One Mindanao - October 12, 2011

2 Wednesday, October 12, 2011

C O N T E N T SNATIONAL• Mining investors will stay in the country despite NPA attacks, Aquino says• Philippine Spratly proposal maintains regional peace• Aquino approves P72-B stimulus package for in frastructure and reconstruction plans• Aquino welcomes commitment of Chinese business groups to invest in Phl

Central Mindanao (SOCSKSARGEN)

• Konstruksiyon ng Proyektong Pabahay para sa mga kawani ng ARMM sinimulan• Mga pamilyang biktima ng Maguindanao massacre, pinag-aaralan ang pagne-negosyo ng “dragon fruit” • Flashfloods sa Lungsod ng Heneral Santos, 61 na pamilya ang biktima

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)

• Agusan del Sur to strengthen fresh water fish production• AFP’s 402nd top execs visit Claver mine sites• Gov’t cited for the release of kidnapped mayor, 2 escorts• Tropical Storm ‘Ramon’ affects 164 individuals in Dinagat Islands• DepEd lifts suspension of classes in Butuan City today

Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)

• NMIS, LGUs to lead in the observance of the 19th meat safety consciousness week• Zambo. Norte municipal agriculturists, fish wardens undergo IEC workshops• Seguridad sa Dipolog City Airport, gihigpitan• Regatta 2011 gipahigayon sa siyudad• Pres Aquino mipasalig suportang pondo sa LGUs

Northern Mindanao

• PNP to observe helmet law • Lanao Norte PhilHealth members receive MDR• Agriculture Office leads celebration of Consumer Welfare Month• Offices, establishment urged to observe Juan Time

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)

• SPMC affordable services attract patients from all over• Mt. Apo’s Civet coffee helps farmers• Blood sugar, cholesterol testing to be available at health centers• New Bataan to benefit from a flagship program on peace and development• ARB seed growers’ first fruit a success

OUR COVER

EDITORIAL STAFF

An Electronic News Magazine published daily by Philippine Information Agency (PIA)

Mindanao Clusters

Executive Editor ……......... EFREN F. ELBANBUENA Cluster Head, Southern, Western and Central Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Region XI

Managing Editor ……......... ABNER M. CAGA Cluster Head, Northern and Northeastern Mindanao Regional Director, PIA Caraga Region

Associate Editors ……....... OLIVIA T. SUDARIA Regional Director, PIA Region XII NOEMI A. EDAGA Regional Director, PIA Region IX

RUTCHIE C. AGUHOB Officer-in-charge,PIARegionX

Regional Desk Editors …... Jocelyn P. Alvarez, PIA Region IX Elaine O. Ratunil, PIA Region X Rudolph Ian G. Alama, PIA Region XI Danny E. Doguiles, PIA Region XII Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region Nora CL Molde, PIA Caraga Region

Copy Editor ……………….. Robert E. Roperos, PIA Caraga Region

Layout Artists ……………... Gerie Mae G. Coco, PIA Caraga Region Richard D. Atillo, PIA Caraga Region

Editorial Advisers ……….... ATTY. JOSE A. FABIA Director-General Philippine Information Agency

SEC. HERMINIO “Sonny” B. COLOMA PresidentialCommunicationsOperationsOffice

Photo Credit:

Dammit Jill Hitabus weblogDA-12

3Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Cover Story:

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With farm-gate price of palay going down, agriculture officials in South Cotabato are encouraging farmers to take advantage of the better price that the National Food

Authority is offering for their rice harvest.

Agri officials urge farmers to sell produce to NFA By Dani Doguiles


Provincial Agri-culturist Reynaldo Legaste confirmed that this week buy-ing price of palay by commercial traders in the province has gone down to P13.00 per kilo from P15.50 per kilo about two weeks ago. Besides down-trend of palay pro-duction since August, intermittent rains being experienced in the area have also contributed to the lowering of the farm-gate price of palay. Fortunately, rice farmers in South Co-tabato could avail of much better price for their produce from the National Food Authority (NFA) , he said. Angelina Luce-na, assistant man-ager of NFA-South Cotabato said, they

are buying palay from rice farmers at P17.00 per kilogram , P4.00 higher than the prevailing price being offered by traders. “ W e buy palay at P17.40 per kilo if this i s

clean and dry,” she said. Ac-credited coopera-tives that sell their palay to NFA also get i n c en -tives of P 0 . 3 0 per kilo,she added. Lucena pointed that they have sim-plified the require-

ments so that more farmers could sell their produce to one of the four buying stations set up by NFA. Besides two buy-ing stations in Ko-ronadal City, they

have setup a buy-ing stations in the

grains centers of Norala and Surallah towns where farm-ers in the Upper Valley area could deliver their

produce. “Farmers only

need to present a certification from either their mu-

nicipal agricultural officer or municipal agrarian reform of-ficer,” she said. “The certification should specify the number of hectares of rice field being

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Cover Story:Agri Officials.....from page 4

tilled, volume of pro-duction this season and the farm clas-sification whether ir-rigated or rain-fed.” She also as-sured rice farmers that NFA South Co-tabato has enough funding for the pro-curement program until the end of the year. “In September we received a fund allocation of P18 mil-

lion for the procure-ment program. More funds are now avail-able in the regional office of NFA for the purpose,” she said. They have also been assured by national agency officials that more funds can be downloaded to local offices if needed. To accommo-date the bulk of pro-curement, NFA South Cotabato is renting

two warehouses with a combined capacity of at least 100,000 bags of palay bought from farmers in the Upper Valley area. She said they are now finaliz-ing contracts for the warehouses. For the Sep-tember to December season, NFA-South Cotabato aims to buy 168,000 bags of palay.


FForeign investors in the mining industry will not withdraw from the Philippines despite the attack of the New Peoples Army (NPA) in Surigao del Norte early this month, President

Benigno S. Aquino III said on Wednesday.

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Mining investors will stay in the country despite NPA attacks, Aquino says


Mining investors.....from page 8

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The Chief Execu-tive, who was inter-viewed by the For-eign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) in Makati Wednesday morning, said that he had talked to a group of Japanese inves-tors who made an assurance that they’ll continue to do business in the Philippines despite the at-tacks. “I actually met with the of-ficers of the S u m i -tomo

group who called on me Tuesday and they assured us that they have no intentions of pulling out,” the President told Focap. “But there was that request for beefed up security in

their areas of oper-ations to which

we have al-ready ad-vised them of the cor-rective ac-tions that are being

undertaken. S o

if the victim of this whole issue has not indicated a lack of interest or lessening of interest, then per-haps I don’t foresee any other foreign in-vestors undertaking the same,” he add-ed. Responding to criticisms about the government plan to train members of the special Citizen Armed Forces Geographi-cal Unit (CAFGU) to serve as security for mining industries, the President said their deployment will be strictly moni-tored by the police and the military to prevent abuses. “CAFGUs or special CAFGUs will be terri-tor ia l-based, will be sub-

ject to rules and regu-l a t i o n s , and will be un-der the


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Mining investors.....from page 9

watchful gaze of our Commission on Hu-man Rights chair Etta Rosales. We do not foresee any abuses from them but rath-er they will augment the abilities of our security forces to preserve peace and order in our country,” the President said. The President noted that it’s unfair for the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to double their ef-forts in securing the country’s hot spots considering the huge

number of Filipino population so there’s a need to augment their number with militiamen. “We roughly have 250,000 men in uniform, they are guarding close to a hundred million Fili-pinos,” he said. “That is the exact same number of forces we had in 1986 when he had 50 million Filipi-nos. So we’re asking the members, our citizens who are in uniform, to do dou-ble the work and I think that would be unfair.”

