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4Ps in Pagsanghan town shows that government cares

By NINFA B. QUIRANTE
July 4, 2009

CATBALOGAN, Samar  –  The inclusion of some 715 beneficiaries in the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) is an indication that the national government cares for us, said Cecila Aleman of Calanyugan, Pagsanghan, Samar.

Aleman, 59 years old and a grandmother of two children named Jeoffrel 9 and Jessa 8 has cared for the two children since their tender ages left to her care.

The parents of the two kids are Aleman’s children who now live elsewhere as the kids do not like to leave their lola anymore.

Lola Sesing, weaves mats as her livelihood. She said in her younger years, she can weave two mats a week and earn P500 then.

The years though have been unkind to Lola Sesing, her speed has suffered and now she can only produce one mat a week giving her and her two apos only P300.

Her unfortunate state qualified Lola Sesing for the program.

Another beneficiary also from Barangay Calanyugan is a blind woman Ludensia Casaljay, 45 with an only child. She got blind some five years ago and her husband left her with one more mouth to feed.

These are some of the beneficiaries included in Pagsanghan’s list according to Ms Jean Renola, the 4Ps Municipal Link.

4Ps is a poverty reduction strategy that provides grants to extremely poor households to improve their health, nutrition and education of children aged 0-14 years old. It is patterned after the successful Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Latin America and Africa.

Pagsanghan, a recipient of the program is a 5th class municipality located northwest of Samar’s capital town. It can be reached through a 30-minute river cruise from Barangay Concepcion, Gandara (situated in Maharlika Highway).

While Pagsanghan is not found on the top ten list of the poorest municipalities in Eastern Visayas, it ranked number six (6) in the list of the top twenty nutritionally depressed municipalities as gleaned from the National Nutrition Council (NC) 8 data.  A town is considered nutritionally depressed when it has a high nutrition prevalence vis-a-vis its population.

The town has an access to an all weather road constructed in the late 1990 during the second term of then Governor Jose Rono. The 14 kilometer stretch at present has highly deteriorated due to neglect in maintenance. The same road said Mayor Violeto Ceracas has transported then Senator Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to this municipality rich with molluscs, crustaceans and other marine products. Pagsanghan townsfolk said the road does not receive attention from the provincial government.

Pagsanghan is basically an agricultural community, said Jun Borata, Municipal Planning and Development Officer (MPDO). Townfolks rely on farming, fishing and livelihood brought about by their abundant nipa palms. Nipa has opened a trading partnership between the town and Bantayan island in Cebu and has provided livelihood for its barangays.

With this brand new program, 4Ps Pagsanghan folks like Lola Sesing and Ludensia are hopeful that more programs from the national government will be able to augment the initiatives being pushed by the LGU.

The real Best in the East

Even Bruce Lee would’ve challenged Pacquiao

By ALEX P. VIDAL / PNS
June 2, 2009

SAN DIEGO, California  –  The best in the East.

This titanic title once belonged to the legendary kung fu maestro Bruce Lee who as the pride of the East even the best boxer in the world dared not to see him eyeball to eyeball in his heyday in the early 70’s.

But after dismantling Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton in the IBO light welterweight duel dubbed “The Battle of the East and the West” in Las Vegas, Nevada on May 2, Manny Pacquiao is now reputed as the best warrior in the East in contact sports – including mixed martial arts and wrestling.

Had Pacquiao lived in the era of Bruce Lee or vice versa, the founder of Jet Kune Do combat form and Chinese’s cultural icon would’ve challenged the Filipino lefty to a no-holds-barred duel to determine the real king of combat sports in the East.

Bruce Lee had humiliated seven-time world karate champion Ken Norton in their own version of the battle between the east and west.

And although the current darling of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is Lyoto Carvalho Machida who is partly from the East, Pacquiao still stands alone unmolested in the totem pole of prizefighting, making him the most sought-after world champion in any multi-million dollar showdown.

Machida, who recently upset Rashad Evans in a clash of unbeaten fighters in UFC 98 billed as the “Ali-Frazier bout of UFC”, also wants to be known as the best in both the East and West.

Although a Japanese-Brazilian, Machida, the current UFC light heavyweight champion and Shotokan karate specialist, claims to be a product of eastern full contact sports institutions having trained Muay Thai in Thailand and participated in New Japan Pro Wrestling in Tokyo before hitting pay dirt in the UFC.

As this developed, another pride of the west, Shane Mosley, have also expressed willingness to engage Pacquiao in a slugfest “in a catch weight”.

Mosley’s Challenge

Mosley’s challenge came after light middleweight upstart Julio Caesar Chavez Jr. dared Pacquiao to a showdown before the end of 2009.  Top Rank promotion had also mentioned Miguel Cotto’s name as Pacquiao’s possible opponent.

“There are conflicting reports from the Pacquiao camp an upcoming fight between me and Manny Pacquiao. I want it to be known that I want to fight Pacquiao and I want to fight him now. I’m willing to meet at a catch weight to make that happen,” Mosley said.

“I know this is what Freddie Roach wants as well, as he has previously stated this to press. I am the best fighter in boxing and I am ready to reclaim the title of number one pound-for-pound fighter.”

To end the guessing game, it was the 30-year-old boxer-cum-politician from Gen. Santos City, Philippines who broke the iceberg by declaring he was interested and ready to face flamboyant Floyd Mayweather Jr. on October 17.

Mayweather, meanwhile, is scheduled to fight Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada and the Golden Boy Promotions announced the winner will possibly challenge Pacquiao, who is currently the best boxer in the world pound-for-pound.

Violence against children in schools still prevalent

By JONNIE H. BUENAVENTURA (PIA 8)
May 28, 2009

TACLOBAN CITY  –  The Plan Philippines, an international humanitarian, child-centered development organization, recently sponsored a forum dubbed as “Fostering a Caring School Environment” which centered on the abuses sustained by children inside the school, at Leyte Park Hotel, Tacloban City.

Plan Philippines commissioned the Philippine School of Social Work (PSSW) of the Philippine Women’s University to undertake a study on violence against children (VAC) in public schools in areas covered by Plan programs.

A total of 2,442 children from 58 public schools in Masbate, Northern Samar and Camotes Island in Cebu participated in the study and the result of the study showed that at least 5 out of 10 children in Grades 1-3; about 7 out of 10 in Grades 4-6; and about 6 out of 10 in high school, have experienced some kind of violence in school.

The study showed that verbal abuse is the most prevalent form of violence experienced by children in all school levels. This includes being ridiculed and teased, being shouted at and being cursed or spoken to with harsh words.

Children peers, more than the adults, are the perpetrators of violence in schools.

According to Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Plan Philippines Child Rights Ambassador and daughter of business tycoon Peping Cojuangco and now President of Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), whatever effort a mother does in order to protect her children against harm and from all forms of abuse, still the school authorities specially the teachers have a vital role in fostering children for they act as the second parents of the child and most often the child follows what the teacher says.

"I believe that teachers care and molding the children in becoming leaders of the future is beyond compare. However, there are few teachers who hurt their students because they believe that it is just a form of discipline but indeed, the child suffers trauma from the abuses sustained from the perpetrators," she said.

Mrs. Jaworski revealed that the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) chaired by her father conducted a study and it turned out that only 5% of the youth (35 years old below) population engage in exercise, 92% of the Philippine population gain national pride thru sports (the likes of Manny Pacquiao -boxing, Wesley So -Chess, Paeng Nepumoceno -Bowling etc.), 7% of the youth are into drugs and 30% of the youth is engage in sex trade.

According to Iris Ann Umacob, Child and Adolescent Psychologist, when students or children in schools experience abuse there performance and self-esteem decline which results from not going anymore to schools.

Ms. Umacob urged Department of Education (DepEd) officials to look into the matter and make strict monitoring from the start of the classes to the end because dropping of students is not seen from the first few months in the school but it can be observed during the 2nd quarter of the school year onwards.

PGMA’s “One Town One Scholar” Program makes pedicab driver and son cry

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
May 8, 2009

TACLOBAN CITY  –  A pedicab driver and his son shed tears upon being told that the son is among the first set of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s “One Town One Scholar” Program.

“I was anxious when a neighbor told me last night that my son Argie and I are being requested by the Mayor to see him at 8:00 o’clock in the morning today,” Mr. Mabag, a pedicab driver from Cabuynan, Tanauan, Leyte, said.

At exactly 8:00 o’clock in the morning, Mr. Mabag and his son Argie were at Mayor Roque Tiu’s office.

Mayor Tiu then told the father and son that Argie’s application to be a “One Town One Scholar” has been approved by CHED and that the Mayor will accompany him to Manila to receive the scholarship certificate from no less than President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Malacanang Palace.

“I was shocked and at the same time surprised to see they shed tears,” Mayor Tiu said confiding that he was taken aback at the reaction of the father and son.

He said that CHED Region 8 called him up early evening of Monday informing him that Tanauan’s “One Town One Scholar” will represent Region 8 in the awarding of scholarship certificates at Malacanang on Wednesday, May 6.

Mayor Tiu who just bought a ticket to Manila for Thursday May 7, immediately called up the ticketing office to change his flight date and bought another ticket for Argie.

“I never expected to be able to pursue a college education,” Argie said. “Thanks to President Gloria, my dream to become a professional so that I could help improve the economic standing of my family will be realized,” Argie said crying.

Admitting he has never been to Manila, Argie said he is not afraid because he will be with the Mayor. He is excited to see President Arroyo at Malacanang, he confessed.

Argie said he learned about the “One Town One Scholar” program of President Arroyo from Mayor Tiu during the graduation exercises last March.

Knowing that his parents cannot afford to send him to college because his father is just a tricycle driver who every now and then would cook bread and native delicacies to augment the family income, Argie wrote an application letter and he took the written exam given by the local government unit.

Argie, who graduated as an honorable mention in his class, the first batch of graduates from the Cabuynan Annex of the Tanauan National High School, topped the written exams and interview conducted by the LGU, together with an equally bright student from his school.

Mayor Tiu said that after he recommended Argie to CHED, he decided to take in the other bright student applicant as a scholar of the Local Government Unit.

As a PGMA’s “One Town One Scholar” grantee, Argie will receive a scholarship for a four or five year college degree program, including free tuition and transportation and living allowances, not exceeding P15,000 per semester for School Year 2009-2010 and every year thereafter.

Northern Samar commemorates 109th Anniversary of the Battle of Catubig

By TERESITA B. CARDENAS (PIA Northern Samar)
April 18, 2009

CATARMAN, Northern Samar  –  The municipality of Catubig, Northern Samar observed the commemoration of the 109th anniversary of the Battle of Catubig by holding a parade and followed by a program which  was held at the Municipal Auditorium on Wednesday,  April 15, 2009.

In her welcome address, Catubig lady Mayor Hon. Cristina L. Vicencio said that “from the installation of the National Historical Institute marker in 2007, to the commemoration of the Battle’s 108th anniversary, to this 109th observance of our people’s victory over the American invaders, all of us are witnesses to the relentless efforts of former board member Mrs. Leta Luto de la Cruz to ingrain this historic event in the civic consciousness and nationalistic sentiments of every Catubignon and Las Navasnon.”

