The seminar also provided introductory discussions and oversight on agencies governing and regulating the ICT sector to ensure consumer protection and welfare.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is moving forward its crackdown on unauthorized and abusive online lending activities, starting this year’s campaign with several individuals operating unregistered online lending applications. In a joint operation on Feb. 12, the combined forces of the SEC Enforcement and Investor Protection Department (EIPD) and the Philippine National Police AntiCybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) successfully implemented a warrant to search, seize and examine computer data in Cashtrees Lending Corporation’s office in Pasig City.
Larena wins Child-Friendly LGU award 2 farmer associations, farmer win Gawad Saka award
The SEC has been receiving numerous complaints against online lending applications (OLAs) for various violations of the LCRA and for abusive debt collection practices in violation of SEC Memorandum Circular No. 18, Series of 2019, which provides for the Prohibition on Unfair Debt Collection Practices of Financing Companies and Lending Companies. In response, the Commission created a task force to handle complaints involving online lending operators and to take the appropriate measures to stop lending companies and their operators from engaging in abusive practices and activities.The task force closely coordinates with other law enforcement agencies such as the PNP-ACG and the National Bureau of Investigation to crack down on illegal online lending applications.TheSECregularly monitors lending and financing companies for their compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, as it seeks to protect borrowers from abusive, unethical, and illegal lenders. To date, the Commission has canceled the licenses of 36 financing/lending companies due to various violations of applicable rules and regulations.Ithas also revoked the certificate of registration of a total of 2,081 lending companies for their failure to secure the requisite certificate of authority, pursuant to the LCRA. In total, 72 online lending applications have been ordered to cease operations for lack of authority to operate as a lending or financing company.In addition, the SEC has secured the convictions of 74 individuals for violation of the LCRA. To see the list of licensed lending and financing companies and their registration status, please visit the Lending and Financing Companies corner on the SEC website at https:// www.sec.gov.ph/ lending-companies-andfinancing-companies-2/lending- companiesand-financing- companies/. (PR) Tourism office meets with shipping companies, other goverment agencies on travel issues
Larena is one of the 12 LGUs adjudged as childfriendly in Central Visayas and is the only municipality in the province of Siquijor who was conferred with the award.
The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Larena has received another award for passing the Child-Friendly Local Governance Audit (CFLGA) 2019.
The DILG assessment criteria used “benchmarks and a scaling system in measuring the LGUs’ results and performance, consistent with national standards, averages or targets.” (Cindy Bonachita) by Mary Jane Banglos In time for the celebration of the Farmers’ and Fisherfolks’ Month, two farmer associations and one young farmer in the Province of Siquijor were recognized as Gawad Saka awardees (Provincial Level) for their excellent and significant contributions in the development of agriculture.Jury Omisol, a young farmer from the Municipality of Larena, was awarded as an Outstanding Young Farmer for his exemplary and innovative performance towards increased farm production. Omisol is an organic agriculture practitioner and is the Municipal 4H FederationHePresident.wasrecognized for his organic vegetable farming, wild bee keeping, native duck and chicken raising, and herbs and spices production. Hugpong sa Makugihong Magbabaol sa Cang-asa was also recognized as an Outstanding Communitybased Enterprise.Theassociation is assisted by the Department of Agriculture under the CornPeanut Production Project of the Special Area for Agricultural Development.
--ooo0ooo-The Larena Rural Health Unit has achieved non-remunerated voluntary blood donation targets at 2.21% for year 2019 and 1.60% for year 2020, the highest among achievements attained in the whole province of Siquijor while leading to the attainment of the Department of Health (DOH) Visayas Center for Health Development--ooo0ooomandates.
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 iSIQUIJOR VOL. 10| No. 20 June 2 9, 2022 iSIQUIJOR #Empowering CommunitiesinfobitsiSIQUIJOR
To facilitate ease in data collection amidst the new normal brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the increasing demand for digital information among local government units (LGUs), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the Department of Information and Communications Technology - DICT Field Operations Office Region VII and VIII, Visayas Cluster 2, turned over gadgets to the municipality of Larena--ooo0ooorecently.
Established in 2019 with more than 50 members, the association is adopting the intercropping of corn-peanut and was recognized for establishing the product KapengMais or native corn brew. The association is also a constant exhibitor of “KADIWA ni Ani at Kita,” selling their product Kapeng Mais and other vegetables. The third awardee is the Bonga Waling-Waling Rural Improvement Club, an all-women association with 26 members engaged in the production of cassava, sweet potato, and peanut. The association was recognized for significantly increasing women empowerment through community development and participation among rural women as partners in agricultural productivity. Awardees were given a plaque of recognition and cash prize of P3,000.The awarding was initiated by the Provincial Government of Siquijor through the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist Office and Gov. Zaldy Villa. (MJB/DA-PATCO/PR)
The two Samsung Galaxy tablets will be used by the Larena Rural Health Unit for its data encoding and processing, which would further provide pivotal information for the LGU’s immediate responses to disasters and health crises.
