Cebu Province News March 2011

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Province of Cebu - Archived News

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Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion. But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened . Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions. Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE? Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace? WHY?? There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance: The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.

Aerial View of Metro Cebu

Dietary supplement is a product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs. Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.

Cebu teams fall short in regionals

Source: globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews

Cebu Daily News - 03/27/2011

By Marsante G. Alison

The Cebu boys Under 13 (U13) and girls Under 14 (U14) squads settled for the runner-up honors in yesterday's championships of the Visayas regionals dubbed Festival of Football in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.

The boys U13 lost the title to Iloilo via a 2-3 decision while the girls U14 lost to San Carlos City, 0-3.

Cebu and Iloilo advanced to the championship round of the boys U13 with Cebu topping the eliminations with nine points having won all of its matches and Iloilo at second with four points coming from one win and one draw.

The girls U14, on the other hand, conceded the title to host San Carlos City, a team they also lost to in their final elimination match yesterday morning. Both teams entered the finals with San Carlos City topping the elimination round and Cebu at second place.

In the finals, Mario Lorenzo Ceniza bucked an injury on the first day of the festival to score Cebu's first goal. Bertram Musni scored Cebu’s second goal.

However, the two goals were not enough to hand Cebu the title after Iloilo edged the team with one more goal.

Coach Mario Ceniza said the team had sorely missed the services of Moiselle Alforque and Vincent Lobitos. Both had to return to Cebu to attend their graduations.

“I don't want to make excuses but Moiselle would have been a really big help because he usually scores in the last minutes,” Ceniza said.

In compensation, Ceniza said he is proud that nine of his boys were chosen to the all-star selection.

At least 15 members of the boys U13 will also start their preparation for the Palarong Pambansa 2011, which will open on May 8 in Dapitan.

Coach Eleazar Toledo of the girls U14 team said his team needed more training. “It was not a bad game but they need more training as a team,” Toledo said.

Despite missing the title, Toledo said his team had the potential. He said he will talk to the girls' parents for the continuance of their training once they return to Cebu.

Nearly 5,000 kids underfed in Cebu City

Source:www.sunstar.com.ph

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Elly T. Balonos of Sun.Star Cebu

CEBU CITY -- The numbers are better, but at least 4,955 children five years old or younger were found malnourished in this city last year.

At least 1,856 pre-schoolers or 1.4 percent of the 132,755 children weighed last year were found overweight, in the City Health Department's Operation Timbang.

The figures are lower than they were in 2009, said Emma Gaviola, the City Health Department's nutrition program coordinator.

In 2009, Gaviola said, there were 7,290 undernourished children, or about 5.6 percent of the total 128,178 weighed. Last year's number accounted for only 3.7 percent of those weighed.

About 2,060 children or 1.5 percent were found overweight in 2009.

Mayor Michael Rama applauded the City Health Department's efforts in bringing the figures down, but said they must continue to address malnutrition.

He said a body was created to examine the problem and work with other organizations in solving it.

"Ipadayon ang programa (Let's continue the program) by also tapping different organizations so that we would be able to address it, and not be accused of not doing anything," Rama said.

When his term began in July last year, the mayor said lowering the incidence of malnutrition will be a key challenge of his administration.

Gaviola explained that unlike in 2009, where they used the international reference standard, last year's pre-schoolers were assessed based on the child growth standard.

This means they consolidated the "severely underweight" and the "underweight" categories.

"Kay mao ra man gihapon, kadtong underweight ug dili nato sila mahatagan ug igong atensyon, mapunta gyud sila sa severely underweight, mao nga itratar nato sila ug parehas (It's the same thing. If we fail to help the underweight, they will become severely underweight)," Gaviola said

She said Barangay Ermita had the most number of undernourished pre-schoolers last year based on the prevalence rate.

It was followed by Mambaling, Duljo-Fatima, Sapangdaku, Buot-Taup, Inayawan, Agsungot, Pamutan, Pahina San Nicolas and Punta Princesa.

Sawang Calero was reported in 2009 as having the highest prevalence of malnutrition among the 80 barangays in the city, but it was already out of the top 10 last year.

Ermita Barangay Captain Antonieto Flores, in a separate interview, admitted there are several malnourished children in their barangay.

But he said they have intervened, such as by implementing a feeding program to lower, if not eliminate, the problem.

"Bag-o pa ko sa katungdanan but atong gitinguha pag-tap sa mga people's organizations ug non-government organizations nga makatabang nato (This position is new to me, but I have tried to tap people's and non-government organizations who can help us)," Flores said.

