Bicol advocates for heritage, cultural preservation launched

DAET, CAM. NORTE -- A group of well-meaning Bicolanos formed themselves recently to advocate and initiate programs and projects dedicated in advancing and further developing cultural heritage of Bicol.

Mayor Tito Sarion of Daet Camarines Norte led the launching of Bicol Advocates for Heritage Enrichment and Development or Bicol AHEAD held last February 12, 2014 at the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in Taguig City. Several prominent Bicolanos attended the event bonded by their common love for their hometown and commitment to contribute to the development of the region.

The members envision Bicol AHEAD to be the prime mover in making the Bicol region a premiere destination for cultural heritage and development by 2020. To concretize this, the group sets out the following goals: promote heritage culture and arts; create innovative programs that will develop Bicol; encourage people to support Bicol AHEAD; organize partnership with tri-media and social media; conduct capability and measure competitiveness; strengthen standard procedures, and network and build partnership with other Bicol organizations.

To create an immediate impact, the group lined up initial activities of Bicol AHEAD, among others: premiere night of the Ibong Adarna movie helmed by Jun “Mr. Shooli” Urbano, a noted Bicolano director, to be held at Daet, Camarines Norte; a publication of Bicol history coffee table book to be undertaken by Prof. Danilo Gerona, author of several books in Bicol history, and organizing of events that promotes Bicolano culture and arts, such as Bicol Food Festival, Bicol Essay Writing Contest and Bicol Photo-Essay contest. It will also partner with academic institutions in conducting research on Bicol heritage and in monitoring the results of licensure examination for teachers to gauge the quality and competitiveness of education in the Bicol region.

The group plans to register Bicol AHEAD as a federation at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its founding members are: Mayor Tito Sarte Sarion as Founding Chairman, Atty. Sannah Frivaldo, Atty. James Jacob, Atty. Taikee Calleja, Paolo Teves and Rene Fernandez as board of trustees with Paul John Bancosta as Executive Director and Kim Blasa as Secretary General.

DENR-MGB5 orders dismantling of Bohai Top processing plant in Labo, CamNorte

DAET, Camarines Norte – The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Bicol has ordered the immediate dismantling of the mineral processing plant operated by the Bohai Top International Mining Corporation effective Feb. 10, 2014.

The order was issued by MGB Bicol regional director Theodore Rommel E. Pestaño after a joint operation last week conducted by the mines bureau, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Bureau of Immigration that resulted to the seizure of several heavy equipment and apprehension of several Chinese nationals who were allegedly involved in the illegal mining and milling operations at Barangay Napaod in Labo town.

Director Pestaño said that based from their records, no mineral processing permit was issued to Bohai Top International Corp. for the installation of the above facilities. The order also states that continued processing of minerals will pose potential hazard to its immediate environs and is violative of the provision of RA 7942, EO 79, Presidential Directive and other applicable laws, rules and regulations.

Earlier previous monitoring and verification conducted by the MGB revealed that a mineral processing plant and its appurtenances have been installed by the said corporation in Napaod village.

Under Section 109 of DAO 2010-21, providing for a consolidated DENR Administrative Order for the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No.7942 otherwise known as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, prohibits any person from engaging in the processing of minerals without mineral processing permit. Director Pestaño said that they have already issued on October 1, 2013 a Cease and Desist Order (CDO) to the said processing plant in violation of the said provision.

MGB has also received several complaints from the concerned citizens, landowners and Congresswoman Catherine Barcelona Reyes despite by the CDO issued, the company still continues its mining and milling operations without appropriate permits from the concerned government agencies.

Meanwhile, in a press conference called by the Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Adan Marcelo Botor on Feb.11, He clarified that the provincial government through Governor Edgardo Tallado did not renew the temporary small scale mining permit to the Bohai Top Corp. He bared that majority of the mining areas in the province are now covered by the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) issued by the national government.

He cited that the remedy in the illegal mining is to regulate the laws and to provide alternative jobs for the small scale miners. Provincial Environment Natural Resources Office chief Engr. Leopoldo Badiola on the other hand said that the provincial government has issued temporary small scale mining permit to the Bohai Top in 2011 in a renewable basis and has expired in July 25, 2013.