NPA guerrillas staged coordinated raids on Taganito Mining Corp., Tagan-ito HPAL Nickel Corp. and Platinum Group Metals Corp. operat-ing in Claver, Surigao del Norte, on October 3, killing three secu-rity guards. The rebels burned 10 dump trucks, eight back-hoes, two barges and a guest house, the police and the mili-tary said. The rebels also seized several guns from private se-curity guards. (AS)

The Philippine proposal for the adoption of the Zone of Peace, Freedom, Friendship and Cooperation (ZoPFF/C) to resolve the Spratly Islands dispute has been an effective way of

maintaining peace in the controversial regime of islands, President Benigno Aquino III said on Wednesday.

Philippine Spratly proposal maintains regional peace


watchful gaze of our Commission on Hu-man Rights chair Etta Rosales. We do not foresee any abuses from them but rath-er they will augment the abilities of our security forces to preserve peace and order in our country,” the President said. The President noted that it’s unfair for the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to double their ef-forts in securing the country’s hot spots considering the huge number of Filipino

population so there’s a need to augment their number with militiamen. “We roughly have 250,000 men in uniform, they are guarding close to a hundred million Fili-pinos,” he said. “That is the exact same number of forces we had in 1986 when he had 50 million Filipi-nos. So we’re asking the members, our citizens who are in uniform, to do double the work and I think that would be unfair.” NPA guerrillas

staged coordinat-ed raids on Taganito Mining Corp., Tagan-ito HPAL Nickel Corp. and Platinum Group Metals Corp. operat-ing in Claver, Surigao del Norte, on October 3, killing three secu-rity guards. The rebels burned 10 dump trucks, eight back-hoes, two barges and a guest house, the police and the mili-tary said. The rebels also seized several guns from private se-curity guards. (AS)

Philippine Spartly.....from page 10


Aquino approves P72-B stimulus package for infrastructure and reconstruction plansPresident Benigno S. Aquino III has approved

the P72-billion stimulus package for various infrastructure and reconstruction plans saying it will produce multiplier effect on

the Philippine economy.

“The P72-bil-lion will have its own multiplier effect and this pump primes the economy to that ex-tent,” President Aqui-no said during an open forum with the officers and members of the Foreign Corre-spondents Associa-tion of the Philippines (FOCAP) on Wednes-day at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Makati City. In a bid to boost economic growth in the country, Aquino approved the P72-bil-

lion stimulus package for various infrastruc-ture and reconstruc-tion plans, including a support fund for lo-cal government units (LGUs). The Presi-dent pointed out that the stimulus package aims to help reach the growth targets for 2011 and 2012. However, Aqui-no acknowledged the fact that the country may be affected by the global economic meltdown. “The global eco-nomic situation is

changing practi-cally daily. And one is not isolated from the world economy. Therefore, things that we do here domesti-cally would impact on economy positively. But, at the same time, we are not sure exact-ly what the negative effects of the world’s economic turmoil will have on us since it is still a developing story,” the President said. President Aquino said the LGU support fund amounting to

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P6.5 billion is part of the stimulus package. He said it will give an additional P10 billion to resettle and relo-cate informal settlers and families in danger zones. The President said the government

will be allotting P5.5 billion on various infrastructure proj-ects under the De-partment of Public Works and Highways (DPWH); and P4.5 billion and P1.868 billion will go to the improvement of the

Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transit (LRT) respectively. The package will be spent on projects that will have high macroeconomic im-pact, and will help the poor.(JS)

Aquino welcomes commitment of Chinese business groups to invest in PhlPresident Benigno S. Aquino III welcomes

the commitment of the Chinese business groups of venturing their investments in the country in the fields of tourism and energy,

among others.

In an interview with the officers and members of the For-eign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) during the Annual

Presidential Forum on Wednesday at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Makati City, the President said that there are several fields of investments

to be filled in by a number of investors coming in the Philip-pines. “With regards to other investment ar-eas — and we did go

Aquino approves.....from page 12

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to China, we agreed that this is but one part of the relationship with them — there is a commitment, for instance, to help us with our tourism in-dustry. There are two major travel agen-cies — one of which owns its own airline and the other one is actually building two hotels already in the Philippines... so, the commitment to help us in our tourism in-dustry is not just words but they’re ac-tually undertaking it,” the President said. “There are oth-er ventures — heavy equipment and truck manufacturing are also set to commence with us — there are a whole slew of inves-tors that are coming in apart from energy,” he added.

The Chief Execu-tive added that apart from these busi-nesses, the Chinese group is also extend-ing assistance in oth-er fields that include disaster mitigation and water resources management. “They would also want to help us in terms of our energy, our water resource management, our di-saster risk mitigation and we welcome all of these assistanc-es,” President Aquino said.It has been five years since a President at-tended the FOCAP to talk about pressing issues and discuss key policies of the government in efforts to shape the future of the country. The President ac-knowledged FOCAP’s

efforts to uphold the freedom of the press especially during the time of martial law. “FOCAP has stood firmly for free-dom of the press... they did this at the height of martial law — a time when do-ing so had severe re-percussions — when journalists who were choosing to do the right thing were be-ing thrown in prison or, worse, murdered in cold blood. And yet this organization has weathered plots to gag reporters, or cor-rupt them,” the Presi-dent said. Founded in 1974, the FOCAP is a non-profit organiza-tion of international news agencies, pub-lications, radio and television networks. (JCL)

Aquino welcomes.....from page 13


President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his speech during the Annual Presidential Forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) at the Ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental, Makati City on Wednesday (October 12). The President unveils the government’s Php72-Billion economic stimulus package that will have a multiplier effect on the Philippine economy. FOCAP is one of the country’s most prestigious and respected media organization. It was founded in 1974 to safeguard the press freedom during Martial Law years. It consists of more than 50 international news agencies, publications, radio and TV networks. The FOCAP annual forum with the President is a much awaited event of the organization that shall serve as a venue for the Chief Executive to give key policy statements or declarations. In photo are FOCAP vice president John Mair and FOCAP president Girlie Linao. (Photo by: Gil Nartea / Malacañang Photo Bureau).