Gaviola said they continue to implement a holistic approach like the "Pabasa sa Nutrition."

Under the program, mothers of malnourished children, including the lactating and pregnant ones, are taught about nutritious foods and how to buy fresh, cheap but nutritious meals for pre-schoolers.

Gaviola will suggest to the Cebu City Nutrition Council a mass graduation to recognize the 1,206 mothers who completed the program last year.

She said they are also in constant coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Services to implement their feeding programs.

The private sector is tapped in their "Adopt a Barangay" program, in which an organization will focus their feeding programs on a certain barangay.

As to the overweight pre-schoolers, Gaviola said they already advised the parents not to give them junk food, but to choose the right nutritious food for their children.

Century-old rain trees to give way to south Cebu highway

By Marian Z. Codilla

Cebu Daily News

In the months ahead, century-old rain trees lining a road section in south Cebu from Naga to Carcar City will be marked for destruction to make way for road widening.

“We can’t do anything about it,” said Naga Mayor Val Chiong yesterday.

“We are just coordinating with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) because it is their project.”

The huge trees, which form a graceful green canopy that greets motorists traveling south, were planted in 1915 by the former Bureau of Public works, the DPWH’s predecessor.

The DPWH 2nd Engineering District is getting appraisal estimates for properties affected by the proposed road widening, which has a P27-million budget.

The value of aged, long-surviving trees, however, does not seem to draw a deeper response than resignation from local officials despite the fact that 2011 is declared the “Year of the Forests” by the United Nations with a special program by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to identify and officially mark “heritage trees” in the country.

In a forum last week in Cebu City, international urban planner Felino Palafox Jr., who talked about disaster risk management in the annual meeting of the Philippine Business for Social Progress-Visayas, said a 50-year-old tree “has a value of P9 million.”

The P9 million, he said, is computed based on factors such as the oxygen produced, carbon dioxide-green gas captured, protection from soil erosion, cooling capacity, water retention, shade, biodiversity, aesthetic qualities and other factors that add to the real estate value where a tree stands.

(Palafox, a Filipino architect who has led projects in 30 countries, including Dubai and Asian capitals, drew controversy in 2008 when he turned down a $1-million contract for a hotel resort-casino project in Subic because he refused to cut down 366 seventy-year-old trees. He later accused the developers of corruption.)

In Naga and Carcar, two public forums have been called since February by DPWH regional officials to inform residents and business owners about the impending infrastructure project.

A 200-year-old coral stone house (balay na bato) near the highway in barangay Langtad, Naga City, is also in the path and in danger of being demolished.

“I will still talk with the owner to see if they will agree to have the house transferred to the plaza kay sayang,” said Mayor Chiong said in a telephone interview.

The mayor said the house could be transferred to the public plaza and preserved as a heritage site.

The owner, Napoleon Dacalos, a retired sanitary inspector, said he had no choice but submit to the DPWH plans. He sad the family expects to be properly compensated for the damage.

“Wala mi mahimo kay pagbuot man ni sa gobyerno. Bayran man sad mi,” he said. (We can’t do anything if that’s the decision of the government. Anyway we will also be paid.)

He said his house, which the family acquired in 1948, was built during the Spanish era and is made of mahogany and narra hardwood.

Dacalos said he already asked an architect to appraise the value of the house to be submitted to the municipal assessor’s office. Dacalos said the DPWH promised to compensate based on the present value of the house.

Farther south in Carcar City, Mayor Nicepuro Apura said he was saddened by the impending loss of old trees along the highway.

But like some residents and Naga’s Mayor Chiong, he said is relying on DPWH plans to widen the two-lane road to four lanes to accommodate the increasing volume of traffic in their area.

Mayor Apura said they will just coordinate with DWPH on how to take care of the trees that provide shade to motorists and serve as “icons” of Carcar town.

He said they could only appeal to have the trees carefully transferred somewhere else because they are one of the beautiful sights sought by tourists and motorists in Carcar.

The DPWH Cebu 2nd District has been sending letters to residents and establishments about the road-widening projects since February 9.

A check with the General Appropriations Act of 2010 shows a P27-million outlay for “widening and removal of obstruction encroachment within the road right of way from Naga to Carcar section.”

But Naga Mayor Chiong said P27 million is not enough to widen the two-lane road and that the amount is only for indemnities.

“Dili gyud na paigo ang P27 million para sa widening in my own understanding wala pa gyud ang budget for the road widening,” Chiong told CEBU DAILY NEWS.

The public forum for Naga residents was held on Feb. 16 while the forum with Carcar officials and affected residents was last Feb. 24.

