7/06/2006

Issue No. 27, July 6, 2006

Livestock traders urged to secure license
All livestock traders in Negros Oriental who are not yet licensed are urged to secure their license from the Provincial Veterinary Office (PVO).

The newly issued Administrative Order No. 8 of the Department of Agriculture (DA) strictly requires the licensing of all livestock traders, which is to be done every year, says Provincial Chief Quarantine Officer Dr. Alfonso Tundag
Tundag said that as of now not all livestock traders in Negros Oriental are licensed.

Records from the Provincial Veterinary Office show that around 50 traders have been licensed in 2005.

“We expect them to renew their licenses this year,” says Sarah Perocho, agricultural technologist and laboratory technician at PVO here.

According to Perocho, livestock traders are required to undergo a training before a license is issued to them. “The training will inform the traders about policies, regulations, laws and system of licensing of the Bureau of Animal Industry,” she said.

The licensing fee ranges from P300 to P500.

A corresponding penalty has been set for traders who fail to secure a license, but Tundag said it is still yet to be imposed as the administrative order is still in its infancy stage.

Tundag said that together with the Provincial Veterinary Office, a series of information campaign is seen to be conducted in all three districts in the province in January next year, in time for the issuance and renewal of license for livestock traders.

He said that traders need to secure their permits immediately or problems will ensue when time comes they transport their livestock. “We will not issue a veterinary shipping permit to traders who are not licensed,” warns Tundag.

A veterinary shipping permit is however not only limited to livestock traders.

Tundag said regular boat passengers who will transport animals, animal products and by-products are also required to secure a veterinary shipping permit prior to boarding the vessel.
“These are possible carriers of infectious diseases…we only should transport healthy animals and by-products,” stressed Tundag.

A signboard will be put up in the total seven passenger sub-ports in the province to inform passengers about the said requirement.

Passenger sub-ports in the province are in San Jose, Amlan, La Libertad and two each in Sibulan and Guihulngan.

The chief quarantine officer was recently in a two-day Re-Tooling Seminar conducted by the Regulatory Division of DA-7 in Taptap, Cebu during which officials from the Bureau of Animal Industry discussed the new administrative order.

Other topics discussed during the seminar include the Animal Welfare Act, Administrative Order No. 9 detailing the requirements to establish an auction market, procedure for domestic transport of animals and the Avian Influenza or Bird Flu.

More than 60 participants attended the seminar, including city veterinarians and staff from the Provincial Veterinary Office.

Male participation in family planning, reproductive health urgently needed
The participation of men is urgently needed in family planning and reproductive health issues of the family.

This was the appeal of local family planning and reproductive health advocates during the Kapihan forum conducted by the Philippine Information Agency in Tanjay City.

Ayungon Municipal Health Officer Dr. Irving Dingcong said that men need to now be more involved in family planning in view of the impending pullout of foreign support to family planning commodities in the Philippines.

Dingcong said that for 30 years, Philippines have been supplied with foreign-funded family planning commodities but which will soon end in 2007 except for IUD.

He encouraged local government officials to earmark funds for the supply of family planning commodities in their areas.

The municipal health officer pointed out that the burden of family planning has always been on the wife’s shoulders.

This is why the males should be responsible now and participate in their family’s decision making concerning family planning and reproductive health, he stressed.

Dingcong’s appeal was echoed by Ayungon Sangguniang Bayan Member Joveleo Acabal who disclosed in the same forum that the need for men’s participation in family planning has resulted to MACHO or Men Advocates and Champions for Reproductive Health Options, a group of vasectomized men and male advocates of reproductive health in Ayungon.

Acabal said that MACHO conducts information campaigns in the barangays in Ayungon about the value of responsible parenthood. “Our mission is to talk to other men and tell them that family planning makes sense,” he said.

MACHO’s presence in Ayungon has also led to the creation of a special health fund for the continued supply of family planning commodities in the municipality.

The municipal councilor noted the high incidence of unmet need among the women, particularly the wives. “We have found out that women would prefer to have one or two children so they can also have time for themselves. For the past years, women have been informed and educated about the importance of family planning, but their husbands remain unaware about it, so wala ra gihapoy epekto,” says Acabal.

Dr. Dingcong, one of the two trained vasectomists in Central Visayas, said that one family planning method open for men is the no-scalpel vasectomy or NSV.

He explained that NSV is a simple method that can be done in a clinic with no incisions and can be finished within eight to 15 minutes.

“It is also cost effective…it is done one time only and it’s a permanent type of method. So it will come out cheap…that’s why I focus on NSV for males,” he said.