18 Wednesday, October 12, 201118 Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Konstruksiyon ng Proyektong Pabahay para sa mga kawani ng ARMM sinimulan

KORONADAL CITY– Sinimulan na ng pamunuan ng Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) ang pagtatayo ng mga proyektong pabahay para sa mga kawani nitong walang sariling bahay.

by ac agad

Ayon kay execu-tive secretary Naguib Sinarimbo, sinimu-lan na ang konstruk-siyon, pagkatanggap ng ARMM ng titulo ng apat na ektaryang lu-pain na pagtatayuan ng mga mga bahay. Sa inisyal na ba-hagi ng Proyektong Pabahay, aabot sa 50 hanggang 100 hous-ing units ang itatayo. Isusunod din umano

dito ang nalalabi pang mga units hanggang magkaroon ng sariling bahay ang mahigit 300 mga kawani at opisyal ng Office of the Region-al Governor (ORG) ng autonomous region. Inihayag din ni acting governor An-saruddin Adiong na isasama din sa mga susunod na proyek-tong pabahay ang iba pang mga kawani

mula sa iba pang san-gay ng ARMM sakaling matapos na ang ilang paghahanda para sa tuluy-tuloy na pag-usad ng proyekto. Ikinatuwa na-man ng mga kawani ang pagsisimula ng proyektong pabahay na umabot na rin ng isang dekada ang pag-pa-plano upang ito ay maisakatuparan.


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Mga pamilyang biktima ng Maguindanao massacre, pinag-aaralan ang pagne-negosyo ng “dragon fruit” KORONADAL CITY – Pinag-aaralan ng mga naulilang pamilya ng mga biktima ng Maguindanao massacre ang pagtatanim ng “dragon fruit” kasunod ng naunang payo sa kanila ng National Union of Journalists in the Philippines (NUJP).

Ayon kay Ric Ca-chuela, ang piniling puno ng grupo ng naulilang pamilya -- ang Justice Now Move-ment, ang iba umano sa kanilang mga kasa-mahan ay nakabisita na sa ilang mga drag-on fruit farms sa Luzon bilang paghahanda sa pagsabak sa proyek-tong pangkabuhayan. Ang dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus)

venture ay ipinanu-kala ng NUJP para sa mga biktimang pami-lya upang makatulong umano sa kanilang ka-buhayan at maiwasan nila na maging bikti-ma ng panunuhol para bitawan ang kaso. Ayon kay NUJP secretary-general Ro-wena Paraan, mayroon na umanong pondo mula sa mga press foundations mula sa

ibang bansa para makatulong sa mga proyekto ng mga pam-ilya ng mga pinaslang na media. Kabilang sa dayu-hang media institusyon na nag-alok ng tulong ay ang Rory Peck Trust, ayon kay Paraan. Tiwala si Paraan na makakatulong sa mga naulilang pami-lya ang dragon fruit venture. (ac agad)

Flashfloods sa Lungsod ng Heneral Santos, 61 na pamilya ang biktima Koronadal City- Ini-ulat ng tanggapan ng General Santos City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CDRRMC) na umabot sa 61 na pamilya ang nagsilikas at anim na bahay ang nasira ng flashfloods noong Lunes ng gabi, Oktubre a-10, 2011.


Flasfloods sa Lunsod....from page 19

Ang mga binah-ang pamilya ay pansa-mantalang inilikas sa oval plaza gymnasium ng lungsod. Ang mga ito ay binigyan na rin ng City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) ng mga relief assistance. Magkatuwang din ang ilang kawani ng CSWDO at mga volun-teer health workers ng

barangay sa pagbibig-ay ng mga tulong sa mga evacuees, ayon kay Barangay Dadiangas City Heights councilor Lourdes Gambalan na siya ring tumatayong disaster operations co-ordinator ng komuni-dad. M a t a t a n d a a n g nauna ng inindorso ni General Santos City mayor Darlene Antoni-no-Custodio ang pag-

aaral hinggil sa posi-bleng relocation ng mga residenteng nasa mababang lugar sa lungsod na kalimitan ay nanganganib sa mga pagbabanta dala ng pagtaas ng tubig. Ang mga lugar na ito rin ay nauna ng kinilala ng Department of Environ-ment and Natural Re-sources (DENR) na mga “high-risk areas.” (ac agad)


The provincial government of Agusan del Sur has released almost half a million pesos and will be spending more this year to strengthen fresh fish production.

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Agusan del Sur to strengthen fresh water fish production by David M. Suyao


Agusan del Sur.....from page 21

According to a re-port from Provincial Ag-riculture Office (PAO), the fund set aside for the Intensified and Sus-tainable Development of Aquaculture (ISDA) from the 20 percent provincial development fund (PDF) is P786,000 for this year.

“We are targeting to pro-duce 2 million fingerlings for this year but because of unstable weather condition, we have only produced 613,000 fin-gerlings and distribut-ed to 308 fish farmers province-wide. We also established eight fish

cages and have already harvested some 550 ki-los as trial production. We will turn over the cages to LOGUFAMCO for best maintenance and production,” PAO chief Armando Lagum-bay said. According to Lagumbay, the PAO also established fishpond techno-demo worth P300,000, using delayed feeding strategy in Espe-ranza and Sta. Josefa. “To date, while the project is on-going, we have already spent P287,400. This proj-ect will reduce the cost of feeds for the tilapia, without affecting their growth,” Lagumbay add-ed.

AFP’s 402nd top execs visit Claver mine sites by 1LT Joe Patrick Martinez

CLAVER, Surigao del Norte -To properly address the current security situation in the area, officials of the 402nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) visited on Sunday two mining companies which were attacked recently by the armed rebels.

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AFP’s 402nd top execs visit Claver mine sites

402nd Brigade Commander Col. James V Jacob and 30th Infan-try Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Vincent Iringan along with the President of Taganito High Pressure Acid Leaching (THPAL) Corp., Mr Takamori Fu-jimura, and President of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) Gerard Brimo visited the two mining companies located in Brgy. Tagan-ito, Claver, Surigao del Norte. “The reason of our visit is to address the current security situation

of the two companies,” said Col. Jacob. Col Jacob is propos-ing to put up a Special CAFGU Active Auxilliary (SCAA) inside their com-panies to strengthen the security not only inside the companies but also to its perimeters. Further, said SCAA will undergo a mili-tary training so as to be equipped with high powered firearms which is enough to secure the area against any threat group, specially the NPA.

