The city government of Dumaguete is now taking animal rights seriously with the passage of a new ordinance pushing for the protection of animal welfare while putting more teeth into the city's anti-rabies campaign.
Ordinance No. 21 now limits dog ownership to two dogs for the dogs' sake. "Dog ownership must be restricted if the dog owner cannot really afford to give the necessary care that the animals need," says City Veterinarian Dr. Lourdes Socorro during yesterday's Kapihan forum.
Socorro cites shelter, food and nutrition, grooming and exercise and protection from infectious diseases that may cause death as some of the animal rights that dog owners should provide. "If you cannot afford to give these rights, then the government has the right to prevent you from owning these dogs because you will be maltreating them by not providing for their needs," she said.
She however clarified that dog ownership, even if restricted, depends on the owner's capability to provide. You can raise as many dogs as you want if you can afford to provide for all their needs, Socorro said.
The new ordinance also increased the registration or licensing fee from P5 to P100.
Socorro explained that 50% of the fee will go to the barangays which are now closely involved in the ordinance's implementation as it orders barangays to identify dog owners in their areas by conducting surveys in households with dogs and cats.
Violators will face imprisonment from one to 6 months and fines of not less than P2,000 but not more than P5,000or both fine and imprisonment upon the discretion of the court, says Socorro.
The city's new ordinance, authored by City Councilor Dr. Urbano Diga and which amends Ordinance No. 15, is in support of Republic Act 8485 or the Animal Welfare Act that was passed in 1998.
Provincial Veterinary Officer Dr. Antonio Mutia said RA 8485 calls for animal protection and responsible pet ownership. "This law covers all kinds of animals, like pets, food animals, show animals and even wild animals," says Mutia who warned that the destruction of animal habitat is already a violation of the said law.
The Provincial Veterinary Office has been conducting lectures in the different towns and cities to raise awareness on the salient points of the Animal Welfare Act.
Both Mutia and Socorro was speaking in yesterday's Kapihan forum conducted by the Philippine Information Agency in line with the first celebration of Animal Welfare Week in October.
Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has signed on October 11 last year Proclamation No. 175 declaring the first week of October as Animal Welfare Week.
In line with the celebration, the city and provincial veterinary offices here is conducting free clinics offering services on deworming, tick, flea and lice treatment, castration of male dogs and cats and treatment of sick animals.
The city veterinarian said the celebration also aims to highlight the Animal Welfare Act, under which facilities involved in raising any kind of animals are now required to register with the Bureau of Animal Industry's Animal Welfare Division.
"Before, anybody can have a pet shop, but now it is regulated," states Socorro.
The said bureau also regulates the raising of poultry if it exceeds a certain number.
In the same forum, Mutia reminded dog owners to be responsible and submit their dogs for regular vaccination.
He also warned dog owners not to let their pets loose even if they are vaccinated. "There is a real danger that your dog will bite someone. Under the law, the dog owner is responsible for the medical expenses if their dog bites someone as dog bites can also lead to tetanus and not just rabies," Mutia stressed.
This was reiterated by Socorro, who said that Ordinance No. 21 also calls for the mandatory leashing of dogs. "You must keep your dogs within your premises. If you are not leashing it, then it must be inside a fenced household."
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Gov't offices in OrNeg respond to call for energy conservation
As the energy audit team created by Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo continues to keep an eye on the energy saving measures of government offices in Manila, public offices in Oriental Negros are also doing their share to the national government's energy conservation program.
The energy audit team headed by Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Waldo Q. Flores of the Office of the President has coordinated with local government units to make sure that enercon measures are implemented in their respective areas.
The Capitol here, which has around 14 departments and divisions and employs about 1,700 workers, has stepped up its power reduction measures. Capitol Information Officer Oliver Lemence said that the aircon and lights in provincial government offices are switched off 15 to 30 minutes after office hours start and before it ends.
Governor George P. Arnaiz has ordered provincial government drivers to maximize the use of government vehicles when loading construction materials while engine mechanics were instructed to regularly check and keep vehicles in tip-top shape.
"We have also minimized unnecessary trips both in and out of the province…and the Governor has also limited the use of his security back-up vehicles during out of town trips," says Lemence.
Sizeable government offices here like the National Food Authority (NFA) and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) are also complying with the President's directive to cut down electricity and fuel costs.
GSIS, staffed by more than 50 personnel working in a building of 3 floors, had to resort to re-aligning electrical switches to save on power costs. "Our (electrical) setup before was one switch for each floor, which has about 16 lights. Now there are three switches so we can turn off lights in unused spaces or unoccupied rooms," says Roy Mariño, GSIS Property Officer.