She further stressed that the occasion should  be a time to reflect on those glorious days in April 1900, so that Catubignons may be reinvigorated  into joining  hands in order  to start anew “where we have backslid, to work all the way toward the progress of this land which these selfless men and women a century ago protected. “

Governor Raul A. Daza also in his message said that the Battle was a glorious choice made by Domingo Rebadulla and the Catubignons when they stood to fight the Americans. The principled decision was made even if they had to risk their lives, and thus once more validate the Filipinos’ love of democracy and freedom.

“Principle over comfort is ideal in preserving freedom not only during their time but also in our time. Today we are not only under a threat from the Americans and Spaniards but Filipinos against Filipinos. Every 15th day of April of every year, we relive the spirit of the Battle of Catubig, especially how the loyal and patriotic Catubignons risked their lives. We should always keep in our hearts, the freedom and their heroic acts, so let this be a binding to all of us and endure not only during their generation but the future generations,” the governor said.

The Battle of Catubig was re-enacted in a historical drama played by the youth groups of Catubig. After which was the awarding of recognition to Outstanding Catubignons. The 2009 Outstanding Catubignons were given to former congressman, the late Atty.  Romualdo T. Vicencio, for his efforts to improve the living standard of the Catubignons; Dr. Pacita R. Uy, for her singular effort and perseverance as a working mother, in the process producing seven professional children, five doctors of medicine, one certified accountant, and one mechanical engineer; Arch. Arnulfo P. De Asis, for his singular achievement as a high-caliber architect and upscale building contractor; Atty. Mar P. De Asis, for being the first Catubignon to become president of a state university; and to Miss Sherylee Hiramia Sustiguer, for bringing honor to the municipality as the first Catubignon and Nortehanon to win a beauty contest at the national level.

During the program the first Catubig Historical Club Officers were inducted by Gov. Raul A. Daza, with Mrs. Leta Luto-De la Cruz as the president; Dr. Juanito E. Tentativa as the vice-president; Mr. Neciforo E. Rubenecia, Jr. as secretary; Hon. Maria C. Montealto as treasurer; Mr. Abner M. Orsolino as auditor; Miss Luisa O. Rebadulla as PIO; Board of Directors: Ms. Hope Llorey B. Glorioso, Mr. Romualdo L. Hipe, Ms. Trinidad T. Espina, Mr. Rico D. De Asis, Hon. Zenaida P. Uy; Mr. Manrico Embile as consultant; and Dr. Rodolfo T. Galit, Sr., Dr. Lydia E. De la Rosa and Hon. Ma. Cristina L. Vicencio as advisers.

A closing prayer highlighted by candle lighting at the Battle of Catubig Shrine which was led by the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Cecilio P. Lucero concluded the program.

Related readings:  The Battle of Catubig

Pangulong Gloria Scholarship boosts employability of the 5,776 scholars in Region 8

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
April 6, 2009

TACLOBAN CITY  – The Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program which is being implemented by the Techical Education and Skills Development Authority, is seen as a tool that would increase the employability of Eastern Visayas folk.

As of March 29, 2009, there are already 5,776 scholars have benefited from the Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program in Region 8, TESDA 8 Director Juan M. Sabulao Jr informed.

Of the total number of Pangulong Gloria Scholars in the Region, about 303 have graduated as of March 29, 2009.

The Pangulong Gloria scholars in Region 8 are studying in the various TESDA accredited vocational-technical schools scattered in the 6 provinces in Region 8. In Leyte province, there are 1,594 Pangulong Gloria scholars; 318 in Biliran; 407 in Southern Leyte; 544 in Samar; 1,242 in Eastern Samar and 1,671 in Northern Samar.

These scholar are taking upshort courses on Bartending, Building Wiring, Call Center Agent, Carpentry, Commercial Cooking, computer hardware servicing, consumer electronics servicing, food and beverage services, health care services, household housekeeping, Java, Korean language, machining, medical transcription, massage theraphy, masonry, pipefitting, plumbing, shielder metal arch weilding, automotive servicing, driving, haircutting, small engine servicing, among others.

Right after graduation, these graduates undergo assessment tests for them to be given certification, an important requirement for employment or for further training.

The Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program is TESDA’s response to President Arroyo’s directives on government-business-labor initiatives against the global crisis, Director Sabulao said.

Ang Pangulong Gloria Scholarships is TESDA’s platform to link job training directly to job recruiters, displaced workers and Overseas Filipino workers.

Director Sabulao said the program is aimed at reducing the unemployment and underemployment rate in the country by helping students and the local populace to get immediate employment not only in their localities but even outside the country.

This is the reason why Director Sabulao really take time to encourage high school graduates to avail of this free skills training under the Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program.

The training package includes the training cost, institutional incentive package, training allowance and assessment fees.

Availment of the scholarship is on first-come first served basis, Director Sabulao said. This is why he is encouraging interested Eastern Visayans to visit the TESDA office nearest them, right away.

Interested applicants must be at least 18 years old, with birth certificate preferably issued by the National Statistics Office, physically and mentally fit.

Northern Samareños avail of PAGCOR led PGMA Serbisyu Muna; 28 national, local government organizations join caravan

By NENE A. MANZANARES (PIA Northern Samar)
March 30, 2009

CATARMAN, Northern Samar  –  If buntings decorated the whole area, it could almost be mistaken as a town fiesta. People flocked at the Sacred Heart Plaza in Catarman Thursday the other week to avail of the services brought by the People’s Government Mobile Action (PGMA) Serbisyu Muna with full caravan support.

The one-stop-shop project provided clients the rare opportunity to seek the services they wanted most in one area. Be it medical or dental services or mere consultations with the representatives of the 28 national and local government agencies in the “caravan”, the services were there for the taking.

About twenty five tents from the provincial government and one big tent from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were set-up on the sides surrounding the Sacred Heart Plaza where the 28 participating agencies were given a space to serve their walk-in clients.  The bigger tents were assigned to the medical and dental teams including the area assigned for pharmacists.

The Catarman PGMA Serbisyu Muna was able to provide medical services to 1,503 constituents and dental services to 361 beneficiaries.  Eleven doctors and 12 dentists were at hand to provide their assistance.

On March 17 or two days prior to the Catarman event, medical and dental services were provided simultaneously in the towns of San Roque and Catubig in the second district of the province.  In San Roque, 610 medical and 141 dental beneficiries were provided with services while in the town of Catubig, 703 medical and 165 dental patients availed of the services.

It was the turn of the towns of San Jose and Rosario on March 18 where both dental and medical services were likewise simultanenously provided. In San Jose town, some 705 medical and 104 dental patients were recorded while in the town of Rosario, some 574 medical and 165 dental patients were recorded.

The PAGCOR touch

During the short opening program, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Vice-President Remedios Petilla expressed her gratitude to Gov. Raul Daza and the local officials of the province of Northern Samar for hosting the PGMA Serbisyu Muna caravan.  She also thanked the participating national and local agencies who showed their commitment and support to the project. PAGCOR is point agency in this on going “caravan of services” project.

In an exclusive interview with PIA, Pagcor Vice-President Petilla said that this is a special project of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the latter’s effort to provide the needed services in far-flung and depressed provinces.  This project is being supported by PAGCOR which provides manpower, supplies and medicines.  They also coordinate with the local government units and different national agencies to ensure participation in the event.

The charming and very energetic Pagcor veep said that PGMA Serbisyu muna has already provided services to Davao, Bicol, Agusan, Aklan, Masbate and other provinces in Eastern Visayas like Biliran, and Eastern Samar. Petilla, who was a former governor of Leyte said that the caravan of services is not new to her as she had the same project during her stint as chief executive of Leyte province.  This has been continued by her son Icot Petilla, who is now the incumbent governor of Leyte.

Describing the event as “the project of the President”, Petilla is pleased whenever she sees a great number of people in Serbisyu Muna.  “Nalilipay ako kun damo an mga tawo, kay karuyag sidngon, damo man an amon naserbihan” (I feel happy when I see many people because this means that we were able to serve a great number of people), the amiable Pagcor veep enthused.

Caravan of Services

Among the 28 agencies that participated in the caravan of services were:

The Local Government Units which played host to the project, come first in the list of caravan of services.  The Province of Northern Samar, and the towns of Catubig, San Roque, San Jose and Rosario provided meals and snacks to the working group behind the Serbisyu Muna project.  They also provided manpower augmentation such as doctors, dentists, pharmacists and members of the secretariat.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) thru its OIC assistant regional director Virginia Edano said that to address health, nutrition and education concerns of provinces like Northern Samar, their agency has implemented the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino (PPP) program.  Ten municipalities of the province are recipients of this program.  These are the towns of Silvino Lobos, Las Navas, Mapanas, Catubig, Lapinig, Lope de Vega, Mondragon, Palapag, San Roque and Pambujan.

The PPP is a program of the President that primarily seeks poverty reduction through social assistance with investment in human capital.  The said program issues cash cards for beneficiaries which they will use to withdraw money from the Land Bank of the Philippines.  Cash grants are provided to children who belong to extremely poor households. These are the health and nutrition cash grant of P500/month or P6,000 a year; and the education cash grant of P300 or P3,000 per school year.   

The Department of Health (DOH) has announced that they will provide facilities and equipment to four hospitals in the province.  DOH regional director Dr. Edgardo Gonzaga said that such facilites and equipment willl be provided to Northern Samar Provincial Hospital (P3 million); Dr. G.B. Tan Memorial Hospital (P3 million); Allen District Hospital (P1 million); and Gamay District Hospital (P1 million).

The Department of Health also gave awards to six barangays of the province, namely Brgy. Narra, Brgy. Cawayan, Brgy. Bangkerohan, Brgy. Cal-igang, Brgy. Jose Abad Santos and Brgy. UEP Zone I.  Each barangay received P25,000 each worth of medicines for their Botica sa Barangay.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) conducted a Local and Overseas Jobs Fair in coordination with the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and the Province of Northern Samar.

Among the overseas agencies which participated in the jobs fair were the Mothers Way Overseas Manpower Specialist Corporation, New Era Placement Agency Inc., Pacific Mediterrenian’ Treasure of Hope International Inc and Unijobs International.  The APAC Customer Services, Incorporated, a local agency also participated in the said fair.

A Call Center Company also joined the jobs fair seeking for applicants as call center agents.

Workers wearing blue t-shirts from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) were seen cleaning up and cutting overgrown grass from the side streets of the first and second districts of the province.  The DPWH also provided mobility services to the PIA coverage team during the three-day event.

The Philippine Army through the 8th Infantry Division, 803rd Infantry Brigade and the 63rd Infantry Battalion provided dental services and manpower support for crowd control.  The Army also provided tents during the three-day dental and medical services in all of the five towns which participated in the Serbisyu Muna in the province.

The Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) provided renewal services of professional identification cards.  New PRC IDs were likewise issued.  Dioscoro Lumagbas, the assigned regulation officer said that there are 42 professions being handled by the PRC.

The Catarman based Philhealth thru its chief insurance officer Romeo Agus said that they provided services to clients who asked querries on membership, contributions and claims.  They also provided application forms to walk-in clients.

It was learned that they are now screening indigent applicants who are qualified to become members of Philhealth.

The Philippine Broadcast Services (Radyo Ng Bayan) through Station DYOG provided a blow by blow account of the three-day event.  The three man team headed by its station manager, utilized phone patch in disseminating their reports live to Calbayog City.

The Philippine Information Agency based in the province likewise provided information support through production of print and broadcast releases with local stations DYSM and Radyo Natin-San Roque as broadcast outlets.  The PAGCOR team was provided with copies of the produced materials.