Meantime, 4th In-fantry Division Com-mander Major General Victor A Felix said “We can easily contain the area if we add another troops specially the SCAA who will secure all vital installations while the In-fantry Battalions will be concentrating on combat operations in our Area of Responsibility (AOR).” “With this, we can assure the people and the investors that the re-cent atrocities will never happen again,” MGen Fe-lix added.

AFP’s 402nd.....from page 22


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Gov’t cited for the release of kidnapped mayor, 2 escortsLIANGA, Surigao del Sur -– The Army’s 401st Infantry “Unite N’ Fight” Brigade expressed their appreciation to the Local Government Units, Local Crisis Management Committee (LCMC), and other sectors who worked for the safe release of Mayor Henry Dano and the two soldiers at Barangay New Visayas, Trento Agusan del sur on October 09, 2011, at about 2 o’clock in the afternoon.

402nd Brigade Commander Col. James V Jacob and 30th Infan-try Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Vincent Iringan along with the President

of Taganito High Pressure Acid Leaching (THPAL) Corp., Mr Takamori Fu-jimura, and President of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC) Gerard Brimo visited the

two mining companies located in Brgy. Tagan-ito, Claver, Surigao del Norte. “The reason of our visit is to address the


Gov’t cited....from page 24

current security situation of the two companies,” said Col. Jacob. Col Jacob is propos-ing to put up a Special CAFGU Active Auxilliary (SCAA) inside their com-panies to strengthen the security not only inside the companies but also to its perimeters. Further, said SCAA will undergo a mili-

tary training so as to be equipped with high powered firearms which is enough to secure the area against any threat group, specially the NPA. Meantime, 4th In-fantry Division Com-mander Major General Victor A Felix said “We can easily contain the area if we add another

troops specially the SCAA who will secure all vital installations while the In-fantry Battalions will be concentrating on combat operations in our Area of Responsibility (AOR).” “With this, we can assure the people and the investors that the re-cent atrocities will never happen again,” MGen Fe-lix added. (4CMOBn)

Tropical Storm ‘Ramon’ affects 164 individuals in Dinagat Islandsby FEAbkilan

SURIGAO CITY -- Continuous rains due to Tropical Storm ‘Ramon’ have affected 33 families or 164 individuals in the province of Dinagat Islands.

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Provincial Disas-ter Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) Deputized Coordinator Rosario Roxas reported that the affected families were immediately housed at their respective evac-uation centers while others opted to stay in their relatives’ houses. Roxas said the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC) of Dinagat recorded a minor land-slide which occurred in Barangay Wadas. “One household with four in-dividuals were affected and they are evacu-ated in their relatives’ houses,” said Roxas. In San Jose town, Roxas said the MDRRMC reported 14 families or 70 individ-uals from Brgy. Luna evacuated at Luna El-ementary School. She also said that 18 fami-

lies or 90 individu-als were evacuated in Brgy. Don Ruben. “15 families were brought to Brgy. Hall while the three families sought refuge at the Philip-pine Benevolent Mis-sionaries Association (PBMA) Chapter build-ing,” Roxas added. Roxas said the council was able to ex-tend human resources to flood victims in San Jose. She also said the local DRRMC of the said town has already extended one sack of rice, three boxes of sardines and 30 pcs of noodles to the affect-ed evacuees of Brgy. Luna. In Libjo, the Mu-nicipal DRRMC of Lib-jo has reportedly dis-tributed five kilos rice, four cans sardines, and five pieces noo-dles per household.“Other MDRRMCs in the province have

their 24-hour alert and monitoring and continuous coordina-tion to its member-agencies and Baran-gay DRRMCs,” Roxas said. No casualties/injuries were also re-ported. As of press time, the entire province is still under public storm signal number 2. Classes in the pre-school, elementary and secondary level are still suspended. As of 5 a.m. Wednesday, Tropical Storm “RAMON” was 80 km East Northeast of Surigao City with maximum sustained winds of 65 kph near the center with gusti-ness of up to 80 kph. It is forecast to move Northwest at 17 kph, the Philippine Atmo-spheric Geophysical Astronomical Services Administration said.

Tropical Storm....from page 25


DepEd lifts suspension of classes in Butuan City todayby Robert E. Roperos

BUTUAN CITY – The Department of Education (DepEd) Butuan City Division has lifted today the suspension of classes as declared yesterday due to typhoon “Ramon” where the city is one of those included in areas declared Storm Signal no. 1.

In an interview with Prof. Israel Reveche who also made the announcement of the suspension of classes yesterday, since the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services (PAGASA) has removed the city in the list of those affected with the storm signal, it is already safe to send the children to their respective schools. Reveche further said the Division Office was not able to receive report of flooding in any schools in the city which prompted their office to issue a directive to lift the suspension of classes. It can be recalled that classes in the pre-school and elementary were suspended Tuesday due to bad weather brought by tropical depression “Ramon” which is now affecting the provinces in the Visayas region.


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The National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS) in close collaboration with the local government units (LGUs) will spearheads in the observance of the 19th Meat Safety Consciousness Week on October 17-21, 2011 with the theme “Matatag na Batas, Ligtas na Karne ang Katumbas.”

NMIS, LGUs to lead in the observance of the 19th meat safety consciousness weekby Claro A. Lanipa


NMIS, LGUs to lead in the observance of the 19th meat safety consciousness week

NMIS, LGUs....from page 28

NMIS-IX Regional Technical Director Dr. Arturo De Jesus, Jr. in yesterday’s PIA weekly Media Forum held at New Roxan Hotel, this city said various activities has been prepared for the weeklong celebration such as; the hanging of streamers to be participated in by the different stakeholders, thanksgiving mass, s t a ke h o l d e r s / m e a t inspectors forum, distribution of IEC materials and feeding activity of street children among others. De Jesus said, since the functions of meat inspection has long been devolved to the local government units (LGUs), NMIS is task to strengthen our local government counterparts. The national government thru the NMIS conducts regularly training courses to enable our local meat inspectors to be technically equipped and capable in doing their work in their respective area of assignment. The national and local government units should help each other because there are level

of responsibilities that they need to focus, de Jesus said. Local meat inspection unit is being tasked to monitor the meat being sold in the local market and they must be aware of the meat use for “sorizo” and other by products, de Jesus added. NMIS will only come in, if there will be a problem or inter-provincial movement of meat coming from other areas without the necessary supporting documents, de Jesus clarified. M e a n w h i l e , Olympio Yecpot, chief Accreditation R e g i s t r a t i o n Enforcement Division (ARD) also encourage the public during their special occasions to have their hogs be slaughtered at accredited slaughter house to ensure clean and safe meat for human consumption. This year’s celebration of the 19th Meat Safety and Consciousness Week and at the same the 39th anniversary of

National Meat Inspection Service calls for a strong collaboration between the national and the local government, de Jesus stressed. We can not do it alone, we lack the necessary manpower but we need also the cooperation of our local counterpart to really implement the law, employ meat inspectors and see to it that the laws on meat inspection is being implemented. And they should enact an ordinance for that matter, in their respective local government units so that there will be a basis for them to implement such law, said de Jesus. We should safeguard public health because it is the only treasure we have in this world. If we are not healthy it is difficult for us to do our usual task or activities, for all we know when we eat meat it nourishes us, but in the process if the meat came from a questionable origin it will also harm or endanger us, de Jesus concluded.


