ang unang adlaw sa klase sa public elementary ug secondary schools sa nasud gitakda sa Hunyo 3, adlaw nga Lunes . Nakalatid sa RA 7797, Section 3 nga ang school year magsugod sa unang Lunes sa Hunyo apan dili molapas sa katapusang adlaw sa Agosto. (ecb/PIA7-Bohol)

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,

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