one mindanao - october 10, 2011

2 Monday, October 10, 2011

C O N T E N T SNATIONAL• Aquino declares last Saturday of March and second Sunday of October 2011 and every year after thereafter as Barangay Assembly Days• OFW thank President Aquino for allowing them to continue working in Afghanistan• Palace assures there was no attempt to withhold information on accident involving vehicle of presidential political adviser• Aquino orders Singson to study existing protocol on dam management• Aquino declares October 31, 2011 as special non-working day throughout the country

CNEX• Volunteer kindergarten teachers to receive honoraria soon —Luistro• “Most typhoon affected schools have already recovered”--DepEd• Debate olympics to boost PHL tourism

Northern Mindanao• Iligan City celebrates October as Business Month• DOH urges motorists to use helmets and seatbelts at all times• NHTS-PR gives human face behind the statistics – DSWD• DSWD’s database generates reports, statistics on poor households• NPA rebels release 4 jail officers

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)• DSWD XI to launch database on poverty reduction• IPs go on tour for a cause• IP leaders ratify landmark resolution as Dayaw Festival ends• Comval’s 5th BSP Jamborette—a success• Bag-ong Scholarship Program ni Governor Uy aprobado sa Comval SP

Central Mindanao (SOCSKSARGEN)• Alcala promises P15-M machineries, equipment to irrigators in SK• Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD) kinilala ang kakayahan ni Pangulong Aquino na mamuno • P2.5M pondo para sa relief operations sa ARMM inilabas ng DSWD Central Office• Sahod ng mga pre-school teachers sa Maguindanao Division 1 ibibigay na

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)• BFAR celebrates fish conservation week• Caraga region is second stopover for nationwide microinsurance campaign• Lingig Mayor, 2 military escorts released after 2 months, 3 days abduction• Released Lingig Mayor, 2 others grateful to Surigao Sur Gov.• Feature: HMC-TNP, DepEd’s ALS program fulfills aspiration of the mining communities in Surigao Norte

Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)• DepED bats for child friendly public schools• DOT, City, launch Food Fest - “Barrio Fiesta de Comidas”• DSWD-IX disburses P282-M for ZamboSur’s 1st district 4Ps • Zambo. Norte cops undergo PSJLC course• Zanorte to host 2012 ATOP National Convention

OUR COVER

Today’s coverfeatures

Tagum City:Sustaining its feat

in literacy

EDITORIAL STAFF

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

Mindanao Clusters

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

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

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

RUTCHIE C. AGUHOB Officer-in-charge,PIARegionX

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

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

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

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

SEC. HERMINIO “Sonny” B. COLOMA PresidentialCommunicationsOperationsOffice

3Monday, October 10, 2011

Cover Story:Tagum City: Sustaining its feat in literacy

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There’s no other way to take, but up. Tagum City now eyes to become the Center of Literacy Excellence in three years time, after having stepped into the Hall of Fame illumed with a spotlight of glory and honor.

By Jean Duron-Abangan


It had grabbed the National Litera-cy Awards in 2001, 2008 and 2010. It finally entered into the Hall of Fame of-ficially on Septem-ber 29, 2011 when it received during this year’s National Liter-acy Conference, the most coveted trophy and cash of P100,000 from the National Lit-eracy Coordinating Council (NLCC). But Tagum City local government

won’t just be sitting down, caressing its laurel of success having earned the recognition as the country’s famed and honored LGU which excelled in the field of literacy. “We will con-tinue to do our best to be worthy of this very presti-gious title,” Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy said during the awarding ceremony in his speech deliv-

ered by Department of Education (DepEd) Tagum City Schools Division Supt. Nen-ita Lumaad. Tickets to Hall of Fame Tagum City through its City Lit-eracy Coordinating Council (CLCC) en-dorsed to the Na-tional Literacy Eval-uators during the field validation last August, three major literacy programs as

Cover Story:Tagum City.....from page 3

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its tickets to the Hall of Fame. CLCC secre-tariat head Anwar E. Maadel believes that the programs on Palengskwela-han; Reaching the Unreached: Locate, Evaluate, Assess/Assist and Develop Skills (RTU LEADS); and the Housing Re-settlement Progam, have given Tagum City an edge over other LGUs in the field of literacy. The Palengsk-

welahan establishes a school inside Tagum City Public Market to reach out to out-of-school (OSYs) who prefer to earn a liv-ing through vending goods in the market over attending class-es. Sustained over the years of imple-mentation, Paleng-skwelahan has led a total of 92 students to pass the Nation-al Accreditation and Equivalency (A&E). The Housing and Resettlement Pro-

gram is a literacy cum social develop-ment program aimed at providing thecity’s urban poor residents with decent abode, and access to basic social services and education. The RTU LEADS ensures that Tagum City gets in line with the Millennium Devel-opment Goal (MDG) of ensuring access to education for all. An initiative of DepEd Tagum City Schools Division, RTU LEADS


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is adopted by CLCC and sufficiently fund-ed by the city govern-ment, to “bring the school near to where the learners are.” It seeks to improve students participa-tion and completion rates. RTU LEADS ini-tially catered to high school students in its first year of imple-mentation in 2009 when it was pilot-tested in Barangay Pandapan located more than two kilo-meters away from city center. A total of 714 high school stu-dents have benefit-ted from the program which DepEd Tagum City along with the CLCC, has expanded to cover high school students in Canoco-tan and Liboganon. They have been saved from risk of dropping out of school if they wouldn’t be able to sustain the expenses for fare and baon.

Having noted the suc-cess of RTU LEADS with high school stu-dents, DepEd Tagum now brings it to ba-rangays with a num-ber of grades one to three pupils found to be at risk of dropping out. It also caters to those who are out-of-school, due to

the prohibitive dis-tance of elementary schools from their community. Since 2010, the Mobile RTU LEADS for Elementary has been able to reach out to a total of 210 pupils of grades I to III. They are attending multi-grade classes



held either in a wait-ingshed, a makeshift or a vacant facility identified by the ba-rangay. “Since they are still little, they find it hard to cross the highways . What if they have no one to take them to school? So, they would not

be attending class-es,” Lumaad said. What else can Tagum do? Having staked all its best for this year’s Hall of Fame evalua-tion, what else does Tagum City have to offer to sustain the luster of its fame,

and to finally claim as the Center of Lit-eracy Excellence in three years time? “It doesnt mean nga mohinay hinay ug moundang na ta kay daghan pa tag himoon (It doesn’t mean that we have to go slow or stop because there are still a lot to be done) for our constituents to become literates,” Mayor Uy said in a separate interview. Uy takes par-ticular concern for OSY whom he wants to equip with skills through a skills training program de-signed to reinforce basic and functional literacy. “To me dili pwede , nga dili jud sila maedukar. (I won’t allow them to go un-educated.),” he said. “Mag-introduce ta ug mga skills training nga haum sa ilang mga kagustuhan (We will introduce skills



training that would fit their inclination), he added. More than ensur-ing access to basic education to all chil-dren, Uy also wants to prepare them to become self-suffi-cient as he foresees the possibility that not all of them can proceed to college or

can land a white col-lar job. He bares of hav-ing built a much mod-ern version of Home Economics building where high school students of La Filipina are being taught on baking and cooking. “Bahala na di sila mag college (If they may not go to college) at

least may know-how sila (they would have know-how) on how to bake and how to cook purposely for negosyo (business). If they would become employees, still they would know how to cook and bake,” Uy said. He plans to ex-pand such kind of en-

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trepreneurial training for high school stu-dents in other public high school campus-es in the city once he gets a good result of pilot-testing it in La Filipina. Financial Literacy Meanwhile, Lu-maad sees the im-portance of integrat-ing financial literacy in grades IV to VI education aside from arming pupils them with skills that they can bank on to earn a living in case they fall out of school, and may not be able to get higher educa-tion. She would like education to take a shift from honing students to become mere employees but employers as well. She wants students to become adaptable to situations and to carry themselves well in both worlds either

as employees or em-ployers. “What if a teach-ing graduate would have no place to get employed, he should think of how to sup-port himself . Dili pwede nga mahimo tang kapwa. Dap-at ang Tagumenyo, walay kapwa (We should not become dependent of others. There should be no dependent Tagume-nyo), she said. Lumaad views financial literacy to spell the difference in educating students . She considers such type of literacy as an initial step towards preparing them to handle their future. She bares of having introduced FLY (Financial Lit-eracy for the Youth) to seven public el-ementary schools in Tagum City through working with Tagum Cooperative which

provides the learn-ing materials and training for teachers to integrate financial literacy in English, Math and in Technol-ogy and Livelihood Education subjects. FLY deals with basic numeracy skills, and instills among grades IV to VI pupils the importance of bud-getting and saving. “If we’ve taught them how to budget at an early age, they would know how to manage their money. They should know how to save money for future use,” she said. Lumaad said that DepEd will soon be bringing the city government into the network of support-ing agencies to FLY, but she still has to see good results of such financial litera-cy education to con-vince the LGU of its relevance.