DIPOLOG CITY - - Twenty five municipal agriculturists and fish wardens have participated in a three-day Information, Education and Communication (IEC) workshop conducted here by the Regional Fisheries Livelihoods Programme for South and Southeast Asia (RFLP)- Philippines starting last Monday.

Zambo. Norte municipal agriculturists, fish wardens undergo IEC workshops

The participants, who came from this city and the municipal-ities of Manukan, Sin-dangan, Leon Postigo, Salug and Liloy, would be taught how to de-velop appropriate IEC program and activities in relation to coastal resource management. RFLP staff Mabel Batong told the Philip-pine Information Agen-cy (PIA) that the IEC workshop also aimed to help the participants come up with an IEC plan to be implement-ed in their respective local government units (LGUs). One common prob-lem identified by the participants confront-ing the fishery sector in the province these days is the intrusion of big fishing vessels in the municipal waters which has greatly af-fected the catch of the

small fishermen. Reports have it that the fish sanctuar-ies and breeding places are being destroyed by these big fishing boats resulting to the thin-ning of fish population. Manufacturers of bottled sardines in this city have also felt the brunt of the problem as there are weeks or months that they have no production due to lack of herring fish, the main ingredient in making sardines.

The participants also saw the need to drum up public aware-ness on the problems and issues besetting the fishery sector through a concerted informa-tion campaign against all forms of illegal fish-ing. Said workshop was conducted in collaboration with the Bureau of Fisher-ies and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Food and Agri-culture Organization (FAO) and other part-ner-agencies. (JPA)


Zambo. Norte municipal agriculturists, fish wardens undergo IEC workshops

Si Senior Police Of-ficer III Arturo Mante, kinsa mao ang natud-long tigpamaba sa ASG-Dipolog City Airport, nagkanayon nga ang paghigpit sa seguridad sa nasangpit nga tugpa-hanan nagtumong nga masiguro ang kaluwasan sa mga sumasakayng publiko, ingon man sa mga magpagikan ug magtagbo ug mga pa-sahero sa nasangpit nga tugpahanan. Hinuon, giklaro ni Mante nga ang ilang gihi-mo pagpaniguro lamang ug wala silay nadawat

nga hulga sa seguridad gikan sa unsa mang ter-oristang grupo nga na-glihok dinhi sa rehiyon. Sa samang higay-on, giawhag niya ang tanan nga magmabi-nantayon sa unsa mang ilang kadudahan o pag-taho gilayon ngadto sa mga otoridad alang sa tukmang aksyon. Dugang pa niini, iya usab nga gihangyo ang kooperasyon sa tanan alang sa pagmintinar sa kahapsay ug kalinaw sa tugpahanan, uban ang pag-ingon nga ang isyo sa seguridad dili lamang

responsibilidad sa mga otoridad kundili, obli-gasyon usab sa matag Filipino. Mahinumdoman, nga niadtong Domingo, duha ka bomba ang mi-boto didto sa dakbayan sa Zamboanga nga nagresulta sa pagkasa-mad sa pipila ka tawo. Ang una miboto ditto sa Red Palm Pension House duol sa Guiwan Bus Ter-minal, samtang ang ikaduhang bomba didto miboto sa bulangan sa San Roque.

by Alfonso T. Ruda

DIPOLOG CITY -- Mas gihigpitan karon sa Aviation Security Group (ASG) ang gipatuman niining seguridad sa tugpahanan sa Dakbayan sa Dipolog, kasunod sa nahitabong pagboto sa duha ka bomba didto sa dakbayan sa Zamboanga niadtong adlawng Domingo, Oktubre 9.

Seguridad sa Dipolog City Airport, gihigpitan

by Edwin L. Diesto

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Usa sa mga aktibidad sa Hermosa Festival ang gipahigayon sa siyudad mao ang Regatta 2011.

Regatta 2011 gipahigayon sa siyudad

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Usa kini ka compe-tition sa karera sa mga vinta hadiin gamit ang colorful nga mga layag. Adunay 125 ka mga participants ang miapil sa maong competition, gipahigayon kini sa RT Lim Boulevard ning si-yudad. Ang karera sa col-orful nga mga vinta gi-isponsoran kini sa kag-amhanan sa siyudad. Si Mayor Celso Lobregat

maoy nangulo niining aktibidad pinaagi sa City Tourism Office. P10,000 ug minia-ture vinta trophy ang premyo sa maong com-petition, gidag-an kini ni Danny Ladya ug ang igsoon niini nga si Hajad Hamid, mga manging-isda nga taga Barangay Sinunuc. Liboan nga mga Zamboangeño, mga opisyales sa opisina sa

gobyerno, mga bisita ang mitambong sa ma-ong aktibidad, apil na usab niini ang mga bisita nga taga Valenzuela nga gipanguluhan ni Mayor Sherwin Gachalian ug ang iyang mga konseha-lis. Ang regatta usa ka aktibidad sa siyudad nga naka hatag ug trade mark sa Zamboanga City.

by Alfonso T. Ruda

DIPOLOG CITY ---Taliwala sa pag-ubos sa ilang Internal Revenue Allotment, mahimo pa gihapon ug hatagan ug katumanan sa mga Local Government Units ang ilang nakalinyang programa para sunod tuig.

Pres Aquino mipasalig suportang pondo sa LGUs

Kini human gipa-hayag ni Presidente Be-nigno Aquino nga ipaga-was na sa dili madugay ang 6.5 bilyones ka pe-sos nga suportang pondo para sa mga LGUs, isip hulip sa giwalang IRA gumikan usab sa kag-amay sa revenue collec-tion niadtong 2009. Ang Pamuno Nasod nagkanayon nga gumi-kan sa ma-inampingong

paggasto sa gobyerno sukad nga milingkod siya isip Presidente sa nasod niadtong miag-ing tuig, nakatigom ang gobyerno ug mahimo na karong magamit sa mga LGUs. “Ato nang ipagawas sa dili madugay ang LGU support fund nga gikan sa atong savings nga mokabat ug halos 6.5

bilyones ka pesos,” nag-kanayon si Presidente Aquino. Matod pa ni Presi-dente A quino, si DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo ang iyang gitahasan nga magpatin-aw sa me-kanismo ug magtakda kon pila ang makuha sa matag LGU gikan sa ma-ong pondo. (JPA)

Regatta 2011....from page 31


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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental -- The Philippine National Police (PNP) in Northern Mindanao will strictly implement the Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009 which penalizes the failure of motorcycle riders to wear standard protective motorcycle helmet.