To raise awareness of the importance of Data Privacy Protection and ensuring the rights of every individual to privacy and confidentiality of their personal information, the Department of Information and Communications Technology - DICT Region VII recently conducted a Cybersecurity Awareness Seminar to employees and officers of the Local Government Unit of --ooo0oooLarena.
The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 46 issued the search warrant against Cashtrees Lending for misuse of device penalized under Section 4(a)(5)(i)(ii) of Republic Act No. 10275, or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, in operating unregistered online lending applications in violation of Republic Act No. 9474, or the Lending Company Regulation Act (LCRA). The onsite digital forensic examination on the seized devices showed that the employees of Cashtrees Lending operated online lending applications such as Happylend, Rush Loan, Easy Money, Good Pocket, Dummy Loan, Lucky Star, Swipe Cash, 365 Cash, Home Peso, Mega Loan, Treecash and Goldpeso. Cashtrees Lending is registered as a corporation and holds a certificate of authority to operate as a lending company. It operates registered online lending platforms such as Happylend, Creditcash and However,Cashmore.majorityof the online lending applications operated by Cashtrees Lending were unregistered. These include Goodpocket, Easymoney, 365 Cash and Rushloan, which have been the subject of cease and desist orders issued by the Commission. Following the digital forensic examination, the PNP-ACG arrested 46 employees, including the manager of Cashtrees Lending for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and the LCRA. On February 13, the SEC-EIPD and PNP-ACG filed with the Department of Justice an inquest complaint against the arrested employees of Cashtrees Lending for violating Section 4(a)(5)(i)(ii) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and the LCRA in relation to Section 6 of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
The Provincial Gawad Saka awardees who were recognized for their excellent and significant contributions to the island’s agricultural development. (RAC/ PIA7 Siquijor)
The municipality of Larena, under the leadership of Mayor Dean Villa, has been a recipient of the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Seal of ChildFriendly Local Governance, an award that is given to local government units with exemplary performance in delivering child-friendly local policies, programs, and services.
The Provincial Government of Siquijor through the Provincial Tourism Office conducted a coordination meeting together with Aleson, Montenegro, Ocean Jet Shipping Lines, Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Siquijor Tourist Police, and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) to discusss and come up with solutions to the issues and concerns of travellers particularly the congestion in the arrival receiving area and the issuance of tickets to outgoing passengers. (Siquijor Tourism)
(L-R) Provincial Tourism and Environment Officer Cle Bern Paglinawan and Vice Governor Mei Ling Quezon Brown listening to the issues and concerns during the meeting.
iSIQUIJOR GOVERNMENTNEWS #EmpoweringCommunities
Duterte Legacy Caravan nga gihimo atol sa Labor Day didto sa Dumanjug, Siquijor, Siquijor. (RAC/PIA7 Siquijor)
SIQUIJOR, Siquijor (PIA) -Gipkayab sa Siquijor Police Provincial Office (SPPO) ug uban pang ahensiya sa gobyerno ang mga dagkong nabuhat sa Administrasyon ni Presidente Rodrigo Roa Duterte subay sa lahamugaway nga nasinati sa mga Pinaagikatawhan.saDuterte Legacy Caravan nga gidala ngadto sa nagkalainlaing kalungsoran ug kabaryohan ning lalawigan sa Siquijor, nasinati sa katawhan sa pagsaulog sa Labor Day ang kalihukan.Kapin sa unom ka gatus ka mga lumupyo sa unom ka lungsod ang nakabenepisyo sa gihimong Duterte Legacy Caravan didto sa Barangay Dumanhog, Siquijor, nakadawat sila og mga kaayohan gikan sa Police Provincial Office, DILG, Provincial Health Office, Rural Health Unit, Department of Labor and Employment, DENR, Office of the Provincial Agriculturist ug sa Department of Agriculture , Department of Public Works and Hghways (DPWH), No less than the United Nations (UN) took notice of the competence of a Philippine government institution in the field of public service. The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) won the 2022 United Nations Public Service Award or UNPSA for its implementation of S4CP as announced on June 22. S4CP focuses on Accelerated R&D Program for Capacity Building of R&D Institutions and Industrial Competitiveness which is composed of four programs, namely: (1) Niche Centers in the Regions for R&D (NICER) Program, (2) R&D Leadership (RDLead) Program, (3) Collaborative R&D to Leverage PH Economy (CRADLE) for RDIs and Industry Program, (4) Business Innovation through S&T (BIST) for Industry Program. The NICER Program aims to address the discrepancy in access to R&D funding among the regions. Through the program, qualified Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the regions are provided with grants so they can undertake quality research directed at promoting regional development with their existing capabilities and resources. A proposed NICER should be unique, a collaborative project between HEIs, and must be duly endorsed by the Regional Development Council (RDC) to ensure its socio-economic impact in the region. The RDLead Program aims to help develop and strengthen further the research capabilities of the academe, research and development institutions (RDIs), and other government line agenciesTonationwide.thisend,RDLeaders who are local S&T experts with strong leadership and innovative policy proficiencies are engaged to train, and direct and support their R&DDependinggoals. on the R&D needs of the academe, RDIs, and line agencies, an RDLeader is engaged through application, screening, and evaluation by the National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP).NRCP is the implementing agency of the RDLead Program. The BIST Program aims to provide financial assistance to Filipino private companies for the acquisition of strategic and relevant technologies so they can undertake their R&D. The financial assistance, which may only be used to purchase hightech equipment or to secure technology licensing and/or patent rights, will be refunded to DOST at 0% interest. The CRADLE Program aims to enable technological advancement