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Pay back time Whatever ini-tiative the CLCC may take to sus-tain and improve the city’s literacy status, Tagum City Vice Mayor Alan Rellon assures that the City Council will always be sup-portive especially in terms of appro-priating sufficient budget to run the city’s various liter-acy programs. Aside from the budget appro-priation, Rellon is looking forward to crafting an ordi-nance to raise the honorarium of mo-bile teachers who are reaching out to out-of-school youths and adult learners in far flung-areas, but are measly paid. Now that tagum city has raised its litera-cy level, and has eventually gained

fame, Rellon finds it high time to pay back the sacri-fices of those who have served well to bring the litera-cy programs of the city government to where these are needed. For Mayor Uy, he welcomes any-one who would opt to spend their for-mal education in Tagum City. He is open to share the standards of litera-cy that the city has earned. “It is our mor-al responsibility to help the neigh-boring LGUs ,” he said. Whoever may come next his term, he hopes that the as-piration to educate every child will live on until Tagum City takes the Center of Literacy Excel-lence.



President Benigno S. Aquino III has declared the last Saturday of March and the second Sunday of October 2011, and every year thereafter as Barangay Assembly Days.

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Aquino declares last Saturday of March and second Sunday of October 2011 and every year after thereafter as Barangay Assembly Days


The Chief Ex-ecutive issued Proc-lamation No. 260 on September 30, 2011, amending Proclama-tion No. 342 issued in 2003 entitled “De-claring the last Sat-urday of March 2003 and third Saturday of October 2003 and every year thereafter as Barangay Assem-bly Days.” Sections 397 and 398 of the Local Government Code of 1991 (RA 7160) re-quire the barangay assembly to meet twice a year, to hear and discuss the se-mestral report of the Sanguniang Barangay concerning its activi-ties and finances as well as problems af-fecting the barangay. Section 1 of Re-public Act (R.A.) 9340 provides that “the Synchronized Baran-gay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Elec-

tions shall be held on the last Monday of October and every three years thereaf-ter. In amending Proclamation 342 the President under-scored the need to en-sure that the baran-gay assembly day for the second semester of each year does not fall under the cam-paign period for the Synchronized Baran-gay and Sangguni-ang Kabataan (SK) Elections under Batas Pambansa (BP) Bilang 881 or the “Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines. “The institution-alization of baran-gay assembly day nationwide is one of the major component programs of the Bi-yaheng Pinoy: Tapat na Palakad, Bayang Maunlad launched on October 10, 2010 by the Department of

the Interior and Local Government (DILG),” according to the new proclamation which was signed by Execu-tive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr., on be-half of the President. The new proc-lamation also noted the need to conduct Barangay Assembly Days nationwide to drumbeat the celebra-tion of the 20th year of the local autonomy in the Philippines and to institutionalize the norms of transparen-cy, responsiveness, accountability and participation at the barangay level. The President enjoined all City/Mu-nicipal Mayors to en-sure compliance and maximum participa-tion of all barangays in the said undertak-ing by conducting ba-rangay assemblies in their respective juris-diction. (JS)

Aquino delclares.....from page 12


OFW thank President Aquino for allowing them to continue working in AfghanistanThousands of Overseas Filipino Workers

have expressed their deepest gratitude to President Benigno S. Aquino III for allowing them to continue working for their respective

employers in Afghanistan.

In a letter ad-dressed to the Chief Executive, Filipino Carlo Echano, a US government contrac-tor working in Afghan-istan who represents more than four thou-sand OFWs, thanked the President pro-fusely for his “guided decision on allowing us to continue our professions and labor in Afghanistan.” He said that de-spite the concerns aired on their safe-ty, they still feel se-cure working for “our American and NATO (North America Trea-ty Organization)-

member employers. “We thank you for appreciating the efforts of our Ameri-can and NATO-mem-ber employers to keep us safe and secure in our work in an envi-ronment that aims to build peace in this part of the world,” the letter read. “We thank you for recognizing our hard work and ac-knowledging that our efforts are not only to support our fami-lies but also to build the economy of our country,” it added. A deployment ban has been issued

by the Philippines disallowing Filipinos from traveling to Af-ghanistan due to se-curity risks. But Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa announced last August that Fili-pinos already working in the country are not covered by the ban. “After making an assessment of the conditions in Afghan-istan and Iraq based on input from Depart-ment of Foreign Af-fairs (DFA), we have recommended that Filipino workers who are already employed in US military bases

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and installations in these countries be al-lowed to remain there to continue their em-ployment,” Ochoa said.

The Executive Secretary said how-ever, that the overall deployment ban to Afghanistan as well as Iraq still remains.

A majority of the 6,000 OFWs are working inside two US bases in Afghanistan - Bagram and Kanda-har Airfields. (RCK)

Palace assures there was no attempt to withhold information on accident involving vehicle of presidential political adviserThe Aquino government said that there were

no efforts to withhold any information regarding a vehicular accident involving one of its officials, where a high-powered

firearm was recovered, as it assured full cooperation on the ongoing investigations to ferret out the truth and sanction those who will be proven guilty of crime commission. In his official statement during a press briefing at the Palace, Monday, Presidential Politi-cal Adviser Ronaldo Llamas stressed that there has been no attempts by anyone to hide what really transpired in the ac-

cident involving his Mitsubishi Montero Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) and a closed van in Quezon City, before dawn of Fri-day. “I would like to emphasize and reit-erate that there has been no attempt by

anyone to withhold information about the incident, either from the police, media or the public, or to allow those found respon-sible to escape cul-pability for their ac-tions,” Llamas said. “Neither I, nor my office, will ask

OFW thanks.....from page 14

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for ‘special treat-ment’ in this regard… we remain commit-ted to the principles of transparency and public accountabil-ity that the President (Aquino) has defined his administration by,” he added. Llamas said that from the event of the accident, his staff was fully cooperative with the law enforcers. “All throughout the course of this in-cident, my staff has extended full coop-eration and support to the police,” Llamas noted. He said that on the day of the inci-dent, his staff ac-companied his driver to the police station where he was turned over. The driver, in-dentified as a certain Joey Tecson, Llamas said, gave his volun-tary statement to the police.

“It is my un-derstanding that Mr. Tecson gave a volun-tary statement to the police and was pro-visionally released subject to the final outcome of the police investigation. It goes without saying that Office of the Politi-cal Adviser (OPA) will continue to extend full cooperation and support to any legal and judicial process-es that may arise as a result of the police investigation,” Lla-mas said. Recent reports claimed that an as-sault rifle and sev-eral bulletproof vests were found in Llamas’ SUV when it figured in an accident near the Technohub along Commonwealth Av-enue in Quezon City. According to the Metropolitan Manila Development Au-thority (MMDA), the

Mitsubishi Montero (with a 6*OPA proto-col license plate) of Secretary Llamas hit the passenger side of an Isuzu closed van (YUJ-961) driven by Jonel Tenorio at around 2:10 a.m. Traffic investiga-tors said the SUV’s front bumper sus-tained major damage and the vehicle had to be towed by a private towing company to its impounding area in Regalado Avenue. Llamas said that the rifle was “duly li-censed” and issued to him. Llamas was in Geneva, Switzer-land when the acci-dent occurred to at-tend a United Nations High Commission for Refugees conference. The Secretary ar-rived early Monday and from the airport went straight to meet with the Malacanang Press Corps. (JCL)

Palace assures....from page 15


Aquino orders Singson to study existing protocol on dam managementPresident Benigno S. Aquino III has directed

Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson to undertake a study on the existing protocol on dam

management amid massive floodings in Central Luzon brought by typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel,” a Palace official said on Monday. The Chief Ex-ecutive also direct-ed Singson to come out with methods to ensure that the wa-ters coming from the highlands do not flow directly to the low-lands, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said during a press briefing in Malacanang on Mon-day. “For instance, the construction of catch basins with re-spect to dredging, that’s also part of the study that’s going to be made by Secre-

tary Singson as water czar,” Lacierda said. “Secretary Sing-son is coordinating with the National Wa-ter Resources Board (NWRB), the Nation-al Power Corporation (Napocor) and all dam operators to discuss the existing protocol on the release of wa-ter from the dams,” he added. Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje agreed with the Aquino government’s position to review the protocol on dam

management. He di-rected the NWRB, an attached agency of the DENR, to come up with new measures in the face of chang-ing patterns of natu-ral phenomena. “The new dam manage-ment protocol should fill up all loopholes in implementing emer-gency measures dur-ing typhoons and weather disturbanc-es,” he said. With respect to the people living near the dams and dan-ger zones, Lacierda stressed that those

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in the danger zones have to be moved out. Following the warning of the Phil-ippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and As-tronomical Services Administration (PA-GASA) that another tropical depression Ramon may enter

the country, Lacierda appealed to the pub-lic to remain vigilant and prepared. “The PAGASA has given us warning on the coming storm so we’ve asked the local government officials to be vigilant in mak-ing sure that their residents will be am-

ply safeguarded. The Department of Social Welfare and Develop-ment (DSWD) should immediately go into prepositioning relief goods. The National Disaster Risk Reduc-tion and Management Council alerting its provincial counter-parts,” he said. (JS)

Aquino declares October 31, 2011 as special non-working day throughout the countryPresident Benigno S. Aquino III has declared

Monday, October 31 as a special non-working day throughout the country.

