VOL. 2 l NO. 26 l August 29, 2012
RDC 7 sponsors mass for Sec. Robredo, pilot Bahinting By Amorganda A. Saludar
Silliman University partnered with Smart Communications, Inc. to develop this prototype of a vehicle that's powered by grass, not by gas. The modern, eco-friendly tartanilla was launched on Aug. 27 with the aim of reviving the popularity of tartanilla but this time as a more environmentfriendly mode of transportation. Dr. Ben S. Malayang III said the horse will later also wear a manure bag to keep the roads clean.
CEBU CITY August 24 (PIA) --- The Central Visayas Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 offered mass at 12 noon today to pay tribute to the late Secretary Jesse Robredo and his Cebuano pilot Jessup Bahinting. Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma officiated the mass at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. RDC-7 chairman Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has urged all RDC members and congressmen in the region to attend the said mass in honor of Roberdo and Bahinting considered by many as good examples of good governance and humanitarian service, respectively. Robredo was considered instrumental in implementing good governance policies for guidance among local government unit leaders as well as the implementation of some projects, programs and campaigns geared toward good and effective leadership local chief executives and public officials. Bahinting on the other hand, was seen as a local hero for saving the life of a Cebu City zoo keeper Ronaldo Aventurado who was bitten by a Philippine Cobra less than two weeks ago. Bahinting, president and chief executive officer of Aviatour Air lent his plane to get the anti-venom vaccine from Camiguin to save Aventurado’s life and was set to be given a Lifesaver Award in the 2013 Cebu City Charter Day celebration. Last Saturday, Robredo was in Cebu for two speaking engagements before heading home to Naga city in the afternoon of the same day aboard a private Pipper Senecca aircraft manned by owner pilot Bahinting. Also on board were Bahinting’s Nepalese co-pilot Kshitiz Chand and Robredo’s aide Senior Inspector June Paulo Abrasado when the aircraft crashed off in the sea at Barangay Obingay in Masbate City. Only Abrasado survived the crash. (FCR/AYS/ PIA-7, Cebu)
Roadshow set in Dumaguete to prepare PWDs for 2013 elections The activity will also provide technical assistance on advocacy strategies, financial management, DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros volunteer management, and media Oriental, Aug 28 (PIA) -- The Foundation training for DPOs and NGOs working for Communication Initiatives, Inc. with PWDs to enhance their participation (FOCI) is set to hold a Fully Abled in the next year’s elections and also Nation (FAN) Day national roadshow develop PWD responsive election in September in Dumaguete City to materials. increase active participation of persons The foundation urged with disabilities in 2013 elections. stakeholders to participate in the FOCI Managing Director FAN Day to present proposals to the Criselle Capistrano said the FAN Comelec especially on easy access to advocacy campaign is implemented registration sites and polling places for by the Asia Foundation (TAF) with PWDs to reduce or remove constraints the support from Disability-Inclusive that PWD voters face to freely exercise Elections program of Australian their rights. Agency for International Development The FAN Day will be opened (AusAID). with a disability-sensitivity workshop FOR MORE REGIONAL STORIES, LOG ON TO: http://pia7news.blogspot.com to be followed by a media interaction. (MBCN/JCT-PIA Negros Oriental) By Jennifer C. Tilos
FOCI will visit key cities in the country where PWD concentrations are located that include Legazpi, Cotabato, Davao, La Union, Iloilo, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Dumaguete City. The foundation will collaborate with PWDs, disabled peoples organizations (DPOs), the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and other electionsfocused NGOs to increase awareness of the Comelec and local government units (LGU) on the needs and concerns of PWDs, as well as to promote their participation in elections and other democratic processes, said Capistrano.
