one mindanao - september 15, 2011

2 ONE MINDANAO Thursday, September 15, 2011

C O N T E N T SNATIONAL

• Lim takes his oath before President Aquino, vows to increase customs collections• Government prepared to handle transport strike -- Malacanang• Malacanang says result of Pulse Asia ‘Ulat ng Bayan’ survey exemplifies undying support and confidence of Filipinos to President Aquino’s leadership

Northern Mindanao

• DTI Iligan warns public on fake inspectors• LGU to train RIC on rice straw utilization for handicrafts• Haribon Brigade donates chairs for a Madrasah in Lanao del Sur • DTI’s BAGWIS Award soars high in 6th year• DOST grants college scholarships

Southern Mindanao (Davao Region)

• Hope sparks in Talaingod as LGU Tagum gives school fixtures • Davao City set to launch its new tourism brand• DavNor serious in meeting MDGs• Personality dev’t, social ethics discussed in DavNor civil service month opening• IP leaders in Mindanao to converge in DavNor

Central Mindanao (SOCSKSARGEN)

• DTI underscores benefits of doing business in Free Trade Areas• NFA widens palay procurement • Tagalog News: Pamahalaang panlalawigan nagpapasalamat sa MCFI sa isasagawang surgical mission • Tagalog News: Limang araw na surgical mission gagawin sa South Cotabato • Tagalog News: Paglista ng mga nagnanais magpa-opera sa surgical mission sa South Cotabato nagpapatuloy

Northeastern Mindanao (Caraga)

• Abducted Lingig Mayor to Surigao del Sur officials: “Stop military operations”• PRIME: Delivering education to IPs and Muslims at its best• CHED-Caraga tells public, private HEIs to support peace activities on Sept. 21• RTWPB cancels public hearing on minimum wage adjustment in Surigao del Sur• NFA Surigao del Norte assures sufficient rice supply

Western Mindanao (Zamboanga Peninsula)

• DILG seeks clarification on TRO vs. ARMM OICs• City intensifies breastfeeding campaign; enacts breastfeeding Ordinance• DSWD-IX disburses P500-M for 4Ps beneficiaries in ZamboSur’s 2nd district.• ‘Lakbayan’ sets wheels, delivers services to remote villages• WESCOM Chief named Puerto Princesa’s adopted son

OUR COVER:

SARANGANIyour adventure

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 Dani 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 Emmanuel D. Gonzales, PIA Caraga Region

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

SEC. HERMINIO “Sonny” B. COLOMA PresidentialCommunicationsOperationsOffice

PHOTO CREDIT: sarangani.gov.ph

3ONE MINDANAOThursday, September 15, 2011

Bent on pursuing the instructions of President Benigno S. Aquino III, newly-appointed Bureau of Customs (BoC) Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Danilo Lim vowed to exert all necessary efforts to increase the bureau’s collections and to put an end to the illegal activities

including smuggling and corruption within the agency.

Lim takes his oath before President Aquino, vows to increase customs collections

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President Benigno S. Aquino III administers the oath of office to (Ret.) General Danilo “Danny” Lim as Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence of the Bureau of Customs in a ceremony at the President’s Hall of the Malacañan Palace on Thursday (Sep-tember 15). Gen. Lim is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Makatarungan Class 1978 and recipient of vari-ous Military Awards, Decorations and Commendations mostly for combat / field accomplishments that include the Gold Cross Medal for gallantry in action. He was also a former Commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment. (Photo by: Gil Nartea / Malacañang Photo Bureau).


Lim Takes...from page 3

In an interview fol-lowing his formal oath-taking before the Presi-dent at the President’s Hall of the Malacanang Palace on Thursday Lim said that he will look into the existing intelligence gathering system of the BoC as he stressed its importance in battling illegal activities. “Malinaw yung instruction sa atin ni Presidente [Aquino] na tumulong para maitaas ang koleksyon…yung revenue at pangalawa, lahat ng illegal ay pigilin, labanan ang korapsyon, labanan ang smuggling ,” Lim said. “Paano natin ga-gawin iyan… dapat yung intelligence system and network natin ay effec-tive at maaasahan, so titingnan natin kung ta-laga bang nagde-deliver itong existing network na ito. Sa intelligence kasi napaka-importante niyan, dahil diyan mag-iipon tayo ng mga im-pormasyon, data na magagamit natin bilang mga bala para sa laban sa korapsyon at smug-

gling,” he added. Lim also noted the concerted action plan that they will undertake in pursuing their duties in the BoC. He said that part of these efforts is to check on the vari-ous functions within the bureau to ensure that reforms will be imple-mented. “Kailangan talaga ng tulungan dito… pa-pasok kami doon [BoC] bilang isang team na tutugunan yung pan-gangailangan sa re-porma sa Customs, im-portante na matutukan natin ang mga functions diyan tulad ng brokers’ accreditation, risk man-agement, use of X-ray machines, warehouses and the integration of these functions… we will focus into these things and look for loopholes and weak links, dahil isa lang diyan ang magka-problema, sira na ang buong sistema at net-work,” Lim said. Lim was accompa-nied by his wife, Aloy and daughter Aika. The event was also wit-

nessed by Presidential Communications Oper-ations Office Secretary Herminio “Sonny” Co-loma Jr. Born on June 2, 1955 in Solano Nueva Vizcaya, Lim was the youngest of five broth-ers of Chinese descent. His roots can be traced to Xiamen, China, for-merly Amoy. His father married a Filipina from Bohol. Lim finished his elementary and high school years in Solano with flying colors. He was in his first year at UP when he took the entrance exams at the Philippine Military Acad-emy. He topped the ex-ams. He was a member of the PMA “Makatarun-gan” Class of 1978. While a plebe, he took the entrance exam at the United States Mil-itary Academy (USMA) at West Point, one of the world’s premier military academies, be-cause of his outstand-ing performance as ca-det. He also topped the exams. (JCL)


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The government has contingency measures in place in the event some members of the transport sector push through with their planned transport holiday in the midst of the continuing increases on petroleum prices, Malacanang said on Thursday.

Government prepared to handle transport strike -- Malacanang

Presidential Spokes-man Edwin Lacierda said in the press confer-ence on Thursday that the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has prepared counter measures to help the public in case of a trasnport strike. He said the government’s major concern is the interest of the riding public. Commenting on the statements of some groups planning protest actions, Lacierda said these groups should an-alyze whose interest are they protecting and at the same time reminded them of their obligations as indicated in their fran-chises. “There are con-sequences. You are re-sponsible...you have ob-ligations in the franchise that you hold. In so far as the government is concerned the MMDA is prepared to handle the

situation. We have co-ordinated with them as well. Kung sakaling sila po ay matutuloy, handa po ang gobyerno for the sole purpose of making sure that the riding public will not be jeopardized,” Lacierda stressed. “We hope that yes-terday’s dialogue with them convinced them of the sincerity of the gov-ernment towards ad-dressing their concerns,” he added referring to the meeting between Presi-dent Benigno S. Aqui-no III and the transport sector on Wednesday in Malacanang. Asked by reporters if the Palace would want to appeal to transport organizations not to con-tinue with their planned mass actions, Lacierda said there was no indica-tion, during Wednesday’s meeting, that the trans-port sector will go on a strike.

The transport sec-tor is more concerned on extortion and the single-ticketing system being implemented particularly in the Metro Manila area by local government units and MMDA, Lacierda said noting that majority of transport organizations do not favor holding a strike. Malacanang de-scribed the meeting on Wednesday as “construc-tive” with the President addressing the concerns raised by the members of the transport sector. According to Deputy Presidential Spokesper-son Abigail Valte, among the major issues raised were extortion [kotong], the oil deregulation law and the possible trans-port strike. Valte said trans-port organizations com-plained about rampant extortion activities by some local government


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Government prepared....from page 5units (LGUs), policemen and traffic enforcers that affect their businesses. They also raised the single-ticketing scheme being implemented in Metro Manila that im-

pacts on drivers and op-erators, Valte said add-ing that the President assured them about gov-ernment actions on those concerns. The President

also ordered a review of the Oil Deregula-tion law based on the proposals of the mem-bers of the transport sector, she added. (AS)

Malacanang cited the increasing trust and confidence of the Filipinos on the accountability, competence and efficiency of President Benigno S. Aquino III in pursuing his social contract with the people especially in his efforts in effecting reforms and curbing graft and

corruption in the bureaucracy as indicated in the recent survey conducted by a recognized polls entity.