The President issued Proclamation No. 265 on October 10, 2011 “to give full opportunity to our people to properly ob-serve the day with all its religious fervor which invariably requires them to travel to and from different regions of the coun-try.” In issuing Proclamation No. 265, the President said “Monday, October 31 and Tuesday, November 1 (All Saints Day), has been traditionally declared a special (non-working) day.” (JS)

Aquino orders....from page 17


Volunteer kindergarten teachers to receive honoraria soon —LuistroEducation Secretary Armin Luistro announced

this morning that the Department of Budget and Management(DBM) has already released the funds for the honoraria of the teacher-volunteers for public

kindergarten classes.

By Lanie Bolina-Ronquillo

Starting June this year, The Department of Education (DepEd) has implemented the universal public kin-dergarten program. The program is part of the department’s Education For All campaign to meet the country’s Millennium Development Goal on Education. However, the influx of more than two million kinder-garten enrollees last June cannot be ac-

commodated by the two thousand kinder-garten teachers who have regular items. Most teacher-volun-teers with regular teaching loads from other grade levels have agreed to han-dle the kindergarten classes. As volunteers, they are entitled to receive honoraria. Earlier reports said that the teacher-vol-unteers have not re-ceived their honoraria

since June. “My good news is… DBM has just released the funding for the honoraria of volunteer- teachers of kindergarten,” Lu-istro said at the Com-munication and News Exchange (CNEX) fo-rum held at the Phil-ippine Information Agency. “I think that we have limitations, not on budget availability but on the item in the budget called Main-tenenance and Other

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Operating Expense (MOOE), where we charge the honorar-ia,” Luistro said. According to Lu-istro, MOOE funds are released quarterly or every six months, depending on the na-ture of the expenses. “We have found a way to solve that. We are now in the course of discussing the matter

with DBM, and we are proposing to transfer the item from MOOE to the salary item, so that it can be regular-ly released monthly,” he said. This month, DepEd targets to pay all the volunteer teachers who have rendered their ser-vices since June this year. This is already

an improvement because last year, DepEd paid the hon-oraria in December, Luistro said. DepEd hopes the passing of the “Kin-dergarten Education Act” will institutional-ize the program and eventually provide regular funds for the salaries of the kinder-garten teachers.

“Most typhoon affected schools have already recovered”--DepEdDepartment of Education (DepEd) Secretary

Bro. Armin Luistro today explained that most of typhoon affected schools in the country have already recovered. He made

the statement during today’s edition of Communication and News Exchange Forum (CNEX), held at Philippine Information Agency (PIA).

By Andrea Renevera-Bancud

“We are not af-fected much, although (the effect was more widespread; we were really able to handle this,” he said. “These past two typhoons were different

compared to typhoons in the past years, when the schools sus-tained mostly structur-al damages (like roofs or buildings were de-stroyed),” Luistro said in Filipino. “(This time)

what was critical were the rains. There were a lot of flooded build-ings; there were less structures affected.” But Luistro said that they need to look into the possibility of

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Volunteer kindergarten....from page 19


widespread flooding occuring yet again. “Kailangan nam-ing makipag-ugnayan sa Local Government Units (LGU) at tingnan talaga yung drainage system. Ito ay mas long term(We need to work with Local Gov-ernment Units and as-

sess drainage system in these areas. But this will be for the long-term),” Luistro said. But in terms of re-opening the schools, most of our schools have recovered already and have started their classes.” CNEX is a weekly

PIA-produced TV pro-gram in cooperation with the Presidential Communications Oper-ations Office, People’s Television Network (PTV) and Philippine Broadcasting System (PBS). CNEX is aired live over PTV-4.

Debate olympics to boost PHL tourismThe holding of the 32nd World Universities Debating Championships (WUDC)in Manila will attract more tourists worldwide as the event promotes the country as a cultural and

recreational destination.

By Jerome Carlo R. Paunan

The WUDC, dubbed “the Olympics of debate,” is one of the largest student events in the world. It will be held on December 27, 2011 to January 4, 2012 at the De La Salle campus and the Philip-pine International Con-vention Center. During the Com-munication and News Exchange (CNEX) Fo-rum held at the Phil-ippine Information Agency, DoT Assistant Secretary Domingo

Ramon Enerio III said the said international event can bring addi-tional investments and other business oppor-tunities to the country. Based on agency figures, an estimated P400 million income can be generated dur-ing the nine-day stay of at least 1,400 par-ticipants from all over the world. Aside from the opportunity to visit choice tourism desti-nations in the country,

participants will also be treated to a Filipino and Barrio Fiesta Night which will feature the country’s best foods, cultural presentations and performers, he said. Enerio said this endeavor will also give the country a chance to “promote the good name of the Philip-pines” in line with the tourism efforts of the administration of Presi-dent Benigno S. Aquino III.

“Most typhoon....from page 20


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Iligan City celebrates October as Business Month By Lorry V. Gabule

ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte—The whole month of October is declared Business Month, here, per Sangguniang Panlungsod Resolution Number 11-715, passed during its regular session dated August 8, 2011.

This is enviably one of the city’s strategies to perk up economic activi-ties by holding business activities and festivities that increased the sales of products and services of the local stakeholders, explained SP Kagawad Ruderic C. Marzo, one of the main authors of the resolution. While SP Kagawad Frederick W. Siao, co-main author, said this will

be celebrated every year thereafter, to provide the local stakeholders, such as, the local business sec-tors and the educational institutions, among oth-ers, with a concrete ven-ue to craft their own vi-sion, mission, plans, and strategies to advance the business climate in the city. Thus, during this month, we need to in-stitutionalize the holding

of business conferences/conventions, regular-ize trade exhibits, and strengthen the opportu-nity of the small players to showcase their prod-ucts, Siao added. We have lined up activities which started with a kick-off/launch-ing last Oct. 3, during the flag ceremony at the city hall amphitheatre, with the support of the city officials led by Mayor


Iligan City....from page 22

DOH urges motorists to use helmets and seatbelts at all timesBy Lorry V. Gabule

ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte —The Department of Health (DOH) strongly advises everyone, especially motorcycle riders, to always take safety precautions seriously and follow the law.

M o t o r c y c l e riders should wear helmets to protect t hemse l ve s from the fatal injuries, H e a l t h Undersecretary Teodoro J. Herbosa

e x p l a i n e d , adding that

t h o s e riding in t a n d e m s h o u l d w e a r

helmets, as well. The 2011

first quarter data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) reveals that of the total 3,901 cases of transport/vehicular crashes, only 8.5 percent of the injured motorcycle

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Lawrence Ll. Cruz, said Siao. This was followed by a motorcade around the city’s main thoroughfare, and a short program on the launching of the One Barangay, One Product (OBOP) with the Depart-ment of Trade and Indus-try (DTI) as the partner agency of this program at the 3rdfloor of the Gai-sano Mall-Iligan, courte-sy of the mall’s manage-ment, witnessed by the mall shoppers.

Other activities in-clude the conduct of the following seminars: Intellectual Property Rights, Accounting for Non-Accountants, Busi-ness Forum, Small Busi-ness Matters and Trade Fair, Business Network-ing Event for Young En-trepreneurs, Great City Wide Sale, Iligan Busi-ness Night, the Mindanao Bloggers’ Summit, and the Business Processing Outsourcing-Information Technology (BPO-IT) So-

lutions Exhibits. This year, the Cham-ber of Commerce and In-dustry Foundation of Ili-gan, Inc.(CCFII) leads the month-long activities, with support from the Lanao Filipino Chinese Chamber Industry, Inc.(LFCCI), the Office of the Congressional District of Iligan, the academe, the Association of Barangay Councils, national gov-ernment agencies and other stakeholders.