He said that they cannot rehabilitate the mining area left by the said corporation because it is also part of the on-going exploration study of the Mt. Labo Exploration, a large scale mining which has a permit from the national government. - ROSALITA B. MANLANGIT/PIA

Naga to launch 'Naga River Day'

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By ANA-LIZA S. MACATANGAY

NAGA CITY -- City Mayor John Bongat, in an aggressive move to encourage more stakeholders to give their unequivocal support to the Naga River Revitalization Project will be launching the Wish Upon my River on the first ever Naga River Day celebration come March 8.

To highlight the said celebration which is also dubbed “Aldaw kan Salog kan Buhay” or simply the Naga River Day, Bongat issued Proclamation 2014-002 proclaiming the 8th day of March and every second Saturday of March for the succeeding years or every year thereafter as Naga River Day.

“This effort will be a multi-faceted approach where we will enjoin our partner agencies from both the government and private sector to support our endeavor. We now termed this as Integrated Naga River Revitalization Project or iNRRP to emphasize that the project cut across every important facets of development,” Bongat stated.

Bongat added that under the said project, the city government will focus on four(4) important aspects as they envision a revitalized Naga River: the preservation of our heritage, caring for the environment, development of Naga City River as tourist attraction and towards the realization of a disaster-resilient community.

“We want to create public awareness in preserving the historic Naga River, and to encourage better stewardship of the environment in general. The event will also provide an opportunity for Nagueňos and Bicolanos to honor and commemorate the important role of the storied Naga River and inspire people especially the young to pursue the path of bringing back its beauty and life,” Bongat said.

In line with the upcoming big event for the Naga River, Bongat presented before the members of the local media during a brief press conference this morning, a rundown of activities that will cap the day-long activity on March 8.

To start off the activity is a scheduled Regatta sa Salog, after which a ceremonial boat ride will immediately follow. The river route would be from the Magsaysay wharf to the Naga City Peoples Mall (NCPM) wharf. There will also be a groundbreaking ceremony for Naga River Revetment projects. The fund to be used for this will be coming from the efforts of 3rd District Congresswoman Leni G. Robredo. The project is located along the river banks.

Archbishop Rolando Octavus Tria Tirona, OCD, DD, together with ABS CBN Executive Gina Lopez will join Bongat, First Lady Farah Bongat and members of the Sangguniang Panglungsod headed by City Vice Mayor Nelson Legacion in the blessing and ribbon-cutting of the wharf at the Naga City People’s Hall.

Stakeholders will also witness the unveiling of the Danlugan Pillars, blessing of the image of Our Lady of Peňafrancia and ribbon cutting of the Calle del Rio, which will cover the Tabuco bridge until Panganiban. A resolution will be passed to officially name the said street as Calle del Rio.

After a short programme in the afternoon at Danlugan ni Ina, the opening of the Night market will follow along the General Luna extension. This will be followed by Banquete y Concierto at the Calle del Rio which will be spearheaded by the Naga City Bar Owner’s Association. The city also prepared pre-event activities which include Children’s Workshop on February 17 where participants will be asked to write their wishes on a tarpaulin. A slogan and poster making contest is also slated on February 27. The said materials will be placed and displayed in the 2 wharfs along the Naga River.

DA turns over P2.4-M tractor to corn farmers

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TIGAON, CAMARINES SUR -- The Department of Agriculture in Bicol turned over a P2.4 million 4-Wheel Drive tractor to a cooperative of corn farmers in Partido Area. Financed by the Agri-Pinoy Corn Program, the tractor was acquired by the KASARO coop upon their request and through the endorsement of former Cong. Noli Fuentebella. A counterparting scheme was adopted where the DA provided 85% of the total cost of the machinery which is P2,040,000.00 while the coop shouldered 15% of total cost amounting to P360,000.00.

The KASARO coop is an emerging coop in Tigaon financing 680 hectares of corn farms in Tigaon, Ocampo and other areas in Cam. Sur. It has 280 members engaged mainly in corn production and hog fattening. Their office is strategically located beside the Grains Center where they deliver their produce. OIC municipal agriculturist Lea Beltran of Tigaon said they are one of the organizations benefitting from the grains center facilities since its establishment in March 2013.