Malacanang says result of Pulse Asia ‘Ulat ng Bayan’ survey exemplifies undying support and confidence of Filipinos to President Aquino’s leadership

In his statement during a regular press briefing at the Palace on Thursday, Presiden-tial Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that the results of the Pulse Asia “Ulat ng Bayan” survey conducted from August 20 to September 2, 2011 exemplifies the undying support and confidence of the people on the leadership of President Aquino. The recently-re-leased Pulse Asia Ulat ng Bayan survey, in which President Aquino record-ed significant increases

in his approval (from 71 to 77 percentage points) and trust ratings (from 71 to 75 percentage points), is an affirmation that more than a year into the current adminis-tration, the people’s faith in their leadership has not wavered, and has in fact become stronger,” Lacierda said. “The message is getting across to the vast majority of Filipi-nos: President Aquino’s ratings are proof that his efforts toward curbing corruption and reducing poverty are truly being

felt by Filipinos across all geographic and demo-graphic strata,” he add-ed. Lacierda noted that with these recent de-velopments, the Aquino government is bent on continuing its efforts to exert more developmen-tal actions that will fur-ther uplift the lives of the Filipino citizenry. “It is expected that survey numbers will fluc-tuate, and while we in government appreciate this development, we continue to raise the bar higher for ourselves so


that every aspect of the President’s Social Con-tract with the Filipino People will be fulfilled,” Lacierda stressed. Pulse Asia recent-ly released the results of their Presidential Performance and Trust Ratings survey con-ducted from August 20 to September 2, 2011 using face-to-face in-terviews.

The nationwide assessment is based on a sample of 1,200 rep-resentative adults, 18 years old and above. It has a ± 3% error margin at the 95% confidence level. sub-national es-timates for each of the geographic areas covered in the survey (i.e., Metro Manila, the rest of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) have

a ± 6% error margin, also at 95% confidence level. Pulse Asia, Inc. is a public opinion poll-ing body launched by professional academics, recognized as experts in their respective fields of study. It monitors salient socio-economic, politi-cal and cultural issues in the minds of the Filipino public. (JCL)

PHOTO RELEASE:

President Benigno S. Aquino III poses with newly sworn-in Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence of the Bureau of Customs (Ret.) General Danilo “Danny” Lim for a snap shot following his oath-taking at the President’s Hall of the Malacañan Palace on Thursday (September 15). Gen. Lim is a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Makatarungan Class 1978 and recipient of various Military Awards, Decorations and Commendations mostly for combat / field accomplish-ments that include the Gold Cross Medal for gallantry in action. He was also a former Commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment. In photo are Lim’s wife, Aloy and his daughter, Aika. (Photo by: Gil Nartea / Malacañang Photo Bureau).

Malacanang says....from page 6


DTI Iligan warns public on fake inspectorsby Lorry V. Gabule

This warning came from Ruel B. Paclipan, Provincial Director, De-partment of Trade and Industry, Iligan City/Lanao del Norte Office, who said that there seems to be people claiming to be employ-ees or representatives of DTI Iligan and in the province out to inspect Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders in the households. “We would like to

inform the public that DTI has not authorized any of its employees or representatives to con-duct LPG inspection in this city and in the prov-ince,” Paclipan said. Thus, residents are encouraged to be vigi-lant and cautious in let-ting these fake inspec-tors gain entry into their households, he said. As to identify of-ficial inspection or en-forcement activities

from any government agencies, we urge the public to ask for em-ployee’s identification (ID) cards and “author-ity to inspect/enforce” or “mission order” duly signed by the head of agency and issued in 2011. “We should always remember that the Best Consumer Protection is Self-Protection,” Pacli-pan concluded. (PIA-10)

ILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte, Sept. 15 (PIA) -- Beware of fake DTI in-spectors roaming around the city of Iligan!

LGU to train RIC on rice straw utilization for handicrafts by Ruby Leonora R. Balistoy

MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon, Sept. 15 (PIA) – Some 25 members of the Rural Improvement Club (RIC) in the city’s rice granary or rice farming communities, will undergo skills enhancement training on the use of rice straw to produce fine handicrafts. City Mayor Ignacio Zubiri said the training, which is set on Sept. 23, at the Farmers’ Training Center, would somehow

help RIC women in their efforts to enrich their livelihood. “In partnership with the Department

of Trade and Industry (DTI), this project will practically help generate new strategies for rice farming households to

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improve the situation of women by exploring dif-ferent aspects in the rice livelihood systems,” the Mayor said. City Agriculturist Andrew Bergado, like-wise, said the partici-

pants’ skills would be enhanced, as new tech-niques will be introduced in making placemats, bags, flower vases, gift items, and other home ornaments, among other native crafts, that they

have been producing. “This will also in-crease public awareness on agro-biodiversity, knowing there’s money in the piles of rice hay in the rice fields,” Bergado said. (PIA-10)

Haribon Brigade donates chairs for a Madrasah in Lanao del Sur

by Lorry V. Gabule

KAMPO RANAO, Marawi City, Sept. 15 (PIA) --- The 103rd Infantry (Hari-bon) Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division, Philippine Army, here, has do-nated 45 sets of high quality armchairs for a Madrasah school in Maguing town, this province. The armchairs were made out of the illegally cut lumber confiscated during the conduct of checkpoint operations along the main highways of the province. The donation, which took place, last Sept. 9, at the 103rd Bde head-quarters, was part of the continuous support of the unit to the local gov-ernment agencies in the province.

Col. Danilo A. Luc-ero, Commander of the 103rd Bde, said it is one of the few programs and efforts of the Haribon Brigade and the Army, as a whole, to address the current needs of the Ma-drasahs and in pursuit of respect to the local cul-ture in the province. Meanwhile, employ-ees of the Madrasah have expressed appreciation to the men and women of

the Brigade for the arm-chairs. “I am very glad and thankful that our soldiers under 103rd Infantry Bri-gade were kind enough to donate a number of armchairs which is really of big help to our Madra-sah students,” said Ibra-him Macauday, a native of Maguing town and an employee of the Madra-sah. (103rd Bde/PIA-10)

DTI’s BAGWIS Award soars high in 6th yearILIGAN CITY, Lanao del Norte, Sept. 15 (PIA) — The renowned BAGWIS Award of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), initially named as Certified Establishment Seal (CE-Seal) has opened wider its wings in pur-suit for excellence, on its 6th year. 10

LGU to train....from page 8


Ruben B. Pacli-pan, Provincial Direc-tor, DTI Iligan City/Lanao del Norte Of-fice, said this presti-gious award contin-ues to soar high as the commitment from business sector goes strong in establish-ing a fair, honest and responsible market place. Paclipan ex-plained, the award is given to business establishments that uphold the rights of consumers by insti-gating an in-house regulation to deliver high quality products at reasonable prices. It also acknowl-edges those estab-lishments with a high degree of courtesy, honesty and respon-sibility in business where consumers in-deed get true value of money. Likewise, the

award encourag-es the setting-up of a sustainable Con-sumer Welfare Desk (CWD) or a DTI-rec-ognized customer service counter that will provide informa-tion to consumers and serves as mechanism for speedy resolution of consumer com-plaints. “The govern-ment exemplifies the stores’ adherence by elevating their status to the elite group of business institution which heeds the call of our government to practice responsible entrepreneurship and become partners to-wards consumer em-powerment,” Paclipan said. The BAGWIS Award comes in three categories: bronze, silver and gold which symbolizes com-mitment to nurture,

guide, and protect both the consum-ers and the estab-lishment from unfair trade practices. Thus, DTI is in-viting all business es-tablishments, such as supermarkets, department stores, specialty stores, ap-pliance center, hard wares, service and repair shops and Liqufied Petroleum Gas (LPG) dealers, to take the challenge towards excellence, he said. Application forms are available for free at the DTI Office- 0171 PM Durias Bldg., Quezon Ave. Exten-sion, this city. For further in-formation, interest-ed applicants may call Engr. Elvira Redublado or John Fernan at tele-phone number 221-5534. (PIA-10)

DTI’s Bagwis....from page 9


by Tess Superioridad-Baluyos orry V. Gabule

DOST grants college scholarships

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Sept. 15 (PIA) - The Depart-ment of Science and Technology (DOST) will once again award scholar-ship slots in Bachelor of Science degree programs to students with high aptitude in science and mathematics who wish to pursue a career in sci-ence, mathematics and engineering.