DOH urges....from page 23

This unique fea-ture of the NHTS-PR

was stressed by Glofe-lia J. Uayan, NHTS-PR

focal person of the Department of Social

riders were wearing helmets, while 14.4 percent of the injured car occupants were wearing seatbelts. Around 47 percent of recorded vehicular injuries involved motorcycles while 6.6 percent were occupants of tricycles, 3.3 percent were riding bicycles, and 14.7 percent of vehicular injuries involved pedestrians. Usec. Herbosa bemoaned the low utilization of seatbelts and helmets among the injured and emphasized the need to employ all safety precautions that would reduce the

risk of injuries like defensive driving and observance of traffic rules and regulations. Almost half or 48.5 percent of the transport/vehicular accidents were non-collision. Nearly two-thirds or 59 percent of the cases occurred from 8:00 a.m. to 7:59 p.m. with the highest occurrence between 4:00 p.m. and 7:59 p.m. at 25.1 percent. There were also more males, 72.4 percent, than females, 27.6 percent, involved in transport/vehicular accidents. Central Luzon had the highest, 22.4 percent, of the

reported incidence of transport/vehicular accident, followed by the Davao region, 21.6 percent, and the Mindoro-Marinduque-Ro m b l o n - Pa l awa n region (MIMAROPA), 10.6 percent. The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and CARAGA regions registered the lowest vehicular accident cases at 0.4 percent each. It was reported that the number one risk factor for transport/vehicular-related injury cases was alcohol/liquor intake at 13.6 percent.

NHTS-PR gives human face behind the statistics – DSWDCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental-- The National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) basically gives human face behind the statistics.

By Apipa Bagumbaran

25


Welfare and Develop-ment (DSWD), region 10, during the re-cent launching of the NHTS-PR database in the region. She said the NHTS-PR is a data management system that identifies who and where the poor are in the country in response to the need to guarantee that the poor are able to avail of social protection programs. The data system, she said, aims to im-prove coordination among social protec-tion agencies to have unified criteria for the selection of the poor-est population. It would enable the government to ef-ficiently distribute its limited resources and services to the poor, she emphasized. Uayan said that the NHTS-PR seeks to reduce leakage or inclusion of the non-poor and under-cov-erage or exclusion of the poor in social

protection programs. This targeting system, she further said, used a paper and pencil approach for its data gathering through household assessment survey that collected socio-economic informa-tion using a two-page questionnaire. Meanwhile, she said the system was implemented nation-wide and involved geographic targeting where the locationof the poorest areas in the country are iden-tified. For municipali-ties where poverty incidence is greater than 50 percent, all barangays are sur-veyed, however, if it’s lower than 50 per-cent, only selected areas are surveyed. A process of On Demand Applications (ODA) was also con-ducted in areas not completely saturated wherein households who think they should be included are given

a chance to apply. Applicants will go through the same process of data col-lection and will be subject to Proxy Means Testing, she added. The Proxy Means Test is a statistical model that estimates the income of house-holds based on ob-servable and verifi-able variables, such as, housing condi-tions, household composition, access to basic services and education of house-hold members. Using this mod-el, the government can predict the in-come of a household and compare it with the poverty threshold of the province and classify whether the household is poor or non-poor. Lastly, the list of poor households was validated by posting it at the local level and forming a Local Verification Commit-tee.

NHTS-PR gives.....from page 24


DSWD’s database generates reports, statistics on poor householdsCAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental --- The National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) can generate reports and statistics on poor households.

This was under-scored by Ian Z. Pu-tong, Regional Field Coordinator of the NHTS-PR in Northern Mindanao, during the recent regional launch-ing of the NHTS-PR da-tabase. The NHTS-PR shows that poor house-holds in region 10 reaches 338,749, shar-ing 6.44 percent of the identified poor house-holds in the country. The province of Bukidnon got the high-est number of poor households with 98,107 while Camiguin has the lowest with 7,470 poor households. Aside from the magnitude of poor households by prov-ince, Putong said, the regional database also

shows that 277,066 of the poor households or 82 percent are living in the rural areas. Six (6) out of 10 poor households in the region or 60 percent of them do not have elec-tricity in their homes, while majority of them, 110,316 poor house-holds, use shared fau-cet community water system as their main water source, he fur-ther said. The database, further, shows that four (4) out of 10 poor households or40 per-cent use water-sealed as toilet facility while still two (2) out of 10 poor households or 20 percent has no toilet facility, he added. Putong cited that the regional database

also reveals that ma-jority of poor individu-als were not attend-ing health centers and three (3) out of 10 or 30 percent poor indi-viduals were attending schools. Likewise, the da-tabase yields that majority of the poor households had ex-perienced an armed conflict as the type of displacement, while around 15.49 percent of the poor households or 52,475 were indige-nous people (IPs), and 70 percent of them are found in the province of Bukidnon. These are just few examples of sta-tistics and reports that can be generated from the NHTS-PR, Putong concluded.(Apipa Ba-gumbaran)


NPA rebels release 4 jail officersMALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon – After nearly three (3) months in captivity, the New People’s Army freed at 5:15 pm, Oct. 8, the four (4) officers of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) they abducted in Kitaotao, Bukidnon, last July.

Military reports said the National Democratic Front-Southern Mindan-ao Regional Command (NDF-SMRC) thru the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), released the captives in ‘good condition’ with no payoffs. Reports, further, said the release of the victims was on humani-tarian reasons in respect to the appeals of the cap-tives’ families, including various groups. Col. Romeo L. Gapuz, Commander of the 403rd Infantry Bri-gade (403Bde), Philip-pine Army, said this is a gesture of multilateral good will in the name of peace as the appeals made by various groups to free the captives were heeded by the Commu-nist Party of the Phil-

ippines, New People’s Army, and National Dem-ocratic Front (CNN). “The safe release of the captives was also the result of the coordi-nated efforts of the gov-ernment, the victims’ families, church leaders, and civil society groups,” Gapuz, further said. Meanwhile, 403Bde Spokesperson, Capt. Eduardo Meclat, said the four BJMP officers were released in Baran-gay Balite, Magpet town, North Cotabato and then brought to the Bishop’s Palace in Balindog, Kida-pawan City. They were wel-comed by Gov. Emmy-lou Taliño-Mendoza, Vice Gov. Gregorio Ipong, BJMP Director Rosendo Dial, PNP Provincial Di-rector Cornelio Salinas and 602Bde Commander

Col. Cesar Sedillo. Released were Jail Inspector Erico Lla-mazares, 26, Warden of Ozamiz City Jail, a mem-ber of Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) Class 2007, Jail Inspec-tor Murphy Tudyog, 27, PNPA Class 2008, Senior Jail Officer 2 Rogelio Be-gontes and Jail Officer 1 Rolando Bajuyo Jr. The four were ab-ducted in Kitaotao, Bukidnon, before dawn of July 21 as the NPA staged a plucky res-cue operation on inmate Dennis Rodenas, alleg-edly, a rebel explosives expert sentenced to life imprisonment, who was being transported to the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF) in Davao del Norte via Bukidnon-Davao route, along with eight (8) other inmates.

By Ruby Leonora R. Balistoy


DSWD XI to launch database on poverty reductionby Mai Gevera-Macapagat

29

End-user like local government units and other organiza-tions aiming to tap the poor in certain programs may now easily track who and where people living below poverty threshold with the soon to be released Nation-

al Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR).

To be launched on Friday (October 14), the NHTS-PR provides easy identification of the poorest of the poor. It reduces leakage on non-poor and under coverage or exclusion of poor in social protection services. It guaranteed that the poor receive and enjoy the benefits of social protection program. National Economic

Development Authority (NEDA XI) Regional Director Ma. Lourdes Lim bared that this system is put up to support the efforts of the present administration in addressing the first goal in the Millennium Development Goal which is all anchored to eradication of poverty and hunger. With government projects now aiming

to benefit the less privileged, Lim explained that the government also makes sure that these projects really reach the poor sector. To come up with a reliable database, the DSWD used a methodology through interviews using Proxy Means Variables. This method assessed the household through observable and verifiable


30

DSWD XI ....from page 28

TAGUM CITY----What seemed normal for Tagumenos has become unusual and remarkable for the Dayaw Festival 2011 participants, as they were impressed by Tagum City during the running tour last October 7, 2011.