Other members of the caravan were the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes (PCSO); National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC); Social Security System (SSS); Public Attoryneys Office (PAO); National Telecommunications (NTC); Department of Agriculture (DA); Cooperative Development Authority (CDA); National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); People’s Credit and finance Corporation (PCFC); Philippine Overseas and Employment Agency (POEA); Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); Training and Livelihood Resource Center); National Food Authority (NFA); Philippine National Police (PNP); and the  Provincial Health Office (PHO).

The Bayanihan spirit in the PGMA Serbisyu Muna project

As the tents were folded up and the members of the team packed their bags, Nortehanons would not only remember the doctors, the dentists, the free medicines and the services provided by the caravan teams.

More than that, they would remember the loving touch and the special care which the bayanihan inspired project brought to their lives.  They would keep a special place in their hearts that one day in their lives, they saw workers of government providing them the services they needed.  And that in this one day of their lives, they have truly understood what public service is all about. (with reports from Ailene N. Diaz and Teresita B. Cardenas)

HR manager, not the employee, more affected by crisis

By RAFFY OSUMO, Leaders Link
March 27, 2009

CEBU CITY  –  The human resources manager - not the employee - is more susceptible in the current global economic crisis.

Human resources managers are experiencing more headaches in managing people as companies implement sweeping cost cutting measures like freeze in hiring, across the board reorganization and even termination of services.

With economic recovery not expected until 2010, companies turn to their human resources manager to come up with strategies to cope with the present crisis seen by IMF experts as bad as World War II or the Great Depression.

Yet relief is readily available for human resources practitioners.

“Surprisingly, while other companies are starting to feel the crunch, most of them find opportunities during the crisis,” pointed Zamyra F. Baguio, managing consultant of Leaders Link.

Zamyra F. Baguio, managing director of Leaders Link, spoke to more than 32 human resources managers and practitioners during a forum on human capital solution at Casino Español Friday afternoon last week.

Baguio said opportunities are within the organization, others could be outsourced.

“Cebuano companies, as well as other businesses in Visayas and Mindanao have now learned to outsource some of their services to consultancy firms. In the past, companies have to pay huge amount of money to bring experts from Metro Manila, now we have our own pool of experts in Cebu, that are more effective because they ‘speak the language’ and understands our regional culture,” Baguio said.

During an HR café, she moderated, a human resources manager said the crisis offered her company more time for training as production slows down. She said this opportunity wasn’t possible before.

Another human resources manager said, “clients are demanding even more quality service” reinforcing the need to train employees so they could cope with more demands in the work place.

Another important point discussed during the forum was about finding and hiring the right people.

Caroline “Carl” Borromeo, a noted human resources profiler, pointed out that it would be more expensive for companies to hire the wrong person.

To avoid such a mistake, Borromeo discussed the uses of Harrison Assessments, a proven tool in finding, training and development of employees.

Companies affected by the economic crisis have to address the issue of sustaining their business as well as the work force.

Atty. Orville dela Cerna, a trainer and human resources practitioner, argued that a flexible work arrangement is the better alternative to retrenchment or closure of the business.

“Anchored on voluntary basis and conditions mutually acceptable to both the employer and the employees, it is recognized as beneficial in terms of reduction of business costs and helps in saving jobs while maintaining competitiveness and productivity in industries,” dela Cerna said.

Dela Cerna further said that companies might want to consider the following flexible arrangement like compressed workweek, reduction of workdays, rotation of workdays, forced leave and broken-time schedules.

There were two other speakers during the forum. Nicolas M. Baguio, training consultant of Leaders Link, spoke about strategic planning while Julius E. Romarate, dean of Britech Computer College, presented the Dual Training System (DTS) where IT students get training in both school and real work place environment.

The DTS program provides the student the venue where he applies what he learned in school. On the other hand, the partner company gets the chance to evaluate students that they may later hire as employees.

Leaders Link is a training, consultancy and executive search company since 2003. It offers organization and strategic solutions, human resources training and development and headhunting services to various companies in the Visayas and Mindanao.

For more information about Leaders Link, please contact (032) 422-8505, (032) 422-5552 or mobile phones 0917-620-7639 and 0923-327-8856.

'Mobile Kusina ni Mayor Lo' starts brewing nutritious recipes

By NINFA B. QUIRANTE (PIA Samar)
March 23, 2009

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar  –  The Mobile Kusina ni Mayor Lo of Daram, Samar has started brewing with fragrant aroma coming from nutritious but low cost recipes.

Mayor Lo aka Daram Mayor Lucia Astorga has been doing the rounds of seven pilot barangays to deliver the nutritious but low cost/costless recipes sans seasoning and expensive flavorings. All a Daramnon gets is natural and real food!

The innovation comes from Anita’s Kitchen in Davao. Some friends said Mayor delighted her with stories of such kind, that she suggested ‘importing’ the same concept to her island town.

As in Manila and Marikina, where the project has been, mothers have to pay P30 to participate in cooking and later in eating.

But in Daram, mothers only bring the recipe ingredient available in their backyard and they do not pay anything. Mayor Lo subsidizes the cost of the ‘cook-out’.

Mothers here also imbibe the spirit of having fun while providing nourishment for the family. Cooking need not be tedious, dull and perfunctory, meals should be varied to tickle the appetite.

The chef mayor first gathers all constituents preferably in a public place like the barangay plaza. When all is set, a cooking demonstration ensues with lectures on proper nutrition on the side.

The emphasis, said the Mayor is to utilize food ingredients found in the area. And in the process, she added, they discovered that vegetables are nil in some areas. This prompted the Municipal Agriculturist to disperse vegetable seeds to the barangays in need.

When asked why not utilize the marine resources which Daram, being an island is known for, the lady mayor replied that she wanted the fishing grounds of Daram to rest for a while and perhaps re generate.

In the cooking demo, participants practice volunteerism and bayanihan. Some barangay officials like tanod would fetch water, others prepare the vegetables and others assist in the grand cooking demonstration.

The event in the two barangays San Roque and Cansaganay have raved waves that other barangays wish to emulate the festive ‘cook-out’. The project is also mentioned in Astorga’s Community-managed child nutrition improvement where it features utilization of local materials for child feeding/nutrition improvement activities.

Very soon with the mobile Kusina ni Mayor Lo rounding off all 58 Daram barangays, malnutrition may be addressed all in the spirit of fun and discovery of innovative ways to prepare nutritious but costless menu for the families of Daram.

Army Engineering Const Battalion launches P45M Kalayaan Barangay projects in East Samar

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
March 18, 2009

TACLOBAN CITY  –  Always upholding its motto “to build not destroy, to bring happiness, not sorrow,” the 546 Engineer Construction Battalion of the 53rd Engineer Brigade of the Philippine Army is set to formally launch on March 18, the implementation of the P45,018,000 Million Kalayaan Barangay Projects in Eastern Samar.

Lieutenant Colonel Krestofel A. Kiamco informed that the launching will be held at Barangay Waso, Llorente, Eastern Samar where the 546 Engineer Battalion has already constructed a two-classroom school building worth P706,727.46.

The Kalayaan Barangay Project will benefit about 13 barangays in Borongan, Llorente and Maydolong will benefit in terms of projects which will be implemented therein, LtCol. Kiamco said.

The Kalayaan Barangay Project of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which is being implemented by the Department of National Defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, aims to address the needs of the poor communities in conflict areas or in areas which have peace and order issues, Lt. Colonel Kiamco said.

This is a government initiative which is a non-combat approach to solve the insurgency in areas affected by the problem, he added.

Kalayaan Barangay Project (KBP) was conceptualized to promote peace and development in the countryside. Specific program interventions include, core Infrastructure projects and services like improvements on transportation, communication, road and rail network, electrification and water supply facility as well as classroom buildings and educational establishments.

Five barangays of Borongan City are recipients of more than P22 Milion worth of projects. One of them, Barangay Amantacop is recipient of P4,500,000.04 worth of projects which include rehabilitation of Cainta-Housing Resettlement Farm to Market Road, Barangay Electrification, construction of reservoir/water system development, Construction of 59 units single chamber toilets.

Barangay Balacdas is recipient of P4,336,037.00 of projects which include the rehabilitation Cainta-Housing Resettlement farm to market road; spring dev't & 5 units deep well installation; expansion & repair of barangay street lights; construction of Day Care Center; and repair of 1-room school building.

Barangay Cagbonga will receive P4,499,964 worth of projects which include the rehabilitation of  Cagbonga-Bayobay Maypangan farm to market road, repair of 2-room school building, Installation of barangay street lights, rehabilitation of water system, and construction of 33 units single chamber sanitary toilets.

Barangay San Gabriel will have a total of P4,56,999.25 worth of projects to include rehabilitation and upgrading of farm-to-market road, and repair of 2-room school building.

The fifth recipient at Borongan is Barangay San Pablo which will be given projects like the construction of San Pablo-Cagbonga farm-to-market road, improvement and expansion of water system, and construction of 26 units single chamber sanitary toilets, all in all amounting to  P4,567,999.25.

About P1,113,814.71 worth of projects will be implemented in the six barangays of Llorente, namely, Can-ato, Canduros, Camtomco, Hugpa, Magtino and Waso. The projects include barangay electrification, construction of two-story school buildings, water supply systems, barangay health center, and improvement of access roads.

About P5,679,491.00 worth of Kalayaan Barangay Projects will be implemented in Barangays Del Pilar and Tagaslian of Maydolong town. The projects include the construction of one two-story school building, barangay electrification and construction of Level II water system.

Maasin City records zero rabies casualty in almost two decades

By PIA Southern Leyte
March 17, 2009

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte  –  No casualty due to rabies virus recorded in Maasin City  for almost two decades so far, City Health Officer Dr. Francilisa Tan  disclosed during the recent, Maasin City In Action radio program over DyDM.

In celebration of the Rabies Month, the Maasin City Health Units in coordination with the City Agriculturist Office and the Office of the Provincial Veterinarian campaigned for responsible pet ownership throughout the province and to submit dogs for registration and vaccination.

Dr. Tan announced that Salvacion Oppus Yniguez Memorial Provincial Hospital (SOYMPH) is identified as the bite center in the province.

She gave instructions in the first aide management of dog bite to wash the wound with soap and water thoroughly in ten minutes, defying the traditional garlic and vinegar medication on bite wounds.

Rabies is a zoonotic disease caused by RNA viruses in the Family Rhabdoviridae, Genus Lyssavirus (1--4).  Virus is typically present in the saliva of clinically ill mammals and is transmitted through a bite. After entering the central nervous system of the next host, the virus causes an acute, progressive encephalomyelitis that is almost always fatal. The incubation period in humans is usually several weeks to months, but ranges from days to years.

Meanwhile the City Agriculture’s office here recorded four hundred heads of dogs registered and vaccinated last December 2008, however, the office conservative estimate of the city dog population must have reached more than a thousand heads.

In line with the nationwide awareness month celebration, City Agriculturist Acasio reported of the scheduled two months long massive rabies vaccinations commencing this month until April this year.  The office also structured 4 groups to undertake the campaign for massive rabies vaccination in seventy barangays of the city.

The city has also organized aggressive dog enforcers who catch astray dogs along the streets.