PNP to observe helmet law


PNP to observe ....from page 33

Statistics shows that most fatalities aris-ing from motorcycle ac-cidents are due to the failure of the riders to wear protective helmet. To lessen these in-cidents, the PNP, in close coordination with the Land Transportation Of-fice (LTO), which is the main implementing agen-cy of this law will strictly implement it starting No-vember 1. Republic Act 10054 or the Helmet Act of 2009 is a pro-life law. It is de-signed to protect the life of the motorcycle drivers as well as back riders. As stipulated, any person caught not wear-ing the standard protec-tive motorcycle helmet

while driving or riding a motorcycle whether short or long distance shall be punished with a fine of P1,500 for the first of-fense, P3,000 for the second offense, P5,000 for the third offense and P10,000 and confiscation of the driver’s license for the fourth and succeeding offenses. PCSupt. Jufel C. Adri-atico, the newly installed Regional Director of PNP, region 10, has ordered the dishing out of a direc-tive emphasizing that PNP personnel should serve as the model in abiding traf-fic rules and regulations. This is in response to an article written by certain Mr. Contreras that some PNP personnel are

not wearing helmet and are also violating the “No plate, No travel Policy” as well as beating the red light. PNP personnel who will be caught violating the “No helmet, No Travel Policy” and the “No Plate, No Travel Policy” and oth-er traffic rules and regula-tions will not just be pe-nalized through fine but will also face administra-tive charges for their fail-ure to follow a lawful or-der which, if found guilty, is tantamount to suspen-sion, Adriatico said. “Beating the red light” can only be justi-fied if the PNP personnel is conducting a “hot pur-suit operation”, Adriatico added.


Lanao Norte PhilHealth members receive MDR

More than 94,000 indigent PhilHealth members of this fast-rising province are set to receive their MDR before the end of November, 2011. “This is an initiative of Governor Khalid Di-maporo to make it easier for our indigent residents to gain access to qual-ity healthcare services,” PMO Head Lyndon Calica

said. Lanao del Norte is

the first LGU to imple-ment MDR distribution for its sponsored resi-dents. Among the first towns to receive the MDRs are Linamon, Ba-colod, Matungao, Kaus-wagan and Maigo. The remaining 17 municipal-ities are scheduled to be

visited by the PMO team in October and Novem-ber. The MDR initia-tive is in support of PhilHealth President Lorna Fajardo’s appeal to help strengthen data verification at the hospi-tal level by ascertaining the identity and eligibil-ity of legal dependents availing the healthcare benefits of members. PhilHealth Circular 07, series of 2007 (as amended), applies to claims with admission dates starting Septem-ber 1 this year. The MDR is a docu-ment that lists the pri-mary information on a PhilHealth member. It

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental -- Tubod, Lanao del Norte, Oct. 12 – To enable residents enrolled in the Provincial Health Indigency Program (PHIP) faster processing of their hospitalization claims, employees of the Project Management Office (PMO) is starting to distribute copies of PhilHealth’s Member Data Record (MDR) throughout this province.

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also contains the names of the member’s quali-fied legal dependents and is used for reference purposes during benefits availment. If a member is not able to present an up-dated MDR, secondary supporting documents such as birth certificate, marriage contract and other documents may

be accepted to ensure benefit claim availment. To claim the MDR, each PHIP mem-ber should present his PhilHealth card and un-dergo a brief orientation by the PMO team. Also accompanying the PMO team are staff from the Provincial Community Affairs Office (PCAO) and the local Provincial

Volunteer Health Work-ers (PVHW). “The MDRs are val-id until December 2011. A member should renew his MDR every year to continue enjoying the benefits of the Provin-cial Health Indigency Program”, said PHIP Co-ordinator Felson Ga-zelle Francisco. (VNL & LAR)

Agriculture Office leads celebration of Consumer Welfare MonthIligan City, Lanao del Norte, – City Agriculture Office, this city, to lead the Consumer Welfare Month celebration.

By Melvin T. Anggot

In a flag raising program at city hall,

City Agriculturist Octavi-us Molo said the entire month of October will be

focused on programs like adequate food supply and provide consumers with safe, healthy and food at minimal cost. The Consumer Month is celebrated in October every year in consonance with Presi-dential Proclamation 1098 issued in 1997. Aside from the Ag-riculturist Office, also in-volved in the celebration

Lanao Norte ....from page 35


Agriculture Office leads celebration of Consumer Welfare Month

Agriculture Office....from page 36

are the Local Price Coor-dinating Council like the office of Mayor Lawrence Ll. Cruz, City Informa-tion Office, Permits and License Division, City Administrator’s Office, Economic Enterprise De-velopment and Manage-ment Office, City Health Office, Bureau of Fire Protection, DENR, DILG, PIA and PNP.

The celebration aims to urge consumers to be aware of the qual-ity of food and to stand for their rights as con-sumer. This is also an oc-casion to present to the government programs that are in favor of con-sumers, create aware-ness of the advocacy of Consumer and Price Act

and other consumer is-sues. To achieve the ob-jective, Local Prince Con-trol Council (LPCC) will sponsor activities like seminar on food safety, organic farming, advo-cacy fora on the rights and responsibility of con-sumers, and consumer tips over the radio, quiz bee and others.

Offices, establishment urged to observe Juan Time

This is in conso-nance with the cam-paign of the Department of Science and Technol-ogy (DOST) called Juan Time with the objective that the entire nation will have a synchronized time and to erase the negative comment that Filipinos do not come on time in appointments/events also known as

Filipino Time. Councilor Sweet also observed that ra-dio stations have differ-ent time and even in the different departments at city hall and other es-tablishments. PST is the official time from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysi-cal and Astronomical Services Administration

(PAGASA) since 1978 in accordance with a law.(Melvin T. Anggot )

Iligan City, Lanao del Norte – Members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Iligan supported the resolution endorsed by City Councilor Michelle Sweet urging all local and national offices to base their watches on Philippine Standard Time (PST).