Juanito Royo, the coop chairman, said that since the coop is still in its infant stage, it has not yet acquired a steady income. With the acquisition of the 4WD tractor, they expect to generate huge income which will be distributed to the members as dividends. The turn over ceremony was held during the first mobile meeting of the Municipal Agriculturists of towns belonging to the Cam. Sur Provincial Corn Cluster, held at the Post Harvest Processing and Trading Center (PHPTC) (Grain Center) in Caraycayon, Tigaon on January 28.

Former Mun. Agriculturist and now Mun. Councilor and agriculture committee chair Jose Fomalejo who represented Mayor Arnulf Bryan Fuentebella said that the 5 hectare area where the Grains Center is located will soon become the agribusiness center of Tigaon with the construction of the DA-DAR-DENR convergence project - circumferential road traversing the corn areas. Also to rise in same site is the P20 M farm-to-market road scheduled for implementation by DA this year; and a rice processing center. Tigaon is a first class municipality of Cam. Sur with 3,042 hectares effective area devoted to corn production.

Meanwhile, Eduardo Lomerio, chief of the Operations Division of DA and Corn Program regional coordinator, said that for 2013 the corn industry in Bicol attained an increase of 11.96% in production performance as compared with the 2012 production. Out of the 258,115 MT regional production for 2013, Camarines Sur contributed 40%. The region’s average yield in corn is 2.36 MT/ ha. Camarines Sur recorded an average yield of 3.70MT/ ha.

Lomerio also underscored the major issues faced by the 38 corn farm clusters in the region which include: low productivity caused by low utilization of high quality seeds and fertilizer; most farmers still use traditional varieties, low adoption of cost reducing technologies -- IPM/biological control of pests and use of Bio-N, organic fertilizer; and high postharvest losses (12.75%).

To address these problems the DA ties up with NFA in the white corn procurement plan where the DA will provide free OPV corn seeds to farmers to cover 1,000 hectares for the April and May planting, while the NFA will buy all the farmers’ produce to process them into corn grits which will be mixed with rice. Lomerio also added that PCIC has allocated P900,000 for the crops insurance of corn farmers in Bicol and urged farmers to avail of this intervention. - Lovella P. Guarin DA RAFID5

Should Naga City wait for the Next Super Typhoon ?

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WWF, BPI present Climate Adaptation Study for Naga, 11 other Philippine cities

Better to be safe than sorry.

Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) smashed the Philippines in November 2013, taking 6,200 lives and causing almost P600 Billion in economic damage. Tacloban, the largest city in the Eastern Visayas, was virtually obliterated. With the growing unpredictability of climate change effects, who knows which city will be hit next?

“No one knows where the next big typhoon will hit, so all cities should prepare ahead,” recommends World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines) Vice-chair and CEO Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan. “Sure, relocating roads and communities to high ground, constructing seawalls, coastal barriers and establishing evacuation safe-zones will cost millions. But will you really put a price-tag on Filipino lives ?”

Minimizing Climate Risks

Sitting along the Pacific typhoon belt, the Philippines is considered the third most vulnerable country to climate change. With impacts ranging from typhoons, floods, droughts to forced migration, climate change is a reality that millions of Filipinos have had to face – and as Typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng and Yolanda have demonstrated – reality does bite.

To help Pinoy cities prepare for climate impacts, WWF and the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) Foundation today launched the latest version of Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Impacts, a multi-year study which examines economic
and climate trends to predict and prepare for likely future scenarios. “Baseline data findings are synergized with local stakeholder inputs to craft each city’s adaptation strategy,” explains BPI Foundation Executive Director and SVP Florendo Maranan.

Climate exposure, socioeconomic sensitivities, and adaptive capacities are melded to generate scores which show each city’s climate vulnerability. A chronic recommendation is to ‘climate-proof’ local infrastructure – moving coastal roads and communities to high ground, improving community drainage systems and investing in natural solutions like mangrove forests to parry inbound storms.

Launched in 2011, the study’s first phase covered the cities of Baguio, Cebu, Davao and Iloilo. Its second phase assessed Cagayan de Oro, Dagupan, Laoag and Zamboanga. For 2013, the cities of Angeles, Batangas, Naga and Tacloban were evaluated. Four more cities will be assessed for 2014.