Director Alfonso Alamban of DOST, region 10, said the DOST undergraduate scholarship program has two categories: Program A known as Republic Act 7687, which is designed for poor but intelligent students whose family’s combined gross annual income is less than P156,000, and Program B or the Merit Scholarship for those who have higher family income. Qualified to apply are high school graduating students or high school graduates who have not enrolled in college and who belong to the upper five (5) percent of the

graduating class, a natural-born Filipino citizen, a resident of the municipality/district for the last four (4) years, of good moral character and good health and must have no pending application for resident/immigrant status in any foreign country. Applicants are required to submit a filled-up information sheet or application form, two (2) recent identical 1x1 photo taken within the application period, one (1) of which is to be attached to the information sheet and the other, to the test permit. They are also

required to submit a photocopy of their birth certificates with the original copy of their birth certificate for authenticationAlamban said application forms can be downloaded at this site: http//dost.sei.gov.ph. A non-refundable test fee of Php200 will be required from applicants for the Merit category. Those who are applying under the RA 7687, however, are not required to pay the test fee. The selection of DOST scholars is through a written examination which will be held on November 20, 2011, Sunday

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at identified testing centers all over the country. The final testing centers for Region X will be announced later. Deadline for filing of application is on October 21, 2011. S u c c e s s f u l examinees will enjoy the following benefits: tuition fees not to exceed Php6,000 per semester, allowance for prescribed textbooks and essential school fees at Php500 for first semester of the first year only. Outright grant for prescribed military science/PE uniform, for first year students only, free transportation for one economy-class, round-trip fare between the scholar’s permanent residence and place of study on reimbursement basis, once every school year. Group health and accident insurance,

a monthly allowance of not more than Php5,000 depending on the awardee’s scholarship category, and a post-graduation allowance of Php1,000, for full scholars only. I n t e r e s t e d applicants can visit the DOST-X regional office located at J.V. Serina St., near JR Borja City Hospital, Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City or its website: http://region10.dost.gov.ph and can be reached at telefax # 8586790. Inquiries can also be accommodated at the Provincial Science and Technology Centers (PSTC) in the following locations: Bukidnon PSTC, at Central Mindanao University (CMU) Compound with landline phone # (088)3561853.Camiguin PSTC at SSS Bldg., Gen. Bonifacio –Aranas Sts., Mambajao.

Lanao del Norte PSTC at PCIERD Model Bldg., Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) Compound, Iligan City, with landline phone # (063)3516275. M i s a m i s Occidental PSTC at 2/F Amil Bldg., I n d e p e n d e n c e cor. Calapini Sts., Oroquieta City with landline phone # (088)5311332. Misamis Oriental Provincial Center at Mindanao University for Science and Technology (MUST) Compound, Lapasan, Cagayan de Oro City at landline phone # 8562930. They can also contact Tess Superioridad Baluyos, t s u p e r i o r i d a d [email protected], ( 0 9 2 7 7 5 5 9 9 7 2 ) . (DOST/PIA-10)

DOST grants.....from page 11


Hope sparks in Talaingod as LGU Tagum gives school fixtures

by Louie Lapat/Edwin

MUNICIPALITY OF TALAINGOD, PROVINCE OF DAVAO DEL NORTE - School children studying in one of the remotest schools in Sitio Mesolong, Baran-gay Santo Niño in this town famous for its rich natural resources had a new reason to be excited to go to school every day. The conditions of the school children here, though, are a stark contrast to its rich natural resources.

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“It was learned that the school head, Mr. Arnel F. Labasan, requested the said furniture only through text.”

FATHERLY CARE. Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy talks to the students of Mesolong Elementary School in Sitio Mesolong, Barangay Santo Niño, Municipality of Talaingod, Province of Davao del Norte. The City Government of Tagum donated school fixtures to the said school on September 13, 2011 upon the request of its school head.


Mesolong Elementary School, which is approxi-mately 8 kilometers away from downtown Talaingod, lacks school chairs which greatly affect the school’s delivery of quality educa-tion. There are days when some students would be happy if some classmates would be absent because there will be a vacant seat for them to sit upon. The days when students carry the bur-den of having no enough arm-chairs in their classrooms is now a thing of the past as the City Govern-ment of Tagum turned over new school fixtures for the benefit of the 210 out of 575 school children here, majority of whom had to walk sever-al kilometers in bare foot just to attend to their daily classes. City Mayor Rey T. Uy led the turn-over rites of (70) seventy armchairs, (70) seventy desks and (7)

seven tables with chairs on September 13, 2011 in the presence of the students, their parents and teach-ers. It was learned that the school head, Mr. Arnel F. Labasan, requested the said furniture only through text.Sto. Niño National High School in downtown Ta-

laingod was also given 105 armchairs, courtesy of the Local Government of Tagum. This school furniture was fabricated by the City Government of Tagum from the hot logs confiscated in Talaingod and other parts of Davao Region months ago which was turned over

by the Department of En-vironment and Natural Re-sources to the city for its capability of fabricating these logs into useful ma-terials. “Ampingan nato ang mga lingkuranan para mag-amit pa sa mga mosunod na mga estudyante ug hen-erasyon,” (Let’s take care

of the chairs for the next batch of students and the next gener-ation to benefit) stressed Mayor Uy during his speech. Present during the turn-over rites were Ta-laingod Munici-pal Mayor Basilio A. Libayao, Vice Mayor Francis-co Hipolia, Trib-al Datu Linasod

Sibuyan of Sitio Mesolong and P/Insp. Eduard B. Jungco, OIC-Chief of Police of Talaingod. Aside from Talain-god, other towns in the nearby Compostela Valley Province had also been given materials made from confiscated logs for them to fabricate.

SMILE OF HOPE. Students of Mesolong Elementary School in Sitio Mesolong, Ba-rangay Santo Niño, Municipality of Talaingod, Province of Davao del Norte volunteer to carry their new school desks donated by the City Government of Tagum last September 13, 2011. The school head requested through a text to City Mayor Rey T. Uy to donate these fixtures to their school.

Hope sparks.....from page 13


Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy chats with the teachers of Mesolong Elementary School in Sitio Mesolong, Barangay Santo Niño, Municipality of Talaingod, Province of Davao del Norte in front of the school desks the City Government of Tagum donated to the said school on September 13, 2011.

Old and dusty school desks and armchairs of Mesolong Elementary School in Sitio Meso-long, Barangay Santo Niño, Municipality of Talaingod, Province of Davao del Norte will now be replaced with new ones as the City Government of Tagum donated new school fixtures it fabricated from the confiscated hot logs.

Some of the armchairs and desks delivered in Mesolong Elementary School in Sitio Mesolong, Barangay Santo Niño, Municipality of Talain-god, Province of Davao del Norte.

PHOTO RELEASES:


Students of Mesolong Elementary School in Sitio Mesolong, Barangay Santo Niño, Municipality of Talaingod, Province of Davao del Norte happily pose for the camera prior to the start of the turn-over ceremony of new school fixtures fabricated by the City Government of Tagum.

Tagum City Mayor Rey T. Uy waves to the camera with the kids of Mesolong Elementary School in Sitio Mesolong, Barangay Santo Niño, Municipality of Talaingod, Province of Davao del Norte. Mayor Uy just donated armchairs and desks in this impoverished school in the highlands of the Province of Davao del Norte. Also the led the turn-over rites of (70) seventy armchairs, (70) seventy desks and (7) seven tables with chairs on September 13, 2011 in the presence of the students, their parents and teachers. It was learned that the school head, Mr. Arnel F. Labasan, requested the said furniture only through text.

PHOTO RELEASES:


City Tourism Officer Jason Magnaye announced during the weekly forum, I-Speak, that the tour-ism secretary who is him-self a brand expert finds the Davao brand and logo neat and even competi-tive. Magnaye said the brand and logo are prod-ucts of a team composed of the City Tourism Office, City Information Office, and City Mayor Sara Du-terte-Carpio. “ We are keeping the design and other de-tails until September 21 to keep the thrill. But just

to talk a little about it, the brand talks about how Davao life is.”, he added. Also during the brand launch is the unveiling of the new brochure, televi-sion commercials, and the new tourism website. The city tourism got media attention after it launched its Davao Punch campaign at the height of the Kadayawan Festival last month. Magnaye bared ini-tial plans of bottling and packaging the popular Davao Punch concoction to further tap the interna-tional and domestic mar-

ket establishing it as a prime Davao product. The tourism office is holding discussions with the Department of Science and Technology, some food processors, and the Center for Asian Culinary Studies on how to realize this plan. The official con-siders the Davao Punch campaign as effective and he hopes to get a similar feedback with the soon to be launched Davao brand and logo. (MGM/PIA XI)

Davao City set to launch its new tourism brand by Mai Gevera-Macapagat

DAVAO CITY Sept. 15 (PIA)--Davao City is set to launch its tourism brand and logo on September 21 at Grand Men Seng Hotel after it got a positive feedback from newly-installed Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez in a recent meeting.