Partnership: Key to DENR 8 Success in 2008

By PURIFICACION S. DALOOS
February 17, 2009

TACLOBAN CITY  –  The social mobilization and environmental advocacy strategies of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in region 8 has gained grounds as it saw remarkable milestones and attained its goal and targets for calendar year 2008.

Under the leadership of then Regional Executive Director Alfredo S. Pascual, partners and stakeholders from both the public and private sector were tapped to work with the regional and field offices and line bureaus of the Department in implementing its programs and projects towards environmental protection and natural resources conservation.

Together with the Philippine Army, Philippine National Police, some local government units and concerned citizens, forest protection activities yielded the confiscation of about 116.94 cu.m. of hot lumber. “This is the result of 72 apprehensions wherein ten (10) units of conveyances and three (3) units of equipments were also confiscated,” reveals Regional Technical Director Felipe Calub of the Forest Management Service (FMS).

Non-government organizations have been contracted by the Department to undertake plantation establishment activities in different watershed areas in the region.  A total of eight hundred thirty (830) hectares of forest plantation was established within eight (8) identified watersheds including Daguitan Watershed in Burauen, Leyte, Bulusao Watershed in Lawaan, Eastern Samar and Catarman Watershed in Lope de Vega, Northern Samar. These areas were planted with grafted fruit tree seedlings such as lanzones, rambutan, mango, durian and mangosteen. Deep rooted forest tree species and bamboo were planted along river banks, creeks and denuded areas.

Seedling production activities resulted in over 125,000 seedlings produced regionwide. These were made available to various sectors of society including religious groups, the academe, NGOs and socio-civic organizations who are partners in rehabilitating degraded areas and in re-greening the environment.

RTD Calub also shares that rehabilitation activities of watersheds supporting the regional irrigation system of the National Irrigation Authority were done in the watersheds of Magon-bucan, Bito and Mainit all in Leyte province.

Strong partnerships with local government units have also contributed much to achieving the work targets for 2008 of the Land Management Service. Close coordination with the LGUs had resulted in the successful conduct of Free Patent distributions regionwide under the Handog Titulo Program of the Department. “We have distributed 16,316 free patents to qualified beneficiaries in 2008,” says RTD for Land Management Service Ramon Unay. “This covers an aggregate area of around 13,000 hectares throughout the region,” RTD Unay adds.  The distribution of Free patents to qualified beneficiaries is one of government strategies toward addressing the Labanan ang Kahirapan call of President Gloria Arroyo.

“We have also sought the support of the LGUs and other stakeholders in our implementation of the Philippine Reference System ’92 (PRS ’92),” relates RTD Unay. He goes on to disclose that the Department has requested these LGUs to help in the protection and conservation of the Geodetic Control Points (GCPs), commonly known as the mojon, and advocate to their constituents the significance of the GCPs under PRS ’92.

Local communities have likewise been engaged by the DENR in implementing its activities in the past year. RTDa Ricardo Tomol of the protected Areas, Wildlife and Coastal Zone management Service (PAWCZMS) shares the important role of local residents in Palompon, Leyte in the assessment of Tres Marias Island in that town. The information provided by local residents, as well as monitoring activities conducted by  field personnel of the PAWCZMS resulted in its recommendation and declaration as a critical habitat due to the presence of threatened species.

Ecosystems Research and Development (ERD) activities were also implemented by the ERD Service in 2008. According to RTD Edilberto Nasayao, their sector has conducted a research for the rehabilitation of Bagacay Mines in Hinabanagan, Samar. A variety of species have been planted in a 1,200 sq. m mined out area. These included wedilla, talahib and bahai, among twelve (12) other species.

“While we recognize the notable accomplishments of the past year, we must admit that there is still a lot to be done, especially as we combat the effects of global warming,” says current DENR RED Regidor De Leon.

“The task towards creating a sound environment for all as well as the sustainable use of our finite resources is a daily challenge, not just for the DENR, but for each and every individual,” RED De Leon says even as he called for the continued support of its partners in 2009.

Zumarraga OTOP now operational

By NINFA B. QUIRANTE (PIA Samar)
February 15, 2009

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar  –  After the successful mussel culture in Jiabong, Samar which ballooned into a multi-million industry, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Samar will embark on rock oyster (sisi) culture in Zumarraga.

In a press release, by Mrs. Ruthelma S. Samonte, Provincial OTOP Coordinator of DTI Samar, it said that a convergence strategy has been employed to effect the project known as Rock Oyster Culture and Processing Development Project.

The converging entities include LGU of Zummaraga through the leadership of Mayor Edwin Neil Figueroa, Research Dept. of Dr. Felisa Gomba and College of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (COFMAS) of Dr. Abdurahman Latip under Pres. Simon Babalcon, Jr. of the Samar State University (SSU), DTI of Dr. Asisclo T. Beleña and DOLE of Mrs. Fe Estrella.

The Zumarraga Sisi Producers Association (ZUSI), its project proponent chaired by Mrs. Gavina Doblon will have three (3) components: rock oyster culture, improved sisi processing and market development.

It is said to directly benefit about one hundred eighty six (186) surveyed sisi gatherers and thirty (30) sisi traders not to mention the numerous other opportunities that will be generated to the Zumarraganhons.

The rock oyster culture component output is the installation of about twenty (20) hanging raft oyster culture modules in strategically located barangays in each of the four (4) clusters of Zumarraga.

To ensure a steady and year round supply of sisi as a raw material once the Zumarraga Production Center will be operational this year, an improved technology introduced by Prof. Renato Diocton, Prof. Raul Cilmar and Prof. Danilo Mabonga assisted by the LGUs counterpart MAO Alex Bitbit and Mrs. Joy Cebu, AT is expected to produce 63 sacks of rock oyster per module which not only productive but also environmentally friendly.

The second component is the standardization of sisi processing. As introduced by Mrs. Nora Doncillo, Fish Processing instructor all sisi processors shall comply with the food regulatory requirements of Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD).

The third component is the improvement of the packaging of sisi to increase its marketability and competitiveness once the product will be promoted in trade fairs, supermarkets and institutional buyers.

To ensure the viability of the project, DTI prepared a Project Proposal and Business Plan submission to DOLE which was facilitated by the PESO Manager and DSWDO of Zumarraga, Mrs. Evelyn S. Hernando and approved for funding  by DOLE Samar under the PRESEED in the amount of P633,440.

The project started late last year with the simultaneous conduct of the Rock Oyster Culture and Processing Training from October 8-10, 2008 in Zumarraga and the follow-up training on Skills Upgrading on Rock Oyster Stock Density Enhancement in Brgy. Arteche, Zumarraga on January 26-27 and Fermented Rock Oyster Processing Upgrading Training on January 27, 2009 in Zumarraga with a total of twenty five (25) and fifty eight (58) respectively.

On the other hand, product development activities to upgrade the quality of sisi include the product testing of sample products in the laboratories of Iloilo facilitated by SSU Mercedes Campus and the development of improve packaging design by the Product Research and Development Center (PRDCP-DOST) Head Office for the appropriate packaging of sisi.

Also initiated by SSU for Zumarraga was the P557,000 fund support from NEDA-KR2 (National Economic Development Authority-Kennedy Round 2) for the project "Enhancement and Standardization of Fermentation Process of Rock Oyster (Sacosstrea cucullata) 'Sisi' for Marginal Fishers in Samar".

Moreover, as preparatory activities for the product’s exposure in local, regional and national trade fairs and other marketing activities of DTI, a marketing plan was prepared and presented to the ZUSI officers and members. (with report from DTI)

Around 3,000 households in Basey has no sanitary toilets

By RICKY J. BAUTISTA
February 12, 2009

BASEY, Samar  –  Would you believe that around 3,000 households of this second class municipality considered as “partially urban” in the Southwestern part of Samar has no sanitary toilets?

Better believe it as it was obviously observed during the latest survey conducted by the local government unit of Basey arriving to a record that many households in the 20 barangays in the municipality are denied access to sanitary toilets. In a normal ratio, an ordinary household is composed of six family members or children.

Basey population is at 43,809 and that is nine years ago, or taken during the May 2000 survey.

In fact, during his State of the Municipality Address (SOMA), Mayor Wilfredo Olfato Estorninos reported that in 2008 they had distributed some 1,413 toilet bowls, and another 1,387 toilet bowls now stocked at the municipal compound were to be distributed soon to the barangays-recipients.

The general idea that such a problem exists, especially in a very poor and upland barangays, this was a clear indication that this does not involve just a few children, but hundreds of families take us notice. When crosschecked at the village chieftains, it became apparent that that most families have not had toilets for the longest time. Thus, the question: Where these families do their ‘wasting stuff’?

This problem on sanitary toilets were earlier identified as one of the “20 priority issues and concerns” during a workshop attended by the mayor himself, his fellow elective officials, all the department heads, members of the nine Barangay Integrated Development Zones.

Mayor Estorninos informed that upon learning this problem, he immediately created the Clean and Sanitation Task Force composed of the Municipal Health Office, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Municipal Tourism Office, among others and discussed on how to address this problem. Thus, the project on toilet bowls was born.

Under his Health and Environmental Sanitation Program, the mayor said he made some improvements on the aspects of waste and sewerage system. He also implemented the “Save Basey River Project” which includes the cleaning of Basey Rivers from illegal houses and especially the toilets that are considered as “public nuisance.”

Also in line with this program, Mayor Estorninos initiated another developmental program that aims not only to secure a clean and healthy environment for the Baseynons but also to make the municipality a tourist-friendly LGU.

This is the demolition of illegal structures including those already converted into residential houses, along the town's seawall and in Camponao, Brgy. Baybay up to the New Road Bridge, Brgy. Palaypay, to minimize environmental hazards caused by the occupants of the said structures.

Some 200 units of lots at the Brgy. Buscada have been reserved to those affected informal settlers or illegal squatters under the Core Shelter program funded by the DSWD. Also, some of them will be recommended to become recipients of the Gawad Kalinga Program in collaboration with the Local Government of Basey.

In this town, beauty, historic sites, panoramic views, mystical caves and impressive mat-weaving industry and the friendly and hospitable Basaynons are the usual impressions of visitors coming from this place. This town is also the current holder of the world’s longest banig record in the Guiness Book of Records.

DOH: No mother should die giving life

By ALICE E. NICART (PIA Eastern Samar)
January 21, 2009

BORONGAN CITY  –  Doctor Marian Isiderio, M.D. and Chief of the Technical Department of the Provincial Health Office (PHO) here stressed that “no mother should die while giving birth to her baby”. This, in her apparent disgust over the reported incidence of maternal deaths in the province despite government interventions.

Recent Maternal Death Review (MDR) revealed that in 2008 ten mothers died from birth delivery (maternal mortality or MMR) “which should have not happened at all” the lady doctor said.

Dr. Isiderio points back to mothers or perhaps their husbands’ annoying behaviors and practices.

“Some couples tend to stick to old and traditional birth deliveries – the “hilot” practice, adding that they do not have money to pay for the professional care givers”, she reported.

“Hilots (partira in Waray dialect) should no longer be allowed to deliver, unless they are supervised by a midwife”, the lady doctor emphasized during the conference on Tuesday of the Child and Mothers Protection Council. “It is true partiras are our partners in the barangays but they can only serve as our advocates for maternal and child care, and better yet, conduct the pregnant mother to the rural health unit”, she added.