Safeguarding Lifelines for Business, Trade

The northern gatekeeper of the Bicol region and a well-regarded centre for religious pilgrimage, Naga City defined Bicol’s path to spirituality through its Peñafrancia Festival. Due in part to the exceptional leadership of the late Jesse Robredo and its current administrators, the city has evolved into a centre of higher education, tourism and trade.

Buoyed by a well-known water sports complex, tourist arrivals soared by a whopping 1731% from 2004 to 2012. Though Naga is accessible by rail, road and by air – stronger storms have forced most travellers to resort to roads. Bad weather often delays flights. Even the famed ‘Bicol Express’ was suspended when Typhoon Ofel literally and figuratively derailed southern Luzon train operations in 2012. The city’s connectivity needs improvement.

Naga is highly vulnerable to flooding as it is flanked by the cloud-covered Mount Isarog, plus the Bicol river basin. To keep the city humming, effective drainage systems and alternative road and rail routes should be created, while ensuring that the national highway that connects it with other regions experiences zero downtime. With a score of 6.10, Naga emerged as the second most vulnerable of the four assessed cities for 2013, right after Tacloban.

The least vulnerable with a score of 5.56, Angeles City is situated inland, far from the sea. Initially a small barrio, Angeles became a rest-and-recreation center when the Americans converted Fort Stotsenberg into Clark Air Base. After the American pullout in 1991, Angeles reinvented itself as an airline hub and Freeport zone. Like Batangas, it is connected to Manila and nearby provinces via two roads – the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) and Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

The westerly orientation of Batangas City shields it from the Pacific Ocean’s storms. A thriving trade hub, it is buoyed by Batangas Port, which connects the province with a host of regions and businesses. Two vital arteries connect Batangas to Manila – the South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) and Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) Tollway. Batangas logged a vulnerability rating of 5.65.

“Rail systems, seaports and airports will be viable only if they provide safe and consistent movement of passengers and cargo. To maximize viability and minimize vulnerability, stakeholders must keep these lifelines in tip-top shape. In a climate-defined future, redundancy is everything,” says Tan.

Tacloban: The Real Cost of Climate Change

Facing Cancabato Bay in the San Juanico Strait, Tacloban City sits along the northeastern coastline of Leyte Province, facing the Pacific Ocean. WWF, BPI, and Tacloban stakeholders assessed the city’s climate adaptation plans in September 2013 and gave it a vulnerability rating of 6.74 – the highest of the four 2013 cities. One projected scenario was that a Pacific Ocean spurred super typhoon would visit Tacloban in 2021. Sadly, that typhoon came too soon.

“Tacloban now has an excellent opportunity not just to rebuild – but to rebuild better,” says Maranan. “Let not the lessons of Tacloban be lost as we strive to build more resilient communities that are more prepared for future disasters.” Aside from moving critical service centres like hospitals and evacuation safe-zones to high ground, vulnerable Philippines cities should invest in early warning systems.

In 1999 about 10,000 people were slain by a massive cyclone in East India. Just a month before Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines, another powerful cyclone smashed the Indian state of Odisha. India learned well from its 1999 catastrophe though, as a million Odishans were evacuated to shelters ahead of time. Only 21 people were lost.

“There’s a lesson to be learned from India – that human lives and businesses can be protected if we prepare ahead. Business Risk Assessment and the Management of Climate Impacts is freely available on the web. We strongly urge city planners to think ahead and use our study. Can your city really afford to be unprepared when the next Yolanda hits?” asks Tan.

PNP Bicol chief orders measures to stop crimes

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LEGAZPI CITY – Chief Supt. Victor P. Deona, Police Regional Office 5 director, has ordered the 117 chiefs of police across Bicol to step up their campaign against the rising number of crimes in the region.

Deona, who assumed the command of PRO5 only in October last year, said on Wednesday that he expressed his dissatisfaction over the poor performance of the police chiefs and warned that he would relieve any of them who fails and violates the Philippine National Police’s “three-strike policy” in the performance of their work.

He said he made the warning during a whole-day command conference on Monday where he discussed his anti-criminality program. Under the program, the PNP Bicol chief said, the chiefs of police are given monthly targets to be accomplished.

These include the arrest of three wanted persons; three recovered lost firearms; arrest of persons involved in illegal drug trade, logging, gambling, mining and other violators of special laws. Deona also warned his six provincial police directors that the strike policy will also be enforced at their level.