INFOBYTES TOPSTORIES
CEBU
Mayors should protect lives, properties and reduce disaster risks, says Cebu town official By Rachelle M. Nessia CEBU CITY (PIA) -- Local chief executives must prioritize the protection of lives and properties of their constituents by empowering communities to take the lead. During a recent orientation briefing to members of the Cebu Association of City and Municipal Public Information Officers
(CAOCAMPIO) in San Francisco town, Vice Mayor Alfredo Arquillano said the communitybased approach has earned their municipality global recognition in good governance. “Mayors should involve the people in finding solutions to problem and they should be there to support the people,” Arquillano said. “It is communities that build nations.”
Training on the New Trends in Media with Regional Director Minerva B. C. Newman at the PIA-7 regional office, Cebu City.
Santander holds monthlong greening activities By Rachelle Nessia CEBU CITY, August 28 (PIA) --- The municipality of Santander, Cebu organized a month-long greening activities in line with the Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines 2012 program. Santander Mayor Marilyn Wenceslao said, these activities will encourage community participation in expanding the town's forest cover. These activities include “Walk to Care for Trees” held on June 12 that was intended for the molave or tugas seedlings that volunteers from Santander planted in 2011. “Fun Run to Care for Trees” on June 25 was done in celebration of the National Arbor Day and to commemorate last year's Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines. The running and planting event was simultaneously held province-wide in Cebu. Wenceslao added that participants were challenged with an uphill hike towards the planting site located in Barangay Cabutongan, Santander. The participants cleaned the surroundings of the one-yearold molave or tugas trees and replaced those seedling that died. The 500 participants ran and planted 500 mangrove seedlings, such as bakauan, bantigi, bungalon, tungog, and others to protect the shorelines and provide safe habitat to marine animals. “We could have planted more mangroves,but it's low tide. The run is synchronized province-wide, and the original site is knee-deep in the morning, so we have to forego and find a drier site,”
Wenceslao said. On the other hand, Three–Sixty Pharmacy also did an outreach program in Santander and planted 360 tugas trees. It was already the second year that the company did its tree planting in the municipality. Aside from planting, the company also gave grocery items to 2,000 indigent families as their birthday gift to the mayor. Three-Sixty Pharmacy manager, Antonio Yap hopes that the company will do these activities annually. Santander will monitor closely and ensure the survival and growth of these trees. This year, Davao del Sur, Davao City, and Compostela Valley also organized their own Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines, making these areas the first local government units outside Cebu to replicate the event. Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines 2012 was organized in collaboration with the Cebu Provincial Government, Aboitiz Equity Venture, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Iinterior and Local Government, Talisay City local government unit and other LGUs in Cebu, and various government and private institutions. Run 2 Plant 4 GREENIN Philippines, one of the components of the GREENIN Philippines program, is a fun run and planting activity that provides a venue for every Filipino to contribute in rehabilitating and protecting our environment with the goal of bringing back the country's forest cover.(mbcn/HFG/ PIA-7/RAFI)
Arquillano was a 2011 UN awardee for disaster reduction. The community-based strategy dubbed as the ‘purok’ system approach was an idea that started in 2004, when Arquillano was on his last year of his first term as municipal mayor. The idea was to organize several households into several puroks where each purok would consist of around 50 households depending on their geographical location, bared Arquillano. “I first started selling the concept to the residents where they would organize into puroks and initially advocated for clean and green surroundings where each purok was responsible for beautifying its surroundings. There was resistance which I already anticipated because people are always resistant to change so I gave my plan five years to be acceptable to the people,” said Arquillano. Arquillano said he started with those that were supportive to the concept starting with cleanliness and beautification efforts to promote the town as a tourism destination. “Those that have organized the puroks have transformed their surroundings into a clean and beautiful area which led other people to appreciate the essence of the purok system and eventually organized themselves into puroks,” disclosed the vice mayor. It took less than five years