Further, she reported that 75% of maternal deaths was post partum (when mothers die a few hours after the baby had been delivered) and 66% of this post partum deaths is attributed to the humble partira- assisted deliveries.

“Indeed, the first 12 to 24 hours after delivery is the most critical hours of a mother, which should not be taken for granted”,  she explained. Thus, the need for a professional health care giver”, she added.

However, MMR in the province is rather low as compared to national figure, but it is still high, thus the need for the policy-makers in the provincial government to look into the issue.

One of 10 Filipino nurses cleared by NY Court is from Region 8

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
January 18, 2009

TACLOBAN CITY  –  “I am glad that it is finally over,” Mrs. Will Avila of Tanauan, Leyte, said upon hearing that 10 Filipino nurses were acquitted by a New York court.

“I immediately offered a thanksgiving mass,” Mrs. Avila added.

Mrs. Avila’s beautiful and intelligent daughter, Harriet, is one of the ten Filipino nurses who were cleared by a New York court of criminal charges after they were accused of endangering patients by resigning en masse from a Long Island nursing home to protest working conditions.

It was not easy for Harriet and the other Filipino nurses after they resigned, Mrs. Avila said.  While some of them were able to find employment elsewhere, a number of them had the difficulty of getting other nursing jobs because of a possible criminal trial.

The family supported Harriet’s decision to resign from her work in 2006 because “we believe that the cause my daughter was fighting for was right.”

Harriet has not yet contacted her family since the court ruling, Mrs. Avila said, saying that perhaps she still have so many things to attend to.

“I am sure that many people are congratulating her and her companions,” Mrs. Avila added.

Harriet left her family in Tanauan, Leyte when she, together with other Filipino nurses were recruited in order to ease the shortage of nurses in the United States. Harriet was optimistic that with the greener pasture in the United States, she would be of help to her family which belongs to the middle income group. Harriet's father is an employee of the local government unit while her mother works at the City Health Office in Tacloban.

However, after several months, in April of 2006, she together with her companions, resigned en mass from their jobs at a Smithtown facility run by Sentosa Health Care because they were made to perform tasks they deemed demeaning and below their job descriptions. There were also disputes about scheduling and pay.

In the decision issued on Tuesday, the court’s second appellate division also stopped the prosecutor of Suffolk district county, where the original suit was filed, from pursuing criminal charges against the 10 nurses and their lawyer.

Acquitted, together with Harriet, were her co-nurses, Elmer Jacinto who is a licensed doctor and who topped the medical board examinations in 2004 but studies nursing to be able to work in the US; Juliet Anilao, Mark de la Cruz, Claudine Gamiao, Jennifer Lampe, Rizza Maulion, James Millena, Ma. Theresa Ramos and Ranier Sichon, and their lawyer Felix Vinluan who was accused of conspiring with the petitioners.

The New York court granted the nurses’ petition to stop the Suffolk county from prosecuting them, saying that their resignation did not endanger their patients as they did it after their shifts ended.

The court also noted that the prosecution’s insistence that the nurses’ resignation affected the welfare of their patients, which included children, were “speculative” and that they had the “constitutional right to be free from involuntary service.”

Stopping the nurses from resigning their jobs was a violation of the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude, the court said.

John Riley of newsday.com described the case as “One of the most appalling cases“ which “unfolded a couple of years ago when some Filipino nurses recruited by Sentosa, a nursing home outfit run by some generous political donors, were not treated as they had been promised in the US.”

He added, “the legal theory was factually unsupported – no patient had actually been endangered. It was a Yoo-like concoction pretty much unprecedented in New York – people, even powerless foreign nurses, have the right to leave their jobs. Real District Attorneys protect them, instead of turning into marionettes and trying to teach them a lesson on behalf of political benefactors.”

DILG enhance quality of justice in the barangay level

By RICKY J. BAUTISTA
November 18, 2008

BASEY, Samar  –  Mano Pepe, 54, a three-termed chairman in one of the village here admitted, that most of the time, he is hesitant from mediating disputes arising from his barangay due to his lack of proper knowledge in handling sensitive cases, and his being unacquainted on the legal aspects and technical terms related to barangay disputes.

And like the majority of the barangay chairmen in the remote areas, he feels so uneasy whenever he conduct an amicable settlement in their barangay because he is apprehensive that he might ended into a wrong judgment.

Receptive with this situation, the local office of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) has, again, conducted a skills training “to equip the barangay leaders an inexpensive and a more expeditious way of settling disputes in the barangay level through mediation and or arbitration.”

In Basey, Mayor Wilfredo S. Estorninos issued a memorandum dated October 17 to all 51-barangay chairmen in his locality, including Mano Pepe, to attend this kind of skills training. He said, at least 500 participants composed of Punong Barangay, Brgy. Secretaries and Lupon Members attend the activity on Saturday, November 15.

The DILG in partnership with the Liga ng mga Barangay of Basey are closely supervised the activity.

Basey MLGOO Jaime “Mick” Dacurawat informed that Section 121 of the Republic Act No. 7160 otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991 mandates all the city and municipal mayors to oversee the efficient and effective implementation and administration of the Katarungang Pambarangay (KP) Law.

“In fact, DILG Memorandum Circular No. 2007-129 directed its compliance and encouraged the adoption of measures such as but not limited to the conduct of training for the KP and its value as an empowering tool for the resolution of community and family disputes at the barangay level,” Dacurawat said.

A primer of the Katarungang Pambarangay Law defined the system as one of the few issuances during the Martial Law Era that merited public approval. The main objective of the law is to help relieve the courts of the docket congestion; enhance the quality of justice dispensed by the courts; promote the speedy disposition of justice; and implement the constitutional mandate to preserve and develop Filipino culture and to strengthen the family as a basic social institution.

Meanwhile, Mano Pepe, when interviewed back by this writer, expressed his happiness and willingness in attending the said training. He has, in fact, informed his team of Lupon Members in his barangay to prioritize their attendance.

“Maupay ine nga okasyon, kay damo it amon mahibabaroan parte hin pagtuhay hit mga nasasakupan ha barangay, ha sunod nga magkamay-ada man,” Mano Pepe said in his local dialect.

PITAHC herbal plant in Eastern Visayas, a medical tourism destination

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
November 14, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  The Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care Herbal Plant in Tacloban City, Leyte, is a very good medical tourism destination.

Imagine walking through 22 hectares of lagundi, sambong, tsaang dagat and other herbal plants and learning about their medicinal values. Better still, help harvest the good leaves to be used in the manufacturing of herbal tablets or herbal teas, or herbal soaps.

One could walk through the different processes before herbal tablets are made, from the washing of the good leaves to air drying to baking and making the granules, up to the packaging and packing them into boxes.

Then one could go to the Plant’s tea house and see how various herbal teas are bagged, and then sit comfortably while sipping a delicious and soothing concoction of ampalaya, niyog-niyogan or ulasimang bato.

Don’t forget to wash the hands with herbal soap which are also manufactured by PITAHC, the Akapulko Soap, Bayabas Soap, Calamansi Soap, Carrot Soap, Cucumber Soap, Kamias Soap, Labanos Soap and Papaya Soap.

Away from the maddening crowd, so they say, the Herbal Plant, with a little add-on here and there, can truly be a medical hideaway.

The PITAHC Herbal Plant in Eastern Visayas is located in a 36 hectares rolling hills at Barangay Bagacay in Tacloban City. Called the Tacloban Herbal Pharmaceutical Processing and Manufacturing Plant, it is one of the four herbal plants operated by the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care. The other plants are in Cagayan Valley, Davao and Cotabato.

Now able to produce 180,000 tablets per day, the Plant intends to manufacture lagundi, sambong, tsaang gubat, yerba Buena, akapulko, ampalaya, ulasimang bato tablets and garlic capsules.

The plant facilities consist of buildings, machineries and equipment for drying and processing of raw materials, dosage manufacturing, quality control, animal production and Bioassay for animal pharmacological and toxicological studies. The plant has a twenty-two (22) hectare land area, eleven (11) hectares of which is planted to the first batch of the five (5) priority plants to supply the plant with raw materials.

The personnel are all local recruits who have been given special training in their respective technical jobs.

The Tacloban Herbal Pharmaceutical Processing and Manufacturing Plant is truly a major milestone in the Philippine government efforts toward self-reliance and basic pharmaceutical production from indigenous materials, a good medical tourism destination.

Traditional herbal medicines are being manufactured commercially in Tacloban

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
November 12, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  These days when Western medicines have become too expensive and scarce, it is good to note that Filipinos can rely on herbal medicines which are available in abundance, locally.

Available in commercial quantities and at much cheaper price, in Tacloban City, Leyte, are herbal medicines that are used as traditional and alternative medicines in the Philippines.

This was learned from Ms. Evelina Juaban, the Manager of the Herbal Processing Plant in Tacloban City, of the Philippine Institute of Traditional and Alternative Health Care of the Department of Health.

Ms. Juaban who was guest of the Philippine Information Agency recently, at the cable television program called Panindugan, said that there are many plants, about 400 of them in the Philippines which have medicinal or therapeutic values.

However, the Department of Health through its Traditional Health Program has endorsed 10 medicinal plants which have been thoroughly tested and have been clinically proven to have medicinal value in the relief and treatment of various ailments.

Today, the Tacloban Herbal Plant of PTAHC has come up with the Lagundi tablets made from natural Lagundi (Vitex negundo) which is known in English as the “5-leaved chaste tree”. Its main use is for the relief of coughs and asthma. The tablets are available in 300 mg.

There is the 250 mg. Sambong tablet made from sambong leaves (Blumea balsamifera) - known in English as Blumea camphora, a diuretic that helps in the excretion of urinary stones and can also be used as an edema.

Both the Lagundi and Sambong tablets are sold wholesale at a price of P150 per box of 100 tablets. This means that each tablet costs only P1.50 whole or P2.00 each at retail price.

Another is the Tsaang Gubat 250mg tablet. Known with the scientific name Ehretia microphylla Lam., this herbal medicine is effective in treating intestinal motility and also used as a mouth wash since the leaves of this shrub has high fluoride content.

The fourth is Akapulco (Cassia alata) which is also known as “bayabas-bayabasan” and “ringworm bush” in English. This herbal medicine is used to treat ringworms and skin fungal infections.

The Ampalaya (Momordica charantia), known as “bitter gourd” or “bitter melon” in English, is most known as a treatment of diabetes (diabetes mellitus) for the non-insulin dependent patients.  Ms. Juaban said it is the leaves of the Ampalaya which is used.

Bawang (Allium sativum), popularly known as garlic, mainly reduces cholesterol in the blood and hence, helps control blood pressure. Ms. Juaban cautioned the public, however, that the potent substance in bawang is only soluble in oil, thus, for those who are using bawang to reduce their cholesterol, they should sauté the bawang in healthy vegetable oil. Eating the bawang raw will only give one a heart burn.

Bayabas (Psidium guajava) or “guava” in English, is primarily used as an antiseptic, to disinfect wounds. Also, it can be used as a mouth wash to treat tooth decay and gum infection.

Niyog-Niyogan (Quisqualis indica L.)  is a vine known as “Chinese honey suckle”. It is effective in the elimination of intestinal worms, particularly the Ascaris and Trichina. Only the dried matured seeds are medicinal. One should crack and ingest the dried seeds two hours after eating (5 to 7 seeds for children & 8 to 10 seeds for adults). If one dose does not eliminate the worms, wait a week before repeating the dose.