During the command conference, he also expressed alarm over the 40,331 cases of crime reported in 2013 in Bicol. The number is four times or 400-percent higher compared to the 10,091 cases reported in 2012. The report also showed that out of the total crime volume, 17,658 were index crimes or those committed either against persons or properties while 22,673 cases were non-index crimes (violation of local ordinances or special laws).

Index crimes recorded included physical injuries, the highest with 5,203; fol lowed by theft, 3,929 cases; robbery, 1,099; murder, 349;rape, 387; homicide, 184;carnapping, 200l and cattle rustling, 102 cases. The PNP regional crime situation report indicated that of the total crimes recorded, only 5,814 cases were solved while 12,846 were cleared.

By province, topping the list in crime volume is Camarines Sur with 11,392 cases; followed by Albay, 10,220 cases; Naga City, 7,175; Masbate, 5,035; Camarines Norte, 2,971; Catanduanes, 2,137, and Sorsogon, 1,401. Incidence of murder was high in the province of Masbate with 100 cases; followed by Camarines Sur, 94; Albay, 65; Sorsogon, 37; Camarines Norte, 26; Caranduanes, 10, and Naga City, 17. Provinces with high incidence of rape cases were Albay with 113 cases; Camarines Sur, 85; Sorsogon, 49;Catanduanes, 44; Camarines Norte, 37; Masbate, 30, and Naga City, 29. - PNA

DOH prov’l health team steps up CamNorte measles vaccination drive

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DAET, Camarines Norte -- The Department of Health (DOH) in Camarines Norte has intensified measles vaccination campaign in the province through surveillance and monitoring of cases.

The local government units through the Rural Health Units and Barangay Health Stations are continuously conducting regular immunization under the Expanded Program Immunization (EPI) through measles vaccination to children aged 9 months above. On children 12 to 15 months vaccinations are MMR or Measles, Mumps and Rubella given once to a child.

DOH provincial health team chief Dra. Jocelyn Murillo Iraola said as of January 23 this year there were 22 suspected measles cases recorded in the province, this is higher because in 2013 there were only 13 suspected cases during the year. She explained that measles is highly contagious respiratory disease caused by a virus wherein most of the affected are children six (6) months to 12 years old.

The virus easily spreads from person to person by sneezing, coughing and close personal contact and among the symptoms are cough, runny nose, red eyes or conjunctivitis, fever and blotchy rash lasting for more than 3 days. She advised the parents of children to immediately consult the doctor if said symptoms will be observed for proper medication and advised.

Measles can cause death through complications like diarrhea, otitis media, pneumonia, encephalitis, malnutrition and blindness. Iraola said that to prevent measles breastfeeding of child since birth until two years old or more is advised to make children strong and healthy and also to immunize their child twice at the age of 9 months and one year old at the nearest health center.

She said that measles vaccinations are free and available at the health centers and advised parents to complete the measles vaccinations of their children. She said that during the consultative meeting on Child/Senior Citizen Immunization conducted recently by the local government units in the municipalities they have tackled and informed health personnel regarding the Expanded Program Immunization (EPI) of the DOH. - ROSALITA B. MANLANGIT

DTI mulls geographical indication for "Bicol Pili"

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LEGAZPI CITY – The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regional office here is mulling to facilitate registration of geographical indication (GI) for “Bicol Pili” as part of product developmental approach in the use of industrial property for the total development of the pili nut industry.

DTI Bicol regional director Jocelyn Blanco said the initiatives will be facilitated by the agency, in partnership with the Intellectual Property Office Philippines (IPOPHL). Blanco explained that geographical indication means a specific intellectual property right that designates a product from a specific region and whose characteristics result in both the natural conditions of its origin and the expertise of local producers.

“Most commonly, a geographical indication consists of the name of origin of the goods. Famous example: CHAMPAGNE is used exclusively for French Wines in the champagne province of France,” she said. GI, according to Blanco, is a powerful intellectual and economic asset not only of the region but also of the nation, as it leverages products to compete globally. It is a valuable marketing tool in today’s global economy.

“DTI’s move towards GI for “Bicol Pili” aims to promote and better protect pili nut in the local and international markets,” she said. She furthered that this dynamic instrument leads to wider market reach including trade negotiations between and among economies.