to organize puroks in the 15 barangays of San Francisco which made other programs easy to implement such as on solid waste management and greening program which are essential components of climate change mitigation and reduce risks of disasters. The municipal government then went into a partnership with a non-government organization Plan International on disaster risk reduction to capacitate the puroks into strengthening community resilience through disaster preparedness. In 2010, Plan International nominated the town to the United Nations Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction which had four nominees from the country namely Albay, Guinsaogon, Makati City and San Francisco town. Only San Francisco made it to the top six finalists worldwide which later were trimmed down to three. The six finalists were Vancouver, Argentina, India, Central America, Pakistan and the little municipal island town of San Francisco. The town later bested the two top finalists Argentina and Vancouver to covet the title of the 2011 UN Sasakawa Award for Disaster Reduction. The award is given to an individual or institution that has taken initiatives in reducing disaster risk in their communities and advocates for disaster risk reduction. Just this year, the municipality has earned three titles from the Cebu Provincial Government as the Best Model LGU, Green Champion and Grand Champion for the EGWEN Our Cebu Program. EGWEN stands for Expanded Green and Wholesome Environment that Nurtures. Currently, there are over 120 puroks organized in the town’s 15 barangays. (PIA-
NEGROS ORIENTAL
INFOBYTES COMMUNITYNEWS
ONE Rescue gets new ambulance for free emergency medical service By Rey Anthony H. Chiu
DUMAGUETE CITY (PIA) -- The Oriental Negros Emergency Rescue Foundation, Inc (ONE Rescue EMS) received on Friday, August 17, a brand new ambulance for their free emergency medical service (EMS). First District Representative Josy Limkaichong turned over the 2012 model Hyundai Grand Starex ambulance to ONE Rescue president Atty. Riodil Montebon, after which Archbishop John Du of Palo, Leyte led the blessing ceremony together with Monsignors Gamaliel Tulabing and Julius Heruela. The ambulance is equipped with life-support system equipment to provide immediate medical response for residents in Metro Dumaguete areas. This provide out-of-hospital acute medical care and transport to definitive care for those in need. The ONE Rescue has trained almost two hundred paramedics in three years, of whom several dozen continue to volunteer, according to ONE Rescue EMS secretary Danah Fortunato. “Nine of these volunteers have been absorbed as paid regular emergency medical technicians or EMTs. Their salaries are supported with donations from Lee Plaza, BigFoot, Appliance Centrum, OK Mart and Silliman University,” Fortunato said. The ambulance, now displaying the contact numbers 422-9110 and 225-9110 will respond to emergency calls and the service is free. “The foundation acquires this ambulance through the following generous private individuals and family donations; Julio Sy Sr., Jeanne Sy-Krebs, Reynald Uy, Bowen Gothong, House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, 1st District Rep. Josy Limkaichong and Lee Plaza,” Fortunato said. However, a group of respectable doctors in Dumaguete City also offered their time and professional skills to help craft the protocols and teach each batch of volunteers. The training and operations of the ONE Rescue is led by Dr. Rosalind Yu and Dr. Kenneth Coo, along with Drs. Krypton Kho, Bobbin Sy, Daryl Aplaon, Pamela Mosqueda, Karen Sayson and Michael Singco. ONE Rescue EMS is a non-stock, non-profit, SEC-registered foundation, composed of the following directors and officers include: Atty. Jose Riodil Archbishop John Du of Palo, Leyte blessing the brand new ambulance of Montebon, president; Fr. Enrique Balongag, viceOriental Negros Emergency Rescue Foundation, Inc. (ONE Rescue EMS) on president; Arthur Chua, treasurer; Danah Fortunato, Aug. 17, 2012 in Dumaguete City. The ambulance, now displaying the contact secretary; Victor Vicente Sinco, Dr. Ben Malayang III, numbers 422-9110 and 225-9110, will respond emergency calls and service for Eddie Uy, Roy Cang, Dr. Felix Sy, Conrad Yulo and Dr. free. (LJD/PIA NEGOR) Kenneth Coo as members. (MBCN/JCT-PIA7 Negros Oriental)
1st Sports for Dev't and Peace Certificate Course held in Dumaguete By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY (PIA) -- The firstever course on Sports for Development and Peace in the country was held in Dumaguete City after Silliman University's Masters in Peace Studies Program initiated the event in cooperation with goals for peace international. A first of its kind in the country, the two-day seminar gathered educators, athletes, government staff and students for a discussion revolving around the theme: "Beyond the Olympics, Beyond the Games: Harnessing the Power of Sports for Development and Peace." The seminar featured as its lecturer and trainor Alexander Cardenas from Colombia-US who is an expert in sports for development and peace from the Catedra UNESCO de Filosofia pa la Paz (Spain). He is also a recipient of the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship of the Consortium on Sustainable Peacebuilding funded by the