IPs go on tour for a cause

variables rather than asking about income or expenditure. These socio-economic variables then predict household income and result to objective ranking, classification and prioritization of households. DSWD clarifies that this system is different from the existing survey and studies conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) and the National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB). The household

targeting system identifies who and where the poor are nationwide while the NSO provides estimates of national and regional averages of income and expenditures of families. The NSCB, on the other hand, determines the poverty and food thresholds and provides data on the poverty subsistence incidence. Lim added that the government aims to bring down poverty incidence in the region from last year’s 26 percent of the total household to 20

percent by 2016. This targeting system is believed to be one needed tool to ensure poverty reduction. Region XI has the lowest poverty incidence amongst all regions in Mindanao and it is the only region that experienced a reduction, Lim added. Nevertheless, the NEDA regional director reiterates the importance of coming up with an official database of the poor so that social services providers would highly focus on the poor sector.

by Harley Aglosolos

All eyes were gazing at the city’s façade as the tour buses made its way through the bustling streets leading to the

city’s center without the participants’ failure to notice the green tricycles as one of the city’s trademarks. Passing through

the public market and terminal, the tour brought them to the city’s motorpool for which the tour guide described as “one of a


IPs fo on....from page 29

kind” in the region if not in the country. Piles of various sizes of logs seemed to have discouraged the Mangyans of Mindoro as a welcome scenario but upon knowing that these were confiscated logs donated by the different municipalities and provinces, life filled their eyes which made Mangyan Judy Ann Banaag, 13, exclaimed that nature is still alive in the city. Mayor Rey T. Uy warmly welcomed them and encouraged them to take part in furnishing and the painting the classroom chairs and desks which will be distributed to the neighboring towns of the city.Not minding the sweat, the smell of the paint and the dust floating in the air, the Mangyans and Hiligaynons were so engrossed with their job for twenty minutes

occasionally chucking jokes as well as taking pictures. Asked about the experience, Irene Macabebe of Hiligaynon Cluster said that it was all worth the labor. “It’s quite tiresome and it’s unsual from our daily chores but we enjoyed it all knowing that it’s for a cause,” Macabebe said. N o r m a l l y supervising the production of chairs religiously throughout the day, the mayor said that this activity contributed to saving maximally for the labor cost of the project, which could average to production of 800 chairs per week for which a total of 3,000 chairs were already distributed since August this year. “This is to make the Indigenous People realize how it feels to be able to contribute

for the benefit of the Indigenous People’s (IP’s) in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley Province,” Uy stressed. Most participants were inspired by how Tagum City envisioned the good future of the next generation having mentioned that since every successful person is a product of good education, the task is no longer tedious. “I was impressed by the law-abiding, friendly and hospitable people of Tagum City and especially with the furnishing and painting we did, it is fulfilling to help in this simple way,” remarked Missa Aisa Angas, a princess of Sulu. With the New City Hall as the last stop, the impression has finally reached its peak as the visitors exclaimed “wow” saying that the structure is monumental and impressive.


CITY OF TAGUM, DAVAO DEL NORTE — Leaders of the different clusters of indigenous peoples in the country are one in hoping in seeing a new day full of hope and change as they unanimously approved a resolution pursuing a cultural and development agenda for the national government to take upon, highlighting the finale of this year’s three-day Dayaw Festival.

IP leaders ratify landmark resolution as Dayaw Festival endsby Louie Lapat

32

The so-called Dayaw Tagum Decla-ration aims to pursue an active role of the indigenous peoples in community resource management, uphold their rights to self-de-termination expand and sustain the School of Living Traditions and reinvigorate cul-tural identities of the younger generation.

The group will endorse the said document during the National IP Summit convened by Sen. Lo-ren Legarda in Ma-nila come October 13, 2011, raising ex-pectations of an is-suance of a sound cultural and develop-ment agenda for the IPs under the Aqui-no Administration.

Considered to be a landmark piece of document, the Dayaw Tagum Dec-laration came into existence as series of forum were being held during the hold-ing of the Dayaw Fes-tival in Tagum which gained support from concerned agencies such as the National Commission for the


Another 1st....from page 24

Indigenous Peoples, National Commis-sion for Culture and the Arts, Department of Interior and Local Government, Depart-ment of Tourism, De-partment of Trade and Industry and the Na-tional Economic De-velopment Authority. “This forum serves as a mile-stone for our wishes to be heard,” stressed Commissioner Joy-cie D. Alegre, head of the NCCA’s Sub-commission for Cul-tural Communities and Traditional Arts. The document also pursues effec-

tive interventions on peace and develop-ment including the urgent resumption of “peace process” with the participation and engagement of IPs; immediate enactment of the Indigenous Peo-ples Rights Act in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao; effective engagement of IP councils in local development coun-cils; and provides a bold stance in oppos-ing the establishment or continuing pres-ence of massive ex-tractive industries in their respective ter-ritories such as ille-

gal mining, logging and fishing activities. Meanwhile, dur-ing the closing cere-mony, City of Tagum Tourism Council Pres-ident Alma L. Uy ex-pressed in behalf of the City Government of Tagum her pro-found gratitude to the people who took part in ensuring the success of the festi-val despite the short time of preparation. The Ifugao of Ka-linga, Apayao gave three ritual jars to the City of Tagum as their way of saying thanks to the city for hosting the event.

Compostela Valley – Dubbed with the theme ‘” SCOUTING BUILDS A COMMUNITY,” the 3 day BSP Jamborette and Kab O Rama cul-minated last October 9 at the Nabunturan National Comprehen-sive Highschool, Poblacion Nabunturan.

Comval’s 5th BSP Jamborette—a successby Rodielyn A. Manugas

33


Participated by schools

of the eleven municipali-

ties in Compostela Valley

province, the jamborette

has more than 1,000 scout-

ers joyfully accommodat-

ed at the camp site locat-

ed at the NNCHS ground.

The Boy Scout of the

Philippines was created

through Philippine Common-

wealth Act No. 111 last Oc-

tober 31, 1936. It is a na-

tional scout organization of

the Philippines whose mis-

sion is to imbue in the youth

the love of God, country and

fellowmen and to train young

people to become responsi-

ble leaders and to contribute

in nation building. There are

Kid Scout for 5-6 years old,

Cub Scout for 7-10 years old,

Boy Scout for 10-17 years

old and Rover Scout for 17-

23 years old which can also

bejoined by female scouts.

Nabunturan, being the

host town and despite the

rain and very limited time

for preparation, has man-

aged to set everything ac-

cordingly. “I am very thank-

ful to God that the 3 day BSP

jamborette is a success. This

is made possible because of

the support of the provin-

cial government headed by

Governor Uy. The personnel

from the Provincial Engineer-

ing Office had been doing

its best in the site prepara-

tion. Thank you also to all

the scouters who joined,”

said Mayor Romeo C. Clarin.

Various events and

competitions like the liter-

ary and musical events, out-

door games, water games,

learn-a-trade, Laro ng Lahi

as well as mini-zipline and

a lot more help enhance

and develop the scouters’

value of sportsmanship, in-

still in them the spirit of ca-

maraderie, strengthen and

form their positive values.

Schools Division Su-

perintendent Alfonso G.

Gomez, CESO V commends

the active participation of

all scouters. “I am hope-

ful that through this scout-

ing, scouters will learn a lot

of lesson and will acquire

a lot of skills specially time

management and surviving

skills because we all know

that we are always facing

different calamities. Hope-

fully, the value of pagka-

makabayan,makatao,maka-

Diyos and maka-kalikasan

be in the heart and mind of

each scouters so that the next

BSP generation will be much

better than us and we will

have a better community”.

Comval BSP Coun-

cil OIC Scout Executive

Roberto U. Padilla also

thanked the executive com-

mittee headed by Gov. Uy,

the working staff and to all

participants and wish that

the activity will have posi-

tive effect to the lives of ev-

ery scouts, that of “having a

loving heart to God, to our

country and to our people.”

Comval’s 5th....from page 32


Bag-ong Scholarship Program ni Governor Uy aprobado sa Comval SPby Gilbert M. Cabahug

COMPOSTELA VALLEY PROV-INCE----- Lipay gayud ang moka-bat 554 ka mga Eskolar sa Prob-insiya, human nga gipaboran sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan ang Ordinansa nga giduso ni SP Member Ruwel Peter S. Gonza-ga nga nag aproba sa Revised Compostela Valley Scholarship Program (CVSP) of 2011 ni Gov-ernor Arturo “Chiongkee” Uy.

Atol sa 54th Regular Session niadtong Sep-tyembre 28, ang bag-ong Schol-arship Program ni Gov. Uy ilalom sa Revised 2011 CVSP giaproba-han sa mga SP Members pina-agi sa paghatag niini ug usa ka mayoryang boto.

Gawas sa mga maayong rason nga nagpaluyo sa bag-ong Schol-arship Program, ilalom usab niini gipatas-an ang mga benepisyo nga madawat sa m a m a h i m o n g eskolar sa prob-insiya. Gikain-gon nga ubos sa daang Scholar-

ship program, ang mga Schol-ars modawat lang ug P5,000.00 pesos matag se-mester. Apan sa naaprobahan nga Revised CVSP of 2011 ni Gov. Uy, pagahatagan ang mga Scholars ug P10,000.00 pesos matag s e m e s t e r .