DTI Bicol meanwhile slated a consultative conference with stakeholders on February 18, this year to present the prospect and equip the pili industry stakeholders with enough information on the requirements needed for the registration of “Bicol Pili” as GI. On the same conference, the Technical Working Group (TWG) that will draft the Code of Practice will also be created.

Blanco noted that after almost a couple of years of negotiations, DTI Bicol is able to build an institution from a cross sections of stakeholders of the pili industry. - JRBerango-DTI5

Spain, Albay expand humanitarian cooperation

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By JOHNNY C. NUNEZ

LEGAZPI CITY -- Encouraged by their previous fruitful cooperation ventures, Spain and Albay have agreed to further strengthen and broaden their partnership on humanitarian concerns, particularly in the fields of disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA).

Albay Governor Joey Salceda told a recent press conference here, Spain will use the Albay rehabilitation model for local government units (LGUs) it choses to help in the post Yolanda reconstruction program.

AECID officials visited Albay last week and discussed the details of new projects with Salceda. The visitors included Antonio Gonzalez, head of the agency’s Department of Cooperation for Asia and Arab countries; Vicente Selles, coordinator general; and his deputy, Norberto Gomez deLiano.

Salceda, who is co-chair of the UN Green Climate Fund, said Spain was impressed by how Albay has implemented Spain’s assisted projects. Their expanded partnership banks on Spain’s ready resources and Albay’s dexterity in DRR and CCA, being UN Global Model in these fields.

“Facilities funded by AECID and implemented by Albay have remained impressive, well maintained and very clean, and were visited by Queen Sofia herself,” Salceda said, quoting AECID coordinator general Selles. The Spanish Queen visited Albay in July last year and personally inspected her government’s assisted projects in the province.

Under the new partnership, the governor said Spain has sought the technical assistance of Albay in designing the financial framework, resource allocation and the strategy for the Spanish assistance to Yolanda stricken areas, with the new designs essentially now being implemented in Albay.

The accord also tasks the Albay Climate Change Academy (CCA) to train LGUs assisted by AECID’s in DRR. The Spanish government recognizes CCA’s capabilities as the leading knowledge hub on local climate change adaptation in Asia and in the world, Salceda said. The Albay Climate Change Academy, based at the Bicol University here, was conceived and funded through a special Spanish grant to the Millennium Development Goal Fund of the United Nations Development Program.

Salceda said AECID has also donated a second water filtration machine to Team Albay, which will boost the capability of the multi-awarded disaster response humanitarian group in responding to disasters. The additional machine will shortly be ferried here from Tolosa, Ley where it was initially fielded following Super typhoon Yolanda’s devastation in Eastern Visayas.

Team Albay has seen action in many disaster areas of the country, providing potable water to victims through its first water filtration machine donated by AECID in 2006. It has become Team Albay’s signature humanitarian gesture and for which it had received various awards.

CamSur gov't earns Seal of Good Housekeeping

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PILI, CamSur – For the second successive year since the province enrolled participation in the program, CamSur earned the prestigious Seal of Good Housekeeping conferred by the Department of Interior and Local Government.

This was learned from a letter from DILG Secretary Mar Roxas congratulating Governor Miguel Luis R. Villafuerte and the Province of Camarines Sur for qualifying as one of the recipients of the 2012 Seal of Good Housekeeping (SGH).

The SGH is awarded to deserving local government units (LGUs) that “successfully meet the requirements of the full disclosure policy and proven to have no adverse or disclaimer audit findings by the Commission on Audit.”

As SGH recipient, CamSur now has access to special national program windows, such as the Bottom-Up Budgeting Program now called Grassroots Participatory Budget Process, PAMANA, SALINTUBIG and the Special Local Road Fund as may be eligible under DILG policies.

For qualifying as SGH recipient for year CY 2011, the very first time the province participated in the program and was awarded last year, CamSur was awarded P15,543.245 worth of Special Local Road Fund that was automatically added to the Annual Work Program of the provincial budget for CY 2013 under it and used fund new and maintain existing farm-to-market (FTM) roads in the province.

“Kami po sa DILG as nagagalak na makatulong at maging kabalikat ninyo sa pag-unlad ng inyong lokalidad,” Sec. Roxas said in his letter.