European Commission The course's program is a specialized modular offering aimed at equipping participants in the theories and practical applications of sports as a tool for societal transformation. This program supports the idea that sport can be utilized as a way to advance principled leadership, human rights, teamwork and conflict transformation, according to a statement provided by Jenny Lind D. Elmaco, a member of Masters in Peace Studies faculty. Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) is a new strategy for social intervention that has gained support from the United Nations, FIFA and other entities. It has become a platform for the implementation of development and peace programs and the design of research that recruits sports and other forms of physical activity to the realization of international community goals such as the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). Using sports, cooperative games,
Theater of the Oppressed, critical analysis of literature and other pedagogical tools, the certificate course aimed at equipping a pioneer batch of SDP practitioners and motivating them to create their own Sports for Development and Peace programs in their respective communities. Cyril Mapula, Foundation University Student Government President, who was given a scholarship by Goals for Peace, International to attend the course said, “it injected knowledge as well as the passion to use sports as a tool for development and peace. It opened our eyes towards the usefulness of sports aside from competition itself.” M y r a Vi v a r e s - Wa d d i n g t o n , coordinator of the Masters in Peace Studies program of Silliman University, hopes that the activity will be a springboard for initiatives from the different sectors in Negros Oriental and in the country to create effective and interesting SDP programs, especially for the youth. (RMN-PIA7 Negros Oriental with reports from Kriss Michael Abadia Tubog)
INFOBYTES COMMUNITYNEWS
SIQUIJOR
Capitol launches signature drive for fuel price in Siquijor prov By Rizalie A. Calibo
Manila and Cebu, the difference in gasoline prices is only .91 centavos as of August 2, with SIQUIJOR, Aug 25 (PIA)-- Siquijor Cebu enjoying the cheaper price. However with Governor Orlando Fua, Jr. launched a Siquijor only 179 kilometers away from Cebu, signature campaign for the reduction of the price difference is P4.25,” Fua reported. gasoline prices in Siquijor at the Provincial He attributed this to cartelization Capitol recently. between Petron and its dealers here, Mr. Fua presented a power point graph Zaldy Villa and ex Mayor Danny Villa who have that detailed the price differences between carved out a virtual monopoly of gasoline in Manila, Cebu and Siquijor. Siquijor. “Between 745 kilometers spanning
DOST-SETUP approves P.925-M ICT project By Rizalie A. Calibo SIQUIJOR (PIA)— A P.925 millionworth Information and Communications Technology (ICT) project under the new sector of the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP) was approved and funded recently by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) in Region 7. The project called “Upgrading the Information, Communication and Transmission Technology to Develop the Internet Service Capability of Siquijor Island Cable TV Network Systems Corporation (SICVNC)" is the first project in the province approved for the new sector on ICT that aims to upgrade the Information, Communication, and Transmission Technology of SICVNC for enhanced data transmission and to develop internet service capability. The project, according to DOST-
Siquijor Provincial Director Mario de la Pena, aims to introduce fiber optics for efficient data transmission and improve bandwidth management and affordable Internet services. It also aims to enhance product imaging and company services, increase the number of subscribers by 50% based on the 2011 operations, improve the technical skills of the workers, and generate additional employment, he said. Siquijor Island Cable TV Systems Corporation is located at Pangi, Siquijor, Siquijor. It is managed by Raul Villaver with Elvie R. Villaver as the President. Phase I of the project includes Equipment acquisition and Installation from July 2012-January 2013 and Phase II, refund period and SME Expansion/ Operation from February 2013 to January 2016. (RACalibo/PIA-7 Siquijor)
(L-R) Engr. Padayhag, Engr. Mario de la Peña of DOST-Siquijor and Siquijor Island Cable TV Systems Corporation President Elvie Villaver and manager Raul Villaver during the turn-over of a P.925 thousand worth project under the new sector of SETUP - Information & Communications Technology (ICT).