In Carcar alone, more than 200 residents and establishment owners will be affected.

Chiong said they still have to discuss with DPWH whether they can try to save the trees by “balling” them, a procedure that involves removing the entire tree and carefully preserving the roots and trunk in a “ball.” This was done with century-old trees in Plaza Independencia in Cebu City where the South Road Properties subway tunnel was built.

The proposed road-widening project will end near a mall in Carcar town, which is a traffic bottleneck in the south, said Carcar engineer Santiago Calinawan, Jr.

While waiting for the project, Carcar has implemented the directive of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jessie Robredo to clear the road right of way for at least 13 meters from the center of the road.

All structures built within that range are considered illegal and have to be demolished.

The exception, however, is supposed to be structures that have existed for 50 years because Carcar has a local ordinance protecting heritage sites.

Cordova to stick with Province, town officials assure Capitol

• By Jujemay G. Awit and Oscar C. Pineda
• Tuesday, March 15, 2011

CORDOVA Mayor Ade-lino Sitoy, town councilors, and barangay officials went to the governor’s office yesterday to signify their intention to remain with Cebu Province if a referendum is called for the town to join Cebu City.

The move came after Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south) said he will file a bill creating the city’s third district, which will include Cordova.

But Sitoy said there are conditions before the issue on Cebu City’s annexation of Cordova can be discussed.

The first condition is that Rep. Luigi Quisum-bing (Cebu, sixth district) must file a bill making Mandaue City a lone district.

After that, Cordova and Consolacion will need to discuss their fate and plan, Sitoy said.

But as of now, the mayor said, “Wa pa mi mahimo (We can’t do anything yet).”

Issues

Only after the discussion can Osmeña file a bill creating the city’s third district, a move that will require a referendum among the residents of Cordova.

Garcia said Cebu City’s south representative issues “out-of-time” statements.

“Naa pa may mag-una, gihimo na niyang isyu ang (There’s still a requirement, but he’s making an issue of the) third and fourth steps,” Garcia said referring to Osmeña’s proposal.

Mayor Sitoy, along with four town council members and 12 barangay captains, said they visited the governor yesterday to discuss the Province’s 120-hectare reclamation project in their town.

Sitoy said the Province will own the reclamation area, and the town will sign a memorandum of agreement with the Province on how to use the project.

As to the move to make Mandaue City a lone district, Quisumbing earlier expressed concern that Consolacion and Cordova will be left out if he files rhe bill.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, however, said these two towns will be merged with other districts, as Cebu must undergo redistricting.

Association of Bara-ngay Councils president Celedonio Sitoy said the Province already gave 10 multicabs to 10 of the town’s 13 barangays.

Hilutungan Barangay Captain Melchor Ompad said the island barangay now has a pumpboat.

Only Barangay Gabi, where Celedonio sits as barangay captain, and Barangay Day-as have no multicabs, although Garcia promised to include them as recipients of the next batch of vehicles.

The Province also gave five school buildings worth P3.5 million, while the Senior Citizens’ building is up for bidding, said Provincial Engineer Eulogio Pelayre.

But Osmeña belittled the Province’s assistance to Cordova.

What are multicabs and a pump boat compared to P4,000 for every senior citizen and P10,000 to P20,000 for every public high school graduate, the representative said.

“I will multiply that to 20 if that's what they need,” Osmeña told Sun.Star Cebu in a mobile phone interview yesterday.

“The people of Cordova are being fooled,” said Osmeña.

Both Osmeña and Cebu City Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young agree the people of Cordova should make the choice on whether it should be part of Cebu City or not.

Young said it doesn’t really matter if Cordova will be part of Cebu City, but if it does, it will be mutually beneficial.

Young said Cordova will gain popularity because “everything starts and stops in Cebu City.”

On the City's end, it will have beaches that would entice tourists.

“But it is up to Cordovahanons. There should be an honest to goodness informal plebiscite to get the sentiment of the people without anybody campaigning for or against it,” said Young.

Osmeña agreed, saying the people should be able to decide, not just the officials who went to Garcia.

Mayor Sitoy, who remains loyal to Garcia, said he would abide by the result of a referendum, if the time comes.

But Sitoy said Osmeña’s pronouncements are “unfair,” as these destroy the town’s good relationship with the Province. Garcia said the statement is “divisive.”

Garcia also was irked when Osmeña called the province a “bully” and that “the Province has done nothing for Cordova.”

The governor said Osmeña is only good with his “brilliant ideas” in front of reporters.

“When will he gather the guts to stand up in the session and deliver a privilege speech?” the governor said.

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on March 15, 2011.