Next year the DILG will be scaling up the Seal of Good Housekeeping into the Seal of Good Local Governance that will cover a wider range of LGU performance focused on good financial housekeeping, disaster preparedness, basic sector social protection, business friendly and competitiveness, environmental compliance, law and order and public safety.

“CamSur is doing very well and will continue to improve and escalate efforts in these areas, and if we all get our acts together CamSur will hopefully be one of the first recipients of the Seal of Good Local Governance,” Governor Villafuerte is reported to have remarked when he received Sec. Roxas’ letter. - GBClaveria/MMEC

PFI donates P3M for CARD MRI's rehab efforts for Yolanda survivors

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Pioneer Foundation, Inc. made a grant to CARD MRI in the amount of more than P3-M as a support to the latter’s active implementation of housing and livelihood rehabilitation efforts for the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda.

A Memorandum of Agreement was signed recently stirred by the two parties’ mission of empowering and assisting socially-and-economically challenged women and families in times of uncertainties.

The assistance from Pioneer Foundation will be able to further facilitate housing and livelihood efforts for CARD MRI members in the towns of Basey and Balangiga in Samar. This will be an integral part of CARD MRI’s rehabilitation program in all Yolanda affected areas where CARD members and their families are residing.

From November 8 to December 20 last year, CARD Mutual Benefit Association (CARD MBA) and CARD MRI Insurance Agency (CaMIA) with Pioneer Insurance paid 18,348 CARD members for re-house claims which totaled to an amount of P53,187,326.00. Pioneer Insurance too gave an advance call of P24-M for claims settlement of the re-housing of CARD members to avoid further delay of support.

Last year, Pioneer Insurance and CARD formed a joint venture which gave birth to CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc. (CPMI), the country’s first non-life company specifically created to address calamity, agriculture and income loss insurance needs of the marginalized market. Pioneer also joined CARD’s workforce in validating and disbursing claims of the members.

Because of this catastrophe, the Package Assistance In case of Disaster (PAID) Plan was upgraded. Enrollees would get to enjoy P130,000.00 to P200,000.00 benefits starting February this year.

UNEP Architectural grad lands 7th place in the 2014 Architect Licensure Exam

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Adding another feather to the University of Northeastern Philippines or UNEP’s cap is the recent result of the 2014 Architect Licensure Examination (ALE) where fresh graduate Marlon Levina Dela Cruz successfully passed the examination held January 17 to 19 in Metro Manila with flying colors.

Dela Cruz earned accolades and praises for the job well done after his name was listed in the roster of top ten national passers in the recent ALE managed by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) together with other passers coming from prestigious colleges and universities in the metropolis.

Atty.Remelisa Alfelor Moraleda, UNEP President immediately posted on her personal Facebook account a congratulatory message to UNEP’s new architect who she learned, was not able to review for the board exam due to some personal reasons. “Dela Cruz is one of the best architectural students that we have here in UNEP. He really puts his heart on what he is doing and this result is a testimony of his dedication and perseverance to reach his dreams,” Moraleda added.

Moraleda also congratulated the entire CEATD faculty particularly its Dean, Architect Jose “Joe” Malazarte for the job well done, saying that “excellence is the key to achievement and success.” Out of 1,442 takers, only 793 successfully passed the ALE administered by the Board of Architecture headed by its Chairman, Architect Rolando L. Cordero.

This is not the only honor that UNEP’s CEATD family has on their sleeves. They have also crafted their name during national competitions. Last year, UNEP’s Engineering students also made name when it landed 2nd during the 7th National Bridge Building competition held at Subic Bay Exhibition and Convention Center, Subic Bay Freefort Zone, Olongapo City through the sponsorship of the Philippine institute of Civil Engineers (PICE).

In 2011, another group of Engineering students from UNEP also impressed their jurors when they landed second during the 13th National Bridge Building Competition Championship held in Legazpi City. UNEP believes that the blueprint that they have mapped out for their students will serve as their stepping stones towards the realization of their aspirations.

CEATD offers six (6) Baccalaureate Degrees or Programs: Bachelor of Science in Architecture, Civil Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Geodetic Engineering and two technical courses which include one-year Automotive Servicing (AS NC1) and one year Computer Hardware Servicing (AS NC1), both TESDA Accredited courses.