Ulasimang Bato (Peperomia pellucida) is also known as “pansit-pansitan.” It is effective in fighting arthritis and gout. The leaves can be eaten fresh (about a cupful) as salad or like tea. For the decoction, boil a cup of clean chopped leaves in 2 cups of water. Boil for 15 to 20 minutes. Strain, let cool and drink a cup after meals (3 times per day). Decoctions must be made just for one day use only.

Yerba Buena (Clinopodium douglasii) is commonly known as Peppermint, this vine is used as an analgesic to relive body aches and pain. It can be taken internally as a decoction or externally by pounding the leaves and applied directly on the afflicted area.

There are other herbs and herbal remedies like banaba, virgin coconut oil, mangosteen, gumamela, luyang dilaw, silymarin, countless of them.

Long, before the introduction of modern medicines and Western curative methods, herbal medicines had been widely used in the Philippines.

The curative effects of the herbs were tested by traditional healers on their patient on try-and-error basis. The knowledge and skills on the curative application of any give herbal medicine has been handed down from generation to generation.

Apart from prescribing herbs medicines, the traditional healers were known to give psychological comfort and moral support to their patients. In the old days, they were well respected and enjoy high social status.

Through generations of selective process, the herbs that were known to be effective were kept alive. The ineffective ones were soon forgotten.

Just a word of caution, though. There is no substitute for the services of a licensed medical practitioner. Consult with a doctor knowledgeable with herbal medicine or Philippine medicinal plants before taking or mixing herbs with prescription and non-prescription drugs. Test show that some herbal medicines have adverse reaction when mixed with other drugs.

No Idle Land, No Idle Hand

By PURIFICACION S. DALOOS
October 24, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  Consistent with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ thrust of poverty reduction and hunger mitigation under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s administration, some 302 qualified land claimants from Daram, Samar recently received Free Patent titles covering an area of 694 hectares on the occasion of the town’s 59th Founding Anniversary.

Daram Mayor Lucila L. Astorga said that her municipality’s strategy in undertaking President Arroyo’s thrust is thru their “No Idle Land, No Idle Hand” policy where the distribution of the Free Patents is a big help.  She thanked the DENR and the Register of Deeds as well as the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) for distributing the land titles and establishing an Agrarian Reform Community in their town.

Mayor Astorga said that through the help of the three government agencies, attaining the vision of Daram which is, “A progressive agroforestry-based municipality where God-loving people live in a secured environment will be made easy. “The interventions of agencies like the DAR and DENR will boost the progress of our town under our banner program ‘FAITH’ – Fisheries and agriculture development, Access to basic social services, Infrastructure development, Total commitment to peace and order and Human resources”, Mayor Astorga said.

Samar ROD Chief Fernandina Reyes reminded the land title recipients of their responsibility after receiving the Free Patents, to keep their title safely for it is very expensive to reconstitute a land title. The recipients are also responsible for the payment of real property taxes which could help in the development projects of the municipality.

DENR Land Management Service, Regional Technical Director Ramon Unay told the recipients to cultivate their lots subject of the title to attain a progressive life. It is advantageous to have a land title because untitled lots are considered as dead capital and cannot be used in business and the land must be productive.

DENR Regional Executive Director Alfredo S. Pascual disclosed that the DENR under the leadership of Secretary Lito Atienza is working hard on the government’s mandate of reducing poverty especially in rural barangays.  Our strategy is fielding Deputy Public Land Inspectors to gather land applications right in the barangays.  That is making the DENR services closer to the people in the barangays.  RED Pascual added that, “there are still about 326 lots in Daram which are potential for land titling. PENR Officer George Guillermo who has jurisdiction of Samar will work with other concerned government agencies for convergence of services.  This is what we will be doing in the entire region”

P130 M Isuzu-Plan Automotive Training Center in Region 8 soon to be inaugurated

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
October 20, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  The P130 Million Isuzu-Plan Automotive Training Center in Region 8 is now on its finishing touches and will be inaugurated in November, Director Juan M. Sabulao Jr., of TESDA Region 8 informed during the Harampang Ha PIA held recently.

This is another good opportunity to learn a skill, find a good job and uplift the Filipino family from poverty, Director Sabulao told the media practitioners.

The Automotive Mechanic Training Center and Scholarship Project in Tacloban City to be undertaken jointly by Isuzu Motors, Plan International and TESDA was launched on January 31 at Shangrila Hotel.

The Training Center was supposed to be put up in Cebu, Director Sabulao intimated, but because of some problems on the lot, Isuzo found TESDA 8 to be the ideal location, instead.

The Training Center is composed of a two-storey Workshop, a 160-bed Domitory, a Multi-Purpose Center, a canteen, and a recreational facility.

Isuzu through the Plan Philippines poured in $3 million to establish the Training Center where every year, for the next five years, 80 scholarships will be given for a two year auto-mechanic course, completion of which will earn the scholar a National Certification IV.

The scholars, male and female, will be chosen from the communities across the country with the assistance of Plan International which operates in the most depressed areas like Samar, Southern Leyte, Camotes Island in Cebu, Masbate and Mindoro Occidental.

The scholars will be chosen from the poorest and most marginalized communities and will be asked to commit themselves to finishing the training course and taking jobs in the automobile industry.

The first batch of scholars/trainees is composed of 30 male and female youth from the Plan-provinces of Samar, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Southern Leyte, Masbate, Romblon and Camotes Island, Director Sabulao informed.

After six months, another batch of 40 people will start their training, Director Sabulao added, emphasizing that the Plan Philippines is the one recruiting the trainees.

Isuzu Motors will cover living and educational fees, the construction of a dormitory, guidance for curriculum development and training facilities and equipment. Isuzu pledged to extend more support beyond 2012.

Aside from the financial assistance, Isuzu will provide expertise developed through its automobile manufacturing business, including assessment of technical competence of the proposed curriculum, improving the course design and periodic assessment and evaluation of competence and appropriateness of delivery of the course programs.

TESDA Region 8 under the able leadership of Director Juan M. Sabulao, Jr., will be the main resource organization for the technical training and will be supplying the instructors and lectures.

The project will follow TESDA's National Certification system as the legally mandated and recognized accreditation and certification in the Philippines which is composed of a set of requirements that the student must accomplish before he could be considered a certified mechanic.

TESDA will also provide the non-technical aspects of training like values formation, basic literacy and personality development.

Plan International and TESDA will conduct a customer satisfaction survey one year after the hiring of the project trainees, the result of which will be used in formulating annual operational plans and new policies for the improvement of the training center.

UN MDG Conference for Youth Leaders of Leyte and Samar

By DON ELISEO LUCERO-PRISNO III
September 20, 2008

A youth leadership conference was held at the LNU House in Tacloban City on 11 September 2008 to discuss the United Nations Millennium Development Goals before youth leaders of Leyte and Samar.  The conference with the theme New Dimensions of Youth Leadership: An International Youth Conference on Innovative Paradigms in Development-Oriented Leadership was spearheaded by the Balud Project through its leadership program, Building Alliances and Leaders through Understanding and Development (BALUD), in cooperation with Imperial BlueCube and the Leyte Normal University.  The aims of the conference were to introduce the UN MDGs and share new learnings of managing youth and youth-oriented organizations from international perspectives before youth leaders of Region VIII who normally have no opportunities to attend similar conferences in the capital or abroad.  The participants were young leaders from colleges and universities, community-based groups and professional organizations.

The conference presented a string of award-winning speakers lead by Dr Don Eliseo Lucero-Prisno III of Cardiff University who is the 2008 British Council Shine International Student Awardee and 2005 World Science Forum Winner.  He provided the introduction to the conference with his lecture on Millennium Development Goals and the need for youth organizations to help in fastracking the achievement of the MDGs.

Rutchelle Enriquez, 2001 Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines (TOSP) and a delegate to the Asia Pacific Leadership Program of East West in Hawaii inspired the audience with her talk on how young leaders should start from small beginnings.  Two ECE students from De La Salle University, Jayson Reggie Obos (Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Grand Award Winner and Bryan Asis (Most Outstanding Student of De La Salle University) gave presentations on the role of the youth in climate change and new learnings in management for project success, respectively.

Some of the sessions focused on financing.  The international speakers from Imperial College London were Neha Obhrai (UK) who discussed social development and finance while Ambarish Dash (India) and Steven Chambers (UK, Intel International Science and Engineering Fair Grand Award Winner) talked on venture philanthropy.  Other Imperial student speakers, Emma Thompson (UK/USA), Adam Aziz (UK/Libya) and Kristina Östman (Sweden), were joined by Lisa Carter (UK) from University College London in a panel discussion on the challenges of young leaders in the context of globalization and other social innovations.

A special development lecture was delivered by Dr. Evelyn Cruzada, a member of the UNESCO Technical Working Group on Lifelong Learning Program for Sustainable Development and President of the Leyte Normal University.  She gave a talk entitled, Addressing the MDG Challenge of Universal Primary Education: The Role of the Academe.  She emphasized in her presentation the need for more concerted efforts in achieving this MDG.

The conference also provided a unique and tangible example of how youth organizations can move MDGs through partnerships.  This was through the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the Balud Project, Imperial BlueCube, Leyte Normal University for the benefit of the Balud Elementary School in Basey, Samar, Philippines.  The University will provide assistance in the areas of teacher training and curriculum development being a Center of Excellence of Teacher Education while the two organizations will finance the scheme.  The signing was witnessed by the pupils of the Balud Elementary School themselves.

Challenging real Philippine social cases were provided to the youth participants of the conference where they discussed possible projects to address these social ills.  The case studies were on promotion of human rights specially of the LGBT group, tackling rampant vote-buying during elections and pre-marital sex in the context of teenage pregnancy and population growth.  Their presentations were evaluated by panellists composed of the conference speakers.  The eventual outcome of the gathering is a continuous dialogue and interaction between international and local youth leaders to advance projects and programs that will benefit their local communities in the context of the achievement of the UN MDGs.  The Balud Project and Imperial BlueCube promised to fund sound project proposals that will come out from the future plans of the participants present.

The conference also provided opportunities for social networking as they were entertained by the University of the Philippines An Balangaw and dances presented by the Balud Elementary School Dance Group.  The Balud Organization of UP Tacloban composed the organizing committee of the conference headed by its President Julie Jean Abude.  More information on the conference are available on www.baludproject.org.

According to Dr Lucero-Prisno, the brain behind this conference, “I am extremely happy to have brought the concepts of MDGs and new knowledge in youth leadership to the grassroots.  More than anybody else, we have to help in nurturing the young leaders from the regions since they are those who are in the forefront in the achievement of the MDGs.”

Pinabacdao garners Panibagong Paraan grants anew!

By NINFA B. QUIRANTE (PIA Samar)
September 1, 2008

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar  –  Pinabacdao town, a 5th class municipality of Samar has already  romped off with three grants from Panibagong Paraan.

Last week, Mayor Mario Quijano received two officials from the Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP) who were in town to confirm the grant to the municipality.

Though it was not necessarily Pinabacdao that proposed the last two projects, still the town stands to gain from it all as implementation will be done there.

Panibagong Paraan is a unique bazaar of innovative ideas that provide solutions to the most pressing social and economic concerns of our country; ideas that deliver results and have the potential to be expanded or replicated.

