A total of six cases of fireworks-related injuries were reported in the province during the holiday revelry here.
According to Dr. George Villamor, chief of the Department of Health (DOH) here, the victims were treated in the three hospitals in
The victims are aged three to 24 years old.
The youngest victim is a three-year old from Cebu Ciy who was in Dumaguete for the holiday celebration.
Five of the six victims were outpatients, while one victim, from Sta. Catalina, was admitted to a hospital for treatment, said Villamor.
Victims were treated for abrasions, first and second degree burns.
“Dili grabe ang injuries,” said Villamor.
There were no reports of victims of stray bullets.
DOH personnel collated the data from the three hospitals in the city covering the period from December 24, 2006 to January 1, 2007.
However, the DOH chief could not say if there was an increase or decrease in the number of cases reported in 2006 from 2005. “There is no comparable data because we did not conduct any surveillance last year,” he said.
Nevertheless, Villamor believes there is a decrease in the number of cases in the province in 2006.
The intensified campaign against illegal drugs has jacked up the street value of shabu in the country, according to a report from the National Bureau of Investigation.
This was confirmed by SPO1 Manuel Sanchez, Action Monitoring Officer of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in the province.
Sanchez said the street value of shabu in the province is now priced at P3,500 per gram.
In 2005, it was being sold at P2,000 per gram.
Sanchez said the costlier shabu trade in the province is a result of the stepped up efforts to crackdown on illegal drugs operations which has resulted to numerous arrests in the province in 2005. s
PDEA has conducted a total of 80 ani-illegal drugs operations in the province which led to the arrest of 111 drug personalities, disclosed Sanchez.
“Ningmahal ang shabu kay sige ang dakop,” he said.
Sanchez assured that PDEA is set on conducting more operations in 2007.
NBI in its report said that in the years 2000 to 2005, the street price of shabu was around P5,000 for 5 grams.
In 2006, the price increased to around P18,000 to P20,000.
NBI Regional Director Ruel Lasala who heads the bureau’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force said joint operations with PDEA to dismantle major drug laboratories in the country has drastically slashed the supply of the banned narcotic.
“According to the law of supply and demand, if the demand is there but the supply is limited, the price rises,” said Lasala.
Meanwhile, Malacañang stressed that PNP crackdown on shabu should be lauded as it is effectively making the prices of the drug higher and thereby curtailing the market.
The government will continue to pursue all anti-crime programs and step up safety patrols in the metropolis and other major cities to ensure the safety of the public.
Arroyo unwraps 2007 salary package for state workers
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday said she is welcoming the New Year with a new salary package increasing the base pay of government workers by an average of 10 percent in 2007.
"We started 2006 with a pay hike for government workers and we will end it with a vow to do it again next year," the President said in her New Year’s message.
Mrs Arroyo said as soon as Congress returns to its session, she will certify an urgent bill "that will seek to grant an average 10-percent increase in the base pay of government employees effective July 2007."
"This bill governs the usage of the P10.3 billion which we have set aside as the first installment of a merit-based, performance- driven compensation reform package for public sector workers," she said.
"I am asking Congress to cap its impressive run of legislation with the passage of this important bill."
The President said that in July she will ask Congress to expedite the passage of the third edition of the salary standardization law, one that will not only increase the pay of state workers but boost the productivity of the government as well.
She said Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya would file the bill before Congress.
"These measures distill inputs from the field, best managerial practices, performance benchmarks and projected revenue streams of the government, all with the interest of the public in mind," she said.
RDC’s call for more UnionBank ATM’s no longer needed- Garcia
The call of the Regional Development Council (RDC) for the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to negotiate with Union Bank to open branches in provinces without Union Bank ATMs is no longer necessary as the GSIS is currently negotiating the PNB, LBP and rural banks to accept service charges on GSIS E-Card transactions made by GSIS members.
This was announced by GSIS President and General Manager Winston Garcia during the launching press conference on GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System (G-W@PS) last December 2006 in Siquijor province after the RDC passed a resolution on the said request on November 28, 2006.
GM Garcia also informed that by February 2007, the GSIS will start upgrading the old e-card with new e-card plus which has a microchip that stores all the data including GSIS member fingerprints. For GSIS members in the islands of Camiguin, Coron, Romblon and Siquijor have already their e-card plus because they are among the first in the country to own what is called a smart card.
Thus, Garcia assured RDC that with this G-W@PS all transactions will no longer be measured in weeks and months but in seconds and minutes. More significantly, the GW@PS is paperless, with the secure biometrics feature of e-card plus and the wireless kiosk, and can now check records of the member, apply for policy, cash advance, emergency, salary loans and maturity without filling up a single document via the internet, Garcia cited.
The GSIS chief said that the presence of the G-W@PS kiosk in Siquijor would remove the need for GSIS members there to travel for hours just to transact with the nearest GSIS office in Dumaguete.
Namfrel elec board to prepare for May 07 elections
Members of the Namfrel electoral board here is set to convene on January 5, 2007 to discuss preparations for the upcoming May 2007 elections.
This was disclosed by Fr. Julius Heruela who sits as the chairperson of the Namfrel electoral board.
The meeting will be held at the Cathedral Convent, this city.
The Commission on Elections here is currently verifying the list of registered voters in the province.
Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. fears that the May 14 national and local elections might be deferred if Congress fails to pass the trillion-peso national budget for this year.
Abalos raised the need for a budget worth more than P4B to prepare the May 2007 polls and the Comelec will not be able to conduct the national elections if the proposed budget this year will not be passed.
Abalos added that the election automation has a dim chance since Congress cannot decide yet on the 2007 national budget but he expected the electronic transmission to push through.
In other election matters, Abalos said that the gun ban starts on January 14 and the registration process has no extension.
When the period for filing certificates of candidacy starts on January 14, so will the “no-exemption" gun ban on all candidates running for electoral posts this May.
Abalos said he will not allow any application by candidates for exemption from the gun ban.
“Political figures running in the polls will not get any exemption. Definitely, zero. No way. If they have threats, we'll provide them with security," Abalos said.
He said the gun ban will take effect from Jan. 14, the start of filing of certificates of candidacy, to June 13, 30 days after the May 14 polls.
Those areas will be placed under Comelec control, he said. However, Abalos declined to name the areas because “baka maalarma ang mga tao (people might be alarmed)."
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