Gov. Fua also attributed the cheaper prices of gasoline in Cebu to a case filed by Governor Gwyn Garcia against Petron, Shell, and Caltex in 2009. The case he said, forced the big three refining giants to lower their prices in Cebu. He said that if Siquijodnons need to file a case to lower gasoline prices in Siquijor, they will file it too. The governor added that even if gasoline prices in Dumaguete are higher than in Siquijor by 10 centavos, this doesn’t argue in Petron’s and the Villa’s favor. This is because Dumaguete is nearer to Cebu than Siquijor is. By being nearer, freight is cheaper and hence should pull prices down in Dumaguete than what is prevailing in Siquijor, he said. In terms of volume of demand, gasoline consumption in Dumaguete is at least ten times more than in Siquijor. By economies scale, Dumaguete should have cheaper gasoline than in Siqujor by reason of a wider consumer base. Without any cogent factor to justify the price difference, it proves the arbitrary pricing scheme of Petron in selling its gasoline in the region, he also said. The governor said that if Dumaguete consumers refuse to protest this inequity and opt to keep silent, this should not be the reason why Siquijodnons should follow suit and keep silent too. He quoted a saying that the “only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. Gov. Fua pleaded for support from various organizations in attendance; the local and barangay officials, transport and business groups, officers from national government agencies as well as private citizens and all who are commonly affected by high prices of gasoline in the island to join cause with him as this is an issue that cuts across all sectors of society. He also asked the assistance of the National Anti- Poverty Commission, thru its Secretary Joel Rocamora and coordinator, Dr. Jose Pernes to help in the campaign, because the high prices of gasoline is directly related to poverty alleviation. Fua said that a petition has already gathered more than 1,000 signatures. After reaching a critical number, he will submit it to the Joint Task Force of the Department of Justice and the Depatment of Energy for investigation for possible violation of RA 8479 otherwise known as the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998. He is also considering bringing the suit to local courts. (mbcn/PIA-7 Siquijor/PGO)
Rotary club donates computers to Siquijor elem schools By Rizalie A. Calibo
SIQUIJOR (PIA)-- The Rotary Club of Siquijor Island Incorporated (RCSI) donated half a million worth of computers to some 24 elementary schools in the province, says a report by Al Lagasse, the chairman of the committee for the project. Lagasse said the RCSI has sourced out funds from England following the proposal for the project that aims to provide computers to all elementary schools.
The club received the financial assistance in June this year, out of which P50,000 is allocated for the repair and maintenance of the computers for one year, he said. A training that included hands-on session to all teachers of the beneficiary schools was also conducted at the Department of Education (DepEd) Training Center and Solangon, San Juan, Siquijor for three consecutive weeks.
It is designed to prepare, familiarize and equip the teachers with knowledge on the basics of computerization, he said. He said the RCSI has also conducted other projects in the island like water and sanitation amounting to P600,000 for some identified elementary schools provincewide. There is also the “meals on wheels” program given to some 70 indigents in the San Juan town. Under the program, the beneficiaries are given free lunch meals three times a week. (mbcn/RAC/PIA-Siquijor)