Department of Social Welfare and Develpment (DSWD), Bureau of Fire Protection, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), Philippine Army, Philippine Coast Guard and innovation of local companies and to support the growth of the Philippine InnovationThroughecosystem.the program, the academe and/or RDI in partnership with a Filipino company, undertakes research and development to improve the company’s products, processes, and services to become more competitive in their respectiveBeneficiary-companiesindustries. under this program must provide at least 20% counterpart funding and commit to adopt the technology that will be developed. This way, research outputs from the academe are directly translated commercially to the Relativelymarket.anew program conceptualized in 2016, S4CP made a game-changing impact on the Philippine society especially the countryside. Led by Usec. Rowena Cristina Guevara, S4CP then became a catalyst in upgrading R&D for various stakeholders. “With the zeal for public service demonstrated by Usec. Guevara, her team, the DOST regional offices and the DOST sectoral councils, we came up with a program that creatively changes the way science and technology, and the outputs of research and development, are integrated into our society,” said DOST Sec. Fortunato T. de la Peña. DOST has enhanced the effectiveness of public institutions in the pursuit of reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). During the virtual briefer on June 23, de la Peńa mentioned the extent of S4CP’s implementation: “The CRADLE Program developed notable projects like the Remote Online Surveillance for Banana (ROSANNA) mobile application of the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) and HIJO Resources Corporation (HRC). The project minimized the damages caused by Black Leaf Streak (BLS), Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD), and other common banana diseases thereby reducing the cost of disease control. The project with BEPCO to optimize the use of their low chicken eggs turned their business losses to new products with new markets. We aspire for a similar impact in our current projects under the Business Innovation through Science and Technology or BIST Program. Local companies like Herbanext Laboratories, Nanotronics Inc., Pharma Galen X and BioAssets Corporation will be given an edge through R & D in their respective sectors.” With the Science for Change Program, the DOST has expanded its public service and enhanced the effectiveness of public institutions nationwide by establishing R&D infrastructure, collaborative R&D, technology acquisition, and capacity-building, thereby, reducing inequality, improving inclusivity, increasing sustainability, and having higher productivity in our investment in R&D and human resource development. The Niche Centers in the Region for R&D or NICER Program leads in stringing the innovation network of universities along with the human resources complement from the RDLead program in each of 17 regions of the country. (PR)
Mga pipila ka mga ahensya sa gobyerno nga misalmot usab sa gihimong Duterte Legacy Caravan sa Siquijor Police Provincial Office. (RAC/PIA7 Siquijor)
Duterte Legacy Caravan gipangunahan sa SPPODOST’s S4CP wins 2022 UN Public Service Award
DOST Sec. Fortunato De la Peńa (far left) together with Usec. Sancho Mabborang and DOST Region 7 Director Engr. Jesus Zamora, Jr. (2nd from right) during a virtual press conference in Cebu City while others were in virtual rooms in Metro Manila. (DOST-PSTC Siquijor)
SPPO Provincial Director PCol Robert Lingbawan sa iyang mensahe ngadto sa mga Siquijodnon. (RAC/PIA7(PCG), Philippine Informatin Agency (PIA), Triskelion Law Enforcers Group (TriLEG), Philippine Drug Enforcement AGency (PDEA), ug uban pang ahensiya. Lakip sa caravan ang libreng surgical examination, glucose and blood pressure monitoring or testing, COVID-19 booster vaccination, libreng tuli, alot, ug masahe, libreng italanom nga mga prutas ug utanon, food packs, ug snacks. May gipanghatag usab nga residential ug agricultural free patent, ingon man free subdivision permit application, ug gihimong profiling of skills training needs, gawas sa daghan pang mga serbisyo ug impormasyon gikan sa mga participating agencies. Kining tanan gihimo uban sa panghinaut nga padayong suportahan ang mga nasugdang programa aron mahatagan ug katumanan ang dugay nang gimithi nga luwas, haruhay ug komportable nga kinabuhi alang sa tanan. (RAC/PIA7 Siquijor)
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iSIQUIJOR is the Island of Siquijor’s first electronic newsletter produced by the Philippine Information Agency-Siquijor Information Center and the DOSTProvincial Science and Technology Center. It contains snippets of information about Siquijor, Central Visayas and the Philippine Government. FOLLOW US online! /Pia Siquijor /PIA @PiaSiquijorSiquijor THERE IS GOOD NEWS EVERYDAY.