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DAVAO DEL NORTE, Sept. 15 (PIA) --- The provincial gov-ernment of Davao del Norte is serious in catching up with the deadline of meeting the vital needs of its con-stituents in fulfillment of the country’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

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by Jeanevive Duron-Abangan


The Provincial Health Office (PHO) of Davao del Norte first time holds the Provincial Health Summit today to assess the overall performance of the prov-ince as well as its eight municipalities in terms of meeting MDG targets. In an interview, PHO chief Dr. Agapito Hornido viewed the summit as es-sential in meeting the in-dicators set as benchmark of hitting the MDGs framed by the World Health Orga-nization to ensure a much better life of the majority. “By 2015 we shall have been able to meet the indicators,” he said Assessment of MDG performance during the summit is focused on the five health-related MDGs particularly on eradication of extreme poverty; re-duction of child mortality; improvement of maternal health; combat of HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases; and ensuring environmental sustain-ability, Dr. Hornido said. Other MDGs are achieve universal prima-ry education, promote gender equality and em-

powerment and develop global partnership for de-velopment. “We would like to show how does the prov-ince fare at the regional and national levels. We would also like to show the performance of each municipality,” Dr. Hornido said. “This is an oppor-tune time for the mayors to know that they have this kind of performance (in terms of meeting the MDG target),” he added. While the province achieves a noteworthy performance in terms of bringing down malnutri-tion, it is facing a chal-lenge on reducing poverty incidence and maternal mortality, Hornido re-vealed. PHO data showed that Davao del Norte posted a single malnutri-tion rate of 6 percent in 2010, a figure which was below the 8.7 percent at the regional and a way below the national MDG target of 17.3 percent. Dr. Hornido said that much remains to be done in catching up with the national MDG poverty

reduction target of 16.6 as the province still has 29.6 percent poverty inci-dence. Poverty reduction includes some factors to consider other than health, but Dr. Hornido said that his office is set to sustain efforts to bring down malnutrition inci-dence which is contribu-tory to good health. “If people were in good nutrition, their pro-ductivity would increase, and that’s an indication of good income,” he ex-plained. Meanwhile, the province of Davao del Norte is also doing well in terms of combating Malaria which WHO has spelled as among a major MDG concern. Dr. Hornido re-vealed that PHO moni-tored only two cases in August this year com-pared to about 20 in the same period last year. “For the last five years, Malaria cases have been going down. We have a good performance in (combating) Malaria,” he said. (MGM/PIA XI)

DavNor serious.....from page 17


Personality dev’t, social ethics discussed in DavNor civil service month openingby Jeanevive Duron-Abangan

DAVAO DEL NORTE, Sept. 15 (PIA) -- Davao del Norte provin-cial government opened its 111th Philippine Civil Service cel-ebration with a discussion on personality development and social ethics. Provincial Human Resource Management Office (PHRMO) chief Monica Salido found it fit-ting to discuss personality development as it jibed well with this year’s Phil-ippine Civil Service cel-ebration theme: Cham-pioning R.A.C.E. : Public Service Excellence at Full Speed. The Civil Ser-vice Commission this year aims to level up govern-ment’s way of serving the peoole through building responsive, accessible, courteous, and effective public service. Aligning with CSC’s thrust of building R.A.C.E., Salido brought the known cooperative and women leader Norma Pereyras to talk about personality improvement before the provincial government employees during the first Monday Convocation this

month (September). Bearing a number of top positions as the Women Sector represen-tative to COOP-NATCCO, a member of the Board of Director of the Philippine Cooperative Center, Girls Scout of the Philippines Central Board, and the number one board of di-rector of Tagum Coopera-tive, Pereyras shared tips on developing a winning personality. In her presentation, Pereyras bared knowl-edge, attitude and skills as the three integral parts of an individual’s person-ality which she described as the “integrated orga-nization of physical, emo-tional, intellectual, social, psychological and spiri-tual characteristics of an individual.” The very basic of a winning personality is “be yourself.” Other char-

acteristics of a winning personality that Perey-ras revealed included the ability to adapt changes; the ability to smile; ability to spread love and hap-piness; clarity and con-viction in communica-tion possessing energy, enthusiasm and empa-thy; having an attitude of gratitude and a positive attitude as well; learning from failure, overcoming the guilt & worry, having clear goals, having values clarification, making right decisions at the right time, and taking regular action. She also advised government workers to respect and value people, get free from envy and ego, refrain from com-plaining or criticizing what you cannot change, give honest sincere acknowl-edgment, challenge your beliefs and fear, stop pro-crastination, never give

20


up, continuously polish oneself, and to take reg-ular action especially on what needs to be done. Social ethics may seem out-of-reach for the ordinary but Pereyras discussed the its basics founded on simple acts of respect for others, saying thank you, showing kind-ness and on keeping the value of integrity. In keeping with the standards of business eti-quette, she advised to start the business trans-action with consideration

and respect for the other fellow; never interrupt when one is talking; and be watchful of the lan-guage you use. On the other hand, she brushed aside the no-tion that professionalism is having a diploma, de-gree or a special certifica-tion. “But while creden-tials can help, they don’t mean a lot if a worker doesn’t know how to act,” Pereyras said. “Professionalism is a matter of attitude and be-

havior. If you behave the way people expect a pro-fessional to behave, you’ll be accepted and treated like one,” she added. Her discussion on professionalism included etiquette on telephone conversa-tion, in the workplace, in the use of scents, on sounds, on table while she also took time dis-cussing about proper posture, proper attire on various occasions and on proper groom-ing. (MGM/PIA XI)

IP leaders in Mindanao to converge in DavNor by Jeanevive Duron-Abangan

DAVAO DEL NORTE, Sept. 15 (PIA)--- Indigenous people (IP) leaders from all over Mindanao will come together in Davao del Norte from Sept. 16 to 17 for the Indigenous Peoples Re-gional Assemby. Organized by the Senate Committee on Cultural Communities and Committe on Cli-mate Change chaired by Senator Loren Legarda, the series of IP assembly is a pre-lude to the Indigenous Cultural Summit that will run from October

13 to 14 to be held at the old Senate Build-ing in Manila . The activity is being conducted to serve as a forum to identify the concerns of IP. The output of which will form part of legislative measures, and will serve as ba-

sis of government ini-tiatives, to address the particular needs of IPs. Merlyn Enriquez of the National Com-mission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) Davao del Norte Provincial Office, this morning revealed that the IP

Personality dev’t.....from page 19

21


Regional Assembly in Davao del Norte will bring together about 100 participants who are leaders of vari-ous IP tribes Mindan-ao-wide . The seven ethnic tribes in the Davao Region will also be properly presented, specifically, the Man-daya, Mansaka, Dib-abawon, Ata-Mano-bo, Mangguangan, Sama, Kalagan (non-Islam), she said. In hosting the event, Davao del Norte will show-case the Kalibungan Festival of Talaingod featuring Ata-Mano-bo performers, while the Mansaka-Man-daya tribes will be bringing live, during the event, the Kai-monan Festival for IPs of Tagum City. NCIP Com-missioner Zenaida Brigida Hamada-Pawid will formally welcome the partici-pants to the assem-bly on Sept. 16, to be followed by the

presentation of the Department of Envi-ronment and Natural Resources (DENR) on the topic: Indig-enous Peoples at the Forefront of Climate Change and Natural Hazards. In the af-ternoon of the same day, Davao del Norte Provincial Gov. Ro-dolfo P. Del Rosario will give his open-ing message before the keynote speech of Senator Legarda. The senator will be giving time for an interaction with the participants in a Q and A forum. Meanwhile, the lined up topics to be presented on the second day are: ILO Convention 169: In-digenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, Sustainable Man-agement of Schools of Living Tradition, Success Stories on Community Initia-tives, and Success Stories on IP Cul-tural Enterprise and

Creative Industry. Discussions after the series of presentations will be accompanied with film showing on cli-mate change. The se-ries of IP assembly started off in Baguio City last September 9 to 10 participated in by IP tribes of Is-neg, Bago, Ting-gunian, Kankanaey, Iwak, Agta, Itawes, Tuwali, Gaddang, Bugkalot, Ayangan, Tiblac, Ivatan and the Dumagat. The IPs in the Visayas regions will also be converg-ing from September 23 to 24 at the Pro-vincial Capitol of Ilo-Ilo City. Aside from NCIP and DENR, par-ticipating agencies to the Regional IP As-sembly include the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the International Labor Organization (ILO). (MGM/PIA XI)

IP leaders.....from page 20


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DTI underscores benefits of doing business in Free Trade AreasGENERAL SANTOS CITY, Sept. 15 (PIA) - Doing business in Free Trade Areas has several benefits, said Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Bureau of Export Trade Promotion Direc-tor Senen Perlada. A roadshow cam-paign, dubbed as “Do-ing business in Free Trade Areas (DBFTA),” was conducted over the weekend here to edu-cate stakeholders on the importance of Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in im-proving the economy of a country. Perlada said the FTA is existing world-wide and is effective. “Andito na ito, we have to play it,” Perlada told local media. “If our part-ner economy ay mas agresibo, matatalo tayo at sila lang ang makikin-abang,” he added.