Feature Storyby Carina L. Cayon

SPMC affordable services attract patients from all overMindanao Dialysis Center The Southern Phil-ippine Medical Cen-ter (SPMC), popularly known in the past as the Regional Hospi-tal and later as Davao Medical Center, has also improved its dialysis center inside the main hospital building. It op-erates with 34 machines to serve an average of 82 patients a day, 75% of which comes from Davao City. Dialysis center nurse head, Joseph Cirineo, attributed the swarm of patients to

the lower rate that the center offers compared to other centers. He said there is a much lower rate offered by another private dial-ysis center but it is re-ported to be using one dialyser ten times, a fre-quency that he said was overusing the capacity of a dialyser. At the Min-danao Dialysis Center, a SPMC policy requires them to use a dialyser only five times “so as not to compromise kid-ney care of a patient”. The center is man-aged by two in-house doctor consultants and

30 staff nurses. Vega bared that 25 dialysis machines would be added next year, to make the center bigger than the National Kid-ney Institute. Cirineo disclosed that a Private-Public Partnership project is being negotiated with a private company for the establishment of additional 70 dialysis machines. This project may likely integrate the heart, lung and kidney services into one cen-ter. Outpatient Clinics and

39


SMPC affordable....from page 38

Services SPMC’s outpatient department gathers a swarm of up to a thou-sand patients a day in a concrete building do-nated by the Japan In-ternational Cooperation Agency. “The OPD is almost at par with other private hospitals,” Vega boasted saying that it’s complete with facilities and qual-ity services. The OPD build-ing is presently hous-ing 17 specialty clinics and services to include surgery, medicine, OB-GYN, pediatrics, ortho-pedics, family medicine, ear,nose and tongue (ENT), ophthalmology and dermatology. It also has clinics for physical medicine and rehabilitation, psy-chiatry, dental medi-cine, ambulatory sur-gery operation theatre, radiology and imaging section, laboratory ser-vices, special laboratory services such as endos-

copy and EEG, and spe-cial clinics such as pain and liver clinics. The OPD houses the public health unit, PhilHealth desk, drug testing laboratory and industrial clinic. Competitive SPMC “Staying competi-tive is the name of the game,” Vega empha-sized, referring to the aim at continuously providing best quality health care and treat-ment services, not only to the to the paying cli-ents but mainly to the indigents, which is the mandate of the hospi-tal.Getting the best servic-es and facilities would attract people to avail of SPMC programs, he said.“Hospital services and facilities at the SPMC are available and acces-sible to many residents of Southern Mindanao,” he said, and disclosed that the hospital has

also become the end re-ferral center for patients coming from Cotabato, Agusan, Cagayan de Oro City, Bukidnon, and many other areas of Mindanao. In 2010, SPMC ac-commodated a total of 316,745 patients, while patients’ influx reached 298,514 and 274,421 respectively in 2009 and 2008. These days, the average patients that flocked to the SPMC hit at about 1,300 per day, including patients at SP-MC’s psychiatry facility, the Davao Mental Hos-pital. The number of pa-tients at the Mindanao Heart Center has also increased, scoring 20 patients per month, ac-cording to Mata. The dialysis center caters to 82 patients per day, with another 100 patients in the waiting list. Vega emphasized though that SPMC’s en-

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hancement of services and facilities does not have corresponding ef-fect to the hospital rates. “We still offer cheaper, if not the cheapest, rates compared to the private hospitals,” Vega said ex-plaining that they don’t give so much add-ons on the pricing.

Team of experts and manpower Vega also takes pride in SPMC’s team of 1,300 medical experts and other hospital man-power.

According to its 2010 accomplishment report, SPMC has 175 medical specialists, 84 of them in plantilla posi-tions as of 2009. There are 113 resident doctors with plantilla positions out of the total 129. Vega said there is no problem of exper-tise in terms of medical practice in Davao City. “Maraming [medical ex-perts] around in Davao City being a metropoli-tan,” he stated. He said the young generation of doctors in the city is skilled. Eighty percent of them

who graduated from the Davao Medical School Foundation and were trained in Manila or abroad, choose to come back and practice in Davao. “It’s totally dif-ferent without DMSF,” Vega said. To keep SPMC doc-tors and experts updat-ed, they are provided or sent on training pro-grams accredited by pri-vate institutions such as the Philippine Colleges of Surgeons. “Aside from the general practice, we are moving towards sub-specialties where doc-tors from each depart-ment of the hospital are trained,” he bared.In the nursing service division as of 2009, there are 293 regis-tered nurses, of whom 167 are holding plantilla positions, while 189 are nursing attendants and midwives, 92 of whom are with plantilla. However, Vega said the 1,300 work force of SPMC is roughly equiva-


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lent to a 300-bed capac-ity, adding that a 1,200 bed capacity should have a manpower equivalent to 5,000 workers. “This is the reason why we are trying to ask DOH and the Con-gress to give us neces-sary plantilla under the new law,” he said refer-ring to RA 9792.“Malayo pa rin sa ideal but we’re trying to ask the present administration, through the Department of Bud-get and Management, to give us the desired number of plantilla items within four years under the new law with autho-rized 1,200 bed capac-ity,” Vega explained. This could be achieved gradually in four years to start at 25% increase during the first year, he suggested, saying the hospital badly needed substantial man-power and correspond-ing budget. Vega said that aside from hiring contractuals, the Davao City govern-ment is helping and sup-

porting the hospital with roughly 350 nurses em-ployed by the city. Sustainability The improvements of the hospital three years ago were realized with a budget of P40 mil-lion as capital outlay. But sustaining and maintaining the opera-tions of SPMC mainly come from the annu-al government budget of about P200 million which Vega said has not increased since 2007. From the total al-location, P160 million goes to personnel bene-fits, while the more than P55 million is spent on maintenance and oper-ating expenses, he said. Vega said the hos-pital earns P150 million yearly, of which 75% of it goes to both the maintenance and the payment of wages of contractual workers, se-curity guards and jani-tors. Twenty five percent of the income would go

to capital outlay to aug-ment funds for improve-ments of SPMC. Vega said collec-tions from PhilHealth-member patients are a big contribution for the income of the hospital. The charity sector of the SMPC assisting the indigents also get a share of the hospital income, and from other outside financial assis-tance such as the Davao City’s Lingap Center and the Priority District As-sistance Fund of Con-gress representatives. “We would like to show that government works with equitable, accessible, affordable health care and servic-es. We want to promote to the public that as a government hospital we can best deliver effec-tive and quality servic-es,” Vega stressed. “Not only are we improving the condition of the patients, but we also continue to project the best image of the hospital,” he concluded.



Mt. Apo’s Civet coffee helps farmers

DAVAO CITY- Production of the world’s most expensive coffee known to be produced t cats in a farm at the foothills of Mt. Apo is seen to have helped farmers in the community.

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Civet coffee farm owner Sonny Dizon ex-plained to the media the symbiotic relationship between humans and the Civet cats with the significant role of civet coffee production to bal-ance such relationship. “Civet cats are a farmer’s biggest enemy as they are considered pests in the farm. The only way these farm-ers could get rid of them is by killing these animals. So I thought that there must be something we could make use of these civets that farmers could also take ad-vantage of,” Dizon said.