In the year 2006, Mayor Quijano has brought his constituents some P2M grant from the World Bank and other funding agencies because of his innovations for development project.

His proposal then of an agro-forestry project to Panibagong Paraan Grant Competition gave him some P2M, an extension of his Community Based Resource Management Project (CBRMP).

A staff of the mayor told PIA that the agro-forestry project is a vast farm planted with mangoes and intercropped with other plants.

That is now history, though and the development-oriented mayor seemingly gained some following that both proposals identified his town for their basic social services project.

One of which, Katungod han Samarena Foundaiton Inc (KSFI) said they immediately thought of Pinabacdao as Quijano was the only mayor who was willing to offer financial counterpart for the project.

KSFI Executive Director Myra Tambor said that in April, her organization proposed “Minimizing Deaths and Debts: Leveraging Hospitalization Financing Scheme to Set Up Community-Based Primary Health Care (Piso Ko, Kalusugan Natin).

The project aims to enhance promotive/preventive health sevices to reduce the illnesses and the need for hospitalization. As funding has been limited to the P1M gant by Panibagong Paraan and some P.5M from Pinabacdao LGU, two barangays will be covered only. However, the project aims to expand as more following is expected.

Meanwhile, the Transparency and accountability Network (TAN), with the Department of Interior and Local Government-Local Government Academy (DILG-LGA), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) chose the other project, which the Institute for Democratic Participation in Governance (IDGP) proposed: Bantay Sangkay, an LGU-led initiative seeking to imbed social accountability mechanisms, adoption of Community Driven Development (CDD) approach in local planning and public expenditure management cycle to continue participatory processes and the gains of Kalahi-CIDSS of which Pinabacdao is a recipient.

Beneficiaries are the Barangay officials, community volunteers and CBO leaders of the 24 barangays. A critical mass of barangay volunteers will be developed to energize participatory governance.

On August 20, 2008, Mayor Quijano and his officials launched the two projects with some  PACAP officials and DSWD Regional Director Leticia Corillo in attendance.

As to Pinabacdao’s vision, it aims to hurdle the challenge that says: Pinabacdao is a small town which could do more and would to do more if only the gaps are filled, and filling the gaps will be Quijano’s greatest challenge…with the help of both government and non-government organizations believing in his cause!

Government energizes Samar island villages

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
August 6, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  After the installation of the solar home package under the Spanish government funded Solar Power Technology Support (SPOTS) projects of the Department of Agrarian Reform, it is now goodbye to dark and risky nights for the agrarian reform beneficiaries and other residents of Majaba and Basiao islands barangays of Catbalogan City.

This is in line with the President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's 10-point agenda specifically on the electrification of the villages in the countryside, DAR 8 Director Homer Tobias said as he disclosed that four other un-energized villages in Calbiga Agrarian Reform Community, also in the province of Samar, will also be soon out of darkness as beneficiaries of SPOTS project.

DAR Samar Information Officer Teresa Tijol through Mr. Jose Alsmith Soria, DAR Regional Information Officer, informed that the solar home system package have already been installed in the month of July to about 70 households within the Pangdan expanded Agrarian Reform Community which covers said island barangays.

Samar Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer Gregorio Fiel Jr. explained that those who can avail of this service are members only of the cooperative in the area that will manage the operation and maintenance of this project.

Prior to the installation of the solar project, PARO Fiel said that residents source out electric power from a power generator provided by a private individual who charged the consumers up to P800 per month for a 7:00 o’clock to 10:00 o’clock in the evening consumption.

Families who cannot afford to pay said amount satisfy themselves with a kerosene lamp spending only about P200 per month. With the continuous increase in oil price however, these people doubt whether they will still be able to afford the kerosene lamp to light their homes at night.

With the installation of SPOTS in the area, a recipient household needs only to pay a registration fee of P420 and a monthly P220 dues for an 8-hour use of electricity per day using four 8-watt fluorescent bulbs which are already included in the project package.

Cell phone owners, need no longer worry about their batteries getting drained as they can recharge them for three hours every day even if they are in the islands, Ms. Tijol said.

The Solar Home Package System, PARO Fiel said, completes the four packages provided under SPOTS. The other packages earlier installed were the Barangay Hall lighting system; communal lighting system; and school learning system package which included school lightings, audio visual learning equipment and educational tapes for the learning needs of the elementary pupils in the area.

The project beneficiaries in Majaba and Basiao islands were provided with P1,200 capital for livelihood activities under the project’s agri-business component to augment their income and to be able to pay their monthly dues.

Aside from the financial capital, the beneficiaries were also provided with a motorboat and gill net for their “sisi” (small clams) production which is the main livelihood in the area.

Provincial Health Offices urges for continuous vigilance against dengue

By Provincial Media Relations Center (PMRC Leyte)
July 22, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  The Leyte Provincial Health Office said there is no reason for the public to relax their vigilance against dengue as provincial health officials presently push for the “Brigada Pamilya” in waging an aggressive public information campaign on the proper ways of preventing and avoiding the disease.

Assistance Provincial Health Officer Dr. Edgardo Daya said “Brigada Pamilya” against dengue still employs the search and destroy operations on the breeding grounds of dengue mosquitoes which must be carried out by each and every home.

“The fight against this disease should start at home by cleaning our surroundings. We cannot leave the cleaning of our own homes and surroundings to the authorities and wait till they do it for us. We have to do it ourselves and help in the fight against dengue,” Dr. Daya said in an interview.

The provincial health office, he added, through their barangay and municipal counterparts have already been tasked to enforce a clean-up and sanitation drive to instill in the public consciousness the need to maintain clean, healthy and sanitary surroundings and dissemination of the four o'clock habit, which encourages residents to rid their surroundings of mosquito breeding places such as empty bottles, cans, tires, vases and others and to use personal protective gadgets such as mosquito nets and repellants.

He also called on residents to be wary of the disease and familiarize themselves with the causes, symptoms and ways to prevent the diseases to stem the further spread of the dreaded ailment.

The health department is also reminding persons to seek medical treatment for themselves or their loved ones if they suspect dengue symptoms. Among the symptoms is recurring fever, which should be taken seriously if it occurs for four days. Rashes are also a sign of dengue.

Dengue fever is an infection caused by dengue virus, which is transmitted by the bite of an infective female Aedes mosquito. Aedes mosquitoes are "day biters" and biting activities peal at 6-8 a.m. and at 4-6 p.m.

The signs and symptoms of dengue fever are: on-and-off fever lasting for two to seven days; loss of appetite; nausea/vomiting; abdominal pain; body weakness; small reddish spots on chest area, arms and legs; bleeding signs (nose and gum bleeding, vomiting blood, bloody stools and abdominal pain); restlessness; weak, rapid pulse; cold, clammy skin; and difficulty in breathing.

Persons that manifest these symptoms must remember the following: high fever should be treated by sponging and giving paracetamol and not aspirin as it may cause bleeding and/or gastric irritation and must increase fluid intake or use oral re-hydration solution.

Patients with persisting symptoms must be brought immediately to the nearest health center or hospital.

Who's afraid of Valero's 24-0 record?

Mugabi was 25-0 (25 kos) when Hagler tore him to pieces

By ALEX P. VIDAL / PNS
July 2, 2008

LAREDO, Texas  –  In boxing, what matters most is quality not quantity. Quality of the opponents, not their quantity.

History has proven not all boxers that are undefeated and knockout specialists are invincible. To a certain extent, there has to be an ending to their dominance in square jungle; and records reveal their imminent Waterloo occurs during world championship tussles.

Former World Boxing Council (WBC) light middleweight champion John "The Beast" Mugabi of Kampala, Uganda was the most prominent among them.

Mugabi, perhaps the deadliest warrior to grace the middleweight division in the mid-80's, was 25 years old when he was pitted versus Marvelous Marvin Hagler, then undisputed crownholder of the middleweight titles in WBC, World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF).

Because Mugabi was ranked No. 1 contender in all the three world boxing bodies and possessed an immaculate and fearsome record of 24 wins, no defeat with 24 wins by knockout, oddsmakers thought The Beast was the missing link in the long quest to end Hagler's mind-boggling supremacy in the division.

They were wrong. On March 10, 1986, Hagler (62-3, 52 KOs) blasted the Ugandan to smithereens in the 11th stanza of the 12-round battle for the undisputed middleweight championship of the world at the Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Although he knocked out cold all his previous 25 rivals, Mugabi had no match to the vastly incredible Hagler, then 31 years old, and was the darling of the boxing community in his time.

Hagler ruled the world unmolested and was unfazed by Mugabi's fearsome record. The Beast was never the same again after being exposed by Hagler. He lost by technical knockout (TKO) to Duane Thomas in his next fight, a WBC light middleweight showdown also in the same venue.

On Nov. 3, 1984, former WBC super bantamweight champion Jaime Garza was 40-0 with 38 knockouts when he lost his title by a shock first round knockout to unheralded Juan Meza who had 41 victories against five losses.

Venezuelan phenom Edwin Valero, 26, has caught the attention of Top Rank promoter Bob Arum for possessing a nerve-tingling 24-0 ledger spiked with 24 knockouts (18 in the first round). He is next in line for WBC lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao, who is fresh from toppling David Diaz in the 9th round in the fight dubbed "Lethal Combination" at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Experts said either Valero will do a Jaime Garza or he will end up the next John Mugabi. But Pacquiao (47-3, 36 KOs) said as a fighter, he will only do his best and train hard, not to pick his opponent.

The inspiring story of “The Almeria Seafarers Cooperative”

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
June 21, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  At this point in time when a great number of Filipinos are in dire poverty and remain in that state despite government support and intervention, the story of the Almeria Seafarers Multi Purpose Cooperative stands as a refreshing and inspiring success story.

In a Media Forum honoring the outstanding Overseas Filipino Workers in Region 8, a petite young woman stood out not only because of her looks but because of the story she bears – that of a cooperative which was able to put into good use the “Groceria Project” of the Arroyo Administration to become the Best Groceria in Region 8.

The young woman is Anita Corto, the manager of the Almeria Seafarers Cooperative (ASEMCO). Ms. Corto said that the Almeria Seafarers Multi Purpose Cooperative was organized by seven seafarers and their wives in 1994 with an initial capital of P12,600 assets and 42 regular members.

Today, ASEMCO already has 232 regular members and 1,416 associate members and has over P57 Million in assets.

Starting on providing financial products such as deposits and loans, ASEMCO opened a pre-school learning center in June of 1999 with the aim of providing quality early childhood education.

When the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) launched the Government’s Groceria Project in 2004, the Cooperative availed of the grant of P50,000 worth of grocery items to OFW groups.

Thus, the ASEMCO Groceria and Meatshop was made available to the members and to the community as a whole. The Groceria was inside the office of ASEMCO.

After one year, the Groceria moved to a rented place. Today, the ASEMCO Groceria and Meatshop already has an asset of P600,000, Ms. Corto revealed.

Today, 14 years after its birth, ASEMCO has purchased a lot and has put up a three-story building where the Groceria is located now. The building also houses the ASEMCO office with 18 regular staff. The cooperative is in the process of hiring additional employees.

Through the years, ASEMCO has helped in the growth and development of the municipality of Almeria and the neighboring towns. The Cooperative has made available credit facilities to over 1,400 borrowers who totally availed of about P39 Million loan portfolio through its microfinance, salary loans, honorarium loans and Small and Medium enterprises for OFWs and their families.