FTAs can create “increased exports, low-er costs of inputs to pro-duction, wider range of choice of goods for con-sumers at lower process, and job generation,” he said. Perlada said the country’s exporters should take advantage of the zero-tariff-import scheme under FTA, en-couraging those already engaged in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to utilize it to their own gain. FTA is a “contrac-tual agreement” entered between two or more

countries to encourage free flow of goods and services by means of granting both parties a preferential market ac-cess by reducing or elim-inating tariffs and other barriers of the trade. However, Trade and Industry Assistant Secretary to the Inter-national Trade Group Ramon Vicente Kabig-ting said even if a coun-try like the Philippines is having an agreement with other countries, it does not lose the pow-er to impose and exer-cise its own trade laws with respect to FTA.

by CT Apelacio


“FTA does not stop any coun-try from imposing standards on cer-tain imports sold here,” he said. The Philippines is cur-rently having trade agreements with the ASEAN nations, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Thai-land, Japan, Viet-nam, Indonesia, China, India, New Zealand, Australia aside from having a bilateral agree-ment with Japan, he said. “[FTA] does not touch on the goods but rules and servic-es. This is to put the two parties together so they have com-mon standards and free trade agree-ment,” he said. He also said that if only the country’s investors get more

involved interna-tionally, they will absorb and under-stand better the pol-icies and standards and the importance of FTA in doing busi-ness. With FTA’s zero tariff on various products in almost all partner-coun-tries, there will be an assured influx of more business and investment in the country that would mean jobs for the Filipinos and will re-dound eventually to an improved econo-my, he added. Jan Ced, Presi-dent of General San-tos City Chamber of Commerce and In-dustry, Incorporat-ed, lauded the DTI for init iating the DBFTA roadshow describing it “ben-eficial” to investors and businessmen

in the city. He also acknowledged that there are business-es which require in-vestments outside GenSan. M e a n w h i l e , DTI-12 Regional Director Ibrahim Guiamadel said the number one export product of Region-12 for the past years and this year is sti l l tuna with palm oil. He said there was an increase of more than 29 per-cent in exports last year. The DBFTA “aims to enable businesses to ac-cess market oppor-tunities and avail of benefits under the country’s current free trade agree-ments.” (CTA/PIA General Santos City)

DTI underscores...from page 23


NFA widens palay procurement

KORONADAL CITY, Sept. 15 (PIA) - South Cotabato’s Nation-al Food Authority has widened its procurement of palay as the buying price of commercial traders in the province con-tinues to slide down.

Provincial agri-culturist Reynaldo Le-gaste has confirmed that this week the prevailing price of palay went down to P14.00 to P14.50 a kilo range from last week’s P15.00 to P15.50 a kilo. Legaste said the downtrend was brought about by the peaking of rice harvest especially in the upper valley area, including the towns of Norala, Surallah, Banga and nearby areas. To fend local farm-ers from very low price for their produce and to prevent further fall of the buying price of pa-lay, NFA South Cotaba-to has opened its satel-lite procurement sites to buy palay in a much

higher price as com-pared to those offered by traders in the area. Angelina Luce-na, assistant provin-cial manager of NFA said, their procurement teams are already stationed at the farm grains center in Norala town and municipal lev-el grains center at Ba-rangay Dajay, Surallah. Procurement of pa-lay in the upper valley area started yesterday, September 14. She advised farm-ers in the area to co-ordinate with the pro-curement teams in their areas in the buying sta-tion. “We buy clean and dry palay from farmers at P17.00 per kilo plus P0.40 per kilo for deliv-

ering and drying incen-tives,” she said. Additional P0.30 per kilo is offered to co-operatives and farmers’ organizations that will sell their palay to NFA. In an earlier inter-view, Lucena assured that NFA South Cota-bato has enough fund for the massive procure-ment of palay from lo-cal sources. Warehous-es for storage have also been prepared to ac-commodate the bulk of the procured produce. NFA South Cotaba-to is targeting to buy at least 168,000 bags of palay before the year ends. Legaste said that through NFA farmers in the province are pro-vided with a more prof-

by Dani Doguiles

26


itable alternative to commercial traders. “With the price dif-ference, farmers here may be encouraged to

sell their produce to NFA,” he said. This year, South Cotabato receives no allocation for imported

rice but agriculture offi-cials here assured that the province’s harvest is sufficient for local requirements. (PIA 12)

Tagalog News: Pamahalaang panlalawigan nagpapasalamat sa MCFI sa isasagawang surgical mission KORONADAL CITY, Setyembre 15 (PIA) - Nagpasalamat ang pamahalaang panlalawigan ng South Cotabato sa mapag-kawang-gawang grupo na Maharlika Charity Foundation Inc. (MCFI) sa pagkakapili ng South Cotabato, partikular na lungsod ng Koronadal na pagdarausang ng ika-49 na surgical mission nito.

Sa isang pu-long-balitaan ka-makailan sinabi ni Vice Gov. Elmo To-losa na isang na-kapakalaking bi-yaya ang mabisita ang lalawigan ng MCFI upang maka-pagbigay ng li-breng operasyon para sa naghihika-hos na mga resi-dente, mga lumad at mga retiree na walang kakayahang

tustusan ang kai-langang medical procedures. Aniya pambi-hirang pagkakata-on ang mabibigyan ang mga residente sa lalawigan ng operasyon sa mga depekto sa mata pati na ang kat-arata, pterygium at pagkaduling, sungi, goiter, luslos at iba pang kondisyon ng walang kailangang

bayaran. Libre pa ang mga isasa-gawang laboratory test at gamot pag-katapos ng opera-syon. Mga espesy-alista pa sa mata at plastic surgery ang mga doktor na magsasagawa ng operasyon sa limang araw na surgical mission na magsisimula sa ika 25 ng Setyembre.

NFA widens...from page 25

27


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Tagalog News: Limang araw na surgical mission gagawin sa South Cotabato KORONADAL CITY, Setyembre 15 (PIA) -- Nakatakdang ga-gawin sa South Cotabato ang isang malaking surgical mission kung saan pangunahing makikinabang ang daan-daang mga mahihirap, mga lumad, at mga retiree.

Tagalog News: Pamahalaang panlalawigan...from page 26

Dagdag pa ni Vice Gov. Tolosa, na isa ring doktor, kompleto mula sa mga tauhan hang-gang sa pasilidad ang Maharlika Foundation kung kaya’t maaar-ing iilang nurse at pagkain ng mga mag-sasagawa ng medical mission na lang ang

kakailanganing iam-bag ng pamahalaang panlalawigan sa sur-gical mission. Katuwang din ng MCFI at pamahalaang panlalawigan ang Kor-onadal Lodge 209 of Free and Accepted Masons sa naturang gawain.

Nilinaw din ni To-losa na bagama’t para sa South Cotabato ang isasagawang sur-gical mission maaari ring magpalista para sa libreng operasyon ang mga residente ng mga karatig lala-wigan. (DEDoguiles/PIA 12)

Sa isang pu-long balitaan kama-kailan, inihayag ni board member Ervin Luntao na gagawin ang surgical mis-sion sa Setyembre 25 – 29 sa South Cotabato Gymna-sium and Cultural Center sa Alunan Ave., Koronadal City sa pangungu-

na ng Maharlika Charity Foundation, Inc. (MCFI), katu-wang ang pamaha-laang panlalawigan ng South Cotabato at Koronadal Lodge 209 of Free and Accepted Masons. Sa naturang surgical mission mabibigyan ng li-breng operasyon

ang may cleft lip, cleft palate o sun-gi, katarata pati na may kaso ng ptery-gium, stradismus o pagkaduling, goiter, hernia o luslos sa mga batang limang taong gulang paba-ba, at mga mi-nor cases ng cyst. May libreng dental services din silang


29

ibibigay. Sinabi naman ni Dr. Rizal Aporta-dera, presidente ng MCFI, dala nila sa surgical mission ang hindi bababa sa 35 na espesy-alista, kabilang ang mga eye doctor, plastic surgeon, an-aesthesiologist, at general surgeon. Dala rin nila ang kanilang komple-tong medical staff at mga pasilidad kabilang ang isang

mobile operating room. Ani Dr. Apor-tadera, layon ng MCFI na mabigyan ng pagkakataon ang mga mahihi-rap, mga lumad at mga retiree walang kakayahang tustu-san ang kinakail-angang operasyon na dumaan sa op-erasyon ng libre. Nais din nilang mabigyan ang mga pasyente ng mag-kakataon na mag-

karoon ng kumpi-yansa sa sarili dulot ng pagbabago sa kanilang pagmu-mukha at tuluy-ang maging mga produktibong ma-mamayan. Ang surgical mission ay kauna-unahang malawak na surgical mission sa ilalim ng pamu-nuan ni Gov. Ar-thur Y. Pingoy Jr. (DEDoguiles/PIA 12)

Tagalog News: Paglista ng mga nagnanais magpa-opera sa surgical mission sa South Cotabato nagpapatuloyKORONADAL CITY, Setyembre 15 (PIA) -- Nagpapatuloy pa rin ang isinasagawang paglilista ng mga residenteng nag-nanais na makinabang sa libreng operasyon sa surgical mis-sion ng Maharlika Charity Foundation Inc (MCFI) at pama-halaang panlalawigan ng South Cotabato sa darating na Setyembre 25 hanggang 29.