Dr. Dingcong also rebuffed the popular belief that vasectomy is synonymous to castration.

“Vasectomy is different from castration. In castration, the male will no longer experience erection and becomes impotent,” he said, adding that vasectomy will not affect a man’s sex drive.


SB lauds GMA-PCSO for ambulance donation
The Sangguniang Bayan of the municipality of Larena has passed a resolution expressing thanks and gratitude to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for donating an ambulance unit to the town.

The ambulance was received through the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) by Mayor Gold Calibo and SB Member Clare Lucero in PCSO Manila Office.

Other key officials who helped the municipality in facilitating the donation are Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Victor Domingo, PCSO General Manager Roarion Uriarte and Visayas and Mindanao PCSO Department Manager III William Medici.

The donation was the answer to the request of the SB of Larena as contained in SB Resolution No. 11, series of 2005.

In a related development, President Arroyo brings home to the Filipino people the blessings from Pope Benedict XVI, a wealth of fresh investments and renewed diplomatic and economic relations following her weeklong trip to its three major partners in Europe.

The Spanish government has given the Philippines a $15 million grant to improve the facilities of 21 provincial hospitals in the country.

Trade Secretary Peter Favila said the grant would be used to buy new equipment for threes hospitals.

King Juan Carlos I of Spain said his country is willing to provide more help to the Philippines and cited the Jose Rizal Opthalmologic Center at the Philippine General Hospital that was put up by his government.

CPC6 prov’l communication task force organized
The Provincial Communication Task Force (PCTF) of the Sixth Country Programme for Children (CPC6) in Negros Oriental have started the ball rolling for the implementation of advocacy activities in identified CPC6 focal areas in the province.

In the task force’s organizational meeting held July 4, PCTF Chairperson and Provincial Information Officer Josefina Columna said the CPC6 PCTF is the planning, monitoring and coordinating body of all provincial communication activities implemented under the Child-Friendly Movement in the province.

Members of the task force from the identified local government units will be organizing a municipal communication task force in their respective areas.

The focal areas identified in the CPC6 program are Bacong, Dauin, Siaton, Bayawan City, Dumaguete City, Tanjay City, Bais City, Jimalalud and Guihulngan.

Columna said the provincial and municipal task forces would see to it that the communication activities are attuned to promoting the adoption of a child rights culture in the localities.

Governor George P. Arnaiz has earlier issued Executive Order No. 08-06, appointing the provincial government’s communication partners from government line agencies and CPC-6 focal areas to compose the 20-man task force with Columna as the task force chairperson and Philippine Information Agency Negros Oriental Infocen Manager Jennifer Catan-Tilos as the vice-chairperson.

During the task force’s organizational meeting, the following members have been appointed to head the four task force sub-committees, namely: Victor Camion of the Office of Board Member Melimore Saycon (Policy Advocacy); Joy Catacutan of the Department of Education (Child Participation); Des Tilos of Valencia Mayor’s Office (Media Advocacy); and Juanita Gualiza of the Integrated Provincial Health Office (Behavior Change).

NegOr malnutrition rate dips
The nutritional status of Negros Oriental has seen a marked improvement after the province’s malnutrition rate dipped by 7.6% since 2004.

Dr. Bernarda Cortes disclosed in the recent Kapihan forum conducted by the Philippine Information Agency that the province’s malnutrition rate this year is pegged at 11.3%

The province’s malnutrition rate last year was 14.1% and in 2004, 18.9%.

Cortes, the former Assistant Provincial Health Officer here, now sits as consultant of the nutrition program of the Provincial Health Office.

Among the towns and cities in the province, Mabinay I area holds the highest malnutrition rate
this year at 22.2%, followed by La Libertad with 20.9% and Vallehermoso with 19.6%.

Jimalalud town at 3.3% has the lowest malnutrition rate here in Negros Oriental.

Records from the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) also show that Dumaguete City’s malnutrition rate is registered at 8.3% in 2006.

Brgy. Cadawinon has the highest malnutrition rate among the barangays in Dumaguete City with 19.6%, followed by Camanjac with 18.10% and Tabuc-tubig with 14.10%, according to City Health Officer Dr. Ava Vios in the same forum.

Bantayan has the lowest malnutrition rate with 0.40%.

Cortez attributes the significant improvement in the province’s nutritional status to various nutrition programs being conducted here such as the Gulayan at Palaisdaan Alay sa Kabataan (GPAK).