35Monday, October 10, 2011 35Monday, October 10, 2011

Alcala promises P15-M machineries, equipment to irrigators in SK

KORONADAL CITY – Five irrigators associations in Sultan Kudarat province are set to receive P15-million worth of farm machineries and equipment from the Department of Agriculture. During his recent meeting with Ala Dam 2 Federation of Irrigators Association, Agriculture Secretary Proceso Al-cala, committed machi-nation support to five associations named as best performing irriga-tors associations, namely: Pumaka Irrigators Asso-ciation, Maremco Irriga-

tors Association, LD 1C Irrigators Association , Masbacas Irrigators Asso-ciation, and Roxas Silang Irrigators Association. Alcala promised the department will give four handtractors with trailers, two hermetic cocoon storage, and two dryers promised to give Pumaka IA. He also com-

mitted two handtractors with trailers, two hermetic cocoon storage, and two dryers for Maremco IA. LD 1C, Masbacas and Roxas Silang IAs will also receive one handtractor with trailer, one hermetic cocoon stor-age, and one dryer each. Besides these, six mobile solar dryers, ten

by Angelica Laurilla

36


37

Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD) kinilala ang kakayahan ni Pangulong Aquino na mamuno

COTABATO CITY - Isang international grupo ng peace advocate ang nagpahayag ng paniniwala sa kakayahan ni Pangulong Benigno S. Aquino III bilang lider partikular na sa aspeto ng pagsusulong ng usapang pangkapayapaan.

by pbhchangco

Alcala promises.....from page 35

5-metric ton capacity her-metic cocoon storage, ten solar dryers, ten flatbed dryers, ten rice thresh-ers, ten handtractors with trailers, and ten carabaos with implements were also raffled off to irriga-tor’s associations covered by Ala Dam 2 federation. Agri Pinoy Rice Pro-gram also distributed two kilograms of registered seeds to each farmer-member present during the activity. The seed distribution was in sup-port to community seed

banking of the irrigators. Alcala said his visit and meeting with farmers is a means to keep up with his man-agement strategy which he termed as “manage-ment by going around.” By touching base with farmers and fisher-folk, he said he gains personal insight on the latter’s actual needs, con-cerns and activities neces-sary to make appropriate actions and interventions for each situation and area of the farming sector .

He added every concern from the farmers, local officials and peo-ples’ organization is vital to come up with a more responsive and realistic approach towards agri-cultural development to attain President Benigno Aquino III’s twin goal of food sufficiency in 2013 and zero rice importation. “I hope you become our helpers and part-ners in achieving these goals of the Department of Agriculture,” he said.

Ang pagkilala ay ipinaabot ni David Foreman ng Center for Humanitarian Dialogue (CHD) sa isinagawang forum kamakaiian sa lungsod ng Cotabato

katuwang ang Mind-anao Think Tank na di-naluhan ng iba’t ibang sektor ng lipunan. “ I believe in the ability of the Presi-dent to pursue with

the peace process. His power to govern given the high approval rat-ing and has a lot of sup-port from Congress,” pahayag ni Foreman (Naniniwala ako sa ka-


Center for humanitarian....from page 36

kayahan ng Panguo na isulong ang prosesong pangkapayaan sa kan-yang poder para ma-muno, mataas ang kan-yang approval rating at suportado ng Kongreso.) Ayon kay Fore-man, layunin ng nasa-bing forum na ibahagi ang kanilang mga kara-nasan at obserbasyon sa prosesong pangka-payapaan sa bansang Northern Ireland at South Sudan na maaar-ing gawing gabay ng mga negosyador at taga-

pamagitan o mediator. Ayon kay Foreman, tulad sa karanasan ng Northern Ireland at South Sudan. humarap at duma-nas sa maraming paghi-hirap at krisis ang pros-esong pangkapayapaan sa loob ng maraming taon bago nagtagump-ay at ang pagkakaroon ng suspension o lull sa usapang pangkaya-paan ay normal lamang. Nakikita ang pag-pupursige, katapatan at determinasyon ni Pan-gulong Aquino at ng

kabilang panig na ma-halaga para sa pagpap-atuloy at pagtatagump-ay ng isinuusulong na usapang pangkapa-yapaan, ani Foreman Sumang-ayon na-man si Mindanao think Tank Coordinator Atty. Anwar Malang sa pa-hayag ni Foreman at nagpahayag ng tiwa-lang magkakaroon ng positibong resulta ang usapang pangkapaya-paan sa pagitan ng GPH at Moro Islamic Lib-eration Front (MILF).

P2.5M pondo para sa relief operations sa ARMM inilabas ng DSWD Central OfficeCOTABATO CITY, Okt 10 (PIA) - Nagpalabas ng pondo ang Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Central Office na gagamitin para sa relief operations sa libu-libong pamilyang apektado ng pagbaha dahil sa mga pagulan dala ng bagyong Pedring at Quiel.

Ipinahayag ni acting regional secretary Pom-baen Kader ng DSWD-ARMM ang pagtanggap ng kanyang tanggapan ng abiso mula DSWD-Central Office ang pagpapalabas

ng P2.5 milyun para sa re-lief operations. Ayon kay Kader um-aabot sa 60,000 ang pam-ilyang biktima ng pagbaha sa lalawigan ng Maguin-danao nitong mga naka-

lipas na linggo. Sa bilang na ito, ayon kay Kader karamihan ay mga binaha na nanatili sa kani-kanil-ang tahanan samantalang mahigit lamang sa isang libong pamilya ang nagsi-

38


likas sa iba’t ibang evacu-ation center. Sinabi ni Kader na patuloy ang paghahatid ng tulong sa biktimang pami-lyang katuwang ang pa-mahalaang panlalawigan kasabay ng ginagawang assessment sa kalagayan sa mga binahang lugar na ayon sa opisyal ay nasa manageable level. Bagamat may kahirapan at may kabagalan,tulong-tulong-tulong at nagbabayani-han ang mga residente ng

Northern Kabuntalan sa mano-manong pagtanggal sa mga water hyacinth sa inisiyatibo ng pamahalaang bayan. Labumpito sa tat-lumpu at anim na bayan sa Maguindanao ang lumubog sa tubig pinamalala sa mga bayan ng Kabuntalan na bahagya lang humupa ang baha mula noong June ng taong kasalukuyan dahil sa nakabaon nang kumpul-kumpol na water hyacinth na patuloy na naanod mula Liguasan marsh , ayon sa

ulat ng DSWD-ARMM. Kaugnay rito, nauna nang ipinahayag ni Magu-indanao Gov. Toto Mangun-dadatu ang paglalaan ng prubinsiya ng humigitku-mulang P70 milyung hala-ga para pambili ng dredger upang magamit sa clearing operation sa nagpapatu-loy na pagtambak ng water hyacinth sa iiang bayan ng lalawigan na bumabara sa pagdaloy na tubig-baha sa Rio Grande de Mindanao. (pbchangco)

Sahod ng mga pre-school teachers sa Maguindanao Division 1 ibibigay naCOTABATO CITY - Nagpalabas ng pondo ang Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Central Office na gagamitin para sa relief operations sa libu-libong pamilyang apektado ng pagbaha dahil sa mga pagulan dala ng bagyong Pedring at Quiel.

Ipinaliwanag ni Maguindanao Division 1 Schools Supt. Bai Meriam Kawit na nadiskubreng may mga maling entry sa mga papeles kabilang ang kontrata ng mga pre-school teachers na hindi napansin bago isinisumite ang mga ito sa DepEd-Manila. “Nagpulong na kami at ipinaliwanag ko

sa kanila ang dahilan at naintindihan naman nila na dahil sa hindi maayos ang information sa kanil-ang papeles at kontrata na forwarded to DepEd-Manila, ibinabalik ang mga ito para ayusin,” ayon kay Kawit. Tiniyak ni Kawit sa mga apektadong guro na may kaukulang pon-

do ang DepEd laan sa pre-school teachers at kanilang matatanggap ang kanilang apat na buwang sahod sa lalong medaling panahon. Ang preschool teacher at may buwa-nang sahod na P6,000 bawat isa at P1,500 para sa teacher aide, ayon kay Kawit.

P2.5M pondo....from page 37


Third week of October each year is declared as Fish Conservation Week. In view of this, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) will be celebrating the 48th Fish

Conservation Week this October 16 to 22 with the theme “Karagatan, Pagyamanin, Isda Paramihin, Buong Mundo Pasiglahin”.

40

www.piacaraga.blogspot.com http://www.facebook.com/pages/PIA-Caraga-Updates/165374590187484

[email protected][email protected]

BFAR celebrates fish conservation week

by Nora CL Molde


BFAR celebrates.....from page 39

Caraga region is second stopover for nationwide microinsurance campaignby Ritchelle Encabo

41

BUTUAN CITY – The Caraga region is slated to be the second stop of a 16-region roadshow on microinsurance advocacy campaign spearheaded by the Insurance Commission and the Department of Finance – National Credit Council.