Inihayag ni Vice Gov. Elmo Tolosa na maaaring magpalista

ang mga may kaso ng cleft lip, cleft pal-ate o sungi, katarata

pati na may kaso ng pterygium, stradis-mus o pagkaduling,

Tagalog News: Limang araw...from page 27


Tagalog News: Paglista ng mga....from page 28

goiter, minor cyst, at mga batang limang taong gulang pababa na may hernia o lus-los sa mga tanggapan ng gobernador, bise gobernador, at South Cotabato Provincial Hospital. Maari ring mag-palista sa tangga-pan ni board mem-ber Ervin Luntao at sa mga istasyon ng Radio Mindan-ao Network (RMN) at Bombo Radyo sa lungsod ng Kor-onadal. I p i n a l i w a n a g ni Dr. Rizal Aporta-dera, presidente ng MCFI, na bukas ang libreng operasyon para sa naghihika-hos, mga lumad at mga retiree na wa-lang kakakayahang tustusan ang ka-

nilang operasyon. Nilinaw din nito na sa Setyembre 25 isang team mula sa MCFI ang mauu-na sa Koronadal sa Koronadal upang magsagawa ng screening sa mga kandidato sa op-erasyon at kinakai-langang mga labo-ratory test. Ito aniya ay upang maseguro na ligtas na sumailalim ang mga kandidato sa operasyon. Si-simulan umano ang malawakang op-erasyon sa tanghali ng Setyembre 26. Ang mission sa South Cotabato ay ika-49 na surgical mission ng MCFI sa buong Mindanao at kauna-unahan sa South Cotabato.

Aabot na uma-no sa mahigit 8,000 indibidwal ang ka-nilang naoperahan ng libre sa buong Mindanao. Libre din ang gamot pati na ang follow-up sa mga ooperahang magkakaroon ng komplikasyon. Target sa natur-ang surgical mission na makapagsagawa ng 60 hanggang 100 eye operation, at 60 hanggang 100 cleft palate or cleft lip operation, 60 hanggang 100 minor operations. Mas maraming bi-lang ang inaasah-ang mabibigyan ng dental service, ayon kay Dr. Aportad-era. (DEDoguiles/PIA 12)


Abducted Lingig Mayor to Surigao del Sur officials: “Stop military operations”

BUTUAN CITY, Sept. 15 (PIA) - “Stop military operations,” thus said abducted Mayor Henry Dano of Lingig, Surigao del Sur when he got a chance to talk with the local management crisis committee. In an interview, Surigao del Sur Gov-ernor and crisis com-mittee head Johnny T. Pimentel said he was able to talk to Mayor Dano. He said the mayor was doing fine. Pimentel added that Mayor Dano re-iterated his call for the suspension of military operations in the area in exchange for his freedom. The New People’s Army, alleged abduc-tors of the official, has demanded the cessation of military operations in five

provinces, namely, Agusan del Sur, Su-rigao del Sur, Com-postella Valley Prov-ince, Davao Oriental and Bukidnon. Pimentel, how-ever, said that he can order the suspension of military operations only in his province. He said he cannot stop the military op-erations in provinces that are not under his jurisdiction. But Pimentel stood firm in his po-sition that military operations will cease only after Mayor Dano has been released by

his captors. It can be recalled that Mayor Dano, to-gether with his two Army escorts, was abducted by suspect-ed New People’s Amy rebels on August 6 in his residence at Lin-gig, Surigao del Sur. His abductors report-edly posed as gov-ernment agents. Pimentel said the local management crisis committee is doing everything to negotiate with the abductors for the safe release of May-or Dano. (PIA-Cara-ga)

by Robert E. Roperos


AGUSAN DEL SUR, Sept. 15 (PIA) – Agusan del Sur Gov. Adolph Edward Plaza signs Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Education (DepEd) officials, local govern-ment officials and the tribal leaders to jointly implement newly introduced program in education called Philippines’ Response to Indigenous Peoples’ and Muslim Education (PRIME), reaching the indigenous peoples (IPs) and the Muslims alike in Agusan del Sur.

PRIME: Delivering education to IPs and Muslims at its best by David M. Suyao

“I am surprised and very glad to know that the DepEd) has came up with this educational devel-opment initiative for our IPs in Agusan del Sur because while we struggle to give bet-ter and quality edu-cation to our brothers and sisters IPs, many of them also took ad-vantage in using their brothers’ and sisters’ ignorance for their own benefits. Now that the DepEd has came up with this new program, education will be delivered to far flung IP commu-

nities, and I believe, when everybody will have better educa-tion, nobody will be taking advantage of other people’s igno-rance,” Gov. Plaza said. According to Gov. Plaza, how he wish his long dream will come true that the DepEd will establish high schools in far flung areas in Agu-san del Sur so that poor IP high school students can avail of high school education right at their commu-nities. According Agu-

san del Sur Schools Division Supt. Cru-cita ZM-Taala, the program will be ini-tially implemented in schools with 100 percent IP students in five municipalities namely Barangay Si-nakungan in Esperan-za for the Higaonon, Barangay Sikat Mac-tan in Loreto for the Manobos, Barangay Olangoan in San Luis for the Banwaon, Ta-laandig and Manobo, Barangay Valentina in La Paz for the Mano-bos and Barangay Culi Ram, Talacogon for the Manobos.

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CHED-Caraga tells public, private HEIs to support peace activities on Sept. 21

BUTUAN CITY, Sept. 15 (PIA) – Citing some pertinent provisions of Re-public Act No. 7722, otherwise known as the “Higher Education Act of 1994,” Commission on Higher Education (CHED), Caraga Regional Di-rector Dr. Isabela L. Mahler directed all public and private higher edu-cation institutions (HEIs) in the region to support the peace activities initiated by the Caraga Youth Leaders Network (CYLN) in line with the celebration of the International Day of Peace on September 21, 2011.

by Robert E. Roperos

Officer-in-Charge and Assistant Schools Division Supt. Gemma de Paz said PRIME is an educational initiative of the DepEd to im-prove equitable access to and quality of basic education for children in disadvantaged in-digenous peoples and Muslim communities. It is supported by the Government of Aus-tralia as a founding partner for an initial period of three years (2011-2014) through an Australian Agency

for International De-velopment (AusAID) grant. It will provide DepEd with additional resources in the form of grants to school communities and to support activities for DepEd and targeted communities. According to PRIME commitment, the program recog-nize that the right to basic education is fundamentally an en-abling right which is essential in claiming other rights, exercis-

ing self determination and expanding oppor-tunities and choices. It also recognize the urgency of respond-ing to the need of the IPs and the Muslim communities for rel-evant and responsive basic education, one that removes barriers to meaningful partici-pation in society and empowers learners to exercise their rights and duties as Filipino citizens. (PIA-Agu-san del Sur)