This led him to cage some civets in his farm in Kapatagan, Davao del Sur and started feeding these animals with the best coffee bean before these civets process it and excrete some drop-pings ready to be hulled a n d roasted

a n d

have

them turn out into Civet coffee beans. Dizon’s Crocodile Park in Davao City has also become an official rescue center for these Civets from the wild. Coffee farmers are greatly benefited at the onset of this civet coffee production in Davao re-gion. Dizon shared that his farm buys the best coffee bean products from the farmers to be used as feeds for the civets. The farm produces 60 to 90 parchments of civet coffee every week which are then sold to regular buyers from Manila and other coun-tries. In Davao City, Di-zon sells civet coffee beans to a homegrown coffee shop, Chicco de Café, the only shop in the city that offers Civet

by Mai Gevera-Macapagat


Coffee. The Mt Apo Civet and Altura coffee beans are also available at the Crocodile Park, Souvenir shops at the Davao Inter-national Airport, Dizon Farms at Rizal Street, Hotel Galleria, Villa Mar-garita, and D’Leonor Ho-

tel. Recently, Dizon’s civet coffee also gained international acceptance during the Food and Ho-tel Thailand Show held in Bangkok. The Philippine Cof-fee Board (PCB) brought

samples of green and roasted civet coffee. The judges in the said show liked the sample brought by the Philippines. PCB considers it a significant achievement for the country in produc-ing the best civet coffee.

Mt. Apo’s Civet....from page 43


Blood sugar, cholesterol testing to be available at health centersDAVAO CITY – Blood sugar and cholesterol testing would soon be available at health centers in the city after a pilot trial has been set at the two district health centers here, bringing the services closer to the communities

Dr. Ivy B. Nolasco, project manager of the Handicap International-Philippines, said labora-tory equipment for the blood sugar count and cholesterol testing have already been in place at the district health centers of Calinan and Agdao. Nolasco said that after assessment of the pilot areas, same fa-cilities would be estab-lished in other 14 dis-trict health centers of the city. She said the proj-ect is part of Davao City’s integrated health pro-gram for the prevention and management of dia-betes, hypertension and other risk factors at the grassroots level through the Cardiovascular Dis-

ease (CVD) Program. The city govern-ment has adopted the CVD program in part-nership with the Handi-cap International for Davaoeños’ easy access to cardiovascular-relat-ed health services at the barangay level. Nolasco revealed that about 230 profes-sional health workers including doctors, nurs-

es, midwives and medi-cal technologists have undergone a four-day training relative to the implementation of the CVD services. The trained health workers would then train the rest of the 1,500 community health work-ers. Last month, about a hundred barangay captains in the city were

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oriented of the program that would provide the communities of services on cardiovascular-relat-ed health services such as medical consultations, regular monitoring, nu-trition and diet counsel-ing, foot care and labo-ratory testing. A referral system would also be established between health centers of the City Health Office, Southern Philippines Medical Center, and the Davao Jubilee Founda-tion to provide a contin-uum of patient care.

Nolasco said that with the onset of the CVD program, a computer-ized information system would be installed as pa-tient registry would be required in every health center, enabling the es-tablishment of patients’ database. Meanwhile, City Health Office chief Dr. Josephine Villafuerte said the local govern-ment unit is working closely with private in-stitutions through the private-public partner-ship to make services

available and accessible to the population. Villafuerte said the city government’s con-tribution to the CVD program is a monetary counterpart in addition to Handicap Internation-al’s funding of about P12 million for the equipment and laboratories and for the training. She said the LGU would also provide for the manpower such as barangay health work-ers. (Carina L. Cayon)

New Bataan to benefit from a flagship program on peace and developmentNEW BATAAN, Compostela Valley – The local government unit here becomes the new beneficiary of a flagship program of the government on peace and development aiming to address insurgency problem.

by Sharon T. Flores

The LGU is now un-der the Payapa at Masa-ganang Pamayanan or PAMANA program of the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Office of the Presidential Adviser of the Peace Process. New Bataan is the

only town in Compostela Valley that makes it to the list of PAMANA ben-eficiaries covering the seven barangays with high incidence of insur-gency, namely: Magsay-say, Katipunan, Panag, Batinao, Camanlangan,

Bantacan and Cogonon. OPAPP -PAMANA point person Dennis Jo-seph A. Cruz said the Compostela Valley-Car-aga Corregidor Cluster that includes New Bataan is the seventh beneficia-ry of the OPAPP-PAMANA

Blood sugars....from page 45

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in the country. The program seeks to close the gap between what happens on the ne-gotiating table and the realities on the ground through a converged strategy of resource al-location and utilization, Cruz stated. Anchored on Presi-dent Benigno Aquino’s National Security Policy, the OPAP-PAMANA aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability through community infrastruc-ture and focused deliv-ery of social services. “Each barangay will

receive P300,000 annu-ally for three consecu-tive years which shall be used to finance a specific project that will eventu-ally address peace and order issues in their com-munity,” stated Cruz. The program also intends to improve gov-ernance through part-nerships with national and local institutions, building capacities for governance, and en-hancement of transpar-ency and accountability mechanism. It further empow-ers communities and

strengthens their capac-ity to address issues of vulnerability and peace through activities that promote social cohe-sion. The first six ben-eficiaries of this pro-gram are the Cordillera Administrative Region, Quezon/ Region IV-A/ Mindoro/ Bicol, Samar Island, Negros Island, Zamboanga/ Basilan/ Sultan Kudarat (ZamBa-ZulTa), and the Central Mindanao Autonomous Region in Muslim Mind-anao.

ARB seed growers’ first fruit a successMONTEVISTA, Compostela Valley, Oct. 12, 2011 (PIA) – Some agrarian reform beneficiaries here recently reaped their first yield of palay from the very own seed they gained from a seed grower’s training six months ago.

The 13 ARB members of the Linoan Farmers In-tegrated Cooperative (LI-FICO) in Montevista town harvested 800 cavans of palay covering a 7.5-hect-are area after participat-ing in the Seed Growers Training. Agribusiness and Agriculture Development (AAD) coordinator Hera-cleo Bato said that the ideal harvest per hectare is 100 cavans. “Our ARB seed grow-ers were able to harvest

106 cavans per hectare which is a good indica-tion that they were able to produce good seeds,” Bato said. “LIFICO is looking forward to a continuous good harvest,” he said, adding that some of the seeds shall be stored at their own warehouse and some shall be stored at the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAGRO) in Monte-vista. Bato said that the progress of the farm-

ers shall continuously be monitored in order to en-sure the quality of palay seeds. The Department of Agrarian Reform Provin-cial Project Management Office (DAR-PPMO) of the Agrarian Reform Infra-structure Support Project Phase 3 (ARISP3), Provin-cial Agriculture Office (PA-GRO) and PhilRice jointly conducted the training. (Sharon T. Flores)

New Bataan....from page 46

One Mindanao - October 12, 2011

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