In line with the cel-ebration, different activi-ties on fisheries endeavors will be conducted like fin-gerlings dispersal, coast-al clean-up, mangrove planting and other related fishery and aquatic ac-

tivities, said BFAR Caraga regional director Nerio G. Casil. Also, the weeklong activities aims to recognize the role of every Filipinos in conserving, protecting, and sustaining our coastal

and marine resources, di-rector Casil added. The celebration is declared by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 176 signed by the late President Diosdado Maca-pagal.

From October 11 to 13, the Training on Mi-croinsurance Advocacy (TOMA) will be held at the Almont Inland Ho-tel, Butuan City, to be attended by represen-tatives of the local gov-ernment, national pub-lic agencies, insurance companies and inter-mediaries, civil society, support organizations and donors/develop-ment partners. On Octo-ber 14, the culminating event billed as “Mag-

paseguro para Protek-tado: Advocacy Seminar on Microinsurance” will educate representatives of both the public and the private sector about the framework and sta-tus of microinsurance in the Philippines, em-phasizing the respective roles each one can take in the advocacy of mi-croinsurance. As an important so-cial protection measure, microinsurance is inte-gral to the overall pover-

ty alleviation strategy of the Filipino government. To put this strategy into action, the government has forged a partnership with the German Inter-national Cooperation – Microinsurance Innova-tions Program for Social Security (GIZ-MIPSS) and the Asian Develop-ment Bank-Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (ADB-JFPR) to enhance financial literacy on mi-croinsurance, especially of the low-income sec-


Caraga region...from page 40

tor. Microinsurance has the potential to buf-fer Caraga from sink-ing further into poverty by protecting its resi-dents from the sudden financial burdens of ac-cidents, illness, deaths or home fires. With sup-port from all insurance associations and other private sector institu-tions, the microinsur-ance roadshow is antici-pated to further push for the increased awareness of and appreciation for microinsurance and risk protection. Through this cam-paign, it is envisioned that future microinsur-ance advocates from Caraga will help address the two causes of low in-surance coverage among the low-income sector - the lack of awareness of insurance and low finan-cial literacy level. In forming a corps of microinsurance ad-vocates, the roadshow training will teach about the importance of risk protection and how mi-croinsurance can help

in mitigating the effects of these risks in a low-income person’s life. Ba-sic presentation skills will likewise be taught to enable the participants - future advocates - to effectively deliver key messages for the promo-tion of microinsurance to the general public. Access to appropri-ate and affordable risk protection instruments for the low-income sec-tor faces obstacles: unaf-fordable and inadequate insurance products, per-sistence of informal in-surance schemes and low appreciation of the im-portance of microinsur-ance. The government, through the initiatives of the Insurance Comission and its partners, contin-ues the momentum of opportunities opened by the National Strategy for Microinsurance and the Regulatory Frame-work for Microinsurance launched in 2010. Through enabling microinsurance policies and regulations, there is now greater availability of life and non-life insur-

ance products provided by commercial insurance companies, mutual ben-efit associations and co-operative insurance so-cieties. It will be widely distributed through such delivery channels as mi-crofinance institutions, pawnshops, coopera-tives, and community-based organizations, among others. In line with the Roadmap for Financial Literacy endorsed by the Philippine government in February 2011, this roadshow conducted by the public and private sectors is unique in that it seeks to get widespread support from all sectors of society - legislators, government regulatory agencies, national agen-cies, local government units, insurance pro-viders, intermediaries, support institutions, do-nors/other development partners and existing and potential clients. Ul-timately, the roadshow strives for behavior change through its ban-ner message of coopera-tion towards building an

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insurance market for the low-income sector. The nationwide mi-croinsurance roadshow is scheduled to grace seven cities in Luzon,

three in Visayas and six in Mindanao from 2011-2012. The first stop was in Tacloban City in Sep-tember. By the end of this caravan, expect the

slogan, “Peligrong laging nakaamba, sa Microin-surance walang pangam-ba” to echo across the country. (MIPSS/PIA-Caraga)

Lingig Mayor, 2 military escorts released after 2 months, 3 days abductionby Nida Grace B. Tranquilan

SURIGAO DEL SUR – Lingig Mayor Henry Dano and his two army escorts were finally released Sunday after they were abducted by the CPP/NPA/NDF (CNN) at his residence in the said municipality on August 6, 2011.

Exactly 2 months and 3 days in the hands of their abductors, the official and his body-guards were met by Surigao del Sur Gov. Johnny Pimentel, chair-person of the “Task Force Dano” team ne-gotiator, together with their families at Sitio

New Visayas, Brgy. Pu-lang Lupa, Trento, Agu-san del Sur at around 2:00 pm according to report from the Phil-ippine National Police (PNP). Report said Mayor Dano and the two sol-diers Alan Saban and Alfrey Desamparado

are in good physical condition when turned-over by their abduc-tors. After the release, they were brought in Mongkayo, Compostel-la Valley province for debriefing and medical check-up.

Caraga region...from page 41


Released Lingig Mayor, 2 others grateful to Surigao Sur Gov.by Robert E. Roperos

BUTUAN CITY, – Lingig Mayor Henry Dano and his two military escorts acknowledged the effort extended by Surigao del Sur Governor Johnny Pimentel for their safe release on Sunday after they were abducted on August 6 in his residence in Lingig, Surigao del Sur.

In an interview with a local radio re-porter here who is wit-nessing the release, Mayor Dano said the ef-forts made by the good governor of the prov-ince is remarkable as he leads the provincial task force dubbed “Task Force Dano” created by the local management crisis committee. “Me and my two escorts are so thank-

ful to Gov. Pimentel for everything he has done for our safe release,” Dano said in Cebuano dialect. Meanwhile, his es-corts Pfc. Al Rey Desa-mparado and Pfc. Alan Saban are also thank-ful for those who have made significant con-tributions for their safe release. The abducted offi-cial and military person-

nel are also thankful to their abductors for giv-ing them the chance to live and be back to their respective families. At around 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, the victims were released and turned-over to Gov. Pimentel and their families in Sitio New Visayas, Brgy. Pulang Lupa, Trento Agusan del Sur.

Feature: HMC-TNP, DepEd’s ALS program fulfills aspiration of the mining communities in Surigao NorteThe Alternative Learning System Accreditation & Equivalency

(ALS A&E) System is one of the flagship programs of the Department of Education open to all Filipino youths and adults who dropped out of elementary and high school.

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The ALS provides an opportunity to complete high school education, albeit in an informal setting. Handled by trained facilitators, the students learning sys-tem are module-based. After several months, the students will take the Accredi-tation and Equivalen-cy Test (AET). Having passed the test, a stu-dent receives a high school diploma and can thus enroll in college. But the ALS pro-gram itself of the De-partment of Education requires a huge budget for its implementation in order for this pro-gram to spread to sev-

eral areas of the coun-try. Confronted with a limited funding for this program, ALS could not be realized in areas which is found to be geographically remote and accessibility dif-ficult as in the case of the mining communi-ties of Hinatuan Mining Corporation-Taganaan Nickel Project (HMC-TNP) -- the Barangay Talavera and 2 Sitios, SitioCampandan and SitioBagongSilang in Taganaan, Surigaodel Norte. Barangay Talavera can be reached from Surigao City through analmost 2-hour ride of a motorized banca and an additional forty-five minutes going to SitioCampandan and-BagongSilang from Ba-rangay Talavera. Trav-els at sea going to these areas are convenient during summer but the rough seas make ac-cessibility tough most of the time. A National High School was established in the year 2010 with

the help of HMC-TNP. Buildings and teachers were assisted by the company under their Social Development and Management Pro-gram. Since high school was offered in the Ba-rangay only last year, not many of the resi-dents were able to fin-ish high-school and the high school diploma is the proof of the resi-dents so they can take advantage of the em-ployment opportunities being offered by HMC-TNP which is operating adjacent to their baran-gay. Hinatuan Mining Corporation –Taganaan Nickel Project needed skilled manpower to boost their operation and to beef-up em-ployees, skills training that will equip the resi-dents with the neces-

Feature: HMC-TNP...from page 43

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sary skills needed by the company were con-ducted in partnership with TESDA. Minimum requirement to avail of the trainingsshould be a high school graduate. The ALS program bridged the gap be-tween demand and supply of workers in the mining communi-ties. Residents who for lack of money,time and access to high school education can have the chance to graduate in high school and pur-sue their aspirations in life. Under the Social and Development and Management Program of the company, the implementation of the ALS A&E system for the mining communities will be a yearly project of HMC-TNP in partnership with the DepEd starting this year January 2011.