PRIME: Delivering...from page 31

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In a memoran-dum signed by Dr. Mahler on Septem-ber 8, CHED-Cara-ga is endorsing the peace activities spearheaded by CYLN for the sup-port and participa-tion of all HEIs. Meanwhile, Mr. Rex Ybañez, CYLN Chief Executive Officer and Chair-man said the 5 – Minute Moment of Prayer for Peace (Singko Minutos na Pag-Ampo Alang sa Kalinaw) from 8: 00 AM – 8: 05 AM on September 21 will be conduct-ed by both private and government offices, civic orga-nizations, schools, local government units, youth or-

ganizations, and churches through-out Caraga Re-gion. “This can be done in just within the workplace or vicinity. All shall gather in one area wherein they can render the prayer for peace while holding a lighted candle. This is to open the day with blessing from the Creator to sustain peace and devel-opment for all of us,” Ybañez ex-plained. Ybañez also said the Signa-ture Campaign for Peace (Pirma Al-ang sa Kalinaw) is a campaign for peace process in the Philippines and

to all parts of the world to ending wars and desputes, and start peace for the rest of us. The signature signifies a strong meaning and is a tool to end any form of con-flict or dispute. “This can be done within the work place. A Sheet of Paper with a Peace Mes-sage on the top of it (ex. Ang Kalinaw Akong Katungod!, I Vote for Peace, I am a peacemak-er),” Ybañez said. The Peace Edu-cation Symposium gives concrete ed-ucation on the na-ture of peace, level of peace and oth-er relevant infor-mation regarding

CHED-Caraga...from page 32

34


CHED-Caraga...from page 33

peace particularly on how to sustain peace in Mindan-ao and the whole world. No any partic-ular module to be run for this initia-tive for the Peace Concept comes from various ap-proaches. Any type of peace education lesson can be taught to the audience, and can be adminis-tered by a quali-fied person within the office. Moreover, Yba-ñez stressed the Photo Petition for Peace although not included in the said memos can still be observed by those parties con-

cerned in peace. A Photo Petition is an individual peace initiative by taking a personal photo with a per-sonal message to advocate peace. This photo can be uploaded to Fa-cebook Account: Give Peace A Shot: A Peace Photo Peti-tion. “You can see thousands of indi-vidual photos ad-vocating peace in our society in the given Facebook Account,” Ybañez said. M e a n w h i l e , Ybañez reminded the heads of offices that the documen-tation on the con-duct of the Peace activities such as

photos, accom-plished signature campaign sheets, attendance sheets and activity re-ports shall be sub-mitted either in soft or hard copy to: THE CARAGA YOUTH LEADERS’ NETWORK INC., 4/F, POPCOM 13, Balebria Bldg., Pili Drive St., Bu-tuan City, Tel. 346 – 9842 Fax: 815-1361 Mobile: 0 9 1 8 - 4 7 9 5 2 6 2 , 0927-2323219. For soft copy (scanned or in pdf), it may be sent to [email protected] or [email protected]. (PIA-Caraga)


RTWPB cancels public hearing on minimum wage adjustment in Surigao del Sur

TANDAG CITY, Sept. 15 (PIA) - The public hearing/consultations on Minimumm Wage Adjustment spearheaded by the Regional Tripartite Wages Productivity Board (RTWPB) Caraga on September 14 in Bislig City and September 15 in Tandag City all in Surigao del Sur were can-celled and reset.

RTWPB Chair and DOLE Regional Director Offelia Domingo had made an announce-ment in an interview over Radio ng Bayan Tandag on September 14. According to Dir. Domingo, the cancel-lation of the two Public

Hearings for Minimum Wage Adjustment Peti-tion in SUrigao del Sur was due to the adviso-ry from Manila TWPB to reduce the number of Public Hearing in Caraga. Accordingly, the Pub l i c /Consu l ta t i on Hearing for Bislig that

was set earlier is moved and joined with Butu-an City on September 22 to beheld at Luci-ana Convention Cen-ter, Butuan City, while Tandag City will be set on September 16, to be held in Hotel Tav-ern, Surigao City. (PIA SUrigao del Sur)

by Nida Grace B. Tranquilan

NFA Surigao del Norte assures sufficient rice supplySURIGAO CITY, September 15 (PIA) – The National Food Au-thority (NFA) - Surigao del Norte assured the public of its suf-ficient rice supply. According to Na-tional Food Authority (NFA) Provincial Manag-er Cir i lo A. Pol inar, r ice supply for the entire province can st i l l sus-tain even unti l the f irst quarter of next year. “The publ ic has

nothing to worry for our r ice supply is st i l l enough for the entire province of Surigao del Norte including Dinagat Islands,” said Pol inar. To date, NFA-Su-rigao del Norte has a to-tal stockpile of 335,035

sacks of both local and imported rice. Polinar disclosed that aside from NFA rice, substantial sup-plies of commercial rice are also sold in the mar-ket. (PIA-Surigao del Norte)

by Dandy Lapura


DILG seeks clarification on TRO vs. ARMM OICs

ARMM Informa-tion Chief Ali Macaba-lang said Sec. Robre-do, a leading member of the selection com-mittee tasked to screen aspirants for OICs in ARMM, is set to preside in Zam-boanga City today (Thursday) another screening forum for candidates for ap-pointment as care-takers in the offices of regional governor and vice governor. “ N a k a - s c h e d -ule po kami sa Zam-boanga pero dahil sa

sa Supreme Court ruling gusto naming linawin kung pinipig-ilan kami. Kundi ay itutuloy namin,” Ro-bredo told the GMA news network an in-terview yesterday. Sec. Robredo proceeded with the screening of short-listed candidates for OIC-governor and vice governor at the tightly guarded Shar-iff Kabunsuan Cultur-al Center inside the ARMM compound in Cotabato City Tues-day, despite a road-

side bomb blast that greeted his arrival in the city. No one was hurt in the 1:20 p.m. exp los ion of an 81-mi l l imeter impro-v ised exp los ive de-v ice a long S insuat Avenue, not far f rom p lacard and stream-er-bear ing demon-strators chant ing the i r a l l -out support to the Moro Is lamic L iberat ion Front ’s demand for the cre-at ion of a sub-state, sa id Senior Super-intendent

ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Sept. 15 (PIA) – Department of Inte-rior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo wants a clarification on the scope of the temporary restraining order (TRO) the Supreme Court issued Tuesday against imminent appointmentby Malacañang of officers-in-charge (OICs) in the Autonomous Region in MuslimMindanao (ARMM).

37


DILG seeks...from page 36Roberto Badian, the city police chief. Robredo, a lead-ing member of the Presidential selection committee screening more than 100 candi-dates for OICs in the two ARMM executive posts and 24 legis-lative seats, left the Tuesday forum ven-ue after reports came about the high court TRO. Two more blasts, also fashioned from improvised mortar explosives, went off along Guttierez Av-enue in Cotabato City four blocks away from the gate of the ARMM compound Wednesday morning. One went off at around 5:30am and the other was deto-nated about 7a.m. by bomb disposal experts, said Badian, who re-ported no casualty in both later explosions. There are seven

shortlisted candidates for OIC-governor, five for vice governor and almost 100 for the 24-seat regional legisla-tive assembly. They will be ranked and separately endorsed to the House Speaker and Senate President, who will submit rec-ommendations to the President by Sept. 20. At the Tuesday selection forum, Sec. Robredo and the can-didates for the two executive slots ex-pressed assurances to respect the high court TRO. The TRO bars Mal-acañang from naming the OICs until the Su-preme Court decides with finality the peti-tions questioning the constitutionality of Re-public Act No. 10153, the law that deferred the ARMM elections this year and synchro-nized them with the

2013 polls. In an 8 to 4 vote, the high court en banc on Tuesday issued the ruling against the ex-ercise of President Aquino’s appointment of OICs in ARMM as provided also under RA 10153. If the high court is not able to decide the consolidated ARMM cases before Sept. 30, the ARMM incumbent officials will continue in office, as provided for by RA 9054, until their successors are duly elected or are qualified by a high court decision, Supreme Court spokes-person Jose Midas Mar-quez explained. RA 9054 is an amendatory law to RA 6734, the Organ-ic Act that created the ARMM. The terms of ARMM incumbents will expire on Sept. 30 under the amen-datory Organic Act.

38


According to Marquez, it was bet-ter that a TRO be is-sued now before the OICs are appointed because there would be more confusion and even chaos when the appointments were made before a legal ruling. Marquez said the TRO will take ef-fect immediately and would be enforced “until lifted.” The High Tribunal has yet to release officially the ruling but Chief Justice Renato Co-rona authorized the announcement of the decision, he said. Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal and ex-senator Aq-uilino Pimentel Jr. were among the par-ties that questioned the constitutionality of RA 10153. Marquez said he

has yet to see the dissenting opinions and could not say why four magistrates voted against the is-suance of the TRO. Rank and file employees of ARMM have expressed ela-tion over the court ruling, describing it as an “initial relief” from perceived rail-roading in the pas-sage of RA 10153, especially on its OICs appointment provi-sion. But ARMM Ex-ecutive Secretary Naguib Sinarimbo, a lawyer, said they were “not rejoicing over the issuance of the TRO” because “we are focused on delivering services and implementing all programs long need-ed in the autonomous region.” As early as two

months ago, Sina-rimbo said, Acting ARMM Governor An-saruddin Alonto-Adi-ong had formed a transition body man-dated to “insure a peaceful transfer of power” to officials the President would have appointed. Sinarimbo, mean-while, urged the public and the media to avoid speculations about the three recent bomb blasts in Cotabato City, and allow law enforce-ment agencies to fully investigate the inci-dents. “Our regional governance already has a lot of problems to address. Specula-tions (on the bomb blast) would com-pound the odds un-duly,” Sinarimbo told the media. (BPI-ARMM/RVC-PIA9 BaSulTa)

DILG seeks...from page 37


40

City intensifies breastfeeding campaign; enacts breastfeeding Ordinance

Claudine Uniana of the City Information Office, in a press state-ment said the ordinance is geared at intensifying practice of breastfeed-ing in the city. Uniana explained “the ordinance pushes for the establishment of a work environment that fulfills the basic physical, emotional and psychological needs of mothers and infants as well as protecting work-ing mothers by provid-ing safe and healthy working conditions, taking into account the maternal functions, fa-cilities and opportu-nities that will enable mothers to combine family obligations with work responsibilities.” She further ex-plained, “Ordinance No.