A total of 781 public schools throughout the province are participating in the GPAK program, explains Alvin Blaza, Chief of the Crops Division at the Provincial Agriculturist Office (PAO).

He disclosed that Governor George P. Arnaiza is set to allocate P1 million for the purchase of assorted vegetable seeds for GPAK.

Another program geared towards vegetable production is the Barangay Agricultural Development center (BADC) program of which around 100 centers can now be found in Negros Oriental.

Under BADC, vegetable seeds are distributed to communities within the center areas.

Blaza stressed that programs aimed at food security such as GPAK and BADC are necessary since the province’s rice production is not enough to meet the food requirements of Negros Oriental.

“If we rely solely on the province’s rice production, it is not enough for the consumption needs of the province,” says Blaza.

He said that Negros Oriental only has around 12,000 hectares of rice areas. For the province to become self-sufficient in its rice production, it needs to have at least 17,000 hectares.

But the crops division chief quickly assures that the province is able to cope up with its food requirements due to the importation of rice from the other provinces.

According to Cortez, the governor has augmented the province’s school-based nutrition programs this year with two new programs, namely the National Expanded Preschool Supplemental Feeding Program for Day Care Children and the Nutrition Supplementation for Grade 1 students under the ECCD program.

Siquijor LGU drums up tourism
The local government unit of Siquijor is drumming up tourism in the province as it tries to put in place all other support programs and services geared towards tourism.

Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator Gilbert Briones during the Small and Medium Development Council (SMEDC) meeting held earlier at the Sangguniang Bayan Session Hall said the municipality is now in the process of progressing as evidenced by the growing economic impact brought about by the LGUs’ focus to the program.

But SMEDC Chairman Engr. Judy Uy Booc while lauding the government’s strong support to the program observed that site development and tourism promotion is still lacking in Siquijor town. This may be because the private sector initiative is weak or has not been tapped, she said.

The observation forms part of the SMEDC’s thrust to check on the progress of tourism project as the town’s OTOP (One town one project).

Since the establishment of OTOP, the SMEDC has been monitoring and extending assistance to the six identified OTOPs. Siquijor is the third town being monitored. The first was Maria’s coconut processing and second, San Juan’s Dairy Project.

Briones, however, reported that the municipality has set aside P300 thousand solely for tourism that includes establishment of tourism information center and tourism guides apart from the other tourism-related projects already put in place.

Since the previous years, the LGU has been working on solid waste management programs while trying to instill in the local folks the culture of tourism, he said.

The LGUs priority program jibes with the President’s effort to drum up tourism investments in the country.

Earlier, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s trip to Europe has gained investment leverage and constructive suggestions from the foreign governments and business sectors involved in her meetings and consultations.

The Philippines will get some P350 million euros in fresh investments from Spanish businesses as a result of the visit while other deals remain in the pipeline.

Local execs back PGMA anew, calls on opposition to recall 2nd impeach charge

The 1.7 million-strong Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) has reiterated its unequivocal support for Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and called on the Filipino people to do the same, even as it asked on the political opposition to recall the recycled impeachment complaints it had filed against her in succession, and instead pursue their own initiatives that would foster national unity and rapid growth with equity.

Citing the enormous gains of the President’s recent official trip to Europe, ULAP noted that the “economic inroads” from this visit would be wiped out by the “animosity and negative publicity to be generated by another impeachment proceedings.”

Furthermore, ULAP said the serialized filing of the impeachment complaints against the President would “also spook the international business community in general and once again derail the momentum of the government’s reform agenda to spell rapid growth, create enough jobs, and lick generational poverty.”

Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, who heads both ULAP and the League of Provinces of the Philippines, pointed out that the second impeachment complaint filed against the President comprised merely recycled charges that were hurled against her last year.

It cited a March 8-14 survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that 51% of Filipinos want to put the outcome of the 2004 presidential elections behind them because “it is time to move on and let the President focus on the real problems of the nation,” and a higher 58% want the opposition to “start helping (President Arroyo) to improve the country and stop too much politics.”

“But despite these independent poll results and the anemic public support for anti-government protest activities, the opposition proceeded to file a second impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, zeroing-in on the very same unsubstantiated charges raised in last year’s routed proceedings,” ULAP said.

Aumentado said the opposition’s filing of a second impeachment complaint against the President, which further worsened the poisoned political atmosphere now prevailing under our bicameral setup is among the reasons why the clamor for constitutional change that would lead to a unicameral parliamentary system has reached tremendous proportions, with more than 9 million Filipinos signing up for the People’s Initiative drive.

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