After the employees leave at the end of office hours, security guards make their rounds to ensure that all electrical equipment are turned off.
The centralized aircon is also switched off for at least an hour each working day.
At NFA, aircon units are already turned off as early as 3:00 or 3:30 p.m., says NFA Information Officer Rolando Lazalita, who added that in some floors of the NFA building, all the lights are turned off the entire day. "We just open the windows or turn up the blinds," adds Lazalita.
Pres. Arroyo has recently issued administrative order 126 directing government agencies to immediately implement energy conservation program to address the extraordinary increases in world oil prices.
Specifically, the President ordered agencies to further reduce fuel and electricity consumption by 10 percent by limiting the use of petroleum productions to essential activities.
Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla said the "creation of the energy audit team will direct the government's collective effort to conserve energy as we deal with the effects of extraordinary high oil prices."
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SU hosts annual confab for nutritionists, dietitians nationwide
About 100 members of the Council of Deans and Heads of Nutrition and Dietetics (CODHEND) nationwide will gather in Dumaguete City from October 13 to 15, 2005 as Silliman University will host the council's 22nd annual meeting and seminar-workshop.
The conference-workshop, which banners the theme: "Teaching and Training Strategies in Nutrition and Dietetics", will be highlighted by a Keynote Address from Dr. Cecilia A. Florencio, Professor at the University of the Philippines, Diliman College of Home Economics on the first day.
The activity will feature talks on recent trends in the field of nutrition and dietetics by speakers from prominent universities in the country as well as the council's annual business meeting to be led by CODHEND's current chair Dr. Veritas F. Luna from UP Dilliman.
An educational tour in small food establishments around Dumaguete City and Valencia town will cap the three-day event, says Michelle Naranjo of the SU College of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Naranjo said this is the first time the annual confab is held outside of Luzon. "Ever since, the conference-workshop has been held in Manila and Baguio, so this is the first time it will be held in Visayas."
CODHEND is an organization of individuals and institutions involved in nutrition and dietetics education at the tertiary level that are dedicated to promoting the country's nutrition and dietetics education as relevant to national development and well being.
Since its formation in 1983, CODHEND has been holding annual meetings and conference-workshops to increase awareness among the members of the best practices in training and teaching nutrition and dietetics. It also aims to provide skills on simple and effective teaching and training strategies for nutrition and dietetics.
According to the Nutrition and Dietetics website, dietetics was first recognized as a profession following the creation of the Dietetics Department at the Philippine General Hospital in 1952. Three years after, the Dietetic Association of the Philippines was incorporated in response to the need to organize the increasing number of dietitians entering the profession.
Likewise, Republic Act No.2674 was passed in 1960 to regulate the practice of dietetics. But in 1987, the Dietetic Association of the Philippines worked towards the signing of Presidential Decree No. 1286 entitled "Regulating the Practice of Nutrition and Dietetics in the Philippines, and for other Purposes," to repeal RA No. 2674, after the association realized the demand for nutrition graduates in areas other than hospital dietetics.
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PHILPOST launches new Express Pouch Service
The Philippine Postal Corporation (PHILPOST) has come up with a new mail service that guarantees a 24-hour, door-to-door, two-way delivery service.
The Express Pouch Service (EPS) promises to deliver mails within 24 hours either by land or air with a pouch bag that comes in three sizes and can accommodate items weighing from as low as 500 grams to 2 kilograms, says PHILPOST Regional Information Officer Josephine Layco.
Layco said EPS was introduced in response to the need of big businesses to exchange documents and information with their various branches and subsidiaries within the country on a fairly reliable and consistent delivery time basis.
Each pouch is accompanied with a delivery receipt that the sender fills in and uses it for instructions on how the mails are treated under certain circumstances, Layco added. Proof of delivery is mailed back to the sender within 24 hours from the pouch's receipt.
The sender may even request that the proof of delivery be faxed back to him/her or be immediately confirmed via text and or e-mail messages.
Layco adds that the value added advantage of the service is that tracing the whereabouts of mails, is made easy through its computerized delivery confirmations, including undelivered mails.
However, EPS is currently being pilot tested in twenty-five areas only. The areas served for the air route are: Bacolod City, Butuan City, Cagayan de Oro City, Cebu City, Cotabato City, Davao City, General Santos City, Iloilo City, Kalibo, Aklan, Lapulapu City, Legaspi City, Mandaue City, Puerto Princesa City, Roxas City, Tacloban City, Tagbilaran City and Zamboanga City. For the land route, PHILPOST identified the areas in Pampanga that included San Fernando, Angeles City, Subic, Clark Air Base, Tagaytay City, San Pablo City and Lucena City.