377 recognizes breast milk as the best source of nutrition for babies and that breastfeed-ing promotes the de-velopment of emotional bonding between moth-er and child, bestows upon the newborn in-fant protection against infection, provides the mother natural contra-ception after delivery and protects mothers from closely spaced pregnancy. Uniana confirmed the ordinance mandates all private enterprises, government agencies including their subdivi-sions and instrumental-ities, and Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) in the city to establish lactation stations where working mothers can

breastfeed or hand-ex-press breast milk dur-ing lactation breaks. The ordinance clearly states that lac-tation stations must be equipped with “lava-tory for hand washing unless there is an eas-ily accessible lavatory nearby; refrigeration or appropriate cooling fa-cilities where to store the expressed breast milk; table; comfort-able seats; electrical outlets and other nec-essary items. “Nursing mother employees shall also be allowed to take break intervals in ad-dition to regular time-off for meals to breast-feed or expressed milk after asking permis-sion from her supervi-sor” Uniana said.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Sept. 15 (PIA) - To further drum beat and encourage the practice of breastfeeding in the various work-place in Zamboanga, the City Council enacted Ordinance 377 known as breastfeeding ordinance.

by Jocelyn P. Alvarez


Any private estab-lishments or govern-ment institution caught violating the ordinance shall be imposed a fine of P1, 000 for the first

offense; for second of-fense, a fine of P2, 000 and non extension of Sanitary Permit will be accorded to violators and a fine of P3000 and

cancellation or revoca-tion of business per-mits or license to op-erate for third offense. (JPA/PIA 9-Zambo City)

DSWD-IX disburses P500-M for 4Ps beneficiaries in ZamboSur’s 2nd district.

Pagadian City, Sept. 15 (PIA) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD-IX) has disbursed a total amount of P499,974 million for the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) beneficiaries covering 15 municipalities of the second congressional district of Zamboanga del Sur.

by Claro A. Lanipa

In her report dur-ing the Convergence Caravan held in Du-malinao gymnasium on Thursday (Sept. 15, 2011), Evangeline Poquita, 4Ps provincial focal person disclosed, that from May 2009 to June 2011 DSWD has released the total amount of P499,974 million intended for the 33,965 beneficia-ries of the program. The number of beneficiaries as of

September 2011 are as follows: Tabina (1991); Dinas (2564); San Miguel (1675); Lapuyan (2686); Vin-cenzo Sagun (1834); San Pablo (2218); Tigbao (1669); Lake-wood (1829); Kuma-larang (3548); Bayog (2479); Dumalinao (2627); Pitogo (2048); Dimataling (3254); Magorsatubig (2240) and Guipos (1303). In his State of the Nation Address

(SONA) on July 25, 2011, President Be-nigno S. Aquino III has ordered DSWD to expand the pro-gram to two mil-lion beneficiaries by 2011 for the entire country. Zamboanga del Sur got a share of 27,940 benefi-ciaries, to date the province has a ben-eficiary base of ap-proximately 64,575. (JPA/CAL/PIA9/ZamboSur)

City intensifies...from page 39


This time, WESCOM and the Pro-vincial Government, along with their part-ners in development, will be bringing “Lak-bay Bayanihan sa Palawan” (Lakbayan), a multi-sector civic action activities, to the municipalities of Cagayancillo, Cuyo, Agutaya and Magsay-say all of Palawan. The 6th Civil Re-lations Group of the AFP said besides giv-ing free medical and dental services, free circumcision, blood typing and blood smearing, residents of the host commu-nities will also learn

basic management and simplified book-keeping to help them manage their financ-es wisely. The Provincial Economic Enterprise and Development Of-fice (PEEDO) will also hold a livelihood in-formation dissemina-tion to provide the beneficiaries with knowledge of a likely profitable source of income. The Registry of Deeds will also form part of the Lakbayan team and will dis-pense land titling ser-vices to individuals who wants to register their untitled lands.

Wheelchairs, on the other hand, will be distributed by the personnel from the Naval Forces West (NFW) to identified beneficiaries. Lakbayan is a flagship program of the provincial gov-ernment that aims to deliver its services, in cooperation with different agencies, civic organizations and non-government organizations, to all Palaweňos, particu-larly to those in re-mote and far-flung areas that barely have access to gov-ernment services.

ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Sept. 15 (PIA) – Fresh from the week-long rounds it made to four northern municipalities to bring the government services to the people, the Western Com-mand (WESCOM) and the Provincial Government now turn its wheels to another four island villages still up north to deliver health, social and other related services.

‘Lakbayan’ sets wheels, delivers services to remote villages

42


It also aims to empower the people so that they may be-come a strong foun-dation of the prov-ince as it pushes for development and progress. Lakbayan first brought its services to Cagayancillo on

September 9, then to Cuyo on Septem-ber 11 and Agutaya and Magsaysay on the 12th. A naval ship will once again be used as a plat-form for the activi-ties. The 6CRG said that the Lakbayan

team had made rounds prior to these visits in the munici-palities of Linapacan, Coron, Culion and Busuanga and was able to help thou-sands of Palaweňos. ( J P A / 6 C R G A F P /DM-PIA9 BaSulTa)

In a press re-lease, the 6th Civil Relations Group of the AFP disclosed the WESCOM Command-er was proclaimed as Puerto Princesa City’s adopted son through a resolution authored by City Councilor Jim-

my L. Carbonell which was unanimously ap-proved by the 13th Sangguniang Pan-glungsod on August 31 this year. The honor was conferred to LTGen. Sabban for having been “primarily re-

sponsible in provid-ing and maintaining security in the City [of Puerto Princ-esa] and the entire province of Palawan against the attacks and invasions of lo-cal, as well as, in ter-national terrorists.”

ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Sept. 15 (PIA) – In recognition of his outstanding character and his numerous invaluable contribu-tions, the city government of Puerto Princesa has declared the Western Command (WESCOM) Chief, LTGen Juancho M. Sabban AFP, as the city’s ad.opted son.

WESCOM Chief named Puerto Princesa’s adopted son

43

‘Lakbayan’ sets...from page 41


Sabban has been serving the people since 1979. The city council, through the resolu-tion, praised LTGen SABBAN for being “truly an officer and a gentleman, a man of principle, courage, probity, integrity and a dedicated and lov-ing father to his fam-ily.” It has also ex-pressed its admira-tion to the WESCOM Chief’s meritorious achievements as a military officer. “He is one of the most dec-orated officers, which bespeaks [his charac-ter] as a model Filipi-no soldier and officer of the Armed Forc-es of the Philippines (AFP) who gained the

respect and admira-tions of his peers in uniform, government officials and in gen-eral, the Filipino peo-ple,” the resolution affirmed. The city council further commended the General for the various numerous awards he had re-ceived as a military officer from govern-ment agencies, non-government orga-nizations, religious groups, youth and the People of Puerto Princesa in general, the highest of which, as the resolution cited, is the Distin-guished Service Star with 1st Silver Ana-haw Leaf (SAL). The awards and commendations that

Sabban received are tangible representa-tion of the Filipino nation’s recognition of the general’s “in-valuable service as passionate defender of democracy, peace and the government of the Republic of the Philippines.” LTGen Sabban said he was hon-ored to be regarded as Puerto Princesa City’s adopted son. “It has already been an honor to be able to serve the people, and I feel doubly honored now to know that the people we have been serving appre-ciates and recogniz-es our efforts,” the WESCOM Chief said. ( J P A / 6 C R G A F P /RVC-PIA9 BaSulTa)

WESCOM Chief...from page 42

one mindanao - september 15, 2011

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