The DepEd provided the modules and teachers who will be the facilita-tors while the compa-ny allotted funds from their SDMP to finance the salary of the facili-tators and other logis-tics of the ALS system in the Barangay. Through this pro-gram, the out-of-school -youth, housewives, workers of HMC-TNP who have not finished high school and who are residents of Ba-rangay Talavera and SitiosCampandan and BagongSilang attend informal classes held every Tuesday and Thursday at 7:00-9:00

in the evening ; Satur-day and Sunday 1:00-4:00,7:00-9:00 pm. Registration to this program is free and the learners are provided with all the necessary learning materials and facilitators by the com-pany’s SDMP. HMC-TNP likewise committed to finance all of the ex-penses that will be in-curred by the learn-ers during the National Exam this coming No-vember 6, 2011. There were a total of One Hundred Seventy (170) learners enrolled for the period of three (3) to Four (4) months and is set to graduate


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on October 2011 prior to the National Exam. May Ann Laranjan, 30 years of age is a plain housewife with 6 kids, stopped schooling after second year high school and is proud to be back in school. She hoped to proceed to college and become a policewoman. Helen Ejandra, 35 years old and finished 3rd year highschool. She enrolled in the ALS program so she can make her kids proud of her. She finds the Eng-lish subject as difficult. Sheila Dublusi 34, 6-months pregnant hopes to graduate and

avail of the TESDA pro-gram after high school so she and her hus-band can find better jobs. Her husband who works with HMC-TNP as checker is also enrolled with the ALS A&E Sys-tem who has high hopes of becoming a heavy equipment operator. This October 2011, the enrollees of the ALS A&E in the HMC-TNP mining communities are set to take the na-tional ALS A&E test. The passers of either the El-ementary or Secondary Level will receive a cer-tificate from the Sec-retary of the Depart-

ment of Education and allows the passer to mainstream in the edu-cational system of the country. It offers them wide opportunities to enroll in post- second-ary courses like tech-nical, vocational, two to five-year course and TESDA skills training programs and can join the government service if they pass the Civil Service eligibility for government employ-ment. The opportunities are unlimited for the ALS A&E learners. It would be up for them to pursue that desire to change their quality of life. The HMC-TNP and DepEd through the ALS A&E system could only be a vehicle for them to reach the potential they hope to achieve in their personal and family life.This rare opportunity should not be wasted but grabbed for a good future. (MGB-13/PIA-Surigao del Norte)



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Parents and students can now expect more child-friendly public schools.

DepED bats for child friendly public schoolsby Franklin P. Gumapon

Public school heads of Zamboanga del Norte have recent-ly completed a train-ing on Child Friendly School System (CFSS) aimed at bringing down the dropout rate in the elementary and sec-ondary schools in the area. The school heads were trained on the strategies in identify-ing students-at-risk of

dropping out (SARDO) using the Family, Indi-vidual, Community and School (FICS) analysis tool. Studies have shown that the reasons why some students left school are varied. “Students coming from broken homes are like-ly to stop schooling as nobody would take care for their needs,” said a school head who asked

not to be named. Students with special needs are also prone to dropping out of school according to special education teacher Ma. Theresa F. Dayrit at the Dipolog SPED center. “So, chil-dren with physical dis-abilities should not be mixed with able-bod-ied ones,” she said. Conflict communi-ties are another factor


DepED bats....from page 47

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DOT, City, launch Food Fest - “Barrio Fiesta de Comidas”ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Tourism (DOT) in partnership with the city government of Zamboanga will launch tonight at the Jardin Maria Clara in Pasonanca, a food festival that will cater the craves for “fiesta” foods of the public.

The event dubbed as “Barrio Fiesta de Comi-das” will bring in various restaurants of the city for a two-day food festival set on October 10-11. In a press state-ment from DOT, Marilou Silorio, Senior Tourism Officer said, the food fest is a showcase of choice menus from the best chefs in town at an af-

fordable price. “October for Zam-boanga City is a month packed with activities in celebration of Fiesta Her-mosa. The Barrio Fiesta de Comidas is in conso-nance with the Fiesta Pi-lar festivity.” Silorio said in the press statement. The senior tourism officer said the event is an evening full of enter-

tainment featuring the Jambangan Dance En-semble who just gained international acclaim dur-ing their cultural perfor-mance in Malaysia. She added, “High Hatters Chorale will ser-enade the dining visitors with a repertoire of Cha-bacano songs to set a Zamboangueño mood.” “To perk up late eve-

affecting the studies of the schoolchildren especially in the far-lung barangays. Stu-dents from these ar-eas would rather leave school than risking their lives. Training partici-pants, on the other hand, were reminded that some students quit schooling because

of the school itself. “The schools with very strict school heads and teachers drive the stu-dents away,” said Edu-cation Supervisor Is-mael Yusop during the training. In support of the DepED’s thrust of making the schools more child friendly, the school heads and

teachers are to cre-ate a friendly learning environment but not compromising quality instruction. In Zamboanga del Norte, the average dropout rate for the el-ementary level is less than one percent and 5.86 percent for the high school level.

by Jocelyn P. Alvarez


DOT, City....from page 48

DSWD-IX disburses P282-M for ZamboSur’s 1st district 4Ps by Claro A. Lanipa

ning diners, a local band will regale the night with genres of selected songs,” Silorio said. “Just for a night, fun awaits those who come,” she assured.

A ribbon cutting ceremony to be led by Mayor Celso Lobregat and DOT Regional Di-rector Mary June Bu-gante declares the food festival open.

Guests coming from different offices are expected to grace the affair. The event is open to the public, 6pm to 10pm.

PAGADIAN CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-IX) has disbursed a total amount of P281,932,900.00 for the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries covering 11 municipalities of the first congressional district of Zamboanga del Sur.

In her report dur-ing the Convergence Caravan held in Mo-lave gymnasium, Molave, Zamboanga del Sur on Thursday (Sept. 15, 2011), Evangeline Poquita, 4Ps Provincial Link in the province reported, that from May 2009 to June 2011 DSWD has released the sum of P281,932,900.00 million intended for the 30,625 identified beneficiaries of the

program. The number of beneficiaries as of September 2011 are as follows: Dumin-gag (4,228); Somi-not (1,370); Midsalip (2,959); Tambulig (2,916); Tukuran (2,869); Mahayag (3,800); Labangan (2,966); Ramon Mag-saysay (2,067); Jo-sefina (832); Aurora (3,355) and Molave (3,263), totaling to 30,625 beneficiaries.

Last month, dur-ing the same activity held in Dumalinao for the second congres-sional district of the province, DSWD has also reported that a total amount of P499, 974 million was dis-bursed for the district with some 33,965 program beneficia-ries. To date, the prov-ince has a beneficiary base of approximate-ly 63,275.


Zambo. Norte cops undergo PSJLC courseDIPOLOG CITY - - Fifty five policemen from the two cities of Dipolog and Dapitan and the 25 municipalities of Zamboanga del Norte have recently completed the Public Safety Junior Leadership Course (PSJLC) conducted by the Philippine Public Safety College Regional Training Center 9-Annex of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

A news release is-sued by the City Informa-tion Office (CIO) said the training was held at the Zamboanga del Norte Po-lice Provincial Office (ZN-PPO) at Camp Hamac, Si-cayab this city. It was also learned that the participants to the PSJLC were police of-

ficers with the rank of Po-lice Officer 3 (PO3). The training ran for four and a half months. A simple graduation ceremony was held at the function hall of the Top Pensionne along Quezon ave., this city with Re-gional Training Director PSupt. Redentor Retusto,

Assistant Regional Train-ing Director PSI Alejandro Trabdillo and Mayor Eve-lyn T. Uy in attendance. Special awards like leadership award, aca-demic award and firearm proficiency award were also given to deserving trainees during the clos-ing rites.(JPA)

Zanorte to host 2012 ATOP National ConventionDIPOLOG CITY-- Zamboanga del Norte will be the host of the 2012 Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines (ATOP)National Convention scheduled to held in Dipolog City next year.

by Jocelyn P. Alvarez

Zamboanga del Norte won over Butuan City, in the bidding con-ducted during the recent-

ly-concluded 12th ATOP National Convention of ATOP held at Roxas City, Capiz

The province was represented by Atty. Pat-rick Ang, together with Zamboanga del Norte

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Second District Board Member Atty. Allan Ranil-lo; Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Tourism Coun-cil Chairman Atty. Flint Concha; La Libertad May-or Anja Sulit-Manglag; Roxas Vice-Mayor Leonor Alberto, councilors and Tourism Officers and De-partment of Tourism-9

Regional Director June Bugante. Atty. Ang, who is also the concurrent ATOP Executive Vice-President said the 2012 ATOP Na-tional Convention will serve as an opportune time for the Zamboan-ga del Norte to promote among the Tourism Of-

ficers of the country the tourist attractions in the province. More than 1,000 tourism officers and mu-nicipal and councilors who are chairmen of the Committee on Tourism from all over the country are expected to attend the said ATOP gathering.

Zanorte to host....from page 50

one mindanao - october 10, 2011

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