Francisco Mapili, Supervising Postal Service Officer in the province and Dumaguete City Postmaster, explained that for the moment, Dumaguete City has not been included in the EPS pilot areas because it takes 72 hours for mails from here to reach Manila and vice versa. "Our outgoing mails have to stay overnight at the Dumaguete Airport for security measures," he said.
The Dumaguete Airport lacks x-ray machines that can quickly scan mails and parcels for bombs and because of this, mails stay at the airport overnight before they are transported the following day to Manila via the afternoon flight of Air Philippines.
But Mapili is hopeful that once security measures at the airport improve, Dumaguete City can start offering EPS.
Among the services offered by the post office here are the five-day international express mail, domestic express mail, priority and registered mails, money order, postal ID and P.O. boxes.
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More PDAF-funded infrastructure projects completed
More infrastructure projects were completed last month in the towns of Siquijor and Enrique Vilanueva, Siquijor.
All funded under the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Siquijor Congressman Shane Fua Jr., completed projects were repair and rehabilitation of a farm to market road in Dumanjug, Siquijor, Siquijor; repair and rehabilitation of a multi-purpose building in Camogao, Engique Villanueva, Siquijor; and another multi-purpose building in Binoongan, Enrique Villanueva, Siquijor.
The three projects have a fund allocation of P500,000 each, says the Department of Public Works and Highways here.
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Larena receives P1M grant for infra projects
The municipality of Larena has received funding from the Officeof the President for its priority infra projects. The release was made in response to the request of the local government through a resolution passed by the Sangguniang Bayan on February 23, 2005.
Taken from the President's Social Fund, the P1M grant is intended to implement the President's social agenda to fast track delivery of basic services to depressed communities.
Larena Mayor Gold Calibo together with SB member Clare Lucero personally received the check of P500,000 representingthe first tranche for the improvement of the waterworks system in municipality.
Based on the memorandum of agreement, the second tranche of P400,000 will be released upon 50% physical accomplishment and favorable results of audit conducted on the project approval of the OIC, President Social Fund.
The third tranche of P100,000 will be released upon 100% project's physical accomplishment and submission of Certificates of Completion and Acceptance.
The implementation of the project started within 15 days from receipt of the project fund and shall finish the same within eight months unless extended upon a prior written authorization from the republic represented by Secretary Ricardo Saludo.
As of this writing, the project is already implemented.
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Criminology licensure exam moved to Oct 21
In order to give Criminology graduates in the country the chance to take both the licensure examination on Criminology and the police officers examination from Napolcom, the Professional Regulations Commission has moved the Criminology Licensure Exam this year to October 21, 22 and 24.
Based on PRC Resolution No. 2005-294, the examination was rescheduled following the request of members of the House of Representatives since Napolcom will hold their examination on the same day as the original schedule of the Criminology Licensure Exam, which is on Oct. 23.
This will give Criminology graduates the opportunity to take both examinations.
The Criminology exam was originally scheduled on Oct. 22, 23 and 24.
The move has been approved by the Chairman of the Board of Criminology and Napolcom Director Lourdes Aniceto.
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SOUNDBYTES:
Catanduanes Rep. Joseph Santiago yesterday filed a bill seeking to prohibit banks from arbitrarily exacting service fees or penalty charges on deposit accounts with balances falling below a bank's minimum requirement.New bill to prohibit banks from imposing 'unwanted' fees
Gov't readies P2B tuition subsidy for 500,000 Pinoy students
Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas yesterday said a total of P2 billion has been earmarked as tuition subsidy for 500,000 underprivileged students in private high schools under the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (Gastpe) program.
European firm tapped for wind farm projects
European energy firm 3i Powergen Inc. will build wind farms in the islands of Marinduque, Romblon and Tablas to provide a total generating capacity of 21 megawatts.
NBI warns public on new malicious computer program
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday said not even popular search services Google, Yahoo and MSN have been spared from malicious software writers out to make an "easy money" at computer users' expense.
Gov't comes to aid of OFWs
The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) will send Social Workers to six major destinations of Overseas Filipino Workers to provides distressed OFWs with counseling services and other forms of assistance.
Governors seek 5m signatures for GMA
The 79-strong Provincial Governors' League of the Philippines will begin today a move to solicit five million signatures all over the country to dramatize their support for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's issuance of Executive Order 464, which bars government officials, including military generals, from appearing in congressional investigations.
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