ASEMCO has entered into pre-school service contracting service with the Department of Education and is now providing pre-school service to seven public pre-schools.

Meanwhile, the ASEMCO Learning Center has expanded into a private elementary school this school year.

Furthermore, ASEMCO also engages in various programs for the welfare of its members in the community through its Scholarship Program, Pamaskong Handog, medical mission and Balik Eskuwela program.

Indeed, ASEMCO has gone a long way not only in securing its members and their families but also in inspiring people to replicate its fete towards a sustainable economic development.

This OWWA scholar will soon be a registered nurse

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
June 10, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  Jobelle Rosales was about to enrol in a state university when she read from the newspaper about the OWWA Scholarship for the beneficiaries of active OFWs.

She told about this to her Mom and together they went to the Region 8 OWWA office. She took the exams and she luckily passed the exams. As a scholar of OWWA under the Education for Development Program, Jobelle received P30,000 per semester, enough to tied her up through all her school expenses.

Jobelle said that OWWA release only P20,000; the other P10,000 is released at the end of the semester when the scholar shows her grades. She must pass all the subjects otherwise, the P10,000 will no longer be given to her and her scholarship will no longer be continued.

Last March, Jobelle graduated Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the RTR Medical Foundation in Tacloban City. She will soon take the nursing board examinations in order for her to become a Registered Nurse.

Jobelle’s father Ricardo, has been working as a fireman in Saudi Arabia for many years already and she has seen him and has been with him for only one Christmas and one New Year but she understands that it is not easy for him to come home.

There was a time when the only way to communicate with him was through letters, but with the current technology, she and her younger sister are already able to see him and communicate with him through the internet.

Although her father is an OFW, Jobelle knows that her father is working so hard for the family and she does not want to be an additional burden because he is not earning that much, so she decided to take her chance at the OWWA scholarship.

She never thought of spending unwisely, the money that her father is sending the family because she realized that it was hardly earned and she could see how her mother is sacrificing, acting both as father and mother, in the absence of her father.

Asked if she would want to go abroad too, Jobelle said that as an OWWA or as a government scholar, she has to stay and serve the country for four years since her scholarship is for four years. Maybe after that, she will already have the necessary expertise in Nursing that will qualify her to a better job abroad, if she so decides.

Jobelle is one of the nine OWWA scholars in Region 8. Every year, 100 slots are available all over the country.

This coming school year, four students in Eastern Visayas qualified and are among the 100 scholars for this year. This makes 12 the total number of OWWA scholars in Region 8 because 1, Jobelle, graduated.

Jobelle, is a good role model not only to the children of OFWs, but to all the students in the Region.

Widening Gap between salaries and cost of living a deciding factor for Migrant Workers to go back home – Migrante ME

Press Release
By MIGRANTE Middle East
June 2, 2008

An alliance of Overseas Filipino workers’ organizations based in the Middle East today said that the ever widening gap between salaries ad cost of living in any Middle Eastern Countries is a deciding factor for migrant workers including Filipino workers to going back home.

“The spiraling cost of living in the cities of middle-eastern countries such as Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Jeddah and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia coupled with weak dollar exchange is leading to a more tougher economic situation for migrant workers and their families that would eventually decide them to going back home, if not find another job in other countries,” said John Leonard Monterona, Migrante Middle East regional coordinator.

Migrante’s Monterona said that the Middle East or the Gulf region as it was popularly known, has booming economies but inflation and skyrocketing prices are making Migrant workers life tougher and less profitable.

“It is true that salaries of migrant workers especially those in sectors such as finance, advertising, IT and pharmaceuticals, engineering and mid-level managerial positions have risen but this salary increases is disproportionate as to how fast the inflation increases which means migrant workers especially ordinary construction workers and others in the service sectors have had to pay a cut,” Monterona added. 

Monterona cited the survey conducted by Bayt.com in conjunction with market research specialists YouGovSiraj conducted early this year revealed that expatriate workers in UAE and Qatar were the highest paid last year and have enjoyed the highest annual pay raises in the Gulf Region, with Qatar averaging 18 per cent a year and the UAE and Bahrain both coming in at 17 per cent compared to 12 per cent in Saudi Arabia, the region’s lowest average.

“Migrant workers including our fellow OFWs are already complaining of the high rent of houses ranging from 8,000 to 10,000 Riyals or for a bed space rental cost of 700 to 850 riyals which is apparent in countries like Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and even Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,” Monterona added.

“Even the price of rice has already increased; a 2 kilo packed of rice is now sold in a market in Riyadh or Jeddah to 20 to 25 Riyals from 15 to 18 Riyals last month,” Monterona averred.

In Kuwait, for instance, its Central Bank said on its website, the All Items Consumer Price Index advanced to 127.1 points in the year to the end of February 2008 from 115.4 points.

Inflation was 9.5 percent in January and 7.54 percent in December. Housing costs, which account for 27 percent of the index's weighting - rose 16.1 percent, the same as the month before, the data showed. Food costs gained 9.22 percent and beverages and tobacco 14.9 percent, Kuwait Central Bank said on its website.

“It is worthy to note that the Kuwait Interior Ministry has fixed a wage of KD 40 for all domestic workers in the country that hardly followed by local employers. KD 40 is certainly not enough in time of high inflation rates,” Monterona added.

Monterona said that government-sending migrant workers such as the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, Bangaladesh, and India should demand from the host government a fair wage increase for their respective migrant workers especially those working in construction and domestic chores.

“The widening gap between salary of migrant workers and the high cost of living in the Middle East should prompt the Arroyo government to propose and actively lobby to host governments for salary increase of our fellow OFWs to commensurate the high inflate rates in the host country,” Monterona added.

On October 29-30, the Arroyo government will be hosting the upcoming Global Forum on Migration and Development (GFMD) where migrant worker’ sending and receiving countries will presumably discuss migration utilizing it as a tool for development.

“Migrante, OFWs and families are challenging the Arroyo administration to push and include on its agenda a reasonable migrant workers salary or wage increase during the October 2008 Global Forum on Migration and Development as host of said event it has the advantage to push such concern,” Monterona added.

“Failing to do so means the Arroyo administration is hosting the GFMD only to help perpetuate a market for cheap labor as it were currently selling cheap labor of our fellow Filipino migrant workers,” Monterona ended.

Benjie’s saga in the making

By CHITO DELA TORRE
May 25, 2008

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  A 28-year old lanky man from Oras, Eastern Samar is happily making progress in his chosen mercantile trade business even if it means frequenting villages that have been known recently as a hotbed of insurgency.  Daily, he leaves his home in San Jose, Tacloban City early in the morning to catch up with the first trip to his target destination for the day, then, on reaching his target locations, he walks from house to house, the heavy back pack of merchandise wrested off his shoulders only at each auguring time for showing to his prospective buyers.  His wife and 5-year old child just wait for him at home until his return which often is already past twilight.

Late afternoon last Tuesday, he reached Tacloban almost consuming two-thirds of the contents of the two flat Tanduay bottles (yapad) of pure honey which he got from six farmers in Inuntan, a riverine village of Basey, Samar.  No, he didn’t buy the sweet, sticky substance.  He just bartered his tiendas the total worth of which he estimated to approximate the price of the honey.  He saw the farmers gathering near an alat - an extra large native basket with a pair of straps that are swung on one’s shoulders and a balancer strap tied to its brim and let hung on the alat carrier’s chest for him to pull down to balance or lighten his back load.  How his eyes wiggled and his lips moistened on seeing several honeycombs inside the alat, from which one farmer was scooping out honey for a salivating buyer.

He used to buy honey from drugstores in Tacloban or from walk-in traders, but he was sure that was already impure, meaning, mixed with water and sugar.  This time, he was sure the honey was pure, fresh from the honeycomb.  Some larvae were still in the honeycomb, and a few bees were swirling and buzzing inside the alat.   He had to have some of this, not only for its pureness and freshness but also because it was being sold at a price almost half that which he could pay for in Tacloban.

He had refused to sell one bottle when he reached the poblacion of Basey even if his would-be buyer was offering to buy it for P250.

The farmers were delighted to take his exchange offers - a blanket, a foreign-made foldable mat, and a batuta or baton for use by a barangay tanod.  (The batuta is actually a smooth cylindrical imitation iron scabbard for a long-handled sharp long knife that comes out when the handle is turned and pulled away from the scabbard.  They gave him two yapad full of honey.

On his cutting trips from Inuntan to Basey, and from Basey to Tacloban, he repeatedly unscrewed the yapad cap and poured the honey into his mouth.  He would say ahhhh! after each pour, to express his contentment.  “Bangin waray ka na maipaagom hit’ im’ pamilya?” I jokingly remarked to him.  He was seated next to me in the bus-long passenger Tacloban-bound jeepney that Tuesday dusk.  “May’da pa man ak’ usa didi,” he laughingly riposted, taking out another yapad of honey from his back pack.

That is frequently the day’s turnout of this Estehanon’s business.  In case no one in a village buys his wares - which includes every little item that one would think every rural man and woman would want to own and therefore buy, he was always ready to barter them with those which the villager can heartily offer in return.  Thus, at home, he has a sack of palay, a big plastic container full of milled rice, chickens, rootcrops, 3 backyard pigs, and others.  “Mas barato kaupay ini kontra paliton nimo ha Tacloban,” he explained his preference for the barter, adding that even if the transport cost were added still the price of the barter item was much lesser.

But of course!  He always gains, even if his mark-up price for every item he sells is only between P40 and P200.  (Yes, even P250, such as the price pegged for that batuta.  I bought one for myself from another merchant at the old bus terminal of Tacloban for only P100 although it was being sold for P350, because the item I got turned out to be a bayonet and not a long knife.)

This merchant, who had been married for 6 years already to a Tacloban lass, started his I-am-my-own-boss business with a small capital: P3,000, from his earnings from selling peanuts and eventually, VCDs, music CDs and videoke CDs at Tacloban’s wharf front.

This guy has not been wholly happy though.  He and his only sibling whom he left in Dolores, Eastern Samar, were orphaned when they were yet innocent children.  His father died.  Their mother left them 20 years ago.  His younger brother died in 2006 while saving three schoolchildren from being hit by a speeding motorcycle driven by a drunken young man.  He was selling peanuts in Tacloban when the accident occurred to his sibling.  Severely struck by the late-coming word about that, he found himself unable to move and crying more than one whole night.

Although today he is not alone, as he has a wife and a kid to inspire him each day and as he is contented with his business fortune, still he is praying to God that one day soonest his mother would come to see him.

This lucky merchant from Oras introduced himself to me when we reached Petron gas station at the corner of Congressman Artemio Mate Avenue and Avenida Veteranos at past 6 p.m. as Benjamin Montallana Jr.  He told me to just call him “Benjie”.  When I told him that all the Montallanas that I have come to know between 1968 and 2001 are all lucky and benevolent, he said heard about that and added, smiling, he does feel he is like them because many times each month, he could not refuse those who come to him for any assistance.

I met Benjie for the first time in Mabini (the farthest riverine barrio east northeast of Basey) last May 15.  We boarded the same small pumpboat up to Wespal (part of barrio Guirang) and from there chartered a motorcycle for Basey.  Last May 20 was our second happenstance.  As in the first, he was always nice, and fond of telling his own experiences.  What a merchant in him!